JP2001219617A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance operability while reducing cost by making possible to perform operation for feeding/retracting a sheet guide member provided at a sheet feed opening and an operation for adjusting the inter-sheet distance by single action without requiring any dedicated mechanism, and to enhance record quality by eliminating erroneous operation of adjusting the inter-sheet distance. SOLUTION: A hand feed opening 31 communicating with a substantially linear sheet feed passage is provided in addition to a normal sheet feed opening and a sheet guide member 14 movable between a using position and a containing position is provided at the hand feed opening. Inter-sheet distance between a print head 8 and a recording sheet S is shortened as the sheet guide member moves to the containing position and extended as the sheet guide member moves to the using position.

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 apparatus which performs recording by discharging ink from a print head to a recording sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording device having a function such as a printer, a personal computer terminal, a copying machine, a facsimile, or a recording device used as an output device such as a complex electronic device including a computer or a word processor or a workstation is used for recording information. The image (including characters, symbols, etc.) is recorded on a recording material (recording sheet, recording medium) such as paper, cloth, plastic sheet, OHP sheet, or the like. The recording device, by a recording method,
It can be classified into an ink jet type, a wire dot type, a thermal type, a laser beam type and the like.

In a serial type recording apparatus which performs recording while performing main scanning in a direction intersecting with a conveying direction (paper feeding direction, sub-scanning direction) of a recording sheet (recording material), a carriage moving along the recording sheet is used. An image is recorded (main scanning) by a print head (recording means, recording head) mounted on the printer, and after one line of recording is completed, a predetermined amount of paper is fed (pitch transport as sub scanning), and then again By repeating the operation of recording (main scanning) the image of the next row on the stopped recording sheet, recording of the entire recording sheet is performed. On the other hand, recording sheet (recording material)
In a line type recording apparatus that performs recording only by sub-scanning in the transport direction, a recording sheet is set at a predetermined recording position, and recording is performed for one line at a time, and then a predetermined amount of paper feed (pitch feed) is performed. ), And the operation of collectively recording the next line is repeated, thereby recording the entire recording sheet.

Among them, an ink jet type recording apparatus (ink jet recording apparatus) performs recording by discharging ink from a print head (recording head) as a recording means onto a recording sheet, so that it is easy to make the recording means compact. And can record high-definition images at high speed,
It can record on plain paper without special processing, running cost is low, and it is non-impact type, so it is quiet, and it uses many kinds of ink (for example, color ink). It has advantages such as easy recording of a color image. As an energy generating element that generates energy used for discharging ink from the discharge port of the ink jet recording head, one using an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element, or irradiating electromagnetic waves such as a laser to generate heat, There are a type in which ink droplets are ejected by a heat generation effect, and a type in which a liquid is heated by an electrothermal converter such as a heating resistor.

[0005] Among them, an ink jet type recording means (print head) for discharging ink as droplets using thermal energy can record a high resolution because a large number of discharge ports can be arranged at a high density. Is possible. In particular, a recording head using an electrothermal transducer element as an energy generating element can be easily reduced in size, and has a remarkable improvement in technology and reliability in recent semiconductor fields.
This is advantageous because the advantages of the C technology and the micromachining technology can be fully utilized, high-density mounting is easy, and the manufacturing cost is low. In addition, there are various requirements for the material of the recording material, and in recent years, developments in response to these requirements have progressed, and paper (including thin paper and processed paper) and resin thin plates (such as OHP) which are ordinary recording materials have been developed. Besides, cloth, leather, non-woven fabric,
Further, a recording apparatus using a metal or the like as a recording material has been used.

[0006] In an ink jet recording apparatus, cassette feeding is generally performed similarly to other recording apparatuses. In this cassette sheet feeding, the paper path (recording sheet transport path) usually makes a U-turn, and therefore, in the case of a recording sheet having a stiffness such as thick paper, it may be difficult to smoothly feed (supply) the sheet. is there. Further, since a plurality of recording sheets in the cassette are separated and conveyed one by one, if the stiffness of the recording sheets such as thick paper or thin paper is strong or weak, it may be difficult to separate the recording sheets. Therefore, even in an ink jet recording apparatus, a manual feed port is provided that forms a conveyance path in which a paper path is almost straight (substantially linear), and when the recording sheet is strong or weak, these recording sheets are used. Is fed from the manual feed slot. That is, it is common practice to use the cassette sheet feeding and the manual sheet feeding separately.

Further, when recording (printing) on a recording sheet such as a thick paper having a strong stiffness, not only the thickness of the recording sheet but also
The recording sheet may be displaced from the platen surface (regular transport path) toward the recording means (print head) due to the floating or deformation of the recording sheet. In this case, since the distance (gap) between the print head and the platen is usually set to about 1 mm, when the height of the recording sheet, which is the sum of the thickness of the recording sheet and the amount of floating or deformation, becomes 1 mm or more, the recording sheet becomes Comes into contact with the print head (recording means), and the ink adhering to the discharge port surface of the print head is transferred to the recording sheet, thereby contaminating the recording sheet. Jam), or the discharge port surface of the print head may be damaged.

Therefore, the ink jet recording apparatus is also provided with a paper gap adjusting mechanism operated by a paper gap adjusting lever or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art When a thick recording sheet or a recording sheet having a large deformation is fed, the distance (gap) between a print head and a platen is widened by using the sheet gap adjusting lever. FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of a conventional paper gap adjusting mechanism, and FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a position of a paper gap adjusting lever when the paper gap shown in FIG. 5 is small. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a position of a sheet gap adjusting lever when a sheet gap in FIG. 5 is large.

In FIG. 5, a paper interval adjusting lever 15 and an eccentric bearing 16 are rotatably supported at fulcrums (rotation centers) 17, 17 provided at coaxial positions on both sides of the apparatus main body. Both ends of a guide shaft 10 that guides and supports the movable member 9 reciprocally are supported at eccentric positions of the sheet gap adjusting lever 15 and the eccentric bearing 16. In the illustrated example, the eccentric bearing 16 has a shape and structure in which a lever portion is deleted from the sheet gap adjusting lever 15. Therefore, by swinging the sheet gap adjusting lever 15 about the rotation center 17, the guide shaft 10 also swings about the rotation center 17, and according to the amount of eccentricity and the angular position from the rotation center. The guide shaft 10 can be moved up and down. The vertical movement of the guide shaft 10 causes the carriage 9 guided by and supported by the guide shaft (and therefore) the recording means (print head) mounted on the carriage 9 to move up and down. (Accordingly, the inter-paper distance between the print head and the recording sheet) can be adjusted.

When the paper interval adjusting lever 15 is at the position shown in FIG. 6, the guide shaft 10 is located below the rotation center 17 by an angle θ / 2, the carriage 9 is at a lower position, and The distance between the head and the platen (therefore, the distance between the print head and the recording sheet) is small. When the paper interval adjusting lever 15 is rotated by an angle θ in the direction of arrow A (centering on the fulcrum 17) from the state shown in FIG. 6, the guide shaft 10 is turned upward by an angle θ about the fulcrum (center of rotation) 17. To the state shown in FIG. In the state of FIG. 7, the guide shaft 10
This means that the robot has moved upward from the position shown in FIG. 6 to a position at an angle θ / 2 over a horizontal line, and has moved (upward) vertically from the position shown in FIG. 6 by a predetermined height. Therefore, in the state of FIG.
The carriage 9 is lifted, and the distance between the print head and the platen (therefore, the distance between the print head and the recording sheet) is adjusted to be large.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, FIGS.
In the conventional example described with reference to FIG. 7, when a thick recording sheet or a recording sheet having a large deformation is fed, an operation of opening a manual sheet feeding port which leads to a paper path close to straight, and a contact between the print head and the recording sheet. Adjustment lever 1 to prevent
There is a need for two operations, that is, an operation of rotating the sheet 5 to increase the distance between sheets, and there is a difficulty in operability. In addition, since the quality of the recorded image tends to be reduced when the inter-paper distance is large, it is required to reduce the inter-paper distance during normal use. However, in the above conventional example, the inter-paper distance is increased. It is easy to forget to return the sheet gap adjusting lever 15 to the original position (a position where the sheet gap is small) after the sheet is fed, and recording with low image quality may be performed.

The present invention has been made in view of such a technical problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet provided at a recording sheet supply port without requiring a special mechanism for adjusting a sheet distance. The operation of moving the guide member in and out and the operation of adjusting the sheet distance can be performed by a single operation, thereby improving operability and reducing costs and eliminating erroneous operations for adjusting the sheet distance. Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of improving recording image quality.

[0013]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention (claim 1) provides:
In order to achieve the above object, in an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from a print head to a recording sheet, a plurality of sheet supply ports for supplying a recording sheet are provided, and a use position is provided in at least one of the sheet supply ports. And a sheet guide member movable between the storage position and
The inter-paper distance is adjusted by changing the inter-paper distance between the print head and the recording sheet in conjunction with the movement of the sheet guide member to the storage position.

According to the second to fourth aspects of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the sheet distance when the sheet guide member is in the storage position is equal to the sheet distance when the sheet guide member is in the use position. A configuration in which the sheet feeding port in which the movable sheet guide member is provided is a manual insertion slot in which a user inserts a recording sheet with his / her own hand,
Alternatively, the above object can be achieved more efficiently by adopting a configuration in which the paper path of the recording sheet inserted from the manual feed slot is substantially linear.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an apparatus main body of an ink jet recording apparatus; 2, a paper feed cassette in which recording sheets S are stacked and stored; 3, a feed sheet for feeding (feeding) the recording sheets S in the paper feed cassette 2. A semi-lunar sheet feeding roller 4 is provided with a separation claw for separating the recording sheets S fed by the sheet feeding roller 3 one by one, and a reference numeral 5 is provided for conveying the recording sheet S sent from the sheet cassette 2. Transport rollers,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a paper sensor for detecting the leading and trailing ends of the conveyed recording sheet S, and reference numeral 7 denotes a paper feed (conveyance) of the recording sheet S.
Reference numeral 8 denotes a print head (recording head) as recording means, 9 denotes a carriage on which the print head 8 is mounted, and 10 denotes a guide shaft for guiding and supporting the reciprocating movement of the carriage 9.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a platen for guiding the paper feed of the recording sheet S at a printing position (recording position) opposed to the print head 8, and 12 denotes a position at which the recording sheet S has passed the printing position. A discharge roller 13 is a discharge tray for holding the discharged recording sheet S. Further, reference numeral 14 denotes a sheet guide member (manual insertion) which is rotatably mounted between a paper guide position (use position) and a storage position at a manual insertion port (sheet supply port) 31 which communicates with a paper path which is nearly straight. Tray).

The print head (recording head, recording means)
Reference numeral 8 denotes an ink jet recording head that selectively discharges ink from a plurality of discharge ports to perform recording by applying energy according to a recording signal. Further, the print head 8 is an ink jet recording means for discharging ink using thermal energy, and includes an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy. Further, the print head 8 generates a pressure change due to growth and shrinkage of bubbles due to film boiling generated by the thermal energy applied by the electrothermal transducer, and uses this pressure change to discharge ink from the discharge port. In this way, recording is performed. The electrothermal transducer is provided corresponding to each of the ejection ports, and ejects ink from the corresponding ejection port by applying a pulse voltage to the corresponding electrothermal transducer in accordance with a recording signal. Things.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view schematically showing the structure of an ink discharge section (one discharge port array) of the print head 8.
In FIG. 4, a plurality of ejection openings 81 facing a recording material (recording sheet) such as recording paper with a predetermined gap (for example, about 0.3 to 2.0 mm) are provided at a predetermined pitch. An ejection port 82 is formed, and an electrothermal converter (heating resistor or the like) 85 for generating energy for ink ejection along a wall surface of each liquid passage 84 communicating the common liquid chamber 83 and each ejection port 82. Are arranged. The print head 8 is mounted in a positional relationship such that the discharge ports 82 are arranged in a direction crossing the main scanning direction (the moving direction of the carriage 9 in this embodiment mounted on the carriage 9). Thus, the corresponding electrothermal transducer 85 is driven (pulse voltage is applied) based on the image signal (recording signal) or the ejection signal, and the liquid path 84
The print head 8 is configured to boil the ink in the film and discharge the ink droplets from the discharge port 82 by the pressure generated at that time.

In the configuration shown in FIG.
When rotated, the uppermost one recording sheet S in the paper feed cassette 2 is cooperated with the paper feed roller 3 and the separation claw 4.
Are separated and sent out (sent). The recording sheet S sent from the sheet cassette 2 is transported by a transport roller 5.
Transported by Here, since the paper feed roller 3 and the separation claw 4 constitute the entrance of the paper path of the recording sheet S from the paper supply cassette 2, they constitute the “sheet supply port” in the present application. I do. The paper sensor 6 detects whether or not the leading end of the conveyed recording sheet S has reached the position of the sensor. After the leading edge of the recording sheet S is detected by the paper sensor 6, the transport roller 5 further rotates for a certain period of time. During the rotation of the transport roller 5 for a certain period of time, the paper feed roller 7 is stopped. Therefore, the recording sheet S is brought into contact with the stopped paper feed roller 7 to form an appropriate loop. The skew of S is corrected, and the cue of the recording sheet S is performed.

Next, the recording sheet S is fed (conveyed) to a recording area facing the print head 9 by rotating the paper feed roller 7. When the recording start position of the recording sheet S fed by the paper feed roller 7 reaches the recording area, the paper feeding (sub scanning) is temporarily stopped, and the carriage 9 on which the print head 8 is mounted is moved to a timing belt (not shown). (Main scanning, movement in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface) along with the guide shaft 10 and drive the print head 8 in accordance with image information, thereby discharging ink from the print head 8 to perform recording. An image is recorded on the sheet S. When the recording start position of the recording sheet S reaches the recording area, the leading end of the recording sheet S is normally held between the discharge rollers 12, and therefore, the discharge rollers 12 and the paper feed rollers 7. Thus, recording is performed on the recording sheet S in a state where a predetermined tension is applied to the recording sheet S.

When the recording for one line is completed, the paper feed roller 7 is rotated by a predetermined amount to feed the recording sheet S to the recording position of the next line (sub-scan). Make a line record. By repeating the above operation, the entire recording sheet S is recorded. The recorded recording sheet S passes through the discharge roller 12 to the discharge tray 13.
The paper is ejected on top.

The paper is fed through the paper feed roller 3 and the separation claw 4 (a kind of sheet supply port) of the paper feed cassette 2 and is conveyed along the substantially U-shaped conveyance path (paper path) as described above. During recording on the recording sheet S, the manual feed slot (sheet supply port) 31 is not used. Therefore, during that time, the sheet guide member (manual tray) 14 provided in the manual insertion slot 31 is stored at a position where it does not protrude from the apparatus main body 1. When the recording sheet S is conveyed along a paper path close to a straight line in order to record on a thick recording sheet or a recording sheet having a large deformation, the arrow is raised while lifting the sheet guide member (manual feed tray) 14. It is rotated in the direction C and fixed at a substantially horizontal use position (a manual guide position protruding from the apparatus body 1 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1).

With the sheet guide member 14 held in the use position, the recording sheet S is moved to the sheet guide member 1.
4 and insert the recording sheet S until the leading end of the recording sheet S hits the paper feed roller 7. The paper sensor 6 is disposed on the front side of the paper feed roller 7 (at a position near the manual feed port 31), and after a predetermined time has passed after the paper sensor 6 has detected the leading end of the recording sheet S, the paper is fed. The rotation of the roller 7 is started. By doing so, the leading end of the inserted recording sheet S hits the stopped paper feed roller 7 to form an appropriate loop on the recording sheet S, thereby correcting the skew of the recording sheet S and The cue of the recording sheet S is performed. Thereafter, by rotating the paper feed roller 7, the recording sheet S is bitten by the paper feed roller 7 and fed (conveyed) to the recording area. Subsequent operations are the same as those in the case of recording (printing) on the recording sheet S fed from the sheet feeding cassette 2 described above.

In the ink jet recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the paper feed roller 3 and the separation claw 4 for feeding out the recording sheet S from the paper feed cassette 2 constitute a kind of sheet supply port for supplying the recording sheet S as described above. The manual feed port 31 also forms a sheet supply port for supplying the recording sheet S, and therefore, two (plural) sheet supply ports are provided.
In the ink jet recording apparatus of FIG. 1, one sheet supply port (manual insertion port) 31 is movable (rotatable) between a use position (projection position) and a storage position (position in the apparatus main body). A sheet guide member 14 is provided. In the case where the above-described sheet guide member can be provided in the other sheet supply port (in the present embodiment, the sheet supply port of the sheet feeding cassette 2), the same sheet guide member may be provided. Often, the invention includes such configurations within its scope.

In this embodiment, the inter-sheet distance between the print head 8 and the recording sheet S is changed in conjunction with the movement of the sheet guide member 14 to the storage position. The distance between the sheets when the sheet guide member 14 is at the storage position is determined by adjusting the distance between the sheets when the sheet guide member 14 is at the use position (projection position). It is configured to be smaller. In addition, movable (rotatable)
The sheet supply port provided with the sheet guide member 14 is a manual feed slot 31 where the user inserts the recording sheet S with his / her own hand, and the paper path of the recording sheet S inserted from the manual feed slot 31 is substantially straight. It is formed in a shape.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a transmission mechanism for changing the sheet distance between the print head 8 and the recording sheet S in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the sheet guide member 14. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a main part of a mechanism for moving the print head 8 up and down in conjunction with opening and closing operations of the sheet guide member 14. 2 and 3, a sheet guide member (manual feed tray) 14 provided at one sheet supply port (manual feed port) 31 is housed in the apparatus main body 1 during normal use of the paper feed cassette 2 (FIG. 2). (Position of solid line in 2). The sheet guide member (manual feed tray) 14 in a stored state for feeding a thick recording sheet or a recording sheet having a large deformation is lifted and rotated in the direction of arrow C to a position protruding in a substantially horizontal state (FIG. 2). At the position of the two-dot chain line). At this time, the gear 18 provided on the sheet guide member 14 is rotated with the rotation in the direction of arrow C.
Also rotate in the same direction. The rotation of the gear 18 is transmitted to the gear 22 via gear trains 19, 20, and 21 which are sequentially meshed and connected in series, and the gear 22 rotates in the direction of arrow E.

2 and 3, fulcrums (rotation centers) 17, 17 provided at the coaxial positions on both sides of the apparatus main body 1 are shown.
The eccentric bearings 23 and 24 are rotatably supported on the shaft,
Both ends of a guide shaft 10 that slidably guides and supports a carriage 9 on which a print head 8 is mounted are mounted on the eccentric bearings 23, 2.
4 (supported). Therefore,
The gear 22 is provided integrally with one eccentric bearing 23, and the gear 22 is also rotatably supported about the fulcrum (center of rotation) 17. Therefore, when the gear 22 rotates, the guide shaft 10 also swings about the rotation centers 17, 17, and the guide shaft 10 moves up and down according to the amount of eccentricity and the angular position from the rotation center 17. The vertical movement of the guide shaft 10 causes the carriage 9 guided and supported by the guide shaft to move vertically, and the recording means (print head) mounted on the carriage 9 also moves vertically. Thereby, the distance between the print head 8 and the platen 11 (therefore, the sheet distance between the print head 8 and the recording sheet S) can be adjusted.

That is, in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, in a normal state in which paper is fed from the paper feed cassette 2, the sheet guide member (manual feed tray) 14 is housed in the apparatus main body 1, and the guide shaft 10 is And the carriage 9 is at a lower position, and the distance between the print head 8 and the platen 11 (therefore, the paper between the print head 8 and the recording sheet S). Distance) is in a small state. Therefore, the sheet guide member (manual feed tray) 14 in the storage state for feeding a thick recording sheet or a recording sheet with a large deformation is lifted and rotated in the direction of arrow C, and is projected in a substantially horizontal state (FIG. 2 at the position indicated by the two-dot chain line).
With the rotation in the direction, the gear 18 provided on the sheet guide member 14 also rotates in the same direction.

When the gear 22 rotates in the direction of arrow E through the gear trains 19, 20, and 21 due to the rotation of the gear 18 in the direction of arrow C, the eccentric bearing 23 also rotates in the same direction as the other side. In cooperation with the eccentric bearing 24, the guide shaft 10 rotates upward about the fulcrum 17 by an angle θ. In other words, the guide shaft 10 rotates upward across the horizontal line from a normal position lower by an angle θ / 2 to a position higher by an angle θ / 2 (a two-dot chain line position in FIG. 2), It moves (rises) vertically by a predetermined height from its normal position. As a result, the carriage 9 is lifted, and the print head 8
Is adjusted in the direction of increasing the distance between the print head 8 and the platen 11 (therefore, the distance between the print head 8 and the recording sheet S).

On the other hand, a sheet guide member (manual feed tray)
When the device 14 is rotated in a direction in which it is housed in the apparatus main body 1 from the use state in which it projects substantially horizontally, it operates in the opposite direction to the above,
When the guide shaft 10 moves down from the upper θ / 2 position to the lower θ / 2 position, the carriage 9 and the print head 8 are moved downward.
Moves downward, and the distance between the print head 8 and the platen 11 (therefore, the sheet distance between the print head 8 and the recording sheet S) is returned to the original state (normally small state).

According to the embodiment described above, at least one of the plurality (two) of sheet supply ports (manual feed port) 31 has a sheet rotatable between the use position and the storage position. A guide member (manual feed tray) 14 is provided, and the inter-sheet distance between the print head 8 and the recording sheet S is adjusted in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the sheet guide member 14, so that the inter-sheet distance is adjusted. No special mechanism is required, and the operation of taking in and out the sheet guide member provided in the supply port of the recording sheet S and the operation of adjusting the distance between sheets can be performed by one operation, thereby improving operability. In addition, an ink jet recording apparatus capable of improving recording image quality while reducing costs is provided.

Further, since the sheet distance when the sheet guide member 14 is in the storage position is smaller than the sheet distance when the sheet guide member is in the use position, it is difficult to feed the sheet smoothly. It is possible to easily and accurately feed and feed even a recording sheet that is not well-formed or a deformed recording sheet, and prevents the recording sheet S from contacting with the print head 8 so that the recording sheet S is stained or printed. The damage of the head can be prevented. Also, the sheet guide member 1
By storing the sheet 4 in the apparatus main body 1, the sheet distance between the print head 8 and the recording sheet S can be automatically returned to the original state, and an erroneous operation relating to the sheet distance adjustment can be eliminated. Is also obtained.

In the above embodiment, the serial recording method in which printing is performed while the print head (recording means, recording head) is relatively moved with respect to the recording material (recording sheet) has been described as an example. The present invention is applicable to various inkjet recording apparatuses regardless of the type of recording method, such as a line recording method in which recording is performed only by sub-scanning using a line type print head having a length covering the entire width or a part of the recording material. It is possible and can achieve the same effect.

The present invention also relates to a recording apparatus for recording using one print head, a color recording apparatus using a plurality of print heads for recording with inks of different colors, and a plurality of prints for recording the same color at different densities. In the case of an ink jet recording apparatus such as a gradation recording apparatus using a head or a recording apparatus in which the color recording apparatus and the gradation recording apparatus are combined, the number of print heads (recording means, recording heads) and the arrangement of discharge ports are limited. Regardless, the present invention can be similarly applied to various inkjet recording apparatuses, and can achieve the same effect.

Further, the present invention provides a configuration using a replaceable ink jet cartridge in which a print head and an ink tank are integrated, a configuration in which the print head and the ink tank are separated, and the space between them is connected by an ink supply tube or the like. The present invention can be similarly applied to any arrangement of the print head and the ink tank, and the same effect can be obtained. Note that the present invention is similarly applied to a recording apparatus that performs recording by another method, such as an apparatus that uses a recording unit that uses an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element, as long as the apparatus is an inkjet recording apparatus. The same effect can be obtained.

[0036]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention (claim 1), in an ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording by discharging ink from a print head to a recording sheet, a method for supplying a recording sheet is provided. A plurality of sheet supply ports are provided, at least one of the sheet supply ports is provided with a sheet guide member movable between a use position and a storage position, and the print head and the print head are interlocked with movement of the sheet guide member to the storage position. Since the inter-paper distance is adjusted by changing the inter-paper distance with the recording sheet,
A special mechanism for adjusting the sheet gap is not required, and the operation of taking in and out the sheet guide member provided in the supply port of the recording sheet and the operation of adjusting the sheet gap can be performed by one operation. Provided is an ink jet recording apparatus capable of improving operability and reducing costs, eliminating erroneous operations for adjusting the sheet distance, and improving recording image quality.

According to the second to fourth aspects of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the sheet distance when the sheet guide member is in the storage position is equal to the sheet distance when the sheet guide member is in the use position. A configuration in which the sheet feeding port in which the movable sheet guide member is provided is a manual insertion slot in which a user inserts a recording sheet with his / her own hand,
Alternatively, since the paper path of the recording sheet inserted from the manual feed slot is configured to be substantially linear, in addition to the above-described effects, contact between the print head and the recording sheet can be automatically prevented. An ink jet recording apparatus capable of further improving the performance is provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing a transmission means of a sheet distance adjusting mechanism in an embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of a paper distance adjusting mechanism in an embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view schematically illustrating a structure of an ink discharge unit of the print head in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of a paper distance adjusting mechanism of a conventional inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the position of a sheet gap adjusting lever when the sheet gap in FIG. 5 is small.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the position of a sheet gap adjusting lever when the sheet gap in FIG. 5 is large.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 2 Paper feed cassette 3 Paper feed roller 4 Separation claw 5 Transport roller 6 Paper sensor 7 Paper feed roller 8 Print head (recording means, recording head) 9 Carriage 10 Guide shaft 11 Platen 12 Paper discharge roller 14 Sheet guide member ( (Manual feed tray) 17 rotation center (fulcrum) 18 gear 22 gear 23 eccentric bearing 24 eccentric bearing 31 sheet supply port (manual insertion port) 81 discharge port surface 82 discharge port 83 common liquid chamber 84 liquid path 85 electrothermal converter S recording sheet ( Recording material)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording by discharging ink from a print head to a recording sheet, wherein a plurality of sheet supply ports for supplying the recording sheet are provided, and at least one of the sheet supply ports is used and stored. A sheet guide member movable between positions, and inter-sheet distance between the print head and the recording sheet is changed by interlocking movement of the sheet guide member to the storage position. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: 2. The sheet distance when the sheet guide member is at the storage position is smaller than the sheet distance when the sheet guide member is at the use position.
3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The sheet feeding port provided with the movable sheet guide member is a manual feed slot through which a user inserts a recording sheet with his / her own hand.
3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1. 4. The paper path of a recording sheet inserted from the manual feed slot is substantially linear.
3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1. 5. The ink-jet recording device according to claim 1, wherein said print head is an ink-jet recording device including an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy used for discharging ink. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the print head discharges the ink from a discharge port using film boiling generated in the ink by thermal energy generated by the electrothermal transducer. .