JP4390336B2 - Carriage belt tension adjustment device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Field of the Invention]
The present invention relates to a printer that performs printing on printing paper by a print head mounted on a carriage that can reciprocate in the main scanning direction, and more particularly to a tension adjusting device that can easily apply an appropriate tension to a carriage belt.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As an output terminal of a personal computer or a word processor, a printer having a print head mounted on a carriage and reciprocatingly moving the carriage in the main scanning direction to print on printing paper includes various types such as an ink jet type, a wire dot type, and a thermal transfer type. The recording method is adopted.
[0003]
The carriage is supported by a carriage shaft, and a carriage belt is connected to a drive pulley and a tension adjustment pulley. The carriage belt is arranged in parallel with the carriage shaft and reciprocates in the main scanning direction by forward and reverse rotation of the drive pulley. If a proper tension is not applied to the carriage belt, the load on the motor that drives the carriage is increased, and vibrations that occur between the carriage and the pulley are transmitted to the carriage, causing problems such as reducing the print quality. . In particular, in the case of color printing by an ink jet type print head, when the vibration of the carriage belt is transmitted to the carriage, the inks hardly overlap at a predetermined position, and printing defects such as color misregistration are likely to occur. The vibration of the carriage belt causes a vibration having a larger amplitude as the belt is longer, and the carriage is more easily affected by the vibration.
As the above countermeasure, a tension adjustment mechanism is usually provided so that an appropriate tension is applied.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the conventional tension adjustment of the carriage belt, a tension adjustment pulley is provided so as to be movable in the direction in which the carriage belt is hung, and the tension adjustment pulley is moved in the anti-carriage belt direction to apply the tension set on the carriage belt. There is a method of fixing the position of the tension adjusting pulley in the state. This method requires equipment for applying a tension to be set, and the adjustment work cannot be performed efficiently. In the case of using a tension adjuster, there is a problem that the tension adjuster must be carried to the site during maintenance after using the printer.
An object of the present invention is to provide a tension adjustment device for a carriage belt that can efficiently adjust the tension with a simple adjustment tool.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 of the present application is a printer that prints on printing paper by a print head mounted on a carriage that can reciprocate in the main scanning direction, and is provided on one side frame side. Drives the tension adjustment pulley and the carriage belt connected to the carriage, which is hung between the drive pulley provided in the drive means arranged and generating the driving force and the tension adjustment pulley arranged on the other side frame side A first member that is movably supported in the direction of the pulley, a second member that is movable in the direction of the carriage belt, and a restoring force that accompanies the compression operation on the carriage belt. a spring for applying a predetermined tension by,
A position indicator display means to which a position indicator of the second member corresponding to the tension to be set is applied from the position indicator of the second member corresponding to the natural length of the carriage belt when no tension is applied to the carriage belt; An adjustment operation means for changing the position of the second member so as to match the position mark to be set, which is provided on the adjustment pulley side and is attached to the position mark display means; and the adjustment operation means is provided on a fixed frame. An adjustment screw and a screw portion into which the adjustment screw provided on the second member is screwed, and the head of the adjustment screw is supported by the frame ,
The adjustment screw, the first member, the spring, the second member, the tension adjustment pulley, and the drive pulley are arranged in a straight line in the main scanning direction, and the adjustment screw is supported by the frame. The carriage belt is set by moving the second member to the frame side while compressing the spring while the position of the adjustment screw is fixed with respect to the frame. It is configured to be set to a power tension .
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the change in the amount of deflection due to variations in the belt length and spring can be reduced by setting the deflection of the carriage belt as the deflection when pulled by a certain length from the natural length. In addition, since a predetermined tension is applied to the carriage belt, only the operation of changing the position of the second member to match the position mark is performed, so that the adjustment work can be performed efficiently. Furthermore, the tension can be easily adjusted by rotating the adjusting screw.
[0006]
The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the position mark of the position mark display means is attached by a scale.
According to the invention of claim 2, since the tension determined by how many scales the second member is moved from the free length scale is applied, the tension can be adjusted in a short time.
[0007]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, a mark indicating the position mark of the second member corresponding to the natural length of the carriage belt when no tension is applied to the carriage belt, and the tension to be set are applied. The mark which shows the position mark of the 2nd member at the time is attached.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, if the second member is at the mark position corresponding to the natural length when the carriage belt is made to be the natural length, the second member is moved so as to match the mark serving as the set tension. Thus, a predetermined tension is applied, so that tension adjustment can be performed in a short time.
[0009]
The invention of claim 4 is the invention of claim 1, wherein the first member provided with a plate portion facing the frame, the second member is disposed between the plate portion and the tension adjustment pulley, said A spring is interposed between the two members and the plate portion, and an adjustment screw is passed through the plate portion and screwed into the screw portion of the second member.
According to the invention of claim 4 , when the adjustment screw is rotated, the second member compresses the spring, and the tension is applied to the carriage belt via the first member by the force, so that the adjustment operation is simple, In addition, it is easy to set a predetermined tension.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a large printer capable of printing up to a printing paper having a paper width of about A1 size or B1 size. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where a front cover of a printer body in the printer according to the present invention is opened, and FIG. 3 is a tension adjustment device for a carriage belt in the printer according to the present invention. FIG.
[0011]
The printer 1 includes a paper feeding unit 2, a printing unit 3, and a paper discharge unit 4 that constitute a printer body, and includes a leg device 8 and a paper discharge receiving device 9.
The paper feed unit 2 is provided so as to protrude from the rear upper part of the printer 1, and roll paper (printing paper) is set therein, and a roll paper cover 2 a is attached so as to be openable and closable so as to cover the roll paper. It has been.
[0012]
The printing unit 3 executes a carriage 30 equipped with a print head 31, a paper feed roller that conveys printing paper in the sub-scanning direction, an ink supply device to the printing head 31, a paper suction device that prevents the printing paper from lifting, and printing. An upper lid 32 and a front lid 33 are provided so as to cover the carriage 30, the flat cable 40, the ink tube 41, the paper conveyance path, and the like. The front lid 33 is rotatably supported at the lower part located on the sheet conveying surface side. The carriage 30 is suspended from a rail 34 provided in the main scanning direction via a roller, and the carriage belt 11 is connected to the carriage 30. When the carriage belt 11 is actuated by the carriage driving device 10, the carriage 30 is entrained by the movement of the carriage belt 11, guided by the rail 34, and reciprocated.
[0013]
Connected to the print head 31 are a flat cable 40 for sending a print signal from the controller and a plurality of ink tubes 41 for supplying ink. Since the flat cable 40 is drawn around following the reciprocating motion of the carriage 30, the flat cable 40 is held by the cable holder 43 at approximately the middle point of the moving range in which the carriage 30 reciprocates. In this state, as shown in FIG. 3, the flat cable 40 is formed with an opposing horizontal portion and a loop-shaped U-turn portion that is turned 180 ° between the horizontal portions.
[0014]
The cable holder 43 is fixed along the cable frame 42 supported by the side frames 5 and 6 and holds the flat cable 40. The other end of the flat cable 40 fixed to the cable holder 43 is connected to a connector of a control unit (not shown) mounted on the apparatus main body.
[0015]
A cartridge holder 7 constituting an ink supply device is provided on the front side of the printing unit 3, and an ink cartridge for six colors (yellow, light magenta, light cyan, magenta, cyan, black) is provided in a holder main body 70 of the cartridge holder 7. Are arranged side by side and detachable from the front side of the printer 1. The holder main body 70 is provided with a holder cover 71 that covers the inserted ink cartridge so as to be opened and closed. The ink of each color is supplied to the print head 31 through the ink tube 41 and used for printing on the printing paper.
[0016]
In the printing operation of the printer 1, printing is performed on the printing paper fed from the paper feeding unit 2 by the reciprocating movement of the printing head 31 of the printing unit 3, and the printing paper passes through the paper discharge unit 4 to the printer 1. The sheet is discharged obliquely downward and forward. A cutter (not shown) for cutting the roll paper is provided between the printing unit 3 and the paper discharge unit 4. After the printing is completed, the print paper is cut by the cutter and received by the paper discharge receiving device 6. .
[0017]
Next, the carriage drive system will be described in detail.
In FIG. 3, the carriage driving device 10 is provided with a motor 12 and a driving pulley 13 on one side frame 5 side, and a tension adjusting pulley 14 and a tension adjusting means 20 on the other side frame 6 side. The carriage belt 11 is hung between the driving pulley 13 and the tension adjusting pulley 14.
[0018]
FIG. 4 is a side view showing an embodiment of a tension adjustment device for a carriage belt according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a view taken along arrows II in FIG.
The first member 21 has a U-shaped cross section, and the tension adjustment pulley 14 is rotatably supported on the open side thereof, and the plate portion 21a and the tension adjustment pulley 14 facing the frame 15 fixed on the side frame 6 side. The 2nd member 22 is arrange | positioned between. The side frame 6 side of the first member 21 is in a rotation stop member 23 attached to the frame 15, and the first member 21 can move only in the direction of the carriage belt 11. The relationship between the first member 21 and the second member 22 is that the second member 22 is not rotated with respect to the first member 21 and is movable in the direction of the carriage belt 11.
[0019]
The second member 22 has a screw portion 22a and a pointer 24, and an adjustment screw 26 penetrating the plate portion 21a of the first member 21 is screwed into the screw portion 22a. A spring 25 is interposed between the plate portion 21 a of the first member 21 and the second member 22. The pointer 24 protrudes to the side of the first member 21 and sets the carriage belt 11 to an appropriate tension according to the scale 27. The scale 27 is attached to a tension adjustment scale 28 attached to the frame 15. Here, the adjustment screw 26 constitutes the adjustment operation means of the present invention, and the tension adjustment scale 28 constitutes the position indicator display means, and the scale 27 corresponds to the position indicator in the position indicator display means. .
[0020]
The tension adjustment of this embodiment will be described. The adjustment screw 26 is loosened to move the first member 21 toward the carriage belt 11, and the tension between the state where the tension is applied to the carriage belt 11 and the state where the tension is not applied, that is, the tensile force is not applied to the carriage belt 11. A scale 27 based on the position of the second member 22 corresponding to the belt length (natural length) is attached to the tension adjustment scale 28. The position of the scale 27a indicated by the pointer 24 shown in FIG. 4 is the position of the second member 22 when the carriage belt 11 is in the natural length. When the adjustment screw 26 is turned from this state and the second member 22 is moved to the frame 15 side, the first member 21 is also slightly moved relatively to the frame 15 side due to elongation due to the initial tensile load acting on the carriage belt 11. This is performed with the compression operation of the spring 25. At this time, the carriage belt 11 is tensioned by the spring restoring force stored in the spring 25. An appropriate tension is set by turning the adjusting screw 26, moving the second member 22 toward the frame 15, and aligning the pointer 24 with a predetermined scale 27b shown in FIG.
[0021]
In the present embodiment, the position marker of the position marker display means has been described as being constituted by a scale, but a mark may be used in addition to the scale. Marks are attached at least in two places on the scale. That is, a mark serving as a mark is added to the position of the natural length of the carriage belt 11 and the position where a predetermined tension can be set. It can be set by aligning the pointer 24 of the second member 22 with a mark at a position where a predetermined tension can be set.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, since the deflection of the carriage belt is the deflection when the belt is pulled from the natural length by a certain length, the change in the deflection amount due to the belt length and the variation of the spring can be reduced. In addition, since a predetermined tension is applied to the carriage belt, only the operation of changing the position of the second member to match the position mark is performed, so that the adjustment work can be performed efficiently.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view of a carriage portion of a printer to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a side view showing an embodiment of a tension adjustment device for a carriage belt according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a front view of a carriage including a carriage belt tension adjusting device in the printer according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram before tension adjustment in a tension adjustment device for a carriage belt.
FIG. 5 is a view taken in the direction of arrows II in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is an explanatory view after adjusting the tension of the carriage belt.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Paper feed part 3 Printing part 4 Paper discharge part 5, 6 Side frame 10 Carriage drive device 11 Carriage belt 13 Drive pulley 14 Tension adjustment pulley 20 Tension adjustment means 21 First member 22 Second member 24 Pointer 25 Spring 26 Adjustment Screw 27 scale (position indicator)
28 Scale for tension adjustment (position indicator display means)
30 Carriage 31 Print head

Claims (3)

A printer that prints on printing paper by a print head mounted on a carriage that can reciprocate in the main scanning direction,
It is arranged on one first side frame side and is hung between a driving pulley provided on a driving means for generating a driving force and a tension adjusting pulley arranged on the other second side frame side, and is connected to the carriage. Carriage belt ,
A spring for applying a predetermined tension by the restoring force caused by the compression operation before Symbol carriage belt,
The pre-Symbol tension adjustment pulley and the first member movable to supporting lifting,
A movable second member that applies tension to the carriage belt by compressing the spring ;
A pointer provided on the second member;
First position indicator indicating a position of the pointer of the second member so as to correspond to the natural length of the carriage belt when not to apply tension to the carriage belt, when tensioned to be set in the carriage belt a position indicator display means and a second position indicator indicating a position of the pointer of the second member corresponding to the length of the carriage belt is attached to,
Provided on the tension adjusting pulley side, the carriage belt has a natural length without being tensioned, and the pointer is positioned on the first position marker, so that the pointer is aligned with the second position marker. Adjusting operation means for changing the position of the second member,
Said adjusting operating means consists of a adjusting screw provided in the third frame that is fixed to the second side frame side, a threaded portion for screwing the adjusting screw provided in the second member, said adjustment screw Is supported by the third frame,
The first member has a U-shaped cross section, the tension adjusting pulley is rotatably supported on the open side thereof, and the non-open side is a plate portion facing the third frame, The second member is disposed between the tension adjusting pulley, the spring is interposed between the second member and the plate portion, and the adjusting screw is passed through the central portion of the plate portion. screwed into the screw portion provided on the second member through the said spring, by turning the adjusting screw in a state of being supported by the third frame, the position of the adjusting screw relative to the third frame in a fixed state, the second member is moved to the third frame side while compressing the spring, combined with the pointer to the second position indicator, the carriage belt Tension adjusting device of a carriage belt which is characterized in that it is configured to be set to the serial to be set tension. 2. The tension adjustment device for a carriage belt according to claim 1, wherein the position indicator display means is a tension adjustment scale, and the first position indicator and the second position indicator are scales of the scale . Said first position indicator and a second position indicator, the tension adjusting device of the carriage belt according to claim 1, characterized in that the marks.

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