Patent ID: 7811014
Filing Date: 2010-10-12
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. An image recording apparatus, comprising: a carriage which is reciprocated in opposite directions; a pair of guide frames which extend parallel to each other in a parallel direction parallel to said opposite directions and which cooperate with each other to guide a reciprocating movement of the carriage, wherein the two guide frames are separate from each other in a conveying direction in which a recording medium is conveyed and which is perpendicular to the parallel direction, and wherein the carriage includes a main frame which is supported by the two guide frames such that the main frame bridges the two guide frames, and additionally includes at least two sliding members, wherein each of said at least two sliding members has a sliding surface which slides on a corresponding one of the two guide frames in each of said opposite directions, and said at least two sliding members cooperate with each other to support the main frame such that the main frame is movable relative to said each of said at least two sliding members in a perpendicular direction perpendicular to the parallel direction and the conveying direction; an image recording head which is mounted on the main frame of the carriage and which records an image on the recording medium; a driving device which reciprocates the carriage in said opposite direction; and a gap adjusting device including a control device which controls the driving device to reciprocate the carriage in said opposite directions, a first gap adjusting portion and a second gap adjusting portion which correspond to the two guide frames, respectively, and are separate from each other in the conveying direction and each of which changes, by utilizing a portion of the reciprocating movement of the carriage, a distance between (a) the sliding surface of at least one corresponding sliding member of said at least two sliding members and (b) the main frame in the perpendicular direction and thereby adjusts, in the perpendicular direction, a gap between the recording medium and the image recording head mounted on the main frame, wherein said each of the first gap adjusting portion and the second gap adjusting portion includes: wherein the control device controls the driving device to move the carriage in one of said opposite directions such that one of the two engageable portions of the first gap adjusting portion and one of the two engageable portions of the second gap adjusting portion engage one of the opposite ends of the adjusting member of the first gap adjusting portion and one of the opposite ends of the adjusting member of the second gap adjusting portion, respectively, move the two adjusting members as the respective adjusting members of the first and second gap adjusting portions, relative to the main frame and said at least two sliding members in an other of said opposite directions, and thereby increase the respective distances between the main frame and the respective sliding surfaces of said at least two sliding members in the perpendicular direction, and to move the carriage in said other direction such that an other of the two engageable portions of the first gap adjusting portion and an other of the two engageable portions of the second gap adjusting portion engage an other of the opposite ends of the adjusting member of the first gap adjusting portion and an other of the opposite ends of the adjusting member of the second gap adjusting portion, respectively, move the two adjusting members relative to the main frame and said at least two sliding members in said one direction, and thereby decrease the respective distances between the main frame and the respective sliding surfaces of said at least two sliding members in the perpendicular direction.