JP2003231275A - Pressure adjusting mechanism of ink jet head and ink jet printer using the pressure adjusting mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To make it possible to configure a drive mechanism for filling an ink jet head with the atmosphere open to the air by means of inexpensive means. SOLUTION: Sub tanks 301 and 302 are for temporarily stocking ink supplied from an ink cartridge and supplying the ink to a head unit, and an atmosphere release pin 21a for controlling a communication state between the inside of the sub tank and the outside atmosphere. A negative pressure pin 22a for generating a negative pressure is provided inside the sub-tank, and these pins are operated by the displacement operation of the levers 10a and 10b, and the sub-tank is filled with the ink to the atmosphere. In the present invention, the levers 10a, 10b
Is displaced to a position where each pin 21a, 22a is pushed in at a position laterally separated from each pin 21a, 22a, and in this state, the levers 10a, 10b are moved to the pins 21a, 22a.
By moving in the direction of 22a and pushing in the pin, even if the driving force of the levers 10a and 10b is small, the present invention can be applied.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pressure adjusting mechanism of an ink jet section and an ink jet printer using the pressure adjusting mechanism. More specifically, the present invention relates to an ink sub tank provided in an ink jet head section by opening to the atmosphere. A pressure adjusting mechanism for an ink jet head that enables use of a relatively low cost driving force as a driving mechanism for ink filling, and the pressure of an ink subtank provided in the ink jet section using the pressure adjusting mechanism. The present invention relates to an inkjet head capable of filling the inside of the sub tank with ink while adjusting the above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a structure around an ink jet head portion of an ink jet printer. In the figure, 10 is a lever, 13 is a drive device for the lever 10, and 20 is a lever. A carriage for mounting an inkjet head, 21 is an atmospheric opening pin, 22 is a negative pressure pin, 23 is an elastic member, 30 is a sub tank for stocking ink in the carriage, and 31 is for adjusting the inside of the sub tank case to atmospheric pressure. To the atmosphere, 32 is a negative pressure lever, 40 is an ink jet head (hereinafter simply referred to as a head), 50 is an ink cartridge, 51 is an ink cartridge 50 and the sub tank 30 are connected, and ink is supplied to the sub tank 30. It is a connecting tube for supplying.

For example, in an ink jet printer having a large amount of ink in the cartridge or an ink jet printer intended for high image quality, when the ink cartridge is mounted together in the carriage in which the head is mounted, when the carriage 20 operates, Since the weight may affect the image misalignment, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the ink cartridge 50 is installed outside the carriage 20, and the subtank for temporarily stocking the ink is installed in the carriage 20. Some have a configuration with 30.

If the internal pressure of the sub tank 30 is positive, the ink leaks from the head 40 due to the weight of the ink in the sub tank 30.
It is necessary to set negative pressure inside. Such pressure setting is important for the characteristics of ejecting ink from the head,
Air may be mixed from the ink cartridge 50 or the connecting tube 51, and when the amount of air inside the sub tank 30 increases over time, the internal pressure of the sub tank 30 also changes and the quality of the formed image due to ink deteriorates. Occurs. Therefore, the ratio of the air inside the ink cartridge 50 and the pressure setting are periodically restored.

FIG. 7 is a perspective exploded structural view for explaining the structural example of the sub tank 30 shown in FIG. 6 in more detail.
The sub-tank 30 has a substantially rectangular upper wall 39.
a, a bottom wall 39b and a side wall 39c on three sides, and a remaining one side wall of the case 33, a film 34 covering the opening of the case 33, and the film 34 from the inside through a plate 35. And a negative pressure lever 32 that is a plate-shaped elastic member that urges the film 34 to be pushed back from the outside. The elastic member 36 that presses the film 34 from the inside is the negative pressure lever 3 that presses the film 34 from the outside.
Since the film 34 is set to be pressed with a pressure stronger than 2, the film 34 is pressed outward in the initial state. At this time, the balance of the pressing force between the negative pressure lever 32 and the inner elastic member 36 is balanced by the sub tank 3
When the amount of ink in the sub-tank 30 decreases, the film 34 is pushed back inward as the internal pressure changes.

The atmosphere opening port 31 provided on one of the side walls 39c and the ink filling port 37 provided on the upper wall 39a of the case 33 are respectively elastic members 31 made of springs or the like.
Spheres 312, 372 pressed by 1, 371, elastic members 313, 373 such as rubber, caps 314, 37
It is sealed in a normal state due to the close contact with 4. The ink filling port 37 is opened by the ink pressure flowing through the connecting tube 51 shown in FIG. 6, and the inflowing ink is supplied to the inside of the sub tank 30. Further, the atmosphere opening port 31 is opened by pressing and pushing the atmosphere opening pin 21 provided on the carriage 20 shown in FIG. 6, and the internal pressure of the sub tank 30 can be adjusted.

The carriage 20 also includes a sub tank 30.
Negative pressure pin 2 for pushing the negative pressure lever 32 of
2 is provided, and the negative pressure lever 32 is attached to the sub tank 30.
By pushing the negative pressure pin 22 so as to be displaced inward, the internal volume of the sub tank 30 can be reduced. The elastic member 23 is provided so as to urge the negative pressure lever 32 and the negative pressure pin 22 in a direction in which they are separated from each other, and the action of the elastic member 23 normally prevents the negative pressure lever 32 and the negative pressure pin 22 from touching each other. Is configured.

In the operation of the ink jet head portion constructed as described above, first, the atmosphere opening pin 21 is operated to open the atmosphere opening port 31, and the negative pressure pin 22 is operated to operate the negative pressure lever 32. With the inner volume of the sub tank 30 reduced by pushing in, the ink filling port 3
Ink is filled via 7. The filled ink is detected by the full detection sensor 38 above the sub-tank 30, and the ink supply is controlled according to the detection result, whereby the air amount and the ink amount in the sub-tank 30 are determined. After that, the atmosphere opening port 31 is closed to be in a sealed state, and then the pressing of the negative pressure lever 32 which is held in the pressed state is released. By such an operation, the inside of the sub tank 30 is controlled with a constant negative pressure, and a stable ink ejection characteristic of the head 40 can be obtained.

FIG. 8 shows the negative pressure pin 22 and the atmospheric release pin 2.
1 is a perspective schematic configuration diagram for explaining a configuration example of a main body side drive mechanism for pressing and displacing 1, in which, 10 is a lever, 11 is an atmosphere opening pin pressing part, 12 is a negative pressure pin pressing part, 14 is a cam, 15 is a solenoid, 16 is an elastic member,
Reference numeral 17 is a sensor (HP sensor), and 18 is a rotating shaft. The lever 10 has an atmospheric release pin pressing portion 11 and a negative pressure pin pressing portion 12 that press the above-mentioned two types of pins (negative pressure pin 22 and atmospheric opening pin 21), respectively. There are steps in the pressing direction,
That is, they are provided offset. When the lever 10 is operated, the atmosphere opening pin 31 is opened by the action of the atmosphere opening pin 21 before the negative pressure lever 32 is pressed, and the atmosphere opening pin moves in the separating direction. Then, after the atmosphere opening port 31 is closed, the pressing of the negative pressure lever 32 via the negative pressure pin 22 is released.

The lever 10 is biased by the elastic member 16 in the direction opposite to the pressing direction of the negative pressure pin 22 and the atmospheric release pin 21. Further, in order to swing the lever 10 to execute the pressing operation of the pins 21 and 22, the cam 1
4 is provided with the rotary shaft 18 and the rotary shaft 18
The cam 14 acts on the lever 10 in accordance with the rotation of the lever 10, whereby the swinging operation of the lever 10 can be executed. In this embodiment, a solenoid 15 with a flapper is provided as means for rotating the rotary shaft 18. Further, there is a sensor 17 that is opened / shielded by a filler provided on the rotary shaft 18, and detects the home position (HP) of the rotary shaft 18.

The ink filling executed by pressing the negative pressure pin 22 and the atmosphere releasing pin 21 as described above is called atmosphere releasing filling, which means that the pressure inside the sub tank 30, the ink amount and the air amount are desired values. It is a filling method that is maintained at.
On the other hand, the filling in which only the ink is sent from the ink cartridge 50 without pressing the negative pressure pin 22 and the atmospheric release pin 21 is called normal filling, and the amount of air increased over time inside the sub tank 30 does not change. There is also a problem that the internal pressure of the device also deviates from the desired value.

[0012]

FIG. 9 is a partial schematic view for explaining the operation mechanism of the lever in the main body side drive mechanism. In the configuration as described above, the negative pressure pin 22
In order to press and displace the atmosphere opening pin 21 to displace it, it is necessary to apply a stronger stress to the lever 10 than the reaction force of the atmosphere opening pin 21 and the negative pressure pin 22.
Further, as shown in FIG. 9, in the configuration example of the conventional cam 14, the lever 10 swings around the rotation center of the rotary shaft 18, so that the reaction force R ₁ of the lever 10 causes the cam 14 to move in the operating direction. It acts so as to give a rotational force R ₂ for rotating in the opposite direction. Therefore, in order to rotate the cam 14 and swing the lever 10, a motor or solenoid having a high driving force has been used as a main body drive mechanism for operating the lever 10.

However, the above-mentioned open air filling is a filling method required only when the amount of air inside the sub-tank 30 increases, and in reality, the open air filling is overwhelmingly less than the number of times of normal filling. is there. The use of high-priced motors and solenoids for infrequently used open air filling has been questioned in terms of the cost performance of the device.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the lever in a general carriage in which sub-tanks for a plurality of colors are arranged.
0 (A) to FIG. 10 (C). As shown in FIG. 10, the carriage 20 generally has a plurality of colors (see FIG.
Sub-tanks (not shown) for four colors) are provided, and the atmospheric opening pins 21a to 21d and the negative pressure pins 22a to 22d project from the carriage 20 for each sub-tank. For example, when the atmosphere release pin 21a and the negative pressure pin 22a of the leftmost sub tank viewed from each pin side are pressed to perform the atmosphere release filling, the sub tanks of other colors are moved as the carriage 20 moves. Atmosphere release pin 21b
21d and the negative pressure pins 22b to 22d are sequentially pressed. When the sub-tanks of other colors affected by these are not full of ink, there is a problem that the amount of air becomes large and the internal pressure cannot be controlled to a desired value as compared with the case where the sub tank is filled with air.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the invention of claim 1 controls the manner of operation of the atmospheric opening control means and the negative pressure control means for performing atmospheric opening filling. The purpose of the present invention is to make it possible to use a driving mechanism having a relatively low driving force, and thereby to make it possible to construct the driving mechanism by an inexpensive means. Claim 2
According to the invention of claim 1, the pressure adjusting means composed of the atmospheric opening control means and the negative pressure control means of the sub-tank is configured to be actuated by any one of the plurality of levers, whereby an independent negative pressure for each sub-tank is obtained. It is an object of the present invention to enable control and shorten the time required for open filling to the atmosphere. According to a third aspect of the present invention, by arranging the atmospheric opening pin used as the atmospheric opening control means and the negative pressure pin used as the negative pressure control means in a vertically offset manner, the pressure control of the sub-tank during the atmospheric opening filling is performed in a predetermined procedure. The purpose is to be able to run with. According to the invention of claim 4, the reaction force of the lever is configured so as not to act as the rotational force of the rotating shaft supporting the cam for swinging the lever, thereby making it possible to employ a low torque drive mechanism. That is the purpose. It is an object of the invention of claim 5 to suppress fluctuations in the internal pressure of the sub-tanks when ink is filled in a plurality of sub-tanks corresponding to a plurality of colors. The invention of claim 6 is the above claim 1.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet printer using the pressure adjusting mechanism of Nos. 5 to 5.

[0016]

According to a first aspect of the invention, a head for ejecting ink, a carriage for mounting the head and moving in the main scanning direction, and an ink supplied from an ink cartridge are temporarily stored. A sub tank that stocks the ink temporarily and supplies the temporarily stocked ink to the head, a lever that operates to adjust the pressure in the sub tank, and a drive unit that drives the lever. In the sub tank pressure adjustment mechanism of the inkjet head,
The sub-tank is arranged on the wall surface of the sub-tank, and an atmosphere opening control means for controlling a sealed state inside the sub-tank / a communication state between the inside of the sub-tank and the external atmosphere and a negative pressure for generating a negative pressure inside the sub-tank. A pressure adjusting means including a control means, and the lever is configured so that it can selectively take a position that acts on the pressure adjusting means and a position that cancels the action by a displacement operation of the lever. The driving means includes a cam that acts on the lever to cause a displacement operation of the lever, and a means that rotates the cam, and the pressure adjusting mechanism adjusts the lever and the pressure by operating the carriage. The lever is preset to a position where the lever can be acted on by the drive means by the driving means in a state in which the lever and the means are separated from each other. By brought into contact with the lever in the pressure adjusting unit by moving the carriage, it is obtained by and performing control air opening control and the negative pressure.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of the sub-tanks are provided for each ink type and a plurality of the levers are provided, and the pressure adjusting means of each of the sub-tanks is It is characterized in that it is configured to be acted upon by any one of the plurality of levers.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, as the atmosphere release control means, an atmosphere release pin for controlling the atmosphere release by opening and closing an atmosphere release port provided in the sub tank is used. As negative pressure control means,
Using a negative pressure pin for controlling the pressure inside the sub tank to a desired negative pressure by displacing a part of the wall portion forming the sub tank, the lever presses against the atmosphere opening pin and the negative pressure pin. / The air opening pin and the negative pressure pin arranged in the sub-tank are arranged so as to be vertically offset from each other.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, when the lever acts on the pressure adjusting means, a reaction from the pressure adjusting means causes a reaction with respect to the lever. When a stress is applied in a direction to release the action on the pressure adjusting means, the stress acts from the lever toward the axial center of the rotating shaft of the cam, thereby suppressing the displacement of the lever. It is characterized by that.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the second to fourth aspects of the invention, for all of the plurality of sub-tanks, each pressure adjusting means is caused to function sequentially or simultaneously by a series of operations of the lever, The sub-tank is characterized by being filled with ink.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet head pressure adjusting mechanism according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, and the pressure adjusting mechanism is used to adjust the pressure inside the sub-tank. Ink is filled in the sub tank.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view for explaining the structure and operation of an ink jet printer of the present invention, in which 10a and 10b are levers (first levers, respectively). , Second lever), 11a,
Reference numeral 11b is an atmosphere release pin pressing portion of each lever, and 12a and 12
b is a negative pressure pin pressing portion of each lever, 13 is a drive unit,
21a is an atmospheric opening pin, 22a is a negative pressure pin, 23a is an elastic member, 301 and 302 are sub tank units, 31a.
˜31d is an atmosphere opening port, and 32a to 32d are negative pressure levers. Here, the atmosphere opening pin and the negative pressure pin are provided corresponding to each color, but the atmosphere opening pin 21a, the negative pressure pin 22a and the elastic member 23a of the first color are shown, and the corresponding element groups of other colors are shown in the figure. Is omitted.

The present embodiment has a drive unit 13 having two sets of drive mechanisms using the lever 10 as described with reference to FIGS. Here, the sub-tank units 301 and 302 respectively include sub-tanks for two colors, and are provided with atmosphere opening ports 31a to 31d and negative pressure levers 32a to 32d corresponding to the respective colors. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the drive unit 13 has two levers 10a and 10b, and the sub tank units 301 and 3 are
For adjacent colors in 02, open pin 2
1a to 21d and the negative pressure pins 22a to 22d are offset in the vertical direction in the same color.

With the above-described structure, the upper first lever 10a presses the atmospheric opening pin and the negative pressure pin corresponding to the first and third colors, and the lower second lever 10b the second. , Only the atmospheric release pin and the negative pressure pin corresponding to the four colors are pressed. In this embodiment, the two levers 10
Although the structure shown by a and 10b is shown, it is possible to independently press the atmosphere opening pin and the negative pressure pin of each of the four-color sub tanks by using the four lever structure. In this case, since the vertical space is expanded by using the four-lever structure, it is possible to appropriately configure a plurality of levers in view of the space restriction.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the drive mechanism in the drive unit shown in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, it has elements corresponding to the lever drive mechanism as shown in FIG. In the figure, 18 is a rotary shaft, 14a and 14b are cams provided corresponding to the levers 10a and 10b, respectively.
15 is a DC solenoid, 16a and 16b are 10
An elastic member for urging a and 10b, and 17 is a sensor (HP sensor). Also in this embodiment, the DC solenoid 1
5, the rotary shaft 18 is rotated, and the levers 10a and 10b are swung by the action of the cams 14a and 14b provided on the rotary shaft 18, whereby the atmosphere release pins 21a to 21d and the negative pins are opened. Pressure pin 22
The pressing / release operation for a to 22d is executed.

FIG. 3 is a partial schematic view for explaining the operation of the drive unit of the ink jet head and the carriage according to the present invention, and the movement of the carriage and the operation of the lever are shown in the order of steps shown in FIGS. H). As described above, the levers 10a and 10b operate so as to take either a position for pressing the atmospheric opening pin and the negative pressure pin by the action of the cam or a position separated from these pins. In the following description, a position for pressing each of the pins will be described as a pin pressing position, and a position for releasing the pressing of the pin will be described as a pressing releasing position. Further, in this embodiment, the carriage 2
No. 0 is equipped with sub-tanks for four colors, and the sub-tanks of the first to fourth colors are sequentially described from the left side when viewed from the pin side.

First, the carriage 20 is placed at a predetermined suction position (a position where ink suction / filling operation is possible), and the levers 10a and 10b of the drive unit are set to the pressing release position (FIG. 3 (A)). . At this time, the levers 10a, 10
The position of b is confirmed by the sensor 17 to be in the home position. Next, the carriage 20 is moved rightward by 10.5 mm as viewed from the lever side. This position is first
Carriage standby position (FIG. 3B).

Next, at the first carriage standby position, the first carriage is moved to the first position.
The lever 10a is operated to set the pin pressing position (FIG. 3C), and the carriage 20 is moved to the suction position in this state. Since the first lever 10a is set to the pin pressing position, as the carriage 20 moves, the first color atmosphere opening pin 21a and the negative pressure pin 22a.
Is pressed (FIG. 3 (D)).

The total reaction force of the pins 21a and 22a is 3
However, the pulling force of the solenoid may be 20 gf. That is, when the pins 21a and 22a are pressed by swinging the lever 10a at the suction position,
Although the driving force of the solenoid is too weak to press each pin, each pin 21a is moved by moving the carriage 20 to the suction position with the lever 10a set to the pin pressing position first as in this embodiment. , 22a act toward the center of the rotary shaft 18 via the lever 10a, and the rotary shaft 18 can receive the reaction force, whereby the lever 10a does not return to the release position and is stable. You can perform the action you did.

When the carriage 20 is further moved to the left as viewed from the pin side, the pins 21a, 22a of the first color
Is released from the inclined surface of the lever 10a (atmosphere opening pin pressing portion and negative pressure pin pressing portion), and the pressed state of each of the pins 21a and 22a is released (FIG. 3 (E)). Two levers 1
In the configuration of the present embodiment having 0a and 10b, when performing open-air filling for the first color, the adjacent second color is not affected, but the third color moves the carriage 20. As a result, the atmosphere release pin 21c and the negative pressure pin 22c are pressed as shown in FIG. 3 (D).

When the carriage 20 is further moved from the state shown in FIG. 3 (E) and set to the second carriage standby position, the inclined surface (atmosphere opening pin pressing portion and negative pressure pin pressing portion) of the lever 10a has the third color. The pins 21c and 22c are disengaged and the pressed state of these pins 21c and 22c is released (FIG. 3 (F)). When the solenoid is operated in this state, the lever 10a can be stored in the pressing release position without receiving the reaction force of the pins 21c and 22c.

On the other hand, in the case where the sub-tanks of the second and fourth colors are filled with air, the second lever 10b is used.
Can be performed by the action of. That is, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3G, at the second standby position shown in FIG. 3F, the second lever 10b is operated to set the pin pressing position (FIG. 3G). Then carriage 20
To the right to move the atmosphere opening pins 21d and 21b and the negative pressure pins 22d and 22 of the fourth and second color sub-tanks.
b is sequentially pressed to carry out open-air filling (not shown),
Further, the carriage is made to wait again on the left side, and the second lever 10b is returned to the pressing open position in a state where the load of each pin on the second lever 10b is released (FIG. 3 (H)).

By performing the above-described control, when the respective levers 10a and 10b are swung, the loads of the atmospheric opening pins 21a to 21d and the negative pressure pins 22a to 22d are applied to the levers 10a and 10b. It doesn't take anything at all. As described above, the atmospheric opening pins 21a to 21d
And the pressure of the negative pressure pins 22a to 22d is applied to the levers 10a and 10b.
When applied to the lever, a reaction force for rotating the cam is generated by the levers 10a and 10b, and the reaction force serves as a force for rotating the rotating shaft and acts as a load for the solenoid operation.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
By optimizing the shapes of a and 14b and the engagement states of the levers 10a and 10b, even if a reaction force acts on each of the levers 10a and 10b, the reaction force acts on the rotary shaft 18
Since it is configured to act toward the center of rotation, the reaction force against the levers 10a and 10b does not act as the rotational force of the rotary shaft. For this reason, a mechanism such as a cam rotation stop is not required, so that the lever drive unit can be constructed at low cost.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, even when it is necessary to open and fill only one color sub-tank to the atmosphere when the cartridge is replaced, the sub-tanks for all colors are controlled to be open and filled to the atmosphere. . For example, in the configuration using the two bars described above, when filling the sub-tank of the first color, the internal pressure of the sub-tank of the third color also changes once under the influence of the bar, but the third color also By performing the filling open to the atmosphere, the internal pressure can be maintained at a desired set value.

Further, as described above, if each sub-tank of each color is provided with a lever, even if only one color sub-tank is filled with air, the internal pressures of sub-tanks of other colors are affected. Absent.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of an ink jet printer according to the present invention. In the figure, 40 is an ink jet printer, 41 is an ink jet head portion, and 42 is.
Is a carriage for mounting the inkjet printer head and driving it in the direction of the arrow, and 43 is a rod for movably supporting the carriage. The ink jet printer 40 is configured by applying the pressure adjusting mechanism according to the present invention to the ink jet head portion 41 as described above, and an ink jet printer having a drive mechanism for performing open filling to the atmosphere at low cost is obtained. Is something that can be done.

[0038]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the pressure adjusting mechanism of the ink jet head portion of the present invention, low torque driving is performed by controlling the operation of the atmospheric release pin and the negative pressure pin for performing atmospheric release filling. The mechanism can be used, which allows the drive mechanism to be constructed at low cost.
In addition, the reaction force of the lever does not act as the rotational force of the rotating shaft that supports the cam for swinging the lever, so that a low-torque drive mechanism can be adopted, which reduces the cost of the drive mechanism. Can be composed of
In addition, when ink is filled in a plurality of sub-tanks corresponding to a plurality of colors, the sub-tanks for all the colors are filled with the atmosphere, so that fluctuations in the internal pressure of all the sub-tanks can be suppressed. Further, by operating independent levers on each of the plurality of sub-tanks, the internal pressure of each sub-tank can be stably maintained, and the time required for opening and filling to the atmosphere can be shortened. Further, by using the pressure adjusting mechanism described above, it is possible to obtain an ink jet printer in which a driving mechanism for performing open filling in the atmosphere is configured at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view for explaining a configuration and an operation of an inkjet printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a drive mechanism in the drive unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial schematic view for explaining the operation of a drive unit of an inkjet head and a carriage according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an engagement state between a cam and a lever according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of an inkjet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective exploded configuration diagram for describing an example of a structure around an inkjet head portion in an inkjet printer.

FIG. 7 is a perspective exploded configuration diagram for explaining the configuration example of the sub tank shown in FIG. 6 in more detail.

FIG. 8 is a perspective schematic configuration diagram for explaining a configuration example of a main body side drive mechanism for pressing and displacing the negative pressure pin and the atmosphere release pin.

FIG. 9 is a partial schematic view for explaining a lever operation mechanism in the main body side drive mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of a lever in a general carriage in which sub tanks for a plurality of colors are arranged.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 10 ... Lever, 10a, 10b ... Lever, 11 ... Atmosphere opening pin pressing portion, 11a, 11b ... Atmosphere opening pin pressing portion,
12 ... Negative pressure pin pressing portion, 12a, 12b ... Negative pressure pin pressing portion, 13 ... Driving device, 14 ... Cam, 14a, 14b ... Cam, 15 ... Solenoid, 16 ... Elastic member, 16a, 16
b ... Elastic member, 17 ... Sensor (HP sensor), 18 ... Rotating shaft, 20 ... Carriage, 21 ... Atmosphere opening pin, 21a
-21d ... Atmosphere opening pin, 22 ... Negative pressure pin, 22a-2
2d ... negative pressure pin, 23 ... elastic member, 23a ... elastic member,
30 ... Sub tank, 31 ... Atmosphere opening port, 31a-31d
Atmosphere opening port, 32 ... Negative pressure lever, 32a to 32d ... Negative pressure lever, 33 ... Case, 34 ... Film, 35 ... Plate, 36 ... Elastic member, 37 ... Ink filling port, 38 ... Full detection sensor, 39a ... Top wall, 39b ... Bottom wall, 39
c ... Side wall, 40 ... Inkjet head, 41 ... Inkjet head part, 42 ... Carriage, 43 ... Rod,
50 ... Ink cartridge, 51 ... Connection tube, 30
1, 302 ... Sub tank unit, 311, 371 ... Elastic member, 312, 372 ... Sphere, 313, 373 ... Elastic member, 314, 374 ... Cap.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A head that ejects ink, a carriage that mounts the head and moves in the main scanning direction, and ink that is supplied from an ink cartridge is temporarily stocked and temporarily stocked. In a sub tank pressure adjusting mechanism of an ink jet head section, which has a sub tank for supplying ink to the head, a lever that operates to adjust the pressure in the sub tank, and a driving unit that drives the lever. The sub-tank is arranged on a wall surface of the sub-tank, and an atmosphere opening control means for controlling a sealed state inside the sub-tank / a communication state between the inside of the sub-tank and the external atmosphere and a negative pressure for generating a negative pressure inside the sub-tank. Pressure control means and pressure control means, wherein the lever is operated by a displacement operation of the lever to act on the pressure control means. The driving means has a cam that acts on the lever to cause a displacement operation of the lever, and a means that rotates the cam. The pressure adjusting mechanism can act the lever on the pressure adjusting means by the driving means in a state where the lever and the pressure adjusting means are separated from each other by a movement of the carriage to a position where they cannot interact with each other. A pressure adjusting mechanism for an ink jet head, wherein the lever is brought into contact with the pressure adjusting means by moving the carriage to a predetermined position and performing atmospheric opening control and negative pressure control. 2. The ink jet head pressure adjusting mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the sub-tanks are provided for each ink type and a plurality of the levers are provided, and the sub-tank of each of the sub-tanks is provided. The pressure adjusting mechanism for an ink jet head, wherein the pressure adjusting means is configured to be acted upon by any one of the plurality of levers. 3. The pressure adjusting mechanism for an ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein the atmosphere opening control means controls the atmosphere opening by opening and closing an atmosphere opening port provided in the sub tank. Using a pin, as the negative pressure control means, a negative pressure pin for controlling the pressure inside the sub tank to a desired negative pressure by displacing a part of the wall portion forming the sub tank is used. Pressing against the open pin and the negative pressure pin /
An ink jet head unit configured to be separated from each other, wherein the atmospheric opening pin and the negative pressure pin arranged in the sub-tank are arranged to be vertically offset. Pressure adjustment mechanism. 4. The pressure adjusting mechanism for an ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein a reaction force from the pressure adjusting means is applied when the lever acts on the pressure adjusting means. When stress is applied to the lever in a direction to release the action on the pressure adjusting means, the stress acts from the lever toward the axial center of the rotating shaft of the cam, whereby the lever A mechanism for adjusting the pressure of the inkjet head, which suppresses the displacement of the head. 5. The pressure adjusting mechanism for an ink jet head according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein each of the pressure adjusting means is sequentially or sequentially operated by a series of operations of the lever for all of the plurality of sub tanks. A pressure adjusting mechanism for an ink jet head, which is made to function at the same time and is filled with ink in the sub tank. 6. A pressure adjusting mechanism for an ink jet head section according to claim 1, wherein the pressure adjusting mechanism is used to adjust the pressure inside the sub tank to the inside of the sub tank. An ink jet printer characterized by being filled with ink.