CN1313273C - Method of encapsulating an inkjet head - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for packaging an ink-jet head, which comprises the following steps: forming a barrier layer on a heating chip to expose the left and right side parts of the heating chip, and enabling the barrier layer and the heating chip to jointly form an ink supply channel and a plurality of ink cavities; providing a jet hole sheet with a plurality of jet holes, wherein the width of the jet hole sheet is larger than that of the heating chip; combining the nozzle plate and the heating chip to form a chip assembly, wherein the plurality of nozzles are opposite to the plurality of ink cavities, and the nozzle plate and the exposed left and right side heating chips form a first ink supply port and a second ink supply port together; providing an ink jet head bearing seat with a first bearing area and a second bearing area, and coating an adhesive on the first bearing area and the second bearing area; and gluing the chip assembly on the ink jet head bearing seat to make the heating chip and the jet hole sheet positioned on the first bearing area and the second bearing area separately to avoid ink leakage.

Description

Method of encapsulating an inkjet head

(1) Technical field

The present invention relates to a method of packaging an inkjet head.

(2) Background technology

With the gradual development of personal computers, ink jet printers (ink jet printers) have become a very common interface device, widely used in families, personal studios, and even all walks of life. The main advantages of inkjet printers are low price, low noise during operation, and excellent printing quality, and they can be printed on various media, such as general paper, special inkjet printing paper, photo paper, and special transparencies.

The mechanism that controls the release of ink droplets from the printhead to the inkjet media is one of the important factors to be considered in the design of the ink cartridge. Generally speaking, there are two main ways for the inkjet head to eject ink droplets: thermal bubble type and micro piezo type. Taking the thermal bubble inkjet head as an example, its operating principle is to use a heater resistor to heat it to generate air bubbles to expel the ink, and then spray it onto the inkjet medium through a plurality of nozzle holes.

Please see FIG. 1 , the conventional inkjet head structure is mainly composed of a heating chip 11 , a barrier layer (barrier layer) 12 and a nozzle plate (nozzle plate) 13 . The heating chip 11 is generally known to those skilled in the art, and it is a chip with a resistance heater (resistor heater). For ease of description, it is referred to as a heating chip (heaterIC) hereinafter. The heating chip 11 includes an ink slot 110 disposed in the center, a set of heating resistors (not shown) surrounding the ink slot, and contact pads 111 located on both sides of the heating chip. A plurality of ink chambers 121 are formed in the barrier layer 12 , and an ink channel (ink channel, not shown) is formed on the heating chip 11 in the barrier layer 12 . The orifice sheet 13 has a plurality of orifices 131 corresponding to the ink chambers 121 .

Please see FIG. 2, the method of encapsulating the above-mentioned inkjet head in an ink cartridge is as follows. First, the nozzle plate 13 is precisely aligned with the heating chip 11 to form an IC assembly; then the chip assembly is electrically connected to the circuit soft board for input and output signals; finally, the adhesive is used to attach the The IC assembly is glued to the inkjet head bearing seat 21 at the bottom of the ink cartridge body 2, and then the inkjet head packaging is completed. Please refer to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 together. When using this ink cartridge, the ink stored in the ink reservoir (ink reservoir, not shown) in the ink cartridge body 2 first flows from the ink reservoir to the bottom hole 22, and then flows into the heating chamber. The ink supply port 110 in the center of the chip 11 enters the ink supply channel formed by the barrier layer 12 on the heating chip 11, then flows to the ink chamber 121, and finally is heated by a heating resistor to generate air bubbles to expel the ink. And make it spray onto the inkjet medium through the orifice 131 on the orifice sheet 13 .

The method of adopting the above-mentioned packaging inkjet head faces the following problems:

(1) The step of forming the central ink supply port 110 of the heating chip 11 is usually carried out by sandblasting process or laser perforation process, wherein the cleanliness of the sandblasting process is relatively poor, and the cost of laser perforation is high and there are material limitations; in addition, this step It is easy to cause cracks in the heating chip 11 , so that the heating chip 11 is likely to be broken or the circuit is damaged in the subsequent process or normal use, so that the inkjet head cannot operate normally.

(2) The heating chip 11 with the central ink supply port 110 has a weakened structural strength, so the chance of fracture increases, resulting in a reduced yield; secondly, the two rows of heating resistors on the heating chip 11 around the central ink supply port 110 both sides share One ink supply port, so it is easy to have the phenomenon of ink supply failure, and it is also easy to produce the phenomenon of fluid cross-talk (cross-talk) that the ink jet chambers affect each other, which adversely affects the performance of the ink jet head; in addition, in order to make the central Because of the ink supply port 110, the heating chip 11 inevitably needs to have a relatively large size, which greatly increases the cost of manufacturing the heating chip.

(3) Please see Figure 3, since the inkjet head carrier 21 is generally a flat surface, therefore, in order to ensure that the IC components are effectively glued to the inkjet head carrier 21 to provide good sealing, the inkjet head carrier 21 must be coated with a rather large area of adhesive 23, which increases the packaging cost of the inkjet head.

Another method of packaging the inkjet head is to use Tape Automated Bonding (TAB). First, make circuits (conductive traces) on a roll of tape (tape) 30 to form a flexible circuit board; then use laser perforation to form nozzle holes 311 at predetermined positions on the flexible circuit board; then use precise alignment to heat The heating resistor (not shown) of the chip corresponds to the nozzle hole 311 one by one, so that it is combined on the flexible circuit board to form a TAB assembly (TAB assembly); finally, the TAB assembly is glued to the ink cartridge body with an adhesive 32 on the inkjet head bearing seat, and then complete the inkjet head encapsulation work as shown in Figure 4.

Although the packaging of the inkjet head by using the automatic tape-and-roll bonding technology can achieve a highly automated packaging effect, it actually faces many disadvantages. For example, the cost of forming nozzle holes by laser perforation is very high, and carbides are likely to remain around the nozzle holes, which has an adverse effect on printing quality; scrapped together, so the cost is quite high; in addition, this method requires higher alignment accuracy (it is necessary to align the nozzle hole with the heating chip resistor and align the solder pads 111 at both ends of the heating chip with the flexible circuit board circuit at the same time. ), the alignment error requirements are relatively high, so the process technology is difficult, so overall, the control cost and production cost are quite high.

In addition, the reference document (US-B-6322200) discloses a structure of an inkjet head. Firstly, the heating chip (substrate 28) is packaged in the orifice sheet (orifice piece 16), see FIG. 3, and then the flexible circuit board (The flexible circuit 18) is adhered on the orifice sheet, referring to FIG. 7, and finally the unit package composed of the heating chip, the orifice sheet and the flexible circuit board is positioned on the ink supply cartridge. However, in terms of the structural design of the orifice sheet and the flexible circuit board, they are all provided with closed rectangular windows 24 and 25 for exposing the pads of the heating chip. Such a closed rectangular window design allows the heating chip to be packaged on the orifice sheet. The welding pads at both ends of the heating chip and the window 25 need to be aligned with higher precision, and the windows 24 and 25 of the two need to be aligned with each other when the flexible circuit board is adhered to the orifice sheet, and the alignment error is relatively high. The difficulty of production technology has increased, so overall, the control cost and production cost are quite high; in addition, the role of the flexible circuit board in the reference document being adhered to the nozzle hole sheet is to prevent the circuit on the bottom surface of the flexible circuit board from being blocked by the nozzle hole sheet Protection, to avoid contact with the ink in the ink supply channel, and the protective measures for the corrosion damage that affects the electrical transmission.

(3) Contents of the invention

The main object of the present invention is to provide a method of packaging an inkjet head to solve the problems faced by packaging the conventional inkjet head structure with a central ink supply port.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for packaging inkjet heads to solve the problems faced by packaging inkjet heads with automatic tape-and-roll bonding technology.

One aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for packaging an inkjet head, which is characterized in that it includes the following steps: forming a barrier layer on a heating chip with pad areas on both sides of the edge, so as to expose the left and right sides of the heating chip , and make the barrier layer and the heating chip jointly form an ink supply channel and a plurality of ink chambers; provide an orifice sheet with a plurality of orifices, wherein the width of the orifice sheet is larger than the width of the heating chip, and When combined with the heating chip, there is a gap corresponding to the pad area of the heating chip, the width of which is larger than the pad area of the heating chip and covers the surface of the heating chip, and the orifice plate is in the shape of "H"; The orifice sheet is combined with the heating chip to form a chip assembly, wherein the plurality of orifices are opposite to the plurality of ink chambers, and the orifice sheet and the exposed left and right sides of the heating chip jointly form a first and a second ink supply port; providing an inkjet head bearing seat with a first bearing area and a second bearing area, and coating an adhesive on the first bearing area and the second bearing area; and the chip assembly The adhesive is glued on the inkjet head bearing seat, so that the heating chip and the orifice plate are respectively positioned on the first bearing area and the second bearing area, so as to prevent ink leakage.

According to the above method, the heating chip is provided with a heating resistor relative to each ink chamber.

According to the method, the barrier layer has a thickness of 20 to 40 microns.

According to the method, the plurality of orifices on the orifice sheet are formed by electroplating.

In the above method, the step of adhering the chip assembly on the inkjet head carrier is performed by using a pressing tool.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method of packaging an inkjet head, which is characterized in that it includes the following steps: providing a chip assembly, the chip assembly is composed of a barrier layer, a thermal chip with pad areas on both sides of the edge and An orifice sheet with prefabricated orifices is composed of an ink supply channel, a plurality of ink chambers and an ink supply port, wherein the width of the orifice sheet is larger than that of the heating chip, and is combined with the heating chip When corresponding to the welding pad area of the heating chip, a gap is provided. The width of the gap is larger than that of the heating chip and covers the surface of the heating chip. the inkjet head bearing seat of the second bearing area, and apply an adhesive on the first bearing area and the second bearing area; and glue the chip assembly on the inkjet head bearing seat, so that the heating chip And the orifice sheet is respectively positioned on the first carrying area and the second carrying area to prevent ink leakage.

According to the above method, the heating chip is provided with a heating resistor relative to each ink cavity.

According to the method, the barrier layer has a thickness of 20 to 40 microns.

According to the method, the plurality of orifices on the orifice sheet are formed by electroplating.

In the above method, the step of adhering the chip assembly on the inkjet head carrier is performed by using a pressing tool.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method of packaging an inkjet head, which is characterized in that it includes the following steps: providing a chip assembly, the chip assembly is composed of a plurality of heating resistors and solder pads on both sides of the edge The heating chip in the area is composed of an orifice sheet, the width of the orifice sheet is larger than the length of the heating chip, and when combined with the heating chip, there is a gap corresponding to the pad area of the heating chip, and the width of the gap is larger than that of the heating chip. The set pad area is covered on the surface of the heating chip, the orifice plate is in the shape of "H"; an ink cartridge with a bearing area is provided, wherein the bearing area is located at the periphery of the ink port; and the heating chip and the An orifice sheet seals the ink port.

(4) Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a prior art inkjet head structure.

Fig. 2 is a method for packaging an inkjet head in the prior art.

Fig. 3 is a situation of coating an adhesive in the prior art method of packaging an inkjet head.

Fig. 4 is another method of packaging an inkjet head in the prior art.

Fig. 5 is a structure of an ink jet head suitable for the method of packaging the ink jet head according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a situation where the inkjet head is packaged in the ink cartridge according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged view according to FIG. 6 .

Fig. 8 is a state of applying an adhesive when packaging an inkjet head according to the method of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a perspective disassembled view of the inkjet head package according to the present invention.

(5) specific implementation

Please see Fig. 5, the structure of the inkjet head suitable for packaging the inkjet head according to the present invention is mainly composed of a heater IC 51, a barrier layer 52 and a nozzle plate 53. composition. The heating chip 51 is substantially rectangular, with welding pads 511 on its upper and lower edges. The barrier layer 52 is formed on the heating chip 51 , and the ink supply channel and a plurality of ink cavities 521 are jointly formed on the heating chip 51 . The heating chip 51 is provided with a heating resistor (not shown) corresponding to each ink cavity 521 . The orifice plate 53 is substantially in the shape of an “H”, and a plurality of orifices 531 corresponding to the ink cavity 521 are disposed above it. In this embodiment, the length of the heating chip 51 is equal to the length of the orifice sheet 53. In order to avoid electrical connection between the heating chip 51 and the orifice sheet 53, the orifice sheet 53 has a first notch 532 and a second notch 533, so that When the orifice plate 53 is combined with the heating chip 51 , the bonding pad 511 may be exposed.

The structural feature of the inkjet head shown in FIG. 5 is that when the barrier layer 52 is formed on the heating chip 51, part of the heating chips 513 and 514 on the left and right sides will be exposed (that is, the barrier layer 52 is substantially "I" shaped), and the spraying The width of the orifice sheet 53 is larger than the heating chip 53, so when the orifice sheet 53 is combined with the heating chip 51, there will be a gap between the orifice sheet 53 and the exposed left and right side part heating chips 513 and 514 that are not covered by the barrier layer 52. A first ink supply port (not shown) and a second ink supply port (not shown) are jointly formed. Since the thickness of the barrier layer 52 is 20-40 microns, the heights of the first and second ink supply ports are approximately 20-40 microns.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, in order to cooperate with the special inkjet head structure of the present invention, the inkjet head carrying seat 61 of the ink cartridge body 6 is also designed to have a first nozzle for carrying the heating chip and the orifice sheet respectively. The carrying area 611 and the second carrying area 612 .

The method for encapsulating an inkjet head according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention will be further described below, which includes the following steps:

(a) providing an orifice plate 51 with prefabricated orifices (for example, formed by electroplating or laser);

(b) forming the barrier layer 52 on the heating chip 51, and jointly forming the ink supply channel and a plurality of ink chambers 521 with the heating chip 51;

(c) Make the orifice sheet 53 precisely align with the heating chip 51 to form an IC assembly;

(d) provide the ink cartridge body of the inkjet head bearing seat 61 as shown in Figure 6, and apply adhesive on the first bearing area 611 and the second bearing area 612;

(e) Glue the chip assembly on the inkjet head carrier 61, so that the heating chip 51 and the orifice plate 53 are respectively positioned on the first carrier area 611 and the second carrier area 612. Of course, this step can also cooperate with appropriate The tooling tool presses the chip assembly to improve the sealing, so that the ink can enter the first notch 532 and the second notch 533 from the inside of the ink cartridge body 6 without leaking out.

Of course, the above step (a) can be performed before/after step (b), and step (c) can be performed before/after step (d).

Please see Fig. 8, since the first bearing area 611 and the second bearing area 612 of the inkjet head bearing seat 61 are located on different horizontal planes, not only can effectively support the heating chip 51 and the orifice sheet 53, but also the coating of the adhesive 63 Range can be modestly reduced, thereby reducing packaging costs.

Please refer to Fig. 9 again, the periphery of the first bearing area 611 and the second bearing area 612 can have grooves 613 for overflowing or distributing the adhesive, and of course it can also be a platform with grooves, and the grooves can accommodate adhesives 63.

Please cooperate to see Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, when using the inkjet head of encapsulating by the present invention, the ink stored in the ink storage tank (not shown) in the ink cartridge body 6 first flows from the ink storage tank to the bottom hole 62, and then Flow into the ink supply port between the heating chip 51 and the orifice sheet 53, then enter the ink supply channel formed between the barrier layer 52 and the heating chip 51, then flow to the ink cavity 521, and finally use the heating resistor to heat the ink so that The ink is rapidly vaporized, and then sprayed onto the inkjet medium through the nozzle holes 531 on the nozzle hole sheet 53 .

To sum up, the advantages of the inkjet head packaging method of the present invention compared with the prior art using a heating chip with a central inkjet hole to package the inkjet head are as follows:

(1) The process of forming the ink supply hole of the inkjet head in the present invention does not require sand blasting or laser perforation process, so it can not only improve the yield of production, but also greatly reduce the production cost. In addition, there will be no defects such as cracks in the heating chip, breakage of the heating chip, and low structural strength faced by the prior art, which will help improve the product quality rate.

(2) The two rows of heating resistors on both sides of the heating chip have individual ink supply ports, and the ink supply is relatively smooth, which can reduce the problem of fluid cross-talk and improve the performance of the inkjet head. Moreover, the central area of the heating chip can be used to make IC circuits, so the size of the heating chip can be greatly reduced, thereby reducing the cost of the heating chip.

(3) The scope of the adhesive coated on the inkjet head bearing seat is reduced, which can also ensure good sealing performance, so the packaging cost is relatively low.

Compared with the tape-and-roll automatic bonding technology, the method for packaging the inkjet head of the present invention has the following advantages:

(1) The orifice sheet is made separately, and the electroplating method with lower cost can be used to form the orifice, so it is far more economical than the laser perforation method.

(2) The orifice sheet is made separately, which can avoid the scrapping problem when the orifice sheet and the flexible circuit board are an integral structure in the prior art and cause defective semi-finished products after positioning.

(3) The present invention uses a two-stage alignment (i.e., the alignment of the orifice sheet and the heating chip, and the alignment of the welding pad 511 of the heating chip and the flexible circuit board), which can be compared with the one-time required by the automatic tape bonding technology. The defect rate of alignment is lower, which can greatly improve the quality.

Therefore, the method for packaging the inkjet head provided by the present invention has the characteristics of simple manufacture, good product yield, reduced size and low cost, and can avoid the shortcomings encountered in the prior art.

Claims (11)

1. a method that encapsulates ink gun is characterized in that, comprises the following step:

One barrier layer is formed at both sides of the edge has on the heating chip in weld pad zone, exposing left and right sides part heating chip, and make this barrier layer and this heating chip form ink supply runner and a plurality of inking chamber jointly;

Spray nozzle sheet with a plurality of spray orifices is provided, wherein the width of this spray nozzle sheet is big than the width of this heating chip, and the weld pad zone that corresponds to heating chip when combining with this heating chip is provided with breach, this gap width is greater than the set weld pad of heating chip zone and cover on the heating chip surface, and this spray nozzle sheet is to be " H " shape;

This spray nozzle sheet is combined with this heating chip to form a chip assembly, and wherein these a plurality of spray orifices are and this a plurality of inking chambers contraposition mutually, and this spray nozzle sheet and common one first and one second ink supply port that forms of the left and right sides part heating chip that exposes;

Ink gun load bearing seat with first supporting region and second supporting region is provided, and on this first supporting region and this second supporting region, is coated with adhesive agent; And

On this ink gun load bearing seat, make this heating chip and this spray nozzle sheet be positioned respectively on this first supporting region and this second supporting region, this chip assembly gluing in case the leak-stopping China ink.

2. the method for encapsulation ink gun as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that, this heating chip is provided with a heating resistor with respect to each inking chamber place.

3. the method for encapsulation ink gun as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that, the thickness of this barrier layer is 20 to 40 microns.

4. the method for the described encapsulation ink gun of claim 1 is characterized in that, a plurality of spray orifices of this on this spray nozzle sheet are to form with plating mode.

5. the method for the described encapsulation ink gun of claim 1 is characterized in that, is to use a pressing frock appliance to carry out the step of this chip assembly gluing on this ink gun load bearing seat.

6. a method that encapsulates ink gun is characterized in that, comprises the following step:

One chip assembly is provided, the spray nozzle sheet that the hot chip and that this chip assembly has a weld pad zone by a barrier layer, both sides of the edge has a prefabricated spray orifice is formed and is formed ink supply runner, a plurality of inking chamber and ink supply port jointly, wherein the width of this spray nozzle sheet is big than the width of this heating chip, and the weld pad zone that corresponds to heating chip when combining with this heating chip is provided with breach, this gap width is greater than the set weld pad of heating chip zone and cover on the heating chip surface, and this spray nozzle sheet is to be " H " shape;

Ink gun load bearing seat with first supporting region and second supporting region is provided, and on this first supporting region and this second supporting region, is coated with adhesive agent; And

On this ink gun load bearing seat, make this heating chip and this spray nozzle sheet be positioned respectively on this first supporting region and this second supporting region, this chip assembly gluing in case ink leak.

7. the method for encapsulation ink gun as claimed in claim 6 is characterized in that, this heating chip is provided with a heating resistor with respect to each inking chamber place.

8. the method for encapsulation ink gun as claimed in claim 6 is characterized in that, the thickness of this barrier layer is 20 to 40 microns.

9. the method for encapsulation ink gun as claimed in claim 6 is characterized in that, a plurality of spray orifices of this on this spray nozzle sheet are to form with plating mode.

10. the method for the described encapsulation ink gun of claim 6 is characterized in that, is to use a pressing frock appliance to carry out the step of this chip assembly gluing on this ink gun load bearing seat.

11. a method that encapsulates ink gun is characterized in that, comprises the following step:

One chip assembly is provided, this chip assembly has a heating chip and the spray nozzle sheet that a plurality of heating resistors and both sides of the edge have a weld pad zone by one and forms, the width of this spray nozzle sheet is greater than the length of this heating chip, and the weld pad zone that corresponds to heating chip when combining with this heating chip is provided with breach, this gap width is greater than the set weld pad of heating chip zone and cover on the heating chip surface, and this spray nozzle sheet is to be " H " shape;

Ink cartridges with supporting region is provided, and wherein this supporting region is the periphery that is positioned at ink port; And

Seal this ink port with this heating chip and this spray nozzle sheet.

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