JPH03128268A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obviate the adjustment of a gap even when the thickness of a recording sheet fluctuates by allowing a contact member to come in contact with a recording sheet and thereby keeping the gap between the recording sheet and a recording device always constant. CONSTITUTION:In a recording device, a recording mechanism 2 is mounted on a carriage 1 which can move in (a) direction, and is driven with the carriage 1 moved. Consequently, ink is discharged onto a recording sheet 3 and the recording sheet 3 is transported by a signal line in (b) direction using a sheet transport device 4, if a single line is recorded. In addition, when data is recorded, the recording device 2 is energized in (c) direction by an energization device 5, and in this case, the gap (t) between the ink discharge surface and the recording sheet 3 in the recording device 4 is made constant by allowing a constant member 6 to come in contact with the recording sheet 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Field of Industrial Application> The present invention relates to a serial type recording device, and more particularly to a recording device that can always maintain an appropriate distance between a recording means and a recording sheet.

<Prior art> A recording head is mounted on a carriage that moves in the printing digit direction as a recording means for printers, fudge devices, etc., and an image is recorded on a recording sheet by driving the recording head based on print data. So-called serial type recording devices are widely used.

This recording apparatus is constructed so that the distance between the recording head and the recording sheet can be maintained appropriately even if the thickness of the recording sheet changes.For example, the schematic diagram in FIG. 6 (Ill, (b)) As shown in the figure, four guide boos 1J50 a~
A wire 52 is stretched around the drive pulley 50d and the drive pulley 51, and both ends of the wire 52 are connected to a carriage 54 on which a recording pad 53 is mounted. When the drive pulley 51 is rotated by the motor 55, the carriage 54 travels in the direction of arrow X, and its movement and position are controlled.

Further, the guide pulleys 50a and 50b are supported by crank-shaped pulley shafts 56a and 56b.
6a, 56b are configured to be rotatable and fixable. Therefore, when the pulley shafts 56a, 56b are rotated in the direction of the arrow θ, the wire 52 stretched between the guide boo 'Js 50a, 50b moves in the direction of the arrow y. , the gap t between the recording head 53 and the recording sheet 56 changes. Thus, when recording on recording sheets 56 of different thicknesses, the pulley shafts 55a and 55b are rotated in advance to set the gap L to an optimal value and prevent uneven printing from occurring.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, in the conventional example, the thickness of the recording sheet 56 is -
In such cases, the gap t will be an appropriate value, but for items such as envelopes whose thickness varies within a single recording sheet 56, it will follow the change in the thickness of the recording sheet 56. Therefore, the gap t cannot be adjusted, and uneven printing may occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide a recording apparatus that can always maintain a constant gap between a recording means and a recording sheet.

Means for Solving the Problems> A typical means according to the present invention for solving the above problems includes a carriage that moves in the recording direction, and a carriage that is mounted on the carriage and that prints an image on a recording sheet according to an image signal. a recording device for forming a recording device, a biasing device for biasing the recording device in the direction of the recording sheet, and an abutment that comes into contact with the recording sheet when the recording device is biased by the biasing device. The feature is that a contact member is provided.

Effect> In the above means, when recording, the recording means is urged toward the recording sheet by the urging means, and at this time, the abutting member comes into contact with the recording sheet.

Therefore, the difference in level between the abutting member against the recording sheet and the recording means becomes a gap between the recording sheet and the recording means, and this gap is always kept constant regardless of changes in the thickness of the recording sheet.

<Embodiment> Next, an embodiment in which the above means is applied to an inkjet recording apparatus will be described.

[First example]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view of the recording apparatus, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the cross-sectional configuration. For convenience of explanation, the left side of FIG. 2 will be referred to as the front part, and the right side will be referred to as the rear part.

(Overall Configuration) First, to explain the entire recording apparatus, the recording means 2 is mounted on a carriage l that is movable in the direction of arrow a.
By driving the recording means 2 while moving the ink, ink is ejected onto the recording sheet 3 for recording, and when the - line recording is completed, the sheet conveying means 4 moves the recording sheet 3 by one line in the direction of the arrow in FIG. It is configured to be transported. Further, during the recording, the recording means 2 is moved by the arrow C by the biasing means 5.
At this time, the contact member 6 comes into contact with the recording sheet 3, so that the gap t between the ink ejection surface of the recording means 4 and the recording sheet 3 is kept constant.

Next, the configuration of each of the above sections will be specifically explained.

(Carriage) The carriage 1 is configured to be movable on the base 7. That is, a guide portion 1a is formed projecting from the front portion of the carriage 1, and this guide portion 1a is slidably fitted into a groove 7a formed on the base 7. On the other hand, an arm IC rotatable around a pin lb is attached to the rear of the carriage 1, and a rotating roller 1d attached to the rotating tip of the arm lcO is connected to a tension spring attached between the arm lc and the carriage 1. It is constructed so as to come into pressure contact with the inner upper surface of the hook-shaped guide portion 7b formed on the base 7 by the biasing force le.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, a vibrating body 10 of an ultrasonic motor is attached to the carriage 1 via a support member 1), and a part of the vibrating body 10 is slid by the biasing force of the tension spring 1e. It is pressed against the rail 7C.

The vibrating body 10 is made of piezoelectric ceramic (for example, P
ZT) are joined. This piezoelectric ceramic is patterned into two sets of electrode groups (the first electrode group and the second electrode group are positioned out of phase by a quarter wavelength), and adjacent electrodes are patterned with each other (for example, PZT are polarized in opposite directions (and in the thickness direction). When an electric field with a temporal phase difference of π/2 is applied to the 2&ll electrode group from a high frequency power source (not shown), a progressive vibration wave is generated in the vibrating body 10. This traveling wave generates a frictional force on the sliding surface between the vibrating body 10 and the sliding rail 7C, and the vibrating body 10 is configured to move in the direction of arrow a along with the carriage l due to the reaction.

The moving position and moving speed of the carriage 1 are detected by an encoder 8 provided at the bottom of the carriage 1. This encoder 8 has a base 7 encoder Fi8b having slits 8a at a predetermined pitch.
A detection element consisting of a light emitting element 8C and a light receiving element 8d is attached to the lower part of the carriage l so as to sandwich the encode plate 8b. Therefore, when the carriage 1 moves, the moving position and moving speed of the carriage 1 are detected based on the pulse number and cycle of the light received by the light receiving element 8d via the pickpocket 7) 8a.

(Recording Means) Next, the recording means 2 uses an inkjet method in this embodiment, and has a recording head 2c formed by arranging a plurality of ink ejection ports (orifices) 2b at the front part of an ink cartridge 2a containing ink. is attached, and when the recording head 2C is driven according to an image signal, the ink in the cartridge 2a is ejected from the ejection opening 2b, and an ink image is recorded on the recording sheet 3 whose back surface is supported by the platen 9. There is.

The ink cartridge 2a is mounted on the carriage 1, and a bottle 2d protrudes from the ink cartridge 2a.
is rotatably locked in a locking hole lf formed in the side wall of the carriage 1.

(Sheet conveyance means) A conveyance roller 4a rotated by a motor (not shown) is provided at the front of the recording means 2, and a pinch roller 4b that is in pressure contact with the conveyance roller 4b and rotates as a result.A guide is provided around the conveyance roller 4a. A plate 4C is arranged.

As a result, the recording sheet 3 inserted between the conveying roller 4a and the pinch roller 4b is moved so that the recording sheet 3 inserted between the conveying roller 4a and the pinch roller 4b is
When the recording head 2c rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow, the guide plate 4c is guided and conveyed in the direction indicated by the arrow mark, passing between the recording head 2c and the platen 9.

(Biasing means) During the recording, the ink cartridge 2a is biased by the biasing means 5.
is biased toward the front by. In this embodiment, the biasing means 5 is constituted by a temporary spring attached to the rear of the carriage 1, and this temporary spring biases the rear of the ink cartridge 2a.

For this reason, the ink cartridge 2a is configured to rotate around the bottle 2d, and the recording head 20 portion is urged in the direction of the recording sheet 3.

(Abutment member) In this embodiment, the abutment member 6 that abuts the recording sheet 3 is constituted by a rotatable roller. That is, record 2
A roller 6b is rotatably attached to a shaft 6a provided at a shaft 6a, and as shown in FIG. is attached to.

Therefore, when the recording head 2c is biased by the bias of the biasing means 5 and rotates in the direction of the arrow e around the bin 2d as shown in FIG. comes into contact with.

As a result, the amount by which the roller 6b protrudes from the ink ejection port 2b is also reduced by the amount that the roller 6b protrudes from the ink ejection port 2b of the recording sheet 3 and the recording head 2c.
This is the gap between b.

In the recording apparatus configured as described above, the recording head 2C is driven in synchronization with the movement of the carriage 1, and an ink image is recorded on the recording sheet 3. At this time, the recording head 2C is activated by the biasing means 5.
Since the rollers 6b are in contact with the recording sheet 3 as shown in FIG. Even if the thickness of the sheet 3 changes at any time, the gap always maintains a constant distance t. Therefore, ink is accurately sprayed from the ink ejection ports 2b onto the recording sheet 3, thereby preventing the occurrence of recording unevenness and the like.

[Second example]

Next, as a second embodiment, an embodiment in which the ink ejection surface and the recording sheet 3 are always parallel will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. Note that the same functional parts as those of the first embodiment described above are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

As shown in the schematic rear view of FIG. 5, the lower end of the ink cartridge 2a is formed with a convex portion 2a+ that protrudes from both sides, and this convex portion 2a+ is slidably fitted into a concave portion 1g formed in the carriage l. There is. Therefore, when the rear part of the ink cartridge 2a is pressed by the urging means 5, the cartridge 2a is configured to slide parallel to the front part.

Further, three rollers 6b+, 6bx, and 6bx, which serve as abutting members, are rotatably attached around the recording head 2c attached to the front part of the ink cartridge 2a, and the rollers 6b+, 6bz, 6b
The outer periphery of No. 3 is attached so as to protrude as far forward as possible from the ink ejection port.

Therefore, with respect to the recording sheet 3, the rollers 5b1.　6bz.

As in the first embodiment described above, the gap between the ink discharge ports 2b and the recording sheet 3 is always maintained constant by the contact between the ink discharge ports 2b and the recording sheet 3. Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the carriage l slides in parallel, the ink ejection surface and the recording sheet 3 are always held parallel, and the ink ejected from the ink ejection openings 2b is more accurately directed to the recording sheet 3. It is something that is sprayed on.

[Other Examples]

In the above-mentioned embodiment, an example was shown in which a temporary spring was used as the biasing means 5, but this may be any structure as long as it biases the recording head 2c in the direction of the recording sheet, for example, a coil spring or the like may be used. .

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, an example was shown in which a roller that rotates while in contact with the recording sheet 3 was used as the contact member.
This may be any material as long as it has a small sliding resistance and can move while in contact with the recording sheet 3 when the carrying shaft 1 moves. For example, it may be a bearing using a ball or the like.

Furthermore, the abutting member 5 does not necessarily need to rotate as long as the abutting member 5 has extremely low sliding resistance with respect to the recording sheet 3.

Furthermore, the position where the contact member is attached is not necessarily the recording head 2.
It is not necessary to limit the position to the periphery of C, and any position may be used as long as the gap between the recording means 2 and the recording sheet 3 can be maintained constant.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention is configured such that the gap between the recording sheet and the recording means is always kept constant by bringing the abutting member into contact with the recording sheet, so that the thickness of the recording sheet can be reduced. Even if the gap changes, there is no need to adjust the gap, and it is possible to record on a recording sheet of varying thickness, such as an envelope, without causing recording unevenness.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory view of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a cross-sectional configuration, FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the second embodiment, and FIG. 6(a). Mountain) is an explanatory diagram of the prior art. 1 is the carriage, la is the guide part, 1b is the pin, lc is the arm 4, ld is the rotating roller, le is the tension spring,
if is a locking hole, 2 is a recording means, 2a is an ink cartridge, 2b is an ejection port, 2c is a recording head, 2d is a pin, 3
4 is a recording sheet, 4 is a sheet conveying means, 5 is a biasing means, 6
is a contact member, 6a is a shaft, 6b is a roller, 7 is a base, 7a
, 7b is a guide part, 7c is a sliding rail, 8 is an encoder, 8a is a slit, 8b is an encoder plate, 8c is a light emitting element, 8d is a light receiving element, 9 is a platen, 10 is a vibrating body, 1
) is the support part.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) a carriage that moves in the recording direction; a recording means mounted on the carriage for forming an image on the recording sheet according to an image signal; and a recording means for urging the recording means in the direction of the recording sheet. A recording device comprising: a biasing means; and an abutment member that abuts the recording sheet when the recording means is biased by the biasing means. (2) The recording apparatus according to claim (1), wherein the contact member is a rotating member that rotates as a result of movement of the carriage while in contact with the recording sheet.