JPH10296986A - Ink jet recording head and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remove adhesive products generated at the time of laser machining of the orifice, or the like, of a recording head well. SOLUTION: Adhesive products are removed by jetting micro particles of smaller size than an orifice, or the like, being machined by laser toward a work, i.e., a top plate 5 and an orifice plate 6, through a nozzle 7. When micro particles of aluminum hydroxide are employed and the jetting quantity is set at a relatively low level, products adhering to the top plate, or the like, can be removed without causing any damage on the surface or the shape thereof.

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 ink jet recording head for discharging a recording liquid generally called ink from fine discharge ports, and an ink jet recording head manufactured by the method. The present invention relates to a method for removing contaminants (by-products) attached to the surface of a member to be processed during ablation in which a resin is irradiated with a laser beam to perform processing, film formation, other processing, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink jet recording apparatus uses an electromechanical transducer as an ink discharge method, and selectively deflects ink droplets by flying ink droplets in an electric field and changing the electric field. Various ejection methods are known, such as a method of ejecting by ejecting.

[0003] Among these, an ink jet recording head of a system that discharges a recording liquid by using thermal energy,
Liquid ejection portions (ejection ports) for ejecting recording droplets to form flying droplets can be arranged at a high density, so that high-resolution recording can be performed. It has various advantages such as easy downsizing.
It is widely used.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of an ink jet recording head of this type. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a top plate in which the liquid chamber 20 and the orifice surface (hereinafter, the orifice plate) 6 are integrally formed before forming the flow path of the recording head.

In manufacturing the recording head, a portion (not shown) of the top plate 19 shown in FIG.
Is formed, the orifice plate section 6 is irradiated with excimer laser light so as to communicate with the flow path, and a hole is formed to form a discharge port (hereinafter, an orifice). As described above, the processing of the orifice or the like is generally performed by excimer laser light.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of an excimer laser. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a laser beam oscillator, 2 denotes a laser beam oscillated from the laser beam oscillator, 3 denotes a lens for condensing the laser beam, and 4 denotes all or a part of an orifice pattern. A mask 6 is a part of an orifice plate of a top plate integrally formed of resin, and 5 is a top plate.

In the conventional laser processing, minute fragments, which are considered to be composed of carbon or carbide and are generated when a workpiece made of resin is decomposed and removed by ablation using laser light, adhere to the periphery of the flow path and the periphery of the discharge port. The phenomenon of deposition is known. For this reason, conventionally, by performing channel processing and orifice processing with laser light while spraying helium gas, it has been prevented that the above-mentioned minute fragments adhere to the vicinity of the discharge port or the like. Such a conventional configuration is described in, for example, JP-A-4-279357. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to completely remove the deposit by the laser processing involving the spraying of the helium gas.

On the other hand, when the above-mentioned minute fragments adhere,
The thickness of the deposits can be as large as a few μm in extreme cases, a dimension that cannot be neglected in terms of design dimensional tolerances. Since the amount of the attached deposit changes depending on the power density distribution of the laser beam irradiation portion, the increase / decrease of the power, the pulse width, and the like, it is often difficult to control the amount.

On the other hand, in order to respond to the demand for higher image quality in recent ink jet recording apparatuses, as one configuration thereof, discharge ports and flow paths are arranged at a higher density in order to increase image resolution. It is becoming necessary to further reduce the size of the road. For this reason, if the above-mentioned attached deposits are present, the influence of the presence thereof becomes relatively large, and variations in the flow path dimensions due to the uneven distribution, variations in the ejection direction, and non-ejections are more serious problems. Become.

On the other hand, a method of blasting is considered as a method of removing the deposit. In blasting, sand (silica sand) and other particles with a particle size of several tens to 100 μm are sprayed onto the workpiece using compressed air, and the workpiece is scraped off by the impact force. This is a method of selectively removing attached scales and paints.

[0011]

However, the conventional blasting machine cannot practically be used for high-precision machining because it is difficult to control the machining amount.

Further, in the ink jet recording head which is symmetrical in the present invention, the problem of the deposits in the flow path and the discharge port having a size of about several tens μm or less is considered. Less than,
Desirably, it is necessary to use particles of about several μm or less.

Furthermore, since the conventional blasting machine is originally configured to scrape off the workpiece, there is a problem that it cannot be used as it is for removing the deposits generated by the laser processing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording head capable of favorably removing deposits by laser processing. It is in.

[0015]

According to the present invention, there is provided:
In a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head for discharging ink, a predetermined shape of a member forming the ink jet recording head is processed by a laser, and particles having a size smaller than the predetermined shape formed by the processing are applied to the member. And ejecting the material to remove a substance attached to the member by the processing.

[0016] Preferably, the particles are made of aluminum hydroxide.

Alternatively, the particles are made of polystyrene.

In an ink jet recording head for discharging ink, an orifice for discharging ink and a groove for a liquid path communicating with the orifice, the orifice and the groove for the liquid path formed by using a laser are provided. After the formation of the orifice and the groove for the liquid path by the laser, particles having a size smaller than the size of the orifice and the groove for the liquid path were ejected, and adhered to the orifice and the groove for the liquid path by the processing of the laser. The substance has been removed.

According to the above arrangement, when a predetermined shape such as an orifice of an ink jet recording head is formed by a laser, a substance having a size smaller than the size of the orifice or the like is ejected by a substance adhering to the orifice by the laser processing. As a result, the particles can be appropriately applied to the adhered substance, and this substance can be removed satisfactorily.

Further, since the material of the particles is aluminum hydroxide or the like, it is possible to prevent the recording head member from being damaged when the above-mentioned substance is removed.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an ink jet cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a recording head and an ink tank are integrated and can be exchanged for the apparatus.

The ink jet recording head shown in FIG.
A recess (hereinafter, also referred to as a groove) for forming an ink flow path and a common liquid chamber, and a top plate integrally formed with an orifice plate 6; and an electrothermal converter for generating energy used for ink ejection. A body (hereinafter also referred to as a discharge heater) and an Al wiring for supplying an electric signal thereto are joined to a substrate (hereinafter also referred to as a heater board) formed on a Si substrate by a film forming technique. The main part is constituted.

In the figure, reference numeral 300 denotes a base plate which joins the above-mentioned substrates to form a structural member of a recording head.
An ink supply unit interposed between the recording head and the ink tank for supplying ink. Reference numeral 1000 denotes a cartridge main body. An ink tank is built in the cartridge main body, and ink can be supplied to the recording head via the ink supply unit 600 at appropriate times.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a plan view and a partially enlarged view of the above-described heater board, respectively.

In FIG. 1A, reference numeral 101 denotes a base of a heater board, and reference numeral 103 denotes a discharge heater section in which a plurality of discharge heaters are arranged. A terminal 104 is connected to a separate circuit board terminal by wire bonding. Reference numeral 102 denotes a temperature sensor, which is formed by the same film forming process as the discharge heater unit 103 and the like. In FIG. 1B, reference numerals 18 and 106 denote a discharge heater and wiring, respectively. Reference numeral 108 denotes a heat retention heater for heating the ink in the head.

On the other hand, the top plate of the recording head is made of a resin such as polysulfone, polyethersulfone, or polyphenylene oxide which is excellent in ink resistance, and is integrally molded together with the orifice plate in a mold. You can get a board.

After the top plate thus formed is washed, it is subjected to a water-repellent treatment. To apply the water repellent, cut the absorber, Berita F mesh (manufactured by Kanebo Co., Ltd.), into a predetermined size, immerse the absorber in the water repellent, lift it up, and clean it with grooves. It is performed by moving while pressing against the discharge port forming surface of the top plate. Cytop CTX-CZ5A (manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.) is used as the water-repellent agent. The grooved top plate on which the application of the water-repellent agent has been completed is thermally dried and cured in an oven at 150 ° C. for 5 hours, then gradually cooled, and taken out of the oven at 80 ° C. or lower.

Next, a method for forming the ink flow channel and the orifice according to the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 3 shows the top plate 5 obtained as described above.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which an excimer laser is irradiated to an orifice plate 6 formed integrally with the ink passage to process an ink flow path and an orifice.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a laser light oscillation device for oscillating a Krf excimer laser, and 2 denotes a wavelength of 248 nm oscillated from the laser light oscillation device 1 and a pulse width of about 15 nsec.
3 is a synthetic quartz lens for condensing the laser beam 2, 4 is a projection mask on which chromium is vapor-deposited so as to shield the laser beam 2. 35μm, non-groove width 7.5μ
m is provided. Irradiation of 360 pulses at an energy density of 0.7 J / cm ² per pulse resulted in a groove depth of 30 μm.

After processing the ink flow path in this way,
The top plate 5 is rotated by 90 degrees, and an orifice plate formed integrally with the top plate is similarly irradiated with an excimer laser beam from the ink flow path side to perform orifice processing. The orifice is processed at an excimer laser beam power density of 0.7 J / cm ² . Thus, a diameter of 20 μm,
An orifice having a pitch of 42.5 μm can be obtained.

As described above, when the processed surface on which the channel grooves and holes were formed by the excimer laser was observed with a metallographic microscope at a magnification of 200 times, it was confirmed that black deposits were deposited on the entire surface. The adhesion product is mainly black because it is mainly made of carbide, and the top plate formed of resin is transparent or slightly yellowish, so that the adhesion product can be easily identified.

Next, the above-mentioned adhered products generated when the groove and the orifice are processed by the excimer laser are removed.

As a removing device, a powder beam machine HJ-2700 manufactured by Sony Corporation was used. This device is a device having a mechanism for supplying fine particles to an injection nozzle while always dispersing fine particles with dry high-pressure air.

As shown in FIG. 5, the fine particle supply unit 10 is located on the electronic balance 9 and can measure the reduction speed of the fine particles. Air is supplied to the supply unit 10 through an air mass flow meter 13, an air regulator 14, and an air supply line 15. Can be increased. By controlling the amount of the fine particles to always decrease by a constant amount, an arbitrary amount of 6 to 30 g / min can be supplied to the nozzle 7 and injected. When the weight of the particulates in the supply section decreases and the weight reaches the lower limit of the supply, the supply valve 11 automatically opens to supply the particulates via the supply line 17 and closes at the upper limit weight. In this way, the supply unit 10
Is automatically replenished with particulates.

However, such an apparatus is originally intended to perform cutting with a powder beam, and it is not possible to use the apparatus as it is for removing adhering matter generated during processing of a recording head as in this embodiment. Can not.
For this reason, it is necessary to appropriately determine the material of the fine particles to be injected, the injection amount (supply amount), and the like.

In this embodiment, in the configuration shown in FIG. 5, aluminum hydroxide Al (OH) is used as fine particles.
_{3 having} an average particle size of 4 μm is used. Particle supply amount is 6
g / min or less, and the air flow rate is 3
00 nm ³ / min, the distance between the injection nozzle 7 and the work is 2
The workpiece is inclined and set so that the injection angle is 45 ° with respect to each of the groove processing surface and the orifice plate surface, and the fine particles are injected. The diameter of the injection nozzle 7 is 10 mm × 1.6 mm, and the injection is performed while scanning four times at 100 mm / sec in the longitudinal direction of a work having a required processing length of 15 mm. At this time, scanning was performed so that the longitudinal direction of the diameter of the nozzle 7 was along the longitudinal direction of the work. The total processing time is 4 seconds, and the actual injection processing time on the processing surface is about 0.1 second. After that, fine particles are blown off by gently air blowing, followed by ultrasonic cleaning with pure water and drying with a spin drier.

When the powder beam processing machine is used for the original cutting or the like, the condition is that particles having an average particle diameter of 7 μm of SiC (silicon carbide) are used. The supply amount is 208 g / min and the nozzle diameter is 20 mm × 0.6.
mm.

The processed surface on which the fine particles were subjected to the injection processing was observed with a metallographic microscope at a magnification of 200 times, and it was confirmed that there was no adhered product.

Next, the processed surface was observed at an SEM (scanning electron microscope) magnification of 1000 times to observe the surface condition of the processed surface from which the adhered products were removed. As a result, the surface
Although it was in a satin shape having irregularities of about m, it was confirmed that the corners of the flow channel were not rounded or deformed. Also, no fine particles remained.

In another embodiment, polystyrene may be used as the material of the fine particles, and the fine particles may be sprayed under the same conditions to remove the adhered products. Also in this case, it was confirmed by observation with a metallographic microscope that there was no adhesion product. Also, by observing the surface state of the processed surface from which the adhered product was removed using a scanning electron microscope, it was confirmed that the corners of the flow channel were not rounded or deformed. No fine particles remained.

(Others) 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 performing ink ejection, particularly in an ink jet recording system. An excellent effect is obtained in a recording head and a recording apparatus of a type in which the state of ink is changed by the thermal energy. This is because according to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

The typical configuration and principle are described, for example, in US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
Although it can be applied to any type of continuous type, in particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to a sheet holding liquid (ink) or an electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding the nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis.
This is effective because air bubbles inside can be formed. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble 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 a liquid (ink) 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. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat.
A configuration using the specification of Japanese Patent No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 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. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration is based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be reliably and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium on which a recording apparatus can record. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads, or a configuration as one integrally formed recording head.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as described above, the recording head fixed to the apparatus main body or the electric connection with the apparatus main body or the ink from the apparatus main body is attached to the apparatus main body by being attached to the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself is used.

Further, it is preferable to add a recording head ejection recovery unit, a preliminary auxiliary unit, and the like as the configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If these are specifically mentioned, the recording head is heated using capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, an electrothermal transducer, another heating element or a combination thereof. Pre-heating means for performing the pre-heating and pre-discharging means for performing the discharging other than the recording can be used.

Regarding the type or number of print heads to be mounted, for example, only one print head is provided corresponding to a single color ink, and a plurality of inks having different print colors and densities are provided. A plurality may be provided. That is, for example, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to a printing mode of only a mainstream color such as black, but may be any of integrally forming a printing head or a combination of a plurality of printing heads. The present invention is also very effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of the recording modes of full color by color mixture.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or lower and which softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. In general, the ink jet method generally controls the temperature of the ink itself within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. Sometimes, the ink may be in a liquid state. In addition, in order to positively prevent temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to prevent evaporation of the ink, the ink is solidified in a standing state and heated. May be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start solidifying when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used. In such a case, the ink
JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-7
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1260, it is also possible to adopt a form in which the sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter in a state where it is 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 inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is not limited to those used as image output terminals of information processing equipment such as computers, copying apparatuses combined with readers and the like, and facsimile apparatuses having a transmission / reception function. It may take a form.

[0052]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, when a predetermined shape such as an orifice of an ink jet recording head is formed by a laser, a substance adhering to the orifice or the like by the laser processing is removed. Since particles having a size smaller than the same size are sprayed and removed, the particles can be appropriately applied to the adhered substance, and the substance can be removed satisfactorily.

Further, since the material of the particles is aluminum hydroxide or the like, it is possible to prevent the recording head member from being damaged when the above-mentioned substance is removed.

As a result, it is possible to prevent variations in the flow path size due to the uneven distribution of the attached deposits, variations in the ejection direction of the droplets due to dropping of a part of the attached deposits, and adverse effects on the recording due to blocking the ejection openings. It is possible to meet the demand for higher image quality.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view illustrating a configuration of an inkjet cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an orifice plate integrated top plate forming a recording head in the cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state of a flow channel groove and an orifice processing by a laser according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a plan view and a partially enlarged view, respectively, of a heater board forming the recording head.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a state in which fine particles are ejected to remove deposits during laser processing in one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 laser light oscillator 2 laser beam 3 condenser lens 4 mask 5 top plate 6 orifice plate 7 fine particle injection nozzle 9 electronic balance 10 fine particle supply tank 11 valve for supplying fine particles 12 injection nozzle supply side mass flow meter 13 air mass flow meter 14 air Regulator 15 Dry air supply line 16 Particle supply line 17 Particle supply line 18 Discharge heater 19 Liquid passage processing surface 20 Liquid chamber 101 Heater board base 102 Temperature sensor 103 Discharge heater 104 Terminal 106 Wiring 108 Heat retaining heater 300 Base member 600 Ink Supply unit 1000 cartridge

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takeshi Ikegame 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc.

Claims (7)

[Claims] In a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head for discharging ink, a predetermined shape of a member forming the ink jet recording head is processed by a laser, and particles having a size smaller than a size of the predetermined shape formed by the processing are provided. By injecting against the member,
Removing a substance attached to the member by the processing. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the particles are made of aluminum hydroxide. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the particles are made of polystyrene. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein an ejection amount of the particles is about 6 g / min or less. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ink jet recording head discharges the ink using thermal energy. 6. An ink jet recording head for discharging ink, comprising an orifice for discharging ink and a groove for a liquid passage communicating with the orifice, wherein the orifice and the groove for the liquid passage are formed by using a laser. After the formation of the orifice and the groove for the fluid path by the laser, particles having a size smaller than the size of the orifice and the groove for the fluid path were ejected, and adhered to the orifice and the groove for the fluid path by the processing of the laser. An ink jet recording head from which a substance has been removed. 7. The ink-jet recording head according to claim 6, wherein said ink-jet recording head discharges ink using thermal energy.