Inkjet Head Frame Section Using Moldable Ceramic Injection Molding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid discharge heads, such as inkjet heads, face challenges in manufacturing cost and accuracy due to the use of free-cutting ceramics, which are expensive and require complex cutting processes, leading to potential gaps and ink leakage when bonding components.
Innovation Solution
The inkjet head design incorporates a frame section made of moldable ceramic materials like aluminum titanate, allowing for injection molding and simultaneous polishing with the actuator base, ensuring flush surfaces and improved sealability between pressure chambers and common chambers, reducing manufacturing costs and enhancing liquid discharge performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If free-cutting ceramics are used for side plates, then workability is improved, but manufacturing cost increases and bonding accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies homogeneity by using the same ceramic material (PZT) for both the actuator substrate and side plates, ensuring identical material properties that enable simultaneous polishing to the same surface level. This eliminates the bonding accuracy problems associated with mixing different ceramic materials while maintaining workability through standardized processing procedures.
2Ease of manufacture
If free-cutting ceramics are used for side plates, then workability is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses identical PZT material for actuator substrate and side plates, allowing both components to be processed using the same manufacturing procedures and equipment. This homogeneity reduces manufacturing costs by eliminating the need for specialized free-cutting ceramic materials and their associated complex processing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the processing of actuator substrate and side plates into a single simultaneous polishing operation. By fixing side plates to the actuator substrate and polishing them together, the invention combines multiple manufacturing steps into one, reducing overall manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining precise dimensional control.
3Ease of operation
If side plates are polished separately from actuator substrate, then processing flexibility is improved, but surface flushness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the polishing of side plates and actuator substrate into a single simultaneous operation. By fixing the side plates to the actuator substrate before polishing, both components are processed together to achieve perfectly flush bonding surfaces. This merged approach eliminates surface height differences that would occur with separate polishing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by fixing the side plates to the actuator substrate before the polishing process. This preliminary fixation ensures that both components remain in fixed relative positions during polishing, guaranteeing that the bonding surfaces will be perfectly flush when bonded together, while still allowing processing flexibility through the use of adhesive fixation.
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
This approach enables the cost-effective and accurate manufacturing of inkjet heads with improved sealability and liquid discharge performance by processing the ceramic materials under the same conditions, preventing gaps and enhancing processing accuracy.
Implementation Method 1
a piezoelectric body 13 which is a piezoelectric section and extends in a first direction along the nozzle plate 20; a groove row 14A including a plurality of grooves 14 aligned in a first direction on an end surface of the piezoelectric body 13 facing the nozzle plate 20
Data Source
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AI summary
A liquid discharge head includes an actuator base, a case member, and a nozzle plate. The actuator base includes a plurality of grooves space from each other in a first direction. Each of the grooves extends in a second direction. The actuator base is formed of a piezoelectric ceramic material. The case member includes a frame portion spaced from the actuator base in the second direction. The frame portion has an end surface in the third direction that is level with an end surface of the actuator base in the third direction. The frame portion is formed of a ceramic material having aluminum titanate as a main component. The nozzle plate is contacting the end surface of the frame portion and the end surface of the actuator base.