JP2003266731A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recorder in which the fixing work and removing work of a damper and a recording head can be facilitated. <P>SOLUTION: In the recorder for recording on a recording medium by supplying a plurality of colors of ink to a recording head 121 through respective dampers 129, the dampers are integrated. At the time of replacing the recording head, the damper is removed and shifted to a retreat position. Removing work and fixing work of the damper can thereby be carried out by single process and since the damper causes no obstacle at the time of removing/fixing work of the recording head, manpower required for replacing work of the recording head can be reduced. <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 for supplying a plurality of inks of different colors to a recording head through a damper and ejecting them as ink droplets for recording on a recording medium. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a large-sized printer, which is one of conventional recording devices, has a recording medium for recording information, for example, a paper feed unit for supplying recording roll paper. And a paper discharge unit for discharging the recorded roll paper are arranged in this order from the top. When using such a large-sized inkjet printer, the user stores the roll paper in the paper feed unit and pulls out the leading end of the roll paper. Then, the leading end of the roll paper is passed through a flat paper feed guide that acts as a paper transport surface, and the roll paper is sandwiched between a paper feed roller and a driven roller to activate the ink jet printer.

Then, the ink jet printer rolls the information by ejecting ink droplets from the nozzle openings of the recording head while rotating the paper feed roller to feed the roll paper onto the flat platen which acts as a paper conveyance guide surface. Record on paper. Then, the paper discharge roller is rotated to discharge the roll paper to the paper receiver through a flat paper discharge guide which functions as a paper transport surface.

[0004]

In the conventional ink jet printer described above, six colors of ink, for example, black, cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, and yellow, are respectively mounted on the carriage through ink tubes from the ink cartridge. It is adapted to be supplied to the recording head via the damper. Therefore, when the user performs the replacement work of the recording head,
It is necessary to sequentially remove one end of the color damper from the recording head, remove the recording head from the carriage, then attach the recording head to the carriage, and then sequentially attach one end of the six-color damper to the recording head. Therefore, it takes a lot of time to remove and attach the damper, and the six color dampers after one end is detached are scattered in all directions, which hinders the operation of removing and attaching the recording head. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned various problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus capable of easily removing and installing a damper and a recording head. .

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in a recording apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of color inks are respectively supplied to a recording head through dampers and ejected as ink droplets for recording. In a recording device for recording on a medium,
A plurality of the dampers are integrated, and when the recording head is replaced, the dampers are removed and moved to the retracted position. In the invention according to claim 2,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the damper is mounted on a carriage that reciprocates in the main scanning direction together with the recording head, and is locked by a locking portion formed on the carriage. I am trying. Thus, the removal and installation work of the damper can be performed in one step, and the damper does not interfere with the removal and installation work of the recording head, so that the number of man-hours for the replacement work of the recording head can be reduced.

[0007]

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

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of an ink jet printer which is one of the recording apparatuses according to the embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an internal configuration example of the main part of the ink jet printer. FIG. The inkjet printer 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a large-sized printer capable of recording even a relatively large-sized recording sheet such as a JIS standard A1 size or a JIS standard B1 size. Unit 120, paper discharge unit 13
0 and the leg portion 140 are arranged in this order from the top. The recording unit 120 and the paper discharge unit 130 are integrated as a main body, and are configured to be separable from the paper feed unit 110 and the leg unit 140.

As shown in FIG. 1, the paper feed section 110 is provided so as to project rearward from the upper portion of the main bodies 120 and 130. As shown in FIG. 2, a roll paper holder 111, in which one roll of recording paper (hereinafter referred to as roll paper) can be set, is provided inside the paper feed unit 110.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, on the front surface of the paper feeding unit 110,
A flip-up type openable and closable roll paper cover 112 is attached so as to cover the roll paper holder 111.

As shown in FIG. 2, the roll paper holder 111 is mounted on a spindle 113 for holding the roll paper, a pair of flange-shaped roll paper retainers 114, and inner surfaces of both side walls of the paper feed section 110, and the spindle 113 It is equipped with a pair of spindle receivers 115 that can be detached and suspended. Then, the spindle 113 is in a state where the roll paper is inserted in the center and is sandwiched by the roll paper presser 114,
Both ends are mounted on the spindle receiver 115, and are rotatably supported by a shaft. Roll paper cover 112
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the whole is rotatably supported, and is opened and closed by the user holding the lower part and lifting or lowering it.

As shown in FIG. 2, the recording section 120 includes a carriage 122 having a recording head 121, a flexible flat cable (hereinafter referred to as a flexible flat cable) electrically connecting a recording head 121 and a control section (not shown) for executing recording. ,
FFC) 123, an ink tube 124 that connects the recording head 121 and the ink cartridge 10 containing ink, a paper feed roller (not shown) that conveys the roll paper in the sub-scanning direction, and a paper suction means (not shown) that prevents the roll paper from floating. And so on. Then, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
25 and the front lid 126 are the recording head 121 and the carriage 1.
It is attached so as to cover 22 and the like.

The recording head 121 comprises a black ink recording head for ejecting black ink and a plurality of color ink recording heads for ejecting inks of respective colors such as light yellow, yellow, light cyan, cyan, light magenta and magenta. I have it. The recording head 121 is provided with a pressure generating chamber and a nozzle opening connected to the pressure generating chamber. By storing ink in the pressure generating chamber and pressurizing it with a predetermined pressure, a size controlled from the nozzle opening toward the roll paper is controlled. Ink droplets are ejected.

The carriage 122, as shown in FIG.
The carriage 127 is hung from a rail 127 provided in the main scanning direction via rollers and is connected to a carriage belt 128. When the carriage belt 128 is operated by a carriage driving device (not shown), the carriage belt 128 is operated.
And is guided by the rail 127 to reciprocate.

The FFC 123 has one end connected to the connector of the control unit and the other end connected to the connector of the recording head 121, and sends a recording signal from the control unit to the recording head 121. The ink tubes 124 are provided for the inks of the respective colors, one end of each of which is connected to the corresponding ink cartridge 10 of each color through an ink pressurizing supply unit (not shown), and the other end of each of the recording heads corresponds to the corresponding color. It is connected to 121. Then, the ink tube 124 supplies the ink of each color pressurized by the ink pressure supply means from the ink cartridge 10 to the recording head 1.
It will be sent to 21.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a lower portion of the front lid 126 is rotatably supported, and a user holds the upper portion to push down or push up the lid to open or close. The user can greatly open the recording unit 120 by opening the front lid 126, and thus can easily perform maintenance work on the recording head 121, the carriage 122, and the like.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the paper discharge unit 130 forms a part of a path for transporting the roll paper in the sub-scanning direction and a transporting roll paper in the sub-scanning direction. Not equipped with a discharge roller. Paper ejection guide 131
Is formed as a flat inclined surface projecting to the front side, so that the roll paper conveyed from above can be smoothly guided downward.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the leg portion 140 has two support columns 142 having a roller 141 for movement.
And a reinforcing rod 143 hung between these support columns 142. The paper feed unit 110 and the main bodies 120 and 130 are placed on the upper portions of the support columns 142 and fixed by screws. By disposing the moving rollers 141 on the support columns 142, the heavy paper feeding unit 110 and the main bodies 120 and 130 can be smoothly moved to desired positions and installed. . In addition, between the support columns 142 of the leg 140,
A paper discharge receiving device that receives the roll paper discharged from the paper discharge unit 130 can be installed.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a holder main body 151 for accommodating and holding the ink cartridges 10 of each color and a cover 152 for covering the front surfaces thereof are provided on the left side of the main bodies 120, 130 as viewed from the front side. An ink cartridge holder 150 is arranged. The ink cartridge holder 150 covers the holder body 151 with the cover 1
A lower portion of 52 is rotatably supported, and a user holds the upper portion to push down or push up to open or close.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an operation panel 160 for the user to operate recording control and the like is arranged on the upper right side when viewed from the front side of the main bodies 120 and 130. The operation panel 160 is provided with a liquid crystal screen and various buttons so that the user can operate the buttons while checking the liquid crystal screen.

When the ink jet printer 100 is used in such a structure, first, the paper feeding section 11 is used.
Spindle 11 constituting roll paper holder 111 from 0
3, the one roll paper holder 114 inserted in the spindle 113 is pulled out from one end of the spindle 113, as shown in FIG.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the spindle 1
One end of the roll paper R is inserted from one end of the shaft hole C of the roll paper R to penetrate the other end, and as shown in FIG. 5, one end of the shaft hole C of the roll paper R is inserted and fixed to the other end side of the spindle 113. The roll paper holder 114 is fitted into and brought into contact with the roll paper holder 114. Then, one roll paper holder 114 is inserted from one end of the spindle 113 and fitted into the other end of the shaft hole C of the roll paper R. This allows the roll paper R to rotate together with the spindle 113.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the paper feed section 110 is held by holding both ends of the spindle 113 into which the roll paper R is inserted.
Lift up to. Here, as shown in FIG. 7, in the spindle receiver 115, a relatively shallow recess 115a for temporarily mounting the end portion of the spindle 113 and the end portion of the spindle 113 are rotatably supported. The relatively deep recesses 115b are arranged side by side in the front and rear. Front depression 115
a is a spindle 1 in which a heavy roll paper R is inserted
Since it is difficult to temporarily insert 13 into the regular recess 115b, it is provided for temporary placement.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, both ends of the spindle 113 into which the roll paper R has been inserted are once placed in the temporary recess 115a of the spindle receiver 115, and thereafter,
As shown in FIG. 8, first, one end of the spindle 113 in which the roll paper R is inserted is attached to the corresponding spindle receiver 114.
Then, the other end of the spindle 113 into which the roll paper R is inserted is hooked on the corresponding regular recess 115b of the corresponding spindle receiver 115. As a result, the spindle 113 with the roll paper R inserted therein can be safely and easily set in the paper feed unit 110.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the leading end of the roll paper R is pulled out downward and passed through the conveyance path of the recording section 120.
Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the sheet is passed to the conveyance path of the sheet discharge unit 130. Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the roll paper R is rotated in the winding direction to position the leading end of the roll paper R at the marker M formed on, for example, the paper discharge guide 131. After that, the ink jet printer 100 is activated to feed the roll paper R in the sub-scanning direction and the recording head 1
Ink droplets are ejected while moving 21 in the main scanning direction, predetermined information is recorded on the roll paper R, and the paper is ejected.

FIG. 12 shows the ink cartridge holder 15
It is a perspective view which shows the detail of 0. The ink cartridge holder 150 is a holder main body 151 attached to the front left side of the main body 120 of the inkjet printer 100.
And a cover 152 attached to the front side of the holder body 151. Inside the holder main body 151, a storage portion 153 for storing the ink cartridge 10 and a control lever 154 that is vertically movable are arranged in parallel. The lower portion of the cover 152 is rotatably supported by the lower portion of the holder body 151, and is swung downward to rotate the holder body 151.
The front surface of the holder main body 151 is closed by opening the front surface of the holder main body 151 and turning upward.

A storage portion 153 provided in the holder main body 151 has a total of seven color ink cartridges 10B including black, light yellow, yellow, light cyan, cyan, light magenta, and magenta from the left side in the drawing.
0LY, 10Y, 10LC, 10C, 10LM, 10M
Are separated so that they can be individually pulled out and pushed in.

Here, FIG. 13 shows the ink cartridge 1.
It is the perspective view which looked at 0 from the back surface side. The ink cartridge 10 includes an outer case 11 formed of, for example, a hard plastic material in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and an ink tank, which is formed of, for example, a flexible material in a bag shape and is filled with ink, is sealed. On the front surface side of one side surface of the outer case 11, a concave grip portion 12 on which the user holds his or her hand when the ink cartridge 10 is pulled out from the storage portion 153 and pushed in is formed.

In the holder body of the conventional ink cartridge holder, for example, only ink cartridges of 6 colors are stored, and there is a relatively large space, so when the ink cartridge is pulled out from the storage portion and pushed in, The user was able to put his hands inside the holder body and work. However, in the present embodiment, the holder body 1 of the ink cartridge holder 150 having the same size as the conventional one is used.
Since it is necessary to arrange the storage portion 153 for storing the ink cartridges 10 of seven colors and the control lever 154 in the same space in 51, there is no room in space. Therefore, by forming the concave grip portion 12 in the ink cartridge 10, the work of pulling out and pushing in the ink cartridge 10 into the storage portion 153 can be easily performed.

An ink supply port 13 covered with a rubber packing connected to an internal ink tank is formed in the center of the rear surface of the outer case 11, and the ink cartridge 10 is housed in a storage part 153 on both upper and lower sides thereof. Positioning holes 14 are formed for positioning when pushing in. Further, the upper part of the rear surface of the outer case 11 has a recess 1
5 is formed, and the ink cartridge 1 is formed inside thereof.
IC 16 for reading and writing the ink information of 0, for example, the manufacturing number, the color and the remaining amount of the ink, is attached. further,
A locking protrusion 17 for locking the ink cartridge 10 when stored in the storage portion 153 is formed in the center of the upper surface of the outer case 11.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the housing portion 153 of the ink cartridge 10 for one color in the holder body 151. An ink supply needle 21 inserted into the ink supply port 13 of the ink cartridge 10 and a positioning needle 22 inserted into the positioning hole 14 of the ink cartridge 10 are pulled out of the ink cartridge 10 on the inner rear surface of the storage portion 153. , Is arranged so as to project in the pushing direction.

Here, FIG. 15A shows the ink supply needle 2.
It is a top view which shows the detail of 1. This ink supply needle 21
Has a supply port 21a bored on the front side surface and a rear end connected to the ink tube 124. Then, the ink supply needle 21 is a cylindrical rubber that is axially biased by a compression spring 23 inserted at the rear end side and closes a supply port formed in the tip side surface of the ink supply needle 21. A valve 24 made of metal is inserted. As a result, the ink supply system in the inkjet printer 100 can be maintained in the closed state.

With such a configuration, when the user pushes the ink cartridge 10 into the storage portion 153 as shown in FIG. 15 (A), as shown in FIG. 15 (B).
The ink supply needle 21 is inserted into the ink supply port 13, and the valve 24 is pushed by the rubber packing of the ink supply port 13 to be pushed toward the rear end side of the ink supply needle 21. As a result, the supply port 21 covered by the valve 24
Since a is exposed, the ink in the ink tank of the ink cartridge 10 is supplied from the ink supply port 13 to the ink tube 124 through the supply port 21a of the ink supply needle 21.

On the other hand, when the user pulls out the ink cartridge 10 from the storage portion 153, the ink supply needle 21 is also pulled out from the ink supply port 13, so that the ink supply port 13
The valve 24 pushed by the rubber packing is pushed to the tip side of the ink supply needle 21 by the restoring force of the compression spring 23. As a result, the exposed supply port 21a is covered with the valve 24 again.

As shown in FIG. 14, a connector 25, which is electrically connected to the IC 16 of the ink cartridge 10, is attached to the upper portion of the inner rear surface of the storage portion 153. This connector 25 is connected to the FFC 123,
The control unit of the inkjet printer 100 can read and write ink information with respect to the IC 16 of the ink cartridge 10. Further, a locking claw 153b that locks or unlocks the locking projection 17 of the ink cartridge 10 in conjunction with the cam 159 is formed at the center of the upper surface of the storage portion 153.

As shown in FIG. 12, the control lever 154 provided in the holder body 151 is
1 is provided so as to be vertically swingable along a guide groove 151a provided in the vertical direction. This control lever 154
Swings up and down, so that the ink cartridge 1
The writing of ink information to the IC 16 arranged at 0 is electrically controlled, and the loading / unloading of the ink cartridge 10 into / from the storage portion 153 is mechanically controlled.

That is, when the control lever 154 is positioned at the uppermost end, writing of ink information to the IC 16 provided in the ink cartridge 10 is prohibited, and the ink cartridge 10 is stored in the storage portion 153. It can be taken in and out. On the other hand, when the control lever 154 is positioned at the lowermost end,
Writing of ink information to the IC 16 provided in the ink cartridge 10 is permitted, and
It is impossible to take the ink cartridge 10 in and out of the storage portion 153.

The control lever 154 having such a function
By providing the above, it becomes possible to use a large ink cartridge. That is, conventionally, the writing of ink information to the IC provided in the ink cartridge has been controlled by the opening / closing operation of the cover of the ink cartridge holder. However, when the large ink cartridge is set in the holder body, it protrudes to the front side and the cover cannot be closed, so that it is not possible to control the writing of ink information to the IC arranged in the ink cartridge. It was

On the other hand, the writing of the ink information to the IC 16 arranged in the ink cartridge 10 of this embodiment is controlled by the swing of the control lever 154 of the ink cartridge holder 150 as described above.
For this reason, a large ink cartridge is attached to the holder body 15
Even if the cover 152 cannot be closed by protruding to the front side when set to 1, it is possible to control writing of ink information to the IC arranged in the large ink cartridge.

By the way, as described above, the ink in the ink cartridges 10 of the respective colors housed in the ink cartridge holder 150 is pressurized by the ink pressure supply means and sent to the recording head 121. There is. For this reason, in the case of an ink supply means that uses the head difference like a conventional inkjet printer, the ink cartridge holder needs to be arranged above the carriage.
Since the ink 50 can be supplied wherever it is arranged, the arrangement place can be freely set.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the overall structure of the carriage 122. On the carriage 122, dampers 129B, 129LY, 1 for supplying black, light yellow, yellow, light cyan, cyan, light magenta, and magenta inks to the recording head 121.
29Y, 129LC, 129C, 129C, 129L
M and 129M are installed. This damper 129B,
129LY, 129Y, 129LC, 129C, 129
C, 129LM, and 129M have a function of suppressing an increase in static pressure in the ink tube 124 when the carriage 122 reciprocates.

The dampers 129B, 129LY,
129Y, 129LC, 129C, 129C, 129L
M and 129M are gathered in parallel and integrated by a damper holder 129H. This damper holder 129
H is each damper 129B, 129LY, 129Y, 12
9LC, 129C, 129C, 129LM, 129M for storing the storage unit 129Ha in parallel, and the storage unit 129Ha.
Locking part 129Hb formed on the upper part of the
A knob 129 for hanging a finger when Ha is pulled out of the carriage 122 or inserted into the carriage 122
It has Hc.

In such a structure, when the user replaces the recording head 121 mounted on the carriage 122, first, the screw fixing the damper holder 129H to the carriage 122 is removed, and the damper holder 129 is removed.
The knob 129Hc of H is pinched and the damper holder 129H is pulled out from the inside of the carriage 122. This allows the dampers 129B, 129LY, 129Y, 129L for seven colors
C, 129C, 129C, 129LM, 129M can be removed from the carriage 122 in one step.

Next, as shown in FIG. 17, the locking portion 129Hb of the pulled out damper holder 129H is attached to the carriage 1.
The damper holder 129H is retracted so that the recording head 121 mounted on the bottom portion of the carriage 122 can be seen by being hooked in the locking hole 122a formed in the upper portion of the front surface of the carriage 22. This allows the damper 1 to be removed when the recording head 121 is removed from the carriage 122 and attached.
29B, 129LY, 129Y, 129LC, 129
Since the C, 129C, 129LM, and 129M do not interfere, the replacement work of the recording head 121 can be performed smoothly.

Finally, the knob 1 of the damper holder 129H
29Hc is picked up and the locking portion 129 of the damper holder 129H is gripped.
Hb is removed from the locking hole 122a formed in the upper part of the front surface of the carriage 122, the damper holder 129H is inserted into the carriage 122 and attached, and the carriage 1 is screwed.
Fix it to 22. As described above, the replacement work of the recording head 121 can be easily performed.

Although the present invention has been described above with respect to various embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and other embodiments within the scope of the invention described in the claims. Needless to say, also applies. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the ink jet printer is described as an example of the recording device, but the recording device is not limited to this, and any recording device having a damper in the recording unit may be, for example, a facsimile device or a copying device. Is applicable.

[0046]

As described above, according to the recording apparatus of the present invention, when the user opens the lid, there is an object in the swivel area of the medium holding section and the medium holding section collides with the object. However, since the medium holding portion can escape into the lid portion to absorb the impact, it is possible to prevent the paper holding portion and the object from being damaged.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of an inkjet printer which is one of recording apparatuses according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration example of a main part of the ink jet printer of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a first diagram showing a procedure of using the ink jet printer of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a second diagram illustrating a procedure of using the inkjet printer of FIG.

5 is a third diagram showing a procedure of using the inkjet printer of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a fourth diagram illustrating a procedure of using the ink jet printer of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a fifth diagram showing a procedure of using the inkjet printer of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a sixth diagram showing a usage procedure of the ink jet printer of FIG.

9 is a seventh diagram showing a procedure of using the ink jet printer of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 10 is an eighth diagram showing a procedure of using the ink jet printer of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a ninth diagram illustrating a usage procedure of the inkjet printer of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing details of an ink cartridge holder of the inkjet printer of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the ink cartridge loaded in the ink cartridge holder of FIG. 12, as viewed from the rear surface side.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of a storage unit for an ink cartridge for one color in the holder body of the ink cartridge holder shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a plan view showing details of an ink supply needle in the storage portion of the ink cartridge of FIG.

16 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a carriage of the inkjet printer shown in FIG.

17 is a perspective view showing a state in which a damper mounted on the carriage of FIG. 16 is removed.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ink cartridges 11 exterior case 12 grip 13 Ink supply port 14 Positioning hole 15 hollow 16 IC 17 Locking protrusion 21 Ink supply needle 21a Supply port 22 Positioning needle 23 Compression spring 24 valves 25 connector 100 inkjet printer 110 paper feeder 111 Roll paper holder 112 roll paper cover 113 spindle 114 Roll paper holder 115 Spindle receiver 120 recording section 121 recording head 122 carriage 122a locking part 123 FFC 124 ink tube 125 top 126 Front lid 127 rails 128 carriage belt 129 damper 129H damper holder 129Ha storage 129Hb locking part 129Hc knob 130 paper output section 131 Paper ejection guide 140 legs 141 Coro 142 Support pillar 143 Reinforcing rod 150 ink cartridge holder 151 Holder body 151a guide groove 152 cover 153 storage 153b Locking claw 154 Control lever 159 cam

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus for supplying a plurality of color inks to a recording head via a damper and discharging the ink as an ink droplet to record on a recording medium, wherein the plurality of dampers are integrated, A recording apparatus, wherein the damper is removed and the retracted position is moved when the printer is replaced. 2. The damper is mounted on a carriage that reciprocates in the main scanning direction together with the recording head,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is locked by a locking portion formed on the carriage.