JP2003266858A - carriage - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a carriage capable of adjusting the degree of parallelism of a head surface in a swinging direction with an axis parallel to a main scanning direction in a carriage as a swinging axis. A recording head surface parallelism adjusting lever (21) is provided.
A recording head surface parallelism adjusting lever lock portion 22 for determining and holding the rotation position of the recording head surface parallelism adjusting lever;
A recording head surface parallelism adjusting shaft 23, which is a rotation axis of the recording head surface parallelism adjusting lever 21, and a recording head surface parallelism adjusting eccentric cam mounted eccentrically to the recording head surface parallelism adjusting shaft 23. 24. The sub-carriage 11 is urged by two torsion springs 13 against a support pin 12 on both ends of which an urging force is evenly applied, and is pressed against the bottom surface of the carriage body 64 in the direction indicated by the symbol F. The portion that is in contact with the recording head surface parallelism adjusting eccentric cam 24 is supported by being pressed against the recording head surface parallelism adjusting eccentric cam 24.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carriage equipped with a recording head for ejecting ink onto a recording sheet, the carriage being reciprocally movable in the main scanning direction, and a recording provided with the carriage. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet type recording apparatus for performing recording by reciprocally moving a carriage having a recording head in a main scanning direction with respect to a recording sheet conveyed in a sub scanning direction, a recording sheet ejecting ink It is necessary to set the interval (PG: paper gap, hereinafter referred to as PG) between the recording surface and the head surface of the recording head to a prescribed interval. If this PG is not set as specified, the landing position of the ink ejected from the nozzle array arranged on the head surface of the recording head will be displaced and the recording image quality will be deteriorated.

Therefore, it is ideal that all of the nozzle arrays of the nozzle array group arranged on the head surface face the recording surface of the recording paper with a predetermined PG, whereby the optimum It is possible to perform recording with various recording quality. From this, it can be said that it is ideal that the recording surface of the recording paper and the head surface of the recording head are parallel to each other. However, in a general ink jet recording apparatus, the head surface of the recording head with respect to the recording surface of the recording paper is It is generally provided with a means for adjusting the parallelism of the.

The conventional means for adjusting the parallelism of the head surface of the ink jet type recording apparatus is, for example, a mechanism for adjusting the parallelism of a carriage guide shaft which rotatably supports the carriage in the main scanning direction. The carriage guide shaft is provided at the pivotal support portion. Then, by adjusting the parallelism of the carriage guide shaft with respect to the recording surface of the recording paper, the parallelism of the head surface in the rocking direction with the shaft parallel to the sub-scanning direction as the rocking axis is adjusted. It was

[0005]

Since the conventional ink jet recording apparatus has a small influence on the image quality, the parallelism of the head surface in the swinging direction with the axis parallel to the main scanning direction as the swinging axis is adjusted. There was no means to do it. However, in recent inkjet recording apparatuses, the number of nozzles mounted on the recording head is increasing in order to realize recording with higher image quality, and accordingly, an axis parallel to the main scanning direction is used as a swing axis. The parallelism of the head surface in the swinging direction has a great influence on the recording image quality, and cannot be ignored.

Therefore, for example, the carriage is pivotally supported by two carriage guide shafts arranged in parallel, and the heights of the two carriage guide shafts are adjusted to oscillate the shafts parallel to the main scanning direction. It is possible to adjust the parallelism of the head surface in the swinging direction with the moving axis. However, in order to cope with various thicknesses of recording materials in recent years, in a recording apparatus having a mechanism for moving the carriage guide shaft up and down to switch the PG, the carriage guide shaft is moved up and down to switch the PG. At this time, the height adjustment of the two carriage guide shafts may be misaligned. Then, there is a possibility that the adjustment of the parallelism of the head surface in the swinging direction with the axis parallel to the main scanning direction as the swinging axis deviates, which is not realistic.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and its object is to adjust the parallelism of the head surface in the swinging direction with the axis parallel to the main scanning direction as the swinging axis in the carriage. Is to provide a carriage capable of Also,
As a result, in a recording apparatus such as an inkjet recording apparatus, it is possible to adjust the parallelism of the head surface in the swinging direction with the axis parallel to the main scanning direction as the swinging axis, and move the carriage guide shaft up and down. In a recording apparatus that performs PG adjustment, it is intended to reduce the possibility that the parallelism adjustment of the head surface is deviated due to the vertical movement of the carriage guide shaft.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application provides a carriage main body axially supported by a carriage guide shaft so as to reciprocate in the main scanning direction, and ink for recording paper. A carriage including a sub-carriage having a recording head for ejecting ink onto the carriage body, the sub-carriage being supported by the carriage body so as to be swingable about an axis parallel to the main scanning direction as a swing axis. The main body supports the sub-carriage so that the swinging position of the sub-carriage with the swinging axis being an axis parallel to the main scanning direction can be adjusted, and by adjusting the swinging position of the sub-carriage, A recording head surface parallelism adjusting unit capable of adjusting the parallelism of the head surface of the recording head, and a sub-capacitor for urging the sub-carriage to the recording head surface parallelism adjusting unit. Tsu and a di biasing means is a carriage and wherein the.

As described above, since the sub-carriage is swingably supported by the carriage main body with respect to the carriage main body with the axis parallel to the main scanning direction as the swing axis, the sub-carriage swings the sub-carriage. The parallelism of the swing direction with the axis parallel to the main scanning direction of the recording head mounted on the carriage as the swing axis changes. Further, the recording head surface parallelism adjusting unit arranged in the carriage body supports the subcarriage from the carriage body side while the subcarriage urging means urges the subcarriage and swings the subcarriage. Since the position of the sub-carriage can be adjusted, the parallelism in the swing direction can be adjusted with the axis parallel to the main scanning direction of the sub-carriage as the swing axis.

Therefore, by adjusting the parallelism of the sub-carriage by the recording head surface parallelism adjusting unit, the parallelism of the recording head in the swinging direction with the axis parallel to the main scanning direction as the swinging axis is adjusted. Therefore, the parallelism of the head surface of the recording head in that direction can be adjusted.

Accordingly, in the carriage according to the first aspect of the present invention, the recording head surface parallelism adjusting unit supporting the sub-carriage causes the swinging movement with the axis parallel to the main scanning direction as the swinging axis. Since it is possible to adjust the parallelism of the head surface in the horizontal direction, it is possible to adjust the parallelism of the head surface in the swing direction with the axis parallel to the main scanning direction as the swing axis in the carriage. Is obtained.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the recording head surface parallelism adjusting portion is an eccentric cam pivotally supported by the carriage main body, and the rotation of the eccentric cam. The carriage is characterized in that the swing position of the sub-carriage changes depending on the moving position.

As described above, the swing position of the sub-carriage is changed according to the rotating position of the eccentric cam rotatably supported by the carriage body, so that the rotating position of the eccentric cam is adjusted. This makes it possible to adjust the parallelism of the head surface in the swinging direction with the swinging axis being an axis parallel to the main scanning direction.

Accordingly, in the carriage according to the second aspect of the present invention, the eccentric cam pivotally supported by the carriage body swings the shaft parallel to the main scanning direction as the swing shaft. It is possible to adjust the parallelism of the head surface in the moving direction, and thereby obtain the action and effect of the invention according to claim 1 of the present application.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the point of application of the urging force to the sub-carriage by the sub-carriage urging means is parallel to the main scanning direction of the sub-carriage. The carriage is characterized in that it is positioned between the moving shaft and the recording head surface parallelism adjusting section.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first or second aspect of the present invention, the urging force acting point of the sub-carriage urging means is the main scanning direction. Since it is positioned between the swing axis parallel to the recording head surface parallelism adjusting unit and the biasing force with respect to the sub-carriage, the swing axis parallel to the main scanning direction supporting the sub-carriage, This effectively acts on both the recording head surface parallelism adjusting unit, and the sub-carriage can be supported in a stable supporting state.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the invention, the urging force acting point is biased toward the recording head surface parallelism adjusting portion side.

According to the carriage of the invention of claim 4, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 3, the point of application of the urging force by the sub-carriage urging means is the parallelism of the recording head surface. Since it is biased toward the adjustment part side,
The point of application of the urging force by the sub-carriage urging means is located away from the swing axis parallel to the main scanning direction of the sub-carriage, and is swingably supported with the axis parallel to the main scanning direction as the swing axis. The sub-carriage, by lever principle,
It is possible to obtain the effect of being able to support in a stable state with a smaller biasing force.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the third or fourth aspect, the sub-carriage urging means uniformly applies an urging force to a swing shaft parallel to the main scanning direction of the sub-carriage. The carriage is characterized in that it has a configuration.

As described above, since the urging force of the sub-carriage urging means acts uniformly on the swing shaft parallel to the main scanning direction of the sub-carriage, the urging force causes the sub-carriage to move. It is possible to reduce the risk of tilting in the main scanning direction.

Thus, according to the carriage of the invention described in claim 5 of the present application, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 3 or 4, the sub-carriage can be moved by the urging force of the sub-carriage urging means. Since it is possible to reduce the possibility of tilting in the main scanning direction, it is possible to obtain an effect that the subcarriage can be supported in a more stable state.

The invention according to claim 6 of the present application is defined by claims 1 to 1.
In any one of 5 above, the sub-carriage is swingably supported by the carriage main body with an axis perpendicular to a recording surface of the recording sheet as a swing axis, and the carriage main body is configured to perform the recording. A nozzle array of a nozzle array group that supports the sub-carriage and that is mounted on the recording head so that the swing position of the sub-carriage can be adjusted about a swing axis that is perpendicular to the recording surface of the paper. The carriage is characterized by comprising a recording head tilt adjusting section capable of adjusting the swing position of the sub-carriage so as to be orthogonal to the main scanning direction.

According to the carriage of the invention described in claim 6 of the present application, in addition to the effect of the invention of any one of claims 1 to 5, the carriage of the nozzle array group mounted on the recording head is Since the recording head tilt adjusting section that can adjust the swing position of the sub-carriage is provided so that the nozzle row is orthogonal to the main scanning direction, the swing direction in which the axis parallel to the main scanning direction is the swing axis is used. In addition to the adjustment of the parallelism of the head surface, it is possible to obtain the effect that both the inclination of the recording head can be adjusted in the carriage.

The invention according to claim 7 of the present application is the carriage characterized in that the sub-carriage is biased toward the recording head tilt adjusting portion by the sub-carriage biasing means.

According to the carriage of the invention described in claim 7 of the present application, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 6, the sub-carriage urging means moves to the fulcrum of the swing in the sub-scanning direction. Since the urging means also serves as the urging means to the fulcrum of swing in the direction parallel to the head surface, the structure of the urging means of the carriage body can be simplified, thereby reducing the cost of the carriage. The effect that it can be reduced can be obtained.

The invention described in claim 8 of the present application is,
7 is a recording apparatus including the carriage according to any one of 7 above. According to the recording apparatus of the invention described in claim 8 of the present application, it is possible to obtain the effects of the invention of any one of claims 1 to 7 of the application in the recording apparatus.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, by adjusting the parallelism of the carriage guide shaft, the head surface of the recording head in the swinging direction with the axis parallel to the sub-scanning direction as the swinging axis is adjusted. The recording apparatus is provided with a carriage guide shaft parallelism adjusting means capable of adjusting parallelism.

According to the recording apparatus of the ninth aspect of the invention, in addition to the function and effect of the invention of the eighth aspect, the carriage guide shaft for adjusting the parallelism of the carriage guide shaft in the main scanning direction. Since the parallelism of the head surface in the main scanning direction can be adjusted by the parallelism adjusting means, the parallelism of the head surface of the recording head can be adjusted in both the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. , It is possible to further reduce the deterioration of the recording image quality due to the error of PG.

The invention described in claim 10 of the present application is the invention of claim 8
Or 9, PG adjusting means is provided which is capable of adjusting the distance between the head surface of the recording head and the recording surface of the recording paper by moving the carriage guide shaft up and down. It is a device.

According to the recording apparatus of the tenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the operation and effect of the invention of the eighth or ninth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the oscillating movement, the axis parallel to the main scanning direction is used as the oscillating axis. Since the parallelism of the head surface in the moving direction, that is, the sub-scanning direction can be adjusted in the carriage, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the adjustment is deviated when the carriage guide shaft is moved up and down by the PG adjusting means. It is possible to obtain the action and effect.

[0031]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, a schematic configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus as a “recording apparatus” according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a "recording device" according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus as described above, and FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part.

In the ink jet type recording apparatus 50, a carriage guide shaft 61 is provided as a recording execution means for performing recording by ejecting ink onto the recording surface of the recording paper P while reciprocating in the main scanning direction X. Axial supported, main scanning direction X
A carriage 62 that moves to the right is provided. The carriage 62 has a recording head 6 for ejecting ink onto the recording paper P.
3 is installed. A platen 53 that faces the recording head 63 and defines the distance between the head surface of the recording head 63 and the recording paper P is provided. And the carriage 62
The operation of ejecting ink from the head surface of the recording head 63 onto the recording paper P while reciprocating in the main scanning direction X and the operation of conveying the recording paper P in the sub-scanning direction Y by a predetermined amount are alternately repeated. As a result, recording is performed on the recording paper P.

Further, the ink jet type recording apparatus 50 is
A sheet feeding cassette 70 capable of stacking a large number of recording sheets P is configured to be mountable, and with the sheet feeding cassette 70 mounted, a gate roller 73 arranged in the sheet feeding cassette 70 and a reverse roller The roller 74, the hopper 75, the hopper urging means 77, the high friction member 76, and the paper feed roller 71 and the pickup roller 72 arranged in the ink jet recording apparatus 50 make up the “paper feed means” for the recording paper P. The automatic paper feeding device as ".

Further, in the ink jet type recording apparatus 50, a conveyance driving roller 51 and a conveyance driven roller 52 are provided as "recording sheet conveying means" for intermittently conveying the fed recording sheet P in the sub-scanning direction Y. It is arranged. The conveyance driving roller 51 is rotationally controlled by the rotation driving force source, and the recording driving paper 51 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction Y by the rotation of the conveyance driving roller 51. A plurality of transport driven rollers 52 are provided,
When the recording paper P is biased by the transport driving rollers 51 individually and is transported by the rotation of the transport driving rollers 51,
The recording paper P is brought into contact with the recording paper P and is rotated following the conveyance of the recording paper P.

A paper detector 56 is arranged on the upstream side of the conveyance driving roller 51 in the sub-scanning direction Y. Paper detector 56
Has a habit of self-returning to the standing posture and has a lever portion 56a pivotally supported in a state of protruding into the conveyance path of the recording paper P so as to be rotatable only in the recording paper conveyance direction. When the tip of the lever portion 56a is pushed by the recording paper P, the lever portion 56a rotates, and the recording paper P is detected.

Further, in the ink jet type recording apparatus 50, as a "recording sheet discharging means" for discharging the recording sheet P after recording is executed, a sheet discharging drive roller 54 and a sheet discharging driven roller 55.
Is provided. The paper ejection drive roller 54 is rotationally controlled by a rotational drive force source, and the recording paper P after recording is ejected in the sub-scanning direction Y by the rotation of the paper ejection drive roller 54. The paper discharge driven roller 55 is a toothed roller that has a plurality of teeth around it and is sharply sharpened so that the tips of the teeth make point contact with the recording surface of the recording paper P. The paper discharge driven rollers 55 are individually biased by the paper discharge drive rollers 54 with a biasing force weaker than the biasing force of the transport driven rollers 52, and the recording paper P is discharged by the rotation of the paper discharge drive rollers 54. When the recording paper P is ejected, the recording paper P is rotated by being driven by the ejection of the recording paper P. Then, the recording paper P after recording is discharged to the downstream side in the sub-scanning direction Y by the paper discharge drive roller 54 and the paper discharge driven roller 55.

Paper ejection drive roller 54 and paper ejection driven roller 5
On the downstream side of 5, a curved path 3 is formed as a "discharge path" for inverting the recording paper P while curving the recorded recording surface inward and discharging the recording paper P to a paper discharge tray (not shown). . The curved path 3 inverts the surface of the recording paper P after recording and discharges the recording paper P in the discharge direction E while curving the recording surface inward as illustrated. A plurality of paper discharge drive rollers 31 and a plurality of paper discharge driven rollers 32 are arranged in the curved path 3.

The paper ejection drive rollers 31a to 31d are rotationally controlled by a rotational driving force source, like the paper ejection drive roller 54 described above, and the recording paper P on the curved path is ejected by the rotation of the paper ejection drive rollers 31a to 31d. It is discharged in the direction E. Also,
The paper discharge driven rollers 32 a to 32 d are the paper discharge driven rollers 55.
Similarly, the toothed roller has a plurality of teeth around it, and the tips of the teeth are sharply pointed so as to make point contact with the recording surface of the recording paper P. The recording paper P is discharged in the discharge direction E by the rotation of the discharge driving rollers 31a to 31d, respectively, by being biased to the discharge driving rollers 31a to 31d individually by a biasing force weaker than the biasing force of the transport driven roller 52 described above. When the recording paper P is ejected, the recording paper P comes into contact with the recording paper P and rotates following the ejection of the recording paper P.

Next, the carriage 62 according to the present invention.
Will be described. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the carriage 62 according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the carriage 62 with the ink cartridge portion removed.
Is a side view thereof.

The carriage 62 is rotatably supported by the carriage guide shaft 61 at the bearing portion 65 and the sub-carriage guide shaft 61S at the bearing portion 66, and is supported in the main scanning direction X.
The inkjet recording device 50 is reciprocally movable. Further, in the carriage 62, a part of the endless belt 57 is connected to the connecting portion 67 thereof, and the rotation driving force of a rotation driving force source such as a stepping motor (not shown) is transmitted through the endless belt 57. Drive control is performed in the main scanning direction X. The carriage 62 is roughly divided into a carriage body 64 and a sub-carriage 11 on which a recording head 63 is mounted. The carriage body 64 stores ink cartridges 69 of each color. The ink in the ink cartridge 69 is stored in the sub-carriage 11
The ink is supplied to the recording head 63 mounted on the sub-carriage 11 via the ink pool 111 formed in the above. The sub-carriage 11 is disposed in a state of being urged to the bottom surface in the carriage body 64 by the support pin 12 to which the urging force of the two torsion springs 13 is applied, and the leaf spring 14 and the leaf spring 15.

The sub-carriage 11 is swingably supported by a carriage main body 64, and the carriage main body 64 has a swing position of the sub-carriage 11 with a shaft parallel to the main scanning direction X as a swing shaft. A "recording head surface parallelism adjusting section" capable of adjusting the parallelism of the head surface of the recording head 63 by adjusting the sub-carriage 11 having an axis perpendicular to the recording surface of the recording paper P as a swing axis. By adjusting the swing position of the sub carriage 11, the swing position of the sub-carriage 11 can be adjusted so that the nozzle row of the nozzle array group mounted on the print head 63 and the main scanning direction X are orthogonal to each other. Section ".

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the carriage 62 with the ink cartridge 69 removed, showing the structure in which the sub-carriage 11 is swung by the "recording head tilt adjusting section". FIG. 7 is a side view of the carriage 62 with the ink cartridge 69 removed, showing the structure in which the sub-carriage 11 is swung by the “recording head surface parallelism adjusting section”.

First, the "recording head inclination adjusting section" will be described with reference to FIGS. Recording head 6
Nozzle row of the nozzle array group mounted on No. 3 (not shown)
And the main scanning direction X are orthogonal to each other, the sub-carriage 11
The "recording head tilt adjustment unit" that can adjust the swing position of
The recording head tilt adjusting lever 16, the recording head tilt adjusting lever lock portion 17 that determines and holds the rotational position of the recording head tilt adjusting lever, and the recording head tilt adjusting lever 1
The recording head tilt adjusting shaft 18 is a rotary shaft of the recording head 6 and the recording head tilt adjusting eccentric cam 19 is attached to the recording head tilt adjusting shaft 18 in an eccentric manner. The sub-carriage 11 is urged by the urging force of the two torsion springs 13 to the support pin 12 as the "sub-carriage urging means" which acts evenly on both ends of the sub-carriage 11.
It is pressed against the bottom surface of the carriage body 64 in the direction indicated by the symbol F. Therefore, the sub-carriage 11 is supported while being pressed against the recording head tilt adjusting eccentric cam 19 at the portion in contact with the recording head tilt adjusting eccentric cam 19.

As a result, in the sub-carriage 11, the recording head tilt adjusting lever 16 is rotated in the rotating direction indicated by the symbol A, whereby the recording head tilt adjusting eccentric cam 19 is rotated, and its rotating position. The subcarriage 11 indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG.
It swings in the swinging direction indicated by the symbol G as described above. Therefore, since the tilt of the recording head 63 can be adjusted by adjusting the swing position, the rotational position of the recording head tilt adjusting lever 16 is adjusted to an appropriate rotational position, that is, the recording head 63. At the position where the nozzle row of the nozzle array group mounted on and the main scanning direction X are orthogonal to each other, the recording head inclination adjustment can be performed by holding the rotational position by the recording head inclination adjustment lever lock portion 17. .

Next, the "recording head surface parallelism adjusting section" will be described with reference to FIGS. The “recording head surface parallelism adjusting section” capable of adjusting the parallelism of the head surface of the recording head 63 includes the recording head surface parallelism adjusting lever 21.
And a recording head surface parallelism adjusting lever lock portion 22 which determines and holds the rotational position of the recording head surface parallelism adjusting lever.
And a recording head surface parallelism adjusting shaft 23, which is a rotating shaft of the recording head surface parallelism adjusting lever 21, and a recording head surface parallelism adjusting shaft mounted eccentrically to the recording head surface parallelism adjusting shaft 23. And an eccentric cam 24.
Further, as described above, the sub-carriage 11 is urged by the two torsion springs 13 to the support pin 12 as the "sub-carriage urging means" in which the urging force is evenly applied to both ends of the sub-carriage 11. It is pressed against the bottom surface of the main body 64 in the direction indicated by the symbol F. Therefore, the sub-carriage 11 is supported in a state of being pressed against the recording head surface parallelism adjusting eccentric cam 24 at a portion in contact with the recording head surface parallelism adjusting eccentric cam 24.

Accordingly, in the sub-carriage 11, the recording head surface parallelism adjusting eccentric cam 24 is rotated by rotating the recording head surface parallelism adjusting lever 21 in the rotating direction indicated by the symbol B. The code D depends on the rotation position.
The axis indicated by the arrow, that is, the axis parallel to the main scanning direction X is used as the swing axis, and swings in the swing direction indicated by the symbol H like the sub-carriage 11 shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. Therefore, by adjusting the swing position, the parallelism of the head surface of the recording head 63 in the sub-scanning direction Y can be adjusted, so that the recording head surface parallelism adjusting lever 2 can be adjusted.
The recording head surface parallelism adjusting lever is adjusted by adjusting the rotational position of No. 1 to an appropriate rotational position, that is, at the parallelism position of the head surface where the head surface of the recording head 63 and the recording surface of the recording paper P are parallel. By holding the rotational position by the lock portion 22, the parallelism of the recording head surface can be adjusted.

As described above, in the carriage 62, the inclination of the recording head 63 can be adjusted by the "recording head inclination adjusting portion", and the recording head in the sub-scanning direction Y can be adjusted by the "recording head surface parallelism adjusting portion". The parallelism of the head surface of 63 can be adjusted. Then, the sub-carriage 11 is pressed in the direction indicated by the symbol F by the support pin 12 as the “sub-carriage urging means”, so that the sub-carriage 11 is pressed against the swing shaft C in the tilt adjustment of the recording head 63. , Is also pressed against the swing axis D in adjusting the parallelism of the head surface of the recording head 63.

Therefore, the carriage 62 is supported by the support pin 12 as "sub-carriage biasing means".
The urging force in the direction required for the "recording head tilt adjustment section",
The "recording head surface parallelism adjusting section" has a structure capable of obtaining the urging force in the necessary direction, whereby the sub-carriage 11 is supported in a stable state. . Further, by supporting the sub-carriage 11 with the leaf spring 14 and the leaf spring 15 while pressing the sub-carriage 11 against the bottom surface of the carriage body 64, it is possible to prevent the sub-carriage 11 from being lifted up. , “Print head tilt adjusting unit” and “Print head surface parallelism adjusting unit” effectively act.

In this manner, the carriage 62 has the inclination of the recording head 63 in addition to the parallelism of the head surface in the swing direction (sub-scanning direction Y) with the axis parallel to the main scanning direction X as the swing axis. Both can be adjusted within the carriage 62. Further, the support pin 12 as the "sub-carriage biasing means" is biased to the swing axis C by the "recording head inclination adjusting section" and to the swinging axis D by the "recording head surface parallelism adjusting section". Since it also serves as the urging means of the carriage main body 64, the structure of the "sub-carriage urging means" of the carriage body 64 can be simplified, and the cost of the carriage 62 can be reduced.

Further, as another embodiment, the position where the biasing force of the support pin 12 of the sub-carriage 11 acts is located between the recording head surface parallelism adjusting shaft 23 and the swing shaft D. There are things. FIG. 8 shows the support pin 12
3 is a side view of a carriage 62 arranged between a recording head surface parallelism adjusting shaft 23 and a swing shaft D. FIG.

As described above, since the support pin 12 is arranged between the recording head surface parallelism adjusting shaft 23 and the swing shaft D, the urging force on the sub-carriage 11 supports the sub-carriage 11. The oscillating axis D and the eccentric cam 24 for adjusting the recording head surface parallelism attached to the recording head surface parallelism adjusting shaft 23 efficiently act, which is the same as the above-described one embodiment. In comparison, the sub-carriage 11 can be supported in a more stable supporting state. Further, since the point of application of the biasing force by the support pin 12 is biased toward the recording head surface parallelism adjusting shaft 23 side and away from the swing shaft D, it is swingably supported by the swing shaft D. The sub-carriage 11 present can be supported in a stable state by a smaller urging force by the lever principle.
The rest of the configuration is the same as that of the carriage 62 shown in FIG. 7, so detailed description will be omitted.

Further, as another embodiment, the ink jet recording apparatus 50 is provided with a carriage guide shaft parallelism adjusting means for adjusting the parallelism of the carriage guide shaft 61 and the sub-carriage guide shaft 61S in the main scanning direction X. There are some.

As described above, in addition to the adjustment of the parallelism of the head surface in the sub-scanning direction Y by the "recording head surface parallelism adjusting section" in the carriage 62, the parallelism of the carriage guide shaft 61 and the sub-carriage guide shaft 61S is adjusted. Since the parallelism of the head surface of the recording head 63 in the main scanning direction X can be adjusted by the adjusting means for adjusting the carriage guide axis parallelism, it is possible to further reduce the deterioration of the recording image quality due to the error of PG.

Further, as another embodiment, the ink jet recording apparatus 50 may be provided with PG adjusting means for adjusting the PG by vertically moving the carriage guide shaft 61 and the sub-carriage guide shaft 61S. In this embodiment, the inclination of the recording head 63 and the parallelism of the head surface in the sub-scanning direction Y can be adjusted in the carriage 62, so that the carriage guide shaft 61 and the sub-carriage guide shaft 61S are moved up and down by the PG adjusting means. It is less likely that these adjustments will be misaligned when they are made. Therefore, it is possible to reduce deterioration of the recording image quality caused by changing the PG by the PG adjusting means.

The invention of the present application is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention described in the claims, and these are also included in the scope of the invention of the present application. Needless to say.

[0056]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a carriage capable of adjusting the parallelism of the head surface in the swinging direction with the swinging axis being an axis parallel to the main scanning direction in the carriage. This also makes it possible to adjust the parallelism of the head surface in the swinging direction with the axis parallel to the main scanning direction as the swinging axis in a printing apparatus such as an ink jet type printing apparatus, and to move the carriage guide shaft up and down. In the recording apparatus that adjusts the PG, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the parallelism adjustment of the head surface is deviated due to the vertical movement of the carriage guide shaft.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus as a “recording apparatus” according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of essential parts showing an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus as a “recording apparatus” according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a carriage according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the carriage according to the present invention with the ink cartridge portion removed.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the carriage according to the present invention with the ink cartridge portion removed.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the carriage according to the present invention with the ink cartridge removed, showing the structure in which the sub-carriage is swung by the “recording head tilt adjusting section”.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the carriage according to the present invention with the ink cartridge removed, showing the structure in which the sub-carriage is swung by the “recording head surface parallelism adjusting unit”.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the carriage according to the present invention in which the support pins of the carriage are arranged between the recording head surface parallelism adjusting shaft and the swing shaft.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 subcarriage 12 Support pins 13 torsion spring 14 and 15 leaf springs 16 Recording head tilt adjustment lever 17 Recording head tilt adjustment lever lock part 18 Recording head tilt adjustment axis 19 Eccentric cam for recording head tilt adjustment 21 Recording head surface parallelism adjustment lever 22 Recording head surface parallelism adjustment lever lock part 23 Recording head surface parallelism adjustment axis 24 Eccentric cam for adjusting parallelism of recording head surface 50 inkjet recording device 51 Transport drive roller 52 Transport driven roller 53 Platen 54 Paper ejection drive roller 55 Paper ejection driven roller 56 paper detector 61 Carriage guide shaft 61S Sub carriage guide shaft 62 carriage 63 recording head 64 carriage body 70 paper cassettes 71 paper feed roller P recording paper X main scanning direction Y sub-scanning direction

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A carriage comprising a carriage main body supported by a carriage guide shaft so as to reciprocate in a main scanning direction, and a sub-carriage having a recording head for ejecting ink onto recording paper. And a carriage main body supported by the carriage main body so as to be swingable about an axis parallel to the main scanning direction as a swing axis, and the carriage main body of the sub-carriage having an axis parallel to the main scanning direction as a swing axis. A recording head surface parallelism adjusting unit capable of adjusting the parallelism of the head surface of the recording head by supporting the sub-carriage so that the swing position can be adjusted and adjusting the swing position of the sub-carriage. A carriage for urging the sub-carriage toward the recording head surface parallelism adjusting section. 2. The recording head surface parallelism adjusting unit according to claim 1, wherein the recording head surface parallelism adjusting unit is an eccentric cam pivotally supported by the carriage main body, and the sub-carriage is oscillated depending on a rotational position of the eccentric cam. A carriage characterized in that the moving position is changed. 3. The urging force acting point on the sub-carriage by the sub-carriage urging means according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the oscillating shaft of the sub-carriage is parallel to the main scanning direction, and the recording head surface. A carriage characterized in that it is positioned between the parallelism adjusting section and the parallelism adjusting section. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the biasing force acting point is biased toward the recording head surface parallelism adjusting portion side.
Carriage characterized by that. 5. The sub-carriage urging means according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the urging force is evenly applied to a swing shaft of the sub-carriage parallel to the main scanning direction. Carriage featuring. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The sub-carriage is swingably supported by the carriage main body about an axis perpendicular to the recording surface of the recording paper, and the carriage main body is perpendicular to the recording surface of the recording paper. The sub-carriage is supported so that the swing position of the sub-carriage can be adjusted with a different axis as the swing axis, and the nozzle rows of the nozzle array group mounted on the recording head are orthogonal to the main scanning direction. As described above, the carriage is provided with the recording head tilt adjusting section capable of adjusting the swing position of the sub-carriage. 7. The carriage according to claim 6, wherein the sub-carriage is biased toward the recording head tilt adjusting section by the sub-carriage biasing means. 8. A recording apparatus provided with the carriage according to claim 1. 9. The parallelism of the head surface of the recording head in the swinging direction with the axis parallel to the sub-scanning direction as the swinging axis, by adjusting the parallelism of the carriage guide shaft. A recording apparatus comprising an adjustable carriage guide axis parallelism adjusting means. 10. The PG adjusting device according to claim 8, wherein the carriage guide shaft is moved up and down to adjust the distance between the head surface of the recording head and the recording surface of the recording paper. A recording device characterized in that