JPS6135256A - Preparation of nozzle for ink jet printing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate effect of irregular reflection and increase accuracy of micronozzle, by forming resist pattern on shielding mask for photosensitive glass plate and making a through-hole. CONSTITUTION:A photosensitive glass plate 22 is exposed to light for crystallization except an annular part 31. The plate is masked with a resist 32 on one side and is half-etched to form an annular projection 33. A shielding mask 23 is formed on one side the plate 22 and it is covered with a photoresist 24. The shielding mask is covered with a 1-2mum thick non-ultraviolet ray transmissible and hydrofluoric acid resistant material such as metallized gold. A light exposure mask 25 is laid over it and the plate is irradiated with ultraviolet ray. The ultraviolet ray is completely reflected on the surface of the shielding mask 23 and incidence of ultraviolet ray into the photosensitive glass plate 22 is inhibited. Thus, irregular reflection due to crystallized areas of the photosensitive glass plate 22 and projection 22 on the back side, etc. is prevented perfectly and resist pattern of high accuracy is formed, leading to preparation of high accuracy micronozzle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention is directed to printing characters 7 by ejecting liquid ink from minute nozzles.
The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device for recording figures and the like.

Structure of a conventional example and its problems FIG. 1 shows an inkjet nozzle according to an earlier application by the present applicant, which has a ring-shaped protrusion 2 around the outlet of the ink nozzle 1. In FIG. The advantages of the minute noise having the shape shown in FIG. 1 are as follows: (1) The wetting state of the ink around the outlet of the minute nozzle becomes uniform, and the ink ejection direction becomes stable.

■ When used in an inkjet recording device that uses electrostatic force to attract and eject ink, the ink meniscus shape becomes stable, making it easier for the electric field to concentrate at the tip of the ink meniscus, resulting in a high-performance inkjet recording device. can be realized.

■ When adopted in an inkjet recording device that uses airflow as described in JP-A-57-120452, a stable ink meniscus can be formed even when the airflow flows out, resulting in stable performance. An inkjet recording device can be realized.

etc.

One method for manufacturing such micronozzles is to use chemical etching. Among these, the method of manufacturing using photosensitive glass is excellent in terms of precision and shape.

A conventional example of a method of manufacturing a micro nozzle using photosensitive glass will be described below.

FIG. 2 shows an example of manufacturing a micro nozzle using photosensitive glass. The photosensitive glass is 5iQ2-A12o3-Li2o-based color starch containing CeO2vAq20, exposed to ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 280 to 350 μm, and heat-treated to form L L20-S t 02 in the exposed portion.
Crystals are generated, and only the crystallized portion becomes extremely soluble in acid.

In FIG. 2, 0 indicates a photosensitive glass whose portion other than the ring-shaped portion 3 has been exposed and crystallized.

(b) is the photosensitive glass of (a) with resist patterns 4 and 5 provided, and (C) is no-fetched from the surface of resist pattern 4 of (b), and a nozzle is drilled halfway. It is something. (ψ means that the resist pattern 5 in (C) is removed and etched from the surface opposite to that in C) to allow a nozzle to pass through and form a ring-shaped protrusion 6.

Figure 3 shows another example in which the steps (a) and (b) are performed in the second step.
Although it is the same as the embodiment shown in the figure, in (C), the resist pattern 8 of (b) is etched and the nozzle 7 is penetrated. (→ is the result of removing the resist pattern 8 on one side of (C), and (e) is the result of removing (d) from -7)
A ring-shaped protrusion 10 is formed by etching.

FIG. 4 shows yet another embodiment, in which (a) one side of a photosensitive glass that has been subjected to exposure crystallization is coated with a resist 11. In (b), ring-shaped protrusions 12 are formed by performing no-fetching on (a). (→ shows resist 11 removed and resists 13 and 14 provided. (d) shows (C) etched and nozzle 1
6 is penetrated, and 13 and 14 are removed to form a desired micronozzle.

As described above, by using photosensitive glass as in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, a micro nozzle having a ring-shaped protrusion as shown in FIG. 1 can be formed. In photosensitive glass, the portions that are not exposed and crystallized are hardly etched, so a fine nozzle with good dimensional accuracy and clean edges is formed.

Incidentally, in any of the steps shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, a resist pattern must be formed.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 5, the resist pattern is created by coating a photoresist 16 on a photosensitive glass substrate 18 that has been exposed and crystallized, and applying an exposure mask 1 thereon.
7 was placed, exposed to ultraviolet light, and subjected to phenomenon fixing.
It is formed. That is, the photoresist is removed from the portions of the photoresist 16 that are not irradiated with the ultraviolet light, and a removed portion 20 is formed. However, the crystallized portion of the photosensitive glass substrate 18 is discolored and opaque, and may cause some diffused reflection. Therefore, when exposed to ultraviolet light for a long period of time, the diffusely reflected light from the crystallized portion may expose the masked portion of the photoresist corresponding to the removed portion 20, and some of the photoresist may be exposed to the removed portion 2o. There are things that remain. Further, when there is a ring-shaped protrusion 21 on the back surface as shown in FIG. 5, the protrusion 21 causes diffused reflection, making it impossible to form a pattern accurately.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to manufacture minute nozzles with high precision by using photosensitive glass and eliminating the influence of diffused reflection.

Structure of the Invention The present invention involves exposing a predetermined portion of photosensitive glass to ultraviolet light, heat-treating it to crystallize it, forming a barrier mask that does not transmit ultraviolet light on one side of the photosensitive glass, and placing a resist on the mask. This is a method of manufacturing an inkjet nozzle in which a pattern is formed and a through hole is formed by etching photosensitive glass in accordance with the resist pattern.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the present invention. First, as shown in (-), the photosensitive glass substrate 22 is exposed to crystallization, leaving the ring-shaped portion 31, and one side thereof is covered with a resist 32.

Next, as shown in (b), the photosensitive glass 22 is half-etched to form a ring-shaped protrusion 33. The steps up to this point are the same as those in FIGS. 4(a) and (b). Next, as shown in FIG. 7(C), on one side of the photosensitive glass substrate 22,
A thin mask 23 is formed and a photoresist 24 is coated thereon. The shielding mask 23 is made of a material that does not transmit ultraviolet light, and is also made of a concentrated acid-resistant material that can withstand the use of concentrated acids, which will be described later.

For example, gold is used and coated with gold to a thickness of 1 to 2 μm by vapor deposition. An exposure mask 26 is placed on top of it, and ultraviolet light is irradiated thereon. In this case, the ultraviolet light is completely reflected by the surface of the transparent mask 23, and no ultraviolet light enters the photosensitive glass 22. Therefore, diffused reflection caused by the crystallized portion of the conventional photosensitive glass 22 or the protrusions 32 on the back surface can be completely prevented. The ultraviolet light reflected by the shielding mask 23 is parallel light and follows the original optical path, so the exposure mask 26
A photoresist pattern corresponding to the lower part of the non-transparent part 26 can be realized. Next, FIG. 7(e) shows the removal of the pattern portion corresponding to the non-transparent part 26 of the shielding mask 23. Since the material of the shielding mask 23 is gold, aqua regia was used. Next, in FIG. 7(f), the back surface of the photosensitive glass substrate 22 is coated with a resist 27, and then, as shown in FIG. 7(g), by etching with concentrated acid,
The micro nozzle 28 is shell-pierced. After that, a photoresist 24° shielding mask 23. By removing each resist 27, a minute nozzle as shown in FIG. 7 is completed.

Effect of the invention As described above, the present invention uses exposure to a predetermined pattern.

A method of manufacturing an inkjet nozzle in which a barrier mask that does not transmit ultraviolet light is formed on one side of crystallized photosensitive glass, and a resist pattern is formed and etched on the mask. Since diffuse reflection of ultraviolet light does not occur, highly accurate resist patterns can be formed. Therefore, highly accurate micro nozzle processing can be realized.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a nozzle manufactured according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 to 4 are sectional views showing conventional nozzle processing steps, and FIGS. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the inkjet nozzle manufacturing process according to the present invention. 1...Minute nozzle, 2...Ring-shaped protrusion, 22...Photosensitive glass substrate, 23...
...shielding mask, 24...photoresist, 25...exposure mask, 27.32...
・Resist, 28...Minute nozzle, 33...
····protrusion. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person 1st
Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 5 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] A predetermined portion of the photosensitive glass is exposed to ultraviolet light and heat treated,
A first step of crystallization, a second step of covering the photosensitive glass with a mask that does not transmit ultraviolet light and coating a resist thereon, and forming a predetermined resist pattern by exposure and development. a third step of removing a part of the shielding mask by etching; a fourth step of etching the photosensitive glass through to form a nozzle; and a fifth step of removing the resist and the shielding mask. A method for manufacturing an inkjet nozzle, comprising the steps of: