Abstract:
An inkjet head capable of achieving stable ejection of ink by preventing air bubbles from being left in the upstream side of a nozzle of a filter element such as mesh filter that is provided in an inkjet head owing to the efficient use of the open area of the filter element. The inkjet head is provided to have a fluid channel communicated with the atmosphere from the upstream side region of the filter element such as mesh filter, with regard to the nozzle without passing through the filter element and the nozzle.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to an inkjet head adapted for use in an inkjet printer, which ejects ink droplets and records by printing various images on a target-recording medium.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     Hitherto, an inkjet recording device is well known, which records by printing characters and images on a target recording medium by using an inkjet head having a plurality of nozzles, which eject ink.  FIGS. 11, 12 , and  13  are a perspective view, a schematic elevational view, and a schematic cross-sectional view, respectively, illustrating an example of such an inkjet head, and  FIG. 14  is an exploded view illustrating an actuator section which generates pressure necessary for ink-ejection and a peripheral portion of the nozzles from which ink is finally ejected.  
         [0005]     As shown in  FIG. 14 , a piezoelectric ceramic plate  1  has a plurality of channels  5  which are juxtaposed in parallel, and respective channels  5  are separated from one another by sidewalls  21 .  
         [0006]     One end section of each channel  5  is longitudinally extended to one edge face of the piezoelectric ceramic plate  1  while the other end section of the channel  5  does not extend to the other edge face of the plate, so that the channel depth becomes gradually shallower toward the other end section.  
         [0007]     Moreover, electrodes  4  for applying driving electric field are formed on the open-side faces of both sidewalls  21  for each channel  5  so as to extend along the longitudinal direction.  
         [0008]     Furthermore, an ink chamber plate  2  constituting a common ink chamber  6 , which communicating with the shallower end section of each channel  5  is connected to the piezoelectric ceramic plate  1  on the open sides of the channels  5  so as to form a head tip  26 . A nozzle plate  3  is connected to the end face of a composite body consisting of the piezoelectric ceramic plate  1  and the ink chamber plate  2 , where the channels  5  open up from the composite body and nozzle holes  11  are formed at positions of the nozzle plate  3  facing respective channels  5 . The nozzle plate  3  and the head tip  26  are fixed by a head cap  12 , and the electrodes  4  formed on the head tip  26  and a driving circuit board  14  are connected by a flexible board  19 .  
         [0009]     Moreover, an ink flow-channel member  40  to supply ink to the common ink chamber  6  is fixed to the ink chamber plate  2 , an ink inlet port  41  for introducing ink is formed at the center of the flow-channel member  40 , and a pressure relief unit  70  for absorbing any fluctuation in pressure during the printing operation is connected to the ink inlet port  41 . Furthermore, since a filter  7  is fixed to the flow-channel member  40  so as to prevent foreign materials from flowing into and plugging the nozzle holes  11  and since the filter  7  partitions the flow-channel of the flow-channel member  40 , the flow channel of the flow-channel member  40  is separated into an ink reservoir A  10  located on the upstream side of the nozzle holes  11  and an ink reservoir B  43  located on the downstream side of the nozzle holes  11 . These parts and elements are eventually fixedly mounted on the base  13  made of an aluminum material.  
         [0010]     In an inkjet head configured in this manner, when ink is filled in each of the channels  5  through the pressure release unit  70  and the flow-channel member  40  and when a predetermined driving electric field is applied to a predetermined channel  5  through the electrodes  4 , the volume in a predetermined channel  5  changes due to the deformation of the sidewalls  21 , resulting in ink in the predetermined channel  5  being ejected from the corresponding nozzle hole  11 .  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     Nevertheless, in the case of the conventional inkjet head, air bubbles are trapped and stagnated in the ink reservoir A  10  which is located on the upstream side of the filter. For example, as shown in  FIGS. 15 and 16 , air bubbles  42   a  and  42   b  entrained with flowing ink through the ink inlet port  41  cannot flow by passing through the filter  7  and accordingly, remain at positions away from the ink inlet port  41 . There is a problem then that when the air bubbles stagnate in such positions, an ink passage region of the filter  7  is reduced to a length Y compared with the original effective length X of the filter  7  and that the effective area of the filter filled with ink must become smaller, so that the supply of ink to the common ink chamber  6  becomes insufficient.  
         [0012]     Specifically, for instance, when using ink such as water-based ink, etc. where the permeation of air bubbles is worse, it becomes easy to generate air bubbles and shortages in the supply of ink increase. Moreover, air bubbles remaining in such an ink reservoir A  10  are generally removed by performing a so-called cleaning operation, namely, sucking from the side of the nozzle holes  11  or pressurizing from the ink supply side. However, even if this cleaning operation is performed, there is a problem such that air bubbles stagnating in the ink reservoir A  10 , that is, the upstream side of the filter  7 , are difficult to be practically removed without passing through the filter  7 .  
         [0013]     Furthermore, specifically, in the case where droplet size of ink is large and the number of the nozzle openings is large, that is, when the amount of ink ejected per unit time is large, the amount of remaining air bubbles which exists in the ink reservoir becomes large, so that there is a problem that the area of the ink flow-channel becomes essentially narrow and the shortage in the supply of ink increases. It might be considered that the flow rate of ink is accelerated by making the flow-channel of the ink reservoir narrow. However, there is a problem that the size of the filter becomes smaller in practice and this becomes a reason for the shortage in the supply of ink to the common ink chamber.  
         [0014]     Moreover, even when using such a technique, it is impossible to completely remove air bubbles remaining at the upstream side of the filter  7  in the ink reservoir A  10  by performing the above-mentioned cleaning operation.  
         [0015]     By taking into account the above-mentioned facts, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet head and an inkjet recording device which can prevent air bubbles in ink from remaining in an ink reservoir and inside of a head tip with certainty, and which can relatively easily remove air bubbles.  
         [0016]     In order to solves the aforementioned problems, the present invention provides an inkjet head, which includes a plurality of channels juxtaposed in parallel to be communicated with nozzles, a common ink chamber which supplies ink to each of the channels, an ink flow-channel provided for being communicated with the common ink chamber, and a filter element provided in the ink channel configured by the common ink chamber and the ink flow-channel, wherein a fluid routing channel that communicates with the atmosphere from an area on the upstream-side of the nozzles without passing through the filter element and nozzles is provided in the region composed of the filter element consisting of the ink flow-channel and the filter element having a mesh filter therein and wherein the aforementioned fluid routing channel communicating with the atmosphere has a function to maintain a vacuum pressure in the ink channel configured by the aforementioned nozzles and the ink flow-channel.  
         [0017]     As will be understood from the above explanation, since the present invention provides a fluid routing channel, which communicates with the atmosphere, not through a filter element and a nozzle from the area of an upstream side of the nozzle in the region composed of the ink flow-channel and the filter element such as the mesh filter, etc., air bubbles remaining at the upstream side of the filter element can be removed, and, moreover, since it has a function which maintains a vacuum pressure in the ink channel configured by the nozzle and the ink supply channel, stable printing can be performed. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]      FIG. 1  is a schematic cross-sectional view, illustrating the main parts of an inkjet head of the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment of the present invention, when viewing from the arrows B-B′ indicated in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0020]      FIG. 3  is an elevational view, illustrating a whole inkjet head of the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 4  is a schematic cross-sectional view, illustrating a whole inkjet head of the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 5  is an exploded view, illustrating an area surrounding an ejection pressure generation section of an inkjet head of the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0023]      FIG. 6  is a schematic cross-sectional view, illustrating an bubble-removal joint used in an inkjet head of the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 7  is a schematic cross-sectional view, illustrating the main important portion of an inkjet head of the second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0025]      FIG. 8  is an exploded view, illustrating an area surrounding an ejection pressure generation section of an inkjet head of the second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0026]      FIG. 9  is an elevational view, illustrating a whole inkjet head of the second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0027]      FIG. 10  is an elevational view, illustrating a head tip of an inkjet head of the second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0028]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view, illustrating a conventional inkjet head;  
         [0029]      FIG. 12  is an elevational view, illustrating a conventional inkjet head;  
         [0030]      FIG. 13  is a schematic cross-sectional view, illustrating a whole conventional inkjet head;  
         [0031]      FIG. 14  is an exploded view, illustrating an area surrounding an ejection pressure generation section of a conventional inkjet head;  
         [0032]      FIG. 15  is a schematic cross-sectional view, illustrating the main parts of a conventional inkjet head;  
         [0033]      FIG. 16  is a cross-sectional view of the conventional inkjet head when viewing from the arrows A-A′ indicated in  FIG. 15 ;  
         [0034]      FIG. 17  is an elevational view, illustrating a pressure relief unit used in an inkjet head of the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0035]      FIG. 18  is a cross-sectional view of a pressure releasing unit used in an inkjet head of the first embodiment of the present invention when viewing from the arrows C-C′; and  
         [0036]      FIG. 19  is a perspective view, illustrating an inkjet head recording device of the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0037]     Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail referring to preferred embodiments of the present invention.  
       First Embodiment  
       [0038]      FIG. 1  is a schematic cross-sectional view, illustrating the main important portion of an inkjet head of the first embodiment.  FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view taken at the position of arrows B-B′ in  FIG. 1  of the first embodiment,  FIG. 3  an elevational view, illustrating a whole inkjet head of the first embodiment,  FIG. 4 a  schematic cross-sectional view, illustrating an inkjet head of the first embodiment, and  FIG. 5  an exploded view, illustrating an area surrounding the section which generates the ejection pressure in an inkjet head of the first embodiment.  
         [0039]     As shown in the drawing figures, an inkjet head  15  of the first embodiment has a head tip  26 , a flow-channel  9  as an ink flow-channel, which is provided on one face side thereof, a circuit board  14  on which a driving circuit, etc. is mounted in order to drive the head tip  26 , and a pressure relief unit  20  to relieve a pressure change in the head tip  26 , and each of these components is fixedly mounted on the base  13 . As shown in  FIGS. 17 and 18 , in this pressure relief unit  20 , a deformable film  55  connected to the body of the pressure relief unit  20  to define a recess-shape ink reservoir  54 , a flow-channel joint  50  to deliver ink reserved in this ink reservoir  54  to the flow-channel  9 , and air bubble return joints  51   a  and  51   b  arranged right and left with the center of the flow-channel joint  50  are provided, and these air bubble return joints  51   a  and  51   b  are connected to an bubble-removal channel  53  to purge the bubbles. At the tip of this bubble-removal channel  53 , a bubble-removal joint  28  shown in  FIG. 6  is provided and a vacuum pressure retaining filter  29  (second mesh filter) with a hole diameter of 25 micrometers is fixed inside of the bubble-removal joint  28 . A tube  25  is connected to the bubble-removal joint  28  and the other end thereof is fixed to a carriage for fixing the inkjet head  15 , resulting in a function for ejecting bubbles and ink. In this embodiment, the bubble-removal joint  28  to which the vacuum pressure retaining filter  29  is fixed is used as a member for maintaining a vacuum pressure (a vacuum pressure retaining mechanism). However, there is no problem even if a check-valve, an electromagnetic valve, or a needle shaped component having a small hole might be used for permitting a flow from the head side toward the atmosphere side.  
         [0040]     Next, details of the area surrounding the head tip  26  which becomes a source for generating pressure for ejection will be explained. On the piezoelectric ceramic plate  1  constituting the piezoelectric ceramic plate head tip  26 , a plurality of channels  5  are juxtaposed in parallel to be communicated with the nozzle holes  11  and each channel  5  is separated and isolated by sidewalls  21 . One end section extending in the longitudinal direction of each channel  5  is arranged to come to one edge face of the piezoelectric ceramic plate  1 , the other opposite end section does not reach the other edge face of the ceramic plate  1  and thus, the depth of each channel  5  becomes gradually shallower. Moreover, electrodes  4  for applying a driving electric field are formed along the longitudinal direction of the open sides of the channel  5  at the sidewalls  21  on both sides in the width direction of each channel  5 .  
         [0041]     Respective channels  5  formed in the piezoelectric ceramic plate  1 , for instance, are formed by using a disc-like die cutter and the part where the depth becomes gradually shallower is formed according to the shape of the die cutter. Moreover, the electrodes  4  formed in respective channels  5  are formed by, for example, evaporation from a well-known angle of inclination. One end of the flexible board  19  is connected to the electrodes  4  provided on the open sides of both sidewalls  21  of thusly formed channels  5 , and the electrodes  4  are electrically connected to the driving circuit by connecting another end of the flexible board  19  to the driving circuit on the circuit board  14  which is not shown in the drawing figures.  
         [0042]     Moreover, an ink chamber plate  2  is connected to the open side of the respective channels  5  of the piezoelectric ceramic plate  1 . In the ink chamber plate  2 , a common ink chamber  6  formed so as to pierce through the plate  2  in its thickness direction is provided for covering all over the area of the juxtaposed channels  5 .  
         [0043]     The ink chamber plate  2  may be made of a ceramic plate and a metal plate and so on. However, when taking into consideration the deformation after joining with the piezoelectric ceramic plate  1 , a ceramic plate which has a similar thermal expansion coefficient to that of the plate  1  is preferably employed.  
         [0044]     A nozzle plate  3  is connected to the end face where the channels  5  open up from the composite body consisting of the piezoelectric ceramic plate  1  and the ink chamber plate  2 , and nozzle holes  11  are formed at respective positions of the nozzle plate  3  facing the respective channels  5 .  
         [0045]     In this embodiment, the nozzle plate  3  is made larger than the area of the end face where the channels  5  open up from the composite body consisting of the piezoelectric ceramic plate  1  and the ink chamber plate  2 . This nozzle plate  3  is one obtained by forming the nozzle holes  11  in a polyimide film by the use of, for example, an excimer laser device. Moreover, although it is not shown in the drawing figures, a water-repellant membrane having water-repellency is provided to coat the face of the nozzle plate  3  which confronts a printed target so as to prevent adhesion of ink.  
         [0046]     Moreover, a head cap  12  holding the nozzle plate  3  is connected to the outer face of the end face side where each channel  5  opens up from the composite body formed by this piezoelectric ceramic plate  1  and the ink chamber plate  2 . This head cap  12  is connected to the outside of the end face of the composite body of the nozzle plate  3  for stably holding the nozzle plate  3  in position.  
         [0047]     In the head tip  26  having the described configuration, a face of the piezoelectric ceramic plate  1  opposite to the face thereof confronting the ink chamber plate  2  is securely connected to the base  13 .  
         [0048]     On the other hand, the flow-channel  9  is connected to one side of this ink chamber plate  2 .  
         [0049]     Herein, the structure of the flow-channel  9  and the internal structure of the flow-channel  9  in which ink actually flows will be explained in detail by referring to  FIG. 1 . In the flow-channel  9 , an ink inlet port  22  is provided at the center and two bubble exhausting holes  8   a  and  8   b  are provided at both sides in the longitudinal direction facing upward to become a communication path with atmosphere, and they are connected, respectively, to the flow-channel joint  50  and the bubble returns  51   a  and  51   b  of the pressure relief unit  20 . In fact, ink flows by using a system in which ink is supplied through the flow-channel joint  50  and the ink inlet port  22 . In this embodiment, the ink inlet port  22  is provided at the center and bubble exhausting holes  8   a  and  8   b  are provided at both sides. However, there is no problem if an ink inlet port  22  is provided at one end in the longitudinal direction and a bubble exhausting hole is provided at the other end, that is, there is a purpose in providing bubble exhausting holes in opposition to the ink inlet port  22  at positions where bubbles easily remain, and the position and the number are not limited.  
         [0050]     Moreover, in the flow-channel  9 , a filter  7  is provided in the part which is facing the common ink chamber  6  extending in the juxtaposed direction of respective channels  5  as a filter element having holes with a diameter of 8 micrometers, for instance, to remove dust and other foreign material mixed in with the ink, and the ink reservoir A  10  located at the upstream side and the ink reservoir B  43  located at the downstream side are formed partitioning the inner wall of the flow-channel  9  by the filter  7 .  
         [0051]     Then, in the inkjet head  15  of this embodiment, for instance, ink coming from the ink tank fills up the ink reservoir  54  of the pressure relief unit  20  during the initial filling, and ink is introduced into the flow-channel  9  while passing through the flow-channel joint  50  and the ink inlet port  22 . Since air bubbles  27   a  and  27   b  mixed in with the ink have a large resistance for passing through the filter  7 , they remain in the ink reservoir A  10 . Moreover, when the introduction of ink continues further, ink flows into the ink reservoir B  43  and the air bubbles  27   a  and  27   b  respectively is delivered to the bubble exhausting holes  8   a  and  8 B. Ink passing through the ink reservoir B passes inside of the head tip  26  and flows into the nozzle holes  11 . Air bubbles  27   a  and  27   b  pass through the bubble exhausting holes  8   a  and  8   b  together with ink, pass through the bubble returns  51   a  and  51   b  and the bubble-removal channel  53 , and then they are exhausted into the atmosphere together with ink through the tube  25 , resulting in no air bubbles at all being present in the ink reservoir A  10 .  
         [0052]     As explained above, in the inkjet head of this embodiment  15 , air bubbles in the area of the ink reservoir A  10  are exhausted into the atmosphere together with ink passing through the bubble-removal joint  28  and the tube  25  after passing the bubble exhausting holes  8   a  and  8   b , the bubble returns  51   a  and  51   b , and the bubble-removal channel  53 , so that air bubbles are certainly prevented from remaining in the ink reservoir A  10 . Therefore, shortages in the supply of ink to the common ink chamber  6  and each channel  5  can be surely prevented, which would be caused by a reduction in the ink-storage capacity of the ink reservoir A  10 , which reduction might be in turn caused by any residual bubbles.  
         [0053]     Moreover, in this embodiment, since the bubble-removal joint  28  exhibits such a function that ink and bubbles are exhausted to the atmosphere during cleaning by the apply of a pressure, and a vacuum pressure created in the ink routing channel connecting the ink tank  80  with the inkjet head  15  is maintained during the printing operation, an ordinary printing operation can be stably performed.  
         [0054]     Thus, since the air bubbles can surely be prevented from being left in the ink reservoir A  10 , any failure in printing operation and so on can be surely prevented.  
         [0055]     Of course, according to the inkjet head  15  of this embodiment, even in the case where the amount of ink ejected per unit time is large and ink such as water based ink, etc. is used, where the permeation of air bubbles is worse, shortages in the supply of ink to both the common ink chamber  6  and each channel  5  can be surely prevented, and the ejection stability of ink and the reliability thereof can be improved.  
         [0056]     The reason why air bubbles which did not pass through the filter  7  could pass the vacuum pressure retaining filter  29  is that the vacuum pressure retaining filter  29  has markedly smaller holes than the filter  7  and has a smaller flow through resistance. However, the vacuum pressure retaining filter  29  can sufficiently keep roughly  50  mm H 2 O which is a vacuum pressure inside the ink routing channel created in the ink tank and the inkjet head  15  by the surface tension of ink when the mesh is filled with ink. Moreover, the vacuum pressure retaining filter  29  used in the present invention has a hole diameter of 25 micrometers, but it is not necessary to be limited to this embodiment, and there is no problem if an appropriate hole diameter is selected according to the respective purpose.  
         [0057]      FIG. 19  is an inkjet recording device using an inkjet head of the present invention. The inkjet head  15  is mounted on a carriage  81  which is movable in the axial direction on a pair of guide-rails  72   a  and  72   b , supplying ink from the ink cartridges  80  passing through ink tubes  71 , is conveyed by a timing belt  75  which is suspended between a pulley  74   a  provided at one end of the guide-rails  72   a  and  72   b  and connected to a carriage driving motor  73  and a pulley  74   b  provided at the other end. At both sides in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the inkjet head  15 , a pair of transfer rollers  76  and  77  is provided, respectively, along the guide-rails  72   a  and  72   b  (paper transfer mechanism). These transfer rollers  76  and  77  are for transferring a target recording or printing medium S underneath the inkjet head  15  in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the inkjet head  15  in question.  
         [0058]     According to such an inkjet type recording device, characters and images can be recorded by printing on the target recording medium by transferring the target recording medium S and scanning the inkjet head  50  in a direction perpendicular to the transfer direction thereof.  
       Second Embodiment  
       [0059]      FIG. 7  is a schematic cross-sectional view of the main parts of an inkjet head according to the second embodiment, and  FIG. 8  is an exploded view, illustrating an area surrounding the ejection pressure generation section of an inkjet head of the second embodiment.  FIG. 9  is an elevation view, illustrating a whole inkjet head of the second embodiment, and  FIG. 10  is an elevation view illustrating a head tip of the second embodiment.  
         [0060]     As shown in the drawing figures, an inkjet head  15  of the second embodiment has a head tip  26 , a flow-channel  30  which is provided on one face side thereof, a circuit board  14  on which a driving circuit, etc. is mounted to drive the head tip  26 , and a pressure relaxation unit  60  to relieve the pressure change in the head tip  26 , and each of these components is fixed on the base  13 . In this pressure relaxation unit  60 , a deformable film connected to the pressure relaxation unit  60  body to form a concave shaped ink reservoir and a flow-channel joint  61  to transfer ink collected in this ink reservoir to the flow-channel  30  are provided ( FIG. 9 ).  
         [0061]     Next, the details of the area surrounding the head tip  26  to be a pressure source for ejection will be explained. On the piezoelectric ceramic plate  34  constituting the head tip  26  a plurality of channels  5  are lined up in parallel to communicate with the nozzle holes  11 , and each channel  5  is separated by the sidewalls  21 . One end section along the longitudinal direction of each channel  5  is provided at one edge face of the piezoelectric ceramic plate  34 , the other end section of the channel is not reaching the other edge face of the plate, and the depth of the channel becomes gradually shallower. Moreover, electrodes  4  for applying a driving electric field are formed along the longitudinal direction of the open sides of the channels  5  at the sidewalls  21  of both sides along the width direction of respective channels  5 .  
         [0062]     Each channel  5  formed on the piezoelectric ceramic plate  34  is formed by using a disc-like die cutter and the part where the depth becomes gradually shallower is formed according to the shape of the die cutter. Moreover, the electrodes  4  formed in respective channels  5  are formed by, for example, evaporation from a well-known angle of inclination. One end of the flexible board  19  is connected to the electrodes  4  provided on the open sides of both sidewalls  21  of such a channel  5 , and the electrodes  4  are electrically connected to the driving circuit by connecting the other end of the flexible board  19  to the driving circuit on the circuit board  14  which is not shown in the drawing figures.  
         [0063]     Moreover, an ink chamber plate  35  is connected to the open side of the channels of the piezoelectric ceramic plate  34 . In the ink chamber plate  35 , a common ink chamber  6  formed passing through the thickness direction is provided covering the whole area of the juxtaposed channels  5  and, in addition, air bubble holes  32   a  and  32   b  which are separated by the common ink chamber  6  are provided and slits  33   a  and  33   b  are formed to exhaust air bubbles at the bubble holes  32   a  and  32   b.    
         [0064]     Although the ink chamber plate  35  can be made of a ceramic plate and a metal plate and so on, a ceramic plate which has a similar thermal expansion coefficient to that of the piezoelectric plate  34  is preferably used by considering the deformation after joining with the piezoelectric ceramic plate  34 .  
         [0065]     A nozzle plate  3  is connected to the end face where the channels  5  open up from the composite body formed with the piezoelectric ceramic plate  34  and the ink chamber plate  35 , and nozzle holes  11  are formed at positions of the nozzle plate  3  facing respective channels  5 .  
         [0066]     This nozzle plate  3  is one in which the nozzle holes  11  are formed in a polyimide film by using, for instance, an excimer laser device. Moreover, although it is not shown in drawing figures, a water-repellant film having water-repellency is provided at the face of the nozzle plate  3  which is facing a target of printing operation, in order to prevent adhesion of ink.  
         [0067]     Moreover, the head cap  12  holding the nozzle plate  3  is connected to the outer face of the end face side where each channel  5  opens up from the composite body formed by this piezoelectric ceramic plate  34  and the ink chamber plate  35 . This head cap  12  is connected to the outside of the end face of the composite body of the nozzle plate  3  for stably holding the nozzle plate  3 .  
         [0068]     In the head tip  26  having the described configuration, a face which is on the opposite side of the ink chamber plate  35  of the piezoelectric ceramic plate  34  is connected and fixed to the base  13 . On the other hand, the flow-channel  30  is connected to one side of this ink chamber plate  35 .  
         [0069]     Herein, the structure of the flow-channel  30  (ink flow-channel) and the internal structure of the flow-channel  30  in which ink actually flows will be explained in detail. In the flow-channel  30 , an ink inlet port  63  is provided at the center and actual ink flows using a system for supplying ink through the flow-channel joint  61  and the ink inlet port  63 .  
         [0070]     Moreover, in the flow-channel  30 , the filter  7  (a filter element) having holes with a diameter of 8 micrometers is provided at the part which is facing the common ink chamber  6  extending in the juxtaposing direction of respective channels  5 , for instance, to remove dust and foreign material mixed in with the ink, and the ink reservoir A  64  located at the upstream side and the ink reservoir B  65  located at the downstream side are formed partitioning the inner wall of the flow-channel  30  by the filter  7 . Flow-channel openings  31   a  and  31   b  are formed on both sides of the ink reservoir A  64  and these flow-channel openings  31   a  and  31   b  are located at the positions communicating with the bubble holes  32   a  and  32   b , respectively, which are provided on the aforementioned ink chamber plate  35 . That is, the flow-channel openings  31   a  and  31   b  formed on both sides of the oil reservoir A  64  are connected to a fine hole with a diameter of 0.1 mm, which opens to the same surface as the nozzle holes  11  formed in the nozzle  3 , through the bubble holes  32   a  and  32   b  and slits  33   a  and  33   b  and form a channel communicating with the atmosphere. This fine hole  36  also has the function to maintain a vacuum pressure in the ink flow-channel, and the size has to be decided so as to be an appropriate size for use in an inkjet head  15 . Moreover, in this embodiment, the slits  33   a  and  33   b  are formed in the ink chamber plate  35 , however, a slit may be formed in the piezoelectric ceramic plate  34 , and there is no problem if another component having a flow through channel is connected to the fine hole  36  and not through the piezoelectric ceramic plate  34  and the ink chamber plate  35 . In this embodiment, flow-channel openings  31   a  and  31   b  are provided at both ends relative to the ink inlet port  63  located at the center of the flow-channel  30 , however, there is no problem if an ink inlet hole is provided at one end of the flow-channel  30  and a flow-channel opening is provided at another end, and the position and number are not limited.  
         [0071]     Then, in the inkjet head  15  of this embodiment, for instance, ink coming from the ink tank (not shown in the figure) fills up the ink reservoir  62  of the pressure relief unit  60  during the initial filling, and ink is introduced into the flow-channel  30  passing through the flow-channel joint  61  and the ink inlet port  63 . Since bubbles  37   a  and  37   b  mixed in with the ink have a large resistance for passing through the filter  7 , they remain in the ink reservoir A  64 . Moreover, when the introduction of ink further continues, ink flows into the ink reservoir B  65  and air bubbles  37   a  and  37   b  respectively move to the flow-channel openings  31   a  and  31 B. Ink passing through the ink reservoir B  65  passes inside of the head tip  26  and flows into the nozzle holes  11 . Air bubbles  37   a  and  37   b  together with ink pass through the flow-channel openings  31   a  and  31   b  and pass the bubble holes  32   a  and  32   b  and the slits  33   a  and  33   b , and then they are exhausted into the atmosphere together with ink, resulting in no air bubbles at all existing in the ink reservoir A  64 .  
         [0072]     As explained above, in the inkjet head  15  of this embodiment, air bubbles in the area of the ink reservoir A  64  are exhausted together with ink into the atmosphere, passing through the flow-channel openings  31   a  and  31   b , the bubble holes  32   a  and  32   b , the slits  33   a  and  33   b , and fine hole  36 , so that air bubbles can be prevented with certainty from being left in the ink reservoir A  64 . Therefore, shortages in the supply of ink to the common ink chamber  6  and each channel  5  can be surely prevented, which would be caused by a change in the storage capacity of the ink reservoir A 64  due to the remaining of air bubbles.  
         [0073]     Moreover, in this embodiment, since there is a function where the ink and the bubbles are exhausted into the atmosphere during cleaning by vacuuming and presurizing and since a vacuum pressure created in the ink flow-channel connecting the ink tank  80  with the inkjet head  15  is maintained by a meniscus formed by the fine hole  36  during the printing operation, an ordinary printing operation can be stably performed.  
         [0074]     In this embodiment, since the fine hole  36  is formed on the same surface as the nozzle plate  3 , an inkjet can be made smaller and a lower cost can be achieved.  
         [0075]     Thus, since the bubbles can surely be prevented from staying in the ink reservoir A  64 , printing problems, etc. can surely be prevented.  
         [0076]     Of course, according to the inkjet head of this embodiment, even in the case when the amount of ink ejected per unit time is large and ink such as water based ink, etc. is used, where the permeation of bubbles is worse, shortages in the supply of ink to the common ink chamber  6  and to each of the channels  5  can be surely prevented, and the ejection stability of ink and the reliability can be improved.