JPH08224939A - Printing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] It is an object to provide a small-sized printing apparatus capable of virtually adjusting the distance between sheets. A flexible cable 5 is used as a transmission means for transmitting print information to a print head 4 that prints on the print material 1 while reciprocating in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the print material 1 is conveyed in a predetermined direction.
The cable 5 is arranged on the downstream side of the print head 4 in the conveyance direction of the print material 1. A guide rail 8 is provided between the carriage 6 on which the print head 4 is mounted and the material to be printed 1 as a protection means for preventing friction between the flexible cable and the material to be printed. A spur 9 for restricting the distance between the print head 4 and the material 1 to be printed is attached to the lower portion of the guide rail 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a serial type printing apparatus which prints while reciprocating in a main scanning direction orthogonal to the direction of conveyance of a material to be printed. Here, the printing includes the application of ink to all the ink supports that receive the application of ink such as cloth, thread, paper, sheet material, etc., and the printing device is used as all information devices or output devices thereof. Printers, and the present invention can be applied to these.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional serial type printing apparatus has
Thermal transfer type and ink jet type printing devices are known.

In a thermal transfer printing apparatus or the like, the material to be printed is conveyed in a predetermined direction (sub-scanning direction), while the thermal transfer portion reciprocates in the main scanning direction orthogonal to the sub-scanning direction to perform thermal transfer printing on the material to be printed. Is going. A flexible cable is connected to the thermal transfer section as a transmission cable for transmitting print information.

In such an apparatus, in order to eliminate the dead space in the apparatus and improve the space efficiency, the arrangement of the flexible cable is inevitably determined by the shape of the ribbon cassette, and the upstream side in the conveying direction of the printed material. It is located in.

However, in the conventional thermal transfer printing apparatus, when the automatic paper feeding apparatus is built in the apparatus,
If the above-mentioned flexible cable is arranged on the upstream side in the conveying direction of the material to be printed, the space in which the above-mentioned automatic sheet feeder can be arranged is limited, and the degree of freedom in design changes and the like is reduced, which leads to downsizing of the apparatus. There was a certain limit.

Further, in the ink jet type printing apparatus, there is also known one in which a flexible cable is connected to a lower side of a carriage carrying an ink jet type print head. In an inkjet printing apparatus, in order to maintain the non-contact state between the print head and the printing material, it is necessary to keep a constant distance between them (hereinafter referred to as a paper distance). For this reason, conventionally, another adjusting member has been provided for adjusting the inter-sheet distance, and the work for adjusting the inter-sheet distance has been performed in the product manufacturing process.

However, such an adjustment work is troublesome and it is necessary to strictly control the adjustment accuracy.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a printing apparatus provided with the above-mentioned member for adjusting the paper distance. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 13 is attached to both ends of a lead screw 5005 supporting a carriage HC carrying an ink jet cartridge IJC including an ink jet print head, and the lead screw 5005 itself is used to adjust the movement of the print material 1. Is a paper distance adjusting member. The spur 9 is a member for preventing the printed material 1 from being twisted.

The configuration shown in FIG. 5 will be briefly described. The carriage HC is a drive motor 5013.
Driving force transmission gears 5010, 500
It has a pin (not shown) that engages with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the shaft 9, and is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b as the lead screw rotates. The carriage HC has a head cartridge IJ
C is attached. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a pressing plate for the print target material 1, and the print target material 1 extends in the carriage movement direction.
Is pressed against the platen 5000. 5007, 50
Reference numeral 08 denotes a photo coupler, which is a lever 500 of the carriage.
6 is a home position detecting means for confirming the existence of the motor 6 in this area and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013. Reference numeral 5016 is a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the print head, and 5015 is a suction unit that sucks the inside of the cap, which is the opening 50 in the cap.
The suction recovery of the print head is performed via 23. 501
7 is a cleaning blade, and 5019 is a member for moving this blade in the front-back direction, which are supported by the main body support plate 5018.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a small-sized printing apparatus capable of virtually adjusting the distance between sheets.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is a printing apparatus, which is a means for conveying a printing material in a predetermined direction, and printing on the printing material. A carriage for holding the print head for performing the reciprocating movement in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction by the conveying means, and a transmitting means for transmitting print information to the print head, the transmitting means comprising the print head. Is disposed on the downstream side in the transport direction of the printed material.

[0012] Here, the invention of claim 2 is the same as claim 1.
In the printing apparatus described above, the transmission means may be a flexible cable.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the second aspect, a protection means for preventing rubbing between the flexible cable and the printed material may be provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the third aspect, the protection means is disposed on the downstream side of the print head in the conveying direction of the printed material, and the flexible cable and the flexible cable are provided. It may be arranged between the material to be printed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the protection means may include a regulation means for regulating the distance between the print material and the print head.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the restriction means may be a spur.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in the printing apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the regulating means may be a spur, and the sliding portion of the spur may be in contact with the protection means.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to any one of the third to seventh aspects, the protection means includes a guide means for guiding the print head in the reciprocating direction. Good.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus, in which means for conveying a material to be printed in a predetermined direction and a print head for performing printing on the material to be printed are held, and a conveying direction by the conveying means. A carriage for reciprocating in a direction orthogonal to the direction, guide means for guiding the carriage in the reciprocating direction, and provided on the guide means, and regulating the distance between the print head and the material to be printed. And a regulation means.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, the print head is an element that generates energy used for ejecting ink. You may have the electrothermal converter which produces | generates the heat energy which film-boils the ink.

[0021]

In the present invention, since the transmission means is arranged on the downstream side in the conveying direction of the printed material, the sheet feeding device can be mounted on the upstream side in the conveying direction of the printed material, and the degree of freedom of design change and the like can be improved. Therefore, the size of the device can be reduced.

Further, in the present invention, since the protection means can prevent the flexible cable as the transmission means from rubbing against the printed material, the flexible cable is brought into contact with the surface of the printed material immediately after printing. Therefore, it is possible to prevent damage to a high-quality image immediately after printing.

Further, in the present invention, the distance between the sheets can be easily regulated by the regulation means provided in the protection means or the guide means, so that contact between the print head and the material to be printed is avoided and high quality is achieved. Image damage can be prevented.

Furthermore, in the present invention, since the spur for suppressing the floating of the material to be printed is used as the restricting means, the paper distance can be controlled by the size of the spur parts. In, it is possible to make the paper distance virtually unadjusted.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a first embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II 'in FIG. In addition, in the present embodiment, an example of an ink jet type printing apparatus will be described.

In the figure, 1 is a print sheet as a material to be printed, 2 is a carrying roller for carrying the print sheet 1, and 3 is a pinch for applying a carrying force of the print sheet 1 to the carrying roller 2. It's Laura.
Both the transport roller 2 and the pinch roller 3 are arranged in the arrow B direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the sub scanning direction,
It can be rotated by rotation of a gear train and a carry motor (not shown).

Further, 4 is a print head, 5 is a flexible cable as a transmission means for transmitting print information to the print head 4, 6 is a carriage for mounting the print head 4, and 7 is not shown. Is a carrier guide shaft that is fixed to the chassis of the carriage 6 and that guides the carriage 6 in the main scanning direction. Reference numeral 8 is a guide rail that serves as a protection unit that prevents the print sheet 1 and the flexible cable 5 from rubbing. It is arranged between the print sheet 1.

One end of the flexible cable 5 is connected to the print head 4 via the lower portion of the carriage 6, and the other end is connected to a terminal with an output device such as a personal computer (not shown) via the surface of the guide rail 8. ing. The guide rail 8 is an elongated plate body extending in the main scanning direction, and its cross-sectional structure is substantially J-shaped as shown in FIG.
The guide rail 8 in the present embodiment includes a plate portion 8a, a low wall portion 8b extending along one edge portion in the length direction of the plate portion 8a (one edge portion on the downstream side in the transport direction of the print sheet 1).
The wall portion 8b is roughly configured by an overhang portion 8c extending from the upper edge portion of the wall portion 8b toward the plate portion 8a in parallel with the surface thereof.
The projecting portion 8c is slidably engaged with a recess 6a provided at one end of the carriage 6, and guides the carriage 6 when the carriage 6 reciprocates in the main scanning direction. In FIG. 2, 6b is a sliding surface of the recess 6a.

At the bottom of the guide rail 8 as described above, a plurality of spurs 9 are attached to the facing surface 8d in the length direction of the plate portion 8a at equal intervals along the length direction. Also,
The sliding rotary shaft 9a of the spur 9 has a facing surface 8d of the guide rail 8.
Is in contact with The spur 9 is not only a metallic member for preventing the print sheet 1 from floating and the like, but also exerts a function as a regulation means for regulating the distance between the print head 4 and the print sheet 1. But also. The discharge roller 10 is urged against the spur 9 by a weak spring pressure by the spring 11, and the spur 9 and the discharge roller 10
Constitutes an ejecting means for ejecting the printed print sheet 1 to the downstream side in the conveying direction. The spring 11 has one end attached to the paper discharge roller 10 and the other end attached to the chassis 1.
It is fixed to 2.

In this embodiment, since the spur 9 is used as a regulating means for regulating the distance between the front end of the print head 4 and the print sheet 1, the spur 9 is used on the downstream side of the carriage 6 in the print conveying direction and the print sheet. 1, the distance between the guide rail sliding surface 6b of the carriage 6 and the facing surface 8d of the guide rail 8, and the distance from the contact portion of the spur shaft 9a to the spur tip are determined by strict adjustment.

Next, the printing method in this embodiment will be described. When the print sheet 1 is fed by a feed roller (not shown) from the direction of arrow A (sub-scanning direction) into a gap having a wedge-shaped cross section formed between the transport roller 2 and the pinch roller 3, the print sheet 1 is not shown. By the rotation of the gear train and the conveyance motor, the sheet is conveyed to the lower side of the print head 4. When image data from an output device such as a personal computer is transmitted as an electric signal to the print head 4 via a flexible cable 5 in the printing device, the carriage 6 on which the print head 4 is mounted is mounted on the carriage 6 in the reverse direction of a carriage drive motor (not shown). The image data is printed by the print head 4 after appropriately moving to a predetermined position to be printed by rotation. When the printing of one page is completed, the transport roller 2
Also, the print sheet 1 is conveyed to the lower side of the guide rail 8 by the pinch roller 3, and is continuously discharged to the outside of the print area by the spur 9 and the discharge roller 10.

According to this embodiment, since the flexible cable 5 is arranged downstream of the print head 4 in the carrying direction, a space on the upstream side in the carrying direction can be provided, for example, for mounting an automatic paper feeder, and the carriage 6 can be provided. The space below can also be used effectively.

Further, according to this embodiment, the guide rail 8
As a result, it is possible to prevent rubbing between the flexible cable 5 and the print surface of the print sheet 1, and there is an effect that the print surface including an ink jet type high-quality image is not stained.

Further, according to this embodiment, the guide rail 8 has both a protection means for preventing the flexible cable 5 from rubbing against the print surface of the print sheet 1 and a guide means for guiding the carriage 6. This has the effects of reducing the number of parts and simplifying the assembly work.

Further, according to this embodiment, the spur 9 attached to the guide rail 8 can regulate the distance between the leading end of the print head 4 and the print surface of the print sheet 1 to a predetermined value. Therefore, the sheet-to-sheet distance can be controlled by the dimensions of the parts, so that the sheet-to-sheet distance adjustment work in the product manufacturing process stage can be eliminated, and the working time can be shortened.

From the viewpoint that more precise adjustment is possible by reducing the number of parts involved in the adjustment of the paper distance as much as possible, the spur 9 as a paper distance regulating means is directly attached to the guide rail 8. Although it is preferable to attach the spur 9, the spur 9 may be indirectly attached to the guide rail 8 via a spur fixing member in view of space and the like.

In particular, when the automatic paper feeder is built in the printing apparatus and it is necessary to reduce the size of the apparatus as a whole, the above-mentioned structure for effectively utilizing the space is significant.

In this embodiment, the guide rail 8 is provided separately from the chassis (not shown), but the guide rail 8 may be formed integrally with the chassis to reduce the number of parts.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view showing a main part of a second embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention. In this embodiment, the same components as those in the previous embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description of those components will be omitted.

The feature of this embodiment is the guide structure of the guide rail 8 for guiding the carriage 6. That is, the one end of the carriage 6 is provided with a projecting portion 6c that projects in the direction of arrow A. This overhang 6
The lower surface of c is a sliding surface with a guide rail 8 described later. The guide rail 8 is a substantially L-shaped member and extends along the plate portion 8a and one edge portion in the length direction of the plate portion 8a (one edge portion on the upstream side in the print transport direction). And a relatively high wall portion 8e. This wall 8
An elongated groove 8f is formed in e along the lengthwise direction (direction of arrow B). The lower surface of the groove portion 8f can slide on the lower surface of the overhanging portion 6c of the carriage 6.

In the present embodiment, the width of the guide rail 8 along the print conveying direction can be made smaller than that in the first embodiment, so that the size of the apparatus can be reduced.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an essential part of a third embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention. Also in this embodiment, the same components as those in the previous embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description of those components will be omitted.

The feature of this embodiment is that the guide rail 8 having a shape similar to that of the first embodiment is used, but the surface of the plate portion 8a of the guide rail 8 is used as a sliding surface with the carriage 6. Is in the point of taking. That is, the lower surface of the overhanging portion 6 d provided under the one end of the carriage 6 can slide on the surface of the plate portion 8 a of the guide rail 8. The overhanging portion 8c of the guide rail 8 regulates the upward jump of the overhanging portion 6d of the carriage 6 with a predetermined separation distance.

According to the present embodiment, the wide surface of the plate portion 8a of the guide rail 8 serves as a sliding surface for the carriage 6 so that the carriage 6 can be easily butted against the plate portion 8a of the guide rail 8. Therefore, there is an effect that the assemblability is good.

In each of the above embodiments, the ink jet type print head has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to other means such as a thermal transfer type. Needless to say.

(Others) The present invention is particularly provided with means for generating thermal energy as energy used for ejecting ink (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) even in the ink jet printing system. The present invention provides excellent effects in a print head and a printing apparatus of the type in which the thermal energy causes a change in the state of ink. This is because such a method can achieve high density and high definition printing.

Regarding its typical structure and principle, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
It can be applied to any of the continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to the sheet holding the liquid (ink) or the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the print information and causing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, and film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the print head. This is effective because bubbles can be generated in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal one-to-one as a result. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be immediately and appropriately grown and contracted, so that liquid (ink) ejection with excellent responsiveness can be achieved. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124, which is an invention relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface, are adopted, more excellent printing can be performed.

In addition to the combination of the ejection port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the straight liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, the print head may be constructed. The present invention also includes a configuration using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which the heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region. In addition, for multiple electrothermal converters,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670, which discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as the discharge portion of the electrothermal converter, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 59-63, which discloses a structure in which an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is associated with the discharge portion. The effects of the present invention are effective even with a configuration based on Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 138461. That is, according to the present invention, regardless of the form of the print head, printing can be surely performed efficiently.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full line type print head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a print medium which can be printed by the printing apparatus. As such a print head, a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of print heads,
It may be configured as one print head integrally formed.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as in the above example, the print head fixed to the main body of the apparatus or the electrical connection to the main body of the apparatus or the ink from the main body of the apparatus by being mounted on the main body of the apparatus. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip type print head that can be supplied or a cartridge type print head in which an ink tank is integrally provided in the print head itself is used.

Further, as the constitution of the printing apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable to add the ejection recovery means of the print head, preliminary auxiliary means and the like because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If you list these specifically,
Capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suctioning means for the print head, preheating means for heating using an electrothermal converter or another heating element or a combination thereof, and printing Preliminary ejection means for performing another ejection can be mentioned.

Also, regarding the type or number of print heads to be mounted, for example, 1 for a single color ink is used.
Instead of providing only a single piece, a plurality of pieces may be provided corresponding to a plurality of inks having different print colors and densities. That is, for example, the print mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to the print mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but may be either the print head is integrally configured or a plurality of combinations may be used. The present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of full-color print modes by color mixing.

In addition, in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, the ink is described as a liquid, but an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. Or, in the inkjet system, it is common to control the temperature of the ink itself in the range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. Sometimes, a liquid ink may be used. In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy of the state change from the solid state of the ink to the liquid state, or in order to prevent the evaporation of the ink, it is solidified and heated in the standing state. You may use the ink liquefied by. In any case, the ink is liquefied by applying heat energy according to the print signal,
The present invention is also applicable to the case of using an ink that has a property of being liquefied only when heat energy is applied, such as one that ejects a liquid ink or one that already begins to solidify when it reaches a print medium. The ink in such a case is in a state of being held as a liquid or a solid in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260. Alternatively, it may be configured to face the electrothermal converter. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as a form of the ink jet printing apparatus of the present invention, in addition to the one used as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function are provided. It may be a form or the like.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the transmission means is arranged on the downstream side in the conveying direction of the material to be printed, it is possible to mount the paper feeding device on the upstream side in the conveying direction of the material to be printed, increasing the degree of freedom in design changes and reducing the size of the apparatus. Can be planned.

Further, according to the present invention, by the protection means,
Since it is possible to prevent rubbing between the flexible cable as the transmission means and the printed material, the flexible cable is not brought into contact with the surface of the printed material immediately after printing, and damage to the high-quality image immediately after printing is prevented. be able to.

Further, according to the present invention, the distance between the sheets can be easily regulated by the regulation means provided in the protection means or the guide means, so that the contact between the print head and the material to be printed can be avoided and heightened. It is possible to prevent the quality image from being damaged.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, since the spur for suppressing the floating of the material to be printed is used as the restricting means, the paper distance can be controlled by the component size of the spur. In the process, it is possible to make the distance between sheets practically unadjusted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a first embodiment of a printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II ′ of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a main part of a second embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a main part of a third embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a conventional printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Print Sheet (Printed Material) 2 Conveyor Roller 3 Pinch Roller 4 Print Head 5 Flexible Cable (Transmission Means) 6 Carriage 7 Carriage Guide Shaft 8 Guide Rail (Protection Means, Guide Means) 9 Spur (Paper Distance Control Means) 10 Paper ejection roller 11 Spring 12 Chassis

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Akira Miyagawa Akira Miyagawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Hideaki Kawakami 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Incorporated (72) Inventor Takashi Nojima 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Akira Kida 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. ( 72) Inventor Hideki Yamaguchi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Tetsuya Ishikawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Kenzo Kawazoe 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A means for conveying a material to be printed in a predetermined direction, and a carriage for holding a print head for performing printing on the material to be printed and reciprocating in a direction orthogonal to a conveying direction by the conveying means. And a transmission means for transmitting print information to the print head, wherein the transmission means is disposed downstream from the print head in a transport direction of the print target material. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,
The printing apparatus, wherein the transmission means is a flexible cable. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2,
A printing apparatus comprising a protection means for preventing the flexible cable and the printed material from rubbing against each other. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 3,
The printing apparatus, wherein the protection unit is arranged on the downstream side of the print head in the conveying direction of the material to be printed, and is arranged between the flexible cable and the material to be printed. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 4,
The printing apparatus, wherein the protection unit includes a regulation unit that regulates a distance between the print material and the print head. 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 5,
The printing device, wherein the restriction means is a spur. 7. The printing apparatus according to claim 6,
The printing apparatus, wherein the restriction means is a spur, and a sliding portion of the spur is in contact with the protection means. 8. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the protection unit includes a guide unit that guides the print head in a reciprocating direction thereof. 9. A means for conveying a material to be printed in a predetermined direction, and a carriage for holding a print head for performing printing on the material to be printed and reciprocating in a direction orthogonal to a conveying direction by the conveying means. A print means for guiding the carriage in the reciprocating direction thereof; and a regulating means provided on the guide means and regulating a distance between the print head and the printing material. apparatus. 10. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print head is a device for generating energy used for ejecting ink, and heat for film boiling the ink. A printing apparatus having an electrothermal converter that generates energy.