JP2005096230A - Manufacturing method for liquid jetting head, and liquid jetting head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method for a liquid jetting head which can greatly reduce manufacturing costs, and to provide a liquid jetting head. <P>SOLUTION: There are set a process of forming a pair of piezoelectric element groups corresponding to a pair of pressure generating chamber arrays in the shape of a matrix at one face side of a passage formation substrate wafer; a process of joining a protecting substrate wafer with piezoelectric element holding parts and slit holes each provided at a region opposed to a gap between the pair of piezoelectric element groups and having a smaller width than that of a reservoir to the passage formation substrate wafer; a process of forming passages including the pressure generating chambers and communication parts formed at regions opposed to the slit holes into the passage formation substrate wafer; a process of cutting the passage formation substrate wafer and the protecting substrate wafer at predetermined regions including the slit holes and the regions opposed to the communication parts, thereby dividing the wafers to actuator chips with an array of piezoelectric element groups; a process of arranging a pair of the actuator chips by a predetermined interval to make the slit hole sides opposed to each other, and joining the chips to a nozzle plate; and a process of joining a side wall member to both side faces of the actuator chips, and blocking a gap between the pair of the actuator chips, thereby forming the reservoir. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head and a liquid ejecting head. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head that is formed and ejects ink droplets by displacement of a piezoelectric element, and an ink jet recording head.

  A part of the pressure generation chamber communicating with the nozzle opening for discharging ink droplets is constituted by a vibration plate, and the vibration plate is deformed by a piezoelectric element to pressurize the ink in the pressure generation chamber to discharge ink droplets from the nozzle opening. Two types of ink jet recording heads have been put into practical use: those using a longitudinal vibration mode piezoelectric actuator that extends and contracts in the axial direction of the piezoelectric element, and those using a flexural vibration mode piezoelectric actuator.

  In general, an ink jet recording head having such a piezoelectric element is provided with a reservoir that communicates with a plurality of pressure generating chambers and supplies ink to the pressure generating chambers. The ink supplied from the ink cartridge or the like is once stored in the reservoir and then supplied to each pressure generating chamber. In order to ensure good ink ejection characteristics, it is preferable to form a reservoir having a relatively large volume.

  For this reason, the volume of the reservoir is ensured by forming the flow path forming substrate in which the pressure generating chamber is formed and the reservoir penetrating the bonded substrate bonded to the flow path forming substrate. In addition, for example, in an ink jet recording head of a type having two rows of pressure generation chambers, a reservoir corresponding to each row is provided outside the row of pressure generation chambers, thereby securing the volume of the reservoir. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  However, such an ink jet recording head has two reservoirs corresponding to each row of pressure generating chambers on a flow path forming substrate and a bonding substrate, which are each a single substrate. There is a problem that the area of the substrate and the bonding substrate is increased, and the cost is increased. That is, since the flow path forming substrate and the bonding substrate are formed by integrally forming a plurality of pieces on one wafer and finally being divided, if the area of the flow path forming substrate and the bonding substrate is increased, 1 There is a problem that the number of wafers taken per wafer is reduced and the cost is increased. Such a problem exists not only in an ink jet recording head that ejects ink droplets, but also in other liquid ejecting heads that eject droplets other than ink.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-182076 (FIGS. 1 and 2)

  In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head and a liquid ejecting head that can greatly reduce the manufacturing cost.

A first aspect of the present invention that solves the above problems includes a nozzle plate having nozzle openings for discharging droplets, a flow path forming substrate having a row of pressure generation chambers communicating with the nozzle openings, A piezoelectric element group composed of a plurality of piezoelectric elements provided on one surface side of the flow path forming substrate corresponding to each row of pressure generating chambers, and each piezoelectric element bonded to the one surface side of the flow path forming substrate And a protective substrate having a piezoelectric element holding portion for protecting each group, and a method of manufacturing a liquid jet head provided with a reservoir in which each of the pressure generation chambers communicates with each other between the pair of pressure generation chambers And forming a pair of piezoelectric element groups corresponding to the row of the pair of pressure generating chambers on one side of the flow path forming substrate wafer in a matrix, the piezoelectric element holding portion, and the pair Between the piezoelectric element groups Bonding a protective substrate wafer having a slit hole narrower than the reservoir to the flow path forming substrate wafer; and facing the pressure generating chamber and the slit hole to the flow path forming substrate wafer Forming a flow path including a communication portion provided in a region to be cut, and cutting the flow path forming substrate wafer and the protection substrate wafer in a predetermined region including a region facing the slit hole and the communication portion. A step of dividing the actuator chip having the piezoelectric element group in one row, a step of arranging a pair of actuator chips at predetermined intervals so that the slit hole sides face each other, and joining the nozzle plate; Forming a reservoir by joining side wall members to both side surfaces and closing between the pair of actuator chips. In the manufacturing method of the liquid ejecting head is characterized and.
In the first aspect, the size of each actuator chip can be reduced regardless of the size of the reservoir, and the number of actuator chips taken from one wafer increases. In addition, by cutting the flow path forming substrate wafer and the sealing substrate wafer in the region facing the slit holes, these wafers can be cut relatively easily.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, before the step of dividing the flow path forming substrate wafer and the protective substrate wafer, at least the communication portion of the flow path forming substrate wafer and The method of manufacturing a liquid jet head includes a step of forming a liquid-resistant protective film on an inner surface of the slit hole of the protective substrate wafer.
In the second aspect, the protective film can be formed on the portion constituting the inner surface of the reservoir in the wafer state, and the manufacturing efficiency is remarkably improved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, in the step of forming the reservoir, the cut surface on the slit hole side of the flow path forming substrate wafer and the protective substrate wafer is not exposed. In the method of manufacturing a liquid jet head, the side surface portion is sealed.
In the third aspect, erosion of the flow path forming substrate and the protective substrate by the liquid supplied in the reservoir is prevented.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the region corresponding to the outer side of the end of the pressure generating chamber of the flow path forming substrate wafer opposite to the flow path is provided. In the method of manufacturing a liquid jet head, a driving IC for driving the piezoelectric element for each piezoelectric element group is formed in advance.
In the fourth aspect, it is not necessary to secure a region for connecting the driving IC and the piezoelectric element, and the areas of the flow path forming substrate and the protective substrate can be further reduced. Therefore, the number of actuator chips taken from one wafer is further increased.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect, the flow path forming substrate is provided in each region between the piezoelectric element groups adjacent to the protective substrate wafer in the juxtaposition direction of the piezoelectric elements. In the step of dividing the flow path forming substrate wafer and the protective substrate wafer, a predetermined region including a region facing the exposed hole is cut. The method is for manufacturing a liquid jet head.
In the fifth aspect, the drive IC and the external wiring can be connected on the flow path forming substrate in the region facing the exposure hole. In addition, by cutting the flow path forming substrate wafer and the protective substrate wafer in a region facing the exposure hole, these wafers can be further easily cut.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, in the step of dividing the actuator chip, the flow path forming substrate wafer and the protective substrate wafer are cut by dicing. And a manufacturing method of the liquid jet head.
In the sixth aspect, the cutting margin is reduced by using dicing, and the number of actuator chips taken from one wafer can be further increased.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flow path forming substrate having a nozzle plate having a nozzle opening for ejecting droplets, a pressure generating chamber communicating with the nozzle opening, and a flow path forming substrate. A liquid ejecting head comprising: a piezoelectric element provided on a surface side; and a protective substrate having a piezoelectric element holding portion that is bonded to the one surface side of the flow path forming substrate and protects the piezoelectric element group. A pair of actuator chips formed of a flow path forming substrate and the protective substrate and bonded to the nozzle plate; and sidewall members bonded across the side surfaces of the pair of actuator chips and the end surface of the nozzle plate A reservoir communicating with each of the pressure generating chambers is formed between a pair of actuator chips, and the reservoirs of the flow path forming substrate and the protective substrate are within the reservoirs. End surfaces constituting the is a liquid-jet head, characterized in that it is composed of etched surface.
In the seventh aspect, a liquid ejecting head having a reservoir having a desired size can be manufactured at a relatively low cost.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an ink jet recording head according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of FIG. As shown in the figure, the ink jet recording head of this embodiment includes a nozzle plate 11 having a nozzle opening 10 through which ink droplets are ejected, and a flow path in which a pressure generation chamber 12 communicating with the nozzle opening 10 is formed. It has a pair of actuator chips 16A and 16B, each of which includes a forming substrate 13 and a protective substrate 15 that protects the piezoelectric element 14 provided on the flow path forming substrate 13.

  Then, such a pair of actuator chips 16A and 16B are bonded to one nozzle plate 11 at a predetermined interval via an adhesive, a heat welding film, or the like, and each pressure generating chamber 12 is interposed between the actuator chips 16A and 16B. A reservoir 17 serving as a common ink chamber is formed. That is, on both side surfaces of the actuator chips 16A and 16B, the side wall member 18 is joined across the nozzle plate 11 and both the actuator chips 16A and 16B to form the reservoir 17.

  Here, in this embodiment, the flow path forming substrate 13 constituting each actuator chip 16A, 16B is made of a silicon single crystal substrate having a plane orientation (110), and one surface thereof is previously formed by thermal oxidation. An elastic film 19 made of silicon and having a thickness of, for example, about 1.0 μm is formed. A plurality of pressure generating chambers 12 are juxtaposed along the width direction of the flow path forming substrate 13 by etching from the surface opposite to the elastic film 19 until it reaches the elastic film 19. An ink supply path 20 that communicates with the reservoir 17 is formed on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the pressure generating chamber 12. The ink supply path 20 is formed with a narrower width than the pressure generation chamber 12, and maintains a constant flow path resistance of ink flowing from the reservoir 17 into the pressure generation chamber 12.

  On the elastic film 19, a lower electrode film 21 having a thickness of, for example, about 0.2 μm, a piezoelectric layer 22 having a thickness of, for example, about 1.0 μm, and a thickness of, for example, about 0.05 μm. The upper electrode film 23 is laminated by a process described later to constitute the piezoelectric element 14. Here, the piezoelectric element 14 refers to a portion including the lower electrode film 21, the piezoelectric layer 22, and the upper electrode film 23. In general, one of the electrodes of the piezoelectric element 14 is used as a common electrode, and the other electrode and the piezoelectric layer 22 are patterned for each pressure generating chamber 12. In this embodiment, the lower electrode film 21 is a common electrode of the piezoelectric element 14 and the upper electrode film 23 is an individual electrode of the piezoelectric element 14. However, there is no problem even if this is reversed for the convenience of wiring. Here, the piezoelectric element 14 and the diaphragm that is displaced by driving the piezoelectric element 14 are collectively referred to as a piezoelectric actuator.

  Further, in the present embodiment, a drive IC 24 for driving the piezoelectric element 14 is integrated in the vicinity of the end of the flow path forming substrate 13 on the side opposite to the reservoir 17 over the direction in which the pressure generating chambers 12 are arranged. Is formed. A lead electrode 25 made of, for example, gold (Au) or the like is provided between the upper electrode film 23 and the drive IC 24, and the upper electrode film 23 and the drive IC 24 are electrically connected via the lead electrode 25. It is connected. The lower electrode film 21 extends to a region facing the drive IC 24 outside the row of the pressure generation chambers 12 and is electrically connected to the drive IC 24. Further, a connection wiring 26 drawn from the drive IC 24 is formed in the vicinity of the end of the flow path forming substrate 13 in the direction in which the pressure generating chambers are juxtaposed. Connection terminal 26a.

On the other hand, the protective substrate 15 bonded to each flow path forming substrate 13 has a piezoelectric element holding portion 27 capable of ensuring a space that does not hinder the movement in a region facing the piezoelectric element 14. And since the piezoelectric element 14 is formed in this piezoelectric element holding | maintenance part 27, it is protected in the state which hardly receives the influence of an external environment. In the present embodiment, the protective substrate 15 is removed in the thickness direction at both corners of the protective substrate 15 opposite to the reservoir 17, and the surface of the flow path forming substrate 13, that is, from the driving IC 24. An exposed portion 28 is formed through which the connection terminal 26a of the extended connection wiring 26 is exposed.
Examples of the material of the protective substrate 15 include glass, ceramic material, metal, resin, and the like, but it is more preferable that the protective substrate 15 is formed of a material substantially the same as the coefficient of thermal expansion of the flow path forming substrate 13. In this embodiment, the silicon single crystal substrate made of the same material as the flow path forming substrate 13 is used.

  As described above, the pair of actuator chips 16A and 16B composed of the flow path forming substrate 13 and the protective substrate 15 is predetermined on one nozzle plate 11 via an adhesive, a heat welding film, or the like. The reservoir 17 is formed by bonding the side wall member 18 across the side surfaces of the actuator chips 16 </ b> A and 16 </ b> B and the nozzle plate 11. In addition, although the material of the nozzle plate 11 is not specifically limited, For example, in this embodiment, it is formed with the board | plate material of stainless steel (SUS). The material of the side wall member 18 is not particularly limited, but a resin material or the like can be used. In the present embodiment, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) is used.

Further, the end surfaces of the flow path forming substrate 13 and the protective substrate 15 constituting the inner surface of the reservoir 17 are etched surfaces exposed by etching, which will be described in detail later, and the surfaces are liquid resistant ( An ink-resistant protective film 29 is provided. The material of the protective film 29 is not particularly limited as long as it has ink resistance. For example, in this embodiment, tantalum oxide such as tantalum pentoxide (Ta ₂ O ₅ ) is used. This protective film of tantalum pentoxide can be formed with a uniform film thickness when formed using the CVD method. The ink resistance referred to in the present embodiment means etching resistance against alkaline ink.

  In addition, on the end surfaces of the flow path forming substrate 13 and the protective substrate 15 on the reservoir 17 side, in the vicinity of the end portions on the side wall member 18 side, exposed surfaces 13a in which the surfaces of the flow path forming substrate 13 and the protective substrate 15 are exposed. Although there are 15 a, the exposed surfaces 13 a and 15 a are covered with the side wall member 18. That is, in this embodiment, the side wall member 18 has a convex portion 18a that fits into the gap between the actuator chips 16A and 16B, and the exposed surfaces 13a and 15a are covered by the end surfaces of the convex portion 18a. Therefore, the surfaces of the flow path forming substrate 13 and the protective substrate 15 constituting the inner surface of the reservoir 17 are completely covered by the protective film 29. In this embodiment, the protective film 29 is also continuously provided on the inner surfaces of the pressure generation chamber 12 and the ink supply path 20.

  A compliance substrate 32 including a sealing film 30 and a fixing plate 31 is bonded onto the protective substrate 15 and the side wall member 18, and a region facing the reservoir 17 is covered with the compliance substrate 32. The sealing film 30 is made of a material having low rigidity and flexibility (for example, a polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) film having a thickness of 6 μm), and the sealing film 30 covers one surface of the reservoir 17. The fixing plate 31 is formed of a hard material such as metal (for example, stainless steel (SUS) having a thickness of 30 μm). A region of the fixing plate 31 facing the reservoir 17 is an opening 33 that is completely removed in the thickness direction, and one surface of the reservoir 17 is covered only with a flexible sealing film 31. Yes.

  In the ink jet recording head of this embodiment, after taking ink from an external ink supply means (not shown) and filling the interior from the reservoir 17 to the nozzle opening 10, the pressure is applied according to the recording signal from the drive IC 24. By applying a voltage between the lower electrode film 21 and the upper electrode film 23 corresponding to the generation chamber 12, the elastic film 19, the lower electrode film 21, and the piezoelectric layer 22 are bent and deformed, whereby each pressure generation chamber is The pressure inside the nozzle 12 increases and ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle opening 10.

  In such an ink jet recording head of this embodiment, the pair of actuator chips 16A and 16B are formed, and the reservoir 17 is formed in the area between them, so that the reservoir 17 can be easily set to a desired size. it can. Further, since it is not necessary to increase the area of the actuator chip 16 regardless of the size of the reservoir 17, even when the nozzle openings 10 are arranged at a high density and the number of nozzles is increased, a relatively inexpensive ink jet recording head is manufactured. can do.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of flow path forming substrates 13 constituting the actuator chips 16A and 16B described above are integrally formed on a flow path forming substrate wafer 130 made of a silicon single crystal substrate, A plurality of protective substrates 15 are also integrally formed on a protective substrate wafer 150 made of a silicon single crystal substrate. Then, after joining the flow path forming substrate wafer 130 and the protective substrate wafer 150, the flow path forming substrate wafer 130 and the protective substrate wafer 150 are cut in a predetermined region, whereby the actuator chip 16A, 16B is formed.

  Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing such an ink jet recording head will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views of regions where the pair of actuator chips 16A and 16B are formed on the flow path forming substrate wafer 130 and the protective substrate wafer 150. FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 4A, the elastic film 19 is formed on the flow path forming substrate wafer 130. In the present embodiment, a mask film 34 is formed on the other surface side of the flow path forming substrate wafer 130 as a mask for forming a pressure generating chamber or the like. Specifically, after forming a zirconium layer on both surfaces of the flow path forming substrate wafer 130, the elastic film 19 and the mask film 34 made of zirconium oxide were formed by thermal oxidation in a diffusion furnace at 500 to 1200 ° C., for example. The driving IC 24 for driving the piezoelectric element 14 is integrally formed in advance at a predetermined position of the flow path forming substrate wafer 130 by, for example, a semiconductor process.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, for example, after the lower electrode film 21 is formed by laminating platinum and iridium on the elastic film 19, the lower electrode film 21 is patterned into a predetermined shape. Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, a piezoelectric layer 22 made of, for example, lead zirconate titanate (PZT) or the like, and an upper electrode film 23 made of, for example, iridium, are connected to the flow path forming substrate wafer 130. On the entire surface. Next, as shown in FIG. 4 (d), the piezoelectric layer 14 is formed by patterning the piezoelectric layer 22 and the upper electrode film 23 in regions facing the pressure generating chambers 12. As a result, a piezoelectric element group including a plurality of piezoelectric elements 14 is formed in a matrix at predetermined intervals on the flow path forming substrate wafer 130.

In the present embodiment, simultaneously with the patterning of the piezoelectric layer 22 and the upper electrode film 23, the elastic film 19 in the region facing the drive IC 24 is driven on the lead electrode 25 and the lower electrode film 21 drawn from each piezoelectric element 14. A connection hole 35 to be a connection portion with the IC 24 is formed. In addition, although not shown, a connection hole serving as a connection portion between the connection wiring 26 and the drive IC 24 is formed at the same time.
Next, as shown in FIG. 4E, lead electrodes 25 and connection wirings 26 are formed. For example, in this embodiment, after the metal layer 36 made of gold (Au) is formed over the entire surface of the flow path forming substrate wafer 130, the metal layer 36 is patterned to thereby form each lead electrode 25 and connection wiring 26. Form.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5A, a protective substrate wafer 150 is bonded to the flow path forming substrate wafer 130 on the piezoelectric element 14 side via an adhesive layer 37. Here, the protective substrate wafer 150 is provided with a piezoelectric element holding portion 27 that protects each piezoelectric element 14 for each piezoelectric element group in advance. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, slit holes 38 penetrating in the thickness direction are respectively provided between the piezoelectric element holding portions 27A and 27B in the region to be the pair of actuator chips 16A and 16B. Further, in the present embodiment, an exposure hole 39 for exposing the connection terminal 26a is formed in advance between the piezoelectric element holding portions 27 adjacent in the width direction of the piezoelectric element 14 (see FIG. 6). The slit hole 38 has a width narrower than the width of the reservoir 17 and a width wider than a margin for cutting the flow path forming substrate wafer 130 and the protective substrate wafer 150 in a process described later. The The method for forming the piezoelectric element holding portion 27, the slit hole 38, and the exposure hole 39 is not particularly limited. For example, in this embodiment, the protective substrate wafer 150 is formed by anisotropic etching. .

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, the pressure generating chamber 12 is formed by anisotropically etching the flow path forming substrate wafer 130 through the mask film 34 patterned into a predetermined shape. At the same time, the communication portion 40 is formed in a region facing the slit hole 38 of the protective substrate wafer 150, and the ink supply path 20 is formed so as to connect the communication portion 40 and each pressure generating chamber 12.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, an ink-resistant protective film 29 is formed at least on the inner surfaces of the slit hole 38 and the communication portion 40, in this embodiment, further on the inner surfaces of the pressure generation chamber 12 and the ink supply path 20. Form. As a method for forming such a protective film 29, it is preferable to use a method that can be formed at a relatively low temperature, for example, a temperature of 100 ° C. or less, such as ion-assisted deposition, electron cyclotron resonance sputtering, horizontal facing sputtering, or the like. Physical vapor deposition (PVD) can be mentioned, and ion-assisted deposition is used in this embodiment.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7A, the flow path forming substrate wafer 130 and the protective substrate wafer 150 are cut by dicing to form a plurality of actuator chips 16 that form a pair of actuator chips 16A and 16B. Divide into Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the flow path forming substrate wafer 130 and the protective substrate wafer 150 are divided into regions between the piezoelectric element holding portions 27 of the protective substrate wafer 150, that is, the slit holes 38 and Each actuator chip 16 is divided by cutting along a cutting line (indicated by a one-dot chain line in the drawing) including a region along the exposure hole 39.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, the pair of actuator chips 16 </ b> A and 16 </ b> B are joined to the nozzle plate 11 at a predetermined interval so that the end surfaces on the side cut in the region facing the slit hole 39 face each other. And the side wall member 18 which has the convex part 18a on the side surface of actuator chip 16A, 16B is joined. Thereby, the reservoir 17 substantially formed by the slit hole 39 and the communication portion 40 is formed between the actuator chips 16A and 16B (see FIG. 2). Note that the exposed surfaces 13 a and 15 a where the surfaces of the flow path forming substrate 13 and the protective substrate 15 are exposed by bonding by the side wall member 18 and being cut by dicing are covered with the convex portions 18 a of the side wall member 18. Therefore, an ink-resistant protective film 29 is provided on the entire surface of the flow path forming substrate 13 and the protective substrate 15 constituting the inner surface of the reservoir 17.
After that, the compliance substrate 32 is bonded onto the protective substrate 15 and the side wall member 18 to obtain the ink jet recording head of this embodiment.

  In the manufacturing method of the present invention described above, the pair of actuator chips 16A and 16B are formed and the reservoir 17 is formed between them, so that the area of each actuator chip 16 can be reduced. Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the driving IC 24 for driving the piezoelectric element 14 is formed integrally with the flow path forming substrate 13, the space for connecting the piezoelectric element and the driving IC is reduced. In addition, the area of the actuator chip can be reduced. Therefore, the number of actuator chips per wafer can be greatly increased, and the cost can be significantly reduced, so that an inexpensive ink jet recording head can be provided.

  For example, in an ink jet recording head of a type having a reservoir on both sides of a flow path forming substrate and having a through-hole for connecting a piezoelectric element and a drive IC at the center as described in the background art, Forty-four chips having two rows of pressure generation chambers can be manufactured from the wafer. On the other hand, according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, 71 pairs of a pair of actuator chips 16A and 16B could be manufactured.

(Other embodiments)
As mentioned above, although each embodiment of the present invention was described, of course, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the protective film 29 is provided on the inner surface of the reservoir 17, but of course, this protective film may not be provided. In the above-described embodiment, the ink jet recording head has been described as an example of the liquid ejecting head of the present invention. However, the basic configuration of the liquid ejecting head is not limited to the above-described configuration. The present invention covers a wide range of liquid ejecting heads, and can naturally be applied to those ejecting liquids other than ink. Other liquid ejecting heads include, for example, various recording heads used in image recording apparatuses such as printers, color material ejecting heads used in the manufacture of color filters such as liquid crystal displays, organic EL displays, and FEDs (surface emitting displays). Examples thereof include an electrode material ejection head used for electrode formation, a bioorganic matter ejection head used for biochip production, and the like.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the recording head according to the first embodiment. 2A and 2B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view of the recording head according to the first embodiment. The perspective view which shows the wafer for flow-path formation substrates, and the wafer for protective substrates. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a manufacturing process of the recording head according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a manufacturing process of the recording head according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating a manufacturing process of the recording head according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a manufacturing process of the recording head according to the first embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Nozzle opening, 11 Nozzle plate, 12 Pressure generating chamber, 13 Flow path formation board, 14 Piezoelectric element, 15 Protection board, 16 Actuator chip, 17 Reservoir, 18 Side wall member, 24 Drive IC, 29 Protection film, 32 Compliance board

Claims (7)

A nozzle plate having nozzle openings for discharging droplets; a flow path forming substrate having a row of pressure generating chambers communicating with the nozzle openings; and each pressure generating chamber on one side of the flow path forming substrate And a protective substrate having a piezoelectric element holding portion that is bonded to the one surface side of the flow path forming substrate and protects each piezoelectric element group. And a manufacturing method of a liquid ejecting head provided with a reservoir in which each of the pressure generation chambers communicates with each other between a pair of the pressure generation chambers,
Forming a pair of piezoelectric element groups corresponding to the row of the pair of pressure generating chambers in a matrix on one surface side of the flow path forming substrate wafer, the piezoelectric element holding portion, and the pair of piezoelectric element groups Bonding a protective substrate wafer having a slit hole narrower than the reservoir provided in each of the regions facing each other to the flow path forming substrate wafer; and Forming a flow path including a pressure generation chamber and a communication portion provided in a region facing the slit hole; and the flow path forming substrate wafer in a predetermined region including a region facing the slit hole and the communication portion. And a step of cutting the protective substrate wafer into actuator chips having a row of the piezoelectric element groups, and the pair of actuator chips so that the slit hole sides face each other. And a step of joining the nozzle plate at regular intervals, and a step of forming a reservoir by joining side wall members to both side surfaces of the actuator chip and closing the space between the pair of actuator chips. A method for manufacturing a liquid jet head. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, prior to the step of dividing the flow path forming substrate wafer and the protective substrate wafer, at least the communication portion of the flow path forming substrate wafer and the slit hole of the protective substrate wafer. A method of manufacturing a liquid jet head, comprising a step of forming a liquid-resistant protective film on an inner surface. 3. The step of forming the reservoir according to claim 1, wherein the side surface portion is sealed so that a cut surface on the slit hole side of the flow path forming substrate wafer and the protective substrate wafer is not exposed. A method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head. 4. The piezoelectric element for each piezoelectric element group according to claim 1, wherein a region corresponding to an outer side of the pressure generation chamber on the side opposite to the flow path of the flow path forming substrate wafer is provided for each piezoelectric element group. A method of manufacturing a liquid jet head, wherein a drive IC for driving the liquid jet head is formed in advance. 5. The exposure hole for exposing the surface of the flow path forming substrate is formed in advance in each of the regions between the piezoelectric element groups adjacent to each other in the direction in which the piezoelectric elements are arranged in the protective substrate wafer. In the step of dividing the flow path forming substrate wafer and the protective substrate wafer, a predetermined region including a region facing the exposure hole is cut. 6. The method of manufacturing a liquid jet head according to claim 1, wherein in the step of dividing the actuator chip, the flow path forming substrate wafer and the protective substrate wafer are cut by dicing. A nozzle plate having a nozzle opening for ejecting liquid droplets, a flow path forming substrate having a pressure generating chamber communicating with the nozzle opening, and a piezoelectric element provided on one side of the flow path forming substrate; A liquid ejecting head comprising: a protective substrate having a piezoelectric element holding portion that is bonded to the one surface side of the flow path forming substrate and protects the piezoelectric element group;
A pair of actuator chips formed of the flow path forming substrate and the protective substrate and bonded to the nozzle plate; and sidewall members bonded across the side surfaces of the pair of actuator chips and the end surface of the nozzle plate. A reservoir communicating with each of the pressure generating chambers is formed between the pair of actuator chips, and end surfaces constituting the inner surfaces of the reservoir of the flow path forming substrate and the protective substrate are formed by etching surfaces. A liquid jet head characterized by that.

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