JPH0976515A - Ink jet recording head, production thereof and ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the penetration of a surface treatment material into a liquid passage to obtain good emitting characteristics by coating the surface of an emitting orifice with a surface treatment material before removing a liquid passage mold material of a nozzle pattern and subsequently swelling a liquid passage forming material by a removing liquid to remove the liquid passage mold material. SOLUTION: When an ink jet recording head is produced, at first, a photosensitive resin layer is formed on a substrate 1 to be exposed through a mask and subjected to developing treatment to perform patterning and a liquid passage mold material 4 of a nozzle pattern is formed on the substrate 1. Next, a top plate 7 is arranged on the liquid passage mold material 4 so as to leave an interval and a thermosetting resin material is injected into the gap between both of them 4, 7 as a liquid passage forming material to be thermally cured. Thereafter, the liquid passage mold material 4 is dissolved and removed to form an emitting orifice 6 and a liquid passage 10 but, at this time, the surface of the emitting orifice is coated with a surface treatment material 11 before the liquid passage mold material 4 is removed and the liquid passage mold material 4 is removed while the liquid passage forming material is swollen by a removing liquid.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head, an inkjet recording head manufactured by this method, and an inkjet recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink jet recording heads are generally
It is provided with a fine ejection port (orifice) for the recording liquid, a liquid flow channel (nozzle), and a liquid ejection energy generating means provided in a part of the liquid flow channel.

A conventional method of manufacturing such an ink jet recording head will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5.

Step a: A photosensitive resin (photoresist) layer (2) is formed on the substrate (1) (FIG. 3A).

Step b: exposing through a photomask (3) (FIG. 3B).

Step c: Development is applied to pattern the photosensitive resin layer (2) to form a liquid pattern material (4) having a nozzle pattern on the substrate (1) (FIG. 3 (c)).

Step d: A top plate (7) is arranged at a distance from the liquid flow path mold material (4) of the nozzle pattern (FIG. 3).
(D)).

Process e: Liquid flow path forming material (5) between the liquid flow path mold material (4) of the nozzle pattern and the top plate (7).
Then, a thermosetting resin material is injected and heat-cured (FIG. 3E). A perspective view at this point is shown in FIG. 1
A plurality of recording head forming portions (8) are formed on a single substrate (1). Next, thermal curing is performed, and this recording head forming portion (8) is cut and separated by a C-C line and a substrate by a D-D line, respectively, to separate individual recording heads (see FIG. 5).
(B)). Note that FIG. 3E shows the discharge port surface (9) of FIG. 5B and corresponds to the sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 5A.

Step f: The liquid flow path mold material (4) of the nozzle pattern is dissolved and removed by using an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution to form a discharge port (6) and a liquid flow path (10) (FIG. 3).
(F), FIG. 4 (a)). Note that FIG. 4 (a) is shown in FIG. 3 (f).
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

Step g: The discharge port surface (9) is coated with a surface treatment material (11) such as a water repellent material (FIG. 3 (g), FIG. 4).
(B)). 4 (b) is a sectional view of FIG. 3 (g).

[0011]

However, in the conventional manufacturing method, the surface treatment material enters the liquid flow path,
There was a risk of inadequate ink supply. Further, when the surface of the discharge port was treated before the removal of the liquid flow path mold material of the nozzle pattern, the surface treatment material covered the surface, so that the liquid flow path mold material of the nozzle pattern could not be removed.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to remove the liquid flow path mold material of the nozzle pattern even if the discharge port surface is treated before the removal, and the surface treatment material does not enter the liquid flow path. It is an object of the present invention to provide a manufacturing method, and to provide an inkjet recording head and an inkjet recording apparatus which have good ejection characteristics by this method.

[0013]

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventors have conducted various studies to achieve the above object, and as a result, completed the present invention.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a liquid flow path mold material of a nozzle pattern is formed on a substrate by a photosensitive resin, and a curable resin material as a liquid flow path forming material is coated and cured on the substrate, and then, In a method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head, which includes at least a step of removing the liquid flow path mold material to form a liquid flow path, and a step of forming a discharge energy generating means, a surface treatment material before the removal of the liquid flow path mold material. Is applied to the surface of the ejection port, and then the liquid flow path mold material is removed while swelling the liquid flow path forming material with a removing liquid, and a method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head.

The second invention is a positive resist in which the photosensitive resin contains a naphthoquinonediazide derivative.
The invention relates to a method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head.

A third invention relates to an ink jet recording head manufactured by the method of the first or second invention.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is an ink jet recording head according to the third aspect of the present invention, which is an electrothermal converter in which the ejection energy generating means generates heat by applying electric energy to cause a change in the state of the ink for ejection. Regarding

The fifth invention relates to the ink jet recording head of the third or fourth invention which is a full line type in which a plurality of ejection openings are provided over the entire width of the recording area of the recording medium.

A sixth aspect of the invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus including at least the ink jet recording head of the third, fourth or fifth aspect of the invention and a member for mounting the recording head.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

Step A: Up to this step shown in FIGS. 1 (A) and 2 (A), steps a to e (FIG. 3) of the conventional manufacturing method are performed.
(A) to (e)). In the conventional method, after this step, the liquid flow path mold material (4) of the nozzle pattern is removed by a removing liquid, but in the method of the present invention, the liquid flow path mold material (4) is not removed at this point. Note that FIG. 2A is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1A, and hereinafter, FIGS. 2B to 2D are also similar sectional views.

Between step c and step d, the substrate on which the liquid pattern material of the nozzle pattern is formed is post-baked in an oven, exposed on the entire surface, and then degassed under vacuum. It is desirable to perform the defoaming treatment of.
By this defoaming process, foaming in the liquid flow path mold material (4) due to the influence of light or heat in a later step is prevented, and deformation of the liquid flow path mold material (4) and generation of burrs during cutting are suppressed. .

Step B: As shown in FIGS. 1B and 2B, the surface of the discharge port is coated with a surface treatment material 11 such as a water repellent.

Step C: The liquid flow path mold material (4) of the nozzle pattern is dissolved and removed with a removing liquid. At this time, FIG. 2 (C)
As shown in FIG. 5, the liquid flow path forming material (5) swells, and a film (surface treatment material (11)) near the boundary between the liquid flow path forming material (5) and the liquid flow path mold material (4). Is torn. As a result, the liquid flow path mold material (4) of the nozzle pattern can be dissolved and removed, the liquid flow path mold material (4) of the nozzle pattern is removed, and the ejection port (6) and the liquid flow path (10) are formed. (FIG. 1 (D), FIG. 2 (D)). Examples of the removing liquid include organic solvents such as ethyl cellosolve, ethyl acetate, methyl ethyl ketone, and acetone.

After this removing treatment, it is desirable to perform drying and then heat curing treatment.

The present invention is particularly effective in an ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus for recording by ejecting droplets by utilizing thermal energy among the ink jet recording systems.

Regarding typical constitutions and principles of these recording heads and ink jet recording apparatuses, those using the basic principle disclosed in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796 are used. preferable.

The system using this principle can be applied to both the on-demand type and the continuous type, but is particularly effective for the on-demand type. The on-demand system is as follows. One or more drive signals that give a rapid temperature rise, exceeding nucleate boiling, corresponding to the recorded information are applied to the electrothermal transducers that are arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path holding the liquid (ink). By applying, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, film boiling is caused on the heat acting surface of the recording head, and bubbles corresponding to the drive signal in a one-to-one relationship are formed in the liquid (ink). The growth / contraction of the bubbles causes the ink to be ejected from the ink ejection port to form / fly one or more droplets.

If the driving signal at this time has a pulse shape, the growth and contraction of the bubbles are instantaneously and appropriately performed in response to the application of the signal, and the ink ejection with excellent responsiveness can be achieved.
Suitable driving signals are those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262. Also, U.S. Pat.
By adopting the setting conditions of the invention relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface described in the specification of JP-A No. 4, further excellent recording can be performed.

The structure of the ink jet recording head of the present invention is a combination of the discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter as described in the above-mentioned specifications (straight liquid flow passage constitution or right-angled liquid constitution). Flow path configuration), and US Pat.
The configuration disclosed in JP-A-558333 and JP-A-4459600 may be arranged in a region where the heat acting portion is bent.

In addition to the above configuration, a configuration in which a slit common to a plurality of electrothermal converters is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converters (disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-123670) and pressure of thermal energy are used. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on a configuration (disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-138461) in which an opening that absorbs waves corresponds to a discharge portion.

Furthermore, a full line type ink jet recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum recording width that can be recorded by the recording apparatus may be used. The full line type recording head may have a configuration in which a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above specification are combined or an integral type configuration.

As another type of ink jet recording head, a replaceable chip type recording head capable of electrically connecting to the ink jet recording apparatus main body or supplying ink from the recording apparatus main body, or integrated into the recording head itself. Alternatively, a cartridge type recording head provided with an ink tank may be used.

As a constituent unit of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable to add a recovering means for the ink jet recording head, a preliminary auxiliary means, etc. in order to further stabilize the effect of the present invention. Specific examples of these means include a capping unit for the recording head, a cleaning unit, a pressurizing / suctioning unit, a preheating unit, and a predischarge unit.

Further, as the recording mode of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, in addition to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, a multi-color mode of different colors or a full-color mode of mixed colors may be provided.

In the ink jet recording head and ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid, but even an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower, an ink that softens or liquefies at room temperature or higher. If so, it can be used in the present invention. In general, in the ink-jet method, the ink itself is adjusted to 30 to 70 ° C. to control the viscosity of the ink to a stable ejection range. As such an ink, there is used one that is liquefied by applying heat energy according to a recording signal, ejected as a liquid ink, and immediately begins to solidify when reaching a recording medium. Depending on the liquefaction of the ink, it is possible to prevent the temperature from rising due to excessive heat energy, and it is possible to prevent the evaporation of the ink by solidifying the ink at room temperature or solidifying it after ejection.

The above ink may be held as a liquid or a solid in a recess or through hole of a porous sheet or the like, and may be provided at a position facing the electrothermal converter (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 5).
4-56847 and JP-A-60-71260).

In the present invention, the film boiling method is most effective for the above inks.

The ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is provided integrally or separately as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a word processor and a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader and the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmitting / receiving function. It may take a form.

[0040]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be further described below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Example 1 Step 1: A positive photoresist (AZ-4903 (manufactured by Hoechst)) was spun on a glass substrate on which an electrothermal converter was formed as a means for generating ink ejection energy so as to have a film thickness of 30 μm. Coat and heat in oven at 90 ℃, 20
Pre-baking was performed for a minute to form a resist layer (photosensitive resin layer (2)) (FIG. 3A).

Step 2: A mask aligner PLA is formed on this resist layer through a photomask (3) having a nozzle pattern.
Pattern exposure was performed using -501 (manufactured by Canon Inc.) at an exposure amount of 200 J / cm ² (FIG. 3 (b)).

Step 3: Development using a 0.75 wt% sodium hydroxide aqueous solution, followed by rinsing with ion-exchanged water to form a liquid flow path mold material (4) having a nozzle pattern on the substrate (1). (FIG. 3C) Step 4: The substrate on which the liquid flow path mold material of the nozzle pattern is formed is post-baked in an oven at 70 ° C. for 30 minutes for 150 m.
Whole surface exposure with exposure amount of J / cm ² , then 0.1 mmHg
The series of steps of the degassing treatment for 30 minutes under the above vacuum condition was repeated twice (defoaming treatment).

Step 5: A glass top plate (7) was placed on the substrate to be treated in this manner at intervals of 100 μm (FIG. 3 (d)).

Step 6: A thermosetting resin composition A shown below was injected as a liquid flow path forming material (5) between the top plate (7) and the substrate (1). After leaving it as it is at 30 ° C. for 24 hours, it is subjected to thermal curing at 120 ° C. for 2 hours, and then cut (FIGS. 5A and 5B), and the discharge port surface (9).
Was exposed (FIG. 1 (A), FIG. 2 (A)).

Composition of resin composition A: ADEKA OPTOMER K
RM2410 (Asahi Denka Kogyo KK) 70 parts by weight, ADEKA Resin EP-4000 (Asahi Denka Kogyo KK) 30 parts by weight, NUC silane coupling agent A-187 (Nippon Unicar KK) 2 parts by weight , Fujicure 6010 (Fuji Kasei Co., Ltd.) 50 parts by weight.

Step 7: Water repellent CTX-80 on the surface of the discharge port
5A (manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.) was uniformly applied and dried (FIG. 1 (B), FIG. 2 (B)).

Step 8: Using ethyl cellosolve as the removing liquid, the liquid flow path mold material (4) of the nozzle pattern was dissolved and removed. At this time, the liquid flow path forming material (5) swells and the coating film (surface treatment material (11)) near the boundary between the liquid flow path forming material (5) and the liquid flow path mold material (4) is broken. (Fig. 1
(C), FIG. 2 (C)). As a result, the liquid flow path mold material (4) of the nozzle pattern can be dissolved and removed, and the discharge port (6) and the liquid flow path (10) are formed (FIG. 1 (D),
FIG. 2D).

Step 9: Vacuum drying at 80 ° C. for 30 minutes, 15
Thermal curing was performed at 0 ° C. for 60 minutes.

When printing was carried out by the ink jet recording head of this example, sufficient water repellency was exhibited and the ink ejection characteristics were good.

Example 2 In Example 1, the substrate (1) and the top plate (7) were changed from a glass substrate to an aluminum substrate coated with a corrosion resistant protective film. In this case, the aluminum surface is exposed on the cut surface, which is the surface of the discharge port, and it is necessary to protect this. Instead of the water repellent of Example 1, an epoxy resin was applied to the surface of the ejection port as a surface protective film. This epoxy resin is less swelled by ethyl cellosolve (removal solution) than the resin composition A. Others were the same as in Example 1.

As described above, a good protective film was formed on the aluminum surface, which is the ejection port surface, and the ejection port surface was not corroded by the ink. The ink ejection characteristics were good.

Example 3 Example 3 was repeated except that ethyl acetate was used as the removing solution. The ink ejection characteristics were good.

Example 4 Example 4 was repeated except that methyl ethyl ketone was used as the removing solution. The ink ejection characteristics were good.

Example 5 Example 5 was repeated except that acetone was used as the removing solution. The ink ejection characteristics were good.

[0056]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, even if the surface of the discharge port is treated before the removal of the liquid flow path mold material of the nozzle pattern, the removal can be performed. The material does not enter the liquid flow path. Therefore, the inkjet recording head manufactured by the method of the present invention and the inkjet recording apparatus equipped with this recording head show good ejection characteristics.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram (front view) of a manufacturing process of an inkjet recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view (cross-sectional view) of a manufacturing process of the inkjet recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram (front view) of a manufacturing process of a conventional inkjet recording head.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram (cross-sectional view) of a manufacturing process of a conventional inkjet recording head.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a cutting and separating process of the conventional and the inkjet recording head of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2 Photosensitive resin layer 3 Photomask 4 Liquid pattern material of nozzle pattern 5 Liquid flow path forming material 6 Discharge port 7 Top plate 8 Recording head forming part 9 Discharge port surface 10 Liquid flow channel 11 Surface treatment material

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A liquid flow path mold material for a nozzle pattern is formed on a substrate by a photosensitive resin, and a curable resin material as a liquid flow path forming material is coated and cured on the substrate, and then the liquid flow path is formed. Removing the mold material to form a liquid flow path, and
In a method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head having at least a step of forming a discharge energy generating means, a surface treatment material is applied to a discharge port surface before the removal of the liquid flow path mold material, and then the liquid flow path forming material is formed by a removing liquid. A method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head, wherein the liquid flow path mold material is removed while swelling the ink. 2. The method for producing an inkjet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the photosensitive resin is a positive resist containing a naphthoquinonediazide derivative. 3. An ink jet recording head manufactured by the method according to claim 1. 4. The ink jet recording head according to claim 3, wherein the ejection energy generating means is an electrothermal converter that generates heat by applying electric energy and causes the ink to change its state to perform ejection. 5. The full line type in which a plurality of ejection openings are provided over the entire width of the recording area of the recording medium.
Alternatively, the ink jet recording head according to item 4. 6. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising at least the inkjet recording head according to claim 3, 4 or 5, and a member for mounting the recording head.