JP4730473B2 - Liquid ejector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a carriage on which a recording head is mounted, a recording apparatus including the carriage, and a liquid ejecting apparatus.

  Inkjet printers and thermal transfer printers, which are one of recording apparatuses, perform recording by reciprocating a carriage on which a recording head is mounted in a conveyance orthogonal direction (main scanning direction) of a sheet as a recording medium. Yes. When forced vibration generated by cogging of the carriage motor is applied to the carriage, the recording head also vibrates, so that a good recording result cannot be expected. In view of this, there has been proposed a printer that selects and attenuates the resonance frequency of the carriage by attaching a small vibration body (dynamic vibration absorber) made of a rubber elastic body and a weight to the carriage.

JP-A-10-337924

  As described above, the small vibrating body attached to the carriage of the conventional printer is composed of a rubber elastic body and a weight. Since the spring constant of this rubber elastic body is generally easy to change depending on the environment and time, the natural frequency of the small vibration body determined by the spring constant of the rubber elastic body and the mass of the weight is accurately matched with the natural frequency of the carriage. This is difficult and the removal of carriage vibration is incomplete. In order to prevent the vibration from propagating to the carriage, it is necessary to set the spring constant of the rubber elastic body to a low value. Getting worse.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described various problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a carriage capable of preventing vibration during movement and improving position controllability, and a recording apparatus including the carriage. The object is to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus.

  To achieve the above object, in the carriage of the present invention, a recording head is mounted and a moving unit is coupled, and the recording unit reciprocally moves a recording area in order to perform recording by the recording head, The mounting portion of the recording head and the connecting portion between the moving means are divided, and the mounting portion and the connecting portion are connected by connecting means having non-linear elasticity. This works weakly in a stroke with a small amplitude level of the carriage vibration and works strongly in a large stroke during the acceleration / deceleration of the carriage to improve the carriage position controllability, so that the recording accuracy of the recording head is maintained in a highly accurate state. be able to.

  Further, the connecting means is characterized in that its elasticity changes in accordance with the magnitude of the shake that occurs during movement. As a result, it is possible to reduce the large deflection generated at the time of acceleration / deceleration of the carriage and the small deflection generated at the constant speed of the carriage, so that the position controllability of the carriage can be improved. The connecting means includes a linear elastic member having linear elasticity and a regulating member for regulating displacement of the linear elastic member. As a result, the large deflection of the linear elastic member that occurs during acceleration / deceleration of the carriage can be regulated by the regulating member, and the small deflection that occurs at the constant speed of the carriage can be reduced. Further, a gap is provided between the linear elastic member and the regulating member. As a result, a small deflection of the linear elastic member generated at a constant speed of the carriage can be absorbed in the gap. Further, the connecting means is a spring member. Thereby, it can be set as a simple structure.

  In order to achieve the above object, the recording apparatus of the present invention is a recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium, and includes the carriages described above. In order to achieve the above object, the liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention is a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid onto a medium to be ejected, and includes the carriages. Thereby, a recording apparatus or a liquid ejecting apparatus that exhibits the above-described effects can be provided.

1 is a first perspective view of an external configuration example of an ink jet printer that is one of recording apparatuses according to an embodiment of the present invention, viewed from the front side. FIG. 3 is a second perspective view of an external configuration example of the printer of FIG. 1 viewed from the front side. It is the perspective view which looked at the printer of FIG. 1 from the back side. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of the printer of FIG. 1. It is a perspective view which shows the detail of the carriage which shows the characteristic part of this invention. FIG. 6 is a plan view of FIG. 5.

  1 and 2 are perspective views of an external configuration example of an ink jet printer that is one of recording apparatuses according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front side, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the same as viewed from the back side. 4 and 4 are perspective views showing the internal structure thereof. The ink jet printer 100 is a large printer capable of recording up to a relatively large size cut paper such as JIS standard A0 size or JIS standard B0 size and roll paper R having the paper width. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the ink jet printer 100 includes a rectangular parallelepiped printer body 110 and printer legs 120 that support the printer body 110.

  The printer main body 110 is divided into upper and lower layers as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, and a roll paper storage portion 130 is disposed at the boundary between the upper and lower layers on the back side as shown in FIG. ing. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a paper supply / discharge unit 140 and a recording unit 150 including a characteristic part of the present invention are disposed in the upper layer. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a sheet suction unit 160 is disposed at the center of the lower layer, and an ink supply unit 170 is disposed on the left side of the lower layer when viewed from the front side. A head characteristic recovery unit 180 and a drive control unit 190 are arranged vertically on the right side of the lower layer. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a waste ink collection unit 200 is disposed below the drive control unit 190 and beside the printer leg 120.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the printer main body 110 includes an upper housing 111 made of plastic or sheet metal that covers the paper supply / discharge unit 140 and the recording unit 150, a paper suction unit 160, an ink supply unit 170, and head characteristics recovery. A lower housing 112 made of plastic or sheet metal that covers the part 180 and the drive control part 190 is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper housing 111 is provided with a body cover 113 made of plastic or sheet metal so as to be openable from the center front surface to the center upper surface. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the lower housing 112 is provided with an ink cover 114 made of plastic or sheet metal so that the front surface of the ink supply unit 170 can be opened.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the main body cover 113 is supported so that the rear portion is rotatable with respect to the upper housing 111, and the user puts his / her finger into a recessed finger-hanging portion 113 a formed on the front surface. It opens and closes by being pushed up or pushed down. The user can open the main body cover 113 to largely open the upper part of the paper supply / discharge unit 140 and the recording unit 150, so that the maintenance operation of the recording head 152, the carriage 153, etc., the paper jam during recording or transporting, etc. It is possible to easily perform the operation of canceling the paper conveyance error. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the main body cover 113 is provided with a window 113b made of transparent or translucent plastic on a part of its upper surface. The user can visually recognize the recording state and the conveyance state by looking inside the window 113b without opening the main body cover 113.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ink cover 114 is supported so that both sides thereof are slidable with respect to the lower housing 112, and the user puts his / her finger into a recessed finger-hanging portion 114 a formed on the front surface. It opens and closes by being pushed up or pushed down. Since the user can open the front surface of the ink supply unit 170 by opening the ink cover 114, the user can easily replace the ink cartridge 10 or the like. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ink cover 114 is provided with a window 114b made of a transparent or translucent plastic at a part of the front surface. The user can view the state of the ink cartridge 10 by looking through the window 114b without opening the ink cover 114.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the printer main body 110 is provided with an operation panel 115 for the user to operate recording control and the like on the upper surface of the upper right layer when viewed from the front side. . The operation panel 115 is provided with a liquid crystal screen and various buttons so that the user can operate the buttons while checking the liquid crystal screen. Since the user can perform a reliable operation by visual recognition, an operation error, an operation error, and the like can be eliminated.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the printer leg portion 120 includes two inverted T-shaped support columns 121 and a reinforcing column 122 spanned between the support columns 121. The printer main body 110 is placed on the support column 121 and fixed with screws. Since the printer main body 110 is lifted by the printer legs 120, the user can easily perform the paper supply / discharge process and various maintenance processes. Furthermore, it becomes possible to install a paper discharge receiving portion in the space of the printer leg portion 120, so that recorded paper can be efficiently collected and contamination of the recorded paper can be prevented.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the roll paper storage unit 130 is inserted in the inner periphery of the roll paper R to support the roll paper R, and the both ends of the spindle 131 are pivotally supported. Has no bearing. The back surface of the sheet suction unit 160 is formed so as to be recessed from the back surfaces of the ink supply unit 170 and the back surfaces of the head characteristic recovery unit 180 and the drive control unit 190 on both sides of the sheet suction unit 160. 130 is disposed.

  That is, bearings (not shown) are provided on opposite sides of the ink supply unit 170, the head characteristic recovery unit 180, and the drive control unit 190 to support the spindle 131 in the main scanning direction so as to pivotally support both ends thereof. . Then, the roll paper R can be set without protruding from the back side of the printer main body 110 by bridging the spindle 131 penetrating the inner periphery of the roll paper R between these bearings.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the paper supply / discharge unit 140 includes a paper feed roller 141 and a paper feed driven roller 142. The paper feed roller 141 and the paper feed follower roller 142 are arranged so that the shaft faces the main scanning direction and the circumferential surface is up and down on the downstream side of the paper feed from the roll paper storage unit 130, that is, the rear side in the printer main body 110. It arrange | positions so that it may oppose. The paper feed roller 141 is formed as a single long roller, and the peripheral surface portion slightly larger than the maximum recordable paper width is coated with ceramic powder or the like. As a result, slippage during paper feeding can be prevented, and the paper can be fed out with high accuracy. Both ends of the paper feed roller 141 are axially supported by side frames 116 via bearings (not shown), and are driven to rotate forward and backward by a driving force transmitted from the paper feed motor 143 through the pulley 144 and the belt 145. It has become.

  The paper feed driven roller 142 is formed as a plurality of short rollers, and is pivotally supported by a plurality of driven roller support members 146 arranged in parallel in the axial direction above the paper feed roller 141. The paper feed driven roller 142 is pressed against the paper feed roller 141 by a biasing member such as a spring (not shown) attached to the driven roller support member 146, and follows the forward / reverse rotation drive of the paper feed roller 141. It is designed to rotate forward and reverse. Thus, the sheet can be firmly pressed from both sides and sent out, so that highly accurate recording can be performed. The paper feed roller 141 and the paper feed driven roller 142 sandwich the roll paper R and the cut paper fed from the paper feed port 147 formed between the upper and lower layers of the printer main body 110 shown in FIG. 2 and 4 are sent out onto the platen 151 of the recording unit 150 and discharged from a paper discharge port 148 formed between upper and lower layers of the printer main body 110 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the recording unit 150 is a carriage which is a characteristic part of the present invention on which a platen 151 disposed on the downstream side of the conveyance immediately from the paper feed roller 141 and the recording head 152 are mounted. 153 and a cutter 154 attached to the carriage 153. Further, the recording unit 150 includes a flexible flat cable (hereinafter referred to as FFC) (not shown) that electrically connects the recording head 152 and a drive control unit 190 for executing recording, an ink cartridge containing the recording head 151 and ink. And an ink tube (not shown) that connects to the printer 10.

  The platen 151 is formed in a rectangular flat plate shape having a length slightly larger than the maximum recordable paper width, and is disposed along the paper feed roller 141. The platen 151 has a plurality of holes (not shown) connected to the paper suction unit 160 from the front surface to the back surface, and a plurality of uneven portions (not shown) that absorb a cockling of the paper caused by moisture absorption is formed on the surface. Yes. As a result, the paper being recorded can be held in a substantially flat shape, so that highly accurate recording can be performed.

  Further, a cutter groove 151 a extending in the main scanning direction is formed on the surface of the platen 151. The cutter groove 151a is sized so that the cutting edge of the cutter 154 protruding from the lower surface of the roll paper R can enter so that the cutter 154 does not damage the surface of the platen 151 when the roll paper R is cut in the width direction. Is formed. Thereby, the recording part and unrecorded part of the roll paper R can be reliably separated.

  The recording head 152 is disposed at a lower portion of the carriage 153 so as to face the cut paper or the roll paper R supplied to the upper surface of the platen 151 with a predetermined interval, and ejects two types of black ink. And a plurality of color ink recording heads for ejecting ink of each color such as cyan, magenta, yellow, red, blue, and gloss optimizer. The recording head 152 is provided with a pressure generating chamber and a nozzle opening connected to the pressure generating chamber, and a cut supplied to the upper surface of the platen 151 from the nozzle opening by storing ink in the pressure generating chamber and pressurizing it with a predetermined pressure. Controlled ink droplets are ejected toward the paper or roll paper R.

  The carriage 153 is placed on a carriage guide shaft 155 provided in the main scanning direction via a bearing (not shown), and is coupled to the belt 156. The carriage 153 is entrained by the movement of the belt 156 when the pulley 157 constituting the moving means is rotated by the carriage motor constituting the moving means (not shown) and the belt 156 constituting the moving means is rotated. Guided by 155, it reciprocates in the main scanning direction. As a result, the carriage 153 can be moved with high accuracy, so that highly accurate recording can be performed.

  The cutter 154 is disposed so as to be movable up and down in the vertical direction and movable in the main scanning direction so that the blade edge faces downward. The cutter 154 is moved up and down by, for example, a solenoid and moved in the main scanning direction together with the carriage 153. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a means for moving the cutter 154, so that space can be saved and cost can be reduced. The cutter 154 may be separated from the carriage 153 and moved in the main scanning direction by a unique belt mechanism or a motor.

  The FFC has one end connected to the connector of the drive control unit 190 and the other end connected to the connector of the recording head 152, and sends a recording signal from the drive control unit 190 to the recording head 152. The ink tubes are provided for the inks of the respective colors, and one end of each ink tube is connected to the corresponding ink cartridge 10 via an ink pressurizing and supplying means (not shown), and the other end of each color recording head. 152 is connected. The ink tube is configured to send ink of each color pressurized by the ink pressure supply means from the ink cartridge 10 to the recording head 152.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the sheet suction unit 160 includes a pressure chamber 161 disposed in the lower part of the platen 151 and a fan (not shown) disposed in the lower part of the pressure chamber 161. The pressure chamber 161 is formed in a box shape in which a part of the upper surface and the bottom surface is opened, a platen 151 is attached to the open portion of the upper surface, and a fan is attached to the open portion of the bottom surface. By rotating the fan, the air is sucked into the pressure chamber 161 from the hole formed in the platen 151 and exhausted to the outside through the fan. Therefore, when cut paper or roll paper R is supplied to the upper surface of the platen 151, negative pressure is generated on the lower surface side of the cut paper or roll paper R, so that the cut paper or roll paper R is attracted to the upper surface of the platen 151. As a result, the cut paper or the roll paper R can be prevented from being lifted, and the recording accuracy can be maintained with high accuracy.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the ink supply unit 170 includes a box-shaped cartridge storage unit 171 and a cartridge pressing unit 172 attached to the front side of the cartridge storage unit 171. The cartridge storage portion 171 is partitioned so that two types of ink cartridges 10 in total, including black, cyan, magenta, yellow, red, blue, and gloss optimizer, can be pulled out from the front side and pushed in sequentially from the left side of the figure. ing. The cartridge pressing portion 172 is attached to each partition portion of the cartridge storage portion 171 so as to be freely opened and closed. The cartridge pressing portion 172 presses the ink cartridge 10 in the partition portion in conjunction with the closing operation, and ink cartridges in the partition portion in conjunction with the opening operation. 10 is popping out.

  Here, the ink cartridge 10 is hermetically sealed, for example, in an outer case formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape with a hard plastic material, for example, in a bag shape made of a flexible material and filled with ink inside. . An ink supply port connected to the ink tank and a positioning hole in the cartridge housing portion 171 are formed on the surface on the insertion side to the cartridge housing portion 171. On the other hand, an ink supply needle inserted into the ink supply port of the ink cartridge 10 and a positioning needle inserted into the positioning hole of the ink cartridge 10 are pulled out and pushed in the ink cartridge 10 on the inner rear surface of the cartridge housing portion 171. It is arrange | positioned so that it may protrude.

  Therefore, the ink cartridge 10 accommodated in the cartridge accommodating portion 171 is automatically positioned when the positioning needle is inserted into the positioning hole when the cartridge pressing portion 172 is closed. The ink can be supplied to the recording head 152 by entering the ink supply port. When the cartridge pressing portion 172 is opened, the positioning needle is automatically extracted from the positioning hole, and at the same time, the ink supply needle is automatically extracted from the ink supply port.

  The head characteristic recovery unit 180 is disposed below the carriage 153 located at the home position shown in FIG. 4, and includes wiping means, capping means, suction means, and drive means for these. The wiping means includes a wiper formed in a substantially rectangular flat plate shape using rubber, felt, plastic, or the like, and rubs against the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 152 so as to wipe off ink adhering to the nozzle forming surface. It has become.

  The capping means is provided with a cap formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape by rubber, and a recess provided in the upper part is pressed against the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 152 to seal the nozzle opening. The suction means forcibly sucks and discharges the ink in order to remove clogged nozzle openings and mixed bubbles. Therefore, it is possible to perform processing for maintaining the ink ejection characteristics of the recording head 152 in a constant state when the carriage 153 is in the home position.

  The waste ink collection unit 200 includes a detachable waste liquid cartridge 201. The waste liquid cartridge 201 stores waste liquid such as ink used when initially filling the ink supply system reaching the recording head 152 or cleaning liquid used when cleaning the ink supply system reaching the recording head 152. It has become. Thus, since the waste liquid processing can be completed only by replacing the waste liquid cartridge 201, the number of work steps can be reduced, and contamination of the peripheral portion of the printer can be prevented.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing details of the carriage 153 showing characteristic portions of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a plan view thereof. The carriage 153 includes a mounting portion 31 on which the recording head 152 and the like are mounted, a coupling portion 32 coupled to the belt 156, a coupling means 33 that couples the mounting portion 31 and the coupling portion 32, and the like. The mounting portion 31 has a hole 31a that exposes the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 152 on the bottom surface. The recording head 152 is mounted in accordance with the hole 31a, and a damper or the like is mounted thereon. It has become. The coupling portion 32 is formed with a clamping portion 32a that sandwiches the belt 156 on the back surface, and the clamping portion 32a and the belt 156 are coupled to each other.

  The connecting means 33 has a non-linear elasticity, and the elasticity changes in accordance with the magnitude of the shake that occurs when the carriage 153 moves. Such a connecting means 33 can be realized by a linear elastic member 33A having linear elasticity and a regulating member 33B for regulating the displacement of the linear elastic member 33A. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the linear elastic member 33 </ b> A is a leaf spring formed in a substantially C shape, and is attached to the coupling portion 32 so that a pair of free end portions 33 a protrude. The pair of free end portions 33a is attached to the mounting portion 31 by a pair of screws 33b oriented in the main scanning direction. Therefore, in the connecting means 33, the mounting portion 33d of the mounting portion 31 is swingable in the main scanning direction with respect to the mounting portion 33c of the coupling portion 32.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the restriction member 33 </ b> B is two cylindrical pins, and is disposed on both outer sides of the attachment portion 33 d of the mounting portion 31 and in the vicinity of the attachment portion 33 c of the coupling portion 32. Has been. These regulating members 33B are mounted on the mounting portion 31 with a predetermined gap, for example, several tens of μm, from the mounting portion 33d of the mounting portion 31 in a stationary state. As a result, the large deflection of the linear elastic member 33A generated when the carriage 153 is accelerated or decelerated, that is, the delay of the carriage 153 can be regulated by the physical regulating member 33B, and the position controllability of the carriage 153 can be improved. . In addition, the small deflection generated when the carriage 153 is at a constant speed can be reduced, and the vibration proofing property of the carriage 153 can be improved.

  In the embodiment described above, the regulating member 33B (pin) is a separate member, but may be formed integrally with the mounting portion 31. In addition, the regulating member 33B (pin) is arranged on both outer sides of the mounting portion 33d of the mounting portion 31 and in the vicinity of the mounting portion 33c of the coupling portion 32, but both inner sides of the mounting portion 33d of the mounting portion 31. Even so, the same effect is achieved. Moreover, you may make it arrange | position between the attaching part 33c of the coupling | bond part 32, and the free end part 33a. Thereby, when the linear elastic member 33A (plate spring) contacts the regulating member 33B (pin), it is possible to prevent a sudden change in the displacement of the linear elastic member 33A (plate spring) as in the above embodiment.

  Further, although the linear elastic member 33A (leaf spring) and the regulating member 33B (pin) are used as the connecting means 33, it is not particularly limited as long as the relationship between the load and the displacement has a non-linear characteristic. Even if a spring member having the above is used, the same effect can be obtained. As such a spring member, for example, it is realized by a laminated leaf spring in which a flat leaf spring having a predetermined length is attached to the free end portion on both sides of a substantially C-shaped leaf spring. Can do.

  The present invention can also be realized by a coil spring with a changing diameter, for example, a substantially conical coil spring with a gradually decreasing diameter, or a composite coil spring in which a plurality of coil springs with different diameters are arranged concentrically. In this case, one end of a pair of coil springs arranged in series with the displacement direction facing the main scanning direction is attached to both sides of the coupling portion 32, and the other end of the pair of coil springs is attached to the mounting portion. . That is, it arrange | positions so that the coupling | bond part 32 may be pinched | interposed with a pair of coil spring. As a result, the mounting portion 31 can swing in the main scanning direction with respect to the coupling portion 32, and the same effect as described above can be obtained.

  As described above, according to the carriage 153 of this embodiment, the mounting portion 31 of the recording head 152 and the coupling portion 32 of the belt 156 are divided, and the mounting portion 31 and the coupling portion 32 are connected to each other with nonlinear elasticity. Since the connection is made by the means 33, the elasticity of the connection means 33 changes in accordance with the magnitude of the shake that occurs during movement. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the position controllability of the carriage 153 by acting weakly in a stroke with a small amplitude level of the carriage vibration and acting strongly in a large stroke during acceleration / deceleration of the carriage.

  Any recording apparatus provided with a carriage can be applied to, for example, a facsimile apparatus, a copying apparatus, and the like. In addition to a recording apparatus, the meaning of a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid corresponding to its use from a liquid ejecting head onto an ejected medium instead of ink and attaches the liquid to the ejected medium is, for example, a liquid crystal display or the like Color material jet head used for manufacturing color filters, electrode material (conductive paste) jet head used for electrode formation for organic EL display and surface emitting display (FED), bio-organic jet head used for biochip manufacturing, precision pipette The present invention can also be applied to an apparatus equipped with a sample ejection head or the like.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ink cartridge, 31 Mounting part, 32 Coupling part, 33 Connection means, 33A Linear elastic member, 33B Control member, 100 Inkjet printer, 110 Printer main-body part, 111 Upper housing, 112 Lower housing, 113 Main body cover, 114 Ink cover , 115 Operation panel, 120 Printer leg, 130 Roll paper storage, 140 Paper feed / discharge unit, 141 Paper feed roller, 142 Paper feed driven roller, 143 Paper feed motor, 150 Recording unit, 151 Platen, 152 Recording head, 153 Carriage, 154 cutter, 155 carriage guide shaft, 156 belt, 157 pulley, 160 paper suction section, 161 pressure chamber, 170 ink supply section, 171 cartridge storage section, 172 cartridge pressing section, 180 f De characteristic recovery unit, 190 drive control unit, 200 the waste ink recovery unit.

Claims (3)

A recording head;
A carriage having a mounting portion for mounting the recording head;
A belt coupled by a coupling portion of the carriage and transmitting power generated from a driving source to the carriage;
With
By reciprocating the carriage by the belt, a recording operation is performed by droplets ejected from the recording head,
The mounting portion and the coupling portion are connected via a connecting means having a characteristic as nonlinear elasticity,
The connecting means includes a linear elastic member having linear elasticity and a regulating member for regulating displacement of the linear elastic member ;
Bei to give a,
further,
Control means for restricting a large deflection of the linear elastic member generated during acceleration / deceleration of the carriage when the carriage is reciprocated by the transmission belt by a restriction member;
Comprising
A liquid ejecting apparatus. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a gap is provided between the linear elastic member and the regulating member. 3. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connecting unit is a spring member, and a displacement direction of the spring member is one of reciprocal movement directions of the carriage.

Images