JPS62158051A - Liquid jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the vaporization of an ink solvent, by setting the home position of a recording head in no recording time and providing the elastic material rotary roller capable of being impregnated with liquid so arranged as to be able to touch a liquid discharge opening. CONSTITUTION:A roller 46 as a means for closing an ink discharge opening is attached to a frame 6. A roller is located on the extended line in the X- direction of a platen part 12, and can be rotated around the Z directional axis. The roller 46 consists of elastic material having liquid impregnation capability such as sponge or the like and the elastic material is left impregnated with the ink discharged from a recording head 4, the liquid obtained by further diluting ink with solvent, or the solvent. The recording head 4 is located at the first home position in recording time, and a carriage is being stretched in the arrow B direction with a tension spring 36. In the case of no recording, the application of current to a solenoid 38 is stopped and a plunger moves back. The carriage is moved in the arrow B direction by the tensile force of the spring 36 and the ink discharge opening 5 comes in contact with the roller 46 and is isolated from the open air. Then, the vaporization of the ink solvent is prevented.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording device.

[Conventional technology]

Among the various recording methods currently known, it is a non-impact recording method that generates almost no noise during recording, is capable of high-speed recording, and can also record on plain paper without special fixing treatment. Because of these advantages, the liquid jet recording method, so-called inkjet recording method, is recognized as an extremely useful recording method. In the inkjet recording method, droplets of a recording liquid called ink are ejected and flown from a recording head using various working principles, and the droplets are attached to a recording member such as paper to perform recording. That is, the recording head is provided with one or more ink ejection ports and an ink passage that communicates with the ink ejection ports, and the ink passage receives energy for ejecting ink droplets from each ink ejection port. Energy generating means for applying energy to the recording medium is attached to each ejection opening, and by applying a drive signal to the energy generating means, ink droplets are ejected from the desired ink ejection opening at the appropriate time. Adheres to parts in dots. By relatively moving the recording head parallel to the recording member, characters, symbols, figures, etc. can be recorded in a desired area of the recording member as a collection of a plurality of dot-shaped deposited ink.

The inks used in the above ink jet recording generally contain non-volatile solutes such as carbon blanks and other coloring pigments in volatile solvents.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an electronic desktop calculator equipped with a recording device using the inkjet recording method as described above.

In the figure, 50 is an exterior case, and the case is composed of an upper case 50a and a lower case 50b.

The upper case 50a includes a keyboard section 52 for inputting numerical values and operators, a display section 54 for outputting input data and calculation results, and a display section 54 for outputting and recording input data and calculation results on a recording sheet 56. A recording section 58 is provided.

Note that 60 is a paper cutter for cutting the recording paper 56 at an arbitrary position.

The recording section 58 in FIG. 6 includes an ink jet recording device, and FIG. 7 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the recording head thereof.

In the figure, 62 is a recording head, and 64 is its case. A deformable bag body 68 made of rubber or the like is housed within the case to house the ink 66.

Wall surface 7 of the case 64 to which the opening edge of the bag is joined
0, a booth lower 2 and an ink storage section 74 connected thereto are formed. Further, a glass substrate 76 is fixedly provided on the outer surface side of the wall surface 70, and a small opening lower 8 is formed on the substrate. A head plate 8 made of a thin plate of aluminum or gold is provided on the outer surface of the glass substrate 76.
0 is fixedly installed, and the plate and the glass substrate 76
An ink passage 82 is formed between the two. The head plate 80 has a plurality of ink ejection ports 8 in one row in the vertical direction.
4 is formed. Although not shown, on the outer surface of the glass substrate 76, a plurality of energy generating means, such as heating resistors, are disposed at positions corresponding to the respective ink ejection ports 84, and the heating resistors are energized. Wiring for this purpose is also provided. The recording head 62 described above is moved back and forth in the width direction of the recording paper 56 in FIG. 6, and the recording paper 56 is further moved in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the recording head 62. Recording is performed by energizing the generating means.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in recent years, there has been a demand for finer recording, and the ink ejection ports of the recording heads of inkjet recording apparatuses have also tended to become finer, for example, with diameters of several tens to hundreds of microns.

Incidentally, ink is always present in the ink passage of the recording head, and as soon as ejection energy is applied to the ink near the ink ejection ports, the ink is ejected from the ink ejection ports. Therefore, even when ink is not actually being ejected, the ink solvent is constantly evaporating from the ejection ports.

Thus, if printing is not performed for a long period of time, ink solutes may aggregate near the ink ejection ports of the ink passage in the print head, causing the ink ejection ports to become clogged. Once such clogging occurs, it becomes impossible to eject ink from the ejection port during recording, and the recording has missing dots, resulting in a significant drop in recording quality.

Therefore, in the past, the recording head was configured to be detachable from the recording apparatus main body, and when not recording, the recording head was removed and stored in a separately prepared airtight container to prevent the ink solvent from evaporating. was. However, with such means, it is necessary to perform an operation for attaching and detaching the recording head each time before and after recording is started, and the operation is troublesome.

[Means for solving problems]

According to the present invention, as a solution to the problems of the prior art as described above, a recording head having an ejection port for ejecting liquid to form flying droplets can be moved back and forth with respect to the main body of the recording apparatus. In the liquid jet recording device that is installed,
The home position of the recording head during recording is provided in a recording movement range that is a part of the reciprocating range of the recording head, and the home position of the recording head during non-recording is outside the recording movement range. A liquid ejection port is provided in the entire printing apparatus at a position corresponding to the liquid ejection port of the print head when the print head is located at the home position during non-printing, and is capable of contacting the liquid ejection port in order to isolate the liquid ejection port from the outside air. A liquid jet recording device is provided, characterized in that it includes an elastic rotary roller that can be impregnated with liquid and is disposed in a liquid-impregnable elastic body.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

In the figure, 2 indicates the recording apparatus main body, and 4 indicates the recording head. A frame 6 of the recording apparatus main body 2 is provided with a mechanism 8 for feeding recording paper, which is a recording member, to a recording position. It is fed upwardly through the latin part 12 by the feeding means. Two guide shafts 13 and 14 arranged parallel to the X direction are fixed to the frame 6, and a carriage 16 is attached to the guide shafts so as to be slidable along the X direction. . A locking member 18, 20 is attached to the carriage, and the recording head 4 is locked and mounted by the locking member. The locking member 1
8.20 has flexibility, so the recording lid 4 can be attached to and detached from the carriage 16. On the other hand, a pulse motor 22 is fixed to the frame 6, and a pulley 24 is attached to its drive rotation shaft. Further, pulleys 26 and 2B are attached to the frame 6, and a wire 30 is passed through the pulleys.

One end of the wire is connected to the carriage 16 and the other end is connected to the pulley 24. Furthermore, a pulley 32 and a bridge 34 are attached to the frame 6, and a tension spring 36 is applied through the pulley. One end of the spring is connected to the carriage 16, and the other end is connected to the pin 34.
It is connected to the. A solenoid 38 is also attached to the frame 6, and an iron plunger 40 is disposed in the Y direction passing through the solenoid. The plunger is connected by a spring 42 so as to maintain an appropriate position in the Y direction. Note that 44 is a flexible cable for supplying power to the energy generating means of the recording head 4, and its terminal is arranged at a predetermined position in the carriage 16.

When the recording head 4 is mounted on the carriage 16, it is properly connected to the terminal of the recording head side wiring.

Note that the ink ejection ports of the recording head 4 are provided at positions facing the platen section 12. A roller 46 is attached to the frame 6 as a means for blocking the ink discharge port. The roller is located on an extension of the platen portion 12 in the X direction and is rotatable around an axis in the Z direction.

The roller 46 is made of a liquid-impregnated elastic body such as a sponge, and is filled with ink ejected from the recording head 4, or a liquid obtained by further diluting the ink with an ink solvent.
Alternatively, it is impregnated with an ink solvent.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be explained.

2 and 3 are schematic diagrams for explaining the moving operation of the carriage of the apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows the state during recording, and in this figure, the recording head 4 is at the first home position. In this state, the carriage is moved by arrow B by the tension spring 36.
It is pulled in the direction of , and rests against the plunger 40.

That is, in this state, the plunger 40 is caused to protrude in the direction of arrow C by energizing the solenoid 38 against the tensile force of the spring 42, thus blocking the reciprocating path of the carriage. Next, while moving the carriage in the direction of arrow A by driving the pulse motor 22 and winding the wire 30 by the pulley 24, the ink of the recording head 4 is applied to the recording paper 48 fed to the platen section 12. Ink is ejected from the ejection port 5, and recording is thus performed. When the carriage moves in the A direction and the recording head 4 reaches the position 4' indicated by the dotted line in the figure and recording for one line is completed, the pulse motor 22 is de-energized and the carriage is moved by the tension of the spring 36. The platen is moved in the direction of arrow B, and the platen hits the plunger 40 and stops at the first home position.

When recording is to be continued, the recording paper 48 is fed by a predetermined pitch in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in the figure, and the same operation as described above is repeated.

FIG. 3 shows a non-recording state, and in this figure, the recording head 4 is at the second home position. That is, recording is performed over a relatively long period of time, such as when a certain period of time (set in advance) has elapsed after the recording as explained in connection with FIG. If not, the solenoid 38 is de-energized and the plunger 40 is moved back in the direction of the arrow B by the tension of the spring 36, and the carriage is moved in the direction of the arrow B by the tension of the spring 36. It hits the illustrated locking member and stops.

As a result, the recording head 4 moves from the first home position to the second home position.

To start recording from the state shown in FIG. At the same time, the solenoid 38 is energized to cause the plunger 40 to protrude in the direction of arrow C against the tensile force of the spring 42, thus achieving the state shown in FIG. continue,
The recording operation is performed as explained with reference to FIG. 2 above.

4 and 5 are schematic diagrams for explaining the operation of the roller 46 of the apparatus of this embodiment. Incidentally, FIG. 4 shows the state during recording and corresponds to FIG. 2. Further, FIG. 5 shows a state during non-recording, and corresponds to FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 4, during printing, even when the printing head 4 is at the first home position, the roller 46 does not face the ink ejection port 5 of the printing head 4.
In this way, the roller 46 does not interfere with recording. on the other hand,
As shown in FIG. 5, the recording head 4 is at the second home position when not recording, and the ink discharge ports 5 of the recording head 4 are in contact with the roller 46 in this position. Since the roller 46 is impregnated with ink and/or an ink solvent, the ink discharge port 5 is isolated from the outside air by the liquid-impregnated roller, thus preventing the ink solvent from evaporating from the ink discharge port 5.

By making the roller 46 removable, it can be replaced as needed when dry.

In the above embodiment, the recording head 4 is of a cartridge type and is detachable from the recording apparatus main body 2, but the present invention also includes a case where the recording head is fixed to the apparatus main body 2. It is something to do.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention as described above, the ink ejection ports of the print head can be automatically shut off from the outside air when not printing.
Since this isolation is completely performed by liquid, evaporation of the ink solvent from the ink ejection orifice can be minimized, thus reducing the loss of recording ink and preventing clogging of the ink ejection orifice. This can be prevented and recording can always be performed in good condition.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 5 are schematic diagrams for explaining its operation. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an electronic desk calculator equipped with a recording device, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an inkjet recording head used in the recording device. 2: Recording device main body 4: Recording head 5: Ink discharge port 12 Nib platen portion 16: Carriage 22: Pulse motor 30: Wire 36,
42: Spring 38: Solenoid 40 Ni plunger 46
: Roller Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 6 Production Fig. 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a liquid jet recording device in which a recording head having an ejection port for ejecting liquid to form flying droplets is attached to the recording device main body so as to be movable back and forth, the reciprocating range of the recording head is The home position of the recording head during recording is provided in the moving range during recording, which is a part of the recording head, and the home position of the recording head during non-recording is provided outside the moving range during recording, and the home position of the recording head during non-recording is provided outside the moving range during recording. A liquid impregnable liquid is disposed in the main body of the recording apparatus at a position corresponding to the liquid ejection port of the print head when the print head is located at the home position so as to be able to contact the liquid ejection port in order to isolate the liquid ejection port from the outside air. A liquid jet recording device characterized by being provided with an elastic rotating roller.