JPH08132627A - Liquid jet recording head and production thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a small-sized highly reliable ink jet head stabilized in ink emitting capacity and enhanced in printing grade in a good yield by simultaneously performing a process for forming a liquid passage constituting member and a process for sealing at least a part of the outer periphery of a drive element. CONSTITUTION: A solid layer 5 is laminated on the liquid passage forming scheduled part on a substrate 1 containing liquid emitting energy generating elements 2. The solid layer 5 is formed by an image forming process using a photosensitive dry film. Next, a liquid resin is laminated on the substrate having drive elements 3 and the solid layer 5 provided thereon as the seal material 7 of a liquid passage constituting member 6 and the drive elements 3 so as to cover at least a part of the outer peripheries of the drive elements 3 and the solid layer 5. Thereafter, the solid layer 5 is removed to form liquid passages 9. By simultaneously performing the formation of the fluid passage constituting member and the sealing of the drive elements as mentioned above, the production cost required in a drive element sealing process heretofore can be reduced and an inexpensive ink jet head can be supplied.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording head manufacturing method and a liquid jet recording head for generating recording liquid droplets used in an ink jet recording system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink jet head has an ink liquid on a substrate provided with a discharge pressure generating element and a power supply electrode for supplying electric power to the discharge pressure generating element, as described in, for example, JP-A-62-253457. A discharge port (hereinafter referred to as an orifice), an ink liquid flow path, and the like are formed.

Further, with the recent miniaturization and higher performance, a driving element for driving the ejection pressure generating element via the power supply electrode has been mounted on the above-mentioned ink jet head. Conventionally, the driving element as described above, after the orifice and the ink liquid flow path are completely formed,
The drive element is mounted on the head by a method such as wire bonding, TAB connection, flip chip, and soldering.

However, when the drive element is mounted after the liquid flow path is completely formed as described above, the ink ejection performance is deteriorated due to contamination in the liquid flow path due to, for example, flux or cleaning liquid, and the print quality is deteriorated. There is a problem that ink is not ejected due to deterioration or contamination of the liquid flow path with dust in the entire drive element mounting process.

When a large number of heads are formed on a single substrate and the driving elements are mounted after the heads are separated into individual heads, work such as positioning of the heads and the driving elements and cleaning are required for each head. It was inefficient and the manufacturing cost was high.

As a means for solving the above problems, the present applicant has proposed a method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head in which the solid layer is removed after mounting the drive element (Japanese Patent Application No. 6-247674). issue). Further, in the preferred embodiment proposed above, a method of manufacturing before forming the solid layer when a large number of heads are formed on one substrate is also proposed.

However, after mounting the driving element as described above, the outer periphery of the driving element is sealed with a resin or the like in order to prevent water in the air, dew condensation, invasion of ink, etc.
The conventionally used sealing material for the driving element does not have sufficient resistance to a solid layer removing liquid described later, such as a strong alkaline solution or an organic solvent, so that the driving element is not corroded or peeled off. There were problems such as these. Further, as the sealing material of the driving element, a room temperature curable resin or a thermosetting resin is usually used, but it is difficult to control the amount of the sealing resin flowing out,
Adjacent to the drive element. For example, liquid flow path, ink chamber,
Alternatively, there is a problem that the sealing resin covers the external connection electrodes. Alternatively, when avoiding coating on the component other than the drive element by the sealing resin,
It is necessary to fully separate the drive element from other components, which leads to an increase in head size, that is, an increase in manufacturing cost.

Further, it has been a factor of increased manufacturing cost or reduced yield due to the step of sealing the driving element.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a small size, highly reliable ink jet performance with stable ink ejection performance, and an excellent printing quality at a low cost with a high yield. The purpose is to do.

[0010]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention which achieves the above-mentioned object is to provide a step of providing a solid layer in a pattern of a liquid flow path on a substrate and a liquid flow on the substrate provided with the solid layer. A liquid jet recording head having a drive element on the same plane of the substrate of the liquid jet recording head, which is produced by the step of providing at least a part of the path forming member and the step of removing the solid layer from the substrate, (1) The step of forming the liquid flow path forming member and the step of sealing at least a part of the outer periphery of the drive element are performed simultaneously.

(2) At least a part of the outer periphery of the drive element is sealed by the same member as the liquid flow path forming member.

(3) The encapsulating material for the driving element is an active energy ray curable resin. This is achieved by:

[0013]

[Action]

(1) By performing the sealing of the drive element at the same time as the step of forming the liquid flow path structure, the cost required for the drive element step can be reduced.

(2) The same resistance as that of the liquid flow path forming member is obtained with respect to the liquid for removing the solid layer or the ink which will be described later, and a head having no corrosion, disconnection or peeling of the drive element can be obtained. .

(3) Further, by using the patterning method using the active energy ray-curable material, only the desired portion of the driving element can be selectively sealed with high precision, and therefore, the ink jet head constituting portion other than the driving element is formed. The size of the head can be reduced without affecting the above, and a large number of heads can be obtained from one substrate.

[0016]

EXAMPLES The present invention will now be described in detail based on examples. Example 1 FIGS. 1 to 12 are schematic diagrams for explaining the basic mode of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a view best showing the features of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate, 2 is an ejection energy generating element provided on the substrate 1, and 3 is a power supply electrode (not shown). A drive element for supplying an electric signal to the ejection energy generating element, 4 is an external connection terminal for supplying an electric signal from the outside to the drive element, and 5 is a liquid flow path which will be removed later to become an ink liquid flow path. 6 is a liquid flow path forming member, 7 is a sealing member for sealing the outer periphery of the drive element 3, and 10 is a liquid supply port for supplying ink to the liquid flow path.

First, in this embodiment, a substrate 1 made of glass, ceramics, plastic, metal or the like as shown in FIG. 2 is used. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the substrate before forming the solid layer.

In each of the drawings described below, one ink jet head is described, but it is also possible to form a plurality of heads on one substrate. Such a substrate 1 has a shape, a material, etc. as long as it can function as a part of the liquid flow path forming member, and can also function as a support when laminating the solid layer and the liquid flow path forming member described later. It can be used without particular limitation. A desired number of liquid ejection energy generating elements 2 such as electrothermal converters or piezoelectric elements are arranged on the substrate 1 (two in FIG. 2). Ejection energy for ejecting recording liquid droplets is applied to the ink liquid by the liquid ejection energy generation element 2 as described above, and recording is performed. Incidentally, for example, when an electrothermal converter is used as the liquid ejection energy generating element 2, the element heats the recording liquid in the vicinity to generate ejection energy. Also, for example, when a piezoelectric element is used, ejection energy is generated by mechanical vibration of this element.

Power-supply electrodes (not shown) for operating these elements 2 are connected to these elements 2. Further, generally, various functional layers such as a protective layer are provided for the purpose of improving the durability of these ejection energy generating elements, but it goes without saying that providing such a functional layer is also acceptable in the present invention. Further, in this example, the ejection energy generating element is disposed on the substrate before forming the liquid flow path, but the disposing time may be as desired.

Similarly to the power supply electrode (not shown), an electrode for mounting a drive element and an external connection terminal 4 are also provided on the substrate.

Next, as shown in FIG.
However, it is mounted on the substrate 1 by a method such as wire bonding, flip chip, beam lead bonding, and soldering.

There are various types of driving elements, such as a bare chip type, a packaged type, and a type formed on the substrate, but the driving element may take any form.

Next, a portion of the substrate 1 including the liquid discharge energy generating element 2 on which a liquid flow path is to be formed is formed, for example, in FIG.
And stacking a solid layer 5 as shown in FIG. In addition,
FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the substrate after the solid layers are laminated, and FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the substrate cut along the line AA ′ in FIG. 4.

The solid layer 5 is removed from the substrate 1 after the liquid flow path constituting members described below are laminated, and the liquid flow path is formed in the removed portion. Of course, the shape of the liquid flow path can be set to a desired shape, and the solid layer 5 provided for forming the flow path can also be adapted to the shape of the flow path. Incidentally, in this example, since the recording liquid droplets are ejected from each of the two orifices provided corresponding to the two ejection energy generating elements, the liquid flow passage has two
It is composed of a liquid fine channel dispersed in one and a common liquid chamber for supplying the recording liquid to the channel.

Specific examples of materials and means used to form such a solid layer 5 include those listed below.

(1) Using a photosensitive dry film, a solid layer is formed according to a so-called dry film image forming process.

(2) A solvent-soluble polymer having a desired thickness and a photoresist layer are sequentially laminated on the substrate 1, and after the patterning of the photoresist layer, the solvent-soluble polymer layer is selectively removed.

(3) A curable or non-curable resin is printed.

As the photosensitive dry film mentioned in (1), either a positive type or a negative type can be used. For example, in the case of a positive type dry film, it is converted into a developing solution by irradiation with actinic rays. For a positive type dry film which is solubilized and a negative type dry film, a negative type dry film which is a photopolymerization type but can be dissolved or peeled off by methylene chloride or strong alkali is suitable.

The positive dry film is specifically, for example, "OZATEC R225" (trade name: Hoechst Japan KK), and the negative dry film is "OZATEC T series" [trade name: Hoechst. Japan Co., Ltd., “PHOTEC PHT Series” [Product Name: Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.] “RISTON”
[Product name: Du Pont de Nemours Co. ] Etc. are used.

As the solvent-soluble polymer mentioned in (2), any polymer compound can be used as long as it has a solvent capable of dissolving it and can form a film by coating. The photoresist layer that can be used here is typically a positive liquid photoresist composed of a novolac phenolic resin and naphthoquinone diazide, a negative liquid photoresist composed of polyvinyl cinnamate, a negative liquid composed of a cyclized rubber and bisazide. Examples thereof include photoresists, negative photosensitive dry films, thermosetting inks and ultraviolet curable inks.

As the material for forming the solid layer by the printing method mentioned in (3), for example, flat plate ink, screen ink and the like which are used in respective drying methods such as evaporation drying type, thermosetting type and ultraviolet curing type are used. Is used.

Among the materials listed above, the means (1) using a photosensitive dry film is preferable from the viewpoints of processing accuracy, ease of removal, workability, and the like. Among them, the positive type dry film is preferable. Is particularly preferably used. That is, a positive photosensitive material has, for example, better resolution than a negative photosensitive material, a relief pattern has a vertical and smooth side wall surface, a relief pattern can be dissolved and removed with a developing solution or an organic solvent, etc. It has characteristics and is preferable as a solid layer forming material in the present invention. Among them, the dry film type has a thickness of 10 to 100 μm.
It is the most preferable material in that a thick film can be obtained.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, at least a part of the outer periphery of the driving element 3 and the solid layer 5 are covered on the substrate on which the driving element and the solid layer 5 are provided. For example, a liquid resin is laminated as the liquid flow path forming member 6 and the sealing material 7 of the drive element 3.
6 is a sectional view taken along line AA ′ in FIG.
Indicates a cross section of the BB 'portion.

As the liquid flow path forming member and the sealing material for the driving element, any material which can cover at least a part of the solid layer and the driving element can be preferably used. Since the member forms a liquid flow path and serves as a structural material for a liquid jet recording head, select a member that is excellent in terms of adhesion to the substrate, mechanical strength, dimensional stability, and corrosion resistance. It is preferable to use. Specific examples of such materials include liquid curable materials such as heat curable, ultraviolet curable, and electron beam curable materials, among which epoxy resins, acrylic resins, diglycol dialkyl carbonate resins, unsaturated polyester resins, polyurethane resins. ,
Polyimide resin, melamine resin, phenol resin, urea resin and the like are preferably used.

When the above-mentioned liquid curable material is used as a sealing material for a liquid flow path forming member or a drive element, the material may be a known means such as curtain coating, roll coating or spray coating. The material is laminated on the substrate to a desired thickness by a method such as coating. When coating, it is preferable to degas the material and then avoid mixing of bubbles.

Further, a method of coating with a dispenser in a vacuum chamber is also an excellent method.

In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which an ultraviolet curable resin capable of selectively forming the drive element, the liquid flow path portion and the ink chamber portion by patterning is laminated.

As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, on the ultraviolet curable resins 6 and 7 laminated on the substrate 1, the outer peripheral portion of the driving element 3 as shown in FIGS. After stacking the photomasks 8 in which the portions corresponding to the constituent portions are the ultraviolet-transmissive portions and the other portions are the non-transmissive portions (hatched portions in FIG. 6), ultraviolet rays are radiated from above the masks.

FIG. 9 shows a cross section taken along the line AA 'in FIG.
FIG. 10 shows a cross section taken along the line BB ′ in FIG. 8, in which the central unfilled portion except the portion 6 and the portion 7 in FIG. 10 is a portion cured by ultraviolet rays, and 7 is an uncured portion.

Next, the UV-curable resin in the uncured portion is washed away with an organic solvent such as 1-1-1 trichloroethane or toluene, or an alkaline solution such as sodium hydroxide.

FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view showing the ink jet head after the ultraviolet curable material in the uncured portion is washed away. Then, if necessary, in order to expose the tip of the orifice and optimize the interval between the discharge pressure generating element and the orifice, cutting is performed along a line CC ′ of FIG. 11 by a method such as a dicing saw, a slicer, or a laser. To be done.

When a plurality of ink jet heads are formed on a single substrate, they are separated into individual heads by the same method as described above. The head separating step as described above does not necessarily have to be performed in that step, and can be performed at any time after mounting the drive element or after removing the solid layer described later.

Then, as shown in FIG. 12, the solid layer 5 is formed.
Are removed to form the liquid flow path 9.

The means for removing the solid layer 5 is not particularly limited, but specifically, for example, a method of immersing and removing the substrate in a liquid that dissolves, swells or peels the solid layer 5 is preferable. It is mentioned as a thing. On this occasion,
It is also possible to use ultrasonic treatment, spraying, heating, stirring, and other removal promoting means, if necessary.

Examples of the liquid used for the removing means include halogen-containing hydrocarbon, ketone, ester,
Examples thereof include aromatic hydrocarbons, ethers, alcohols, N-methylpyrrolidone, dimethylformamide, phenol, water, water containing a strong alkali, and the like. These liquids include
A surfactant may be added if necessary. Further, when a positive type dry film is used as the solid layer, it is preferable to irradiate the solid layer with ultraviolet light again for easy removal, and when other materials are used, 40 to 60 ° C.
It is preferred to warm the liquid to

Embodiment 2 In the above-mentioned embodiment, the formation of the liquid flow path forming portion and the sealing of the driving element are performed at the same time, but they do not necessarily have to be performed at the same time. In this case, it is also an excellent method to first form the liquid flow path forming portion with a low-viscosity ultraviolet curable resin and then seal the drive element with a high-viscosity ultraviolet curable resin.

Example 3 In the above examples, the same material was used as the material of the liquid flow path forming member and the sealing material of the drive element, but when the required performances differ, for example, drive When the glass transition points required by the two are different due to the heat stress applied to the element and the workability of the orifice surface, it is also effective to apply the respective desired resins at the same time with a plurality of dispensers or the like and then carry out the curing treatment.

Embodiment 4 In the above-mentioned embodiments, the UV curable resin is used as the sealing material for the liquid flow path forming member and the driving element, but it is not always necessary to use the UV curable resin. When sealing the flow path forming member and the driving element by transfer molding, it is effective to use a thermosetting resin.

[0051]

As described above, (1) By simultaneously forming the liquid flow path forming member and sealing the driving element, the manufacturing cost required for the step of sealing the driving element can be reduced. A cheap inkjet head can be supplied.

(2) By using the same sealing material for the driving element as the material for the liquid flow path forming member to have sufficient resistance to the liquid for removing the solid layer, the driving element at the time of removing the solid layer A highly reliable head that is free from corrosion, peeling, or melting of the sealing material can be obtained with good yield.

(3) By patterning using an active energy ray-curable material as a sealing material for the drive element, only the desired portion of the drive element can be selectively and accurately selected, so that the drive element is sealed. Other than the above, the head can be downsized without affecting the components of the inkjet head, a large number of heads can be obtained from one substrate, and a small, inexpensive, highly reliable head can be obtained with a high yield.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a substrate on which a liquid flow path member and a sealing member for a driving element are formed.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a substrate provided with a discharge pressure generating element and an external connection terminal.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a substrate on which a driving element is mounted.

FIG. 4 is a top view of a substrate on which a solid layer is formed.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A ′ in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a substrate on which liquid flow path constituent members are stacked.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a substrate on which drive element sealing members are laminated.

FIG. 8 is a top view showing a state in which photomasks are stacked on FIGS. 6 and 7 and ultraviolet rays are irradiated.

9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A ′ of FIG.

10 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B ′ of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a substrate on which an orifice surface is formed.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an inkjet head completed by removing a solid layer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2 Discharge pressure generating element 3 Driving element 4 External connection terminal 5 Solid layer 6 Liquid flow path constituent member 7 Drive element sealing material 8 Photomask 9 Liquid flow path 10 Liquid supply path

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A step of providing a solid layer in a pattern of a liquid flow path on a substrate, a step of providing at least a part of a liquid flow path constituent member on the substrate provided with the solid layer, and the solid layer In a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head having a driving element on the same plane of the substrate of a liquid jet recording head manufactured by a step of removing from a substrate, a step of forming the liquid flow path forming member and an outer periphery of the driving element. A method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head, wherein the step of sealing at least a part of the above is performed at the same time. 2. A liquid jet head manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 1. 3. The liquid jet recording head according to claim 2, wherein at least a part of the outer periphery of the drive element is sealed by the same member as the liquid flow path forming member. 4. The liquid jet recording head according to claim 2, wherein the sealing material of the drive element is an active energy ray curable material.