Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Ejector mechanism
Patent
1994-04-14
1997-02-18
Tran, Huan H.
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Ejector mechanism
298901, B41J 2045
Patent
active
056045220
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a recording head of an ink jet recording apparatus of the on-demand type which spouts forth ink droplets toward a recording medium, such as a recording paper, in accordance with a print signal, thereby forming an ink image on the recording paper, and a method of manufacturing the recording head, and more particularly to the construction of a island having vibrating film which forms one of the walls defining an ink chamber for discharging ink droplets and functions to transfer a vibration from a piezoelectric transducer to the ink chamber. The ink jet head of the present invention is suitable for image recording machines, such as copy machines, printers, and facsimile machines.
BACKGROUND TECHNIQUES
An ink jet head of the called on-demand type which spouts forth ink droplets in accordance with a print signal is categorized into two types according to the type of the ink discharging force generating means. The first type of the ink jet head is a called bubble jet type of the ink jet head in which a heater for instantaneously vaporizing ink is located at the nozzle tip, and ink droplets are generated and spouted forth by an expanding pressure when ink is vaporized. The second type of the ink jet head is constructed such that a part of an ink chamber forming an ink reservoir is constructed with a piezoelectric transducer which is deformed according to a print signal, and ink droplets are impelled to emit forward by a pressure generated in the ink chamber by the deformation of the piezoelectric transducer.
The on-demand type of the ink jet head as the second type of the ink jet head, as disclosed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Nos. Sho. 58-119870 and 58-119872, is constructed such that a vibrating film (called a diaphragm in both the publications) forming an ink chamber is coupled with a second end of a piezoelectric transducer fastened at a first end to a base, with an island-like protrusion (called a leg in both the publications) inserted therebetween. The expanding and contracting actions of the piezoelectric transducer cause the piezoelectric transducer to push the leg and to deform the vibrating film. The deformed film causes ink of the ink chamber to forcibly emit forward in the form of ink droplets through a nozzle opening.
Neither of the above-mentioned publications discloses any specific method of forming the vibrating film and the leg. The leg takes a complicated construction where it is fitted into a bearing. Therefore, it is very difficult to accurately manufacture and assemble the leg member and the bearing member for the purposes of size reduction and high density of packaging. To solve those problems, a first measure taken that is disclosed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 3-15555 is such that, as shown in FIG. 10, a vibrating film 61a (called a vibrating plate in the publication) made of silicon, 1.8 .mu.m thick, and an island-like protrusion 61b (called a protrusion in the same publication) made of silicon oxide, 100 .mu.m thick, are coupled together into a vibrating film 61 with a protrusion by the manufacturing technique of semiconductor elements, and the island-like protrusion 61b is brought into contact with a piezoelectric transducer 60.
In another measure taken by the publication, as a second measure, the island-like protrusion 61b is formed on the vibrating film 61a, 1 to 10 .mu.m thick, made of metal, such as nickel, stainless steel, iron, copper, silver, gold, tantalum, or titanium, by an electroforming method, and the island-like protrusion 61b is brought into contact with the piezoelectric transducer 60.
In yet another measure taken by the publication, as a third measure, the island-like protrusion 61b of which the material and the method are not disclosed is fastened to the vibrating film 61a as an organic material film of 50 .mu.m thick, and the island-like protrusion 61b is brought into contact with the piezoelectric transducer 60.
In a fourth measure taken by Published Une
REFERENCES:
patent: 4434430 (1984-02-01), Koto
patent: 4468680 (1984-08-01), Martner
patent: 5471232 (1995-11-01), Hosono et al.
Miura Kazuhiko
Narita Toshio
Seiko Epson Corporation
Tran Huan H.
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