1-5. (canceled)
6. A method of manufacturing a nozzle plate having a nozzle hole, comprising the steps of;
(a) forming the nozzle hole penetrating through an opaque conductive plate which becomes the nozzle plate, in a thickness direction of the conductive plate;
(b) covering, with light-curable resin, a first surface of the conductive plate which surface has one opening of the nozzle hole to become an ejection opening, and supplying the light-curable resin into an area inside the nozzle hole contiguous to the one opening;
(c) forming a cured resin portion from the light-curable resin by applying, to the conductive plate, light directed from a second surface of the conductive plate having the other opening of the nozzle hole to the first surface of the same so as to cure a part of the light-curable resin inside the nozzle hole and another part of the light-curable resin outside the nozzle hole, the another part overlapping the one opening in a direction from the second surface to the first surface;
(d) eliminating an uncured portion of the light-curable resin after the step of (c);
(e) forming a water-repellent coat by electroplating using the curable resin as a mask, after the step of (d); and
(f) eliminating the cured resin portion after the step of (e), wherein in the step of (e), a current density is adjusted so that the through hole, on the water-repellent coat, communicating with the nozzle hole has a straight portion and a diameter expansion portion, the straight portion being contiguous to the nozzle hole and having the same diameter as the ejection opening, the diameter expansion portion being provided to interpose the straight portion with the nozzle hole and gradually expanding so that a part thereof farther from the straight portion has a larger diameter than a part thereof closer to the straight portion.
7. The method of manufacturing the nozzle plate according to claim 6, wherein:
the conductive plate is made of stainless steel;
the method further includes a step of (g) forming a nickel coat thinner than the water-repellent coat on the first surface of the conductive plate, before the step of (e); and
in the step of (e) the water-repellent coat is formed on the nickel coat.
8. The method of manufacturing the nozzle plate according to claim 7, wherein, in the step of (g), the nickel coat is formed by electroplating.
9. The method of manufacturing a nozzle plate according to claim 6, wherein the current density is 0.5 Adm2 or higher but 2 Adm2 or lower.
10. The method of manufacturing the nozzle plate according to claim 6, wherein, in the step of (e), the water-repellent coat is formed by electroplating with a first current density and then with a second current density which is lower than the first and is 0.5 Adm2 or higher but 2 Adm2 or lower.
11. The method of manufacturing the nozzle plate according to claim 6, wherein, in the step of (e), the water-repellent coat is formed so as to have a third surface where the straight portion is open and a fourth surface where the diameter expansion portion is open, the third surface extending parallel to the ejection face, the fourth surface extending parallel to the third surface and being distant from the third surface along the central axis of the through hole.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An ultrasonic operated cutting tool comprising:
a basic body presenting an active end portion having a surface with a diamond film obtained by CVD growth technique, said basic body comprising superficial accidents that are arranged and dimensioned to produce a substantial increase of the seating area for the diamond film and an increased degree of mechanical interference with the latter, and
a coating layer formed between the basic body and the diamond film, the coating layer comprising a modified layer that comprises a surface of said active end portion and a layer immediately under said surface of the active end portion and presenting, externally, the superficial accidents, said modified layer being an ionic modified layer presenting at least one of the ions defined by nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen, at least one of said ions having a controlled diffusion into the basic body and inhibiting the diffusion of carbon and hydrogen into the basic body, and said basic body being a metallic material having good ultrasound transmission, high ultimate strength to ultrasound, adequacy to diamond film growth and being adapted to preserve said properties after said diamond film growth.
2. The cutting tool as set forth in claim 1, wherein the superficial accidents are obtained by at least one of the forms defined by knurling and scoring.
3. The cutting tool as set forth in claim 1, wherein the superficial accidents are obtained by at least one of the forms defined by trimming and jetting.
4. The cutting tool as set forth in claim 1, wherein the material of the basic body is selected from the group consisting of steels and alloys thereof, molybdenum and alloys thereof, niobium and alloys thereof, and titanium and alloys thereof.
5. The cutting tool as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that the active end portion has an annular cross-section.
6. The cutting tool as set forth in claim 1, wherein the ionic modified layer is formed by ionic sub-implantation.
7. An ultrasonic operated cutting tool comprising:
a basic body presenting an active end portion submitted to a treatment for preparing its surface with ion bombardment with an intensity and time that are calculated so as to chemically transform said surface and make it adequate to diamond film nucleation and having a surface with a diamond film obtained by CVD growth technique, said basic body comprising superficial accidents that are arranged and dimensioned to produce a substantial increase of the seating area for a coating layer and an increased degree of mechanical interference with the latter,
wherein said coating layer comprises an intermediate layer between the basic body and the diamond film in the form of a film that is deposited on the active end portion, and presents, externally, the superficial accidents, and said basic body being a metallic material having good ultrasound transmission, high ultimate strength to ultrasound, adequacy to diamond film growth and being adapted to preserve said properties after said diamond film growth.
8. The cutting tool as set forth in claim 7, wherein the intermediate layer reproduces the superficial accidents of the active end portion.
9. The cutting tool as set forth in claim 7, wherein the film is made of silicon carbide.
10. A process for the formation of a cutting tool to be used in ultrasonic equipment comprising a basic body presenting an active end portion having a surface provided with a diamond film obtained by the CVD growth technique, the process comprising the steps of:
a\u2014providing a basic body consisting of a metallic material;
b\u2014providing a coating layer comprising a modified layer defined by a surface of said active end portion and by a layer immediately under said surface of said active end portion, said modified layer being an ionic modified layer presenting at least one of the ions defined by nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen, at least one of said ions having a controlled diffusion into the basic body and inhibiting the diffusion of carbon and hydrogen into the basic body;
c\u2014providing the active end portion with superficial accidents that are arranged and dimensioned to produce a substantial increase of the seating area for the diamond film and an increased degree of mechanical interference with the latter;
d\u2014cleaning both physically and chemically the surface of the active end portion; and
e\u2014submitting the active end portion to nucleation of the diamond film.
11. A process for the formation of a cutting tool to be used in ultrasonic equipment comprising a basic body presenting an active end portion having a surface provided with a diamond film obtained by the CYD growth technique, the process comprising the steps of:
a\u2014providing a basic body consisting of a metallic material;
b\u2014providing the surface of the active end portion with superficial accidents that are arranged and dimensioned to produce a substantial increase of the seating area for the diamond film and an increased degree of mechanical interference with the latter;
c\u2014submitting the active end portion to a treatment for preparing the surface with ion bombardment with an intensity and time that are calculated so as to chemically transform said surface and make it adequate to diamond film nucleation;
d\u2014providing an intermediate layer between the basic body and the diamond film, on the surface of the active end portion of the basic body;
e\u2014producing a substantial increase of the seating area of said intermediate layer for the diamond film and an increased degree of mechanical interference with the latter;
f\u2014cleaning both physically and chemically the surface of the active end portion; and
g\u2014submitting the active end portion to nucleation of the diamond film.
12. The process as set forth in claim 10, wherein the active end portion is submitted to one of the knurling and scoring processes.
13. The process as set forth in claim 11, wherein the active end portion is submitted to one of the knurling and scoring processes.
14. The process as set forth in claim 10, wherein the active end portion is submitted to one of the trimming and jetting processes.
15. The process as set forth in claim 11, wherein the active end portion is submitted to one of the trimming and jetting processes.
16. The process as set forth in claim 10 wherein the step of cleaning the active end portion includes submitting the active end portion to an ultrasound bath.
17. The process as set forth in claim 11 wherein the step of cleaning the active end portion includes submitting the active end portion to an ultrasound bath.
18. The process as set forth in claim 10 wherein the step of cleaning the active end portion includes a step of submitting the active end portion to a degreasing operation.
19. The process as set forth in claim 11 wherein the step of cleaning the active end portion includes a step of submitting the active end portion to a degreasing operation.
20. The process as set forth in claim 18, wherein the degreasing operation includes submitting the active end portion to a bath with degreasing solvents.
21. The process as set forth in claim 19, wherein the degreasing operation includes submitting the active end portion to a bath with degreasing solvents.
22. The process as set forth in claim 10, wherein the material of the basic body is selected from the group consisting of niobium and alloys thereof, and titanium and alloys thereof.
23. The process as set forth in claim 11, wherein the material of the basic body is selected from the group consisting of niobium and alloys thereof, and titanium and alloys thereof.
24. The process as set forth in claim 10, further comprising the step of submitting the active end portion to a treatment for preparing the surface with ion bombardment with an intensity and time that are calculated so as to chemically transform said surface and make it adequate to diamond film nucleation.
25. The process as set forth in claim 24, wherein the additional step is by preparation with ionic sub-implantation in the power range from about 10 eV to about 2000 eV.
26. The process as set forth in claim 11, wherein the ion bombardment step is by preparation with ionic sub-implantation in the power range from about 10 eV to about 2000 eV.
27. The process as set forth in claim 24, wherein the step of ion bombardment is by ionic immersion in the power range from about 0.2 keV to about 100 keV.
28. The process as set forth in claim 11, wherein the ion bombardment step is by ionic immersion in the power range from about 0.2 keV to about 100 keV.
29. The process as set forth in claim 27, wherein the ionic immersion is made with atoms of at least one of the elements selected from the group consisting of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen.
30. The process as set forth in claim 28, wherein the ionic immersion is made with atoms of at least one of the elements selected from the group consisting of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen.
31. The process as set forth in claim 29, wherein the step of ionic immersion includes submitting the active end portion to a direct current discharge.
32. The process as set forth in claim 30, wherein the step of ionic immersion includes submitting the active end portion to a direct current discharge.
33. The process as set forth in claim 31, wherein the direct current discharge is with one of the elements defined by nitrogen and carbon in a hydrogen environment.
34. The process as set forth in claim 32, wherein the direct current discharge is with one of the elements defined by nitrogen and carbon in a hydrogen environment.
35. The process as set forth in claim 11, including an additional step of reproducing, with the intermediate layer, the superficial accidents of the active end portion.
36. The process as set forth in claim 35, including an additional step of depositing on the active end portion a film defining the intermediate layer.
37. The process as set forth in claim 36, wherein the film comprises silicon carbide.
38. The process as set forth in claim 10, further comprising the step of submitting the active end portion to an operation to remove oxides from the surface thereof prior to the nucleation step.
39. The process as set forth in claim 11, further comprising the step of submitting the active end portion to an operation to remove oxides from the surface thereof prior to the nucleation step.
40. The process as set forth in claim 38, wherein the step of removing the oxides is obtained by submitting the active end portion to a cleaning operation in an environment with atomic hydrogen.
41. The process as set forth in claim 39, wherein the step of removing the oxides is obtained by submitting the active end portion to a cleaning operation in an environment with atomic hydrogen.
42. The process as set forth in claim 10, wherein the metallic material has good ultrasound transmission, high ultimate strength to ultrasound, adequacy to diamond film growth and being adapted to preserve said properties after said diamond film growth.
43. The process as set forth in claim 11, wherein the metallic material has good ultrasound transmission, high ultimate strength to ultrasound, adequacy to diamond film growth and being adapted to preserve said properties after said diamond film growth.