KR100492126B1 - Ink-jet printer and - Google Patents

Abstract

The inkjet printer according to the present invention includes a printer main body, a carriage to which the ink cartridge is mounted and moved left and right along a moving shaft installed in the printer main body, a guide rail for guiding a carriage moving along the moving shaft, and a guide protrusion. An inkjet printer comprising a maintenance device including a formed slider and a housing having guide grooves for guiding the guide protrusions of the slider and a wiper for wiping the print head of the ink cartridge, wherein the guide rails are provided in the printing mode and the capping mode. A main guide rail including a first guide rail, a second guide rail, and a third guide rail for guiding movement; A wiping guide rail for guiding movement of the carriage in the wiping mode; And a rotating guide rail rotatable at a predetermined angle so that the carriage returns to the first guide rail after the wiping mode. According to this, by providing a wiping guide rail, the guide groove formed in the housing can be implemented without the need to form a separate wiping mode position, thereby reducing the length of the printer system, thereby Since the size is also reduced, the noise when the slider is moved along the guide groove of the conventional three-stage can be reduced.

Description

Inkjet Printer {INK-JET PRINTER AND}

The present invention relates to an inkjet printer, and more particularly to an inkjet printer having a carriage guide rail and a wiper of improved structure.

In general, an inkjet printer is a printer that performs printing by attaching bubbles generated by applying heat to ink stored in a cartridge to a printing paper through a nozzle, a paper feeder for feeding sheet of paper, and a paper for transferring the fed paper. A conveying device, a printing device for ejecting ink onto the paper to form an image, a discharge device for discharging the printed paper to the outside, a guide rail for guiding movement of the carriage with the ink cartridge, and a nozzle surface of the print head. And a maintenance device for cleaning and sealing the nozzle face.

FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing the inside of a conventional inkjet printer. As shown in the drawing, a carriage 10 equipped with a cartridge 11 is installed in the printer main body so as to be movable left and right. Here, the moving area of the carriage 10 is a printing area (P) where the ink is injected through the nozzle 12 of the cartridge 11, and the carriage 10 is cleaned of the ink is parked or buried in the nozzle 12 It is partitioned into the service area S, and the maintenance apparatus 20 is provided in the service area S. FIG.

The carriage 10 on which the ink cartridge 11 is mounted is moved to the left and right of the printer system while being guided by the guide rail 17 along the moving shaft 15. After the printing is completed in the printing area P, the carriage 10 is wiped with the ink remaining in the nozzle 12 of the print head by the maintenance device 20 provided at one side of the service area S, and the nozzle 12 ) Is covered by the cap 27.

Hereinafter, the maintenance apparatus 20 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B. As shown in the drawing, the maintenance apparatus 20 includes a housing 21 installed in the printer main body, a slider 23 provided to be movable in the housing 21, a wiper 25 and a cap installed in the slider 23. 27).

The housing 21 has a substantially rectangular shape with an open upper portion, and has a plurality of guide grooves 21a for guiding the flow of the slider 23.

The slider 23 has a plurality of guide protrusions 23a flowing in the plurality of guide grooves 21a. The slider 23 is provided with a locking piece 28 and a latching member 29 so that the slider 23 can flow by the movement of the carriage 10.

The wiper 25 flows integrally with the slider 23 to wipe off the ink remaining in the nozzle 12 having completed the printing operation. The cap 27 seals the nozzle 12 when the ink cartridge 11 is parked to prevent the ink of the nozzle 12 from drying out.

The operation of the maintenance apparatus 20 of the inkjet printer configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 2B.

When the ink cartridge 11 mounted on the carriage 10 moves left and right in the printing area P (refer to FIG. 1) and sprays ink to complete printing, the carriage 10 is moved to the service area S. FIG. .

When the carriage 10 is moved toward the service area S while being guided by the guide rail 17 along the moving shaft 15, one side of the carriage 10 moves while pushing the engaging piece 28 of the slider 23. Done. At this time, the carriage 10 and the slider 23 move together along the guide groove 21a of the housing 21, and when the position c is reached as shown in FIG. 2B, the cap 27 is raised to the nozzle 12. Will be sealed. Subsequently, when the carriage 10 again performs the printing operation, when the engaging piece 28 of the slider 23 restrained by the carriage 10 is released, a spring (not shown) installed on one side of the slider 23 is released. It comes down along the guide groove 21a by this. At this time, when the slider 23 reaches the b position by the elastic restoring force of the spring, the slider 23 is restrained and fixed by the latching member 29. By the wiper 25 of the slider 23 fixed in this way, the cartridge nozzle 12 of the carriage 10 to be moved is wiped. If the carriage 10 continues to push the latching member 29 after the wiping, the restraint of the slider 23 is released to return to the a position by the elastic restoring force of the spring. Here, the latching member 29 does not affect the movement of the slider 23 when the carriage 10 is moved from the printing area P to the service area S, and the printing area P in the service area P is not affected. The slider 23 is moved only when it is moved to ().

As such, the guide groove 21a formed in the housing 21 is formed in three stages to implement the printing mode, the wiping mode, and the capping mode.

However, since the maintenance apparatus 20 of the conventional inkjet printer as described above has to be provided with three guide grooves 21a for implementing the printing mode, the wiping mode, and the capping mode, the width of the housing 21 is increased. As it becomes larger, there is a problem that the left and right lengths of the entire printer system become longer and take up a lot of installation space.

In addition, since the housing 21 is long and high, noise due to movement is generated, and the manufacturing cost is increased because the structure is complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and by taking a simpler structure, it is possible to reduce the installation space of the system, thereby providing a wiping method of an inkjet printer and a print head, which can reduce the manufacturing cost thereof. Has its purpose.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a wiping method for an inkjet printer and a print head, which can reduce noise generated during driving.

A wiping method for a print head of an inkjet printer according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a printer main body, a carriage having left and right moving carriages mounted with ink cartridges, and a moving shaft mounted on the printer main body; And a maintenance device including a guide rail for guiding the carriage moving along the housing, a housing having a guide protrusion formed therein, a guide groove for guiding the guide protrusion of the slider, and a wiper for wiping the print head of the ink cartridge. A wiping method for a print head of an inkjet printer, comprising: moving the carriage by pivoting the carriage at a predetermined angle with the pivot axis as the pivot center; And moving the print head of the ink cartridge onto a wiper having a predetermined angle to correspond to the print head of the ink cartridge which is pivoted and moved as described above and fixed to a frame of the printer body.

In addition, an inkjet printer according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a printer body, a carriage moving left and right along a moving shaft installed in the printer body, the ink cartridge is mounted, and a carriage moving along the moving shaft. An inkjet printer comprising a guide rail for guiding, and a maintenance device including a slider having guide protrusions, a housing having guide grooves for guiding the guide protrusions of the slider, and a wiper for wiping the print head of the ink cartridge. The guide rail may include a main guide rail including a first guide rail, a second guide rail, and a third guide rail for guiding movement of the carriage in a printing mode and a capping mode; A wiping guide rail for guiding movement of the carriage in a wiping mode; And a rotatable guide rail rotatable at an angle such that the carriage returns to the first guide rail after the wiping mode.

Here, a predetermined guide space portion is formed between the second guide rail and the third guide rail so that the carriage is guided by the wiping guide rail in the wiping mode.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the wiping guide rail is formed to be bent toward the carriage side, one side is in contact with the first guide rail and the other side is in contact with the second guide rail.

In addition, the rotation guide rail is a guide portion formed on one side so as to be connected in line with the first and second guide rail interposed between the first guide rail and the second guide rail when switching from the printing mode to the capping mode Wow; A rotating shaft hole formed on the other side to be able to pivot about a predetermined rotating shaft; It is preferable to include; an elastic support member for elastically supporting the guide portion to return to the same line position as the first guide rail.

In addition, the wiping guide rail is formed on one side in contact with the first guide rail, the support portion for supporting the guide portion of the rotating guide rail to be located in the same line as the first and second guide rail.

The second guide rail may further include an auxiliary frame formed to correspond to the curved shape of the wiping guide rail at a position where the wiping guide rail is formed.

Here, the predetermined rotation shaft and the elastic support member are mounted on the auxiliary frame.

Meanwhile, the wiping guide rail, the auxiliary frame, and the second guide rail may be integrally formed.

On the other hand, the wiper is preferably fixed on the frame to have a predetermined angle so as to correspond to the print head of the ink cartridge pivoted at a predetermined angle by the wiping guide rail in the wiping mode.

Further, the wiper is preferably mounted to have a predetermined amount of overlap with the print head of the ink cartridge pivoted at a predetermined angle.

On the other hand, the guide groove formed in the housing is formed in two stages to guide the slider in the printing mode and the capping mode.

The above objects and other features will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. For reference, in describing the embodiments of the present invention, the same reference numerals refer to the same parts as those in the related art.

Figure 3a is a perspective view schematically showing the inside of the inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3b is an enlarged plan view of a portion A of Figure 3a, Figures 4a and 4b is a carriage of the inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention 5A and 5B are front views for explaining the operation of the maintenance apparatus of the ink jet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In the drawings, reference numeral 100 denotes an inkjet printer, 110 denotes a main guide rail, 120 denotes a wiping guide rail, 140 denotes a rotating guide rail, and 150 denotes a maintenance device.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A to 5B.

The inkjet printer 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a main guide rail 110, a rotation guide rail 140, a wiping guide rail 120, and a wiper 160.

The main guide rail 110 is a guide rail for guiding the movement of the carriage when the printing mode and the switching from the printing mode to the capping mode, the main guide rail 110 is a first guide rail 111, the second guide rail ( 112, the third guide rail 113 is configured.

The rotation guide rail 140 is a guide rail for guiding the carriage 10 to return to the first guide rail 111 after the wiping mode, and includes a guide part 141, a rotation shaft hole 142, and an elastic support member 143. It is configured to include). The guide part 141 is interposed between the first guide rail 111 and the second guide rail 112 so that the first and second guide rails 111 and 112 are connected in the same line to form the rotation guide rail 140. Is formed on one side. The rotary shaft hole 142 is formed at the other side of the rotary guide rail 140 so that the guide unit 141 can be pivoted about the rotary shaft 142a to be described later. The elastic support member 143 is mounted such that the guide portion 141 is elastically returned so that the guide portion 141 is connected to the first and second guide rails 111 and 112 in the same line.

The wiping guide rail 120 has one side in contact with the first guide rail 111 and the other side is installed in contact with the third guide rail 113, and is bent toward the carriage 10.

In addition, a predetermined guide space 121 is provided between the second guide rail 112 and the third guide rail 113 to allow the carriage to be guided to the wiping guide rail 120 when switching to the wiping mode.

The second guide rail 112 includes an auxiliary frame 112a, and the auxiliary frame 112a is formed to correspond to the bent shape of the wiping guide rail 120 and the rotary shaft hole 142 of the rotation guide rail 140. The rotary shaft 142a and the elastic support member 143 are installed.

Here, the second guide rail 112, the auxiliary frame 112a, and the wiping guide rail 120 may be formed integrally.

The wiper 160 is installed and fixed to be inclined to the frame of the printer body so as to wipe the ink of the nozzle 12 in contact with the nozzle 12 of the print head passing through the wiping guide rail 120.

Hereinafter, the operation of the inkjet printer 100 having such a configuration will be briefly described.

The carriage 10 equipped with the ink cartridge 11 is guided by the first guide rail 111 in the printing mode and moved to the left and right sides of the printer system to spray ink onto the printing paper fed to form a desired image. do.

After the certain printing mode is completed, the carriage is moved toward the maintenance apparatus 150 provided on one side of the service area S to prevent the nozzle 12 of the print head from being exposed to air and clogging the nozzle hole.

When the printing mode is switched to the capping mode as described above, the carriage 10 is guided by the first guide rail 111, the rotation guide rail 140, and the second guide rail 112, and then the third guide rail ( Guided along 113, the capping mode is achieved.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 5A, the protrusions 155a of the slider 155 guided to the left and the bottom of the housing 151 may move when the carriage 10 moves to the capping mode. As the 10a pushes the engaging piece 156 of the slider 155, it rises along the guide groove 151a formed in the housing 151. As shown in FIG. 5B, the nozzle 12 of the cartridge is capped by the cap 159 when finally raised to the upper side.

Subsequently, when it is necessary to switch to the printing mode, the carriage 10 is guided by the third guide rail 113 to be switched to the printing mode, where the protrusion 10a of the carriage 10 is no longer a slider ( The locking piece 156 of the 155 is not restrained, and the slider 155 is returned to the left and lower sides, that is, the initial position along the guide groove 151a of the housing 151 by the elastic member 158.

As described above, when switching to the printing mode, the carriage 10 is guided by the second guide rail 112 by the guide space 121 provided between the third guide rail 113 and the second guide rail 112. It is not guided by the wiping guide rail 120.

At this time, the carriage 10 is eccentric so that the center of gravity of the carriage 10 is inclined toward the front of the printer system with the pivot axis 15 as the pivot center as shown in Figure 4b when guided along the wiping guide rail 120 do. Therefore, as the carriage 10 is tilted, the ink cartridge 11 mounted thereto is also tilted. Accordingly, the carriage 10 is wiped by the wiper 160 while being moved inclined along the wiping guide rail 120.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the wiper 160 is mounted to the frame of the printer body so as to face the nozzle face 12 of the inclined cartridge as described above. Accordingly, the wiper 160 is inclined while the carriage 10 is guided along the wiping guide rail 120 while being fixed to the frame, thereby performing the wiping mode. At this time, it is preferable that the nozzle 12 and the wiper 160 of the cartridge interfere with a predetermined overlap so that the wiping is effectively performed.

After the wiping mode as described above, the carriage 10 returns to the first guide rail 111 to perform a printing mode. Here, while returning from the wiping guide rail 120 to the first guide rail 111, the carriage 10 pushes the rotation guide rail 140.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the rotation guide rail 140 is interposed between the first guide rail 111 and the second guide rail 112 in the printing mode so that the first and second guide rails 111 and 112 may be interposed therebetween. ) Is returned to the first guide rail 111 while pushing the guide portion 141 formed on one side to be connected in line with the same, and after the carriage 10 is completely returned to the first guide rail 111, the rotary guide rail ( 140 rotates and returns to the initial position using the rotation shaft hole 142 formed on the other side by the elastic support member 143 as the pivot center.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second guide rail 112, the auxiliary frame is mounted on the rotary shaft 142a and the elastic support member 143, the rotary shaft hole 142 of the rotary guide rail 140 is built ( 112a) is further provided. In addition, the auxiliary frame 112a is preferably formed in a shape corresponding to the shape of the wiping guide rail 120 so that the carriage 10 is easily guided when the carriage 10 is returned to the first guide rail 111.

When the carriage returned to the first guide rail 111 is transferred to the capping mode by the rotating guide rail 140 configured as described above, the first guide rail 111 and the guide part of the rotating guide rail 140 ( 141 and the third guide rail 113.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the support guide 122 is formed on the first guide rail 111 side of the wiping guide rail 120 is rotated guide rail 140 is returned to the initial position by the elastic support member 143 Guide portion 141). As a result, a constant initial position is maintained, such that the first guide rail 111, the second guide rail 112, and the rotation guide rail 140 are positioned on the same line.

By the guide rail configured as described above, the guide groove 151a which guides the slider 155 and is formed in the housing 151 is two-stage without the need to form a three-stage guide groove for implementing a wiping mode. The wiping mode can also be implemented.

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing a wiping guide rail for implementing a wiping mode, the guide groove formed in the housing does not form a three-stage guide groove that needs to form a separate wiping mode position. Since the wiping mode can be implemented in two stages, the length of the printer system can be reduced, thereby reducing the size of the housing, thereby reducing noise when the slider is moved along the guide groove of the conventional three stages. Can be.

In addition, after stopping the slider in the middle of the three-stage guide groove, there is no need for a separate stopper for wiping, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost.

As mentioned above, although this invention was shown and demonstrated with reference to the preferred embodiment for describing this invention, this invention is not limited to the structure and operation as it was shown and described. Rather, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, all such suitable changes and modifications and equivalents should be considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

1 is a front view schematically showing the inside of a typical inkjet printer,

2A and 2B are front views for explaining the operation of the maintenance apparatus of the conventional inkjet printer,

Figure 3a is a perspective view schematically showing the interior of the inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention,

3B is an enlarged plan view of a portion 'A' of FIG. 3A;

4a and 4b are side views for explaining the operation of the carriage of the inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention,

5A and 5B are front views illustrating the operation of the maintenance apparatus of the ink jet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

100: inkjet printer 110: guide rail

111: first guide rail 112: second guide rail

112a: auxiliary frame 113: third guide rail

120: wiping guide rail 121: guide space

122: support portion 140: rotation guide rail

141: guide portion 142: rotary shaft ball

142a: rotating shaft 143: elastic support member

150: maintenance device 151: housing

151a: Guide groove 155: Slider

160: Wiper

Claims (12)

delete A slider having a printer main body, a carriage moved left and right along a moving shaft installed in the printer main body, in which an ink cartridge is mounted, a guide rail for guiding a carriage moving along the moving shaft, and a slider having guide protrusions and a guide of the slider. An inkjet printer comprising a maintenance device including a housing having a guide groove for guiding the projection and a wiper for wiping the nozzle of the ink cartridge, The guide rail, A main guide rail including a first guide rail, a second guide rail, and a third guide rail for guiding movement of the carriage in a printing mode and a capping mode; A wiping guide rail for guiding movement of the carriage in a wiping mode; And And a rotatable guide rail rotatable at a predetermined angle so that the carriage returns to the first guide rail after the wiping mode. The method of claim 2, And a predetermined guide space portion is formed between the second guide rail and the third guide rail so that the carriage is guided by the wiping guide rail in the wiping mode. The wiping guide rail according to claim 2 or 3, Inkjet printer, characterized in that one side is in contact with the first guide rail and the other side is in contact with the second guide rail, it is formed to be bent to the carriage side. The method of claim 4, wherein the rotation guide rail, When switching from the printing mode to the capping mode, the guide portion formed on one side interposed between the first guide rail and the second guide rail to be connected in line with the first and second guide rail; A rotating shaft hole formed on the other side to be rotatable about a predetermined rotating shaft; And an elastic support member elastically supporting the guide portion to return to the same line position as the first guide rail. The method of claim 5, wherein the wiping guide rail, The inkjet printer, characterized in that the support portion for supporting the guide portion of the rotary guide rail to be located on the same line as the first and second guide rail, formed on one side in contact with the first guide rail. The method of claim 6, wherein the second guide rail, And an auxiliary frame formed to correspond to the curved shape of the wiping guide rail at a position where the wiping guide rail is formed. The method of claim 7, wherein the predetermined rotation axis and the elastic support member, Inkjet printer, characterized in that mounted on the auxiliary frame. The method of claim 8, And the wiping guide rail, the auxiliary frame, and the second guide rail are integrally formed. The wiper according to claim 2 or 7, wherein the wiper is And an inkjet printer fixed to the frame of the printer main body to have a predetermined angle so as to correspond to the print head of the ink cartridge pivoted at a predetermined angle by the wiping guide rail in the wiping mode. The method of claim 10, wherein the wiper, An inkjet printer, wherein the inkjet printer is mounted to have a predetermined amount of overlap with the print head of the ink cartridge pivoted at a predetermined angle The method of claim 11, wherein the guide groove, Inkjet printer, characterized in that formed in two stages to guide the slider in the printing mode and the capping mode.