JPS60204330A - Liquid jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an attachable and detachable liquid jet recording device which is capable of easily setting a precise position of an ink discharge direction by pressing a recording head with a guide surface having a certain direction which is the same as an ink discharge direction but is not parallel with each other. CONSTITUTION:The guide surfaces ABCD and ADEF of a recording head 11 are attached to the opposed surfaces 14, 15 of a carriage 12 as if the former is caused to slide on the latter. At that time, the guide surfaces ABCD are pressed on the opposed surface 14 by a pressing part 16, while the guide surfaces ADEF are pressed on the opposed surface 15 by the elasticity of a pin 18 made of resin or other materials. A pressed part 16 acting as an electrode concurrently, is pressed by a spring, so it is connected securely to the electrode of the recording head 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording apparatus, and more particularly to a liquid jet recording apparatus in which a recording head can be mounted in an accurate position.

[Prior art]

Among the liquid jet recording methods, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-51837
The liquid jet recording method described in DOLS No. 2843064 is different from other liquid jet recording methods in that it applies thermal energy to the liquid to obtain the motive force for ejecting droplets. have different characteristics.

In particular, the recording method disclosed in DOL8 No. 2843064 is a so-called drop-on-demand recording method.
It is not a foolproof method that can be applied extremely effectively to recording methods, but it can easily be realized as a full-line type high-density multi-orifice recording head, making it possible to obtain high-resolution, high-quality images at high speed. .

The recording head section of the apparatus applied to the above recording method is a part that communicates with an orifice provided for ejecting liquid and where thermal energy acts on the liquid in order to eject droplets. It includes a liquid discharge part having a liquid flow path in which a thermal effect m is a part of the structure, and an electrothermal converter as a means for generating thermal energy.

Conventionally, in a recording device using such a liquid jet (inkjet) recording head, the recording liquid necessary for recording is
The ink tank is provided at a location separate from the recording head, and the electrical signal for driving the electrothermal transducer of the recording head is supplied by a supply pipe such as a flexible pipe. It was designed to be supplied by connecting a flexible gas wiring cable to a drive circuit section located at a separate location from the recording head.

In such recording devices, the recording head is fixed to the carriage part, and the recording liquid supply tube is fixedly connected to the supply tube connecting member provided on the recording head by means such as press-fitting, screwing, gluing, etc. .

In addition, the flexible cable for guiding electrical signals to the recording head can be made by crimping the connection pad of the flexible cable to the wiring pad provided on the recording head, or by wire bonding, soldering, thermocompression bonding, etc. After being bonded to each other, they were fixed to the recording head.

As mentioned above, in conventional recording devices, the recording head is fixed to the carriage, and the recording liquid supply tube and electric signal cable are fixedly connected to the recording head, and the user operates the recording head. It was not easy to remove the recording device. Therefore, if the recording head breaks down during use, there is a problem in that the user cannot immediately remove the recording head and replace it with another recording head.

In addition, in order to avoid the above-mentioned problem, the recording head must be
Although it is necessary to have cylinder reliability over a very long period of time, it is difficult to provide such a recording head, and at the same time, it is difficult to provide such a recording head, and at the same time, it causes problems such as lower head manufacturing yields, more complicated structures, and stricter material selection. This has the disadvantage that the recording head is expensive due to the large size.

Furthermore, in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, an inkjet recording head of a type in which a recording head and an ink tank are integrated has also been proposed. With this type of inkjet recording head, if the recording head breaks down, it can be easily replaced.
Since there is no need to remove the ink supply tube from the recording head when replacing it, there is no need to get your hands dirty with ink. In terms of the design of the recording device, since the ink supply tube and ink tank are integrated with the head, there are no restrictions on carriage scanning, allowing for flexible design. However, even with such an improved recording head, although the head can be easily replaced, the ink ejection direction cannot be determined accurately after the head is attached, and good recording results are not necessarily obtained.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems.
The purpose is to provide a liquid jet recording device which has a simple configuration, allows a recording head to be mounted in an accurate position, and which can be easily removed.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, a liquid jet recording device according to the present invention provides a liquid jetting means with at least two guide planes that are not parallel to each other, and a supporting means for supporting the liquid jetting means has at least two guide planes (5) on each of the guide planes. It is characterized by providing a pressing means for pressing each.

Here, the liquid ejecting means is an inkjet recording head, which has an energy generating body, for example, one which utilizes the thermal energy of a heating element, or one which utilizes a piezoelectric element. Furthermore, a tank for storing liquid (ink) to be ejected may be integrated.

Preferably, the guide planes are perpendicular to each other. For example, in a recording head that ejects ink using the thermal energy of a heating element, the back and side surfaces of a substrate on which the heating element and the like are formed can be used as guide surfaces.

It is necessary for the above-mentioned suppressing means to bring each guide plane into sufficient contact with the supporting means (for example, a carriage), and to facilitate the removal of the liquid ejecting means. For example, it is possible to use an elastic body such as a spring.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail using drawings (6). I will clarify.

First, the configuration of a recording head in an embodiment of a liquid jet recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. However, in order to avoid complication of the drawing, a case where the number of nozzles is two is shown here.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the substrate of the recording head. In the figure, on a substrate 1, a heat generating part 2, a conductive part 3 for applying a voltage to the heat generating part 2, and an individual electrode 4 and a common electrode 5 are formed at the tip of the conductive part 3, respectively. Further, although not shown, a protective film is further formed on the substrate 1 in order to prevent the heat generating part 2 and the conductive part 3 from coming into direct contact with the ink.

Here, the bottom surface ABCD and side surface ADEF of the substrate 1 are:
This surface serves as a guide for accurately positioning the recording head, and is polished in advance so that it is parallel to the ink ejection direction.

As shown in FIG. 2, a partition wall 6 is provided on the substrate 1 configured in this manner, and an ink flow path 7 and an orifice (discharge port) 8 are formed on the heat generating portion 2.

The partition walls 6 can be formed in large numbers using a photosensitive resin by the well-known photolithography method because of their high finishing accuracy, ease of mass production, and ease of alignment with the heat generating section 2. However, the partition wall 6 has a surface ADE
Since F is a guide surface, it is formed with some margin between it and the side EF.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3, an ink tank 10 having a filter 9 on its upper surface is fixed onto the partition wall 6, thereby completing the recording head 11. The filter 9 is a venting means for adjusting the pressure so that the pressure inside the ink tank 10 is always constant, and is also a means for preventing dust from getting mixed into the ink inside the ink tank 10.

In the recording head 11 configured as described above, ink in the ink tank 10 is supplied to the ink flow path 7. Then, by applying a voltage to the electrodes 4 and 5, the heating element 2 generates heat. The thermal energy instantaneously vaporizes the ink to form bubbles in the ink flow path 7, and as the bubbles rapidly expand, the ink is ejected from the ejection port 8 in the form of droplets.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the carriage in this embodiment.

In the figure, a carriage 12 is slidably attached to a guide shaft 13 and travels along the guide shaft 13 by a carriage drive mechanism (not shown).

The carriage 12 is provided with opposing surfaces 14 and 15 for housing the recording head 11, which correspond to and come into close contact with the guide surfaces ABCD and ADEF of the recording head 11, respectively.

Further, the crimp portion 16 is urged toward the opposing surface 14 by a spring 17. The bottle 18 is made of elastic resin or the like, and its end on the guide shaft 13 side is inserted into the main body of the carriage 12 and fixed. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the carriage with the recording head mounted in this embodiment, The figure is a side view seen from the direction of arrow X in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a plan view seen from the direction of arrow Y.

5 to 7, the recording head 11 is mounted on the carriage 12 so that the guide surfaces ABCD and ADEF slide against the opposing surfaces 14 and 15 of the carriage (9) 12, respectively. At that time, guide surface AB
The CD is pressed against the opposing surface 14 by the crimp m16,
The guide surface ADEF is connected to the opposing surface 1 by the elastic force of the pin 18.
Pushed to 5.

As already mentioned, the guide surfaces ABCD and ADEF
are formed parallel to the ink ejection direction. Therefore, by simply inserting the recording head 11 into the carriage 12, accurate positioning can be achieved at the same time.

In addition, the crimp 5516 also serves as an electrode for the recording head 1.
A voltage is applied to the heat generating section 2 by contacting the electrodes 4 and 5 of the electrode 1, respectively. Since the crimp portion 16 is biased by a spring 17, it ensures that the guide surface ABCD of the door 11 is brought into close contact with the opposing surface 14 during recording, and that the electrodes 4 and 5 of the recording head 11 and the electrodes of the crimp portion 16 are closely connected to each other. Connect securely.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing another example of the recording head 11 in this embodiment, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view thereof.

In the recording head 11 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, an ink tank 19, a nozzle 20, and a cylindrical piezoelectric element (10) 21 are integrated. A voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 21 via the conductive portion 22 and electrode 23 on the substrate 1, similar to the recording head in FIG. The equipment attached to the carriage 12 is the same as in the case of the previous recording head.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above in detail, the liquid jet recording apparatus according to the present invention is provided with guide surfaces that are not parallel to each other and have a constant direction with the ink ejection direction on the recording head, and a suppressing means that presses the guide surface against the support means. Especially,
Accurate positioning in the ink ejection direction can be performed without making any special adjustments when installing the print head. Therefore, there is no change in the ink ejection direction due to replacement of the print head, and good print results can be obtained.

Furthermore, by using an electrode as one of the suppressing means, electrical connection can be ensured and the configuration can be simplified.

Furthermore, since the recording head is pressed against the support means, it is extremely easy to attach and detach the recording head, and troubles during attachment and detachment are drastically reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a substrate of a recording head in an embodiment of a liquid jet recording device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a substrate showing the configuration of nozzles of a recording head in this embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the carriage in this embodiment, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the carriage with the recording head in this embodiment mounted, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the carriage in this embodiment. 7 is a plan view of FIG. 5 viewed from the direction of arrow Y, FIG. 8 is a sectional view of another example of the recording head, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view thereof. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Substrate, 2...Heating part, 4.5...Electrode, 1
1... Recording head, 12... Carriage, i4.1
5... Opposing surface, 16... Crimp part, 18... Bin,
Surface ABCD. Surface ADEF: Guide surface. (13) Figure 1! Figure 2

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a liquid jet recording device having a liquid jetting means and a supporting means for removably supporting the liquid jetting means, the liquid jetting means has at least two guide planes that are not parallel to each other, and the supporting means A liquid jet recording apparatus characterized in that it has a suppressing means for pressing each of the guide planes against a supporting means. (2) A liquid jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the suppressing means has an electrode for applying a voltage to the liquid jetting means.