JPH08132634A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent the extraction of an ink cartridge in such a state that the exclusion of an air bubble is impossible. CONSTITUTION: A frame detachable with respect to a carriage and equipped with an ink cartridge housing chamber 11, the ink jet recording head fixed at the position opposed to a platen when the frame is mounted on the carriage and the ink supply needle 15 connecting an ink cartridge 50 and an ink jet recording head are provided. Further, the cartridge fixing lever 13 provided to one end of the frame in a revolvable manner to fix the ink cartridge and the protruding piece 41 usually protruding toward the cartridge to be energized to the position preventing the extraction of the ink cartridge when the cartridge 50 is mounted on the frame and retreating to the position making the ink cartridge attachable and detachable in the state fixed to the carriage are provided. Since the protruding piece 41 is positioned at the upper part of the ink cartridge 50 in a state detached from the carriage, the extraction of the ink cartridge is prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording unit which comprises an ink jet recording head and an ink cartridge as a set and which can be attached to and detached from a carriage as required.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink jet printers perform printing while ejecting ink droplets from nozzle openings to form dots on a recording medium, so that monochrome printing and color printing can be easily performed by using inks of different colors. be able to. That is, an ink jet printer in which a recording head for monochrome printing and a recording head for color printing are mounted on a carriage has been put into practical use. With such a printer, it is possible to print text and color graphics with a single printer, but it is necessary for a user who has a very low frequency of color printing to manage a recording head for color printing that is rarely used, and maintenance is required. There is a disadvantage that it is troublesome.

In order to solve such a problem, an ink jet recording apparatus is constructed such that an ink cartridge and an ink jet recording head are integrated to form a recording unit, and a recording unit suitable for print data can be attached to and detached from a carriage. Is proposed. According to such a configuration, desired printing can be performed by exchanging the recording unit suitable for the printing purpose, and the unused recording unit is housed in the sealed case or the like, so that the maintenance of this unit is unnecessary. be able to. However, when the ink in the cartridge is used up, the cartridge must be replaced together with the ink jet recording head, which causes a problem of high printing cost.

In order to solve such a problem, an ink jet type recording unit has been proposed in which an ink cartridge accommodating chamber is provided in a frame on which an ink jet type recording head is mounted so that the ink cartridge can be replaced. However, if the ink cartridge is replaced with the ink jet recording unit removed from the carriage, air will be pushed into the recording head when the cartridge is attached or detached. There is a new problem of becoming.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to prevent replacement of an ink cartridge in a state where bubbles cannot be eliminated. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording unit that can be used.

[0006]

In order to solve such a problem, according to the present invention, a frame which is detachably attached to a carriage and has an ink cartridge accommodating chamber and a platen when the frame is attached to the carriage. An ink jet type recording head fixed to a position opposed to the ink jet head, an ink supply needle connecting the ink cartridge and the ink jet type recording head, and the ink cartridge fixed to one end of the frame so as to be rotatable. When the cartridge fixing lever and the cartridge are mounted on the frame, the cartridge fixing lever is normally urged to a position that protrudes to the cartridge side to prevent the ink cartridge from being ejected, and when the cartridge is fixed to the carriage, A cartridge that retracts to a position where it can be attached and detached. And so it comprises a locking member.

[0007]

Since the cartridge lock member projects above the ink cartridge when it is removed from the carriage, even if the ink cartridge is pulled up from the frame, the cartridge lock comes into contact with the upper surface of the ink cartridge to prevent movement.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is an inkjet recording apparatus to which an inkjet recording unit of the present invention is applied. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 is a carriage, which is supported by a guide member 2 and is connected to a step motor 4 via a timing belt 3. The platen 5 is configured to be reciprocally movable in parallel.

An ink jet type recording unit 6 which will be described later is detachably provided on the carriage 1 so that the recording unit can be exchanged for monochrome printing and color printing. The recording unit 6 mounted on the carriage 1 is configured such that a drive signal is supplied to a recording head driving unit (not shown) at one end and a flexible cable 7 fixed to the carriage 1 at the other end.

In the figure, reference numeral 8 indicates a capping means for sealing the recording head during non-printing, and 9 indicates a recording sheet.

2, 3 and 4 show an embodiment of the ink jet type recording unit 6 which is a feature of the present invention, in which reference numeral 10 is a frame which constitutes the recording unit main body. The ink jet recording head 12 is provided on the bottom surface facing the carriage 5, and the ink cartridge 50 is fixed to the upper opening. In addition, an ink cartridge fixing lever 13 that pulls up the ink cartridge 50 from the storage chamber 11 is provided.

This ink cartridge fixing lever 13
When mounted on the carriage 1, the rear side, in this embodiment, the timing belt 3 side is rotatably attached to the frame 10 by the shafts 14 and 14, and the side portion thereof is mounted as shown in FIG. Side pieces 13a are provided on both sides so as to cover the side portions of the frame 10.

The side piece 13 is provided with a fitting hole 13b, and the frame 10 is provided with a locking piece 10a for preventing the ink cartridge fixing lever 13 from being pulled up at a position facing the fitting hole 13b. ing.

On the bottom surface of the frame 10, ink supply needles 15, 16 and 17 to be inserted into the ink supply ports 51 of the ink cartridge 50 are planted, and the flow paths 18, 19 and.
Ink can be supplied to the recording head 12 via 20.

A circuit board 22 on which a drive circuit for driving the recording head 12 is mounted is disposed on the front side when mounted on the carriage 1, that is, on the right side in FIG. 3 in this embodiment, a flexible cable 23. It is connected to the recording head 12 via.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the circuit board 22, which is a back surface (FIG. 5) facing the ink cartridge.
A hybrid type integrated circuit 30 that constitutes a drive circuit is mounted in (a), and a flexible cable 23 is provided in the lower part.
A pattern 31 of terminals for connection with the ink cartridge and a detection pattern 32 for contact with an ink cartridge detection piece 25 described later are provided, and a contact pattern 35 for contact with the contact mechanism 60 of the carriage 1 is provided on the surface (FIG. 5B). Are formed. Incidentally, reference numeral 36 in the drawing denotes a stop hole that fits with the projection 37 of the frame 11.

Referring back to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, reference numeral 40 denotes an ink cartridge lock member, which is the ink cartridge 5 housed in the ink cartridge housing chamber 11.
The projection piece 41 is provided at substantially the same height as the upper surface of 0, and the projection 63 of the recording unit fixing lever 62 (FIG. 7) of the carriage 1 is provided.
A spiral inclined surface 42 is provided at a position opposite to, and the projecting piece 41 is rotatably attached to the upper end 10a of the frame 10 by a torsion coil spring 43 so as to always face the ink cartridge 50.

In this embodiment, when the frame 10 of the recording unit 6 is positioned on the carriage 1 as shown in FIG. 7 and the recording unit fixing lever 62 is rotated to the arrow C side in the drawing, the locking piece 65 is released. Rotating about the shaft 66, the protrusion 63 at the tip moves down while pushing the spiral slope 42 of the ink cartridge lock member 40 located on the movement locus thereof. Accordingly, the ink cartridge lock member 40
Rotates about 90 degrees against the urging force of the torsion coil spring 43 to retract the protrusion 41 from the ink cartridge accommodating chamber 11 (the state shown by the dotted line in FIG. 2). In addition, when the lever 62 is tilted, the tension of the spring 67 is received and the state is maintained.

At the same time, when the recording unit fixing lever 62 is rotated, the contact forming member 60 of the carriage 1 is moved to the frame 10.
, Which contacts the contact patterns 35, 35, 35, ... Formed on the circuit board 22, and the circuit board 22 of the unit 6 is connected to the control means of the printer body via the flexible cable 7.

In this state, when the engagement piece 10a and the fitting hole 13b are disengaged and the ink cartridge fixing lever 13 is pulled up, the upper part of the ink cartridge housing chamber 11 is opened. When the ink cartridge 50 is dropped into the storage chamber 11 and the ink cartridge fixing lever 13 is pushed down, the lever 13 is lowered to cause the ink cartridge 50 to drop.
Moves downward and the ink supply needle 15 is inserted into the ink supply port 51.
~ 17 will be inserted.

At the same time, the ink cartridge detection piece 25 is elastically pressed toward the circuit board 22 by the ink cartridge 50 and comes into contact with the detection pattern 32 of the circuit board 22 to detect the mounting of the ink cartridge 50.

When the ink in the ink cartridge 50 is consumed by printing, the cartridge fixing lever 1 is set with the recording unit 6 set in the carriage 1.
When one end of 3 is lifted and rotated, the ink cartridge 50 is pulled up by the rotation of the lever 13 and detached from the ink supply needles 15 to 17. With the lever 13 pulled up to the top dead center, the cartridge 50 is pulled out, a new ink cartridge 50 is dropped, and the lever 13 is pushed down.

By exchanging the ink cartridge 50, the ink cartridge detection piece 25 becomes the detection pattern 32.
Ink cartridge 5 which is turned off after the
Since the switch is turned on by loading 0, the control device (not shown) detects that the ink cartridge 50 has been replaced or attached / detached.

Therefore, when the replacement of the ink cartridge 50 is completed, the control means (not shown) moves the carriage 1 to the capping means 8 to perform no capping, and applies a negative pressure to the recording head 12 to apply the negative pressure to the ink cartridge 50. This ink is sucked into the recording head to fill the recording head with the ink, and the bubbles that have entered the recording head 12 in this process are eliminated.

On the other hand, when the recording unit fixing lever 62 is pulled up to change the print color, the carriage 1 and the frame 10 are released from the fixed state and at the same time the contact forming member 60 is retracted, so that the frame 10 is completely removed from the carriage 1. It will be released.

In this state, the carriage 1 together with the frame 10
Remove it and install another recording unit. In addition,
If the user accidentally tries to remove the cartridge lever 13 from the carriage 1 by putting his finger on the cartridge lever 13, the fitting hole 13b is engaged with the locking piece 10a of the frame 10, so that the rotation of the ink cartridge fixing lever 13 is prevented. Inadvertent removal of the ink cartridge 50 from the frame 10 is prevented.

The ink cartridge lock member 40 that has lost the pressing force of the recording unit fixing lever 62 moves to the cartridge housing chamber 11 side by the urging force of the torsion coil spring 43 and is positioned on the upper surface of the ink cartridge 50 (in FIG. 2, the solid line). Position). Therefore, even if the engagement between the fitting hole 13a and the locking piece 10a is released and the ink cartridge fixing lever 13 is pulled up, the upper surface of the ink cartridge 50 is pressed by the protruding piece 41. It becomes impossible to pull up the ink cartridge fixing lever 13 engaged with the.

As a result, when the ink cartridge 50 is removed from the carriage 1 and the unnecessary ink cartridge 50 is prevented from being attached or removed in a state where the air bubbles cannot be removed, air bubbles to the recording head 12 caused by the attachment and detachment of the ink cartridge 50 are prevented. Intrusion can be prevented.

The recording unit 6 removed from the carriage 1 is housed in a hermetically sealed case or the like, or at least a cap is attached to the recording head 12 and stored in a state where the nozzle openings can be prevented from drying.

In the above-described embodiment, the circuit board 22 provided in the recording unit 6 is made of a hard board and the contact pattern is formed on the surface of the hard board. However, the flexible cable 23 for connecting to the ink jet recording head 12 is used. Is extended to a position facing the contact mechanism 60, and contact patterns 80, 80, 80 ...

In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, the contact patterns 80, 80, 80 of the flexible cable 23 are formed.
The elastic plates 82 made of rubber or the like having the protrusions 81, 81, 81, ..., Which face each other, are interposed and fixed to the protrusions 37, 37 while tension is applied to the upper and lower bands 85.

[0032]

As described above, in the present invention, the frame which is detachably attached to the carriage and has the ink cartridge housing chamber, and when the frame is attached to the carriage, the frame is fixed at a position facing the platen. An inkjet recording head, an ink supply needle connecting the ink cartridge and the inkjet recording head,
A cartridge fixing lever that is rotatably provided at one end of the frame for attaching and detaching the ink cartridge, and when the ink cartridge is attached to the frame, it is normally urged to a position that protrudes toward the cartridge side and prevents the ink cartridge from being pulled out. In addition, since the cartridge lock member is provided at a position where the ink cartridge can be attached and detached in a state where the ink cartridge is fixed to the carriage, the ink cartridge of the printing unit can be replaced and bubbles cannot be eliminated. It is possible to prevent the ink cartridge from being attached or detached at the time, and to reliably prevent a situation such as defective printing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a main part of a printer to which an inkjet recording unit of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a top view showing an embodiment of the ink jet recording unit of the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2, showing an embodiment of the ink jet recording unit of the present invention.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2, showing an embodiment of the ink jet recording unit of the present invention.

5A and 5B are diagrams showing an embodiment of a circuit board attached to the recording unit, respectively.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which an ink cartridge is accommodated in a recording unit detached from a carriage.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which a recording unit is mounted on a carriage.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the circuit board.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Carriage 6 Recording Unit 10 Frame 11 Ink Cartridge Storage Chamber 12 Inkjet Recording Head 13 Ink Cartridge Fixing Lever 15 to 17 Ink Supply Needle 40 Ink Cartridge Locking Member 41 Projection 50 Ink Cartridge 62 Recording Unit Fixing Lever Emergency

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A frame that is attachable to and detachable from a carriage and that includes an ink cartridge chamber; an inkjet recording head that is fixed to a position facing a platen when the frame is attached to the carriage; and the ink cartridge. An ink supply needle that connects to the ink jet recording head, a cartridge fixing lever that is rotatably provided at one end of the frame to attach and detach the ink cartridge, and when the cartridge is attached to the frame, Inkjet recording provided with a cartridge lock member which is urged to a position that protrudes to the cartridge side to prevent the ink cartridge from being pulled out, and is retracted to a position where the ink cartridge can be attached and detached when fixed to the carriage unit. 2. The ink cartridge lock member,
The ink jet recording unit according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge is retracted to a position where the cartridge can be attached / detached by being pressed by a recording unit fixing lever provided on the carriage. 3. The ink cartridge lock member,
2. The ink jet recording according to claim 1, wherein a spiral slope is formed in accordance with a movement locus of the recording unit fixing lever, and the recording unit fixing lever is rotated by being lowered to retract the ink cartridge to a position where the ink cartridge can be attached and detached. unit. 4. The ink jet recording unit according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge fixing lever is provided with locking means that engages with the frame to prevent the frame from being pulled up. 5. The ink jet recording unit according to claim 1, further comprising: an ink cartridge detecting unit that is biased so as to always project into the ink cartridge accommodating chamber and retracts when the ink cartridge is loaded.