JPS62220341A - Liquid jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the abnormalities caused by the unstable behaviour of an ink feed passage such as wear, failure, etc. checking the curvature of the feed passage, by providing a control means for controlling the direction of the ink feed passage by applying tension to the flexible ink feed passage. CONSTITUTION:The ink feed passage 15 fixed between the two points of a sub-ink-tank 14 and a main ink tank is made to go over the pulley 17 fixed, in a free rotation manner, to the spring 19, as a tension generating means, of which one end is fixed to a casing 20. The pulley 17 is pulled by the spring 19 and the feed passage 15 is always loaded by tension. Then, the direction of the feed passage 15 is kept in the tensile direction to be controlled. The spring 19 expands and contracts following the motion of the carriage 13 and the pulley 17 moves smoothly rotating on the feed passage 15 according to its expansion and contraction. Therefore, the connecting direction of the feed passage 15 is always controlled even when the carriage 13 moves. Thereby, there is not wear between the casing of an apparatus or the like and the ink feed passage and the feed passage does not swing also. Then, the stable behaviour of the feed passage position can be achieved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention has an inkjet recording head and an ink tank for accommodating ink supplied to the recording head, and a method for connecting the two. The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording device equipped with a flexible ink supply path.

[Prior Art] As a liquid jet recording device used as a high-performance recording device such as a printer or facsimile as an output device of computer equipment, for example, as shown in FIGS. Two guide shafts 2 are provided, and the carriage 3 is installed using the guide shafts 2 as a traveling path.
There are some structures that are designed to be able to travel and move. A recording head unit 4 disposed facing the platen l and a sub-ink tank 5 positioned behind the recording head unit 4 are mounted and fixed on the carriage 3. An ink supply path 6 for feeding ink from a main ink tank (not shown) is connected to the sub-ink tank 5, and the sub-ink tank 5 and the recording head section 4 are connected by an ink supply pipe 7. In this case, since the carriage 3 reciprocates on the guide shaft 2, the relative position between the main ink tank at a fixed position and the sub-ink tank 5 on the carriage 3 constantly changes. For this reason, the ink supply path 6 is set to a sufficient length in consideration of the movement of the carriage 3,
It is accommodated with a large bending radius.

However, in the conventional device, the bending radius of the ink supply path 6 is
Even when it is bent naturally, it becomes very large, posing a problem of storage space. This is true for devices with a large recording area, that is, the amount of carriage movement is large.
This is particularly a problem when a long ink supply path 6 is required. Furthermore, in high-speed printers, the diameter of the ink supply path 6 must be increased due to an increase in the amount of ink supplied, and the bending radius tends to become larger. For this reason, attempts have been made to make the material of the ink supply path 6 softer so as to reduce the bending radius, but simply making the material softer may cause the ink supply path 6 to bend, causing problems in ink feeding. . In addition, the length of the ink supply path 6 is not only a problem of storage space, but also causes the ink supply path 6 to swing in arbitrary directions such as up and down or left and right as the carriage scans during recording. This may lead to unstable behavior of the ink supply path 6, and as a result, the ink supply path 6 may come into contact with surrounding members, causing trouble in carriage scanning.

However, there is a strong demand for higher performance of devices such as higher speeds, and for this reason, in the past, the bending radius of the ink supply path 6 had to be increased, and furthermore, the ink supply path 6 had to be oscillated. Coupled with the unstable behavior of the ink supply path 6, not only does the ink supply path 6 tend to come into contact with the upper surface of the casing of the liquid jet recording device and the surrounding members of the ink supply path 6, but also the ink may come into contact with the casing and surrounding members as the carriage 3 moves. Frictional contact with the supply path 6 is repeated, and friction
L damage may occur. Such damage to the ink supply path 6 may even cause other parts to malfunction due to leaked ink, so it is necessary to reliably avoid this damage. Furthermore,
In an apparatus with a large recording area, as the length of the ink supply path 6 increases, the behavior of the ink supply path 6 becomes even more unstable, and contact with the surrounding areas of the ink supply path becomes more likely to occur. Problems such as damage to the ink supply path and poor carriage scanning also occur.

It may be possible to increase the height of the upper surface of the casing so that the ink supply path 6 does not come into contact with the upper surface of the casing, thereby providing ample space, but this has the disadvantage of increasing the size of the apparatus.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention focuses on the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a method for supplying ink to an inkjet recording head by communicating with an ink tank.
In addition to preventing the flexible ink supply path from bending, the above-mentioned problems caused by unstable behavior of the ink supply path, such as wear and tear of the ink supply path, are prevented with a relatively simple structure. The object of the present invention is to provide a novel liquid jet recording device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above objects of the present invention are achieved by the present invention as described below.

An inkjet recording head, an ink tank containing ink to be supplied to the inkjet recording head, and a flexible ink supply path communicating with the ink tank and supplying ink to the inkjet recording head. A liquid jet recording apparatus, characterized in that the liquid jet recording apparatus is provided with a regulating means for regulating the direction of the ink supply channel by applying tension to the ink supply channel.

[Example] The present invention will be described below based on the drawings, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figures, this liquid jet recording apparatus has two guide shafts 12 arranged parallel to a platen 10. A carriage 13 is movably mounted. A sub-ink tank 14 is attached to the carriage 13, and the structure is such that ink is sent from a main ink tank (not shown) to the sub-ink tank 14 via an ink supply path (tube) 15.

Here, the recording head 16 that faces the platen 1O and performs printing is detachably attached to the carriage 13 and the sub-ink tank 14, as shown in FIG. For this reason, two guide posts 18 are provided at the front edge of the carriage 13 to hold the front side surface of the recording head 16.
Further, a fitting groove (not shown) is formed on the upper surface of the carriage 13, into which the bottom of the recording head 16 is shallowly fitted, so that the position of the recording head 16 is maintained.

Ink is supplied to the recording head 16 from the main ink tank via an ink supply path (tube) +5 connected to the sub-ink tank 14 while mounted on the carriage 13. Then, tension is applied to the ink supply path I5 connected to the sub-ink tank 14 in order to restrict the direction of the ink supply path 15 in the connection direction.

More specifically, the ink supply path 15 connected to the sub-ink tank 14 is connected to the main ink tank via a pulley 17 in the middle. The ink supply path 15 fixed between the sub ink tank 14 and the main ink tank has one end connected to a pulley 17 rotatably fixed to a spring 19 as a tension generating means fixed to the casing 20. It will be given to you. Since the spring 19 pulls the pulley 17, tension is always applied to the ink supply path 15, and the direction of the ink supply path 15 is maintained and regulated in the lexical tension direction. Moreover, the spring 19 expands and contracts following the movement of the carriage 13, and the pulley 17 moves smoothly on the ink supply path 15 in accordance with the expansion and contraction, so that the ink supply path
The direction of connection 5 is always regulated even when the carriage 13 is traveling. That is, the direction regulation of the ink supply path 15 is independent of whether or not the carriage is running.

In addition, 21 in the figure indicates the sub-ink tank 14 and the recording head 16.
A supply pipe 22 serving as an ink flow path between the two is a flexible circuit for driving the nozzles of the recording head 16 in accordance with a print pattern signal.

[Function] According to the liquid jet recording device having such a configuration, the ink supply path 15 is always maintained in a tensioned state in a certain direction due to the above-mentioned tension, and as shown in FIG. The direction of the connection to the sub-ink tank 14 is controlled with the center line of the connection maintained in a straight line. Moreover, the ink supply path follows the carriage without swinging when the carriage moves, allowing stable operation.

This prevents the ink supply path from curving not only in the vertical direction but also in the carriage scanning direction, thereby preventing contact with the top surface of the casing or the surrounding area of the ink supply path, or wear and tear of the ink supply path caused by this. Furthermore, problems such as poor scanning of the carriage do not occur.

In the above embodiment, the bending radius of the ink supply path 15 is determined by the boe radius, but the +lf lobe radius may be selected as appropriate depending on the material and size of the ink supply path to be used. Good choice.

Further, the tension generating means is not limited to only a spring, but may be an elastic body such as rubber, for example. Of course, by arbitrarily selecting the curvature of the spring or the spring, the same effects as described above can be obtained even if the length of the ink supply path is different. Further, in the above embodiment, the regulating means is constituted by a pulley and a spring serving as a tension generating means, but it goes without saying that the regulating means in the present invention is not limited to this example.

The present invention is particularly effective in a relatively movable type in which the recording head is mounted on a carriage, but it is also applicable to a type without a carriage. Further, the present invention can be similarly applied to a structure in which the sub-ink tank 14 is not provided and the ink supply path is directly connected to the recording head 16. Furthermore, it is of course applicable to a structure in which the recording head is not detachable but is fixed to a carriage.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the direction can be controlled by applying tension to the flexible ink supply path, and there is no friction between the device casing, etc. and the ink supply path. Therefore, a novel liquid jet recording apparatus is obtained in which the position of the ink supply path can be stabilized without causing fluctuation of the ink supply path due to carriage scanning.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of an example of a liquid jet recording device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a rear view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of an example of a conventional liquid jet recording device. FIG. 4 is a rear view of FIG. 3.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) an inkjet recording head, an ink tank containing ink to be supplied to the inkjet recording head;
In a liquid jet recording device comprising a flexible ink supply path communicating with the ink tank and supplying ink to the inkjet recording head, the direction of the ink supply path is restricted by applying tension to the ink supply path. A liquid jet recording device characterized in that it is provided with a regulating means for carrying out.