JP2001315408A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet printer in which a signal contact can be earthed prior to touching a signal terminal and the size of the printer can be reduced. SOLUTION: The ink jet printer comprises a printer body having a signal line and an earth line, a carriage mounted on the printer body to perform scanning and having a signal terminal and an earth terminal communicating electrically with the signal line and the earth line, respectively, and a print head mounted removably on the carriage and having a signal contact and an earth contact touching the signal terminal and the earth terminal, respectively. The carriage is provided, at the fixing opening thereof, with a conductive guide member for guiding the print head to the carriage and also serving as the earth terminal for touching the signal connector to the earth contact before the signal connector touches the signal terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer, and more particularly, to an ink jet printer for recording an image using liquid ink as an apparatus for recording and reproducing an image based on image (including character) information.
In particular, the print head is detached from the carriage so that it can be replaced.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink jet printer of this type is configured so that a print head including an ink tank portion can be detached and replaced from a carriage due to miniaturization and improvement in usability. In this printer, when the print head is set on the carriage, the electrical contacts on the print head side and the electrical contacts (terminals) of the electrical signal lines provided in the carriage are brought into contact with each other, so that printing is performed. It is configured so that an electric signal for drive control from the printer main body can be supplied to the head.

Therefore, when the user's hand holding the print head is charged and has static electricity, the static electricity may be discharged to the contact portion of the print head and the electrical contact of the carriage. Therefore, in order to release such static electricity, a method has been proposed in which an earth line can be connected to the electrical contact between the print head and the carriage before the signal line is connected to the electrical contact between the print head and the carriage as follows.

[0004] That is, according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-248949, there is provided a device and a printing apparatus having a highly reliable scanning type carrier capable of avoiding adverse effects due to static electricity charged on a user's hand. Specifically, when the cartridge is mounted on the carriage, the contacts of the grounded cable cover on the carriage side come into contact with the ground line on the cartridge side to be electrically connected, and then the signal on the cartridge side is output. The exposed conductor portion of the flexible cable on the carriage connected to the signal line comes into contact with the line and is electrically connected.

[0005]

As described above, this proposal allows the electrical contact between the cartridge, that is, the print head, and the carriage to be connected to the ground line before connecting to the signal line, thereby discharging static electricity. . However, in this case, a stroke for connecting to the ground line and a stroke for connecting to the signal line are required in the direction in which the print head is mounted on the carriage, which is a problem in miniaturizing the printer, particularly the carriage. There was a point.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a carriage having a printer body, a signal line and a ground line which are mounted on the printer body so as to be capable of scanning, and have a signal line and a ground line leading to the printer body, and signal and ground terminals for these signals. And a print head detachably mounted on the carriage and having a signal / ground contact portion that is in contact with the signal / ground terminal portion, respectively. A conductive guide member that also serves as the ground terminal for contacting the ground contact before guiding the mounting to the carriage and before the signal contact comes into contact with the signal terminal; Provide an inkjet printer.

That is, according to the present invention, a guide member for guiding the print head when the print head is mounted on the carriage is provided at the mounting opening of the carriage, and the guide member is brought into contact with a ground contact portion of the print head. By using the terminal as a terminal, the signal contact can be grounded before the signal contact comes into contact with the signal terminal without applying a stroke in the mounting direction of the print head, and the printer can be miniaturized. .

The carriage-side member, which comes into contact with the print head and takes the ground, is a conductive guide member serving as a guide when the print head is mounted, so that the user can mount the print head on the carriage. Thus, the print head and the carriage-side grounding member naturally come into contact with each other, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of trouble due to electric discharge or the like. Here, as the conductive guide member, specifically, a metal leaf spring member that urges the carriage in a direction perpendicular to the mounting direction of the print head is preferably exemplified.

It is preferable that the print head is provided with a conductive heat radiating plate that radiates heat from the head and also serves as a ground contact, because the ground contact can be omitted, leading to a reduction in size of the printer. . Further, the print head includes a pair of head portions for black and white and color, and a carriage positions an outer wall for housing the pair of head portions and the pair of head portions at the center of the outer wall, respectively. Since the metal leaf spring member is composed of a substantially U-shaped leaf spring member attached over the central wall, the central wall and the spring member can be used in common. It leads to small size and is preferable. The ground may be taken with the same flat cable as the signal cable, but it is possible to take it with another line, and a specific example of the other line is a scanning guide shaft (made of metal) of a carriage. .

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited by this. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a main part showing an embodiment of an ink jet printer according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views of one print head. FIG. 2 is a front oblique view, and FIG. belongs to. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a relationship between a carriage and a print head mounted on the carriage. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view for explaining the relationship between a leaf spring member, an interval adjusting disk, and a heat sink, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of an adjusting disk, and FIGS. FIG.

In FIG. 1, an ink jet printer 1 has a printer main body 2, a carriage 7 mounted on the printer main body so as to be capable of scanning and having a flat cable 14, and a print head 12 detachably mounted on the carriage.・ 13 is provided. Here, the print head 12 includes a black and white ink tank 19, and the print head 13 includes a color ink tank 20. Reference numeral 15 denotes a motor, 16 denotes a pulley, and 17 denotes a timing belt driven by the motor 15 via the pulley 16, and can move the carriage 7 along a scanning guide shaft 18 for scanning.

In FIG. 2 and FIG.
Is mainly composed of a color ink tank 20, a support frame 25 for supporting the ink tank, a head signal electrode 26 protruding from the side wall of the support frame and a heat radiation plate 27 made of aluminum. , 29
Reference numerals 30 and 31 denote contact portions which come into contact with three contact projections 38, 39 and 40 in FIG. The configuration of the print head 12 is substantially the same as that of the print head 13 except for including a black-and-white ink tank, and a description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 4, a carriage 7 has an outer case 32 for accommodating the print heads 12 and 13, and a common positioning wall for partitioning the outer case and positioning the print heads 12 and 13 on both sides (left and right), respectively. A substantially U-shaped metal leaf spring member (material: SUS304, plate thickness: 0.3 mm, plate width: 8) is provided on the middle wall 33 for positioning the mounting port of the carriage 7 as a conductor mounting guide member.
mm, the length of the inclined portion: 27 mm, the inclination angle with respect to the wall during positioning: 7 degrees) 34 is attached so as to open slightly, and is electrically connected to the ground line 4 leading to the flat cable 14.

Reference numerals 35 and 36 denote positioning tables of the print head 13, 37 denotes a connector, and 38 to 40 denote contact projections which come into contact with the three contact portions 29 to 31 of the print head 13, of which the contact projection 39 is Metal leaf spring member 34
Is formed on the outer side surface near the free end of. Reference numeral 41 denotes a space adjusting disk (a disk-shaped dial) which is interposed between the side wall of the carriage 7 and the inner surface of the free end of the metal leaf spring member 34, and which can adjust the height of protrusion of the contact protrusion 39 by rotation. 42
Denotes a pressing portion of the print head 13.

Thus, in FIGS. 1-4, especially FIG.
Carry the print head 13 downward as indicated by arrow A,
When the print head 13 is to be pushed into the carriage 7, the heat radiating plate 27 of the print head 13
4, the leaf spring member 34 functions as a ground terminal before a signal line described later is electrically connected to a signal contact portion of the print head 13 even if the hand is charged with static electricity. The static electricity is grounded from the leaf spring member 34 via the ground line 4. At the same time, the print head 13 is urged perpendicularly to the mounting direction (A direction) by the leaf spring member 34, and is smoothly mounted in the carriage 7. At this time, the lower surface of the print head 13 contacts the positioning tables 35 and 36, and the contact portions 29 to 31 of the print head 13 contact the contact convex portions 38 to 40 of the carriage 7 by pressing in the direction of arrow B by the pressing portion 42. Touch and be positioned. Then, as shown by an arrow C in FIG. 10 to be described later, the head lock lever 43 is pushed downward, and the heat radiating plate 27 is more reliably positioned by the heat radiating plate pressing portion 44. Is moved, and the signal line is electrically connected to the head signal electrode 26 which is the contact portion of the print head 13.

Here, when the print head 13 is mounted on the carriage 7, the contact projections 39 contact with the contact portions 30.
The protrusion height is adjusted by the adjusting disk 41.
That is, in FIG. 6, the adjusting disc 41 has a different thickness in the circumferential direction and is rotatably mounted on the carriage 7 such that the circumferential portion is interposed between the side wall of the carriage 7 and the leaf spring member 34. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 7, the protrusion height of the contact projection 39 can be increased or decreased by rotation.
A fine balance in the main scanning direction, which will be described later, can be adjusted with the other contact convex portions 38 and 40. The method for mounting the print head 12 on the carriage 7 is the same as that for the print head 13, and a description thereof will be omitted.

Next, FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view showing a carriage and a configuration in which a print head is detached from the carriage (or a state before mounting), and FIG. 10 is a schematic side view of FIG. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a state where the print head is mounted on the carriage, and FIG.
FIG. 13 is an essential part explanatory view for explaining the relationship between the head locking lever and the heat radiating plate of the print head.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, a print head 1 is shown.
3 releases the head lock lever 43 in the direction of the arrow C ', moves the connector 37 outward in the direction of the arrow E, and releases the pressing portion 42 in the direction of the arrow F. Detach as shown. 11 and 12 by performing the reverse operation.
As described above, the print head 13 can be mounted on the carriage 7. The same applies to the case of the print head 12, and the description is omitted.

Note that the head locking lever 43 is
When the head lock lever 43 is pressed down as shown in FIGS. 0 and 13 and the head lock lever 43 is pressed, the press portion 44 engages the cut portion 45 with the front corner of the heat radiating plate 27 to release heat. The plate 27 is pressed downward and rearward, thereby ensuring positioning. In particular, the heat radiating plate 27 is brought into contact with the positioning portions 35 and 36, and the side surface of the ink head 28 of the heat radiating plate 27 is brought into contact with the side surface 46 of the positioning portion 36, so that the positioning between the paper surface direction and the sub scanning direction is performed. That's for sure. In addition,
Reference numeral 47 in FIG. 10 denotes a metal bearing of the scanning guide shaft (guide shaft).

Unlike the above embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, an earth line can be used as a scanning guide shaft of the carriage. That is, in FIGS. 14 and 15, the metal substantially U-shaped leaf spring member 34a includes an earth line 4a extending from the leaf spring member, a metal plate 48a electrically connected to the earth line, and a scanning guide shaft (guide shaft). ) Grounded via a metal bearing 47a of 18a.

The ground line 4a and the metal plate 48a are connected to the leaf spring member 34a and the metal bearing 47a by an MID (Molded Interconnect Device).
e: three-dimensional injection circuit board)
As a result, the configuration of the carriage 7a becomes very simple, and assembly becomes easy. Other configurations are the same as those of the above embodiment, and the description is omitted.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the configuration and effect of the present invention can be summarized as follows. (1) When the removable print head is mounted on the carriage, the conductive radiator plate of the print head (having a contact part for the head electrical signal on one side) and the carriage connected to the ground line A metal member as a conductive guide member attached to the carriage makes elastic contact in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the print head is mounted on the carriage, so that the print head is connected to the ground. Therefore, the user can contact the ground member when the print head is mounted on the carriage without being conscious of the ground, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of trouble due to electric discharge or the like.

By making the line for grounding the print head separate from the signal cable, grounding can be achieved when the print head is mounted on the carriage.
In addition, since the conductive heat sink is used as a member for grounding, a connecting portion for grounding which has been conventionally required becomes unnecessary.

(2) A conductive member such as aluminum provided as a heat radiation plate of a head element of a print head, and two convex portions provided on the carriage (fixed to the carriage)
And a metal member for elasticity mounted on the carriage at the point (1) (which is fixed after deformation is prevented after the initial elastic deformation) in the main scanning direction of the print head (scanning of the carriage). Direction). Therefore, by closing the head locking lever (latch lever) on the carriage, the print head is pressed against the three points on the carriage, the aluminum plate for heat radiation comes into contact, and positioning in the main scanning direction is performed. . Further, the positioning accuracy is improved by using the heat radiating plate to which the head element is attached as a member for positioning.

(3) A conductive member such as aluminum provided as a heat radiating plate for the head element of the print head (shape having a downwardly convex outer shape) is closed obliquely upward by a closing operation of a lever for fixing the print head. Further, the convex outer portion of the conductive member comes into contact with the positioning member in the sub-scanning direction of the carriage and the positioning member in the distance between the paper surface (the distance between the recording medium and the ink head), and the print head moves in the sub-scanning direction and the paper surface. It is positioned in the distance direction. Therefore, the positioning accuracy of the print head can be improved by using the heat radiating plate to which the head element is attached as a positioning member.

(4) The ground of the metal member on the carriage is
Through a ground wire, it is connected to the ground of the printer. Therefore, the signal cable can be reduced in size by connecting the metal member to the ground of the printing apparatus main body and a ground wire different from the signal cable.

(5) The ground of the metal member on the carriage is
The extension of the metal member comes into contact with the metal bearing portion of the carriage, and is connected to the ground of the printer main body via the guide shaft portion of the carriage. Therefore, by setting the shape of the metal member on the carriage along the shape of the carriage, a grounding cable becomes unnecessary.

(6) The ground of the metal member on the carriage is
MID the metal member and the metal bearing of the carriage
(Molded Interconnect Device; 3D injection circuit board)
It is connected by a wiring member formed by a construction method, and is connected to the ground of the printer apparatus main body via a guide shaft portion of the carriage. Therefore, by providing the ground line in the carriage by the MID method, the carriage can be easily assembled.

(7) The metal member on the carriage is in the form of a leaf spring, which elastically contacts and grounds the heat sink of the print head when the print head is inserted, and connects the print head to the carriage. It serves as an insertion guide during insertion. Therefore, the unevenness of the mechanical part for positioning and fixing the print head by lever operation is located near the center wall of the carriage inside the carriage, and the metal member attached to the center wall is formed into an inclined leaf spring shape,
This can be used as a guide for preventing the print head from being caught when inserted. In addition, there is no problem such as wear because the metal plate is used as a guide.

(8) The first and second print heads can be mounted on the carriage, and the metal member is a U-shaped leaf spring attached to a wall at the center of the carriage. When two carriages, a black print head and a color print head, are mounted on a carriage, which are common in color printers, a metal member is disposed on the central wall in a U-shape, and one member is used. The print head may be a member for grounding.

(9) The U-shaped leaf spring has a convex portion and serves as a positioning member for the print head. Therefore, by using the metal plate spring convex portion as the positioning and fixing member of the print head, wear of the positioning portion is eliminated (because of metal).

(10) The U-shaped leaf spring is provided with a disk-shaped dial whose thickness changes when it is rotated into the U-shaped opening. The position can be adjusted, and the mounting direction (parallelism of the head in the sub-scanning direction) of the print head to which the print head is mounted and fixed can be changed. Therefore, by changing the deformable area of the U-shaped leaf spring serving as the positioning member (changing the fixing position of the convex portion of the positioning leaf spring), the head direction of the print head when positioned and fixed is adjusted in a predetermined direction. (If the direction in which the nozzles of the head are arranged is not parallel to the sub-scanning direction (paper transport direction), one straight line becomes a connection of short diagonal lines).

(11) The signal line on the carriage side and the signal line on the print head side are connected to the carriage side from the direction perpendicular to the print head insertion direction by pushing down the lever to mount and position and fix the print head. The contact portion connected to the signal line moves to the center of the carriage and is connected to the contact portion of the signal line of the print head. Therefore, the operation is as follows. When the print head is inserted into the carriage and the head locking lever is pressed down, the print head pressing member that presses the print head against the three convex points of the carriage starts to move, and the heat sink contacts the three convex points. Starting the operation, the signal lines are connected.

(12) The U-shaped leaf spring member attached to the center wall of the carriage also serves as a guide member function when the print head is inserted, a print head grounding function, and a print head positioning adjustment function. Thus, necessary components for each function can be integrated. Further, since the leaf spring member is made of metal, there is no problem such as abrasion.

As described above, by using the U-shaped metal leaf spring as the ground member of the carriage portion, one member can fulfill the following roles for two print heads. (1) It serves as a ground member on the carriage side of the print head (must be metal). (2) It serves as a guide member when the print head is inserted into the carriage (there is no wear on the guide due to the metal). (3) It serves as a fixed positioning member for the print head (the positioning portion does not wear due to metal).

[0036]

According to the present invention, a guide member for guiding the mounting of the print head to the carriage is provided at the mounting opening of the carriage, and a ground terminal for bringing the guide member into contact with the ground contact portion of the print head. By using as a unit, it is possible to ground the signal contact portion before contacting the signal terminal portion without adding a stroke in the mounting direction of the print head, thereby enabling downsizing of the printer. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a main part of an embodiment of an inkjet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the print heads as viewed obliquely from the front.

FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 viewed obliquely from the rear.

FIG. 4 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a relationship between a carriage and a print head mounted on the carriage.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a relationship among a leaf spring member, an adjustment disk, and a heat sink.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of an adjustment disk.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an adjustment method of an adjustment disk.

FIG. 8 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 7, showing a different state.

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view showing the relationship between a carriage and a print head before being mounted on the carriage.

FIG. 10 is a schematic side view illustrating a relationship between a carriage and a print head before being mounted on the carriage.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a state in which a print head is mounted on a carriage.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing a state where a print head is mounted on a carriage.

FIG. 13 is a main part side view showing a relationship between a head lock lever and a heat sink of a print head.

FIG. 14 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 11, showing another embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 12, showing another embodiment.

[Description of Signs] 1 Inkjet printer 2 Printer body 4 Ground line 5, 6 Signal terminal section 7 Carriage 8, 9 Signal contact section 12, 13 Print head 14 Flat cable 15 Motor 16 Pulley 17 Timing belt 18 Scanning guide shaft 19 Black and white ink tank 20 Color ink tank 21, 22 Ground terminal 23, 24 Ground terminal 25 Support frame 26 Head signal electrode 27 Heat sink 28 Ink head 29-31 Contact part 32 Outer case 33 Positioning middle wall 34 Plate Spring member 35, 36 Positioning table 37 Connector 38-40 Contact convex part 41 Adjusting disk 42 Pressing part 43 Head lock lever 44 Heat sink pressing part 45 Cut part 46 Side 47, 47a Metal bearing 48a Metal plate

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Atsushi Ueda 22-22, Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside (72) Inventor Hirotoshi Iemura 22-22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka (72) Inventor Shoji Kimura 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Maki Matsushita 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Sharp Corporation F Terms (reference) 2C056 EA23 HA08 HA09 HA15 HA37 HA52 2C061 AQ05 BB02 BB08 BB35 CG03

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A printer main body, a carriage mounted on the printer main body so as to be capable of scanning, and having a signal line and an earth line leading to the printer main body, and signal and ground terminals for these signals, and detachably attached to the carriage. A print head having a signal / ground contact portion which is mounted and contacted with the signal / ground terminal portion, respectively, wherein the carriage guides the mounting of the print head to the carriage through its mounting opening, An ink jet printer having a conductive mounting guide member also serving as the ground terminal for contacting the ground contact before the signal contact comes into contact with the signal terminal. 2. The conductive mounting guide member is a metal leaf spring member that guides mounting while urging the carriage in a direction perpendicular to the mounting direction of the print head.
An inkjet printer according to item 1. 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the print head is provided with a conductive heat radiating plate that radiates heat from the head portion and also serves as a ground contact portion. 4. A print head comprising a pair of black-and-white and color heads, a carriage partitioning an outer case accommodating the pair of heads and an interior of the outer case. Consisting of a common positioning middle wall positioned on each side, a metal leaf spring member,
3. The ink jet printer according to claim 2, comprising a substantially U-shaped metal leaf spring member attached to the positioning middle wall. 5. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the printer has a flat cable having a signal line and a ground line.
An inkjet printer according to item 1. 6. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the carriage includes a flat cable having a signal line connected to the printer main body, and a scanning guide shaft for causing the printer main body to scan the carriage, and the scanning guide shaft also serves as an earth line.
An inkjet printer according to item 1. 7. A metal leaf spring member has a first convex portion on an outer surface near a free end thereof, and a carriage is provided on a side wall thereof.
A second convex portion and a third convex portion that abut on a side wall of the print head together with the first convex portion to position the print head, and a spacer that sets an interval between an inner surface of the metal leaf spring member. Item 3. An inkjet printer according to Item 2. 8. The ink-jet printer according to claim 7, wherein the spacer is a gap adjusting disk having a different circumferential thickness and capable of adjusting a gap between a side wall of the carriage and an inner surface of the metal leaf spring member by rotation. Printer.