JPS59115863A - Plane scanning type ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the titled apparatus for preventing the drying of the ink in the nozzle of a printing head even if the printing head or a platen is not moved, constituted by providing a capping mechanism and an ink recovery mechanism in a hollow platen. CONSTITUTION:A capping mechanism and an ink recovery mechanism are provided around a shaft 110 in a rotatable manner so as to be communicated with the nozzle surface of a printing head 101 from the opening part 105 provided to a part of the peripheral surface of a platen 104. In a stand-by state, the ink recovery mechaism constituted of a box shaped ink receiver 109 is directed to the nozzle surface 103 through the opening part 105. In a stopped state, the capping mechanism constituted of a cap member 106, the drive means 107 thereof and a double-seat spring 208 is acted on the nozzle surface 103 through the opening part 105.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a maintenance mechanism for an inkjet print head.

In general, drop-on-demand type inkjet recording devices do not require much energy to eject ink droplets, so if the nozzle holes of the recording device that eject ink droplets are left in the atmosphere, the ink filled in the minute nozzle holes will dry out. When the ink is solidified or the ink has a high concentration<i"f"c viscosity and the so-called et recording apparatus is in a rest state, care must be taken to prevent the ink in the nozzle from drying out.

One way to solve this problem is to provide a cover or cap to the nozzle that shields it from the atmosphere when the recording device is inactive for a long period of time.

Also, when in a short-term rest state, that is, in a stun state, several to dozens of ink droplets are ejected per nozzle at regular intervals, for example every 3 to 5 minutes, to constantly regenerate the ink in the nozzle. It is necessary to do the following.

As mentioned above, the drop-on-demand inkjet recording device has a mechanism that caps the nozzle, that is, a capping mechanism, and an ink recovery mechanism that collects ink droplets that are ejected to promote the metabolism of ink inside the nozzle without contaminating the device. A mechanism is essential. However, as mentioned above, the energy required to eject the ink droplets is too much, so the ink droplets flying away from the nozzle have poor straightness, making it impossible to maintain print quality. ) and the recording surface must be made small.

The spacing is generally 2n or less.

Therefore, either the device for drying the ink is placed outside the printing range where the distance between the inside of the nozzle and the recording surface is narrow and the print head is moved to the corresponding position, or the print head is moved to the rear of the printing position. A conceivable method is to increase the distance between the nozzle surface and the recording surface and make the device protrude therefrom to achieve the above-mentioned purpose. However, in any case, these methods cannot be used if the print head is a serial type print head that prints while moving the print head in the main scanning direction of the recording paper.
There is no problem because the head itself is small, but in the case of a flat scanning print head, the print head itself is large and covers the entire printing range of the recording paper, that is, the entire main scanning range, so the above-mentioned method requires a mechanism that is difficult to use. It is large and complex, and is not practical from a cost standpoint.

In view of these current circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive and highly reliable plane scanning type inkjet recording device that eliminates clogging of the print head by employing a simple mechanism. That is, there is a platen having a hollow structure and having an opening in a part of the circumferential surface of the reservoir that holds the recording paper during recording, and a platen inside the platen that is used to hold the print head when the inkjet recording apparatus is in a dormant state for a long time. a cap means that is brought into contact with the nozzle surface of the print head with a predetermined pressure through an opening on the circumferential surface of the platen in order to prevent the ink present inside the nozzle from solidifying due to drying; and an inkjet recording apparatus. When the pause state of the print head lasts for a short period of time (standby state), in order to prevent the viscosity from increasing due to drying of the ink inside the nozzles of the print head, the nozzles eject ink droplets at regular intervals, and the openings on the circumferential surface of the platen are ejected. There is obtained a plane scanning type inkjet recording apparatus characterized in that an ink receiver for collecting the ink droplets via means is configured by means.

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

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a plane scanning type inkjet recording apparatus. Reference numeral 101 denotes a print head, in which a nozzle 102 for ejecting ink droplets is provided. A platen 104 that holds recording paper is installed in front of the print head 101. As shown in the figure, the platen 104 is hollow, and the above-mentioned capping mechanism and ink recovery mechanism are installed inside the platen 104.
It communicates with the nozzle surface 103 of the print head 101 through an opening 105 provided in a part of the circumferential surface of the print head 101 . The capping mechanism is capped, and the ink recovery mechanism is comprised of a box-shaped ink receiver (hereinafter referred to as gutter) 109 having an opening the width of the nozzle surface 1030 of the print head 101. The capping mechanism and the ink recovery mechanism are rotated around a shaft 110. The operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be explained below. FIG. 1(a) shows the recording apparatus in a short-time hibernation state, that is, a standby state. The opening 105 of the platen 104 is brought to the nozzle surface 103 of the print head 1 by rotating the platen 104 in advance. At that time, the gutter 109 inside the platen 104
The opening 109 of is directed in front of the nozzle face 103. Then, test ink is ejected at regular intervals to ensure that the ink inside the nozzle 102 of the print head 101 dries quickly, but the ejected ink droplets are actually collected in the gutter 109 and are stored in a waste ink reservoir provided outside the platen. (not shown).

Next, FIG. 1(b) shows the recording apparatus in a dormant state for a long time. As shown in the figure, the opening 105 of the platen 104 is placed in front of the nozzle surface 103 of the print head 101, but the capping mechanism is placed on the extension line υ of the nozzle 102 in the state of FIG. 1(a). This is shown in Figure 1 (
In b), the cap member 106 is placed in front of the nozzle surface 103 by rotating at a constant angle about the shaft 110 by means such as a motor or manual operation, and the gutter 109 is moved below. Then, the driving means 107 is driven to press the cap member 106 against the nozzle surface 103 with a predetermined pressure, thereby preventing the ink inside the nozzle 102 from drying. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the driving means 107 of the capping mechanism uses a solenoid, and when the recording apparatus of the present invention is in standby state or printing as shown in FIG. 6N, and the cap member 106 is moved in the direction of the shaft 110 and restrained. Next, Fig. 1 member 1
106 is brought into pressure contact with the nozzle surface 103 by its spring force. In addition, the driving means 107 may be a combination of a motor and a gear. The cap member 106 is preferably made of a flexible material such as rubber, which can completely seal the nozzle 102 when pressed against the nozzle surface 103.

As explained above, the present invention provides a capping mechanism and an ink recovery mechanism inside a hollow platen, thereby making it possible to dry the ink in the nozzles of the print head without moving the print head or the platen. It is possible to realize a scanning inkjet recording device, which is very advantageous in terms of practical use and cost reduction.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) are conceptual diagrams showing one embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 1(a) is a diagram showing a standby state,
FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a rest state. In the figure, 1
01 is a print head, 102 is a nozzle, 103 is a nozzle surface, 104 is a platen, 105 is an opening in the platen, 106
107 is a cap member, 1o7 is a drive means for the capping mechanism, 108 is a resting spring, 109 is a gutter, 109' is an opening of the gutter, and 11o is a shaft. Figure 1 αslθ4 <, ri,)

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an inkjet recording device having a plane scanning multi-nozzle print head in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a plane,
A platen having a hollow structure having an opening in a part of its circumferential surface for holding recording paper during recording, and a platen disposed inside the platen at a position corresponding to the opening of the platen when the inkjet recording apparatus is in a rest state. a cap means that moves and presses against the nozzle surface of the print head with a predetermined pressure through the opening of the platen; an ink receiver for collecting ink droplets ejected by the nozzle at fixed intervals by moving to a corresponding position and collecting the ink droplets through an opening in the platen; What is claimed is: 1. A thousand-plane scanning type in-jet recording device comprising: