Thermal print head, thermal printer, and method of manufacturing heat sink

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12330430-B2
Application number	US-202318165691-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 7, 2023
Priority date	Aug 25, 2020
Publication date	Jun 17, 2025
Grant date	Jun 17, 2025

Abstract

A thermal print head includes: a head substrate on which a plurality of heating resistance units are formed; a heat sink thermally connected to the head substrate, a recess being formed in a back surface of the heat sink which faces a surface to which the head substrate is connected; a metal member arranged in the recess; and an adhesive arranged between a bottom surface of the recess and the metal member. The recess viewed from a direction perpendicular to the back surface includes: an area where the metal member is arranged, and a groove area where the metal member is not arranged. A portion of the adhesive is arranged in the groove area.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A thermal print head comprising:
a head substrate on which a plurality of heating resistance units are formed;
a heat sink thermally connected to the head substrate, a recess being formed in a back surface of the heat sink which faces a surface to which the head substrate is connected;
a metal member arranged in the recess; and
an adhesive arranged between a bottom surface of the recess and the metal member, wherein
the recess viewed from a direction perpendicular to the back surface includes:
an area where the metal member is arranged; and
a groove area where the metal member is not arranged,

a portion of the adhesive is arranged in the groove area, and
the groove area is surrounded by the metal member.

2. The thermal print head according to claim 1 , wherein
an inner circumference of the recess viewed from the direction perpendicular to the back surface includes a plurality of positioning sections in contact with an outer circumference of the metal member.

3. The thermal print head according to claim 2 , wherein
the inner circumference of the recess viewed from the direction perpendicular to the back surface further includes a separation section separated from an outer circumference of the metal member.

4. The thermal print head according to claim 1 , wherein
the recess includes the groove area arranged in at least two positions in such a way as to sandwich the metal member.

5. The thermal print head according to claim 1 , wherein
a hollow is formed in a portion of the bottom surface of the recess.

6. The thermal print head according to claim 5 , wherein
the hollow is superimposed on the groove area when viewed from the direction perpendicular to the back surface.

7. The thermal print head according to claim 1 , wherein
the metal member is a ferromagnetic body.

8. The thermal print head according to claim 1 , wherein
the metal member is made of a cold-rolled steel sheet.

9. The thermal print head according to claim 1 , wherein
a surface of the metal member is galvanized.

10. The thermal print head according to claim 1 , wherein
the recess extends along a main scanning direction between both ends of the heat sink in the main scanning direction in which the plurality of heating resistance units are arranged.

11. The thermal print head according to claim 10 , wherein
the metal member is arranged in plurality in such a way as that metal members are spaced apart from each other in the recess.

12. A method of manufacturing the thermal print head according to claim 10 , comprising forming the recess in the heatsink by extrusion in the main scanning direction.

13. The thermal print head according to claim 1 , wherein
the recess is provided with a pair of side surfaces parallel to the main scanning direction in which the plurality of heating resistance units are arranged, and
the pair of side surfaces is formed from a first end in the main scanning direction to a second end in the main scanning direction of the heat sink.

14. A thermal printer comprising the thermal print head according to claim 1 .

15. The thermal printer according to claim 14 further comprising a printer body to which the thermal print head is fixed by using a magnetic force of a magnet.

Assignees

• Rohm Co Ltd

Inventors

• Muraki Kaoru
• Nakamura Kuniaki

Classifications

• B41J2/3358

  Cooling arrangements · CPC title

• B41J2/3351

  Electrode layers · CPC title

• B41J2/335

  Structure of thermal heads · CPC title

• B41J2/375 Primary

  Protection arrangements against overheating · CPC title

• B41J2/32 Primary

  using thermal heads · CPC title