JP6748509B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus, and more particularly to a mechanism for maintaining a recording head.

Patent Document 1 discloses an ink jet recording apparatus having a wiping mechanism for wiping a nozzle surface of a recording head, in which a plurality of tooth-missing gears and gears are sequentially meshed to perform forward and backward movements of a reciprocating wiper blade. A switching mechanism is disclosed.

JP-A-2002-200763

In Patent Document 1 described above, when a tooth-missing gear is meshed with another gear, a phase shift may occur due to interference between the tooth tips of the first tooth and a tooth mesh shift. Further, a sound may be generated when the contact between the tooth tips is canceled, or the gear may be locked without the contact between the tooth tips being canceled. In addition, in order to increase the reciprocating distance of the wiper blade, it is necessary to increase the gear diameter and increase the moving distance of the wiper blade, which leads to an increase in the size of the device.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to improve reliability so that interference between tooth tips and phase shift of teeth do not occur at the time of gear engagement without increasing the size of the device. It is to realize an inkjet recording device.

In order to solve the above problems and to achieve the object, an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention holds a blade member that moves relative to a nozzle surface of a recording head to wipe the nozzle surface, and the blade member. A blade holder for driving the blade holder, and a blade driving mechanism for driving the blade holder, wherein the blade driving mechanism drives the blade holder by a pinion that meshes with a slider in which a gear train is linearly formed, and the pinion is Is provided with a shape portion that first comes into contact with the gear train of the slider and a tooth portion that follows the shape portion, the shape portion is formed higher than the tooth portion, and the shape portion is formed in the gear train of the slider. It is configured such that the tooth portion following the shaped portion of the pinion does not abut the first tooth portion of the slider in the state of abutting the first tooth portion.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, it is possible to realize an ink jet recording apparatus having improved reliability so that interference between tooth tips and phase shift of teeth do not occur at the time of meshing gears without increasing the size of the apparatus. ..

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a nozzle surface of the recording head of this embodiment. The perspective view of the maintenance device of this embodiment. The perspective view which shows operation|movement of a blade drive mechanism. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the meshing operation of the cam slider and the pinion. The figure which shows the interference state of the tooth tip of a cam slider pinion (a), the state which the phase of a cam slider and a pinion shifted (b), and the shape (c) of a rotating cam gear.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In this specification, "recording" (sometimes referred to as "printing") is not limited to forming significant information such as characters and figures, and may be significant insignificance. Furthermore, the case where an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like is widely formed on a recording medium or the medium is processed regardless of whether or not it is actualized so that it can be visually perceived by humans.

The term "recording medium" means not only paper used in a general recording apparatus but also a wide range of materials such as cloth, plastic film, metal plate, glass, ceramics, wood, and leather that can accept ink. I shall.

Further, "ink" should be broadly construed in the same manner as the definition of "print (print)". Therefore, when applied to a recording medium, it is used for forming an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like, or processing the recording medium, or treating the ink (for example, solidifying or insolubilizing a coloring agent in the ink applied to the recording medium). Represents a liquid that can be liquefied.

Furthermore, the term “printing element” (sometimes referred to as “nozzle”) is used to collectively refer to an ink ejection port, a liquid path communicating with the ejection port, and an element that generates energy used for ink ejection, unless otherwise specified. I shall say.

<Device configuration>
The inkjet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, an inkjet recording apparatus 10 has an inkjet recording head (hereinafter referred to as a recording head) 1 for ejecting ink for recording according to an inkjet system mounted on a carriage 2 and reciprocating the carriage 2 in a direction of an arrow S1. To record. Then, the recording medium P such as recording paper is fed by the paper feed mechanism 11 and conveyed to the recording position, and the recording is performed by ejecting ink from the recording head 1 to the recording medium P at the recording position.

Not only the recording head 1 but also an ink cartridge 3 that stores ink to be supplied to the recording head 1 is mounted on the carriage 2 of the inkjet recording apparatus 10. The ink cartridge 3 is removable from the carriage 2.

The ink jet recording apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is capable of color recording, and therefore four inks containing magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y) and black (K) inks are contained in the carriage 2. The ink cartridge 3 is mounted. These four ink cartridges 3 can be independently attached and detached.

The recording head 1 according to the present embodiment employs an inkjet method that ejects ink by using thermal energy. Therefore, the electrothermal converter is provided. The electrothermal converters are provided corresponding to the respective ejection ports, and ink is ejected from the corresponding ejection ports by applying a pulse voltage to the corresponding electrothermal converters in accordance with the recording signal.

The inkjet recording device 10 also includes a paper feed mechanism 11, a conveyance roller 12, a platen 13, a paper discharge roller 14, and a maintenance device 30 described later. The plurality of recording media P stacked on the paper feed mechanism 11 are separated one by one by the paper feed mechanism 11 and the conveyance roller 12 and are conveyed onto the platen 13. While feeding the recording medium P to the platen 13 in the medium conveying direction S2 at a predetermined pitch (for example, one row), the recording head 1 scans the recording medium P on the platen 13 in a scanning direction S1 orthogonal to the medium conveying direction S2. Ink is ejected while moving to. Recording is performed on the recording medium P by repeating this operation. When the recording operation on the recording medium P is completed, the recording medium P is sandwiched between the transport roller 12 and the paper discharge roller 14, and the recording medium P is transported in the medium transport direction S2 and discharged to the outside of the apparatus. A maintenance device 30 is arranged near the movement start end (home position) of the recording head 1 and the carriage 2 in order to maintain a good ink ejection state of the recording head 1.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the face of the recording head 1 on which the ink ejection ports are formed. In FIG. 2, the nozzle surface 21 of the recording head 1 is provided at a position facing the recording medium P, and the nozzle surface 21 has first nozzles arranged in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction S1 of the recording head 1. The nozzle row 22a and the second nozzle row 22b are arranged. The first nozzle row 22a and the second nozzle row 22b are arranged adjacent to each other, and have different nozzle arrangements (the number of ejection openings and the number of rows per row).

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a mechanical portion including the maintenance device 30. In FIG. 3, the maintenance device 30 includes a blade member 31, a cap member 32, and a pump unit 33. The cap member 32 can come into contact with and retract from the nozzle surface 21 including the nozzle rows 22a and 22b of the recording head 1, and prevents the nozzle surface 21 from drying and prevents bubbles accumulated inside the nozzles of the recording head 1 in the contact state. The ink can be sucked and discharged from the nozzle. The blade member 31 is composed of a pair of thin plates made of an elastic material such as rubber, and removes unnecessary deposits such as dust and ink adhered to the nozzle surface 21 by sequentially contacting and rubbing against the nozzle surface 21.

The pump unit 33 includes a pump drive motor and a connection tube (not shown). The pump unit 33 is driven by the pump drive motor to generate a negative pressure. Further, the pump unit 33 is communicated with the cap member 32 by the connection tube. Then, the negative pressure generated by the pump unit 33 is applied to the nozzle row 22 with the nozzle surface 21 of the recording head 1 covered with the cap member 32. In this way, bubbles accumulated in the nozzles of the recording head 1 and unnecessary ink can be sucked and discharged, and the ink ejection performance of the recording head 1 can be kept good. Further, the blade member 31 is moved in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction S1 of the recording head 1 so as to cross the nozzle surface 21 by a blade drive mechanism 40 described later. In this way, dust and unnecessary ink adhering to the nozzle surface 21 and the nozzle row 22 can be wiped off, and the ink ejection performance of the recording head 1 can be kept good.

<Blade drive mechanism>
Next, the configuration of the blade drive mechanism 40 will be described in detail. FIG. 4 shows the operation of the blade drive mechanism 40. FIG. 4A shows the blade member 31 in a standby state. FIG. 4B shows a forward movement operation start state of the blade member 31. FIG. 4C shows a state in which the blade member 31 is moving forward. FIG. 4D shows the forward movement of the blade member 31 completed. FIG. 4E shows a state where the blade member 31 is in the backward movement operation.

In FIGS. 4A and 4B, the blade member 31 made of an elastic material has a lower end portion held by the blade holder 41 and an upper end portion that is an elastically deformable free end. The blade holder 41 is provided with a rack gear portion 42 in which a gear train is linearly formed in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the blade member 31, and the rack gear portion 42 has a tooth portion formed around the entire circumference. The positional relationship is such that the pinion gear 51 of FIG. Further, the first pinion gear 51 is provided on the pinion 50, and the pinion gear 50 has a second pinion gear 52 that is axially offset coaxially with the first pinion gear 51. In the second pinion gear 52, tooth portions are partially formed instead of the entire circumference, and a shape portion (hereinafter, referred to as a first tooth) 53 that first comes into contact with the gear train of the slider is continued to the shape portion 53. A tooth portion (hereinafter referred to as the second tooth) 54 is provided. A first rack gear portion 61 that first contacts the first tooth 53 of the second pinion gear 52 and meshes with the second tooth 54 and beyond is attached to a slider 60 having a cam mechanism (hereinafter referred to as a cam slider) 60. Is provided. Further, the cam slider 60 is provided with a second rack gear portion 62 substantially in parallel with the first rack gear portion 61. The second rack gear portion 62 has a positional relationship in which it meshes with the cam drive gear 44 that drives the cam slider 60 to slide. The cam drive gear 44 is configured to be rotatable in forward and reverse directions by transmitting a drive force from a gear drive motor (not shown) of the drive unit 43 (FIG. 3). In FIG. 4, the nozzle surface 21 of the recording head 1 is virtually illustrated in order to clearly show the relative positional relationship with the blade member 31 in the sliding operation of the blade holder 41. The shape of the first tooth 53 of the second pinion gear 52 does not have to be the tooth shape of the gear, and may be, for example, any shape in consideration of the state of contact with the first tooth 61a of the cam slider 60. Can be configured in shape. In addition, the first tooth 53 of the second pinion gear 52 does not need to be in the same row as the second tooth 54 and the subsequent rows, and an expanded shape or an arm-shaped member of the second pinion gear 52 in the axial direction is extended. The shape may be offset. In this case, the first tooth 61a of the first rack gear portion 61 is also configured to have a shape corresponding to the first tooth 53 of the second pinion gear 52.

In FIG. 4C, the blade holder 41 is driven by the pinion 50 so that the free end of the blade member 31 contacts the nozzle surface 21. The blade holder 41 and the cam slider 60 are linearly reciprocally supported by a guide member (not shown). Further, the cam slider 60 has a plurality of cam-shaped portions projectingly provided on the upper surface of a long plate-shaped member, and moves the cap member 32 shown in FIG. 3 up and down. The pinion 50 is rotatably supported by the blade drive mechanism 40. The other end of the holder spring 45 is hooked on the blade holder 41, and one end of the holder spring 45 is hooked on the fixed portion of the blade drive mechanism 40. As a result, the blade holder 41 is urged in the direction opposite to the nozzle surface 21 of the recording head 1 and is forcibly abutted against the holder abutting portion (not shown) without the driving force transmitted from the pinion 50, thereby waiting. Held in position.

Next, a wiping operation of wiping the nozzle surface 21 of the recording head 1 by driving the blade holder 41 by the blade driving mechanism 40 will be described.

When the gear drive motor (not shown) of the drive unit 43 is rotationally driven in the standby state of FIG. 4A, the drive force is transmitted to the cam drive gear 44 to rotate, and the rotational force of the cam drive gear 44 is transferred to the cam. It is transmitted to the second rack gear portion 62 of the slider 60. As a result, the cam slider 60 slides along the guide member (not shown) so as to move in parallel to the left side in the drawing.

In the forward path operation start state of FIG. 4B, the cam slider 60 slides so that the first tooth 61 a of the first rack gear portion 61 of the cam slider 60 becomes the first tooth 53 of the second pinion gear 52. Abut. From this state, when the cam slider 60 further slides in the same direction, the second and subsequent teeth 54 of the second pinion gear 52 following the first teeth 53 mesh with the second teeth 61b of the first rack gear portion 61. Rotate. Then, the first pinion gear 51 and the rack gear portion 42 of the blade holder 41 mesh with each other, so that the blade holder 41 starts sliding along a guide member (not shown) so as to move in parallel to the right side in the drawing.

In the forward path operation state of FIG. 4C, the cam slider 60 slides further to the left side in the figure, so that the second tooth 54 and the subsequent portions of the second pinion gear 52 are the second tooth of the first rack gear portion 61. It rotates while meshing after the eye 61b. The first pinion gear 51 and the rack gear portion 42 of the blade holder 41 mesh with each other, so that the blade holder 41 slides to the right side in the drawing. At this time, since the blade member 31 moves in parallel while contacting the nozzle surface 21 of the recording head 1, the wiping operation is performed in which the nozzle surface 21 is wiped by the blade member 31. The operation direction of the blade member 31 is the forward direction.

In the forward path operation completion state of FIG. 4D, the gear drive motor (not shown) of the drive unit 43 is stopped when the blade member 31 passes the nozzle surface 21, and the forward path operation of the blade member 31 is also stopped. Next, the recording head 1 is moved until the blade member 31 and the nozzle surface 21 are not in contact with each other (in a direction away from the maintenance device 30 in FIG. 1). Thereafter, the gear drive motor (not shown) of the drive unit 43 is rotationally driven in the reverse direction, so that the blade member 31 starts sliding in the direction opposite to the forward path direction.

In the state during the backward movement operation of FIG. 4E, the cam slider 60 is in the opposite direction from the state during the forward movement operation of FIG. 4C when the blade member 31 is not in contact with the nozzle surface 21 of the recording head 1. Translate to. As a result, the blade member 31 returns to the operation start state of FIG. 4A, that is, the standby state in which it is forcibly abutted against the holder abutting portion (not shown). The operation direction of the blade member 31 is the return path direction.

Next, the meshing operation of the first rack gear portion 61 of the cam slider 60 and the second pinion gear 52 of the pinion 50 will be described in detail.

FIG. 5 is a side view schematically showing the meshing operation of the cam slider 60 and the pinion 50. FIG. 5A shows a state in which the cam slider 60 and the pinion 50 are separated from each other. FIG. 5B shows a state where the cam slider 60 and the pinion 50 are close to each other. FIG. 5C shows a state in which the cam slider 60 and the pinion 50 have started contact with each other. FIG. 5D shows a state where the first tooth 61a of the cam slider 60 and the first tooth 53 of the second pinion gear 52 are in contact with each other. FIG. 5E shows a state in which the second tooth 61b and later of the cam slider 60 and the second tooth 54 and later of the second pinion gear 52 have started meshing with each other.

In the separated state of FIG. 5A, the second pinion gear 52 is located in the tooth-missing region 63 where the first rack gear portion 61 is not formed in the cam slider 60, which is closer to the pinion 50 than the first tooth 61a. doing. Since the cam slider 60 and the pinion 50 are separated from each other, even if the cam slider 60 moves in parallel, the driving force is not transmitted to the pinion 50 and the pinion 50 remains stationary.

In the approaching state of FIG. 5B, the first slider gear 61 a of the first rack gear portion 61 approaches the second pinion gear 52 due to the parallel movement of the cam slider 60, but they do not come into contact with each other. The height (radial size) of the tooth portion of the second pinion gear 52 after the second tooth 54 is smaller than that of the first tooth 53. Therefore, there is a positional relationship in which the clearance d is formed between the first tooth 61a of the first rack gear portion 61 of the cam slider 60 and the second tooth 54 and subsequent portions of the second pinion gear 52.

In the contact start state shown in FIG. 5C, the cam slider 60 further moves in parallel to cause the first tooth 61a of the first rack gear portion 61 to contact the first tooth 53 of the second pinion gear 52. .. The height (radial size) of the tooth portion of the first tooth 53 of the second pinion gear 52 is larger than that of the second tooth 54 and thereafter. Therefore, there is a positional relationship in which the first tooth 61a of the first rack gear portion 61 of the cam slider 60 and the first tooth 53 of the second pinion gear 52 are overlapped with each other.

In the contact state of FIG. 5D, the cam slider 60 is further moved in parallel, whereby the first tooth 61a of the first rack gear portion 61 pushes the first tooth 53 of the second pinion gear 52 while pushing the pinion. When 50 is rotated, the first tooth 53 of the second pinion gear 52 and the first tooth 61a of the first rack gear portion 61 of the cam slider 60 are in a meshing relationship.

Thus, the tooth portions having different heights are formed in the first rack gear portion 61 and the second pinion gear 52 of the cam slider 60 so that both the clearance d and the overlap e described above can be achieved. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress interference between the tooth tips of the first tooth 153 of the pinion 150 and the tooth tips of the first tooth 61a of the first rack gear portion 61 of the cam slider 60 as shown in FIG. 6A. .. Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, the meshing positions of the first tooth 153 and the second tooth 154 and after of the pinion 150 and the first tooth 61a and the second tooth 61b and after of the cam slider 60 are displaced. Prevent that. Thereby, the reliability can be improved so that the phase shift of the teeth and the contact between the tooth tips do not occur.

In the meshing start state of FIG. 5E, the first gear teeth 53 of the second pinion gear 52 and the first gear teeth 61a of the first rack gear portion 61 of the cam slider 60 mesh with each other at the correct position. Therefore, the meshing between the second tooth 54 and after of the second pinion gear 52 and the second tooth 61b and after of the first rack gear portion 61 of the cam slider 60 is also in the correct position.

In addition, in this embodiment, since the cam slider 60 is a flat plate member that reciprocates, a direction orthogonal to the parallel movement direction of the cam slider 60 is greater than when the cam slider 60 is a rotating member such as a gear. The size of the device has been reduced, and the device has been downsized. A comparative example in which the cam slider is replaced by a rotating cam gear 71 as shown in FIG. 6C is shown. Also in this case, the relationship between the tooth tops of the first tooth 53 of the second pinion gear 52 and the first tooth 71a of the cam gear 71 and the relationship of the second tooth 54 and after and the second tooth 71b and after are the present embodiment. If the shape is the same, the problem of meshing does not occur. However, since it is difficult to reduce the size of the device because the space for rotating the cam gear 71 is required, it is considered that making the cam slider 60 flat like in the present embodiment contributes to the size reduction of the device. Become.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Recording head, 2... Carriage, 3... Ink cartridge, 10... Inkjet recording device, 30... Maintenance device, 31... Blade member, 40... Blade drive mechanism, 41... Blade holder, 50... Pinion, 60... Cam slider

Claims (10)

A blade member that moves relative to the nozzle surface of the recording head to wipe the nozzle surface;
A blade holder for holding the blade member,
A blade drive mechanism for driving the blade holder,
The blade drive mechanism drives the blade holder by a pinion that meshes with a slider in which a gear train is linearly formed,
The pinion is provided with a shape portion that first contacts the gear train of the slider, and a tooth portion that follows the shape portion,
The shaped portion is formed higher than the tooth portion, and the tooth portion following the shaped portion of the pinion is the first tooth portion of the slider with the shaped portion abutting the first tooth portion in the gear train of the slider. An ink jet recording apparatus, which is configured so as not to come into contact with a tooth portion. In the slider, a first rack gear portion and a second rack gear portion are provided substantially parallel to each other,
The first rack gear portion meshes with the pinion,
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second rack gear portion is linearly moved by a gear. The pinion includes a first pinion gear and a second pinion gear that are coaxial and axially offset;
The blade holder has a rack gear portion in which a gear train is linearly arranged,
The rack gear portion of the blade holder meshes with the first pinion gear,
The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second pinion gear meshes with a first rack gear portion of the slider. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the second pinion gear is formed with the shaped portion and a tooth portion following the shaped portion. The first rack gear portion of the slider is provided with a toothless region in which teeth are not formed closer to the pinion than the first tooth portion of the first rack gear portion, and the pinion shaped portion is the first toothed portion. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the shape portion of the pinion is located in the toothless region in a state where it is not in contact with the first tooth portion of the rack gear portion. Further comprising a biasing means for biasing the blade holder in the first direction,
The blade holder is driven in the direction opposite to the first direction by the pinion against the force of the biasing means,
6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the driving force is not transmitted from the pinion, it is held in a standby state by the force of the urging unit. 7. The recording head according to claim 6, wherein after the nozzle surface is wiped by the blade member, the recording head is moved to a position retracted from the blade member before the blade holder returns to the standby position. Inkjet recording device. The blade holder has a forward direction in which the nozzle surface of the recording head is wiped by the blade member,
7. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the ink jet recording apparatus operates in a return path returning to a standby position without coming into contact with the nozzle surface of the recording head. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the blade member is driven when the recording head is in a predetermined position. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the predetermined position is a movement start end of a carriage that holds the recording head.