JPH1134314A - Ink jet recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to discharge fine droplets and carry out high-speed printing at high ink droplet discharge frequencies by a low frequency, low voltage driving system not causing heating easily without using nozzles. SOLUTION: The ink jet recording head is equipped with a vibration generating means 3 that vibrates in accordance with pixel signals, an elastic member 1 that vibrates in accordance with the vibration of the vibration generating means 3, and a vibration reducing means 30 that reduces the vibration of the vibration generating means 3. And after capillary waves are produced on the surface of ink 9 by the vibration of the elastic member 1 and the ink 9 is flown, the vibration reducing means 30 attenuates the vibration of the vibration generating means 3.

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 head for performing printing by discharging droplets such as ink drops on a surface to be printed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A typical example of an ink jet recording system for performing printing by discharging droplets such as ink drops on a surface to be printed is a system using a nozzle. Nozzle-type recording methods include an on-demand type and a continuous flow type.

The on-demand type is a system in which printing is performed by intermittently ejecting ink from nozzles in accordance with recording information. Representative examples of the on-demand type include a piezo oscillator type and a thermal type. The piezo vibrator type applies a pulse voltage to a piezoelectric element attached to the ink chamber to deform the piezoelectric element, thereby changing the ink liquid pressure in the ink chamber and discharging ink drops from nozzles to form dots on recording paper. It is to be recorded. In the thermal type, ink is heated by a heating element provided in an ink chamber, and ink droplets are ejected from nozzles by bubbles generated thereby to record dots on recording paper.

On the other hand, in the continuous flow type, ink is continuously ejected from a nozzle by applying pressure to the ink, and at the same time, a vibration is applied by a piezo vibrator or the like to form a droplet of the ejected ink,
Recording is performed by selectively charging and deflecting droplets.

In each of these methods, the diameter of the ink drop is determined mainly by the diameter of the nozzle. When the nozzle diameter is reduced, the nozzle may be clogged due to dust and dirt or the drying of the ink surface of the nozzle portion, and the ink discharge direction may change due to the adhesion of the ink residue to the nozzle circumference. Occurs.

[0006] On the other hand, there have been proposed some recording systems for performing printing by ejecting ink drops onto a printing surface without using a nozzle.

[0007] US Pat. No. 4,308,547 discloses a method in which a concavely curved spherical piezoelectric shell is arranged in ink and a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric shell via an electrode. In this method, longitudinal waves radiated into the ink from the piezoelectric shell are collected at one point on the free ink surface, and ink drops are ejected from the free ink surface.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-45233 discloses a method for applying a voltage to a piezoelectric body and a piezoelectric pair on a back surface of the substrate by forming a spherical concave portion on a substrate such as glass to form an acoustic lens. A method of forming a vibrator made of electrodes and disposing the vibrator in ink is shown.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-200199 discloses that instead of a concave lens, a thin-plate flat phase Fresnel lens which can be sharply focused at a lower cost is provided on a substrate.

As another example of a recording method that does not use a nozzle, there is a so-called electrostatic suction method that uses an electrostatic force as a discharge force. As an example of the electrostatic suction method, a method using vibration to form an ink meniscus (ink protrusion) is known.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-222853 discloses a method in which a recording needle is projected from the ink surface to apply ultrasonic energy propagating in the axial direction to the recording needle. According to this, ultrasonic flow (acousti)
Due to the c-streaming phenomenon, the ink in contact with the recording needle moves toward the tip of the recording needle, and a convex ink meniscus is formed at the tip of the recording needle. In this state, an electrostatic field is applied between the recording needle and the back electrode to tear off the ink, and an ink drop lands on a recording medium disposed between the recording needle and the back electrode. According to this method, since an ink meniscus is formed at the tip of the recording needle, a smaller ink drop can be formed as compared with the conventional electrostatic suction method.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-28867 also discloses an electrostatic attraction in which an image signal is applied to a needle electrode while an electrostatic field is applied between the needle electrode and the back electrode, and at the same time, the needle electrode is vibrated. The scheme is shown.

[0013]

In a system in which longitudinal waves are focused on the free ink surface and ink drops are ejected from the free ink surface, the diameter of the ink drop is substantially equal to the focused diameter of the longitudinal waves. Here, the ink drop diameter or the focusing diameter d of the longitudinal wave is represented by f: the driving frequency of the vibrator and F: the F value of the lens.
Then, approximately d = F / f. When the wavelength of the longitudinal wave propagating in the ink is λ and the propagation speed is v, there is a relation v = f · λ between these and the driving frequency f of the vibrator.

For example, when it is desired to eject a very small ink drop having an ink drop diameter d of about 15 μm, assuming that the F value of the lens is 1, the longitudinal wave propagation velocity v
Using a conventional low-viscosity, water-based ink of about 1500 m / sec, the driving frequency f required for driving the vibrator is about 1
This is a very high value of 00 MHz. Since it is practically difficult to make the F value of the lens significantly smaller than the above assumed value due to various problems, generally, when trying to reduce the ink drop diameter d, the vibrator is required to be driven at an extremely high frequency. You have to drive.

As described above, in the method in which longitudinal waves are focused on the free ink surface and ink drops are ejected from the free ink surface, a plurality of vibrators must be driven at a high frequency of about 100 MHz. This raises the cost problem of being expensive. In addition, there is a problem that the ink viscosity changes due to the heat generated by the absorption and the drop diameter fluctuates, and the ink itself is dried or solidified in the recording element, so that the ink cannot be ejected.

On the other hand, the electrostatic suction method has a drawback that the diameter of the formed drop is apt to fluctuate due to fluctuations in the thickness of the dielectric material of the recording medium due to humidity or variations in the surface roughness of the recording medium.

An object of the present invention is to use no nozzle and
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording head that can be driven at a low frequency and a low voltage that does not easily generate heat and that can discharge minute ink droplets. Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording head capable of increasing the frequency at which ink droplets are ejected and performing high-speed printing.

[0018]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a plurality of vibration generating means which vibrate in response to a pixel signal and an elastic member having a cantilever structure which vibrates in response to the vibration of the vibration generating means. A vibration reducing means for suppressing vibration of the vibration generating means, wherein a capillary wave is generated on the surface of the ink by the vibration of the elastic member, and after the ink is caused to fly, the vibration reducing means attenuates the vibration of the vibration generating means. This is achieved by an ink jet recording head. The vibration reducing means may be shared with the vibration generating means, or may be another means. In the former case, the vibration generated by the vibration reducing means is different from the vibration generated by the vibration generating means. In the latter case, a mechanism for bringing a member for vibration suppression into contact with the vibration generating means or a mechanism electrically connected in parallel with the vibration generating means is the vibration reducing means.

In the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, first, the vibration generating means is excited according to the image signal. Due to the vibration of the vibration generating means, bending vibration is generated in the elastic member having the cantilever structure. As a result, large vibration energy is generated such that the free end (tip portion) of the elastic member having the cantilever structure is displaced to a considerable extent. In particular, a larger displacement can be generated by exciting the vibration generating means according to the resonance frequency of the elastic member. Due to such a large bending vibration, a capillary wave is generated in a thin portion of the ink at the tip portion of the elastic member, and the ink droplet is torn off from the wave front to cause ejection of the ink droplet. Excitation of the vibration generating means is stopped at this point, but residual vibration occurs in the vibration generating means. Unless the vibration of the vibration generating means stops, it is not possible to start flying the next ink droplet, so it is important to quickly reduce the residual vibration of the vibration generating means. In order to realize this, the vibration reduction means is provided to quickly attenuate the residual vibration of the vibration generation means. After that, the vibration generating means is excited again to fly the next ink droplet, and thereafter, the same cycle is repeated. In this way, the vibration generating means intermittently excites according to the image signal.

The vibration reducing means may share the components with the vibration generating means or may be provided as a separate mechanism. When the vibration generating means and the member are shared, after the ink droplet is discharged from the thin liquid layer portion of the elastic member, vibration different from the vibration for discharging the ink droplet applied to the vibration generating means by the vibration driving means, For example, vibrations of the same frequency are generated in opposite phases to rapidly attenuate the vibrations of the vibration generating means.

When the vibration reducing means is provided separately, after the ink droplet is discharged from the thin liquid layer portion of the elastic member, a second elastic member different from the elastic member for discharging the ink droplet is provided to the vibration generating means. The vibration of the vibration generating means can be rapidly attenuated by making contact with the vibration generating means. Further, by connecting a resistance load to the vibration driving means electrically in parallel with the vibration generating means, the vibration of the vibration generating means can be rapidly attenuated. By quickly attenuating the residual vibration of the vibration generating means in this manner, the flying of the next ink droplet can be started in a short time, so that high-speed printing is possible.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An ink jet recording head according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a basic structure of an ink jet recording head according to the present embodiment. As the elastic member 1, nickel having a thickness of about 7 μm formed by electroforming was used. The elastic member 1 is bonded so as to be sandwiched between the ceramic substrates 2a and 2b having a thickness of about 100 μm, and at least a part of the tip is buried in the ink 9. The vibration generating unit 3 includes a piezoelectric ceramic thin film 4 made of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and an electrode 5 for applying a voltage to the piezoelectric ceramic thin film 4.
a, 5b, which are bonded to the surfaces of the ceramic substrates 2a, 2b opposite to the surface on the ink 9 side at positions corresponding to the elastic members 1. The piezoelectric ceramic thin film 4 made of PZT is subjected to a polarization treatment, and vibrates in a direction perpendicular to the surfaces of the ceramic substrates 2a and 2b when a voltage is applied between the electrodes 5a and 5b. The electrodes 5a and 5b are 0.05
It consists of two layers of chrome with a thickness of μm and gold with a thickness of 1 μm. The ink chamber 6 is formed by ink chamber walls 7a and 7b made of a ceramic material and a top plate 8. Ink 9
Are supplied from an ink tank (not shown) to the ink chamber 6 through an ink supply path 10. At this time, the tip of the elastic member 1 is wetted by the ink 9. The ink droplet ejection port 11 is formed by the ink chamber wall 7a and the top plate 8.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the basic configuration of the ink jet recording head according to the present embodiment. In order to facilitate understanding, the ink chamber walls 7a and 7b described in FIG.
Is not shown.

The elastic member 1 is formed in a sharp shape corresponding to the pitch at which ink droplets are ejected. Each elastic member 1 is formed with a corresponding vibration generating section 3. A partition 12 connecting the top plate 8 and the ceramic substrates 2a and 2b is arranged between the elastic members 1. Further, a support substrate 13 made of an aluminum plate is provided between the vibration generating units 3 so that the vibration generated in any of the vibration generating units does not excite the elastic members on the other vibration generating units.
It is fixed to.

Ceramic substrate 2a, 2b, ink chamber wall 7
a, 7b, the top plate 8, and the partition wall 12 are desirably made of the same ceramic material.
Alternatively, it can be manufactured by any of the methods of individually forming and then bonding. A plastic substrate may be used instead of the ceramic substrate. The elastic member 1 can be formed as an integral member that is commonly connected at a portion that adheres to the ceramic substrate. The vibration generator 3 is provided with electrodes 4a, 4b at positions corresponding to the respective elastic members 1 with respect to the integrated PZT plate.
Can be easily produced. The vibration generator 3 thus manufactured is bonded to the ceramic substrate 2. Finally, by adhering to the support substrate 13, an ink jet recording head as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be manufactured.

The material of the elastic member 1 may be formed of various metallic materials or alloys thereof. The elastic member 1 may be made of a resin material such as polyimide instead of a metal material. Further, the elastic member 1 may be formed of various inorganic materials such as SiO ₂ and Al ₂ O ₃ .

The piezoelectric ceramic thin film is made of barium titanate BaTiO ₃ or lead niobate PbNb other than PZT.
Polycrystalline or single crystal such as ₂ O ₆ , lithium niobate LiNbO ₃ , lithium tantalate LiTaO ₃ , or Z
A piezoelectric thin film material such as nO or AlN may be used.

Next, the operation of the ink jet recording head according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state of the elastic member 1 when a vibration is generated by the vibration generating unit 3. The vibration generator 3 has a resonance frequency fo determined by the rigidity of the ceramic substrates 2a and 2b, the thickness of the piezoelectric ceramic thin film 5, and the piezoelectric characteristics. The external driving mechanism 14 applies an alternating voltage of fo or an integer multiple of the frequency f to the vibration generator 3 to excite the vibration generator 3. Note that this drive frequency may be any value,
Driving at the resonance frequency fo or a frequency f that is an integral multiple of the resonance frequency fo allows efficient vibration.

The vibration generated by the vibration generating section 3 causes the elastic member 1 connected to the ceramic substrates 2a and 2b to vibrate. As a result, the elastic member 1 performs bending vibration as shown in FIG. . The elastic member 1 also has a unique resonance frequency fe determined by the rigidity and size of the elastic member, the manner of contact with the ink, and the like. The elastic member 1 is determined by determining the rigidity and size of the elastic member, the manner of contact with the ink, and the like such that the inherent resonance frequency fe or a value of an integral multiple of the natural resonance frequency coincides with the drive frequency for exciting the vibration generating section 3. Can efficiently bend and vibrate. In the ink jet recording head to which the present invention is applied, referring to FIG. 2, the dimensions of the elastic member 1 are width a = 300 μm and height b in the ink chamber.
= 260 μm. The elastic member 1 has a region where the width W (see FIG. 2) of the surface perpendicular to the vibration direction of the bending vibration near the free end of the free end of the cantilever structure of the elastic member 1 is approximately 2λ. have. Here, λ is given by the following equation 1. λ = {8πσ / (ρfe ² )} ^1/3 × 10 ⁴ (μm) Expression 1 where σ is the ink surface tension (mN / m) and ρ is the ink density (g / cm ³ ) fe Is the excitation frequency (Hz). By doing so, two peaks of the capillary wave can be generated in the width W, and then one peak of the ink ridge is formed. This is separated at the next moment, so that one ink droplet can fly more accurately. .

FIG. 4 shows the external drive mechanism 14 and the vibration generator 4.
5 shows an alternating voltage waveform applied to the. In the present embodiment, a sinusoidal alternating voltage of 192 kHz and 40 Vp-p (maximum / lowest amplitude) was applied to the vibration generating section as a burst wave for only 52 μsec to excite. Therefore,
This means that a 192 kHz sinusoidal alternating voltage was applied for 10 bursts. Although the waveform shown in FIG. 4 is a sine wave, it can be driven by a rectangular wave or a triangular wave.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a side surface of the distal end portion of the elastic member 1 which is bending and vibrating. When the elastic member 1 is performing bending vibration as shown in FIG. 3, the distal end portion of the elastic member 1 vibrates largely right and left as indicated by a broken arrow. Distance t from the surface perpendicular to the vibration direction of the tip to the surface of ink 9
When the thickness (hereinafter referred to as the ink liquid thickness) is set to several μm to several hundred μm, a capillary wave is generated on the ink surface. Ink 9
Is, for example, a black aqueous ink having a viscosity of 2 mPa · s.
The ink liquid thickness t can be changed by controlling the shape of the tip of the elastic member 1, the height of the ink, the wettability of the tip with ink, and the like.

By making the amplitude of the distal end portion of the elastic member 1 sufficiently large, the wave front of the capillary wave is torn off and the ink wave 15 flies. The diameter of the ink droplet 15 is typically about 20 μm. The voltage value V of the alternating voltage applied to the vibration generating section and the number of burst waves are determined by several conditions such as the viscosity of the ink used and the ink liquid thickness. If these conditions deviate from appropriate values, problems such as ejection of a plurality of ink droplets or non-ejection of ink droplets occur.

The direction in which the ink droplet 15 flies is substantially equal to the direction in which the tip vibrates. In FIG. 5, since the ink is caused to fly only in one direction (right direction) with respect to the tip, the generation of the capillary wave is suppressed by increasing the thickness of the ink liquid on the non-flying side (left side). As a method of increasing the thickness of the ink liquid only on one side, the wettability of the ink in the ink chamber wall 7b shown in FIG. 1 may be controlled, or a member for determining the height of the ink may be provided. As another method for causing the ink droplet 15 to fly only in one direction, a configuration in which no ink is supplied to the tip of the elastic member in the direction in which the ink droplet 15 does not fly can also be used. In order to limit the region where the capillary wave is generated, the shape of the tip portion 21 of the elastic member is sharpened as shown in FIG. 2, and the ink droplet is ejected from only one capillary wave.

As shown in FIG. 4, the application of the alternating voltage is stopped after the ink droplet is ejected. Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the alternating voltage is applied again to eject the next ink droplet. High-speed printing is possible by shortening the time interval T for ejecting ink droplets. Even if the application of the alternating voltage is stopped, the vibration of the elastic member 1 does not stop immediately, but continues for several μsec to several tens μsec. This is because the vibration generation unit 3 itself has a similar residual vibration. Applying an alternating voltage for the next ink droplet ejection before the residual vibration has subsided causes problems such as variations in the size of the ink droplets, ejection of multiple ink droplets, and non-ejection of ink droplets. I do. Therefore, it is necessary to wait for the application of the alternating voltage for discharging the next ink droplet until the residual vibration naturally attenuates and returns to the initial state once. But in this case,
The frequency at which ink droplets can be ejected is at most about 10 kHz.

FIG. 6 shows a vibration reducing mechanism of the ink jet recording head according to the present embodiment for suppressing the residual vibration.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The vibration reduction mechanism according to the present embodiment applies a sinusoidal alternating voltage of 192 kHz and 40 Vp-p (maximum and minimum amplitude) as a burst wave to the vibration generating unit for only 52 μsec to eject ink droplets. An alternating voltage having a phase opposite to that of the alternating voltage is continuously applied to the same vibration generating section for 21 μsec. By applying the alternating voltage of the opposite phase, the piezoelectric ceramic thin film of the vibration generating portion is forcibly vibrated with a half cycle shifted from that of the piezoelectric ceramic thin film. As a result, the frequency at which ink droplets are ejected has been improved to about 15 kHz. 1
By continuously applying pulses having a frequency different from 92 kHz, the effect of reducing residual vibration can be seen, but a phenomenon such as a beat may occur depending on the frequency. According to the vibration reducing mechanism of the present embodiment, after applying the burst as a burst wave to the vibration generating unit to eject ink droplets, the alternating voltage is applied to the same vibration generating unit in terms of frequency, phase, amplitude, etc. , Different alternating voltages can be applied, and the residual vibration of the vibration generating section can be reduced quickly.

An ink jet recording head according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The basic configuration and operation of the ink jet recording head according to the present embodiment are the same as those of the ink jet recording head according to the first embodiment described with reference to FIGS. A vibration reduction mechanism for suppressing residual vibration in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. By superposing two materials 16 and 17 made of PZT having different polarization directions,
A so-called bimorph type actuator 30 is manufactured. When no voltage is applied to the actuator 30, the vibration generator 3
And when the voltage is applied by the voltage applying means 18, the actuator 30 is disposed at a position where the actuator 30 comes into contact with the vibration generator 3 due to the bending generated in the actuator 30. With this configuration, if a voltage is applied by the voltage applying unit 18 after the ink droplet is ejected, the actuator 30 bends and comes into contact with the vibration generating unit 3, so that the residual vibration of the vibration generating unit 3 can be suppressed. it can. According to the present embodiment, the frequency at which ink droplets are ejected can be improved to about 18 kHz. The actuator 30 can also be realized by a configuration in which PZT and another elastic body such as a metal are bonded.

Next, an ink jet recording head according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Also in the present embodiment, the basic configuration and operation of the ink jet recording head are the same as those of the ink jet recording head of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. A vibration reduction mechanism for suppressing residual vibration in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Resistive load 19 connected in series
The switch 20 and the vibration generator 3 are connected in parallel to the external driving means 14. In this example, the resistance load 1
As 9, a resistance of 50Ω was used. When the switch 20 is closed after the ink droplet is ejected, the residual vibration of the vibration generator 3 can be rapidly reduced. According to the present embodiment, the frequency at which ink droplets are ejected can be improved to about 13 kHz. From the viewpoint of the external driving means 14, since the piezoelectric ceramic thin film 4 used for the vibration generating section 3 is a capacitive load, residual electric charges exist in the piezoelectric ceramic thin film 4 even when the voltage of the external driving means is turned off. I do. Since the cause of the residual vibration is considered to be the residual charge, the residual charge can be quickly discharged and the residual vibration can be suppressed by connecting the resistance load 19 in parallel and closing the switch 20 as necessary. . Switch 20 is not required. Switch 20
When the resistive load 19 is connected in parallel with the vibration generating unit 3 without passing through, the maximum power is supplied to the vibration generating unit 3 by making the resistance value of the resistive load substantially match the internal impedance of the external driving means. can do.

Next, FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of an array head which is a main part of a recording mechanism provided with the ink jet recording head described in the first to third embodiments. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the array head of this embodiment. In FIG. 9, the array head 22 includes inkjet recording head units 31 a to 31 d vertically stacked in four stages in the figure,
It has ink supply units 21a to 21d attached to the back of the inkjet recording head units 31a to 31d. Between the inkjet recording head units 31a to 31d,
The support substrate 13 is provided between the ink supply units 21a to 21d. In each of the ink jet recording head units 31a to 31d, black stored one by one in each of the ink supply units 21a to 21d,
Yellow, magenta, and cyan inks are supplied, and a predetermined color ink is discharged from the predetermined ink droplet discharge port 11 based on the operation described in the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a recording mechanism in which the ink jet recording head of any of the embodiments is installed. In the recording mechanism of this embodiment, the array head 22 shown in FIG. 9 is fixed to the carriage 23 and connected to the ink cartridge 24. The ink cartridge 24 holds therein four color inks of black, yellow, magenta, and cyan. The carriage 23 reciprocates while being guided by the guide 25. The printing paper 26 is wound around a roller 27, and the rotation of the roller 27 and the carriage 23
, The image is printed over the entire surface of the printing paper 26.

[0041]

According to the present invention, since fine ink droplets can be ejected without using a nozzle, it is possible to satisfy the demand for higher resolution of an image without causing a problem such as nozzle clogging. it can. Since the present invention utilizes a capillary wave, it can be driven at a low frequency, and can be driven with low power because a piezoelectric material is used. Therefore, the present invention is energy efficient, and the range of physical properties of the ink that can be used in the present invention is wide. Furthermore, after ejecting ink droplets,
Since the time until the next ink droplet can be ejected is shortened, the ejection frequency of the ink droplet can be increased, and high-speed printing can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an inkjet recording head according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the inkjet recording head according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating a state in which an elastic member is vibrated by a vibration generating unit of the inkjet recording head according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an alternating voltage waveform applied from an external driving mechanism to a vibration generating unit of the inkjet recording head according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the ink jet recording head according to the first embodiment of the present invention when an elastic member is bending and vibrating.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a vibration reduction mechanism of the inkjet recording head according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a vibration reduction mechanism of an inkjet recording head according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a vibration reduction mechanism of an inkjet recording head according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an array head of a recording mechanism provided with an ink jet recording head according to the first to third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a recording mechanism provided with an ink jet recording head according to the first to third embodiments of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Elastic member 2 Substrate 3 Vibration generating part 4 Piezoelectric ceramic thin film 5 Electrode 6 Ink chamber 7 Ink chamber wall 8 Top plate 9 Ink 10 Ink supply path 11 Ink droplet ejection port 12 Partition wall 13 Support substrate 14 External drive mechanism 15 Ink droplet 18 Voltage Application means 19 Resistive load 20 Switch 21 Ink supply unit 22 Array head 23 Carriage 24 Ink cartridge 25 Guide 26 Printing paper 27 Roller 30 Actuator 31 Array head

Claims (4)

[Claims] A vibration generation unit that vibrates in response to a pixel signal; an elastic member that vibrates in response to vibration of the vibration generation unit; and a vibration reduction unit that suppresses vibration of the vibration generation unit. An ink jet recording head, wherein a capillary wave is generated on the surface of ink by the vibration of an elastic member, and after the ink is caused to fly, the vibration reducing means attenuates the vibration of the vibration generating means. 2. An ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein said vibration reducing means generates a vibration having a phase opposite to that of said vibration generating means. 3. An ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein said vibration reducing means has a vibration damping member for suppressing vibration by contacting said vibration generating means when suppressing vibration. Recording head. 4. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the vibration generating means has a piezoelectric element that vibrates when an AC voltage is applied thereto, and a driving unit that applies the AC voltage to the piezoelectric element. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein said vibration reducing means has a discharge mechanism for discharging residual charges remaining in said piezoelectric element upon completion of application of said AC voltage.