JPH0725110A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To position a recording head in the vertical direction, in the sheet- conveying direction and in the carriage-moving direction and electrically connect the recording head at the same time by a simple constitution. CONSTITUTION:One positioning part for positioning a recording head in the sheet conveying direction, two positioning parts 9B, 9C for positioning it in the vertical direction and three positioning parts 9D, 9E, 9F are formed on a heat sink 9 fixed to a cartridge 3. A positioning part 2A for the sheet- conveying direction formed on a side section of an opening section 20 of a bottom wall of a carriage 2, positioning parts 2B, 2C for the vertical direction formed on both sides of the opening section and the positioning parts 2D, 2E, 2F for the carriage movement direction formed on both sides of the opening section and on a side wall of the carriage are provided on the carriage 2. A plurality of the positioning parts on the cartridge side and the carriage side are brought into contact with each other so that the positioning of the recording head in the sheet-conveying direction, in the vertical direction and in the carriage movement direction and the connection of connectors is achieved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus for ejecting ink droplets from an ejection port of a recording head to print on a recording paper, in which an ink jet cartridge having a recording head is detachably attached to a carriage. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet recording apparatus in which an ink jet cartridge having a recording head is detachably attached to a carriage, the recording head is highly accurately positioned in order to improve recording accuracy of ink droplets ejected on a recording sheet. At the same time, the electrical connection must be secured to transmit the drive signal to the inkjet cartridge. In addition, the inkjet cartridge is a consumable item, and its replacement work needs to be simple so that the user can replace it.
In particular, when a plurality of recording heads are arranged on a carriage to record a color image, unless each recording head is positioned with high accuracy, color misregistration occurs and printing failure occurs.

Conventionally, regarding the positioning of the recording head,
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,778, 4,628,33
2, 4, 633 and 274, a method is known in which the recording head and the connector for electrical connection are separately positioned. However, when the recording head is attached and detached, the recording head is attached to the apparatus main body side. This requires an attaching / detaching operation, an attaching / detaching operation of the connector on the recording head side and a connector on the apparatus main body side, and an attaching / detaching operation twice, which is inconvenient for the user. In particular, when a plurality of recording heads are mounted, there is a risk that connection mistakes will occur between the connectors of the recording heads. In order to solve this problem, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-55253,
As a positioning mechanism for the recording head with respect to the carriage, a method has been proposed in which the electrical connection between the cartridge and the recording device and the positioning of the cartridge are simultaneously performed.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of a positioning mechanism disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-55253. C is a cartridge, 501 is a carriage which is moved along a guide rail 502 and a scanning rail 503 in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface by a driving unit (not shown), 501A and 501B are abutting surfaces formed on the carriage 501 side, and 504 is a carriage 501. Fixed to the main body side connector for signal supply, 505 is a signal wire bundle connected to the connector 504,
507 is a recording head, 507A and 507B are contact surfaces formed on the recording head 507 side, 508 is a cam shaft, 509
Is an eccentric cam, 510 is an operating lever, 511 is a pressing pin,
Reference numeral 512 is a head-side connector arranged on the recording head 507 side, 513 is an ejection nozzle, 514 is an ink tank,
Reference numeral 515 is a recording sheet, and 516 and 517 are sheet feed rollers.

When the recording head 507 is mounted on the carriage 501, the pressing pin 511 is retracted from the mounting portion 501A, and the recording head 507 is inserted into the mounting portion 501A together with the ink tank 514. The contact surfaces 507A and 507B are respectively attached to the carriage 501.
After aligning the abutting surfaces 501A and 501B on the side so as to be able to abut, the operating lever 510 is operated in the direction of arrow A, and the recording head 50 is moved via the eccentric cam 509 and the pressing pin 511.
7 is pressed against the connector 504 side to position the recording head 507 and connect the connectors 504, 512.
It is possible to make an electrical connection between two people at the same time.

[0006]

However, in the method of FIG. 6, the pressing force P applied to the recording head 507 is the pressing force P1 for connecting the connectors to each other.
And contact surfaces 507A and 507B with abutting surfaces 501A and 50A.
It is dispersed into three pressures P2 and P3 for press-contacting 1B. Therefore, these pressures P1, P2, P
3 may not be dispersed properly, for example, the pressing force P
Even if 2 and P3 are sufficient, the pressing force P1 may be insufficient and the opposite case may occur, resulting in a decrease in positioning accuracy and damage to the contact portion of the connector. It is also possible to increase the pressing force P in order to sufficiently increase all the pressing forces at the same time, but there is a problem that structural strength is required and force is required at the time of attachment / detachment, resulting in poor operability. is doing. More importantly,
Although the cartridge can be positioned in the height direction and the sheet feeding direction, printing failure occurs because the positioning with respect to the moving direction of the carriage 501 is not taken into consideration. Particularly in an inkjet recording apparatus that performs full-color printing using a plurality of inkjet cartridges. Must position each cartridge in place,
There is a problem that color misregistration occurs on printing and the quality is impaired.

In order to solve this problem, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
Japanese Patent No. 55253 also discloses the method shown in FIG. 7. The same components as those in the example of FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. When the cartridge C is mounted on the carriage 501, the cartridge C is inserted into the carriage 501 from above and the lever 510 is moved to move the push pin 520 provided on the connector holder 519 side in the direction of arrow A. When the cartridge C is pressed in the direction of arrow A by the movement, the vertical contact surfaces 507A and 507B of the recording head 507 abut the vertical abutting surfaces 501A and 501B of the carriage 501, and the recording head 507 moves in the sheet feeding direction with respect to the carriage 501. Positioning is done. Also, the push pin 52
The pressed surface 507D of the recording head 507 that engages with 0 is formed of an inclined surface, and the horizontal contact surface 507C of the recording head 507 is caused by the component force f of the inclined surface 507C of the carriage 501.
The recording head 507 is positioned in the height direction at the same time when it hits 1C. Further, as shown in FIG. B, at the side end of the recording head 507, three protrusions 507L,
507M (one location is not shown), and the carriage 501 is brought into contact with the abutting surfaces 501K and 501M, respectively, and the carriage 501 is positioned in the moving direction.

When the cartridge C is taken out from the carriage 501, the operating lever 110 is operated to move the connector holder 519 to the right. During this movement, the recording head 507 hits the rough guides 501E and 501F and its rightward movement is restricted, so that the main body side connector 504 and the head side connector 512 are separated from each other, and the positioning state of the recording head 507 is released. As shown in FIG. C, the main body side connector 504 is biased by the tension spring 521 in the direction of the arrow B with a weak force, so that the main body side connector 504.
The engaging shaft 504A is fitted into the engaging hole 519B of the connector holder 519. When the cartridge C is mounted on the carriage 501, after the main body side connector 504 is coupled to the head side connector 512 by the operation of the operation lever 510, the connector holder 519 moves to the right and the engagement shaft 504A of the main body side connector 504.
Moves from the small-diameter engagement hole 519B to the large-diameter engagement hole 519A by a distance 1 and the main body side connector 504 is free from the connector holder 519.
As a result, the cartridge C is positioned with respect to the carriage 501 only by the pressing force of the push pin 520, and accurate positioning becomes possible.

However, in the system shown in FIG. 7, the main body side connector 504 is connected to the connector holder 51.
9 has a problem in that the mechanism for making it free is complicated.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the positioning and the electrical connection of the recording heads in the height direction of the recording head, the sheet feeding direction, and the carriage movement direction are performed simultaneously and in a simple structure. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet recording apparatus that can be performed by

[0011]

To this end, an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention comprises an ink jet cartridge having a recording head for ejecting ink droplets to print on a recording sheet, and the cartridge is detachably loaded for recording. In an ink jet recording apparatus having a carriage that scans on paper and a sheet feeding mechanism that conveys a recording sheet in a direction perpendicular to the carriage scanning direction, a head-side connector that is provided on the cartridge side and that transmits an electric signal to a recording head A main body side connector provided on the carriage side and connected to the head side connector; a heat sink fixed to the side surface of the cartridge and supporting and radiating the recording head; and a sheet of the recording head formed on the heat sink. One positioning part for feed direction Two positioning parts with respect to the height direction and three positioning parts with respect to the carriage movement direction, an opening formed in the bottom wall of the carriage for penetrating the recording head, and a sheet feeding direction formed on a side part of the opening part. And a positioning part in the height direction formed on both sides of the opening, and positioning parts in the carriage movement direction provided on both sides of the opening and the side wall of the carriage. Positioning of the recording head in the sheet feeding direction, the height direction, and the carriage movement direction by abutting the plurality of positioning portions on the cartridge side and the plurality of positioning portions on the carriage side when inserting from above. In addition to performing the above, the connector is connected.

[0012]

In the present invention, a pressing member for positioning the recording head in the height direction and the sheet feeding direction and a pressing member for positioning the carriage in the moving direction are separately provided, and the pressing force is utilized. As a result, electrical connection is made and the two pressing members are simultaneously moved by one operating means. Further, the positioning portion of the cartridge, which is brought into contact with the carriage when pressed, is provided on the heat sink to which the recording head is directly attached. Further, the pressing member and the cartridge have an engaging portion for moving the cartridge to the detachable position of the cartridge.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the ink jet cartridge of FIG. 1 viewed from the back side.

In FIG. 1, a carriage 2 is slidably mounted on two guide rails 1, and the carriage 2 is
A sheet feeding mechanism (not shown) that reciprocates in the X direction by a motor (not shown) and conveys the recording sheet in a direction Y perpendicular to the carriage scanning direction X is provided below the carriage 2. Four inkjet cartridges of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are removably mounted on the carriage 2. Here, a mounting / demounting mechanism for one inkjet cartridge 3 will be described.

First, the ink jet cartridge 3 will be described with reference to FIG. A recording head 7 including a nozzle portion 6 that ejects ink droplets is provided at the tip of a housing 5 that forms the exterior of the inkjet cartridge 3. On the side surface of the housing 5, a heat sink 9 made of aluminum, which also serves to support the recording head 7 and dissipate heat, is fixed, and a head-side connector 10 for transmitting an electric signal to the recording head 7 is arranged. In addition, in the housing 5,
A handle 11, a cartridge pull-out protrusion 12, and an ink tank fixing elastic portion 13 are provided. The ink tank 15 has an ink holding felt (not shown) inside.
When the ink tank 15 is attached to the ink jet cartridge 3, the ink tank 15 is fixed by engaging the ink tank side engagement protrusion 15A with the ink jet cartridge side receiving hole 13A.

The positioning portions provided on the ink jet cartridge 3 side are all integrally formed with the heat sink 9. That is, the positioning portion 9A formed on both sides of the recording head 7 in the sheet feeding direction Y and the positioning portion 9A.
Positioning portion 9 in the height direction Z, which is continuously provided in a direction perpendicular to A
B and 9C and the carriage movement direction formed on the heat sink 9 facing the positioning portions 9D and 9E and the positioning portion 9D in the carriage movement direction X formed on the surface intersecting the positioning portions 9B and 9C at right angles. The (X) positioning portion 9F is formed. Further, a pressing protrusion 9G is formed at the center of gravity of the three positioning portions 9D, 9E, 9F in the carriage movement direction X. The pressing protrusion 9G has an inclined surface 9H and is provided so as to extend obliquely upward.

Next, the outline of the carriage 2 will be described. The carriage 2 has a configuration in which the housing 16 is partitioned by a partition wall 17 and four ink jet cartridges can be mounted. In the figure, a part of the partition wall 17 in the height direction Z is omitted. Housing 16
Four body side connectors 19 are attached to the side wall 16A. Four openings 20 for penetrating the recording head 7 are formed in the bottom wall 16B of the housing 16, and a positioning portion 2A formed in a side portion of the opening 20 in the sheet feeding direction Y and an opening 20. Positioning portions 2B and 2C formed in the bottom walls 16B on both sides in the height direction Z, and the opening portion 2
Positioning portions 2D, 2E provided in a columnar shape between the bottom wall 16B on both sides and the partition wall 17 in the carriage movement direction X and a positioning portion 2F formed in the upper portion of the side wall 16A of the housing 16 in the carriage movement direction (X). Are formed.

When the ink jet cartridge 3 is inserted into the carriage 2 from above, the positioning portions 9A, 9B, 9C, 9 on the ink jet cartridge 3 side are provided.
D, 9E, 9F and the positioning portion 2A on the carriage 2 side,
By abutting 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, and 2F, respectively, the recording head 7 of the inkjet cartridge 3 can be positioned in the sheet feeding direction Y, the height direction Z, and the carriage movement direction X.

3 to 5 show a structure for mounting and positioning the ink jet cartridge 3 on the carriage 2, and FIG. 5 (A) is a sectional view showing a state before locking.
FIG. 5B is a sectional view showing a state after locking, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the pressing member of FIG. 4, and FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the operation of the pressing member of FIG. Although the shape of the heat sink 9 in FIG. 5 is different from that in FIG. 1, it does not relate to the essence of the invention.

In FIG. 5, the housing 16 of the carriage 2 is provided with a first pressing member 21 so as to be movable. The first pressing member 21 is formed with an elongated hole 22 that is inclined obliquely downward, a shaft 23 is provided on the housing 16 side, and the shaft 23 is fitted and supported in the elongated hole 22. An operating lever 25 is rotatably provided on the receiving portion 21C of the first pressing member 21, and the operating lever 25 is fixed to the housing 16 via a tension spring 26.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, in the pressing direction of the first pressing member 21, the pressing portions 21A and 21B are vertically arranged.
Is formed so that the pressed portions 9J and 9K on the heat sink 9 side of the inkjet cartridge 3 can be pressed.
In addition, inside the first pressing member 21, an engaging portion 2 that can be engaged with the cartridge pull-out protruding portion 12 shown in FIG.
7 are formed. The mounting hole 2 is formed in the first pressing member 21.
9 is formed, and the second pressing member 30 is provided in the mounting hole 29.
The second pressing member 30 is attached to the first pressing member 21 via the compression spring 32, and is movably provided with respect to the first pressing member 21. An inclined surface 30A is formed at the tip of the second pressing member 30 so that the inclined surface 9H of the pressing protrusion 9G on the heat sink 9 side can be pressed.

When the operating lever 25 is operated in the direction of the arrow in the figure from the state of FIG. 5A, the first pressing member 21 is pushed by the operating lever 25 and follows the inclination of the slot 22 to the left in the figure. 5B, the pressed portions 21A and 21B of the first pressing member 21 press the pressed portions 9J and 9K of the inkjet cartridge 3 to position them in the height direction and the sheet feeding direction. . The pressed portion 9K is provided on the end surface of the heat sink 9 and has an inclined surface so as to generate a component force in the height direction and the sheet feeding direction.

Simultaneously with the movement of the first pressing member 21, the second pressing member 30 is also displaced leftward so that the inclined surface 30A presses the inclined surface 9H of the pressing protrusion 9G provided on the side surface of the ink jet cartridge 3. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, a component force F ₂ is generated in the moving direction of the carriage by the pressing force of the compression spring 32, the carriage is positioned in the moving direction, and the connectors 10 and 19 are electrically connected at the same time. .

When the operating lever 25 is operated in the direction of the arrow in the drawing from the state of FIG. 5B, the first pressing member 21 moves to the right, and the engaging portion 27 is moved as shown in FIG. 5A. In order to press the protrusion 12 for pulling out the cartridge, the inkjet cartridge 3 is pulled out to the position shown in the figure, and when the inkjet cartridge 3 is taken out of the apparatus, damage due to rubbing between the connectors 10 and 19 is prevented.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, an example in which a plurality of ink jet cartridges are attachable / detachable is shown, but it is also applicable to the case of a single ink jet cartridge.

[0026]

According to the present invention, the positioning of the recording head in the height direction, the sheet feeding direction and the carriage movement direction and the electrical connection of the recording head can be performed simultaneously and with a simple structure. . Further, the cartridge can be detached and attached without damaging the electrical contact portion.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the inkjet cartridge of FIG. 1 viewed from the back side.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the pressing member of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the action of the pressing member of FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a structure for mounting and positioning the inkjet cartridge of FIG. 1 on a carriage 2, and FIG.
Is a sectional view showing a state before locking, and FIG. 5 (B) is a sectional view showing a state after locking.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional positioning structure.

7 shows another example of a conventional positioning structure, and FIG.
7A is an overall configuration diagram, FIG. 7B is a partial sectional view, and FIG.
(C) is a figure for demonstrating the effect | action of a positioning mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... Carriage, 3 ... Inkjet cartridge, 7
... recording head 9 ... heat sink, 9G ... pressing projection, 9H ... inclined surface 9J, 9K ... pressed part, 10 ... head side connector 12 ... cartridge drawing projection, 19 ... main body side connector 21 ... first pressing Member, 21A, 21B ... Pressing part, 25
... operation member 27 ... engaging portion, 30 ... second pressing member, 30A ... inclined surface (cartridge side positioning portion) 9A ... sheet feeding direction Y positioning portion, 9B, 9C ... height direction Z positioning portion 9D, 9E, 9F ... Positioning portion in carriage movement direction X (carriage side positioning portion) 2A ... Positioning portion in sheet feeding direction Y, 2B, 2C ... Positioning portion in height direction Z 2D, 2E, 2F ... Positioning in carriage movement direction X Department

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication location H01R 13/46 Z 7354-5E B41J 29/00 C (72) Inventor Jun Takagi Hongo, Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture 2274 Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Ichiro Tomikawa 2274 Hongo, Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Junichi Yoshida 2274 Hongo, Ebina City, Kanagawa Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet cartridge having a recording head for ejecting ink droplets to print on a recording sheet, a carriage for detachably mounting the cartridge and scanning the recording sheet, and a direction perpendicular to the carriage scanning direction. In an ink jet recording apparatus having a sheet feeding mechanism for conveying a recording sheet, a head side connector provided on the cartridge side for transmitting an electric signal to a recording head, and a head side connector provided on the carriage side are connected to the head side connector. A main body side connector, a heat sink fixed to the side surface of the cartridge for supporting and dissipating the recording head, and one positioning portion formed in the heat sink for the sheet feeding direction and two positioning portions for the height direction. Section and carriage movement direction Three positioning portions, an opening formed in the bottom wall of the carriage for penetrating the recording head, a positioning portion in the sheet feeding direction formed on a side portion of the opening portion, and formed on both sides of the opening portion. And a positioning part in the carriage movement direction provided on both sides of the opening and on the side wall of the carriage. When the cartridge is inserted into the carriage from above, the plurality of cartridge-side The positioning unit and the plurality of positioning units on the carriage side are brought into contact with each other to position the recording head in the sheet feeding direction, the height direction, and the carriage movement direction, and connect the connector. Inkjet recording device. 2. A first pressing member for bringing the cartridge-side positioning portion into contact with the carriage-side positioning portion to position the cartridge in the height direction and the sheet feeding direction, and in the carriage movement direction of the cartridge. A second pressing member for positioning, and the first and second
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an operating member that interlocks the pressing member. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cartridge pressed portion pressed by the first pressing member is formed by a protrusion provided on the side surface of the cartridge. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the pressed portions of the cartridge is the end surface of the heat sink. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the second pressing member is a plate-shaped member having a sloped tip portion. 6. A pressing projection is formed at the center of gravity of three positioning parts in the carriage movement direction formed on the heat sink, and the pressing projection is pressed by the second pressing member. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 5. 7. When the operating member is displaced in the direction for releasing the positioning of the cartridge, the engaging portion interlocking with the operating means and the cartridge side projection engaging with the engaging portion are engaged with each other. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cartridge can be moved to a detachable position of the cartridge.