Patent Grant
11504971
The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2019-011964, filed Jan. 28, 2019, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus including a carriage unit that has a liquid ejecting head ejecting liquid onto a medium.
JP-A-2012-179728 discloses a serial type recording apparatus (an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus) including a carriage that has a recording head (an example of a liquid ejecting head). The recording apparatus includes a first guide portion disposed along a moving direction of the carriage. A base end portion of the carriage is slidably attached to the first guide portion via first sliding portions positioned at both ends in a width direction. The recording apparatus includes an ink tube that supplies ink from a liquid supply source to the carriage. One end of the ink tube is coupled to the liquid supply source, and the other end is coupled to the recording head at a tip of the carriage via a U-shaped reversing portion. A tube holding member, which holds the ink tube at a position near a coupling portion coupled to the recording head, is fixed to the carriage. The position where the tube holding member is fixed to the carriage is between the first sliding portions positioned at both ends of the carriage in the width direction. The recording apparatus adopts a structure in which tubes are routed so that a plurality of ink tubes are horizontally curved at the U-shaped reversing portion in a state in which the tubes are aligned in a vertical direction.
However, in a structure in which tubes are routed in a state of being horizontally curved, a curved state of portions of the tubes, which extend from a coupling location to the carriage, may be changed according to a position of the carriage on a movement path, and thus the tubes may come into contact with the carriage. In such a case, the carriage receives a reaction force of the tube not only at the coupling location but also at the contact location, and the position and direction receiving the reaction force of the tubes change. Therefore, a posture of the carriage deviates and sliding resistance of the carriage changes. The deviation of the posture of the carriage causes a change in a liquid ejecting direction, while the change in the sliding resistance of the carriage causes a change in a speed of the carriage. There is a problem in that printing accuracy is decreased due to at least one of the change in the liquid ejecting direction and the change in the speed of the carriage. The problem is not limited to the structure in which a plurality of tubes are aligned and routed, and there is the similar problem even in a structure of one tube is routed.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a liquid ejecting apparatus including: a carriage unit that includes a liquid ejecting head ejecting liquid onto a medium and reciprocates in a scanning direction of the liquid ejecting head; a liquid container configured to store the liquid to be supplied to the liquid ejecting head and provided at a position different from a position where the carriage unit is disposed; and a tube that supplies the liquid sent from the liquid container to the carriage unit. When the carriage unit reciprocates, in a case in which one direction is referred to as a first direction and another direction is referred to as a second direction, the tube extends from the liquid container in the second direction, forms a curved portion curving toward upstream in a transport direction of the medium, is folded back in the first direction, and is coupled to the carriage unit. The carriage unit includes a space that expands in the transport direction upstream of an area in which a part of the tube extending from a coupling start point of coupling the tube to the carriage unit toward the curved portion is displaced in accordance with movement of the carriage unit.
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a liquid ejecting apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. In
The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 illustrated in
A discharge port 15 through which the printed medium M is discharged is open at a position above the cassette 21 in the housing 12. An extendable discharge tray 22 is provided between the discharge port 15 and the cassette 21. The discharge tray 22 is used in a state of being extended to a downstream in a transport direction Y1, and the printed medium M after printing is discharged and stacked on the discharge tray 22. The housing 12 is provided with an operation panel 24 at a position above the discharge port 15. The operation panel 24 includes an operation section 25 including a plurality of switches that are operated when the user gives an instruction to the liquid ejecting apparatus 11, and a display section 26 that displays menus, messages, or the like. The operation section 25 includes a power switch 25A, a selection switch, and the like. Here, the display section 26 may be a touch panel, and an operation function of the display section 26 may also serve as a part of the operation section 25. In the drawing, one direction of the X-axis is defined as a first direction X1, and the other direction of the X-axis is defined as a second direction X2.
As illustrated in
As described above, in addition to an ink jet type printing function, the liquid ejecting apparatus 11, which is the multifunction machine including the reading unit 30, has a scanner function of reading the document D by the reading unit 30 and a copy printing function of printing an image of the document D read by the reading unit 30.
As illustrated in
The liquid supply unit 27 has a lid 27B capable of opening and closing at the top. For example, in a case in which the amount of the liquid decreases when viewed through the window 27A, the user opens the lid 27B and replenishes the liquid container 28 through a supply port (not illustrated) thereof with the liquid such as ink from an ink bottle (not illustrated).
As illustrated in
The transport section 40 includes a feeder 41 that feeds the medium M from the cassette 21 one by one, on the back of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11. The feeder 41 has a plurality of intermediate rollers (not illustrated) disposed side by side in the transport direction Y1. The feeder 41 reverses the medium M fed rearward from the cassette 21 by the rotation of a pickup roller (not illustrated) along an outer periphery of the intermediate roller, and then transports the medium M in the transport direction Y1 through the transport region FA. A support base 42 that supports the medium M to be printed by the carriage unit 50 is disposed in the transport region FA. The transport section 40 includes a plurality of rollers along the transport path, and transports the medium M in the transport direction Y1 by the rotation of the rollers.
As illustrated in
In
As illustrated in
The liquid supply unit 27 has a mounting portion 29 having a supply pipe (not illustrated) into which the liquid container 28 is inserted. The tube 61 is routed in the scanning direction X in a downstream area from the movement path of the carriage unit 50 in the transport direction Y1, in which one end portion is coupled to the mounting portion 29 and the other end portion is coupled to the carriage unit 50. In this way, the plurality of liquid containers 28 and the carriage 51 are coupled through a plurality of tubes 61 corresponding thereto. The plurality of tubes 61 are routed as a tube bundle 60 that is held in a state of being aligned in a line in the vertical direction Z1. The mounting portion 29 may include a pump that supplies the liquid from the liquid container 28 to the carriage unit 50.
Here, when the carriage unit 50 reciprocates, in a case in which one direction is referred to as the first direction X1, and the other direction is referred to as the second direction X2, the tube 61 extends from the liquid container 28 side in the second direction X2, and then forms a curved portion 62 curving toward the upstream in the transport direction Y1 of the medium M. The tube 61 is folded back in the first direction X1 to be coupled to the carriage unit 50. After the tube 61 extends from the mounting portion 29, the tube 61 is routed straight along a front inner surface of the housing 12 in the scanning direction X. After that, a U-shaped curved portion 62 that is curved and folded back horizontally from the downstream to the upstream in the transport direction Y1 in a portion of middle of an entire length.
A direction in which the liquid flows in the tube 61 is the liquid supply direction. The tube 61 includes a first straight portion 61A at which the upstream portion from the curved portion 62 in the liquid supply direction extends substantially horizontally, and a second straight portion 61B at which the downstream portion from the curved portion 62 in the liquid supply direction extends substantially horizontally. A lengths of each of the first straight portion 61A and the second straight portion 61B changes as a formation position of the curved portion 62 changes in accordance with the movement of the carriage unit 50. The plurality of tubes 61 constituting the tube bundle 60 are disposed in a line so as to overlap each other in the vertical direction Z1.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus 11, a fixed portion in the first straight portion 61A of the tube 61, near the liquid container 28 that is not displaced by the movement of the carriage unit 50 is directly or via a member fixed to the front inner surface of the housing 12 by a support member (not illustrated). Sagging of the tube bundle 60 is suppressed by supporting a portion, except for the fixed portion, which is displaced in a longitudinal direction by a support member 63 formed of a flexible film or sheet.
In the present embodiment, the other end portion of the tube 61 is coupled to a downstream end portion of the carriage unit 50 in the transport direction Y1. Therefore, the first straight portion 61A of the tube 61 and the carriage unit 50 are positioned at a distance of substantially 1.5 to 2 times a curvature radius of the curved portion 62 in the transport direction Y1. That is, a movement space for the curved portion 62 is secured in a region of the downstream of the movement path of the carriage unit 50 in the transport direction Y1. The carriage unit 50 performs printing on the medium M by ejecting the liquid, which is supplied from the liquid container 28 through the tube 61, from the liquid ejecting head 54 (see
A maintenance mechanism 71 that performs cleaning of the liquid ejecting head 54 (see
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Specifically, a scanning operation in which the liquid ejecting head 54 ejects the liquid to perform printing for one scan on the medium M while the carriage unit 50 moves in the scanning direction X, and a transport operation in which the transport section 40 transports the medium M to a next printing position are alternately repeated, so that printing is performed on the medium M. The printed medium M is discharged from the discharge port 15 by the transport section 40 and stacked on the discharge tray 22 (see
As illustrated in
The transport roller pair 45 is disposed at a position in the upstream of the position of the scanning path of the liquid ejecting head 54 in the transport direction Y1. The first discharge roller pair 46 and the second discharge roller pair 47 are disposed at positions downstream of the liquid ejecting head 54 in the transport direction Y1. The second discharge roller pair 47 is positioned downstream of the first discharge roller pair 46 in the transport direction Y1. Each of the roller pairs 45 to 47 is driven by the power of a transport motor (not illustrated). The two discharge roller pairs 46 and 47 are driven in conjunction with the transport roller pair 45 to transport the medium M during printing and discharge the medium M after printing. One or more floating rollers 48 that guide the medium M along the first transport path K1 are provided at positions along the first transport path K1. The tube 61 is routed in a state in which the curved portion 62 is positioned above the second discharge roller pair 47.
Further, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the present example, the regulation portion 57B is positioned at the center portion of the carriage unit 50 in the scanning direction X. Therefore, the carriage unit 50 receives the reaction force of the tube 61 at the center portion in the scanning direction X. In the example illustrated in
As illustrated in
Here, a state of displacement of the curved portion 62 of the tube 61 during the movement process of the carriage unit 50 will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
Further, as illustrated in
In the present example, the curved portion 62 is positioned on the home position HP side with respect to the coupling start point C1 of the tube 61. Therefore, the space S1 is formed on the home position HP side from the coupling start point C1 of the carriage unit 50. That is, in the carriage unit 50, in a region closer to the home position HP than the coupling start point C1 of the tube 61, the space S1 is formed in which the portion 61D extending from the coupling start point C1 in the tube 61 avoids contact with the carriage unit 50 even if the curved portion 62 is displaced to the maximum curvature radius. In the present example, the coupling start point C1 of the tube 61 is positioned at a downstream end portion of the carriage unit 50 in the transport direction Y1. Therefore, the space S1 is provided at the downstream end portion of the carriage unit 50 in the transport direction Y1, that is, a portion on the home position HP side.
In a plan view viewed from the top to the bottom as illustrated in
In addition, the space S1 has a wide space that does not come into contact the tube 61 at the top and bottom of the tube 61. A lower limit of the space S1 is defined by a surface 55B positioned below the lower end of the tube 61 in the vertical direction Z1. A space, in which the support member 63 and the holding member 64 for preventing the sag do not come into contact with the surface 55B, is also secured in the vertical direction Z1. In the present example, the space S1 is formed of a recess portion that is provided to be recessed in a region on the home position HP side in the scanning direction X from the coupling start point C1 in the carriage unit 50 and in the upstream from the coupling start point C1 in the transport direction Y1. The space S1 is partitioned by a plurality of surfaces forming the recess portion. The space S1 without the surface 55B may be provided.
As illustrated in
Therefore, during the movement of the carriage unit 50, even when the curved portion 62 is at the home position HP having the minimum curvature radius illustrated in
Next, a height position of the tube 61 with respect to the carriage unit 50 will be described with reference to
In the present example, the shaft C0 of the first guide member 17 is positioned below and slightly off the disposition region TA of the tube 61. It is desirable that the disposition region TA of the tube 61 includes the shaft C0 of the first guide member 17 that is a main axis. This is because the reaction force of the tube 61 received by the carriage unit 50 can be received by the shaft C0 of the first guide member 17.
However, in the present example, as illustrated in
Further, as illustrated in
The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 includes a controller (not illustrated). The controller controls the carriage motor 52, the liquid ejecting head 54, a transport motor, and the like. The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 is communicably coupled to a host device (not illustrated). The controller performs print control based on print data received from the host device. The host device includes, for example, any one of a personal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet PC, a smartphone, a mobile phone, and the like.
Next, an operation of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 will be described.
When the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 receives an instruction of printing, the feeder 41 is driven and the medium M fed from the cassette 21 is transported through the transport region FA in the transport direction Y1. Then, while the carriage unit 50 moves in the scanning direction X, a printing operation in which the liquid ejecting head 54 ejects the liquid toward the medium M to perform printing for one scan, and a transport operation in which the medium M is transported by the roller pairs 45 to 47 to the next printing position are alternately performed, and thereby printing onto the medium M is advanced.
As illustrated in
The carriage unit 50 is closest to the curved portion 62 when the carriage unit 50 is at the home position HP indicated by a solid line in
Further, as illustrated in
In the present example, the curved portion 62 of the tube 61 is positioned on the home position HP side with respect to the coupling start point C1. The space S1 is formed in which the portion 61D extending from the coupling start point C1 of the tube 61 toward the curved portion 62 can avoid coming into contact with the carriage unit 50 even when the curved portion 62 is displaced to the maximum curvature radius. Therefore, regardless of a position on the movement path along which the carriage unit 50 reciprocates, the portion 61D extending from the coupling start point C1 of the tube 61 does not come into contact with the carriage unit.
For example, in a configuration having no space S1, when the portion 61D extending from the coupling start point C1 of the tube 61 is greatly displaced in the transport direction Y1, the portion 61D comes into contact with the carriage unit 50. In this case, the carriage unit 50 receives the reaction force of the tube 61 not only from the regulation portion 57B that is the coupling start point C1 but also from a location where the portion 61D of the tube 61 comes into contact with the carriage unit 50. That is, the location where the carriage unit 50 receives the reaction force of the tube 61 varies. As a result, the deviation of the posture according to the movement position of the carriage unit 50 is caused. The deviation of the posture of the carriage unit 50 causes a deviation of the liquid ejecting head 54 in the liquid ejecting direction and a variation in sliding resistance with each of the guide members 17 and 18 when the carriage unit 50 moves. The variation in the sliding resistance of the carriage unit 50 causes a variation in a speed of the carriage unit 50. The printing accuracy is decreased due to at least one of the deviation of the liquid ejecting head 54 in the liquid ejecting direction and the variation in the speed of the carriage unit 50.
On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the carriage unit 50 has the space S1 that is wider toward the upstream in the transport direction Y1 than an area in which the portion 61D, which extends from the coupling start point of the tube 61 with respect to the carriage unit 50 toward the curved portion 62, is displaced in accordance with movement of the carriage unit 50. Therefore, even if the portion 61D of the tube 61 extending from the coupling start point C1 is displaced in accordance with the movement of the carriage unit 50, the displacement is settled by the displacement in the space S1, and the portion 61D does not come into contact with the carriage unit 50. That is, the reaction force of the tube 61 is always received by the regulation portion 57B regardless of the position of the carriage unit 50 on the movement path. As a result, the deviation of the posture of the carriage unit 50 caused by the change in the location where the reaction force of the tube 61 is received can be suppressed. It is possible to suppress the deviation of the liquid ejecting head 54 in the liquid ejecting direction and the variation in the speed of the carriage unit 50 due to the deviation of the posture of the carriage unit 50. Therefore, a decrease in printing accuracy due to the reaction force of the tube 61 received by the carriage unit 50 is suppressed.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The space S1 is formed on the home position HP side of the carriage unit 50. Therefore, when the carriage unit 50 is at the home position HP, the curvature radius of the curved portion 62 is reduced, and a part of the portion 61D of the tube 61, which enters the space S1, is also curved. As a result, a part of the curved portion 62 enters the space S1. The position of the side wall 12S of the housing 12 of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 on the home position HP side can be disposed near the carriage unit 50 when the carriage unit 50 is at the home position HP. Therefore, the width size of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 can be reduced by shortening the width dimension of the housing 12.
Further, the space S1 is provided to be recessed in the carriage unit 50 by the end surface 55A of the carriage unit 50 in the downstream in the transport direction Y1 intersecting the scanning direction X, and the wall 57C which intersects the end surface 55A and of which the surface extends in a direction approaching the coupling start point C1 from the end surface 55A toward the downstream in the transport direction Y1. Therefore, even if the portion 61D extending from the coupling start point C1 is displaced when the carriage unit 50 moves, the portion 61D does not come into contact with the end surface 55A.
Further, when double-sided printing is performed on the medium M, the medium M where printing is finished on the first surface is discharged by the transport roller pair 45 and the two discharge roller pairs 46 and 47 in the first transport direction Y1 along the first transport path K1, and then is transported by switchback that is drawn back in the second transport direction Y2, and is drawn into the second transport path K2. The medium M reversely transported through the second transport path K2 is reversed by passing through an outer periphery of an intermediate roller which constitutes the feeder 41, and is fed again toward the liquid ejecting head 54, using the second surface as a surface to be printed, which is a surface opposite to the printed first surface. Double-sided printing is performed by printing on the second surface of the medium M. The medium M on which the double-sided printing is finished is discharged from the discharge port 15 and stacked on the discharge tray 22. As described above, in the present embodiment, the second discharge roller pair 47 is provided which is used to cause the medium M to transport to be switched back to the downstream position of the first discharge roller pair 46 in the transport direction Y1, and to be drawn into the second transport path K2. Therefore, in the housing 12, a relatively long space in the transport direction Y1 is secured in a downstream area of the movement path of the carriage unit 50 in the transport direction Y1, that is, above the second discharge roller pair 47 in the transport direction Y1.
The tube 61 is routed by using the space above the second discharge roller pair 47, in a state in which the curved portion 62 is positioned above the second discharge roller pair 47. Therefore, the coupling start point C1 of the tube 61 can be set at the downstream end portion of the carriage unit 50 in the transport direction Y1. Therefore, since the storage portion 55 is not used for the coupling space of the tube 61, a plurality of liquid reservoirs 59 can be stored in the storage portion 55. Therefore, by reserving a predetermined amount of the liquid in the liquid reservoir 59, for example, reduction of a drive frequency of the pump in the mounting portion 29 can be realized, or occurrence of a problem such as a variation in an ejecting amount of the liquid caused by a shortage of the amount of the liquid supplied to the liquid ejecting head 54 can be suppressed.
According to the embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 includes the liquid ejecting head 54 that ejects the liquid onto the medium M, and the carriage unit 50 that reciprocates in the scanning direction of the liquid ejecting head 54. Further, the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 includes the liquid container 28 capable of storing the liquid supplied to the liquid ejecting head 54 and provided at a position different from a position where the carriage unit 50 is disposed. In addition, the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 includes the tube 61 that supplies the liquid sent from the liquid container 28 to the carriage unit 50. When the carriage unit 50 reciprocates, in a case in which one direction is referred to as the first direction X1, and the other direction is referred to as the second direction X2, the tube 61 extends from the liquid container 28 in the second direction X2, and then forms the curved portion 62 curving toward the upstream in the transport direction Y1 of the medium M. The tube 61 is folded back in the first direction X1 to be coupled to the carriage unit 50. The carriage unit 50 has the space S1 that expands in the transport direction Y1 upstream of the area in which the portion 61D, which extends from the coupling start point C1 of the tube 61 with respect to the carriage unit 50 toward the curved portion 62, is displaced in accordance with movement of the carriage unit 50. Therefore, even if the portion 61D of the tube 61 extending from the coupling start point C1 is displaced with respect to the carriage unit 50 according to the movement of the carriage unit 50, the displacement is settled by the displacement in the space S1, and the portion 61D does not come into contact with the carriage unit 50. Therefore, the reaction force of the tube 61 is always received by the coupling start point C1 regardless of the position of the carriage unit 50 on the movement path. Therefore, the deviation of the posture of the carriage unit 50 caused by the change in the location where the reaction force of the tube is received can be suppressed. As a result, a decrease in printing accuracy can be suppressed.
(2) The carriage unit 50 includes the regulation portion 57B that regulates the tube 61 at the coupling start point C1. The regulation portion 57B is positioned at the center portion of the carriage unit 50 in the scanning direction X. Therefore, since the carriage unit 50 always receives the reaction force of the tube 61 at the center portion in the scanning direction X, the deviation of the posture of the carriage unit 50 is unlikely to occur compared to a configuration in which the reaction force of the tube 61 is received at a portion other than the center portion, for example, the end portion or the like. Therefore, a decrease in printing accuracy due to the deviation of the posture of the carriage unit 50 can be more effectively suppressed.
(3) The carriage unit 50 waits at the home position HP that is one end portion in the movement path when the liquid is not ejected onto the medium M, and is closest to the curved portion 62 when the carriage unit 50 is at the home position HP. Therefore, when the carriage unit 50 is at the home position HP, the curved portion 62 is positioned on the opposite side of the transport region FA in the scanning direction X and is not positioned in the transport region FA. Therefore, in a state in which the carriage unit 50 is at the home position HP, the tube 61 does not get in the way when a user performs maintenance work to eliminate the jam of the medium M.
(4) The space S1 is formed on the home position HP side from the coupling start point C1 of the carriage unit 50. Therefore, it is possible to avoid that the portion 61D extending in the direction from the coupling start point C1 of the tube 61 toward the home position HP comes into contact with the carriage unit 50 during the movement of the carriage unit 50. When the carriage unit 50 is at the home position HP, the curvature radius of the curved portion 62 is reduced, and a part of the curved portion 62 enters the space S1. Therefore, the position of the side wall 12S of the housing 12 of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 on the home position HP side can be disposed near the carriage unit 50 when the carriage unit 50 is at the home position HP. Therefore, the width size of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 can be reduced.
(5) The space S1 is provided to be recessed by the end surface 55A in the downstream in the transport direction Y1 intersecting the scanning direction X of the carriage unit 50, and the wall 57C which intersects the end surface 55A and of which the surface extends in a direction approaching the coupling start point C1 from the end surface 55A toward the downstream in the transport direction Y1. Therefore, since the end surface 55A is positioned in the upstream of the coupling start point C1 of the tube 61 in the transport direction Y1, even if the tube 61 is displaced during the movement of the carriage unit 50, the tube 61 does not come into contact with the end surface 55A.
(6) The first guide member 17 and the second guide member 18 are provided which guide the carriage unit 50 in the scanning direction X at a position on the opposite side of the tube 61 in the transport direction Y1 and are respectively disposed at differ positions in the vertical direction Z1. The tube 61 is disposed in an area, in the vertical direction Z1, between the both outer ends of the first guide member 17 and the second guide member 18 in the vertical direction Z1. Therefore, since the reaction force of the tube 61 is received in the area between the both outer ends of the first guide member 17 and the second guide member 18 in the vertical direction Z1, the deviation of the rotation around the X-axis about the shaft C0 of the first guide member 17 of the carriage unit 50 is unlikely to occur. Therefore, a decrease in printing accuracy can be suppressed.
(7) The tube 61 is disposed in an area including a part of the sliding portion between the first guide member 17 positioned below the second guide member 18 and the carriage unit 50. The force from the carriage unit 50 that receives the reaction force of the tube 61 is received by the first guide member 17 at the sliding portion, so that the deviation of the rotation around the X-axis about the shaft C0 of the first guide member 17 of the carriage unit 50 is unlikely to occur. Therefore, a decrease in printing accuracy can be suppressed.
(8) The carriage unit 50 includes the liquid reservoir 59 that reserves the liquid supplied through the tube 61, at the top. The tube 61 is disposed in the area including the center of gravity G of the carriage unit 50 in the vertical direction Z1. Thus, the reaction force of the tube 61 acts on the center of gravity G of the carriage unit 50. Therefore, the deviation of the rotation around the X-axis about the shaft C0 of the guide member 17 of the carriage unit 50 is unlikely to occur. Therefore, a decrease in printing accuracy can be suppressed.
(9) The tube 61 is routed in a state in which the curved portion 62 is positioned above the second discharge roller pair 47. Therefore, the tube 61 can be routed using the space above the second discharge roller pair 47.
(10) Since the deviation of the posture of the carriage unit 50 can be suppressed by (1) to (8) described above, in the carriage unit 50, it is possible to realize elimination of the urging mechanism for urging the carriage unit 50 with respect to the first guide member 17 by the spring in each direction of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis, elimination of the spring in at least one axis, or reduction of a set urging force of the spring. As a result, it is possible to reduce the sliding resistance during the movement of the carriage unit 50 due to the urging force of the urging mechanism. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the deviation of the posture of the carriage unit 50 due to the sliding resistance. Also from this point, it is possible to further suppress a decrease in printing accuracy due to the deviation of the posture of the carriage unit 50. Further, it is possible to reduce wear of the first guide member 17 due to the urging mechanism.
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
According to the second embodiment, the effects (1) to (10) in the first embodiment can be obtained similarly, and the following effects can be obtained.
(11) The tube 61 is disposed in an area including the shaft C0 of the first guide member 17. Therefore, a force from the carriage unit 50 that receives a reaction force of the tube 61 is received by the first guide member 17 at the shaft C0, so that a rotational moment about the shaft C0 is unlikely to occur in the carriage unit 50. A deviation of the rotation around the X-axis about the shaft C0 of the first guide member 17 of the carriage unit 50 is unlikely to occur. Therefore, a decrease in printing accuracy can be suppressed. In the present embodiment, the tube 61 is disposed in an area including the entire sliding portion between the first guide member 17 and the carriage unit 50. Therefore, the effect (7) in the first embodiment can be obtained more effectively.
Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
In the first embodiment or the like, the tube 61 is coupled to the downstream end portion of the carriage unit 50 in the transport direction Y1, and the coupling start point C1 is positioned at the downstream end portion, whereas, in the third embodiment, the coupling start point C1 of the tube 61 is positioned in the storage portion 55 in which the joint member 81 which is a coupling destination of the tube 61 was stored. That is, the coupling start point C1 is positioned in the upstream from the downstream end portion of the carriage unit 50 by a predetermined distance. Therefore, a distance between the downstream end portion of the carriage unit 50 and the first straight portion 61A in the transport direction Y1 is shorter than that in the configuration of the first embodiment.
As illustrated in
A routing structure of the tube 61 of the present embodiment can be applied to the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 including the second discharge roller pair 47 as that in the first embodiment, and can also be applied to the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 not including the second discharge roller pair 47. In the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 that does not include the second discharge roller pair 47, it is difficult to secure a wide space in which the tube 61 is routed in a downstream area in the transport direction Y1 from the movement path of the carriage unit 50 in the housing 12. On the other hand, in the configuration illustrated in
In the third embodiment, the disposition region TA of the tube 61 in the vertical direction Z1 is disposed in an area between the both outer ends of the first guide member 17 and the second guide member 18 in the vertical direction Z1. Further, the disposition region TA of the tube 61 is set in an area including the center of gravity G of the carriage unit and the shaft C0 of the first guide member 17. Also in the liquid ejecting apparatus adopting the routing structure of the tube 61 illustrated in the third embodiment, the effects of (1) to (7), and (10) in the first embodiment, and (11) in the second embodiment are obtained similarly.
In addition, the embodiments can also be changed into a form like modifications illustrated below. Furthermore, a combination of the embodiments described above and the modifications illustrated below can be appropriately used as a further modification, and a combination of the modifications illustrated below can be appropriately used as a further modification.
A routing structure of the tube 61 may be adopted in which the curved portion 62 of the tube 61 is disposed on an anti-home position AH side of the carriage unit 50. For example, in each of the embodiments described above, the home position HP and the anti-home position AH are set at positions opposite to each other, the liquid container 28 is disposed at a position opposite to that in the embodiments described above in the scanning direction X, and a routing path of the tube 61 is laid out right and left symmetrical in the scanning direction X with respect to those in the embodiments described above. In such a case, the carriage unit 50 is provided with the space S1 that expands in the transport direction Y1 upstream of an area in which the portion 61D that is a portion extending from the coupling start point C1 of the tube 61 toward the curved portion 62 is displaced. Therefore, the same effects as those of the embodiments described above can be obtained.
The coupling start point C1 and the regulation portion of the tube 61 may be disposed in a portion other than the center portion of the carriage unit 50 in the scanning direction X. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which the coupling start point C1 and the regulation portion are disposed at the end portion near an side end of the carriage unit 50 in the second direction X2 slightly away from the first direction X1, and the portion 61D extends from the coupling start point C1 in the second direction X2. Further, a configuration may be adopted in which the coupling start point C1 and the regulation portion are disposed at the end portion near an side end of the carriage unit 50 in the first direction X1 slightly away from the second direction X2, and the portion 61D extends from the coupling start point C1 in the second direction X2. In particular, in the latter configuration, when the carriage unit 50 is at the home position HP, it is possible to secure a large amount of a part of the curved portion 62, which enters the space S1, so that the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 can be further reduced in width size.
In the embodiments described above, the first guide member 17 may be replaced with a guide shaft, and a rail portion formed by a part of the main frame 19 may be used. The second guide member 18 may be used as a guide shaft.
The tube 61 is not limited to the tube bundle configuration in which the plurality of tubes are bundled, and may have a configuration having only one tube. For example, the present disclosure may be applied to a configuration including one tube 61 in the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 that performs printing in one color of black.
In each embodiment described above, one discharge roller pair may be provided. The discharge roller pair may be a plurality of three or more.
The medium M is not limited to the sheet, but may be a flexible plastic film, cloth, nonwoven fabric, or the like.
The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 is not limited to a printing apparatus that performs printing on a sheet or film as a medium, and may be a textile printing apparatus that performs printing on a cloth.
The liquid ejecting apparatus is not limited to a serial printer in which the carriage unit 50 moves in the scanning direction X, and may be a lateral printer in which the carriage unit 50 can move in two directions of the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction.
The liquid ejecting apparatus is not limited to a printer for printing. For example, a liquid material in which particles of a functional material are dispersed or mixed in a liquid is ejected, and an electric wiring pattern or pixels of various types of display such as liquid crystal, electroluminescence (EL), and surface emission may be manufactured on a substrate which is an example of a medium. Furthermore, a liquid ejecting apparatus may be provided for three-dimensional modeling for forming a three-dimensional object by ejecting an uncured resin liquid.
The technical idea grasped from the embodiments and the modifications will be described below together with operational effects thereof.
The liquid ejecting apparatus includes a carriage unit that includes a liquid ejecting head ejecting liquid onto a medium and reciprocates in a scanning direction of the liquid ejecting head; a liquid container configured to store the liquid to be supplied to the liquid ejecting head and provided at a position different from a position where the carriage unit is disposed; and a tube that supplies the liquid sent from the liquid container to the carriage unit. When the carriage unit reciprocates, in a case in which one direction is referred to as a first direction and another direction is referred to as a second direction, the tube extends from the liquid container in the second direction, forms a curved portion curving toward upstream in a transport direction of the medium, is folded back in the first direction, and is coupled to the carriage unit. The carriage unit includes a space that expands in the transport direction upstream of an area in which a part of the tube extending from a coupling start point of coupling the tube to the carriage unit toward the curved portion is displaced in accordance with movement of the carriage unit
According to this configuration, even if a part of the tube extending from the coupling start point to the carriage unit is displaced in accordance with movement of the carriage unit, the displacement is settled by the displacement in the space and the tube does not come into contact with the carriage unit. Therefore, the reaction force of the tube is always received by the coupling start point regardless of the position of the carriage unit in the movement path. Therefore, the deviation of the posture of the carriage unit caused by the change in the location where the reaction force of the tube is received can be suppressed. As a result, a decrease in printing accuracy can be suppressed.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the carriage unit may have a regulation portion that regulates the tube at the coupling start point, and the regulation portion may be positioned at a center portion of the carriage unit in a scanning direction.
According to this configuration, since the carriage unit always receives the reaction force of the tube at the center portion in the scanning direction, the deviation of the posture of the carriage unit is unlikely to occur compared to a configuration in which the reaction force of the tube is received at a portion other than the center portion, for example, the end portion or the like. Therefore, a decrease in printing accuracy due to the deviation of the posture of the carriage unit can be more effectively suppressed.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, when liquid is not ejected onto a medium, the carriage unit may wait at a standby position in one end of a movement path, and when the carriage unit is at the standby position, the carriage unit may be closest to the curved portion.
According to this configuration, when the carriage unit is at the standby position, the curved portion is positioned on the opposite side of the transport region and is not positioned in the transport region in the scanning direction. Therefore, the tube does not get in the way when the user performs maintenance work to eliminate the jam of the medium.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the space may be formed close to the standby position relative to the coupling start point of the carriage unit.
According to this configuration, it is possible to avoid that a part of the tube extending in a direction from the coupling start point toward the standby position comes into contact with the carriage unit during the movement of the carriage unit. In addition, when the carriage unit is at the standby position, the curvature radius of the curved portion is reduced, and a part of the curved portion enters the space. Therefore, the position of the side wall of the housing of the liquid ejecting apparatus on the standby position side can be disposed near the carriage unit when the carriage unit is at the standby position. Therefore, the width size of the liquid ejecting apparatus can be reduced.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the space may be provided to be recessed by an end surface of the carriage unit downstream in the transport direction intersecting the scanning direction and a wall which intersects the end surface and of which a surface extends from the end surface toward downstream in the transport direction to approach the coupling start point.
According to this configuration, since the end surface forming the space in the carriage unit is positioned in the upstream of the coupling start point in the transport direction, even if the tube is displaced during the movement of the carriage unit, the tube does not contact the end surface.
The liquid ejecting apparatus may further include a first guide member and a second guide member that guide the carriage unit in the scanning direction at positions opposite to the tube in the transport direction, and are disposed at positions different from each other in the vertical direction, and the tube may be disposed in an area between both outer ends of the first guide member and the second guide member in the vertical direction.
According to this configuration, since the reaction force of the tube is received in the area between the both outer ends of the first guide member and the second guide member in the vertical direction, the deviation of the rotation about the guide members of the carriage unit is unlikely to occur. Therefore, a decrease in printing accuracy can be suppressed.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the first guide member may be positioned below the second guide member, and the tube may be disposed in an area including a part or entirety of a sliding portion between the first guide member and the carriage unit.
According to this configuration, the force from the carriage unit that receives the reaction force of the tube is received by the first guide member at the sliding portion, so that the deviation of the rotation around the axis of the first guide member of the carriage unit is unlikely to occur. Therefore, a decrease in printing accuracy can be suppressed.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the tube may be disposed in an area including a shaft of the first guide member in the vertical direction.
According to this configuration, the force from the carriage unit that receives the reaction force of the tube is received by the first guide member at the shaft, so that a rotational moment about the shaft is unlikely to occur in the carriage unit. The deviation of the rotation around the axis of the first guide member of the carriage unit is unlikely to occur. Therefore, a decrease in printing accuracy can be suppressed.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the carriage unit may include a liquid reservoir reserving the liquid supplied through the tube, at an upper portion thereof, and the tube may be disposed in an area including the center of gravity of the carriage unit in the vertical direction.
According to this configuration, since the reaction force of the tube acts on the center of gravity of the carriage unit, the deviation of the rotation about the axis of the guide member of the carriage unit is unlikely to occur. Therefore, a decrease in printing accuracy can be suppressed.
The liquid ejecting apparatus may further include a transport section that transports a medium onto which liquid is ejected from the liquid ejecting head. The transport section may include a first discharge roller pair at a position downstream of the liquid ejecting head in the transport direction, and a second discharge roller pair positioned downstream of the first discharge roller pair in the transport direction. The tube may be routed in a state in which the curved portion is positioned above the second discharge roller pair.
According to this configuration, the tube can be routed using the space above the second discharge roller pair.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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| JP2019-011964 | Jan 2019 | JP | national |
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