JP4332723B2 - Recording apparatus and liquid ejecting apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention is provided in a carriage provided with a recording head and reciprocally driven in the main scanning direction, an ink cartridge provided independently from the carriage, and an ink flow path from the ink cartridge to the recording head, And a valve device that opens and closes the ink flow path. The present invention also relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus.
Here, the liquid ejecting apparatus uses an ink jet recording head, and is not limited to a recording apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile machine that discharges ink from the recording head to perform recording on a recording medium. And a device that ejects a liquid corresponding to the application from a liquid ejecting head corresponding to the ink jet recording head to an ejected medium corresponding to a recording medium, and adheres the liquid to the ejected medium. .
In addition to the recording head, as a liquid ejecting head, a color material ejecting head used for manufacturing a color filter such as a liquid crystal display, and an electrode material (conductive paste) used for forming an electrode such as an organic EL display or a surface emitting display (FED) Examples thereof include an ejection head, a bioorganic matter ejection head used for biochip production, and a sample ejection head as a precision pipette.

An example of an ink jet recording apparatus or a liquid ejecting apparatus is an ink jet printer. The ink jet printer includes an ink jet recording head in a carriage, and the carriage is reciprocated in the main scanning direction while being guided by guide means (for example, a guide shaft) extending in the main scanning direction.
Here, some carriages are equipped with ink cartridges, and some are not equipped with ink cartridges. A printer equipped with an ink cartridge reciprocates in the main scanning direction with the ink cartridge mounted, and supplies ink to the ink jet recording head inside the carriage. In the case where the ink cartridge is not mounted, the ink cartridge is provided on the main body (base) side of the ink jet printer independently of the carriage, and the ink cartridge and the ink jet recording head are communicated with each other by an ink supply tube.

  Here, when the ink cartridge is disposed below the ink jet recording head, for example, at the bottom of the ink jet printer, if the ink cartridge is pulled out, the ink leaks from the connecting portion between the ink cartridge and the ink flow path due to the height difference. Problems arise. Further, when the ink jet printer is tilted greatly during transportation or handling, there is a problem that ink leaks from the recording head due to a water head difference. Therefore, in order to prevent the occurrence of these problems, it is necessary to provide a valve device that opens and closes the ink flow path between the ink cartridge and the ink jet recording head.

  When a valve device is provided, providing a dedicated drive source to perform the opening / closing operation increases the cost. Therefore, conventionally, as a method of opening / closing the valve device, a method using a paper feed motor and a planetary gear mechanism has been used. It was used. That is, the ink supply valve is opened by rotation in the paper feed direction, and the ink supply valve is closed by rotation in the anti-paper feed direction, and the gear meshing with the two planetary gears is provided with a toothless portion. Even when the rotation in the paper feeding direction and the rotation in the anti-paper feeding direction are continued, the valve is kept open and closed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-11-70668

In the conventional configuration described above, the opening / closing operation of the valve is always performed by switching the driving state of the paper feed motor. Therefore, in a recording apparatus configured to drive another drive target by the paper feed motor, The motor could not be freely driven and controlled, which was one factor that reduced the degree of freedom in controlling the paper feed motor. For example, a paper feeding device (ASF) that feeds paper in an ink jet recording apparatus uses a paper feed motor as a drive source, and the power transmission state from the paper feed motor is off during non-feeding. Sometimes when opening and closing operation of the valve device is provided with clutch means configured to turn on the power transmission state by switching the rotation of the paper feed motor from the rotation of the paper feed direction to the rotation of the anti-paper feed direction As a result, power is transmitted to the feeding device, leading to an unintended paper feeding operation. In addition, in the above-described conventional configuration, even if the paper feed motor is rotated in either the forward direction or the reverse direction, a load is applied to the paper feed motor by the planetary gear mechanism, which may adversely affect the paper feed accuracy. there were.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to improve the degree of freedom of control of the paper feed motor in a recording apparatus in which the valve device is opened and closed by the paper feed motor.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a first aspect of the present invention includes a recording head that performs recording on a recording medium, a carriage that is reciprocated in the main scanning direction, and an ink cartridge that is provided independently of the carriage. And a valve device provided in an ink flow path from the ink cartridge to the recording head and opening and closing the ink flow path, wherein the valve device is arranged in the main scanning direction. The ink flow path is configured to open and close in accordance with a slide operation of a rack disposed so as to perform a slide operation in an orthogonal direction, and the rack rotates a roller that feeds a recording medium in the sub-scanning direction. The pinion gear is configured to be slid by a pinion gear that rotates by receiving power from the moving shaft, and the pinion gear is provided to be slidable in the main scanning direction. Is displaceable between a first position that does not mesh with the rack when the valve device is in an open state and a second position that meshes with the rack, and the first position is biased by the biasing means. The pinion gear is biased toward the position, and the pinion gear is pushed by the carriage as the carriage moves in the main scanning direction, so that the first position is changed to the second position. It is configured such that the valve device can be opened and closed by being displaced.

  According to the above aspect, in the recording apparatus including the valve device that opens and closes the ink flow path in accordance with the slide operation of the rack, the recording medium is rotated by receiving power from the rotating shaft of the roller that feeds the recording medium in the sub-scanning direction. In addition, the pinion gear that meshes with the rack is provided to be displaceable between a first position that does not mesh with the rack and a second position that meshes with the rack. Then, it is displaced from the first position to the second position by being pushed by the carriage, so that the rack can be driven, that is, the valve device can be opened and closed. The rotating force of the roller is not transmitted, and therefore the roller can be rotated without opening / closing the valve device, that is, the recording medium conveyance motor (paper feed motor) can be freely controlled. It becomes. Further, when the pinion gear is in the first position, power transmission from the motor to the pinion gear is completely cut off, so that no excessive load is applied to the motor and there is no possibility of reducing the conveyance accuracy. .

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a trigger lever that is rotated by a frictional force between the rotation shaft of the pinion gear and a friction material provided between the pinion gear and the pinion gear is provided. The trigger lever can be switched between a posture of projecting into the main scanning region of the carriage and a posture of retracting from the main scanning region by rotating, and is engaged with the carriage in the projecting posture. Thus, the pinion gear is configured to be displaced to the second position.

  According to the above aspect, the pinion gear is configured to be displaced to the second position by a trigger lever that is provided so as to be able to protrude and retract in the main scanning region of the carriage. The trigger lever can be provided in the main scanning area of the carriage, and thus the apparatus can be reduced in size, and the trigger lever is rotated by a frictional force between the trigger member and the friction material provided between the pinion gear and the pinion gear. Therefore, the trigger lever drive mechanism can be configured with a simple configuration at low cost.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the carriage is driven to displace the pinion gear from the first position to the second position. The driving current value is monitored, and when the driving current value exceeds a predetermined value, the roller is rotated by a predetermined amount.
According to the above aspect, the drive current value of the carriage is monitored when the pinion gear is displaced from the first position to the second position by driving the carriage, and the drive current value is a predetermined value. In other words, in most cases, when the teeth of the pinion gear and the teeth of the rack do not mesh smoothly with each other, the roller is rotated by a predetermined amount. Can be avoided, and the pinion gear and the rack can be meshed as a result.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the rack is orthogonal to the sliding direction of the rack with respect to the first gear portion and the first gear portion. And a second gear portion having a greater number of teeth than the first gear portion, and the first gear portion can mesh with the pinion gear in the first position. And the second gear portion is arranged so as to be in a non-meshing state with the pinion gear when the rack is in a position to open the valve device. The pinion gear is provided on the side that can be meshed with the pinion gear, and when the pinion gear is displaced to the second position, the pinion gear and the second gear portion mesh with each other, and the pinion gear rotates. The rack closes the valve device by When the pinion gear is displaced from the second position to the first position after being slid to the first position, the pinion gear and the first gear portion are engaged with each other, and the rack is rotated by the rotation of the pinion gear. Is configured to slide to a position for opening the valve device.
According to the above aspect, the rack has the first gear portion and the second gear portion, and the rack can be driven even when the carriage does not push the pinion gear by properly using them. A state can be formed, thereby increasing the degree of freedom of control of the valve device.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejecting head that performs recording on an ejected medium, a carriage that is reciprocally driven in a main scanning direction, a liquid cartridge that is provided independently of the carriage, and the liquid cartridge that And a valve device that opens and closes the liquid channel, and the valve device performs a sliding operation in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. The liquid flow path is configured to open and close in accordance with a slide operation of the rack arranged to perform the operation, and the rack receives power from a rotating shaft of a roller that feeds the ejection target medium in the sub-scanning direction. The rack is configured to slide by a rotating pinion gear. The pinion gear is slidable in the main scanning direction, so that the rack opens the valve device. The first position where the rack does not mesh with the rack and the second position where the rack meshes with the rack can be displaced, and the biasing means biases the first position toward the first position. The valve device is displaced from the first position to the second position when the pinion gear is pushed by the carriage as the carriage moves in the main scanning direction. It is characterized in that it can be opened and closed.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus main body of an inkjet printer (hereinafter referred to as “printer”) 1 as an example of “recording apparatus” and “liquid ejecting apparatus” according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the valve device 40, FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the valve device 40, and FIGS. 6-1 to 6-6 are perspective views of the rack and pinion mechanism 50. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation when closing the valve device 40 (ink channel), and FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation when opening the valve device 40 (ink channel). In the following, the upstream side (right side in FIG. 2) of the paper transport path is simply referred to as “upstream side”, and the downstream side (left side in FIG. 2) of the paper transport path is simply referred to as “downstream side”.

  First, the configuration of the printer 1 will be outlined with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The printer 1 is configured to have a small size suitable for recording on paper (hereinafter referred to as “recording paper P”) such as a “recording medium”, a postcard as an example of an “ejecting medium”, and an L size paper (hereinafter referred to as “recording paper P”). Carriage provided with a feeding device 2 capable of setting a plurality of recording sheets P in an inclined posture at the rear part of the apparatus so as to be able to reciprocate in the main scanning direction in the middle of the apparatus, as in a consumer inkjet printer suitable for size recording 25, a stacker (not shown) for stacking recording sheets P on which recording is performed is provided at the front of the apparatus.

  The feeding device 2 includes a hopper 10, a movable guide 9, a fixed guide 8, a feeding roller 11, a friction separating material 13, an idle roller 14, and a paper return lever 12. The hopper 10 is provided so as to be oscillated and driven by a driving means (not shown) around the oscillating fulcrum 10a. The hopper 10 supports the recording paper P in an inclined posture. The bundle of sheets P is pressed. The fixed guide 8 and the movable guide 9 provided in the hopper 10 regulate the position of the side edge of the recording paper P, and the movable guide 9 has a width of the recording paper P so as to correspond to each size of the recording paper P. It is slidable in the direction.

  The feeding roller 11 has a substantially D shape when viewed from the side, and a rubber material is wound around the outer periphery thereof. The feeding roller 11 is selectively driven to rotate by a paper feed motor (not shown) during paper feeding. In addition to the feed roller 11, the paper feed motor is also a power source for a later-described transport drive roller 21 and a discharge drive roller 29. The transport drive roller 21 and the discharge drive roller 29 are always driven by the paper feed motor. Although being driven to rotate, the paper feed roller 11 is driven by a clutch device (not shown) configured so that the power transmission state is switched from OFF to ON when the transport drive roller 21 and the discharge drive roller 29 are switched from forward drive to reverse drive. As described above, the sheet is selectively rotated when the sheet is fed.

  When the paper is fed, the feeding roller 11 feeds the uppermost sheet of the recording paper P pressed against the feeding roller 11 by the arc portion to the downstream side, and when the paper feeding is finished, the downstream side conveyance drive In order not to generate a transport load during the paper transport operation by the roller 21, the flat portion in a substantially D shape in a side view is controlled so as to face the friction separating member 13 as illustrated. Note that a roller indicated by reference numeral 14 is a freely rotatable idle roller, and is rotated in contact with the recording sheet P being conveyed so that the recording sheet P being conveyed does not contact the feeding roller 11 to cause a conveyance load. .

  A friction separating material 13 is provided at a position facing the feeding roller 11. The friction separating material 13 is pressed against the arc portion of the feeding roller 11 during paper feeding to form a pressure contact, whereby the uppermost recording paper P to be fed and the next order to be double fed. The subsequent recording paper P is separated. Further, a paper return lever 12 is provided at a position facing the feeding roller 11. The paper return lever 12 is provided so as to be able to swing around a swinging fulcrum 12a. During the one rotation operation of the feeding roller 11, the paper return lever 12 is temporarily set so as to open the feeding path of the recording paper P from the standby state shown in FIG. By falling down and rising again as shown in FIG. 2, the next and subsequent recording sheets P to be double fed are returned onto the hopper 10.

  The above is the feeding device 2, and a paper detector 17 including a lever 15 and a detection unit 16 is provided between the feeding roller 11 and the transport driving roller 21 on the downstream side of the feeding device 2. It has been. The lever 15 is provided so as to be able to oscillate about the oscillating shaft 15a, and the upper part from the oscillating shaft 15a is configured to come into contact with the recording paper P to be fed. The detection unit 16 is an optical sensor, and when the lower part of the lever 15 enters the detection unit 16 as shown in the figure, the light from the light emitting unit to the light receiving unit is blocked, and the recording paper P is not loaded. A passing state is detected. When the lever 15 swings with the passage of the recording paper P, the lower portion of the lever 15 from the swinging shaft 15a is disengaged from the detecting unit 16, thereby detecting the passage of the leading edge of the recording paper P. It can be done. Further, when the trailing edge of the recording paper P passes, the lower end portion of the lever 15 enters the detection unit 16 again, whereby the passage of the trailing edge of the recording paper P can be detected.

  Next, a transport driving roller 21 and a transport driven roller 22 are provided on the downstream side of the paper detector 17. The conveyance driving roller 21 is rotationally driven by the paper feed motor described above, and the conveyance driven roller 22 is in pressure contact with the conveyance driving roller 21 and rotated. The transport driving roller 21 is formed by attaching a coating film to the outer periphery of a metal rod that is long in the direction of the rotation axis. A plurality of transport driven rollers 22 are provided at predetermined intervals in the axial direction of the transport driving roller 21. It is done. Then, the recording paper P fed by the feeding roller 11 is nipped between the conveyance driving roller 21 and the conveyance driven roller 22 and conveyed below the recording head 26.

  In addition, a free-rotating guide roller 23 is provided at the downstream end of the conveyance driven roller holder 20 that pivotally supports the conveyance driven roller 22. The guide roller 23 is a roller for preventing the recording paper P from lifting from the platen 28, and thereby the distance between the recording paper P and the recording head 14 is kept constant.

  Next, a recording head 26 and a platen 28 are provided on the downstream side of the transport driving roller 21 so as to face each other. The recording head 26 is provided at the bottom of the carriage 25, and performs recording by ejecting (jetting) ink droplets as an example of a liquid toward the recording paper P. The carriage 25 is fixed to a part of an endless belt 24 (FIG. 1) extending in the main scanning direction, and is reciprocally driven in the main scanning direction while being guided by a guide plate 35 under the power of a carriage driving motor (not shown). .

  In the present embodiment, the carriage 25 does not have an ink cartridge mounted thereon, and ink is supplied from the ink cartridge 4 detachably provided on the bottom of the printer 1 to the recording head 26 via the ink tube 43 shown in FIG. Is configured to be supplied. The ink tube 43 is bundled with a plurality of flexible tubes corresponding to each color of a plurality of colors of ink (in this embodiment, 6: 2 horizontal x 3 vertical) by a binding tool not shown. The ink cartridge 4 provided at the bottom of the main body of the printer 1 and the recording head 26 communicate with each other.

Returning to FIG. 2, the platen 28 defines the gap between the recording paper P and the recording head 25 by supporting the recording paper P from below, but a concave portion 28 a is formed on the surface facing the recording head 25. Is formed. This is for printing without margins on the recording paper P. When ink droplets are ejected to the edge of the recording paper P, ink droplets are ejected to the part off the recording paper P, Then, so-called borderless printing is performed by discarding into the concave portion 28a. An ink absorbing material 36 (FIG. 1) that absorbs ink droplets is disposed in the recess 28a.
The ink droplets discarded in the recess 28a are discharged downward from a discharge hole (not shown), and a waste liquid tray 31 for receiving the discharged ink droplets is provided below the platen 28. A waste liquid absorber 34 is provided inside the waste liquid tray 31 to reliably hold the ink waste liquid in the waste liquid tray 31.

  Subsequently, a discharge driving roller 29 and a discharge driven roller 30 are provided on the downstream side of the recording head 26. The discharge drive roller 29 is rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown), and the discharge driven roller 30 is driven to rotate in contact with the discharge drive roller 29. The recording sheet P on which recording has been performed is discharged toward a stacker (not shown) by being nipped by these rollers. Further, a discharge auxiliary roller 37 is provided on the downstream side of the discharge drive roller 29, and the recording paper P that is nipped between the discharge drive roller 29 and the discharge driven roller 30 and discharged is further reliably discharged toward the stacker.

The outline of the printer 1 has been described above. Hereinafter, the valve device 40 and the rack and pinion mechanism 50 that opens and closes the valve device 40 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a valve device 40 that opens and closes an ink flow path connecting the ink cartridge 4 and the recording head 26 is provided in the lower left front of the apparatus main body of the printer 1. This valve device 40 is configured to open and close the ink flow path by swinging a holder 41 provided so as to swing (details will be described later). Two means are provided. The first means is a lever 39 that pushes the holder 41 from the side in conjunction with the attachment / detachment operation of the ink cartridge 4. When the ink cartridge 4 is attached, the state shown in FIG. 3 (the state in which the holder 41 is not pushed: In this state, the ink flow path is opened. Then, when the ink cartridge 4 is removed from the state, the lever 39 pushes the holder 41 in the right direction in conjunction with this movement, so that the holder 41 swings so as to fall in the right direction. The road is closed. This is because, in the printer 1, the ink cartridge 4 is provided at the bottom of the apparatus, and therefore, if the ink cartridge 4 is removed, ink droplets leak due to the height difference from the recording head 26. Therefore, when the ink cartridge 4 is removed, the ink flow path is always closed by the first means. The holder 41 is urged by an urging means (not shown) so as to open the ink flow path (a state in which the ink channel stands substantially vertically).

  Next, the second means is a rack and pinion mechanism 50 that is operated by the cooperative operation of the carriage 25 and the discharge drive roller 29 (paper feed motor). In general, the lever portion 55c shown in FIG. When the rack and pinion mechanism 50 is operated, the lever 55c pushes away the cam surface (slope) 41a of the cam 41a formed on the holder 41 by moving forward toward the front side of the printer (the holder 41). As a result, the holder 41 is swung so as to tilt to the right and the ink flow path is closed. This is mainly because the ink flow path is closed when the ink is sucked by generating a negative pressure in the cap by a pump means (not shown) with the recording head 26 being capped by a cap means (not shown). Operation for the purpose of increasing the bubble flow in the ink channel by generating a negative pressure in the ink channel in advance by performing the ink suction operation for a certain period of time and then opening the ink channel at once. It is for doing. The second means, that is, the rack and pinion mechanism 50 will be described in detail later.

  Next, the configuration of the valve device 40 will be outlined with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. As shown in FIG. 1, a housing 45 constituting the base of the valve device 40 is provided at the front bottom portion of the printer main body, and the housing 45 has an ink supply port (not shown) of the ink cartridge 4. ) And an ink supply needle (not shown) are provided, a plurality of ink flow paths 48 (see FIG. 4B) are formed, and the ink is guided to the left of the apparatus. Yes.

  The holder 41 described above is provided so as to be swingable by fitting a swinging shaft 41c (see FIG. 6-1) into a bearing portion 45a (see FIG. 4B) formed in the housing 45. Magnets 42 are provided at positions facing the valve chambers 46 provided at the portions where the ink flow passages 48 gather. 4B is a view showing a state where a film (not shown) attached to the casing 48 is removed, and the ink flow passage 48 and the valve chamber 46 are attached with the film. As a result, a flow path through which ink flows is formed.

  In the valve chamber 46, as shown in FIG. 5, an ink flow path 43 a toward the recording head 26 and a valve body 47 that opens and closes a hole 49 that communicates with the valve chamber 46 are provided. The valve body 47 is biased in a direction (left direction in the figure) to close the hole 49 by a biasing means (not shown), and is not affected by the magnet 42 when the holder 41 swings in the tilting direction. Then, the hole 49 is closed by the urging means, and the ink flow path is closed. On the other hand, in a state where the holder 41 swings in a substantially vertical direction (the state shown in FIG. 4A), it is affected by the magnet 42 and is displaced toward the magnet 42 so that the hole 49 is not blocked. Open the ink flow path.

The above is the outline of the valve device 40. Hereinafter, a rack and pinion mechanism (hereinafter abbreviated as “rack mechanism”) 50 that swings the holder 41 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 3, the rack mechanism 50 is disposed on the rear side of the valve device 40. The rack mechanism 50 has a pinion gear 53 and a rack 55 on a base 56 serving as a base as shown in FIG. 6A. The pinion gear 53 meshes with a transmission gear 52 provided on the discharge drive roller shaft 29a. Thus, the rack 55 is rotated by receiving power from the discharge drive roller shaft 29a (that is, the paper feed motor) so that the rack 55 slides in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction (the axial direction of the discharge drive roller shaft 29a). It is configured. In the rack 55, a lever portion 55c extending in the vertical direction is formed on the holder 41 side, and as a result, the cam portion 41a of the holder 41 is pushed away to swing the holder 41 as described above. . Note that the rack 55 is urged in a direction away from the holder 41 by an urging spring 54 hung between the rack 55 and the base 56.

  Here, the pinion gear 53 is slidable in the main scanning direction because the rotation shaft 53a extending in the main scanning direction is slidable with respect to the base 56, and is also slidable from the rack 55 by the biasing spring 57. It is provided in a state of being biased toward the direction of separation (the central portion of the main scanning region of the carriage 25). Hereinafter, the position when the pinion gear 53 is positioned in the biasing direction of the biasing spring 57 as shown in FIG. 6A is referred to as a first position, and the opposite side as shown in FIG. 6-3. The position in the case of being located at is called the second position.

  On the other hand, the rack 55 includes a first gear portion 55a and a second gear portion 55b that is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the sliding direction of the rack 55 and has a larger number of teeth than the first gear portion 55a. In other words, the rack 55 is formed with a missing tooth portion 55d where no teeth are formed. The first gear portion 55a is disposed at a position where the first gear portion 55a can be engaged with the pinion gear 53 at the first position, and the rack 55 is at a position where the valve device 40 is opened (position shown in FIG. 6A). Sometimes, the pinion gear 53 is disposed so as to face the toothless portion 55d so that the first gear portion 55a is not engaged. And the 2nd gear part 55b is arrange | positioned in the position which can mesh with the pinion gearwheel 53 in a 2nd position.

  Next, the rotation shaft 53a of the pinion gear 53 is provided with a trigger lever 51 that is rotated by a frictional force with a friction material (not shown) provided between the pinion gear 53 and the pinion gear 53. The trigger lever 51 can be switched between a posture that protrudes into the main scanning region of the carriage 25 and a posture that retracts (see also FIG. 1) by rotating, and is engaged with the carriage 25 in the protruding posture. It is provided as possible. Therefore, in the protruding posture, when the carriage 25 moves from the home position (home position: right position as viewed from the front of the apparatus) side to the rack mechanism 50 side, it engages with the trigger lever 51, thereby triggering The lever 51 is pushed by the carriage 25 to displace the pinion gear 53 to the second position.

Hereinafter, the operation of closing the ink flow path from the state shown in FIG. 6A (the state in which the valve device 40 has opened the ink flow path: the state in which the holder 41 is substantially vertical) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. .
First, in the normal state shown in FIG. 6A (the state in which paper feeding and recording operations are performed), the trigger lever 51 is in a state of being retracted from the main scanning area of the carriage 25 (in a collapsed state) and the pinion gear. 53 is in a state desired for the missing tooth portion 55d. Therefore, in this state, it is possible to freely drive and control the paper feed motor that is the drive source of the feed roller 11, the transport drive roller 21, and the discharge drive roller 29 (that is, the valve device 40 is not opened or closed). At the same time, the carriage 25 can be freely driven and controlled.

  When closing the valve device 40 from this state, first, the discharge drive roller (hereinafter referred to as “EJ roller”) 29 is reversely rotated by αstep (step S101). FIG. 6B shows a state after the EJ roller 29 is reversed by α step. As shown in the figure, the trigger lever 51 rises and becomes engageable with the carriage 25. In the figure, reference numerals 56a and 56b denote stoppers, and the trigger lever 51 is configured such that its rotation range is restricted by the stoppers 56a and 56b.

  Next, the carriage (abbreviated as “CR” in FIG. 7) 25 is moved to a position before the trigger lever 51 (step S102), and the retry count Rt (details will be described later) is set to zero (step S103). Subsequently, in order to displace the pinion gear 53 to the second position, the carriage 25 is moved to the trigger push position (the position of the carriage 25 when the pinion gear 53 is displaced to the second position). (Step S104). At this time, it is determined whether or not the drive current value Icur of the CR motor that drives the carriage 25 exceeds the upper limit value Iu (step S105).

  This is due to the following reason. As shown in FIG. 6A, when the pinion gear 53 in the state facing the missing tooth portion 55d is slid to the second position, the teeth of the pinion gear 53 and the teeth of the second gear portion 55b collide with each other. In such a case, the movement of the carriage 25 is hindered and the drive current value Icur increases. Accordingly, when the drive current value Icur exceeds the upper limit value Iu (Yes in step S105), the carriage 25 is once returned to the position before the trigger lever 51 (step S112), and the EJ roller 29 is rotated forward by βstep. (Step S113), then, returning to Step S104, the carriage 25 is moved again to the trigger push position. That is, the operation of engaging the pinion gear 53 and the second gear portion 55b is retried. Here, in this embodiment, βstep uses a rotation amount corresponding to a 1/3 feed amount of a tooth pitch (or a tooth thickness) of the rack 55, whereby the teeth of the pinion gear 53 and the rack 55 are used. It is possible to avoid a collision state with the other tooth (hereinafter referred to as “collision avoidance operation”).

  In step S111, it is determined whether or not the retry count Rt is 3 or less. This is the retry count Rt indicating the number of executions of the above-described collision avoidance operation. When the retry count Rt is 3 or more (when the pinion gear 53 is not meshed even if the pinion gear 53 is rotated more than 1 pitch of the teeth of the rack 55) This is because it can be inferred that some error other than the collision between the teeth of the pinion gear 53 and the teeth of the rack 55 has occurred. In this case (negative branch of step S111), the carriage 25 is moved to the Home position. Returning (step S115), the carriage 25 is locked (step S116), and a fatal error is generated (the ink flow path is open), and the subsequent processing is stopped. If the retry count Rt is 3 or less, the retry count Rt is incremented in step S114.

  Next, returning to step S105, if the drive current value Icur of the CR motor does not exceed the upper limit value Iu, that is, as shown in FIG. 6-3, the pinion gear 53 and the rack 55 (second gear portion 55b) If it can be determined that they are engaged (negative branch of step S105), the EJ roller 29 is rotated forward by a predetermined amount ((γ1-β × Rt) step) (step S106). Thereby, the rack 55 is pushed out toward the holder 41 by a predetermined amount (state shown in FIG. 6-4). In this state, the carriage 25 presses the trigger lever 51, and therefore the trigger lever 51 does not rotate.

  Subsequently, the carriage 25 is moved to the Home position (step S107), and the engagement state between the carriage 25 and the trigger lever 51 is released. As a result, the pinion gear 53 returns from the second position to the first position, and then the EJ roller 29 is further rotated forward by γ2 step (step S108), thereby completely pushing the rack 55 toward the holder 41. Upon completion of step S108, the rack mechanism 50 enters the state shown in FIG. 6-5, whereby the swing operation of the holder 41 is completed and the valve device 40 closes the ink flow path. At this time, since the trigger lever 51 is not engaged with the carriage 25, the EJ roller 29 is rotated forward so that the trigger lever 51 is retracted from the main scanning area of the carriage 25 as shown in FIG.

  Here, in step S106, the EJ roller 29 is rotated forward by a predetermined amount while the trigger lever 51 is pressed by the carriage 25, and thereby the rack 55 is slid by a predetermined amount (state shown in FIG. 6-4). When the carriage 25 moves away from the trigger lever 51 without the rack 55 being pushed out toward the holder 41, the pinion gear 55 slides toward the first gear portion 55a, and the pinion gear 53 faces the missing tooth portion 55d. Because it ends up.

  In step S106, the value obtained by multiplying the number of retries Rt by βstep, which is the rotation amount of the EJ roller 29 at the time of the collision avoidance operation, is subtracted from γ1step because of the idle rotation of the pinion gear 53. This is to prevent a collision noise between the rack 55 and the teeth of the rack 55. That is, when the number of retries is zero, the EJ roller 29 rotates forward by (γ1 + γ2) step, but this rotation amount is the time when the pinion gear 53 is just engaged with the last tooth of the rack 55 (FIG. 6). 5) is a rotation amount at which the rotation of the pinion gear 53 stops and prevents the pinion gear 53 from idling and does not generate a collision sound between the teeth of the pinion gear 53 and the teeth of the rack 55. However, when the collision avoidance operation is performed, the meshing start position between the pinion gear 53 and the rack 55 may not be as expected, and in such a case, the EJ roller 29 is rotated forward by (γ1 + γ2) step in the same manner as described above. If this is done, the pinion gear 53 may slightly idle, and the above-mentioned collision noise may occur. Accordingly, the occurrence of the collision sound is surely prevented by subtracting, from γ1step, the value obtained by multiplying the retry count Rt by βstep which is the rotation amount of the EJ roller 29 during the collision avoidance operation.

  As described above, the valve device 40 is in a state where the ink flow path is closed as shown in FIG. 6-5. 6-5, it is possible to keep the ink flow path closed by continuously rotating the pinion gear 53 (continuously rotating the EJ roller 29), but in this case, As described above, a collision noise between the teeth of the pinion gear 53 and the teeth of the rack 55 is generated during the idling of the pinion gear 53. Therefore, in order to improve the quietness, in the present embodiment, the positive rotation of the EJ roller 29 is performed as described above. The amount of rolling is managed (steps S106 and S108) so as not to generate the collision sound.

  Next, in order to open the ink flow path again from this state, the rack 55 is retracted from the holder 41 by first rotating the EJ roller 29 reversely by γ3 steps as shown in FIG. 8 (step S201). At this time, since the pinion gear 53 is located on the first gear portion 55a side, the pinion gear 53 will eventually face the missing tooth portion 55d, so that the EJ roller 29 can be freely rotated again. In this state, since the EJ roller 29 is reversely rotated, the trigger lever remains protruding as indicated by reference numeral 51 ′ and the phantom line in FIG. The roller 29 is rotated forward by αstep (step S202), the trigger lever 41 is retracted from the main scanning area of the carriage 25, and the process ends.

  Therefore, as described above, the valve device 40 is configured to open and close the ink flow path in accordance with the sliding operation of the rack 55 arranged to perform the sliding operation in the direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. The rack 55 is configured to slide by a pinion gear 53 that rotates by receiving power from the rotation shaft of the EJ roller 29 that feeds the recording paper P in the sub-scanning direction, and the pinion gear 53 is slidable in the main scanning direction. Accordingly, the first position where the rack 55 is not engaged with the rack 55 and the second position where the rack 55 is engaged with the rack 55 are displaceable when the rack 55 is in the position where the valve device 40 is opened. The pinion gear 53 (trigger lever 51) is moved in the main scanning direction by the biasing spring 57 and is biased toward the first position. With by being pushed by the carriage 25, thereby enabling opening and closing of the valve device 40 is displaced to the second position from the first position. As a result, the rotational force of the EJ roller 29 is not transmitted at the first position, and therefore the EJ roller 29, that is, the paper feed motor, can be freely controlled without opening / closing the valve device 40. It is possible to improve the degree of freedom in controlling the paper feed motor.

  In the present embodiment, the trigger lever 51 is interposed between the pinion gear 53 and the carriage 25 when the pinion gear 53 is displaced from the first position to the second position. The pinion gear 53 may be pushed directly by the carriage 25 by being provided outside the region. In addition, the trigger lever 51 is formed in a bar shape in the present embodiment and is rotated together with the pinion gear 53 via a friction member (not shown) so as to appear and disappear in the main scanning region of the carriage 25. For example, if the trigger lever 51 is provided outside the main scanning region of the carriage 25, the trigger lever 51 may be formed in a simple disk shape and fixed to the rotation shaft 53 a of the pinion gear 53. In this case, since the friction member is not necessary, the cost can be further reduced, and further, the degree of freedom of control is improved because there is no need for the trigger lever 51 to be moved in and out. On the other hand, when the trigger lever 51 is provided inside the main scanning area of the carriage 25 and configured so that the main scanning area moves in and out as in the present embodiment, the apparatus can be downsized. it can.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a recording apparatus typified by a FAX, a printer, or the like, or a liquid ejecting apparatus, that is, an apparatus that ejects liquid onto an ejected medium from a liquid ejecting head and attaches the liquid to the ejected medium. It is.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a printer main body of the present invention. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a printer according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the apparatus main body of the printer according to the present invention. The perspective view of a valve apparatus. Sectional drawing of a valve apparatus. The perspective view (operation transition diagram) of a rack & pinion mechanism. The perspective view (operation transition diagram) of a rack & pinion mechanism. The perspective view (operation transition diagram) of a rack & pinion mechanism. The perspective view (operation transition diagram) of a rack & pinion mechanism. The perspective view (operation transition diagram) of a rack & pinion mechanism. The perspective view (operation transition diagram) of a rack & pinion mechanism. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation when closing an ink flow path. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation when opening an ink flow path.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printer, 2 Feeding device, 3 Frame, 4 Ink cartridge, 10 Hopper, 11 Feed roller, 12 Paper return lever, 13 Friction separation material, 14 Idle roller, 15 Lever, 16 Detection part, 17 Paper detector, 18 paper guide member, 20 transport driven roller holder, 21 transport drive roller, 22 transport driven roller, 23 guide roller, 24 endless belt, 25 carriage (CR), 26 ink jet recording head, 28 platen, 28a recess, 29 discharge drive ( EJ) roller, 30 discharge driven roller, 31 waste liquid tray, 34 waste liquid absorber, 35 guide plate, 37 discharge auxiliary roller, 39 lever, 40 valve device, 41 holder, 42 magnet, 43 ink tube, 45 housing, 46 valve Chamber, 47 Valve body, 48 ink Road, 49 holes, 50 rack & pinion mechanism, 51 trigger lever, 52 transmission gear, 53 pinion gear, 54 biasing spring, 55 rack, 55a first gear part, 55b second gear part, 55c lever part, 56 base, 57 Biasing spring, P Recording paper

Claims (5)

A carriage having a recording head for recording on a recording medium and driven to reciprocate in the main scanning direction;
An ink cartridge provided independently from the carriage;
A recording apparatus comprising: a valve device that is provided in an ink flow path from the ink cartridge to the recording head and opens and closes the ink flow path;
The valve device is configured to open and close the ink flow path in accordance with a slide operation of a rack arranged to perform a slide operation in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction.
The rack is configured to slide by a pinion gear that rotates by receiving power from a rotation shaft of a roller that feeds a recording medium in the sub-scanning direction.
The pinion gear is provided so as to be slidable in the main scanning direction, so that when the rack is in a position where the valve device is in an open state, the pinion gear meshes with the rack and the first position. The second position is displaceable and is biased toward the first position by the biasing means;
When the pinion gear is pushed by the carriage as the carriage moves in the main scanning direction, the valve device can be opened and closed by being displaced from the first position to the second position. It is configured to be
A recording apparatus. In Claim 1, the rotation axis of the pinion gear is provided with a trigger lever that rotates by a friction force between the friction material provided between the pinion gear and the pinion gear,
The trigger lever can be switched between a posture that protrudes into the main scanning region of the carriage and a posture that retreats from the main scanning region by rotating, and is engaged with the carriage in the protruding posture. Configured to displace the pinion gear to the second position;
A recording apparatus. 3. The driving current value of the carriage is monitored when the pinion gear is displaced from the first position to the second position by driving the carriage, and the driving current value is predetermined. When the value is exceeded, the roller is configured to rotate by a predetermined amount.
A recording apparatus. 4. The first rack according to claim 1, wherein the rack is arranged in a direction perpendicular to a sliding direction of the rack with respect to the first gear portion and the first gear portion. A second gear part having more teeth than the gear part,
The first gear portion is provided on a side that can mesh with the pinion gear in the first position, and when the rack is in a position in which the valve device is in an open state, It is arranged to be in mesh,
The second gear portion is provided on a side that can mesh with the pinion gear in the second position,
When the pinion gear is displaced to the second position, the pinion gear and the second gear portion are engaged with each other, and the rack slides to a position where the valve device is closed by the rotation of the pinion gear. Then, when the pinion gear is displaced from the second position to the first position, the pinion gear and the first gear portion are engaged with each other, and the rack is moved by the rotation of the pinion gear. It is configured to slide to a position where it is opened.
A recording apparatus. A carriage having a liquid jet head for recording on a jetting medium and driven to reciprocate in the main scanning direction;
A liquid cartridge provided independently of the carriage;
A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: a valve device that is provided in a liquid flow path from the liquid cartridge to the liquid ejecting head and that opens and closes the liquid flow path;
The valve device is configured to open and close the liquid flow path with a slide operation of a rack arranged to perform a slide operation in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction,
The rack is configured to slide by a pinion gear that rotates by receiving power from a rotating shaft of a roller that feeds the ejected medium in the sub-scanning direction.
The pinion gear is provided so as to be slidable in the main scanning direction, so that when the rack is in a position where the valve device is in an open state, the pinion gear meshes with the rack and the first position. The second position is displaceable and is biased toward the first position by the biasing means;
When the pinion gear is pushed by the carriage as the carriage moves in the main scanning direction, the valve device can be opened and closed by being displaced from the first position to the second position. It is configured to be
A liquid ejecting apparatus.

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