JPH11300977A - Liquid ejection head, manufacture thereof, head cartridge, and liquid ejector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a highly reliable liquid ejection head having stabilized election characteristics. SOLUTION: A recessed substrate 40 is formed by making a recess 40a having a bend 42 and a stripping layer 41 is formed on the recess 40a side surface. A movable member 6 is formed on the surface of the stripping layer 41. On the other hand, a bonding layer 44 is formed on the surface of an element substrate 1 arranged with a heating element 2. The movable member 6 and the bonding layer 44 are metal bonded by press fitting. Subsequently, the stripping layer 41 and the movable member 6 are stripped on the interface and the movable member 6 is transferred onto the bonding layer 44 of the element substrate 1 thus forming a basic body 43 for ejection head.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording head and an apparatus used for a printer as an output terminal of a copying machine, a facsimile, a word processor, a host computer or the like, a video printer, and the like. The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording head and an apparatus having a base on which an electrothermal transducer for generating thermal energy to be used is formed. That is, the present invention relates to a liquid jet recording head used in a liquid jet recording apparatus which performs recording by ejecting a recording liquid (ink or the like) as flying droplets from an ejection port (orifice) and attaching it to a recording medium medium. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art By giving energy such as heat to ink, a state change accompanied by a steep volume change (formation of air bubbles) is caused in the ink, and the ink is ejected from an ejection port by an action force based on this state change. An ink jet recording method in which an image is formed by attaching the ink onto a recording medium, that is, a so-called bubble jet recording method, is conventionally known. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,129, etc., a recording apparatus using this bubble jet recording method includes a discharge port for discharging ink and an ink flow communicating with the discharge port. A passage and an electrothermal converter as an energy generating means for discharging ink arranged in the ink flow path are generally arranged.

According to such a recording method, a high-quality image can be recorded at high speed and with low noise, and in a head performing this recording method, ejection ports for ejecting ink are arranged at a high density. Therefore, it has many advantages that a high-resolution recorded image and a color image can be easily obtained with a small device. For this reason, this bubble jet recording method has recently been used in printers,
It is used in many office devices such as copiers and facsimile machines, and is increasingly used in industrial systems such as textile printing devices.

As the bubble jet technology is used for products in various fields as described above, the following various requirements have been increasing in recent years.

[0005] For example, as a study on a demand for improvement in energy efficiency, optimization of a heating element such as adjusting the thickness of a protective film is mentioned. This method is effective in improving the propagation efficiency of generated heat to the liquid.

Further, in order to obtain a high quality image, a driving condition has been proposed for providing a liquid discharging method or the like in which the ink discharging speed is high and good ink discharging can be performed based on stable bubble generation. From the viewpoint of high-speed printing, there has also been proposed a print head having an improved flow path shape in order to obtain a liquid discharge head having a high filling (refilling) speed of the discharged liquid into the liquid flow path.

[0007] Of these flow path shapes, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-1999
The head described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 72-72 and the like has a valve that is located farther from the bubble generation region of the bubble formed by the heating element and located on the side opposite to the discharge port with respect to the heating element. This valve has an initial position as if attached to the ceiling of the flow channel by a manufacturing method using a plate material or the like, and hangs down into the flow channel as bubbles are generated. This invention is disclosed as controlling energy loss by controlling a part of the above-mentioned back wave by a valve.

However, in this configuration, as will be understood from consideration of the case where bubbles are generated inside the flow path for holding the liquid to be discharged, suppression of a part of the back wave by the valve is difficult for liquid discharge. It turns out that it is not practical.

Originally, the back wave itself is not directly related to the ejection as described above. Therefore, it is clear that even if only a part of the back wave is suppressed, the ejection is not greatly affected.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is based on the fundamental discharge characteristics of the conventional method of discharging bubbles by forming bubbles in a liquid flow path, particularly bubbles accompanying film boiling. The main challenge is to raise the level to unpredictable levels.

The present inventors have conducted intensive studies to provide a novel droplet discharge method utilizing bubbles which has not been obtained conventionally, and a head and the like using the method. At this time, the first technology analysis starting from the operation of the movable member in the liquid flow path, such as analyzing the principle of the mechanism of the movable member in the liquid flow path, and the second technology starting from the droplet discharging principle by bubbles Analysis, and further, a third technical analysis starting from the bubble formation region of the heating element for bubble formation, and based on these analyses, the arrangement relationship between the fulcrum and the free end of the movable member can be freely set on the discharge port side, that is, on the downstream side. By establishing a relationship where the ends are positioned, and by arranging the movable member facing the heating element or the bubble generation region, a completely new technique for actively controlling bubbles has been established.

Next, when considering the energy that the bubble itself gives to the discharge amount, it has been found that considering the growth component on the downstream side of the bubble is the largest factor that can significantly improve the discharge characteristics. That is, it has been found that the efficient conversion of the growth component on the downstream side of the bubble in the ejection direction leads to the improvement of the ejection efficiency and the ejection speed.

Further, a heat generating area for forming bubbles,
For example, a movable member or liquid flow path involved in the growth of the downstream side from the center line passing through the area center in the flow direction of the droplet of the electrothermal transducer or the downstream side of the bubble such as the area center on the surface controlling foaming is structurally used. It turns out that it is also preferable to consider the factors.

On the other hand, it has been found that the refill speed can be greatly improved by considering the arrangement of the movable member and the structure of the liquid supply path.

An object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable liquid discharge head having stable discharge characteristics when discharging liquid using displacement of a free end of a movable member due to pressure based on generation of bubbles. It is in. In addition, an object of the present invention is to move a movable member or the like of the liquid ejection head with high accuracy, and
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head that can be formed at a high density.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, a method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head according to the present invention comprises the steps of: providing, on a surface of a first substrate provided with a heating element, one end facing the heating element with a free end; Forming a liquid ejection head substrate by joining the other end of the movable member, and a liquid flow path including the movable member and a liquid communicating with the liquid flow path on the liquid ejection head substrate. Bonding a top plate provided with a discharge port for discharging the liquid discharge head, wherein the step of forming the base for the liquid discharge head includes a step of forming at least a part of the surface of the movable member. Forming a release layer from which the movable member can be peeled on the surface of the second substrate formed in a shape equal to the surface shape; forming the movable member on the release layer; The direction of flow of the liquid on the substrate A step of forming a bonding layer at a position upstream of the heating element and at a position where the other end of the movable member is bonded; and bonding the second substrate to the surface on which the movable member is formed by the first method. A step of bonding the other end of the movable member and the bonding layer to each other, and a step of separating the second substrate from the movable member at an interface with the release layer. .

As the second substrate, single crystal silicon may be used. In this case, a concave portion is formed by anisotropic etching on a portion of the surface of the single crystal silicon where one end of the movable member is formed. Then, the surface of the second substrate may be formed in the same shape as the surface of the movable member.

Further, the movable member and the bonding layer may be made of a metal. In this case, it is preferable to use a noble metal or a noble metal alloy. Further, the release layer may be made of silicon dioxide.

The liquid discharge head according to the present invention has a liquid discharge head in which a movable member having a free end on one end facing the heating element and a fixed end on the other end is joined to the surface of the first substrate provided with the heating element. The present invention as described above, comprising: a head base; and a top plate joined to the liquid discharge head base and provided with a liquid flow path including a movable member and a discharge port for discharging a liquid in communication with the liquid flow path. Manufactured by any one of the methods for manufacturing a liquid discharge head described above.

As described above, in the present invention, the movable member is the second member.
Since the first substrate is provided with a bonding layer, the second substrate is easily bonded to the first substrate simply by pressing the second substrate against the first substrate. On this occasion,
Since the bonding layer is formed at a portion where the other end of the movable member is bonded, one end of the movable member is not bonded to the first substrate but is a free end. In addition, since the movable member is formed on the surface of the second substrate with a release layer interposed therebetween, after the second substrate is pressed against the first substrate, the second substrate is removed from the first substrate. Then, the movable member is peeled off from the interface with the release layer, and only the movable member remains on the first substrate, thereby forming the liquid discharge head base.

In particular, since the movable member and the bonding layer are made of metal, the movable member and the bonding layer are bonded by metal bonding.

In the liquid discharge head manufactured according to the method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head of the present invention, the liquid supplied to the liquid flow path is heated by the heating element to foam the liquid, and the energy generated at this time is used as the discharge port. The liquid is ejected from the Here, in the liquid flow path, a movable member having one end facing the heating element and having a free end is disposed, and the one end of the movable member is displaced by the foaming of the liquid. In particular, the other end of the movable member, which is joined to the first substrate, is located upstream of the heating element in the flow direction of the liquid in the liquid flow path. To the discharge port side, which is the downstream end in the liquid flow direction.

A head cartridge according to the present invention includes the liquid discharge head according to the present invention, and a liquid container for holding a liquid supplied to the liquid discharge head.

Further, a liquid discharge apparatus according to the present invention includes the liquid discharge head according to the present invention, and drive signal supply means for supplying a drive signal for discharging liquid from the liquid discharge head. In addition, the liquid discharge head of the present invention and a recording / transporting unit that transports a recording medium that receives the liquid discharged from the liquid discharge head.

The terms "upstream" and "downstream" used in the description of the present invention refer to the flow direction of a liquid from a liquid supply source to a discharge port through a bubble generation region (or a movable member).
Alternatively, it is expressed as an expression regarding this structural direction.

[0026]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along the direction of the liquid flow path for explaining the basic structure of the liquid discharge head 70 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Liquid ejection head 7 of the present embodiment
Reference numeral 0, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a top plate 3 joined to the liquid ejection head base 43, and an orifice plate 4 joined to the front end surfaces of the liquid ejection head base 43 and the top plate 3. The liquid ejection head base 43 is an element in which a plurality of (only one is shown in FIG. 1) heating elements 2 are provided in parallel as ejection energy generating elements for applying thermal energy for generating bubbles in the liquid. It has a substrate 1 and a movable member 6 bonded on the element substrate 1 via a bonding layer 44.

The element substrate 1 is formed by depositing a silicon oxide film or a silicon nitride film for insulation and heat storage on a substrate such as silicon, and patterning an electric resistance layer and wiring constituting the heating element 2 thereon. It was done. The heating element 2 generates heat by applying a voltage from the wiring to the electric resistance layer and passing a current through the electric resistance layer. The configuration of the element substrate 1 will be described later in detail.

The top plate 3 constitutes a plurality of liquid flow paths 7 corresponding to the respective heating elements 2 and a common liquid chamber 8 for supplying a liquid to each liquid flow path 7. Heating element 2
A channel side wall 9 extending between the two is integrally provided. The top plate 3 is made of a silicon-based material, and the patterns of the liquid flow path 7 and the common liquid chamber 8 are formed by etching, or silicon nitride, silicon oxide, or the like is formed on a silicon substrate by a known film forming method such as CVD. After depositing a material for forming the flow path side wall 9, the liquid flow path 7 can be formed by etching.

The orifice plate 4 has a plurality of discharge ports 5 corresponding to the respective liquid flow paths 7 and communicating with the common liquid chamber 8 through the respective liquid flow paths 7. The orifice plate 4 may also be made of a silicon-based material.
The silicon substrate on which the discharge port 5 is formed is 10 to 150 μm
It is formed by shaving to a thickness of the order. In addition, the orifice plate 4 is not necessarily required for the present invention,
Instead of providing the orifice plate 4, when forming the liquid flow path 7 in the top plate 3, leave a wall corresponding to the thickness of the orifice plate 4 on the tip end surface of the top plate 3, and form the discharge port 5 in this portion. Thus, the top plate 3 and the orifice plate 4 can be integrated.

The movable member 6 is provided on the heating element 2 such that the liquid path 7 is divided into a first liquid flow path 7 a communicating with the discharge port 5 and a second liquid flow path 7 b having the heating element 2. This is a thin-film member made of a cantilever-shaped Au or Pd material facing each other.

The movable member 6 has a first fulcrum 6a and a second fulcrum which are movable portions on the upstream side of a large flow flowing from the common liquid chamber 8 through the movable member 6 to the discharge port 5 by the liquid discharging operation. 6b, the first fulcrum 6a and the second
Is disposed at a position facing the heating element 2 at a predetermined distance from the heating element 2 so as to cover the heating element 2 so as to have a free end on the downstream side with respect to the fulcrum 6b. This heating element 2
A space between the movable member 6 and the movable member 6 is a bubble generation region 10.

When the heating element 2 is heated based on the above configuration, heat acts on the liquid in the bubble generation region 10 between the movable member 6 and the heating element 2, thereby causing a film boiling phenomenon on the heating element 2. Based bubbles are generated and grow. The pressure associated with the growth of the bubbles acts on the movable member 6 preferentially, and the movable member 6 is largely opened toward the discharge port 5 mainly around the first fulcrum 6a as shown by the broken line in FIG. Is displaced. Then, depending on the displacement or the displaced state of the movable member 6, the propagation of pressure based on the generation of bubbles and the growth of the bubbles themselves are guided to the ejection port 5 side, and the liquid is ejected from the ejection port 5.

That is, the liquid flow path 7 is
By providing the movable member 6 having the first fulcrum 6a and the second fulcrum 6b on the upstream side (the common liquid chamber 8 side) of the flow of the liquid therein and having the free end 6c on the downstream side (the discharge port 5 side). In addition, the pressure propagation direction of the bubble is guided to the downstream side, and the pressure of the bubble directly and efficiently contributes to ejection. Then, the growth direction of the bubble itself is guided in the downstream direction as in the pressure propagation direction, and the bubble grows more downstream than upstream. As described above, by controlling the growth direction itself of the bubble by the movable member 6 and controlling the pressure propagation direction of the bubble, fundamental discharge characteristics such as discharge efficiency, discharge force or discharge speed can be improved.

On the other hand, when the bubble enters the defoaming step, the bubble rapidly disappears due to a synergistic effect with the elastic force of the movable member 6, and the movable member 6 is finally moved to the initial position shown by the solid line in FIG. Return to. At this time, the liquid flows in from the upstream side, that is, the common liquid chamber 8 side, in order to supplement the contracted volume of the bubbles in the bubble generation region 10 and to supplement the volume of the discharged liquid,
The liquid flow path 7 is filled (refilled) with a liquid, and the liquid is refilled efficiently and rationally and stably with the return operation of the movable member 6.

Next, the element substrate 1 of the liquid discharge head 70 shown in FIG. 1 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 shows the liquid discharge head 70 shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a portion corresponding to an ink path of a base portion of FIG.

Silicon substrate 1 serving as base of element substrate 1
A thermal oxide film 102 as a heat storage layer and an interlayer film 103 made of silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ) or silicon nitride (Si ₃ N ₄ ) and also serving as a heat storage layer are laminated on the heat storage layer 01. On the interlayer film 103, a resistance layer 104 and Al or Al-
A wiring portion 105 made of an Al alloy such as Si or Al—Cu is patterned, and a protective film 106 made of silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ) or silicon nitride (Si ₃ N ₄ ) and a heat generation of the resistance layer 104 are formed thereon. A cavitation-resistant film 107 for protecting the protective film 106 from a chemical or physical impact accompanying the cavitation is laminated. The resistance layer 1
04 and the wiring portion 105 constitute a heating element layer.
A region on the wiring 04 where the wiring portion 105 is not formed is a heat acting portion 108 functioning as a heating element. As described above, the resistance layer 104 and the heat acting part 108 formed on the silicon substrate 101 by the semiconductor manufacturing technology are
Is composed.

The heating element 2 is connected to the wiring section 105 by the resistance layer 104.
Between the heating element 2 and the resistive layer 1
04 has a configuration including TaN _0.8 . This T
the heat generating element 2 comprising aN _{0 .8} is less variation in manufacturing, also form a large number of the heat generating element 2 on the same substrate, functional effect is stabilized. Furthermore, even if the energization conditions are changed, the resistance change is small, and the functions of the large number of heating elements 2 can be stably exhibited to the same effect. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the element substrate 1 including the heating element 2 cut along a longitudinal direction of a main element.

Using a general Mos (metal oxide silicon) process, impurities such as ion plating are introduced and diffused to form a p-conductive silicon substrate 1.
01 on the n-type well region 402,
On the p-type well region 403, n-Mos451 is formed. This p-Mos450 and n-Mos4
Reference numeral 51 denotes a gate wiring 413 made of polysilicon deposited by a CVD method to a thickness of 4000 to 5000 mm via a gate insulating film 408 having a thickness of several hundreds of mm, and a source region doped with n-type or p-type impurities. 405, a drain region 406, and the like.
C-Mos logic is constituted by 50 and n-Mos451.

In the p-type well region 403, a drain region 411, a source region 412, and a gate wiring 413 also formed by steps such as impurity introduction and diffusion.
An n-Mos transistor for driving an element is provided.

Here, when an n-Mos transistor is used for the element driving driver, the minimum distance L between the drain and the gate constituting one transistor is about 10 μm. The breakdown of 10 μm is that the Al electrode 417, which is the source-drain contact, is 2 × 2 μm.
2 and the distance between the Al electrode 417 and the gate wiring 413 is 2 ×
2 μm is 4 μm, and the gate wiring 413 is 4 μm, for a total of 10 μm.

Between each element, 50 is applied by field oxidation.
An oxide film isolation region 453 having a thickness of 00 to 10,000 is formed, and each element is isolated. This field oxide film acts as the first-layer thermal oxide film 102 under the thermal action section 108.

After each element is formed, the respective elements are formed by CVD.
PSG (Phospho-Silica) formed to a thickness of 7000 mm
te Glass), BPSG (Boron-doped Phospho-Silicate)
 An interlayer insulating film 416 made of a glass or the like is provided.
You. Further, the interlayer insulating film 416 is flattened by the heat treatment.
After processing such as conversion, through the contact hole,
Wiring is performed by the Al electrode 417 serving as the first wiring layer.
ing. After that, 10,000Å by plasma CVD method.
SiO formed to a thickness of ~ 15000mm_TwoFrom a membrane, etc.
An interlayer insulating film 418 is further provided.
TaN of thickness _{0.8, hex}The resistance layer 104 made of a film is DC
It is formed by a sputtering method. This resistance layer 104
Is partially in contact with the Al electrode 417 through the through hole
doing. Then, although not shown, wiring to each heating element 2
Al electrode serving as a second wiring layer is formed.
You.

Next, a plasma CVD method is applied to about 1000
Protective film 10 made of Si ₃ N ₄ film formed to a thickness of 0 °
6 are provided. An anti-cavitation film 107 made of Ta or the like and having a thickness of about 2500 ° is deposited on the protective film 106.

Although the present embodiment has been described with a configuration using n-mos transistors, it has the ability to individually drive a plurality of heating elements 2 and can achieve the fine structure as described above. If the transistor has a function,
Not limited to this.

These driving elements are formed on the silicon substrate 101 by semiconductor technology, and the heat acting portion 108 is further formed on the same substrate.

Next, the ejection head substrate 43 shown in FIG.
Will be described with reference to FIG. 4A to 4C, the front and back of the concave substrate 40 are reversed in order to facilitate understanding. That is, the illustrated upper surface is the back surface, and the lower surface is the front surface.

As shown in FIG. 4A, a mask layer (not shown) formed by patterning a silicon dioxide film formed by thermal oxidation with an oxidizing gas is formed on the surface, and the silicon having a crystal orientation plane of (100) is formed. A wafer is prepared as a concave substrate 40, and using a photoresist (not shown) formed by a photolithography process as a mask, the mask layer is partially removed by patterning, and a desired portion is etched with an HF aqueous solution. A part of the surface was exposed. The mask layer includes an inclined surface 40 b for etching the concave substrate 40 with the crystal axis anisotropic etching to form the movable member 6.
And a concave portion 40a formed by the bottom surface 40c, and has etching resistance to a crystal axis anisotropic etching solution. After removing the photoresist,
The concave substrate 40 is made of potassium hydroxide (KOH) having a concentration of 27%.
Crystal axis anisotropic etching with an aqueous solution at a liquid temperature of 80 ° C,
The (111) crystal plane was an inclined portion 40b, and the (100) crystal plane having a depth of 5 μm was a bottom surface 40c. Also, the bottom surface 40
Bent portions 42 were formed between the inclined portion 40b and the inclined portion 40b and between the inclined portion 40b and the surface of the concave substrate 40, respectively.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, after the mask layer is removed by etching with an HF aqueous solution, the concave substrate 40 is thermally oxidized again by using an oxidizing gas to form the concave substrate 40a.
A silicon dioxide layer serving as a release layer 41 was formed to a thickness of 1000 ° on the entire surface of the concave substrate 40 including the silicon substrate.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4C, Au or Pd as a material of the movable member 6 is formed to a thickness of 5 μm on the entire surface by a vacuum evaporation method, and a photolithography process and ICP (inductive coupling) are performed. The movable member 6 was formed by patterning into the shape of the movable member 6 by a plasma) etching method.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4D, after forming the element substrate 1 shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
A thin film of Au or Pd having a thickness of 1000 ° was successively deposited by a vacuum evaporation method, and the thin film was patterned by a photolithography process and etching to form a bonding layer 44.

Next, as shown in FIG.
The movable member 6 on the concave substrate 40 shown in FIG. 4C is aligned with the bonding layer 44 on the element substrate 1 shown in FIG.
And the element substrate 1 were crimped. Since the movable member 6 and the bonding layer 44 are both made of Au or Pd, the concave substrate 40 and the bonding layer 44 are metal-bonded by the pressure bonding of the concave substrate 40 and the element substrate 1 and are bonded to each other.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4 (f), it is peeled off from the interface between the release layer 41 and the movable member 6, and the bent portion 42 is formed.
By transferring the movable member 6 to which the shape has been transferred onto the bonding layer 44, the substrate 43 for a liquid ejection head is completed.

As described above, the concave substrate 4 including the concave portion 40a
, A release layer 41 is formed on the movable member 6.
Is formed, the movable member 6 is separated from the release layer 41.
As the material of the release layer 41, the material constituting the movable member 6 is used.
It is necessary to select a material whose quality is easy to peel off. You
In other words, the material of the release layer 41 depends on the reactivity with the movable member 6.
And low adhesion. With such materials
Then, a more suitable material is used in combination with the movable member 6.
Just choose, metal, semi-metal, semiconductor, insulator or
Various materials such as organic substances are selected. For example, moving parts
When using a noble metal or a noble metal alloy as the material of the material 6,
In this case, as the release layer 41, oxidation having low reactivity and adhesion is used.
Or nitride or carbide is preferred, and BN, B
C_Four, AlN, Al_TwoO_Three, SiC, Si_ThreeN_Four, SiO_Two,
TiC, TiN, TiO_Two, VO _Two, Cr_TwoO_Three, Zr
O_Two, Ta_TwoO_Five, W_TwoO_ThreeEtc. can be used. Release layer 41
Is peeled off when being formed in the concave portion 40a on the concave substrate 40.
The shape of the recess 40a does not significantly change depending on the thickness of the layer 41.
It is formed using a thin film forming method. Thin film formation
Methods include resistance heating evaporation with high reproducibility of film quality, electron
Vacuum evaporation such as beam evaporation, CVD, and sputtering
It is good to use a wearing method.

On the concave substrate 40 after the transfer step, a film of Au or Pd is formed again by a 5 μm vacuum evaporation method to form the movable member 6, and the movable member 6 is formed by the step shown in FIG.
A similar liquid ejection head substrate 43 can be formed. Thus, it was found that the concave substrate 40 which is the male type of the movable member 6 can be reused.

As described above, the movable member 6 is placed on the element substrate 1.
Is formed, the top plate 3 is joined onto the discharge head base 43, and further, the discharge ports 5 for discharging ink shown in the perspective sectional view of the liquid discharge head in FIG. It becomes the head 70. A plurality of discharge ports 5 are formed, and each flow path communicating with each discharge port 5 is isolated by a flow path side wall 9.

As described above, in the ejection force generation area,
By providing the movable member 6 which is displaced by the pressure due to the generation of bubbles, the generated pressure can be efficiently directed to the discharge port 5, and the discharge liquid can be refilled with high discharge energy efficiency and high discharge efficiency. The liquid can be discharged at the discharge pressure.

Further, since the movable member 6 is formed by using a photolithography process, the dimensions such as the length and width in the direction of the discharge port 5 can be formed with high precision, and the machine originates from the dimensional variation. Variation in the dynamic characteristics can be reduced. In addition, since the first fulcrum 6a and the second fulcrum 6b are formed in a bent shape, a change in mechanical strength with time due to stress concentration on the movable portion can be suppressed, and the durability is improved.

Further, since there is no need to heat the liquid ejecting head base 43 and the movable member 6 at the time of bonding, there is no need to worry about diffusion of metal ions and the like at the time of metal-to-metal bonding. Since the bonding is not performed, the influence of thermal expansion due to heat generated when driving the liquid discharge head is reduced.

Then, the concave portion 40a forming the movable member 6
Is reusable, so that the liquid ejection head base 43 can be supplied at low cost and with good reproducibility.

Next, a liquid discharge apparatus on which the above-described liquid discharge head 70 is mounted will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of an example of the liquid ejection apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of a liquid ejection head cartridge 580 of the present embodiment used in the liquid ejection apparatus shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, a lead screw 552 in which a spiral groove 553 is cut is rotatably supported on a main body frame 551. The lead screw 552 interlocks with the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor 559,
It is rotationally driven via driving force transmission gears 560 and 561. Further, the carriage 55 is provided on the main body frame 551.
A guide rail 554 for slidably guiding the guide 5 is fixed. The carriage 555 is provided with a pin (not shown) that engages with the spiral groove 553. By rotating the lead screw 552 by the rotation of the drive motor 559, the carriage 555 reciprocates in the directions of arrows a and b shown in the figure. I can do it. The paper pressing plate 572 presses the recording medium 590 against the platen roller 573 in the moving direction of the carriage 555.

A liquid discharge head cartridge 580 is mounted on the carriage 555. The liquid ejection head cartridge 580 has the above-described liquid ejection head 70 integrated with an ink tank. The liquid ejection head cartridge 580 is fixedly supported by the carriage 555 by positioning means and electrical contacts provided on the carriage 555, and
5 is provided detachably.

The photocouplers 557 and 558 constitute a home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the lever 556 of the carriage 555 in this area and performing reverse rotation of the driving motor 559 in the rotation direction. A cap member 567 for capping the front surface of the liquid discharge head 70 (the surface on which the discharge port 5 is opened) is supported by the support member 562, further includes a suction unit 566, and sucks the liquid discharge head 70 through the cap opening 568. Perform recovery. Body support plate 5
A support plate 565 is attached to 64. The cleaning blade 563 slidably supported by the support plate 565 is moved in the front-rear direction by driving means (not shown). The form of the cleaning blade 563 is not limited to the illustrated one, and it goes without saying that a known one can be applied. The lever 570 is used to start the suction recovery operation of the liquid ejection head 70, and moves with the movement of the cam 571 that contacts the carriage 555, and the driving force from the driving motor 559 is changed to a known one such as gear or latch switching. The movement is controlled by the transmission means.

The capping, cleaning and suction recovery processes are performed at corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 552 when the carriage 555 moves to the home position side area. If a desired operation is performed at a known timing, any of the embodiments can be applied.

The liquid ejection apparatus described above has a recording signal supply means for supplying a recording signal for driving the electrothermal transducer of the mounted liquid ejection head 70 to the liquid ejection head 70. And a control unit for controlling

Since the liquid discharge apparatus of the present embodiment is equipped with the above-described liquid discharge head 70, the discharge of ink is stabilized, and as a result, a recording apparatus with less deterioration of image quality can be achieved. In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the liquid ejection head cartridge 580 is detachably mounted on the carriage 555. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The liquid ejection head 70 is integrated with the carriage 555, and only the ink tank is detachably attached. It may be configured to be mounted.

[0069]

As described above, according to the present invention, the movable member is provided on the surface of the second substrate, and the bonding layer is provided on the first substrate. The first
The substrate can be easily bonded to the first substrate simply by pressing it on the substrate and then removing the second substrate. Also,
Because the movable member and the bonding layer are bonded by pressure bonding regardless of heating or adhesive, the diffusion of metal ions during metal-to-metal bonding by heating, or the effect of thermal expansion due to the heat of the adhesive when bonding with an adhesive There is no. Thus, a highly reliable liquid ejection head having stable ejection characteristics can be obtained. Further, the second substrate is made of single-crystal silicon, and a movable member obtained by forming a concave portion by anisotropic etching on a portion of the surface where the one end side of the movable member is to be formed has the stress of the movable portion. Are dispersed, fatigue fracture is less likely to occur, and durability is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view along a liquid flow path direction of a liquid ejection head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion corresponding to an ink path of a base portion of the liquid ejection head shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a main element of a device substrate including a heating element, which is cut so as to be longitudinal.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a manufacturing process of the ejection head base shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective sectional view of the liquid ejection head shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of an example of the liquid ejection device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of an embodiment of the liquid ejection head cartridge of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Element board 2 Heating element 3 Top plate 4 Orifice plate 5 Discharge port 6 Movable member 6a First fulcrum 6b Second fulcrum 6c Free end 7 Liquid flow path 7a First liquid flow path 7b Second liquid flow path 8 Common liquid chamber 9 Flow path side wall 10 Bubble generation area 40 Concave substrate 40a Recess 40b Inclined surface 40c Bottom 41 Release layer 43 Liquid ejection base 44 Bonding layer 70 Liquid ejection head 101 Silicon substrate 102 Thermal oxide film 103 Interlayer film 104 Resistance layer 105 Wiring portion 106 Protective film 107 Anti-cavitation film 108 Heat acting portion 402 N-type well region 403 P-type well region 405, 412 Source region 406, 411 Drain region 408 Gate insulating film 413 Gate wiring 416, 418 Interlayer insulating film 417 Al electrode 450 p-Mos 451 n-Mos 453 oxide film isolation region 51 Body frame 552 Lead screw 553 Spiral groove 554 Guide rail 555 Carriage 556, 570 Lever 557, 558 Photocoupler 559 Driving motor 560, 561 Driving force transmission gear 562 Support member 563 Cleaning blade 564 Main body support plate 565 Support plate 566 Suction means 567 Cap member 568 Cap opening 571 Cam 572 Paper press plate 573 Platen roller 580 Liquid ejection head cartridge 590 Recording medium

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takayuki Yagi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A step of bonding the other end of a movable member having one free end facing the heating element to a surface of a first substrate provided with the heating element to form a base for a liquid ejection head. And a step of joining a top plate provided with a liquid flow path including the movable member and a discharge port for discharging liquid in communication with the liquid flow path on the liquid discharge head substrate. Wherein the step of forming the base for a liquid ejection head comprises: forming a movable member on a surface of a second substrate having at least a part of a surface formed in a shape equal to a surface shape of the movable member. A step of forming a peelable release layer; a step of forming the movable member on the release layer; and a flow direction of the liquid on the first substrate, which is upstream of the heating element and is movable. Site where the other end of the member is joined Forming a bonding layer; pressing the second substrate with the surface on which the movable member is formed facing the first substrate; and bonding the other end of the movable member to the bonding layer And a step of separating the second substrate from the movable member at an interface with the release layer. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second substrate is made of single-crystal silicon, and a concave portion is formed by anisotropic etching on a surface of the single-crystal silicon where one end of the movable member is formed. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the second substrate is formed in a shape equal to the surface shape of the movable member. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the movable member and the bonding layer are made of metal. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the metal is a noble metal or a noble metal alloy. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the release layer is made of silicon dioxide. 6. A substrate for a liquid ejection head, wherein a movable member having one end facing the heating element and a free end joined to the surface of the first substrate on which the heating element is provided, A liquid ejection head joined to the liquid ejection head substrate, the liquid ejection head having a liquid flow path including the movable member and a top plate provided with an ejection port that ejects liquid in communication with the liquid flow path, A liquid ejection head manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 1. 7. A head cartridge comprising: the liquid ejection head according to claim 6; and a liquid container for holding a liquid supplied to the liquid ejection head. 8. A liquid ejection apparatus comprising: the liquid ejection head according to claim 6; and a drive signal supply unit that supplies a drive signal for ejecting liquid from the liquid ejection head. 9. A liquid ejection apparatus comprising: the liquid ejection head according to claim 6; and a recording / transporting unit that transports a recording medium that receives liquid ejected from the liquid ejection head. 10. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 8, wherein recording is performed by ejecting ink from the liquid ejecting head and attaching the ink to a recording medium.