Liquid Ejection Head Warpage Compensation via Biasing Member
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Solution Overview
Problem
Highly rigid liquid ejection heads face challenges in achieving sufficient warpage offset during resin curing, leading to suboptimal print quality due to insufficient warpage compensation from heat shrinkage.
Innovation Solution
A liquid ejection head design featuring a support member that fixes both end portions of a warped liquid supply member, utilizing a biasing member to counteract warpage caused by heat generation, ensuring a flat ejection surface for high-quality printing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a highly rigid material is used for the liquid ejection head, then the structural strength and stability are improved, but the warpage compensation capability deteriorates because the material cannot undergo sufficient heat shrinkage to offset warpage
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid ejection head is divided into multiple functional modules: a head substrate with heating elements, a sealing resin layer, and a liquid supply member. This segmentation allows each component to have optimized properties - the head substrate can be rigid for strength while the liquid supply member is designed with specific warpage characteristics to compensate for thermal deformation, resolving the contradiction between overall structural strength and local warpage compensation capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes thermal expansion coefficient differences between materials as a key parameter change. The liquid supply member is designed with a specific thermal expansion coefficient that is different from the head substrate, enabling it to generate compensatory warpage when temperature changes occur during printing. This parameter change allows the rigid head substrate to maintain strength while the system as a whole achieves warpage compensation through the differential thermal behavior of its components
2Stability of the object's composition
If the head substrate is made rigid to maintain stability, then the structural stability is improved, but the ability to generate sufficient warpage through heat shrinkage deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a counterbalancing approach where the liquid supply member is designed to generate warpage in the opposite direction to the head substrate's thermal warpage. The fixing members anchor the liquid supply member to the head substrate, creating a system where the two components' warpage tendencies counterbalance each other, allowing the rigid head substrate to maintain stability while the system achieves overall shape stability through the counteracting warpage of the liquid supply member
3Manufacturing precision
If sufficient warpage offset is achieved through heat shrinkage, then print quality is improved, but this requires the material to have flexible thermal deformation characteristics which conflicts with using highly rigid materials
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid supply member acts as an intermediary component between the rigid head substrate and the printing process. It is designed with specific thermal and mechanical properties that allow it to undergo controlled warpage in response to temperature changes, thereby mediating the conflict between the rigid head substrate's lack of thermal flexibility and the need for warpage compensation to achieve high print quality
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design achieves high-quality printing by stabilizing the liquid ejection head's warpage, maintaining print quality even with highly rigid materials, and preventing disruptions in ink landing positions.
Implementation Method 1
an element configured to generate energy for ejecting the liquid from the ejection ports
Implementation Method 2
the liquid supply member being warped convexly in a first direction during ejection of the liquid
Implementation Method 3
a biasing member which is combined with the fixing member and can bias an object to be fixed by the fixing member
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid ejection head with which print of good print quality can be obtained and a method of manufacturing the liquid ejection head are provided. For that purpose, warped flow path members are joined to each other as flow path members used for a print head to form a flow path member warped in a direction opposite to a direction of warpage due to a temperature rise during printing.