EP0577376B1 - Printing apparatus having vibration driven linear type actuator for carriage - Google Patents

Printing apparatus having vibration driven linear type actuator for carriage Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0577376B1
EP0577376B1 EP19930305050 EP93305050A EP0577376B1 EP 0577376 B1 EP0577376 B1 EP 0577376B1 EP 19930305050 EP19930305050 EP 19930305050 EP 93305050 A EP93305050 A EP 93305050A EP 0577376 B1 EP0577376 B1 EP 0577376B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
carriage
printing apparatus
vibration
feed path
contact rail
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP19930305050
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0577376A2 (en
EP0577376A3 (ja
Inventor
Atsushi C/O Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Kimura
Hiroyuki C/O Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Seki
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Canon Inc
Original Assignee
Canon Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Canon Inc filed Critical Canon Inc
Publication of EP0577376A2 publication Critical patent/EP0577376A2/en
Publication of EP0577376A3 publication Critical patent/EP0577376A3/xx
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0577376B1 publication Critical patent/EP0577376B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J19/00—Character- or line-spacing mechanisms
    • B41J19/18—Character-spacing or back-spacing mechanisms; Carriage return or release devices therefor
    • B41J19/20—Positive-feed character-spacing mechanisms
    • B41J19/30—Electromagnetically-operated mechanisms
    • B41J19/305—Linear drive mechanisms for carriage movement

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to printing apparatus incorporating at least one vibration driven linear type actuator.
  • the present applicant proposed a printing apparatus which uses a vibration driven actuator as a carriage driving source and a driving source for feeding a printing sheet.
  • a printing apparatus of this type is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Nos. 2-209335 and 3-93481.
  • Figs. 6A and 6B show the structure of the printing apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned patent applications (preamble of claim 1). The structure of the printing apparatus as the prior art related to the present invention will be described below.
  • a carriage driving vibration driven actuator 1 is used for moving a carriage 4 in the direction of an arrow A in Fig. 6A, and sheet feeding vibration driven actuators 2 and 3 are used for feeding a printing sheet 16 in the direction of an arrow B. Since these vibration driven actuators 1 to 3 driven by an ultrasonic wave are the same ones, they will be collectively referred to hereinafter.
  • each of the actuators 1 to 3 has a pseudo elliptic outer appearance constituted by a pair of parallel linear portions, and a pair of semi-circular portions connecting the two-end portions of these linear portions.
  • Each of the actuators 1 to 3 is constituted by adhering a piezoelectric element group 1b (2b or 3b) having the above-mentioned shape to an elastic member 1a (2a or 3a) having the same shape.
  • a thrust parallel to one linear portion 1ab (2ab or 3ab) of the elastic member 1a (2a or 3a) and in the direction of an arrow D opposite to the arrow C acts on a to-be-driven object M (indicated by an alternate long and short dashed line in Fig. 7) two-dimensionally contacting the linear portion 1ab (2ab or 3ab), thereby driving the object M in the direction of the arrow D (or driving the vibration driven actuators 1 to 3 in the direction opposite to the arrow D).
  • each of the elastic members 1a to 3a of the vibration driven actuators 1 to 3 is employed for increasing components in the feeding direction of the amplitude of a vibration on the elastic member surface, and eliminating interference of vibrations at the respective points, thereby reducing a mechanical energy loss.
  • the carriage driving vibration driven actuator 1 is fixed facing down on the lower surface of the carriage 4, so that its linear portions extend parallel to the moving direction A of the carriage 4.
  • the tooth-shaped surface of the elastic member 1a of the actuator 1 faces down, as shown in Fig. 6B.
  • the tooth-shaped surface of one linear portion of the elastic member 1a is pressed against the upper surface of a side projecting portion 8a of a vibrating rail 8, as shown in Fig. 6B.
  • the entire lower surface of a main body 8b of the vibrating rail 8 for moving the vibration driven actuator 1 in the direction of the arrow A contacts and is fixed to a first bottom plate 10a of the printing apparatus, and the vibrating rail 8 extends parallel to the moving direction A of the carriage 4.
  • the side projecting portion (or actuator engaging portion) 8a which has a small thickness, and contacts only the surface of one linear portion of the elastic member 1a of the actuator 1, is formed on the upper end of the main body 8b of the vibrating rail 8.
  • the vibration driven actuator 1 when the vibration driven actuator 1 is driven (i.e., when AC voltages having different phases are applied to the piezoelectric element group 1b, and a cyclic vibration is generated on the tooth-shaped surface of the elastic member 1a), the vibrating rail 8 vibrates as well, and a relative thrust in the direction of the arrow A acts between the surface of one linear portion of the elastic member 1a and the upper surface of the side projecting portion 8a of the vibrating rail 8.
  • the movable vibration driven actuator 1 moves along the vibrating rail 8, thereby moving the carriage 4 in the direction of the arrow A.
  • the vibration driven actuator 1 and the vibrating rail 8 constitute a vibration driven linear type actuator.
  • a carriage guide rail 9 is used for guiding the carriage 4, and supports the weight of the carriage 4.
  • the guide rail 9 extends parallel to the vibrating rail 8, and its entire lower surface is fixed to the first bottom plate 10a of the printing apparatus in the same manner as the vibrating rail 8, as shown in Fig. 6B.
  • the printing apparatus shown in Figs. 6A and 6B also includes a known bubble jet type printing head 13 fixed to one end of the carriage 4, a position detection photointerrupter 18 fixed to the other end of the carriage 4, a position detection encoder plate 15 fixed on the bottom plate 10a to extend parallel to the vibrating rail 8 and the carriage guide rail 9, and arranged to pass a slit of the position detection photointerrupter 18, as shown in Fig.
  • a sheet feeding actuator support plate 6 extending parallel to the rails 8 and 9 to pass under the carriage 4, a bearing block 5 attached to the support plate 6 to allow the support plate 6 to be movable in the direction of the arrow B (a guide bar or a screw shaft (not shown) extending in the direction of the arrow B is inserted in a shaft hole of the bearing block 5), a sheet feeding amount detection roller 17 pressed against the upper surface of a printing sheet 16 (to be simply referred to as a sheet hereinafter), and rotated upon movement of the sheet 16 in the direction of the arrow B, and a sheet feeding amount detection rotary encoder 7 coupled to the roller 17, and rotated by the roller 17.
  • the sheet feeding vibration driven actuators 2 and 3 vertically oppose each other to sandwich the sheet 16 therebetween (i.e., the tooth-shaped surfaces of the elastic members 2a and 3a of the actuators face each other).
  • the vibration driven actuator 2 is fixed facing down to the lower surface of the support plate 6, and the vibration driven actuator 3 is fixed facing up to the upper surface of a third bottom plate 10c of the printing apparatus.
  • These actuators 2 and 3 are arranged, so that their linear portions extend parallel to the sheet feeding direction B. Only one pair of tooth-shaped surfaces of the opposing linear portions of the actuators 2 and 3 are respectively pressed against the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet 16, and the remaining actuator surfaces do not contact the sheet 16.
  • a thrust in the direction of the arrow B acts on the sheet 16 sandwiched between the actuators 2 and 3, and as a result, the sheet 16 is fed in the direction of the arrow B.
  • the sheet 16 is placed on a second bottom plate 10b of the printing apparatus, and is conveyed by using the bottom plate 10b as a convey path.
  • the above-mentioned conventional printing apparatus requires the first bottom plate 10a for supporting and fixing the vibrating rail 8 and the carriage guide rail 9, the second bottom plate 10b serving as the sheet feeding convey path, and the third bottom plate 10c for supporting the sheet feeding actuator 3.
  • the side projecting portion 8a of the vibrating rail 8 (rail-like stationary member) is designed to have a lowest resonance frequency sufficiently larger than the driving frequency of the actuator 1 so as to follow the vibration on the vibration driven actuator 1.
  • the bottom plate portion since the sheet 16 must be inserted below the first bottom plate 10a, the bottom plate portion must have a three-layered structure (the first, second, and third bottom plates 10a, 10b, and 10c), and as a result, the thickness of the printing apparatus is undesirably increased.
  • the carriage 4 since the carriage 4 is supported by the single carriage guide rail 9 alone, it may vertically swing. In addition, since the carriage 4 and the carriage guide rail 9 have a slide structure, if the carriage speed is high, the carriage may swing horizontally. Therefore, the carriage has poor stability, and the above-mentioned structure is not suitable for a high-speed operation.
  • a concern of the present invention is to provide an improved printing apparatus which can eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks.
  • Figs. 1A and 1B show a bubble jet type printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
  • the same reference numerals in Figs. 1A and 1B denote the same parts as in the conventional apparatus shown in Figs. 6A and 6B, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted unless needed.
  • posts 8c and 9a are respectively provided to only two end portions of a vibrating rail 8 and only two end portions of a carriage guide rail 9.
  • the rail 8 is supported on a bottom plate 10c via the posts 8c, and the rail 9 is supported on the bottom plate 10c via the posts 9a. Therefore, the vibrating rail 8 and the carriage guide rail 9 extend over the moving path of a sheet 16, and portions other than the two end portions of the rails 8 and 9 float in the air.
  • the first bottom plate 10a required in the conventional apparatus can be omitted, and hence, the thickness of the printing apparatus of this embodiment can be decreased as compared to the conventional apparatus.
  • Figs. 2A and 2B show the frequency characteristics of the main body 8b of the vibrating rail 8.
  • Fig. 2A shows the relationship between the applied vibration frequency (the driving frequency of the actuator 1) to the vibrating rail 8, and the vibration amplitude of the main body 8b of the vibrating rail 8
  • Fig. 2B shows the relationship between the applied vibration frequency to the vibrating rail 8 and the phase delay of the vibration of the main body 8b with respect to the applied vibration.
  • f 1 , f 2 , and f 3 indicate the resonant frequencies of the main body 8b of the vibrating rail 8.
  • the vibration of the side projecting portion 8a is increased under the influence of the vibration of the main body 8b (since the mass of the main body 8b is larger than that of the side projecting portion 8a), and the phase is delayed by 90°.
  • the side projecting portion 8a interferes with the wave on the actuator 1 or contacts the valleys of the wave, and cannot smoothly feed the carriage 4. Therefore, the resonant frequency of the main body 8b must not become equal to the driving frequency of the actuator 1.
  • the vibration frequency of the main body 8b is shifted from the resonance frequency, the vibration amplitude of the main body 8b is considerably large, and that of the side projecting portion 8a becomes large accordingly.
  • the vibration amplitude of the main body 8b is considerably large, and the phase delay is also large.
  • the vibration state of the side projecting portion 8a in this mode is as shown in Fig. 3.
  • the actual vibration state of the side projecting portion 8a is complicated since it corresponds to superposition of the components shown in Fig.
  • a mode for vibrating the side projecting portion 8a alone i.e., the components of a mode having a phase delay of almost 0° for the vibration of the actuator 1 (almost no phase delay occurs since the resonance frequency of the side projecting portion 8a is sufficiently large), as shown in Fig. 4.
  • the carriage 4 cannot be smoothly fed.
  • the applied vibration frequency in Figs. 2A and 2B is fb
  • the vibration amplitude of the main body 8b is small, and almost no phase delay occurs.
  • the actual vibration state of the side projecting portion 8a is as shown in Fig. 4, and the carriage 4 can be smoothly fed. Therefore, when the temporal phase delay of the vibration of the main body 8b of the vibrating rail 8 with respect to the vibration of the actuator 1 is selected near 0°, the carriage 4 can be smoothly fed even when the main body 8b has a low rigidity.
  • Fig. 5A is a perspective view of a bubble jet type printing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention
  • Fig. 5B is a side view showing main part of Fig. 5A.
  • the vibrating rail 8' also serves as a guide for the carriage 4, and is formed with a groove along which rollers 19 provided to the carriage 4 roll.
  • the vibration driven actuator 1 and a side projecting portion 8'a of the vibrating rail 8 can maintain a stable contact state, and a further low-profile structure of the apparatus can be expected.
  • a roller 20 provided to a projecting portion 4a of the carriage 4 rolls along a carriage guide rail 9' upon reception of the weight of the carriage 4.
  • the carriage 4 is supported by the vibrating rail 8' and the carriage guide rail 9' via the rollers 19 and 20.
  • the printing apparatus of the present invention only the two end portions of the vibrating rail are attached to the bottom plate to form a gap between the vibrating rail and the bottom plate, and a sheet is fed in the gap, thus providing a low-profile printer.
  • the driving frequency of the vibration driven actuator 1 is set to be different from the resonance frequency of the main body of the vibrating rail, the side projecting portion (actuator engaging portion) can follow the vibration of the actuator, and the carriage can be smoothly fed.
  • the side projecting portion can follow the vibration of the actuator even when the main body has a low rigidity.
  • the carriage can be smoothly fed.
  • the bases for supporting the vibrating rail and the guide rail are separated from these rails.
  • the vibrating rail and its support bases may be integrated, and the guide rail and its support bases may be integrated.
  • the sheet feeding actuators 2 and 3 comprise travelling wave driven actuators.
  • the actuator 1 moves along the rail 8.
  • the end portion of the actuator 1 may be fixed to the bottom plate 10c, and the rail 8 may be fixed to the carriage 4, thereby moving the rail 8.
  • the rails 8 and 9 may be attached to the second bottom plate 10b to extend over the sheet convey path in place of attaching them to the bottom plate 10c.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Character Spaces And Line Spaces In Printers (AREA)
  • General Electrical Machinery Utilizing Piezoelectricity, Electrostriction Or Magnetostriction (AREA)
EP19930305050 1992-06-29 1993-06-28 Printing apparatus having vibration driven linear type actuator for carriage Expired - Lifetime EP0577376B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP4171124A JPH0614567A (ja) 1992-06-29 1992-06-29 振動式リニア駆動装置及び該リニア駆動装置を有するプリンタ装置
JP171124/92 1992-06-29

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0577376A2 EP0577376A2 (en) 1994-01-05
EP0577376A3 EP0577376A3 (ja) 1994-08-03
EP0577376B1 true EP0577376B1 (en) 1997-12-10

Family

ID=15917434

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19930305050 Expired - Lifetime EP0577376B1 (en) 1992-06-29 1993-06-28 Printing apparatus having vibration driven linear type actuator for carriage

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0577376B1 (ja)
JP (1) JPH0614567A (ja)
DE (1) DE69315628T2 (ja)

Families Citing this family (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2990476B2 (ja) * 1993-05-11 1999-12-13 セイコーインスツルメンツ株式会社 プリンタ装置
JP4407803B2 (ja) 2004-03-08 2010-02-03 ブラザー工業株式会社 画像記録装置
DE102019112842A1 (de) * 2019-05-16 2020-11-19 Physik Instrumente (Pi) Gmbh & Co. Kg Aktuator
CN117944376B (zh) * 2024-03-27 2024-06-14 泰州江浙通塑业有限公司 一种塑料瓶喷码机

Family Cites Families (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0073810A1 (en) * 1981-03-09 1983-03-16 Ncr Corporation Dot matrix printer
DE68918898T2 (de) * 1988-07-21 1995-03-16 Canon Kk Serienaufzeichnungsgerät.
JPH0331140A (ja) * 1989-06-28 1991-02-08 Canon Inc シート送り装置
JPH03183381A (ja) * 1989-12-12 1991-08-09 Canon Inc 振動波モータ
JPH04121076A (ja) * 1990-09-12 1992-04-22 Canon Inc 振動波モータ
JPH066986A (ja) * 1992-06-17 1994-01-14 Canon Inc 振動波モーター及びその製造方法

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE69315628T2 (de) 1998-04-09
JPH0614567A (ja) 1994-01-21
DE69315628D1 (de) 1998-01-22
EP0577376A2 (en) 1994-01-05
EP0577376A3 (ja) 1994-08-03

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