JP5720194B2 - Liquid ejector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for ejecting liquid from an ejection head.

A liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid such as ink from an ejecting head provided with a fine ejecting nozzle is known. A liquid ejecting apparatus is generally designed to eject a liquid from an ejection nozzle onto a print medium while conveying a print medium such as a printing paper in a horizontal direction. For this reason,
The components constituting the liquid ejecting apparatus are arranged in the horizontal direction, and as a result, the liquid ejecting apparatus requires a large installation area. Therefore, there is a case where a configuration (so-called vertical type) in which a liquid is ejected onto a medium while the print medium is conveyed in a vertical direction may be employed. In this case, the components of the liquid ejecting apparatus can be arranged in the vertical direction, so that the installation area of the liquid ejecting apparatus can be reduced.

However, when the installation area is small, the liquid ejecting apparatus easily falls. In addition, even with a normal liquid ejecting apparatus that is not a vertical installation type, the attitude of the liquid ejecting apparatus changes from the normal attitude (at the time of ejecting liquid) when carrying it. When the liquid ejecting apparatus changes from the normal posture, the state of the ejecting head may change significantly. Therefore, the inclination of the liquid ejecting apparatus can be detected using an acceleration sensor attached to the liquid ejecting apparatus (Patent Document 1), and when it is determined from the output of the acceleration sensor that the liquid ejecting apparatus has fallen, maintenance of the ejecting head is performed. Can be considered.

JP 2005-271384 A

However, the change in the posture of the liquid ejecting apparatus is not limited to the state in which power is supplied to the liquid ejecting apparatus (that is, the power is on), but the state in which the power supply to the liquid ejecting apparatus is cut off (power supply OF)
(F state) may also occur. In addition, since the acceleration sensor cannot be used in the power-off state, there is a problem that it is impossible to determine whether or not the posture of the liquid ejecting apparatus has changed from the normal posture while the power is off.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique that makes it possible to determine whether or not there is a change in the attitude of the liquid ejecting apparatus when the power is off.

In order to solve at least a part of the problems described above, the liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention employs the following configuration. That is,
A liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid from an ejection nozzle,
A movable member which is provided so as to be movable with respect to the liquid ejecting apparatus and moves under the action of gravity when the liquid ejecting apparatus is tilted from a posture when ejecting the liquid;
A movement history storage unit that has a lock mechanism that holds a changed state by being brought into contact with the moved moving member, and that stores that the moving member has moved according to the holding state of the lock mechanism. The gist.

In such a liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention, a liquid ejecting apparatus moves the moving member by gravity tilts from the posture at the time of injecting the liquid, its state changed by being abutted against the moving member locking mechanism It is stored that the moving member has moved by being held at .

By doing so, it is possible to memorize that the moving member has moved by bringing the moving member and the movement history storage means into contact with each other using gravity, so that the moving member has moved without using electrical energy. I can remember that. Accordingly, it is possible to store in the movement history storage means that the liquid ejecting apparatus is tilted in a state where power is not supplied (power OFF state). Therefore, the power is turned off when the operator refers to the stored contents.
In this state, it can be determined whether or not the liquid ejecting apparatus is tilted. As a result, the operator can determine whether or not the ejection head should be maintained. Further, if a mechanism for referring to the stored contents of the movement history storage means is provided in the liquid ejecting apparatus, it is determined whether or not the liquid ejecting apparatus is tilted in the power-off state based on the reference result. Therefore, it is possible to determine on the liquid ejecting apparatus side whether or not maintenance of the ejection head should be performed.

Further, in the above-described liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention , based on the movement history when the power of the moving member stored in the movement history storage unit is turned off, one of the inclination state and the inclination direction is determined. Also good.

According to such a configuration , the liquid ejecting apparatus can store either one of the tilting condition and the tilting direction in the movement history storage unit in a state where power is not supplied (power-off state). Further, by providing a mechanism for referring to the stored contents of the movement history storage means in the liquid ejecting apparatus, either the tilting direction or the tilting direction of the liquid ejecting apparatus when the power is turned off based on the referred result. One can be judged. As a result, the operator can determine whether or not the ejection head should be maintained .

In the liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention described above, it may be determined whether or not to perform the maintenance operation based on the movement history of the moving member stored by the movement history storage unit.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to store in the movement history storage means that the liquid ejecting apparatus is tilted, and further to provide a mechanism for referring to the stored contents of the movement history storage means in the liquid ejecting apparatus. Thus, it can be determined whether or not the liquid ejecting apparatus is tilted based on the referred result. As a result, it is possible to determine on the liquid ejecting apparatus side whether or not the ejection head should be maintained .

In the liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention described above , when it is determined that the mobile member has not fallen based on the movement history of the moving member, the maintenance operation may not be executed .

According to such a configuration, when it is determined that the vehicle has not fallen, the maintenance operation is not performed, so unnecessary maintenance can be omitted, and as a result, the time required for maintenance of the ejection head can be shortened. In addition, the amount of ink discarded due to maintenance can be reduced .

In the above-described liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention, when it is determined that the liquid member has fallen based on the movement history of the moving member, a maintenance operation may be performed.

According to such a configuration, since the maintenance operation is executed when it is determined that the printer has fallen, it is possible to automatically avoid the adverse effect on printing as a result .

In the above-described liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention, the moving member is assumed to change the amount of movement when moving on the moving path of the moving member according to the inclination of the liquid ejecting apparatus. The movement history storage means may be provided at a plurality of locations .

In this way, it is possible to store the magnitude of the tilt when the liquid ejecting apparatus is tilted with the power turned off by storing the moving amount of the moving member . Depending on the inclination of the liquid ejecting apparatus, the degree of change in the state that occurs in the ejecting head may differ. Accordingly, if the degree of inclination of the liquid ejecting apparatus in the power-off state is determined from the content stored in the movement history storage means, appropriate maintenance can be performed according to the degree of state change of the ejecting head. It becomes possible.

In the liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention described above, the moving member is moved along any one of a plurality of predetermined moving paths, and the liquid ejecting is determined along which moving path. It shall be determined according to the tilting direction of the device. And it is good also as providing a movement history memory | storage means on each movement path | route .

In this way, it is possible to memorize the direction in which the liquid ejecting apparatus is tilted in the power-off state by memorizing which movement path the moving member has moved. As will be described in detail later, depending on the configuration of the liquid ejecting apparatus, the degree of change in the state that occurs in the ejecting head may vary depending on the direction in which the liquid ejecting apparatus is inclined. Therefore, if the direction in which the liquid ejecting apparatus is tilted in the power-off state is determined from the content stored in the movement history storage means, appropriate maintenance can be performed according to the degree of state change of the ejecting head. It becomes possible.

It is explanatory drawing which showed the rough structure of the liquid-jet apparatus of a present Example. It is explanatory drawing which showed the printing operation of the liquid ejecting apparatus of the present embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which showed the mode of the inside of the inkjet printer at the time of a fall. It is explanatory drawing which showed the fall detection mechanism of the inkjet printer of a present Example. It is the flowchart which showed the maintenance process at the time of the input of this example. It is explanatory drawing which showed the maintenance operation | movement which an inkjet printer performs by the maintenance process at the time of injection | throwing-in. It is explanatory drawing which showed the fall detection mechanism of the 1st modification. It is explanatory drawing which showed the fall detection mechanism of the 2nd modification. It is explanatory drawing which showed the fall detection mechanism of the 3rd modification. It is explanatory drawing which showed the fall detection mechanism of the 4th modification.

Hereinafter, in order to clarify the contents of the present invention described above, examples will be described in the following order.
A. Device configuration:
B. Falling detection mechanism of the ink jet printer of this embodiment:
C. Maintenance processing at the time of introduction of this embodiment:
D. Variation:
D-1. First Modification D-2. Second Modification D-3. Third Modification D-4. Fourth modification

A. Device configuration :
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a rough configuration of a liquid ejecting apparatus according to the present embodiment, using a so-called ink jet printer as an example. In the following description, “front-rear direction”, “left-right direction”, and “up-down direction” refer to the front-rear direction, the left-right direction, and the up-down direction indicated by arrows in the drawings. The illustrated inkjet printer 10 has a substantially box-like appearance, and a paper feed port 11 for setting printing paper is provided on the back side of the upper surface, and printed printing paper is provided on the front side of the upper surface. Is provided. As will be described in detail later, in the inkjet printer 10 of the present embodiment, when printing paper is set in the paper feed slot 11, the lower end of the set printing paper is directed upward by a paper feed mechanism (not shown) inside the inkjet printer 10. After being inverted, it is conveyed above the ink jet printer 10 and discharged from the paper discharge port 12. In the drawing, the conveyance path of the printing paper of the inkjet printer 10 of the present embodiment is indicated by a broken line. A liquid crystal display unit 13 for displaying information related to printing is provided on the right side of the paper discharge port 12.

A front cover 14 is provided on the front side of the inkjet printer 10.
The front cover 14 is pivotally supported on the lower end side, and when the upper end side is tilted forward, it is possible to check the internal state of the inkjet printer 10 or repair the inkjet printer 10. .

In addition, a carriage 20 that forms ink dots on printing paper while reciprocating in the main scanning direction, a drive mechanism 30 that reciprocates the carriage 20, and the like are mounted inside the inkjet printer 10. Front side of the carriage 20 (inkjet printer 10
Is provided with an ejection head 22 having a plurality of ejection nozzles.
The surface (nozzle surface 22a) on which the ejection nozzles of the ejection head 22 are provided faces the paper surface of the printing paper that has been conveyed, and ejects ink from the ejection nozzles toward the printing paper.

The ink ejected from the ejection nozzles is stored in a special container called an ink cartridge 40. The ink cartridge 40 is provided at a position different from the ejection head 22 (in the present embodiment, on the upper right side of the inkjet printer 10).
The ink in the ink cartridge 40 is supplied to the carriage 20 via the ink tube 44. A cartridge replacement slot 46 is provided on the upper surface of the ink jet printer 10, and the ink cartridge 40 can be loaded into the cartridge holder 42 by inserting the ink cartridge 40 into the cartridge replacement slot 46. By pulling out the cartridge 40, the ink cartridge 40 can be removed.

In the illustrated inkjet printer 10, it is possible to print a color image using four types of inks of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. An ejection nozzle is provided for each type of ink. And
The ink in the corresponding ink cartridge 40 is supplied to each ejection nozzle through an ink tube 44 provided for each type of ink.

The drive mechanism 30 for reciprocating the carriage 20 includes a timing belt 32 having a plurality of tooth shapes formed therein, a drive motor 34 for driving the timing belt 32, and the like. A part of the timing belt 32 is fixed to the carriage 20. When the timing belt 32 is driven, the carriage 20 is reciprocated in the main scanning direction while being guided by a guide rail (not shown) extending in the main scanning direction. Is possible.

An area called a home position is provided at a position outside the printing area where the carriage 20 is moved in the main scanning direction, and a maintenance mechanism is mounted at the home position. The maintenance mechanism includes a cap 50, a wiper 52, a negative pressure pump 54, a waste ink tank 56, and the like. In the maintenance mechanism, various maintenance operations are performed to keep the ejection head 22 in a normal state. First, the cap 50 can be moved in the front-rear direction of the inkjet printer 10 by a drive mechanism (not shown).
When printing is not performed, a closed space is formed so as to cover the ejection head 22 by pressing the cap 50 toward the front side of the carriage 20 with the carriage 20 moved to the home position. Prevent ink from drying out.

The cap 50 is connected to a negative pressure pump 54 via a negative pressure tube. By operating the negative pressure pump 54 with the cap 50 pressed against the front side of the carriage 20, An operation (cleaning operation) of sucking out ink and discharging it to the waste ink tank 56 can be performed. Further, it is possible to perform an operation (flushing operation) of ejecting ink from the ejection head 22 and discharging it to the cap 50 in a state where the cap 50 and the ejection head 22 are opposed to each other. In the case where ink cannot be normally ejected from the ejection head 22 due to a broken meniscus of the ejection nozzle or the like, the above-described cleaning operation or flushing operation is performed to keep the ejection head 22 in a normal state.

In addition, the wiper 52 can be moved in the front-rear direction by a driving mechanism (not shown), and the tip of the wiper 52 is moved to the front surface of the ejection head 22 provided with a plurality of ejection nozzles (
An operation of wiping off ink adhering to the nozzle surface (wiping operation) is performed by contacting the nozzle surface 22a) and moving the carriage 20 in the main scanning direction in this state.

Further, inside the inkjet printer 10, a paper feed mechanism (not shown) for feeding printing paper, a control unit 60 that controls the overall operation of the inkjet printer 10, and the like are mounted. The operation of reciprocating the carriage 20, the operation of feeding printing paper, the operation of ejecting ink from the ejection nozzles, the operation of performing maintenance so that printing can be normally performed, etc. are all controlled by the control unit 60. ing. Further, in addition to the above-described configuration, the inkjet printer 10 of the present embodiment is provided with a fall detection mechanism 70 for detecting the fall of the inkjet printer 10. Details of the fall detection mechanism 70 will be described later.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a printing operation of the inkjet printer 10 of the present embodiment.
FIG. 2 shows a state in which the printing area of the inkjet printer 10 is viewed from the side of the inkjet printer 10. First, the printing paper set in the paper supply port 11 is stored in the paper storage unit 100. The printing paper stored in the paper storage unit 100 is pressed to the front side of the ink jet printer 10 by a spring (not shown), and is pressed against a paper feed roller 104 provided in front of the paper storage unit 100. The paper feed roller 104 is an elongated cylindrical member, and the side surface corresponding to the circumferential portion is formed of a rubber material. A paper feed motor (not shown) is connected to one end of the paper feed roller 104, and when the paper feed roller 104 is rotated by the paper feed motor, printing paper is sent out from the paper storage unit 100 one by one.

A substantially U-shaped guide member 102 is provided immediately below the paper feed roller 104.
For this reason, the printing paper fed downward by the paper feed roller 104 is the guide member 10.
By being conveyed along 2, the conveying direction is reversed upward. In this way, the printing paper is conveyed upward, and ink is ejected onto the printing paper while passing over the platen 106 provided at a position facing the nozzle surface 22a of the ejection head 22 and an image is printed. To go. The printing paper on which the image is printed in this way is further conveyed upward by a paper feed roller 108 provided above the platen 106 and is finally discharged from the paper discharge port 12 on the upper surface of the inkjet printer 10.

In the ink jet printer 10 of the present embodiment as described above, the components of the ink jet printer 10 are arranged in the height direction of the ink jet printer 10 because the ink is ejected onto the print paper while conveying the print paper in a substantially vertical direction. The For this reason, the installation area of the inkjet printer 10 can be reduced compared with what prints, conveying a printing paper in a substantially horizontal direction like a general inkjet printer. On the other hand, the inkjet printer 10 is easy to fall because the installation area is reduced.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an internal state of the ink jet printer at the time of falling. still,
FIG. 3 exemplifies a case where the inkjet printer 10 falls during the standby period until printing is started. Here, the standby period refers to a period in which power supply to the ink jet printer 10 is cut off, or a period in which power supply to the ink jet printer 10 is performed but printing is not performed. Yes.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the periphery of the ejection head 22 is sealed with a cap 50 during the standby period of the inkjet printer 10. Cap 5
A storage groove 58 for storing ink ejected to the cap 50 by the flushing operation is provided inside 0, and the humidity in the space sealed by the cap 50 is maintained, so that the ink in the ejection head 22 is maintained. Is effectively suppressed from drying and deterioration of properties. From this state, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the inkjet printer 10 falls to the front side, the ink in the ejection head 22 jumps downward (in the direction of the cap 50) from the ejection nozzle due to the momentum of the fall. The meniscus of the spray nozzle is broken. Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the ink jet printer 10 falls to the back side, the nozzle surface 22 a is soiled by the ink from the storage groove 58 of the cap 50.

As described above, when the ink jet printer 10 falls, the ejection head 22 is adversely affected. That is, when the inkjet printer 10 falls to the front side (FIG. 3 (a
)), The meniscus of the injection nozzle is broken or bubbles are mixed from the injection nozzle. If the inkjet printer 10 falls to the back side (in the case of FIG. 3B), the ink from the storage groove 58 enters the ejection nozzle and mixes the ink or adheres to the nozzle surface 22a. As a result, the discharged ink is solidified and discharge failure occurs. Therefore, if printing is started in this state, ink cannot be ejected normally, and printing will be adversely affected. Therefore, it detects whether the inkjet printer 10 has fallen,
When a fall occurs, it is necessary to keep the ejection head 22 in a normal state by performing a necessary maintenance operation.

Here, as a method for detecting whether the ink jet printer 10 is overturned, for example, a method using an acceleration sensor is conceivable. However, when the acceleration sensor is used, it is not possible to detect the overturn of the ink jet printer 10 when the ink jet printer 10 is turned off. Therefore, even if the ejection head 22 is adversely affected by the fall, the maintenance operation cannot be executed, and as a result, the ink can be ejected normally from the ejection head 22. Therefore, in the inkjet printer 10 of the present embodiment, the above-described problem is prevented from occurring by adopting the following fall detection mechanism of the inkjet printer 10.

B. Falling detection mechanism of the ink jet printer of this embodiment:
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the fall detection mechanism 70 of the inkjet printer 10 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4A, the fall detection mechanism 70 of the present embodiment roughly includes a storage box 71 that houses the components of the fall detection mechanism 70 and a support provided on the ceiling of the storage box 71. A weight 73 as a moving member suspended from the member 72, switch mechanisms 74a and 74b as movement history storage means provided on the left and right sides of the weight 73 when viewed from the side of the inkjet printer 10, and the like.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, the weight 73 contacts a switch 75a provided on the switch mechanism 74a when the weight 73 swings by an angle θ on the front side of the inkjet printer 10 with the support member 72 as a fulcrum. The switch 75b on the switch mechanism 74b is brought into contact with the back of the ink jet printer 10 when it is swung by an angle θ.
When the weight 73 comes into contact with the switch 75, the switch 75 is pushed into the switch mechanism 74 and is held inside the switch mechanism 74 by a lock mechanism (not shown). At this time, which switch 75a, 75b is held in the switch mechanism 74 can be detected by the control unit 60. Further, the switch 75 held in the switch mechanism 74 can be returned to the original state (a state protruding from the switch mechanism 74) by releasing the lock of the lock mechanism (not shown). Yes.

In the fall detection mechanism 70 of the present embodiment as described above, when the ink jet printer 10 falls while the power is off, the weight 73 moves in the direction of gravity and the switch 75 on the side where the ink jet printer 10 falls is the switch mechanism 74. It is pushed in and the pushed-in state is maintained. Accordingly, it is possible to memorize that the inkjet printer 10 has been overturned even under a situation where the supply of power is cut off, such as when the power is turned off. Also,
Depending on which switch 75a, 75b is pressed, the inkjet printer 1
It is also possible to memorize the direction in which 0 falls. Therefore, in the inkjet printer 10 of the present embodiment, the following maintenance process is executed based on the contents stored in the fall detection mechanism 70.

C. Maintenance process at the time of input of this embodiment:
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the on-time maintenance process of the present embodiment. The on-time maintenance process of the present embodiment is a process executed by the control unit 60 when the ink jet printer 10 is powered on.

When the on-load maintenance process is started, first, information related to the overturn of the inkjet printer 10 stored in the overturn detection mechanism 70 is read (step S100).
As described above with reference to FIG. 4, if the inkjet printer 10 is overturned while the power is off, the switch 75 is pushed by the weight 73 and is held in the switch mechanism 74 (the switch 75 is ON). If the inkjet printer 10 is not overturned, any of the switches 75a and 75b should be in the OFF state. Accordingly, in step S100 of the on-time maintenance process, it is determined whether or not the inkjet printer 10 has been overturned when the power is turned off by detecting the ON / OFF state of the switches 75a and 75b (step S100).

If it is detected in step S100 that any of the switches 75a and 75b is OFF, it is determined that the inkjet printer 10 has not fallen while the power is OFF (step S102: no), and the maintenance process for the ejection head 22 is performed. Without performing this, the on-load maintenance process is terminated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S100 that at least one of the switches 75a and 75b is ON, and it is determined that the inkjet printer 10 has been overturned while the power is off (step S102: yes), It is determined whether or not the ink jet printer 10 has fallen to the front side only (step S104). And switch 75a is ON
When it is determined that the switch 75b is OFF and it is determined that the inkjet printer 10 has fallen only to the front side (step S104: yes), maintenance processing A is performed on the ejection head 22 ( Step S106). Further, when it is determined that at least the switch 75b is detected to have turned over to the rear side (step S104: no), the maintenance process B is performed (step S108).

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a maintenance operation that the inkjet printer 10 performs in the on-time maintenance process. As described above, when the ink jet printer 10 falls to the front side with the power off, the ink is ejected from the ejection nozzle and the meniscus of the ejection nozzle is broken (see FIG. 3A), so the broken meniscus is adjusted. It is sufficient to perform a maintenance operation. On the other hand, when the inkjet printer 10 falls to the back side, not only the meniscus is broken due to the momentum of the fall, but also the nozzle surface 22a is soiled by the ink from the cap 50 (see FIG. 3B). In this case, in addition to the maintenance operation described above, it is necessary to add a maintenance operation to wipe off the dirty nozzle surface 22a.

Therefore, in the charging maintenance process of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, when the ink jet printer 10 falls only to the front side, a flushing operation is performed as a maintenance operation for adjusting the meniscus of the ejection nozzle. Thereafter, a cleaning operation (weak suction) for sucking a small amount of ink is performed, and a wiping operation is performed for finishing (step S106).
. When it is determined that the ink jet printer 10 has fallen at least to the back side, first, the nozzle surface 22a soiled with ink is wiped, and then a cleaning operation (strong suction) for sucking a large amount of ink is performed. The ink that has entered the ejection nozzle is sucked out,
Then, the above-described minor maintenance process for adjusting the meniscus of the injection nozzle is performed (step S108).

The adverse effects caused on the ejection head 22 by performing the maintenance operation in this manner (such as abnormal meniscus of the ejection nozzle, air bubbles in the ejection nozzle, ink in the ejection nozzle, or ejection failure due to ink solidification on the nozzle surface 22a). Is removed (step S106, step S108), the lock in the switch mechanism 74 is released to initialize the fall detection mechanism 70 (step S110), and the on-time maintenance process is terminated.

According to the maintenance process at the time of loading of the present embodiment as described above, by reading the information (the presence / absence of the fall and the fall direction) regarding the fall during the power OFF stored using the fall detection mechanism 70, After the fact, the overturn of the ink jet printer 10 can be detected.
Therefore, since it is not missed to detect the fall of the ink jet printer 10 that occurs while the power is turned off, the necessary maintenance operation for the ejection head 22 can be performed before printing, resulting in an adverse effect on printing. It can be avoided.

Further, it is normal that the time during which the inkjet printer 10 is turned off is longer than the time during which the inkjet printer 10 is turned on.
Therefore, it is considered that the frequency at which the inkjet printer 10 falls is higher when the inkjet printer 10 is turned off. In this way, it is possible to detect a fall during a time when the fall is likely to occur.

Further, when performing the maintenance operation, the maintenance method can be changed based on the direction in which the inkjet printer 10 falls. In this way, when sufficient maintenance is required (when falling to the back side in this embodiment), necessary maintenance operations are performed, but not enough maintenance is required (in this embodiment) Unnecessary maintenance can be omitted at the time of falling to the front side. As a result, the ejection head 2
2 can be shortened, and the amount of ink discarded by the maintenance can be reduced.

D. Modified example:
Several modifications can be considered in the above-described embodiment. Hereinafter, these modified examples will be briefly described. In the modification described below, the same components as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in this embodiment, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

D-1. First modification:
In the above-described embodiment, the switches 75 a and 75 b of the fall detection mechanism 70 are the switch mechanism 7.
It has been described that it is held in the ON state by the lock mechanism in 4. However, switch 75
a and 75b may be held in the ON state as follows.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the fall detection mechanism 70 of the first modification. In the illustrated fall detection mechanism 70, a magnet 76 is used instead of the weight 73 with respect to the fall detection mechanism 70 shown in FIG. 4. The surfaces of the switch mechanisms 74a and 74b that are in contact with the magnet 76 are made of metal, and the switches 75a and 75b on the switch mechanisms 74a and 74b are attached by adsorbing the magnet 76 and the surfaces of the switch mechanisms 74a and 74b. Pressed state (ON state)
Is supposed to be retained. Further, above the switch mechanisms 74a and 74b, a release mechanism 77 for separating the magnet 76 bonded to the switch mechanisms 74a and 74b from the switch mechanisms 74a and 74b is provided.

Even when the fall detection mechanism 70 according to the first modification is used, the fall direction of the inkjet printer 10 when the power is turned off can be stored. Further, the switch mechanism 74 does not have to be provided with a lock mechanism for holding the switch 75 inside.
Can be simplified.

D-2. Second modification:
In the embodiment described above, the weight 73 of the fall detection mechanism 70 has been described as being held movably by being suspended from the support member 72. However, the weight 73 may be movable by the following configuration.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing the fall detection mechanism 70 of the second modification. In the illustrated fall detection mechanism 70, a substantially arc-shaped slide rail 78 is provided between the switch mechanism 74a and the switch mechanism 74b, and a part of the weight 73 is fitted in a groove provided in the slide rail 78. As a result, the weight 73 can slide between the switch mechanism 74 a and the switch mechanism 74 b along the slide rail 78. A weight 73 is provided for each switch 75a,
A holding claw 79 is provided on the slide rail 78 on the way to 75b.
9 is held by a spring mechanism built in the slide rail 78 with the tip of the holding claw 79 slightly protruding on the slide rail 78. In addition, an accommodation mechanism (not shown) for accommodating the holding claw 79 in the slide rail 78 against the spring force is provided inside the slide rail 78.

In such a fall detection mechanism 70 of the second modified example, when the ink jet printer 10 falls to the front side, the weight 73 gets over the holding claw 79 and moves over the position (weight 73).
The weight 73 is fixed by the holding claw 79 at a position where the switch 73 can come into contact with the switch 75a. When the inkjet printer 10 falls to the back side, the weight 73 gets over the holding claw 79, and the switch 75b It is fixed at a position where contact is possible. Further, the weight 73 can be returned to the original position (the position shown in FIG. 8) by accommodating the holding claw 79 in the slide rail 78 in a state where the weight 73 is held by the holding claw 79. Therefore, similarly to the fall detection mechanism 70 of the above-described embodiment, it is possible to store the fall direction when the inkjet printer 10 falls while the power is off. Weight 73
Is guided by the slide rail 78, it is possible to guide the weight 73 to the position of the switch 75.

D-3. Third modification:
In the above-described embodiment, the first modification, and the second modification, it has been described that the fall detection mechanism 70 is configured using the pendulum or the slide rail 78. Here, as the configuration of the fall detection mechanism 70, the following configuration can be considered in addition to the above-described configuration.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing the fall detection mechanism 70 of the third modification. The illustrated fall detection mechanism 70 is roughly a disc member 80 whose center portion is cut out in a circular shape, a shaft portion 81 passing through the center of the disc member 80, and a mechanism for holding the disc member 80 on the shaft portion 81. Etc. A weight 83 is provided at one place on the surface of the disk member 80, and a through hole 84 is provided at a position different from the weight 83 on the surface of the disk member 80. Further, on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 81, there are provided three fixed grooves 85a having a shallow depth at equal intervals along the outer periphery,
A fixing groove 85b deeper than the fixing groove 85a is provided at a position between the fixing groove 85a and the fixing groove 85a. Attitude when ink jet printer 10 ejects ink (
In the state held in the normal posture), as shown in FIG.
The disc member 80 is held by the shaft portion 81 by pressing the tip portions (convex portions 87) of the urging members 86 provided at three locations on the inner peripheral surface of each of the inner peripheral surfaces against the shallow fixing grooves 85a. Also, a release mechanism 88 is provided near the bottom of the deep fixing groove 85b to release the fitting by pushing up the protruding part 87 when the protruding part 87 is fitted into the fixing groove 85b, as will be described later. It has been.

In the fall detection mechanism 70 of the third modified example configured as described above, when the ink jet printer 10 falls to the front side, the disk member 80 rotates clockwise around the shaft portion 81 due to the weight of the weight 83. At this time, the convex portion 87 of the urging member 86 slides into the deep fixing groove 85b positioned in the clockwise direction when viewed from the shallow fixing groove 85a, and finally, FIG.
It fits into the deep fixing groove 85b as shown in b). In this case, the disk member 80 is moved to the shaft portion 8.
Is fixed to 1 and cannot be rotated, and the ink jet printer 10 is raised to the ground,
Even if the direction of gravity applied to the weight 83 changes, the disk member 80 remains in its original position (FIG. 10A).
Will not return to the position. As a result, the state in which the disk member 80 is slightly rotated clockwise (the state shown in FIG. 10B) is held until the power of the inkjet printer 10 is turned on.

Further, when the ink jet printer 10 falls to the back side, the disk member 80 rotates counterclockwise about the shaft portion 81 due to the weight of the weight 83. As a result, FIG.
As shown in 0 (c), the convex portion 87 of the urging member 86 is engaged with the deep fixing groove 85b located in the counterclockwise direction from the shallow fixing groove 85a, and this state is the ink jet printer 10.
Until the power is turned on.

By using such a fall detection mechanism 70 of the third modified example, it is possible to hold the position of the disk member 80 rotated by the weight of the weight 83 during the fall with the power supply turned off. Therefore, for example, when the power of the inkjet printer 10 is turned on, the position of the through hole 84 of the disk member 80 is detected by using a sensor such as a photo interrupter.
It is possible to detect the overturning direction of the inkjet printer 10 in the FF state.
Further, by fitting the deep fixing groove 85b and the convex portion 87, the state after the rotation of the disk member 80 can be reliably maintained.

D-4. Fourth modification:
In the above-described embodiments, the first modification, the second modification, and the third modification, it is assumed that the fall detection mechanism 70 is used to store the presence / absence of the fall when the inkjet printer 10 is turned off and the direction of the fall. did. Here, if the fall detection mechanism 70 as described below is used, the inclination of the inkjet printer 10 when the power is turned off can be stored.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing the fall detection mechanism 70 of the fourth modified example. The illustrated fall detection mechanism 70 is provided with a substantially arc-shaped guide passage 90 closed at both ends.
Inside, a ball 92 that is movable while rolling in the guide passage 90 is provided. Also,
In the middle of the guide passage 90, six pins 94 are arranged at substantially equal intervals along the wall surface of the guide passage 90.
(Pins 94a to 94f) are provided. A hinge 96 is provided at a position where these pins 94 intersect the wall surface of the guide passage 90, and when the ball 92 moved along the guide passage 90 contacts the pin 94, the pin 94 is positioned at the position of the hinge 96. The ball 92 falls in the traveling direction of the ball 92. Further, the pin 94 that has fallen can be restored to the state before it has fallen by a restoring mechanism (not shown), and the control unit 60 can detect which pin 94 has been bent. Yes.

In such a fall detection mechanism 70 of the fourth modified example, when the ink jet printer 10 is tilted slightly from the state where it is installed on the installation surface, the ball 92 moves along the guide path 90 due to gravity to the front surface of the ink jet printer 10. Move a little to the side, at this time the ball 92
As a result, the pin 94a is brought down. From this state, when the ink jet printer 10 is further tilted to the front side, the ball 92 is further moved to the front side and the pin 94b is tilted. Finally, when the ink jet printer 10 is toppled to the front side, the pin 92c is moved by the ball 92. Defeated. Further, when the inkjet printer 10 is tilted slightly to the back side, the ball 92 moves to the back side and the pin 94d is tilted. When the inkjet printer 10 is tilted further to the back side, the pin 94e is tilted by the ball 92 and finally the inkjet When the printer 10 falls to the back side, the pin 94f is tilted.

In the fall detection mechanism 70 of the fourth modified example as described above, the degree of inclination of the inkjet printer 10 can be stored depending on the situation in which the pin 94 is tilted. In this way, it is possible to distinguish and store the case where the ink jet printer 10 falls while the power is turned off and the case where the ink jet printer 10 does not fall but is slightly tilted from the original installation angle. In this way, when the power supply of the ink jet printer 10 is turned on, the maintenance content can be changed depending on the inclination of the ink jet printer 10 when the above-described maintenance process (see FIG. 6) is performed. .

Although various embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to all the above embodiments, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in the above-described embodiments and modifications, the inkjet printer applies the present invention to an inkjet printer that performs printing while conveying printing paper in a substantially vertical direction (a so-called vertical-side inkjet printer). As described above, the present invention can also be applied to an ink jet printer that performs printing while conveying printing paper in a substantially horizontal direction.

10 ... Inkjet printer, 11 ... Paper feed port, 12 ... Paper discharge port,
13 ... Liquid crystal display unit, 14 ... Front cover, 20 ... Carriage,
22 ... jetting head, 30 ... drive mechanism, 32 ... timing belt,
34 ... Drive motor, 40 ... Ink cartridge,
42 ... cartridge holder, 44 ... ink tube,
46 ... Slot for cartridge replacement, 50 ... Cap, 52 ... Wiper,
54 ... Negative pressure pump, 56 ... Waste ink tank, 58 ... Storage groove,
60 ... control unit, 70 ... fall detection mechanism, 71 ... storage box,
72 ... support member, 73 ... weight, 74 ... switch mechanism,
75 ... switch, 76 ... magnet, 77 ... detaching mechanism,
78 ... slide rail, 79 ... holding claw, 80 ... disk member,
81 ... shaft part, 83 ... weight, 84 ... through hole,
85a ... shallow fixing groove, 85b ... deep fixing groove, 86 ... biasing member,
87 ... convex part, 88 ... release mechanism, 90 ... guide passage,
92 ... ball, 94 ... pin, 96 ... hinge,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Paper accommodating part, 102 ... Guide member, 104 ... Paper feed roller,
106 ... Platen, 108 ... Roller

Claims (7)

A liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid from an ejection nozzle,
A movable member which is provided so as to be movable with respect to the liquid ejecting apparatus and moves under the action of gravity when the liquid ejecting apparatus is tilted from a posture when ejecting the liquid;
A liquid ejection mechanism comprising: a lock mechanism that holds a changed state by being brought into contact with the moved moving member; and a movement history storage unit that stores that the moving member has moved according to the held state of the lock mechanism. apparatus. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of a tilt condition and a tilt direction is determined based on a movement history when the power of the moving member is stored, which is stored by the movement history storage unit. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a determination is made as to whether or not to perform a maintenance operation based on the movement history of the moving member stored by the movement history storage unit. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the maintenance operation is not executed when it is determined that the moving member has not fallen based on the movement history . The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the maintenance operation is executed when it is determined that the moving member has fallen based on the movement history of the moving member . A liquid ejecting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
The moving member is a member whose amount of movement when the moving member moves on the moving path of the moving member changes according to the inclination of the liquid ejecting apparatus,
The movement history storage means is a liquid ejecting apparatus that is provided at a plurality of locations on a movement path of the moving member. A liquid ejecting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
The moving member is a member that moves along any one of a plurality of predetermined movement paths,
The moving path along which the moving member moves is determined from the plurality of moving paths according to the direction in which the liquid ejecting apparatus is inclined,
The movement history storage means is a liquid ejecting apparatus that is provided for each of the plurality of movement paths.

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