JPS62238754A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an ink jet recorder free from blocking of ink and with high reliability by providing a guide member having a plurality of grooves fitted to a thermal head, a guide body with the guide member installed in a movable manner in shaft direction and a shuttle action means to move the guide body back and forth in shaft direction. CONSTITUTION:A required driving pulse is applied to each thermal dot element 2 of a thermal head 1 on a thermal head device 23, and a slide frame 27 is caused to move back and forth by rotating a rotary pulley 32 with a drive motor 30. This enables ink to be injected onto recording paper on a platen 34 thus performing a prearranged printing. In this case, each guide body 14 moves vertically through a coupler shaft 48 by actuating a reciprocating shaft 45 through the intermediary of a motor 38, an eccentric shaft 41 and a bearing 42 during printing operation. Consequently a smooth flow of ink in grooves 4 is insured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION a. Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a recording device, and particularly to a novel improvement for obtaining an inkjet recording device free from ink clogging.

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 have one pair of fixed nozzles and thermal dot elements! As a result, the nozzle was clogged, which was a major obstacle to practical application.

Further, both the nozzle and the heat generating dot element have a fixed structure, and the ink inside the nozzle is ejected by the bubble pressure generated by the thermal dot element to perform printing.

C8 Problems to be Solved by the Invention Since the conventional inkjet print head device is configured as described above, the nozzle and thermal dot element are in a 1:1 configuration, and it is difficult to see either nozzle. When a blockage 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 print defect.

Additionally, if ink does not reach the thermal dot element due to bubbles remaining in the nozzle or the nozzle being clogged, the thermal dot element may become dry and may become damaged. .

As mentioned above, once the thermal dot element is damaged, the entire print head device must be replaced because it is an integral part of the nozzle.

Furthermore, manufacturing is difficult because the nozzles and thermal dot elements have to correspond one to one, and in particular, when manufacturing a line head, an extremely large number of nozzles and thermal dot elements must be arranged side by side in an I to L ratio. Because of this, alignment was extremely difficult, making it virtually impossible to realize a line head.

The present invention provides extremely effective means for quickly eliminating the above-mentioned problems, and particularly aims to provide an inkjet recording device that is free from clogging and highly reliable. It is something.

d. Means for Solving the Problems The recording apparatus according to the present invention includes a thermal head substrate having a plurality of thermal dot elements, a head stand for holding the thermal dot element, and a plurality of thermal dot elements bonded to the thermal head substrate. A guide member having a groove, a guide body provided with the guide member and movable in the axial direction, a reciprocating means for reciprocating the guide body in the axial direction, and supplying ink to the groove. This configuration includes an ink supply means for holding the recording paper, and a platen disposed near the thermal head substrate for holding the recording paper.

06 action + 2 紮 4 r-I-z = ko
1- Jay l % Sea 1 Ken τ -Multiple grooves correspond to the Mardot element, so even if one or two grooves (corresponding to the nozzle) become clogged. However, since the ink is ejected from the other remaining grooves, reliable printing can be performed without the occurrence of white spots as in the conventional method.

Further, since the guide member and the thermal head are movable relative to each other, clogging in the groove can always be eliminated, and clogging as in the conventional case can be completely prevented.

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

1 to 15 show preferred embodiments of the recording apparatus according to the present invention. First, FIGS. 1 to 4 show the configuration of a thermal hept I used in the recording apparatus.

This thermal head 1 has a plurality of thermal dot elements 2, and an ink tank 3, which will be described later, is provided with a droplet pipe 3.

On this thermal head I, a guide member 5 in which a large number of grooves 4 (constituting nozzles) corresponding to the thermal dot elements 2 are formed is configured to be movable back and forth in the direction of arrow A. It is held in a pressed state in the direction B.

The aforementioned valley grooves 4 do not correspond to each thermal dot element 2 on a 1:1 basis; for example, the pitch of the valley grooves 4 is 0.03 mm, and the width of each thermal dot element 2 is 0.03 mm. If it is .08 mm, the correspondence is approximately 3 to 1. Further, an ink reservoir section 6 as an ink supply means having a concave shape for collecting ink is formed at a position communicating with the valley groove 4 of the guide member 5. Connected to pipe 3.

Further, the configuration shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is a thermal head l.
This shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which one end (that is, the side on which ink is ejected) is bent in an arc shape along the outer peripheral surface of the platen, which will be described later, and can greatly contribute to increasing the printing speed.

The configuration shown in FIG. 5 is an application of the basic configuration shown in FIG. 1, and shows a specific thermal head device for a recording apparatus having a pair of thermal heads I. The same parts as in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.

The head stand 7 has a positioning hole 8 formed therein for attachment to a recording device, which will be described later, and a pair of thermal heads 1 are installed in the center of the head stand 7, spaced apart from each other. A guide body 9 is installed between each thermal head l. Further, a holding member 12 having a rotation stopper pin 11 is placed on the holding member 10 of the head stand 7, and each thermal head 1 engages with the positioning Wi l 3 of this holding member 12. Each thermal head is held in place.

A guide body 14 having a pair of guide members 5 on both sides is attached to the guide rod 9 in a detachable and movable manner, and the guide body 9 is inserted into the holding hole 15 of the guide body 14. There is. Further, a rotation prevention member 16 is integrally attached to the upper end of this guide body t4, and the rotation prevention groove I7 of this rotation prevention member 16 forms the rotation prevention member 16. l
It is fitted in so that it can be operated freely. This rotation prevention member I6
A connecting hole 18 formed integrally with the guide body 14 is used when the guide body 14 is moved up and down (reciprocating motion), which will be described later.

Therefore, the guide body 14 has a holding hole 15 in the guide body 9.
When the guide member 5 is inserted and set through the sixth
As shown in the figure, it is configured so that it is elastically joined to the thermal dot element 1 and the valley groove 4 is tightly fitted to each thermal dot element 2.

The configuration shown in FIG. 7 is another embodiment of the configuration shown in FIG. 6, in which both ends of the U-shaped spring 19 attached to the guide body 14 by means such as spot welding are attached to each guide member 5 is pressed against the thermal head l with elasticity.

Furthermore, the configuration shown in FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the configuration shown in FIG. 6, in which both ends of an elastic body 20 such as rubber attached to the guide body 14 by adhesive or The member 5 is pressed against the thermal head l with elasticity.

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the thermal head device having the configuration shown in FIG. 5. The same parts as in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted. That is, the guide body 14 is different from the configuration shown in FIG. 5, and has an L-shaped configuration, and a magnet (not shown) is disposed in a part of the guide body!
Each guide member 5 detachably attached to the guide bin 21 of No. 4 is suctioned. Each thermal head! A magnet 22 is provided on the outside of the thermal hept 1, and each guide member 5 is brought into close contact with the thermal hept 1 by the attraction action of the magnet 22.

The configuration shown in FIGS. 10 to 2 shows the configuration of a full-color recording device that uses two thermal head devices 23 shown in FIG. 5 and has a four-color configuration.
A slide frame 27 having a bearing 26 is provided on a pair of slide shafts 25 provided so as to be movable back and forth in the direction of arrow C, and this slide frame 27 supports a timing belt 29 held by a timing belt fixing plate 28
This timing belt 29 is moved by
is a drive motor provided on the frame 24;
Required rotational drive is received by the drive shaft 31 and rotary pulley 32.

Each slide shaft 25 is fixedly held by a slide shaft holder 33 on the frame 24.

A platen 34, a paper guide 35, and a pair of platen rollers 36 are disposed on the frame 24 in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the slide shaft 25, and the platen 34 is held by a platen support 37 on the frame 24. has been done.

The head stand 7 is placed integrally on the slide frame 27, and in conjunction with the reciprocation of the slide frame 27, the thermal head device 23 also reciprocates along the longitudinal direction of the platen 34. It is configured.

A motor 38, a motor shaft 39. A spring pin 40 is attached to this motor shaft 39.
An eccentric shaft 41 is provided through the eccentric shaft 41 and a bearing 42 is provided on the eccentric shaft 41. Vertical movement (reciprocating) in the direction of the arrow
It is connected to the lower end of a reciprocating shaft 45, which is provided so that the eccentric shaft 41 rotates, so that the reciprocating shaft 45 reciprocates in the direction of the arrow. Note that this reciprocating shaft 45. Although the reciprocating means is constituted by the motor 38, the eccentric shaft 41, etc., it can also be achieved by using other means.

A holder 46 is integrally attached to the upper end of this reciprocating shaft 45, and a connecting shaft 48 is provided in a through hole 47 of this holder 46.
is detachably inserted via a spring 49, and this connecting shaft 48 passes through a connecting shaft rotation prevention body 50 attached to the head stand 7, and connects each rotation prevention member 16 of the thermal head device 23. It passes through the hole 18 for use.

Therefore, in the configuration shown in FIG. 11, when the motor 38 performs a predetermined rotation, the connecting shaft 4
8 moves up and down in the direction of the arrow, the guide body 14 connected to each detent member 16 moves up and down, and each guide member 5 performs a vertical sliding operation with respect to the thermage head l. I can do it.

Note that ink from the ink tank 51 is connected to the ink supply vibrator 3.

The configurations shown in FIGS. 13 to 15 show specific configurations of a recording apparatus using the bent thermal head of the configuration shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The guide member 5 in the configuration shown in FIG. 13 has an arcuate shape as a whole, and a guide cam groove 52 having a T-shaped cross section is formed inside the guide member 5.
3, a connecting lever 54 having a connecting hole 18 is integrally formed upwardly, and this guide member 5 is
The guide rollers 56 and 57 provided on the guide member holder 55 are in sliding contact with the guide cam roller 52, so that the guide member 5 can slide in the direction of arrow E.

In this case, the first guide roller 56 is in sliding contact with the large groove 52a of the guide cam groove 52, and the second guide roller 57 is in sliding contact with the small groove 52b.
It is in sliding contact with the

Therefore, the recording apparatuses shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 differ only in the structures of the thermal head l and the thermal head device 23, and other parts are the same, so the same reference numerals are given and the detailed description thereof will not be repeated. It has been omitted to avoid this.

The recording device according to the present invention is constructed as described above, and its operation will be explained below.

First, in the thermal head (1) shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when the guide member 5 and the thermal head (1) are brought into close contact with each other, the grooves 4 and the thermal dot elements 2 become continuous with each other, and the grooves 4 has the function of an injection nozzle.

Therefore, when a driving pulse (not shown) is applied to any thermal dot element 2, bubbles (not shown) are generated within the plurality of grooves 4 corresponding to each thermal dot element 2, and the bubble pressure causes the groove to The ink in 4 is jetted outward, allowing arbitrary printing to be performed.

In the configurations shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, since the thermal head l and the guide member 5 are bent in an arc shape, each thermal dot element 2 and groove 4 are also formed in an arc shape, so that the platen Printing can be performed simultaneously along the 34 circumferences with a large vertical width.

In the case of the thermal head device 23 shown in FIG. 5, if the shape of the groove 4 of the guide member 5 is deformed due to long-term operation, the thermal head! Regardless, if the guide body 14 is pulled upward, it can be replaced together with the guide member 5.

In the recording apparatus shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, the slide frame 27 is moved around the rotary pulley by the drive motor 30 while applying a required drive pulse to each thermal dot element 2 of the thermal head 1 of the thermal head device 23. When the recording paper 32 is rotated and moved back and forth, ink is ejected onto recording paper (not shown) on the platen 34, and desired printing is performed. In this case, during printing, the motor 38. Eccentric shaft 41. By operating the reciprocating shaft 45 in the direction of the arrow through the bearing 42, each guide body 14 moves up and down through the connecting shaft 48, and ink clogging in the groove 4 is completely prevented.

In the case of the recording apparatus shown in FIGS. 13 to 15, the basic operation is exactly the same as that of the recording apparatus described above. Since the guide body 14 having the member 5 integrally moves in a reciprocating arc in the direction of the arrow E, the valley grooves 4 slide on each thermal dot element 2, and ink clogging in the valley grooves 4 can be completely prevented.

g9 Effects of the Invention Since the recording apparatus according to the invention has the above-described configuration and operation, it can achieve various effects as described below.

(1) Since the guide member having iR moves relative to the thermal head during printing, clogging of the groove can be substantially eliminated.

(2) Since multiple grooves (corresponding to nozzles) are formed for one thermal dot element,
Even if one groove is clogged, white spots due to missing dots can be completely prevented.

(3) Even if the generated bubble remains in the groove or if clogging occurs, other grooves will respond by moving the grooves relative to each other, preventing dry firing of the thermal dot element.
This can prevent damage to the groove.

(4) Even if the shape of the groove becomes defective due to long-term use, the guide member can be easily replaced by replacing the guide body.

(5) Since the guide member is elastically tightly fitted to the thermal head, there is no ink leakage and replacement is easy.

(6) Since two thermal heads are attached to one thermal head device, a raised-type color printer can be realized in the case of multi-color or full-color printing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings are for showing a recording device according to the present invention.
The figure is a perspective view showing the principle structure of the thermal head device.
The figure is an exploded perspective view of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of Figure 1, Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of Figure 3, and Figure 5 is a specific example of the recording device. 6 to 8 are plan sectional views showing other embodiments of the thermal head device. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the thermal head device, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the thermal head device. FIG. 10 is a side sectional view showing the recording device, FIG. 11 is a left sectional view of FIG. 10, FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the recording device of FIG. FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of the main parts, FIG. 14 is a side sectional view showing the overall configuration, and FIG. 15 is a left sectional view of FIG. 14. I is thermal head, 2
is a thermal dot element, 4 is a groove, 5 is a guide member, 6 is an ink reservoir, 7 is a head stand, 9 is a guide body,
19 is a U-shaped spring, 20 is an elastic body, 22 is a magnet, 23 is a thermal head device, 34 is a platen, and 45 is a reciprocating shaft (reciprocating means).

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) A thermal head 1 having a plurality of thermal dot elements 2, a head stand 7 for holding the thermal head 1, a guide member 5 joined to the thermal head 1 and having a plurality of grooves 4; a guide body 14 provided with the guide member 5 and provided movably in the axial direction;
a reciprocating means for reciprocating the guide body 14 in the axial direction; an ink supply means 6 for supplying ink to the groove 4; A recording device characterized by comprising a platen 34 for holding. (2), comprising a guide rod 9 provided on the head stand 7 and a holding hole 15 provided in the guide body 14, the guide body 14 having the guide rod 9 inserted into the holding hole 15; 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is operable on the head stand 7 by being held on the head stand 7. (3) The thermal head 1 consists of a pair, and the thermal dot element 2 is arranged in each thermal head 1.
Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a pair of guide members 5 provided on the guide body 14 are elastically joined to the thermal dot element 2. The recording device described in . (4) The recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each guide member 5 is connected to the thermal dot element 2 by a U-shaped spring 19. (5) The recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each guide member 5 is joined to the thermal dot element 2 by an elastic body 20 such as rubber. (6) The recording device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the thermal head 1 is bent in an arc shape along the outer peripheral surface of the platen 34. .