JPS5931470B2 - Manufacturing method of electrostatic multi-needle recording head - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a multi-needle recording head for electrostatically recording recording electrical signals in an information processing apparatus such as a facsimile.

As an electrostatic long needle recording head, a large number of needle electrodes as shown in FIG. An electrostatic long hand recording head 11 in which PA and PB are arranged to correspond to recording electrodes R has been proposed. In order to obtain this type of recording head, for example, a recording electrode block in which the recording electrodes are arranged in a straight line and the wires are wired, and an auxiliary electrode section in which a plurality of auxiliary electrodes are arranged are manufactured separately. Obtained by assembling, joining, and integrating. Many proposals have been made in the past regarding the structure and manufacturing method of recording electrode blocks, and many of them have been put into practical use.
Regarding the structure and manufacturing method of the auxiliary electrode part, for example, as shown in FIG. 2a, a plurality of grooves 13 are formed by machining or the like in a conductive material 12 having a U-shaped cross section. After combining with the recording electrode block 14 as shown in b,
A method has been proposed in which a recording head having two rows of auxiliary electrode groups PA and PB shown in FIG. 1 is obtained by cutting at the position of line XX.

However, in such a recording head, auxiliary electrodes P-1 and P-1, which are located at symmetrical positions across the recording electrode R,
', P-2 and P-2'...P-(2n+1)
and P-(2n+1)' have a circuit configuration in which they are connected to the same terminal, so the work of connecting the lead wires of each auxiliary electrode is tedious and requires skill and time, making the manufacturing process very difficult. It had some troublesome drawbacks. In addition, when forming a plurality of auxiliary electrodes by mechanical cutting, the grooves 13 to be cut are
The groove width is usually about 0.4 to 0.6 m77l, so
The drawback was that the work was difficult and took a lot of time. Furthermore, when connecting the recording electrode block and the auxiliary electrode section, it is not easy to adjust the corresponding arrangement positions.

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, and forms two rows of auxiliary electrode groups, their lead wires, and external connection terminals on a single flexible substrate, and allows assembly with a recording electrode block. The object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a recording head that can be extremely easily integrated. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 shows the circuit configuration of the electrostatic multi-needle recording head.

The recording electrodes R are arranged in a straight line at a high density of, for example, about 8 electrodes/Rrm, and are divided into n groups with m electrodes as one group, and the recording electrodes in the same arrangement order in each group are commonly connected. m terminals are provided. On the other hand, the number of auxiliary electrodes is 2n per column for the number of recording electrode groups n.
The auxiliary electrodes P-1 and P-17, P-2 and P- are divided into two columns and arranged in two rows as shown in FIG. 27...
-P-(2n+1) and P-(2n+1)' are connected by the same line.

The terminals of the matrixed recording electrodes and the auxiliary electrodes are connected to three switching circuits SW, -SW3 (not shown). Next, to briefly explain the recording operation, recording paper (not shown) is pressed against the surface of the recording head, and the former applies a negative voltage to the recording electrode and auxiliary electrode at the desired position. A voltage is applied to generate a discharge phenomenon on the surface of the recording paper to form an electrostatic latent gap on the surface of the recording paper, and toner is applied to this gap to form a visible image.

Scanning of recording by the circuit configuration described above is performed by electronic scanning, and the scanning is performed sequentially from the left end of the figure to the right.

First, recording control in the first group of recording electrodes R is as follows:
Divide the group into two halves, and when applying voltage to the recording electrode R belonging to the first half, use the auxiliary electrodes P-1 and P-.
Apply voltage to 2. When applying a voltage to the recording electrodes belonging to the second half of the first group, it is applied to the auxiliary electrodes P-2 and P-3. Note that when a voltage is applied to the recording cage electrodes of the first group, the recording electrodes of the other groups that are connected in the same way are also charged, but since the auxiliary electrode corresponding to that position is not charged, no recording occurs. Not done. To control the recording of the recording electrode group n groups below, the auxiliary electrodes are cooled down in the same way as for the first group, and the recording of one line is completed. Next, a method of manufacturing a recording head having the above circuit configuration according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 4 shows a specific example of an auxiliary electrode section for manufacturing a multi-needle recording head.

In this figure, two rows of planar auxiliary electrodes P-A and P-B
The wiring pattern Q is formed on the surface of one flexible insulating substrate 15 to constitute an auxiliary electrode section. In this embodiment, the flexible insulating substrate 15 is made of a polyimide sheet having a thickness of 70 microns, and a hole 16 having a width of 1 rm and a length of 224 rr is provided approximately in the center of the substrate 15. This hole 16 is for fitting and coupling with the surface of a recording electrode block, which will be described later, and will be described in detail later. Note that the dimensions of the hole 16 may vary depending on the number of recording electrodes and the applied voltage for recording. Next, the formation of the two rows of auxiliary electrode groups P-A and P-B and the wiring pattern Q can be achieved by adhering copper to the surface of the substrate 15 and using a photoetching method. The portion -B is provided with a copper thickness of 0.5 to 0.7 Tm, and is designed to be several ten times thicker than the copper thickness of the wiring pattern portion Q.

The reason for this is that a certain amount of wear occurs due to frictional contact with the recording paper, and that surface polishing is required after combining with the recording electrode block during the manufacturing process. It has a thickness of . In order to reduce stains, it is also possible to apply hard metal plating to the copper surface as necessary. When the two rows of auxiliary electrode groups P-A and P-B are manufactured by the above-mentioned photoetching, the planar electrodes are accurately arranged at a constant pitch along the long sides of each punched hole part 16, and A leader line Q of auxiliary electrodes P-1 and P-1/ located at mutually symmetrical positions.

are connected in the same way, and this leader line Q. are each provided with through-hole plating 17 for connection to the outside and led out to the back surface of the substrate 15. On the other hand, wiring patterns (not shown) corresponding to the through holes 17 are formed on the surface of the substrate 15 and are led to the terminal portions 18. Note that the terminal portion 18 may be lined with an epoxy laminate or the like to provide strength. As described above, the auxiliary electrode section is formed on one flexible substrate 15.
formed on top.

Next, the production of an electrostatic multi-needle recording head for assembling and combining the auxiliary electrode section formed as described above with the recording electrode block will be described.

FIG. 5 shows an external view of the recording electrode block. The recording electrode block 19 has a large number of needle-shaped recording electrodes R arranged in a straight line, the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 3 is already wired inside the block, and a terminal section 20 for connection with the outside is provided on the bottom surface. . The base material of the block 19 is made of a material such as epoxy resin. The upper surface of the block 19 is the part where the recording electrodes R are arranged, and a convex stepped portion 21 is formed, and the width and length of this stepped portion 21 are equal to the hole of the auxiliary electrode portion 16, and is designed so that the hole portion 16 of the auxiliary electrode portion can be fitted into and connected to the stepped portion 21, as shown in FIG. The precision of the corresponding positions in fitting the recording electrode block 19 and the auxiliary electrode substrate 15 is such that, in the case of recording electrodes, they are arranged accurately in advance using the left end of the stepped portion 21 as a reference line, and in the case of auxiliary electrodes, the holes are They are similarly arranged accurately using the left end of No. 16 as a reference line, and by matching both reference lines, it is possible to accurately connect them without the need for position adjustment by fitting.

Note that the height of the stepped portion 21 is designed to be slightly higher than the overall thickness of the auxiliary electrode portion. FIG. 7 shows the recording electrode block 19 shown in FIG. 5 and the auxiliary electrode part substrate 1 shown in FIG.
5 is a side cross-sectional view showing a recording head manufactured according to the present invention by combining the recording head 5 and FIG.

The combination of the two is performed as follows.

First, adhesive is applied to the top, front and rear surfaces of the recording electrode block 19 shown in FIG.
1 into the hole 16 of the auxiliary electrode board 15, and using a jig (not shown) bend the board 15 at the corner parts 22 and 23 of the block 19 to press it against the three sides of the block 19. Glue it in place.

After the adhesion is completed, the substrate 15 and the block 19 are integrated, but in order to provide further strength, insulation, and flatness of each surface, the entire surface is coated with, for example, epoxy resin as shown in FIG. to form the covering portion 24. The coated top surface is then appropriately polished to obtain an electrostatic multi-needle recording head.

As described above, according to the present invention, (1) by forming the auxiliary electrode group and the wiring pattern on one flexible substrate, it is extremely mass-producible and cost-effective compared to those manufactured by conventional machining. Can be reduced.

(2) There is no need to perform wiring work for the same connections located at mutually symmetrical positions in the two rows of auxiliary electrode groups.

(3) Corresponding positional alignment between the recording electrode block and the auxiliary electrode section can be achieved with extremely high accuracy by simply fitting them together, so no position adjustment work is required.

(4) The recording electrode block and the auxiliary electrode section can be combined and integrated extremely easily. In addition, the configuration in which the auxiliary electrode group is only in one row,
It goes without saying that the manufacturing method of the present invention can also be applied to an electrostatic multi-needle recording head having a staggered arrangement even if it has two rows.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a plan view of an electrostatic multi-needle recording head in which recording electrodes and auxiliary electrodes are arranged on the same plane, and Figures 2a and 2b show the structure of the conventional auxiliary electrode section and the state of connection with the recording electrode section. 3 is a circuit configuration diagram of an electrostatic multi-needle recording head, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the structure of an auxiliary electrode section according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a diagram of a recording electrode block of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing one example, FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a state in which the recording electrode block and the auxiliary electrode part are combined, and FIGS. 7 and 8 show the present invention in which the recording electrode block and the auxiliary electrode part are combined and integrated. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a recording head manufactured by the manufacturing method of FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15... Auxiliary electrode part board, P-A, P-B... Auxiliary electrode group, 16... Hole part, 19... Recording electrode block, 21... Step part, R... Recording electrode, 24...covering part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In the method for manufacturing an electrostatic multi-needle recording head in which auxiliary electrodes are arranged on the same surface in correspondence to electrode groups divided into specific electrode groups, recording electrodes each having a plurality of needle-like electrodes arranged therein, the above-mentioned recording The recording electrode part of the electrode block formed by aligning the electrodes is made to protrude, and a flexible substrate is provided with a hole in a portion corresponding to the protrusion part of the recording electrode block, corresponding to the aperture in the flexible substrate. A planar auxiliary electrode is formed by aligning the position with the recording electrode, and a wiring pattern led out from the auxiliary electrode is formed together with the auxiliary electrode on a flexible substrate, and the opening of the flexible substrate is aligned with the recording electrode. 1. A method for manufacturing an electrostatic multi-needle recording head, characterized in that an electrostatic recording head is obtained by inserting a recording electrode block into a protrusion and joining a recording electrode block flexible substrate.