JP2008044255A - Assembling structure for cartridge holder and recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an assembling structure for cartridge holder which can directly and independently be taken out of even a cartridge holder positioned in the middle from a structural body for a plurality of the cartridge holders assembling the cartridge holders in parallel, and to provide a recording apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The assembling structure for the cartridge holders assembles in parallel a plurality of cartridge holders 13 for holding ink cartridges 12 to flow path units 114 having ink flow paths for feeding inks stored in the ink cartridges 12, and the cartridge holder 13 has a locking means 46 for locking adjoining cartridge holders 13 to each other and can be slid back and forth in the fitting direction to the flow path unit 114 of the cartridge holder 13 by the guide of the locking means 46. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cartridge holder assembling structure in which a plurality of cartridge holders for holding an ink cartridge are assembled, and a recording apparatus including the same.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink jet recording apparatus including a recording head that performs printing by ejecting ink droplets from nozzles onto a recording medium has been widely used.
The recording apparatus includes a carriage and a recording head mounted on the carriage, and ejects ink from nozzles formed on the recording head while moving the carriage relative to the recording medium. Print.

This type of recording apparatus is known in which a plurality of cartridge holders are provided in order to store and hold a plurality of ink cartridges that store printing ink (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Some ink cartridges contain an ink pack containing ink inside the cartridge case. By introducing pressurized air into the cartridge case, the ink pack is crushed to draw out ink (ink). It is derived from the supply needle) and supplied to the recording head.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 14, each cartridge holder 100 that accommodates an ink cartridge has a thin, substantially rectangular parallelepiped box 101, and has a cartridge accommodating space for accommodating the ink cartridge therein. . The cartridge holder 100 shown in FIG. 14 has a plurality of (for example, three in this case) box bodies 101 whose one side surface is open and a single side plate 102 assembled in a stacked state to form three cartridge housing spaces. Forming. Openings 103 for attaching and detaching ink cartridges are provided on the front surface of each cartridge holder 100 (the right rear surface in FIG. 14). Further, the rear wall 104 of the cartridge holder 100 is provided with an air supply member holding portion 105 for press-fitting air into the ink cartridge and a hole 106 for holding an ink supply needle for extracting ink from the ink cartridge. ing.

JP 2006-116793 A

  Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 15, the cartridge holder 100 shown in FIG. 14 is usually used by stacking and integrating a plurality of ink cartridges containing different color inks. In addition, each cartridge holder 100 has an erroneous insertion prevention structure that can be installed only with ink cartridges of respective colors set in advance. Therefore, in order to supply the ink of the correct color to the recording head of the recording apparatus, the assembly position of the cartridge holder 100 is also determined in advance. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 14, each cartridge holder 100 is provided with a locking claw 107 and a locking recess 108 at different positions so that the cartridge holder 100 cannot be assembled except in an appropriate stacking order.

  14 and 15 is provided with a locking claw 107A for locking the upper (second from the bottom) cartridge holder 100, and the second cartridge holder 100 is provided. 100 is provided with a locking recess 108B into which only the lowermost locking claw 107A can be fitted. The second-stage cartridge holder 100 is provided with a locking claw 107B for locking the third-stage cartridge holder 100, and the third-stage cartridge holder 100 has a second-stage engagement. A locking recess 108C that can be locked only by the claw 107B is provided. Similarly, the third-stage cartridge holder 100 is provided with a locking claw 107C for locking the third-stage cartridge holder 100, and the side plate 102 has only the third-stage locking claw 107C. A locking recess 108D that can be locked is provided. Further, the plurality of cartridge holders in the state shown in FIG. 15 are used by being assembled integrally with a flow path unit having an ink flow path or the like.

  With such a configuration, the cartridge holders 100 can be attached and detached relative to each other only in the vertical direction. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 15, when the cartridge holder 100 in the middle (middle) of the plurality of integrated cartridge holders 100 fails, only this cartridge holder 100 cannot be directly taken out. .

  When removing one cartridge holder, it is necessary to remove all cartridge holders from the flow path unit in which the plurality of cartridge holders are assembled, and further disassemble them into individual cartridge holders. This is inconvenient in work.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a cartridge holder assembling structure and a recording apparatus that can directly and independently remove a cartridge holder located in the middle from a plurality of cartridge holder structures in which cartridge holders are assembled in parallel. There is.

The assembly structure of the cartridge holder according to the present invention capable of solving the above problems is as follows.
A cartridge holder assembling structure in which a plurality of cartridge holders for holding the ink cartridge are assembled in parallel to a flow path unit having an ink flow path for supplying ink accommodated in the ink cartridge. The cartridge holder has locking means for locking adjacent cartridge holders, and is slidable back and forth in the mounting direction of the cartridge holder with respect to the flow path unit by the guide of the locking means. It is characterized by being.

  In the assembly structure of the cartridge holder configured as described above, the ink flow path and the air flow path are formed in a state where a plurality of cartridge holders are arranged in parallel and the adjacent cartridge holders are locked by the locking means. It is attached to one flow path unit. The locking means guides the cartridge holders to be slidable back and forth in the mounting direction with respect to the flow path unit, so that the adjacent cartridge holders are locked to each other in a slidable state in the mounting direction. Therefore, no matter which cartridge holder is to be removed from among a plurality of assembled cartridge holders, the other cartridge holder is attached to the flow path unit, and an arbitrary cartridge holder is placed behind the attachment direction (that is, the removal direction). Can be slid independently and removed. This eliminates the troublesome work of removing all the cartridge holders from the flow path unit in which a plurality of cartridge holders are assembled as in the prior art and further disassembling them into individual cartridge holders, thereby improving workability. .

  Further, in the assembly structure of the cartridge holder according to the present invention, the locking means is provided at a side wall end portion of the cartridge holder, and the locking claw for locking the cartridge holder adjacent to one side is provided on the other side. A locking recess that is locked to the locking claw of the adjacent cartridge holder and that can slide back and forth in the mounting direction with respect to the locking claw; It is preferable that the locking recess of the cartridge holder on the one side has a notch that can pass in a direction orthogonal to the mounting direction on the front side in the mounting direction from the locking claw in the holder.

  In the assembly structure of the cartridge holder thus configured, the cartridge holder adjacent to one side is locked by the locking claw provided on the side wall of the cartridge holder, and the locking recess is formed on the cartridge holder adjacent to the other side. It is locked by the locking claw. At this time, the locking claw and the locking recess are relatively slidable in the mounting direction with respect to the flow path unit, and the cartridge on the one side is on the front side in the mounting direction of the cartridge holder on the side wall of the cartridge holder. The locking recess provided in the holder has a notch that can pass in a direction orthogonal to the mounting direction. For this reason, from the state where a plurality of cartridge holders are locked to each other, the arbitrary cartridge holder is slightly slid in the removal direction opposite to the attachment direction, and further moved in the direction perpendicular to the removal direction, so that the other Even if the cartridge holder is an adjacent cartridge holder, it can be easily taken out alone. Furthermore, when the slide amount required for removal is, for example, the entire length in the mounting direction of the cartridge holder, it is necessary to design the cartridge holder so that the cartridge holders do not interfere with each other in the total mounting direction. Only a small amount is required, which increases the degree of freedom in designing the cartridge holder.

  Moreover, in the assembly structure of the cartridge holder according to the present invention, the other side of the cartridge holder is orthogonal to the mounting direction of the locking claw that locks with the locking recess by cooperation with the locking recess. It is preferable that a protrusion for preventing movement in the direction is provided.

  In the cartridge holder assembly structure configured as described above, a protrusion for preventing the movement of the locking claw in the direction orthogonal to the mounting direction (the width direction of the cartridge holder) is provided in cooperation with the locking recess. Therefore, in a state where the locking claw and the locking recess are locked, the locking claw does not move in the width direction of the cartridge holder, and deformation such as inward tilting of the side wall of the cartridge holder can be prevented. In addition, since the protrusion can pass through the notch together with the locking recess by making the protrusion smaller than the locking recess, the cartridge holder can be taken out in the lateral direction.

  In addition, a recording apparatus according to the present invention that can solve the above-described problem includes a cartridge holder assembling structure according to the present invention, and discharges ink supplied through the flow path unit from a nozzle to record a recording medium. It is characterized by printing.

  In the recording apparatus configured as described above, even if it is necessary to remove the cartridge holder during use, only an arbitrary cartridge holder can be removed from the flow path unit, and the maintainability is good. Further, since it is not necessary to disassemble all the cartridge holders individually, the number of times of assembling or removing the cartridge holders or between the cartridge holder and the flow path unit can be reduced, and deterioration of components can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to maintain the assembly reliability of the cartridge holder with respect to the flow path unit, to maintain a highly reliable ink supply, and to maintain a high print quality.

Embodiments of a cartridge holder assembly structure and a recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In this embodiment, a case where the recording apparatus is applied to a publisher that is a media processing apparatus will be described as an example.
1 is an external perspective view of the publisher (media processing apparatus), FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the publisher with the case removed, and FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the publisher with the case removed. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a recording device portion installed in the publisher, and FIG. 5 is an internal schematic configuration diagram of the publisher.

  The publisher 1 is a media processing apparatus that writes data on a disk-shaped medium such as a CD or DVD and prints on the label surface of the medium, and includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped case 2. Opening and closing doors 3 and 4 that can be opened and closed to the left and right are attached to the front surface of the case 2. An operation surface 5 on which display lamps, operation buttons, and the like are arranged is provided at the upper right end portion of the case 2, and a media discharge port 6 is provided at the lower end of the case 2.

  The open / close door 3 on the right side when viewed from the front is locked in a closed state, and a reading unit for biometric authentication (not shown) such as a fingerprint sensor is arranged on the operation surface 5 and registered in advance. Only can be opened and closed. The open / close door 3 can also be opened and closed by a command from a later-described upper device 97 side (see FIG. 5) that is communicably connected to the publisher 1.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the opening / closing door 4 on the left side when viewed from the front is for opening and closing when the ink cartridge 12 of the label printer (recording apparatus) 11 is replaced, and when the opening / closing door 4 is opened, it is arranged in the vertical direction. The cartridge mounting portion 14 having the plurality of cartridge holders 13 is exposed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the case 2 of the publisher 1, a blank media storage unit 21 capable of stacking a plurality of unused blank media MA that has not been subjected to data writing processing, and a created media MB Are stored vertically in a coaxial state. In addition, when the used media MC is disposed of, the used media MC is set in the created storage unit 22.

  The blank media storage unit 21 includes a slide plate 23 that can be pulled out horizontally forward, and a pair of left and right arc-shaped frame plates 24 and 25 arranged vertically on the slide plate 23. Thus, a stacker that can receive the blank medium MA from the upper side and can be stored in a coaxially stacked state is configured. The operation of storing or replenishing the blank media MA in the blank media storage unit 21 can be easily performed by opening the door 3 and pulling the slide plate 23 forward.

  The lower created media storage unit 22 has the same structure, and includes a slide plate 26 that can be pulled out horizontally forward and a pair of left and right arc-shaped frame plates 27 and 28 that are arranged vertically on the upper surface. Thus, a stacker that can receive the created media MB or the used media MC from above and store them in a coaxially stacked state is configured.

  When disposing of the used media MC, it is possible to open the door 3 and set the used media MC in the created media storage unit 22 to perform the disposing operation. Further, the created media MB (that is, the medium on which data writing and label surface printing have been completed) can be taken out from the open / close door 3.

  A media transport mechanism 31 is disposed behind the blank media storage unit 21 and the created media storage unit 22. The media transport mechanism 31 includes a chassis 32 that is vertically attached to the case 2, a vertical guide shaft 35 that is vertically stretched between upper and lower horizontal support plate portions 33 and 34 of the chassis 32, and the vertical And a media carrier 36 attached to the guide shaft 35. The media carrier 36 can be moved up and down along the vertical guide shaft 35 by a drive motor 37 and can be swung left and right about the vertical guide shaft 35. The media transported to the media discharge port 6 by the media transport mechanism 31 can be taken out from the media discharge port 6.

Two media drives 41 that are stacked one above the other are disposed at the side portions of the upper and lower storage units 21 and 22 and the media transport mechanism 31, and a carriage 62 (described later) of the label printer 11 is disposed below these media drives 41. (See FIG. 4) is movably arranged.
The media drive 41 has media trays 41a that can move between a data writing position on the media and a media delivery position for receiving and delivering media.

  The label printer 11 also has a media tray 51 that can move between a label printing position on the label surface of the media and a media delivery position for receiving and delivering the media.

  2 and 3, the media tray 41a of the upper media drive 41 is pulled out to the front and is in the media delivery position, and the media tray 51 of the lower label printer 11 is in the back label printable position. The state is shown. The label printer 11 is an ink jet printer, and ink cartridges 12 of various colors (black, cyan, magenta, yellow, light cyan, and light magenta in this embodiment) are used as the ink supply mechanism 71, and these ink cartridges are used. 12 is mounted on each cartridge holder 13 of the cartridge mounting section 14 from the front.

  Here, the media carrier 36 of the media transport mechanism 31 moves up and down between the pair of left and right frame plates 24 and 25 of the blank media storage unit 21 and between the pair of left and right frame plates 27 and 28 of the created media storage unit 22. Possible gaps are formed. Further, between the upper and lower blank media storage units 21 and the created media storage unit 22, the media carrier 36 of the media transport mechanism 31 can be rotated horizontally and positioned directly above the created media storage unit 22. So that the gap is open. Further, when the media tray 41a is pushed into the media drive 41, the media carrier 36 of the media transport mechanism 31 is lowered to access the media tray 51 at the media delivery position. Therefore, the media can be conveyed to each part by the combined operation of raising and lowering the media carrier 36 and turning left and right.

  Below the media delivery position of the media tray 51, a disposal stacker 52 for storing the disposal media MD is arranged. For example, about 30 disposal media MD are stored in the disposal stacker 52. It is possible. With the media tray 51 retracted from the media delivery position above the disposal stacker 52 to the data writing position, the disposal media MD can be supplied to the disposal stacker 52 by the media carrier 36 of the media transport mechanism 31. .

  With such a configuration, a medium composed of a CD or a DVD has a space between the blank media storage unit 21, the created media storage unit 22, the disposal stacker 52, the media tray 41a of the media drive 41, and the media tray 51 of the label printer 11. It is transported by the media carrier 36 of the media transport mechanism 31.

  A media disposal mechanism 92 (see FIG. 5) is attached to the front side of the label printer 11. This media disposal mechanism 92 makes the projections come into contact with the media mounted on the media tray 51 moving to the rear side or the front side by projecting the projections by a driving mechanism such as a plunger, and the recording surface of the media is mechanically moved. In this state, writing and reading are disabled.

Next, the configuration of the label printer 11 will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the label printer 11 includes a carriage 62 having an ink jet head 61, and this carriage 62 is supported along a carriage guide shaft 63 so as to be reciprocally movable in the horizontal direction. Yes. The carriage 62 includes a timing belt 64 that extends horizontally along the carriage guide shaft 63 and a carriage motor 65 for driving the timing belt 64.

  The inkjet head 61 mounted on the carriage 62 has a nozzle surface facing downward, and the media tray 51 can reciprocate horizontally in the front-rear direction at the lower position of the inkjet head 61. The media tray 51 has a right end supported by a guide shaft 66 extending horizontally in the front-rear direction, and a left end supported by a guide rail 67 extending horizontally in the front-rear direction in a slidable state. . The drive mechanism for the media tray 51 is also provided with a timing belt (not shown) that extends horizontally in the front-rear direction and a tray motor for driving the timing belt.

  The label printer 11 includes an ink supply mechanism 71 having a cartridge mounting portion 14 to which the ink cartridge 12 is mounted. The ink supply mechanism 71 has a vertical structure and is erected on the base 72 of the publisher 1 and arranged in the vertical direction. One end of a flexible ink supply tube 73 is connected to the ink supply mechanism 71, and the other end of the ink supply tube 73 is connected to the carriage 62.

The ink in the ink cartridge 12 of the ink supply mechanism 71 is supplied to the carriage 62 through the ink supply tube 73 and supplied to the inkjet head 61 through a damper unit and a back pressure adjustment unit (not shown) provided on the carriage 62. Is done.
The ink supply mechanism 71 is provided with a pressurizing mechanism 74 at the top thereof. The pressurizing mechanism 74 pressurizes the ink cartridge 12 and stores it in the ink pack in the ink cartridge 12. Send out ink.

  An ink suction mechanism 81 is provided on the lower side of the carriage 62 at the home position (position shown in FIG. 4). The ink suction mechanism 81 includes a cap 82 that covers the nozzles of the inkjet head 61 exposed on the lower surface of the carriage 62 disposed at the home position, and waste discharged to the cap 82 by the head cleaning operation and ink filling operation of the inkjet head 62. A waste ink suction pump 83 for sucking ink;

Then, the waste ink sucked by the waste ink suction pump 83 of the ink suction mechanism 81 is sent to the waste ink absorption tank 85 through the tube 84.
The waste ink absorption tank 85 has an absorbent material (not shown) disposed in a case 86, and the upper surface thereof is covered with a cover 88 having a plurality of holes 87.
A waste ink receiving portion 89 which is a part of the waste ink absorption tank 85 is provided below the waste ink suction mechanism 81 so that the waste ink dropped from the waste ink suction mechanism 81 is received and absorbed by the absorbent material. It has become.

  The media tray 51 is provided with a circular shallow recess 51a for placing media on the upper surface of a rectangular plate. In addition, at the center of the recess 51a, there are provided three vertical claws (not shown) arranged at 120 degree intervals on a concentric circle. Of these, the two vertical claws can move together in the radial direction, and the remaining one of the vertical claws is arranged at a fixed position. Two vertical claws are moved by a driving mechanism (not shown) such as an electromagnetic solenoid.

  When the medium is dropped into the recess 51a with the label surface on which the label or the like is printed facing upward, three vertical claws are inserted into the center hole of the medium. Thereafter, when the two vertical claws are slightly moved outward in the radial direction, the three vertical claws are pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the center hole of the media from the inside. As a result, the media is held on the media tray 51. In this state, a tray motor (not shown) can be driven to move the media tray 51 to the rear side along the guide shaft 66 to move into the print area of the inkjet head 61. Thereafter, predetermined printing can be performed on the label surface of the medium by the ink jet head 61.

  The waste ink absorption tank 85 is also disposed at a lower position in the print area of the inkjet head 61 so that the ink liquid dropped from the inkjet head 61 is received by the waste ink absorption tank 85.

Next, the internal configuration of the publisher 1 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 5, the publisher 1 includes a control unit 91 that controls each unit, and serves as a central control unit that performs operation control between the units in the publisher 1. Specifically, the operations of the media drive 41, the label printer 11, the media transport mechanism 31, and the like are controlled.

  In addition to a function for creating a media, the publisher 1 includes a media disposal mechanism 92 for disposing the used media MC that has become unnecessary after creation in a state in which data cannot be written or read. For example, an image sensor 93 including a line sensor having a CCD or the like for reading a printed image on the label surface of the used media MC to be disposed of by the disposal mechanism 92, and the media disposal mechanism 92 that reads the printed image on the label surface. Is provided as a media disposal history 94a.

As described above, the media disposal mechanism 92 uses the movement of the media tray 51 in the label printer 11 to mechanically scratch the recording surface of the used media MC, and discards data that cannot be read or written. Media MD.
The image sensor 93 for reading the printed image on the label surface is mounted on the media transport mechanism 31, for example. The used media MC held by the media transport mechanism 31 is rotated, and the entire label surface is detected by the image sensor 93 arranged along the media radial direction in a state where the light receiving surface faces the label surface of the media MC. The print image is read. Instead, the image sensor 93 arranged in the radial direction is rotated along the label surface of the used media MC held by the media transport mechanism 31 so as to read the entire printed image on the label surface. May be.

  Further, an operation unit 95 is connected to the control unit 91. The operation unit 95 includes a group of alphanumeric keys such as a numeric keypad for inputting an authentication password, various function keys, a status display lamp, and the like. The display group is arranged. The control unit 91 is connected to the host device 97 via a communication interface 96 through a dedicated communication line or a general communication line. Normally, based on a media creation command, a media disposal command, etc. supplied from the host device 97 side to the control unit 91, a media creation operation (data writing operation, label surface printing operation), a media disposal history creating operation (label surface print image) Reading operation), media disposal operation, etc. are activated.

Next, a specific structure of the ink supply mechanism 71 constituting the label printer 11 in the publisher 1 will be described.
6 is a perspective view of the ink supply mechanism as viewed from the side, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the ink supply mechanism as viewed from the rear, FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the ink supply mechanism, and FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the ink cartridge, FIG. 11A is a perspective view of the cartridge holder as viewed from above, FIG. 11B is an enlarged perspective view of the locking claw, and FIG. FIG. 12B is an enlarged perspective view of the locking recess, and FIGS. 13A and 13B are a side view and a front view showing a process of taking out the cartridge holder at the intermediate position. It is.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the ink supply mechanism 71 has a frame 110 erected vertically on a base 72 (see FIGS. 2 to 4) of the publisher 1. The frame 110 is formed in an L shape in sectional view by bending a steel plate, and has a cartridge mounting plate portion 111 and a valve unit mounting plate portion 112. Further, the frame 110 has a substrate mounting plate portion 113 on which the circuit board 118 is installed horizontally formed on the top thereof. A plurality of cartridge holders 13 constituting the cartridge mounting portion 14 are fixed to the cartridge mounting plate portion 111 through a channel unit 114 formed in a plate shape.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the flow path unit 114 provided between the cartridge mounting plate 111 of the frame 110 and the cartridge holder 13 is formed in a single plate shape, and is made of synthetic resin or the like. An ink flow path and an air flow path are formed therein. The flow path unit 114 has an ink outlet 53 and an air supply member insertion hole corresponding to the air supply member holding portion 45a and the ink supply needle holding portion 45b (see FIG. 12) of each cartridge holder 13 of the cartridge mounting portion 14. 54 are provided in two upper and lower stages. Corresponding to the screw holes 47a and 47b (see FIG. 12) of the cartridge holder 13, a screw hole 55a is provided at one place and a screw hole 55b is provided at two places.

  An air introduction port 56 for introducing pressurized air is provided at the upper end of the flow path unit 114, and a pipe-shaped air flow path 57 is disposed downward. This air flow path 57 branches off at a position corresponding to each cartridge holder 13 in the middle, and is once guided to the rear surface side, and the air supply of each stage of the cartridge holder 13 from the rear surface side via the pipe 58 (see FIG. 7). It connects to the air supply member with which the member holding | maintenance part 45a is mounted | worn. At that time, the pipe 58 is disposed on the front side through the air supply member insertion hole 54 from the rear side.

  An ink supply needle (not shown) is attached to the ink outlet 53 toward the inside of the cartridge holder 13. In addition, an ink flow path communicating with the ink outlet 53 is provided in the flow path unit 114, and the ink pumped from the ink cartridge 12 is guided to the front side of the frame 110 and connected as shown in FIG. It is sent to the valve unit 122 mounted on the frame 110 through the tube 124. The valve unit 122 is detachably attached to the valve unit attachment plate portion 112 of the frame 110 and has a choke valve 121 corresponding to the ink cartridge 12 attached to each cartridge holder 13.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the valve unit 122 is formed with a plurality of connecting pipes 127 protruding to the side opposite to the side on which the connecting tube 124 is mounted. These connecting pipes 127 are arranged at a narrow interval at a substantially intermediate height position of the valve unit 122, and communicate with each choke valve 121. These connection pipes 127 are connected to flexible ink supply tubes 73 (see FIG. 4) connected to the carriage 62.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the front surface 114 a to which the cartridge holder 13 is attached in the flow path unit 114 is a position facing the cartridge holder identifying portion 44 (see FIG. 12) provided in each stage of the cartridge holder 13. Is provided with a flow path side identification portion 59. The cartridge holder identification unit 44 and the flow path side identification unit 59 are projection structures that do not interfere with each other only when the correct cartridge holder 13 is attached, and have a combination structure of a plurality of projections when an incorrect cartridge holder 13 is to be attached. Since the cartridge holder identification unit 44 and the flow path side identification unit 59 interfere with each other and cannot be mounted, erroneous mounting can be easily identified.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, a plurality of (for example, six in the present embodiment) constituting the cartridge mounting portion 14 are provided on the cartridge mounting plate portion 111 via a plate-shaped flow path unit 114. The cartridge holders 13 are fixed, and the ink cartridges 12 for each color storing black, cyan, magenta, yellow, light cyan, and light magenta inks can be attached to and detached from these cartridge holders 13.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the ink cartridge 12 accommodated in the cartridge holder 13.
The ink cartridge 12 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped cartridge case 151, and a pair of air chambers separated by a partition plate are formed inside the cartridge case 151. In each air chamber, an ink pack 153 for storing ink is stored. Each ink pack 153 is provided with an ink outlet member 154 communicating with the inside of the ink pack 153. An attachment hole 155 that communicates the inside and outside of the cartridge case 151 is provided at the center of the rear surface 151a of the cartridge case 151, and the outlet port 154a of the ink outlet member 154 is exposed through the attachment hole 155. Yes. An ink supply needle disposed in the cartridge holder 13 is inserted into the outlet 154a, and ink is guided through the ink supply needle. In the vicinity of the mounting hole 155 on the rear surface 151a of the cartridge case 151, air introduction holes 156 for press-fitting air into the respective air chambers are provided. Furthermore, a pair of insertion holes 157 are provided on the rear surface 151 a of the cartridge case 151 so as to sandwich the attachment hole 155 and the air introduction hole 156. These insertion holes 157 are for inserting a positioning member in the cartridge holder 13 and do not communicate with the internal space of the cartridge case 151.

  An IC chip 158 is provided at the front end of one side surface of the cartridge case 151. The IC chip 158 is electrically connected to the control unit 91 of the publisher 1 when the ink cartridge 12 is inserted into the cartridge holder 13 and mounted. The IC chip 158 stores information regarding the type and remaining amount of ink in each ink pack 153.

  The ink cartridge 12 crushes the ink pack 153 by introducing pressurized air into the air chamber from the air introduction hole 156 of the cartridge case 151, and the ink contained in the ink pack 153 is replaced with the ink outlet member 154. It is designed to be pumped through.

  As shown in FIGS. 11 (A) and 12 (A), the cartridge holder 13 that accommodates the ink cartridge 12 described above is provided with an opening 43 for inserting and removing the ink cartridge 12 on the front surface and an upper surface opened. It is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box shape. An air supply member holding portion 45 a for holding an air supply member for press-fitting air into the air chamber of the ink cartridge 12 is provided on the rear surface 13 a of the cartridge holder 13 corresponding to the air introduction hole 156 of the ink cartridge 12. ing. Further, an ink supply needle holding portion 45b is provided corresponding to the ink lead-out member 154 for pushing out ink from the ink cartridge 12 by air press-fitting. The air supply member holding part 45 a and the ink supply needle holding part 45 b are provided in two upper and lower stages corresponding to the configuration of the ink cartridge 12. Further, a screw hole 47a for fixing the cartridge holder 13 to the flow path unit 114 and a screw hole 47b for fixing the cartridge holder 13 to the frame 110 with the flow path unit 114 interposed therebetween are provided. In this embodiment, for example, one screw hole 47a and two screw holes 47b are provided. A cartridge holder identifying unit 44 for identifying the correct assembly position of each cartridge holder 13 with respect to the flow path unit 114 is provided on the front surface of the cartridge holder 13.

  As shown in FIGS. 11 (A) and 12 (A), a locking means 46 is provided at the front end of the left and right side walls 13b of the cartridge holder 13 so that the cartridge holders 13 are stacked and locked in the vertical direction. The cartridge holder 13 is slidable back and forth in the mounting direction of the cartridge holder 13 with respect to the cartridge holders 13 adjacent in the vertical direction by the guide of the locking means 46. For this reason, by pulling out the cartridge holder 13 in the removal direction, which is the opposite direction of the attachment direction, the cartridge holder 13 in the middle position can be detached independently without removing the cartridge holder 13 adjacent in the vertical direction.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 11 (A), the upper end of the left and right side walls 13b is locked with the cartridge holder 13 adjacent to the upper side (one side) as shown in FIG. 11 (B). As a structure, a locking claw 46a is provided as a locking means 46 that is bent and protrudes to the left and right outer sides. As shown in FIG. 12B, the left and right ends of the front end portion of the lower surface 13c of the cartridge holder 13 have a structure for locking the cartridge holder 13 adjacent to the lower side (the other side). In order to lock the pawl 46a, for example, a locking recess 46b as locking means 46 formed by an L-shaped member is provided protruding downward.

  Further, a protrusion 46 c is provided in a shape along the mounting direction of the cartridge holder 13 so as to face the inner side (the inner side in the left-right direction) of the locking recess 46 b. Accordingly, the cooperation of the projection 46c and the locking recess 46b can prevent the locking claw 46a that locks the locking recess 46b from moving in the left-right direction. It is possible to prevent the ink cartridge 12 from being difficult to put in and out due to the inward tilt of the side wall 13b of the cartridge holder 13 accompanying the movement in the direction. The inward tilt of the side wall 13b occurs when the cartridge holder 13 is manufactured by injection molding.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 11A, the locking recess 46b and the protrusion are located near the front side in the mounting direction (that is, the rear side of the cartridge holder 13) from the locking claw 45a at the upper end of the side wall 13b of the cartridge holder 13. A notch 49 having a size that allows 46c to pass in a direction orthogonal to the mounting direction (that is, the left-right direction) is provided.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 13A and 13B, the removal work of the cartridge holder 13A attached to the intermediate position will be described.
In the mounted state, each cartridge holder 13 is fixed to the flow path unit 114 by screws 64a, and is fixed to the frame 110 with the flow path unit 114 sandwiched by screws 64b. Therefore, first, the screws 64a and 64b of the cartridge holder 13A to be removed are removed, the cartridge holder 13A is separated from the flow path unit 114, and pulled forward (removal direction) (arrow A in FIG. 13A). At this time, the locking claw 46a of the cartridge holder 13A is detached from the locking recess 46b provided on the lower surface 13c of the upper cartridge holder 13, and the locking recess 46b is removed from the locking claw 46a of the lower cartridge holder 13. Pull out until disengaged. When the notch 49 of the cartridge holder 13A reaches the position of the locking recess 46b of the upper cartridge holder 13, the cartridge holder 13A is moved in the direction orthogonal to the removal direction, for example, as shown in FIG. It is moved in the direction (arrow B in FIG. 13B). Since the locking recess 46b and the protrusion 46c of the upper cartridge holder 13 can pass through the notch 49, the cartridge holder 13A can be removed sideways.

  By providing the notches 49, the cartridge holder 13A is slightly slid in the removal direction from the state in which the plurality of cartridge holders 13 are locked together, and further moved laterally, so Even if the other cartridge holder 13 is the adjacent cartridge holder 13A, it can be easily taken out alone. Furthermore, when the slide amount required for removal extends over the entire length in the mounting direction of the cartridge holder 13, for example, it is necessary to design the shape of the side wall 13b or the like so that the cartridge holders 13 do not interfere with each other in the total length in the mounting direction. According to the configuration provided with 49, the sliding in the mounting direction is only a small amount, and the degree of freedom in designing the cartridge holder 13 is increased.

  As described above, according to the cartridge holder assembly structure and the recording apparatus of the above embodiment, each cartridge holder 13 can be slid back and forth with respect to the mounting direction with respect to the flow path unit 114 by the guide of the locking means 46. Since it is locked, the cartridge holder 13A at the intermediate position where the other cartridge holders 13 are assembled vertically can be detached independently by pulling out in the direction opposite to the attaching direction. At this time, for example, the cartridge holder 13 adjacent to the upper side can be locked by the locking claw 46a, and the locking recess 46b can be locked by the locking claw 46a of the cartridge holder 13 adjacent to the lower side. .

  And since the notch 49 which can pass the latching recessed part 46b to the direction orthogonal to a detaching direction is provided in the front side vicinity of the attachment direction in the upper end part of the side wall 13b of the cartridge holder 13, it is cartridge from a latching state. By slightly sliding the holder 13A in the removal direction and further moving it in a direction perpendicular to the removal direction, the cartridge holder 13A at the intermediate position where the other cartridge holders 13 are assembled vertically can be taken out alone. As a result, when removing the cartridge holder at the intermediate position, there is no need for the troublesome work of temporarily removing all cartridge holders from the flow path unit and disassembling them into individual cartridge holders as in the prior art. Is good.

  As described above, in the recording apparatus of the above-described embodiment, even when it is necessary to remove the cartridge holder 13 during use, only the arbitrary cartridge holder 13 can be removed from the flow path unit 114, and the maintainability is good. It is. Further, since it is not necessary to disassemble all the cartridge holders 13 individually, the number of times of assembling or removing the cartridge holders 13 or between the cartridge holder 13 and the flow path unit 114 is reduced. Deterioration of parts such as 114 can be suppressed. Therefore, since the assembly reliability of the cartridge holder 13 with respect to the flow path unit 114 can be maintained, highly reliable ink supply from the ink supply mechanism 71 can be maintained, and thus high print quality can be maintained.

The cartridge holder assembling structure and the recording apparatus according to the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and appropriate modifications and improvements can be made.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, when the cartridge holder 13A at the intermediate position is taken out, the cartridge holder 13A is removed by pulling it out once in the removal direction and further moving in the direction perpendicular to the removal direction. By providing the stop recess 46b over the entire length of the cartridge holder 13, the cartridge holder 13 can be taken out by pulling it out completely in the removal direction.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the locking means 46 is provided in the upper part of the side wall of the cartridge holder 13 without protruding the locking claw 46a and protrudes downward on the lower surface 13c of the cartridge holder 13. However, it is also possible to configure so that the locking claw 46a protrudes upward and the locking recess 46b does not protrude downward.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the recording apparatus is applied to the publisher 1 that processes media as the label printer 11 that prints the label surface of a disk-shaped medium such as a CD or DVD is exemplified. For example, the present invention can be applied to a recording apparatus such as a printer that performs printing on a sheet-like recording medium such as a sheet, a multifunction peripheral having a copy function, and the like.

1 is an external perspective view of a publisher (media processing apparatus) according to a recording apparatus of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the front side of the state which removed the case of the publisher. It is a perspective view of the back side of the state which removed the case of the publisher. It is a perspective view of the recording device part installed in the publisher. It is an internal schematic block diagram of a publisher. It is the perspective view which looked at the ink supply mechanism part from the side. It is the perspective view which looked at the ink supply mechanism part from back. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows an ink supply mechanism part. It is the perspective view which looked at the channel unit from the front. It is a perspective view showing an example of an ink cartridge. (A) is the perspective view which looked at the cartridge holder from the upper part, (B) is the perspective view of a latching claw. (A) is the perspective view which looked at the cartridge holder from the lower part, (B) is the perspective view of a latching recessed part. (A) And (B) is the side view and front view which show the process of taking out the cartridge holder in an intermediate position. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows an example of the conventional cartridge holder. It is a perspective view which shows an example of the structure which assembled | attached the conventional cartridge holder.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Publisher, 11 ... Label printer (recording apparatus), 12 ... Ink cartridge, 13 ... Cartridge holder, 13b ... Side wall, 31 ... Media conveyance mechanism, 41 ... Media drive, 71 ... Ink supply mechanism, 46 ... Locking means, 46a ... locking claw, 46b ... locking recess, 46c ... projection, 49 ... notch, 61 ... ink jet head, 62 ... carriage, 74 ... pressure mechanism, 110 ... frame, 114 ... flow path unit.

Claims (4)

A cartridge holder assembling structure in which a plurality of cartridge holders for holding the ink cartridge are assembled in parallel to a flow path unit having an ink flow path for supplying ink accommodated in the ink cartridge. Because
The cartridge holder has locking means for locking adjacent cartridge holders, and is slidable back and forth in the mounting direction of the cartridge holder with respect to the flow path unit by the guide of the locking means. The assembly structure of the cartridge holder. The assembly structure of the cartridge holder according to claim 1,
The locking means is provided at the end of the side wall of the cartridge holder and is locked to the locking claw that locks the cartridge holder adjacent to one side and the locking claw of the cartridge holder adjacent to the other side. And a locking recess that can slide back and forth in the mounting direction with respect to the locking claw,
On the side wall of the cartridge holder, a notch through which the locking recess of the cartridge holder on the one side can pass in a direction perpendicular to the mounting direction is forward of the locking claw in the cartridge holder in the mounting direction. A structure for assembling a cartridge holder, comprising: The assembly structure of the cartridge holder according to claim 2,
On the other side of the cartridge holder, a protrusion is provided that prevents movement of the locking claw that locks with the locking recess in a direction perpendicular to the mounting direction, in cooperation with the locking recess. A structure for assembling the cartridge holder.   A recording apparatus comprising the cartridge holder assembling structure according to claim 1, wherein the ink supplied through the flow path unit is ejected from a nozzle to perform printing on a recording medium. apparatus.

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