JP5098673B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus that prints an image on a recording medium.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a recording medium conveyance mechanism that conveys a recording sheet fed by a sheet feeding cassette or a manual sheet feeding mechanism, a recording head that forms an image on the recording sheet conveyed by the recording medium conveyance mechanism, and a recording An ink jet recording apparatus having an ink tank storing ink to be supplied to a head is described.

JP 2001-162838 A

  However, in the ink jet recording apparatus described in Patent Document 1, a space for arranging an ink tank (ink storage unit) is provided between the recording medium transport mechanism and the paper feed cassette. The height of the casing is increased. That is, the inkjet recording apparatus is increased in size.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that can be reduced in size.

An ink jet recording apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a transport unit that transports a recording medium, an ink jet head that ejects ink onto a recording medium, a first housing that houses the transport unit and the ink jet head, An ink storage unit storing ink to be supplied to the ink jet head, and a medium holding unit that protrudes from a side surface of the first housing and holds a recording medium. The medium holding part and the ink storage part are a first region obtained by projecting the medium holding part onto a horizontal plane from a vertical direction, and a first area obtained by projecting the ink storage part onto the horizontal plane from a vertical direction. The ink storage unit includes a second housing and an ink cartridge that can be attached to the second housing and stores ink. An insertion opening for opening the ink cartridge is formed in the upper part and the ink cartridge is inserted through the insertion opening into the second casing. A connecting portion for connecting the ink cartridge to the ink jet head, which is connected by being attached to the ink jet head .

According to this, since the ink storage part is disposed in the dead space that exists above and below the medium holding part protruding from the first housing, it is possible to reduce the size of the ink jet recording apparatus. In addition, when the ink cartridge is mounted on the second housing, the mounting is assisted by gravity, which reduces the burden on the user.

In the first aspect and the third aspect described below, it is preferable that the ink storage unit supports the medium holding unit from below. As a result, the rigidity of the medium holding unit is increased, and the number of recording media held can be increased.

An ink jet recording apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a transport unit that transports a recording medium, an ink jet head that ejects ink onto a recording medium, a first housing that houses the transport unit and the ink jet head, An ink storage unit storing ink to be supplied to the inkjet head; and a medium holding unit that protrudes from a side surface of the first housing and holds a recording medium. The medium holding unit and the ink storage unit include: The first region formed by projecting the medium holding unit on the horizontal plane from the vertical direction and the second region formed by projecting the ink storage unit on the horizontal plane from the vertical direction are arranged so as to overlap each other. said ink reservoir unit is supporting the medium holding part from the bottom, and a second casing, an ink cartridge in which the ink can be attached is stored in the second housing, wherein At the top of the second housing, and opens upward, the provided ink cartridge inserting insertion opening is formed, the medium holding section, that also serves as a lid that covers the insertion opening. When Ru good to this, the ink storage portion in the dead space present above and below the medium holding portion protruding from the first housing is arranged, it is possible to miniaturize the ink jet recording apparatus. Moreover, the number of parts in the second housing is reduced.
An ink jet recording apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a transport unit that transports a recording medium, an ink jet head that ejects ink onto a recording medium, a first housing that houses the transport unit and the ink jet head, An ink storage unit storing ink to be supplied to the inkjet head; and a medium holding unit that protrudes from a side surface of the first housing and holds a recording medium. The medium holding unit and the ink storage unit include: The first region formed by projecting the medium holding unit on the horizontal plane from the vertical direction and the second region formed by projecting the ink storage unit on the horizontal plane from the vertical direction are arranged so as to overlap each other. A medium storage unit for storing a recording medium to be sent to the transport unit is provided in the first housing so that the ink storage unit can be mounted in the second housing and the second housing. In an ink cartridge in which ink is stored, the mounting direction to the first body of the medium accommodating portion, the mounting direction to said second housing of said ink cartridge in the same direction. According to this, since the ink storage part is disposed in the dead space that exists above and below the medium holding part protruding from the first housing, it is possible to reduce the size of the ink jet recording apparatus. In addition, since the mounting direction of the medium storage unit and the ink cartridge is the same, the surfaces on the same side of the first and second housings become the access surface. For this reason, the degree of freedom of installation of the apparatus is improved.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the ink storage portion does not protrude in the horizontal direction from the medium holding portion. Thereby, it is possible to further reduce the size of the ink jet recording apparatus.

  In the present invention, a medium storage unit that stores a recording medium to be sent to the transport unit is provided in the first casing, and the ink jet head, the transport unit, and the medium storage unit are arranged at the top. Are preferably arranged in this order.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inkjet printer 1 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped casing (first casing) 10 having a space inside. The housing 10 has an opening 11 into which a later-described paper feed tray 31 is inserted, an opening 12 in which a later-described manual feed tray 35 is disposed, and an opening through which the paper P discharged from the housing 10 to the paper discharge unit 40 passes. 13 are formed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, four inkjet heads 2 are provided in the housing 10. The ink-jet heads 2 are arranged along the transport direction A (the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2) of the paper P, and are supported by the housing 10 via a frame-like frame 3. Each inkjet head 2 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that is elongated along the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG.

  The printer 1 holds the paper feed unit 30, a transport mechanism (transport unit) 21 disposed above the paper feed unit 30, and the paper P discharged from the transport mechanism 21 along the transport path of the paper P. A paper discharge unit (medium holding unit) 40 is provided in order. The paper feeding unit 30 and the transport mechanism 21 are disposed in the housing 10, and the paper discharge unit 40 protrudes rightward from the right side surface 10 a of the housing 10 in FIG. 2 and is disposed slightly inclined upward. Yes.

  The paper discharge unit 40 is made of a plate-like member, and the length in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface (horizontal direction) in FIG. 2 is longer than the length in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction A of the paper P (paper surface vertical direction in FIG. 2). It has become. In addition, the length of the paper discharge unit 40 in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2 is shorter than that of the housing 10 and is substantially the same length as the opening 13 (see FIG. 1).

  Further, the printer 1 is provided with a manual feed tray (medium holding unit) 35 that protrudes leftward from the left side surface 10b in FIG. 2 of the housing 10 and is slightly inclined upward. The manual feed tray 35 is detachably attached to the housing 10 through the opening 12. The manual feed tray 35 is also made of a plate-like member, and the length in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2 is substantially the same as that of the paper discharge unit 40 and substantially the same as the opening 12. Note that the lengths of the manual feed tray 35 and the paper discharge unit 40 are substantially the same in the left-right direction in FIG. In the present embodiment, the manual feed tray 35 is configured to be detachable from the housing 10, but may be configured to be slidable and / or rotationally stored in the housing 10.

  The paper feed unit 30 includes a paper feed tray (medium storage unit) 31 that can store a plurality of sheets of paper P, and a paper supply roller 32. The paper feed roller 32 sends the uppermost paper P among the plurality of papers P stacked and stored in the paper feed tray 31 to the transport mechanism 21 one by one. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the paper feed tray 31 is configured to be slidable in the depth direction of the housing 10 (a direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2 and perpendicular to the transport direction A). When the paper P in the paper feed tray 31 runs out, the paper feed tray 31 is slid from the housing 10 in the pulling direction parallel to the depth direction, and the paper feed tray 31 is disposed outside the housing 10. Then, a plurality of sheets P are stored in the sheet feed tray 31, and the sheet feed tray 31 is slid in the mounting direction opposite to the pulling direction to mount the sheet feed tray 31 on the housing 10.

  Between the paper feed unit 30 and the transport mechanism 21, two pairs of feed rollers 33a, 33b, 34a, and 34b are arranged along the transport path of the paper P. The paper P sent out from the paper supply unit 30 is sent out to the transport mechanism 21 while being guided by the feed roller pairs 33a, 33b, 34a, 34b.

  A paper feed roller 36 for sending the paper P held on the manual feed tray 35 to the transport mechanism 21 is disposed in the vicinity of the end of the manual feed tray 35 in the housing 10. The paper feed roller 36 feeds the uppermost paper P among the plurality of papers P stacked and held on the manual feed tray 35 to the transport mechanism 21 one by one.

  The transport mechanism 21 includes an endless transport belt 8 and two belt rollers 6 and 7. The conveyor belt 8 is wound around belt rollers 6 and 7. A conveyor motor (not shown) is connected to the belt roller 7, and the belt roller 7 rotates in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2 by the rotational force from the conveyor motor. At this time, the transport belt 8 travels so as to transport the paper P in the transport direction A, and the belt roller 6 that is a driven roller also rotates. The outer peripheral surface 8a of the conveyor belt 8 is subjected to silicone treatment and has adhesiveness.

  Above the belt roller 6, a nip roller 4 that sandwiches the conveyance belt 8 with the belt roller 6 is disposed. The nip roller 4 is biased downward by a spring (not shown) and is in contact with the outer peripheral surface 8a. The nip roller 4 is rotatably installed and rotates as the transport belt 8 travels.

  In a region surrounded by the conveyor belt 8, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped platen 19 that supports a portion of the conveyor belt 8 facing the inkjet head 2 from the inner peripheral surface side is disposed. Further, on the downstream side in the transport direction A of the transport mechanism 21, a peeling member 18 that peels the paper P transported by the transport mechanism 21 from the outer peripheral surface 8a is provided. Above the peeling member 18, a discharge roller 5 that discharges the paper P peeled by the peeling member 18 to the paper discharge unit 40 is provided.

  In this configuration, the paper P sent out from the paper supply unit 30 or the manual feed tray 35 to the transport mechanism 21 is sandwiched between the nip roller 4 and the outer peripheral surface 8a and is adhesively held on the outer peripheral surface 8a. Then, as the transport belt 8 travels, the paper P is transported to a region facing the inkjet head 2. Thereafter, the paper P is peeled off from the outer peripheral surface 8 a by the peeling member 18, passed through the opening 13 by the discharge roller 5, and discharged to the paper discharge unit 40.

  The four inkjet heads 2 are arranged close to each other along the conveyance direction A of the paper P, and are arranged above the conveyance mechanism 21. The four inkjet heads 2 each have an ejection surface 2a on which a plurality of nozzles (not shown) that eject ink are formed. The four inkjet heads 2 eject inks of four different colors (magenta, yellow, cyan, and black) and are arranged with a slight gap between the ejection surface 2a and the outer peripheral surface 8a of the conveyor belt 8. Yes.

  The paper P transported by the transport belt 8 passes through the gap between the inkjet head 2 and the transport belt 8. At that time, ink is ejected from a plurality of nozzles formed on the ejection surface 2 a toward the printing surface which is the upper surface of the paper P, and a desired image is formed on the paper P.

  An ink storage unit 60 is provided on the side of the housing 10 and below the paper discharge unit 40. The ink storage unit 60 includes a casing (second casing) 50 connected to the side surface 10 a of the casing 10 and four ink cartridges 61 that can be mounted in the casing 50. The housing 50 has a box shape opened upward. The opening of the housing 50 serves as an insertion port 51 into which the four ink cartridges 61 are inserted. The housing 50 may be formed integrally with the housing 10. The four ink cartridges 61 have a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and ink to be supplied to the inkjet head 2 is stored therein. In addition, the ink cartridge 61 is provided with an ink discharge portion 62 for discharging internal ink on the bottom surface thereof.

  FIG. 3 is a projection view in which the inkjet printer 1 shown in FIG. 1 is projected on the horizontal plane from the vertical direction. In FIG. 3, an area (first area) 71 formed by projecting the manual feed tray 35 on the leftmost side and an area (first area) 72 formed on the rightmost side by projecting the paper discharge unit 40 are centered. A region 73 formed by projecting the housing 10 is shown. The entire region (second region) 74 formed by projecting the ink storage unit 60 exists at a position overlapping the region 72. Thus, the ink storage unit 60 and the paper discharge unit 40 overlap in the vertical direction. More specifically, the entire ink storage unit 60 overlaps the paper discharge unit 40 in the vertical direction.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 50 has a protruding length to the right (horizontal direction) from the side surface 10 a shorter than a protruding length from the side surface 10 a of the paper discharge unit 40. Yes. As a result, the housing 50 does not protrude from the housing 10 more than the paper discharge unit 40 in the protruding direction from the housing 10 (rightward and in the same direction as the transport direction A). If the protruding length of the housing 50 from the side surface 10a is equal to or shorter than the protruding length of the paper discharge portion 40 from the side surface 10a, the housing 50 is more than the paper discharging portion 40 than the paper discharge portion 40 as described above. It doesn't protrude.

  Further, in the case 50, the length of the case 50 is shorter than the length of the paper discharge unit 40 in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of the case 50 in FIG. ing. As a result, the housing 50 does not protrude from the paper discharge unit 40 in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. If the length of the housing 50 is equal to or shorter than the length of the paper discharge unit 40 in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2, the housing 50 does not protrude from the paper discharge unit 40 as described above. Thus, the casing 50 does not protrude from the paper discharge unit 40 in the horizontal direction. Thereby, it becomes possible to further reduce the size of the inkjet printer 1.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the housing 50 supports the paper discharge unit 40 from below. As a result, the rigidity of the paper discharge unit 40 is higher than that in a state where the paper discharge unit 40 is not supported from below, and the number of sheets P to be held can be increased. The paper discharge unit 40 supported by the housing 50 also serves as a lid that covers the insertion port 51 of the housing 50. As a result, it is not necessary to provide a cover that covers the insertion port 51 on the housing 50, and the number of parts of the housing 50 is reduced.

  The bottom 50a of the housing 50 is provided with four connection portions 52 that are connected to the ink discharge portion 62 when the ink cartridge 61 is attached to the housing 50 from above through the insertion port 51. The connecting portion 52 is connected to the inkjet head 2 so as to be able to flow through a flow path member (not shown). With this configuration, the ink discharged from the ink discharge unit 62 connected to the connection unit 52 circulates in the connection unit 52, and the ink is supplied to the inkjet head 2 through the flow path member. Further, since the insertion port 51 is formed in the upper portion of the housing 50 and the connection portion 52 is provided in the bottom portion 50a, when the ink cartridge 61 is attached to the housing 50, the attachment is assisted by gravity. . Therefore, the burden of the user's work of mounting the ink cartridge 61 is reduced.

  As described above, according to the ink jet printer 1 according to the present embodiment, the ink storage unit 60 is disposed in the dead space existing below the paper discharge unit 40 protruding from the side surface 10 a of the housing 10. By disposing the ink reservoir 60 in such a dead space, it is not necessary to dispose the ink reservoir 60 in a position overlapping the inkjet head 2 and the transport mechanism 21 in the vertical direction, and with respect to the vertical direction (vertical direction), The ink jet printer 1 can be downsized.

  In this embodiment, the ink storage unit 60 is disposed below the paper discharge unit 40. However, the ink storage unit is disposed above the paper discharge unit 40 and in a region surrounded by a two-dot chain line in FIG. May be. Also in the first modified example, the region formed by projecting the paper discharge unit 40 and the ink storage unit from the vertical direction is the same region as the regions 72 and 74 shown in FIG. An effect can be obtained. Further, in the first modification, the paper discharge unit is lowered to a position overlapping with the paper feed unit 30 along the horizontal direction, and the paper P conveyed from the conveyance mechanism 21 in the housing 10 is conveyed to the paper discharge unit. By providing the discharge path, it is possible to make the ink storage portion approximately the same size as the ink storage portion 60 described above.

  As shown in FIG. 4, as a second modification, an ink storage unit 260 having an ink cartridge 61 and a housing 250 may be disposed below the manual feed tray 35. The housing 250 has substantially the same configuration as the above-described housing 50, and only a portion serving as a lid is the manual feed tray 35. That is, the insertion slot 251 for inserting the ink cartridge 61 is covered with the manual feed tray 35. Also in the second modified example, since the region formed by projecting the ink storage portion 260 from the vertical direction overlaps the region 71, the manual feed tray 35 protruding from the side surface 10b of the housing 10 is similar to the above-described embodiment. Since the housing 250 is disposed in the dead space below, the ink jet printer 201 can be downsized in the vertical direction. Further, similarly to the above-described embodiment, the manual feed tray 35 is supported from below by the housing 250 and the rigidity thereof is increased. Therefore, the number of sheets held on the manual feed tray 35 can be increased. Further, in the case 250, the number of parts is reduced as in the case 50.

  As a third modification, an ink storage unit may be disposed in a region above the manual feed tray 35 and surrounded by a two-dot chain line in FIG. In the third modification, the same effect as in the second modification can be obtained. Further, in the third modification, the manual feed tray is lowered to a position overlapping the paper feed unit 30 along the horizontal direction, and a paper feed path for conveying the feed rollers 33a and 33b in the housing 10 is provided. It is possible to make the storage portion approximately the same size as the ink storage portion 260 described above.

  As shown in FIG. 5, as a fourth modification, the casing 10 is configured so that each ink cartridge 61 can be mounted on the casing 50 in the same direction as the mounting direction of the paper feed tray 31. Four openings 55 may be provided on one side surface 50b of the housing 50 on the same surface side as the side surface 10c on which the opening 11 is formed. The opening 55 is disposed at a position facing the ink cartridge 61. With this configuration, the access surfaces for performing the mounting operation of the ink cartridge 61 and the paper feed tray 31 become the side surfaces 10c and 50b on the same side. This makes it possible to install the ink jet printer so that the side surface facing the side surface 10c of the housing 10 is adjacent to and faces the wall, and the degree of freedom of installation of the ink jet printer is improved.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made as long as they are described in the claims. For example, the ink storage units 60 and 260 are protruded from the region formed by projecting the paper discharge unit 40 or the manual feed tray 35 so that the region formed by projecting the ink storage units 60 and 260 protrudes from the paper output unit 40 and the manual feed tray. It may partially overlap with any one of 35. That is, the lengths of the casings 50 and 250 may be longer than the paper discharge unit 40 and the manual feed tray 35 in the horizontal direction. In addition, an opening for mounting the ink cartridge 61 may be formed on a surface other than the upper surface, the side surface 50 b of the housing 50, and the side surface of the housing 50 that is close to and faces the housing 10.

1 is a perspective view of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the projection figure which projected the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 1 on the horizontal surface from the perpendicular direction. It is sectional drawing which shows the modification of the inkjet printer by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows the modification of the inkjet printer by one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1,201 Inkjet printer (inkjet recording device)
2 Inkjet head 10 Housing (first housing)
21 Transport mechanism (transport section)
31 Paper feed tray (medium storage)
35 Manual feed tray (medium holder)
40 Paper discharge unit (medium holding unit)
50,250 housing (second housing)
51,251 Insertion port 52 Connection portion 60, 260 Ink storage portion 61 Ink cartridge 71, 72 region (first region)
74 area (second area)

Claims (6)

A transport unit for transporting the recording medium;
An inkjet head that ejects ink onto a recording medium;
A first housing that houses the transport unit and the inkjet head;
An ink storage section storing ink to be supplied to the inkjet head;
A medium holding unit for holding a recording medium protruding from a side surface of the first housing,
The medium holding part and the ink storage part are a first area formed by projecting the medium holding part on a horizontal plane from a vertical direction, and a second area formed by projecting the ink storage part on the horizontal plane from a vertical direction. And are arranged so as to overlap ,
The ink storage section includes a second housing and an ink cartridge that can be attached to the second housing and stores ink.
In the upper part of the second housing, an insertion opening that is open upward and into which the ink cartridge is inserted is formed.
A connecting portion for connecting the ink of the ink cartridge to the ink jet head is connected to the lower portion of the second casing by being attached to the second casing from above through the insertion port. An ink jet recording apparatus provided with the ink jet recording apparatus. A transport unit for transporting the recording medium;
An inkjet head that ejects ink onto a recording medium;
A first housing that houses the transport unit and the inkjet head;
An ink storage section storing ink to be supplied to the inkjet head;
A medium holding unit for holding a recording medium protruding from a side surface of the first housing,
The medium holding part and the ink storage part are a first area formed by projecting the medium holding part on a horizontal plane from a vertical direction, and a second area formed by projecting the ink storage part on the horizontal plane from a vertical direction. And are arranged so as to overlap ,
The ink storage unit supports the medium holding unit from below, and includes a second housing and an ink cartridge that can be attached to the second housing and stores ink.
In the upper part of the second housing, an insertion opening that is open upward and into which the ink cartridge is inserted is formed.
The ink-jet recording apparatus , wherein the medium holding unit also serves as a lid that covers the insertion port . A transport unit for transporting the recording medium;
An inkjet head that ejects ink onto a recording medium;
A first housing that houses the transport unit and the inkjet head;
An ink storage section storing ink to be supplied to the inkjet head;
A medium holding unit for holding a recording medium protruding from a side surface of the first housing,
The medium holding part and the ink storage part are a first area formed by projecting the medium holding part on a horizontal plane from a vertical direction, and a second area formed by projecting the ink storage part on the horizontal plane from a vertical direction. And are arranged so as to overlap ,
A medium storage unit that stores a recording medium to be sent to the transport unit is provided so as to be attachable to the first housing,
The ink storage section includes a second housing and an ink cartridge that can be attached to the second housing and stores ink.
Ink jet recording apparatus and the mounting direction of the first housing of the medium accommodating portion, the mounting direction to said second housing of said ink cartridge is characterized in the same direction der Rukoto. Said ink reservoir portion, an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that supports the medium holding unit from below.   The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink storage portion does not protrude from the medium holding portion in a horizontal direction.   In the first housing, there is provided a medium storage unit that stores a recording medium to be sent to the transport unit, and the inkjet head, the transport unit, and the medium storage unit are arranged in this order from the top. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink jet recording apparatus is provided.

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