Metal working – Piezoelectric device making
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-24
2004-05-25
Tugbang, A. Dexter (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Piezoelectric device making
C029S890100, C310S328000, C310S330000, C347S069000, C347S072000, C427S078000, C427S123000, C427S124000, C427S125000, C427S422000, C427S427000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06739026
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a head chip which is mounted on an ink-jet type recording apparatus applicable to, for example, a printer and a facsimile.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an ink-jet type recording apparatus is known in the technical field, in which a recording head for jetting ink droplets from a plurality of nozzles is employed to record characters and/or images on a recording medium. In such an ink-jet type recording apparatus, the recording head positioned opposite to the recording medium is provided on a head holder, and this head holder is mounted on a carriage so as to be scanned along a direction perpendicular to a transport direction of the recording medium.
In
FIG. 12
, there is shown an exploded/perspective view of one example of such a recording head.
FIGS. 13A and 13B
are sectional view of a major portion of this recording head.
FIG. 13A
is a sectional view of the recording head taken along the longitudinal direction of side walls.
FIG. 13B
is a sectional view of the recording head taken along the thickness direction of side walls. A plurality of grooves
102
are arranged in a piezoelectric ceramic plate
101
in a parallel manner. The respective grooves
102
are separated from each other by side walls
103
. One edge portion of each of the grooves
102
in the longitudinal direction is elongated up to one edge surface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate
101
, whereas the other edge portion is not elongated up to the other edge surface of this piezoelectric ceramic plate, and a depth thereof gradually becomes shallow. Also, an electrode
105
used to apply a driving electric field is formed on surfaces of both the side walls
103
on the opening side within each of the grooves
102
along the longitudinal direction.
A cover plate
107
is jointed via an adhesive agent
109
to the grooves
102
of the piezoelectric ceramic plate
101
on the opening side. This cover plate
107
has an ink chamber
111
that constitutes a concave portion which is communicated to the shallow other edge portion of each of the grooves
102
and an ink supply port
112
that is penetrated through a bottom portion of this ink chamber
111
along a direction opposite to the direction of the grooves
102
.
A nozzle plate
115
is jointed on an edge surface of a joint member made by the piezoelectric ceramic plate
101
and the cover plate
107
, at which the grooves
102
are opened. Nozzle openings
117
are formed in the nozzle plate
115
at such positions located opposite to the respective grooves
102
.
It should be noted that a wiring board
120
is fixed on such a surface of the piezoelectric ceramic plate
101
, which is located opposite to the nozzle plate
115
and also opposite to the cover plate
107
. A wiring line
122
which is electrically connected to each of the electrodes
105
by employing a bonding wire
121
or the like is formed on the wiring board
120
. A driver voltage may be applied via this wiring line
122
to the electrode
105
.
In the recording head constituted in this manner, when ink is filled from the ink supply port
112
into the respective grooves
102
and a predetermined driving electric field is applied via the electrode
105
to the side walls
103
on both sides of a predetermined groove
102
, the side walls
103
are deformed, so that a capacity formed within this predetermined groove
102
is change. As a result, the ink filled inside the grooves
102
may be jetted from the nozzle opening
117
.
For example, as shown in
FIG. 14
, in the case where ink is jetted from a nozzle opening
117
corresponding to a groove
102
a
, a positive driving voltage is applied to both electrodes
105
a
and
105
b
provided in the groove
102
a
, and also electrodes
105
c
and
105
d
located opposite to these electrodes
105
a
and
105
b
are grounded. As a consequence, a driving electric field directed to the groove
102
a
is effected to the side walls
103
a
and
103
b
. When this driving electric field is positioned perpendicular to the polarization direction of the piezoelectric ceramic plate
101
, both the side walls
103
a
and
103
b
are deformed along the direction of the groove
102
a
due to the piezoelectric thickness slip effect, so that the capacity defined inside the groove
102
a
is reduced to there by increase pressure. Thus, the ink may be jetted from the nozzle opening
117
.
However, since such a head chip employs a large amount of high-cost ceramic, there is a problem in that the manufacturing cost of the head chip is high.
To solve such a problem, Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. Hei 6-6375 has proposed such a head chip which is manufactured by the plate-shaped board made of glass, piezoelectric ceramic plate made by arranging the pressure chambers in the array form on this plate-shaped board, and ink chamber plate made of glass.
In accordance with this head chip, since both the plate-shaped board and the ink chamber plate are made of low-cost glass materials, the head chip can be manufactured economically and the manufacturing time can be shortened.
However, in the foregoing head chip having the glass board, since the electrode for applying the voltage to the piezoelectric ceramic plate has to formed by oblique vapor deposition, the manufacturing cost is increased.
Furthermore, when the wiring lines electrically conducted to this electrode are extracted, these wiring lines are processed by metal plating such as nickel plating or gold plating, and thereafter the metal plated-wiring lines has to be cut one by one by using a laser. Thus, there is another problem in that the process step becomes cumbersome, and the manufacturing cost is increased.
Furthermore, even when the wiring lines are directly formed on the glass board by way of the metal plating, there is another problem in that the fitting characteristic is deteriorated, and thus, the formed wiring lines may readily peel off from the glass board.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made to solve the foregoing problems in the conventional art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a head chip economically and in a simplified manner.
In order to solve the above problems, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a head chip, in which partition walls made of piezoelectric ceramic are arranged in a predetermined interval between a first upper board and a second lower board, which are made of a dielectric material; chambers are defined among the respective partition walls; and a wiring line is provided on a surface of any one of the first board and the second board, and is electrically conducted to an electrode formed on a side surface of the partition wall, and also is elongated up to an outer side of an edge portion of the partition wall along a longitudinal direction; the manufacturing method characterized by comprising:
a step in which the electrode and a metal film which constitutes a portion of the wiring line are formed by way of selective electroless plating, and these electrode and wiring line are electrically conducted to each other.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a manufacturing method of a head chip characterized in that:
at least in a region corresponding to the chamber, the inorganic conductive film is formed on a portion located opposite to both edge portions of the partition wall in a width direction such that one side surface of the inorganic conductive film is exposed a long a longitudinal direction of the partition wall; and
the electrode is electrically conducted to at least the one side surface of the inorganic conductive film, which is exposed.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a manufacturing method of a head chip characterized in that:
th
Adams & Wilks
Kim Paul D
Seiko Instruments Inc.
Tugbang A. Dexter
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