Patent Grant
11104142
The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2019-046385, filed Mar. 13, 2019, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus provided with a liquid ejecting head which ejects a liquid onto a medium and a waste liquid storage body which stores the liquid eliminated from the liquid ejecting head as a waste liquid.
JP-A-2006-35662 discloses a multifunction device (an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus) provided with a recording section including a liquid ejecting head. The multifunction device is provided with a transport mechanism, which transports a medium such as a recording paper, and prints on the medium by discharging a liquid such as an ink from the liquid ejecting head onto the transported medium. In the multifunction device, a waste liquid absorbing member, which absorbs an ink waste liquid discharged from a nozzle of the liquid ejecting head during maintenance work carried out using a maintenance device, is installed on the rear of the recording section. In other words, in the multifunction device, the waste liquid absorbing member is installed on the rear side on the inside of a housing. The waste liquid absorbing member may be installed as a waste liquid storage body stored in a container for waste liquid leakage prevention.
However, in a liquid ejecting apparatus such as the multifunction device, at the point at which the waste liquid storage body is disposed at the rear portion of the housing, there is a problem in that the workability of the exchanging work of the waste liquid storage body is poor. For example, when the liquid ejecting apparatus is installed such that the rear surface thereof is against a wall, it is necessary to change the orientation of the liquid ejecting apparatus, to move the liquid ejecting apparatus, or the like in order to secure working space to exchange the waste liquid storage body and the workability during the exchanging of the waste liquid storage body is poor. Therefore, there is a demand for the workability to be favorable during the exchanging of the waste liquid storage body. On the other hand, there is also a demand to avoid an increase in the size of the liquid ejecting apparatus as much as possible.
According to an aspect of the disclosure, a liquid ejecting apparatus includes a transport section which transports a medium in a transport direction, a liquid ejecting head which ejects a liquid onto the medium, a head support portion which supports the liquid ejecting head, a liquid storage container which stores the liquid to be supplied to the liquid ejecting head, an discharge section which discharges the medium onto which the liquid is ejected, and a holding section which holds a waste liquid storage body configured to store the liquid eliminated from the liquid ejecting head as a waste liquid, in which the holding section is disposed at a position downstream of the head support portion in the transport direction and above the discharge section.
Hereinafter, a description will be given of an embodiment of a liquid ejecting apparatus with reference to the drawings. In
The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 illustrated in
Cassettes 21 which store recording media M such as paper (hereinafter, also referred to simply as “the medium M”) is inserted, to be capable of attaching and detaching, into a recessed portion 14 provided in the front bottom portion of the housing 12. A plurality of the media M is stored in the cassettes 21. An operation target section 21A which may be attached and detached by a user grasping the operation target section 21A with the fingers of the user is provided at the front center portion of each cassette 21. In the example illustrated in
An discharge port 15 from which the printed medium M is discharge is opened at a position above the cassettes 21 in the housing 12. An extending/contracting discharge tray 22 configured to be multi-level is provided between the discharge port 15 and the cassettes 21. The discharge tray 22 is used in a state of being extended downstream in the transport direction Y1 and the post-printing medium M discharge from the discharge port 15 is stacked on the discharge tray 22. An operation panel 24 is provided at a position above the discharge port 15 on the housing 12. The operation panel 24 is provided with an operation section 25 formed of a plurality of switches to be manipulated when giving instructions to the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 and a display section 26 on which menus, various messages, and the like are displayed. The operation section 25 includes a power switch 25A, a selection switch, and the like. Here, the display section 26 may be configured using a touch panel, and in this case, the operation function of the display section 26 may also serve as a portion of the operation section 25. In the drawings, a direction parallel to the X-axis is a first scanning direction X1 and a direction opposite to the first scanning direction X1 is a second scanning direction X2.
As illustrated in
In addition to a printing function of printing on the medium M using an ink jet system, the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 which is a multifunction device is provided with a scanner function in which the reading unit 30 reads the document D and a copy printing function of printing an image of the document D read by the reading unit 30 onto the medium M.
As illustrated in
The top portion of the liquid supplying unit 27 includes a cap portion 27B capable of being opened and closed. For example, when the window portions 27A are viewed and the liquid amount is depleted, the user opens the cap portion 27B and pours a liquid such as an ink from an ink bottle, for example, into a supply port (both omitted from the drawings) of the liquid storage containers 28 to perform resupplying. The liquid storage containers 28 are not limited to being a pouring system in which it is possible to pour a liquid, and may be ink cartridges or ink packs of an exchanging system.
A carriage unit 50 capable of reciprocally moving along the X-axis is provided inside the housing 12. The carriage unit 50 is provided with a carriage 51 supported to be capable of reciprocally moving along the X-axis and a liquid ejecting head 52 which is installed on the carriage 51 and ejects the liquid onto the medium M. The carriage 51 of the present embodiment configures an example of the head support portion which supports the liquid ejecting head 52. The carriage unit 50 is a so-called off-carriage type which receives a supply of the liquid from the liquid storage containers 28 disposed at a different position from the carriage 51. A waste liquid unit 70 is disposed at a position corresponding to the reverse surface of the operation panel 24 inside the housing 12. The waste liquid unit 70 collects the liquid such as the ink that is ejected or eliminated from the liquid ejecting head 52 for a purpose other than printing as a waste liquid. The waste liquid unit 70 is provided with an attaching/detaching waste liquid box 71 as an example of the waste liquid storage body. The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 is provided with a control section 100 illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The feeding section 41 includes a pickup roller 41A which feeds out the topmost sheet of the media M stored in each of the cassettes 21 and an intermediate roller 44 which inverts the medium M that is fed out by transporting the medium M along the outer circumference of the intermediate roller 44 (refer to
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In
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The liquid supplying unit 27 includes a mounting portion 29 including supply tubes (not illustrated) into which the liquid storage containers 28 are inserted. One end portion of the tubes 61 is coupled to the mounting portion 29, the tubes 61 are routed along the X-axis in a downstream region of the movement path of the carriage unit 50 in the transport direction Y1 and the other end portion of the tubes 61 is coupled to the carriage unit 50. The plurality of liquid storage containers 28 and the carriage 51 are coupled to each other by the plurality of corresponding tubes 61 in this manner. The plurality of tubes 61 is routed as a tube bundle 60 held in a state in which the tubes 61 line up in a row in the vertical direction Z1. The mounting portion 29 may be provided with a pump to supply the liquid from the liquid storage containers 28 to the carriage unit 50.
Here, when the carriage unit 50 reciprocally moves, a direction heading from the home position HP toward the anti-home position AH is the first scanning direction X1 and a direction heading from the anti-home position AH toward the home position HP is the second scanning direction X2. The tubes 61 extend from the mounting portion 29 to which the liquid storage containers 28 are mounted toward the second scanning direction X2 and subsequently form a curved portion 62 which curves accompanying a displacement toward the second transport direction Y2 which is a direction heading upstream in the transport direction Y1 of the medium M to double back in the first scanning direction X1 and be coupled to the carriage unit 50. After the tubes 61 extend in a predetermined path from the mounting portion 29 and are subsequently routed straight along the X-axis along the front portion inner surface of the housing 12, the tubes 61 include the U-shaped curved portion 62 in which the tubes 61 curve to double back accompanying a displacement from downstream to upstream in the transport direction Y1 at a portion in the middle of the entire length of the tubes 61. In this manner, the tubes 61 form the curved portion 62 which curves horizontally accompanying a displacement in the transport direction Y1.
A direction in which the liquid flows along the path of the tubes 61 inside the tubes 61 is a liquid supplying direction. The tubes 61 include a first linear portion 61A in which a portion upstream of the curved portion 62 in the liquid supplying direction extends substantially horizontally along the X-axis and a second linear portion 61B in which a portion downstream of the curved portion 62 in the liquid supplying direction extends substantially horizontally along the X-axis. The length of each of the first linear portion 61A and the second linear portion 61B changes due to the formation position of the curved portion 62 changing in accordance with the movement of the carriage unit 50. The plurality of tubes 61 which configure the tube bundle 60 is arranged in a row to overlap in the vertical direction Z1.
As illustrated in
Downward sagging of the tube bundle 60 caused by the weight of the tube bundle 60 itself is suppressed by the movable portion 61D which forms a more downstream portion in the liquid supplying direction than the fixed portion 61C in the longitudinal direction and is capable of being displaced being supported by a support member 63 formed of a film or a sheet that has flexibility. The support member 63 is attached so as to cover the surface on the side forming the outer circumferential surface of the curved portion 62 on the movable portion 61D. The support member 63 is attached to the movable portion 61D of the tube bundle 60 via a plurality of attachment members 64 attached leaving an interval along the longitudinal direction of the movable portion 61D.
In the present embodiment, the other end portion of the tubes 61 is coupled to the front end portion which serves as the downstream end portion of the carriage unit 50 in the transport direction Y1. Therefore, the first linear portion 61A of the tubes 61 and the carriage unit 50 are positioned to be distanced from each other by a predetermined distance in a range of approximately 1.5 times to 2 times the curvature radius of the curved portion 62 in the transport direction Y1. Accordingly, the movement region TA in which the curved portion 62 is capable of moving along the X-axis is secured in a region downstream of the movement path of the carriage unit 50 in the transport direction Y1.
The carriage unit 50 illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the nozzles 55 from which the liquid is not to be discharged during the printing, thickened ink in which the ink thickens inside the nozzles 55 causes nozzle clogging. There is a case in which foreign matter such as paper powder adhered to a nozzle opening surface 52A (refer to
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Under the capped state illustrated in
The flushing in which the liquid inside the nozzles 55 is refreshed is performed during the printing due to the carriage unit 50 periodically moving to the home position HP and ejecting droplets that are not related to the printing from all of the nozzles 55 of the liquid ejecting head 52. When greater than or equal to a predetermined amount of the liquid accumulates inside the cap 83 due to the flushing, the suction pump 84 is driven and the liquid inside the cap 83 is collected in the waste liquid box 71.
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Next, a description will be given of the state of the disposition of the tubes 61 in the movement process of the carriage unit 50 with reference to
As illustrated in
The waste liquid box 71 is disposed between the fixed portion 61C of the tubes 61 and the scanning region SA of the carriage unit 50. In the movement process of the carriage unit 50, when the curved portion 62 is positioned at a position illustrated by the solid line in
Next, a description will be given of the holding member 72 and the waste liquid box 71 with reference to
Next, a description will be given of the positional relationship of the heights between the tube bundle 60 and the holding member 72 and the waste liquid box 71 with reference to
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As illustrated in
A plurality of pairs of ribs 77 is provided along the X-axis on both mutually-facing surfaces of the holding section 73 and the side plate portion 75. The fixed portion 61C of the plurality of tubes 61 is held by the holding member 72 in the path that passes between the holding section 73 and the side plate portion 75 due to the fixed portion 61C being pinched by the ribs 77 at a plurality of locations. The tube bundle 60 is routed at a height slightly above the base plate portion 74. When the tube bundle 60 sags, further sagging is suppressed by the bottom end of the tube bundle 60 coming into contact with the base plate portion 74. The waste liquid tube 86 coming out from the supply needle 92 configuring the supply mechanism 91 is routed along the tubes 61 at a position above the movable portion 61D of the tube bundle 60.
As illustrated in
The waste liquid box 71 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape and a box-shaped handle portion 71B extends parallel to the top end surface 71A on one end of the top portion of the waste liquid box 71. The waste liquid box 71 includes a supply port portion 95 as an example of a coupling target portion which is coupled to the supply needle 92 of the holding section 73 side. In detail, the supply port portion 95 punctured by the supply needle 92 is provided on one end surface which is on the opposite side from the handle portion 71B in the longitudinal direction of the waste liquid box 71. The waste liquid box 71 is coupled to the waste liquid tube 86 due to the supply needle 92 puncturing the supply port portion 95. Therefore, the waste liquid which is fed to the waste liquid box 71 through the waste liquid tube 86 does not leak from the coupling location. A second locking mechanism 96 is provided on the end surface bottom portion of the waste liquid box 71. When the waste liquid box 71 is caused to slide along the X-axis, the position of the waste liquid box 71 is restricted to the coupling position at which the supply needle 92 punctures the supply port portion 95 due to the first locking mechanism 93 and the second locking mechanism 96 being locked together. Therefore, the coupling between the waste liquid box 71 and the supply needle 92 will not be released by the vibration of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 or the like.
As illustrated in
A first terminal (not illustrated) is provided on the first locking mechanism 93 and a second terminal (not illustrated) is provided on the second locking mechanism 96. When the waste liquid box 71 is set in the holding section 73 and the first locking mechanism 93 and the second locking mechanism 96 are locked together, the first terminal and the second terminal are electrically coupled to each other. A memory element 97 is provided in the waste liquid box 71 in the vicinity of the second locking mechanism 96. The control section 100 is capable of accessing the memory element 97 to perform reading and writing of data in a state in which the waste liquid box 71 is set in the holding section 73. Data relating to the waste liquid amount collected by the waste liquid box 71 is written onto the memory element 97.
The control section 100 illustrated in
Next, a description will be given of the actions of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11.
When the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 receives a printing instruction, the feeding section 41 is driven and the medium M fed from the cassettes 21 is transported in the transport region FA in the transport direction Y1. The printing onto the medium M progressed due to the alternate performing of a printing action in which the liquid ejecting head 52 ejects the liquid toward the medium M while the carriage unit 50 is in the middle of moving in the first scanning direction X1 or the second scanning direction X2 to perform one scan worth of the printing and a transporting action in which the medium M is transported to the next printing position by the roller pairs 45 to 47.
As illustrated in
During a cleaning period after a predetermined time elapses from the previous cleaning time, as illustrated in
Since the waste liquid tube 86 and the waste liquid box 71 are coupled to each other due to the supply needle 92 puncturing the supply port portion 95, the waste liquid fed to the waste liquid box 71 through the waste liquid tube 86 does not leak at the coupling location. The waste liquid collected inside the waste liquid box 71 is absorbed by a liquid absorption member 79.
The control section 100 measures the liquid amount collected in the waste liquid box 71 such as the liquid amount ejected from the nozzles 55 of the liquid ejecting head 52 during the flushing and the liquid amount eliminated from the nozzles 55 during the cleaning. The measured liquid amount is written to the memory element 97 of the waste liquid box 71 at a predetermined timing. Therefore, even if the waste liquid box 71 is exchanged, the control section 100 is capable of ascertaining the waste liquid amount collected inside the waste liquid box 71 by reading the data stored in the memory element 97.
When the waste liquid amount inside the waste liquid box 71 exceeds the upper limit value, the control section 100 displays a message that it is time to exchange the waste liquid box 71 on the display section 26 of the operation panel 24 or the display section of the host device. The user that views the message exchanges the waste liquid box 71.
First, the user opens the cover 13 of the reading unit 30. When the cover 13 is opened, as illustrated in
When the sliding of a predetermined distance is finished, the engagement between the waste liquid box 71 and the guide groove 76 is released. Therefore, the movement of the waste liquid box 71 in a direction other than horizontal is possible. The user lifts up the handle portion 71B and inclines the waste liquid box 71 as illustrated in
Next, the user sets the new waste liquid box 71 in the holding section 73 using the reverse procedure from the removal process described earlier. In other words, the waste liquid box 71 is set to a state in which the end portion on the supply port portion 95 side leads and the holding section 73 is inclined diagonally and the base portion of the waste liquid box 71 is caused to engage with the guide groove 76. Subsequently, the waste liquid box 71 is set to a horizontal posture from the inclined posture, caused to slide in the second scanning direction X2 which is the mounting direction illustrated by a double dot dashed arrow B in
As illustrated in
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The holding section 73 which holds the waste liquid box 71 is disposed at a position downstream of the scanning region SA of the carriage 51 in the transport direction Y1 and above the discharge section 43. The holding section 73 is positioned above the downstream portion of the discharge section 43 in the transport direction Y1. Of the two discharge roller pairs 46 and 47 which configure the discharge section 43, the holding section 73 is positioned above the second discharge roller pair 47 which is the one on the side positioned downstream in the transport direction Y1. The holding section 73 is positioned above the second transport path K2. In the present embodiment, a space is formed inside the housing 12 above a portion of the discharge section 43 that extends to a downstream region of the scanning region SA of the carriage 51 in the transport direction Y1. The holding section 73 and the waste liquid box 71 are disposed using the space formed in the region downstream of the scanning region SA of the carriage 51 in the transport direction Y1 and the region above the discharge section 43. Therefore, it is possible to avoid an increase in the size of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 which becomes a problem when a dedicated space is provided for disposing the holding section 73.
In the present embodiment, in order to invert the medium M in which the printing of the first surface is finished in order to perform duplex printing, the second transport path K2 is provided under the first transport path K1 for transporting the medium M in the second transport direction Y2. In addition to the first discharge roller pair 46 which performs the transporting and the discharging of the medium M at a position downstream of the liquid ejecting head 52 in the transport direction Y1, the discharge section 43 is provided with the second discharge roller pair 47 which performs the discharging and the switch-back transporting of the medium M at a position downstream of the first discharge roller pair 46 in the transport direction Y1. During the duplex printing, the medium M is switch-back transported from the first transport direction Y1 to the second transport direction Y2 due to the second discharge roller pair 47 rotating in reverse after the medium M in which the first service is printed is partway discharge by the two discharge roller pairs 46 and 47. The medium M which is switch-back transported is guided to the second transport path K2. The medium M which is transported in reverse by the inverting roller pair 49 via the second transport path K2 is inverted via the outer circumference of the intermediate roller 44 and is transported toward the printing region by the transport roller pair 45 oriented such that the second surface is capable of facing the liquid ejecting head 52. The medium M in which the second surface is printed is discharge from the discharge port 15 by the two discharge roller pairs 46 and 47 is stacked on the discharge tray 22.
The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 of the present embodiment is provided with the second discharge roller pair 47 in a downstream region of the scanning region SA of the carriage unit 50 in the transport direction Y1. In other words, the second discharge roller pair 47 which switch-back transports the medium M and guides the medium M to the second transport path K2 is provided at a position downstream of the first discharge roller pair 46 in the transport direction Y1. Therefore, a comparatively wide space is formed in a downstream region of the scanning region SA of the carriage unit 50 in the transport direction Y1 inside the housing 12, that is, above the second discharge roller pair 47. In the present embodiment, using this space, the tube bundle 60 is routed in a routing path which forms the curved portion 62 which curves horizontally accompanying a displacement in the transport direction Y1.
The curved portion 62 of the tubes 61 requires a predetermined curvature radius or greater for the flow path of the tubes not to be crushed. When the carriage unit 50 moves in the entire scanning range, the curved portion 62 moves in a range of approximately half of the upper space inside of the housing 12 close to the home position HP. Therefore, the portion of the space outside of the movement region TA of the curved portion 62 forms the dead space DS. The holding section 73 and the waste liquid box 71 are disposed using the dead space DS. By disposing the holding section 73 and the waste liquid box 71 at the front portion inside the housing 12, another mechanism is disposed in the space formed at the rear portion of the housing 12. In the present example, the feeding mechanism 87 illustrated in
The holding member 72 assembled onto the front portion inside the housing 12 and formed integrally with the holding section 73 illustrated in
According to the embodiments described above, it is possible to obtain the following effects.
(1) The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 is provided with the transport section 42 which transports the medium M in the transport direction Y1, the liquid ejecting head 52 which ejects the liquid onto the medium M, the carriage 51 (an example of the head support portion) which supports the liquid ejecting head 52, the liquid storage containers 28 which store the liquid to be supplied to the liquid ejecting head 52, and the discharge section 43 which discharges the medium M onto which the liquid is ejected. The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 is provided with the holding section 73 which holds the waste liquid box 71 capable of storing the liquid eliminated from the liquid ejecting head 52 as the waste liquid. The holding section 73 disposed at a position downstream of the carriage 51 in the transport direction Y1 and above the discharge section 43.
Accordingly, it is possible to use the space avoiding the head support portion of the space above the discharge section 43 to dispose the holding section 73 which holds the waste liquid box 71. The location which avoids the head support portion above the discharge section 43 is a position to which the user has easy access as compared to the rear portion of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11. Therefore, it is possible to increase the workability during the exchanging of the waste liquid box 71 while suppressing an increase in the size of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 as much as possible.
(2) The discharge section 43 is provided with two roller pairs 46 and 47 disposed at different positions in the transport direction Y1. The holding section 73 is disposed at a position above the roller pair 47 which is one of the two roller pairs 46 and 47 that is positioned downstream in the transport direction Y1. Accordingly, the holding section 73 is positioned above the roller pair 47 which is one of the two roller pairs 46 and 47 configuring the discharge section 43 that is positioned downstream in the transport direction Y1. It is possible to dispose the holding section 73 using the space above the one roller pair 47.
(3) In the liquid ejecting apparatus 11, the second transport path K2 in which the medium M, after the liquid is ejected, is transported in the second transport direction Y2 which is the opposite direction from the transport direction Y1 is included under the first transport path K1. The discharge section 43 feeds the medium M to the second transport path K2 by transporting the medium M in reverse in the second transport direction Y2 after discharging the medium M partway in the transport direction Y1. The holding section 73 is positioned downstream of the carriage 51 in the transport direction Y1 and above the second transport path K2. Accordingly, the second transport path K2 in which the medium M, after the liquid is ejected, is transported in the second transport direction Y2 is provided. Therefore, as compared to a configuration in which the medium M is discharge in the first transport direction Y1, since it is necessary to temporarily discharge the medium M to partway in the first transport direction to a position at which it is possible to guide the rear end of the medium M in the first transport direction to the entrance of the second transport path K2, the transport path of the discharge section 43 is long in the transport direction and a space forms easily above the downstream region portion of the second transport path K2 in the first transport direction Y1. It is possible to dispose the holding section 73 using this space.
(4) The carriage 51 is capable of reciprocally moving in the scanning directions which intersect the transport direction Y1 at a position above the transport paths K1 and K2 of the medium M and the liquid ejecting head 52 moves together with the carriage 51. The holding section 73 disposed at a position downstream of the carriage 51 in the transport direction Y1 and above the discharge section 43. Accordingly, it is possible to dispose the holding section 73 using the space above the discharge section 43 without impeding the movement of the carriage 51.
Therefore, the workability during the exchanging of the waste liquid box 71 is increased and it is possible to suppress an increase in the size of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11.
(5) The holding section 73 is disposed above the discharge port 15 included in the housing 12. Accordingly, it is possible to secure a greater waste liquid storage volume of the waste liquid box 71 while avoiding contact between the holding section 73 and the medium M to be transported toward the discharge port 15.
(6) The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 is provided with the housing 12 including the opening 12A in the top portion and the openable/closable cover 13 which covers the opening 12A of the housing 12. The holding section 73 holds the waste liquid box 71 in an exposed state when the cover 13 is opened. Accordingly, since the waste liquid box 71 inside the housing 12 is exposed when the cover 13 is opened, the workability of the exchanging of the waste liquid box 71 is improved.
(7) The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 is provided with the maintenance device 81 which performs maintenance on the liquid ejecting head 52 in a state in which the carriage 51 is positioned at the maintenance position which is at one end portion of the carriage 51 in the movement path. The holding section 73 is positioned close to one side which is the opposite side from the maintenance position in the movement directions of the carriage 51 inside the housing 12. Accordingly, the movement region TA of the tubes 61 is set and the tubes 61 are routed in the movement region TA such that the dead space DS in which the holding section 73 may be disposed is formed close to one side which is the opposite side from the maintenance position. In this case, when the carriage 51 is at the home position HP, since the curved portion 62 is positioned close to the carriage 51, the curved portion 62 does not sag easily.
(8) The holding section 73 is positioned close to one side which is the same side as the side on which the liquid storage containers 28 are disposed in the movement directions of the carriage 51 inside the housing 12. Accordingly, the tubes 61 which extend from the liquid storage containers 28 may be routed to form the curved portion 62 on the opposite side from the liquid storage containers 28. It is possible to dispose the holding section 73 in the dead space DS outside of the movement region TA of the tubes 61.
(9) The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 is provided with the tubes 61 which are coupled to the carriage 51 and through which the liquid supplied from the liquid storage containers 28 disposed at a different position from the carriage 51 to the liquid ejecting head 52 passes. The bottom end of the holding section 73 is positioned below the tubes 61. Accordingly, it is possible to gain a greater height dimension of the waste liquid box 71 and it is possible to secure a great waste liquid storage volume of the waste liquid box 71.
(10) The top end surface 71A of the waste liquid box 71 held by the holding section 73 is positioned higher than the top end surface 50A of the carriage 51.
Accordingly, it is possible to secure a long height dimension of the waste liquid box 71 and it is possible to secure a great waste liquid storage volume of the waste liquid box 71.
(11) The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 is provided with the tubes 61 through which the liquid supplied from the liquid storage containers 28 disposed at a different position from the carriage 51 to the liquid ejecting head 52 passes, the waste liquid tube 86 through which the waste liquid pumped from the maintenance device 81 to the waste liquid box 71 passes, and the partitioning wall portion 78 which separates the tubes 61 and the waste liquid tube 86 from each other. Accordingly, since the tubes 61 through which the liquid supplied from the liquid storage containers 28 passes and the waste liquid tube 86 are separated by the partitioning wall portion 78 so as to not intersect each other, it is possible to avoid problems such as the tubes 61 for supplying the liquid becoming tangled with the waste liquid tube 86 when the tubes 61 move.
(12) The holding section 73 includes the supply needle 92 which couples the waste liquid box 71 to the waste liquid tube 86. The holding section 73 is provided with the attaching/detaching mechanism 90 which attaches and detaches the waste liquid box 71 with respect to the holding section 73 such that it is possible to couple and remove the waste liquid box 71 to the supply needle 92 by sliding the waste liquid box 71 in the movement directions of the carriage 51. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent leakage of the waste liquid between the waste liquid box 71 and the waste liquid tube 86 due to the waste liquid box 71 being coupled to the supply needle 92 by the attaching/detaching mechanism 90. It is possible to attach and detach the waste liquid box 71 with respect to the supply needle 92 by sliding the waste liquid box 71. Since the sliding directions during the attachment and detachment are the same as the movement directions of the carriage 51, even if the waste liquid box 71 is caused to slide, the waste liquid box 71 does not easily come into contact with the tubes 61.
(13) The tubes 61 are provided to form the curved portion 62 which is curved and doubles back in an orientation accompanying the displacement in the transport direction Y1 and to cause the formation position of the curved portion 62 to move in accordance with the movement of the carriage 51. In the attaching/detaching mechanism 90, the waste liquid box 71 is removed when the waste liquid box 71 is caused to slide in a direction toward the opposite side from the side on which the curved portion 62 is positioned in the movement directions of the carriage 51. Accordingly, the waste liquid box 71 does not easily come into contact with the curved portion 62 of the tubes 61 when removing the waste liquid box 71. When the waste liquid box 71 is configured to be removed by being caused to slide to the curved portion 62 side, it is necessary to secure enough space for a stroke when sliding the waste liquid box 71 to the curved portion 62 side inside the dead space DS. In contrast, if the configuration of the present embodiment is adopted, since it is not necessary to secure enough space for a slide stroke of the waste liquid box 71 inside the dead space DS, it is possible to secure a greater occupancy volume of the holding section 73 and the waste liquid box 71 inside the dead space DS and to secure a greater waste liquid storage volume of the waste liquid box 71.
(14) The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 is provided with tubes 61 which are coupled to the carriage 51 and through which the liquid supplied from the liquid storage containers 28 to the liquid ejecting head 52 passes. The tubes 61 include the movable portion which forms the curved portion 62 which is curved in an orientation accompanying the displacement in the transport direction Y1 and in which the formation position of the curved portion 62 moves in accordance with the movement of the carriage 51 and the fixed portion which is not movable. The holding section 73 is disposed between the fixed portion 61C and the scanning region SA of the carriage 51 in the transport direction Y1. The curved portion 62 of the tubes 61 moves by a movement amount of approximately half of the movement amount of the carriage 51 in accordance with the movement of the carriage 51. The holding section 73 and the waste liquid box 71 are disposed in the region which is approximately the remaining half outside of the movement region TA of the curved portion 62, that is, holding section 73 and the waste liquid box 71 are disposed in the dead space DS which is not used in the movement of the curved portion 62 formed between the scanning region SA of the carriage 51 and the fixed portion 61C of the tubes 61. Therefore, the holding section 73 and the waste liquid box 71 do not impede the movement of the carriage 51 and the movement of the tubes 61. The location between the scanning region SA of the carriage 51 and the fixed portion 61C has favorable user accessibility as compared to the rear portion of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11. Accordingly, it is possible to increase the workability during the exchanging of the waste liquid box 71 while suppressing an increase in the size of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 as much as possible.
(15) The holding section 73 is disposed on the outside of the movement region TA of the tubes 61 inside the housing 12. Accordingly, it is possible to dispose the holding section 73 and the waste liquid box 71 using the dead space which is not used as the movement region of the tubes 61 without impeding the movement of the tubes 61. Therefore, the workability during the exchanging of the waste liquid box 71 is improved while suppressing an increase in the size of the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 as much as possible.
(16) The holding section 73 is disposed above the transport paths K1 and K2 in which the transport mechanism 40 transports the medium M inside the housing 12 and is disposed downstream of the scanning region SA of the carriage 51 in the transport direction Y1. Accordingly, since the holding section 73 is disposed above the transport path and downstream of the scanning region SA of the carriage 51 in the transport direction Y1, the workability during the exchanging of the waste liquid box 71 is improved.
(17) The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 is provided with the maintenance device 81 which performs maintenance on the liquid ejecting head 52 in a state in which the carriage 51 is positioned at the maintenance position which is at one end portion of the carriage 51 in the movement path. The holding section 73 includes the supply needle 92 provided on one end of the waste liquid tube 86 which extends from the maintenance device 81. The waste liquid box 71 includes the supply port portion 95 which is coupled to the supply needle 92. Accordingly, when the waste liquid box 71 is mounted to the holding section 73, the supply needle 92 and the supply port portion 95 are coupled to each other. Therefore, it is possible to collect the liquid which the maintenance device 81 causes to be discharged from the liquid ejecting head 52 in the waste liquid box 71 through the waste liquid tube 86. At this time, since the waste liquid is collected in the waste liquid box 71 through the coupling between the supply needle 92 and the supply port portion 95, it is possible to suppress waste liquid leakage at the coupling location.
The embodiment may also be modified in forms such as the modification examples described below. It is possible to use forms obtained by combining, as appropriate, the embodiment and the modification examples described hereinafter as further modification examples and it is possible to use forms obtained by combining, as appropriate, the modification examples described hereinafter with each other as further modification examples.
A routing path of the tubes 61 which disposes the curved portion 62 of the tubes 61 on the anti-home position AH side with respect to the carriage unit 50 may be adopted. For example, in the embodiment, the liquid storage containers 28 are disposed on the home position HP side and the routing path of the tubes 61 is laid out in linear symmetry to a perpendicular line passing through the width center of the housing 12 of the embodiment. In this case, the home position HP and the anti-home position AH may be set to the opposite positions. In this case, the waste liquid box 71 may be disposed in the dead space DS. The home position HP and the anti-home position AH may be set to the opposite positions in the routing path of the tubes 61 of the embodiment.
In the embodiment, although the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 is configured as a so-called off-carriage type in which the liquid storage containers 28 are disposed at a different position from the carriage 51, a so-called on-carriage type in which the liquid storage containers 28 are installed on the carriage 51 may be adopted. In other words, the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 may be configured to not include the tubes 61 for supplying the liquid. In this case, even if the dead space DS of the tubes 61 is not used, it is possible to dispose the holding section 73 at a position downstream of the carriage 51 in the transport direction Y1 and above the discharge section 43. The holding section 73 may be positioned anywhere in a direction parallel to the width of the housing 12. For example, the holding section 73 may be close to the maintenance position side. In this case, the liquid storage containers 28 may be disposed on the home position HP side. The liquid storage containers 28 may use a pouring system and may use a pack format.
In the embodiment, there may be a single discharge roller pair. There may be a plurality of three or more discharge roller pairs.
The waste liquid box 71 may be caused to slide in a direction heading toward the curved portion 62 when removing the waste liquid box 71 from the holding section 73.
The holding section 73 may be disposed close to one side on the home position HP side. In this case, the routing path of the tubes 61 is opposite that of the embodiment such that the curved portion 62 of the tubes 61 is positioned on the anti-home position AH side.
The second transport path K2 may not be present. If the first transport path K1 extends into the downstream region of the scanning region SA of the carriage 51 by a predetermined length or greater in the transport direction Y1, the holding section 73 may be disposed at a position above the first transport path K1.
A single roller pair configuring the discharge section 43 is sufficient as long as the roller pair is downstream of the head support portion of the carriage 51 or the like. The holding section 73 may be disposed using the space above the single roller pair.
The discharge section 43 may be a belt transporting system instead of a roller transporting system. Two rollers in different positions in the transport directions configuring the discharge section 43 may be rollers along which a transport belt is stretched.
The attaching/detaching mechanism 90 of the waste liquid box 71 may be a system in which the waste liquid box 71 is caused to slide in the vertical direction Z1 to attach and detach the waste liquid box 71 instead of the configuration in which the waste liquid box 71 is caused to slide in the horizontal directions to attach and detach the waste liquid box 71.
The attaching/detaching mechanism 90 may be configured such that the waste liquid box 71 is attached and detached by causing the waste liquid box 71 to slide forward and backward. In this case, a configuration may be adopted in which the waste liquid box 71 is caused to slide forward and subsequently pulled out in the vertical direction Z1 during the removal. The configuration may be adopted in which a cover is provided on the front surface of the housing at a position corresponding to the holding section 73 and the waste liquid box 71 is removed by opening the cover and subsequently causing the waste liquid box 71 to slide forward.
The attaching/detaching mechanism 90 may be configured such that the waste liquid box 71 is pulled out from the side surface of the housing 12 by causing the waste liquid box 71 to slide horizontally to the opposite side from the curved portion 62 side. In this case, the cover may be provided on the side surface of the housing 12 and the end surface of the waste liquid box 71 may be exposed at the side surface of the housing 12. The holding section 73 may be a box body including an opening 73A in an orientation facing the side surface of the housing 12.
The tubes 61 may be routed in the space upstream of the carriage 51 in the transport direction Y1. In this case, the holding section 73 may be disposed between the fixed portion 61C and the scanning region SA of the carriage 51. In this configuration, it is possible to open the cover 13 to attach or detach the waste liquid box 71.
A configuration may be adopted in which the waste liquid box 71 is not exposed when the cover 13 is opened. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which when the cover is opened, the waste liquid box 71 is covered by an inner cover, the inner cover is opened, and the waste liquid box 71 is attached or detached. Since exposing the waste liquid box 71 when the cover 13 is opened makes a longer height dimension of the waste liquid box 71 possible, it is possible to increase the waste liquid storage volume. A configuration may be adopted in which the waste liquid box 71 is covered by the front member 23 and held thereunder and the front member 23 is removed to attach or detach the waste liquid box 71.
The supply mechanism 91 may be removed. In other words, the waste liquid may drop from the waste liquid tube 86 into the liquid absorption member 79 inside the waste liquid box 71 without coupling the waste liquid box 71 and the waste liquid tube 86 to each other with the supply needle 92 or the like. In this case, it is preferable to provide a waste liquid leakage prevention mechanism or a mechanism which collects leaked waste liquid.
It is sufficient for the waste liquid unit 70 and the tube bundle 60 to include a portion disposed at the same height in the vertical direction Z1. In other words, it is unnecessary for all portions of the tube bundle 60 to be at the same height as the waste liquid unit 70 in the vertical direction Z1. For example, the top end of the waste liquid box 71 may be positioned at the same height as or a lower height than the top end of the tube bundle 60. For example, the base surface 73B which is the bottom end of the holding section 73 may be positioned at the same height as or a higher position than the bottom end of the tube bundle 60.
The orientation at which the curved portion 62 is curved, that is, the orientation at which the tubes 61 curve as the tubes 61 are displaced in the transport direction Y1 is not limited to being horizontal. The orientation at which the tubes 61 curve may be an orientation parallel to the transport surface of the medium M. For example, when the transport surface of the portion facing the liquid ejecting head 52 is an inclined surface which is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to horizontal, the curved portion 62 may be obtained by causing the tubes 61 to curve at an orientation inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to horizontal.
The holding section 73 may be positioned separated in the transport direction Y1 from a position above the roller pair 47 which is one of the two roller pairs 46 and 47 configuring the discharge section 43 that is positioned downstream in the transport direction Y1. Even in this case, the holding section 73 may be positioned above the second transport path K2.
The waste liquid unit 70 and the tube bundle 60 may not include a portion disposed at the same height in the vertical direction Z1. Since there is no concern of the tube bundle 60 and the waste liquid box 71 coming into contact with each other even if the curved portion 62 of the tube bundle 60 moves as long as the positions of the waste liquid box 71 and the tube bundle 60 are different from each other in the vertical direction Z1, it is possible to freely choose the layout of the holding section 73 without being limited to the dead space DS. For example, the long waste liquid box 71 which has a length close to the entire width region inside the housing 12 may be disposed at a height above the curved portion 62.
The holding section 73 may be disposed in a region downstream of the tube bundle 60 in the transport direction Y1. In this case, if the holding section 73 is positioned in a downstream region of the head support portion of the carriage 51 or the like in the transport direction Y1 and above the discharge section 43, it is possible to use the space above the discharge section 43 to dispose the waste liquid box 71 and the workability during the exchanging of the waste liquid box 71 is improved.
The tubes 61 are not limited to the configuration of a tube bundle in which a plurality of tubes are bundled and may be configured by a single tube. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which the liquid ejecting apparatus 11 which prints in black monochrome is provided with the single tube 61. When a tube bundle is configured, there may be a plurality other than four of the tubes.
The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 is not limited to a printing apparatus which prints on paper or film as the medium, and may be a textile printing device which prints on a fabric.
The liquid ejecting apparatus is not limited to a serial printer in which the carriage unit 50 reciprocally moves in the scanning directions X1 and X2, and may be a lateral printer in which the carriage unit 50 is capable of moving in the two directions of the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction.
The liquid ejecting apparatus 11 may be a line printer. In the case of the line printer, the line head may be a multi-headed type formed by arranging a plurality of discharging heads and may be configured to include a single long line head including a plurality of nozzle rows formed by arranging the nozzles 55 at a fixed pitch over the entire region of the printing region spanning the width directions which intersect the transport direction of the medium M. In the case of the line printer, the line head corresponds to the liquid ejecting head and the line head is supported by the head support portion.
The liquid ejecting apparatus is not limited to a multifunction device and may be a printer including the cover 13 on which the reading unit 30 is not installed.
The medium M is not limited to paper and may be a flexible plastic film, a fabric, a non-woven fabric, or the like.
The liquid ejecting apparatus is not limited to a printer for printing. For example, the liquid ejecting apparatus may eject liquid-state matter in which particles of a functional material are dispersed or mixed into a liquid and manufacture an electrical wiring pattern on a substrate which is an example of the medium or manufacture pixels of a display of various systems such as liquid crystal, electro-luminescence (EL), or surface emission. The liquid ejecting apparatus may also be a liquid ejecting apparatus for three-dimensional formation in which an uncured resin liquid is ejected to form a three-dimensional object.
The technical idea to be ascertained from the embodiment and modification examples will be described hereinafter together with the operations and effects thereof.
A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a transport section which transports a medium in a transport direction, a liquid ejecting head which ejects a liquid onto the medium, a head support portion which supports the liquid ejecting head, a liquid storage container which stores the liquid to be supplied to the liquid ejecting head, an discharge section which discharges the medium onto which the liquid is ejected, and a holding section which holds a waste liquid storage body configured to store the liquid eliminated from the liquid ejecting head as a waste liquid, in which the holding section is disposed at a position downstream of the head support portion in the transport direction and above the discharge section. In this configuration, it is possible to use the space avoiding the head support portion of the space above the discharge section to dispose the holding section which holds the waste liquid storage body. The location which avoids the head support portion above the discharge section is a position to which the user has easy access as compared to the rear portion of the liquid ejecting apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to increase the workability during the exchanging of the waste liquid storage body while suppressing an increase in the size of the liquid ejecting apparatus as much as possible.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the discharge section may includes two rollers disposed at different positions in the transport direction, and the holding section may be disposed at a position above one of the two rollers that is positioned on the downstream side in the transport direction.
In this configuration, the holding section is positioned above the roller pair which is one of the two roller pairs configuring the discharge section that is positioned downstream in the transport direction. It is possible to dispose the holding section using the space above the one roller pair.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the transport section may include a second transport path in which the medium is transported after the liquid is ejected thereon in a second transport direction which is an opposite direction from the transport direction below a first transport path in which the medium is transported, the discharge section may feed the medium to the second transport path by discharging the medium partway in the transport direction and subsequently transporting the medium in reverse in the second transport direction, and the holding section may be positioned at a position downstream of the head support portion in the transport direction above the second transport path.
In this configuration, since the second transport path which transports the medium in the second transport direction after the liquid is ejected thereon is provided, as compared to a configuration in which the medium is discharge in the first transport direction, since it is necessary to temporarily discharge the medium to partway in the first transport direction to a position at which it is possible to guide the rear end of the medium in the first transport direction to the entrance of the second transport path, the transport path of the discharge section is long in the transport direction and a space forms easily above the downstream region portion of the second transport path in the first transport direction. It is possible to dispose the holding section using this space.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the head support portion may be a carriage configured to reciprocally move in scanning directions which intersect the transport direction at a position above a transport path of the medium, the liquid ejecting head may move together with the carriage, and the holding section may be disposed at a position downstream of the carriage in the transport direction and above the discharge section.
In this configuration, it is possible to dispose the holding section using the space above the discharge section without impeding the movement of the carriage. Therefore, the workability during the exchanging of the waste liquid storage body is increased and it is possible to suppress an increase in the size of the liquid ejecting apparatus.
The liquid ejecting apparatus may further include a housing which stores the liquid ejecting head and the holding section, in which the housing may include an discharge port from which the medium is discharge, and the holding section may be disposed above the discharge port.
In this configuration, it is possible to secure a greater storage volume of the waste liquid stored in the waste liquid storage body while avoiding contact between the holding section and the medium to be discharge.
The liquid ejecting apparatus may further include a housing which stores the liquid ejecting head and the holding section, and a cover configured to open and close which covers an opening in a top portion of the housing, in which the holding section may hold the waste liquid storage body in an exposed state when the cover is opened.
In this configuration, since the waste liquid storage body inside the housing is exposed when the cover is opened, the workability of the exchanging of the waste liquid storage body is improved.
The liquid ejecting apparatus may further include a maintenance device which performs maintenance on the liquid ejecting head in a state in which the carriage is positioned at a maintenance position which is one end portion of a movement path of the carriage, in which the holding section may be positioned close to one side which is an opposite side from the maintenance position in movement directions of the carriage inside the housing.
In this configuration, it is possible to dispose the holding section using the region which is approximately the remaining half outside of the movement region of the tube which moves by approximately half the movement amount of the movement amount of the carriage in accordance with the movement of the carriage. Accordingly, it is possible to dispose the holding section at a position which does not impede the movement of the carriage and the movement of the tube.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the holding section may be positioned close to one side which is the same side as a side on which the liquid storage container is disposed in movement directions of the carriage inside the housing.
In this configuration, the tube which extends from the liquid storage container may be routed to form the curved portion on the opposite side from the liquid storage container. It is possible to dispose the holding section in the dead space outside of the movement region of the tube.
The liquid ejecting apparatus may further include a tube which is coupled to the carriage and through which a liquid supplied to the liquid ejecting head from the liquid storage container disposed at a different position from the carriage passes, in which a bottom end of the holding section may be positioned below the tube.
In this configuration, it is possible to gain a greater height dimension of the waste liquid storage body and it is possible to secure a great waste liquid storage volume of the waste liquid storage body.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, a top end of the waste liquid storage body held by the holding section may be positioned above a top end of the carriage.
In this configuration, it is possible to gain a greater height dimension of the waste liquid storage body and it is possible to secure a great waste liquid storage volume of the waste liquid storage body.
The liquid ejecting apparatus may further include a tube through which a liquid supplied to the liquid ejecting head from the liquid storage container disposed at a different position from the carriage passes, a waste liquid tube through which a waste liquid pumped from the maintenance device to the waste liquid storage body passes, and a partitioning wall portion which separates the tube and the waste liquid tube from each other.
In this configuration, since the tube through which the liquid supplied from the liquid storage container passes and the waste liquid tube are separated by the partitioning wall portion so as to not intersect each other, it is possible to avoid problems such as the tubes for supplying the liquid becoming tangled with the waste liquid tube when the tubes move.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the holding section may include a coupling portion which couples the waste liquid storage body to the waste liquid tube, and the holding section may be provided with an attaching/detaching mechanism which attaches and detaches the waste liquid storage body with respect to the holding section to configure the waste liquid storage body to couple to and be removed from the coupling portion by causing the waste liquid storage body to slide in the movement directions of the carriage.
In this configuration, it is possible to prevent leakage of the waste liquid between the waste liquid storage body and the waste liquid tube due to the waste liquid storage body being coupled to the coupling portion by the attaching/detaching mechanism. It is possible to attach and detach the waste liquid storage body with respect to the coupling portion by sliding the waste liquid storage body. Since the sliding directions during the attachment and detachment are the same as the movement directions of the carriage, even if the waste liquid box is caused to slide, the waste liquid storage body does not easily come into contact with the tube.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the tube may be provided to form a curved portion which curves and doubles back toward downstream in the transport direction and to cause a formation position of the curved portion to move in accordance with movement of the carriage, and in the attaching/detaching mechanism, the waste liquid storage body may be removed by sliding the waste liquid storage body in a direction toward an opposite side from a side on which the curved portion is positioned in the movement directions of the carriage.
In this configuration, the waste liquid storage body does not easily come into contact with the curved portion. It is possible to secure a greater waste liquid storage volume of the waste liquid storage body as compared to a configuration in which enough space is secured for a slide stroke such that the waste liquid storage body does not come into contact with the curved portion and the waste liquid storage body is caused to slide to the curved portion side to remove the waste liquid storage body.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2019-046385 | Mar 2019 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20050151782 | Ishida et al. | Jul 2005 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 108859421 | Nov 2018 | CN |
| 2006-035662 | Feb 2006 | JP |
| 2018-187888 | Nov 2018 | JP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20200290381 A1 | Sep 2020 | US |
