JP2007098866A - Multi-head unit and liquid injection apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable elongation of a nozzle array, miniaturization of a head, and improvement of the maintainability. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of head units 200A-200C equipped with liquid injection heads are prepared. The liquid injection heads have nozzle arrays 21A where nozzle openings 21 from which a liquid is injected are arranged side by side in one direction. At least two head units 200A and 200C are fixed to a holding member in a direction which intersects the one direction via fixing parts 214 set projected from head units 200A-200C bodies in the direction which intersects the one direction of the head units 200A-200C. The fixing parts 214 of the head units 200A and 200C fixed to the holding member and set near each other are shifted in the one direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a multi-head unit and a liquid ejecting apparatus in which a plurality of head units each including a liquid ejecting head are held.

  An ink jet recording apparatus, such as an ink jet printer or a plotter, includes an ink jet recording head unit (hereinafter referred to as an ink jet recording head unit) that can eject ink stored in an ink storage section such as an ink cartridge or an ink tank as ink droplets. The head unit).

  Such a head unit includes an ink jet recording head and a head case fixed to the liquid supply port side of the ink jet recording head. In addition, there is one in which such a head unit is arranged at a predetermined position (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  However, when a plurality of head units are arranged to form a multi-head unit, by eliminating the gap between the head units provided in the vicinity of each other, the nozzle rows can be narrowed to reduce the size of the head, Although the amount of movement of the carriage on which the multi-head unit is mounted can be reduced and high-speed printing is possible, if there is no gap between the head units provided in the vicinity of each other, the head unit is supplied with ink. There is a problem that the replacement of the filter or the like provided in is complicated.

  Such a problem exists not only in a multi-head unit including an ink jet recording head that discharges ink but also in a multi-head unit including a liquid ejecting head that discharges liquid other than ink.

JP 2004-209964 A (pages 8-11, FIGS. 6-7)

  In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides a multi-head unit and a liquid ejecting apparatus that can increase the length of a nozzle row, reduce the size of a head, and improve maintainability. Let it be an issue.

A first aspect of the present invention that solves the above-described problem includes a plurality of head units each including a liquid ejecting head having a nozzle row in which nozzle openings from which liquid is ejected are arranged in one direction, and the head unit includes: At least two head units are fixed to the holding member in a direction crossing the one direction via a fixing portion provided so as to protrude from the head unit main body in a direction intersecting with the one direction, and each other fixed to the holding member is In the multi-head unit, the fixing portion of the head unit provided in the vicinity is displaced in the one direction.
In such a first aspect, by fixing the head unit to the holding member via the fixing portion, each head unit can be individually detached from the holding member, and maintenance performance such as replacement of parts of each head unit is improved. can do. Further, when the head unit is fixed to the holding member via the fixing portion, the head unit can be relatively aligned by the fixing portion, so that the alignment can be performed easily and with high accuracy. Furthermore, it can reduce in size by arrange | positioning so that each fixing | fixed part of a head unit may not contact | abut mutually.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the multi-head unit according to the first aspect, the fixed portions of the head unit are in contact with the head unit main body of the head unit provided in the vicinity thereof. is there.
In the second aspect, the relative positioning of the head units can be performed with high accuracy.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the nozzle row of the head unit and the nozzle row of the head unit provided in the vicinity of each other are displaced in the one direction and in a region along the one direction. The multi-head unit according to the first or second aspect is characterized by being continuously present.
In the third aspect, the nozzle row can be lengthened by eliminating the non-printing area.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-head according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein there are two head units provided near each other on the one-direction side of one head unit. Located in the head unit.
In the fourth aspect, the nozzle row can be further elongated.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the fixed portion is provided at both ends of the one direction side of the head unit, and the nozzle row is present in a region where the one fixed portion on the one direction side is provided. The multihead unit according to any one of the first to fourth aspects is characterized in that:
In the fifth aspect, it is possible to reliably prevent the fixed portions of the head units provided in the vicinity from coming into contact with each other.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a liquid ejecting apparatus including the multi-head unit according to any one of the first to fifth aspects.
In the sixth aspect, a liquid ejecting apparatus that can improve the printing speed can be realized.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an ink jet recording head unit according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, a cartridge case 210 which is a holding member constituting the ink jet recording head unit 200 (hereinafter referred to as the head unit 200) is mounted with a cartridge on which an ink cartridge (not shown) which is an ink supply unit is mounted. Part 211. For example, in this embodiment, the ink cartridge is configured as a separate body filled with black and three color inks, and the ink cartridges of the respective colors are mounted in the cartridge case 210. The cartridge case 210 is provided with a plurality of ink communication paths (not shown) having one end opened to each cartridge mounting portion 211 and the other end opened to the head case side described later. Further, an ink supply needle 213 inserted into the ink supply port of the ink cartridge is formed in the ink communication path 212 at the opening portion of the ink communication path of the cartridge mounting portion 211 in order to remove bubbles and foreign matters in the ink. It is fixed via a filter (not shown).

  Further, the cartridge case 210 has a fixing portion 214 protruding in a direction (main scanning direction) intersecting one direction (sub-scanning direction) which is a direction in which nozzle openings 21 of the ink jet recording head 220 to be described later are arranged in detail. Is provided. In the present embodiment, a total of four fixing portions 214 are provided by providing the fixing portions 214 at both ends on one side of the side surface of the cartridge case 210, respectively.

  The fixing portion 214 is fixed to a carriage that is a holding member that holds the head unit 200 described later in detail. Specifically, the fixing portion 214 is provided with a through-hole 215 that penetrates in the thickness direction. A screw member or the like is inserted into the through-hole 215 of the fixing portion 214 and screwed into the carriage. The unit 200 is fixed to the carriage.

  A head case 230 is fixed to the bottom surface side of the cartridge case 210. An ink jet recording head 220 that discharges ink droplets from the nozzle openings 21 by driving the piezoelectric element 300 is fixed to the end surface of the head case 230 opposite to the cartridge case 210. In the present embodiment, a plurality of ink jet recording heads 220 that eject ink of each color of the ink cartridge are provided corresponding to each ink color, and a plurality of head cases 230 are also provided independently corresponding to each ink jet recording head 220. Is provided.

  Here, the ink jet recording head 220 and the head case 230 of this embodiment mounted on the cartridge case 210 will be described. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of main parts of the ink jet recording head and head case according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of main parts of the ink jet recording head and head case according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the flow path forming substrate 10 constituting the ink jet recording head 220 is made of a silicon single crystal substrate in this embodiment, and silicon dioxide previously formed on one surface thereof by thermal oxidation. An elastic film 50 made of is formed. This flow path forming substrate 10 is formed with two rows in which pressure generation chambers 12 partitioned by a plurality of partition walls are arranged in parallel in the width direction by anisotropic etching from the other side. Further, on the outer side in the longitudinal direction of the pressure generating chambers 12 in each row, a communicating portion constituting a reservoir 100 that communicates with a reservoir portion 31 provided on a protective substrate 30 to be described later and serves as a common ink chamber for each pressure generating chamber 12. 13 is formed. The communication portion 13 is in communication with one end portion in the longitudinal direction of each pressure generating chamber 12 via the ink supply path 14.

Further, a nozzle plate 20 having a nozzle opening 21 communicating with the side opposite to the ink supply path 14 of each pressure generating chamber 12 on the opening surface side of the flow path forming substrate 10 is an adhesive, a heat-welded film, or the like. It is fixed through. That is, in this embodiment, two nozzle rows 21A in which the nozzle openings 21 are arranged in parallel are provided in one ink jet recording head. The nozzle plate 20 has a thickness of, for example, 0.01 to 1 mm and a linear expansion coefficient of 300 ° C. or less, for example, 2.5 to 4.5 [10 ⁻⁶ / ° C.]. It consists of a crystal substrate or stainless steel.

  On the other hand, on the side opposite to the opening surface of the flow path forming substrate 10, an insulator film made of zirconium oxide, a lower electrode film made of metal, lead zirconate titanate (PZT), etc. are formed on the elastic film 50. A piezoelectric element 300 is formed by sequentially stacking a piezoelectric layer and a metal upper electrode film. On the flow path forming substrate 10 on which such a piezoelectric element 300 is formed, a protective substrate 30 having a reservoir portion 31 constituting at least a part of the reservoir 100 is bonded. In the present embodiment, the reservoir portion 31 is formed through the protective substrate 30 in the thickness direction and across the width direction of the pressure generation chamber 12. As described above, the communication portion 13 of the flow path forming substrate 10. The reservoir 100 is configured as a common ink chamber for the pressure generation chambers 12.

  A piezoelectric element holding portion 32 having a space that does not hinder the movement of the piezoelectric element 300 is provided in a region of the protective substrate 30 that faces the piezoelectric element 300. Examples of such a protective substrate 30 include glass, ceramic, metal, plastic, and the like, but it is preferable to use a material that is substantially the same as the coefficient of thermal expansion of the flow path forming substrate 10. It was formed using a silicon single crystal substrate made of the same material as the path forming substrate 10.

  Furthermore, a drive IC 110 for driving each piezoelectric element 300 is provided on the protective substrate 30. Each terminal of the drive IC 110 is connected to a lead wiring drawn from the individual electrode of each piezoelectric element 300 via a bonding wire or the like (not shown). Each terminal of the driving IC 110 is connected to the outside via an external wiring 111 such as a flexible printed cable (FPC) as shown in FIG. 1, and various signals such as a print signal from the outside via the external wiring 111. To receive.

  In addition, the compliance substrate 40 is bonded onto the protective substrate 30. An ink inlet 44 for supplying ink to the reservoir 100 is formed in a region facing the reservoir 100 of the compliance substrate 40 by penetrating in the thickness direction. In addition, the region of the compliance substrate 40 other than the ink introduction port 44 in the region facing the reservoir 100 is a flexible portion 43 formed thin in the thickness direction, and the reservoir 100 is sealed by the flexible portion 43. Has been. Compliance is given to the reservoir 100 by the flexible portion 43.

  As described above, the ink jet recording head 220 according to the present embodiment includes the four substrates of the nozzle plate 20, the flow path forming substrate 10, the protective substrate 30, and the compliance substrate 40. On the compliance substrate 40 of the ink jet recording head 220, the ink is introduced into the ink introduction port 44 and is also communicated with the ink communication path 212 of the cartridge case 210. A head case 230 is provided in which an ink supply communication path 231 is provided. The head case 230 is formed with a recess 232 in a region facing the flexible portion 43 so that the flexible portion 43 is appropriately deformed. The head case 230 is provided with a drive IC holding part 233 penetrating in the thickness direction in a region facing the drive IC 110 provided on the protective substrate 30, and the external wiring 111 is connected to the drive IC holding part 233. Is connected to the drive IC 110.

  The ink jet recording head 220 of this embodiment takes in ink from the ink cartridge from the ink inlet 44 via the ink supply communication path 231 and fills the interior from the reservoir 100 to the nozzle opening 21 with ink. Thereafter, in accordance with a recording signal from the drive IC 110, a voltage is applied to each piezoelectric element 300 corresponding to the pressure generation chamber 12 to bend and deform the elastic film 50 and the piezoelectric element 300, whereby the pressure in each pressure generation chamber 12 is changed. And the ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle openings 21.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of ink jet recording heads 220 are arranged in the cartridge case 210 in one direction intersecting the direction in which the nozzle openings 21 are arranged, and four in this embodiment are fixed. Yes. That is, in one head unit 200, four ink jet recording heads 220 are held, and eight nozzle rows 21A are provided.

  Further, the four ink jet recording heads 220 held by the cartridge case 210 via the head case 230 are covered with a cover head 240 having a box shape as shown in FIG.

  The cover head 240 includes an exposed opening 241 that exposes the nozzle opening 21 and a joint 242 that defines the exposed opening 241. In the present embodiment, the joint portion 242 is between the frame portion 243 provided along the outer periphery of the ink droplet discharge surface across the plurality of ink jet recording heads 220 and the ink jet recording head 220 provided in the vicinity thereof. And a beam portion 244 that divides the exposed opening 241.

  Further, the cover head 240 is provided with a side wall portion 245 that extends so as to bend over the outer peripheral edge portion of the ink droplet ejection surface on the side surface side of the ink droplet ejection surface of the ink jet recording head 220. .

  As such a cover head 240, metal materials, such as stainless steel, are mentioned, for example, A metal plate may be formed by press work and may be formed by shaping | molding. It should be noted that the joint portion 242 of the cover head 240 may be adhered to the ink droplet ejection surface of the ink jet recording head 220 via an adhesive, or may be merely abutted without being adhered.

  A plurality of head units 200 including a plurality of ink jet recording heads 220 and head cases 230, a cover head 240, and a cartridge case 210 are held by a carriage, which is a holding member, which will be described later, via a fixing portion. A multi-head unit is configured.

  Here, the arrangement of the plurality of head units 200A to 200C constituting the multi-head unit will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the head unit according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the head unit 200 </ b> A and the head unit 200 </ b> B constituting the multi-head unit 1 are provided with a slight gap in one direction (sub-scanning direction) that is the direction in which the nozzle openings 21 are arranged side by side. ing. In addition, the head unit 200C is provided in a direction (main scanning direction) intersecting with one direction of the head units 200A and 200B. The head units 200A and 200B and the head unit 200C are arranged at positions where the head unit 200C is shifted in one direction with respect to the head unit 200A so that the fixing portions 214 do not contact each other. That is, the fixing portion 214 of one head unit 200A and 200B does not contact the side surface of the head unit 200C, and the fixing portion 214 of the head unit 200C does not contact the side surface of the head units 200A and 200B. It has become. As described above, by providing the fixing unit 214 in the head units 200A to 200C, the head units 200A to 200C can be individually detached from the carriage as a holding member, and are provided on the ink supply side of the head units 200A to 200C. Therefore, it is possible to easily replace the filter and the like, and it is possible to improve maintainability. Further, when the head units 200A to 200C are fixed to the carriage via the fixing portion 214, the head units 200A to 200C can be relatively aligned by the fixing portion 214, so that the alignment can be easily performed. it can.

  Further, by disposing the fixing portions 214 of the head units 200A to 200C so as not to contact each other, the main scanning direction can be reduced, and the printing speed can be improved by reducing the movement amount of the carriage. Can do.

  In the present embodiment, the nozzle row 21A of the head unit 200C is arranged between the nozzle rows 21A of the head unit 200A and the head unit 200B, and each nozzle row 21A is continuous along one direction. That is, by arranging the head units 200A to 200C in this way, the fixing portions 214 are provided at both ends of the head units 200A to 200C in one direction, so that the head units 200A and 200B are provided in the vicinity of each other. The nozzle row 21A of the head unit 200C exists in the area where the one fixing portion 214 on the side is provided. On the contrary, the nozzle row 21A of the head unit 200A and the nozzle row 21A of the head unit 200B exist in the area where the fixing portions 214 of the head unit 200C are provided.

  In this way, by making the nozzle row 21A continuous along one direction of each of the head units 200A to 200C, the nozzle row 21A can be lengthened, and the printing speed can be improved.

  Such a multi-head unit is mounted on an ink jet recording apparatus. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, a multihead unit 1 having an ink jet recording head is provided with cartridges 2 </ b> A and 2 </ b> B constituting an ink supply means in a detachable manner, and a carriage 3 as a holding member on which the multihead unit 1 is mounted. Is provided on a carriage shaft 5 attached to the apparatus body 4 so as to be movable in the axial direction. Each inkjet recording head of the multi-head unit 1 ejects, for example, a black ink composition and a color ink composition, respectively.

  Then, the driving force of the driving motor 6 is transmitted to the carriage 3 via a plurality of gears and a timing belt 7 (not shown), so that the carriage 3 on which the multi-head unit 1 is mounted is moved along the carriage shaft 5 ( Main scanning direction). On the other hand, the apparatus body 4 is provided with a platen 8 along the carriage shaft 5, and a recording sheet S, which is a recording medium such as paper fed by a paper feed roller (not shown), is conveyed on the platen 8. (Sub-scanning direction).

(Other embodiments)
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, the basic composition of this invention is not limited to what was mentioned above. For example, in the first embodiment described above, a total of four fixing portions 214 are provided at the end portions on one side of both side surfaces of each head unit 200, but the number of fixing portions 214 is not particularly limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, two fixing portions 214 are provided at both end portions of one side surface, and only one fixing portion 214 is provided at one end portion of the other side surface. A total of three 214 may be provided. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the arrangement of head units according to another embodiment.

  In the first embodiment described above, each head unit 200 is provided with the fixing portions 214 at both ends in one direction on both sides in the direction intersecting with one direction which is the direction in which the nozzle openings 21 are arranged side by side. The position of the portion 214 is not particularly limited as long as it does not contact the fixed portion 214 of the head unit 200 and does not contact the side surface of the head unit 200 provided in the vicinity thereof.

  Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, the fixing portion 214 is provided in the cartridge case 210 of the head unit 200. However, the fixing portion 214 may be provided in another member constituting the head unit 200. For example, when a substrate plate is provided between the cartridge case 210 and the head case 230, the fixing portion 214 may be provided on the substrate plate.

  In the first embodiment described above, three head units 200A to 200C are provided as the multi-head unit 1, but the number of head units 200 is not particularly limited. Further, four ink jet recording heads 220 are mounted on each head unit 200, but the number of ink jet recording heads 220 mounted on each head unit 200 is not particularly limited to this. Furthermore, in Embodiment 1 mentioned above, although the several head unit 200 which comprises the multi-head unit 1 was made into the thing of the same magnitude | size, it is not limited to this in particular. Such an example is shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the arrangement of head units according to another embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, in the multi-head unit 1, two long head units 200D are arranged side by side in one direction that is the direction in which the nozzle openings 21 are arranged side by side, and in a direction intersecting with one direction, the head unit 200D A short head unit 200E is provided in parallel.

  Further, in the first embodiment described above, the flexural vibration type ink jet recording head 220 is exemplified, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the longitudinal direction in which piezoelectric materials and electrode forming materials are alternately stacked and expanded and contracted in the axial direction is used. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a head unit having an ink jet recording head having various structures, such as an ink jet recording head that ejects ink droplets by bubbles generated by heat generation of a vibration type ink jet recording head or a heating element. .

  The multi-head unit and the ink-jet recording apparatus having an ink jet recording head that discharges ink as the liquid ejecting head have been described as examples. However, the present invention is intended for all multi-head units having a liquid ejecting head. It is. Examples of the liquid ejecting head include a recording head used in an image recording apparatus such as a printer, a color material ejecting head used for manufacturing a color filter such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, and an electrode formation such as an FED (surface emitting display). Electrode material ejecting heads used in manufacturing, bioorganic matter ejecting heads used in biochip production, and the like.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the head unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the head unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the head unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the arrangement of head units according to the first embodiment. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an ink jet recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a top view which shows arrangement | positioning of the head unit which concerns on other embodiment. It is a top view which shows arrangement | positioning of the head unit which concerns on other embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Multi head unit, 3 Carriage, 10 Flow path formation board | substrate, 12 Pressure generation chamber, 100 Reservoir, 200, 200A-200E Head unit, 210 Cartridge case, 214 Fixing part, 215 Through-hole, 220 Inkjet recording head, 230 head Case, 234 Through-hole, 235 Positioning hole, 240 Cover head, 241 Exposed opening, 242 Joint, 245 Side wall, 300 Piezoelectric element

Claims (6)

A plurality of head units each including a liquid ejecting head having nozzle rows in which nozzle openings for ejecting liquid are arranged in parallel in one direction are provided so as to protrude from the head unit main body in a direction intersecting the one direction of the head unit. At least two head units are fixed to the holding member in a direction intersecting the one direction via the fixed portion, and the fixing unit of the head unit provided in the vicinity of each other is fixed to the holding member. Multi-head unit characterized by being shifted to 2. The multi-head unit according to claim 1, wherein the fixing portions of the head unit are not in contact with the head unit main body of the head unit provided in the vicinity thereof. 3. The nozzle row of the head unit and the nozzle row of the head unit provided near each other are displaced in the one direction and continuously exist in a region along the one direction. The multi-head unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The multi-head unit according to claim 1, wherein there are two head units provided near each other on the one-direction side of one head unit. 2. The fixing unit is provided at both ends of the head unit on the one-direction side, and the nozzle row is present in a region where the one fixing unit on the one-direction side is provided. The multi-head unit according to any one of -4. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising the multi-head unit according to claim 1.

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