JPH07314695A - Liquid jet recording head manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] The size and shape of the discharge port are highly accurate,
A method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head capable of performing excellent recording is realized. [Structure] Substrate 1 on which Orifice Plate 12 is Laminated
1 is supported by the positioning stage 2, and the positioning is performed so that the outer surface of the portion of the orifice plate 12 forming the orifice faces the emitting end 5a of the optical fiber 5 in close proximity to it. Next, the laser light 6 emitted from the laser device 4 is guided by the optical fiber 5, and the laser light 6 emitted from the emission end 5a is irradiated to the orifice plate 12 to form an orifice. By repeating the above steps for the number of orifices to be formed,
Create the desired number of orifices.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head used in a recording device such as a liquid jet recording device, a copying machine or a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional liquid jet recording head, as shown in FIG. 9, a discharge energy generating element (not shown) is previously patterned on a substrate 201 made of glass or ceramics, and the recording liquid is recorded on the substrate 201. Orifice plate 202 having a plurality of orifices 204 for discharging the liquid and a liquid flow path (not shown) communicated with the orifices 204
And a top plate 203 having a liquid supply port 208 for supplying a recording liquid on the orifice plate 202.
Are superposed on each other and laminated and fixed by an adhesive, and the recording liquid is ejected from the orifice 204 by applying the discharging energy to the recording liquid in the liquid flow path by the discharge energy generating element to perform recording. Is configured.

Above all, since the orifice 204 provided on the orifice plate 202 needs to be processed with high precision, it is drilled by an excimer laser.

In the conventional excimer laser orifice processing method, the liquid jet recording head 301 shown in FIG. 10 is supported and positioned by the positioning stage 302, and the excimer laser beam 30 generated by the laser device 304 is used.
6 is condensed by the optical system 305 including a large number of lens groups,
An orifice is formed by irradiating the orifice plate of the liquid jet recording head 301 with the condensed excimer laser light 306. The observation device 30
3 is provided to confirm the position of the orifice plate positioned with the excimer laser beam 306.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional techniques have unsolved problems as described below.

(A) When the position where the excimer laser light is focused, that is, the focal point and the position of the orifice plate are deviated, the excimer laser light is irradiated onto the orifice plate without being focused into a desired beam diameter and shape. However, the orifice cannot be formed in a predetermined size and shape. If the size of the orifice varies, the discharge amount of the recording droplets changes, and thus the recording density varies on the recording medium such as the recording paper. In addition, if the shape of the orifice is not proper, the ejection direction and ejection speed of the recording droplets may be affected and good recording may not be performed.

(B) Since the optical system is composed of a plurality of lenses, the performance of each lens and its adjustment are very difficult, and the performance of the optical system varies. As a result, the size and shape of the orifice vary, and good recording may not be performed.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the above-mentioned conventional technique, and the size and shape of the discharge port are highly accurate, and a liquid jet recording head capable of performing good recording. It is intended to realize the manufacturing method of

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, in the method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head of the present invention, a liquid chamber to which a recording liquid is supplied and the liquid chamber are respectively connected by a liquid flow path. In a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head including a plurality of ejection ports and an ejection energy generating element provided for each of the liquid flow paths, the ejection port is a portion where an emission end of an optical fiber is to form the ejection port. Positioned close to
The optical fiber is formed by guiding the laser light and irradiating the laser light emitted from the emission end.

Further, the exit end side of the optical fiber is fitted into the liquid flow path for positioning, or the exit end of each of the plurality of optical fibers is positioned close to the portion forming each discharge port. It is effective to simultaneously irradiate laser light from each optical fiber to form a plurality of ejection ports at the same time.

[0011]

The laser light is emitted through the optical fiber in a state where the emitting end of the optical fiber for emitting the laser light is brought close to the surface of the portion of the orifice plate where the orifice is to be formed by a minute distance. Hardly diffuses or converges. As a result, a highly precise orifice having the same size and shape as the cross-sectional shape of the optical fiber can be formed.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

A first embodiment of a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head will be described.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a first embodiment of a method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic partial perspective view showing an enlarged main part of this embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a liquid jet recording head manufactured according to an example.

First, a substrate 11 and a top plate 13 as described below are prepared.

The substrate 11 is made of glass, ceramics or the like, and has a plurality of ejection energy generating elements 15 (2 in FIG. 2) formed on one surface thereof by a known semiconductor manufacturing process.
(Only one piece is shown) are provided at a predetermined interval from each other, and are made of a photosensitive resin cured film on the upper surface thereof, and a plurality of liquid flow paths 16 respectively corresponding to the ejection energy generating elements 15 are provided. Orifice plate 1 made of a photosensitive resin cured film having a common liquid chamber 17 communicating with the liquid flow path 16
Two are stacked.

On the other hand, the top plate 13 is a flat plate made of glass, ceramics, metal or the like.
A liquid supply port 18 is formed therethrough.

As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate 11 on which the orifice plates 12 are stacked is supported by the positioning stage 2 to form an orifice 14 (shown in FIG. 2) which is a discharge port of the orifice plate 12. The positioning is performed so that the outer surface closely faces the emitting end 5a of the optical fiber 5 at a minute distance. In this case, the observation device 3
The relative position and proximity distance between the emitting end 5a and the orifice plate 12 are visually confirmed.

After the above steps, the laser light 6 emitted by the laser device 4 including, for example, a KrF excimer laser device is guided by the optical fiber 5, and the laser light 6 emitted from the emission end 5a thereof is directed to the orifice plate 1.
2 is irradiated and the photosensitive resin cured film in the portion irradiated with the laser beam 6 is removed by evaporation to form the orifice 14 communicating with the liquid flow path 16.

The above steps and are repeated by the number of orifices 14 to be formed to form the desired number of orifices 14 in the orifice plate 12.

After the above steps, as shown in FIG. 3, the liquid jet recording head is formed by stacking and fixing the top plate 13 having the liquid supply port 18 communicating with the liquid chamber 17 on the orifice plate 12 with an adhesive. obtain.

According to this embodiment, since the proximity distance between the exit end 5a of the optical fiber 5 and the orifice plate 12 is a very small distance, the laser light 6 hardly diffuses or converges, and the optical fiber It is possible to form the highly precise orifice 14 having the same size and shape as the cross section of No. 5 without variation.

Next, a second embodiment of the method of manufacturing the liquid jet recording head of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 4 shows a step of forming an orifice of this embodiment, and is a schematic partial perspective view of a top plate having an integrally formed orifice plate, and FIG. 5 shows a ceiling having an orifice formed by this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic partial perspective view showing the main part of the plate, and FIG. 6 is a schematic partial perspective view of the main part of the liquid jet recording head manufactured according to this embodiment.

First, as shown in FIG. 4, a top plate 23 having an integrally formed orifice plate 22 and a plurality of ejection energy generating elements as shown in FIG. 6 manufactured in the same manner as in the first embodiment. A substrate 21 in which 25 are provided at a predetermined distance from each other is prepared.

The top plate 23 in this embodiment is integrally molded in a mold from a resin having excellent recording liquid resistance as will be described later, and is formed on each energy generating element 25 provided on the substrate 21. A corresponding liquid channel 26 and a common liquid chamber 27 communicating with each liquid channel 26 are formed.

Polysulfone, polyether sulfone, polyphenylene oxide, polypropylene and the like are suitable as the resin having excellent recording liquid resistance.

The exit end 5 a side of the optical fiber 5 is fitted into the liquid flow path 26 of the top plate 23 and positioned so that the exit end 5 a and the inner surface of the orifice plate 22 are close to each other by a minute distance.

After the above steps, as in the first embodiment, the laser beam 6 is guided by the optical fiber 5, and the laser beam 6 emitted from the emission end 5a thereof is applied to the orifice plate 22 so that the laser beam is applied. By evaporating and removing the resin in the formed portion, an orifice 24 which is a discharge port penetrating from the liquid flow path 26 to the outer surface of the orifice plate 22 is formed.

The above steps and are repeated by the number of orifices 24 to be formed to form a desired number of orifices 24 in the orifice plate 22 as shown in FIG.

After the above steps, as shown in FIG. 6, the top plate 23 having the orifice 24 formed on the substrate 21 is laminated and fixed by an adhesive to obtain a liquid jet recording head.

According to this embodiment, since the exit end 5a side of the optical fiber 5 is fitted into the liquid flow path 26, the liquid flow path 26 and the orifice 24 are not displaced, and the formation work of the orifice 24 is simple. become.

Next, a third embodiment of the method of manufacturing the liquid jet recording head of the present invention will be described.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of optical fibers 5 simultaneously guide the laser light 6 and the laser light 6 emitted from the emission end 5a of each optical fiber 5 is ejected from the orifice plate 32. The plurality of orifices 34 are formed at one time by irradiating each of the areas where the orifices 34 are to be formed. Therefore, the description is omitted because it is the same as that of the first embodiment except that the steps 1 to 3 of the first embodiment are not required.

Further, in this embodiment, similarly to the second embodiment described above, the exit end 5 of the optical fiber 5 is provided in each liquid flow path 26.
It can be modified so that the a side is fitted and the respective orifices 34 are simultaneously formed.

According to this embodiment, a plurality of orifices can be formed at one time, so that the mass productivity is superior to those of the first and second embodiments.

Table 1 shows the result of a comparative experiment conducted on the accuracy of the orifice formed according to the present invention and the accuracy of the orifice processed by the above conventional technique.

[0038]

[Table 1] Next, a liquid jet recording apparatus equipped with the liquid jet recording head manufactured according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

A carriage 101 having a recording head unit in which a liquid jet recording head (hereinafter referred to as "recording head") 103 and an ink container are mounted is provided with a guide shaft 10.
4 and the lead screw 105 having the spiral groove 105a, the ink container cassette 102 in which the ink container is installed can be mounted on the carriage 101. By the way, a rod (not shown) is provided on the recording head 103 side, and when the ink container cassette 102 is integrated, the tip of the rod is inserted into the discharge port of the container body 1 to press the ball. And is configured to open the outlet.

The lead screw 105 has a gear train 106a, 106b, 1 driven by a drive motor 106 that rotates in forward and reverse directions.
Rotated forward and backward through 06c and 106d, and its spiral groove 1
The carriage 101 is reciprocally moved in the arrow direction and the counter arrow direction via a pin (not shown) provided on the carriage 101 having a tip end engaged with the reference numeral 05a. The forward / reverse rotation of the drive motor 106 is switched by detecting that the carriage 101 is at the home position by the lever 115 and the photocoupler 116 provided on the carriage 101.

On the other hand, the recording paper 109 which is the recording medium is
The platen 107 is pressed by a pressing plate 108, and is conveyed so as to face the recording head 103 by a paper feed roller (not shown) driven by a paper feed motor 110.

The recovery unit 111 includes a recording head 103.
It is provided in order to remove the foreign matter adhering to the ejection port and the ink of high viscosity to maintain the ejection characteristic in a normal state.

The recovery unit 111 has a cap member 113 which is in communication with a suction means (not shown), and by capping and sucking the discharge port of the recording head 103, foreign matter and viscosity attached to the discharge port. Remove the elevated ink. Also, the recovery unit 111 and the platen 1
Between 07, a cleaning blade 114 which is guided by the guide member 112 and moves forward and backward toward the traveling path of the ejection port surface of the recording head 103 is disposed. It is configured to be able to clean foreign matter and ink droplets attached to the outlet surface.

According to the present invention, recording is carried out by forming flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy, particularly in a liquid jet recording system.
In a so-called ink jet recording type recording head and recording device, it is possible to obtain excellent effects.

Regarding its typical structure and principle, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740.
No. 796, the present invention is preferably carried out using these basic principles. This recording method is applicable to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type.

To briefly explain this recording method, recording information is recorded on an electrothermal converter, which is an ejection energy generating element arranged corresponding to a sheet holding a recording liquid (ink) or a liquid flow path. Correspondingly, thermal energy is generated by applying at least one drive signal to the recording liquid (ink) in order to overcome the nucleate boiling phenomenon and to provide a rapid temperature rise that causes the film boiling phenomenon, and the thermal energy of the recording head is generated. Film boiling occurs on the heat-acting surface. In this way, bubbles can be formed in a one-to-one correspondence with the drive signal applied from the recording liquid (ink) to the electrothermal converter, which is particularly effective for the on-demand recording method. The growth and contraction of the bubbles cause the recording liquid (ink) to be ejected through the ejection port to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape, because the bubble growth and contraction are immediately and appropriately performed, so that the ejection of the recording liquid (ink) with particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124, which is an invention relating to the rate of temperature rise on the heat acting surface, are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

The structure of the recording head is a combination of a discharge port, a liquid flow path, and an electrothermal converter as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications (straight liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path).
In addition to the above, the present invention is also effective for those having a configuration in which the heat acting portion is arranged in the bending region as disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600. .

In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 123670/1984, which discloses a structure in which a common slit is used as a discharge port for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and a pressure wave of thermal energy is absorbed. The present invention is also effective in a structure having a structure based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 138461/1984, which discloses a structure in which the corresponding opening corresponds to the discharge portion.

Further, as a recording head in which the present invention is effectively used, there is a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of the recording medium which can be recorded by the recording device. The full line head may be a full line configuration formed by combining a plurality of print heads as disclosed in the above specification, or may be a single full line print head integrally formed.

In addition, by being attached to the apparatus main body, it can be electrically connected to the apparatus main body and can be supplied with ink from the apparatus main body by a replaceable chip type recording head or the recording head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge-type recording head that is specially provided is used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means or preliminary auxiliary means to the recording head because the recording apparatus can be made more stable. Specifically, the recording head is preheated by a capping means, a cleaning means, a pressure or suction means, an electrothermal converter or a heating element other than this, or a combination thereof. It is also effective to perform stable recording by adding a preliminary discharge mode means for performing discharge different from the means and recording.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the mode in which only the mainstream color such as black is recorded, and either the recording head may be integrally formed or a combination of plural recording heads may be used. However, the present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of a multicolor of different colors or a full color by color mixing.

In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, besides the one used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function It may take a form.

[0055]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

Since the dimensional accuracy and shape accuracy of the orifice are high and there is no variation, a liquid jet recording head capable of performing excellent recording with no variation in recording density on a recording medium is easily manufactured. can do. Therefore, productivity can be improved and manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a first method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention.
It is explanatory drawing which shows an Example.

FIG. 2 is a schematic partial perspective view showing an enlarged main part of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a liquid jet recording head manufactured according to the first embodiment of the method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head.

FIG. 4 is a second method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic partial perspective view of a top plate having an orifice plate integrally formed, showing a step of forming an orifice of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic partial perspective view showing a main part of a top plate having an orifice formed by a second embodiment of a method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head.

FIG. 6 is a second method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic partial perspective view of a liquid jet recording head manufactured according to an example.

FIG. 7 is a third method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention.
It is a model partial perspective view which shows one process of an Example.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of a liquid jet recording apparatus having a liquid jet recording head manufactured according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional liquid jet recording head.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Positioning stage 3 Observation device 4 Laser device 5 Optical fiber 6 Laser light 11,21,31 Substrate 12,22,32 Orifice plate 13,23 Top plate 14,24,34 Orifice 15,25,35 Discharge energy generating element 16, 26, 36 Liquid flow path 17, 27, 37 Liquid chamber 18 Liquid supply port

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A liquid including a liquid chamber to which a recording liquid is supplied, a plurality of ejection ports communicating with the liquid chamber by liquid channels, and an ejection energy generating element provided for each of the liquid channels. In the method for manufacturing an ejection recording head, the ejection port is positioned by positioning the emission end of the optical fiber in the vicinity of a portion where the ejection port is to be formed, and the laser beam is guided by the optical fiber and emitted from the emission end. A method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head, which is formed by irradiating a laser beam. 2. The method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the emission end side of the optical fiber is fitted into the liquid flow path and positioned. 3. An emission end of each of the plurality of optical fibers is positioned in close proximity to a site forming each ejection port, and laser light is simultaneously emitted from each of the optical fibers to simultaneously form the plurality of ejection ports. 3. The method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the liquid jet recording head is manufactured.