JP2671035B2 - Recording device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording device that drives a carriage and feeds a paper by using a single drive source.

[Conventional technology]

A recording device such as a printer or a facsimile drives a recording head based on the recording information to form an image on a recording medium such as a sheet, and feeds one line to record the next line. It is configured to go.

In particular, in a serial type recording apparatus in which a recording head performs main scanning in a print digit direction, the recording head is mounted on a carriage that reciprocates in the print digit direction, and main scanning is performed by the movement of the carriage and one line is recorded. The carriage return and the paper feed are performed for each of the units.

FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are a perspective view and a longitudinal sectional view showing the overall structure of a recording apparatus using a bubble jet type disposable ink cartridge among the recording apparatuses of this type as an example.

In FIGS. 8 and 9, 101 is a frame that forms the outer shell of the recording apparatus, 102 is a chassis (base) that is fixed to the frame 101 and supports a stepping motor, a pinch roller 103 (FIG. 9), etc. described later, A guide shaft 104 is fixed to the frame 101 and guides the carriage 105 in a reciprocating manner.
Is a timing belt which is connected to the carriage 105 and moves the carriage in accordance with the rotation of the stepping motor 107, and 108 is a recording head which is mounted on the carriage 105 and ejects ink from the ejection port based on image information to perform recording. Show.

Further, 109 (FIG. 9) is a feed roller for feeding the recording medium (recording sheet such as paper) 111 inserted from the insertion port 110 to the recording position, and the surface of which has a non-slip elastic layer. It is provided.

The feed roller 109 is driven by the stepping motor 107 at the time of feeding the paper, and the recording sheet 111 can be sandwiched between the pinch roller 103 and fed.

112 is a platen for holding the recording sheet 111 at the recording position,
Reference numeral 113 denotes a flexible cable for supplying a recording signal to the recording head 102 mounted on the carriage 105, and 114 denotes a home position sensor for detecting that the carriage 105 has reached a home position outside the recording area.

10 is a partial sectional front view of the recording apparatus of FIG. 8, FIG. 11 is a partial sectional plan view of FIG. 10, and FIG. 12 is a bottom view of FIG.

In FIGS. 10 and 11, 121 is a shaft of the feed roller 109, and 122 is a worm wheel fitted on the shaft 121 of the feed roller to rotate the shaft in only one direction.

123 is an arbor fitted and fixed to the roller shaft 121,
Is a spring clutch interposed between the arbor 123 and the worm wheel 122.

One end of the spring clutch 124 is locked in the groove of the worm wheel 122 and rotates integrally with the worm wheel 122.
The spring does not engage the arbor 123 when rotating in the direction E in FIG. 11 by 07 (during recording).
Is kept unrotated with the roller shaft 121.

On the other hand, when the worm wheel 122 rotates in the F direction (during paper feeding), the spring of the clutch 124 engages with the arbor 123 to rotate the feed roller 109 and the roller shaft 121 in that direction.

In FIG. 10, 125 is a belt drive pulley that is rotated by the stepping motor 107 to drive the timing belt 106, and in FIG. 11, 126 is the stepping motor 107.
It is a worm gear that is rotated by and meshes with the worm wheel 122.

FIG. 13 shows the output shaft of the stepping motor 107. The belt drive pulley 125 and the worm gear 126 are coaxially integrally formed and attached to the shaft of the stepping motor 107.

Therefore, the belt driving pulley 125 and the worm gear 126 can be simultaneously driven by the single stepping motor 107.

Next, the configuration of the pinch roller 103 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9, 10, and 12.

In these figures, 131 is a pinch roller shaft made of a spring material, and both ends of the pinch roller shaft 131 are the ninth pinch roller shaft.
As shown in the figure, the pinch roller shaft 131 is held in the guide groove 101A of the frame 101, and the pinch roller shaft 131 is provided between the end portions of the pinch roller shaft 131 and the pinch roller 103 as shown in FIG.
It is biased toward the feed roller 109 by the protruding portion 132 protruding from.

Next, the operation of the recording apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

Before the start of recording, the corner 105A of the carriage 105 contacts the home position sensor 114 as shown in FIG. 11, and the state is detected by the sensor, so that the carriage 105 is stopped.

When a stepping motor 107 is supplied with a movement signal for shifting the carriage 105 for recording, the motor 107 starts rotating in the direction of arrow A and rotates the belt driving pulley 125 together with the worm gear 126.

Here, the worm wheel 122 is driven by the worm gear 126.
Is rotated in the E direction. In this direction, the spring clutch 124 shown in FIG. 10 releases the engagement state with the arbor 123, so that the roller shaft 1 to which the arbor 123 is fitted.
21 does not rotate, and therefore the paper feed operation by the feed roller 109 is not performed.

Thus, the belt drive pulley 125 rotates in the A direction (11th
The carriage 105 moves in the direction of arrow C according to the figure), and in the meanwhile, the carriage signal of the motor 107 is motivated to selectively supply an ink ejection signal to the recording head 108 via the flexible cable 113 to eject ink. The recording is done by. The timing belt 106 is stretched between the drive pulley 125 and the idler timing pulley 128A and the idler pulleys 128B and 128C.

When recording is completed, move carriage 105 to home position 1
The stepping motor 107 is rotated in the reverse direction, that is, rotated in the B direction in order to return to the 14 direction, that is, the D direction, and the worm wheel 122 is rotated in the F direction by the rotation of the worm gear 126 and the belt driving pulley 125 in the same direction.

When the worm wheel 122 rotates in this F direction,
By engaging the spring clutch 124 shown in FIG. 10 with the arbor 123, the roller shaft 121 can be rotated in the same direction (F direction), and the paper is fed by the feed roller 109.

That is, it is possible to feed the paper when the carriage 105 returns.

Further, by utilizing the toothless portion of the timing belt 106, the carriage 105 can be continuously fed without carrying the carriage. It is described below.

14 and 15 show the essential parts of only the belt 106, the chassis 102 and the pulleys 125 and 128, and FIGS. 16 and 17 are plan views of the recording apparatus in which the position of the carriage 105 is different. FIG. 14 shows the state of the timing belt 106 when the carriage 105 is at the position shown in FIG. 16, and FIG. 15 shows the state of the timing belt 106 when the carriage 105 is at the position shown in FIG.

As shown in these figures, the timing belt 106 is provided with a toothless portion 106A and a positioning portion 106B for the carriage 105.

FIG. 14 and FIG. 16 are diagrams during the operation in the state of normal printing.

The carriage 105 has a positioning portion for the timing belt 106.
A groove 105A (FIG. 18) for 106B is cut, and the positioning portion 106B of the timing belt 106 is inserted in the groove.

15 and 17 are views showing the continuous paper feeding operation,
The toothless portion 106A of the timing belt 106 is located on the drive pulley 125. At this time, the carriage 105 is in contact with the right side regulation wall 101B of the frame 101 as shown in FIG.

Timing belt 106 is idler timing pulley 128
Since the drive pulley 125 is stretched around the A and idler pulleys 128B and 128C and the drive pulley 125, when the drive pulley 125 rotates in the B direction in FIG. 15, the toothless portion 106A of the timing belt and the drive pulley 125 have no belt teeth. As a result, they slip, but they try to rotate in the direction of movement due to mutual frictional forces. However, since the carriage 105 is in contact with the frame wall 101B, the timing belt 106 does not move and the belt drive pulley 125 idles.

Further, when the belt drive pulley 125 rotates, the worm gear 126 also rotates, but the rotation in the B direction in FIG. 15 is the rotation in the paper feeding direction as described above. That is, the paper can be fed while the carriage 105 is in contact with the right wall of the frame 101 as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, when the belt drive pulley 125 rotates in the A direction in FIG. 15, the timing belt 106 is stretched as described above, and therefore the timing belt 106 moves in the same direction as the A direction due to the frictional force.

When the toothed portion (toothed portion) 106C of the timing belt 106 reaches the belt drive pulley 125 from the toothless portion 106A, the belt 106 and the pulley 125 mesh with each other, and thereafter, a normal transmission force is not lost. Printing operation can be performed.

Further, the core material of the timing belt 106 is required to have abrasion resistance, but a commonly used material such as Kevlar (registered trademark) can sufficiently withstand practical use.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the recording apparatus that drives the carriage and feeds the paper with the single drive source as described above, the belt drive pulley 125 starts to rotate in the direction A from the state shown in FIG.
The belt 106 is caused by the mutual frictional force between 06A and the drive pulley 125.
Starts moving in direction A, and then timing belt 10
The tooth portion 106C of 6 and the drive pulley 125 are in mesh with each other, so that the carriage 105 continuous with the timing belt 106 moves in the A direction.

However, when the toothed portion 106C of the timing belt 106 passes through the idler timing pulley 128A, the toothed portion 106C
Of the idler timing belt pulley 128A may run over the tooth crest of the idler timing belt pulley 128A.
The tension of 106 fluctuates, and the carriage 105 may not be fed at a constant speed.

Such a phenomenon occurs when the toothless portion 106A of the belt 106 passes through the idler timing pulley 128A and the belt 106 and the idler timing pulley 128A operate in a state where they are not synchronized with each other. 106
When the toothed portion 106C comes to the position of the idler timing pulley 128A, the mutual teeth do not mesh properly with each other.

Further, when such a phenomenon occurs, when the toothless portion 106A of the belt 106 passes through the idler timing pulley 128A,
Since the carriage 105 is already located in the print area,
Printing defects often occur.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to prevent the teeth of a portion from a toothless portion of a timing belt to a toothed portion to ride on a ridge and a ridge of both teeth when passing through an idler timing pulley. By preventing it, the carriage feeding and paper feeding are performed with a single drive source configured to eliminate the instability of the carriage feeding due to the fluctuation of the tension of the timing belt and the impact, and to ensure the good printing area. It is to provide a device.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention has a timing belt provided with a toothless portion, a belt drive pulley, and a driven pulley provided with meshing teeth at the contact portion of the timing belt, and the belt drive pulley is rotated forward and backward by a drive source. Recording is performed while reciprocally moving a carriage connected to the timing belt, and when the toothless portion of the timing belt comes to the position of the belt driving pulley, the power transmission is cut off, The length of the toothless portion of the belt is set to be longer than the meshing length of the timing belt and the belt driving pulley and shorter than the meshing length of the timing belt and the driven pulley provided with the meshing teeth. Thus, the above object is achieved.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a timing belt of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a toothless portion is in a position of a timing idler pulley, and FIG. 2 is a timing belt of FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state in which the tooth portion is at the position of the belt driving pulley, and FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged plan view showing a contact state between the timing idler pulley and the timing belt in FIG.

The present invention is implemented in a recording apparatus configured to execute carriage drive and paper feed by a single drive source as described in FIGS. 8 to 18, and is different from the recording apparatus. The points are limited to the timing belt 106, the idler pulleys 128A, 128B, 128C, etc., and other configurations are substantially the same.

Therefore, this difference will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 shows the carriage 105 as shown in FIGS. 14 and 16.
The timing belt 106 according to the present invention during the normal printing operation is stretched around the belt drive pulley 125, the timing idler pulley 128A, and the idler pulleys 128B and 128C.

FIG. 2 shows the carriage 105 as shown in FIGS. 15 and 17.
Is in contact with the right regulation wall 101B of the frame 101, that is, the timing belt 106 in the continuous paper feeding state.
And its peripheral members are shown.

FIG. 3 shows the timing idler pulley 128A and the timing belt at the position of the timing belt 106 in FIG.
The part that meshes with 106 is shown enlarged.

1 to 3, during continuous paper feeding, the tooth-chipped portion 106A of the timing belt 106 and the belt drive pulley 125 slip and slip at the contact portions of each other, so that the tooth-chipped portion 106A of the timing belt 106 is a belt. A sufficient length is required in the portion that comes into contact with the drive pulley 125.

If the length of the tooth-missing portion 106A is not sufficient, the belt drive pulley 125 is used when the carriage 105 is in contact with the right side regulation wall of the frame 101 and the movement is restricted as shown in FIG. 17 corresponding to FIG. It is conceivable that the teeth of the motor and the teeth of the timing belt 106 are still in mesh with each other.
When the continuous paper feeding operation is performed by rotating in the direction B in the figure, the belt driving pulley 125 and the timing belt 106 are in a tooth jumping state, which causes a problematic load to the stepping motor 107 and causes abnormal noise and vibration. .

Therefore, the length of the toothless portion 106A of the timing head 106 needs to be set larger than the meshing length (contact circumferential length) between the belt drive pulley 125 and the timing belt.

On the other hand, in the timing idler pulley 128A, which is a driven pulley having meshing teeth, the toothed portion 106 of the timing belt 106 is formed in the tooth crest of the timing idler pulley 128A.
It is necessary to prevent the pile of C teeth from climbing up.

In order to continue the printing operation, it is necessary to rotate the stepping motor 107 in the direction A of FIG. 1 in order to move the carriage 105 to the left and carry the carry.

By the way, in the recording apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, when the toothless portion 106A of the timing belt 106 reaches the timing idler pulley 128A as shown in FIG. Before the tooth 106D immediately before the tooth portion 106A is completely separated from the timing idler pulley 128A, the tooth 1 immediately after the toothless portion 106A of the timing belt 106 1
06E is set to mesh with timing idler pulley 128A.

With this setting, when the toothless portion 106A of the timing belt 106 passes through the timing idler pulley 128A,
While the timing idler pulley 128A is rotating synchronously with the teeth 106D of the timing belt 106A,
Since the tooth 106E after 106A meshes with the timing idler pulley 128A, the timing idler pulley 128A is never in a free state, and therefore the tooth 106E can mesh smoothly with the timing idler pulley 128A.

In this way, by setting the engagement length (contact circumferential length) of the timing idler pulley 128A and the timing belt 106 to be larger than or equal to the length of the toothless portion 106A of the timing belt, the timing belt 106 teeth 1
It is possible to prevent 06E from riding on the teeth of the timing idler pulley 128A.

What is important here is that the teeth located before and after the missing tooth portion 106A are
The distance between 106D and 106E is set to an integral multiple of the pitch of the teeth of the timing belt 106.

Thus, in the recording apparatus of this embodiment, the mesh length between the belt drive pulley 125 and the timing belt 106 is X, the length of the toothless portion 106A of the timing belt 106 is Y, the timing idler pulley 128A and the timing belt 106. When the meshing length with and is Z, the relationship of Z ≦ Y> X is established.

With the above configuration, it is possible to prevent abnormal noise and vibration during continuous paper feeding, and to use the timing idler pulley.
Partial tooth portion 106 in the engagement of 128A and timing belt 106
It is possible to suppress the step and impact between A and the toothed portion 106C,
As a result, a recording apparatus capable of eliminating printing defects was obtained.

4 is a plan view showing a timing belt of a recording apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which the toothless portion is at the position of the timing idler pulley, and FIG. 5 is the timing belt toothless portion of FIG. Is a plan view showing a state in which the belt drive pulley is located, FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged plan view showing a contact state between the timing idler pulley and the timing belt in FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a line VII in FIG. 7 is a partial side view seen from VII. FIG.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 is also implemented in the recording apparatus configured to execute carriage drive and paper feed by the single drive source (stepping motor 107) described in FIGS. Is.

In this embodiment, a driven pulley with meshing teeth composed of two toothed timing idler pulleys is used in place of the timing idler pulley 128A shown in FIGS.
The engagement portion length between the timing belt 106 and the driven pulley is set to be large.

Other configurations are substantially the same as those described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 and FIGS. 8 to 18, corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and overlapping description will be omitted.

In FIGS. 4 to 7, the driven pulley having the meshing teeth is formed by arranging two timing idler pulleys 128D and 128E side by side.

The timing idler pulleys 128D and 128E are provided with gears 130 and 131 that rotate integrally with each other, and an idler gear 129 that meshes with the gears 130 and 131 is provided between the gears 130 and 131.

The number of teeth and the pitch circles of the two timing idler pulleys 128D and 128E are equal, and the respective gear portions 130 and 1
The number of teeth of 31 and the pitch circle are also set to be equal, and the two timing idler pulleys 128D and 128E rotate in the same direction and at the same pitch.

Therefore, the belt drive pulley 125 and the timing belt 106
The engagement length with X is X, and the toothless portion 106 of the timing belt 106
Length of A is Y, 2 timing idler pulleys 128D, 1
Assuming that the engagement length Z of the driven pulley made of 28E and the timing belt 106 is Z, the relationship of Z ≦ Y> X is also established in this embodiment.

With the above configuration, in order to perform the printing operation, when the stepping motor 107 is rotated in the A direction so as to move the carriage 105 to the left in order to carry it, the timing belt 106 is moved in the A direction. As shown in FIG. 6, when the toothless portion 106A of the timing belt 106 reaches the timing idler pulleys 128D and 128E, the tooth 106D immediately before the toothless portion 106A moves to the timing idler pulley 128E.
The tooth 106E immediately after the toothless portion 106A meshes with the timing idler pulley 128D before it is completely separated from.

Since the timing idler pulley 128E rotates in synchronization with the timing belt 106 by the teeth 106D, the idler gear 129 and the gears 130 and 131 also rotate the timing idler pulley 128D in synchronization with the timing belt 106, and in that state. Tooth 106E has timing idler pulley 12
8D, so the tooth 106E is the timing idler pulley.
It can mesh with 128D smoothly.

Further, the timing idler pulleys 128D and 128E and the timing belt 106 need to be set in advance so as to be synchronized with each other.

As described above, the teeth 106E of the timing belt 106 can be prevented from riding on the teeth of the timing idler pulleys 128D and 128E.

In this way, two timing idler pulleys 12
By arranging 8D and 128E and rotating them in synchronization with each other, the mesh length Z between the driven pulleys 128D and 128E having mesh teeth and the timing belt 106 can be increased.

Therefore, according to the embodiment of FIGS.
In addition to achieving the same effect as in the embodiment of FIGS. 3 to 3, the engagement length Z between the toothed driven pulleys 128D and 128E and the timing belt 106 can be freely set to be long. It has become possible to increase the degree of freedom in design.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the timing belt having the toothless portion, the belt driving pulley, and the driven pulley having the meshing tooth at the contact portion of the timing belt are provided, Recording is performed while reciprocally moving the carriage connected to the timing belt by rotating the pulley forward and backward with a drive source, and interrupting power transmission when the toothless portion of the timing belt reaches the position of the belt drive pulley. In the recording apparatus configured as described above, the length of the toothless portion of the timing belt is longer than the meshing length of the timing belt and the belt drive pulley, and the driven pulley provided with the timing belt and the meshing tooth. Since it is set shorter than the length of the meshing part with, it does not generate abnormal noise or vibration during continuous paper feeding, and it also eliminates printing defects and improves image quality. Maintaining may recording apparatus is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a timing belt of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a toothless portion is located at a position of a timing idler pulley, and FIG. 2 is a timing belt of FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state in which the tooth portion is at the position of the belt driving pulley, FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged plan view of the timing idler pulley of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a timing belt of a recording apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state where the toothless portion is at the position of the timing idler pulley, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state where the toothless portion is at the position of the belt drive pulley of the timing belt of FIG.
FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged plan view of the timing idler pulley of FIG. 4, FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged side view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is suitable for carrying out the present invention. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a recording apparatus, FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 8, and FIG.
Fig. 11 is a partially sectional front view of Fig. 11, Fig. 11 is a partially cutaway plan view of Fig. 8, Fig. 12 is a bottom view of Fig. 8, and Fig. 13 is a side view of a stepping motor of the recording device of Fig. 8. FIGS. 14 and 15 are plan views showing the timing belt of the recording apparatus of FIG. 8 with the toothed portion meshing with the drive pulley and the toothless portion in the drive pulley position, respectively. 16 and 17 are plan views showing the position of the carriage corresponding to the states of FIGS. 14 and 15, respectively, and FIG. 18 shows the engagement state of the carriage and the timing belt of the recording apparatus of FIG. It is a top view. 105 …… Carriage, 106 …… Timing belt, 106A…
... missing tooth part, 106C ... toothed part, 106D, 106E ... tooth (timing belt), 107 ... drive source (stepping motor), 108 ... recording head, 109 ... feed roller, 124 ...
… Spring clutch, 125 …… Belt drive pulley, 128A, 128
D, 128E …… Timing idler pulley (driven pulley), 128B, 128C …… Idler pulley (driven pulley),
129 …… idle gear, 130, 131 …… gear.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A timing belt having a toothless portion, a belt drive pulley, and a driven pulley having meshing teeth at the contact portion of the timing belt, the belt drive pulley being rotated in a forward and reverse direction by a drive source. Recording is performed while reciprocally moving the carriage connected to the timing belt, and when the toothless portion of the timing belt reaches the position of the belt drive pulley, the recording apparatus is configured to cut off power transmission. The length of the toothless portion of the timing belt is set to be longer than the meshing length of the timing belt and the belt drive pulley and shorter than the meshing length of the timing belt and the driven pulley provided with the meshing teeth. A recording device characterized by the above.