JPH058494A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a recording device capable of obtaining an appropriate gap and reducing cost under a simple structure. CONSTITUTION:A guide member 14 for guiding a carrier 7 where a recording head 6 is mounted in parallel with the surface where data is recorded of a recording medium 5, is energized by a spring 14c so that the guide member comes in contact with a transport roller 18 which holds the recording medium 5 through the recording medium 5. Thus the gap between the recording head and the recording medium is maintained as specified regardless of the thickness of the recording medium 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a movable portion (hereinafter referred to as a carrier) equipped with a recording head that reciprocates in a direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of a recording medium such as paper and OHP sheet (hereinafter also referred to as recording paper or simply paper). So-called serial type recording device (hereinafter referred to as a serial printer)
Have been proposed in the form of mounting recording heads of various recording systems. The recording head used in this serial printer includes a wire dot system, a thermal system, a thermal transfer system, and an inkjet system.

In particular, the ink-jet method has a low running cost because it directly ejects ink onto a recording sheet, and is attracting attention as a quiet recording method.

[0004]

In the ink jet system, the recording head is always in non-contact with the recording medium, and the ink ejected from the recording head flies in the space between the recording head and the recording medium, The recording medium is reached and recording is performed.

Here, the distance between the ink discharge port of the recording head and the recording medium is relatively small, and it is necessary to always keep the distance constant at an appropriate distance. This is because when the distance between the ink ejection port and the recording medium (hereinafter also referred to as a gap) becomes large, the distance until the ink ejected from the ink ejection port reaches the recording medium becomes long. This is because the speed of is slowed down, or the position when reaching the recording medium becomes unstable, and the recorded characters and images are disturbed.

On the other hand, if the gap becomes too narrow, the ink ejection port of the recording head and the recording medium come into contact with each other due to slight vibration or distortion of the recording medium, and the ink attached around the ink ejection port. However, there is a problem that the recording medium becomes dirty.

Therefore, in order to properly set the gap, it is necessary to assemble while adjusting the distance between the carrier on which the recording head is mounted and the paper pan that holds the recording medium, which requires a lot of man-hours. Was needed.

As another method, a carrier is attached so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the recording medium with respect to a carrier axis that guides the carrier in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the recording medium, and the carrier is further recorded. By providing a mechanism for pressing the paper pan holding the medium, the gap is held at an appropriate distance. However, this method has a problem in that the mechanism is complicated and the cost is further increased.

An object of the present invention is to solve the conventional problems described above, and to provide a recording apparatus capable of obtaining an appropriate gap with a simple structure and consequently realizing cost reduction.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a holding means for holding a recording medium, a carrier on which a recording head is mounted, and a recording in which the carrier is held by the holding means. It is characterized in that it is provided with a guide member for guiding the recording medium in parallel with the recording surface of the medium, and a means for urging the guide member so as to abut against the holding means via the recording medium.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the guide member for guiding the carrier on which the recording head is mounted in parallel with the recording surface of the recording medium is urged to come into contact with the holding means via the recording medium. Become.

Thus, since the gap between the recording surface and the recording head is automatically kept constant even if the thickness of the recording medium varies depending on the type of recording medium, it is possible to reduce the number of parts and eliminate adjustment during assembly. It is possible to reduce the cost with a simple structure.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a word processor having the recording apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory view of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

First, the entire apparatus will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus has a keyboard 1 for inputting information, a display section 2 including a CRT for displaying the input information, and the input information. And a recording device 3 for recording the input information on a recording medium 5 and the like.

In this apparatus, when character information or the like is input by the keyboard 1, the input information is displayed on the display unit 2. In order to output this information, the recording medium 5 is set in the recording device 3 and the recording start key is pressed, and the recording device is driven and the information is recorded in the set recording medium.

As shown in the configuration diagram of FIG. 2, the recording apparatus is equipped with a head cartridge 6 having an ink jet recording head, which will be described later, and a cartridge 6 mounted thereon, and is indicated by an arrow A.
A carrier 7 that moves in the direction is provided. 8 is a hook for attaching the head cartridge 6 to the carrier 7,
Reference numeral 9 is a lever for operating the hook 8.

Reference numeral 10 is a support plate that supports an electrical connection portion for the head cartridge 6.

Reference numeral 12 is a flexible cable for connecting the electric connection portion and the main body control portion. Reference numeral 14 is a guide for moving and guiding the carrier 7 in the A direction and for carrying a recording medium described later. Reference numeral 16 denotes a timing belt to which the carrier 7 is fixed and which transmits power for moving the carrier 7 in the A direction, and is stretched around pulleys 15A and 15B arranged on both sides of the device.
A driving force is transmitted from the carrier motor 17 to one pulley 15A via a transmission mechanism such as a gear.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a conveying roller for regulating the recording surface of a recording medium such as paper and for conveying the recording medium at the time of recording, which is driven by a conveying motor 19. Two
0 is a paper pan for guiding the recording medium to the recording position, 2
Reference numeral 1 denotes a pinch roller which is arranged in the feeding path of the recording medium to press the recording medium toward the conveying roller 18 and convey the same. A platen 22 faces the ejection port of the head cartridge 6 and regulates the recording surface of the recording medium. Reference numeral 24 denotes a paper discharge roller that is disposed downstream of the recording position in the recording medium conveyance direction and discharges the recording medium toward a paper discharge port (not shown). Reference numeral 25 is a spur provided corresponding to the paper discharge roller, and presses the paper discharge roller 24 via the recording medium to generate a conveying force of the recording medium by the paper discharge roller 24. Reference numeral 26 is a release lever for releasing the respective biases of the transport roller 18, the guide 14, and the spur 25 when the recording medium is set.

Reference numeral 14a denotes a scale provided on the guide 14, and 23
Is a marker provided on the carrier 7 corresponding to the scale, and the printing position and the setting position of the recording head can be read also by these markers.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a cap, which is made of an elastic material such as rubber and faces the ink ejection port forming surface of the recording head at the home position, and is supported so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the recording head. The cap 27 is used for protection of the recording head during non-recording, and for ejection recovery processing of the recording head. What is the discharge recovery process?
The ink is ejected from all the ejection ports by driving the energy generating element that is provided in the ejection port and is used for ejecting the ink. As a result, bubbles, dust, thickened ink, etc. A process of removing the cause of ejection failure (preliminary ejection) or a process of removing the cause of ejection failure by forcibly ejecting ink from the ejection port with the ejection port formation surface and the cap 27 covered separately. .

Numeral 28 applies a suction force for forcibly discharging the ink, and at the time of the discharge recovery process by the forcible discharge or the discharge recovery process by the preliminary discharge, the cap 2 is used.
7 is a pump used to suck the ink received in 7. Reference numeral 29 is a waste ink tank for storing the waste ink sucked by this pump, and 30 is a tube that connects the pump and the waste ink tank 29.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a blade for wiping the ejection port forming surface of the recording head. The blade 31 protrudes to the recording head side to perform wiping in the course of head movement, and a retreat that does not engage with the ejection port forming surface. It is movably supported in position and. Reference numeral 32 is a motor, and 33 is a cam device for receiving power from the motor 32 to drive the pump 28 and move the cap 27 and the blade 31.

Next, the above-mentioned head cartridge 6 will be described.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of a head cartridge 6 in which an ejection unit 6a, which constitutes the main body of an ink jet recording head, and an ink tank 6b are integrated. In the figure, 6e is a head cartridge 6 when the head cartridge 6 is mounted. ,
It is a claw that is locked by a hook 8 provided on the carrier 7. As is clear from the figure, the claw 6e is arranged inside the entire extension of the recording head. In addition, the head cartridge 6
Although not shown in the figure, a positioning abutting portion is provided near the front discharge unit 6a.

Further, 6d is erected on the carrier 7 and supports the flexible board (electrical connection part) as described above.
0 is a head opening to be inserted. Reference numeral 6c denotes an ejection heater (electrothermal conversion element) disposed integrally with the ejection unit 6a for ejecting ink, and also serves as a wiring board electrically connected to the flexible substrate for supplying electricity to the ejection heater.

4 and 5 are left side views showing the detailed structure of the carrier 7.

In FIG. 4, the guide 14 is fixed to a guide holder 14b, and the guide holder 14b is attached to the printer base 13 so as to be movable in the directions (arrow B and arrow C directions) orthogonal to the recording medium. Also, one end of the spring 14c is attached to the guide 14,
The other end is attached to a protrusion 13b formed by being cut and raised on the printer base 13, and the guide 14 abuts against the recording medium and urges it in a pressing direction (arrow B direction).

A part of the carrier 7 is fitted into the L-shaped portion 14a formed on the guide 14 and is movable in a direction parallel to the surface of the recording medium (direction of arrow A in FIG. 1).

A roller 7a is rotatably provided on the opposite side of the carrier 7 from the recording medium.
3 on the guide surface 13a (FIG. 1) while rotating.

Further, another roller 7b is rotatably mounted on the holder 7c in the vicinity of the roller 7a,
The printer base 13 is biased by the spring 7d.
Since the carrier 7 is biased on the side opposite to the spring 7d, the carrier 7 presses the guide 14 toward the recording medium 5.

A U-shaped slider 11 is attached to the carrier 7, one end of which is the printer base 13.
The carrier 7 is prevented from floating in the upward direction (arrow D direction) by being wrapped around the back side of the guide surface 13a.

Further, in FIG. 4, the recording medium 5 inserted from the E direction is pressed against the conveying roller 18 by the pinch roller 21 and the guide 14, and when the conveying roller 18 rotates, the recording medium 5 is conveyed in the F direction.

The gap S between the recording surface of the recording medium 5 conveyed by the conveying roller 18 and the ink ejection port is the above-mentioned gap, and the gap S needs to be always constant even if the type of the recording medium 5 changes. There is. FIG. 4 shows the case where the thin recording medium 5 is used, and FIG. 5 shows the case where the thick recording medium 5'is used.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the thick recording medium 5'is used, the guide 14 moves in the arrow C direction, and the carrier 7 fitted with the guide 14 also moves in the arrow C direction.

For example, when the thickness of the thin recording medium 5 shown in FIG. 4 is 70 μm, the gap S is 1 mm, and the thickness of the thick recording medium 5 ′ shown in FIG. 5 is 230 μm for postcards, the guide 14 is thick. When using 5 ',
160 μm arrow C compared to when using a thin recording medium 5
Move in the direction. However, when the guide 14 of the recording head 6 attached to the carrier 7 moves, the arrow C
By moving the same amount by 160 μm in the direction, the distance S between the recording surface of the recording medium and the ink ejection port can be maintained at 1 mm, which is the same as when a thin recording medium is used.

Next, the transport mechanism for the recording medium 5 will be described.

2 and 4, the guide 14
A pinch roller 21 is pressed by a spring (not shown) against the conveying roller 18 arranged in parallel with. Further, the guide 14 described above is also pressed against the conveying roller by the spring 14c.

The recording medium 5 inserted from an insertion opening (not shown) is moved along the paper pan 20 along with the pinch roller 21.
Also, it is conveyed in the F direction (FIG. 4) by the pressing force of the guide 14 and is supported at a position facing the recording head body 6a. The recording medium 5 on which recording has been completed is further transferred to the conveying roller
8 is conveyed in the F direction (FIG. 4) and reaches the discharge roller 24 which is urged by a spur 25 by a spring (not shown),
Further, it is conveyed to a discharge port (not shown).

The carrying roller 18 is connected to a carrying motor via a gear train 19a, and by driving the carrying motor 19, the carrying roller 18 is rotated.

(Control Means) Next, the control means for driving and controlling the recording apparatus will be described.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the control system. This block diagram shows only the connection relationship of each block, and detailed control lines are omitted. The portion surrounded by the broken line is the CPU unit.

The CPU 40 is a central processing unit, which reads programs and various data from a ROM 41, a floppy disk driver 4 and the like, which will be described later, performs necessary calculations and determinations, and performs various controls.

The ROM 41 is a read-only memory, and various programs for operating the CPU 40, character codes, and dot patterns (character generator; C).
G) stores various data necessary for recording.

The RAM 42 is a read / write memory, and stores various data input from the working area in which the CPU 40 temporarily stores the data in the command and the operation result, the keyboard 1, the external interface section 44, the floppy disk driver 4 or the like. It consists of a buffer area for storing documents and a text area for storing documents. Further, the CPU unit is connected to the printer unit 3 via the recording head driver 45, the motor driver 46 and the detecting section 47.

The recording head driver 45 drives the recording head 6 provided in the printer unit 3 under the control of the CPU 40, and the motor driver 46 drives the carry motor 19, the carrier motor 17, etc. under the control of the CPU 40. .

The detecting section 47 transmits the detection information from the carrier home position sensor for detecting the position of the carrier provided in the printer unit 3 or the paper sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the recording medium 5 to the CPU 40. The power source 48 is a power source V _H for driving the recording head 6, the transport motor 1
9, power supply V _M for driving the carrier motor 17, the power supply V _FDD for driving the floppy disk driver 4, and power supply V _CC for other logic circuits are controlled. Further, the controller 43 controls the CPU 40 to transfer the recording data of the recording head 6, change the voltage / current of the driving power source V _H , and perform various controls. A keyboard 1 for inputting various data required for recording and editing is connected to the CPU unit via a keyboard connector (KBC) 4a. Further, the CPU unit is connected to a display unit 2 composed of a CRT for displaying data and various information input from the keyboard 1 via a CRT connector (CRTC) 50. In addition, this display unit 2 is C
Instead of the RT, another structure such as a liquid crystal display may be used.

Further, a floppy disk driver 4 is connected to the CPU unit via a floppy disk driver connector (FDDC) 51. A hard disk or an external RAM may be connected instead of the floppy disk.

The CPU unit RS232 via the interface connector (IFC) 52 for controlling the recording device 3 by an external control device and communicating with an external device.
It is also possible to connect interfaces such as C53, Centronics 54, and modem 55.

(Control Procedure) Next, an example of the control procedure of the carrier 7 when recording is performed by the recording apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When a recording command is designated, this recording apparatus opens the cap 27 that protects the ink ejection port of the recording head 6 (step S102). Then, the carrier 7 is shifted to the recording position of the recording medium 5 (step S1
03), recording is performed (step S104). When the time during recording or waiting for data transfer to the head 6, that is, the time during which the cap 27 is in the open state has passed a predetermined time T seconds, the recording is temporarily stopped and the current position of the carrier is reached. Is stored (step S
106, S107). Further, the carrier is shifted to the preliminary discharge position to perform the preliminary discharge (steps S108, S
109). When the preliminary ejection is completed, the carrier 7 is shifted to the position stored in step S107 and recording is continued. Then, the recording is ended by designating the recording end command (steps S105 and S110).

(Other Embodiments) In the above-described embodiment, the guide 14 of the carrier 7 is pressed against the conveying roller 18 for conveying the recording medium 5, but the present invention is not limited to this. Alternatively, the guide may also be used as a support member for the transport roller.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the guide 14 of the carrier 7 is formed of a plate-shaped member and pressed against the conveying roller 18 for conveying the recording medium 5, but the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 6, the guide may be formed of a round shaft-shaped member 14 '. In this case, it is preferable that the round shaft-shaped member 14 ′ be rotated by the rotation of the transport roller 18 when the round shaft-shaped member 14 ′ is pressed by the transport roller 18.
It is rotatably supported with respect to 3, and is also movably supported in the thickness direction of the recording medium.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, in the mechanism for pressing the pinch roller 21 'against the conveying roller 18 for conveying the recording medium 5, the supporting member rotatably supporting the pinch roller 21' and the above-mentioned carrier. It may also be used as the guide 14.

In the above embodiment, the guide member 1 is also used.
The positions of the carrier 4 and the carrier 7 are uniquely determined, but the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 8, the pinch roller 21 that is pressed by the carrying roller 18 and carries the recording medium 5 is used. 'Is provided with a lever 101 for rotatably supporting it, and a supporting portion 100 provided with the lever 101 on the base 13.
The lever 101 may be rotatably attached to the boss portion 102 of the carrier 7. As a result, when the recording medium 5 passes between the transport roller 18 and the pinch roller 21 ', the pinch roller 21' moves in the G direction, and the lever 101 rotates in the H direction to move the carrier 7 in the I direction. It can be moved. In this case, by changing the ratio of the length of the rotation center 100a of the support portion from the pinch roller support shaft 103 of the lever 101 and the length of the boss portion 102 from the rotation center 100a, the carrier with respect to the thickness of the recording medium is changed. The amount of movement can be changed. Further, instead of changing the length ratio of the lever, a deceleration mechanism may be provided between the support part of the pinch roller and the support part of the carrier to change the movement amount of the carrier with respect to the thickness of the recording medium. .

Further, the present invention is an ink jet system such as a piezo jet system in which electricity is converted into force and ink is ejected, and a recording head is arranged in non-contact with a recording medium and ink is ejected for recording. It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above and can be similarly applied to a recording apparatus of a thermal transfer system or a wire dot system, but the present invention is used for ejecting ink particularly in an inkjet recording system. The present invention provides an excellent effect in a recording head and a recording apparatus of a type that includes means for generating heat energy as energy (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) and causes a change in the state of ink by the heat energy. This is because such a system can achieve high density recording and high definition recording.

Regarding the typical structure and principle thereof, see, for example, US Pat. No. 4,723,129 and US Pat. No. 4,740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
It can be applied to any of the continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to the sheet holding the liquid (ink) or the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recording information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, and film boiling is caused on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal in a one-to-one correspondence
It is effective because bubbles can be formed inside. Due to the growth and contraction of the bubbles, the liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be immediately and appropriately grown and contracted, so that liquid (ink) ejection with excellent responsiveness can be achieved. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise on the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the ejection port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the straight liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications. US Pat. No. 4,558,333, US Pat. No. 4,558,333, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
The structure using the specification of No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration corresponding to the ejection portion is disclosed in JP-A-59-138461. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be surely and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Furthermore, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads or a configuration as one recording head integrally formed.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as in the above example, the recording head fixed to the main body of the apparatus or the ink from the main body of the apparatus can be electrically connected by being attached to the main body of the apparatus. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is integrally provided in the recording head itself is used.

Further, as the constitution of the recording apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable to add the ejection recovery means of the recording head, the preliminary auxiliary means and the like because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specifically, heating is performed by using a capping unit, a cleaning unit, a pressure or suction unit for the recording head, an electrothermal converter or a heating element other than this, or a combination thereof. Examples thereof include a preliminary heating unit for performing the discharge and a preliminary discharge unit for performing discharge different from the recording.

Regarding the type and the number of recording heads to be mounted, for example, only one is provided corresponding to a single color ink, or a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities are supported. A plurality of pieces may be provided. That is, for example, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but it may be either the recording head is integrally formed or a plurality of combinations may be used. The present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of full-color recording modes by color mixing.

In addition, in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, the ink is described as a liquid, but an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. Or, in the inkjet method, it is common to control the temperature of the ink itself within the range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is within the stable ejection range. Sometimes, a liquid ink may be used. In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy of the state change of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or in order to prevent the evaporation of the ink, it is solidified and heated in the standing state. You may use the ink liquefied by. In any case, by applying thermal energy such as ink that is liquefied by applying thermal energy according to the recording signal and liquid ink is ejected, or that begins to solidify when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention can be applied to the case where an ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time is used. In this case, the ink is
JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-7
As described in Japanese Patent No. 1260, it may be configured to face the electrothermal converter in a state of being held as a liquid or a solid in the concave portion or the through hole of the porous sheet. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, besides the one used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function are provided. It may be a form or the like.

[0066]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the guide member for guiding the carrier is urged to come into contact with the holding means via the recording medium. The gap between the recording head and the recording medium is automatically kept constant regardless of the type, and a low-cost recording apparatus can be obtained with a simple configuration.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an entire word processor equipped with a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the recording apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an ink cartridge used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing details of a carrier unit according to the embodiment of the present invention, in the case where thin recording paper is used.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the details of the carrier unit in the embodiment of the present invention, in the case where thick recording paper is used.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a carrier driving procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 keyboard 2 Display 3 recording devices 5,5 'recording medium 6 Recording head (ink cartridge) 7 career 12 Flexible cable 14 Guide 16 Timing belt 17 Carrier motor 18 Conveyor roller 19 Conveyor motor 20 paper pans 21,21 'pinch roller 24 Paper ejection roller 25 spurs 27 caps 28 pumps 29 Waste ink tank 31 blade

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A holding means for holding a recording medium, a carrier on which a recording head is mounted, a guide member for guiding the carrier parallel to a recording surface of the recording medium held by the holding means, and the guide. And a means for urging a member to come into contact with the holding means via the recording medium. 2. A recording apparatus, wherein the holding means is displaceable, and the guide member is movable according to the displacement of the holding means. 3. The recording apparatus, wherein the recording head uses thermal energy to generate bubbles in the ink, and ejects the ink as the bubbles are generated.