JPS62256659A - Preparation of ink jet recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prepare a stable thermal ink jet recording head capable of performing high speed response, by a method wherein a substrate having a large number of heat generators arranged thereto so as to form a row is fixed to a plate material and cut in the row direction of the heat generators to form a groove which is, in turn, used as a recording ink supply passage. CONSTITUTION:A substrate 1 having heat generators 5 and electrodes 7 formed to the surface thereof in a membrane form is adhered to a resin or metal base 2 equipped with an ink sump and an ink supply pipe 8 by an adhesive. Next, the substrate 1 is subjected to cutting processing, by a dicing saw to form an ink supply groove 11. Further, a gap plate 3 is bonded to the surface of the substrate 1 and a nozzle plate 4 is bonded to the gap plate 3 and, thereafter, a seal part 10 is closed by a thermosetting sealer to prepare a thermal ink jet recording head. Because the substrate 1 is cut after bonded to the base 2, the mutual positional relation between the heat generators 5 when membranes are formed does not change. As a result, positional matching becomes unnecessary and the positional matching of the heat generators 5 with the ink emitting orifices 6 of the nozzle plate 4 becomes also easy and manufacture can be simplified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head used for inkjet (hereinafter referred to as thermal inkjet) recording in which ink droplets are ejected by changing the heating state of the recording ink.

[Prior Art] As a conventional example of a thermal inkjet recording head, the US HE
WLETT-PACKARD Journal 1985 5
The structure of the printhead is introduced in detail in the monthly issue, and is an effective means for realizing an inkjet printhead that has a simple structure and is capable of high-speed, high-density printing.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the thermal inkjet recording head introduced in the above-mentioned document only has 12 ink ejection sections in one row at 2631 blood pitches, and is capable of high-density recording on the order of 1001+m pitch. In order to realize such a head, it is necessary to use a plurality of heads or to arrange a large number of ink ejection sections in multiple rows in a single head.

In the former case, the adjustment of the mutual positional relationship between the heads is very delicate and manufacturing is difficult. In the latter case, there are -41 bodies.
If a plurality of substrates are used, it will be difficult to adjust the positional relationship between the substrates, and if multiple rows of heating elements are provided on a single substrate, it will be difficult to adjust the positional relationship between the substrates. Ink ejection parts that are far from the ink supply port are likely to cause ink ejection failure. Generally speaking, in order to achieve high-speed response, it is necessary to use materials with poor thermal conductivity, such as glass, alumina, and silicon, for the substrate containing the heating element, but since these materials are extremely brittle, it is difficult to supply ink. Machining of the opening is difficult, and when holes are processed by ultrasonic processing, the substrate is likely to be damaged, leading to a decrease in fractionation.

[Means for Solving the Problem] The present invention solves the problem, and after fixing a substrate having a plurality of heating elements arranged in a row to a plate material, the direction of the row of the heating elements is fixed. A groove formed by cutting the substrate with, for example, a dicing saw is used as a recording ink supply path.

[Function] According to the present invention, there is no need to align the plurality of heating elements arranged in a row, and since the grooves provided in the row direction of the heating elements are used as the recording ink supply path, all the ink ejection parts Recording ink can be supplied evenly.

: [Since IRT, board f: 1 ■ Sonic processing and shape 7i!
The previously used ink supply port can be replaced with a cutting process such as a cutting tool.

[Example code] The present invention will be explained in detail based on examples.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a thermal ink jet recording head manufactured by the ink jet recording head manufacturing method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1.

The operation of each part will be briefly explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, a substrate 1 is joined to a base 2, and an ink supply r1! is provided at the center of the substrate l. 11 is provided, and a gap plate 3 and a nozzle plate 4 are respectively bonded onto the substrate 1.

Recording ink supplied from the ink supply vibrator 8 shown in FIG. 2 passes through the ink supply pipe 111 and is supplied to the gap between the substrate 1 and the nozzle plate 4. Returning to FIG. 1, the heating element 5 has an electrode 7
Power is supplied by the switching element SW to generate Joule heat, and the recording ink in contact with the surface of the heating element 5 undergoes rapid film boiling, resulting in a pressure change that causes the ink discharge port to open as shown in Figure 2. This type of ink ejects larger ink droplets than 6.

Next, a method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head according to the present invention will be explained. First, as shown in FIG.
A substrate 1 on which thin films such as a heating element 5 and an electrode 7 are formed.
are joined by gluing or the like. Second, as shown in FIG. 4, the ink supply grooves 11 are formed by cutting with a dicing saw 9. After roughly bonding the gap plate 3 to the surface of the substrate 1 and the nozzle plate 4 to the surface of the gap plate 3, the sealing portion 10 shown in FIG. A company that manufactures thermal ink jet recording heads.

According to the inkjet recording head manufacturing method of the present invention,
Since the substrate 1 is cut after being bonded to the base 2, the mutual positional relationship of the heating elements 5 does not change when a thin film is formed, so there is no need to align the heating elements 5 and the ink ejection ports 6 of the nozzle plate 4. The position 8 and the sash also became U, simplifying manufacturing. In addition, the uniformity of the gap between the substrate 1 and the nozzle plate 4 is improved, and since the ink supply grooves 11 are located near the heating element 5 and at an equal distance from each heating element, the same ink is distributed to all ink ejection parts. It became possible to supply recording ink under certain conditions.

Therefore, in the past, stable ink ejection conditions could only be obtained with a drive frequency of about 2KHz, but with 4KIIz
However, we were able to obtain good ejection conditions with no missing dots or non-uniformity of ink amount. On the other hand, by machining the ink supply port of the substrate, it became possible to process multiple pieces, which enabled more efficient processing than conventional ultrasonic processing, and improved fractionation.

In general, the present invention can also be applied to the manufacture of color inkjet recording heads. An example is shown in FIG. The manufacturing process is similar to that shown in FIGS. 3 to 6. According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, four heads of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black can be manufactured from a single substrate, thereby achieving good color mixing, which has been a problem with conventional color inkjet recording heads. This eliminates the need for positioning of each ink ejecting section.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the method of manufacturing an inksheet recording head of the present invention, mutual alignment of heating elements arranged in a row is not required, and alignment of nozzle plates is also simplified. This not only simplifies the manufacturing method, but also enables the manufacture of thermal and inkjet recording heads that are capable of stable and high-speed response.

In addition, when manufacturing color inkjet recording heads, the above effects can be further demonstrated, eliminating the need to align the ink ejection parts of each color, which was a problem in manufacturing conventional color inkjet recording heads. Become.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of a thermal ink jet recording head manufactured by the ink jet recording head manufacturing method of the present invention. Figure 2 shows the first [01 side 1/1° Figure 3, 4
5 and 6 are perspective views showing the manufacturing process of the inkjet recording head manufacturing method of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a color inkjet recording head. 1... Substrate 2... Base 3... Cap plate 4... Nozzle plate and above Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an inkjet recording head that ejects ink droplets by changing the heating state of recording ink, a substrate having a plurality of heating elements arranged in a row is fixed to a plate material, and then the substrate is cut in the direction of the rows of the heating elements. 1. A method of manufacturing an inkjet recording head, characterized in that a groove formed by the method is used as a recording ink supply path.