Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Electrical device making
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-22
2001-05-22
Arbes, Carl J. (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Electrical device making
C029S825000, C029S603010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06233819
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fine-pitch electrodes and processes for producing them, and to fine-pitch electrode units. In particular, the present invention relates to fine-pitch electrodes having a structure in which fine electrode lines are disposed in a manner that the end surfaces thereof are aligned with a fine pitch interval and that the end surfaces are disposed on a common plane, and in which electricity can be carried to the fine electrode lines individually.
2. Background Art
High-speed printing systems have recently been developed in which, under a computerized control, an ink film is formed on a rotatable drum, which is made of metallic members, using an electrically conductive ink, then a pattern of characters or the like is formed by causing electricity to run through the ink so as to make the ink coagulate (solidify) to form ink dots, and thereafter the pattern of ink dots is transferred onto a predetermined sheet of paper. An example of the high-speed printing system is shown in
FIGS. 15 and 16
.
The high-speed printing system shown in
FIGS. 15 and 16
is a direct printing system (electronic image formation system), which does not require a printing block. This high-speed printing system has the advantage that clear and uniform printouts can always be printed regardless of the number of printouts.
According to the printing system of this technique, when the ink is made to coagulate (solidify) to form each ink dot d on the rotatable drum
201
by causing electricity to run through the ink, the ink is solidified by making it coagulate to form each ink dot d by the application of instantaneous current between the fine-pitch electrode
101
provided over the rotatable drum
201
and the metallic rotatable drum
201
, and thereafter only the solidified pattern is allowed to remain by scraping off the ink portion which has not coagulated since no electricity runs through this portion (image revealing), whereby high-speed image transfer to a predetermined sheet of paper is possible.
In this case, adjacent ink dots d overlap or make contact with each other. On the other hand, when there are blank spaces between ink dots d, fine spaces must be formed between the ink dots d for printing fine characters.
Accordingly, as the fine-pitch electrode
101
which causes the electric coagulation (solidification), one comprising electrode lines
101
a
having diameters and intervals of micrometer levels is often employed.
FIGS. 14A
to
14
D show a conventional example of the above-described fine-pitch electrode and a process for producing it. In this example, a copper wire
103
having a diameter of 20 to 200 &mgr;m, for example, is wound spirally (at a pitch of 30 to 300 &mgr;m) around an acrylic core rod
104
as shown in FIG.
14
A. Then, in a position as shown in
FIG. 14B
, this is immersed in a liquid acrylic resin
105
, and the liquid acrylic resin
105
is cured. Then, this is cut along the central dotted line shown in
FIG. 14C
, and the portion which is shaded in the figure is removed so as to obtain a fine-pitch electrode
101
shown in FIG.
14
D.
However, such a fine-pitch electrode
101
is disadvantageous in that when the ink used in the above-described printing system is solidified,. the solvent of the ink evaporates onto the fine-pitch electrode
101
and dissolves the acrylic resin thereof. In addition, since the electrode lines
101
a
protrude to a large extent, the pitch of the electrode lines
101
a
is subject to change, which causes displacement of ink dots and results in a large degradation of the precision in image formation. Moreover, when the fine-pitch electrodes
101
are connected to external circuits or the like, each electrode must be properly positioned before they are connected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention was devised in view of the disadvantages of the conventional examples. An object of the present invention is to provide: fine-pitch electrodes in which fine electrode lines are set at even intervals and with high precision, and the productivity and quality of which are improved; processes for producing the fine-pitch electrodes; and fine-pitch electrode units.
In order to achieve the above objects, the fine-pitch electrode of the present invention comprises:
a plurality of linear fine electrode lines, each of which is coated around its periphery with a coating film, with an approximately uniform thickness, which is made of an electrical insulator; and
a molding member in which a plurality of the fine electrode lines are disposed on a plane and which is molded into a plate, for example, so as to incorporate the fine electrode lines.
Here, by setting the diameter of the coating film of each fine electrode line to be almost the same as the pitch intervals of the fine electrode lines, highly precise and even distances between the fine electrode lines can be provided.
In addition, according to the above-described fine-pitch electrode, by simply disposing the fine electrode lines having the coating films with no space between them, the fine electrode lines can be set at even intervals and with high precision, without necessitating any skill.
Another fine-pitch electrode of the present invention comprises:
an electrically insulating substrate such as a glass substrate;
fine electrode lines each of which comprises a fine electrode film and a laminate electrode film, wherein the fine electrode films are strips of electrically conductive thin films having a predetermined thickness and are disposed on the substrate at predetermined intervals, and the laminate electrode films are electrically conductive members with which the fine electrode films are laminated;
an electrical insulator which fills the spaces between the fine electrode lines; and
a sealing member with which the substrate is laminated and the entirety of the upper surfaces of both electrical insulators and the fine electrode lines is covered.
Such fine-pitch electrodes make an automated production process therefor practicable as will be explained below, and not only uniformity of quality and improvement in precision are expected, but fine-pitch electrodes of high quality can be produced in large quantities at a low cost.
A process for producing a fine-pitch electrode according to the present invention comprises:
a thin film formation step in which an electrically conductive thin film base is formed on a substrate using a material with good electrical conductivity such as copper;
a step of forming a mask made of a resist film having openings at predetermined intervals, whereby a plurality of recesses are formed, each of which is defined by the inside surface of the opening and the upper surface of the electrically conductive thin film base;
a plating layer formation step in which a plating layer comprising a metallic material is formed by plating on the electrically conductive thin film base at the bottom of each recess by filling up the recess;
a resist film removal step in which the resist film is removed after the plating layer formation step;
a thin film partial removal step, in which after the resist film removal step the electrically conductive thin film is removed leaving the electrically conductive thin film portions under the plating layers, so as to form a plurality of fine electrode lines each of which comprises the plating layer and the electrically conductive thin film portion;
an insulating material application step in which an electrically insulating material is applied between a plurality of the fine electrode lines; and
a fine electrode line sealing-in step in which, after completion of or at the same time as the insulating material application step, an electrically insulating sealing member is molded to cover the entirety of the fine electrode lines except for the surface of one longitudinal end at the tip and a part of the other end portion of each fine electrode line, so as to seal in the fine electrode lines.
Such a process for producing a fine-pitch electrode makes it possible to automate ea
Miura Michio
Toda Koji
Tsubakida Hideaki
Arbes Carl J.
Ostrolenk Faber Gerb & Soffen, LLP
Yamaha Corporation
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