Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Electrical device making
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-26
2004-12-28
Tugbang, A. Dexter (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Electrical device making
C029S890100, C029SDIG001, C347S061000, C216S027000, C216S083000, C216S057000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06834423
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid discharge head and a liquid discharge apparatus, which are used for a printer and a video printer as an output terminal of a copying machine, a facsimile, a word processor, a host computer, or the like and a method of manufacturing the liquid discharge head. Particularly, the present invention relates to the liquid discharge head having a device substrate, in which an electrothermal device is formed to generate thermal energy used for discharge of a liquid, a liquid discharge and recording apparatus on which the liquid discharge head is mounted, and the method of manufacturing the liquid discharge head. In other words, it relates to the liquid discharge head, which is used for recording by discharging a recording liquid such as ink from a discharge port as a flying droplet to attach the liquid to a recording medium, and the method of manufacture thereof.
2. Related Background Art
Ink jet recording method, i.e., so-called bubble jet recording method, in which energy such as heat is applied to ink to cause a status change of ink accompanied by an abrupt volume change, ink is discharged from the discharge port by an action force based on the status change of ink, and this is attached to a recording medium to form an image, has been conventionally known. In the recording apparatus using this bubble jet recording method, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,139 specification, the discharge port to discharge ink, an ink path to communicate with this discharge port, and the electrothermal conversion body as energy generating means to discharge ink are generally arranged.
According to such a recording method, a high quality image can be recorded in a high speed and low noise and the discharge port for discharge of ink can be arranged in a high density in the head employing this recording method and therefore, there are many excellent advantages: a recorded image of high resolution and a color image can be readily yielded by a small apparatus. Thus, in recent years, this bubble jet recording method is used for many office appliances such as printer, copying machine, facsimile, or the like, and also used for such industrial systems as printing apparatus.
According to increasing application of such bubble jet technology to a product of many aspects, the following various requirements are recently increasing.
For example, a measure for the requirement of improving energy efficiency is exemplified by optimization of a heating element through adjustment of a thickness of a protecting film of the heating element. This measure expresses an effect to improve a conduction efficiency of heat generated to a liquid.
Furthermore, in order to yield the high quality image, a driving condition was proposed to provide the liquid discharge method capable of good ink discharge based on a fast speed of ink discharge and stable bubble occurrence and also in consideration of high speed recording, in order to obtain the liquid discharge head by which the discharged liquid is rapidly refilled in a liquid flow path, one, of which shape of the liquid flow path has been improved, has been proposed.
In addition, in reconsideration of a principle of liquid discharge, studies were carried out to provide a new liquid discharge method, not realized conventionally, employing a bubble and a head used therefor and there have been proposed the liquid discharge method and the head used therefor disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-201966.
Hereby, the conventional liquid discharge method and the head used therefor disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-201966 will be described below with reference to
FIGS. 14A
to
14
D, FIG.
15
and FIG.
16
.
FIGS. 14A
to
14
D are figures to explain the discharge principle of the conventional liquid discharge head and each of
FIG. 14A
to
FIG. 14D
is a sectional view along with a direction of the liquid flow path.
FIG. 15
is a partially broken-away perspective view of the liquid discharge head shown in
FIGS. 14A
to
14
D,
FIG. 16
is the sectional view of a modified example of the liquid discharge head shown in
FIGS. 14A
to
14
D. The liquid discharge head shown in
FIGS. 14A
to
14
D and
16
is one configured most basically to improve a discharge force and discharge efficiency by controlling a direction of travelling of the pressure and the direction of a bubble growth on the basis of the bubble in discharging the liquid.
“Upstream” and “downstream” used in the following description are expressions for the direction of the liquid flow from a source of supplying the liquid toward the discharge port through a top of the region, where the bubble occurs, or the direction of this configuration.
“Downstream side” related to the bubble itself represents mainly the discharge port of the bubble, which is regarded as works directly on discharge of the droplet. More specifically, to a center of the bubble, it means the downstream side in the flow direction as above described and the direction of the above configuration or the bobble generated in the region of the downstream side of the center of the area of the heating element. (Similarly, the “upstream side” of the bubble itself means, to the center of the bubble, the upstream side of the direction in the flow direction as described above and the direction of the above described configuration or the bubble generated in the region of the upstream side of the center of the area of the heating element.)
In addition, “comb shape” means a shape in which a fulcrum part of a movable member is a common member and a distal end of a free end of the movable member is opened.
In the liquid discharge head shown in
FIGS. 14A
to
14
D, a device substrate
501
is one prepared by forming a silicon oxide film or a silicon nitride film with a purpose of insulation and heat reserving on the substrate made of silicon or the like and thereupon, an electric resistor layer and wire is patterned to constitute the heating element
502
. This wire applies a voltage to the electric resistor layer and applies a current to the electric resistor layer to heat the heating element
502
.
A ceiling board
511
is one to comprise a plurality of the liquid flow path
503
corresponding to all heating elements
502
and a common liquid chamber
505
for supply of the liquid to all liquid flow paths
503
and a flow path side wall is integrally installed to extend from a ceiling part to all heating elements
502
. On the other hand, On the ceiling board
511
, a plurality of the discharge ports
504
are formed to communicate with all liquid flow paths
503
with outside.
The ceiling board
511
can be formed by depositing a material such as silicon nitride, silicon oxide, or the like, that are used for a side wall of the liquid flow path
503
, on the silicon substrate by a publicly known film forming method such as the CVD, etching a part of the liquid flow path
503
and then, adhering the ceiling part.
On the part, corresponding to the liquid flow path
503
, of the device substrate
501
, a plate-like movable member
506
facing the heating element
502
is installed like a cantilever and the one end of the upstream side of the movable member
506
is fixed to a base
507
. The movable member
506
is supported by the base
507
to possess the fulcrum
508
in a displacing occasion. On the other hand, the movable member
506
is formed in comb shape by patterning the deposited film in a stage to form the liquid flow path
503
and the side wall thereof as described above by a publicly known film forming method and consists of such silicon-based material as silicon nitride, silicon oxide, or the like.
The movable member
506
has the fulcrum
508
in the upstream side of a large flow flowing from the common liquid chamber
505
to the discharge port
504
side by a discharging action of the liquid through the top of the movable member
506
and is arranged with a distance of 15 &mgr;m from the heating element
502
to have the f
Ishinaga Hiroyuki
Misumi Yoshinori
Sugiyama Hiroyuki
Taneya Yoichi
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