JP2017081053A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording device that can reduce impact force at the time when a slider returns to a retreat position, while suppressing a driving load when the slider is at a position far away from the retreat position.SOLUTION: The recording device comprises: a carriage that moves with a recording head for performing recording in a recording area mounted thereon; a slider that can move following movement of the carriage beyond the recording area and move both to a first position and to a second position which is farther in a movement direction of the carriage than the first position and positioned closer to the recording head in a crossing direction crossing the movement direction of the carriage than the first position; and an energization member which energizes the slider toward the first position. When the slider moves from the first position to the second position, a point of action moves so as to approach a point of support of the energization member, in the crossing direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from a recording head onto a recording medium.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, ink jet recording apparatuses are designed to eliminate clogging of ink discharge ports and the like. A wiping mechanism for wiping the discharge port surface, a capping mechanism for covering the discharge port surface, and sucking ink from the discharge port A recovery unit having a pump mechanism and the like. As a configuration of the recovery unit, for example, as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a slider is provided that can move within a predetermined range following the movement of the carriage on which the recording head is mounted. A configuration in which is mounted is known. A cam surface that regulates the position of the slider in the movement of the slider is provided, and the slider can move in the carriage movement direction along the cam surface while the vertical position is controlled. The slider is urged to a retracted position that does not follow the movement of the carriage by a slider spring (tensile spring). When the carriage moves away from a predetermined range, the slider returns to the retracted position by the urging force of the slider spring.

  It is necessary to secure a predetermined sliding direction biasing force at a certain position A so that the slider can be pulled back to the retracted position. On the other hand, considering the driving load, it is desirable to suppress an increase in the sliding direction biasing force at a position farther from the retracted position than the position A.

JP 2006-315268 A JP2013-60003A

  It is conceivable to employ a slider spring having a small spring constant so as to suppress an increase in the sliding direction biasing force at a position farther from the retracted position than the position A.

  However, in the ink jet recording apparatuses as in Patent Documents 1 and 2, when the slider is in the retracted position, the urging direction of the slider spring is obliquely downward. When the slider moves away from the retracted position, the operating point of the slider spring moves away from the fulcrum of the slider spring in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage. It is diagonally downward (see FIGS. 11 and 12). In such an ink jet recording apparatus, the amount of change in angle between the biasing direction of the slider spring and the sliding direction of the slider is small. If a slider spring having a small spring constant is employed, an increase in the sliding direction biasing force when the slider moves from position A to a position farther from the retracted position than position A can be suppressed. Reduction of the urging force in the sliding direction when returning to the back is also suppressed. As a result, the sliding direction biasing force when the slider returns to the retracted position cannot be sufficiently reduced, the impact force is large, and a large collision sound may be generated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and can reduce the impact force when returning to the retracted position while suppressing the driving load when the slider is far from the retracted position. An object is to provide a recording apparatus.

  The recording apparatus of the present invention includes a carriage that moves by mounting a recording head that performs recording in a recording area, a carriage that moves following the movement of the carriage out of the recording area, a first position, and the first position It is possible to move to a second position that is farther from the recording area in the carriage movement direction than the first position and closer to the recording head in a crossing direction that intersects the carriage movement direction than the first position. And a biasing member that biases the slider to the first position when the slider moves from the first position to the second position. The point of action of the urging member moves so as to approach the fulcrum of the urging member in the crossing direction.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the impact force when returning to the retracted position while suppressing the driving load when the slider is far from the retracted position.

1 is a perspective view showing an ink jet recording apparatus in Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing details of a recording unit in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating details of a recovery unit in the first embodiment. 3 is a perspective view showing details of a lock lever in Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the single capping in Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a partially broken front view which shows the recovery part of the state which has the slider in Embodiment 1 in a retracted position. It is a partially broken front view which shows the recovery part of the state which has the slider in Embodiment 1 in a wiping position. It is a partially broken front view which shows the recovery part in the state which has the slider in Embodiment 1 in a single capping position. It is a partially broken front view which shows the recovery part in the state which has the slider in Embodiment 1 in a simultaneous capping position. It is a figure for demonstrating the change rate of the sliding direction spring urging | biasing force in Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a partially broken front view which shows the recovery part in the state which has the slider in the retracted position in the case of the urging | biasing direction of the conventional slider spring. It is a partially broken front view which shows the recovery part in the state in which the slider in the urging | biasing direction of the conventional slider spring exists in a simultaneous capping position.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the same reference numerals denote the same or corresponding parts throughout the drawings.

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an ink jet recording apparatus according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the ink jet recording apparatus includes a paper feed unit 101, a transport unit 102, a recording unit 103, and a recovery unit 104. The paper supply unit 101 supplies a sheet (recording medium) into the apparatus main body. The transport unit 102 transports the recording medium supplied from the paper feed unit 101 in the transport direction (Y direction). The recording unit 103 operates based on image recording data and records an image on a recording medium. The recovery unit 104 maintains or recovers the ink ejection performance of the recording head.

  The recording media stacked on the paper feed unit 101 are separated one by one by a paper feed roller driven by a paper feed motor, and are sent out to the transport unit 102. The recording medium supplied to the conveyance unit 102 is conveyed through the recording unit 103 by being sandwiched between a conveyance roller 121 and a pinch roller 122 driven by a conveyance motor. The recording unit 103 performs recording on a recording medium. The carriage 6 on which the recording head is mounted and which can be reciprocated in the main scanning direction (X direction orthogonal to the Y direction) is driven based on the recording data of the image, and ink is ejected from the ejection port of the recording head. Record. The recording medium after image recording is discharged out of the apparatus main body by being sandwiched between a discharge roller and a spur that are driven in synchronization with the conveying roller 121.

(Recording part)
The recording unit 103 includes a carriage 6 that can reciprocate in the main scanning direction, and a recording cartridge mounted on the carriage 6.

  The carriage 6 is guided and supported so as to be capable of reciprocating along a guide rail installed in the apparatus main body. The reciprocating movement of the carriage 6 is driven via a carriage belt 124 by a carriage motor. The reciprocation of the carriage 6 is controlled based on the result of detecting the position and speed of the carriage 6 by the encoder sensor mounted on the carriage and the encoder scale 125 stretched on the apparatus main body side. Recording on the entire recording medium is performed by repeating the recording operation of the recording head 5 performed in synchronization with the movement of the carriage 6 (main scanning) and the conveyance (sub-scanning) of the recording medium at a predetermined pitch.

  FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing details of the recording unit 103 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the carriage 6 has two recording cartridges, that is, a color recording cartridge 3A and a monochrome recording cartridge 3B. The color recording cartridge 3A is provided with a recording head 5A that performs recording using a plurality of colors of ink. The monochromatic recording cartridge 3B is provided with a recording head 5B that performs recording using monochromatic ink (for example, black). For example, a discharge port array for discharging three colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow is formed on the discharge port surface 51 of the recording head 5A. A discharge port array for discharging a single color ink such as black is formed on the discharge port surface 52 of the recording head 5B.

  Each recording cartridge is configured as an ink cartridge in which the recording head 5 and the ink tank are integrated. The ink stored in the main tank 131 is supplied to the recording head 5 through an ink tank (sub tank) integrated with the recording head 5.

(Recovery Department)
The recovery unit 104 is provided to maintain or recover the quality of the recorded image in a normal state by eliminating clogging of the ejection openings of the recording head 5. The recovery unit 104 includes a wiping mechanism for wiping the ejection port surface, a capping mechanism for covering the ejection port surface, and a pump mechanism for sucking ink from the ejection port. Further, the recovery unit 104 moves the slider 7 that can move within a predetermined range following the movement of the carriage 6 when the carriage 6 moves from the recording area where recording is performed on the recording medium toward the recovery unit 104. I have. Mounted on the slider 7 are wipers 8, 9 of a wiping mechanism and caps 1A, 1B of a capping mechanism.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing details of the recovery unit 104 shown in FIG. The slider 7 is provided with an abutting portion 7 a that contacts the side surface of the carriage 6 in order to move within a predetermined range following the movement of the carriage 6. When the carriage 6 moves from the recording area toward the recovery unit 104, when the side surface of the carriage 6 comes into contact with the abutting portion 7 a of the slider 7, the slider 7 follows the movement of the carriage 6 and moves the carriage 6. And move in the -X direction. Thus, the slider 7 can wipe the ejection port surfaces 51 and 52 of the recording head 5 by the wipers 8 and 9 from the retracted position where the mounted wipers 8 and 9 and the caps 1A and 1B are separated from the recording head 5. It becomes possible to move to a proper wiping position. Further, the cap 1A, 1B can be moved to a capping position where the discharge port surfaces 51, 52 of the recording head 5 can be covered.

  On both side surfaces of the slider 7, there are provided projecting portions 7 b that project in a direction perpendicular to (or intersect with) the moving direction of the carriage 6 at a total of four locations. The four protruding portions 7b are in contact with a slider cam 13a provided in the apparatus main body. The slider 7 is moved by sliding the four protruding portions 7b along the cam surface of the slider cam 13a provided in the apparatus main body. Accordingly, when the slider 7 moves following the movement of the carriage 6, the slider 7 has a predetermined height with respect to the discharge port surfaces 51 and 52 at each position (retraction position, wiping position, capping position, etc.). Controlled. That is, in the orthogonal direction (or the intersecting crossing direction) orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage 6, the wiping position is located closer to the discharge port surfaces 51 and 52 than the retracted position, and the capping position is further than the wiping position. Located near the discharge port surfaces 51, 52.

  A wiper 8 for wiping the discharge port surface 51 of the color recording head 5A and a wiper 9 for wiping the discharge port surface 52 of the black recording head 5B are attached to the slider 7 as a wiping mechanism. When the slider 7 is moved to the wiping position, the recording unit 103 and the recovery unit 104 are relatively moved in the X direction, and the discharge port surfaces 51 and 52 and the wipers 8 and 9 are brought into contact with each other. Wiping is performed.

  As a capping mechanism, caps 1A and 1B for capping the discharge port surfaces 51 and 52 are attached to the cap holders 2A and 2B. Each cap holder 2A, 2B is attached to the slider 7 by four claw portions. Cap springs are disposed between the cap holders 2A and 2B and the slider 7, and the cap holders 2A and 2B to which the caps 1A and 1B are attached are urged toward the discharge port surfaces 51 and 52. .

  Each cap of the capping mechanism is connected to a pump mechanism (not shown) via a tube or the like. The pump mechanism sucks ink from the ejection port of the recording head 5 in a state where the cap caps the ejection port of the recording head 5. Further, the wipers 8, 9 and the caps 1A, 1B are arranged in the order of the wiper 8, the cap 1A, the wiper 9, and the cap 1B from the recording area side.

  As shown in FIG. 3, on the slider 7, a lock lever is used as a locking member that operates to lock (lock) the slider 7 at the wiping position at the downstream side in the transport direction at the recording region side end. 16 is attached. The lock lever 16 is rotatably attached to a locking position for locking the slider 7 at the wiping position and a release position for releasing the locked state of the slider 7. When the carriage 6 has moved to the wiping position for wiping the discharge port surfaces 51 and 52 of the recording head 5, the lock lever 16 locks the slider 7 on the apparatus main body side, thereby moving the slider 7. Operates to regulate.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing details of the lock lever in the present embodiment, and is an enlarged view of the lock lever moved to the locking position for locking the slider 7 to the wiping position. As shown in FIG. 4, the locking position is a position where the slider 7 is locked at the wiping position by the protrusion 16 f of the lock lever 16 coming into contact with the slider 7.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the lock lever 16 is supported so as to be able to rotate and move within a plane orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage 6. The lock lever 16 has a support shaft 16e, and is supported so as to be rotatable about the shaft. Further, since a spring biasing force acts on the lock lever 16 in the radial direction, the lock lever 16 is held at a position moved by the spring biasing force unless an external force torque of a predetermined value or more is applied.

  On the apparatus main body side, when the lock lever 16 comes into contact with the projecting portion 16f and the slider 7, and the slider 7 is locked at the wiping position, the front end surface 16a of the lock lever 16 can be locked. A stop 13d is provided. When the locking portion 13d comes into contact with the distal end surface 16a of the lock lever 16, the lock lever 16 is locked.

  Further, the carriage 6 is provided with an unlocking protrusion 67 (see FIG. 2) that can come into contact with the upper end portion 16b of the lock lever 16. When the carriage 6 moves toward the recording area, the unlocking projection 67 abuts on the upper end 16b of the lock lever 16 to rotate the lock lever 16 clockwise. As a result, the distal end surface 16a of the lock lever 16 is separated from the locking portion 13d, and the locked state of the lock lever 16 is released.

  In the present embodiment, in addition to the simultaneous capping for simultaneously capping both of the two discharge port surfaces (discharge port surfaces 51 and 52), single capping for capping only one of the two discharge port surfaces is also possible. It is.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining single capping in the present embodiment. FIG. 5 shows the recovery unit 104 with the slider 7 in the single capping position. The cap holder 2 </ b> B is provided with a cap holder cam portion 4 </ b> B at a downstream side in the transport direction. Further, on the apparatus main body side, a cam portion 13e is provided so as to contact the cap holder cam portion 4B in a state where the slider 7 is in the single capping position. Accordingly, in the state where the slider 7 is in the single capping position, the cap holder cam portion 4B is pushed down by contacting the cam portion 13e, and therefore the cap 1B attached to the cap holder 2B is also pushed down. As a result, capping of the cap 1B is released, and only the cap 1A enters a single capping state in which the discharge port surface 51 is capped.

  When the slider 7 further moves in the −X direction together with the carriage 6 from the single capping position, the cap holder cam portion 4B moves away from the cam portion 13e provided on the main body. The capping of the cap 1B is recovered by the biasing force of the cap spring biased toward the discharge port surface. As a result, when the slider 7 reaches the simultaneous capping position, the caps 1A and 1B are in the state of simultaneous capping in which the discharge port surfaces 51 and 52 are capped.

(Slider spring)
Next, a slider spring (biasing member) 17 that biases the slider 7 toward the retracted position will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the slider 7 has an end on the working point side of the slider spring 17 that urges the slider 7 toward the retracted position on the downstream side in the transport direction at the end far from the recording area (see FIG. 3). An action point side spring hook 7c for attaching an action point) is provided. Further, a fixed point side spring hooking portion 13f for attaching a fixed point side end portion (fulcrum) of the slider spring 17 is provided on the apparatus main body side.

  The slider 7 is configured such that the vertical position of the slider 7 is controlled along the cam surface in a state in which the protruding portions 7b (controlled portions) are brought into contact with the cam surface (cam member) of the slider cam 13a by the slider spring 17. It is mounted so that it can move in the moving direction. When the carriage 6 moves in the −X direction, the slider 7 moves following the movement of the carriage 6 by the abutting portion 7 a. However, when the carriage 6 returns to the recording area, the slider 7 biases the slider spring 17. To move in the X direction and return to the retracted position. Hereinafter, the movement of the slider 7 in the X direction by the urging force of the slider spring 17 is referred to as sliding of the slider 7.

  FIG. 6 is a partially broken front view showing the recovery portion 104 in a state where the slider 7 is in the retracted position. As shown in FIG. 6, the action point side spring hooking portion 7 c of the slider spring 17 is located above the protruding portion 7 b of the slider 7. Therefore, a counterclockwise moment about the protrusion 7 b of the slider 7 acts on the slider 7 by the biasing force of the slider spring 17. On the other hand, when the abutting portion 7a of the slider 7 comes into contact with the side surface of the carriage 6, the slider 7 follows the movement of the carriage 6 and moves in the −X direction, with the protruding portion 7b of the slider 7 as the center. A clockwise moment works. The clockwise moment can be reduced by the arrangement of the action point side spring hooking portion 7c described above. As a result, the vertical drag that the protrusion 7b of the slider 7 receives from the slider cam 13a generated by the clockwise moment is reduced, the frictional force generated by the vertical drag is reduced, and the sliding load of the slider 7 is reduced. .

  As described above, by disposing the operating point side spring hooking portion 7c of the slider spring 17 above the protruding portion 7b of the slider 7 at the retracted position, the carriage 6 follows the movement of the carriage 6 in the −X direction. The sliding load of the slider 7 when moving can be reduced.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, in a state where the slider 7 is in the retracted position, the fixed point side spring hooking portion 13f is positioned above the action point side spring hooking portion 7c. Therefore, the slider 7 is urged by the slider spring 17 in the direction of the vector F (spring urging force F). At this time, the sliding direction (X direction) of the slider 7 and the biasing direction (vector F) of the slider spring 17 form an angle θ, and the spring biasing force F is orthogonal to the component force Fx which is a sliding direction component. It is decomposed into component force Fz. Therefore, the sliding direction spring biasing force Fx acting on the slider 7 is reduced from the spring biasing force F by the component force Fz.

  FIG. 7 is a partially broken front view showing the recovery portion 104 in a state where the slider 7 is at the wiping position. As shown in FIG. 7, even when the slider 7 is in the wiping position, the fixed point side spring hooking portion 13f is located above the action point side spring hooking portion 7c. For the same reason as the state in which the slider 7 is in the retracted position, the sliding direction spring biasing force acting on the slider 7 is reduced.

  FIG. 8 is a partially broken front view showing the recovery portion 104 in a state where the slider 7 is in the single capping position. As shown in FIG. 8, in the state where the slider 7 is in the single capping position, the action point side spring hooking portion 7c is almost the same height as the fixed point side spring hooking portion 13f, and the sliding direction of the slider 7 and the slider spring 17 The biasing direction (vector F) is substantially parallel. At this time, θ≈0 and Fz≈0, and the amount of frictional force generated by the projecting portion 7b of the slider 7 from the slider cam 13a, which is generated by using Fz as a vertical drag, is reduced. Therefore, the sliding load of the slider 7 is reduced. Furthermore, since the urging force F of the slider spring 17 is used almost as a force for sliding, the absolute value of the urging force F of the slider spring 17 is also suppressed.

  FIG. 9 is a partially broken front view showing the recovery portion 104 in a state where the slider 7 is at the simultaneous capping position. As shown in FIG. 9, even when the slider 7 is in the simultaneous capping position, the action point side spring hooking portion 7c is almost the same height as the fixed point side spring hooking portion 13f. For the same reason as the state in which the slider 7 is in the single capping position, the sliding load is reduced. Furthermore, since the urging force F of the slider spring 17 is used almost as a force for sliding, the absolute value of the urging force F of the slider spring 17 is also suppressed.

  FIG. 10A is a diagram showing a ratio of the sliding direction spring biasing force Fx to the biasing force F of the slider spring corresponding to each position. When the slider 7 moves from the retracted position toward the wiping position and further to the single capping position, the operating point of the slider spring 17 approaches the fulcrum of the slider spring 17 in a direction orthogonal (or intersecting) with the moving direction of the carriage 6. To move. That is, the angle θ formed by the urging direction of the slider spring 17 and the sliding direction of the slider 7 decreases so as to approach 0 from a predetermined angle. As a result, the ratio of the sliding direction spring biasing force Fx to the biasing force F of the slider spring 17 increases so as to approach 100% from a predetermined ratio, and when the slider 7 reaches the single capping position, the sliding direction spring biasing force Fx. The ratio is almost 100%. When the slider 7 further moves from the single capping position to the simultaneous capping position, the angle θ is maintained at substantially 0, so that the ratio of the sliding direction spring biasing force Fx to the biasing force F of the slider spring 17 is approximately 100%. Is held in.

  As shown in FIG. 10A, when the slider 7 returns from the single capping position to the retracted position, the ratio of the sliding direction spring biasing force Fx to the biasing force F gradually decreases from 100%. Accordingly, even if a slider spring having a small spring constant is employed (even if the rate of change of the absolute value of the biasing force F with respect to the amount of extension of the spring is low), the sliding direction spring biasing force Fx may decrease at a high rate of change. It becomes possible.

  FIG. 10 (b) is a diagram showing the sliding direction spring urging force corresponding to each position. Depending on the arrangement of the slider spring 17 according to the present embodiment, when a slider spring having a small spring constant is employed, the change between the retracted position and the single capping position is as high as when a slider spring having a large spring constant is employed. The sliding direction spring biasing force changes at a rate. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently reduce the sliding direction biasing force when the slider 7 returns to the retracted position, and it is possible to reduce noise due to a collision when returning to the retracted position.

  As shown in FIG. 10B, when a slider spring having a small spring constant is employed, the sliding direction spring urging force Fx has a low rate of change when the slider 7 moves further away from the single capping position. Increase with. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the driving load when the slider 7 is far from the retracted position such as the single capping position or the simultaneous capping position. Further, as described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, when the slider 7 moves to a position further away from the single capping position due to the arrangement of the slider spring 17 of this embodiment, the urging force F of the slider spring 17 is reduced. It is generally used as a force for sliding. As a result, the absolute value of the urging force F of the slider spring 17 is suppressed, so that the driving load is further suppressed.

[Embodiment 2]
In the ink jet recording apparatus of Embodiment 1, cap holders 2A and 2B to which wipers 8 and 9 and caps 1A and 1B are attached are attached to a slider 7. In the ink jet recording apparatus of the present embodiment, the cap holders 2A and 2B to which the caps 1A and 1B are attached are attached to a slider different from the slider 7, and the slider is arranged on the opposite side across the recording area. The slider disposed on the opposite side is urged to the retracted position by a slider spring different from the slider spring 17, and the slider spring is disposed in a similar manner to the slide spring 17.

(Other embodiments)
In the above-described embodiment, the present invention has been described by taking an example of an ink jet recording apparatus that supplies ink stored in a main tank to a recording head via a sub tank integrated with the recording head. However, the present invention is also effective for an ink jet recording apparatus having only an ink tank integrated with a recording head.

1A, 1B Cap 2A, 2B Cap holder 4B Cap holder cam part 5 Recording head 6 Carriage 7 Slider 7c Action point side spring hook part 8, 9 Wiper 13f Fixed side spring hook part 17 Slider spring 104 Recovery part

Claims (8)

A carriage mounted with a recording head for recording in a recording area and moved;
The carriage moves following the movement of the carriage out of the recording area, and is farther from the recording area in the carriage movement direction than the first position and in the moving direction of the carriage. A slider movable to a second position located near the recording head in a crossing direction crossing a carriage moving direction;
An urging member that urges the slider to the first position;
When the slider moves from the first position to the second position, the operating point of the biasing member moves so as to approach the fulcrum of the biasing member in the crossing direction. apparatus.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the slider is in the first position, the fulcrum is located above the action point in the intersecting direction.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the slider is in the second position, a straight line connecting the fulcrum and the action point is substantially parallel to the moving direction. A cam member that regulates a position of the slider when the slider moves from the first position to the second position;
4. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the action point is located above the regulated portion of the slider regulated by the cam member in the intersecting direction. 5.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the slider is provided with a cap for capping the ejection port surface of the recording head.   The recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second position is a position at which the cap can cap the ejection port surface.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the slider is provided with a wiper for wiping the discharge port surface of the recording head.   The recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the third position where the wiper can wipe the discharge port surface is between the first position and the second position.