JP2001063170A - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide an ink jet recording apparatus which can supply ink and can supply a recording medium without increasing the size of the apparatus. SOLUTION: In an ink jet recording apparatus which performs recording by ejecting ink to a recording medium by moving a carriage, a feed roller 13 for supplying a recording medium and a recording head for ejecting ink to the recording medium are mounted. A reciprocating carriage 4, a lead screw 3 for guiding one side when the carriage 4 is moved, and a guide wire 5 for guiding the other side, wherein the guide wire 5 is bendable, The carriage 4 is rotatable around the lead screw 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus which performs recording by discharging ink on a recording medium by moving a carriage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Inkjet recording apparatuses have been widely used in recent years because they are easy to miniaturize and can obtain high-quality color images. As described above, the recording apparatus mounts an ink cartridge on which a recording head for discharging ink and an ink tank are integrated on a carriage, reciprocates the carriage, and performs recording by discharging ink from the recording head to a recording medium. It is general that it is constituted.

Further, as a recording medium, paper, film, cloth, or a material obtained by applying a coating agent suitable for printing to the surface thereof has been used. In order to convey the recording medium, a friction conveyance method mainly using a roller of a high friction member such as rubber has been mainly used.

A recording apparatus is equipped with an ASF (auto sheet feeder) as a device for stacking a large number of sheets and sequentially feeding the sheets one by one, so that a user does not need to load a recording medium each time. Printing can be done continuously.

[0005] In the conventional ASF, the surface of a recording medium is picked up by a rubber roller having a relatively high coefficient of friction, and a nail separation method is often used for a thin recording medium.

A bank separation method in which an inclined surface is provided at the leading end of a sheet and the separation is performed by utilizing the elasticity of a thick recording medium is also frequently used for a thick recording medium such as a postcard. Further, a Duplo system in which a friction plate and a roller are separated by a roller is well known.

[0007]

However, in the above-described conventional example, the size of the carriage is increased in order to mount the ink tank on the carriage, and it is necessary to provide a large space as a moving area of the carriage.

In addition, since a pickup roller using an elastic material is used for picking up a recording medium, a large space is required above the recording medium, and an increase in the size of the apparatus cannot be avoided. Moreover, the rubber material having a large friction coefficient, which is a pickup elastic material, has many additives for increasing the friction coefficient, that is, a so-called plasticizer, and has a problem such as performance fluctuation due to temperature and aging.

When the surface is coated like a recording medium for ink jet recording,
In some cases, a plasticizer for increasing the coefficient of friction was transferred from the pickup roller to the recording medium, and marks were formed on the recording surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of supplying ink and a recording medium without increasing the size of the apparatus. Is what you do.

[0011]

A typical configuration according to the present invention for achieving the above object is an ink jet recording apparatus which performs recording by discharging ink on a recording medium by moving a carriage. Feeding means for feeding;
A carriage capable of reciprocatingly mounted with a recording head that ejects ink on the recording medium, a first guide member that guides one side when moving the carriage, and a second guide member that guides the other side. Wherein the second guide member is bendable, and the carriage is rotatable about the first guide member.

In the above configuration, the carriage can be rotated by a simple configuration. For this reason, by configuring the ink supply to the recording head by rotating the carriage, it is possible to perform the recording by supplying the ink to the recording head without increasing the size of the carriage.

Further, by forming a locking portion on the recording medium and locking the locking portion to push out the recording medium in the feeding direction, the recording medium is fed without providing a pickup roller. can do. For this reason, there is no increase in the size of the feeding means, and no additives or plasticizers adhere to the recording medium.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment Next, a recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention and a recording medium used in the apparatus will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective explanatory view of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment. In this recording apparatus, recording media described later are stacked and stored in an ink film cassette 18, and the recording media are sent out one by one to a recording unit to perform recording.

The recording unit rotatably supports a lead screw 3 on a base 2 integrally formed with a right side plate 2b and a left side plate 2c on both sides of a bottom plate 2a. Is reciprocated.

The carriage 4 is engaged with the lead screw 3 by a guide arm 4a, and the opposite end of the lead screw 3 is moved so that the guide portion 4b slides on the guide wire 5 to maintain the posture of the carriage 4. Has become. That is, the lead screw 3 serves as a first guide member for guiding one side of the carriage 4, and the guide wire 5 serves as a second guide member for guiding the other side of the carriage 4. The guide wire 5 has a relatively small diameter and flexibility, for example, made by twisting a piano wire or a stainless steel wire. One end of the guide wire 5 is engaged with the right side plate 2b, and the other end is attached to the tension plate 6. ing. The tension plate 6 is formed of a material having a spring property, for example, stainless steel, and has one end of the guide wire 5 locked at a tip end thereof, and a lower portion fixed to the bottom plate 2 a of the base 2.

As a result, when the lead screw 3 rotates, the carriage 4 engaged with the lead screw 3 is guided by the lead screw 3 and the guide wire 5 to reciprocate.

A lead gear 7 is fixed to one end of the lead screw 3. An idle gear 9 rotatably attached to a shaft 8 protruding from the right side plate 2b meshes with the lead gear 7. I have. A spur gear 9a meshing with the lead gear 7 is formed on the circumference of the idle gear 9, and a face gear 9b is formed near the outer periphery of the side surface. A motor pinion gear 11 of the carriage motor 10 meshes with the face gear 9b, and the driving force of the carriage motor 10 is transmitted to the lead screw 3 via the idle gear 9 and the lead gear 7.
The carriage motor 10 is a motor that can rotate in both directions by a predetermined amount, such as a pulse motor or a DC servo motor.

A recording head 12 is mounted on the carriage 4. The recording head 12 is an ink-jet head, and in the present embodiment, energizes the electrothermal transducer in accordance with a recording signal, and uses the film boiling generated in the ink by the thermal energy to grow bubbles generated in the ink. The recording is performed by discharging the ink from the discharge port by contraction. Regarding the typical configuration and principle, it is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, the system is arranged corresponding to a sheet or a liquid path holding a liquid (ink). By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recording information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to the electrothermal transducer, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and the recording head is driven. This is effective because film boiling occurs on the heat-acting surface, and consequently bubbles in the liquid can be formed corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis. The liquid is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that particularly excellent liquid ejection can be achieved, which is more preferable.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are detailed cross-sectional views of a head portion and a sub-tank portion of a recording head mounted on a carriage. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view as viewed from above, and FIG.

In the figure, 12a is a head nozzle portion,
Four color heads of Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and Bk (black) are arranged vertically along the transport direction of the recording medium. Ink chamber 12b for each color
1, 12b2, 12b3 and 12b4 are formed separately.
Reference numeral 12c denotes a dust trap filter provided between the ink tank chamber and the liquid chambers 12b1 to 12b4.

Similarly, the ink chambers are arranged in the order of Y, M, C, and Bk, and are 12d1, 12d2, 12d3, and 12d4, respectively. Each of the ink chambers 12d1 to 12d4 is filled with an urethane foam having a communication hole or an ink holder having a negative pressure generating function such as a fibrous laminate. 12e is 0.
This is a full tank valve composed of a so-called porous member membrane having fine pores of 5 μm to several μm. Reference numeral 12f denotes a suction pipe provided for generating a negative pressure in the ink chamber via a joint described later when a negative pressure is generated from the suction pump. The suction pipe 12f is connected to the hollow suction needle 12g. The suction needle 12g has a pointed tip, and a side hole 12g1 is opened in the side surface, and is connected to the internal cavity.

Reference numeral 12h denotes a hollow supply needle, which is prepared for the number of colors of the ink tank and is composed of 12h1, 12h2, 12h3, and 12h4, and supplies inks of Y, M, C, and Bk in order. ing. 12i is a supply path corresponding to each color, and 12i1, 12i2, 12i3, and 12i4 are Y, M, C,
According to the color of Bk, the supply needle 12h (12h1, 12h2,
12h3, 12h4).

As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of feed rollers 13 are provided on the upstream side and the downstream side in the transport direction of the recording medium with the recording area of the recording head interposed therebetween. The feed roller 13 is fixed to a roller shaft 14 and rotates by receiving a driving force from a feed motor 15 connected to the roller shaft 14. And each roller shaft 14 is a timing belt
The driving rollers 16 are connected to each other so that all four feeding rollers 13 can rotate at a constant speed.

The recording medium conveyed by the feed roller 13 has a base material made of a relatively elastic material such as a polyester film. Then, as shown in FIG. 3A, the recording medium 17 has a notch portion 17a at one end with respect to the feeding direction (the direction of the arrow). The notch 17a is a notch having a depth of about 0.5 mm, and has a feed side 17a1 and a tapered side 17a2 perpendicular to the feeding direction.
It is formed with. When this recording medium 17 is in the cassette,
They are stacked and stored as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, an ink film cassette 18 accommodating the recording medium 17 has a side wall 18b formed inside an outer case 18a and a shutter 18 which can be opened and closed.
c is attached. When the recording device is not loaded, the shutter 18c is closed to protect a cap and a joint portion described later from dust and the like.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where the shutter 18c of the cassette is opened, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state where the cassette is removed from the recording apparatus and the shutter 18c is closed.

At the front of the ink film cassette 18,
As shown in FIG. 4, a platen portion 18d is formed of a slightly thinner step. As described above, this platen portion 18d is covered by the shutter 18c when not loaded in the recording apparatus.

At each of the four corners of the platen portion 18d, four pinch rollers 19 are mounted at positions opposed to the feed roller 13 described above. The pinch roller 19 is urged upward by a pinch roller spring (not shown), that is, toward the feeding roller 13 with a predetermined force. And the platen part 18d
Is provided with a platen 18d1 formed of a porous member that easily absorbs ink and the like.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 20 denotes a cap and a platen.
The suction port 20a is provided at a predetermined position of 18d1, and is connected to a negative pressure recovery pump (not shown). Reference numeral 21 denotes a joint rubber, which is provided at a position facing each of the supply needles 12h provided on the carriage 4 described above. Reference numeral 22 denotes a suction joint, which is disposed so as to face the suction needle 12g described above. The suction joint 22 is connected to a suction pump (not shown). Note that a switching valve may be provided to share the above-described negative pressure recovery pump for recovery.

The joint rubber 21 and the four joints 21Y, 21M, 21C and 21Bk corresponding to the respective colors are respectively connected to the respective color inks to be loaded in the ink film cassette as described later. The joints 21Y, 21M,
21C and 21Bk are made of rubber thin film.
By piercing 12h, it becomes possible to communicate with the hollow portion of the hollow needle. When the needle is pulled out, the hole is closed by the elastic force of the rubber, so that no accidental evaporation occurs.

In the above-described ink film cassette 18, a recording medium separating means is provided. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration in which a recording medium is separated and fed. In the figure,
Reference numeral 23 denotes a notch joint, which is formed by a protrusion conforming to the shape of the notch portion 17a of the recording medium 17 described above, and a recording medium receiving portion 23b integrally provided below the claw portion 23a.
Are formed, and the side wall 18 of the ink film cassette 18 is formed.
b is slidably mounted in a guide hole 18e provided in the b. The height of the claw portion 23a is set to be slightly lower than the thickness of the recording medium described above. This is an essential requirement to reliably send out the recording medium one by one. An operating shaft 23c is formed integrally with the notch joint 23.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a separation lever, which is rotatably mounted on a shaft 18f provided on the side wall 18b of the ink film cassette 18. In the upper direction of one end of the separation lever 24,
Square hole 24 that engages with operating shaft 23c of notch joint 23
a is formed. An operating surface 24b is formed at the other end.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a compression torsion spring,
c is urged in the direction opposite to the feeding direction (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 6) and the coil is coiled with a gap in the same manner as the compression spring, so that the separation lever 24 is pressed in the direction of the side wall 18b. It is configured as follows.

Reference numeral 26 denotes a separation shaft, which is in contact with the operating surface 24b of the separation lever 24 through a hole 18g formed in the front of the ink film cassette 18. Separation shaft 26
A push-pull electromagnetic solenoid 27 is attached to the other end of the shaft.
26 can be slid in the axial direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ink film cassette 18 contains an ink bag 28. The ink bag 28 corresponds to the above-described recording head, and includes a yellow ink 28Y, a magenta ink 28M, a cyan ink 28C, and a black ink 28C. 28Bk
Are stored in a predetermined amount. The ink bags of the respective colors are connected to the joints 21Y, 21M, 21 described above.
C and 21Bk (see FIG. 4).

Next, the operation when printing is performed by the printing apparatus having the above-described configuration will be described.

After performing an initial operation in response to a print command from a host computer or the like, an operation of replenishing ink in a sub-tank on the carriage so as to print 17 recording media is started.

First, the carriage motor 10 is rotated in a predetermined direction, the lead screw 3 is rotated, the carriage 4 is fed, and stopped at a predetermined position. At this time, the supply needle 12h and the suction needle 12g on the carriage are
It is at a position opposite to the 18 joint rubber 21. At this time, since the recording medium 17 is not set, there is no obstacle in inserting the supply needle 12h into the joint rubber 21.

As shown in FIG. 7A, when the carriage 4 comes to a predetermined position and an electromagnetic solenoid (not shown) is operated, the carriage 4 rotates around the lead screw 3 in the printing surface direction. I do. As a result, FIG.
The supply needle 12h is inserted into the joint rubber 21 provided on the ink film cassette 18, and the suction needle 12g is inserted into the suction joint 22 as shown in FIG. At this time, the carriage 4 is in the printing area, but since the guide member on one side of the carriage 4 is not a shaft but a flexible guide wire 5, as the carriage 4 descends, as shown in FIG. , The wire does not flex and hinder the operation of the carriage 4. At this time, the tension plate 6 is configured to bend and follow the deformation of the guide wire 5. The shape and thickness of the tension plate 6 need to have a sufficient tension so as not to bend under the weight of the carriage 4 during normal printing. In the case of a pit-in system for printing, the required tension is very small because the weight of the carriage 4 can be extremely reduced.

Thereafter, a suction pump (not shown) is operated to make the inside of the suction pipe 12f a negative pressure. As a result, for example, the pressure inside the ink chamber 12d1 also becomes negative, so that the ink in the ink bag 28 enters the ink chamber 12d1 from the joint through the supply needle 12h. When the liquid level rises and touches the full tank valve 12e, the supply of ink is stopped at that point because the full tank valve 12e allows gas to pass through but not liquid.

The other ink chambers are similarly filled one after another, and after a lapse of a predetermined time, all the ink chambers are fully charged and the supply ends.

After the sub-tank on the carriage is filled with ink, the next step is to supply the recording medium. A plurality of recording media 17 are stored in the ink film cassette 18 in a stacked manner.

In this embodiment, since a recording medium separating means, which will be described later, is located at the lower end of the laminated recording medium, a slightly downward force is applied to the laminated recording medium by a pressing spring (not shown). Originally, if the recording device is maintained horizontally during printing, there is no need for a press-contact spring, and the mechanism is capable of separating and feeding the recording medium by its own weight only. This is because it is preferable to apply an urging force.

Now, the power is supplied to the electromagnetic solenoid 27 for operation, and the separation shaft 26 is operated in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 9B. By pressing the operating surface 24b, the separation lever 24 rotates counterclockwise around the shaft 18f, that is, in the direction of arrow C. Since the operating shaft 23c of the notch joint 23 is engaged with the square hole 24a of the separation lever 24, the notch joint 23 slides in the direction of arrow D in parallel. At this time,
The claw portion 23a of the notch joint 23 is a notch portion of the recording medium 17.
As shown in FIG. 10, the recording medium 17 at the lowermost end is pushed forward, and one sheet separating operation is performed. As described above, since the claw portion 23a is set to be slightly lower than the thickness of the recording medium 17, no conveyance force is generated on the recording medium 17 immediately above.

However, since a frictional force is generated due to the friction coefficient between the recording media, it is desirable to form a gate portion with a clearance slightly larger than the thickness of the recording medium 17 at the front end. Alternatively, a load that does not lose the frictional force described above may be applied to the leading end of the recording medium by a thin spring.

The feed side 17a1 of the notch 17a of the recording medium 17
Although the surface perpendicular to the conveying direction can surely withstand the conveying force, even if the surface is formed at an angle, a sufficient separating force can be given. In this method, as in the conventional example,
There is no need to apply a large force to apply a frictional force from the side of the loaded recording medium opposite to the recording medium to be separated. For this reason, the conveying force P due to friction between the recording media (see FIG.
10 (b)) is extremely small. When one recording medium 17 is separated and fed forward, the recording medium 17 bites into the feeding roller 13 and the recording medium 17 is fed by the feeding roller.

The feed roller 13 is moved by a timing belt 16, and extends around the recording section.
The feeding accuracy of the recording medium is always constant.

When the recording medium 17 is fed to the upper part of the platen 18d1, the carriage 4 reciprocates in the printing area, and the recording head 12 prints on the recording medium surface. At this time, the image slightly larger than the recording medium 17 is enlarged by about 2 to 3% by image processing, and printing starts when the leading end of the recording medium approaches the recording head. for that reason,
Printing is started several% ahead of the leading end of the recording medium, and the image, that is, the ink that protrudes from the recording medium 17 is printed on the platen 18d1 below (FIG. 11A).
reference).

However, since the platen 18d1 is formed of a material that absorbs ink, it is not retransferred to the back surface of the recording medium 17. Similarly, since the printing is slightly larger in the width direction of the recording medium 17, that is, in the main scanning direction, the protruding ink is absorbed by the platen 18d1.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a state in which the central portion is being printed. At this time, the notch joint 23
Since it is in contact with the end of the recording medium 17 and is slightly pressed by the coil portion of the spring 25, the recording medium 17 is prevented from meandering in the ink film cassette. Further printing is continued, and when the printing paper is applied to the rear end of the recording medium, printing is performed while absorbing the slightly protruding portion to the platen 18d1, similarly to the front end, and the image recording on the recording medium 17 is completed (FIG. (b)).

As described above, by processing and printing an image slightly larger than the recording medium 17, it is possible to print on the recording medium 17 without margins. In addition, if the enlargement processing of the image is not performed uniformly on the entire surface but is performed on a few percent of the edge, the entire image is not distorted.
The entire surface can be printed. Note that the image may be gradually enlarged when approaching the peripheral portion.

In order to prevent drying and sticking of the nozzles not used during the printing, the preliminary ejection is performed on the platen slightly away from the end of the recording medium 17, and the both ends in the carriage movement direction. The recording can be performed with a small loss of printing time because the recording can be performed by the copy unit.

[Other Embodiments] FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of the notch portion 17a of the recording medium 17. Fig. 13 (a)
Is a notch portion 17a of the recording medium 17 cut out in a mountain shape on two sides, and the end of the notch portion is obtuse. is there.

FIG. 13B shows the notch 17a of the recording medium 17 formed in a polygon, and FIG. 13C shows the notch 17a of the recording medium 17 formed in a circular shape. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment in which a hole is formed in the recording medium 17 instead of a notch. This is suitable when the recording medium 17 uses a soft material having relatively low rigidity. FIG. 14A shows a triangular hole 17b. In this case, the above-described notch joint 23 has the claw portion 23a corresponding to the shape of the hole 17b, but the operation itself is as described above.

FIG. 14 (b) shows a rectangular hole 17b. The shape of the hole is not limited to the one shown in the figure, and a circular or polygonal shape does not deny its effect.

FIG. 14 (c) shows that the hole 17b is provided near the center of the front end portion in the feeding direction, so that stress in the side direction can be prevented from being applied. This is particularly effective for a recording medium having low rigidity.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view of an embodiment in which a saw-shaped notch portion 17c is provided continuously over the entire side surface of the recording medium 17. In FIG. 15, reference numeral 29 denotes a feed gear, and the teeth 29a mesh with the notch 17c.
By rotating, not only the separation and feeding of the recording medium 17 but also the feeding during printing can be performed.The above-mentioned feeding roller and pinch roller are eliminated, and a simplified feeding mechanism is realized. It becomes possible.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory view of an embodiment in which a ribbon guide 30 which is a thin plate member is used as the second guide member instead of the guide wire 5. That is, instead of the guide wire 5 of the above-described embodiment, a ribbon guide 30 made of a ribbon-shaped flexible material is stretched between the tension plate 6 and the right side plate 2a of the base 2. During printing, Figure 16
As shown in (a), since the ribbon portion is vertical and receives the carriage 4 on the end face, it functions as a guide with a slight tension without bending.

On the other hand, when the carriage 4 descends,
As shown in FIG. 16 (b), by interlocking with an electromagnetic solenoid (not shown) that pushes down the carriage 4, the tension plate 6 is deformed and the tension of the ribbon is relaxed, so that the ribbon can be easily moved in the thickness direction of the ribbon. Since the carriage 4 can bend, the lowering operation of the carriage 4 is performed smoothly.

[0062]

The present invention is constructed as described above.
The carriage can be rotated by a simple configuration. For this reason, by configuring the ink supply to the recording head by rotating the carriage, it is possible to perform the recording by supplying the ink to the recording head without increasing the size of the carriage.

Further, by forming a locking portion on the recording medium and locking the locking portion to push out the recording medium in the feeding direction, the recording medium can be fed without providing a pickup roller. can do. For this reason, there is no increase in the size of the feeding means, and no additives or plasticizers adhere to the recording medium.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective explanatory view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are detailed cross-sectional views of a head portion and a sub-tank portion of a recording head mounted on a carriage. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view as viewed from above, and FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a recording medium.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a shutter of a cassette is opened.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a cassette is removed from the recording apparatus and a shutter is closed.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration in which a recording medium is separated and fed.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of supplying ink to a sub tank.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a bent state of a guide wire when the carriage rotates.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a mechanism for separating and feeding a recording medium.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an operation of separating and feeding a recording medium.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of processing and printing an image slightly larger than a recording medium.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a state where a central portion is being printed.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment of the notch portion of the recording medium.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment in which a hole is formed in a recording medium instead of a notch.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment in which a saw-shaped notch portion is provided continuously over the entire side surface of the recording medium.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment using a ribbon guide, which is a thin plate member, as a second guide member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Base 2a ... Bottom plate 2b ... Right plate 2c ... Left plate 3 ... Lead screw 4 ... Carriage 4a ... Guide arm 4b ... Guide part 5 ... Guide wire 6 ... Tension plate 7 ... Lead gear 8 ... Shaft 9 ... Idle gear 9a ... Spur gear 9b ... face gear 10 ... carriage motor 11 ... motor pinion gear 12 ... recording head 12b1, 12b2, 12b3, 12b4 ... ink liquid chamber 12c ... filter 12d1, 12d2, 12d3, 12d4 ... ink chamber 12e ... full tank valve 12f ... suction pipe 12g … Suction needle 12g1… side hole 12h… supply needle 12i… supply path 13… supply roller 14… roller shaft 15… supply motor 16… timing belt 17… recording medium 17a… notch 17a1… side 17a2… side 17b… hole 17c ... Notch 18 ... Ink film cassette 18a ... Outer case 18b ... Side wall 18c ... Shutter 18d ... Plastic Ten part 18d1 Platen 18e Guide hole 18f Shaft 18g Hole 19 Pinch roller 20 Cap 20a Suction port 21 Joint rubber 21Y, 21M, 21C, 21Bk Joint part 22 Suction joint 23 Notch joint 23a Claw portion 23b Recording medium receiving portion 23c Working shaft 24 Separating lever 24a Square hole 24b Working surface 25 Compression torsion spring 26 Separating shaft 27 Electromagnetic solenoid 28 Ink bag 29 Feed gear 29a Teeth portion 30 … Ribbon guide

Claims (6)

[Claims] An ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by ejecting ink to a recording medium by moving a carriage, comprising: a feeding unit that supplies a recording medium; and a recording head that ejects ink to the recording medium. A reciprocally movable carriage, a first guide member for guiding one side during the movement of the carriage, and a second guide member for guiding the other side, wherein the second guide member is bendable. An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the carriage is rotatable about the first guide member. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a tension is applied to the second guide member. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second guide member is a string-like member made of a piano wire or a thin stainless steel wire. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second guide member is formed of a thin plate member. 5. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said carriage is rotated to supply ink to said recording head. 6. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said feeding means is configured to be locked by a locking portion formed on a recording medium and to push said recording medium in a feeding direction.