Liquid discharge head, liquid discharge apparatus, and method for manufacturing liquid discharge head

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12434475-B2
Application number	US-202318362407-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 31, 2023
Priority date	Aug 5, 2022
Publication date	Oct 7, 2025
Grant date	Oct 7, 2025

Abstract

A liquid discharge head includes a discharge port to discharge a liquid, and a liquid chamber to communicate with the discharge port, and further includes a vibrating plate, and a piezoelectric element. The vibrating plate is disposed on a surface of the liquid chamber on a side facing a surface communicating with the discharge port, and includes a plurality of layers stacked in a layered structure. The piezoelectric element is disposed on a second surface of the vibrating plate being a back surface of a first surface of the vibrating plate in contact with the liquid chamber. The vibrating plate has a recessed portion surrounded by a bottom surface and four lateral surfaces intersecting with the bottom surface on the first surface. The recessed portion penetrates through a first layer having the first surface among the plurality of layers of the vibrating plates.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A liquid discharge head comprising:
a discharge port configured to discharge a liquid;
a liquid chamber configured to communicate with the discharge port;
a vibrating plate disposed on a surface of the liquid chamber on a side facing a surface communicating with the discharge port, and including a plurality of layers stacked in a layered structure; and
a piezoelectric element disposed on a second surface of the vibrating plate being a back surface of a first surface of the vibrating plate in contact with the liquid chamber,
wherein the vibrating plate has a recessed portion surrounded by a bottom surface and four lateral surfaces intersecting with the bottom surface on the first surface, and
wherein the recessed portion penetrates through a first layer having the first surface among the plurality of layers of the vibrating plates.

2. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1 , wherein, in a case where a region A with the liquid chamber disposed thereon and a region B with the recessed portion formed thereon are projected on a surface parallel to a surface of the vibrating plate, the region B is included in the region A.

3. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric element and the recessed portion are disposed so as to at least partly overlap with each other in a planar view from a direction perpendicular to the vibrating plate.

4. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1 , wherein the vibrating plate includes a conductive substrate and an insulating film.

5. The liquid discharge head according to claim 4 , wherein the conductive substrate is a silicon substrate, and the insulating film is a silicon dioxide film.

6. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1 , wherein the first layer is an insulating film.

7. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1 ,
wherein the first layer is an insulating film, and
wherein a thickness of the insulating film equals a depth of the recessed portion in a direction perpendicular to the vibrating plate.

8. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1 , further comprising a flow path substrate connected to the second surface of the vibrating plate and provided with a space covering the piezoelectric element,
wherein an approximate center of the recessed portion is positioned at an approximate center of the space in a planar view from a direction perpendicular to the vibrating plate.

9. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric element includes a first electrode, a piezoelectric film, and a second electrode in this order from a side of the second surface of the vibrating plate.

10. The liquid discharge head according to claim 9 ,
wherein the liquid chamber is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped, and
wherein a width of the recessed portion is 50% or more and 130% or less of a width of the piezoelectric film in a shorter side direction of the liquid chamber.

11. The liquid discharge head according to claim 9 ,
wherein the liquid chamber is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped, and
wherein a length of the recessed portion is 50% or more and 120% or less of a length of the piezoelectric film in a longer side direction of the liquid chamber.

12. The liquid discharge head according to claim 9 ,
wherein the liquid chamber has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape,
wherein a width of the recessed portion is larger than a width of the piezoelectric film in a shorter side direction of the liquid chamber, and
wherein a length of the recessed portion is 50% or more and 80% or less of the piezoelectric film in a longer side direction of the liquid chamber.

13. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1 , further comprising a flow path substrate connected to the second surface of the vibrating plate and provided with a space covering the piezoelectric element,
wherein the liquid chamber has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and
wherein a length of the recessed portion is 50% or more and 100% or less of a length of the space in a longer side direction of the liquid chamber.

14. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1 ,
wherein the liquid chamber has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and
wherein the recessed portion includes a plurality of recessed portions, each extending in a longer side direction of the liquid chamber, arranged in a shorter side direction of the liquid chamber.

15. The liquid discharge head according to claim 14 ,
wherein the vibrating plate includes a substrate, and an oxide film as the first layer, and
wherein the plurality of recessed portions is formed on the oxide film.

16. The liquid discharge head according to claim 1 , wherein the discharge port is a first discharge port, the liquid discharge head further comprising:
a supply port configured to supply a liquid to the liquid chamber; and
a second discharge port configured to discharge the liquid supplied to the liquid chamber,
wherein liquid circulates between the liquid chamber and an outside of the liquid chamber.

17. A liquid discharge apparatus comprising:
a liquid discharge head,
wherein the liquid discharge head includes:
a discharge port configured to discharge a liquid,
a liquid chamber configured to communicate with the discharge port,
a vibrating plate disposed on a surface of the liquid chamber on a side facing a surface communicating with the discharge port, and including a plurality of layers stacked in a layered structure, and
a piezoelectric element disposed on a second surface of the vibrating plate being a back surface of a first surface of the vibrating plate in contact with the liquid chamber,
wherein the vibrating plate has a recessed portion surrounded by a bottom surface and four lateral surfaces intersecting with the bottom surface on the first surface, and
wherein the recessed portion penetrates through a first layer having the first surface among the plurality of layers of the vibrating plates.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Maruyama Ayako

Classifications

• B41J2002/1425

  Embedded thin film piezoelectric element · CPC title

• B41J2002/14241

  having a cover around the piezoelectric thin film element · CPC title

• B41J2/14201

  Structure of print heads with piezoelectric elements · CPC title

• B41J2202/11

  characterised by specific geometrical characteristics · CPC title

• B41J2202/21

  Line printing · CPC title