JP2004216816A - Liquid ejecting recording carriage and liquid ejecting recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid ejecting recording carriage which simplifies a device for adjusting the location of a head chip, and facilitates head chip location adjusting work. <P>SOLUTION: A base plate 102 is mounted with the head chips 101 each having a nozzle 106, a carriage frame 110 has a columnar projection 113 projected on a surface abutting on the base plate 102 at a location almost corresponding to the edge of the base plate 102, and a semi-circular notch 102a is formed at a location of the edge of the base plate 102 in a manner engageable with the projection 113, to thereby engage the notch 102a with the projection 113 at the time of assembling the recording carriage. Further a base plate 102 location adjusting mechanism is arranged between the carriage frame 110 and the base plate 102, and the location of the base plate 102 is adjusted by press-rotating the base plate 102 toward the projection 113. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a liquid discharge recording apparatus that performs a recording operation by discharging a recording liquid such as ink, and a liquid discharge recording carriage mounted on the recording apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The printing speed of an inkjet printer is determined by the formation time per pixel and the number of nozzles. Of these, the formation time per pixel is the basic characteristic of the ink jet head itself, and a significant improvement in a short period cannot be expected. Therefore, the improvement of the printing speed of the ink jet printer has been achieved by increasing the number of nozzles per ink color. However, when the number of nozzles per head is increased, the non-defective rate in the manufacturing process of the inkjet head is reduced. Here, if the non-defective rate in the manufacturing process of the head having N nozzles is n, the yield rate is exponential function by increasing the yield of the head is next n ^K, the number of nozzles having a K × N number of nozzles To decrease.
[0003]
As a method of avoiding such a decrease in yield, there is a method of dividing a head chip into color units such as every one color or every two colors and combining them on a carriage. According to this method, at least a defective chip that can be detected during the manufacturing process can be eliminated, and the occurrence of a defect in the final step can be suppressed.
Conventionally, an ink jet printer of such a type has already been proposed (see Patent Document 1). FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a head cartridge mounted on a carriage of the ink jet printer, and FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a method of mounting a head chip therein. Head chips H1100 and 1101 are fixed to first plate 1200. At this time, the nozzle rows of H1100 and H1100 are fixed so as to be perpendicular to the straight line connecting the Y-direction reference plane H1205. Therefore, by abutting the reference surface H1205 against the ink supply unit H1510 in a subsequent assembling process, the nozzle row is made perpendicular to the main scanning direction without using a complicated mechanism or device such as alignment. It becomes possible.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-19146 [0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in this method, the straightness of the nozzle row in the main scanning direction depends on the accuracy in fixing the head chip. Since the reference position in the Y direction and the head chip are located apart from each other, a device that is mechanically adjusted with high precision is required to align these positional relationships. It was very large because it had to be raised. The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to propose a liquid discharge recording carriage capable of assembling a head chip with a simpler apparatus and a liquid discharge recording apparatus equipped with the same. .
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 provides an energy generating element for discharging a droplet formed on a semiconductor or an insulating substrate having a main plane, a nozzle for discharging a liquid, and a liquid supply. Two or more head chips each having a liquid flow path leading from a mouth to a nozzle via an energy generating element section, a base plate having a liquid supply port to which the head chip is fixed, and a recording surface on which the base plate is fixed. In a liquid ejection recording carriage having a parallel carriage frame, a wiring board for giving a signal corresponding to a recording image to the head chip, and a liquid supply unit for guiding liquid from a tank to a liquid supply port, A cylindrical projection protruding from the carriage frame at a position substantially at the end of the base plate, and A semicircular notch formed at the position of the end of the base plate and engageable with the convex portion, and the notch of the base plate is engaged with the convex portion on the carriage frame at the time of assembling so that the recording surface and It is characterized in that the rotation of the base plate about the convex portion in the parallel plane is enabled, and the position of the nozzle of the head chip is adjustable.
[0007]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the liquid discharge recording carriage of the first aspect, an adjustment mechanism for adjusting a position of the base plate is provided between the carriage frame and the base plate, and the notch is engaged with the projection of the carriage frame. The position of the base plate is adjusted by rotating the base plate while pressing the base plate toward the convex portion.
[0008]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the liquid ejection recording carriage according to the first or second aspect, a mark for performing relative positioning between the head chips is provided on each of the head chips.
[0009]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the liquid discharge recording carriage of the third aspect, two figures having different shapes or the same shape as the marks are displaced in the main scanning direction for each head chip. And
[0010]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid discharge recording apparatus including the liquid discharge recording carriage according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.
[0011]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a liquid discharge recording apparatus according to the fifth aspect, when the head chips are fixed to the base plate, the alignment of the nozzle rows between the head chips is performed using marks provided on the head chips. Then, after mounting on the liquid discharge recording apparatus, the nozzle array is aligned with respect to the main scanning direction of the carriage by a liquid discharge recording carriage adjustment mechanism.
[0012]
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a liquid discharge recording apparatus according to the sixth aspect, a nozzle position shift amount is detected from a print image obtained by operating the liquid discharge recording apparatus, and the carriage is positioned based on the shift amount. It is characterized in that the position of the nozzle row with respect to the main scanning direction is adjusted.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a mounting form of a head chip portion according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a carriage portion to which the head chip portion is attached. Reference numeral 101 in FIG. 1 denotes a head chip. The head chip 101 includes an energy generation element for discharging droplets formed on a semiconductor or an insulating substrate having a main plane, and a nozzle 106 for discharging liquid ink. And a liquid flow path for guiding the liquid from the liquid supply port to the nozzle 106 via the energy generating element unit. In the illustrated example, four liquid flow paths are used, and yellow, magenta, cyan, and black inks are respectively used. Discharge. The head chip 101 has two rows of nozzles 106 per chip. In the base plate 102 to which the head chips 101 are attached, ink supply ports 108 are provided at positions corresponding to each of the head chips 101.
[0014]
The base plate 102 is made of a ceramic containing alumina as a main component. The base plate 102 requires high precision such as smoothness and parallelism of the upper and lower joining surfaces. For this reason, silica or metal powder may be contained so as to suppress the shrinkage during ceramic firing. Further, an epoxy thermosetting resin containing silica or metal powder can be used as the material. The head chip 101 is fixed to the base plate 102 using an adhesive. At this time, the relative relationship between the nozzles 106 of each head chip 101, that is, the distance in the main scanning direction, the positional relationship in the sub-scanning direction, etc., has a very accurate positional relationship of ± 5 μm or less with respect to the design value. It needs to be joined. In the present invention, such a positioning does not require a large-scale device for adjusting the position between the adjacent head chips 101, so that high positioning accuracy can be realized with a simple device. Note that an adhesive whose main component is an epoxy resin is used for joining the head chip 101 and the base plate 102. Since this adhesive is always exposed to ink, it is necessary to use an adhesive having high ink resistance.
[0015]
Next, the base plate 102 is fixed to the ink supply unit 104. Screw 107 is used for fixing. At this time, the ink flow path is sealed by the seal member 103. The seal member 103 is made of silicon-based or fluorine-based rubber. Since this portion is always exposed to ink, it is necessary to use a portion having high ink resistance. The ink supply unit 104 has an ink tank (not shown) mounted thereon, and guides each ink to the ink supply port 109 via an ink flow path. An FPC 105 is mounted on a pad portion of the head chip 101, and a signal corresponding to a recorded image is sent to the head chip 101.
[0016]
Next, FIG. 2 schematically shows a state in which the base plate 102 is fixed to the carriage when viewed from the ink supply side. The ink supply unit 104 is not shown for explanation. Here, the head chip 101 is drawn by a broken line for explanation. The carriage frame 110 has a columnar convex portion 113 protruding from the center portion of the left side of the base plate 102 and serving as an abutment fulcrum. A semicircular notch 102 a having an open left side is formed at the center of the left side of the base plate 102, and is engaged with the convex portion 113. On the other hand, a convex protruding portion 102b is formed at the center of the right side of the base plate 102. A cam 112 is disposed so as to contact the lower side of the protruding portion 102b, and the cam 112 is rotatably supported on the carriage frame 110 side. Further, an abutting spring 111 is provided so as to contact the lower part of the right side of the base plate 102, and presses the base plate 102 to the left. The spring 111 is provided in a direction facing the convex portion 113 as shown in the figure, and presses in a main scanning direction (x-axis direction) from a position shifted from the convex portion 113 in the sub-scanning direction (y-axis direction). As a result, the base plate 102 is abutted against the convex portion 113, and a clockwise moment is generated with the convex portion 113 as a fulcrum. The protruding portion 102b contacts the cam surface of the cam 112 and presses the cam 112 downward. Will do. By rotating the cam 112 in this state, it is possible to rotate the base plate 102 in the direction of the arrow 115 with the projection 113 as a fulcrum. This makes it possible to adjust the angle between the row of nozzles 106 and the lot 114. As described above, when the head chip 101 is fixed to the base plate 102, the relative positional relationship between the nozzles 106 has already been aligned with high precision. Therefore, it is possible to perform all necessary positioning in a plane direction parallel to the recording surface only by adjusting the straightness of the row of the lot 114 and the row of the nozzles 106 using the cam 112.
[0017]
In addition, this adjustment work is performed by mounting the liquid discharge recording carriage having the above-described structure on the liquid discharge recording apparatus, actually printing, detecting the amount of nozzle position deviation from the print result, and based on the detected amount, adjusting the row of nozzles 106. By performing the position adjustment, the position adjustment operation can be easily performed. That is, in an actual operation, the angle deviation of the row of the nozzles 106 is optically detected from the printing result, and the adjustment is performed by only one printing by feeding back the adjustment angle of the cam 112. Further, since this alignment is an adjustment after the liquid ejection recording carriage is mounted on the main body of the liquid ejection recording apparatus, it is an adjustment including a variation in the finish of parts such as the carriage frame 110, and the conventional alignment by abutting or the like. Higher accuracy than other methods.
In this embodiment, a cam is used as the adjusting mechanism. However, other methods such as a method of applying the tip of a screw to the base plate 102 from below in FIG. 2 and a method of combining a rack / pinion gear are also possible. .
[0018]
Next, FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of positioning the head chips according to the third aspect of the present invention. FIG. 3A shows a state in which four head chips 101 are arranged on a base plate 102 (not shown). The head chip 101 corresponds to each color of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow from the left of the figure. Each head chip 101 is provided with two rows of nozzles 106 on a straight line. In the two nozzle rows, the respective nozzles 106 are arranged so as to be shifted by a half pitch. Here, in the x and y axes shown in the figure, x is the main scanning direction and y axis is the sub scanning direction. FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of the upper and lower ends of the adjacent portion of the two adjacent head chips 101 (1) and 101 (2), and alignment marks 116 and 117 are formed in this portion. ing. The marks 116 and 117 have two different shapes arranged at positions shifted in the main scanning direction. In the figure, broken lines A and B indicate the fields of view of the camera for positioning, and the marks on the head chips 101 (1) and 101 (2) are always in the same field of view.
[0019]
Next, in FIG. 3B, the actual positioning is performed by the following algorithm.
(1) The center of gravity of the mark 116 is detected, and the distances x1 and x2 between the mark 116 and the adjacent mark are kept at a predetermined distance.
(2) Next, the horizontal portions of the marks 117 in the main scanning direction are aligned on the same straight line.
Here, by arranging the chip at the position (2) while satisfying (1), the parallelism of the nozzle row 106 and the relative position in the sub-scanning direction can be matched.
In addition, (2) of the above alignment steps can be replaced with the following (3).
(3) The shortest distance is set between the end points of the portion perpendicular to the main scanning direction.
For this reason, by configuring an algorithm that combines the methods (2) and (3) in a state where (1) is satisfied, more accurate positioning can be performed. The method as described above has become possible without using an expensive CPU such as a workstation due to the remarkable increase in the speed of the PC in recent years. This positioning method is only for positioning within the field of view of the camera, and does not require any mechanical adjustment or mechanical adjustment except for optical adjustment such as focusing. For this reason, the apparatus is simplified, and the apparatus can be configured with a lower investment amount.
[0020]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the projection is provided on the carriage frame at the contact surface of the base plate and substantially at the end of the base plate, and the position of the end of the base plate is set. A notch of a semicircular shape is formed in the base plate, and the notch of the base plate is engaged with the protrusion on the carriage frame during assembly to rotate the base plate around the protrusion in a plane parallel to the recording surface. By making it possible to adjust the position of the nozzle of the head chip, the position of the nozzle can be adjusted without using a large-scale device.
[0021]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, a position adjusting mechanism is provided between the carriage frame and the base plate, and the base plate having the notch engaged with the protrusion of the carriage frame is rotated while pressing the base plate toward the protrusion. Then, by adjusting the position of the base plate, the position can be adjusted with a simple mechanism.
[0022]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the marks for performing the relative positioning of the head chips are provided on each of the head chips, the positioning can be performed while monitoring the marks optically.
[0023]
According to the fourth aspect of the invention, two figures having different shapes or the same shape are displaced in the main scanning direction for each head chip as alignment marks, thereby facilitating the alignment. Become.
[0024]
According to the fifth and sixth aspects of the present invention, when the liquid discharge recording apparatus is mounted on the liquid discharge recording apparatus, the alignment of the nozzle rows between the head chips is performed using the mark, and the liquid discharge recording is performed. After being mounted on the printing apparatus, the alignment of the nozzle row in the main scanning direction of the carriage is performed by the adjustment mechanism of the liquid discharge printing carriage, thereby enabling simple and highly accurate positioning.
[0025]
According to the seventh aspect of the invention, a nozzle position shift amount is detected from a print image obtained by operating the liquid discharge printing apparatus, and the position of the nozzle row in the main scanning direction of the carriage is adjusted based on the shift amount. This makes the alignment easier and more accurate.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a mounting mode of a head chip portion according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a carriage portion to which the base plate of FIG. 1 is attached.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of aligning head chips.
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional head cartridge.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a conventional head chip mounting method.
[Explanation of symbols]
101, 101 (1), 101 (2) Head chip 102 Base plate 102a Notch 102b Projection 103 Seal member 104 Ink supply unit 105 FPC
106 nozzle 107 screw 108, 109 ink supply port 110 carriage frame 111 spring 112 cam 113 convex part 114 lot 115 arrow 116, 117 mark

Claims (7)

An energy generating element for discharging liquid droplets formed on a semiconductor or insulating substrate having a main plane, a nozzle for discharging liquid, and a liquid flow for guiding liquid from the liquid supply port to the nozzle via the energy generating element section Two or more head chips with paths,
A base plate having a liquid supply port to which the head chip is fixed,
A carriage frame to which this base plate is fixed and parallel to the recording surface,
A wiring board for applying a signal corresponding to a recorded image to the head chip,
A liquid supply unit for guiding liquid from the tank to the liquid supply port,
In the liquid ejection recording carriage having
A cylindrical convex portion protruding from the carriage frame at a position substantially at the end of the base plate, which is a contact surface of the base plate;
A semi-circular cutout formed at the position of the end of the base plate and engageable with the projection;
The notch of the base plate is engaged with the projection on the carriage frame at the time of assembly to enable the rotation of the base plate around the projection in a plane parallel to the recording surface, and the position of the nozzle of the head chip A liquid discharge recording carriage characterized in that it is adjustable. 2. The liquid ejection recording carriage according to claim 1, wherein
An adjustment mechanism for adjusting the position of the base plate is provided between the carriage frame and the base plate, and the base plate whose notch is engaged with the protrusion of the carriage frame is rotated while pressing the base plate toward the protrusion. A liquid discharge recording carriage characterized by adjustment. The liquid ejection recording carriage according to claim 1, wherein
A liquid ejection recording carriage, wherein a mark for performing relative positioning between the head chips is provided on each of the head chips. 4. The liquid ejection recording carriage according to claim 3, wherein
2. A liquid discharge recording carriage, wherein two figures having different shapes or the same shape as the marks are displaced in the main scanning direction for each head chip. A liquid discharge recording apparatus comprising the liquid discharge recording carriage according to claim 1. A method for manufacturing a liquid discharge recording apparatus according to claim 5,
When fixing the head chip to the base plate, the alignment of the nozzle rows between the head chips is performed using the mark provided on the head chip, and after mounting on the liquid discharge recording apparatus, the main mechanism of the carriage is adjusted by the liquid discharge recording carriage adjustment mechanism. A method for manufacturing a liquid discharge recording apparatus, comprising: positioning a nozzle row in a scanning direction. The method for manufacturing a liquid ejection recording apparatus according to claim 6,
A liquid ejection recording apparatus that detects a nozzle position shift amount from a print image obtained by operating the liquid discharge recording apparatus, and adjusts a position of a nozzle row in a main scanning direction of the carriage based on the shift amount. Manufacturing method.

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