JPH1191116A - Manufacture of liquid jet recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head in which a liquid channel and a jet port can be machined with high accuracy by evaluating the laser irradiation state and feeding back laser information and the operating rate of apparatus can be enhanced while reducing the cost. SOLUTION: When a liquid channel and a jet port are made in the resin top plate of a liquid jet recording head by laser machining, a liquid channel 23 being machined through irradiation with laser light 12 is observed and the image thereof is processed. The depth (d) of the liquid channel is measured simultaneously with machining alignment of jet port and compared with a preset standard value. Subsequently, the output state of current laser is recognized and evaluated based on the comparison results thus determining the correction quantity of laser irradiation energy for next machining. The information is fed back to a control section and a laser light source and the voltage being applied to the laser light source is regulated to emit a laser light 12 having an optimal irradiation energy density thus machining a jet port, or the like, with high accuracy.

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 a liquid jet recording head formed by processing liquid channel grooves and discharge ports by irradiating a laser beam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A liquid jet recording head used in a conventional liquid jet recording apparatus has a fine discharge port (orifice) for discharging a recording liquid such as ink, a liquid flow channel communicating with the discharge port, and the liquid flow. A plurality of ejection energy generating elements positioned in the path groove, a drive signal corresponding to the recording information is applied to the ejection energy generating element, and the ejection energy is applied to the recording liquid in the liquid flow path groove corresponding to the ejection energy generating element. By applying the recording liquid, the recording liquid is ejected from the ejection port as a liquid droplet to perform the recording, and the liquid droplet is ejected by using thermal energy, or an electromechanical transducer is used. Alternatively, there is known a device that discharges minute droplets by using a composite of these, and a device in which a pair of electrodes is provided to deflect and discharge droplets. Among these, a liquid jet recording head that discharges a recording liquid by using thermal energy has a high density of liquid discharge portions (discharge ports) for discharging recording droplets to form flying droplets. Since they can be arranged, they have advantages such as high-resolution recording and easy compactness as a whole, and have already been put to practical use.

The configuration of this type of liquid jet recording head will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 4. A top plate 100 constituting a liquid jet recording head H has a liquid chamber 104 for storing a recording liquid.
Forming member (hereinafter, referred to as a discharge port plate) that forms a plurality of discharge ports (orifices) 102 that communicate with the top plate main body portion that forms the plurality of liquid flow grooves 103 and the plurality of liquid flow grooves 103, respectively. A cylindrical protrusion having a liquid supply port 105 opening to a liquid chamber 104 is formed integrally with a resin material. The element substrate 107 has Si
A plurality of ejection energy generating elements (for example, electrothermal conversion elements or heaters) 106 arranged on a substrate and electric wiring (not shown) made of Al or the like for supplying power thereto are formed by a film forming technique. The substrate 108 has wiring connected by wire bonding or the like corresponding to the wiring of the element substrate 104, and a pad located at an end of the wiring and receiving an electric signal from the main device. These top plates 1
00 and the element substrate 107 are joined by positioning the liquid flow channel 103 and the ejection energy generating element 106 so as to correspond to each other, and are fixed together with the wiring substrate 108 on the base plate 110 to constitute the liquid jet recording head H. I have.

As described above, the top plate 100 constituting the liquid jet recording head comprises a top plate main body forming the liquid chamber 104 and the liquid flow channel groove 103 and a discharge port plate 101 forming the discharge port 102, a polysulfone, Polyether sulfone,
It is integrally formed by injection molding or the like with a resin material such as polypropylene or polyimide.
The discharge port 102 is usually formed by groove processing or drilling processing by excimer laser light irradiation that can be processed with high accuracy and in a short time.

[0005] An excimer laser is suitable as a laser processing device for irradiating a resin top plate formed by injection molding or the like with a laser beam to perform groove processing and drilling. An excimer laser oscillator as a laser light source that emits excimer laser light, a laser mask having an opening pattern of a flow channel or a discharge port,
An optical system is provided for projecting an opening pattern image of a laser mask onto a processing surface of a top plate using excimer laser light.

In a method of processing a liquid jet recording head in which a liquid flow channel and a discharge port for discharging a recording liquid are processed using a laser processing apparatus, the processing accuracy of the liquid flow channel and the discharge port is controlled by the liquid jet recording. It greatly affects the print quality and print performance of the head. For example, if the shape or size of the laser-processed ejection port varies, the quantity of droplets ejected from the ejection port, the ejection direction, and the like vary, and good print quality cannot be obtained. Since the shape and size of the discharge port are affected by the energy density of the laser beam, the number of irradiation pulses, and the like, when processing the discharge port by laser beam irradiation, a laser with a stable laser irradiation energy density is used. It is desirable to use light. However, an excimer laser used as a laser light source is based on pulse discharge, and has a variation in the amount of light at each time. In addition, gas concentration, impurity concentration, applied voltage,
Further, the output state and the irradiation energy density are not stable because the optical system is affected by the life and contamination of the optical system.

Therefore, when forming the ejection port of the liquid jet recording head by laser processing, the diameter or area of the ejection port is measured using an image processing apparatus after the ejection port processing, and the state of laser irradiation is determined based on the size. Judgment, feedback information about the laser for the next processing, for example, by adjusting the applied voltage to the laser light source,
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-9291 discloses a technique in which the laser irradiation energy density is kept constant, thereby making the diameter and area of the discharge port constant.

[0008]

However, the above-described prior art has the following unsolved problems. (1) Evaluating the laser irradiation state from the measurement result of the shape of the discharge port which has been laser-processed requires the processing shape of the discharge port due to the variation of the discharge port plate thickness at the time of molding and the influence of the previous process such as the face surface treatment. Therefore, since the evaluation is performed in a state including factors other than the laser, there is a problem that the feedback information regarding the laser is inaccurate. (2) The measurement of the discharge port is a process that does not contribute to production,
During that time, the operation of the device is stopped. (3) A dedicated observation illumination system is required for measuring the discharge port, which increases the apparatus cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned unsolved problems of the prior art, and accurately evaluates only the laser irradiation state and feeds back laser information, thereby providing a liquid flow channel groove. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head that can process an ejection port with high accuracy, improve the operation rate of the apparatus, and reduce the apparatus cost.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention is directed to a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head. In a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head in which an image is irradiated on a processing surface of a top plate using an optical system and processed by ablation, the liquid flow of the laser-processed top plate is processed when the liquid flow channel and the discharge port are processed. It is characterized in that the depth of the road groove is measured, the measured value is compared with a preset standard value, and the laser irradiation energy is corrected by adjustment based on the comparison result.

Further, in the method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention, it is preferable to measure the depth of the laser-processed liquid flow channel simultaneously with the alignment of the discharge port processing. It is preferable to carry out the measurement using

[0012]

According to the method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head of the present invention, when the liquid flow channel and the discharge port are laser-processed on the top plate constituting the liquid jet recording head, the laser-processed liquid flow channel is formed. The depth is measured, the measured value is compared with a standard value, the current laser output state is recognized based on the comparison result, the correction amount of the laser irradiation energy at the next processing is determined, and the control unit is controlled. Information to the laser light source and the laser light having the optimum irradiation energy density corrected by adjusting the voltage applied to the laser light source, etc. It is possible to process with high precision. Since the measurement of the depth of the liquid channel groove is not affected by the variation in the thickness of the discharge port plate during molding or the previous process such as the face surface treatment, only the laser irradiation state can be accurately evaluated. Thereby, the liquid flow channel and the discharge port can be processed with higher accuracy.

Further, the measurement of the depth of the liquid passage groove is performed simultaneously with the alignment of the discharge port processing which is normally performed, so that the step of measuring the discharge port which does not contribute to the production can be eliminated. The operation rate can be improved, and an observation illumination system dedicated to measurement of the discharge port is not required, so that the apparatus cost can be reduced.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a laser processing apparatus used when processing a liquid channel groove and a discharge port on a top plate of a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining a first embodiment of a method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a laser processing apparatus 10 includes a laser oscillator 1 as a laser light source for emitting a laser beam 12.
1, an apparatus frame 13 provided with a processing system for processing the top plate 20 as a workpiece by laser light from the laser oscillator 11, and a control unit 14 for performing information processing and control relating to processing of the top plate 20. And the device frame 13
Includes an optical system 15, an observation / measurement system 16 for observing and measuring the processing position of the top plate 20, a laser mask 17, and a work station 18 for attaching and moving the top plate 20 via a jig 18a. , The optical system 15
And a projection lens 15b for forming an image of the laser mask 17 on the processing surface of the top plate 20. The laser mask 17 is made of quartz or glass that transmits laser light. The optical lens portion 15a is formed by depositing nickel or the like as a material and patterning.
And the projection lens 15b. And
The observation / measurement system 16 observes and measures the top plate 20 attached to the workstation 18, and controls the control unit 14.
Is composed of an image processing device 14a, a control system 14b, a moving unit 14c, and the like.

Next, a first embodiment of the method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention will be described. When laser processing the liquid flow channel and the discharge port on the top plate 20 using the laser processing device 10, first, the top plate 20 is attached to a jig 18a, and as shown in FIG. The processing surface of the plate 20 on which the liquid flow channel (23) is processed is fixed to the workstation 18 so as to face the laser beam 12. Then, by irradiating the laser beam 12, the laser beam 12 passing through the optical lens portion 15a is
The image of the groove processing shape pattern formed on the projection lens 15
By b, an image is formed on a predetermined processing surface of the top plate 20. In this manner, the plurality of liquid flow grooves 23 are formed at predetermined positions on the top plate 20 by ablation processing by laser light irradiation.

Thereafter, in order to process the discharge port (22) in the discharge port plate 21 of the top plate 20, the laser mask 17 is moved so that the drilling shape pattern is positioned on the laser optical axis, and at the same time, the liquid flow path is formed. Top plate 2 with groove 23
2B by changing the position of the jig 18a that holds 0.
As shown in FIG. 2, the posture of the top plate 20 is changed so that the laser beam 12 is incident from the liquid flow channel groove 23 side of the top plate 20.

Prior to the processing of the discharge port (22), the pre-processed liquid flow channel 23 is observed by the observation / measurement system 16 as shown in FIG. Image processing is performed to align the processing position of the discharge port (22) with reference to the liquid channel groove 23 and the like.
That is, the liquid channel groove 20 laser-processed on the top plate 20
Is captured as an image shown in FIG. 2C through the discharge port plate 21 by the observation measurement system 16. Therefore, the control unit 14 calculates the processing position of the discharge port from the liquid flow channel groove 23 and the like based on the image input to the image processing device 14a, and performs processing for the discharge port processing via the moving unit 14c. Perform alignment. Simultaneously with the alignment of the discharge port processing, the depth d of the liquid channel groove 23 is measured from the image shown in FIG. 2C, and the measured value is compared with a preset standard value. Based on the result, the output state of the laser is recognized and evaluated, the correction amount of the laser irradiation energy at the time of the next processing is determined, and the information is fed back to the control unit 14 and the laser oscillator 11.

After the alignment of the top plate 20 is completed, if necessary, the voltage applied to the laser light source 11 and the like are adjusted and controlled, and the laser beam 12 having the optimum irradiation energy density is changed to (b) in FIG. As shown by a broken line in FIG. 3C, by irradiating the ejection port plate 21 from the liquid flow channel groove 23 side, the image of the drilling shape pattern formed in the laser mask 17 is projected by the projection lens 15b onto the ejection port plate of the top plate 20. An image is formed at a predetermined position 21. As a result, the plurality of discharge ports (22) are accurately formed at predetermined positions of the discharge port plate 21 of the top plate 20 by ablation processing by irradiation with the laser beam 12.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the recognition and evaluation of the laser irradiation state is performed by measuring the depth of the liquid flow channel groove, which can be performed simultaneously with the alignment of the discharge port processing which is normally performed. None, unlike the conventional method, it is possible to accurately evaluate only the laser irradiation state without being affected by the variation of the discharge port plate thickness during molding and the previous process such as face surface treatment, and more accurate laser irradiation energy Can be adjusted. Thus, when processing is performed next time, a laser beam having the optimum irradiation energy can be irradiated, and as a result, the liquid flow channel and the discharge port can be processed with high accuracy.

Next, a second embodiment of the method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In the present embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the liquid passage groove 23 and the discharge port (22) are laser-processed in the top plate 20 using the laser processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. First, in the same manner as described with reference to FIG. 2A, the top plate 20 is set on the laser processing apparatus 10 and the liquid flow channel groove 23 is processed. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3, the laser displacement meter head 30 is installed so as to face the laser-processed liquid flow channel 23, and the liquid flow channel 2
The distance to the bottom surface and the distance to the top surface of the liquid flow path wall 25 are measured, and the depth d of the liquid flow path groove is calculated from the difference therebetween.
The calculated value is compared with a preset standard value in the same manner as in the first embodiment, thereby recognizing and evaluating the output state of the laser used for processing the liquid flow channel groove 23. The correction amount of the laser irradiation energy at the time of processing is determined, and information is fed back to the control unit 14 and the laser oscillator 11. The alignment of the discharge port processing and the processing of the discharge port by laser beam irradiation are performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. By doing so, the laser beam having the optimum irradiation energy can be irradiated at the next processing, and the liquid flow channel and the discharge port can be processed with high accuracy.

Also in this embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the recognition and evaluation of the laser irradiation state are performed by measuring the depth of the laser-processed liquid flow channel.
Unlike the conventional method, it is possible to accurately evaluate only the laser irradiation state without being affected by the variation of the discharge port plate thickness at the time of molding or the previous process such as face surface treatment,
More accurate adjustment of the laser irradiation energy can be performed, and the liquid flow channel and the discharge port can be accurately processed.

Also, the present invention has an excellent effect in a so-called ink jet recording type recording head and recording apparatus, in which a flying liquid droplet is formed and recorded by utilizing thermal energy in a liquid jet recording type. To bring.

The typical structure and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
No. 796, and the present invention is preferably performed using these basic principles. This recording method can be applied to both on-demand type and continuous type.

A brief description of this recording method is as follows. A driving circuit discharges a sheet holding a recording liquid (ink) or an electrothermal transducer which is a discharge energy generating element arranged corresponding to a liquid flow path. Supplying a signal, that is, the recording liquid (ink) exceeds the nucleate boiling phenomenon in accordance with the recording information,
By applying at least one drive signal to provide a rapid temperature rise that causes a film boiling phenomenon,
Thermal energy is generated, causing film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the recording head. As described above, since bubbles corresponding to the drive signal applied to the electrothermal converter from the recording liquid (ink) can be formed one-to-one, it is particularly effective for an on-demand type recording method. The recording liquid (ink) is ejected through an ejection port by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are immediately and appropriately performed, and therefore, the ejection of the recording liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, US Pat.
Those described in 463359 and 4345262 are suitable. In addition, U.S. Pat.
By employing the conditions described in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 124, even better recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, a configuration combining a discharge port, a liquid flow path, and an electrothermal converter as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path)
In addition, the present invention is also effective in a device having a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bent region as disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600. .

In addition, JP-A-59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge port of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, or absorbs pressure waves of thermal energy. The present invention is also effective in a device having a configuration based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration in which an opening corresponds to a discharge portion.

Further, as a recording head in which the present invention is effectively used, there is a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium on which a recording apparatus can record. The full line head may be a full line configuration by combining a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above specification, or may be a single full line recording head formed integrally.

In addition, the print head is replaceable with a print head of a replaceable chip type, which can be electrically connected to the main body of the apparatus or supplied with ink from the main body of the apparatus, or is integrated with the print head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge-type recording head provided in a fixed manner is used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means and preliminary auxiliary means for the recording head since the recording apparatus can be further stabilized. To be more specific, capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element, or a combination thereof, for recording head, recording It is also effective to add a preliminary ejection mode means for performing another ejection to perform stable printing.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to a mode for recording only a mainstream color such as black, and may be a mode in which the recording head is integrally formed or a combination of a plurality of recording heads. However, the present invention is extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of multiple colors of different colors or full color by mixing colors.

In the above description, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or lower and which becomes soft or liquid at room temperature, or which is generally used in ink jet printing. It may be softened or liquid in a temperature range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less, which is a temperature range for temperature adjustment. That is,
It is sufficient that the ink is in a liquid state when the use recording signal is applied. In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy can be positively prevented by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or the ink that solidifies in a standing state to prevent evaporation of the ink can be used. In any case, thermal energy such as one in which ink is liquefied and ejected as an ink liquid by application in accordance with a recording signal of thermal energy, or one which already starts to solidify when reaching a recording medium, etc. It is also possible to use an ink that liquefies for the first time. In such a case, as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260, the ink is held in a liquid state or a solid state in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. It is good also as a form which opposes an electrothermal transducer. The most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, the form of the ink jet recording apparatus includes a form used for an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. It may be taken.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By measuring the depth of the laser-processed liquid flow channel groove, the laser irradiation state can be controlled without being affected by the variation in the thickness of the discharge port plate at the time of molding or the previous process such as the face surface treatment as in the conventional method. Can be evaluated, and more accurate adjustment of the laser irradiation energy can be performed, whereby the liquid flow channel and the discharge port can be processed with higher accuracy.

Furthermore, by performing the measurement of the depth of the liquid flow channel at the same time as the alignment of the discharge port processing which is normally performed, the measurement of the discharge port which does not contribute to the production unlike the conventional method can be eliminated. Thereby, the operation rate of the device can be improved. Further, an observation illumination system dedicated to the measurement of the discharge port is not required, and the apparatus cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a laser processing apparatus used when processing a liquid channel groove and a discharge port on a top plate of a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a first diagram illustrating a method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining the example of FIG. 3A, and FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram illustrating a mode in which a liquid flow channel is processed by irradiating a laser beam, and FIG. It is a schematic diagram which illustrates the aspect which performs observation measurement, and (c) is a schematic diagram which shows the image of the liquid flow-path groove part observed by the observation measurement system.

FIG. 3 shows a second example of the method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a schematic view illustrating a mode of measuring the depth of the laser-processed liquid flow channel in the example of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of the liquid jet recording head, partially cut away.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Laser processing apparatus 11 Laser oscillator 12 Laser beam 14 Control part 14a Image processing apparatus 14b Control system 14c Moving means 15 Optical system 15a Optical lens part 15b Projection lens 16 Observation measurement system 17 Laser mask 18 Workstation 20 Top plate 21 Discharge port plate REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 22 discharge port 23 liquid flow groove 24 liquid chamber 30 laser displacement meter head 31 measurement laser beam 100 top plate 101 discharge port plate 102 discharge port 103 liquid flow groove 104 liquid chamber 106 discharge energy generating element 107 element substrate

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shin Ishimatsu 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Akira Goto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inside (72) Inventor Toshinori Hasegawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Akio Saito 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A liquid jet recording head for irradiating an image of a laser mask on a processing surface of a top plate using a laser beam as a light source and processing the surface of a top plate using a laser beam as a light source. In the manufacturing method, when processing the liquid flow channel and the discharge port, the depth of the liquid flow channel of the laser-processed top plate is measured, and the measured value is compared with a preset standard value. And adjusting the laser irradiation energy based on the comparison result. 2. The method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the measurement of the depth of the liquid flow channel groove is performed simultaneously with the alignment of the ejection port processing. 3. The method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the measurement of the depth of the liquid flow channel groove is performed using a non-contact measuring means.