JP2000103077A - Ink-jet type recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely prevent ink from invading an area where a circuit part and a cable are stored by setting to a head holder a projecting part located closer to a carriage than a recording head main body and extending in a horizontal direction. SOLUTION: When ink drops are discharged through printing or a nozzle plate is cleaned through a cleaning operation by a cleaning apparatus, ink sprays and scatters in the air and partly adheres to a head holder 30 and a head cover 35. The adhering ink rises on surfaces of the head holder 30 and head cover 35 because of a surface tension and moves to a carriage 1. However, a rib 30b set in the vicinity of a connecting part to the carriage 1 and extending in a horizontal direction obstructs the rise and prevents the ink from invading the connecting part. When an opening groove 30c is formed below the rib 30b, the groove catches the ink of an amount corresponding to a capacity of the groove 30c and surely prevents the ink from rising to the carriage 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording head for ejecting ink droplets from nozzle openings, and more particularly, to a structure of a head holder for attaching a recording head body to a carriage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An on-demand type inkjet head which outputs characters and figures by ejecting ink droplets from a plurality of nozzles in accordance with input information has higher print quality and noise than a wire dot type recording head. Because of low running costs compared to page printers. The ink jet recording head has a very small body and is easily damaged when subjected to an external force. Therefore, the ink jet recording head is mounted on the carriage via a head holder also serving as a protection member with only the nozzle plate exposed. .

[0003] As is well known, an ink jet recording head prints dots by ejecting liquid ink from nozzle openings, and uses a cleaning member such as rubber to remove clogging of nozzle openings. In order to wipe the plate, ink splashes scatter around,
Part of it also adheres to the head holder located near the nozzle plate.

[0004]

The ink adhering to the head holder rises in the head holder due to its permeability,
During long-term use, there is a problem in that it penetrates into the inside of the head holder and corrodes or short-circuits circuit components, cables, and the like housed therein. In order to solve such a problem, packing or the like is inserted in a joint region with the head holder, but there is still a problem that ink penetrates into the inside for a long time. The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet type that can surely prevent ink from entering a region where circuit components and cables are housed. It is to provide a recording head.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an ink jet printer comprising a recording head body for ejecting ink droplets from a nozzle opening, and the recording head body being attached to a head holder serving as a fixing member for a carriage. In the type recording head, the head holder is provided with a protruding portion which is located closer to the carriage than the recording head main body and extends in the horizontal direction.

[0006]

The ink rising along the surface of the head holder is blocked by the protrusions around the head holder.

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a recording apparatus equipped with an ink jet recording head according to the present invention. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a carriage, which is connected to a motor 3 via a timing belt 2 and is guided by a guide member 4 so that an axis of a platen 5 It is configured to be able to reciprocate in the direction.

A recording head 7 is mounted on the side of the carriage 1 facing the recording paper 6, and an ink cartridge 8 for supplying ink to the recording head 7 is detachably provided on the upper surface.

On the other hand, a capping device 9 for sealing the nozzle opening row of the recording head 7 and a cleaning device 10 are provided in the non-printing area. The capping device 9 functions as a cap means for preventing drying of the nozzle opening row during the printing suspension period, functions as an ink receiver at the time of a flushing operation, and applies a negative pressure from the suction pump 11 to the recording head 7. And a function as a suction unit for forcibly discharging ink from the recording head 7. The cleaning device 10 is made of an elastic plate made of rubber or the like that comes into contact with the nozzle plate of the recording head, and is configured to wipe the surface of the nozzle plate to recover the ink ejection capability of the nozzle opening row.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the recording head 7 described above. Adhesive sheets 23, 24 are provided between a nozzle plate 20, a common ink chamber forming substrate 21, and an ink supply port forming substrate 22. A recording head main body 28 is formed by fixing a flow path unit 25 that is sandwiched and fixed and an actuator unit 26 that pressurizes ink by a piezoelectric vibrator with an adhesive sheet 27.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a head holder, which is an ink supply needle 31, 3 communicating with an ink guide port of the recording head main body 28.
The flexible cable 29 for supplying a signal to the actuator unit 25 is fixed to the fixing portions 30a, 30a on the side walls, and is recorded on the lower surface. The head main body 28 is adhered to the head holder 30 with an adhesive, and is fixed from the nozzle plate side by a metal head cover 35 also serving as an electrostatic shield member. The mounting board 36 is mounted thereon to form a head case and the carriage 1
Attached to

A rib 30b extending in the horizontal direction when attached to the carriage 1 is formed integrally with at least the surface of the head holder 30 to which the flexible cable 29 of the head holder 30 is fixed, and is preferably formed as shown in FIG. Between the rib 30b and the surface of the head holder 30,
At least one groove 30c having a width capable of absorbing ink by capillary force is provided. At least one groove 3 having a width capable of absorbing and holding ink by capillary force is also provided on the upper surface facing the lower surface of the carriage 1.
0d is formed.

In this embodiment, ink droplets are scattered in the air by ejection of ink droplets by printing or cleaning operation of the nozzle plate 20 by the cleaning device 10, and a part of the ink droplets is scattered in the head holder 30 or the head cover 35.
Adheres to The ink adhering to the head holder 30 and the head cover 35 as described above rises on the surface of the head holder 30 and the head cover 35 due to surface tension and moves to the carriage side. As shown in FIG. 6A, the rib 30b is stopped from rising by the rib 30b and is prevented from entering the connecting portion.

A groove 3 opened below the rib 30b.
When 0c is formed, an amount of ink corresponding to the volume of the groove 30c is captured here, and it is possible to reliably prevent the ink from rising to the carriage 1.

Nevertheless, the ink which cannot be completely accommodated in the groove 30c for many months reaches the connection portion with the carriage 1 over the rib 30b. Since the groove 30d is provided here, FIG. As shown in (b), the ink is absorbed and held in the groove 30c by the capillary force, so that it is possible to prevent ink from entering at least into the area where the flexible cable 29 is routed.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a rib 37 for preventing ink rise is provided as a separate member, preferably a porous material capable of absorbing ink. And is fixed by an adhesive 38 without forming a gap between the head holder 30.

Also in this embodiment, grooves and recesses 37a are formed in the lower surface, so that the recesses 37a
And the ink can be contained in the head holder 30 more reliably.

In the above-described embodiment, the ribs are formed on the head holder itself. However, as shown in FIG. 8, the upper end area of the head cover 35 is extended horizontally to form a flange 35a. Obviously, the same effect is obtained even if the above operation is performed.

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the head case. In this embodiment, a head holder 40 is shown.
And a mounting board 43 fixed to the projections 41 formed thereon and by a claw member 42. The head holder 40 includes an ink supply needle 44 that communicates with a black ink cartridge as shown in FIG. 10 so that two types of recording heads, a black recording head and a color recording head, can be attached. A plurality of ink supply needles 45 communicating with the respective color ink storage portions of the color ink cartridge are vertically provided on the bottom surface 46, and the black ink supply needles 44 and the concave portions 46 respectively independent around the color ink supply needles 45 are provided. , 47 are formed.

Openings 48 and 49 for discharging ink are formed on the side walls forming the recesses 46 and 47, and a mounting board 43 is provided on the mounting board 43 side where at least circuit components are located on the surface facing the ink cartridge. A groove 50 is formed extending in the width direction and having a gap capable of holding ink by capillary force. Note that reference numeral 5 in FIG.
1, 52, when the ink cartridge is mounted,
4 shows a cartridge detection piece that undergoes elastic deformation.

According to this embodiment, when the ink leaks from the ink cartridge due to the attachment / detachment of the ink cartridge, the recesses 46 and 47 contain the ink, and at least the black ink flows out near the color ink supply needle 45. Block. When a certain amount of ink accumulates in the concave portions 46 and 47, the ink overflows from the openings 48 and 49 to lower the liquid level, thereby preventing the ink from being scattered due to a sudden rise in the liquid level due to insertion of the cartridge.

On the other hand, the ink accumulated on the lower surface from the openings 48 and 49 of the concave portions 46 and 47,
The walls 6 and 47 gradually rise by capillary force or the like and spread over the entire upper surface of the head holder 40, and a part of the wall tends to flow into the mounting board 43 on which circuit components, cables, and the like are provided. It is drawn into the groove 50 in the vicinity of the mounting substrate 43, and is thereafter retained in the groove 50 by capillary force and is prevented from flowing out to the mounting substrate side. As a result, it is possible to prevent the circuit components and cables from being corroded or short-circuited by the ink.

In the above-described embodiment, an ink jet recording head using a piezoelectric vibrator as an actuator has been described as an example. However, a bubble jet type in which ink is vaporized by a heater and the ink is discharged at a pressure at the time of vaporization. Obviously, the same effect is achieved when applied to a recording head.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided an ink jet type recording head in which a recording head body for discharging ink droplets from a nozzle opening is attached to a head holder forming a fixing member with a carriage. Since a protruding portion that is located closer to the carriage than the main body and extends in the horizontal direction is provided on the surface of the head holder, ink that rises along the head holder can be blocked by the protruding portion, and the ink inside the case can be prevented. Corrosion and short circuit of circuit parts and cables can be reliably prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a recording apparatus using an ink jet recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view showing one embodiment of the ink jet recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the recording head of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing the vicinity of a head holder of the recording head.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are a front view and a side view, respectively, showing the vicinity of the head holder.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are explanatory views showing a state of preventing ink from entering. FIG.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are a front view and a side view, respectively, showing another embodiment of the present invention in the form of a head holder.

8 (a) and 8 (b) are a front view and a side view, respectively, showing another embodiment of the present invention with the structure of a head holder.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a head case of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the mounting case constituting the head case removed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 carriage 7 recording head 8 ink cartridge 9 capping device 10 cleaning device 30 head holder 30b rib 30c groove 30d groove

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Norihiko Kurashima 3-5-5 Yamato, Suwa-shi, Nagano F-term in Seiko Epson Corporation (reference) 2C056 EA18 FA10 KC04 KC05

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet type recording head in which a recording head body for discharging ink droplets from a nozzle opening is attached to a head holder serving as a fixing member with a carriage, wherein the recording head body is positioned closer to the carriage than the recording head body and horizontally. An ink jet type recording head comprising: a projection extending in a direction provided on the head holder. 2. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is formed integrally with the head holder. 3. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein a recessed portion that opens downward is formed in the projecting portion. 4. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is formed of a material capable of absorbing ink. 5. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the recording head main body is fixed to the head holder via a head cover, and the protrusion is formed by forming a flange extending horizontally in the head cover. Ink jet recording head. 6. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein a concave ridge for absorbing ink is formed on a surface of the head holder facing the carriage. 7. An ink jet recording head in which a recording head body for discharging ink droplets from a nozzle opening is attached to a head holder forming a fixing member with a carriage, wherein the head holder supplies ink to the recording head body. An ink jet recording head having an ink supply needle to be formed, and a recess formed to surround the ink supply needle and having an opening on a side portion. 8. A recording head having a width extending in the width direction, at least on a surface of the recording head facing the ink cartridge on which a circuit component for supplying a drive signal is disposed, and capable of holding ink by capillary force. The ink jet recording head according to claim 7, wherein the groove is formed. 9. The head holder has a black ink supply needle and a color ink supply needle, and is independent of at least the periphery of the black ink supply needle and the color ink supply needle, and on a side wall. The ink jet recording head according to claim 7, further comprising a concave portion having an opening. 10. A recording head having a width extending in the width direction and capable of holding ink by capillary force, at least on a surface of the recording head facing the ink cartridge on which a circuit component for supplying a drive signal is disposed. The ink jet recording head according to claim 7, wherein the groove is formed.