JPS6083847A - Ink recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an electroosmosis type recording apparatus prevented from the generation of recording irregularity by increasing a supply amount of ink, constituted so as to supply liquid ink from the rear part side of a groove storing a first electrode through the groove gap formed so as to be held between the groove, a second electrode and a porous body. CONSTITUTION:For example, grooves 16 each having a width of 50-70mum and a depth of 20-50mum are formed to a dielectric substrate 10 comprising borosilicate glass in a density of 3-8/mm. and Cu or Au is vapor deposited to the inner wall surfaces thereof to form first electrodes 20. The depth of the rear part of each groove 16 is pref. made deeper than that of the leading end part thereof. For example, a porous body 40 with a thickness of 20-200mum, an average pore size of 0.1-8mum and a void ratio of 60-80% comprising cellulose acetate is provided to the surface of said substrate 10 and a second ink pervious electrode 50 comprising a metal mesh is provided thereon. In addition, an ink supply part is provided to the rear part thereof and ink is supplied through the groove gap held between the grooves 16, the second electrode 50 and the porous body 40.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink recording head that records and displays characters, figures, two images, etc. with ink by utilizing electroosmotic phenomena.

Conventional configuration and its problems Figure 1 shows letters made using the conventional electroosmosis phenomenon.

FIG. 2 is a perspective partial structural diagram showing an example of an ink recording head for recording and displaying a graphic image, etc. in ink.

In the figure, the liquid ink 200 is applied both in the thickness direction of the porous body 4o and in the surface direction of the dielectric support substrate 1o.

A case where electroosmosis occurs in the direction of negative potential will be exemplified.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a dielectric support plate 1 that accommodates the first electrode 2o and has a groove 16 in which the liquid ink 200 can move.

On the surface of the dielectric support substrate 10, a porous body 40 having a two-dimensional spread, such as a film or a plate shape, is provided.

A liquid ink permeable second electrode 50 is positioned on the side opposite to the first electrode 20 of the porous body 40, and the liquid ink 200'ji) is supplied and impregnated, and the first and second Signal voltage vs, 17orr between the electrodes of
−@ is applied to electro-osmote the liquid ink into the porous body 4o and the dielectric support cutting board 10, and move the liquid ink 200′i through the groove 16 to the tip side 21 of the first electrode 20. The relationship is such that the amount of liquid ink is electrically controlled.

Also? /f16 rear 1 rule prevents backflow of liquid ink 1
”- is sealed with a sealing agent 60.

Signal voltages that should not be distributed Vs = Voff and Vof
f is applied and accommodates the first electrode 20 (fJj
16, liquid ink is sucked as shown by arrows 211 and 213 and no ink recording is performed.

The first voltage Vs=Von to be recorded is applied.
In the groove 16 that accommodates the first electrode 20, the liquid ink 200 is concentrated in the groove 16 as shown by the arrow 214, and the liquid ink 200 is
It is forced to be fed toward the tip end 21 side as shown by the arrow 221. If the surface of the dielectric substrate 1o is also selected to have electroosmosis in the negative potential direction vc, the liquid ink is transferred in dots due to the focusing effect of the liquid ink 200 as shown by the arrow 15 (from the Voff and Vs=Voff side to the Vs=Von side). Ru.

Using this ink recording head, the controlled liquid ink on the first electrode tip 21 side is directly applied to the recording paper 500.
Characters by 1C contact transfer.

Graphics 9 images etc. can be recorded and displayed.

In this way, this type of recording head controls the amount of liquid ink on the tip end 21 side of the first electrode 2o housed in the groove 16 by electroosmosis in the thickness direction of the porous body 4o.
From the viewpoint of recording characteristics, it is preferable that the amount of liquid ink 200 supplied to and impregnated into the porous body 40 is constant at all times.

However, in conventional ink supply, as shown in the figure, the sponge body 700 provided at the rear of the groove 16 passes through the second electrode 50 and is impregnated and supplied to the entire surface of the porous body 40 by the capillary action of the porous body 40. Therefore, especially in high-speed recording, the ink supply from the sponge body 711 is not in time, and the amount of liquid ink impregnated into the porous body 4o is not uniform, resulting in uneven recording, which significantly reduces the quality of the recorded image. It was the cause.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink recording head with good ink supply in view of the problem of uneven recording caused by delays in ink supply during high-speed recording.

Structure of the Invention The present invention provides an ink recording head in which all of the liquid ink is discharged from the rear side of the groove that accommodates the entire first electrode through a groove gap formed between the groove, the second electrode, and the porous body. supply Furthermore, by forming the groove (1) that accommodates the first electrode continuously or intermittently deep from the tip side to the rear side, it is easy to supply the liquid ink to the porous body. This is to improve recording unevenness caused by a lack of supply.

Description of examples Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 2 is an embodiment of an ink recording head using electroosmosis according to the present invention, and is a partial cross-sectional view t14 showing the entire structure.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of the same embodiment.

In each figure, 10 is a support substrate made of a plate-shaped dielectric base material such as borosilicate glass. The groove 16 in which the first electrode 2o is accommodated may be, for example, I
They are formed with a width of 50 to 70/1 m at a density of 3 to 8 pieces per mm, a depth of 20 to 6° 1 rm at the groove tip, and a depth equal to or deeper than the groove tip on the groove diameter side.

Such a groove 16 can be formed in two stages at the tip and rear part of the groove as shown in FIG. A continuous change is created.

In addition, in 16, support), (plate 1
0ff is heated in advance and 0r-Au etc. is vapor deposited, and the first
electrodes 20 are formed.

The liquid ink container 300 is installed at the rear of the groove 16 and is adhered to the plate 10 except for the flow path of the liquid ink 200 (supported by an adhesive 70 so that the liquid ink does not rub off).

The porous membrane 4o has a thickness of, for example, 20 to 2001 tm.

A so-called microporous membrane filter made of Fit'' acid cellulose having an average pore diameter of 0.1 to 8 μm and a porosity of about 60 to 80% is used.

As the porous membrane 40, other plastic materials, glass, porcelain (A material, etc.) can also be used as necessary.

The edge 41 of the porous membrane 4o is the edge 13 of the support substrate 10.
It is preferable that the exposed edge surface 14 be formed on the support substrate surface 11 by locating it, for example, about 50 to 300 μm inside. The formation of the edge portion 14 is due to the electrical conductivity θ of the liquid ink 200 on this surface 14. The electrical convergence effect of the fully utilized liquid ink can be utilized and is useful for high-resolution recording. The width of the porous membrane 400 determines the amount of ink supplied to the tip 21 of the first electrode 20, so for example
Choose a width larger than mm as necessary.

The other edge 41' of the porous body 40 has a thickness 50 with pores penetrating the side wall of the liquid ink container 300 placed on the support substrate 1o at a density of about 100 to 300 meshes per inch, for example. A groove gap 16 is formed by closely pressing and fixing the electrode 6o with a second electrode 6o such as a stainless steel plate or a metal mesh that is permeable to liquid ink with a thickness of about 300 μm.

By touching the porous body 40 and the second electrode 60,
Unnecessary liquid ink leakage is prevented at this joint portion, and the liquid ink 200 is efficiently supplied from the liquid ink container 300 to the groove gap 16.

The liquid ink 200 is applied to the porous membrane 40 described above. and the supporting substrate 10 to provide a good electroosmotic effect, for example, to the liquid incline made of γ-methacryloquine propyltrimethoxysilane, the necessary binder agent, charge control agent 9 Table W1 activity The oil-soluble ink 200 is formed by mixing, for example, an oil-soluble dye or the like in an amount of about 2 to 5 by weight.

This type of ink is used in the porous membrane 40 and the supporting substrate 1 described above.
Electroosmosis can be performed in the direction of the negative electrode relative to 0Yc.

The speed of this electroosmosis increases with the applied signal voltage, but its maximum amplitude is set so as not to exceed an electric field strength of, for example, 2 V/It m'f, reducing dielectric breakdown.

At the rear end of the groove 16, each of the first electrodes 2o serving as recording voltage contacts is connected to a signal voltage source 400, and the signal voltages Vs, Vo
ff is selectively applied between the second electrode 60 and the first electrode 20.

As described in 2 below, according to this embodiment, the liquid ink 2o○ is transferred from the ink container 300 installed at the rear of the groove 16 to the groove gap 1.
The ink easily flows to the vicinity of the tip 21' through the ink 6' and is sufficiently impregnated and supplied to the porous body 40, thereby making it possible to prevent recording unevenness caused by insufficient ink supply.

As shown in FIG. 3, making the depth of the groove deeper on the rear side than the tip 21 makes it easier to move the liquid ink than when it is shallow, and also allows a large amount of ink to be supplied, which is suitable for high-speed recording.

Further, the same effect as described above can be obtained by making the depth of the groove 16 continuously deeper from the tip portion 21 toward the rear side.

However, if the groove depth of the tip part 21 is made two times deeper than necessary,
The amount of ink (1) at the tip of the recording electrode 21 becomes larger than necessary, and the liquid inks come into contact with each other on the recording paper.

As mentioned above, 20
~50 μm is good.

Liquid ink 20 from liquid ink container 300 to groove gap
The supply of Q is performed by the weight of the liquid ink as shown in FIG. 2, for example, and is performed while controlling the height of /(V) of the liquid ink 200 by opening and closing the liquid ink supply valve v1.

Further, during ultra-high speed recording, as shown in FIG. 3, the pressurizer 80 pressurizes and supplies the pressurized pulp V2 by adjusting the pressure pulp V2, I)-kuvalve v3.

In all of the above methods, the amount of liquid ink impregnated into the groove 16 and the porous body 4o is detected, and the controlled signal is used to detect
V+, V2. Each V3 is adjusted.

Effects of the Invention As described above, in the present invention, liquid ink is applied from the rear side of the groove housing the first electrode through the groove gap between the groove, the second electrode, and the porous body. By continuously or intermittently forming the depth of the groove for accommodating the first electrode deeper from the tip side to the rear side, liquid ink can be easily supplied to the porous body, and the liquid ink can be supplied to the porous body at high speed. It solves the problem of uneven recording caused by insufficient supply of liquid ink during recording, and its effects are great.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective partial structural diagram of Korai's ink recording head, and FIG. 2 is an f of an ink recording head in an embodiment of the present invention.
iI 1/1/1 cross-sectional structural diagram, FIG. 3 is a 1711-sectional structural diagram of an ink recording head showing another embodiment of the present invention. 10...Support substrate, 16...Groove, 16'...
...Groove gap, 20...First' electrode, 40...
... Porous body, 60 ... Second electrode, 60.7
0...Adhesive, 200...Liquid ink,
300... Ink container, 400... Signal voltage source, 500... Recording paper, 700... Sponge body, 80... Pressurizer. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
figure? θρ 2 Figure 30

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) The dielectric support base surface has a groove in which the liquid ink containing the first electrode can move,
Second, a porous body having a two-dimensional extent is installed, a liquid ink permeable second electrode is positioned on the opposite side of the porous body to the first electrode, and a second electrode permeable to liquid ink is positioned on the rear side of the groove. The liquid ink is supplied through the dlI gap sandwiched between the groove, the second electrode, and the porous body, and the porous body is impregnated with the liquid ink, and the liquid ink is applied to the first and second electrodes. The liquid ink is electroosmotic into the porous body by applying a signal 'IL pressure between them, and the liquid ink is moved through the groove to form a liquid on the one tip side of the first electrode. An ink recording head that electrically controls the amount of ink. (2) The ink recording head according to claim 1, wherein the depth of the groove gap is deeper on the rear side than on the leading edge side.