JP2610011B2 - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that performs print recording by performing a scanning movement relative to a recording sheet by mounting a recording head having an ink storage section on a carriage in a replaceable manner. More particularly, the present invention relates to a recording apparatus having a structure in which electric contacts are not contaminated by ink leaking from nozzles of a recording head and achieving reliable electric connection.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the use of ink-jet printers has been increasing because of a simple structure of a recording head, easy color recording, and high-speed recording.

On the other hand, the problems to be solved by the ink jet method include:
There is contamination in the printing apparatus due to ink discharged and leaked from the print head.

The conventional ink jet recording apparatus is provided with a cap means for covering the front surface of the head so that ink discharged or leaked from the print head does not scatter, and an ink recovery means for absorbing the discharged or leaked ink by a pump.

However, since the ink collecting means and the like are devices using a pump or the like, having these devices has a problem that the size of the ink jet recording apparatus is increased and the cost of the apparatus is further increased.

In particular, in a recording apparatus in which an ink jet recording head is mounted on a carriage so as to be exchangeable, the above-described leakage or scattering of ink may cause a failure in electrical connection.

[Purpose] An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and integrate a plurality of ejection units (hereinafter, referred to as nozzles) for ejecting ink, a plurality of drive elements for ejecting ink, and an ink storage unit. By mounting the configured recording head on the carriage in a replaceable manner, the size and cost of the recording apparatus can be reduced, and the position of the electric contact when the recording head is energized from the carriage member is provided above the upper surface of the carriage. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the electrical contacts from being contaminated by ink discharged and leaked from the nozzles, thereby improving the reliability of the recording apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus which can securely mount and fix a print head on a carriage and reliably connect the print head to the carriage while arranging electrical contacts for preventing contamination.

[Examples] Hereinafter, related arts and examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the following related arts and examples, members having the same shape and the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a related art of the present invention. The recording head 1 is provided with a hook 1a, a hook pin 1b, and a handle 1c. Reference numeral 2 denotes a carriage provided with a hook 2a and a groove 2b. The recording head 1 has a hook portion 2a
Then, the one hook pin 1b engages with the groove 2b and is fixed to the carriage 2 in a replaceable manner.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a flexible cable,
And an electric control circuit (not shown) are electrically connected.

The carriage 2 is slidably mounted on guide shafts 4 and 5, and has an endless wire 9 stretched between a pulley 7 provided on the shaft of a drive motor 6 and a pulley 8 provided elsewhere. And at the end 2c. Therefore, the rotation of the motor 6 is transmitted to the carriage 2 through the pulleys 7, 8 and the wire 9, and the carriage 2 runs left and right by the motor 6.

A platen roller 10 provided in parallel with the guide shafts 4 and 5 feeds the recording paper 11 in the sub-scanning direction. Platen roller 10
Is rotated by a motor 15 through gears 12, 13, 14.

 Next, the recording operation will be described.

The carriage 2 is moved rightward by rotating the drive motor 6. The recording head performs recording on the recording paper 11 based on a print signal sent through the flexible cable 3 during the movement of the carriage 2. When the recording head 1 reaches the right end, the carriage 2 stops running, and then the recording paper 11 moves one line in the sub-scanning direction by the rotation of the motor 15. Subsequently, the carriage 2 moves leftward, and the recording head 1 continues the same printing operation as described above until it reaches the left end. When the recording head reaches the left end, the carriage 2 stops running, and then the recording paper 11 moves one line in the sub-scanning direction by the rotation of the motor 15. The above operation is repeated, and a predetermined text or image is printed and recorded on the entire surface of the recording paper 11.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a conventional recording head for further clarifying the recording apparatus of the present invention. The conventional recording head will be described with reference to FIG. It facilitates understanding of the recording device. The continuous system, one of the inkjet recording systems, is equipped with a pressurized pump mechanism for continuously ejecting the ink, an electrode that charges the ink particles, and controls the flying direction of the particles. An ink recovery device having a pump mechanism for performing the operation is provided.

On the other hand, the recording head used in this example is called an on-demand method, and the mechanism is to discharge ink only when dots are recorded on recording paper. Becomes easier.
That is, reference numeral 16 denotes a nozzle plate as a discharge area having a plurality of discharge units for discharging ink, which has a plurality of nozzles 16a and is provided on the insulating substrate 17.

On the insulating substrate 17, an electric contact 17a and a discharge drive element (not shown) are provided. The drive element functions as an energy generator that generates energy for discharging ink from the nozzle 16a as an ink droplet, and a piezo element or an electric resistance element is used.

The insulating substrate 17 is further adhered to the base 1d.
Further, an ink bag 18 containing ink is attached to the base 1d, and the ink in the ink bag 18 is sent to the tip of the nozzle 16a by a hole communicating with the base 1d and the insulating substrate 17. The ink bag 18 is covered by a cover 1e.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the carriage 2 to which the head shown in FIG. 2 is attached, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a cable 3.

The head 1 is exchangeably fixed on the carriage 2 by engaging the hook portion 1a with the hook portion 2a of the carriage 2 and engaging the hook pin 1b with the hook groove 2b. In this state, the electrical contact 3a shown in FIG. 4 is pressed against the electrical contact 17a shown in FIG. 4 by the elastic force of the rubber member 19 provided on the front portion of the carriage 2 so as to make contact with the electrical contact 17a. Are provided to a driving element (not shown).

In the configuration shown in FIG. 3, unexpected flow of ink from the nozzle 16a may occur due to unexpected impact or temperature change.
When ink is repelled from the recording paper and adheres to the periphery of the head when recording is performed on the recording paper 11, the nozzle
The electrical contacts 3a and 17a below 16a are inevitably contaminated for a long time, and there is a great possibility that printing will not be possible due to poor conduction.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a recording head 1 as a related technique considered in forming the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a recording head 1 and a carriage 2 to be attached, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a state in which the head 1 is attached to the carriage 2. In FIG. 5, the nozzle plate 16 is located above the electrical contact 17a, similarly to the nozzle plate shown in FIG. 2, so that when the recording paper 11 is discharged in the direction of arrow A as shown in FIG. There is an advantage that it is hard to touch.

The electrical contacts on the substrate 17 are connected to the flexible cable 20 by welding means, and the connected portion is completely sealed from outside air by a seal member 21. Therefore, the connected electrical contact portions are not contaminated by ink leaking from the upper nozzle 16a.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the surface and the direction of the nozzle plate 16, which is the discharge area, and the electric contact 20a connected to the electric contact 3a on the carriage side are made different. For this reason, there is no possibility that the ink leaking from the nozzle 16a, which is a discharge unit, adheres to the electrical contact 20a and causes printing failure.

On the other hand, the contact part 20 provided on the flexible cable 20
a is provided above the lowest portion 1f of the recording head 1 by H. The recording head 1 has an engagement between a hook portion 1a and a hook portion 2a having resiliency of the carriage 2 shown in FIG. 6 and an engagement between a front hook portion 1g of the recording head 1 and a hook hole 2g of the carriage 2. It is exchangeably fixed on the carriage 2 by the engagement.

In FIG. 6, a contact 3a provided on the flexible cable 3 is provided above the upper surface 2e of the carriage 2 by K having substantially the same length as H. Therefore, the contact 3a is not contaminated by the leaked ink on the upper surface 2e. Seventh
In the figure, the electric contact 3a provided on the carriage 2 and the electric contact 20a provided on the recording head 1 come into contact with each other by the elastic force of the rubber member 19, so that the electric current from the flexible cable 3 is discharged by an ink ejection (not shown). This is performed on the driving element.

In the above state, even if the ink leaking and leaking from the nozzle 16a spreads the carriage 2 to the upper surface 2e through the nozzle plate 16, the seal member 21, and the flexible cable 20, the contacts 20a and 3a spread the ink by the heights H and K. The contact is not contaminated by the ink because it is separated from the location.

The values of H and K are selected by the following calculation. For example, assuming that the area of the upper surface 2e of the carriage 2 is 8 cm ² and the ink capacity of the ink storage unit 18 of the recording head 1 is 5 cc, 5/8 = 0.625 cm, and the worst case is that all the ink has leaked. Also, if H and K are set to 7 mm, the electrodes will not be contaminated by ink. Then the eighth
Another related art of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

In FIG. 8, the contact 20 of the flexible cable 20 is shown.
a is the same as that shown in FIG.
Is provided at a distance H from the camera.

The flexible cable 20 shown in FIG. 8 is not bent in the middle unlike the flexible cable shown in FIG.
Since a is the same as the head minimum portion 1f, the ink does not transmit to the flexible cable 20.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 9, 10, and 11, based on the related art described above.

9 is a perspective view showing the recording head 1, FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the carriage 2 to which the recording head 1 of FIG. 9 is attached, and FIG. 11 is a cross section showing the state where the head 1 is attached to the carriage 2. FIG.

In FIG. 9, the contact 20a provided on the flexible cable 20 is the lowest head portion 1f of the section 1h of the recording head 1.
Is provided at a distance H from the camera. Therefore, contamination of the contact 20a by the leaked ink can be prevented. Since the side surface 1h has a larger area than the bottom portion 1f, the width L of the contact 20a can be increased. When the width L is large, it is possible to increase the number of contacts or to increase the interval between the contacts to reduce erroneous contact. As is apparent from FIG. 10, the carriage of the present invention has a mounting surface 2e on which the ink jet recording head is mounted, and a side of the carriage extending above the mounting surface and different from the side on which ink is ejected. It has a side wall 30 having a surface facing toward.

On this side wall, a carriage-side electrical contact 3a provided on the flexible cable 3 is disposed above the mounting surface 2e by k having substantially the same length as H above.

Thus, the electric contact 3a on the carriage side is
The electrical contacts 3a are not contaminated by scattered ink or leaked ink because they are arranged above the head mounting surface 2e.

Further, the carriage of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is provided with a hook hole 2g and a hook portion 2a which is a biasing means having a spring property, similarly to the related art of FIG. The recording head 1 is exchangeably fixed by the hook hole 2g.

At this time, by being urged by the urging means, the head front surface of the recording head comes into contact with a contact surface serving as a positioning portion provided with the hooking hole 2g of the carriage, and positioning in the ink ejection direction is performed. .

Further, as is apparent from FIG. 11, the side wall of the carriage 2 is provided with the electrical contact 3a via a rubber member 19 which generates an elastic force, and a spring portion 2h as a biasing means. The electric contact 20 provided on the recording head 1 by the elastic force of the urging means is changed to the electric contact on the carriage side.
It is urged in the direction of 3a and both electrical contacts are in pressure contact.

In this way, the recording head is urged by the urging means in the direction of the positioning portion, and in a direction intersecting this direction and pressing the recording head-side electric contact and the carriage-side electric contact. It is possible to achieve reliable electric connection and reliable positioning and fixing of the recording head in the ink ejection direction without causing a positional displacement between the recording head and the carriage.

[Effects] As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the electrical contacts are arranged on the side wall of the carriage different from the side where the nozzle plate is located, which is the ejection area. For this reason, there is no possibility that the ink leaking from the nozzle serving as the discharge unit adheres to the electrical contact and causes printing failure. In addition, a structure in which electrical contacts for supplying power to a plurality of drive elements of the recording head are provided on a side wall above the head mounting surface of the carriage, thereby completely preventing contamination of the electrical contacts by ink scattered or leaked from a plurality of nozzles. Is done. Also,
The head is urged by the urging means in a direction in which the recording head is urged to the positioning means, and in a direction intersecting this direction, and in a direction in which the electric contact on the recording head side is pressed against the electric contact on the carriage side. The electrical connection between the print head and the carriage is reliably performed, and the fixed positioning of the recording head on the carriage can be reliably performed. For this reason, it is possible to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that performs a highly reliable recording operation.

Further, even if the electrical contacts are contaminated with ink, the recording head can be easily removed from the carriage member to clean the electrical contacts.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the related art of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a conventional recording head for further clarifying the recording apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a carriage to which the head shown in FIG. 2 is attached. FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining the flexible cable shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is an embodiment of a recording head according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a carriage on which the head is mounted, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the head is mounted on the carriage, and FIG. 8 is a recording head according to the related art of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a recording head according to the present invention, FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a carriage on which the head is mounted, and FIG. To indicate the state of attachment to It is a diagram. 1 ... print head, 2 ... carriage, 3,20 ... flexible cable, 3a, 20a ... electrical contacts, 30 ... side wall.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Akira Miyagawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-55-150372 (JP, A) JP-A-58 −194542 (JP, A) Actually open 57-118850 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A carriage capable of mounting an ink jet recording head having an ejection port for ejecting ink, an ink storage section for accommodating ink to be ejected, and a head-side electric contact for receiving an electric signal for driving ink ejection. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a mounting surface provided on the carriage for mounting the ink jet recording head; and a carriage disposed on a side wall above the mounting surface so as to be able to contact the head-side electrical contacts. A side electrical contact; a positioning portion disposed on the carriage, for positioning the ink jet recording head in an ink ejection direction; a direction toward the positioning portion for positioning the ink jet recording head mounted on the mounting surface; In a direction intersecting with the head-side electrical contact and the carriage-side electrical contact. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a pressing direction; and a biasing unit disposed on the carriage for biasing the carriage. 2. The ink jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein said ink jet recording head is provided with an electric resistance element for discharging the ink by receiving said electric signal for driving said ink discharge. Inkjet recording device.