JP2000071469A - PRINT HEAD DEVICE AND INK JET PRINTER HAVING THE SAME - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a print head device in which a meniscus on a nozzle surface is unlikely to be destroyed by an impact, and an ink jet printer including the same. A head unit on which a print head is mounted, an ink cartridge detachably mounted on the head unit, and a sealing gasket interposed between the head unit and the ink cartridge are provided. In the print head devices 3 and 10 provided, one of the head unit 10 and the ink cartridge 3 is provided with a ventilation passage 41 having one end opened to the inner space 40 of the sealing packing 36 and the other end opened to the atmosphere. It is.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a print head device in which an ink cartridge is mounted on a head unit having a print head mounted thereon, and an ink jet printer having the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet printer, a meniscus on a nozzle surface of a print head is destroyed even by a slight impact (for example, a drop of about 1 to 2 cm), which causes "nozzle missing" which is a defective ink discharge and a bent ink discharge angle. "Bent"
And printing failure may occur. In particular, the type in which the ink supply port of the ink cartridge is connected to the connection cap of the head unit in a surface contact manner,
When a sealing gasket is interposed between the connection cap and the ink supply port, the sealing gasket expands and contracts due to impact, causing pressure fluctuations in the sealed space inside the sealing gasket. May propagate and cause meniscus destruction. Therefore, in a commercially available ink jet printer, the meniscus may be destroyed even if the ink jet printer is simply moved. Therefore, it is recommended that the user clean the print head by manual operation after moving the ink jet printer.

[0003]

Therefore, assuming the emergence of an ink jet printer that is portable or frequently moved, cleaning is performed very frequently, automatically or manually. In such a case, the consumption of the ink becomes severe and the commercial value of the printer is lost.

An object of the present invention is to provide a print head device in which a meniscus on a nozzle surface is unlikely to be destroyed by an impact, and an ink jet printer having the same.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a print head apparatus comprising: a head unit on which a print head is mounted; an ink cartridge detachably mounted on the head unit;
In a print head device provided with a seal packing interposed between a head unit and an ink cartridge, one of the head unit and the ink cartridge has one end opened to the inner space of the seal packing and the other end to the atmosphere. An open vent passage is provided in the vehicle.

According to this configuration, when the print head device receives an impact and the sealing packing expands and contracts due to the inertia of the ink cartridge, the volume inside the sealing packing changes,
Although the internal pressure fluctuates, the pressure fluctuates and escapes as a flow of air flowing through the ventilation passage, so that the pressure fluctuation is absorbed. For this reason, even if the volume of the inner space of the sealing packing changes, the resulting pressure fluctuation does not propagate to the ink and does not pulsate.

In this case, it is preferable that the ventilation passage is formed of a groove formed on the surface of the cartridge case of the ink cartridge, and a film for hermetically closing the groove except for both outer ends of the groove. .

Similarly, the air passage is formed by a groove formed on the surface of the cartridge receiving portion of the head unit, and a film for hermetically closing the groove except for both outer ends of the groove. preferable.

According to these constructions, a groove is formed in advance on the surface of the cartridge case or the surface of the cartridge receiving portion, and a film is adhered to the groove by thermocompression or the like, so that the ventilation passage can be easily formed. Can be formed. Further, due to the formed ventilation passage, no extreme unevenness occurs on the surface of the cartridge case or the surface of the cartridge receiving portion where the sealing packing is in close contact.

In these cases, the ventilation passage preferably extends in a meandering manner.

According to this configuration, volatilization of a solvent such as water contained in the ink can be minimized.

In these cases, it is preferable that a non-volatile sealing liquid that moves in the ventilation passage along with the flow of the ventilation is sealed in a part of the ventilation passage.

According to this structure, the solvent contained in the ink can be prevented from volatilizing. In particular, it is useful for ink using a highly volatile solvent.

Further, another print head device of the present invention includes a head unit having a print head mounted thereon, an ink cartridge detachably mounted on the head unit, and a seal interposed between the head unit and the ink cartridge. And a damper means for absorbing pressure fluctuations in the inner space of the sealing gasket. The damper means is disposed in the outer space of the sealing gasket communicating with the atmosphere and has an open end. Is formed in a bag-like film body opened to the inner space of the sealing packing.

According to this configuration, when the print head device receives an impact and the sealing gasket expands and contracts, the internal pressure of the space inside the sealing gasket fluctuates, and this pressure fluctuation is caused by damper means ( The air is absorbed by flowing into and out of the bag-like membrane. Therefore, even if the volume of the inner space of the sealing packing changes, large pulsation of the ink does not occur. Further, volatilization of a solvent such as water contained in the ink can be reliably prevented.

Further, an ink jet printer according to the present invention is provided with the print head device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects.

According to this configuration, an ink jet printer having excellent impact resistance, that is, an ink jet printer suitable for portable use or the like can be formed.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a case where a print head device and an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention are applied to a tape printer will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This tape printing apparatus performs color printing of a desired character or the like input by a key on a tape to be printed by an ink jet method, and cuts a printed portion of the tape to create a label.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a tape printing apparatus with an ink cartridge and a tape cartridge mounted. As shown in FIG. 1, the tape printer 1 includes an ink cartridge 3 filled with a plurality of color inks, a tape cartridge 4 containing a tape, and an apparatus main body 2 to which these are detachably mounted. ing. The device main body 2 has an outer shell formed by a device case 5, a keyboard 6 including various keys 6a and the like is disposed on a front upper surface, and a liquid crystal display (not shown) is disposed on a rear upper surface. Has been established.

A first opening / closing lid 8 for attaching and detaching the tape cartridge 4 is provided on the rear surface of the apparatus case 5 so as to face the tape cartridge mounting section 7 in which the tape cartridge 4 is mounted. Further, a slit-shaped tape discharge port 9 for discharging a printed tape to the outside is provided on the rear surface of the device case 5 located above the first opening / closing lid 8. Further, a second opening / closing lid 11 for attaching and detaching the ink cartridge 3 is provided on a lower surface of the apparatus case 5 so as to face a print head unit 10 described later.

On the other hand, inside the apparatus case 5, an information processing section (not shown) is provided at the front, and the print head unit 10 in which the ink cartridge 3 is mounted at the middle and the print head unit 10 at the time of printing are moved. A head drive unit 12 for scanning (scanning), and a tape supply unit 13 for feeding out a tape from the tape cartridge 4 and a tape discharge unit 14 for sending a tape after printing to the outside are provided at the rear. In addition, these print head units 1
0, the head drive unit 12 and the tape supply unit 13
It is supported by the base frame 15 and is incorporated in the apparatus main body 2 in a unitized state.

After the content to be printed on the liquid crystal display is determined by inputting the key 6a, when printing is instructed, the tape is fed from the tape cartridge 4 by the tape supply unit 13. The fed-out tape passes through the front surface of the print head unit 10 and is appropriately cut by the tape discharge unit 14 and then sent out. As the tape runs, the print head unit 10 repeatedly reciprocates in the left-right direction by the head driving unit 12 while discharging the ink supplied from the ink cartridge 3.
Print on tape. That is, the print head unit 1
The desired printing is performed on the tape with the moving direction of 0 as the main scanning direction and the feeding direction of the tape as the sub-scanning direction.

Next, the print head unit 10 and the ink cartridge 3 will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in the drawing, the ink cartridge 3 includes a cartridge case 21 including a lower case 21a and an upper case 21b provided so as to close an upper end of the lower case 21a. The cartridge case 21 is a so-called ink tank, and is filled with an ink absorbing material 22 that absorbs and stores ink. The ink tanks are of four series, cyan, magenta,
Four color inks of yellow and black are stored (see FIG. 4).

The lower end of the lower case 21a is formed with four ink supply ports 23 for supplying each ink, and the ink cartridge 3 is connected to the print head unit 10 by the ink supply ports 23 in a surface contact type. Connect with (removal)
Is to be done. A filter 24 is provided inside each ink supply port 23 so as to be located on the downstream side of the ink absorbing material 22 so as to face the ink supply port 23. The ink stored in the ink absorbing material 22 is supplied to the print head unit 10 through the filter 24. The ink supply port 2 is located at the center of the upper case 21b.
Four ink injection ports 25 are formed corresponding to 3, and each of the ink injection ports 25 is open to the atmosphere via a meandering passage (not shown) formed on the surface of the upper case 21b. Each ink in the ink cartridge 3 is supplied to the print head unit 10 side, and air corresponding to the supplied ink amount flows from the meandering passage into the ink cartridge 3.
Supplied within.

On the other hand, the print head unit 10 includes a print head 31 having a large number of nozzles 31a arranged at the end thereof,
A head needle 32 attached inside the print head 31, a connection cap 33 attached to cover the head needle 32,
And a case-shaped cartridge holder 34,
These are mounted on a carriage 35 connected to the head drive unit 12 described above. Further, a sealing packing 36 is attached to each connection cap 33 so as to surround the protruding portion. When the ink cartridge 3 is mounted on the print head unit 10, the ink supply port 2
The sealing gasket 36 comes into contact with the edge of the filter 3 and the connection cap 33 comes into contact with the filter 24 so as to push up (see FIG. 3). In the drawing, reference numeral 37 denotes the ink cartridge 3 mounted on the cartridge holder 34 and the print head 3.
It is a pressing lid that presses to one side.

As shown in the enlarged view of FIG.
The nozzle 31a of the print head 31 has a front end formed in a spire shape and a base end formed in a flange shape.
Is formed with an ink flow passage 32a communicating with the ink passage. A plurality of small holes 32b are formed at the tip of the head needle 32, and the inside of the ink cartridge 3 and the ink flow path 32a communicate with each other through the small holes 32b. Also, the head needle 32
By two O-rings 38, 38 attached to the outer peripheral surface of
The space between the head needle 32 and the connection cap 33 is sealed.

The connection cap 33 comprises a substantially cylindrical cap body 33a, a flange 33b connected to the lower end of the cap body 33a, and a ring-shaped protrusion 33c protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the cap body 33a. , Are formed integrally. Then, the flange portion 33b and the ring-shaped protrusion 3
3c, the above-mentioned sealing packing 36 is mounted. Reference numeral 39 in the drawing denotes a filter on the print head unit 10 side provided at the tip of the connection cap 33.

The sealing packing 36 is formed in a ring shape from silicon rubber or the like, and is formed in an L-shaped cross section. The lower end of the sealing gasket 36 comes into airtight contact with the flange portion 33b of the connection cap 33 so as to be seated thereon,
The upper end is in airtight contact with the edge of the ink supply port 23 of the ink cartridge 3. Thereby, the sealing packing 3
Inside the ink cartridge 3, a closed space 40 communicating with the inside of the ink cartridge 3 is formed. In addition, sealing packing 3
6 is open to the atmosphere.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the main part of the present embodiment will be described. As described above, the sealed space 40 is formed inside the sealing packing 36. However, when a force is applied to the sealing packing 36 by an impact or the like, the sealing packing 36 expands and contracts. The pressure fluctuates. This pressure fluctuation propagates to the ink in the ink cartridge 3 communicating with the closed space 40, and may eventually destroy the meniscus of the nozzle 31a. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to release the fluctuating pressure of the sealed space 40, four ventilation passages 41 communicating with the inside and outside of each sealing packing 36 are formed in the ink cartridge 3.

Each of the ventilation passages 41 has a groove 45 having a concave cross section formed on the surface of the lower case 21a and a groove 45 formed by thermocompression bonding or the like.
And a film 46 that hermetically closes the cover, and extends from the edge of the ink supply port 23 across the lower surface of the lower case 21a to an intermediate position on the side surface of the lower case 21a.
At one end of the air passage 41 on the ink supply port 23 side, the contact portion of the sealing gasket 36 is the end of the film 46.
It is open to the closed space 40 at the end on the side. Ventilation passage 4
A groove 45 is formed slightly longer at the other end of the film 46 than the end of the film 46, and the ventilation passage 41 is open to the atmosphere at the other end.

Each of the ventilation passages 41 is connected to the lower case 21a.
5 extends linearly on the lower surface, but extends in a meandering shape on the side surface as shown in FIG. Thereby, the ventilation passage 41 is formed long enough to suppress the volatilization of the solvent contained in the ink. As shown in the figure, it is preferable to seal a sealing liquid 47 made of a non-volatile oil or the like in a part of the meandering portion 41a of the ventilation passage 41. The sealing liquid 47 blocks the air in the closed space 40 and the air in the atmosphere in the ventilation passage 41, and changes the pressure in the ventilation passage 4 according to the pressure change in the closed space 40.
Move freely within 1. Thereby, volatilization of the solvent contained in the ink is reliably prevented.

Although not shown, a supply port film for sealing the ink supply port 23 at the time of shipment is pressure-bonded to the ink cartridge 3. Therefore, the supply port film and the film 46 for the ventilation passage 41 may be formed separately, or may be formed integrally with a separable cut line or the like.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the ventilation passage. In this embodiment, four ventilation passages 41 extending from each of the ink supply ports 23 join at the lower surface of the lower case 21a, and from the lower surface of the lower case 21a.
Extends to an intermediate position of the side surface on the short side. The junction 41A of the ventilation passage 41 extends in a meandering manner on the side surface of the lower case 21a. In this case, the ventilation passage 41
It is preferable that the cross-sectional area of the confluent portion 41A is larger than that of each of the four ventilation passages 41 in consideration of frictional resistance. Of course, a form in which two ventilation passages 41 are merged may be used.

Next, a third embodiment in which a ventilation passage is formed on the print head unit side will be described with reference to FIG. The print head unit 10 is for an ink cartridge filled with three color inks, and the print head 31 and the connection cap 33 are formed integrally. Each of the ventilation passages 51 includes a groove 55 formed on the surface of the cartridge receiving portion 52 of the print head 31 and a film 56 for closing the groove 55, as in the above-described embodiment. The ventilation passage 51 has one end extending to the connection cap 33 and open to the sealed space 40, and the other end extending to the edge of the cartridge receiving portion 52 and opening to the atmosphere. Also, the ventilation passage 51
Intermediate portion extends in a meandering manner.

As described above, according to these embodiments, even if the pressure in the closed space 40 fluctuates due to the impact of the sealing gasket 36 due to an impact or the like, the pressure is maintained in the ventilation passage 4.
Since the air escapes through the air holes 1 and 51, pressure fluctuations occurring in the closed space 40 can be absorbed on the atmosphere side. For this reason, the pressure fluctuation in the closed space 40 does not propagate to the ink in the print head 31 via the ink cartridge 3, and the meniscus of the nozzle 31a due to the impact can be prevented from being destroyed. Therefore, the impact resistance of the tape printer 1 can be significantly improved.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the above-described ventilation passage 4
A damper 61 that absorbs pressure fluctuations generated in the sealed space 40 is provided in the portion of the sealing packing 36 instead of 1 and 51. The damper 61 is integrally formed with a damper main body 63 formed of a bag-like film body having high flexibility, and a pipe portion 64 extending from the damper main body 63. The damper main body 63 is disposed outside the sealing packing 36, and the pipe portion 64 penetrates the sealing packing 36 so that the open end thereof is in the closed space 40.
Open to the public.

According to this configuration, even if the pressure in the closed space 40 fluctuates due to the expansion and contraction of the sealing gasket 36, the pressure escapes into the damper main body 63.
Breakage of the meniscus 1a can be prevented.

In this embodiment, the case where the ventilation passage and the damper are mounted on the tape printing apparatus has been described, but it goes without saying that this configuration can be applied to a general ink jet printer. Also, the ventilation passage,
It may be constituted by a pipe-shaped member extending through the sealing packing, the cartridge case or the connection cap.

[0039]

As described above, according to the print head device of the present invention, the pressure fluctuation in the inner space of the sealing packing caused by impact or the like can be appropriately absorbed, and the meniscus on the nozzle surface is destroyed. Can be effectively prevented. Therefore, impact resistance can be improved.

Further, according to the ink jet printer of the present invention, since the print head device can have impact resistance, it is possible to constitute a printer which is portable or frequently moved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a tape printing apparatus to which a print head device and an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention are applied.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a print head device of the tape printing device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing a state where the ink cartridge is mounted on a print head unit.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of an ink cartridge and a print head unit.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of a meandering portion of the ventilation passage.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an ink cartridge to which a ventilation passage according to a second embodiment is applied.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a print head unit to which a ventilation passage according to a third embodiment is applied.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of a print head device according to a fourth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 tape printer 2 apparatus main body 3 ink cartridge 10 print head unit 21 cartridge case 21 a lower case 23 ink supply port 31 print head 33 connection cap 36 sealing packing 40 closed space 41 ventilation path 41 a meandering part 45 groove 46 film 47 sealing Stop liquid 51 Ventilation passage 52 Cartridge receiving part 55 Groove part 56 Film 61 Damper

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A printing method comprising: a head unit on which a print head is mounted; an ink cartridge detachably mounted on the head unit; and a sealing packing interposed between the head unit and the ink cartridge. The print head device according to claim 1, wherein one of the head unit and the ink cartridge is provided with a ventilation passage having one end opened to the space inside the sealing packing and the other end opened to the atmosphere. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ventilation path includes a groove formed on the surface of the cartridge case of the ink cartridge, and a film that hermetically closes the groove except for both outer ends of the groove. The print head device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The air passage comprises a groove formed on the surface of the cartridge receiving portion of the head unit, and a film for hermetically closing the groove except for both outer ends of the groove. The print head device according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The print head device according to claim 1, wherein the ventilation passage extends in a meandering manner. 5. A non-volatile sealing liquid that moves in the ventilation passage with a flow of ventilation is sealed in a part of the ventilation passage. The print head device according to any one of the above. 6. A printing apparatus comprising: a head unit on which a print head is mounted; an ink cartridge detachably mounted on the head unit; and a sealing packing interposed between the head unit and the ink cartridge. In the head device, damper means for absorbing a pressure fluctuation in an inner space of the sealing packing is provided, and the damper means is disposed in an outer space of the sealing packing connected to the atmosphere and seals an open end of the sealing packing. A print head device comprising a bag-like film body opened to an inner space of a packing. 7. An ink jet printer comprising the print head device according to claim 1. Description: