JPH08207391A - Recorder and information processing system with the recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a recorder which has the replacing position of a recording head in which the deformation or the damage of the head or the disconnection of the signal line of a flexible cable does not occur. CONSTITUTION: The bent part of a flexible cable 3 for transmitting a signal to a recording head cartridge is disposed at the position completely covered with an upper case 17 at the replacing position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus having recording means for outputting input information such as characters and images on a recording medium, and a copying machine, a facsimile machine provided with the recording apparatus as output means. The present invention relates to an information processing system such as a printer, a word processor and a personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, paper, cloth, plastic sheet, O
A recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording medium such as an HP sheet has been proposed as a form in which recording heads of various recording methods, for example, a wire dot method, a heat-sensitive method, a thermal transfer method, and an inkjet recording method can be mounted.

In such a recording system, as a low-noise non-impact recording, the recording element as an energy generating means for ejecting ink is operated to eject ink from an ejection port (nozzle) on a recording medium. A recording apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as “inkjet recording apparatus”) having an inkjet recording head that performs recording can perform high-density and high-speed recording operation.

The ink jet recording apparatus has a structure corresponding to a unique function, a specification form and the like of a system to which the apparatus is applied. In general, an inkjet recording apparatus includes a carriage on which a recording head and an ink tank are mounted, a conveyance unit that conveys a recording medium, and a control unit that controls these. A flexible cable for transmitting a signal such as recording information is connected to a terminal on the carriage, and the recording head is mounted on the carriage, so that the signal from the cable is supplied to the recording head.

Then, a recording head for ejecting ink droplets from a plurality of ejection ports is serially scanned in a direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the recording medium conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction), while recording is performed during non-recording. The medium is intermittently conveyed (pitch feed) by an amount equal to the recording width. By using a recording head in which a large number of nozzles for ejecting ink are arranged in a straight line in the sub-scanning direction, the recording head scans the recording medium once to perform recording with a width corresponding to the number of nozzles. Be done.

In addition, the ink jet recording apparatus has a low running cost, the apparatus can be made compact, and it is easy to use color inks for color image recording. Above all, the line type recording apparatus using the line type recording means in which a large number of ejection openings are arranged in the width direction of the recording medium can further speed up the recording.

For the above reasons, the ink jet recording apparatus is an output means of an information processing system, for example, a printer as an output terminal such as a copying machine, a facsimile, an electronic typewriter, a word processor, a workstation, or a personal computer, a host computer, It is used and commercialized as a handy or portable device provided in an optical disc device, a video device, and the like.

A recording element of the ink jet recording means,
That is, as an energy generating means for generating energy for ejecting ink, a conversion element that mechanically deforms by applying a voltage such as a piezo element is used, and an electromagnetic wave such as a laser is radiated to generate heat. There are a type that discharges droplets by the action of this heat generation, and a type that heats the liquid by an electrothermal conversion element having a heating resistor.

Among them, in the ink jet recording type recording head which discharges a liquid by utilizing thermal energy, since the liquid discharge ports can be arranged at a high density, high resolution recording can be performed. Particularly, the recording head using the electrothermal converting element as an energy generating means for ejecting ink is easy to be made compact, and the recent technological advance in the semiconductor field and the remarkable improvement in reliability are ICs.
This is an advantage because it is easy to realize high-density mounting by fully utilizing the advantages of the technology and micromachining technology, and the manufacturing cost is low.

The ink tank used for supplying ink to the recording head is generally composed of an ink absorber, a container for accommodating the ink absorber, and a lid member for sealing the container. Further, the recording head is classified into a chip type integrated with such an ink tank, and a recording head detachably connected to the ink tank. In both types, the positioning of the recording head and the ink tank, or the positioning of the head cartridge and carriage in which these members are integrated is an important item related to print quality. As one of those positioning means, there is one that performs accurate positioning by using a fitting hole and a fitting pin.

A recording apparatus equipped with a head cartridge generally includes the following recovery device for protecting the recording head.

First, a head recovery device will be described.
This head recovery device has one end of the moving path of the recording head,
For example, it is arranged at a position facing the home position.
The driving force of the motor transmitted through the transmission mechanism operates the head recovery device to cap the recording head. In association with the capping of the recording head by the cap portion of the head recovery device, ink is absorbed (suction recovery) by an appropriate suction means (for example, a suction pump) provided in the head recovery device, whereby the ink ejection port is ejected. The ejection recovery process is performed such as forcibly ejecting the ink from the ejection port to remove the thickened ink in the ejection port that hinders ink ejection. Further, the recording head is protected by capping at the end of recording. Such an ejection recovery process is performed when the power is turned on, when the recording head is replaced, or when the recording operation is not performed for a certain period of time.

Next, the head wiping device will be described. This wiping device is provided in parallel with the head recovery device and has a blade as a wiping member made of silicon rubber. The blade is held by the blade holding member in the form of a cantilever, and similarly to the head recovery device, is operated by the motor and the transmission mechanism and can be engaged with the ejection surface of the recording head. At appropriate timing in the recording operation of the recording head, or after the ejection recovery process using the head recovery device, the blade is projected into the movement path of the recording head, and the dew condensation or wetting on the ejection surface of the head is accompanied by the movement operation of the head. Alternatively, dust or the like is wiped off with a blade.

As described above, the ink jet recording apparatus stabilizes the ink ejection operation by the head recovery device and the wiping device. Therefore, for example, when the head cartridge is attached to or detached from the carriage, the nozzle surface of the recording head comes into contact with the recovery device or the platen, so that not only the recording head and the recovery device but also other members are deformed or damaged. It is necessary to be careful not to cause such problems.

Further, the entire conventional recording apparatus is covered with a cover member having an opening for attaching / detaching the head cartridge to / from the carriage.

[0016]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional recording apparatus, the recording head is deformed or damaged due to the following structural problems even if the user carefully performs the mounting / removing operation of the head cartridge. There was something to do. An example of conventional problems will be described with reference to the drawings.
6A is a diagram for explaining a case where capping is performed in a state where the head cartridge 70 is mounted on the carriage, and FIG. 6B is a fitting portion on the carriage where only the head cartridge is mounted. It is a figure for demonstrating the case where it slides to a predetermined direction with respect to, and performs capping.

In the conventional recording apparatus, the head cartridge is slid in a predetermined direction with respect to the fitting portion on the carriage for capping. At this time, the cap 61 connected to the pump 60 is interlocked with the movement of the carriage. Since the recording head moves like capping, the carriage does not move even if only the head cartridge part moves. For example, as shown in FIG. 6A, when the head cartridge 70 is mounted on a carriage (not shown), the head cartridge 70 moves in the arrow B direction by driving the carriage. With this movement, the cap 61 that is inclined changes the angle in the movement direction to cap the nozzles of the head cartridge 70.

However, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the recording head cartridge is moved without driving the carriage (when the recording head cartridge is mounted on the carriage), the carriage remains stationary and the head cartridge 70 is moved. Since only one slides in the direction of arrow B,
Since the cap 61 that moves in conjunction with the movement of the carriage remains stationary and does not move in accordance with the movement of the head cartridge 70, when the head cartridge 70 and the cap 61 come into contact with each other, the pressure in the direction of arrow B is applied to the cap 61. Takes. Therefore, the deformation as shown in FIG. 6B may occur. Furthermore, in order to avoid such deformation, it is possible to provide a head attachment / detachment position outside the position of the cap and the recording area, but it is necessary to increase the size of the device in order to secure a space for this. As a result, it is impossible to meet the demand for a compact device.

Further, when the bent portion of the flexible cable for transmitting signals to the head cartridge is located in the opening of the cover member at the replacement position when the head cartridge is attached to or detached from the carriage, the cable is covered by the user or the like. It is easily pulled out from the opening of the member.
As a result, there are problems that the cable is bent, the pattern is broken, and the carriage drive motor is damaged.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and the deformation or damage of the recording head,
Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording device having a recording head replacement position that does not cause disconnection of a signal line of a flexible cable, and an information processing system including the recording device.

[0021]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a recording apparatus of the present invention is arranged so that a recording medium is conveyed by a conveying means and the recording medium conveyed by the conveying means is orthogonal to the conveying direction. A carriage that reciprocates along a direction, a recording head that is mounted on the carriage and performs recording on the recording medium, and recording information to the recording head that is connected to the recording head via terminals on the carriage. In a recording device including an internal structure including a supply cable, and a cover member that covers the internal structure and has an opening for attaching and detaching the recording head to and from the carriage, a bent portion of the cable is provided. An exchange position for attaching / detaching the recording head to / from the carriage is set at a position where the cable is not pulled out while being covered by the cover member. And are characterized.

In the recording device, the power is turned on.
At this time, when it is recognized that the recording head is not mounted on the carriage, the carriage moves to the exchange position after a power ON sequence.

Further, the recording apparatus adopts an ink jet recording system in which the recording head ejects ink in accordance with a signal to perform recording, and the recording head generates thermal energy for ejecting ink. In the recording apparatus, the recording head ejects the ink from the ejection port by utilizing the film boiling generated in the ink by the thermal energy applied by the electrothermal converter to the recording head. The present invention also includes an information processing system characterized by including the recording device as an output means.

[0024]

According to the present invention configured as described above, when it is necessary to remove the recording head from the carriage, for example, when the recording head runs out of ink or when the ink color of the recording head is exchanged, for example, When a predetermined switch is pressed, the carriage equipped with the recording head moves to the opening of the cover member and stops at a predetermined position.

At this time, that is, at the exchange position for attaching / detaching the recording head to / from the carriage, the bent portion of the cable connected to the terminal on the carriage and supplying the recording information to the recording head is covered with the cover member. The cable is not pulled out by the user.

Therefore, since the user does not pull out the cable from the opening of the cover member, there is no problem that the cable is bent and the pattern is broken or the drive motor of the carriage is broken.

[0027]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an internal structure applied to an embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

The internal structure of the recording apparatus in this embodiment adopts an inkjet recording system. In FIG. 1, the internal structure has a base 14 as a bottom and a frame 4 as a side.

At the rear of the frame 4, both ends of the pressure plate 8 in the longitudinal direction are rotatably supported, and the pressure plate 8 is urged toward the pickup roller 9 by pressure urging means (not shown). A recording medium P is loaded on the pressure plate 8. The pickup roller 9 is configured to rotate in response to a paper feed command and send out the recording medium P on the pressure plate 8.
The paper feeding unit includes a separating unit (not shown) that separates the recording media P on the pressure plate 8 one by one. The separated recording medium P is conveyed while being sandwiched between a conveyance roller 6 whose both ends are supported by the frame 4 and a pinch roller 7 provided on the base 14, and the paper discharge roller 1
The sheet is also pinched between the 5 and the spur 16 and discharged.

The frame 4 supports the guide shaft 5 in which the carriage 2 is fitted between the transport roller 6 and the paper discharge roller 15. The carriage 2 is engaged with a part of the carriage drive belt 11. The carriage drive belt 11 is wound around a pair of drive pulleys 13, and one of the drive pulleys 11 is attached to a shaft end of a carriage drive motor 10 fixed to a base 14. The carriage 2 is moved by the drive motor 10 along the guide shaft 5 in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the recording medium P13.

The printhead cartridge 1 is mounted on the carriage 2. Recording head cartridge 1
A signal or the like is transmitted from the flexible cable 3 to the.
The recording head cartridge 1 is integrally configured with a recording head and an ink tank 30 that contains ink, and is detachably attached to the carriage 2. The ink tank 30 may be a replaceable ink tank that is detachable from the recording head.

In addition to being supported by the guide shaft 5, the carriage 2 is also supported by the guide rails 12 whose both ends are fixed to the frame 4, and the recording heads on the recording medium P are supported by these two supporting portions. The distance between the nozzle for ejecting the ink and the surface of the recording medium P is kept substantially constant. The flexible cable 3 is arranged along a longitudinal surface of the guide rail 12 substantially parallel to the conveyance path of the recording medium P, and a loop is formed on the surface of the flexible cable 3 as the carriage 2 moves.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the appearance of an embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention. The internal structure of the recording device described in FIG. 1 is sandwiched between an upper case 17 and a lower case 18. A top cover 19 is rotatably supported on the upper case 17. The top cover 19 serves as a cover for the upper surface of the upper case 17, and serves as a tray on which recording media are loaded when the recording medium is tilted backward as shown in FIG. An opening is provided in the center of the upper case 17, and the recording head cartridge 1 is replaced at this opening. A head cover 20 is provided in the opening,
Normally, the head cover 20 covers the opening. The head cover 20 is rotatably supported by the upper case 17.

When the recording head cartridge 1 is attached to or detached from the carriage 2 in such a recording apparatus, an arbitrary head cartridge exchange switch provided on the upper case 17 is pressed. An electric switch (not shown) on the substrate is pressed via the head cartridge exchange switch, and the carriage drive motor 10 drives the carriage 2
Moves to the head cartridge replacement position. The operation at that time will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 shows the position of the carriage 2 in the normal state. After the power is turned on, the carriage 2 waits for a print command, etc.
Is in this position.

FIG. 4 shows the position of the carriage 2 at the head cartridge replacement position. Provided on the upper case 17 when the recording head cartridge 1 needs to be detached from the carriage 2, such as when the recording head cartridge 1 runs out of ink or when the recording head cartridge 1 is replaced with a monochrome tank and a color tank. Press any of the head cartridge replacement switches that were specified. Then, the carriage drive motor 10 drives the carriage 2 to move to the opening provided in the central portion of the upper case 17. The user opens the head cover 20 and attaches and detaches the recording head cartridge 1 to and from the carriage 2. At this time, since the bent portion of the flexible cable 3 for transmitting signals to the recording head cartridge 1 is completely covered by the upper case 17, it is possible to prevent the user from pulling out the flexible cable 3 in advance. .

On the other hand, when it is recognized that the recording head cartridge 1 is not mounted on the carriage 2 when the power is turned on, the carriage 2 moves to the head cartridge exchange position shown in FIG. 4 after the power on sequence. The user
The recording head cartridge 1 is mounted on the carriage 2,
Start recording.

By the way, the head cartridge replacement position is a position as shown in FIG. 5 (right side from the position shown in FIG. 4).
Therefore, if the bent portion of the flexible cable 3 is not located at the position completely covered by the upper case 17, the user may pull out the flexible cable 3. When the flexible cable 3 is pulled out, it is bent or the pattern is broken. Further, the carriage motor 10 may be damaged.

Further, in a small printer or the like which uses a narrow flexible cable having a width of about 10 mm or less, the flexibility of the flexible cable is small and the user can easily pull it out. This embodiment is particularly effective in such a case. It will be composed.

Although the present embodiment has been described by taking an ink jet recording apparatus as an example, it can be applied to various recording apparatuses such as a thermal transfer system.

The present invention provides excellent effects particularly in an ink jet type recording head and a recording apparatus for recording by forming flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy among the ink jet recording systems.

With regard to its typical structure and principle, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740 are applicable.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal to the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path in which is stored, which corresponds to the recorded information and causes a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling. , Generates heat energy in the electrothermal converter, causes film boiling on the hot boiling surface of the recording head, and as a result, liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal in a one-to-one correspondence.
To form at least one drop. It is more preferable to make the driving signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be grown and contracted immediately and appropriately, and thus a liquid (ink) with excellent responsiveness can be ejected.

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, which is an 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 as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications (straight liquid passage or right-angled liquid passage). The present invention also includes configurations using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.

In addition, the present invention has a configuration based on Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-138461 which discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters. It is valid.

Further, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of the recording medium which can be recorded by the recording device, a combination of a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification is used. It may have either a structure satisfying the length or a structure as one recording head integrally formed, but the present invention can more effectively exhibit the above-mentioned effects.

In addition, by being attached to the apparatus main body, it can be electrically connected to the apparatus main body and can be supplied with ink from the apparatus main body by a replaceable chip type recording head or the recording head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge-type recording head provided with an ink tank is used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, etc., which are provided as a configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specific examples thereof include capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suctioning means for the recording head, preheating means using an electrothermal converter or another heating element or a combination thereof, and recording. It is also effective to perform a stable recording by performing a preliminary discharge mode in which another discharge is performed.

Further, as the recording mode of the recording apparatus, not only the mainstream color such as black but also the recording mode may be formed by integrally forming the recording heads or by combining a plurality of them. The present invention is extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of full colors by color mixing.

In the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid, but it is an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and softens at room temperature, or is a liquid, or the above-mentioned ink jet system. In general, the temperature of the ink itself is adjusted within the range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature of the ink so that the viscosity of the ink is within the stable ejection range. Anything can be used.

In addition, the temperature rise due to the thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy for the state change of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the ink is solidified in the left state for the purpose of preventing the evaporation of the ink. It is prevented by using ink. In any case, the ink is liquefied by application of thermal energy according to the recording signal and is ejected as a liquid ink, or it begins to solidify when it reaches the recording medium. The use of inks, such as inks, which are liquified only by heat energy, is also applicable to the present invention. In such a case, the ink is disclosed in JP-A-54-
As described in JP-A-56847 or JP-A-60-71260, a form in which the electrothermal converter is opposed to a liquid sheet or a solid material held in the recesses or through holes of the porous sheet. May be 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 a form of the recording apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to one provided integrally or separately as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a word processor or a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, May take the form of a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention, the exchange position for attaching / detaching the recording head to / from the carriage is such that the bent portion of the cable for transmitting signals to the recording head is covered by the cover member. By the setting, the user cannot pull out the flexible cable, the flexible cable is not bent, the pattern is not broken, the carriage drive motor is not damaged, and stable recording can be performed. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an internal structure applied to an embodiment of a recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the appearance of an embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the position of the carriage in a normal state of an embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing the position of the carriage at the head cartridge exchange position of the embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing the position of the carriage at the head cartridge replacement position to be solved by the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining a positional relationship between a conventional head cartridge and a carriage, (a) shows a case where the head is mounted on the carriage to move, and (b) shows a case where only the head is slid. Is.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Recording Head Cartridge 2 Carriage 3 Flexible Cable 4 Frame 5 Guide Shaft 6 Conveying Roller 7 Pinch Roller 8 Pressure Plate 9 Pickup Roller 10 Carriage Drive Motor 11 Carriage Drive Belt 12 Guide Rail 13 Drive Pulley 14 Base 15 Paper Ejection Roller 16 Spurs 17 Upper Case 18 Lower Case 19 Top Cover 20 Head Cover 30 Ink Tank P Recording Medium

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Internal reference number FI Technical display location B41J 29/38 B B41J 29/00 D (72) Inventor Soichi Hiramatsu 3-30 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. 2 within Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Hitoshi Nakamura 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Akira Kida 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Non-Incorporated (72) Inventor Hideki Yamaguchi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Takeshi Iwasaki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A transporting means for transporting a recording medium, a carriage reciprocating along a direction orthogonal to a transporting direction of the recording medium transported by the transporting means, and a carriage mounted on the carriage and carrying the recording medium. A recording head for recording on a recording medium, an internal structure including a cable connected to the recording head via a terminal on the carriage and supplying recording information to the recording head, and covering the internal structure, In a recording device including a cover member having an opening for attaching and detaching the recording head to and from the carriage, the bent portion of the cable is covered with the cover member, and the cable is not pulled out. A recording apparatus, wherein an exchange position for attaching and detaching a recording head to and from the carriage is set. 2. The power source is turned on when it is recognized that the recording head is not mounted on the carriage when the power source is turned on.
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carriage moves to the exchange position after the sequence. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus adopts an inkjet recording method in which the recording head ejects ink in accordance with a signal to perform recording. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head includes an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy for ejecting ink. 5. The recording apparatus discharges ink from a discharge port by utilizing film boiling generated in ink by thermal energy applied to the recording head by an electrothermal converter. Alternatively, the recording device according to claim 2. 6. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the recording device is provided as an output unit.