JPH07323556A - Ink jet recorder and information processing system using the same recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an ink jet recorder which has small recording time loss and in which the deterioration of a recording quality level does not occur by providing a cleaning member movably in the scanning direction of a carriage at the carriage. CONSTITUTION:A rack gear 9 is provided reciprocatingly movably at a head carriage 6. A pinion gear 8 engaged with the gear 9 is provided rotatably by a drive source. A blade 1 as a cleaning member made of rubber or the like for wiping OFF a foreign matter such as ink, dusts, etc., adhered to the discharge port surfaces 7a of the recording heads 7BK, 7Y, 7M, 7C placed on the head holder 10 of the carriage 6 is fixed to the gear 9. The gear 8 is rotated by the drive source, hence the gear 9 is moved in the direction of an arrow B to the carriage 6, and the blade 1 cleans the discharge port surfaces 7a of the heads 7BK, 7Y, 7M, 7C.

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 for ejecting ink from a recording head to record on a recording medium and an information processing system equipped with the ink jet recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, paper, cloth, plastic sheet, O
A recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium such as an HP sheet has been proposed as a form in which a recording head of various recording systems, for example, a wire dot system, a thermal system, a thermal transfer system, and an inkjet recording system can be mounted.

However, in such a recording apparatus, as a low-noise non-impact recording method, an ink jet recording method for recording on a recording medium by ejecting ink as droplets from fine ejection holes (orifices). Since a recording apparatus having a recording head is capable of high-density and high-speed recording operation, it is used as an output terminal of an information processing system, such as an output terminal of a copying machine, a facsimile, an electronic typewriter, a word processor, a workstation, or the like. It is used and commercialized as a handy or portable printer provided in a printer, a personal computer, a host computer, an optical disk device, a video device, or the like. In this case, the inkjet recording apparatus has a configuration corresponding to the functions and usage patterns peculiar to these apparatuses.

Generally, an ink jet recording apparatus has a carriage for mounting a recording head having a plurality of ejection holes for ejecting ink, a conveying means for conveying a recording medium, and a control means for controlling these operations. . Then, the carriage is serially scanned by a stepping motor in a direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction) of the recording medium, while the recording medium is intermittently conveyed during non-recording.

This recording method is one in which ink is ejected onto a recording medium according to a recording signal to perform recording, and the running cost is low and it is widely used as a quiet recording method. In addition, by using a recording head in which a large number of ejection holes for ejecting ink are arranged in a straight line in the sub-scanning direction, the recording head scans the recording medium once, and the width corresponding to the number of ejection ports is increased. Is recorded. Therefore, it is possible to speed up the recording operation.

As an energy generating means for generating energy for ejecting ink, an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element is used, electromagnetic waves such as laser are irradiated to generate heat, and the generated heat causes ink droplets to drop. There is a method for discharging ink or a method for heating ink by an electrothermal conversion element having a heating resistor.

Among them, the recording head of the type for ejecting ink by utilizing thermal energy (so-called bubble jet type) can perform high resolution recording because the ejection ports can be arranged at high density. . Among them, the recording head using the electrothermal conversion element as the energy generating means can be easily made compact, and the technological progress and the reliability improvement in the recent semiconductor field are remarkable.
This is advantageous because the advantages of the C technology and the micro processing technology can be fully utilized, high-density mounting is easy, and the manufacturing cost is low.

Further, in the case of a color compatible ink jet recording apparatus, a color image is formed by superposing ink droplets ejected by recording heads of a plurality of colors. Generally, when color recording is performed, four colors corresponding to four primary colors of cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), or four colors including black (Bk) in these three primary colors.
Different types of printheads and ink cartridges are needed. Recently, an apparatus capable of forming a full-color image by mounting a recording head of such 3 to 4 colors has been put into practical use.

By the way, when ink is ejected from the recording head, ink splashes and the like adhere to the ejection port surface (the surface on which the ejection port is arranged). When the amount increases,
This adversely affects the ink ejection from the ejection port, and causes, for example, deviation of the ink ejection direction, non-ejection of the ink, or contamination of the image due to the ink attached to the ejection port surface being scattered with the ink from the ejection port.

Therefore, in order to maintain good recording, as shown in FIG. 7, a blade 101 is provided for wiping off ink, dust and the like adhering to the ejection port surface of the recording head 107 after recording. There is. The recording head 107 is mounted on a carriage 106 that reciprocates in the main scanning direction, and the blade 101 is arranged facing the recording head 107 in consideration of the maximum width of a recording medium that can be used in this recording apparatus. It is fixed to the right end of the platen 103. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, after the recording is completed, the carriage 106 is further moved to the right and the recording head 107 is moved.
The blade 101 is rubbed against the ejection opening surface 107a of the recording head 107 (shown by a chain double-dashed line in the figure),
07a is being cleaned.

[0011]

With the ink jet recording apparatus having such a structure, in order to enable recording on a recording medium having a maximum size of A1, for example, as shown in FIG. Recording speed V
The length d required to start up the recording medium, the recording medium width e shorter than A1, the length f required to completely clean the ejection opening surface of the recording head with the blade, and the recording speed V. A main scanning width h including the length g required for stopping is required. However, since the blade is fixed to the platen in the related art, even when recording on a short width of a recording medium smaller than A1 size, for example, A4 size recording medium, the recording head is used for A1 size short width recording. There was a problem that the scanning had to be performed for the same length as the time, resulting in a very large loss of time.

The actual start-up of the carriage is shown in FIG.
Instead of such a change, as shown in FIG. 10, an overshoot (region of j) occurs until the speed of the carriage reaches the recording speed V. It is very difficult to set the start-up curve that makes the main scanning width as short as possible and the overshoot as small as possible, and the overshoot does not converge even at the recording start position S. The carriage vibrates to some extent for a certain period of time (a region of k) after the start. The fine vibration of the carriage affects the recording quality, and in particular, in a recording medium of a small size of A3 size or less, since it is often observed closer than that of the A1 size, deterioration of the recording quality is noticeable. there were.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that causes little loss of recording time and does not cause deterioration of recording quality, and an information processing system including the ink jet recording apparatus.

[0014]

An ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a recording head for ejecting ink from an ejection port according to a recording signal, and a recording medium on which the recording head is mounted. In an inkjet recording apparatus having a carriage that is relatively scanned with respect to the inkjet head, and a cleaning member for wiping off foreign matter adhering to the ejection port surface of the recording head, the cleaning member is provided on the carriage. It is characterized in that it is provided so as to be movable in the scanning direction.

A drive mechanism for moving the cleaning member in the scanning direction of the carriage may be provided in the carriage. In this case, the drive mechanism is a pinion and a rack mechanism, and the cleaning member is The pinion and the rack mechanism may be fixed to the rack, or the drive mechanism may be a belt mechanism, and the cleaning member may be fixed to the belt of the belt mechanism.

Further, the cleaning member is provided so as to be urged toward the advancing side in the scanning direction of the carriage, and is disposed inside the facing member facing the discharge port surface of the recording head, from the facing member to the discharge port surface. A plurality of locking members for locking the cleaning member by projecting toward may be provided at predetermined positions for each width of the recording medium used so as to be able to move back and forth.

The recording start position can be selected according to the width of the recording medium in the scanning direction of the carriage, and the recording head generates thermal energy used for ejecting ink. The recording head may be provided with an electrothermal converter for controlling the ink from the ejection port by utilizing the film boiling generated in the ink by the thermal energy applied by the electrothermal converter. May be discharged.

An information processing system of the present invention comprises the above-mentioned ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention as an output means.

[0019]

In the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the cleaning member for wiping off the foreign matter adhering to the ejection port surface of the recording head is mounted with the recording head and is relatively positioned with respect to the recording medium. Since the carriage to be scanned is provided so as to be movable in the scanning direction of the carriage, the ejection port surface can be cleaned at a position corresponding to the width of the recording medium. As a result, it becomes possible to change the scanning width of the carriage according to the width of the recording medium,
The recording time for recording on a recording medium having a short width is significantly shortened.

Particularly, in the case where the carriage is provided with a drive mechanism for moving the cleaning member in the scanning direction of the carriage, the ejection port can be cleaned at any position without moving the carriage. When the belt mechanism is used as the mechanism, the driving mechanism can be downsized, and the carriage can be downsized. On the other hand, a cleaning member is provided on the side of the carriage that moves in the scanning direction, and a locking member that locks the cleaning member by protruding from the facing member is provided inside the facing member that faces the discharge port surface. Then, first, the locking member is projected from the facing member to lock the cleaning member on the locking member. When the carriage is scanned toward the advancing side in this state, since the movement of the cleaning member is restricted by the locking member, only the carriage moves, and the ejection port surface is cleaned as the carriage moves. After the cleaning is completed, if the locking member is returned to the inside of the facing member, the locking of the cleaning member is released, and the cleaning member is returned to the original position by the urging force.

Further, by making the recording start position selectable according to the width of the recording medium, when the recording width of the recording medium in the main scanning direction is narrow, the overshoot at the start-up of the carriage is completely converged. Recording can be started from the specified position, and high-quality output results can be obtained.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, in which A is the maximum.
An example of a recording apparatus capable of recording a width of one size is shown.

In FIG. 1, two elements arranged in parallel with each other
A head carriage 6 and an ink carriage 20 are slidably fitted to the rail 4 of the book, and are reciprocated in the arrow A direction (main scanning direction) in synchronization with each other by driving of a head motor 18 and an ink motor 19, respectively. Be moved. The head carriage 6 has four recording heads 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, and 7C for black ink, yellow ink, magenta ink, and cyan ink, respectively, in order to form a full-color image.
0 (see FIG. 3), the image signal is sent to each of the recording heads 7Bk, 7Y, 7M and 7C after being subjected to necessary image processing by a control unit (not shown). Black ink is applied to each of the ink carriages 20. Four ink tanks 21 containing yellow ink, magenta ink, and cyan ink are mounted, and the ink contained in each ink tank 21 is supplied to the corresponding recording heads 7Bk, 7Y via the ink supply tubes.
It is supplied to 7M and 7C.

As for each of the recording heads 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, and 7C, the recording head 7Bk for black is taken as an example in FIG.
Will be explained.

The recording head 7Bk has a discharge port surface 7a facing a recording medium, which will be described later, at a predetermined interval.
256 discharge ports 7b are formed at a pitch of 6 / mm (400 dpi). Each discharge port 7b and common liquid chamber 7c
An electrothermal converter (e.g., a heating resistor) 7e for generating energy for ejecting ink is disposed along the wall surface of each liquid path 7d that communicates with the. The common liquid chamber 7c communicates with the ink tank 21 (see FIG. 1) via an ink supply tube, and ink is supplied from the ink tank 21 to the common liquid chamber 7c. Ink tank 2
The ink that is supplied from 1 to the common liquid chamber 7c and is temporarily stored invades the liquid passage 7d due to a capillary phenomenon, and the discharge port 7b
Then, a meniscus is formed to keep the liquid path 7d filled. At this time, the electrothermal converter 7 is connected via electrodes (not shown).
When e is energized to generate heat, the ink on the electrothermal converter 7e is rapidly heated to generate bubbles due to film boiling in the liquid passage 7d, and the expansion of the bubbles ejects the ink from the ejection port 7b. Here, the electrothermal converter 7e is shown as the energy generating element for generating energy, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a piezo element for generating mechanical energy that instantaneously applies the discharge pressure may be used.

Although the black recording head 7Bk has been described above, the other recording heads 7C, 7M and 7Y are used.
Is also the same.

A roll paper spool 1 is used as the recording medium.
3, a roll-shaped recording paper 2a such as paper or OHP film supported by 3, and stacked in the storage cassette 22.
A sheet-shaped recording sheet 2b such as paper or OHP film can be selectively used (hereinafter, when the roll-shaped recording sheet 2a and the sheet-shaped recording sheet 2b are not distinguished, they are simply referred to as the recording sheet 2). To). Rolled recording paper 2a is A
Conveyance path (not shown) having a width equal to the width of one size
It is pinched by the pair of transport rollers 14 through. The sheet-shaped recording papers 2b stacked in the storage cassette 22 are separated one by one by a separating means (not shown), and are conveyed to the conveying roller pair 14 through a conveying path (not shown) different from the roll-shaped recording papers 2a. It is pinched. A plurality of types of storage cassettes 22 are prepared according to the sheet width r of the sheet-shaped recording sheets 2b to be stacked.

The conveying roller pair 14 conveys the recording paper 2 in the sub-scanning direction which is a direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction, and forms the ejection port surface 7a (see FIG. 2) of each recording head 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, 7C. It is for supplying to the facing position. A tension roller pair 15 is arranged on the downstream side of the conveying roller pair 14 with respect to the conveying direction of the recording sheet 2, and the recording sheet 2 is conveyed at a position facing the ejection port surface 7a of each recording head 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, 7C. Tension is applied by the roller pair 14 and the tension roller pair 15. The conveying roller pair 14 and the tension roller pair 15 are driven by a sheet feeding / conveying motor (not shown) via the transmission means 16, respectively.

A platen 3 as an opposing member is arranged at a position where the recording sheet 2 faces the ejection opening surface 7a of each recording head 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, 7C. The platen 3 has suction means (not shown) for preventing wrinkles of the recording paper 2 and floating from the platen 3, and the recording paper 2 is tensioned by the conveying roller pair 14 and the tension roller pair 15. It is pressed against the platen 3 by and is attracted to the platen 3 by the suction means.

Further, the roll-shaped recording paper 2 is provided on the upstream side of the conveying roller pair 14 with respect to the conveying direction of the recording paper 2.
When recording is performed with a, the roll-shaped recording paper 2
Reciprocating cutter 23 for cutting a into a desired length
Are arranged. The cutting position of the reciprocating cutter 23 is located on the upstream side by 6 lines (about 97.5 mm) plus a margin (about 8 mm) from the recording region for one line indicated by hatching in FIG.

Now, the structure of the head carriage 6 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the vicinity of the head carriage shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the head carriage 6 is provided with a rack gear 9 reciprocally in the direction of arrow B in the figure, and a pinion gear 8 that meshes with the rack gear 9 is a drive source (not shown).
It is rotatably provided. Also, the rack gear 9
Is a cleaning member made of rubber or the like for wiping off foreign matter such as ink or dust adhering to the ejection port surface 7a of each of the recording heads 7Bk, 7Y, 7M and 7C mounted on the head holder 10 of the head carriage 6. The blade 1 is fixed, and by rotating the pinion gear 8 by the drive source, the rack gear 9 moves in the direction of arrow B with respect to the head carriage 6, and the blade 1 moves the recording heads 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, The discharge port surface 7a of 7C is cleaned.

Next, the operation of the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

When the recording operation is started, either the roll-shaped recording sheet 2a or the sheet-shaped recording sheet 2b is selected according to the width of the output data and is conveyed to the conveying roller pair 14 via the reciprocating cutter 23. It

The recording paper 2 conveyed to the conveying roller pair 14.
Further through the platen 3 and the tension roller pair 1
5, the conveyance is stopped when the leading end exceeds the nip of the tension roller pair 15 by about 15 mm. At this time, the recording paper 2 is attracted to the platen 3 by the suction means of the platen 3.

On the other hand, the head carriage 6 and the ink carriage 20 are initially at the leftmost start position shown in FIG. 1, and after the conveyance of the recording paper 2 is stopped, the head motor 18 and the ink motor 19 are driven, respectively. The image is scanned to the right in the figure. At this time, the recording heads 7Bk, 7Y, 7M mounted on the head carriage 6
Ink is ejected from 7C in response to a recording signal, and one line of recording is performed by scanning the head carriage 6. The scanning distance of the head carriage 6 during recording differs depending on the width of the recording paper 2 on which recording is performed.

Immediately after the recording for one line is completed, the blade 1 provided on the head carriage 6 is driven to clean the ejection port surface 7a of each recording head 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, 7C.

When the ejection port surface of each recording head is cleaned, the feed roller motor is driven to drive the feed roller pair 14 and the tension roller pair 15 via the transmission means 16 to feed the print sheet 2 to the print sheet 2. Then, the head carriage 6 and the ink carriage 20 are returned to the start position. Here, the driving of the blade 1, the conveyance of the recording paper 2, and the movement of the carriages 6 and 20 are performed separately, but some of these operations may be combined and performed simultaneously. All operations may be performed simultaneously.

When the head carriage 6 and the ink carriage 20 return to the start position, the above operation is repeated again to successively form images.

Here, when recording is performed on the roll-shaped recording paper 2a, after the recording of the seventh line from the end is completed,
Before the roll-shaped recording paper 2a is conveyed, the roll-shaped recording paper 2a is cut by the reciprocating cutter 23, and thereafter, the roll-shaped recording paper 2a is conveyed and the remaining six lines are recorded. As a result, the next recording can be performed without rewinding the roll-shaped recording paper 2a when recording again on the roll-shaped recording paper 2a.

As described above, each recording head 7B
Since the blade 1 for cleaning the ejection port surface 7a of k, 7Y, 7M, and 7C is provided in the head carriage 6, the cleaning of the ejection port surface 7a of each recording head 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, and 7C is performed by the head. The carriage 6 can be operated at any position. As a result, even when the recording paper 2 having a short width is used, the ejection ports 7a of the recording heads 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, and 7C are cleaned within the range of the main scanning width of the head carriage 6 according to the width. Therefore, the recording time can be shortened significantly. Further, since the ejection ports 7a of the recording heads 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, and 7C can be cleaned without moving the head carriage 6, the main scanning width of the head carriage 6 is reduced by the area f shown in FIG. Can be shortened.

Next, the recording start position with respect to the size of the recording paper 2 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the head carriage 6 is raised from the start position to the recording speed V, an overshoot occurs, and the head carriage 6 vibrates minutely for a fixed time after the start of recording. The deterioration of recording quality due to the minute vibration of the head carriage 6 is
It is not so noticeable when outputting to a large-sized recording sheet 2 such as A1 size, but is particularly noticeable when outputting to a small-sized recording sheet 2 of A3 size or less, because the output result is often observed relatively close.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, when recording on the lateral width of the A1 size and the longitudinal width of the A2 size (area i in the figure), recording is performed from the recording start position S similar to the conventional one. Other than A3 size longitudinal width (q area in the figure), A4 size longitudinal width (n area in the figure), and A
At the time of recording in the four widths (area m in the figure), recording is performed from the recording start position P where the overshoot (area j in the figure) is completely converged. Therefore, at the time of recording on the recording paper 2 other than the short width of the A1 size and the long width of the A2 size, a user's manual input on the operation panel (not shown) or a paper width automatic detection means (such as an optical sensor) (Not shown), the setting position of the recording paper 2 is changed.

As described above, by changing the recording start position according to the size of the recording paper 2, it is possible to completely prevent the deterioration of the recording quality occurring immediately after the start of recording at the time of recording with the longitudinal width of A3 size or less. You can

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the vicinity of a head carriage of a second embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the head carriage 36 is
Drive pulley 38 that is rotated by a drive source (not shown)
a and a driven pulley 38b that is rotatably supported, and the blade 3 is attached to one portion of the timing belt 39 that is wound around the drive pulley 38a and the driven pulley 38b.
1 is fixed. Since other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof will be omitted and the same reference numerals will be given to those shown in the drawings.

Based on the above construction, when the drive pulley 38a is rotated by the drive source, the timing belt 39 is rotated, and the blade 31 is moved in the direction of arrow B in accordance with the rotation, and the recording heads 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, 7C. The discharge port surface 7a of is cleaned. That is, this embodiment is similar to the blade drive mechanism (rack & rack) used in the first embodiment.
The pinion mechanism) is replaced with a belt mechanism.
By thus driving the blade 31 by the belt mechanism, the rack gear 9 in the first embodiment (see FIG. 3)
Since there is no overhang in the direction of arrow B, the head carriage 36 can be downsized, and the ink jet recording apparatus can be downsized.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of the vicinity of a head carriage of a third embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, the pulley 51 is rotatably supported on the right end portion of the head carriage 46, and the blade 41 is movable along the ejection port surface 7a of each recording head 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, 7C. It is provided. Then, the wire 52 having the tension coil spring 52 a integrally provided at one end is wound around the pulley 51, and one end of the wire 52 is formed into the protrusion 4 formed at the left end of the head carriage 46.
6a and the other end is fixed to the blade 41. In this state, the blade 41 is located to the right of the rightmost recording head 7C, and the blade 4
1 is always urged rightward in the figure.

Further, inside the platen 3, the locking member 5
There is provided a solenoid 53 for driving the 4 forward and backward.
The locking member 54 is normally stored inside the platen 3, but by driving the solenoid 53, the locking member 54 projects from the surface of the platen 3 facing the recording heads 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, and 7C, and the blade 41 moves. It is configured to be locked. A plurality of solenoids 53 and locking members 54 are arranged for each width of the recording paper 2 to be used, on the side of the head carriage 46 in the main scanning traveling direction with respect to the right end of the recording paper 2. Since other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof will be omitted and the same reference numerals will be given to those shown in the drawings.

Based on the above construction, after the recording of one line on the recording paper 2 is completed, the solenoid 53 is driven to cause the locking member 54 to project. Then, the locking member 54 comes into contact with the side portion of the blade 41, and the blade 41 cannot move further to the right against the biasing force of the tension coil spring 52a.
When the head carriage 46 is further scanned to the right in this state, the movement of the blade 41 causes the locking member 5 to move as described above.
Since it is regulated by No. 4, the tension coil spring 52a
Is extended to move only the head carriage 46, and the blade 41 cleans the ejection port surface 7a of each of the recording heads 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, and 7C.

When the last recording head 7Bk is cleaned, the solenoid 53 is driven again to store the locking member 54 inside the platen 3. As a result, the regulation of the blade 41 is released, and the tension coil spring 52a
The blade 41 is returned to the original position by the urging force of.

As described above, the blade 41 is provided on the advancing side in the scanning direction of the head carriage 46, and the locking member 54 which is driven forward and backward by the solenoid 53 is provided inside the platen 3 so that the blade 41 is driven by the head. It is not necessary to provide the carriage 46. Moreover, the solenoid 53 and the locking member 54 are used for the recording paper 2 used.
Since a plurality of the discharge ports 7a are provided according to the width of the recording sheet 2, the ejection port 7a can be cleaned at a predetermined position corresponding to the width of the recording sheet 2.

The present invention provides excellent effects particularly in an ink jet recording head and recording apparatus for recording by forming flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy among the ink jet recording systems.

Regarding its typical structure and principle, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal to the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path in which is stored, which corresponds to the recorded information and causes a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling. , It is effective because it generates heat energy in the electrothermal converter and causes film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, resulting in the formation of bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis. Is. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection openings by the growth and contraction of the bubbles to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make the driving signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be grown and contracted immediately and appropriately, and thus a liquid (ink) with excellent responsiveness can be ejected.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the ejection port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the linear liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications. The present invention also includes configurations using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.

In addition, JP-A-59-123670, which discloses a structure in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and a pressure wave of thermal energy is absorbed. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-138461, which discloses a configuration in which an opening corresponds to a discharge portion.

In addition, by being mounted on the apparatus main body, it can be electrically connected to the apparatus main body and can be supplied with ink from the apparatus main body by a replaceable chip type recording head or the recording head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge-type recording head provided with an ink tank is used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, etc., which are provided as a constitution of the recording apparatus of the present invention, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If you list these specifically,
Capping means, pressurizing or sucking means for the recording head, preheating means by an electrothermal converter or another heating element or a combination thereof, and a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection other than recording Is also effective for stable recording.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but the recording head may be integrally formed or a plurality of combinations may be used. The present invention is also extremely effective for a device provided with at least one of full colors by color mixing.

In the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid, but it is an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and softens at room temperature, or is a liquid, or the above-mentioned. In the inkjet method, the temperature of the ink itself is generally adjusted within a range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature of the ink so that the viscosity of the ink is within a stable ejection range. Any material that is in liquid form may be used.

In addition, the temperature rise due to the thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy for the state change of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the ink is solidified in the standing state for the purpose of preventing the evaporation of the ink. In some cases, such as ink that is liquefied by applying heat energy according to a recording signal and ejected as a liquid ink, or one that has already started to solidify when it reaches a recording medium. The use of an ink having a property of being liquefied only by heat energy is also applicable to the present invention. In such a case, the ink is disclosed in JP-A-54-5684.
No. 7 or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-71260, a mode in which it is opposed to the electrothermal converter in the state of being held as a liquid or solid in the recesses or through holes of the porous sheet. Also good. 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, as the form of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to the one provided integrally or separately as an output means of an information processing system such as a word processor or a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader, It may take the form of a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function.

[0066]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the cleaning member is provided on the carriage so as to be movable in the scanning direction of the carriage, the ejection port surface can be cleaned at a position corresponding to the width of the recording medium. The recording time can be greatly shortened when recording is performed on a recording medium having a short width.

In particular, by providing the carriage with a drive mechanism for moving the cleaning member in the scanning direction of the carriage, the ejection port can be cleaned at any position without moving the carriage. Among them, in the case where the drive mechanism is the belt mechanism, the drive mechanism can be downsized, so that the carriage can be downsized, and further, the ink jet recording apparatus can be downsized. On the other hand, by providing the cleaning member on the moving side in the scanning direction of the carriage and providing the locking member inside the facing member that is arranged to face the discharge port surface, it is not necessary to provide a drive source for the cleaning member on the carriage.

Further, by making the recording start position selectable according to the width of the recording medium, when the recording width of the recording medium in the main scanning direction is narrow, the overshoot at the start-up of the carriage is completely converged. Recording can be started from the specified position, and high-quality output results can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of a recording head of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

3 is a schematic plan view of the vicinity of a head carriage of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

4 is a graph showing the relationship between the distance from the start position of the carriage of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and the speed.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the vicinity of the head carriage of the second embodiment of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of the vicinity of a head carriage of a third embodiment of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional inkjet recording apparatus.

8 is a schematic plan view of the vicinity of the carriage of the inkjet recording head shown in FIG.

9 is a graph showing the design relationship between the distance from the start position of the carriage and the speed of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

10 is a graph showing an actual relationship between the distance from the start position of the carriage and the speed of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 31, 41 Blade 2 Recording paper 2a Roll recording paper 2b Sheet recording paper 3 Platen 4 Rails 6, 36, 46 Head carriage 7Bk, 7Y, 7M, 7C Recording head 7a Discharge port surface 7b Discharge port 7c Common Liquid chamber 7d Liquid path 7e Electrothermal converter 8 Pinion gear 9 Rack gear 10 Head holder 13 Roll paper spool 14 Conveying roller pair 15 Tension roller pair 16 Transmission means 18 Head motor 19 Ink motor 20 Ink carriage 21 Ink tank 22 Storage cassette 23 Reciprocating roll Cutter 38a Drive pulley 38b Driven pulley 39 Timing belt 46a Projection 51 Pulley 52 Wire 52a Tension coil spring 53 Locking member 54 Solenoid

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A recording head that ejects ink from an ejection port in response to a recording signal, a carriage that mounts the recording head and is scanned relative to a recording medium, and an ejection port surface of the recording head. An inkjet recording apparatus having a cleaning member for wiping off foreign matter attached to the inkjet recording apparatus, wherein the cleaning member is provided on the carriage so as to be movable in a scanning direction of the carriage. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a drive mechanism that moves the cleaning member in a scanning direction of the carriage is provided in the carriage. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the drive mechanism is a pinion and a rack mechanism, and the cleaning member is fixed to a rack of the pinion and rack mechanism. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the drive mechanism is a belt mechanism, and the cleaning member is fixed to a belt of the belt mechanism. 5. The cleaning member is provided so as to be urged toward the advancing side in the scanning direction of the carriage, and is disposed inside the facing member facing the discharge port surface of the recording head from the facing member to the discharge port surface. The plurality of locking members that lock the cleaning member by projecting toward the recording medium are provided at predetermined positions depending on the width of the recording medium used so as to be able to move back and forth. Inkjet recording device. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording start position can be selected according to the width of the recording medium in the scanning direction of the carriage. 7. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head includes an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy used for ejecting ink. . 8. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the recording head ejects the ink from the ejection port by utilizing film boiling generated in the ink by thermal energy applied by the electrothermal converter. 9. An information processing system comprising the inkjet recording device according to claim 1 as an output unit.