JP2007245464A - Liquid discharge head manufacturing method, liquid discharge head, and liquid discharge apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a liquid ejection head having high reliability while suppressing defects caused by burrs, a method for manufacturing the same, and a liquid ejection apparatus equipped with the liquid ejection head.
A needle member 40 is placed on a case 20 to which a filter 31 is attached.
The ultrasonic welding is performed by placing the horn 70 of the ultrasonic welding machine in contact with the upper surface 44c of the flange portion 44. As a result, the resin melting portion 33 is formed to extend toward the outside of the outer peripheral surface 44a of the flange portion 44 so as to cover the upper surface 22a of the guide portion 22.

Description

The present invention relates to a liquid discharge apparatus such as an ink jet recording apparatus, a display manufacturing apparatus, an electrode forming apparatus, or a biochip manufacturing apparatus, a liquid discharge head mounted on the apparatus, and a manufacturing method thereof.

Conventionally, ink jet printers suitable for printing on paper have been widely known as liquid ejection devices. Generally, micro nozzles for ejecting liquid droplets are provided on a carriage that reciprocates with respect to printing paper. A liquid ejection head (hereinafter referred to as a head) is mounted. Further, a head having a liquid introduction member that can be coupled to a liquid outlet port of a liquid container so as to be supplied with liquid from a detachable liquid container (ink cartridge) is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

The liquid introducing member of the head described in Patent Document 1 is a hollow needle-shaped resin member, and its outer peripheral surface is defined by a guide portion provided on the base of the head, and positioning with respect to the base is performed. . Then, the liquid introduction member and the base are joined by welding.

JP 2000-2111130 A

By the way, the guide width of the guide portion of the base is designed to be slightly larger than the outer width of the liquid introduction member in view of the dimensional variation in mass production, so that there is a slight gap between the guide portion and the liquid introduction member. A gap is formed. In this case, the molten part (burr) of the resin formed at the time of welding has a shape extending from the gap toward the tip of the liquid introduction member, and further, such a burr is a liquid in the liquid container. Interference with the lead-out part may cause poor coupling between the liquid lead-out part and the liquid introduction member. In addition, when the energy applied at the time of welding is reduced so that the burrs as described above do not occur, the strength and sealability of the joint portion between the liquid introduction member and the base become insufficient, and liquid leakage occurs. There is a problem with reliability.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and has a liquid ejection head having high reliability while suppressing problems caused by burrs, a method for manufacturing the liquid ejection head, and a liquid ejection apparatus equipped with the liquid ejection head The purpose is to provide.

The present invention provides a liquid discharge head comprising: a base on which a liquid flow path is formed; and a resin liquid introduction member for introducing the liquid from the outside, wherein the base and the liquid introduction member are welded together. A positioning step of positioning the liquid introducing member having a flange portion which is a joint portion with the flow path by a guide portion of the base body defining an outer peripheral surface of the flange portion, and a vibration transmitting portion And a welding step of welding the liquid introduction member and the base body by ultrasonic welding, and covering the boundary portion between the flange portion and the guide portion with cover means In addition, the welding step is performed in a state where a space is formed at least between the guide portion and the cover means.

According to the method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head of the present invention, since the boundary portion between the flange portion and the guide portion is covered by the cover means in the welding step, the molten portion (burr) of the resin is formed from the substrate side. It is not formed so as to protrude. At this time, since a space is formed between the cover means and the guide portion, the molten portion of the resin is formed to extend toward the outside of the outer peripheral surface of the flange portion so as to occupy the space. The As a result, the contact area between the molten portion of the resin and the guide portion can be effectively increased, and the bond between the liquid introduction member and the substrate can be strengthened.

Preferably, in the method for manufacturing the liquid discharge head, the cover means is a part of the vibration transmission unit.
According to the method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head of the present invention, since a part of the vibration transmitting portion serves as the cover means, the ultrasonic wave is directly applied to the molten portion of the resin extending toward the outside of the outer peripheral surface of the flange portion. Vibration is transmitted. Thereby, the weldability of the contact portion between the molten portion of the resin and the guide portion is enhanced.

The present invention provides a liquid discharge head comprising: a base on which a liquid flow path is formed; and a resin liquid introduction member for introducing the liquid from the outside, wherein the base and the liquid introduction member are welded together. The liquid introduction member has a flange portion that is a joint portion with the flow path, and the base has a guide portion of the base that defines an outer peripheral surface of the flange portion, and the flange portion In the vicinity of the boundary between the guide portion and the guide portion, the molten portion of the resin is formed to extend toward the outside of the outer peripheral surface so as to at least partially cover the guide portion. .

In the liquid discharge head according to the present invention, a melted portion (burr) of the resin generated at the boundary portion between the flange portion and the guide portion extends toward the outside of the outer peripheral surface of the flange portion. For this reason, the melted portion of the resin does not become an obstacle and the coupling between the liquid container and the liquid introducing member is not hindered, and the contact area between the melted portion of the resin and the guide portion is effectively increased. In addition, since the coupling between the liquid introduction member and the substrate is strong, the reliability is also excellent.

The liquid discharge apparatus according to the present invention includes the liquid discharge head.
Since the liquid discharge apparatus of the present invention is equipped with the liquid discharge head, the connection between the liquid container and the liquid introduction member is not hindered, and is excellent in reliability.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The embodiment described below is a preferred specific example of the present invention, and thus various technically preferable limitations are given. However, the scope of the present invention is particularly limited in the following description. Unless otherwise stated, the present invention is not limited to these forms. In the drawings referred to in the following description, the vertical and horizontal scales of members or portions may be represented differently from actual ones for convenience of illustration.

(Configuration of liquid ejection device)
First, the configuration of the liquid ejection apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the overall configuration of the liquid ejection apparatus.

In FIG. 1, a printer 1 as a liquid discharge device includes a guide frame 3 formed of a steel plate or the like, a transport roller 4 for transporting paper 2, and a nozzle surface 1 on which minute nozzles are arranged in parallel.
The liquid discharge head 10 having 0a and the maintenance unit 5 for performing nozzle maintenance of the liquid discharge head 10 are provided. The liquid discharge head 10 is mounted on the carriage 6 with the nozzle surface 10 a on which the nozzles are formed facing the paper 2, and is reciprocated (scanned) along the guide rod 8. The guide frame 3 forms the basis of the entire apparatus by its rigidity and weight, and also functions as an electrical ground.

The carriage 6 is equipped with ink cartridges 7a to 7d that respectively store four colored inks (inks) as liquids. The liquid discharge head 10 is supplied with colored inks of these colors. Then, ejection control for each nozzle of the liquid ejection head 10 is performed in synchronization with scanning of the carriage 6 and conveyance of the paper 2, and an image or the like is formed on the paper 2 by the ink ejected as droplets.

The maintenance unit 5 includes a cap 11 that can be in close contact with the nozzle surface 10a of the liquid discharge head 10 to seal (capping) the nozzle opening, and a wiper blade 12 that is a plate-like member formed of rubber or the like. Yes. The cap 11 serves not only to protect the nozzle from dust and drying, but also to the nozzle maintenance operation described later. The wiper blade 12 is used for wiping off ink adhering to the nozzle surface 10a.

(Configuration of liquid discharge head)
Next, the configuration of the liquid discharge head will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of the liquid discharge head. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the peripheral structure of the needle member in the liquid ejection head.

The liquid ejection head 10 includes a resin case 20 as a base, an ejection drive unit 15 having a drive source for ejecting nozzles and ink, and a circuit unit 16 having a drive circuit for ejecting ink and the like. Yes. A resin needle member 40 is attached to the outer surface of the case 20. The needle member 40 functions as a liquid introduction member that introduces ink by being coupled to the liquid outlet portions of the ink cartridges 7a to 7d (see FIG. 1).

The needle member 40 is a hollow needle-like member having an introduction hole 42 in the pointed end portion 41 and having an introduction path 43 therein, and an end portion on the opposite side of the pointed end portion 41 is a flange portion 44 having an expanded hem. ing. The introduction hole 42, the introduction path 43, and the flow path 21 formed in the case 20 form a series of supply flow paths for supplying ink to the nozzles formed in the ejection driving unit 15.

The opening 43a in the introduction path 43 and the opening 21a in the flow path 21 form a widened liquid chamber 30, and the liquid chamber 30 has a filter for trapping foreign matters contained in the ink. 31 is disposed. The filter 31 is formed by finely knitting a metal wire, for example, and is attached so as to cover the opening 21 a in the flow path 21. The widened structure of the liquid chamber 30 is for increasing the effective area of the filter 31 and reducing the flow resistance (loss head) of ink related to passage.

The case 20 is provided with a guide portion 22 that defines the outer peripheral surface 44 a of the flange portion 44, whereby the needle member 40 is positioned at a predetermined position on the case 20, and the case portion is positioned at the flange portion 44. 20 is joined. The flange portion 44 of the needle member 40 and the case 20 are joined by welding, and a resin melted portion 33 is formed at the joined portion. A part of the resin melting portion 33 is formed to extend toward the outer side (left and right sides in the drawing) of the outer peripheral surface 44 a of the flange portion so as to cover the guide portion 22.

(Liquid discharge head manufacturing method)
Next, a manufacturing method of the liquid discharge head will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a process of attaching the needle member to the case.

The liquid discharge head 10 is manufactured by assembling assemblies such as the discharge drive unit 15 and the circuit unit 16 assembled separately in the case 20 to which the needle member 40 is attached. Below, the process of attaching the needle member 40 to the case 20 will be described in detail.

First, as shown to Fig.4 (a), the needle member 40 is arrange | positioned in the state positioned by the guide part 22 on the case 20 to which the filter 31 was attached (positioning process). Here, the inner diameter of the guide portion 22 is set to a slightly larger design dimension than the outer diameter of the flange portion 44 in view of dimensional variations in mass production. For this reason, the boundary portion between the flange portion 44 and the guide portion 22 is used. A slight gap is formed in 32. A protrusion 45 is formed on the lower surface 44 b of the flange portion 44, and the needle member 40 is disposed on the case 20 so that the protrusion 45 and the upper surface 20 a of the case 20 come into contact with each other.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, a horn 70 as a vibration transmitting portion in the ultrasonic welder.
The lower surface 70a of this is brought into contact with the upper surface 44c of the flange portion 44 to perform ultrasonic welding (welding process).
. That is, the ultrasonic vibration emitted from the horn 70 is transmitted through the flange portion 44 to raise the temperature of the protrusion 45 that is a contact portion with the case 20. As a result, the resin of the protrusion 45 is melted, and a molten portion 33 of resin is formed between the flange portion 44 and the case 20.

In the present embodiment, as a material of the needle member 40, Zylon (registered trademark) and PPS (poly) are used.
A mixed resin of phenylene sulfide is used, and relatively high energy ultrasonic vibration (about 100 joules) is used to perform strong welding.

In the welding process, the horn 70 is outside the outer peripheral surface 44a of the flange portion 44 (left side in the figure).
It has a shape that protrudes and covers the boundary portion 32 with the guide portion 22, that is,
The horn 70 serves as a cover means of the present invention. Therefore, the boundary portion 32
The formation of a resin melting portion (burr) that protrudes toward the tip 41 (see FIG. 3) direction (upward in the drawing) of the needle member 40 from the gap is suppressed. Will not interfere.

Further, the height dimension (the vertical dimension in the drawing) of the flange portion 44 and the guide portion 22 is designed so that a space 34 is formed between the lower surface 70a of the horn 70 and the upper surface 22a of the guide portion 22. ing. For this reason, in the welding step, the molten resin flows along the space 34 while receiving ultrasonic vibration from the horn 70. The resin melting portion 33 is formed so as to extend toward the outer side (left side in the drawing) of the outer peripheral surface 44 a of the flange portion 44 so as to cover the upper surface 22 a of the guide portion 22.

Thus, due to the resin melting portion 33 formed to extend toward the outer side of the outer peripheral surface 44a in this way, the bonding force and the sealing performance between the case 20 (guide portion 22) and the needle member 40 (flange portion 44) are improved. The reinforced and reliable liquid discharge head 10 is manufactured.

(Modification)
Next, with reference to FIG. 5, Modification 1 will be described focusing on differences from the previous embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a process of attaching a needle member to a case according to a modification.

In the welding step in this modification, a cover member 71 as a cover means for covering the boundary portion 32 between the flange portion 44 and the guide portion 22 is provided outside the outer periphery of the horn 70 which is narrower than the previous embodiment. Is provided. As described above, the vibration transmitting portion and the cover means can be configured as separate members.

In this modified example, the height of the guide portion 22 is designed to be higher than that of the flange portion 44, but the lower surface 71 a of the cover member 71 is arranged to be offset upward with respect to the lower surface 70 a of the horn 70. Thus, a space 34 is formed between the cover member 71 and the guide portion 22. Thereby, the melted portion 33 of the resin is formed to extend so as to occupy the space 34, and the joining force and the sealing performance between the needle member 40 and the case 20 are improved. The resin melting portion 33 is formed so as to cover a part of the upper surface of the guide portion 22 instead of the entire upper surface thereof.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Each configuration of each embodiment can be appropriately combined, omitted, or combined with other configurations not shown.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an overall configuration of a liquid ejection apparatus. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a liquid discharge head. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a peripheral structure of a needle member in a liquid discharge head. (A), (b) is principal part sectional drawing which shows the attachment process to the case of a needle member. The principal part sectional drawing which shows the attachment process to the case of the needle member which concerns on a modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer as a liquid discharge apparatus, 10 ... Liquid discharge head, 15 ... Discharge drive part, 16
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Circuit part, 20 ... Case as base, 22 ... Guide part, 32 ... Boundary part, 33 ... Resin melting part, 34 ... Space, 40 ... Needle member as liquid introducing member, 41 ... Pointed part, 44 ... Flange 44a ... outer peripheral surface, 45 ... projection, 70 ... horn as vibration transmitting part, 71 ... cover member as cover means.

Claims (4)

A method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head, comprising: a base on which a liquid channel is formed; and a resin-made liquid introduction member for introducing the liquid from the outside, wherein the base and the liquid introduction member are welded together. There,
A positioning step of positioning the liquid introduction member having a flange portion that is a joint portion with the flow path by a guide portion of the base body that defines an outer peripheral surface of the flange portion;
A welding step in which a vibration transmitting portion is brought into contact with the flange portion, and the liquid introduction member and the base are welded by ultrasonic welding,
The welding step is performed in a state in which a boundary portion between the flange portion and the guide portion is covered with a cover means and a space is formed at least between the guide portion and the cover means. Manufacturing method of liquid discharge head. The method of manufacturing a liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein the cover means is a part of the vibration transmission unit. A liquid discharge head comprising: a base on which a liquid flow path is formed; and a resin-made liquid introduction member for introducing the liquid from outside, wherein the base and the liquid introduction member are welded,
The liquid introduction member has a flange portion that is a joint portion with the flow path,
The base has a guide portion of the base that defines an outer peripheral surface of the flange portion,
In the vicinity of the boundary portion between the flange portion and the guide portion, the molten portion of the resin is formed to extend toward the outside of the outer peripheral surface so as to at least partially cover the guide portion. A liquid discharge head. A liquid discharge apparatus equipped with the liquid discharge head according to claim 3.

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