JPS6273951A - Energy conversion block for liquid-jet recording head and liquid-jet recording head therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an exact multi-nozzle type recording head capable of being fixed with tubes with high density and high accuracy and having an energy converter element serving to position and fix many tubes by using a structure to be integrally fixed with one energy converter element with plural tubes in block. CONSTITUTION:Electrodes 8a-8d are formed on the inner face of an energy converter element 7 of a flat plate form having plural through holes formed at a given pitch by traversing them in the widthwise direction. The electrodes 8a-8d are formed by printing or thin-film forming method, e.g., metal plating, etc. A common electrode (GND) 9 is also formed in the same direction as the direction of the through holes practically by a thin-film forming method on both sides of the element 7. Tubes 10 of glass, etc., are fitted into and fixed to the through holes of the element 7 with the electrodes. When pulse voltage in conformity to recording commands is applied to the electrode 9 and any one of the electrodes 8a-8d, the element 7 is contracted between the selected electrode and the common electrode, the tubes 10 are shrunk, and liquid ink droplets are discharged from an orifice 10a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an energy conversion block for a liquid jet recording head and a liquid jet recording head using the energy conversion block.

[Prior Art] As an example of a liquid jet recording head, a conventional Gould type liquid jet recording head employs a structure as shown in Fig. 56.

That is, this liquid jet recording head (hereinafter abbreviated as recording head) has a tube (cylindrical member, hereinafter the same) 1 made of glass or the like, and the tip of this tube 1 is constricted to become a nozzle lb, and the leading edge has an orifice 1 for ejecting droplets of recording liquid such as ink (hereinafter abbreviated as ink).
a is formed. The orifice 1a may be formed in a separate plate and fixed to the tip of the tube 1.

An energy conversion element 2 that surrounds the entire tube 1 and converts electrical energy into mechanical energy is fitted and fixed at a predetermined position of the tube 1.

This energy conversion element 2 is made of, for example, a piezoelectric element. This piezoelectric element has the property that when a voltage is applied between its cylindrical outer circumferential surface and inner circumferential surface, the inner implant is deformed in a direction in which the inner implant becomes smaller, and returns to its original state when the voltage is removed.

The outer circumferential side and the inner circumferential side of this energy conversion element 7-2 are connected to the pulse generator 4 via lead wires 3, respectively.

This pulse generator 4 has a pulse input 5 according to the recording command.
is applied, and a predetermined pulse voltage is applied to the energy conversion element 2.
I get excited.

When this pulse voltage is applied, the energy conversion element 2 contracts, and the cylindrical tube 1 made of glass or the like contracts, increasing the pressure inside the tube 5 and orifice 1.
A droplet 6 of ink supplied into the tube 1 is ejected from a to perform dot recording on a recording body (not shown).6 When a Gould type recording head having the above-described structure is used, The time interval of droplet ejection is approximately 2 to 10 KHz in terms of frequency.

On the other hand, users are demanding faster recording speeds, and in order to meet this demand, it is necessary to increase the ejection frequency.
The number of nozzles must be increased to create a multi-nozzle head.

[Problem to be solved by the invention J] By the way, when trying to increase the dot pitch density by using multiple nozzles, even if a plurality of individual recording heads are arranged as shown in Fig. 4, the positional accuracy of each recording head cannot be improved. It is extremely difficult to achieve high precision.

Furthermore, when a plurality of Gould type recording heads are arranged, an energy conversion element 2 must be provided in the tube constituting each recording head, which increases the number of parts.
Since the assembly process also increases, it is difficult to achieve high positional accuracy, and there are problems in that productivity decreases and costs increase.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention adopts a structure in which a plurality of tubes are integrally fixed to one energy conversion element serving as a block. .

[Function] When such a structure is adopted, the energy conversion element becomes 1
This energy conversion element itself serves as a positioning means and a fixing means for a large number of tubes, so that the tubes can be fixed with high density and high precision, and an accurate multi-nozzle type recording head can be obtained. I can do it.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the example shown in the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figures, the reference numeral 7 represents an energy conversion element formed as a block, such as a piezoelectric element. , is formed into a flat plate shape.

A plurality of through holes are formed at a predetermined pitch across the energy conversion element 7 in the width direction, and electrodes 8a to 8d are formed on the inner peripheral surface thereof.

The electrodes 8a to 8d are formed by a thin film forming method such as a printing method or a plating method.

Furthermore, common electrodes (GND) 9 are formed on both side surfaces of the energy conversion element 7 by the same thin film forming means in substantially the same direction as the penetration direction of the through hole.

These electrodes (conductive layers) may be formed using a conductive adhesive.

A tube 1° made of glass or the like is fitted and fixed into the through hole in which the electrode of the energy conversion element 7 is formed.

The reference numeral 10a indicates an orifice, and the reference numeral 10a indicates a nozzle.

The rear end of each tube 10 is connected to a common ink chamber 11.

A damper made of an elastic member such as rubber may be inserted between the energy conversion element 7 and the ink chamber 11 and between the tubes 10 and 10 to prevent mutual interference.

On the other hand, the reference numeral 12 indicates a pulse generator, to which pulses are input in accordance with a recording command.

Each electrode 8a to 8d is connected to the pulse generator 12 via a lead wire 14, and the common electrode 9 is connected to the pulse generator 12 via a lead wire 15.

Next, the operation of the recording head configured as shown below will be explained.

A pulse voltage according to the recording command is applied to the common electrode 9 and the electrode 8a.
When the voltage is applied to any one of the electrodes 8a to 8d, the energy conversion element 7 contracts between the selected electrode 8a to 8 and the common electrode 9, and ink is supplied. The tube 10 contracts and a droplet of ink is ejected from the orifice 10a.

The contraction of the energy conversion element 7 at this time occurs concentrated around the selected electrode, and is hardly transmitted to the adjacent tube side, but even if it is transmitted, the force does not reach the level to eject a droplet.

Of course, when all the electrodes 8a to 8d are selected, droplets are ejected from all the orifices 10a.

If the structure described above is adopted, the energy conversion element 7
Since the tube itself serves both as a means for positioning and a means for fixing and holding the tube, if the through hole into which the tube is fitted is formed with high precision, a multi-nozzle type recording head with extremely high precision can be obtained.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 3 explains the second embodiment of the present invention. In the case of an unimplemented example, multicolor ink is used instead of using the same color ink as in the first embodiment. This figure shows a multi-nozzle type recording head using ink.

That is, in Fig. 5, the numbers 16 to 19 are yellow (
Y)7 Magenta (M), Cyan (C) and Black (B
), these are spacer 2
They are integrated via 0.

In each of the heads 16 to 19, as in the first embodiment, electrodes 8a to 8d are formed on the circumferential surface of a through hole formed by passing through each energy conversion element 7 in the width direction. A common electrode 9 is formed on both sides of the energy conversion element 7 .

Further, tubes are fitted and fixed in the through holes in which the electrodes 8a to 8d are formed, but these tubes are not shown.

As shown in the black head part indicated by reference numeral 19, lead wires 21 are formed on each energy conversion element 7 by means such as printed wiring, and the terminal portions of these lead wires 21 are connected to flexible cables 22. It is connected by solder wire or wire bonding.

The other end of the flexible cable 22 is connected to a pulse generator (not shown).

Further, the flexible cable 22 and the common electrode 9 are connected via a lead wire or a printed pattern (not shown).

Reference numeral 23 indicates an ink supply tube, which supplies ink of each color to the ink chamber 11 from a main tank (not shown).

Even if the above-mentioned multi-color, multi-nozzle type recording head structure is adopted, the same effects as in the above-described embodiments can be obtained.

[Third Embodiment] FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a third embodiment of the present invention, and show different structural examples of the energy conversion element 7.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, reference numeral 7a indicates a through hole formed in the energy conversion element 7, and the aforementioned electrodes 8a to 8d are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the through hole, respectively.

Further, grooves 7b are formed on both side surfaces of the energy conversion element 7 so as to sandwich the respective through holes 7a.

If the structure of the energy conversion element 7 is as described above,
The strain generated by the contraction of the energy conversion element that occurs when a pulse voltage is applied to one of the selected electrodes 8a to 8d is transmitted to the other adjacent electrode side.
Therefore, the conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy can be significantly improved.

In addition, in each of the embodiments described above, Although the recording head is illustrated as having four tubes (nozzles), any number of tubes (nozzles) may be used.

[Effect J] As is clear from the following explanation, according to the present invention, a structure is adopted in which a tube for ejecting ink is integrally fixed to one common energy conversion element. means for holding and fixing the tube;
Because it has a structure that also serves as a positioning means, it is possible to configure a multi-nozzle type recording head with high density and high precision, reducing the number of parts and downsizing.
Significant cost reductions can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Embodiment 2 is a perspective view of a recording head, FIGS. 4 and 5 are front views and side views of an energy conversion element illustrating a third embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 6 is a conventional one. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a recording head for explaining the structure. 7...Energy conversion element 7b...Groove 8a-8d...Electrode 9...
・Common electrode 10...Tube patent applicant Canon Co., Ltd.,,",-""'7 Agent Patent attorney Kato Kato ゛91゛, 0 Division 3-Mikinuti 1 Engineering T Shiko (1 company) Silk/Kuda Fig. 4 ?J, Note to Fig. 5 tzd p

Claims (1)

Claims: 1) An energy conversion block for a liquid jet recording head, characterized in that a plurality of through holes are provided in substantially the same direction. 2) The liquid jet according to claim 1, wherein an electrode is provided on at least one outer surface of the energy conversion block in substantially the same direction as the penetration direction of the through hole. Energy conversion block for recording heads. 3) The energy conversion block for a liquid jet recording head according to claim 2, wherein a conductive layer is provided on the inner wall surface of the through hole. 4) An electrode is provided on at least one outer surface of an energy conversion block for a liquid jet recording head in which a plurality of through holes are provided in substantially the same direction, and an electrode is provided in substantially the same direction as the penetration direction of the through holes; A liquid jet recording head using an energy conversion block, characterized in that the through hole is provided with a cylindrical member that can be filled with liquid via a conductive layer. 5) A liquid jet recording head using an energy conversion block according to claim 4, wherein the cylindrical member has an orifice at its tip for ejecting liquid. 6) In the liquid jet recording head according to claim 4, the conductive layer is a conductive adhesive, and the liquid using the energy conversion block according to claim 4 is characterized in that the conductive layer is a conductive adhesive. Jet recording head.