JP6044162B2 - Liquid ejector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus that includes a liquid ejecting head that ejects liquid and a carriage that reciprocally moves while holding the liquid ejecting head.

  Conventionally, as a liquid ejecting apparatus including a liquid ejecting head that ejects liquid and a carriage that holds the liquid ejecting head and reciprocates along the main scanning direction, ink that is an example of liquid is used as a target such as paper. There are ink jet printers that perform recording by jetting them.

  In such a printer, as ink droplets of a predetermined size are ejected from the liquid ejecting head, mist composed of ink droplets smaller than the ink droplets is generated as a secondary. Some of these printers include a linear encoder including an encoder scale stretched along a carriage movement region and an encoder sensor mounted on the carriage so as to face the encoder scale.

  This linear encoder is provided to grasp the position and moving speed of the carriage in the main scanning direction. For this reason, if the mist generated as a result of ink ejection adheres to the linear encoder, there may be a problem that the position of the carriage cannot be accurately grasped.

  Therefore, in order to eliminate mist from the periphery of the linear encoder, a printer having an electric fan for introducing air into the apparatus and a duct for blowing the introduced air toward the linear encoder has been proposed. (For example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-191604 A

  By the way, it is general that a flat flexible cable that is converged so that signal lines for sending electric power and control signals are lined up and down is connected to the carriage that reciprocates in the main scanning direction. . Further, such a flexible cable is deflected and displaced as the carriage reciprocates. Therefore, for example, when the flexible cable comes into contact with a frame member on the back side of the carriage as the carriage moves forward, the flexible cable is peeled off from the frame member as the carriage moves backward. Will be separated.

  Here, when the cover and the frame member that cover the flexible cable are made of resin, peeling electrification may occur when the flexible cable is separated from the frame member. And mist attracts to the electric charge generated by peeling electrification, and mist adheres to peripheral members, such as a linear encoder.

  Thus, in order to eliminate the mist attracted by the electric charge by blowing, it is necessary to increase the air volume and the wind speed at the time of blowing. However, if such a strong air flow is generated around the liquid ejecting head, the landing position of the ejected ink droplet on the target may be affected, which is not preferable.

  Therefore, it is also conceivable to suppress the occurrence of peeling electrification by forming a frame member with which the flexible cable contacts with a metal plate. However, the power circuit portion is often fixed to such a frame member. Then, when the temperature of the frame member rises due to the heat generated by energization of the power circuit unit, it is necessary to avoid contact with the frame member, which makes it difficult to perform maintenance work around the frame member. Occur.

  Such a problem is not limited to an ink jet printer, and is generally common to liquid ejecting apparatuses that include a liquid ejecting head that ejects liquid and a carriage that reciprocates while holding the liquid ejecting head. Yes.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a purpose thereof is a liquid ejecting apparatus capable of easily performing a maintenance operation while suppressing adhesion of mist to peripheral members caused by liquid ejection. Is to provide.

A liquid ejecting apparatus that solves the above problems includes a liquid ejecting head that ejects liquid, a carriage that holds the liquid ejecting head and reciprocates along a main scanning direction, and a depth direction that intersects the main scanning direction. A main body frame made of a metal plate that is arranged at a position behind the carriage movement area and extends in the main scanning direction to form a guide rail that guides the movement of the carriage, and is held by the main body frame a power circuit portion is connected to the distal end side the carriage with the base end side to said power circuit portion is connected, and the main flexible cable you deflection displacement with movement along the scanning direction of the carriage, the while it is disposed between the moving region and the body frame so as to form a space between the body frame, the flexible cable and the body frame And an electrical conductor which is arranged so as to be interposed between the Le.
A liquid ejecting apparatus that solves the above-described problem is disposed so as to be parallel to a liquid ejecting head that ejects liquid, a carriage that holds the liquid ejecting head and reciprocates in the main scanning direction, and a movement region of the carriage A main body frame made of a metal plate that extends in the main scanning direction and forms a guide rail that guides the movement of the carriage, and is disposed at a position that does not overlap the movement area of the carriage, and is held by the main body frame a power circuit unit to be, with one end side connected to said power circuit portion is the other end side is connected to the carriage, you deflection displacement with movement along the main scanning direction of the carriage a flexible cable, while being disposed between the moving region and the body frame so as to form a space between the main body frame, said body It includes frame and the an electric conductor which is arranged so as to be interposed between the flexible cable.
A liquid ejecting apparatus that solves the above problems includes a liquid ejecting head that ejects liquid, a carriage that holds the liquid ejecting head and reciprocates along a main scanning direction, and a depth direction that intersects the main scanning direction. A main body frame made of a metal plate disposed in a position behind the carriage movement region and extending in the main scanning direction; a power circuit unit held by the main body frame; and a base end of the power circuit unit A flexible cable that is connected to the carriage and has a distal end connected to the carriage and that flexes and displaces following the movement of the carriage along the main scanning direction, and is interposed between the main body frame and the flexible cable. And an electrical conductor disposed so as to perform, and a heat insulating layer disposed between the main body frame and the electrical conductor.

  According to this configuration, since the main body frame is formed of the metal plate, the heat generated in the power circuit unit can be efficiently radiated. Moreover, since a heat insulation layer is arrange | positioned between a main body frame and an electrical conductor, the heat transfer from an electric power circuit part to an electrical conductor can be suppressed. And by arrange | positioning a main body frame in the back | inner side of the electric conductor by which heat transfer was suppressed in this way, when performing a maintenance operation | work etc., it becomes difficult to generate | occur | produce the unintended contact with respect to a main body frame. Further, since the electric conductor is disposed between the main body frame and the flexible cable, the flexible cable comes into contact with the electric conductor when it is deflected and displaced as the carriage reciprocates. Therefore, compared to the case where the flexible cable comes into contact with and peels off from a frame member or the like formed of a resin, the occurrence of peeling charging that becomes a factor that attracts mist is suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to easily perform the maintenance work while suppressing adhesion of the mist to the peripheral member that occurs due to the ejection of the liquid.

In the liquid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the heat insulating layer is an air layer formed by disposing the electric conductor away from the main body frame in the depth direction.
According to this configuration, since the heat insulating layer is an air layer formed by disposing the electric conductor in the depth direction from the main body frame, the heat insulating layer can be configured with a simple configuration.

In the liquid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the electric conductor is connected to the main body frame.
According to this configuration, since the electric conductor is grounded via the main body frame made of a metal plate, charging of the electric conductor can be suppressed.

In the liquid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the electric conductor is connected to the main body frame at a position away from the power circuit unit in the main scanning direction.
According to this configuration, since the electrical conductor is connected to the main body frame at a position separated from the power circuit unit in the main scanning direction, heat transfer from the power circuit unit to the electrical conductor can be suppressed.

In the liquid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the electric conductor is made of a sheet metal extending in the main scanning direction.
According to this structure, members, such as a main body frame heated with the heat which generate | occur | produced in the power circuit part, can be covered with an electrical conductor.

1 is a perspective view of a liquid ejecting apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the liquid ejecting apparatus in which a paper feed tray and a lid are opened. Sectional drawing which shows schematic structure in a main body case. The perspective view of a conductive plate. The perspective view of the electroconductive board connected to a main body frame. The top view which shows the flexible cable which bends and displaces following a carriage. FIG. 6 is a perspective view when a carriage moves in an outward path. FIG. 6 is a perspective view when the carriage moves in the backward direction. Sectional drawing which shows the air layer formed between a main body frame and a conductive plate.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the liquid ejecting apparatus of the invention is embodied in an ink jet printer (hereinafter simply referred to as “printer”) will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 11 of this embodiment includes a main body case 12 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape.

  On one side surface of the main body case 12, an operation unit (for example, operation buttons) 13 for performing various operations of the printer 11 is arranged. In addition, a discharge port 14 is opened below the operation unit 13 on one side surface of the main body case 12. Further, an extendable paper discharge tray 15 is accommodated below the paper discharge port 14 in the main body case 12.

  In the present embodiment, the anti-gravity direction is shown as the upward direction, the gravity direction as the downward direction, and the upward and downward directions as the vertical direction Z. In addition, the longitudinal direction of the main body case 12 is illustrated as the main scanning direction X. Further, one side surface of the main body case 12 where the paper discharge port 14 is opened is the front surface of the printer 11, while the opposite side surface is the rear surface, and the front-rear direction is illustrated as the depth direction Y. The main scanning direction X, the depth direction Y, and the up-down direction Z intersect each other (in the present embodiment, orthogonal).

  At the upper rear part of the main body case 12, a rotation type paper feed tray 16 and a lid portion 17 that is opened and closed when performing maintenance or the like in the main body case 12 are attached to be openable and closable. The paper feed tray 16 and the lid portion 17 are closed as shown in FIG. 1 when the printer 11 is not used. The paper feed tray 16 and the lid portion 17 are opened by rotating the front end side upward.

  As shown in FIG. 2, when the paper feed tray 16 is opened, the paper feed port 12a formed at the upper rear portion of the main body case 12 is exposed. Further, when the lid portion 17 is in the open state, the upper wall 18 of the main body case 12 and the opening portion 19 formed in the upper wall 18 are exposed.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, a pair of conveyance rollers 20 and 21 for conveying a sheet P that is an example of a target is accommodated in the main body case 12. A support member 22 for supporting the paper P is disposed between the transport roller pair 20 and the transport roller pair 21 in the depth direction Y, which is the transport direction of the paper P.

  A main body frame 23 extending in the main scanning direction X is provided in the main body case 12 at a position above the transport path of the paper P. The main body frame 23 is formed of a metal plate. The main body frame 23 has a pair of guide rails 24 and 25 arranged in the vertical direction Z by bending upper and lower end portions.

  A carriage 26 is held on the guide rails 24 and 25 of the main body frame 23 so as to be reciprocally movable along the main scanning direction X. That is, the main body frame 23 is disposed at a position on the far side of the moving area of the carriage 26 in the depth direction Y intersecting the main scanning direction X.

  A liquid ejecting head 27 capable of ejecting ink as an example of liquid is held on the lower surface side of the carriage 26. A plurality of ink cartridges 28 containing ink are detachably mounted on the carriage 26. Then, recording (printing) is performed by ejecting ink supplied from the ink cartridge 28 from the liquid ejecting head 27 onto the paper P transported onto the support member 22 by the transport roller pair 20, 21. .

  A pair of pulleys 29 (only one pulley 29 is shown in FIG. 3) are arranged on the front side of the main body frame 23 so as to be aligned in the main scanning direction X. An endless timing belt 30 is wound around this pair of pulleys 29. Further, a carriage motor drive shaft (not shown) is attached to the other pulley 29 (not shown in FIG. 3).

  The rear side of the carriage 26 is fixed to the timing belt 30. Then, the carriage 26 is reciprocated in the main scanning direction X by driving the carriage motor in the forward and reverse directions and rotating the timing belt 30 forward and backward.

  Further, an encoder scale 31 is stretched over the pulley 29 and the timing belt 30 so as to follow the movement path of the carriage 26. An encoder sensor 32 disposed so as to face the encoder scale 31 is mounted on the carriage 26. The encoder scale 31 and the encoder sensor 32 constitute a linear encoder 33 for detecting the position and moving speed of the carriage 26 in the main scanning direction X.

  The encoder scale 31 has a large number of slits that open at a constant pitch along the main scanning direction X. On the other hand, the encoder sensor 32 emits light to the encoder scale 31 and detects light passing through the slit when the carriage 26 moves along the main scanning direction X. The linear encoder 33 outputs a pulse signal having a pulse number proportional to the moving distance of the carriage 26 and a cycle inversely proportional to the moving speed of the carriage 26.

A conductive plate 35 as an example of an electrical conductor is attached to the front side of the main body frame 23. The conductive plate 35 is formed of a sheet metal extending in the main scanning direction X.
As shown in FIG. 4, the conductive plate 35 is provided with a plurality (three in the present embodiment) of screwing portions 36 so as to be aligned in the main scanning direction X. The screwing portion 36 is formed in such a manner that the cut portion is bent rearward. Further, the conductive plate 35 is cut out at the upper end side of the conductive plate 35 between the screwing portion 36 located in the center in the main scanning direction X and the screwing portion 36 located on the right side of the screwing portion 36. A notch 37 is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the conductive plate 35 is connected to the main body frame 23 by screwing the screwing portion 36 to the main body frame 23. Further, an insertion hole 38 is formed near the center of the main body frame 23 in the main scanning direction X at a position corresponding to the notch 37 of the conductive plate 35. Further, a power circuit unit 39 is held on the rear surface side of the main body frame 23 at a position on the left side in the main scanning direction X with respect to the insertion hole 38.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the power circuit unit 39 includes a power circuit board 40 and a connection member 41 for fixing the power circuit board 40 to the main body frame 23. Further, between the carriage 26 and the main body frame 23, a flat flexible cable 42 that is connected to the power circuit unit 39 at the proximal end side and connected to the carriage 26 at the distal end side is wired.

  A holding member 43 for holding the flexible cable 42 routed from the rear side to the front side of the main body frame 23 is attached to the insertion hole 38 of the main body frame 23. The flexible cable 42 is routed leftward from the holding member 43 on the front side of the main body frame 23, and the distal end side where the routing direction is reversed from the left direction to the right direction is on the left side surface side of the carriage 26. Connected from behind.

  The flexible cable 42 is converged so that signal lines for sending electric power and control signals from the power circuit board 40 toward the carriage 26 are arranged in the vertical direction Z and covered with a cover made of resin. . The flexible cable 42 is deflected and displaced in the wiring space between the carriage 26 and the main body frame 23 following the reciprocating movement of the carriage 26 along the main scanning direction X.

  Therefore, when the carriage 26 is viewed from the front side, the movement from the right side to the left side is the forward movement, and the case from the left side to the right side is the backward movement. As shown by a solid line in FIG. 7, the flexible cable 42 is drawn in a region on the left side of the holding member 43. On the other hand, at the end of the return movement of the carriage 26, the flexible cable 42 is extended to a region on the right side of the holding member 43 as indicated by a solid line in FIGS. 6 and 8. In FIGS. 7 and 8, the lid 17 is not shown in order to clearly show the inside of the main body case 12.

Next, the operation of the printer 11 configured as described above will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the conductive plate 35 is disposed so as to be interposed between the main body frame 23 and the flexible cable 42. Therefore, the flexible cable 42 that bends and displaces following the movement of the carriage 26 along the main scanning direction X contacts the conductive plate 35 as shown in FIG. In particular, when the carriage 26 moves in the region on the left side of the holding member 43, the area where the flexible cable 42 contacts the conductive plate 35 increases.

  Here, when there is no conductive plate 35 and the flexible cable 42 that is flexibly displaced comes into contact with the resin member made of resin, there is a possibility that peeling electrification occurs when the flexible cable 42 is separated from the resin member. is there. In this respect, in the present embodiment, since the conductive plate 35 is in contact with the flexible cable 42, the occurrence of peeling electrification is suppressed.

  Since the conductive plate 35 and the main body frame 23 are made of a metal plate, the conductive plate 35 is grounded via the main body frame 23 by connecting the conductive plate 35 to the main body frame 23 with screws.

  The power circuit board 40 of the power circuit unit 39 generates heat with energization. Since the main body frame 23 holding the power circuit board 40 is made of a metal plate, the generated heat is efficiently generated by the main body frame 23 having a large surface area. It is well radiated.

  On the other hand, the main body portion excluding the screwing portion 36 of the conductive plate 35 is disposed away from the main body frame 23 in the depth direction Y as shown in FIG. The air layer La is formed. Therefore, heat transfer from the main body frame 23 to the conductive plate 35 is suppressed.

  Then, when the opening portion 19 formed in the upper wall 18 of the main body case 12 is exposed with the lid portion 17 opened, the conductive plate 35 is disposed on the front side of the main body frame 23 as shown in FIGS. It is in a state. Therefore, contact with the heated main body frame 23 is suppressed when performing maintenance work such as attachment and detachment of the ink cartridge 28 and paper jam clearance.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Since the main body frame 23 is formed of a metal plate, the heat generated in the power circuit unit 39 can be efficiently radiated. Further, since the air layer La as a heat insulating layer is disposed between the main body frame 23 and the conductive plate 35, heat transfer from the power circuit portion 39 to the conductive plate 35 can be suppressed. And by arrange | positioning the main body frame 23 in the back | inner side of the electroconductive board 35 in which heat transfer was suppressed in this way, when performing a maintenance operation | work etc., it becomes difficult to generate | occur | produce the unintended contact with respect to the main body frame 23. FIG. Further, since the conductive plate 35 is disposed between the main body frame 23 and the flexible cable 42, the flexible cable 42 contacts the conductive plate 35 when it is deflected and displaced as the carriage 26 reciprocates. . Therefore, compared to the case where the flexible cable 42 comes into contact with and peels off from a frame member or the like formed of a resin, the occurrence of peeling charging that becomes a factor that attracts mist is suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to easily perform the maintenance work while suppressing adhesion of the mist to the peripheral member that occurs due to the ejection of the liquid.

  (2) Since the heat insulating layer is an air layer La formed by disposing the conductive plate 35 away from the main body frame 23 in the depth direction Y, the heat insulating layer can be configured with a simple configuration.

(3) Since the conductive plate 35 is grounded via the main body frame 23 made of a metal plate, charging of the conductive plate 35 can be suppressed.
(4) A member such as the main body frame 23 heated by the heat generated in the power circuit unit 39 can be covered with the conductive plate 35.

In addition, you may change the said embodiment as follows.
The screwing portion 36 may be provided at a position away from the power circuit portion 39 in the main scanning direction X when the conductive plate 35 is screwed to the main body frame 23. That is, the conductive plate 35 may be connected to the main body frame 23 at a position away from the power circuit unit 39 in the main scanning direction X. According to this configuration, heat transfer from the power circuit unit 39 to the conductive plate 35 can be further suppressed.

  Since the conductive plate 35 is not necessarily in contact with the flexible cable 42, the conductive plate 35 may be disposed at a position that covers a member that is not preferably in contact with the flexible cable 42. Moreover, you may install multiple electrical conductors as needed.

A resin layer may be provided as a heat insulating layer between the main body frame 23 and the conductive plate 35.
-The shape of the electrical conductor can be arbitrarily changed. For example, you may comprise an electrical conductor with a metallic wire and a mesh.

In the conductive plate 35, the number, position, shape, and the like of the screwing portions 36 can be arbitrarily changed.
The ink cartridge 28 may be a so-called on-carriage type ink cartridge mounted on the carriage 26 as in the above-described embodiment, or may be a so-called off-mount mounted in a predetermined location other than the carriage 56 in the main body case 12. It may be a carry type ink cartridge. In this case, a cable bundle obtained by binding ink tubes for supplying ink from the ink cartridge toward the liquid ejecting head 27 may be used as a flexible cable.

  In the above embodiment, the liquid ejecting apparatus may be a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects or discharges liquid other than ink. Note that the state of the liquid ejected as a minute amount of liquid droplets from the liquid ejecting apparatus includes a granular shape, a tear shape, and a thread-like shape. The liquid here may be any material that can be ejected from the liquid ejecting apparatus. For example, it may be in a state in which the substance is in a liquid phase, such as a liquid with high or low viscosity, sol, gel water, other inorganic solvents, organic solvents, solutions, liquid resins, liquid metals (metal melts ). Further, not only a liquid as one state of a substance but also a substance in which particles of a functional material made of a solid such as a pigment or a metal particle are dissolved, dispersed or mixed in a solvent is included. Typical examples of the liquid include ink and liquid crystal as described in the above embodiment. Here, the ink includes general water-based inks and oil-based inks, and various liquid compositions such as gel inks and hot melt inks. As a specific example of the liquid ejecting apparatus, for example, a liquid containing a material such as an electrode material or a color material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an EL (electroluminescence) display, a surface emitting display, or a color filter in a dispersed or dissolved form. There is a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting the liquid. Further, it may be a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a bio-organic matter used for biochip manufacturing, a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid as a sample that is used as a precision pipette, a printing apparatus, a micro dispenser, or the like. In addition, transparent resin liquids such as UV curable resin to form liquid injection devices that pinpoint lubricant oil onto precision machines such as watches and cameras, and micro hemispherical lenses (optical lenses) used in optical communication elements. May be a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects the liquid onto the substrate. Further, it may be a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects an etching solution such as acid or alkali in order to etch a substrate or the like.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Printer as an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus, 23 ... Main body frame, 26 ... Carriage, 27 ... Liquid ejecting head, 35 ... Conductive plate as an example of an electric conductor, 39 ... Power circuit part, 42 ... Flexible cable , X: main scanning direction, Y: depth direction, La: air layer as an example of a heat insulating layer.

Claims (5)

A liquid ejecting head for ejecting liquid;
A carriage that holds the liquid ejecting head and reciprocates along the main scanning direction;
It is arranged at a position on the back side of the carriage movement area in the depth direction intersecting with the main scanning direction, and is made of a metal plate that extends in the main scanning direction and forms a guide rail for guiding the carriage movement. Body frame,
A power circuit unit held by the body frame;
With the base end side is connected to said power circuit portion is the distal end side is connected to the carriage, and the main scanning along the direction you flex to follow displacement in the moving flexible cables of the carriage,
Electricity arranged between the moving region and the main body frame so as to form a space between the main body frame and interposed between the main body frame and the flexible cable. A conductor,
A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the electric conductor is connected to the main body frame. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the electric conductor is connected to the main body frame at a position spaced apart from the power circuit unit in the main scanning direction. Wherein the electrical conductor is a liquid ejection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it consists of sheet metal which extends in the main scanning direction. A liquid ejecting head for ejecting liquid;
A carriage that holds the liquid ejecting head and reciprocates along the main scanning direction;
A body frame made of a metal plate that is arranged in parallel with the carriage movement region and extends in the main scanning direction to form a guide rail that guides the carriage movement ;
A power circuit unit that is disposed at a position that does not overlap the movement area of the carriage and is held by the main body frame;
With one end portion side in said power circuit portion is connected to the other end side is connected to the carriage, and the main scanning along the direction you flex to follow displacement in the moving flexible cables of the carriage,
Electricity arranged between the moving region and the main body frame so as to form a space between the main body frame and interposed between the main body frame and the flexible cable. A conductor,
A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: