JP5849559B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus.

  Conventionally, in an ink jet recording apparatus, a recording head corresponding to each color is mounted on a carriage, and the carriage reciprocates along a guide rail so that the recording head scans on a recording medium. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). FIG. 5 is a side view of a carriage provided in a conventional ink jet recording apparatus. As shown in FIG. 5, the ink jet recording apparatus 200 is provided with a carriage 202 on which a recording head 201 is mounted, and a pair of guide rails 203 and 204 that support the carriage 202 and guide it in the scanning direction. The pair of guide rails 203 support the base end portion of the carriage 202 in a state of being arranged side by side in the vertical direction.

Special table 2011-516315 gazette

By the way, in recent years, there is a demand for forming an image with an ink jet even on a recording medium having a large size, and an ink jet recording apparatus has been increased in size in order to realize this. In such a case, even if the pair of guide rails 203 and 204 are arranged in the vertical direction and the carriage 202 is supported by the pair of guide rails 203 and 204 as in the conventional ink jet recording apparatus 200, the carriage 202 itself is cantilevered. Therefore, the distance (platen gap G) between the recording head 201 and the platen 205 disposed at the front end of the carriage 202 may change due to the influence of its own weight, which may increase the dimensional error.
An object of the present invention is to suppress the amount of change in the platen gap even when the inkjet recording apparatus itself is enlarged.

An ink jet recording apparatus according to the invention of claim 1
A recording head for ejecting ink to a recording medium supported on a platen;
A carriage on which the recording head is mounted;
A pair of guide rails extending along a scanning direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording medium and guiding the carriage in the scanning direction on the platen,
Of the pair of guide rails, one guide rail supports an upstream end of the carriage in the transport direction, and the other guide rail supports a downstream end of the carriage in the transport direction ,
The carriage is a box-shaped housing having a bottom plate and two side plates extending in the transport direction and having an open top, and the recording head is mounted on the bottom plate, on both sides of the transport direction at the top of the side plate. The arm is extended toward the
Said pair of guide rails is characterized that you support the arms.

The invention described in claim 2 is the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1,
The position of the center of gravity of the carriage is arranged below the position where the carriage is supported by the pair of guide rails.
Invention 請 Motomeko 3 wherein, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
Each of the pair of guide rails supports an engaging portion provided on a lower surface of the arm portion .
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects,
The moving means for moving the carriage in the scanning direction is provided for each of the upstream end and the downstream end of the carriage.
The invention described in claim 5 is the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4,
The moving means is a linear motor.
The invention according to claim 6 is the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4 or 5,
The moving means is disposed between the carriage and the guide rail.
The invention according to claim 7 is the ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A detection unit for detecting the amount of movement of the carriage is provided for each of the upstream end and the downstream end of the carriage .
Invention 請 Motomeko 8 wherein, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claim 1 to 7
The platen is a conveyor belt.

  According to the present invention, even if the inkjet recording apparatus itself is increased in size, the change amount of the platen gap is suppressed.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of an inkjet head according to an embodiment. It is a side view which shows schematic structure of the scanning device and carriage which concern on this embodiment. It is the schematic explanatory drawing which looked at the carriage concerning this embodiment from the lower part. It is a front view which shows the relationship between the several leg part which supports the guide rail which concerns on this embodiment, and the 1st and 2nd base part of a flame | frame. 2 is a side view of a carriage provided in a conventional inkjet recording apparatus.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, although various technically preferable limitations for implementing the present invention are given to the embodiments described below, the scope of the invention is not limited to the following embodiments and illustrated examples.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire inkjet recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the ink jet recording apparatus 1 includes a transport apparatus 2 that transports a recording medium along a horizontal direction, and a recording head 3 (see FIG. 2) that ejects ink from above onto the transported recording medium. Mounted on the carriage 4, a scanning device 5 that transports the carriage 4 along a horizontal direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the recording medium, a maintenance unit 6 that performs maintenance of each recording head 3 mounted on the carriage 4, and the carriage 4. There are provided a nozzle moisturizing unit 7 for moisturizing each recording head 3, a control device (not shown) for controlling these components, and a frame 100 for supporting the whole.
In the following description, the horizontal direction along the recording medium conveyance direction is referred to as the Y-axis direction, and the horizontal direction along the carriage 4 conveyance direction is referred to as the X-axis direction or the scanning direction. To do.

The transport device 2 includes a drive roller 21 and a driven roller (not shown), a drive motor 22, and a transport belt 23.
The drive roller 21 and the driven roller are rotatably supported by the shaft, and the drive roller 21 is disposed so as to extend in the scanning direction X. The drive motor 22 is a drive source for rotationally driving the drive roller 21, and is attached to one end side of the drive roller 21.
The conveyor belt 23 is formed in an endless shape, and is stretched between the driving roller 21 and the driven roller. When the driving roller 21 rotates, the conveying belt 23 circulates between the driving roller 21 and the driven roller and conveys the recording medium placed on the upper surface thereof in the conveying direction F along the Y-axis direction. When the rotation of the roller 21 is stopped, the circulation between both rollers is stopped, and the conveyance of the recording medium is stopped. That is, the conveyance belt 23 is a platen according to the present invention.
The drive motor 22 rotates the drive roller 21 by a predetermined amount to transport the recording medium by a predetermined distance in the transport direction when the recording head 3 completes one-way scanning along the X-axis direction according to the control of the control device. When the recording head 3 starts scanning in the direction opposite to the scanning direction X and ends, the drive roller 21 is rotated again by a predetermined amount to transport the recording medium by a predetermined distance in the transport direction F and stop. The recording medium is so-called intermittently conveyed.
As the recording medium, it is possible to use resin films, metals, etc. in addition to paper and fabric.

As shown in FIG. 1, the frame 100 includes a rectangular main body portion 101 extending along the X-axis direction, a first base portion 102 that supports one end portion in the X-axis direction of the main body portion 101, and the main body portion 101. And the second base portion 103 that supports the other end portion in the X-axis direction.
The first base portion 102 supports the one end portion of the main body portion 101 from below while storing and holding the nozzle moisturizing portion 7 therein. Further, the second base portion 103 supports the other end portion of the main body portion 101 from below while storing and holding the maintenance portion 6 therein.
The main body 101 stores and holds a pair of guide rails 51, 51 of the scanning device 5, which will be described later, in the X-axis direction, and the carriage 4 extends along the X-axis inside the main body 101. Be transported.
Further, the first base portion 102 and the second base portion 103 are disposed on both sides in the X-axis direction with the above-described transport device 2 interposed therebetween, and the main body portion 101 is installed above the transport device 2. Accordingly, it is possible to form an image by ejecting ink from each recording head 3 mounted on the carriage 4 while conveying the carriage 4 in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the recording medium by the conveying device 2.

  The scanning device 5 is disposed inside the main body 101 of the frame 100. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the scanning device 5 and the carriage 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the scanning device 5 includes a pair of rod-shaped guide rails 51 and 51 that are supported so as to extend along the X-axis direction, and a plurality of leg portions 52 that support the guide rails 51 and 51. And. The pair of guide rails 51, 51 are provided so as to straddle the top of the transport belt 23 of the transport device 2. Of the pair of guide rails 51, one guide rail 51 slidably supports the upstream end of the carriage 4 in the transport direction Y, and the other guide rail 51 is downstream of the carriage 4 in the transport direction Y. The end is slidably supported. More specifically, a stator 53 made of a magnet is attached to the opposite side surfaces of the pair of guide rails 51 over the entire length. A linear encoder scale 54 for detecting the amount of movement of the carriage 4 is provided on the upper surfaces of the pair of guide rails 51.

  The carriage 4 is a substantially rectangular casing with an open top, and a plurality of recording heads 3 are mounted on the bottom plate. As shown in FIG. 2, the carriage 4 has arm portions 41 and 41 extending toward both sides in the Y-axis direction at the upper part of both side surfaces in the Y-axis direction. An engaging portion 42 that is slidably engaged with the guide rail 51 is provided on the lower surface of the arm portions 41, 41. Further, a detection unit 43 that forms a linear encoder together with the scale 54 is provided on the lower surface of the arm portions 41, 41, and the detection unit 43 detects the scale on the scale 54 to detect the movement amount of the carriage 4. doing. Furthermore, a mover 44 made of a coil is provided on the lower surface of the arm portions 41, 41 so as to engage with the stator 53. A linear motor is formed by the mover 44 and the stator 53, and the carriage 4 is given a transport operation along the X-axis direction by controlling the current to the mover 44. Moreover, the cable bear 45 in which various wiring was accommodated is provided in the front-end | tip part of the arm parts 41 and 41. As shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view of the carriage 4 as viewed from below. As shown in FIG. 3, in this inkjet recording apparatus 1, Y (yellow), Lm (light magenta), Or (orange), M (magenta), Bk (black), Bl (blue), Lk (light black) , C (cyan), and Lc (light cyan), nine head groups (indicated by two-dot chain lines in FIG. 3) are mounted so as to correspond respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, in each head group, nine recording heads 3 are arranged in a staggered manner along the Y-axis direction. As a result, a total of 81 recording heads 3 are mounted on the carriage 4. Each recording head 3 is configured to eject ink in both the forward and backward movements of the carriage 4 based on the ejection control from the control device.
Further, since each recording head 3 and the circuit board of the recording head 3 are supported by the bottom plate of the carriage 4, the center of gravity position of the entire carriage 4 is more than the position where the carriage 4 is supported by the pair of guide rails 51. Is also arranged below.

  FIG. 4 is a front view showing the relationship between the plurality of leg portions 52 that support the guide rails 51, 51 and the first and second base portions 102, 103 of the frame 100. As shown in FIG. 4, the first base portion 102 is provided with support legs 104 so as to individually support the leg portions 52 arranged on the first base portion 102. Further, the second base portion 103 is provided with support legs 105 so as to individually support the leg portions 52 arranged on the second base portion 103. Thus, since each of the leg portions 52 that support the guide rails 51 and 51 is individually supported by the support legs 104 and 105, it is difficult to apply extra stress to the guide rails 51 and 51. Yes. It should be noted that an adjuster for height adjustment or a caster for movement may be provided at the lower ends of the support legs 104 and 105.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, of the pair of guide rails 51, 51, one guide rail 51 supports the upstream end of the carriage 4 in the transport direction Y, and the other guide rail 51 Since the end of the carriage 4 on the downstream side in the transport direction Y is supported, the carriage 4 can be supported at both ends by being sandwiched between the upstream side and the downstream side in the transport direction Y. Here, if the carriage 4 becomes larger with the increase in size of the ink jet recording apparatus, the weight of the carriage 4 increases and the fluctuation of the platen gap G is greatly affected. In particular, when the carriage is supported in a cantilever manner as in the prior art, the effect is great. However, if the carriage 4 is supported at both ends sandwiched between the upstream side and the downstream side in the transport direction Y as in this embodiment, the weight of the carriage 4 can be distributed and supported by the pair of guide rails 51 and 51. It is possible to suppress the platen gap G from changing due to the influence of its own weight. Therefore, even if the inkjet recording apparatus 1 itself is increased in size, it is possible to suppress the amount of change in the platen gap G.

In addition, since the center of gravity of the carriage 4 is disposed below the position where the carriage 4 is supported by the pair of guide rails 51, 51, the center of gravity of the carriage 4 is relative to the position supported by the guide rails 51, 51. Even when compared with the case where the positions are similar, the stress acting on the guide rails 51 and 51 can be suppressed.
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet recording device 2 Conveyance device 3 Recording head 4 Carriage 5 Scanning device 6 Maintenance part 7 Nozzle moisture retention part 21 Drive roller 22 Drive motor 23 Conveyance belt (platen)
41 Arm part 42 Engagement part 43 Detection part 44 Movable element 45 Cable bear 51 Guide rail 52 Leg part 53 Stator 54 Scale 100 Frame 101 Body part 102 First base part 103 Second base part 104 Support leg 105 Support leg G Platen Gap X Scan direction Y Transport direction

Claims (8)

A recording head for ejecting ink to a recording medium supported on a platen;
A carriage on which the recording head is mounted;
A pair of guide rails extending along a scanning direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording medium and guiding the carriage in the scanning direction on the platen,
Of the pair of guide rails, one guide rail supports an upstream end of the carriage in the transport direction, and the other guide rail supports a downstream end of the carriage in the transport direction ,
The carriage is a box-shaped housing having a bottom plate and two side plates extending in the transport direction and having an open top, and the recording head is mounted on the bottom plate, on both sides of the transport direction at the top of the side plate. The arm is extended toward the
An ink jet recording apparatus wherein the pair of guide rails, characterized that you support the arms. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
2. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position of the center of gravity of the carriage is disposed below the position where the carriage is supported by the pair of guide rails. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the pair of guide rails supports an engaging portion provided on a lower surface of the arm portion . The moving means for moving the carriage in the scanning direction is provided for each of the upstream end and the downstream end of the carriage. 2. An ink jet recording apparatus according to 1.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the moving unit is a linear motor.   6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the moving means is disposed between the carriage and the guide rail.   The detection unit for detecting the movement amount of the carriage is provided for each of the upstream end and the downstream end of the carriage. The ink jet recording apparatus described. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the platen is a conveyance belt.

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