JP2500596B2 - Inkjet printer - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer, and more particularly to an ink jet printer having a carrier provided with a nozzle portion for ejecting ink.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet printer, if paper is continuously fed while a carrier having nozzles is located in a printing range, the nozzles may be clogged with paper powder or the ink may be dried and solidified to cause clogging. There was an inconvenience of causing it.

As a measure for avoiding such inconvenience, the paper feed amount is detected in advance, and if the paper feed time exceeds a certain value, the carrier is retracted to the home position, and automatic capping is performed at this retracted position. A known method is to prevent the nozzle from clogging.

[0004]

However, this method requires analysis of the command from the host computer in order to detect the paper feed amount, and the carrier or print head is retracted to the home position before paper feed. However, there is an inconvenience that the printing speed is reduced.

[0005]

It is an object of the present invention to improve the disadvantages of the conventional example, and in particular, to make it possible to close the nozzle when the paper is fed and the like so that the nozzle appears when the paper is stopped or the carrier is moved. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet printer capable of effectively avoiding clogging, ink drying, and the like, and eliminating the cause of the decrease in printing speed.

[0006]

According to the present invention, in an ink jet printer for ejecting ink from a nozzle provided on a carrier onto a recording paper to perform a predetermined printing, a carrier is provided with a nozzle cover movable along the nozzle. To do. Also, when moving the recording paper, the frictional force with the recording paper is
The nozzle cover moving mechanism for receiving and moving the nozzle to set the nozzle in the closed state is provided alongside the nozzle cover. This is intended to achieve the above-mentioned object.

[0007]

According to the present invention, in the state in which the sheet is fed, those
The nozzle cover moves to a position where it covers the nozzles by receiving the frictional force with the recording paper . On the other hand, when the paper feed is stopped or the carrier moves, the nozzle cover moves in the direction of releasing the blockage of the nozzle. Therefore, it is possible to effectively avoid the factor that the paper powder adheres to the nozzle and causes clogging during the paper feeding operation.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of an ink jet printer according to the present invention. In this figure, a nozzle 11 is provided on one side surface of the carrier 10. A nozzle cover 12 is arranged slidably in the paper feed direction D1 on the surface of the carrier 10 on which the nozzles 11 are provided.

The nozzle cover 12 is connected to a shaft 15 of a rotating body 14 via a support arm portion 13. Rotating body 1
The rotation support shaft 15 of No. 4 is arranged at right angles to the carrier movement direction D2 and along the recording paper movement direction D1. The nozzle cover 12 and the rotating body 14 are configured to be positioned in the direction in which the nozzle 11 appears when the carrier is moved and stopped by the tension spring 16 so that printing is not hindered. Further, the rotating body 14 is attached so as to come into contact with a sheet as a print medium, and when the carrier 10 moves along the carrier moving direction D2 in FIG. 1, the rotating body 14 rotates smoothly and the nozzle cover Reference numeral 12 is provided so as to keep the nozzle 11 visible.

When the paper is fed, the paper and the rotating body 14
The rotating body 14 and the nozzle cover 12 are slid in the sheet feeding direction by the frictional contact force with the nozzle cover 12, and the nozzle 11 is covered by the nozzle cover 12. This allows
It is possible to prevent paper dust, which is often generated when the paper is fed, from entering the nozzles 11, and also to prevent the ink in the nozzles 11 from being dried and clogged by the air flow caused by the paper feeding. Since the rotating body 14 comes into contact with the paper surface in the non-printed area and is located in front of the nozzle 11 in the paper feeding direction D1, the presence of the rotating body 14 causes faint printing. There is no such thing.

When the sheet feeding is stopped, the rotating body 14 and the nozzle cover 12 are pulled in the direction opposite to the sheet feeding direction D1 by the force stored in the tension spring 16, whereby the nozzles 11 are exposed and printing becomes possible.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, the same reference numerals will be used for the same or equivalent parts as in the first embodiment, and the description will be omitted or simplified.

The second embodiment is characterized in that the sheet feed state or the stopped state of the carrier 20 is detected, and the nozzle 11 is closed by the nozzle cover 21 according to the result.

More specifically, the nozzle cover 21 will be described.
Is provided with a nozzle cover drive means 30 on the carrier 20 via a connecting piece 14, and the nozzle cover drive means 30 detects the paper feed state or the carrier stop state and the nozzle cover drive means 30 is detected. A detection device 22 that outputs a predetermined operation signal is connected to the.

The detection of the carrier stop by the detection device 22 can be replaced with the print stop. The paper feed state can be detected by, for example, observing the presence or absence of a drive pulse to the LF motor, or by detecting that the platen has rotated with a sensor or the like. Similarly to the paper feeding, the carrier stop can also be detected by the presence or absence of a drive pulse to the SP motor. When the detection device 22 detects a paper feed state or a carrier stop state, the nozzle cover driving means 30 operates to slide the nozzle cover 21, and the nozzle 11 is thereby covered.

On the other hand, when the detection device 22 detects the paper feed stop or the carrier movement, the nozzle cover driving means 30 is operated and the nozzle cover 12 is slid so that the nozzle 11 is exposed.

In each of the above-described embodiments, it is effective to make the nozzle covers 12 and 21 as close as possible to the nozzles.
Even if there is a slight gap with No. 21, there is no problem in implementation.

[0019]

Since the present invention is constructed and operates as described above, the nozzle can be quickly covered when the paper is fed or when the printing is stopped. Therefore, clogging of paper powder and drying of ink can be achieved. Further, the risk of clogging due to solidification is reduced, and the factor that reduces the printing speed can be effectively avoided. Also, the nozzle is blocked
Use the frictional force with the recording paper when setting
This eliminates the need for an electrical transfer mechanism, which
In the power saving can provide excellent inkjet cartridges not in economic conventionally.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a first embodiment of an inkjet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a second embodiment of the inkjet printer according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 20 Carrier 11 Nozzle 12, 21 Nozzle Cover 14 Rotating Body 16 Spring 22 Detection Device 30 Nozzle Cover Driving Means

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink jet printer for ejecting ink from a nozzle provided on a carrier to a recording paper to perform a predetermined printing, wherein the carrier is equipped with a nozzle cover movable along the nozzle, and the recording paper. When moving
An ink jet printer characterized in that a nozzle cover moving mechanism that moves by receiving a frictional force with a recording sheet and sets the nozzles in a closed state is provided together with the nozzle cover. 2. The nozzle cover moving mechanism moves together with the recording sheet within a predetermined allowable range by the frictional force between the recording sheet when the recording sheet moves, and when the carrier moves, the nozzle cover moving mechanism moves the recording sheet with the recording sheet. A rotary body that rotates and moves along the recording sheet along with the movement of the carrier while maintaining the positional relationship between them; a support arm portion that rotatably supports the rotary body and is fixed to the nozzle cover; and the nozzle. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the cover is constituted by a tension spring that constantly biases the cover in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the recording paper.