JPH11314420A - Lubricant supply mechanism for carriage and printer equipped with the mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To supply lubricant stably over a long term to a carriage mechanism comprising a carriage, a carriage guide shaft and an oil pad by providing a lubricant channel having a fine hole or groove and returning excess lubricant back to the oil pad utilizing capillarity. SOLUTION: A bearing 11 and an oil pad 13 are built in a carriage 1 and a lubricant channel 12 is formed from the bottom of the carriage 1 to the oil pad 13. The lubricant channel 12 is formed as a groove of 0.5 mm wide and 2 mm deep, for example, and the width and depth are set depending on the surface tension, suction height, or the like, of a lubricant being used. When excess lubricant is supplied from the oil pad 13 onto a carriage guide shaft 2 during operation of a printer due to temperature rise, or the like, it is scraped by a bearing 11 and stocked at the lowermost part of the carriage 1. Excess lubricant is introduced to a lubricant channel 12 at the lowermost part thence returned back to the upper part of the oil pad 13 through capillarity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lubricating oil supply mechanism for a carriage in a printer and a printer provided with the mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional carriage mechanism comprises a carriage, a bearing mounted on the carriage, and an oil pad, and the carriage moves on a carriage guide shaft via the bearing. An oil pad containing lubricating oil is provided on the carriage to reduce friction between the carriage guide shaft and the bearing.

[0003]

The oil pad impregnates the lubricating oil to supply the oil to the carriage guide shaft. If the amount of lubricating oil that soaks into the oil pad is too small, it will run out of oil during the specified operation period,
If the amount is too large, the amount of supply will be excessive, causing oil dripping. For this reason, the appropriate amount of the lubricating oil is determined from the lubricating oil supply speed from the oil pad and the operation period.

However, there occurs a phenomenon that the lubricating oil supply speed becomes higher than usual due to an increase in the lubricating oil temperature due to a temperature increase due to continuous printing of the printer or the like.
For this reason, the excessively supplied lubricating oil does not stay on the carriage guide shaft, but is scraped off by the bearing and accumulates at the lowermost portion of the carriage. This lubricating oil has caused problems such as dropping on printing paper and immersing and breaking a sensor installed on a carriage.

[0005] In order to solve this problem, there is an example in which a lubricating oil absorbent formed of felt or the like is installed at the lowermost portion of the carriage. Further, when the supply speed is increased, all the lubricating oil is supplied before the scheduled product operation period is reached, which causes a problem due to running out of the lubricating oil.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to supply lubricating oil for a long period of time without dripping even if extra lubricating oil is supplied.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a mechanism for returning the excessively supplied lubricating oil to the oil pad again by utilizing the capillary phenomenon.
That is, the lubricating oil flow path is formed by fine holes or fine grooves.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a carriage according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a carriage according to the present invention.

The carriage 1 has a bearing 11 and an oil pad 13 incorporated therein. Further, a lubricating oil flow path 12 is formed from the bottom of the carriage 1 to the oil pad 13.

In this embodiment, the lubricating oil passage 12 has a width of 0.5 m.
Although the groove has a depth of 2 mm and a depth of 2 mm, the width and the depth of the lubricating oil flow channel 12 must be set based on the surface tension of the lubricating oil to be used, the suction height, and the like.

In the completed printer, the carriage is incorporated with the carriage guide shaft 2 passed through the bearing 11. The oil pad 13 is impregnated with a lubricating oil.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

As the printer continues to print, the lubricating oil gradually wets the carriage guide shaft 2 from the oil pad 13. When a large amount of lubricating oil leaks from the oil pad 13 due to a rise in temperature or the like, the lubricating oil is excessively supplied onto the carriage guide shaft 2, and the lubricating oil is scraped by the bearing 11 and accumulated at the lowermost portion of the carriage 1. Go.

The surplus lubricating oil is guided to the lubricating oil flow path 12 provided at the lowermost part, and is returned to the upper part of the oil pad 13 by capillary action.

According to this embodiment, since the lubricating oil excessively supplied from the oil pad can be returned to the oil pad, problems such as dripping of the excessive lubricating oil can be prevented. Further, since the excessively supplied lubricating oil is returned to the oil pad again, it is possible to prevent running out of oil before the scheduled product operation period is reached.

If the lubricating oil flow path is formed with fine holes, it can cope with a larger suction height, and if formed with fine grooves, it can be formed more easily.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the lubricating oil flow path 12 is formed from the bearing end face of the carriage to the oil pad 13.

According to this embodiment, since the lubricating oil is collected from the end face of the bearing that is first scraped off, the lubricating oil can be reliably collected.

<Third Embodiment> FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, a tray 14 is provided below the bearing 11.
And the receiving tray 14 and the oil pad 13 are connected by the lubricating oil flow path 12.

According to this embodiment, since the surplus lubricating oil can be collected at one location, the lubricating oil flow path can be set to the shortest. This facilitates the formation of the lubricating oil flow path.

<Fourth Embodiment> The fourth embodiment is characterized in that a plurality of lubricating oil channels are formed in a carriage. According to the present embodiment, by using a plurality of lubricating oil flow paths, the lubricating oil can be returned to the oil pad at a high speed, and the dripping of the lubricating oil can be more reliably prevented.

[0025]

According to the structure of the present invention, since the lubricating oil supplied in excess can be recovered, problems due to oil dripping can be prevented, and the quality of printed matter can be improved. In addition, since the collected lubricating oil can be reused, oil shortage does not occur at an early stage, and there is an effect of improving product quality.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a carriage according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a carriage according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Carriage 11 Bearing 12 Lubricating oil flow path 13 Oil pad 14 Receiving tray 2 Carriage guide shaft

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A lubricating oil supply mechanism for a carriage, wherein a lubricating oil flow path is provided by a fine hole or a fine groove in a carriage mechanism comprising a carriage, a carriage guide shaft, and an oil pad. 2. The lubricating oil supply mechanism for a carriage according to claim 1, wherein the lubricating oil passage is provided so as to connect the bottom of the carriage and the oil pad. 3. The lubricating oil flow path is provided so as to connect the bearing end face and the oil pad.
A lubricating oil supply mechanism for a carriage as described in the above. 4. A lubricating oil supply mechanism for a carriage according to claim 1, wherein said lubricating oil flow path is provided with a tray at a lower portion of a bearing end face, and is provided so as to connect said tray and an oil pad. 5. A printer comprising a lubricating oil supply mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said lubricating oil flow paths are provided.