JP2008049522A - Protective member - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a protective member which does not generate inconvenience such as breakage even when a recording head cartridge is carried by a recording apparatus while the protective member is mounted as it is. <P>SOLUTION: The protective member 50 which is attachable and removable to the recording head cartridge 1, and has supporting parts 70, 71 and 72 coming into contact with a carriage unit 20 when the cartridge 1 is carried by the carriage unit 20 while it is mounted on the cartridge 1 as it is. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording head cartridge mounted on a recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging a liquid such as ink, and particularly relates to a protective member for protecting the recording head cartridge.

  The recording head cartridge to which the protective member of the present invention is applied can be applied to a recording apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile having a communication system, a word processor having a printing unit, in addition to a general printing apparatus. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to an industrial recording apparatus combined with various processing apparatuses.

  FIG. 11A shows a general recording head cartridge mounted on an ink jet recording apparatus (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as “recording apparatus”) which is one of the recording apparatuses. The recording head cartridge 100 includes a recording head 101, an electrical connection substrate 102, a TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) tape 103, and a cartridge body 104.

  Although not shown, the recording head 101 has a basic structure in which an orifice plate is laminated on an element substrate on which a plurality of energy generating elements that generate ink ejection energy and ink supply ports are formed. The orifice plate is formed with a plurality of ejection ports formed at positions corresponding to the respective energy generating elements, and a flow path for guiding ink supplied from the ink supply port to the vicinity of each ejection port.

  The electrical connection board 102 can be inserted into and removed from a connector (not shown) provided on the recording apparatus side, and transmits an electrical signal output from the recording apparatus to the recording head 101. More specifically, the electrical signal input to the electrical connection substrate 102 is input to the element substrate of the recording head 101 via the TAB tape 103.

  The recording head cartridge having the structure as described above is placed in the distribution process as a single product. At that time, it is common to protect the discharge port forming surface (the main surface of the orifice plate) and the electrical connection substrate with a protective member so as not to be damaged or soiled.

  Furthermore, in order to maintain the chemical stability of the ejection port during distribution, the ejection port may be filled with ink or an ink substitute. In such a case, it is desirable to seal the periphery so that the filled liquid does not evaporate and disappear due to the passage of time or temperature change during distribution.

  For the reasons described above, the recording head cartridge is placed in the distribution process in a state in which a protective member is attached and is further sealed and packaged with a bag.

  FIG. 11B shows an example of a protective member attached to the recording head cartridge 100 shown in FIG. The illustrated protective member 200 is a protective member disclosed in Patent Document 1. The protection member 200 includes an ejection port protection unit 201 that protects the ejection port formation surface of the recording head cartridge 100 and a substrate protection unit 202 that protects the electrical connection substrate 102.

  Further, a first engaging portion 203 and a second engaging portion 204 are integrally formed on the protective member 200 in order to engage with the recording head cartridge 100. The first engagement portion 203 is formed at both ends of the substrate protection portion 202, and the second engagement portion 204 is formed around the discharge port protection portion 201. Further, a finger hook portion 205 is projected from the back surface of the substrate protection portion 202.

The finger hook unit 205 is used when the user removes the protection member 200 from the recording head cartridge 100. Specifically, a finger is hooked on the finger catcher 205 and a force is applied so as to pull the finger catcher 205 away from the recording head cartridge 100. Then, first the first engaging portion 203 is detached from the recording head cartridge 100. Next, the entire protective member 200 rotates with the second engaging portion 204 as a fulcrum, the engagement with the recording head cartridge 100 is released, and the protective member 200 is released from the recording head cartridge 100.
JP 2004-230703 A

  In recent years, there are cases where a user mounts a recording head cartridge on a recording apparatus with the protective member mounted, and destroys a carriage unit, a recovery unit, and further a connection terminal of the recording apparatus.

  Therefore, conventionally, a structure in which the recording head cartridge cannot be mounted on the recording apparatus with the protective member attached is employed. However, if the recording head cartridge is mounted on the carriage unit with a force greater than expected (forcedly pushed), the recording apparatus and the recording head cartridge may be destroyed.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a protective member capable of avoiding the destruction of the recording apparatus and the recording head cartridge and other problems even if the recording head cartridge is to be mounted on the recording apparatus with the protective member attached. That is.

  The protective member of the present invention has a plurality of support portions that come into contact with the carriage unit when the recording head cartridge mounted with the protective member is to be mounted on the carriage unit of the recording apparatus.

  According to the present invention, even if an attempt is made to mount the recording head cartridge in the recording apparatus with the protective member attached, the recording apparatus and the recording head cartridge do not break down or cause other problems.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of a protection member of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. For convenience of explanation, the recording head cartridge to which the protection member of this example is attached will be described first, and then the protection member of this example will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a lower perspective view of the recording head cartridge 1 to which the protection member 50 (FIG. 7 and the like) of this example is mounted, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof. The recording head cartridge 1 is a unit in which a recording head 2, an electrical connection substrate 3, and a TAB tape 4 are fixed to a cartridge body 5 and integrated.

  The recording head 2 has a basic structure in which an orifice plate 6 is laminated on an element substrate (not shown) on which a plurality of energy generating elements for generating ink droplets and ink supply ports are formed.

  The orifice plate 6 has a plurality of discharge ports 7 formed at positions corresponding to the respective energy generating elements. A flow path (not shown) is also formed for guiding ink supplied from the ink supply port to a foaming chamber (also referred to as “work chamber”) provided in the vicinity of each ejection port 7.

  The electrical connection board 3 can be inserted into and removed from the connector 25 (FIG. 4) provided on the recording apparatus side, and transmits a control signal output from the recording apparatus to the recording head 2. More specifically, an electrical connection terminal (not shown) made of a conductor is formed at the end of the electrical connection board 3, and the board 3 is connected to a connector 25 (provided with the carriage unit 20 of the recording apparatus). 3 and FIG. 4), it conducts electrically. That is, electrical connection is realized by a so-called card edge contact method. Therefore, a predetermined gap 8 is provided between the substrate 3 and the cartridge body 5 so that the electrical connection substrate 3 can be inserted into the connector 25.

  The electrical connection board 3 and the recording head 2 are electrically connected by a TAB tape 4, and an electrical signal input to the electrical connection board 3 is input to the recording head 2 via the TAB tape 4.

  As described above, since the electrical connection board 3 and the recording head 2 are connected via the TAB tape 4, the positional relationship between them can be set relatively freely. In this example, the electrical connection board 3 is disposed on one side surface of the cartridge body 5 and substantially at the upper end on the side surface.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a folded portion 9 and an ink trap portion 10 are provided on the side surface of the TAB tape 4 and the side surface of the cartridge body 5. These play a role of preventing the ink pulled up by the capillary force generated between the TAB tape 4 and the cartridge body 5 from adhering to the recording head 2 or the vicinity thereof.

  Refer to FIG. 1 again. The cartridge body 5 is made of resin, and a replaceable ink tank that holds ink supplied to the recording head 2 can be attached and detached. A ceramic chip plate 11 is fixed to the bottom of the cartridge body 5 with screws 12, and the recording head 2 is bonded and fixed to the chip plate 11. In the recording head 2 (orifice plate 6), several types of ejection ports 7 are opened in order to eject ink droplets of different sizes. In this example, three types of discharge ports 7 having different sizes are formed (details will be described later). Further, the main surface of the orifice plate 6 where the discharge ports 7 are open is exposed from the opening formed in the TAB tape 4.

  Further, an ink supply path (not shown) for leading the ink from the mounted ink tank and leading it to the recording head 2 is formed inside the cartridge body 5.

  Next, a method for mounting the recording head cartridge 1 in the recording apparatus will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the recording head cartridge 1 is mounted and positioned on a carriage unit 20 provided in the recording apparatus. Specifically, the recording apparatus is provided with a carriage unit 20 including a mounting lever 22 having a guide shaft 21 as a rotation axis, and the mounting lever 22 is provided with a spring portion 23. When mounting the recording head cartridge 1, after mounting the recording head cartridge 1 on the carriage unit 20, the mounting lever 22 in the state shown in FIG. 4 is rotated to the state shown in FIG. Then, the recording head cartridge 1 is fixed in the carriage unit 20 by a reaction force generated by the spring portion 23 coming into contact with the inclined portion 24 (FIG. 4) of the recording head cartridge 1.

  Here, FIG. 5A shows the bottom surface of the carriage unit 20 on which the recording head cartridge 1 is mounted, and FIG. As shown in these drawings, the outermost region 11a of the chip plate 11 included in the recording head cartridge 1 is brought into contact with the carriage unit 20, whereby the recording head cartridge 1 (recording head 2) is positioned in the Y direction.

  In the X direction orthogonal to the Y direction, the spring portion 23 (not shown) of the carriage unit 20 is positioned by pressing the X direction abutting surface 26 provided on the side surface of the recording head cartridge 1 against the carriage unit 20. Is done. In the Z direction orthogonal to the X and Y directions, positioning is performed by a total of three points including three Z direction abutting surfaces 27a, 27b, and 27c provided in the recording head cartridge 1.

  The outermost region 11 a of the chip plate 11 for positioning in the Y direction is common to the reference when the recording head 2 is mounted on the chip plate 11. Accordingly, the recording head 2 is fixed to the carriage unit 20 (recording apparatus) with an accuracy equivalent to the accuracy when mounted on the chip plate 11.

  Further, the recording head 2 and the chip plate 11 abut on the surface of the chip plate 11 facing the outermost area 11a, and the cartridge body 5 is not disposed on the projection surface of the outermost area 11a. Thereby, even when the chip plate 11 is fixed to the cartridge body 5, the outermost region 11a can be used for positioning.

  Here, the ejection ports 7 that eject the smallest ink droplets that are most susceptible to the influence of positioning are arranged at the centers of two locations that perform positioning in the Y direction, that is, at substantially the center of the chip plate 11. The specific arrangement state of the discharge ports 7 in this example is as follows.

  The recording head cartridge 1 in this example performs bidirectional printing. Therefore, several types of ejection ports 7 having different colors and sizes (dots) of ink droplets to be ejected are arranged on the main surface of the recording head 2 (main surface of the orifice plate 6).

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6A, in order from the left side of the sheet, a plurality of ejection openings 7a for ejecting large-dot cyan ink droplets and a plurality of ejection openings 7b for ejecting medium-dot cyan ink droplets are arranged in a row. And each form a discharge port array.

  Subsequently, an ejection port 7c for ejecting a large dot magenta ink droplet, an ejection port 7d for ejecting a medium dot magenta ink droplet, and an ejection port 7e for ejecting a large dot yellow ink droplet are arranged in a row. Forming a column.

  Subsequently, an ejection port 7f for ejecting large-dot yellow ink droplets and an ejection port 7g for ejecting medium-dot photo black ink are arranged in a row, each forming an ejection port array.

  Subsequently, an ejection port 7h for ejecting large-dot photo black ink droplets and an ejection port 7i for ejecting small-dot magenta ink droplets are arranged in a row, and each form an ejection port array.

  Subsequently, an ejection port 7j for ejecting a large-dot magenta ink droplet, an ejection port 7k for ejecting a small-dot cyan ink droplet, and an ejection port 7l for ejecting a large-dot cyan ink droplet are arranged in a row. Forming a column.

  FIG. 6B is an enlarged view showing the arrangement state of the discharge ports 7 in more detail. In the rows of ejection openings 7a, 7c, 7e, 7f, 7h, 7j, and 7l from which large dot ink droplets are ejected, the ejection openings are arranged at a pitch of 600 dpi. Further, only one row of the discharge ports 45h from which the photo black ink droplets are discharged is provided. On the other hand, one row of ejection openings 7a and 7l from which cyan ink droplets are ejected is provided.

  In addition, the ejection ports 7c and 7j for ejecting magenta ink droplets and the ejection ports 7e and 7f for ejecting yellow ink droplets are provided in two rows. Further, the ejection port arrays are arranged with a 1200 dpi pitch shift.

  In an ejection port array composed of ejection ports 7b, 7d, and 7g that eject medium-dot ink droplets, the ejection ports are arranged at a pitch of 600 dpi. Such discharge port arrays are provided in a total of three lines, cyan, magenta, and photo black.

  In an ejection port array composed of ejection ports 7i and 7k through which small dot ink droplets are ejected, the ejection ports are arranged at a pitch of 600 dpi. There are a total of two discharge port arrays, cyan and magenta.

  The medium-dot ejection ports and the small-dot ejection ports are arranged at a 1200 dpi pitch, and the large-dot ejection ports are arranged at the center line, that is, at a position of 2400 dpi.

  Next, the protection member 50 of this example will be described. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing the protection member 50 of the present example, in which FIG. 7A is a lower perspective view, and FIG. 7B is an upper perspective view. FIG. 8 is a lower perspective view showing a state in which the protection member 50 is mounted on the recording head cartridge 1.

  The protection member 50 includes a discharge port protection unit 51 that protects the surface (FIG. 6) on which the discharge port 7 of the recording head cartridge 1 is formed, and a substrate protection unit 52 that protects the electrical connection substrate 3 (FIG. 1). Are integrally formed. Further, a side wall protection portion 53 for protecting the weak portion of the recording cartridge 1, that is, the side wall root 30 (FIG. 1) in this example, is also integrally formed.

  The discharge port protecting portion 51 is formed so as to cover the surface on which the discharge port 7 of the recording head cartridge 1 is formed at the time of mounting, and a grid-like rib 54 is provided on the inner surface facing the surface. Yes. Thereby, even if ink unexpectedly flows out from the ejection port 7, the ink can be held by the meniscus force of the lattice-like ribs 54.

  The substrate protection part 52 is formed so as to extend integrally from the discharge port protection part 51 and is formed so as to cover the electrical connection substrate 3 when mounted.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, the protection member 50 attached to the recording head cartridge 1 covers one side surface and the lower surface of the recording head cartridge 1. Here, it can be easily understood from the above description that one side surface means the surface on which the electrical connection substrate 3 is provided, and the lower surface means the surface on which the discharge port 7 is provided.

  Further, as described above, the gap 8 (FIG. 1) is provided between the electrical connection substrate 3 and the cartridge body 5. Therefore, the pair of leg portions 55 connected to the substrate protection portion 52 and the discharge port protection portion 51 are provided with a bent portion 55a so that the protection member 50 is arranged substantially along one side surface of the recording head cartridge 1. It has become.

  The side wall protection part 53 is provided at the tip of a pair of arms 56 extending from the end of the discharge port protection part 51, and has a cantilever structure. In addition, a gap is formed between the side wall protecting portion 53 and the side wall root 30 of the recording head cartridge 1 at the time of mounting. Therefore, even if the arm 56 of the side wall protection portion 53 is bent due to an impact such as dropping, it is prevented from being transmitted to the side wall root 30 (FIG. 1) of the recording head cartridge 1.

  The protective member 50 is integrally provided with a first engaging portion 60 and a second engaging portion 61 as engaging portions for engaging with the recording head cartridge 1. The first engaging portion 60 is formed at the upper portion of the substrate protection portion 52, that is, at both ends opposite to the side where the finger catching portion 62 is provided, and engages with the substantially upper surface of the cartridge body 5. The second engaging portion 61 is provided in a cantilever manner with a space between the two arms 56 constituting the side wall protecting portion 53.

  Thereby, even if the arm 56 of the side wall protection part 53 is bent due to an impact caused by dropping or the like, the impact applied to the second locking part 61 is alleviated. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the engaging portions 60 and 61 of the protection member 50 from coming off due to an impact, and more reliably protect the recording head cartridge 1 from the impact and prevent damage.

  In this example, the bottom surface of the finger hook portion 62 (the surface opposite to the surface on which the finger is placed during use) functions as the first support portion 70, and the cantilever portion of the second engagement portion 61 is It functions as a second support part. Further, the bottom surface of the side wall protection part 53 functions as the third support part 72. In the following description, the first support portion 70 is the “first rotation support portion 70”, the second support portion 71 is the “second rotation support portion 71”, and the third support portion 72 is the “horizontal support portion”. 72 "to distinguish. These support portions are arranged so that a straight line connecting the first rotation support portion 70 and the second rotation support portion 71 and a straight line connecting the two horizontal support portions 72 are orthogonal to each other.

  Next, a case where the recording head cartridge 1 is mounted on the carriage unit 20 with the protective member 50 mounted will be described.

  FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a recording apparatus 80 on which the recording head cartridge 1 is mounted. FIG. 9B is an enlarged perspective view of the carriage unit 20 shown in FIG. 9A when the recording head cartridge 1 with the protection member 50 attached is to be mounted. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the process.

  As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, when the recording head cartridge 1 to which the protection member 50 is attached is to be mounted on the carriage unit 20, the first rotation support portion 70 (FIG. 7) of the protection member 50 is It faces the paper feed side of the recording device 80. The second rotation support portion 71 (FIG. 7) faces the paper discharge side.

  Next, the case where the mounting operation is continued as it is will be described. As described above, FIGS. 10A to 10E are side views when the recording head cartridge 2 is to be mounted while the protective member 50 is mounted. In these drawings, for convenience, the carriage unit 20 is shown in a cutout state.

As shown in FIG. 10A, the recording head cartridge 1 is to be mounted while the protective member 50 is mounted on the carriage unit 20 of the recording apparatus 80. Then, the bottom surface (horizontal support portion 72) of the side wall protection portion 53 of the protection member 50 located outside the projection surface of the carriage unit 20 comes into contact with the horizontal portion 20a of the carriage unit 20 (in the drawing, the horizontal portion of the carriage unit 20). 20a is indicated by a broken line). Also,
Similarly, the inclined bottom surface (first rotation support portion 70) of the finger hook portion 62 of the protection member 50 located outside the projection surface of the carriage unit 20 contacts the horizontal portion of the carriage unit 20 on the paper feed side. That is, since a total of three points of the first rotation support part 70 and the two horizontal support parts 72 are in contact with the carriage unit 20, the recording head cartridge 1 cannot be mounted on the carriage unit 20. Further, the posture of the recording head cartridge 1 at the time of erroneous mounting is regulated.

  When the mounting lever 22 is lowered and the mounting operation is performed, the mounting lever 22 comes into contact with the upper portion of the protection member 50 as shown in FIG. As a result, the horizontal support portion 72 of the protection member 50 moves rearward (in the direction of the arrow in the figure) using the horizontal portion 20a of the carriage unit 20 as a guide. As a result, the second rotation support portion 71 of the protection member 50 contacts the convex portion 20b of the carriage unit.

  When the mounting operation is further continued, as shown in FIG. 10C, a rotational moment N acts on the recording head cartridge 1 on which the protective member 50 is mounted. This is because the mounting force F1 when the mounting lever 22 contacts the upper part of the protection member 50 and the reaction force F2 generated when the second rotation support portion 71 of the protection member 50 contacts the convex portion 20b. This is because they are not in the same line. For this reason, the recording head cartridge 1 to which the protection member 50 is attached starts rotating, and the horizontal portion 20a of the carriage unit 20 and the horizontal support portion 72 of the protection member 50 are separated from each other. Subsequently, since the first rotation support portion 70 and the second rotation support portion 71 are in contact with the carriage unit 20, the recording head cartridge 1 operates while drawing a substantially arc-shaped locus.

  When the mounting operation is further continued, as shown in FIGS. 10D to 10E, the first rotation support portion 70 and the second rotation support portion 71 perform the rotation operation while coming into contact with the carriage unit 20.

  As described above, when the user tries to mount the recording head cartridge in the recording apparatus without removing the protective member, the support portion comes into contact with the carriage unit and the posture of the recording head cartridge is restricted. Therefore, the situation where the recording head cartridge is pushed in an unreasonable posture is avoided, and the recording apparatus and the recording head cartridge are prevented from being destroyed.

  Further, when a force is applied to mount the recording head cartridge on the recording apparatus without removing the protective member, the support portion is pressed against the contact surface to generate a reaction force. Then, a predetermined moment is generated by the force to mount the recording head cartridge and the reaction force, the cartridge is displaced, and the user can be warned of erroneous mounting.

  In this example, the card edge contact type electrical connection board 3 is adopted, so the first rotation support part 70 and the finger hook part 62 of the protection member 50 are shared, but they are provided separately. Also good.

FIG. 3 is a lower perspective view of a recording head cartridge to which the protection member of the present invention is attached. FIG. 2 is a side view of the recording head cartridge shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a carriage unit on which a recording head cartridge is mounted. FIG. 4 is a side view of a carriage unit on which a recording head cartridge is mounted. (A) is a bottom view of a carriage unit on which a recording head cartridge is mounted, and (b) is a partially enlarged view. (A) is a top view which shows the discharge port formation surface of a recording head, (b) is the same enlarged view. It is a figure which shows an example of the protection member of this invention, (a) is a downward perspective view, (b) is an upper perspective view. FIG. 8 is a lower perspective view of the recording head cartridge to which the protection member shown in FIG. 7 is attached. FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of a recording apparatus on which the recording head cartridge shown in FIG. 1 is mounted, and FIG. 2B is an enlarged view around a carriage unit shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional side view illustrating a process in which a recording head cartridge with a protective member is mounted on a carriage unit. (A) is a perspective view of a recording head cartridge, (b) is a perspective view of a conventional protective member.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording head cartridge 20 Carriage unit 50 Protection member 60 1st engaging part 61 2nd engaging part 62 Fingering part 70 1st rotation support part 71 2nd rotation support part 72 Horizontal support part 80 Recording apparatus

Claims (4)

  A protective member that can be attached to and detached from a recording head cartridge mounted on a carriage unit of a recording apparatus, and has a plurality of support portions, and the support portions are arranged in a state in which the recording head cartridge is attached to the recording head cartridge. A protective member that contacts the carriage unit when mounted on the carriage unit.   2. The recording head cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of engaging portions that can be engaged and disengaged, wherein at least one of the engaging portions also functions as the support portion. Protective member.   The protective member according to claim 1, wherein a finger hook portion for hooking a finger when removing the recording head cartridge from the recording head cartridge protrudes, and the finger hook portion also functions as the support portion. .   4. The plurality of support portions are arranged so that a straight line connecting the two support portions intersects with a straight line connecting the other two support portions. The protective member in any one.

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