JP2005088524A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of well performing an image forming operation without generating a deflection or the like on a supporting member supporting a tube. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus of this invention mounts a recording head 8 discharging a liquid on a recording medium (not shown in the figure), and has a carriage moving to the recording medium during an image recording operation by the recording head 8, an ink tank 11 arranged on the outside of the carriage 7, and an ink feeding tube 10 connecting the ink tank 11 with the recording head 8. The image forming apparatus furthermore has a flexible supporting member 30 supporting the ink feeding tube 10, and a cushioning material 2 as a deflection-preventing member which is provided on the supporting member 30 and prevents the supporting member 30 from being deflected when the supporting member 30 moves by following a movement of the carriage 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including a tube for supplying a liquid from a liquid storage unit to a recording head.

  Conventionally, an image forming apparatus having an ink supply tube for connecting an ink tank and a carriage to supply ink to a recording head mounted on the carriage is known. In this type of image forming apparatus, it is necessary to support the ink supply tube using a chain belt, a coil spring, or the like in order to prevent the ink supply tube from drooping into the movement region of the carriage when the carriage is reciprocated. is there.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a conventional image forming apparatus having a configuration in which an ink supply tube is supported by a chain belt.

  The conventional image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 7 includes a carriage 107 that mounts a recording head 108 that forms an image by ejecting a liquid such as ink onto a recording medium (not shown), and a part of the carriage 107 is fixed to the carriage 107. A belt (not shown) wound between two pulleys (not shown), a motor (not shown) for rotating one pulley in the forward and reverse directions, a signal for discharging ink from the recording head 108, And a flexible cable 113 for inputting electric power from a control unit (not shown) of the image forming apparatus to the recording head 108. The carriage 107 is driven by a motor to rotate one pulley in the forward and reverse directions, so that the belt rotates and reciprocates in the direction of the arrow along the guide shaft (not shown).

  Further, the image forming apparatus includes a conveying unit (not shown) that conveys the recording medium. The image forming apparatus forms an image on the entire recording medium by repeating the recording medium conveying operation by the conveying unit and the image forming operation by the recording head 108 on the carriage 107 that reciprocates with respect to the recording medium. .

  In addition, an ink tank 111 that stores ink to be supplied to the recording head 108 is provided outside the carriage 107. The ink in the ink tank 111 is supplied to the recording head 108 on the carriage 107 via the ink supply tube 110 supported by the chain belt 100 formed with a bending radius. The ink supply tube 110 extending from the ink tank 111 passes through the lower portion of the chain belt 100 in the drawing, passes through the folded portion 100a, passes through the upper portion of the chain belt 100 in the drawing to the recording head 108 on the carriage 107. It is connected.

  When the carriage 107 moves in the direction of the arrow, the chain belt 100 that supports the ink supply tube 110 moves so that the upper part of the chain belt 100 and the folded portion 100a follow the carriage 107. Accordingly, the ink supply tube 110 can supply ink from the ink tank 111 to the recording head 108 without being bent when the carriage 107 is moved.

A conventional image forming apparatus having the above-described configuration is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.
JP 2000-127423 A

  However, in the configuration in which the ink supply tube is supported by the chain belt, a relatively heavy chain belt must be moved together when moving the carriage, so that a large load is applied to the drive source for driving the carriage. End up. Further, when the chain belt moves, there is a problem that vibration and noise are generated particularly from the joint portion. Furthermore, there is a problem that the cost of the image forming apparatus is increased as much as the chain belt is provided.

  Instead of such a chain belt, it is also conceivable to use a plastic sheet-like support member to support the ink supply tube in the same manner as the chain belt shown in FIG. However, in the configuration in which the ink supply tube is simply supported using a plastic sheet-like support member, the support member and the ink supply tube are bent, and the ink supply tube is caused by the reaction when the carriage is moved at a high speed. The ink supply tube flutters because it vibrates so as to sway. When such a flickering occurs in the ink supply tube, there is a problem that due to the influence of the vibration, an image formed on the recording medium is uneven, noise is generated, or the movement of the carriage is hindered. .

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus that can perform an image forming operation satisfactorily without causing a support member supporting a tube to bend.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a recording head that forms an image by ejecting liquid onto a recording medium, and moves relative to the recording medium during an image recording operation by the recording head. A carriage, a liquid storage section that is disposed outside the carriage, stores the liquid, and connects the liquid storage section and the recording head to supply the liquid from the liquid storage section to the recording head. In an image forming apparatus having a tube, a flexible support member that supports the tube, and provided on the support member, the support member moves to follow the movement of the carriage. And a deflection preventing member that prevents the occurrence of deflection.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the deflection preventing member moves together with the support member and supports the support member while the support member moves following the movement of the carriage. It does not occur. Therefore, the tube does not bend, bend, flutter or the like while the support member is moving, and the tube can continue to supply the liquid from the liquid reservoir to the recording head satisfactorily. Therefore, it is possible to perform the image forming operation satisfactorily without causing problems such as unevenness in the image formed on the recording medium, noise due to fluttering of the tube, or trouble in the movement of the carriage. it can.

  The support member supports the tube in a state in which a bending radius is formed, and is disposed outside the bending radius with respect to the first sheet material to which the tube is fixed, and the tube. A second sheet material that assists in fixing the tube with one sheet material and prevents the tube from rubbing; and a tube that is disposed on the inner side of the bending radius than the tube. It is good also as a structure containing the 3rd sheet | seat material which prevents producing | generating.

  Furthermore, the said bending prevention member is good also as a structure provided in the said 3rd sheet | seat material.

  Furthermore, it is good also as a structure which has the guide member which the said bending prevention member provided in the said support member slides when the said support member moves following the movement of the said carriage.

  Further, the surface of the anti-bending member that slides on the guide member may be provided with a friction reducing unit that reduces friction generated between the anti-bending member and the guide member. It is good also as a structure by which the friction reduction part which reduces the friction which arises between the said bending prevention member and the said guide member is provided in the surface where the said bending prevention member of a guide member slides. According to this configuration, the friction generated between the deflection preventing member and the guide member is reduced, and the deflection preventing member can slide smoothly with respect to the guide member. It is possible to move the support member and the tube while following the carriage well without imposing a burden on the driving source of the carriage when sliding on the carriage.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a flexible support member that supports a tube that connects the liquid storage unit and the recording head, and the support member, and the support member moves the carriage. Since it has a bend prevention member that prevents the support member from being bent when moving following the movement, it is possible to prevent the tube from being bent while the support member is moving and to improve the image forming operation. It can be carried out.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment has a horizontally long shape, and the whole is covered with a casing. On the right side of the image forming apparatus 1, an operation unit 1 a used when the user operates the image forming apparatus 1 is provided.

  2 and 3 are perspective views showing the configuration inside the housing of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a carriage 7 on which a recording head 8 that forms an image by ejecting a liquid such as ink onto a recording medium (not shown) is mounted. The belt 21 is fixed to the carriage 7 and is wound between two pulleys 20 (the other is not shown), a motor 22 that rotationally drives one pulley 20 in the forward and reverse directions, and ink from the recording head 8. And a flexible cable 13 (see FIG. 5 and the like) for inputting signals and power for discharging the ink from the control means (not shown) of the image forming apparatus to the recording head 8. In the carriage 7, one pulley 20 is driven to rotate in the forward and reverse directions by the motor 22, whereby the belt 21 rotates and reciprocates along the guide shaft (not shown) in the direction indicated by the arrow.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a transport unit (not shown) that transports the recording medium. The image forming apparatus 1 forms an image on the entire recording medium by repeating the recording medium conveying operation by the conveying unit and the image forming operation by the recording head 8 on the carriage 7 that reciprocates with respect to the recording medium. To do.

  In addition, an ink tank 11 is provided outside the carriage 7 as a liquid storage section that stores ink supplied to the recording head 8. The ink in the ink tank 11 is supplied to the recording head 8 on the carriage 7 via the ink supply tube 10. In the present embodiment, the ink supply tube 10 extending from the ink tank 11 is supported by a support member 30 having a bending radius that is configured by the tube holding sheet material 3, the rubbing prevention sheet material 4, and the catching prevention sheet material 5. The support member 30 is connected to the recording head 8 on the carriage 7 through the lower portion of the support member 30 through the folded portion and through the upper portion of the support member 30 in the drawing.

  As can be understood by comparing FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the ink supply tube 10 and the support member 30 that supports the ink supply tube 10 have flexibility, and when the carriage 7 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow, The illustrated upper part and its folded part move so as to follow the carriage 7. As a result, the ink supply tube 10 can continue to supply ink from the ink tank 11 to the recording head 8 without being bent when the carriage 7 moves.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, a buffer material 2 as a deflection preventing member is attached to the back surface of the upper side portion of the support member 30 in the figure. The cushioning material 2 slides on the guide member 9 provided in the image forming apparatus 1 when the upper portion of the support member 30 shown in the drawing and its folded portion move following the movement of the carriage 7. At this time, the shock absorbing material 2 plays the role which suppresses that the illustration upper part of the support member 30 bends below.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the support member and the buffer material of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2 and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the support member 30 of the image forming apparatus 1 has a bending radius, and the anti-chucking sheet material 5, the tube holding sheet material 3, and the rubbing prevention sheet material in order from the inside of the bending radius. 4. The tube holding sheet material 3 has a function of holding an ink supply tube 10 (see FIG. 2 and the like) not shown in FIG. 4 and holding it. The rubbing prevention sheet material 4 serves to assist the fixing of the ink supply tube 10 by the tube holding sheet material 3 and to prevent the ink supply tube 10 from rubbing directly against other components in the image forming apparatus 1. . Further, the catching prevention sheet material 5 has a function of preventing the ink supply tube 10 from being caught by other components in the image forming apparatus 1.

  The ink supply tube 10 (see FIG. 2 and the like) is held between the tube holding sheet material 3 and the anti-hook sheet material 5 while being fixed to the tube holding sheet material 3. These sheet materials 3, 4, and 5 are bound together by a tube fixing member 6 while holding the ink supply tube 10. The tube fixing member 6 is made of, for example, an elastic rubber band. At both ends of the support member 30, the sheet materials 3, 4, and 5 are fixed to the sheet fixing members 12a and 12b, respectively.

  Note that the cushioning material 2 is attached to a catching prevention sheet material 5 that is a sheet material located on the innermost side of the bending radius of the support member 30. As described above, the cushioning material 2 is located on the back surface of the upper portion of the support member 30 in the figure.

  In the present embodiment, each of the sheet materials 3, 4, and 5 is composed of a sheet member made of polyethylene naphthalate. Their dimensions, thickness, ease of bending, and the like are appropriately determined according to each application. Further, each of the cushioning material 2 and the guide member 9 is made of polyurethane foam (for example, “Carmflex (registered trademark)” of Inoac Corporation).

  In particular, in this embodiment, the friction reducing portion made of polyethylene naphthalate is provided on the surface of the cushioning material 2 that slides on the guide member 9 so that the cushioning material 2 can slide smoothly with respect to the guide member 9. (Not shown) is formed, and the surface of the guide member 9 on which the cushioning material 2 slides is based on, for example, a modified polyphenylene ether of Chuchu Plastic Co., Ltd. as a friction reducing portion (not shown). “Sunroid (registered trademark) barrier” is provided. Since at least one of the cushioning material 2 and the guide member 9 has such a friction reducing portion, the friction generated between them is reduced, and the cushioning material 2 can smoothly slide with respect to the guide member 9. Become.

  Next, operations of the support member and the buffer material of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the support member and the buffer material of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 2 and the like.

  FIG. 5 shows a state where the carriage 7 is located at one end of the moving region. When the carriage 7 starts to move in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5 from this state, the support member 30 that supports the ink supply tube 10 moves so that the upper portion of the support member 30 shown in the drawing and its folded portion follow the carriage 7. Begin to. At this time, the buffer material 2 moves together with the upper portion of the support member 30 shown in the figure, and slides on the guide member 9 provided in the image forming apparatus 1. Since the cushioning material 2 supports the illustrated upper portion of the support member 30 while the support member 30 moves following the carriage 7, it is possible to prevent the support member 30 from being bent. Therefore, the ink supply tube 10 does not bend, bend, or flutter during this time, and the ink supply tube 10 can continue to supply ink from the ink tank 11 to the recording head 8 satisfactorily.

  Furthermore, since the buffer material 2 and the guide member 9 are provided with the friction reducing portion as described above, the friction generated between them is reduced, and the buffer material 2 slides smoothly with respect to the guide member 9. Therefore, when the cushioning material 2 slides on the guide member 9, the support member 30 and the ink supply tube 10 are allowed to follow the carriage 7 satisfactorily without imposing a burden on the drive source of the carriage 7. Can be moved.

  Further, since both the cushioning material 2 and the guide member 9 are made of polyurethane foam, even if the support member 30 is vibrated, the vibration can be absorbed. Therefore, the ink supply by the ink supply tube 10 can be further stabilized. Furthermore, since the cushioning material 2 and the guide member 9 made of polyurethane foam are extremely lightweight, even if the cushioning material 2 and the guide member 9 are provided, the overall weight of the image forming apparatus 1 is hardly affected.

  When the carriage 7 moves to the other end of the movement area of the carriage 7 shown in FIG. 6, the carriage temporarily stops and starts moving again in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 6 toward the position shown in FIG.

  When the image forming apparatus 1 forms an image on a recording medium (not shown), the image forming apparatus 1 performs the recording medium conveyance operation by the conveying unit while the carriage 7 reciprocates as described above. By repeating the image forming operation by the recording head 8 on the carriage 7, an image is formed on the entire recording medium.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration inside a housing of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration inside a housing of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the structure of the supporting member and buffer material of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the supporting member and buffer material of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the supporting member and buffer material of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram showing a conventional image forming apparatus having a configuration in which an ink supply tube is supported by a chain belt.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 1a Operation part 2 Buffer material 3 Tube holding sheet material 4 Rubbing prevention sheet material 5 Hook prevention sheet material 6 Tube fixing member 7 Carriage 8 Recording head 9 Guide member 10 Ink supply tube 11 Ink tank 12a, 12b Sheet fixing Member 13 Flexible cable 20 Pulley 21 Belt 22 Motor 30 Support member

Claims (6)

A recording head for forming an image by ejecting liquid onto a recording medium is mounted, a carriage that moves relative to the recording medium during an image recording operation by the recording head, and the liquid disposed outside the carriage. In an image forming apparatus, comprising: a liquid storage section that stores the liquid; and a tube that connects the liquid storage section and the recording head to supply the liquid from the liquid storage section to the recording head.
A flexible support member that supports the tube;
A bend preventing member provided on the support member and preventing the support member from being bent when the support member moves following the movement of the carriage; and
An image forming apparatus comprising:   The support member supports the tube in a state in which a bending radius is formed, and is disposed outside the bending radius with respect to the first sheet material to which the tube is fixed and the tube. A second sheet material that assists in fixing the tube by the sheet material and prevents the tube from rubbing, and the tube is disposed inside the bending radius from the tube, and the tube is caught. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a third sheet material that prevents the above.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the deflection preventing member is provided on the third sheet material.   4. The guide member according to claim 1, further comprising: a guide member that slides when the support member moves following the movement of the carriage. The image forming apparatus described.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a friction reducing unit that reduces friction generated between the deflection preventing member and the guide member is provided on a surface of the deflection preventing member that slides on the guide member. . 6. The image according to claim 4, wherein a friction reducing portion that reduces friction generated between the deflection preventing member and the guide member is provided on a surface of the guide member on which the deflection preventing member slides. Forming equipment.

Images