Recording apparatus including a supporting member that supports a connecting member

A recording apparatus that performs recording by a recording head mounted on a carriage capable of scanning on a recording medium, includes a connecting member of which both ends are connected to the recording head and an apparatus main body and that moves in a bending manner, and a plate-like supporting member that supports the connecting member at the lower side in the vertical direction. In the recording apparatus, one end of the supporting member is supported on a frame member of the apparatus main body in a cantilever manner.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a recording apparatus.

2. Related Art

As an existing ink jet recording apparatus, a so-called off-cartridge type ink jet recording apparatus in which an ink accommodation member provided in an ink cartridge is connected to a recording head provided on the lower surface of a carriage through an ink supply tube has been known. In the off-cartridge type recording apparatus, the recording head is mounted on the carriage and reciprocates. Therefore, for example, the ink supply tube and a flexible flat cable (connecting member) that connect the carriage and the recording apparatus main body move irregularly while following the reciprocation of the carriage in some cases. Then, a recording apparatus that restricts irregular movement of a plurality of ink tubes in the width direction of the flexible flat cable due to the reciprocation of the carriage has been known (for example, see JP-A-2006-205741). In the recording apparatus, a configuration in which a cable holder holding the flexible flat cable is fixed to a frame member so as to hold the flexible flat cable is employed.

However, in the above-mentioned existing technique, there arises the following problem. That is, the flexible flat cable that bends with the reciprocation motion of the carriage is fixed to the frame member, so that vibration with the bending motion of the flexible flat cable is transmitted to the frame. As a result, the vibration is undesirably transmitted to the carriage. The vibration of the carriage lowers landing accuracy of ink to be ejected from a recording head mounted on the carriage onto a recording medium and accordingly, desired recording quality cannot be obtained.

SUMMARY

An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide a recording apparatus that suppresses transmission of vibration to a carriage and makes it possible to obtain desired recording quality.

A recording apparatus according to an aspect of the invention that performs recording by a recording head mounted on a carriage capable of scanning on a recording medium, includes a connecting member of which both ends are connected to the recording head and an apparatus main body and that moves in a bending manner and a plate-like supporting member that supports the connecting member at the lower side in the vertical direction. In the recording apparatus, one end of the supporting member is supported on a frame member of the apparatus main body in a cantilever manner.

With the recording apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, when the connecting member that has moved on the supporting member in the bending manner vibrates, the vibration generated on the connecting member can be absorbed by the supporting member since the supporting member is supported on the frame member in the cantilever manner. Therefore, the vibration on the connecting member is prevented from being transmitted to the carriage and recording can be performed on the recording medium by the recording head with high accuracy.

Accordingly, desired recording quality can be obtained while suppressing transmission of the vibration to the carriage.

In the recording apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, it is preferable that the supporting member include a first supporting member and a second supporting member that are arranged at different positions in the vertical direction.

With this configuration, the connecting member that moves in the bending manner in accordance with the position of the recording head is supported by the first supporting member and the second supporting member preferably at different positions in the vertical direction. This makes it possible to suppress the transmission of the vibration on the connecting member that has moved in the bending manner with change in the position of the recording head to the carriage more reliably.

In the recording apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, it is preferable that the connecting member be connected to the recording head and the apparatus main body in a state of being bent such that one end and the other end of the connecting member are made to direct to opposite directions on a vertical plane, and one of the first supporting member and the second supporting member be arranged at the inner side of a region closed by the connecting member and the other of the first supporting member and the second supporting member be arranged at the outer side of the closed region.

With this configuration, the connecting member can be supported preferably in a mode in which the connecting member is bent such that one end and the other end of the connecting member are made to direct to opposite directions on the vertical plane. This makes it possible to suppress the transmission of the vibration on the connecting member that has moved in the bending manner with change in the position of the recording head to the carriage more reliably.

In the recording apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, it is preferable that a resonant frequency of the supporting member and a frequency of the connecting member that vibrates when the carriage scans have a relationship of non-integer multiple.

With this configuration, the resonant frequency of the supporting member and the frequency of the connecting member that vibrates when the carriage scans have a relationship of non-integer multiple. This makes it possible to prevent resonance of the supporting member with the connecting member that vibrates reliably.

In the recording apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, it is preferable that the connecting member be a long flexible wiring substrate that transmits an electric signal between a controller for controlling the recording head and the recording head.

With this configuration, the transmission of vibration on the flexible wiring substrate that moves in the bending manner to the carriage can be prevented. Therefore, desired recording quality can be obtained while suppressing the transmission of the vibration to the carriage.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention is described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the scales of various members are illustrated as being different from the actual scales in order to enable those members to be visible in the drawings. In the embodiment, a printing apparatus is applied to a large-sized printer that can perform printing on print paper having a paper width up to approximately A1 size or B1 size.

FIG. 1is a view illustrating a perspective configuration of a printer according to the embodiment.FIG. 2is a perspective configuration view illustrating a state where a front lid of the printer is opened.

A printer1incorporates a paper feeding portion2, a printing portion3, and a paper discharge portion4constituting a printer main body therein, and includes a leg device5and a discharged paper receiving device6. The paper feeding portion2is provided on an upper rear portion of the printer1in a projecting manner and roll paper (recording medium) is set in the paper feeding portion2. A roll paper cover20is attached to the paper feeding portion2so as to cover the roll paper in an opening/closing manner.

The printing portion3has an upper lid32and a front lid33. The printing portion3includes a carriage30in a space partitioned by the upper lid32and the front lid33. A printing head31is mounted on the carriage30. Ink tubes41are connected to the printing head31mounted on the carriage30. The printing head31is constituted by a so-called ink jet head on which a plurality of nozzles for discharging ink to be supplied through the ink tubes41are formed.

A lower portion of the front lid33that is located at the side of a paper transportation surface is supported on the apparatus main body in a rotationally movable manner. The carriage30is supported so as to be movable along a guide shaft35provided in the main scanning direction. If a carriage driving device (not illustrated) is operated, the carriage30reciprocates while being guided by the guide shaft35.

FIG. 3is a view illustrating a configuration of main parts of the printing portion3when seen from the rear surface side of the printer1. As illustrated inFIG. 3, the ink tubes41and a flat cable (connecting member)40for transmitting a print signal from a controller100(seeFIG. 2) are connected to the carriage30and the printing head31mounted on the carriage30. The flat cable40is constituted by a long flexible wiring substrate and wirings for transmitting various types of signals to the carriage30are formed on the flat cable40. In the printer1according to the embodiment, one end of the flat cable40is connected to the printing head31and the other end thereof is connected to a connector of the controller100mounted on a housing portion (apparatus main body)1A.

A cartridge holder7constituting an ink supply device is provided at the front side of the printing portion3. Ink cartridges71of six colors (yellow, light magenta, light cyan, magenta, cyan, black) are accommodated in a holder main body70of the cartridge holder7horizontally so as to be inserted and removed from the front surface side of the printer1.

A holder cover72covering the inserted ink cartridges71is provided on the holder main body70so as to be opened and closed. Inks of the respective colors are supplied to the printing head31through the ink tubes41and used for printing on print paper.

In print operations of the above-mentioned printer1, printing is performed on roll paper fed from the paper feeding portion2on the printing portion3and the roll paper is discharged obliquely to the lower front side of the printer1through the paper discharge portion4. A cutter (not illustrated) for cutting the roll paper is provided between the printing portion3and the paper discharge portion4. When printing has been finished, the roll paper is cut by the cutter so as to be received by the discharged paper receiving device6.

Returning toFIG. 3again, ends of the ink tubes41are connected to the carriage30. Further, the ink tubes41are folded back by 180° on halfway, so that the other ends of the ink tubes41are connected to the ink cartridges71. That is to say, the ink tubes41are connected to the carriage30in a state of being bent on the horizontal plane.

In the same manner as the ink tubes41, one end of the flat cable40is connected to the carriage30. The flat cable40is arranged to lie along the scanning direction of the carriage30, and then, is folded back by 180° on halfway, so that the other end of the flat cable40is connected to the printer main body. That is to say, the flat cable40is connected to the carriage30in a state of having a bending portion42bent on the vertical plane as illustrated inFIG. 3.

With this configuration, the flat cable40can be bent easily by setting the bending direction of the bending portion42to the vertical direction in which the flat cable40is easy to be deflected due to the weight of the flat cable40itself. Therefore, the bending property of the flat cable40connected to the printing head31is improved, thereby executing scanning of the carriage30smoothly.

Meanwhile, the flat cable40and the ink tubes41connected to the carriage30are made to move while following the reciprocation motion of the carriage30along the guide shaft35. Accordingly, each of the flat cable40and the ink tubes41will move irregularly in some cases.

In particular, vibration in the up-down direction is easy to be generated on the flat cable40with the movement of the carriage30since the bending direction of the bending portion42is set to the vertical direction as described above. The vibration generated on the flat cable40may be possibly transmitted to the carriage30to which the flat cable40is connected. If the vibration is transmitted to the carriage30, there is a risk that ink landing accuracy from the printing head31mounted on the carriage30on the roll paper is lowered and the desired print quality cannot be obtained.

To be more specific, when the printing head31is located at the left end (so-called home position) of the guide shaft35, as illustrated inFIG. 3, the bending portion42is located at a position in the vicinity of the other end portion40bof the flat cable40fixed to the housing portion1A. It is to be noted that when the printing head31does not perform printing processing, the home position indicates a position at which the printing head31stands by, for example, when driving of the printer1is started.

At this time, a length from a one end portion40ato the bending portion42on the flat cable40is extended. Therefore, a portion of the flat cable40, which is connected to the upper end of the bending portion42, droops downward due to the weight of the flat cable40itself.

Further, when the printing head31is moved to the right end of the guide shaft35from the state as illustrated inFIG. 3, the bending portion42is made closer to the carriage30gradually with the movement of the carriage30since the other end portion40bof the flat cable40is fixed to the housing portion1A and a position thereof is restrained. At this time, a length from the other end portion40bto the bending portion42on the flat cable40is extended. Therefore, a portion of the flat cable40, which is connected to the lower end of the bending portion42, droops downward due to the weight of the flat cable40itself.

In this manner, in the printer1, a drooping position of the flat cable40changes with the position of the carriage30that reciprocates along the guide shaft30. Accordingly, vibration in the up-down direction is easy to be generated on the flat cable40with the movement of the carriage30as described above and the likelihood that the vibration of the flat cable40is transmitted to the carriage30becomes high.

In view of this, the printer1according to the embodiment tries to prevent the vibration of the flat cable40from being transmitted to the carriage30. To be more specific, the printer1includes a supporting plate (supporting member)45having a supporting portion that supports the flat cable40at the lower side in the vertical direction. The supporting plate45includes a first supporting plate (first supporting member)46and a second supporting plate (second supporting member)47.

FIG. 4is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of main parts around the carriage30.FIG. 5is a rear view illustrating a configuration of main parts of the printer1.

As illustrated inFIG. 4, the carriage30includes a main carriage30aand a sub carriage30b. The main carriage30amoves along the guide shaft35provided on a main frame (frame member)50. The sub carriage30bis attached to the main carriage30a. The printing head31is arranged on the lower portion of the sub carriage30b. A cable fixing portion36is attached to the main carriage30ain a state of jutting on an upper portion thereof. The cable fixing portion36is a portion for fixing the one end portion40aof the flat cable40as will be described later. Further, a tube fixing portion43is attached to the upper portion of the sub carriage30b. The tube fixing portion43is a portion for fixing the ink tubes41through which ink is supplied to the printing head31.

The above-mentioned first supporting plate46and second supporting plate47are attached to the main frame50. The main frame50is attached to the housing portion1A.

To be more specific, in the embodiment, the first supporting plate46and the second supporting plate47are supported on the main frame50in a cantilever manner. It is to be noted that the entire side surfaces of the first supporting plate46and the second supporting plate47are not required to be fixed to the main frame50and a part (for example, end portions at the center side of the guide shaft35) of the side surfaces may not be fixed to the main frame50. With this configuration, the first supporting plate46and the second supporting plate47are not fixed to the main frame50at the center side of the guide shaft35at which the flat cable40is easy to droop at the largest level with the reciprocation motion of the carriage30. Therefore, the first supporting plate46and the second supporting plate47can be made to easily vibrate with respect to the main frame50.

As illustrated inFIG. 5, the first supporting plate46and the second supporting plate47are attached to the main frame50in a state of being located at different positions in the lengthwise direction of the guide shaft35. To be more specific, the first supporting plate46is arranged at a position closer to the home position in a region on which the printing head31reciprocates. On the other hand, the second supporting plate47is arranged at a position distanced from the home position.

Further, the first supporting plate46and the second supporting plate47are arranged at different positions in the vertical direction. To be more specific, the first supporting plate46is arranged at the upper side relative to the second supporting plate47in the vertical direction.

In the embodiment, one end of the flat cable40is connected to the carriage30. Further, the flat cable40is arranged to lie along the scanning direction of the carriage30, and then, is folded back by 180° on halfway. With this, the flat cable40has the bending portion42formed by the one end portion40aand the other end portion40bbeing directed to opposite directions with each other.

Therefore, the first supporting plate46arranged at the side of the home position is arranged at the inner side of a region A closed by the flat cable40and the second supporting plate47is arranged at the outer side of the region A.

The first supporting plate46is set to have a length shorter than half of the dimension of the region on which the carriage30moves, that is, half of the dimension of the guide shaft35. With this configuration, even when the carriage30is located at the home position and the position of the bending portion42becomes closest to the first supporting plate46, the bending portion42(flat cable40) and the first supporting plate46are prevented from making contact with each other. Therefore, the first supporting plate46does not inhibit the reciprocating motion of the flat cable40.

A resonant frequency of each of the first supporting plate46and the second supporting plate47and a frequency of the flat cable40that vibrates when the carriage30scans have a relationship of non-integer multiple. Accordingly, as a constituent material of each of the first supporting plate46and the second supporting plate47, a material that has predetermined rigidity and of which resonant frequency can satisfy the above-mentioned relationship is required to be used. By using such material, the resonance of the supporting plate45with the flat cable40that vibrates when the carriage30scans can be prevented reliably.

Based on the configuration, the first supporting plate46can support the flat cable40(portion thereof which is connected to the upper end of the bending portion42) that droops downward due to the weight of the flat cable40itself at the lower side in the vertical direction when the carriage30is located at a position in the vicinity of the home position.

Further, the second supporting plate47can support the flat cable40(portion thereof which is connected to the lower side of the bending portion42) that droops downward due to the weight of the flat cable40itself at the lower side in the vertical direction when the carriage30is located at a position distanced from the home position.

Then, operations of the printer1are described. In the following description, operations of the carriage30at the time of the printing processing during which the effect by the supporting plate45as the characteristic portion of the printer1according to the embodiment is obtained are described mainly.FIGS. 6A and 6Bare views for explaining the effect by the supporting plate45.FIG. 6Ais a view illustrating a case where the carriage30is located at the position in the vicinity of the home position andFIG. 6Bis a view illustrating a case where the carriage30is located at the position distanced from the home position.

When the printer1performs the printing processing, the controller100causes the printing head31to drive and discharge ink on the roll paper to be supplied by the paper feeding portion2. The controller100operates the carriage driving device during the printing processing and causes the carriage30to scan along the guide shaft35so as to discharge ink on the overall region of the roll paper in the width direction.

As illustrated inFIG. 3, the one end portion40aof the flat cable40is fixed to the cable fixing portion36of the carriage30. Therefore, the position of the one end portion40arelative to the other end portion40bheld on the housing portion (apparatus main body)1A changes with the movement of the carriage30at the time of the printing processing. The flat cable40according to the embodiment is folded back by 180° on halfway, so that the position of the bending portion42changes with the movement of the carriage30.

For example, when the carriage30is located at the position in the vicinity of the home position, as illustrated inFIG. 6A, the flat cable40(portion thereof which is connected to the upper end of the bending portion42) is made into a state of drooping downward due to the weight of the flat cable40itself. The flat cable40that droops downward in this manner is supported in such a manner that the lower portion thereof in the vertical direction abuts against the first supporting plate46.

On the other hand, when the carriage30is located at the position distanced from the home position, as illustrated inFIG. 6B, the flat cable40(portion thereof which is connected to the lower side of the bending portion42) is made into a state of drooping downward due to the weight of the flat cable40itself. The flat cable40that droops downward in this manner is supported in such a manner that the lower portion thereof in the vertical direction abuts against the second supporting plate47.

The first supporting plate46and the second supporting plate47according to the embodiment are supported on the main frame50in the cantilever manner. Therefore, the first supporting plate46and the second supporting plate47vibrate preferably when they support the flat cable40that moves in the up-down direction with the reciprocation operation of the carriage30.

The resonant frequency of each of the first supporting plate46and the second supporting plate47and the vibration frequency of the flat cable40have a relationship of non-integer multiple. Therefore, the resonance of the supporting plate45with the flat cable40that vibrates when the carriage30scans can be prevented.

Therefore, the first supporting plate46and the second supporting plate47vibrate to absorb the vibration of the flat cable40preferably, thereby preventing the vibration from being transmitted to the carriage30.

As described above, with the printer1according to the embodiment, the vibration is prevented from being transmitted to the carriage30. Accordingly, ink can be discharged on the roll paper from the printing head31mounted on the carriage30with high accuracy, thereby capable of obtaining desired print quality.

It is to be noted that the invention is not limited to the configuration according to the above-mentioned embodiment and can be changed appropriately in a range without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the flat cable40has been described as the connecting member of which both ends are connected to the printing head31and the main body of the printer1, as an example. However, the invention is not limited thereto. To be more specific, the ink tubes41of which both ends are connected to the printing head31and the ink cartridges71provided on the main body of the printer1may be set as the connecting member and the supporting plate45may be arranged so as to support the ink tubes41at the lower side in the vertical direction.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the ink tubes41are connected to the carriage30in a state of being bent on the horizontal plane as illustrated inFIG. 3. However, in the above-mentioned case, it is preferable that the ink tubes41be bent on the vertical plane in the same manner as the flat cable40.

If the ink tubes41are bent on the vertical plane in this manner, the ink tubes41become easy to be deflected by their own weights. Therefore, vibration is easy to be generated on the ink tubes41with the movement of the carriage30but can be absorbed preferably with the effect by the supporting plate45.

The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-095853, filed Apr. 19, 2012 is expressly incorporated by reference herein.