JP2003094676A - Inkjet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly open/close a head cap in a small space while keeping a printer head fixed to a fixed position. SOLUTION: A head cap opening/closing mechanism opens/closes and drives the head cap 10 for opening/closing a head surface 9a of a head cartridge 8, by using a rack 89 which is linearly driven by a motor, while guiding the head cap 10 along complicated shapes of guide grooves 32 and 33 of a head cap guide mechanism.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet printer most suitable for using an inkjet type line head as a printer head, and
The present invention belongs to the technical field of a mechanism for opening and closing the head surface of a printer head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been developed a small-sized full-color printer capable of printing a color image processed by a personal computer or the like, or an image photographed by a digital video camera, a digital still camera or the like into a high-quality full-color image at high speed. Demand is growing. Therefore, conventionally, an inkjet printer using a line head as a printer head has already been developed, and this line head is configured as a head cartridge integrated printer head that is coupled to the lower portion of a substantially rectangular head cartridge. Then, on the head surface (nozzle surface) formed on the lower surface of the line head, a large number of fine ejection nozzles arranged in a line (line shape) along a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the print paper are provided. , Yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are arranged in multiple rows along the conveyance direction of the print paper.

The line head is yellow,
Small color ink droplets of four colors, magenta, cyan, and black, are sprayed one by one in the width direction of the print paper in one row in a row in the width direction of the print paper so that the droplets adhere to each other, and the multi-color coating is performed in the printing paper conveyance direction. Since an image can be printed, it is possible to overcome the printing speed, which is a drawback of serial scan type printers in which the printer head is moved by the carriage in the direction perpendicular to the print paper transport direction, and a high-quality full-color image can be obtained. It can be printed at high speed.

By the way, an ink jet printer using a line head is equipped with a head cap opening / closing mechanism that opens the head surface (nozzle surface) before printing and closes the head surface after printing.
Then, in the conventional head cap opening / closing mechanism, as shown in (A) B) (C) of FIG. 60, yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) are provided on the head surface 202a of the line head 202. , Black (K) four-color jetting nozzles 202b are provided vertically downward, and the line head 202 is held by a head holder 203 and is vertically movable in the vertical direction. The head cap 204 that opens and closes the plurality of ejection nozzles 202b on the head surface 202a is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the vertical direction of the head holder 203.

In the standby state, as shown in FIG. 60A, the plurality of jet nozzles 202b of the line head 202 at the standby position are sealed by the head cap 204, and before the printing is started, as shown in FIG. (B), the line head 202 is once raised (raised) together with the head holder 203, and the plurality of ejection nozzles 202 b are pulled out above the head cap 204.
Subsequent to this, the head cap 204 is slid laterally (horizontally moved) to set the plurality of openings 204a of the head cap 204 directly below the plurality of ejection nozzles 202b of the line head 202. And finally, FIG.
As shown in (C) of FIG. 0, the line head 202 is lowered together with the head holder 203 to a print operation position below the standby position shown in (A) of FIG. 202b head cap 20
4 is inserted into a plurality of nozzle holes 204a so as to be exposed downward (nozzle opening state).

[0006]

Therefore, in the conventional head cap opening / closing mechanism, the up / down operation of the line head 202 and the sliding operation of the head cap 204 are combined to drive the line head 202 up / down. Two sets of drive mechanisms, a mechanism and a slide drive mechanism for the head cap 204, are required, and the mechanism is complicated and requires a large space, which makes it difficult to reduce the size.
In particular, since the line head 202 has to be moved up and down with a large stroke in the vertical direction, the thickness of the inkjet printer has increased, and it has been difficult to reduce the thickness of the inkjet printer. In the structure in which the line head 202 is moved up and down, the line head 2
There is a problem that it is difficult to position 02 at the operating position with high accuracy and the image quality of a printed image is easily deteriorated.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides an ink jet printer capable of smoothly opening and closing the head cap in a small space while fixing the printer head in a fixed position. It is intended to be provided.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An ink jet printer of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a printer head set in a fixed position, a head cap for opening and closing a head surface of the printer head, and the head cap. Is provided with a head cap opening / closing mechanism that opens and closes between the closed position and the open position of the head surface, and the head cap drive mechanism separates the head caps that are independent of each other between the closed position and the open position. And a head cap drive mechanism that is driven by a motor to drive the head cap along the head cap guide mechanism.

Claim 1 of the present invention configured as described above
The inkjet printer includes a head cap opening / closing mechanism that opens / closes a head cap that opens / closes the head surface of the printer head between a closed position and an open position, and the head cap opening / closing mechanism separates the head caps from each other. Since the head cap drive mechanism drives the head cap to open and close while the head cap guide mechanism moves and guides the head cap, the head cap can be smoothly opened and closed along a complicated moving path.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of an ink jet printer using a line head to which the present invention is applied will be described below in the following order with reference to the drawings. (1) ... Outline description of inkjet printer (FIGS. 1 to 5) (2) ... Printing operation description of inkjet printer (FIGS. 1 to 3 and FIGS. 5 to 23) (3) ... Head Description of cartridge / connector attachment / detachment mechanism (FIGS. 15 to 23) (4) ... Description of head cap opening / closing mechanism (FIG. 24)
~ Fig. 39) (5) ... Description of the conveyor belt lifting mechanism (Figs. 4 to 1)
4, FIG. 31 to FIG. 40) (6) ... Description of driving method of transport belt (FIG. 40) (7) ... Description of gap adjusting mechanism between line head and print sheet transport belt (FIG. 41) (FIG. 50) (8) ... Description of jam handling mechanism for print paper jammed inside the inkjet printer (FIG. 4, FIG. 51 to FIG. 58)

(1) Outline of Inkjet Printer First, the outline of the inkjet printer will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 because the inkjet printer has various features which will be described later. , Low overall height, thin (small), and lightweight. The inkjet printer includes a lower chassis 1 and an upper chassis 2 made of sheet metal or the like, and the upper chassis 2 is configured to be openable and closable above the lower chassis 1 as described later. Further, a paper feed tray 4 in which a large number of print papers 3 which are cut papers are loaded at a time and stored horizontally is loaded horizontally at the bottom position of the lower chassis 1 so as to be able to be inserted / removed in the front-rear direction from the front. A paper discharge tray 5 is provided in a substantially horizontal shape above the end of the lower chassis 1 on the front side of the paper feed tray 4 on the extraction direction side. Inside the lower chassis 1, a print paper transport path 6 is arranged above the paper feed tray 4 at a position offset to the rear side.

A line head 9, which is a printer head, is parallel and integrally connected to a lower portion of a rectangular head cartridge (also referred to as an ink cartridge) 8. The head cartridge 8 is a line head. It is configured as an integrated head cartridge. And
In the head cartridge 8, color inks of four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are stored in a row along the length direction and in a number of rows for each color along the width direction. It is formed on the head surface (nozzle surface) 9a of the lower surface of the line head 9 and is configured to be ejected from a large number of ejection nozzles (not shown) for each color in a row in the length direction and in the width direction. Has been done. A head cap 10 for opening and closing the head surface 9a of the line head 9 is provided, and a cleaning roller (wiping roller) as a cleaning means for the head surface 9a is provided at a position offset to one end side in the head cap 10. 11 also referred to as) is rotatably attached.

Then, at a position corresponding to an upper portion of the print sheet transporting end position of the print sheet transporting path 6 in the lower chassis 1 and substantially in the center of the upper chassis 2 in the front-rear direction,
A cartridge holder 12 formed of synthetic resin or the like is horizontally installed, and the cartridge holder 12
The cartridge mounting hole 13 is formed so as to vertically penetrate the upper chassis 2. The cartridge mounting hole 13 is formed as a rectangular-shaped rectangular hole that extends long in a direction orthogonal to the printing paper conveyance direction described later. The head cartridge / connector attaching / detaching mechanism 14, which will be described later, is configured so that the head cartridge 9 can be attached / detached in the cartridge attaching hole 13 in the vertical directions of the arrows j and l ′ so as to be horizontally set (attached). There is.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which the cartridge 8 is pulled out from the inside of the cartridge mounting hole 13 (in the direction of arrow j '), and FIG. 2 shows a state in which the head cartridge 8 is set in the cartridge mounting hole 13. Is shown. 3 shows a state in which the head cap 10 of the head cartridge 8 is pulled out to the open position, and FIG. 4 shows the upper chassis 2 above the lower chassis 1 by about 100 for the jam treatment of the print paper described later. The figure shows a state in which the print paper conveyance path 6 is opened by rotating the print paper conveyance path 6 up to an opening angle of °. And FIG.
The upper chassis 2 is horizontally attached to the upper position of the rear end of the lower chassis 1 as shown in FIG.
Around 7 is mounted rotatably in the up and down directions of arrows v and v '. In addition, the cartridge holder 12
Are horizontally fixed to the upper chassis 2.

(2) Description of Printing Operation of Inkjet Printer Next, the printing operation of the inkjet printer will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 14, and the end of the paper feed tray 4 in the insertion direction into the lower chassis 1 will be described. Feeding plate 2 at the bottom of the section
0 is provided, and on the print paper transport path 6,
The print paper 3 is conveyed diagonally rearward and upward, and U is moved upward.
After being turned, it is configured in a substantially U-shaped path that conveys obliquely downward and forward. Then, the pickup roller 21 and the separation roller 2 are provided along the print sheet conveyance path 6.
2, lower paper guides 23 and 24, reversing roller 25, reversing guide 26, upper paper guides 27 and 28, pinch roller 29, conveyance belt unit 31 having a conveyance belt 30 which is a printing paper conveyance unit, discharge roller 32
Etc. are arranged. The conveyor belt unit 31 is configured to be lifted and lowered by a conveyor belt elevating mechanism, which will be described later, in a swing (swing) method in the directions of arrows e and e ′ which are vertical directions.

FIG. 5 shows an initial state of the printing operation. In this initial state, the conveyor belt unit 3
1 is lowered in the direction of arrow e'to the print standby position in which the head cartridge 8 is lowered obliquely downward. Then, the leading ends of a large number of stacked print papers 3 set by the paper feed tray 4 are positioned below the pickup roller 21. Next, when the printing operation is started, the pick-up roller 21, the separation roller 22, the reversing roller 25, the conveyance belt 30, and other rotary members for conveying print paper are rotationally driven in the print paper conveyance direction. As shown in FIG. 6, first, the paper feed plate 2
The leading edge of the entire print sheet 3 in the paper feed tray 4 is pushed up by 0, and the leading edge 3a of the uppermost print sheet 3 is printed.
Is pressed against the pickup roller 21 from below, and the pickup roller 21 starts feeding.

Then, the leading end 3a of the fed printing paper 3 is fed between the separation roller 22 and the lower paper guide 23. At this time, when two print sheets 3 are fed simultaneously, the first print sheet 3 which is the uppermost layer is separated from the second print sheet 3 below and the next lower sheet Send it between the paper guides 23 and 24,
Paper separation is performed so that the second print paper 3 is stopped as it is.

In this way, the leading edge 3a of the print sheet 3 which has become one sheet is continuously rotated by the separation roller 22, and the arrow a is directed obliquely upward on the lower paper guide 23 as shown in FIG. Direction, the reversing roller 2
5 and the inversion guide 26 on the outer periphery thereof.
Then, at this point, as shown in FIG.
While the reversing roller 25
Is about 18 along the inner circumference of the inversion guide 26 in the direction of arrow b.
The print sheet 3 is conveyed so as to be inverted by 0 ° (U-turn), and the front end 3a of the print sheet 3 is fed between the upper paper guides 27 and 28 in an obliquely downward direction from the direction of arrow c.

At this point, as shown in FIG.
The opening operation of the head cap 10 of the head cartridge 8 is started, and the head cap 10 moves from the closed position of the lower part of the line head 9 shown in FIG. 8 to the print paper discharge direction (direction of arrow f) shown in FIG. The head surface 9a of the line head 9 is moved in a substantially L-shape in the arrow d direction from the unit 31 to an open position separated upward.
Is released. Then, during this time, the head surface 9a of the line head 9 is cleaned (wiped) by the cleaning roller 11 as described later.

Then, as will be described later, the conveyance belt unit 31 follows the opening operation of the head cap 10.
From the print standby position, which is lowered obliquely downward as shown in FIG. 5, to the horizontal printable position, as shown in FIG. The head 9 is in a horizontal state in which the head 9 is parallel to and close to the head surface 9a. Then, by utilizing the raising operation of the conveyor belt unit 31 in the direction of the arrow e, the head surface 9a and the conveyor belt 30 are moved by the gap adjusting mechanism described later.
The gap between and is adjusted according to the thickness of the print paper 3, and the pinch roller 29 is relatively pressed onto the conveyor belt 30 of the conveyor belt unit 31.

On the other hand, during this period, the upper paper guide 27,
As shown in FIG. 11, the print paper 3 conveyed in the direction of arrow c diagonally downward between the two 28 is pinched by the pinch roller 29.
Is elastically pressed by the horizontal conveyor belt 30 and is bent horizontally on the conveyor belt 30 as it is. Then, the print sheet 3 is continuously conveyed horizontally along the head surface 9a of the line head 9 in the direction of the arrow f at a constant speed by the conveying belt 30, and the line head 9
A full-color image is printed on the upper surface of the print paper 3 by the color inks of four colors that are ejected from the head surface 9a onto the upper surface of the print paper 3 in a row for each color and overlaid. Then, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the print sheet 3 on which printing has finished is discharged onto the discharge tray 5 through the space between the conveyor belt 30 and the discharge roller 32, and the conveyor belt unit 31 is displayed. The print position shown in FIG. 13 is lowered obliquely downward in the arrow e'direction to the print standby position shown in FIG. 14, and a series of printing operations is completed.

The printing operation described above is a series of operations for printing one sheet of printing paper 3 from the initial state where the ink jet printer is stopped.
In the case of continuous printing, the next print paper 3 in the paper feed tray 4 is pushed up and fed by the paper feed plate 20 before the above printing operation is completed.
The print sheets 3 are sequentially fed and conveyed in sequence.

(3) Description of Head Cartridge / Connector Removal Mechanism Next, the head cartridge / connector removal mechanism 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 and 5 to 23. 8 is removable in the cartridge mounting hole 13 of the cartridge holder 12 and is set horizontally. At that time, the head cartridge 8
The positioning means is a pair of downward facing horizontal step portions 33 formed on the upper sides of the left and right side surfaces 8a, 8a 'which are both end surfaces in the lengthwise direction of the head cartridge 8 so as to face them. A positioning reference surface 36, which is an upward, horizontal step formed below the left and right side surfaces 13a and 13a ', which are both end surfaces in the length direction in the cartridge mounting hole 13.
A vertical contact surface 37 formed on the lower part of the front surface 8b of the head cartridge 8 and a positioning reference surface 38 formed vertically on the lower part of the front surface 13b of the cartridge mounting hole 13 so as to face the contact surface 37. , Cartridge mounting hole 13
A pressing spring 39 formed of a leaf spring which is an elastic pressing means and is fixed to approximately the center of the upper portion of the one side surface 13b 'of the inside,
The cartridge mounting hole 13 includes a positioning reference surface 13b, which is a side surface opposite to the pressing spring 39, and a pressing spring 54, which will be described later.

Next, a recess 40 is formed at a substantially central position on the rear surface 8c of the head cartridge 8 and the recess 4 is formed.
A fixed-side connector 42 is horizontally fixed inside the unit 0 via a printed circuit board 41. A movable connector 43, which is inserted into and removed from the fixed connector 42 from the rear side in the directions of arrows h and h ', is attached to the cartridge holder 12 side.

That is, the slide base 44 is integrally formed on the rear side of the cartridge holder 12, and the substrate holder 45 is slidable on the upper part of the center position of the slide base 44 in the forward and backward directions of arrows h and h '. It is placed in. The movable connector 43 is horizontally fixed to the front surface of the board holder 45 at a position facing the fixed connector 42 via a printed board 46. In this case, as shown in (A) of FIG. 22 and FIG. 23, for example, the fixed side connector 42 is configured on the male side, and the movable side connector 43 is configured on the female side. Inside the terminals 42 and 43, connecting terminals 42a and 43a of several tens of pins that are inserted into and removed from each other are horizontally provided.

A slide block 47 disposed on the rear surface of the substrate holder 45 above the slide base 44 is slidable by a pair of left and right guide pins 49 into a pair of left and right guide grooves 48 formed in the substrate block 45. The board holder 45 is engaged with the slide block 47 and is slidable in the directions of arrows h and h '. A pair of left and right pressing springs 50, which are compression coil springs which are elastic pressing means for pressing the substrate holder 45 against the slide block 47 in the forward direction of the arrow h, are the slide block 47 and the substrate holder 45.
Built in between.

The left and right ends 47a of the slide block 47 are projected to the left and right sides of the substrate holder 45, and a substantially U-shaped operation lever 52 is formed by the pair of left and right arms 52a. Four
It is arranged so as to straddle 7a from both left and right sides. The pair of left and right arms 52a of the operation lever 52 are formed in parallel plate shapes, and the pair of left and right arms 52a are in the front-back direction by the pair of left and right fulcrum pins 53 having the same axis center on the cartridge holder 12. Arrows i, i '
It is attached so that it can rotate in any direction.

A pair of left and right pressing springs 54, which are leaf springs serving as elastic pressing means, are attached to the front sides of the pair of left and right arms 52a, and are provided at the upper corners on the rear surface 8c side of the head cartridge 8. Has a slope 8d against which the pair of left and right pressing springs 54 are pressed. The inclination angle of the slope 8d is approximately 45 °. Then, the pair of left and right arms 52a of the operating lever 52
And a pair of left and right cam mechanisms 55 are provided between the left and right ends 47a of the slide block 47. The cam mechanism 55 is formed on the side of the arm 52a and the cam groove 56 formed on the side of the slide block 47. And the cam follower pin 57.

A pair of left and right stoppers 59 for locking the operation lever 52 at a lock position P3, which will be described later, are attached on the cartridge holder 12 at both left and right positions of a pair of left and right arms 52a of the operation lever 52. FIG. 23
(B) shows an outline of the stopper 59, in which the stopper pin 60 is held by the holder 61 and the rotation direction of the arm 52a of the operation lever 52 (arrow i,
Direction (arrow m, m'direction) orthogonal to i'direction)
It is configured to slide freely. The stopper pin 60 is pressed against the outer side surface 52b of the arm 52a from the direction of the arrow m by the pressing spring 62 as shown by the chain line. As shown by the chain double-dashed line, a groove 63 formed on the outer periphery of the stopper pin 60 for temporarily fixing the stopper pin 60 when the stopper pin 60 is pulled back to the unlocked position in the direction of the arrow m ', and a ball incorporated in the holder 61 side A temporary fixing mechanism composed of 64 and a ball pressing spring 65 is incorporated.

Here, the attaching / detaching operation by the head cartridge / connector attaching / detaching mechanism 14 configured as described above is mainly shown in FIGS. 18A to 18C and 19A to 19.
This will be described with reference to (C). First, (A) of FIG. 18 and (A) of FIG. 19 show an initial state in which the operation lever 52 is returned in the direction of the arrow i ′ to the lock release position P1 which is vertical about the fulcrum pin 53. In the state, the cam mechanism 5
The slide block 47 is pushed in the arrow h'direction via the cam groove 56 and the cam driven pin 57 of FIG. 5, and the substrate holder 45 is pushed back in the arrow h'direction via the guide pin 49 and the guide groove 48. The movable side connector 43 is separated from the cartridge holder 13 integrally with the substrate holder 45 in the arrow h'direction by a sufficient distance.

Therefore, FIG. 18 (A) and FIG. 19 (B)
In this initial state, the head cartridge 8 can be inserted (inserted) into the cartridge mounting hole 13 of the cartridge holder 12 in the direction of arrow j from above and horizontally set (mounted) as shown in FIG. 42, 4
There is no danger of the three interfering with each other. When the head cartridge 8 is horizontally set in the cartridge mounting hole 13, the left and right ends of the head cartridge 8 are set by the pair of left and right step portions 35 in the cartridge mounting hole 13.
It is placed horizontally on the pair of left and right positioning reference surfaces 26 inside. Then, the pressing spring 39 shown in FIG. 15 elastically presses one side surface 8a 'of the head cartridge 8 in the lateral direction of the arrow k, and the head cartridge 8
The other side surface 8a is elastically and strongly pressed against the positioning reference surface 13a, which is the other side surface in the cartridge mounting hole 13, from the direction of arrow k.

Then, thereafter, the operation lever 52 is rotated around the fulcrum pin 53 to the lock position P3 shown in FIG. 18C in the direction of the arrow i to lock the head cartridge 8 in the cartridge mounting hole 13. But the operating lever 52
18 from the unlocked position P1 shown in FIG.
About 60 ° in the direction of arrow i to the intermediate position P2 shown in (B) of
When rotated, the cam driven pin 57 is driven in the arrow h direction by the cam groove 56 of the cam mechanism 55, and the slide block 47 is slid in the arrow h direction by about 9 mm.

Then, the slide block 47 elastically slides the substrate holder 45 in the direction of arrow h via the pressing spring 50, and the movable side connector 43 is press-fitted into the fixed side connector 42 of the head cartridge 8 from the direction of arrow h. (Connected) At this time, since the press-fitting (connecting) stroke of the press-fitting side connector 43 to the fixed-side connector 42 is set to about 8 mm, the slide block 47 has an overstroke of about 1 mm from the press-fitting (connecting) stroke of the substrate holder 45. Then, the slide drive is performed in the direction of the arrow h, but the overstroke of about 1 mm is absorbed by the pressing spring 50. Therefore, the movable side connector 43 is moved to the fixed side connector 42 by an ideal pressing force without applying an abnormal load to both the connectors 42 and 43.
It is possible to press-fit (connect) smoothly and securely. Note that in this embodiment, the connectors 42, 43 are
The connection force of the solid lines of the connectors 42 and 43 could be set to 1.6 kg by the amount of slack of the pressing spring 50 of about 1 mm with respect to the measured connection force of 1 kg.

Then, the operation lever 52 is continuously moved to the lock position P3 shown in FIG.
When rotated about 90 ° with respect to the lock position P1 of (A), the pair of left and right pressing springs 54 are pressed against the inclined surface 8d of the head cartridge 8 in the direction of arrow i. Then, the component force of the pressing force generated by the inclined surface 8d acts in the arrow h direction and the arrow j direction, and the head cartridge 8 is strongly pressed onto the pair of left and right stepped portions 36 in the cartridge mounting hole 13 from the arrow j direction. At the same time, the contact surface 37 serves as the positioning reference surface 3
8 is strongly crimped from the direction of arrow h. As a result, first,
Along with the fact that the other side surface 8a of the head cartridge 8 is strongly pressed against the positioning reference surface 13a by the pressing spring 54 from the direction of the arrow k, the head cartridge 8 is moved in the cartridge mounting hole 13 in the direction of the arrow k. Positioning is performed with high precision in three dimensions from the three directions of arrow j and arrow h.

As shown in FIG. 18C, when the operating lever 52 is rotated to the lock position P3, the cam follower pin 57 of the cam mechanism 55 is formed at one end of the cam groove 46. Arrows h, h'on the slide block 47
It enters into the portion 57a that induces a play of about 1 mm in the direction. Therefore, almost at the same time when the positioning operation of the head cartridge 8 is completed, the slack amount of about 1 mm of the pressing spring 50 is naturally eliminated as shown in FIG.
The load applied to both connectors 42 and 43 is eliminated. As a result, damage to both connectors 42 and 43 can be prevented, and the positioning accuracy of the head cartridge 8 can be stabilized. Because, when the pressing force of the pressing spring 50 is strongly applied to the head cartridge 8 from the direction of arrow h, the head cartridge 8 is tilted and the positioning of the head cartridge 8 is completed. This can be eliminated by the cam mechanism 55.

Then, the operating lever 52 moves to the lock position P3.
8C and FIG. 2 when rotated in the direction of arrow i up to
As shown by the solid line in FIG. 3B, the stopper pin 60 of the stopper 59 automatically protrudes from the direction of the arrow m to the rear portion of the notch surface 60 formed in the direction of the arrow i of the arm 52a by the pressing spring 62. The return of the operating lever 52 in the direction of arrow i'is prohibited. Then, when replacing the ink, the head cartridge 8 is replaced with the cartridge holder 12
23, the stopper pin 60 is pulled back against the pressing spring 62 in the direction of the arrow m'to remove the ball 64 from the ball pressing spring 6 as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
When the stopper pin 60 is elastically engaged with the concave groove 63 by 5 and locked at the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line, the stopper pin 60 is disengaged from the notch surface 52c of the operating lever 52 in the direction of the arrow m. It

Therefore, the operation lever 52 is locked at the lock position P3.
To the unlock position P1 in the direction of arrow i ', the movable side connector 43 can be pulled out from the fixed side connector 42 in the direction of arrow h', and the head cartridge 8 can be easily pulled out from the inside of the cartridge mounting hole 13 in the direction of arrow j. it can.

As shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 18C, the tip portion 52d of the operating lever 52 is extended in the direction of arrow h, and the lock arm 67 is attached to the cartridge holder 12 via the fulcrum pin 68. The stopper 59 can be attached so as to be rotatable in the n and n'directions, and can be changed to a stopper 59 that is rotationally biased in the arrow n direction by a rotational biasing spring (not shown). Further, according to the stopper 59, when the operation lever 52 is rotated to the lock position P3 in the direction of arrow i, the tip of the operation lever 52 is swung by the rotation biasing spring in the directions of arrow n and n '. To automatically lock the operating lever 52 by simply rotating the lock arm 67 in the direction of the arrow n ′ against the rotation biasing spring when releasing the lock. It can be released with one touch.

(4) Description of Head Cap Opening / Closing Mechanism Next, referring to FIGS. 24 to 39, the head cartridge 8 will be described.
The head cap opening / closing mechanism 70 for opening / closing the head surface 9a of the line head 9 will be described. The head cap opening / closing mechanism 70 includes a head cap guide mechanism 71 and a head cap driving mechanism 86. First, as shown in FIG. 41, the jet nozzles 9b for four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black that are projected downward on the head surface (nozzle surface) 9a of the line head 9 are print paper. 3 conveyance direction (direction of arrow f)
Are arranged in a line in a number of rows. That is,
Several hundreds of the jet nozzles 9b are arranged in the length direction of the line head 9 in the directions of arrows k and k'in FIG. 1, and the arrows h and h'in the width direction of the line head 9 are arranged.
Several 10 rows are arranged for each color along the direction. For example, the linear array of the ejection nozzles 9b in an inkjet printer compatible with A4 size print paper is configured to be, for example, 360 × 16. The head cap 10 has a large number of ejection nozzles 9b on the head surface 9a.
The entire surface is opened and closed, and at the time of opening and closing, cleaning (wiping) is performed by the cleaning roller 11. Then, on the head surface 9a of the line head 9, a cleaning roller fitting concave portion 9c is provided along a position that is displaced to the upstream side in the transport direction (arrow f direction) of the print paper 3.
Are formed.

The head cap 10 corresponds to the rectangular line head 9 and is formed in a rectangular dish shape, which is one end side of the head cap 10.
1 to 13, a long cleaning roller 11 is provided inside the head cap 10 at a position deviated to the upstream side in the print sheet conveyance direction (arrow f direction).
It is rotatably attached by 1a in a state orthogonal to the print sheet conveyance direction.

At this time, a pair of vertical guide grooves 7 formed at both ends in the length direction inside the head cap 10.
Both ends of the roller shaft 11a of the cleaning roller 11 are held in the space 2 so as to be able to move up and down in the directions of arrows o and o ', and both ends of the roller shaft 11a are upward by a pair of pressing springs 73 such as compression coil springs. It is pressed and biased in the o direction. Therefore, the cleaning roller 11 is located at one end side in the head cap 10 and the head cap 1
It is attached to a position above 0 above a predetermined height.

The head cap guide mechanism 71 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 24 to 29. The head cap 10 is horizontally (parallelly) detachably mounted in a cap holder 74 having a substantially similar shape. The cap holder 74 is configured to open and close the head cap 10. At this time, the head cap 10 is inserted from above into the rectangular cap accommodating hole 75 formed in the cap holder 74, and is formed at each end of the head cap 10 in the length direction (arrows k, k'directions). Replace the pair of pins 76 with the cap holder 74.
Of the pair of pin fitting holes 77 formed at both ends in the length direction of the
The head cap 10 is detachably attached to the cap holder 74. A pair of guide pins composed of a long main guide pin 78 and a short auxiliary guide pin 79 are horizontally projected on both side surfaces of the cap holder 74 in the length direction.

Next, a pair of vertical cap guide plates 81 are provided outside the cartridge mounting hole 13 of the cartridge holder 12 on both sides in a direction orthogonal to the print sheet conveying direction (direction of arrow f). In parallel,
It is formed integrally. Each pair of cap guide plates 81 is formed with a pair of guide grooves consisting of a pair of main guide grooves 82 and sub guide grooves 83 so as to penetrate the cap guide plates 81 in the thickness direction.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 29, the pair of main guide grooves 82 and the sub guide shafts 83 are positioned below the set position of the head cartridge 8 which is set between the pair of cap guide plates 81 as described above. From above to the upper position in the print paper transport direction (direction of arrow f) described above, the pair of long main guide pins 78 on both sides of the cap holder 74 are formed in the pair of main guide grooves 82. The pair of short sub guide pins 79 are slidably and horizontally inserted into the pair of sub guide grooves 83.

In detail, each pair of main guide grooves 8
2 reaches a long horizontal portion 82c from a start end portion 82a on the upstream side in the print sheet conveying direction (direction of arrow f) through an inclined portion 82b inclined obliquely downward, and an arrow f of the horizontal portion 82c.
Through a downward step 82d formed at the end portion in the direction, a substantially L-shaped portion is formed from a slightly long inclined portion 82e inclined upward in the arrow f direction to a terminal end portion 82f above the inclined portion 82e. There is. In addition, each pair of sub guide grooves 83 has an arrow f.
From the upstream end 83a in the direction of the arrow to a slightly long horizontal portion 83c via an inclined portion 83b inclined obliquely downward, and from the horizontal portion 83b to an arcuate portion 83d that gradually rises upward in the arrow f direction. , And is formed in a substantially arcuate shape so as to reach the upper end portion 83e.

Here, the opening / closing operation of the head cap 10 guided by the head cap guide mechanism 71 will be described with reference to FIGS. 24 and 29. That is, the head cap 10 is integrated with the cap holder 74 by a head cap drive mechanism 86, which will be described later, and is horizontally set at the lower portion of the head cartridge 8 shown by the dotted line in FIG. Between the lateral position of the cartridge 8 on the arrow f direction side and the open position P12 that has been raised to a position sufficiently higher than the head surface 9a of the line head 9 (a position separated above the transport belt 30), While being guided by the head cap guide mechanism 71, it is opened and closed in the directions of arrows d and d '.

That is, at the closed position P11, as shown by dotted lines in FIGS. 24 and 29, the cleaning roller 11 of the head cap 10 is fitted and positioned from below into the recess 9b in the head surface 9a of the line head 9. , The line head 9 by the dish-shaped head cap 10
The head surface 9a is closed.

Then, as shown in FIG. 29, a cap holder 74 is driven by a head cap drive mechanism 86 described later.
When a thrust force is applied in the direction of arrow d, the pair of main guide pins 78 and the pair of sub guide pins 79 are respectively inclined from the start end portions 82a and 83a of the pair of main guide grooves 82 and the sub guide grooves 83, respectively. Diagonally downwards along d 82b, 83b,
A small stroke is guided down to d1 '. Then, the head cap 10 causes the main guide pin 78 and the sub guide pin 7 to move.
2 is slanted downward by a small stroke by a substantially parallel movement to the slanting downward d1 of the line head 9 together with FIG.
As indicated by a solid line in FIG. 4, the line head 9 rides on the head surface 9a from the recess 9b. At this point, the cleaning roller 11 is elastically pressed from below toward the head surface 9a of the line head 9 in the direction of arrow o by the pressing force of the pair of pressing springs 73.

Then, the cap holder 74 continues to receive the thrust force in the direction of the arrow d, so that the pair of main guide pins 78 and the auxiliary guide pins 79 cause the horizontal portions 82c of the pair of main guide grooves 82 and the auxiliary guide grooves 83, It is horizontally guided along the direction 83c 'in the directions of arrows d2 and d2' (horizontal translation). Then, the head cap 10 is horizontally translated integrally with the main guide pin 78 and the sub guide pin 79 in the direction of arrow f, which is one side of the line head 9, while maintaining the parallel state with the head surface 9a. Then, at this time, as shown in FIG. 24, the cleaning roller 11 remains elastically pressed against the head surface 9a of the line head 9 from the direction of the arrow o, and the cleaning roller 11 moves from the position indicated by the solid line to 1
While horizontally rotating in the direction of arrow d2 while rotating to the position shown by the dotted line, the cleaning roller 11 cleans (wipes) the dirt of the large number of jet nozzles 9b on the head surface 9a shown in FIG. It will be.

Then, as the cap holder 74 continues to receive the thrust in the direction of the arrow d, each pair of main guide pins 78 is moved downward along the stepped portion 82d of each pair of main guide grooves 82 once in the oblique downward direction d3. After the stroke is lowered, the arrow d4 is diagonally upward along the inclined portion 82e.
Direction, the pair of sub-guide pins 79 are obliquely upward along the arc-shaped portions 83d of the pair of sub-guide grooves 83 while being guided by the rapid velocity to reach the terminal end portion 82f.
It is guided in an arc shape at a substantially constant speed in the 3'direction and reaches the end portion 83e. As a result, the head cap 10
The end portion on the main guide pin 78 side of the head cap 10 reaches the open position P12 without being interfered by the head surface 9a of the line head 9, and at the open position P12, the head cap 10 is close to the head cartridge 12 of the head cap 10. The main guide pin 78 side, which is the end portion on the side, is inclined so as to be higher than the sub guide pin 79 side. The inclination of the head cap 10 makes it easier to jam the print sheet 3 described later. The above is the opening operation of the head cap 10 from the closed position P11 to the open position P12 in the direction of the arrow d.
The closing operation from the opening position P12 to the closing position P11 in the direction of the arrow d ′ follows the reverse operation.

Next, the head cap drive mechanism 86 will be described with reference to FIGS. 28 to 39.
A pair of vertical rack guide plates 87 formed integrally with the lower chassis 1 described above are arranged in parallel with each other, and a pair of horizontal guide grooves 89 having a long horizontal span are provided in the pair of rack guide plates 87. It is formed horizontally along the same height position. Inside the pair of rack guide plates 87, a pair of racks (correctly, rack plates, but abbreviated as racks here) 89 are arranged in parallel. , F ′
A pair of guide pins 90 protruding from both ends in the direction are slidably inserted into the pair of horizontal guide grooves 88.
The pair of racks 89 are arranged along the pair of horizontal guide grooves 88 between the print standby position P21 shown by the solid line in FIG. 30 and the printable position P22 shown by the chain line in FIG.
It is configured to be slid horizontally in the f'direction.

A pair of vertical recessed grooves 91 are formed on the inner side surfaces of the pair of racks 89, and the ends of the pair of long main guide pins 78 of the cap holder 74 described above are paired with a pair of cap guide plates. The pair of main guide grooves 82 of 81 are inserted into the pair of concave grooves 91.
Then, the pair of main guide pins 78 is formed by the pair of concave grooves 9
It is configured such that it can move in the vertical direction and can move in and out in the inside of 1. However, the vertical surface of the groove 91 on the arrow f'direction side is configured as a main guide pin drive surface 91a for driving the main guide pin 78 in the arrow f direction, and the upper end of the main guide pin drive surface 91a is at a right angle. Is formed on the main guide pin support surface 91b which is continuous and is formed horizontally. The pair of main guide pins 78 and the pair of concave grooves 91 constitute a power transmission / cutting means 92.

Then, as shown in FIG. 33, the drive motor 94 and the worm gear 9 are provided on one side of the lower chassis 1.
A rack actuator 97 composed of a gear train 96 having five gears is attached, and a pair of output gears (pinions) 96a of the gear train 96 are horizontally formed along the lower surfaces of the pair of racks 89. It is configured to drive 89a. However, the pair of output gears 96 meshed with the pair of rack gears 89a.
For example, a is fixed to both ends of one interlocking shaft 98, and is synchronized with the interlocking shaft 98 so that the pair of rack gears 89a are rotationally driven in the same phase.

Then, the pair of concave grooves 9 of the pair of racks 89
1, a pair of torque adjusters 101 is incorporated at a position opposite to the main guide pin driving surface 91a (on the side of arrow f) with respect to the main guide pin 78. 78 through arrow f '
It is composed of an adjuster arm 102 and an adjuster spring 103 that elastically press in the direction.

Here, the operation of the opening / closing drive of the head cap 10 by the head cap drive mechanism 86 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. First, FIGS. 32 and 34 show an initial state in which the head cap 10 is returned to the closed position P11 shown in FIG. 29. At this time,
The pair of racks 89 are returned to the print standby position P21 in the arrow f'direction.

At this time, as described with reference to FIG. 29, the pair of main guide pins 78 of the head cap 10 moved to the closed position P11 in the direction of the arrow d'at the starting end portions 82a of the pair of main guide grooves 82. Whereas it is stopped,
The pair of racks 89 are stopped with an overstroke OS1 in the direction of arrow f ′ with respect to the pair of main guide pins 78.

Then, the overstroke OS1 of the pair of racks 89 is caused by the pair of adjuster springs 1 through the pair of adjuster arms 102 of the pair of torque adjusters 101.
03, and the pair of main guide pins 78 are elastically pressed and positioned by the start ends 82a of the pair of main guide grooves 82 from the direction of the arrow d'by the reaction force of the pair of adjuster springs 103. There is. Therefore, the head cap 10 can be reasonably and accurately positioned at the closed position of the head surface 9a of the line head 9 by the spring force of the adjuster spring 103 of the torque adjuster 101, and the head surface 9a can be closed accurately. .

Next, in this initial state, the drive motor 94 of the rack actuator 97 described above causes the pair of output gears 96a via the worm gear 95 and the gear train 96 to move the pair of racks 89 through the pair of rack gears 89a. When driven in the f direction, the pair of racks 89 move from the print standby position P21 shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 36, it is driven horizontally in the direction of arrow f.
Then, a thrust force in the direction of arrow f is applied to the pair of main guide pins 78 by the main guide pin driving surface 91a of the recessed groove 91 of the pair of racks 89, so that the pair of racks 89 move to the print standby position P21 in FIGS. 30 and 34. 35 to 36, it is horizontally slid in the direction of arrow f. In synchronization with this, the head cap 10 is driven to open in the arrow d direction from the closed position P11 shown in FIG.

During this time, the pair of main guide pins 78 gradually rises along the main guide pin drive surface 91a of the concave groove 91, and the head cap 10 opens to the open position P12 shown in FIG.
37, the pair of auxiliary guide pins 83 come into contact with the terminal end portions 83b of the pair of auxiliary guide grooves 83 and the head cap 10 is stopped at the open position P12, and at the same time, as shown in FIG. The main guide pin 78 of the pair of concave grooves 91
It escapes from the inside above the main guide pin driving surface 91a and is relatively pushed up onto the main guide pin mounting surface 91b.
Then, the pair of main guide pins 78 are pushed up onto the pair of main guide pin mounting surfaces 71b, whereby the head cap 10 is held at the open position P12 shown in FIG. 29, and the pair of racks 89 is paired. Main guide pin 7
8 is stopped at the printable position P22 where the overstroke OS2 is made in the direction of the arrow f.

Next, when the pair of racks 89 are slid in the arrow f'direction from the printable position P22 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 39, the pair of main guide pins 78 extends from the main guide pin mounting surfaces 91b of the pair of racks 89 to the main guide pin drive surfaces 91a in the pair of concave grooves 91 and the adjuster arms of the pair of adjusters 101. It falls relatively between 102. Then, thereafter, the pair of adjuster arms 102 causes the pair of main guide pins 78 to move to the arrow f ′.
34, the pair of racks 89 are horizontally driven to the print standby position P21 shown in FIG. 34 in the arrow f'direction, and the head cap 10 is slid to the closed position P11 in FIG. 29 in the arrow d'direction. Is stopped. Then, as described above, the overstroke OS1 of the pair of racks 89 is absorbed by the adjuster springs 103 of the pair of torque adjusters 101.

According to the head cap opening / closing mechanism 70 described above, the head cartridge 8 is set (fixed) at a fixed position.
The head cap 10 is opened / closed as it is, and the opening / closing operation of the head cap 10 is also a horizontal parallel movement operation for moving the head cap 10 substantially along the head surface 9a of the line head 9. Therefore, the overall height of the head cap opening / closing mechanism 71 can be configured to be extremely low, the ink jet printer can be made thin, and the cleaning of the head surface 9a of the line head 9 by the cleaning roller 11 can always be performed. Therefore, a beautiful full-color print can always be executed.

The open position P1 of the head cap 10
2 is set at a lateral position (one side portion) of the head cartridge 8 in the print paper conveying direction (direction of arrow f), which is sufficiently higher than the head surface 9a of the line head 9, so that the head cartridge 8 is moved to the position shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, the upper paper guides 27 and 28 can be remarkably close to each other, and the depth dimension of the ink jet printer can be reduced, and as described later, the jam treatment and maintenance of the print paper 3 can be performed. Making it easy.

Further, the opening / closing drive of the head cap 10 is separated into the head cap guide mechanism 71 and the head cap drive mechanism 86 so that the head cap drive mechanism 86 generates a thrust force for the opening / closing drive of the head cap 10. The head cap guide mechanism 71 can guide the movement path of the head cap 10 separately from the head cap drive mechanism 86. Therefore, the head cap 10 can be smoothly opened and closed along the ideal movement path, and the jam treatment and maintenance of the print paper 3 described later can be easily performed.

FIG. 60A shows the head cap opening / closing mechanism 70 of the ink jet printer of the present invention.
B) The conventional head cap opening / closing mechanism shown in (C) is
The yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) four-color ejection nozzles 202b formed on the head surface 202a of the line head 202 are moved in the directions of arrows Z1 and Z2 of the head holder 203. It is configured to open and close by a combined operation of an up-down operation and a slide operation of the head cap 204 in the directions of arrows X1 and X2.

That is, in the print standby state, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
3, the plurality of jet nozzles 202b of the line head 202 are sealed to the print standby position in the arrow Z1 direction by the head cap 204. Then, before printing starts, as shown in FIG.
Once, the line head 202 together with the head holder 203 is moved up (raised) in the arrow Z2 direction to a raised position,
The ejection nozzles 202b are pulled out above the head cap 204. Following this, the head cap 204 is slid (horizontally moved) in the direction of the arrow X1 so that the plurality of openings 204a of the head cap 204 are opened.
The position is set directly below the plurality of injection nozzles 202b.
Then, finally, as shown in FIG. 60C, the line head 202 is integrated with the head holder 203 from the raised position shown in FIG. 60B to the print standby position shown in FIG. 60A. Further, it is lowered (moved down) in the arrow Z1 direction to a printable position below, and a plurality of ejection nozzles 202b are inserted into a plurality of nozzle holes 204a of the head cap 204 so as to be exposed downward (a nozzle opening state). Is.

Therefore, in the conventional head cap opening / closing mechanism, an up-down (elevation) drive mechanism for the line head 202 and a slide (horizontal movement) for the head cap 204.
Two sets of drive mechanisms including the drive mechanism are required, the mechanism is complicated, and a large space is required, which makes it difficult to reduce the size. In particular, since the line head 202 has to be moved up and down with a large stroke in the vertical direction, the thickness of the inkjet printer has increased, and it has been difficult to reduce the thickness of the inkjet printer. In the structure in which the line head 202 is moved up and down, it is difficult to position the line head 202 at a printable position with high accuracy, and the image quality of a printed image is likely to deteriorate. In addition, the head cap 204 is used for the line head 2
02 head surface 202a is cleaned (wiping)
It couldn't be done. However, according to the above-described head cap opening / closing mechanism 70 of the inkjet printer of the present invention, the problems of the conventional head cap opening / closing mechanism described above can be solved.

(5) Description of Conveyor Belt Elevating Mechanism Next, referring to FIGS. 4 to 14 and 30 to 40, the conveyer belt elevating mechanism 1 which is the elevating mechanism of the print sheet conveying mechanism.
05 will be described. First, the transport belt unit 31 which is a print sheet transport mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS. 30 and 40.

The conveyor belt unit 31 includes a plurality of endless conveyor belts 30 and a parallel drive shaft 10.
6 and a plurality of driving pulleys 108 and driven pulleys 109 mounted on the outer circumference of the driven shaft 107 and the outer circumference of the driven shaft 107 at predetermined intervals. Then, a plurality of tension pulleys 111 attached at predetermined intervals to the tension pulley shafts 110 arranged in parallel at positions deviated to the driving shaft 106 side are provided with a plurality of conveyor belts 3.
No. 0 upper path 30 configured in the print paper transport unit
It is bridged over the lower end of a. The transport stage 113 is inserted into the inner space 112 of the plurality of transport belts 30 substantially parallel to the upper and lower paths 30a and 30b of the plurality of transport belts 30.

A driven shaft 107 is supported by an end portion of the carrying stage 112 on the arrow f direction side, which is the print paper carrying direction, via a plurality of shaft supporting portions 113a, and the carrying stage 112 is in the print paper carrying direction. Both ends in the direction of the arrow f ′, which is the upstream side, are supported by the pair of shaft support portions 113b at positions near both ends of the drive shaft 106 so as to be relatively rotatable. The transport stage 113 is configured to support the upper paths 30a of the plurality of transport belts 30 from below. The plurality of driving pulleys 108 are configured to rotate integrally with the driving shaft 106, and the plurality of driven pulleys 109 and the tension pulleys 11 are arranged.
Reference numeral 1 is rotatably attached to the outer circumferences of the driven shaft 107 and the tension pulley shaft 110. Further, both ends of the tension pulley shaft 110 are attached to the transfer stage 113 by an arrow f,
The plurality of tension pulleys 111 are supported so as to be vertically movable (movable) in the direction orthogonal to the f ′ direction, and the plurality of tension pulleys 111 press the opposite ends of the tension pulley shaft 110 by a plurality of pressing springs 114 such as compression coil springs.
The upper path 30a of 0 is pressed from below. In addition,
Here, the discharge roller 32 shown in FIGS.
Although omitted, the discharge roller 32 is a free-rotating roller that is arranged parallel to the upper position of the plurality of conveyor belts 30 on the driven shaft 107 side and is rotatably attached to the conveyor stage 113.

The transport belt unit 31 thus constructed is arranged at the lower position of the above-mentioned cartridge holder 12, and the upstream side of the transport belt unit 31 in the print sheet transport direction (direction of arrow f) is the above-mentioned. On the lower chassis 1 that has been driven, the drive shaft 106 (drive pulley 10
It is rotatably attached via 8). And
The conveying direction of this conveyor belt unit 31 (direction of arrow f)
It is mounted so that the driven shaft (driven pulley 109) side, which is the movable end on the downstream side, is driven up and down by a swing drive method in the up and down directions of arrows e and e '.

That is, the pair of vertical conveyor belt mounting plates 116 integrally formed with the lower chassis 1 are arranged inside the pair of rack guide plates 87 in parallel at a distance. The transport belt unit 31 is inserted inside the pair of transport belt mounting plates 116. Then, the driving shaft 1 of the conveyor belt unit 31
Both ends of 06 are horizontally rotatably attached to the pair of conveyor belt attaching plates 116. As a result, the conveyor belt unit 31 moves up and down with respect to the pair of conveyor belt mounting plates 116 between the print standby position P31 and the printable position P32, which will be described later, around the main shaft 106, as indicated by arrows e and e '. It is configured to be able to swing (swing).

Then, as shown in FIGS. 31 to 40, the conveyor belt elevating mechanism 105 includes an elevating and lowering drive unit 117 also as a torque limiter for vertically moving both ends of the driven shaft 107.
The pair of elevating and lowering drive units 117 are arranged inside the lower part of the moving path of the pair of racks 89 in the directions of the arrows f and f ′. The pair of elevating and lowering drive units 117 respectively rotate on the pair of fulcrum shafts 118 mounted on the outer side of the conveyor belt mounting plate 116 in the same axis and in the directions of arrows p and p ′. A pair of lift drive arms 119 freely attached, a pair of limiter arms 120 rotatably attached to the pair of fulcrum shafts 118 in the directions of arrows p and p ′, and a pair of lift drive arms 119 thereof.
And a limiter arm 120 are rotationally biased toward each other so that the pair of lifting drive arms 119 and the limiter arm 120 come into contact with each other at a predetermined angle position such as 90 °. 121 and 121. Therefore, the lifting drive arm 119, the limiter arm 120, and the limiter spring 121 are configured as a so-called torque limiter.

Then, these lifting drive units 117
Is the arrow f from the driven shaft 107 of the conveyor belt unit 31.
They are arranged in the same axial center at positions deviated in the direction.
The tip ends 119a of the pair of lift drive arms 119 project toward the driven shaft 107 side with respect to the pair of fulcrum shafts 118, and the pair of tip ends 119a have play in both ends of the driven shaft 107 in the vertical direction. And a pair of guide grooves 119b that slidably hold it are formed. The tip ends 120a of the pair of limiter arms 120 are projected upward with respect to the pair of fulcrum shafts 118, and are horizontally positioned below the cap holder 74 at the inner position of the pair of racks 89 described above. The protruding / lowering drive pin 122, which is the protruding / lowering drive unit, is attached to the tip 1 of the limiter arm 120.
20a is configured to be able to contact and separate in the directions of arrows f and f '.

Here, the swing drive in the directions of arrows e and e ', which is the vertical drive operation of the transport belt unit 31 by the transport belt lifting mechanism 105 configured as described above, is shown in FIG.
~ It will be described with reference to Figs. 34 to 39 in association with Fig. 14. The raising / lowering drive of the conveyor belt unit 31 is performed in synchronization with the opening / closing operation of the head cap 10 described above.

First, FIG. 34 shows an initial state in which the head cap 10 is returned to the closed position P11 shown in FIG. 29 and the pair of racks 89 is returned to the print standby position P21 as described above. Then, in this initial state, the transport belt unit 31 has the print standby position P31 which is a descending position in which the driven shaft 107 is slanted downward in the arrow e'direction, which is the downward direction, with the main shaft 106 as the fulcrum by its own weight. Has been lowered to a position corresponding to FIGS. Then, in this initial state, the conveyor belt unit 3
The entire weight of the pair of lift drive units 117 is rotated in the direction of the arrow p ′ by the self-weight of 1, and the tip 120a of the limiter arm 120 causes the pair of lift drive pins 1 of the pair of racks 89 to move.
22 is inserted from below into the movement path in the direction of arrow f. At this time, the conveyor belt unit 31 may be configured to be forcibly lowered to the print standby position P31 by a downward biasing spring (not shown).

Next, as described above, the pair of racks 89
Is slid in the arrow f direction from the print standby position P21 shown in FIG. 34 to the printable position P22 shown in FIG. 37, and the head cap 10 is opened in the arrow d direction from the closed position P11 to the open position P12. When the head cap 10 is moved in the direction of arrow d to just below the closed position shown in FIG.
22 is a limiter arm 120 of the lifting drive unit 117.
Is brought into contact with the front end 120a of the above from the direction of arrow f. And
As described above, the pair of racks 89 moves from the position shown in FIG. 35 to the printable position P22 shown in FIG.
Slide in the direction of arrow f until the head cap 10
Is diagonally upward to the open position P12 (arrow d shown in FIG. 29).
35, while being pushed up in FIG. 35.
As shown in FIG. 37, the pair of lift drive pins 122 of the pair of racks 89 drive the pair of limiter arms 120 to rotate about the pair of fulcrum shafts 118 in the arrow p direction.

Then, the pair of limiter arms 120 interposes the pair of lift drive arms 119 via the limiter springs 121.
Is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow p about a pair of fulcrum shafts 118, and a pair of lifting drive arms 119 are provided below the guide grooves 119b of the tips 119a thereof, and the lower surfaces of both ends of the driven shaft 107 of the conveyor belt unit 31 are indicated by arrows. Drives upward in the e direction. As a result, the transport belt unit 31 moves the drive shaft 10
6 as the center of rotation, the driven shaft 10 is moved from the print standby position P31 shown in FIGS. 5 and 34 to that shown in FIGS. 11 and 37.
7 is swung in the direction of arrow e to the printable position P32, which is the raised position where 7 is raised and becomes horizontal.

That is, from the position of the head cap 10 immediately below the open position P12 shown in FIG. 35 to the open position P12 shown in 37, the circle of the inclined portion 82e of the main guide groove 82 and the sub guide groove 83 described in FIG. The conveyance belt unit 31 follows the operation of being pushed up obliquely upward (in the directions of arrows d4 and d2 ') along the arcuate portion 83c, and the transport belt unit 31 is moved from the print standby position P31 to the printable position P3.
The swing is driven (raised) in the direction of arrow e toward 2.

Then, as shown in FIG. 37, when the conveyor belt unit 31 is raised to the printable position P32 and becomes horizontal parallel to the head surface 9a of the line head 9, both ends of the driven shaft 107 are removed. The upper side of the pair of belt guides 1 is horizontally formed with its upper side facing downward at the lower end edges of the pair of rack guide plates 87 of the cartridge holder 12.
32 is abutted from below in the direction of arrow q and stopped.

After this, as shown in FIG. 37, the pair of racks 89 move the overstroke OS2 in the direction of arrow f.
While the vertical drive unit 117 is stopped by the driven shaft 107, only the limiter arm 120 is moved by the vertical drive pin 122 against the spring force of the limiter spring 121 about the fulcrum shaft 48 while being stopped by the arrow p. Will be overstroke rotated in the direction.

Therefore, the driven shaft 107 of the conveyor belt unit 31 is moved up to the printable position P32 in the direction of arrow e.
Both ends of the above are pressed against the pair of belt height reference portions 132 of the pair of conveyor belt mounting plates 116 from below in the direction of arrow q by the spring force of the pair of limiter springs 121.
As described later, the gap between the upper path 30a of the conveyor belt 30 and the head surface 9a of the line head 9 is set to a set value with high accuracy. Then, as the conveyor belt 30 is moved up to the printable position P32, the pinch roller 29 at the tip of the upper taper guide 27 shown in FIG. 40 elastically moves on the conveyor belt 30 by a pressing spring described later as shown in FIG. Will be pressed by.

As described above, the pair of racks 89
37 is slid in the arrow f'direction from the printable position P22 shown in FIG. 37 to the print standby position P21 shown in FIG.
38 to 39, the pair of lift drive pins 122 of the pair of racks 89 move from the tip 120a of the limiter arm 120 in the direction of the arrow f ', while being closed from the closing position P11 shown in FIG. Be separated. Then, as shown in FIGS. 38 and 39, the conveyor belt unit 31
However, by preceding the head cap 10,
An arrow e ′ from the printable position P32 to the print standby position P31
It will be immediately lowered by its own weight (or forced drop by a spring) in the direction.

(6) Description of Conveying Belt Driving Method Next, the driving method of the conveying belt 30 will be described with reference to FIG. 40. As described with reference to FIGS. The belt 30 is wound around the outer periphery between the main drive pulley 108 and the driven pulley 109, and the transport stage 113 is arranged along the lower portion of the upper path 30a, and the upper path 30a is used as the transport section for the print paper 3. The tension pulley 111 is arranged at a position deviated to the driving pulley 108 side of the upper path 30a of the pressing spring 1 formed.
It is pressed from below by 14.

As described above, the conveyor belt 30 is driven by the conveyor belt elevating mechanism 105 so as to elevate and lower the driven shaft 107 on the movable end side with the main shaft 106 on the fixed end side as the center of rotation. As a result, the arrows e, e'between the print standby position P31 that is lowered and slanted downward and the printable position P32 that is raised and becomes horizontal.
It is configured to be swing-driven in the direction.

Therefore, a belt actuator 126, which is a belt drive source composed of a drive motor 124, a gear train 125, etc., is arranged on the main drive shaft 106 side, which is the fixed end side of the conveyor belt 30, and is driven by the belt actuator 126. If the shaft 106 is driven to rotate and the drive pulley 108 drives the transport belt 30 to rotate in the direction of arrow f, the print sheet 3 is transported in the direction of arrow f by the upper path 30a of the transport belt 30. The transport belt 30 is moved to the print standby position P31 and the printable position P32 by the transport belt lifting mechanism 105 described above.
It is not necessary to move the belt actuator 126 up and down when swing-driving in the directions of the arrows e and e ′ between and.
Therefore, the conveyor belt 30 can be lightly moved up and down in a small space, and the driving force required for the belt actuator 126 can be small, so that the belt actuator 126 can be made small and lightweight.

Here, considering the problems relating to the method of driving the conveyor belt with reference to FIGS. 61 to 63, first, as shown in FIG.
A driving pulley 207 is arranged on the upstream side of the printing paper conveying belt 206 arranged in the lower part of the paper feeding direction A, a driven pulley 208 is arranged on the downstream side, and the driving pulley 207 is driven by a drive motor 209 to a gear train 210 or the like. If it is rotationally driven via the
6 is the slack side 206a, and the lower side is the tension side 206a
b, the print paper is conveyed in the paper feed direction A on the slack side 206a.

However, since the behavior on the slack side 206a of the belt is unstable, stable sheet feeding (conveyance of print paper) cannot be realized on the slack side 206a of the belt, and the print paper transport belt in the inkjet printer is not realized. It is said that the driving method of 206 is unsuitable. Therefore, as a method of driving the print paper conveyance belt 206 of the inkjet printer, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the driving pulley 207 is arranged on the downstream side with respect to the paper feeding direction A, the upper side is the tension side 206b, the lower side is the slack side 206a, and the print side is along the line head 202 on the tension side 206b. It was common knowledge that it is appropriate to carry.

However, if the user is obsessed with carrying the print paper on the tension side 206b of the print paper carrying belt 206, the following problem will newly occur. That is, in the line head 202, the lower head surface 202a is closed by the head cap 204 during standby,
At the time of printing, it is necessary to open and close the head surface 202a with the head cap 204 so as to move the head cap 204 to the retracted position and open the head surface 202a.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 62A, the head cap 204 is placed at the closed position of the head surface 202a.
In order to secure an opening / closing movement path of the head cap 204, a method of opening / closing in the directions of arrows B and C between the open position disposed on the downstream side with respect to the paper feeding direction A is adopted.
When it is attempted to swing the main drive pulley 207 side in the vertical directions E and F using the driven paper 208 as a fulcrum for rotation, the drive motor 209 and a gear that rotationally drive the main drive pulley 207 are used. Print paper transport belt 2 together with drive sources such as train 210
I had to swing 06 up and down,
The mechanism is extremely complicated and large in size, which makes it unsuitable for miniaturization of an inkjet printer.

On the other hand, conversely to this, FIG.
As shown in (B), a method is adopted in which the head cap 204 is opened and closed in the directions of arrows B and C between the closed position of the head surface 202a and the open position arranged on the upstream side with respect to the paper feeding direction A. In order to secure the opening / closing movement path of the head cap 204, the print paper conveyance belt 206
Driven pulley 208 as a fulcrum of rotation
When it is attempted to drive the side in the up and down directions of arrows E and F, the drive source of the driving pulley 207 does not need to swing up and down.

However, since the dead space portion 211 is formed at the lower position of the head cap 204 moved to the open / close position and on the upstream side of the print paper transport belt 206, the pinch roller which is a paper pressing roller. Other parts such as 212 to the dead space part 211
It has to be arranged at a position on the further upstream side, which is separated from the line head 202 by a distance L.

Then, as shown in FIG. 63 (B), the print paper 2 is moved by the pinch roller 212 disposed at a position separated by a long distance L on the upstream side of the line head 202.
01 is the tight side 206b of the print paper transport belt 206
When the print sheet 201 is pressed upward and is conveyed in the paper feed direction A, the front end of the print sheet 201 floats up before the print sheet 201 reaches the lower portion of the line head 202, and the print sheet 201 is lowered below the line head 202. It will cause a new problem that it will be difficult to send it smoothly to.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 40, the method for driving the conveyor belt of the ink jet printer of the present invention is as follows.
The driving pulley 108 arranged on the upstream side in the print sheet conveyance direction (direction of arrow f) drives the conveyance belt 30 to rotate in the direction of arrow f, so that the upper path 30 of the conveyance belt 30.
A is used as the slack side, and the lower path 30b is used as the tension side, and the slack side is intentionally used as the transport unit for the print paper 3.

Then, as described above, by setting the open position P12 of the head cap 10 to the downstream side of the head cartridge 8 in the print sheet conveying direction (direction of arrow f), the pinch roller 29, which is the belt pressing means, is moved to the head. The pressing point P41 that is located as close as possible to the upstream side (direction of arrow f ') of the print medium transport direction of the head cartridge 8 opposite to the open position of the cap 10.
Then, the pressing spring 127 elastically presses the upper path 30a on the slack side of the conveyor belt 30 to remove the behavior of the upper path 30a due to the slack when the print sheet is conveyed, as described later.

As described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 14, the pinch roller 29 is formed at the tip of the upper paper guide 27, and the upper paper guide 27 is attached to the upper chassis 2 via the fulcrum shaft 128. It is attached rotatably in the up and down directions of arrows r and r '. Then, the upper paper guide 27 is supported by the fulcrum shaft 12 by the pressing spring 127 including a tension coil spring and a compression coil spring.
The pinch roller 29 is elastically pressed onto the upper path 30a of the conveyor belt 30 by being urged to rotate in the direction of the arrow r, which is the lower direction around the axis 8. Therefore, the upper paper guide 2
7, the pinch roller 29 is also used. However, rotation of the upper paper guide 27 in the direction of arrow r by a certain angle or more is prohibited by a stopper (not shown).

As a result, when the upper path 30a on the slack side of the conveyor belt 30 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow f by the driving pulley 108, the upper path 30 of the conveyor belt 30.
a, the pressing point P between the driving pulley 108 and the pinch roller 29
41, the slack still occurs in S1, but at the pressing point P41 of the pinch roller 29, its upper path 30
a is nipped between the pinch roller 29 and the transport stage 113, and a frictional force is generated. And the frictional force is
The pulling force acts to pull the upper path 30a toward the upstream side (direction of the arrow f '), and the pressing point P41 of the upper path 30a and the driven pulley 1 arranged downstream thereof.
Between 09 and 09, S2 will be converted to the tension side.

Accordingly, at S2 between the pressing point P41 of the upper path 30a on the tight side and the driven pulley 109, the behavior of the conveyor belt 30 becomes stable, and the print paper 3 is moved along the head surface 9a of the line head 9. It can be stably and smoothly conveyed in the direction of arrow f. Further, as described above, since the pressing point P41 of the pinch roller 29 can be arranged as close as possible to the head cartridge 8, the print sheet 3 conveyed in the direction of the arrow f immediately after passing the pinch roller 29. There is no risk of jamming (paper jam) by flipping upward and colliding with the side surface of the head cartridge 8, and the print paper 3 can always be fed stably under the head surface 9a of the line head 9.

By the way, the upper path 30 of the conveyor belt 30.
a, the pressing point P41 of the pinch roller 29 and the driven pulley 1
09, the condition for using S2 as a stable tension side is that the friction force generated by the pressing force F1 of the pinch roller 29 at the pressing point P41 is μ1, the drag force is N1, and the upper path 30a of the tension pulley 111 of the upper path 30a. When the frictional force of the upper path 30a generated on the outer circumference of the driven pulley 109 by the pressing force F2 is μ2 and the drag force is N2, μ1 × N1 ≧ μ2 × N2.

(7) Description of Gap Adjustment Between Line Head and Print Paper Conveying Belt Next, referring to FIGS. 41 to 50, the head surface 9a of the line head 9 and the upper path 30a of the conveying belt 30 will be described. The gap adjusting mechanism 131 that adjusts the gap between the gaps according to the change in the thickness of the print sheet 3 will be described.

First, in FIG. 41, the head of the line head 9 is changed even if the thicknesses T1 and T2 of the print paper 3 are changed while the line head 9 is fixed in a fixed position without being driven up and down. In order to keep the printing gap G between the surface 9a and the upper surface 3a of the print sheet 3 at a constant value at all times, the upper path 30a of the conveyer belt 30 which is the print sheet conveyer unit is integrated with the conveyer stage 113 in the vertical direction. Adjusting the height in the direction of certain arrows e, e ′, the gap G1 between the upper path 30a and the head surface 9a,
The purpose of the gap adjustment that adjusts G2 is adjusted. That is, when the thickness T1 of the print paper 3 is thin, the gap G1 is adjusted to a small dimension such as 2 mm, and when the thickness T2 of the print paper 3 is thick, the gap G2 is adjusted to, for example, 3 mm.

Next, a basic embodiment of the gap adjusting mechanism 131 will be described with reference to FIGS. 42 to 49.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 43, the conveyor belt 30 rotates the driven shaft 107 on one end side by the above-described conveyor belt lifting mechanism 115 and moves the driven shaft 107 side on the other end side in the vertical direction by the swing drive method ( 43, it is a pair of height reference planes that are vertically formed horizontally at the lower end edges of the pair of rack guide plates 87 of the cartridge holder 12 as shown in FIG. 43. Both ends of the driven shaft 107, which is a contact portion with the belt height reference portion 132, are elastically pressed from below by the spring force of the limiter spring 121 to set the height of the conveyor belt 30 with respect to the head surface 9a of the line head 9. is doing.

Therefore, a pair of spacers 133 are provided below the pair of belt height reference portions 132 in the direction of arrow s in the front-rear direction,
The gaps G1 and G2 described with reference to FIG. 41 can be adjusted by taking them in and out from the s'direction. That is, in FIGS. 43 and 45A, the spacer 133 is pulled out from the belt height reference portion 132 in the arrow s'direction, and both ends of the driven shaft 107 are moved from the belt height reference portion 132 in the arrow e direction. This is a case of elastically pressing, and at this time, as shown in FIG.
The height between the belt height reference portion 132 and the center of the driven shaft 107 becomes H1, and the gap G1 is set to 2 mm, for example, as shown in FIG.

Further, in FIGS. 44 and 45 (B), the spacer 133 is inserted below the belt height reference portion 132 from the direction of the arrow s, and both ends of the driven shaft 107 are elastically attached to the spacer 133 from the direction of the arrow e. In this case, the height between the belt height reference portion 132 and the center of the driven shaft 107 is H3 = H1 + H, as shown in FIG. 45 (B).
2 (however, H2 is the thickness of the spacer 133), and as shown in FIG.
Set to 2.

46 to 49, the pair of spacers 133 are moved in the directions of the arrows s and s'simultaneously and with a one-touch operation.
A pair of spacers 133 are integrally formed at the tips of a pair of parallel sliders 135. Guided by a slide guide 136, the slide guide 136 is slidably mounted in the directions of arrows s and s'.

On the other hand, a pair of sliders 137, which are guided by a slide guide (not shown) and are slidable in the directions of arrows t and t'that are orthogonal to the pair of sliders 135, are mounted between the rack guide plates 87. A pair of cams 138 are formed on the outer ends 137a of the pair of sliders 137. Then, the end portions 1 of the pair of sliders 135 opposite to the spacer 133 are formed.
35a is urged to slide by a pressing spring 139 in the direction of arrow s' on the side of the pair of cams 138. And
The inner ends 137b of the pair of sliders 137 are connected via the pair of links 140 to the disc portion 141 of the rotary operation lever 141.
It is connected to the phase position of approximately 180 ° of a.

Then, this spacer slide mechanism 134
As shown in FIGS. 46 and 47, when the operating lever 41 is rotated in the direction of the arrow u ′, the disc portion 14
1a pulls the pair of sliders 137 in the direction of arrow t ′ through the pair of links 140, and the pair of sliders 135 are simultaneously slid in the direction of arrow s ′ by the pair of pressing springs 139 along the pair of cams 138. . Further, as shown in FIGS. 48 and 49, when the operation lever 141 is rotationally operated in the direction of arrow u, the pair of sliders 137 are separated in the direction of arrow t via the pair of links 140, and the pair of cams 138 makes a pair. The slider 135 is simultaneously driven to slide in the arrow s direction against the pair of pressing springs 139.

Incidentally, FIGS. 50A, 50B and 50C show modifications of the gap adjusting mechanism 131.
In FIG. 50A, the thickness of the pair of spacers 133 is configured in multiple steps 43 such as a step shape, and the gap G
1 and G2 are changed to multi-stage G1 to Gn to correspond to a large number of changes in the thickness T1 to Tn of the print paper 3.

Further, FIG. 50B shows the spacer 133.
Is formed into a stepless shape 44 such as a wedge shape, and the gaps G1 and G2 described above are changed to stepless G1 to Gn to correspond to the stepless thicknesses T1 to Tn of the print paper 3. Is.

Further, in FIG. 50C, a rotary cam 145 which is an eccentric rotary wheel is attached to the pair of belt height reference portions 132, and an eccentric rotary surface 145a which is an outer peripheral surface of the rotary cam 145 is driven shaft 107. Abutting both ends of
At that time, by adjusting the rotation of the rotary cam 145,
The gaps G1 and G2 described above are changed to stepless G1 to Gn to correspond to the stepless changes of the thicknesses T1 to Tn of the print paper 3.

By the way, in the conventional ink jet printer, as shown in FIGS. 59A and 59B, the line head 202 is moved up and down using a cam mechanism or the like in accordance with changes in the thicknesses T1 and T2 of the print paper 201. Even if the thicknesses T1 and T2 of the print paper 201 are changed by slide adjustment in a vertical direction (not shown), the head surface (nozzle surface) 202a on the lower surface of the line head 202 and the upper surface of the print paper 201 are adjusted. The print gap G between the print surface 202a and the print surface 202a is kept constant. However, since the line head 210 has a long length in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the print paper 201, the parallelism of the line head 210 with respect to the print paper 201 can be maintained with high accuracy and slide adjustment can be performed in the vertical direction. There is a problem with the line head 210 for the print paper 201.
If the inclination in the length direction of the inkjet printer occurs, the image quality of the image to be printed is deteriorated. Further, in the method of adjusting the line head 202 in the vertical direction which is the thickness direction of the inkjet printer, the thickness of the inkjet printer is There was a problem that it would increase.

However, according to the above-described gap adjusting mechanism 131 of the ink jet printer of the present invention, it is possible to solve the conventional problems, to make the ink jet printer thin and to obtain a stable image quality of a full color printed image. Since the structure is simple, the cost of the inkjet printer can be reduced.

(8) Description of Jam Handling Mechanism for Print Paper Jammed Inside Inkjet Printer Next, referring to FIGS. 4 and 51 to 58, the jammed print paper 3 inside the inkjet printer will be described. A jam processing mechanism for performing jam processing (removing) will be described.

First, referring to FIGS. 4, 51 and 52,
The basic configuration of the jam handling mechanism will be described. During the printing operation, the place where the frequency of jamming of the print paper 3 in the print paper transport path 6 is highest is between the upper paper guides 27 and 28 and the pinch roller 29. Bending point EP in the transport direction reaching the transport belt 30
Is. The upper paper guides 27, 28 are mounted inside the upper chassis 2 so as to guide both sides of the conveyed print paper 3 in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction, and the print paper 3 is attached to the upper paper guides 27, 28. It is possible to take it out from the bottom.

At the bending point EP in the transport direction, the print sheet 3 is obliquely downward between the upper paper guides 27 and 28 for guiding the both sides of the print sheet 3 in the width direction.
When the paper 3 is moved downward in the direction, is elastically pressed by the pinch roller 29 onto the conveyor belt 30 and is bent while being bent in the horizontal direction of the arrow f, the leading end portion 3a of the print paper 3 is It is easily flipped up above the conveyor belt 30 to come into contact with the head cartridge 8 and jam easily. Moreover, during the printing operation, since the cleaning roller drop-in concave portion 9b formed at the position closest to the pinch roller 29 on the head surface 9a of the head cartridge 8 is in the open state, the leading end portion 3a of the print paper 3 is. Easily enter the recess 9b and jam. Further, the print paper 3 is easily jammed due to slanted traveling or the like.

Therefore, the jamming state of the print sheet 3 at the conveyance direction bending point EP is as shown in FIG.
The leading end portion 3a of the print paper 3 is on the conveyor belt 30,
Immediately after the rear end portion 3b of the print sheet 3 is fed out of the pinch roller 29 in the direction of arrow f from the reversing roller 25 in the direction of arrow f, the jamming occurs inside the upper taper guides 27 and 28. There are the most forms.

Therefore, in the basic jam processing mechanism 151 shown in FIGS. 4, 51 and 52, the jam detection sensor 152 for detecting the shamming that occurs during the conveyance of the print paper 3 is provided with the upper paper guides 27, 28. The jamming of the print paper 3 is arranged between the sensor 152
It is configured to be detected by. In addition, as described above, the head cartridge 8, the upper paper guides 27, 2
8, the pinch roller 29, the head cap guide mechanism 71 of the head cap opening / closing mechanism 70, etc. are attached to the rear end position of the upper chassis 2, and the head cap driving mechanism 86 of the head cap opening / closing mechanism 70, the rack actuator 97, the conveyor belt. Lower chassis 1 to which lifting mechanism 105, belt actuator 126, etc. are attached
It is attached to the upper part on the rear end side so as to be openable and closable in the vertical directions v and v'centering on a horizontal fulcrum shaft 17.
The arrow v of the upper chassis 2 with respect to the lower chassis 1
The opening angle in the direction is preferably about 100 °.

Then, the jam detection sensor 152 detects jamming of the print paper 3 that occurs during printing and sends a signal to the CPU 153, and the CPU 153 stops the printing operation and the head cap opening / closing mechanism 70 and the conveyor belt. The elevating mechanism 105 and the like are returned to the initial state described above. Then, the jamming occurrence display lamp (not shown) is turned on to make the user recognize the jamming occurrence.

Therefore, by the jam detection by the jam detection sensor 152, particularly, the conveyance belt unit 31
Is inclined diagonally downward in the direction of arrow e from the printable position P32 shown in FIG. 51 to the print standby position P31 shown in FIG.

Therefore, the user unlocks the upper chassis 2 with respect to the lower chassis 1 and opens the upper chassis 2 around the fulcrum shaft 17 in the direction of arrow v, and the head cap guide mechanism 71 of the head cap opening / closing mechanism 70 is opened. , Head cap drive mechanism 86 and power transmission / cutting means 92
The parts are automatically separated. That is, in FIG.
The pair of main guide pins 78 of the cap holder 74 are separated by coming out upward from the pair of concave grooves 91 of the pair of racks 89.

Then, the head cap 10 is guided by the head cap guide mechanism 71, and the arrow d'from the open position P12 shown in FIG. 51 to the closed position P11 shown in FIG. 52.
The head surface 9a of the head cartridge 8 is automatically closed by the head cap 10 by being lowered by its own weight in the direction.

Then, together with the upper chassis 2, the head cartridge 8, the upper paper guides 27 and 28, the pinch roller 29, the head cap guide mechanism 71 of the head cap opening / closing mechanism 70, etc. are lifted in the direction of arrow v,
The space between the head cartridge 8, the head cap 10, the upper paper guides 27 and 28, the pinch rollers 29, etc. and the transport belt unit 31 is largely opened vertically. Then, the jammed print paper 3 falls by its own weight from between the upper paper guides 27 and 28 that have guided both sides in the width direction, and on the conveyor belt unit 31 that is inclined downward in an elevational shape when viewed from the user side. Placed on.

Therefore, the user is in charge of the conveyor belt unit 3
It is possible to easily perform a jamming process in which a hand is easily inserted on the sheet 1 and the jammed print sheet 3 is pinched and removed. When performing the jam processing, the head surface 9a of the head cartridge 8 is already closed by the head cap 10, so that the head surface 9a is not damaged and the jam processing can be safely performed. At this time, a light-shielding type optical sensor 154 provided in the lower chassis 1 and a light-shielding shutter 155 provided in the upper chassis 2 detect the opening of the upper chassis 2 in the direction of arrow v to detect the internal live part. The safety can be improved by cutting off the power supply to the device.

It is also possible to drive the head cap 10 from the open position P12 to the closed position P11 by providing a drive motor (not shown) which is a head cap closing drive means on the upper chassis 2. It is also possible to automatically open and close the upper chassis 2 in the directions of arrows v and v'by a drive motor.

Next, FIGS. 53 to 55 show an improved structure of the jam clearance mechanism 151, in which the upper chassis 2 is a constant tension spring such as a winding system which is a head cap closing drive means. 157 is attached, and the leading end 157 a of the constant tension spring 157 on the pull-out side is connected to the cap holder 74.

According to this structure, the cap holder by the constant tension spring 157 is opened at the moment when the upper chassis 2 is opened at a small angle in the direction of the arrow v and the power transmission and switching means 92 is disconnected at the time of jam handling. 7
53, 54, 55 by the pulling back force of 4 and / or the own weight of the head cap 10.
Thus, the head surface 9a of the head cartridge 8 can be quickly closed by pulling back quickly from the open position P12 to the closed position P11. Therefore, after this, the upper chassis 2 is widely opened in the direction of arrow v, and the jam processing operation for removing the jammed print paper 3 can be safely performed.

Next, also in FIG. 56, this jam handling mechanism 15
1 shows an improved structure of No. 1 in this case, a drive lever 160 which is a head cap closing drive means.
Is attached to the lower chassis 1 via the fulcrum shaft 161 so as to be rotatable in the directions of arrows x and x '.
A guide groove 162 is formed along a position deviated to the side of the front end 160a of 60, and a guide pin 164 attached to the upper chassis 2 is slidably inserted along the guide groove 162, and its interlocking lever The tip 16 of 160
Rack auxiliary plate 165 (which is arranged outside the rack guide plate 87 as shown in FIG. 28) which is slid integrally with the side surface of the rack 89 or the rack 89 described above by a pressing spring 164 composed of a leaf spring attached to the rack 0a. Then, the side surface 165a of the member which is moved integrally with the rack 89 in the directions of the arrows f and f'is pressed in the direction of the arrow f '.

Therefore, according to this structure, when the upper chassis 2 is opened in the direction of the arrow v as indicated by the one-dot chain line during the jam processing, the guide groove 162 and the guide pin 163 slide relative to each other to interlock. The lever 160 is rotated around the fulcrum shaft 161 in the arrow x direction, and the phase of the interlocking lever 160 with respect to the upper chassis 2 changes. Then, the pressing spring 16 at the tip 160a of the interlocking lever 160 is
4 is a side surface of the rack 89 or a rack auxiliary plate 165 (see FIG. 28).
The side surface 165a of the rack 89 is elastically pressed, and the rack 89
From the printable position P22 to the print standby position P21
The head cap 10 is pushed back from the open position P12 to the closed position P11, and the head surface 9a of the head cartridge 8 is automatically closed.

Next, FIG. 57 also shows the jam clearance mechanism 15
1 shows an improved structure of No. 1 in which the upper chassis 2 is mounted on the lower chassis 1 by a pantograph mechanism 170 so as to be openable and closable in the directions of arrows y and y '. The pantograph mechanism 170 shown here has, for example, two links 17 having different lengths.
1, 172 are rotatably connected to each other by a central connecting pin 173, and both ends of these two links 171 and 172 are respectively connected to the lower chassis 1 and the upper chassis 2 by a total of four pivot pins 174 to 177. The X-shaped link structure is rotatably supported. A guide groove 178 formed at one end of the two links 171 and 172 is slidably engaged with one of the four pivot pins 174 to 177.

As described above, if the upper chassis 2 is attached to the lower chassis 1 by the pantograph mechanism 170 so as to be openable and closable, it is possible to freely design the opening angle and the opening height of the upper chassis 2 during jam processing. As a result, the jam handling property of the print paper 3 can be further improved.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the inkjet printer using the line head 9 as the printer head has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. It can also be applied to a serial printer that prints while scanning along a guide shaft 182 by a drive motor 183 by a head transport belt 184 in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the print paper 3.

[0131]

The ink jet printer of the present invention configured as described above can achieve the following effects.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a head cap opening / closing mechanism for opening / closing the head cap for opening / closing the head surface of the printer head between the closed position and the open position, and the head cap opening / closing mechanism includes the head cap. While the head cap guide mechanism, which is independent of each other, guides the movement, the head cap drive mechanism opens and closes the drive.
Since the head cap can be smoothly opened and closed along a complicated moving path, the head cap can be lowered from the closed position of the printer head, for example, obliquely downward while the printer head is fixed at a fixed position. After that, the head can be moved to one side in parallel with the head surface, and can be smoothly opened and closed along a complicated movement path that guides the movement to a closed position diagonally above one side.
Therefore, the head cap can be smoothly opened and closed in a small space, and the ink jet printer can be downsized (especially, thinned), and the head cap guide mechanism and the head cap drive mechanism are independent from each other. This facilitates maintenance of the printer head and the head cap opening / closing mechanism. Further, when removing the jammed print paper, it is possible to separate the head cap guide mechanism from the head cap drive mechanism integrally with the printer head and the head cap and open the head cap drive mechanism upward, which facilitates jam processing. You can do it.

According to the present invention, the head surface of the line head can be automatically cleaned by the cleaning means attached to the head cap each time by using the opening / closing operation of the head cap. Can be printed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the rack of the head cap drive mechanism is driven linearly and the head cap is opened and closed in a non-linear manner along the head cap guide mechanism by the rack. Thus, the head cap can be smoothly moved along a complicated movement path.

According to the present invention, since the head cap can be elastically positioned by the adjuster at the closed position of the printer head without difficulty, the head surface of the printer head can be sealed with high accuracy at all times. The load on the opening / closing mechanism is small and no failure occurs.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in order to secure the opening / closing movement path of the head cap, between the printable position in which the print paper transport unit is placed in parallel with the printer head and the print standby position in which the print sheet transport unit is spaced downward. Since the transport unit lifting mechanism raises and lowers the head cap, the head cap can be easily opened and closed in a small space.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the conveyor belt of the print sheet conveying unit is swing-driven in the vertical direction, the print sheet conveying unit itself can be raised and lowered within a small space, and the size of the ink jet printer can be reduced. Can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inkjet printer in a state where a head cartridge is removed from a cartridge holder for explaining an embodiment of an inkjet printer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a head cartridge of the above inkjet printer is set.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where a head cap of the inkjet printer of the above is moved to an open position.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which an upper chassis of the above inkjet printer is opened and closed upward.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway side view in an initial state for explaining the printing operation of the above inkjet printer.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway side view for explaining the feeding plate up for starting the printing operation of the above inkjet printer.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway side view illustrating the start of sheet feeding in the printing operation of the inkjet printer of the above.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view for explaining the paper feed plate down in the printing operation of the above inkjet printer.

FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway side view for explaining the opening start of the head cap in the printing operation of the above inkjet printer.

FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway side view for explaining the completion of opening the head cap during the printing operation of the inkjet printer.

FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway side view for explaining the raising of the conveyor belt unit in the printing operation of the inkjet printer.

FIG. 12 is a partially cutaway side view for explaining the end of the printing operation of the above inkjet printer.

FIG. 13 is a partially cutaway side view for explaining discharge of print sheets of the inkjet printer of the same.

FIG. 14 is a partially cutaway side view for explaining the down operation of the conveyor belt unit in the printing operation of the above inkjet printer.

FIG. 15 is a plan view illustrating a head cartridge / connector attaching / detaching mechanism of the above inkjet printer.

16 is a side view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 17 is a side view taken along the line BB of FIG.

FIG. 18 is a partially cutaway side view for explaining the detaching operation of the head cartridge of the above-described head cartridge / connector detaching mechanism.

FIG. 19 is a partially cutaway side view for explaining a connector attaching / detaching operation of the head cartridge / connector attaching / detaching mechanism of the above. Le

FIG. 20 is a perspective view for explaining a connector detaching operation of the above head cartridge / connector detaching mechanism.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view illustrating a connector connecting operation of the head cartridge / connector attaching / detaching mechanism of the above.

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view of the detached state of the above connector.

FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the connector connection state and the stopper of the operation lever of the same.

FIG. 24 is a partially cutaway side view of the head cap of the above inkjet printer.

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of essential parts of the head cap and the cap holder of the above.

FIG. 26 is a plan view and CC of the above head cap.
It is a side view in the arrow.

FIG. 27 is a side view for explaining the attachment / detachment of the head cap and the cap holder of the above.

FIG. 28 is a plan view of a head cap opening / closing mechanism of the above inkjet printer.

FIG. 29 is a side view of a head cap guide plate of the head cap opening / closing mechanism of the above.

FIG. 30 is a side view of a rack guide plate of the head cap opening / closing mechanism of the above.

FIG. 31 is a plan view of a conveyor belt unit of the above inkjet printer.

FIG. 32 is a side view of an initial state for explaining the head cap opening / closing mechanism and the conveyor belt lifting mechanism of the above.

FIG. 33 is a side view in a printable state for explaining the rack drive mechanism and the transport belt lifting mechanism of the head cap opening / closing mechanism of the above.

FIG. 34 is a side view at the time of printing standby for explaining the operations of the head cap opening / closing mechanism and the conveyor belt lifting mechanism of the above.

FIG. 35 is a side view showing the operations of the head cap opening / closing mechanism and the transport belt elevating mechanism in the same state during printing preparation.

FIG. 36 is a side view illustrating the operations of the head cap opening / closing mechanism and the transport belt elevating mechanism of the above, which is in preparation for printing, following FIG. 35.

FIG. 37 is a side view for explaining the operations of the head cap opening / closing mechanism and the transport belt lifting / lowering mechanism of the above for explaining the completion of printing preparation.

FIG. 38 is a side view illustrating the same printing preparation as that in FIG. 35;

FIG. 39 is a side view for explaining the same printing preparation as that in FIG. 36;

FIG. 40 is a side view illustrating a drive system of a conveyor belt.

FIG. 41 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating the gist of a gap adjusting mechanism between the line head and the conveyor belt of the inkjet printer of the same.

FIG. 42 is a side view for explaining the down state of the conveyor belt unit of the gap adjusting mechanism of the above.

FIG. 43 is a side view of the above-described gap adjusting mechanism with the transport belt raised, when the gap is 2 mm.

FIG. 44 is a side view of the above-described gap adjusting mechanism with the transport belt raised, when the gap is 3 mm.

FIG. 45 is a cross-sectional view showing an enlarged main part of FIGS. 43 and 44.

FIG. 46 is a plan view for explaining the spacer slide mechanism of the above gap adjusting mechanism when the gap is 2 mm.

47 is an enlarged side view taken along the line FF of FIG. 46.

FIG. 48 is a plan view for explaining the spacer slide mechanism of the above gap adjusting mechanism when the gap is 3 mm.

FIG. 49 is an enlarged side view taken along the line GG in FIG. 48.

FIG. 50 is a side view illustrating a modified example of the gap adjusting mechanism of the above.

FIG. 51 is a schematic side view illustrating the basic structure of the jam handling mechanism of the inkjet printer of the above.

52 is a schematic side view during the jam processing of FIG. 52.

FIG. 53 is a schematic side view illustrating an improved structure of the jam handling mechanism of the above.

FIG. 54 is a schematic side view illustrating an improved structure of the jam handling mechanism of the above.

55 is a schematic side view illustrating the operation of the jam handling mechanism of FIG. 54.

56 is a schematic side view explaining the operation of the jam handling mechanism of FIG. 54.

FIG. 57 is a schematic side view illustrating an improved structure of the jam handling mechanism of the above.

FIG. 58 is a schematic side view illustrating an improved structure of the jam handling mechanism of the above.

FIG. 59 is a side view illustrating a conventional gap adjusting structure of a line head.

FIG. 60 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional head gap opening / closing structure.

FIG. 61 is a side view for explaining the difference between the slack side driving and the tension side driving of the conveyor belt.

FIG. 62 is a side view illustrating a problem caused by driving the conveying belt on the tension side.

FIG. 63 is a side view for explaining another problem caused by driving the conveying belt on the tension side.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 9 is a line head which is a printer head, 10 is a head cap, 30 is a conveyor belt, 31 is a conveyor belt unit which is a print paper conveyor unit, 70 is a head cap opening / closing mechanism, 71 is a head cap guide mechanism, and 86.
Is a head cap drive mechanism, 86 is a rack, 94 is a drive motor, and 105 is a conveyor belt elevating mechanism which is a conveying unit elevating mechanism.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Akihito Miyazaki             6-735 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Soni             -Inside the corporation (72) Inventor Toshiki Kagami             6-735 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Soni             -Inside the corporation (72) Inventor Hiromi Tsujinaga             6-735 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Soni             -Inside the corporation F term (reference) 2C056 EA17 FA13 JA04                 3F049 AA04 DA03 DB02 LA07 LB03

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A printer head set in a fixed position, a head cap for opening and closing a head surface of the printer head, and a head for driving the head cap to open and close between a closed position and an open position of the head surface. A cap opening / closing mechanism, wherein the head cap opening / closing mechanism is driven by a motor and is driven by a motor, and the head cap opening / closing mechanism moves and guides the mutually independent head caps between the closed position and the open position. An ink jet printer, comprising: a head cap drive mechanism that drives the head cap along the head cap guide mechanism. 2. The printer head is a line head, and a cleaning means for cleaning the head surface is attached to the head cap while the head cap is opened and closed between the closed position and the open position. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet printer is a printer. 3. The head cap drive mechanism includes a rack that is driven along a linear guide to drive the head cap to open and close in a non-linear manner along the head cap guide mechanism. The inkjet printer according to claim 1. 4. The ink jet printer according to claim 3, wherein the head cap drive mechanism includes an adjuster that elastically positions the head cap at the closed position. 5. A print paper transport unit, which is arranged so as to face the head surface of the printer head, and transports print paper along the head surface, and the print paper transport unit is arranged in parallel with and close to the head surface. And a transport unit elevating mechanism that elevates and lowers between a printable position and a print standby position that is spaced downward from the head surface to secure an opening / closing movement path of the head cap. The inkjet printer according to claim 1. 6. The print paper transport unit is configured by a transport belt, and is configured to swing up and down on the other end side around a rotation fulcrum on one end side. The inkjet printer described in 1.