JP2011018400A - Information equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide information equipment with which recovery of a waste liquid is smoothly performed, and which is able to continue discharge processing to a plate-shaped medium for a long period of time always in a good condition.SOLUTION: A printer 1 has: a medium tray 45 to support a disk-shaped medium; a tray driving mechanism 100 to transfer the medium tray 45; an inkjet head to discharge ink to the medium on the medium tray 45 and to perform printing; a head maintenance mechanism 81 to aspirate the ink from the inkjet head; and a waste ink absorption tank 85 which is attachably and detachably mounted to a case 2 between the tray driving mechanism 100 and the head maintenance mechanism 81 and contains ink recovered with the head maintenance mechanism 81.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information device that performs processing on a plate-shaped medium.

  In recent years, information devices that perform printing processing on the label surface of a medium such as a CD or DVD are being used (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-202379 A

An information device equipped with a printer function that discharges ink from the ink nozzles of the print head and prints on the label surface of the medium has a maintenance mechanism that sucks ink from the ink nozzles of the print head to prevent clogging. At this time, the waste ink collected from the ink nozzles is collected in a waste ink tank.
However, when printing is performed for a long time, the amount of waste ink also increases. For this reason, the waste ink stored in the waste ink tank reaches an allowable amount, and it may be difficult to send the waste ink to the waste ink tank. For this reason, some waste ink tanks can be replaced. However, if a replaceable waste ink tank is installed, there is a problem that information equipment becomes large.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an information device that can smoothly recover waste liquid, can continuously perform liquid discharge processing on a plate-like medium for a long period of time, and can be kept small in size. It is to provide.

The information device of the present invention capable of solving the above problems is
A tray capable of supporting a plate-like medium and movably supported between a delivery position and a discharge position;
A drive mechanism for moving the tray;
An ejection head for ejecting liquid to the medium supported by the tray;
A head maintenance mechanism for sucking liquid from the ejection head;
And a waste liquid tank that is detachably attached to the apparatus main body between the drive mechanism and the head maintenance mechanism and stores the liquid collected by the head maintenance mechanism.

According to the information device having this configuration, the waste liquid tank is detachably disposed with respect to the apparatus main body between the drive mechanism that moves the tray and the head maintenance mechanism that sucks the liquid from the discharge head. Can be easily replaced.
As a result, when the waste liquid stored in the waste liquid tank reaches or near the upper limit of the allowable amount, the waste liquid can be recovered smoothly by replacing the waste liquid tank, and the plate-like medium is always in good condition. In contrast, the liquid discharge process can be continued for a long time. Further, since the tray driving mechanism, the waste liquid tank, and the head maintenance mechanism are arranged in a plane, the height of the information device does not increase due to the waste liquid tank.

In the information device of the present invention, a storage unit that stores the medium and a transport mechanism that holds and transports the medium between the storage unit and the tray are disposed on the front side of the apparatus main body. ,
It is preferable that the waste liquid tank is disposed on the rear side of the apparatus main body and is detachable from the rear portion of the apparatus main body.
According to the information device having this configuration, the waste liquid tank disposed on the rear side of the apparatus main body can be easily replaced from the rear part of the apparatus main body. In addition, since the storage unit and the transport mechanism are arranged on the front side of the apparatus main body, the storage unit and the transport mechanism do not get in the way when the waste liquid tank is replaced.

In the information device of the present invention, it is preferable that the waste liquid tank has a width dimension substantially equal to that of the tray and is accommodated in a space below the movement path of the tray.
According to the information apparatus having this configuration, the space inside the apparatus main body can be used effectively, and the apparatus main body can be downsized.

1 is an external perspective view of a printer (information device) according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a printer with each part open. It is the perspective view seen from the front upper side of the state which removed the case of the printer. It is a perspective view of the label printer part installed in the printer. It is a top view of the printer which shows the internal structure of a printer. It is a perspective view of the waste ink absorption tank which shows a waste ink absorption tank. It is a perspective view of the waste ink absorption tank from which the filter which shows a waste ink absorption tank was isolate | separated. It is a perspective view of the waste ink absorption tank from which the filter showing the waste ink absorption tank is removed. It is a perspective view of the filter removed from the waste ink absorption tank. It is the perspective view seen from the back side of the printer explaining the structure of the back of a printer. It is the perspective view seen from the back side of the printer explaining the structure of the back of a printer. It is the perspective view seen from the back side of the printer explaining the structure of the back of a printer. It is the perspective view seen from the back side of the printer explaining the structure of the back of a printer. It is a perspective view of a cover attached to the back panel of a printer. It is a top view explaining the structure of a tank accommodation space and a waste ink tank. It is a top view explaining the structure of a tank accommodation space and a waste ink tank. It is a top view explaining the structure of a tank accommodation space and a waste ink tank. It is a perspective view of the inside of the printer for explaining the peripheral structure of the waste ink absorption tank. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the printer explaining the flow of the air in a printer. It is a flowchart explaining control of waste ink collection | recovery operation | movement.

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of an information device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, a printer (information device) 1 is a recording device that performs printing on a label surface of a disk-shaped medium (information recording medium) such as a CD or a DVD, and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped case ( (Device main body) 2 is provided. 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 (front view left) end of the case 2, and the lower end of the case 2 is placed so as to protrude downward. Legs 6 for placement are provided on the left and right sides. A drawer mechanism 7 is provided at a position between the left and right legs 6.

The opening / closing door 3 on the left side (right in front view) of the apparatus opens and closes the opening 8 on the front side of the printer 1 as shown in FIG. The open / close door 3 is a door that opens and closes when, for example, an unprinted medium M is set through the opening 8 or when the printed medium M is taken out through the opening 8.
Further, the opening / closing door 4 on the right side (front view left) side is for opening and closing when the ink cartridge 12 of the label printer (liquid ejecting apparatus) 11 shown in FIG. 3 is replaced. When the opening / closing door 4 is opened, a cartridge mounting portion 14 having a plurality of cartridge holders 13 arranged in the vertical direction is exposed.

  Inside the case 2 of the printer 1, a medium stacker 21 as a medium storage unit capable of stacking a plurality of sheets (for example, 50 sheets) of unprinted media M that have not been printed, and a plurality of sheets (for example, 50 sheets). ) And the medium stacker 22 as a medium storage unit for storing the printed medium M are arranged vertically so that the central axes of the medium M are the same. Each of the medium stacker 21 and the medium stacker 22 is detachable from a predetermined position.

  The upper medium stacker 21 is provided with a pair of left and right arc-shaped frame plates 24 and 25, thereby allowing the medium M to be received from the upper side and accommodated in a coaxially stacked state. The operation of storing or replenishing the medium M in the medium stacker 21 can be easily performed by opening the door 3 and taking out the medium stacker 21.

  The lower medium stacker 22 has the same structure and includes a pair of left and right arc-shaped frame plates 27 and 28. Thus, a stacker that can receive the medium M from the upper side and can be accommodated in a state of being stacked coaxially is configured.

  A medium transport mechanism (transport mechanism) 31 is disposed behind the medium stacker 21 and the medium stacker 22. The medium transport mechanism 31 has a vertical guide shaft 35 that is stretched vertically between the main body frame 30 and the top plate 33 of the chassis 32. A transport arm 36 is supported on the vertical guide shaft 35 in a state where it can be raised and lowered and turned. The transport arm 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.

  A carriage 62 (see FIG. 4) of the label printer 11 is movably disposed in the lower part on the rear side of the upper and lower stackers 21 and 22 and the medium transport mechanism 31. Further, the label printer 11 is a medium tray (tray) that can support the medium M and can move between a printing position where the label printing can be performed on the label surface of the medium M and a medium delivery position where the medium M is received or delivered. ) 45.

  FIG. 3 shows a state in which the medium tray 45 of the label printer 11 is at the medium delivery position on the near side. 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 60, and these ink cartridges. 12 is mounted on each cartridge holder 13 of the cartridge mounting section 14 from the front.

  Here, a gap is formed between the pair of left and right frame plates 24 and 25 of the medium stacker 21 and between the pair of left and right frame plates 27 and 28 of the medium stacker 22 so that the transport arm 36 of the medium transport mechanism 31 can move up and down. Has been. Further, a gap is opened between the upper and lower medium stackers 21 and the medium stacker 22 so that the transport arm 36 of the medium transport mechanism 31 rotates horizontally and can be positioned directly above the medium stacker 22. Further, the transport arm 36 of the medium transport mechanism 31 is lowered so that the medium tray 45 at the medium transfer position can be accessed.

  The transport arm 36 of the medium transport mechanism 31 can be lowered to the lower side. Below the medium delivery position of the medium tray 45, there is a guide hole 65 (see FIG. 2) through which the medium M released by the transport arm 36 descending to this position passes. A guide hole 65 in which a stacker is mounted is formed.

  The drawer mechanism 7 has a drawer tray 70 that can be pulled out of the main body frame 30 to be opened and housed and closed under the main body frame 30. The drawer tray 70 is provided with a stacker portion 71 that is recessed downward. When the drawer tray 70 is in the storage position (closed position), the stacker portion 71 is positioned below the guide hole 65, and the center portion of the stacker portion 71 is the same as the central axis of the medium tray 45 in the delivery position. Are arranged as follows. The stacker unit 71 receives the medium M put through the guide hole 65 and accommodates the medium M in a relatively small amount (for example, about 5 to 10 sheets). The stacker unit 71 can receive the medium M from the upper side and can be accommodated in a state of being stacked coaxially.

  A medium stacker (separate stacker) 72 that contains a larger amount of medium M than the stacker unit 71 is detachable from the stacker unit 71 and the guide hole 65 of the drawer tray 70 in the stored state (see FIG. 3). . The medium stacker 72 is also provided with a pair of arc-shaped frame plates 73 and 74, so that a plurality of sheets (for example, 50 sheets) can be accommodated in a state where the medium M is received from above and stacked coaxially. . A gap is formed between the pair of arcuate frame plates 73 and 74 so that the transport arm 36 of the medium transport mechanism 31 can be moved up and down. In addition, a handle 75 is provided on the upper side of one of the frame plates 74 to be gripped by the user when attaching and detaching.

Therefore, if the medium stacker 72 is attached, the unprinted medium M can be taken out from the lower medium stacker 22 and printed by the label printer 11 and then stored in the medium stacker 72.
Further, for example, the upper medium stacker 21 and the lower medium stacker 22 are loaded with the maximum number (50 sheets + 50 sheets) of unprinted medium M, and the total number of lower medium stackers 22 (50 sheets). ) Media M are sequentially processed and accommodated in the media stacker 72, and then all the media M (50 sheets) of the upper media stacker 21 are sequentially processed to make the lower media stacker 22 empty. To house. In this way, the maximum number of sheets (50 sheets + 50 sheets) of media M in the upper medium stacker 21 and the lower medium stacker 22 is processed at one time (batch processing mode).

  Further, when the medium stacker 72 is removed, the unprinted medium M is taken out from the upper medium stacker 21 or the lower medium stacker 22 and printed by the label printer 11, and then the drawer tray in the storage state is stored. 70 stacker portions 71 can be accommodated.

  Thereby, the medium M that has been processed can be taken out from the stacker unit 71 by pulling out the drawer tray 70 thereafter. That is, even during processing on the medium M, it is possible to take out one sheet at a time or a plurality of sheets in order from the medium M that has been processed with the open / close door 3 closed (external discharge mode).

  Here, the medium M is transferred to the medium stackers 21 and 22, the stacker unit 71 of the drawer tray 70 (or the medium stacker 72), and the label printer 11 by the combined operation of raising and lowering the conveyance arm 36 of the medium conveyance mechanism 31 and turning left and right. Are appropriately conveyed between the medium trays 45.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the label printer 11 includes a carriage 62 having an inkjet head (ejection head) 61 provided with ink ejection nozzles (not shown). As shown in FIG. Then, it reciprocates in the horizontal direction along the carriage guide shaft 66. The carriage 62 is moved by a driving force of a carriage motor (not shown).

  The label printer 11 includes an ink supply mechanism 60 having a cartridge mounting portion 14 to which the ink cartridge 12 is mounted. The ink supply mechanism 60 has a vertical structure, and is erected on the main body frame 30 of the printer 1 and arranged in the vertical direction. One end of a flexible ink supply tube 63 is connected to the ink supply mechanism 60, and the other end of the ink supply tube 63 is connected to a carriage 62.

The ink in the ink cartridge 12 mounted on the ink supply mechanism 60 is supplied to the carriage 62 via the ink supply tube 63, and passes through a damper unit and a back pressure adjustment unit (not shown) provided on the carriage 62. The ink is supplied to the inkjet head 61 and discharged from an ink nozzle (not shown).
The ink supply mechanism 60 is provided with a pressurizing mechanism 64 so as to dispose a main portion on the upper portion thereof. The pressurizing mechanism 64 pressurizes the inside of the ink cartridge 12 by sending out compressed air so that the ink is supplied. The ink stored in the ink pack in the cartridge 12 is sent out.

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

The ink sucked by the waste ink suction pump 83 of the head maintenance mechanism 81 is sent to a waste ink absorption tank (waste liquid tank) 85.
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 vent holes 87.
A waste ink receiving portion 89 is provided below the head maintenance mechanism 81 so as to receive the ink dropped from the head maintenance mechanism 81 and absorb it by an absorbent material.

As shown in FIG. 5, the label printer 11 includes a tray driving mechanism 100 that moves the medium tray 45 between a printing position (discharged position) and a medium delivery position.
The medium tray 45 moved by the tray driving mechanism 100 has a guide shaft 102 extending horizontally in the front-rear direction of the apparatus passing through a slide bearing 101 provided on one side of the medium tray 45 and the other side of the medium tray 45 of the apparatus. It is slidably mounted on a guide rail 103 extending in the front-rear direction. Accordingly, the medium tray 45 is supported by the guide shaft 102 and the guide rail 103 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction of the apparatus.

  In the tray drive mechanism 100, a timing belt 106 that is driven by a drive motor 105 is stretched along the guide shaft 102, and the timing belt 106 is fixed to the medium tray 45. As a result, the medium tray 45 is moved in the front-rear direction of the apparatus when the timing belt 106 is driven by the drive motor 105. The guide shaft 102 and the tray drive mechanism 100 are attached to an auxiliary frame 107 that stands on the main body frame 30. In particular, a drive motor 105, a timing belt 106, a pulley (not shown) that stretches the timing belt 106, an encoder for detecting the amount of movement of the timing belt 106, and the like are attached to the auxiliary frame 107, so that waste ink is absorbed. The space of the tank 85 can be made large.

  The above-described waste ink absorption tank 85 is disposed on the rear side of the printer 1, and the medium stackers 21 and 22, a stacker such as the stacker unit 71 (or the medium stacker 72) of the drawer tray 70, and a medium that conveys the medium M. The transport mechanism 31 is disposed on the front side of the printer 1.

  The waste ink absorption tank 85 has a width that is substantially the same as that of the medium tray 45 that conveys the medium M to be printed, and is a head disposed on one side of the case 2 of the printer 1. It is disposed in a tank accommodating space 90 between the maintenance mechanism 81 and the tray driving mechanism 100 disposed on the other side. Then, the medium tray 45 moves in the front-rear direction of the case 2 above the waste ink absorption tank 85. That is, the waste ink absorption tank 85 is stored in a tank storage space 90 that is a space formed on the lower side of the movement path of the medium tray 45.

As shown in FIG. 6, the waste ink absorption tank 85 is provided with a filter 111 for capturing ink mist at the rear end thereof.
As shown in FIG. 7, the filter 111 is configured to be detachable from the waste ink absorption tank 85.
The filter 111 has a mounting portion 111a at its lower end. The mounting portion 111a has a pair of slide pieces 113 projecting inward and an engaging claw 115 having a claw portion 114 projecting outward.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a detachable portion 85 a is provided on the upper surface side at the rear end of the waste ink absorption tank 85. The detachable portion 85a has an engaging groove 118 and a locking portion 119. The engagement groove 118 is open on the side on both sides. Then, the filter 111 is pushed from behind the waste ink absorption tank 85 while engaging the slide piece 113 with the engagement groove 118 of the waste ink absorption tank 85. Then, the claw portion 114 of the locking claw 115 of the filter 111 is locked to the locking portion 119 of the waste ink absorption tank 85, so that the filter 111 is in a state of standing on the rear end of the waste ink absorption tank 85. It is attached.

  Further, the claw portion 114 of the locking claw 115 of the filter 111 locked to the locking portion 119 of the waste ink absorption tank 85 is removed from the locking portion 119, and the filter 111 is slid to the rear of the waste ink absorption tank 85. The filter 111 is removed from the waste ink absorption tank 85 by pulling it out. The locking position between the locking claw 115 and the locking portion 119 is not exposed to the outside when the waste ink absorption tank 85 is attached to the case 2. Therefore, the filter 111 cannot be removed from the waste ink absorption tank 85 when the waste ink absorption tank 85 is attached to the case 2.

  As shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of ventilation holes 116 are formed in the filter 111 that is detachably attached to the waste ink absorption tank 85, and the nonwoven fabric that captures the ink mist so as to close these ventilation holes 116. A mist-capturing material 117 composed mainly of is attached.

  Here, the usable period until the filter 111 becomes clogged and reaches the end of the service life is set to be longer than the usable period until the waste ink in the waste ink absorption tank 85 reaches the upper limit of the allowable amount and reaches the end of the service life. . Therefore, the usable period of the filter 111 is prevented from ending before the usable period of the waste ink absorption tank 85 ends. The lifetime due to the clogging of the filter 111 is determined based on the fact that the wind speed of the fan 153 and the harmful effects caused by the ink mist are confirmed by experiments, and the wind speed is low without causing any harmful effects. In the present embodiment, a serious problem is that when the filter 111 is clogged and falls below a predetermined wind speed, a transmission type encoder (not shown) for detecting the position of the carriage 62 is contaminated by ink mist, and the carriage 62 Disturbance of printing due to erroneous position detection occurs. The clogging state of the filter 111 changes according to the use state, but the use time is set longer than the usable period of the waste ink absorption tank 85 under any conditions.

  The waste ink absorption tank 85 is provided with an IC chip (recording unit) 120 on the front side of one side. Usage information of the waste ink absorption tank 85 is read from and written to the IC chip 120 by a reader / writer 130 described later. The usage information is the usage history of the waste ink absorption tank 85, the number of prints on the medium M since the waste ink absorption tank 85 is mounted, the ink discharge amount in the inkjet head 61, the head for the inkjet head 61. For example, the number of ink suction operations in the maintenance mechanism 81.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the case 2 of the printer 1 has an opening 121 in the back panel 2a covering the back surface thereof. In the opening 121, a hood 122 attached to the rear panel 2 a from the inside of the case 2 is disposed on the upper side of the opening 121. An attachment / detachment port 123 is provided. A waste ink absorption tank 85 can be inserted into and removed from the tank attaching / detaching port 123. That is, when the waste ink absorption tank 85 is inserted and pushed into the tank attachment / detachment port 123 as shown in FIG. 11, the waste ink absorption tank 85 is stored in the tank accommodating space 90 in the case 2 as shown in FIG. Is housed in.

  Further, as described above, when the waste ink absorption tank 85 is inserted from the tank attachment / detachment opening 123 and stored in the tank storage space 90, the filter 111 connected to the waste ink absorption tank 85 is opposed to the hood 122 in the opening 121. Placed in position. Note that only the waste ink absorption tank 85 may be mounted in the tank storage space 90, and then the filter 111 may be mounted on the waste ink absorption tank 85.

  As shown in FIG. 13, a cover 124 made of a metal plate that closes the opening 121 is attached to the back panel 2 a, and this cover 124 allows the rear of the waste ink absorption tank 85 attached to the case 2. The end and the filter 111 are covered. As shown in FIG. 14, the cover 124 is formed with attachment pieces 126 having holes 125 on both sides, and a plurality of air holes 127 are formed at positions facing the filter 111. .

The back panel 2a has screw holes 128 formed on both sides of the opening 121 (see FIG. 10). A screw 129 is inserted into the hole 125 of the mounting piece 126 of the cover 124, and the screw 129 is inserted into the hole 129. By screwing into the screw hole 128 of the back panel 2a, the cover 124 is fixed to the back panel 2a (see FIG. 13).
Then, by attaching the cover 124 to the back panel 2 a and closing the opening 121, leakage of electromagnetic waves generated inside the printer 1 from the opening 121 is suppressed.

  As shown in FIG. 15, in the tank storage space 90 in which the waste ink absorption tank 85 is mounted, slide rails 131 extending along the insertion / extraction direction of the waste ink absorption tank 85 are provided on both sides thereof. As shown in FIG. 8, the slide rail 131 is slidably engaged with slide grooves 132 formed on both sides of the waste ink absorption tank 85 so that the height of the waste ink absorption tank 85 is increased. Specify the position in the direction and lateral direction.

  Further, a pressing portion 135 is provided on the main body frame 30 at one side of the tank housing space 90. The pressing portion 135 is provided at a support frame 136 fixed to the main body frame 30, a U-shaped plate spring 137 with one end fixed to the support frame 136, and the other end of the plate spring 137, and is in the vertical direction. And a roller 138 supported so as to be rotatable about an axis. The pressing portion 135 having such a configuration is slidably engaged with a control groove 141 formed on the upper side of the slide groove 132 on one side surface of the waste ink absorption tank 85, and the roller 138 is controlled by the leaf spring 137. It is urged | biased so that it can roll at the bottom part. In addition, the control groove 141 is formed with an inclined surface 141a that is gradually inclined inward toward the rear side on the rear end side.

Further, a movement restricting portion 145 is formed in the tank housing space 90 on the front side in the mounting direction of the waste ink absorption tank 85. A front portion of the waste ink absorption tank 85 can come into contact with the movement restricting portion 145.
The tank storage space 90 is provided with a reader / writer 130 at one side on the front side in the mounting direction of the waste ink absorption tank 85. The reader / writer 130 reads / writes usage information from / to the IC chip 120 provided in the waste ink absorption tank 85. The control unit can easily determine the replacement time of the waste ink absorption tank 85 from the usage information of the IC chip 120 read by the reader / writer 130.

  When the waste ink absorption tank 85 is inserted into the tank storage space 90 as described above from the rear side of the tank storage space 90 in order to mount the waste ink absorption tank 85, first, as shown in FIG. Engages with the slide groove 132 of the waste ink absorption tank 85. As a result, the waste ink absorption tank 85 is guided along the slide rail 131.

  Further, when the waste ink absorption tank 85 is pushed into the tank housing space 90, the pressing portion 135 is engaged with the control groove 141 and the roller 138 is pressed against the control groove 141 by the leaf spring 137. Thus, the waste ink absorption tank 85 is guided into the tank accommodating space 90 while being held by the roller 138 that is pressed and rolled. When the waste ink absorption tank 85 is further pushed in, the waste ink needle 146 to which the waste ink is supplied is inserted into the waste ink supply port 147.

  Thereafter, when the roller 138 reaches the inclined surface 141a of the control groove 141, the waste ink absorption tank 85 is moved to the movement restricting portion 145 by the urging force of the leaf spring 102 as shown in FIG. It is drawn into the tank housing space 90 until it abuts. As a result, the waste ink absorption tank 85 is accommodated in the tank accommodating space 90. After the waste ink absorption tank 85 is installed in the tank storage space 90, the cover 124 is attached to the back panel 2a to close the opening 121.

  Further, when removing the waste ink absorption tank 85 mounted in the tank accommodation space 90, first, the cover 124 is removed, and then the waste ink absorption tank 85 may be pulled out against the urging force of the leaf spring 137.

Here, as described above, the locking position between the locking claw 115 and the locking portion 119 is not exposed to the outside when the waste ink absorption tank 85 is attached to the case 2. Therefore, in a state where the waste ink absorption tank 85 is attached to the case 2, the filter 111 cannot be removed from the waste ink absorption tank 85.
Therefore, when the waste ink absorption tank 85 is removed from the case 2, the filter 111 is integrally removed from the case 2 together with the waste ink absorption tank 85. That is, when the waste ink absorption tank 85 is replaced, both the waste ink absorption tank 85 and the filter 111 are collectively removed.

  The hood 122 described above is integrally formed of resin, and is attached to the inner surface of the back panel 2a as shown in FIGS. The hood 122 has a partition wall 151 that forms an enlarged flow path 152 that gradually expands from the inside of the case 2 of the printer 1 toward the outside. A fan 153 is attached to the end of the partition wall 151. The height of the fan 153 serving as an internal air intake port is desirably provided at a moving position of the carriage 62 where mist is likely to be generated as shown in FIG. 19, and from the inkjet head 61 mounted on the carriage 62 toward the medium M. The ejected ink mist is easily moved to the filter 111 side by the fan 153 at the same height position.

  When the fan 153 is driven, air is drawn from the front side of the case 2 by the fan 153, sent to the enlarged flow path 152 of the hood 122 through the label printer 11, and released to the outside through the filter 111. Is done. As a result, ink mist generated during printing in the label printer 11 is carried together with air and is captured by the mist capturing material 117 of the filter 111.

  Here, since the hood 122 has an integrally formed structure having a partition wall 151 that forms an enlarged flow path 152 that gradually expands, diffusion of air containing ink mist is prevented. In addition, the flow velocity of air is slowed down in the enlarged flow path 152, whereby the ink mist capturing rate of the mist capturing material 117 of the filter 111 can be increased, and ink mist leaks to the outside of the case 2 of the printer 1. Can be prevented. Further, since the area on the outlet side is larger than the inlet side of the air by the enlarged flow path 152, the filter 111 having a large area can be used, and thereby the mist capturing material 117 of the filter 111 is clogged. It is possible to extend the life by increasing the time until the occurrence.

Further, a filter detector (detector) 157 for detecting the presence / absence of the filter 111 and a cover detector (detector) 158 for detecting the presence / absence of the cover 124 are provided on both sides of the hood 122 in the back panel 2a. .
The filter detector 157 is turned off when the filter 111 is attached, and turned on when the filter 111 is removed. Similarly, the cover detector 158 is turned off when the cover 124 is attached, and turned on when the cover 124 is removed.

  The filter detector 157 and the cover detector 158 are connected in parallel, and the control unit controls the waste ink suction pump 83 of the head maintenance mechanism 81 according to the ON / OFF state of the filter detector 157 and the cover detector 158. Is driven to control the waste ink collecting operation for sucking ink from the inkjet head 61 and feeding the waste ink to the waste ink absorption tank 85.

  Here, the control of the waste ink collecting operation in the control unit based on the ON / OFF state of the filter detector 157 and the cover detector 158 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When a waste ink recovery operation accompanying a head cleaning operation or an ink filling operation is commanded (step S01), it is determined whether both the filter detector 157 and the cover detector 158 are in an OFF state (step S02).

  Here, when both the filter detector 157 and the cover detector 158 are not in the OFF state (step S02: No), that is, when both or one of the filter detector 157 and the cover detector 158 are in the ON state, In order to make the user confirm the attachment state of the filter 111 and the cover 124, a display lamp provided on the operation surface 5 of the case 2 is displayed (step S06).

  When both the filter detector 157 and the cover detector 158 are in the OFF state (step S02: Yes), the waste ink suction pump 83 of the head maintenance mechanism 81 is driven to recover the waste ink accompanying the head cleaning operation and the ink filling operation. An operation is performed (step S03).

  During this waste ink recovery operation, it is always monitored whether both the filter detector 157 and the cover detector 158 are in the OFF state (step S04).

  Here, when both the filter detector 157 and the cover detector 158 are not in the OFF state (step S04: No), that is, both the filter detector 157 and the cover detector 158 are in the ON state. If this happens, the waste ink suction pump 83 of the head maintenance mechanism 81 is stopped to stop the waste ink collection operation associated with the head cleaning operation and ink filling operation (step S05).

  After the waste ink collecting operation is stopped, a display lamp provided on the operation surface 5 of the case 2 is displayed so that the user can confirm the attachment state of the filter 111 and the cover 124 (step S06).

  According to the above control, for example, even when the user removes the filter 111 or the cover 124 that is a pre-operation of the removal operation of the waste ink absorption tank 85, the ink collection operation by the head maintenance mechanism 81 is stopped. The Rukoto.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the waste ink absorption tank 85 is disposed between the tray driving mechanism 100 that moves the medium tray 45 and the head maintenance mechanism 81 that sucks ink from the inkjet head 61. Since the waste ink absorption tank 85 is detachable from the case 2, the waste ink absorption tank 85 can be easily replaced.
As a result, when the waste ink stored in the waste ink absorption tank 85 reaches or near the upper limit of the allowable amount, the waste ink absorption tank 85 is replaced so that the waste ink can be collected smoothly. Printing on the medium M can be continued for a long time in a good state.

  Further, the waste ink absorption tank 85 disposed on the rear side of the case 2 can be easily replaced from the rear part of the case 2. In addition, medium stackers 21 and 22 that are medium M storage units, a stacker unit 71 (or medium stacker 72) of the drawer tray 70, and a medium transport mechanism 31 that transports the medium M are disposed on the front side of the case 2. When the waste ink absorption tank 85 is replaced, the storage unit for the medium M and the medium transport mechanism 31 do not get in the way.

  Further, since the waste ink absorption tank 85 has a width dimension substantially the same as that of the medium tray 45 and is accommodated in a tank accommodating space 90 that is a space below the moving path of the medium tray 45, the space inside the case 2. Can be used effectively, and the case 2 can be downsized.

In the above embodiment, an information device including a printer that performs printing only on the label surface of the medium M has been described. However, as an information device to which the present invention can be applied, printing on the label surface of the medium M and the medium M are performed. It may be a publisher that records information on the data recording surface.
Further, the medium used in the present invention is not limited to a disk-shaped medium like the medium M of the above-described embodiment, and can be applied to a polygonal or elliptical medium such as a rectangular shape, Also, the recording method is not limited at all, such as an optical recording method and a magneto-optical recording method.

The discharge head includes electrodes such as a color material discharge head, an organic EL display, and an FED (surface emitting display) used for manufacturing a color filter such as a liquid crystal display, including the ink jet printer exemplified in the above embodiment. The present invention can also be applied to a liquid discharge apparatus using a liquid discharge head that discharges liquid, such as an electrode material discharge head used for formation, a bioorganic discharge head used for biochip manufacturing, a sample discharge apparatus as a precision pipette, and the like.
The concept of liquid includes gel-like, highly viscous, and solid mixed with a solvent, and the concept of ink includes water-based ink and oil-based ink.
In the above embodiment, the filter 111 is attached so as to stand on the waste ink absorption tank 85. However, the filter may be installed in parallel, or the waste ink tank may be installed vertically. It may be of the type inserted in

  1: printer (information device), 21, 22: medium stacker (container), 31: medium transport mechanism (transport mechanism), 45: medium tray (tray), 61: inkjet head (discharge head), 71: stacker section (Accommodating section), 72: medium stacker (accommodating section), 81: head maintenance mechanism, 85: waste ink absorption tank (waste liquid tank), 90: tank accommodating space (space), 100: tray driving mechanism (driving mechanism), M: Medium

Claims (3)

A tray capable of supporting a plate-like medium and movably supported between a delivery position and a discharge position;
A drive mechanism for moving the tray;
An ejection head for ejecting liquid to the medium supported by the tray;
A head maintenance mechanism for sucking liquid from the ejection head;
An information device comprising: a waste liquid tank that is detachably attached to the apparatus main body between the drive mechanism and the head maintenance mechanism and that stores the liquid collected by the head maintenance mechanism. The information device according to claim 1,
On the front side of the apparatus main body, a storage unit that stores the medium and a transport mechanism that holds and transports the medium between the storage unit and the tray are disposed,
An information device characterized in that the waste liquid tank is arranged on the rear side of the apparatus main body and is detachable from a rear portion of the apparatus main body. The information device according to claim 1 or 2,
The waste liquid tank has a width dimension substantially equal to that of the tray, and is accommodated in a space below the movement path of the tray.

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