JPH09267486A - Fitting and removing mechanism for ink jet type printing head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the erroneous operation of removing a printing head or removing simply the printing head by one-hand operation at the time of replacing an ink cartridge. SOLUTION: A protruded section 41 of a heat holder 31 is fitted in a channel- shaped recess 43 on a pair of side walls 14 of a cartridge 10, and also a pair of engaging protrusions 42 of the head holder 31 are engaged with a pair of engaging sections 44. Respective ink cartridges 50 and the like are inserted into the head holder 31 from back side, and rear ends are pressed downwardly in resistance to the elasticity of a leaf spring 45. In the case of removing the ink cartridge, the ink cartridge is removed from the leaf spring 45 in a manner of lifting the rear end of the ink cartridge, and the ink cartridge is drawn out of the head holder 31. A pair of engaging sections 44 are positioned along the outside the head holder and the ink cartridge at an interval of not being removed simultaneously by one hand so that the printing head cannot be removed simply by one hand.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet type printing apparatus for printing by ejecting ink droplets onto a printing medium, and more particularly to a print head attaching / detaching mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet type printer,
The print head and the ink cartridge need to be replaced in order to replace the life or failure of the print head and to replenish the ink to be supplied to the print head, and they are detachably attached to the carriage.

For example, in the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-39945, the print head and the ink cartridge are joined together by locking claws so that the print head and the ink cartridge can be integrally attached and detached, and the surface of the print head portion on the print medium side. Is abutted against the positioning wall of the carriage, and both are pressed and attached to the carriage by a lock lever from above, that is, from a direction perpendicular to the direction applied to the positioning wall.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-318758, a print head is inserted in a carriage, and an ink cartridge is inserted in a side wall extending to the rear of the print head. The locking claw of the ink cartridge is locked to the stop hole from the inside, and the lock pin of the carriage is inserted to the locking hole from the outside. That is, when the lock pin is fully pushed in by the rotation of the cam lever, the locking claw of the ink cartridge is pushed and released from the locked state, and only the ink cartridge can be removed. When the lock pin is pulled out to the intermediate position, both the lock hole, the lock claw of the ink cartridge, and the lock pin are kept locked, and both the print head and the ink cartridge are mounted on the carriage. When the lock pin is pulled out to the maximum, the lock hole and the lock pin are released from the lock state, while the lock hole and the lock claw of the ink cartridge are maintained, and the print head and the ink cartridge are integrated. Is removed from the carriage.

[0005]

Among the above-mentioned conventional ones, when replacing the ink cartridge or the print head, the former must remove the both integrally and release the coupling by the locking claws. That is, the print head must be removed in order to replace only the ink cartridge, which has a drawback that the work becomes complicated.

In the latter, the lock pin is moved forward and backward depending on the rotation angle of the cam lever, and only the ink cartridge is attached or detached.
Since either the attachment or detachment of the ink cartridge and the print head is selected, there is a case where only the ink cartridge is desired to be replaced but the print head is mistakenly removed.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and accidentally removes the print head when exchanging the ink cartridge, or easily removes the print head by one hand operation. Is to prevent.

[0008]

In order to achieve this object, a structure according to a first aspect of the present invention is a print head for ejecting ink droplets onto a print medium for printing and an ink for supplying the ink to the print head. To store the ink cartridge,
An ink jet printing apparatus detachably mounted on a carriage, comprising: a fitting connecting portion that supports the print head and supplies ink to the print head, and connects the ink cartridge to the fitting connecting portion. A head holder for positioning with respect to the print head, a pair of first locking portions positioned on both sides of the carriage so as to removably lock the head holder with the carriage, and the ink cartridge. The head has a second locking portion that presses in a direction to connect to the fitting connecting portion and holds the ink cartridge in a connected state with the print head, and the pair of first locking portions includes the head. Along the outside of the holder or the ink cartridge, they are provided at intervals so that they cannot be operated simultaneously with one hand.

With this configuration, the ink cartridge is locked by the second locking portion that is not related to the first locking portion that locks the print head, and only the ink cartridge can be replaced. The first locking portions are provided on both sides of the carriage, and the first locking portions cannot be easily released with one hand by providing an interval along the outside of the head holder or the ink cartridge that cannot be operated with one hand. There is.
The distance is preferably about 200 mm or more.

In the above structure, preferably the first
The locking portion is elastically biased in the locking direction and has a claw that can be retracted from the locking position by the mounting operation of the head holder, so that when the head holder is mounted on the carriage, Make it easy to wear against the elasticity of the nails.

Further, in the above structure, preferably, the ink cartridge is positioned on the side of the head holder opposite to the print medium, and the first locking portion is positioned closer to the print medium than the second locking portion. By adopting the configuration,
By disposing the first locking part away from the second locking part, the possibility of accidentally touching the first locking part when replacing the ink cartridge is further reduced, and the print head is removed. Can be prevented.

Further, in the above arrangement, preferably, on the substrate portion of the carriage, which is substantially perpendicular to the print medium,
The box-shaped head holder is arranged in contact with the box-shaped head holder, and the first locking portion is provided on a side surface of the box-shaped head holder close to the substrate portion. With the configuration in which the second locking portion is provided at the portion of the protruding end portion of the ink cartridge near the substrate portion, the height and width of the box-shaped head holder or the ink cartridge are almost filled from the substrate portion. It is possible to sufficiently separate the pair of first locking portions so that the first locking portions cannot be easily released even though the head holder and the ink cartridge are small.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a carriage 10 and a print head 20.
When viewed from the side, a print medium (not shown) is vertically positioned on the left side of the drawing. In the figure, the left side is front,
The right side is the back.

The carriage 10 is slidably supported along guide bars 11 and 12 extending parallel to the print medium.
It is moved in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing by a known driving means such as a belt driven by a motor. Along with the movement, the print head 20 ejects ink toward the print medium to perform printing, as in the case of a normal inkjet printing apparatus.

The carriage 10 is mainly composed of a base plate portion 13 extending substantially at right angles to the print medium, and a pair of side walls 14 are erected on both sides of the base plate portion near the print medium, and a space between the side walls is formed in the front-rear direction. That is, it is opened in the print medium direction and the opposite direction to form a space for accommodating the head holder 31 and the ink cartridge. That is, the pair of side walls 14 are positioned in parallel on both sides of the head holder 31 in the attaching / detaching direction. A pair of substantially U-shaped intermediate side walls 15 in plan view (FIG. 3) are formed on both sides of the front-rear direction intermediate portion of the substrate portion 13 so as to be continuous with the pair of sidewalls 14. A rear rising wall 16 parallel to the print medium is formed at the rear end apart from the print medium. The middle side wall 15 and the rear rising wall 16 are sufficiently lower than the side wall 14.

The head holder 31 is formed in a box shape with the side opposite to the print medium open, and supports the print head 20 on the front wall 31f on the print medium side so that the ink ejection nozzle opening surface faces the print medium. ing. In the present embodiment, the printing device is a color printing device, the print heads 20 are provided in the number (for example, four) corresponding to each color to be printed, and the ink cartridges 50, 60, 70, 80 containing ink also correspond to each color. Are provided in plural.

On the surface of the front wall 31f opposite to the ink ejection nozzle opening surface of the print head 20, as shown in FIG. 5, a fitting connecting portion 3 for supplying ink to each print head.
3, 34, 35 and 36 are provided, and the ink supply holes 50a (FIG. 2) formed on the front surfaces of the ink cartridges 50, 60, 70 and 80 of the respective colors are fitted and connected to the fitting and connecting portions thereof. A rib-shaped wall 32 extending in the front-rear direction is formed on the bottom wall of the head holder 31 in order to position each ink cartridge.

On both left and right side surfaces of the head holder 31, a pair of cylindrical pin-shaped convex portions 41 are provided so as to project at the end portions near the print medium and at the lower portion near the substrate portion 13 of the carriage.
Further, a pair of locking protrusions 42 are provided so as to protrude below the substrate portion 13 at a position corresponding to the intermediate side wall 15 of the carriage. The pair of side walls 14 of the carriage are formed with a pair of groove-shaped recesses 43 extending from the rear end toward the print medium on the opposite surfaces thereof, and the front end of each recess 43 on the print medium side is closed and rear side. The end is open to the other side. A pair of "ko"
Inside the U-shaped intermediate side wall 15, there is formed a locking portion 44 that rises upward from the lower part of the rear end side of the "U" -shaped portion. The locking portion 44 has elasticity that bends in the front-rear direction, and an upper end thereof has a claw 44 a that projects upward from the intermediate side wall 15 and inclines downward toward the side wall 14.

On the rear rising wall 16 of the carriage, there are provided leaf spring-like elastic bodies, such as leaf springs 45, at respective positions corresponding to the lower ends of the rear ends of the ink cartridges. The leaf spring 45 has an inclined surface that descends and inclines toward the head holder 31 side, and projects toward the same side in a V shape. Each ink cartridge has a semi-circular protrusion 50b, 60b, 70 at the lower rear end.
b. 80b.

As shown in FIG. 2, the head holder 31 is
The carriage 10 is mounted between the pair of side walls 14 from behind. More specifically, the convex portion 41 of the head holder 31 is fitted into the groove-shaped concave portion 43 of the side wall 14 obliquely from above and rearward, and when the convex portion 41 contacts the front end of the concave portion 43, the head holder 31 is convex. When the portion 41 is pivoted downward, that is, about the axis parallel to the print medium, the locking protrusion 42 of the head holder 31 has the claw 44 protruding into the pivot locus.
It comes into contact with a and goes over the claw 44a against the elasticity of the locking portion 44. As a result, the head holder 31 is positioned in the direction toward the print medium by the abutment of the front ends of the convex portion 41 and the concave portion 43, and the side surface of the head holder 31 and the side wall 14 are abutted in the right and left direction perpendicular thereto. Positioned by contact. Positioning may be performed in the left-right direction by abutting the tip of the convex portion 41 and the recess 43. The vertical direction of the end portion of the head holder 31 on the print medium side is positioned by the fitting of the convex portion 41 and the concave portion 43. The end portion on the opposite side abuts the bottom surface of the head holder on the substrate portion 13 and is positioned in the vertical direction by the engagement of the claw 44a and the engagement protrusion 42. In the direction in which the head holder 31 separates from the print medium, the locking projections 42 are locked by the locking portions 44 and positioned. The locking portion 44 may always press the locking protrusion 42, but there may be a slight gap as described later.

Each ink cartridge 50, 60, 70,
The reference numeral 80 is inserted into the head holder 31 from the rear side, and the ink supply holes 50a on the respective front surfaces are fitted into the fitting connection portions 33, 34, 35, and.
36, and attach the rear end of the ink cartridge to the leaf spring 4
While being guided to the fitting connection portion side along the inclined surface of 5, the spring is pushed downward against the elasticity of the leaf spring. As a result, each ink cartridge is pressed by the elasticity of the leaf spring 45 in the direction in which it is connected to the fitting connection portion, and the connection state with the print head is maintained. Further, the ink cartridge pushes the head holder 31 due to the elasticity of the leaf spring 45,
The convex portion 41 is pushed in the direction of abutting against the front end of the recess 43. That is, as described above, even if there is a slight gap between the locking portion 44 and the locking projection 42, the distance between the print head 20 and the print medium can be set accurately.

In the mounted state of the head holder 31 and the ink cartridges 50, 60, 70, 80, the bottom surface of the head holder 31 is in contact with the upper surface of the substrate portion 13 of the carriage, and the head holder 31 has its side surface. The ink cartridge that is retained by the locking projection 42 and the locking portion 44 at the portion near the substrate portion 13 and projects rearward from the box-shaped head holder 31 has the substrate portion 13 at the rear end thereof.
The twisted portion is locked and held by the leaf spring 45.

Therefore, when removing the ink cartridge, if the rear end of the ink cartridge is lifted, it is disengaged from the leaf spring 45 and the ink cartridge is pulled out from the head holder 31. At this time, the head holder 31 is attached to the carriage 10, and only the ink cartridge can be removed. Further, since the locking portion 44 that locks the head holder 31 is located in front of the leaf spring 45 and is located on the side of the head holder, the locking portion 44 is fixed to the locking portion 44 when the ink cartridge is attached or detached. Only the ink cartridge can be securely attached and detached without touching accidentally. Of course, each color ink cartridge can be replaced individually.

When the head holder 31 is removed, the upper end of the locking portion 44 is pushed backward to disengage the claw 44a from the locking projection 42, and the rear portion of the head holder 31 is swung upward, and then the convex portion 41 is removed. Pull backward from the recess 43. The head holder 31 is not removed as often as the ink cartridge, and it is preferable that the head holder 31 cannot be easily removed with one hand in order to maintain the position of the print head accurately. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 4, both locking portions 44 are placed at intervals that cannot be operated with one hand. For example, the distance L between the two locking portions 44 is set to about 200 mm or more along the outside of the head holder 31 or all ink cartridges. As described above, since the side surface of the head holder is locked near the substrate portion 13, the height L of the head holder 31 or the ink cartridge can be almost fully used to secure the interval L. Although the head holder and the ink cartridge are small, the pair of locking portions 44 are sufficiently separated so that they cannot be easily released with one hand. To release the locked state of the locking portion 44,
You have to use both hands. In the present embodiment,
The pair of side walls 14, the convex portion 41, the recess 43, and the side surfaces of the head holder 31 constitute a positioning portion. This positioning portion can be configured as shown in FIG. in this case,
A front wall 17 is formed at the front end of the carriage 10 on the print medium side, and a recess 43 is formed in the wall 17 in the front-rear direction.
a. The front wall 31f of the head holder 31 is applied to the wall 17 to set the distance between the print head 20 and the print medium. In addition, the convex portion 41a protruding from the front wall 31f is fitted into the concave portion 43a, and is positioned in the vertical and horizontal directions.

Further, in this embodiment, the locking projection 42
The locking portion 44 is the first locking portion, the leaf spring 45, and the semicircular protrusions 50b, 60b, 70 of the ink cartridge.
b. 80b comprises a 2nd locking part, respectively.

In the positioning portion and the first and second locking portions, the positions where the respective elements are provided can be interchanged with each other, such as providing the convex portion 41 on the side wall 14 and the concave portion 43 on the head holder side. In addition, the second locking portion is the locking portion 4
4, the lock state can be released manually, or the first lock portion can be released from the lock state simply by lifting the head holder 31 like the second lock portion. Good.

In the drawing, the ink droplets are ejected from the print head 20 in a substantially horizontal direction, but the print head and the carriage are vertically or inclined so that the ink droplets are ejected in the vertical direction or the inclined direction. The present invention can also be applied.

[0029]

As described above, the structure according to claim 1 is
The second unrelated to the first locking part that locks the print head
Only the ink cartridge can be replaced by locking the ink cartridge with the locking portion. Also a pair of first
The locking portions are provided on both sides of the carriage, and the first locking portion cannot be easily released with one hand by providing an interval along the outside of the head holder or the ink cartridge that cannot be operated with one hand. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the head holder from being accidentally removed when the ink cartridge is replaced.

In the above structure, the first locking portion is further elastically biased in the locking direction and has a claw capable of retracting from the locking position by the mounting operation of the head holder. When mounting on the carriage,
Easy to wear against the elasticity of the nails.

Further, in the above construction, the ink cartridge is further positioned on the side of the head holder opposite to the print medium, and the first locking portion is positioned closer to the printing medium than the second locking portion. By doing so, from the second locking portion to the first
The locking portions can be arranged apart from each other, and when replacing the ink cartridge, the possibility of accidentally touching the first locking portion can be further reduced, and the print head can be prevented from being removed.

Further, in the above construction, a box-shaped head holder is arranged in contact with the board portion of the carriage substantially perpendicular to the print medium, and the side surface of the box-shaped head holder is near the board portion. By providing the first locking portion and providing the second locking portion at a portion of the end portion of the ink cartridge that protrudes from the box-shaped holder on the side opposite to the print medium, near the substrate portion, the box-shaped head is moved from the substrate portion. By utilizing the height and width of the holder or the ink cartridge to the fullest extent, the pair of first locking portions can be sufficiently separated, and the head holder and the ink cartridge are small, but the first locking is easy. I can't cancel the section.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state in which a carriage, a print head, an ink cartridge and the like are assembled.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the exploded state of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a rear view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a disassembled state of the head holder and the ink cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a main part showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Carriage 20 Print Head 31 Head Holder 41 Convex Section 42 Locking Protrusion 43 Recess 44 Locking Section 45 Leaf Spring 50 Ink Cartridge 60 Ink Cartridge 70 Ink Cartridge 80 Ink Cartridge

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet printer in which a carriage is detachably mounted with a print head for ejecting ink droplets onto a print medium for printing and an ink cartridge for storing ink for supplying ink to the print head, A head holder for supporting the print head, having a fitting connection portion for supplying ink to the print head, and connecting the ink cartridge to the fitting connection portion for positioning with respect to the print head; And a pair of first locking portions located on both sides of the carriage so as to detachably lock the head holder, and press the ink cartridge in a direction to connect the ink cartridge to the fitting connection portion. A second locking portion that holds the ink cartridge in a state of being connected to the print head, and the pair of first locking portions includes: Along the outside of the head holder and the ink cartridge, printing head detachment mechanism, characterized in that provided at intervals which can not be operated simultaneously with one hand. 2. The first locking portion according to claim 1, wherein the first locking portion has a claw that is elastically biased in a locking direction and that can be retracted from a locking position by a mounting operation of the head holder. Print head attachment / detachment mechanism. 3. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the ink cartridge is located on the side of the head holder opposite to the print medium, and the first locking portion is closer to the print medium than the second locking portion. A print head attachment / detachment mechanism characterized by being located at. 4. The head holder according to claim 3, wherein the box-shaped head holder is placed in contact with the board portion of the carriage substantially perpendicular to the print medium, and the side surface of the box-shaped head holder is close to the board portion. Is provided with the first locking portion, and the second locking portion is provided at a portion of the end portion of the ink cartridge protruding from the box-shaped holder on the side opposite to the print medium, near the substrate portion. A print head attachment / detachment mechanism. 5. The space according to claim 1, wherein the distance is about 20.
A print head attaching / detaching mechanism characterized by being 0 mm or more.