JP2022013245A - Liquid discharge device and ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

To efficiently cool a head unit with less cooling fans.SOLUTION: A liquid discharge device according to the present invention comprises: a head unit 50; a carriage 40; a cooling fan 80; and a duct 90. The head unit 50 includes a plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R which radiate the heat generated by a drive circuit of an actuator. The carriage 40 stores at least a portion of the head unit 50 including the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R. The duct 90 comprises: a connection port 91 which is connected to an air blower port 82 of the cooling fan 80; a tubular flow channel 92 in which the air blown from the air blower port 82 to the connection port 91 flows; and a plurality of blowout ports 93A, 93B, 93C, 93D which are formed in the flow channel 92 so as to be opened toward each of the heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a liquid ejection device and an inkjet printer including the liquid ejection device.

Conventionally, an inkjet liquid ejection device and an inkjet printer that ejects ink by such a liquid ejection device to print on a recording medium have been known. Some such liquid ejection devices and inkjet printers are provided with a cooling fan for cooling the liquid ejection head. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an inkjet printer including a carriage, an ink head and a cooling fan housed in the carriage. The cooling fan of Patent Document 1 is configured to send wind toward the ink head, and the wind hitting the ink head is then guided to the control substrate by a duct structure formed by the cover body of the carriage. According to Patent Document 1, with such a configuration, both the ink head and the control board can be cooled by one cooling fan.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2019-998

According to the configuration as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the cooling fan can efficiently cool the ink head located in front of the air blowing direction. However, in such a configuration, the ink head located in a direction other than the front in the blowing direction with respect to the cooling fan cannot always be cooled efficiently. Therefore, in such a configuration, for example, a relatively wide head unit in which a plurality of ink heads are arranged side by side (hereinafter, the head unit means a unit including one or a plurality of ink heads) is efficiently used. A considerable number of cooling fans are required to cool.

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid discharge device capable of efficiently cooling a head unit with a small number of cooling fans.

The liquid discharge device disclosed herein includes a head unit, a box-shaped carriage, a cooling fan, and a duct. The head unit includes an actuator that discharges a liquid, a drive circuit that drives the actuator, and a plurality of heat sinks that dissipate heat generated by the drive circuit. The carriage houses at least a portion of the head unit that includes the plurality of heat sinks. The cooling fan includes a suction port that opens toward the outside of the carriage to suck in air, and a blower port that sends out air sucked from the suction port. The duct opens toward a connection port connected to the air outlet, a cylindrical flow path through which air sent from the air outlet to the connection port flows, and each heat sink of the plurality of heat sinks. It is provided with a plurality of air outlets formed in the flow path.

According to the liquid discharge device, a duct is connected to the cooling fan, and each of the plurality of outlets provided in the duct opens toward one heat sink of the head unit. Therefore, the wind generated by the cooling fan and blown out from each outlet is directed to each heat sink. As a result, all of the plurality of heat sinks are efficiently cooled. As a result, the head unit can be efficiently cooled with a small number of cooling fans.

It is a front view of the inkjet printer which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure inside a carriage. It is a partial rupture plan view which shows the structure inside a carriage. It is a figure which shows typically the structure of the head unit and the ink supply system. It is a partially broken plan view which shows the structure of the inside of a carriage which concerns on one modification.

Hereinafter, the inkjet printer according to the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments described here are, of course, not intended to specifically limit the present invention. In addition, members and parts that perform the same action are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations will be omitted or simplified as appropriate. In the following description, when the inkjet printer is viewed from the front, the side away from the inkjet printer is referred to as the front, and the side closer to the inkjet printer is referred to as the rear. The symbols F, Rr, L, R, U, and D in the drawings represent front, back, left, right, top, and bottom, respectively. However, these are merely directions for convenience of explanation, and do not limit the installation mode of the inkjet printer.

[Printer configuration]
FIG. 1 is a front view of a large format inkjet printer (hereinafter referred to as “printer”) 10 according to an embodiment. The printer 10 according to the present embodiment sequentially moves the roll-shaped recording medium 5 forward and ejects ink from the head unit 50 mounted on the carriage 40 that moves in the left-right direction on the recording medium 5. Print the image. The recording medium 5 is an object on which an image is printed. The recording medium 5 is not particularly limited. In the drawing, reference numeral Y indicates a scanning direction of the carriage 40, and reference numeral X indicates a feed direction of the recording medium 5 (see FIG. 2). Here, the scan direction Y coincides with the left-right direction of the printer 10. The feed direction X coincides with the front-back direction of the printer 10. The scan direction Y and the feed direction X are orthogonal to each other. However, the scan direction Y and the feed direction X are not limited to the above-mentioned directions.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 10 includes a platen 12, a carriage moving device 20, a transport device 30, a carriage 40, a head unit 50, an ink supply system 60, and a cooling device 70. ..

The carriage moving device 20 moves the carriage 40 above the platen 12 in the scanning direction Y. As shown in FIG. 1, the carriage moving device 20 includes a guide rail 21, a belt 22, a pair of pulleys 23a and 23b, and a carriage motor 24. The guide rail 21 extends in the scanning direction Y. The guide rail 21 supports the carriage 40 so that it can move in the scanning direction Y. An endless belt 22 is fixed to the carriage 40. The belt 22 is wound around a pair of pulleys 23a and 23b. A carriage motor 24 is attached to one of the pulleys 23a. The carriage motor 24 is an example of a carriage drive unit that moves the carriage 40 in the scanning direction Y along the guide rail 21. When the carriage motor 24 is driven, the pulley 23a rotates and the belt 22 travels. As a result, the carriage 40 moves along the guide rail 21 in the scanning direction Y.

The platen 12 is a support base that supports the recording medium 5. The transport device 30 transports the recording medium 5 on the platen 12 in the feed direction X. The transport device 30 includes a pinch roller 31, a grit roller 32, and a feed motor 33. The pinch roller 31 is provided above the platen 12 and presses the recording medium 5 from above. The grit roller 32 is provided on the platen 12. The grit roller 32 is connected to the feed motor 33. When the grit roller 32 is rotated by the feed motor 33 with the recording medium 5 sandwiched between the pinch roller 31 and the grit roller 32, the recording medium 5 is conveyed in the feed direction X.

The carriage 40 includes a head unit 50, a part of the ink supply system 60, and a cooling device 70. The carriage 40 engages with the front surface of the guide rail 21 and is located in front of the guide rail 21. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the internal configuration of the carriage 40. FIG. 3 is a partially broken plan view showing the internal configuration of the carriage 40. The carriage 40 may be provided with a cover that covers the front surface and the upper surface, but is not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 (otherwise, wiring, piping, and the like are not shown). As shown in FIG. 2, the carriage 40 is configured in a box shape and houses a part of the head unit 50. Specifically, the carriage 40 accommodates the upper portion of the head unit 50. The lower surface of the head unit 50 on which a nozzle (not shown) is formed is exposed to the outside of the carriage 40. A portion of the head unit 50 housed in the carriage 40 includes a plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R. However, the carriage 40 may accommodate the entire head unit 50.

The head unit 50 includes two inkjet heads 51 and 55. The head unit here refers to a unit including one or more inkjet heads. The number of inkjet heads included in the head unit 50 may be one or three or more. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the configurations of the head unit 50 and the ink supply system 60. As shown in FIG. 4, the first inkjet head 51 includes a plurality of actuators 51a for ejecting ink. Here, the actuator 51a includes a pressure chamber in which ink is stored, a diaphragm that partitions a part of the pressure chamber, and a piezoelectric element that vibrates the diaphragm. The diaphragm vibrates as the piezoelectric element expands and contracts, which reduces and increases the volume of the pressure chamber. Due to the change in the volume of the pressure chamber, the ink in the pressure chamber is ejected. The second inkjet head 55 also includes a similar actuator 55a. However, the actuator method is not particularly limited. For example, the inkjet head may be a thermal type inkjet head or the like.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, the head unit 50 has a first drive circuit 52 for driving the actuator 51a of the first inkjet head 51 and a second drive circuit for driving the actuator 55a of the second inkjet head 55. 56 and. Here, the first inkjet head 51 has four nozzle rows extending in the feed direction X and arranged in the scanning direction Y, respectively. The first drive circuit 52 drives a plurality of actuators 51a to eject ink from a plurality of nozzles in four nozzle rows. Similarly, the second inkjet head 55 has four nozzle rows extending in the feed direction X and aligned in the scanning direction Y. The second drive circuit 56 drives a plurality of actuators 55a to eject ink from a plurality of nozzles in four nozzle rows.

The head unit 50 includes a plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R that dissipate heat generated by the first drive circuit 52 and the second drive circuit 56. Specifically, the first left heat sink 53L and the first right heat sink 53R are connected to the first drive circuit 52 and dissipate heat generated by the first drive circuit 52. The second left heat sink 57L and the second right heat sink 57R are connected to the second drive circuit 56 and dissipate heat generated by the second drive circuit 56. The plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R are housed inside the carriage 40. The plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R are arranged in front of the guide rail 21.

As shown in FIG. 2, the first left heat sink 53L and the first right heat sink 53R have a flat plate shape extending in the feed direction X and the vertical direction, respectively. The first left heat sink 53L and the first right heat sink 53R are provided side by side in the scanning direction Y. The first left heat sink 53L and the first right heat sink 53R are formed of, for example, an aluminum alloy. The second left heat sink 57L and the second right heat sink 57R are also configured in the same manner as the first left heat sink 53L and the first right heat sink 53R. As shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R have different positions in the scan direction Y from each other, and the positions in the feed direction X are aligned. The plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R are arranged in the rear portion of the head unit 50.

The shapes, arrangements, materials, etc. of the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R are not particularly limited. For example, the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R may not be configured in a flat plate shape. The plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R may include, for example, fins that promote heat dissipation. The plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R may extend in the scanning direction Y and the vertical direction, and may extend in other directions. Further, some or all of the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R may have the same position in the scan direction Y and different positions in the feed direction X, and the positions of the scan direction Y and the feed direction X may be different. It may be different. For example, in the case of a so-called staggered arrangement in which the position of the feed direction X of the first inkjet head 51 and the position of the feed direction X of the second inkjet head 55 are deviated from each other, the first left heat sink 53L and the first right heat sink 53R The position of the feed direction X of the second left heat sink 57L and the position of the second right heat sink 57R in the feed direction X may be different.

The ink supply system 60 is a system that supplies ink to the head unit 50. As shown in FIG. 4, the ink supply system 60 includes a plurality of ink cartridges 61, a plurality of ink supply paths 62, and a plurality of liquid feed pumps 63. Ink is stored in each of the plurality of ink cartridges 61. The plurality of ink supply paths 62 connect the plurality of ink cartridges 61 and the head unit 50. Here, each of the plurality of ink cartridges 61 corresponds to one nozzle row. Each of the plurality of ink supply paths 62 connects one ink cartridge 61 and one nozzle row. Each of the plurality of liquid feeding pumps 63 is provided in one ink supply path 62, and sends ink from the side of the ink cartridge 61 toward the side of the head unit 50.

As shown in FIG. 4, each of the plurality of ink supply paths 62 includes a damper 62a. The damper 62a is an intermediate container for temporarily storing ink. The damper 62a is configured to transmit a signal when the pressure of the ink inside is lower than a predetermined pressure. When the control device (not shown) of the printer 10 receives a signal from any of the dampers 62a, the control device (not shown) drives the liquid feed pump 63 corresponding to the damper 62a that has received the signal until the signal is no longer received. As a result, fluctuations in the ink pressure in the ink supply system 60 are alleviated.

As shown in FIG. 3, four of the eight dampers 62a on the left side are provided above the first inkjet head 51. These four dampers 62a are arranged adjacent to each other in the scanning direction Y. Hereinafter, these adjacent plurality of dampers 62a are also referred to as a first damper group D1. The first damper group D1 is a set of dampers 62a connected to the first inkjet head 51. The first damper group D1 is located in front of the first left heat sink 53L and the first right heat sink 53R. As shown in FIG. 3, the first damper group D1 is located between the first left heat sink 53L and the first right heat sink 53R in the scanning direction Y.

The other four dampers 62a are provided above the second inkjet head 55. These other four dampers 62a constitute a second damper group D2 arranged adjacent to the scan direction Y. The second damper group D2 is a set of dampers 62a connected to the second inkjet head 55. The second damper group D2 is located in front of the second left heat sink 57L and the second right heat sink 57R. The second damper group D2 is located between the second left heat sink 57L and the second right heat sink 57R in the scanning direction Y.

The eight dampers 62a are arranged side by side in the scanning direction Y, and the positions of the feeding directions X are aligned. The plurality of dampers 62a are located in front of the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R. The plurality of dampers 62a and the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R are provided here at substantially the same vertical positions.

For example, in the case of a head unit in which a plurality of inkjet heads are arranged in a staggered manner, some heat sinks may be located in front of some dampers. In that case, the plurality of dampers may only be located in front of at least one of the plurality of heat sinks, and may not be located in front of all the heat sinks. The at least one heat sink and the damper located in front of the heat sink may be connected to the same inkjet head.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cooling device 70 includes a cooling fan 80 and a duct 90. As shown in FIG. 3, the cooling fan 80 includes a suction port 81 for sucking air and a blower port 82 for sending out air sucked from the suction port 81. The suction port 81 is open toward the outside of the carriage 40. The suction port 81 is opened to the right here. However, the direction in which the suction port 81 opens is not limited. The cooling fan 80 includes a fan (not shown) and a motor for rotating the fan, and by rotating the fan, the air sucked from the suction port 81 is sent out from the air outlet 82.

As shown in FIG. 3, the duct 90 has a connection port 91 connected to the air outlet 82 of the cooling fan 80, a cylindrical flow path 92 through which air sent from the air port 82 to the connection port 91 flows, and a flow path. It is provided with a plurality of outlets 93A, 93B, 93C, 93D formed on the road 92. The flow path 92 extends rearward from the connection port 91 and then bends toward the left. Hereinafter, the portion of the flow path 92 extending in the scan direction Y is also referred to as a first flow path 92a, and the portion extending in the feed direction X is also referred to as a second flow path 92b.

The first flow path 92a is located between the guide rail 21 and the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R with respect to the feed direction X. In other words, the first flow path 92a is located in front of the guide rail 21 and behind the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R. The first flow path 92a extends in the scanning direction Y. As shown in FIG. 2, the cross section of the first flow path 92a is formed in a flat substantially rectangular shape having a length in the vertical direction longer than the length in the feed direction X. However, the cross-sectional shape of the first flow path 92a is not particularly limited. The left end of the first flow path 92a (the end opposite to the connection portion 92c with the second flow path 92b) is closed.

The second flow path 92b is connected to the first flow path 92a and extends forward from the connection portion 92c with the first flow path 92a. The connection port 91 of the duct 90 is configured at an end portion of the second flow path 92b opposite to the connection portion 92c with the first flow path 92a. The cooling fan 80 connected to the connection port 91 is located in front of the first flow path 92a and the second flow path 92b. The cross section of the second flow path 92b is formed in a flat substantially rectangular shape having a length in the vertical direction longer than the length in the scanning direction Y. However, the cross-sectional shape of the second flow path 92b is not particularly limited.

The plurality of outlets 93A to 93D are formed in the first flow path 92a so as to line up in the scanning direction Y. Each of the plurality of outlets 93A to 93D is formed on the front wall surface of the first flow path 92a and opens toward the front. Each of the plurality of outlets 93A to 93D is a flat, substantially rectangular through hole that is longer in the vertical direction than the scanning direction Y. As shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of outlets 93A to 93D are open toward the heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R, respectively. The wind blown from the outlets 93A to 93D is blown to the heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R, respectively. Hereinafter, it is also said that the heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R correspond to the outlets 93A to 93D, respectively. The outlets 93A to 93D are arranged behind the corresponding heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R.

[Cooling operation]
In the following, the operation of the cooling device 70 and the advantageous effects obtained by the operation will be described. When operating the cooling device 70, the cooling fan 80 is driven. As a result, the wind generated by the cooling fan 80 flows in the flow path 92 of the duct 90, and the wind W1 (see FIG. 3) is ejected forward from the outlets 93A to 93D. The wind W1 takes heat from the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R and flows forward. As a result, the first drive circuit 52 and the second drive circuit 56 are cooled via the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R.

In a conventional inkjet printer, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the head unit is cooled by directly blowing the wind of a cooling fan. Therefore, although the cooling fan can efficiently cool the portion of the head unit located in front of the air blowing direction of the cooling fan, the portion located in the other direction cannot always be efficiently cooled. Therefore, in the conventional configuration, in order to efficiently cool the head unit long in the scanning direction as in the present embodiment, a considerable number of cooling fans arranged in the scanning direction are required.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the duct 90 is connected to the cooling fan 80, and the plurality of outlets 93A to 93D provided in the duct 90 have the corresponding heat sinks 53L and 53R of the head unit 50, respectively. It opens toward 57L and 57R. Therefore, the wind generated by the cooling fan 80 and blown out from the outlets 93A to 93D is blown to the heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R. As a result, the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R are all efficiently cooled. Specifically, according to such a configuration, all the heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R are surely cooled because they receive the wind surely. Further, since the capacity of the cooling fan 80 is intensively used for cooling a plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R, the cooling efficiency is high. As a result, the head unit 50 can be efficiently cooled by one cooling fan 80. The printer 10 may be provided with a plurality of similar cooling devices 70.

In the present embodiment, the wind W1 is located between the guide rail 21 and the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R with respect to the feed direction X, and is an outlet formed in the first flow path 92a extending in the scanning direction Y. It is ejected from 93A to 93D. This makes it possible to shorten the distance between the guide rail 21 and the head unit 50 with respect to the feed direction X. The reason will be explained below.

For example, when a cooling fan is provided in front of the head unit and wind is sent toward the rear (toward the guide rail) as in the inkjet printer disclosed in Patent Document 1, the open space behind the head unit is narrow. And the amount of wind flowing is reduced by the flow path resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to secure a long distance between the head unit and the guide rail.

Alternatively, for example, when a cooling fan is provided behind the head unit and the wind is sent toward the front, it is necessary to leave the vicinity of the suction port of the cooling fan as an open space. Therefore, it is still necessary to secure a long distance between the head unit and the guide rail.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the distance between the head unit 50 and the guide rail 21 is greater than or equal to the distance at which the first flow path 92a can be arranged, excluding the engaging portion between the guide rail 21 and the carriage 40. Just do it. In particular, in the present embodiment, the first flow path 92a is configured to have a flat shape having a length in the vertical direction longer than the length in the feed direction X. Therefore, the distance between the guide rail 21 and the head unit 50 with respect to the feed direction X is short. When the distance between the guide rail 21 and the head unit 50 is short, the vibration of the carriage 40 due to the movement is suppressed, and the print quality is improved.

Further, in the present embodiment, the cooling fan 80 is arranged in front of the first flow path 92a, which is a portion of the flow path 92 in which the outlets 93A to 93D are formed. The second flow path 92b, which is a portion of the flow path 92 near the cooling fan 80, is bent forward so as to be connected to the cooling fan 80. Since the head unit 50 is provided in front of the first flow path 92a, the carriage 40 extends to the front of the first flow path 92a. Therefore, according to the refracted duct 90 and the cooling fan 80 arranged in front of the first flow path 92a, the space in front of the first flow path 92a can be effectively used.

As shown in FIG. 3, the wind W1 that has cooled the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R becomes wind W2 and flows forward along the side surfaces of the heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R. The wind W2 is blown onto the plurality of dampers 62a as shown in FIG. Since the damper 62a of the ink supply path 62 is located in front of the plurality of heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R, the damper 62a is blown out from the plurality of outlets 93A to 93D and sideways with the heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R. You can receive the wind W2 that has passed. The wind W2 is warmed by taking heat from the heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R. Therefore, the plurality of dampers 62a are warmed by the wind W2.

The viscosity of the ink in the ink supply path 62 decreases as it is warmed. As is known, an inkjet printer may be provided with a heating device that heats the ink in order to reduce the viscosity of the ink, and warming the ink to some extent contributes to improvement or stability of print quality. According to the present embodiment, the ink in the ink supply path 62 can be warmed by utilizing the cooling of the head unit 50 by the cooling device 70.

Here, the member of the ink supply path 62 that receives the wind W2 warmed by cooling the heat sinks 53L, 53R, 57L, and 57R is the damper 62a, but other members of the ink supply path 62 may be used. However, since the ink is stored in the damper 62a as the intermediate container, the heating efficiency of the ink is good and the degree of heating is easy to be stable.

In the present embodiment, in order to promote the flow of the winds W1 and W2, a gap C1 is provided between the heat sinks 53L and 53R and the first damper group D1 respectively. Similarly, a gap C2 is provided between the heat sinks 57L and 57R and the second damper group D2, respectively. As a result, the cooling efficiency of the head unit 50 is improved, and the heating efficiency of the damper 62a is improved. As shown in FIG. 3, the heated wind W2 passes through the gap C1 and then flows along the side surface of the first damper group D1. As a result, the heating efficiency of the first damper group D1 is improved. The same applies to the gap C2.

The cross-sectional area of the gap C1 is preferably larger than the cross-sectional area of each of the outlets 93A to 93D. As a result, the flow path resistance of the gap C1 becomes smaller than the flow path resistances of the outlets 93A to 93D, so that the winds W1 and W2 can easily flow. The cross-sectional area of the gap C1 here means the product of the distance L1 in FIG. 3 and the height of the first damper group D1. The distance L1 is the shortest distance in a plan view between the first left heat sink 53L and the first damper group D1, or the shortest distance in a plan view between the first right heat sink 53R and the first damper group D1. The cross-sectional area of the gap C2 is also preferably larger than the cross-sectional area of each of the outlets 93A to 93D.

[Other embodiments]
The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the above embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention can be implemented in various other embodiments.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the suction port 81 of the cooling fan 80 is opened toward the right, but it may be in another direction. In the above embodiment, the right side is one of the scanning directions Y in which the carriage 40 is moved. Therefore, the ventilation capacity of the cooling fan 80 may differ depending on the moving direction of the carriage 40. Therefore, the suction port 81 of the cooling fan 80 may be directed in a direction other than the scanning direction Y, for example, forward or upward. As a result, it is possible to prevent the air blowing capacity of the cooling fan 80 from being different depending on the moving direction of the carriage 40.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, the cooling device includes a right cooling fan 80R having a suction port 81R opened toward one side (here, right) in the scanning direction Y, and the other side (here) in the scanning direction Y. Then, a left cooling fan 80L having a suction port 81L opened toward the left side) may be provided. In this case, the duct 90A may be configured in a U shape in which the flow paths 92R and 92L extending in the feed direction X are connected to the right end and the left end of the flow path 92Y extending in the scanning direction Y, respectively. As shown in FIG. 5, in this embodiment, the front end of the flow path 92R is connected to the air outlet 82R of the right cooling fan 80R. The front end of the flow path 92L is connected to the air outlet 82L of the left cooling fan 80L. Even with such a configuration, it is possible to suppress that the blowing capacity of the cooling device differs depending on the moving direction of the carriage 40.

The shape of the duct is not particularly limited. For example, the duct may be configured as a straight tube having no refracting portion. The size of the duct is also not particularly limited. Further, the direction in which the air outlet and the heat sink are lined up (in other words, the direction in which the wind is blown from the air outlet) may be another direction instead of the feed direction. This direction may be different depending on the set of the air outlet and the heat sink. The position of the duct is also not particularly limited. For example, the duct may not be located between the guide rail and the plurality of heat sinks.

Further, in the description of the above-described embodiment, the outlet of the wind W2 from the carriage 40 is not mentioned, but the carriage 40 may be provided with the outlet of the wind W2. The wind outlet may be, for example, a slit or a through hole provided in the front wall surface of the cover of the carriage 40. Alternatively, the outlet may be, for example, a slit or a through hole provided on the top surface or the back surface of the cover of the carriage 40. The outlet may be provided with, for example, an exhaust fan for sending air from the inside of the carriage 40 to the outside. The carriage 40 does not have to have a wind outlet in particular. In that case, the airtightness of the carriage 40 may not be increased so much.

Other, unless otherwise specified, embodiments do not limit the invention. For example, the techniques disclosed herein can be applied to various types of inkjet printers. The technique disclosed herein can be similarly applied to, for example, a flatbed type inkjet printer in addition to the so-called roll-to-roll type printer as shown in the above embodiment. Further, the printer is not limited to the one used independently as an independent printer, and may be a combination with other devices. For example, the printer may be built into another device.

In the above-described embodiment, the liquid ejection device ejects ink and is mounted on an inkjet printer, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The technique disclosed herein can be applied to devices other than inkjet printers, which are equipped with an inkjet liquid ejection device. The liquid discharge device disclosed herein can also be applied to, for example, a three-dimensional modeling device that discharges a curing liquid to form a three-dimensional model.

10 Printer 40 Carriage 50 Head unit 53L, 53R, 57L, 57R Heat sink 80 Cooling fan 90 Duct 93A-93D Outlet

Claims (5)

A head unit including an actuator that discharges a liquid, a drive circuit that drives the actuator, and a plurality of heat sinks that dissipate heat generated by the drive circuit.
A box-shaped carriage containing at least a part of the head unit including the plurality of heat sinks, and a box-shaped carriage.
A cooling fan provided with a suction port that opens toward the outside of the carriage and sucks air, and a blower port that blows out air sucked from the suction port.
A connection port connected to the air outlet, a cylindrical flow path through which air sent from the air outlet to the connection port flows, and the flow path so as to open toward each heat sink of the plurality of heat sinks. With multiple outlets formed in, and a duct with,
Liquid discharge device equipped with. Multiple liquid containers, each containing liquid,
A plurality of liquid supply paths connecting the plurality of liquid containers and the head unit,
Equipped with
Each outlet of the plurality of outlets is arranged on one side in the first direction with respect to the corresponding heat sink, and is open toward the other side in the first direction.
Each of the plurality of liquid supply paths has a portion located on the other side of the first direction with respect to at least one of the plurality of heat sinks.
The liquid discharge device according to claim 1. A guide rail that supports the carriage so that it extends in a predetermined scanning direction and can move in the scanning direction.
A carriage drive unit that moves the carriage in the scanning direction along the guide rail,
Equipped with
The plurality of heat sinks are arranged on one side of the guide rail in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the scanning direction, and the positions in the scanning direction are different from each other.
The flow path includes a first flow path located between the guide rail and the plurality of heat sinks in the orthogonal direction and extending in the scanning direction.
The plurality of outlets are formed in the first flow path so as to open toward the one side in the orthogonal direction and to line up in the scanning direction.
The liquid discharge device according to claim 1 or 2. The cooling fan is provided on one side of the first flow path in the orthogonal direction.
The flow path includes a second flow path that is connected to the first flow path and extends from the connection portion with the first flow path to the one side in the orthogonal direction.
The connection port is configured at an end portion of the second flow path opposite to the connection portion of the first flow path.
The liquid discharge device according to claim 3. The liquid is ink
The liquid discharge device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is provided.
Inkjet printer.

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