JPH0655730A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a sealing fault of a nozzle part by a cap. CONSTITUTION:A first pivotally supporting point 9 is provided at the center in the width direction (direction of an arrow X) of the front of a carrier 6 which is scanned back and forth along a guide shaft 3, and a second pivotally supporting point 10 is provided on the side opposite to the scanning area of the carrier 6 with a space therefrom. One end of a lever 11 shaped in L substantially in the side view is fitted pivotally and rotatably to the second pivotally supporting point 10, while a cap 12 which can seal a nozzle part 7a of a recording head 7 closely is fixed to the other end of the lever 11. Between the central part of the lever 11 and the first pivotally supporting point 9, a coil spring 13 so actuated as to pull the central part of the lever 11 onto the first pivotally supporting point 9 side is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention In the present invention, a recording head for recording by ejecting ink from a nozzle portion toward a recording medium is mounted on a carrier which is reciprocally scanned in the width direction of the recording medium. The present invention relates to an inkjet printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of ink jet printer, a capping position is set on one end side of a scanning region of a carrier, and a printer body is provided with a capping mechanism having a cap facing the capping position. ing. Then, when the inkjet printer is not used or recording is interrupted, in order to prevent the nozzle portion of the recording head from being dried and dust from adhering to the nozzle portion, the carrier is moved to the capping position and then capped. The cap of the mechanism is advanced to press the recording head, and the cap seals the nozzle portion of the recording head.

[0003]

In this conventional ink jet printer, since the capping mechanism is provided as a unit separate from the carrier in the printer main body,
Due to the positional accuracy of the carrier and the capping mechanism and the wear of the cap, the gap between the carrier and the cap when not capping changes, and it is necessary to make a troublesome adjustment to the specified value of the gap, and also the cap during capping. There is also a problem in that the pressure applied to the recording head also changes, resulting in poor sealing of the nozzle portion.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and an ink jet printer which does not require troublesome gap adjustment between the carrier and the cap and does not cause defective sealing of the nozzle portion. The purpose is to provide.

[0005]

According to the present invention for achieving the above object, a recording head for performing recording by ejecting ink from a nozzle portion toward a recording medium is provided in a width direction of the recording medium. It is mounted on a carrier that is reciprocally scanned,
In an ink jet printer in which a capping position in which a nozzle portion of the recording head is sealed by a cap is set at one end side of a scanning area of the carrier, a first pivot point is provided at a substantially central portion of one surface of the carrier and the scanning is performed. Second pivot points are provided at intervals on the opposite side of the region, and one end of a lever having a substantially L shape in a side view is pivotally attached to the second pivot points, and the other end of the lever is attached to the second pivot point. A cap capable of sealing the nozzle portion of the recording head is integrally provided, and between the substantially central portion of the lever and the first pivot point,
An elastic body is provided that is urged to pull the substantially central portion of the lever toward the first pivot point side, and further, at a predetermined portion of the printer body on the opposite side of the scanning area from the capping position, A first interference portion is provided in which the substantially central portion of the lever abuts while the carrier moves from the scanning area to the capping position to rotate the lever in a direction in which the cap approaches the recording head side. At the same time, the other end of the lever comes into contact with a predetermined portion of the printer main body closer to the scanning area than the capping position while the carrier is moving from the capping position to the scanning area. It is characterized in that a second interference portion is provided for rotating the cap in a direction away from the recording head.

Further, a printer using a coil spring as an elastic body urged to pull the substantially central portion of the lever toward the first pivot point, the first interference portion and / or the second interference portion is a printer. It may form part of the body.

[0007]

In the invention according to claim 1 configured as described above, when the carrier is in the scanning region, the substantially central portion of the lever receives a tensile force in the direction of the first pivot point by the elastic body, and the second pivot point. Since the lever is urged to rotate the lever in the direction away from the recording head,
The cap is in the standby position and does not seal the nozzle portion of the recording head.

On the other hand, when the carrier is moved to the capping position at the end of recording or at the time of recording interruption, at the initial stage of the movement, the lever comes into contact with the first interference portion at its central portion and the cap comes close to the recording head. In the direction of the rotation of the lever, and with this rotation, the substantially central portion of the lever moves to the second pivot point and the first pivot point.
When the imaginary line connecting the pivot point is crossed, the tension of the elastic body acts so as to rotate the lever in the direction in which the cap approaches the recording head, so that the cap reaches the cap position and the recording head caps. Is pressed by
The nozzle part is sealed.

Next, when the carrier is moved from the capping position to the scanning area side, the other end of the lever comes into contact with the second interference portion, and when it is further moved, the lever rotates in the direction in which the cap of the lever moves away from the recording head. When the lever moves and the substantially central portion of the lever crosses an imaginary line connecting the second pivot point and the first pivot point, the tension of the elastic body causes the lever to pivot in the direction in which the cap of the lever moves away from the recording head. The cap is returned to the standby position.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of an essential part of an embodiment of an ink jet printer of the present invention. A conveyance roller 2 and a guide shaft 3 are provided on the left and right side portions 1a of a frame 1 as a printer body. It extends in the direction of arrow X and is supported. The conveyance roller 2 is a recording paper 4 as a recording medium.
Constitutes a part of a transport means for transporting in the direction of arrow Y, which is orthogonal to the direction of arrow X. A carrier 6 is supported on the guide shaft 3, and the carrier 6
The recording head 7 is mounted in the hollow portion 6a, and is reciprocally scanned by the driving means (not shown) in the width direction of the recording paper 4 (direction of arrow X), that is, along the guide shaft 5. The nozzle portion (not shown) of the recording head 7 faces downward, that is, toward the recording paper 4 side, and when the carrier 6 is reciprocally scanned in the arrow X direction, ink is ejected from the nozzle portion of the recording head 7 toward the recording paper 4. Recording is performed by discharging. Further, on the right end side in the drawing of the scanning region of the carrier 6,
A capping position 8 described later, which is indicated by a chain double-dashed line, is set. Here, the scanning area of the carrier 6 refers to the maximum printable recording sheet width peculiar to the printer.

Next, the capping mechanism, which is a feature of this embodiment, will be described. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG.
2A and 2B are side views of main parts of FIG. 1, FIG. 2 shows a state in which the carrier is located in the scanning region, FIG. 3 shows a state immediately before the carrier reaches the capping position, and FIG. 5 shows a certain state, and FIG. 5 shows a state where the carrier is moving from the capping position to the scanning area.

As shown in the respective drawings, a first pivot point 9 is provided at the center of the front surface of the carrier 6 in the width direction (direction of arrow X), and a second pivot point 9 is provided on the side opposite to the scanning area with a space therebetween.
A pivot point 10 is provided. One end of a lever 11 having a substantially L-shape in a side view is rotatably attached to the second pivot point 10 by an appropriate means such as a pin, and the other end of the lever 11 supports a cap 12 described later. Therefore, the wide portion is formed, and the nozzle portion 7a of the recording head 7 is provided in the wide portion.
Known cap 1 formed of an elastic material or the like capable of sealing
2 is stuck. The cap 12 has a hollow shape so as not to come into contact with the nozzle portion 7a during capping, and presses the outer peripheral portion of the nozzle portion 7a of the recording head 7. In addition, the central portion of the lever 11 and the first pivot point 9
And the coil spring 13 as an elastic body urged to pull the central portion of the lever 11 toward the first pivot point 9 side.
Are provided by appropriate means such as studs. Then, at a predetermined portion of the frame 1, that is, the side portion 1a, which is on the opposite side of the scanning area from the capping position 8 indicated by the chain double-dashed line,
Lever depressing member 1 as a first interference part having a hypotenuse
5 is integrally fixed, and this lever pressing member 1
5 is for pushing down the lever 11 while the carrier 2 is moving from the scanning region to the capping position so that the central portion of the lever 11 contacts. Further, at the bottom portion of the frame 1 on the scanning region side of the carrier 2 with respect to the capping position 8, a lever push-up portion 14 as a second interference portion is provided.
The lever push-up portion 14 constitutes a part of the frame 1, and the carrier 6 has the capping position 8
The other end of the lever 11 abuts and pushes up the lever 11 during the movement from the to the scanning area.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, when the carrier 6 is in the scanning area,
The central portion of the lever 11 receives a pulling force in the direction of the first pivot point 9 by the coil spring 13, and the lever 11 is moved about the second pivot point 10 in the counterclockwise direction in the drawing, that is, the cap 1
Since 2 is biased to rotate in a direction away from the recording head 7, the cap 12 does not seal the nozzle portion 7a of the recording head 7 at the standby position.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, when the carrier 6 is moved to the capping position 8 at the end of recording or at the time of recording interruption, the central portion of the lever 11 is pushed down at the beginning of the movement. The lever 11 contacts the hypotenuse of the member 15.
Is pushed down and shown in the clockwise direction, that is, the cap 1
2 rotates in the direction approaching the recording head 7, and when this rotation causes the central portion of the lever 11 to cross a virtual line connecting the second pivot point 10 and the first pivot point 9, FIG. As shown
The tension of the coil spring 13 acts so as to rotate the lever 11 in the direction in which the cap 12 approaches the recording head 7, so that the cap 12 reaches the capping position 8 and the recording head 7 is pressed by the cap 12. hand,
The nozzle portion 7a is sealed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, when the carrier 6 is moved from the capping position 8 to the scanning area side, the other end of the lever 11 comes into contact with the lever push-up portion 14 and is further moved. 11 is pushed up and rotated in the counterclockwise direction, that is, in the direction in which the cap 12 is separated from the recording head 7, and the central portion of the lever 11 crosses an imaginary line connecting the second pivot point 10 and the first pivot point 9. Then, the tension of the coil spring 13 acts so as to rotate the lever 11 in the counterclockwise direction, that is, in the direction in which the cap 12 moves away from the recording head 7, whereby the cap 12 is returned to the standby position.

In the above-described embodiment, a rubber member or the like may be used as the elastic body in addition to the coil spring. Also, instead of the lever pushing-up part that constitutes a part of the frame, a separate lever pushing-up member may be integrally provided on the frame,
Instead of a separate lever depressing member, a lever depressing portion forming a part of the side portion may be integrally formed on the side portion of the frame.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the carrier is provided with the capping mechanism, and when the carrier is moved from the scanning region to the capping position, the cap fixed to the tip of the lever is elastic. The nozzle is sealed by the pulling force of the body to press the recording head to seal the nozzle, and when the carrier is moved from the capping position to the scanning area, the sealing of the nozzle by the cap is automatically released. Therefore, even if the position accuracy of the carrier and the cap is low or the cap is worn, the pressing force of the cap on the recording head during capping is kept almost constant, and as a result, the sealing failure of the nozzle part does not occur. Have.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a main part of an inkjet printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the right portion of FIG. 1, showing a state where the carrier is located in the scanning region.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing a state immediately before the carrier reaches the capping position.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing the carrier in the capping position.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing a state where the carrier is moving from the capping position to the scanning area side.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Frame (Printer Main Body) 1a Side Part 2 Conveying Roller 3 Guide Shaft 4 Recording Paper (Recording Medium) 6 Carrier 6a Hollow Part 7 Recording Head 7a Nozzle Part 8 Capping Position 9 First Pivot Point 10 Second Pivot Point 11 Lever 12 Cap 13 Coil spring (elastic body) 14 Lever pushing up portion (first interference portion) 15 Lever pushing down member (second interference portion) X Carrier scanning direction Y Recording paper feeding direction

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A recording head for performing recording by ejecting ink from a nozzle portion toward a recording medium is mounted on a carrier that is reciprocally scanned in the width direction of the recording medium, and a recording area of the carrier is formed. In an ink jet printer in which a capping position in which a nozzle portion of the recording head is sealed by a cap is set at one end side, a first pivot point is provided at a substantially central portion of one surface of the carrier, and a first pivot point is provided at a side opposite to the scanning area. Second pivot points are provided at intervals, and one end of a lever having a substantially L shape in a side view is pivotally attached to the second pivot points, and the other end of the lever has the nozzle portion of the recording head. Is integrally provided with a cap capable of sealing, and is elastically urged so as to pull the substantially central portion of the lever toward the first pivot point between the substantially central portion of the lever and the first pivot point. body Further, a substantially central portion of the lever is in contact with a predetermined portion of the printer main body on the opposite side of the scanning area from the capping position while the carrier moves from the scanning area to the capping position. A first interfering portion that contacts and rotates the lever in a direction in which the cap approaches the recording head side is provided, and the carrier is provided at a predetermined portion of the printer main body on the scanning area side from the capping position. A second interference portion is provided which contacts the other end of the lever and moves the lever in a direction in which the cap moves away from the recording head while moving from the capping position to the scanning area. Inkjet printer. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein a coil spring is used as an elastic body urged so as to pull the substantially central portion of the lever toward the first pivot point side. 3. The first interference section and / or the second interference section forms a part of the printer body.
Or the inkjet printer according to 2.