JP2014237239A - Cartridge holder, image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To cope with increase and change of kinds of liquid cartridges.SOLUTION: A cartridge holder 200 comprises a non-interchangeable block body 211 which can be attached in plural different attachment directions. The non-interchangeable block body 211 has two slits 212a and 212b formed in a crossing state and for guiding a non-interchangeable rib 201 disposed on an ink cartridge 10. When the attachment direction of the non-interchangeable block body 200 is changed, the ink cartridge 10 that can be guided by the slits 212a and 212b also changes.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cartridge holder and an image forming apparatus.

  As an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile, a copying machine, a plotter, or a complex machine of these, for example, a liquid discharge recording type image forming apparatus using a liquid discharge head (droplet discharge head) for discharging droplets as a recording head An ink jet recording apparatus is known.

  As a liquid supply system of such an image forming apparatus, a liquid cartridge containing liquid to be supplied to the recording head is replaceably mounted on the apparatus main body side, and the liquid is supplied from the liquid cartridge to the recording head side through a supply tube. Tube supply systems are known.

  By the way, it is necessary to prevent each liquid cartridge from being mounted at a different position in a cartridge holder in which a plurality of different liquid cartridges are detachably mounted.

  Therefore, conventionally, liquid cartridges are provided with incompatible ribs at their own positions, and slits (grooves) that fit only one type of incompatible ribs are provided on the cartridge holder side (Patent Document 1). ).

JP 2007-106084 A

  However, in the conventional cartridge holder, there is a problem that the cartridge holder itself has to be recreated again when the arrangement order of the colors on the liquid cartridge side is changed or the number of colors is increased.

  In this manner, remanufacturing the cartridge holder causes a new type of investment and an increase in cost, such as an inventory management cost when several types of cartridge holders are manufactured.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to easily cope with a change in the arrangement of liquid cartridges and an increase in types.

In order to solve the above problems, a cartridge holder according to the present invention is:
A cartridge holder for detachably mounting a liquid cartridge containing a liquid to be supplied to a liquid discharge head,
It has a block body that can be mounted in multiple different mounting orientations,
In the block body,
At least two slits for guiding incompatible ribs provided in the liquid cartridge are formed intersecting,
The liquid cartridges that can be guided by the slits are different because the mounting directions are different.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily cope with an arrangement change and an increase in the types of liquid cartridges.

1 is an external perspective view illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 2 is a schematic side view of the apparatus. FIG. 2 is an explanatory plan view of a main part of an image forming unit of the apparatus. FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory front view of the ink cartridge. It is front explanatory drawing of the cartridge holder which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is perspective explanatory drawing of the state which removed the incompatible block body of the head holder. It is a perspective explanatory view of the incompatible block body. It is plane explanatory drawing explaining the attachment state from which the same incompatible block body differs. It is a perspective explanatory view of an incompatible block body in a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective explanatory view of an incompatible block body in a third embodiment of the present invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. An example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory view of the image forming apparatus, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the image forming apparatus, and FIG.

  This image forming apparatus is a serial type image forming apparatus, and includes an apparatus main body 101 and a paper feeding device 102 disposed below the apparatus main body 101.

  Inside the apparatus main body 101, a guide rod 1 and a guide stay 2, which are guide members, are stretched over both side plates (not shown). The guide rod 1 and the guide stay 2 hold the carriage 5 so as to be movable in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1 (main scanning direction in FIG. 3).

  The carriage 5 is reciprocated in the main scanning direction by the main scanning motor 6 via the driving pulley 7, the driven pulley 8 and the timing belt 9.

  The carriage 5 includes a plurality of (here, five) liquid discharge heads that discharge ink droplets and recording heads 11a to 11e in which a head tank that supplies liquid to the liquid discharge heads is integrated (if not distinguished, “recording” Head 11 ”). The recording heads 11a and 11b are held by the head holder 51A, and the recording heads 11c to 11d are held by the head holder 51A.

  Here, the recording head 11a and the recording heads 11b to 11e are arranged by shifting the position of one head (one nozzle row) in the sub-scanning direction that is a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. Each of the recording heads 11a to 11e has two nozzle rows. The recording heads 11a and 11b discharge black droplets having the same color, and the recording heads 11c to 11e discharge magenta (M), cyan (C), and yellow (Y) droplets, respectively.

  As a result, monochrome images can be formed with a width of two heads in one scan (main scan) using the recording heads 11a and 11b, and color images are formed using, for example, the recording heads 11b to 11e. be able to. The head configuration is not limited to this, and a plurality of recording heads may be arranged side by side in the main scanning direction.

  In the head tank of the recording head 11, each color is supplied via a supply tube 16 that can be bent from ink cartridges 10 k, 10 c, 10 m, and 10 y as liquid cartridges (referred to as “ink cartridge 10” when not distinguished). Ink is supplied. At this time, ink is supplied from one ink cartridge 10k to the two recording heads 11a and 11b that discharge droplets of the same color.

  The ink cartridge 10 is detachably (replaceable) attached to a cartridge holder 200 disposed in the apparatus main body.

  On the other hand, in the recording area of the main scanning area of the carriage 5, the roll paper 120 is fed from the paper supply device 102, and a direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction of the carriage 5 by the conveying means 21 (sub-scanning direction: arrow B direction). ) Intermittently.

  The transport unit 21 includes a transport roller 23 that is a rotating body that transports the roll paper 120 that is a roll-shaped medium fed from the paper feeder 102, and a pressure roller 24 that is disposed opposite the transport roller 23. And it has the conveyance guide member 25 in which the several suction hole was formed, and the suction fan 26 as a suction means which performs suction from the suction hole of the conveyance guide member 25. FIG.

  A cutter 27 serving as a cutting unit that cuts the roll paper 120 on which the image is formed by the recording head 11 at a predetermined length is disposed on the downstream side of the transport unit 21.

  The cutter 27 is attached to a wire or a timing belt 28, for example. The timing belt 28 is wound around a driving pulley driven by a driving motor (not shown) and a driven pulley, and the timing belt 28 is moved in the main scanning direction A by the driving motor via the driving pulley. 27, the paper is cut into a predetermined length.

  Further, on one side of the carriage 5 in the main scanning direction, a maintenance / recovery mechanism 30 that performs maintenance / recovery of the recording head 11 is disposed on the side of the conveyance guide member 25. In addition, on the other side in the main scanning direction, idle discharge receptacles 34 that perform idle ejection for ejecting liquid droplets that do not contribute to image formation from the recording head 11 are respectively disposed on the side of the conveyance guide member 25.

  The maintenance / recovery mechanism 30 includes a first maintenance / recovery unit 31 held by the frame member of the apparatus main body 101, and a second maintenance / recovery unit 32 held by the frame member of the maintenance / recovery mechanism 30 so as to be capable of reciprocating in the sub-scanning direction. have. The second maintenance / recovery unit 32 is at the position shown in FIG. 3 when performing the maintenance / recovery of the recording head 11a, and moves to the same sub-scanning direction position as the first maintenance / recovery unit 31 when performing the maintenance / recovery of the recording heads 11b to 11e.

  The maintenance / recovery mechanism 30 includes, for example, a suction cap 41 and a moisture retention cap 42 that also serve as a moisture retention cap for capping the nozzle surface (the surface on which the nozzles are formed) of the recording head 11. The maintenance / recovery mechanism 30 also includes a wiper member 43 for wiping the nozzle surface, an empty discharge receiver 44 for receiving droplets (empty discharge droplets) that do not contribute to image formation.

  The paper feeder 102 has a spool bearing base 111. Inside the spool bearing base 111, there is provided a feeding mechanism that feeds the roll paper 120 from the roll body 112 and rewinds the roll paper 120.

  The roll body 112 is obtained by winding a sheet (hereinafter referred to as “roll paper”) 120 which is a long roll-shaped medium around a tube 114 which is a core member in a roll shape. Note that the roll body is a general term for members including the tube 114 and the roll paper 120.

  Then, the roll body 112 mounted on the spool bearing base 111 is rotated to feed the roll paper 120 downstream along the guide member 130.

  On the downstream side of the spool bearing base 111 in the feed direction, a pair of transport rollers 131 that curves and feeds the roll paper 120 fed from the roll body 112 is disposed. A guide member 130 that guides the lower surface of the roll paper 120 is disposed between the spool bearing base 111 and the conveying roller pair 131.

  By rotating the conveyance roller pair 131, the roll paper 120 fed out from the roll body 112 is conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 131, passes through the conveyance roller pair 131, and the conveyance roller 23 and the pressure roller 24 of the conveyance unit 21. It is sent in between.

  In the image forming apparatus configured as described above, the roll paper 120 fed from the paper feeding device 102 is intermittently conveyed by the conveying means 21. Then, the carriage 5 is moved in the main scanning direction, and the recording head 11 is driven according to the image information (printing information) to eject droplets, thereby forming a required image on the stopped roll paper 120. Is done.

  The roll paper 120 after image formation is cut to a predetermined length by the cutter 27 and discharged to a paper discharge tray (not shown) disposed on the front side of the apparatus main body 101.

  Next, the ink cartridge will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory front view of the ink cartridge.

  In this image forming apparatus, as described above, the ink cartridges 10k, 10c, 10m, and 10y containing the four color liquids are used.

  Here, in order to distinguish colors, the ink cartridges 10k, 10c, 10m, and 10y are formed with incompatible ribs (identification ribs) 201k, 201c, 201m, and 201y on the outer surface. The incompatible ribs 201k, 201c, 201m, and 201y are formed at different positions for each ink cartridge in the ink cartridge arrangement direction when the ink cartridge is mounted.

  Accordingly, by forming slits (grooves) at positions corresponding to the incompatible ribs 201 of the respective ink cartridges 10 on the cartridge holder 200 side, erroneous mounting of the ink cartridges 10 can be prevented.

  Next, the cartridge holder according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of the head holder, FIG. 6 is an external perspective view of the head holder with the incompatible block body removed, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the incompatible block body, and FIG. It is plane explanatory drawing explaining the attachment state from which an incompatible block body differs.

  In the present embodiment, two cartridges 10 are mounted on one cartridge holder 200, and two cartridge holders 200 are used to mount four ink cartridges 10. 5 and 6 show one cartridge holder.

  Two incompatible block bodies 211 are attached to the cartridge holder 200 on the opening side of the holder case 210.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the holder case 210 is provided with attachment portions 210 a and 210 a for attaching the incompatible block body 211.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the incompatible block 211 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and two slits (grooves) 212 a and 212 b for guiding the incompatible rib 201 of the ink cartridge 10 are formed on the same surface so as to be orthogonal to each other. Yes.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 8, the slit 212a has a distance from one end face parallel to the slit 212 of the incompatible block body 211 as L1, and a distance from the other end face as L2. The slit 212b has a distance from one end face parallel to the slit 212b of the incompatible block body 211 as L3 and a distance from the other end face as L4. These distances L1, L2, L3, and L4 are all different.

  The incompatible block body 211 can be attached to the attachment portion 210a of the holder case 210 in different attachment directions.

  Since the incompatible block body 211 is configured as described above, the positions of the slits 212a and 212b are different every time the mounting direction is changed by rotating 90 ° as shown in FIGS. 8A to 8D, for example. It will be.

  That is, when the left end of the incompatible block 211 in the state attached to the holder case 210 is used as a reference, the slit 212a is positioned at a distance L2 from the reference in FIG. 8A. In FIG. 8B rotated by 90 ° from the position of FIG. 8A, the slit 212b is located at a distance L3 from the reference. In FIG. 8C rotated 90 ° from the position of FIG. 8B, the slit 212a is located at a distance L1 from the reference. In FIG. 8D rotated by 90 ° from the position of FIG. 8C, the slit 212b is located at a distance L4 from the reference.

  As a result, four slit positions can be set by one incompatible block body 211. Therefore, the position of the incompatible rib 201 of the ink cartridge 10 that can be guided can be set by attaching the holder case 210 in different mounting directions. Will be different.

  In this example, it is possible to cope with the four-color ink cartridge 10 by setting the mounting direction in accordance with the position of the incompatible rib 201 of the four-color ink cartridge 10 described above.

  In this case, the attachment of the incompatible block body 211 to the holder case 210 is performed by the coupling by the snap fit portion 214 (FIG. 7), but is not limited thereto. Further, the incompatible block body 211 does not need to be on the opening surface side of the holder case 210 as long as it is arranged in any one of the ink cartridge insertion paths.

  Further, the incompatible block body 211 of the present embodiment is provided with a mark 215 for identifying and displaying the attachment position. Thereby, an attachment mistake reduces and an assembly workability | operativity improves.

  In this way, the block body has a plurality of different mounting orientations, and the block body is formed with at least two slits that guide the incompatible ribs provided in the liquid cartridge. Since the liquid cartridges that can be guided by the slits are different, the arrangement of the liquid cartridges can be easily changed and the number of types can be easily accommodated.

  For example, in the configuration of the above-described embodiment, one incompatible block body can correspond to four types of liquid cartridges. Therefore, by using two types of incompatible block bodies, it is possible to correspond to eight types of liquid cartridges.

  Next, the incompatible block body in 2nd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a perspective explanatory view of the incompatible block body.

  In this embodiment, a convex portion 216 is provided on the side surface of the incompatible block body 211, and is attached to a concave portion (not shown) provided on the holder case side by an uneven coupling.

  Next, the incompatible block body in 3rd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory perspective view of the incompatible block body.

  In this embodiment, the incompatible block body 211 has a cubic shape, and one (or more) slits 212 (212a to 212f) are formed on each surface. In this case, at least two slits 212 on different surfaces are formed so as to cross three-dimensionally.

  In this way, slits can be formed on six surfaces, and two slit positions can be set on one surface depending on the mounting direction, so that twelve types of slit positions can be set.

  In the present application, paper, printing medium, recording medium, recording medium, recording paper, recording paper, and the like are all synonymous. Image formation, recording, printing, printing, and printing are all synonymous.

  The “image forming apparatus” means an apparatus that forms an image by discharging a liquid onto a medium such as paper, thread, fiber, fabric, leather, metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics or the like. In addition, “image formation” not only applies an image having a meaning such as a character or a figure to a medium but also applies an image having no meaning such as a pattern to the medium (simply applying a droplet to the medium). It also means to land on.

  The “ink” is not limited to an ink unless otherwise specified, but includes any liquid that can form an image, such as a recording liquid, a fixing processing liquid, or a liquid. Used generically, for example, includes DNA samples, resists, pattern materials, resins, and the like.

  In addition, the “image” is not limited to a planar image, and includes an image given to a three-dimensionally formed image and an image formed by three-dimensionally modeling a solid itself.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 5 Carriage 11, 11a-11e Recording head 10, 10k, 10c, 10m, 10y Ink cartridge (liquid cartridge)
21 Conveying means 200 Cartridge holder 201 Incompatible rib 210 Holder case 211 Incompatible block body 212a to 212f Slit

Claims (5)

A cartridge holder for detachably mounting a liquid cartridge containing a liquid to be supplied to a liquid discharge head,
It has a block body that can be mounted in multiple different mounting orientations,
In the block body,
At least two slits for guiding incompatible ribs provided in the liquid cartridge are formed intersecting,
The cartridge holder according to claim 1, wherein the liquid cartridges that can be guided by the slits are different because the mounting directions are different.   2. The cartridge holder according to claim 1, wherein the block body has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and at least two slits are formed on the same surface.   2. The cartridge holder according to claim 1, wherein the block body has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and at least two slits are formed on different surfaces so as to cross three-dimensionally.   The cartridge holder according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the block body is provided with identification means for indicating a mounting direction.   An image forming apparatus comprising the cartridge holder according to claim 1.

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