JPH0825653A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the whole of a device smaller and of low cost and also make a space of installing a pump although the pump provided with flexible components like a tube and others is used by driving the pump by means of a simple mechanism operated correspondingly to the movement of a carrier and simplifying a paper feed system. CONSTITUTION:A tube 103 connected with a cap 77 is extended along the moving direction of a carrier, and a roller 101 disposed on a rear extended section 150 of the carrier is moved communicatingly with the movement of the carrier by cam sections 105a, 105b, 105c and 105d, and the tube 103 is pressurized in compliance with the moving positions of the roller 101 and perform the pumping.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printing apparatus for printing by causing an ink jet recording head to scan while ejecting ink droplets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a so-called ink jet printing apparatus that prints by ejecting ink droplets from a nozzle onto a recording material, ink that causes problems such as dust contamination or drying is discharged from the nozzle or ink is printed before starting printing. Some have pump means for filling the ink in the reservoir to the nozzles. This pump means is disclosed in JP-A-3-5160.
A typical example is a piston pump with reciprocating motion of a piston as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 5-69058, and a tube pump in which an elastic tube as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-690558 is squeezed with a roller or the like. Generally, a piston pump can be miniaturized, but it is technically difficult to maintain airtightness by a sliding piston member, and it is necessary to use a sealing member such as an O-ring to form a closed structure. , The number of parts tends to increase. on the other hand,
The tube pump keeps airtightness in the tube itself,
Further, since the ink can always flow in one direction by squeezing in one direction, the pump means can be constructed at a lower cost, but since the tube length corresponding to the content integration corresponding to the pump capacity is required, The entire device tends to be large.

Conventionally, there have been the following methods for driving such a pump.

1) It is made to interlock with an operation member, and a user manually pumps as needed.

2) A dedicated motor is provided to drive the pump.

3) A clutch mechanism for connecting the motor and the pump device is provided only when pumping is performed, and a motor for feeding the recording material in the sub-scanning direction (hereinafter referred to as "paper feeding motor") or a head is mainly used. A motor for driving in the scanning direction (hereinafter referred to as "carrier motor") is also used as a drive source.

[0007]

However, the above-mentioned conventional drive system has the following drawbacks.

In the case of 1), since the manual operation is performed, the pumping speed may not be stable, and a predetermined pressure may not be applied to the recording head. Further, the user may not be able to confirm the print defect until the print head is confirmed to be defective. There are drawbacks such as not knowing whether or not pumping is necessary, and troublesome operation.

In the case of 2), since the dedicated motor is set, the pump device itself becomes large and the cost becomes high.

In the example of 3), there is a drawback that the device is complicated. This point will be described below.

The original purpose of each motor is to drive the paper feeding roller for feeding the paper if it is a paper feeding motor,
In the case of a carrier motor, very high accuracy is required for each control of driving the carrier. Therefore, it is desirable not to disconnect the drive transmission system between the motor and the paper feed roller as a driven body or the carrier. However, even when the motor is driven for a purpose other than the original purpose, the paper feeding roller or the carrier moves. Generally, in many serial printers, the carrier motor is directly connected to the carrier via a belt. In this case, it is difficult to use the carrier motor for other purposes for the following reason. First, the rotation amount of the motor in one direction is limited to the amount corresponding to the stroke scanned by the carrier. Secondly, especially when used as a driving source for pumping, the recording head moves during pumping,
The connection between the pump and the recording head becomes difficult. Therefore, in such a printer, instead of the carrier motor, the paper feeding motor is used as a drive source for other purposes. However, normally, in the inkjet printing apparatus, it is necessary to at least pick up the recording paper of the cut sheet feeder in addition to pumping,
Since these need to have different operation timings, at least two clutch mechanisms that can be arbitrarily controlled are required. Furthermore, in order to control the clutch mechanism arbitrarily, the following mechanism is required.

A) Using a solenoid, an electromagnetic clutch, etc., an arbitrary gear train is connected to and disconnected from the motor by electromagnetic force.

B) Use the carrier as a selector. That is, when the carrier moves to a certain position, the planetary gear is forcibly meshed with the gear train from the motor, and the carrier phase and the clutch mechanism are mechanically associated with each other while the clutch is engaged. Drive the paper feed motor to do any job.

C) A one-way clutch is provided for transmitting a rotational force only when the paper feeding roller rotates in the forward direction when the paper feeding roller rotates for feeding the recording material.

In A), the cost is the same as when a dedicated motor is set.

The method B) has a drawback that the carrier needs to be moved to the outside of the printing area by the number of clutch mechanisms, which makes the apparatus large.

The method C) is a simple and inexpensive method, but only one job can be assigned other than paper feeding.

As described above, conventionally, since a lot of work is allocated to the paper feeding motor, the device becomes large and complicated, and the cost becomes high.

Further, when the conventional tube pump is adopted, there is a drawback that the pump itself becomes large as described above. For example, when the tubes are arranged in an arc shape as disclosed in JP-A-5-690558, the tube inner diameter is 2 mm and the pump capacity is 0.3.
In ml, the length of the tube is 95.5 mm, which is the pump capacity divided by the tube cross-sectional area. Furthermore, assuming that the circular arc portion of the tube is just a semicircle, the diameter of the circle is 9
It becomes 60.8 mm at 5.5 × 2 / 3.14.
This is a fairly large size for a typical serial printer.

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to drive a pump with a simple mechanism that responds to the movement of a carrier, and thus to simplify the paper feeding system as well, thereby making the entire apparatus smaller and less expensive. Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printing apparatus that is capable of reducing the deployment space while adopting a pump including a flexible member such as a tube.

[0021]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet printing apparatus in which ink is ejected from an ink ejection port of an ink jet head onto a recording medium to perform recording on the recording medium. A carriage that holds the inkjet head, a carrier that can be connected to and separated from the carriage, a carrier that moves the carriage along the recording medium, and a cap unit that caps the ink ejection port. A flexible member for discharging the ink in the cap unit to the outside is provided along the moving region of the carrier, and the pump unit is provided on the carrier, and the flexible member is provided in association with the movement of the carrier. And a pressing portion that presses the flexible member to cause the ink discharging operation by the pump means. And it features.

An ink jet printing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the ink jet printing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the pressing portion is held at a first position and a second position and movable between them, and the carrier is in a predetermined direction. Moving the pressing portion in the first position to the second position in conjunction with the movement of
When the pressing portion is in the second position, when the carrier moves in the predetermined direction, the pressing portion is returned to the first position in association with the movement in the predetermined direction, When the pressing portion is in the second position and the carrier moves in the opposite direction to the predetermined direction, the pressing portion presses the flexible member in conjunction with the movement in the opposite direction. It is characterized in that it is provided with a means for moving it.

An ink jet printing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is the ink jet printing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the pressing portion is stable at the first and second positions and is displaced from the first and second positions. It is urged to return to the first and second closer positions, and the pressing portion at the first position is moved to the second position in conjunction with the movement of the carrier in a predetermined direction, When the pressing portion is in the second position, when the carrier moves in the predetermined direction, the pressing portion is returned to the first position in conjunction with the movement in the predetermined direction,
When the pressing portion is in the second position, when the carrier moves in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction, the pressing portion is linked to the movement in the opposite direction and resists the biasing force. It is characterized in that a cam means for moving to a third position away from the first position is provided, and the pump means pumps in conjunction with the movement when the pressing portion is at the third position.

[0024]

In the ink jet printing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the carrier and the carriage can be combined and separated, and the pressing portion presses the flexible member of the pump means in association with the movement of the carrier. As a result, a pumping operation for discharging ink is performed. Then, by moving the carrier separated from the carriage, it is possible to perform a pumping operation for ejecting ink while the inkjet head is connected to the pump means at a predetermined position.

Further, in the ink jet printing apparatus according to the second and third aspects of the present invention, the pressing portion is moved according to the moving direction of the carrier, and the movement causes the pump means to operate at a predetermined timing.

[0026]

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

(First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10. The present embodiment is an application example as an inkjet recording apparatus. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing this embodiment.

Reference numeral 1 is a right side plate, and 2 is a left side plate. Three
Is a platen roller and is made of an elastic material such as rubber. A platen roller shaft 4 is formed at the center of the platen roller, and its left and right ends are supported by the left side plate 2 and the right side plate 3. A paper feed motor 5 is supported by the right side plate 1 and rotates the platen roller shaft 4 via a gear train (not shown). A paper guide 6 is provided along the circumference of the platen roller 3. Pinch rollers 7 and 8 are pressed against the surface of the platen roller 3 with a predetermined pressure by a spring (not shown). A recording paper 9 as a medium to be conveyed is fed from a direction of an arrow 10 and is inserted between a platen roller shaft 4 and a paper guide 6 and is nipped by the pinch rollers 7 and 8 and the platen roller shaft 4.
The paper is bent and bent. Reference numeral 11 is a guide shaft having a diameter of 10 mm as a guide mechanism, and its end is supported by the left side plate 1 and the right side plate 2.

Reference numeral 12 is a black ink carriage as a functional element mounting carriage. Details of the black ink carriage 12 will be described with reference to FIG. A black ink cartridge 13 is mounted on the black ink carriage 12. Reference numeral 24 denotes a cartridge hook, which serves to press the cartridge 13 against the contact portion 26 located inside the carriage 12. Button 27
When is pressed, the engaging portion 30 is disengaged from the square hole 29 provided in the carriage 12, and the hook 24 is rotated and opened in the 31 direction around the fulcrum 28 as an axis. With the hook 24 open, the black ink cartridge 13 is inserted into the carriage 12 from above, and when the hook 24 is closed, the cartridge 13 is pressed against the contact portion 26 and fixed. Carriage 12
Pins 99 and 100 are projected from the pin, and these pins 99 and 100 are fitted into positioning holes of an aluminum plate attached to the cartridge 13 which will be described later. The cartridge 13 is
The pins 99 and 100 are positioned by hitting the roots thereof. 32 is a flexible cable, and the carriage 1
Curves and follows the movement of 2. The flexible cable 32 has the contact portion 26 formed at an end thereof and is arranged inside the carriage 12 to apply an ink ejection signal as a functional element drive signal from a substrate (not shown) to the cartridge 13. The carriage 12 has fitting holes 33, 34, 35 for integrating with a scanner 78 as a carrier which will be described later.
And a grip portion 36. The hole 35 is a long hole in the vertical direction, and the grip portion 36 projects outward from the wall portion of the carriage 12. 37 is the carriage 12
Is a hole through which the guide shaft 11 penetrates, and its inner diameter is set to 10.2 mm so that a frictional load does not occur when it is integrated with the scanning element 78. By fitting the hole 37 and the guide shaft 11, the carriage 12 is swingably engaged with the guide shaft 11 as a guide mechanism, and on the cap 77 (see FIG. 1) described below as a first standby portion. The downward swing is regulated and held at the portion. 7
Reference numeral 9 denotes a black carriage sensor shield plate that shields a light transmission type home position sensor 74 described later.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 38 is a color ink carrier in which a color ink cartridge 44 is mounted. The carriage 38 will be described with reference to FIG. The carriage 38 is the black ink carriage 12 of FIG.
Since the shape is similar to the above, only the differences will be described as 39, 40.
And 41 are fitting holes for a scanning element 58, which will be described later, and the positions of the fitting holes 39, 40 are the positions of the black ink carriage 1
The two fitting holes 33 and 34 are left-right reversed. Hole 41
Is a long hole up and down. Reference numeral 43 denotes a grip portion, which projects outward from the wall portion of the carriage 38. 8
Reference numeral 0 is a sensor shield plate for the color carriage. Further, the carriage 38 is provided with a hole similar to the hole 37 of the carriage 12, and by fitting the hole with the guide shaft 11, the carriage 12 is swingably engaged with the guide shaft 11 as a guide mechanism. Has been done. Further, a cap similar to the cap 77 provided at a position facing the carriage 38 in FIG. 1 has a top surface part as a first standby part,
The downward swing of the carriage 38 is regulated at that portion, and it is held.

The black ink cartridge 13 has an ink tank for containing the black ink and an ink jet recording head as a functional element for ejecting the black ink. The ink tank has a sponge (not shown) inside and contains ink. The ink capacity is, for example, the equivalent of 100 sheets of A47 size recording paper 9 for character printing. Further, the heat dissipation aluminum plate (not shown) provided in the cartridge 13 is provided with a positioning hole for the carriage 12. Further, a substrate having contacts (not shown) corresponding to the contact portions 26 is fixed in parallel with the aluminum plate.

The color ink cartridge 44 has a black ink tank, a color ink tank, and a color ink jet recording head as a functional element.
Unlike the black ink cartridge tank 13 described above, these ink tanks can be removed from the color recording head and replaced. The structure inside the ink tank is a sponge structure similar to that of the black ink cartridge 13. Inside the color tank, there are formed ink storage areas for yellow, magenta, and cyan ink, and the inks are supplied from the sponges stored in these areas to the inkjet recording head through the ink supply ports. It

Next, the scanning element 78 as a scanning type carrier will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, the left and right bearings 68 and 69 of the scanner 58 are fitted to the guide shaft 11. Further, the upper guide 67 slides along the rail 70. Reference numeral 65 denotes a belt, which is a belt stopper 64 located at an intermediate position of the scanning element 78 in the left-right direction and serving as a receiving portion for driving force
Fixed to. One side of the belt 65 is hung on the motor pulley 72, and the other side is a tension pulley 73 urged in the direction of stretching the belt with a spring (not shown).
Is hung on. By driving the carrier motor 71, the scanning element 78 is moved in the main scanning direction. Reference numeral 66 denotes a sensor shield plate, which interrupts the optical path of the light transmissive home position sensor 74 to generate an output signal for position control of the scanning element 58.

In FIG. 7, 101 is a roller as a pressing portion which is held by the rear extension portion 150 of the scanning element 78 so as to be movable in the vertical direction in the drawing. Reference numeral 105 denotes a cam that is formed of a member fixed to the printer and that regulates the vertical position of the roller 101. The roller 101 will be described with reference to FIG. A slit 150a extending in the vertical direction is formed in the rearward extending portion 150 of the scanning element 78, and the shaft of the roller 101 (hereinafter referred to as "roller shaft") 101a is engaged with the slit 150a. 102 is a scanner 78
The roller shaft 101a is biased to the left in the figure by a leaf spring fixed to the rearward extension portion 150 of FIG. The leaf spring 102 has two bent portions as shown in the figure, and is configured to stably hold the roller 101 at a first position indicated by a solid line and a second position indicated by a chain double-dashed line.

Reference numeral 62 denotes a resin gripper fixed on the scanning element 78, and the black ink carriage 1 described above.
2 and the grip portions 36 and 43 on the color ink carriage 38 are gripped by the bifurcated claws. Figure 6
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which the scanner 78 and the black ink carriage 12 are combined. The grip portion 36 of the carriage 12 abuts against the stopper portion 98 of the scanning element 78 and is held. That is, the cartridge 13 is the carriage 1
2, the carriage 12 is positioned by abutting the bases of the positioning pins 99 and 100, and the carriage 12 is positioned by abutting the stopper portion 98 with respect to the scanning element 78. As a result, when scanning the scanning element 78, it is possible to record on the accurate position of the paper 9. When the scanner 78 grips the grip portion 36 of the black ink carriage 12, the fitting shafts 59, 61 and 63 of the scanner 78 are fitted into the fitting holes 34, 33 and 35 of the carriage 12, respectively,
The scanning element 78 and the carriage 12 can be integrally scanned. On the other hand, the carriage 38 for color ink and the scanner 7
When 8 are integrated, the gripper 62 grips the grip portion 36, and the fitting shafts 60, 61, 63 of the scanning element 78 are fitted in the fitting holes 40, 39, 41 of the color ink carriage 38.
And can be similarly scanned. Gripper 6
2 and the fitting shafts 59, 61, 63 are the carriages 12, 38 located on the cap as the first and second standby parts.
When it is mounted by being coupled to the scanning element 78, an engaging mechanism for restricting the swing of the carriages 12, 38 is formed.

75 is a carriage 12 for black ink
, A resin black gripper for restraining the
Is a color gripper for restraining the color ink carriage 38 at the position shown in FIG. Black gripper 75
Since the shapes of the color gripper 76 and the color gripper 76 are in a mirror image relationship and the operation is the same, only the black gripper 75 will be described.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the relationship between the grip portion 36, the gripper 62, and the black gripper 75 of the black ink carriage 12, and the carriage 12 is not shown. FIG. 4A shows a state where the black gripper 75 restrains the carriage 38. Since the bifurcated claw I of the black gripper 75 holds the grip portion 36, it is displaced so as to open outward. FIG.
(B) shows a state where the scanning element 58 approaches the carriage 12, and the bifurcated claw of the gripper 62 is about to enter the inside of the claw I of the opened black gripper 75. FIG. 4C shows a state where the scanning element 58 further approaches, the gripper 62 grips the grip portion 36, and the claw I of the black gripper 75 is further spread. After that, when the scanning element 58 moves in the opposite direction as shown in FIG. 4D, the carriage 12 becomes in a state of scanning together with the scanning element 58. After that, when the scanning element 58 moves to the right again, the carriage 12 moves from the scanning element 78 toward the black gripper 75, contrary to the above process. In this way, the scanning element 58 causes the black gripper 7 to move.
The carriage 12 is handed over each time it approaches 5.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 77 is a cap for capping the recording head of the black ink cartridge 13 to protect it from drying. Similarly, a cap (not shown) is provided for the color ink cartridge 44. The cap 77 is provided by means such as a cam (not shown).
The black ink carriage 12 is the black gripper 7.
When the carriage 12 is restrained by 5 and is in the cap position, it abuts on the head surface of the recording head of the black ink cartridge 13, and when the restraint is released and the carriage 12 separates from the black gripper 75, the cap 77 retreats.

A tube 103 as a flexible member is connected to the cap 77 so as to communicate with the inside of the cap 77. The tube 103 is made of a material such as rubber or soft resin that elastically returns to the deformation, and extends from the cap 77 to the lower vicinity of the roller 101 in parallel with the scanning direction. Similarly, a cap and a tube 104 (not shown) are provided for the color ink cartridge 44.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5.

Before the power is turned on, the scanner 78 is stationary 50 mm on the left side in FIG. 1 from the position where the shield plate 66 blocks the optical path of the home position sensor 74, and the carriage 12 for black ink and the carriage for color ink. 38
Are in their respective cap positions, their cartridges 13, 44 are capped, and the rollers 101
Is held in the first position.

When the power is turned on, the scanning element 78 moves 100 mm to the right toward the black ink carriage 12 side (Bk side) (steps S1 and S2). At this time, the number of times the optical path of the home position sensor (HP) 74 is blocked is determined, and if it is once, the scanning element 78 is reversed and moved to the left (step S5), and the optical path of the sensor 74 is again determined. After being blocked, the vehicle stops at a position of 50 mm (hereinafter, initial position) (step S6). On the other hand, if the optical path of the sensor 74 is interrupted twice, it is determined that the black ink carriage 12 or the color ink carriage 38 is coupled to the scanning element 78, and the detection signal of the sensor 74 is turned on and off. To judge. The shield plate 66 and the shield plate 79 have a distance of 20 mm when the scanner 78 and the carriage 12 are connected, and the shield plate 66 and the shield plate 8 when the scanner 78 and the carriage 38 are connected.
0 has a spacing of 6 mm. Therefore, depending on the timing of blocking the optical path of the sensor 74, the carriages 12, 3
It is possible to determine which one of 8 is connected to the scanner 78.

When the black ink carriage 12 (also referred to as Bk carriage or black carriage) is connected, after the shield plate 66 passes the sensor 74,
The black ink carriage 12 is moved to the cap position (steps S4 and S11), and the carriage 12
After the black gripper 75 restrains the
8 is reversed and moved to the left (step S5), and the optical path of the sensor 74 is blocked again and then stopped at the initial position (step S6). On the other hand, when the color ink carriage 38 is connected, the shielding plate 66 is reversed and moved to the left at the position moved 50 mm to the right after passing the sensor 74 (step S9). The carriage (also referred to as a color carriage) 38 is moved to the cap position (step S10), the color carriage 38 is restrained by the color gripper 73, and then the scanner 78 is re-inverted (step S5). It is stopped (step S6).

As described above, when neither of the carriages 12 and 38 is connected to the scanning element 78, only the scanning element 78 moves and stops at the initial position.
Due to an unforeseen situation, the carriage 1 is in the power off state.
Carrier 2, when 2 and 38 were coupled to the scanner
After bringing 2 and 38 to the corresponding cap positions and restraining them, only the scanning element 78 moves to the initial position and stops.

When a recording signal is input, it is determined whether the recording signal is for black-based recording such as text or ruled lines or a color image signal (steps S7, S).
8) In the former case, the scanner 78 is the black carriage 1.
The cap 2 is scanned and integrated with the black carriage 12 (step S16). In the latter case, the scanner 78
Scans to the cap position of the color carriage 38 and is integrated with the color carriage 38 (step S13). At the same time, the cap is retracted from the cartridge 13 or 44 used for recording (steps S17 and S14). In recording by the black carriage 12, recording is performed using 128 nozzles, and recording for one scan is performed (step S1).
8) Feed the paper 9 for 128 nozzles (step S
19, S23), and the next scan is performed (step S1).
8). When recording of one page is completed, the paper is ejected (step S
19, S20), and if recording is to be continued, new paper is fed (steps S24, S25). If the recording is completed, the scanner 7
8 moves until the black carriage 12 reaches the cap position (step S26), the black carriage 12 is restrained by the black gripper 75, and the cap 77.
Is capped (step S27), the scanner 78 scans to the position when the power is turned off and stops (step S28). After that, the power is turned off (step S2).
9). On the other hand, in the recording by the color carriage 38, an area having a large proportion of the color image is superposed on the black image by feeding 24 nozzles in the order of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow, and the black image area is Paper is fed by 64 black nozzles by 64 (step S22).

The relationship between the roller 101 and the cam 105 at this time is shown in FIG. The cam 105 is a cam portion 1 as shown in the figure.
05a, 105b, 105c, 105d, and the one-dot chain line A is the roller 10 when pumping is not performed.
1 represents the locus of movement of the center of 1. The roller 101 shown in the figure is
It is in a state before the power is turned on, in the left-right direction, it is in the moving area when printing is normally performed above the cam portion 105a, and in the up-down direction it is in the first upper position,
Moreover, there is a slight gap between the upper surface of the cam 105a and the roller shaft 101a. When the scanner 78 moves to the right in the direction of the cap 77 from this state, the roller shaft 101a comes into contact with the cam portion 105b at a position outside the scanning range required for printing, and follows the arrow in the lower right direction. Roll 101
Moves to the second position. When the scanning element 78 continues to move in the direction of the cap 77, the cam portion 105c returns the roller 101 to the first position, and the roller 101 stops at the position where the recording head faces the cap 77. When the scanner 78 is reversed and moved to the left, the roller 10
1 is lifted up by the cam portion 105b,
After that, the leaf spring 102 returns to the first position again. When the scanner 78 continues to move in the reverse direction, the roller 101 operates symmetrically with the above description by the cam similar to the cam 105 provided on the color ink carriage 38 side. Therefore, the scanning element 78 moves the cam portion 105.
As long as scanning is performed so as to pass b in one direction, the roller 10
1 does not contact the tube 103. Also cam 1
Since the contact between 05b and the roller 101 is outside the area for printing, there is nothing that contacts the roller 101 during printing, and the cam portion 105 does not affect the printing. It should be noted that the cam 105b may be provided in the area for printing as long as it does not adversely affect the printing.

Next, the operation when performing pumping will be described. In FIG. 10, the roller 101 has the cam portion 105b.
Represents the state of moving to the lower second position. From this state, when the scanner 78 moves to the left, the roller 101
Is forced down by the cam portion 105a from the second position to a further lower third position. The roller 101 is guided to the lower side of the cam portion 105a and comes into contact with the tube 103 to crush it. In the tube 103, the crushed portion becomes airtight, and the roller 101 becomes the cam portion 105a.
If you move to the left at the third position on the lower side, negative pressure will be generated inside the tube on the right side of the roller. The roller 101 in the third position is located on the horizontal guide surface below the cam portion 105a, which is continuous with the cam portions 105c and 105d, and therefore does not fall off. If the black ink cartridge 13 is capped in advance and then pumping is performed, a negative pressure is applied to the nozzle of the black ink cartridge 13, and the ink in the nozzle is forcibly discharged until the negative pressure disappears. After the ink is discharged, the roller 101 returns to the first position by the cam portion 105d. After that, the scanner 78 and the black ink carriage 1
2 and are combined, and a pumping operation is performed similarly. At this time, since the cap is open to the atmosphere, the roller 101
Every time the tube 103 is squeezed, the ink in the tube 103 moves leftward. If such suction to the atmosphere is performed several times, all the ink sucked into the tube is discharged from the left end. When the ink is discharged from the color ink cartridge 44, the left and right directions of the above operation are reversed and the operation is exactly the same.

In this example, the roller 101 is displaced in three steps among the first, second and third positions, and when the roller 101 moves in the left and right direction at the third position, the tube 103 is moved.
I try to pump by squeezing, but roller 10
1 may be shifted in two steps between the first and second positions so that the tube 103 is squeezed to pump when it moves in the left-right direction at the second position. . However, in that case, by the cam portion 105b,
In order to shift the roller 101 sufficiently large, the cam portion 105
It is necessary to make b large. Cam section 1 as in this example
When the roller 101 is displaced in three steps by the 05a and 105b, the roller 1 is moved by the cam portions 105a and 105b.
01 can be displaced sufficiently and smoothly.

By the way, when the ink is discharged, the nozzle or the filter in the ink cartridge acts as a flow resistance, and it usually takes about 1 to 3 seconds until the discharge of the ink is completed. Therefore, if the roller 101 is moved to the left at a high speed and then stopped before the engagement between the roller 101 and the left end side of the cam portion 105a is discontinued to wait for the completion of ink discharge, a larger negative pressure is generated. This is advantageous for removing dust adhering to the nozzle and for removing ink that has dried and increased in viscosity. Furthermore, by removing the roller 101 from the left end side of the cam portion 105a without waiting for the completion of the ink discharge, it is possible to control the ink discharge amount.

Further, in this embodiment, since the tube pump is used and the selector for selecting whether to pump or not is constituted by the squeezing roller 101 itself of the tube 103, the pump means can be constructed inexpensively with a small number of parts. it can.

Further, since the tube 103 is arranged in the vicinity of the scanner 78 in parallel with the scanning direction and the moving area for ordinary printing is used for pumping, the tube having a sufficient length is laid out. It is efficient to do so, and a sufficient stroke of the tube 103 can be obtained.

By the way, the scanning element 78 and the carriages 12 and 38 cannot be easily separated due to the elasticity of the bifurcated claws of the gripper 62. However, since the user and the user may touch each other, they may be separated from each other.
The optical path of the sensor 74 is changed to 2 at a predetermined timing during one scan of
Monitor whether it is shielded twice. If the shielding is performed only once, the scanner 78 and the carriage 12 or 3
8 is determined to be away, the scanner 74 is stopped, and the relief sequence is started. If the black carriage 12 was recording until just before the determination, the scanner 78
Is moved to the right by 350 mm. During the movement, the gripper 62 contacts the grip portion 36 and pushes the black carriage 12 as it is to move it to the right. After that, the grip portion 36 contacts the bifurcated claw I of the black gripper 75, and the grip portion 36 is gripped by the black gripper 75. Further, when the scanning element 78 moves to the right, the claw of the gripper 62 enters inside the claw I of the black gripper 75. The carrier motor 71 stops after the step out due to the excess movement. Next, the scanning element 78 reverses along with the black carriage 12 and moves to the left, and after passing through the sensor 74, stops at the initial position. Platen roller 3 at the same time
Rotates to eject the paper, and a new paper 9 is fed to prepare for recording again. On the other hand, if the color carriage 38 is recording until just before the above determination, the scanner 78 is moved to the left by 350 mm. The subsequent process is the same as the relief of the black carriage 12 described above. in this way,
Even if the scanning element 78 and the carriage 12 or 38 are separated from each other in an unexpected situation, the relief sequence is automatically executed to enable the execution of recording.

As described above, in this embodiment, a suitable carriage is selected and printing is performed according to the type of printing signal. Further, such selection may be performed according to the operation mode of the recording apparatus. Further, in this embodiment, as the recording head of the color ink cartridge 44, a head in which nozzles of different colors are vertically arranged is used. Therefore, the width is smaller than that in the horizontal arrangement, and the effect that the entire apparatus can be made compact can be obtained. is there.

Further, in the present embodiment, the carriages 12, 38 are
Since the first and second standby parts for holding the scanner are provided on both end sides in the scanning direction of the scanning element 78, the scanning element 78 can be moved in one direction or the other by simply scanning the scanning element 78. On the other hand, the carriages 12 and 38 can be easily attached and detached, and the configuration and size of the entire apparatus can be simplified.

Further, as is clear from FIG. 6, the scanner 7
In the combined state of the carriage 8 and the carriage 12, the scanner 78
In the projection space of the carriage 12 in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of, that is, in the projection space of the carriage 12 in the front-back direction of the paper surface of FIG. As described above, since the belt stopper 64 (see FIG. 1) as the receiving portion of the driving force of the scanning element 78 is positioned at the middle of the scanning element 78 in the left-right direction, the belt stopping 64 is naturally the same as the carriage. It will intervene in 12 projection spaces. This shortens the distance between the belt stopper 64 receiving the driving force and the center of gravity of the carriage 12, and occurs between the belt stopper 64 and the bearings 68, 69 when the scanner 78 scans together with the carriage 16. The moment is suppressed to a small extent, which is advantageous in smoothing those scans. Further, since the grip position between the gripper 62 and the grip portion 36 is also located within the projection space of the carriage 12, the occurrence of the shake of the carriage 16 can be suppressed when the carriage 16 scans together with the scanning element 78. . This is the same when the scanner 78 and the carriage 38 are in the combined state. In addition, since the intermediate position of the scanner 78 in the left-right direction is selectively used as the space occupied by each of the carriages 12 and 38, the size of the scanner 78 in the left-right direction can be reduced accordingly.

Further, when the scanner 78 and the carriage 12 are coupled, the gripper 62 on the scanner 78 side and the fitting shaft 5 are attached.
9, 61, 63 and the grip portion 3 on the carriage 12 side
6. It is preferable to preset the positional relationship between the fitting holes 34, 33, and 35 so that the order of fitting the fitting holes 34, 33, and 35 is as follows. First, the fitting hole 35, which is an elongated hole, and the fitting shaft 63 are fitted to each other to position the carriage 12 in the front-back direction of the paper surface in FIG.
The carriage 12 is positioned in the vertical direction of FIG. 6 by fitting the gripper 36 and the gripper 36 together.
In this way, as the pulling / releasing engagement of the scanner 78 with respect to the carriage 12, the carriage 12 is positioned and the carriage 12 and the scanner 78 are moved relative to each other before the gripper 36 grips the gripper 62. Restricting the positional relationship is advantageous in ensuring the engagement for pulling / disengaging. This also applies to the connection between the scanner 78 and the carriage 38. In FIG. 1, the fitting shaft 6 on the side of the scanner 78 is
0, 61, 63, the gripper 62 is provided with reference numerals A, B, C, D, and the corresponding fitting holes 40, 39, 41 on the carriage 38 side and the grip portions 43 are provided with reference numerals E, F,
G and H are attached.

In this embodiment, the ink cartridges 13 and 44 are mounted on the carriages 12 and 38, but the carriages 12 and 38 do not exist and the cartridges 13 and 4 do not exist.
4 or the recording head itself may be delivered by the scanning element 78 and selectively coupled to the scanning element 78.
Further, in this embodiment, the carriages 12 and 38 are connected to the scanning element 7.
Although the gripper 62 having a bifurcated claw made of resin has been used as the means for connecting to 8 and the means for restraining the cap position, the invention is not limited to this, and for example, a solenoid is used to open and close the bifurcated claw. The means for implementing and the coupling / disengaging means such as a method utilizing the attractive force between the electromagnet and the metal are also included as the realizing means.

Further, the functional element is not limited to the recording head and is arbitrary. For example, an image reading device can be configured by providing an image reading sensor as the functional element. Also, the carriages 12, 38
One of them is a carriage dedicated to the inkjet recording head,
The other may be provided with a carriage dedicated to an image reading head. The carriages 12 and 38 may be the same, and one may be provided as a spare. Further, as the functional element, the resolution is, for example, 300 dpi or 350 dpi.
i, 600 dpi, 720 dpi, different image reading heads are replaceably provided, and recording heads that eject different types of ink, such as dark black ink ejection, yellow, magenta, cyan ink ejection, yellow, magenta , For cyan, black ink ejection,
Alternatively, a recording head for ejecting light black ink may be replaceably provided. Of course, as the recording head, various types such as a thermal head can be adopted.

Further, an autochanger for selectively moving a plurality of functional elements is provided at a portion on the end side of the scanning element 78 in the scanning direction, and the functional element moved at the portion is coupled to the scanning element 78 by the autochanger. You may do it.

(Second Embodiment) FIGS. 11 to 14 are views for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the scanner 78 and the carriage 1
The relationship between Nos. 2 and 38, the feeding mechanism of the recording paper 9 and the like are the same as those in the first embodiment described above, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals, and only different parts will be described.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the main part of this embodiment.
When the black ink cartridge 13 is capped by the cap 77, at the same time, the pressure cap 110 formed of an elastic material and fixed to the side plate 1 is pressed against the side surface of the black ink cartridge 13.
On the side surface of the black ink cartridge 13, there is an opening (not shown) at a position corresponding to the pressure cap 110. The pressure applied to this opening pushes the liquid surface of the internal ink so that the ink is discharged from the nozzle. Has become. Reference numeral 112 denotes a pressurizing pump, which is configured to generate a positive pressure when the slide arm 113 moves rightward in the drawing, and communicates with the pressurizing cap 110 via a communicating pipe 111. As such a pressure pump, a combination of a bellows and a one-way valve,
A piston type is generally known, but there is no particular limitation in this embodiment. Slide arm 113
A leaf spring 116 is fixedly mounted on the shaft, a selector 114 is rotatably supported, and is biased to the left in the drawing by a spring (not shown). Reference numeral 115 is a dowel that is provided upright on the scanning element 78, which is omitted in this drawing.

Selector 1 with reference to FIGS. 12, 13 and 14.
The operation of 14 will be described. The selector 114 is rotatable about 114a, but the bent portion 116a of the leaf spring 116 is engaged with the notch 114b of the two notches 114b and 114c in FIG. Is stable at. The position shown in FIG. 12 corresponds to the first position of the selector of the first embodiment. Further, the selector 114 has a dowel 11
Two cams 114d, 11 that can enter the movement locus of
There is 4e. When the dowel 115 in the print area moves to the right, it comes out of the print area and then comes into contact with the cam 114e of the selector 114 and pushes it down along the slope. The selector 114 rotates counterclockwise, but when the contact between the dowel 115 and the cam 114e of the selector 114 is released, the selector 114 returns to the first position by the leaf spring 116. After that, when the dowel 115 moves from the right side to the left side of the selector 114, it first contacts the upper right side of the cam 114d of the selector 114 to rotate the selector 114 counterclockwise. Return to the position. Next, the dowel 115 comes into contact with the lower right slope of the cam 114e of the selector 114, and this time the selector 114 is rotated clockwise, as shown in FIG.
It becomes the state of 3. At this time, the leaf spring 116 causes the selector 11 to move.
Since the notch 114c of No. 4 is engaged with the selector 114, the selector 114 is stable in the illustrated state. This state is the above-mentioned first
Which corresponds to the second position of the embodiment. Then dowel 115
Moves further to the left, the cam 114d of the selector 114
, And the selector 114 is rotated counterclockwise to return to the first state. Dowel 11 from the state of FIG.
When 5 moves to the right, as shown in FIG.
5 and the cam 114d of the selector 114 mesh with each other. Further, when the dowel 115 moves to the right, the slide arm 113 moves to the right, causing the pressurizing pump 112 to generate a positive pressure. When the ejection of the ink from the nozzle is completed, the dowel 115 moves to the right. The slide arm 113 slides to the left by a spring (not shown), and the selector 114 is
When the dowel 115 and the left end of the cam 114d come into contact with each other, they rotate counterclockwise and return to the first position. At this time, before the selector 114 returns to the first position, the dowel 11
When 5 moves to the left again, the slide arm 1134 also moves to the left, so that it is possible to continuously perform pumping a plurality of times.

Since a normal pump is used in this embodiment, the total length of the pump itself can be shortened by increasing the diameter of the pump chamber, and therefore, it is smaller than that in the first embodiment. The effect is that it requires only a small installation space.

Further, in the present embodiment, the pump for generating the positive pressure is used, but the same effect can be obtained by using the pump for generating the negative pressure and connecting the communication pipe to the cap 77.

(Third Embodiment) In FIG. 15, 81
Is a black ink cartridge configured in the same manner as the black ink cartridge 13 of the first embodiment described above. The cartridge 81 is placed above the cartridge stacker 85. Below the black ink cartridge 81, a taper portion 96 with which a scanning element 82, which will be described later, comes into contact is formed. The cartridge stacker 85 is provided with a magnet 90, which attracts an iron plate (not shown) provided on the surface of the black ink cartridge 81. A guide 92 is provided on the cartridge stacker 85 so as to sandwich the cartridge 81 to position the cartridge 81.
Ribs 85A are provided at both ends of the cartridge stacker 85, and the ribs 85A are fitted in the groove portions 86 formed in the side plate 87. The cartridge stacker 85 can slide up and down along the groove 86. The cartridge stacker 85 is urged upward by urging means (not shown) and abuts on a stopper 88 protruding from the side plate 87 to stop. Further, the stacker 85 is formed with a taper portion 95 with which a scanning element 82 described later comes into contact.

Reference numeral 82 denotes a scanner as a carrier, which is supported by the guide shaft 11 and is supported by the belt 65 by the belt 65.
Can be scanned in the axial direction. The scanner 82 has a line-symmetrical shape with the inner wall 93 as a boundary. Reference numeral 84 is a contact portion, and the contact exists on both left and right sides of the inner wall 93. The contact point of the contact point portion 84 and the contact point 89 provided on the side surface of the black ink cartridge 81 are at corresponding positions, and when they contact each other, a recording signal is sent from the flexible cable 91 to the black ink cartridge 81. Reference numeral 83 denotes an electromagnetic magnet embedded in the inner wall, and an electromagnetic force on / off signal is sent through the flexible cable 91. When the electromagnetic force is turned on, the iron plate 94 provided on the cartridge 81 can be attracted and fixed.
At the same time, the attraction force at this time allows the contact portion 84 and the contact 89 to make good electrical contact. Reference numeral 97 denotes a scanning element 82 that comes into contact with the taper portion 95 of the cartridge stacker 85.
It is the side taper part. Similar to the first embodiment described above, a color ink cartridge (not shown) is mounted on a cartridge stacker (not shown) on the opposite side of the black ink cartridge 81 from the main scanning direction. In operation, since black recording by the black ink cartridge 81 and color recording by the color ink cartridge are the same,
Only the case of black recording will be described below.

First, when the power is turned on, the scanning element 82 moves to the initial position as in the first embodiment described above. When a print signal is input, it is determined whether the print signal is for black printing or printing color, and then the scanning element 82 moves toward the corresponding ink cartridge. In the case of black recording, the scanning element 82 moves toward the black ink cartridge 81, the taper portion 97 of the scanning element 82 and the taper portion 95 of the cartridge stacker 85 come into contact with each other, and the stacker 85 descends and the taper portion 95. The taper portion 97 of the scanning element 82 enters between 96. And
The cartridge 81 moves to the upper part of the scanning element 82. When the electromagnetic magnet 83 is turned on when the contacts 84 and 89 come into contact with each other, the cartridge 81 is fixed on the scanning element 82. Since the attractive force of the electromagnetic magnet 83 is stronger than the attractive force of the magnet 90, if the scanner 82 separates from the stacker 85 in this state, the cartridge 81 and the scanner 82 also move.
Move with. In this way, after the scanner 82 and the cartridge 81 are integrated, the recording operation is started as in the first embodiment.

In this embodiment, since one flexible cable 91 can be used in common for the black ink cartridge 81 and the color ink cartridge, there is an effect that the construction of the apparatus is simplified. Further, since the ink cartridge is directly combined with and removed from the scanning element 82, the weight of the carriage can be used for the ink capacity as compared with the above-described first embodiment, and the ink cartridge having a large capacity can be accommodated accordingly. Can be recorded using.
As a result, the running cost is low and the time and effort required for cartridge replacement can be reduced.

(Embodiment of the Present Invention) As an embodiment of the present invention, there can be mentioned a device provided with a scanning type carrier of the following forms (1) to (13).

(1) In a device provided with a scanning type carrier having a scanning type carrier which receives a driving force to perform scanning and a guide mechanism which enables the scanning type carrier to scan,
With respect to the scanning direction, the guide mechanism has a first standby portion capable of holding the functional element on one end side and a second standby portion capable of holding the functional element on the other end side, and the guide mechanism includes the scanning type carrier. (1) It is movable between the standby part and the second standby part, and the scanning carrier is integrally moved by mounting a functional element in at least one of the first standby part and the second standby part. First characterized by enabling
A device comprising a scanning carrier of the form.

(2) In the above first embodiment, for mounting the functional element, each of the first and second standby parts is provided with an electric contact for functioning the functional element and a mechanism for positioning the functional element. An apparatus comprising a scanning type carrier according to a second aspect, characterized in that a carriage is provided, and the scanning type carrier mounts the functional element by mounting the functional element mounting carriage.

(3) In the second embodiment, the functional element mounting carriage is swingably engaged with the guide mechanism, and the first and second standby portions regulate the swing of the carriage. An apparatus including the scanning carrier according to the third aspect, wherein the scanning carrier includes an engaging mechanism that restricts swing of the carriage by mounting the carriage.

(4) In the third embodiment described above, in the functional element mounting carriage, the receiving portion for the driving force of the scanning carrier intervenes in the projection space of the carriage in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction. An apparatus including the scanning carrier according to the fourth aspect, which is engaged with the scanning carrier as described above.

(5) In the fourth embodiment, the functional element mounting carriage regulates the relative positional relationship with the scanning type carrier before receiving the pulling / disengaging engagement by the scanning type carrier. A device comprising a scanning type carrier according to the fifth aspect, characterized in that

(6) In the first embodiment, the scanning carrier is provided with an electrical contact for operating the mounted functional element and a mechanism for positioning the functional element. A device equipped with a scanning carrier.

(7) In a device provided with a scanning type carrier having a scanning type carrier which receives a driving force to perform scanning and a guide mechanism which enables the scanning type carrier to scan,
In the scanning direction, a functional element mounting carriage that can mount and hold a functional element on one end side and is swingably engaged with the guide mechanism, and a mechanism that regulates this swinging are provided. A standby part is provided, and the guide mechanism allows the scanning type carrier to be scanned between the first standby part and the information processing area where the functional element operates, and the scanning type carrier is in the first standby part. An apparatus comprising a scanning type carrier according to a seventh aspect, wherein a functional element is integrally mounted and an engaging mechanism for restricting the swing is provided.

(8) In a device provided with a scanning type carrier having a scanning type carrier which receives a driving force to perform scanning and a guide mechanism which enables the scanning type carrier to scan,
In the scanning direction, a functional element mounting carriage that can mount and hold a functional element on one end side and is swingably engaged with the guide mechanism, and a mechanism that regulates this swinging are provided. A standby part is provided, and the guide mechanism allows the scanning type carrier to be scanned between the first standby part and the information processing area where the functional element operates, and the scanning type carrier is in the first standby part. The functional element is integrally mounted, and an engaging mechanism for restricting the swing is provided. Further, the functional element mounting carriage has the scanning type in a projection space of the carriage in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction. An apparatus including a scanning type carrier according to an eighth aspect, characterized in that the driving force receiving portion of the carrier is engaged with the scanning type carrier so as to intervene.

(9) In a device provided with a scanning type carrier having a scanning type carrier which receives a driving force to perform scanning and a guide mechanism which enables the scanning type carrier to scan,
With respect to the scanning direction, it has a first standby portion provided with a functional element mounting carriage capable of mounting and holding a functional element on one end side, and the guide mechanism functions to make the scanning type carrier function as the first standby portion. The element is made scannable with the information processing area in which the element operates, and the scanning type carrier integrally mounts the functional element in the first standby portion, and the functional element mounting carriage is perpendicular to the scanning direction. A scanning type carrier according to the ninth aspect, wherein the scanning type carrier is engaged with the scanning type carrier so that the receiving portion of the driving force of the scanning type carrier intervenes in the projection space of the carriage in the direction.

(10) In a device provided with a scanning type carrier having a scanning type carrier for receiving a driving force to perform scanning and a guide mechanism capable of scanning the scanning type carrier, one end side is provided in the scanning direction. An information processing area in which the scanning mechanism carrier acts on the first standby portion and the functional element. And the scanning type carrier is integrally mounted with the functional element in the first standby portion, and the functional element mounting carriage is before receiving the pulling / disengaging engagement by the scanning type carrier. An apparatus having a scanning type carrier according to a tenth aspect, characterized in that the locking engagement for restricting the relative positional relationship with the scanning type carrier is performed.

(11) In a device provided with a scanning type carrier having a scanning type carrier and a guide mechanism capable of scanning the scanning type carrier, an inkjet head can be mounted on one end side in the scanning direction. Second position where the inkjet head can be mounted at the standby position and the other end
The guide mechanism includes a standby position, a cap mechanism that acts on the inkjet head at the first standby position to perform capping, and a cap mechanism that acts on the inkjet head at the second standby position to perform capping. An inkjet head that allows the scanning type carrier to move between the first standby position and the second standby position, and the scanning type carrier is at either the first standby position or the second standby position. An apparatus comprising a scanning type carrier according to the eleventh aspect, which is movable integrally.

(12) In a device provided with a scanning type carrier having a scanning type carrier and a guide mechanism capable of scanning the scanning type carrier, a carriage dedicated to mounting an ink jet head on one end side in the scanning direction And a second carriage-dedicated second carriage position capable of mounting a functional element different from the inkjet head on the other end side.
A standby position, the guide mechanism allows the scanning type carrier to move between the first standby position and the second standby position, and the scanning type carrier can be moved to the first standby position or An apparatus including a scanning type carrier according to a twelfth aspect, wherein the apparatus is movable integrally with a carriage at any of the second standby positions.

(13) A scanning carrier, a first standby position where the first functional element can be mounted on one end side with respect to the carrier scanning direction, and a second standby position where the second functional element can be mounted on the other end side. A standby position; a guide mechanism that enables the scanning type carrier to scan between the first standby position and the second standby position; and a functional element at either the first standby position or the second standby position. A selection means for selecting according to an operation mode of the equipment or a functional element drive signal to integrate with the scanning type carrier.
A device comprising a scanning carrier of the form.

(Others) In particular, the present invention is provided with a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for ejecting ink, especially in the ink jet recording system. The present invention brings about excellent effects in a recording head and a recording apparatus of the type in which the state of ink is changed by the heat energy. This is because such a system can achieve high density recording and high definition recording.

Regarding its typical structure and principle, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 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. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble 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 discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the linear liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned 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.

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 electrical connection to the main body of the apparatus or the ink from the main body of the apparatus 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 ejection recovery means of the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means and the like because the effect 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 number of recording heads to be mounted, for example, only one is provided corresponding to a single color ink, and 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 system, it is common to control the temperature of the ink itself within the range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower 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 from the solid state of the ink 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 heat energy such as ink that is liquefied by applying heat 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 It may be a form or the like.

[0092]

In the ink jet printing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the carrier and the carriage can be combined / separated, and further, the pressing portion interlocks with the movement of the carrier, and the pressing portion uses the flexible member of the pump means. Since it is configured to perform a pumping operation for discharging ink by pressing,
By moving the carrier separated from the carriage, it becomes possible to perform a pumping operation for ejecting ink while the ink jet head is coupled to the pump means at a predetermined position. Can be driven.

Further, in the ink jet printing apparatus according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the pressing portion is moved according to the moving direction of the carrier, and the movement causes the pump means to operate at a predetermined timing. Therefore, the carrier drive source can be used to drive the carrier and the pump means at any timing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the black ink carriage shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the color ink carriage shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a main part for explaining a coupling operation between the black ink carriage and the carrier shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view for explaining a combined state of the black ink carriage and the carrier shown in FIG.

7 is a perspective view of a main part for explaining an arrangement state of a tube connected to the cap shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a main part for explaining a deployed state of the rollers shown in FIG.

9 is a front view of a main part in a state where the rollers shown in FIG. 7 are not in a pumping operation.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a main part in a state where the rollers shown in FIG. 7 start pumping.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an essential part showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a plan view for explaining one operation state of the selector shown in FIG.

13 is a plan view for explaining another operation state of the selector shown in FIG.

14 is a plan view for explaining still another operation state of the selector shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of an essential part showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 platen roller 9 recording paper 11 guide shaft 12 carriage for black ink 13 black ink cartridge 38 carriage for color ink 44 color ink cartridge 62 gripper 75 black gripper 76 color gripper 77 cap 78 scanner 101 roller 103, 104 tube 105 cam

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location B41J 2/165 B41J 3/04 102 N

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet printing apparatus for ejecting ink from an ink ejection port of an ink jet head onto a recording medium to record the ink on the recording medium, the carriage holding the ink jet head, and the carriage being connectable to and separable from the carriage. And a carrier for moving the carriage along the recording medium, a cap unit for capping the ink discharge port, and a flexible member for discharging the ink in the cap unit to the outside. Pump means extending along the moving area of the carrier; and a flexible member provided on the carrier, which presses the flexible member in association with the movement of the carrier to cause the pump means to perform an ink discharging operation. An inkjet printing apparatus comprising: a pressing unit. 2. The pressing part is held at a first position and a second position and is movable between them, and the pressing part at the first position is interlocked with movement of the carrier in a predetermined direction. When the carrier is moved to the second position and the pressing part is in the second position, and the carrier moves in the predetermined direction, the pressing part is moved in conjunction with the movement in the predetermined direction. When the carrier is returned to the first position and the pressing part is in the second position and the carrier moves in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction, the pressing part is interlocked with the movement in the opposite direction. 2. The inkjet printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for moving the flexible member while pressing the flexible member. 3. The pressing portion is biased so as to be stable in the first and second positions and to return to the first and second closer positions when deviated from the first and second positions. When the pressing portion in the first position is moved to the second position in conjunction with the movement of the carrier in a predetermined direction, and the pressing portion is in the second position, the carrier When the pressing portion is returned to the first position in conjunction with the movement in the predetermined direction when moving in the predetermined direction, and the pressing portion is in the second position, the carrier is When moving in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction, provided with cam means for interlocking with the movement in the opposite direction and moving the pressing portion to a third position away from the first position against the biasing force, The pump means pumps in conjunction with the movement when the pressing portion is in the third position. Ink-jet printing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that.