JP3372834B2 - Ink jet recording head, ink jet recording apparatus, and substrate for ink jet recording head - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording head, a recording device and a recording head for recording on a recording medium.
Relates substrate, more particularly, an ink jet recording head that forms droplets by ejecting liquid from Orifice office,
Ink jet printing apparatus and an ink jet recording heads
The present invention relates to a substrate for a cord .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With regard to this type of ink jet recording, there is known an ink jet recording method as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 54-51837, in which thermal energy is applied to a liquid to obtain a driving force for droplet ejection. .

That is, in the recording method disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, the liquid which has been subjected to the action of heat energy is heated to generate bubbles, and the action force based on the generation of the bubbles causes an orifice at the tip of the recording head portion to exit. Recording is performed on a recording member by ejecting droplets.

A recording head applied to this recording method generally includes an orifice (ejection port) provided for ejecting a liquid, and an electrothermal converter which is means for generating thermal energy for ejecting a droplet. As a part of the constitution of a heat generating resistor and an upper protective layer for protecting it from ink, and a heat acting part which is a part communicating with the orifice and a heat energy for discharging droplets acting on the liquid And a liquid discharge part having a flow path.

By the way, it has been proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-72867 that drive elements for driving these electrothermal converters are built in the same element substrate in order to simplify the electrical mounting portion.

The drive element built in the element substrate in this way is generally formed of a bipolar transistor and an NMOS transistor. Each of the transistors has an ON resistance value. Especially, it is said that the ON resistance value of the NMOS transistor has a large variation.

Further, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 5-223495, the energy applied to the electrothermal converter corresponding to the variation in the sheet resistance value of the heating resistance layer constituting the electrothermal converter. When performing the correction, an element for detecting the variation in the sheet resistance value is provided on the element substrate on which the electrothermal converter is formed, the information is taken out from the head, and the drive signal input to the head from the printer side. The condition is corrected by changing the pulse width, specifically, the energy applied to the electrothermal conversion signal body is made constant by such a correction.

[0008]

The amount of energy applied to the electrothermal converter has a great relation to printing performance and durability. In terms of printing performance, the higher the amount of energy, the better. In terms of durability, energy must be reduced to prevent breakage of the electrothermal converter. In particular, the higher the density and the higher definition recording, the smaller the liquid droplet needs to be ejected than in the conventional case. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to printing performance than before.

Further, in recent years, from the viewpoint of ecology, the head-and-ink-tank integrated cartridge has been changed from the head-and-ink-tank separated type, and the head is used for a long time by exchanging only the ink tank. The head is required to be more durable than before.

Therefore, it has become necessary to precisely control the amount of energy applied to the electrothermal converter.

However, as described above, the drive element for driving the electrothermal converter has an ON resistance, which also has variations due to the drive element manufacturing process. When the voltage applied to the head is constant, variations in the ON resistance value cause variations in the voltage applied to both ends of the electrothermal converter, which may change the printing performance from head to head, resulting in defective printing heads. There was something to do. In addition, the electrothermal converter may be disconnected early by the head.

In particular, in the case of an NMOS transistor which can reduce the cost of the drive element manufacturing process due to the simple process, the ON resistance value has a large variation. Therefore, when the driving element is an NMOS transistor, the above problem is expected to occur.

Naturally, the variation in the ON resistance value may be measured for each head at the time of shipment of the head, and the driving condition may be set accordingly. However, when the head is of a type replaceable by the user, the user is required to change the head every time the head is replaced. Must set the driving conditions.

[0014]

Means for Solving the Problems] recording head for achieving the purpose of solving the problems as described above, the heat generating resistor layer and the electrode layer and the elements constituting the electrothermal transducer for generating thermal energy has on a substrate, a plurality of driving elements for driving the electrothermal transducer is a recording head which is built in the same element on the substrate, on the element substrate, the same engineering a drive element
Sensing element manufactured in order to detect the characteristics of the driving element
And the sheet resistance value for measuring the sheet resistance value of the heating resistance layer
It has a built-in measuring element to detect drive element characteristics and
Sensor element so that measurement of
The child and the sheet resistance measuring element are connected on the element substrate.
A recording head, characterized in that that.

Another recording head uses heat energy.
The heating resistance layer and the electric
M having an electrode layer on the element substrate and driving the electrothermal converter
A plurality of driving elements composed of OS transistors have the same element
Recording on the recording medium that is built on the substrate
A recording head for performing a drive element on the element substrate.
Manufactured in the same process as
Driven by a sensing element composed of MOS transistors
A sensing element having an ON resistance value larger than that of the element
With a recording head characterized by being built on the body
is there. It should be noted that these recording heads are provided with a thermal action portion in which an electrothermal conversion pair that forms bubbles in the liquid by applying thermal energy to the liquid is arranged, and an ink flow path communicating with an ejection port for ejecting ink. May be included.
Further, the recording device for recording on the recording medium is described above.
Apparatus having a recording head and a means for conveying a recording medium.
It is a place.

The element body for the recording head is a thermal energy source.
Heat resistance constituting an electrothermal converter for generating electric energy
Layer and electrode layer on the element substrate to drive electrothermal converter
It is an element substrate that has multiple drive elements
Manufactured in the same process as the drive element, the characteristics of the drive element are detected.
The sensing element to know and the sheet resistance value of the heating resistance layer
It has a built-in sheet resistance measuring element for measurement.
One terminal for detecting moving element characteristics and measuring sheet resistance
Sensor element and sheet resistance measuring element
The element substrate is characterized in that it is connected on the substrate .

Another recording head element substrate is a thermal element.
Heat generation that constitutes an electrothermal converter to generate energy
It has a resistance layer and an electrode layer on the element substrate,
A plurality of driving elements composed of driving MOS transistors
An element substrate with a built-in child, which is the same as the driving element.
MO for detecting the characteristics of the driving element manufactured in the same process
A driving element, which is a sensing element composed of an S-transistor
On the element substrate with a larger ON resistance than
The element substrate is characterized in that it is built in .

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, "recording" used in the present invention means
This means not only giving an image having the meaning of characters or figures to the recording medium, but also giving an image having no meaning of the pattern.

Further, the present invention is a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile machine having a communication system, a printer for recording on a recording medium such as paper, thread, fiber, cloth, leather, metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics. The present invention can be applied to an apparatus such as a word processor having a unit, and an industrial recording apparatus that is combined with various processing apparatuses in a complex manner.

Furthermore, the term "element base" used below refers to
It does not indicate a simple base body made of a silicon semiconductor, but a base body provided with each element, wiring, and the like. Furthermore, "on the element substrate" means not only the element substrate but also the surface of the element substrate and the inside of the element substrate near the surface. Further, the term "fabrication" in the present invention does not mean simply disposing each element as a separate body on the substrate, but each element is integrated on the element substrate by a manufacturing process of a semiconductor circuit or the like. Formed into,
It shows that it is manufactured.

In the following description, the heat generated by the electrothermal converter is applied to the ink in the flow path to eject the ink from the ejection port with the pressure associated with the film boiling phenomenon. The present invention can be applied to any head as long as the electrothermal converter for recording and the driving element for driving the electrothermal converter are arranged on the same element substrate.

First, the structure of the recording head of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the recording head of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the recording head of the present invention.

As can be seen from the perspective view of FIG. 1, the ink jet cartridge JIC in this example is one in which the ink jet head unit and the ink tank are integrated, and the ink storage ratio is large. .
The inkjet cartridge JC is a disposable type that is fixedly supported by the positioning means and electrical contacts of the carriage mounted on the inkjet recording apparatus main body IJRA and is detachable from the carriage. Inkjet unit IJU
Is a bubble-jet type unit that performs recording by using an electrothermal converter that generates heat energy for causing film boiling in ink according to an electric signal.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 100 denotes an electrothermal converter (ejection heater) arranged in a plurality of rows on a Si substrate, an electric wire such as AI for supplying electric power to the electrothermal converter, and an electrothermal converter. It is a heater board (element substrate) in which a driving element for driving the driving element and a driving element characteristic detecting means described later are formed by a film forming technique. 200 is a heater board 100
Is a wiring board for.

Reference numeral 1300 denotes a partition wall (groove) for partitioning a plurality of ink flow paths provided corresponding to the above-mentioned electrothermal converter and ink to each ink flow path (liquid flow path). An orifice plate 400 having a plurality of ejection ports corresponding to respective ink flow paths is integrally molded with a grooved top plate provided with a supply liquid chamber for accommodating ink.
Polysulfone resin is desirable as the integral molding material, but other molding resin materials may be used.

Reference numeral 300 denotes, for example, a metallic support member that supports the back surface of the wiring board 200 on a flat surface and serves as a bottom plate of the ink jet unit. Reference numeral 500 denotes a pressing spring which is a pressing member, and is M-shaped and presses the common liquid chamber with a light pressure at the center of the M-shape, and a front salient portion 501 forms a part of the liquid passage, preferably a region near the discharge port. The heater board 100 and the top plate 1300 are pressure-bonded to each other by the concentrated biasing force of the linear pressure.

The ink tank is the cartridge body 100.
0, the ink absorber 900, and the ink absorber 900 are inserted from the side surface of the cartridge body 1000 opposite to the unit IJU attachment surface, and then the lid member 1 for sealing the same.
It is composed of 100 and. 1200 is the unit IJU
Is a supply port for supplying ink to. 140
Reference numeral 1 is an atmosphere communication port provided in the lid member for communicating the inside of the cartridge with the atmosphere. In this embodiment, the top plate 1300 is made of polysulfone having excellent ink resistance,
Polyether sulfone, polyphenylene oxide,
A resin such as polypropylene is used and is integrally molded together with the police plate portion 400 in the mold.

As described above, since the integrally molded part is the ink supply member 600, the top plate / orifice plate integrated, and the ink main body 1000, not only the assembly accuracy becomes high, but also the mass production quality is extremely effective. is there. In addition, since the number of parts is a phenomenon compared to the conventional one, desired characteristics can be surely exhibited.

Next, the characteristic requirements of the present invention will be described in more detail.

In the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, the drive element characteristic detection element formed on the element substrate is provided on the element substrate. Then, the drive condition of the head is changed based on the information detected there. Specifically, as shown in the equivalent circuit of FIG. 3, the drive element provided in the element base has the same design and the drive element manufactured in the same process as the drive element.
An N resistance value measuring element is arranged on each of the element bases constituting the head. Then, the ON resistance value measuring element is driven from the device side outside the head, the ON resistance value is calculated from the relationship between the applied current and the measured voltage, and the table set in advance on the device side is used to set the ON condition. Vary a pulse width. By doing so, the energy applied to the electrothermal converter can be made constant between the heads. If the energy is constant between the heads, a constant printing performance is obtained between the heads, and the printing yield is improved.
Also, early disconnection is eliminated, and reliability can be further improved.

The ON resistance value is generally low (~ 1).
Since it is often 0 Ω), the measurement accuracy (S / N ratio) may not be sufficient with the ON resistance value measuring element of the driving element having the same design as the driving element of the electrothermal converter, but at that time,
It is also possible to use an ON resistance value measuring element whose design is changed so as to improve the measurement accuracy. At this time, it is necessary to keep the relative value of the variation amount unchanged.
In the case of the S transistor, specifically, it can be dealt with by changing the gate length.

Further, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-223495, an element for detecting a variation in sheet resistance value is formed on an element substrate on which an electrothermal converter is formed, and FIG.
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which it is built together with the above-mentioned ON resistance measuring element as shown in FIG. At this time, two signal lines from the ON resistance value measuring element and the signal line from the element for detecting the variation in the sheet resistance value are usually required. However, it is advisable to connect the signal line from the ON resistance value measuring element and the signal line from the element that detects the variation in the sheet resistance value in the element base, and use a single signal line.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the ON resistance value measuring element and the element for detecting the variation in the sheet resistance value may be connected in parallel. By turning on or turning off the ON resistance value measuring element, that is, the driving element by giving a signal to the ON resistance value measuring element, for example, a block selection signal, the ON resistance of the driving element and the electrothermal converter The sheet resistance can be taken out with one external output terminal.

When ON, information (resistance value) of the ON resistance value measuring element and the element for detecting the variation in the sheet resistance value can be detected, and when OFF, the variation in the sheet resistance value can be detected. Information on only the element can be detected. By doing so, since only one signal line can be taken out to the outside, the cost of the printer main body and the head is not increased, the yield is improved due to the reduction in the printing performance variation of the head, the early breakage of the electrothermal converter is eliminated, and the reliability is improved. Is improved.

As described above, by outputting the measurement result of the ON resistance value measuring element and the measurement result of the variation of the sheet resistance value of the heating resistor to the external terminal via the external output terminal, these output results can be obtained. It is possible to change the driving conditions of the driving element and the heating element.

Even if the information on the variation in the ON resistance value and the variation in the sheet resistance value is taken out to the outside and the driving condition is not changed from the outside, both the information on the variation in the ON resistance value and the variation in the sheet resistance value are stored in the head. Since it is information, it is possible to eliminate the externally taken out signal line by performing arithmetic processing inside the head, which is advantageous in terms of reliability and cost.
As a matter of course, since the driving element is manufactured in the element base, it is easy to manufacture the arithmetic element and the predetermined table, which does not cause a cost increase. Therefore, by forming an element for measuring the ON resistance value and an element for detecting the variation in the sheet resistance value in the substrate, processing the information, and providing an element for changing the driving condition, the signal line is reduced, so that the printer main body, The yield is improved by reducing the variation in printing performance of the head without increasing the head cost, the early breakage of the electrothermal converter is eliminated, and the reliability is improved.

Next, the circuit configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to the equivalent circuit drawings.

FIG. 3 shows an ON resistance value measuring element 11 used in an embodiment of the ink jet recording head of the present invention.
2 is an equivalent circuit diagram of FIG.

First, a drive element for driving an electrothermal converter is formed on a silicon substrate by a MOS process. At that time, the ON resistance value measuring element 11 is formed with the same design as the driving element for driving the electrothermal converter in the circuit as shown in FIG. Next, an electrothermal converter and electrodes for supplying electricity to the electrothermal converter are formed. The size of the electrothermal converter is 50 μ × 50 μ, and the heating resistance layer forming the electrothermal converter has a sheet resistance value of 40 Ω /
□, and the resistance value of the electrothermal converter was 40Ω. The total resistance value of the electrodes was 2Ω. Next, a groove plate having nozzles and ejection holes is attached on the element substrate to complete the head.

As a detection method, the internal terminal 14 is always turned on, and the external output terminal 13 is used for measurement.

[0042]

[Table 1] Table 1 shows the detection values of the ON resistance value measuring elements 11 of the three heads, the pulse width which is the driving condition changed by the values, and the energy applied to the heater controlled by changing the pulse width. There is. The driving voltage is 10V. As can be seen from Table 1, the energy applied to the heater can be made constant by changing the pulse width according to the detection value of the ON resistance measuring element 11. As described above, the energy applied to the heater can be made constant by changing the driving condition of the head based on the measurement result from the ON resistance value measuring element 11 formed on the head. As a result, it is possible to reduce variations in printing performance, improve yield, and prevent early breakage of the electrothermal converter, thereby improving reliability.

Next, the second embodiment will be described.

The manufacturing method of the element substrate and the sizes and resistance values of the electrothermal converter and the electrodes are the same as those in the first embodiment. Since the circuit diagram is the same, the illustration is omitted. In order to improve the measurement accuracy (S / N ratio), the difference is that the resistance value of the ON resistance value measuring element 11 is 30 times as large as that in the first embodiment. In order to make the relative values of the variations in the ON resistance value the same, the configuration of the ON resistance element is the same as the configuration of the drive element. The difference is that the gate length of the ON resistance element is 1/30 of the gate length of the drive element. By doing so, the detected value is 30 times the ON resistance value, and the measurement accuracy (S / N ratio) is improved.

In the detection method, the internal terminal 14 is always kept in the ON state as in the previous example, and the external output terminal 13 is used for measurement.

[0046]

[Table 2] Table 2 shows the detected values of the ON resistance value measuring elements 11 of the three heads, the converted ON resistance value, the pulse width which is the driving condition changed by the value, and the heater controlled by changing the pulse width. The applied energy is shown. The driving voltage is 10V. As can be seen from Table 2, the energy applied to the heater can be kept constant by changing the pulse width according to the detected value of the ON resistance measuring element 11. As described above, by forming the ON resistance value measuring element 11 in the head and changing the driving condition of the head, the energy applied to the heater can be made constant, thereby improving the yield and reducing the electrothermal conversion by reducing the variation in printing performance. Premature rupture of the body is eliminated and reliability is improved.

Next, the third embodiment will be described.

FIG. 4 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the ON resistance value measuring element 31 and the sheet resistance value measuring element 32 used in the recording head of the third embodiment.

The manufacturing method of the element substrate and the sizes of the electrothermal converter and the electrodes are the same as those in the first embodiment. The ON resistance value measuring element 31 is the same as in the case of the second embodiment. The sheet resistance measuring element 31 has an aspect ratio of 4: 1 and a size four times the sheet resistance value. Further, the size is increased to 400 μ × 100 μ to reduce the influence of variations in pattern formation.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the ON resistance value measuring element 31 and the sheet resistance value measuring element 32 are connected in parallel. Then, the ON resistance value measuring element 31 is turned ON.
As a signal, a signal was connected so that an ON signal was input to the internal terminal 34 when the second block of the block selection signal of the electrothermal converter was selected.

With such a connection, when an ON signal is input, that is, when the block 2 is selected as the internal terminal 34, the ON resistance measuring element 31 and the sheet resistance measuring element 3 are connected.
When two parallel resistance values are OFF, that is, when a block other than block 2 is selected, the resistance value of only the sheet resistance value measuring element 32 is measured at the external output terminal 33. From these two data, the ON resistance value and the sheet resistance value are obtained by calculation.

[0052]

[Table 3] In Table 3, the ON resistance of the four heads is measured by the OF measuring element 31.
When F, that is, the detection value when the block other than the block 2 is selected for the internal terminal 34, that is, the sheet resistance value, when the ON signal is input, that is, when the block 2 is selected for the internal terminal 34, and the converted ON It shows the resistance value, the pulse width which is the driving condition changed by the resistance value, and the energy applied to the heater controlled by changing the pulse width. The driving voltage is 10V. As can be seen from Table 3, the energy applied to the heater can be made constant by changing the pulse width depending on the detected value of the ON resistance value measuring element 31 and the sheet resistance value of the sheet resistance value measuring element 32. In this way, the ON resistance value measuring element 31 and the sheet resistance value measuring element 32 are formed in the head, and the head resistance value measuring element 32 and the sheet resistance value measuring element 32 are connected to each other. As a result, it is possible to improve the yield by reducing the variation in printing performance, eliminate the early breakage of the electrothermal converter, and improve the reliability. Further, since the operation can be performed without increasing the number of signal lines, the cost of the head and the printer main body does not increase.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described.

FIG. 5 shows ON in the fourth embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a resistance value measuring element 41, a sheet resistance value measuring element 42, their connections, and an arithmetic circuit 43.

The manufacturing method of the element substrate and the sizes of the electrothermal converter and the electrodes are the same as those in the first embodiment. The ON resistance value measuring element 41 is the same as that of the second embodiment. The sheet resistance measuring element 42 is the same as that of the third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5, the ON resistance value measuring element 41 and the sheet resistance value measuring element 42 are connected in parallel. Then, the ON resistance measuring element 41 is turned ON.
As a signal, the signal was connected so that an ON signal was input to the internal terminal 34 when the block 2 of the block selection signal of the electrothermal converter was selected.

Furthermore, this signal line is connected to an arithmetic circuit. Further, the ON resistance value measuring element and the 41 sheet resistance value measuring element 42 are connected in parallel and connected to a circuit for detecting the resistance value. Then, the value is sent to the arithmetic circuit. On the other hand, based on the value, the heat signal, that is, the pulse width is changed according to the table 45 on the ROM. Then, the AND 46 of the heat signal and the bit selection signal turns ON / OFF the drive element. By forming these elements in the substrate of the head as described above, it is not necessary to output a signal to the outside of the head, and reliability can be improved and cost can be reduced. Further, these circuits can be formed on the same substrate at the same time as the driving elements, and the cost does not increase. Therefore, the reliability of the head and the printer as a whole can be improved and the cost can be reduced.

An ink jet recording apparatus to which the recording head of the present invention is applied will be described below.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view (outside view) of an ink jet recording apparatus IJRA to which the present invention is applied.
The carriage HC that engages with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward / reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has a pin (not shown), and has an arrow 1 It is reciprocated in two directions. A paper pressing plate 5002 presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the carriage movement direction. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photocouplers for confirming the presence of the lever 5006 of the carriage in this area, and checking the motor 5
This is a home position detecting means for switching the rotation direction of 013 and the like. Reference numeral 5016 denotes a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head.
The suction means for sucking the inside of the cap performs suction recovery of the recording head through the opening 5023 in the cap. 501
Reference numeral 7 is a cleaning blade, and 5019 is a member for moving the blade in the front-back direction.
These are supported by 018. Needless to say, the blade is not limited to this form, and a known cleaning blade can be applied to this embodiment. Reference numeral 5012 is a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, which moves with the movement of the cam 5020 that engages with the carriage, and the driving force from the driving monitor is controlled by a known transmission means such as clutch switching. To be done.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that the desired processing can be performed at their corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the home position side area. Any of the present embodiments can be applied as long as the desired operation is performed at the timing. Each of the above-described configurations is an excellent invention, either alone or in combination, and shows a preferred configuration example for the present invention.

The apparatus has drive signal supply means for driving the ink ejection pressure generating element.

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention, the element for detecting the characteristic of the driving element is provided on the substrate, and the driving condition of the head is changed according to the information detected there, so that it is applied to the electrothermal converter. The energy can be constant between the heads. If the energy is constant between the heads, a constant printing performance is obtained between the heads, and the printing yield is improved. Also, early disconnection is eliminated and reliability is improved.

Further, an ON resistance value measuring element as an element for detecting the characteristic of the driving element and an element for detecting the variation of the sheet resistance value are connected in parallel, and a signal in the ON resistance value measuring element, for example, block selection is selected. A signal is given to turn on and off the ON resistance value measuring element, that is, the driving element. When it is ON, it is possible to detect the information of the ON resistance value measuring element and the information of the element that detects the variation of the sheet resistance value, and when it is OFF, the information of only the element that detects the variation of the sheet resistance value can be detected. By doing so, the number of signal lines that can be taken out to the outside can be reduced to one, so the yield of the printer can be improved by reducing variations in the printing performance of the head without increasing the cost of the printer body and head, and the early breakage of the electrothermal converter is eliminated. , Reliability is improved.

Further, since the ON resistance value measuring element and the element for detecting the variation of the sheet resistance value are formed in the substrate, the information is arithmetically processed, and the element for changing the driving condition is provided, the number of signal lines is reduced. The yield is improved due to the reduction in the print performance variation of the head without increasing the cost of the printer body and the head, the early breakage of the electrothermal converter is eliminated, and the reliability is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an equivalent circuit diagram of an ON resistance value measuring element used in an embodiment of an inkjet recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an equivalent circuit diagram of an ON resistance value measuring element and a sheet resistance value measuring element used in a third embodiment of the recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an ON resistance value measuring element, a sheet resistance value measuring element used in the fourth embodiment of the recording head of the present invention, and their connection and arithmetic circuit diagram.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing the outline of a recording apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11, 31, 41 ON resistance measuring element 13,33 External output terminal 14,34 internal terminals 32,42 Sheet resistance measuring element 43 Operation circuit 44 Resistance measurement circuit 45 table 46 AND circuit 47 Drive element 48 Electrothermal converter

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/05

Claims (10)

(57) [Claims] 1. A heating element resistance layer and an electrode layer constituting an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy are provided on an element substrate, and a plurality of driving elements for driving the electrothermal converter are the same element substrate. In an ink jet recording head for recording on a recording medium, which is built in above, it is manufactured on the element substrate in the same process as the driving element.
A sensing element for sensing the characteristics of the driving element,
Sheet resistance measurement to measure the sheet resistance of the heating resistance layer
The constant element is built in, and the detection of the driving element characteristic and the measurement of the sheet resistance value are done in one.
Measurement of the sheet resistance with the sensing element so that
An ink jet recording head, wherein elements are connected on the element base . 2. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the driving element is an NMOS transistor. 3. An electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy.
The heat generating resistance layer and the electrode layer forming the replacement body are provided on the element substrate.
A MOS transistor that drives the electrothermal converter
Multiple configured drive elements are built on the same element substrate.
Ink jet for recording on the recording medium
In preparative recording head, the characteristics of the drive element is manufactured in the same process as the drive element
Detection composed of MOS transistor for detecting
Element and has an ON resistance value larger than that of the driving element.
The sensing element to be installed on the element substrate
An inkjet recording head characterized by . 4. with a heat acting portion electrothermal converting pair to form a bubble in the liquid was arranged by giving thermal energy to the liquid, having an ink flow paths communicating with the discharge port for discharging ink, claim 1 or 3 An ink jet recording head according. Wherein said driving device characteristics detecting device is ON resistance measuring element of the driving device, according to claim 1 or 3 An ink jet recording head according. 6. comprising means for varying the driving condition of the driving device characteristics information detected by the detection device performs calculation process on electrothermal transducers on the same element substrate also Claim 1
Is an inkjet recording head described in 3 . 7. The ink jet recording head according to claim 6 , further comprising means for performing arithmetic processing on the information detected by the both elements in the same substrate to change the driving condition of the electrothermal converter. 8. A recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium, the recording head according to claim 1 or 3 , and a recording medium for conveying the recording medium on which recording is performed by the recording head. An inkjet recording apparatus having a recording medium conveying unit. 9. An electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy.
The heat generating resistance layer and the electrode layer forming the replacement body are provided on the element substrate.
Then, a plurality of driving elements for driving the electrothermal converter are formed.
The characteristics of the drive element manufactured in the same process as the drive element in the embedded element substrate.
And a sheet of the heating resistance layer for detecting the
Built-in sheet resistance measuring element for measuring resistance
And the detection of the driving element characteristics and the measurement of the sheet resistance value are one
Measurement of the sheet resistance with the sensing element so that
An element is connected on the element base,
An element substrate for an inkjet recording head. 10. Electric heat for generating thermal energy
The heating resistance layer and the electrode layer constituting the converter are formed on the element substrate.
A MOS transistor having the same and driving the electrothermal converter
An element base in which multiple drive elements composed of
In the body, the characteristics of the drive element manufactured in the same process as the drive element
Detection composed of MOS transistor for detecting
Element and has an ON resistance value larger than that of the driving element.
The sensing element to be installed on the element substrate
An ink jet recording head element substrate.