JPS61121948A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain to simplify operation and to make an apparatus compact, by constituting the titled printer so that pump sucking operation and the opening and closing operation of an atmosphere open pipe are performed by the same operation lever. CONSTITUTION:When the operation part 29A of an operation lever 29 is operated to the direction (open side) shown by the arrow B, a cam surface part 29B corresponds to an air vent valve 28 at the part of the small diameter 29C thereof and, therefore, the air vent valve 28 is upwardly pressed by the elasticity of a spring 28B to bring the other end opening part 25A of an atmosphere open pipe 25 to an open state. When the operation part 29A is operated to the direction (suction side) shown by the arrow C, the cam surface part 29B corresponds to the air vent valve 28 at the large diameter pat 29D thereof in the same way as the case of an intermediate position and, therefore, even if the operation part 29A is operated to the suction side, the projection 28A of the air vent valve 28 is prevented from being pushed in an air vent port 26A from the state shown by the drawing. In this case, a piston 31 is pushed in the air vent port 26A by the operation part 29A and the sucking operation of a pump 30 is performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an inkjet printer, and more particularly to an inkjet printer equipped with a suction recovery device that removes air bubbles and clogging by suctioning ink from a nozzle portion that ejects ink.

[Prior art]

A conventional inkjet printer is equipped with a carriage that can move in a predetermined direction on the recording surface.
-! ! There are some that perform recording by being equipped with , or multiple liquid jet recording units. In this type of inkjet printer, if air bubbles get into the liquid jet recording unit,
Alternatively, if the nozzle section becomes clogged, the carriage can be positioned at a predetermined position that does not face the recording surface, such as the home position, and a suction recovery device installed at that position can suck ink from the nozzle section. There are products designed to remove air bubbles and clogging.

In such inkjet printers, the opening/closing operation of the atmosphere release tube connected to the cap section of the suction recovery device and the pump suction operation that suctions ink from the nozzle section through the suction tube are combined into two functions. This was done by separately operating the operating lever and the operating lever for driving the pump. This has resulted in disadvantages in that the operation becomes complicated and the device also becomes larger.

〔the purpose〕

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet printer that can be operated simply and made compact.

〔composition〕

The present invention is configured to open and close an opening at the other end of an atmosphere opening tube whose one end is connected to a cap member by an operating lever that drives a pump of a suction recovery device, thereby achieving the above object. It is.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of the main parts of an inkjet printer to which the present invention can be applied. Here, 1 is a liquid jet recording unit mounted on a carriage 2, which includes a storage section for storing ink supplied from an ink supply source and a recording head provided with a nozzle section for ejecting the stored ink. have For example, this unit 1 is divided into 4 units depending on the ink color.
Prepare. As described later, a cartridge tank as an ink supply source can be attached to the carriage 2. 4
is a printed wiring board that controls ink ejection by the liquid jet recording unit 1; 6 is a flexible cable that connects the printed wiring board 4 and the liquid jet recording unit 1; the printed wiring board 4 and the flexible cable 6 are connected by a connector 5; Connect via. 8 is a paper feed motor;
In accordance with the drive of the paper feed motor 8, the recording paper P is conveyed in the direction f in the figure by the rollers 10, 10. 12 is
This roller cooperates with the roller 10 to regulate the recording paper P to be flat and forms a recording surface for the liquid jet recording unit 1 .

Reference numeral 14 indicates a belt for driving the carriage to which the carriage 2 is fixed, reference numeral 16 indicates a motor for driving the belt 14 in the S direction in the figure, and reference numeral 18 indicates a guide rail for the carriage 2. The carriage 2 can move in eight directions in the figure along the guide rail 18 in accordance with the drive of the motor 16, and can perform recording on the recording surface.

Further, 20 is the home position H of the liquid jet recording unit 1.
This is a suction recovery device that faces the unit 1 and performs an ink suction operation.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an example of the configuration of such a suction recovery device. Here, 21 is a motor as a drive source of the suction recovery device; 1. The rotation of the motor 21 is transmitted to the cam gear 22.

Further, 23 is a cap member that faces the liquid jet recording unit 1 when the carriage 2 is positioned at the home position H, and an absorber (not shown) made of, for example, a water-absorbing porous material that is joined to the nozzle part. ) and the nozzle part in their joined state.
It has a cam gear 22, and is moved forward and backward by the cam gear 22. This cap member 2NC has an atmosphere release pipe 25 for releasing pressurized air inside the cap member 23 to the outside when the nozzle portion is sealed with the cap member 23.
One end of the tube 25 is connected, and the other end of the atmosphere opening tube 25 is open to the atmosphere.

In this embodiment, the opening 25A at the other end of the atmosphere opening pipe 25 is opened to the atmosphere through a vent 26A of the rubber material 26, and the opening of the vent 26A is connected to the support bracket 27. It is configured to be opened and closed by a protrusion 28A of a vent valve 28 rotatably supported by a support shaft 27A fixed to the vent valve 28. Further, this vent valve 28 is normally biased upward in FIG. 2 by a spring 28B, and therefore, when no external force is applied to this vent valve 28, The other end opening 25A of the atmosphere opening pipe 25 is open (opened to the atmosphere).

Reference numeral 29 denotes an operating lever that performs a pump suction operation by reciprocating the piston 31 of the pump 30. The operating lever 29 is pivotally supported by a support member 33 by a pin 32, and is rotatable around the pin 32. ing. Now, if the operating portion 29A of the operating lever 29 is operated in the vertical direction (opening/closing position, suction position) from the illustrated position (intermediate position), the cam surface portion 29B is driven in the direction of the arrow A-A'. The vent valve 28 is configured to be operated in the vertical direction. That is, when the operating portion 29A of the operating lever 29 is operated in the direction of arrow B (opening side), the small diameter portion 290 of the cam surface portion 29B corresponds to the vent valve 28, and therefore the vent valve 28
is pressed upward by the elasticity of the spring 28B (the state shown by the two-dot chain line 28'), and the other end opening 25A of the atmosphere opening pipe 25
will be in an open state. On the other hand, when the operating portion 29A is operated in the direction of arrow C (suction side), the cam surface portion 29B is in the intermediate position, and its large diameter portion 29D is connected to the vent valve 29.
Therefore, the operation section 29A
Even if the valve is operated to the suction side, the protrusion 28A of the atmospheric valve 28 will not be pushed into the vent 26A from the state shown in the figure. In this case, the piston 31 is pushed in by the operating portion 29A, and a pump suction operation is performed.

Further, a spring (not shown) that pushes up the piston 31 is built into the pump 30. This pump 30 and the cap member 23 are connected via a suction pipe 34.

In other words, in response to the drive of the pump 30, ink is sucked from the nozzle portion via the absorber, and further guided to the pump 30 via the suction pipe 34.

〔effect〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the operating lever for driving the pump of the suction recovery device opens and closes the opening at the other end of the atmosphere opening tube whose one end is connected to the cap member. The trap allows the operation and the opening/closing operation of the atmospheric release pipe to be performed by the same operating lever, which has the effect of simplifying the operation and downsizing the device by reducing the number of parts. play.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of an inkjet printer, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are a front view and a plan view showing an example of the structure of a suction recovery device in the inkjet printer of FIG. 20... Suction recovery device 25... Atmospheric release pipe 25A... Other end opening 29...
...Operation lever 30...Pump

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an inkjet printer configured to automatically close the nozzle when there is no print signal etc. for a certain period of time,
The operation lever that drives the pump of the suction recovery device allows
An inkjet printer characterized in that an opening at the other end of an atmosphere opening tube whose one end is connected to a cap member is opened and closed.