JPS58193156A - Preventing device for clogging of ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a preventing device for clossing in ink jet printer of simple construction and low cost by such an arrangement wherein a cap drive member is caused to move in the same direction in response to the movement of a carriage in a non-print area, and a capping member is caused to approach a print head. CONSTITUTION:A clogging preventing device 17 is provided on a base body 11 at such a position facing to a print head 13 at a standby position A in a non- print area C. A carriage 14 pushes a drive pin 25 and slidably moves a cap base 23 to the left and a cap moving pin 26 slides along a cap moving groove 27 and causes a cap 24 to move to the position of solid line from that of chained lines. When the carriage 14 moves away from the standby position at the time of printing, the cap 24 is returned to its initial condition by a return spring 28.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention caps the print head when not printing,
The present invention relates to a clogging prevention device for an inkjet printer that prevents clogging of a print head section.

In an on-demand inkjet printer, ink is temporarily stored in a pressure chamber formed in the print head and communicated with the nozzle slit through an orifice, and a vibrating element provided at the back of the ink chamber is created. The vibration causes ink particles to pass through the orifice and be ejected from the nozzle slit. Therefore, the orifice is in direct contact with the outside air through the nozzle slit.

However, with this structure, the orifice is constantly filled with ink, which causes the ink to dry and become clogged when not printing, resulting in ink during printing. There was a problem that the fuel would no longer be sprayed.

FIG. 1 shows a clogging prevention device that has been proposed to solve this problem. A plunger 50 of a solenoid 5 connected to a power source is attached to the back of an arm 4, which has a cap 1 and a return spring 2 formed at one end and is rotatably supported by a rotation pin 3 at the other end. are in contact. With such a structure, when the camping drive is performed, the plunger 5° presses the arm 4, and the arm 4 on which the camp 1 is provided moves from the position shown by the chain line in the figure. If the structure is such that the head (not shown) is placed in this camp 1 (Iri?i) when not printing, the head will be camped by turning on the drive switch means when not printing. When the switch is turned off, the arm 4 returns to its original position by the return spring 2.

However, in such a device, when opening and closing the cap 1,
There is a disadvantage that the vibration of the solenoid 5 is transmitted to the head, causing ink to scatter from the nozzle slit portion of the head. In order to solve this problem, devices such as providing a damper device for the solenoid 5 or using a motor instead of the solenoid 5 can be considered, but such devices have the disadvantage of high cost, and eventually However, the above-mentioned device is not suitable for practical use.

This issue 111 was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and is a low-cost, simple structure that does not scatter ink from the nozzle when the inkjet printer is not printing.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a clogging prevention device for an inkjet printer that prevents clogging of a print head section.

In summary, the present invention includes a camp drive member that moves in the same direction as the carriage as the carriage of an inkjet printer moves in a non-traveling section, and a cap member that approaches the print head section in response to the movement of the drive member. camp moving means; the driving member is moved according to the movement of the carriage in the non-traveling portion during non-printing, and the print head portion is capped by the gap moving means interlocked with the driving member. shall be.

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

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a printing section of an inkjet printer to which the clogging prevention device according to the present invention is applied.

In the figure, a rail/l/12 is laid on the printer base 11, and one of the rails 12 is connected to the print head section 13.
It has a structure in which the carriage 14 with which it is attached slides. When the carriage 14 is not printing, it is at the standby position A shown by the chain line in the figure.
The running section B is arranged so as to slide along the rail 12 during printing. A platen 15 corresponding to the running section B is provided parallel to the rail 12 and at a position facing the print head section 13, and a printing target member 16 is arranged along this platen 15. At 11t of the standby position A in the non-travel section C, facing the print head 13,
1'' anti-clogging device 17 is provided on the base body 11.

In such a configuration, the sharpener 14 returns to the standby position A during non-printing, and in response to this return, the clogging prevention device 17 is driven to cap the print head portion 13.

Next, regarding this clogging prevention device, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4
Figures (a) and (b) will be explained.

FIG. 3 is a schematic external view of a clogging prevention device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, a shaft 22 fixed to a frame 21
A cap base 23 is rotatably supported. A camp 24 is formed at the free end 23a of the cap base 23, and the base pedestal 23 is supported by the shaft 22.
A drive pin 25, which is a cap drive member, is housed at the left end of b.

Further, in the center of the lower part of the shaft toe edge 23b of the base 23, a cat pin moving pin 26 is fixed.
6 is pushed through a cap moving groove 27 cut out in an arcuate shape in the center of the frame 21. The cap moving pin 26 and the cap moving groove 27 constitute a cap moving means. A return socket 28 is provided between the frame 21 and the cap base 23. This clogging prevention device 20 is arranged such that the base 1 is placed so that the rail 12 and the shaft 22 are parallel to each other, and the opening of the cap 24 faces the print head section 13 of the carriage 14 at the standby position A.
Attached to 1.

Next, the operation of this clogging prevention device will be explained below.

When the carriage 14 finishes printing and returns to the standby position A by sliding on the rail 12, the carriage 14 touches the drive pin 2.
By pushing 5, the cap base 23 slides on the shaft 22 to the left.

As the cap base 23 moves, the camp movement pin 26 slides in the cap movement groove 27.

The moving groove 27 is formed in a fan shape, and the moving pin 26
is absorbed by the base 23, so as the base 23 moves, the movable pin 26 tilts in the vertical direction.
The cap 24 moves from the cap position shown in chain lines to the cap position shown in solid lines in the figure. That is, the cap 24
approaches the print head. When the carriage 14 leaves the standby position during printing, the cap 24 is returned to its initial state by the return spring 28. In this way, when the carriage 14 is in the standby position, that is, when not printing, the print head section 13 is always capped and the carriage 14 is not in the standby position, that is, during printing, the print head section 13 is not capped, and the cap 24 maintains its initial state.

FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are schematic external views of a clogging prevention device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and diagrams for explaining its operation.

In FIG. 4 La), the arm support plate 31 has two flat arms 32a which are camp moving means.

One end of each arm 32b is rotatably supported, and the other end of each arm 32a, 32b is rotatably supported by the cap support plate 33.

A cap 34 is provided on the front edge of the cap support plate 33, and a return spring 35 is provided on the right edge. A cap drive pin 36, which is a cap drive member, is attached to the left end edge of the cap 34.

This clogging prevention device 30 is attached to the base 11 so that the opening surface of the camp 34 and the rail 12 face each other, and so that the drive pin 36 comes into contact with the carriage 14 when the carriage 14 returns.

In the above configuration, when the carriage 14 finishes printing and returns to the standby position, the drive pin 36 is pushed and moved as shown in FIG. 4(b).

As the drive bottle 36 moves, the arms 32a and 32b move to a position perpendicular to the cap support plate 33, as shown by chain lines in FIG. As the distance increases, the cap 34 approaches the print head 13 and caps the print head 13. When the carriage 14 leaves the standby position during printing, the camp 3.4 is returned to its initial state by the return spring 35. In this way, the print head section 13 can be capped only when not printing.

As described above, according to the present invention, the print head portion is capped as the carriage moves in the non-traveling portion, so that capping can be performed smoothly and reliably. Furthermore, since the cap driving member and the cap moving means only perform the operation of changing the horizontal movement of the carriage into the longitudinal movement of the cap member, the structure is extremely simple and the overall shape is A clogging prevention device that is small in size and has a simple structure can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a generally proposed clogging prevention device for an inkjet printer, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the printing section of an inkjet printer to which the clogging prevention device according to the present invention is applied, and FIG. 4(a) and 4(b) are schematic external views of the clogging prevention device according to the first embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic external view of a clogging prevention device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and a diagram for explaining its operation. 13... Print head section, 14... Carriage, 25
．． 36... Cap drive pin, 26... Cap moving pin, 27... Camp moving groove, 32a, 32b=-arm, C... Non-traveling part. Applicant Sharp Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Hisao Komori flE1 Figure j Chopsticks 2 Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] (l) In a clogging prevention device for an inkjet printer in which a carriage is kept on standby in a non-travelling part at the right end or left end when not printing, and a print head is capped in this non-travelling part, the clogging prevention device a cap driving member that moves in the same direction as the carriage; and camp moving means that moves the cap member closer to the print head portion in accordance with the movement of the driving member, and a non-traveling portion of the carriage when not printing. A clogging/clogging prevention device for an inkjet printer, characterized in that the driving member is moved in accordance with the movement of the driving member, and the print head section is capped by the cap moving means interlocked with the driving member.