KR20040006066A - Maintenance apparatus for an ink-jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A maintenance device of an ink jet printer is provided to reduce noise and to save manufacturing cost by simplifying a structure of the maintenance device of the ink jet printer. CONSTITUTION: A maintenance device of an ink jet printer includes a slider(40) having a wiping member and a capping member, a cam(50), an actuating member(60) and first and second springs(70,80). The slider(40) has first and second wipers(41,42), first and second caps(43,44), and first and second slide holes(45,46). The slider(40) is slidably installed at a lower portion of first and second ink cartridges(23,25). First and second supporting shafts(11,12) are inserted into the first and second slide holes(45,46). The first and second wipers(41,42) and the first and second caps(43,44) are protruded from an upper surface of the slider(40).

Description

Maintenance apparatus for inkjet printers {Maintenance apparatus for an ink-jet printer}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet printer, and more particularly, to a maintenance apparatus of an inkjet printer, which maintains the nozzle of the ink cartridge in an optimal operating state.

In general, an inkjet printer is a printing machine which performs printing by attaching ink bubbles generated by applying heat to ink stored in a cartridge to a printing paper through a nozzle, and a paper feeder for feeding sheets of paper and conveying the fed paper. A paper conveying apparatus, a printing apparatus for printing ink by ejecting ink onto the paper, a discharge apparatus for discharging the printed paper to the outside, and a maintenance apparatus for cleaning the nozzle surface of the ink cartridge and sealing the ink cartridge nozzle surface.

1 is a front view showing the inside of a conventional inkjet printer, and as shown, the carriage 20 in which the cartridge 21 is mounted is installed inside the printer main body 10 so as to be movable left and right. Here, the moving area of the carriage 20 is a printing area (P) where the ink is ejected through the nozzle 21a of the cartridge 21, and the carriage 20 is cleaned of the ink that is parked or buried in the nozzle (21a) It is divided into the service area S, and the maintenance apparatus 30 is provided in the service area S. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the maintenance apparatus 30 includes a housing 31 installed in the printer main body 10, a slider 32 installed in the housing 31 so as to be movable, and a wiper provided in the slider 32. 33 and the cap 34.

The housing 31 has a substantially rectangular shape with an open upper portion, and has a plurality of guide grooves 35 for guiding the flow of the slider 32.

The slider 32 has a plurality of guide protrusions 36 which flow in the plurality of guide grooves 35. The slider 32 is provided with a locking piece 37 and a latching member 38 so that the slider 32 can flow by the movement of the carriage 20.

The wiper 33 flows integrally with the slider 32 to wipe off the ink remaining in the nozzle 21a which has completed the printing operation. The cap 34 seals the nozzle 21a when the ink cartridge 21 is parked to prevent the ink of the nozzle 21a from drying out.

The operation of the maintenance apparatus 30 of the inkjet printer configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

When the ink cartridge 21 mounted on the carriage 20 moves left and right in the printing area and ejects ink to complete printing, the ink cartridge 21 is moved to the service area S (see Fig. 1).

When the ink cartridge 21 is moved to the service area S side, the nozzle 21a is first wiped in contact with the wiper 33. Then, the slider 32 is moved along the guide groove 35 while one side of the carriage 20 pushes the engaging piece 37 of the slider 32 in the arrow A direction. When the slider 32 moves along the inclined surface of the guide groove 35 and reaches a predetermined position, the cap 34 is raised in the direction of arrow B to seal the nozzle 21a.

On the other hand, when the ink cartridge 21 is moved back to the print area for the print job, another side of the carriage 20 pushes the latching member 38 to return the slide 32 to its original position. Here, the latching member 38 does not affect the movement of the slider 32 when the carriage 32 is moved from the printing area P to the service area S, and the printing area P in the service area S is not affected. The slider 32 is moved only when it is moved to ().

However, since the carriage 20 including the wiper 33 and the cap 34 is moved left and right, the maintenance apparatus 30 of the conventional inkjet printer as described above occupies a lot of installation space and moves the slider 32. Noise is generated by In addition, since the structure is complicated, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a maintenance apparatus of an inkjet printer capable of reducing manufacturing costs due to a small installation space, low noise, and a simple structure.

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

2 is a schematic view schematically showing the main part of FIG.

3A and 3B are schematic diagrams illustrating a maintenance apparatus of an ink jet printer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

10; printer body 11, 12; first, second support shaft

22, 24; first and second carriages 23 and 25; first and second ink cartridges

23a, 25b; first and second nozzles 40; slider

41, 42; first and second wipers 43, 44; first and second caps

45, 46; 1st, 2nd slide ball 50; Cam

51; camshaft 52, 53; first and second cam levers

70,80; 1st, 2nd spring

The maintenance apparatus of the inkjet printer according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the slider provided to enable the vertical flow on the support shaft installed in the printer main body; A wiper installed on an upper surface of the slider to wipe the nozzle surface of the ink cartridge; A cap installed on an upper surface of the slider at a predetermined distance from the wiper to seal the nozzle; And operating means for flowing the slider up and down.

In the present invention having the above constitution, the actuating means is preferably constituted by a cam mechanism including a cam provided to rotate in contact with the lower surface of the slider.

And, as an embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration, the cam mechanism, a cam shaft for rotatably supporting the cam; A first cam lever installed on the cam shaft; An actuating member mounted to a carriage for moving said ink cartridge to rotate said first cam lever about said camshaft; And a spring coupled to both ends of the printer body and the slider, respectively.

In addition, as another embodiment of the present invention, the cam mechanism, a cam shaft for rotatably supporting the cam; A first cam lever installed on the cam shaft; A second cam lever installed on the cam shaft at a predetermined rotation angle with the first cam lever; And an operating member installed in the carriage for moving the ink cartridge to rotate the first and second cam levers about the camshaft.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, the cam mechanism includes: a cam shaft rotatably supporting the cam; A first cam lever installed on the cam shaft; A second cam lever installed on the cam shaft at a predetermined rotation angle with the first cam lever; An actuating member mounted to a carriage for moving the ink cartridge to rotate the first and second cam levers about the camshaft; And a spring coupled to both ends of the printer body and the slider, respectively.

According to this, since the slider provided with the wiper and the cap is supported on the support shaft and is moved up and down by the cam, the nozzle is wiped and then sealed, so that a maintenance apparatus of an inkjet printer having a simple structure and a small size can be realized.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the maintenance apparatus of the inkjet printer according to the present invention. For reference, in the following description of the present invention, the same reference numerals refer to the same parts in the construction and operation.

As shown in Figs. 3A and 3B, the maintenance apparatus of the ink jet printer according to the present invention includes a slider 40 having a wiping member and a capping member, a cam 50, an operating member 60, 1 and 2 springs 70 and 80.

The slider 40 includes first and second wipers 41 and 42, first and second caps 43 and 44, and first and second slide holes 45 and 46. The first and second ink cartridges 23 and 25 mounted on the second carriages 22 and 24 are installed to enable vertical flow. That is, the slider 40 has two support shafts 11 by inserting the first and second support shafts 11 and 12 installed in the printer body 10 into the first and second slide holes 45 and 46. It can flow up and down on the (12).

The two wipers 41 and 42 and the caps 43 and 44 are installed to protrude on the upper surface of the slider 40. These are the second wiper 42, the second cap 44, the first wiper 41 and the first cap on the service area S (see FIG. 1) of the first and second ink cartridges 23 and 25. The nozzles 23a and 25a of the two ink cartridges 23 and 25 are disposed in the order of 43, and then sealed.

The cam 50 is coupled to a cam shaft 51 installed in the printer body 10 to rotate in contact with the lower surface of the slider 40. The cam 50 is rotated integrally with the cam shaft 51 to raise the slider 40 in the upward direction. On the camshaft 51, the 1st and 2nd cam levers 52 and 53 are provided in predetermined rotation angle.

The operating member 60 is installed on the first carriage 22 to rotate the first cam lever 52 or the second cam lever 53 about the cam shaft 51 when the first carriage 22 moves. Drive 50.

The first spring 70 is installed on the outer circumference of the first support shaft 11 so that one end of the first spring 70 is coupled to the lower surface of the slider 40. In addition, one end of the second spring 80 is coupled to the printer body 10 on the outer circumference of the second support shaft 12, and the other end of the second spring 80 is coupled to the lower surface of the slider 40. These two springs 70 and 80 allow elastic recovery force to be applied between the printer body 10 and the slider 40. Thus, the slider 40 flowed upward by the cam 50 is returned in the downward direction by these springs 70 and 80.

Hereinafter, the operation of the maintenance of the inkjet printer according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The first and second ink cartridges 23 and 25, which have finished printing through ink jetting of the nozzles 23a and 25a, are mounted to the first and second carriages 23 and 25 to serve the service area S; 1, the first ink cartridge 23 passes through the second wiper 42 and the second cap 44 to reach the first wiper 41, and the second ink cartridge 25 The second wiper 42 is reached. At this time, the ink remaining in the first nozzle 23a is removed while the surface of the first nozzle 23a comes into contact with the first wiper 41, and the surface of the second nozzle 25a is removed from the second wiper 42. In this manner, the ink remaining in the second nozzle 25a is removed.

In addition, the operating member 60 installed and moved to the first carriage 22 while the first and second carriages 22 and 24 are continuously moved moves the first cam lever 52 around the camshaft 51. Rotate counterclockwise. As a result, the cam 50 coupled to the camshaft 51 is rotated, and the slider 40 flows upward by overcoming the elastic force of the first and second springs 70 and 80 by the cam 50. do. When the two carriages 22 and 24 reach and stop at the predetermined positions, the upward movement of the slider 40 is also stopped. At this time, the first nozzle 23a is sealed by the first cap 43, The second nozzle 25a is sealed by the second cap 44.

On the other hand, when the first and second carriages 22 and 24 are moved back to the print area P (see FIG. 1) for a print job, the operating member 60 moves the second cam lever 53 to the camshaft 51. The cam 50 is moved to its original position by rotating it clockwise around the center, and the slider 40 is moved downward by the elastic recovery force of the first and second springs 70 and 80 to return to the original position. do.

According to the present invention described above, since the wiper and the slider provided with two caps are moved up and down by the cam at the bottom of the first and second ink cartridge, the wiping and capping for the first and second nozzles are made, It is possible to implement a maintenance device with a small installation space and a simple structure. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In addition, according to the present invention, the slider is guided along the guide groove as in the prior art has the effect of reducing the noise generated while moving to the left and right.

As mentioned above, although the present invention has been illustrated and described with respect to preferred embodiments for illustrating the principles of the invention, the invention is not limited to the configuration and operation as shown and described. Rather, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many changes and modifications can be made to the present invention 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.

Claims (5)

A slider installed to enable vertical flow on a support shaft installed in the printer main body; A wiper installed on an upper surface of the slider to wipe the nozzle surface of the ink cartridge; A cap installed on an upper surface of the slider at a predetermined distance from the wiper to seal the nozzle; And And an operating means for moving the slider up and down. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating means, And a cam mechanism including a cam installed to rotate in contact with the lower surface of the slider. The method of claim 2, wherein the cam mechanism, A cam shaft rotatably supporting the cam; A first cam lever installed on the cam shaft; An actuating member mounted to a carriage for moving said ink cartridge to rotate said first cam lever about said camshaft; And And a spring coupled to both ends of the printer body and the slider, respectively. The method of claim 2, wherein the cam mechanism, A cam shaft rotatably supporting the cam; A first cam lever installed on the cam shaft; A second cam lever installed on the cam shaft at a predetermined rotation angle with the first cam lever; And And an operating member installed in the carriage for moving the ink cartridge to rotate the first and second cam levers about the camshaft. The method of claim 2, wherein the cam mechanism, A cam shaft rotatably supporting the cam; A first cam lever installed on the cam shaft; A second cam lever installed on the cam shaft at a predetermined rotation angle with the first cam lever; An actuating member mounted to a carriage for moving the ink cartridge to rotate the first and second cam levers about the camshaft; And And a spring coupled to both ends of the printer body and the slider, respectively.