JP3437336B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus in which a print head (recording head) can be attached to and detached from a main body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printer of a type in which a print head is attachable / detachable, a voltage is applied to an electric contact portion on a carriage on which the print head is attached, regardless of whether the print head is attached or not. Is configured.

[0003]

However, in the above conventional example, even when the print head is not mounted,
Since a voltage is applied to the electric contact portion on the carriage, there is a safety problem such as the possibility of a short circuit if a metal piece or the like comes into contact with the electric contact portion for some reason.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer of this type with improved safety.

A further detailed object of the present invention is to provide a printing device with improved reliability in a device in which the print head is attachable to and detachable from the main body, and further, in a state where the print head is not mounted, An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus with improved safety by stopping the power supply to the print head mounting portion.

[0006]

The present invention has the following technical structure.
The above-mentioned problems can be solved by the formation. (1) A mark for recording an image on a recording material according to recording data
In a printing device using a letter head, the printing head
Is attachable to and detachable from this printer.
Is supplied with power from the
The mounting means to be mounted and the mounting state of the print head are shown.
Display means, and the print head mounted on this mounting means.
Supply for supplying power to this print head
Means and the mounting means in synchronization with an interrupt of a predetermined cycle.
Detecting means for detecting whether or not the print head is not attached
When the non-mounting of the print head is detected, the non-mounting of the print head is detected.
When the interruption is detected,
Stop the power supply to the character head and print on the display means.
Control means for performing the non-wearing display of the head.
A printing device characterized by: (2) The mounting means mounts the print head
Connect with the electrical contact part of this print head.
Said electrical contact part
The printer according to item (1). (3) The printing device further includes the print head as a recording material.
On the other hand, there is a scanning means for moving and performing recording scanning.
However, the mounting means is provided on the scanning means.
The printing apparatus according to (1) above. (4) The print head is configured to drop ink droplets according to recorded data.
Characterized by having an inkjet head unit for discharging
The printer according to (1) above. (5) The print head further includes an inkjet head.
The ink reservoir that stores the ink to be supplied to the
The printer according to (4) above. (6) The inkjet head section and the ink storage section
And (5) are integrally formed.
The printing device according to the item. (7) The ink jet head section uses heat energy
Discharge by using ink to cause a state change
Characterized by ejecting ink droplets from the mouth
The printer according to item (4).

[0007]

With the above-described structure of the present invention, the power supply to the recording head is turned on / off depending on whether or not the print head is attached. Therefore, when the print head is not attached, the electrical contact portion is exposed. Since power is not supplied, it is possible to prevent the risk of short circuit.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings based on an example of a print head in an ink jet recording type printing apparatus.

[0009]

1 and 2 are a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a printer according to the present embodiment and a perspective view of an ink jet cartridge.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, IJRA is an ink jet type printer (printer) main body, and IJC is an ink jet cartridge, which is a disposable type which can be attached to and detached from a carriage 16 by a predetermined method. One or more ink jet cartridges IJC can be provided depending on the ink used, and a bubble jet type print head (or an ink jet head) that ejects ink droplets from an ejection port by causing a state change in the ink using thermal energy (or A recording head (hereinafter referred to as a print head) 3 and an ink tank 4 are integrally provided.

The print head 3 is appropriately supplied with an ejection signal corresponding to print data from a data supply source through a cable (not shown) and a terminal connected to the cable. As shown in FIG. 2, the tip of the print head 3 is attached to a heater board 32 slightly protruding from the front surface of the ink tank 4 by a ceiling plate 34 having a partition wall for limiting the liquid path. ing.

The top plate 34 is made of a resin such as polysulfone, polyether sulfone, polyphenylene oxide, or polypropylene, which has excellent ink resistance.
The ink to be supplied to the print head 3 is stored in the ink tank 4, and is composed of an ink absorber, a container into which the ink absorber is inserted, and a lid member (not shown) for sealing the container. There is. The ink stored in the ink tank 4 is sequentially supplied to the print head 3 from the ink ejection port according to ejection.

The carriage 16 is connected to a part of a drive belt 18 for transmitting the driving force of a drive motor 17, and two guide shafts 19A and 19B arranged in parallel with each other.
By making it slidable with respect to, the reciprocating motion of the print head 3 over the entire width of the recording material becomes possible. The relative movement of the carriage 16 and the recording material is controlled by inputting a predetermined recording signal to form a desired recorded image.

A head recovery device 26 is arranged at one end of the movement path of the print head 3, for example, at a position facing the home position. The head recovery device 26 is operated by the driving force of the motor 22 via the transmission mechanism 23 to cap the print head 3. In association with the capping of the print head 3 by the cap portion 26A of the head recovery device 26, ink is forcibly discharged from the ejection port by ink suction by an appropriate suction means provided in the head recovery device 26. The ejection recovery process such as removing the thickened ink in the liquid path is performed. Also,
The print head 3 is protected by capping at the end of recording.

Reference numeral 31 is a blade as a wiping member which is disposed on the side surface of the head recovery device 26 and is made of silicon rubber. The blade 31 is held by the blade holding member 31A in a cantilevered form, and the head recovery device 2
Similar to 6, the motor 22 and the transmission mechanism 23 operate to enable engagement with the ejection surface of the print head 3.

As a result, at a proper timing in the recording operation of the print head 3 or the head recovery device 26.
After the ejection recovery apparatus using the blade 31, the blade 31 is projected into the moving path of the print head 3, and the dew condensation, the wetting, or the dust tower on the ejection surface of the print head 3 is wiped off as the print head 3 moves.

Reference numeral 35 denotes a guide member provided on the carriage 16 for forming a reference surface when the ink jet cartridge IJC is mounted, and a terminal for supplying power to the print head 3 of the ink jet cartridge IJC,
An electrical contact portion 36 having terminals and the like for supplying a drive signal (ejection signal) is provided.

The contact portion 36 is connected to the electrical contact portion 37 provided on the ink jet cartridge IJC by mounting the ink jet cartridge IJC on the carriage 16. As a result, it becomes possible to supply power and drive signals from the printer main body IJRA to the print head 3.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit of the printing apparatus shown in FIG. In the figure, 101 is a power supply unit for generating a head voltage for operating the print head 3, and 102 is a CP for controlling the entire printing apparatus.
U, 103 are switching FETs for turning on / off the supply of the head voltage to the print head 3, 104, 1
Reference numeral 05 is each bias resistor, 106 is a switching FE
A transistor for turning on / off T103, 107
Is a resistance for detecting whether or not the print head 3 is attached, 10
Reference numeral 8 is an LED for reporting that the print head 3 is not mounted. Although not shown in FIG. 3, C
A drive motor 17 for reciprocating the carriage 16 in FIG. 1, a motor 22 for driving the recovery device 26, a motor for conveying a recording material, and the like are further connected to the PU 102. The operation is controlled according to a predetermined program stored in a ROM (not shown).

Next, the control operation in the above circuit configuration will be described. The CPU 102 outputs the output port P _{2 at} regular intervals.
Is set to the "H" level, and if the input of the input port P ₀ at that time is the "H" level, "the print head 3 is not attached"
Then, the output port P _{1 is set} to “L” level to turn off the switching FET 103, and the voltage application from the electrical contact portion 36 to the print head 3 is turned off. Also,
To "H" level output port P _3, to light the LED 108.

On the other hand, if the input level of the input port P ₀ is "L", it is determined that "the print head 3 is mounted", the output port P _{1 is set} to "H" level, the switching FET 103 is turned on, and printing is performed. It is configured to operate so as to apply a voltage to the head 3.

FIG. 4 shows a sequence flowchart for executing the above control operation. A program corresponding to this flowchart is stored in the internal ROM of the CPU 102 shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, it is determined whether the print head 3 is mounted on the carriage 16 and the FET 103 is turned on and off to turn the head power on and off, and
This is a routine for turning on and off the warning display LED 108. The internal timer of the CPU 102 is used to generate an interrupt at regular time intervals, and this routine process is performed to mount the print head at regular time intervals. I'm watching.

First, in step S101, the CPU 102
The signal level of the output port P ₂ of the above is set to "H". Then, in step S102, it is determined whether or not the level of the signal input to the input port P ₀ is "L".

When the print head 3 is mounted, the level of the signal input to the input port P ₀ becomes "L", so the flow advances to step S103 to set the print head in a predetermined area of the RAM (not shown). The flag F for storing the mounting state of No. 3 is reset, the recording head power is turned on in step S104, and the warning display LED 1 is displayed in step S105.
Turn off 08.

When the print head 3 is not attached, the level of the signal input to the input port P ₀ becomes "H", so the flow proceeds to step S106, the print head power supply 101 is turned off in step S107, and the step S108 is performed. The warning display LED 108 is turned on. When the print head 3 is not attached, that is, when the flag F is set, the CPU 102 does not execute the print operation even if the print command is issued.

(Other Embodiments) In the above embodiment, an example of an ink jet or bubble jet type printer was described as a printing device, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a piezo type printer. The ink-jet printer of the present invention can be applied, and it can be applied to any type of printer using a thermal head, a wire dot hammer method head, or the like.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By interrupt processing, the presence or absence of the print head is detected, and the voltage application to the print head is turned on and off depending on the presence or absence of the print head, and the detection result is displayed. Since the voltage is not applied to the contact portion when not attached, it is possible to prevent a problem such as a short circuit due to a metal piece or the like and improve safety. Also, it is not attached
The state can be made easy to discover.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an inkjet cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control unit of the printing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a control operation sequence flowchart for checking the mounting state of the print head.

[Explanation of symbols]

IJRA inkjet printer main body IJC inkjet cartridge 3 Printing (recording) head 4 ink tank 16 carriage 32 heater board 36,37 Electrical contact part 101 print head voltage generator 102 CPU 103 Switching FET 106 transistor 107 Resistor for detecting presence / absence of print head 108 Warning display LED

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Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printing apparatus using a print head for recording an image on a recording material according to print data, wherein the print head is attachable to and detachable from the printing apparatus, and is supplied with power from the printing apparatus side. Mounting means for operating and mounting the print head, display means for indicating the mounted state of the print head, and supply means for supplying electric power to the print head with the print head mounted on the mounting means. And a detection unit that detects whether or not the print head is not attached to the attachment unit in synchronization with an interrupt of a predetermined cycle; and when the non-attachment of the print head is detected, the non-attachment is detected.
When the interrupt is detected, the supply means transfers the print to the print.
To stop the supply of electric power to the head
And a control means for performing non-attachment display of the printing device. Wherein said mounting means, by mounting the print head, the printing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises an electrical contact portion to be connected to the electrical contact portion of the print head . 3. The printing apparatus further comprises scanning means for moving the print head with respect to a recording material to perform recording scanning, and the mounting means is provided on the scanning means. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is a printing apparatus. Wherein said printhead, a printing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises an ink jet head portion for ejecting ink droplets in accordance with recording data. Wherein said print head further printing apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that it comprises an ink reservoir for storing ink to be supplied to the inkjet head portion. 6. The contract according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet head section and the ink storage section are integrally formed.
The printing apparatus according to claim 5 . 7. The printer according to claim 4, wherein the inkjet head unit ejects an ink droplet from an ejection port by causing a state change in the ink by using thermal energy. .