JP2010158808A - Recovery device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recovery device and an image forming apparatus which can collect ink in a gap between an ejection surface and an opening end surface of a cap member to one end side in a longitudinal direction, can shorten the cap member in the longitudinal direction, and moreover can restrict dripping of the ink from the cap member. <P>SOLUTION: The recovery device includes a rotating mechanism which rotates a suction cap 82K in a direction in which the other end side in the longitudinal direction separates from a nozzle surface 34a, and a moving mechanism which moves the suction cap 82K in a direction orthogonal to the nozzle surface 34a. After the suction cap 82K is rotated by driving the rotating mechanism, the suction cap 82K is separated from the nozzle surface 34a by driving the moving mechanism. After the suction cap 82K separates from the nozzle surface 34a, the ink adhering to the suction cap 82K is sucked and discharged by driving a suction pump 201. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recovery device for an ink discharge means and an image forming apparatus.

Conventionally, an ink droplet is dropped from a plurality of nozzles onto a recording medium facing a nozzle surface with a nozzle surface on which a plurality of ejection ports, which are ejection surfaces of a liquid ejection head, which is an ink ejection means, being formed facing downward. Inkjet image forming apparatuses that form images are known. In an inkjet image forming apparatus, the ink solvent evaporates from the nozzle, the ink viscosity at the discharge port increases, or dust adheres to the discharge port, causing clogging and normal ink discharge cannot be performed. There is a risk of image defects. Therefore, the following image forming apparatus is known. That is, the image forming apparatus includes a recovery device that recovers the ink discharge function by sucking out dust or the like adhering to the discharge port together with the ink. The recovery device has a cap member for covering the nozzle surface from below. The cap member has a recessed space opened upward. The size of the opening is a size that covers a region where the discharge port is formed on the nozzle surface. A suction hole is formed in the bottom surface of the recessed space that faces the nozzle surface through the opening. The suction hole is connected to a suction pump as suction means. And the contacting / separating means for moving the cap member between a position where the opening end surface around the opening is in close contact with the nozzle surface and sealing the region and a position where the nozzle surface is opened by retreating from the position. have.
When recovering the ink ejection function by the recovery device, the air in the internal space formed by the nozzle surface and the recessed space of the cap member is sucked in a state where the opening end surface is in close contact with the nozzle surface and the region is sealed. Aspirate with a pump. As a result, dust and the like attached to the ejection port is forcibly sucked and discharged together with the ink from the ejection port, and the ink ejection function is recovered.

  The ink sucked out by the suction of the suction pump drops on the bottom surface of the cap member and flows through the bottom surface toward the suction hole. When the ink sucked out from the ejection port drops onto the ink flowing through the bottom surface, the ink scatters and adheres to the end of the nozzle surface or the close contact portion between the nozzle surface and the cap member. When the suction operation is finished and the cap member starts to be separated from the nozzle surface, a slight gap is generated between the nozzle surface and the opening end surface. Then, the ink adhering to the end of the close contact portion between the nozzle surface and the opening end surface enters a slight gap between the nozzle surface and the opening end surface due to capillary action, and between the nozzle surface and the opening end surface of the cap member. An ink film is formed on the substrate. As the cap member is further separated, the ink film is stretched and aggregated at a position where the cap member has an open end surface. When the cap member is further moved, the ink film is separated from the nozzle surface, and hemispherical ink droplets remain at a position where the opening end surface is located. Due to the downsizing of the apparatus, the distance between the discharge port and the contact portion is very short. Therefore, when the opening end surface of the cap member is brought into close contact with the nozzle surface during the next recovery operation, the hemispherical ink droplets (hereinafter referred to as the previous ink droplet) adhering to the opening end surface during the previous recovery operation are crushed. The ink may flow into the ejection port.

  In the color ink jet image forming apparatus, the recovery operation is performed in order of the Y liquid discharge head, the M liquid discharge head, the C liquid discharge head, and the K liquid discharge head. For this reason, for example, when the Y color ink attached to the opening end face of the cap member during the recovery operation of the Y liquid discharging head is brought into close contact with the nozzle face of the M liquid discharging head, the Y color ink The ink droplets may be crushed and enter the ejection port of the M liquid ejection head. As a result, color mixing may occur.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an image forming apparatus in which a suction hole is provided on one end side in the longitudinal direction of a cap member, and the cap member is rotated from the suction hole side as a center of rotation so that the cap member is brought into contact with and separated from the nozzle surface. Is described. By rotating the cap member away from the nozzle surface, when separating the cap member from the nozzle surface, the cap member is sequentially separated from the nozzle surface from the other end side in the longitudinal direction far from the suction hole. As a result, the ink that has entered the gap between the nozzle face and the opening end face aggregates in a narrower gap between the nozzle face and the opening end face due to capillary action or the like when the cap member is separated from the nozzle face. As a result, the ink that has entered the gap between the nozzle face and the opening end face is collected on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the opening end face that is closer to the suction hole with the narrowest gap.

  As described in Patent Document 1, by rotating the cap member away from the nozzle surface, the ink that has entered the gap between the nozzle surface and the opening end surface can be collected on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the opening end surface. Thus, if the contact portion between the nozzle surface on one end side in the longitudinal direction and the cap member is kept away from the discharge port, the cap member's opening end surface is brought into close contact with the nozzle surface of the next liquid discharge head. Even if the previous ink droplet attached to one end side in the longitudinal direction of the opening end face is crushed, it is suppressed from flowing into the nozzle.

JP 2003-94670 A

  However, in the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to keep the contact portion between the nozzle surface on one end side in the longitudinal direction and the cap member away from the ejection port, and the liquid ejection head and the cap member become longer in the longitudinal direction. There was a problem that.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1, since the cap member is contacted and separated by rotating the cap member, the rotation range of the cap member is increased. In the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1, since the nozzle surface is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, the cap member does not significantly tilt when the cap member is completely separated from the nozzle surface. However, when the nozzle surface is parallel to the horizontal plane, when the cap member is completely separated from the nozzle surface, the cap member is largely inclined toward the other end in the longitudinal direction of the cap member. As a result, the ink collected on one end in the longitudinal direction of the opening end surface of the cap member flows to the other end in the longitudinal direction of the cap member, and finally the ink is dripped from the other end in the longitudinal direction of the cap member to the outside. There is a risk of falling.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to collect ink that has entered the gap between the ejection surface and the opening end surface of the cap member at one end in the longitudinal direction. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recovery device and an image forming apparatus that can be shortened and can prevent ink from dripping from a cap member.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 has an ejection port for ejecting ink, and ink that ejects ink from the ejection port toward the recording medium to form an image on the recording medium A recovery device comprising a cap member for capping the discharge surface on which the discharge port of the discharge unit is formed, and a suction unit connected to a suction hole provided in the cap member and sucking ink from the discharge port. The suction hole is provided on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the cap member, and a rotation mechanism that rotates the cap member in a direction in which the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the cap member is separated from the discharge surface; and the cap member And a moving mechanism for moving the cap member in a direction perpendicular to the discharge surface, and driving the rotating mechanism to rotate the cap member, and then driving the moving mechanism to drive the key. A contacting / separating means for separating the nip member from the ejection surface, and a control means for controlling the suction means to be driven and the ink attached to the cap member to be sucked and discharged after the cap member is separated from the ejection surface. It is characterized by comprising.
The invention according to claim 2 is the recovery device according to claim 1, further comprising pressure detecting means for detecting a pressure in the cap member when the cap member capping the discharge surface, After the ink is sucked from the ejection port by the suction unit, the cap member is separated when the pressure value detected by the pressure detection unit reaches a set value.
The invention according to claim 3 is the recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the cap member has an on-off valve capable of communicating with the atmosphere, and the contact / separation means is provided after the ink is sucked from the discharge port by the suction means. The cap member separation operation is started after the on-off valve is switched from the closed state to the open state.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the recovery device of the first aspect, the recovery device further includes a counting unit that counts an elapsed time after the ink is sucked from the ejection port by the suction unit, and the contact / separation unit is the It is characterized in that the cap member separating operation is started when the set time has elapsed.
The invention according to claim 5 is the recovery device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the holding member that holds the cap member and the biasing member that biases the cap member held by the holding member toward the discharge surface. And the rotation mechanism is configured to rotate the holding member.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the recovery device according to any of the first to fifth aspects, the discharge surface is parallel to a horizontal plane.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink ejection means having an ejection port for ejecting ink, and ejecting ink from the ejection port toward the recording medium to form an image on the recording medium, and the liquid In an image forming apparatus provided with a recovery means for recovering the performance of the ejection means, the recovery device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is used as the recovery means.

According to the present invention, the rotation mechanism is driven to rotate the other end in the longitudinal direction of the cap member away from the discharge surface, and then the movement mechanism is driven to separate the cap member from the discharge surface. The following effects can be obtained. That is, first, the cap member is rotated to slightly tilt the cap member with respect to the ejection surface. When the cap member is tilted slightly with respect to the discharge surface, a slight gap is formed between the cap member and the discharge surface, and this slight gap is formed at the end of the contact portion between the discharge surface and the opening end surface of the cap member. The adhering ink enters by capillary action to form an ink film between the ejection surface and the opening end surface of the cap member. Next, the cap member is moved in a direction orthogonal to the discharge surface by the moving mechanism to separate the cap member from the discharge surface. At this time, since the cap member is inclined in a direction in which the other end in the longitudinal direction of the cap member is separated from the discharge surface with respect to the discharge surface, the gap between the opening end surface and the discharge surface is the other end in the longitudinal direction of the cap member. It becomes small in order. Therefore, when the cap member is moved in the direction orthogonal to the ejection surface by the moving mechanism and the cap member is separated from the ejection surface, the ink film formed in the gap between the ejection surface and the opening end surface of the cap member is Due to capillary action, the cap member moves to one end side in the longitudinal direction of the cap member, and finally gathers on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the cap member.
When the cap member separating operation by the moving mechanism is completed, the suction unit is driven to suck and discharge ink droplets attached to the cap member. As a result, the ink droplets collected on the opening end surface on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the cap member are sucked from the suction holes, and the ink droplets on the opening end surface on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the cap member are removed. And according to this invention, the suction hole is provided in the longitudinal direction one end side of the cap member, and the distance of the opening end surface and suction hole of the longitudinal direction one end side is near. Therefore, a suction force sufficient to suck ink droplets acts on the opening end surface on one end side in the longitudinal direction, and the ink droplets collected on the opening end surface on one end side in the longitudinal direction can be reliably sucked. In this way, since the ink droplets on the opening end surface on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the cap member are removed, when the cap member is brought into contact with the ejection surface of the next liquid ejection head, the opening end surface on the one end side in the longitudinal direction of the cap member is removed. There are no ink drops. Therefore, the previous ink droplet does not flow into the ejection port. As a result, it is not necessary to keep the contact portion between the ejection surface on one end in the longitudinal direction and the cap member away from the ejection port so that the previous ink droplet does not flow into the ejection port, and the ejection surface and the cap member on one end in the longitudinal direction It is possible to bring the close contact portion close to the discharge port. Therefore, the cap member can be shortened in the longitudinal direction as compared with the one described in Patent Document 1.
The cap member is separated from the discharge surface on one end side in the longitudinal direction by the turning mechanism and the moving mechanism. Therefore, the cap member is rotated by the turning mechanism at the other end in the longitudinal direction of the cap member. A slight tilt to the side is sufficient. Therefore, the inclination of the cap member at the time of separation is smaller than that of the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1 in which the cap member is rotated to completely separate the cap member from the ejection surface. As a result, even if the discharge surface is an ink discharge means parallel to the horizontal plane, the ink collected on the opening end surface on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the cap member flows to the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the cap member, and the cap It can suppress dripping from a member.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to collect ink attached to the close contact portion between the ejection surface and the cap member on the opening end surface on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the cap member. In addition, the cap member can be shortened in the longitudinal direction as compared with that described in Patent Document 1, and ink dripping from the cap member can be suppressed.

1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of an ink jet printer as an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. View of the image forming unit of the inkjet printer as viewed from above Side surface explanatory drawing of the moving mechanism of the suction cap in the inkjet printer. The schematic block diagram of a cap cam. Side surface explanatory drawing of the rotation mechanism of the suction cap in the inkjet printer. The schematic block diagram which shows the conventional recovery apparatus. The figure explaining the separation | spacing operation | movement of a suction cap. The schematic block diagram of the recovery apparatus of the modification 1. FIG. The schematic block diagram of the recovery apparatus of the modification 2. FIG. The control block diagram in an inkjet printer. The perspective view of a suction cap.

Hereinafter, an ink jet printer (hereinafter referred to as a printer) will be described as an embodiment of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of the printer according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a view of the image forming unit as viewed from above.
The printer includes a carriage 33 movably held in a direction transverse to the paper conveyance direction (hereinafter referred to as a main scanning line direction) by a driving unit (not shown), and a paper feed tray 2 for stacking papers as recording media. And a paper discharge tray 3 for stocking paper on which an image is formed.

  The carriage 33 is slidably held in the main scanning direction by a guide rod 31 which is a guide member horizontally mounted on the left and right side plates 21A and 21B constituting the frame 21 and a stay 32, as shown in FIG. Further, the main scanning motor 210 moves and scans in the direction indicated by the arrow (carriage main scanning direction) via the timing belt 211.

  The carriage 33 is provided with liquid discharge heads 34Y, 34M, 34C, 34K as four ink discharge means for discharging ink droplets of each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). (When not distinguished, it is called “recording head 34”). Each of the liquid discharge heads 34Y, 34M, 34C, and 34K is provided with a plurality of nozzle holes that are arranged in a direction crossing the main scanning direction and serve as discharge ports. Each of the liquid discharge heads 34Y, 34M, 34C, 34K is attached to the carriage 33 so that the ink droplet discharge direction is downward.

  As the liquid discharge heads 34Y, 34M, 34C, and 34K, piezoelectric actuators such as piezoelectric elements, thermal actuators that use phase change due to liquid film boiling using electrothermal transducers such as heating resistors, and metal phases due to temperature changes A shape memory alloy actuator using a change, an electrostatic actuator using an electrostatic force, or the like provided as pressure generating means for generating a pressure for discharging a droplet can be used. Further, the liquid discharge head may have a configuration in which a plurality of nozzle rows in which a plurality of nozzle holes are arranged in a direction crossing the main scanning direction are provided. Further, as a configuration in which a plurality of nozzle rows are provided and droplets of different colors are ejected from each nozzle row, a configuration in which ink droplets of each color are ejected by one liquid ejection head may be employed.

  The carriage 33 is equipped with four sub tanks 35Y, 35M, 35C, and 35K for supplying inks of colors corresponding to the liquid discharge heads 34Y, 34M, 34C, and 34K of the respective colors. The sub tanks 35Y, 35M, 35C, and 35K for each color are supplementarily supplied with ink of each color from the ink cartridges 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K mounted on the cartridge loading unit 4 via the ink supply tube 36, respectively. . The cartridge loading section 4 is provided with a supply pump unit 24 for feeding the ink in the ink cartridge 10, and the ink supply tube 36 is attached to the rear plate 21 </ b> C constituting the frame 21 in the middle of turning. It is held by the locking member 25.

A maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 including a recovery device as a recovery means for maintaining and recovering the state of the ink discharge port of the recording head 34 is disposed in a non-printing area on one side (right side in the drawing) of the carriage 33 in the scanning direction. ing.
The maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 includes cap members (hereinafter referred to as “caps”) 82Y, 82M, 82C, and 82K for capping each nozzle surface of the liquid discharge heads 34Y, 34M, 34C, and 34K. A cap 82 "), a wiper blade 83 which is a blade member for wiping the nozzle surface, and a droplet for performing an idle discharge for discharging a droplet which does not contribute to recording in order to discharge the thickened ink. An empty discharge receiver 84 for receiving the air is provided. In addition, a suction pump (not shown) is connected to the cap 82K disposed on the print area side, and ink is sucked from the nozzle holes by a suction pump (not shown) while the recording head 34 is capped with the cap 82K. A recovery operation for discharging viscous ink and bubbles is performed. In other words, the cap 82K has a function as a suction cap for performing ink suction from the recording head 34 (liquid discharge heads 34Y, 34M, 34C, 34K) in addition to the function of a moisture retention cap for holding the liquid discharge head 34K. Have. The other caps 82 </ b> C to 82 </ b> Y have only a function of a moisture retention cap that performs moisture retention of the liquid ejection heads 34 </ b> C to 34 </ b> Y. Hereinafter, when it is desired to distinguish the cap 82K from the other caps 82C to 82Y, the cap 82K is referred to as a suction cap 82K. The waste liquid generated by the recovery operation by the maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 (the sucked ink, the ink attached to the wiper blade 83 and removed by the wiper cleaner (not shown), and the ink discharged in the first idle discharge receiver 84) is shown in the figure. It is discharged into the waste liquid tank and stored.

  Further, in the non-printing area on the other side in the scanning direction of the carriage 33 (left side in the figure), the liquid used when performing the idle ejection for ejecting the liquid droplets that do not contribute to the recording in order to eject the ink having increased the viscosity during the recording or the like. A second idle discharge receiver 88 for receiving droplets is disposed, and the second idle discharge receiver 88 is provided with four openings 89 along the nozzle row direction of the recording head 34.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a paper feed unit is provided that separates and feeds the papers 42 stacked on the paper stacking unit (pressure plate) 41 of the paper feed tray 2 one by one. The sheet feeding unit includes a half-moon roller (sheet feeding roller) 43 and a separation pad 44 made of a material having a large friction coefficient and facing the sheet feeding roller 43. The separation pad 44 is urged toward the sheet feeding roller 43 side. Has been.

  The paper 42 fed from the paper feed unit is conveyed by a conveyance belt by a first guide member 45, a counter roller 46, a second guide member 47, and a pressing member 48 having a tip pressure roller 49. It is conveyed to.

  The conveyance belt 51 is an endless belt and is stretched between the conveyance roller 52 and the tension roller 53. The conveyance belt 51 rotates in the belt conveyance direction when the conveyance roller 52 is rotationally driven by a sub-scanning motor (not shown). The conveyance roller 52 also has a role of an earth roller in addition to the role of rotating the conveyance belt, and is in contact with the middle resistance layer (back layer) of the conveyance belt 51 and is grounded.

  The transport belt 51 is, for example, a surface layer that is a sheet adsorbing surface formed of a pure resin material having a thickness of about 40 [μm] that is not subjected to resistance control, for example, ETFE pure material, and a resistance material made of carbon that is the same material as the surface layer. And a controlled back layer (medium resistance layer, ground layer).

  The surface of the conveyor belt 51 is charged by a charging roller 56 that is a charging unit. The charging roller 56 is disposed so as to contact the surface layer of the conveyor belt 51 and rotate following the rotation of the conveyor belt 51, and applies a predetermined pressing force to both ends of the shaft as a pressing force.

  In addition, a scanning guide member 57 is disposed on the back side of the conveyance belt 51 so as to correspond to a printing area by the recording head 34. The scanning guide member 57 has an upper surface that protrudes toward the recording head 34 from the tangent line of the two rollers (the conveyance roller 52 and the tension roller 53) that support the conveyance belt 51, thereby providing high-precision flatness of the conveyance belt 51. I try to keep it.

  As a paper discharge unit for discharging the paper 42 on which an image is formed by the recording head 34, a separation claw 61 for separating the paper 42 from the conveying belt 51, a paper discharge roller 62, a paper discharge roller 63, A paper discharge tray 3 is provided. Here, the height from between the paper discharge roller 62 and the paper discharge roller 63 to the paper discharge tray 3 is increased to some extent in order to increase the amount that can be stored in the paper discharge tray 3.

  The printer is also detachably mounted with a duplex unit 71 serving as a recording medium reversing unit. The duplex unit 71 takes in the paper 42 returned by the reverse rotation of the conveyance belt 51, reverses it, and feeds it again between the counter roller 46 and the conveyance belt 51. The upper surface of the duplex unit 71 is a manual feed tray 72.

  When image data, which is image information, is received from an external device such as a personal computer (not shown) via a communication cable or the like, the half-moon roller 43 rotates and the sheet 42 is separated and fed from the sheet feed tray 2. The fed paper 42 is guided substantially vertically upward by the first guide member 45, sandwiched between the transport belt 51 and the counter roller 46, and further guided at the leading end by the second guide member 47. The tip pressing roller 49 is pressed against the conveyor belt 51 to change the conveyance direction by approximately 90 °. At this time, a positive voltage and a negative voltage are alternately applied to the charging roller 56 from the AC bias supply unit by a control unit (not shown), that is, an alternating voltage is applied. As a result, the charging roller 56 is alternately charged in a charging voltage pattern in which the conveyor belt 51 alternates, that is, in a sub-scanning direction that is the circumferential direction, and plus and minus are alternately charged in a band shape with a predetermined width. When the paper 42 is fed onto the positively and negatively charged transport belt 51, the paper 42 is attracted to the transport belt 51, and the paper 42 is transported in the sub-scanning direction by the circular movement of the transport belt 51. When the paper 42 is transported to a position facing the recording head 34 of the carriage 33, the circular movement of the transport belt 51 is stopped.

  Before the image signal is input, the carriage 33 is positioned on the maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 shown in FIG. 2 (hereinafter referred to as a home position). Before the image signal is input, the carriage 33 is positioned at the home position, and the liquid discharge heads 34Y, 34M, 34C, 34K abut against the cap members 82Y, 82M, 82C, 82K to keep the discharge ports in a wet state. Yes. When the image signal is input, the cap members 82Y, 82M, 82C, 82K are lowered and the carriage 33 starts to move in the main scanning line direction. Each time the liquid ejection heads 34Y, 34M, 34K corresponding to the respective colors are positioned on the first idle ejection receptacle 84, the movement of the carriage 33 is stopped, and several drops of ink are ejected toward the first idle ejection receptacle 84. To do. When the idle ejection of the liquid ejection heads 34Y, 34M, 34C, 34K for each color is completed, the carriage 33 starts to move in the main scanning line direction again. Then, while the carriage 33 moves on the paper 42 in the main scanning line direction according to the image signal, a predetermined ink liquid is ejected to a predetermined position of the stopped paper 42 so that the recording head 34 can record on the paper. An image for the range in the line direction is formed on the paper 42. When an image for a predetermined range in the sub-scanning line direction is formed, the carriage 33 is moved to the position of the second idle discharge receiver 88 as necessary, and several drops of droplets are ejected to the second idle discharge receiver 88. Further, the conveyor belt 51 is driven for a predetermined time, and the paper 42 is moved in the paper discharge direction by a predetermined range in the sub-scanning line direction and stopped. When the movement of the transport belt 51 is stopped, the carriage 33 forms an image for one line while moving on the paper 42 in the main scanning line direction according to the image signal, as described above. Such a process is repeated a predetermined number of times to print a desired image on the paper 42. When an image is formed on a sheet by repeatedly conveying and stopping the sheet 42, the sheet 42 is electrostatically attracted to the conveyance belt 51, and therefore the sheet 42 is stably conveyed to a position facing the recording head 34. can do. Further, since the paper 42 is pressed against the transport belt 51 by the tip pressure roller 49 or the like, the paper 42 can be reliably electrostatically adsorbed to the transport belt 51. When the paper 42 on which the desired image is formed receives an image data end signal or a signal that the trailing edge of the paper 42 reaches the recording area, the image formation is completed and the paper 42 is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 3. When the image formation is completed, the carriage 33 is moved again to the home position on the maintenance / recovery mechanism 81. Then, the cap 82 is raised to moisturize the nozzles of the recording head 34.

For example, when the printer is provided with a selection unit such as a cleaning mode selection button in advance, and the user looks at the printed image and confirms the deterioration of the image, the cleaning mode is executed by the user. The cleaning mode is executed when the number of prints exceeds a certain number.
When the cleaning mode is executed, the carriage 33 is moved so that the liquid discharge head 34K is positioned on the suction cap 82K. Next, the suction cap 82K is raised and brought into contact with the liquid discharge head 34K, and bubbles and dust adhering to the discharge port are sucked out together with ink by a suction pump (not shown). When the suction operation ends, the suction cap 82K is lowered and the wiper blade 44 is raised at the same time. When the wiper blade 83 is raised, the carriage 33 is moved, and the liquid enemy discharge head 34K is rubbed against the wiper blade 83. By the movement of the carriage 33, the wiper blade 83 removes ink droplets that are rubbed and attached to the K-color liquid ejection head 34K. After removing the ink droplets from the liquid ejection head 34K, the wiper blade 83 is lowered. When the wiper blade 83 is lowered, the carriage 33 is moved so that the liquid discharge head 34K is positioned on the first idle discharge receiver 83. When the liquid discharge head 34 </ b> K is positioned on the first idle discharge receiver 83, idle discharge is performed on the first idle discharge receiver 83. Such a series of operations is similarly performed on the liquid discharge heads 34C, 34M, and 34Y of the other colors, so that the discharge failure of the liquid discharge heads 34Y, 34M, 34K of each color and the liquid discharge heads of the respective colors are performed. The attached ink droplet can be cleaned.

Hereinafter, a recovery device as a recovery means, which is a characteristic point of the present embodiment, will be described.
The recovery device includes a suction cap 82K, a movement mechanism (to be described later) that moves the suction cap 82K in a vertical direction (a direction orthogonal to the nozzle surface), a rotation mechanism (to be described later) that rotates the suction cap 82K, and a suction unit (not shown). Equipped with a suction pump.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory side view of the moving mechanism of the suction cap 82K.
The moving mechanism of the suction cap 82K includes a cap holder 112A that is a suction cap holding mechanism. The cap holder 112A is interposed between a holder 151 that is a holding member that holds the suction cap 82K so as to be movable up and down, and is interposed between the bottom surface of the holder 151 and the bottom portion of the suction cap 82K. The nozzles have two springs 152 as biasing means for biasing the vicinity of both ends upward. In addition, it has a slider 151 that holds the holder 151 and is supported by the frame 111 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The suction cap 82K has guide pins 150a provided at both ends, and these guide pins 150a are inserted into guide grooves (not shown) of the holder 151 so as to be movable up and down. A guide shaft 150b is provided at the center of the bottom surface of the suction cap 82K, and is inserted through the holder 151 so as to be movable up and down. Accordingly, the suction cap 82K is attached to the holder 151 so as to be movable up and down. The slider 153 is provided with two guide pins 154 and 155 at both ends in the sub-scanning direction (left and right ends in the figure). These guide pins 154 and 155 extend in the vertical direction (not shown) formed on the frame 111. It is slidably fitted in the existing guide groove. A cam pin 157 is provided at a substantially central portion of the lower surface of the slider 153, and the cam pin 157 is fitted in the cam groove 122a of the cap cam 122A as shown in FIG. The cap cam 122A is fixed to a cam shaft to which a moving motor (not shown) is connected. When a motor (not shown) rotates and the cam shaft 121 rotates, the cap cam 122A rotates and the slider 153 moves up and down by the rotation. As the slider 153 moves up and down, the holder 151 held by the slider 153 and the suction cap 82K held by the holder 151 move in the up and down direction, which is a direction orthogonal to the nozzle surface 34a.

  FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the suction cap 82K. A suction hole 82a is provided at one end side (left side in the drawing) of the suction cap 82K in the longitudinal direction (sub-scanning direction) at the center in the short direction (main scanning direction) of the suction cap 82K. One end of a tube 119 wound around the slider 153 and the holder 151 is connected to the suction hole 82a. The other end of the tube 119 is connected to a suction pump (not shown). A nip portion 82n made of rubber or the like is provided at the upper end portion of the suction cap 82K.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory side view of the rotation mechanism of the suction cap 82K.
As shown in FIG. 5, a shaft portion 151 c extends in the short side direction on one end side (left side in the drawing) of the holder 151 in the longitudinal direction, and is rotatably supported by the slider 153. A first support portion 151a is provided on one end side (left side in the drawing) of the holder 151 in the longitudinal direction, and a second support portion 151b is provided on the other longitudinal end side (right side in the drawing) of the holder 151. Yes. The first support portion 151a penetrates the first through hole 153a of the slider 153, and the second support portion 151b penetrates the second through hole 153b of the slider. The second through hole 153b of the slider 153 has a larger diameter than the first through hole 153a, and the lower end portion of the second through hole 153b is positioned below the lower end portion of the first through hole 153a. ing. On the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the bottom surface of the holder 151, a contact portion 151d extending downward is provided. As shown in FIG. 5, when the recording head 34 is capped, the tip of the contact portion 151d is It is on the support stand 158.
One end of the holder 151 in the longitudinal direction is supported by the slider 153 via the shaft portion 151c, and the other end in the longitudinal direction is supported by the support base 158 via the abutting portion 151d. The support base 158 can be moved in the direction of the arrow (sub-scanning direction) by an actuator (not shown). When the support base is moved to the right side in the figure, the contact portion 151d and the support base 158 are separated from each other, and the other end in the longitudinal direction of the suction cap 82K is not supported by the support base 158 via the contact portion 151d. Then, the holder 151 rotates clockwise in the drawing, and the second support portion 151b comes into contact with the lower end of the second through hole 153b of the slider 153. As the holder 151 rotates, the suction cap 82K held by the holder 151 rotates.

FIG. 10 is a control block diagram of the ink jet printer.
In the figure, a control unit 200 as control means includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) as a calculation means, a RAM (Random Access Memory) as a nonvolatile memory, a ROM (Read Only Memory) as a temporary storage means, and the like. The control unit 200 controls the entire apparatus, and various devices and sensors are connected. In the figure, only the devices and sensors related to the feature points of the printer 100 are shown. The control unit 200 realizes the function of each unit based on a control program stored in the RAM. Specifically, the control unit 200 controls the suction pump 201, the moving motor 202 for moving the cap 82K up and down, the actuator 203 for moving the support base 158, and the like.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional recovery device, (a) is a diagram for explaining a state during a recovery operation by the conventional recovery device, and (b) is a state after the recovery operation. It is a figure to do.
As shown in FIG. 6, the conventional recovery device is provided with a suction hole 82 a at the center in the longitudinal direction of the suction cap 82 </ b> K and includes only a moving mechanism, and does not include a rotating mechanism. For this reason, in the conventional recovery device, as shown in FIG. 6A, the tip of the nip portion 82n of the suction cap 82K (hereinafter referred to as the opening end surface 82b) is brought into close contact with the nozzle surface 34a of the recording head 34 for suction. After the operation, as shown in FIG. 6B, the suction cap 82K is moved downward with the opening end surface 82b being level with the nozzle surface 34a, and the suction cap 82K is separated from the nozzle surface 34a. It was.

  When the suction pump 201 applies a negative pressure to the inside of the suction cap 82K and ink is ejected from the nozzle holes of the recording head 34, the ejected ink drops on the bottom surface of the suction cap 82K and flows through the bottom surface toward the suction hole 82a. . Since ink is dripped from the nozzle hole into the ink flowing on the bottom surface, the ink is scattered. The scattered ink adheres to the nozzle surface 34a, the opening end surface 82b of the suction cap 82K, the nozzle surface 34a, and the end of the contact portion. When the suction cap 82K is moved downward after the suction operation is completed, a slight gap is formed between the nozzle surface 34a and the opening end surface 82b. The ink adhering to the end of the close contact portion enters the slight gap by a capillary phenomenon to form an ink film. When the suction cap 82K is further moved downward, the ink film is stretched up and down and agglomerated at a position having the opening end face 82b. Since the nozzle surface 34a is water-repellent, when the suction cap 82K is further moved downward, the ink film is separated from the nozzle surface 34a and has an open end surface 82b as shown in FIG. 6B. A hemispherical ink droplet remains at the location. As described above, when the opening end surface 82b of the suction cap 82K is brought into close contact with the nozzle surface 34a of the next recording head 34 in order to perform the recovery operation of the next recording head 34 with ink droplets remaining on the opening end surface 82b. The ink droplets are crushed and flow into the nozzle holes. As a result, color mixing may occur.

Therefore, it may be considered that after the suction cap is separated, the suction pump 201 is driven to suck the ink droplets adhering to the opening end surface 82b. However, the positions of the ink droplets remaining on the opening end surface 82b are random, far from the suction hole 82a, and the ink droplets remain on the opening end surface 82b at the longitudinal end of the suction cap 82K having a weaker suction force than the other portions. In this case, the ink cannot be sucked and may remain.
Therefore, in the present invention, a rotation mechanism is provided, and after the suction cap 82K is rotated by the rotation mechanism, the suction cap 82K is moved downward to separate the suction cap 82K from the nozzle surface 34a. The remaining part of the ink droplet is used as a control. This will be specifically described below.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the separation operation of the suction cap 82K.
When the suction cap 82K is in the separated position, as shown in FIG. 7 (c), the other end in the longitudinal direction of the holder 151 (the right side in the drawing) passes through the second penetration of the slider 153 via the second support portion 151b. It is supported by the hole 153b. Further, the holder 151 is inclined toward the other end in the longitudinal direction (right side in the drawing), and the suction cap 82K held by the holder 151 is similarly inclined toward the other end in the longitudinal direction (right side in the drawing). When the recording head 34 moves to a position facing the suction cap 82K to perform the recovery operation, the control unit 200 starts driving the moving motor 202, and moves the slider 153, the holder 151, and the suction cap 82K by the moving mechanism. Move upward. Then, when one end in the longitudinal direction (left side in the drawing) of the suction cap opening end surface 82b comes into contact with the nozzle surface 34a, the control unit 200 stops driving the moving motor 202. The state at this time is as shown in FIG. 7B. One end side (left side in the drawing) of the suction cap opening end surface 82b is in contact with at least the nozzle surface 34a, and the suction cap opening end surface 82b. The other end side in the longitudinal direction (right side in the figure) is separated from the nozzle surface 34a. If it will be in the state as shown in FIG.7 (b), the control part 200 will drive the actuator 203 and will move the support stand 158 to the left side in the figure. Then, the tip of the contact portion 151d comes into contact with the inclined surface 158a at the tip of the support base 158. When the support base 158 is further moved to the left side in the figure, the contact portion 151d is guided by the inclined surface 158a and moved upward. As a result, the holder 151 rotates counterclockwise in the drawing with the shaft portion 151c as the center of rotation, and the suction cap 82K held by the holder 151 similarly rotates counterclockwise in the drawing. Then, when the tip of the abutting portion 151d gets on the support base 158, as shown in FIG. 7A, the other end in the longitudinal direction (the right side in the drawing) of the suction cap opening end surface 82b comes into close contact with the nozzle surface 34a.

  If it will be in the state shown to Fig.7 (a), the control part 200 will start the suction by the suction pump 201. FIG. When the suction operation is completed, the control unit 200 drives the actuator 203 to move the support base 158 to the right side in the drawing. When the support base 158 moves to the right side in the figure, the tip of the abutment portion 151d is guided by the inclined surface 158a at the tip of the support base 158 and moves downward, and the holder 151 rotates clockwise in the figure with the shaft portion 151c as the center of rotation. Rotate to. Then, the spring 152 on the right side in the drawing expands, and the adhesion force with the nozzle surface 34a on the other end side in the longitudinal direction (right side in the drawing) of the suction cap opening end surface 82b decreases. When the abutting portion 151d is separated from the support base 158, the right spring 152 in the drawing becomes free length, and the suction cap 82K is rotated clockwise in the drawing (the direction in which the other longitudinal end of the suction cap 82K is separated from the nozzle surface 34a). ) And the other end side in the longitudinal direction (right side in the drawing) of the suction cap opening end surface 82b is separated from the nozzle surface 34a (see FIG. 7B). At this time, ink enters a slight gap between the suction cap opening end surface 82b and the nozzle surface 34a, and an ink film is formed. Next, the control unit 200 drives the movement motor 202 to move the suction cap 82K downward together with the holder 151 and the slider 153 by the movement mechanism. At this time, the suction cap 82K is inclined in a direction in which the other end in the longitudinal direction of the suction cap (the right side in the drawing) is separated from the nozzle surface with respect to the nozzle surface, so that the gap between the opening end surface 82b and the nozzle surface 34a is The suction cap 82K decreases in order from the other end in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, when the suction cap 82K is moved downward together with the holder 151 and the slider 153, the ink film formed in the gap between the open end face 82b and the nozzle face 82b is one end in the longitudinal direction with a narrower gap due to capillary action (in the drawing). Move to the left). Then, ink is collected on the opening end surface 82b on one end side in the longitudinal direction (left side in the figure) where the gap between the opening end surface 82b and the nozzle surface 34a is the narrowest. Then, as shown in FIG. 7C, when the suction cap 82K is completely separated from the recording head 34, the control unit 200 drives the suction pump 201 to remove the ink attached to the suction cap 82K. In the present embodiment, the suction hole 82a is provided on one end side in the longitudinal direction (left side in the figure), and the distance between the opening end surface 82b on one end side in the longitudinal direction (left side in the figure) and the suction hole 82a is short. Therefore, a suction force sufficient to suck ink droplets into the opening end surface 82b on one end side in the longitudinal direction (left side in the drawing) works, and the ink droplets collected on the opening end surface 82b on one end side in the longitudinal direction (left side in the drawing) Can be aspirated. Thus, when the suction cap 82K is brought into contact with the nozzle surface 34a of the next recording head 34, no ink droplet is present on the opening end surface 82b on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the suction cap 82K. Therefore, the previous ink droplet does not flow into the nozzle hole. As a result, color mixing can be suppressed.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the rotation mechanism, the movement mechanism, the control unit 200, and the like constitute contact / separation means for contacting / separating the suction cap 82K with respect to the recording head 34.

  Even if the suction cap 82K is rotated clockwise in the drawing to be separated, the ink can be collected on the opening end surface 82b on one end side in the longitudinal direction (left side in the drawing). However, when the suction cap 82K is rotated clockwise in the drawing so as to be separated, the separated suction cap 82K is largely inclined toward the other end in the longitudinal direction (right side in the drawing). As a result, the ink droplets collected on the opening end surface 82b on one end side in the longitudinal direction (left side in the figure) flow to the other end side in the longitudinal direction (right side in the figure), and finally the other end side in the longitudinal direction (right side in the figure). ). On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the suction cap 82K is merely rotated so that the suction cap 82K is slightly tilted with respect to the nozzle surface 34a by the rotation mechanism. Therefore, when the suction cap 82K is separated from the nozzle surface 34a. Ink collected on the opening end face 82b on one end side in the longitudinal direction (left side in the figure) is prevented from flowing to the other end side in the longitudinal direction (right side in the figure). Thereby, it is possible to suppress the ink from dripping from the other end in the longitudinal direction (the right side in the figure).

  Next, a modification of this embodiment will be described.

[Modification 1]
FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of the recovery device according to the first modification.
Immediately after the suction operation by the suction pump 201, the suction cap has a negative pressure. When the suction cap 82K is rotated while the inside of the suction cap is under a negative pressure, and the other longitudinal end of the suction cap 82K (the right side in the drawing) is separated from the nozzle surface 34a, the pressure change is caused in the longitudinal direction of the suction cap 82K. Concentrating on the other end side (right side in the figure), the ink adhering to the vicinity of the opening end surface 82b of the suction cap 82K is scattered and stains the components around the suction cap.
The recovery device according to the first modification is provided with a pressure sensor 204 as pressure detection means in the suction cap, and the pressure sensor 204 detects the pressure inside the suction cap after the suction operation for sucking ink from the nozzle hole. After the pressure becomes close to atmospheric pressure, the separation operation of the suction cap 82K is started. When the pressure inside the suction cap after the suction operation is negative, the ink is gradually discharged from the nozzle, and the negative pressure inside the suction cap gradually approaches atmospheric pressure. And the control part 200 which is a calculating means compares the pressure value which the pressure sensor 204 detected with the setting value (value close | similar to atmospheric pressure) preset by experiment etc., and becomes a value by which the pressure value was set. Then, the separation operation is started. Note that the set value is a pressure value when ink adhering to the vicinity of the opening end surface of the suction cap 82K does not scatter when the separation operation is started, which is examined by experiments or the like.

  As described above, in the recovery device of Modification 1, since the separation operation starts after the pressure in the suction cap becomes a value close to atmospheric pressure, the other end in the longitudinal direction of the suction cap 82K (the right side in the drawing) The pressure change when separating from the nozzle surface 34a is reduced. Thereby, scattering of the ink adhering to the vicinity of the opening end surface 82b of the suction cap 82K can be suppressed, and contamination of parts around the suction cap can be suppressed.

[Modification 2]
FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of the recovery device according to the second modification.
In the recovery device according to the second modification, a communication port 205 communicating with the atmosphere is provided in the suction cap 82K, and an open / close valve 305 is provided in the communication port 205. The on-off valve 305 has a driving means (not shown) that drives the on-off valve 305. The driving means (not shown) is controlled by the control unit 200 serving as an opening / closing means, and the opening / closing of the opening / closing valve 305 is controlled.
In the configuration of the second modification, after the ink suction operation of the nozzle hole by the suction pump 201, the control unit 200 controls a driving unit (not shown) to switch the on-off valve 305 from the closed state to the open state. As a result, the pressure in the suction cap becomes atmospheric pressure. When the on-off valve 305 is switched from the closed state to the open state, the control unit 200 starts the separating operation of the suction cap 82K. Also in the recovery device of the second modification, the separation operation is performed in a state where the pressure in the suction cap is almost atmospheric pressure, so that it is possible to suppress the scattering of ink attached to the opening end surface 82b of the suction cap 82K. And contamination of parts around the suction cap can be suppressed.

  Further, as described in the first modification, when the pressure inside the suction cap after the suction operation is negative, the ink is gradually discharged from the nozzle hole, and the negative pressure inside the suction cap gradually becomes atmospheric pressure. Approaching. For this reason, if the predetermined period passes, the inside of the suction cap returns to atmospheric pressure. Therefore, after the suction operation by the suction pump 201, the elapsed time is counted by the control unit 200 which is a counting means, and the elapsed time is a set time for which the pressure in the suction cap obtained by an experiment or the like becomes a pressure close to the atmospheric pressure in advance. When it becomes, the contact / separation operation may be started. Even if comprised in this way, scattering of the ink adhering to the opening end surface 82b of the suction cap 82K can be suppressed, and contamination of the components around the suction cap can be suppressed.

  As described above, the recovery device according to the present embodiment has the nozzle holes that are the ejection openings for ejecting ink, and ejects ink from the nozzle holes toward the paper 42 that is the recording medium to form an image on the paper 42. A suction cap 82K as a cap member for capping the nozzle surface 34a in which the nozzle holes of the recording head 34 (liquid ejection heads 34Y, 34M, 34C, 34K) as means are capped, and a suction hole 82a provided in the suction cap 82K are connected. And a suction pump 201 as suction means for sucking ink from the nozzle holes. The suction hole 82a is provided on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the suction cap 82K. Further, the recovery device includes a rotation mechanism that rotates the other end in the longitudinal direction of the suction cap 82K in a direction away from the nozzle surface 34a, and a movement mechanism that moves the suction cap 82K in a direction orthogonal to the nozzle surface 34a. And a contacting / separating means for driving the moving mechanism to drive the suction cap 82K away from the nozzle surface 34a after driving the rotating mechanism to rotate the suction cap 82K. After the suction cap 82K is separated from the nozzle surface 34a, the control unit 200, which is a control unit, drives the suction pump 201 to suck and discharge the ink attached to the suction cap 82K.

  By configuring the recovery device as described above, the ink attached to the opening end surface 82b of the suction cap 82K can be collected on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the suction cap 82K. Since the suction hole 82a is on one end side in the longitudinal direction, ink droplets attached to the opening end surface 82b of the suction cap 82K can be satisfactorily removed by the suction operation after separating the suction cap 82K from the nozzle surface 34a. . Further, since the inclination of the suction cap 82K after the separation is smaller than that in which the suction cap 82K is separated only by rotation, the ink droplets collected on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the suction cap 82K after the separation are separated in the longitudinal direction of the suction cap. It can be suppressed that it flows to the other end side and hangs down from the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the suction cap 82K.

  In addition, according to the recovery device of the first modification, the pressure sensor 204 is a pressure detection unit that detects the pressure in the suction cap when the suction cap 82K capping the nozzle surface 34a. The contacting / separating means is configured to start the separating operation of the suction cap 82K when the pressure value detected by the pressure sensor 204 becomes a set value after ink suction by the suction pump 201. With this configuration, it is possible to suppress ink scattering when the suction cap 82K is separated from the nozzle surface, and it is possible to suppress contamination of the members around the suction cap with ink.

  Further, according to the recovery device of the modified example 2, the suction cap 82K has the opening / closing valve 305 that can communicate with the atmosphere, and the contact / separation means starts the state where the opening / closing valve 305 is closed after the suction pump 201 sucks the ink. After switching to the open state, the separation operation of the suction cap 82K is started. Even with this configuration, it is possible to suppress ink scattering when the suction cap 82K is separated from the nozzle surface, and it is possible to suppress contamination of the members around the suction cap with ink.

  Further, the controller 200 which is the counting means counts the elapsed time after ink suction by the suction pump 82K, and the contacting / separating means may be configured to start the separating operation of the suction cap 82K when the count has passed the set time. Good. Even with this configuration, it is possible to suppress ink scattering when the suction cap 82K is separated from the nozzle surface, and it is possible to suppress contamination of the members around the suction cap with ink.

  Further, even when the nozzle surface is parallel to the horizontal plane, the inclination of the cap member with respect to the horizontal plane when the suction cap 82K is in the separated position can be reduced, and the suction cap 82K is collected on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the suction cap 82K. It is possible to suppress the ink droplet from flowing to the other longitudinal end of the suction cap and dripping from the other longitudinal end of the suction cap 82K.

34: Recording head 34a: Nozzle surface 81: Maintenance / recovery mechanism 82K: Suction cap 82a: Suction hole 82b: Open end surface 111: Frame 112A: Cap holder 119: Tube 121: Cam shaft 122A: Cap cam 150a: Guide pin 150b: Guide Shaft 151: Holder 151a: First support portion 151b: Second support portion 151c: Shaft portion 151d: Abutting portion 152: Spring 153: Slider 153a: First through hole 153b: Second through hole 154: Guide pin 157: Cam pin 158 : Support base 158a: Inclined surface 200: Control unit 201: Suction pump 202: Moving motor 203: Actuator 204: Pressure sensor 205: Communication port 305: On-off valve

Claims (7)

An ejection port for ejecting ink is provided, and the ejection surface on which the ejection port of the ink ejection unit that ejects ink from the ejection port toward the recording medium and forms an image on the recording medium is capped. A cap member;
A recovery device including a suction unit that is connected to a suction hole provided in the cap member and sucks ink from the ejection port;
The suction hole is provided on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the cap member,
A rotation mechanism that rotates the cap member in a direction in which the other end in the longitudinal direction of the cap member separates from the discharge surface; and a movement mechanism that moves the cap member in a direction orthogonal to the discharge surface; Contact / separation means for driving the rotating mechanism to rotate the cap member and then driving the moving mechanism to separate the cap member from the ejection surface;
A recovery device comprising: control means for controlling the suction means to be driven and sucked and discharged after the cap member has been separated from the ejection surface. The recovery device of claim 1,
Pressure detecting means for detecting the pressure in the cap member when the cap member capping the discharge surface;
The contacting / separating means is configured to start a separating operation of the cap member when the pressure value detected by the pressure detecting means becomes a set value after ink suction from the ejection port by the suction means. And recovery device. The recovery device of claim 1,
The cap member has an on-off valve capable of communicating with the atmosphere,
The contact / separation means is configured to start the separation operation of the cap member after the ink is sucked from the ejection port by the suction means and then the open / close valve is switched from the closed state to the open state. Recovery device. The recovery device of claim 1,
A counting means for counting an elapsed time after ink suction from the ejection port by the suction means;
The recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the contacting / separating means is configured to start the separating operation of the cap member when the count by the counting means has passed a set time. The recovery device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A holding member for holding the cap member; and an urging means for urging the cap member held by the holding member toward the discharge surface side,
The recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the rotation mechanism is configured to rotate the holding member. The recovery device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A recovery device, wherein the discharge surface is parallel to a horizontal plane. An ink ejection unit having an ejection port for ejecting ink, and ejecting ink from the ejection port toward the recording medium to form an image on the recording medium;
In an image forming apparatus provided with a recovery means for recovering the performance of the liquid discharge means,
An image forming apparatus using the recovery device according to claim 1 as the recovery means.

Images