JPH02145362A - Recording head and holding method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately position a recording head in contact with a positioning member provided at a recorder body through the face of the head having a printing element array by contact pressure of a power supply member for supplying power to the power supply electrode of the head by elastically bringing into pressing contact with the electrode. CONSTITUTION:After an ion cartridge 1 (recording head) is guided by the surfaces of tie bars 22, 23, a guide member 45 and an image carrier 10 to arrive at a predetermined position, a cam 41 is rotated to move a slide frame toward an image carrier 10. Thus, power supply spring 38 of a power supply connector 21 is advanced along the upper and lower oblique faces of the head 1, and brought into pressure contact with the power supply electrode 6 of the head 1 under a predetermined pressure. Thus, the head 1 is brought into pressure contact with the carrier 10 through a spacer 7 on a screen electrode face 5 having a printing element array by the component force of the contact pressure. Thus, a gap between the electrode face 5 of the head 1 and the surface of the carrier 10 is accurately set to a predetermined value responsive to the thickness of the spacer 7.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a recording head having a printing element array used in a recording device such as a printer, a copier, or a facsimile, that is, a heating element used in thermal recording or thermal transfer recording. The present invention relates to a recording head such as a column recording head, an ion flow recording head, a multi-needle electrode recording head, an LED array recording head, an LCD array recording head, an EL light emitting element array recording head, an inkjet element array recording head, and a method for holding the same.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, as a means for holding a recording head in a recording apparatus main body used in a recording apparatus such as a printer, a structure as shown in FIG. 6 is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,847. .

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a laminated electrode member provided with a printing element row 101 and a plurality of power feeding electrodes for feeding power to the printing element row 101 is attached to a support substrate 103, and further printing of the laminated electrode member is performed. A backbone 102 is attached to the side opposite to where the element array 101 is arranged to constitute a recording head 104, and both side support substrates 103 of the recording head 104 are supported by a positioning member 106 disposed along the image carrier 105.
a, 106b, and the power supply member 107 is elastically pressed into contact with the power supply electrodes disposed on both side support substrates 103 of the recording head 104 to supply power, and recording is performed by the pressure contact force. The head 104 is positioned and held on the positioning members 106a and 106b.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional example shown in FIG. 6, positioning members 106a and 106 for positioning and holding the recording head 104 are
Since the power supply member 107 for supplying power to the recording head 104 and the recording head 104 and for holding the recording head 104 in pressure contact with the positioning members 106a and 106b is arranged separately on both sides of the recording head 104, the image carrier 105 Requires a large amount of space along the outer periphery. therefore,
There is a problem in that restrictions on the arrangement of other process means arranged around the image carrier become large. Furthermore, the positioning accuracy of the reference plane of the positioning member cannot be ensured by accumulating parts accuracy, and there is also a drawback that adjustment is required.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems in conventional recording heads and methods of holding the same, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recording head and a method of holding the same that enable highly accurate positioning in a small space. do.

[Means and operations for solving the problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a printing element array for recording an image on an image carrier and a plurality of power feeders for feeding power to the printing element array. In this method, the recording head is attached to the recording apparatus main body by pressure contact force of a power supply member that elastically presses and contacts the power supply electrode of the recording head to supply power. The recording head is positioned and held by bringing the recording head into contact with the positioned positioning member via the surface having the print element array.

Further, the recording head of the present invention includes a spacer member on the surface having the printing element array, and the spacer member is moved by the pressure contact force of the power supply member that elastically presses and contacts the plurality of power supply electrodes of the recording head to supply power. It is configured to be positioned and held in the recording apparatus main body by bringing it into contact with a positioning member of the recording apparatus main body.

In this way, the recording head is brought into contact with the positioning member through the surface having the print element array, and the positioning and holding is performed by the pressure contact force of the power supply member, so the mechanism for positioning the recording head is simplified. As a result, positioning accuracy is improved, and the only space required for positioning and holding is the space for arranging the recording head, making it possible to omit a dedicated space for positioning and holding.

Further, by configuring the recording head by providing a spacer member on the surface having the printing element array, it is possible to obtain a recording head that can be positioned and held with high precision by maintaining a predetermined gap with respect to the positioning member using a compact positioning and holding means.

(Embodiment) An embodiment will be described below. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an ion cartridge which is an ion flow recording head used in a printer as an embodiment of the recording head according to the present invention. ) is its cross-sectional view. The ion cartridge 1 is constructed by laminating a laminated electrode member 3 in which various electrodes, insulating layers, adhesives, etc. are laminated in a flexible sheet shape to a backbone 2 made of aluminum or highly rigid plastic. The uppermost layer of this laminated electrode member 3 is a laminate layer 4 for protection and insulation. This laminate layer 4 has a screen electrode surface 5 that faces the image carrier serving as an image forming surface and constitutes a printing element array, and each power supply electric power 8i! Only 6 is exposed. Spacers 7 are provided at both ends of the exposed screen electrode surface 5 to maintain a constant distance from the image carrier.

In the power supply electrode 6, 6a is a finger electrode power supply electrode, 6b is a screen electrode power supply bridge, and 6C is a cartridge absence detection electrode.

The backbone 2 is formed of a flat polygonal prism with a polygonal cross section, as shown in Figure 1 (Figure 1), and the short side on the left side of Figure 1 (Figure 1) is where the screen electrode surface 5 is arranged. , the upper and lower two inclined surfaces on the right side are the surfaces on which the power feeding electrode 6 is arranged. Note that the electrode for feeding power to the write data control electrode of the ion cartridge 1 is formed separately on both the upper and lower inclined surfaces, and the electrode for feeding power to the ion discharge electrode is formed only on the upper inclined surface. The laminated electrode member 3 is attached to the backbone 2 by starting from the right end of one inclined surface of the backbone 2, going around to the back side via the short side for the screen electrode surface arrangement part, and pasting it so as to reach the right end of the other inclined surface. It is attached.

The thickness of this laminated electrode member 3 is approximately 0.1 mm to 1 mm.
It is.

The ion cartridge 1 configured as described above is attached to the main body of the recording device so that it can be replaced manually by an operator. Therefore, a thrust direction positioning pin 8 is attached to one end of the backbone 2, and a pin 8 for thrust direction positioning is attached to one end of the backbone 2. A grip is attached to the side end surface.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the peripheral portion when the ion cartridge, which is the recording head of the printer shown in FIG. 1 (old), is installed in the printer. The ion cartridge 1 is held with respect to the drum-shaped image carrier 10 in a state tilted upward by about 28 degrees from a horizontal plane. Developing device 11. Corona charger for transfer 12.
Cleaning unit 13. Bias roller 14. Eraser 15. A magnet 16 and the like are provided. The ion cartridge l has its upper and lower surfaces guided by tie bars 22 and 23 attached to the main body of the device, and receives pressure contact force from the power supply connector 21 supported by the upper and lower driver boards 18 and 19 from behind, and the screen electrode surface 5 is held in such a way that it is pressed against the image carrier lO via a spacer 7.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the structure of the holding section and driving section of the ion cartridge 1. Reference numeral 31 denotes a guide frame that is positioned and fixed to the main body frame, and the approximately U-shaped receiver is formed into a dish shape, and a high-voltage power supply board 32 for controlling the ion cartridge and two cooling fans 33 are installed at the bottom of the guide frame. ing. Two cut-and-raised portions 34 and 35 are provided on each side plate of the guide frame 31, and a slide frame 36 is placed on the cut-and-raised portions 34 and 35. The slide frame 36 has a U-shape that is slightly smaller than the guide frame 31, and has a large cutout at the bottom where it faces the cooling fan 33.

A positioning pin 37 and a lower driver board 19 positioned by the positioning pin 37 are attached to the remaining bottom portion of the slide frame 36 other than the notch.

On the other hand, the upper driver board 18 is the lower driver board 1.
9, and at the same time are electrically connected to each other by an inter-board connecting terminal, and further fixed to the slide frame 36 at the rear end. The power supply electrodes for supplying power to the write data control electrodes of the ion cartridge 1 are arranged separately on both the upper and lower inclined surfaces, while the power supply electrodes for supplying power to the ion discharge electrodes are arranged only on the upper inclined surface. Therefore, a write data control circuit and an ion discharge electrode drive circuit are formed on the upper driver board 18, and an ion discharge electrode drive circuit is arranged on the lower driver board 19.

A pair of ion cartridge power supply connectors 21 are attached to the ends of the upper driver board 18 and the lower driver board 19 closer to the image carrier 10, and this power supply connector 21 has a large number of power supply springs 38. There is. Each of the power supply springs 38 needs to be positioned with high precision with respect to the power supply electrode 6 provided on the ion cartridge 1. Therefore, relative positioning of both the upper and lower boards 18 and 19 is performed by engagement between a positioning pin provided on the power supply connector 21 itself and an engagement hole. Also, both upper and lower boards 18.19
The positioning of the ion cartridge L and the ion cartridge L is achieved by engagement between the bin 40 provided on the tie bar 23 that positions and holds the ion cartridge L, and one end of the slide frame 36 that supports both the upper and lower substrates 18 and 19. It is determined.

The cam shaft 39 is pivotally supported by the guide frame 31, and a hook is provided between both side plates of the guide frame 31 so as to restrict the upward movement of the slide frame 36, and a cam 41 is provided at both ends of the hook. There is. As the camshaft 39 rotates, the cam follower surface 42 or 43 formed on the slide frame 36 comes into contact with the slide frame 39.
6 is moved back and forth with respect to the guide frame 31. That is, when the cam 41 reaches the rotational position shown by the dashed line, the cam follower surface 43
After being pushed back, a return spring (not shown)
Move back to the arrow position. This return spring is a weak spring that acts as a driving force to move the slide frame 36 only when the slide frame 36 is released from the load such as the pressure contact friction force of the power supply connector 21.

At this time, the slide frame 36 and each member attached to the frame 36, such as the driver boards 18 and 19, retreat to the position where the cam follower surface 42 contacts the rotated cam 41. In this state, the ion cartridge 1 is attached to and detached from the main body of the apparatus.

Further, a rotatably supported guide member 45 is attached to the camshaft 39, and the guide member 45 is attached to the camshaft 39.
The rotation of the slide frame 36. Driver board 1
8.19 and the power supply connector 21 attached to the end of the primordium Fi18.19, it protrudes relatively from each of these members, and when the ion cartridge l is attached or detached, the rear end is regulated and retreated. Interference with the power supply connector 21 is prevented.

The ion cartridge 1 is inserted through the opening of the main body frame of the apparatus, and is inserted through the tie bars 22, 23. After reaching a predetermined position while being guided by the guide member 45 and the surface of the image carrier 1O, the cam 41 is rotated by operating a set lever (not shown) linked to the cam shaft 39, and the slide frame 36 is moved in the direction of the image carrier 10. Move to.

This movement causes the power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21 to
enters along the vertical slope of the ion cartridge l,
As will be described in detail later, a predetermined pressure (from 40 g per spring bottle) is applied to the power supply electrode 6 of the ion cartridge l at a midway position on the inclined surface corresponding to the movement end position of the slide frame 36, which has moved backward during the latter half of the forward movement. 200g)
Weld with pressure.

In this way, the power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21 is arranged on the power supply electrode 6 on the inclined surface of the ion cartridge 1.
Since the ion cartridge l is in pressure contact with the image bearing member 10 by a component of the pressure contact force, the ion cartridge l is brought into pressure contact with the image carrier 10 via the spacer 7 on the screen electrode surface 5 having the printing element array. Thereby, the gap between the screen electrode surface 5 of the ion cartridge 1 and the surface of the image carrier 10 is set to a predetermined value corresponding to the thickness of the spacer 7 with high precision.

On the other hand, due to the reaction force of the power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21,
The driver boards 18, 19 are subjected to a force in a direction that increases the distance between them. At this time, the back surface of the lower driver board 19 is supported by the bottom surface of the slide frame 36 via an insulator 46, and the back surface of the upper driver board 18 is supported by a tie bar 47 fixed to the slide frame 36 via an insulator 46. is supported,
This structure is configured to suppress the force in the direction of widening the space between the substrates 18 and 19.

The number of power supply springs of the upper and lower power supply connectors 21 is set to be the same, and the slide frame 36 is set to the same number as the guide frame 31.
Although it is configured to move back and forth between the cut and raised portions 34 and 35 and the cam shaft 39, there is also a margin for slight movement in the vertical direction. Therefore, when the power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21 presses the ion cartridge l, the ion cartridge 1
．． 19, and the pressing forces of the upper and lower power supply connectors 21 are balanced. This prevents the ion cartridge 1 from receiving any force due to the pressing force of the power supply connector 21 in a direction that causes it to rotate or float above the reference surfaces provided at both ends of the tie bar 23. Further, the ion cartridge l is positioned on a reference surface provided on the tie bar 23 by the weight of the slide frame 36 and the presser springs 48 attached near both front and rear ends of the tie bar 47.

In FIG. 3, the two cooling fans 33 provided at the bottom of the guide frame 31 are installed in the direction of sucking air from below and blowing it upward. As described above, the bottom of the slide frame 36 is cut out at the portion facing the fan 33, so that the airflow taken in from below is blown directly to the upper driver board 18. Components that easily generate heat, such as power transistors that constitute a control circuit or a drive circuit disposed on the upper driver board 18, are disposed at a position facing the fan. A portion of the airflow that impinges on the upper driver board 18 is transferred to the upper and lower driver boards 18.1.
9, increasing the pressure near the power supply connector 21,
Since an air flow is formed that flows out from the gap between the power supply connector 21 and the ion cartridge 1, adhesion of floating toner and other floating substances to the power supply electrode 6 and the power supply spring 38 is prevented or reduced.

FIG. 48 shows a cam 41 that drives the slide frame 36.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the force exerted on the cartridge 1 by the power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21. FIG. To move the slide frame 36 to press and hold the ion cartridge 1 in a predetermined position, rotate the cam 41 in the direction of arrow Q around the cam shaft 39 from the retracted position shown by the dotted line, and move the slide frame 36 in the direction of arrow P. push forward.

The operation of the cam 41 and the slide frame 36 is completed at the position shown by the solid line where the cam follower surface 42 of the slide frame 36 and the straight portion 41a formed on the outer periphery of the cam 41 come into contact. The outer periphery of the cam 41 has a straight portion 41a as described above.
is formed, and the top dead center indicated by the arrow is set to be θ in front of the stop position indicated by the solid line in the fourth diagram in terms of the rotation angle of the cam 41, and the slide frame 36 is located at the top dead center. The stroke of takes the maximum value. That is, the cam 41 is configured to stop at a position slightly past the top dead center, and thereby the slide frame 36 is stopped at a position slightly retreated from the maximum forward movement position.

The power supply spring 38 of the power supply connector 21 abuts on the inclined surface of the ion cartridge 1'', and presses against it with a pressure force F as shown in FIG. 4(B). Among the component forces of the pressure contact force F, the downward component force F is the upward pressure contact force caused by the power supply spring 38 of the other power supply connector 21 on the opposite inclined surface formed symmetrically in the ion cartridge l. is canceled out by the component force of The leftward component force F acts as a force that presses the ion cartridge l against the surface of the image carrier 100.

Further, since the power supply spring 38 receives a reaction force N equal to the pressure contact force F, when the power supply spring 38 moves on the inclined surface of the cartridge l as the slide frame 36 moves due to the rotation of the cam 41, the cartridge l The inclined surface of is subjected to a force of f=pN due to frictional force.

At the position where the cam 41 reaches the top dead center, the force f received by this frictional force becomes maximum, and if the movement of the power supply spring 38 is stopped at this point, the force f received by this frictional force is
The accumulated stress remains in the power supply spring 38 and the laminate layer 4 of the cartridge 1, and continues to apply excessive force to the cartridge 1. However, in this embodiment, the cam 41 is configured to stop at a position slightly beyond the top dead center, so after passing the top dead center, the slide frame 36 moves back slightly until it reaches the stop position. Therefore, the power supply spring 38 also moves back slightly, and the direction of the force f received by the frictional force is also reversed as shown by the dotted line.

Thereby, the ion cartridge 1 can be held with an appropriate pressing force without residual frictional stress.

Fig. 5 is a partially sectional plan view of another embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 5 is a side view thereof. In this embodiment, positioning members 52 are provided at both ends of a housing 51 that holds the image carrier 1O, and the screen electrode surface 5 of the ion cartridge 1 is brought into contact with the positioning members 52 to be positioned and held. It is. Note that 53 is a presser spring inserted between the housing 51 and the ion cartridge 1. The positioning member 52 is arranged so as to protrude from the image carrier 10 by a necessary space between the screen electrode surface 5 and the surface of the image carrier 10 . By ensuring the accuracy of this protrusion amount by using an assembly jig, etc.
Even if the positioning reference plane is not necessarily the surface of the image carrier, the space-saving effect can be obtained as in the first embodiment.

In each of the above embodiments, the cross-sectional shape of the backbone of the ion cartridge is polygonal as shown in the figure, but the backbone of the ion cartridge is not limited to the shape described above, and for example, a backbone having a rectangular cross-section may also be used. In that case, the printing element rows and the power supply electrodes are arranged on opposing parallel surfaces.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above based on the embodiments, according to the present invention, the recording head is brought into contact with the positioning member via the surface having the print element array, and is positioned and held by the pressure contact force of the power supply member. As a result, almost no dedicated space is required for positioning and holding the recording head, and highly accurate positioning and holding can be performed with a simple mechanism. Further, it is possible to easily obtain a recording head that can be positioned and held with high accuracy by maintaining a predetermined gap with respect to the positioning member with a compact mechanism.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ion cartridge which is an embodiment of the recording head according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a sectional view thereof, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the state in which the ion cartridge is installed in the main body of the device, and FIG.
Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the cam that drives the slide frame, Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram of the force exerted by the power supply spring of the power supply connector on the ion cartridge, and Figure 5 is an illustration of the holding of the recording head of the present invention. A diagram showing another embodiment of the method, FIG.
) is a side view thereof, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conventional recording head holding means. In the figure, 1 is an ion cartridge, 3 is a laminated electrode member, 5 is a screen electrode surface, 6 is a power supply electrode, 7 is a spacer, 10 is an image carrier, 18 is an upper driver board, 1
9 is a lower driver board, 21 is a power supply connector, 22.
23 is a tie bar, 31 is a guide frame, 36 is a slide frame, 38 is a power supply spring, 39 is a camshaft, 41 is a cam, and 45 is a guide member. Figure 1 Patent Applicant: Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. Representative Patent Attorney Ken Mogami, Figure 2 Figure 10;

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method for holding a recording head to a recording device main body, which has a printing element array for recording an image on an image carrier and a plurality of power feeding electrodes for supplying power to the printing element array. ,
The recording head is driven by the pressure contact force of the power supply member that elastically presses and contacts the power supply electrode of the recording head to supply power.
1. A method for holding a recording head, which comprises positioning and holding the recording head by bringing the recording head into contact with a positioning member provided on a recording apparatus main body via a surface having a printing element array. 2. The positioning member is an image carrier for supporting an image recorded by the recording head, and the spacer member provided on the surface of the recording head having the printing element array is attached to the surface of the image carrier. Claim 1, wherein the recording head is positioned and held by bringing the recording head into contact with the recording head.
How to hold the recording head as described. 3. A plurality of power feeding electrodes of the recording head are arranged symmetrically with respect to a normal line at a position of contact of the recording head with respect to the positioning member, and the pressure contact force by the power supplying member is arranged symmetrically. 3. The method of holding a recording head according to claim 1, wherein the power feeding electrodes have substantially the same force. 4. In a recording head having a printing element array and a plurality of power feeding electrodes for feeding power to the printing element array, the recording head is provided with a spacer member on the surface having the printing element array,
The spacer member is brought into contact with the positioning member of the recording device main body by the pressure contact force of the power feeding member that elastically presses and contacts the plurality of power feeding electrodes of the recording head to supply power, thereby positioning and holding the spacer member in the recording device main body. A recording head characterized in that the recording head is configured to perform the following operations.