Ink jet head having an improved orifice plate, a method for manufacturing such ink jet heads, and an ink jet apparatus provided with such ink jet head

Abstract

An ink jet head comprises a plurality of discharge pressure generating elements serving as the discharge pressure source for discharging an ink droplet, an orifice plate having a plurality of ink discharge ports corresponding to the respective discharge pressure generating elements formed therefor, an ink supply port for supplying ink and a nozzle wall forming an ink flow path communicating the ink discharge ports with the ink supply port. The orifice plate and the nozzle wall are formed by resin material, and also, a thin metallic film is formed on the outer surface of the orifice plate. If desired, a water-repellent film is formed further on the surface of the thin metallic film. With the metallic film formed on the surface of the orifice plate, the moisture in ink is effectively prevented from being evaporated. Further, with the provision of the metallic film, it becomes possible to perform the eutectoid plating for the formation of the water-repellent film. With the head thus structured, it becomes possible to stably obtain excellent print quality.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.