JP2007255673A - Bearing structure, carriage, and recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide technology for increasing the axial width of an opposed face while maintaining high accuracy of the opposed face with respect to the shaft. <P>SOLUTION: This bearing structure 50 movable in contact with the carriage guide shaft 155 has the opposed face 50a opposed to part of the side face of the carriage guide shaft 155 in a predetermined range in the axial direction of the carriage guide shaft 155 and put at least partly in contact with the side face. The bearing structure 50 has a plurality of partial bearing portions 51, 52. The opposed face 50a is formed in a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction by a plurality of partial opposed faces 51a, 52a of the plurality of partial bearing portions 51, 52. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a bearing structure that is movable relative to a shaft in contact with a predetermined shaft, a carriage having the bearing structure, and a recording apparatus having the carriage.

Ink jet printers and thermal transfer printers, which are examples of recording apparatuses, reciprocate a carriage on which a recording head is mounted while being supported by a carriage guide shaft in a conveyance orthogonal direction (main scanning direction) of a paper as a recording medium. It comes to record by.
In such a recording apparatus, a bearing mechanism (bearing) is provided to enable the carriage to reciprocate on the carriage guide shaft with high accuracy while suppressing contact resistance with the carriage guide shaft.
In such a recording apparatus, in order to arrange the carriage guide shaft with high accuracy, one in which the carriage guide shaft is fixed by screwing at a predetermined position in the axial direction of the carriage guide shaft is known. Yes.
Thus, in the case where the carriage guide shaft is fixed by screwing, the bearing mechanism object has a shape in which a part of the side surface of the carriage guide shaft is open so as not to contact the screwing portion, for example, A cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the carriage guide shaft is substantially C-shaped (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2005-193432 A

In the bearing structure having a substantially C-shaped cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the carriage guide shaft as described above, the bearing portion that is in direct contact with the carriage guide shaft is integrally formed of metal. . Such a bearing part is created by pouring a metal, which is a material of the bearing member, into a mold for creating the shape of the bearing part, and then removing the bearing part from the mold.
The bearing portion of the bearing structure having a substantially C-shaped cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the carriage guide shaft as described above has a substantially C-shaped cross section and is open. The central angle of the portion is about 80 degrees, for example. For this reason, when the bearing part is removed from the mold, the mold part formed with a surface (opposing surface) facing the carriage guide shaft of the bearing part is removed in a direction corresponding to the axial direction of the carriage guide shaft.

Thus, since the mold is removed in a direction corresponding to the axial direction of the carriage guide shaft, the mold and the carriage guide shaft of the bearing portion and the facing surface are rubbed, and the accuracy of the facing surface may be reduced. There is. In particular, as the axial width of the bearing portion is increased, the accuracy of the facing surface may be reduced. For this reason, it has been very difficult to increase the axial width of the bearing portion while maintaining the accuracy of the facing surface.
This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, The objective is to provide the technique which can lengthen the width | variety of the axial direction of an opposing surface, maintaining the precision of the opposing surface with an axis | shaft highly. is there.

  In order to achieve the above object, the bearing structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is movable relative to the shaft in a state in contact with the predetermined shaft, and in a predetermined range in the axial direction of the shaft, A bearing structure that is opposed to a part of the side surface of the shaft and has a facing surface that contacts at least a part of the side surface, and has a plurality of partial bearing portions, and the facing surface is in a predetermined range. It is characterized by being formed by a plurality of partial facing surfaces formed in the plurality of partial bearing portions in at least a part of the cross section perpendicular to the axial direction.

  According to such a configuration, it becomes possible to create for each of a plurality of partial bearing portions, increasing the degree of freedom when creating the facing surface, and maintaining the accuracy of the facing surface facing the shaft high. It becomes easy. Thereby, even in a bearing structure having a long axial width, it becomes easy to maintain high accuracy of the facing surface facing the shaft.

In the above bearing structure, the partial facing surface of each partial bearing portion may have a shape that can be molded by a mold that is removed in the radial direction of the shaft.
According to such a configuration, when the partial bearing portion is created, the mold that forms the partial facing surface can be removed in the radial direction, so that when the mold is removed, the partial facing surface and the mold are appropriately prevented from rubbing. can do. For this reason, the precision of a partial opposing surface and by extension, the precision of an opposing surface can be maintained highly.

  Further, in the above bearing structure, the partial bearing portion may have a partial facing surface facing a circular arc portion of the shaft having a central angle of 180 degrees or less in a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction. According to such a configuration, the mold that forms the partial facing surface when the partial bearing portion is created can be appropriately removed without rubbing against the partial facing surface. For this reason, the precision of a partial opposing surface and by extension, the precision of an opposing surface can be maintained highly.

  Further, in the above bearing structure, the partial bearing portion may be formed in a substantially fan shape in a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction. According to such a configuration, a partial bearing portion having an appropriate strength can be created with a relatively small amount of material.

  In order to achieve the above object, the carriage according to an embodiment of the present invention can move relative to the shaft while being in contact with the predetermined shaft, and in a predetermined range in the axial direction of the shaft, In a carriage that is supported by a shaft by a bearing structure that is opposed to a part of the side surface of the shaft and at least a part of which is in contact with the side surface, the bearing structure includes a plurality of partial bearing portions. The opposed surface is formed by a plurality of partially opposed surfaces formed in the plurality of partial bearing portions in a cross section perpendicular to at least a part of the axial direction in a predetermined range. .

  According to such a configuration, it becomes possible to create for each of a plurality of partial bearing portions, the degree of freedom at the time of creation of the bearing portion is increased, and the accuracy of the facing surface facing the shaft can be maintained at a high level. It becomes easy. Thereby, even in a bearing structure having a long axial width, it becomes easy to maintain high accuracy of the facing surface facing the shaft. For this reason, the carriage can be moved along the axis with high accuracy.

  In the carriage, the bearing structure may be insert-molded on the carriage. According to such a configuration, the bearing structure can be appropriately provided in the carriage. In the carriage, the axial width of the partial bearing portion may be substantially the same as the axial width of the carriage. According to such a configuration, the partial bearing portion can come into contact with the shaft in a relatively wide range, and the load related to the partial bearing portion can be dispersed. For this reason, wear of a partial bearing part and a shaft can be reduced appropriately.

  In order to achieve the above object, a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a carriage on which a recording head that ejects liquid is mounted, and a guide shaft that slidably supports the carriage in a predetermined direction. The carriage is movable relative to the guide shaft in contact with the guide shaft, and is opposed to a part of the side surface of the guide shaft in a predetermined range in the axial direction of the guide shaft, and at least It is supported by the guide shaft by a bearing structure in which a part of the facing surface that contacts the side surface is formed. The bearing structure has a plurality of partial bearing portions, and the facing surface is at least within a predetermined range. It is characterized by being formed by a plurality of partial facing surfaces formed in a plurality of partial bearing portions in a cross section perpendicular to some axial directions.

  According to such a configuration, it becomes possible to create for each of a plurality of partial bearing portions, the degree of freedom at the time of creation of the bearing portion is increased, and the accuracy of the facing surface facing the shaft can be maintained at a high level. It becomes easy. Thereby, even if the bearing structure has a long axial width, it becomes easy to maintain high accuracy of the facing surface facing the guide shaft. Therefore, sliding on the guide shaft of the carriage can be performed with high accuracy, and a desired image can be recorded with high accuracy.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below do not limit the invention according to the claims, and all the combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the invention. Absent.

  1 and 2 are perspective views of an external configuration example of an ink jet printer that is an example of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, viewed from the front side, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the configuration viewed from the back side. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the internal structure thereof. The ink jet printer 100 is a large printer capable of recording up to a relatively large size cut paper such as JIS standard A0 size or JIS standard B0 size and roll paper R having the paper width. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the ink jet printer 100 includes a rectangular parallelepiped printer body 110 and printer legs 120 that support the printer body 110.

  The printer main body 110 is divided into upper and lower layers as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, and a roll paper storage portion 130 is disposed at the boundary between the upper and lower layers on the back side as shown in FIG. ing. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a paper supply / discharge unit 140 and a recording unit 150 are disposed in the upper layer. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a sheet suction unit 160 is disposed at the center of the lower layer, and an ink supply unit 170 is disposed on the left side of the lower layer when viewed from the front side. A head characteristic recovery unit 180 and a drive control unit 190 are arranged vertically on the right side of the lower layer. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a waste ink collection unit 200 is disposed below the drive control unit 190 and beside the printer leg 120.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the printer main body 110 includes an upper housing 111 made of plastic or sheet metal that covers the paper supply / discharge unit 140 and the recording unit 150, a paper suction unit 160, an ink supply unit 170, and head characteristics recovery. A lower housing 112 made of plastic or sheet metal that covers the part 180 and the drive control part 190 is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper housing 111 is provided with a body cover 113 made of plastic or sheet metal so as to be openable from the center front surface to the center upper surface. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the lower housing 112 is provided with an ink cover 114 made of plastic or sheet metal so that the front surface of the ink supply unit 170 can be opened.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the main body cover 113 is supported so that the rear portion is rotatable with respect to the upper housing 111, and the user puts his / her finger into a recessed finger-hanging portion 113 a formed on the front surface. It opens and closes by being pushed up or pushed down. The user can open the main body cover 113 to largely open the upper part of the paper supply / discharge unit 140 and the recording unit 150, so that the maintenance operation of the recording head 152, the carriage 153, etc., the paper jam during recording or transporting, etc. It is possible to easily perform the operation of canceling the paper conveyance error. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the main body cover 113 is provided with a window 113b made of transparent or translucent plastic on a part of its upper surface. The user can visually recognize the recording state and the conveyance state by looking inside the window 113b without opening the main body cover 113.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ink cover 114 is supported so that both sides thereof are slidable with respect to the lower housing 112, and the user puts his / her finger into a recessed finger-hanging portion 114 a formed on the front surface. It opens and closes by being pushed up or pushed down. Since the user can open the front surface of the ink supply unit 170 by opening the ink cover 114, the user can easily replace the ink cartridge 10 or the like. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ink cover 114 is provided with a window 114b made of a transparent or translucent plastic at a part of the front surface. The user can view the state of the ink cartridge 10 by looking through the window 114b without opening the ink cover 114.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the printer main body 110 is provided with an operation panel 115 for the user to operate recording control and the like on the upper surface of the upper right layer when viewed from the front side. . The operation panel 115 is provided with a liquid crystal screen and various buttons so that the user can operate the buttons while checking the liquid crystal screen. Since the user can perform a reliable operation by visual recognition, an operation error, an operation error, and the like can be eliminated.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the printer leg portion 120 includes two inverted T-shaped support columns 121 and a reinforcing column 122 spanned between the support columns 121. The printer main body 110 is placed on the support column 121 and fixed with screws. Since the printer main body 110 is lifted by the printer legs 120, the user can easily perform the paper supply / discharge process and various maintenance processes. Furthermore, it becomes possible to install a paper discharge receiving portion in the space of the printer leg portion 120, so that recorded paper can be efficiently collected and contamination of the recorded paper can be prevented.

As shown in FIG. 3, the roll paper storage unit 130 is inserted in the inner periphery of the roll paper R to support the roll paper R, and the both ends of the spindle 131 are pivotally supported. Has no bearing. The back surface of the sheet suction unit 160 is formed so as to be recessed from the back surfaces of the ink supply unit 170 and the back surfaces of the head characteristic recovery unit 180 and the drive control unit 190 on both sides of the sheet suction unit 160. 130 is disposed.
That is, bearings (not shown) are provided on opposite sides of the ink supply unit 170, the head characteristic recovery unit 180, and the drive control unit 190 to support the spindle 131 in the main scanning direction so as to pivotally support both ends thereof. . Then, the roll paper R can be set without protruding from the back side of the printer main body 110 by bridging the spindle 131 penetrating the inner periphery of the roll paper R between these bearings.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the paper supply / discharge unit 140 includes a paper feed roller 141 and a paper feed driven roller 142. The paper feed roller 141 and the paper feed follower roller 142 are arranged so that the shaft faces the main scanning direction and the circumferential surface is up and down on the downstream side of the paper feed from the roll paper storage unit 130, that is, the rear side in the printer main body 110. It is arranged to face each other. The paper feed roller 141 is formed as a single long roller, and the peripheral surface portion slightly larger than the maximum recordable paper width is coated with ceramic powder or the like. As a result, slippage during paper feeding can be prevented, and the paper can be fed out with high accuracy. Both ends of the paper feed roller 141 are axially supported by side frames 116 via bearings (not shown), and are driven to rotate forward and backward by a driving force transmitted from the paper feed motor 143 through the pulley 144 and the belt 145. It has become.

  The paper feed driven roller 142 is formed as a plurality of short rollers, and is pivotally supported by a plurality of driven roller support members 146 arranged in parallel in the axial direction above the paper feed roller 141. The paper feed driven roller 142 is pressed against the paper feed roller 141 by a biasing member such as a spring (not shown) attached to the driven roller support member 146, and follows the forward / reverse rotation drive of the paper feed roller 141. It is designed to rotate forward and reverse. Thus, the sheet can be firmly pressed from both sides and sent out, so that highly accurate recording can be performed. The paper feed roller 141 and the paper feed driven roller 142 sandwich the roll paper R and the cut paper fed from the paper feed port 147 formed between the upper and lower layers of the printer main body 110 shown in FIG. 2 and 4 are sent out onto the platen 151 of the recording unit 150 and discharged from a paper discharge port 148 formed between upper and lower layers of the printer main body 110 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the recording unit 150 is mounted on the platen 151 disposed immediately downstream of the paper feed roller 141, the carriage 153 on which the recording head 152 is mounted, and the carriage 153. A cutter 154 is provided. Further, the recording unit 150 includes a flexible flat cable (hereinafter referred to as FFC) (not shown) that electrically connects the recording head 152 and a drive control unit 190 for executing recording, an ink cartridge containing the recording head 151 and ink. And an ink tube (not shown) that connects to the printer 10.

  The platen 151 is formed in a rectangular flat plate shape having a length slightly larger than the maximum recordable paper width, and is disposed along the paper feed roller 141. The platen 151 has a plurality of holes (not shown) connected to the paper suction unit 160 from the front surface to the back surface, and a plurality of uneven portions (not shown) that absorb a cockling of the paper caused by moisture absorption is formed on the surface. Yes. As a result, the paper being recorded can be held in a substantially flat shape, so that highly accurate recording can be performed.

  Further, a cutter groove 151 a extending in the main scanning direction is formed on the surface of the platen 151. The cutter groove 151a is sized so that the cutting edge of the cutter 154 protruding from the lower surface of the roll paper R can enter so that the cutter 154 does not damage the surface of the platen 151 when the roll paper R is cut in the width direction. Is formed. Thereby, the recording part and unrecorded part of the roll paper R can be reliably separated.

  The recording head 152 is disposed at a lower portion of the carriage 153 so as to face the cut paper or the roll paper R supplied to the upper surface of the platen 151 with a predetermined interval, and ejects two types of black ink. And a plurality of color ink recording heads for ejecting ink of each color such as cyan, magenta, yellow, red, blue, and gloss optimizer. The recording head 152 is provided with a pressure generating chamber and a nozzle opening connected to the pressure generating chamber, and a cut supplied to the upper surface of the platen 151 from the nozzle opening by storing ink in the pressure generating chamber and pressurizing it with a predetermined pressure. Controlled ink droplets are ejected toward the paper or roll paper R.

  The carriage 153 is mounted on a carriage guide shaft 155 provided in the main scanning direction via a bearing structure 50 (bearing: see FIG. 5) described later, and is coupled to the belt 156. When the pulley 157 is rotated by a carriage motor (not shown) and the belt 156 is rotated, the carriage 153 is entrained by the movement of the belt 156 and guided by the carriage guide shaft 155 to reciprocate in the main scanning direction. ing. The carriage guide shaft 155 is arranged so that its own axial direction is parallel to the main scanning direction, and is supported on the frame 158 by screws 158b (see FIG. 5) described later at predetermined plural positions in the main scanning direction. Thus, the position of the carriage guide shaft 155 is maintained with high accuracy in the main scanning direction. As a result, the carriage 153 can be moved with high accuracy, so that highly accurate recording can be performed.

  The cutter 154 is disposed so as to be movable up and down in the vertical direction and movable in the main scanning direction so that the blade edge faces downward. The cutter 154 is moved up and down by, for example, a solenoid and moved in the main scanning direction together with the carriage 153. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a means for moving the cutter 154, so that space can be saved and cost can be reduced. The cutter 154 may be separated from the carriage 153 and moved in the main scanning direction by a unique belt mechanism or a motor.

  The FFC has one end connected to the connector of the drive control unit 190 and the other end connected to the connector of the recording head 152, and sends a recording signal from the drive control unit 190 to the recording head 152. The ink tubes are provided for the inks of the respective colors, and one end of each ink tube is connected to the corresponding ink cartridge 10 via an ink pressurizing and supplying means (not shown), and the other end of each color recording head. 152 is connected. The ink tube is configured to send ink of each color pressurized by the ink pressure supply means from the ink cartridge 10 to the recording head 152.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the sheet suction unit 160 includes a pressure chamber 161 disposed in the lower part of the platen 151 and a fan (not shown) disposed in the lower part of the pressure chamber 161. The pressure chamber 161 is formed in a box shape in which a part of the upper surface and the bottom surface is opened, a platen 151 is attached to the open portion of the upper surface, and a fan is attached to the open portion of the bottom surface. By rotating the fan, the air is sucked into the pressure chamber 161 from the hole formed in the platen 151 and exhausted to the outside through the fan. Therefore, when cut paper or roll paper R is supplied to the upper surface of the platen 151, negative pressure is generated on the lower surface side of the cut paper or roll paper R, so that the cut paper or roll paper R is attracted to the upper surface of the platen 151. As a result, the cut paper or the roll paper R can be prevented from being lifted, and the recording accuracy can be maintained with high accuracy.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the ink supply unit 170 includes a box-shaped cartridge storage unit 171 and a cartridge pressing unit 172 attached to the front side of the cartridge storage unit 171. The cartridge storage portion 171 is partitioned so that two types of ink cartridges 10 in total, including black, cyan, magenta, yellow, red, blue, and gloss optimizer, can be pulled out from the front side and pushed in sequentially from the left side of the figure. ing. The cartridge pressing portion 172 is attached to each partition portion of the cartridge storage portion 171 so as to be freely opened and closed. The cartridge pressing portion 172 presses the ink cartridge 10 in the partition portion in conjunction with the closing operation and ink cartridges in the partition portion in conjunction with the opening operation. 10 is popping out.

  Here, the ink cartridge 10 is hermetically sealed, for example, in an outer case formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape with a hard plastic material, for example, in a bag shape made of a flexible material and filled with ink inside. . An ink supply port connected to the ink tank and a positioning hole in the cartridge housing portion 171 are formed on the surface on the insertion side to the cartridge housing portion 171. On the other hand, an ink supply needle inserted into the ink supply port of the ink cartridge 10 and a positioning needle inserted into the positioning hole of the ink cartridge 10 are pulled out and pushed in the ink cartridge 10 on the inner rear surface of the cartridge housing portion 171. It is arrange | positioned so that it may protrude.

  Therefore, the ink cartridge 10 accommodated in the cartridge accommodating portion 171 is automatically positioned when the positioning needle is inserted into the positioning hole when the cartridge pressing portion 172 is closed. The ink can be supplied to the recording head 152 by entering the ink supply port. When the cartridge pressing portion 172 is opened, the positioning needle is automatically extracted from the positioning hole, and at the same time, the ink supply needle is automatically extracted from the ink supply port.

  The head characteristic recovery unit 180 is disposed below the carriage 153 located at the home position shown in FIG. 4, and includes wiping means, capping means, suction means, and drive means for these. The wiping means includes a wiper formed in a substantially rectangular flat plate shape using rubber, felt, plastic, or the like, and rubs against the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 152 so as to wipe off ink adhering to the nozzle forming surface. It has become.

  The capping means is provided with a cap formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape by rubber, and a recess provided in the upper part is pressed against the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 152 to seal the nozzle opening. The suction means forcibly sucks and discharges the ink in order to remove clogged nozzle openings and mixed bubbles. Therefore, it is possible to perform processing for maintaining the ink ejection characteristics of the recording head 152 in a constant state when the carriage 153 is in the home position.

  The waste ink collection unit 200 includes a detachable waste liquid cartridge 201. The waste liquid cartridge 201 stores waste liquid such as ink used when initially filling the ink supply system reaching the recording head 152 or cleaning liquid used when cleaning the ink supply system reaching the recording head 152. It has become. Thus, since the waste liquid processing can be completed only by replacing the waste liquid cartridge 201, the number of work steps can be reduced, and contamination of the peripheral portion of the printer can be prevented.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view including a carriage guide shaft of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the entire bearing structure according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the carriage according to the embodiment of the present invention as seen from the back side.
As shown in FIG. 5, the carriage guide shaft 155 is fixed to the frame 158 of the ink jet printer 100 by a fixing base 158a and screws 158b.
The bearing structure 50 includes, for example, a partial bearing portion 51 and a partial bearing portion 52 formed of a metal material such as a copper alloy, and a bearing alignment portion provided between the partial bearing portion 51 and the partial bearing portion 52. 53. The bearing structure 50 has a cross-sectional shape having a facing surface 50a that faces a part of the surface (side surface) around the axis of the carriage guide shaft 155 so as to prevent contact with a fixed base 158a or the like that fixes the carriage guide shaft 155. For example, it is formed in a substantially C shape. As shown in FIG. 6, the bearing structure 50 has a shape extending in the axial direction of the carriage guide shaft 155.

  Each of the partial bearing portions 51 and 52 is formed with a part of the side surface of the carriage guide shaft 155 and a partly facing surface 51a and 52a facing each other, and at least part of each of the partly facing surfaces 51a and 52a, It comes in contact with the side. In the present embodiment, the partial bearing portions 51 and 52 have a substantially fan shape with a central angle around the center of the carriage guide shaft 155 being 180 degrees or less (for example, 140 degrees). Thereby, in each of the partial bearing portions 51 and 52, the partial facing surfaces 51 a and 52 a can be formed by a mold that is removed in the radial direction of the carriage guide shaft 155. As a result, it can be created by appropriately preventing rubbing or the like on the partial facing surfaces 51a and 52a, and the surface accuracy can be kept high in a wide range in the axial direction. For this reason, the accuracy of the position of the carriage 153 moving on the carriage guide shaft 155 with respect to the platen 151 can be improved, and the recording accuracy during recording can be improved.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, the bearing structure 50 is insert-molded on the back side of the carriage 153. That is, the bearing structure 50 is attached to a housing portion 153 a formed in a concave shape in accordance with the outer shape of the bearing structure 50 on the back side of the carriage 153. In each of the partial bearing portions 51 and 52 of the bearing structure 50, the length of the carriage guide shaft 155 in the axial direction is substantially the same as the width of the carriage 153 so that the carriage guide shaft 155 contacts the carriage guide shaft 155 over a relatively wide range. It has become. For this reason, when the carriage 153 moves on the carriage guide shaft 155, the load received by the partial bearing portions 51 and 52 of the bearing structure 50 can be dispersed. For this reason, wear of the partial bearing portions 51 and 52 and the carriage guide shaft 155 can be reduced.

Although the present invention has been described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be applied to various other modes.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the partial bearing portion 51 and the partial bearing portion 52 can be aligned via the bearing alignment portion 53. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the partial bearing portion 51 and the partial bearing portion 52 are provided. May be adjusted directly.
In the above embodiment, the opposed surface is formed by combining the two partial bearing portions. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and three or more partial bearing portions may be combined.
In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the bearing structure provided on the carriage 153. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is relatively in relation to the shaft while being in contact with a predetermined shaft. Any movable bearing structure can be applied.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the recording apparatus that ejects ink is shown as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be applied to a recording apparatus that discharges an electrode material (conductive paste) used for electrode formation, such as a display or a surface-emitting display (FED), and a recording apparatus that discharges a bioorganic substance used in biochip manufacturing. .

It is the 1st perspective view which looked at the printer concerning one embodiment of the present invention from the front side. It is the 2nd perspective view which looked at the printer concerning one embodiment of the present invention from the front side. It is the perspective view which looked at the printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention from the back side. 1 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view including a carriage guide shaft of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view showing the whole bearing structure concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is the perspective view which looked at the carriage concerning one embodiment of the present invention from the back side.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ink cartridge, 50 Bearing structure, 51 Partial bearing part, 51a Partial opposing surface, 52 Partial bearing part, 52a Partial opposing surface, 53 Bearing matching part, 100 Inkjet printer, 110 Printer main body part, 111 Upper housing, 112 Lower part Housing, 113 Main body cover, 114 Ink cover, 115 Operation panel, 120 Printer leg, 130 Roll paper storage, 140 Paper feed / discharge unit, 141 Paper feed roller, 142 Paper feed driven roller, 143 Paper feed motor, 150 Recording unit , 151 platen, 152 recording head, 153 carriage, 153a housing, 154 cutter, 155 carriage guide shaft, 156 belt, 157 pulley, 158 frame, 158a fixing base, 158b screw, 160 paper suction unit, 161 pressure chamber, 170 ink Serving Department, 171 cartridge receiving section, 172 cartridge pressing portion 180 head characteristics recovery section 190 the drive control unit, 200 the waste ink recovery unit.

Claims (8)

In a state where it is in contact with a predetermined shaft, it is movable relative to the shaft, and in a predetermined range in the axial direction of the shaft, faces a part of a side surface of the shaft and at least partially A bearing structure in which a facing surface that contacts the side surface is formed,
Having a plurality of partial bearings,
The facing surface is formed by a plurality of partially facing surfaces formed in the plurality of partial bearing portions in a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction in at least a part of the predetermined range. Bearing structure.   2. The bearing structure according to claim 1, wherein the partial facing surface of each of the partial bearing portions has a shape that can be formed by a mold that is removed in a radial direction of the shaft.   2. The bearing structure according to claim 1, wherein the partial bearing portion has a partial facing surface facing a circular arc portion of a shaft having a central angle of 180 degrees or less in a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction.   The bearing structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the partial bearing part has a substantially fan-shaped cross section perpendicular to the axial direction. In a state where it is in contact with a predetermined shaft, it is movable relative to the shaft, and in a predetermined range in the axial direction of the shaft, faces a part of a side surface of the shaft and at least partially In the carriage supported on the shaft by the bearing structure in which the facing surface that contacts the side surface is formed,
The bearing structure is
Having a plurality of partial bearings,
The facing surface is formed by a plurality of partially facing surfaces formed in the plurality of partial bearing portions in a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction in at least a part of the predetermined range. Carriage to do.   The carriage according to claim 5, wherein the bearing structure is insert-molded in the carriage.   The carriage according to claim 5 or 6, wherein a width of the partial bearing portion in the axial direction is substantially the same as a width of the carriage in the axial direction. A carriage carrying a recording head for ejecting liquid;
In a recording apparatus having a guide shaft that slidably supports the carriage in a predetermined direction,
The carriage is movable relative to the guide shaft in contact with the guide shaft, and faces a part of the side surface of the guide shaft in a predetermined range in the axial direction of the guide shaft. And at least partly supported by the guide shaft by a bearing structure formed with a facing surface that contacts the side surface,
The bearing structure is
Having a plurality of partial bearings,
The facing surface is formed by a plurality of partially facing surfaces formed in the plurality of partial bearing portions in a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction in at least a part of the predetermined range. Recording device.

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