JPH07304178A - Method of manufacturing ink jet device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To form electrodes uniformly at predetermined positions by electroless plating. [Structure] A piezoelectric ceramic material substrate polarized in the direction of arrow 5 and containing Pb is bonded to the upper surface of an alumina substrate with an epoxy adhesive, and grooves 8 are formed in the laminated member to form partition walls 11. . This partition wall 11 has an upper portion 11A.
Are made of polarized piezoelectric ceramics containing Pb, and the lower portion 11B is made of alumina. The thus processed product is dipped in an electroless plating solution to perform electroless plating. Then, the Pb serves as a catalyst for electroless plating, and the metal electrode 1 is provided only on the upper portion 11A of the partition wall 11.
3 is formed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an ink jet device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an ink jet device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-269993. The configuration and manufacturing method of the ink ejecting apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 7A, a resin adhesive is applied onto a substrate 101 having high rigidity and little thermal deformation.
The polarized piezoelectric member 102 is brought into contact with the adhesive and the adhesive is cured, so that the substrate 101, the lower layer 115 made of the adhesive, and the piezoelectric member 102 are joined in a three-layer structure. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7B, a large number of grooves 103 that reach the inside of the lower layer 115 from the surface of the piezoelectric member 102 are ground in parallel at predetermined intervals. The grooves 103 are separated by columns 104. The upper pillars 104a of the upper half of the pillars 104 are made of a piezoelectric material, and the lower pillars 104b of the lower half are made of an adhesive.

Next, as pretreatment before forming electrodes by electroless plating, cleaning, catalyzing and accelerating treatments are performed. The purpose of cleaning is to make the plated surface hydrophilic, and an ethanol solution is used here. The catalyzing treatment is performed by immersing in a catalyzing solution containing palladium chloride, stannous chloride, concentrated hydrochloric acid, etc.
The purpose is to adsorb Pd.Sn complex compound on the surface of 03. The purpose of the accelerating treatment is to remove tin from the complex and leave only the metallized Pd by immersing it in hydrochloric acid or the like. By this treatment, the complex compound adsorbed on the upper support 104a becomes metallized Pd, and the lower support 4
Since b has a large amount of adsorbed tin, the tin is not sufficiently removed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7C, the piezoelectric member 1
A dry film 105 is attached to the surface of No. 02, and a resist mask 106 is placed thereon as shown in FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8B, metallized Pd is present in the wiring pattern forming portion of the piezoelectric member 102 and the upper support pillar 104a, and a Pd.Sn complex compound is present in the lower support pillar 104b. It becomes a state. Next, when the above-mentioned treatment is dipped in a plating solution and electroless plating is performed, the plating is formed only in the place where the metallized Pd exists. If electroless nickel is used as the plating liquid, the nickel formed on the upper support column 104a becomes the electrode 108, and the nickel formed on the piezoelectric member 102 becomes the wiring pattern 109. Dry film 10
After removing 5, the top plate 110 and the nozzle plate 112 having the nozzles 111 are mounted on the piezoelectric member 102 as shown in FIG. 9C.
And the ink supply pipe 113 is attached to the top plate 110 to complete the ink ejecting apparatus.

In such an ink ejecting apparatus, when voltages having opposite electric potentials are applied to the electrodes of two adjacent columns 104, the columns 104 in this portion cause shear strain, and the pressure chambers between the columns 104 ( The volume of the groove 103) suddenly decreases, the pressure of the pressure chamber is increased, and ink is ejected from the ejection port.

[0007]

However, the method of manufacturing an ink jet device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-269993 has the following three problems. The first problem is that, in the catalyzing process, the composition of the adsorbed complex compound due to the difference in the material forming the support column 104 does not significantly differ, so that the appropriate range of process conditions is extremely narrow. Therefore, the boundary between the pillar upper part 104a and the pillar lower part 104b becomes extremely unclear, and the function as an electrode formed only on the pillar upper part 104a and fulfilled becomes insufficient.

The second problem is that the dry film 105 is dried in order to be attached. This is because the pretreatment state of the electroless plating performed before the drying changes. That is, the surface of the adsorbed metallized Pd is partially oxidized, the catalytic ability of the electroless plating is reduced, and the plating is not uniformly formed.

The third problem is that the adsorbed metallized Pd is exposed to an alkaline developing solution in the developing process during patterning. When the metallized Pd is exposed to the alkaline liquid, the surface condition of Pd changes or the adsorption power deteriorates and the Pd falls off the surface. As a result, the electroless plating is not uniformly formed, so that the electrode function cannot be sufficiently fulfilled.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and presents a method of manufacturing an ink ejecting apparatus capable of uniformly forming electrodes at predetermined positions by electroless plating. The purpose is to do.

[0011]

In order to achieve this object, in claim 1 of the present invention, a partition wall made of a plurality of materials,
In a method for manufacturing an ink ejecting apparatus, the ink chamber having an ink chamber separated by the partition wall, the pressure being applied to the ink in the ink chamber by the deformation of the partition wall, and the ink serving as a catalyst for electroless plating. Including a polarized piezoelectric member and a non-metal member containing no metal, a step of forming a partition wall by performing a groove processing on the stacked member, and a step of forming the partition wall by electroless plating. It is characterized in that it comprises a step of forming a metal electrode on the piezoelectric member and a step of joining a cover member to the groove processing side surface of the laminated member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the metal is palladium or silver.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, after the partition wall is formed, an activation treatment for activating the metal on the surface of the piezoelectric portion is performed.

According to a fourth aspect, an aqueous hydrochloric acid solution is used for the activation treatment.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, an unnecessary portion of the metal electrode is removed.

[0016]

In the present invention having the above structure, a polarized piezoelectric member containing a metal serving as a catalyst for electroless plating,
A non-metal member containing no metal is laminated, and grooves are formed in the laminated member to form the partition wall, and the metal contained in the piezoelectric member serves as a catalyst for electroless plating, and thus the piezoelectric member of the partition wall is formed. A metal electrode is formed on the portion. Then, the cover member is joined to the groove-processed surface of the laminated member to manufacture the ink ejecting apparatus.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 3, the ink ejecting apparatus 1 is composed of an actuator plate 2, a cover plate 3, a nozzle plate 31, and a substrate 41.

The actuator plate 2 includes a partition wall 1.
1 has a groove 8 and a shallow groove 9 which are separated from each other.
A metal electrode 13 is formed in the upper half region of the side surface of the above, and a metal electrode 16 is formed on the inner surface of the shallow groove 9. The metal electrodes 16 electrically connect the metal electrodes 13 on both side surfaces of the groove 8 to each other.

Next, a method of manufacturing the actuator plate 2 will be described. First, the palladium powder (Pd
A piezoelectric ceramic material substrate 133 containing powder) is prepared. The piezoelectric ceramic material substrate 133 is obtained by mixing Pd powder with ordinary piezoelectric material powder, firing and molding. Then, the piezoelectric ceramic material substrate 133 polarized in the direction of arrow 5 is bonded to the upper surface of the alumina substrate 134 with an epoxy adhesive, and the piezoelectric ceramic material substrate 1 is further bonded.
The film 150 is attached onto the surface 33 by thermocompression bonding.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the diamond cutter blade 30 has cutting directions 30A, 30B, 30.
Moved in the order of C. A plurality of grooves 8 and shallow grooves 9 are formed. The depth of the groove 8 is equal to the piezoelectric ceramic material substrate 133.
It is equivalent to twice. Further, by processing the groove 8 and the shallow groove 9, a partition wall 11 that separates the groove 8 is formed. The partition 11 has an upper portion 11A made of polarized piezoelectric ceramics and a lower portion 11B made of alumina.

The dimensions of the grooves 8 thus formed are determined by the thickness of the diamond cutter blade 30 used and the set depth of cut, and the pitch and number of the grooves 8 are
It is determined by controlling the feed pitch of the machining table and the number of times of machining the groove when machining the groove 8.

Next, as a pretreatment for electroless plating, cleaning and activation treatments are performed. The cleaning is performed for the purpose of removing stains on the plating forming portion and cutting pieces during groove processing, and hydrophilic treatment for facilitating activation treatment liquid or plating liquid to enter the groove 8. In, a heated alkaline aqueous solution was used. The activation treatment is performed for the purpose of activating the surface of the Pd powder contained in the piezoelectric ceramic material substrate 133, and in this embodiment, an aqueous hydrochloric acid solution was used. When this processing is performed, the piezoelectric ceramic material substrate 133
The Pd powder surface is activated in the exposed portion of the above, that is, the upper side surface of the groove 8 and the inner surface of the shallow groove 9, and exhibits a catalytic action for starting the reaction of electroless plating.

Then, the above-mentioned treatment is dipped in an electroless plating solution to perform electroless plating. In electroless plating, electroless nickel, substitutional electroless gold, and reduction electroless gold are successively performed. In this example, Top Nicolon E manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. was used as the electroless nickel liquid, OPC Muden Gold manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co. was used as the substitution type electroless gold liquid, and the reduced electroless gold liquid was used. Used OPC Muden Gold 25 manufactured by Okuno Seiyaku.

The electroless nickel plating has a pH of 4.5,
It is immersed in air at a temperature of 90 ° C. for 2 to 5 minutes to deposit nickel in an amount of 0.5 to 1.0 μm. The top nicolone E is the top nicolon EM (100 ml /
1) and top nicolone E-1 (50 ml / l), and the nickel concentration was 5.0 g / l.

The substitution type electroless gold plating has a pH of 5.8,
Immerse at a temperature of 90 ° C. with mechanical stirring for 10 to 20 minutes to deposit gold in an amount of 0.05 to 0.1 μm. The OP
C Muden Gold is OPC Muden Gold (100m
1 / l) was used for bathing, and the gold concentration was 3.5.
g / l.

The pH of reduced electroless gold plating is 13.
5, the temperature is 73 ℃ (indirect heating), 7-1 by air stirring
Immerse for 5 minutes to deposit gold in an amount of 0.5 to 1.0 μm.
The OPC muden gold 25-M (200 ml / l), OPC muden gold 25-1 (200 ml / l) and OPC muden gold 25-2 (150 ml / l) were used. It was used to make a bath, and the gold concentration was 4 g / l.

When the plating film formed as described above was observed, a uniform plating film was formed on the upper side surface of the groove 8 and the inner surface of the shallow groove 9.

Next, the film 50 on the piezoelectric ceramic material substrate 133 is immersed in a heated alkaline aqueous solution to remove it. Then, if unnecessary plating deposits are removed, the actuator 2 having the metal electrodes 13 and 16 formed on the upper side surface of the groove 8 and the inner surface of the shallow groove 9 is manufactured.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the surface of the actuator plate 2 on the side where the groove 8 is processed and the surface of the cover plate 3 on the side where the manifold 22 is processed are made of an epoxy adhesive 4 or the like.
(FIG. 5). Therefore, in the inkjet printer head 1, the upper surfaces of the grooves 8 are covered, and a plurality of ink chambers 12 (FIG. 5) having laterally different intervals are formed.

A nozzle plate 31 provided with nozzles 32 corresponding to each ink chamber 12 is adhered to the end faces of the actuator plate 2 and the cover plate 3. A substrate 41 is adhered to the surface of the actuator plate 2 opposite to the processed side of the groove 8 with an epoxy adhesive. A pattern 42 of a conductive layer is formed on the substrate 41 at positions corresponding to the positions of the ink chambers 12. The conductive layer pattern 42 and the shallow groove portion 16
It is connected to the metal electrode 9 on the bottom surface by a conductor 43 by well-known wire bonding or the like.

Next, the configuration of the control unit will be described with reference to FIG. 4, which shows a block diagram of the control unit. The conductive layer patterns 42 formed on the substrate 41 are individually connected to the LSI chip 51. The clock line 52, the data line 53, the voltage line 54, and the ground line 55 are also LS.
It is connected to the I-chip 51. The LSI chip 51 is
Based on the continuous clock pulse supplied from the clock line 52, it is determined from which nozzle 32 the ink droplet should be ejected according to the data appearing on the data line 53. Then, the LSI chip 51 applies the voltage V of the voltage line 54 to the pattern 42 of the conductive layer electrically connected to the metal electrode 13 of the ink chamber 12 to be driven, and the metal electrode 13 other than the ink chamber 12 to be driven. A ground line 55 is connected to the conductive layer pattern 42 connected to.

Next, the operation of the ink ejecting apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

It is determined that the LSI chip 51 ejects ink from the ink chamber 12b of the ink ejecting apparatus 1 according to required data. Then, the positive drive voltage V is applied to the metal electrodes 13e and 13f through the conductive layer pattern 42 corresponding to the ink chamber 12b, and the metal electrode 13d
And 13g are grounded. As shown in FIG. 6, the partition wall 11
A driving electric field in the direction of arrow 14b is generated in the upper portion 11A of b, and a driving electric field in the direction of arrow 14c is generated in the upper portion 11A of partition wall 11c. Then, the driving electric field directions 14b and 1
Since 4c is orthogonal to the polarization direction 5, the upper portions 11A of the partition walls 11b and 11c are affected by the piezoelectric thickness sliding effect.
In this case, a force that rapidly deforms inward of the ink chamber 12b acts, and the force causes the partition walls 11b, 11 to be deformed.
The lower part 11B of c is also deformed inside the ink chamber 12b.
Due to this deformation, the volume of the ink chamber 12b is reduced, the ink pressure is rapidly increased, and a pressure wave is generated, so that the ink chamber 1
Ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle 32 (FIG. 3) communicating with 2b.

When the application of the driving voltage V is stopped,
Since the partition walls 11b and 11c return to the positions before deformation (see FIG. 5), the ink pressure in the ink chamber 12b decreases. Then, from the ink inlet 21 (FIG. 3) to the manifold 22.
Ink is supplied into the ink flow path 12b through (FIG. 3).

In the above embodiment, first, the drive voltage is reduced so that the volume of the ink chamber 12b is reduced, and then the ink chamber 12b is reduced.
Ink droplets were ejected from the ink chamber, and then the application of the drive voltage was stopped to make the volume of the ink chamber 12b natural and the ink was supplied to the ink chamber 12b.
The ink is supplied to the ink chamber 12b by increasing the volume of b, and then the application of the driving voltage is stopped to decrease the volume of the ink chamber 12b from the increased state to the natural state. Ink droplets may be ejected from 12b.

As described above, in this embodiment, the partition wall 11
Since the upper part 11A of the above is formed of the piezoelectric ceramic material substrate 133 containing palladium powder (Pd powder) and the lower part 11B is formed of the alumina substrate 134, the Pb powder serves as a catalyst for electroless plating, and the partition wall 11 is formed. 11A above
A metal electrode is formed only on the. In this way, the metal electrode can be formed only in the upper half region of the partition wall 11 by electroless plating. Further, unlike the conventional case, the pretreatment state of electroless plating does not change, so that the plated film can be formed uniformly. Further, since the piezoelectric member contains a metal that serves as a catalyst for electroless plating, it is possible to form a plated film uniformly without deteriorating the attraction force for plating as in the conventional case.

In this embodiment, ink is ejected from all the ink chambers 12, but a non-ejection chamber that does not eject ink may be provided between the ink chambers that eject ink.

Further, in this embodiment, the upper portion 11 of the partition wall 11 is
A is formed of a piezoelectric ceramic containing metal, and the lower part 11
Although B was made of alumina, the lower portion 11B may be made of any material containing no metal.

Further, in this embodiment, the upper part 1 of the partition wall 11 is
Although 1A is formed of piezoelectric ceramics and lower portion 11B is formed of alumina, the upper portion of the partition wall 11 may be formed of a non-metal material containing no metal and the lower portion 11B may be formed of piezoelectric ceramics containing metal. .

[0040]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the method of manufacturing an ink ejecting apparatus of the present invention, a piezoelectric member and a non-piezoelectric member which contain a metal and are polarized are laminated,
Groove processing is performed on the laminated member to form the partition wall, and then electroless plating is performed. Therefore, the metal of the piezoelectric member serves as a catalyst for electroless plating, and a metal electrode is formed on the partition wall in the region of the piezoelectric member. Is formed. In this way, the metal electrode can be formed only in a predetermined region of the partition wall by electroless plating. Further, unlike the conventional case, the pretreatment state of electroless plating does not change, so that the plated film can be formed uniformly. Further, since the piezoelectric member contains a metal that serves as a catalyst for electroless plating, it is possible to form a plated film uniformly without deteriorating the attraction force for plating as in the conventional case.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing groove formation of an ink ejecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing manufacturing of the actuator plate of the above-mentioned embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the ink ejecting apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a control unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the ink ejecting apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the ink ejecting apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a manufacturing process of a conventional ink ejecting apparatus.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a manufacturing process of a conventional ink ejecting apparatus.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a manufacturing process of a conventional ink ejecting apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Ink Ejection Device 2 Actuator Plate 3 Cover Plate 8 Groove 11 Partition Wall 12 Ink Chamber 13 Metal Electrode

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An ink ejecting apparatus having a partition wall made of a plurality of materials and an ink chamber separated by the partition wall, the deformation of the partition wall applying pressure to the ink in the ink chamber to eject the ink. In the manufacturing method of step 1, a step of stacking a polarized piezoelectric member containing a metal serving as a catalyst for electroless plating and a non-metal member containing no metal, and performing groove processing on the stacked member to form the partition wall. Ink, which comprises a forming step, a step of forming a metal electrode on the piezoelectric member of the partition wall by electroless plating, and a step of joining a cover member to the groove processing side surface of the laminated member. A method for manufacturing an injection device. 2. The method for manufacturing an ink ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the metal is palladium or silver. 3. The method for manufacturing an ink ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after the partition wall is formed, an activation treatment for activating the metal on the surface of the piezoelectric portion is performed. 4. The method for manufacturing an ink jet device according to claim 3, wherein a hydrochloric acid aqueous solution is used for the activation treatment. 5. The method of manufacturing an ink jet apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an unnecessary portion of the metal electrode is removed.