Etching a substrate: processes – Forming or treating thermal ink jet article
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-10
2001-05-29
Alanko, Anita (Department: 1746)
Etching a substrate: processes
Forming or treating thermal ink jet article
C216S099000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06238585
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink-jet head having nozzle openings through which ink droplets are discharged and manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Improvements in recording density result in an increasingly dense array of nozzle openings. For this reason, there has been a demand for nozzle openings arrayed with high accuracy as well as for nozzle openings having high dimensional accuracy. Means for solving such a problem are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 6-55733. It proposes that ink cavities, an ink reservoir for feeding ink to the ink cavities, and an ink supply port for connecting the ink cavities to the ink reservoir be formed in a silicon monocrystalline substrate by anisotropic etching, and that a nozzle plate, in which nozzle openings are formed by anisotropically etching a silicon monocrystalline substrate having a face (100), and the silicon monocrystalline substrate be bonded into an integrally formed ink-jet recording head.
The article entitled “Continuous Ink-jet Print Head Utilizing Silicon Micromachined Nozzles” in “Sensors and Actuators A”, 43 (1994), pp. 311-316, discloses a method of manufacturing a nozzle plate for use with an ink-jet printer. According to this method, boron is diffused into designated areas of a silicon monocrystalline substrate having a (100) face where nozzle openings are to be formed. The areas into which boron was diffused are selectively etched, whereby a plurality of nozzle openings are formed.
As previously described, the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 6-55733 uses the silicon monocrystalline substrate having a (100) face. If the silicon monocrystalline substrate is anisotropically etched, nozzle openings J, each consisting of four planes E, F, G, and H at an angle of 45° with respect to the face (100), are recessed in the silicon monocrystalline substrate which constitutes a nozzle plate D, as shown in
FIG. 9
(here reference symbol N designates a spacer which forms ink cavities K, ink supply ports L, and an ink reservoir M, and P designates a vibrating plate having pressure generating means Q formed therein).
If through-holes are formed in the face (100) of the silicon monocrystalline substrate by anisotropic etching, a ratio of a side length of the maximum opening of the through-hole to the thickness of the substrate becomes 2:1, as is well known. For this reason, it is necessary to limit the thickness of the silicon monocrystalline substrate to about 70 &mgr;m in order to form nozzle openings at a density of 180 DPI or thereabouts.
To form ink dots having a size suitable for a printing operation, it is necessary for the minimum opening of the discharge orifice to have a diameter of 30 &mgr;m. Allowing for the accuracy of formation of patterns used for arraying the nozzle openings, it is also necessary to ensure a pitch of about
10
m between the patterns. Because of these requirements, a silicon monocrystalline substrate which is considerably as thin as 30 &mgr;m or thereabouts becomes necessary.
Even in the case of a silicon monocrystalline substrate having a diameter of about 100 mm (a 4-inch wafer), it is very difficult to cut that substrate to a thickness of about 30 &mgr;m. Further, the rigidity of a sliced silicon monocrystalline substrate becomes extremely low, and hence it becomes very difficult to bond the substrate to another element, which in turn complicates manufacturing steps.
According to the technique disclosed in the article entitled “Sensors and Actuators A”, the boron-diffused areas are etched. The depth to which boron can be diffused is, at most, 2-3 &mgr;m or thereabouts, which makes a handling operation for bonding the substrate to another element considerably difficult. Hence, this technique is impossible to use from an industrial point of view.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been conceived in view of the foregoing drawbacks in the art, and the primary object of the invention is to provide an ink-jet head having a nozzle plate made of a silicon monocrystalline substrate into which nozzle openings can be arrayed at a high density while the ease of handling required to assemble the nozzle plate is ensured.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing the above described ink-jet head.
According to the present invention, there is provided an ink-jet head comprising: a spacer having a plurality of ink reservoirs, ink supply ports and ink cavities which receive ink fed from the ink reservoir thereto through the ink supply ports; a cover member for sealing one side of the spacer; a nozzle plate sealing the other side of the spacer and made of a silicon monocrystalline substrate with a lattice face (110), wherein a plurality of nozzle openings are formed so as to be communicated with the ink cavities and include faces (1-11) and (-11-1) in the direction in which the nozzle openings are arrayed as well as faces (111) and (11-1) in the direction of the axis of each ink cavity, and the nozzle openings have maximum diameter portions which are open to the ink cavities and minimum diameter portions which are positioned opposite to the maximum diameter portions; and means for pressurizing the ink cavity.
The nozzle openings have the faces (1-11) and (-11-1) perpendicular to the substrate in the direction in which the nozzle openings are arrayed. Accordingly, the width of the discharge orifice becomes constant irrespective of the time required to etch the substrate which constitutes the nozzle plate. As a result, the nozzle openings are formed to a width defined by patterning.
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Alanko Anita
Seiko Epson Corporation
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
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