JPH10153453A - Cleaning device for linear encoder, and recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device for blowing off dust and paper powder accumulated on a linear encoder. SOLUTION: The air intake openings 41 are formed on the left and right side faces of a carriage 10, and air jetting openings 42 are formed at the left and right both sides of a detecting means 30 on a rear face. Air from one of the air intake openings 41 is jetted toward the linear encoder 30 from the jetting openings 42 along a guide wall face 43a on the basis of the movement of the carriage 10, for blowing off the dust and paper powder accumulated on the linear encoder.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to cleaning of a linear encoder used for detecting a position of a carriage, generating a print timing, etc. in a printing apparatus or an image reading apparatus which performs a printing operation or a reading operation by moving a carriage. The present invention relates to an apparatus and a recording apparatus including the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A linear encoder is stretched in a moving direction of a carriage, and reads a large number of indices provided by printing or slits on the linear encoder by detecting means as the carriage moves. It is used for detecting the position of the carriage and generating print timing. Since such a linear encoder is stretched at a stationary position, dust accumulates on the linear encoder over a long period of time, and in the case of using a paper such as a recording device, the paper is scattered by rubbing the paper with a roller. In some cases, paper dust was accumulated and a malfunction occurred in reading the index by the detecting means.

[0003] Therefore, a brush is provided on the carriage, and dust on the linear encoder is removed as the carriage moves.
Although it is conceivable to wipe off paper dust, the brush rubs the linear encoder, thereby generating static electricity, and instead adsorbing dust and forming a scratch on the linear encoder due to long-term friction.

The present invention provides a cleaning device which can solve these drawbacks and can maintain the linear encoder in a good condition, and a recording device including the same.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 comprises a linear encoder having a number of indices in a moving direction of a carriage and extending long in the same direction. A cleaning device comprising: a detection unit that reads an index of a linear encoder; and a blower that supplies an air flow to the linear encoder. With this configuration, dust and paper dust that accumulate on the linear encoder are blown away by the air flow, and the generation of static electricity and the like and scratches caused by the brush can be suppressed. A malfunction based on the detection can be eliminated.

The blowing means can be installed separately from the carriage. However, if the blowing means generates an air flow based on the movement of the carriage, it does not need to use a special driving source. A simple and inexpensive configuration is preferable.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the air blowing means is constituted by a guide wall provided on the carriage so as to guide an air flow from the moving direction of the carriage toward the linear encoder based on the movement of the carriage. Can be. Accordingly, the air relatively guided from the moving direction to the guide wall surface by the movement of the carriage,
It is directed to the linear encoder along the guide wall surface and can blow off dust and paper dust. This can create an air flow without any special moving parts,
A cleaning device that is simple and has few failures can be configured.

Further, in the above structure, an opening is formed on a side surface facing the moving direction of the carriage and a surface facing the linear encoder at substantially right angles to the side surface, and the opening is formed by a guide wall surface. By adopting the connected configuration, the air flow taken in from the opening in the moving direction of the carriage can be reliably ejected from the opening on the linear encoder side, and a large blowing effect against dust and paper dust can be obtained. .

Further, the blowing means is constituted by an impeller provided on the carriage and engaged with a driving member extending in the moving direction of the carriage and rotated by the movement of the carriage. You can also. In other words, the impeller on the carriage is rotated by the movement of the carriage to generate an air flow while engaging with a driving member extending in the movement direction of the carriage, for example, a rack, a flexible wire, and the like, thereby preventing dust and paper dust. A great blowing effect can be obtained.

Further, in any one of the above-mentioned configurations, as described in claim 6, an air flow is supplied to the linear encoder on both sides of the detecting means in the carriage moving direction, so that any one of the reciprocating movements of the carriage is performed. In this case, dust and paper dust can be blown off before detection by the detection means, and the detection operation can be executed reliably.

By applying the above-described cleaning device to a recording device, it is possible to achieve clear recording without causing recording disturbance due to erroneous detection.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings embodied in an ink jet recording apparatus.

This recording apparatus includes a carriage 10 having an ink jet recording head 20 mounted thereon,
Guide rails 11 and 12 for supporting a reciprocating movement
A driving mechanism for reciprocatingly driving the carriage 10 includes a belt 15 and pulleys 13 and 14. Guide rail 1
Reference numerals 1 and 12 are positioned in the width direction of the recording paper (not shown), that is, in the direction parallel to the surface of the paper and perpendicular to the paper feeding direction.

A linear encoder 30 extends in parallel with the moving direction of the carriage 10, and the linear encoder 3
The detection means 31 opposing 0 is located on the carriage 10. The detecting means 31 has a configuration in which, for example, a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element are opposed to each other with the linear encoder 30 interposed therebetween, and reads a large number of indices formed in the longitudinal direction of the linear encoder 30 and sends them to the control means (not shown) as a signal. Thus, the position of the carriage is detected, and a drive timing signal for the recording head 20 is generated. And at the time of recording,
While the carriage 10 is reciprocatingly driven by the driving mechanism, ink droplets are ejected from the recording head 20 toward a sheet passing in front of the recording head 20, and an image composed of characters and figures is recorded on the sheet in a dot matrix format.

In the present embodiment, the cleaning device for the linear encoder is constituted by a blowing means 40 for supplying an air flow to the linear encoder 30 and blowing off dust and paper dust.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 2 to 4, the air blowing means includes an air intake opening 41 opened on each of the left and right sides facing the moving direction of the carriage 10, and a rear surface substantially perpendicular to the left and right sides of the carriage 10. In addition, an opening 42 for air ejection facing the linear encoder is provided. The two ejection openings 42 are located on both left and right sides of the detection means 31, and are each opened so as to eject an air flow along both upper and lower surfaces of the linear encoder 30. 2 intake openings 4
1 and one of the ejection openings 42 are in communication with each other through an air passage 43. In the air passage 43, the vertical wall surface 4 on the side far from the linear encoder 30
As shown in FIG. 4, 3a connects the side edges of the intake opening 41 and the ejection opening 42 by an inclined surface or a curved surface that is inclined with respect to the moving direction of the carriage 10, and the intake opening 41 It constitutes a guide wall surface for guiding the air flow entering from toward the ejection opening 42.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the air passage 43 is gradually narrowed from the intake opening 41 to the ejection opening 42, and the air flow entering from the intake opening 41 is reduced by the ejection opening. The flow rate is increased from 42 so as to jet.

When the carriage 10 moves in the forward direction (arrow A) in FIG.
1 and is ejected from the ejection opening 42 just before the detection means 31 moves in the moving direction. When the carriage 10 moves in the backward direction (arrow B), air enters through the intake opening 41 on the left side and is ejected from the ejection opening 42 just before the detection unit 31 moves in the movement direction. In any case, since dust and paper dust are blown off before the detecting means 31, the detecting operation can be performed by the linear encoder 30 in a good state.

The blowing means 40 can be formed integrally with the carriage 10 or can be integrally formed by combining components. Further, since the air blowing means 40 does not include a movable portion, it is possible to provide a device with a simple configuration and few failures.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment, in which an impeller 45 is used as the blowing means 40. Carriage 10
The detection means 31 is fixed to the rear surface of the wall 10a hanging from
An impeller 45 is rotatably supported on a shaft 46 protruding on the opposite side. The impeller 45 is engaged with a driving member 47 extending in the moving direction of the carriage, and rotates based on the movement of the carriage to generate an air flow. As the driving member 47, for example, a flexible wire stretched in the moving direction of the carriage is used, the flexible wire 47 is wound around a pulley 48 provided integrally with the impeller 45, and the impeller 45 is moved based on the movement of the carriage. To rotate.

FIG. 6 shows still another embodiment in which a rack is used as the driving member 47 instead of the flexible wire, and a pinion 50 meshing with the rack can be used instead of the pulley 48.

In each of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the impeller 45 supplies the airflow to the linear encoder 30 via the left and right sides of the detecting means 31. The direction of rotation of the impeller is reversed between the forward movement and the backward movement of the carriage. However, even if the suction force is weak when suctioning air from the linear encoder 30 side, the effect of preventing the accumulation of dust and paper dust is Can be obtained to some extent. The impeller 45 is used for both forward and backward movements of the carriage.
45 and pulley 48 so that
Alternatively, a known planetary gear mechanism may be provided between the pinion 50 and the pinion 50.

The blower of each embodiment includes a detector 31
, An effect of preventing dust and paper dust from accumulating on the detection means 31 is achieved, and erroneous detection can be further reduced.

In the case where the recording head generates heat,
The air flow generated by the air blowing means may be guided to the print head to cool the print head. Further, the cleaning device of the present invention can be implemented as long as the carriage is moved and provided with a linear encoder such as an image reading device as well as a recording device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view showing only a rear portion of a carriage.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a rear portion of a carriage according to another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a blowing unit showing still another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Recording head 10 ... Carriage 30 ... Linear encoder 31 ... Detection means 40 ... Blowing means 43a ... Guide wall surface 41, 42 ... Opening 45 ... Impeller 47 ... Drive member

Claims (7)

[Claims] An air blower for supplying an air flow to said linear encoder, comprising a linear encoder having a number of indices in a moving direction of a carriage and extending in the same direction and a detecting means for reading the indices of said linear encoder. A cleaning device comprising means. 2. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the blower generates an air flow to be supplied to the linear encoder based on a movement of the carriage. 3. The air blower according to claim 2, wherein the blower is formed by a guide wall provided on the carriage so as to guide an air flow from the moving direction of the carriage toward the linear encoder based on the movement of the carriage. A cleaning device, comprising: 4. The guide wall surface according to claim 3, wherein the blower has openings on a side surface facing the moving direction of the carriage and a surface facing the linear encoder substantially at right angles to the side surface. Wherein the two openings are connected to each other. 5. The air blower according to claim 2, wherein the blower is provided on the carriage, and is configured by an impeller that rotates in accordance with the movement of the carriage by engaging with a driving member extending in the movement direction of the carriage. A cleaning device, comprising: 6. The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the blower supplies an airflow to the linear encoder on both sides of the detector in the carriage movement direction. 7. A recording apparatus comprising the cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the carriage has a recording head for performing a recording operation on recording paper.