JPS632789B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording device, which is one of non-impact recording devices, and is particularly applicable to devices such as liquid jet copying machines and facsimile printers. The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting device that is suitably used.

[Conventional technology]

Among the non-impact recording methods, the so-called inkjet recording method is an extremely effective recording method because it has advantages such as high-speed recording and the ability to record on plain paper without requiring special fixing treatment.

In this type of recording method, a recording head is used that has an ejection opening (ejection orifice) for ejecting a liquid called ink and causing it to fly as droplets, and an inlet for the liquid to flow into. has been done.

Such recording heads are known to have various structures depending on the method of ejecting liquid from the ejection orifice.

For example, a droplet is ejected from an ejection orifice using pressure, mechanical vibration by a piezo vibrator, or electrostatic attraction, and the droplet is charged with a signal according to a signal and electrostatically deflected. Alternatively, a method is known in which only the droplets corresponding to the signal and necessary for recording are generated by electrostatic attraction or vibration of a piezo vibrator.

[Problem to be solved]

However, conventional devices have some problems in terms of structure, high speed recording, resolution, reproducibility of halftones, etc.

For example, in a device that generates only droplets used for recording by the vibration of a piezo vibrator, or a device that charges liquid ejected from a discharge orifice with a charging electrode and deflects it with a deflection electrode, the piezo vibrator or the charging electrode - It is difficult to miniaturize deflection electrodes, etc., and it is virtually impossible to create high-density multi-orifices. In this sense, there is a problem in that it is difficult to achieve high-speed recording, and in particular, it is very difficult to increase the recording speed by increasing the resolution.

Furthermore, in conventional apparatuses, since it is difficult to miniaturize the head, when performing multicolor recording, the heads for ejecting multicolor liquid are usually separated by a certain distance from each other. These heads are driven at different timings corresponding to the relative speed with the recording member and the distance between the discharge orifices, so that the multicolored liquid is deposited on a predetermined position on the recording member.

When the drive timing of the heads is not shifted, the arrangement is such that the flying path of the droplets from each head converges on approximately one point on the recording member, and in this case (because it is difficult to miniaturize the head), the ejection The distance between the orifice and the recording member is considerably increased.

Alternatively, in a type of device that deflects charged droplets, a method is adopted in which the level of the signal for deflecting the droplets is increased to compensate for separation between the ejection orifices.

However, in these methods, multiple heads are installed separately, and the head unit as a whole becomes quite large.If the flight path of the droplets is lengthened, slight deviations in the drive timing of the heads may occur.
There are problems in that vibrations of the head or recording member cause large color shifts on the recording member, and in the case of the type that deflects droplets, the signal voltage becomes high and signal control becomes complicated.

〔the purpose〕

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and proposes a method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording device using a method of ejecting liquid by the action of thermal energy, which has already been filed by the applicant. It is.

That is, the main object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording device that is easy to form a high-density multi-orifice and is suitable for high-speed recording.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording device that can provide images with excellent resolution or halftone reproducibility.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording device in which the head is miniaturized and signal control is easy.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention that achieves the above object is, in short, a method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording device that ejects liquid and flies it as droplets by the action of thermal energy, which includes a step of providing thermal energy generating means on a substrate; a step of providing on the substrate a discharge flow path plate and a grooved plate forming a liquid path including a heat acting portion, which is a portion where the thermal energy acts on the liquid, corresponding to the thermal energy generating means; A method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording apparatus, comprising the steps of: providing an ejection orifice plate that forms an ejection orifice communicating with the liquid path; and providing a liquid supply section communicating with the liquid path.

[Effect]

As described above, the manufacturing method of the liquid jet recording device of the present invention, which ejects liquid by the action of thermal energy, not only simplifies the structure near the ejection orifice and the overall system configuration, but also enables high-density multi-orifice construction. can be easily and accurately performed. In addition, by using a high-density multi-orifice array as the ejection orifice, high-speed recording can be performed without degrading image quality in terms of resolution or intermediate tones.Furthermore, the high-density multi-orifice array can be extremely miniaturized, resulting in the so-called It has the advantage of being able to perform recording in the form of a flat head and being inexpensive to manufacture.

[Outline description of the present invention]

The outline of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the liquid ejection principle of a device that ejects liquid by the action of thermal energy. That is, inside the liquid chamber 1 formed in a nozzle shape,
The liquid 3 is supplied from a liquid supply section such as a storage tank, a supply pipe, or a filter. In addition, for liquid 3,
Pressure P may be applied to such an extent that the discharge is not discharged from the discharge orifice 2 by itself. Now, when the liquid 3a at a distance l from the discharge orifice 2 is subjected to the action of thermal energy, the liquid 3a undergoes a sudden change in state (volume expansion, generation of bubbles, etc.).
Depending on the amount of energy, part or all of the liquid 3b present in the liquid 3b is discharged from the discharge orifice 2. The liquid flies as droplets 5 in the direction of the recording member 4 and adheres to a predetermined position.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram schematically shown for explaining an example of the entire liquid jet recording apparatus of the present invention that ejects liquid based on the above-described principle. In the following description, an apparatus using liquids A, B, and C of three colors will be shown as a typical example, but the present invention is not limited to this in any way.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 2 includes liquids A of different colors,
Supply sections 6A, 6B, 6 correspond to B and C, respectively.
C, heat acting parts 7A, 7B, 7C, thermal energy generating means 8A, 8B, 8C and discharge orifice 9
A, 9B, 9C, etc. are provided. However, a plurality of heat acting parts, thermal energy generating means, and discharge orifices may be provided, but two or more liquids with different colors may be mixed in the liquid flow path in the device from the supply part to the discharge orifice. They will not be accommodated.

The heat acting portions 7A, 7B, and 7C correspond to portions 3a in FIG. 1, and are spaces where the liquid to which thermal energy is applied undergoes a state change.

The thermal energy generating means 8A, 8B, 8C may be an electrothermal converter such as a heating resistor in a thermal head, a Peltier element, a combination of a heating resistor and a Peltier element, or a high energy beam radiation such as a laser beam. Examples include means for generating heat by absorbing wires and the like.

The thermal energy generating means is installed on the inner or outer wall of the heat effecting section or, especially when using a beam of radiation such as a laser beam, at a suitable location where it can impart thermal energy to the liquid within the heat effecting section. .

These thermal energy generating means are selectively driven by the control section 10 according to multicolor information as an input signal. However, when the apparatus of the present invention is used as a recording apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile machine, a light detection means D consisting of a lens, a filter, a light receiving element, etc. is provided as shown in FIG. Get color information. On the other hand, when used as a terminal recording device for a computer or the like, the output from the computer or the like is often in the form of multicolor information, and the light detection means D is not necessarily required.

The control unit 10 includes thermal energy generation means 8
Means for selectively driving A to 8C according to multicolor information; for example, when using an electrothermal converter as a thermal energy generating means and driving with a pulsed signal, a clock generator, a shift register, Memories, drive circuits, synchronization means for setting the relative movement speed between the recording member and the head, etc. In addition, when energy secondary radiation is used, optical systems such as acousto-optic modulators and optical polarizers are included. It will be done.

The recording liquid is used in conjunction with the above-mentioned control unit to determine the type of record to be obtained; for example, a graphic record (so-called "false color" record), a natural color record (so-called "false color" record),
True color recording) or, as a special example, recording in two colors, black and red, such as documents and proof manuscripts.

For example, in graphic recording, the output of a computer is generally recorded in the form of multicolor information, and the liquid can be of any color.

In natural color recording, information on the original is received by three light receiving elements through red, green, and blue filters, and is converted into a spectral signal. Cyan, magenta, and yellow liquids, which correspond to complementary colors of the filter, are used as the liquids. In the heat acting section of the head containing liquids of these three primary colors, electrothermal converters are driven by a control section in accordance with the spectral signals.

Particularly favorable results can be obtained when the apparatus of the present invention is structured to include a heating element substrate, a discharge channel plate, a grooved plate, a discharge orifice plate, a liquid supply block, etc. as described below.

[Example of implementation]

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically explained using the drawings.

In the following description, a manufacturing method will be explained using a liquid jet recording apparatus that can be used for color image recording as an example.

FIG. 3a is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the invention. That is, the apparatus for obtaining a color image includes a heating element substrate 12 having a heating resistor, a grooved plate 13 in which liquid supply grooves are formed, a discharge passage plate 32, and a discharge orifice for forming the discharge orifice 18. Plate 19, blocks 14A, 1 for supplying liquids A, B, and C for multicolor recording;
4B, 14C and supply pipes 15A, 15B, 15
C, or a printed circuit board 16 for applying an image signal, etc., are installed to constitute a head. Note that a substrate 17 having good thermal conductivity may be attached as a heat sink.

In this embodiment, as shown in the figure, the liquid flow path is bent within the device.

The discharge orifice plate is provided corresponding to the flow path formed by the end face of the grooved plate 13 and the discharge flow path plate 32 in which grooves 33 are formed similarly to the grooved plate.

FIG. 3b is an explanatory diagram of each block forming the main part of the device shown in FIG. 3a (the substrate 16 having electrodes for applying signals is not shown). The heating element substrate 12 includes a substrate 20 such as alumina, and a heat storage layer 2.
It has a structure in which an electrothermal transducer consisting of a heating resistor 22 made of a thin film of ZrB ₂ or HfB ₂ , a selection electrode 23 made of an aluminum layer, a common electrode 24, etc. is formed on the first layer. Although not shown in the figure, the entire surface of the substrate 12 is covered with a protective layer of silicon oxide. As can be seen from FIG. 3a, the grooved plate 13 is formed with grooves 25 (cut with a diamond microcutter) and liquid supply holes 26 for passing liquids of various colors through a substrate such as glass or plastic.
The liquid supply holes 26 are machined using an electron beam or the like every three grooves 25, the same number of grooves 25 as the colors of the liquids used, for example, if liquids of three colors are used. On the other hand, in the liquid supply block 14C,
A hole 27 is formed at a position coinciding with this hole 26. Although only one block 14C is shown in the figure, other blocks 14A for liquids of colors A and B are shown.
and 14B are similarly installed on the grooved plate 13. The heating element substrate, grooved plate, discharge passage plate, supply block, etc. prepared in this way are integrated so that the heating resistors and the grooves are in one-to-one corresponding positions. Note that 28C is a defoaming pipe used when filling the device with liquid.

Figure 3c shows the configuration block shown in Figure 3b in W-
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along Z and shows one feed block. As is clear from this figure, the liquid flow path is located at the heat acting part 31 surrounded by the broken line.
It has a structure that refracts at Therefore, the surface of the heating resistor faces the direction of the discharge orifice, and good results can be obtained in terms of discharge efficiency, discharge response, and the like. Note that the refraction angle of the liquid flow path is not limited to a substantially right angle as shown in the figure, but can be at various angles.

In the figure, 29 is an electrode for driving an electrothermal converter formed on a printed circuit board, 30 is a protective layer formed on the entire surface of the heating element board, and a part 31 surrounded by a broken line is a heat acting part. be. Also, the common electrode 24
If the electrodes are formed on the upper surface of the heating element substrate 12 as shown in this figure, it may be easier to take out the electrodes.

With such a configuration, a multi-orifice array in which discharge orifices for multicolor liquids are arranged at high density can be easily obtained. Generally, in a multicolor image composed of many dots, it is said that if the positional deviation of the dots exceeds about 150 to 170 μ, the reproducibility of halftones will deteriorate or color misalignment will become noticeable. In this liquid ejecting device, the ejection orifices can be arranged at a ejection orifice density of 10 orifices/mm or more, and the ejection orifices can be formed within the above limit value range, resulting in extremely high resolution, halftone reproducibility, etc. Favorable results are obtained. Furthermore, as an orifice array, it has a small thickness and a very compact structure.

Note that the discharge orifice density and the light-receiving element density of the light detection means only need to correspond for one pixel. For example, when performing natural color recording with three primary color liquids, the discharge orifice density is 12 pieces/mm. Then, the light receiving element density may be about 4 elements/mm.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the ejection principle of a liquid jet recording device by the action of thermal energy, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the entire liquid jet recording device of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 a, b, and c are illustrations of the liquid jet recording device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a recording device. However, in the figure, 1...liquid chamber, 2, 9A, 9
B, 9C...Discharge orifice, 3...Liquid, 4...Recording member, 5...Droplet, 6A, 6B, 6C...Liquid supply section, 7A, 7B, 7C...Heat action section, 8A, 8B,
8C...Thermal energy generation means, 10...Control unit, 1
1...Manuscript.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording device that ejects liquid and flies it as droplets by the action of thermal energy, comprising: providing a thermal energy generating means on a substrate; the thermal energy generating means; providing on the substrate a discharge flow path plate and a grooved plate that form a liquid path including a heat acting portion, which is a portion where the thermal energy acts on the liquid; and a discharge orifice communicating with the heat acting portion. 1. A method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording device, comprising: providing an ejection orifice plate that forms a discharge orifice plate; and providing a liquid supply section that communicates with the liquid path.