JPH0890780A - Ink-jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a compact ink-jet printer having a fast throughput by installing a cap for sealing a nozzle opening of the ink-jet printer on a carriage thereby to improve a cap mechanism. CONSTITUTION: When printing is not performed, electricity is not supplied to a solenoid coil 3 and a holder 5 is faced to a nozzle plate by a tension spring 7. Moreover, the plate 13 is tightly sealed by a cap 6. At the printing time, since electricity is supplied to the coil 3 to generate an electromagnetic force, an iron core 4 is attracted against a tensile force of the spring 7 and the holder 5 is accordingly separated from the plate 13, whereby the printer gets ready to discharge ink drops to a recording medium. Since a cap mechanism is set on a carriage, in comparison with the prior art having the cap mechanism outside a printing area, the printer is reduced in size in a column direction. If there are no data after the printing is finished, the plate can be capped without moving the carriage outside the printing area. In addition, when the printing is resumed, it can be done with the cap removed within the printing area, thereby enhancing the throughput.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cap mechanism for an ink jet printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink jet printers require a cap mechanism for sealing the nozzle holes when not in operation in order to prevent the nozzle holes from being clogged due to thickening or drying of the ink.

In the conventional ink jet printer, the cap mechanism is provided in the non-printing area, and the non-printing is carried out by moving the recording head to a position facing the cap. Therefore, the size of the printer in the digit direction becomes larger than that of a wire-dot printer that does not require a cap, and it is necessary to move the carriage equipped with the recording head to the print area again when printing is restarted. Therefore, there was a problem that the throughput became slow.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves such a problem, and an object thereof is to provide an ink jet printer which is small in size and has high throughput by improving a cap mechanism. .

[0005]

The ink jet printer of the present invention is an ink jet printer for performing recording by scanning a carriage equipped with a recording head for ejecting ink droplets from nozzle holes, and a cap for sealing the nozzle holes, It is provided on the carriage.

[0006]

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

1 and 2 show an ink jet printer of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a capping state and FIG. 2 shows a non-capping state.

Reference numeral 10 is a recording head, and a nozzle plate 13 having nozzle holes for ejecting ink droplets is provided at the tip of the recording head 10. The recording head 10 is fixed to the carriage 2 by fixing pins 8 and 9, and recording is performed by moving the carriage 2 on a print medium along a guide shaft 1 by a power source (not shown).

The carriage 2 is further equipped with a cap mechanism for covering the nozzle plate 13. Reference numeral 5 is a holder provided with a cap 6, and the nozzle plate 1
3 is held by the tension spring 7 at one end in the direction parallel to the surface of the coil 3, and by the iron core 4 attracted by the electromagnetic coil 3 at the other end.

Next, the opening and closing of the cap will be described.

At the time of non-printing, the electromagnetic coil 3 is not energized, the tension spring 7 positions the holder 5 at a position facing the nozzle plate 13, and the cap 6 seals the nozzle plate 13 (FIG. 1). ).

At the time of printing, the electromagnetic coil 3 is energized so as to generate an electromagnetic force, so that the iron core 4 is attracted against the tensile force of the tension spring 7, the holder 5 is disengaged from the nozzle plate 13, and ink is applied to the recording medium. The droplets can be ejected (Fig. 2). As described above, since the cap mechanism is provided on the carriage, it is possible to reduce the size of the printer in the digit direction as compared with the conventional printer in which the cap mechanism is provided outside the printing area.

Further, after printing is completed, when there is no data, capping can be performed on the spot without moving the carriage to outside the print area, and when printing is resumed, capping is canceled in the print area and printing can be performed. Higher throughput.

[0014]

As described above, by implementing the present invention, it is possible to realize a high quality ink jet printer which is small in size, has a high printing speed, and has few head defects.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Guide Axis 2 Carriage 3 Electromagnetic Coil 4 Iron Core 5 Holder 6 Cap 7 Extension Spring 8, 9 Fixing Pin 10 Recording Head 11, 12 Support 13 Nozzle Plate

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet printer for performing recording by scanning a carriage equipped with a recording head for ejecting ink droplets from a nozzle hole, wherein a cap for sealing the nozzle hole is provided on the carriage. Inkjet printer. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the cap is opened and closed by an electromagnetic mechanism.