JP3797424B2 - Recording device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording material, and more particularly to a recording apparatus that can adjust the distance (PG: paper gap) between a recording head and a recording material.
[0002]
[Prior art]
One of the recording apparatuses is an ink jet printer (hereinafter abbreviated as “printer”). The printer has an ink jet recording head (hereinafter abbreviated as “recording head”) and an ink cartridge, and is arranged in the main scanning direction. A carriage is provided so as to be reciprocally movable.
[0003]
A printing sheet as a recording material is fed to a conveyance roller by a sheet feeding unit such as a sheet feeding device, and the conveyance roller conveys the printing sheet at a constant pitch below the recording head. The printing paper conveyed by the conveying roller is supported from below by a platen provided at a position facing the recording head, whereby the distance between the printing surface of the printing paper and the recording head (paper gap: hereinafter referred to as “PG”). Say).
[0004]
Here, in order to obtain an appropriate print quality, it is necessary to keep PG constant. Therefore, a printer is generally provided with a PG adjustment mechanism that adjusts PG by displacing the carriage upward in accordance with the type (thickness) of printing paper. In addition, even if the PG is adjusted according to the type (thickness) of the printing paper, the printing paper may be lifted off the platen, causing head rubbing and reducing print quality. Furthermore, a PG fine adjustment mechanism that can finely adjust PG may be further provided.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional mechanism for adjusting the PG as described above, since the PG is adjusted each time by a user's manual operation, for example, a large amount of PG is caused due to head rubbing in a certain print job. When the next print job is executed after the adjustment in this direction, the PG is not returned to the original state, and the next printing is performed while the PG is large, thereby preventing an appropriate print quality from being obtained. It was happening. That is, there is a problem that the next printing is executed without the user's PG restoration operation.
[0006]
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to prevent the user from forgetting to return the PG and to obtain an appropriate print result.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, a recording apparatus according to claim 1 of the present application includes a recording head that performs recording on a recording material, a carriage that is reciprocally movable in the main scanning direction, and the carriage in the main scanning direction. A gap adjusting means for changing a gap between the recording head and a recording material by rotating the carriage about the carriage guide shaft as a rotation axis. And a gap that is engagable with the gap adjusting means provided on the carriage in the main scanning region of the carriage, and is engaged by a movement operation of the carriage, thereby performing gap adjustment by the gap adjusting means. An engagement means for engaging the guide member extending in the main scanning direction. And is configured to be prevented from rotating about the carriage guide shaft by being locked to the guide member, and the gap adjusting means is closer to the guide member than the locking portion. The gap is changed by a spacer member that protrudes in the direction of contact with the guide member instead of the locking portion and rotates the carriage about the carriage guide shaft by the sliding portion. It is configured to be made to be.
[0008]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the recording apparatus has a gap adjusting means for adjusting a gap between the recording head and the recording material in the carriage, and the gap adjusting means is provided in a main scanning region of the carriage. And a gap adjusting means engaging portion that performs the gap adjustment by the gap adjusting means by engaging with the movement operation of the carriage, so that the carriage is connected to the gap adjusting means engaging portion. The gap adjustment can be executed by moving to the position. That is, by providing the gap adjusting means engaging portion, the PG (paper gap) can be automatically changed by the movement of the carriage without depending on the user's hand, so the user forgets to return the PG. This makes it possible to obtain an appropriate recording result.
[0009]
The recording apparatus according to claim 2 of the present application is the recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gap adjusting means is configured to be able to switch between a first gap and a second gap larger than the first gap. The adjusting means engaging portion is configured to return the carriage in the second gap state to the first gap state.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the gap adjusting means is configured to be able to switch between a first gap and a second gap larger than the first gap, and the gap adjusting means is engaged. Since the carriage returns the carriage in the state of the second gap to the state of the first gap, the first gap is used as a normally used gap, and the second gap is caused by head rubbing. If the gap is changed to a case where the gap is changed, the gap adjusting means engaging portion automatically returns the gap to the normal size, thereby preventing the user from forgetting to return the PG and obtaining an appropriate recording result. Is possible.
[0011]
A recording apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is the recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the spacer member is provided to be displaceable between a normal position and a switching position by sliding in the main scanning direction. A raised portion is provided at the position, and when the spacer member is displaced from the normal position to the switching position, the spacer member rides on the raised portion, so that the sliding portion is more than the locking portion. Is also configured to protrude toward the guide member.
According to the invention of claim 3 of the present application, the spacer member is configured to slide in the main scanning direction so that the sliding portion protrudes toward the guide member from the locking portion. The PG can be adjusted by a simple operation such as a slide operation, and the spacer member is brought into contact with the gap adjusting means engaging portion by moving the carriage in the main scanning direction, thereby adjusting the PG. In addition, the gap adjusting means and the gap adjusting means engaging portion can be configured at a low cost with a simple configuration.
[0012]
A recording apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the gap is changed by moving the carriage to the position of the gap adjusting unit engaging portion at the end of the print job. It is structured.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the recording apparatus changes the PG by moving the carriage to the position of the gap adjusting means engaging portion at the end of the print job. For example, the PG can be returned to the normal state, and an appropriate recording result can be obtained in the next print job.
[0013]
A recording apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the gap adjusting unit engaging portion is provided in the vicinity of an arrangement position of a capping unit that caps the recording head. The head is capped and the gap is changed.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the gap adjusting means engaging portion is provided in the vicinity of the position of the capping means for capping the recording head so that the recording head is capped and the gap is changed. For example, even when the PG is adjusted to be large, the recording head can be returned to the original height position when the recording head is capped, and appropriate recording head maintenance can be performed by reliable capping. The action can be performed.
[0014]
A recording apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, further comprising a second gap adjusting unit that changes the gap further than an amount of change of the gap by the gap adjusting unit. It is characterized by being.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the recording apparatus includes the second gap adjusting unit that changes the gap further than the gap change amount by the gap adjusting unit. Even when the difference in thickness is significant depending on the type of material, an appropriate recording result can be obtained by appropriately setting PG.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following, the configuration of an ink jet printer (hereinafter simply referred to as “printer”) 100 as a “recording apparatus” according to the present invention will be outlined with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the main body of the printer 100.
[0016]
The base of the printer 100 is constituted by the center frame 2 and the side frames 3 and 4. The center frame 2 is erected in parallel with the main scanning direction, and the side frames 3 and 4 are erected so as to be orthogonal to the center frame 2 at both ends of the center frame 2.
[0017]
The printer 100 is configured to feed and discharge printing paper (not shown) from the rear of the apparatus (upper right of FIG. 1) to the front of the apparatus (lower left of FIG. 1). A paper feeding device (not shown) is attached. A conveyance driving roller 8 extending in parallel with the main scanning direction is provided on the front side of the center frame 2 so as to be rotationally driven, and a conveyance driven roller (following rotation is pressed against the conveyance driving roller 8 from above). The conveyance drive roller 8 is driven to rotate while the printing paper is sandwiched between the printing paper and the printing paper, and the printing paper is conveyed to the lower portion of the carriage 1 at a constant pitch.
[0018]
Next, the carriage 1 is disposed on the front side of the center frame 2. The carriage 1 has a substantially box shape, and an ink cartridge (not shown) is mounted in the substantially box shape. A recording head 9 (see FIG. 3) is provided below the carriage 1 so that ink is supplied from the ink cartridge to the recording head 9.
[0019]
A platen 12 is provided below the recording head 9 so as to face the recording head 9. The platen 12 supports the conveyed printing paper from below and regulates the distance (paper gap: hereinafter referred to as “PG”) between the printing surface of the printing paper and the recording head 9 (see FIG. 3). The printing paper is printed by ejecting ink droplets from the recording head 9 while being supported by the platen 12 from below.
[0020]
During the printing operation, the carriage 9 is reciprocated in the main scanning direction. The carriage 9 is provided so as to pass the carriage guide shaft 5 installed between the side frames 3 and 4, and reciprocates in the main scanning direction while being guided by the carriage guide shaft 5. A carriage motor 7 is attached to the side frame 3 on the back side of the center frame 2, and a drive pulley (not shown) attached to a rotation shaft (not shown) of the carriage motor 7, and the side frame A drive belt 6 is wound around a driven pulley (not shown) provided on the side of 4. The carriage 9 is fixed to a part of the drive belt 6, whereby the rotation operation of the carriage motor 7 is converted into a reciprocating operation of the carriage 9 in the main scanning direction.
[0021]
The above is the outline of the printer 100. The configuration of the “gap adjusting means” for adjusting the PG will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 is an external perspective view of the vicinity of the carriage 1 (partially enlarged view of FIG. 1), FIG. 3 is a side view of the carriage 1, and FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the gap adjusting means 20 (partially enlarged view of FIG. 2). 5 is a side view of the gap adjusting means 20 (FIG. 5A is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 5, FIG. 5B and FIG. 6). 6 is a side view of the carriage 1, FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of the gap adjusting means 20 showing a state in which the guide member 15 of FIG. 2 is removed, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing.
[0022]
First, the mounting structure of the carriage 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. As shown in the figure, the carriage 1 passes through the carriage guide shaft 5, so that a moment force is applied so that the carriage 1 rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. 3 (the direction in which the recording head 9 approaches the platen 12) by the weight of the carriage 1. To do. Here, since the distance between the recording head 9 and the platen 12, that is, PG changes due to the rotation of the carriage 1 about the carriage guide shaft 5, the means for rotating the carriage 1 about the carriage guide shaft 5. However, the gap adjusting means 20 according to this embodiment functions to rotate the carriage 1 about the carriage guide shaft 5 in the clockwise and counterclockwise directions in FIG.
[0023]
Next, the rotation of the carriage 1 due to its own weight is restrained by a guide member 15 provided above the center frame 2. As shown in FIG. 3, the guide member 15 is formed so as to form a substantially U-shape by bending the plate-like body, and the opening of the substantially U-shape is provided so as to face downward. As a result, the upper end of the center frame 2 is covered. The guide member 15 has a long shape in the main scanning direction so as to cover the upper portion of the center frame 2 and extend in the main scanning direction as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in plan view. The upper end portion of the center frame 2 is bent slightly rearward (left side in FIG. 5) horizontally to attach the guide member 15 as shown in FIG.
[0024]
On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A, a carriage upper end portion 1a having a plate shape along a plane (vertical surface) formed by the center frame 2 is formed on the upper portion of the carriage 1, and further, a central portion thereof is formed. A restricting portion 1b that protrudes upward from the upper end portion 1a of the carriage is formed at the (central portion in the main scanning direction). Further, a locking portion 17 is formed on the carriage upper end portion 1a on the right side of the restricting portion 1b (the lower right direction in FIG. 4).
[0025]
Here, the carriage upper end 1a is located inside a guide member 15 provided so as to cover the upper end of the center frame 2 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5A, and FIG. ), The locking portion 17 is provided so as to be in contact with the inner surface (hereinafter referred to as “sliding surface”) 15a of the bent portion of the guide member 15. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5A, the carriage 1 is prevented from rotating around the carriage guide shaft 5 by the locking portion 17 coming into contact with the sliding surface 15a. Thus, the distance between the recording head 9 and the platen 12 is regulated.
[0026]
Since the carriage 1 is reciprocated in the main scanning direction, the locking portion 17 slides with the sliding surface 15a when the carriage 1 reciprocates in the main scanning direction.
[0027]
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4A, the gap adjusting means 20 is generally composed of a slide member 21 as a “spacer member”, a guide portion 23, and a raised portion 25. The slide member 21 has a substantially U-shape when viewed from the front, and is provided so that the opening side faces the right side (the lower right direction in FIG. 4), and slides in the main scanning direction (the arrow direction in FIG. 1). It is provided as possible.
[0028]
More specifically, the carriage upper end portion 1a is provided with a block-shaped guide portion 23, and the slide member 21 is guided by the guide member 23 during the slide operation. Further, a slot (not shown) is formed in the carriage upper end 1a. The slot is inserted into the back side of the slide member 21, and can be engaged with the back side of the carriage upper end 1a. A locking protrusion (not shown) is formed so that the slide member 21 can be slid in the main scanning direction (the arrow direction in FIG. 1) without dropping from the carriage upper end 1a.
[0029]
Next, the upper portion of the slide member 21 has a shape that wraps around the upper edge portion of the carriage upper end portion 1a and wraps around the rear side of the carriage upper end portion 1a, and the left side surface thereof (the upper left side in FIG. 4). The sliding position to the left side is regulated by the regulating part 1b.
[0030]
A raised portion 25 is formed slightly on the right side of the carriage upper end 1a from the position where the guide portion 23 is provided. The raised portion 25 has a trapezoidal shape as shown in FIG. 4 (A), and when the slide member 21 slides from left to right as shown in the change from FIG. 4 (A) to FIG. 4 (B), The lower part of the slide member 21 rides on the raised portion 25. In the following description, the position of the slide member 21 in a state where the slide member 21 is on the left side (the state shown in FIG. 4A) is referred to as “normal position”, and the slide member 21 is on the right side (see FIG. 4B). The position of the slide member 21 in the state ()) is referred to as a “switching position”.
[0031]
Subsequently, a sliding portion 21 a is formed on the upper portion of the slide member 21. When the slide member 21 is in the normal position, the sliding portion 21a is located on the back side (left side in FIG. 5A) with respect to the locking portion 17, and as shown in FIG. It is in a state where it is retracted to a position that does not hinder the contact between the portion 17 and the sliding surface 15a. However, when the slide member 21 slides from the normal position to the switching position, the lower portion of the slide member 21 rides on the raised portion 25, so that the slide portion 21a is closer to the front side than the locking portion 17 (right side in FIG. 5A). Thus, the sliding portion 21 a comes into contact with the sliding surface 15 a instead of the locking portion 17.
[0032]
Here, as described with reference to FIG. 3, the carriage 1 is prevented from rotating around the carriage guide shaft 5 by the locking portion 17, so that the slide member 21 is shown in FIG. When the slider is slid to the switching position, the carriage upper end 1a moves slightly rearward, thereby rotating the carriage 1 counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6, thereby increasing PG. . Conversely, when the slide member 21 slides from the switching position to the normal position, the carriage 1 rotates clockwise as shown in the change from FIG. 6 to FIG. 3, thereby reducing PG.
[0033]
As described above, the gap adjusting means 20 slightly rotates the carriage 1 by the sliding operation of the slide member 21, thereby causing the PG to be in two states, that is, “normal” when the slide member 21 is in the normal position. The state is switched between two states: a “PG” state (the state of FIG. 3) and a “PG large” state (the state of FIG. 6) when the slide member 21 is in the switching position.
[0034]
Here, “normal PG” is a state in which printing is appropriately performed on the printing paper, and “large PG” is obtained when the user slides the slide member 21 when head rubbing occurs. It is a state that is made.
[0035]
The printer 100 adjusts the height of the carriage guide shaft 5 to adjust the PG adjustment amount larger than the PG adjustment amount by the gap adjustment means 20 (second gap adjustment means (not shown)). Thus, an appropriate print result can be obtained corresponding to a print object (for example, plain paper, board paper, etc.) having various thicknesses.
[0036]
Incidentally, in FIG. 4A, reference numeral 21b denotes a knob, and the user can slide the slide member 21 left and right by pinching the knob 21b. In addition, the display portions 21d and 21e indicating the left and right direction, which are stamped on the lower surface of the slide member 21, are for indicating the slide direction of the slide member 21, thereby visually indicating the operation method of the slide member 21. (Intuitively) can be judged from the outside.
[0037]
Subsequently, in the center frame 2 shown in FIG. 1, on the 0-digit side (lower right in FIG. 1, side of the side frame 3), as shown in FIG. 7, a protruding portion 30 as a “gap adjusting means engaging portion”. Is provided. As shown in FIG. 7, the protruding portion 30 is provided at a position where it can come into contact with the upper right side of the slide member 21 (the portion indicated by reference numeral 21 c, hereinafter referred to as “abutting portion 21 c”).
[0038]
Here, a capping means 13 (see FIG. 8) of the recording head 9 is provided at the right end portion of the reciprocable region of the carriage 1. The capping means 13 caps the recording head 9 so as to guide new ink to a nozzle hole (not shown) of the recording head 9 when the ink cartridge is replaced, for example, or to check the ink in the nozzle hole. In order to prevent clogging, the ink sucks ink by generating a negative pressure in the cap. The position where the capping means 13 is provided is a standby position of the carriage 1 (hereinafter referred to as “home position”).
[0039]
Returning to FIG. 7, since the protruding portion 30 is provided at a position where it can contact the abutting portion 21 c, the carriage 1 in a state where the slide member 21 is in the switching position is used for the recording head 9 by the capping means 13. In order to receive maintenance, when it moves to the home position, the abutting portion 21c comes into contact with the protruding portion 30, and thereby, the slide member 21 at the switching position returns to the normal position.
[0040]
FIG. 8 is a simplified illustration of this situation. In FIG. 8, the carriage 1 is at the leftmost position P. _L And rightmost position P _R And the rightmost position P _R Is a position where the recording head 1 receives capping by the capping means 13. As shown in FIG. 8A, the carriage 1 with the slide member 21 in the switching position moves from the left direction to the right position P. _R As shown in FIG. 8B, the abutting portion 21 c comes into contact with the protruding portion 30 and the capping means 13 starts to rise toward the recording head 9.
[0041]
Further, the carriage 1 is moved to the position P. _R When moving toward, the slide member 21 returns to the normal position and enters the “normal PG” state, and the recording head 9 located slightly above displaces downward to return to the normal position. The capping of the head 9 is completed (state shown in FIG. 8C).
[0042]
In other words, when the slide member 21 is operated to the switching position by the user, “PG large” is displayed. This is executed because it is necessary for the print job, and in the next print job, “PG”. If printing is performed with “large”, appropriate print quality cannot be obtained. However, as described above, by moving the carriage 1 to the home position side, it is possible to automatically return from “large PG” to “normal PG” regardless of the user's hand, thereby forgetting the return operation by the user. Thus, it is possible to obtain an appropriate print result.
[0043]
Further, in the present embodiment, since the protrusion 30 as the “gap adjusting means engaging portion” is provided at the position of the capping means 13 in the reciprocable region of the carriage 1, when the recording head 9 is capped. In this case, the recording head 9 always returns to its original height (normal position) so that an appropriate capping operation can be executed.
[0044]
By the way, in this embodiment, although the protrusion part 30 as a gap adjustment means engaging part is provided in the home position side of the carriage 1, it is comprised so that the slide operation | movement of the slide member 21 may be reversed right and left, and a protrusion part 30 on the side opposite to the home position (position P in FIG. _L It may be provided on the side). In the present embodiment, the slide member 21 has two slide positions (positions) of “normal position” and “switching position”, so that the PG is switched to two stages of “normal PG” and “PG large”. Although it is configured, it is also possible to provide three or more slide positions (positions) of the slide member 21 so that the PG is switched stepwise according to the slide amount of the slide member 21. In this case, the projecting portion It is also possible to precisely control the position of the carriage 1 with respect to 30 to return the slide member 21 to an arbitrary position.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the recording apparatus has gap adjusting means for adjusting the gap between the recording head and the recording material in the carriage, and can be engaged with the gap adjusting means in the main scanning region of the carriage. Since the gap adjusting means engaging portion is provided and engaged by the movement operation of the carriage to execute the gap adjustment by the gap adjusting means, the carriage is moved to the position of the gap adjusting means engaging portion. By doing so, the gap adjustment can be executed. That is, by providing the gap adjusting means engaging portion, the PG (paper gap) can be automatically changed by the movement of the carriage without depending on the user's hand, so that the user forgets to return the PG. This makes it possible to obtain an appropriate recording result.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an apparatus main body of an ink jet printer according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an external perspective view (partially enlarged view of FIG. 1) in the vicinity of a carriage.
FIG. 3 is a side view of a carriage (normal PG state).
4 is an external perspective view of the gap adjusting means (a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2). FIG.
5 is a side view of the gap adjusting means ((A) is FIG. 3 and (B) is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 6).
FIG. 6 is a side view of the carriage (PG large state).
FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of the gap adjusting means showing a state in which the guide member is removed.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of reciprocation of a carriage.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Carriage
1a Carriage top edge
1b Protrusion
2 Center frame
3, 4 Side frame
5 Carriage guide shaft
6 Drive belt
7 Carriage motor
8 Transport drive roller
9 Inkjet recording head
10 Nozzle array
11 Output stacker
12 Platen
13 Capping means
15 Guide plate
17 Locking part
20 Gap adjustment means
21 Slide member
21a Sliding part
21b Picking part
21c Butting part
21d, 21e Slide display section
23 Guide section
25 Raised part
30 Protruding part (gap adjusting means engaging part)
100 Inkjet printer

Claims (6)

A carriage provided with a recording head for recording on a recording material and provided so as to be reciprocable in the main scanning direction;
A carriage guide shaft for guiding the carriage in the main scanning direction,
Gap adjusting means for changing the gap between the recording head and the recording material by rotating the carriage with the carriage guide shaft as a rotation axis;
Gap adjusting means provided in the main scanning region of the carriage so as to be engageable with the gap adjusting means provided on the carriage, and performing gap adjustment by the gap adjusting means by being engaged by a movement operation of the carriage. An engaging portion,
The carriage has a locking portion that locks to a guide member extending in the main scanning direction, and is configured to be prevented from rotating about the carriage guide shaft by being locked to the guide member. ,
The gap adjusting means has a sliding portion that protrudes closer to the guide member than the locking portion and can contact the guide member instead of the locking portion, and the sliding portion allows the carriage to A recording apparatus configured to change the gap by a spacer member that rotates about a carriage guide shaft. In Claim 1, the gap adjusting means is configured to be able to switch between a first gap and a second gap larger than the first gap,
The recording apparatus, wherein the gap adjusting means engaging portion is configured to return the carriage in the second gap state to the first gap state. In Claim 1 or 2, the spacer member is provided to be displaceable between a normal position and a switching position by sliding in the main scanning direction,
A raised portion is provided at the switching position of the spacer member,
When the spacer member is displaced from the normal position to the switching position, the spacer member rides on the raised portion so that the sliding portion protrudes to the guide member side from the locking portion. A recording apparatus characterized by being configured.   4. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gap is changed by moving the carriage to a position of the gap adjusting unit engaging portion when a print job is finished. 5. .   5. The gap adjusting means engaging portion according to claim 1, wherein the gap adjusting means engaging portion is provided in the vicinity of an arrangement position of a capping means for capping the recording head to cap the recording head and change the gap. A recording apparatus characterized by being configured in the manner described above. In any 1 item | term of Claim 1-5, It has the 2nd gap adjustment means to change the said gap so that it may become still larger than the variation | change_quantity of the said gap by the said gap adjustment means,
A recording apparatus.

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