EP0572231A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Ink jet print head
Assignee: NGK Insulators Ltd
•
Filing: 1993-05-26
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2013-05-26
Abstract
Abstract An ink jet print head is disclosed which in- dudes an ink nozzle member (42) with nozzles (54), an ink pump member (44) disposed on the ink nozzle member and having ink chambers formed behind the respective nozzles, and piezoelectric/electrostrictive elements (78) each disposed on a wall defining the corresponding ink chamber, for deforming the wall to change a pressure of the ink chamber, whereby the ink in the ink chamber is jetted through the corresponding nozzle. The ink pump member consists of a spacer plate (70) having windows (76) which are closed by a closure plate (66) and a connecting plate (68) disposed on the spacer plate, so as to give the respective ink chambers. The connecting plate has communication holes (72) through which the ink chambers communicate with the nozzles. The spacer plate, closure plate and connecting plate are formed from respective ceramic green sheets, which are laminated on each other and fired into an integral ceramic structure as the ink pump member. The piezoelectric/electrostrictive element includes a pair of electrodes (75, 77) and a piezoelectric/electrostrictive layer (79), which are formed by a film-forming method on an outer surface of the closure plate.
Inventors
- 👤 Yukihisa Takeuchi
- 👤 Hideo Masumori
- 👤 Nobuo Takahashi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 14:45
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/135; B41J2/16; B41J2/1621; B41J2/1623; B41J2/14; B41J2/14201; B41J2/14233; B41J2/1607; B41J2/161; B41J2/1632; B41J2/1637; B41J2/164; B41J2/1642; B41J2/1643; B41J2/1646; B41J2002/14387
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
316 words
An inkjet print head including: an ink nozzle member (42) having a plurality of nozzles (54) through which fine particles of ink are jetted; an ink pump member (44) disposed (superposed) on and bonded to the ink nozzle member, said ink pump member having a plurality of ink chambers (46) formed behind the respective nozzles of said ink nozzle member; and a plurality of piezoelectric/ electrostrictive elements (78) each disposed on a wall partially defining the corresponding one of said ink chambers, for deforming said wall so as to change a pressure of the corresponding ink chamber, whereby the ink in the ink chamber is jetted through the corresponding one of said plurality of nozzles, characterized in that: said ink pump member consists of a spacer plate (70) having a plurality of windows (76) which provide said ink chambers, respectively, a closure plate (66) disposed on one of opposite major surfaces of said spacer plate remote from said ink nozzle member, for closing one of opposite openings of each of said windows, and a connecting plate (68) disposed on the otherma- jor surface of said spacer plate, for closing the other opening of said each window, said connecting plate having a plurality of first communication holes (72) located behind the respective nozzles of said ink nozzle member, for communicating said ink chambers with the nozzles, said spacer plate, said closure plate and said connecting plate being formed from respective ceramic green sheets, which are laminated on each other and fired into an integral ceramic structure as said ink pump member; and that each of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive elements comprises a piezoelectric/electrostrictive unit consisting of a pair of electrodes (75, 77) and a piezoelectric/electrostrictive layer, which are formed by a film-forming method on an outer surface of said closure plate of said ink pump member, such that said piezoelectric/ electrostrictive layer is interposed between said pair of electrodes.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
316 words
An inkjet print head including: an ink nozzle member (42) having a plurality of nozzles (54) through which fine particles of ink are jetted; an ink pump member (44) disposed (superposed) on and bonded to the ink nozzle member, said ink pump member having a plurality of ink chambers (46) formed behind the respective nozzles of said ink nozzle member; and a plurality of piezoelectric/ electrostrictive elements (78) each disposed on a wall partially defining the corresponding one of said ink chambers, for deforming said wall so as to change a pressure of the corresponding ink chamber, whereby the ink in the ink chamber is jetted through the corresponding one of said plurality of nozzles, characterized in that: said ink pump member consists of a spacer plate (70) having a plurality of windows (76) which provide said ink chambers, respectively, a closure plate (66) disposed on one of opposite major surfaces of said spacer plate remote from said ink nozzle member, for closing one of opposite openings of each of said windows, and a connecting plate (68) disposed on the otherma- jor surface of said spacer plate, for closing the other opening of said each window, said connecting plate having a plurality of first communication holes (72) located behind the respective nozzles of said ink nozzle member, for communicating said ink chambers with the nozzles, said spacer plate, said closure plate and said connecting plate being formed from respective ceramic green sheets, which are laminated on each other and fired into an integral ceramic structure as said ink pump member; and that each of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive elements comprises a piezoelectric/electrostrictive unit consisting of a pair of electrodes (75, 77) and a piezoelectric/electrostrictive layer, which are formed by a film-forming method on an outer surface of said closure plate of said ink pump member, such that said piezoelectric/ electrostrictive layer is interposed between said pair of electrodes.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
114 words
An inkjet print head as defined in claim 1, wherein said ink nozzle member has an ink supply channel (62) through which the ink is fed to said ink chambers of said ink pump member, and a plurality of orifices (58) for guiding the ink from said ink supply channel to the respective ink chambers, said orifices being open on an outer surface of the ink nozzle member on which the ink pump member is superposed, said connecting plate of the ink pump member having a plurality of second communication holes (74) located adjacent the respective orifices of the ink nozzle member, said second communication holes communicating the ink chambers with the respective orifices.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
31 words
An inkjet print head as defined in claim 2, wherein said first and second communication holes have a diameter which is smaller than a-width dimension of each of said ink chambers.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
77 words
An ink jet print head as defined in claim 2 or 3, wherein said ink nozzle member consists of a nozzle plate (48) having said plurality of nozzles, a channel plate (52) having a window (60) formed therethrough, and an orifice plate (50) having said plurality of orifices, said window of said channel plate being closed by said nozzle plate and said orifice plate so as to form said ink supply channel within said ink nozzle member.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
30 words
An inkjet print head as defined in claim 4, wherein said orifice plate further has a supply port (64) through which the ink is supplied to said ink supply channel.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
84 words
An ink jet print head as defined in claim 4 or 5, wherein said orifice plate has a plurality of first through-holes (56) communicating with said first communication holes of said connecting plate, respectively, and said channel plate has a plurality of second through-holes (57) communicating with said nozzles of said nozzle plate, respectively, said first through-holes being held in communication with said second through-holes, said ink chambers communicating with the respective nozzles through the first communication holes and the first and second through-holes.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
26 words
An inkjet print head as defined in claim 6, wherein said first and second through-holes have a diameter which is larger than that of said nozzles.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
24 words
An ink jet print head as defined in any one of claims 1-7, wherein said ink pump member is formed of alumina or zirconia.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
30 words
An ink jet print head as defined in any one of claims 1-8, wherein said closure plate of said ink pump member has a thickness of not larger than 50µm.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
30 words
An ink jet print head as defined in any one of claims 1-9, wherein said connecting plate of said ink pump member has a thickness of not smaller than 10µm.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
30 words
An ink jet print head as defined in any one of claims 1-10, wherein said spacer plate of said ink pump member has a thickness of not smaller than 50µm.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
46 words
An ink jet print head as defined in any one of claims 1-11, wherein an outer surface of said connecting plate to which said ink nozzle member is bonded has the maximum waviness of not larger than 50µm as measured along a reference length of 8mm.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
33 words
An ink jet print head as defined in any one of claims 1-14, wherein said closure plate is formed of a ceramic material containing partially or fully stabilized zirconia as a major component.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
49 words
An ink jet print head as defined in any one of claims 1-13, wherein said film-forming method for forming said electrodes and said piezoelectric/ electrostrictive layer is selected from the group consisting of: screen printing, spraying, dipping, coating, ion-beam method, sputtering, vacuum vapor deposition, ion plating, CVD and plating.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
21 words
An inkjet print head as defined in claim 2, wherein said ink supply channel is formed in said ink pump member.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.