JPS61213160A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a recorder having high reliability by providing a mechanism by which the intrusion of dust from an intermittent recording liquid supply path former is suppressed. CONSTITUTION:A needle pipe 67 pierces through a curtain blade 71 and O-rings 12A and 13A to push a poppet 13C pressed on a rubber packing 13D by a spring 13B, forming a recording liquid path without leakage against high internal pressures. In this case, a micro-switch 41 is pushed by the end face of a bearing housing 20, and thereby the intrusion of dust is prevented by the blade 71 when the recording liquid path is not formed and also the blade 71 serves to remove out dust adhered to the needle pipe 67 when the pipe 67 pierces through the blade 71. The intrusion of dust and foreign matters into the recording liquid path can thus be prevented and the inside of the liquid path can be protected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a recording device, and more particularly to a recording device that records on a recording medium using a recording liquid.

(Prior Art) Generally, in a printing apparatus, printing is performed by scanning a carriage on which a printing element is mounted over a printing paper. In this case, a flexible ink supply tube is connected to the recording element so that ink can be supplied to the recording element according to the movement of the carriage, and ink is passed from an ink tank at a fixed position through this ink supply tube. A method has been adopted to supply

In this method, since ink is supplied using a flexible ink tube, its movement trajectory is not fixed and a large movement space is required, which may pose a problem in that it becomes an obstacle to miniaturizing the apparatus. Therefore, instead of using a flexible tube for supplying ink, a first tank mounted on the carriage and movable together with the recording element is provided with a second tank at a fixed position when the carriage is stopped at a predetermined position. A method of supplying ink by temporarily forming a supply path for supplying ink from an ink tank has been proposed.

However, in this method of temporarily forming a supply path and supplying ink, while the supply path is not being formed, for example, when the carriage is moving and printing is being performed,
Dust adhered to the supply path forming means, and when a temporary supply path was formed, this dust could get into the supply path and block the tip of the nozzle, causing ink droplets to fail to be ejected. .

<Objective of the Invention> An object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art as described above and provide a highly reliable recording device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable recording apparatus in which foreign matter such as dust does not enter the recording liquid passage and prevent the recording liquid from being supplied or cause defects in the recording element.

<Summary of the Invention> A recording device of the present invention that achieves the above object includes a recording element that records on a recording medium using a recording liquid, a recording element that stores the recording liquid supplied to the recording element, and a recording device that stores the recording liquid supplied to the recording element, and A moving first tank, a second tank that stores the recording liquid to be supplied to the first tank and is fixedly provided on the recording device main body, and a communication between the first tank and the second tank. The recording liquid passage includes a recording liquid passage, an intermittent means for disconnecting the recording liquid passage, and a supply means for supplying the recording liquid when forming the recording liquid passage, and the disconnection means protects the inside of the recording liquid passage. It is characterized by the provision of curtain blades for this purpose.

<Example> FIG. 1, FIG. 2 (L), and FIG. 3 (b) are schematic cross-sectional views for explaining an example of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a recording element, which is an inkjet head in this embodiment, 2 and 3 are ink supply tubes, and 6 is a relay for sending signals sent from a flat cable 5 to the inkjet head 1 through a flexible cable 4. Boards 6' are mounted on a rad carriage 9, supported by sliding shafts 7.8.

Reference numeral 11 denotes an ink flow path connecting a tube connector 12 constituting an intermittent means for intermittently forming an ink supply path and the first ink tank IO on the carriage 9, and 13 a tube connector having a valve function. 14 is a photo-interrupter for detecting that the carriage is at the home position; 115 is a light-shielding plate for blocking light; 17 is a cap holder containing a rubber inkjet head cap 16; Housing 19
．． A leaf spring 2 fixed to a cap carriage 21 slidably supported by a sliding bearing (not shown) in 20
Supported by 2. 24 is a flexible tube that communicates the cap 16 with the tank 23 for impregnating and retaining ink into a porous body, 25 is a stopper facing the stopper receiver 26, 27 is a rack fixed to the cap carriage 21, and a spur gear 28 The power of a motor 31 fixed on a tube connect carriage 33 by a fixture 32 is transmitted to the cap carriage 21 via a worm wheel 29 and a worm 30 coaxial with the cap carriage 21 . The tube connect carriage 33 is supported by wheels 34 and 35 so as to be able to move left and right, and is supported by a tension spring 38 hung on a pin 36 erected on the board and a bottle 37 erected on the tube connect carriage 33. It is pulled and comes into contact with the stopper 39. 40 is a stopper that regulates the movement of the cap carriage 21; 41 is a microswitch fixed to the sliding shaft 18; 42.44
143 is a light shielding plate fixed to the bearing housing 19, and 45 is a tube connect carriage 3.
In FIG. 1, the light shielding plate fixed to 3 is blocking the optical path of the photointerrupter 44.

46 is a sliding bearing 47. Sliding shaft 48. Compression spring 49, O ring 50. an ink supply tank with a valve consisting of a shaft 51; 52 is a second tank relative to the first tank 10;
Valve 55. via communication passage 53.54. It is connected to a pump 56 that constitutes a supply means driven by a motor 57.

Reference numeral 58 denotes a filter case, and atmospheric pressure is applied to the ink in the second tank 52 through the filter housed therein. Reference numerals 59 and 60 indicate ink supply tubes, which communicate with tube connect unit A. Details of the tube connect unit (A) constituting the disconnection means are shown in FIGS. 2(L) and 2(b).

Figure 2(a) shows a state where no recording liquid passage is formed.
FIG. 2(b) shows a state in which a recording liquid passage is formed.

In Fig. 2(a), 61.62 are the four guide shafts 63.
(two of which are not shown) frame member 64
．． 65 is a compression spring that passes through the guide shaft 63, and a plate 66 that moves along the guide shaft 63 is supported between the two springs. The plate 66 has a hole slightly larger than the diameter of the needle pipe 67, and the needle tube 67 passing through this hole absorbs the force of the compression spring 69 inserted between the plate 66 and the flange ring. Since the flange ring 70 is pressed against the surface of the plate 66, it is supported perpendicularly to the plate 66. 33A is a part of the tube connect carriage 33 shown in FIG. 1, and like the plate 66, it is movable along the guide shaft 63. The right end of the spring 64 is 33A, which is part of this tube connect carriage.
is in contact with. Reference numeral 71 denotes a rubber curtain blade having a notch 72 as shown in the schematic plan view of FIG.

12A and 13A are O-rings housed in tube connectors 12 and 13, and 13D is a rubber fitting as shown in Figure 2 (a).
), the passage is closed by the flange of spring 13C pushed by spring 13B.

The operations shown in FIGS. 1, 2(a) and 2(b) will be explained.

The inkjet head 1 is attached to a head carriage 9 and moves integrally along a sliding shaft 7.8, while being connected to a flat cable 5.8. An image is formed on recording paper (not shown) in response to signals sent via the relay board 6 and the flexible cable 4. When printing is completed on a predetermined number of recording sheets, the head carriage 9 moves the photo interrupter 14 to a position where the light shielding plate 15 blocks light and stops. When the head carriage 9 stops, the motor 31
rotates and the worm 30. Worm wheel 29. Spur gear28. By rack 27.

The cap carriage 21 moves in the direction of arrow B, and the cap 16 comes into contact with the orifice portion of the head 1 so as to cover it. When the motor 31 further rotates, the leaf spring 22 is deflected and the stopper 25 is moved to the stopper receiver 2 on the carriage 9 side.
It starts to get brighter in the sun. Through this operation, the cap 16 is brought into close contact with the tip of the head by the force of the deflection of the leaf spring 22, and conversely, the cap 16 is not pressed against the head 1 with any more force. At this time, the photointerrupter 42 is blocked by the light shielding plate 43. - When the motor 31 further rotates, the stopper 25 is in contact with the stopper receiver 26, so the cap carriage 21 cannot move in the direction of arrow B, and the tube connect carriage 33, which was pressed against the stopper 39 by the spring 38, is moved. It overcomes the tensile force of the spring 38 and starts moving in the direction of arrow C. As the tube connect carriage 33 moves, the tube connect unit A comes into contact with the tube connectors 12 and 13 fixed to the Herad carriage 9. The movement of the tube connect carriage 33 is transmitted to the plate 66 via the spring 64,
It is further transmitted from the plate 66 to the needle pipe 67 via the flange ring 70. As shown in FIG. 2(b), the needle pipe 67 is connected to the curtain blade 71. O-ring 12A
.

Penetrate through 13A and attach rubber gasket 13D by spring 13B.
13c, which was pressed against it, to form a recording liquid passage that does not leak against high internal pressure. At this time, the microswitch 41 is pressed by the end face of the bearing housing 20. The curtain blade 71 acts as a blade to prevent dust from entering when the recording liquid passage is not formed, and to remove dust adhering to the needle pipe 67 when the needle pipe 67 penetrates, thereby preventing the recording liquid passage from entering. The inside of the passage is protected from dirt and foreign matter.

Since the needle pipe 67 is inserted into the tube connector 12.13 via the spring 64, it is inserted with a substantially constant insertion force regardless of variations in the stop position of the tube connect carriage 33. In particular, even when the needle pipe 67 is inserted deeply and hits the inner part of the tube connector 12, for example, the spring 63 is deflected, so that no shocking load is applied to each component.

The outer diameter of the needle pipe 67 is φ3mm, and the O-rings 12A and 13A are fitted inside the tube connector 12.13.
When a P3 O-ring was used, an insertion force of about 300 to 350 gr per needle pipe was sufficient.

Further, in this case, even if the internal pressure was higher than 3 kg/cm2, the ink in the supply channel did not leak out to the outside.

When the microswitch 41 is pressed, the motor 31 stops, and the rotation of the motor 57 drives the pump 56 constituting the supply means, and the ink in the second tank 52 is supplied to the ink supply tube 59, needle pipe 67, Tube connector 13, ink supply tube 2. The ink is supplied to the first tank 10 via the liquid chamber in the inkjet head 1 and the ink supply tube 3 . At this time, the air bubbles stored in the supply path, the air in the first tank 10, and the ink exceeding the capacity of the first tank 10 are removed from the tube connector 12. Ink supply tube 60. valve 5
5. It is collected into the second tank 52 via the communication path 53.

In this state, when the valve 55 that has been opening the flow path is closed, the pressure of the ink in the supply path from the pump 56 to the valve 55 via the inkjet head l is reduced by the pump 5.
The pump 56 is stopped after the valve 55 is closed for a predetermined period of time, which increases with the driving time of the day, and finally pushes out the thickened ink at the nozzle tip of the inkjet head 1.

The valve 55 is opened to complete the operation of supplying ink to the first tank 10 and the operation of discharging the thickened ink by pressurizing the ink in the supply path. If the operation of discharging the thickened ink is not required, the operation of closing the valve 55 may be omitted.

In addition, for a while (if no printing operation is to be performed, after the microswitch 41 is pressed, the pump 56 and valve 5
It is preferable to wait until the next command without operating the tube connector 12. It was possible to prevent dust from entering through the 13 openings. Further, in this embodiment, the cap carriage 21. Since the worm 30 is used to move the tube connect carriage 33,
The motor 31 does not reverse rotation even after the power is turned off.
The above conditions were maintained, and the head 1 could be stored in a very stable environment.

When printing is performed after the operation of supplying ink to the first tank 10 or the operation of discharging thickened ink, the motor 31 is reversed to the state shown in FIG. At this time, of the photointerrupters 42, 44 and the microswitch 41, only the photointerrupter 44 is blocked by the light shielding plate 45 and is in the ON state (in the case of normally 0FF).

Two ink supply tubes 2 and 3 are connected to the inkjet head 1 in order to perform the recovery operation of the supply operation 1 described above. , 8, the flow path is closed by the poppet 13C built into the tube connector 13 on the ink supply tube 2 side, so air will not enter the ink supply tube 2. If this flow path closing mechanism is not provided, the ink supply tube 2 is located at a higher position than the first tank 10, so ink may flow down into the first tank 10 through the liquid chamber in the inkjet head 1. Since not only the ink in the first tank 10 but also the ink in the ink supply tube 2 is consumed by printing, air eventually enters the liquid chamber of the inkjet head l through the ink supply tube 2, resulting in non-ejection. A phenomenon occurs that causes

In the above embodiment, the curtain blade 71 was formed with a plurality of notches cut into the rubber sheet as shown in the schematic plan view of FIG.
The form shown in the schematic plan view of (a) and the schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 4(b) may be used. FIG. 4(&) is a front view of the curtain blade 71'. and FIG. 4(b) shows a cross section of the curtain blade 71'.

In FIG. 4(a), 72' is a hole through which the needle pipe 67 passes, and its diameter is l// of the diameter of the needle pipe 67.
The pores have a microscopic pore diameter of 3 or less. curtain blade 7
1' is made of a highly flexible rubber material, and the thickness of the sheet is such that the holes 72 are formed as shown in FIG. 4(b).
It is shaped so that it becomes thinner concentrically around ''.

The curtain blade 71″ formed in this way has holes 7
Because the flexibility near 2' is very high, needle pipe 6
7, dirt can be removed more completely, and the resistance when inserting the needle pipe 67 is reduced.

Furthermore, if both the curtain blade 71 shown in FIG. 3 and the curtain blade 71' shown in FIG.
Since the holes 72' at 1' were blocked, the dustproofing effect was more effective.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 73 is a rubber sheet formed in the same manner as the curtain blade 71' shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), and by attaching this rubber sheet 73 to the opening of the tube connector 2, This prevents trash from entering.

FIG. 6(a) and FIG. 6(b) are further schematic cross-sectional views for explaining the present invention in detail, and FIG.
) shows a state in which no recording liquid passage is formed, and FIG. 6(b) shows a state in which a recording liquid passage is formed.

In FIG. 6, 74 is a bellows made of a flexible rubber material, one end of which has two openings in the frame member 62;
The other end is fixed to the needle pipe 67 by adhesive or baking.

This prevents dirt from entering through the gap 75 between the frame material 62 and the needle pipe 67.

When forming the recording liquid passage, the bellows 74 is deformed as shown in FIG. 6(b), so the needle pipe 67 is
The insertion force did not increase.

In this embodiment, a so-called inkjet recording apparatus that ejects a recording liquid as a recording element has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to a recording apparatus using a recording liquid of the same value as a pen recorder, for example.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, according to the present invention, a highly reliable recording device can be provided by providing a mechanism for suppressing the intrusion of dust from the intermittent recording liquid supply path forming means. can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the relationship between an ink supply system and a recovery operation system of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and an inkjet head which is a recording element, and FIG. 2(a) and FIG. Figure 2(b) is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining part A in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining part A in Figure 2.
The curtain blade shown in Figure (b) and Figure 4C
a) is a schematic plan view of a curtain blade according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4(b), 5, and 6 are schematic diagrams for explaining other embodiments of the present invention, respectively. FIG. 1 is an inkjet head, 9 is a helad carriage, and 21 is a cap carrier. 33 is a tube connect carriage, 55 is a valve, and 56 is a pump. 71 is a curtain blade. Figure 8B (α) (b)

Claims (1)

[Claims] A recording element that records on a recording medium using a recording liquid, a first tank that stores the recording liquid supplied to the recording element and moves together with the recording element, and a recording element that supplies the recording liquid to the first tank. a second tank that stores liquid and is fixedly provided on the recording device main body; a recording liquid passage that connects the first tank and the second tank; and an intermittent means for disconnecting the recording liquid passage; 1. A recording apparatus, comprising: a supply means for supplying the recording liquid when forming the recording liquid passage, and the disconnection means is provided with a curtain blade for protecting the inside of the recording liquid passage.