JPH06143608A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To protect an ink jet nozzle of a cartridge in an ink jet printer from drying or clogging under any using conditions wherein when waiting the operation after a power supply was turned on or when the power supply is suddenly cut off during printing. CONSTITUTION:A shutter 11 for preventing the clogging is uniformly built in a cartridge 9. When the cartridge 9 is loaded on a carriage 8, the shutter 11 is hung up to a lever 18a being able to open/close so that a solenoid 16 controls it to open/close. Because of building the shutter 11 in a cartridge 9, when a power supply is suddenly cut off, the solenoid 16 is turned off so that the shutter 11 is automatically closed, thereby preventing the clogging of a nozzle under any using conditions.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer used for a terminal device of information equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as computers have been downsized from desktop types to laptop types and notebook size types, printers have also been required to be portable and compact. Under these circumstances, inkjet printers that use disposable ink cartridge integrated heads are attracting attention as a printer method for laptop and notebook size computers because they are easy to use and are easy to downsize. Are gathering.

A conventional ink jet printer will be described below. FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional inkjet printer. In FIG. 5, 1 is a cartridge in which a head and an ink storage unit are integrated, 2 is a motor for moving the cartridge 1 along a shaft 3a and a shaft 3b, and 4 is a motor. A belt for moving the cartridge 1 by the motor 2, 5 a head portion of the cartridge 1, 6 a print sheet, and 7
Is a capping mechanism that covers the head portion 5.

The operation of the ink jet printer configured as described above will be described below. The cartridge 1 includes an ink storage unit, a print head, and electrical contacts for receiving drive signals from the inkjet printer body, and can be attached to and detached from the inkjet printer body when the ink runs out or when another color ink is used. It has become. Cartridge 1 when not printing
Is in the standby position, and the head portion 5 is covered by moving the capping mechanism 7 to the position shown by the broken line, so that the ink ejection ports of the head portion 5 are prevented from being dried and clogged. At the time of printing, the capping mechanism 7 at the position shown by the broken line returns to the position shown by the solid line, the cover of the head portion 5 by the capping mechanism 7 is removed, and the cartridge 1 is driven by the driving force of the motor 2 via the belt 4. , Shaft 3a,
Printing is performed on the printing paper 6 by reciprocating the printing position while being guided by the shaft 3b.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional configuration, the cartridge 1 itself does not have a mechanism for preventing the ink near the ink discharge port from drying and the clogging near the ink discharge port from being blocked. When dropped, the capping mechanism 7 does not work, causing clogging. Further, since the cartridge 1 is not portable, such as when the cartridge 1 is removed to change the print color,
There is a problem in that a special case must be prepared in consideration of preventing clogging.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer having a mechanism for preventing the ink ejection port of a cartridge from being dried or clogged with respect to any use environment of the ink jet printer. And

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention discharges ink by means of a cover member which is provided in the vicinity of a nozzle for discharging ink and which can cover the nozzle and which can be opened and closed, and the ink discharging means. And an opening / closing means for opening the cover member at the time.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the nozzle can be covered with the cover member in any state by the above structure.

[0009]

1 is a block diagram of an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 2 is a motor, 3a is a shaft, 3b is a shaft, 4 is a belt, 6
Is a printing paper, and these are the same as those in the conventional example, so the same reference numerals are given and the description thereof is omitted. Reference numeral 8 is a carriage, 9 is a cartridge in which a head unit 10 and an ink storage unit are detachably mountable to the carriage 8, 11 is a shutter for covering the head unit 10, and 12 is an ink receiver.

The operation of the ink jet printer configured as described above will be described below. The cartridge 9 is the shutter 1 for preventing the ink containing portion, the head portion 10, and the ink ejection port of the head portion 10 from drying and clogging.
1. The electrical contact for receiving the drive signal from the main body of the inkjet printer is integrated, and the shutter 11
Is slidable in both directions of arrows A and B. The cartridge 9 is in the standby position shown in FIG. 1 when not printing,
In order to prevent the ink ejection ports of the head unit 10 from drying and clogging, the shutter 11 moves in the direction of arrow B to cover the head unit 10. During printing, the shutter 11 moves in the direction of arrow A, and ink is ejected to the ink receiver 12 separately from printing if necessary. This is to prevent the ink quality from changing when the non-printing state continues for a long time and deteriorating the printing quality if printing is performed as it is. The carriage 8 carrying the cartridge 9 prints on the printing paper 6 by reciprocating the printing position while being guided by the shaft 3a and the shaft 3b by the driving force of the motor 2 via the belt 4.

Next, attachment / detachment of the cartridge 9 to / from the carriage 8 will be described. 2A is a side view of the vicinity of the carriage of the ink jet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention before the cartridge is mounted, and FIG. 2B is a side view of the vicinity of the carriage of the ink jet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention after the cartridge is mounted. It is a side view. Figure 2 (a)
13 is a cartridge guide that guides the cartridge 9 when the cartridge is mounted and holds the cartridge 9, 14 is a guide fulcrum that serves as a fulcrum when the cartridge guide 13 is rotated according to the mounting of the cartridge 9, and 15a and 15b are the cartridge 9 Is a holder for holding the solenoid, 16 is a solenoid for moving the shutter 11 of the cartridge 9, and 17 is an on / off state of the solenoid 16.
A plunger that reciprocates when turned off, 18a is a lever that can be rotated according to the reciprocating motion of the plunger 17, and 18b.
Is a shutter hook pin provided at the tip of the lever 18a for moving the shutter 11, and 19 is a lever fulcrum fixed to the carriage 8 and capable of rotating the lever 18a.

The operation of attaching / detaching the cartridge 9 having the above-described structure to / from the carriage 8 will be described below. The cartridge 9 is inserted in the direction of arrow C to the position D while being guided by the cartridge guide 13.
By pressing the cartridge 9 in the direction of arrow E, the cartridge guide 13 rotates in the direction of arrow F, and the cartridge 9 is held horizontally by the holders 15a and 15b. At the same time that the cartridge 9 is held horizontally, the shutter hook pin 18b is inserted into the pin guide hole 20 in the shutter 11 and mounted as shown in FIG. 2 (b). When removing the cartridge 9, the removal is performed in the reverse order of the above procedure. When the cartridge 9 is attached, the shutter 11 causes the solenoid 1
6 moves in the direction of arrow A, and ink droplets 21 are ejected onto the printing paper 6.

Next, the opening / closing mechanism of the shutter 11 will be described. 3A is a plan view of the vicinity of the carriage when the shutter of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention is closed, and FIG. 3B is when the shutter of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention is opened. 3 is a plan view of the vicinity of the carriage of FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view of the vicinity of the carriage of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 4, 22 is a spring for urging the shutter 11 to cover the head portion 10, and 23 is a flexible substrate provided on the cartridge 9 and connected to the head portion 10. A connector made of a flexible substrate for connecting the connector 23 and the head control circuit unit 25 mounted on the carriage 8, a reference numeral 26 denotes a storage ink contained in the cartridge 9, and a reference numeral 27 denotes a storage ink. 26 is a group of ink ejection ports for ejecting 26.

The operation of the opening / closing mechanism of the shutter 11 of the ink jet printer configured as described above will be described. The shutter 11 when the inkjet printer is not printing
3A in which the solenoid 16 is closed and the solenoid 16 is in the OFF state and the plunger 17 and the lever 18a are free at this time. Are biased in the opposite direction and cover the head portion 10.

When a signal notifying the start of printing is sent from the main body of the ink jet printer, the solenoid 16 is turned on and the plunger 17 moves in the direction of arrow G. When the plunger 17 moves in the direction of arrow G, the lever 18a rotates in the direction of arrow H around the lever fulcrum 19, and the shutter hook pin 18b causes the shutter 11 to compress the spring 22 in the direction of arrow J. The shutter 11 moves in the direction of arrow I, and
The state of (b) is obtained. Printing is enabled in this state, and a signal from the head control circuit unit 25 is transmitted to the head unit 10 via the connector 24 and the connector 23 that is joined and clamped with the connector 24 at the same time as the mounting of the cartridge 9, and is stored in the cartridge 9. Printing is performed by selectively ejecting the stored ink 26 from the ejection ports of the ink ejection port group 27.

During printing, when the power is suddenly turned off, the solenoid 16 is turned off, so that the shutter 11 is automatically moved by the spring 22 in the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow I, and the head portion 10 is moved. The ink in the vicinity of the ink ejection port is covered so as not to contact the outside air.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, a cover member which is provided in the vicinity of a nozzle for ejecting ink and which can cover the nozzle and which can be opened and closed, and an opening and closing mechanism which opens and closes the cover member when the ink is ejected by the ink ejecting means. By providing the means, the nozzle can be covered with the cover member in any state, and the ink near the nozzle can be dried against any use environment conditions such as standby after power-on or sudden power off during printing. Also, it is possible to prevent nozzle clogging and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a side view of the vicinity of the carriage of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention before mounting the cartridge, and FIG. 2B is a side view of the vicinity of the carriage of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention after the mounting of the cartridge.

3A is a plan view of the vicinity of the carriage when the shutter of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention is closed, and FIG. 3B is a carriage when the shutter of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention is opened. Plan view of the vicinity

FIG. 4 is a front view of the vicinity of the carriage of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional inkjet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 cartridge 2 motor 3a shaft 3b shaft 4 belt 5 head part 6 printing paper 7 capping mechanism 8 carriage 9 cartridge 10 head part 11 shutter 12 ink receiver 13 cartridge guide 14 guide fulcrum 15a holder 15b holder 16 solenoid 17 plunger 18a hook lever 18b 19 Lever fulcrum 20 Pin guide hole 21 Ink droplet 22 Spring 23 Connector 24 Connector 25 Head control circuit 26 Storage ink 27 Ink ejection port group

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tomoyuki Noguchi 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Hiroaki Sakai, 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An ink containing means for containing ink, a nozzle for ejecting ink contained in the ink containing means, an ink ejecting means for ejecting ink from the nozzle, and the nozzle provided in the vicinity of the nozzle. An inkjet printer comprising: a cover member capable of opening and closing the cover member; and an opening and closing unit that opens the cover member when ink is ejected by the ink ejecting unit. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, further comprising a carriage that moves along a recording sheet, and a nozzle and a cover member are mounted on the carriage. 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein a cartridge including a nozzle, an ink ejecting means, an ink containing means, and a cover member is detachable from the carriage. 4. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing means covers the nozzle with a cover member when the ink is not ejected by the ink ejecting means for a predetermined time. 5. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing means covers the nozzle with a cover member when the power supplied to the inkjet printer is cut off. 6. The ink jet system according to claim 1, wherein after the cover member is opened by the opening / closing means, the ink is ejected prior to the ejection of the ink for printing. Printer. 7. The cover member according to claim 1, wherein the cover member is biased by a spring in a direction to cover the nozzle, and the opening / closing means opens the cover member by an electromagnetic force. Inkjet printer.