JPH1134334A - Ink jet recording head and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a temporary adhesive from being mixed with ink by providing a support with a part for supporting each substrate independently and a recess surrounding a temporary adhesive injection opening, and then bonding a substrate thereby preventing the temporary adhesive from being carried on an adhesive in the recess to arrive at the gap between the substrates. SOLUTION: Each positioned substrate HB is sucked through a suction opening 313 by means of a vacuum tool disposed at the lower part of a support (base plate) 300 and fixed temporarily. A temporary adhesive is then poured through an HB temporary adhesive injection opening 316 and after hardening thereof is confirmed, an adhesive is poured through a base plate adhesive injection groove 312. The injected adhesive enters into a recess communicating with the injection groove 312 and each recess 311 and then enters into each recess 311 through capillarity. Subsequently, the adhesive is left as it is and dried to fix each HB completely, suction of the vacuum tool is stopped and an adhesive is injected through the suction opening 313 in order to secure the HB.

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 liquid ink, in which a plurality of element substrates are juxtaposed to be longer, and a method of manufacturing the same. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the ink jet printing system has been widely used because high speed printing with low noise is possible. Above all, an ink jet recording head of a system (also referred to as a “bubble jet system”) in which a state change is caused in the ink by applying thermal energy to the ink, and the ink is ejected by utilizing the pressure due to the thermal expansion of the generated gas. Has such advantages that the response to the print signal is good and that the density of the ejection ports can be easily increased.

In recent years, the amount of data to be printed has been increasing, and especially when graphic images and the like are to be printed out, further high-speed printing is required due to the large amount of data. It is becoming.

The above-described bubble jet type ink jet recording head, which is a so-called full line type ink jet recording head in which discharge ports and electrothermal transducers are arranged long over the entire width of a printing material, and An ink jet recording apparatus including an ink jet recording head is greatly expected to improve the above-described printing speed.

As such a full-line type ink jet recording head, a method is conceivable in which all the electrothermal transducers are formed on a single substrate (hereinafter abbreviated as "heater board" or HB). According to this method, when at least one of the electrothermal transducers provided on the substrate has a defect, the substrate cannot be used, so that the yield (burst) is extremely deteriorated. Therefore, conventionally, this type of full-line type ink jet head adopts a configuration in which an electrothermal converter is provided by being divided into a plurality of heater boards.

In other words, a plurality of heater boards having a relatively small number of electrothermal converters having 32 to 128 nozzles are juxtaposed with high precision on a single support by adjusting the arrangement density of the nozzles. By doing so, even if a defect occurs in one of the electrothermal transducers, it is only necessary to replace the heater board in that part, and since the heater board itself becomes smaller, it becomes easier to manufacture. Yield is significantly improved. In the above configuration,
For example, the configuration described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-212162 can be used.

However, with such a configuration, since a plurality of heater boards are arranged on the support, the arrangement accuracy greatly affects print quality.

However, conventionally, the arrangement accuracy has been determined by directly joining the support and the heater board or each heater board. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly control the processing accuracy of each component. It was a factor that hindered the improvement of the stay.

Further, when dusts or the like adhere between the constituent members, the alignment accuracy is reduced, and the print quality may be affected. In particular, when dust is attached between the heater board and the base plate, a step is generated on the heater surface formed by the heater board, and the step causes a gap in a joint surface between the heater board and the top plate. Occurs. This gap results in crosstalk from adjacent nozzles, which may result in poor printing.

Therefore, by providing a support portion for independently supporting each heater board on the support, and providing a through hole and a concave portion in the support portion, no gap is formed between the heater board and the top plate. Stable printing without cross stroke was made possible (see FIG. 4 described later).

[0011]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the support has a temporary fixing adhesive injection opening in a support portion for supporting the substrate (HB), and a temporary fixing adhesive injection opening is provided therein. By providing an adhesive and temporarily fixing the substrate on the support, the temporary fixing adhesive may flow between the substrate and the support portion of the support and flow into the gap between the heater boards. .

As a result, there has been a drawback that the ink and the adhesive for temporary fixing come into contact with each other and dissolve in the ink to change the physical properties of the ink, thereby causing printing defects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head for solving the above-mentioned problems.

[0014]

Therefore, in the present invention, the above object is achieved by providing an ink jet recording head or a method for manufacturing the same according to any one of the following items (1) to (5). What you want to do.

(1) A plurality of substrates having ejection energy generating elements for generating energy for ejecting ink are provided, the substrates are arranged on a support, and the plurality of substrates are arranged on each of the arranged substrates. In a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head in which an ink flow path is formed by bonding a top plate covering all substrates, the support is temporarily bonded to a support portion for supporting the substrate. It has an injection opening for the agent, and has a recess in the support around it,
A method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head, comprising injecting the adhesive.

(2) The indicator according to the above item (1), wherein the indicator has an opening corresponding to the substrate at the indicator, and temporarily fixes the substrate by sucking the substrate from the opening. Production method of inkjet recording.

(3) The adhesive is injected into the recess after the temporary adhesive is injected.
3. The method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head according to item 1.

(4) A plurality of substrates provided with ejection energy generating elements for generating energy for ejecting ink, a support on which the plurality of substrates are disposed, and the plurality of substrates integrally covering the substrates. In an inkjet head including a top plate that forms an ink flow path by being joined, the support has a temporary fixing adhesive injection opening for performing temporary fixing, and has a concave portion in a support portion therearound. An ink jet recording head, wherein the substrate is supported by a supporting portion.

(5) The ink jet recording head according to the item (4), wherein the support portion is formed integrally with the support.

[0020]

According to the constitution of the present invention as described above, high-quality printing can be performed without mixing the temporary fixing adhesive into the ink.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
A preferred embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0022]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet recording head showing an embodiment according to the present invention. 2 is a schematic plan view of the base plate of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a pedestal portion of FIG. FIG. 4 shows a view corresponding to FIG. 3 of the pedestal portion of the conventional example for comparison.

In FIG. 1, 200 is a top plate, 300 is a base plate, 400 is a wiring board (PCB), 600 is a pressing spring, and 800 is an ink supply port.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of the manufacturing process sequence of the ink jet recording head in this embodiment.

In the present embodiment, a method for manufacturing a long multi-head using one grooved top plate 200 for 11 arranged heater boards (HB) will be described.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a die-cast base plate, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a pedestal portion in FIG.

First, a base plate 300 as a support having an HB support portion for supporting HB and a protrusion 314 for positioning a wiring board (PCB) 400 is prepared by die-casting an aluminum substrate. The supporting portion is provided with a suction opening 313 used for temporarily fixing the adhesive injection concave portion 314 and the HB, and a temporary fixing adhesive injection opening 316 for temporarily fixing. .

2 and 3, reference numeral 310 denotes a pedestal serving as an HB support, 311 denotes a recess provided in the pedestal 310, 312 denotes an adhesive injection groove communicating with the recess 311,
315 is a recess connecting the adhesive injection groove 312 and the recess 311.

The hatched portion of the base plate 300 and the surface of the support are polished. Thereby, the flatness of the support portion is increased, and the probability of a step when each HB is arranged can be reduced. Further, both end portions of the base plate 300 are positioning portions for the apparatus, and the assembling accuracy to the apparatus can be improved.

While making the base plate 300,
A plurality of heater boards (HB) which are made into electrothermal transducers by a thin film forming technique are prepared on a silicon substrate.

Next, a plurality of prepared HBs are arranged on the HB support portion 310 of the base plate 300 with high precision using a positioning tool or the like. Here, each of the positioned HBs is sucked by the vacuum tool arranged below the base plate 300 by the suction opening 3.
It is sucked from 13 and temporarily fixed. Thus, each HB,
They are sequentially arranged on the base plate 300 (step (a) in FIG. 5).

Next, the temporary fixing adhesive is poured from the HB temporary fixing adhesive injection opening 316. When the curing of the temporarily-fixed adhesive is confirmed, the adhesive is then poured from the adhesive injection groove 312 of the base plate. At this time, the injected adhesive enters the recesses connecting the adhesive injection groove 312 and the recesses 311 and enters the recesses 311 from the recesses by capillary action. By providing the recesses 315 at the locations connecting the adhesive injection groove 312 and the recesses 311 in this manner, the adhesive is accumulated in the recesses 315, and the adhesive flows into the recesses 311 smoothly. Then, after the adhesive is left to dry and each HB is completely fixed, the suction of the vacuum tool is stopped. Further, an adhesive is injected from the suction opening 313 and fixed (step (b) in FIG. 5).

By doing so, the concave portion 311 around the temporary fixing adhesive is filled with the adhesive, and the temporary fixing adhesive is prevented from flowing into the gap between the HBs.

Next, a PCB (wiring board) 400 is adhered to the base plate 300 while being positioned by the positioning projections 314 described above. With this, PCB400
The electrode pads provided on the HB and the electrode pads provided on the HB have a predetermined positional relationship corresponding to each other. Then, the HB and the PCB 400 are electrically connected by wire bonding between the electric pads provided on the PCB 400 and the electrode pads provided on the HB. At this time, a continuity check of wire bonding is also performed (step (c) in FIG. 5).

Next, a pressurizing unit serving to bring the top plate 200 into close contact with the HB on the base plate 300 is mounted. The pressure contact unit includes a leaf spring member that presses the heater board and a spring fixing member that fixedly supports the leaf spring member. The leaf spring member has a plurality of cutouts in a longitudinal direction, and a plurality of pressing members. Is divided into parts. Each pressing portion has a through hole, and a jig is inserted into the through hole to regulate and release the urging force of each pressing portion.

When fixing the pressure contact unit to the BP, the fixing member of the pressure contact unit can be joined to the PB via the PCB and fixed by screws, heat caulking or the like (step (d) in FIG. 5).

As a material forming the top plate 200,
Any resin can be used as long as it can accurately form grooves, and more preferably, a resin having excellent mechanical strength, dimensional stability, and ink resistance. As such a material, an epoxy resin, an acrylic resin, diglycol, a dialkyl carbonate resin, an unsaturated polyester resin, a polyurethane resin, a polyimide resin, a melanin resin, a phenol resin, a urea resin, and the like are preferable. From the viewpoint of properties, resins such as polysulfone and polyether polysulfone are desirable.

The urging force of each pressing portion is regulated by a jig for joining to the top heater board (step (e) in FIG. 5).

After a sufficient space is secured on the heater board in this manner, the ink flow path and the ejection energy generating element are aligned so as to correspond to each other.
0 is bonded onto HB (step (f) in FIG. 5).

Then, the top plate 200 is fixed by releasing the urging force of the pressing portion. At this time, the urging force of the pressing portion is released (fixed by the pressing portion) in order from the center pressing portion toward both ends. By releasing the biasing force in this manner, the warpage of the top plate 200 can be corrected, and the bending escapes to the outside, so that a good joint state can be secured over the entire HB. After the urging force of the pressing portion is released, the jig is completely removed from the head body (step (g) in FIG. 5).

Next, at positions where the ink supply pipes are joined to both ends of the top plate 200, the ink supply unit is fixed to the base plate 300 by heat welding or the like. The ink is supplied into the top plate 200 by the ink supply unit. The ink may be supplied from both directions, or may be supplied so as to circulate from either one. Also, the connector of the ink supply unit
A filter for trapping air bubbles is provided (step (h) in FIG. 5).

Finally, a head cover is attached so as to cover the base plate 300, and a sealant is injected into the top plate bonding portion and the wire bonding portion through a window provided at a position corresponding to the pressing portion of the head cover. Then, an ink jet head is completed (step (i) in FIG. 5,
(J)).

In this embodiment, the area around the HB temporary fixing adhesive injection opening 316 (FIGS. 2 and 3) is left as the HB support in the same shape as the hole, and the area around the HB support is filled with the adhesive. The shape of the HB support portion is not limited to this, and it is sufficient that the periphery is further filled with an adhesive.

All of the ink jet recording heads according to the present embodiment manufactured by the above-described steps can perform satisfactory printing over the entire printing width.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Each substrate (heater board) on a support (base plate)
The support portion for independently supporting the heater board is provided, and a concave portion is provided in the support portion so as to surround the temporary fixing adhesive injection opening, and the heater board is joined, so that the temporary fixing adhesive is provided in the concave portion. It is possible to provide a highly reliable ink jet recording head free from printing defects because it does not flow out due to a certain adhesive and does not reach the gap between the heater boards and does not mix with the ink.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an inkjet recording head according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a base plate of an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a pedestal part in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a pedestal portion of a conventional example (corresponding to FIG. 3).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a manufacturing process sequence of the inkjet recording head according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 200 Top plate 300 Base plate (support) 310 Pedestal 311 Depression 312 Adhesive injection groove 313 Suction opening 314 PCB positioning melting protrusion 315 Depression 400 PCB (wiring board) 600 Holding spring 800 Ink supply port

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A substrate having a plurality of substrates each having an ejection energy generating element for generating energy for ejecting ink, the substrates being arranged on a support, and the plurality of substrates being provided on each of the arranged substrates. In a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head in which an ink flow path is formed by bonding a top plate that covers all of the top plates, the support is temporarily fixed to a support portion for supporting the substrate. A method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head, comprising: an injection opening for use; a recess around a support portion around the opening; and the adhesive is injected. 2. The ink-jet apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the indicator has an opening corresponding to the substrate in the indicator, and temporarily fixes the substrate by suctioning the substrate from the opening. The method of manufacturing the record. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive is injected into the recess after the temporary adhesive is injected. 4. A plurality of substrates including an ejection energy generating element for generating energy for ejecting ink,
An inkjet head comprising: a support on which the plurality of substrates are arranged; and a top plate that integrally covers the plurality of substrates and forms an ink flow path by being joined to the substrate. An ink jet recording head having a temporary fixing adhesive injection opening for carrying out the process and supporting the substrate by a supporting portion having a concave portion in a supporting portion therearound. 5. The ink jet recording head according to claim 4, wherein said support portion is formed integrally with said support.