JP2002283548A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recorder in which the fixing accuracy of a carriage can be sustained at a high level. SOLUTION: A region 206 engaging with a stop part 151a provided on a carriage 151 and a disengaging region 207 are formed in a guide member 200 provided with a guide shaft 154 for guiding movement of the carriage 151. Since rotation of the carriage about the guide shaft can be suppressed even if an external force is applied to a recording head so long as the stop part on the carriage is engaging with the guide member, fixing accuracy of the carriage can be sustained at a high level.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus having a carriage on which a recording head is mounted and a guide member on which a guide shaft for guiding the movement of the carriage is provided.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an ink jet printer, which is one of recording apparatuses, has a carriage on which a print head is mounted, a guide rod for guiding the movement of the carriage, and a guide plate on which the guide rod is erected. The carriage is moved in the main scanning direction while transporting the printing paper in the sub-scanning direction, and information is recorded by discharging ink droplets from the print head onto the printing paper.

In the printing standby state, the carriage is usually located at the home position, and the print head is capped by a cap to prevent contamination of dust and dirt and drying of the ink.

[0004]

In the above-described ink jet printer, the print head is generally disposed downward at substantially the lower center of the carriage, and the guide bar is inserted through the rear of the carriage. Therefore, when the cap is pressed from below to cap the print head, the pressing force causes the carriage to rotate about the guide rod, and the positional accuracy of the carriage and the print head and the adhesion between the print head and the cap are reduced. It may decrease.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to maintain the positional accuracy between a carriage and a recording head and the adhesion between a recording head and a cap in a highly accurate state. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording device which can perform the recording.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus including a carriage on which a recording head is mounted and a guide shaft on which a guide shaft for guiding the movement of the carriage is provided. The guide member is formed in a shape having a locking area where a locking portion provided on the carriage is locked, and a non-locking area where the locking is released. It is characterized by having.

Accordingly, even when an external force is applied to the recording head, the rotation of the carriage about the guide shaft can be suppressed if the locking portion provided on the carriage is locked by the guide member. Therefore, the mounting accuracy of the carriage can be maintained at a high accuracy.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the locking area is formed corresponding to an area for capping the recording head. Thereby, even if the cap is pressed from below to cap the recording head,
Since the locking portion provided on the carriage is locked by the guide member, the rotation of the carriage around the guide shaft can be suppressed, and the positional accuracy between the carriage and the recording head and the positional relationship between the recording head and the cap can be reduced. A highly accurate state of adhesion can be realized at low cost, and maintenance can be facilitated.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the carriage is configured to be expandable with respect to the guide member in the non-locking area. Features. As a result, the carriage can be lifted and separated from the transport unit, so that even if the recording medium is caught in the transport unit, it can be easily removed. Also, dust and the like attached to the head surface can be easily removed.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a configuration example of an ink jet printer, which is one of the ink jet recording apparatuses according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed obliquely from the front. The inkjet printer 100 has a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is configured so that all operations can be performed from one side (hereinafter, referred to as a front side). The paper transport unit 140 and the printing unit 150 shown in FIG. 4 and the like described later of the ink jet printer 100 are covered by a housing 101 having an open front side and a front frame 102 fitted on the front side of the housing 101. ing.

As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 101 is formed by, for example, sheet metal processing of a metal plate or by injection molding of plastic. As shown in FIG. 1, the front frame 102 is formed by injection molding of a plastic. Stackers 120 are arranged vertically, an operation panel 130 is arranged beside them, and an arrow b shown above the opening.
An open / close cover 103 that can be opened and closed in the front-rear direction is attached.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tray 110 has a main body 111 for stacking and storing the printing paper before printing, and a diagonally upward lifting of the front portion of the printing paper for feeding the stacked and stored printing paper one by one. It has a hopper 112. As shown in FIG. 2, the main body 111 is made slightly larger than, for example, A4 size printing paper. The main body 111 includes a positioning member 111 a for positioning the printing paper in the width direction of the printing paper disposed therein. It is designed to be positioned at a predetermined position by a lengthwise positioning member not to be stacked and stored.

As shown in FIG. 2, the hopper 112 has a paper support portion 112a disposed at a front portion inside the main body 111 and a leg portion 112b integrally formed with the paper support portion 112a. The front part of the printing paper is lifted obliquely upward by the paper support part 112a that pivots around the end of the leg part 112b by the urging member 112c locked to the part 112b and the inner bottom surface of the main body 111. I have.

[0015] As shown in FIG.
The printing paper can be supplied in a state where the printing paper is stored in the housing 101 behind the front frame 102, and as shown in FIG. The printing paper can be replenished or replaced. As the printing paper, plain paper, special paper, recommended OH
P-sheets, glossy papers, glossy films, label sheets, postcards made by government, and the like can be used.

As shown in FIG. 3, the stacker 120 holds a receiving tray 121 for receiving and placing printing paper discharged after printing is completed, and a rear end portion of the receiving tray 121 pulled out forward. Or the cradle 12 pushed backward
1 is provided. Cradle 121
Is made slightly smaller than, for example, A4 size printing paper, and is configured to hold the printing paper discharged after printing is completed. The base 122 is fixed in the housing 101, and is configured to support or receive or hold the receiving base 121 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the operation panel 130 is provided with a power button 131, a reset button 132, a paper discharge button 133, and the like.
1 is electrically connected to a dedicated controller board or the like of the control unit 160 incorporated in the controller 1. This operation panel 13
By operating each of the 0 buttons 131 to 133, etc.,
The inkjet printer 100 can be started, printed, stopped, and the like.

The opening / closing cover 103 is, as shown in FIG.
It is formed in a size that can cover substantially the upper half of the front frame 102 by injection molding of plastic, so that it can be pivotally opened and closed about the lower part by pulling the upper part forward and pushing it backward. It is configured. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the supporting ribs 103a are formed at two lower portions of the opening / closing cover 103 so as to protrude.
3 a is supported by the front frame 102 as a pivot center of the opening / closing cover 103. Further, locking ribs 103b are formed at upper portions of both side surfaces of the opening / closing cover 103 so as to protrude therefrom. 1
02.

Then, as shown in FIG.
A paper transport unit 140 is disposed above the tray 110 when the cover 03 is opened. Above the paper transport unit 140, a main scanning direction (a carriage 151 to be described later) indicated by an arrow c is shown.
(A scanning direction) is provided. Here, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state where the housing 101, the front frame 102, and the opening / closing cover 103 are removed, and FIG.
FIG. 7 is a front view thereof, FIG. 8 is a side view thereof, and a detailed configuration of the sheet transport unit 140 and the printing unit 150 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The paper transport section 140 transports printing paper to the housing 10.
1 has a function of transporting it from the tray 110 stored in the tray 1 to the stacker 120 pulled out to the front side, and the following members are arranged in order from the rear side to the front side. That is, a first paper guide 141 (see FIGS. 5, 6, and 8) disposed above the tray 110, a paper feed roller 142 (see FIGS. 5, 6, and 8) disposed vertically opposed, and a pad 143a. Pad holder 143 (see FIG. 8) having pad holder 143 (see FIG. 8), second paper guide 144 that supports pad holder 143 (see FIG. 8), and driven rollers 145 (see FIGS. 5 to 8) that are vertically opposed to each other. , A paper feed roller 146 (see FIGS. 5, 6, and 8), a third paper guide 147 (see FIGS. 5 to 8) disposed below the printing unit 150, and a discharge jagged roller 148 that is vertically opposed. (FIGS. 5-8
And a paper discharge roller 149 (see FIGS. 5, 7, and 8).

The printing unit 150 includes a carriage 151 movable in the main scanning direction (see FIGS. 5 to 8), and a carriage 151.
An ink cartridge 152 (see FIGS. 5 to 8) detachably mounted in the front-rear direction with respect to the carriage 151;
A print head 153 (see FIGS. 7 and 8),
A guide rod 154 (see FIGS. 5 to 8) for guiding the movement of the carriage 151, a flexible wiring board 155 (see FIGS. 5 to 7) for electrically connecting the print head 153 and a dedicated controller board of the control unit 160, and an ink cartridge. Assist means 156 (see FIGS. 5 to 8) for assisting in attaching / detaching 152 to / from carriage 151 is provided. The ink cartridge 152 includes a total of four color tanks, for example, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black.
It is configured so that full-color printing is possible.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, a drive motor 171 and a gear mechanism 172 as a transport driving unit 170 for driving the paper transport unit 140 are provided on one side of the paper transport unit 140, and the printing is performed. A drive motor 181 and a belt mechanism 182 as a print driving unit 180 of the unit 150 are disposed on the rear side of the printing unit 150.

The operation of such a configuration will be briefly described. It is assumed that the connection wiring and the connection of the power plug between the inkjet printer 100 and a computer or the like have already been completed. First, in a state shown in FIG. 1, the user pulls a finger on a concave portion provided on the bottom surface of the tray 110 and pulls the finger as shown in FIG. 2.
Pull 10 forward.

Subsequently, after a plurality of printing papers are stored in a stacked state at a predetermined position in the main body 111 of the tray 110, the tray 110 is pushed backward and set. At this time, the front of the printing paper is lifted obliquely upward by the hopper 112, and the front end of the top printing paper contacts the paper feed roller 142.

Next, the user pulls the finger by hanging it on the concave portion provided on the bottom surface of the stacker 120.
As shown in FIG. 3, the stacker 120 is pulled out forward. Then, the user operates the operation panel 130 to put the inkjet printer 100 in a standby state, and inputs a print command from a computer or the like.

Then, as shown in FIG.
The uppermost sheet of printing paper P is guided by the first paper guide 141 and the second paper guide 144 and is drawn forward by the rotation of the paper feed roller 142 in the sub-scanning direction. And the pad 143a, and is sent further forward. Then, the printing paper P is sandwiched between the driven roller 145 and the paper feed roller 146 and is sent further forward.

When the printing paper P reaches the third paper guide 147, the movement of the carriage 151 in the main scanning direction is started. Then, the printing paper P being conveyed in the sub-scanning direction
On the other hand, the print head 153 ejects ink droplets while moving in the main scanning direction, and prints predetermined print information on the printing paper P. At this time, the scanning timing and the ink ejection timing of the print head 153 are controlled by a dedicated controller board or the like of the control unit 160, and high-precision ink dot control, halftone processing, and the like are executed.

Then, the printing paper P is sandwiched between the paper discharge roller 148 and the paper discharge roller 149 and sent further forward, and finally the printing paper P on which printing has been completed is discharged onto the stacker 120. Is done. When the ink in the ink cartridge 152 is exhausted, the open / close cover 103 is opened as shown in FIG.
Is rotated forward as shown by an arrow d in the drawing to separate it from the ink cartridge 152, and as shown in FIG. 10, the ink cartridge 152 is pulled out forward as shown by an arrow e in the drawing.
Replace with a new ink cartridge 152.

As described above, according to the ink-jet printer 100, all the operations are performed on the front side from the setting of the printing paper P before printing to the removal of the printing paper P after printing, and further from the replacement of the ink cartridge 152. Since the processing can be performed, the operation is quick and easy, the printing efficiency can be improved, and the peripheral devices can be installed on the upper portion of the printer, so that the work space can be effectively used.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a guide member which is a characteristic part of the present invention. A guide rod (guide shaft) is provided between the rear portions of the side surfaces 201a erected on both sides of the plate surface 201 of the guide plate (guide member) 200.
154 is installed, and the print head 1 is
Elongated hole 202 and paper feed roller 14 extending in the movement direction of 53
2. Holes 203 and 204 for fixing a part of the driven roller 145, the paper discharge serrated roller 148, and the like while popping out.
205 and the like are provided.

Further, at the front end of the plate surface 201 of the guide plate 200, a locking region 206 where a hook (locking portion) 151a provided on a carriage 151 described later is locked.
And a non-locking region 207 from which the locking is released. The locking region 206 is formed in a shape protruding forward from the non-locking region 207, and the protruding portion is hooked on the hook 151a.

As shown in FIG. 12, a substantially L-shaped hook 151a whose front end faces rearward is formed integrally with the front lower end of the main body of the carriage 151. Shaft hole 15 into which guide rod 154 is inserted
1b is provided. Then, as shown in FIG.
The tip of the hook 151a is the locking area 2 of the guide plate 200.
By locking the carriage 151, the carriage 151 can be prevented from lifting up.

That is, as shown in FIG. 14, the locking area 206 is formed in the home position area of the carriage 151, and the non-locking area 207 is formed in the printing area where the carriage 151 reciprocates. For this reason, when the carriage 151 is moved into the locking area 206, FIG.
5 and a cap 15 for capping the print head 153.
The projection 158a on the cap holder 158 for holding the cap 7 contacts the portion A, and the cap 157 and the cap holder 1 together.
58 is moved rightward in the figure.

At this time, the cap 157 is moved along the cam surface 157a which rises to the right in the figure and is provided in the apparatus main body.
Is pushed up and comes into close contact with the print head 153 to cap the print head 153. Therefore, an upward force is applied to the print head 153 as a reaction force, but as shown in FIGS.
Are locked in the locking area 206, so that the guide rod 15
The rotation of the carriage 151 around the center 4 can be suppressed, and the mounting accuracy of the carriage 151 can be maintained in a highly accurate state.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
When the 51 is moved into the non-locking region 207, the hook 151a is unlocked as shown in FIG. For this reason,
As shown in FIG. 20, the carriage 151 can be expanded with respect to the guide plate 200 in the non-locking area 207, so that the print paper is caught by the paper transport unit 140 and a paper jam (jam) occurs. Even if raised, the print paper can be easily removed by lifting the carriage 151 and separating it from the paper transport unit 140. Also, dust and the like attached to the print head surface can be removed.

Conventionally, there is a type in which the carriage is prevented from rotating by hooking a projection provided on the carriage with a bent portion of the sheet metal. However, the cost of adding additional parts was also increasing. On the other hand, in the present invention, the guide plate 200
It is not necessary to process the sheet metal straight, and it can be managed only by the sheet thickness and the space between the carriage 151 and the hook 151a.
Both accuracy and cost have improved.

As described above, the present invention has been described with respect to various embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and other embodiments may be included within the scope of the invention described in the claims. It goes without saying that also applies. For example, in the above embodiment, a printer was described as an example,
The present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to, for example, a facsimile machine, a copying machine, and the like.

[0038]

As described above, according to the recording apparatus of the present invention, even when an external force is applied to the recording head,
Since the locking portion provided on the carriage is locked to the guide member, the rotation of the carriage around the guide shaft can be suppressed, and the mounting accuracy of the carriage can be maintained in a highly accurate state. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a configuration example of an ink jet printer, which is one of the ink jet recording apparatuses according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed obliquely from the front.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where a tray of the ink jet printer of FIG. 1 is pulled out.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where a stacker of the ink jet printer of FIG. 1 is pulled out.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which an opening / closing cover of the ink jet printer of FIG. 1 is opened.

5 is a perspective view showing a state in which a housing, a front frame, and an opening / closing cover of the ink jet printer of FIG. 1 are removed.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the ink jet printer of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the ink jet printer of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the ink jet printer of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a first perspective view showing a procedure for replacing an ink cartridge of the ink jet printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a second perspective view showing a procedure for replacing an ink cartridge of the ink jet printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a guide member which is a characteristic part of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a side view of a main body of the carriage having a locking portion that locks with the guide member shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the locked state of the locking region of the guide member and the locking portion of the carriage shown in FIG. 11, viewed from below.

FIG. 14 is a front view of the recording apparatus showing a forming range of a locking area and a non-locking area of the guide member shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is a front view showing a state where the locking portion of the carriage shown in FIG. 12 has moved into the locking region of the guide member.

FIG. 16 is a side view of the state of FIG.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the state of FIG. 15 as viewed from below.

FIG. 18 is a plan view showing a state where the locking portion of the carriage shown in FIG. 12 has moved into a non-locking region of the guide member.

FIG. 19 is a side view of the state shown in FIG. 18;

20 is a perspective view of the recording apparatus showing a possible expanded state of the carriage in the state shown in FIG. 18;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 inkjet printer 101 housing 102 front frame 103 opening / closing cover 110 tray 111 main body 112 hopper 120 stacker 121 receiving stand 122 base 130 operation panel 140 paper transport section 141 first paper guide 142 paper feed roller 143 pad holder 144 second paper Guide 145 Followed roller 146 Paper feed roller 147 Third paper guide 148 Paper discharge serrated roller 149 Paper discharge roller 150 Printing unit 151 Carriage 151a Hook 152 Ink cartridge 153 Print head 154 Guide rod 155 Flexible wiring board 156 Assist means 157 Cap 158 Cap holder 160 Control unit 170 Transport drive unit 171 Drive motor 172 Gear mechanism 180 Print drive unit 181 Drive motor 182 Belt mechanism 200 Guide 206 locking area 207 unlocked area

Claims (3)

[Claims] A carriage on which a recording head is mounted;
In a recording apparatus including a guide member on which a guide shaft for guiding the movement of the carriage is provided, the guide member includes: a locking region where a locking portion provided on the carriage is locked; A recording device having a non-locking region from which the recording device comes off. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the locking area is formed corresponding to an area for capping the recording head. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carriage is configured to be able to expand with respect to the guide member in the non-locking area.