JP2007118240A - Cable retaining mechanism and recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a carriage from rolling together and rattling a flexible cable. <P>SOLUTION: The cable retaining mechanism is equipped with the carriage movable to a body, the flexible cable which connects the body and the carriage with each other so as to transmit an electrical signal to the carriage, and a cable retaining member movable to the body for suppressing floating of the flexible cable. The cable retaining member is constituted to move at a velocity lower than that of the carriage within the whole movement range of the cable retaining member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording medium using a recording head, and more particularly to a recording apparatus that uses a flexible cable to transmit a signal to a carriage on which the recording head is mounted.

  Recording devices having functions such as printers, copiers, facsimiles, etc., or composite electronic devices including computers and word processors, and recording devices used as output devices for workstations, are based on image information such as paper and plastic thin plates. It has a configuration in which an image is recorded on a recording material (recording medium). Such a recording apparatus can be classified into an ink jet type, a wire dot type, a thermal type, a laser beam type, and the like according to a recording method.

  In a serial type recording apparatus that employs a serial scanning method in which main scanning is performed in a direction crossing the recording material conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction), an image is recorded by recording means mounted on a carriage that moves along the recording material. Recording is performed on the entire recording material by repeating the operation of recording and feeding a predetermined amount of paper (pitch conveyance) after recording for one line is completed. On the other hand, in a line type recording apparatus that records only by sub-scanning in the conveyance direction of the recording material, the recording material is set at a predetermined recording position, and after recording for one line at a time, a predetermined amount The recording is performed on the entire recording material by repeating the operation of performing the paper feeding (pitch feeding) and the recording of the next line all at once.

  Among the above recording apparatuses, an ink jet recording apparatus (ink jet recording apparatus) using a serial scanning method performs recording by ejecting ink from a recording means (recording head) to a recording material. Is easy to make compact, can record high-definition images at high speed, can be recorded on plain paper without any special treatment, has low running cost, and is non-impact, so there is little noise In addition, there is an advantage that it is easy to record a color image using multicolor inks.

  In particular, an ink jet recording means (recording head) that discharges ink using thermal energy is an electrothermal transducer, electrode, liquid formed on a substrate through a semiconductor manufacturing process such as etching, vapor deposition, and sputtering. By forming a road wall, a top plate, etc., a product having a high-density liquid channel arrangement (discharge port arrangement) can be easily manufactured, and further downsizing can be achieved.

  The recording head is provided with a large number of recording elements, and it is necessary to supply a recording element drive signal from the main body of the recording apparatus to the recording head. A flexible cable is often used for signal transmission. The flexible cable has an elongated and thin film shape, and a conductor pattern for transmitting a drive signal is formed inside or on the surface of the flexible cable. The flexible cable is bent in a U-shape and connected to the recording apparatus main body at one end of the U-shape and connected to the recording head at the other end so that it bends as the carriage moves and the center position of the bending moves. Has flexibility.

In addition, a recording apparatus (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-186482) in which a cable pressing member for suppressing floating of the flexible cable can be moved by moving the carriage, or the flexible cable slides with the movement of the carriage. However, a recording apparatus (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-207394) in which convex portions (ribs, bosses, wrinkles, etc.) for reducing the contact area are provided on the contacting surface is also proposed.
JP-A-7-186482 JP-A-8-207394

  If the width of the flexible cable is reduced and the thickness is reduced, the rigidity of the flexible cable is reduced, but the stiffness is lost. When such a flexible cable is bent in a small loop formation space, the flexible cable 414 is attached to the exterior 16 depending on the sliding resistance received by the flexible cable 414 on the sliding contact surface 17 as shown in FIG. And the carriage 400, the flexible cable 414 may be bent or the pattern on the cable may be disconnected. Even if the printer is not configured as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the flexible cable often comes in contact with the wall portion while sliding, and there is a high possibility that some kind of accident will occur.

  Further, in a recording apparatus having a long carriage scanning width, the flexible cable becomes longer accordingly, and the possibility of causing a further entanglement accident is increased.

  Here, in a recording apparatus having a configuration as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-186482, in the case of a recording apparatus having a long scanning width and a long flexible cable, the range in which the cable pressing member is effective is small in the entire scanning width. turn into.

  In addition, in the recording apparatus having the configuration as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-207394, it is very difficult to manage the gap between the flexible cable and the wall surface having the convex portion. Changes, and the effect is not enough.

  Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cable pressing mechanism that prevents the flexible cable from sagging or getting caught in the entire scanning range of the carriage, and a recording apparatus using the mechanism.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a carriage movable with respect to a main body, a flexible cable connecting the main body and the carriage to transmit an electrical signal to the carriage, and the flexible cable. A cable pressing member that is movable with respect to the main body for suppressing lifting,
The cable pressing member is a cable pressing mechanism configured to move at a slower speed than the carriage within the entire movement range of the cable pressing member.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect, the cable pressing member moves at a speed that is ½ of the carriage.

  A third invention is characterized in that, in the configuration of the first or second invention, a movement range of the cable pressing member is narrower than a movement range of the carriage.

  According to a fourth invention, in any one of the first to third inventions, a drive source of the cable pressing member is common to a drive source of the carriage.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the fourth aspect, a cable pressing member driving belt that transmits driving to the cable pressing member, a carriage driving belt that transmits driving to the carriage, the cable pressing member, and the carriage. A motor serving as a common drive source, and the motor drives the cable pressing member drive belt and the carriage drive belt.

  In a sixth aspect based on the fifth aspect, the motor includes a first motor pulley portion that drives the cable pressing member driving belt and a second motor pulley portion that drives the carriage driving belt. The number of teeth of the first motor pulley unit is smaller than the number of teeth of the second motor pulley unit.

  A seventh invention is characterized in that, in the configuration of the sixth invention, the number of teeth of the first motor pulley section is 1/2 times the number of teeth of the second motor pulley section.

  An eighth invention is a recording apparatus comprising the cable pressing mechanism according to any one of the first to seventh inventions.

  By adopting the above configuration, the cable pressing member also moves in response to the movement of the carriage, so that the flexible cable can be prevented from sagging or being caught in the entire scanning range of the carriage. In addition, it is possible to eliminate fluctuations in the force applied to the flexible cable.

  As described above, a recording head for recording on a recording medium is mounted, a carriage movable with respect to the main body, and a flexible cable for connecting the main body and the carriage to transmit an electrical signal to the carriage And a cable pressing member that is movable with respect to the main body for suppressing the floating of the flexible cable, and the cable pressing member is configured to move at a slower speed than the carriage, thereby responding to the movement of the carriage. Since the cable pressing member also moves, it is possible to prevent the flexible cable from sagging or getting caught in the entire scanning range of the carriage. In addition, it is possible to eliminate fluctuations in the force applied to the flexible cable.

Example 1
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the recording apparatus of the present invention. Reference numeral 2 denotes a paper feed tray that also serves as a cover that can be rotated. Reference numeral 5 denotes a paper feed port into which a recording medium is inserted. When not in use, the paper feed tray 2 can be closed to prevent entry of dust and foreign matter. Reference numeral 6 denotes a discharge outlet for discharging the recording medium. Reference numeral 3 denotes a rotatable discharge cover. When not in use, the discharge cover 3 is closed in the same manner as the paper feed rate to prevent entry of dust or foreign matter. it can. An operation panel 4 includes a power switch and LEDs.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The exterior and parts not directly related to the present invention are not shown.

  Briefly describing the overall configuration of the recording apparatus of the present embodiment, an automatic sheet feeding unit 100 that feeds recording sheets (recording media) one by one into the apparatus main body, and a recording sheet sent from the automatic sheet feeding unit 100 Is transported to the recording position by a transport unit (recording medium transport means) 200 that discharges from the recording position, a discharge unit 300 positioned downstream of the transport unit 200, and the transport unit 200. A carriage 400 including an ink jet recording head that performs desired recording on a recording sheet and a recovery unit 600 that performs recovery processing on the ink jet recording head and the like of the carriage 400 are attached to the chassis 15 and the like so as to interlock appropriately. . A platen 203 that supports and guides a recording sheet is provided at a recording position facing the carriage 400. In FIG. 1, the conveyance direction of the recording sheet is indicated by an arrow A1, and the scanning direction (reciprocating direction) of the carriage 400 is indicated by an arrow B1.

  In addition, a discharge port is provided so that the recording medium is discharged in a direction orthogonal to the surface of the portion having the shortest dimension of the recording apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, the surfaces having the shortest dimension in the thickness direction of the apparatus are the lateral surface, the front surface and the rear surface. In this embodiment, a paper discharge port is provided on the front surface.

  Next, the carriage configuration of this embodiment will be described. In FIG. 2, the recording apparatus includes a guide shaft 11 and a guide rail 12, and the carriage 400 performs reciprocating scanning along the guide shaft 11 and the guide rail 12. The carriage 400 is equipped with a linear encoder (not shown) for detecting the position of the carriage, and the carriage position can be detected by reading the number of lines of the code strip 13 attached to the recording apparatus. it can. A carriage motor 411, which is a DC motor, is provided as a carriage drive source, and the driving force is transmitted to the carriage 400 via the carriage drive belt 410. Note that the carriage 400 performs reciprocating scanning and recording on a recording medium by feedback control using a carriage motor 411 and a linear encoder (not shown).

  Next, a cable pressing mechanism for pressing the flexible cable of this embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining the cable pressing mechanism of this embodiment. Reference numeral 414 denotes a flexible cable for transmitting an electrical signal to the carriage. A cable pressing member 415 is provided on the cable pressing member driving belt 416. The cable pressing member drive belt 416 is supported by a cable pressing member motor 417 and a cable pressing member idler pulley 419. The position of the cable pressing member 415 is detected by the sensor 420, and is driven by the cable pressing member motor 417, which is a pulse motor, so that it can move.

In FIG. 3, the cable pressing member drive belt 416 is disposed in a non-reference-side half range of the travel range of the carriage 400, which is a range where the bent portion of the flexible cable 414 is formed. (In FIG. 3, the right side is the reference side and the left side is the non-reference side.)
FIGS. 4A to 4C are diagrams illustrating the perspective view of FIG. 3 viewed from the C1 direction, and are diagrams illustrating a series of movements of the cable pressing member 415. FIG. 4A to 4C, the left side is the reference side, and the right side is the non-reference side.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, when the carriage 400 is at the position A at the reference end, the bent portion of the flexible cable 414 can be formed near the center of the scanning range of the carriage 400. It is in position S. When the carriage 400 moves to the position B as shown in FIG. 4B, the cable pressing member 415 moves to the position T corresponding to the movement of the carriage 400. When the carriage 400 further moves to the position C as shown in FIG. 4C, the cable pressing member 415 moves to the position U corresponding to the movement of the carriage 400. The moving speed of the cable pressing member 415 is set to be about 1/2 of the moving speed of the carriage 400 because the bent portion moves when the flexible cable 414 is not slack. . Further, since the cable pressing member 415 moves corresponding to the bent portion of the flexible cable 414, the applying force applied by the cable pressing member 415 to the bent portion of the flexible cable 414 is always constant and does not change. It has become.

  As described above, since the cable pressing member 415 also moves in accordance with the movement of the carriage 400, it is possible to prevent the flexible cable 414 from sagging or getting caught in the entire scanning range of the carriage. In addition, it is possible to eliminate fluctuations in the force applied to the flexible cable 414.

(Example 2)
In the description of the present embodiment, a case different from the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining the cable pressing mechanism of this embodiment. Reference numeral 414 denotes a flexible cable for transmitting an electrical signal to the carriage. A cable pressing member 415 is provided on the cable pressing member driving belt 416. The cable pressing member driving belt 416 is supported by a carriage motor 411 and a cable pressing member idler pulley 419. A carriage driving belt 410 that drives the carriage 400 is also supported by the carriage motor 411 and the carriage idler pool 413. The cable pressing member idler pulley 419 is configured to rotate independently of the carriage idler pulley 413. (In FIG. 5, the right side is the reference side, and the left side is the non-reference side.) Also, the carriage motor pulley 412 of the carriage motor 411 includes a portion for driving the carriage drive belt and a cable presser as shown in FIG. The number of teeth is different from the part b driving the member belt 416, and the ratio of the number of teeth of the part a and the part b is such that the cable pressing member 415 moves with respect to the carriage 400 at about a half speed. It has become.

  FIGS. 7A to 7C are diagrams illustrating the perspective view of FIG. 5 viewed from the C1 direction, and are diagrams illustrating a series of movements of the cable pressing member 415. FIG. 7A to 7C, the left side is the reference side, and the right side is the non-reference side.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, when the carriage 400 is at the position A of the end portion on the reference side, the bent portion of the flexible cable 414 can be formed near the center of the scanning range of the carriage 400. It arrange | positions so that it may become the position S previously. When the carriage 400 moves to the position B as shown in FIG. 7B, the cable pressing member 415 moves to the position T corresponding to the movement of the carriage 400. When the carriage 400 further moves to the position C as shown in FIG. 7C, the cable pressing member 415 moves to the position U corresponding to the movement of the carriage 400.

  The moving speed of the cable pressing member 415 is about 1/2 of the moving speed of the carriage 400, which is the same as the moving speed of the bent portion when the flexible cable 414 is not slack. Since the ratio of the a part and the b part is set, the cable pressing member 415 can always move while corresponding to the bent part of the flexible cable 414.

  Further, since the cable pressing member 415 moves corresponding to the bent portion of the flexible cable 414, the applying force applied by the cable pressing member 415 to the bent portion of the flexible cable 414 is always constant and does not change. It has become. In addition, as compared with the first embodiment, there is no sensor 420 that detects the position of the cable pressing member motor or the cable pressing member 415, and the structure is inexpensive.

  As described above, since the cable pressing member 415 also moves in accordance with the movement of the carriage 400, it is possible to prevent the flexible cable 414 from sagging or getting caught in the entire scanning range of the carriage. In addition, it is possible to eliminate fluctuations in the force applied to the flexible cable 414. Also, these effects can be realized with an inexpensive configuration.

1 is an external perspective view of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the cable pressing mechanism of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic cross section explaining a series of movements of the cable pressing mechanism of the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the cable pressing mechanism of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the perspective view explaining the carriage motor pulley of the cable pressing mechanism of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic cross section explaining a series of movements of the cable pressing mechanism of the second embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a conventional recording apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 Paper feed tray 3 Paper discharge cover 4 Operation panel 5 Paper feed opening 6 Paper discharge opening 8 LF roller 9 Pinch roller 10 Paper discharge roller 11 Guide shaft 12 Guide rail 13 Code strip 15 Chassis 16 Exterior 17 Sliding surface 100 Automatic paper feed Part 200 Conveying part (Recording medium conveying means)
203 Platen 300 Discharge unit 400 Carriage 410 Carriage driving belt 411 Carriage motor 412 Carriage motor pulley 413 Carriage idler pulley 414 Flexible cable 415 Cable pressing member 416 Cable pressing member driving belt 417 Cable pressing member motor 418 Cable pressing member motor pulley 419 Cable pressing Component idler pulley 420 sensor

Claims (8)

A carriage movable with respect to the main body, a flexible cable connecting between the main body and the carriage for transmitting an electrical signal to the carriage, and a cable movable with respect to the main body for suppressing the floating of the flexible cable A holding member,
The cable pressing mechanism, wherein the cable pressing member is configured to move at a slower speed than the carriage within the entire movement range of the cable pressing member.   2. The cable pressing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the cable pressing member moves at a speed that is ½ of the carriage.   3. The cable pressing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a moving range of the cable pressing member is narrower than a moving range of the carriage.   4. The cable pressing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a driving source of the cable pressing member is common to a driving source of the carriage.   5. The cable pressing mechanism according to claim 4, wherein a cable pressing member driving belt that transmits driving to the cable pressing member, a carriage driving belt that transmits driving to the carriage, and a common driving of the cable pressing member and the carriage. And a motor that is a power source, and the motor drives the cable pressing member driving belt and the carriage driving belt.   6. The cable pressing mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the motor includes a first motor pulley portion that drives the cable pressing member driving belt and a second motor pulley portion that drives the carriage driving belt, The number of teeth of the motor pulley part of 1 is less than the number of teeth of the second motor pulley part.   The cable pressing mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the number of teeth of the first motor pulley portion is ½ times the number of teeth of the second motor pulley portion.   A recording apparatus comprising the cable pressing mechanism according to claim 1.

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