JPH02145363A - Holding method for recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To position, hold a recording head and supply power thereto with high accuracy and high reliability by bringing a plurality of power supply members into contact with power supply electrodes provided on the oblique face of a recording head, then retreating them at a predetermined distance, and stopping them at a position for alleviating pressing forces of the members. CONSTITUTION:After an ion cartridge 1 (recording head) is guided by the surfaces of tie bars 22, 23, a guide member 45 and an image carrier 10 to arrive at a predetermined position, a cam 41 is rotated to move a slide frame toward an image carrier 10. Thus, power supply spring 38 of a power supply connector 21 is advanced along the upper and lower oblique faces of the head 1, and brought into contact with the power supply electrode 6 of the head 1 under a predetermined pressure at a midway position of the oblique face of a slide frame 36 corresponding to the movement end position. Thus, since the spring 38 is returned to the face of the electrode 6 cleaned by the spring 38 at the time of advancing and held in contact, power supply having high reliability is obtained.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a recording head having a printing element array used in a recording device such as a printer, a copier, or a facsimile, that is, a heating element used in thermal recording or thermal transfer recording. The present invention relates to a method of holding a recording head such as a column recording head, an ion flow recording head, a multi-needle electrode recording head, an LED array recording head, an LCD array recording head, an EL light emitting element array recording head, an inkjet element array recording head, and the like.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, as a means for holding a recording head in a recording apparatus main body used in a recording apparatus such as a printer, a structure as shown in FIG. 6 is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,847. .

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a recording head 101 having a printing element array arranged thereon is mounted on positioning members 103a and 103b disposed along the image carrier 102, and is placed facing the image carrier 102. A driver unit 105 equipped with a large number of needle-shaped electrodes 104 for supplying power to the recording head 101 is rotatably supported by the main body frame around an axis 106, and a spring 107 connects the needle-shaped electrodes 104 to the recording head. 101 in the direction of pressure contact with the power supply electrode,
While supplying power to the recording head 101, the recording head 1
01 is positioned and held at a predetermined position. When the recording head 101 is removed for replacement or the like, the driver unit 105 is rotated in the direction of the arrow against the biasing force of the spring 107, and then the recording head 101 is removed.
I was trying to remove 01.

Conventionally, as a more compact recording head holding means, a structure as shown in FIG. 7 has been proposed. That is, the recording head 112 is arranged to face the image carrier 102, and the recording head 112 is configured by providing power feeding electrodes on the inclined surfaces 111a and 1llb, which are formed symmetrically on the recording head main body. Then, a driver unit 115 holding two driver boards 114 each having a connector means 113 at the tip thereof is arranged, and the driver unit 115 is urged toward the recording head 112 by a spring 116. The connector means 113 provided at the tip of each driver board 114 is brought into pressure contact with the power supply electrodes on the respective inclined surfaces 111a and 1llb of the recording head 112.

Due to this pressure contact of the connector means, component forces in the direction perpendicular to the driver board 114 cancel each other out of the pressure contact force, and only the component force in the direction of the image carrier 102 necessary for positioning and holding is applied to the recording head 112. , recording head 11
2 is positioned and held at a predetermined position without causing any bending or the like. Also in this configuration, when removing the recording head 112, the driver unit 115 is moved toward the recording head 1 against the biasing force of the spring 116.
The recording head is removed by retracting it from 12.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional example shown in FIG. 6, positioning members 103a, 103 for positioning and holding the recording head 101 are
b and needle-like electrodes 104 for supplying power to the recording head 101 and holding the recording head 101 in pressure contact with the positioning members 103a and 103b are arranged separately on both sides of the recording head 101, so that the image carrier 102 There is a problem in that a large space is required along the outer periphery of the image carrier, which increases the restrictions on the arrangement of other process means disposed around the image carrier.

The structure shown in FIG. 7 can solve the above problem, but in this structure, the driver unit 115 is biased by the spring 116 to connect the connector means at the tip of each driver group li 114. When the connector means 113 is brought into pressure contact with the power supply electrodes on each inclined surface of the recording head 112, the frictional force generated when the connector means 113 moves on the inclined surface of the recording head 112 becomes a non-negligible value, and the driver unit 115 Even after the movement is stopped, stress remains in the connector means 113 and the recording pad 112. Therefore, the image carrier 10 of the recording head 112
In the case where a spacer is provided on the surface facing the image carrier 2 and the spacer is configured to slide against the surface of the image carrier to maintain a gap, there is a problem that wear of the spacer is accelerated.

Furthermore, in the conventional configuration shown in FIGS. 6 and 7,
In either case, when retracting the driver unit from the recording head, the driver unit must be moved in a direction that increases the tension of the spring while resisting the biasing force of the spring, which requires a large amount of operating force and increases the size of the device. There is a problem.

Furthermore, in the configuration shown in FIG. 7, when the connector means 113 moves on the slope of the recording head 112, it performs a cleaning action on the surface of the power supply electrode provided on the slope. Since this connector means moves in one direction and is stopped and held, there is a risk that foreign matter or the like will be gathered at the stop position, reducing the reliability of the contact between the power supply electrode and the connector.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems in conventional recording head holding means, and makes it possible to moderate the pressing force applied to the recording head, thereby achieving highly accurate and reliable positioning and holding and power supply. The purpose of this invention is to provide a method of holding a recording head that can be carried out.

[Means and operations for solving the problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a printing element array for recording an image on an image carrier and a plurality of power supply devices for feeding power to the printing element array. In the method for holding a recording head having electrodes in a recording apparatus main body, the recording head has a surface inclined with respect to a surface having a printing element array, and the plurality of power feeding electrodes are arranged on the inclined surface. The recording head is positioned by abutting against a positioning member provided on the recording apparatus main body, and a plurality of power supply members movably arranged by a moving mechanism provided on the recording apparatus main body are connected. , for a plurality of power feeding electrodes provided on the inclined surface of the recording head,
The recording head is moved forward in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface having the printing element row to contact and press the recording head, and then retreated by a predetermined amount and stopped at a position where the pressing force by the power supply member is reduced, and the recording head is moved to the positioning member. This is to hold it under pressure.

In this way, the power supply member is moved forward while contacting the power supply electrode provided on the inclined surface of the recording head, and then retreated by a predetermined amount, thereby eliminating stress caused by frictional force when the power supply member moves forward. Therefore, the recording head can be positioned and held at a predetermined position with an appropriate pressing force.

Further, since the power supply member is moved forward relative to the power supply electrode and then retreated by a predetermined amount, the power supply member returns to the completely cleaned power supply electrode surface and is held in contact with the power supply electrode surface, thereby ensuring highly reliable contact.

〔Example〕

Examples will be described below. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an ion cartridge, which is an ion flow recording head used in a printer, as a recording head used in an embodiment of the recording head holding method according to the present invention.
is a cross-sectional view thereof.

The ion cartridge 1 is composed of a bank bone 2 made of aluminum or highly rigid plastic, and a laminated electrode member 3 in which various electrodes, insulating layers, adhesives, etc. are laminated in a flexible sheet shape. The uppermost layer of this laminated electrode member 3 is a laminate layer 4 for protection and insulation. This laminate layer 4 exposes only the screen electrode surface 5 and each of the power supply electrodes 6 that face the image carrier serving as the image forming surface and constitute the printing element array.

Spacers 7 are provided at both ends of the exposed screen electrode surface 5 to maintain a constant distance from the image carrier. In the power supply electrodes 6, 6a is a finger electrode power supply electrode, 6b is a screen electrode power supply electrode, and 6c is a cartridge absence detection electrode.

The backbone 2 is formed of a flat polygonal prism having a polygonal cross section, as shown in FIG.
In the figure, the short side on the left side is where the screen electrode surface 5 is placed, and the two upper and lower inclined surfaces on the right side are where the power feeding electrode 6 is placed. Note that the electrodes for feeding power to the write data control electrodes of the ion cartridge 1 are formed separately on both the upper and lower inclined surfaces, and the electrodes for feeding power to the ion discharge electric machine are formed only on the upper inclined surface. The laminated electrode member 3 is attached to the backbone 2 by starting from the right end of one inclined surface of the backbone 2, going around to the back side via the short side for the screen electrode surface arrangement part, and reaching the right end of the other inclined surface. It is pasted. This laminated electrode member 3
The thickness is approximately 0.1 Uam to 1.

The ion cartridge l configured in this manner is attached to the main body of the recording apparatus so that it can be replaced manually by an operator. Therefore, a thrust direction positioning pin 8 is attached to one end of the backbone 2, and a pin 8 for thrust direction positioning is attached to one end of the backbone 2. A grip is attached to the side end surface.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the configuration of the peripheral portion when the ion cartridge, which is the recording head of the printer shown in FIG. 1, is attached to the printer. The ion cartridge 1 is held with respect to the drum-shaped image carrier IO in a state tilted upward by about 28 degrees from the horizontal plane. Developing device 11. Transfer corona charger 12
．． Cleaning unit 13. Bias roller 14.
Eraser 15. Magnefu Hi 6 etc. are installed. The ion cartridge 1 has its upper and lower surfaces guided by tie bars 22 and 23 attached to the main body of the device, and receives pressure contact force from the power supply connector 21 supported by the upper and lower driver boards 18 and 19 from behind, and the screen electrode surface 5 is held so as to be pressed against the image carrier 10 via the spacer 7.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the structure of the holding section and driving section of the ion cartridge 1. Reference numeral 31 denotes a guide frame that is positioned and fixed to the main body frame, and the approximately U-shaped receiver is formed into a dish shape, and a high-voltage power supply board 32 for controlling the ion cartridge and two cooling fans 33 are installed at the bottom of the guide frame. ing. Two cut-and-raised portions 34 and 35 are provided on each side plate of the guide frame 31, and a slide frame 36 is placed on the cut-and-raised portions 34 and 35. The slide frame 36 has a U-shape that is slightly smaller than the guide frame 31, and has a large cutout at the bottom where it faces the cooling fan 33.

A positioning pin 37 and a lower driver board 19 positioned by the positioning pin 37 are attached to the remaining bottom part of the slide frame 36 other than the notch.

On the other hand, the upper driver board 18 is the lower driver board 1.
9, and at the same time are electrically connected to each other by an inter-board connecting terminal, and further fixed to the slide frame 36 at the rear end. The power supply electrodes for supplying power to the write data control electrodes of the ion cartridge L are arranged separately on both the upper and lower inclined surfaces, while the power supply electrodes for supplying power to the ion discharge electrodes are arranged only on the upper inclined surface. Therefore, a write data control circuit and an ion discharge electrode drive circuit are formed on the upper driver board 18, and an ion discharge electrode drive circuit is arranged on the lower driver board 19.

A pair of ion cartridge power supply connectors 21 are attached to the ends of the upper driver board 18 and the lower driver board 19 closer to the image carrier 10, and this power supply connector 21 has a large number of power supply springs 38. There is. Each of the power supply springs 38 needs to be positioned with high precision with respect to the power supply electrode 6 provided in the ion cartridge l. Therefore, the relative positioning of both the upper and lower substrates 18 and 19 is performed by engagement between positioning pins provided on the power supply connector 21 itself and engagement holes. Also, both upper and lower boards 18.19
The positioning of the ion cartridge 1 and the ion cartridge 1 is achieved by engagement between the pin 40 provided on the tie bar 23 that positions and holds the ion cartridge 1 and one end of the slide frame 36 that supports both the upper and lower substrates 18 and 19. It is determined.

The cam shaft 39 is pivotally supported by the guide frame 31, and a hook is provided between both side plates of the guide frame 31 so as to restrict the upward movement of the slide frame 36, and a cam 41 is provided at both ends of the hook. There is. As the camshaft 39 rotates, the cam follower surface 42 or 43 formed on the slide frame 36 comes into contact with the slide frame 39.
6 is moved back and forth with respect to the guide frame 31. That is, when the cam 41 reaches the rotational position shown by the dashed line, the cam follower surface 43
After being pushed back, a return spring (not shown)
Move back to the arrow position. This return spring is a weak spring that acts as a driving force to move the slide frame 36 only when the slide frame 36 is released from the load such as the pressure contact friction force of the power supply connector 21.

At this time, the slide frame 36 and each member attached to the frame 36, such as the driver boards 18 and 19, retreat to the position where the cam follower surface 42 contacts the rotated cam 41. In this state, the ion cartridge 1 is attached to and detached from the main body of the apparatus.

Further, a rotatably supported guide member 45 is attached to the camshaft 39, and the guide member 45 is attached to the camshaft 39.
The rotation of the slide frame 36. Driver board 1
8.19 and the power supply connector 21 attached to the end of the board 18.19 is relatively protruded from each member thereof, and when the ion cartridge l is attached or detached, the rear end is restricted and retreated. Interference with the power supply connector 21 is prevented.

The ion cartridge 1 is inserted through the opening of the main body frame of the apparatus, and is inserted through the tie bars 22, 23. After reaching a predetermined position while being guided by the guide member 45 and the surface of the image carrier 10, the cam 41 is rotated by operating a set lever (not shown) linked to the cam shaft 39, and the slide frame 36 is moved by the image carrier lO force. Move direction.

This movement causes the power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21 to
enters along the vertical slope of the ion cartridge 1,
As will be described in detail later, a predetermined pressure (40 g to 1 spring pin per spring pin) is applied to the power supply electrode 6 of the ion cartridge 1 at an intermediate position on the inclined surface corresponding to the movement end position of the slide frame 36 after the latter half of the advance. 200g)
Weld with pressure.

In this way, the power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21 is arranged on the power supply electrode 6 on the inclined surface of the ion cartridge 1.
Since the ion cartridge l is in pressure contact with the image bearing member 10 by a component of the pressure contact force, the ion cartridge l is brought into pressure contact with the image carrier 10 via the spacer 7 on the screen electrode surface 5 having the printing element array. Thereby, the gap between the screen electrode surface 5 of the ion cartridge 1 and the surface of the image carrier 10 is set to a predetermined value corresponding to the thickness of the spacer 7 with high precision.

On the other hand, due to the reaction force of the power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21,
The driver boards 18, 19 are subjected to a force in a direction that increases the distance between them. At this time, the back surface of the lower driver board 19 is supported by the bottom surface of the slide frame 36 via an insulator 46, and the back surface of the upper driver board 18 is supported by a tie bar 47 fixed to the slide frame 36 via an insulator 46. is supported,
This structure is configured to suppress the force in the direction of widening the space between the substrates 18 and 19.

The number of power supply springs of the upper and lower power supply connectors 21 is set to be the same, and the slide frame 36 is set to the same number as the guide frame 31.
Although it is configured to move back and forth between the cut and raised portions 34 and 35 and the cam shaft 39, there is also a margin for slight movement in the vertical direction. Therefore, when the power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21 presses the ion cartridge l, the ion cartridge 1
．． 19, and the pressing forces of the upper and lower power supply connectors 21 are balanced. This prevents the ion cartridge 1 from receiving any force due to the pressing force of the power supply connector 21 in a direction that causes it to rotate or float above the reference surfaces provided at both ends of the tie bar 23. Further, the ion cartridge l is positioned on a reference surface provided on the tie bar 23 by the weight of the slide frame 36 and the presser springs 48 attached near both front and rear ends of the tie bar 47.

In FIG. 3, the two cooling fans 33 provided at the bottom of the guide frame 31 are installed in the direction of sucking air from below and blowing it upward. As described above, the bottom of the slide frame 36 is cut out at the portion facing the fan 33, so that the airflow taken in from below is blown directly to the upper driver board 18. Components that easily generate heat, such as power transistors that constitute the control circuit or the drive circuit arranged on the upper driver board 18, are arranged at positions facing the fan. A portion of the airflow that impinges on the upper driver board 18 is transferred to the upper and lower driver boards 18.1.
9, increasing the pressure near the power supply connector 21,
Since an air flow flowing out from the gap between the power supply connector 21 and the ion cartridge 1 is formed, adhesion of floating toner and other floating substances to the power supply electrode 6 and the power supply spring 38 is prevented or reduced.

FIG. 4 shows a cam 41 that drives the slide frame 36.
Fig. 4 fB) is a diagram illustrating the force exerted on the cartridge l by the power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21. To move the slide frame 36 to press and hold the ion cartridge l in a predetermined position, move the cam 41 from the retracted position shown by the dotted line to the cam shaft 39.
The slide frame 36 is rotated in the direction of arrow Q around , and the slide frame 36 is pushed forward in the direction of arrow P.

The operation of the cam 41 and the slide frame 36 is completed at the position shown by the solid line where the cam follower surface 42 of the slide frame 36 and the straight portion 41a formed on the outer periphery of the cam 41 come into contact. The outer periphery of the cam 41 has a straight portion 41a as described above.
is formed, and the top dead center indicated by the arrow is set to be θ in front of the stop position indicated by the solid line in the fourth diagram in terms of the rotation angle of the cam 41, and the slide frame 36 is located at the top dead center. The stroke of takes the maximum value. That is, the cam 41 is configured to stop at a position slightly past the top dead center, and thereby the slide frame 36 is stopped at a position slightly retreated from the maximum forward movement position.

The power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21 abuts on the inclined surface of the ion cartridge 1, and is pressed against the ion cartridge 1 with a pressure force F as shown in FIG. Among the component forces of the pressure contact force F, the downward component force F is applied to the other power supply connector 2 onto the opposite inclined surface formed symmetrically in the ion cartridge 1.
This is canceled out by the upward component of the pressure contact force exerted by the power supply spring 38 of No. 1. The leftward component force F8 acts as a force that presses the ion cartridge 1 against the surface of the image carrier 1o.

Further, since the power supply spring 38 receives a reaction force N equal to the pressure contact force F, when the power supply spring 38 moves on the inclined surface of the cartridge l as the slide frame 36 moves due to the rotation of the cam 41, the cartridge l The inclined surface of is subjected to a force of f=μN due to frictional force.

At the position where the cam 41 reaches the top dead center, the force f received by this frictional force becomes maximum, and if the movement of the power supply spring 38 is stopped at this point, the force f received by this frictional force is
The accumulated stress remains in the power supply spring 38 and the laminate layer 4 of the cartridge 1, and continues to apply excessive force to the cartridge 1. However, in the present invention, as shown in this embodiment, the cam 41 is configured to stop at a position slightly beyond the top dead center, so after passing the top dead center, the slide frame 41 is
6 is slightly retracted, and accordingly, the power supply spring 38 is also slightly retracted, and the direction of the force f received by the frictional force is also reversed as shown by the dotted line. This allows the ion cartridge 1 to be held with an appropriate pressing force without residual frictional stress.

Further, as described above, the power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21 is
The power supply electrode 6 arranged on the inclined surface of the ion cartridge 1 moves forward while being pressed into contact with it, then retreats by a predetermined amount and stops. Return to the power supply spring 3
8 is maintained in contact, thus ensuring highly reliable power supply.

And in this way, with a predetermined pressing force, the ion cartridge l
The operation of positioning and holding the image carrier 10 on the image carrier IO and the operation of bringing the power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21 into contact with the cleaned power supply electrode surface are easily performed with a simple cam mechanism and a small amount of operating force.

In the above embodiment, an image carrier is used as a positioning member for the ion cartridge, and the ion cartridge is pressed and held against the surface of the image carrier through a spacer provided on the screen electrode surface of the ion cartridge. The ion cartridge can be positioned and held using a member other than the image carrier as a positioning member. Fifth
FIG. 8 is a partially sectional plan view of another embodiment.
Figure fB+ is its side view. In this embodiment, positioning members 52 are provided at both ends of a housing 51 that holds the image carrier 1O, and the screen electrode surface 5 of the ion cartridge 1 is brought into contact with the positioning members 52 to be positioned and held. It is. Note that 53 is the housing 51
The O positioning member 52, which is a presser spring inserted between the ion cartridge 1 and the ion cartridge 1, moves the image carrier 10 by the necessary space between the screen electrode surface 5 and the surface of the image carrier IO.
It is arranged to protrude more. By ensuring the accuracy of this protrusion amount by using an assembly jig, etc., the first positioning reference plane does not necessarily have to be the surface of the image carrier.
As in the embodiment, the ion cartridge can be positioned and held at a predetermined position with an appropriate pressing force.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above based on the embodiments, according to the present invention, the power feeding member is moved forward relative to the power feeding electrode of the recording head and then moved back by a predetermined amount to hold the recording head. The stress generated by the frictional force when the member moves forward is eliminated, so that the recording head can be positioned and held at a predetermined position with an appropriate pressing force without applying excessive force. In addition, the power supply member cleans the power supply electrode of the recording head when moving forward, returns to the cleaned power supply electrode surface, and is held in contact with it, so that highly reliable power supply can be ensured. In addition, by using a cam in the movement mechanism of the power supply member, in combination with the mechanism for connecting and separating the power supply electrode of the recording head using the pressure contact force of the power supply member itself, the recording head can be moved with a small amount of operating force using a simple and compact operation mechanism. can perform holding operations.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ion cartridge used in an embodiment of the recording head holding method according to the present invention, and FIG.
) is a cross-sectional view thereof, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the state in which the ion cartridge shown in FIG. 1 is installed in the main body of the recording apparatus, and FIG. , FIG. 4 (8) is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the cam that drives the slide frame, FIG. Figures illustrating other embodiments of the recording head holding method of the present invention (5th issue) are side views, Figures 6 and 7.
The figure is a diagram showing a conventional recording head holding means. In the figure, 1 is an ion cartridge, 3 is an active layer electrode member, 5 is a screen electrode surface, 6 is a power supply electrode, 7 is a spacer, 10 is an image carrier, I8 is an upper driver board,
19 is the lower driver board, 21 is the power supply connector, 22
．． 23 is a tie bar, 31 is a guide frame, 36 is a slide frame, 38 is a power supply spring, 39 is a camshaft, 41 is a cam, and 45 is a guide member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for holding a recording head in a recording device main body, which includes a printing element array for recording an image on an image carrier and a plurality of power supply electrodes for supplying power to the printing element array. The recording head has a surface inclined with respect to the surface having the printing element array, and the plurality of power feeding electrodes are arranged on the inclined surface, and the recording head is installed in the main body of the recording apparatus. A plurality of power supply electrodes provided on the inclined surface of the recording head position a plurality of power supply members movably arranged by a moving mechanism provided on the recording apparatus main body. The printing head is moved forward in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface having the printing element row of the recording head to contact and press it, and then is moved back by a predetermined amount and stopped at a position where the pressing force by the power supply member is reduced, and the recording head is moved. A method for holding a recording head, characterized in that the positioning member is pressed to hold the recording head. 2. The power feeding member moving mechanism uses a mechanism that moves the power feeding member by rotating a cam, and in response to the rotation of the cam, the power feeding member moves to a plurality of power feeding electrodes on the inclined surface of the recording head. 2. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the power feeding member is moved back by a predetermined amount by moving in contact with the cam and stopping rotation of the cam at a position beyond the top dead center. How to hold it.