JP2012218261A - Liquid jet head unit, manufacturing method therefor, and liquid jet apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid jet head unit capable of performing highly accurate positioning of each recording head relatively easily and inexpensively and to provide a manufacturing method therefor and a liquid jet apparatus.SOLUTION: The liquid jet head unit 1 includes a plurality of liquid jet heads 200 each jetting a liquid droplet from a nozzle 206, and a fixing plate 300 having an exposure hole 301 for exposing the nozzle and allowing the mutually positioned liquid jet heads 200 to be fixed. The fixing plate 300 is provided with a spring 302 at the edge of the exposure hole 301 and each of the liquid jet heads 200 is bonded to the fixing plate 300 while being pressed toward the inside of the exposure hole 301 by means of the spring 302.

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head unit including a plurality of liquid ejecting heads for ejecting liquid droplets, the plurality of liquid ejecting heads being positioned and fixed to a fixed plate, a manufacturing method thereof, and a liquid ejecting apparatus.

  Conventionally, for example, a liquid ejecting head that ejects liquid droplets from a nozzle by applying pressure to the liquid by a pressure generating unit such as a piezoelectric element or a heat generating element is known. An ink jet type recording head (hereinafter also simply referred to as “recording head”) is exemplified. In general, a plurality of such recording heads are fixed in a state of being arranged in parallel to form an ink jet recording head unit (hereinafter also simply referred to as “head unit”), and the head unit is used for ink jet recording. It is mounted on a device (hereinafter also simply referred to as “recording device”).

  As the head unit, for example, a flow path formation in which a flow path such as a nozzle plate having nozzles for ejecting ink droplets and a pressure generation chamber communicating with the nozzles or a reservoir communicating with a plurality of pressure generation chambers is formed. There is one in which a plurality of recording heads having a substrate are fixed to a fixed plate while being positioned relative to each other (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Further, when manufacturing such a head unit, each recording head is positioned using a glass mask or the like by a predetermined alignment device, and each recording head is fixed to a fixed plate in this state. Thereby, each recording head can be fixed to the fixed plate in a state of being positioned with high accuracy.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-096419

  However, if the recording head is positioned by such a method, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost increases. For example, the alignment apparatus is relatively expensive and requires a large initial investment. Further, depending on the alignment apparatus, a relatively long time is required for the positioning operation, and the manufacturing efficiency decreases.

  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.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a liquid ejecting head unit, a manufacturing method thereof, and a liquid ejecting apparatus that can position recording heads with high accuracy relative to each other relatively easily and inexpensively. The purpose is to do.

The present invention that solves the above-described problems includes a plurality of liquid ejecting heads that eject liquid droplets from nozzles, and an exposure hole that exposes the nozzles, and the liquid ejecting heads are fixed in a state where they are positioned relative to each other. A liquid ejecting head unit including a plate, wherein the fixed plate includes a spring portion at an edge of the exposure hole, and the liquid ejecting head is pressed toward the inside of the exposure hole by the spring portion. In the liquid ejecting head unit, the liquid ejecting head unit is joined to the fixed plate in a state of being formed.
In the present invention, each recording head is pressed by a spring portion provided on the fixed plate, and each recording head is brought into contact with a predetermined positioning jig, thereby positioning each recording head relatively easily and inexpensively. be able to. Therefore, the landing position accuracy of the droplets ejected from the nozzle is greatly improved.

  Here, the said spring part is each provided in the two sides which the said exposure hole cross | intersects, for example. Moreover, the said spring part is provided in the corner part of the said exposure hole, for example. Each recording head can be positioned with higher accuracy by bringing the two surfaces of each recording head into contact with the positioning jig by such a spring portion.

  Further, it is preferable that the spring portion is provided so as to protrude from an edge portion of the exposure hole to the inside of the exposure hole and toward the liquid ejecting head. That is, it is preferable that the spring portion does not protrude toward the nozzle side. Thus, the spring portion does not get in the way when the droplet is ejected, and each recording head can be reliably pressed by the spring portion regardless of the structure of the recording head.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing the liquid jet head unit having the above-described configuration, in which a side surface of the liquid jet head arranged on the surface of the fixed plate is placed on a predetermined positioning jig by a pressing force of the spring portion. The liquid ejecting heads are positioned in contact with each other by contacting a reference surface, and the liquid ejecting head is joined to the fixed plate in a state where the liquid ejecting head is in contact with the reference surface. The method is for manufacturing a liquid jet head unit.
In the manufacturing method of the present invention, each recording head can be positioned with high accuracy and fixed to the fixing plate relatively easily and inexpensively.

  In the positioning jig, the reference surface is preferably formed by a photolithography method. As a result, the reference surface can be formed with extremely high accuracy. Therefore, each recording head can also be positioned with high accuracy using this reference plane.

  According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a liquid ejecting apparatus including the liquid ejecting head unit configured as described above. In the present invention, a liquid ejecting apparatus with improved reliability can be realized at low cost.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the head unit which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is principal part sectional drawing of the head unit which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a recording head according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the top view and sectional view of a fixed board concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view which shows the modification of the stationary plate which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the top view and sectional drawing which show the positioning jig which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the manufacturing method of the head unit which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the modification of the stationary plate which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the modification of the head unit which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an ink jet recording head unit 1, which is an example of a liquid ejecting head unit, includes a cartridge case 100, an ink jet recording head 200, and a fixed plate on which a plurality of recording heads 200 are positioned and fixed. 300.

  The cartridge case 100 includes, for example, a cartridge mounting portion 101 that is formed of a resin material and into which ink cartridges (not shown) that store ink of each color are mounted. On the bottom surface side of the cartridge case 100, a plurality of ink communication paths 102 having one end opened to each cartridge mounting portion 101 and the other end opened to the recording head 200 side are provided. An ink supply needle 103 to be inserted into the ink cartridge is fixed to the opening portion of the ink communication path 102 of the cartridge mounting portion 101.

  A plurality of (for example, four) recording heads 200 positioned at predetermined intervals are fixed to the bottom surface of the cartridge case 100. Each recording head 200 is provided corresponding to each color ink, for example, and is bonded to the fixed plate 300 while being positioned, and is fixed to the bottom surface of the cartridge case 100.

  Here, the configuration of the recording head 200 will be described. A known head may be used as the recording head 200, and an example thereof will be described here. As shown in FIG. 3, the flow path forming substrate 201 constituting the recording head 200 includes a plurality of pressure generation chambers 202, a communication portion 203 communicating with the plurality of pressure generation chambers 202, and communication with each pressure generation chamber 202. An ink supply path 204 that connects the section 203 is formed. A nozzle plate 207 in which a plurality of nozzles 206 communicating with each pressure generating chamber 202 is formed is joined to one surface side of the flow path forming substrate 201. On the other surface side of the flow path forming substrate 201, a piezoelectric element 209 is provided as pressure generating means for applying pressure for ejecting ink droplets from the nozzle 206 into the pressure generating chamber 202 via the elastic film 208. Yes.

  A protective substrate 211 having a piezoelectric element holding portion 210 for protecting the piezoelectric element 209 is bonded on the flow path forming substrate 201. The protective substrate 211 is formed with a manifold portion 212 that constitutes a manifold 205 that communicates with the communication portion 203 of the flow path forming substrate 201 and serves as a common ink chamber for the pressure generation chambers 202.

  A drive IC 213 for driving each piezoelectric element 209 is mounted on the protective substrate 211. Each output terminal of the drive IC 213 is connected to a lead electrode drawn from an individual electrode of each piezoelectric element 209 through a bonding wire or the like, although not shown. Although not shown, each input terminal of the drive IC 213 is connected to an external wiring such as a flexible printed cable (FPC), and various signals such as a print signal are supplied through the external wiring.

  A compliance substrate 215 is bonded on the protective substrate 211. The compliance substrate 215 is provided with a flexible portion 216 that is thinner than the other regions, facing the manifold 205. The compliance substrate 215 has an ink introduction port 217 communicating with the manifold 205.

  On the compliance substrate 215, a head case 219 provided with an ink supply communication path 218 communicating with the ink introduction port 217 and communicating with the ink communication path 102 of the cartridge case 100 is joined. Ink is supplied into the manifold 205 through the ink communication path 102, the ink supply communication path 218, and the ink introduction port 217. The head case 219 is provided with a drive IC holding part 220 penetrating in the thickness direction in a region facing the drive IC 213. Although not shown, each drive IC 213 is placed in the drive IC holding part 220. Potting agent is filled so as to cover.

  In the recording head 200 having such a configuration, after filling the interior from the manifold 205 to the nozzle 206 with ink, a voltage is applied to each piezoelectric element 209 corresponding to the pressure generating chamber 202 in accordance with a recording signal from the driving IC 213. Then, the elastic film 208 and the piezoelectric element 209 are bent and deformed to apply pressure to the ink in each pressure generating chamber 202, thereby ejecting ink droplets from the nozzle 206.

  The head unit 1 is fixed to the fixed plate 300 with the recording heads 200 positioned with respect to each other (see FIG. 1). The fixing plate 300 is provided with an exposure hole 301 for exposing the nozzle 206 of each recording head 200 corresponding to each recording head 200. That is, a plurality of (four in the present embodiment) exposure holes 301 corresponding to each recording head 200 are arranged in parallel on the fixed plate 300. The surface of the recording head 200 on the nozzle plate 207 side is bonded to the fixed plate 300 by the adhesive 350 with the nozzle 206 exposed from the exposure hole 301.

  Here, the fixing plate 300 is formed of, for example, a metal plate such as stainless steel (SUS), and as shown in FIG. 4, a spring portion 302 is integrally provided at the edge of each exposure hole 301. Yes. That is, the fixing plate 300 has a protrusion 303 that protrudes toward the inside of the exposure hole 301 at the edge of the exposure hole 301, and the spring portion 302 is formed by deforming the protrusion 303 toward the recording head 200. Has been. In the present embodiment, such spring portions 302 are provided on two sides where the edges of the exposure holes 301 intersect.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A, the protrusion 303 is formed in a substantially semicircular shape, but the shape of the protrusion 303 is not particularly limited. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the protruding portion 303 may be formed to protrude in a substantially T shape. By setting it as such a shape, it becomes easy to form the spring part 302 by deform | transforming the protrusion part 303. FIG.

  Each recording head 200 is joined to the fixed plate 300 in a state of being pressed toward the inside of the exposure hole 301 by the spring portion 302 as described below. As a result, the recording heads 200 are fixed to the fixing plate 300 in a state where they are positioned with high accuracy.

  Hereinafter, an example of a method for manufacturing the head unit 1 having the above-described configuration, particularly an example of a method for fixing each recording head 200 to the fixing plate 300 will be described.

  In the present embodiment, for example, the recording heads 200 are fixed to the fixing plate 300 in a state where the recording heads 200 are mutually positioned using a positioning jig 400 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the positioning jig 400 has a plurality of positioning recesses 401 in which the recording heads 200 are accommodated. The positioning recess 401 is formed with a larger opening area than the recording head 200. Further, two intersecting surfaces of the positioning recess 401 serve as a reference surface 402 for positioning each recording head 200. That is, the relative position of the reference surface 402 of each positioning recess 401 formed in the positioning jig 400 is defined with high accuracy. The reference surface 402 is preferably formed using a photolithography method. This is because the reference surface 402 can be formed with extremely high accuracy. For example, in this embodiment, the positioning jig 400 is formed of a silicon substrate, and the positioning recess 401 including the reference surface 402 is formed with high accuracy by etching the silicon substrate.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 7A, the recording head 200 disposed on the surface of the fixed plate 300 is accommodated in each positioning recess 401 of such a positioning jig 400. Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the fixed plate 300 and the positioning jig 400 are relatively moved so that the two intersecting side surfaces of the recording head 200 are pressed by the pressing force of each spring portion 302 of the fixed plate 300. The positioning jig 400 is held in contact with the two reference surfaces 402. Since the relief grooves 403 are formed in the corners defined by the two reference surfaces 402 (see FIG. 6A), the recording head 200 is brought into contact with the reference surface. Problems such as chipping of 200 do not occur.

  Next, as illustrated in FIG. 7C, in a state where the side surface of the recording head 200 is in contact with the reference surface 402 of the positioning jig 400, that is, in a state where each recording head 200 is pressed by the spring portion 302. The peripheral edge of each recording head 200 is fixed to the fixing plate 300 with an adhesive 350. Then, the head unit 1 is manufactured by curing the adhesive 350 and removing the positioning jig 400. As a result, each recording head 200 constituting the head unit 1 is pressed toward the inside of the exposure hole 301 by the spring portion 302.

  As described above, the recording heads 200 are positioned with respect to each other using the predetermined positioning jig 400 and fixed to the fixing plate 300, so that the recording heads 200 can be mutually highly accurate with high accuracy. It can be fixed to the fixing plate 300 in a positioned state. Therefore, the head unit 1 that greatly improves the landing position accuracy of the droplets ejected from the nozzle 206 can be realized at low cost.

  As mentioned above, although each embodiment of the present invention was described, the present invention is not limited to what was mentioned above. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the spring portion 302 is provided on each of two intersecting edges of the exposure hole 301 of the fixing plate 300, but the position where the spring portion 302 is provided is not limited to this. Absent. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, spring portions 302 may be provided at the corners of the exposure holes 301. However, in this case, it is preferable to form an abutting surface 200 a on which the spring portion 302 abuts at the corner of the recording head 200.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which each recording head 200 is bonded to the surface of the fixed plate 300 is illustrated as an example of the head unit. However, the configuration of the head unit 1 is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 9A, the head unit 1 may be one in which each recording head 200 is fixed in a state of being inserted into the exposure hole 301 of the fixing plate 300. In this case, as shown in FIG. 9B, the spring portion 302 may be obtained by deforming the protruding portion 303 to the nozzle 206 side (lower side in the drawing) instead of the recording head 200 insertion side. .

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the head unit 1 having such a configuration is detachably equipped with an ink cartridge 2 that constitutes an ink supply means, and is mounted on a carriage 3 of an ink jet recording apparatus I. The carriage 3 on which the head unit 1 is mounted is provided on a carriage shaft 5 attached to the apparatus main body 4 so as to be movable in the axial direction. For example, the head unit 1 discharges a black ink composition and a color ink composition, respectively.

  The driving force of the driving motor 6 is transmitted to the carriage 3 via a plurality of gears and a timing belt 7 (not shown), so that the carriage 3 on which the head unit 1 is mounted is moved along the carriage shaft 5. On the other hand, the apparatus main body 4 is provided with a platen 8 along the carriage shaft 5, and a recording sheet S, which is a recording medium such as paper fed by a not-shown paper feed roller, is conveyed on the platen 8. It is like that.

  In the above-described embodiment, the ink jet recording apparatus in which the ink jet recording head is mounted on the carriage and moves in the main scanning direction is exemplified. However, the present invention is also applicable to other types of ink jet recording apparatuses. be able to. For example, the present invention is also applied to a so-called line type ink jet recording apparatus that has a plurality of fixed ink jet recording heads and performs printing only by moving a recording sheet S such as paper in the sub-scanning direction. Can do.

  In the above-described embodiment, the flexural vibration type piezoelectric element is exemplified as the pressure generating means for applying pressure to the liquid in the pressure generating chamber. However, the pressure generating means is not particularly limited. For example, the piezoelectric material and the electrode are formed. It may be a longitudinal vibration type piezoelectric element in which materials are alternately stacked and expanded and contracted in the axial direction, or may be a heating element or the like.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention has been described by exemplifying an ink jet recording head that ejects ink droplets. However, the present invention is widely intended for all liquid ejecting heads. Examples of the liquid ejecting head include a recording head used in an image recording apparatus such as a printer, a color material ejecting head used for manufacturing a color filter such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, and an FED (field emission display). Examples thereof include an electrode material ejection head used for electrode formation and a bioorganic matter ejection head used for biochip production.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet recording head unit (head unit), 100 Cartridge case, 200 Inkjet recording head (recording head), 300 Fixing plate, 301 Exposed hole, 302 Spring part, 303 Protruding part, 350 Adhesive, 400 Positioning jig, 401 positioning recess 402 reference surface 403 escape groove I ink jet recording apparatus

Claims (7)

A liquid ejecting head comprising: a plurality of liquid ejecting heads that eject droplets from nozzles; and a fixing plate that has an exposure hole through which the nozzles are exposed and is fixed in a state where the liquid ejecting heads are positioned relative to each other. A unit,
The fixing plate includes a spring portion at an edge of the exposure hole;
The liquid ejecting head unit, wherein the liquid ejecting head is joined to the fixed plate in a state of being pressed toward the inside of the exposure hole by the spring portion.   The liquid ejecting head unit according to claim 1, wherein the spring portion is provided on each of two sides where the exposure holes intersect.   The liquid ejecting head unit according to claim 1, wherein the spring portion is provided at a corner portion of the exposure hole.   The liquid according to claim 1, wherein the spring portion is provided so as to protrude from an edge portion of the exposure hole to the inside of the exposure hole and toward the liquid ejecting head. Jet head unit. It is a manufacturing method of the liquid jet head unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The side surfaces of the liquid ejecting heads arranged on the surface of the fixed plate are brought into contact with the reference surface of a predetermined positioning jig by the pressing force of the spring portion, and the liquid ejecting heads are positioned relative to each other.
A method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head unit, comprising: joining the liquid ejecting head to the fixed plate in a state where the liquid ejecting head is in contact with the reference surface.   The method of manufacturing a liquid jet head unit according to claim 5, wherein the positioning jig has the reference surface formed by a photolithography method.   A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising the liquid ejecting head unit according to claim 1.

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