JP2730481B2 - Method of manufacturing ink jet recording head - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head used in an ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording by ejecting ink droplets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, ink jet recording heads have been manufactured by bonding individual orifice plates and a thermal head substrate. At the time of this joining, it was necessary to perform positioning so that the ink ejection ports of the orifice plate and the heating elements of the thermal head substrate were arranged at predetermined positions. For positioning, high precision is required in terms of high-density recording, and the following method has been used.

[0003] 1. After the orifice plate and the end face of the thermal head substrate are parallelized by abutting, one of the orifice plate and the thermal head substrate is moved in parallel along the end surface, and the alignment mark is aligned to perform alignment. .

[0004] 2. After aligning the orifice plate with the holes for positioning and the end face of the thermal head substrate to perform parallel alignment, the orifice plate or the thermal head substrate is moved in parallel along the end face, and the holes in the orifice plate are moved. And a mark provided on the thermal head substrate.

[0005] 3. A method in which the orifice plate and the thermal head substrate are aligned by means of positioning means for the concave and convex portions provided corresponding to each.

[0006]

In the method utilizing the butting for positioning, it is necessary to finish the orifice plate and the end face of the thermal head substrate with high precision. Further, since the operation of abutting the orifice plate and the thermal head substrate and then performing the alignment again is performed twice, the skill of the operator is required.

[0007] In the method of matching by the positioning means for the concave and convex portions, when plating and etching are used as the forming operation of the concave and convex portions, the process of forming the concave and convex portions is included in the process, so that the number of assembly steps is increased. In addition, when the uneven portion is formed by patterning the photoresist of the dry film, it can be performed at the same time as forming the ink flow path, but an accurate alignment cannot be performed because an error occurs during patterning.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the assembly of the ink jet recording head is performed by bonding the individual orifice plates and the thermal head substrate, there is a problem that the number of steps is increased.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head which can reduce man-hours and can easily perform accurate alignment.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head according to the present invention has been made to achieve the above object, and comprises: an orifice plate provided with ink discharge ports for discharging ink droplets; A thermal head substrate provided with a heating element for discharging the ink droplet from the ink discharge port is provided as an improved method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head.

That is, a plurality of the orifice plates are formed on a glass substrate, a plurality of the thermal head substrates are formed on a silicon wafer, and the glass substrate and the silicon wafer are joined and then separated into individual ink jet recording heads. It is characterized by the following.

[0012] Further, positioning marks for positioning are formed at positions of the glass substrate and the silicon wafer opposite to each other, and after positioning the glass substrate and the silicon wafer using these positioning marks, The glass substrate and the silicon wafer may be joined.

[0013]

A plurality of orifice plates are formed on a glass substrate. A plurality of thermal head substrates are formed on a silicon wafer. When the glass substrate and the silicon wafer are joined, a plurality of ink jet recording heads are connected. Therefore, by separating the bonded glass substrate and silicon wafer into a plurality of pieces, individual ink jet recording heads can be obtained.

Further, when alignment marks for positioning are formed at opposing positions of the glass substrate and the silicon wafer, the alignment of these alignment marks is confirmed through the glass substrate. This is because the glass substrate transmits light.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line II in FIG. 2 showing a state in which the glass substrate and the silicon wafer are joined. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the glass substrate and the silicon wafer are joined. FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the alignment mark in FIG. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIGS.

The ink jet recording head 10 has an orifice plate 14 provided with ink discharge ports 12 for discharging ink drops, and a thermal head provided with a heating element (not shown) for discharging ink drops from the ink discharge ports 12. And a substrate 18. Although the heating elements are omitted for convenience, they are actually formed separately for each ink ejection port 12.

The method of manufacturing the ink jet recording head 10 is as follows. First, the orifice plate 14
Are formed on a glass substrate 20 and a plurality of thermal head substrates 18 are formed on a silicon wafer 22. Subsequently, the glass substrate 20 and the silicon wafer 22 are joined. After that, the ink-jet recording heads 10 are separated.

In the step of forming the orifice plate 14, the alignment mark 2 is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the glass substrate 20.
4 are formed, and a registration mark 26 is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the silicon wafer 22 in the process of forming the thermal head substrate 18.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the glass substrate, and FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIGS.

A conductive metal 30 is sputtered on the glass substrate 20, and a photoresist 32 is formed on the conductive metal 30.
Are patterned. The orifice plate 14 is formed by performing Ni electroforming on the pattern of the photoresist 32. The alignment mark 24 is formed simultaneously with the photoresist 32 using the same material when patterning the photoresist 32. When the conductive metal 30 is sputtered, the outer peripheral portion of the glass substrate 20 where the alignment mark 24 is located is masked.

The positions where the alignment marks 24 on the glass substrate 20 and the alignment marks 26 on the silicon wafer 22 are formed are determined when the glass substrate 20 and the silicon wafer 22 are joined. The center point of the outlet 12 and the thermal head substrate 18
The central point of the heating element is
Is formed at a position corresponding to all the ink ejection ports 12 in the inside. The bonding between the glass substrate 20 and the silicon wafer 22 is performed by applying an adhesive onto the ink flow path forming member 16 and bonding, or using the adhesive force of the ink flow path forming member 16 itself.

After the glass substrate 20 and the silicon wafer 22 are aligned and bonded, a dicing saw or the like is used.
The silicon wafer 22 is cut for each ink jet recording head 10. Then, the glass substrate 20, the photoresist 32, and the like are removed to form a chip. FIG. 6 is an overall perspective view of the inkjet recording head 10 after separation.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a glass substrate on which an orifice plate according to the present embodiment is formed. In this embodiment, first, the conductive metal 40 is sputtered on the glass substrate 20. Subsequently, a photoresist (not shown) is patterned on the conductive metal 40, and the conductive metal 40 is etched using the photoresist as a mask to form a pattern for electroforming the orifice plate 42. Further, after the photoresist is removed, the orifice plate 42 is formed by performing Ni electroforming on the pattern of the conductive metal 40. The registration mark (not shown) is a conductive metal 40
The same material as above is formed at the same time as the step of etching the conductive metal 40. Thereafter, as in the first embodiment, the glass substrate 20 and the silicon wafer are aligned and joined using alignment marks, and then cut into individual chips.

[0024]

As described above, according to the method of manufacturing an ink jet recording head according to the present invention, after joining a glass substrate having a plurality of orifice plates formed thereon and a silicon wafer having a plurality of thermal head substrates formed thereon, the individual ink jet recording heads are joined together. By separating the print head, 1
Since a plurality of ink jet recording heads can be manufactured simultaneously by one assembly, the number of steps can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

Further, by providing alignment marks for positioning on the glass substrate and the silicon wafer, the alignment marks can be confirmed through the glass substrate, so that the alignment between the glass substrate and the silicon wafer can be performed easily and accurately. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken along line II in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the glass substrate and the silicon wafer of the first embodiment are joined.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view showing a registration mark in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the glass substrate of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along line VV in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an overall perspective view showing the inkjet recording head after separation.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a glass substrate of a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ink jet recording head 12 Ink discharge port 14,42 Orifice plate 16 Ink flow path constituent member 18 Thermal head substrate 20 Glass substrate 22 Silicon wafer 24 Registration mark on glass substrate side 26 Registration mark on silicon wafer side 30, 40 Conductivity Metal 32 photoresist

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink jet recording head comprising: an orifice plate provided with an ink ejection port for ejecting an ink droplet; and a thermal head substrate provided with a heating element for ejecting the ink droplet from the ink ejection port. In the method, a plurality of the orifice plates are formed on a glass substrate, a plurality of the thermal head substrates are formed on a silicon wafer, and the glass substrate and the silicon wafer are joined and then separated into individual inkjet recording heads. A method for manufacturing an ink jet recording head. 2. A positioning mark for positioning is formed at an opposing position of the glass substrate and the silicon wafer, and after positioning the glass substrate and the silicon wafer using these registration marks,
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the glass substrate and the silicon wafer are bonded.