JPS631549A - Print head device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate choking, to facilitate the manufacture and to improve the reliability, by providing a heating element head having a plurality of heating dot elements, a guide member contacting tightly with the heating element head and having a plurality of grooves for respective heating dot elements and means for supplying ink into the groove than making the heating element head and the guide member movable relatively. CONSTITUTION:An ink supply pipe 3 is provided to a heating element head 1 having many heating dot elements 2 while penetrating therethrough. A guide member 5 formed with many grooves 4 (nozzles) is constructed movably in the direction of an arrow A on said heating element head 1 and held while being pressure contacted in the direction of an arrow B. A recessed ink sump section 6 is formed at a position communicatable with respective grooves 4 of the guide member 5 and connected to the ink supply pipe 3. Consequently, when a drive pulse is applied onto a random heating dot element 2, bubbles are produced in a plurality of grooves 4 corresponding to said heating dot element 2 and the ink in the groove 4 is ejected toward an external recording paper 7 by the pressure of said bubbles, thus performing the printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION a. Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a print head device, and in particular, to a print head device that uses an extremely simple structure to remove clogging when printing is performed by jetting ink. It concerns new improvements.

b. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 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 heat-generating 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 bubble pressure generated by the heat-generating dot element causes ink in the nozzle to be ejected to perform printing.

C. Problems to be Solved by the Invention Since the conventional inkjet print head device is configured as described above, the nozzles and heat-generating dot elements are in a one-to-one configuration, and it is possible for one of the nozzles to become clogged. When this occurs, ink is not ejected onto the recording paper at a position corresponding to that nozzle, and a white spot is formed, resulting in a printing defect.

In addition, if bubbles remain in the nozzle or the ink does not reach the heat generating dot element due to nozzle clogging, the heat generating dot element becomes dry and may be damaged. .

As mentioned above, once the heating dot element is damaged, the entire print head device must be replaced because it is integral with the nozzle.

Furthermore, manufacturing is difficult because the nozzles and heat-generating dot elements have to correspond one-to-one, and in particular, when manufacturing line heads, an extremely large number of nozzles and heat-generating dot elements must be arranged side by side in an I-to-I 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 problems, and in particular provides a print head device that is free from clogging, easy to manufacture, and highly reliable. It is the purpose of the second party.

d. Means for Solving the Problems A print head device according to the present invention includes a heat generating head having a plurality of heat generating dot elements, and a guide closely fitted to the heat generating head and having a plurality of grooves for each of the heat generating dot elements. and an ink supply means for supplying ink into the groove, and the heating element head and the guide member are configured to be movable relative to each other.

e. Function In the print head device according to the present invention, since a plurality of grooves correspond to one dot element, even if one or 2al grooves (corresponding to nozzles) become clogged, However, since ink is ejected from the other remaining grooves, white spots do not occur as in the conventional method.

Furthermore, since the guide member and the heating element head are movable relative to each other, clogging in the groove can always be eliminated, and clogging of the nozzle as in the conventional case can be completely prevented.

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

1 to 12 show preferred embodiments of the print head device according to the present invention.
The figures up to the figures show the first embodiment.

In the figure, what is indicated by the symbol l is a heating element head having a large number of heating dot elements 2, and this heating element head 1 has an ink supply pipe 3 connected to an external ink tank (not shown). is provided through it.

On this heating element head l, there are a large number of grooves 4 (constituting nozzles) corresponding to each heating dot element 2.
A guide member 5 formed with a guide member 5 is configured to be movable in the direction of arrow A, and is held in a pressed state in the direction of arrow B.

Each of the aforementioned grooves 4 has one groove for each heating dot element 2.
Rather than having a one-to-one correspondence, the pitch of each groove 4 is set to 0.
0.3 mm, and the width W of each heating dot element 2 is 0.03 mm.
08 mm, the correspondence is approximately 3:1.

Further, an ink reservoir 6 having a concave shape for storing ink is formed at a position communicating with each groove 4 of the guide member 5, and this ink reservoir 6 is connected to the ink supply pipe 3 described above. has been done.

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

When the guide member 5 and the heating element head l are brought into close contact with each other,
Each groove 4 and each heating dot element 2 have a mutually continuous configuration, and each groove 4 has the function of a spray nozzle.

Therefore, when a driving pulse (not shown) is applied to any heating dot element 2, bubbles (not shown) are generated within the plurality of grooves 4 corresponding to this heating dot element 2, and the bubble pressure causes The ink in the groove 4 is ejected onto the outer recording paper 7, allowing custom printing to be performed.

Next, the configuration of FIGS. 4 and 5 shows another embodiment, in which the guide member 5 is made of an elastic material such as metal, each i4 is formed by etching, and the guide member 5 is made of an elastic material such as metal. is fixed at one end to the support 8 in a cantilevered manner by a screw 9, and when combined with the heating element head 1, it is pressed against the upper surface of the heating element head 1 by the return force of the bent spring, and each groove is 4 is in pressure contact with the heating dot element 2. Note that the other parts are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted. Further, the end of the groove 4 and the end face of the heating element head 1 are positioned by a guide pin (not shown) so that they coincide with each other.

Next, the configuration shown in FIG. 6 shows another embodiment, in which a guide member 5 made of a flat plate is placed on the heating element head I, and a support body 8 having a leaf spring 10 is placed on the guide member. 5, and the guide member 5 is placed in close contact with the heating element head I by means of this plate spring IO. .

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment in which an elastic body I1 made of rubber or the like is adhered to the lower surface of the support 8. It has a configuration in which a plate-shaped guide member 5 is adhered to the lower surface of the +, and by pressing the support 8, the guide member 5 and the heating element head 1 are brought into close contact using the elasticity of the elastic body I1. .

FIG. 8 shows still another embodiment, in which the guide member 5 is made of a magnetic material such as metal, a magnet l2 is provided on the lower surface of the heating element head l, and the attraction force of the magnet 12 causes the guide member 5 to is the heating element head! It is tightly packed on top. The other parts are given the same reference numerals and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 9 shows still another embodiment, in which a concave ink reservoir 6 is formed in the heat generating head l at a position adjacent to the former heat generating dot element 2, and this ink reservoir 6 and the ink supply pipe 3 are connected, and only the groove 4 is formed in the guide member 5. The other parts are given the same reference numerals and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1O shows another embodiment, in which an ink supply pipe 3 is provided on a guide member 5, and an ink reservoir 6 of the guide member 5 and the ink supply pipe 3 are connected. The other parts are given the same reference numerals and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

1st! The diagram is. A configuration in which the print head device according to the present invention is applied to a line printer is shown, and in the figure, 20 is a bearing;
Reference numeral 2l is a moving shaft provided movably in the direction of arrow C in this bearing 20, a support body 8 is provided on this movement shaft 2l, and a guide member 5 is integrally provided on the lower surface of this support body 8. , is configured to be movable in the direction of arrow C together with the moving shaft 2l.

22 is a base body, and on this base body 22,
A heating element head l is provided, and this heating element head! A platen 24 having recording paper is disposed at a position adjacent to the joint surface 23 of the guide member 5.

An ink tank 25 is connected to the ink supply pipe 3, and is configured to supply ink in a natural fall manner.

Furthermore, the configuration shown in FIG. 12 shows a print head device for a serial printer, in which guide members 5 are attached to both sides of the heat generating head 1, which has heat generating dot elements 2 on both sides. An ink mixing prevention groove 26 is formed in the center of the heating element head 1 to prevent ink from mixing between the guide members 5.

These guide members 5 and heating element head l are supported by a U-shaped support 27, and this U-shaped support 27 is provided movably in the direction of arrow D by a pair of guide shafts 28. It constitutes a serial print head device for colors.

g. Effects of the Invention Since the print head device according to the present invention has the above-described configuration and operation, it can achieve various effects as described below.

(1). Since the guide member having the shape i and the heating element head move relative to each other, clogging of the groove can be substantially eliminated.

(2) Since multiple grooves (corresponding to nozzles) are formed for one heating dot element, even if one groove is clogged, white spots caused by missing dots can be completely eliminated. can be prevented.

(3). Even if generated bubbles remain in the groove or if clogging occurs, the other grooves will respond by moving the groove, thereby preventing dry burning of the heating dot elements and preventing damage to the grooves.

(4). Even if the shape of the groove becomes defective due to long-term use, only the guide member can be replaced, so maintenance can be performed at an extremely low cost.

(5). Since the guide member has elasticity, it has excellent tightness, no ink leakage, and easy replacement.

(6). Since the heating dot elements are formed on the flat surface of the heating element head, compared to the configuration where they are formed on the side,
It is easy to manufacture and is extremely suitable for making line heads.

(7). Since both the heating element head and the guide member can be configured in a flat plate shape, manufacturing is easy and can significantly contribute to cost reduction.

(8). When a line head is configured, it is thin, so even when four heads are required, such as in a color printer, it can be configured compactly, which can greatly contribute to the realization of high-speed color inkjet 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 an exploded perspective view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG.
The figures are a side view of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing another embodiment, Fig. 5 is an assembled side view of Fig. 4, Fig. 6 is a side view showing another embodiment, and Fig. 7 is a side view showing another embodiment. 8 and 8 are side views showing other embodiments, FIGS. 9 and 10 are exploded perspective views showing other embodiments, FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a configuration applied to a line printer, and FIG. The figure is a perspective view showing a configuration applied to a serial head. 2 is a heating element head, 2 is a heating dot element, 3 is an ink supply pipe, 4 is a groove, 5 is a guide member, 6 is an ink reservoir, 8 is a support, IO is a leaf spring, and 11 is an elastic body.

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) A heat generating head 1 having a plurality of heat generating dot elements 2, a guide member 5 closely fitted to the heat generating head 1 and having a plurality of grooves 4 for each heat generating dot element 2, and the grooves 4. and an ink supply means for supplying ink into the heating element head 1 and the guide member 5.
A print head device characterized in that it is configured to be relatively movable. (2) The print head device according to claim 1, wherein the guide member 5 is configured to be movable relative to the heat generating head 1. (3) The ink supply means comprises a concave ink reservoir 6 formed continuously in each groove 4 of the guide member 5.
The print head device described in Section 1. (4) The print head device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the guide member 5 is made of an elastic material and is always in pressure contact with the heat generating head 1. . (5) The guide member 5 is made of an elastic metal material and is always in contact with the heat generating head 1 by a magnet provided on the back surface of the heat generating head 1. The print head device according to item 4. (6) The print head device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ink supply means comprises a concave ink reservoir 6 formed in the heat generating head 1.