JP2002172763A - Structure for securing recording head unit, carriage unit, and ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a structure for securing an ink jet recording head while positioning easily with respect to a carriage, a carriage unit in which the ink jet recording head is secured to the carriage through that securing structure, and an ink jet recorder comprising that carriage unit. SOLUTION: Openings 48 corresponding to respective containing sections 44 are made in the bottom wall 46 of a carriage 18 and a surrounding wall 50 is formed downward from the bottom wall 46. The surrounding wall 50 is fixed with a positioning protrusion 56 and a leaf spring 58 facing each other. An ink jet recording head 16 can be secured while being positioned accurately by simply turning a lever 52. Resiliency of the leaf spring 58 acts in the final stage of operation for securing the ink jet recording head 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording head unit fixing structure, a carriage device, and an ink jet recording device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a recording head unit for discharging ink droplets onto an image recording medium based on image information. The present invention relates to a recording head unit fixing structure for fixing the recording head unit to a position, a carriage device in which a recording head unit is fixed to a carriage by the recording head unit fixing structure, and an ink jet recording device including the carriage device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet recording apparatus for recording an image by discharging ink droplets from an ink jet recording head onto a recording medium in accordance with image information, the ink jet recording head is mounted and moved in a fixed direction (main scanning direction). Many of them have a carriage. In such an ink jet recording apparatus, it is necessary to accurately position and fix the ink jet recording head with respect to the carriage. In particular, ink jet recording apparatuses that eject ink droplets of different colors from a plurality of ink jet recording heads (for example, black (Bk), cyan (C), magenta (M))
And recording a full-color image by ejecting ink droplets of yellow (Y)), a so-called color shift occurs unless the respective ink jet recording heads are accurately positioned and fixed at predetermined positions on the carriage. The image quality will be impaired.

In recent years, in order to improve the so-called throughput (image recording capacity per unit time), the scanning speed of the ink jet recording head in the main scanning direction has been improved, and the acceleration until reaching a steady speed has been improved. Have been proposed. As a result, a larger force (inertial force, vibration generated in the ink jet recording apparatus, or the like) acts on the ink jet recording head, and thus it is necessary to firmly fix the ink jet recording head to the carriage to prevent displacement.

For example, in a carriage 112 (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-244230) shown in FIGS.
Spring members 118, 120 are attached to the side walls 114, 116. When the pen (unit of the ink jet recording head) is accommodated in the accommodating portions 122 and 124, these spring members 118 and 120 push the pen toward the datum 128 provided on the main wall 126, thereby causing the X of the pen to move.
The alignment in the direction is performed.

However, the spring members 118 and 120 are
Since the pens are mounted on the upper portions of the housings, the elastic force from the spring members 118, 120 acts at the initial stage of the housing operation when the pen is housed in the housing portions 122, 124.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In consideration of the above facts, the present invention provides an ink jet recording head fixing structure capable of easily positioning and fixing an ink jet recording head with respect to a carriage, and an ink jet recording head fixing structure provided on the carriage by the ink jet recording head fixing structure. It is an object to obtain a carriage device to which an inkjet recording head is fixed and an inkjet recording device provided with the carriage device.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a recording head unit fixing structure for fixing a recording head unit for discharging ink droplets to an image recording medium based on image information at a predetermined position on a carriage. A storage unit provided on the carriage for housing the recording head unit, and a recording unit provided on at least one of the carriage and the recording head unit and recording on the carriage in a state where the recording head unit is stored in the storage unit. A reference member serving as a position reference in contact with the other of the head units, and an urging member provided near the reference member and urging at least one of the carriage and the recording head unit in a direction to contact the reference member. , Is characterized by having.

In a state where the recording head unit is accommodated in the accommodating portion provided on the carriage, a reference member provided on one of the carriage and the recording head unit comes into contact with the other of the carriage and the recording head unit, and the recording head unit is moved. It is positioned at a predetermined position with respect to the carriage. Here, for positioning, it is sufficient that the reference member contacts the other of the carriage and the recording head unit in a state where the recording head unit is completely accommodated in the accommodation portion of the carriage. It can be provided at a position where it does not.

In a state where the recording head unit is accommodated in the accommodating portion, the urging member urges at least one of the recording head units in a direction in which the recording head unit comes into contact with the reference member. Accordingly, the recording head unit can be more accurately positioned with respect to the carriage since the recording head unit is reliably brought into contact with the reference member. Further, the recording head unit can be fixed to the carriage by being sandwiched between the urging member and the reference member.

[0010] The urging member is provided near the reference member. Therefore, the urging force of the urging member can be set to a position that acts only at the final stage of the operation of accommodating the recording head unit in the accommodating portion, and does not act at other stages. For this reason, the operation of accommodating the recording head unit at a predetermined position of the carriage accommodating portion becomes easy, and the recording head unit can be easily positioned and fixed with respect to the carriage. In particular, even if the urging force of the urging member is increased, the recording head unit can be easily accommodated in the accommodating portion of the carriage, so that the recording head unit is firmly attached to the carriage by using an urging member having a large urging force. It can be fixed to

In the present invention, "near the reference member"
What is necessary is that the recording head unit is in a position where the recording head unit comes into contact with the urging member and receives the urging force at the final stage of the operation of accommodating the recording head unit in the accommodating portion. May not be provided adjacent to the reference member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the recording head unit is provided on the carriage, and the recording head unit is attached to the carriage in a state where the recording head unit is accommodated in a predetermined position of the accommodation portion. And a fixing member for fixing the fixing member.

Since the recording head unit can be fixed at a predetermined position with respect to the carriage by the fixing member, it is possible to reliably prevent the recording head unit from being displaced or falling off with respect to the carriage.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the fixing member is rotatably attached to the carriage, and the recording head unit is moved into the accommodation portion by a rotating operation. A rotating member for pressing.

Accordingly, the recording head unit can be pressed and housed in the housing portion by a simple operation of simply rotating the rotating member.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, recording is performed in a state where the recording head unit reaches a predetermined position of the housing portion by the rotating member. An engaging portion that engages with the head unit.

That is, when the recording head unit reaches a predetermined position in the housing portion, the engaging portion provided on the rotating member engages with the recording head unit, and the rotating member and the recording head unit are inadvertently positioned. It will not shift or separate.
For this reason, the recording head unit is more reliably fixed at a predetermined position of the carriage.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a carriage having an accommodating portion capable of accommodating a recording head unit and the recording head unit fixing structure according to any one of the first to fourth aspects are provided in the accommodating portion. A recording head unit that is fixed and discharges ink droplets to an image recording medium based on image information.

That is, the carriage device is constituted by fixing the recording head unit to the accommodation portion of the carriage. In an ink jet recording apparatus provided with this carriage device, ink droplets are ejected from a recording head unit while moving the carriage device in the main scanning direction, and an image is recorded on a recording medium.

Since the recording head unit is fixed to the carriage by the recording head unit fixing structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the recording head unit is firmly fixed at an accurate position. Therefore, the recording head unit is not displaced, and a high-quality image without color misregistration can always be recorded.

Further, the work of accommodating the recording head unit in the accommodating portion of the carriage and fixing it at a predetermined position becomes easy.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a carriage device according to the fifth aspect.

This ink jet recording apparatus has the carriage device described in claim 5, and the recording head unit is firmly fixed to the carriage at an accurate position. Therefore, no displacement of the recording head unit occurs and a high-quality image without any color displacement can always be recorded.

[0024]

FIG. 1 shows an ink jet recording apparatus 12 according to one embodiment of the present invention. 2 to 11 show a carriage device 14 configured by fixing the inkjet recording head 16 to a carriage 18 by a recording head unit fixing structure according to one embodiment of the present invention. 2 to 6
3 shows a state in which some of the inkjet recording heads 16 are not mounted on the carriage 18 for convenience of illustration, but in an actual use state of the carriage device 14, all the inkjet recording heads 16 are loaded. .

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the ink jet recording apparatus 12 has a recording medium cassette 20 provided below. The recording medium cassette 20 includes a recording medium 22.
(For example, recording paper and OHP sheets) are stored in a stacked state, and a pickup roller 24 for taking out the recording medium 22 is provided.

In the ink jet recording apparatus 12, a guide plate 28 for guiding the recording medium 22 to a recording section 26 (a position below the ink jet recording head 16) is provided.
And a transport roller 30 for transporting the recording medium 22, and a platen 32. The recording medium 22 in the recording medium cassette 20 is taken out of the recording medium cassette 20 by the pickup roller 24, and further conveyed to the recording section 26 on the platen 32 by the conveying roller 30 while being guided by the guide plate 28.

A shaft 34 is stretched over the ink jet recording apparatus 12 so as to be orthogonal to the conveying direction of the recording medium 22 in the recording section 26 (direction of arrow Y, left direction in FIG. 1). The shaft 34 is provided with the insertion hole 3
The carriage 18 moves (main scan) along the insertion hole 36. Accordingly, in the recording unit 26, the inkjet recording head 16 performs main scanning while ejecting ink droplets according to image information, and each time one main scanning is completed, the transport roller 30 transports the recording medium 22 by a predetermined amount ( By performing the sub-scanning, an image is recorded on the recording medium 22. In the following description, FIGS.
To the right, the plus (+) X direction, the sub-scanning direction to the plus (+) Y direction, and the upward direction to the plus (+) Z direction.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, in the present embodiment, four ink jet recording heads 16 are mounted on the carriage 18. For example, a so-called full-color image is recorded by ejecting ink droplets of each color of black (Bk), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) for each inkjet recording head 16. can do.

The ink jet recording head 16 has a head section 38 for discharging ink droplets onto the recording medium 22, and a sub-ink tank section 40 in which ink discharged from the head section 38 is stored in advance. When the ink in the sub-ink tank section 40 decreases to a predetermined amount or less, the main ink tank (both not shown) is operated by the ink supply device.
Is supplied from the printer.

The carriage 18 has a wall 42 (side wall 42S).
And the partition wall 42D), four accommodating portions 44 corresponding to the four inkjet recording heads 16 are configured. A head portion 38 is provided on the bottom wall 46 of the carriage 18.
Are formed, and an enclosing wall 50 is formed downward from the bottom wall 46 around the opening 48. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, when the ink jet recording head 16 is loaded at a predetermined position of the storage section 44, the head section 38 projects downward from the opening 48. The protruding head portion 38 is surrounded by the surrounding wall 50.

On the upper part of the carriage 18, there are provided levers 52 corresponding to each of the four accommodating portions 44. Each of the levers 52 is rotatable independently around the shaft 54, and a user can grip the grip portion 52H to rotate the shaft 54.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 11, the surrounding wall 50 is formed with a positioning projection 56 projecting toward the inside of the housing portion 44 (ie, in the + X direction). The distal end surface of each positioning projection 56 is a reference surface 56S, and the ink jet recording head 1 mounted at a predetermined position is provided.
6, the ink jet recording head 16 is positioned in the main scanning direction by contacting the side surface of the head section 38. Further, a guide surface 56G that is obliquely inclined is formed above the reference surface 56S, and the side surface 16S of the inkjet recording head 16 when the inkjet recording head 16 is loaded.
To guide the inkjet recording head 16 in the + X direction.

A leaf spring 58 is positioned and attached at a position facing each positioning projection 56. In the attached state, the leaf spring 58 is supported in a cantilever manner so as to face diagonally downward, and the positioning protrusion 56
It is located near. Therefore, when the inkjet recording head 16 is accommodated in the accommodation section 44, the inkjet recording head 16 comes into contact with the leaf spring 58 at the final stage of the accommodation operation.

On the other hand, each of the levers 52
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7 to 11, side walls 60 are formed, and a cam 62 is provided between the side walls 60. As can be seen from FIGS. 7 to 11, the shaft member 64 formed at one end of the cam 62 is housed in the bearing member 66 formed on the facing surface of the side wall 60, and the cam 62 is
4 is rotatable.

The other end of the cam 62 has a limiting projection 68
Are formed. The restricting convex portion 68 is located in a restricting rib 70 formed on the side wall 60 of the lever 52, and the rotation range of the cam 62 is within a certain range by the restricting convex portion 68 hitting the restricting rib 70 (FIG. 7). (The position shown in the figure).

An accommodating recess 72 is formed on the surface facing the lever 52 and the cam 62, and a compression coil spring 74 is accommodated in the accommodating recess 72. Compression coil spring 7
4 is a direction in which the cam 62 is separated from the lever 52 (arrow C).
(In two directions), and the rotation of the lever 52 receiving this urging force causes the restricting protrusion 68 and the restricting rib 7 to rotate as described above.
It is limited to a certain range by contact with zero.

The position of the compression coil spring 74 is maximized when the lever 52 is in the middle of the range of rotation (the position shown in FIG. 9) (the state becomes unstable). When the lever 52 is slightly rotated in the L1 direction or the arrow L2 direction, the shaft 54 is biased by the elastic force of the compression coil spring 74 so that the rotation is urged.
The position is determined in consideration of the relationship with the position and the like.

A projection 76 is formed on the bottom surface of the cam 62 (the surface opposite to the lever 52). A projection 78 corresponding to the projection 76 is provided on the upper surface 16U of the inkjet recording head 16 (the upper surface of the sub ink tank section 40).
Are formed. As shown in FIG. 7, the lever 52 is moved in the direction of arrow L1 in a state where the ink jet recording head 16 is set in the accommodating portion 44 (in a state where the ink jet recording head 16 is not pushed down to a predetermined position and is merely placed diagonally). When rotated, the protrusion 76 contacts the upper surface 16U of the ink jet recording head 16, as shown in FIG. Here, when the lever 52 is further rotated against the elastic force of the compression coil spring 74, the projection 76 presses the ink jet recording head 16 downward while sliding on the upper surface 16U of the ink jet recording head 16, and FIG. As shown in FIG. 10 to FIG. 10, the ink jet recording head 16 reaches a predetermined position in the storage section 44.

On the protrusion 76 of the cam 62, a positioning inclined surface 76D is formed which is inclined in three directions of + X direction (main scanning direction), -Y direction (sub scanning direction) and -Z direction (downward direction). . In contrast, the inkjet recording head 16
The projection 78 has a reference inclined surface 78S that comes into surface contact with the positioning inclined surface 76D when the inkjet recording head 16 is housed at a predetermined position in the housing portion 44.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the ink jet recording head 16 reaches a predetermined position in the housing portion 44, the positioning inclined surface 76D and the reference inclined surface 78S come into contact with each other. Positioning inclined surface 7
6D acts on the reference inclined surface 78S, and presses the inkjet recording head 16 in the + X direction, the -Y direction, and the -Z direction.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 11, the carriage 1
A reference projection 80 is formed on the bottom wall 46 of each of the housing portions 44 in an upward direction (+ Z direction) for each of the housing portions 44, and the upper surface thereof is a reference surface 80S. Also, the carriage 18
The rear wall 82 is also provided with a reference projection 84 directed forward (in the + Y direction) for each of the housing portions 44, and the front surface thereof is a reference surface 84S. In addition, a reference protrusion 86 is formed on the side surface of the sub-ink tank portion 40 so as to protrude laterally (-X direction), and the tip thereof serves as a reference surface 86S.

Therefore, the ink jet recording head 16 receives the elastic force of the compression coil spring 74 to move the ink jet recording head 16 in the + X direction, -Y
When pressed in the direction and the −Z direction, the bottom surface of the sub ink tank unit 40 comes into contact with the reference surface 80S of the reference protrusion 80, and the ink jet recording head 16 is positioned and fixed in the vertical direction. Further, the rear surface of the sub ink tank unit 40 contacts the reference surface 84S of the reference protrusion 84,
The ink jet recording head 16 is positioned and fixed in the sub-scanning direction. Further, the reference surface 86S of the reference protrusion 86 of the sub ink tank unit 40 comes into contact with the wall 42 and is positioned and fixed in the main scanning direction.

In addition, the reference projection 8 is provided on the front wall of the surrounding wall 50.
8 are formed, and the rear surface is a reference surface 88S.
A connector 90 for electrically connecting a harness to the loaded ink jet recording head 16 is provided on the rear wall 82 of the carriage 18. The pins 92 of the connector 90 have a predetermined elasticity so as to urge the ink jet recording head 16 in the + Y direction when connected to the ink jet recording head 16. The ink jet recording head 16 receiving this elastic force is positioned and fixed in contact with the reference surface 88S.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 and FIGS. 7 to 11, one of the side walls 60 of the lever 52 is extended downward to form an extended portion 94.
6 are formed. On the other hand, the engagement protrusions 98 corresponding to the engagement protrusions 96 are also provided on the side surface of the ink jet recording head 16.
Are formed.

As shown in detail in FIG.
And the engagement projection 98 have tapered surfaces 96T, 98, respectively.
T and engagement surfaces 96F and 98F are formed, and when the lever 52 is rotated in the direction of arrow L1, the tapered surfaces 96T and 98T come into contact with each other as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. . Here, when the lever 52 is further pushed in the direction of arrow L1, as shown by the solid line in FIG.
Since the lever 4 is elastically bent, the lever 52 can be further rotated. When the lever 52 is substantially horizontal, FIG.
As shown in (C), the engagement projection 96 enters into the depth of the engagement projection 98, and the extension 94 is elastically restored.
6F and 98F engage. In this state, even if an attempt is made to rotate the lever 52 in the direction of the arrow L2, the engagement surface 96F comes into contact with the engagement surface 98F, which causes a resistance to the rotation. When the lever 52 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow L2, the ink jet recording head 16 receives a diagonally upward force due to the engagement of the engagement surfaces 96F and 98F. And FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, from a predetermined position in the housing portion 44, the rotation is performed about a position near the reference surface 88S as a substantially rotation center, and the user is protruded to a position where the user can easily take out the storage device.

Next, a method for mounting the ink jet recording head 16 on the carriage 18 and the operation of the carriage device 14 and the ink jet recording device 12 in this embodiment will be described.

When the ink jet recording head 16 is mounted on the carriage 18, first, as shown in FIG. 7, the lever 52 is rotated in the direction of arrow L 2 to open The corresponding inkjet recording head 16 is placed. At this time, it is not necessary to push the ink jet recording head 16 to a predetermined position in the storage section 44, and it is sufficient to place the ink jet recording head 16 so that the ink jet recording head 16 is inclined as shown in FIG.

Next, the lever 52 is turned in the direction of arrow L1. As shown in FIG. 8, the projection 76 of the cam 62 contacts the upper surface 16U of the ink jet recording head 16 and the projection 7
6 presses the ink jet recording head 16 downward while sliding on the upper surface 16U. During the rotation, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
T and 98T come into contact with each other, causing resistance to rotation. However, since the side wall 60 (extended portion 94) of the lever 52 bends,
As shown in FIG.
6 while pressing the lever 52 to a predetermined position of the accommodation portion 44.
Can be rotated.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the lever 52 becomes substantially horizontal, the positioning inclined surface 76D formed on the projection 76 of the cam 62 and the projection 7 of the ink jet recording head 16
8, and the elastic force of the compression coil spring 74 is reduced in the + X direction, the −Y direction, and the −Z direction.
Acts in the direction. Further, the bottom surface of the sub ink tank unit 40 contacts the reference surface 80S of the reference projection 80, the rear surface of the sub ink tank unit 40 contacts the reference surface 84S of the reference projection 84, and the reference surface of the sub ink tank unit 40 The reference surface 86S of the protrusion 86 contacts the wall 42. As a result, the inkjet recording head 16 is accurately positioned and fixed in any of the main scanning direction, the sub-scanning direction, and the vertical direction.

When the pins 92 of the connector 90 are connected to the ink jet recording head 16, the ink jet recording head 16 comes into contact with the reference surface 88S by the elastic force from the pins 92, and is positioned and fixed in the sub-scanning direction. Is done.

Further, since the leaf spring 58 comes into contact with and presses the head portion 38 of the ink jet recording head 16 from the side, the head portion 38 comes into contact with the positioning projection 56, and the ink jet recording head 16 is also provided at the lower portion thereof. It is positioned in the scanning direction. As a result, the inkjet recording head 16 is firmly fixed in a state where the inkjet recording head 16 is accurately positioned at a predetermined position in the accommodation section 44.

In addition, since the elastic force of the leaf spring 58 acts at the final stage of the operation of positioning and fixing the ink jet recording head 16 to the carriage 16, the loading operation is facilitated.

When the lever 52 is substantially horizontal, the engaging surfaces 96F and 98F of the engaging projections 96 and 98 are engaged as shown in FIG. Will not rotate in the direction of arrow L2. Further, in this state, the lever 52 is urged in the arrow L1 direction by receiving the elastic force of the compression coil spring 74. This also limits the careless rotation of the lever 52 in the direction of the arrow L2.

In this way, a simple operation (substantially,
Only by rotating the lever 52).
, The ink jet recording head 16 is accurately positioned and fixed, thereby forming the carriage device 14 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, when an image is recorded on the recording medium 22 using the inkjet recording head 16 on which the carriage device 14 is mounted, the inkjet recording head 16 of each color is accurately positioned at a predetermined position. Therefore, so-called color shift does not occur,
High quality images can be recorded. Further, since each of the ink jet recording heads 16 is firmly fixed to the carriage 18, even if the moving speed of the carriage 18 is increased or the acceleration is increased for the purpose of, for example, improving the throughput, the ink jet recording heads 16 are formed. The head 16 is not inadvertently displaced with respect to the carriage 18.

The use of the ink jet recording apparatus 12 may require replacement of the ink jet recording head 16. In this case, when the lever 52 corresponding to the ink jet recording head 16 to be replaced is rotated in the direction of arrow L2, the ink jet recording head 16 receives a diagonally upward force due to the engagement of the engagement surfaces 96F and 98F. From the predetermined position in the housing portion 44, the rotation is made about the position near the reference surface 88S as a substantially rotation center, and the user is protruded to a position where the user can easily take out the storage device. Therefore, the ink jet recording head 16 to be replaced can be easily taken out, and the replacement operation is facilitated.

The lever 52 is provided for each of the four ink jet recording heads 16 and can be independently rotated. For this reason, for example, when replacing the inkjet recording head 16 located in the middle in the main scanning direction, if only the corresponding lever 52 is rotated in the direction of the arrow L2, only the inkjet recording head 16 to be replaced will be replaced with another inkjet recording head. Since the recording head 16 projects obliquely upward from the recording head 16, the intermediate inkjet recording head 16
Can easily be exchanged. In particular, in recent years, there has been a configuration in which the inkjet recording heads 16 have been miniaturized or arranged in close contact with each other, but even with such a configuration, a specific inkjet recording head 16 can be easily taken out. be able to. Of course, even if the number of the inkjet recording heads 16 is three or five or more, the replacement of the inkjet recording head 16 located in the middle becomes easy.

In the above description, an example in which the ink jet recording head 16 has the head section 38 and the sub ink tank section 40 has been described, but the ink jet recording head 16 has the sub ink tank section 40. It does not need to be provided, and may be configured only by the head section 38.

[0058]

According to the present invention, the ink jet recording head can be easily positioned and fixed with respect to the carriage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the carriage device according to the embodiment of the present invention in a state where a part of the ink jet recording head is taken out of the carriage.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the carriage device according to the embodiment of the present invention in a state where a part of the inkjet recording head is taken out of the carriage.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the carriage device according to the embodiment of the present invention in a state where a part of the inkjet recording head is taken out of the carriage.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the carriage device according to the embodiment of the present invention in a state where some of the inkjet recording heads are taken out of the carriage.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the carriage device according to the embodiment of the present invention in a state where some of the ink jet recording heads are taken out of the carriage.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state where an ink jet recording head is loaded on a carriage in the carriage device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state where an ink jet recording head is loaded on a carriage in the carriage device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state where the inkjet recording head is loaded on the carriage in the carriage device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state where the inkjet recording head is loaded on the carriage in the carriage device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state in which the inkjet recording head is taken out of the carriage in the carriage device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 12A to 12C show states in which the engagement projections are engaged with each other in the carriage device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a conventional carriage.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a conventional carriage.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 Inkjet recording device 14 Carriage device 16 Inkjet recording head (recording head unit) 18 Carriage 44 Housing 52 Lever (rotating member, fixed member) 56 Positioning protrusion (reference member) 58 Leaf spring (biasing member) 62 Cam (turn) Moving member, fixed member) 80 reference protrusion (reference member) 84 reference protrusion (reference member) 86 reference protrusion (reference member) 88 reference protrusion (reference member) 92 pin (biasing member) 96 engagement protrusion (engagement portion)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A recording head unit fixing structure for fixing a recording head unit for discharging ink droplets to an image recording medium based on image information at a predetermined position on a carriage, wherein the recording head unit is provided on the carriage. And a reference that is provided on at least one of the carriage and the printhead unit and that contacts the other of the carriage and the printhead unit in a state where the printhead unit is stored in the storage portion and serves as a position reference. And a biasing member provided near the reference member and biasing at least one of the carriage and the recording head unit in a direction to contact the reference member. . 2. A recording head, comprising: a fixing member provided on the carriage, for fixing the recording head unit to the carriage in a state where the recording head unit is accommodated in a predetermined position of the accommodation section. Unit fixing structure. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the fixing member is rotatably attached to the carriage, and is a rotating member that presses the recording head unit into the housing by a rotating operation. Item 3. A recording head unit fixing structure according to Item 2. 4. An engaging portion provided on a rotating member, wherein the rotating member engages with the recording head unit when the recording head unit reaches a predetermined position of the housing portion. The recording head unit fixing structure according to claim 3. 5. A carriage having an accommodating portion capable of accommodating a recording head unit, and fixed to the accommodating portion by the recording head unit fixing structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, based on image information. And a recording head unit for discharging ink droplets onto the image recording medium. 6. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising the carriage device according to claim 5.