JPS6252717B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a carriage support device in a printer.

Generally, a carriage moves in the left-right direction while being guided by two parallel guide rails, but the means for supporting the guide rails for this carriage is one in which both of the two guide rails are supported by ball bearings. , both are supported by sliding bearings, or one guide rail is supported by a ball bearing and the other guide rail is supported by a sliding bearing. That is, to give an overview of one example, as shown in FIG. 1, a carriage 1 is supported by two circular and square guide rails 2, 3 using ball bearings 4, 5, respectively, and as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the guide rail 2 is supported by a sliding bearing 6, and the guide rail 3 is supported by a ball bearing 5.

However, when the carriage is supported by ball bearings, the frictional resistance is small, so the positioning accuracy of the carriage is good, and the loss of force is small. , the residual vibration when decelerating and stopping is large and has a negative effect on printing quality.

On the other hand, when the bearing is supported by a sliding bearing, an appropriate amount of frictional resistance is generated and the residual vibration when stopped is reduced, but the bearing wears out, causing backlash and fluctuations in friction.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a carriage support device for a printer that provides appropriate friction to control by a servo motor and that does not cause backlash due to wear. It is.

The present invention includes a plurality of guide rails that guide the movement of a carriage supported by bearings, a ball bearing that supports the carriage and rolls with respect to the guide rail, and at least one of the guide rails that supports the carriage. The present invention is characterized in that it includes a sliding bearing that slides in pressure contact with two outer peripheral surfaces. Therefore, by using a bearing that is a combination of a ball bearing and a sliding bearing, the structure is designed to take advantage of the advantages of both types of bearings, ensure appropriate friction for servo motor control, and prevent rattling due to wear. This is what I did.

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 3 to 7. First, the circular guide rail 7
and a rectangular guide rail 8 are provided in parallel. Here, one side of the guide rail 7 is a flat portion 9. A carriage carriage 10 on which a printing mechanism (not shown) for printing is mounted is provided and supported by these guide rails 7 and 8 so as to be slidable in the left and right directions. That is, this carriage 10 is supported on the guide rail 8 side by two ball bearings 11 in contact with its upper surface and a ball bearing 13 in contact with its lower surface while being biased upward by a leaf spring 12. In addition, the guide rail 7 is biased toward the guide rail 7 by three ball bearings 14, 15, 16 that are in contact with the lower surface and the diagonally upper part of the guide rail 7, and a leaf spring 17, so that the guide rail 7 is flattened with an appropriate amount of friction. It is supported by a sliding bearing 18 that contacts the portion 9. Here, as the material of the sliding bearing 18, oil-impregnated sintered bearing material or felt is used. Further, the ball bearing 16 is urged upward by a spring 19.

In such a configuration, the carriage truck 10
Basically, ball bearing 1 is used for guide rails 7 and 8.
4, 15, 16, 11, and 13, it is possible to prevent backlash due to wear, which is a feature of ball bearings.

By the way, the feed of this carriage carriage 10 is controlled by a servo motor, and if we look at the state of residual vibration of the carriage carriage 10 from deceleration to stop when there is no sliding bearing 18, the sixth The result will be as shown in the figure. In other words, the residual vibration continues for a long time, making the carriage position unstable during printing, which has a negative impact on printing quality.
However, if you wait for the vibration to subside, the printing speed will decrease. However, since a sliding bearing 18 is also provided to the guide rail 7 and generates an appropriate friction for servo motor control, looking at the state of convergence of the residual vibration, the result is due to the friction as shown in Figure 7. It then decays rapidly. Therefore, the carriage is reliably stationary during printing, resulting in improved printing quality, and by shortening the waiting time, it is possible to increase the printing speed.

In this embodiment, the sliding bearing 18 is provided with a flat portion 9, but as shown in FIG.
may be formed. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the ball bearing 16 may be omitted by making the lower side of the guide rail 7 a flat portion 9 and contacting the sliding bearing 18. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, a sliding bearing 21 may be provided on the guide rail 8 side.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. Components that are the same as those shown in the previous embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and explanations thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, a ball bearing 22 having a U-shaped outer ring is brought into contact with the upper side of the guide rail 7, and a sliding bearing 23 is brought into contact with a flat portion 9 formed at the bottom of the guide rail 7. It is something. This sliding bearing 23 is urged upward by a leaf spring 24.

Even with such a configuration, the same effects as in the embodiment described above can be obtained due to the combined support of the ball bearing 22 and the sliding bearing 23.

In the case of this embodiment as well, the flat part 9 of the guide rail 7 is eliminated and the sliding bearing 23 is removed as shown in FIG.
The arcuate portion 20 may be formed in the.

The present invention uses a bearing that is a combination of a ball bearing and a sliding bearing as described above, so it takes advantage of the advantages of both bearings, provides an appropriate amount of friction for servo motor control, and eliminates rattling due to wear. This has the effect of providing support.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are perspective views showing a conventional example, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.
The figure is a front view of the main parts, Figure 5 is a side view, Figures 6 and 7 are characteristic diagrams, Figure 8 is a side view showing a modified example, and Figure 9 is a side view showing another modified example. , 10th
11 is a front view showing a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 12 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 13 is a side view showing a modification. 7-8...Guide rail, 11...Ball bearing, 1
3-16...Ball bearing, 18...Sliding bearing, 22...
...ball bearing, 23...sliding bearing.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of guide rails that guide the movement of a carriage supported by bearings, a ball bearing that supports the carriage and rolls with respect to the guide rail, and an outer peripheral surface of at least one of the guide rails that supports the carriage. A carriage support device for a printer, comprising a sliding bearing that slides in pressure contact with the carriage.