JP2013163332A - Liquid ejection device, liquid storing container and liquid feeding system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid ejection device which facilitates a maintenance operation to a maintenance part for maintaining a liquid ejection head, and to provide a liquid storing container and a liquid feeding system.SOLUTION: An inkjet printer 11 includes: a case 12; a recording head 15 for ejecting ink to a sheet P; a maintenance unit 16 for maintaining the recording head 15; an opening 17 formed in the case 12, through which the maintenance unit 16 in the case 12 is maintained from the outside of the case 12; and a cartridge holder 20 disposed on a lower side of the maintenance unit 16 and capable of mounting thereto an ink cartridge 19 that can feed ink from a connection part 19a to which an ink feeding tube 23 for feeding ink is connected. The cartridge holder 20 is disposed so that the connection part 19a is positioned on a lower side than a lower end of the opening 17 while the ink cartridge 19 is mounted thereto.

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus such as an ink jet printer, a liquid container that can be attached to the liquid ejecting apparatus, and a liquid supply system that can supply a liquid to the liquid container.

  In general, inkjet printers are widely known as liquid ejecting apparatuses that eject liquid from a liquid ejecting head. In this printer, printing is performed by supplying ink to a recording head (liquid ejecting head) and ejecting the supplied ink from a nozzle of the recording head toward a sheet (target).

  When supplying ink to the recording head in such a printer, an ink cartridge (first liquid container) is detachably attached to a cartridge holder (attachment portion) provided at a predetermined position of the printer, and the ink cartridge is attached to the ink cartridge. A method of supplying the stored ink to the recording head is common.

  However, since the ink cartridge is mounted on a cartridge holder provided in a printer that is limited in terms of space, the ink capacity that can be accommodated is generally small. For this reason, the ink cartridge has to be frequently replaced, particularly when printing continuously on a large amount of paper.

  Therefore, conventionally, a printer including an additional ink tank (second liquid container) having a large capacity in addition to the ink cartridge has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1). In the printer of Patent Document 1, an additional ink tank is disposed on the right body portion, and an ink cartridge is detachably attached to the right body portion from the rear side.

  The additional ink tank and the ink cartridge are connected via a first supply tube (liquid supply tube). As a result, the ink in the additional ink tank is supplied to the ink cartridge via the first supply tube.

  In addition, a carriage that reciprocates in the left-right direction is disposed in a central body portion adjacent to the left side of the right body portion. The carriage is mounted with a printer head (liquid ejecting head) and a sub tank that temporarily stores ink and supplies it to the printer head. The sub tank is connected to the ink cartridge via the second supply tube. Thereby, the ink of the ink cartridge is supplied to the sub tank via the second supply tube. Printing is performed by discharging ink supplied from the sub tank to the printer head from the discharge nozzle of the printer head toward the print sheet.

  Such printers are usually equipped with a maintenance device (maintenance unit) for performing maintenance such as cleaning of the printer head for the purpose of eliminating clogging of the discharge nozzles.

JP 2011-42127 A

  By the way, in the printer of Patent Document 1, when the maintenance device is disposed between the additional ink tank and the ink cartridge in the right body portion, the first supply is performed when performing maintenance work such as component replacement or cleaning of the maintenance device. The tube becomes an obstacle. For this reason, there exists a problem that the maintenance operation | work of a maintenance apparatus will become difficult.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such problems existing in the prior art. An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus, a liquid container, and a liquid supply system that can easily perform maintenance work of a maintenance unit for performing maintenance of the liquid ejecting head.

  In order to achieve the above object, a liquid ejecting apparatus according to an aspect of the invention includes a case, a liquid ejecting head disposed in the case and capable of ejecting liquid to a target, the liquid ejecting head disposed in the case, A maintenance section for performing maintenance of the head, an opening formed in the case for performing maintenance of the maintenance section from outside the case, and disposed below the maintenance section in the case; A mounting portion to which the liquid container capable of supplying the liquid can be mounted from a connection portion to which a liquid supply pipe for supplying the liquid is connected, and the mounting portion has the liquid container mounted on the mounting portion. In this state, the connection part of the liquid container is arranged to be located below the lower end part of the opening.

  According to the present invention, since the connecting portion of the liquid container is positioned below the lower end portion of the opening in a state where the liquid container is mounted on the mounting portion, the maintenance operation of the maintenance portion is performed from the opening. In this case, the liquid supply pipe is prevented from becoming an obstacle. Therefore, it is possible to easily perform the maintenance work of the maintenance unit for performing the maintenance of the liquid ejecting head.

  In the liquid ejecting apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, the liquid container can be inserted into and removed from the mounting portion, and the connection portion of the liquid container that is mounted on the mounting portion is connected to the mounting portion. The liquid container is mounted such that the liquid container is located on the side of the mounting direction of the liquid container with respect to the mounting portion relative to the opening.

  According to the present invention, since the connecting portion of the liquid container mounted on the mounting portion is located on the side of the removal direction with respect to the mounting portion of the liquid container relative to the opening portion, the liquid supply pipe is positioned away from the opening portion. Can be easily routed. Therefore, when the maintenance operation of the maintenance unit is performed from the opening, it is possible to further suppress the liquid supply pipe from becoming an obstacle.

  In the liquid ejecting apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, the lid includes a lid that covers the opening so as to be openable and closable, and when the lid is opened from the closed state, the lid is the mounting portion of the liquid container. Move to the insertion direction side.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the liquid supply pipe from becoming an obstacle when opening and closing the lid.
The liquid container of the present invention is a liquid container that can be mounted on the mounting portion of the liquid ejecting apparatus having the above-described configuration, and leads out the liquid stored in the connection portion and the liquid ejecting head side. And equipped with.

According to the present invention, the liquid supplied from the connecting portion to the liquid container can be supplied from the outlet portion to the liquid ejecting head side.
In the liquid supply system of the present invention, when the liquid container having the above-described configuration, the flexible liquid supply pipe, and the liquid container are used as the first liquid container, the first liquid container is provided via the liquid supply pipe. And a second liquid container capable of supplying the liquid to the liquid container.

  According to this invention, the liquid in the second liquid container can be supplied to the first liquid container via the liquid supply pipe.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an ink jet printer according to an embodiment. The cross-sectional schematic diagram of FIG. The principal part expansion schematic diagram of FIG. In the maintenance unit of the printer, (a) is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state when the cap is in a standby position that is separated from the recording head, and (b) is a state when the cap is in a contact position that contacts the recording head. FIG.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the liquid ejecting apparatus of the invention is embodied in an ink jet printer will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, an ink jet printer 11 as a liquid ejecting apparatus includes a case 12 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. In the case 12, a rectangular plate-shaped support base 13 that supports the paper P as a target is disposed. A carriage 14 is disposed on the upper side of the support base 13 so as to be capable of reciprocating in the scanning direction (left-right direction in FIG. 1). At the lower end of the carriage 14, a recording head 15 is supported as a liquid ejecting head capable of ejecting ink as liquid from a plurality of nozzles 15 a onto the paper P supported on the support base 13.

  A maintenance unit as a maintenance unit for performing maintenance such as cleaning of the recording head 15 at a position adjacent to the support base 13 in the scanning direction (movement direction) of the carriage 14 (a position on the right side of the support base 13 in FIG. 1). 16 is arranged.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an operator performs maintenance from the outside of the case 12 in a portion from the front wall 12a (the wall on the front side in FIG. 1) corresponding to the maintenance unit 16 in the case 12 to the upper wall 12b. An opening 17 for performing maintenance (part replacement, cleaning, etc.) of the unit 16 is formed. The case 12 is provided with a lid 18 that covers the opening 17 so as to be freely opened and closed.

  In other words, the lid 18 has an L-shaped plate shape, and the upper end thereof is rotatably supported on the upper wall 12b of the case 12 via the shaft 18a extending along the scanning direction of the carriage 14. Therefore, when opening and closing the opening 17 by the lid 18, the lid 18 rotates about the shaft 18 a.

  Below the opening 17 in the front wall 12a of the case 12, a plurality of (four in this embodiment) rectangular parallelepiped shapes as liquid containers (first liquid containers) that store ink to be supplied to the recording head 15. A cartridge holder 20 is provided as a mounting portion on which each of the ink cartridges 19 can be mounted individually. Each ink cartridge 19 contains ink of different colors.

  Each ink cartridge 19 can be inserted into and removed from the cartridge holder 20. In this case, the insertion / extraction direction of each ink cartridge 19 with respect to the cartridge holder 20 is orthogonal to the scanning direction of the carriage 14. Each ink cartridge 19 is attached to and detached from the cartridge holder 20 by being inserted and removed.

  In this case, the direction when each ink cartridge 19 is inserted (attached) into the cartridge holder 20 is the insertion direction A, and the direction when each ink cartridge 19 is removed from the cartridge holder 20 (pulled out and removed) is the removal direction B. It is said that. Therefore, when the lid 18 is changed from the closed state (the state shown in FIG. 1) to the opened state (the state shown in FIG. 2), the lid 18 passes through the upper side of each ink cartridge 19. The cartridge holder 20 is rotated (moved) toward the insertion direction A side.

  A rectangular plate-shaped mounting table 21 is provided at a position higher than the cartridge holder 20 on one side surface (right side surface in FIG. 1) of the case 12. On the mounting table 21, an external ink tank 22 is mounted as a second liquid container in which each ink to be supplied to each ink cartridge 19 is individually stored.

  Each ink capacity of the external ink tank 22 is set to be significantly larger than each ink capacity of each ink cartridge 19. The external ink tank 22 is opened to the atmosphere at the upper end portion, and at the lower end portion, upstream of a flexible ink supply tube 23 as a liquid supply tube for supplying each internal ink to each ink cartridge 19. The end side is connected.

  When each ink cartridge 19 is mounted in the cartridge holder 20, the end opposite to the insertion direction A side is exposed from the cartridge holder 20. A connecting portion 19 a is formed on the upper surface of the exposed portion of each ink cartridge 19. In this case, the connection portion 19a of each ink cartridge 19 is located below the lower end portion of the opening 17 (lid 18), and the direction B in which each ink cartridge 19 is removed from the cartridge holder 20 relative to the opening 17 is B. Located on the side.

  The connection end 19 a of each ink cartridge 19 is connected to the downstream end of each ink supply tube 23 whose upstream end is connected to the external ink tank 22. Accordingly, each ink in the external ink tank 22 is supplied into each ink cartridge 19 from each connection portion 19 a via each ink supply tube 23. In this case, each ink supply tube 23 is drawn below the lower end portion of the opening 17 (lid 18) so as not to prevent the lid 18 from being opened and closed.

In the present embodiment, each ink cartridge 19, the external ink tank 22, and each ink supply tube 23 constitute a liquid supply system.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the side wall (the right side wall in FIG. 3) on the insertion direction A side of the ink cartridge 19 serves as a lead-out portion for leading the ink in the ink cartridge 19 to the recording head 15 side. An ink outlet 24 is formed. The ink outlet 24 is provided with a valve (not shown) that is always closed. When the ink cartridge 19 is attached to the cartridge holder 20, a hollow ink supply needle 25 provided in the cartridge holder 20 is inserted into the ink outlet 24.

  The upstream end side of the ink supply channel 26 is connected to the proximal end side of the ink supply needle 25, while the downstream end side of the ink supply channel 26 is connected to the recording head via a sub tank (not shown) mounted on the carriage 14. 15 is connected. Then, when the ink supply needle 25 is inserted into the ink outlet 24, a valve (not shown) in a closed state is opened, and ink in the ink cartridge 19 passes through the ink outlet 24 and the ink supply needle. The ink flows from the through hole 25 a formed at the tip of the ink 25 into the ink supply needle 25.

  The ink flowing into the ink supply needle 25 is supplied to the recording head 15 via the ink supply channel 26 and the sub tank (not shown) by driving a pump (not shown) provided in the ink supply channel 26. Is done. The ink supplied to the recording head 15 is supported on the support 13 from each nozzle 15a by driving a piezoelectric element (not shown) provided in the recording head 15 while reciprocating the carriage 14. It is ejected toward the paper P. Thereby, printing of the paper P is performed.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the maintenance unit 16 includes a cap 30 having a bottomed square box shape and a lifting device 31 that lifts and lowers the cap 30. In the state where the carriage 14 is moved so that the recording head 15 faces the cap 30, the elevating device 31 contacts the recording head 15 so that the cap 30 surrounds each nozzle 15 a (FIG. 4B). And the cap 30 is moved up and down between a standby position where the cap 30 is separated from the recording head 15 (position shown in FIG. 4A).

  The upstream end side of the ink discharge tube 32 is connected to a through hole (not shown) provided in the bottom wall of the cap 30, while the downstream end side of the ink discharge tube 32 is inserted into the waste liquid tank 33. A tube pump 34 that sucks the ink discharge tube 32 from the cap 30 side, which is the upstream side, toward the waste liquid tank 33 side, which is the downstream side, is provided at an intermediate position of the ink discharge tube 32.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, negative pressure is generated in the cap 30 by driving the tube pump 34 with the cap 30 moved to the contact position. Due to the generation of the negative pressure, the thickened ink and bubbles in the recording head 15 are discharged from each nozzle 15a into the cap 30 as waste liquid. The waste liquid discharged into the cap 30 is collected in the waste liquid tank 33 through the ink discharge tube 32.

Next, an operation when performing maintenance of the maintenance unit 16 will be described.
The maintenance unit 16 needs to perform maintenance such as cleaning when the cap 30 and its surroundings are stained with ink, or replacing parts when parts such as the cap 30 deteriorate. When performing maintenance on the maintenance unit 16, first, the operator rotates the lid 18 so that the lid 18 is opened from the closed state.

  Then, by maintaining the lid 18 in the opened state, the operator can access the maintenance unit 16 from the outside of the case 12 through the opening 17. At this time, each ink supply tube 23 is routed below the lower end portion of the opening 17, and thus does not come into contact with the lid 18.

  Subsequently, the worker performs maintenance work of the maintenance unit 16 from the outside of the case 12 through the opening 17. At this time, since each ink supply tube 23 is routed below the lower end of the opening 17, each ink supply tube 23 does not hinder maintenance work. For this reason, the maintenance work of the maintenance unit 16 is smoothly performed by the operator.

  After the maintenance operation of the maintenance unit 16, the operator rotates the lid 18 so that the lid 18 is closed. At this time, each ink supply tube 23 is routed below the lower end portion of the opening 17 and therefore does not come into contact with the lid 18.

  As described above, since the connection portion 19a of each ink cartridge 19 is positioned below the lower end portion of the opening portion 17, each ink supply tube 23 can be opened / closed by the lid 18 or the maintenance unit 16 can be maintained. It can be easily routed without interfering with work.

As described above, according to the embodiment described in detail, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) In a state where each ink cartridge 19 is mounted in the cartridge holder 20, the connection portion 19 a of each ink cartridge 19 is positioned below the lower end portion of the opening 17. Therefore, each ink supply tube 23 can be easily routed so as not to interfere with the opening / closing operation of the lid 18 and the maintenance work of the maintenance unit 16. That is, when the worker performs the maintenance work of the maintenance unit 16 from the opening portion 17, it is possible to prevent each ink supply tube 23 from being an obstacle to the maintenance work. Therefore, the maintenance work of the maintenance unit 16 for performing the maintenance of the recording head 15 can be easily performed.

  (2) In a state where each ink cartridge 19 is mounted in the cartridge holder 20, the connecting portion 19 a of each ink cartridge 19 is positioned on the side of the opening direction B with respect to the cartridge holder 20 of each ink cartridge 19 from the opening 17. ing. For this reason, each ink supply tube 23 can be easily routed at a position away from the opening 17. That is, when the worker performs the maintenance work of the maintenance unit 16 from the opening portion 17, it can be further suppressed that each ink supply tube 23 becomes an obstacle to the maintenance work.

  (3) When the lid 18 is changed from the closed state to the opened state, the lid 18 rotates (moves) in the insertion direction A side with respect to the cartridge holder 20 of each ink cartridge 19. For this reason, when the lid 18 is opened and closed, it is possible to prevent each ink cartridge 19 from becoming an obstacle. In addition, since the lid 18 in the opened state is located on the side opposite to the operator, the lid 18 in the opened state does not hinder maintenance work of the maintenance unit 16 from the opening 17 by the operator. can do.

  (4) Each ink cartridge 19 includes a connecting portion 19a to which the ink supply tube 23 is connected, and an ink outlet 24 for leading the ink stored inside to the recording head 15 side. Therefore, the ink in the external ink tank 22 supplied from the connection portion 19a into each ink cartridge 19 can be smoothly supplied from the ink outlet 24 to the recording head 15 side.

(5) The external ink tank 22 and each ink cartridge 19 are connected to each other via an ink supply tube 23. Therefore, the ink in the external ink tank 22 can be smoothly supplied to each ink cartridge 19 via each ink supply tube 23.
(Example of change)
In addition, you may change the said embodiment as follows.

The external ink tank 22 may be arranged on the upper wall 12 b of the case 12 or may be arranged on a pedestal installed separately from the case 12.
-The lid 18 may be omitted.

  The connecting portion 19 a may be provided on the side surface or the bottom surface of the exposed portion of the ink cartridge 19 in the state where the ink cartridge 19 is mounted on the cartridge holder 20. In this case, in consideration of ink leakage, it is preferable to change the ink cartridge 19 to an ink pack type.

  The volume of the exposed portion of the ink cartridge 19 from the cartridge holder 20 in a state where the ink cartridge 19 is mounted on the cartridge holder 20 is within a range in which the connection portion 19a is located below the lower end portion of the opening portion 17. And you may make it enlarge.

  In the cartridge holder 20, the connecting portion 19 a of the ink cartridge 19 that is mounted in the cartridge holder 20 is not necessarily positioned on the side of the opening direction B of the ink cartridge 19 relative to the cartridge holder 20 with respect to the opening 17. It is not necessary to install the ink cartridge 19.

-Instead of the paper P, a plastic film, cloth, foil, or the like may be used as a target.
In the above embodiment, the liquid ejecting apparatus is embodied in the ink jet printer 11, but a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects or discharges liquid other than ink may be employed. The present invention can be used for various liquid ejecting apparatuses including a liquid ejecting head that ejects a minute amount of liquid droplets. In addition, a droplet means the state of the liquid discharged from the said liquid ejecting apparatus, and shall also include what pulls a tail in granular shape, tear shape, and thread shape. The liquid here may be any material that can be ejected by the liquid ejecting apparatus. For example, it may be in a state in which the substance is in a liquid phase, such as a liquid with high or low viscosity, sol, gel water, other inorganic solvents, organic solvents, solutions, liquid resins, liquid metals (metal melts ) And liquids as one state of the substance, as well as particles in which functional material particles made of solid materials such as pigments and metal particles are dissolved, dispersed or mixed in a solvent. Further, representative examples of the liquid include ink and liquid crystal as described in the above embodiment. Here, the ink includes general water-based inks and oil-based inks, and various liquid compositions such as gel inks and hot melt inks. As a specific example of the liquid ejecting apparatus, for example, a liquid containing a material such as an electrode material or a color material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an EL (electroluminescence) display, a surface emitting display, or a color filter in a dispersed or dissolved form. It may be a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting, a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting a bio-organic matter used for biochip manufacturing, a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting a liquid used as a precision pipette, a printing apparatus, a microdispenser, or the like. In addition, transparent resin liquids such as UV curable resin to form liquid injection devices that pinpoint lubricant oil onto precision machines such as watches and cameras, and micro hemispherical lenses (optical lenses) used in optical communication elements. A liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid onto the substrate or a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects an etching solution such as an acid or an alkali to etch the substrate may be employed. The present invention can be applied to any one of these liquid ejecting apparatuses.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Inkjet printer as a liquid ejecting apparatus, 12 ... Case, 15 ... Recording head as a liquid ejecting head, 16 ... Maintenance unit as a maintenance unit, 17 ... Opening, 18 ... Lid, 19 ... Liquid supply system An ink cartridge as a liquid container (first liquid container) to be configured, 19a... Connection part, 20... A cartridge holder as a mounting part, 22... An external ink tank as a second liquid container to constitute a liquid supply system, 23... Ink supply tube as a liquid supply pipe constituting the liquid supply system, 24... Ink outlet port as a lead-out portion, A... Insertion direction, B.

Claims (5)

Case and
A liquid ejecting head disposed in the case and capable of ejecting liquid onto a target;
A maintenance unit disposed in the case for performing maintenance of the liquid jet head;
Formed in the case, and an opening for performing maintenance of the maintenance unit from outside the case;
A mounting portion that is disposed on the lower side of the maintenance portion in the case and can be mounted with a liquid container capable of supplying the liquid from a connection portion to which a liquid supply pipe for supplying the liquid is connected;
The mounting portion is arranged such that the connection portion of the liquid container is positioned below the lower end portion of the opening in a state where the liquid container is mounted on the mounting portion. A liquid ejecting apparatus. The liquid container can be inserted into and removed from the mounting portion.
In the mounting portion, the liquid container is disposed such that the connecting portion of the liquid container mounted on the mounting portion is located on the side of the opening of the liquid container relative to the mounting portion with respect to the opening. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a body is attached. A lid that covers the opening so as to be freely opened and closed;
3. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the lid is changed from a closed state to an opened state, the lid moves to an insertion direction side of the liquid container with respect to the mounting portion. . A liquid container that can be mounted on the mounting portion of the liquid ejecting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The connecting portion;
A liquid container comprising: a lead-out portion for leading the liquid contained inside to the liquid jet head side. A liquid container according to claim 4;
The flexible liquid supply tube;
A liquid supply comprising a second liquid container capable of supplying the liquid to the first liquid container via the liquid supply pipe when the liquid container is a first liquid container. system.