The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 30, 2001
Filed:
Sep. 30, 1998
Takashi Shirakawa, Iwate-ken, JP;
Toshifumi Nakatani, Iwate-ken, JP;
Alps Electric Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The present invention provides a thermal head in which the surface of a heat insulating layer formed by vapor deposition such as sputtering or the like is polished to decrease the rate of defects such as failure in the resistance values of heating elements formed on the heat insulating layer, disconnection and short-circuit of electrodes, apparent foreign materials, etc., and improve the adhesion of the surface of the heat insulating layer. The thermal head includes a heat insulating layer formed on a radiating substrate by sputtering, and heating elements deposited on the surface of the thermal head, wherein the heat insulating layer has columnar crystals composed of silicon, transition metals and oxygen, the surface of the heat insulating layer is polished, and micro irregularity is formed on the polished surface of the heat insulating layer.