JPS60192642A - Inkjet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent contamination in a recorder due to splashing of ink by providing a groove near electric contacts connected to a printing unit on the carriage to prevent the diffusion of unnecessary ink. CONSTITUTION:Electric contacts 31 and 41 contact each other at the position adjacent to a groove section 45. Ink is accumulated into the groove section 45 even if it leaks from a nozzle 19 and flows into the inner surface of the carriage 2 running through a nozzle plate 18 and a seal material 43 and hence, no ink diffuses and contaminates the electric contacts. Volatile components is gone away from the ink in the groove 45 by evaporation and the solid components alone are left. Thus, no ink splashes both inside and outside a recorder. Furthermore, the cleaning of the groove section 45 can be done simply by removing a recording head 1 from the carriage 2.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device in which a recording head having an ink storage section is mounted on a carriage and performs print recording by scanning relative to a recording paper surface. This invention relates to means for preventing electrical contacts and the like from being contaminated by leaking ink.

[Prior art]

In recent years, the use of Infusiera recording apparatuses has been increasing due to the relatively simple structure of the recording head, the ability to easily perform color recording, and the ability to perform high-speed recording. On the other hand, disadvantages of ink jet recording apparatuses include clogging of ink discharge nozzles due to evaporation of volatile components in the ink, and contamination of ink within the recording apparatus by ink discharged and leaked from the recording head.

In conventional inkjet recording devices, in order to prevent the above-mentioned clogging of the ejection nozzle, a cap is provided to cover the ejection nozzle when recording is stopped, or a pump or other device is installed to remove solidified ink near the nozzle by suction. We also have measures in place to recover from jams. In addition, a cap is provided to cover the entire surface of the head so that the ink ejected or leaked from the recording head is not scattered elsewhere, and an ink recovery means such as a pump is provided to absorb the ink ejected or leaked.

However, such conventional clogging recovery means and ink collection means use devices such as pumps, so installing these devices increases the size of the inkjet recording device and further increases the manufacturing cost of the device. There was a drawback.

〔the purpose〕

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional apparatus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an extremely superior inkjet recording apparatus that prevents contamination within the recording apparatus due to ink scattering.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an inkjet recording device in which a printing unit for discharging ink is mounted on a carriage, and in which a groove is provided in the carriage to prevent the diffusion of unnecessary ink. It is characterized by being located nearby.

Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that the absorbent body is arranged in the old play groove.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail according to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus applicable to the present invention.

Here, l is an on-demand recording head that ejects ink only when recording a print tod, 2 is a carriage that carries the recording head l and moves in the main scanning direction (column direction), and 3 guides the carriage 2. A pair of guide shafts 4 are drive motors that drive the carriage 2 via a pair of pulleys 5 and an endless wire 6' wound around the pulleys 5.

Also, 7 is a recording paper that is recorded by ink ejection from the recording head l, 8 is a platen roller that moves the recording paper 7 in the sub-scanning direction (row direction), and 8 is a gear train 10 that rotates the platen roller 8. It is a drive motor. The recording head I has a hook portion 11, a hook pin 12, and a handle portion 13.

On the other hand, the carriage 2 has a hook portion 21 and a groove portion 22. The hook part 11 of the recording head l engages with the hook part 21 of the carriage 2, the hook pin 12 of the recording head l engages with the groove part 22 of the carriage, and the recording head 1 is fixed to the carriage 2 in a replaceable manner. . Further, a 30 flexible cable electrically connects the recording head 1 and an electric control circuit (not shown), and transmits a print signal for ink ejection to the recording head 1.

The rotation of the drive morph 4 is transmitted to the carriage 2 through the pulleys 5, 5 and the wire 6, so that the carriage 2 slides along the guide shafts 3, 3 and feeds the print mode 1 in the main scanning direction. . Further, the rotation of the other drive motor 8 is transmitted to the platen roller 8 through the gear train 1O, so that the platen roller 8 feeds the recording paper 7 in the sub-scanning direction.

While the carriage 2 is moving to the right due to the rotation of the drive motor 4, the recording head 1 is connected to the flexible cable 3.
The ink is ejected based on the print signal sent through the
Characters and signals are printed on the recording paper 7, and images and video patterns such as graphs and drawings are recorded. When the recording head 1 reaches the right end, the carriage 2 stops running, and then the motor 8 rotates to move the recording paper 7 by one line in the sub-scanning direction. Subsequently, the carriage 2 moves to the left, and during this movement, the recording head 1 continues the printing operation to the left end in the same manner as described above. When the recording head 1 reaches the left end, the carriage 2 stops traveling, and then the motor 8 rotates to move the recording paper 7 by one line in the sub-scanning direction. The above operations are repeated, and predetermined sentences, images, etc. corresponding to the printing symbols are printed and recorded in dots on the entire surface of the recording paper 7.

FIG. 2 shows a conventional recording head before the improvement of the recording apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 3 shows the recording head attached to a carriage, and FIG. 4 shows the flexible cable shown in FIG. 3. Next, to facilitate understanding of the present invention,
The structure of the conventional recording end before improvement will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the recording head 1 before improvement, a base body 15 is provided at the front end of the cover unit 14 of the head, an insulating substrate 16 is attached to the front surface of this base body 15, and an insulating substrate 18 is attached to the front surface of this base body 15. A nozzle plate is provided on the upper base body 15. When the recording head 1 is mounted on the carriage 2 as shown in FIG. 3, the electrical contact at the lower end of the insulating substrate IB is connected to the electrical contact 31 of the flexible cable 30 shown in FIG. 4 by the elastic force of the rubber member 24. come into contact with.

Further, the plurality of nozzle tips 18 opened in the nozzle plate 18 are connected to the ink bags 4 housed in the above-mentioned cover unit 14.
0, the ink is supplied and replenished, and the energy generator generates ejection energy in response to an electrical signal given to an energy generator such as a piezo element or an electric resistance element (not shown) through the flexible cable 30 and the electrical contact 17. is given, and ink droplets are ejected toward the recording paper 7. The energy generator described above generates energy to eject a droplet from an orifice to form a flying droplet.

Incidentally, a continuous type inkjet recording device, which is one of the inkjet recording methods, is equipped with a pressurizing pump mechanism to continuously eject ink and electrodes to charge the ink particles and control the flight direction of the ink particles. There is a need for an ink recovery device or the like having a pump mechanism for controlling ink ejection and recovering unnecessary ink. On the other hand, the recording head 1 applied in the present invention
is generally referred to as an on-demand system, and has a mechanism that ejects ink only when printing dots, so compared to the continuous system, the structure of the recording head is similar to that shown in Figures 2 to 4. It gets easier as shown.

However, in the conventional recording head 1 before the improvement, the second
As shown in the figure and FIG. 3, a nozzle plate 18 is provided above the electrical contacts 17 at the bottom of the insulating substrate 16, and the electrical contacts 31 of the flexible cable 30 are insulated below the surface of the nozzles 18 of the nozzle plate 18. Since there is a contact position of the electrical contact 17 at the bottom of the substrate 16, ink may unexpectedly flow out from the nozzle 18 due to an unexpected shock or temperature change, or when printing on the recording paper 7, the recording paper 7 may
If the ink splashes off and adheres to the periphery of the head, the electrical contacts 31 and 1 below the nozzle 1B will inevitably be damaged.
7 becomes contaminated over a long period of time, and there is a high possibility that poor conduction will occur and printing will become impossible.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the configuration of the recording head of the improved inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 6 shows the recording head attached to the carriage, and FIG. 7 shows the flexible cable shown in FIG. 6. show.

As shown in FIG. 5, in this example, an electrical contact 41 that contacts the electrical contact 31 of the flexible cable 30 is fixed to the rear end of the bottom of the recording head 1, and this electrical contact 41 is connected to an energy generating body (not shown). Flexible cable to connect 4
2 are welded together, and a sealing material 43 that completely seals the electrical contacts 41 from the outside air is fixed to the lower end of the insulating substrate 16 below the nozzle plate 18. Therefore, the electrical contact 41
The area is not contaminated by ink leaking from the upper nozzle 18. Furthermore, in this example, as shown in FIG.
and the electrical contacts 41 at the bottom of the recording head 1 are separated somewhat from the rubber member 24 with which they come into contact by elastic force, and a porous structure is provided on the carriage 2 in front of the electrical contacts 31 and 41 to absorb ink that should leak. An ink absorber 44 made of a substance, liquid-absorbing powder, or the like is provided.

In this way, in this example, the electrical contacts 31 and 41 are in contact near the ink absorber 44, so that in the unlikely event that ink leaks from the nozzle 18, it will flow through the nozzle plate 18 and the sealing material 43 and reach the carriage. Even if the ink flows onto the inner surface of the ink, the ink is absorbed by the ink absorber 44, so that the ink does not diffuse and contaminate the electrical contacts.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which the ink absorber 44 in FIG. 6 is removed and only the groove 45 is left. In this case as well, since the electrical contacts 31 and 41 are in contact at a position adjacent to the groove 45, in the unlikely event that ink leaks from the nozzle 18, the nozzle play) 18 and the sealing material 4
Even if the ink flows onto the inner surface of the carriage 2 along the groove 45, the ink will not spread and contaminate the electrical contacts because it will remain in the groove 45. Further, the volatile content of the ink in the groove 45 is evaporated away, and only the solid content is left in the groove 45.
Since the ink remains inside the ink, there is no chance of the ink scattering inside or outside the recording device. Furthermore, carry the recording head l.
By removing it from the cage 2, the groove portion 45 can be easily cleaned.

FIG. 9 shows the structure of the gear 1 lunge 2 and the appearance of the ink absorber 44 shown in FIG. 6 or 8. FIG. A handle 44A made of a soft material is attached to the liquid absorber 44 that fits in the groove 45 provided in the carriage 2. Therefore, if a lot of ink is absorbed, the recording
By removing the handle 44A and lifting it up, the absorbent body 44 can be easily removed from the groove 45, and a new absorbent body can also be easily installed.

Further, since the liquid absorbing member 44 is provided at the bottom of the recording head 1 in the groove portion 45 provided in the carriage 2, all the leaked ink falling from the lower end of the nozzle plate 18 can be absorbed by the absorbing member 44. This prevents ink from scattering into and out of the recording apparatus by 1 m.

〔effect〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, in an inkjet recording device in which a printing unit for discharging ink is mounted on a carriage, a groove for preventing unnecessary ink from spreading is connected to the printing unit in the carriage. The ink leaking from the nozzle can be prevented from spreading and contaminating the electrical contact, and the saliva absorber and groove provided on the carriage can prevent ink leaking from the nozzle from spreading and contaminating the electrical contact. Since the ink is retained in one place, a remarkable effect can be obtained in that the ink can be prevented from spreading or scattering inside and outside the recording apparatus.

Further, according to the present invention, since the liquid absorber and the groove are provided on the carriage, there is an advantage that the liquid absorber can be replaced and the groove can be easily cleaned by removing the recording head from the carriage.

Note that the present invention is also suitable for so-called disposable recording heads that are easy to replace.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus applicable to the present invention, FIGS. FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the recording head of FIG. 5 attached to a carriage; FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the flexible cable of FIG. 6; FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention, FIG.
This figure is a perspective view showing the detailed structure of the carriage shown in FIG. 6 or 8. 1... Recording head, 2... Carriage, 18... Nozzle plate, 19... Nozzle, 24...・Elastic member, 30...Flexible cable, 31...
...Electrical contact, 41...Flexible cable, 42...
...Electric contact, 43...Seal material, 44...Liquid absorber, 44A...Handle, 45...Groove. 01j

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] ■) In an inkjet recording device mounted on a printing unit carriage that discharges ink, the carriage is provided with a groove for preventing diffusion of unnecessary ink, and an electrical contact connected to the printing unit is provided with a groove. An inkjet recording device characterized in that it is installed nearby. 2. An inkjet recording device according to claim 1, characterized in that an absorber is disposed in the groove.