Seiko Epson Corporation

Other

Yozo Shimada

Minoru Usui

Haruo Nakamura

Tomoaki Abe

Haruhiko Koto

A drop-on-demand ink-jet printing head provided with an array of a plurality of piezoelectric elements arranged at regular intervals and fixed at their one ends to a base, the other ends of the respective piezoelectric elements being free ends which are disposed in opposition to nozzle respective apertures, the piezoelectric elements being formed by cutting, at predetermined width, a piezoelectric plate obtained by firing a lamination of paste-like piezoelectric material conductive material stacked alternately in layers. Since each piezoelectric element is composed of a thin piezoelectric plate interposed between electrodes, if a voltage of only about 30 V, which is sufficient to drive the thin piezoelectric plate, is applied across the electrodes, it is possible to largely flex the whole of the piezoelectric element. By this transformation, ink between the top end of the piezoelectric element and the nozzle aperture is discharged to the outside as an ink drop. Because the driving voltage required for forming an ink drop is as low as possible, it is possible to simplify a driving circuit, and because of cutting a piezoelectric plate, it is possible to form small-sized piezoelectric elements with the same accuracy as in a process of producing a semiconductor.

Drop-on-demand ink-jet printing head

A drop-on-demand ink-jet printing head provided with an array of a plurality of piezoelectric elements arranged at regular intervals and fixed at their one ends to a base, the other ends of the respective piezoelectric elements being free ends which are disposed in opposition to nozzle respective apertures, the piezoelectric elements being formed by cutting, at predetermined width, a piezoelectric plate obtained by firing a lamination of paste-like piezoelectric material and conductive material stacked alternately in layers. Since each piezoelectric element is composed of a thin piezoelectric plate interposed between electrodes, if a voltage of only about 30 V, which is sufficient to drive the thin piezoelectric plate, is applied across the electrodes, it is possible to largely flex the whole of the piezoelectric element. By this transformation, ink between the top end of the piezoelectric element and the nozzle aperture is discharged to the outside as an ink drop. Because the driving voltage required for forming an ink drop is as low as possible, it is possible to simplify a driving circuit, and because of cutting a piezoelectric plate, it is possible to form small-sized piezoelectric elements with the same accuracy as in a process of producing a semiconductor.

Growing community of inventors

Nagano, Japan

Yozo Shimada