JP2018122584A - Image formation apparatus and liquid discharge apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image formation apparatus which can adjust the inclination of a head holder on the own apparatus, and adjust the position in the vertical direction of a liquid discharge surface.SOLUTION: An image formation apparatus includes: a recording head which has a plurality of nozzles discharging droplets; a head holder which holds one or the plurality of recording heads; a sub carriage which holds the head holder; and a carriage which holds the sub carriage and is movable in the main-scanning direction. The carriage is provided with a reference member extending along the main-scanning direction. The sub carriage is supported by the reference member and located in the carriage. The head holder and sub carriage are provided with: a rotation reference member for rotating the head holder with respect to the sub carriage; a long hole whose longitudinal direction is in parallel with the vertical direction of the head holder, and which supports the rotation reference member in the rotatable manner and movable manner in the vertical direction; and a retention part which fixes the rotation and movement of the head holder with respect to the sub carriage.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a liquid ejection apparatus.

  As an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile, a copying apparatus, a plotter, and a complex machine of these, for example, a liquid discharge recording type image forming apparatus (inkjet) that uses a liquid discharge head (droplet discharge head) for discharging droplets as a recording head Recording devices, etc.) are known.

  When an image is formed in a liquid discharge recording type image forming apparatus, the landing accuracy of droplets discharged from nozzles greatly affects the image quality. If the landing accuracy of the liquid droplets is poor, the image quality is deteriorated. Therefore, it is necessary to position the recording head with high accuracy.

  In order to solve this problem, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a recording head having a plurality of nozzles that discharge droplets, a head holder that holds one or more recording heads, and one or more head holders. A carriage movable in the main scanning direction, provided on the carriage and arranged along the main scanning direction, a sub reference member provided on the carriage and provided separately from the reference member, And an adjustment mechanism that adjusts the parallel of the sub-reference member to the reference member, and the head holder is detachably supported by the reference member, positioned against the sub-reference member, and held by the carriage Is disclosed.

  The image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 can adjust the tilt of the head holder on an actual machine by adjusting the parallelness of the sub-reference member and the reference member. However, this is an adjustment only for the tilt of the head holder, and the distance between the liquid ejection surface of the recording head and the platen varies due to the tilt adjustment, and the target distance cannot be maintained.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus / liquid ejecting apparatus that can adjust the tilt of the head holder on an actual machine and can also adjust the vertical position of the liquid ejecting surface.

  The above-described problems include a recording head having a plurality of nozzles that discharge droplets, a head holder that holds one or more recording heads, a sub-carriage that holds the head holder, and a sub-carriage that holds the sub-carriage, A carriage that is movable in the main scanning direction, and a reference member that extends along the main scanning direction is provided on the carriage, and the sub-carriage is supported by the reference member and positioned on the carriage, A rotation reference member for rotating the head holder with respect to the sub-carriage on the head holder and the sub-carriage, and a rotation reference member that can rotate the rotation reference member and whose longitudinal direction is parallel to the vertical direction of the head holder, A long hole that is movably supported on the head, and rotation and movement of the head holder with respect to the sub carriage are fixed. A fastening portion which is solved by the image forming apparatus is provided.

  In addition, the above-described problems include a liquid discharge head having a plurality of nozzles that discharge droplets, a head holder that holds one or a plurality of the liquid discharge heads, a sub-carriage that holds the head holder, and the sub-carriage And a carriage that is movable in the main scanning direction. The carriage is provided with a reference member that extends along the main scanning direction. The sub-carriage is supported by the reference member, and the carriage includes Positioned and rotated on the head holder and the sub-carriage, a rotation reference member for rotating the head holder relative to the sub-carriage, and the rotation reference member whose longitudinal direction is parallel to the vertical direction of the head holder An elongated hole that is movably supported in the vertical direction and a rotation of the head holder with respect to the sub-carriage. And a fastening portion for fixing the movement is achieved by a liquid discharge apparatus is provided.

  The image forming apparatus / liquid ejection apparatus of the present invention can adjust the tilt of the head holder on the actual machine and can also adjust the vertical position of the liquid ejection surface.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows a carriage scanning mechanism part. It is a typical perspective view showing a carriage concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a typical side view showing a carriage concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a typical perspective view showing the head holder concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a typical side view which shows the carriage which has arrange | positioned the adjustment board. It is a typical front view which shows the carriage which has arrange | positioned the cam member.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a carriage scanning mechanism.

  As shown in FIG. 1, this image forming apparatus is a serial type ink jet recording apparatus, and includes an apparatus main body 1 and a support base 2 that supports the apparatus main body 1. Inside the apparatus main body 1, guide rods 3 and guide stays 4, which are guide members, are spanned on both side plates, and the carriage 5 moves in the direction of arrow A (main scanning direction) on these guide rods 3 and guide stays 4. Held possible.

  On the carriage 5, a recording head 6 including a liquid ejection head that ejects ink droplets of each color of black (K), yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) is mounted. Each recording head 6 includes a plurality of nozzles that eject droplets. Each recording head 6 is integrally provided with a head tank that supplies ink to each recording head 6.

  A main scanning mechanism unit 10 that moves and scans the carriage 5 is disposed on one side in the main scanning direction, a driving pulley 12 that is rotationally driven by the driving motor 11, and on the other side in the main scanning direction. A driven pulley 13 and a timing belt 14 that is a pulling member wound between the drive pulley 12 and the driven pulley 13. The driven pulley 13 is tensioned outward (in a direction away from the drive pulley 12) by a tension spring.

  In the main scanning area of the carriage 5, in the recording area, the paper 20 is intermittently conveyed by the suction conveyance unit in the arrow B direction (sub-scanning direction, paper conveyance direction) orthogonal to the main scanning direction of the carriage 5.

  A maintenance / recovery device 8 that performs maintenance / recovery of the recording head 6 is disposed in one end side region of the main scanning region. Further, a main cartridge 9 containing ink of each color to be supplied to the sub tank of the recording head 6 is located outside the carriage movement area in the main scanning direction or in the other end side area of the main scanning area. And is detachably mounted. In addition, roll paper (hereinafter referred to as “paper 20”) is set in the paper supply unit 21, but roll paper having a different size in the width direction can also be set.

  In the image forming apparatus configured as described above, image formation is performed as follows. First, the sheet 20 conveyed from the sheet feeding unit 21 is conveyed from the rear side to the front side of the apparatus main body 1 to the recording area by the conveying unit. Next, by moving the carriage 5 in the main scanning direction and intermittently sending the paper 20 to the platen 7 by the suction conveyance unit, the recording head 6 is driven according to the image information to discharge droplets. A required image is formed on the paper 20. Then, the paper 20 after the image formation is cut to a predetermined length and discharged to a paper discharge tray arranged on the front side of the apparatus main body 1.

  Although the configuration in which the paper 20 is cut and discharged is described here, a configuration in which the paper after image formation without being cut is taken up by the paper discharge unit may be used.

  Next, the configuration of the carriage 5 of the image forming apparatus, which is a characteristic part of the present invention, will be described in detail.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a carriage according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, a head holder 25 is held on the carriage 5 via a sub-carriage 18.

  The head holder 25 is mounted with recording heads 6a, 6b and 6c arranged in a staggered manner in the sub-scanning direction. When the recording heads are not individually distinguished, they are referred to as “recording head 6”. Further, the number of recording heads 6 mounted on the head holder 25 may be one, two, or more than three.

  The carriage 5 is provided with a reference shaft 15 as a reference member extending in the same direction (main scanning direction) as the guide rod 3. Further, the sub-carriage 18 is provided with a hook-shaped hook portion 19 that is detachably attached to the reference shaft 15 and that can be rotatably hung. The sub-carriage 18 is hooked on the reference shaft 15 by the hooking portion 19 and is brought into contact with and held (positioned) in the rotation direction. The subcarriage 18 holds the head holder 25 by holding portions 18 a and 18 b along both ends of the head holder 25. Therefore, the head holder 25 is also held so as to be rotatable around the reference shaft 15.

  In this way, by providing the reference shaft 15 in the same direction (parallel) as the guide rod 3 of the carriage 5, the positional accuracy of the inclination of the recording head 6 in the sub-scanning direction, the height direction, the tilt direction, and the main scanning direction can be improved. It can be improved.

  In FIG. 3, the sub-carriage 18 is sandwiched and held between the reference shaft 15 and the carriage 5, but instead, the sub-carriage 18 is hooked on the reference shaft 15 from the front and held. It may be configured.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing a carriage according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a head holder according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the head holder 25 has rotation reference members 31a and 31b at both ends in the main scanning direction. In addition, for convenience of drawing, only one side is shown, but long holes 32 a and 32 b and a fastening part 33 are provided in the holding parts 18 a and 18 b along both ends of the head holder 25.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the long holes 32a and 32b are formed so that the longitudinal direction thereof is parallel to the vertical direction of the head holder, so that the rotation reference members 31a and 31b are rotatably supported and movable in the vertical direction. To support. The fastening portion 33 is a member that fixes the rotation and movement of the head holder 25 with respect to the sub-carriage 18. As the fastening portion 33, for example, a combination of a fastening slot 34 provided in the holding portion 18a and a stopper 35 such as a pin or a stepped screw can be used. If the stopper 35 is inserted into the head holder 25 via the fastening elongated hole 34, the head holder 25 can be fixed to the sub-carriage 18.

  With this configuration, the head holder 25 can be rotated around the rotation reference member 31 with respect to the sub-carriage 18, and the tilt direction posture (rotation angle) can be adjusted. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the head holder 25 can move up and down along the long hole 32, so that the distance between the ink ejection surface (liquid ejection surface) of the recording head 6 and the platen 7 is set to an appropriate distance. Can be adjusted. And it can fix to the adjusted position / posture with the fastening part 33.

  4 and 5, the rotation reference member 31 is provided in the head holder 25 and the long hole 32 is provided in the sub-carriage 18, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, a long hole may be provided in the head holder 25 and a rotation reference member may be provided in the sub-carriage 18.

  Further, the rotation reference member may not be provided in the head holder 25 or the sub-carriage 18, and a pin-shaped member or a stepped screw may be inserted later.

  Next, an advantageous configuration of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing the carriage on which the adjustment plate is arranged. 6, the same components as those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the reference shaft 15 may be fixed to the carriage 5 via adjustment plates 36 a and 36 b that can adjust the position with respect to the carriage 5. By adjusting the position of the reference shaft 15, the posture of the head holder 25 (height direction, rotation direction, and inclination in the main scanning direction) can be adjusted, and the mounting position accuracy of the recording head 6 can be improved.

  If it is necessary to readjust the rotational direction and / or the vertical direction after positioning with the adjusting plate 36, the head holder 25 is rotated along the elongated hole 32 and / or moved up and down as described above. Therefore, readjustment can be easily performed.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic front view showing a carriage on which a cam member is arranged. 7, the same components as those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 7, a cam member 37 may be provided on the reference shaft 15. The cam member 37 contacts the sub carriage 18 at the contact surface 38 and positions the sub carriage 18 in the vertical direction. By rotating the cam member 37, the sub-carriage 18 can be raised and lowered to change the distance between the recording head 6 and the platen 7. Therefore, the height of the recording head 6 can be adjusted according to the sheet thickness or the like.

  As a method of rotating the cam member 37, the cam member 37 can be rotated by fixing the cam member 37 to the reference shaft 15 and rotating the reference shaft 15. The means for rotating the reference shaft 15 may be manual, or a drive source may be arranged, and the recording shaft 6 may be moved up and down by automatically rotating the reference shaft 15. In this method, the carriage 5 can be operated from the outside.

  The distance between the recording head 6 and the platen 7 can be arbitrarily adjusted on the actual machine according to the print medium by the head up and down by the cam member 37 and the vertical adjustment means of the head holder 25 and the subcarriage 18, and the corresponding print medium The types of can be expanded.

  The image forming apparatus has been described above as an embodiment according to the present invention. The present invention is not limited to an image forming apparatus, and can also be applied to a liquid ejection apparatus. That is, in the above embodiment, “image forming apparatus” can be read as “liquid ejecting apparatus”.

  Here, the “liquid ejecting apparatus” is an apparatus that includes a liquid ejecting head or a liquid ejecting unit and that ejects liquid by driving the liquid ejecting head. The apparatus for ejecting liquid includes not only an apparatus capable of ejecting liquid to an object to which liquid can adhere, but also an apparatus for ejecting liquid toward the air or liquid.

  The “liquid ejecting apparatus” can include means for feeding, transporting, and ejecting a liquid to which liquid can adhere, and a pre-processing apparatus and a post-processing apparatus.

  “Liquid ejection device” includes, for example, an image forming device that forms an image on paper by ejecting ink, or a powder layered to form a three-dimensional model (three-dimensional model) There is a three-dimensional modeling apparatus (three-dimensional modeling apparatus) that discharges a modeling liquid onto the powder layer.

  Further, the “liquid ejecting apparatus” is not limited to the one in which significant images such as characters and figures are visualized by the ejected liquid. For example, it includes a pattern forming a pattern that has no meaning per se, and a pattern forming a three-dimensional image.

  The above-mentioned “applicable liquid” means that the liquid can be attached at least temporarily and adheres and adheres, or adheres and penetrates. Specific examples include recording media such as paper, recording paper, recording paper, film, and cloth, electronic parts such as electronic substrates and piezoelectric elements, powder layers (powder layers), organ models, and test cells. Yes, unless specifically limited, includes everything that the liquid adheres to.

  The material of the above-mentioned “applicable liquid” is temporary liquid such as paper, thread, fiber, fabric, leather, metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics, building materials such as wallpaper and flooring, textiles for clothing, etc. However, it only needs to be attached.

  The “liquid” is not particularly limited as long as it has a viscosity and surface tension that can be ejected from the head, and the viscosity becomes 30 mPa · s or less at room temperature, normal pressure, or by heating and cooling. Preferably there is. More specifically, solvents such as water and organic solvents, colorants such as dyes and pigments, functional materials such as polymerizable compounds, resins and surfactants, and biocompatible materials such as DNA, amino acids, proteins and calcium. And edible materials such as natural pigments, solutions, suspensions, emulsions and the like. These can be used, for example, in applications such as inkjet inks, surface treatment liquids, components for electronic elements and light-emitting elements, liquids for forming electronic circuit resist patterns, and three-dimensional modeling material liquids.

  In addition, the “liquid ejecting apparatus” includes an apparatus in which a liquid ejecting head and an apparatus capable of adhering liquid move relatively, but the present invention is not limited to this. Specific examples include a serial type apparatus that moves the liquid discharge head, a line type apparatus that does not move the liquid discharge head, and the like.

  As another example of the “liquid ejecting apparatus”, there is a processing liquid coating apparatus that ejects a processing liquid onto a sheet in order to apply the processing liquid to the surface of the sheet for the purpose of modifying the surface of the sheet. In addition, there is an injection granulation apparatus that granulates fine particles of raw materials by spraying a composition liquid in which raw materials are dispersed in a solution through a nozzle.

  A “liquid ejection unit” is a unit in which functional parts and mechanisms are integrated with a liquid ejection head, and is an assembly of parts related to liquid ejection. For example, the “liquid discharge unit” includes a combination of at least one of a head tank, a carriage, a supply mechanism, a maintenance / recovery mechanism, and a main scanning movement mechanism with a liquid discharge head.

  Here, the term “integrated” refers to, for example, a liquid discharge head, a functional component, and a mechanism that are fixed to each other by fastening, adhesion, engagement, etc., and one that is held movably with respect to the other. Including. Further, the liquid discharge head, the functional component, and the mechanism may be configured to be detachable from each other.

  The main scanning movement mechanism includes a guide member alone. The supply mechanism includes a single tube and a single loading unit.

  A “liquid ejection head” is a functional device that ejects and ejects liquid from a nozzle. As an energy generation source for discharging liquid, a piezoelectric actuator (laminated piezoelectric element or thin film piezoelectric element), a thermal actuator using an electrothermal transducer such as a heating resistor, an electrostatic actuator composed of a diaphragm and a counter electrode, etc. are used. It is done.

  In this specification, “paper” does not limit the material to paper, but includes OHP, cloth, glass, a substrate, and the like, and means that ink droplets, other liquids, and the like can adhere to the recording medium. , Recording media, recording paper, recording paper, and the like. In addition, image formation, recording, printing, printing, and printing are all synonymous.

  “Image forming apparatus” means an apparatus that forms an image by discharging liquid onto a medium such as paper, thread, fiber, fabric, leather, metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics, etc. The term "not only gives images with meanings such as characters and figures" to the medium, but also gives images with no meaning such as patterns to the medium (simply causing droplets to land on the medium). Also means.

  “Ink” is a generic term for all liquids capable of image formation, such as recording liquids, fixing processing liquids, liquids, and the like, unless otherwise specified. For example, DNA samples, resists, pattern materials, resins and the like are also included.

  The “image” is not limited to a flat image, but also includes an image given to a three-dimensionally formed image and an image formed by three-dimensionally modeling a solid itself.

  The present invention has been described in detail above using the embodiment. This embodiment is an example, and can be used with various modifications within a range not departing from the gist.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 2 Support stand 3 Guide rod 4 Guide stay 5 Carriage 6, 6a, 6b, 6c Recording head 7 Platen 8 Maintenance recovery device 9 Main cartridge 10 Main scanning mechanism part 11 Drive motor 12 Drive pulley 13 Driven pulley 14 Timing belt 15 Reference shaft 18 Subcarriage 18a, 18b Holding part 19 Hooking part 20 Paper 21 Paper feed means 25 Head holder 31, 31a, 31b Rotation reference member 32, 32a, 32b Long hole 33 Fastening part 34 Fastening long hole 35 Stopper 36, 36a 36b Adjustment plate 37 Cam member 38 Contact surface

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-087873

Claims (7)

A recording head having a plurality of nozzles for discharging droplets;
A head holder for holding one or more recording heads;
A sub-carriage for holding the head holder;
A carriage that holds the sub-carriage and is movable in the main scanning direction;
A reference member extending along the main scanning direction is provided on the carriage,
The sub-carriage is supported by the reference member and positioned on the carriage,
In the head holder and the sub-carriage,
A rotation reference member for rotating the head holder with respect to the sub-carriage;
A long hole whose longitudinal direction is parallel to the vertical direction of the head holder and which supports the rotation reference member so as to be rotatable and movable in the vertical direction;
An image forming apparatus provided with a fastening portion for fixing rotation and movement of the head holder relative to the sub-carriage.   The fastening portion is a combination of a fastening slot provided in the head holder or the sub-carriage and a stopper attached to the head holder or the sub-carriage through the fastening slot. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reference member is fixed to the carriage via an adjustment plate that adjusts a position of the reference member with respect to the carriage. With a platen,
4. The elongated hole supports the rotation reference member so as to be rotatable and movable in a direction in which a distance between a liquid ejection surface of the recording head and the platen is adjusted. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reference member is provided with a cam member that contacts the sub-carriage and positions the sub-carriage in a vertical direction. With a platen,
The elongated hole supports the rotation reference member so as to be rotatable and movable in a direction of adjusting a distance between the liquid ejection surface of the recording head and the platen;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the cam member positions a height direction of the sub-carriage from the platen. A liquid discharge head having a plurality of nozzles for discharging droplets;
A head holder for holding one or more liquid ejection heads;
A sub-carriage for holding the head holder;
A carriage that holds the sub-carriage and is movable in the main scanning direction;
A reference member extending along the main scanning direction is provided on the carriage,
The sub-carriage is supported by the reference member and positioned on the carriage,
In the head holder and the sub-carriage,
A rotation reference member for rotating the head holder with respect to the sub-carriage;
A long hole whose longitudinal direction is parallel to the vertical direction of the head holder and which supports the rotation reference member so as to be rotatable and movable in the vertical direction;
A liquid ejection apparatus provided with a fastening portion for fixing rotation and movement of the head holder relative to the sub-carriage.

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