JPH10250184A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance printing accuracy and durability by preventing a torsional force from acting onto a carriage during print scanning operation of the carriage. SOLUTION: A scanning carriage 50 for reciprocating a recording head is provided with an adjusting lever 581 and a pressure lever 582. The adjusting lever 581 has a sliding face 585 and the pressure lever 582 has a guide face 582b. The sliding face 585 and the guide face 582b are disposed oppositely through a guide rail 82 and the carriage 50 is reciprocated along the guide rail 82. The guide face 582b of the pressure lever 582 is located at same position as the sliding face 585 of the adjusting lever 581 and pressed against the guide rail 82 by means of a pressure spring 583.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a serial type recording apparatus in which a carriage holding a recording head performs main scanning in a direction intersecting with a conveying direction (sub-scanning direction) of a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording device having a function such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile or the like, or a recording device used as an output device of a composite electronic device or a workstation including a computer or a word processor, etc. It is configured to record an image on a recording material (recording medium) such as a plastic thin plate. The recording apparatus can be classified into an ink jet type, a wire dot type, a thermal type, a laser beam type and the like according to a recording method.

In a serial type recording apparatus employing a serial scanning system in which a main scan is performed in a direction intersecting a conveying direction (sub-scanning direction) of a recording material, a recording means mounted on a carriage which moves along the recording material. The image is printed (main scanning), a predetermined amount of paper is fed (pitch transport) after printing of one line is completed, and then the image of the next line is printed on the stopped recording material again. By repeating the operation of (main scanning), recording on the entire recording material is performed.

Among the above recording apparatuses, an ink jet type recording apparatus (ink jet recording apparatus) performs recording by discharging ink from a recording means (recording head) onto a recording material. It is easy, can record high-definition images at high speed, can record on plain paper without requiring special processing, running cost is low, and because it is a non-impact method, there is little noise, and It has the advantage that it is easy to record a color image using multicolor inks.

As a conventional serial type ink jet recording apparatus, there is an apparatus in which a carriage on which a recording head is removably mounted is slidably mounted on a guide shaft and a guide rail provided in parallel with each other. The carriage is coupled to a portion of a timing belt that is wrapped around a pulley fixed to an output shaft of the carriage motor and an idle pulley rotatably supported by a shaft. Is scanned back and forth. Further, the carriage is provided with a paper interval adjusting unit for adjusting the gap between the recording head and the recording material.

[0006] The paper interval adjusting section will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining a sheet gap adjusting unit of a carriage of a conventional inkjet recording apparatus.
The carriage 1050 shown in FIG. 16 corresponds to a view of the carriage 50 of FIG. 1 showing an embodiment of the present invention, which will be described later, as viewed from above.

[0007] As shown in FIG. 16, the paper interval adjusting section is provided on the upper portion of the carriage 1050 and has an adjusting lever 1.
581, a pressure contact lever 1582, a pressure contact spring 1583, and a top cover 1584.

The adjustment lever 1581 is connected to the carriage 105
A pin is inserted into a hole provided in the shaft 0 and is rotatably supported. The adjustment lever 1581 has a polygonal sliding surface 1585 whose distance from the center of rotation of the adjustment lever 1581 differs according to the number of sheet positions. The pressure contact lever 1582 is rotatably supported around a pin provided on the carriage 1050, and the pressure contact spring 1583 moves the sliding surface 1585 of the adjustment lever 1581 to the guide rail 108.
It is energizing to 2. Sliding surface 158 of adjustment lever 1581
5 so that the carriage 1050 can move the guide shaft 10
Since the paper rotates about 81, the paper interval can be changed. The top cover 1584 is fixed to the carriage 1050 with claws formed on both sides, and holds an adjustment lever 1581, a press-contact lever 1582, and the like. Adjustment lever 15
81 has elasticity, and a convex portion is formed at the tip thereof.
The convex portion is fitted into one of a plurality of grooves formed at a predetermined position of the top cover 1584 to fix the adjustment lever 1581 to form a predetermined sheet interval.

Further, the ink jet recording apparatus is provided with a recovery mechanism at one end of a reciprocating scanning range of the carriage for performing a recovery process on a recording head mounted on the carriage. The recovery mechanism has a cap for removing the thickened ink in the print head and protecting the print head during non-printing, and utilizes the force by which the pressure contact lever presses the guide rail to contact the cap against the cap. Was getting.

The paper gap adjusting mechanism having the above-described structure can easily adjust the paper gap with a simple structure, and obtains the contact pressure against the cap by using the urging force of the urging means. This has the advantage that a good recovery process can be performed.

[0011]

In recent years, image quality has been remarkably improved, and the diameter of dots and the number of gradations have been increasing. Among them, in the above-described structure of the carriage in the conventional inkjet recording apparatus, the urging force for urging the recording head to the cap acts on the guide rail even during the scanning of the carriage, so that a force that twists the carriage is generated. Acts, and a large load is applied to the scanning of the carriage. Therefore, if the sliding part with the guide rail wears due to long-term use and the slidability deteriorates, stick-slip may occur. Had become.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus in which a torsional force is not applied to a carriage during scanning of a carriage for printing, thereby improving printing accuracy and durability.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a recording apparatus according to the present invention comprises a carriage for reciprocally scanning a recording head for recording on a recording medium, and guiding the carriage in the reciprocating scanning direction. A guide member, and a positioning member and a pressure contact member which are disposed on the carriage so as to face each other with the guide member therebetween, wherein the pressure contact member is pressed against the guide member, and the guide member is sandwiched between the positioning member and the guide member. In a recording apparatus for positioning the carriage with respect to a guide, the pressure contact member is pressed against the guide at the same position as the positioning member in a reciprocating scanning direction of the carriage.

According to the present invention, the carriage is reciprocally scanned along the guide means while sandwiching the guide means between the positioning member and the pressing member. Here, since the pressing member is pressed against the guide means at the same position as the positioning member in the reciprocating scanning direction of the carriage, no force that twists the carriage acts. As a result, smooth carriage scanning becomes possible.

The pressure contact member may be a lever rotatably provided on the carriage, and a tip of the lever may be pressed against the guide means. In this case, if the carriage is scanned such that the center of rotation of the pressing member is closer to the traveling direction of the carriage than the leading end, the pressing member does not press against the guide means so that stick-slip hardly occurs. . Further, by arranging the center of rotation of the press-contact member on the side opposite to the tip end of the press-contact member with respect to the guide means,
The urging force applied to the guide means by the distal end of the pressing member acts in a direction more perpendicular to the reciprocating scanning direction of the carriage. Therefore, stick-slip hardly occurs in both the forward scanning direction and the backward scanning direction of the carriage. Alternatively, by providing the pressing member so as to be linearly movable in a direction perpendicular to the reciprocating scanning direction of the carriage, and the leading end of the pressing member being pressed against the guide means, stick-slip is further generated in both scanning directions of the carriage. It becomes difficult to do.

Further, the recording apparatus of the present invention further comprises cap means for capping the recording head at one end of the reciprocating scanning range of the carriage, and the recording head is attached to the cap means by a pressing force of the pressing member against the guide means. It may be a configuration that is energized. Accordingly, the cap for cleaning or protecting the recording head is formed by using the pressing force of the pressing member against the guide means, so that the cap for the recording head can be satisfactorily formed with a simple and compact configuration. Further, the guide means is a plate-like rail,
By further providing a guide shaft that rotatably supports the carriage together with the guide means and guides the carriage in the reciprocating scanning direction, a simple and compact device configuration is obtained. The positioning member is rotatably supported by the carriage, and has a plurality of sliding surfaces that are different in distance from the center of rotation and abut against the guide means according to the position of the positioning member in the rotation direction. It can also be. According to this, the posture of the carriage with respect to the guide means changes by rotating the positioning member to change the sliding surface that comes into contact with the guide means, and thus the position of the recording head is changed according to the thickness of the recording medium. It becomes possible.

[0017]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Also, FIG.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the configuration of the recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

The recording apparatus according to the present embodiment is a serial type ink jet recording apparatus. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a carriage section 5 on which a recording head 7 is removably mounted.
And a paper feed unit 2, a paper feed unit 3, and a paper discharge unit 4 for transporting a sheet material P as a recording material, and a cleaning unit 7 for cleaning the recording head 7 of the carriage unit 5. Hereinafter, these components will be described with reference to FIGS.

(A) Sheet Feeding Unit The sheet feeding unit 2 has a configuration in which a pressure plate 21 on which a sheet material P is loaded and a feed rotating body 22 for feeding the sheet material P are attached to a base 20. A movable side guide 23 is movably provided on the pressure plate 21, and regulates the stacking position of the sheet material P. The pressure plate 21 is rotatable about a rotation shaft connected to the base 20, and is urged by a pressure plate spring 24 to the feeding rotating body 22. The contact between the pressure plate 21 and the feeding rotary body 22 by the pressure plate spring 24 can be released by a release cam 29. A separation pad 25 made of a material having a large coefficient of friction, such as artificial leather, is provided at a portion of the pressure plate 21 facing the feeding rotating body 22 to prevent double feeding of the sheet material P. Further, the base 20 is provided with a separation claw 26 for covering the corner at the lower end of the sheet material P and separating the sheet material P one by one. Separating claws 26 such as cardboard
A bank 27 is formed integrally with the base 20 in order to separate those which cannot be used. The separation claw 26 is operated in the plain paper position, and the separation claw 26 is operated in the thick paper position.
A switching lever 28 for switching so as not to act is provided.

In the above configuration, in the standby state, the release cam 29 pushes the pressure plate 21 down to a predetermined position. Thereby, the contact between the pressure plate 21 and the feeding rotating body 22 is released. In this state, the driving force due to the rotation of the transport roller 36 is transmitted to the feed rotator 22 and the release cam 2 by a gear or the like.
9, the release cam 29 is separated from the pressure plate 21, so that the pressure plate 21 rises, and the feeding rotating body 22 and the sheet material P come into contact with each other. Then, the sheet material P is picked up by the rotation of the feeding rotation body 22 and starts to be fed, and the separation claw 26
The sheets are separated one by one and sent to the sheet feeding unit 3. The feed rotator 22 and the release cam 29 rotate until the sheet material P is fed into the paper feed unit 3, and come into a standby state in which the contact between the recording sheet P and the feed rotator 22 is released again, and Is turned off.

(B) Paper Feeding Section The paper feeding section 3 includes a transport roller 36 for transporting the sheet material P,
PE sensor 3 for detecting the front and rear ends of sheet material P
And 2. The transport roller 36 is provided with a pinch roller 37 that follows the roller. The pinch roller 37 is held by the pinch roller guide 30 and presses the pinch roller 37 against the transport roller 36 by the biasing force of a pinch roller spring (not shown) to generate a transport force for the sheet material P. Further, an upper guide 33 and a platen 34 for guiding the sheet material P are provided at an entrance of the sheet feeding section 3 to which the sheet material P is conveyed. The upper guide 33 is provided with a PE sensor lever 35 for transmitting the detection of the leading edge and the trailing edge of the sheet P to the PE sensor 32. A carriage unit 5 described below is disposed downstream of the transport roller 36 in the sheet transport direction, and a recording head 7 that forms an image based on image information is detachably mounted on the carriage unit 5.

In the above configuration, the sheet material P sent to the paper feeding unit 3 is supplied to the platen 34 and the pinch roller guide 30.
Then, the sheet is guided by the upper guide 33 to be sent to a roller pair of a transport roller 36 and a pinch roller 37. At this time, the PE sensor lever 35 detects the leading end of the conveyed sheet material P, and thereby obtains the stamped position of the sheet material P. The sheet material P is conveyed on the platen 34 by rotation of the roller pairs 36 and 37 by an LF motor (not shown).

As the recording head 7, an easily replaceable ink jet recording head integrally formed with the ink tank is used. The recording head 7 can apply heat to the ink by a heater or the like. And
The ink causes film boiling due to the heat, and ink is ejected from the recording head 7 by a pressure change caused by growth or contraction of bubbles due to the film boiling, and an image is formed on the sheet material P. The recording head 7 is made of an electric or
A mechanical converter may be provided, and ink may be ejected using energy generated by the converter.

In the above configuration, when an image is formed on the sheet material P, the roller pair 36, 37 conveys the sheet material P to the line position (position in the conveying direction of the sheet material P) where the image is formed, and the carriage motor 80 Carriage 50
Is moved to a row position (a position perpendicular to the conveying direction of the sheet material P) where the image is formed, and the recording head 7 is opposed to the image forming position. Thereafter, ink is ejected from the recording head 7 toward the sheet material P by a signal from the electric board 9 to form an image.

(C) Paper Discharge Unit In the paper discharge unit 4, the transmission roller 40 is provided in contact with the transport roller 36, and the transmission roller 40 is provided in contact with the paper discharge roller 41. Therefore, the driving force of the transport roller 36 is transmitted to the discharge roller 41 via the transmission roller 40. Further, a spur 42 that can rotate following the paper discharge roller 41 is in contact with the paper discharge roller 41. With the above configuration, the sheet material P on which an image has been formed by the carriage unit 5 is nipped by the nip between the discharge roller 41 and the spur 42, conveyed, and discharged to a discharge tray (not shown).

(D) Cleaning Unit The cleaning unit 6 is provided with a pump 60 for cleaning the recording head 7, a non-recording operation, which suppresses drying of the recording head 7, protects the recording head 7, and controls the inside of the recording head 7. The cap 61 includes a cap 61 for capping the recording head 7 for sucking the thickened ink and the like, and a drive switching arm 62 for switching the driving force from the transport roller 36 to the paper feed unit 2 and the pump 60. The drive switching arm 62 is a planetary gear (not shown) that rotates about the axis of the transport roller 36 except for paper feeding or cleaning.
Is fixed at a predetermined position, the driving force of the transport roller 36 is not transmitted to the sheet feeding unit 2 and the pump 60. When the drive switching arm 62 is moved in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1 by moving a carriage 50, which will be described later, the planetary gears become free, and the planetary gears move in accordance with the forward and reverse rotations of the transport roller 36. When the transport roller 36 rotates forward, the driving force is transmitted to the paper feeding unit 2, and when the transport roller 36 rotates reversely, the driving force is transmitted to the pump 60.

(E) Carriage section The carriage section 5 has a carriage 50 on which the recording head 7 is detachably mounted. The carriage 50 is slidably fitted in a guide shaft 81 and a guide rail 82 attached to the chassis 8 in parallel with each other in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the sheet material P is conveyed. Carriage 50
Is connected to one portion of a timing belt 83 wrapped around a pulley 801 fixed to an output shaft of a carriage motor 80 fixed to the chassis 8 and an idle pulley 84 rotatably supported. Motor 80
And reciprocate by the driving force. Further, the carriage 50 is provided with the recording head 7 from the electric substrate 9.
And a flexible substrate 56 for transmitting an electric signal to the electronic device.

As shown in FIG. 15, the recording head 7 is of a cartridge type in which a nozzle unit 70 for discharging ink and an ink tank 73 for holding ink to be supplied to the nozzle unit 70 are integrated. The nozzle 70 and the ink tank 73 are fixed to the base plate 72, respectively. For the detailed configuration of the recording head 7,
It will be explained as appropriate.

In the above configuration, when an image is formed on the sheet material P, the conveying roller 36 and the pinch roller 37 convey the sheet material P to the line position where the image is formed (the position in the conveying direction of the sheet material P), and the carriage Motor 80
To move the carriage 50 to the row position where the image is formed (the position perpendicular to the sheet material P transport direction), and the recording head 7 is opposed to the image forming position. Thereafter, ink is ejected from the recording head 7 toward the sheet material P by a signal from the electric board 9 to form an image.

Next, details of main parts of the carriage unit 5 will be described.

The carriage unit 5 has a unit formed by attaching components to the carriage 50. 4 is a front view of the carriage unit 5, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the carriage unit 5, FIG.
FIG. 7 shows a plan view (a) and a front view (b) of a head holder 51 which is a main part of a detachable mechanism of the recording head 7.

As shown in FIG. 4 to FIG.
Has a head holder 51 for holding the recording head 7. The head holder 51 is configured to slide left and right along a guide 501 provided on the carriage 50. The recording head 7 is attached to the head holder 51.
And a contact surface 503 and 3 of a side plate 502 erected perpendicularly to the carriage 50.
A pressing portion 512 for pressing the recording head 7 against the two positioning surfaces 504 is provided. There are three positioning surfaces of the side plate 502 of the carriage. The configuration is such that two points correspond to the base plate 72 in the vicinity of the nozzle portion 70 of the recording head 7 and one point corresponds above the ink tank 73 of the recording head 7. A contact surface 503 between the recording head 7 and the carriage 50 is formed by three positioning surfaces 504.
It is configured to be located inside the prism. The pressing position of the pressing portion 512 of the head holder 51 is also inside this triangle.

The pressing portion 51 of the head holder 51
A guide arm 513 is provided at a position opposing the second position.
The guide arm 513 acts on the recording head 7 when the recording head 7 is separated from the contact surface 503. The side plate 502 of the carriage 50 is provided with a rib 509 which also serves as a guide when the head 7 is attached and detached, and protects and blinds a contact portion 561 of the flexible substrate 56 described later.

As shown in FIG. 15, the recording head 7 has
A guide 74 is provided on a side surface of the ink tank 73 and is mounted along the upper surface of the guide arm 513. At a predetermined position where the recording head 7 is mounted, a concave portion 75 is provided in the guide 74 of the recording head 7, and a convex portion 514 as a regulating means is provided at a position corresponding to the head holder 51. Further, a convex portion 76 is provided on the bottom surface of the recording head 7, and a concave portion 515 corresponding to the convex portion 76 is provided on a corresponding receiving portion of the head holder 51.
As a result, when the head 7 is mounted, the nozzle portion 70 does not hit the platen 34 or the like, and the recording head 7 is not damaged. Then, a click feeling at the time of mounting is obtained, and the mounting feeling is improved. Also, the head holder 51
, The recording head 7 can be prevented from dropping to the front surface when the recording head 7 is attached or detached, or can be prevented from being unstable, such as a positional shift after mounting.

The hook lever 53 is rotatably attached to the side plate 502 of the carriage 50. A contact spring 54 is provided at the center of rotation of the hook lever 53, and urges the hook lever 53 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. The hook cover 55 is attached so as to cover the hook lever 53.
It is held so that it does not fall out of zero. As shown in FIG. 7, the hook lever 53 and the head holder 51 have cams 516 and 531 respectively abutting on each other, and are configured so that the rotation of the hook lever 53 causes the head holder 51 to move in the left-right direction. I have. Further, the urging force of the contact spring 54 is applied via the hook lever 53,
This is the pressing force of the recording head 7 of the head holder 51.

As shown in FIG. 6, two fitting pins 505a and 505b for positioning the recording head 7 are provided on the side plate 502 of the carriage 50, and fitting holes 77a and 77b (see FIG. 6) of the base plate 72 of the recording head 7 are provided. 15 (see FIG. 15). The base plate 72 of the recording head 7 is inclined about 1 ° to 4 ° with respect to the scanning direction of the carriage unit 5 from the driving of the recording head 7. To accommodate the inclined fitting holes 77a and 77b, one fitting hole 7
7a is a square hole, and the corresponding fitting pin 505a on the carriage 50 side is a square pin having a partially cylindrical shape 505d as shown in FIG. 8B. Further, the other fitting hole 77b is formed as a round hole, and the corresponding fitting pin 505b on the carriage side is removed from the undercut portion of the carriage 50 as shown in FIG. The recording head 7 on the positioning surface 504
Can be fitted at the position where the head is abutted (headset position). In this manner, the recording head 7 can be accurately and smoothly positioned even with respect to the inclined base plate 72 without requiring a complicated mold structure.

Further, a contact surface 503 (see FIG. 4) provided on the side plate 502 of the carriage 50 has a rubber hardness of 30 for making electrical contact with the recording head 7.
A rubber pad 57 made of an elastic body such as silicone rubber of 50 ° to 50 ° is provided. The contact portion 561 of the flexible substrate 56 is located thereon. The rubber pad 57 and the flexible substrate 56 are both positioned by positioning pins 506 provided on the side plate 502 of the carriage 50. A slit 563 is provided on the opposite side of the contact portion 561 of the positioning portion of the flexible substrate 56.
Are provided so as not to affect the contact portion 561 due to deformation of the flexible substrate 56 during assembly.

Contact section 56 of flexible substrate 56
As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 9, 1 has a tip portion 562 that is thinned in accordance with the shape of the base plate 72 of the recording head 7, and a hook portion 562a is provided at an end portion. In this manner, by forming the contact portion 561 in a triangular shape and reducing the number of contact pads toward the tip, the forming of the signal line becomes easy, and the density can be increased. Further, the processing of the distal end portion 562 of the flexible substrate 56 becomes easy.

The side plate 502 of the carriage 50 is provided with a slit hole 507 for inserting the tip 562 of the flexible substrate 56. When inserting the distal end portion 562 of the flexible substrate 56 into the slit hole 507, as shown in FIG. 9B, the distal end portion 562 of the flexible substrate 56 is warped and inserted into the slit hole 507. After passing through the slit hole 507, the distal end portion 562 of the flexible substrate 56 is straightened as shown in FIG.
It does not come off because it is caught in the slit hole 507. With this configuration, the leading end 562 is free, and the contact portion 561 of the flexible substrate 56 has no rigidity.
(D) and good contact can be made. When the recording head 7 is mounted, the contact surface 5 of the carriage 50 is
03 (see FIG. 4) is the base plate 72 of the recording head 7
15 (d), and makes contact with the contact surface 78 on the substrate formed inside the notch 79.

The flexible substrate 56 is routed along the side plate 502 of the carriage 50, folded vertically, and fixed to the carriage 50 by the base cover 52. At this time, the temporary fixing protrusion 563 (see FIG. 4) is provided on the flexible substrate 56, and the protrusion 563 is
Since the flexible substrate 56 can be fixed by keeping the value at 0, the assembling can be efficiently performed when the base cover 52 is attached. Further, the base cover 52
The rubber pad 57 and the flexible substrate 56
However, a retaining portion 521 is provided to prevent the pin 506 on the carriage 50 from coming off.

The recording head 7 is provided with a recess 731 (see FIG. 15 (d)) for allowing the positioning pin 506 and the pressing portion 521 of the base cover 52 to escape the tension. Therefore, since the length of the positioning pin 506 and the thickness of the pressing portion 502 of the base cover 52 can be increased, the rubber pad 57 and the flexible substrate 56 can be securely positioned and prevented from coming off. The flexible substrate 56 is fixed to the chassis 8 by a flexible fixing plate 85 (see FIG. 2), changes its curvature according to the position of the carriage unit 5, Recording head drive signal to recording head 7
To tell.

With the above configuration, the recording head 7 can be easily attached to and detached from the carriage section 5, held, positioned, and electrically contacted. When attaching the recording head 7,
The hook lever 53 is raised upward as shown in FIG. 4A, and the head holder 51 is moved to the left so that the recording head 7 can be mounted. In this state, when the recording head 7 is mounted and the hook lever 53 is rotated downward, FIG.
As shown in (b), the head holder 51 is
At the same time, the recording head 7 is moved to the right, and the positioning of the recording head 7 and the electrical contact are performed. In this state, an image can be formed on the sheet material P. Further, when the recording head 7 is detached from the carriage unit 5, when the hook lever 53 is raised upward and the head holder 51 is moved to the left, the guide arm 513 of the head holder 51 presses the recording head 7 to the left. From the carriage 5 to the recording head 7
Is removed.

On the upper part of the carriage 50, a recording sheet P
Adjusting section 58 for adjusting the gap between the recording head 7 and the platen 34 (see FIGS. 1 to 3) according to the thickness of the sheet.
Is provided. As shown in FIG. 5, the paper interval adjusting unit 58 includes an adjustment lever 581, a pressure contact lever 582, a pressure contact spring 5
83, and a top cover 584.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the positional relationship between the adjustment lever 581 and the press-contact lever 582 with respect to the guide rail 82 as viewed from the side. Hereinafter, the paper interval adjusting unit 58 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

The adjustment lever 581 has a pin 581b on the lower end surface.
The pin 581b is inserted into a hole provided in the carriage 50 and is configured to be rotatable. The adjusting lever 581 further has a polygonal column-shaped sliding surface 585 whose distance from the rotation center O of the adjusting lever 581 varies depending on the number of sheet positions. The pressure contact lever 582 is rotatable around a pin provided on the carriage 50, and the pressure contact spring 583 allows the guide surface 382 b located at the same position as the slide surface 585 of the adjustment lever 581 in the scanning direction of the carriage 50 to be moved. It is urged toward the sliding surface 585. Therefore, the guide rail 82 is
1 and the guide surface 582 of the pressing lever 582
b. The carriage 50 is rotatable about a guide shaft 81, and a sliding surface 58 of the adjustment lever 581 is provided.
Reference numeral 5 denotes a positioning portion of the carriage 50 in the rotation direction.

The guide surface 582b of the pressing lever 582 is
The sliding surface of the adjusting lever 581 is provided at a position shifted from the sliding surface 585 of the adjusting lever 581 by about 3 to 10 mm in the height direction of the guide rail 82, as shown in FIG. Reference numeral 585 abuts against the lower portion of the guide rail 82, and the guide surface of the pressure contact lever 582 is the guide rail 8
2 is located at the top.

As described above, by arranging the sliding surface 585 of the adjustment lever 581 and the guide surface 582b of the pressing lever 582 at the same position in the scanning direction of the carriage 50, the guide rail 82 by the pressing lever 582 is provided. The urging force acts on the same position as the sliding surface 585 in the scanning direction of the carriage 50. Therefore, even when the carriage 50 is scanned, no force that twists the carriage 50 acts, and smooth carriage scanning is performed. It becomes possible. Further, since the carriage can be smoothly scanned, the progress of wear of the sliding portion between the carriage 50 and the guide rail 82 is suppressed, and the durability is improved.

The recording apparatus of the present embodiment has a normal print mode and a high-quality print mode in the print mode. In the high-quality print mode, printing is performed during scanning in the direction of arrow B in FIG. Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the position of the rotation center O ′ of the pressure contact lever 582 is located closer to the traveling direction of the carriage 50 in the high-quality printing mode than the position of the guide surface 582b. Thus, in the high-quality print mode, the guide surface 582b of the press-contact lever 582 does not come into contact with the guide rail 82 in the direction of biting, so that the carriage 50 is scanned more smoothly, and the possibility of stick-slip occurring is reduced. I have.

On the other hand, when cleaning the recording head 7, the carriage 50 is moved to a position (cleaning position) opposed to the cleaning section 6 (see FIG. 1). The cleaning unit 6 is located outside the print scanning range, which is one end of the entire scanning range of the carriage 50. Hereinafter, the state of the carriage 50 at the cleaning position will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is a front view of the carriage at the cleaning position,
FIG. 12 is a plan view of the carriage at the cleaning position and a diagram for explaining the movement of the cam shaft.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, one end of the guide rail 82 on the side of the cleaning section 6 (see FIG. 1) is bent forward (toward the press-contact lever 582), and is bent. A portion of the portion facing the sliding surface 585 of the adjustment lever 581 is cut out. A cap guide 86 (also shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) having a mountain-shaped cam portion 861 is provided on the extension of the guide rail 82. The cap guide 86 is provided on the upper end surface of the carriage 50. Camshaft 5011 engaged with cam portion 861
Is provided.

When the carriage 50 moves to the cleaning position, the guide surface 582b of the pressing lever 582 is pressed by the guide rail 82, and the pressing lever 582 rotates. In this position, since the lower side of the guide rail 82 is notched, the sliding surface 585 of the adjustment lever 581 does not contact the guide rail 82, and the guide surface 582b of the pressure lever 582 is guided by the pressure spring 583. Since the recording head 7 is urged by the rail 82, the recording head 7 can be brought into contact with the cap 61 of the cleaning unit 6.

That is, when the carriage 50 moves to the cleaning position and the recording head 7 comes into contact with the cap 61, the cam shaft 5011 moves along the cam portion 861 as shown in FIG. 50 is once lifted to bring the recording head 7 into contact with the cap 61 from above. At this time, the lower side of the guide rail 82 is notched, and other than the guide surface 582b of the pressure contact lever 582 does not abut on the guide rail 82. As a result, the urging force of the pressure contact lever 582 reliably acts on the guide rail 82, whereby the carriage 50 generates a contact pressure of the recording head 7 against the cap 61.

By changing the sliding surface 585 of the adjustment lever 581, the carriage 50 rotates around the guide shaft 81, so that the paper interval can be changed. Top cover 58
4 is fixed to the carriage 50 by claws on both sides, and holds an adjustment lever 581, a pressure contact lever 582, and the like. Further, a lever tip of the adjustment lever 581 has elasticity, and a convex portion formed on a lower end surface thereof is formed with a groove 586 formed on the top cover 584 according to a sheet interval position (see FIG. 4).
And the adjustment lever 581 is fixed to form a predetermined sheet interval.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment,
Although the example in which the rotation center O ′ of the pressure contact lever 582 is disposed on the same side as the guide surface 482b with respect to the guide rail 82 is shown, the rotation center O ′ of the pressure contact lever 682 is attached to the guide rail 82 as shown in FIG. Alternatively, it may be arranged on the opposite side of the guide surface 682b.

As shown in FIG.
Extends from the center of rotation O ′ to the opposite side of the guide rail 82 through below the guide rail 82, and further bends at an intermediate portion to face the guide surface 682 b at a position facing the sliding surface 585 of the adjustment lever 681. Are urged by the guide rail 82. Further, the guide surface 682b and the sliding surface 585 are arranged at positions shifted from each other by about 3 to 10 mm in the height direction of the guide rail 82 as in the first embodiment. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

As described above, by disposing the rotation center O ′ of the press-contact lever 682 on the opposite side of the guide rail 82 from the guide surface 682b, the urging force of the guide surface 682b on the guide rail 82 is reduced. Acts more nearly perpendicular to the scanning direction. As a result, the guide surface 682b of the press-contact lever 682 is moved by the guide rail 82 in both the forward and backward directions of the scanning of the carriage 50.
The carriage 50 does not abut in the direction in which the carriage 50 bites, so that the occurrence of stick-slip of the carriage 50 can be suppressed in both directions.

(Third Embodiment) In the above-described two embodiments, the example in which the guide rail 82 is urged using the rotation of the lever has been described. However, as shown in FIG. The guide rail 82 may be biased by the (pressing slider 782).

As shown in FIG. 14, the pressing slider 782
Is provided between the guide rail 82 and the adjustment lever 781.
Is provided at a position opposed to the sliding surface 585. A pressure spring 783 having one end fixed to a pin provided on the carriage 50 is provided in the pressure contact slider 782, and the guide surface 782 b, which is the distal end of the pressure contact slider 782, is attached to the guide rail 82 by the pressure contact spring 783. It is being rushed. Slider guides 791 are provided on both sides of the pressure contact slider 782 to regulate the moving direction of the pressure contact slider 782 in a linear direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the carriage 50.

As described above, by providing the pressure contact slider 782 for urging the guide rail 82 in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the carriage 50, the pressure contact slider 78 can be moved in both the forward and backward directions of the scanning of the carriage 50. The guide surface 782b of the carriage 782 does not come into contact with the guide rail 82 in the direction in which it penetrates the guide rail 82, so that stick-slip of the carriage 50 can be suppressed in both directions.

[0061]

As described above, in the recording apparatus of the present invention, the pressing member provided on the carriage is pressed against the guide means at the same position as the positioning member with respect to the reciprocating scanning direction of the carriage, so that the recording device can be smoothly moved. Carriage scanning can be performed, and the printing accuracy can be improved in order to cope with an improvement in image quality such as a reduction in the diameter of a dot and an increase in the number of gradations. Further, since the carriage can be smoothly scanned, the progress of wear between the carriage and the guide means is suppressed, and the durability can be improved.

The pressure contact member is a lever rotatably provided on the carriage, and the tip of the pressure contact member is pressed against the guide means, so that the center of rotation of the pressure contact member is closer to the traveling direction of the carriage than the tip. By causing the carriage to scan toward the side, the occurrence of stick-slip can be suppressed. In particular, the center of rotation of the pressure contact member is disposed on the opposite side of the guide member from the leading end of the pressure contact member, thereby suppressing the occurrence of stick slip in both the forward scanning direction and the backward scanning direction of the carriage. Can be. Also,
If the pressing member is provided so as to be linearly movable in a direction perpendicular to the reciprocating scanning direction of the carriage, and the distal end portion of the pressing member is pressed against the guide means, stick-slip is less likely to occur in both scanning directions of the carriage.

Further, the apparatus further comprises cap means for capping the recording head at one end of the reciprocating scanning range of the carriage, wherein the recording head is urged against the cap means by a pressing force of the pressing member against the guide means. Thus, it is possible to satisfactorily cap the recording head with a simple and compact configuration. Further, the guide means is a plate-like rail, and the guide means is further provided with a guide shaft for rotatably supporting the carriage and guiding the carriage in the reciprocating scanning direction, so that the apparatus configuration can be simplified and compact. In addition, the positioning member is rotatably supported by the carriage, and has a plurality of sliding surfaces that are different in distance from the center of rotation and abut on the guide means according to the position of the positioning member in the rotation direction. With this configuration, the position of the recording head can be changed according to the thickness of the recording medium.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a configuration sectional view of the recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a carriage unit of the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a carriage unit of the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a contact portion and the like of a carriage unit of the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a recording head attaching / detaching mechanism of a carriage unit of the recording apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a fitting pin of the carriage unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an assembled state of a front end portion of a flexible substrate of the carriage unit illustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the positional relationship between the adjustment lever and the press-contact lever of the sheet gap adjustment unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the carriage at a cleaning position.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a carriage at a cleaning position and a diagram for explaining movement of a cam shaft.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a carriage unit according to a second embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a carriage unit according to a third embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a front view, a bottom view, and both side views of the recording head.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of a carriage unit of a conventional recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Paper feed unit 3 Paper feed unit 4 Paper discharge unit 5 Carriage unit 6 Cleaning unit 7 Recording head 50 Carriage 51 Head holder 60 Pump 61 Cap 70 Nozzle unit 72 Base plate 73 Ink tank 80 Carriage motor 81 Guide shaft 82 Guide rail 83 Timing belt 84 idle pulley 86 cap guide 581,681,781 adjustment lever 581b pin 582,682 pressure contact lever 582b, 682b, 782b guide surface 583,783 press contact spring 584 top cover 585 sliding surface 782 press contact slider 791 slider guide 801 pulley 861 cam portion 5011 camshaft

Claims (7)

[Claims] A carriage for reciprocally scanning a recording head for performing recording on a recording medium; a guide for guiding the carriage in the reciprocating scanning direction; and a guide opposed to the carriage with the guide being interposed therebetween. A recording device having a positioning member and a pressure contact member, wherein the pressure contact member is pressed against the guide means to position the carriage with respect to the guide means with the guide member sandwiched between the pressure contact member and the positioning member; A recording device which is pressed against the guide means at the same position as the positioning member with respect to the reciprocating scanning direction of the carriage. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member is a lever rotatably provided on the carriage, and a leading end of the lever is pressed against the guide means. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a center of rotation of the pressure contact member is disposed on a side opposite to the distal end portion with respect to the guide means. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member is provided so as to be linearly movable in a direction perpendicular to a reciprocating scanning direction of the carriage, and a tip end thereof is pressed against the guide means. 5. A printing apparatus further comprising cap means for capping the recording head at one end of the reciprocating scanning range of the carriage, wherein the recording head is attached to the cap means by a pressing force of the pressing member against the guide means. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is activated. 6. The guide means is a plate-like rail,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a guide shaft that rotatably supports the carriage together with the guide unit and guides the carriage in the reciprocating scanning direction. 7. A plurality of positioning members, which are rotatably supported by the carriage, and which are different in distance from the center of rotation and abut against the guide means in accordance with the position of the positioning member in the rotation direction. The recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising: