LIQUID DROP DISCHARGE PIEZOELECTRIC DEVICE

• US 20070120899A1
• Filed: 01/31/2007
• Published: 05/31/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NGK Insulators Limited
• Original Assignee: NGK Insulators Limited
• Inventors: Kimura, Koji, Yamamoto, Kazuhiro, Hirota, Toshikazu, OHNISHI, Takao, Iseki, Yoshihiro
• Granted Patent: US 7,588,322 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 347/72
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/14209 of finger type, chamber walls consisting integrally of piezoelectric material
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/14217 Multi layer finger type piezoelectric element
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2202/11 characterised by specific geometrical characteristics

Abstract

A liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device 1 provided with a cavity member 11 with a built-in cavity 3; an introduction member 13 having introduction channel 5 connecting with the cavity 3; and a nozzle member 12 having nozzle channel 4 connecting with the cavity 3 on a side opposite to the channel 5. This liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device 1 is provided with an introduction port 6, attached to the introduction member 13, capable of introducing a liquid into the cavity 3 via the introduction channel 5, and a discharge port 7, attached to the nozzle member 12, capable of discharging as droplets a liquid filled in the cavity 3 via the nozzle channel 40. Even in a case where an amount of liquid droplets is of a nanoliter (nl) order, excellent stability and reproducibility are attained, and the unit can stably be operated when attached to an apparatus.

Claims

1-27. -27. (canceled)

28. A liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device for use in discharging micro liquid droplets provided with:

a cavity member in which a cavity to be filled with a liquid is built;

an introduction member having an introduction channel which connects with the cavity and an introduction port from which the liquid is introduced into the cavity via the introduction channel; and

a nozzle member having a nozzle channel which connects with the cavity on a side of the cavity member opposite to the introduction channel and a discharge port to discharge the liquid with which the cavity has been filled as droplets via the nozzle channel, wherein

at least a part of the cavity member comprises a piezoelectric driving body in which a plurality of layered piezoelectric bodies made of a ceramic material and a plurality of layered electrodes are alternately laminated,

at least a part of the introduction member and/or the nozzle member comprises a piezoelectric body made of the ceramic material, and

the cavity member, the introduction member and/or the nozzle member is integrally formed by sintering, and wherein

a displacement based on an electrically inductive strain of the piezoelectric driving body composing at least a part of the cavity member generates a pressing force accompanied by an increase of a pressure in the cavity of the cavity member; and

the liquid with which the cavity has been filled is discharged as droplets from the discharge port by use of the pressing force.

29. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein in a case where at least a part of the introduction member comprises the piezoelectric bodies made of the ceramic material, the piezoelectric bodies are the plurality of layered piezoelectric bodies;

and

the plurality of layered piezoelectric bodies and the plurality of layered electrodes are alternately laminated to compose the piezoelectric driving body.

30. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein in a case where at least a part of the nozzle member comprises the piezoelectric bodies made of the ceramic material, the piezoelectric bodies are the plurality of layered piezoelectric bodies;

and

the plurality of layered piezoelectric bodies and the plurality of layered electrodes are alternately laminated to compose the piezoelectric driving body.

31. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein the whole cavity member comprises the piezoelectric driving body.

32. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 31, wherein a section of the cavity incorporated in the cavity member vertical to a flow direction of the liquid has a rectangular shape.

33. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein the cavity member has a prismatic shape;

the cavity is formed by two sets of opposite wall portions;

one set of opposite wall portions comprises the piezoelectric driving bodies; and

the other set of wall portions comprises the piezoelectric bodies only.

34. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 33, wherein the introduction member further has a prismatic shape, the introduction channel is formed by two sets of opposite wall portions, one set of opposite wall portions comprises the piezoelectric driving bodies, the other set of wall portions comprises the piezoelectric bodies only;

the nozzle member has a prismatic shape, the nozzle channel is formed by two sets of opposite wall portions, one set of opposite wall portions comprises the piezoelectric driving bodies, the other set of wall portions comprises the piezoelectric bodies only; and

in the cavity member, the introduction member and the nozzle member, one set of opposite wall portions comprising the piezoelectric driving bodies in the cavity member are arranged in the same positions as those in the introduction member, and the wall portions in the nozzle member only are arranged in different positions.

35. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein the cavity member has a prismatic shape;

the cavity is formed by two sets of opposite wall portions; and

the two sets of opposite wall portions both comprise the piezoelectric driving bodies.

36. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 35, wherein when the two sets of opposite wall portions both comprise the piezoelectric driving bodies, a polarized direction of the piezoelectric bodies of the piezoelectric driving bodies composing one set of opposite wall portions is different from that of the piezoelectric bodies of the piezoelectric driving bodies composing the other set of opposite wall portions.

37. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 35, wherein any of the two sets of opposite wall portions both comprising the piezoelectric driving bodies is provided with a slit which partially separates the piezoelectric driving bodies composing one set of opposite wall portions from the piezoelectric driving bodies composing the other set of opposite wall portions.

38. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 33, wherein in the wall portion comprising the piezoelectric driving body among the two sets of opposite wall portions, the layered electrodes stand back from a surface forming the cavity and are not exposed in the surface forming the cavity, the surface forming the cavity comprises the layered piezoelectric bodies only;

and

a ratio between a distance from the surface forming cavity to the layered electrodes and a thickness of one layer of the layered piezoelectric bodies is in a range of 5;

1 to 1;

10.

39. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein all of the cavity member, the introduction member and the nozzle member are integrally formed by laminating the plurality of layered piezoelectric bodies made of the ceramic material:

and

the cavity of the cavity member, the introduction channel of the introduction member and the nozzle channel of the nozzle member are formed by the same layer of the laminated piezoelectric bodies.

40. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein a section of the nozzle channel of the nozzle member vertical to the liquid flow direction is smaller than a section of the cavity of the cavity member vertical to the liquid flow direction.

41. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 40, wherein a size of the section of the cavity of the cavity member is continuously reduced on a nozzle channel side of the cavity to smoothly connect the cavity to the nozzle channel of the nozzle member.

42. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein the section of the nozzle channel of the nozzle member vertical to the liquid flow direction has a rectangular or trapezoidal shape.

43. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein a ratio d/L between the shortest distance d in the section of the nozzle channel of the nozzle member and a length L of the nozzle channel is 0.08 to 0.8.

44. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein a surface roughness of an end surface of the nozzle member on a discharge port side is smaller than at least a surface roughness of the nozzle channel of the nozzle member.

45. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein a section of the introduction channel of the introduction member vertical to the liquid flow direction is smaller than that of the cavity of the cavity member vertical to the liquid flow direction;

and a size of the section of the cavity of the cavity member is continuously reduced in a width direction with respect to the liquid flow direction on an introduction channel side of the cavity to smoothly connect the cavity to the introduction channel of the introduction member.

46. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein the section of the introduction channel of the introduction member vertical to the liquid flow direction has a rectangular or trapezoidal shape.

47. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein the introduction channel of the introduction member comprises a porous body having a gas liquid separating function.

48. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein the introduction member includes, on an introduction port side of the introduction channel, an introduction cavity which connects with the introduction channel and whose section vertical to the liquid flow direction is larger than the section of the introduction channel.

49. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein the introduction member comprises a flange portion to be attached to an apparatus to which the liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device is to be applied;

and at least an end surface of the introduction member on the introduction port side is larger than the section of the cavity member vertical to the liquid flow direction.

50. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein the cavity of the cavity member, the nozzle channel of the nozzle member and the introduction channel of the introduction member have sections having the same shape and an equal width in the width direction with respect to the liquid flow direction;

and the sections are continuously connected to one another.

51. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein micro liquid droplets have a liquid amount of a nanoliter (nl) order.

52. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein any electrode is not exposed on the end surface of the introduction member on the introduction port side, the surface forming introduction channel of the introduction member, a surface forming cavity of the cavity member, a surface forming nozzle channel of the nozzle member and the end surface of the nozzle member on the discharge port side.

53. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein the liquid flow direction crosses, at right angles, a laminating direction of the plurality of layered piezoelectric bodies forming the piezoelectric driving body.

54. The liquid droplet discharging piezoelectric device according to claim 28, wherein the electrodes are disposed on opposite outermost layers in the piezoelectric driving body composed by alternately laminating the plurality of layered piezoelectric bodies and the plurality of layered electrodes;

and the electrode of one outermost layer has a polarity different from that of the electrode of the other outermost layer.