JPH0550607A - Manufacture of ink jet printer head - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] A drive plate, in which piezoelectric members and non-piezoelectric members are alternately provided, is joined to a main body plate in which recesses are continuously provided, and a pair of piezoelectric members are respectively positioned on the recesses. (EN) A method of manufacturing an inkjet printer head that can easily improve productivity and reduce size and weight. A protrusion 29 of a comb-shaped piezoelectric member 30 is polarized in different directions, non-piezoelectric members 21, 22 are filled between the protrusions 29 after the polarization is completed, and the piezoelectric member is filled after the filling. The drive plate 19 is formed by cutting off the end portion of 30 so that the pair of piezoelectric members 20 located on the pressure chambers have the same energization direction so that the number of electrodes 23, 24 and wiring can be reduced.

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 an on-demand type ink jet printer head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, as an inkjet printer head capable of quiet and high-density printing, an inkjet printer head for ejecting ink droplets from an orifice to fix the ink onto a printing paper has been put into practical use.

For example, an on-demand type ink jet printer head has a structure in which a pressure generating means at least the surface of which is displaceable is provided in a pressure chamber communicating with each of the orifices arranged in an array. Then, in such an inkjet printer head, the pressure generating means is vibrated by the drive power corresponding to the print image, and the ink in the pressure chamber is ejected as an ink droplet from the orifice.

At present, it has been proposed to use a pre-polarized piezoelectric member as the pressure generating means of the ink jet printer head as described above. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the piezoelectric member 1 is a member which, when an electric field is applied at a right angle to a preset polarization direction, is deformed only in the polarization direction without expanding or contracting in the energization direction. Such skid deformation is called shear mode deformation. The illustrated piezoelectric member 1 exemplifies a case where the electrodes 2 are provided at both ends and the left end is fixed. However, for example, when the lower edge of the piezoelectric member 1 is fixed, lateral slip deformation occurs only in the left-right direction. It can also occur. It should be noted that such a piezoelectric member 1 is arranged such that when the polarization direction or the energization direction is reversed, the deformation direction is also reversed.

An ink jet printer head using such a piezoelectric member is USP4584590, USP482.
5227 and the like, the inkjet printer heads disclosed in these specifications all cause crosstalk due to unnecessary deformation of the piezoelectric member such as longitudinal vibration mode or lateral vibration mode. Have the challenges of.

Therefore, an ink jet printer head disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-49957 will be described as an apparatus which solves such a problem with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. As shown in FIG. 4, the inkjet printer head 3 includes an electrode 4 including a thermistor which is a non-piezoelectric member.
And a thin plate-shaped drive plate 6 in which piezoelectric ceramics 5 that are piezoelectric members are alternately formed, and a plurality of recesses in which an orifice and an ink supply path (both not shown) communicate with each other are arranged in an array. And a thick plate-shaped body plate 7 are respectively formed, these plates 6 and 7 are integrally joined with an adhesive 8 and the recess is shielded by the pair of piezoelectric ceramics 5 to form the pressure chamber 9. It has a structure.

A method of manufacturing the driving plate 6 of the ink jet printer head 3 will be described with reference to FIG. First, a lead zirconate titanate-based ceramic material 10 that forms the piezoelectric ceramic 5 and a barium titanate-based ceramic material 11 that forms the electrode 4 are each formed into a sheet by a doctor blade method or the like,
As illustrated in (a), the layers are alternately laminated and thermocompression bonded, and then cut into a predetermined size or the like and integrally fired. By doing so, the ceramic mass 12 in which the piezoelectric ceramics 5 and the electrodes 4 are alternately laminated can be obtained.
As illustrated in (b), the ceramic plate 13 having the same shape as that of the drive plate 6 is formed by cutting this at a right angle to the stacking direction. Here, in this ceramic plate 13, since the polarization direction of the piezoelectric ceramic 5 is random at this stage, as shown in FIG.
Plate electrodes 14 and 15 are attached to the cut surface of, and electricity is supplied in a temperature region lower than the Curie temperature of the piezoelectric ceramic 5 and higher than the Curie temperature of the electrode 4. By doing so, the electrode 4 made of the thermistor material is kept within this temperature range.
Is an insulator and the piezoelectric ceramic 5 has conductivity,
It is possible to obtain the drive plate 6 in which only the piezoelectric ceramic 5 is polarized well.

[0008]

In the ink jet printer head 3 disclosed in the above publication, the drive plate 6 is used.
Since the piezoelectric members 5 inside have the same polarization direction, it is necessary to make the energization directions of the pair of piezoelectric members 5 located above the pressure chambers 9 different. For this reason, in the inkjet printer head 3, it is difficult to reduce the number of electrodes 4 and wirings, which hinders reduction in size and weight and improvement in productivity.

Further, in the ink jet printer head 3, the electrode 4 which is a non-piezoelectric member of the drive plate 6 is used.
Must be a thermistor material in order to realize polarization of the piezoelectric ceramic 5, and the selectivity of the material is low, and the method of joining with the main body plate 7 tends to be limited to adhesion or the like.

Further, in the ink jet printer head 3, the electrode 4 of the drive plate 6 needs to be thickly formed to have a thickness of about 100 (μm) in order to improve the bonding with the main body plate 7. It is difficult to form the electrode 4 by thin film technology such as sputtering or vapor deposition.

The present invention provides a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head which has good productivity and can be made compact and lightweight.

[0012]

There is provided a main body plate in which a plurality of recesses in which an orifice and an ink supply path communicate with each other are connected in an array, and a pre-polarized piezoelectric member and a non-piezoelectric member alternate. Is provided with a flat plate-shaped drive plate, and by joining the drive plate and the main body plate, a pair of piezoelectric members are respectively positioned on the recesses to form pressure chambers, and the pressure chambers are supplied from the ink supply path. In an ink jet printer head in which the ink held in the ink is pressurized by a piezoelectric member that is deformed according to the applied power and is ejected from the orifice, a large number of rectangular column-shaped protrusions are arranged in parallel from one flat end. To form a comb-shaped piezoelectric member, and a polarization electrode is formed on the opposing surface between the protrusions of the piezoelectric member, and electric charges of the same polarity are applied to the polarization electrodes that are separated and contacted via a gap. The protrusions are polarized in different directions alternately, and the polarization electrode is removed from the piezoelectric member after completion of the polarization, and the gap between the protrusions from which the polarization electrode is removed is filled with a non-piezoelectric member. After this filling, the end of the piezoelectric member was cut off to form the drive plate.

[0013]

Since the polarization directions of the pair of piezoelectric members located on the pressure chamber can be made different to make the energization directions the same, the number of electrodes and wirings connected to the piezoelectric members can be reduced. The non-piezoelectric member that does not participate in the polarization of the piezoelectric member has good material selectivity and a high degree of freedom in the method of joining with the main body plate.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. First, the structure of the inkjet printer head 16 according to the manufacturing method of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In this ink jet printer head 16, a thick plate-shaped main plate 18 in which a plurality of recesses, each communicating with an orifice 17 and an ink supply path (not shown), are continuously arranged in an array, and a thin drive plate 19 are provided. It has a structure that is integrally joined. Here, this drive plate 19
Are non-piezoelectric members 21 and 2 at the center and both ends of a pair of piezoelectric members 20 polarized in opposite directions in the connecting direction.
2 is provided, a thin film individual electrode 23 is provided for each pair of the piezoelectric members 20 on the front surface, and a thin film common electrode 24 is uniformly provided on the back surface. In the inkjet printer head 16, the non-piezoelectric members 22 on both ends of the pair of piezoelectric members 20 are provided.
In the lower position, the driving plate 19 is placed on the common electrode 24.
The pressure chamber 25 is formed by being bonded to the main body plate 18 via the.

In the ink jet printer head 16 having such a structure, the piezoelectric member 20 needs to be sealed without being fixed to the main body plate 18 in the direction of the front and back surfaces in the figure, but this has elasticity. It can be realized by using an adhesive agent, a film or the like.

With this structure, in the ink jet printer head 16, when the ink 26 supplied from the ink supply path is held in the pressure chamber 25, electricity is supplied between the predetermined electrodes 23 and 24. As shown, the pair of piezoelectric members 20 on the pressure chamber 25 undergo shear mode deformation, and the ink 26 is ejected from the orifice 17.

In the ink jet printer head 16, since the piezoelectric members 20 in the drive plate 19 are polarized in different directions in the horizontal arrangement direction in the figure, a pair of piezoelectric members 20 are formed. Will be energized in the same vertical direction. Therefore, in the inkjet printer head 16, wiring can be realized by one common electrode 24 that is electrically connected to all the piezoelectric members 20 and individual electrodes 23 that are provided on the pair of piezoelectric members 20. , 24 and wiring are extremely small in number, it is possible to contribute to size reduction and weight reduction and productivity improvement. In the inkjet printer head 16 having such a structure, for example, one constant voltage power source is connected to the common electrode 24 and wiring is performed to ground the individual electrodes 23 for each pair via the switching elements. Become.

Further, in this ink jet printer head 16, only the shear mode deformation occurs in the driven piezoelectric member 20, so that the occurrence of crosstalk is prevented.

Further, in the ink jet printer head 16, the non-piezoelectric member 21 in the drive plate 19 is
As the material 22, a resin material such as polyacetal or polyethylene terephthalate that can be easily heat-bonded to the piezoelectric member 20 at a low temperature can be used. An epoxy thermosetting adhesive or a photo-curing adhesive is used as the adhesive when the non-piezoelectric members 21 and 22 are bonded to the piezoelectric member 20.

In the ink jet printer head 16, the electrodes 23 and 24 and the non-piezoelectric members 21 and 2 are used.
Since it is not necessary to manufacture 2 with a thermistor, the selectivity of the material and the degree of freedom of the manufacturing method are extremely good. In particular, since the electrodes 23 and 24 are only formed on the front and back surfaces of the flat drive plate 19, they can be easily formed by a thin film technique such as sputtering or vapor deposition, and their productivity is extremely good.

Further, in the ink jet printer head 16, the piezoelectric member 20 is formed in a slender shape in the continuous direction in order to ensure good driving efficiency, and the electrodes 23 and 24 are formed on the elongated front and back surfaces thereof. Therefore, the conductive area between each of the electrodes 23 and 24 and the piezoelectric member 20 is large, and the piezoelectric member 20 is energized in the lateral direction, so that the electrode resistance of the piezoelectric member 20 is reduced and the power consumption is reduced. It is possible to reduce.

An example of a method of manufacturing the drive plate 19 in which the polarization directions of the piezoelectric members 20 are alternately different as described above will be described with reference to FIG. First, as illustrated in FIG. 1A, by arranging the recessed grooves 27 by dicing on a flat plate-shaped substrate obtained by slicing a block of a piezoelectric member, the one end 28 is removed. A large number of quadrangular prism-shaped protrusions 29 are arranged in parallel to form a comb-tooth-shaped piezoelectric member 30. Next, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, a polarization electrode 31 is provided on the facing surface of the comb-shaped protruding portion 29 by electroless plating, sputtering, or the like to perform polarization in different directions alternately. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 3C, the polarization electrode 31 is removed by polishing or the like after completion of such polarization, and as illustrated in FIG.
Non-piezoelectric members 21 and 22 are filled between them to form a flat plate. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 6E, the individual electrode 23 and the common electrode 24 are formed on the front and back surfaces of the piezoelectric member 30 by electroless plating or sputtering after this molding.
After this formation, the distal end 28 is excised, as illustrated in FIG. By doing so, the piezoelectric member 20 is formed by the protrusions 29 having different polarization directions, and the manufacture of the flat plate-shaped drive plate 19 in which the electrodes 23 and 24 are formed on the front and back surfaces is completed.

[0023]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION A main body plate is provided in which a plurality of recesses, each communicating with an orifice and an ink supply path, are continuously arranged in an array, and a pre-polarized piezoelectric member and a non-piezoelectric member are alternately provided. A flat plate-shaped drive plate was provided, and a pair of piezoelectric members were respectively positioned on the recesses by joining the drive plate and the main body plate to form pressure chambers, which were supplied from the ink supply path and held in the pressure chambers. In an ink jet printer head in which ink is pressurized by a piezoelectric member that is deformed according to applied power and is ejected from an orifice, a comb-shaped piezoelectric element in which a large number of rectangular column-shaped protrusions are arranged in parallel from one end portion Of the piezoelectric member, a polarization electrode is formed on the opposing surface between the protrusions of the piezoelectric member, and electric charges of the same polarity are applied to the polarization electrodes that are separated and brought into contact with each other through a gap to intersect the protrusions in the connecting direction. Polarized in different directions, the polarization electrode is removed from the piezoelectric member after completion of the polarization, the gap between the protrusions from which the polarization electrode is removed is filled with a non-piezoelectric member, and the piezoelectric member is filled after the filling. By forming the drive plate by cutting off the end part of the, the polarization direction of the pair of piezoelectric members located above the pressure chambers is made different and the energization direction is made the same so that the number of electrodes and wiring can be reduced. Since the non-piezoelectric member, which can be reduced in number and does not participate in the polarization of the piezoelectric member, has good material selectivity and a high degree of freedom in the method of joining with the main body plate, it has good productivity and can be made compact and lightweight. This has the effect of being able to obtain a method of manufacturing a head.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process drawing showing an example of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional front view showing an inkjet printer head.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an operating principle of a piezoelectric member.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional front view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a process drawing showing a method of manufacturing a drive plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 16 Inkjet printer head 17 Orifice 18 Body plate 19 Drive plate 20 Piezoelectric member 21 Electrode 22 Non-piezoelectric member 23 Pressure chamber 23 Ink

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A main body plate in which a plurality of recesses, each communicating with an orifice and an ink supply path, are continuously arranged in an array, and a pre-polarized piezoelectric member and non-piezoelectric member are alternately provided. A flat plate-shaped drive plate is provided, and a pair of the piezoelectric members are respectively positioned on the recesses by joining the drive plate and the main body plate to form a pressure chamber,
In an ink jet printer head in which ink supplied from the ink supply path and held in the pressure chamber is pressed by the piezoelectric member that is deformed according to applied power and is ejected from the orifice, a large number of inks are discharged from one end portion. Forming a comb-shaped piezoelectric member in which quadrangular prism-shaped protrusions are continuously provided in parallel, and forming a polarization electrode on the facing surface between the protrusions of the piezoelectric member, and separating and contacting the polarization electrode via a gap. By applying an electric charge of the same polarity to the projecting portions, the projecting portions are alternately polarized in different directions, and after the polarization is completed, the polarized electrodes are removed from the piezoelectric member, and the polarized electrodes are removed. An ink jet printer characterized in that the gap between the protrusions is filled with a non-piezoelectric member, and after the filling, the end portion of the piezoelectric member is cut off to form the drive plate. Fabrication method of Taheddo.