JP2003326804A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain appropriate print results at all times by securing a frame member surely to the lower housing, thereby stabilizing the positional relation between a platen and a recording head. <P>SOLUTION: A printer has a printer main frame 11, and the main frame 11 is disposed at an upper part of the lower housing 10 constituting the external view of the lower section of the printer. The lower housing 10 is formed integrally of a resin material and provided integrally, in the center thereof, with the platen 27 elongated in the main scanning direction. The main frame 11 is made of a metal plate (rigid material) and fixed to the lower housing 10 through a reinforcing frame 31 formed into box shape surrounding the platen 27. According to the arrangement, the main frame 11 is fixed stably to the lower housing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,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 recording on a recording medium, and more particularly, to a recording member provided on a frame member, the frame member constituting the outer appearance of the lower part of the apparatus main body, and the platen integrated. The present invention relates to a recording device fixed to a lower housing provided in the.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is an ink jet printer (hereinafter referred to as "printer") as one of recording devices, and the printer includes an ink jet recording head (hereinafter referred to as "recording head") for ejecting ink droplets and the recording head. A lower housing that forms a lower appearance of the printer by providing a frame member made of a metal plate (rigid material) with a conveyance roller that conveys the print sheet to the frame and a drive motor that is a drive source of the conveyance roller. There is a configuration that is installed so that it is mounted on.

On the other hand, in the printer, a platen is provided so as to face the recording head so as to support the printing paper from below and regulate the distance between the recording head and the printing surface. The platen is integrated with the lower housing. There are also specially provided ones.

Here, the lower housing is generally formed by resin molding. Further, when the lower housing is formed by resin molding in this way, when fixing the frame member to the lower housing, a screw hole is formed in the lower housing, a drill hole is formed in the frame member, and the screw is fixed by screwing. It is generally fixed.

[0005]

By the way, since the platen regulates the distance between the printing surface and the recording head, the positional relationship between the platen and the recording head is an important factor for obtaining an appropriate print quality. Becomes Therefore, the positional relationship between the platen and the recording head should not be adjusted precisely and the positional relationship should not easily change.

However, as described above, when the frame member having the recording head is fixed to the lower housing made of a resin material integrally provided with the platen with a screw, the lower housing has a certain elasticity. Therefore, the frame member is not rigidly fixed to the lower housing,
As a result, the positional relationship between the platen and the recording head may change, which may adversely affect the printing result.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and its object is to stabilize the positional relationship between the platen and the recording head by securely fixing the frame member to the lower housing. The aim is to always obtain appropriate print results.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, a recording apparatus according to claim 1 of the present application is provided with a recording head for recording on a recording material, and a recording head facing the recording head.
A recording apparatus comprising: a platen that supports a recording material to be conveyed from below and defines a distance between a recording surface and the recording head, wherein the platen constitutes a lower appearance of the recording apparatus. A frame member provided integrally with the housing and provided with the recording head is fixed to the lower housing via a reinforcing frame member made of a rigid material.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the frame member having the recording head is fixed to the lower housing integrally provided with the platen via the reinforcing frame member made of a rigid material. As compared with the case where the printer is directly fixed to the lower housing, the posture after fixing is stable, and thus the positional relationship between the recording head and the platen is stable, and an appropriate printing result can always be obtained.

The recording device according to claim 2 of the present application is the recording device according to claim 1.
In the above, the reinforcing frame member has a substantially box-like shape surrounding the platen. According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the reinforcing frame member has a substantially box-like shape surrounding the platen, the reinforcing frame member is wide in the depth direction and the width direction of the lower housing. Contacting the lower housing evenly in range, whereby the reinforcing frame member is more stably fixed to the lower housing,
Therefore, the positional relationship between the recording head and the platen can be further stabilized.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus according to the first aspect.
Alternatively, in the second aspect, the reinforcing frame member also serves as a vibration reducing unit that reduces vibration propagating from the frame member to the lower housing. Since the lower housing member forms the housing of the recording apparatus, it is attached to the frame member from a drive system (a drive motor that drives the carriage, a drive motor that is a drive source of a conveyance roller that conveys a recording material, etc.). When the vibration propagates to the lower housing member, the lower housing member functions as a so-called speaker, which causes annoying noise from the entire lower housing member.

However, according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the reinforcing frame member is made of a rigid material, the vibration is reduced by the reinforcing frame member, that is, the reinforcing frame member is separated from the frame member. Since it also serves as a vibration reducing means for inhibiting the propagation of vibration to the lower housing, it is possible to reduce the above-mentioned noise.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which an upper cover is removed of an inkjet printer (hereinafter referred to as “printer”) 100 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the same side, FIG. 3 and FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the same.

First, a schematic configuration of the printer 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, the printer 100 has a lower housing 1 whose outer appearance is a lower housing 1.
0, above the lower housing 10 via a reinforcing frame 31 (see FIG. 3) described later,
A main frame 11 forming a base body of the apparatus body is attached.

The main frame 11 includes a printer 100.
Of the sheet feeding device 1 (FIG. 2) constituting the sheet feeding means, the conveying roller 17 constituting the sheet conveying means (FIG. 2), the sheet discharging roller 29 constituting the sheet discharging means (FIG. 2), and the like. Is attached. Hereinafter, the printing mechanism will be described with reference to FIG. Hereinafter, the left side of FIG. 2 (the rear side of the printer 100) is referred to as “upstream side” (the upstream side of the sheet conveyance path), and the right side of FIG. 2 (the front side of the printer 100) is the “downstream side” (sheets). The downstream side of the transportation route).

The printer 100 is provided with a paper feeding device 1 on the upstream side, and feeds printing paper from the paper feeding device 1 to the front side of the device one by one. Here, as shown in FIG.
The paper feed roller 3, the hopper 5, and the separation pad 7 are provided.

The paper feed roller 3 which is rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown) has a substantially D-shape in side view, and is composed of a roller body 3a and a rubber material 3b wound around the outer periphery of the roller body 3a. It is configured. The paper feed roller 3 feeds the paper P by its arcuate portion and allows the paper P to pass by the flat portion so as not to apply a carrying load during the carrying operation by the carrying roller 17 on the downstream side.

The hopper 5 is formed of a plate-like member, is provided in an inclined posture as shown in the drawing, and is provided on the upper part of the rotary shaft 5.
It is provided so as to be swingable clockwise and counterclockwise in FIG. 2 around a. When the cam mechanism (not shown) swings the lower end portion, the lower end portion is pressed against and separated from the sheet feeding roller 3. Therefore, when the hopper 5 swings in the pressure contact direction with respect to the paper feed roller 3,
The bundle of sheets P stacked on the hopper 5 is pressed against the paper feed roller 3, and the paper feed roller 3 is rotated in the pressed state, so that the uppermost one of the stacked paper P is moved to the downstream side. Is sent.

The separation pad 7 is made of a high friction material and is provided at a position facing the paper feed roller 3. When the paper feed roller 3 rotates, the arc portion of the paper feed roller 3 and the separation pad 7 come into pressure contact with each other to form a pressure contact portion. The uppermost sheet P fed out by the arc portion of the sheet feeding roller 3 passes through the pressure contact portion and advances to the downstream side, but is moved to the downstream side following the uppermost sheet P and moves to the downstream side. Subsequent sheets P are
The pressure contact portion prevents the downstream movement of the paper P, thereby preventing the double feeding of the paper P.

Next, a paper guide 15 made of a plate-like member is provided substantially horizontally downstream of the paper feeding device 1, and the leading end of the paper P fed by the paper feed roller 3 obliquely contacts the paper guide 15. It touches and is smoothly guided to the downstream side. A transport roller 17 including a transport drive roller 17a that is rotationally driven and a transport driven roller 17b that is in pressure contact with the transport drive roller 17a is provided downstream of the paper guide 15, and the sheet P is the transport drive roller 17a. It is nipped with the conveyance driven roller 17b and is conveyed to the downstream side at a constant pitch. Here, the transport driven roller 17b is axially supported on the downstream side of the transport driven roller holder 21, and the transport driven roller holder 21 is
It is provided so as to be rotatable in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 2 about the rotation shaft 21a, and the transport driven roller 17b is always in pressure contact with the transport drive roller 17a by a torsion coil spring (not shown) (see FIG. 2). It is urged to rotate in the clockwise direction. The transport drive roller 17a is composed of a shaft body that is long in the main scanning direction (front and back direction of paper in FIG. 2), and a plurality of transport driven rollers 17b and transport driven roller holders 21 are arranged in the axial direction of the transport drive roller 17a. It is provided (not shown).

Next, in the vicinity of the conveyance driven roller holder 21 located closest to the 0th digit side (the back side of the paper surface of FIG. 2), the sensor main body portion 19b and the detection lever 19a for detecting passage of the paper P are detected.
A paper detector 19 composed of and is provided. The detection lever 19a has a substantially V-shape when viewed from the side, and is provided so as to be rotatable clockwise and counterclockwise in FIG. 2 about a rotation shaft 19c near the center thereof. The sensor body portion 19b located above the detection lever 19a is a light emitting portion (not shown).
And a light receiving portion (not shown) for receiving light from the light emitting portion, and the upper side of the rotation shaft 19c of the detection lever 19a blocks the light traveling from the light emitting portion to the light receiving portion by the rotation operation. It is designed to pass through. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, when the detection lever 19a is rotated so as to be pushed upward as the sheet P passes, the detection lever 19a is rotated.
The upper side of the sheet is disengaged from the sensor main body portion 19b, whereby the light receiving portion is in the light receiving state, and the passage of the paper P is detected.

Next, the platen 27 and the ink jet recording head 25 are arranged downstream of the conveyance driving roller 17a so as to face each other vertically, and the paper P conveyed by the conveyance roller 17 to below the ink jet recording head 25.
Are supported by the platen 27 from below. The platen 27 is provided directly on the lower housing 10 side, not on the main frame 11 side, as will be described later.

The ink jet recording head 25 is provided at the bottom of a carriage 23 on which the ink cartridge 24 is mounted, and the carriage 23 is guided in the main scanning direction by a carriage guide shaft 14 extending in the main scanning direction (front and back direction of paper surface in FIG. 2). While being driven, it reciprocates in the main scanning direction by receiving the power of a motor (not shown).

Next, returning to FIG. 2, the paper discharge portion of the printer 100 is provided downstream from the ink jet recording head 25, and the paper discharge drive roller 29a which is driven to rotate and the paper discharge driven roller which can freely rotate. Paper discharge roller 29 including 29b
Is provided. Therefore, the inkjet recording head 2
The paper P that has been printed by the paper 5 is ejected by the paper ejection drive roller 2
When the sheet discharge drive roller 29a is rotated while being nipped by the sheet discharge driven roller 29b and the sheet discharge driven roller 29b, the sheet is discharged in the arrow direction. The paper discharge driven roller 29b is similar to that shown in FIG.
Also, it is attached to the paper discharge frame 30 formed of a plate-like member that is long in the main scanning direction shown in FIG.

Here, the paper feed roller 3, the transport drive roller 17a, and the paper discharge drive roller 29a are configured to be rotationally driven by one drive motor (not shown). 1 to 4, the pinion gear indicated by reference numeral 16 is a pinion gear attached to the rotary shaft of the drive motor, and the gear indicated by reference numeral 18 is the transport drive roller 17a.
It is a spur gear attached to the shaft end of. The drive motor is screwed to the main frame 11 (not shown), so that the vibration generated by the drive motor and the vibration generated by the engagement of the pinion gear 16 and the spur gear 18 are directly connected to the main frame. It is configured to propagate to 11.

Most of the constituent elements of the printing mechanism described above are provided on the side of the main frame 11 that constitutes the base body of the main body of the printer 100, and with respect to the platen 27 described above, the lower housing 10 is provided. It is provided on the side.

The above is the configuration of the printing mechanism.
4 and FIG. 4, the relationship between the lower housing 10, the main frame 11, and the reinforcing frame 31 will be described. Here, FIG. 3 shows a state in which the lower housing 10, the main frame 11, and the reinforcing frame 31 are separated, and FIG. 4 shows a state in which the reinforcing frame 31 is attached to the lower housing 10 and the main frame 11 is removed. ing.

The lower housing 10 constitutes the lower appearance of the printer 100 as described above. The lower housing 10
Has a substantially dish shape that is long in the widthwise direction of the printer 100, and is integrally formed by resin molding, and a platen 27 that is long in the main scanning direction and is formed by resin molding is provided at the center thereof. . Therefore, when the mounting attitude of the main frame 11 changes relative to the lower housing 10, the positional relationship between the platen 27 and the inkjet recording head 25 (see FIG. 2) changes, which ensures proper print quality. It is in a state where it cannot be obtained.

Therefore, the printer 100 according to the present invention is configured so that the main frame 11 is attached to the lower housing 10 via the reinforcing frame 31. The reinforcing frame 31 is made of a metal plate (rigid material),
As shown in the figure, it is formed to have a substantially box shape.
Then, as shown in FIG. 4, at the time of attachment to the lower housing 10, it is attached by a fixing screw (not shown) so as to surround a platen 27 that is integrally provided in the lower housing 10 and is long in the main scanning direction. .

Since the reinforcing frame 31 has a substantially box-like shape surrounding the platen 27 which is long in the main scanning direction as described above, the reinforcing frame 31 includes the lower housing 10 and the printer 100. It is in a state of being attached so as to make uniform contact across the width direction (main scanning direction) and the depth direction. And the main frame 11 is
By being screwed (not shown) to the reinforcing frame 31 configured as described above, the lower housing 10 is indirectly
Attached to.

Therefore, as in the case where the main frame 11 is directly attached to the lower housing 10 made of a resin material by screw fixing, the elasticity of the lower housing 10 makes the attachment state of the main frame 11 unstable, and the main frame 11 becomes unstable. The position relationship between the inkjet recording head 25 and the platen 27 changes due to the change of the posture with respect to the lower housing 10, and the print quality is deteriorated by this, so that an appropriate print result is always obtained. Obtainable.

In particular, in this embodiment, since the reinforcing frame 31 has a substantially box shape surrounding the platen 27, the reinforcing frame 31 is even in a wide range in the depth direction and the width direction of the lower housing 10. The main frame 11 is more stably fixed to the lower housing 10 by the contact with the lower housing 10, thereby further stabilizing the positional relationship between the inkjet recording head 25 and the platen 27 (FIG. 2). As a result, it is possible to obtain an appropriate printing result more reliably.

By the way, the reinforcing frame 31 also has the following operational effects in this embodiment. That is, as described above, since the main frame 11 is provided with the drive motor (not shown) serving as a common drive source for the paper feed roller 3, the transport drive roller 17a, and the paper discharge drive roller 29a, the drive is performed. The vibration generated by the motor and the vibration generated by the engagement between the pinion gear 16 and the spur gear 18 propagate directly to the main frame 11, and also propagate to the lower housing 10. Then, since the lower housing 10 is integrally formed by resin molding as described above and has a substantially dish shape that covers the entire lower portion of the printer 100, the lower housing member 10 is so-called. It functions as a speaker, which causes annoying noise from the entire lower housing member.

However, a reinforcing frame 3 made of a rigid material is provided between the main frame 11 and the lower housing 10.
1 is provided, the reinforcing frame 31 serves as a vibration reducing unit that inhibits the propagation of vibration from the main frame 11 to the lower housing 10, and thus the above-mentioned noise can be reduced. .

Therefore, the reinforcing frame 31 firmly fixes the main frame 11 to the lower housing 10 and also functions as a vibration reducing means for reducing the vibration propagating to the lower housing 10. It is desirable to use a material such as a plate having a high rigidity and a large weight.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, the main frame constituting the base of the printer is fixed to the lower housing integrally provided with the platen via the reinforcing frame made of a rigid material. Therefore, the posture after fixing is stable as compared with the case where the main frame is directly fixed to the lower housing, so that the positional relationship between the inkjet recording head and the platen is stable, and an appropriate printing result can always be obtained. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state where an upper cover is removed, of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the inkjet printer (FIG. 1) according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the inkjet printer (FIG. 1) according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Lower housing 11 mainframe 16 pinion gears 17 Conveyor roller 17a Transport drive roller 17b Transport driven roller 18 Conveyor roller gear 25 inkjet recording head 27 Platen 30 paper ejection frame 31 Reinforcement frame

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A recording head for recording on a recording material, and a recording head that is provided so as to face the recording head and is conveyed to support the recording material from below to define a distance between the recording surface and the recording head. A recording device including a platen, wherein the platen is integrally provided with a lower housing that constitutes a lower appearance of the recording device, and the frame member including the recording head is a reinforcing frame member made of a rigid material. The recording device is fixed to the lower housing via a recording medium. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing frame member has a substantially box shape surrounding the platen. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing frame member also serves as vibration reducing means for reducing vibration propagating from the frame member to the lower housing.