JPH08156268A - Liquid jet head, liquid jet device with the head, and production of the head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent deformation of a pattern at the time of transfer molding by a method wherein a part formed by a positive photoresist to serve as a partition wall between liquid flow paths is previously covered with a modified resin composition of a liquid state curable at a low temperature and containing an epoxy-modified resin having disulfide bonding. CONSTITUTION: On a substrate to be treated 1 provided with a liquid delivery energy generation part, a photosensitive layer made of a positive photoresist 2 is formed. The photosensitive layer is exposed to a required light through a mask 3 and developed, whereby liquid flow paths and a liquid chamber are formed. Thereafter, a resin composition of a liquid state curable at a low temperature and containing an epoxy-modified resin having disulfide bonding is applied onto a resist pattern 4 serving as the liquid flow paths and cured. A themosetting resin material is applied onto the substrate to be treated 1 by a transfer molding method and cured. After that, the patterned positive photoresist is removed. In this manner, the liquid flow paths and the liquid chamber are formed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head having highly reliable fine nozzles for generating recording liquid droplets used in an ink jet recording system, a liquid ejecting apparatus having the head, and an easy method for the head. And a stable manufacturing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A liquid jet recording head applied to an ink jet recording system (liquid jet recording system) generally has a fine recording liquid discharge port (orifice), a liquid flow path and a liquid discharge path provided in a part of the liquid flow path. It has an energy generator. As a conventional method for producing such a liquid jet recording head, for example, JP-A-61-154947,
In addition, the following steps are known as described in JP-A-62-253457 (Fig. 1 (a)-
(See (f)).

First, a photosensitive resin layer (positive photoresist 2) is formed on a substrate 1 to be processed (see FIG. 1A), and this is exposed through a mask 3 (FIG. 1B). Patterning the photosensitive resin by applying a developing treatment,
A solid layer is formed on the substrate to be processed (see FIG. 1 (c)).
Next, the patterned solid layer is coated with an active energy ray curable or thermosetting liquid flow path forming material 5 (see FIG. 1D), and the active energy ray is irradiated or heated to activate the active material. An energy ray curable or thermosetting liquid flow path forming material is cured (see FIG. 1E).
Furthermore, the patterned solid layer is dissolved and removed using an organic solvent such as a halogen-containing hydrocarbon, a ketone, an ester, an ether, or an alcohol, or an alkaline aqueous solution such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, to obtain a liquid flow path. 6 is formed (see FIG. 1 (f)).

[0004]

In the above steps,
When a thermosetting liquid flow path forming material is used, it is very effective to coat the liquid flow path forming material by a transfer molding method in terms of simplifying the process and improving productivity.

When the liquid flow path forming material is coated on the resist pattern by the transfer molding method, it is necessary that the liquid flow path forming material can be quickly filled between the resist patterns. However, the resin that is usually used for transfer molding has a high softening temperature of 150 to 18
Since the molding is performed at a temperature of about 0 ° C., there is a problem that the resist pattern is softened, the resist material is hardened, or the resist material and the liquid flow path forming material are incompatible with each other.
Further, since a pressure of about 30 to 50 kg / cm ² is applied during molding, there is a problem that the resist pattern is deformed by the pressure during molding.

Further, since heat treatment is required to cure the resin, in addition to the internal stress generated by the curing shrinkage of the resin, the stress generated by the difference in the linear expansion coefficient between the resin and the substrate causes Problems such as peeling or curving of the substrate occur. Therefore, the liquid flow path forming material is required to relieve these stresses. Further, when it is used as a liquid jet recording head, it is required to have sufficient resistance and further have good printing characteristics. However, a material applicable to the transfer molding method, which satisfies the above characteristics as a liquid flow path forming material, has not yet been found.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems,
A highly reliable liquid ejecting head, a liquid ejecting apparatus including the head, and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0008]

The above objects can be achieved by the present invention described below. As a result of earnest research, the present inventors have found that an excellent liquid jet head with high reliability and a method for manufacturing the head can be obtained as follows.

That is, according to the present invention, a photosensitive layer made of a positive photoresist is formed on a substrate to be processed having a liquid ejection energy generating portion, and required exposure and development processing is performed to form a liquid flow path and a liquid chamber portion. After forming a resist pattern that becomes
A low temperature curable liquid resin composition is coated on the resist pattern to be the liquid flow path and then cured, and a thermosetting resin material is coated on the substrate to be processed by a transfer molding method to cure the resin material. In a liquid jet head having a structure in which a liquid flow path and a liquid chamber portion are formed by dissolving and removing a positive photoresist that has been subjected to a patterning process after low temperature curing at a low temperature, the resist pattern serving as the liquid flow path is covered. Disclosed is a liquid jet head characterized in that a possible liquid resin composition contains an epoxy-modified resin having a disulfide bond.

Further, according to the present invention, the liquid jet head is provided in which the liquid flow path is provided with an ejection port for ejecting a recording liquid droplet facing the surface to be recorded of the recording medium, and the head is mounted. Also disclosed is a liquid ejecting apparatus characterized by comprising at least a member for performing the above.

Further, according to the present invention, a photosensitive layer made of a positive photoresist is formed on a substrate to be processed having a liquid discharge energy generating portion, and a required exposure and development processing is performed to form a liquid flow path and a liquid chamber portion. After forming a resist pattern that becomes
A low temperature curable liquid resin composition is coated on the resist pattern to be the liquid flow path and then cured, and a thermosetting resin material is coated on the substrate to be processed by a transfer molding method to cure the resin material. In a method of manufacturing a liquid jet head having a structure in which a liquid flow path and a liquid chamber portion are formed by dissolving and removing a positive photoresist that has been subjected to a patterning process after coating, a resist pattern that becomes the liquid flow path is covered. A low-temperature curable liquid resin composition containing an epoxy-modified resin having a disulfide bond is also disclosed.

In the present invention, since the portion which becomes the partition between the liquid flow paths formed of the positive photoresist is coated with the liquid low temperature curable resin composition in advance and is cured, the transfer is performed. It is possible to prevent the deformation and alteration of the resist pattern during molding. Further, the epoxy-modified resin having a disulfide bond used in the present invention is superior in adhesiveness to the substrate as compared with the usual bisphenol A type epoxy resin. Furthermore, the cured product has a low elastic modulus, and relaxes internal stress due to curing shrinkage of the resin material coated by transfer molding and stress caused by the difference in linear expansion coefficient with the underlying material, so that the resin does not peel off from the substrate. It is possible to prevent an obstacle such as the bending of the substrate.

The low temperature curable liquid resin composition used in the present invention may use the above epoxy modified resin having a disulfide bond alone together with a curing agent and a curing aid, or other. You may mix | blend with the liquid epoxy resin of and may be used with a hardening | curing agent and a hardening aid. Further, in consideration of its operability, a solvent-free system is preferable, but a solvent-containing system may be used as long as it does not dissolve the resist pattern.

[0014]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.
The present invention is not limited to these.
It should be noted that all the numbers indicating the composition of each component are on a weight basis, unless otherwise specified.

Example 1 As an epoxy resin, a curing agent and a curing aid Polysulfide modified epoxy resin (FLEP-60 manufactured by Toray Thiokol Company) 100 parts 4-Methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride (MH-700 manufactured by Shin Nippon Science Co., Ltd.) 45 5 parts of 1,8-diazabicyclo [5,4,0] -7-undecene were mixed to prepare a low temperature curable liquid epoxy resin composition.

A positive photoresist AZ-4903 (manufactured by Hoechst) having a film thickness of 30 μm is formed on a silicon substrate on which an electrothermal converter as a liquid discharge energy generating element is formed.
And a pre-bake at 90 ° C. for 40 minutes in an oven to form a resist layer. Pattern exposure was performed on this resist layer with a mask aligner PLA-501 (manufactured by Canon Inc.) via a nozzle and a mask pattern of a liquid chamber portion at an exposure dose of 800 mJ / cm ² , and then a 0.75 wt% sodium hydroxide aqueous solution was used. Developed, then rinsed with deionized water,
Post-baking was performed at 70 ° C. for 30 minutes to obtain a resist pattern.

Next, the low temperature curing type epoxy resin composition prepared above is applied on the resist pattern of the nozzle portion by screen printing, and after defoaming treatment in a vacuum chamber for 10 minutes, at 40 ° C. Hold for 24 hours to cure.

Next, a thermosetting epoxy resin EME-7
00 (manufactured by Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd.) at a molding temperature of 150 ° C.
Coating was performed by the transfer molding method under the conditions of a plunger pressure of 40 kg / cm ² and a holding time of 5 minutes. Furthermore,
The substrate to be treated was heat-treated at 150 ° C. for 5 hours to completely cure the epoxy resin, and then immersed in acetone to dissolve and remove the resist.

When the cross section of the nozzle thus produced was observed with an optical microscope, a highly reliable nozzle free from obstacles such as nozzle deformation and resin peeling was obtained.
Further, the liquid ejecting apparatus provided with the liquid ejecting head thus produced was capable of stable printing.

Example 2 Epoxy resin, curing agent and curing aid Polysulfide modified epoxy resin (FLEP-60 manufactured by Toray Thiokol Co., Ltd.) 50 parts Bisphenol A type epoxy resin (Epicoat-828 manufactured by Yuka Shell Co., Ltd.) 50 parts 4- Methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride (MH-700, manufactured by Shin Nippon Science Co., Ltd.) 40 parts 1,8-diazabicyclo [5,4,0] -7-undecene 5 parts, and a low temperature curable liquid epoxy resin composition Was prepared.

A positive photoresist AZ-4903 (manufactured by Hoechst) is formed on a silicon substrate on which an electrothermal converter as a liquid discharge energy generating element is formed, to a film thickness of 30 μm.
And a pre-bake at 90 ° C. for 40 minutes in an oven to form a resist layer. Pattern exposure was performed on this resist layer with a mask aligner PLA-501 (manufactured by Canon Inc.) via a nozzle and a mask pattern of a liquid chamber portion at an exposure dose of 800 mJ / cm ² , and then a 0.75 wt% sodium hydroxide aqueous solution was used. Developed, then rinsed with deionized water,
Post-baking was performed at 70 ° C. for 30 minutes to obtain a resist pattern.

Next, the low-temperature-curable epoxy resin composition prepared above is applied onto the resist pattern of the nozzle portion by screen printing, defoamed in a vacuum chamber for 10 minutes, and then at 40 ° C. Hold for 24 hours to cure.

Next, a thermosetting epoxy resin EME-7
00 (manufactured by Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd.) was coated by a transfer molding method under the conditions of a molding temperature of 150 ° C., a plunger pressure of 40 kg / cm ² , and a holding time of 5 minutes. Further, the substrate to be processed was subjected to heat treatment at 150 ° C. for 5 hours to completely cure the epoxy resin, and then immersed in acetone to dissolve and remove the resist.

When the cross section of the nozzle thus formed was observed with an optical microscope, a highly reliable nozzle free from obstacles such as nozzle deformation and resin peeling was obtained.
Further, the liquid ejecting apparatus provided with the liquid ejecting head thus produced was capable of stable printing.

Comparative Example 1 Bisphenol A type epoxy resin as an epoxy resin, a curing agent and a curing aid (Epicote-828 manufactured by Yuka Shell Co., Ltd.) 100 parts 4-methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride (MH-700 manufactured by Shin Nippon Science Co., Ltd.) ) 80 parts 1,8-diazabicyclo [5,4,0] -7-undecene 10 parts were blended to prepare a low temperature curable liquid epoxy resin composition.

A positive photoresist AZ-4903 (manufactured by Hoechst) having a film thickness of 30 μm is formed on a silicon substrate on which an electrothermal converter as a liquid ejection energy generating element is formed.
And a pre-bake at 90 ° C. for 40 minutes in an oven to form a resist layer. Pattern exposure was performed on this resist layer with a mask aligner PLA-501 (manufactured by Canon Inc.) via a nozzle and a mask pattern of a liquid chamber portion at an exposure dose of 800 mJ / cm ² , and then a 0.75 wt% sodium hydroxide aqueous solution was used. Developed, then rinsed with deionized water,
Post-baking was performed at 70 ° C. for 30 minutes to obtain a resist pattern.

Next, the low-temperature curing type epoxy resin composition prepared above is applied onto the resist pattern of the nozzle portion by screen printing, and after defoaming treatment in a vacuum chamber for 10 minutes, at 40 ° C. Hold for 24 hours to cure.

Next, a thermosetting epoxy resin EME-7
00 (manufactured by Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd.) was coated by a transfer molding method under the conditions of a molding temperature of 150 ° C., a plunger pressure of 40 kg / cm ² , and a holding time of 5 minutes. Further, the substrate to be processed was subjected to heat treatment at 150 ° C. for 5 hours to completely cure the epoxy resin, and then immersed in acetone to dissolve and remove the resist.

When the cross section of the nozzle thus formed was observed with an optical microscope, the resin was observed to be peeled from the substrate. Further, in the liquid ejecting apparatus including the liquid ejecting head thus manufactured, stable printing cannot be performed.

[0030]

By adopting the method for manufacturing a liquid jet head according to the present invention, it is possible to easily and stably obtain a liquid jet head having highly reliable fine nozzles and a liquid jet apparatus equipped with the head. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a conventional method for manufacturing a liquid jet head.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 substrate to be processed 2 positive photoresist 3 mask 4 resist pattern 5 liquid flow path forming material 6 liquid flow path

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A resist pattern to be a liquid flow path and a liquid chamber portion is formed by forming a photosensitive layer made of a positive photoresist on a substrate having a liquid discharge energy generating portion, and performing required exposure and development processes. After formation, a low temperature curable liquid resin composition is coated and cured on the resist pattern to be the liquid flow path, and a thermosetting resin material is coated on the substrate to be processed by a transfer molding method, and the resin In a liquid ejecting head having a structure in which a liquid flow path and a liquid chamber portion are formed by dissolving and removing a positive photoresist that has been subjected to patterning after curing a material, coating on a resist pattern to be the liquid flow path A liquid jet head characterized in that the low temperature curable liquid resin composition comprises an epoxy-modified resin having a disulfide bond. 2. The liquid jet head according to claim 1, wherein the low-temperature curable resin composition contains an acid anhydride as a curing agent. 3. The liquid jet head according to claim 1, wherein the low-temperature curable resin composition contains a tertiary amine as a curing aid. 4. The liquid jet head according to claim 1, wherein the liquid ejection energy generating section is an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy. 5. A discharge port for discharging a recording liquid droplet is provided in the liquid flow path so as to face a recording surface of a recording medium, and a plurality of discharge ports are provided over the entire width of a recording region of the recording medium. The liquid jet head according to claim 1, wherein the liquid jet head is a full line type. 6. The liquid jet head according to claim 1, wherein the ejection port provided in the liquid flow path is formed by integrally molding ejection ports for multiple colors. 7. The liquid jet head according to claim 1, wherein the liquid flow path is provided with an ejection port for ejecting a recording liquid droplet facing the surface to be recorded of the recording medium. A liquid ejecting apparatus, comprising: 8. A resist layer, which forms a liquid flow path and a liquid chamber part, is formed by forming a photosensitive layer made of a positive photoresist on a substrate having a liquid discharge energy generating portion, and performing required exposure and development processes. After formation, a low temperature curable liquid resin composition is coated and cured on the resist pattern to be the liquid flow path, and a thermosetting resin material is coated on the substrate to be processed by a transfer molding method, and the resin In a method of manufacturing a liquid jet head having a structure in which a liquid flow path and a liquid chamber portion are formed by dissolving and removing a positive photoresist that is patterned after curing a material, a resist pattern to be the liquid flow path Liquid jetting characterized in that a low temperature curable liquid resin composition coated thereon comprises an epoxy modified resin having a disulfide bond. Head manufacturing method. 9. The method of manufacturing a liquid jet head according to claim 8, wherein the low temperature curable resin composition is cured at a temperature of 60 ° C. or lower.