JPH1076647A - Ink jet recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the disconnection or bonding, the breakage of lead and the like due to the bending stress at the bending part in a wiring board by a method wherein the relationship between the width of the bending part of a flexible board and the width of the board, in which lead electrodes for electrically connecting with an element board is specified. SOLUTION: An ink jet recording head is equipped with element boards (or heater boards) 2 basically made of single crystal silicon, on each of which a plurality of thermoelectric transducers 13 as energy generating element are arranged in parallel at a predetermined pitch, and flexible wiring boards 3, each of which plays the roll of a relay board for transmitting recording signals sent from a recording device to the heater board and is made of TAB film or the like. In this case, the width of the bending part 20 of the wiring board 3 is made narrower than the width of the electrical connecting part of the heater board 2 by laying-out wiring. Concretely, the width of the bending part 20 of the wiring board 3 is made to be 70-40% of the width of the board at the electrical connecting part of the heater board in the preferable shape that no abrupt change of the width occurs at the bending part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus which performs recording by discharging a recording liquid (ink or the like) as flying droplets from a discharge port (orifice) and attaching the liquid to a recording medium. The present invention relates to an ink jet recording head, an ink jet recording head cartridge, and a recording apparatus equipped with the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With respect to a conventional ink jet recording head, a wiring board and a silicon substrate are adhered on the same surface on a support member, and an electrothermal converter is arranged on the silicon substrate in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-169660. A configuration in which a connection portion with a printer main body is disposed on the back surface of the support member is disclosed.

In another ink jet recording head, US Pat. No. 4,635,073 or US Pat.
No. 94, a continuous sheet-like flexible wiring board (hereinafter referred to as a continuous sheet-like flexible wiring board) is used as a wiring board and a resistor of a substrate provided with an electrothermal transducer for ink ejection. Is a TAB tape, and the one divided one by one is TAB
Ink jet recording heads are known in which the leads of the TAB tape are connected by thermosonic bonding using a film (referred to as a film) to establish electrical connection, and also serve as electrical contacts with the printing apparatus main body.

Further, input / output terminals of a substrate having the electrothermal transducer for discharging ink and a drive circuit for driving the electrothermal transducer and leads of a TAB film are connected to form an electric wiring.
Ink jet recording heads that have both electrical contacts with a printing apparatus body are known.

[0005] In the case of an ink jet recording head using a normal TAB film, a lead electrode which surrounds four sides of the silicon chip and makes electrical connection across the opening of the silicon chip and the TAB film is arranged. Electrical contacts are arranged on the same side of the wiring board as the surface on which the electrothermal transducers of the silicon substrate are arranged.

On the other hand, a configuration in which a wiring board (for example, a flexible film or the like) for transmitting a recording signal from a recording apparatus to a recording head is bent at an arbitrary position and used is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-169660. Kaihei 05-16966
2 etc.

FIG. 11 shows a general configuration of this type of ink jet recording head. On the upper surface of the support 1 ', a heater board 2' made of Si or the like on which an electrothermal transducer is formed on the surface, and a glass epoxy for transmitting an electric signal from the main body of the recording apparatus to the heater board 2 '. The wiring board 3 'on which electric wiring is provided using the base material or the like is bonded, and the heater board 2' and the wiring board 3 'are connected by wire bonding 7'.

On the upper surface of the wiring board 3 ', there are provided contact pads 4' which are electrically connected by contact with the flexible wiring board of the recording apparatus main body. Adhered to the back surface.

Ink is supplied from an ink tank (not shown) or a recording device via an ink supply member 6 'to a common liquid chamber and a liquid path formed by joining the heater board 2' and the top plate 5 '. And is discharged from the discharge port 8 '.

[0010]

However, in the above-described structure, when each component is bonded and fixed to the strong support plate 1 ', the electrical connection between the heater board 2' and the wiring board 3 'is made. However, when a structure is used in which no stress is applied but the support plate is not provided, a bending stress generated by bending the wiring board 3 ′ acts on the connection portion, and there is a problem that the connection portion is broken.

In particular, when used in an ink jet recording head, a solder resist is indispensable to prevent a short circuit due to ink, and this is one of the causes of an increase in bending stress of a wiring board. Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive, compact, and highly reliable ink jet recording head free from defects such as bonding disconnection and lead breakage due to bending stress at a bent portion of a wiring board.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet apparatus having an improved arrangement and electrical connection between the heater board and the flexible wiring board for transmitting an electric signal from the printing apparatus main body to the heater board. It is to provide a recording head.

A third object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet cartridge provided with an ink jet recording head which meets the above first and second objects.

A fourth object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with an ink jet cartridge which meets the above third object.

[0015]

The present invention which achieves the above object is as follows. 1. An ink jet recording head for performing recording by discharging recording ink from a discharge port, comprising: (A) at least a plurality of energy elements for generating energy for discharging ink, and each of the energy elements and external wiring A plurality of lead electrode portions for electrically connecting to the element substrate at one end of the element substrate (B) provided with a plurality of electrode pads for electrical connection, and a recording device at the opposite end. A flexible substrate provided with a plurality of contact pad portions for electrical connection, and a plurality of wirings for electrically connecting the lead electrode portion and the contact pad portion and transmitting a recording signal from the recording device (C) electrically connecting the electrode pad of (A) with the lead electrode of (B), and (D) connecting the ink to the element substrate and the discharge port. (E) the flexible substrate is formed by joining an ink flow path for supply and a top plate having a common liquid chamber, and the flexible substrate is provided at an arbitrary portion except for the lead electrode portion and the contact pad portion. In an ink jet recording head that is bent at an angle and attached to a recording apparatus, the flexible substrate includes:
An ink jet recording head, wherein the width of the bent portion is 70% to 40% of the width of the substrate on which the lead electrodes for electrically connecting to the element substrate are arranged. 2. 2. The ink jet recording head according to the above item 1, wherein the flexible substrate is a film made of a polyimide having flexibility. 3. A plurality of contact pad portions for electrically connecting to a recording device provided on the flexible substrate are provided on a surface opposite to a surface on which a plurality of electrothermal transducers provided on the element substrate are formed. 3. The inkjet recording head according to 1 or 2, wherein the inkjet recording head is provided. 4. 4. The ink jet recording head according to the above 1, 2 or 3, wherein the electrical connection between the electrode pads of the element substrate and the lead electrodes of the flexible substrate is thermocompression bonding with a bump interposed therebetween. 5. The ink jet print head according to any one of the above-described items 1, 2, and 3, wherein the electrical connection between the connection terminal on the printing apparatus side and the contact pad of the flexible substrate on the print head side is pressure contact. 6. 2. The ink jet recording head according to the above item 1, wherein each of the energy generating elements is an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy. 7. 7. The ink jet recording head according to the item 6, wherein the ink is ejected from the ejection port by utilizing film boiling generated in the ink by the thermal energy applied by the electrothermal transducer. 8. An ink jet recording head for performing recording by discharging recording ink from a discharge port, comprising: (A) at least a plurality of energy elements for generating energy for discharging ink, and each of the energy elements and external wiring A plurality of lead electrodes for electrically connecting to the element substrate at one end of the element substrate (B) provided with a plurality of electrode pads for electrical connection, and a recording device and an electrical connector at the opposite end. A flexible substrate provided with a plurality of contact pad portions for electrically connecting, and a plurality of wirings for electrically connecting the lead electrode portion and the contact pad portion and transmitting a recording signal from the recording device. (C) electrically connecting the electrode pad of (A) with the lead electrode of (B), and (D) applying ink to the element substrate and the ejection port. (E) the flexible substrate is formed by joining an ink flow path for supplying and a top plate provided with a common liquid chamber, and the flexible substrate is provided at an arbitrary portion except for the lead electrode portion and the contact pad portion. In an inkjet print head that is bent at an angle and mounted on a printing apparatus, the element substrate is rectangular, the energy element is an electrothermal transducer, and
An ink jet recording head in which electrothermal transducers are arranged along the edge of one side of the element substrate, and the other three sides are surrounded by the flexible substrate. 9. One side of the flexible substrate faces a side opposite to the side of the element substrate on which the electrothermal transducers are arranged, and both ends of the facing side of the flexible substrate are elongated and protrude from the element substrate. Opposite each other,
9. The ink jet recording head according to the item 8, wherein power supply wiring of the electrothermal transducer is arranged on both protruding end portions. 10. For the surface of the element substrate on which the electrothermal converter is arranged,
10. The ink jet recording head according to the above item 8 or 9, wherein the surface of the flexible substrate for electrical connection with the recording device is on the opposite side. 11. 8 to 10 wherein the flexible substrate is bent in advance and then joined to the top plate.
The inkjet recording head according to any one of the above. 12. The flexible substrate is a flexible polyimide film, a wiring substrate shape that can be sequentially cut on a sheet-like polyimide film is formed, an element substrate is arranged, and after electrical bonding, the substrate is cut out from the sheet. The inkjet recording head according to the above. 13. 13. The device according to any one of 1 to 12, wherein the top plate has a shape capable of forming two ejection ports for ejecting different types of ink in the same direction by symmetrically joining the two element substrates. Ink jet recording head. 14． 14. An ink jet recording head cartridge comprising: the ink jet recording head according to any one of the above items 1 to 13; and an ink tank detachable from the recording head. 15. An ink jet recording head cartridge according to 15.14, and a member for mounting the ink jet recording head cartridge, wherein ink is ejected from the ink jet recording head in accordance with a recording signal sent via the contact pad to perform recording. Inkjet recording device that performs

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of an ink jet recording head according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explanation in which a main part of the structure is cut. Here, for convenience of explanation, the case where the wiring board is bent at about 90 ° is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the present invention is also effective when bent at other angles. That is.

Referring to FIG. 1, an ink jet recording head according to the present invention basically comprises an element substrate (hereinafter referred to as a heater board) made of single-crystal silicon in which a plurality of electrothermal transducers 13 as energy generating elements are arranged in parallel at a predetermined pitch. 2) and a recording device (not shown) on the heater board 2.
A flexible wiring board 3 such as a TAB film, for example, serving as a relay board for transmitting a recording signal sent from the printer, and an ink flow path 26 corresponding to an arrangement position of each electrothermal transducer are connected to the heater board 2. Orifice plate 5a in which grooves, discharge ports 25, etc. are formed by joining with
And a grooved member including a grooved top plate 5, and a leaf spring 1 for firmly pressing and fixing the heater board 2 and the top plate 5
1 and an ink tank 9 in which recording ink is stored and which can be exchanged freely.

The top plate 5 has a concave portion and each electrothermal converter 13.
A plurality of grooves are formed corresponding to the pitches and are respectively communicated with the concave portions. When the top plate 5 is joined to the heater board 2, the concave portions temporarily store the ink supplied from the ink tank 9. The common liquid chamber 24 to be held is formed, and each groove forms an ink flow path 26 that guides the ink from the common liquid chamber 24 to the discharge port 25. The leading end of each groove is opened at the end face of the top plate 5, and serves as a discharge port 25 for discharging ink.

On the other hand, the heater board 2 includes a plurality of electrothermal converters 13 arranged in parallel at a predetermined pitch and a driving circuit (not shown) for driving each electrothermal converter 13 by a known semiconductor process. It was formed as a film. The electrothermal transducer 13 generates thermal energy to cause film boiling in the ink in the ink flow path 26, and the growth of bubbles generated by the film boiling causes the ink to be discharged from the ejection port 25.
, And its detailed structure will be described later.

On the surface of the heater board 2 to be joined to the top plate 5, that is, on the surface on which the electrothermal converters 13 are provided, a plurality of aluminum members connected to the drive circuit of each electrothermal converter 13 are provided. An electrode pad 21 is formed. On each of these electrode pads (not indicated in the figure), for example, A
u stud bumps or plated bumps are formed,
Each lead electrode 12 provided on the wiring board 3 for receiving a recording signal from the recording device is electrically connected to each other by thermocompression bonding represented by gang bonding, single point bonding, or the like.

Each wiring 22 such as a common electrode (not shown) and an individual electrode (not shown) connected to each of the electrothermal transducers 13 is formed on the wiring board 3. The contact electrode 4 for pressure contact with a carriage (not shown) provided in the recording apparatus is formed on the back surface of the other end of the lead electrode 12 for bonding connection.

Here, the electrothermal converter 13 will be described. FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the electrothermal converter 13 shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, on the surface of the heater board, a heat storage layer 15 made of a SiO ₂ film obtained by thermal oxidation is formed with a thickness of 1 to 7 μm, preferably 2 to 4 μm. . On the heat storage layer 15, each ink flow path 26
A plurality of heat generating resistive layers 16 corresponding to the positions (see FIG. 2) are formed. The heat generating resistance layer 16 is made of, for example, an HfB ₂ film or a film containing TaN _{x and} has a thickness of 100 to 300.
0 angstroms, preferably 500-1500 angstroms.

Then, for example, an Al film, an Al—Cu film, or an Al—Si film is formed with a thickness of 3000 to 10000 angstroms, preferably 5000 to 7000 angstroms, and is patterned into a desired shape by a photolithography process. A pair of electrodes (common electrode and individual electrode) 17 for supplying power to the heating resistor layer 16
a and 17b are formed together with the wiring (not shown) of the drive circuit. Heating resistance layer 1 via pair of electrodes 17a, 17b
When a voltage is applied to 6, the heating resistance layer 16 generates heat.
That is, the heating resistance layer 16 and the pair of electrodes 17a, 17b
Constitutes the electrothermal converter 13, and in particular, the pair of electrodes 17.
The portion sandwiched between a and 17b becomes the heat acting portion 14 that applies thermal energy to the ink.

In the case of a multilayer wiring, the above-mentioned electrode 17 is used.
a, 17b as an interlayer insulating layer (not shown)
After an iO ₂ film or a film containing SiN _x is formed to a thickness of 1 to 5 μm, preferably 1 to 3 μm, an Al film, an Al—Cu film, or an Al film is formed as a second electrode (not shown).
A-Si film is formed with a thickness of 3000 to 10000 angstroms, preferably 5000 to 70000 angstroms, and is patterned into a desired shape.

Each of the above layers is protected by a first protective layer 18, and a second protective layer 1 is provided on the surface of the first protective layer 18.
9 (also referred to as “anti-cavitation layer”). The first protective layer 18 is made of, for example, an SiO ₂ film or a film containing SiN _x, and is formed to a thickness of 0.5 to 2 μm by a CVD method or a sputtering method. The second protective layer 19 is formed by a shock generated when bubbles of the ink generated by the heat transmitted from the heat acting portion 14 disappear.
It is provided for the purpose of protecting the heat acting portion 14. The second protective layer 19 is formed, for example, by sputtering a Ta film to a thickness of 500 to 5000 Å, preferably 10 to 500 Å.
After forming with a thickness of 00 to 2500 Å,
It is obtained by patterning into a desired shape by a photolithography process.

The heater board 2 on which the plurality of electrothermal transducers 13 are formed as described above is arranged such that each of the electrothermal transducers 13 and the ink flow path 26 correspond to the top plate 5 on a one-to-one basis. And then firmly pressed by the leaf spring 11 to fix the positional relationship between them.

Next, the other end surface of the wiring substrate 3 is bent at an angle of about 90 ° so that the surface having the contact pads 4 for press-contact with the recording device faces upward, so that a predetermined position on the recording head is obtained. Adhesively fixed.

In this manner, the heater board 2 and the top plate 5
After the adhesion between the heater board 2 and the top plate 5 is improved by, for example, a silicone-based sealant (not shown), the bonding portion and the exposed lead electrode 1 are improved.
2 are simultaneously performed to complete the ink jet recording head.

When the ink jet recording head thus completed is mounted on a carriage provided in a recording apparatus, it is disposed on a wiring member having pressure contact terminals arranged on the carriage and on a wiring substrate 3 of the recording head. The pressure contact pad 4 is pressed against the main body of the recording apparatus, and the recording apparatus is electrically connected to the recording head.

FIG. 2 shows an example of an ink jet recording head including the recording head configuration of FIG. 1 thus constructed.
As shown in FIG. 2, the heater board 2 is provided with a flow path wall member 27 for forming an ink flow path 26 communicating with the plurality of discharge ports 25 and a top plate 5 having an ink supply port 28. The ink flow paths 26 and the ink supply ports 28 communicate with each other via a common liquid chamber 24.

In each of the ink flow paths 26, a heat generating portion 23 near the discharge port 25 provided on the heater board 2 is provided.
The wiring 22 to the heating section 23 is arranged. In the recording head of the ink jet recording system configured as described above, the ink injected from the ink supply port 28 is stored in the internal common liquid chamber 24 and supplied to each ink flow path 26, and in this state, By driving the heating unit 23, ink is ejected from the ejection port 25.

The features of the present invention that achieves the first object in the ink jet recording head having the above-described structure are as follows.
As a measure to alleviate the stress in the bent portion of the wiring board, a wiring layout is adopted in which the width of the bent portion 20 of the wiring board is smaller than the width of the electrical connection portion with the heater board. In this configuration, since only the outer shape of the wiring board needs to be considered in relation to the punching die, the size of the wiring board can be reduced, and the bending stress of the wiring board can be efficiently reduced. Therefore, a compact and highly reliable ink jet recording head and recording apparatus capable of preventing defects such as bond disconnection and lead breakage due to bending stress can be obtained, which is extremely advantageous in terms of design, manufacture and cost. The above width is 70 to 4 times the width of the board of the electrical connection with the heater board.
It is 0%, preferably 50 to 40%, and the shape is not particularly limited. For example, a shape in which the width does not suddenly change at the bent portion as shown in FIG. 5 is preferable.

The present invention that achieves the second object is the aforementioned 8 and 9, and will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 100 denotes a rectangular element substrate (heater board), and 105 denotes an electrothermal converter, which is arranged along one side of the heater board. Reference numeral 110 denotes a flexible substrate made of a TAB film, and reference numeral 200 denotes a bump provided on a pad on the heater board, which is a stud bump in this example. A lead 210 is connected to the bump. After the connection, the leads and the edges of the heater board are formed so as not to be short-circuited. Reference numeral 250 denotes a power supply pad on the heater board, and reference numeral 260 denotes a power supply wiring on the flexible substrate (TAB film) of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a heater board (silicon substrate) 1
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which a plurality of TAB films are continuously connected in a state where 00 and the TAB tape 110 are connected. FIG. 5 is a diagram cut out from a state where the silicon substrate and the TAB tape of FIG. 6 are connected. In FIG. 6, 300 is TA
The sprocket hole 310 provided in the B film cuts out the TAB film by cutting the main portion at the connection between the TAB film and the TAB tape. At the time of this cutting, the film portion of the portion of the heater board facing the side where the electrothermal transducers are arranged is removed so as not to hinder the ink ejection.

The silicon substrate connected to the TAB film is joined with the groove of the grooved top plate, which is an ink discharge nozzle, and the electrothermal transducer on the silicon substrate in alignment with each other. It is pressed and fixed by a spring member so as to be in close contact with the plate. In this state, only the silicon substrate is fixed to the top plate, and the TAB film is not fixed.

The silicon substrate forms bumps on pad portions in a wafer state. As a forming method, either a plating bump method or a stud bump method is used, and in this example, it is formed by a stud bump. With the bumps formed, a silicon substrate is cut out of the wafer. There is no problem in the transfer bump method in which a bump is formed on the lead side of the TAB instead of the method in which a bump is formed on a wafer.

Next, bonding with the silicon substrate is performed in the state of the TAB tape. In this example, the bonding is performed by gang bonding, and there is no support member under the TAB film which is the silicon substrate and the wiring board at the time of bonding, and ink is applied in parallel to the surface of the conventional silicon substrate on which the electrothermal converter is arranged. Since the supporting member is removed from the ink jet recording head of the ejection type, the number of components is reduced, and the cost is reduced.

After joining the silicon substrate and the TAB tape, the state shown in FIG. 6 is obtained.
The TAB film as shown in FIG. 5 is cut off from the state of the B tape. Therefore, a TAB film is provided so as to face three sides of the silicon substrate except for the ink ejection direction side, bonding leads are provided on the TAB film on the three sides of the silicon substrate, and connection with the silicon substrate is provided on a pad. The bump and the lead are connected.

Next, a bending habit is given in the subsequent step, and FIG.
It is joined to the grooved top plate as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, the power supply terminals on the silicon substrate are provided with power supply wiring electrodes along both sides intersecting the sides of the silicon substrate on which the electrothermal transducers are arranged, and a flexible insulating film is formed on the silicon substrate. A power supply wiring is formed by extending to both sides, arranging wiring and bonding leads on the flexible film portion, and bonding the leads. By arranging the power supply wiring as described above, it is not necessary to provide a thin wiring up to the wire bonding pad which has been conventionally arranged on the side opposite to the side on which the electrothermal transducers are arranged.
The length of the power supply wiring in the silicon substrate can be reduced, the wiring resistance can be reduced, and the voltage drop in the power supply wiring has been reduced. Conventionally, the voltage applied to the power supply wiring was set with a margin so that the foaming start voltage of the heater was satisfied at all discharges and at the time of single discharge, but it was set as a result of reduced voltage drop at the wiring part This makes it possible to reduce the voltage applied to the heater, thereby reducing variations in the voltage applied to the heater in each nozzle, and improving the durability of the heater.

Further, by arranging the joint portion with the recording apparatus main body on the surface of the TAB film opposite to the surface on which the heater is provided on the silicon substrate, the silicon substrates are provided on both sides of the integrated top plate in close contact with each other. And two heads can be covered by one top plate. For example, one head prints black ink,
The other can be a head for printing color ink, and the two silicon substrates and the TAB film are electrically connected to the main body of the recording apparatus in which an electrical connection surface is formed at an angle to the surface on which the electrothermal transducer is provided. It became possible to take.

Next, an example of an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with an ink jet recording head cartridge having the above-described ink jet recording head will be described with reference to FIGS.

An ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention includes the ink jet recording head according to the present invention, and a member on which the ink jet recording head is mounted. The ink jet recording head according to a recording signal sent through the connection terminal. The ink is ejected from the printer.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing a main part of an example of the ink jet recording apparatus. In the figure, 320
Is a removable cartridge type ink jet recording head having a plurality of recording liquid storage unit integrated structures, provided with a plurality of ink ejection ports facing a recording surface of a recording medium (not shown) as a recording medium conveyed on a platen 324. It is a cartridge. Reference numeral 316 denotes a carriage for mounting the ink jet recording head cartridge 320. The carriage 316 is connected to a part of a drive belt 318 that transmits the driving force of the drive motor 317, and has two guide shafts 329A arranged in parallel with each other. 329B. Thereby, the ink jet recording head cartridge 320 is
Reciprocating movement over the entire width of the recording paper is enabled.

Reference numeral 326 denotes a recovery device for recovering and preventing ink discharge failure from the print head, and is provided at a predetermined position in the moving range of the ink jet print head cartridge 320, for example, at a position facing the home position. The recovery device 326 caps the ejection port of the inkjet recording head by the driving force of the motor 322 via the transmission mechanism 323. In connection with the capping operation of the ejection port of the ink jet recording head by the cap 326A of the recovery device 326, ink is sucked from the ejection port by an appropriate suction means (not shown) provided in the recovery device 326, or from the device side. In an apparatus (not shown) in which the ink is supplied to the recording head, the ink is fed by an appropriate pressurizing means (not shown) provided in the ink supply path to the ink jet recording head. Thus, a recovery process is performed in which the ink is forcibly discharged from the discharge port and foreign substances such as thickened ink contained in the discharge port are removed.

A blade 330 is disposed on the side surface of the recovery device 326 and is made of silicone rubber and serves as a wiping member. The blade 330 is held in a cantilever form by a blade holding member 330A, and the recovery device 3
Similarly to 26, it is operated by the motor 322 and the transmission mechanism 323 to enable engagement with the ejection port surface of the ink jet recording head. Accordingly, for example, at an appropriate timing during the recording operation of the inkjet recording head, or after a recovery process using the recovery device 326, dew condensation, wetness, or the like adhering to the ejection port surface due to the movement operation of the inkjet recording head. Foreign substances such as dust can be wiped off.

The driving of the recording paper transport means, the carriage and the recovery device, and the driving of the recording head of the ink jet recording apparatus are controlled based on commands and signals output from control means including a CPU on the apparatus main body side, for example. You.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another example of an ink jet recording apparatus using the ink jet recording head of the present invention. The carriage HC drives the drive motor 5013 in forward and reverse rotations to drive force transmitting gears 5011, 5010, and 5009.
Spiral groove 5 of lead screw 5005 rotating through
004 and the carriage H
C, which has a pin not indicated in the figure, and is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. The carriage HC includes a print head unit 502.
5. The ink tank unit 5026 is mounted. The recording head has two silicon substrates in one recording head, one is for discharging black ink, and the other is one in which a liquid chamber on the silicon substrate is divided into three liquid chambers, and yellow, magenta, and cyan. This is a color head for discharging color ink. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate, which presses the recording sheet P against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage HC. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photocouplers, which are home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the lever 5006 of the carriage HC in this area and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013.

Reference numeral 5016 denotes a member for supporting a cap member 5022 for capping both sides of the recording head 5025, and 5015 means for sucking the inside of the cap.
The suction recovery of the recording head is performed through the opening 5023 in the cap. Reference numeral 5017 denotes a cleaning blade, and reference numeral 5019 denotes a member capable of moving the blade 5017 in the front-rear direction. These members are supported by a main body support 5018. It goes without saying that the blade 5017 is not limited to the embodiment shown in this figure, and that a well-known cleaning blade can be applied to this embodiment. Reference numeral 5012 denotes a lever for starting suction recovery, and a cam 502 which engages with the carriage HC.
It moves with the movement of 0, and the driving force from the drive motor 5013 is controlled by a known transmission means such as clutch switching.

The capping, cleaning means, and suction recovery are performed when the carriage HC is positioned in the home position side area.
Are arranged so that desired processing can be performed at those corresponding positions by the operation described above. However, if desired operations are performed at well-known timings, this example can be applied to any of them. Further, the present invention is not limited to the present description, but is applicable to an ink jet head cartridge in which the recording head 5025 and the ink tank 5026 are configured to be separable.

Next, the configuration and electric circuit of an information processing apparatus incorporating the recording apparatus according to this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view showing the appearance of an information processing device 604 incorporating the recording device. 6, reference numeral 601 denotes the above-described printer unit; 602, a keyboard unit having keys for inputting characters, numerals, and other characters, keys for giving various commands, and the like;
03 is a display unit provided with a display.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an electric circuit configuration of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 5, reference numeral 501 denotes a controller for performing main control; 502, a CPU in the form of a microcomputer for executing a certain procedure; 503, an area for expanding text data and image data, an area for work, and the like. RAM 504 stores a program corresponding to the above-mentioned procedure and other ROM storing fixed data such as font data, and 505 generates an execution cycle of the CPU 502 and timing necessary for a printing operation by the printer unit 601. Timer 506 is CPU 50
2 is an interface unit that connects the signal from the peripheral device 2 and peripheral devices.

Reference numeral 507 denotes a controller of the printer unit 601; 508, a head driver for transmitting a recording signal, electric power, and the like to the head cartridge 100;
b denotes a carrier motor 402a and a transport motor 40, respectively.
A motor driver 510 detects a position of the carrier 102 and determines whether the carrier 102 is located at a home position, for example. This is a paper sensor that detects the presence or absence of a recording medium in order to prevent recording from being performed in a place other than the recording medium when insertion is completed or recording is completed up to the end of the page.

Further, reference numeral 605 denotes, for example, FDD, HDD, R
An external storage device 512 such as an AM card is an external interface for communicating with, for example, another information processing device, or for controlling a peripheral device by directly connecting to an internal bus.

Although not included in the block diagram of FIG. 10, there is another power supply unit for supplying power to the above-described electric circuit, such as a rechargeable battery or a disposable dry battery. There is a converter for AC power supply when the information processing apparatus body is fixed and used.

The present invention provides an excellent effect particularly in an ink jet recording head and a recording apparatus which perform recording by forming flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy among ink jet recording methods.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, 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 can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding the nucleate boiling to the electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path in which This is effective because heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, causing film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, and as a result, air bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding one-to-one to this drive signal can be formed. It is. By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. 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. If the conditions described in U.S. 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 respective specifications, The present invention also includes a configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.

In addition, JP-A-59-123670, which discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal transducer for a plurality of electrothermal transducers, or absorbs pressure waves of thermal energy. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration in which an opening corresponds to a discharge unit.

Further, as a recording head in which the present invention is effectively used, there is a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus. The full-line type recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above specification, or a single recording head that is integrally formed. Any of the configurations may be used.

In addition, the print head is replaceable with a print head of an interchangeable chip type, which can be electrically connected to the main body of the apparatus or supplied with ink from the main body of the apparatus, or is integrated with the print head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge type recording head provided with an ink tank is used.

It is preferable to add recovery means for the printhead, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like provided as components of the printing apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If you list these specifically,
Capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means for the printhead, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof, and a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection other than recording Is also effective for performing stable recording.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, and the recording head may be integrally formed or a combination of a plurality of recording heads. The present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of full colors by color mixture.

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 below and which softens at room temperature, or which is liquid, In general, in the ink jet method, the temperature of the ink itself is controlled 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. What is necessary is just liquid thing.

In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the ink is solidified in a standing state to prevent evaporation of the ink. Either ink may be used, or in any case, the ink may be liquefied by application of heat energy according to the recording signal and ejected as a liquid ink, or may already start to solidify when reaching the recording medium. The use of ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time by heat energy is also applicable to the present invention. In such a case, the ink is disclosed in JP-A-54-5684.
No. 7 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-71260, in which the porous sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter while being held in a liquid or solid state in the concave portions or through holes of the porous sheet. It is good. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

Further, as a form of the recording apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to those provided integrally or separately as an image output terminal of an information processing device such as a word processor and a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader and the like, May take the form of a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function.

In the above embodiment, among the ink jet recording heads, the recording head in which the ink is foamed by using thermal energy to discharge the ink droplets has been described. However, other methods such as an electrostrictive element are used. The present invention can also be suitably applied to a recording head in which ink droplets are ejected by using the recording head.

[0074]

The ink jet recording head of the present invention is
By bending and using the wiring board, it is possible to freely set a place to be electrically connected to the recording device. Further, since the size of the wiring board can be reduced, the size of the recording head and the recording apparatus can be reduced, which is very advantageous in terms of design, manufacturing, and cost.

Further, according to the present structure, the base plate can be eliminated, so that the number of parts is reduced, and the steps relating to the base plate are also eliminated, so that there is an advantage that the production and cost become very advantageous.

Further, since the above-mentioned recording head can be manufactured by an existing manufacturing method, there is no need to develop a new manufacturing method, which is very advantageous in manufacturing and cost.

Further, since the ink joint portion and the contact pad portion are separated into different regions, contamination of the contact pad portion with ink can be prevented, and malfunctions due to short-circuit, electrolytic corrosion and the like can be prevented.

Further, according to the present invention, a TAB film is provided using TAB so as to oppose the three sides of the silicon substrate excluding the ink ejection direction, and the bonding leads are opposed to the three sides of the silicon substrate excluding the ink ejection direction. In this way, the connection between the silicon substrate and the wiring member can be performed without providing a support member for the silicon substrate and the wiring member by providing the connection with the silicon substrate to the bump on the pad by lead bonding on the TAB film. Therefore, the number of components can be reduced, and an ink jet recording head can be provided at lower cost.

Further, the electrical joint between the surface of the silicon substrate on which the electrothermal converter is provided and the printing device on the TAB film is arranged on the surface facing the electrothermal converter,
A plurality of silicon substrates are provided on an integrated top plate, and a plurality of heads can be formed by one top plate. For example, one can be a head for printing black ink, and the other can be a head for printing color ink, The electrical connection surface can be provided at an angle to the surface of the substrate on which the electrothermal transducer is provided, and a high-performance head can be manufactured at lower cost.

Further, an electrode of a power supply wiring is arranged along a side intersecting a side where the electrothermal transducers of the silicon substrate are arranged, and a lead is extended from the flexible insulating film facing the side to the electrode. By reducing the length of the power supply wiring in the silicon substrate by bonding, the voltage drop in the power supply wiring is reduced, the variation in the voltage applied to the heater in each nozzle is reduced, and the voltage margin applied to the heater is reduced. By increasing the durability of the heater and making the ink tank replaceable, the number of sheets that can be printed by one head increases, and the running cost can be further reduced.

The ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention can provide a high quality, small size and low cost ink jet recording apparatus by including the above-described ink jet recording head and ink jet recording head cartridge of the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an inkjet recording head cartridge according to the present invention disassembled into parts.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of the configuration of an ink jet recording head according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the electrothermal converter shown in FIG.

4 is a sectional view taken along line AA of the enlarged view shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of joining the heater board and the flexible substrate of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a state in which the flexible substrate of the present invention is formed in a tape shape so that it can be cut out, and a heater board is joined thereto.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing a main part of an example of the ink jet recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing a main part of another example of the ink jet recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a schematic external view of an information processing apparatus equipped with the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a main electric circuit configuration of an information processing apparatus equipped with the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view showing a conventional ink jet recording head.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 'support plate (base plate) 2, 2' element board (heater board) 3, 3 'flexible (FPC) wiring board 3a FPC board slit part 4, 4' contact pad 5, 5 'top plate (groove top plate) Reference Signs List 5a Orifice plate 6, 6 'Ink supply member 7, 7' Wire bonding 8, 8 'Discharge port (orifice) 9 Ink tank 10 Substrate 11 Leaf spring 12 Lead electrode 13 Electrothermal transducer 14 Heat acting part 15 Thermal storage layer 16 Heat generation Resistance layer 17a, 17b Electrode 18 First protective layer 19 Second protective layer (anti-cavitation layer) 20 Bent portion 21 Electrode pad 22 Wiring 23 Heat generating portion 24 Common liquid chamber 25 Discharge port 26 Ink flow path 27 Flow path wall member 28 Ink supply port 100 Element substrate (heater board) (silicon substrate) 105 Electrothermal converter 110 TAB fill 200 Bump 210 Lead 250 Electrode pad 260 Power supply wiring 300 Sprocket hole 310 Connection between TAB film and TAB tape 316 Carriage 317 Drive motor 318 Drive belt 329A, 329B Guide shaft 320 Ink jet recording head cartridge 322 Cleaning motor 323 Transmission mechanism 324 Platen 326 Head recovery device 326A Cap member 330 Blade 330A Blade holding member 402a Carrier motor 402b Transport motor 501 Controller 502 CPU 503 RAM 504 ROM 505 Timer 506 Interface unit 507 Controller (printer unit) 508 Head driver 509a, b Motor driver 510 Carrier sensor 511 Papersen 512 External interface 601 Printer unit 602 Keyboard unit 603 Display unit 604 Information processing device 605 External storage device 5000 Platen 5002 Paper press plate 5004 Spiral groove 5005 Lead screw 5006 Lever 5007 Photocoupler 5008 Photocoupler 5009 Driving force transmission gear 5010 Driving force transmission gear 5011 Driving force transmission gear 5012 Lever 5013 Drive motor 5015 Suction means 5016 Support member 5017 Cleaning blade 5018 Main body support 5019 Member for moving blade 5020 Cam 5022 Cap member 5023 Opening in cap 5025 Recording head 5026 Ink tank P Recording sheet HC carriage

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording head for performing recording by discharging recording ink from a discharge port, wherein (A) at least a plurality of energy elements for generating energy for discharging ink, and each of the energy elements An element substrate provided with a plurality of electrode pads for electrical connection to an external wiring and a plurality of lead electrode portions for electrically connecting to the element substrate at one end of the element substrate (B); A plurality of contact pad portions for electrically connecting the recording device to the portion, and a plurality of wirings for electrically connecting the lead electrode portion and the contact pad portion and transmitting a recording signal from the recording device. (C) electrically connecting the electrode pad of (A) and the lead electrode of (B); and (D) electrically connecting the element substrate and the discharge board. (E) the flexible substrate is formed by joining an ink flow path for supplying ink to an outlet and a top plate provided with a common liquid chamber, and the flexible substrate is an arbitrary part except for the lead electrode part and the contact pad part. In an ink jet recording head that is bent at an arbitrary angle at a site and mounted on a recording apparatus, the width of the bent portion of the flexible substrate is a portion of the substrate on which a lead electrode for electrically connecting to the element substrate is arranged. 70 of width
% To 40%. 2. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the flexible substrate is a film made of a polyimide having flexibility. 3. A surface on which a plurality of contact pads for electrically connecting to a recording device provided on the flexible substrate are provided with a plurality of electrothermal converters provided on the element substrate. The inkjet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording head is provided on an opposite surface. 4. An electric connection between an electrode pad of the element substrate and a lead electrode of the flexible substrate is thermocompression bonding with a bump interposed therebetween.
4. The inkjet recording head according to 2 or 3. 5. The ink jet recording according to claim 1, wherein the electrical connection between the connection terminal on the recording apparatus side and the contact pad of the flexible substrate on the recording head side is a pressure contact. head. 6. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein each of said energy generating elements is an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy. 7. The ink jet recording head according to claim 6, wherein the ink is ejected from the ejection port using film boiling generated in the ink by the thermal energy applied by the electrothermal transducer. 8. An ink jet recording head for performing recording by discharging recording ink from a discharge port, wherein (A) at least a plurality of energy elements for generating energy for discharging ink, and each of the energy elements An element substrate provided with a plurality of electrode pads for electrically connecting to an external wiring, and a plurality of lead electrodes for electrically connecting to the element substrate at one end of the element substrate (B), and an end opposite thereto A plurality of contact pads for electrically connecting to the recording device, and a plurality of wirings for electrically connecting the lead electrode portion and the contact pad portion and transmitting a recording signal from the recording device. (C) electrically connecting the electrode pad of (A) with the lead electrode of (B); and (D) electrically connecting the element substrate and the discharge (E) The flexible substrate is formed by joining an ink flow path for supplying ink to a mouth and a top plate having a common liquid chamber, and the flexible substrate is any part except the lead electrode part and the contact pad part. In an ink jet recording head that is bent at an arbitrary angle at a site and attached to a recording device, the element substrate is rectangular, and the energy element is an electrothermal transducer,
In addition, an ink jet recording head is formed in which electrothermal transducers are arranged along the edge of one side of the element substrate, and the other three sides are surrounded by the flexible substrate. 9. One side of the flexible substrate is opposed to a side of the element substrate opposite to the side on which the electrothermal transducers are arranged, and both ends of the opposed side of the flexible substrate are elongated. 9. The ink jet recording head according to claim 8, wherein a power supply wiring of the electrothermal transducer is arranged so as to protrude and oppose two sides of the element substrate, respectively, and to protrude both ends thereof. 10. The element substrate according to claim 8, wherein the surface of the element substrate on which the electrothermal transducer is disposed is opposite to the surface of the flexible substrate which electrically connects with the recording device. Inkjet recording head. 11. The ink jet recording head according to claim 8, wherein the flexible substrate is bent in advance and then joined to the top plate. 12. The flexible substrate is a flexible polyimide film, a wiring substrate shape that can be sequentially cut on a sheet-like polyimide film is formed, an element substrate is arranged, and after electrical connection, cut out from the sheet. The inkjet recording head according to claim 11, wherein: 13. The top plate according to claim 1, wherein said top plate has a shape capable of forming two discharge ports for discharging different kinds of ink in the same direction by being symmetrically joined to said two element substrates. The inkjet recording head according to any one of the above. 14. An ink jet recording head cartridge comprising: the ink jet recording head according to claim 1; and an ink tank detachable from the recording head. 15. An ink jet recording head cartridge according to claim 14, and a member for mounting said ink jet recording head cartridge, wherein said ink is supplied from said ink jet recording head in response to a recording signal sent through said contact pad. An inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink.