JP2003072113A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet printer which can shorten a printing time without impeding a printing function. SOLUTION: The ink jet printer is provided with a function for flashing a printing head 16 and can set a printable region (from P6 to P7) by the printing head 16 up to a region wider than a printing object T. To a waste ink collection part 113 are set extruding ink collection regions Ta and Ta for receiving ink drops of the printing head 16 which are discharged at positions deviated to the outside from edges of the printing object T and flashing ink collection regions Tb and Tb adjacent to the regions Ta and Ta for receiving ink drops consequent on the flashing.

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 having a flushing function for ejecting ink droplets from all ink nozzles of a print head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional general ink jet printer, a print head mounted on a printing object such as paper is moved in the left-right direction (main scanning direction) and
The print target is sent in the front-back direction (sub-scanning direction) to perform printing. At this time, printing is performed by appropriately ejecting ink droplets from the plurality of ink nozzles of the print head toward the print target. On the other hand, when the printing operation is not performed, the ink nozzles may dry and become clogged or dust may adhere.Therefore, move the print head to a position outside the printing operation range to face the head cap. I have to. The head cap seals the tip of the print head, sucks (cleans) ink droplets, and ejects ink droplets from all ink nozzles of the print head before starting the printing operation. Further, even when the printing is stopped for 2 to 3 seconds in the middle of the printing operation, in order to prevent the clogging due to the drying, the print head faces the head cap, and the ink droplets are ejected from all the ink nozzles of the print head. I am trying to let you (flushing). Then, the ink droplets (waste ink) sucked or ejected from the print head are guided from the head cap to the waste ink tank (waste ink recovery section) by the waste ink pump and stored therein.

[0003]

In such a conventional ink jet printer, in the flushing operation, it is necessary to move the print head to the position of the head cap in the middle of the printing operation. It was an obstacle to shortening the time.

An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer which can shorten the printing time without causing any trouble in the printing function.

[0005]

An ink jet printer of the present invention has a flushing function of ejecting ink droplets from all ink nozzles of a print head, and sets a printable area of the print head to an area wider than a print object. An ink jet printer capable of ejecting ink from a print head ejected at a position outside the edge of a print target, and an ink for flushing adjacent to the ink ejecting part. And a flushing ink recovery unit for receiving drops.

According to this structure, the moving distance of the print head during flushing can be minimized by providing the flushing ink collecting section adjacent to the protruding ink collecting section. Therefore, the moving time required for flushing is shortened, and the printing time as a whole is shortened. Further, if the printable area of the print head is set to be wider than the print target, it is possible to perform printing that becomes the background (including the tint block) of the image.

In this case, the flushing ink recovery unit is
It is preferable that a pair is disposed on both sides of the print target on the moving path of the print head.

According to this structure, the print head that is moving on the printing object may be moved to either one of the pair of flushing ink recovery units during flushing, and the print head is moved during flushing. The distance, ie the travel time, can be minimized.

In these cases, it is preferable that the overflow ink recovery section and the flushing ink recovery section are integrally formed.

According to this structure, the number of parts can be reduced and the structure can be simplified.

In these cases, it is preferable that the overflowing ink collecting section and the flushing ink collecting section have an ink absorbing material that absorbs and holds the ink droplets.

In these cases, the protruding ink collecting section is
It is preferable that the print object is arranged so as to face the print head with the print object sandwiched therebetween, and that the print object is arranged along the moving path of the print head. In this case, the printable area of the print head is set to be wider than the print target, and the print head is further provided with a control unit for controlling the flushing operation and the overflow printing operation. It is preferable that the ink droplets are ejected outward from each edge of the print target in the width direction and the length direction.

In these cases, it is preferable that the object to be printed is in the form of a tape wound in a roll.

According to this structure, even if the printing object has various widths, the protruding ink collecting section and the flushing ink collecting section can be made relatively compact.

In these cases, a cartridge for accommodating an object to be printed and detachably mounted on the printer main body is further provided, and the protruding ink collecting section and the flushing ink collecting section are arranged in the cartridge. Is preferred.

According to this structure, the ink droplets (waste ink) in the protruding ink recovery section and the flushing ink recovery section can be discarded as the cartridge is replaced (discarded). That is, the waste ink generated in the inkjet printer can be directly discarded in the cartridge. In addition, the printer body can be downsized accordingly.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this inkjet printer, desired characters or the like that have been key-in are color-printed (printed) on a tape, which is an object to be printed, in an inkjet format, and the printed portion of the tape is cut to create a label. The tape is composed of a base tape that has been printed and has an adhesive layer on the back surface, and release paper that covers the adhesive layer of the base tape. The part of the material tape is attached to a document file as a label.

As shown in the external perspective view of FIG. 1, the ink jet printer 1 comprises a tape cartridge 2 containing a tape T and a printer main body 3 to which the tape cartridge 2 is detachably mounted. The printer body 3 has an outer shell formed by a body case 4, a keyboard 5 and a button group 6 including a power button and a print button, and the like, and a liquid crystal display 7 on the right rear portion. It is set up.

An opening is formed in the rear surface of the main body case 4 so as to face the tape cartridge mounting portion 8 in which the tape cartridge 2 is mounted, and a first opening / closing lid 9 is mounted in this opening. Further, a slit-shaped tape ejection port 10 for ejecting the printed tape T to the outside is formed on the rear surface of the body case 4 located above the first opening / closing lid 9. Further, an opening is formed on the lower surface of the main body case 4 so as to face a cartridge holder 11 in which an ink cartridge 41 described later is mounted, and a second opening / closing lid 12 is attached to this opening.

On the other hand, inside the printer body 3, as shown in FIG. 2, a power supply unit 13 and an information processing unit 14 are provided at the front portion, and an ink supply unit 15 including an ink cartridge 41 is provided at the intermediate portion, and an ink supply unit. Print head 16 connected to section 15
And a head drive unit 17 for moving the print head 16 together with the ink supply unit 15, and a tape supply unit 18 including the tape cartridge 2 at the rear, a tape discharge unit 19 for sending the printed tape T to the outside, and a waste ink discharge. Waste ink processing units 20 are provided respectively. The ink supply unit 15, the print head 16, the head drive unit 17, the tape supply unit 18, the tape discharge unit 19, and the waste ink processing unit 20 are supported by the base frame 21 and are unitized in the printer body 2. It is built inside.

The power supply unit 13 includes a battery 31 such as a nickel-cadmium battery and a power supply unit 32, and supplies power to each internal device including the information processing unit 14 and the head drive unit 17. The information processing unit 14 includes a control circuit that processes an input from the keyboard 5, the button group 6 and the like, and controls each internal device such as the head drive unit 17 and the liquid crystal display 7.

The tape cartridge 2 of the tape supply unit 18
The tape T, which is fed forward from, passes through the printing position of the print head 16 after being turned upward, is further turned backward, and is fed out from the tape discharge portion 19. As the tape T runs, the print head 16 repeats the reciprocating movement in the left-right direction by the head drive unit 17 while receiving the ink supply from the ink supply unit 15,
The ink droplets are ejected to print on the tape T. That is,
The main scanning direction is the moving direction of the print head 16, and the tape T
Printing is performed on the tape T with the feeding direction of the sub-scanning direction as the sub-scanning direction. On the other hand, when the printing operation is stopped or stopped, the ink droplets at the tip (ink nozzle) of the print head 16 may be dried and solidified.
At 0, the print head 16 is cleaned in the stopped state, and in the rest state (2 to 3 seconds or more), the print head 1 is cleaned.
6 flushing is performed. Therefore, when the printing operation is stopped or stopped, the head drive unit 17 is driven to expose the print head 16 to the waste ink processing unit 20.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ink supply unit 15 holds the print head 16 at one end, and the cartridge holder 11 mounted on the carriage 64 of the head drive unit 17, and the cartridge holder. 11 and an ink cartridge 41 housed inside. The ink cartridge 41 has three ink tanks 42.
Are integrally formed with three ink tanks 4
The inks of three colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow are stored in 2, respectively. The back plate 11a of the cartridge holder 11 allows the mounted ink cartridge 41
Are held so that their respective ink supply ports 43 are pressed toward the print head 16 side.

Ink absorbing material 4 is provided in each ink tank 42.
4 is filled, and the ink is stored in a state of being absorbed by the ink absorbing material 44. Further, an ink absorbing material 44 is provided on the ink supply port 43 side in each ink tank 42.
And a tank-side filter 45 is built in. On the other hand, the print head 16 is provided with a receiving member 51 having an ink introduction port 52 into which each ink supply port 45 is fitted, and an annular seal member 53 is provided around each receiving member 51. The ink cartridge 41 is pressed against the print head 16 side with the ink supply port 43 fitted in the receiving member 51, and the tip of the ink supply port 43 crushes the seal member 53 so that the ink cartridge 41 is liquid-tight on the print head 16 side. Is attached to. The ink inlet port 52 communicates with the ink passage 55 of the print head 16 via the head-side filter 54, and the ink in the ink tank 42 passes through the ink supply port 43 and the ink inlet port 52 to print. The ink is supplied to the ink passage 55 of the head 16.

The head drive unit 17 is composed of the carriage motor 6
1, a pair of pulleys 62a and 62b, and a pair of pulleys 6
An endless timing belt 6 laid between 2a and 62b
3, a carriage 64 that supports the cartridge holder 11, and a carriage guide shaft 65 that guides the movement of the carriage 64. Carriage guide shaft 6
Reference numeral 5 denotes both side plates 21a of the base frame 21,
21a, the carriage 64 has a front portion slidably attached to the carriage guide shaft 65, and a rear portion of the carriage 64 on the bottom plate 21b of the base frame 21 by a slide protrusion (not shown) provided on the lower surface. It is slidably mounted.

The carriage motor 61 has a motor mounting plate 66 extending horizontally from the side plate 21a of the base frame 21.
A drive side pulley 62a is attached to the output shaft 67 which is fixed above (see FIG. 4) and protrudes downward. The driven pulley 62a with respect to the driven pulley 62a
2b are arranged at a distance in the width direction of the base frame 21 and are rotatably attached to the tip of a tension lever 68 supported by the base frame 21 (see FIG. 4). A fixed piece 69 extending from the print head 16 is connected to the timing belt 63 which is stretched between the pulleys 62a and 62b.
The print head 16 and the cartridge holder 11 move as the print head 3 travels. That is, the carriage motor 6
The timing belt 63 travels forward and backward in accordance with the forward and reverse rotation of 1, and the print head 16 and the cartridge holder 11 mounted on the carriage 64 are guided by the carriage guide shaft 65 and the bottom plate 21b of the base frame 21 to move in the left-right direction. Move back and forth.

FIG. 4 shows the reciprocating range of the print head 16. The reciprocating range of the print head for printing is the forward movement start position P2 and the backward movement start position (foldback position) P.
3, the tape cartridge 2 faces the intermediate position of the reciprocating range, and the home position P1 is set outside the forward movement start position P2. In addition, the forward movement start position P2
Between the forward movement start position P3 and the backward movement start position P2
And the forward constant speed position P4, and between the backward movement start position P3 and the backward constant speed position P5 are the acceleration / deceleration ranges. Further, a forward printing start position P6 and a backward printing start position P7 are set between the forward constant speed position P4 and the backward constant speed position P5, and the forward printing start position P6 and the backward printing start position P are set.
The area between 7 and 7 is the printable range. Then, between the forward moving constant speed position P4 and the forward moving printing start position P6, and between the backward moving constant speed position P5 and the backward moving printing start position P7, the print head moves at a constant speed. Becomes

The print head 16 waits at the home position P1, accelerates from the forward movement start position P2 in response to a print command, reaches a predetermined movement speed at the forward movement constant speed position P4, and then moves to the forward movement start position. The printing operation in the forward direction is started from P6. Further, when the print head 16 reaches the backward movement printing start position P7, the printing operation in the forward movement direction ends, and the backward movement constant speed position P
It stops after 5 in the backward movement start position P3. At the next moment, this time, the movement of the print head 16 in the forward movement direction is started, the printing operation in the backward movement direction is performed between the backward movement print start position P7 and the forward movement print start position P6, and the forward movement start position P2. Stop at. By repeating the reciprocating movement of the print head 16 in this manner, printing on the tape T proceeds.

Reference numeral 70 in FIG. 3 is a position detecting sensor composed of a photo interrupter attached to the side plate 21a of the base frame 21, and when the light shielding plate 71 protruding from the carriage 64 faces this, the carriage 70 The motor 61 is stopped. That is, when the moved print head 16 reaches the home position P1, the position detection sensor 70 detects this and stops the print head 16 at the home position P1 via the carriage motor 61. The home position P1 is a standby position for the print head 16 and a reference position for each of the positions P2 to P7. That is, the zero point (home position P1) of the carriage motor 61 is constantly corrected by the position detection sensor 70, and a predetermined number of steps (P2 to P7) are calculated from this zero point.
The carriage motor 61 rotates to move the print head 16 to P
It is accurately moved to each position from 2 to P7.

The print head 16 includes cyan, magenta,
Corresponding to the three color inks of yellow, there are three rows of ink nozzle groups in the horizontal direction, and a plurality of ink nozzles 22 are arranged in the vertical direction at equal intervals in each ink nozzle group ( (See FIG. 2). In this case, three color inks of cyan, magenta, and yellow are appropriately ejected at the same point on the tape T to obtain dots of a desired color.

The print head 16 constructed in this way is
When the inkjet printer 1 is in the power-off state, it has moved to the home position P1 and faces the waste ink processing unit 20. Even when the inkjet printer 1 is in the power-on state, when the printing operation is paused for a certain period of time, the print head 16 is moved to the home position P1 to face the waste ink processing unit 20. Then, in the former state, in the waste ink processing unit 20, the print head 1
Cleaning is performed to suck ink from the ink nozzles 22 of No. 6, and in the latter state, flushing is performed in the waste ink processing unit 20 to eject ink from all the ink nozzles 22 of the print head 16.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the waste ink processing section 20 includes a head cap 81 facing the print head 16, a cap moving mechanism 82 for moving the head cap 81 forward and backward, and a head cap 81. Waste ink,
A waste ink pump 83 for sending to a waste ink recovery unit 113 described later is provided. Although the details will be described later, the waste ink recovery unit 113 is built in the tape cartridge 2,
The head cap 81 and the waste ink recovery unit 113 are connected by an ink feeding tube 84. Further, a ventilation tube 85 whose tip is open to the atmosphere is connected to the head cap 81, and a valve unit 86 is interposed in the middle of the ventilation tube 85.

In the above-described cleaning, the head moving mechanism 82 brings the head cap 81 into close contact with the print head 16, and the waste ink pump 83 is driven to suck the ink. After the suction is performed, the close contact state between the head cap 81 and the print head 16 is maintained, and the ink nozzles 22 of the print head 16 are protected from coagulation (drying) of ink and adhesion of dust. In flushing, the head cap 81 is kept away from the print head 16, and ink is ejected from the print head 16 toward the head cap 81.

The head cap 81 is formed by filling an ink absorber 89 in a cap case 88 having an opening 87 facing the print head 16. The opening 87 has a width that covers all the ink nozzles 22 while protruding from the cap case 88, and the edge of the opening 87 is pressed against the print head 16 so that the print head 16 and the cap case 88 are separated from each other. Seal the gap. The cap moving mechanism 82 is attached to the support plate 90 cut and raised from the base frame 21, and advances the head cap 81 attached to the tip thereof to press it against the print head 16 during cleaning.

The waste ink pump 83 is arranged on the left side of the tape cartridge mounting portion 8, and the tube pump 9
1 and a pump motor 9 for rotating the tube pump 91
2 and a pump gear train 93 that transmits the power of the pump motor 92 to the tube pump 91 (see FIG. 4). The pump motor 92 squeezes the ink supply tube 84 wound around it to suck the waste ink in the head cap 81. The types of suction include main suction at the time of cleaning and empty suction that simply sucks the waste ink accumulated in the head cap 81. In the main suction, since the ink is sucked from the print head 16, the valve unit 86 is operated and the ventilation tube 85 is closed. On the other hand, in the idle suction, the valve unit 86 is operated to open the ventilation tube 85.

Further, the tape cartridge mounting portion 8 has
Connect the downstream end of the ink feeding tube 84 to the tape cartridge 2
A tube connection mechanism 94 for contacting and separating from the waste ink collecting section 113 is provided. The tube connection mechanism 94 has a seventh
As shown in the figure, a "L" -shaped turning arm 97 is rotatably attached to the base frame 96 via a horizontal shaft 95 at an intermediate position. Ink tube 84
The downstream end of the rotary arm 97 is attached to a holder portion 98 provided at one end of the rotary arm 97, and is brought into contact with or separated from the waste ink collecting portion 113 by the rotation of the rotary arm 97 about the horizontal axis. . At the other end of the rotating arm 97, an inclined surface is formed along the attaching / detaching direction of the tape cartridge 2 (not shown), and although not shown, the rotating arm 97 is
The ink feeding tube 84 is urged to rotate in the connecting direction by a spring or the like.

When the tape cartridge 2 is mounted, the inclined surface of the rotating arm 97 engages with the tape cartridge 2, and the rotating arm 97 rotates the ink feeding tube 84 in the connecting direction. On the contrary, when the tape cartridge 2 is removed,
The engagement between the tape cartridge 2 and the slope is released, and the rotation arm 97 rotates the ink supply tube 84 in the non-connection direction. As a result, the ink feeding tube 84 and the waste ink collecting unit 113 are connected in association with the mounting of the tape cartridge 2, and the waste ink can be sent to the waste ink collecting unit 113.

Next, the tape supply unit 18 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 8. The tape supply unit 18
Disposable tape cartridge 2 containing tape T
And a tape cartridge mounting portion 8 in which the tape cartridge 2 is mounted, and a drive roller (fixed roller) 101 for running the tape T. The tape cartridge mounting portion 8 is a pocket-shaped accommodating portion formed in the printer body 3. When the tape cartridge 2 is mounted from the rear and the first opening / closing lid 9 is closed, the tape cartridge 2 is
It is housed in a state where it is positioned in the front-rear and left-right directions. Then, the print head 16 that reciprocates in the left-right direction comes close to and faces the front surface of the positioned tape cartridge 2.

The drive roller 101 is disposed below the print head 16 and rotates using a tape feed motor 144 of the tape ejecting section 19 described later as a power source (see FIG. 3).
The drive roller 101 is a driven roller (described later) of the tape cartridge 2 mounted in the tape cartridge mounting portion 8.
The tape T is fed out from the tape cartridge 2 in cooperation with the tape 115 and is exposed to the print head 16 and is further fed out. That is, the tape feed roller 1 is formed by the drive roller 101 and the driven roller 115.
00, the tape feed roller 100 feeds the tape T in a direction orthogonal to the moving (reciprocating) direction of the print head 16 to perform scanning in the sub-scanning direction in the printing operation of the print head 16.

As shown in FIG. 8, the tape cartridge 2 has a rectangular parallelepiped cartridge case 111,
The tape T is accommodated inside the tape reel 112 in a state of being wound around the tape reel 112 and standing upright. Also,
In the cartridge case 111, a waste ink collecting section 113 filled with an ink absorbing material 114 is formed on the front side of the wound tape T, and a driven roller (movable roller) 115 is formed below the waste ink collecting section 113. It is arranged. The tape reel 112 is a cartridge case 11.
1, which is rotatably attached to both side walls of the tape 1.
1) By 115, after being forwarded from the lower side, it is guided upward along the front wall portion of the cartridge case 111, and further guided to the tape discharge portion 19 located diagonally rearward.

The driven rollers 115 are, as shown in FIG. 1B, a pair of roller bodies 1 having the largest diameter in the axial direction.
16, a small-diameter intermediate small-diameter portion 117 located between both roller main bodies 116, a pair of outer small-diameter portions 118 located outside each roller main body 116, and further outside each outer small-diameter portion 118. With the pair of shaft portions 119 that have the smallest diameter,
It is formed integrally. The driven roller 115 is attached so that the pair of shaft portions 119 are supported by shaft holes 120 formed in both side walls of the cartridge case 111, respectively. The shaft hole 120 is a long hole extending in the front-rear direction, and the driven roller 115 is rotatably supported by the shaft hole 120 and movable in the front-rear direction. Further, a leaf spring (biasing member) 122 having a base end fixed to an inner wall 121 of the case forming the waste ink recovery unit 113 is in contact with the intermediate small-diameter portion 117 of the driven roller 115. 115 is biased forward, that is, toward the drive roller 101 side.

On the other hand, in the cartridge case 111, a delivery window 123 located in front of the driven roller 115 and extending horizontally and extending to the full width of the cartridge case 111.
Is formed, and the driven roller 115 has the feeding window 1
23, and contacts the drive roller 101 with the tape T sandwiched. Specifically, when the tape cartridge 2 is properly mounted in the tape cartridge mounting portion 8,
The driven roller 115 is in contact with the driving roller 101 with the tape T sandwiched therebetween, and the driven roller 115 is slightly pushed back to the cartridge case 111 side against the leaf spring 122. Further, when the tape cartridge 2 is pulled out from the tape cartridge mounting portion 8 in this state,
The driven roller 115 separates from the drive roller 101 and at the same time, the lower window edge portion (regulating portion) 1 that constitutes the feeding window 123 in a state where the tape T is sandwiched by the leaf spring 122.
It is pressed against 24.

In this case, the tape T in the print standby state
The leading end of the sheet is cut and then pulled back to be at an intermediate position between the driven roller (tape feed roller 100) 115 and the print head 16. Therefore, by sandwiching the tape T between the driven roller 115 and the lower window edge portion 124, the tape T can be prevented from being pulled back into the cartridge case 111, and the tape cartridge 2 is mounted. As a result, the tape T can be automatically put in the print standby state.

Front wall 125 of cartridge case 111
Has a double-walled structure on the upper side of the feeding window 123, and the front outer wall 125a and the front inner wall 125b thereof guide the passage of the tape (guide portion) 12
6 are configured. The front outer wall 125a is the print head 1
6 is cut off to fill the width of the cartridge case 111 as well as the feeding window 123 with the printing window 12
7 are formed. That is, the upper guide passage 126a is formed between the upper front outer wall 125a and the front inner wall 125b with the printing window 127 interposed therebetween, and the lower front outer wall 125a.
A lower guide passage 126b is formed between the front inner wall 125b and the front inner wall 125b. The tape T runs in a state in which the upper guide passage 126a and the lower guide passage 126b regulate the distance between the print head 16 (front-rear direction) and the width direction (left-right direction).

A pair of guide plates (feed direction guide members) 128 are attached to the front inner wall 125b forming the lower guide passage 126b so as to extend the lower guide passage 126b toward the driven roller 115 side. Each guide plate 12
The tip of 8 faces the outer small diameter portion 118 of the driven roller 115. As a result, even if the front end of the tape T in the print standby state is near the driven roller 115,
The tape T passes through the guide plate 118 and the lower guide passage 126.
is properly guided to b. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the leading end of the tape T, which is unwound from the tape reel 112 with a winding tendency, from being fed into the cartridge case 111 along the driven roller 115.

Further, a holding guide plate 129 is attached to the front surface of the front outer wall 125a constituting the lower guide passage 126b so as to extend the lower guide passage 126b toward the print head 16 side. The tip extends to the vicinity of the position of the ink nozzle 22 of the print head 16. The presser guide plate 129 has elasticity, and the printing window 1
At 24, the running tape T is lightly pressed toward the front inner wall 125b by its elasticity. As a result, the distance between the ink nozzle 22 of the print head 16 and the tape T facing the ink nozzle 22 is accurately maintained.

On the other hand, the front wall 1 of the cartridge case 111
A waste ink recovery unit 113 is provided inside the unit 25. The waste ink recovery unit 113 extends between the both side walls of the cartridge case 111 in a portion defined by the front inner wall 125b and the case inner wall 121. Is formed. A connection hole 130 is formed on the side wall so that the tip of the ink-feeding tube 84 is exposed (see FIG. 7). When the ink-feeding tube 84 is in a connected state, the tip thereof is connected via the connection hole 130. The upper part of the ink absorbing material 114 filled in the waste ink collecting part 113 comes into contact with the upper part. Further, a pair of left and right waste ink recovery windows 131 is formed in a portion of the front inner wall 125b facing the ink nozzles 22 of the print head 16.

Here, the pair of left and right waste ink recovery windows 1
The significance of 31 will be described. In the inkjet printer 1 of the present embodiment, the background color can be printed (solid) on the tape T by utilizing the fact that it is a color printer. In this case, in order to reliably print the background color on both outer ends of the tape T in the width direction, the printable range (between P6 and P7) of the inkjet printer 1 is set to be larger than the tape width. It is set large. That is, printing (overhang printing) can be started from a position that is a few dots beyond the outer edge of the tape T in the width direction.

That is, the pair of waste ink recovery windows 1 described above.
Reference numeral 31 is an opening for directly guiding the ink droplets protruding from the outer end of the tape T by the protrusion printing to the waste ink recovery unit 113, and each waste ink recovery window 131 can surely receive the ink droplets. The outer end thereof extends to the position of the side wall of the cartridge case 111. It is preferable that each waste ink recovery window 131 has a size that does not allow a human finger to enter.

In the tape cartridge 2 thus constructed, the ink droplets ejected from the ink nozzles 22 of the print head 16 land on the tape T through the printing window 127, and the ink droplets protruding from the tape T are removed. , And land on the surface of the ink absorbing material 114 through the printing window 127 and the waste ink recovery window 131. Therefore, it is not necessary to form the waste ink collecting portion 113 for collecting the protruding waste ink on the printer body 3 side, and the structure around the printing window 127 can be simplified.

On the other hand, in the tape cartridge 2 mounted in the tape cartridge mounting portion 8, at least 2 for positioning the tape cartridge 2 at an appropriate position in the tape cartridge mounting portion 8.
The book positioning pin 132 is fitted.
At least two fitting holes 133 are formed in the front wall portion located at the lower end of the tape cartridge 2 corresponding to the positioning pins 132. Each positioning pin 132
Is a flange portion 132 attached to the printer body 3 side
a and a pin body 132b protruding toward the tape cartridge mounting portion 8 side.
The tape cartridge 2 is positioned in the left-right direction by being fitted into the tape cartridge 3, and the flange portion 132a is brought into contact with the edge of the fitting hole forming the fitting hole 133, whereby the tape cartridge 2 is positioned in the front-rear direction. Is done.

Next, the tape ejecting portion 19 will be described with reference to FIGS. Tape ejection section 19
Guides the tape T obliquely rearward from the upper side of the tape cartridge 2 to the tape discharge port 10, and the upper and lower guide plates 141a and 141b forming the tape discharge passage 140.
And a discharge roller 142 facing the tape discharge passage 140 through an opening formed in the lower guide plate 141b, and the discharge roller 1
And a drive mechanism 143 for rotating 42. Although not shown, the tape cartridge 2 and the guide plate 14
A cutter for cutting the tape T is provided between the cutters 1a and 141b. The cutter is provided at the upper and lower intermediate portions of the upper guide passage 126a of the tape cartridge 2.
You may make it arrange | position.

The drive mechanism 143, as shown in FIG.
A tape feed motor 144 mounted inside the side plate 21a of the base frame 21, and a tape feed motor 144
Gear train 145 for transmitting the power of
And the reduction gear train 145 is disposed outside the side plate 21 a of the base plate 21. As described above, from the reduction gear train 145, the power is branched and transmitted to the drive roller 101, and the rotation of the tape feed motor 144 causes the discharge roller 142 and the drive roller (tape feed roller 100). 101 rotates simultaneously, and the tape T is run.

When one printing operation is completed, the tape T stops its running and is cut by the cutter.
Next, the tape T located on the downstream side from the cutting position is sent out from the tape discharge port 10 by the discharge roller 142. Further, the tape T located upstream from the cutting position
Is pulled back by the tape feed roller 100 until the tip reaches a position in the vicinity thereof, and the print standby state is set.

As described above, in the ink jet printer 1 of this example, the tape cartridge 2 has the waste ink collecting section 113 built therein, and the head cap 8 is provided therein.
The waste ink is collected via the printer 1, and the waste ink droplets at the time of the overflow printing are also collected. Therefore,
It is not necessary to previously provide a portion for storing the collected waste ink in the printer body 3. Therefore, it is advantageous for downsizing and downsizing of the inkjet printer 1. On the other hand, the waste ink recovery unit 113 formed in the tape cartridge 2 may have a capacity in consideration of the frequency of replacing the tape cartridge 2 (using up the tape).
It is sufficient that the amount of waste ink of about 6 cc can be maintained.

Next, referring to FIG. 9 and FIG.
Another embodiment of the tape cartridge 2 will be described. As described above, in the inkjet printer 1, the waste ink collected by the waste ink collecting section 113 of the tape cartridge 2 includes the waste ink generated by the cleaning and flushing of the head cap 81 and the waste ink generated by the overflow printing. is there. Head cap 8
The waste ink No. 1 is guided to the waste ink recovery unit 113 by the waste ink pump 83, and the waste ink accompanying the overflow printing is
It is guided from the print head 16 directly to the waste ink recovery unit 113.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the tape cartridge 2 has a first waste ink collecting section (first divided collecting section) 113a and a second waste ink collecting section (second divided collecting section). Two waste ink recovery parts 11 with 113b
3, the waste ink of the head cap 81 is recovered by the first waste ink recovery unit 113a, and the second waste ink recovery unit 113 is operated.
In b, the waste ink of the overflow printing is collected. The second waste ink recovery unit 113b is arranged at the same position as the waste ink recovery unit 113 of the above embodiment, and is filled with less ink absorbing material 114b than in the above embodiment. In addition, the first ink collecting portion 113a is provided with a partition wall 1 at the corner portion on the lower rear side of the cartridge case 111.
It is formed by being divided by 51. The inside of the first ink recovery unit 113a is also filled with the ink absorbing material 114a.

In such a structure, as shown in FIG. 10, the first waste ink recovery unit 1 of the cartridge case 111 is used.
A connection port 130, which faces the tip of the ink supply tube 84, is formed in the portion facing 13a. Further, as in the above-described embodiment, a tube connection mechanism 94 is provided that connects and disconnects the downstream end of the ink feed tube 84 to and from the first waste ink recovery unit 113a of the tape cartridge 2. The tube connection mechanism 94 includes an “L” -shaped rotating arm 162 rotatably attached to the base frame 21 via a vertical shaft 161 at an intermediate position. The downstream end of the ink feeding tube 84 is attached to a holder portion 163 provided at one end of the rotating arm 162, and by rotating the rotating arm 162 about the vertical shaft 161,
It contacts and separates from the first waste ink recovery unit 113a. Also in this case, the other end of the rotating arm 162 is formed with an inclined surface (not shown) along the attaching / detaching direction of the tape cartridge 2, and although not shown, the rotating arm 162 is
It is urged to rotate in the connecting direction of the ink feeding tube 84 by a spring or the like.

In this way, the waste ink recovery unit 113 is set to the first
Waste ink recovery unit 113a and second waste ink recovery unit 113b
This is effective when there is a constraint such that the connection position with the ink suction tube 84 cannot be formed on the front wall side of the tape cartridge 2 due to the layout of each part. Further, the empty space in the cartridge case 111 can be effectively utilized.

Since the first waste ink recovery unit 113a recovers the waste ink accompanying the cleaning, the recovery amount of the waste ink is larger than that of the second waste ink recovery unit 113b. In particular, if the cleaning function is frequently used by the manual operation, the waste ink may overflow from the first waste ink recovery unit 113a. Therefore, in this embodiment, the full-state detecting unit 171 for detecting the full state of the first waste ink collecting unit 113a is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, two detection holes 172 are formed on the rear wall of the cartridge case 111 so as to face the first waste ink recovery section 113a. The detection hole 172 of the
A pair of contactors 173, which are the sensors, are detachably faced. The fullness detecting means 171 has a pair of contactors 173, an ink detection circuit 174 to which the pair of contactors 173 are connected, and a contactor attachment / detachment mechanism 175 for attaching / detaching the pair of contactors 173 to / from the two detection holes 172. It has and.

The contactor attaching / detaching mechanism 175 includes a first opening / closing lid 9 for opening / closing the tape cartridge mounting portion 8 and a first opening / closing lid 9.
And a pair of contactors 173 are held by the contactor holder 176. When the first opening / closing lid 9 is closed after the tape cartridge 2 is mounted in the tape cartridge mounting portion 8, the pair of contacts 173 are inserted into the detection holes 172, respectively, and the ink absorbing material 11 of the first waste ink collecting portion 113a is inserted.
Contact 4a. Further, when the first opening / closing lid 9 is opened, the pair of contacts 173 are respectively pulled out from the detection holes 172.

On the other hand, the ink detecting circuit 174 detects the resistance value of the ink absorbing material 114a between the pair of contacts 173, and the waste ink is absorbed by the ink absorbing material 114a until the ink absorbing material 114a is full. When the resistance value reaches a predetermined value, a full signal is output to the control circuit 191 described later. As a result, for example, the liquid crystal display 7 displays, via the control circuit 191, that the first waste ink recovery unit 113a is full, or the printing operation is stopped. As described above, the tape cartridge 2 has a connection port 1
Although the nozzle 30 and the detection port 172 are formed, the ink does not leak from these openings when the ink absorbing material 114 can absorb the waste ink.

In this way, the first waste ink recovery section 113a
Since the full state of the waste ink is detected, it is possible to prevent the waste ink from overflowing from the first waste ink collecting section 113a,
There is no problem such as the tape cartridge 2 and the tape cartridge mounting portion 8 becoming soiled with waste ink.

Next, the ink jet printer 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the ink jet printer 1, the ink jet printer 1 of the first embodiment flushes the head cap 81, whereas the flush ink is directly flushed to the waste ink recovery unit 113 of the tape cartridge 2 as in the case of the overflow printing. It is like this. In the following description of the second embodiment, only the parts different from the first embodiment will be described.

FIG. 13 corresponds to FIG. 8 of the first embodiment. The waste ink collecting section 113 of the ink cartridge 2 is projected from the print head 16 through the waste ink collecting window 131. The waste ink associated with printing and the waste ink associated with flushing are directly ejected. As shown in FIG. 6B, the left and right protrusion areas T are provided outside the tape width (including the tape width tolerance) Tw.
a, Ta, and left and right flushing areas Tb, Tb are set outside each protruding area Ta. In this case, the printable range (P6 to P7) described above is between the two protruding areas Ta and Ta, and the flushing area Tb is set outside thereof. Each protruding area Ta is, for example, about 0.5 mm (several dots), and each flushing area Tb is, for example, about 1.0 mm (several tens of dots).

The protrusion printing can be performed not only in the width direction of the tape T but also in the length direction of the tape T.
That is, it is possible to set the printing such that the printing starts from the position deviated from the tip of the tape T. In such a case, a pair of left and right waste ink recovery parts 113 are connected to form a strip-shaped recovery part. Further, it is preferable that a bridge member or the like is provided in the strip-shaped collecting portion so that the tip of the tape T can be guided. In addition, the waste ink recovery window 1
31 may be divided into a first ink recovery window 131a and a second ink recovery window 131b as in the first embodiment (another embodiment of the tape cartridge).

By the way, the tape cartridge 2 in the first embodiment is exactly the same, but the tape cartridge 2 is prepared with several kinds of tapes T having different widths. In such a case, it is necessary to automatically set the printable range according to the width of the tape T. Therefore, a cartridge discriminating means 181 for discriminating the type of the tape cartridge 2 is provided.

The cartridge discriminating means 181 comprises a plurality of small holes 182 formed in the front wall of the lower end of the cartridge case 111, and a plurality of small holes 182 arranged on the printer body 3 side to detect the presence or absence of the small holes 182. And the detection protrusion 183 of FIG. The plurality of detection protrusions 183 depends on the number of types of the tape cartridge (tape width) 2, but is, for example, 6
They are provided individually, horizontally and at equal intervals. Although not shown, each of the detection protrusions 183 is attached to the switch end of the push switch. When inserted into the corresponding small hole 182, the push switch is turned “OFF”, and when there is no corresponding small hole 182, the push switch is turned off. Pressed "O
N ”.

On the other hand, the plurality of small holes 182 of the cartridge case 111 are appropriately formed in the number of six or less at the positions corresponding to the six detection protrusions 183. That is, the type of the cartridge case 111 can be represented by a 6-bit bit pattern depending on the number of the small holes 182 and the formation positions of the small holes 182. That is, when the tape cartridge 2 is mounted in the tape cartridge mounting portion 8, the type of the tape cartridge 2 can be detected by the ON / OFF state of the six switches. By using the cartridge discriminating means 181, not only the width of the tape T but also the material of the tape T can be discriminated.

Here, the main control system of the ink jet printer 1 will be briefly described. As shown in FIG.
A control circuit 191 is composed of a microcomputer, and an input unit 192 composed of a keyboard 5 of the inkjet printer 1 and a button button group 6 is connected to the input side. Further, a detection unit 193 for detecting the tape width is connected. On the output side of the control circuit 191, a display unit 194 such as a liquid crystal display 7 for performing various displays, a printer controller 195 for controlling the printing operation by the print head 16, and a motor driver for driving and controlling each motor. 196,197
Are connected. Based on a control program stored in advance in the ROM of the control circuit 191, this control circuit 191
Under the control of 1, the print range corresponding to the tape width accommodated in the mounted tape cartridge 2 is set.
In addition, a printing range wider than the tape width is set, and the above-mentioned protruding printing operation and flushing operation are performed.

As described above, in the ink jet printer 1 of this example, the printable range that is wider to the left and right than the mounted tape width is set so that the full width of the tape is printed. In the solid-printing, the waste ink collecting section 113 collects ink droplets protruding from the outer end of the tape T. Further, also in flushing, the waste ink collecting section 113 collects the ink droplets.

Therefore, according to the ink jet printer 1 of the second embodiment, the print head 16 is moved to the position of the head cap 81 (P in FIG. 4) for the flushing drive.
It is not necessary to move to 1), and the moving time of the print head 16 for flushing can be shortened. Therefore, the printing time can be shortened as a whole.

Further, as in the first embodiment, since the waste ink collecting section 113 is provided on the tape cartridge 2 side, a portion for storing the collected waste ink is provided in the printer body 3 in advance. No need to leave. Therefore, it is advantageous for downsizing and downsizing of the inkjet printer 1.

The waste ink collecting section 113 in the second embodiment may be arranged on a guide member or the like which is provided on the printer body 3 side and which defines the printing position of the tape T. In this case, as a guide member, an ink filter capable of absorbing and passing ink is arranged on the front surface, and an ink absorber is arranged on the back surface thereof, and the ink is absorbed and held via the ink filter. do it.

Further, as the waste ink recovery section 113, a type which moves integrally with the print head 16 may be adopted. For example, in a printer of a type that prints on a wide print object such as a poster, the print range is wide. Therefore, in order to perform the overhang printing at a position beyond the left and right edges or the front and rear edges, the print is performed. It is necessary to arrange the waste ink recovery unit over the range. However, this is uneconomical because the installation location of the waste ink recovery unit becomes large. Therefore, a waste ink recovery unit that moves integrally with the print head may be employed, and in such a case, the waste ink recovery unit can be made small.

Next, referring to FIG. 15, the third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The inkjet printer 1 according to the embodiment will be described. The inkjet printer 1 prints on a single-cut sheet Tb such as a postcard, and the detailed configuration is omitted, but the multiple-cut sheet Tb is accommodated in the single-cut sheet cartridge 201 so as to be stacked. .

In this case, the cut-sheet paper cartridge 201
The waste ink absorbing portion 202 may be attached to the rear end of the rear end, and the ink absorbing material 203 may be incorporated therein. Further, one end of the waste ink recovery unit 202 may be projected in the lateral direction, and a connection port 205 for inserting the tip of the ink feeding tube 204 may be formed in that part. In this case, the sheet separating roller 207 is arranged on the side of the feeding port 206 of the cut sheet Tb of the cut sheet cartridge 201, and the cut sheets Tb contained in the cut sheet Tb are placed one by one from the upper side. Try to get out.

Even when the present invention is applied to such a cut sheet cartridge 201, the same effect can be obtained in the case of the tape cartridge 2 described above. In the case of such cut-sheet paper Tb, the amount of ink consumed during the life of the inkjet printer 1 is very large. Therefore, in this case, if the waste ink recovery unit is installed in the printer body, it is necessary to recover an extremely large amount of waste ink, which requires a large space. However, if the waste ink recovery unit 202 is installed in the cut-sheet paper cartridge 201 as in the present invention, the amount of waste ink generated before the use of the cut-sheet paper cartridge 201 is small, and therefore the printer main body side Space saving can also be achieved.

On the other hand, as an ink jet printer to which the present invention can be applied, as in the above example, cyan,
The present invention can be applied even if it is not of the type that performs three-color printing of magenta and yellow. For example, it can be applied to an inkjet printer that uses only black ink, and can also be applied to an inkjet printer that has four or more colors.

[0081]

According to the ink jet printer of the present invention, since the moving distance of the print head during flushing can be minimized, it is suitable for shortening the printing time as a whole. Further, by setting the printable area of the print head to a wider area than the print target, it is possible to perform so-called overprinting which is the background of the image.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an inkjet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the inkjet printer according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an internal device of the inkjet printer according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an internal device of the inkjet printer according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view around a head cap of the inkjet printer according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a waste ink processing unit.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view around a tube connection mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a structural diagram of a tape cartridge.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the tape cartridge.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view around a tube connection mechanism corresponding to another embodiment of the tape cartridge.

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram showing a configuration on the tape cartridge side of a full ink detection unit of a waste ink recovery unit.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the detection circuit side of the full ink detection unit of the waste ink recovery unit.

FIG. 13 is a structural diagram of a tape cartridge of an inkjet printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a control system of the inkjet printer according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view around a single-cut sheet cartridge of an inkjet printer according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Inkjet Printer 2 Tape Cartridge 3 Printer Body 16 Print Head T Tape (Printing Target) 113 Waste Ink Collection Section (Extrusion Ink Collection Section, Flushing Ink Collection Section)

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An inkjet printer having a flushing function of ejecting ink droplets from all ink nozzles of a print head and capable of setting a printable area of the print head to an area wider than a print target. A protrusion ink recovery unit that receives the ink droplets of the print head ejected at a position outside the edge of the object, and a flushing ink recovery unit that is adjacent to the protrusion ink recovery unit and that receives the ink droplets associated with flushing. An inkjet printer characterized by comprising: 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein a pair of the flushing ink recovery units are disposed on both sides of the print target on the moving path of the print head. 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the overflow ink recovery section and the flushing ink recovery section are integrally formed. 4. The overflow ink recovery section and the flushing ink recovery section each have an ink absorbing material that absorbs and holds an ink droplet.
Or the inkjet printer described in 3. 5. The overflowing ink recovery unit is disposed so as to face the print head with the print target being sandwiched therebetween, and is disposed over a movement path of the print head. The inkjet printer according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. A printable area by the print head is set to a wider area than the print target, and the print head further comprises control means for controlling a flushing operation and a protruding print operation of the print head, the control means comprising: The ink jet printer according to claim 5, wherein, in the overflow printing operation, ink droplets are ejected from the print head to the outside from each edge of the print target in the width direction and the length direction. 7. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the printing object is a tape wound in a roll. 8. A cartridge that accommodates the print target and is detachably attached to the printer body, wherein the protrusion ink recovery unit and the flushing ink recovery unit are disposed in the cartridge. The inkjet printer according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the inkjet printer is provided.