JPH02188259A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the possibility of clogging and to realize a high reliability and good operating properties by exposing ink discharge ports by a cap open/ close means according to the action of a rocking means for holding a recording head on a recording position. CONSTITUTION:In the replacement of a recording head, a strut support pin 6A on the side of a carriage 2 is nested into a support hole 1F of a recording head 1, and an engaging claw 9A of a support plate 9 is engaged with an engaging hole 1G of the recording head 1, whereby the recording head 1 is loaded on the carriage 2. In addition, in this state, a capping member 3 keeps ink discharge ports 1A of the recording head 1 interrupted from atmosphere. When a recording is conducted, with the excitation of a solenoid 11 the support plate 9 is attracted down against the spring force of a spring 10 to be discharge horizontal, the recording head 1 rotates by a moment force applied to a support hole 1F, and the capping member 3 is pressed up through an engaging piece 3E at the top of a pressing member 7 mounted on the carriage 2. In this manner, the ink discharge ports 1A are exposed and kept on a recording position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device, and more specifically, an ink tank for storing ink and a recording head for discharging ink are integrally provided, and the present invention relates to an inkjet recording device. The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device equipped with a recording head that is detachably mounted.

[Prior Art] In a conventional inkjet recording device of this type, in order to perform recording by ejecting ink from an ejection port communicating with a liquid path, energy is generated to eject the ink in correspondence with the ejection port. An ink ejection section equipped with a generation means and an ink tank that supplies the ink are integrally formed as a recording head so that they can be attached to and removed from a carriage, and since the ink ejection section is always exposed, there is no possibility of clogging. Easy to occur. Therefore, when the recording head is not attached to a carriage and is not in use, it is customary to store such an integrated recording head in a closed container to protect it from clogging. Furthermore, a method has been proposed in which a cap is fitted to the ink ejection part like a fountain pen, and when the ink is used, the cap is removed and the ink is attached to a recording device.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, when storing the container in a sealed container as described above, in most cases, a laminate material such as aluminum is welded to seal the container, and this is removed to use the ink. If the recording head is left unattended after it has been removed, such as when replacing it, there is no way to store it in a sealed manner, which can cause clogging.

Also, if the cap is removable, it takes a lot of effort to put it on and take it off.
Not only is it inconvenient to use when replacing it, but it can also cause troublesome clogging if you forget to attach the cap.

Furthermore, if the power is turned off or the outlet is unplugged during the recording operation, the carriage will stop midway and the ink ejection section will remain exposed, which may also cause clogging.

The purpose of the present invention is to focus on the above-mentioned conventional problem, and to solve the problem, to improve the operability when replacing the head, and to prevent the ink ejection part of the recording head from capping automatically when not attached to a recording device. To provide an inkjet recording device which can realize a high degree of reliability and good operability without the risk of clogging by always capping the inkjet recording device except when recording even when the device is installed.

[Means for solving the problem] Achieve the purpose. To achieve this, the inkjet recording device of the present invention is an inkjet recording device that performs recording by ejecting ink from an ink ejection port of a printhead mounted on a carriage. a cap member, a cap opening/closing means disposed in relation to the carriage and keeping the cap member in either a state of covering or exposing an ink ejection port, and a holder for swingably holding the recording head on the carriage. and a rocking means for swinging the recording head to keep the recording head in the recording position during recording, and in accordance with the operation of the rocking means, the ink ejection orifice is exposed by the cap opening/closing means. shall be.

Furthermore, the recording head of the present invention is removably mounted on a carriage of an inkjet recording apparatus and performs recording by ejecting ink from an ink ejection orifice. The recording head has a biasing member that biases the recording head to a covered state, and a support means that swingably supports the recording head, and is arranged in relation to the carriage and is configured to rotate the recording head according to the swinging means that swings the recording head. The ink discharge port is exposed against the biasing means and can be maintained in a state capable of ejecting by means of the cap opening/closing means which keeps the cap member in either the state of covering the ink discharge port or the state of exposing the ink discharge port. [Function] According to the present invention, when the recording head is attached to the holding means of the carriage, the ink ejection portion is still kept covered by the cap member, but the recording head is shaken before recording. By moving the recording head to the recording position, the cap opening/closing means can expose the ejection ports, and by guiding the recording head to the position of the ink receiver, the ink receiver can be moved to the position of the member. By engaging the retaining portion with the holding means, the recording head can be swung, and the ink ejecting portion thereof can be exposed and maintained in a state where idle ejection is possible.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below in detail and specifically based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 1 shows the state before the recording head 1 is attached or when the recording head 1 is removed from the carriage 2. FIG. In FIG. 1, the recording head 1
has an ink accommodating part for accommodating ink (not shown) inside, and this ink accommodating part is formed in the shape of a bag made of an elastic material, or has a spongy ink holding member inside. or An electrothermal converter is provided that generates thermal energy as energy used to eject ink.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, when the recording head 1 removes the cap member 3, an ink ejection part 1B having an ink ejection port 18 is provided protruding from an inclined surface, and the inclined surface is covered with rubber or the like. A sealing member 1c made of an elastic body is attached. Note that the member IC used here is made of rubber (S), for example.
BR, NBR, CR, silicone) materials, plastics (urethane or nylon), or single-cell sponges, which have good adhesion to the cap and are required to be airtight (low gas permeability). Prevent clogging. Reference numeral 3 denotes a cap member that is rotatable around a rotation shaft 3A, and the rotation shaft 3A4 provided on the arm portion 3D is pivotally supported by the housing ID of the recording head 1. In the state shown in FIG. 2 when the cap member 3 is removed from the carriage 2, the spring force of the spring 4 allows the cap member 3 to be kept in a closed state with respect to the ink discharge island. Note that the spring 4 is a torsion coil spring, and one end thereof is locked in a locking hole IE provided in the housing ID, and the other end is locked in a locking piece 3E of the cap member 3. As mentioned above, by forming the inclined surface on the head, when capping is performed by rotating it around the rotation axis 3A, capping is easy and the flat part of the cap member is brought into contact with the head to ensure reliability. can be kept sealed.

Therefore, when in the capping state, the box-shaped protruding cap part 3B of the cap member 3 is fitted into the ink ejection part IB, and the flat part 3C around it is brought into close contact with the sealing member 1C, and the ink is The area around the discharge port IA can be completely sealed. Furthermore, in FIG. 1, 1F is a support hole that is bored on both sides of the housing 10 and serves as a support means for swingably supporting the head 1. On the other hand, the recording head 1 is mounted on the carriage 2. It has a guide member 5 that sometimes serves as a front guide, and a support pin 68 that supports the head 1, and these support pins 6A are inserted into the above-mentioned support hole I.
F, the support column 6 that supports the head 1 and the engagement piece 3E of the cap member 3 are pushed up from below, and the cap member 3 is rotated around its rotation axis 3 to close the cap member. Push-up member 7 as opening/closing means
has been erected. Reference numeral 8 denotes an electrical contact point provided on the lower surface side of the recording head 1 for supplying an electrical signal to a substrate (not shown) provided with a control circuit for the recording head 1.

The carriage 2 further has a support plate as a means for receiving and swingably supporting the lower surface of the recording head 1 when the recording head 1 is mounted, and the support plate 9 is connected to the engagement hole IG of the recording head 1. A locking claw 9A that is engaged with the latching claw 9A, an arm portion 9B that projects laterally, a hanging arm 9C that keeps the support plate 9 swingable around the support pin 6A, and an electrical contact point 8 of the head 1. It has contacts 9D for electrical connections to maintain contact.

IO is a push-up spring 1 for keeping the support plate 9 in the illustrated state;
Reference numeral 1 designates a solenoid which operates to pull down the support plate 9 by its solenoid shaft 118 against a spring force. Therefore,
Attach the recording head 1 from above onto the support plate 9, and press the locking claw 9.
The recording head 1 can be kept in a state where it can swing around the support bin 6A by locking it in the engagement hole IG of the head housing ID, and by energizing the solenoid 11, the support plate 9 can be moved. The head 1 can be swung to a horizontal state against the spring force of the spring 10, exposing the ink ejection ports IA of the head 1, and can maintain a recordable state by ejecting ink at a position facing a recording material (not shown). .

12 is a flexible cable whose one end is connected to the contact point 90, and 13 is a carrier wire connected to the carriage 2 for reciprocating the carriage 2 along the guide shaft 14 by a drive means (not shown). In this way, by reciprocating the print head 1 mounted on the carriage 2, printing is performed by forcefully ejecting ink from the ink ejection ports 1^, but the print head 1 is further moved outside the print area of the print head 1, for example, at the home. Base 1 is placed at the opposite position near the position.
5. As shown in Figure 1, the ink receiver for recovery is in unit 1.
6 is a provision.

The ink receiver unit 16 is constructed by mounting an ink absorber 168 made of spongy or laminated absorbent paper or the like that easily absorbs ink on a mounting base 16B, and has an overhanging elbow member 16G as shown. Also, this elbow member 16C
is arranged so as to be inserted below the arm portion 9B of the support plate 9 when the carriage 2 is guided near the home position. Therefore, in this state, the solenoid 11 is energized to move the support plate 9. When the arm part 9B is swung, the arm part 9B becomes the elbow member 1.
6G, and the recording head 1 is stopped in a state in which the ink ejection openings l^ are exposed, so that the ejection openings 18 are positioned opposite the ink absorber 16A as will be described later. (See Figure 3C).

Next, a description will be given of the recording head replacement operation, the operation at the time of recording, and the operation at the time of recovery of the inkjet recording apparatus configured as described above.

First, when replacing the recording head, as mentioned earlier, fit the column support pin 6A on the carriage 2 side into the support hole IF of the recording head 1, and lock the support plate 9 into the engagement hole IG of the recording head 1. By locking the claw 9A, the recording head 1 can be mounted on the carriage 2 as shown in FIG. 3A. In this state, the push-up member 7 does not come into contact with the locking piece 3E, so the cap member 3 does not touch the recording head 1.
The height of the ink ejection port 1 is maintained in a state where it is shielded from the atmosphere, and when not printing, the ink ejection port 1 is
This prevents solvents such as water in the ink from evaporating.

Then, when performing recording, the solenoid 11 is energized, the support plate 9 is pulled down to a horizontal state against the spring force of the spring 10, and the recording head 1 is rotated by the moment force against the support hole IF. , the cap member 3 engages the locking piece 3E at the tip of the push-up member 7 provided on the carriage 2.
As shown in FIG. 3B, the ink discharge port IA can be exposed and maintained at the recording position. Therefore, in this state, the carriage 2 is moved eight times along the guide shaft 14, and ink is ejected from the ink ejection port height in accordance with the print signal to perform printing.

Further, when recording is completed, by deenergizing the solenoid 11, the support plate 9 can be swung by the spring force of the spring 10 to return to the capping state as shown in FIG. 38. Note that when the power is turned off or the outlet is unplugged, the solenoid 11 is deenergized and capping is performed in a similar manner.

Furthermore, if there is a risk of non-ejection due to increased viscosity of the ink, the carriage 2 is guided to the position of the ink receiver shown in FIG. 1 in the state shown in FIG.
6G is pulled under the arm portion 9B of the support plate 9, and the arm portion 9B is brought into contact with the elbow member 16G by energizing the solenoid 11, and the support plate 9 is shown in FIG. 3C. It can be placed in a semi-slanted state.

In this state, the cap member 3 is rotated halfway and the ink ejection ports IA of the head 1 are exposed.
It is maintained at a position facing the ink absorber 18A. Therefore, it is sufficient to perform idle ejection of ink in this state and allow the ink absorber 16A to absorb the ejected ink, and the absorbed ink is dispersed by natural evaporation. Note that the ink receiver unit 16 is not limited to the above-mentioned ink absorber, but may have a means for storing the received ink or guiding the ink to a separately provided ink reservoir. Of course, this is a good thing.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the invention. In this example, instead of providing a solenoid in the carriage 2, the cap member 3 is mechanically opened and closed according to the driving direction of the carriage 2. That is, the carrier wire 13
is stretched between the motor pulley 20 and the tension pulley 21, and the motor 22 can move the carriage 2 horizontally in the figure. The set lever 23 is a set lever that can freely slide along a sliding hole 28 provided in the figure while maintaining the posture shown in the figure. There is.

Moreover, 23B is attached to the lower part of the set lever 23,
This is a friction plate that presses against the guide shaft 14. Further, in the case of this example, the arm portion 9B of the support plate 9 is formed into a flat key shape as shown in the figure, and the bent end thereof is connected to the set lever 2.
It is maintained so as to be able to engage with the tri-force arm portion 23A. The rest of the configuration is the same as the example shown in FIG. 1, but in this example, the ink receiver unit is not shown.

Therefore, in the inkjet recording apparatus configured as described above, when the wire 13 is driven in the A direction by the motor 22, the set lever 23 first moves in the A direction along the slide hole 2A, and the cam portion 238 of the set lever 23 moves in the A direction. Therefore, the arm portion 9 of the support plate 9
By pushing up B, the recording head 1 is maintained in the state shown in FIG. 3B, and the cap member 3 is pushed up by the push-up member 7, exposing the ink ejection portion IA.

However, after levering, the set lever 23 comes into contact with the left end surface of the sliding hole 2^, thereby moving the carriage 2 in the direction, and in the meantime, ink is ejected from the ink ejection part l^ to perform recording. be able to. Then the recording ends,
When the wire 13 is driven in the B direction, the set lever 23 moves along the sliding groove 28 in the B direction together with the wire 13, so that the arm portion 9B of the support plate 9 rises according to the inclination of the cam portion 23A, and the recording head 1 is in the state shown in FIG. 3A. That is, the ink ejection portion IA is capped by the cap member 3, and is maintained in a state retracted upward from the recording position.

In other words, this example is suitable for an inkjet recording apparatus that performs unidirectional recording, and by utilizing the eight-motion movement of the carriage 2, the cap can be removed during forward and backward recording, and capping can be performed during backward travel. .

In addition, in this example, when dry ejection is to be performed, the ink receiver should engage the form of an elbow member 16C provided on the unit 16 with the arm portion 9B of the support plate 9 to partially push it down, although not shown. By making it possible to pull up the cap member 3 in the same way, the ink ejection part 1
8 can be exposed at the portion facing the ink absorber II].

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the inkjet recording device of the present invention, in an inkjet recording device that performs recording by discharging ink from the ink discharge ports of the recording head mounted on the carriage, the recording head a cap member that is provided and capable of keeping the ink ejection port in a covered state; a cap opening/closing means that is disposed in relation to the carriage and keeps the cap member in either a state where the ink ejection port is covered or exposed; and a recording head. A holding means for swingably holding the print head on the carriage, and a swinging means for swinging the recording head to keep the recording head in the recording position during recording, and a cap opening/closing means according to the operation of the swinging means to release the ink. Since the ejection ports are exposed, the ink ejection portion of the print head can be NMed by its own cap member when the print head is removed from the carriage and when the print head is not printing, which helps prevent clogging. In addition, the ink receiver is provided with a member outside the recording area, and a part of the member of the ink receiver can be engaged with the holding means to swing the recording head, and the ink ejecting part is controlled by the cap opening/closing member. It is possible to expose and perform dry ejection.

Further, according to the recording head of the present invention, in the recording head that is detachably mounted on the carriage of an inkjet recording apparatus and performs recording by discharging ink from the ink discharge ports, a cap member that covers the ink discharge ports is provided. , a rocking means that is disposed in relation to the carriage and that has a biasing member that biases the cap member to a covered state and a support means that swingably supports the carriage and that swings the recording head; The cap opening/closing means maintains the cap member in either the covering state or the exposed state of the ink ejection port depending on the ink ejection port, so that the ink ejection port can be held in a state where the ink ejection port is exposed and ready for ejection against the biasing means. As a result, the swinging operation of the recording head can be performed by energizing and deenergizing the solenoid, and even if the power is turned off, the capping of the recording head can be performed automatically, increasing reliability. A recording head with high performance can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of an uninvented inkjet recording apparatus; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an exposed state of the ink ejection portion of the recording head shown in FIG. 1; FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C. The drawings are side views showing the recording head according to the present invention in a non-use state, a recording state, and a state during idle ink discharge, respectively, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of another embodiment of the present invention. 1.2.Recording head, IA...ink discharge port, IC...seal member, IF...support hole, 2...carriage, 2A...sliding hole, 3...cap member, 4... Spring, 6... Support column, 6 Static/support pin, 7... Push-up member, 9... Support plate, 9B... Arm portion, 10... Push-up spring, 11. ...Solenoid, 16...Ink receiver unit, 16^...Ink absorber, 16C...Elbow member, 23...Set lever 23A...Cam member. 1C Nuru Deluxe Pf2 3K τ7F Tsuboshita main block Fig. 3A

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) In an inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from an ink discharge port of a recording head mounted on a carriage, an inkjet recording device is provided in the recording head and is capable of keeping the ink discharge port in a covered state. a cap member disposed in relation to the carriage, and a cap opening/closing means for keeping the cap member in either a state of covering or exposing the ink ejection port, and the recording head is swingable on the carriage. and a swinging means for swinging the recording head to keep the recording head at the recording position during recording, the cap opening/closing means opening and closing the ink ejection opening in accordance with the operation of the swinging means. An inkjet recording device characterized in that an inkjet recording device is configured to expose. 2) In a recording head that is detachably mounted on a carriage of an ink jet recording apparatus and performs recording by discharging ink from an ink discharge port, the cap member covers the ink discharge port, and the cap member is in a covered state. a biasing member that biases the recording head; and a support unit that swingably supports the carriage, the support unit being disposed in relation to the carriage and pivoting the recording head in accordance with the swinging unit that swings the recording head. The ink discharge port is exposed against the biasing means and can be maintained in a state capable of ejecting by means of a cap opening/closing means that keeps the cap member in either a state of covering the ink discharge port or an exposed state. recording head.