JPS6096481A - Print head cleaning mechanism for ink dot printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent ink, paper powder and the like attached to the tip of a print head from being attached to a recording paper by providing a cleaning mechanism easy to exchange and with a simple construction at the tip of the print head. CONSTITUTION:A cleaning mechanism section is arranged on the moving extension of a print head 1 off a recording paper. A grip section 10c of a cleaning lever 10 is turned manually in the direction A to rotate an elastic spatula 11 fastened on the cleaning lever 10 on the shaft 12 so that it wipes the tip of the print head 1 to shift paper powder and ink attached to the tip thereof thereto 11 and then, abuts on an impregnating member 15 arranged ahead in the rotating direction of the elastic spatula 11 to shift the paper powder and ink thereto. When the impregnating member 15 fouls absorbing paper powder and ink, an elastic part of an impregnation member receiver 16 is displaced to remove and the impregnation member 15 and the impregnation member receiver 16 are changed. A series of operations as mentioned above are performed at the specified position off the recording paper and hence, in noway contaminates the recording paper.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a cleaning device for the tip of a printing head in an ink dot printer that applies ink to the tip of a wire and hits recording paper to transfer the ink and print.

[Prior art]

In the print head of an ink dot printer that uses ink, the reciprocating movement of a wire sends ink near the tip of the wire, where it adheres to the surface of the tip of the wire and is transferred onto recording paper.

If the amount of ink delivered is greater than the amount of ink consumed,
During use, ink overflows and adheres to the tip of the print head. Also, paper dust from the recording paper that occurs during printing may accumulate,
This aggregates and accumulates due to the ink. When these ink and paper dust accumulate at the tip of the head and come into contact with the recording paper, the recording paper becomes dirty, so it is necessary to remove these ink and paper dust.

The method of removing the print head and wiping off the ink and paper powder with paper or the like takes time and is troublesome to attach and detach the print head. In addition, as shown in the specification of Japanese Utility Model Application No. 58-60454, by rotating an impregnating member attached to the platen shaft with a motor, the ink and paper powder at the tip of the print head are impregnated. There were other problems, such as an increase in size and difficulty in replacing dirty impregnated members.

〔the purpose〕

The present invention eliminates such drawbacks, and its purpose is to provide a cleaning mechanism that is easy to transfer and has a simple structure to prevent ink, paper dust, etc. attached to the tip of the print head from adhering to the recording paper. The goal is to provide the following.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on Examples.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a printer showing an outline of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of a cleaning mechanism, and FIG. 3 is a left side view thereof.

The print head 1 is mounted on a carriage 2, and is moved by a carriage drive motor 3 via a wheel train 5 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1 as the carriage feeder rotates. Further, the platen 8 is rotated via the wheel train 7 by the drive of the paper feed motor 4, and the recording paper (not shown) wound around the platen 8 is moved by friction under pressure from the paper presser roller 9.

By the above method, the head is moved to an arbitrary position on the recording paper, the wire is made to protrude, and a dot is formed at the desired position, thereby drawing the character '9' figure. The cleaning mechanism section is disposed on the extension of the movement of the print head 1 that has come off the recording paper (upper left in FIG. 1), and the leading end of the print head 1 is completely isolated from the recording paper. 10 is a cleaning leno.
A rubber-like elastic spatula 11 is fixed to the spatula mounting portion 10α by a method such as contacting or bonding, and is rotatably supported on a shaft 12. Further, the tension spring 13 is hung in the spring hole 10A, and the frame spring hook is biased between the part 14α and the spring hole 10A.
The frame 14 is positioned by the trapper part 14A and is in a standby state. The impregnating member 15 is made of a sponge-like porous material, and is fitted into the recess of the impregnating member receiver 16.

Further, the impregnated member receiver 16 has elastic parts 16α, 16b, and 16C, as shown in detail in the diagram showing another embodiment in FIG.
b, 16C has a structure that can be engaged with l111112 and detached from it, and in the installed state, it is located forward in the rotational direction of the elastic spatula 11 fixed to the cleaning leno (-10).

Next, the operation will be explained. Cleaning Leno (-10
By manually rotating the handle 10C in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3, the elastic spatula 11 fixed to the cleaning lever 10 rotates around the shaft 12, wiping the tip of the print head 1 and printing. Transfer the paper powder and ink attached to the tip of the head to the elastic spatula 11, and then
The paper dust and ink are transferred to the damping member 15 arranged in front in the direction of rotation. If the impregnated member 15 absorbs paper powder and ink and becomes dirty, the elastic portion of the impregnated member receiver 16 is displaced and removed, and the impregnated member 15 and the impregnated member receiver 16 are replaced.

Since the series of operations described above are performed at a predetermined position away from the recording paper, the recording paper will not be soiled.

Next, as another embodiment of the present invention, a cleaning mechanism for the tip of a print head using color ink will be described. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the elastic spatula, and FIG. 5 is a drawing of the impregnation member holder.

Figure 6 is a plan view of the state during cleaning, and Figure 7 is a drawing of the print head seen from the recording paper side, and shows the case when four color inks (for example, black, red, green, and blue) are used. explain. As shown in FIG. 7, the print head 21 includes wires 30α, 50A, 30C, and 30d for each color, which are separated one by one and arranged in a horizontal row. The elastic spatula 22 has three notches 22α corresponding to the four colors of the print head 21, so that the wiped wicks of each color do not mix. Four protrusions 226 of the elastic spatula 22
Four sponge-like impregnating members 23 are removably attached to the concave portions 16d of the impregnating member receiver 16, respectively.

The impregnated member receiver 16 has elastic parts 16α, 1 as in the previous embodiment.
6b and 16C, and 16α engages with the frame 14 and 16A, 16C engage with the shaft 12 using elastic deformation so that they can be attached and detached.

In addition, in this example, cleaning renoku-10
has protrusions 10α and 10b, which fit into the recesses 21a and 21b of the head 21 when the cleaning lever is operated.

In the cleaning mechanism configured as above, when the print head 21 is not in a predetermined position, the protrusions 10α and 10b of the cleaning leno<-1, 0 interfere with the print head 21, and the cleaning lever 10 does not rotate.

Also, when cleaning, use the Cleaning Renoku-10
This positioning allows for correct correspondence between the elastic spatula 22 fixed to the cleaning leno 5-10 and each print wire of the print head 21, thereby preventing color mixing between the print wires that are in instant contact with the print head 21 using color ink. can. In addition, since the elastic spatula 22 is separated by the notch 22 (I, and the impregnating member 23 is also separated in the same way, when the elastic spatula 22 comes into contact with the impregnating member 23, the elastic spatula 22 In other words, it is possible to prevent color mixing between the print wires of the print head 21 during re-cleaning.

Also, if the impregnation member 23 absorbs enough ink and becomes dirty,
Each can be individually removed and replaced as shown in FIG.

〔effect〕

The cleaning mechanism for the tip of the print head in the ink dot type printer according to the present invention has the structure described above, so the cleaning mechanism for the tip of the print head does not place any load on the motor, and there is no need to remove or attach the print head to clean the tip of the print head. can. Furthermore, by easily attaching and detaching the dirty impregnating member and impregnating member holder, replacement is easy and operability is improved.

When using color ink, the cleaning lever operates only when the print head is in the specified position, and the elastic spatula has a notch and the impregnation member is separated, so the print head can be cleaned easily. Color mixing of ink between each print wire does not occur.

The cleaning mechanism of the tip of the print head according to the present invention is a simple method of wiping off ink and paper dust adhering to the tip of the print head with an elastic spatula and transferring it to the impregnating section, and a method of cleaning the tip of the print head with an elastic spatula. The parts can be easily replaced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a plan view of a printer using the cleaning mechanism of the present invention, Figures 2 and 3 are perspective views and side views of the cleaning mechanism, and Figure 4 is an elastic body when color ink is used. Diagram showing a spatula. Figure 5 (α) is a plan view of the impregnated material receiver when color ink is also used, (b) is a front view, (C) is a side view, C (L) is a bottom view, and (g) is a partial cross section. It is a diagram. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the cleaning of the print head using color ink, and FIG. 7 is a view of the print head viewed from the recording paper side. 1...Print head 10...Cleaning lever 11...Elastic spatula 14-...Frame 16...Impregnated member holder Figure 4 (d) ji6 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] Ink dot printers print by depositing ink on the wire end of the print head and hitting the recording paper.
a rotatably supported cleaning lever; an elastic spatula fixed to the cleaning lever and engaged with the print head tip surface so as to wipe the print head tip surface as the cleaning lever rotates; A print head cleaning mechanism for an ink dot printer, comprising an impregnated member disposed in front of the cleaning lever in one direction of rotation and abutted by the elastic spatula.