JP-7856103-B2 - Nozzle plate, droplet dispensing head, droplet dispensing device, and method for manufacturing the nozzle plate

JP7856103B2JP 7856103 B2JP7856103 B2JP 7856103B2JP-7856103-B2

Inventors

梶田大士
鮫島幸一

Assignees

コニカミノルタ株式会社

Dates

Publication Date: 20260511
Application Date: 20220725
Priority Date: 20210727

Claims (17)

A nozzle plate comprising a single-crystal silicon substrate with a first surface having a plurality of nozzle channels, each having a nozzle opening for ejecting liquid droplets, The nozzle flow path has a nozzle tapered section in which the flow path area, which is the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the droplet discharge direction, gradually widens from the first surface toward the second surface opposite the first surface, The nozzle tapered portion is provided with a straight connecting portion that is continuous with the end on the second surface side and has a pair of opposing surfaces that are substantially parallel, Of the sides of the surfaces constituting the straight connecting portion that intersect with the second surface, the length of the sides of one pair of opposing surfaces is longer than the length of the sides of the other surfaces. The nozzle tapered portion includes four faces whose crystal planes are approximately {111} planes. A nozzle plate in which the surfaces constituting the straight communication portion intersect with the second surface, and the crystal planes of the faces where the length of one pair of opposing faces is longer than the length of the other faces are approximately {100} faces .
A nozzle plate comprising a single-crystal silicon substrate with a first surface having a plurality of nozzle channels, each having a nozzle opening for ejecting liquid droplets, The nozzle flow path has a nozzle tapered section in which the flow path area, which is the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the droplet discharge direction, gradually widens from the first surface toward the second surface opposite the first surface, The nozzle tapered portion is provided with a straight connecting portion that is continuous with the end on the second surface side and has a pair of opposing surfaces that are substantially parallel, Of the sides of the surfaces constituting the straight connecting portion that intersect with the second surface, the length of the sides of one pair of opposing surfaces is longer than the length of the sides of the other surfaces. The nozzle tapered portion includes four faces whose crystal planes are approximately {111} planes. A nozzle plate having a side wall mask layer in at least a portion between the point where the nozzle tapered portion and the straight connecting portion intersect and the first surface.
A nozzle plate comprising a single-crystal silicon substrate with a first surface having a plurality of nozzle channels, each having a nozzle opening for ejecting liquid droplets, The nozzle flow path has a nozzle tapered section in which the flow path area, which is the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the droplet discharge direction, gradually widens as you move from the first surface toward the second surface opposite the first surface, The nozzle tapered portion is provided with a straight connecting portion that is continuous with the end on the second surface side and has a pair of opposing surfaces that are substantially parallel, Of the sides of the surfaces constituting the straight connecting portion that intersect with the second surface, the length of the sides of one pair of opposing surfaces is longer than the length of the sides of the other surfaces. The nozzle tapered portion is composed of four faces with approximately {111} crystal planes . A nozzle plate in which the surfaces constituting the straight communication portion intersect with the second surface, and the crystal planes of the pair of opposing surfaces whose side lengths are longer than the side lengths of the other surfaces are composed of approximately {100} planes .
A nozzle plate comprising a single-crystal silicon substrate with a first surface having a plurality of nozzle channels, each having a nozzle opening for ejecting liquid droplets, The nozzle flow path has a nozzle tapered section in which the flow path area, which is the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the droplet discharge direction, gradually widens from the first surface toward the second surface opposite the first surface, The nozzle tapered portion is provided with a straight connecting portion that is continuous with the end on the second surface side and has a pair of opposing surfaces that are substantially parallel, Of the sides of the surfaces constituting the straight connecting portion that intersect with the second surface, the length of the sides of one pair of opposing surfaces is longer than the length of the sides of the other surfaces. The nozzle tapered portion is composed of four faces with approximately {111} crystal planes. A nozzle plate having a side wall mask layer in at least a portion between the point where the nozzle tapered portion and the straight connecting portion intersect and the first surface.
The nozzle plate according to claim 2 or 4, wherein, among the edges of the surface constituting the straight communication portion that intersect with the second surface, the crystal plane of the pair of opposing surfaces whose edge length is longer than the edge length of the other surface is composed of approximately {101} surfaces.
A nozzle plate comprising a single-crystal silicon substrate with a first surface having a plurality of nozzle channels, each having a nozzle opening for ejecting liquid droplets, The nozzle flow path has a nozzle tapered section in which the flow path area, which is the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the droplet discharge direction, gradually widens from the first surface toward the second surface opposite the first surface, The nozzle tapered portion includes a straight connecting portion that extends from the end on the second surface side to the second surface, A side wall mask layer is provided in at least a portion between the point where the nozzle tapered portion and the straight connecting portion intersect and the first surface. The nozzle tapered portion is a nozzle plate that includes four faces with approximately {111} crystal planes.
A nozzle plate comprising a single-crystal silicon substrate with a first surface having a plurality of nozzle channels, each having a nozzle opening for ejecting liquid droplets, The nozzle flow path has a nozzle tapered section in which the flow path area, which is the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the droplet discharge direction, gradually widens from the first surface toward the second surface opposite the first surface, The nozzle tapered portion includes a straight connecting portion that extends from the end on the second surface side to the second surface, A side wall mask layer is provided in at least a portion between the point where the nozzle tapered portion and the straight connecting portion intersect and the first surface. The nozzle tapered portion is a nozzle plate composed of four faces with approximately {111} crystal planes.
The nozzle plate according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the sidewall mask layer has a shape that gradually narrows from the first surface to the second surface or from the second surface to the first surface.
The nozzle plate according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , 6, or 7, wherein the nozzle flow path comprises a nozzle straight portion continuous with the end of the first surface side of the nozzle tapered portion.
The nozzle plate according to claim 9, wherein the maximum flow area of the nozzle straight portion is less than or equal to the flow area of the end on the first surface side of the nozzle tapered portion.
The nozzle plate according to any one of claims 1 to 4, 6, or 7, wherein the maximum length of the taper height from the first surface to the end of the nozzle taper portion on the second surface side is 20 μm or more.
A droplet dispensing head mounted on a droplet dispensing device, A droplet dispensing head comprising a nozzle plate according to any one of claims 1 to 4, 6, or 7.
A droplet dispensing device, A droplet dispensing device comprising the droplet dispensing head described in claim 12.
A method for manufacturing a nozzle plate of a droplet dispensing head, A first step is to form a surface mask layer on the first surface of a single-crystal silicon substrate whose surface crystal orientation is the {100} plane, The second step involves forming a slit pattern on the surface mask layer, A third step involves forming the slits in the single-crystal silicon substrate located beneath the slit pattern by dry etching from the surface, either through-etching or partially deep-etching; A fourth step involves forming a side wall mask layer in the aforementioned slit, A fifth step involves forming a circular or polygonal opening pattern, which will serve as a nozzle opening, on the surface mask layer. A sixth step involves forming through-holes in the single-crystal silicon substrate located beneath the aforementioned aperture pattern by dry etching from the surface, A method for manufacturing a nozzle plate, comprising a seventh step of enlarging the through-hole by anisotropic wet etching of the single-crystal silicon substrate, thereby forming a nozzle tapered portion and a straight connecting portion continuous with the end of the nozzle tapered portion on the second surface side facing the first surface.
The eighth step involves forming a nozzle straight section by dry etching partway through the single-crystal silicon substrate located beneath the opening pattern, A method for manufacturing a nozzle plate according to claim 14, wherein a ninth step of forming a nozzle mask layer along the inner surface of the nozzle straight portion is performed between the fifth step and the sixth step.
A method for manufacturing a nozzle plate of a droplet dispensing head, A first step is to form a surface mask layer on the first surface of a single-crystal silicon substrate whose surface crystal orientation is the {100} plane, A second step involves simultaneously forming a circular or polygonal opening pattern, which will serve as a nozzle opening, and a slit pattern, which will serve as a slit, on the surface mask layer. A third step involves forming a slit in the single-crystal silicon substrate located beneath the slit pattern by dry etching from the surface, either through-etching or partially deep-etching. A fourth step involves forming a side wall mask layer in the slit, A fifth step involves forming through-holes in the single-crystal silicon substrate located beneath the aforementioned opening pattern by dry etching from the surface, A method for manufacturing a nozzle plate, comprising a sixth step of enlarging the through-hole by anisotropic wet etching of the single-crystal silicon substrate, thereby forming a nozzle tapered portion and a straight connecting portion continuous with the end of the nozzle tapered portion on the second surface side facing the first surface.
A seventh step involves forming a nozzle straight section by dry etching partway through the single-crystal silicon substrate located beneath the opening pattern, A method for manufacturing a nozzle plate according to claim 16, wherein an eighth step of forming a nozzle mask layer along the inner surface of the nozzle straight portion is performed between the third step and the fifth step.

Description

This invention relates to a nozzle plate, a droplet dispensing head, a droplet dispensing device, and a method for manufacturing a nozzle plate. Conventionally, a known method for manufacturing the nozzle plate of a droplet dispensing head of a droplet dispensing device involves forming the nozzle channel by performing anisotropic wet etching on a single-crystal silicon substrate (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Patent No. 5519263 This is a schematic perspective view of the droplet dispensing device according to this embodiment.This is an exploded perspective view showing the main part of the droplet dispensing head according to this embodiment.This is an enlarged plan view of the nozzle plate showing the nozzle flow path according to this embodiment.Figure 3A is a cross-sectional view of the nozzle plate along the line IIIB-IIIB.This is a cross-sectional view of a modified nozzle plate.This is an enlarged plan view of a nozzle plate showing a nozzle flow path according to another embodiment.This is an enlarged plan view of a nozzle plate showing a nozzle flow path according to another embodiment.This is an enlarged plan view of a nozzle plate showing a nozzle flow path according to another embodiment.This is a cross-sectional view of a nozzle plate showing a nozzle flow path according to another embodiment.This is a cross-sectional view of a nozzle plate showing a nozzle flow path according to another embodiment.This is a cross-sectional view of a nozzle plate showing the main steps of the manufacturing method of the nozzle plate according to the first embodiment.This is a cross-sectional view of a nozzle plate showing the main steps of the manufacturing method of the nozzle plate according to the second embodiment.This is a cross-sectional view of a nozzle plate showing the main steps of the manufacturing method of the nozzle plate according to the third embodiment.This is a cross-sectional view of a nozzle plate showing a modified example of the main steps of the manufacturing method of a nozzle plate according to the third embodiment.This is a cross-sectional view of a nozzle plate showing a modified example of the main steps of the manufacturing method of a nozzle plate according to the third embodiment.This is a cross-sectional view of a nozzle plate showing the manufacturing process of a modified nozzle plate.This is a cross-sectional view of a nozzle plate showing the manufacturing process of a modified nozzle plate.This is an enlarged plan view showing one of the ink channels in a piezoelectric plate.This is an enlarged plan view showing the nozzle flow path of a nozzle plate relating to a comparative example.This is a cross-sectional view of an inkjet head to which a nozzle plate relating to a comparative example is attached, showing a plane perpendicular to the front-to-back direction.This is an enlarged plan view showing the nozzle flow path of a nozzle plate relating to a comparative example.This is a cross-sectional view of an inkjet head to which a nozzle plate relating to a comparative example is attached, showing a plane perpendicular to the front-to-back direction.This is a cross-sectional view of an inkjet head to which a nozzle plate relating to a comparative example is attached, showing a plane perpendicular to the left-right direction.This is an enlarged plan view showing the nozzle flow path of a nozzle plate relating to a comparative example.This is a cross-sectional view of an inkjet head to which a nozzle plate relating to a comparative example is attached, showing a plane perpendicular to the front-to-back direction.This is a cross-sectional view of an inkjet head to which a nozzle plate relating to a comparative example is attached, showing a plane perpendicular to the left-right direction. Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of the invention is not limited to the illustrated examples. In the following description, components having the same function and configuration will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and their descriptions will be omitted. [Inkjet recording device] First, as a droplet ejection device according to this embodiment, we disclose an example configuration of an inkjet recording device 1 equipped with an inkjet head 10, which is a droplet ejection head. In the following explanation, as shown in each figure, the transport direction of the recording medium P in the inkjet recording device 1 will be described as the front-to-back direction, the direction perpendicular to the transport direction on the transport surface of the recording medium P will be described as the left-to-right direction, and the direction perpendicular to the front-to-back and left-to-right directions (ink ejection direction) will be described as the up-and-down direction. The inkjet head 10 will also be described in terms of the direction relative to its state when mounted in the inkjet recordi