JP2010083134A - Inkjet head and method for manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inkjet head capable of improving a manufacturing yield and securing stable quality based on a strong joining force between configurations, and to provide a method for manufacturing the inkjet head. <P>SOLUTION: The inkjet head includes: a reservoir which stores ink; an inflow port through which the ink is supplied to the reservoir; a chamber to which the ink is supplied from the reservoir; a restrictor by which the reservoir and the chamber are connected; a nozzle which discharges the ink; and a damper which is interposed between the chamber and the nozzle. Furthermore, the inkjet head includes: a first silicon plate in which a part of the damper, the chamber, the reservoir and the restrictor are formed; a glass vibration plate which is joined to the upper surface of the first plate so as to cover the chamber; a second glass plate which is joined to the lower surface of the first plate and in which a part of the damper is formed; and a silicon nozzle plate which is joined to the lower surface of the second plate and in which the nozzle is formed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an inkjet head and a manufacturing method thereof.

  The ink-jet head uses a principle of converting an electrical signal into a physical force and using this force to eject ink in the form of droplets through a small nozzle. Such an ink jet head can be formed by processing various parts such as a chamber, a restrictor, a nozzle, and a damper into respective layers and then bonding the processed layers to each other. Such ink-jet technology is used not only in the field of graphic ink-jet industry for printing on conventional paper and textiles, but also in the production of electronic components such as recent printed circuit boards and LCD panels, and its application has been expanded. .

  However, compared with the conventional graphic printing technology, the inkjet printing technology for electronic parts that must eject functional ink accurately and precisely requires a function that is not required for the conventional inkjet head. For example, deviations in the size and speed of the ejected droplets are basically required, and in addition, high density and high frequency characteristics for increasing the production amount are required.

  Conventional ink-jet heads are manufactured mainly using stainless steel (also called SUS), high-temperature ceramics, and single crystal silicon. In the case of SUS, a design change is not easy because a mold is used. Recently, a single crystal silicon material head has attracted attention, but the manufacturing method using this single crystal silicon wafer is a method in which elements having respective functions are individually processed and bonded to two or three wafers. is there.

  In order to manufacture the inkjet head, a SUS plate processed by punching or wet etching (Wet Etching) is bonded, or a silicon wafer is processed by a plasma processing method, and these are directly bonded to silicon or fusion bonded. To join. However, since the silicon bonding process is very difficult, there is a problem that sufficient reliability and yield cannot be obtained.

  Furthermore, in the case of direct silicon bonding, it is desired that the surface roughness of the silicon wafer is low, but the silicon wafer that has undergone the MEMS process has a very rough surface or has internal stress. become. When silicon direct bonding is performed with such a silicon wafer, there is a problem that the yield is reduced to 50 to 70% or less.

  In order to solve such problems of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet head capable of improving production yield and ensuring stable quality, and a method for manufacturing the same.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, a reservoir for storing ink, an inlet for supplying ink to the reservoir, a chamber to which ink is supplied from the reservoir, a restrictor connecting the reservoir and the chamber, and discharging ink An inkjet head including a damper portion and a damper portion interposed between the chamber and the nozzle, wherein the portion of the damper portion, the chamber, the reservoir, and the restrictor are formed of a silicon material. A first plate, a glass-made diaphragm bonded to the upper surface of the first plate so as to cover the chamber, and a lower surface of the first plate are bonded to form a part of the damper portion. A second plate made of a glass material and a silicon material bonded to the lower surface of the second plate to form the nozzle. An inkjet head including a nozzle plate, is provided.

  Here, a part of the damper portion formed on the second plate may have a shape whose width becomes narrower toward the nozzle plate.

  The first plate is an SOI substrate, a part of the damper portion and the reservoir are formed by processing a lower surface of the SOI substrate, and the chamber and the restrictor are formed by processing an upper surface of the SOI substrate. Can be formed.

  According to another embodiment of the present invention, a reservoir for storing ink, an inlet for supplying ink to the reservoir, a chamber to which ink is supplied from the reservoir, a restrictor connecting the reservoir and the chamber, and an ink A method of manufacturing an inkjet head including a nozzle for discharging and a damper portion interposed between the chamber and the nozzle, wherein the first plate made of silicon is formed to correspond to the chamber and the restrictor. A step of processing the upper surface, a step of processing the lower surface of the first plate so as to correspond to the damper portion and the reservoir, and a step of processing a diaphragm made of glass so as to correspond to the inlet. The step of processing the second plate made of glass so as to correspond to the damper part, and the step corresponding to the nozzle, A step of processing a nozzle plate made of a recon material, a step of bonding the diaphragm to the upper surface of the first plate, a step of bonding the nozzle plate to the lower surface of the second plate, and a lower surface of the first plate; There is provided a method of manufacturing an ink-jet head including a step of joining the upper surface of the second plate.

  A part of the damper portion formed on the second plate may have a shape that becomes narrower toward the nozzle plate, and the first plate may be an SOI substrate.

  Further, the step of processing the glass diaphragm so as to correspond to the inlet corresponds to the inlet on one surface of the diaphragm before the step of joining the diaphragm to the upper surface of the first plate. And a step of polishing the other surface of the vibration plate after the step of bonding the vibration plate to the upper surface of the first plate.

  Here, the step of polishing the other surface of the diaphragm can be performed by a CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) method.

  Further, the step of processing the silicon nozzle plate so as to correspond to the nozzle corresponds to the nozzle on one surface of the nozzle plate before the step of joining the nozzle plate to the lower surface of the second plate. The step of forming a groove and the step of polishing the other surface of the nozzle plate after the step of bonding the nozzle plate to the lower surface of the second plate can be included.

  According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the production yield is improved, and stable quality can be ensured based on the firm coupling force between the components.

  It should be noted that the above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention. In addition, a sub-combination of these feature groups can also be an invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing an inkjet head according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process of an inkjet head manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. In addition, not all the combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential for the solving means of the invention.

  Since the present invention can be modified in various ways and can have various embodiments, specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail herein. However, this is not to be construed as limiting the invention to the specific embodiments, but is to be understood as including all transformations, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. In the drawings, like reference numerals have been used for like components.

  Terms including ordinal numbers such as “first”, “second”, etc. are only used to describe various components, and the components are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another.

  An inkjet head according to an embodiment of the present invention and a method for manufacturing the same will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same and corresponding components are denoted by the same reference numerals. The overlapping explanation for this will be omitted.

First, a method for manufacturing an inkjet head according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing a method of manufacturing an ink jet head according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 16 are drawings showing steps of the method of manufacturing an ink jet head according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 to 16, the first plate 10, the silicon layers 11 and 12, the damper portion 11a, the reservoir 11b, the chamber 12a, the restrictor 12b, the inlet 12c, the insulating layer 13, the diaphragms 20 and 20 ′, the flow The inlet 22, the second plate 30, the damper portion 32, the nozzle plates 40 and 40 ′, and the nozzle 42 are shown.

  Before specifically describing the method of manufacturing the ink jet head according to the present embodiment, the components of the ink jet head described above will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

  The chamber 12a accommodates ink, and when pressure is applied by an actuator (not shown) formed on the upper surface of the vibration plate 20 ′, the accommodated ink is moved toward the nozzle 42 so that the ink is ejected from the nozzle 42. It is a means to make it discharge.

  The reservoir 11b is means for receiving ink supplied from the outside through the inlets 12c, 22 and the like, storing the ink, and supplying the ink to the chamber 12a.

  The restrictor 12b is a means for performing a function of adjusting the flow of ink between the reservoir 11b and the chamber 12a by allowing the reservoir 11b and the chamber 12a to communicate with each other. Such a restrictor 12b is formed to have a smaller cross-sectional area than the reservoir 11b and the chamber 12a, and is supplied from the reservoir 11b to the chamber 12a when the diaphragm 20 ′ is vibrated by an actuator (not shown). The amount of ink can be adjusted.

  The nozzle 42 is connected to the chamber 12a and performs a function of ejecting ink supplied from the chamber 12a. When vibration generated by an actuator (not shown) is transmitted to the chamber 12a via the diaphragm 20 ', pressure is applied to the chamber 12a, and the nozzle 42 ejects ink by this pressure.

  On the other hand, damper portions 11a and 32 are formed between the chamber 12a and the nozzle 42 described above. The damper portions 11a and 32 can perform a function of buffering a sudden pressure change by concentrating energy generated from the chamber 12a on the nozzle 42.

  As described above, in order to form the above-described components, the present embodiment provides a method using two silicon substrates and two glass substrates. Specifically, after forming the above-described components separately on two silicon substrates and two glass substrates, an ink jet head is manufactured by bonding them. Hereinafter, this will be described more specifically.

First, in step S110, the upper surface of the first plate 10 made of silicon is processed so as to correspond to the chamber 12a and the restrictor 12b. As the first plate 10, as shown in FIG. 2, an SOI substrate 10 in which an insulating layer 13 such as SiO ₂ is interposed between silicon layers can be used. In the following description, the use of an SOI substrate as the first plate 10 will be described as an example. However, a silicon wafer or the like can be used as the first plate 10 in addition to the SOI substrate.

  In order to process the upper surface of the first plate 10, specifically, the upper silicon layer 12 of the SOI substrate 10, a mask that selectively opens portions where the chamber 12 a and the restrictor 12 b are formed on the upper surface of the upper silicon layer 12. A method of selectively etching the opened portion after arranging (not shown) can be used.

  At this time, in order to process the portion where the restrictor 12b is formed, the process of processing the upper surface of the SOI substrate 10 can be dualized. That is, after the primary etching is performed as shown in FIG. 3, the region (h) where the restrictor 12b is formed is formed more reliably by performing the secondary etching as shown in FIG. be able to.

  As described above, if the chamber 12a or the like is formed using the SOI substrate 10, the insulating layer 13 positioned between the upper and lower silicon layers 11 and 12 can function as an etch barrier. The depth of the can be secured more stably.

  That is, the depth of the chamber 12a and the like are determined according to the thickness of the upper silicon layer regardless of the processing process environment, so the upper silicon layer having a thickness corresponding to the depth of the chamber 12a to be formed. If the SOI substrate 10 having 12 is prepared, the depth of the chamber 12a can be stably secured regardless of various process environments.

  As described above, as a method for processing the upper surface of the SOI substrate 10, a dry reactive ion etching (DRIE) method excellent in vertical shape control can be used.

  After processing the upper surface of the SOI substrate 10 as described above, in step S120, the lower surface of the first plate 10 is processed so as to correspond to the damper portion 11a and the reservoir 11b as shown in FIG. The lower silicon layer 11 is processed in the same manner as the method of processing the first plate 10, that is, the upper surface of the SOI substrate 10 in this embodiment.

  Next, in step S130, as shown in FIG. 6, a groove is formed on one surface of the diaphragm 20 made of glass so as to correspond to the inlet 22, and in step S140, as shown in FIG. One surface of the diaphragm 20 is bonded to the upper surface of the substrate 10, and the other surface of the diaphragm 20 is polished in step S150 as shown in FIG. By using a sand blast method or the like as a method of forming a groove in the vibration plate 20 made of glass and using a CMP method as a method of polishing the vibration plate 20, it is possible to ensure process optimization and excellent quality. . Further, by bonding the glass diaphragm 20 on the silicon first plate 10, anodic bonding between silicon and glass can be realized at the bonding surface between the first plate 10 and the diaphragm 20. Therefore, it is possible to expect an improved product reliability based on a firm bond strength.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 9, a second plate 30 made of glass is prepared. In step S160, the second plate 30 made of glass is processed so as to correspond to the damper portion 32 as shown in FIG. To do. For the processing of the second plate 30, a sandblast method or the like can be used similarly to the diaphragm 20.

  On the other hand, the damper part 32 formed in the 2nd plate 30 can be made into the shape where a width | variety becomes narrow toward the lower surface direction to which the nozzle plate 40 is joined, as shown in FIG. From such an inclined surface structure, the possibility that micro bubbles are formed on the boundary surface between the nozzle 42 and the damper portion 32 can be reduced. Further, if the inclined surface is formed on the damper portion 32 and the nozzle 42 is formed on the rectilinear surface, it is possible to ensure the rectilinearity of the ejected ink and to expect an improvement in print quality.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 11, a nozzle plate 40 made of silicon is prepared. In step S170, a groove is formed on one surface of the nozzle plate 40 made of silicon so as to correspond to the nozzle 42 as shown in FIG. Process. A groove is formed in the nozzle plate 40 made of silicon in the same manner as the processing method of the SOI substrate 10 described above.

  Next, in step S180, as shown in FIG. 13, one surface of the nozzle plate 40 is joined to the lower surface of the second plate 30, and in step S190, the other surface of the nozzle plate 40 is polished as shown in FIG. . By joining the nozzle plate 40 made of silicon to the second plate 30 made of glass, anodic bonding between glass and silicon can be realized at the joining surface between the second plate 30 and the nozzle plate 40, An improved product reliability can be expected based on a firm bond strength. For the polishing of the nozzle plate 40, the CMP method can be used similarly to the vibration plate 20.

  Thereafter, in step S200, the lower surface of the first plate 10 and the upper surface of the second plate 30 are joined as shown in FIG. By joining the first plate 10 made of silicon and the second plate 30 made of glass, anodic bonding can be actually changed between them, and a firm bonding force can be secured.

  FIG. 16 shows the ink jet head formed by the above steps.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The execution order of each process such as operation, procedure, step, and process in the method shown in the claims, description, and drawings is clearly indicated as “before”, “prior”, etc. Also, it should be noted that the output of the previous process can be implemented in any order unless it is used in the subsequent process. Even if the operation flow in the claims, the description, and the drawings is described using “first,” “next,” etc. for the sake of convenience, it means that it is essential to carry out in this order. It is not a thing.

  The “upper surface” in the specification and claims refers to one surface of a plate, a substrate, etc., and does not mean only the “upper” surface in the vertical direction. Similarly, the “lower surface” refers to another surface of the plate or the substrate, and does not mean only the “lower” surface in the vertical direction.

10 First plate, SOI substrate
11, 12 Silicon layer 11a Damper portion 11b Reservoir 12a Chamber 12b Restrictor 12c Inlet 13 Insulating layer 20, 20 'Vibration plate 22 Inlet 30 Second plate 32 Damper portions 40, 40' Nozzle plate 42 Nozzle

Claims (9)

A reservoir for storing ink, an inlet for supplying ink to the reservoir, a chamber to which ink is supplied from the reservoir, a restrictor connecting the reservoir and the chamber, a nozzle for discharging ink, and the chamber and the nozzle; An ink jet head including a damper portion interposed between
A first plate made of silicon material on which a part of the damper part, the chamber, the reservoir, and the restrictor are formed;
A glass diaphragm bonded to the upper surface of the first plate to cover the chamber;
A second plate made of a glass material bonded to the lower surface of the first plate and formed with a part of the damper portion;
A silicon nozzle plate bonded to the lower surface of the second plate and having the nozzle formed thereon;
Inkjet head including.   2. The inkjet head according to claim 1, wherein a part of the damper portion formed on the second plate has a shape that becomes narrower toward the nozzle plate. The first plate is an SOI substrate;
A part of the damper part and the reservoir are formed by processing a lower surface of the SOI substrate,
The inkjet head according to claim 1, wherein the chamber and the restrictor are formed by processing an upper surface of the SOI substrate. A reservoir for storing ink, an inlet for supplying ink to the reservoir, a chamber for supplying ink from the reservoir, a restrictor for connecting the reservoir and the chamber, a nozzle for discharging ink, and the chamber and the nozzle A method of manufacturing an ink jet head including a damper portion interposed between
Processing the upper surface of the first plate made of silicon so as to correspond to the chamber and the restrictor;
Processing the lower surface of the first plate so as to correspond to the damper portion and the reservoir;
Processing a glass-made diaphragm so as to correspond to the inflow port;
Processing the second plate made of glass so as to correspond to the damper portion;
A step of processing a nozzle plate made of silicon so as to correspond to the nozzle;
Bonding the diaphragm to the upper surface of the first plate;
Bonding the nozzle plate to the lower surface of the second plate;
Bonding the lower surface of the first plate and the upper surface of the second plate;
A method for manufacturing an ink-jet head comprising:   5. The method of manufacturing an ink jet head according to claim 4, wherein a part of the damper portion formed on the second plate has a shape whose width becomes narrower toward the nozzle plate.   The method of manufacturing an ink jet head according to claim 4, wherein the first plate is an SOI substrate. The process of processing the diaphragm made of glass so as to correspond to the inflow port,
Before the step of joining the diaphragm to the upper surface of the first plate, forming a groove corresponding to the inlet on one surface of the diaphragm;
Polishing the other surface of the diaphragm after the step of bonding the diaphragm to the upper surface of the first plate;
The method of manufacturing an ink jet head according to claim 4, comprising:   The method of manufacturing an ink jet head according to claim 7, wherein the step of polishing the other surface of the diaphragm is performed by a CMP method. A step of processing a nozzle plate made of silicon so as to correspond to the nozzle,
Forming a groove corresponding to the nozzle on one surface of the nozzle plate before the step of joining the nozzle plate to the lower surface of the second plate;
Polishing the other surface of the nozzle plate after the step of bonding the nozzle plate to the lower surface of the second plate;
The method of manufacturing an ink jet head according to claim 4, comprising:

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