JP4681416B2 - Recording apparatus and method for assembling recording apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, an ink jet recording apparatus and an assembling method thereof, and in particular, a platen disposed to face the recording head, and a guide rail for guiding the recording head to reciprocate in the width direction of the recording material. And a method for assembling the recording apparatus. Moreover, this invention relates to the structure of the said guide rail, and its manufacturing method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a recording apparatus is known that includes a platen that is disposed to face a recording head and supports a recording material during a recording operation (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Such a platen functions as an underlay for the recording material, and is widely used regardless of the type of the recording apparatus. For example, in the dot matrix impact method or the ink jet method, a predetermined interval (print gap) is set between the tip position of the recording head (corresponding to the ejection port of the recording head in the ink jet method) and the platen surface. ) Must be opened. In order to ensure the recording quality, it is desirable to suppress the variation in the print gap and make it a constant interval.

  In general, the platen is often formed in a long shape in accordance with the width of the recording material. For this reason, the printing gap may vary due to a decrease in dimensional accuracy represented by warping of the member. In the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, a technique that solves the above problem by suppressing the warpage of the platen is disclosed for a platen formed of a resin molded product.

As a recording apparatus, a recording apparatus in which a recording head is reciprocated in the width direction of a recording material while being guided by a guide rail is widely known. Furthermore, some of such recording apparatuses perform recording on a wide recording material having a width of 0.5 to 2.5 m, for example. In such a recording apparatus, since the guide rail and the platen are naturally elongated, the guide rail and the platen are often made of a metal material (for example, an aluminum extruded material) in order to ensure dimensional accuracy.
JP-A-6-255185

  However, although Patent Document 1 discloses improving the dimensional accuracy of a single resin platen and thereby suppressing variations in the print gap, it is caused by variations in assembly accuracy that occur when assembling the platen. No measures are taken for the problem. That is, no matter how the platen alone is formed with high dimensional accuracy, when the platen or the like is assembled out of the desired position, the print gap varies.

  In addition, the longer the platen and guide rail are, the more the problem of the variation in assembly accuracy becomes. Thereby, for example, the relative positional relationship between the platen and the guide rail may be different from each other on both ends of the guide rail. The printing gap is determined by the relative positional relationship between the platen and the guide rail. If the relative positional relationship between the platen and the guide rail is different as described above, the printing gap is of course the other end on the one end side. There will be a difference between the two sides.

  In order to ensure the dimensional accuracy of the long guide rail, the guide rail is formed of, for example, an aluminum extrusion material as described above, but this is disadvantageous in terms of manufacturing cost. That is, the extruded aluminum material requires secondary processing (machining) for ensuring a predetermined dimensional accuracy, and therefore increases the number of processing steps and increases the cost.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the object of the present invention is to reduce the print gap between the recording head and the platen surface even when a long guide rail and platen are used. The present invention relates to a recording apparatus capable of minimizing variation and ensuring recording quality and an assembling method thereof. Another object of the present invention is to provide a guide rail manufacturing method capable of manufacturing a guide rail requiring high dimensional accuracy at low cost, and a recording apparatus including such a guide rail.

In order to achieve the above object, an assembling method of the recording apparatus of the present invention comprises:
A flat platen that is disposed opposite to a recording head for recording on the recording material and supports the recording material on the surface, a carriage on which the recording head is mounted, and a width direction of the recording material of the carriage a guide rail and a flat mounting reference surface on which the carriage with guiding the reciprocating engagement portion and the engagement portion for engagement is fixedly disposed to support the said platen and said guide rail The first support body, the second support body, and the guide rail, the first support body, and the second support body so that the attachment reference plane forms a predetermined angle with respect to the surface of the platen. And a relay member that is pivotally connected to each other, and is a method of assembling the recording apparatus configured such that a certain distance is provided between the recording head and the surface of the platen. Both ends To the reference plane of the first support and the reference plane of the second support, respectively, and to the reference plane of the first support and the reference plane of the second support, respectively. The step of adjusting the predetermined angle to 90 ° with reference to the surfaces of the both ends of the fixed platen, and the relative positional relationship between the platen and the guide rail is the first support side and the second A step of adjusting the position of the guide rail and fixing the guide rail so as to be the same on the support side.

  In the assembling method of the present invention, the position of the guide rail is adjusted with reference to both ends of the platen fixed to the reference surfaces of the first and second supports, and the angle formed by the guide rail and the platen, and The relative positional relationship between the guide rail and the platen is defined. Therefore, the relative positional relationship between the guide rail and the platen is adjusted well compared with the step of simply fixing the guide rail to a predetermined position. As a result, the variation in the gap (printing gap) between the recording head and the platen surface is minimized, and the recording quality is ensured.

  In the assembling method of the present invention, the predetermined angle may be specifically 90 °, and in the step of adjusting the angle, an angle adjusting jig for adjusting the angle on the basis of the platen surface is used. May be. In addition, in the configuration in which the platen is fixed to some fixed portions provided between the both end portions in addition to the both end portions, the assembly method of the present invention further includes the guide rail fixed. Then, it is preferable to include a step of fixing the platen for each of the fixing portions while adjusting the position of the platen in each of the fixing portions with reference to the fixed guide rail. By such a process, the relative positional relationship between the guide rail and the platen becomes good not only at both ends but also in the entire longitudinal direction of the platen.

  When the recording apparatus has a plurality of grid rollers arranged in the width direction of the recording material and transports the recording material, the assembling method of the present invention further includes the step of fixing the guide rail, Preferably, the method further includes a step of adjusting at least one position of the plurality of grid rollers with reference to the fixed guide rail. Thereby, the relative positional relationship between the guide rail and the grid roller is well defined.

  When the support base of the driven roller that is pressed against each grid roller with a predetermined urging force is substantially attached to the guide rail, the assembly method of the present invention includes the grid roller. It is preferable that the step of fixing the platen for each fixing portion is performed in a state where the driven roller is pressed against the guide rail and a reaction force is applied to the guide rail. As a result, even if the guide rail is deflected by the reaction force, the relative positional relationship between the guide rail and the platen is defined in consideration of the deflection.

The present invention can be implemented by, for example, a recording apparatus according to the present invention configured as follows. That is, the recording apparatus of the present invention
A platen on a flat plate arranged opposite to a recording head for recording on the recording material and supporting the recording material on the surface, a carriage on which the recording head is mounted, and a width direction of the recording material of the carriage a guide rail and a flat mounting reference surface on which the carriage with guiding the reciprocating engagement portion and the engagement portion for engagement is fixedly disposed to support the said platen and said guide rail The first support body, the second support body, and the guide rail, the first support body, and the second support body so that the attachment reference plane forms a predetermined angle with respect to the surface of the platen. A relay member that is pivotably connected to each other, and both end portions of the platen are fixed to the reference surface of the first support and the reference surface of the second support, respectively. And said place A angles 90 °, and the relative positional relationship between the platen and the guide rail, characterized in that the the same in the first support member side and the second support side.

  Note that the “reference surface” of the guide rail mentioned above does not necessarily mean a surface actually formed on the guide rail, but a virtual surface that serves as a reference for the mounting posture of the guide rail. ing. In the following embodiment, the attachment surface 23a (or a surface parallel thereto) shown in FIG. 13 corresponds to this “reference surface”. In addition, the “first support” and the “second support” correspond to the side wall 36R and the side wall 36L in FIG. 3 in the following embodiments, respectively.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus including a guide rail for reciprocally moving a carriage that detachably holds a recording head for recording on a recording material in the width direction of the recording material. In the apparatus, the guide rail includes a long base member on which a mounting surface is formed, and two long engaging members that are positioned and fixed on the mounting surface and engage with two portions of the carriage. The relative positions of the two engaging members are adjustable.

  In the present invention, the guide rail is not composed of a single aluminum extrusion material or the like, but is composed of a base member that can be composed of, for example, a sheet metal, and two engaging members. Even in such a configuration, since the two engaging members are provided so that the fixing positions thereof can be adjusted with respect to the base member, the two engaging members can be positioned and fixed with high accuracy using, for example, a jig. Is possible. Therefore, even a guide rail that requires high dimensional accuracy can be manufactured at low cost. The two engaging members may be aluminum extruded materials.

  Specifically, the guide rail configured as described above may be assembled by the following manufacturing method. That is, a guide rail having a long base member on which a mounting surface is formed and two long engaging members that are positioned and fixed to the mounting surface and engage with two portions of the guided member, The jig is disposed on the mounting surface so that the engaging portion on the jig side is engaged with the engaging portion on the base member side formed on the mounting surface. And placing the two engagement members on the mounting surface so as to sandwich the jig, and positioning the engagement members by pressing each of the two engagement members against the jig. And fixing each of the positioned engaging members to the base member.

  As described above, according to the assembling method of the present invention, even when a long guide rail and platen are used, variations in the print gap between the recording head and the platen surface are minimized, and the recording quality is improved. It can be secured. Further, according to another recording apparatus or the like according to the present invention having a characteristic in the structure of the guide rail, it is possible to manufacture a guide rail requiring high dimensional accuracy at a low cost.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of the recording apparatus of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view showing the configuration around the recording unit of the recording apparatus of the present embodiment.

  First, the basic configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The recording apparatus 1 includes a supply unit 4 in which a supply roll around which the recording material S is wound, a recording unit 5 that performs recording on the recording material S drawn from the supply unit 4, and a recording target And a transport unit 6 that transports the material S in the X direction in the figure.

  The recording unit 5 includes an inkjet recording head 12 that ejects ink droplets onto the surface of the recording material S, and a platen 41 that supports the recording material S below the recording head 12. The conveyance unit 6 includes a grid roller 17 and a driven roller 18 that are opposed to each other with the recording material S interposed therebetween.

  Since the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment performs recording on the recording material S having a long sheet shape, a cutting means 7 for cutting the recording material S that has been recorded is provided. It may be. Similarly, a winding means 8 for winding the recording material S that has been recorded may be provided as an additional component.

  Next, specific configurations of the recording unit 5 and the conveyance unit 6 of the recording apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6 in addition to FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the recording unit, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing a part of FIG. 3 and 4, a jig 80 used in an assembly process described later is attached instead of the carriage 11.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the recording unit 5, the inkjet recording head 12 is configured to be detachable from the carriage 11. When the recording head 12 is mounted on the carriage 11, the discharge port surface 12 a of the recording head 12 and the upper surface of the platen 41 are opposed to each other. A predetermined interval (printing gap) is provided between the discharge port surface 12a and the upper surface of the platen, and the recording material S is conveyed during this interval.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the carriage 11 is slidably attached to a Y rail (guide rail) 21 extending in the width direction (Y direction in the figure) of the recording material S. It can move back and forth in the Y direction. As a means for moving the carriage 11, a transport belt, a motor and the like hung on the carriage 11 can be used as in the conventional configuration.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the transport unit 6 is disposed upstream of the platen 41 in the transport direction (referred to as the transport direction of the recording material S). The recording material S is sandwiched between the grid roller 17 and the driven roller 18, and the recording material S is sent in the X direction in the drawing by rotating the grid roller 17 on the driving side. In addition, about the more concrete structure of these rollers 17 and 18, it is as having shown in FIG. 4, FIG. In other words, a plurality of grid rollers 17 are attached to a single roller shaft 17 a at a predetermined pitch, and a driven roller 18 is arranged for each grid roller 17. The driven roller 18 is provided so as to be pressed against the grid roller 17 with a predetermined urging force, whereby the recording material S is sandwiched with the predetermined urging force.

  As shown in the back view of FIG. 5, the roller shaft 17a is supported by a plurality of roller shaft holding mechanisms 60 arranged at a predetermined pitch in the longitudinal direction of the roller shaft. The roller shaft holding mechanism 60 has a function of adjusting the height of the shaft 17a, and the detailed configuration thereof will be described later with reference to other drawings. As described above, by supporting the roller shaft 17a at a plurality of locations, the deflection of the roller shaft 17a is reduced, and each grid roller 17 is arranged at an accurate position.

  The platen 41 can be a conventional one and is not particularly limited. The platen 41 of the present embodiment has an elongated flat plate shape, and the upper surface thereof is a flat surface that supports the recording material S. In addition, the platen may be an extruded aluminum material processed with high accuracy, and the configuration of the platen with a metal material in this way provides not only good dimensional accuracy but also the following advantages. is there. That is, in this type of ink jet recording apparatus, a heater (not shown) may be incorporated in the platen in order to promote drying of the ink discharged on the recording material S. Therefore, in order to efficiently transmit the heat of the heater to the recording material S, it is preferable to use a metal material having a higher thermal conductivity than a resin material or the like.

  The recording operation of the recording apparatus 1 configured as described above is performed while alternately repeating recording for one scanning of the carriage 11 and conveying a predetermined amount of the recording material S, as in the past. That is, in a state where the recording material S is supplied between the recording head 12 and the platen 41, the recording head 12 ejects ink droplets while moving in the width direction of the recording material. Recording for one scan is performed. Thereafter, by driving the grid roller 17, the recording material S is fed by a predetermined amount in the transport direction. By alternately performing these operations, a desired image is formed on the recording material S.

  By the way, in this type of ink jet recording apparatus, for example, a wide recording material S having a width dimension of 0.5 to 2.5 m may be used, and in order to perform recording on such a recording material S, It is necessary to make the Y rail 21 and the platen 41 longer. However, in the Y rail 21 thus elongated, there may be a relatively large difference in the height of the Y rail 21 between, for example, the portion A and the portion B in FIG. A difference in the height of the Y rail between the A part and the B part means that the print gap is different between the A part and the B part.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, even when such a long Y rail or the like is used, in order to keep the print gap constant over the entire movable range of the recording head, the following configuration and assembly method are used. It has been adopted.

  First, before describing the assembling method according to the present invention, several more detailed configurations of the recording apparatus 1 will be described as a premise thereof. Items to be described below are (1) the structure of the support body to which the Y rail 21 and the platen 41 are attached, (2) the structure for adjusting the position of the Y rail 21, and (3) the position of the platen 41. (4) a mechanism for adjusting the position of the grid roller 17.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the support to which the Y rail 21 and the platen 41 are attached has a base 33 and four side walls 36L, 36R, 37L, 37R fixed to the base 33. Both the base 33 and the side walls 36 and 37 are made of a material (for example, a metal material) that can be formed with good dimensional accuracy. Of the four side walls, the side walls 37L and 37R are fixed to both ends of the base 33, and the remaining two side walls 36L and 36R are fixed inside thereof.

  The base 33 is a flat member and is formed longer than the width dimension of the recording material S. The side walls 36 and 37 are sheet metal members each having substantially the same configuration, and both have openings. Referring to FIG. 6, the side wall 36L will be described as an example. An opening 38 is formed in the side wall 36L, and a vertical support part 39a and a horizontal support part 39b are provided so as to face the opening part 38. ing.

  The vertical support part 39a is a structure part for supporting the Y rail 21 as shown in FIG.6 (c). On the other hand, the horizontal support portion 39b is a reference surface formed in a direction orthogonal to the vertical support portion 39a, and is a structural portion that supports the end portion of the platen 41 as shown in FIG.

Incidentally, H ₃₆ shown in FIG. 6 (a) is a distance from the upper surface of the base 33 to the horizontal support 39 b. The dimensional accuracy of the distance H ₃₆ greatly depends on the component processing accuracy of the side wall 36L. However, in the present embodiment, since the side wall 36L is configured as a sheet metal member, the final distance H ₃₆ is also a high dimension. It is accurate.

  Next, the peripheral structure of the Y rail 21 will be described with reference to FIGS. The Y rail 21 is not particularly limited as long as it can guide the carriage over the entire width of the recording material S. However, as described above, since high dimensional accuracy is required for the Y rail, a Y rail 21 'made of an aluminum extruded material, for example, as shown in FIG. 8 can be used in order to realize this. The Y rail 21 'shown in FIG. 8 is an integral member made of an extruded aluminum material, on which two engaging portions 22a' and 22b 'with which the carriage engages are formed. In such a Y rail 21 ', although it is necessary to machine the aluminum extruded material, the final dimensional accuracy of the member is good.

  In the present invention, such a Y rail 21 'can be used. However, from the viewpoint of manufacturing cost, the Y rail 21 as shown in FIG. 7 is actually used. As shown in FIG. 7, the Y rail 21 has a base member 23 made of a sheet metal member having a U-shaped cross section, and two engaging portions 22a and 22b attached to the base member 23 as separate members. is doing. According to the Y rail 21 of the present embodiment configured as described above, machining that is necessary when using an aluminum extruded material is unnecessary, which is advantageous in suppressing the manufacturing cost. The assembly of the Y rail 21 itself will be described separately with reference to other drawings.

  One feature of the configuration of the present embodiment is that the Y rail 21 is not directly attached to the side wall 36 but is attached to the side wall 36 via the relay member 25.

The relay member 25 is slightly rotated around the rotation center 27 (see the arrow R ₂₇ ), and can be fixed to the side wall 36 with the posture changed to some extent. Although not shown in FIG. 7, the final fixing between the relay member 25 and the side wall 36 can be performed using a conventionally known fixing means (for example, a screw stopper). The rotation center 27 is an axis extending in the same direction as the Y rail 21.

  As shown in FIG. 7, three engagement holes 29 are formed in the relay member 25, and each engagement hole 29 has a slightly long hole shape. Each of these engagement holes 29 is adapted to engage with each projection 35 formed on the side wall 36 side. In such a configuration, the movable range of the relay member 25 can be easily changed simply by changing the length of the engagement hole.

  In this embodiment, in addition to being able to adjust the attitude of the Y rail 21 in the rotational direction as described above, it is also possible to adjust the mounting position (height) of the Y rail 21. Yes. Specifically, the height of only one (B portion side) of both end sides (A portion and B portion) of the Y rail shown in FIG. 3 can be adjusted. That is, a height adjustment screw 28 as shown in FIG. 4 is provided in the B portion, and when the Y rail is fixed, the height adjustment screw 28 is turned to increase the height of the Y rail on the B portion side. Is adjusted. But it is also possible to provide such an adjustment mechanism in both the A part and the B part.

  Next, a structure for adjusting the position of the platen 41 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3, the platen 41 is configured such that both ends thereof are supported by side walls 36L and 36R, and the intermediate portion is supported by a plurality of platen support mechanisms 50 arranged at a predetermined pitch. Each platen support mechanism 50 has a movable member 55 as shown in FIG. 9, and the height of the support surface 53 (see the arrow Z direction reference) by adjusting the screw 57 and changing the position of the movable member 55. ) And orientation (see arrow R direction). Since the support surface 53 is a structural portion that supports the back surface of the platen 41, the height and orientation of the platen 41 are finely adjusted as a result by adjusting the position of the support surface 53 in this way. It will be.

  The platen support mechanism 50 is adjusted while using a jig 80 (see FIGS. 4 and 7) that measures each part of the platen while being guided by the Y rail 21, as will be described later. As shown in FIG. 7, the jig 80 is provided with several guide rollers 88a to 88c. Specifically, the two upper guide rollers 88a and 88b are in contact with the engaging portion 22a, and the remaining guide rollers 88b are in contact with the engaging portion 22a. With such a configuration, the jig 80 moves along the Y rail 21. In addition, the jig 80 is provided with two dial gauges 85 and 86 arranged at a predetermined distance in the X direction, so that the platen height at two locations on the upstream side and the downstream side in the X direction can be increased. Is measured.

  Next, a structure for adjusting the position of the grid roller 17 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 5, the roller shaft 17 a that collectively supports each grid roller 17 is configured such that both ends thereof are rotatably supported by the side walls 36 and the intermediate portion is supported by a plurality of roller shaft holding mechanisms 60. It has become. Each holding mechanism 60 has a movable member 65 as shown in FIG. 10, and the height of the support surface 63 is adjusted by adjusting the screw 67 and changing the position of the movable member 65. It has become. Since the support surface 63 is in contact with the roller shaft 17a to support the shaft 17a, the height of each portion of the roller shaft 17a is eventually adjusted by adjusting the height of the support surface 63 in this way. Is fine-tuned. The fact that the height of each portion of the roller shaft 17a is adjusted substantially means that the height of each grid roller 17 is adjusted.

  The roller shaft holding mechanism 60 is adjusted while using a jig 81 (see FIG. 11) that measures each part of the roller shaft 17a while being guided by the Y rail 21, as will be described later. The jig 81 is provided with a dial gauge 87 for measuring the height of each part of the roller shaft 17a.

  A method of manufacturing the recording apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described focusing on the method of assembling the recording unit 5 with reference mainly to FIGS. 6 (b) and 6 (c), the side wall 37 is not shown, but the side wall is actually attached. In the first assembling method described below, the assembling of the grid roller 17 is not specifically described, but this will be described in detail as the second assembling method.

(First assembly method)
First, as a first step, the four side walls 36L, 36R, 37L, and 37R are fixed to the base 33. Along with fixing the side walls 36 and 37, several connecting members (not shown with reference numerals) for fixing the side walls 36 and 37 to each other are also attached.

Next, as a second step, both end portions of the platen 41 are fixed to the horizontal support portions 39b of the side walls 36L, 36R. Since that is the distance H ₃₆ is high dimensional accuracy from the upper surface of the base 33 to the horizontal support 39 b, the distance from the base upper surface to the platen 41 upper surface also becomes to be defined accurately.

  In this step, the support surface 53 (see FIG. 9) of the platen support mechanism 50 and the platen 41 are not yet fixed. The fixing of the support surface 53 and the platen 41 is performed in a process described later. However, each platen support mechanism 50 may be attached on the base 33 in this process, or in a process described later. It may be mounted on the base.

  Next, as a third step, the Y rail 21 is attached to the two side walls 36L and 36R. Here, as shown in FIG. 7, the Y rail 21 is one in which engaging portions 22a and 22b are attached in advance to a base member 23 made of a sheet metal member. In the mounting process of the Y rail 21, the following adjustment work is further performed.

  That is, using the jig 82 as shown in FIG. 12, the position of the Y rail 21 (the relay member 25 with respect to the side wall) is set so that the angle α formed by the upper surface of the platen 41 and the mounting surface 23a of the Y rail is 90 °. ) And fix the Y rail. Such angle adjustment is performed at two locations, part A and part B shown in FIG. As described above, the platen 41 is fixed to the reference surfaces of the side walls 36L and 36R with high positional accuracy. Therefore, by adjusting the angle of the Y rail 21 with respect to the platen upper surface in the A part and the B part, the relative angle α of the Y rail 21 with respect to the platen 41 is also defined with high accuracy.

In this step, the relative height H ₂₁ (see FIG. 12) from the upper surface of the platen to the Y rail 21 is also adjusted. This adjustment is performed using the jig 80 in FIG. 7 instead of the jig 82.

The configuration of this embodiment will be briefly described again with reference to FIG. 4. The adjustment screw 28 for adjusting the mounting height of the Y rail is not provided on the A portion side. That is, on the A part side, when the Y rail 21 is attached to the side wall 36, the relative height H _21A of the Y rail is automatically determined. On the other hand, on the part B side, as described above, the relative height H _21B of the Y rail 21 can be adjusted. Therefore, as an assembling procedure, the relative height H _21A on the A portion side is first measured by using the jig 80, a reference is taken, and then the Y rail 21 on the B portion side so as to be the same height as this. Adjust the relative height _H21B . Specifically, this height adjustment can be performed by adjusting the adjustment screw 28 so that the relative height H _21B coincides with H _21A . After adjusting the height on the B portion side, the Y rail 21 is fixed to the side wall 36L on the B portion side.

  By the above process, the relative positional relationship between the platen and the Y rail coincides in both the A part and the B part. Thereafter, both ends of the Y rail 21 are fixed to the outer side walls 37L and 37R, respectively. Note that both end portions of the Y rail 21 are configured to be attached to the side walls 37L and 37R via L-shaped angles, whereby the Y rail 21 and the side walls are accurately fixed.

Through the above-described series of steps, the relative angle α between the platen upper surface and the Y rail is 90 ° at least in the A and B portions, and the relative height H ₂₁ is also aligned in both the A and B portions. In this way, the Y rail 21 that has been accurately positioned and fixed is used as a positioning reference member in the subsequent steps.

Next, as a fourth step, the intermediate portion of the platen 41 is positioned and fixed while using the jig 80 shown in FIGS. As described above, the jig 80 is configured to be guided by the Y rail 21, and can measure two height dimensions on the platen by the two dial gauges 85 and 86. Thus, by using two dial gauges arranged at a predetermined distance in the X direction, not only the relative height H ₂₁ but also the relative angle α with respect to the Y rail 21 can be defined. ing. Note that the locations where the two dial gauges perform measurement may be, for example, a location upstream from the ejection port surface of the recording head and a location downstream from the ejection port surface in the transport direction.

  In this step, first, the values of the dial gauges 85 and 86 in part A are read and a reference value is set (for example, the dial gauge readings may be adjusted to (0, 0)). Then, the jig 80 is positioned above one of the plurality of platen support mechanisms 50, and the values of the dial gauges 85 and 86 at that location are read. Subsequently, the height of the movable member 55 (see FIG. 9) of the platen support mechanism 50 is adjusted so that the value of each dial gauge becomes the reference value.

  At this time, the position of the support surface 53 of the support mechanism is adjusted so that the values of the two dial gauges 85 and 86 are the same. As a result, not only the height of the platen 41 but also the flatness (relative angle α) is defined.

  Actually, since the support surface 53 and the platen back surface are fixed in advance, only the attachment position of the movable member 55 is adjusted in the above process. Further, the following order is preferable as the order in which the fixing is performed as described above. That is, first, the first fixing is performed at the support mechanism located in the center among the plurality of platen support mechanisms 50. Next, the second fixing is performed at the support mechanism located between the center platen support mechanism 50 and one side wall 36 (center). Thereafter, similarly, it is preferable that the fixing is sequentially performed on the support mechanism located at the center among the plurality of support mechanisms that have not been fixed yet.

  The final fixing of the platen 41 is completed by performing the above operation on all the remaining support mechanisms 50. Thereafter, for example, the carriage 11 and the grid roller 17 are attached by a method similar to the conventional method, whereby the ink jet recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is completed.

As described above, in the assembling method of the present embodiment, the relative angle α and the relative height H ₂₁ of the Y rail ₂₁ are adjusted with reference to both ends of the platen 41 that are well positioned. In this state, the Y rail 21 is fixed. Therefore, the relative positional relationship between the Y rail and the platen is well defined as compared with the configuration in which the Y rail is simply fixed at a predetermined position. In other words, according to the present embodiment, it is unlikely that the Y rail is attached to be shifted from the predetermined position in the first place, and as a result, the final print gap is also uniform.

  When the platen 41 is long or relatively thin, if only the both ends of the platen 41 are fixed, the center of the platen may bend. In order to prevent this, in the present embodiment, the platen is supported by a plurality of fixing parts (parts fixed to the platen support mechanism 50) different from the both end parts. In addition, when the platen is fixed for each fixing portion, the platen support mechanism 50 is adjusted in each fixing portion, so that the position of the platen 41 is accurately defined. Therefore, the relative positional relationship between the guide rail 21 and the platen 41 is uniform over the entire movable range of the recording head.

  When the heater is built in the platen 41, the fourth step is preferably performed while driving the heater. By driving the heater and heating the platen 41, the platen 41 is deformed to some extent. Performing the fourth step while driving the heater means that the platen and the Y rail are positioned in consideration of the deformation of the platen 41. As a result, the relative positional relationship between the platen and the Y rail is good even during operation of the recording apparatus (that is, when the heater is driven), and as a result, the printing gap during operation is kept uniform.

  In the above description, regarding the peripheral structure of the Y rail 21, as shown in FIG. 7, the relay member 25 is configured to rotate with respect to the side wall 36, so that the angle of the Y rail 21 fixed thereto is set. Although the example which changes is described, this invention is not limited to this. For example, the base member 23 may be configured to rotate with respect to the relay member 25 that is fixed in advance to the side wall. Even in such a configuration, the angle of the base member 23 (that is, the Y rail 21) can be adjusted, and the same effect as described above can be obtained.

(Second assembly method)
Although an example of the assembling method of the present invention has been described above, the assembling method of the present invention may further include the following steps. In the method described below, the support base 19 (see FIG. 4) of the driven roller 18 pressed against the grid roller 17 with a predetermined urging force is fixed to the Y rail 21 side. Is intended.

  In the case of such a configuration, for example, the reaction force from each driven roller 18 is applied as a distributed load over the entire Y rail 21. In the case of this embodiment, only the both ends of the Y rail 21 are fixed, and the center portion is not fixed. Therefore, when receiving the reaction force as described above, for example, depending on the rigidity of the Y rail, the central portion of the Y rail may be slightly bent. Alternatively, even if the Y rail is not deflected, there is a possibility that the position of each grid roller 17 may vary due to the urging force. In any case, it is desirable to suppress the above-described adverse effects caused by the urging force between the rollers. In the present embodiment, the following assembly method is performed in order to realize this.

  In the manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the grid roller 17 is attached prior to the fourth step in the first assembly method, that is, the step of fixing the platen 41 for each fixing portion. Specifically, the roller shaft 17a to which a plurality of grid rollers 17 are fixed in advance is disposed, for example, in a process of fixing both ends of the platen to the side walls.

On the other hand, a support base 19 is attached to the Y rail 21 side in advance. Such a Y rail 21 is attached to the side walls 36L and 36R in the same manner as in the third step described above. That is, similarly to the above-described steps, the relative angle α and the relative height H ₂₁ are adjusted with respect to the upper surface of the platen, and are fixed to the side walls 36L and 36R and further to the side walls 37L and 37R. In a state where the fixing of the Y rail 21 is completed, the driven roller 18 is pressed against each grid roller 17, and a reaction force is applied to the Y rail 21.

By the way, the Y rail 21 is fixed by adjusting the relative angle α and the relative height H ₂₁ with reference to both ends of the platen 41 fixed as described above. Therefore, at this time, the relative positional relationship between the Y rail 21 and the platen 41 is good, but the relative positional relationship between the Y rail 21 and each grid roller 17 (in other words, the roller shaft 17a) is still not good. It is not good.

  Therefore, in the assembling method of the present embodiment, the final position adjustment of the grid roller 17 is performed based on the fixed Y rail 21. This position adjustment is performed as follows. First, a jig 81 as shown in FIG. 11 is attached to the Y rail 21. Then, a relative distance between the Y rail 21 and the roller shaft 17a is measured by a dial gauge 87 provided on the jig 81. Based on this measurement value, the height of the grid roller 17 is adjusted by adjusting the height of the movable member 65 of each roller shaft holding mechanism 60, and the relative positional relationship between the Y rail 21 and the grid roller 17 is also adjusted. It will be good. By performing the same operation on each roller holding mechanism 60, final positioning of the entire Y rail and each grid roller is completed.

  After finishing the above steps, the fourth step, that is, the step of fixing the platen 41 for each fixing portion is performed. Here, the reaction force is applied to the fixed Y rail 21 as described above, and the central portion of the Y rail 21 may be slightly bent. However, in the assembling method of this embodiment, the platen 41 is fixed to each platen support mechanism 50 on the basis of the slightly bent Y rail as described above. The relative positional relationship is well defined over the entire area in the Y direction.

(Assembly method of Y rail)
The method for assembling the Y rail according to the present invention may be as follows. First, as described with reference to FIG. 7 as the configuration of the Y rail 21, two long engaging portions (engaging members) are formed on the long base member 23 on which the flat mounting surface 23a is formed. The configuration is such that 22a and 22b are positioned and fixed. The engaging portions 22a and 22b are adapted to engage with two engaging portions (not shown) provided on the carriage, respectively.

The Y rail 21 configured as described above is assembled as follows using the jig 83 shown in FIG. Here, two or more engagement holes 23b are formed in the attachment surface 23a (only one is shown in FIG. 13), and the engagement protrusions 83b on the jig side are engaged with the engagement holes 23b. It has become. Further, the width W ₈₃ of the jig 83, the engaging portions 22a, 22b are dimensioned such as to be positioned.

  First, when the jig 83 is disposed on the attachment surface 23a, the engagement protrusion 83b and the engagement hole 23b are engaged, whereby the jig 83 is positioned at a predetermined position on the attachment surface 23a. Next, the two engaging portions 22a and 22b are arranged so as to sandwich the jig 83. In this state, the engaging portions 22a and 22b are not yet fixed, and the positions can be adjusted to some extent.

  Next, using, for example, a clamp, the engaging portions 22 a and 22 b are moved in the direction of the outlined arrows in the figure, and each is pressed against each side surface of the jig 83. Thereby, positioning of engaging part 22a, 22b is performed. Thus, the Y rail 21 which concerns on this embodiment is completed by fixing the engaging parts 22a and 22b in which positioning was performed to the base member 23 by screwing, for example.

  The Y rail 21 is not a single member made of an aluminum extruded material as shown in FIG. 8, but is composed of a base member 23 and two engaging portions 22a, 22b. Even with such a configuration, the distance between the two engaging portions 22a and 22b can be defined with high accuracy. In the Y rail 21, only the two engaging portions 22a and 22b may be made of an extruded aluminum material, and a sheet metal member can be used for the base member 23. Therefore, the Y rail 21 ′ formed of a single member in FIG. Compared to the above, the manufacturing cost can be greatly reduced.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention has been demonstrated exemplarily, this invention is not limited to what was described above. For example, the relative angle α formed by the platen upper surface and the Y rail is not limited to 90 °. In this type of recording apparatus, the recording head 12 is generally attached to the Y rail 21 via the carriage 11. However, the recording head 12 may be directly attached to the Y rail 21. . In addition, the recording apparatus 1 is of an ink jet type, but the present invention is not limited to this, and includes a Y rail for reciprocating the recording head, and a predetermined distance between the recording head and the platen ( The present invention can be applied to various recording apparatuses having a configuration that requires a printing gap.

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an overall configuration of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating a configuration around a recording unit of the recording apparatus in FIG. 1. It is a perspective view which shows the whole structure of a recording part. It is an enlarged view which expands and shows a part of FIG. It is the perspective view which looked at the recording part from the back side. It is a figure which shows a part of assembly process of a recording part. It is a side view which shows the specific structure of a Y rail, and the structure of a jig. It is sectional drawing which shows the other structural example of Y rail. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the platen support mechanism which supports a platen. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the roller shaft holding mechanism which supports the roller shaft of a grid roller. It is a perspective view which shows the jig for adjusting the position of the roller axis | shaft of a grid roller. It is a side view which shows the jig for adjusting the angle of a Y rail on the basis of a platen upper surface. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the assembly method of Y rail.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet recording device 4 Supply part 5 Recording part 6 Conveyance part 11 Carriage 12 Recording head 12a Discharge port surface 17 Grid roller 17a Roller shaft 18 Driven roller 21, 21 'Y rail 22a, 22b Engagement part 23 Base member 23a Mounting surface 25 Relay member 33 Base 36, 37 Side wall 39a Vertical support portion 39b Horizontal support portion 41 Platen 50 Platen support mechanism 53 Support surface 55 Movable member 60 Roller shaft holding mechanism 63 Support surface 65 Movable member 80, 81, 82, 83 Jig 85, 86 , 87 Dial gauge S Recording material

Claims (10)

A flat platen that is disposed opposite to a recording head for recording on the recording material and supports the recording material on the surface, a carriage on which the recording head is mounted, and a width direction of the recording material of the carriage a guide rail and a flat mounting reference surface on which the carriage with guiding the reciprocating engagement portion and the engagement portion for engagement is fixedly disposed to support the said platen and said guide rail The first support body, the second support body, and the guide rail, the first support body, and the second support body so that the attachment reference plane forms a predetermined angle with respect to the surface of the platen. An assembly method of a recording apparatus, wherein each of the relay members is rotatably connected, and is configured so that a fixed interval is provided between the recording head and the surface of the platen,
Fixing both ends of the platen to the reference surface of the first support and the reference surface of the second support, respectively;
Adjusting the predetermined angle to 90 ° with reference to the surfaces of both end portions of the platen fixed to the reference surface of the first support and the reference surface of the second support;
Fixing the guide rail by adjusting the position of the guide rail so that the relative positional relationship between the platen and the guide rail is the same on the first support side and the second support side. A method for assembling a recording apparatus.   The method for assembling a recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the step of adjusting the predetermined angle to 90 °, an angle adjustment jig for adjusting the angle with respect to the surface of the platen is used. The platen is configured to be fixed to several fixing parts different from the both end parts,
After the guide rail is fixed, the method further includes a step of fixing the platen for each of the fixed portions while adjusting the position of the platen in each of the fixed portions with reference to the fixed guide rail. The method for assembling the recording apparatus according to claim 1. In the step of fixing the platen for each fixing portion, the relative position of the platen with respect to the guide rail is measured at two locations on the platen on the upstream side and the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the recording material. A method for assembling the recording apparatus according to claim 3.   The method of assembling a recording apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the step of fixing the platen for each fixing portion is performed while driving a heater built in the platen. The recording apparatus has a plurality of grid rollers arranged in the width direction of the recording material and transporting the recording material,
6. The recording according to claim 1, further comprising: adjusting a position of at least one of the plurality of grid rollers with reference to the fixed guide rail after the guide rail is fixed. 7. Device assembly method. In the configuration in which the support base of the driven roller pressed against each grid roller with a predetermined urging force is substantially attached to the guide rail,
The step of fixing the platen for each of the fixing portions is performed in a state where the driven roller is pressed against the grid roller and a reaction force thereby is applied to the guide rail. A method for assembling the recording apparatus according to the above. A flat platen that is disposed opposite to a recording head for recording on the recording material and supports the recording material on the surface, a carriage on which the recording head is mounted, and a width direction of the recording material of the carriage a guide rail and a flat mounting reference surface on which the carriage with guiding the reciprocating engagement portion and the engagement portion for engagement is fixedly disposed to support the said platen and said guide rail The first support body, the second support body, and the guide rail, the first support body, and the second support body so that the attachment reference plane forms a predetermined angle with respect to the surface of the platen. Each having a relay member that is pivotably connected,
Both end portions of the platen are fixed to the reference surface of the first support and the reference surface of the second support, respectively.
The predetermined angle is 90 °, and the relative positional relationship between the platen and the guide rail is the same on the first support side and the second support side. .   The platen is configured to be fixed to several fixed portions other than the both end portions, and a plurality of platen support mechanisms for adjusting the position of the platen are arranged for each of the fixed portions. The recording apparatus according to claim 8.   9. The apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a plurality of grid rollers arranged in a width direction of the recording material and transporting the recording material, wherein at least one position of the plurality of grid rollers is adjustable. 9. The recording apparatus according to 9.

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