JP2960574B2 - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus and, more particularly, to the maintenance of the performance of a wiping means for cleaning a surface of a recording head provided with ink discharge ports (a discharge port forming surface). .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, devices such as computers, word processors, facsimile machines, and copiers have become widespread, and many recording devices used in these devices adopt various recording methods. Above all, the ink jet recording apparatus has excellent features that it is easy to achieve high definition compared to other recording methods, and that it is excellent in high-speed recording and quietness and inexpensive.

In an ink jet recording apparatus, when unnecessary ink droplets or foreign matter such as paper powder adheres to the discharge port forming surface of a recording head, the ink discharge direction is deflected, and the image quality may deteriorate. That is, in the ink jet recording method, ink is ejected from a recording head to a recording medium such as paper or an OHP film to perform recording. (Ink mist) or rebound of the ink discharged to the recording medium. As shown in FIG. 12, due to these factors, ink adheres to the ejection port forming surface 1 of the recording head, and if a large amount of ink gathers around the ejection port 12, ejection is hindered and ejection in an unexpected direction ( In some cases, such a problem may occur that the ink may not be ejected (non-ejection).

In order to eliminate such inconveniences caused by using a liquid ink as a recording agent, an ink jet recording apparatus has a unique configuration not found in other recording apparatuses, and is a means for improving a discharge state. Recovery means may be provided. Then, as a means for refreshing the ejection port forming surface to prevent deflection of the ejection direction,
There is a type in which a wiping member is provided to be in contact with the discharge port forming surface, and ink droplets and the like are removed (wiping) by relatively moving the two.

Unnecessary ink droplets adhering to the discharge port forming surface are formed by ink mist generated at the time of ink discharge accompanying recording and rebound of ink from paper. It is considered that the paper adheres when moving relatively close to the paper. for that reason,
Generally, the recording operation is interrupted or after the recording is completed, it is removed by the wiping means.

[0006]

On the other hand, in an ink jet recording apparatus, the ink in the liquid path may thicken due to evaporation of moisture or the like, and the ink may not be ejected even if energy for causing the ink to be ejected is applied. Means for refreshing the ink in the liquid path by forcibly discharging the ink unsuitable for ejection by applying a suction force by a pump, for example, may be provided as one form of the recovery means. In connection with such processing, ink discharged at the time of forcible discharge of ink from a liquid path by a pump or the like may adhere. The amount of ink adhered after the suction may be larger than the amount of the ink adhered during the recording, and if the suction recovery operation is performed frequently, the load on the wiping unit may be increased, resulting in an increase in unwiped residue or discharge. There is also an adverse effect that ink processing becomes difficult.

As a wiping means, a blade formed of an elastic member such as rubber is provided as a wiping member.
In many cases, a structure in which the unnecessary ink droplets are wiped by wiping the ejection port surface is adopted. However, the function of such wiping means deteriorates due to long-term use or a temporary increase in the ink to be wiped, making it difficult to recover or maintain the ejection performance. The thickened ink or foreign matter deposited on the blade or the like may be transferred to the ejection port forming surface or the ejection port in the opposite direction, causing the ejection direction to be distorted or non-ejection due to the pushing of the foreign matter.

As another problem, when the ejection opening surface of the recording head is wiped, a part of the wiped ink droplets is scattered in the recording apparatus by the restoring force of the blade, and there is a possibility that the inside of the apparatus becomes dirty. On the other hand, most of the ink droplets left on the blade without being scattered and foreign matter such as paper dust remain on the blade, but the water itself and the solvent of the ink remaining on the blade evaporate, and the ink itself is evaporated. In addition to increasing the viscosity, foreign substances such as paper powder are also strongly adhered and deposited, and may be transferred back to the discharge port to cause discharge problems such as non-discharge and twisting.

Furthermore, in a recording apparatus in which two or more recording heads are arranged side by side to perform color image recording using inks of different colors, the ink transferred to the blade in the first wiping is changed to the next different color. When the recording head is wiped, the color may be mixed with the ink of the recording head, thereby deteriorating the image quality. In the case of a color ink jet recording apparatus, when a plurality of heads are wiped with one blade, the amount of ink adhering to and contaminating the blade increases, so that adverse effects due to contamination of the blade also increase. For this reason, a configuration in which a dedicated blade is provided for each head is conceivable, but this has a problem that not only the price of the apparatus is increased but also a considerable space is required for providing the same.

In order to prevent such a decrease in the wiping function, a cleaning means for the wiping means may be provided. As a cleaning means generally used, there is a porous absorber excellent in ink absorbency. The absorber is moved relative to a blade or the like as a wiping member so as to slidably remove foreign substances adhering to the blade, absorb ink, and clean the blade.

[0011] However, an absorbent having excellent cleaning performance may have a reduced ink absorption characteristic as it absorbs ink, and may lack long-term reliability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and a wiping method for maintaining the performance of a cleaning means of a wiping means for a long period of time and removing foreign matters such as ink droplets adhering to a discharge port forming surface. An object of the present invention is to prevent the performance of the means from deteriorating, thereby stabilizing the ejection of the recording head and enabling good recording over a long period of time.

[0013]

According to the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording on a recording medium by using a recording head for discharging ink from a discharge port. Wiping means capable of rubbing the provided discharge port forming surface,
A cleaning unit provided in the vicinity of the discharge port forming surface and cleaning the wiping unit by rubbing with the wiping unit, and a cap that caps the discharge port forming surface or closely adheres to the cleaning unit, When the cap is capping the ejection port forming surface, ink is forcibly sucked from the ejection port, and when the cap is in close contact with the cleaning means, ink is forcibly sucked from the cleaning means. And suction means for performing the operation.

Here, the suction means may further include a position control means for selecting a position at which suction is performed from the discharge port by contacting the discharge port forming surface and a position at which suction is performed by contacting the cleaning means. It is. In this case, the recording head is mounted on the carriage and scans the recording medium in a predetermined direction, the cleaning unit is provided on the carriage, and the position control unit is a unit that controls the position of the carriage. The position for performing suction from the discharge port and the position for performing suction by the cleaning unit may be selected by controlling the position of the carriage.

Further, the cleaning means may be formed by a porous absorber.

The recording head may have an electrothermal conversion element for generating thermal energy for causing film boiling of the ink as an element for generating energy used for discharging ink.

The suction means may have a cap for capping the discharge port.

[0018]

According to the present invention, the wiping means presses against the discharge port forming surface of the recording head and relatively moves, whereby foreign matters adhering to the discharge port forming surface are slid and removed. Also,
The relative movement of the cleaning means pressing the wiping means cleans the wiping means. Then, when the suction unit forcibly sucks the ink from the cleaning unit with the cap in close contact with the cleaning unit, foreign substances such as ink accumulated in the cleaning unit are suctioned and removed by the suction unit. Further, when the cap is capping the ejection port forming surface, the suction means forcibly sucks ink from the ejection port of the recording head, so that the recording head is replenished with fresh ink.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Outline of Apparatus) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. Here, C is an ink jet cartridge, which has an ink tank unit in the upper part of the figure and a recording head in the lower part, and a connector for receiving signals for driving the recording head and the like. Is provided. The recording head according to the present example has a plurality of ejection ports on the bottom side in the drawing, and an element that generates energy used for ink ejection is disposed in a liquid path portion communicating with the ejection ports. Each liquid passage communicates with a common liquid chamber, and the common liquid chamber receives ink supplied from the ink tank unit. Note that it is preferable to use an electrothermal conversion element as the above element because the discharge ports or liquid paths can be highly integrated.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a carriage, and four cartridges C (C1, C2, C3, C4; corresponding to inks of different colors, for example, yellow, magenta,
(Cyan, Black, etc.) are positioned and mounted, and a connector holder for transmitting a signal for driving the recording head and the like is provided so as to be electrically connected to the recording head. Absorbers are provided at the bottom of the carriage 2 so as to be located on both sides of each recording head as described later.

A scanning rail 11 extends in the main scanning direction of the carriage 2 and slidably supports the carriage 2.
Reference numeral 2 denotes a drive belt for transmitting a driving force for reciprocating the carriage 2. The transport roller pairs 15 and 16 and the transport roller pairs 17 and 18 are arranged before and after the recording position by the recording head, and perform the nipping and transporting of the recording medium. P
Is a recording medium such as paper, and is pressed against a platen (not shown) for regulating the recording surface of the recording medium P flat. Inkjet cartridge C mounted on carriage 2
The recording head portion protrudes downward from the carriage 2 in the drawing and is located between the recording medium transport rollers 16 and 18, and the ejection port forming surface of the recording head portion is a recording medium pressed against a guide surface of a platen (not shown). It faces in parallel with P.

In the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment, a recovery unit 200 as recovery means is disposed on the home position on the left side of FIG. In the recovery system unit 200, reference numeral 300 denotes a cap unit provided corresponding to each of the plurality of ink jet cartridges C having a recording head. The cap unit 300 is slidable in the horizontal direction in FIG. Can be moved up and down. When the carriage is at the home position, the carriage is joined to the recording head and capped, thereby preventing the ink in the ejection openings of the recording head from evaporating and thickening and sticking, thereby preventing ejection failure.

In the recovery system unit, reference numeral 500 denotes a pump unit which communicates with the cap unit 300. If an ejection failure occurs in the recording head, a suction recovery process performed by joining the cap unit 300 and the recording head. At this time, it is used to generate a negative pressure. Further, in the recovery system unit, reference numeral 401 denotes a blade as a wiping member formed of an elastic member such as rubber, and 402 denotes a blade holder for holding the blade 401. In this example, the blade 401 supported by the blade holder 402 by a blade lifting mechanism (not shown) driven by the movement of the carriage 2.
Denotes a position (wiping position) at which the ink adhered to the ejection port forming surface of the recording head is protruded (upward) to wipe the ink.
And a position (standby position) that is retracted (downward) so as not to interfere with the ejection opening surface of the recording head.

Further, in this embodiment, the carriage 2 is moved from the left side in the drawing (the home position side where the recovery unit is located).
Only when moving from right to right, the wiping by the blade 401 is performed. This is blade 4
Since the position 01 is located between the cap unit 300 and the transport system for transporting the recording medium P, when the wiping is performed when moving from the right side to the left side in the drawing, the wiping is performed by the elastic force of the blade 401. This is because there is a risk that the ink is scattered around the conveyance section of the recording medium P and the recording medium is inadvertently stained. However, if there is no such adverse effect, wiping may be performed in both directions.

As described above, the execution and release of capping by sliding or elevating the cap unit 300,
Wiping by raising and lowering the blade 401 and regulating the wiping direction are described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 2-126655 (Japanese Patent Application No. 1-12) filed by the present applicant.
No. 2878 (National priority claim application). Further, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be performed by a combination of a driving member such as a motor and a solenoid for raising and lowering the cap unit 300 and the blade 401 and a control means for controlling the same.

FIG. 2 shows a view (a) when the carriage 2 is viewed from the bottom side and a view (b) when viewed from the front side. Here, 1 is a discharge port forming surface, and 12 is a discharge port for discharging ink droplets. Reference numeral 3 denotes an absorber provided as a cleaning means for cleaning the blade 401, and is formed of a porous absorbent member having corrosion resistance to ink and high absorbency. The blade cleaning absorber 3 is provided on both sides of the ejection port forming surface 1 of each recording head. Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, the blade cleaning absorber 3 is slightly smaller than the ejection port forming surface 1 of the recording head projecting below the carriage 2 in order to prevent rubbing at the time of recording with the recording medium P. It is arranged so as to be located at the place where it is retracted. This will be described in detail.

In the ink jet recording apparatus, when the accuracy of the landing position of the ejected ink droplets on the recording medium P is poor, a white streak may be formed on the image, or a dark streak may be formed on the image. As one of the measures to prevent such image quality deterioration,
The distance between the discharge port surface 1 of the recording head and the recording medium P is set as small as possible, and the landing error of ink droplets is reduced to improve image quality. In the ink jet recording, when the ink is absorbed by the recording medium P, the surface of the recording medium P where the ink is absorbed and the back surface thereof,
Alternatively, a large difference in the water content between the portion that has received the ink and the portion that has not received the ink may cause the recording medium P to expand and contract unevenly, which may cause unevenness called cockling. In the case where cockling occurs or the recording medium is curled, if the distance between the recording head and the recording medium P is too small, the recording head and the recording medium P come into contact with each other and the recording surface is stained. Therefore, the distance between the recording head and the recording medium P is set to be the minimum within a range where deformation of the recording medium such as cockling does not occur even if deformation occurs. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the gap between the ejection port forming surface and the recording medium is determined with emphasis on the ink landing accuracy, and the blade cleaning absorber 3 disposed at the bottom of the carriage 2 is positioned below the carriage 2. The recording head is provided at a slightly retracted position so as not to protrude from the ejection port forming surface of the recording head. Since the blade cleaning absorber 3 may absorb ink and swell, the blade cleaning absorber 3 is provided at a position about 0.5 mm recessed from the ejection port forming surface of the recording head in consideration of the swelling.

However, if the absorber or the structure does not cause such inconveniences, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 3-4 by the present applicant.
Conversely, the absorber may protrude by an appropriate amount, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat.

(Wiping) By the way, when the recording head generally performs image recording by discharging ink as described above, a so-called wetting state occurs as shown in FIG. When a large amount of ink droplets adhere around the discharge port, the discharge is hindered, causing a phenomenon (discharge) of discharging in an unexpected direction or a phenomenon of not discharging the ink droplet (non-discharge). For this reason, it is preferable to periodically wipe the discharge port surface 1 with the blade 401 before the adverse effect on the discharge is caused.

Here, the wiping operation in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 shows the overall operation of the blade 401 during wiping, and FIG. 4 shows that part in an enlarged manner. As described above, the wiping operation is performed only when necessary in the direction of moving from the home position (left side in FIGS. 1 and 3) to the recording medium transport system side (right side in FIGS. 1 and 3).

FIG. 3A shows a state immediately before the wiping operation is performed. First, the blade 401 rises from the standby position in the direction of arrow Y, and is fixed at a position (wiping position) where the amount of intrusion is optimal for wiping the recording head. Next, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, when the carriage 2 on which the cartridge C is mounted moves horizontally from left to right, the blade 401 is attached to each of the blade cleaning absorbers disposed at the bottom of the carriage 2. The ink is sequentially removed from the ejection port forming surface 1 while alternately contacting the ejection port surface 1 of the recording head protruding from the carriage 2 and is also cleaned by the absorber 3 (FIG. 4).
(See (a) and (b)). When all the blade cleaning absorbers 3 have come into contact with the discharge port forming surface 1, the blade 4
01 descends in the direction of arrow Y 'and waits at the standby position.
By providing the blade cleaning absorber 3 on both sides of the recording head, the ink swept from the ejection port forming surface is absorbed by the blade cleaning absorber 3, so that the amount of ink remaining on the blade 401 is reduced. In addition, when wiping the discharge port forming surface 1 of the next recording head, a great effect is exhibited in preventing color mixture from occurring.

Regarding the wiping speed, the unevenness of the blade contact surface (the discharge port forming surface 1 and the absorber 3 surface), the resilience of the elastic blade 401 (the ability to follow the contact surface), and the like. Determined in consideration of. In other words, as the speed increases, the wiping effect decreases due to slip-through due to a delay in following the blade, or the effect of removing foreign matter such as ink tends to decrease.Thus, the wiping speed is preferably low, The applicant is 30
It was confirmed that no significant problem would occur if it was 0 mm / sec or less. It is preferable that the speed at the time of cleaning be lower than that at the time of normal wiping. This is because the ink attached to the blade is thickened by evaporation,
This is because the absorption rate to the absorber may be low.

(Configuration of Control System) FIG. 5 shows an example of the configuration of the control system of this embodiment.

Here, reference numeral 800 denotes a controller constituting a main control unit, for example, a CPU 801 in the form of a microcomputer for executing the procedures shown in FIGS. 6 to 11, and an R which stores programs corresponding to the procedures and other fixed data.
An OM 803 and a RAM 805 provided with an area for developing image data, a work area, and the like are provided. The controller 800 includes a timer group 807 used to perform appropriate recovery processing according to time in the course of the conventional processing.
have. Reference numeral 810 denotes a host device (which may be a reader or the like) serving as a supply source of image data. Image data and other commands and status signals are transmitted to and received from the controller via an interface (I / F) 812.

Reference numeral 820 denotes a switch group for receiving an instruction input by an operator, such as a power switch 822, a copy switch 824 for instructing the start of recording (copy), a recovery switch 826 for instructing the start of recovery, and the like. 83
Reference numeral 0 denotes a sensor group for detecting the state of the apparatus, such as a sensor 832 for detecting the position of the carriage 2 such as a home position and a start position, and a sensor 834 for detecting the position of a suction pump.

840 is the recording head 8 of the cartridge C.
6 is a head driver for driving an element (in this example, an electrothermal converter) that generates energy used for ink ejection. Reference numeral 850 is a main scanning motor for moving the carriage 2 in the main scanning direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 1), and 852 is its driver. A sub-scanning motor 860 is used to convey (sub-scan) a recording medium. Reference numeral 862 denotes the driver.

Reference numeral 870 denotes a heater for keeping the head warm, which is provided integrally with the recording head or formed on the substrate provided with the electrothermal converter in the same process as that for forming the electrothermal converter. can do. Further, it may be provided on the carriage 2, but in this case, it is preferably provided at a position where it can come into contact with the recording head 86 when the head cartridge is mounted to perform effective heat transfer.

(Recovery Mode) Next, various recovery modes employed in the present embodiment will be described.

(A) Recovery Mode by Recovery Switch 826 The purpose of this recovery mode is to perform normal head ejection in spite of the fact that the recovery mode on the sequence in this apparatus is being performed. If this happens,
When the recovery switch 826 is pressed by the operator, the ejection of the head is restored to a normal state. It is not usually used, but if used, it is more powerful than other recovery modes to ensure recovery.

In this mode, suction is performed by the pump 500 to remove air bubbles in the common liquid chamber or the liquid path and to remove the thickened ink. Further, simultaneously with the suction, the electrothermal transducer is driven to perform a discharge operation, and a negative pressure generated only by suction is applied with an instantaneous negative pressure at the time of discharge, so that bubbles in the liquid chamber or liquid path are formed. Removal is easy. Further, since the electrothermal transducer is driven as a means for generating bubbles at the time of ejection, the ink temperature in each liquid path rises and the viscosity decreases, and the surface tension decreases. The resistance is smaller and the removal of air bubbles is easier.

In order to ensure the recovery performance,
In this mode, if the switch is pressed once, the suction operation is repeated twice. Specifically, the pump unit 5
00 (for example, a tube pump disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-126655), a certain amount of negative pressure is generated in the liquid chamber of the head. To perform ejection. However, on the end side of the ejection port array, the ink density is high due to the poor flow of ink in the liquid chamber, so the number of ejections is increased compared to the center, thereby increasing the number of ejection ports in the recovered recording. The recording density is kept constant to prevent density unevenness due to ink thickening. The suction pressure was set to the maximum pressure of the pump. The suction holding time is 2.5 seconds and the suction amount at that time is 0.1
It is about 7 g. The number of ejections was 2,000 at the center and 6,000 at the end.

After the suction, the orifice surface of the head is wiped with a rubber blade, and then idle discharge is performed.

In this embodiment, following the suction recovery, suction cleaning of the absorber, which is a feature of the present invention, is performed.
Thereafter, the above operation is repeated.

(B) Suction recovery mode using timer The purpose of this recovery mode is that if the suction recovery operation is not performed for a long time, the ink in the liquid chamber of the head thickens, and the liquid chamber of the head further increases. In some cases, normal ejection cannot be performed due to the generation and increase of bubbles in the air. For this reason, for example, a time provided by a timer provided in the controller is measured from the last suction, and the recovery operation in this mode is performed after a predetermined time has elapsed.

In this mode, bubbles in the liquid chamber are removed by suctioning with a pump, and the thickened ink is eliminated.

After the suction, the ejection port forming surface of the head is wiped by the blade 401, and then idle ejection is performed. In this embodiment, following the suction recovery, the suction cleaning of the absorber, which is a feature of the present invention, is performed.

(C) Suction recovery mode using a counter The purpose of this recovery mode is that if printing is continued for a long time without suction recovery operation, the ink in the liquid chamber of the head thickens, and Normal ejection cannot be performed due to the generation and increase of bubbles in the liquid chamber. Therefore, the number of recording sheets is counted by the counter from the last suction, and the recovery operation in this mode performed after recording the predetermined number of sheets is performed.

This mode is a recovery operation similar to the timer suction recovery described above. In this mode, bubbles in the liquid chamber are removed by suctioning with a pump to remove thickened ink. Wiping is performed on the discharge port forming surface, and then idle discharge is performed. Therefore, the timer and the counter are reset when either the timer suction or the counter suction in this mode is performed.

In this embodiment, subsequent to the suction recovery, suction cleaning of the absorber, which is a feature of the present invention, is performed.

(D) Preliminary ejection (A) mode In this preliminary ejection mode, ink is ejected from all ejection openings before the printing operation, during the interruption of the printing operation, during standby, and after wiping. In order to obtain a stable discharge state without increasing the temperature of the liquid path, for example, the maximum drive frequency of 4
The discharge frequency is 1 KHz with respect to KHz.

(E) Preliminary ejection (B) mode In this preliminary ejection, ink is ejected from all ejection ports simultaneously with suction. In this mode, the maximum drive frequency is used to increase the temperature of the liquid path, reduce the viscosity of the thickened ink, and increase the flow rate in the liquid path by using the ejection energy to increase the suction performance. Of 4 KHz.

(F) Absorption Suction Recovery Mode This mode relates to the cleaning of the absorber 3, which is a cleaning means of the wiping means, which is a feature of the present invention. In this embodiment, this mode is executed when the suction recovery of the recording head is performed. This is because a relatively large amount of ink remains on the ejection port forming surface of the recording head when the suction recovery of the recording head is performed. This is because evaporation and thickening have not progressed, and it is easier to remove ink and ink accumulated on the absorber.

In this mode, the suction operation is substantially the same as the normal suction recovery performed by suctioning from the recording head. However, in order to perform suction of the absorber, the cap is brought into contact not with the recording head but with the absorber. That is, in this embodiment, by changing the engagement position between the cap unit 300 and the carriage 2, the relative positional relationship between the cap unit 300 and the carriage 2 is shifted, and the cap and the absorber 3 are brought into close contact with each other. .

Here, the configuration and operation of the recovery system unit will be briefly described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, 3
Reference numeral 50 denotes a recovery base for holding the cap unit 300, which is urged rightward and downward in the figure by a spring or the like (not shown). 352 is a cam groove provided in the recovery system base, which is engaged with a pin 334 fixed to the apparatus. 3
Reference numeral 42 denotes a first engagement pin protruding from the base 350. Normally, the first engagement pin 342 engages with the carriage 2 as the carriage 2 moves to the recovery position. During the engagement, the cap unit 300 and the ejection port forming surface 1 of the recording head face each other. When the carriage 2 further moves (moves leftward in the figure) after the engagement, the cam groove 35
2 rides on the pin 334, and the base 350 is displaced upward.
Means that the ejection port forming surface 1 of the recording head is capped.

The recovery system base 350 is further provided at a position where it can protrude upward in the drawing and is engaged with the carriage 2 instead of the first engagement pin 342 so that the cap unit 300 and the absorber 3 face each other. A second engagement pin 344. 346 is a second engagement pin drive for causing the second engagement pin 344 to project and retract.
The operation can be controlled by the controller 800 shown in FIG. For example, a solenoid can be used for the second engagement pin driving section 346. In the absorption recovery mode of the absorber, as shown in FIG. 7A, the second engagement pin 344 which is normally retracted is made to protrude, and the recovery system base 350 is moved with the movement of the carriage 2 to the recovery position.
And the carriage 2 are engaged early so that the cap unit 300 and the absorber 3 face each other. Then, by further moving the carriage 2, the cap unit 300 and the absorber 3 of the carriage are brought into close contact as shown in FIG. 7B. Although the absorber 3 is at a position slightly retracted from the recording head as described above, when the cap unit 300 comes into contact with the cap unit 300, the carriage 2 is slightly pushed up by the cap unit 300 and is pressed by its own weight. Since it is configured, a difference of about 0.5 mm does not cause a problem, and the cap and the absorber can be satisfactorily adhered.

In this embodiment, in order to prevent an unintentional movement of the carriage during the movement of the printing apparatus main body, the upward movement of the carriage is restricted to some extent at the capping position of the recording head. The pressure due to the elastic deformation of the cap is used in addition to its own weight. Therefore, when the absorber is sucked, the pressure contact force is reduced by that much, and the pressure contact is performed only by the weight of the carriage, but there is no problem.

In this embodiment, the movable pin of the solenoid plunger can be used as it is in the present embodiment, but the second engagement pin 344 utilizes the movement of the carriage 2 or the movement of another driving source such as a paper feed motor. And may be put in and out as needed. Further, the selection of the engagement position may be performed by a movable mechanism provided on the carriage side.

As described above, in a state where the cap communicating with the suction pump and the absorber of the carriage are in close contact with each other, the suction pump is driven in the same manner as at the time of suction recovery of the recording head to suck ink from the absorber. If wiping is performed after suction of the absorber, wiping can be performed in a clean state of the rubber blade, so that the wiping operation may be continuously performed.

In this embodiment, one of the carriage absorbers (the one at the right end in FIG. 7) cannot be sucked, but the absorber that comes into contact at the beginning of the wiping operation removes dirt from the blade itself. This is not a problem because excessive absorption of the ink hardly occurs. However, even in such a case, it is possible to further provide an engaging pin or the like so that the suction can be performed on the portion, and the structure becomes slightly complicated. However, by providing such a mechanism, the ejection characteristics can be further improved. It goes without saying that stabilization can be achieved.

(Recovery Control Procedure of Recording Apparatus) Next, a recovery control process using the above-described modes and the like as appropriate will be described.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the main control procedure of the ink jet recording apparatus, which is simplified for the sake of explanation, particularly focusing on the operation of the recovery system.

When the power supply is turned on, the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment first performs an initial check of the recording apparatus itself as the ROM 803 and the RAM 8 of the recording apparatus.
05 and other necessary parts are checked (step S1).

Next, after performing a necessary recovery operation in a timer recovery process described later with reference to FIG.
3) The system shifts to the standby state (step S5), and waits for the operation of the recovery switch 826 or the copy switch 824. When the recovery switch 826 is operated (step S7), a recovery processing procedure described later with reference to FIG. 10 is executed (step S11), while the copy switch 8 is operated.
When the button 24 is operated (step S9), a counter recovery process described later with reference to FIG. 11 is executed (step S15) via a recording operation (step S13).

FIG. 9 shows an example of the timer recovery processing procedure called in step S3. First, in step S21, it is determined whether or not three days have elapsed since the last suction recovery was performed by a timer for recovery processing which measures a relatively long predetermined time (for example, three days).
If a negative determination is made here, the process proceeds to step S23, executes the preliminary ejection (A), and returns.

On the other hand, when it is determined that three days or more have elapsed since the previous suction, the ejection port forming surface is capped to perform recovery by suction + preliminary ejection (B) (step S).
25). Thereafter, the carriage is moved in step S27, and wiping is performed in the process (step S2).
7). Then, in step S29, after performing the preliminary ejection (A) with the ejection port forming surface of the recording head and the cap facing each other, the carriage 2 is once moved rightward in FIG. 6 to engage with the recovery system base 350. The engagement is released and the second engagement pin 34
After protruding the absorber 4, the state shown in FIG. 7A is obtained, and further, the state shown in FIG. 7B is obtained, and the absorber 3 is sucked (step S31).

After step S31, step S3
At 3, the timer is reset and the process returns to the main routine.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a recovery procedure when the recovery switch is operated. In this mode, steps S41, S43, S45, and S47, which are the same as steps S25, S27, S29, and S31 in FIG.
1, S53, S55 and S57 are executed. That is, in this mode, suction + preliminary discharge (B), wiping,
The processing of the preliminary ejection (A) and the suction of the absorber are repeated twice consecutively to enhance the recovery processing. Needless to say, the number of repetitions is not limited to two, and may be executed as appropriate.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the counter recovery processing procedure.

Here, first, in step S61, it is determined whether or not a predetermined number (for example, 10) of recordings has been performed after the previous suction recovery. If a positive determination is made here, step S
After performing the suction process in step 65, the above steps S27, S
29 and S31 (step S6).
7), preliminary discharge (A) (step S69) and suction of the absorber (step S71) are performed, and the counter is reset (step S73).

If a negative determination is made in step S61, the process proceeds to step S63, and after performing wiping and preliminary discharge (A) (step S65), returns to the main routine.

In the above, each mode, its operating conditions, the time measured by the timer, and the like are merely examples, and can be appropriately selected as needed.

(Verification of Specific Effects) A durability test was conducted on the stability of image quality in the ink jet recording apparatus of the present embodiment described above. Here, various conditions in this embodiment are shown below as specific numerical values.

Blade: thickness 0.7 mm ± 0.1 width 12.0 mm ± 0.1 free length 8.0 mm ± 0.1 penetrating amount at wiping (to discharge surface) 1.5 mm ± 0.5 at blade cleaning Penetration amount (to cleaner edge) 4.0 mm ± 0.5 Carriage moving speed: 200 mm / sec ± 30 (during wiping) 100 mm / sec ± 30 (during cleaning) Recording head used: 400 dpi 128 nozzles Wiping operation sequence: A4 Sequence of timer suction operation: After 72 hours (3 days) after each sheet recording Sequence of counter suction operation: Every 10 sheets recording Test environment: High temperature / low humidity (35 ° C / 10%) The test environment has a large discharge volume. The test was carried out under severe conditions of a high temperature, a large amount of ink wetting, and a low humidity environment in which the ink dries easily and evaporates. As a result of performing a durability test of 5,000 sheets of A4 size (500 sheets / day for 10 days) under the above-mentioned conditions by solid black recording at a recording ratio of 100% and maximizing the amount of wetting, discharge defects such as twisting and non-discharge occurred. Did not. However, an endurance test was carried out under the above conditions except for the suction recovery of the absorber, and as a result, ejection failure occurred in several hundred sheets. Thus, by providing the cleaning mode of the absorber,
We were able to dramatically improve the number of durable sheets used.

In the present embodiment, an example of color recording using four ink jet cartridges for the carriage 2 has been described. However, the number is not particularly limited. May be mounted. In the case of color image recording, since there is a specific problem of color mixing, the present invention can exert a great effect in color recording because the problem can be solved.

(Modification Example Related to Use of Cleaning Mode) In the first embodiment described above, when the blade 401 comes into contact with the blade cleaning absorber during the wiping operation, all the ink attached to the blade 401 can be absorbed. It may not be possible.

This will be described with reference to FIG.
In the case of FIG. 4 described above, the ink on the ejection port surface is being removed, and the blade 401 relatively moves while being in contact with the ejection port forming surface 1 with a certain width. Is too large, FIG. 12 (a)
As shown in FIG. 6, the ink collected by wiping is collected by the blade 4 due to the arrangement of the recording head and the wiping means.
01 to try to be swept down
In some cases, the width of the stain caused by the ink No. 01 may be wider than the width in contact with the discharge port surface 1.

In such a case, as shown in FIG. 12B, the blade cleaning absorber 3 subsequently moves and absorbs the ink attached to the blade 401. As described above, the blade cleaning absorber 3 absorbs the ink. The body 3 cannot be provided at a position protruding from the discharge port surface 1 and is set so as to be retracted by about 0.5 mm from the discharge port surface in consideration of safety. The penetration amount is smaller than when the discharge port surface 1 is penetrated. As a result, the blade cleaning absorber 3 can absorb the ink attached to the tip of the blade 401, but the ink below it remains on the blade 401.

In the initial stage of use, even if the discharge port surface 1 of the next recording head is wiped with a small amount of ink remaining below the width in contact with the discharge port surface, discharge characteristics such as warpage and non-discharge, color mixing, etc. However, when used for a long time, this slightly remaining ink evaporates, thickens and solidifies, and gradually accumulates with foreign matter such as paper dust. In this case, the wiping performance of the blade is reduced, and the ejection characteristics and the image quality are affected.

Therefore, in this embodiment, a mode is provided in which the blade 401 is started periodically to completely clean the blade 401.

In this example, the blade 401 supported by the blade holder 402 wipes the ink adhered to the ejection port forming surface of the recording head by a blade elevating mechanism (not shown) driven by the movement of the carriage 2. A position that protrudes (ascends) as much as possible (a wiping position), a position that protrudes further from the wiping position to remove ink adhering to the blade 401 that cannot be removed during wiping (a blade cleaning position), and interference with the ejection port surface of the recording head. It can be set at a plurality of positions including a retracted (downward) position (standby position) so as not to be prevented.

The blade cleaning mode will be described with reference to FIG. When the blade cleaning mode is performed, the blade 401 is further protruded from the wiping position in the Y direction in FIG. 1 so that the amount of penetration into the blade cleaning absorber 3 is set to a position deeper than the amount of penetration during normal wiping. The above problem is solved. In this embodiment, the blade is set at a position where the intrusion amount is approximately doubled, and the blade is cleaned by moving the carriage 2 from left to right and performing wiping. When the cleaning is completed and the carriage 2 has passed, the blade 401 is lowered to the standby position to be on standby, and the carriage 2 is returned to the home position.
By doing so, the contact area between the blade 401 and the blade cleaning absorber 3 is increased, and it becomes possible to wipe off dirt on the blade in a portion that could not be wiped during normal wiping. This operation may be performed once, but it is more preferable to perform the operation two or more times. At this time, on the contrary, there is a possibility that ink is re-transferred to the ejection port surface or ink is drawn out from the ejection port due to a change in the amount of penetration of the blade into the recording head. It is preferable to perform the wiping operation and the preliminary ejection.

In order to verify the effect of this modification, a durability test similar to that of the first embodiment was performed. The cleaning mode of the blade was performed every time after the suction recovery of the absorber. Under the conditions described above, the wetting amount was maximized by solid black recording at a recording ratio of 100%, and an A4 size 10,000 sheet durability test (5
(00 sheets / day for 20 days). As a result, no ejection failure such as warpage or ejection failure occurred. However, the endurance test was conducted under the above-mentioned conditions except for the suction recovery of the absorber, and as a result, ejection failure occurred in thousands of sheets. As described above, by providing the cleaning mode of the absorber and the blade, it was possible to maintain the image quality for a long time.

(Other Embodiments Regarding Adhesion of Suction Unit to Cleaning Unit) In this embodiment, the ink receiving capacity of the absorber is increased in order to shorten the interval between suction recovery of the absorber. Although the thickness of the absorber can be doubled or more as compared with the above, the inflow of air from the side surface of the absorber at the time of the suction recovery of the absorber is large, and it is difficult to suction and remove the ink from the bottom of the absorber. . As a countermeasure, a configuration may be adopted in which the surface and side surfaces of the absorber except for the suction recovery portion are surrounded by the mounting portion of the absorber, and air can easily flow from the bottom. In the present embodiment, as a more reliable measure, a configuration is adopted in which the cap is gradually pressed strongly against the absorber while sucking to squeeze the thicker absorber.

In this embodiment, the method of engaging and pressing the carriage and the cap unit is different from that of the above embodiment.

FIG. 14 shows an example of this. As shown in FIG. 14, in this embodiment, the cap unit 300 is urged upward by a spring 311 to support the cap unit 300 movably up and down, and the carriage 2 When the cap unit 300 is moved to face the cap unit 300, the cap unit itself is retracted to a lower position where it does not contact the recording head or the like by driving the plunger 373 or the like combined with the driving unit 375 using a solenoid or the like. Then, when the cap unit and the carriage have a predetermined positional relationship, the driving state of the plunger is released downward to obtain a pressed state by the spring 371. In this embodiment,
The cap unit is directly supported after the coil spring 371 is provided around the plunger 373. However, if a sudden pressure contact between the recording head and the cap causes adverse effects such as air bubbles from the ejection port, a damper mechanism is provided. May be provided so as to make gentle pressure contact.

With the structure described above, when the suction of the absorber is recovered, the plunger 373 is driven after the cap unit 300 and the carriage absorber 3 face each other at a predetermined position as shown in FIG. Start by releasing and pressing. Although the cap and the absorber are closely contacted by the spring 371, the absorber is crushed to some extent, but further contracts as the suction pump operates to suck ink from the absorber. At this time, in this embodiment, since the cap unit is urged upward by the spring 371, the cap unit 300 gradually moves upward while pressing the absorber 3 as shown in FIG. . Therefore, the contact can be maintained during the suction operation, and the ink can be efficiently removed to the bottom of the absorber.

In this embodiment, the cap can be pressed against an arbitrary position of the carriage. Therefore, even if the bottom area of the absorber is larger than the opening of the cap, suction is performed by sequentially changing the position of the carriage. Just do it.

(Other Embodiments Related to Cleaning Means)
FIGS. 16A and 16B show another embodiment of the blade cleaning (cleaning) means. The present embodiment is an example in which the cleaning means provided on the carriage 2 as the cleaning means for the blade uses not the absorber but the suction effect of the gap 30 formed in a slit shape by the capillary force. In this embodiment, the carriage 2 is used to improve the wear resistance of the absorber.
Cleaning blade 30 provided in the blade 40
Foreign matter such as ink and paper dust on the surface 1 is scraped off and absorbed. In the present embodiment, the slits 30 are provided in the carriage 2 which is regarded as a rigid body, so that the wear resistance is much better than that of the absorber, and the cap contact surface is easily flattened. When the liquid is sucked, it is possible to completely adhere to the cap.

When suction is performed from the discharge port 1A or when suction is performed from the slit 30, the cap position may be determined as shown in FIG. In this case, it is effective to use a recovery system unit as shown in FIG.

(Another Embodiment Concerning Simultaneous Suction of Recording Head and Cleaning Unit) This embodiment shows an example using a cap structure that can simultaneously suction the recording head and the cleaning unit for the wiping unit.

As shown in FIG. 17, an absorber 32 is buried in the vicinity of the recording head 100 attached to the carriage 20 so that only the surface is exposed, and the ejection port 100A of the recording head and the absorber 32 are simultaneously placed. A cap 310 that can be covered is provided. That is, in this embodiment,
The ink is also removed from the absorber 32 when the suction from the discharge port 100A is recovered. In the present embodiment, it is necessary to increase the suction amount of the suction pump because the cap is made slightly larger and the initial capacity at the time of suction is increased by simultaneously suctioning the absorber part. It is not necessary to set a special mode for restoring the cleaning means, and the time required for restoration can be shortened. In the present embodiment, the absorber 32 is used as the blade cleaning means, but other means such as the above-described cleaning slit may be used.

(Other Embodiments Regarding Recording Head and Suction Unit) In the above embodiment, an example was shown in which a relatively small recording head was recovered by the suction unit at a substantially fixed position. In this embodiment, however, the width of the recording medium is reduced. An example of a long recording head having a corresponding recording area is shown.

FIG. 18 is a conceptual diagram of the present embodiment, and shows an example in which the suction means moves to divide the area from the end of the long recording head and sequentially perform suction recovery.

As shown in FIG. 18, first, a cap 320 having a predetermined width as a suction means is moved on the long recording head 110 along the axis 322 while repeating the suction operation for several discharge ports sequentially. Then, a cleaning means such as an absorber 35 for cleaning a rubber blade or the like as a wiping means is sucked. Thereafter, the recording head 11 is scanned in the same direction with a rubber blade 410 or the like as a wiping unit.
The ink on 0 is removed, and finally the wiping means is cleaned by the absorber 35 as the cleaning means. Reference numeral 510 denotes a suction pump connected to the cap 320.

In this embodiment, since the suction means and the wiping means are moved, the structure for the movement is complicated, but the capacity of the suction pump is made relatively small by not sucking a very large number of discharge ports at the same time. In addition, since the pressure contact surface of the wiping means to the discharge port is substantially the same area, it is possible to reduce adverse effects of wiping, such as a foreign substance such as paper dust clogging the discharge port. Further, in this embodiment, since the cleaning means of the wiping means can be provided outside the recording area, the cleaning means can be sufficiently protruded, and a sufficient cleaning effect can be obtained. Further, in the present embodiment, since the ink from a number of nozzles is received by the cleaning means at the end of the recording head, the cleaning means is restored every time the suction of the ejection port is recovered. Alternatively, the number of times may be increased or decreased according to the ink reception.

(Others) It should be noted that the present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for discharging ink, particularly in an ink jet recording system. An excellent effect is obtained in a recording head and a recording apparatus of a type in which the state of ink is changed by the thermal energy. This is because according to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
Although it can be applied to any type of continuous type, in particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to a sheet holding liquid (ink) or an electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding the nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis.
This is effective because air bubbles inside can be formed. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat.
A configuration using the specification of Japanese Patent No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an aperture for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration is based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be reliably and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium on which a recording apparatus can record. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads, or a configuration as one integrally formed recording head.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as described above, the recording head fixed to the apparatus main body or the electric connection with the apparatus main body or the ink from the apparatus main body by being attached to the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself is used.

It is preferable to add ejection recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like as the configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If these are specifically mentioned, the recording head is heated using capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, an electrothermal transducer, another heating element or a combination thereof. Pre-heating means for performing the pre-heating and pre-discharging means for performing the discharging other than the recording can be used.

The type and number of recording heads to be mounted are not limited to those provided only for one color ink, for example, and for a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities. A plurality may be provided. That is, for example, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to a printing mode of only a mainstream color such as black, but may be any of integrally forming a printing head or a combination of a plurality of printing heads. The present invention is also very effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of the recording modes of full color by color mixture.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or lower and which softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. In general, the ink jet method generally controls the temperature of the ink itself within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. Sometimes, the ink may be in a liquid state. In addition, in order to positively prevent temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to prevent evaporation of the ink, the ink is solidified in a standing state and heated. May be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start solidifying when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used. In such a case, the ink
JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-7
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1260, it is also possible to adopt a form in which the sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter in a state where it is held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention may be used not only as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, but also as a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, or a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. It may take a form.

[0107]

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the wiping means capable of rubbing the discharge port forming surface provided with the discharge ports of the recording head, and the wiping means provided near the discharge port forming surface, A cleaning means for cleaning the wiping means by rubbing, a cap for bringing the ejection port forming surface into close contact with the capping or cleaning means, and a suction means capable of sucking ink; Is removed by the suction means via the cap which is in close contact with the cleaning means, so that the performance of the wiping means and the cleaning means can be maintained for a long period of time. In addition, since the ink is forcibly sucked from the ejection port by the suction means while the cap is capping the ejection port formation surface, the ejection of the ink from the ejection port of the recording head is performed for a long time. Can be stabilized.

A control means for selectively connecting a suction means to the discharge port forming surface and the cleaning means;
For example, in the case of a serial printer, a carriage on which a recording head is mounted is provided with a cleaning unit, and a carriage control unit for controlling the position of the carriage is provided. The carriage control unit selects suction of the recording head and suction of the cleaning unit. did. Further, the cleaning performance is improved by, for example, using a porous absorber as the cleaning means, and the cleaning performance by suction is facilitated by ensuring and easy adhesion to the suction means, thereby improving the cleaning performance. , And good recording can be maintained.

That is, the cleaning means and the suction means having a simple structure cause unnecessary ink droplets and the like to adhere to the discharge port forming surface, deviating the ink discharge direction and deteriorating the image quality. By preventing inconvenience caused by using liquid ink over a long period of time, it has become possible to maintain good image quality.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a configuration example of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are a bottom view and a front view of the vicinity of a carriage on which the recording head shown in FIG. 1 is mounted.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are explanatory diagrams of the wiping operation of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are enlarged explanatory views of the same. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a control system of the present example apparatus.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for describing a configuration example of a recovery system unit and a suction recovery operation of a recording head.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are explanatory diagrams for explaining the operation at the time of suction recovery of the absorber on the carriage. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a recording control procedure of the apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a timer recovery processing procedure in the procedure of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a switch recovery processing procedure.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a counter recovery processing procedure.

FIGS. 12 (a) and 12 (b) are explanatory diagrams for explaining the inconvenience when the wiping blade is excessively contaminated.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment for solving the inconvenience.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of another embodiment relating to close contact of a suction unit with a cleaning unit.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are explanatory diagrams of the operation.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are a schematic front view and a bottom view, respectively, for explaining another embodiment relating to the cleaning means.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment in which a recording head and a cleaning unit are simultaneously sucked.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment when a long recording head is used.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 discharge port forming surface 2 carriage 3 absorber 12 discharge port 86 recording head 200 recovery system unit 300 cap unit 401 blade 500 pump unit 800 controller 801 CPU C cartridge P recording medium

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Jin Sugimoto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Kentaro Yano 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon (56) References JP-A-2-11332 (JP, A) JP-A-2-108548 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 2/165

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording medium by using a recording head that ejects ink from an ejection port, wherein the ejection port forming surface of the recording head where the ejection port is provided can be rubbed. A wiping unit, a cleaning unit provided in the vicinity of the discharge port forming surface, and cleaning the wiping unit by rubbing with the wiping unit, and capping the discharge port forming surface, or
A cap which is in close contact with the cleaning means, and which caps the discharge port forming surface;
Forcing ink is sucked from the discharge port Rutoki, the
When the cap is in close contact with the cleaning means
An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a suction unit for forcibly sucking ink from the cleaning unit . 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said suction means further comprises a position control means for selecting a position in which the suction is performed from the discharge port in contact with the discharge port forming surface and a position in which the suction is performed in contact with the cleaning means. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The recording head is mounted on a carriage and scans the recording medium in a predetermined direction. The cleaning unit is provided on the carriage, and the position control unit is configured to control a position of the carriage. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit selects a position for performing suction from the discharge port and a position for performing suction by the cleaning unit by controlling the position of the carriage. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning means is formed of a porous absorber. 5. The recording head according to claim 1, further comprising an electrothermal conversion element for generating thermal energy for causing film boiling of the ink, as an element for generating energy used for discharging the ink. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: