JP2003251834A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance heat dissipating capacity of a recording head while reducing the cost. <P>SOLUTION: In a recorder for recording an image on a sheet by means of a recording head 18 carried on a carriage 19 traveling while being guided by a carriage guide shaft 24, the carriage is made of resin and heat of the recording head is transmitted through a heat transmission bridge 47 to the metallic carriage guide shaft. <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 a recording apparatus having an improved heat dissipation structure for a recording head mounted on a carriage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG.
A recording head 103 is mounted on a carriage 102 which is guided by a carriage guide shaft 101, and an image is recorded on a sheet conveyed between the recording head 103 and a platen by a recording wire protruding operation of the recording head 103. There is a dot impact printer.

In the recording head 103 of such a printer, the recording wire protrudes by the excitation of the electromagnet coil, but the heat generated by the excitation of the electromagnet coil is radiated by the radiator 104.

Further, when the carriage 102 is made of metal such as aluminum alloy, the heat of the recording head 103 is transferred to the carriage guide shaft 101, which is also made of metal, through the carriage 102 and directly from the carriage guide shaft 101. The heat is dissipated or is dissipated through the frame to enhance the heat dissipation capability of the recording head 103.

[0005]

However, since the carriage 102 made of metal such as aluminum alloy is expensive, there is a printer in which the carriage 102 is made of resin.

In such a printer, the carriage 10
Since the heat of the recording head 103 cannot be dissipated after passing through 2, the heat dissipation capability of the recording head 103 is reduced and the recording head 10
3 cannot be continuously recorded for a long time, and the throughput of the printer may be reduced.

An object of the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus capable of improving the heat dissipation capability of the recording head while reducing the cost.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus in which a recording head is mounted on a carriage which is guided by a carriage guide member and the recording head records an image on a sheet. The carriage is made of resin, and the heat of the recording head is transferred to the metal carriage guide member via the heat transfer means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, the carriage guide member is a carriage guide shaft, and the heat transfer means is installed in a recording head and is attached to the carriage guide shaft. A heat transfer bridge for transferring the heat of the recording head to a bush capable of sliding contact.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the bush is mounted on a carriage. Claim 4
In the invention described in claim 2 or 3, the heat transfer silicon is filled between the bush and the heat transfer bridge. Claim 5
In the invention described in claim 1, in the invention described in claim 1, the heat transfer means is a heat transfer plate installed in the recording head and provided in contact with the carriage guide member. Is. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the fifth aspect, the carriage guide member is a carriage guide shaft.

The invention described in claims 1 to 6 has the following effects.

Since the heat of the recording head mounted on the resin carriage is transferred to the metal carriage guide member via the heat transfer means, the heat dissipation capability of the recording head can be improved and the carriage can be improved. Since is made of resin, the cost can be reduced.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[A] First Embodiment (FIGS. 1 to 7) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer body of a dot impact printer to which a first embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention is applied. Is. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the printer body of FIG.

The printer 10 as a recording device shown in these figures prints dots by striking a large number of recording wires (not shown) of the recording head 18 onto the sheet S via the ink ribbon 31 to record dots. The dot impact printer records an image including the image. Here, the sheet S is a passbook, a postcard, an envelope, or the like, in addition to plain paper such as cut paper or continuous paper. In particular, the cut sheet includes cut copy paper, and the continuous paper includes continuous copy paper.

The printer 10 is, as shown in FIG.
A printer main body 11 as a recording apparatus main body, a push tractor unit 12 and a discharge unit 13 detachably attached to the printer main body 11, and a sheet supply guide 34 also detachably attached to the printer main body 11.
(FIG. 2), and an upper case and a lower case (not shown) that cover the upper and lower sides of the printer body 11, respectively.

The printer body 11 has a base frame 14 and a sheet guide frame 15 as body frames.
(FIG. 2), a left side frame 16 and a right side frame 17, a print mechanism unit 20 including a recording head 18 and a carriage 19, a sheet conveyance including a platen 21, a sheet guide 22, and a pinch roller 25 (FIG. 2). Mechanical part 23
And are configured.

The base frame 14 and the seat guide frame 15 are arranged substantially in parallel as shown in FIG. 2, and the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 are provided at both ends of the base frame 14 and the seat guide frame 15, respectively.
Are fixed upright. As shown in FIG. 1, a carriage guide shaft 24 is laid between the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 so as to be pivotally supported, and a platen 21 is laid so as to be rotatable. Has been done. The seat guide 22 is the left side frame 16
And the right side frame 17 are provided, and are fitted and fixed to the sheet guide frame 15. Also, the rear parts of the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17,
The push tractor unit 1 is provided on each of the upper portions.
2. A tractor unit mounting part and a discharging unit mounting part (not shown) to which the discharging unit 13 can be mounted respectively are provided.

The push tractor unit 12 shown in FIG.
Feeds the continuous paper as the sheet S to the sheet conveying mechanism section 23, and the sheet supply guide 34 one by one the cut sheets as the sheet S (one by one in the case of the continuous cut sheets).
The sheet is fed to the sheet transport mechanism section 23. Further, the discharge unit 13 pulls out the continuous paper or the cut sheet from the sheet conveying mechanism section 23 to the outside of the printer 10.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the rotation of the tractor belt 26 of the push tractor unit 12 causes
Due to the action of the pin 27 of the tractor belt 26, the continuous paper is guided to the sheet guide 22 of the sheet conveying mechanism section 23, and passes through the sheet conveying path 28 formed between the sheet guide 22 and the platen 21 to cause the platen 21 to move. , And is fed in the direction of arrow α. When the push tractor unit 12 is not in operation, it is possible to feed the cut sheets one by one (or one by one) from the sheet feeding guide 34 to the front of the platen 21 via the sheet conveying path 28.
Further, by the rotation of the discharge roller 29 of the discharge unit 13, the continuous paper or the cut sheet on which characters and the like are recorded by the recording head 18 is pulled out from the platen 21 of the sheet conveying mechanism portion 23 in the arrow β direction, as described later. . As a result, the continuous paper or the cut sheet is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction, which will be described later, of the carriage 19.

The carriage 19 shown in FIG. 1 is slidably inserted into a carriage guide shaft 24 and carries a recording head 18. Since the carriage guide shaft 24 is arranged parallel to the platen 21, the carriage 19
Are the platen 21 and the carriage guide shaft 24.
It is provided so as to be movable (running) in the main scanning direction that coincides with the axial direction of.

The carriage 19 is guided by the carriage guide shaft 24 via the timing belt 30 (FIG. 2) by the forward or reverse rotation of a carriage drive motor (not shown), and travels leftward or rightward in FIG. 1 in the main scanning direction. It

The recording head 18 is provided with a large number of recording wires, and the ink ribbon 31 is located in front of the protruding direction of these recording wires. While the recording head 18 travels in the main scanning direction together with the carriage 19, the recording wire is ejected and hits the ink ribbon 31, so that the ink ribbon 31
The ink is attached to a sheet S (continuous paper or cut sheet) conveyed between the platen 21 and the ink ribbon 31, and an image including characters is recorded on the sheet S.

In this recording operation by the recording head 18, one line of recording is performed by the recording wire of the recording head 18 while the carriage 19 travels leftward or rightward in the main scanning direction, and each time one line of recording is performed. If the sheet S is continuous paper, the sheet conveying mechanism unit 2 shown in FIG.
The platen 21, the push tractor unit 12, and the discharge unit 13 of FIG. 3, and when the sheet S is a single-cut sheet, the platen 21, the pinch roller 25, and the discharge unit 13 of the sheet transport mechanism unit 23 respectively locate the sheet S. It is carried out by transporting a fixed amount (usually the space between lines) and repeating these operations.

Reference numeral 32 shown in FIG. 2 is formed so as to open between the base frame 14 and the sheet guide frame 15, and the sheet conveying mechanism portion 23 is provided from below the printer 10.
A bottom sheet supply port for supplying the sheet S into the inside.

Further, the drive control of the platen 21, the push tractor unit 12, and the ejection unit 13, the traveling control of the carriage 19, and the control of the recording operation by the recording wire of the recording head 18 are performed by the control board unit 3 as a control device.
3 (FIG. 2). The control board unit 33 is
For example, it is arranged below the sheet guide frame 15 behind the printer body 11. By the way, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the recording head 18 has a head body 40.
A nose portion 41 is connected to the head body 40, and a radiator 42 is arranged outside the head body 40. The radiator 42 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and a plurality of fins 43 are integrally provided on the outside. In the radiator 42, when the electromagnet coil (not shown) of the head body 40 is energized, the electromagnet coil serves as a heating element and generates heat. The heat of the head body 40 caused by this heat is radiated by using the fins 43. Then, the head body 40 is cooled.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the carriage 19 has a bush 45 fitted on one end side, and the bush 45 is provided so as to be slidably contactable with the carriage guide shaft 24. As described above, the carriage guide shaft 24 guides the vehicle to travel. During this traveling, the locking member 46 provided on the lower end side of the carriage 19 slides on the front end portion 44 of the base frame 14 (FIG. 2) to guide the carriage 19. Therefore, the carriage guide shaft 24
Also, the locking member 46 functions as a carriage guide member.

The carriage guide shaft 24 and the locking member 46 are made of metal, but the carriage 19 is made of resin to reduce the cost. The bush 45 is mainly made of metal.

As described above, the heat of the head body 40 of the recording head 18 is radiated by the fins 43 of the radiator 42, but is also radiated by the carriage guide shaft 24 and the like via the heat transfer bridge 47 and the like as the heat transfer means. It

The heat transfer bridge 47 is composed of a heat transfer member such as metal. Also, this heat transfer bridge 47
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, one end is installed in the radiator 42, and the other end is attached so as to include the bush 45. This heat transfer bridge 47, radiator 42, bush 4
Heat transfer silicon (not shown) is filled between each of them to improve heat transfer.

Therefore, the heat generated in the recording head 18 is radiated by the radiator 42 and also transferred to the carriage guide shaft 24 through the heat transfer bridge 47 and the bush 45, and directly from the carriage guide shaft 24. Alternatively, heat is also radiated from the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 via the carriage guide shaft 24.

Here, the bush 45 has a portion fitted to the carriage 19 and a portion extended from the fitted portion, and the heat transfer bridge 47 is provided to the extended portion. The other end of is attached. The bush to which the other end of the heat transfer bridge 47 is attached may be provided so as to be slidably contactable with the carriage guide shaft 24, separately from the bush 45 fitted into the carriage 19.

The number of the heat transfer bridges 47 may be one, but it is preferable to install two heat transfer bridges 47 at positions symmetrical to the recording head 18 in order to improve heat transfer.
Further, not only one or more heat transfer bridges 47 are installed inside the carriage 19, but also the carriage 1
One or two or more may be provided outside the carriage 9, or both inside and outside the carriage 19.

With the above-mentioned configuration, the following effects and advantages can be achieved according to the above embodiment.

The heat of the recording head 18 mounted on the resin carriage 19 is transferred to the heat transfer bridge 47 and the bush 4.
Since the heat is transferred to the metal carriage guide shaft 24 via 5, the heat dissipation capability of the recording head 18 can be improved, and the cost can be reduced because the carriage 19 is made of resin.

As described above, the heat dissipation capability of the recording head 18 can be improved. As a result, after the recording head 18 starts the recording operation, the recording head 18 lowers the recording speed or stops the recording operation. Since it is possible to extend the time (head hot time) until the predetermined temperature is reached, it is possible to improve the throughput (printing amount per unit time) of the printer 10.

[B] Second Embodiment (FIGS. 8 to 10) FIG. 8 shows a print head and a carriage in a dot impact printer to which the second embodiment of the printing apparatus according to the present invention is applied. It is a perspective view. In the second embodiment, parts similar to those in the first embodiment are
Description is omitted by attaching the same reference numerals.

In the second embodiment, the recording head 1
The heat of the head main body 40 in FIG.
The heat is dissipated by 2 and the heat transfer plate 5 as heat transfer means
The heat is also radiated by the carriage guide shaft 24 after passing through 0.

The heat transfer plate 50 is made of a heat transfer material such as metal, and is formed in a curved shape as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. Both ends of the heat transfer plate 50 are installed on the radiator 42 of the recording head 18, and the central part is provided in contact with the carriage guide shaft 24. In addition, heat transfer silicon is filled between the heat transfer plate 50 and the heat radiator 42 to enhance heat transfer from the heat radiator 42 to the heat transfer plate 50.

Therefore, according to the above-mentioned embodiment, the following effects and the above-mentioned effects are exhibited.

Since the heat of the recording head 18 mounted on the resin carriage 19 is directly transferred to the metal carriage guide shaft 24 via the heat transfer plate 50, the heat dissipation capability of the recording head 18 is improved. While being able to
Since the carriage 19 is made of resin, the cost can be reduced.

Although the present invention has been described based on the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, in the above embodiment, the heat transfer bridge 47 and the heat transfer plate 50 may be integrally formed with the radiator 42. Further, in both of the above-described embodiments, the heat of the recording head 18 is transferred to the carriage guide shaft 24 via the heat transfer bridge 47 or the heat transfer plate 50. A heat transfer member capable of contacting the frame 14 may be provided, and the heat of the radiator 42 may be directly transferred to the base frame 14 via the heat transfer member to radiate the heat.

[0044]

As described above, according to the recording apparatus of the present invention, the heat dissipation capability of the recording head can be improved while reducing the cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer main body of a dot impact printer to which a first embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the printer body of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the carriage and the recording head of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a view on arrow IV in FIG.

5 is a perspective view showing a carriage and a recording head of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a carriage and a recording head in which a part of the carriage is omitted in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a view on arrow VII of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a recording head and a carriage in a dot impact printer to which the second embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the present invention is applied.

9 is a perspective view of the recording head and the carriage shown in FIG. 8 with a part of the carriage omitted.

10 is a view on arrow X in FIG. 9. FIG.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a carriage and a recording head in a conventional recording head.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Printer (recording device) 18 recording head 19 carriage 24 Carriage guide shaft (carriage guide member) 42 radiator 45 bush 47 Heat transfer bridge (heat transfer means) 50 Heat transfer plate (heat transfer means) S sheet

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus in which a recording head is mounted on a carriage which is guided by a carriage guide member and which records an image on a sheet, wherein the carriage is made of resin, and heat of the recording head is generated. A recording apparatus configured to transfer heat to the metal carriage guide member via a heat transfer unit. 2. The carriage guide member is a carriage guide shaft, and the heat transfer means transfers heat of the print head to a bush installed on the print head and slidably contacting the carriage guide shaft. The recording device according to claim 1, wherein the recording device is a thermal bridge. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the bush is mounted on a carriage. 4. Between the bush and the heat transfer bridge,
The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the heat transfer silicon is filled. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heat transfer unit is a heat transfer plate that is installed in the recording head and is in contact with a carriage guide member. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the carriage guide member is a carriage guide shaft.