JP5803369B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that records a desired image by ejecting ink onto a recording medium.

  Conventionally, a technique described in Patent Document 1 has been known as an ink jet recording apparatus that ejects ink onto a recording medium and records a desired image. In this conventional ink jet recording apparatus, the ink jet head is reciprocated between one side and the other side in the scanning direction by a head conveying means (carriage). A desired image is recorded on the recording medium by ejecting ink from the reciprocating inkjet head to the recording medium placed on the placing means (platen).

  At this time, the head conveying means has a structure divided into two bodies, an upper structure and a lower structure. The lower structure includes a head plate, and an ink jet head is placed on the head plate. A driving force for reciprocating the head conveying means is input to the upper structure. Thereby, the inkjet head mounted in the lower structure can be moved in the scanning direction by the driving force input to the upper structure.

  Further, in the above prior art, in the lower structure, a rear head having a substantially L shape in a side view is provided at a portion corresponding to the rear end portion of the base plate of each inkjet head in the outer edge portion of the rectangular frame-shaped head plate. A holding spring is arranged. Each inkjet head is disposed on the head plate, and the rear head pressing spring is attached to the head plate in a state where the rear end portion of the base plate of each inkjet head is placed on the outer edge portion of the head plate. That is, the rear head pressing spring is provided with a through hole for allowing a screw to pass through the tip of the substantially L-shaped horizontal portion, and the side opposite to the through hole (substantially L-shaped in the horizontal portion). The rear end portion of the base plate is inserted below the horizontal portion. Thus, the rear end portion of the base plate is sandwiched from above and below between the horizontal portion of the rear head pressing spring and the outer edge portion of the head plate. In this state, the screw is fastened and the rear head pressing spring is screwed to the head plate, whereby the base plate of the inkjet head is firmly attached to the head plate.

JP 2006-248076 A

  In recent years, when an ink jet head is attached to a head plate, it is attached using a substantially L-shaped rear head pressing spring as in the above prior art for the purpose of performing high-accuracy positioning while ensuring easy detachability. Instead of the structure, a structure in which an ink jet is attached to the head plate by pressing the rear end portion of the base plate from above with a biasing member such as a coil spring is being considered. In this case, the base plate of the inkjet head is held on the top of the head plate by being biased and pressed from above by the biasing member. Thereby, the inkjet head can be reliably fixed to the head plate while being easily detachable.

  In such a structure, it is necessary to press the rear end portion of the base plate of the inkjet head with the lower end portion of the urging member and press the upper end portion of the urging member with some member. However, when a pressing member for the upper end portion of the biasing member is newly provided in the lower structure, the number of parts increases, and the vertical dimension of the entire head conveying means increases, which increases the size of the head conveying means. There was a problem.

  An object of the present invention is to enable ink jet recording in which an increase in the number of components can be suppressed and the size of the head conveying means can be reduced even when the ink jet head is biased by the biasing member and held on the top of the head plate. To provide an apparatus.

To achieve the above object, the first invention, the head conveying hand stage for a plurality of the ink jet head reciprocates in one side scanning direction and the other side for discharging ink on a recording medium an inkjet recording apparatus, the head conveying means, the upper structure and the lower portion structure, provided above the lower structure, the driving force for the reciprocating said head transport means is inputted with, wherein arranged in the vertical direction between the upper structure and the lower structure, wherein the ink-jet head possess a biasing member for pressing from above the head plate, and the lower structure, the scanning direction A head plate for mounting the inkjet head on one side and the other side of the orthogonal direction orthogonal to each other, the head plate extending in the scanning direction One first construction bar common to the inkjet head on one side in the orthogonal direction and the inkjet head on the other side in the orthogonal direction is provided, and the upper structure is extended in the scanning direction, and one side in the orthogonal direction Common to both of the inkjet head and the inkjet head on the other side in the orthogonal direction, the first installation bar and the second installation bar are orthogonal to the inkjet head on one side in the orthogonal direction. A pair of openings are distributed and arranged on the one side in the orthogonal direction and the other side in the orthogonal direction so that the positions correspond to the nozzle surfaces of the inkjet head on the other side in the direction, and the biasing member is the second member It is arranged between the erection bar and the first erection bar in the vertical direction .

In the ink jet recording apparatus of the first invention of this application, the ink jet head reciprocates between the one side and the other side in the scanning direction by the head conveying means . A desired image is recorded on the recording medium by ejecting ink from the reciprocating inkjet head to the recording medium.

  The head conveying means has a structure divided into two parts, an upper structure and a lower structure. The lower structure includes a head plate, and an ink jet head is placed on the head plate. A driving force for reciprocating the head conveying means) is input to the upper structure. Thereby, the inkjet head mounted in the lower structure can be moved in the scanning direction by the driving force input to the upper structure.

  A biasing member is disposed between the upper structure and the lower structure. When the ink jet head is placed on the head plate, the ink jet head is held from above the head plate by being biased and pressed by the biasing member. Thereby, while being able to attach or detach an inkjet head easily, an inkjet head can be fixed reliably.

  In the first invention of this application, the urging member is disposed so as to be sandwiched between the upper structure and the lower structure, and the upper structure functions as a pressing member for the urging member, so that the urging force is applied to the inkjet head. To act on. Thereby, compared with the case where the pressing member is provided as a separate member in the lower structure, it is possible to reduce the number of parts, reduce the vertical dimension of the head conveying means, and achieve downsizing.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the head conveyor is disposed along the scanning direction, and is driven along the scanning direction and driven along one side and the other side in the scanning direction. And a guide member that serves as a guide when moving to one side and the other side in the scanning direction, and the upper structure is engaged with the belt fixing portion to which the drive belt is fixed and the guide member. And a guide engaging portion to be combined.

  Thereby, the entire head conveying means can be moved in the scanning direction by inputting the driving force from the driving belt driven in one side and the other side in the scanning direction from the belt fixing portion to the upper structure. Further, when the guide is engaged, the guide engaging portion engages with the guide member, so that the entire head conveying means is guided by the guide member and can smoothly reciprocate in the scanning direction.

  A third invention is characterized in that, in the first or second invention, the biasing member is an axial deformation spring having the vertical direction as an axial direction.

  In the third invention of the present application, an axial deformation spring such as a coil spring that generates an urging force by tension / compression deflection is used instead of a leaf spring that generates an urging force by bending deflection. Thereby, since the axial deformation spring is compressed and deformed in the vertical direction, the horizontal space for generating the urging force can be reduced as compared with the leaf spring or the like. Therefore, since the space for installing the spring can be reduced, the head conveying means can be further downsized.

  In a fourth aspect based on the third aspect, the ink jet head includes a base plate disposed in a substantially horizontal direction from one end side to the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the ink jet head, and the head plate includes the two ink jet heads. The heads are arranged so that the respective one end sides face each other to form a set, and at least one set of the inkjet heads in the set is mounted, and the head conveying means includes the two inkjet heads included in each set. Each of the first mounting portions protruding from the other end side of each of the two first positioning portions for positioning the two inkjet heads on the head plate, and two sets included in each set The two inkjet heads are located at positions where the one end sides of the inkjet heads face each other. A second positioning portion that is provided in common and that positions the two inkjet heads on the head plate by locking the second mounting portions that protrude from the one end sides of the two inkjet heads. The axial deformation spring is disposed so as to surround at least a part of the outer peripheral side of the second positioning portion, and the upper end portion is attached to the upper structure to be attached downward. It is a coil spring for applying a force.

  In the fourth invention of the present application, two ink jet heads are attached to the head conveying means as a set. The two inkjet heads included in each set are arranged back to back so that one end sides face each other on the head plate. A second positioning portion provided in common corresponding to each set positions the second mounting portions of the two inkjet heads that are back-to-back. As a result, the number of components in the head conveying means can be reduced, and the space required when a plurality of inkjet heads are attached to the head conveying means can be reduced. As a result, an increase in the size of the head conveying means can be prevented. In addition, by disposing the axial deformation spring so as to surround at least a part of the outer peripheral side of the second positioning portion, the base plate of the inkjet head is placed below the axial deformation spring while maintaining the posture of the axial deformation spring. The ink jet head can be reliably held on the head plate by being pressed against the structure.

  Also, if the second positioning part is provided separately for each of the two ink-jet heads, the nozzles of each ink-jet head or the two ink-jet heads can be accurately positioned due to processing variations of the two positioning parts. It is difficult to align. On the other hand, in the fourth invention of the present application, by using one second positioning portion common to the two inkjet heads as described above, the influence of variations in processing accuracy of the second positioning portion is reduced. In addition, the position of the nozzle of the inkjet head can be accurately adjusted.

  According to the present invention, even when the ink jet head is urged by the urging member and held on the upper portion of the head plate, an increase in the number of components can be suppressed and the size of the head conveying means can be reduced.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an overall configuration of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a front view illustrating an overall configuration of an inkjet printer. 1 is a plan view illustrating an overall configuration of an inkjet printer. It is a perspective view showing the arrangement relationship between a platen and a carriage. It is a perspective view of the carriage which mounts an inkjet head. It is a perspective view of an inkjet head. It is the perspective view which looked at the inkjet head from another angle. FIG. 8A is a plan view showing a carriage mounted with two ink jet heads, and FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA. FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB. FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a carriage in a state where a whole inkjet head is mounted and a partial structure related to another inkjet head that is paired with the inkjet head is omitted. It is a top view, a rear view, and a side view showing a detailed structure of a head push spring. It is the top view and back view showing the detailed structure of a head pressing spring spring. FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged view of the configuration shown in FIG. 9. It is the perspective view which looked at the structure shown in FIG. 9 from another angle. FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a base plate related to another inkjet head is removed from the configuration illustrated in FIG. 9. It is the elements on larger scale of the structure shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a partially transparent perspective view showing an arrangement relationship between a head holding plate and a coil spring arranged between an upper structure and a lower structure in a carriage. It is the elements on larger scale of the structure shown in FIG. It is a perspective view showing the arrangement state of the head holding plate arranged between the upper structure and the lower structure in the carriage. It is the top view showing the detailed structure of a head holding plate, a front view, and a side view. It is the perspective view which looked at the upper structure of the carriage from the diagonally upper side. It is the perspective view which looked at the upper structure of the carriage from the diagonally lower side.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. An ink jet printer 1 which is an ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

<Schematic configuration of inkjet printer>
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the inkjet printer 1 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped housing 2 having a longitudinal direction in the left-right direction, and two rails 3 extending in the front-rear direction at a substantially lower center thereof. 3 are arranged. The two rails 3 are respectively supported on a base portion 151 raised in the vertical direction of the housing 2, and can be moved in the front-rear direction of the housing 2 along the rail 3 on the upper portion of the base portion 151. A flat platen support 7 is supported. A replaceable platen 5 (mounting table; mounting means) is fixed to the upper end of the support column which is raised vertically to the approximate center of the platen support table 7.

  The platen 5 is a substantially rectangular plate having a longitudinal direction in the front-rear direction of the housing 2 in plan view, and a recording medium made of a cloth such as a T-shirt is placed on the upper surface of the platen 5 horizontally. Is. Further, the tray 4 supported by the platen support 7 receives the sleeve of the T-shirt when the user places the T-shirt or the like on the platen 5, so that the sleeve or the like becomes the bottom surface of the housing 2. It is for protecting it from falling. A platen drive motor (not shown) (see FIG. 2) is provided at the rear end of the platen drive mechanism 6 provided with the rails 3 for moving the platen support. The platen drive motor is driven to drive the platen. The support base moves in the front-rear direction of the housing 2 along the rail 3.

  Further, a guide rail for guiding the movement of the carriage 20 (head conveying means) between the both side surfaces of the housing 2 at a position approximately at the center in the front-rear direction of the housing 2 and above the platen 5. 9 (guide member) is installed. A head unit 26 having a plurality of (eight in this example) ink jet heads 21 a to 21 h (see also FIG. 5 described later) is mounted on the carriage 20. The carriage 20 reciprocates in the left-right direction of the housing 2 along the guide rail 9 by driving a carriage motor 24 provided near the right end of the guide rail 9. At this time, a pair of rollers 500 and 500 (see FIG. 3) respectively provided at the front end portion of the carriage 20 travel on the upper surface of the horizontal member 152 provided in the horizontal direction of the housing 2. In the carriage 20, a cylindrical guide engaging portion 20 p formed in a projecting shape with a pair of left and right at the edge of an upper structure 20 </ b> B described later is engaged with the guide rail 9, and the pair of rollers 500 and 500 are horizontal. By traveling on the upper surface of the member 152, it can be reciprocated along the guide rail 9 (see FIGS. 1, 3, and 4 and FIG. 5 described later). The carriage 20 is fixed to a driving belt 101 that is stretched along the scanning direction, and the carriage motor 24 drives the driving belt 101 to drive the carriage 20 to one side and the other side in the scanning direction. To do. In FIG. 5, the felt 153 is provided to remove foreign matters on the horizontal member 152 when the rollers 500 and 500 move on the horizontal member 152.

  In the inkjet printer 1, cyan ink, magenta ink, yellow ink, black ink, and white ink are used. On the left side surface of the ink jet printer 1, eight ink cartridge storage portions (not shown) are provided for storing the eight ink cartridges (not shown) containing the respective inks in a mountable manner. The four ink cartridges contain cyan ink, magenta ink, yellow ink, and black ink, and the remaining four ink cartridges contain white ink. Each ink cartridge housing portion is connected to a flexible ink supply tube 32 (see FIG. 6 to be described later). The ink is led out from each ink cartridge, and each ink supply tube 32 is connected. Are supplied to the inkjet heads 21a to 21h of the respective colors.

  Further, a purge unit (not shown) having a suction cap that can be brought into close contact with and detached from the nozzle surfaces of the ink jet heads 21a to 21h is provided at a position where the carriage 20 has moved to the left end of the guide rail 9. Yes. The purge unit is provided with a suction pump (not shown), and when each suction cap is in close contact with the inkjet heads 21a to 21h, ink is sucked through the suction cap and printing is not performed. Sometimes, the suction cap covers the nozzle surfaces of the inkjet heads 21a to 21h to prevent ink from drying. On the other hand, at a position where the carriage 20 has moved between the purge unit and the platen, an ink receiver (not shown) for receiving ink ejected idle from the inkjet heads 21a to 21h in order to prevent thickening due to drying of ink in each nozzle. (Not shown) is provided.

A clearance sensor 8 is provided over the left and right sides of the housing 2 at a position in front of the carriage 20 above the platen 5. The clearance sensor 8 detects obstacles such as wrinkles and dust placed on the platen 5 when the platen 5 moves from the front to the rear of the housing 2 along the rails 3 during recording. In addition, a display, a print button, a stop button, a platen feed button, and the like are provided at a position on the right front side of the housing 2 and an operation panel (not shown) for operating the ink jet printer 1 is provided.

<Detailed configuration of inkjet head>
A detailed configuration of the inkjet head 21a is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 show only the inkjet head 21a as an example, the other seven inkjet heads 21b to 21h (see also FIG. 5 and the like) have the same configuration. As shown in FIG. 6, the ink jet head 21 a has an ink tank 102 disposed on a base plate 27 a, and suction for supplying ink to the upper portion of the ink tank 102 via the ink supply tubes 32. It has a mouth 103. The ink jet head 21 a is erected in a state where an element substrate 104 on which electrical components such as various IC chips are mounted is held by a vertically long arm 105. Further, a heat radiating fin 106 in which a large number of thin metal plates for cooling are arranged with a narrow gap in the lateral direction is provided at an intermediate portion in the vertical direction of the arm 105.

  The base plate 27a is provided substantially horizontally at the bottom of the inkjet head 21a in the installed state on the carriage 20. A nozzle surface having a plurality of nozzle holes for discharging ink is provided below the base plate 27a. The base plate 27a has two plate-like engaging members that protrude in opposite directions from both longitudinal end portions thereof, that is, a distal end mounting portion 28 (first mounting portion) and a proximal end mounting portion 29 (second mounting portion). Is formed. The longitudinal direction of the base plate 27a passing through the distal end mounting portion 28 and the proximal end mounting portion 29 corresponds to the longitudinal direction of the ink jet head according to each claim, and the side on which the proximal end mounting portion 29 is provided is one end side in the longitudinal direction. (Hereinafter, simply referred to as “one end side”, see also FIG. 8A described later), and the side on which the tip mounting portion 28 is provided is the other end in the longitudinal direction (hereinafter, simply “other end side” as appropriate). This corresponds to FIG. The other inkjet heads 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f, 21g, and 21h also have base plates 27b, 27c, 27d, 27e, 27f, 27g, and 27h that are equivalent to the base plate 27a, respectively. .

  Each of the inkjet heads 21a to 21h includes, for example, 128 ejection channels (not shown) for ejecting each ink, and each ejection channel has a piezoelectric actuator (each driven individually). (Not shown) is provided. Then, the piezoelectric actuator is arranged so that ink droplets are ejected downward from fine ejection nozzles (not shown) provided in holes on the bottom surfaces of the inkjet heads 21a to 21h corresponding to the ejection channels. Be controlled.

<Detailed structure of carriage 20>
The detailed configuration of the carriage will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 5, a total of eight inkjet heads 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f, 21g, and 21h are mounted on the carriage 20 in the front and rear, four each.

  At this time, as shown in FIGS. 8 to 14, the carriage 20 includes a lower structure 20 </ b> A including a head plate 40 that is a plate-like bottom plate component on which the inkjet head 21 a is placed, and a lower structure 20 </ b> A. And an upper structure 20B to which a driving force for reciprocating the head unit 26 is input.

  The upper structure 20B is integrally formed with a pair of left and right cylindrical guide engaging portions 20p at the rear edge, and is provided with a pair of left and right rollers 500 at the front edge. The guide rail 9 is inserted into the guide engaging portion 20p, and the pair of rollers 500 and 500 travel on the upper surface of the horizontal member 152, whereby the entire carriage 20 can reciprocate along the guide rail 9.

  The head plate 40 of the lower structure 20A is a plate-like member whose longitudinal direction is a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction (left-right direction) of the carriage 20 in plan view. At this time, a pair of substantially rectangular openings R1 and R2 are arranged on the head plate 40 via the erection bar 40a, and the nozzle surfaces of the inkjet heads 21a to 21h placed from above. Is disposed at a position corresponding to.

  Similarly to the head plate 40, the upper structure 20 </ b> B is arranged with the openings R <b> 1 and R <b> 2 distributed in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the carriage 20 via the installation bar 300.

  And when each inkjet head 21a-21h is mounted in the carriage 20, the nozzle surface formed under each base plate 27a-27h will be located just above each of said pair of opening part R1, R2. When printing is performed, ink is ejected from the nozzle holes of the base plates 27a to 27h, and printing is performed on the fabric immediately below.

<The main part of this embodiment>
In the above basic configuration, the feature of the present embodiment is an attachment structure when the inkjet heads 21 a to 21 h are attached to the carriage 20. That is, among the eight ink jet heads 21a to 21h, four ink jet heads 21a to 21d are provided on the front side of the ink jet printer 1, and the remaining four ink jet heads 21e to 21h are provided on the rear side of the ink jet printer 1. Provide. At this time, the inkjet heads 21a to 21d and the inkjet heads 21e to 21h are arranged so as to be back to back (see FIGS. 4 and 5). Then, the two inkjet heads facing each other in this manner (the inkjet head 21a and the inkjet head 21e, the inkjet head 21b and the inkjet head 21f, the inkjet head 21c and the inkjet head 21g, and the inkjet head 21d and the inkjet head 21h), respectively. In each of these four sets in total, a portion where the one end sides of the base plates 27a to 27h face each other is positioned by a common positioning pin (details will be described later), and pressed and held by a head holding plate 201 (details will be described later). . The details will be described below with reference to FIGS.

<Overall structure of head plate>
First, the structure of the head plate 40 will be described. 8 to 18, screw holes (not shown) with which the mounting screws 98 are respectively engaged are formed at equal intervals on the front frame and rear end portions of the outer frame portion of the head plate 40. . Then, the head pressing spring 50 is placed on the upper surface of the head plate 40 so as to cover the screw holes.

<Head push spring>
The head pressing spring 50 is a plate-like member whose longitudinal direction is the scanning direction (left-right direction) of the carriage 20, as shown in FIGS. The head pressing springs 50 and 50 placed on the front end and the rear end of the head plate 40 communicate with the ink jet heads 21a to 21b bent in a substantially L shape, communicating with the side faces facing the openings R1 and R2. A total of eight claw portions 52 (biasing members) are formed corresponding to the base plates 27a to 27h of 21h. The claw portion 52 is bent and formed in a dogleg shape so that the cross-sectional shape protrudes upward. That is, the tip mounting portions 28 of the inkjet heads 21 a to 21 h are urged to the corresponding later-described tip positioning pins 42 through the claw portions 52, and the proximal mounting portions 29 are moved to the proximal positioning pins 43. Energize.

  In addition, at the front end and the rear end of the head plate 40, front locking portions 53, which are plate-like members that protrude upward and can come into contact with the head spring spring 70 described later, are provided at equal intervals. . Corresponding to these, a latch is a plate-like member that protrudes upward also on the rear edge portion of the flat portion of the head pressing spring 50 and can come into contact with the front head spring 70 described later. The parts 54 (see FIG. 11) are provided at equal intervals.

  Further, a head spring spring 70 which is a pivotable locking metal fitting is placed on the front end and the rear end of the head plate 40. As shown in FIG. 11, the front head spring spring 70 has a flat portion 71 having a rotation center, a head holding claw 72 extending from the flat portion 71 toward the openings R1 and R2, and upward from the flat portion. The knob portion 73 is bent in an L shape so as to protrude. Further, the head holding claw 72 protrudes downward with respect to the flat portion of the head spring 70 and can press the tip mounting portion 28 downward. When the head springs 70 are attached to the respective ink jet heads 21a to 21h, the head part 73 is pinched to rotate the tip attachment part 28 to a position where it can be pressed downward on the lower surface side of the head holding claw 72, and the attachment screw Tighten 98 and fix.

<End positioning pin>
Further, in the vicinity of each of the head spring springs 70, there are four tip positioning pins 42 (first positioning portions) in total, four each along the openings R1 and R2 (on the front side and the rear side), It is formed at even intervals. These eight tip portion positioning pins 42 are for abutting from the side surface side of the tip mounting portion 28 of the base plate 27a of the ink jet heads 21a to 21h to position the ink jet heads 21a to 21h, respectively. Each tip positioning pin 42 is a rod-like member that protrudes perpendicularly from the upper surface of the head plate 40, and in the vicinity of the tip, the tip positioning pin 42 is inclined so as to gradually narrow toward the tip.

<Base end positioning pin>
On the other hand, the construction bar 40a of the head plate 40 includes (one set of four ink jet heads (ink jet heads 21a and 21e, ink jet heads 21b and 21f, ink jet heads 21c and 21g, ink jet heads 21d and 21h). A total of four base end positioning pins 43 (second positioning portions) are provided, respectively, for positioning the inkjet heads 21a to 21h of each set on the head plate 40. Specifically, four base end positioning pins 43 are implanted at equal intervals along the above-described installation bar 40a provided on the head plate 40, and the head end of each base end positioning pin 43 is It faces the above-described installation bar 300 of the upper structure 20B. The V-groove 29a of the base end mounting portion 29 provided so as to protrude toward the one end side of the inkjet heads 21a to 21h constituting each set (see FIG. 7 described above. For example, for the V-groove 29a of the inkjet head 21a, see FIG. 9 and 13), the ink jet heads 21a to 21h are positioned on the head plate 40 by engaging the base end attaching portion 29. These base end portion positioning pins 43 are provided on the head plate. It is a rod-like member that protrudes vertically from the upper surface of 40, and is inclined so as to become gradually narrower toward the tip end portion in the vicinity of the tip end. Although only one is shown, in reality, a total of four are provided at equal intervals on the construction bar 40a.

  The base end positioning pins 43 are provided on the driving belt 101 (two points in FIG. 9) for driving the carriage 20, as shown in FIGS. 16, 12, 17, 18, 20, and 21. (Refer to the chain line). That is, a rectangular trapezoidal belt fixing portion 301 is formed on the right side of the erection bar 300 at the center of the upper structure 20B. Then, the driving belt 101 is disposed in a groove 302 formed on the upper surface of the belt fixing portion 301. From the upper side, the driving belt 101 is closed by a lid portion 303 having a plurality of elongated through holes, and fixed by screws or the like. Accordingly, the drive belt 101 is disposed above the four base end positioning pins 43 of the installation bar 300 at the center of the upper structure 20B. Further, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, four screw mounting holes 401 for screwing to the lower structure 20A are formed in the upper structure 20B, and the rotary roller 500 is pivoted on the front side thereof. A bearing arm 402 for supporting is projected. In FIG. 15, the fixing structure of the base plate 27a (see the two-dot chain line) of the inkjet head 21f is mainly shown, but the same applies to the other inkjet heads 21a to 21e, 21g, and 21h.

<Head holding plate>
As shown in FIG. 16, FIG. 17, etc., each of the four sets is included between the erection bar 300 of the upper structure 200B and the erection arm 40a of the head plate 40 of the lower structure 20A. One for pressing the base end mounting portion 29 of each of the two inkjet heads 21a, 21e, inkjet heads 21b, 21f, inkjet heads 21c, 21g, and inkjet heads 21d, 21h toward the upper surface side of the head plate 40 A total of four head holding plates 201 (head pressing members) are provided for each group. The head holding plate 201 is disposed so as to face the upper surface of the base end attaching portion 29 of each of the ink jet heads 21 a to 21 h positioned by the base end portion positioning pins 43.

  As shown in FIG. 19 and FIG. 17, the head holding plate 201 has a through hole 201 a that is provided in common to the inkjet heads 21 a to 21 h included in each set and through which the base end positioning pin 43 is inserted. It is prepared in the center. Further, the head holding plate 201 is a coil spring holding frame portion 201b that is bent upward at both ends of the inkjet printer 1 in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIGS. 19A and 19C). Further, the head holding plate 201 is formed by bending the both ends of the horizontal portion 201e in the left-right direction (vertical direction in FIG. 19A) of the ink jet printer 1 downward to form a head holding frame portion 201c.

  8 and 16, when the base end positioning pin 43 is inserted into the through hole 201a of the head holding plate 201 from below, the upper portion of the base end positioning pin 43 is connected to the through hole 201a. Projects upward. In the state where the upper part of the base end part positioning pin 43 protrudes above the through hole 201a, a coil spring 202 (biasing member) as an axial deformation spring with the vertical direction as the axial direction is provided on the upper part of the base end part positioning pin 43. Is inserted, contacts the outer peripheral area of the through hole 201a on the upper surface of the head holding plate 201 from above, and urges downward. That is, the coil spring 202 is disposed so as to surround at least a part of the outer peripheral side of the base end portion positioning pin 43, and an upper end portion abuts against the upper structure 20B to apply a biasing force downward. At this time, as shown in FIG. 19, the head holding plate 201 has a substantially annular convex portion 201d so as to be able to contact the upper surface of the base end mounting portion 29 of each of the inkjet heads 21a to 21h included in each set. Is formed. At this time, the coil spring 202 is disposed between two substantially annular convex portions 201d.

<Inkjet head attachment / detachment operation>
Hereinafter, the behavior when the inkjet heads 21a to 21h are attached to and detached from the carriage 20 in the above configuration will be described by taking the inkjet head 21a as an example. For example, the case where the inkjet head 21a is attached to the left end on the front side of the carriage 20 as shown in FIG. 9 will be described.

  First, in FIG. 16, before attaching the inkjet head 21a, the operator operates the knob 73 to rotate the front head spring 70 in the clockwise direction so that the head holding claw 72 is separated from the opening R1. Position to do. When the front head spring spring 70 is rotated by a predetermined amount clockwise, the front head spring spring 70 is brought into contact with and locked on the front locking portion 53. Therefore, the front head spring spring 70 cannot be rotated more forward than the front locking portion 53. That is, the operator rotates the front head spring spring 70 to the “open position” locked to the front locking portion 53 so that the head holding claw 72 does not contact the base plate 27a attached to the opening R1. Evacuate.

  In the above state, the operator can insert the base plate 27a of the inkjet head 21a into the gap formed by the lower surface of the horizontal portion 201e of the head holding frame portion 201c of the head holding plate 201 and the upper surface of the erection bar 40a of the head plate 40. The base end attaching portion 29 is inserted. Then, the V groove 29a of the base end mounting portion 29 is locked to the base end portion positioning pin 43a formed in this gap, and the upper surface of the base end mounting portion 29 is transmitted via the head holding plate 201. The biasing force of the coil spring 202 is pressed toward the head plate 40 side. Thereafter, the tip mounting portion 28 is pushed downward along the claw portion 52 of the head pressing spring 50 to bring the tip mounting portion 28 into contact with the tip positioning pin 42. Then, the base plate 27a is urged by the claw portion 52 of the head pressing spring 50 in the direction in which the distal end portion positioning pin 42 and the proximal end portion positioning pin 43 are formed. Thereby, the position of the base plate 27a is fixed so as to face the opening R1 at both ends in the longitudinal direction (the distal end attaching portion 28 and the proximal end attaching portion 29).

  Then, the operator operates the knob portion 73 to rotate the front head spring spring 70 counterclockwise so that the head holding claw 72 is positioned close to the opening R1. When the front head spring spring 70 is rotated by a predetermined amount counterclockwise, the front head spring spring 70 is brought into contact with the locking portion 54 and locked. Therefore, the front head spring spring 70 cannot be rotated rearward from the rear locking portion 54. That is, the operator holds the head so as to face the upper surface of the base plate 27a attached to the opening R1 by moving the front head spring 70 to the “holding position” locked to the rear locking portion 54. Place the nail 72. Thus, the position of the base plate 27a is held from above by the head holding claws 72.

  On the other hand, when removing the inkjet head 21a attached to the carriage 20 as described above, the above procedure may be reversed. In other words, the front head spring 70 is rotated to the front side and positioned at the “open position” to release the holding by the head holding claw 72. Then, the tip mounting portion 28 is pulled upward along the claw portion 52 of the head pressing spring 50. At the same time, the base end attaching portion 29 is pulled out from the gap formed between the lower surface of the head holding frame portion 201 c of the head holding plate 201 and the upper surface of the head plate 40. Thereby, the position fixing of the base plate 27a is released, and the ink jet head 21a can be removed.

  In addition, although the above demonstrated the inkjet head 21a as an example, other inkjet heads 21b-21h can also be attached or detached similarly to the above.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the carriage 20 has a structure that is divided into two bodies, the upper structure 20B and the lower structure 20A. The lower structure 20 </ b> A includes a head plate 40, and the inkjet heads 21 a to 21 h are placed on the head plate 40. A driving force for reciprocating the carriage 20 is input to the upper structure 20B. Accordingly, the inkjet heads 21a to 21h mounted on the lower structure 20A can be moved in the scanning direction by the driving force input to the upper structure 20B. Further, a coil spring 202 is disposed between the erection bar 300 of the upper structure 20B and the erection bar 40a of the head plate 40 of the lower structure 20A (see FIG. 17 ). When the inkjet heads 21 a to 21 h are placed on the head plate 40, the base plates 27 a to 27 f of the inkjet heads 21 a to 21 h are urged and pressed by the coil spring 202, so that the inkjet heads 21 a to 21 h Held up. Thereby, while being able to attach or detach the inkjet heads 21a to 21h easily, the inkjet heads 21a to 21h can be securely fixed. In the present embodiment, the coil spring 202 is disposed so as to be sandwiched between the upper structure 20B and the lower structure 20A, and the upper structure 20B functions as a pressing member for the coil spring 202, so It is made to act on the inkjet heads 21a-21h. Accordingly, in the lower structure 20A, the number of parts can be reduced and the vertical dimension of the carriage 20 can be reduced and the size can be reduced as compared with the case where the member functioning as the pressing member is provided as a separate member. be able to.

  In this embodiment, in particular, the entire carriage 20 is moved in the scanning direction by inputting the driving force from the driving belt 101 driven in one side and the other side in the scanning direction from the belt fixing unit 301 to the upper structure 20B. Can be moved. Further, during the movement, the guide engaging portion 20a of the upper structure 20B engages with the guide rail 9, so that the entire carriage 20 is guided by the guide rail 9 and smoothly reciprocates in the scanning direction. Can do.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, the coil springs 202 that generate the urging force by the tension / compression deflection are used to press the base plates 27a to 27f of the ink jet heads 21a to 21h, not the leaf spring that generates the urging force by the bending deflection. Thereby, since the space for spring installation can be reduced, the carriage 20 can be further miniaturized.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, two inkjet heads facing each other back (inkjet head 21a and inkjet head 21e, inkjet head 21b and inkjet head 21f, inkjet head 21c and inkjet head 21g, inkjet head 21d and inkjet head 21h), The ink jets 21 a to 21 h are attached to the carriage 20. And the base end part positioning pin 43 provided by one corresponding to each group positions the base end attaching part 29 of the two inkjet heads 21a-21h included in each group. Thereby, the number of parts in the carriage 20 can be reduced, and a space required when the plurality of inkjet heads 21 a to 21 h are attached to the carriage 20 can be reduced. Thereby, the enlargement of the carriage 20 can be suppressed. Further, by arranging the coil spring 202 so as to surround at least a part of the outer peripheral side of the base end positioning pin 43, the posture of the coil spring 202 can be maintained.

  Further, if the base end positioning pins 43 constitute two sets as described above (the inkjet head 21a and the inkjet head 21e, the inkjet head 21b and the inkjet head 21f, the inkjet head 21c and the inkjet head 21g, the inkjet When the heads 21d and the ink-jet heads 21h) are provided individually for the two ink-jet heads, the ink-jet heads 21a to 21h may be affected by variations in processing of the two base end positioning pins 43 during positioning. It is difficult to accurately align the nozzle. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, by using one common base end positioning pin 43 for each of the two inkjet heads 21a to 21h constituting each set as described above, the inkjet is performed. The nozzle positions of the heads 21a to 21h can be accurately aligned. In particular, in the actual manufacturing process of the ink jet printer 1, the above configuration is particularly effective because the ink jet head is positioned and assembled in micro units.

  In the above, the case where the present invention is applied to the inkjet printer 1 for fabrics has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is applied to an inkjet apparatus that executes printing on other recording media such as printing paper. You may apply. In this case, the same effect is obtained.

  In addition to those already described above, the methods according to the above-described embodiments and modifications may be used in appropriate combination.

  In addition, although not illustrated one by one, the present invention is implemented with various modifications within a range not departing from the gist thereof.

1 Inkjet printer (inkjet recording device)
9 Guide rail (guide member)
20 Carriage (head conveying means)
20A Lower structure 20a Guide engagement part 20B Upper structure 21a-h Inkjet heads 27a-h Base plate 28 Tip attachment part (first attachment part)
29 Base end mounting part (second mounting part)
40 Head plates R1, R2 Opening portion 42 Tip portion positioning pin (first positioning portion)
43 Base end positioning pin (second positioning part)
50 Head push spring (head biasing member)
101 Drive belt 201 Head holding plate (head pressing member)
201a Through hole 201d Protruding portion 202 Coil spring (axial deformation spring, biasing member)

Claims (4)

An inkjet recording apparatus having a head conveying hand stage for a plurality of the ink jet head reciprocates in the scanning direction one side and the other side for discharging ink to a recording medium,
The head conveying means is
And the lower part structure,
An upper structure which is provided above the lower structure and receives a driving force for reciprocating the head conveying means;
An urging member that is disposed between the upper structure and the lower structure in a vertical direction and presses the inkjet head from above a head plate;
I have a,
The lower structure is
A head plate for mounting the inkjet heads on one side and the other side in the orthogonal direction orthogonal to the scanning direction;
The head plate is
A first extending bar that extends in the scanning direction and is common to the inkjet head on one side in the orthogonal direction and the inkjet head on the other side in the orthogonal direction;
The upper structure is
A second extending bar that extends in the scanning direction and is common to the inkjet head on one side in the orthogonal direction and the inkjet head on the other side in the orthogonal direction;
The first erection bar and the second erection bar are:
A pair of openings are distributed and arranged on the one side in the orthogonal direction and the other side in the orthogonal direction so as to correspond to the nozzle surfaces of the ink jet head on the one side in the orthogonal direction and the ink jet head on the other side in the orthogonal direction. And
The biasing member is
The ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the ink jet recording apparatus is disposed vertically between the second erection bar and the first erection bar . The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
A drive belt that is stretched along the scanning direction and driven to one side and the other side of the scanning direction;
A guide member that is arranged along the scanning direction and serves as a guide when the head conveying means moves to one side and the other side of the scanning direction;
Further comprising
The upper structure is
A belt fixing portion to which the drive belt is fixed;
A guide engaging portion that engages with the guide member;
An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The biasing member is
An ink jet recording apparatus comprising an axial deformation spring having the vertical direction as an axial direction. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 3.
The inkjet head is
A base plate disposed in a substantially horizontal direction from one end side to the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the inkjet head;
The head plate is
The two inkjet heads are arranged so that one end sides thereof face each other to form a set, and at least one set of inkjet heads in the set is mounted,
The head conveying means is
Two first positionings for positioning the two inkjet heads on the head plate by locking the first mounting portions provided protruding from the other end sides of the two inkjet heads included in each set. And
A second mounting provided in common to both the two inkjet heads at a position where the one end sides of the two inkjet heads included in each set face each other, and protruding from the one end side of the two inkjet heads. A second positioning part for locking the part and positioning the two inkjet heads on the head plate;
Further comprising
The axial deformation spring is
An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the ink jet recording apparatus is a coil spring that is disposed so as to surround at least a part of the outer peripheral side of the second positioning portion, and has an upper end portion that abuts against the upper structure to exert a biasing force downward. .

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