JP2002105410A - Method of laminating and bonding thin plate-like part - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To ensure the prevention of ink leakage when each plate of cavity plates having depressed ink flow channels formed for an ink jet printer head is laminated and bonded together. SOLUTION: Lead frames 100a to 100d are provided with manifold plates 11, 12, a spacer plate 13 and a base plate 14 having ink flow channels formed on the wider sides in such a manner that they penetrate through the plates or they are depressed. The lead frames 100a to 100d are each treated with nitric acid to form a passive oxidized film on the adherend, an adhesive is applied on the adherend, and the plates 14, 13, 12, 11 are laminated and bonded in the order from the bottom.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for bonding and fixing a plurality of thin plate-like components used for an ink-jet printer head, electronic components and the like in a laminated manner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A prior art on-demand type impact type ink jet printer head is disclosed in
As described in JP-A-167568 and JP-A-6-87213, a diaphragm plate is provided on the back surface of a cavity plate composed of a plurality of operation plates integrally held via an adhesive in a laminated state. An ink-jet printer head is disclosed in which an ejection pressure generating member such as a driving piezoelectric element is fixed on one surface of the diaphragm plate so as to correspond to the pressure chamber portion on one side of the diaphragm plate.

Each of the operation plates in the cavity plate includes a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzles, a base plate having a pressure chamber for each of the nozzles, and an ink supply source. It is composed of a manifold plate having an ink flow path to be connected and an ink chamber (manifold). Each plate is made of thin stainless steel or an iron alloy containing 42% nickel.

In the former prior art, in order to prevent corrosion between the plates due to ink, after the surfaces of the plates are plated with nickel, the plates are sequentially laminated and then inserted into an airtight chamber. An ink jet head is formed by a diffusion bonding method in which the air in the container is removed and each plate is heated while being pressurized, and the respective plates are bonded by diffusion of nickel on the surface and a stainless member. Thereafter, the inkjet head is immersed in an aqueous solution of oxidizing nitric acid (HNO ₂ ) in a container,
There is disclosed a technique for forming a passivation film on the outer peripheral surface of the entire inkjet head to prevent rust from being generated by ink.

[0005]

However, in the former prior art, it is necessary to go through a step of diffusion bonding in which each plate is nickel-plated, and each plate is pressed and heated in a laminated state. There is a problem that the number of steps increases and the manufacturing cost of the inkjet head increases. In addition, the above heat treatment breaks the passivation film on the surface of each plate and precipitates a carbon compound at the crystal grain boundaries in the stainless steel material. Easier to do. Further, in long-term use, the problem that ink penetrates between the laminated plates and corrodes a portion that was not formed into a passivation film by nitric acid cannot be solved.

[0006] Such a problem can occur when assembling an electronic component having a predetermined pattern.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for laminating and bonding thin plate-like parts which has solved such a problem.

[0008]

In order to achieve this technical object, a method for laminating and bonding thin parts according to the invention according to the first aspect is characterized in that at least one thin plate having a predetermined pattern formed on at least one surface. In the method of laminating and bonding a plurality of metal thin plate parts including a flat part via an adhesive, an oxide film layer is formed in advance on at least the bonding surface of each of the thin plate parts, and then the adjacent thin plate parts It is characterized in that they are bonded and fixed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the method of laminating and attaching a thin plate-like component according to the first aspect, an oxide film layer is integrally formed on an adhesive surface and a pattern portion of each of the thin plate-like components. It is characterized by the following.

[0010] Further, the invention according to claim 3 is based on claim 1.
Alternatively, in the method for laminating and bonding thin plate-shaped components according to claim 2, each of the thin plate-shaped components is an iron alloy, and a passivated oxide film layer is formed by nitric acid treatment.

[0011] On the other hand, the invention according to claim 4 is based on claim 1.
Alternatively, in the method of laminating and bonding a thin plate component according to claim 2, each thin plate component is made of an iron alloy, and a passivated oxide film layer is formed by an alkali solution.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method for laminating and bonding a thin plate-like component according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the thin plate-like component is used for an ink jet printer head having a plurality of nozzles. Wherein the pattern is an ink flow path for passing ink from an ink supply source to each of the nozzles.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 10 show a piezoelectric ink jet printer head according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a cavity plate 9 made of a metal plate is used.
Type piezoelectric actuator 2 joined to
A flexible flat cable 40 is connected to the upper surface of the lower surface of the cavity plate 9 by an adhesive so as to be connected to an external device. It is assumed that the ink is ejected at a time.

The cavity plate 9 is shown in FIGS.
It is configured as shown in FIG. That is, the nozzle plate 10, the two manifold plates 11, 12, the spacer plate 13, and the five thin plates of the base plate 14 are each laminated by being overlapped with an adhesive and laminated. Except for the nozzle plate 10 described above, each of the plates 12, 13, and 14 is made of a 42% nickel alloy steel plate and has a thickness of about 50 μm to 150 μm. In the nozzle plate 10, nozzles 15 for ejecting ink having a very small diameter (about 25 μm in the embodiment) are provided in a staggered array of two rows along a first direction (long side direction) of the nozzle plate 10. Have been. That is, a large number of nozzles 15 are formed in a staggered arrangement at intervals of a minute pitch P along two parallel reference lines 10a and 10b extending in the first direction of the nozzle plate 10. The two manifold plates 11, 12 include:
Ink passages 12 a and 12 b are formed so as to extend along both sides of the row of the nozzles 15. However, the lower manifold plate 1 facing the nozzle plate 10
The ink passage 12b in FIG. 1 is recessed so as to open only above the manifold plate 12 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). These ink passages 12a, 12
b has a structure that is sealed by stacking the spacer plate 13 on the upper manifold plate 12. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the nozzle plate 10, the manifold plates 11, 12, the spacer plate 13, and the base plate 14, each of which corresponds to the right end in FIG. FIG.

The base plate 14 has a plurality of narrow pressure chambers 16 extending in a second direction (short side direction) orthogonal to a center line along the long side (the first direction). Are drilled. When parallel longitudinal reference lines 14a and 14b are set on both left and right sides of the center line, the front end flow path 16 of the pressure chamber 16 on the left side of the center line is set.
a is located on the left longitudinal reference line 14a, and conversely, the tip flow path 16a of the pressure chamber 16 on the right side of the longitudinal center line is located on the right longitudinal reference line 14b, and the left and right pressure chambers are located on the right longitudinal reference line 14b. Since the 16 front end flow paths 16a are alternately arranged, the pressure chambers 16 on the left and right sides are alternately arranged so as to extend in opposite directions every other one.

The front end flow paths 16a of the pressure chambers 16 are formed in the staggered nozzles 15 of the nozzle plate 10 in the spacer plate 13 and the manifold plates 11, 12 in the same staggered arrangement. Communication holes 17, 17, 1
7. On the other hand, the other end of each of the pressure chambers 16 is connected to the other end flow path 16b having a large diameter via an elongated narrow portion 16d as an ink flow path having a small cross-sectional area. Spacer plate 13
Are communicated with the ink passages 12a and 12b in the manifold plates 11 and 12 through through holes 18 formed in both right and left sides of the manifold plate. The other end flow path 16b and the elongated narrow portion 16d are formed so as to be recessed so as to open only on the lower surface side of the base plate 14, as shown in FIGS. 3, 7, and 8. The diameter of the other end flow path 16 b is substantially equal to the diameter of the through hole 18. The squeezing section 16d is a piezoelectric actuator 20
The cross section is smaller than that of the pressure chamber 16 in order to prevent an excessive supply of ink to the pressure chamber 16 when are continuously driven.

Further, in the longitudinally intermediate portion of each of the pressure chambers 16, a continuous portion 1 of about half the thickness of the base plate 14 is provided.
By providing 6c, the rigidity of the side walls of the pressure chambers 16 arranged in parallel is prevented from lowering.

The supply hole 19b formed at one end of the spacer plate 13 communicates with the ink passage 12a and also communicates with the supply hole 19a formed at one end of the uppermost base plate 14. I have. A filter 29 for removing dust in the ink supplied from the ink tank above the supply hole 19a is stretched over the upper surface of the supply hole 19a.

In the present embodiment, the ink passages 12a, 12b, the communication holes 17, 1 and the manifold plates 11, 12, the spacer plate 13, and the base plate 14, which are thin plate parts made of iron alloy, are provided.
7, 17, the through hole 18, the pressure chamber 16, the front end flow path 16a and the other end flow path 16b, the continuous portion 16c, the throttle portion 16d, and the supply holes 19a, 19b are formed in a predetermined pattern of a fluid flow path (ink flow path). ). Also, relief grooves 33a, 33b, 34, and 35 for the adhesive, which are recessed on one surface of each of the lowermost base plate 14, the second layer spacer plate 13 and the manifold plate 12 from below, are formed in a predetermined pattern. Have been.

Next, a method of assembling the cavity plate 9 (a method of bonding and fixing) will be described. As shown in FIG. 10, four lead frames 100a to 100d
Are laminated and adhered and fixed. Manifold plates 11 and 1 as thin plate-shaped components having a predetermined pattern formed on each of the lead frames 100a to 100d.
2. It is assumed that the spacer plate 13 and the base plate 14 are arranged continuously at a fixed interval via a connecting piece 106 having a minute width. That is, the lowermost lead frame 100
d is formed so that the base plates 14 in the above embodiment are arranged at regular intervals. The left and right elongated frames 102 are connected to the tie bar 104 at appropriate intervals. Similarly, spacer plates 13 are formed at the same intervals as above on the second-layer lead frame 100c from the bottom. Manifold plates 12 are formed at the same intervals as above on the third-layer lead frame 100b from the bottom. Further, the other manifold plate 1 is provided on the lead frame 100a of the uppermost layer.
1 are formed at the same intervals as above. In addition, the frame 1 in each of the lead frames 100a to 100d.
In 02, positioning holes 105 are formed at appropriate intervals.

In order to improve the bonding performance described in the bonding step described below, each plate 1 made of an iron alloy is previously prepared.
A passivation oxide film is formed on the front and back surfaces of each of the layers 1, 12, 13, and 14. For this purpose, each plate 11 to 14 is immersed in a nitric acid solution in a container to form a passivated oxide film on the front and back surfaces, or to an alkaline solution (for example, a silicate / phosphate solution). The passivation oxide film may be formed by immersion.

In these cases, as described above, each of the lead frames 100a to 100d in which a pattern is formed in advance may be immersed in a nitric acid solution or an alkaline solution, or each of the lead frames 100a to 100d before forming a pattern.
A pattern may be formed after forming a passivating oxide film on both the front and back surfaces of 100d. After being immersed in the above-mentioned nitric acid solution or alkaline solution for a predetermined time, the treatment is completed by rinsing with water and drying.

When the step of forming an oxide film is performed after the pattern is formed, a passivating oxide film is formed integrally (continuously) in the bonding surface of each plate and in the pattern. Since a passivated oxide film is also formed on the surface such as the surface or the side edge, the effect of preventing the pattern from being eroded by the ink flowing in the pattern is achieved.

As described above, when a passivating oxide film is formed on both the front and back surfaces, which are the bonding surfaces of the plates 11 to 14, the roughness of the surface becomes rougher than the surface of the material iron alloy, and the surface is repelled. Since the adhesion inhibitor such as aqueous oil is also removed, the adhesion of the adhesive 39 is improved, and the adhesion performance is greatly improved.

When stacking these lead frames,
As shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8, the use state of the cavity plate 9 (the state where the ink nozzles are opened on the lower surface side).
The lead frames are stacked so that they are upside down. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the relief groove 33a for the adhesive formed on one surface of each of the lowermost base plate 14, the second lower layer spacer plate 13 and the manifold plate 12 from below. , 33b, 3
4, 35 shall be arranged upward.

The relief grooves 33a, 33b, 3
4, 35 or at the same upper and lower positions on the flat surface of each plate, the air release holes 36 penetrate through the plate thickness of each of the plates 13, 12, 11 so as to communicate with each other in the vertical direction.
a, 36b, and 36c are formed, and an air release hole 36d formed in the lowermost base plate 14 is formed as a recess which is about half the plate thickness and does not communicate with the lower surface side (FIGS. 7, 8A and 8A). FIG. 8B).

The lead frames 100a to 100a
The adhesive 39 is applied in advance to the laminated surface of the plate d. As one method of applying the adhesive 39, the adhesive 39 is thinly applied on the flat surface of the jig in advance, and the laminated surface of the plates of the lead frames 100a to 100d is aligned with the applied surface. For example, the base plate 14
The adhesive 39 can be transferred to a flat convex surface other than a concave portion such as the relief grooves 33a and 33b, the pressure chamber 16, the other end flow path 16b, the throttle portion 16d, and the air release hole 36d. The transfer may be performed by pressing the laminated surface of the plate against the roller surface to which the adhesive 39 is applied.

Next, a pin is inserted into the positioning hole 105, and a pinching force or a pressing force is applied to the lowermost lead frame 100d and the uppermost lead frame 100a so as to be bonded and fixed.

The plurality of lead frames to which the adhesive 39 has been transferred in this manner are pressed to apply
When the wide surfaces 2, 13, and 14 are bonded and fixed, the excess adhesive 39 flows into the relief grooves 33a, 33b, 34, and 35, and then, the excess adhesive 39 is added to the groove shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), air release holes 36d, 33a, 3
Fill 3b, 33c. At this time, air introduced into the mating surface (wide surface) of the adjacent plates 11, 12, 13, and 14 and the adhesive 39 becomes air bubbles to form the lateral escape grooves 33a, 33b, 34, 35 and It moves with the adhesive 39 in the vertical air release holes 36d, 33a, 33b, 33c and is discharged out of the plate.
As a result, the adjacent plates 11, 12, 13, 1
A stable bonding and sealing layer is formed by the adhesive 39 formed in a layer shape that does not contain bubbles on the mating surface (wide surface) of No. 4. Thereafter, when the air release hole 36c is sealed with a sealant 38 such as an adhesive on the upper surface of the uppermost manifold plate 11, the manifold plate 11
Is a smooth wide surface, and sealing is performed on this surface, so that the sealing agent 38 can be reliably closed.
As a result, the ink passages 12a, 12b, the communication holes 17, the through holes 18, the pressure chambers 16 and the tip passages 1 as the ink passages in the plates 11, 12, 13, 14 are formed.
6a, the other end flow path 16b, etc., can reliably prevent ink from leaking out of the cavity plate 9.

In the capillary phenomenon in which the liquid adhesive 39 passes through a narrow gap such as the mating surface of a plate (including the base plate 14 and the like, the same applies hereinafter), the capillary force is larger than that of a portion having a larger sectional area. Towards the small part of
Since the adhesive 39 is drawn first, the relief grooves 33a, 33b are larger than the cross-sectional areas of the throttle portion 16d, the communication hole 17, and the through hole 18 communicating with the pressure chamber 16 from the other end channel 16b as the ink channel. , 34, and 35 are set to be small, so that the adhesive 39 on the mating surface of the plate is released before each of the ink flow paths.
It is possible to prevent the ink from flowing out through the a, 33b, 34, and 35 and to block the ink flow path with the adhesive 39.

As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG.
Air escape holes 5 are provided in escape grooves 42, 43, and 44 at locations remote from the ink flow path, such as 6d, communication holes 17, and through holes 18.
2, 53, 54 and 55 may be formed.

The connecting piece 106 is cut from the lead frames 100a to 100d bonded and fixed as described above, and the integrated cavity plate 9 is taken out. In the cavity plate 9, the ink flowing into the ink passages 12a and 12b from the supply holes 19a and 19b formed in one end of the base plate 14 and the spacer plate 13 passes through the respective through holes 18 from the ink passage 12a. After passing through the pressure chambers 16 and being distributed into the respective pressure chambers 16, the communication holes 17, 17, 1
7 to the nozzle 15 corresponding to the pressure chamber 16.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the piezoelectric actuator 20 has a plurality of piezoelectric sheets 2 in the same manner as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-34,853.
In the piezoelectric sheet 21 having a thickness of about 30 μm, the lowermost piezoelectric sheet and the odd-numbered piezoelectric sheets counted upward from the uppermost sheet (wide surface) have the following structure.
Narrow individual electrodes (not shown) are formed in a row along a first direction (long side direction) at each location corresponding to each pressure chamber 16 in the cavity plate 9, and each individual electrode is Each piezoelectric sheet extends in the second direction orthogonal to the first direction to the vicinity of the edge of the long side of each piezoelectric sheet. A common electrode (not shown) common to the plurality of pressure chambers 16 is formed on the upper surface (wide surface) of the even-numbered piezoelectric sheet from the bottom. The surface electrode 30 electrically connected to each of the individual electrodes and the surface electrode 31 electrically connected to each of the common electrodes are arranged along the edge of the long side. (See FIG. 1).

An adhesive sheet 41 made of a non-ink-permeable synthetic resin material as an adhesive layer is formed on the entire lower surface (wide surface facing the pressure chamber 16) of the plate-type piezoelectric actuator 20 having such a configuration. Beforehand,
Next, the piezoelectric actuator 20 is bonded and fixed to the cavity plate 9 so that each individual electrode thereof corresponds to each of the pressure chambers 16 in the cavity plate 9 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). The flexible flat cable 40 is overlaid and pressed on the upper surface of the piezoelectric actuator 20, so that various wiring patterns (not shown) of the flexible flat cable 40 are applied to the surface electrodes 3.
0 and 31 are electrically connected.

In this configuration, by applying a voltage between any of the individual electrodes 24 of the piezoelectric actuator 20 and the common electrode, the individual electrodes of the piezoelectric sheet 21 to which the voltage has been applied are applied. Distortion in the stacking direction due to piezoelectricity occurs in the portion, and the internal volume of the pressure chamber 16 corresponding to each of the individual electrodes is reduced due to this distortion.
5 is ejected in the form of droplets to perform predetermined printing (FIG. 6).
reference).

In each of the above embodiments, the present invention is applied to the assembly of an ink jet head. However, when assembling an electronic component, a thin plate-like component such as a plurality of lead frames is used.
This is optimal for a structure in which a plurality of thin plate-shaped components are stacked and fixed when there is at least one thin plate-shaped component having a liquid flow path formed on at least one surface in a predetermined pattern.

[0037]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
The method for laminating and bonding a thin plate-like component according to the invention described in the above is a method of laminating a plurality of metal thin plate-like components including at least one thin plate-like component having a predetermined pattern formed on at least one side via an adhesive. In the bonding method, an oxide film layer is previously formed on at least the bonding surface of each of the thin plate-shaped components, and then the adjacent thin plate-shaped components are bonded and fixed.

As described above, the surface (adhesion surface) of the sheet-like component
The oxide film layer formed in advance becomes rougher than the surface of the normal iron alloy material, and the bonding performance of each sheet-like component is remarkably improved. This has the effect of preventing an accident such as peeling of the product and assembling it into a strong product. Further, after the oxide film layer is formed, the thin plate-like components are bonded to each other, so that erosion and the like can be prevented even if a fluid enters between the thin plate-like components in a long-term use.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the method of laminating and attaching a thin plate-like component according to the first aspect, an oxide film layer is integrally formed on an adhesive surface and a pattern portion of each of the thin plate-like components. It is characterized by the following. By doing so, a passivated oxide film is also formed on the surface in the pattern or on the surface such as the side edge. This has the effect of preventing erosion of the pattern by the fluid.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 provides the invention according to claim 1
Alternatively, in the method for laminating and bonding thin plate-shaped components according to claim 2, each of the thin plate-shaped components is an iron alloy, and a passivated oxide film layer is formed by nitric acid treatment. When the iron alloy material is treated with nitric acid, there is an effect that a passive oxide film layer can be easily formed.

On the other hand, it is also possible to immerse a thin plate made of an iron alloy in an alkaline solution as in the invention of the fourth aspect.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method for laminating and bonding a thin plate-like component according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the thin plate-like component is used for an ink jet printer head having a plurality of nozzles. Wherein the pattern is an ink flow path for passing ink from an ink supply source to each of the nozzles. Therefore, if a passivation oxide layer is formed on the surface of each plate made of an iron alloy and bonded, the bonding surface of each plate is covered with the passivation layer without heating as in the related art. As a result, the adhesive performance is improved, and the leakage of the ink from the ink flow path to the bonding surface can be reliably prevented.As a result, the ink leaks out of the ink flow path formed in the plate for the inkjet printer head. This has the effect of reliably preventing the required performance of the ink jet printer head.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a piezoelectric inkjet printer head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a cavity plate.

FIG. 3 is an exploded partial enlarged perspective view of a cavity plate.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a cavity plate arranged with the nozzle side facing upward.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line VV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing a state in which a flexible flat cable, a cavity plate, and a piezoelectric actuator are bonded and fixed.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part showing an escape groove, an air escape hole, and the like.

FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view of an escape groove, an air escape hole, and the like showing an adhesive application state prior to lamination, and FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view showing a lamination adhesion state of each plate.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part showing another escape groove, an air escape hole, and the like of the base plate.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a stack of lead frames according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 9 Cavity plate 10 Nozzle plate 11, 12 Manifold plate 13 Spacer plate 14 Base plate 15 Nozzle 16 Pressure chamber 16b Other end flow path 16d Restrictor 17 Communication hole 18 Through hole 20 Piezoelectric actuator 33a, 33b, 34, 35 Relief groove 36a, 36b , 36c, 36d Release hole 38 Sealant 39 Adhesive

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A method of laminating and bonding a plurality of metal thin plate parts including at least one thin plate part having a predetermined pattern formed on at least one surface thereof via an adhesive, wherein each of the thin plate parts is A laminating method for laminating thin plate-shaped components, comprising forming an oxide film layer on at least the bonding surface of the component in advance, and bonding and fixing adjacent thin plate-shaped components. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein an oxide film layer is integrally formed on an adhesive surface and a pattern portion of each of the thin plate-shaped components. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the sheet-like parts is an iron alloy, and a passivated oxide film layer is formed by nitric acid treatment. . 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the sheet-like parts is made of an iron alloy, and a passivation oxide film layer is formed by an alkali solution. . 5. The thin plate-shaped part is a plate for an ink jet printer head having a plurality of nozzles,
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the pattern is an ink flow path for passing ink from an ink supply source to each of the nozzles. 6.