JP2003170575A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an ink jet printer in which a carriage is fixed to an ink jet head quickly and readily, the ink jet head fixed with the carriage can be secured stably over a long term, machining process is shortened or the number of components is decreased without complicating the shape of the carriage or the ink jet head, and fixing work of the ink jet head is simplified greatly. <P>SOLUTION: The ink jet printer comprises a carriage for scanning a recording medium, and an ink jet head being secured to the carriage and performs imaging on the recording medium. The carriage comprises an urging means and a stopping means and the ink jet head is secured through the urging means and stopping means of the carriage. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer, and more particularly to an ink jet printer in which an ink jet head can be firmly and stably mounted on a carriage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink jet printers are low in noise and capable of forming images at high speed, and can easily provide a multicolor image by using a plurality of nozzles. Recently, a high-quality image output comparable to a silver salt photographic color image has appeared, and its use is expanding to new fields such as color block printing and design image output.

Such an ink jet printer is, for example, a recording medium wound in a roll shape, a roller for conveying the recording medium so as to face the ink jet head in sequence,
A carriage that scans a recording medium in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance, an inkjet head that is mounted on the carriage and ejects a predetermined amount of ink under appropriate control, and an ink tank that supplies the ink to the inkjet head through an ink supply path. It is roughly composed of In some cases, an intermediate tank is provided between the inkjet head and the ink tank.

Among these, the ink jet head is usually
A plurality of ink jet heads are prepared for a plurality of colors, and each of these ink jet heads has a nozzle and a pressure chamber communicating with the nozzle. Further, the ink tank is provided with an ink cartridge corresponding to each color so that ink corresponding to a plurality of colors can be supplied as described above.

Further, the ink jetting in the ink jet head is basically realized by causing a pressure fluctuation in the pressure chamber. As a mechanism for causing this pressure fluctuation, a piezo provided in the ink jet head is used. Applying the strain generated by applying an appropriate electric signal to the element, using the displacement (= force fluctuation) at that time (piezo type), and using the expansion pressure generated by applying heat to the pressure chamber It is widely known that there are things such as a thermal method or a bubble jet (R) method.

[0006]

In the ink jet printer, it is necessary to replace the ink jet head appropriately. The reason is that the ink ejected from the nozzle hole of the inkjet head adheres to the periphery of the nozzle hole during repeated image formation, and such ink deposits gradually accumulate to gradually reduce the diameter of the nozzle. This is because clogging and the like occur, and it becomes difficult to form a color image with an appropriate image quality.

In order to solve these problems, the ink jet head is provided with a capping unit and a cleaning unit, but it has not been possible to completely solve the nozzle clogging, and the ink jet head should be replaced regularly. is necessary.

As described above, the ink jet head is a component that needs to be replaced as appropriate. However, after the ink jet head is mounted on the carriage, it remains firmly mounted without being detached from the carriage or loosened before the next replacement. Required to be done. Therefore, a lock structure is added so that the inkjet head and the carriage are securely fixed,
For example, the inkjet head is structured to be attached to the carriage by giving momentum. Further, when replacing the inkjet head, it is necessary to design the shape and size of the inkjet head so that the operator can replace the inkjet head quickly and easily.

However, in the prior art, in order to maintain a firm mounting state, the shape of the ink jet head is complicated, or the head is urged to be attached to the head, so that the selection of an expensive material that can withstand the strength and the handle are necessary. Various kinds of parts were attached and other measures were taken. As a result, the manufacturing process of the inkjet head and the carriage is complicated, and the cost is increased due to an increase in the number of parts, and the shape of the inkjet head is complicated.

Further, the impact force applied when the ink jet head is mounted on the carriage affects the performance of the piezo element in the ink jet head, resulting in a problem that the durability of the ink jet head is deteriorated. Further, when a plurality of inkjet heads are replaced at the same time, with an inkjet head having a lock structure, carelessly forgetting to lock the inkjet head and performing image formation in an unstable state, the image of an appropriate quality cannot be obtained. I also have.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention is an ink jet printer capable of quickly and easily mounting an ink jet head on a carriage and maintaining a stable fixed state for a long period after the head is mounted on the carriage. It is intended to provide.

Another object of the present invention is to achieve a firm and stable fixed state of the head and the carriage by a simple locking means, thereby preventing the carriage and the head from being complicated in shape and reducing the number of parts. An object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet printer that achieves reduction in manufacturing cost by reducing the number of processing steps of a carriage and an inkjet head.

Further, the present invention provides an ink jet printer in which the work for mounting by a worker is remarkably alleviated by allowing the ink jet head to be easily mounted with one touch without giving a lock. It is intended.

[0014]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventors of the present invention have conducted extensive studies in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, and have a very simple structure, but the carriage main body with the ink jet head being strong and stable. We have found an inkjet printer that can be fixed on top of it and that can be easily mounted with an inkjet head.

That is, the present invention achieves the above object by adopting any one of the following constitutions.

[1] In an ink jet printer having a carriage for scanning a recording medium and an ink jet head fixed to the carriage, for forming an image on the recording medium, the carriage has a biasing means and a locking means. The inkjet printer is characterized in that the inkjet head is fixed by a biasing means and a locking means of the carriage.

[2] The ink jet printer according to [1], wherein the urging means of the carriage is arranged at both ends of a plate-shaped member on the carriage.

[3] The urging means of the carriage is arranged at both ends of the plate-shaped member on the carriage and at arbitrary positions of the plate-shaped member. The described inkjet printer.

[4] The ink jet printer according to [2] or [3], wherein the urging means of the carriage is formed integrally with the plate member.

[5] The ink jet printer according to the above [1], wherein the carriage locking means has a concave portion.

[6] The inkjet printer according to [1], wherein the inkjet head has a plurality of protrusions.

[7] The ink jet printer according to the above [6], wherein the plurality of projections of the ink jet head have inclined surfaces.

[8] The ink jet printer according to any one of [1] to [7], wherein the carriage has a connector.

[0024]

[9] The inkjet head is mounted on the carriage by inserting a plurality of protrusions of the inkjet head into concave portions of the urging means and the locking means. ~ The inkjet printer according to any one of [8].

[0025]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view with respect to a head scanning direction showing an outline of an inkjet printer device which is an example of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the inkjet printer 1 conveys a roll paper P stored in the upper part of the apparatus in a direction of an arrow B, passes below a carriage body 32 of a carriage 3, and is ejected from an inkjet head 2 mounted on the carriage body 32. An image is formed with the ink. Then, the roll paper on which the image has been formed is cut and discharged onto the discharge mat 11.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the ink jet printer 1 according to this embodiment. In FIG. 2, the inkjet printer 1 is mainly composed of an inkjet head 2, a carriage 3, a guide rail 4, an ink tank 5, an intermediate tank 6 and the like.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where the ink jet head 2 is mounted on the carriage body 32. As shown in FIG. 3, as the inkjet heads 2, inkjet heads of a plurality of colors are prepared corresponding to color image formation. These inkjet heads have the structure shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
Is provided.

These pressure chambers 22 are provided with, for example, piezo elements on both walls thereof, and electrodes are provided on the piezo elements. With such a configuration, by sending an electric signal through the signal line connected to the electrode,
It is possible to generate a desired strain in the piezo element, and as a result, generate a desired pressure fluctuation in the pressure chamber 22,
As a result, the ink remaining in the pressure chamber 22 can be ejected from the nozzle 23.

The plural colors are, for example, Y (yellow),
It is possible to add M (magenta), C (cyan), and K (black), and the respective shades of these, to make "8 colors" correspond, for example. Further, the nozzle 23 is
For each of the eight colors, it is preferable to dispose a plurality of nozzles in one inkjet head 2 in order to form an image with high resolution. For example, in FIG. Although the nozzles are shown as arranged in one row, a large number of nozzles may be arranged in a plurality of rows to form a highly accurate image.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the ink jet head 2 is disposed on a carriage main body 32 which is penetrated by a guide rail 4 and held. Carriage body 32
The carriage 3 constituting the above is freely movable along the guide rail 4 in the direction indicated by the arrow A in the figure, and the inkjet head 2 is movable in the same direction as the carriage 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ink jet head 2 is connected to the ink tank 5 via the intermediate tank 6 by the ink supply path L. As shown in FIG. 2, the ink tank 5 is composed of a plurality (for example, eight) of ink cartridges 51a, ..., 51h. The ink cartridge 51 that constitutes the ink tank 5 stores ink inside and has a function as an “ink supply source” of the inkjet printer 1 in the present embodiment.

Incidentally, these plural ink cartridges 5
Each of 1a, ..., 51h is provided corresponding to each of the plurality of colors. That is, "Y dark color" is accumulated in the first ink cartridge 51a, "Y light color" is accumulated in the second ink cartridge 51b, ..., "K light color" is accumulated in the eighth ink cartridge 51h. There is a correspondence such as

The intermediate tank 6 is provided with a plurality of compartments (not shown) corresponding to each of the plurality of colors, and the ink sent from each of the plurality of ink cartridges 51a, ..., 51h is once for each color. Has a function of storing. Further, the intermediate tank 6 is shown on the upper left side of the inkjet head 2 for the purpose of a schematic view in FIG. 2, but in practice, it is preferably arranged below the inkjet head 2. With such an arrangement, a negative pressure called a head is generated due to a drop between the inkjet head 2 and the intermediate tank 6, and a negative pressure by the head can be applied to the pressure chamber of the inkjet head 2. Become. As a result, it becomes possible to stabilize the ink ejection from the inkjet head 2 for a long time, and it is possible to form an image on a wide and long recording medium.

In this way, ink is supplied to each of the ink jet heads 2 from the ink cartridge 5 through the intermediate tank 6. A flexible tube, a flexible bag, or the like may be used for the ink supply path L or each of the intermediate tank 6 and the compartments that make up the intermediate tank 6. Further, in FIG. 2, the ink supply path L between the intermediate tank 6 and the inkjet head 2 is
For simplicity, this is shown as a single solid line, but it is actually 8
The ink supply path L of the book and the eight inkjet heads 2 are correspondingly connected.

On the other hand, the recording medium P is in a state of being wound as a roll as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and is arranged at a predetermined position of the ink jet printer main body. The recording medium P is sequentially fed out from the roll by the roll supporting shaft 9 rotating as shown by an arrow R in the figure, and is conveyed in a direction of an arrow B in the figure.

With the above structure, the ink jet printer 1 of this embodiment scans the ink jet head 2 in the direction of arrow A as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and ejects the ink from the nozzle onto the recording medium P. A linear image is formed by the ink. At the same time, in synchronization with this, the recording medium P is sequentially conveyed in the B direction shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
An image is formed on the entire surface of the recording medium P.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ink jet printer according to the present invention may include a control section C, a capping unit 7, a cleaning unit 8 and the like in addition to the above structure. The controller C controls the operation of the piezo element provided in the pressure chamber, controls the conveyance of the recording medium P, and performs other various controls for performing proper image formation in the inkjet printer 1.

Further, the capping unit 7 has a cap capable of separating the inside of the nozzle and the outside thereof when not in use, in order to prevent the inside of the nozzle of the ink jet head 2 from drying, and has a cap attachable to the nozzle. ing.

Further, the cleaning unit 8 cleans the inside of the nozzle or the nozzle surface (the surface where the nozzle tips are continuous) so that the ink ejection from the nozzle is always suitable. Specifically, it can be configured to include a "blade" for removing dust and the like on the nozzle surface, a "pump" for discharging bubbles in the nozzle, and the like.

Next, the structure of the ink jet head 2 or the carriage 3 and the function and effect thereof which are particularly relevant to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are views showing the mounting portions of the ink jet head 2 and the carriage 3. FIG. 4 is a front view of the perspective view of FIG. 3, in which a plurality of inkjet heads 21a are attached to the carriage body 32.
.., 21h are all attached. Also, FIG.
Is a view seen from the direction of Q in FIG.
, 21h are partially attached to the inkjet heads 21a, ..., 21h. As is clear from FIG. 5, the carriage main body 32 includes an ink supply port 321 for supplying ink to the inkjet head 2 and a main body side connector 322 including, for example, 24 pins.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing the ink jet head 2. That is, (a) of FIG. 6 is a view of the inkjet head 2 viewed from the P direction of FIG. 4, and (b) is a schematic view showing a surface of the inkjet 2 on the side having the nozzle 23.

As shown in FIG. 6, the ink jet head 2
Has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped casing 214 in its outer shape.
An ink receiving port 215 and a connector 216 are arranged above the above.

As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the housing 214
Protrusions 24 and 25 for mounting the inkjet head 2 on the carriage body 32 are arranged on the top. Further, the housing 214 has an ink receiving port 21 for receiving ink from the ink supply port 321 of the carriage body 32.
5 is formed, a head side connector 216 communicating with a substrate storage area (not shown) provided inside the housing 214 is formed.
Is provided. The ink is received at the ink receiving port 215 according to each type of each inkjet head 2, for example, for each of a plurality of colors such as “Y dark color”, ..., “K light color”.

The housing 214 is made of a suitable plastic material. In addition, the head side connector 216
A cable (not shown) is connected to the back side (= inside the housing 214) of the substrate and the cable is connected to a substrate (not shown) housed in a substrate housing area (not shown). Then, the ink receiving port 215 and the head-side connector 216
Can be connected to the ink supply port 321 and the main body side connector 322 provided in the carriage main body 32.

Further, the substrate accommodated in the substrate accommodating region (not shown) is, for example, based on a signal or the like from the control section C (see FIG. 2) for driving the piezoelectric element provided in the pressure chamber 22 or the like. It controls and transmits a predetermined signal or the like to the control unit C. The reception or transmission of this signal is performed by the head side connector 216 (and the main body side connector 32).
Via 2).

The ink jet head 2 and the carriage body 32 according to the present invention have a characteristic configuration of the present invention.
The carriage has a mounting member for easily and firmly fixing the inkjet head on the carriage body, and the inkjet head has the protrusion 2 shown in FIG.
4, 25, and the carriage body side is spring members 34 and 34 'which are biasing means shown in FIG. 7 and a member 35 (hereinafter referred to as a locking member) having a concave portion which is a locking means. 7 (a) and 7 (c) are views showing a state in which the ink jet head 2 can be seen from the carriage body 32 of FIG. 4, and FIGS. 7 (b) and 7 (d) are the same as FIG. 7 (a). It is the figure which looked at (c) from the side. The spring member 34 on the carriage body is arranged on the side close to the connector 216, and the locking member 35 is arranged on the side opposite to the side close to the connector 216. By inserting the protrusion 24 of the inkjet head 2 between the bottom of the spring member 34 and the top of the carriage body 32, the spring member 34 biases and fixes the protrusion 24. Further, by inserting the remaining projections 25 into the concave portions of the locking member 35, the inkjet head 2 is fixed on the carriage body 32 and stably mounted.

The urging means on the carriage body 32 are arranged at both ends of a plate-shaped member 33 having a U-shape. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 7 (c) and 7 (d), the plate-like member may be provided with biasing means at any position other than both ends. It should be noted that these urging means are formed integrally with the plate-shaped member 33, that is, a shape capable of applying a urging force to the ink jet head so that both ends of the plate-shaped member 33 are formed into a leaf spring shape, for example. It is preferable to use those processed into the above, or those processed so that leaf spring-like protrusions capable of applying a biasing force to the ink jet head are arranged at any position other than both ends of the plate member. Further, these urging means may be manufactured by a material different from that of the plate-like member 33, and attached to the plate-like member 33 later to be attached to the inkjet head.

Although the urging means according to the present invention has been described by taking a leaf spring-shaped spring member as an example, the urging means is used to firmly attach the ink jet head 2 onto the carriage body 32. It is not limited to the spring member as long as it achieves proper mounting.

Further, on the carriage body 32, the locking member 3 having a concave portion on the side opposite to the side close to the connector is provided.
5 is arranged, and the protrusion 25 on the inkjet head 2 is inserted into the concave portion.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a state in which the ink jet head 2 according to the present invention is mounted on the carriage body 32.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the spring member 34 and the locking member 35 having a concave portion provided on the carriage main body 32 according to the present invention are the same as those described above for the ink jet head 2.
Joined to the protrusions 24 and 25 arranged on the housing 214 of
The inkjet head 2 is attached to the carriage body 32. That is, the protrusions 24 and the plate springs 34 arranged at both ends of the U-shaped plate member 33 and the carriage body 3 are provided.
By being inserted between the two, the leaf spring 34 urges and fixes them. Further, the projection 25 is inserted into the concave portion of the locking member 35, thereby firmly fixing the inkjet head 2 on the carriage body 32.

The projections 24 and 25 preferably have inclined surfaces 241 and 251 so that the projections 24 and 25 can be inserted into the spring member 34 and the locking member 35 more reliably. .

Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, FIG.
If the ink jet head 2 is mounted on the carriage body 32 by using a plate-shaped member 33 having spring members 34 'arranged at arbitrary positions other than both ends as shown in FIGS. To be achieved. That is, FIG.
In (b), the spring member 34 'installed at an arbitrary position of the plate member 33 pushes the ink jet head 2 by its elastic force, and at the same time, the ink jet head 2 acts by its reaction to push back the spring member 34'. Therefore, a stronger mounting is achieved than in the case of FIG. 8 (a).

Next, the procedure for mounting the ink jet head 2 on the carriage body 32 according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 9 (1).
This will be described with reference to (4). The arrow in the figure indicates the direction in which the inkjet head 2 is moved.

First, as shown in FIG. 9A, the ink jet head side connector 216 is hooked on the carriage body side connector 322, and then the inclined portion of the projection 24 on the connector side of the ink jet head as shown in FIG. 9B. 24
1 is applied to the spring members 34 at both ends of the U-shaped plate member 33 on the carriage body 32 side.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 9C, the ink jet head 2 is pushed in order to completely attach the connector on the ink jet head side and the connector on the carriage body side, and both connectors are surely attached. The protrusion 24 on the side of the inkjet head 2 near the connector is inserted between the leaf spring 34 and the carriage body 32 along the inclined portion 241 of the protrusion. When the protrusion 24 is completely inserted between the leaf spring 34 and the carriage body 32, the remaining protrusion 2
5 is in contact with the locking member 35 on the carriage body 32.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 9 (4), when the ink jet head 2 is moved slightly back in the direction of the arrow,
Along the inclined surface 251 of the projection 25, the projection 25 has the locking member 3
5 is inserted into the recess. In this way, the protrusion 25 and the locking member 35 on the carriage body are fixed, and the mounting of the inkjet head 2 on the carriage body 32 is completed.

The spring member 3 is provided at any position other than both ends of the plate member 33 shown in FIGS. 7 (c) and 7 (d).
For those having 4 ', the inkjet head 2 is mounted on the carriage body 32 by the same procedure as above. However, FIG.
At the time of (2), the spring member 34 ′ at an arbitrary position on the plate member 33 comes into contact with the inkjet head 2.
9 (3) and (4), perform the same work as above,
When the mounting of the inkjet head 2 on the carriage body 32 is completed, the firm mounting of the inkjet head 2 on the carriage body 32 is achieved in the state shown in FIG. 8B.

As described above, according to the present invention, by using the above-mentioned mounting member, it is possible to mount the ink jet head 2 on the carriage main body 32 easily, firmly and stably. There is no need to provide a locking member.

Further, the ink jet head is securely mounted on the carriage body, and there is no problem that an image defect occurs due to weak mounting of the ink jet head.

Further, in the present invention, when the ink jet head 2 is attached to the carriage body 32, the ink receiving port 215 and the ink supply port 321 or both the head side connector 216 and the body side connector 322 are carefully positioned. The fact that it is not necessary also makes it possible to carry out a simple, quick and strong mounting.

In the above embodiment, the number of ink jet heads 2 is “8” in FIG. 2 and the like, but the present invention is not limited to such a form. Needless to say. Ink cartridge 5
, And the number of compartments in the intermediate tank 6 is “8”, but the present invention is not limited to this. Further, in the present embodiment, the inkjet printer 1 is described using the ink of “8 colors”.
The present invention is not limited to this.

Further, the present invention is not limited to these specific descriptions with respect to the number of nozzles forming the ink jet head 2, its specific form, etc., and various modifications and applications are possible. It is applied.

[0065]

According to the ink jet printer of the present invention, the ink jet head can be mounted on the carriage quickly and easily, and the ink jet head after mounting the carriage can maintain a stable fixed state for a long period of time. .

Further, according to the ink jet printer of the present invention, the manufacturing cost can be reduced by shortening the processing steps and reducing the number of parts without complicating the shapes of the carriage and the head. Furthermore, the present invention enables the one-touch mounting of the inkjet head without adding a lock component, which simplifies the mounting work by the operator and greatly reduces the mounting time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing an example of an inkjet printer device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of an inkjet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which an inkjet head is mounted on a carriage body.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state where all the inkjet heads are mounted on the carriage body when FIG. 3 is viewed from the front.

5 is a diagram showing a state in which some inkjet heads are mounted on the carriage main body when FIG. 4 is viewed from the direction of Q. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an inkjet head according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a spring member and a locking member installed on the carriage body according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state in which the inkjet head according to the present invention is completely attached to the carriage body.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a procedure for mounting the inkjet head according to the present invention on the carriage body.

[Description of Reference Signs] 1 Inkjet printer 11 Paper ejection mats 2, 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21
f, 21g, 21h Inkjet head 215 Ink receiving port 22 Pressure chamber (piezo element) 23 Nozzles 24, 25 Protrusion 3 Carriage 32 Carriage body 33 Plate-shaped members 34, 34 'Spring member 35 Locking member 4 Guide rail 5 Ink tank 6 Intermediate tank 7 Capping unit 8 Cleaning unit 9 Roll support shaft P Recording medium

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An inkjet printer having a carriage for scanning a recording medium and an inkjet head fixed to the carriage, wherein the carriage has an urging means and a locking means. An inkjet printer is characterized in that the inkjet head is fixed via a biasing means and a locking means of the carriage. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the biasing means of the carriage is arranged at both ends of a plate-shaped member on the carriage. 3. The urging means of the carriage is arranged at both ends of a plate-shaped member on the carriage and at arbitrary positions of the plate-shaped member. Inkjet printer. 4. The ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein the urging means of the carriage is formed integrally with the plate member. 5. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the locking means of the carriage has a concave portion. 6. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet head has a plurality of protrusions. 7. The inkjet printer according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of protrusions of the inkjet head have inclined surfaces. 8. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein the carriage has a connector. 9. The inkjet head is mounted on the carriage by inserting a plurality of protrusions of the inkjet head into concave portions of the biasing means and the locking means. The inkjet printer according to any one of 1 to 8.