JPS639548A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To maintain a carriage at a fixed position and securely prevent leakage of an ink during transportation, by automatically locking the carriage and closing a vent means leading into the interior of a cap when a power source is switched OFF and a recording head is covered by the cap. CONSTITUTION:When a power source is switched OFF and a recording head 5 is covered by a cap 7 at a home position HP of a carriage 4, a solenoid 15 is turned OFF, and a movable member 14 is turned clockwise with a fulcrum 13 as a center, so that a pawl part 17 of the member 14 is engaged into a recessed part 16 of the carriage 4 to lock the carriage, and a pad part 18 provided at the other end of the member 13 closes a ventilating member 12 leading into the interioor of the cap 7. Thus, when an ink jet recorder is transported (the power source is switched OFF), ink-ejecting ports are automatically capped, and locking of the carriage 4 at a fixed position (the home position) and closing of the ventilating means 12 for the cap are performed automatically and simultaneously. Accordingly, leakage of an ink can be securely prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a carriage lock mechanism for an inkjet recording apparatus.

[Prior art]

An inkjet recording device supplies ink into a recording head (inkjet head) and drives multiple ink ejection ports formed on the front surface of the recording head based on image data to print on a recording medium. This method forms and records flying ink droplets directed toward the printer.

In addition, serial printing devices are widely used, in which the print head is mounted on a carriage that moves along the print medium, and the drive of the ink ejection ports and the drive of the carriage (main scan) are synchronized to print. The invention is directed to this serial recording device. In the inkjet recording apparatus, the ink ejection ports may become clogged due to ink thickening due to evaporation of the ink solvent, adhesion of dust, air bubbles, etc. To prevent this, a camping mechanism is used to cover the ink ejection ports with a camp. It also has an ink recovery mechanism that sucks ink through the camp.

The camping and ink recovery mechanisms are generally provided at the home position of the carriage after it is removed from recording.

By the way, when transporting an inkjet recording apparatus, it is required to hold the carriage in a fixed position and prevent ink from leaking, and the carriage lock mechanism and the capping mechanism are used for this purpose.

Further, in order to prevent the meniscus of the ink discharge port from retreating during the capping operation (auto capping), a ventilation means is provided to communicate the inside of the cap with the atmosphere.

However, with conventional carriage lock mechanisms, the carriage is locked using the operating lever after confirming that the carriage is at the home position, or the carriage is locked by moving the operating lever with the power turned off. Therefore, there is a possibility that the ventilation means may be forgotten to be sealed or the camping may be forgotten and the carriage may be locked and transported as is, resulting in the problem of ink leakage.

〔the purpose〕

An object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet recording apparatus that can solve the problems of the prior art and can automatically and reliably perform carriage locking and ink discharge port sealing operations during transportation.

〔overview〕

The present invention achieves the above object by driving a movable member to lock the carriage and closing the ventilation means leading into the camp when the power is off and the recording head is covered by the camp. It is.

〔Example〕

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

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

In FIG. 1, guide shafts 3, 3 are installed in front of a recording medium 2, such as paper or plastic sheet, which is back-amplified on a platen 1, and a carriage 4 is mounted on a carriage 4 that reciprocates in the direction of arrow A along the guide shaft. A recording head 5 is mounted.

The front surface of the recording head 5 has a plurality of (for example, 24 in one vertical column)
111) are formed, and by driving each ink ejection port based on image data, flying ink droplets are formed, which are adhered to the recording medium 2 to form a dot pattern and are recorded. It will be done.

A recovery device 6 is provided at the home position HP of the carriage 4 to perform camping and ink recovery operations for the ink ejection ports.

The recovery device 6 includes a cap 7 that moves forward and backward in the direction of arrow B with respect to the recording head 5 to cover or open (camping) an ink ejection port, and a negative pressure suction means connected to the camp via a suction tube 9. (suction pump) 8.

Note that an ink sub-tank lO is mounted on the carriage 4, and ink is supplied to the recording head 5 via the sub-tank.

FIG. 2 shows a cross section along line nu in FIG.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the recovery device 6 serves as a capping mechanism and an ink recovery mechanism, and a cap 7
When the cap is closed, a recovery operation is performed in which the suction pump 8 applies negative pressure to the inside of the cap to suck ink from the ink discharge port.

A ventilation tube 11 is connected to the inside of the cap 7, and a ventilation means 1 consisting of an on-off valve is installed at the tip of the tube.
2 is formed. This ventilation means 12 is for preventing the meniscus of the ink discharge port from retreating and air etc. to enter when the ink discharge port is capped (auto-capped).

On the other hand, a lever-shaped movable member 14 that rotates around a fulcrum 13 is pivotally supported near the home position HP of the carriage 4, and the movable member 14 is oscillated by turning on and off a solenoid 15. It's getting wet.

A lock claw portion 17 that can engage with the recess 16 of the carriage 4 is formed at the tip of the movable member 14.
The ventilation means 1 is located at the opposite end with the fulcrum 13 in between.
A pad portion 18 is provided that can abut against the air conditioner 2 and block ventilation. The ventilation means 12 can be configured, for example, by a pressure-driven ventilation valve.

Note that the movable member 14 is urged by a return spring 19 in the direction of the carriage lock shown by the two-dot chain line.

Generally, when the printing (recording) operation is interrupted or the power of the apparatus is turned off, the carriage 4 is automatically returned to the home position HP and the cap 7 is moved forward to cover the ink discharge ports.

However, when the inkjet recording apparatus is powered on, the solenoid 15 is turned on and the movable member 14 is rotated counterclockwise about the fulcrum 13 against the spring 19 as shown in the figure. , the carriage 4 is held in an unlocked state (can be driven at any time), and the ventilation means 12 is opened, so that the inside of the cap 7 is communicated with the atmosphere.

FIG. 2 shows a printing standby state, and a recording operation □ is started by moving the camp 7 away from the recording pad 5 and moving the carriage 4 to the printing area.

Next, when the power is off and the recording head 5 is covered with the cap 7 at the home position HP of the carriage 4, the solenoid 15 is turned on and the movable member 14 rotates counterclockwise around the fulcrum 13. The claw portion 17 engages with the recess 16 of the carriage 4 to lock the carriage, and the pad portion 18 at the other end operates to close the ventilation means 12 leading into the camp.

In this way, when the inkjet recording apparatus is transported (when the power is turned off), the ink ejection ports are automatically camped, and the carriage 4 is locked (fixed) at a fixed position (in the illustrated example, the home position), and the ventilation means for camping. 12 are sealed automatically and simultaneously, the movement of the carriage 4 during transportation or movement causing the camping to come off is reliably prevented, and since the camping ventilation means 13 is also sealed at the same time, ink leakage is reliably prevented. Can be done.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control system of the above inkjet recording apparatus.

In FIG. 3, the CPU (control circuit) 21 of the recording device
is pressed via the driver (drive circuit) 22.

carriage motor 23, sheet conveyance motor 24. Suction motor 25 for driving suction pump 8, cap? It is connected to control and drive the motor 26 and the recording radar 5. .

The CPU 21 is connected via a driver 22 to further drive the solenoid 15 for the carriage 40.

In addition, the CPU 21 is equipped with a ROM and a RAM.
The control program is stored in the ROM, and image data and the like are temporarily stored in the RAM.

Further, power is supplied to the CPU 21 and the driver 22 from a power supply 28 via a power switch 27.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart of the operation of the carriage lock mechanism shown in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 4, graph (A) shows on/off of the power supply 27,
Graph (B) shows the opening (on) and closing (off) of the ventilation means 12.
, and graph (C) shows the timing of the ink recovery operation, that is, the driving (on) of the suction pump 8.

According to the embodiment described above, when the power supply 27 is off,
When the recording head 5 is in the capping state, the lever-shaped movable part 1
4, the carriage 4 is locked and the ventilation means 12 is sealed at the same time, so necessary operations such as locking the carriage 4, camping the recording head 5, or sealing the ventilation means 12 for capping during transportation etc. This makes it possible to prevent ink leakage and unexpected movement of the carriage 4 without accidentally operating or forgetting the ink.

In the illustrated embodiment, the lock position of the carriage 4 is made to coincide with the home position HP, but this can be selected to be a different position if necessary.

〔effect〕

As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides an inkjet recording device that can reliably lock the carriage and prevent ink leakage during transportation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the main parts of an inkjet printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line nn in Fig. 1, and Fig. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control system of the recording apparatus, and is a timing chart of the operation of the carriage lock mechanism shown in FIG. 2. 4--Carriage, 5---Recording head, 7-1--Camping, 12--1111 Ventilation means, 1
4-......Movable member, t 5--------Solenoid, 21--------CPU, 22- ・-
Driver, 27--1--Power switch. Agent Patent Attorney Yasushi Ooto Figure 2

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An ink jet recording apparatus characterized in that when the power is off and the recording head is covered with a cap, a movable member is driven to lock the carriage and close a ventilation means leading into the cap. (2) The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ventilation means is opened when the power is on.