JP7251282B2 - gears and printers - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a gear device and a printing device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a gear device that transmits driving force via a plurality of gears is known.
Specifically, the driving force generated by a motor or the like as a driving source is transmitted by a driving belt such as a timing belt while adjusting the speed and torque by interposing gears, and the driving (moving) object is fixed. Drive (move) in the direction.
A gear device is applied to, for example, a moving mechanism for moving a print head of a printing device.

However, in a gear device, rattling is likely to occur at an attachment portion/fitting portion of a component, or rattling due to backlash of a gear attached to a rotating shaft.
For example, in an inkjet printing apparatus that prints by ejecting ink droplets from the nozzles of a print head, when multi-pass single ring printing is performed, the error is smaller than the ink dot diameter of the ink droplets ejected from the nozzles. Unless the print head is moved within the range, high-definition printing cannot be achieved due to deviations in landing positions of ink droplets.
For this reason, high driving accuracy is required for the print head moving mechanism, and when a gear device is used for the print head moving mechanism, it is necessary to suppress the occurrence of looseness as much as possible.

In this regard, for example, in Patent Document 1, a gear device is provided with a spring that biases the gear in the thrust direction, and the biasing force of the spring biases the gear (gear) to eliminate backlash caused by backlash and the like. A restraining arrangement is disclosed.
With such a configuration, if it is possible to prevent the occurrence of rattling due to backlash or the like, it is possible to move a moving object such as a print head with high accuracy even in situations where high driving accuracy is required.

JP 2018-165531 A

However, if a separate component such as a spring is provided to prevent backlash, the number of components increases accordingly. In addition, since the springs and the like are minute parts, there is also the problem that it takes time and effort to manufacture and assemble them.
Therefore, there is a possibility that the cost of the apparatus as a whole will increase.
In addition, parts such as springs used in gear devices must be processed by sintering or the like with high dimensional accuracy, which also causes cost increase.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above, and has an advantage of providing a gear device and a printing device capable of suppressing backlash and achieving good accuracy.

In order to solve the above problems, the gear device of the present invention includes:
a rotating shaft rotatably attached to the support frame so that both ends protrude from the support frame;
gears attached to the both ends projecting from the support frame;
bearing members respectively arranged between the support frame and the gear;
with
At least one of the bearing members is an urging bearing member, and the urging bearing member includes a bearing portion through which the rotating shaft is inserted, and the urging bearing member projects from the outer circumference of the bearing portion to connect the gear and the support frame. and an urging portion having a spring property that applies an urging force in the direction of separating.

According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress rattling and achieve good accuracy.

It is the perspective view which looked at the principal part of the printing apparatus which incorporated the gear apparatus in this embodiment from the front diagonally upper side. It is the top view which looked at the gear apparatus of this embodiment from the apparatus back side in FIG. Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the left side portion of the gear device in Fig. 2; Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the right side portion of the gear device in Fig. 2; 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a gear device of this embodiment; FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a bearing member used in the gear device according to this embodiment; It is an explanatory view for explaining a backlash. It is a perspective view which shows the example of a changed completely type of a bearing member.

An embodiment of a gear device and a printing apparatus including the gear device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. FIG.
Although various technically desirable limitations are attached to the embodiments described below for carrying out the present invention, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and illustrated examples.
Further, in the following embodiments, a case where the printing apparatus 1 having the gear device 6 is a nail printing apparatus for printing on human nails will be described as an example, but the printing apparatus 1 in the present invention is not limited to a nail printing apparatus. . In the present embodiment, the case where the printer 1 prints on fingernails is taken as an example. For example, toe nails may be printed. Also, objects other than nails, such as nail tips and surfaces of various accessories, may be printed.

<Overall Configuration of Printing Device>
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printing apparatus incorporating a gear device according to the present embodiment, viewed obliquely from the upper front. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 1 includes, in addition to the apparatus body shown in FIG. 1, a housing (exterior case) for housing the entire apparatus body. ing.
As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 1 includes various structures such as a drive mechanism 49 having a gear device 6 and the like, which will be described later, and a print head 41 configured to be movable by the drive mechanism 49 .
Specifically, the printing apparatus 1 is configured as follows, for example.
That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 1 has a base 10 in which various internal structures are incorporated.
The upper side of the base 10 is a substantially flat base upper surface 20 . The base upper surface 20 is the surface of the nail (surface to be printed) in a state where a finger corresponding to the nail to be printed (hereinafter referred to as a “printing finger”; not shown) is fixed on the finger fixing portion 3 described later. They are placed at almost flush heights.

A finger fixing part 3 is arranged on the front side (near side) of the base upper surface 20 and substantially in the center in the left-right direction.
The finger fixing portion 3 is a box-shaped member having an opening 31 that opens to the front side of the device, and a finger fixing member 32 for fixing a printing finger is arranged inside the finger fixing portion 3 .
The finger fixing member 32 pushes up and supports the printing finger from below, and is made of, for example, flexible resin or the like. In this embodiment, the finger fixing member 32 has a shape in which the substantially central portion in the width direction (horizontal direction) is recessed. is received by the finger fixing member 32 to prevent the finger from rattling in the left-right direction.

An opening 33 is formed on the back side (rear side in the Y direction) of the top surface of the finger fixing portion 3 . A fingernail inserted into the finger fixing portion 3 is exposed from the opening 33 .
In the present embodiment, printing is performed by a printing unit 40 (printing head 41 of the printing unit 40), which will be described later, in the area where the openings 33 are provided.

Further, the front side (front side in the Y direction) of the top surface of the finger fixing portion 3 serves as a finger presser 34 that prevents the printing finger from floating and regulates the upward position of the printing finger.
In addition, a nail holder 35 for placing the tip of the nail to be printed is provided on the inner back side (rear side in the Y direction) of the finger fixing portion 3 .
The printing finger is supported from below by the finger fixing member 32, the upper side of the printing finger is pressed by the finger presser 34, and the tip of the nail is placed on the nail placement table 35, thereby the surface of the nail of the printing finger (printing The position of the target surface) in the height direction is positioned at a predetermined position suitable for printing by the printing unit 40 .

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 1 is provided with a printing unit 40 that prints on a surface to be printed. Here, the print target surface is the surface to be printed, and in this embodiment, it is the surface of a fingernail.
The printing unit 40 includes a print head 41, a holder 42 that supports the print head 41, a drive mechanism 49 that moves the print head 41 (the holder 42 that supports the print head 41), and the like.

The print head 41 faces, for example, ink cartridges (not shown) corresponding to yellow (Y; YELLOW), magenta (M; MAGENTA), and cyan (C; CYAN) inks, and a print target (nail surface) in each ink cartridge. It is an ink cartridge-integrated head in which an ink ejection portion (not shown) provided on a surface facing the ink cartridge is integrally formed.
In the ink ejection section, ejection openings (ink ejection openings, not shown) of a nozzle array composed of a plurality of nozzles for ejecting respective colors of ink are formed in a row. The print head 41 is an ink-jet type ink-jet head that forms ink into fine droplets and sprays the ink directly from an ink ejection surface (ink ejection opening of the ink ejection surface) onto the surface of the nail for printing. Further, in this embodiment, the print head 41 is controlled by a control unit (not shown) so as to perform, for example, multi-pass shingling printing, and is configured to be capable of performing delicate printing on the surface of a nail or the like. .
Note that the print head 41 is not limited to one that ejects the three colors of ink described above. An ink cartridge for storing other ink and an ink ejection port may be provided.
The print head 41 is attached to the carriage 451 of the moving mechanism 45 in the X direction while being supported by the holder 42, and the print head 41 is arranged at the height position of the base upper surface 20 (substantially flush with the base upper surface 20). It is configured to perform printing while moving above the fingernail in the X and Y directions.

The drive mechanism 49 moves the print head 41 above the base upper surface 20 .
As described above, the printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment is a nail printing apparatus that prints on a nail or the like (not shown). The printing operation is performed while moving in the Y direction in FIG. For this reason, the driving mechanism 49 has a two-axis configuration having an X-direction moving mechanism 45 for moving the print head 41 in the X direction and a Y-direction moving mechanism 47 for moving the print head 41 in the Y direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment includes a main chassis 11, and a Y-direction moving mechanism 47 as a driving mechanism 49 including a gear device 6 is assembled to the main chassis 11. As shown in FIG.
The main body chassis 11 is a support frame formed by, for example, bending sheet metal or the like, and is located on the base 10 of the printing apparatus 1 (that is, on the top surface 20 of the base) and on the rear side of the apparatus (that is, , back side in the Y direction).
Specifically, the main body chassis 11 has a generally planar bottom plate 111, a pair of side plates 112 standing on both sides of the bottom plate 111, and the like. A bottom plate 111 is fixed to the rear side of the base top surface 20 by screws or the like (not shown).

In addition, on the base upper surface 20 and on the front side of the device, standing members 114 are provided at positions corresponding to the left and right side plates 112 of the main body chassis 11, and each standing member 114 rotates. A pulley 477 is freely attached. A drive belt 474 is wound around the pulley 477 to be driven in the Y direction by a gear device 6, which will be described later.
A guide shaft 475 is provided between the side plate 112 of the main body chassis 11 and each standing member 114 and extends substantially parallel to the drive belt 474 along the Y direction.
The carriage 451 of the X-direction moving mechanism 45 is attached to the guide shaft 475 and is movable along the Y-direction according to the driving of the drive belt 474 .

Further, in the carriage 451, a drive belt 454 that is driven along the X direction by driving an X-direction drive motor (not shown) of the X-direction moving mechanism 45 and a drive belt 454 that extends along the X direction substantially parallel to the drive belt 454 are provided. A residing guide shaft 455 is provided.
A holder 42 that holds the print head 41 is attached to the guide shaft 455 , and the print head 41 held by the holder 42 can move along the X direction according to the drive of the drive belt 454 .
In the present embodiment, a case in which the gear device 6 having the following characteristic configuration is incorporated in the Y-direction moving mechanism 47 of the drive mechanism 49 will be exemplified below. It may be incorporated not only in the directional movement mechanism 47 but also in the X-direction movement mechanism 45 .

<<Configuration of Gear Device>>
The gear device 6 incorporated in the Y-direction moving mechanism 47, which is the driving mechanism 49, will be described in detail below.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a main chassis, which is a support frame, and a Y-direction moving mechanism assembled thereon, viewed from the rear side of the apparatus. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the left side portion of the gear device in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the right side portion of the gear device in FIG. Moreover, FIG. 5 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the main body chassis and the gear device attached thereto.
5 omits illustration of some of the gears shown in FIG. 2 and the Y-direction driving motor 48 in order to facilitate understanding of the configuration of the gear device.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, through holes 113 are formed in the left and right side plates 112 of the main body chassis 11 at positions corresponding to each other.
A bearing member 65 is mounted in the through hole 113 from the outside of the main body chassis 11 . A rotating shaft 61 that extends along the X direction and is driven to rotate in the axial direction by the Y-direction movement drive motor 48 is rotatably attached to the through hole 113 via a bearing member 65 . The rotating shaft 61 is provided so that both ends thereof protrude from the through holes 113 of the main body chassis 11 (the side plates 112 of the main body chassis 11).

The rotating shaft 61 is a member made of metal such as SUS. In addition, in the rotating shaft 61, the distal end portion of the portion protruding from the side plate 112 is a thin shaft portion 61a (see FIG. 5) having a diameter smaller than that of the other portion (that is, the shaft body portion 61b).
Gears are attached to both end portions of the rotation shaft 61 protruding outside the main body chassis 11 from the through hole 113 of the main body chassis 11 (side plate 112).
Specifically, the configuration is as follows.

In this embodiment, a Y-direction drive motor 48 (see FIG. 2) is arranged on one end side of the rotating shaft 61 .
A drive gear 482 is attached to the free end of the shaft 481 of the Y-direction drive motor 48 and rotates when the shaft 481 is driven by the Y-direction drive motor 48 .
A main drive gear 62 that meshes with a drive gear 482 of the Y-direction drive motor 48 to transmit driving force is attached to the end of the rotation shaft 61 on the side where the Y-direction drive motor 48 is arranged. The main drive gear 62 includes a large gear 621 having a large diameter and a large number of teeth, a small gear 622 having a small diameter and a small number of teeth, and a hub 623 which is a cylindrical portion attached to the rotating shaft 61. is formed The shape and configuration of the main driving gear 62 are not limited to those illustrated here.
The main driving gear 62 is made of hard resin such as various engineering plastics, metal, etc. so that the teeth (the tooth row 621a of the large gear 621 and the tooth row 622a of the small gear 622) are not worn even after long-term use. It is The main driving gear 62 may be integrally made of the same material as a whole, or may be integrally formed by welding or the like. Moreover, it may be partially formed of a different material, such as forming only a portion that is likely to be worn out of metal or the like.

The method of attaching the main driving gear 62 to the rotating shaft 61 is not particularly limited, but for example, the main driving gear 62 is fixed by press-fitting the thin shaft portion 61a of the rotating shaft 61 into the shaft hole 624 (see FIG. 5) of the main driving gear 62 .
The main driving gear 62 may be attached to the rotating shaft 61 by adhesion, welding, or the like. Also, bonding or the like may be further performed after press-fitting.
The shaft hole 624 of the main driving gear 62 has an inner diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the thin shaft portion 61 a and smaller than the diameter of the shaft body portion 61 b of the rotating shaft 61 . Therefore, when the main driving gear 62 is press-fitted into the thin shaft portion 61a, the main driving gear 62 hits the step between the shaft body portion 61b of the rotating shaft 61 and the shaft body portion 61b when the main driving gear 62 is press-fitted into the thin shaft portion 61a of the rotating shaft 61. to stop.

In this embodiment, one speed controlling gear 63 for adjusting the rotational speed and the like is arranged between the main driving gear 62 and the driving gear 482 . The main drive gear 62 indirectly meshes with the drive gear 482 via the speed control gear 63 to transmit its driving force.
In this embodiment, the speed control gear 63 is a second gear that meshes with the main driving gear 62 that is a gear attached to the rotating shaft 61 .
By interposing the regulating gear 63 between the main driving gear 62 and the driving gear 482, the drive force (rotational speed and torque) generated by the Y-direction driving motor 48 can be controlled according to the number of teeth of the gear 63. etc.) can be adjusted (eg, decelerated) accordingly.

The speed control gear 63 of this embodiment includes a large gear 631 with a large diameter and a large number of teeth, a small gear 632 with a small diameter and a small number of teeth, and a hub 633, which is a tubular portion, coaxially and integrally. is formed in The regulating gear 63 has a hub 633 rotatably attached to the outside of the body chassis 11 (side plate 112). The shape, configuration, forming material, etc. of the speed control gear 63 are appropriately set in the same manner as the main drive gear 62 .
Note that it is not essential to interpose the governing gear 63 between the main driving gear 62 and the drive gear 482 , and the main driving gear 62 may directly mesh with the drive gear 482 . If the governing gear 63 is not provided, only the driving gear 482 will be the second gear that meshes with the main driving gear 62 . Also, a plurality of governing gears 63 may be interposed.

In this embodiment, the tooth train (not shown) of the driving gear 482 meshes with the tooth train 631a of the large gear 631 of the speed control gear 63, and the tooth train 632a of the small gear 632 of the speed control gear 63 meshes with the large gear of the main driving gear 62. A tooth row 621a (see FIG. 7) of 621 is meshed with each other, and the driving force of the Y-direction driving motor 48 is adjusted in a plurality of steps and transmitted/output.
A drive belt 474 is wound around the small gear 622 of the main drive gear 62 . The drive belt 474 of this embodiment is a toothed belt (timing belt) having a tooth row 474a that meshes with the tooth row 622a of the small gear 622 on the inner side thereof, enabling precise driving.
A drive belt 474 wound around the small gear 622 of the main driving gear 62 is wound around a pulley 477 arranged in front of the main driving gear 62 (see FIG. 1).

A driven gear 64 that rotates in synchronization with the rotation of the main driving gear 62 is attached to the other end of the rotating shaft 61 (the side opposite to the side to which the main driving gear 62 is attached). Like the main driving gear 62, the driven gear 64 is also fixed to the rotating shaft 61 by, for example, press-fitting the thin shaft portion 61a of the rotating shaft 61 into the shaft hole 644 (see FIG. 5).
The driven gear 64 has a gear main body 641 and a flange portion 642 provided on the side of the gear main body 641 facing the main chassis 11 . 474 is wrapped around. The drive belt 474 is a toothed belt (timing belt) formed with a tooth row 474 a that meshes with the tooth row 641 a of the gear body 641 of the driven gear 64 .
A drive belt 474 wound around the driven gear 64 is wound around a pulley 477 arranged in front of the driven gear 64 (see FIG. 1).

In this embodiment, the bearing member 65 arranged on the side of the rotating shaft 61 to which the driven gear 64 is attached is a biasing bearing member 65a having a biasing function.
In this embodiment, a rotating shaft 61, gears attached to both ends of the rotating shaft 61 (that is, a main driving gear 62 and a driven gear 64), and an urging bearing disposed on at least one end side of the rotating shaft 61 The gear device 6 is configured by the member 65a.

Here, the configuration of the biasing bearing member 65a having the biasing function will be described in detail.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a bearing member having a biasing function.
As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the urging bearing member 65a is a cylindrical bearing through which the rotating shaft 61 is inserted and which is inserted into the through hole 113 of the main body chassis 11 (the side plate 112 of the main body chassis 11). 651, and a driven gear that protrudes from the outer periphery of the bearing 651 and is disposed between the gear (driven gear 64 in this embodiment) and the main chassis 11 (side plate 112 of the main chassis 11) that is a support frame. It has a biasing portion 652 having a spring property that applies a biasing force in a direction to separate the gear 64 and the main body chassis 11 (side plate 112).
The urging bearing member 65a is made of a hard resin or the like having slidability and abrasion resistance to the extent that it functions as a bearing. Specifically, an engineering plastic such as POM (PolyOxyMethylene) is preferably used. be able to. In the present embodiment, the biasing bearing member 65a has a bearing portion 651 and a biasing portion 652 integrally formed.

The biasing bearing member 65a of the present embodiment includes a plurality of arm portions 653 extending outward from the outer periphery of the bearing portion 651 as biasing portions 652, and the arm portions 653 provided on the free end side of the rotating shaft 61. and a projection 654 projecting in the axial direction. The arm portion 653 is arranged so that the direction of the arm portion 653 (that is, the direction from the point of contact with the bearing portion 651 toward the free end of the arm portion 653 ) substantially coincides with the direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the rotating shaft 61 . Since the protrusions 654 are arranged on the outer periphery of the bearing portion 651 at regular intervals, the protrusions 654 protrude from the bearing portion 651 .
Like the shaft hole 624 of the main driving gear 62, the shaft hole 644 of the driven gear 64 has an inner diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the thin shaft portion 61a and smaller than the diameter of the shaft body portion 61b of the rotary shaft 61. It is Therefore, when the driven gear 64 is press-fitted into the thin shaft portion 61a, the driven gear 64 hits the step between the shaft main body portion 61b of the rotating shaft 61 and the shaft main body portion 61b when the driven gear 64 is press-fitted into the thin shaft portion 61a of the rotating shaft 61. to stop.
A thin shaft portion 61a of the rotating shaft 61 and a part of the shaft main body portion 61b continuing thereto protrude from the through hole 113 of the main body chassis 11 (side plate 112). Since it is press-fitted only to the back, a gap corresponding to the protrusion of the shaft body portion 61b is generated between the driven gear 64 and the body chassis 11 (side plate 112).

In general, the fixed position of the gear (driven gear 64 in this embodiment) to the rotating shaft 61 is determined by the press-fitting amount. If there is no gap between the gear (here, the driven gear 64) and the body chassis 11 (side plate 112), the gear cannot rotate smoothly. For this reason, between the gear (here, the driven gear 64) and the main body chassis 11 (the side plate 112), a clearance (play) that does not hinder the rotational movement is normally provided.
The biasing portion 652 of the biasing bearing member 65a of this embodiment is arranged to fill the gap between the driven gear 64 and the main body chassis 11 (side plate 112). The arm portion 653 of the biasing portion 652 is flexibly deformable so that when the projecting portion 654 hits the flat surface between the driven gear 64 and the main body chassis 11 (side plate 112), the gap between the two is widened. It functions as an elastic body that presses the flat surface (in this embodiment, the side plate 112 of the main body chassis 11 and the flange portion 642 of the driven gear 64) to apply tension. Therefore, in the biasing bearing member 65a shown in FIG.
For this reason, the play that occurs between each part such as between the rotating shaft 61 and the main body chassis 11 (side plate 112), between the main body chassis 11 (side plate 112) and the driven gear 64, etc. The urging portion 652 (especially the arm portion 653 that bends and deforms) absorbs it, and the rattling that occurs in the fitting portion and mounting portion of the parts can be suppressed.
In addition, since the backlash is absorbed by the bending of the biasing portion 652, the rotation shaft 61 is stabilized, and the backlash of the gear (in this embodiment, the main drive gear 62) provided on the other end side of the rotation shaft 61 is eliminated. It also reduces stickiness.

4, the biasing portion 652 presses and pushes the driven gear 64 outward so as to widen the space between the driven gear 64 and the main body chassis 11 (side plate 112). energize.
As a result, a state in which a constant preload (preload) is constantly applied to the main driving gear 62 via the rotating shaft 61 can be maintained. For this reason, the second gear (in this embodiment, directly the controlling gear 63 and indirectly the driving gear 482) meshing with the gear (in this embodiment, the main drive gear 62) attached to the rotating shaft 61. is provided, it is also possible to suppress rattling caused by backlash.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining backlash in the gear device. In the present embodiment, each component of the gear device 6 such as the main drive gear 62 is arranged outside the main chassis 11 (side plate 112), but in FIG. A face plate 112) is shown on the back side of each component of the gear device.
As shown in FIG. 7, in this embodiment, the large gear 621 of the main driving gear 62 attached to one end side of the rotary shaft 61 has a tooth row 632a of the small gear 632 of the speed control gear 63 as the second gear. are engaged. The tooth train 631a (see FIG. 3) of the large gear 631 of the speed control gear 63 is meshed with the driving gear 482, so that the driving force of the Y-direction driving motor 48 is indirectly transmitted to the main driving gear 62. It has become. A drive belt 474 is wound around the small gear 622 of the main drive gear 62, and the driving force of the Y-direction drive motor 48 is transmitted to the drive belt 474 via the main drive gear 62 and the like.

However, backlash (appropriate play) is provided between the tooth rows of meshing gears in order to enable smooth operation in consideration of manufacturing errors and the like. Therefore, when the Y-direction driving motor 48 is temporarily stopped, the Y-direction driving motor 48 may return due to the backlash of the meshing portions of the driving gear 482, the speed control gear 63, and the main driving gear 62. There is When such return or displacement occurs, the accuracy of the moving mechanism 47 in the Y direction is reduced by the amount of backlash.
7 shows the case where the second gear that meshes with the main driving gear 62, which is a gear attached to the rotating shaft 61, is the controlling gear 63. Similarly, when the driving gear 482 directly meshes with the gear 62 (that is, when the second gear is only the driving gear 482), there is a gap between the main driving gear 62 and the driving gear 482 as the second gear. There is a risk of deviation or rattling due to backlash.

In this regard, in the present embodiment, by arranging the biasing bearing member 65a having a biasing function at the end of the rotation shaft 61 on the mounting side of the driven gear 64, the protrusion 654 is pushed by the springy arm 653. The driven gear 64 is constantly urged outward (in the direction indicated by the white arrow in FIG. 4). As a result, the gears (main driving gear 62 and driven gear 64) attached to both ends of the rotating shaft 61 are always under tension.
Therefore, the main drive gear 62 can always be maintained under a constant preload (preload), and the second gear (in this embodiment, directly the governing gear 63) meshing with the main drive gear 62 , and indirectly, the occurrence of backlash caused by backlash with the drive gear 482) is suppressed.

<<Operation of Gear Device and Printing Device Equipped with the Gear Device>>
When assembling the gear device 6 of the present embodiment, first, the bearing portions 651 are inserted from the outside of the main body chassis 11 into the through holes 113 formed in the left and right side plates 112 of the main body chassis 11, and the bearing members 65 are attached. At this time, the bearing member 65 attached to one side plate 112 (in this embodiment, the side plate 112 on the side where the driven gear 64 is arranged) is an urging bearing member 65a having a urging function. Then, the rotary shaft 61 is inserted through the through hole 113 via the bearing member 65, and the rotary shaft 61 is attached so as to pass through the main body chassis 11 along the X direction of the apparatus.

Further, a driven gear 64 is press-fitted and fixed to the end of the rotary shaft 61 protruding outward from the main body chassis 11 to which the urging bearing member 65a is attached, and a main driving gear 62 is attached to the opposite end. be fixed by press-fitting.
Further, a speed control gear 63 as a second gear is arranged at a position where the tooth row of the drive gear 482 of the Y-direction drive motor 48 and the tooth row of the main drive gear 62 mesh.
Drive belts 474 are wound between the main driving gear 62 and the corresponding pulley 477 and between the driven gear 64 and the corresponding pulley 477, respectively.
This completes the assembly of the gear device 6 of the moving mechanism 47 in the Y direction.

When the Y-direction drive motor 48 is driven, the main drive gear 62 rotates accordingly, and the driven gear 64 fixed to the other end side of the rotating shaft 61 also rotates in synchronization with the main drive gear 62 . As a result, the pair of drive belts 474 wound around the main driving gear 62 and the driven gear 64 are driven at the same timing. Then, the print head 41 (carriage 451 on which the print head 41 is mounted) attached to the Y-direction moving mechanism 47 moves in the Y direction along the guide shaft 475 according to the drive of the Y-direction drive motor 48 .
Further, an X-direction driving motor (not shown) and the like are provided in the carriage 451 of the X-direction moving mechanism 45 . When the X-direction drive motor is driven, its driving force is transmitted to the drive belt 454, and the print head 41 (the holder 42 holding the print head 41) reciprocates appropriately along the guide shaft 455 in the X direction.

The Y-direction moving mechanism 47 of this embodiment is provided with a biasing bearing member 65a having a biasing function. Therefore, mounting backlash or the like generated in members around the rotating shaft 61 due to bending deformation of the arm portion 653 of the biasing portion 652 is absorbed.
Also, when the arm portion 653 bends, the projection portion 654 urges the driven gear 64 in the direction away from the main body chassis, and the main driving gear 62 and the driven gear 64 provided at both ends of the rotating shaft 61 are always under tension. is applied.
As a result, the backlash caused by backlash and the backlash at the mounting part of the component can be suppressed, and the movement position accuracy of the print head 41 can be improved. can properly perform printing that requires

<<Effects of Gear Device and Printing Device Equipped with the Gear Device>>
As described above, the gear device of this embodiment includes the rotating shaft 61 rotatably attached to the main body chassis 11 so that both ends protrude from the main body chassis 11, and both ends of the rotating shaft 61 protruding from the main body chassis 11. and a biasing bearing member 65a disposed on at least one end side of the rotating shaft 61. The bearing member 65a is a bearing portion 651 through which the rotating shaft 61 is inserted. A biasing portion 652 projecting from the outer periphery of the bearing portion 651 and disposed between the driven gear 64 and the main body chassis 11 and having a spring property to apply a biasing force in the direction of separating the driven gear 64 and the main body chassis 11. and have
Therefore, the urging portion 652 of the urging bearing member 65a absorbs looseness or the like of the part mounting portion, and the occurrence of looseness can be suppressed.
In addition, since the driven gear 64 is urged in the direction away from the main body chassis 11 by the springiness of the urging portion 652 of the urging bearing member 65a, the tension is always maintained to prevent backlash. Occurrence of backlash is suppressed.

Further, in the present embodiment, the biasing bearing member 65a has the bearing portion 651 and the biasing portion 652 integrally formed.
For this reason, it is possible to realize a structure that suppresses the occurrence of backlash caused by backlash and backlash at the part mounting portion without increasing the number of parts. In addition, it is possible to reduce the trouble of separately incorporating fine parts for suppressing rattling.
Further, the biasing bearing member 65a having the bearing portion 651 and the biasing portion 652 can be easily formed of resin or the like.
As a result, it is possible to realize a highly accurate gear device 6 while suppressing device costs.

In this embodiment, the biasing portion 652 includes a plurality of arm portions 653 extending outward from the outer periphery of the bearing portion 651 and the free ends of the arm portions 653 protruding in the axial direction of the rotating shaft 61 . and a protrusion 654 that
As a result, the projecting portion 654 presses the driven gear 64 away from the main body chassis 11 due to the bending of the arm portion 653, and the looseness of the component mounting portion is absorbed. Furthermore, since the main drive gear 62 can always be preloaded, even if backlash occurs, rattling caused by the backlash can be suppressed.
As described above, in the present embodiment, rattling can be effectively suppressed by a relatively simple configuration in which the biasing bearing member 65a has the springy arm portion 653 and the projection portion 654. FIG.

In addition, in this embodiment, the gear device 6 includes a control gear 63 as a second gear that meshes with the main driving gear 62 attached to the rotating shaft 61 .
Therefore, backlash is appropriately set between the gears that mesh with each other, but since the gear device is provided with the biasing bearing member 65a having a biasing function, it is possible to always maintain a state of tension. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of looseness due to backlash.

Further, in this embodiment, the printing apparatus 1 is configured to move the print head 41 by the driving mechanism 49 having the gear device 6 as described above.
Therefore, it is possible to effectively suppress rattling of the component mounting portion of the drive mechanism 49 and rattling due to backlash. As a result, even when printing is performed using a printing method that requires a high degree of positional accuracy of the print head 41, for example, the printing apparatus 1 performs shingling printing in a multi-pass method, a simple configuration can be used. , high-definition printing can be achieved by preventing misalignment due to backlash.
In addition, rattling can be suppressed by the biasing bearing member 65a arranged in the gear device 6 without providing an elastic member or the like as a separate member. For this reason, the number of parts can be reduced, and labor for assembly can be saved, so that the cost of the device can be suppressed.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, the shape of the biasing bearing member 65a having a biasing function is not limited to that shown in this embodiment.
For example, the biasing bearing member 65a may comprise a biasing portion 652 having two arms 653 and a projection 654 provided at the free end of each arm 653, as shown in FIG. Further, the urging portion 652 may include one arm portion 653 that is spirally formed and capable of bending and deforming.
Further, depending on the shape of the arm portion 653, the arm portion 653 alone may have a sufficient biasing force. In this case, the protrusion portion 654 may not be provided.

Further, the urging bearing member 65a having the urging function is not limited to being provided on one end side of the rotary shaft 61. FIG.
For example, the bearing members 65 arranged on both the right and left ends of the rotating shaft 61 may all be urging bearing members 65a having a urging function.
Furthermore, the urging bearing member 65a having the urging function is not limited to being provided on the side where the driven gear 64 is provided.
For example, the biasing bearing member 65a having a biasing function may be provided only on the side where the main drive gear 62 is provided.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the gear device 6 is applied to the drive mechanism 49 that moves the print head 41 of the printing device 1 is exemplified, but the gear device 6 is not limited to being applied to the printing device 1. .
In a device equipped with a gear, if a configuration is adopted in which rattling occurs at the mounting portion or fitting portion of the parts in the rotating shaft and the gear, or rattling due to backlash, the attachment shown in this embodiment is used. By applying the gear device 6 provided with the force bearing member 65a, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of backlash of each part and improve the accuracy of the device provided with gears.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes the scope of the invention described in the claims and equivalent ranges thereof. .
The invention described in the scope of claims originally attached to the application form of this application is additionally described below. The claim numbers in the appendix are as in the claims originally attached to the filing of this application.
[Appendix]
<Claim 1>
a rotating shaft rotatably attached to the support frame so that both ends protrude from the support frame;
gears attached to the both ends projecting from the support frame;
bearing members respectively arranged between the support frame and the gear;
with
At least one of the bearing members is an urging bearing member, and the urging bearing member includes a bearing portion through which the rotating shaft is inserted, and the urging bearing member projects from the outer circumference of the bearing portion to connect the gear and the support frame. and an urging portion having a spring property that applies an urging force in a direction to separate the gears.
<Claim 2>
2. The gear device according to claim 1, wherein the biasing bearing member has the bearing portion and the biasing portion integrally formed.
<Claim 3>
The urging portion is
a plurality of arms extending outward from the outer periphery of the bearing;
a protrusion provided on the free end side of the arm and protruding in the axial direction of the rotating shaft;
3. A gear device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by comprising:
<Claim 4>
The gear device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a second gear that meshes with the gear that is attached to the rotating shaft.
<Claim 5>
A drive comprising: a gear device according to any one of claims 1 to 4; a drive source that rotationally drives gears of the gear device; and a drive belt that transmits the drive force provided by the drive source a mechanism;
a print head configured to be movable by the drive mechanism;
A printing device comprising:

1 printing device 6 gear device 11 main body chassis (support frame)
40 printing unit 41 print head 45 X-direction movement mechanism 47 Y-direction movement mechanism 48 Y-direction drive motor 49 drive mechanism 61 rotary shaft 62 main drive gear 63 speed control gear (second gear)
64 driven gear 65 bearing member 65a biasing bearing member 651 bearing portion 652 biasing portion 653 arm portion 654 protrusion

Claims (5)

a rotating shaft rotatably attached to the support frame so that both ends protrude from the support frame;
gears attached to the both ends projecting from the support frame;
bearing members respectively arranged between the support frame and the gear;
with
At least one of the bearing members is an urging bearing member, and the urging bearing member includes a bearing portion through which the rotating shaft is inserted, and the urging bearing member projects from the outer circumference of the bearing portion to connect the gear and the support frame. and an urging portion having a spring property that applies an urging force in a direction to separate the gears. 2. The gear device according to claim 1, wherein the biasing bearing member has the bearing portion and the biasing portion integrally formed. The urging portion is
a plurality of arms extending outward from the outer periphery of the bearing;
a protrusion provided on the free end side of the arm and protruding in the axial direction of the rotating shaft;
3. A gear device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by comprising: The gear device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a second gear that meshes with the gear attached to the rotating shaft. A drive comprising: a gear device according to any one of claims 1 to 4; a drive source that rotationally drives gears of the gear device; and a drive belt that transmits the drive force provided by the drive source a mechanism;
a print head configured to be movable by the drive mechanism;
A printing device comprising:

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