JPS62221544A - Printing head device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the stable printing without any white point possible, by a method wherein a plurality of heating unit heads and nozzle are vibrated by the vibration of a vibration generator and ink is jetted. CONSTITUTION:Because the vibration from a vibration generator 8 is given to heating unit heads 1, the ink in an ink fountain 3 is continuously supplied to each nozzle 6 through the slight clearance between a nozzle body 5 and the heating unit head 1. If a drive signal is impressed to each heating dot element 12 under this state, a required number of heating dot elements 2 among respective ones are instantaneously heated, bubbles being generated in several nozzles 6 corresponding thereto and printing is carried out. By such a construction, the clogging of the nozzle 6 is prevented by the vibration to the heating unit head 1. Further, because a plurality of nozzles 6 correspond to respective heating dot elements 2, even if, for instance, one nozzle is clogged, any white point is not generated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print head device, and more particularly, to a print head device that uses an extremely simple structure to remove clogging when printing is performed by jetting ink using an inkjet method. It concerns new improvements.

b. Prior Art Various configurations have been proposed and adopted for this type of inkjet print head device that has been used in the past, but all of them consist of a pair of fixed nozzles and heating dot elements. 1, the nozzle was clogged, which was a major obstacle to practical application.

C3 Problems to be Solved by the Invention Since the print head device in a conventional inkjet printer is configured as described above, the nozzles and heat-generating dot elements are in a one-to-one configuration, and when either nozzle When clogging occurs, ink is not ejected onto the recording paper at a position corresponding to the nozzle, and a white spot is formed, resulting in a printing error.

Further, if ink does not reach the heat generating dot element due to bubbles remaining in the nozzle or nozzle clogging, the heat generating dot element becomes skewered and may be damaged.

As mentioned in ml, once the heating dot element was damaged, the entire print head device had to be replaced because it was integrated with the nozzle.

Furthermore, the nozzle and heating dot element are paired! It is difficult to manufacture because it has to correspond to
When using a large number of heating dot elements like a line head, they must be arranged side by side in a 1:1 ratio, and alignment is extremely difficult, making it virtually impossible to realize a line head. It was the situation.

The present invention provides an extremely effective means for quickly eliminating the above problems, and is particularly suitable for serial and line applications that are free from clogging, easy to manufacture, and highly reliable. The object is to obtain a print head device.

Means for Solving the d0 Problem The print head device according to the present invention includes a heat generating head having a plurality of heat generating dot elements, and a plurality of heat generating dot elements that closely fit into the heat generating head and corresponding to each of the heat generating dot elements. The apparatus includes a nozzle body having a nozzle, an ink reservoir for supplying ink to the nozzle, and a vibration generator provided in contact with the heat generating head.

01 Effect In the print head device according to the present invention, the heating element head and the nozzle body vibrate due to the vibration caused by the operation of the vibration generator, and the ink in the ink pool is drawn into the nozzle by this vibration and the suction action during bubble ejection. The ink is continuously supplied to the ink, and the ink is continuously ejected.

In addition, since multiple nozzles correspond to each heating dot element, even if one nozzle becomes clogged, the single heating dot element will not be affected in any way. Therefore, stable printing without white spots etc. can be performed at all times.

f. Embodiments Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 to 7 show preferred embodiments of the print head device according to the present invention. First, FIGS. 1 and 2 show the first embodiment.

In the figure, what is designated by the symbol I is a heat generating head having a large number of heat generating dot elements 2, and a plurality of these heat generating dot elements 2 are formed in a longitudinal shape.

An ink reservoir 3 consisting of a longitudinally shaped concave portion is formed adjacent to each of these heating dot elements 2, and an ink supply pipe 4 is connected to this ink reservoir 3.

An elastic nozzle body 5 made of a heat-resistant material such as metal or polyimide is closely provided on the upper surface of the heating element head I, and the nozzle body 5 has a large number of through holes. These nozzles 6 are formed in a concentrated longitudinal shape substantially corresponding to each of the heating dot elements 2, and form one nozzle group 7.

Note that this nozzle body 5 should be kept stationary during printing.

A vibration generator 8 made of piezoelectric ceramics that vibrates by generating resonance at a predetermined frequency in response to a signal supplied from a signal supply source (not shown) is provided in contact with the lower surface of the heating element head l, as indicated by the arrow A. vibration is applied to the heating element head l.

This vibration generator 8 is held by a base member 9.

The first embodiment of the print head device according to the present invention is constructed as described above, and its operation will be described below.

Since the heat generating head 1 is given vibration from the vibration generating body 8, the ink in the ink reservoir 3 is caused by this vibration to be caused by a slight gap (not shown) between the nozzle body and the heat generating head 1. It is continuously supplied to each nozzle 6 through the.

In this state, when a drive signal from a drive circuit (not shown) is applied to each heating dot element 2, a required number of each heating dot element 2 instantaneously generates heat.
By this heat, M corresponding to each heating dot element 2 is
A bubble (not shown) is generated in the nozzle 6 of 1, and when this bubble is ejected outside the nozzle 6, ink is ejected and printing corresponding to the valley heating element 2 is performed.

In this case, when the bubbles in each nozzle 6 are ejected, the inside of the nozzle 6 becomes in a negative pressure state, and this negative pressure contributes to supplying ink from the ink reservoir 3 to the nozzle 6.

In addition, in the planar structure, on the ink reservoir part 3,
Since the non-nozzle portion 5a of the nozzle body 5 in which the nozzle 6 is not formed corresponds to the non-nozzle portion 5a, the ink reservoir portion 3 is sealed tightly by the non-nozzle portion 5a. This makes it possible to prevent the ink reservoir portion 3 from drying out.

The configuration shown in FIG. 3 shows the second embodiment, and the nozzle body 5
Each nozzle 6 is formed over almost the entire surface, and the other parts are given the same reference numerals as in FIG. 2, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

Note that the area of this nozzle group 7 is equal to that of each heating dot element 2.
It is constructed so that it is sufficiently larger than the total area of .

The configurations in FIGS. 4 and 5 show the third embodiment,
It has a configuration in which an ink reservoir 3 is formed on the back side of the nozzle body 5, and it is possible to supply ink in the same way as in Fig. 1.The pond portion is given the same reference numeral as in Fig. 1, and its explanation is as follows. Omitted.

The configuration shown in FIG. 6 shows the fourth embodiment, in which the nozzle body 5
A plurality of nozzle groups 7 are formed at predetermined intervals, and
A detection hole 10 for positioning is provided on the side corresponding to each nozzle group 7, and by moving it every time it is used for a predetermined time, the correspondence with the ripe dot element 2 of the heating element head l is changed, and a new nozzle group 7 is formed. It is possible to respond to this.

The other parts are given the same reference numerals and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

The configuration shown in FIG. 7 shows a printer configured using the nozzle body 5 shown in FIG. A frame 13 is provided so as to be openable and closable in the direction of arrow B via a pin 26.

This head frame 13 is provided with a pair of drums 14 and 15 for tensioning the nozzle body 5, and a pin 16 provided on one drum 15 is fitted into a hole 17 at one end of the nozzle body 5. The drum 15 is biased in one direction by a torsion spring (not shown), and the nozzle body 5 is stretched.

A paper feed pulley 18 is disposed near the platen 12 to feed paper (not shown) in a predetermined direction, and a printing gap is provided between the platen 12 and the nozzle body 5. Paper holding member 19 made of a thin film for
is installed.

A detector 20 is provided on one side of the head frame 13 and detects the detection hole 10 of the nozzle body 5 to replace the nozzle group 7.

Head frame! 3 on the other side of each drum 1
A pair of timing pulleys 2 for rotating 4 and 15
1. A timing belt 22 and a motor 23 are provided,
Each drum 14 and 15 can be rotated by this motor 23.

An ink container 24 is provided on the head frame 13 , and the ink supply pipe 4 connected to the ink container 24 is connected to the ink reservoir 3 and connected to a head coupling member 25 provided on the head frame 13 . are the vibration generator 8 and the heating element head! is retained.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned printer, when replacing the nozzle body 5, by rotating each head frame 13 in the direction of arrow B, the heating element heptl and the nozzle body 5 are replaced together with the drums 14 and 15. It rotates and can be easily maintained.

g6 Effects of the Invention Since the print head device according to the present invention has the above-described configuration and operation, the ink in the ink reservoir is continuously supplied to the nozzle body by vibrations to the heating element head, and the nozzle eye is Clogging can be completely prevented.

Furthermore, since a plurality of nozzles correspond to each heating dot element, even if one nozzle becomes clogged, white dots will not occur.

Further, since the nozzle body has elasticity, it has excellent tightness, there is no leakage of ink, and easy replacement can be achieved.

Furthermore, since both the heating element head and the nozzle body can be configured in a flat plate shape, manufacturing is easy and can contribute to cost reduction.

Also, when configuring the line head, it can be made thinner, so
Suitable for high-speed color printers.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings are for showing a print head device according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing another embodiment of FIG. 2. 4 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the nozzle body, FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the nozzle body, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the printer. 1 is a heat generating head, 2 is a heat generating dot element, 3 is an ink reservoir, 5 is a nozzle body, 6 is a nozzle, and 8 is a vibration generator.

Claims (8)

[Claims] (1) a heat generating head 1 having a plurality of heat generating dot elements 2; a nozzle body 5 closely fitted to the heat generating head 1 and having a plurality of nozzles 6 corresponding to each of the heat generating dot elements 2; The vibration generator 8 includes an ink reservoir 3 for supplying ink to the nozzle 6 and a vibration generator 8 provided in contact with the heat generating head 1.
A print head device characterized in that the ink in the ink reservoir 3 is supplied into the nozzle 6 by the vibration of the ink reservoir 3. (2) The ink reservoir 3 is connected to the heating element head 1.
A print head device according to claim 1, characterized in that the print head device is provided in a. (3) The print head device according to claim 1, wherein the ink reservoir portion 3 is formed in the nozzle body 5. (4) Each nozzle 6 is comprised of one nozzle group 7 formed approximately corresponding to each heat generating dot element 2. The print head device described in . (5) The ink reservoir portion 3 is located in a non-nozzle portion 5a of the nozzle body 5 in which nozzle 6 is formed. The print head device according to any one of. (6) The area in which each of the nozzle groups 7 is formed is larger than the area in which each of the heating dot elements 2 is formed. Printhead device as described. (7) Each nozzle body 5 is provided with a plurality of nozzle groups 7 formed so as to substantially correspond to each heat generating dot element 2. The print head device according to any one of Items 3 and 5. (8) The print head device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the vibration generator 8 is made of a piezoelectric material.