JPH106514A - Method for producing ink jet recording head, recording head produced by the method and ink jet recording apparatus equipped therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the clogging with foreign matter such as contaminant by integrally forming a filter part for removing foreign matter in ink with a part of a region from a supply port of a grooved member to an ink passage by using the constitutional material of the grooved member and forming a filter by using a process removing a resin by the irradiation with laser beam. SOLUTION: An ink jet recording head has a top plate 90 on which recessed parts for constituting an ink passage 14 and a common liquid chamber part 17 and an orifice plate 10 are integrally formed. The top plate 90 is provided with the ink passages 14 communicating with orifices 11, the common liquid chamber part 17 communicating with the ink passages 14 and ink supply ports 18 but, in this case, a part 19 allowing the ink supply ports 18 and the common liquid chamber parts 17 to communicate with each other is irradiated with excimer beam through a mask partially provided with apertures and the resin of the part irradiated with the excimer beam is decomposed and removed by beam energy to form a filter part 20. Foreign matter is trapped by the filter part 20 to be prevented from penetration.

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, an ink jet recording head according to the method, and an ink jet recording apparatus provided with the recording head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, ink passage grooves of a top plate used in an ink jet recording head are formed by molding, patterning, or the like, or disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 1-294047 and 2-1.
As described in, for example, Japanese Patent Nos. 21845 and 5-138882, there are some which are processed by irradiating an excimer laser beam.

Since excimer laser light has a short wavelength and a high intensity, it can irradiate a large amount of photons having an energy higher than the binding energy of the molecules constituting the organic substance, and efficiently excite the molecules constituting the organic substance at high speed. Can be cut well. Therefore, the ink channel groove having a fine shape can be processed with high smoothness and accuracy.

[0004] However, in the top plate of such an ink jet recording head, a large number of minute ink flow channels are arranged, so that dust and bubbles mixed in the ink are reduced.
The ink may enter the ink channel groove and cause non-ejection.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording head capable of preventing intrusion of dust, bubbles and the like into minute ink flow grooves arranged in a large number on a top plate of the ink jet recording head, and a method of manufacturing the head. The inventors have made the following proposals, which are shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the filler 16 contained in the resin top plate acts as a filter, thereby trapping foreign matter 21 such as fine dust in the ink, and reducing the incidence of non-discharge nozzles. Can be greatly reduced than before.

[0007]

However, the ink jet recording head using such a top plate has the following problems.

That is, the filler remains in the top plate resin and exerts a filter function. On the other hand, if the filler is very close to the orifice, the filler becomes an obstacle when the droplet is ejected. As a result, there is a disadvantage that the ejection power is weakened, or the ejection direction is changed, and the impact point on the recording medium (paper) is shifted. Such a phenomenon causes a decrease in print quality.

Further, if a large number of these fillers are present in the ink flow path, the ejection power will also be weakened, and there is a problem that printing quality is not preferable.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head which can suppress the occurrence of non-discharge nozzles due to clogging of foreign matter such as dust without adversely affecting the discharge and print quality as described above. An object of the present invention is to provide a recording head obtained by a manufacturing method and an ink jet recording apparatus provided with the recording head.

[0011]

The above objects can be attained by the present invention described below. That is, the present invention includes a substrate having a plurality of discharge pressure generating sections, a plurality of discharge ports, a groove section that should be an ink flow path communicating with the discharge ports, and a common liquid chamber section communicating with each of the ink flow paths. Constituting recesses,
And a grooved member comprising an ink supply port communicating with the common liquid chamber. An ink flow path is formed for each discharge pressure generating unit by joining the substrate and the grooved member. In the method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head, a filter part for removing foreign matter in ink is integrated with a constituent material of the grooved member at least in a part from a supply port of the grooved member to an ink flow path. A method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head, characterized in that a filter is formed by forming a filter by using a resin removing step by irradiating a laser beam to the filter portion, and an ink jet recording head obtained by the manufacturing method is disclosed. Is what you do.

[0012] The present invention also provides a filter part comprising a filler of quartz, a filler of resin that transmits excimer laser light, a resin for forming a filter part containing glass fiber, and a resin containing no filler other than the filter part. And at the same time or at intervals, the resin is used as a filter part at the time of molding, and at least a part between the ink supply path and the ink flow path is almost fluidly closed. A step of forming, and a step of irradiating at least a part of a part including a filler with excimer laser light to melt and remove a resin part and forming a plurality of openings (holes) with the remaining filler to form a filter And a method of manufacturing the ink jet recording head of the present invention, and a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head obtained by the method. It is intended to disclose a de.

Further, the present invention also discloses an ink jet recording apparatus in which the ink jet recording apparatus of the ink jet system includes the above-described ink jet recording head of the present invention.

In order to achieve the above object, the first invention according to the present application is characterized by having the following configuration. That is, a filter for removing foreign matter and dust in the ink fluid is integrally formed in the top plate of the inkjet recording head, and the filter portion is provided between the ink supply port of the top plate and the inside of the ink flow path. Is formed at least partially. According to this configuration, foreign matter and the like in the ink can be trapped by the filter portion, so that a head without non-ejection can be manufactured.

The second invention according to the present application is characterized by having the following configuration. A resin for forming a filter portion containing a filler or glass fiber of a resin that transmits quartz filler or excimer laser light, and a resin containing no filler other than the filter portion are simultaneously or separately integrally formed with each other. At this time, at least a portion between the ink supply path and the ink flow path is formed as a fluidly closed portion by the resin serving as the filter portion, and then the portion serving as the filter is irradiated with excimer laser light. Then, the resin portion is removed, and a plurality of openings (holes) are formed by the remaining filler to form a filter.

With such a configuration, a filler portion that is not absorbed and processed by the excimer laser beam remains in the resin of the top plate, and this serves as a filter mesh, and functions as a filter.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention particularly provides an excellent effect in an ink jet recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus which perform recording by flying droplets using thermal energy among ink jet recording systems. .

Regarding the surface structure and principle of these recording heads and recording apparatuses, see, for example, US Pat.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in Japanese Patent Nos. 129 and 4740796.

A system using this principle can be applied to both an on-demand type and a 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 to an electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path holding the liquid (ink). By applying the heat, thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, causing film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the recording head to form bubbles in the liquid (ink) one-to-one corresponding to the drive signal. The ink is discharged from the ink discharge port by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form and fly one or more droplets.

If the drive signal at this time is pulse-shaped, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed instantaneously and appropriately in response to the application of the signal, and 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 includes a structure combining a discharge port, a liquid path, and an electrothermal converter as described in each of the above specifications (a linear liquid flow path structure or a rectangular liquid Channel configuration), US Pat.
A configuration in which the heat acting portion is disposed in a bent region as disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 58333 and the specification of Japanese Patent No. 4459600 may be adopted.

Further, a full-line type 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 integrated configuration.

Other types of recording heads include a replaceable chip type recording head which enables electrical connection to the recording apparatus main body and supply of ink from the recording apparatus main body, or ink integrated with the recording head itself. A cartridge type recording head provided with a tank may be used.

It is preferable to add recovery means for the printhead, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like as constituent units of the ink jet printing apparatus of the present invention, in order to further stabilize the effects 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 a recording mode of the recording apparatus of the present invention, a multi-color mode of different colors or a full-color mode of mixed colors may be provided in addition to a recording mode of only a mainstream color such as black.

In the present invention, the film boiling method is most effective for each of the above-mentioned inks. The inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention takes the form of a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, or a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function, in addition to those provided integrally or separately as image output terminals of information processing equipment such as a word processor and a computer. It may be something.

[0027]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 shows an ink jet recording head according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is a disposable one in which an ink tank is integrated.

The ink jet recording head shown in FIG.
A concave portion for forming an ink flow path and a common liquid chamber (hereinafter, referred to as a concave portion)
A top plate integrally formed with the orifice plate 10, an electrothermal converter (hereinafter referred to as a discharge heater) for generating discharge energy, and an Al wiring for supplying an electric signal thereto. Comprises a recording head body (not shown) formed by bonding a substrate (hereinafter, referred to as a heater board) formed on a Si substrate by a film forming technique.

In the figure, reference numeral 600 denotes a sub ink tank disposed adjacent to the recording head main body. The sub ink tank 600 and the main body are supported by lids 300 and 800. Further, reference numeral 1000 denotes a cartridge main body, and 1100 denotes a lid member of the cartridge main body. An ink tank is built in the cartridge body, and supplies ink to the sub ink tank 600 as appropriate.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which an orifice plate formed integrally with the top plate is irradiated with excimer laser light from the ink flow path side to perform orifice processing.
Groove processing is performed in the same manner. Elements similar to those shown in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the figure, 1 is KrF
A laser oscillation device that oscillates excimer laser light, 2 is a pulsed laser beam having a wavelength of 248 mm and a pulse width of about 15 nsec oscillated from the laser oscillation device 1, 3 is a synthetic quartz lens for collecting the laser beam 2, and 4 is a laser. This is a projection mask in which aluminum capable of shielding the beam 2 is deposited.
A plurality of orifices are arranged at a pitch of μm to form an orifice pattern.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are a plan view and a partially enlarged view of a substrate (heater board) 8 according to this embodiment. In FIG. 1A, reference numeral 101 denotes a heater board base according to the present example, and 103 denotes a discharge heater section. 104
Is a terminal, which is connected to the outside by wire bonding. Reference numeral 102 denotes a temperature sensor, and the discharge heater unit 10
It is formed on the discharge heater section 103 by the same film forming process as that of No. 3 and the like. FIG. 3B is an enlarged view of a portion “(B)” including the sensor 102 in FIG. 3A, and 15 and 106 are a discharge heater and wiring, respectively. Reference numeral 108 denotes a heat retention heater for heating the head.

Since the sensor 102 is formed by a film-forming process similar to that of a semiconductor similarly to other parts, it has extremely high accuracy, and aluminum, titanium, tantalum, tantalum pentoxide, It can be formed of a material such as niobium whose conductivity changes according to temperature. For example, of these, titanium is a material that can be disposed between the heating resistance layer and the electrode constituting the electrothermal conversion element in order to enhance the connection between the electrodes, and tantalum is a material that can protect the cavitation resistance of the protective layer on the heating resistance layer. A material that can be placed on top of it to enhance it. Further, the line width is increased in order to reduce process variations, and the resistance is increased in a meandering shape in order to reduce the influence of wiring resistance and the like.

Similarly, the heat retaining heater 108 is made of the same material (for example, HfB) as the heat generating resistance layer of the discharge heater 15.
₂ ) can be formed using other materials that make up the heater board, such as aluminum, tantalum,
It may be formed using titanium or the like. FIGS. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional views illustrating a configuration example of a top plate (a grooved member) according to the present example.

In FIG. 1A, a top plate 90 includes an orifice plate 10, an orifice (ejection port) 11 opened therein, an ink flow path 14 communicating therewith, and a common liquid chamber communicating with the ink flow path 14. The unit 17 further includes an ink supply port 18. Here, the ink supply port 18 and the common liquid chamber 17 are not communicated with each other by the reference numeral 19.

The top plate 90 is integrally molded in a mold using a resin such as polysulfone, polyethersulfone, or polyphenylene oxide having excellent ink resistance.

Next, a method of forming the filter portion will be described.
In FIG. 4B, the portion 19 is irradiated with excimer light through a mask partially provided with an opening, and the resin in the portion irradiated with the excimer light is decomposed and removed by light energy. As a result, the filter section 20 shown in FIG.

Even if foreign matter 21 enters the filter section 20, the foreign matter 21 is trapped by the filter section, and cannot enter the flow path 14 or the orifice 11. Therefore, when printing is performed using this head, the deterioration of quality due to non-ejection due to foreign matter clogging does not occur.

Here, the excimer laser light used in this embodiment will be described. This excimer laser is a laser that can oscillate ultraviolet light.It has high intensity, good monochromaticity, directivity, short pulse oscillation, and can be focused by a lens. It has many advantages, such as being large.

The excimer laser oscillator discharges and excites a mixed gas of a rare gas and a halogen to produce short pulses (15 to 15).
A device capable of oscillating ultraviolet light of 35 ns), and Kr-F type, Xe-Cl type, and Ar-F type lasers are often used. These oscillation energies are several hundred
mJ / pulse, pulse repetition frequency 30-1000H
z.

When a high-intensity short-pulse ultraviolet light such as excimer laser light is applied to the surface of a polymer resin, an Ablative Photodecomposition (APD) process in which the irradiated portion is instantaneously dispersed and scattered with plasma emission and impact sound. This process allows for processing of the polymer resin.

As described above, when the processing accuracy by the excimer laser is compared with that by another laser, for example, when a polyimide (PI) film is irradiated with a laser as an excimer laser and another YAG laser and CO ₂ laser, the PI A beautiful hole is opened by KrF laser because the wavelength of absorbing light is in the UV range.
Rough edge surface of pitting stuff is not YAG laser V region, the CO ₂ laser is an infrared occurs crater around the bore.

Since metals such as stainless steel (SUS), opaque ceramics, and Si are not affected by the irradiation of excimer laser light in the atmosphere of air, they can be used as a mask material in processing by excimer laser. it can.

FIG. 5 shows the heater board 8 and the top plate 9 described above.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a recording head main body formed by joining the recording head main body and a recording head. As shown in the figure, a heater board 8 having a discharge heater 15 and the like is brought into contact with the orifice plate 10 and joined to obtain a recording head body.

In the above-described configuration, since the positioning and bonding between the top plate and the orifice plate are not required as in the prior art, there is no positioning error, no displacement at the time of bonding, etc., and the number of defective products is reduced. And by shortening the process,
This can contribute to mass production of the recording head and cost reduction. Further, since there is no step of bonding the top plate and the orifice plate as in the related art, there is no possibility that the orifice or the ink flow path is blocked due to the flow of the adhesive.

Further, at the time of joining the heater board 8 and the top plate 90 having the orifice plate 10 integrated therein, the heater board 8 is abutted against the end face of the orifice plate 10 opposite to the end face on the discharge side, thereby positioning in the flow path direction. Therefore, the entire positioning process and the assembling process are facilitated. In addition, there is no possibility that the orifice plate is peeled off as in the related art.

The above-described recording head main body can be obtained in the form of a cartridge as shown in FIG. 1, and further used to constitute an ink jet printer as shown in FIG. 6, ie, an ink jet printer using a disposable cartridge. be able to.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 80 denotes the cartridge shown in FIG. 1. The cartridge 80 is fixed on the carriage 51 by a pressing member 81, and these reciprocate in the longitudinal direction along the shaft 71. It is possible. The positioning with respect to the carriage 51 is performed, for example, by using a hole provided in the lid 300 (see FIG.
It can be performed by a dowel or the like provided on one side. further,
For electrical connection, a connector on the carriage 51 may be connected to a connection pad provided on the wiring board.

The ink ejected by the recording head reaches the recording medium 68 whose recording surface is regulated by the platen 69 at a minute interval from the recording head, and forms an image on the recording medium 68. An ejection signal corresponding to image data is supplied to the printhead from a suitable data supply source via a cable 66 and a terminal connected thereto. Cartridge 80
One or more (two in the figure) can be provided according to the ink color or the like to be used.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 67 denotes the carriage 5.
A carriage motor 72 for scanning the carriage 1 along the shaft 71, and a wire 72 for transmitting the driving force of the motor 67 to the carriage 51. 70 is the platen roller 6
9 is a feed motor for transporting the recording medium 68 in combination with the feed motor 9.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 7 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the top plate according to the present invention. In the same figure, the top plate 90 is composed of a portion denoted by reference numeral 91 (top plate component portion without filler) and a portion denoted by reference numeral 92 (top plate component portion with filler), and 92 is a quartz filler ( Using a polyethersulfone resin filled with (needle-shaped) 16, this 92 portion is first molded into a block shape, and this is placed in a mold for molding 91, and a top plate is formed by a so-called insert molding method. I do. No. 91 used the same polyether sulfone, but did not contain the above filler.

The top plate has an orifice 11 at the orifice plate 10 as in the first embodiment, and an ink flow path 14 communicating with the orifice 11 is formed. The flow path 14 faces the common liquid chamber 17 with a part 91 of the top plate including the filler 16 interposed therebetween.

With respect to the molded top plate having such a configuration,
As shown in the figure, when excimer laser light is applied to the region 93 from the side opposite to the orifice 11, that is, from the common liquid chamber 17, the resin in the region 93 is decomposed and removed, and the filler 16 transmitting the excimer light is removed. The filter portion 20 formed in a filter shape as shown in FIG.
Is configured. In this example, molding was performed by the insert molding method, but the molding can be performed without any problem by a method called a so-called two-color molding method.

When such a filter section 20 is formed, the filter section 2 can be used even if dust / foreign matter 21 enters.
Since it is trapped at 0 and does not enter the inside of the flow path 14, good printing is maintained.

[Embodiment 3] FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, a top plate is formed by insert molding as in Example 2, and a filter is formed by excimer laser light irradiation as in Example 2. And the intrusion into the inside of the flow path 14 was prevented, and good printing was maintained.

As described above, when two types of resins, one containing a filler and the other containing no filler, are used to form a filter by irradiating the resin containing the filler with excimer light to remove the resin portion, It does not matter if the main components of the two resins are the same or different, but if the main components are different, the conditions such as heat resistance temperature, molding temperature, etc. of the two resins, It is necessary to sufficiently consider the compatibility, for example, the difference between the adhesion and the coefficient of thermal expansion.

The filter section may be formed on any part of the top plate, but it is preferable to provide the filter section as close to the flow path as possible.
It is more effective against trash clogging.

[0058]

According to the present invention, even if dust or foreign matter flows in the orifice direction together with the ink by the filter structure formed as described above, the dust is completely trapped by the filter portion 20 provided therein, and the ink is discharged. Since it is not possible to reach the influencing flow path or the more important orifice, it is possible to minimize the occurrence of inconvenient problems such as non-ejection due to clogging of dust or foreign matter.

Further, since there is no filler in the vicinity of the orifice as in the conventional example, there is no occurrence of a defect that the ejection power is lost or the ejection direction is shifted so that the ink does not reach a proper landing position.

Accordingly, it is possible to provide an ink jet recording head that maintains good print quality, and also has an effect that the defective rate in the manufacturing process can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing a cartridge of an ink jet recording head according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of processing by an excimer laser according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a substrate (heater board) used in the first embodiment of the present invention. (However, (A) is an overall view of the substrate,
(B) shows a partially enlarged view. )

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a top plate according to the first embodiment of the present invention. (However, (a) shows the state before the communication with the filter unit,
(B) shows the state after communication. )

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an ink jet recording head configured by joining the heater board shown in FIG. 3 and the top plate shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an inkjet printer on which the head is mounted.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a top plate according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a top plate according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an orifice-filter portion of a top plate in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Laser oscillation device 2 Laser beam 3 Light collecting lens 4 Mask 8 Substrate (heater board) 10 Orifice plate 11 Orifice 13 Optical axis 14 Ink flow path 15 Discharge heater 16 Filler 17 Common liquid chamber 18 Ink supply port 20 Filter part 21 Dust Foreign matter 51 Carriage 66 Cable 67 Carriage motor 68 Recording medium 69 Platen 70 Platen roller 71 Shaft 72 Wire 80 Cartridge 81 Pressing member 90 Top plate 91 Top plate component without filler 92 Top plate component with filler 93 Excimer light irradiation area 101 Heater board base 102 Temperature sensor 103 Discharge heater section 104 Terminal 108 Heat retaining heater 300,800 Lid 600 Sub ink tank 1000 Cartridge main body 1100 Lid member

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A substrate having a plurality of discharge pressure generating units, a plurality of discharge ports, a groove serving as an ink flow path communicating with the discharge ports, and a common liquid chamber communicating with each of the ink flow paths. And a grooved member comprising an ink supply port communicating with the common liquid chamber. The substrate is joined to the grooved member so that the ink flow to each of the discharge pressure generating portions is achieved. In a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head having a passage formed therein, at least a portion between a supply port of the grooved member and an ink flow path, a filter unit for removing foreign matter in ink is provided on the grooved member. A method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head, comprising: forming a filter integrally with a constituent material; and forming a filter on the filter portion by using a resin removing step by laser beam irradiation. 2. A filter part comprising a quartz filler, a resin filler that transmits excimer laser light, or a resin for forming a filter part containing glass fibers, and a resin containing no filler other than the filter part. Forming a part that is at least partly substantially fluidly closed between the ink supply path and the ink flow path by a resin that becomes a filter part at the time of molding, and that forms a filter part at the time of molding. And irradiating at least a part of the portion containing the filler with excimer laser light to melt and remove the resin portion and forming a plurality of openings (holes) with the remaining filler to form a filter. 2. The method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A recording head for inkjet recording,
An ink jet recording head according to the method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head according to claim 1. 4. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the ink jet recording apparatus is provided with the ink jet recording head according to claim 3.