Inkjet printer

Abstract

To provide an inkjet printer that is provided with a plurality of filters through which air discharged from the internal space of a platen passes, and that can prevent erroneous installation of filters when replacing the filters even when a common filter holding member is used as a filter holding member to which the filters can be attached. [Solution] In this inkjet printer, a plurality of filter holding members 33 to which filters 29 are attached include a plurality of filter attachment portions 33a to 33c to which filters 29 can be attached. The filter attachment portions 33a to 33c are formed with screw holes that are covered by the filters 29 when the filters 29 are attached to the filter attachment portions 33a to 33c. In the filter attachment portions 33a to 33c to which the filters 29 are not attached, screws 35 are attached to the screw holes.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to inkjet printers for printing on media. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, inkjet printers for printing on long media are known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The inkjet printer described in Patent Document 1 includes an inkjet head (recording head) that ejects ink toward the medium, a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted, a print platen that is disposed below the inkjet head and on which the medium is placed during printing, and a fan that sucks the medium placed on the print platen to the print platen and holds it there. The upper surface of the print platen is a support surface that supports the medium. The print platen has multiple suction holes (through holes) formed therein for sucking the medium.

[0003] In the inkjet printer described in Patent Document 1, a space is formed below the print platen, defined by the print platen, two wall members, a bottom member, etc. A fan is attached to the bottom member and sucks air from the space below the print platen. That is, when the fan operates, air is exhausted from inside the space below the print platen. When air is exhausted from inside the space below the print platen, the medium is sucked onto the support surface of the print platen, and the medium is held by the print platen. The fan operates when printing on the medium. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-74090 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The inventors of the present application have developed a large-sized inkjet printer that is wide in the main scanning direction. This inkjet printer includes a platen on which a medium is placed during printing, a platen support that supports the platen from below, and a suction mechanism that sucks and holds the medium placed on the platen to the platen. The upper surface of the platen is formed with multiple suction holes that suck the medium placed on the platen, and the multiple suction holes communicate with the hollow interior space of the platen. The suction mechanism includes an exhaust fan that exhausts air from the interior space of the platen to the outside of the inkjet printer.

[0006] The present inventors are considering installing multiple filters through which air exhausted from the internal space of the platen by an exhaust fan passes in an inkjet printer under development. Specifically, the present inventors are considering attaching multiple filters to the platen support portion, and are considering providing a filter holding member on the platen support portion with multiple filter mounting portions to which the filters can be attached. Because the inkjet printer under development is wide in the main scanning direction, the present inventors are considering providing multiple filter holding members that are divided in the main scanning direction.

[0007] Furthermore, the inventors of the present invention have considered using multiple common filter holding members by making them identical in shape to reduce the cost of inkjet printers. However, depending on the filter holding member, the number and mounting positions of filters may differ from other filter holding members. In other words, not all filter holding members necessarily mount filters to the same filter mounting portions. Therefore, if multiple common filter holding members are used, there is a risk of filters being installed in the wrong positions when replacing filters in the field.

[0008] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet printer that is equipped with multiple filters through which air discharged from the internal space of the platen passes, and that can prevent incorrect installation of filters when replacing the filters, even if multiple common filter holding members are used as filter holding members to which multiple filters can be attached. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, an inkjet printer of the present invention is an inkjet printer for printing on a medium, comprising: an inkjet head that ejects ink onto the medium; a platen that is arranged below the inkjet head and on which the medium is placed during printing; a platen support section that supports the platen from below; and a suction mechanism that sucks the medium placed on the platen and holds it against the platen, the upper surface of the platen is formed with a number of suction holes for sucking the medium placed on the platen, the number of suction holes communicating with the hollow internal space of the platen, the suction mechanism comprising an exhaust fan for exhausting air in the internal space of the platen to the outside of the inkjet printer, and a number of filters through which air exhausted from the internal space of the platen by the exhaust fan passes, the platen support section comprising a number of filter holding members to which the filters are attached, the filter holding members comprising a number of filter mounting sections to which the filters can be attached, the filter mounting sections having screw holes that are covered by the filters when the filters are attached to the filter mounting sections, and filter mounting sections without filters having screws attached to the screw holes.

[0010] In the inkjet printer of the present invention, the plurality of filter holding members include a plurality of filter mounting portions to which filters can be attached, and the filter mounting portions have threaded holes formed therein that are covered by the filters when the filters are attached to the filter mounting portions. Also, in the present invention, in the filter mounting portions where no filters are attached, screws are attached to the threaded holes.

[0011] Therefore, in this invention, when replacing a filter, it is possible to prevent a new filter from being mistakenly attached to a filter mounting portion to which a screw is attached by using a screw attached to a screw hole. In other words, in this invention, when replacing a filter, it is possible to prevent a filter from being mistakenly attached to a filter mounting portion to which no filter was originally attached by using a screw attached to a screw hole. Therefore, in this invention, even if multiple common filter holding members are used as filter holding members to which multiple filters can be attached, it is possible to prevent incorrect installation of filters when replacing the filters.

[0012] In the present invention, for example, the suction mechanism includes a plurality of exhaust fans, the number of which is equal to the number of filters, and a plurality of flow path forming members that form air flow paths connecting each of the plurality of exhaust fans to each of the plurality of filters, and the filters are arranged below the exhaust fans.

[0013] In the present invention, for example, the filter mounting portion has a plurality of slit-shaped exhaust holes, the filter includes a filter body and a case body that houses the filter body, and the case body is formed with elastically deformable engaging pieces that engage with the exhaust holes by snap-fitting. In this case, the filter can be easily attached to and detached from the filter mounting portion by snap-fitting.

[0014] In the present invention, the inkjet printer comprises a carriage on which an inkjet head is mounted, a carriage drive mechanism for reciprocating the carriage in a main scanning direction perpendicular to the up-down direction, and an exhaust pipe for exhausting ink that accumulates in the internal space of the platen, and if the direction perpendicular to the up-down direction and the main scanning direction is defined as the sub-scanning direction, the hollow platen has an internal bottom surface formed with an inclined surface that is inclined with respect to the main scanning direction when viewed from the sub-scanning direction, and the bottom of the platen has an ink receiving section that is located at the lower end of the inclined surface and into which ink that has flowed down the inclined surface flows and accumulates, one end of the exhaust pipe is connected to the ink receiving section and the other end of the exhaust pipe is located lower than the one end of the exhaust pipe, and the exhaust pipe is preferably routed so as to be inclined with respect to the main scanning direction when viewed from the sub-scanning direction.

[0015] In the inkjet printer of the present invention, for example, when printing on a medium such as a mesh-like fabric, there is a risk that ink that has passed through the medium will enter the interior of the hollow platen. However, with this configuration, the ink that has entered the interior of the platen can be smoothly discharged from the interior of the platen by utilizing the ink's own weight, thanks to the inclined surface formed on the bottom surface of the interior of the platen, the ink receiving section formed on the bottom of the platen, and the discharge pipe that is connected to the ink receiving section and is routed so that it is inclined with respect to the main scanning direction when viewed from the sub-scanning direction.

[0016] In the present invention, one side in the main scanning direction is defined as a first direction side, and the opposite side of the first direction side is defined as a second direction side. The bottom surface inside the platen has inclined surfaces including a first inclined surface that slopes downward as it approaches the first direction side, a second inclined surface that is disposed on the first direction side of the first inclined surface and slopes downward as it approaches the second direction side, a third inclined surface that is disposed on the first direction side of the second inclined surface and slopes downward as it approaches the first direction side, and a fourth inclined surface that is disposed on the first direction side of the third inclined surface and slopes downward as it approaches the second direction side. Therefore, it is preferable that a fourth inclined surface inclined downward is formed, a first ink receiving portion as an ink receiving portion is disposed between the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface in the main scanning direction, a second ink receiving portion as an ink receiving portion is disposed between the third inclined surface and the fourth inclined surface in the main scanning direction, and a portion of the discharge pipe having one end connected to the first ink receiving portion is routed so as to be downward as it approaches the second direction, and a portion of the discharge pipe having one end connected to the second ink receiving portion is routed so as to be downward as it approaches the first direction. With this configuration, it is possible to smoothly discharge ink that has entered the inside of the platen from inside the platen, even if the width of the platen in the main scanning direction is wide.

[0017] In the present invention, the inkjet printer includes a rotating shaft inserted into the inner periphery of a take-up roll, which is a roll of printed media, a gear fixed to the rotating shaft, a cover member for covering the gear, and a holder for rotatably holding the rotating shaft and the cover member. The cover member is rotatable relative to the holder along the axial direction of the rotating shaft and between a covered position that covers the gear and an open position that exposes the gear. Preferably, a permanent magnet is fixed to one of the cover member and the holder for holding the cover member in the open position, and the other of the cover member and the holder is made of a magnetic material, so that the cover member is held in the open position by magnetic attraction between the other of the cover member and the permanent magnet. This configuration makes it possible to easily hold the cover member in the open position. Furthermore, this configuration makes it possible to easily rotate the cover member from the open position to the covered position. [Effects of the Invention]

[0018] As described above, in the present invention, in an inkjet printer equipped with multiple filters through which air discharged from the internal space of the platen passes, even if multiple common filter holding members are used as filter holding members to which multiple filters can be attached, it is possible to prevent incorrect installation of filters when replacing the filters. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 1 from the bottom side. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of the inkjet printer shown in FIG. [Figure 4] 2 is a front view showing a partial configuration of the inkjet printer shown in FIG. [Figure 5]2A to 2C are diagrams for explaining a method of manufacturing the platen body shown in FIG. [Figure 6] 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a detection mechanism that detects that a platen body has been attached to the platen frame shown in FIG. 3. FIG. [Figure 7] 2. (A) is an enlarged view of part E in FIG. 2, and (B) is an enlarged view of part F in FIG. [Figure 8] 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of a filter and a filter holding member shown in FIG. 7. FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the filter holding member shown in FIG. 7. [Figure 10] 8 is a bottom view of the filter holding member shown in FIG. 7 with a filter and a screw attached thereto. FIG. [Figure 11] 2 is a perspective view of part G in FIG. 1 with the platen body removed. FIG. [Figure 12] 12 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of part H in FIG. 11. FIG. [Figure 13] 2 is a side view for explaining the configuration of a cover member of the take-up roll holding portion shown in FIG. 1. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0021] (Overall structure of inkjet printer) Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an inkjet printer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the inkjet printer 1 shown in Fig. 1 from the bottom side. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of the inkjet printer 1 shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a front view showing the configuration of a part of the inkjet printer 1 shown in Fig. 1.

[0022] The inkjet printer 1 (hereinafter referred to as "printer 1") of this embodiment is, for example, a commercial inkjet printer that prints on a medium 2 (see FIG. 3). The medium 2 is, for example, a long medium (sheet-like medium) such as paper, fabric, or a resin sheet. As shown in FIG. 3, the printer 1 includes an inkjet head 3 (hereinafter referred to as "head 3") that ejects ink onto the medium 2, a carriage 4 on which the head 3 is mounted, a carriage drive mechanism 5 that moves the carriage 4 back and forth in a main scanning direction (Y direction in FIG. 1, etc.) perpendicular to the up-down direction (vertical direction), and a support frame (Y bar) 6 that supports the carriage 4 so that it can move in the main scanning direction. The printer 1 of this embodiment is a large printer that is wide in the main scanning direction.

[0023] The head 3 ejects ink downward. A plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink are formed on the underside of the head 3. In other words, the underside of the head 3 serves as an ink ejection surface for ejecting ink. The head 3 is equipped with a piezoelectric element for ejecting ink from the nozzles. The carriage drive mechanism 5 is equipped with, for example, a belt partly fixed to the carriage 4, a pulley around which the belt is stretched, and a motor for rotating the pulley.

[0024] The printer 1 also includes a platen 7 on which the medium 2 is placed during printing, a platen support 8 that supports the platen 7 from below, two support legs 9 and 10 that support the platen support 8 from below, and a suction mechanism 11 (see FIG. 4) that sucks and holds the medium 2 placed on the platen 7 to the platen 7. The platen 7 is located below the head 3 and the carriage 4. The thickness direction of the medium 2 when printing is performed by the head 3 coincides with the up-down direction.

[0025] The X direction in FIG. 1, etc., which is perpendicular to the up-down direction and the main scanning direction, is the sub-scanning direction. The portion of the medium 2 placed on the platen 7 moves in the sub-scanning direction. In the following description, the Y direction in FIG. 1, etc., which is the main scanning direction, is referred to as the "left-right direction," and the X direction in FIG. 1, etc., which is the sub-scanning direction, is referred to as the "front-to-back direction." The left-to-right direction is also the width direction of the medium 2, which is perpendicular to the thickness direction of the medium 2 and the longitudinal direction of the medium 2. In the following description, the X1 direction side in FIG. 1, etc., which is one side of the front-to-back direction, is referred to as the "front" side, the X2 direction side in FIG. 1, etc., which is the opposite side, is referred to as the "rear" side, the Y1 direction side in FIG. 1, etc., which is one side of the left-to-right direction, is referred to as the "right" side, and the Y2 direction side in FIG. 1, etc., which is the opposite side, is referred to as the "left" side. In this embodiment, the left side (Y2 direction side) is the first direction side, which is one side of the main scanning direction, and the right side (Y1 direction side) is the second direction side, which is opposite the first direction side.

[0026] The printer 1 also includes a medium transport mechanism 14 that transports the medium 2 in the longitudinal direction of the medium 2, a payout roll holder 15 that holds a payout roll, which is the medium 2 wound into a roll before printing, and a take-up roll holder 17 that holds a take-up roll 16 (see FIG. 13), which is the medium 2 wound into a roll after printing. The medium transport mechanism 14 includes a drive roller and a plurality of pad rollers that are positioned opposite the drive roller and are biased toward the drive roller. The drive roller and pad rollers are positioned behind the platen 7. The medium 2 is transported sandwiched between the transport roller and the pad roller. The payout roll holder 15 is positioned behind and below the platen 7. The take-up roll holder 17 is positioned in front of and below the platen 7.

[0027] (Configuration of platen, suction mechanism, and platen support) Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining a manufacturing method of the platen body 20 shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the detection mechanism 23 that detects that the platen body 20 has been attached to the platen frame 21 shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 7(A) is an enlarged view of part E in Fig. 2, and Fig. 7(B) is an enlarged view of part F in Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of the filter 29 and the filter holding member 33 shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a bottom view of the filter holding member 33 shown in Fig. 7. Figure 10(A) is a bottom view of the filter holding member 33A shown in Figure 7 with a filter 29 and a screw 35 attached, Figure 10(B) is a bottom view of the filter holding member 33B shown in Figure 7 with a filter 29 and a screw 35 attached, Figure 10(C) is a bottom view of the filter holding member 33C shown in Figure 7 with a screw 35 attached, and Figure 10(D) is a bottom view of the filter holding member 33D shown in Figure 7 with a filter 29 and a screw 35 attached.

[0028] The platen 7 is formed in an elongated shape that is long and narrow in the left-right direction. Specifically, the platen 7 is formed in the shape of a flat rectangular parallelepiped box that is long and narrow in the left-right direction. In other words, the platen 7 is formed hollow, and a space is formed inside the platen 7. Hereinafter, this space will be referred to as the "internal space S" (see FIG. 3). The platen 7 includes a platen main body 20 on whose upper surface the medium 2 is placed, and a platen frame 21 to which the platen main body 20 is attached on the upper surface side.

[0029] The platen body 20 is formed in the shape of a rectangular flat plate that is elongated in the left-right direction. The platen body 20 forms the upper surface of the platen 7. The platen frame 21 is formed in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped box that is open at the top. The platen body 20 is attached to the upper end of the platen frame 21 so as to close the opening in the top surface of the platen frame 21. In this embodiment, the platen body 20 is detachably attached to the platen frame 21. Therefore, for example, even if the top surface of the platen body 20 becomes soiled with ink, it is possible to remove the platen body 20 from the platen frame 21 and perform maintenance on the platen body 20.

[0030] As described above, the printer 1 is a large printer that is wide in the left-right direction (main scanning direction). The printer 1 is capable of printing on a medium 2 that is, for example, approximately 3200 mm wide. The platen 7 of this embodiment includes two platen bodies 20 that are arranged adjacent to each other in the left-right direction. In the following description, when the two platen bodies 20 are to be distinguished from each other, the platen body 20 arranged on the right side will be referred to as the "platen body 20A" and the platen body 20 arranged on the left side will be referred to as the "platen body 20B."

[0031] The platen body 20 is made of an aluminum alloy. The platen body 20 is manufactured by extrusion. Specifically, the platen body 20 is manufactured by cutting an extruded material 22 formed by extrusion to a predetermined length (see FIG. 5). The length of the extruded material 22 is, for example, several tens of meters, and a plurality of platen bodies 20 are formed from one piece of the extruded material 22.

[0032] In this embodiment, two platen bodies 20A and 20B adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction of the extrusion material 22 are used in one printer 1. In this embodiment, the platen bodies 20A and 20B are attached to the upper end of the platen frame 21 so that the cut surfaces 20a between the platen bodies 20A and 20B face each other (see FIG. 3). Predetermined markings are provided on the platen bodies 20A and 20B to prevent the platen body 20A from being attached to the left side and the platen body 20B from being attached to the right side.

[0033] In this manner, in this embodiment, two platen bodies 20A, 20B adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction of the extrusion material 22 are used in one printer 1, and therefore, even if the platen body 20 is made of an aluminum alloy and manufactured by extrusion, it is possible to suppress variations in the thickness of the two platen bodies 20 attached to the platen frame 21. Also, in this embodiment, the platen bodies 20A and 20B are attached to the upper end of the platen frame 21 so that the cut surfaces 20a between the platen bodies 20A and 20B face each other, and therefore it is possible to suppress variations in the thickness of the platen body 20 at the boundary between the platen bodies 20A and 20B.

[0034] A detection mechanism 23 is attached to the platen frame 21 for detecting that the platen body 20 is attached to the platen frame 21 (see FIG. 6). Specifically, a detection mechanism 23 for detecting that the platen body 20A is attached to the platen frame 21, and a detection mechanism 23 for detecting that the platen body 20B is attached to the platen frame 21 are attached to the platen frame 21. The detection mechanism 23 is, for example, a lever-type microswitch having a lever 24.

[0035] A protrusion 25 that comes into contact with the lever 24 is fixed to the bottom surface of the platen body 20. In this embodiment, the protrusions 25 are fixed to the left end of the platen body 20A and the right end of the platen body 20B. A through-hole 21a through which the protrusion 25 is inserted is formed in the platen frame 21. As shown in FIG. 6(B), when the platen body 20 is attached to the platen frame 21, the protrusion 25 presses down the lever 24, and it is detected that the platen body 20 has been attached to the platen frame 21.

[0036] The platen body 20 has a large number of suction holes 20b formed therein for sucking the medium 2 placed on the platen 7 (see FIG. 3). That is, a large number of suction holes 20b are formed on the upper surface of the platen 7. The suction holes 20b are formed in large numbers over almost the entire area of ​​the platen 7. The suction holes 20b penetrate the platen body 20 in the vertical direction. The large number of suction holes 20b communicate with the internal space S of the platen 7.

[0037] The suction mechanism 11 includes an exhaust fan 28 (see FIG. 4) for discharging air from the internal space S of the platen 7 to the outside of the printer 1, and a filter 29 through which air discharged from the internal space S to the outside of the printer 1 by the exhaust fan 28 passes. The suction mechanism 11 of this embodiment includes multiple exhaust fans 28 and multiple filters 29. Specifically, the suction mechanism 11 includes six exhaust fans 28 and six filters 29. That is, the suction mechanism 11 includes the same number of exhaust fans 28 as the number of filters 29. The suction mechanism 11 also includes multiple flow path forming members 30 that form air flow paths connecting each of the multiple exhaust fans 28 and the multiple filters 29. That is, the suction mechanism 11 includes six flow path forming members 30.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 4, the exhaust fan 28 is attached to the bottom surface of the platen frame 21 (i.e., the bottom surface of the platen 7). The platen frame 21 has exhaust holes formed therein for discharging air from the internal space S of the platen 7. The six exhaust fans 28 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the left-right direction. The exhaust fans 28 serve to suck in the medium 2 placed on the platen 7. Note that the printer 1 may also print on a medium 2 such as a mesh-like fabric. In this case, for example, the platen body 20 is detached from the platen frame 21. Also, in this case, the exhaust fan 28 is stopped. The ink that passes through the mesh-like medium 2 lands on the bottom surface inside the platen 7 (i.e., the upper surface of the bottom portion of the platen frame 21).

[0039] The filter 29 is attached to the platen support portion 8. The filter 29 is disposed below the exhaust fan 28. The flow path forming member 30 is formed in a cylindrical shape and is disposed between the exhaust fan 28 and the filter 29 in the up-down direction. The filter 29 includes a filter main body 31 and a case body 32 in which the filter main body 31 is housed (see FIG. 8). The case body 32 is formed of, for example, resin. The upper surface of the case body 32 is open. An elastically deformable engagement piece 32a is formed on the case body 32. The engagement piece 32a engages with an exhaust hole 33d, which will be described later, formed in the platen support portion 8 by snap fitting.

[0040] In the printer 1, when the exhaust fan 28 operates, the air in the internal space S of the platen 7 is exhausted to the outside of the printer 1. The air exhausted from the internal space S by the exhaust fan 28 passes through a filter 29 before being exhausted to the outside of the printer 1. Furthermore, when the air in the internal space S is exhausted, the medium 2 is sucked onto the upper surface of the platen 7, and the medium 2 is held by the platen 7. The exhaust fan 28 operates when printing on the medium 2.

[0041] The platen support portion 8 is provided with a plurality of filter holding members 33, 34 to which the filters 29 are attached. The platen support portion 8 in this embodiment is provided with four filter holding members 33 and one filter holding member 34. The filter holding members 33, 34 are, for example, rectangular metal plates formed in a flat plate shape. The filter holding members 33, 34 are arranged so that the thickness direction of the filter holding members 33, 34 coincides with the up-down direction. The filter holding members 33, 34 form the bottom surface of the platen support portion 8.

[0042] The filter holding member 34 is disposed at the center of the platen support portion 8 in the left-right direction. Two of the four filter holding members 33 are disposed adjacent to each other in the left-right direction on the right side of the filter holding member 34. The remaining two filter holding members 33 are disposed adjacent to each other in the left-right direction on the left side of the filter holding member 34. The four filter holding members 33 and the filter holding members 34 are disposed at the same position in the front-rear direction.

[0043] In the following description, when distinguishing between the four filter holding members 33, the filter holding member 33 located on the far right will be referred to as "filter holding member 33A," the filter holding member 33 located second from the right will be referred to as "filter holding member 33B," the filter holding member 33 located second from the left will be referred to as "filter holding member 33C," and the filter holding member 33 located on the far left will be referred to as "filter holding member 33D."

[0044] The filter holding member 33 has a plurality of filter mounting portions 33a, 33b, and 33c to which the filters 29 can be attached. The filter holding member 33 in this embodiment has three filter mounting portions 33a to 33c. One filter 29 can be attached to each of the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c. When viewed from the top-bottom direction, the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c have a rectangular shape that is long in the left-right direction. The three filter mounting portions 33a to 33c are arranged at the same position in the front-to-rear direction. The filter mounting portion 33a is arranged on the right end side of the filter holding member 33. The filter mounting portions 33b and 33c are arranged adjacent to each other in the left-right direction on the left end side of the filter holding member 33. The filter mounting portion 33b is arranged to the right of the filter mounting portion 33c.

[0045] The width of the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c in the left-right direction is narrower than the width of the filter 29 in the left-right direction. The width of the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c in the front-rear direction is approximately equal to the width of the filter 29 in the front-rear direction. A plurality of slit-shaped exhaust holes 33d are formed in the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c (see FIG. 8). The exhaust holes 33d penetrate the filter holding member 33 in the up-down direction. The exhaust holes 33d are formed in the shape of elongated slits in the left-right direction. The plurality of exhaust holes 33d are arranged at regular intervals in the front-rear direction. Note that the exhaust holes 33d are not shown in FIGS. 7, 9, and 10.

[0046] The filter 29 can be attached to the lower surfaces of the filter attachment portions 33a to 33c. In the filter 29 attached to the lower surfaces of the filter attachment portions 33a to 33c, the engagement pieces 32a of the case body 32 are engaged with the exhaust holes 33d. That is, the filter 29 is attached to the filter attachment portions 33a to 33c by a snap fit that utilizes the elastic deformation of the engagement pieces 32a. Therefore, in this embodiment, the filter 29 can be easily attached to and detached from the filter attachment portions 33a to 33c. Therefore, in this embodiment, a dirty filter 29 can be easily replaced with a new filter 29.

[0047] The filter mounting portions 33a to 33c are formed with threaded holes 33e that are covered by the filters 29 when the filters 29 are attached to the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c. That is, the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c are formed with threaded holes 33e that overlap the filters 29 in the up-down direction when the filters 29 are attached to the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c. Each of the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c is formed with one threaded hole 33e. The threaded hole 33e, for example, penetrates the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c in the up-down direction. The filter mounting portion 33a has a threaded hole 33e formed in the center of the filter mounting portion 33a. The filter mounting portion 33b has a threaded hole 33e formed on the left end side of the filter mounting portion 33b, and the filter mounting portion 33c has a threaded hole 33e formed on the right end side of the filter mounting portion 33b.

[0048] In this embodiment, the filter 29 is attached to the filter mounting portions 33a and 33c of the filter holding member 33A, the filter mounting portion 33b of the filter holding member 33B, and the filter mounting portions 33a and 33b of the filter holding member 33D (see FIG. 10). That is, the filter 29 is not attached to the filter mounting portion 33b of the filter holding member 33A, the filter mounting portions 33a and 33c of the filter holding member 33B, the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c of the filter holding member 33C, or the filter mounting portion 33c of the filter holding member 33D. Therefore, in the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c where the filter 29 is not attached, there are screw holes 33e that are not covered by the filter 29. That is, in the platen support portion 8, there are screw holes 33e that are not covered by the filter 29.

[0049] In the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c where the filter 29 is not attached, the screws 35 are attached to the screw holes 33e. That is, the screws 35 are attached to the screw holes 33e that are not covered by the filter 29. The screws 35 are headed screws such as pan head screws. The screws 35 are attached to the screw holes 33e from below. The heads of the screws 35 protrude downward from the lower surface of the filter holding member 33. Therefore, in the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c where the screws 35 are attached to the screw holes 33e, the engagement pieces 32a of the case body 32 cannot be engaged with the exhaust hole 33d. That is, the filters 29 cannot be attached to the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c where the screws 35 are attached to the screw holes 33e.

[0050] The left end of filter 29 attached to filter mounting portion 33b overlaps with the right end of filter mounting portion 33c but does not overlap with the screw 35 attached to screw hole 33e of filter mounting portion 33c. The right end of filter 29 attached to filter mounting portion 33c overlaps with the left end of filter mounting portion 33b but does not overlap with the screw 35 attached to screw hole 33e of filter mounting portion 33b.

[0051] The filter holding member 34 has one filter mounting portion formed in the same manner as the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c. A plurality of slit-shaped exhaust holes similar to the exhaust hole 33d are also formed in the filter mounting portion of the filter holding member 34. The filter 29 is attached to the lower surface of the filter mounting portion of the filter holding member 34. The lower end of the flow path forming member 30 is connected to the exhaust hole of the filter holding member 34 and the exhaust hole 33d of the filter holding member 33 to which the filter 29 is attached.

[0052] (Platen frame and its surroundings) Fig. 11 is a perspective view of part G in Fig. 1 with the platen body 20 removed. Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of part H in Fig. 11.

[0053] The hollow platen 7 has inclined surfaces 7a to 7d formed on the bottom surface inside, which are inclined with respect to the left-right direction when viewed from the front-to-rear direction. That is, four inclined surfaces 7a to 7d are formed on the upper surface of the bottom portion of the platen frame 21. The platen frame 21 includes four inclined surface forming members 39 on which the inclined surfaces 7a to 7d are formed, and a fixing member 40 to which the inclined surface forming members 39 are fixed. The inclined surfaces 7a to 7d are formed on the upper surface side of the inclined surface forming members 39. The inclined surfaces 7a to 7d are arranged at the same position in the front-to-rear direction. The inclined surfaces 7a to 7d have the same width in the left-to-right direction.

[0054] The inclined surfaces 7a to 7d are arranged in this order from right to left. That is, the inclined surface 7b is arranged to the left of the inclined surface 7a, the inclined surface 7c is arranged to the left of the inclined surface 7b, and the inclined surface 7d is arranged to the left of the inclined surface 7c. The inclined surfaces 7a and 7c are inclined downward toward the left. The inclined surfaces 7b and 7d are inclined downward toward the right. The inclined surfaces 7a to 7d are gently inclined with respect to the horizontal direction. In this embodiment, the inclined surface 7a is the first inclined surface, the inclined surface 7b is the second inclined surface, the inclined surface 7c is the third inclined surface, and the inclined surface 7d is the fourth inclined surface.

[0055] The bottom of the platen frame 21 is formed with an ink receiving portion 7e serving as a first ink receiving portion, located between the inclined surfaces 7a and 7b in the left-right direction, and an ink receiving portion 7f serving as a second ink receiving portion, located between the inclined surfaces 7c and 7d in the left-right direction. That is, the bottom of the platen 7 is formed with an ink receiving portion 7e located on the lower end side of the inclined surfaces 7a and 7b, and an ink receiving portion 7f located on the lower end side of the inclined surfaces 7c and 7d. The ink receiving portions 7e and 7f are box-shaped and open at the top. The lower ends of the inclined surfaces 7a and 7b are connected to the upper end of the ink receiving portion 7e. The lower ends of the inclined surfaces 7c and 7d are connected to the upper end of the ink receiving portion 7f. Ink that flows down the inclined surfaces 7a and 7b due to its own weight flows into and accumulates in the ink receiving portion 7e. Ink that flows down the inclined surfaces 7c and 7d due to its own weight flows into and accumulates in the ink receiving portion 7f.

[0056] The printer 1 is equipped with discharge pipes 41 and 42 for discharging ink accumulated in the internal space S of the platen 7. The discharge pipes 41 and 42 are, for example, corrugated tubes made of resin. One end of the discharge pipe 41 is connected to the ink receiving portion 7e. One end of the discharge pipe 42 is connected to the ink receiving portion 7f. The other ends of the discharge pipes 41 and 42 are connected to a waste liquid tank 43. The waste liquid tank 43 is located below the one ends of the discharge pipes 41 and 42. In other words, the other ends of the discharge pipes 41 and 42 are located below the one ends of the discharge pipes 41 and 42. The waste liquid tank 43 is located at both left and right ends of the printer 1 (see FIG. 4). Tank housing members 44 that house the waste liquid tank 43 are attached to the support legs 9 and 10. Note that the waste liquid tank 43 is not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0057] The discharge pipe 41 is connected to the bottom of the ink receiving section 7e. As shown in FIG. 4, the discharge pipe 41 is routed downward from the ink receiving section 7e, then routed toward the lower right, and then routed further downward. That is, the discharge pipe 41 is routed so as to be inclined with respect to the left-right direction when viewed from the front-to-back direction. Specifically, the entire discharge pipe 41 is routed so as to be inclined with respect to the left-to-right direction when viewed from the front-to-back direction. Furthermore, a portion of the discharge pipe 41 is routed so as to be downward as it moves toward the right side. The other end of the discharge pipe 41 is connected to a waste liquid tank 43 located at the lower right end of the printer 1.

[0058] The discharge pipe 42 is connected to the bottom of the ink receiving portion 7f. The discharge pipe 42 is routed downward from the ink receiving portion 7f, then routed toward the lower left, and then routed further downward. That is, the discharge pipe 42 is routed so as to be inclined with respect to the left-right direction when viewed from the front-to-back direction. Specifically, the entire discharge pipe 42 is routed so as to be inclined with respect to the left-to-right direction when viewed from the front-to-back direction. Furthermore, a portion of the discharge pipe 42 is routed so as to be inclined downward as it moves toward the left side. The other end of the discharge pipe 42 is connected to a waste liquid tank 43 located at the lower left end of the printer 1. Note that the other end portions of the discharge pipes 41 and 42 are not shown in FIG. 2.

[0059] As shown in FIG. 12, the slope forming member 39 is fixed to the upper surface side of the fixing member 40. The slope forming member 39 is fixed to the fixing member 40 by a screw 45. The screw 45 is a headed screw. The slope forming member 39 has a through hole 39a formed therein, through which the screw 45 is inserted. The through hole 39a passes through the slope forming member 39 in the vertical direction. The upper end of the through hole 39a opens at the inclined surfaces 7a to 7d. The fixing member 40 has a screw hole 40a formed therein, into which the screw 45 is engaged.

[0060] A washer 46 is disposed between the head of a screw 45 disposed on the upper side of the slope-forming member 39 and the upper surface of the slope-forming member 39. An O-ring 47, which serves as a sealing member, is disposed between the washer 46 and the upper surface of the slope-forming member 39. The O-ring 47 is sandwiched and crushed between the washer 46 and the upper surface of the slope-forming member 39. The O-ring 47 serves the function of preventing ink flowing along the slopes 7a to 7d from leaking from the through-hole 39a to the lower side of the slope-forming member 39.

[0061] (Configuration of the winding roll holding section and its surrounding parts) FIG. 13 is a side view illustrating the configuration of the cover member 52 of the take-up roll holding section 17 shown in FIG.

[0062] The take-up roll holding unit 17 includes a rotating shaft 50 that is inserted into the inner periphery of the take-up roll 16, and a drive mechanism that rotates the rotating shaft 50. The drive mechanism includes a motor as a drive source and a power transmission mechanism that transmits the power of the motor to the rotating shaft 50. The power transmission mechanism includes a gear 51 that is fixed to the rotating shaft 50. The take-up roll holding unit 17 also includes a cover member 52 that covers the gear 51. The rotating shaft 50 is disposed so that its axial direction coincides with the left-right direction, and the rotating shaft 50 is rotatable with the left-right direction as its axial direction. In other words, the left-right direction is the axial direction of the rotating shaft 50.

[0063] The rotating shaft 50 is rotatably held by two support legs 9, 10. Support leg 9 is located at the right end of the printer 1, and support leg 10 is located at the left end of the printer 1. A gear 51 is fixed to the left end of the rotating shaft 50. The cover member 52 is formed by bending a thin metal plate of a predetermined shape into a predetermined shape. The cover member 52 is rotatably held by the support leg 10. The support leg 10 in this embodiment serves as a holder that rotatably holds the rotating shaft 50 and also rotatably holds the cover member 52.

[0064] The cover member 52 is disposed on the front side of the support leg 10. The cover member 52 is rotatable relative to the support leg 10 with the left-right direction as the rotation axis direction. The cover member 52 is also rotatable relative to the support leg 10 between a cover position 52A (see FIG. 13(A)) that covers the gear 51 and an open position 52B (see FIG. 13(B)) that exposes the gear 51. A permanent magnet 53 is fixed to the cover member 52 to hold the cover member 52 in the open position 52B.

[0065] The support legs 10 are made of a magnetic material. Specifically, the support legs 10 are made of a soft magnetic material. When the take-up roll 16 is attached to or detached from the take-up roll holding portion 17, the cover member 52 is positioned in the open position 52B. When the cover member 52 is positioned in the open position 52B, the support legs 10 and the permanent magnet 53 are in contact with each other. In this embodiment, the cover member 52 is held in the open position 52B by the magnetic attraction force between the support legs 10 and the permanent magnet 53.

[0066] (Main effect of this form) As described above, in this embodiment, the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c are formed with screw holes 33e that are covered by the filters 29 when the filters 29 are attached to the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c, and the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c to which the filters 29 are not attached have screw holes 33e that are not covered by the filters 29. Furthermore, the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c to which the filters 29 are not attached have screws 35 attached to the screw holes 33e. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the filters 29 cannot be attached to the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c in which the screws 35 are attached to the screw holes 33e.

[0067] Therefore, in this embodiment, when replacing the filter 29, the screws 35 attached to the screw holes 33e can prevent a new filter 29 from being erroneously attached to the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c to which the screws 35 are attached. That is, in this embodiment, when replacing the filter 29, the screws 35 attached to the screw holes 33e can prevent a filter 29 from being erroneously attached to the filter mounting portions 33a to 33c to which no filter 29 was originally attached. Therefore, in this embodiment, even if four common filter holding members 33 are used as the filter holding members 33 to which multiple filters 29 are attached, it is possible to prevent incorrect attachment of the filters 29 when replacing the filters 29.

[0068] In this embodiment, inclined surfaces 7a to 7d are formed on the inner bottom surface of the hollow platen 7, and an ink receiving portion 7e located below the inclined surfaces 7a and 7b and an ink receiving portion 7f located below the inclined surfaces 7c and 7d are formed on the bottom of the platen 7. In this embodiment, one end of the discharge pipe 41 is connected to the ink receiving portion 7e, one end of the discharge pipe 42 is connected to the ink receiving portion 7f, and the other ends of the discharge pipes 41 and 42 are connected to a waste liquid tank 43 located below the one ends of the discharge pipes 41 and 42. In this embodiment, the discharge pipes 41 and 42 are routed so as to be inclined with respect to the left-right direction when viewed from the front-to-back direction.

[0069] Therefore, in this embodiment, for example, when printing is performed on a mesh-like medium 2 such as fabric, even if ink that has passed through the medium 2 lands on the bottom surface inside the platen 7, the inclined surfaces 7a to 7d, the ink receiving portions 7e, 7f, and the discharge pipes 41, 42 make it possible to smoothly discharge the ink that has entered the inside of the platen 7 from inside the platen 7 by utilizing the ink's own weight.

[0070] In this embodiment, the platen 7 is formed with four inclined surfaces 7a to 7d arranged in order from right to left, and the platen 7 is also formed with an ink receiving portion 7e arranged between inclined surfaces 7a and 7b and an ink receiving portion 7f arranged between inclined surfaces 7c and 7d, and a discharge pipe 41 having one end connected to ink receiving portion 7e is routed toward the right, and a discharge pipe 42 having one end connected to ink receiving portion 7f is routed toward the left. Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the width of the platen 7 in the left-right direction is wide, ink that has entered the inside of the platen 7 can be smoothly discharged from the inside of the platen 7.

[0071] In this embodiment, the cover member 52 is held in the open position 52B by the magnetic attraction force between the permanent magnet 53 fixed to the cover member 52 and the support leg 10 made of a magnetic material. Therefore, in this embodiment, the cover member 52 can be easily held in the open position 52B. Also, in this embodiment, the cover member 52 disposed in the open position 52B can be easily rotated to the cover position 52A.

[0072] (Other embodiments) The above-described embodiment is one example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

[0073] In the above-described embodiment, the permanent magnet 53 may be fixed to the support leg 10. In this case, the cover member 52 is made of a magnetic material, and the cover member 52 is held in the open position 52B by the magnetic attractive force between the cover member 52 and the permanent magnet 53. Also, in the above-described embodiment, the permanent magnet 53 does not have to be fixed to the cover member 52. In this case, for example, a damper for holding the cover member 52 in the open position 52B may be attached between the cover member 52 and the support leg 10.

[0074] In the above-described embodiment, the number of inclined surfaces formed on the inner bottom surface of the platen 7 may be two. In this case, one ink receiving portion located between the two inclined surfaces is formed on the bottom of the platen 7, and one end of the discharge pipe is connected to this ink receiving portion. Also, the number of inclined surfaces formed on the inner bottom surface of the platen 7 may be one. In this case, one ink receiving portion located on the lower end side of the inclined surfaces is formed on the bottom of the platen 7, and one end of the discharge pipe is connected to this ink receiving portion. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the inclined surfaces and the ink receiving portion do not have to be formed on the platen 7.

[0075] In the above-described embodiment, a plurality of filters 29 may be attachable to each of the filter attachment portions 33a to 33c. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a plurality of screw holes 33e may be formed in each of the filter attachment portions 33a to 33c. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the filters 29 may be detachably attached to the filter attachment portions 33a to 33c by an attachment method other than snap-fitting.

[0076] In the above-described embodiment, the number of filter holding members 33 included in the platen support portion 8 may be two, three, or five or more. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the number of filter mounting portions included in the filter holding member 33 may be two, or four or more. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the number of exhaust fans 28 included in the suction mechanism 11 may be fewer than the number of filters 29 included in the suction mechanism 11, and the number of filters 29 included in the suction mechanism 11 may be fewer than the number of exhaust fans 28 included in the suction mechanism 11. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the suction mechanism 11 may be provided with a suction fan for sucking the medium 2 placed on the platen 7, in addition to the exhaust fan 28. [Explanation of symbols]

[0077] 1. Printer (inkjet printer) 2 medium 3 heads (inkjet heads) 4 carriages 5 Carriage drive mechanism 7 Platen 7a Slope (1st slope) 7b Slope (second slope) 7c Slope (3rd slope) 7d Slope (4th slope) 7e Ink receiving section (first ink receiving section) 7f Ink receiving section (second ink receiving section) 8 Platen support 10 Support legs (holding body) 11 Suction mechanism 16 Winding roll 20b Suction hole 28 Exhaust fan 29 Filters 30 Flow path forming member 31 Filter body 32 Case body 32a Engagement piece 33 Filter holding member 33a~33c Filter mounting part 33d exhaust hole 33e screw hole 35 screws 41, 42 Discharge pipe 50 Rotational Axis 51 Gears 52 Cover member 52A Cover position 52B Open position 53 Permanent Magnets S interior space X sub-scanning direction Y Main scanning direction, axial direction of the rotation axis Y1 2nd direction side Y2 1st direction side

Claims

1. In an inkjet printer for printing on a medium, an inkjet head that ejects ink onto the medium; a platen that is disposed below the inkjet head and on which the medium is placed during printing; a platen support that supports the platen from below; and a suction mechanism that sucks the medium placed on the platen to the platen and holds it thereon; A number of suction holes are formed on the upper surface of the platen to suck the medium placed on the platen, The plurality of suction holes communicate with an internal space of the platen, which is formed hollow, the suction mechanism includes an exhaust fan for discharging air in the internal space of the platen to the outside of the inkjet printer, and a plurality of filters through which the air discharged from the internal space of the platen by the exhaust fan passes; the platen support portion includes a plurality of filter holding members to which the filters are attached; the filter holding member includes a plurality of filter mounting portions to which the filters can be attached, the filter mounting portion has a screw hole formed therein that is covered by the filter when the filter is mounted on the filter mounting portion; The inkjet printer is characterized in that, in the filter mounting portion where the filter is not mounted, a screw is mounted in the screw hole.

2. the suction mechanism includes a plurality of exhaust fans, the number of which is equal to the number of the filters; and a plurality of flow path forming members that form air flow paths connecting each of the plurality of exhaust fans to each of the plurality of filters, 2. The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein the filter is disposed below the exhaust fan.

3. The filter mounting portion is formed with a plurality of slit-shaped exhaust holes, The filter includes a filter body and a case body in which the filter body is housed, 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the case body is formed with an elastically deformable engaging piece that engages with the exhaust hole by snap-fitting.

4. a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted, a carriage drive mechanism that reciprocates the carriage in a main scanning direction perpendicular to the up-down direction, and a discharge pipe that discharges ink that accumulates in an internal space of the platen, If the direction perpendicular to the vertical direction and the main scanning direction is the sub-scanning direction, then an inclined surface that is inclined with respect to the main scanning direction when viewed from the sub-scanning direction is formed on the bottom surface of the inside of the hollow platen; an ink receiving portion is formed at the bottom of the platen, the ink receiving portion being disposed on the lower end side of the inclined surface and into which ink flowing down the inclined surface flows and accumulates; One end of the discharge pipe is connected to the ink receiving portion, The other end of the discharge pipe is disposed below the one end of the discharge pipe, 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the discharge pipe is routed so as to be inclined with respect to the main scanning direction when viewed from the sub-scanning direction.

5. If one side of the main scanning direction is defined as a first direction side, and the opposite side of the first direction side is defined as a second direction side, then: The platen has an inner bottom surface formed with the following inclined surfaces: a first inclined surface that inclines downward as it approaches the first direction side; a second inclined surface that is disposed on the first direction side of the first inclined surface and inclines downward as it approaches the second direction side; a third inclined surface that is disposed on the first direction side of the second inclined surface and inclines downward as it approaches the first direction side; and a fourth inclined surface that is disposed on the first direction side of the third inclined surface and inclines downward as it approaches the second direction side. a first ink receiving portion serving as the ink receiving portion is disposed between the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface in the main scanning direction; a second ink receiving portion serving as the ink receiving portion is disposed between the third inclined surface and the fourth inclined surface in the main scanning direction; a portion of the discharge pipe connected to the first ink receiving portion at one end thereof is routed downward as it extends toward the second direction; 5. The ink jet printer according to claim 4, wherein a portion of the discharge pipe, one end of which is connected to the second ink receiving portion, is routed downward as it extends toward the first direction.

6. The printing apparatus includes a rotating shaft that is inserted into the inner circumferential side of a take-up roll that is the medium wound into a roll after printing, a gear that is fixed to the rotating shaft, a cover member that covers the gear, and a holder that rotatably holds the rotating shaft and rotatably holds the cover member, the cover member is rotatable relative to the holder about an axial direction of the rotation shaft, and is rotatable relative to the holder between a cover position that covers the gear and an open position that exposes the gear, a permanent magnet is fixed to one of the cover member and the holder for holding the cover member in the open position; the other of the cover member and the holder is made of a magnetic material, 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the cover member is held in the open position by magnetic attraction between the other of the cover member and the holder and the permanent magnet.

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