JPH1120189A - Ink feed apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To selectively supplement ink pellets of a plurality of colors by move and stop of a carriage. SOLUTION: In this apparatus, melting hoppers 20 are arranged via a distance T at a carriage 30 which can scan and move in a B and a C directions. Ink pellets 22 can be discharged for every color from outlets 21b arranged via a distance P. Engagement disengagement bodies 58 are disposed via a larger distance L than an arrangement distance R of selective regulation members 67 provided at a rear face of the carriage 30. When the carriage 30 moves suitably in the B or C direction and stops and the engagement disengagement bodies 58 descend, only the engagement disengagement bodies 58 selected in slide touch with selected selective regulation members 67 rotate, thereby turning down extrusion bodies present above the exits 21b. Accordingly, only the ink pellets 22 of a predetermined color are extruded to fall into the melting hoppers 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer, and more particularly, to a structure of an ink supply device in the printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a hot melt ink jet printer has a recording head comprising a nozzle head having a number of nozzles, an ink melting section having a heater, and a hopper section which receives and melts solid ink pellets at room temperature. The unit is mounted on a carriage, and while moving the carriage in a direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the direction of transport of the recording medium such as paper, ink droplets (hot melt ink) are ejected from the nozzles of the nozzle head. It is configured to print characters, figures, and the like on the surface of the recording medium.

When the operator runs out of ink and touches the ink pellets directly with his / her hand, dirt and sebum of the hands adhere to the ink pellets.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,146 discloses a method for storing color ink pellets for each color in a flexible ink holder in advance, because the quality of hot melt ink deteriorates. Is sealed with an aluminum foil or the like that can be broken by pressing force, and when the hot melt ink in the recording head runs out, the sealing part of the ink holder containing the ink pellet of the predetermined color is placed on the input port of the predetermined hopper. An operator presses the bottom surface of the ink holder with a finger to deform the ink holder, break the aluminum foil seal via the ink pellet, and replenish the ink pellet without directly touching the hand. Has been proposed.

On the other hand, in an ink jet printer of a type in which liquid ink is ejected from a nozzle head, when the ink runs out, a carriage equipped with a recording head unit having the nozzle head and a hopper unit for receiving ink droplets is mounted on the carriage. There is also a configuration in which a liquid ink is positioned below an ink supply unit that stores ink for each color in an ink cartridge, and an appropriate amount of ink is supplied from the ink cartridge.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional ink supply device has a problem that the operator has to replenish the liquid ink or ink pellets manually, which is troublesome. If, instead of this manual operation, the ink discharge mechanism or the ink pellet discharge mechanism is operated by a special drive unit for each color portion of the ink, the number of drive units increases and the manufacturing cost of the printer increases. There was a problem.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for replenishing ink by selectively and automatically moving and arranging a carriage with respect to an ink discharging portion or an ink pellet discharging portion so that a hopper portion where ink has run out matches. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink supply device capable of automating operations.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink supply apparatus comprising: a carriage having a recording head for ejecting ink onto a surface of a recording medium; Is configured to scan and drive in a direction intersecting with the transport direction of the recording medium, in one end of the scanning direction, an ink jet printer having an ink supply unit that supplies ink to the recording head unit, In the ink supply unit, emission units for emitting the ink stored in the ink case for each color are formed at appropriate intervals along the scanning direction, while the carriage is provided for each color. A hopper for receiving ink is disposed along the scanning direction at an appropriate interval different from the arrangement interval of the discharge units, and the scanning of the carriage is performed in the ink supply unit. In accordance with the movement stop position in the direction, in which the ink in the discharge portion comprising an ink discharge mechanism portion so as to be discharged selectively to the hopper for each color.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink supply apparatus, wherein a recording head for ejecting hot melt ink onto a surface of a recording medium is mounted on a carriage, and the carriage intersects the transport direction of the recording medium. In a hot-melt inkjet printer in which an ink supply unit that supplies ink pellets to the recording head unit is arranged at one end in the scanning direction. A discharge unit for discharging the ink pellets made of the hot melt ink stored in the ink case for each color is formed at appropriate intervals along the scanning direction, while the carriage is provided for each color. A melting hopper for receiving and melting the ink pellets is arranged along the scanning direction at an appropriate interval different from the arrangement interval of the discharge units. Arranged to, in the ink supply section,
According to the movement stop position of the carriage in the scanning direction,
The apparatus further includes a pellet discharge mechanism for selectively discharging the ink pellets in the discharge section to the melting hopper for each color.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device according to the second aspect, the ink supply unit includes a discharge unit for each color in an ink case above a melting hopper in the moving carriage. The pellet discharging mechanism is provided with an extruded body for dropping the ink pellets in each of the discharging sections from above toward the melting hopper, a disengagement body for selectively operating the extruded body, and a carriage side. And a selective restricting member for changing the posture of the engaging and disengaging body according to the stop position of the carriage.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device according to the third aspect, the ink supply unit is configured to simultaneously drive the engaging and disengaging members for each of the colors in the vertical direction. A part clutch is arranged.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device according to the fourth aspect, the supply unit clutch holds the supply unit clutch ON / OFF in accordance with the movement of the carriage in the direction of the ink supply unit. That is, it is configured to be.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device according to the fourth or fifth aspect, the supply unit clutch locks the ON state once the carriage moves toward the ink supply unit. Then, the locked state is released when the carriage is moved a predetermined distance or more in the reversing direction.

[0012]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hot melt ink jet printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the printer, and FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a clutch unit for switching ON / OFF of a power transmission unit accompanying movement of a carriage left and right. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an ink case, and FIG. 5 is a side view of a main part of an ink supply unit.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, cut paper as a recording medium and transparent paper such as a transparent film for an overhead projector are set in a stacked state on the rear side of the upper surface of the main body case 1a of the printer 1. Are mounted detachably. As shown in FIG. 1, on the right side of the upper surface of the main body case 1a, there is an operation panel section 4 provided with various operation switches, and on the front surface of the main body case 1a, the recording medium P after printing is discharged. The discharged paper outlet 5 is opened, and the paper is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 6.

With the openable and closable outer cover 7 shown in FIG.
The upper surface of the central opening 1b on the upper surface of the main body case 1a can be covered. Further, on the left side of the central opening 1b, yellow (Y) for a color ink jet printer,
Each of the magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) ink pellets 22 is stored in a row, and an ink case 8 configured to be openable by a cover body 9 is detachably mounted. A transparent cover 10 (with a large number of exhaust holes 10a) fixed to the right side of the ink case 8 and protruding laterally can cover the right side of the central opening 1b.

At the lower end of each paper feed unit 2, 3,
As shown in FIG. 2, a half-moon-shaped (D-shaped) paper feed roller 11
a and 11b are arranged and the recording medium P stacked on each of the paper feed units 2 and 3 or the manual recording medium P from the manual feed trays 2a and 3a on the upper surface of each of the paper feed units 2 and 3 is transported along the transport path. To be sent out. The conveyance path is arranged in the order of the pair of registration rollers 13a and 13b, the pre-heat platen 14, the conveyance roller 15 and the pinch roller, the main platen 16, the cooling platen 17, the discharge roller 18 and the pinch roller, the discharge port 5 and the discharge tray 6. And
The recording medium P moving along the transport path 12 is heated from the back side by a heater arranged at the location of the pre-heat platen 14 and the main platen 16, and is heated from the nozzle head 12 facing the front surface of the main platen 16. The ink is ejected and adheres to the surface of the recording medium P,
The ejected hot melt ink solidifies between the discharge rollers 18 so that the printed recording medium P is not printed on the surface of the pinch roller in the discharge rollers 18 so that the printed recording medium P is printed on the discharge tray 6 side. It is being discharged.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a recording head unit 19 comprising a nozzle head, a heating unit, a molten ink tank, and a melting hopper 20 having a heater is mounted on a carriage 30 and is provided with a recording medium P. In the same sub-scanning direction A as the carriage direction, the carriage 30 includes a traveling mechanism (not shown) and a main scanning direction (arrows B and C orthogonal to the sub-scanning direction A) along a guide shaft 31 and a guide rail. Direction).

Next, the ink case 8 and the ink supply section 3
The configuration of No. 3 will be described. At the left end of FIG.
An ink supply unit 33 (see FIG. 5) for supplying ink to the nozzle head 12 is provided at the right end of FIG. 3 to receive ink forcibly discharged from the nozzle head 12 and to wipe off dirt on the nozzle surface. The maintenance operation unit 34 for intermittently driving the roll paper is disposed.

The above-mentioned hot melt ink is a general term for ink that solidifies (coagulates) at room temperature and liquefies by heating. For example, the ink has a softening point of 40 to 140 ° C. and a melting point of 50 to 140.
150 ° C, ink viscosity when ejected from nozzle is 3 ~
50 CPS, preferably 30-90%
, A resin of 5 to 70%, a coloring agent of 0.1 to 10%, and other additives (thickener, surfactant, solubilizer, etc.). The solid ink pellet 22 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the left and right sides of the upper half portion 22a are longer and the left and right lengths of the lower half portion 22b are shorter.
It has a downward “convex” shape having 2c and 22c.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in the ink case 8, storage grooves 21 long from the mounting end side of the cover body 9 to the free end side are arranged in parallel for each ink pellet 22 of each color. And the cover 9 in each of the storage grooves 21.
The plurality of ink pellets 22
A set port 21a for supplying the ink pellets 22 from the cartridge 23 containing the cartridge is opened. The free end side of the ink case 8 is provided with a recording head 19.
Outlet 2 for dropping the ink pellets 22 into the melting hopper 20 corresponding to the location where the ink has run out.
1b is opened vertically.

Each of the ink pellets 22 is movably fitted toward the outlet 21b while the left and right steps 22c, 22c are supported by both left and right portions of each of the storage grooves 21. In addition, each of the storage grooves 2
1, the rear surface of the ink pellet 22 is pushed toward the outlet 21b in each of the storage grooves 21 by a pressing block 24 urged by a spiral spring 24a. Further, when the cover body 9 is opened, the link body 25 returns all the pressing blocks 24 to the set opening 21a.

At the outlet 21b of the ink case 8, an ink supply section 33 (see FIG. 5) for supplying the ink pellets 22 to the melting hopper 20 from the outlet 21b is disposed. The power transmission unit to the mechanism unit 52 includes FIGS.
(A), FIG. 7 (b), and FIG. 8, the supply unit clutch 35 is disposed, and the rotational force from the drive motor 38 capable of normal and reverse rotation is transmitted to the transmission unit such as the timing belt 40 and one rotation. The power supply unit 35 is configured to transmit the power to the upstream side of the power transmission unit in the supply unit clutch 35 via a shaft 39, and the supply unit clutch 35 is moved in accordance with the movement of the carriage 30 toward and away from the ink supply unit 33. A switching means is provided so as to perform ON / OFF operation.

The above configuration will be described in more detail. The gear 41 fixed to the intermediate portion of the rotating shaft 39 includes the gear group 4
2 through the gear 42a in the drive side clutch body 35a
The torque is transmitted to the gear 35b. When the drive-side clutch body 35a moves in the directions of the arrows B and C, the gear 35b is always meshed with the gear 42. Then, as shown in FIGS. 7A, 7B and 8, the arm 47a of the toggle lever 47 as the switching means rotatable around the pivot 46 and the other end of the shift lever 43 are engaged. It is rotatably connected via the upper part of the joint bar 43a,
The lower end of the engagement rod 43a is engaged with the shift ring portion 35f of the drive side clutch body 35a. Further, a pin 44 protruding from the shift lever 43 is movable along the guide groove 45, and the engaging lever 43a is guided in the same direction as the guide groove 45 by guide means (not shown), so that the shift lever 43 Right and left movement directions of the carriage 30 below the arrow 30 (directions of arrows B and C)
It is configured to be able to move in parallel with. Therefore,
The drive-side clutch body 35a comes into contact with and separates from the driven-side clutch body 35d (ON / OFF) in accordance with the rotation of the toggle lever 47 about the pivot 46 and the movement of the shift lever 43 along the guide groove 45. Have been.

An urging spring 49 is mounted between the other arm 47b of the toggle lever 47 and an engaging pin 48 projecting from a frame (not shown). It is configured to hold the rotation position. That is, as shown in FIG. 7A, a state in which the contact piece 43b projecting upward from the left end of the shift lever 43 is not pressed by the pressing piece 30a projecting from the rear surface of the carriage 30, that is, the toggle lever 47 When the arm portion 47a is rotated rightward, the urging force of the urging spring 49 is opposite to the arm portion 47a with respect to the axis of the pivot 46 so that the arm portion 47a maintains the posture in which the arm portion 47a is located on the right side. And the driving side clutch body 35 via the engagement rod 43a.
a can be separated from the driven-side clutch body 35d, and the state in which the engagement claw 35c of the drive-side clutch body 35a and the engagement claw 35e of the driven-side clutch body 35d are separated (driving force cutoff state) can be maintained. Conversely, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the contact piece 43b of the shift lever 43 is pressed by the pressing piece 30a protruding from the rear surface of the carriage 30 and moves by a predetermined distance, the toggle lever 47 is moved to the position shown in FIG. In (b), it rotates counterclockwise, and the engaging claw 35c of the driving-side clutch body 35a and the engaging claw 35e of the driven-side clutch body 35d are engaged via the engaging rod 43a, thereby switching to the power transmission state. . In this state, the urging force of the urging spring 49 is located closer to the arm portion 47a with respect to the axis of the pivot 46, and the meshing state can be maintained.

The other arm portion 47b of the toggle lever 47 is integrally formed with a kick-in body 50. As shown in FIG. 7 (a), this kick-in body 50 is located at a position deviated from the left-right movement locus of the pressing piece 30a, and the pressing piece 30a passes without interfering with the kick-in body 50 and moves in the direction of arrow B. When the user moves and pushes the contact piece 43b to move the shift lever 47 in the direction of arrow B, as shown in FIG. 7A, the back surface 50a of the kick body 50 is pressed by the pressing piece 30a.
Is located within the left-right movement locus. Therefore, the carriage 3
When the pressing piece 30a moves in the direction of arrow C, the pressing piece 30a pushes the back surface 50a to forcibly rotate the toggle lever 47 clockwise, and the original FIG.
You can return to a posture like However, the pressing piece 30
In the state where “a” is located on the right side of the kick-in body 50, the toggle lever 47 is rotated clockwise by some external force, and when the supply unit clutch 35 is ON (power connection state), pressing is performed. Arrow 30B on piece 30a
The arc surface 50 of the kick body 50
b, and the toggle lever 47 can be forcibly rotated clockwise to return to the original posture as shown in FIG.

When the supply unit clutch 35 is ON (power connection state), the limit switch 51a
Is turned on (standby state), the reverse rotation of the drive motor 38 is started, and after detecting that the limit switch 51a is turned off, the drive motor 38 is further turned on by a predetermined number of pulses. By rotating in the reverse direction, the spiral cam 51 formed on the back surface of the driven-side clutch body 35d is
5 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 5 by a predetermined angle (less than one rotation). Next, this time, the drive motor 38
Is rotated forward by the same number of pulses, and the limit switch 51
a is turned on, the drive motor 3
One rotation of the cam 51 based on the reverse rotation and the forward rotation of the cam 8 causes the pellet discharge mechanism 5
5 shows the rotating lever 53 constantly urged upward in FIG.
Is pressed downward to rotate up and down only once.

Next, the configurations of the ink supply section 33 and the pellet discharge mechanism section 52 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 12 (a), four ink pellet outlets 21b corresponding to the locations of the ink pellets 22 of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) are arranged at regular intervals. It is arranged at P. Each outlet 21 in this ink case 8
At positions corresponding to b (four in the embodiment), an extruded body 61 for extruding each ink pellet 22 downward from an upper portion thereof, and a bifurcated link 62 pivotally attached to a lower end of the extruded body 61 are provided. Four sets each including a hook-shaped engaging and disengaging body 58 that selectively engages with and disengages from the pin 62 a at the lower end of the link 62 are arranged between the vertical frame 56 and the lid frame 59. On the other hand, a connecting arm 54 pivotally attached to the tip of a rotating lever 53 forcibly rotated by the cam 51
The pivotally inserted upper end shaft 54a is rotatably fitted to the bases of the four disengagement members 58, respectively. Further, pinion gears 55 rotatably provided at both ends of the upper end shaft 54a,
55 is a rack 5 formed on the surface of the vertical frame 56.
The upper and lower shafts 54a move up and down between the vertical frame 56 and the lid frame 59 so that the four engaging and disengaging bodies 58 move up and down at the same time. (See FIG. 9).

As can be understood from FIGS. 5, 9, 10, and 11, each extruded body 61 is rotatable at its lower end rear portion via a pivot shaft 63 at a shaft support 64 at the upper end of the vertical frame 56. The four guide holes 65 which are detachably mounted and are formed in the vertical frame 56 are respectively provided with the links 62.
And the disengagement members 58 are arranged so as to face each other, and each of the disengagement members 58 is urged toward the rear surface of the carriage 30 by an urging plate spring 66 attached to the lid frame 59 side. Since the sliding members 58a projecting upward from the bases of the engaging and disengaging members 58 are arranged so as to always slide on the surface of the flat plate 56a of the vertical frame 56, the engaging and disengaging members 58 maintain a substantially upright posture. It is supposed to.

The carriage 30 corresponds to the arrangement interval L of the four disengagement members 58 and the number of the melting hoppers 20.
The position at which the carriage 30 is moved along the main scanning direction (the direction of the arrow B or the direction of the arrow C) and stopped is made different from the arrangement interval R of the four selective regulating members 67 provided at the rear of the carriage 30. When selected, any one of the selective restricting members 67 is set so as to be able to slide on the rear surface of the corresponding disengagement body 58.

Accordingly, when the lowering and disengaging body 58 slides against the selective regulating member 67 (see a two-dot chain line in FIG. 13), the disengaging body 58 is opposed to the spring force of the biasing leaf spring 66.
13 descends while rotating clockwise in FIG.
The engaging / disengaging body 58 is engaged with the pin portion 62a at the lower end of the link 62 at the corresponding selected location, and as the engaging / disengaging body 58 moves downward, the extruded body 61 rotates downward about the pivot shaft 63 and rotates. At a predetermined outlet 21b, the ink pellet 22 whose bottom is supported by an elastic supporting piece 68
It can be pushed toward zero (see FIG. 14). Engagement / removal body 5 not slid on contact with selective regulating member 67
8 descends while being substantially upright and does not engage with the pin portion 62a at the corresponding location, the pressing body 61 at that location does not fall and turn, and therefore, the ink pellet 22 at the corresponding location does not exit. It is not discharged from 21b.

FIG. 12 (a) shows a corresponding rightmost disengagement body 5 for dropping only the black (K) color ink pellets 22 into the black (K) color melting hopper 20.
FIG. 12B shows a case where the phase of the selective regulating member 67 coincides with the phase of the selective regulating member 67 at the right end in the main scanning direction of the carriage 30. FIG. Is dropped into the melting hopper 20,
This shows a state in which the second body 58 from the right and the selective regulating member 67 are in phase with each other. FIG. 12C shows a case where the ink pellets 22 of magenta (M) color are dropped into the melting hopper 20.

As shown in FIG. 12A, the arrangement interval P of the outlet 21b where the ink pellets 22 are arranged, the arrangement interval T of the melting hopper 20, the arrangement interval L of the disengagement body 58, the selective regulating member 67. , P>
L> R is preferable because the ink pellets 22 having large left and right dimensions (large) can be arranged. Also,
When the arrangement interval T of the melting hopper 20 and the arrangement interval L of the disengagement body 58 are set to be equal, as in the embodiment shown in FIG.
(The part that pushes out the upper surface of each of them) should have different shapes so as to be shifted in the left-right direction.

Next, a control system of the hot-melt ink jet printer having the above configuration will be described with reference to a block diagram shown in FIG. The CPU 100 has a ROM 1
01, based on print data sent from the host computer, in accordance with various control programs stored in advance in the CPU 01, to execute various arithmetic control operations required for printing a color image, Nozzle head 1
2, a printhead drive circuit 103 for driving the carriage 30 based on print data, a carriage drive circuit 104 for driving a carriage motor 105 for reciprocating the carriage 30 in the main scanning direction, and the preheat platen 14.
And a platen heating control circuit 106 for controlling energization of a pre-heater 107 and a main heater 108 provided on the back side of the main platen 16 to maintain a predetermined temperature.
The heater 110 for heating the nozzle head 12 in the recording head unit 19, the heater 111 for heating the ink in the molten ink tank, and the ink pellets 22 replenished in the hot melt ink 20 are heated. A head heating control circuit 109 for controlling the energization of a heater 112 that liquefies the liquid, a motor drive circuit 113 for driving the drive motor 38 comprising a step motor, and one of the paper feed rollers 11a and 11b are selectively operated. The solenoid driving circuit 114 drives a sheet feeding solenoid 115 for sending the recording medium P to the conveyance path and a registration solenoid 116 for temporarily stopping the rotation of the pair of registration rollers 13a and 13b and performing registration. Connected and the remaining amount of ink on the carriage 30, for example, And sensors 117 for detecting the amount of ink remaining in the melt ink tank, wherein connected to the limit switch 51a or the like, various detection signals are inputted.

When the CPU 100 outputs a detection signal indicating that the ink has run out, for example, from the remaining ink sensor 117, the CPU 100 supplies the carriage drive circuit 104 and the motor drive circuit 113 with the ink pellet 22 of the color that has run out of ink. Is supplied to the corresponding hot melt ink 20 on the carriage 30 to output a predetermined control signal. Also,
At this time, power is supplied to the heater 112 of the hopper 20 to which the ink pellets 22 have been supplied via the head heating control circuit 109, and the ink pellets 22 are quickly melted.

It should be noted that the motor driving circuit 113
Under the control of U100, during normal printing operation, the forward rotation of the drive motor 38 causes the registration roller pair 13 to rotate.
a, 13b, the transport roller 15 and the exhaust roller 18 are rotated in the paper transport direction, and when the ink is supplied, the ink supply unit 3 is driven by the reverse rotation and the forward rotation of the drive motor 38.
3 is operated, and when the nozzle head 12 is maintained, the maintenance operation section 34 is operated by the reverse drive of the front drive motor 38.

The ROM 101 stores a program for executing various control operations such as the above-described motor drive control, and also stores the carriage 30 in the ink supply unit 33 or the maintenance operation unit 34 as necessary. In a case where carriage position data in the main scanning direction necessary for disposing the carriage 30 in the main scanning direction, for example, movement position data of the carriage 30 in the main scanning direction is determined by the count value of the encoder pulse, the supply unit clutch 35 is turned on. , OFF state, and replenishment of ink pellets 22 of each color are stored and set as count values of the encoder. R
The AM 102 temporarily stores print data sent from the host computer and is temporarily used as a work area for executing various control operations.

In the above arrangement, the printing operation is performed, ink is consumed, the remaining amount of the hot melt ink of a predetermined color in the molten ink tank decreases, and the sensor 117 shown in FIG. When the carriage 30 moves in the direction of arrow B to the left end as shown in FIG. 7A and pushes the contact piece 43a of the shift lever 43 leftward with the pressing piece 30a, as shown in FIG. As described above, the supply clutch unit 35 is turned on by turning the toggle lever 47 to the left.
(The power transmission state), the carriage 30 is then moved to the right within a predetermined range as shown in FIG.
0a, the kick-in body 50 is kicked rightward and the toggle lever 47 is not rotated rightward), and the melted hopper 20 where the ink has run out becomes the ink of the corresponding color. Exit 2 of the part where the pellet 22 is stored
1a, the carriage 30 is moved to the ink supply section 33, and the ink pellet discharge mechanism section 52 is moved to the ink supply section 33.
Is stopped so that the predetermined selective restricting member 67 and the disengagement body 58 coincide with each other. In this state, when the drive motor 38 is operated to rotate in the reverse direction and the rotary lever 52 is moved up and down only once, the ink pellet 2 of a predetermined color is obtained.
2 can be dropped into the melting hopper 20.

Further, in a state where ink supply is not performed, the carriage 30 can be moved leftward to a range where the pressing piece 30a does not press the contact piece 43a of the shift lever 43 leftward (the state shown in FIG. 7A). By stopping the carriage 30 at the left end and setting the carriage 30 at the print standby position.
Since the print standby position and the position for supplying ink can be substantially overlapped in the main scanning direction of the carriage, there is an effect that the horizontal dimension of the printer can be made small and compact.

In the present invention, the paper feed rollers 11a and 11b including the paper discharge roller 18 and the registration roller pair 13 are driven by the forward rotation of the drive motor 38.
a, 13b, and a transmission mechanism for driving the transport rollers 15 and the like, so that the carriage 30 is moved to the print standby position (FIG. 4).
At the left side position in the print area) and presses the paper feed switch or receives a paper feed command, the paper feed roller 1
By selectively operating either 1a or 11b, an operation of feeding only one recording medium P from the sheet feeding unit 2 or 3 is executed. At this time, the rotation of the pair of registration rollers 13a and 13b is temporarily stopped only at the start of sheet feeding, and after the registration operation is performed, the transport upstream end of the recording medium P transported by the transport roller 15 is further discharged. The sheet is stopped by being pinched between the paper roller 18 and the pinch roller.

When the printing operation is performed, the paper feeding operation of the recording medium P can be executed by the forward rotation of the single drive motor 38. In these cases, by the forward rotation of the drive motor 38, the registration roller pair 13a, 13b, the transport roller 15, and the paper discharge roller 18 provided in relation to the rotating shaft 39 are driven to rotate in the paper discharge direction.

In the above embodiments, the configuration for replenishing the ink pellets 22 made of hot melt ink has been described. However, when replenishing the liquid ink, the liquid ink for each color is stored in the ink supply unit. Ink tanks made of a flexible material are arranged at appropriate intervals along the sub-scanning direction of the carriage. In the ink discharge mechanism, ink tanks as ejection units are arranged at intervals different from the arrangement intervals. The ink may be selectively pressed by the pressed pressing body to discharge a predetermined color of ink from the ink tank and replenish the ink to a hopper of an ink receiver in the carriage.

[0041]

As described above, in the ink supply apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, a recording head for ejecting ink to the surface of a recording medium is mounted on a carriage, and the carriage is mounted on the recording medium. An ink supply unit configured to scan and drive in a direction that intersects the conveyance direction of the recording head unit and to supply ink to the recording head unit at one end in the scanning direction. In the meantime, the discharge units for discharging the ink stored in the ink case for each color are formed at appropriate intervals along the scanning direction, while the carriage receives the ink for each color. Hoppers are arranged along the scanning direction at appropriate intervals different from the arrangement intervals of the emission units, and the ink supply unit stops moving the carriage in the scanning direction. Depending on the location, in which the ink in the discharge portion comprising an ink discharge mechanism portion so as to be discharged selectively to the hopper for each color.

As described above, since the arrangement interval of the ink ejecting section and the arrangement interval of the hopper for receiving ink are different, the ejection of the ink of the selected color can be performed simply by setting the movement and stop of the carriage in the scanning direction. The hopper and the hopper can be in phase with each other, and the phase of the discharge unit and the hopper with respect to the other (unselected) color inks is not coincident with each other. Without releasing different inks of
In addition, when the hopper location where the ink has run out can be detected, as described above, there is an effect that the ink can be automatically replenished by a simple control of setting the movement / stop of the carriage in the scanning direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink supply apparatus having a recording head for ejecting hot melt ink on a surface of a recording medium mounted on a carriage, and intersecting the carriage with a conveying direction of the recording medium. In a hot-melt inkjet printer in which an ink supply unit that supplies ink pellets to the recording head unit is arranged at one end in the scanning direction. A discharge unit for discharging the ink pellets made of the hot melt ink stored in the ink case for each color is formed at appropriate intervals along the scanning direction, while the carriage is provided for each color. A melting hopper for receiving and melting the ink pellets is arranged along the scanning direction at an appropriate interval different from the arrangement interval of the discharge units. Arranged to, in the ink supply section,
According to the movement stop position of the carriage in the scanning direction,
The apparatus further includes a pellet discharge mechanism for selectively discharging the ink pellets in the discharge section to the melting hopper for each color.

In the present invention, since the arrangement interval of the ink pellet ejection section and the arrangement interval of the melting hopper for receiving and melting the ink pellets are different, it is only necessary to set the movement and stop of the carriage in the scanning direction. The phase of the melted hopper can be matched with the discharge part of the ink pellet of the selected color, and the other (not selected)
Since the phase of the discharge portion of the color ink pellets and the phase of the melting hopper do not coincide with each other, there is no possibility that the ink pellets of different colors are erroneously discharged to the hopper to be replenished, and the melted hopper portion where the ink has run out is removed. When the detection can be performed, as described above, there is an effect that the ink pellets can be automatically replenished by a simple control that only sets the movement / stop of the carriage in the scanning direction.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device according to the second aspect, the ink supply unit includes a discharge unit for each color in the ink case above a melting hopper in the moving carriage. The pellet discharging mechanism is provided with an extruded body for dropping the ink pellets in each of the discharging sections from above toward the melting hopper, a disengagement body for selectively operating the extruded body, and a carriage side. And a selective restricting member for changing the posture of the engaging and disengaging body according to the stop position of the carriage.

According to the present invention, when the carriage is moved and stopped so that the discharge portion of the ink pellets to be replenished and the location of the melted hopper where the ink has run out coincide with the upper and lower positions, the carriage is provided on the carriage. Only a predetermined selective restricting member is located such that the posture of the corresponding disengagement body can be changed. The extruded body is selectively operated by the selected and changed posture of the disengagement body, and the ink pellets are pushed downward. As described above, according to the present invention, the selective regulating member provided on the carriage can be associated with the movement / stop of the carriage. An advantage is provided in that the ink pellets can be automatically replenished by a simple control that simply sets movement / stop of the carriage in the scanning direction.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device of the third aspect, the ink supply unit is configured to simultaneously drive the engaging and disengaging members for each of the colors in the vertical direction. A part clutch is arranged.
Therefore, according to the present invention, since the disengagement body is operated simultaneously by one drive source, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and by disposing the supply unit clutch between the disengagement body and the drive source, This has the advantage that it is extremely easy to separately set the operation timing of the drive source itself and the vertical drive timing of the disengagement body.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device of the fourth aspect, the supply unit clutch is held in the ON state by utilizing the movement of the carriage to the ink supply unit for ink supply. When the carriage moves away from the ink supply unit to shift to the printing operation, the supply unit clutch is turned off.
F state, so that the O
N / OFF control does not require the installation of a separate sensor, etc.
There is an effect that the configuration becomes extremely simple.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply apparatus according to the fourth or fifth aspect, the supply unit clutch locks the ON state once the carriage moves in the direction of the ink supply unit. Then, the locked state is released when the carriage is moved a predetermined distance or more in the reversing direction. Therefore, the carriage is moved to a state where the supply unit clutch is once turned on, and then the reverse movement is performed until the supply unit clutch is turned off, the ink supply work period for replenishing ink pellets of a plurality of different colors or the like. In a state where the ink supply is not performed, the carriage can be moved so as to approach the ink supply unit side just before the supply unit clutch is not turned on, so that this state can be set as the print standby position. Since the print standby position and the position for supplying ink can be substantially overlapped in the scanning direction of the carriage, the size of the printer in the left-right direction can be made small and compact.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printer.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the printer.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a carriage and a supply unit clutch.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an ink case.

FIG. 5 is a side view of an ink supply unit and a pellet discharge mechanism unit.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an ink pellet.

FIG. 7A is a plan view showing an OFF state of a supply unit clutch, and FIG. 7B is a plan view showing an ON state of a supply unit clutch.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged front view of a main part of a supply unit clutch.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a pellet discharging mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a vertical frame.

FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an engaging and disengaging body and a link.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing an arrangement interval between a melting hopper, an ink pellet outlet, a selective regulating member, a disengagement body, and
(A) is a diagram showing a positional relationship in which black (K) ink pellets can be discharged, (b) is a diagram showing a positional relationship in which cyan (C) ink pellets can be discharged, and (c) is a magenta (M) ink. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship which can discharge a pellet.

FIG. 13 is a side view showing a state in which the posture of the disengagement body is changed by the selective regulating member.

FIG. 14 is a side view illustrating a state where a predetermined ink pellet is pushed downward by a pressing body.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a control system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 melting hopper 21a outlet 30 carriage 30a pressing piece 35 supply unit clutch 58 disengagement body 67 selective restricting member 43 shift lever 43a contact piece

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] August 8, 1997

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0025

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

When the supply unit clutch 35 is ON (power connection state), the limit switch 51a
Is turned on (standby state), the reverse rotation of the drive motor 38 is started, and after detecting that the limit switch 51a is turned off, the drive motor 38 is further turned on by a predetermined number of pulses. By rotating in the reverse direction, the spiral cam 51 formed on the back surface of the driven-side clutch body 35d is
5 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 5 by a predetermined angle (less than one rotation). Next, this time, the drive motor 38
Is rotated forward by the same number of pulses, and the limit switch 51
When it is detected that a has been turned on, a predetermined number of pulses
(Small number of pulses) Rotate forward to stop and enter standby mode
You. By the one reciprocating rotation of the cam 51 based on the reverse rotation and the forward rotation of the drive motor 38, the rotation lever 53 of the pellet discharge mechanism 52 which is constantly urged upward by one rotation of the cam 51 in FIG. Press downward to reciprocate up and down only once. ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] August 12, 1997

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0025

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

When the supply unit clutch 35 is ON (power connection state), the limit switch 51a
Is turned on (standby state), the reverse rotation of the drive motor 38 is started, and after detecting that the limit switch 51a is turned off, the drive motor 38 is further turned on by a predetermined number of pulses. By rotating in the reverse direction, the spiral cam 51 formed on the back surface of the driven-side clutch body 35d is
5 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 5 by a predetermined angle (less than one rotation). Next, this time, the drive motor 38
Is rotated forward by the same number of pulses, and the limit switch 51
When it is detected that a has been turned ON, the motor is further rotated forward by a predetermined number of pulses (the number of minute pulses) to stop the apparatus, and the apparatus enters a standby state. The one reciprocation rotation of the cam 51 based on reverse and forward of the driving motor 38, pellet discharge mechanism section 52
5 is depressed downward in FIG. 5 to rotate up and down only once.

Claims (6)

[Claims] A recording head for ejecting ink onto a surface of a recording medium, the carriage being mounted on a carriage, and the carriage being driven to scan in a direction intersecting a conveying direction of the recording medium; In one embodiment, an ink supply unit for supplying ink to the recording head unit is disposed at one end, and the ink supply unit discharges ink stored in an ink case for each color. The carriage is formed at appropriate intervals along the scanning direction, while the carriage is provided with a hopper for receiving the ink of each color in the scanning direction at an appropriate interval different from the arrangement interval of the emission units. And the ink supply unit selectively supplies the ink in the discharge unit for each color in accordance with a stop position of the carriage in the scanning direction. An ink supply device characterized by comprising an ink discharge mechanism which is adapted to discharge the over. 2. A recording head for ejecting hot melt ink onto a surface of a recording medium is mounted on a carriage, and the carriage is driven to scan in a direction intersecting a conveying direction of the recording medium. A hot melt ink jet printer having an ink supply unit for supplying ink pellets to the recording head unit at one end in the direction, wherein the ink supply unit is made of hot melt ink stored in an ink case. A discharge unit for discharging ink pellets for each color is formed at appropriate intervals along the scanning direction, while the carriage has a melting hopper for receiving and melting the ink pellets for each color. Arranged along the scanning direction at an appropriate interval different from the arrangement interval of the ejection units, and the ink supply unit includes a carriage. Serial in accordance with the movement stop position in the scanning direction, an ink supply device characterized by the ink pellet in said discharge portion having a pellet discharge mechanism portion so as to be discharged selectively to the molten hopper for each color. 3. An ink supply unit, wherein a discharge unit for each color in an ink case is disposed above a melting hopper in the moving carriage, and the pellet discharge mechanism unit moves the ink pellets in each discharge unit upward. An extruding body that is dropped from the hopper toward the melting hopper, an engaging and disengaging body that selectively operates the extruding body, and provided on the carriage side to change the posture of the engaging and disengaging body according to a stop position of the carriage. 3. The ink supply device according to claim 2, wherein the ink supply device includes a selective regulating member. 4. The ink supply device according to claim 3, wherein a supply unit clutch for driving the engaging and disengaging members for each of the colors in the vertical direction at the same time is arranged in the ink supply unit. 5. The supply unit clutch according to claim 4, wherein the supply unit clutch is configured to hold the supply unit clutch on and off in accordance with the movement of the carriage toward and away from the ink supply unit. Ink supply device. 6. The supply unit clutch, when the carriage moves in the direction of the ink supply unit, temporarily locks and holds the ON state, and then, when the carriage is moved a predetermined distance or more in the reverse direction, the locked state is set. The ink supply device according to claim 4, wherein the ink supply device is configured to cancel the ink supply.