JPS6311348A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To achieve miniaturization, cost reduction and labor saving, by providing a locking means for regulating the oscillation of a tension pulley and releasing the locking means at the time of ink recovery and using the tension pulley as a running block to drive a recovery pump by the movement thereof. CONSTITUTION:When a carriage 7 moves to the left, capping operation is started and the release cam 29 of a carriage 7 is contacted with the cam pin 30 of a locking lever 28 to revolve the lock lever 28 in a direction separating from the leading end part 16A of a tension lever 16. When a carriage motor 10 is further driven in the direction shown by an arrow A after capping is completed, tensile force acts on a timing belt 13 and force in the direction shown by an arrow E acts on a tension pulley 12. By this force, the tension lever 16 overcomes the spring force of a tension spring 14 to shake around a fulcrum 15 in the direction shown by an arrow D and a recovery pump 18 is driven.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a drive mechanism for a recovery pump in an inkjet recording apparatus.

[Prior art]

Inkjet recording devices employ recovery operations such as suctioning ink with a pump and washing it away with cleaning fluid to prevent the ink discharge ports of the recording head (inkjet head) from clogging and ensure normal ink discharge. ing. There are various causes of clogging of the ink ejection ports, such as thickening of the ink due to drying, adhesion of paper scraps and fine dust in the air, and generation of air bubbles.

The present invention is directed to an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with an ink recovery system that covers the recording head with a cap during non-printing and uses a suction pump to suck out dust from the ink discharge port when there is a failure in discharge.

Previously, the suction pump for ink recovery systems was driven by a dedicated motor.

For this reason, in conventional inkjet recording devices,
There were problems such as the large number of motors and related parts, high parts and assembly costs, and the need for space.

In addition, if the recovery system suction pump is manually operated, the number of motors etc. can be reduced, but since manual operation intervenes in the recovery system sequence, it becomes difficult to control.
If the recovery operation is performed when the power is turned off, the recovery system sequence is disturbed, causing problems such as ink overflowing into the cap and excessive pressure acting on the recording head, resulting in damage.

〔the purpose〕

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and to operate a recovery pump with a simple structure and small power by using a carriage drive motor, thereby reducing the size of the device. Another object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet recording device that can reduce costs.

〔overview〕

The present invention provides an inkjet recording apparatus comprising a tension pulley that transmits driving force to a carriage moving in a printing digit direction via a timing heald or a rope and applies tension to the timing heald or rope. A locking means is provided to swingably support the tension pulley and to restrict the swinging of the tension pulley, and when the carriage reaches a predetermined position, the locking means is released and the tension pulley is used as a movable pulley. The above objective is achieved by driving the recovery pump of the recording head with the movement.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In Fig. 1, the main body frame 1 has a platen roll 2.
is supported by its shaft portion 3, and one end of the shaft portion 3 is connected to a sheet conveyance motor 4 directly or via a reduction gear.

A paper pan 5 for guiding the recording sheet is provided near the surface of the platen roll 2.

Two guide shafts 6.6 are installed in front of the platen roll 2 in parallel thereto, and a carriage 7 is supported on the guide shafts so as to be slidable in the printing column direction.

The carriage 7 has a recording head (inkjet head) 8
and an ink tank 9 are mounted.

A plurality of ink ejection orifices are formed on the front surface of the recording head 8, and by driving these ink ejection orifices based on print data while driving the carriage 7 and forming flying ink droplets, backup is sent to the platen roll 2. The system is configured to record data on a given sheet.

The carriage 7 includes a carriage motor 10 and a drive pulley 11.
, a tension pulley 12, and a timing heald 13. Both ends of the timing belt 13 are connected to a carriage 7, and when the drive boob IJ11 rotates in the direction of arrow A, the carriage 7 moves in the direction of arrow B, and when the drive pulley is reversed, the carriage moves in the opposite direction. do.

The tension pulley 12 is a tension spring 1
4, the timing belt 13 is pivoted on a tension lever 16 which is biased in the direction of arrow C about a fulcrum 15, and a predetermined tension is applied to the timing belt 13 by the tension spring 14.

A cap 17 and a recovery pump 18 connected to the cap via a suction tube 35 are disposed on the left side of the platen roll 2, that is, on the left side outside the printing range, and in the illustrated example, the left end position of the carriage 7 is disposed. has been selected as the home position.

The camp 17 is fixed to a cap arm 20 that is slidably supported on a cap shaft 19 projecting from the left side wall of the frame 1, and the cap arm is equipped with a cap spring 21 that serves as both a compression spring and a torsion spring. is biased to the right and rearward.

Further, behind the cap shaft 19, a cap cam 22 is provided for displacing the cap 17 forward when the cap 17 moves to the left.
is provided.

The cap arm 20 is formed with a protrusion 24 that engages with the protrusion 23 when the carriage 7 moves to the left, and when the carriage 7 moves to the left, the cap 17 moves to the left together with the carriage. It is supposed to move.

The carriage 7 has a stopper 2 for regulating the left end position.
5 is provided.

The tip 16A of the tension lever 16 comes into contact with a lock lever 28 that is biased by a spring 27 supported by a lever shaft 26, and as long as the carriage 7 does not come to the home position, it will not move as shown in the figure. The swinging of the tension lever 16 in the direction of the arrow E, that is, the movement of the tension pulley 12 in the direction of the arrow E, is restricted (locked).

A cam 29 for releasing the lock lever 28 is formed on the carriage 7. When the carriage 7 comes near the home position, it contacts a cam pin 30 provided on the lock lever 28, resists the spring 21, and releases the lock lever 28. lock lever
from the tip 16A of the tension lever 16. When the carriage motor 10 is reversed from this unlocked state to move the carriage 7 to the right, the tension lever 16 is automatically locked by the lock lever 28 due to the action of the return spring 27.

In the recovery pump 18, the plunger 18A is pressed by the swinging of the tension lever 16 in the direction of the arrow E, that is, the movement of the tension pulley 12 in the direction of the arrow E, and the plunger 18A is operated to perform a suction operation, that is, the ink discharge port is opened via the duplex 35 and the cap 17. An operation is performed to suck ink from the ink and discharge the sucked ink as waste ink.

The driving pulley 11 supported at a position facing the tension pulley 12 (on the carriage motor 10 side) has a roller 31 pushed out with a predetermined pressure to prevent the timing heald 13 from coming off when it becomes slack. There is. In the illustrated example, the roller 31 is pivotally supported by an elastically deformable support arm 32.

A separator plate 33 having a predetermined length is provided between the reciprocating paths of the timing heald 13.

This separator plate 33 is provided to prevent the inner teeth of the running parts on both sides from getting caught with each other when the timing heald 13 becomes slack, thereby preventing malfunction or clogging of the heald.

Further, a guide member 34 is provided outside the reciprocating path of the timing heald 13 (in the illustrated example, on the rear side).

This guide member 34 prevents the timing belt from coming into contact with other parts within the recording apparatus when the timing heald 13 becomes slack.

In the illustrated example, the separator 33 and the guide member 34 are integrally formed using a channel member.

Next, the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus described above will be explained.

First, a case will be described in which the recording head 8 is capped during paper feeding, standby, etc. in addition to normal printing.

When the carriage 7 moves to the left (home position side), it leaves the printing area as shown in Figure 2 (A), and then
The protrusion 23 of the carriage engages the protrusion 24 of the cap arm 20 and both move to the left together. During this movement to the left, the cap 17 is displaced forward (downward in FIG. 2) by the cap cam 22 and pressed against the front surface of the recording head 8, capping the ink discharge ports.

Camping is completed when the stopper 25 of the carriage 7 collides with the frame 1 and reaches the left end (home position) as shown in FIG. 2(B).

Next, the recovery operation of the recording head 8 will be explained.

Figures 3(A) and 3(B) show timing belt 1.
3 (drive of the carriage motor 10) and displacement of the tension lever 16 and the lock lever 28,
Carriage 7 is well to the left (near the leftmost home position)
If you haven't reached it! As shown in FIG. 3(A), the tension lever 16 is locked in a predetermined position by a lock lever 28.

When the carriage 7 moves further to the left, it first moves as shown in Figure 2 (A).
The capping operation is started as shown in FIG. 3(B), and the release cam 29 of the carriage 7 is opened as shown in FIG.
comes into contact with the cam pin 30 of the lock lever 28, and rotates the lock lever in a direction away from the tip 16A of the tension lever 16.

In this way, the tension lever 16 is in a state where it can swing in the direction of the arrow.

The second stopper 25 of the carriage 7 abuts against the frame 1
Capping is completed at the position shown in Figure (B) (home position).

After the capping is completed, that is, after the carriage 7 is stopped at the home position, the carriage motor 1
0 in the direction of arrow A, a tensile force T acts on the timing belt 13 and a force in the direction of arrow E acts on the tension pulley 12, as shown in FIG. 3(B).

In this case, since the lock lever 28 has already been released, the tension lever 16 is moved by the force in the direction of the arrow E.
overcomes the spring force of the tension spring 14 and swings around the fulcrum 15 in the direction of the arrow, and the recovery pump 1
8 is driven. In this way, ink is suctioned through the ink discharge ports of the recording head 8 by the negative suction force within the cap 17, waste ink is discharged through the tube 35 and the pump 18, and an ink recovery operation of the recording head 8 is performed.

Note that when the tension pulley 12 is pulled, the timing belt 13 is loosened as shown in FIG.
4 and a roller 3 that presses the drive pulley 11.
1, it is possible to prevent problems such as the belts getting caught together or with other parts or coming off due to the slackness.

In the ink recovery operation, the tension pulley 12
is used as a moving pulley, and its movement drives the recovery pump 18 of the recording head 8.

In addition, when the recovery pump 18 is driven a plurality of times, it can be easily controlled by rotating the carriage motor 10 in the forward and reverse directions by a predetermined amount a plurality of times.

According to the embodiment described above, by using the motor 10 for driving the carriage, the camping mechanism and the pump 18 of the ink recovery system can be operated with a simple structure without requiring a dedicated motor. Therefore, by simplifying the size of the ink recovery system, it is possible to reduce the size and cost of the ink sheet recording apparatus.

Furthermore, since the tension lever 16 is locked by the lock lever 28 when the carriage 7 is located at a position other than the home position such as in the printing area, all reaction forces such as driving resistance of the carriage 7 are supported by the lock lever 28. ,
The return force of the tension lever 16, that is, the spring force of the tension spring 14 can be set small. Therefore, the power required to overcome the tension spring 14 and drive the recovery pump 18, that is, the power required for the ink recovery operation of the carriage motor 10, can be reduced, and in addition to the above effects, an energy saving effect can also be achieved. It became possible.

〔effect〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention,
A locking means is provided to restrict the swinging of the tension pulley.
When the ink is recovered, the locking means is released and the tension pulley is used as a moving pulley to drive the recovery pump by its movement, so the recovery pump can be operated with a simple structure by using the carriage motor. In addition, an inkjet recording apparatus can be obtained that can reduce the power required during the recovery operation, thereby achieving downsizing, cost reduction, and energy saving.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic plan views showing states at the start and completion of capping, and FIG. 3A and 3B are schematic plan views showing the tension lever in a locked state and a released state. 7---------Carriage, 8-----One record head,
10-111--- Carriage motor, 11------
- Drive pulley, 12--Tension pulley,
13-----timing belt, 16-----tension lever, 17-----camp, 18-----
--Recovery pump, 28--Losocrehar, 29
--1~-Cam for unlocking.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an inkjet recording device that is provided with a tension pulley that transmits driving force to a carriage that moves in the printing digit direction via a timing belt or rope and applies tension to the timing belt or rope, the tension pulley is A lock means is provided to support the tension pulley in a swingable manner and to restrict the swing of the tension pulley, and when the carriage reaches a predetermined position, the lock means is released and the tension pulley is used as a movable pulley to control its movement. An inkjet recording device characterized in that a recovery pump of a recording head is driven by a pump for recovery of a recording head.