JP2006312252A - Inkjet recording head and method for fixing substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inkjet recording head of which the bonding of a recording element substrate to a support body is carried out by using an adhesive, in which even when the adhesive for fixing is cured in a condition that the recording element substrate is preliminary fixed to the support body by using the other adhesive, the bonding can be adequately carried out without mixing both of the adhesives. <P>SOLUTION: The recording element substrate 20 is bonded fixedly to the support body on its support face 33 by using the adhesive 35 for fixing. When the adhesive 35 for fixing is cured, the adhesive 36 for preliminary fixing of which the material is different from the adhesive 35 for fixing is used in order to preliminary fix the recording element substrate 20. A recessed section 31 is formed on the support face 33 and the adhesive 36 is applied to a portion from a side face wall 27 to the recessed section 31. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording head in which a recording element substrate having a function of ejecting ink is supported by a support. The present invention also relates to a substrate fixing method in which a recording element substrate is bonded and fixed to a support.

  In recent years, various ink jet recording apparatuses have been put into practical use. FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of a conventional ink jet recording head used in such a recording apparatus. As shown in FIG. 7, the inkjet recording head 150 has a configuration in which a recording element substrate 120 having a function of ejecting ink is bonded and fixed on a support 130. Note that a recording head having the same configuration is also disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228707.

  The recording element substrate 120 includes a substrate 123 on which a plurality of energy generating elements 125 for applying ejection energy to ink are formed, and an orifice plate 122 disposed on the substrate 123. A through hole 124 is formed in the substrate 123, and a discharge port 122 a is formed in the orifice plate 122 at a position facing each of the energy generating elements 125. Between the substrate 123 and the orifice plate 122, an ink flow path 122b for transferring ink from the through hole 124 to each ejection port 122a is formed.

  In a state where the recording element substrate 120 is fixed on the support 130, the ink supply flow path 134 and the through hole 124 provided in the support 130 communicate with each other. For example, ink is supplied to the ink supply flow path 134 from an ink tank (not shown), and the supplied ink is discharged from the ink supply flow path 134 through the through hole 124 and the like to the ejection port 122a. Sent to.

  In the ink jet recording head 150 configured as described above, by driving the energy generating element 125 in a state where the ink flow path 122b is filled with ink, a small droplet of ink is discharged from the discharge port 122a.

  Incidentally, two types of adhesives 135 and 136 are used for fixing the recording element substrate 20. The fixing adhesive 135 is a thermosetting adhesive and is filled between the back surface of the substrate 123 and the upper surface of the support 130. On the other hand, the temporary fixing adhesive 136 is an ultraviolet curable adhesive, and is used to temporarily fix the substrate 123 on the support 130 when the thermosetting adhesive is cured.

Specifically, the temporary fixing adhesive 136 is used for the following reason. That is, when the recording element substrate 20 is fixed, the substrate 120 is disposed on the support 130 with an uncured thermosetting adhesive (adhesive 135) interposed therebetween. Thereafter, a heating step for curing the adhesive is performed, and it is necessary to prevent the positional relationship between the recording element substrate and the support from being shifted during this step. Therefore, prior to the heating step, the temporary fixing adhesive 136 is applied and cured, and the recording element substrate 120 is positioned. Since temporary fixing is performed in this way, positional deviation of the recording element substrate 120 in the process of curing the thermosetting adhesive is prevented.
JP 2002-19119 A

  However, when the recording head is manufactured by the above-described method, when the temporary fixing adhesive 136 is applied, the fixing adhesive and the temporary fixing adhesive may come into contact with each other and partially mix. there were. That is, since the temporary fixing adhesive 136 is applied in a state where the fixing adhesive 135 between the recording element substrate and the support is uncured, both uncured adhesives are partially mixed. It will end up.

  In this way, when adhesives having different properties (in the above example, thermosetting adhesive and UV curable adhesive) are mixed, the inhibition of curing of the adhesive (insufficient curing reaction) is induced by the interaction. . In particular, when an amine curable adhesive and a cationic polymerization adhesive are mixed, the degree of curing inhibition is significant. If curing inhibition is induced in the fixing adhesive 135, the final adhesive strength between the recording element substrate 120 and the support 130 may be insufficient. On the other hand, if hardening inhibition is induced in the temporary fixing adhesive 136, the fixing strength of the temporary fixing may be insufficient.

  In addition, when the adhesives are mixed, there may be another problem that the adhesive component (impurities) is eluted into the ink in addition to the above-mentioned problems related to adhesion. In any case, mixing of the adhesives as described above is not preferable because it causes various problems. On the other hand, in solving such problems, it is preferable that a simple structure can be used without requiring a complicated structure.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to record using another adhesive in a recording head in which the recording element substrate and the support are joined by an adhesive. Provided is an ink jet recording head capable of performing good adhesion without mixing the adhesives even when the fixing adhesive is cured with the element substrate and the support temporarily fixed. There is to do. Another object of the present invention is a method of fixing a substrate in which a recording element substrate and a support are bonded and fixed using an adhesive, and the recording element substrate and the support are temporarily fixed using another adhesive. Even when the fixing adhesive is cured in a state, there is provided a substrate fixing method capable of satisfactorily bonding without mixing the two adhesives.

  In order to achieve the above object, an ink jet recording head according to the present invention includes a plurality of energy generating elements for applying discharge energy to ink and a plurality of discharge ports formed corresponding to each of the energy generating elements. In addition to the first adhesive that has an element substrate and a support that supports the recording element substrate with a support surface and is filled between the back surface of the recording element substrate and the support surface, the first substrate In an ink jet recording head in which a second adhesive having a different material from that of the adhesive adheres the side wall of the recording element substrate and the support surface, the support surface has a position corresponding to the side wall. A recess for receiving the second adhesive is formed.

  The substrate fixing method of the present invention is a substrate fixing method in which a recording element substrate and a support are bonded and fixed using a first adhesive, and the back surface of the recording element substrate, the support surface of the support, A step of disposing the recording element substrate on the support in a state where the uncured first adhesive is interposed between the first adhesive and the first adhesive in an uncured state. A step of temporarily fixing the recording element substrate using a second adhesive having a different material from that of the adhesive, and a step of curing the first adhesive in a state of being temporarily fixed. In the temporary fixing step, the second adhesive is applied from the side wall of the recording element substrate to the inside of the recess formed at a position corresponding to the side wall of the support surface. Including.

  According to the inkjet recording head and the substrate fixing method of the present invention, in the recording head in which the recording element substrate and the support are bonded with an adhesive, the recording element substrate and the support are temporarily bonded using another adhesive. Even when the fixing adhesive is cured in a stopped state, since the concave portion is formed on the support, the adhesive can be satisfactorily performed without mixing the two adhesives.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the ink jet recording head of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the recording head of FIG. 1 cut in the X direction. The ink jet recording head 50 of the present embodiment is mainly characterized in that a concave portion 31 is provided in the support 30, and other structural portions are the same as those shown in FIG. 7.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ink jet recording head 50 includes a recording element substrate 20 having an orifice plate 22 and a substrate 23, and a support 30 that supports the recording element substrate 20, and an energy generating element 25. Is driven to eject ink droplets from the ejection port 22a.

  The contour shape of the substrate 23 when viewed from the upper surface side is a square, and the two side walls 27 are parallel to each other. The “side wall 27” originally indicates the side wall of the substrate 23. However, in the following description, the recording element substrate 20 is regarded as one structure and may be referred to as “the side wall 27 of the recording element substrate”. is there. Similarly, for example, “the back surface of the recording element substrate” and “the back surface of the substrate” may be used without distinction.

  The upper surface of the support 30 is a support surface 33 that supports the recording element substrate 20. The support surface 33 and the back surface of the recording element substrate are both flat surfaces, and a fixing adhesive 35 is filled between these surfaces as shown in FIG.

  The concave portion 31 is a structural portion formed on the support surface as a long groove, and one concave portion 31 is provided corresponding to each side wall 27. The provision of the recess 31 makes it difficult for the temporarily fixing adhesive 36 to come into contact with the fixing adhesive 35 as will be described later. Here, the fixing adhesive 35 is a thermosetting adhesive (for example, an amine curing type), and the temporary fixing adhesive 36 is an ultraviolet curing type adhesive (for example, a cationic polymerization type), as described above.

  In addition, the recessed part 31 is not restricted to a elongate groove | channel. As shown in FIG. 1, the temporary fixing adhesive 36 is applied partially, so that a recess may be formed only at a location corresponding to the application position. For example, a rectangular recess 31C having a contour shape as shown in FIG. 3A may be used, or a circular recess 31D having a contour shape as shown in FIG. 3B may be used.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the recording head 50 according to the present embodiment will be described focusing on the step of bonding and fixing the recording element substrate 20 to the support 30.

  First, an uncured fixing adhesive 35 is applied to the support surface 33 of the support 30 prepared in advance. The application method is not particularly limited, but may be pattern application, for example. In this case, it is possible to apply the adhesive to the pattern in advance by removing the region where the through hole 34 is opened in advance.

  Next, the temporary fixing adhesive 36 is partially applied to each side wall 27 in a state where the fixing adhesive 35 is not cured. This application is performed in a state where the recording element substrate 20 and the support 30 are positioned with respect to each other. The positioning can be performed using, for example, a mechanism that detects the positions of both members by predetermined image processing.

  The application of the adhesive 36 may be performed, for example, by a dispensing method. Alternatively, the adhesive may be applied so that the adhesive extends in the vertical direction from the side wall 27 to the recess 31. Alternatively, even when the adhesive is applied only to the side wall 27, a part of the applied adhesive moves vertically downward, so that the adhesive contacts both the recording element substrate and the support plate. Agent 36 can be obtained.

  In this embodiment, since the recess 31 is formed, the applied adhesive 36 is received by the recess 31 and does not accumulate on the support surface 33. When the adhesive 136 accumulates on the support surface as in the configuration of FIG. 7, the adhesive 136 may be drawn into the gap between the support surface and the back surface of the substrate due to capillary force. In order to prevent the two adhesives from coming into contact with each other, it may be possible to apply the fixing adhesive 135 with a predetermined distance from the side wall, but even if this is done, the adhesive 136 is Once pulled, both adhesives will eventually come into contact. On the other hand, in this embodiment, since such an adhesive pull-in does not occur, contact between both adhesives is effectively prevented.

  Here, with reference to FIG. 4, a description of the positional relationship between the side wall 27 and the western part 31 is supplemented. 4A, the inner side surface 37A of the recess 31A and the side wall 27 are in the same plane. In the form of FIG. 4B, the inner side surface 37 </ b> B of the recess 31 </ b> B is deeper than the side wall 27. In other words, the side wall 27 is positioned on the upper surface opening of the recess.

  Even if it is the structure of Fig.4 (a), compared with the conventional structure, although the contact of adhesive agents does not arise easily, in order to prevent a contact more effectively, the structure of FIG.4 (b) It is preferable that In the case of this configuration, the inner side surface 37B is recessed, so that it is difficult for the adhesive to run on the support surface 33 during application, and therefore the possibility that the two adhesives come into contact with each other is smaller.

  Even if it is either form of Fig.4 (a) and FIG.4 (b), since a recessed part is a structure part which receives an adhesive agent in this way, in order to receive an adhesive agent favorably, it is in a side wall. It must be formed in the corresponding position. The corresponding position refers to, for example, a position where the adhesive applied to the side wall can receive the adhesive when it moves vertically downward.

  After applying the temporary fixing adhesive 36 as described above, the applied adhesive is then irradiated with ultraviolet rays to cure the adhesive. As a result, the recording element substrate 20 is temporarily fixed to the support 30. In addition, you may perform this irradiation process using the apparatus which irradiates an ultraviolet-ray from a fiber cable, for example.

  Next, the fixing adhesive 35 that has remained uncured is cured, and further, the electrical wiring is connected to the recording element substrate 20, and the recording head 50 of the present embodiment is manufactured.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the step of temporarily fixing the recording element substrate is to apply the temporary fixing adhesive 36 from the side wall 27 to the inside of the recess 31, and as shown in FIG. Compared with the conventional structure without a concave portion, the adhesives are prevented from contacting each other. Since the contact between the adhesives is prevented, the fixing adhesive 35 and the temporary fixing adhesive 36 are not inhibited from being cured, and therefore the adhesive strength of each adhesive is not reduced. In addition, since the fixing adhesive 35 is cured in a temporarily fixed state, for example, even if the thermosetting adhesive contracts during the curing, the recording element substrate 20 can be highly accurate without being affected by the shrinkage. Positioning becomes possible. Moreover, since the recessed part 31 itself is a structure part which the surface of the support body 30 was partially depressed, and does not make a complicated shape, it does not require a complicated process to form the recessed part itself.

  In addition, the fact that the adhesives do not easily come into contact with each other as described above means that the degree of freedom in material selection for the adhesives 35 and 36 is improved. In the conventional configuration as shown in FIG. 7, a material that is less likely to cause adverse effects may be selected so that even if the adhesives are in contact with each other, the adverse effects caused thereby are not significant. On the other hand, according to this embodiment, since it is difficult for the adhesives to contact each other, various adhesives can be used without considering adverse effects. Such an improvement in the degree of freedom in material selection is advantageous in terms of optimizing production equipment and reducing manufacturing costs.

(Second Embodiment)
The ink jet recording head of the present invention may have, for example, the one shown in FIG.

  In the recording head 51 of FIG. 5, a rib 38 extending from the bottom surface toward the recording element substrate 20 is formed in the recess 31. The extending direction of the rib 38 when the support 30 is viewed from the upper surface side is not particularly limited, but in the configuration of FIG. 5, the rib 38 extends straight along the side wall 27. The temporary fixing adhesive 36 is applied so as to contact the rib 38. In other words, the rib 38 functions as a receiving member for the temporary fixing adhesive 38.

  As long as the rib can receive the adhesive as described above, the position of the rib is not particularly limited. For example, the rib 38 may be formed slightly inside the side wall 27, or may be formed so that the inner surface or the outer surface of the rib is flush with the side wall 27.

According to the present embodiment, since the ribs 38 are provided, the adhesive 36 comes into contact with the support in a wider area, so that the fixing strength is improved. In addition, when the outer side surface of the rib 38 and the side wall 27 are substantially flush with each other, the gap A ₃₈ between the rib tip and the back surface of the substrate is reduced. It becomes easy to do.

  The ink jet recording heads 50 and 51 of the first and second embodiments described above can be used by being mounted on an ink tank as shown in FIG. This will be described below.

  The wiring tape 41 is affixed to the upper surface of the ink jet recording head 50 by an adhesive 48 (see FIG. 6A). The intermediate portion of the wiring tape 41 is bent, and the bent front end side (the lower end side in the drawing) is connected to the printed circuit board 45 disposed on the side surface of the ink tank 40 (FIGS. 6A and 6B). )reference). An ink channel (not shown) for supplying the ink in the tank to the recording head 50 (specifically, the ink supply channel 34 shown in FIG. 2) is provided in a portion of the ink tank 40 that holds the recording head 50. Is formed.

  The discharge unit configured as described above is mounted and used in a recording apparatus (not shown). That is, an electrical signal from the recording apparatus is supplied to the recording head 50 via the printed circuit board 45 and the wiring tape 41. In the recording head 50, the energy generating element is selectively driven by the supplied electrical signal, and thereby ink is ejected from each ejection port. Note that the above-described bonding process between the recording element substrate 20 and the support 30 may be performed in a state where the support 30 is fixed on the ink tank 40 in advance.

  The inventors actually manufactured the recording head 50 having the configuration according to the first embodiment (the concave portion is the form shown in FIG. 4B) and tested it mounted on the ink tank 40. Storage tests at 60 ° C. and 70 ° C. were performed with the entire ink tank with the recording head attached packed. Thereafter, when the recording head 50 was operated, there was no deterioration in image quality before and after the storage test. On the other hand, when a test similar to the above was performed on a recording head (for comparison) as shown in FIG. 7, the image quality was deteriorated before and after the storage test.

  As described above, the present invention has been described by taking the first and second embodiments as examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the matters described above, and various modifications can be made. For example, the long groove-shaped recess 31 as shown in FIG. 1 and the individual recess 31 </ b> C shown in FIG. 3A may be formed on one support 30. In this specification, the adhesive for temporary fixing is applied "from the side wall to the inside of the recess" means that the adhesive is applied across both the side wall and the inside of the recess. It is not necessarily limited to starting the application operation from the side wall 27 and ending the application operation at the recess 31. That is, in this invention, it is also possible to apply | coat an adhesive toward the side wall side from a recessed part side.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of an ink jet recording head according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the recording head of FIG. 1 cut in the X direction. It is a perspective view which shows some examples which changed the shape of the recessed part. It is a side view for demonstrating the positional relationship of a recessed part and a board | substrate side surface. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the inkjet recording head of 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the recording head according to the first embodiment is mounted on an ink tank. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a conventional recording head.

Explanation of symbols

20 Recording element substrate 27 Side wall 30 Support body 31, 31A, 31B, 31C, 31D Recess 33 Support surface 35 Fixing adhesive 36 Temporary fixing adhesive 37A, 37B Inner side surface 38 Rib 50, 51 Inkjet recording head

Claims (6)

A recording element substrate comprising a plurality of energy generating elements for applying ejection energy to ink and a plurality of ejection openings formed corresponding to each of the energy generating elements, and a support for supporting the recording element substrate on a support surface A second adhesive having a material different from that of the first adhesive is separate from the first adhesive filled between the back surface of the recording element substrate and the support surface. In the inkjet recording head in which the side wall of the recording element substrate and the support surface are bonded,
An ink jet recording head, wherein a recess for receiving the second adhesive is formed at a position corresponding to the side wall of the support surface.   2. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein a region of the side wall to which the second adhesive is applied is located on an opening of the concave portion.   The inkjet according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a rib extending from the bottom surface of the recess toward the recording element substrate is formed in the recess, and the second adhesive is applied so as to contact the rib. Recording head.   4. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the first adhesive is a thermosetting adhesive, and the second adhesive is an ultraviolet curable adhesive. 5.   The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the first and second adhesives are not in contact with each other. A substrate fixing method in which a recording element substrate and a support are bonded and fixed using a first adhesive,
Disposing the recording element substrate on the support with the uncured first adhesive interposed between the back surface of the recording element substrate and the support surface of the support; and In a state where the adhesive of 1 is uncured, the step of temporarily fixing the recording element substrate using a second adhesive made of a material different from the material of the first adhesive, Curing the first adhesive,
The step of temporarily fixing includes applying the second adhesive from the side wall of the recording element substrate to the inside of the recess formed at a position corresponding to the side wall of the support surface. Substrate fixing method.

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