JP2013252665A - Liquid ejecting head unit and liquid ejecting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact liquid ejecting head unit and a liquid ejecting apparatus.SOLUTION: A liquid ejecting head unit 2 includes: a liquid ejecting head 7 having a nozzle surface 50 with a nozzle 48 formed thereon, a pressure chamber 53 communicating with the nozzle, and a pressure generating means 41 for generating a pressure variation in the pressure chamber; and a supporting member 24 to which a plurality of liquid ejecting heads are attached. The supporting member includes a support wall 25 having an attachment surface 27 vertical to the nozzle surface of the liquid ejection head to be attached, and a flange 26 protruded from the attachment surface of the supporting wall in a direction perpendicular to the attachment surface.

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head unit including a liquid ejecting head such as an ink jet recording head, and a liquid ejecting apparatus.

  The liquid ejecting apparatus is an apparatus that includes a liquid ejecting head capable of ejecting liquid as droplets from a nozzle and ejects various liquids from the liquid ejecting head. A typical example of the liquid ejecting apparatus is an ink jet recording that includes an ink jet recording head (hereinafter referred to as a recording head) and performs recording by ejecting liquid ink as ink droplets from the nozzle of the recording head. An image recording apparatus such as an apparatus (printer) can be given. In addition, liquid ejecting apparatuses for ejecting various types of liquids such as color materials used for color filters such as liquid crystal displays, organic materials used for organic EL (Electro Luminescence) displays, electrode materials used for electrode formation, etc. Is used. The recording head for the image recording apparatus ejects liquid ink, and the color material ejecting head for the display manufacturing apparatus ejects solutions of R (Red), G (Green), and B (Blue) color materials. The electrode material ejecting head for the electrode forming apparatus ejects a liquid electrode material, and the bioorganic matter ejecting head for the chip manufacturing apparatus ejects a bioorganic solution.

  Some of the printers described above are equipped with a recording head unit in which a plurality of recording heads are fixed to a support member (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Each recording head introduces ink from an ink supply source such as an ink cartridge into a pressure chamber (pressure generation chamber), and operates pressure generation means such as a piezoelectric element and a heating element to change the pressure in the ink in the pressure chamber. The ink in the pressure chamber is ejected as ink droplets from the nozzles opened in the nozzle surface by using the pressure fluctuation. The support member is a plate-like member parallel to the nozzle surface of the recording head, and has an opening that penetrates in the plate thickness direction. Each recording head is fixed to the edge of the opening by a screw or the like with the nozzle surface exposed from the opening of the support member.

JP 2008-221745 A

  In recent years, downsizing of a recording head unit has been required. However, in the above configuration, each recording head is fixed to the edge of the opening of the support member, which is disadvantageous for downsizing. That is, it is necessary to ensure the strength of the support member in order to prevent deformation of the support member, and the edge of the opening tends to be widened. In particular, the width in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the recording heads are arranged cannot be reduced, and the width of the recording head unit cannot be reduced.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide a liquid ejecting head unit and a liquid ejecting apparatus that can be reduced in size.

The liquid ejecting head unit of the present invention includes a nozzle surface on which a nozzle is formed, a pressure chamber communicating with the nozzle, and a pressure generating unit that causes a pressure fluctuation in the pressure chamber, and drives the pressure generating unit. A liquid ejecting head for ejecting liquid from the nozzle by causing pressure fluctuation in the pressure chamber;
A support member to which a plurality of the liquid jet heads are attached;
A liquid jet head unit comprising:
The support member is
A support wall having a mounting surface perpendicular to the nozzle surface of the liquid jet head to be mounted;
A flange protruding from the mounting surface of the support wall in a direction intersecting the mounting surface;
It is provided with.

  According to the present invention, since the flange portion protruding in the direction intersecting the mounting surface from the mounting surface of the support wall portion is provided, the strength of the support wall portion can be ensured, and the mounting surface of the support wall portion can be secured. The plate thickness in the vertical direction can be reduced. Thereby, the width of the liquid jet head unit in the same direction can be reduced, and the liquid jet head unit can be downsized.

  Further, it is desirable that the flange portion is provided on a surface side of the support wall portion opposite to the nozzle surface of the liquid jet head.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to provide the flange portion that overlaps the nozzle surface when viewed from the nozzle surface side without interfering with the nozzle surface of the liquid jet head. For this reason, a series of flange parts can be provided over a plurality of liquid ejecting heads, and the strength of the support wall part can be increased. Thereby, a deformation | transformation of a support wall part can be suppressed and the plate | board thickness of the direction perpendicular | vertical with respect to the attachment surface of a support wall part can be made thinner.

  Furthermore, in the above configuration, the support member is preferably made of metal.

  According to this configuration, since the rigidity of the support wall portion can be increased, the plate thickness in the direction perpendicular to the mounting surface of the support wall portion can be further reduced.

  A liquid ejecting apparatus according to the invention includes the liquid ejecting head unit having the above-described configuration.

It is a schematic diagram explaining the structure of a printer, (a) Top view, (b) Side view. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the recording head unit as viewed from the nozzle surface side. 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams illustrating a configuration of a recording head unit, where FIG. 2A is a side view, FIG. It is a schematic diagram explaining the structure of a baseplate, (a) Side view, (b) Bottom view, (c) It is an enlarged view of the area | region A in (b). 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams illustrating a configuration of a recording head, in which FIG. 1A is a perspective view with a head fixing member attached, and FIG. 2B is a perspective view with a head fixing member removed. It is sectional drawing of the BB 'line in FIG.5 (b). FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating attachment of a recording head to a base plate.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the embodiments described below, various limitations are made as preferred specific examples of the present invention. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following description unless otherwise specified. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. In the following description, an ink jet recording apparatus (hereinafter, printer 1) equipped with a recording head unit 2 which is a kind of liquid ejecting head unit will be described as an example of the liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention.

  FIG. 1A is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of the printer 1, and FIG. 1B is a side view. The printer 1 includes a recording head unit 2, an ink tank 3, a paper feed roller 4, and a transport mechanism 5. In the recording head unit 2, the recording head 7 (a type of liquid ejecting head) extends along the paper width direction (a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording paper 6) of the recording paper 6 (a type of recording medium or landing target). Are arranged. The ink tank 3 is a kind of storage member (liquid supply source) in which ink to be supplied to the recording head unit 2 is stored. The ink in the ink tank 3 is supplied to the recording head unit 2 via the ink supply tube 8.

  The paper feed roller 4 is disposed on the upstream side of the transport mechanism 5 and is a pair of upper and lower rollers 4a that can be synchronously rotated in opposite directions while sandwiching a recording paper 6 fed from a paper feed unit (not shown). 4b. The paper feed roller 4 is driven by the power from the paper feed motor 9 and cooperates with a skew correction roller (not shown) to correct the inclination of the recording paper 6 with respect to the transport direction and the positional deviation in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction. Then, the recording paper 6 is supplied to the transport mechanism 5 side.

  The transport mechanism 5 includes a transport belt 11, a transport motor 12, a driving roller 13, a driven roller 14, a tension roller 15, a pressure roller 16, and a belt charging unit 17. The transport motor 12 is a drive source of the transport mechanism 5 and transmits power to the drive roller 13. The conveyor belt 11 is an endless belt, and is stretched between the driving roller 13 and the driven roller 14. The tension roller 15 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the transport belt 11 between the driving roller 13 and the driven roller 14 and applies tension to the transport belt 11 by the biasing force of a biasing member such as a spring. The pressure roller 16 is disposed immediately above the driven roller 14 with the conveyance belt 11 interposed therebetween, and presses the recording paper 6 toward the conveyance belt 11.

  The belt charging unit 17 includes a charging roller 18 and a charging power source 19. The charging roller 18 is disposed on the lower side of the upstream side of the driven roller 14 with the conveyor belt 11 in between, and is in contact with the conveyor belt 11. The charging power source 19 is electrically connected to the charging roller 18 and applies an AC voltage to the charging roller 18. The driven roller 14 is grounded, and serves as a counter electrode with respect to the charging roller 18 facing the conveyance belt 11. In the belt charging unit 17, the charging power source 19 supplies charges to the transport belt 11 via the charging roller 18 to charge the transport belt 11. Then, dielectric polarization occurs in the recording paper 6 placed on the charged conveying belt 11, and an electrostatic adsorption force acts between the recording paper 6 and the conveying belt 11. Further, the pressure roller 16 presses the recording paper 6 placed on the charged conveying belt 11 against the conveying belt 11 to improve the adhesion of the recording paper 6 to the conveying belt 11.

  A linear scale 21 is disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the conveyor belt 11 over the entire belt. The linear scale 21 is configured by arranging a plurality of slit-shaped detection patterns at regular intervals (for example, 360 dpi) in the conveyance direction of the conveyance belt 11. The detection pattern of the linear scale 21 is optically detected by the detection head 22, and the detection signal is output as an encoder signal to a control unit (not shown) of the printer 1. Therefore, the control unit can grasp the conveyance amount of the recording paper 6 by the conveyance mechanism 5 (conveyance belt 11) based on the encoder signal. The encoder signal defines the generation timing of a drive signal for driving a piezoelectric element 41 (described later) of the recording head 7.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the recording head unit 2 as viewed from the nozzle surface 50 side. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of the recording head unit 2. FIG. 3 (a) is a side view, FIG. 3 (b) is a bottom view, and FIG. 3 (c) is a front view. is there. The recording head unit 2 according to this embodiment includes two rows of recording heads 7 including four recording heads 7 on a base plate 24 (corresponding to a support member in the present invention).

  The base plate 24 is a metal support member made of SUS (stainless steel) or the like that is long in the direction in which the recording heads 7 are arranged. The base plate 24 of this embodiment is formed in a T-shaped cross section. More specifically, the base plate 24 has a vertical portion 25 (corresponding to a support wall portion in the present invention) having a mounting surface 27 perpendicular to the nozzle surface 50 (nozzle forming substrate 45: see FIG. 6) of the recording head 7. And a horizontal portion 26 (corresponding to a flange portion in the present invention) protruding from the mounting surface 27 of the support wall portion 25 in a direction intersecting the mounting surface 27 (a direction parallel to the nozzle surface 50 of the recording head 7). ).

  The vertical portion 25 is formed in an elongated and thick plate shape along the direction in which the recording heads 7 are arranged. The surfaces perpendicular to the plate thickness direction of the vertical portion 25, that is, the surfaces on both sides of the front and back of the plate-like vertical portion 25 constitute the mounting surface 27. As shown in FIG. 4, four fitting recesses 28 that can be fitted to fitting projections 63 (described later) of the recording head 7 are arranged on the mounting surface 27 on one side in correspondence with the recording head 7. Has been. The fitting recess 28 is a portion in which the vertical portion 25 is recessed in the thickness direction from one side surface to the other side surface, and is perpendicular to the nozzle row 49 in a plane parallel to the nozzle surface 50 of the recording head 7. The first receiving surface 28 a that defines the position in the direction and the second receiving surface 28 b that defines the position in the direction of the nozzle array 49 in a plane parallel to the nozzle surface 50 of the recording head 7. (See FIG. 4 (c)). That is, the first receiving surface 28 a is a surface parallel to the mounting surface 27, and the second receiving surface 28 b is a surface perpendicular to both the first receiving surface 28 a and the nozzle surface 50. One of the second receiving surfaces 28b on both sides of the fitting recess 28 serves as a positioning receiving surface that defines the position of the recording head 4 in the nozzle row direction. In addition, the fitting recessed part 28 of this embodiment is extended from the lower end (the side opposite to the horizontal part 26) of the vertical part 25 to the middle of the upper side (the horizontal part 26 side). That is, while the lower end surface of the fitting recess 28 is open, a ceiling surface formed by the structure of the vertical portion 25 is formed at the upper end of the fitting recess 28. Also, four similar fitting recesses 28 are arranged in a row on the mounting surface 27 on the other side. The recording head 7 attached to one attachment surface 27 and the recording head 7 attached to the other attachment surface 27 are alternately arranged in the attachment surface 27 direction. In the present embodiment, the row of the recording heads 7 on one side and the row of the recording heads 7 on the other side are arranged so as to be shifted by a distance that is half the arrangement pitch of the recording heads 7. Correspondingly, on the mounting surface 27 of the vertical portion 25, the row of the fitting recesses 28 on one side and the row of the fitting recesses 28 on the other side are a distance that is half the arrangement pitch of the recording heads 7. They are lined up. Note that recording head mounting screw holes 29 are formed on both side edges of the fitting recess 28 in the direction in which the recording heads 7 are arranged.

  The horizontal portion 26 is formed in a plate shape that is parallel to the nozzle surface 50 of the recording head 7 and is thick. The horizontal portion 26 reinforces the strength of the vertical portion 25 (base plate 24). The horizontal portion 26 of the present embodiment protrudes outward from the mounting surfaces 27 on both sides of the vertical portion 25 on the upper side of the recording head 7 (the surface side opposite to the nozzle surface 50 of the recording head 7). It is formed in a shape. In the horizontal portion 26, a communication hole 30 communicating with the connection flow path of each recording head 7 on the recording head 7 side is formed in a state of penetrating in the plate thickness direction. The side of the communication hole 30 opposite to the recording head 7 is connected to the ink supply tube 8. Thereby, the ink in the ink tank 3 is supplied to each recording head 7 via the ink supply tube 8 and the communication hole 30.

5A and 5B are schematic views for explaining the configuration of the recording head 7. FIG. 5A is a perspective view with the head fixing member 33 attached, and FIG. 5B is the head fixing member 33 removed. It is a perspective view of a state. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB ′ in FIG. In FIG. 6, the configuration corresponding to the other nozzle row 49 is omitted because it is symmetrical in the left-right direction with the illustrated one.
As shown in FIG. 5, the recording head 7 includes a recording head main body 32 that ejects ink droplets from nozzles 48, and a head fixing member 33 that is attached to the surface of the recording head main body 32 that faces the attachment surface 27. It has.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the recording head main body 32 in this embodiment includes a head case 37, a vibrator unit 36, and a flow path unit 35. As described above, since the configuration corresponding to the other nozzle row 49 is symmetrical in the left-right direction, the description on one side is omitted.

  The head case 37 is a case member that constitutes most of the upper surface and side surfaces of the recording head main body 32, and the piezoelectric element 41 (corresponding to the pressure generating means in the present invention) is accommodated therein. More specifically, the head case 37 is a hollow box-shaped member made of, for example, a resin such as an epoxy resin. As shown in FIG. 6, the flow path unit 35 is fixed to the head case 37 with the nozzle forming substrate 45 exposed. Further, inside the head case 37, there are a storage space 38 for storing the transducer unit 36 and a case flow path 39 for supplying ink from the ink tank 3 to the flow path unit 35. It is formed to penetrate in the vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 5, the upper end of the case channel 39 protrudes from the upper surface of the head case 37 toward the horizontal portion 26 of the base plate 24 and communicates with the communication hole 30. Further, the lower end of the case flow path 39 communicates with a reservoir 51 (described later) via an ink introduction port of the flow path unit 35. As shown in FIG. 5, head fixing member mounting screw holes 40 for fixing the head fixing member 33 are formed at both end portions in the nozzle row 49 direction on the surface of the head case 37 facing the mounting surface 27. There are two openings.

  The vibrator unit 36 includes a piezoelectric element group including a plurality of piezoelectric elements 41 (a kind of pressure generating means), a flexible cable 43 (wiring member), and the like. The piezoelectric elements 41 constituting the piezoelectric element group are formed in a comb-like shape elongated in the vertical direction, and are cut into extremely thin widths of about several tens of μm. The piezoelectric element 41 is configured as a longitudinal vibration type piezoelectric element 41 that can expand and contract in the vertical direction. Each piezoelectric element 41 is fixed in a so-called cantilever state by joining a fixed end portion onto a fixed plate 42 so that the free end portion protrudes outward from the front end edge of the fixed plate 42. And the front-end | tip of the free end part in each piezoelectric element 41 is joined to the island part 58 which comprises the diaphragm part 57 in each flow path unit 35 so that it may mention later. One end of the flexible cable 43 is connected to the piezoelectric element 41 at the side of the fixed end opposite to the fixed plate 42, and the other end is connected to the control unit of the printer 1. The connection of the flexible cable 43 to the control unit is not shown. The fixing plate 42 that supports each piezoelectric element 41 is made of a metal plate material having rigidity capable of receiving a reaction force from the piezoelectric element 41. In this embodiment, it is made of a SUS (stainless steel) plate having a thickness of about 1 mm.

  The channel unit 35 includes a nozzle forming substrate 45, a channel forming substrate 46, and a diaphragm 47. In the flow path unit 35, the nozzle forming substrate 45 is disposed on one surface of the flow path forming substrate 46, and the vibration plate 47 is disposed on the other surface of the flow path forming substrate 46 opposite to the nozzle forming substrate 45. Are laminated and integrated by adhesion or the like.

  The nozzle formation substrate 45 is a thin plate made of a silicon single crystal in which a plurality of nozzles 48 are arranged in a row at a pitch corresponding to the dot formation density. A nozzle row 49 is constituted by the nozzles 48 formed in these rows. In the present embodiment, for example, a nozzle row 49 composed of 180 nozzles 48 is arranged along the paper width direction. The lower surface of the nozzle forming substrate 45 (the surface opposite to the flow path forming substrate 46) corresponds to the nozzle surface 50 in the present invention.

  The flow path forming substrate 46 is a plate-like member that forms a series of ink flow paths including a reservoir 51 (common liquid chamber), an ink supply port 52, and a pressure chamber 53. The flow path forming substrate 46 of this embodiment is manufactured by etching a silicon single crystal substrate. The reservoir 51 is an empty portion that introduces ink common to the plurality of pressure chambers 53. A case channel 39 communicates with one end of the reservoir 51 in the nozzle row 49 direction via an ink introduction port of the vibration plate 47. The ink supply port 52 is formed as a narrowed portion with a narrow channel width communicating between the pressure chamber 53 and the reservoir 51. The pressure chambers 53 are elongated in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the nozzle row 49, and are formed in a plurality of rows corresponding to the nozzles 48 in a state of being partitioned by partition walls.

  The diaphragm 47 is a double-structure composite plate material in which a resin film 56 such as PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) is laminated on a metal support plate 55 such as SUS. The vibration plate 47 is formed with an ink introduction port connecting the reservoir 51 and the case flow path 39 penetrating in the vertical direction. The diaphragm 47 seals one opening surface of the pressure chamber 53 (the surface opposite to the nozzle forming substrate 45), and forms a diaphragm portion 57 for changing the volume of the pressure chamber 53. At the same time, a compliance portion 59 is formed to seal one opening surface of the reservoir 51 (surface opposite to the nozzle forming substrate 45). More specifically, the diaphragm portion 57 is an island portion for performing etching on the support plate 55 corresponding to the pressure chamber 53, removing the portion in an annular shape, and joining the tip of the free end portion of the piezoelectric element 41. A plurality of 58 are formed. Similar to the planar shape of the pressure chamber 53, the island portion 58 has a block shape elongated in a direction orthogonal to the nozzle row 49, and the resin film 56 around the island portion 58 functions as an elastic film. Further, the portion functioning as the compliance portion 59, that is, the portion corresponding to the reservoir 51 is formed by removing the support plate 55 by etching processing following the opening shape of the reservoir 51, and only the resin film 56 is formed.

  In the recording head main body 32 having the above-described configuration, the ink from the ink tank 3 is taken in through the ink supply tube 8 and the communication hole 30 of the base plate 24, so that the case flow path 39, the reservoir 51, the ink supply port 52, And a series of flow paths composed of the pressure chambers 53 are filled with ink. Then, by supplying a drive signal from the control unit of the printer 1, the free end portion of the piezoelectric element 41 is expanded and contracted to cause a pressure fluctuation in the pressure chamber 53. By controlling the pressure fluctuation, an ink droplet is ejected from the nozzle 48 communicating with the pressure chamber 53, or the meniscus in the nozzle 48 is vibrated to such an extent that the ink is not ejected.

  The head fixing member 33 is a thin plate-like member made of metal such as SUS, which has higher rigidity than the head case 37, and a nozzle on the surface of the head case 37 facing the mounting surface 27 of the base plate 24. The position relative to 48 is fixed in a defined state. Regarding the dimensions of the head fixing member 33, the dimension in the nozzle row 49 direction is longer than the dimension in the same direction of the head case 37 and the dimension (height) in the direction perpendicular to the nozzle surface 50 is It is shorter (lower) than the dimension (height) in the same direction. The head fixing member 33 is aligned with the upper surface of the recording head main body 32 and the relative position in the nozzle row direction is defined with respect to the nozzle 48 (the nozzle serving as a positioning reference) on the nozzle surface 50. The head case 37 is attached. When the head case 37 is attached, both end portions of the head fixing member 33 in the direction of the nozzle array 49 protrude outward from the head case 37 (recording head main body 32). The head fixing member 33 has a first fixing screw hole 61 corresponding to the head fixing member mounting screw hole 40 of the head case 37 penetrating in the plate thickness direction. Further, a second fixing screw hole 62 corresponding to the recording head mounting screw hole 29 of the base plate 24 penetrates the portion of the head fixing member 33 protruding from the head case 37 in the thickness direction.

  The head fixing member 33 in the present embodiment is a fitting convex portion 63 that protrudes toward the same side of the surface on the base plate 24 side (the side opposite to the head case 37) inside the first fixing screw hole 61. It has. In other words, the plate thickness inside the first fixing screw hole 61 in the head fixing member 33 is thicker than other portions. The fitting convex portion 63 includes a first restricting surface 63a that abuts on the first receiving surface 28a of the fitting concave portion 28 and a second restricting surface 63b that abuts on the second receiving surface 28b of the fitting concave portion 28. It consists of and. The position of the recording head 7 relative to the base plate 24 in the direction orthogonal to the nozzle row 49 in a plane parallel to the nozzle surface 50 is defined by the contact between the first restriction surface 63a and the first receiving surface 28a. ing. Further, the nozzle row 49 in a plane parallel to the nozzle surface 50 is brought into contact with the second receiving surface 28b for positioning the fitting recess 28 and the second restricting surface 63b facing the second receiving surface 28b. The position of the recording head 7 relative to the direction base plate 24 is defined. In other words, the fitting position of the recording head 7 with respect to the base plate 24 in the direction of the nozzle surface 50 is defined by the fitting of the fitting convex portion 63 and the fitting concave portion 28.

Next, a manufacturing method of the recording head unit 2 having the above configuration will be described.
First, the surface of the head fixing member 33 opposite to the fitting convex portion 63 is pressed against the surface of the recording head main body 32 (head case 37) facing the mounting surface 27 of the base plate 24, and the head fixing member. The positions of the mounting screw holes 40 and the first fixing screw holes 61 are aligned and temporarily fixed with screws. In this state, the relative positions of the head fixing member 33 and the nozzle 48 of the recording head main body 32 are matched using a jig or the like. For example, using a camera or the like, the relative positions of the nozzles 48 (reference nozzles) located at both ends of the nozzle row 49 and the end of the head fixing member 33 (or an alignment mark provided in advance on the head fixing member 33) are determined. Then, tighten the screws while aligning the positions of each other, and fix them. Thereby, the recording head 7 in which the relative position between the head fixing member 33 and the nozzle 48 is defined is created.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the head fixing member 33 side of the recording head 7 prepared as described above is brought close to the mounting surface 27 side of the base plate 24, and the fitting convex portion 63 and the fitting concave portion 28 are fitted. At the same time, the head fixing member 33 is pressed against the mounting surface 27 side of the base plate 24. In this state, the recording head 7 is attached to the base plate 24 by screwing the screw into the recording head attaching screw hole 29 through the second fixing screw hole 62. At this time, since the fitting convex portion 63 and the fitting concave portion 28 are fitted, the position of the recording head 7 in the nozzle surface 50 direction relative to the base plate 24 can be defined.
The position of the recording head 7 relative to the base plate 24 may be defined by bringing the thin portion outside the fitting convex portion 63 of the head fixing member 33 into contact with the edge of the fitting concave portion 28 of the mounting surface 27. . In this embodiment, since the base plate 24 and the head fixing member 33 are made of a metal member made of SUS or the like, that is, a highly rigid member, deformation of both members can be suppressed, and the fitting convex portion 63 and the fitting member 63 can be fitted. By simply fitting the mating recess 28 and pressing the head fixing member 33 against the mounting surface 27 side of the base plate 24, accurate positioning becomes possible.

  The procedure for attaching the recording head 7 to the base plate 24 is repeated by the number of recording heads 7 to be attached to the base plate 24 to create the recording head unit 2. When the recording head unit 2 according to the present embodiment is prepared, first, eight recording heads 7 in which the relative positions of the head fixing member 33 and the nozzle 48 are defined are prepared, and each recording head 7 is attached to the mounting surface of the base plate 24. 27 to create. Even when one or more recording heads 7 are replaced due to repair or the like, after the recording head 7 to be replaced is removed from the base plate 24, a new recording head 7 is attached to the base plate 24.

  Thus, since the horizontal portion 26 protruding in the direction intersecting the mounting surface 27 from the mounting surface 27 of the vertical portion 25 is provided, the strength of the vertical portion 25 can be secured, and the mounting surface 27 of the vertical portion 25 can be secured. On the other hand, the plate thickness in the direction perpendicular to the thickness can be reduced. Thereby, the width of the recording head unit 2 in the same direction can be reduced, and the recording head unit 2 can be downsized. Further, since the horizontal portion 26 is provided above the recording head 7, the horizontal portion 26 that is overlapped with the nozzle surface 50 when viewed from the nozzle surface 50 side is provided without interfering with the nozzle surface 50 of the recording head 7. it can. For this reason, a series of horizontal portions 26 can be provided across the plurality of recording heads 7, and the strength of the vertical portions 25 can be increased. Thereby, deformation of the vertical portion 25 can be suppressed, and the plate thickness in the direction perpendicular to the mounting surface 27 of the vertical portion 25 can be further reduced. Furthermore, since the base plate 24 is made of metal, the rigidity of the vertical portion 25 can be increased, so that the plate thickness in the direction perpendicular to the mounting surface 27 of the vertical portion 25 can be further reduced.

By the way, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.
For example, in the above embodiment, the head fixing member 33 is provided in the recording head 7, but a configuration in which the head fixing member is not provided may be employed. For example, the recording head can be attached to the base plate by bringing the head case into contact with the vertical portion. In this case, the head case is provided with a fitting convex portion that fits into the fitting concave portion of the base plate, and the head case and the base plate are fixed using screws or the like.

  In the above embodiment, the fitting convex portion 63 is provided on the head fixing member 33 and the fitting concave portion 28 is provided on the base plate 24. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the fitting concave portion may be provided in the head fixing member (or the head case in the case where the head fixing member is not provided), and the fitting convex portion may be provided in the base plate. Moreover, you may form the surface which mutually faces in a flat form, without providing a fitting convex part and a fitting recessed part in both members. Even in this case, the positions of the recording head relative to the base plate in the direction orthogonal to the nozzle row in the plane parallel to the nozzle surface can be defined by contacting the opposing surfaces of both members.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the base plate 24 and the head fixing member 33, and the recording head main body 32 and the head fixing member 33 are fixed using screws, respectively, but this is not restrictive. For example, each member may be bonded and fixed using an adhesive such as a UV curable resin or a seal. In the configuration in which the head fixing member is not provided, the head case of the recording head and the vertical portion of the base plate are bonded and fixed using an adhesive.

  In each of the above embodiments, the so-called longitudinal vibration type piezoelectric element 41 is exemplified as the pressure generating means. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a so-called flexural vibration type piezoelectric element can be employed. In addition, in a configuration that employs pressure generating means such as a heating element that generates pressure fluctuations by generating bubbles due to heat generation, or an electrostatic actuator that generates pressure fluctuations by displacing the working surface of the pressure chamber by electrostatic force Also, the present invention can be applied.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to a printer as long as it is a liquid ejecting apparatus including a liquid ejecting head that ejects liquid such as ink from a nozzle, and various ink jet recording apparatuses such as a plotter, a facsimile machine, and a copier, The present invention can also be applied to liquid ejecting apparatuses other than recording apparatuses, such as display manufacturing apparatuses, electrode manufacturing apparatuses, chip manufacturing apparatuses, and the like.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer, 2 ... Recording head unit, 3 ... Ink tank, 5 ... Conveyance mechanism, 6 ... Recording paper, 7 ... Recording head, 8 ... Ink supply tube, 21 ... Linear scale, 22 ... Detection head, 24 ... Base plate, 25 ... vertical portion, 26 ... horizontal portion, 27 ... mounting surface, 28 ... fitting recess, 28a ... first receiving surface, 28b ... second receiving surface, 29 ... screw hole for mounting the recording head, 30 ... communication hole 32 ... Recording head main body, 33 ... Head fixing member, 35 ... Flow path unit, 36 ... Transducer unit, 37 ... Head case, 38 ... Housing space, 39 ... Case flow path, 40 ... Head fixing member mounting screw Holes, 41 ... piezoelectric elements, 45 ... nozzle forming substrate, 46 ... channel forming substrate, 47 ... vibrating plate, 48 ... nozzle, 49 ... nozzle row, 50 ... nozzle surface, 51 ... reservoir, 57 ... diaphragm portion 59 ... compliance portion, 61 ... first fixing screw hole, 62 ... second fixing screw holes, 63 ... fitting projection, 63a ... first regulating surface, 63 b ... second regulating surface

Claims (4)

A nozzle surface on which the nozzle is formed, a pressure chamber communicating with the nozzle, and pressure generating means for generating pressure fluctuation in the pressure chamber, and driving the pressure generating means to generate pressure fluctuation in the pressure chamber. A liquid ejecting head for ejecting liquid from the nozzle,
A support member to which a plurality of the liquid jet heads are attached;
A liquid jet head unit comprising:
The support member is
A support wall having a mounting surface perpendicular to the nozzle surface of the liquid jet head to be mounted;
A flange protruding from the mounting surface of the support wall in a direction intersecting the mounting surface;
A liquid ejecting head unit comprising:   The liquid ejecting head unit according to claim 1, wherein the flange portion is provided on a surface side of the support wall portion opposite to a nozzle surface of the liquid ejecting head.   The liquid ejecting head unit according to claim 1, wherein the support member is made of metal.   A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising the liquid ejecting head unit according to claim 1.

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