JP2000103071A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the interior portion of a printer from being stained by not allowing the ink wiped off the ink spouting surface of an ink jet head to scatter in surroundings in ink wiping motion by the wiper blade of an ink jet printer. SOLUTION: In the case ink 83 adhered to the ink spouting surface of an ink jet head 13 is wiped off by a wiper blade 69, the ink spouting surface is brought in contact with the wiper blade 69 and the ink jet head 13 is moved in the ink-wiping direction, at the some time the ink-wiping off motion is stopped just before the ink spouting surface is wiped off completely by the wiper blade 69, and thereafter the wiper blade 69 is lowered to the lower standby position. Since the ink jet head 13 is in a state where its initiation position is kept constant in the ink wiping off starting period, the wiping-off operation can be stopped occurately just before the ink spouting surface is wiped off completely.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer, and more particularly to an ink jet printer characterized by an operation of wiping ink adhered to an ink ejection surface of an ink jet head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an ink jet printer having a wiper blade made of an elastic material such as rubber for wiping ink adhering to an ink ejection surface of an ink jet head.

In such a conventional ink jet printer, in wiping the ink by the wiper blade, the ink jet head is moved while the ink discharge surface of the ink jet head is in contact with the wiper blade, and adheres to the ink discharge surface by the wiper blade. It is configured to wipe off any ink or the like that is present.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional ink jet printer, when the wiper blade wipes the ink ejection surface, the wiper blade returns from a bent state to an unbent state by elasticity. In addition, there is a problem that the wiped ink is scattered around and the inside of the printer is soiled.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to prevent the ink wiped from the ink ejection surface of the ink jet head from scattering to the surroundings in the ink wiping operation by the wiper blade.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet printer, comprising: a purge cap for hermetically suctioning and purging an ink discharge surface of an ink jet head; A wiper blade for wiping ink attached to the ink ejection surface, wherein the wiper blade is configured to be able to move up and down between an upper ink wiping position and a lower standby position, and the inkjet head In wiping the ink adhering to the ink ejection surface with the wiper blade, the ink ejection surface was brought into contact with the wiper blade with the wiper blade raised to the ink wiping position, and the ink jet head and the With wiper blade With relatively moving the ink wiping direction, the movement said relative stops just before as possible completely wipe the ink discharge surface by the wiper blade,
Thereafter, the wiper blade is lowered to a standby position below.

According to the ink jet printer of the first aspect, when wiping the ink adhering to the ink discharge surface of the ink jet head after purging, the ink wiping operation is performed immediately before the ink discharge surface is completely wiped by the wiper blade. It is stopped and then the wiper blade is lowered to the lower standby position. As a result, the wiper blade bent by the ink wiping operation descends to the lower standby position while eliminating the bending, and the operation of scattering the wiped ink around by the elasticity is not performed. As a result, according to the ink jet printer of the first aspect, there is no possibility that the ink wiped from the ink ejection surface is scattered around and the inside of the printer is soiled.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the inkjet printer according to the first aspect, wherein
The blade holder for holding the wiper blade is provided with minute projections on a side opposite to the purge cap, and a pulling member is provided to pull the blade holder obliquely downward in the direction in which the minute projections are provided, and A wiper elevating member that abuts on the bottom surface of the blade holder in conjunction with the elevating operation of the cap and elevates and lowers, while the blade holder is being lowered from the highest position, a receiving table that receives the microprojection on the upper surface, The blade holder receives the blade holder in the middle of the descent and stops the wiper blade at the ink ejection surface wiping position. After the purge is completed, the purge cap is lowered, and the ink jet head is moved to the wiper blade. To the wiper blade. Wherein said ink-jet head immediately before as possible wiping of the ink discharge surface is stopped, then, it is characterized by being configured so as to move the ink jet head in the opposite direction.

According to the ink jet printer of the present invention, when the purge cap is raised to purge the ink discharge surface of the ink jet head, the wiper elevating member is also raised, and the bottom surface of the blade holder is pushed upward, whereby The wiper blade also rises. Then, when the purge cap is lowered after completion of the purge, the wiper lifting member is also lowered, and the blade holder starts lowering. At this time, since the blade holder is pulled obliquely downward in the direction of the cradle by the pulling member, the minute projections provided on the side surfaces of the blade holder are received by the cradle during the descent, and the wiper blade is moved. Stop at the ink wiping position. In this state, by moving the ink jet head in a direction in which the ink jet head comes into contact with the wiper blade, an operation of wiping ink adhering to the ink ejection surface is performed. In the ink wiping operation, the movement of the inkjet head is stopped before the ink ejection surface is completely wiped by the wiper blade. Therefore, the ink wiping operation is completed with the wiper blade remaining in contact with the ink ejection surface while keeping the bending. After that, when the ink jet head is moved in the opposite direction, the wiper blade is pushed by the ink jet head and moved in the direction of removing the minute projection from the receiving table. As a result, the wiper blade is pulled downward by the action of the pulling member and returns to the lower standby position. In the returning operation to the lower standby position, the wiper blade descends while eliminating the bending, so that the elastic bending of the wiper blade is not returned, and the wiped ink may be scattered around. Absent.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the inkjet printer according to the second aspect, wherein
A stopper member is provided which moves up and down together with the purge cap to abut on the ink jet head and stops the ink jet head at a position immediately above the purge cap.

According to the ink jet printer of the third aspect, the ink jet head can be stopped at a position immediately above the purge cap by the stopper member, so that the initial position when the ink jet head is moved in the ink wiping operation after purging. Is constant, and the operation of stopping the ink jet head immediately before the ink ejection surface is completely wiped by the wiper blade can be accurately executed.

[0012]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Portable printer 1 of embodiment
As shown in FIG. 1, a paper inserted in a paper insertion slot 5 provided in a lower portion on the back side of the main body 3 has a main body 3 which has a vertically long shape when viewed on a side when installed on a table. The printer is configured so that printing is performed by an internal printing mechanism while the PP is discharged from a paper discharge port 7 provided on the front side of the main body 3.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the printing mechanism includes a carriage 1 which moves in the width direction (Y direction) of the main body 3.
1, ink jet heads 13 and 15 provided on the carriage 11, ink cartridges 17 and 19 detachably mounted on the upper part of the main body 3, a carriage motor 21 for driving the carriage 11 in the Y direction,
The apparatus includes a line feed motor 23 for transporting the paper PP from the back side to the front side of the main body 3 in the X direction shown in the figure, and transport rollers 25 and 27 driven by the line feed motor 23. The printing mechanism is disposed below the main body 3 as a whole, so as to lower the center of gravity of the portable printer 1.

Each of the ink cartridges 17 and 19 has two ink packages 29 therein.
The two ink packages 29 provided in the ink cartridge 17 include black and magenta.
Each color ink is filled with one color. Also,
The two ink packages 29 provided in the ink cartridge 19 are filled with two colors of ink of yellow and cyan, respectively.

The ink package 29 is composed of a bag in which a plurality of film sheets made of polyethylene resin are laminated. The ink in the ink package 29 is configured to be supplied to each of the inkjet heads 13 and 15 via the ink extraction needle 31 and the ink supply tube 33.

Further, in the portable printer 1 of the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the ink ejection surfaces are provided at predetermined positions in the Y direction to prevent the ink jet heads 13 and 15 from drying when printing is not performed. Cap 3 to cover
5, 37 are provided. And these caps 3
The cap 35 on the left side of the figures 5 and 37 is configured as a purge cap so that a suction operation can be performed on the inkjet heads 13 and 15 by suctioning the ink ejection surface by a suction pump 51 described later.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, this purging operation is performed by a drive shaft 43 which is connected to the line feed motor 23 via a connecting mechanism 39 comprising a gear and a clutch and which has a bevel gear 41 at the end. This is executed by rotating the maintenance cam 45. More specifically, the suction pump 5 is inserted into the inner and outer double cam grooves 47 and 49 formed on the upper surface of the maintenance cam 45.
Rod 5 extending from two pistons 53, 55 in 1
While the maintenance cam 45 makes one rotation, a negative pressure is generated in the cap 35 to suction ink, and the suction pump 51
It is configured to perform an operation of discharging the ink sucked by the above to the waste ink reservoir 61 of the cartridge 17. The rod 59 of the piston 55 disposed near the maintenance cam 45 is a hollow cylinder, through which the rod 57 of another piston 53 is slidably inserted.

Further, the maintenance cam 45 has a structure shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, a cam groove 63 is also formed on the side surface. Each cap 3 is attached to a cap drive lever 67 having a cam follower 65 engaged with the cam groove 63.
5, 37 are attached. Therefore, while the maintenance cam 45 makes one rotation, each cap 35, 37
The swinging movement that moves from the lowering position to the uppering position and returns to the lowering position is performed in conjunction with the swinging motion of the cap drive lever 67. The above-described suction of the ink is performed while the caps 35 and 37 are moving to the raised position.

As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG.
On the left side of 5, a wiper blade 69 for removing ink and the like attached to the ink ejection surfaces of the ink jet heads 13 and 15 is arranged. The wiper blade 69 is raised from the lowered position to the raised position by pushing up the blade holder 71 when the cap driving lever 67 is raised.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cap driving lever 67 has a stopper 7 disposed between the caps 35 and 37 for positioning the carriage 11.
3 are provided.

Next, the operation of raising and lowering the caps 35 and 37, the wiper blade 69 and the stopper 73 will be described with reference to FIG. FIGS. 7A and 7B show caps 35 and 3.
7, a state in which the wiper blade 69 and the stopper 73 are at the lowered position. In this state, the wiper push-up arm 7 provided on the cap drive lever 67
5 is not in contact with the blade holder 71.

When the maintenance cam 45 starts to rotate,
As shown in FIG. 7C, the cap drive lever 67 starts to move up, and the caps 35 and 37 and the stopper 73 move up together. In addition, with this upward movement, FIG.
As shown in (D), the wiper push-up arm 75 contacts the bottom surface of the blade holder 71. Then, when the maintenance cam 45 is further rotated, FIG.
As shown in (F), the caps 35 and 37 and the stopper 7
3 further rises, and the wiper blade 69 is pushed up by the wiper push-up arm 75 and rises to the ascending position.

Next, the raising and lowering operations of the caps 35 and 37, the wiper blade 69 and the stopper 73 for the purging operation on the left ink jet head 13, and the control operation of the carriage 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, prior to the purging operation, the carriage 11 is moved to a position near the caps 35 and 37 as indicated by arrows in FIG. Subsequently, as shown by arrows in FIG. 8B, the caps 35 and 37 are raised. Then, as shown by an arrow in FIG. 9A, when the stopper 73 has risen to a predetermined position, the carriage 11 is further moved rightward, and as shown in FIG. The head 13 is brought into contact. And
In this state, as shown by the arrow, the cap 3
Increase 5,37 mag.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 10A, the ink ejection surfaces of the ink jet heads 13 and 15 are sealed with the caps 35 and 37 by raising the caps 35 and 37 to the highest position. In this state, as described above, the suction operation of the ink by the suction pump 51 is performed, and the purging operation for the left inkjet head 13 is performed.

After the purging operation is performed in this manner, the maintenance cam 41 subsequently rotates to start lowering the caps 35, 37 and the like, and as shown in FIG. It descends to the initial position. At this time, the wiper blade 69
When the coil spring 77 attached to the blade holder 71 pulls it obliquely downward and leftward, it starts to descend together with the cap 35 and the like. However, the blade holder 71 has a small protrusion 79 provided on its left side surface.
Stops descending at a position where it comes into contact with the upper surface of the cradle 81. As a result, as shown in the figure, only the wiper blade 69 does not return to the initial position and remains stopped in the ascended state.

In this state, the carriage 11 is moved to the left as shown by the arrow in FIG. As a result, the wiping of the ink 83 remaining on the ink ejection surface of the left inkjet head 13 is started by the wiper blade 69 kept in the raised state by the receiving table 81. However, in this ink wiping operation, as shown in FIG. 11A, before the ink ejection surface of the inkjet head 13 is completely wiped, the carriage 11 is stopped when it has moved leftward by a predetermined amount. As a result, the wiper blade 69 bent by the wiping operation of the ink keeps the warp and keeps the warp.
3 is kept in contact with the ink ejection surface. Therefore, the ink 83 wiped off by the wiper blade 69 falls down along the surface of the wiper blade 69 and is prevented from scattering around.

Thereafter, as shown by the arrow in FIG.
Next, the carriage 11 is moved rightward. By this operation, the blade holder 71 which has been kept in the raised state by the action of the minute projection 79 and the receiving base 81 is pushed rightward by the inkjet head 13 together with the wiper blade 69, and the minute projection 79 is removed from the receiving base 81. Is done. At this time, since the blade holder 71 is pulled obliquely downward by the coil spring 77,
As shown in FIG. 11B, the state is again lowered to the initial position.

Next, a purge operation for the right ink jet head 15 will be described with reference to FIGS. Also in this case, first, before the purging operation, the carriage 11 is moved to a position near the caps 35 and 37 as shown in FIGS. Subsequently, as shown by arrows in FIG. 12B, the caps 35 and 37 are raised. Then, as shown in FIG. 13A, when the stopper 73 is raised to a predetermined position, the carriage 11
Is further moved to the right, and as shown in FIG.
The right ink jet head 15 is brought into contact with the stopper 73. Then, in this state, the cap 3
Increase 5,37 mag.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 14A, the ink ejection surface of the right ink jet head 15 is sealed with the cap 35 by raising the caps 35 and 37 to the highest position. In this state, as described above, the suction operation of the ink by the suction pump 51 is performed, and the purging operation for the right inkjet head 15 is performed.

After the purging operation is performed in this manner, the maintenance cam 41 subsequently rotates to start lowering the caps 35 and 37, and as shown in FIG. 14B, the caps 35 and 37 and the stopper 73 are moved. It descends to the initial position. At this time, the wiper blade 69
When the minute projection 79 provided on the left side surface of the blade holder 71 comes into contact with the upper surface of the receiving base 81, the lowering is stopped. As a result, as shown in FIG.
Only remain at the elevated position without returning to the initial position.

In this state, the carriage 11 is moved to the left as shown by the arrow in FIG. As a result, wiping of the ink 83 remaining on the ink ejection surface of the ink jet head 15 on the right side by the wiper blade 69 maintained in the raised state by the receiving table 81 is started. In this ink wiping operation,
As shown in FIG. 15A, before the ink ejection surface of the inkjet head 15 is completely wiped, the carriage 11 is stopped when it has moved leftward by a predetermined amount. As a result,
The wiper blade 69 bent by the ink wiping operation is kept in contact with the ink ejection surface of the ink jet head 15 while maintaining the bending. Therefore, the ink 83 wiped off by the wiper blade 69 falls down along the surface of the wiper blade 69 and is prevented from scattering around.

Thereafter, as shown by an arrow in FIG.
Next, the carriage 11 is moved rightward. By this operation, the blade holder 71 kept in the raised state by the action of the minute projection 79 and the pedestal 81 is pushed rightward by the ink jet head 15 together with the wiper blade 69, and the minute projection 79 is removed from the pedestal 81. Is done. At this time, since the blade holder 71 is pulled obliquely downward by the coil spring 77,
As shown in FIG. 15B, the state is lowered to the initial position again.

As described above, according to the portable printer 1 of the present embodiment, the wiper blade 69 is provided on the cap driving lever 67 by rotating the maintenance cam 41 by the line feed motor 23. It is raised by the wiper push-up arm 75, and is stopped at the raised position by the action of the coil spring 77, the minute projection 79, and the pedestal 81. Then, the wiper blade 69 is pushed rightward by the rightward movement of the carriage 11, so that the minute projection 79
And is lowered to the initial position by the pulling force of the coil spring 77. As a result, a special drive source for raising and lowering the wiper blade 69 is not required, and the raising and lowering can be realized by a simple mechanism.

According to the portable printer 1 of the present embodiment, the ink jet heads 13 and 1 after the purging operation are performed.
In the wiping operation of the ink ejection surface of No. 5, the leftward movement of the carriage 11 is stopped before the wiper blade 69 completely wipes the ink ejection surface. As a result, the ink 83 is dripped down along the wiper blade 69 bent by the wiping operation of the ink ejection surface,
There is no possibility that the wiper blade 69 is scattered around by the elastic return. As a result, the ink wiping operation after the purging operation does not cause the ink 83 to scatter around and stain the inside of the printer or the printing paper PP. In particular, in this embodiment, since the stoppers 73 position the ink jet heads 13 and 15 during the purging operation of the ink jet heads 13 and 15, the ink ejection surface is completely wiped by the ink wiping operation by the wiper blade 69. Previously, the operation of moving the carriage 11 leftward by a predetermined amount and stopping the carriage 11 can be accurately executed.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various other forms can be adopted without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course.

[0036]

As described above, according to the ink jet printer of the present invention, in the ink wiping operation by the wiper blade, the ink wiped from the ink discharge surface of the ink jet head is prevented from scattering to the surroundings, and the inside of the printer is contaminated. Can be prevented.

In particular, according to the ink-jet printer of the present invention, the wiper blade can be lowered by the movement of the ink-jet head, and after the ink wiping operation is completed with the wiper blade in contact with the ink discharge surface, the wiper blade is moved. The blade can be smoothly lowered to the standby position.

According to the ink jet printer of the third aspect, the initial position of the ink jet head when the ink wiping operation is started after the purge becomes constant, and the ink jet head is moved immediately before the ink ejection surface is completely wiped by the wiper blade. The operation of stopping can be executed accurately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an internal structure of a portable printer according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the portable printer according to the embodiment, partially cut away;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the portable printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view showing a cap and a wiper blade of the portable printer according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view showing a cap and a wiper blade of the portable printer according to the embodiment;

6A and 6B show a maintenance cam in the portable printer according to the embodiment, wherein FIG. 6A is a front view and FIG. 6B is a development view of a cam groove.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a lifting operation of a cap, a wiper blade, and a stopper in the portable printer of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a front view illustrating operations of a carriage, a cap, a wiper blade, and a stopper in the portable printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a front view illustrating operations of a carriage, a cap, a wiper blade, and a stopper in the portable printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a front view illustrating operations of a carriage, a cap, a wiper blade, and a stopper in the portable printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a front view illustrating operations of a carriage, a cap, a wiper blade, and a stopper in the portable printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a front view illustrating operations of a carriage, a cap, a wiper blade, and a stopper in the portable printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a front view illustrating operations of a carriage, a cap, a wiper blade, and a stopper in the portable printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a front view illustrating operations of a carriage, a cap, a wiper blade, and a stopper in the portable printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a front view illustrating operations of a carriage, a cap, a wiper blade, and a stopper in the portable printer according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... portable printer, 11 ... carriage, 1
3, 15: inkjet head, 21: carriage motor, 23: line feed motor, 3
5, 37 ... cap, 45 ... maintenance cam, 47, 49 ... cam groove, 51 ... suction pump,
63 ... cam groove, 65 ... cam follower, 67 ...
・ Cap drive lever, 69 ・ ・ ・ Wiper blade,
71: blade holder, 73: stopper, 75
························································································ 81
···ink.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet printer comprising: a purge cap for hermetically suctioning and purging an ink ejection surface of an ink jet head; and a wiper blade for wiping ink adhering to the ink ejection surface purged by the purge cap. The wiper blade is configured to be able to move up and down between an upper ink wiping position and a lower standby position, and the wiper blade is used to wipe ink adhering to an ink ejection surface of the inkjet head with the wiper blade. The ink ejection surface is brought into contact with the wiper blade in a state where is moved to the ink wiping position, and the ink jet head and the wiper blade are relatively moved in the ink wiping direction, and the relative movement is performed by the wiper blade. By Inkjet printer, wherein the ink ejection surface is stopped immediately before as possible completely wipe is configured so as to subsequently lowered the wiper blade to the standby position below Te. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein a minute projection is provided on a side surface of the blade holder that holds the wiper blade on a side opposite to the purge cap, and the minute projection is provided obliquely downward in a direction in which the minute projection is provided. A pulling member is provided to pull the blade holder, and a wiper elevating member that abuts on the bottom surface of the blade holder in conjunction with the elevating operation of the purge cap, and a wiper elevating member, while lowering the blade holder from the highest position. A receiving table for receiving the microprojections on the upper surface, the receiving table receiving the blade holder in the middle of descending, and stopping the wiper blade at an ink ejection surface wiping position. While lowering the purge cap, the inkjet head is Moving the ink jet head toward the wiper blade, stopping the ink jet head immediately before wiping the ink ejection surface by the wiper blade, and thereafter moving the ink jet head in the reverse direction. Inkjet printer. 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 2, further comprising a stopper member that moves up and down together with the purge cap, abuts on the ink jet head, and stops the ink jet head at a position immediately above the purge cap. And an inkjet printer.