Image recording apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9327533-B2
Application number	US-201514864165-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 24, 2015
Priority date	Sep 25, 2014
Publication date	May 3, 2016
Grant date	May 3, 2016

Abstract

An image recording apparatus, including: a carriage configured to reciprocate in main scanning directions composed of a first direction and a second direction; and a lever member having a lever arm; and a first guide member for guiding the lever arm that protrudes into a movement region of the carriage, wherein the first guide member has an elongate hole through which the lever arm passes and which is defined by first and second edge portions extending in the main scanning directions, the second edge portion located more distant from the carriage than the first edge portion extending outward, in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning directions, from a carriage region over which the carriage passes, the second edge portion having a guide portion inclined such that its downstream end in the second direction is closer to the carriage region than its upstream end in the second direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image recording apparatus, comprising:
a carriage on which a recording head is mounted and which is configured to reciprocate in main scanning directions composed of a first direction and a second direction that are opposite to each other;
a first gear configured to rotate about a rotation axis thereof extending along the main scanning directions based on a power of a drive motor;
a second gear meshing with the first gear and slidably supported by a support shaft extending along the main scanning directions, the second gear being configured to be slidable to a plurality of slide positions;
a plurality of transmission gears parallely disposed at respective positions so as to correspond to the plurality of slide positions of the second gear, each of the transmission gears being configured to mesh with the second gear at a corresponding one of the plurality of slide positions of the second gear;
a lever member having a lever arm that protrudes into a movement region of the carriage and supported by the support shaft so as to be slidable and rotatable about the support shaft, the lever member being disposed downstream of the second gear in the first direction of the main scanning directions;
a first biasing member configured to elastically bias the second gear toward the first direction;
a second biasing member configured to elastically bias the lever member toward the second direction opposite to the first direction by a biasing force larger than that of the first biasing member; and
a first guide member configured to guide the lever arm to a plurality of slide positions of the lever member corresponding to the positions of the respective transmission gears,
wherein the first guide member has an elongate hole through which the lever arm passes and which extends in the main scanning directions, the elongate hole being defined by a first edge portion and a second edge portion that extend in the main scanning directions, the second edge portion that is located more distant from the carriage than the first edge portion extending outward, in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning directions, from a carriage region over which the carriage passes, the second edge portion having a guide portion that is inclined such that its downstream end in the second direction is closer to the carriage region than its upstream end in the second direction.

2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the carriage has a contact surface that comes into contact with the lever arm when the carriage moves in the first direction, the contact surface being inclined with respect to the main scanning directions so as to face toward the second edge portion.

3. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a bias switching member slidably supported by the support shaft and having a first inclined portion and a second inclined portion, the bias switching member being disposed downstream of the lever member in the first direction;
a contact portion provided on the lever member and configured to come into contact selectively with one of the first inclined portion and the second inclined portion; and
a second guide member configured to permit the bias switching member to be kept at a rotational position in a circumferential direction of the support shaft,
wherein the second biasing member elastically biases the lever member via the bias switching member,
wherein the first edge portion includes a plurality of stopper portions for retaining the lever arm that is biased in the second direction and a third inclined portion by which the lever arm is rotated toward the second edge portion, the third inclined portion being disposed downstream of the stopper portions in the first direction,
wherein the second edge portion includes a fourth inclined portion by which the lever arm is rotated toward the first edge portion, the fourth inclined portion being disposed at a position of the second edge portion at which the fourth inclined portion is opposed to the most downstream one of the stopper portions in the second direction,
wherein, when the lever arm is guided toward the second edge portion by the third inclined portion, the contact portion that is in contact with the first inclined portion is caused to come into contact with the second inclined portion, so that the bias switching member switches a biasing state of the lever member such that the lever arm that is biased toward the first edge portion is caused to be biased toward the second edge portion, and
wherein, when the lever arm is guided toward the first edge portion by the fourth inclined portion, the contact portion that is in contact with the second inclined portion is caused to come into contact with the first inclined portion, so that the bias switching member switches the biasing state of the lever member such that the lever arm that is biased toward the second edge portion is caused to be biased toward the first edge portion.

4. The image recording apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the stopper portions protrude from the first edge portion toward the second edge portion,
wherein the carriage is configured to come into contact with the lever arm when it moves in the first direction, the carriage having a first contact surface and a second contact surface that are connected to each other at a position that is nearer to the second edge portion than protruding ends of the respective stopper portions,
wherein the first contact surface is inclined with respect to the main scanning directions so as to face the first edge portion, and
wherein the second contact surface is inclined with respect to the main scanning directions so as to face the second edge portion.

5. The image recording apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the bias switching member is rotatable about the support shaft,
wherein the rotational position of the bias switching member in the circumferential direction of the support shaft is kept within at least a predetermined range by the second guide member,
wherein the bias switching member includes a switch arm protruding in a radial direction of the support shaft,
wherein the second guide member includes a groove into which the switch arm extends, and
wherein the groove is partially defined by a third edge portion and a fourth edge portion that extend in the main scanning directions, the third edge portion including a fifth inclined portion configured such that, when the switch arm comes into sliding contact with the fifth inclined portion, the bias switching member is rotated in a direction in which the contact portion that is in contact with the first inclined portion is caused to move toward the second inclined portion, the fourth edge portion including a sixth inclined portion configured such that, when the switch arm comes into sliding contact with the sixth inclined portion, the bias switching member is rotated in a direction in which the contact portion that is in contact with the second inclined portion is caused to move toward the first inclined portion.

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Wakakusa Keisuke
• Nishimura Yoichiro

Classifications

• B41J2/145

  Arrangement thereof · CPC title

• B41J25/001 Primary

  Mechanisms for bodily moving print heads or carriages parallel to the paper surface · CPC title

• B41J2/16508 Primary

  connected with the printer frame · CPC title

• B41J2/16532

  by applying vacuum only · CPC title

• B41J23/025

  using a single or common power source for two or more functions · CPC title