1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid ejection head and a manufacturing method of the liquid ejection head.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known a configuration of a liquid ejection head including a recording element substrate having an ejection opening group that ejects liquid represented by ink and an energy generating element facing each ejection opening. The liquid ejection head also includes a contact part that receives an electric signal and electric power to be used for driving the energy generating element from a recording apparatus body. The connection between the contact part and the recording element substrate typically uses an electric wiring member having flexibility.
A support member and a recording element substrate forming the liquid ejection head are joined by applying an adhesive to the support member and then aligning the position of the recording element substrate. The electric wiring member and the recording element substrate are electrically connected with each other by an inner lead provided at the electric wiring member and a connection terminal provided at the recording element substrate. An electric connection part between the inner lead and the connection terminal is covered with and protected by a sealant. Since this sealant has to quickly fill a narrow portion such as a gap of the electric connection part, a sealant with relatively low viscosity is typically used.
It is desirable that the sealant that covers the electric connection part does not contact a side surface of the recording element substrate as possible. One of the reasons is that the sealant may be expanded or shrunk due to a change in environment or other factor, and may apply an external force to the recording element substrate. In recent years, with the demand for downsizing a liquid ejection head, the distances among a plurality of ink supply openings provided at the recording element substrate, and the distance from the ink supply openings to an end of the recording element substrate are decreased. When an external force is applied from the sealant to such a recording element substrate, the recording element substrate may be deformed.
Owing to this, a technology to address the above-described problem is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-143896. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-142896 discloses a liquid ejection head including a recording element substrate and a support member having a recess that houses this recording element substrate. The liquid ejection head has a projection at an inner side surface of the recess. The projection causes the distance to the recording element substrate to be partly decreased. When the recording element substrate is bonded to the support member, a wall is formed with the adhesive pressed by the recording element substrate and projects, between the recording element substrate and the projection. With this wall, extension of the sealant is restricted, and the sealant hardly contacts the recording element substrate.
In the liquid ejection head described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-143896, since the entire bottom surface of the recess is formed of a flat surface, the adhesive pressed by the recording element substrate extends to not only the wall formation portion (between the projection and the recording element substrate) but also the entire bottom surface of the recess isotropically. Hence, to ensure the height of the wall by a certain degree to restrict the extension of the sealant, the adhesive is required by a large amount. Also, since a region near the recording element substrate (projection) is partly provided within the recess, the applied adhesive may start to flow out from the region to the inner side surface of the recess, and the height (thickness) of the adhesive required for bonding the recording element substrate may not be ensured.
In recent years, in the liquid ejection head, the array of energy generating elements arranged on the recording element substrate tends to be elongated in order to increase the recording speed. Accordingly, if the recording element substrate is elongated, the bonding area between the recording element substrate and the support member is increased, and the adhesive is required by a larger amount.
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a liquid ejection head including a recording element substrate configured to eject liquid, the recording element substrate having a side surface; an electric wiring substrate configured to be electrically connected with the recording element substrate; a support member having a recess configured to house the recording element substrate, the recess having a bottom surface and an inner side surface; and a sealant configured to seal an electric connection part between the recording element substrate and the electric wiring substrate. The support member has a projection-shaped adhesive application surface formed at the bottom surface of the recess, an adhesive being applied to the adhesive application surface, the adhesive bonding the recording element substrate; and a projection projecting from the inner side surface of the recess near the electric connection part toward the adhesive application surface. The adhesive application surface has a first region configured to be covered with the recording element substrate, and a second region extending from the first region to the projection. The second region has a wall formed of part of the adhesive and configured to close a gap between the projection and the side surface of the recording element substrate facing the projection.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a manufacturing method of a liquid ejection head. The liquid ejection head includes a recording element substrate configured to eject liquid, the recording element substrate having a side surface; an electric wiring substrate configured to be electrically connected with the recording element substrate; and a support member having a recess configured to house the recording element substrate, the recess having a bottom surface and an inner side surface, and a projection projecting from the inner side surface of the recess near an electric connection part between the recording element substrate and the electric wiring substrate toward the recording element substrate. The method includes applying an adhesive to a projection-shaped adhesive application surface formed at the bottom surface of the recess, the adhesive application surface has a first region configured to be covered with the recording element substrate, and a second region extending from the first region to the projection; pressing the adhesive applied to the first region by the recording element substrate, and forming a wall configured to close a gap between the projection and the side surface of the recording element substrate facing the projection with the adhesive pushed out from the first region by the pressing; and sealing the electric connection part with a sealant.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
An embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the drawings.
A configuration of the support member 1 is described with reference to
The recording element substrates 3a and 3b are bonded to the support member 1 by applying an adhesive to the support member 1 and then aligning the positions of the recording element substrates 3a and 3b. Also, the electric wiring member 4 is bonded to the support member 1 with another adhesive that is different from the adhesive used when the recording element substrates 3a and 3b are bonded.
The support member 1 is formed by resin-molding. A filler is blended by 40% by mass to a resin material (modified polyphenylene ether) used in this embodiment to increase rigidity and to cause the coefficient of linear expansion to become near the coefficient of linear expansion of the recording element substrate. The support member 1 has recesses 11 at arrangement portions where the recording element substrates 3a and 3b are respectively arranged. The recesses 11 are more recessed as compared with portions which surround the arrangement portions and to which the electric wiring member 4 is bonded. This configuration is to cause an inner lead 41 of the electric wiring member 4 and connection terminals 31 of the recording element substrates 3a and 3b to have substantially the same heights and to improve reliability of the electric connection part of both.
As shown in
A wall (not shown in
Also, a portion projecting in a direction toward the recording element substrate 3a and having the same height as those of two projections 12 is provided between the two projections 12 located at both ends of the element-substrate lateral region 15. With the portion and the projections 12, the element-substrate lateral region 15 has an angular C shape. A groove 16 is provided in an upper portion of the portion.
In this embodiment, the above-described respective portions of the support member 1 are integrally formed by injection molding. Also, the structure of the recess 11 that houses the recording element substrate 3b is similar to the structure of the recess 11 that houses the recording element substrate 3a.
A manufacturing method of the liquid ejection head 10 according to this embodiment is described below. In particular, the method is described from a bonding step of bonding the recording element substrate 3a to the support member 1 to a sealing step of sealing the electric connection part. A bonding step and a sealing step of the recording element substrate 3b are similar to those of the recording element substrate 3a, and hence the description is omitted.
First, an adhesive 5 is applied to the projection-shaped adhesive application surface 13 provided at the support member 1 (see
In the applying step according to this embodiment, a needle is stopped for a predetermined period at a portion facing the projections 12 within the first region 131 to ensure the height of the wall by a certain degree (described later) and hence the application amount of the adhesive 5 at the portion is increased (see
Next, the recording element substrate 3a is arranged while being positioned at the recess 11 of the support member 1 by handling the recording element substrate 3a with use of a jig (see
In this embodiment, the adhesive 5 with low thixotropic properties is used, and the adhesive 5 reaches the projection 12 before the arrangement of the recording element substrate 3a. However, according to the invention, the adhesive 5 with low thixotropic properties may be used and the adhesive 5 may reach the projection 12 when pressed by the recording element substrate 3a. Also in this case, with the projection-shaped adhesive application surface 13, the adhesive 5 pushed out by the recording element substrate 3a selectively spreads toward the projection 12, and hence a wall 51 can be formed without using the adhesive 5 by a large amount.
After the recording element substrate 3a is mounted on the support member 1, the electric wiring member 4 is bonded to the support member 1, and the connection terminal 31 of the recording element substrate 3a and the inner lead 41 of the electric wiring member 4 are electrically connected with each other.
Then, to protect the inner lead 41 from liquid such as ink or an external force, a sealant 6 is injected (see
Then, a second sealant (not shown) is applied onto the inner lead 41 to protect the electric connection part between the inner lead 41 and the connection terminal 31 from liquid such as ink or an external force. In this embodiment, the sealing step is divided into a step of filling a lower space of the inner lead 41 with the sealant and a step of covering an upper portion of the inner lead 41 with the sealant. However, according to the invention, these steps may be performed simultaneously.
Finally, the support member 1 is placed under a high temperature environment for a predetermined period, and hence the adhesive 5 and the sealant 6 are hardened with heat (thermally set). The viscosity of the adhesive 5 is decreased in a period from heating to hardening (setting), and becomes likely movable. However, since the adhesive application surface 13 is formed in a projection shape, the adhesive 5 hardly spreads out from the adhesive application surface. Accordingly, since the height of the wall 51 can be ensured without use of the adhesive 5 by a large amount, the expansion of the sealant 6 to the element-substrate lateral region 15 can be restricted.
A comparative example is described with reference to
In contrast, with this embodiment, the adhesive 5 pushed out from the first region 131 is promoted to move to the formation portion of the wall 51 by the projection-shaped adhesive application surface 13. Hence, since the adhesive 5 can be prevented from flowing out to a portion that does not contribute to the formation of the wall 51, the extension of the sealant 6 can be restricted while the use amount of adhesive 5 is restricted.
In this embodiment, the projection 12 is provided only at a portion facing a long side portion of the recording element substrate 3a (a side portion where the connection terminal 31 is not arranged). However, according to the invention, the projection 12 may be provided at a position facing a short side portion of the recording element substrate 3a (a side portion where the connection terminal 31 is arranged).
Also, an ink storage portion (not shown) can be removably mounted on the liquid ejection head 10 according to this embodiment. However, the invention can be applied to a form in which a liquid ejection head and an ink storage portion are integrally formed.
Modifications of the above-described embodiment are described below with reference to
In the above-described liquid ejection head 10, as shown in
Also, this embodiment employs the configuration in which the projection 12 and the second region 132 are formed so that the peripheral region of the first region 131 within the recess 11 is divided into the connection-part near region 14 and the element-substrate lateral region 15. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, as shown in
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-112186 filed May 30, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2014-112186 | May 2014 | JP | national |