JPH10119279A - Ink jet head, ink jet cartridge and ink jet device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet head of which member having grooves is hardly contracted and bent even when the number of ejection nozzles is large. SOLUTION: There is disclosed an ink jet head which is equipped with a substrate having ejection energy generating sections, grooves respectively corresponding to the ejection energy generating sections and a member 14 having grooves and ejection nozzles each communicated to one end of the respective groove. Liquid passages each of which is communicated to the respective ejection nozzle is formed such that the substrate and the member 14 having the grooves are bonded with each other and liquid drops are ejected from the ejection nozzles via the liquid passages. The member 14 having the groove comprises a resin section forming the grooves and ejection nozzles and a heat deformation suppressing member 30 which is integrally formed with the resin section, extended in the arrangement direction of the ejection nozzles and has a thermal expansion coefficient that is smaller than that of the resin section. The heat deformation suppressing member 30 comprises a passage 31 for supplying a liquid to a common liquid chamber and a stopper section 34 for being stopped to the resin section.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet head, an ink jet cartridge, and an ink jet apparatus on which the ink jet head is mounted.
In particular, the present invention is suitable for application to a full-line type in which discharge ports are arranged over the entire width of a print area of a print medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink-jet printing is a method in which ink or a processing liquid for adjusting the characteristics of the ink is discharged from a discharge port provided in an ink-jet head and adhered to a print medium such as paper. This is a method of performing printing, in which generation of noise is extremely small and high-speed printing is possible. Above all, thermal energy is applied to the liquid, and the liquid is rapidly heated to generate air bubbles.The volume expansion of the air bubbles causes the liquid in the liquid path to be ejected from the discharge port as droplets. An ink jet head of a form in which a liquid is introduced into a liquid passage from a chamber has advantages such as good response to a print signal and easy multi-head operation.

[0003] Such a general ink-jet head includes:
A substrate provided with a discharge energy generating unit for discharging liquid droplets, a groove corresponding to the groove corresponding to the discharge energy generating unit, and a grooved member formed with a discharge port communicating with one end of each of the grooves. By joining the substrate and the grooved member to each other, liquid paths communicating with the discharge ports are formed, and the liquid droplets are discharged from the liquid paths corresponding to the discharge energy generating section through the discharge ports. . Further, as a full-line type of such an ink-jet head having a longer length, a common liquid chamber is formed at the other end of a liquid path having one end serving as a discharge port, and is disposed along the common liquid chamber. A device having a grooved member connecting an ink supply path and a common ink chamber via a plurality of communication paths has been proposed.

[0004]

When a grooved member of a full line type ink jet head or an ink jet head having, for example, 200 or more ejection ports is manufactured by molding resin, the influence of shrinkage generated after molding is considered. Receiving warp occurs. Of these warpages, the ejection direction of the liquid droplets and the warpage of the grooved member to the opposite side remain as they are when bonded to the substrate because there is no means for restraining them, and unnecessary warpage between the substrate and the substrate is not required. As a result of the formation of the gap, defective ejection or leakage of the liquid occurs, and it becomes difficult to maintain a constant print quality along the arrangement direction of the ejection ports.

Further, the shrinkage of the grooved member along the longitudinal direction appears as a shift in the arrangement interval of the grooves with respect to the arrangement interval of the discharge energy generating portions, and this shift has a greater effect as the number of discharge ports increases. This causes a large cause of ink non-discharge due to a positional shift between each liquid path and the discharge energy generating unit.

In order to suppress such shrinkage and warpage of the resin, it is conceivable to adjust the shape of the molding die. In this case, a large number of correction data are added, and the die is modified while performing trial casting. Therefore, the period and cost for manufacturing the mold increase, and it is difficult to reduce the product cost.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet head having a grooved member in which even if the number of discharge ports is large, the contraction and warpage of the grooved member are small.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet cartridge incorporating such an ink jet head.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet apparatus equipped with such an ink jet head.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate provided with a discharge energy generating portion for discharging a droplet, a groove corresponding to the discharge energy generating portion, and a groove corresponding to the discharge energy generating portion. A grooved member formed with a discharge port communicating with one end thereof, and forming a liquid path respectively communicating with the discharge port by joining the substrate and the grooved member; In the ink jet head configured to discharge droplets from the corresponding liquid path through the discharge port, the grooved member is formed integrally with the resin section forming the groove and the discharge port, and the resin section. And a thermal deformation suppressing member extending along the direction of arrangement of the discharge ports and having a smaller thermal expansion coefficient than the resin portion. The thermal deformation suppressing member supplies liquid to the common liquid chamber. A passage for supplying, in an ink jet head, characterized by further comprising a locking unit for locking the resin portion.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate provided with a discharge energy generating section for discharging liquid droplets, a groove corresponding to the discharge energy generating section, and a discharge port communicating with one end of each of the grooves. A grooved member having an outlet formed therein, wherein the liquid passage corresponding to the discharge energy generating unit is formed by joining the substrate and the grooved member to form liquid paths respectively communicating with the discharge ports. And a liquid tank for storing a liquid to be supplied to the ink jet head, wherein the grooved member of the ink jet head is provided. A resin part forming the groove and the discharge port, and a resin part formed integrally with the resin part and arranged along the arrangement direction of the discharge port. A passage for and a small thermal deformation suppressing member in thermal expansion coefficient than the resin section, the thermal deformation suppressing member for supplying liquid to the common liquid chamber extends,
An ink-jet cartridge further comprising a locking portion for locking to the resin portion.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate provided with a discharge energy generating section for discharging liquid droplets, a groove corresponding to the discharge energy generating section, and a discharge port communicating with one end of each of the grooves. A grooved member having an outlet formed therein, wherein the liquid passage corresponding to the discharge energy generating unit is formed by joining the substrate and the grooved member to form liquid paths respectively communicating with the discharge ports. An ink jet apparatus comprising an ink jet head mounting portion adapted to discharge liquid droplets from said discharge port through said discharge port, wherein said grooved member of said ink jet head has a resin portion forming said groove and said discharge port. When,
And a thermal deformation suppressing member formed integrally with the resin portion and extending along the arrangement direction of the discharge ports and having a smaller thermal expansion coefficient than the resin portion. The ink jet apparatus further comprises a passage for supplying the ink, and a locking portion for locking to the resin portion.

According to the present invention, the resin portion of the groove butting member and the thermal deformation suppressing member are integrally formed, and the heat shrinking deformation of the resin portion, particularly the heat shrinking deformation along the arrangement direction of the discharge ports, is suppressed. It is suppressed by the locking portion of the member.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the ink jet head according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the locking portion may be an annular concave or convex portion formed on the outer peripheral surface of the thermal deformation suppressing member. Grid-like or mesh-like notches formed by knurling the outer peripheral surface of the suppressing member may be used, or both longitudinal end surfaces of the thermal deformation suppressing member. Further, the thermal deformation suppressing member may have a cylindrical shape through which a liquid passes, or may further have tubular portions at both ends in the longitudinal direction, and a passage is formed in these tubular portions. You may. Further, the thermal deformation suppressing member is desirably formed of stainless steel or ceramics, and the discharge energy generating section has an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy that causes film boiling of the liquid. Is also good.

In the ink jet cartridge according to the second aspect of the present invention, the liquid is preferably ink, a processing liquid for adjusting the characteristics of the ink ejected to the print medium, or these inks and processing liquid.

In the ink jet apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the ejection ports are arranged over the entire width of the print area of the print medium.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of an ink jet head according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 showing the appearance of the ink jet head in this embodiment and FIG. 2 showing the disassembled state of the main part thereof.
As shown in FIG. 3 showing a cross-sectional structure along the longitudinal direction of the ink jet head 11, the ink jet head 11 of this embodiment includes a base plate 12 made of stainless steel or the like, and a plurality of heater boards superposed on the base plate 12. 13, a grooved member 14 superposed on the front end side of the heater board 13, and a wiring board 15 superposed on the rear end side of the heater board 13 constitute a main part.

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 in which the joint portion between the base plate 12 and the heater board 13 is extracted and enlarged, the upper surface of the front end of each heater board 13 as the substrate of the present invention is Electrothermal transducers 16 as discharge energy generating parts are formed at predetermined intervals P, respectively.
Electrode pads 17 electrically connected to the electrothermal transducers 16 are formed at predetermined intervals on the upper surface of the rear end of each heater board 13. Each heater board 13 formed from a silicon wafer or the like by using a semiconductor device manufacturing technique is bonded on a base plate 12 with an adhesive 18 having a predetermined thickness, and a space between the heater boards 13 adjacent to each other is provided. Also, the distance between the electrothermal converters 16 located at the side ends of the heater board 13 is set to the predetermined distance P. In addition, a space between these adjacent heater boards 13 is filled with a sealing material 19 for preventing ink from leaking to the base plate 12 side.

When there is no risk of ink leaking from the gap between the adjacent heater boards 13, it is not necessary to use the above-described sealing material 19. In this embodiment, 1
A heater board 13 is used in which 28 electrothermal transducers 16 are formed at intervals of 70.5 μm P corresponding to a density of 360 dpi. In addition, the above-described electrothermal converter 1
Instead of 6, a piezoelectric element may be used as the discharge energy generating section.

On the front end joining surface of the wiring board 15 joined to the base plate 12 via an adhesive together with the heater board 13, an electrode pad corresponding to the electrode pad 17 formed on the rear end upper surface of the heater board 13 is provided. The electrode pads 17, 20 are electrically connected via wire bonding or the like. The electrode pad 20 of the wiring board 15 is connected to a connector 21 provided at the center of the rear end of the wiring board 15, and further controls on / off of energization of each electrothermal converter 16 via the connector 21. Connect to a control device not shown.

A spring holder 22 for mounting a grooved member is located on the wiring board 15, and the spring holder 22 is connected to the base plate 12 via the wiring board 15.
It is fixed to. Base ends of a plurality of pressing springs 23 arranged along the arrangement direction of the heater boards 13 are locked to the spring holder 22, and the distal ends of the pressing springs 23 abut on the upper surface of the grooved member 14. The grooved member 14 is pressed and fixed on the heater board 13 by the spring force.

FIG. 5 showing the front shape of the grooved member 14, FIG. 6 showing the bottom shape thereof, and FIG. 7 showing the sectional structure taken along the line VII-VII in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the base plate 12 and the heater board 1 are provided on the discharge port surface 24 side of the grooved member 14.
3 is provided with a positioning flange portion 25 that abuts on the front end surface of the discharge port 26. The other end of the discharge port 26 that penetrates through the flange portion 25 and opens at the discharge port surface 24 at the predetermined interval P A groove 27 having a trapezoidal cross section engraved on the joint surface at the front end communicates with the front end. The other end of each of the trapezoidal cross-sectional grooves 27 for forming an ink path 28 described later is connected to a recess 29 formed along the longitudinal direction of the rear joining surface of the grooved member 14, and a common ink chamber described later is formed. Recess 2 for constructing
Reference numeral 9 denotes a state in which a part of the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical thermal deformation suppressing member 30 such as a stainless steel tube embedded in the grooved member 14 faces. The thermal deformation suppressing member 30 has a plurality of communication holes 31 communicating the inside of the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 and the recess 29.

An ink tank (not shown) for storing ink is connected to an elbow-shaped ink receiving port 32 formed at both longitudinal ends of the rectangular rod-shaped grooved member 14 via a pipe (not shown). Further, the ink receiving port 32 is provided with the ink supply path 3 formed in the grooved member 14.
3, the ink in the ink tank passes from the inside of the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 through a communication hole 31 and a recess 29 serving as a common ink chamber through a pipe. The ink is supplied to the groove 27 that becomes the ink path 28.

The grooved member 14 having the grooves 27 and the recesses 29 formed thereon is fixed on the heater board 13 via a connecting means such as the above-described pressing spring 23, and thereby the joining surface of the grooved members 14 is formed. Are bonded to the upper surface of the heater board 13 in close contact with each other. In this case, the heater board 1
3, the heater board 13 and the grooved member 14 are positioned so that the respective electrothermal transducers 16 face the grooves 27, respectively, and the flange portions 25 of the grooved members 14 are formed on the front end surfaces of the base plate 12 and the heater board 13. Pressed in close contact. The ink jet head 11 in this embodiment uses 24 heater boards 13 so as to have 3008 discharge ports 26 corresponding to a print width of 212 mm.

As described above, in this embodiment, the heater board 1
3 and the grooved member 14 are fixed via a mechanical connecting means such as a pressing spring 23, but by using an adhesive or by using this adhesive together, the heater board 13 and the grooved member 14 can be fixed. Can naturally be connected.

As a result, a plurality of ink paths 29 each having one end serving as a discharge port 26 are formed between the upper surface of the front end of the heater board 13 and each groove 27 of the grooved member 14. A common ink chamber 30 communicating with the other end is formed between the upper surface of the central portion of the heater board 13 and the recess 29 of the grooved member 14. The energization of the electrothermal converter 16 causes the electrothermal converter 16
Generates heat, and the ink in the ink path 29 facing the electrothermal transducer 16 is heated and foams, and the ink in the ink path 29 is ejected as ink droplets from the ejection port 26 by the energy of the foaming. This foaming of the ink is preferably due to film boiling of the ink.

The material constituting the grooved member 14 may be any material that can accurately form the grooves 27 at a predetermined interval P, but is excellent in mechanical strength, dimensional stability, ink resistance and the like. It is preferred that it is. Examples of materials satisfying such conditions include epoxy resin, acrylic resin, diglycol, dialkyl carbonate resin, unsaturated polyester resin, polyurethane resin, polyimide resin, melamine resin, phenol resin, and urea resin. In particular, it is preferable to employ polysulfone, polyethersulfone, or the like from the viewpoint of moldability and ink resistance.

The grooved member 14 is formed by forming the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 by insert molding, and then forming the
The joint surface with the heater board 13 is simultaneously cut. Then, in order to prevent the discharge performance from deteriorating due to the periphery of the discharge port 26 of the discharge port surface 24 being wet by the ink, at least the ink repellent coating is formed on the discharge port surface 24.
Formed. After that, a groove 27 serving as an ink path 28 corresponding to each electrothermal converter 16 is dug by an excimer laser. The processing by the laser beam can be repeated using 128 masks, each corresponding to the number of electrothermal transducers 16 formed on one heater board, using a mask, but 3008 grooves 27 at a time. May be processed. After the formation of these grooves 27, the discharge ports 26 are formed by laser processing from the side of the depression 29 in the same manner as the grooves 27, and the grooved member 14 is finally completed.

By the way, the heater board 13 as a substrate
Is composed of a silicon wafer and has a coefficient of linear expansion of 2.4 × 10 ⁻⁶ / ° C. On the other hand, the resin constituting the main part of the grooved member 14 has a linear expansion coefficient of 1 × 10 ^−5.
/ ° C. to about 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ / ° C., and the polysulfone used as the grooved member 14 in this embodiment has a linear expansion coefficient of 5.6 × 10 ⁻⁵ / ° C. In the long inkjet head 11 as in this embodiment, the relative position between the electrothermal converter 16 and the discharge port 26 on the heater board 13 is changed due to the difference in linear expansion coefficient between the heater board 13 and the grooved member 14. There is a possibility that it will shift. Therefore, the grooved member 14 is integrally formed with a thermal deformation suppressing member 30 made of stainless steel or ceramics having a smaller linear expansion coefficient than the coefficient of linear expansion along the longitudinal direction thereof. Thermal deformation is suppressed. Incidentally, the linear expansion coefficient of the stainless steel is 1.73 × 10 ⁻⁵ / ° C., and the thermal deformation along the longitudinal direction of the grooved member 14 is reduced by integrally insert-molding the thermal deformation suppressing member 30. The thermal deformation suppressing member 30 can suppress the thermal deformation of the stainless steel to the extent of the thermal deformation of the stainless steel, and can greatly reduce the displacement of the relative position between the electrothermal converter 16 on the heater board 13 and the discharge port 26.

As shown in FIG. 9 showing the appearance of the thermal deformation suppressing member 30, annular concave portions 34 are formed at predetermined intervals on the outer peripheral surface of the thermal deformation suppressing member 30, and the resin is introduced into the recesses. Thus, the adhesion between the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 and the resin is improved, and the expansion and deformation of the resin along the longitudinal direction of the grooved member 14 can be reliably restrained.
The concave portion 34 as the locking portion of the present invention is also provided with the grooved member 1.
In response to a sudden thermal stress generated at the time of laser processing for No. 4, it functions to suppress a decrease in resin shrinkage.

It should be noted that instead of the recess 34 described above, shot blasting or knurling is performed by using the thermal deformation suppressing member 30.
May be formed on the outer peripheral surface.

FIG. 10 shows a fracture structure of the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 in which an engaging portion formed by knurling is formed on the outer peripheral surface. Elements having the same functions as those in the previous embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. , Overlapping description will be omitted. That is, on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical thermal deformation suppressing member 30, a large number of annular notches 35 and a number of linear notches 36 along the longitudinal direction are formed by knurling, respectively. These notches 3 as
5 and 36 improve the adhesion between the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 and the resin, as in the previous embodiment, so that the expansion and deformation of the resin along the longitudinal direction of the grooved member 14 can be reliably restrained. .

As described above, in the present embodiment, the notches 35, 3 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 by knurling.
Since the groove 6 is formed, the locking portion can be processed more easily and more quickly than the previous embodiment in which the concave portion 34 is formed, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 in the above two embodiments, the locking portion is formed on the outer peripheral surface. However, both longitudinal end surfaces of the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 can be used as the locking portion. is there.

FIG. 11 shows a broken structure of such a thermal deformation suppressing member 30, and FIG. 12 shows a sectional structure of a grooved member integrally formed with the thermal deformation suppressing member 30, which has the same function as that of the previous embodiment. The same reference numerals are used for the elements of
Duplicate description will be omitted. That is, the cylindrical portion 37 having the ink supply passage 33 on the inner side is provided with the communication hole 31.
Are formed, and both ends 38 in the longitudinal direction of the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 having a substantially solid structure are sandwiched by a resin constituting a main part of the grooved member 14. In the present embodiment, a stitch 39 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 to reduce the thermal expansion of the resin.
However, since the resin has a structure in which the longitudinal end surfaces 38 of the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 are sandwiched by the resin, the thermal shrinkage of the resin can be strongly suppressed without the notches 39.

Further, in this embodiment, as in the previous embodiment shown in FIG. 10, since the communication holes 31 are formed only at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the thermal deformation suppressing member 30, the depression 29, that is, The flow of the ink in the common ink chamber becomes a laminar flow state, and the air bubbles staying in the common ink chamber can be smoothly discharged. In particular, when the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 has a solid structure, the flow of ink passing through the inside of the thermal deformation suppressing member 30 can be eliminated, so that bubbles staying in the common ink chamber can be more smoothly discharged. be able to.

In the above-described embodiment, the full-line type ink jet head 11 has been described. However, it is of course possible to apply the ink jet head 11 to a serial type ink jet head or to incorporate this in an ink jet cartridge. FIG. 13 shows the external appearance of an embodiment of the cartridge.

That is, the ink jet cartridge 41 in this embodiment is mounted in a carriage of an ink jet device (not shown) in a positioning state, and exchanges electric signals with the ink jet device. An ink jet cartridge 41 that is detachably exchanged with respect to the carriage includes an ink jet head 11, a head holder 42 that holds the ink jet head 11, a pressing block 43 that presses the ink jet head 11 on the head holder 42, and an ink cartridge. The main part is constituted by an ink tank 44 to be housed and a lid member 45 for sealing the inside of the ink tank 44. The ink tank 44 occupying most of the volume of the ink jet cartridge 41 has the inside of the ink tank 44. An atmosphere communication port 46 for maintaining the atmospheric pressure is formed.

A large number of ejection ports 26 for ejecting ink
Is formed in the inkjet head 11 shown in FIGS.
The inkjet head 11 has a structure corresponding to the embodiment shown in FIG.
3 is pressed and held by the head holder 42. The ink is supplied from the ink tank 44 to the inkjet head 1.
The ink is supplied from the common ink chamber to each ink path 29 through an ink supply pipe (not shown) and a communication hole 31.

The ink jet cartridge 41 of this embodiment is formed by integrally forming the ink jet head 11 and the ink tank 44. The ink jet cartridge 41 has a structure in which the ink tank 44 side is exchangeably connected to the ink jet head 11. An inkjet cartridge may be used.

FIG. 14 shows a schematic structure of an embodiment of an ink jet apparatus according to the present invention equipped with such an ink jet cartridge. That is, the ink jet apparatus of this embodiment is a full-line type color printer, and the ink jet cartridge is composed of four ink tanks 47Y and 47 storing yellow ink, magenta ink, cyan ink, and black ink, respectively.
M, 47C, 47B (hereinafter collectively referred to as ink tank 47), and ink supply pipes connected to these ink tanks 47 via connection pipes 48, respectively.
Inkjet heads 11Y, 11M, 11C, 1
1B (hereinafter collectively referred to as an inkjet head 1
Each ink tank 47 is exchangeably connected to a connection pipe 48.

Head driver 5 connected to control device 49
0, the ink jet head 11 in which the energization of each electrothermal converter 16 is switched on / off.
Has the same basic structure as that of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 12, and extends along the transport direction of the transport belt 51 so as to face the platen 52 with the endless transport belt 51 interposed therebetween. Are arranged at predetermined intervals. The head 49 is moved up and down in a direction facing the platen 52 by a head moving means 53 for a recovery process whose operation is controlled by the control device 49. Each inkjet head 11
Before the printing operation on the print paper 54, a head cap 55 for discharging the old ink interposed in the ink passage 29 from the discharge port 26 to perform the recovery processing of the inkjet head 11 is provided on the side of the inkjet head 11. The cap moving means 56, which is arranged at a half pitch with respect to the arrangement interval and whose operation is controlled by the control device 49, moves directly below the inkjet head 11 and receives the waste ink discharged from the discharge port 26. It has become.

The transport belt 51 for transporting the print paper 54 is wound around a drive roller 58 connected to a belt drive motor 57, and its operation is switched by a motor driver 59 connected to a control device 49. Also,
On the upstream side of the transport belt 51, the transport belt 51
Is provided, a charger 60 for bringing the print paper 54 into close contact with the transport belt 51 is provided, and this charger 60 is turned on by a charger driver 61 connected to the control device 49. / Off is switched. A pair of feed rollers 62 for feeding the print paper 54 onto the transport belt 51 is connected to a feed motor 63 for driving and rotating the pair of feed rollers 62. The motor 63 is connected to the control device 4
The operation is switched by a motor driver 64 connected to the motor driver 9.

Therefore, prior to the printing operation on the printing paper 54, the ink jet head 11 is lifted away from the platen 52, and then the head cap 6
5 moves directly below these inkjet heads 11 to perform a recovery process of the inkjet heads 11, moves the head cap 65 to the original standby position, and further moves the inkjet head 11 to the print position.
Move to the side. At the same time as the charging device 60 is operated, the transport belt 51 is driven, and the print paper 54 is placed on the transport belt 51 by the feed roller 62, and a predetermined color image is printed by the inkjet heads 11. Printed on 54.

It should be noted that the present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for discharging a liquid, particularly in an ink jet system. The present invention brings about an excellent effect in an ink jet head, an ink jet cartridge, or an ink jet device of a type in which a change in the state of a liquid is caused by thermal energy. According to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of the print.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. No. 4,723,129 and US Pat.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 0796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it is arranged corresponding to the sheet or the flow path holding the liquid. Applying at least one drive signal to the electrothermal transducer that provides a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling corresponding to the print information, thereby generating thermal energy in the electrothermal transducer and providing a thermal effect to the inkjet head. This is effective because film boiling occurs on the surface, and consequently, bubbles in the liquid corresponding to this drive signal can be formed one-to-one. By the growth and contraction of the bubble, the ink is ejected through the ejection port to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of the liquid having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. In addition,
US Patent No. 4 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise of the heat acting surface
By employing the conditions described in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 313124, more excellent printing can be performed.

Further, as a configuration of the ink jet head, a combination configuration of a discharge port, a flow path, and an electrothermal converter (a linear liquid flow path or a right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in each of the above-mentioned specifications. In addition, the present invention includes a configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bent region. In addition, JP-A-59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an aperture for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. JP-A-59-138461 which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge section
The effects of the present invention are effective even if the configuration is based on the above publication. That is, according to the present invention, printing can be performed reliably and efficiently regardless of the form of the inkjet head.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above,
A liquid that solidifies at room temperature or lower and softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. Alternatively, in the inkjet method, the liquid itself is temperature-controlled within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to stabilize the viscosity of the liquid. The temperature control is generally performed as described in (1), and a liquid which is in a liquid state when the use print signal is applied may be used. In addition, in order to positively prevent the temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as the energy of the state change from the solid state to the liquid state, or to prevent the liquid from evaporating, it is solidified in a standing state and liquefied by heating A liquid may be used. In any case, such as a liquid that is liquefied by application of heat energy according to a print signal and a liquid is discharged, and a liquid that already starts solidifying when it reaches a print medium,
The present invention is also applicable to a case where a material that liquefies for the first time by applying thermal energy is used. In such a case, the liquid is described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260.
It may be configured such that it is opposed to the electrothermal converter in a state of being held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned liquids is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

[0050]

According to the present invention, a grooved member is formed by integrally molding a resin portion having a groove serving as an ink path and a discharge port, and a thermal deformation suppressing member having a smaller thermal expansion coefficient than the resin portion. Since the passage for supplying liquid to the common liquid chamber and the locking portion for locking to the resin portion are formed in the thermal deformation suppressing member extending along the direction of arrangement of the discharge ports, the heat deformation of the grooved member The expansion and contraction can be suppressed to, for example, ± 5 μm or less, and a stable and long inkjet head having high ejection performance can be obtained.

For this reason, it is possible to easily form an ink jet head having, for example, 200 or more, in particular, several thousand discharge ports, so that a full line type ink jet head having a length corresponding to the print width of a print medium is provided. To achieve a remarkable effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the appearance of an embodiment of an ink jet head according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an internal structure of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state where a grooved member is removed from FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the grooved member.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the grooved member.

7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG.

8 is a sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a front view illustrating an appearance of a thermal deformation suppressing member.

FIG. 10 is a cutaway view illustrating a schematic structure of another embodiment of the thermal deformation suppressing member.

FIG. 11 is a cutaway view illustrating a schematic structure of another embodiment of the thermal deformation suppressing member.

12 is a sectional view illustrating an internal structure of a grooved member into which the thermal deformation suppressing member illustrated in FIG. 11 is incorporated.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of an embodiment of an inkjet cartridge according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of an embodiment in which the inkjet apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a full line type color printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 11 inkjet head 12 base plate 13 heater board 14 grooved member 15 wiring board 16 electrothermal transducer 17 electrode pad 18 adhesive 19 sealing material 20 electrode pad 21 connector 22 spring holder 23 pressing spring 24 discharge port surface 25 flange portion 26 discharge Outlet 27 Groove 28 Ink path 29 Depressed part 30 Thermal deformation suppressing member 31 Communication hole 32 Ink receiving port 33 Ink supply path 34 Depression 35, 36 Notch 37 Cylindrical part 38 Side end face of thermal deformation suppressing member 39 Notch 41 Inkjet cartridge 42 Head holder 43 Press Block 44 Ink Tank 45 Lid Member 46 Atmosphere Communication Port 47Y, 47M, 47C, 47B Ink Tank 48 Connection Piping 49 Controller 50 Head Driver 51 Transport Belt 52 Platen 53 Head Moving Means 4 print paper 55 head cap 56 cap moving means 57 belt drive motor 58 driving roller 59 motor driver 60 charger 61 charger driver 62 feeding roller 63 motor 64 motor driver paper feed

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshikazu Omata 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Riki Abe 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Kia (72) Inventor Hiroshi Koizumi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A substrate provided with a discharge energy generating section for discharging liquid droplets, a groove corresponding to the discharge energy generating section, and a groove formed with a discharge port communicating with one end of each of the grooves. A liquid path communicating with the discharge port by joining the substrate and the grooved member to form a liquid path from the liquid path corresponding to the discharge energy generating section through the discharge port. In the ink jet head configured to discharge droplets, the grooved member is formed integrally with the resin portion forming the groove and the discharge port, and extends along the direction in which the discharge ports are arranged and is formed integrally with the resin portion. A thermal deformation suppressing member having a smaller thermal expansion coefficient than the resin portion, wherein the thermal deformation suppressing member is locked to the passage for supplying liquid to the common liquid chamber and to the resin portion; Ink jet head, characterized by further comprising a locking portion. 2. The ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein the locking portion is an annular concave or convex portion formed on an outer periphery of the thermal deformation suppressing member. 3. The ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein the locking portion has a grid-shaped or mesh-shaped notch formed by knurling on an outer peripheral surface of the thermal deformation suppressing member. 4. The ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein the locking portions are both end surfaces in a longitudinal direction of the thermal deformation suppressing member. 5. The ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein the thermal deformation suppressing member has a cylindrical shape through which a liquid passes. 6. The thermal deformation suppressing member according to claim 1, further comprising tubular portions at both ends in the longitudinal direction, wherein the passages are formed in these tubular portions.
The inkjet head according to any one of the above. 7. The ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein the thermal deformation suppressing member is made of stainless steel or ceramic. 8. The discharge energy generating section according to claim 1, further comprising an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy for causing film boiling of the liquid. Inkjet head. 9. A substrate provided with a discharge energy generating unit for discharging liquid droplets, a groove corresponding to the discharge energy generating unit, and a groove formed with a discharge port communicating with one end of each of the grooves. A liquid path communicating with the discharge port by joining the substrate and the grooved member to each other, and from the liquid path corresponding to the discharge energy generating section via the discharge port. An ink jet cartridge including an ink jet head configured to discharge liquid droplets and a liquid tank storing a liquid to be supplied to the ink jet head, wherein the grooved member of the ink jet head includes the groove and the discharge port. A resin part forming an outlet; and a resin part integrally formed with the resin part and extending along an arrangement direction of the discharge ports. A thermal deformation suppressing member having a small thermal expansion coefficient, the thermal deformation suppressing member further includes a passage for supplying a liquid to the common liquid chamber, and a locking portion for locking to the resin portion. An ink-jet cartridge characterized by the above-mentioned. 10. The ink-jet cartridge according to claim 9, wherein the liquid is a processing liquid for adjusting characteristics of the ink and / or the ink ejected to the print medium. 11. A substrate provided with a discharge energy generating section for discharging a droplet, a groove corresponding to the discharge energy generating section, and a groove formed with a discharge port communicating with one end of each of the grooves. A liquid path communicating with the discharge port by joining the substrate and the grooved member to each other, and from the liquid path corresponding to the discharge energy generating section via the discharge port. An ink jet device comprising an ink jet head mounting portion adapted to discharge liquid droplets, wherein the grooved member of the ink jet head is formed integrally with a resin portion forming the groove and the discharge port. A thermal deformation suppressing member that is formed and extends along the direction of arrangement of the discharge ports and has a smaller thermal expansion coefficient than the resin portion; Material inkjet apparatus further comprising a passage for supplying the liquid to the common liquid chamber, and a locking portion for locking the resin portion. 12. The ink jet apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the discharge ports are arranged over the entire width of a print area of a print medium.