JP2000280484A - Inkjet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide an ink jet printer which has an increased degree of freedom in a position of a maintenance member for recovery ejection and wiping, and can effectively use a limited section inside the printer, which is extremely advantageous for miniaturization. I do. A head unit 21 is supported by a carriage 22 via a shaft 21-4, faces a sheet (not shown) in a downward recording orientation, and reciprocates in a direction indicated by an arrow H to execute printing. After the printing, the print head moves in the backward direction indicated by an arrow J and comes out of the printing area, and the rotating engagement teeth 21-5a formed on the head unit 21 are moved to the frame portion 2.
The head unit 21 is rotated 90 degrees by engaging with the rotation engagement projection 26-2 formed on the carriage guide rail 26-1 of No. 6, and the maintenance not shown is maintained while maintaining the maintenance maintenance posture in the lateral direction. By engaging with the maintenance mechanism, maintenance work such as cleaning of the nozzle surface, sealing, ink supply, trial ejection of the nozzle, and the like is performed.

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 in which a maintenance member is arranged with high efficiency in space utilization without causing useless space, and is extremely advantageous for miniaturization.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, thermal ink jet recording apparatuses (ink jet printers) have become mainstream. This thermal inkjet printer includes a recording head (inkjet head) having a plurality of heating elements arranged in an array on a substrate. The heating elements of the recording head are selectively heated according to print information. Fine ink ejection nozzles arranged for each heating element by using the film boiling phenomenon that heats the ink supplied on the heating element and instantaneously generates bubbles at the interface between the ink and the heating element And prints on recording paper by discharging ink droplets from the printer.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view schematically showing an ink jet printer as described above. As shown in the figure,
In the inkjet printer 1, a recording head 2 is held by a carriage 3 and faces a platen roller 4. The carriage 3 is slidably held by a guide shaft 5 and is engaged with a toothed belt 6. The toothed belt 6 is engaged with a rotation drive shaft of a motor 7 via a gear (not shown).

The platen 4 sandwiches the sheet 8 with the auxiliary roller 9 and is driven by a motor 10 to intermittently convey the sheet 8 in the vertical direction (sub-scanning direction). The belt 6 is rotated by the motor 7 in both the forward and reverse directions so as to be rotated in the forward and reverse directions. While sliding, print characters and images on the paper 8.

[0005] The carriage 3 is provided with two types of ink cartridges, a black ink cartridge 13 and a color ink cartridge 14. The ink consumed by the printing described above is supplied from these ink cartridges 13 or 14. It is supplied (supplied) to the recording head 2.
In general, there are ink cartridges that are separate from the recording head and integrated.

The right side of the platen 4 (the obliquely upper right direction in the figure), that is, the portion located outside the printing area of the paper 8 is used to maintain a stable ink discharge function of the recording head 2. Two maintenance devices are provided. One is a lid opening / closing device 11 for performing capping (sealing of a nozzle opening), and the other is a cleaning device 12 for performing priming (trial ejection of ink) and wiping (wiping of a nozzle opening).

These head maintenance devices face the ink ejection surface of the recording head 2 when the recording head 2 is at the rightmost home position outside the printing area. At this time, the ink ejection surface of the recording head 2 is engaged with the head maintenance device as necessary or periodically. Then, when the head maintenance / maintenance device cleans the ink discharge nozzles of the recording head 2 or when printing stops, the ink discharge nozzles are hermetically closed by the lid. Further, during or after printing, trial ejection (recovery ejection) by the recording head 2 is performed toward the inside of the head maintenance / maintenance device. As a result, clogging of the ink discharge nozzles of the recording head 2 is eliminated, and a normal ink discharge function is maintained.

[0008]

However, whether the ink cartridge is separate from or integral with the recording head, the recording head and the ink cartridge become an integral unit during printing as described above. In the configuration driven in the main scanning direction, if the volume of the loaded ink is increased in consideration of, for example, prolonging the life of the cartridge, the volume of the driven unit increases.

When the increased volume is increased in the vertical direction, it is necessary to secure a large movable space in the vertical direction over the entire area in the main scanning direction. If the increased volume is increased in the horizontal direction, it is necessary to secure a movable space to the left and right of the actual printing area in the main scanning direction or outside the maintenance device. Further, when the increasing volume is increased in the front-rear direction, it is necessary to secure a large movable space in the front-rear direction over the entire area in the main scanning direction. In any case, the size of the entire printer is increased, so that there is a problem that the printer cannot be used for home use where a small printer is required.

Further, when the capacity of the ink cartridge is increased, the weight of the whole unit also increases. Therefore, a large motor having a large driving torque is attached to drive the unit without trouble, so that the unit can be driven stably. It is necessary to replace the guide shaft 5 with a rigid structure having high rigidity and replace the toothed belt 6 with a durable structure having a long life. In any case, there is a problem in that the whole becomes larger and the cost also increases.

On the other hand, among those having a large ink capacity and a small driving torque, there is a structure such as a graphic-dedicated plotter in which an ink cartridge is made independent of a print head and connected to the print head by a tube. However, this also requires a space for moving the tube, which increases the size of the printer device, which is unsuitable for a small personal printer and cannot be adopted.

In addition to the problem of the unit which is the driven portion, as described above, the maintenance member is provided outside the printing area in the main scanning direction of the printing head so as to be opposed to the printing surface of the printing head. Therefore, it is necessary to secure a dedicated space for installing the maintenance member, and this has a problem that it becomes a great obstacle to downsizing the printer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances,
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer which has an increased degree of freedom in the installation position of a maintenance member for recovery discharge and wiping, can effectively use a limited space inside the printer, and is extremely advantageous for miniaturization.

[0014]

The construction of the ink jet printer of the present invention will be described below. The inkjet printer of the present invention is an inkjet printer that has a recording head having a plurality of ink ejection nozzles, and performs recording by pressurizing ink and ejecting the ink in a predetermined direction from the ink ejection nozzle of the recording head. A head position changing mechanism for reciprocating the recording head between a recording position for performing recording by discharging ink and a maintenance position for receiving a maintenance operation for normal ink discharge; The recording head having a posture is provided with a maintenance member for performing a maintenance operation.

[0015] The recording head is configured to execute a print scan by moving in a predetermined direction, for example, as described in claim 2. Preferably, it is configured to reciprocate through an angle of about 90 degrees with the maintenance position. And the maintenance member is, for example, a fourth embodiment.
As described above, the ink cartridge includes a waste ink absorber, a wiping member, a capping member, and an ink replenishment cartridge for waste ink which has been trially discharged from the ink discharge nozzle. Is also good.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a recording unit 20 including a head unit 21 which is a main part of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment and peripheral mechanisms such as a driving mechanism 24 thereof, and FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the head unit 21 and its related members. As shown in FIG. 1A, the recording unit 20 includes a head unit 21, a carriage 22, an ink cartridge unit 23, a driving mechanism 24, an ink circulation channel unit 25, and a frame unit 26. This ink-jet printer is, for example, a printer for a seal word processor (a recording device that prints simple text by fixedly arranging relatively small sheets of paper), and is mounted on a sheet without a sheet transport mechanism and a head is mounted. The printing is performed by scanning the unit.

The head unit 21 and the ink cartridge unit 23 are arranged independently of each other. That is, the ink cartridge unit 23 is fixedly disposed on the frame portion 26, and at the time of printing, only the head unit 21 is driven by the drive mechanism 24 to perform printing while moving in a predetermined direction.

The head unit 21 has an orifice plate (a plate member forming an ink ejection surface) having a plurality of ink ejection nozzles and a head chip 21 having a function of ejecting ink from those ink ejection nozzles. -1
FPC 21-3 for supplying a signal and power for controlling to selectively eject ink droplets from ink ejection nozzles formed on the chip surface, a chip holder 21-2, and an ink ejection nozzle formed on the chip surface.
And a shaft 21-4 fixed through the end of the tip holder 21-2.

The end of the shaft 21-4 protruding outside the chip holder 21-2 (in the obliquely upper right direction in the drawing) is rotatably fitted and inserted into the carriage 22, thereby forming a head unit. 21 is the carriage 2
2 so as to be rotatable. The rotation direction and angle of the head unit 21 will be described in detail later, but the urging lever 27 and the torsion spring 28 on the back surface of the carriage 22 (the side opposite to the surface holding the recording head unit 21) are shown in FIG. Is regulated within a predetermined range by a later-described stopper which cannot be seen.

The carriage 22 has a nut at the lower end slidably fitted to the lead screw 24-1. The engagement projection 22 of the groove fitting part 22-1 fixed to the carriage 22 is fixedly mounted. -2 is the lead screw 2
4-1 is slidably fitted into a screw groove (not shown because it becomes finer) formed on the entire outer periphery. Thereby, by the forward / reverse rotation of the drive gear 24-2 attached to the end of the lead screw 24-1,
The carriage 22 holds the head unit 21 and
It reciprocates in the direction indicated by the double-headed arrow B in (b).

An ink cartridge unit 23 and an ink circulation channel unit 25 which constitute a maintenance mechanism are disposed in a non-printing area in the diagonally lower right direction of the reciprocating movement. A pump driving pump 24-3 is engaged with a bellows pump 77, which will be described in detail later, of the ink circulation channel unit 25.

FIG. 2A shows the above-mentioned head chip 21-1.
FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the ink ejection surface of FIG.
Is a view taken along the line CC 'of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3C is a view showing a silicon wafer on which the head chip 21-1 is manufactured. As shown in FIG.
The orifice plate 32 is laminated on a chip substrate 31 having a size of about 10 × 15 mm, and the orifice plate 32 is formed with four parallel nozzle rows 33.

Each of the nozzle rows 33 has, for example, 128 ink discharge nozzles (orifices) 34 arranged in a vertical line. Each of the nozzle rows 33 has a wiring electrode 35 and 36 of a drive circuit for heating and driving a resistance heating element described later. Are formed. Such a head chip 21-1 is manufactured by forming a large number on the silicon wafer 37 shown in FIG. The manufacture of such a head chip 21-1 is easy with the current LSI manufacturing technology and thin film forming technology.

The manufacturing process will be briefly described below with reference to FIG. 1B. First, as a process 1, each chip substrate 31 divided by a predetermined number on a silicon wafer 37 of 4 inches or more. Next, a drive circuit 38 having electrode wiring such as a power supply wiring and its terminals are formed by an LSI forming process, and an oxide film having a thickness of 1 to 2 μm is formed. Next, in step 2, a resistive film made of Ta-Si-O or the like and W-Al (or W-Ti, WS
Each electrode film such as a multilayered common electrode or individual wiring electrode made of Au and a barrier metal made of i) is formed.
From these, the common electrode 3 is formed by photolithography.
9. Individual wiring electrode 41 and heat generating portion (resistance heating element) 42
Is formed.

Subsequently, in step 3, a partition member made of an organic material such as photosensitive polyimide is formed to a height of about 20 μm by coating so as to form ink reservoirs 43 corresponding to the individual resistance heating elements 42. After patterning, curing (dry curing, baking) by applying heat of 300 ° C. to 400 ° C. for 30 minutes to 60 minutes is performed to form and fix the partition 44 made of the photosensitive polyimide having a height of 10 μm.

The partition 44 has a portion on the right side where the common electrode 39 and the individual wiring electrode 41 are arranged, and between each resistance heating element 42 (the cross section is shown in FIG. Invisible because they are different). Thus, if the portion of the partition 44 on the individual wiring electrode 44 is a comb body, the portion extending between the respective resistance heating elements 42 has a shape corresponding to the teeth of the comb, and the teeth of the comb serve as partition walls. The fine ink reservoirs 43 in which the resistance heating elements 42 are located at the roots between the teeth are formed by the number of the resistance heating elements 42.

Next, in step 4, the chip substrate 31 is wet-etched or sandblasted.
A groove-shaped common ink supply path 45 parallel to the nozzle row 33 formed later is formed on the surface of the chip substrate 31. Further, the common ink supply path 45 communicates with the common ink supply path 45 and an opening is formed on the opposite side surface (the upper surface in the figure) of the chip substrate 31. Are formed. The ink inflow hole 46 is for introducing the ink supplied from the ink holding chamber of the chip holder 21-2 to be subsequently connected into the head chip 21-1.

Thereafter, in step 5, an orifice plate 32 made of a polyimide film having a thickness of 10 to 30 μm is formed.
Is coated very thinly with thermoplastic polyimide as an adhesive, for example, to a thickness of 2 to 5 μm, and is adhered to the uppermost layer of the above-mentioned laminated structure to cover the ink reservoir formed by the partition wall 44 and the like. Thereby, the ink reservoir 43
Ink flow path 47 that communicates with the common ink supply path 45
To form Then, the orifice plate 32 is fixed by applying pressure while heating at 200 to 300 ° C.

Subsequently, in step 6, Ni, Cu or Al
A metal film having a thickness of about 0.5 to 1 μm is formed, and the metal film on the orifice plate 32 is patterned to form a mask for selectively etching polyimide.
The orifice plate 32 is 40 μmφ to 20 μm in accordance with the above metal film mask by dry etching such as ECR.
A large number of nozzles 34 are formed at once by making holes of mφ.
This hole may be formed using an excimer laser or the like. As a result, many full-color head chips 21-1 having four nozzle rows 33 are formed on the silicon wafer 37.

The processing so far is performed in the state of the wafer 37. Finally, as a step 7, cutting is performed using a dicing saw or the like to perform individual head chip 21-1.
To separate. The chip substrate 31 thus obtained
(Head chip 21-1) is mounted on FPC2
Die-bonding to 1-3 is performed and terminals are connected to complete a practical head chip 21-1. A chip holder 21-2 is joined to the back surface of the head chip 21-1 where the ink inflow holes 46 are formed.

FIG. 3 (a) shows the head chip 2 as described above.
FIG. 1B is a plan view of the head unit 21 in which the chip holder 21-2 and the FPC 21-3 are joined to each other as viewed from the ink ejection surface, and FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along the line DD ′ in FIG. (C) is a sectional view taken along the line EE 'of FIG. (A). The positional relationship between the head unit 21 and the carriage 22 shown in FIG.
It shows a state in which the recording attitude at the time of printing shown in (a) and (b) is turned by 90 degrees from a recording attitude at the time of maintenance to a maintenance attitude described later in detail.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the urging lever 27
Has a shaft locking portion 27-1 at the lower end portion. The shaft locking portion 27-1 penetrates a fitting portion of the head unit 21 with the carriage 22 of the shaft 21-4 of the head unit 21 and further extends outside. The outer end is extended and fitted and fixed. Thus, the biasing lever 27 rotates together with the chip holder 21-2 in the same direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, one end of the torsion spring 28 extending from the center planetary spiral portion is engaged with a pin 22-3 fixed to the carriage 22, and the other end is attached. It is locked to the free end of the biasing lever 27.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the arrangement of the FPC 21-3 on the same surface as the surface on which the head chip 21-1 is provided is placed on the chip holder 21-2 of the head unit 21. The ink supply ports 51 (51Y, 51M, 51M, 51M, 51C) correspond to the nozzle rows 33 that respectively discharge the yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) color inks on the outer portions that do not overlap. 51C, 51K) and ink circulation ports 52 (52Y, 52M, 52C, 52K).

The ink supply port 51 corresponding to each of the above colors
The ink circulation port 52 is provided with a check valve 54 in an ink holding chamber 53 (53Y, 53M, 53C, 53K) formed inside the chip holder 21-2, as shown in FIG. Connected through. In addition, a filter 55 for preventing foreign substances or bubbles from being mixed when the ink flows in is provided on the joint surface between each ink holding chamber 53 and the head chip 21-1.

The inks of the respective colors pass through the ink circulation channels described later, and the ink holding chambers 53C, 5C of the head unit 21 are provided.
3M, 53Y or 53K with ink supply ports 51C, 51
M, 51Y or 51K, and the excess ink is supplied to the ink circulation port 5 of the head unit 21.
The ink is recirculated from 2C, 52M, 52Y or 52K to the ink circulation channel.

Here, the capacity (dimension) of the ink holding chamber 53
Is determined based on the following condition, that is, a condition in which the amount of ink corresponding to one scan can be ejected at a printing rate of 100%. The number of dots per scan = m, the number of nozzles per color = n, the amount of droplets per dot = w,
Assuming that the printing rate = c and the priming rate = d, the required ink capacity L is obtained from the equation “L = m × n × w × c × d”.
That is, in order to form one line of printing by one replenishment, it is sufficient to secure a volume of the ink holding chamber equal to or more than the required ink capacity L based on the above equation.

For example, m = 946 dots, n = 288 nozzles, appropriate amount of liquid w = 20 pl / dot, priming rate d
= 1.1, and the printing rates are “c = 1” and “c = 0.
3 and "c = 0.075"
(Μl), “6”, “1.8” and “0.4”
5 ".

FIG. 4A is a perspective view showing the structure of the ink cartridge unit 23, FIG. 4B is a sectional view taken along the line FF 'in FIG. 4A, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line GG ′ in FIG. (A), (b) and (c), the ink cartridge unit 23 is
, A capping member 57, a waste ink absorber 58,
It is composed of a capping table 59 and a cap spring 61. The capping member 57, the waste ink absorber 58, and the capping table 59 are integrally assembled, and are urged forward by a cap pushing helical spring 61 that comes into contact with the back (right side in the figure).

In the cartridge container 56, ink storage chambers 62 (62K, 62C, 62Y, 62M) are provided for each of two colors on the left and right around the capping member 57. A supply hole 63 and a return hole 64 are formed in these ink storage chambers 62, respectively.
A check valve 65 is disposed in each of the return holes 64. When the ink cartridge unit 23 is mounted on the frame 26 of the recording unit 20 shown in FIG. It is formed at a position where it fits into the shape supply hole and the protruding return hole.

FIG. 5A shows the ink circulation flow path unit 25.
(B), (c) and (d) are views schematically showing the connection state of the flow paths of the respective laminated plates constituting the ink circulation flow path unit 25. . As shown in FIG. 9A, the ink circulation channel unit 25 includes a channel plate A71, a channel plate B72, a pump output valve plate 73, a spacer 74, a pump input valve plate 75,
It comprises a flow path plate C76 and a bellows pump 77.

On the surface of the flow path plate C76, a supply hole projection 78 (78K, 78K) for engaging with the supply hole 63 of the ink storage chamber 62 of the ink cartridge unit 23 to supply ink from the ink cartridge unit 23. 7
8C, 78Y, 78M) and the ink cartridge unit 23 by engaging with the return hole 64 of the ink storage chamber 62.
Return hole projections (79K, 79C, 7
9Y, 79M). Then, the four bellows pumps 77 (77K, 77C, 7
7Y, 77M) are attached. The space between these plates 71 to 76 and the bellows pump 77 is
As shown in (b), (c), and (d), ink channels for each color are formed.

The ink supply port 51 (51Y, 51M, 51M) of the head unit 21 is provided in the flow path plate A71.
C, 51K) and the supply projection 82 (82K, 8).
2C, 82Y, and 82M) are formed (the back opening can be seen in FIG. 5A), and further, the recirculation projections 81 (52Y, 52M, 52C, and 52K) corresponding to the ink circulation openings 52 (52Y, 52M, 52C, and 52K) of the head unit 21. 81K, 81C, 81Y, 81M)
Are formed.

FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b) are diagrams showing the recording attitude of the head unit 21 in the above-described configuration during printing and the maintenance / maintenance attitude during non-printing. FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) show FIG.
1 (a) and 1 (b) are assigned the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b). FIG. 6A shows a state at the time of printing. In this state, the head chip 21-1 of the head unit 21 faces a sheet (not shown) in a downward direction in the figure, and a shaft 21-4. And prints by reciprocating in the scanning direction indicated by a double-headed arrow H in the drawing.

FIG. 7B shows a state in which the printer is moved to the return path indicated by arrow J in the figure and comes out of the printing area after printing is completed, and is in a maintenance / maintenance posture. Details will be described later,
The head unit 21 held in the recording posture is rotated 90 degrees by a head posture changing mechanism described later when it moves in the non-printing area in the direction of the arrow J, and assumes a maintenance / maintenance posture.

FIGS. 7 (a), 7 (b) and 7 (c) are views showing the operation state in which the head unit 21 in the recording position is turned 90 degrees to be in the maintenance position. In FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C, the pin 22-3 is connected to the carriage 22 as described above.
(Not shown) (see FIG. 3A), and moves together with the carriage 22. Therefore, the positional relationship between the shaft 22-4, which is an engagement portion between the carriage 22 and the head unit 21, and the pin 22-3 is immobile.

In FIG. 7A, the head unit 21
Is still in the recording position, and in this state, the tip of the urging lever 27 which is locked to the torsion spring 28 is always
It is urged diagonally downward and to the right as indicated by the arrow L in FIG. As a result, the head unit 21 is urged clockwise about the shaft 21-4, but one flat portion of the side surface 21-7 having the circumferential surface of the head unit 21 is provided on the carriage 22. Stopper 22-4
(A), the downward attitude (recording attitude) shown in FIG.
Is held in.

Here, when the carriage 22 further moves out of the printing area indicated by the arrow K in FIG. 5A, the rotation engaging projection 26-2 of the carriage guide rail 26-1 and the rotation of the head unit 21 are rotated. When the engagement teeth 21-5a are engaged and the carriage further moves in the direction of the arrow K, the reaction is caused by the reaction, as shown in FIG.
A moment acts on the head chip 21 via 1-5a.

As a result, the head unit 21 rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 21-4 as a fulcrum. Accordingly, the urging lever 27 is moved to the torsion spring 2.
8 in a counterclockwise direction against the urging force of 8 to lift the locking end of the torsion spring 28 on the urging lever side.

The movement of the carriage 22 further progresses, whereby the head unit 21 continues to rotate and lifts the locking end of the torsion spring 28 upward, as shown in FIG. (That is, head unit 2
The direction of the biasing force of the torsion spring 28 applied to the head unit 2 as shown by the arrow M in FIG.
When the head unit 21 is deviated to the left from the rotation center 1 (the axis of the shaft 21-4), the head unit 21 rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 21-4 as a fulcrum due to the urging force of the torsion spring 28, and FIG. c) As shown in FIG.
The other flat portion of the end surface 21-7 provided with the first circumferential surface abuts against the stopper 22-4, and is held in a horizontal posture (maintenance maintenance posture) rotated by 90 degrees.

In this state, when the carriage 22 (that is, the head unit 21) moves in the direction of the printing area indicated by the arrow P in FIG.
The other rotating engagement teeth 21-5b which are spaced apart from each other engage with the rotation engagement projections 26-2, and the head unit 21 moves from the drawing (b) to the drawing (a) in reverse to the above. It operates and rotates clockwise to be again in the recording posture state and held.

As described above, the head unit 21 is automatically turned to the downward recording position when it is in the print area, and is automatically turned to the horizontal maintenance position when it is moved to the non-print area. Perform a rotation operation.

FIGS. 8A to 8E are diagrams showing the operation state of the maintenance work in the above-mentioned maintenance posture. The wiping unit 83, which is not shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, is shown in the maintenance / maintenance mechanism shown in FIGS. The wiping unit 83 includes an elastic wiping blade 83-1 and the wiping blade 83-1.
And a pedestal 83-2 for holding the reciprocating motion, and reciprocates in the vertical direction in the figure by a driving mechanism (not shown). Its pedestal 83
-2, there is an open window other than the portion where the wiping blade 83-1 is fixed and held, and this window is used for the nozzle row 33 of the head chip 21-1 in the head unit 21 (see FIG. 3A). ) Is formed so as not to impede the flight of the ink ejected from the above.

By the 90-degree rotation shown in FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C, the head unit 21 that has changed from the recording position to the maintenance position can be moved further by the carriage 22. FIG.
As shown in (a), when approaching the maintenance mechanism including the wiping unit 83, the ink circulation channel unit 25, and the ink cartridge unit 23, the wiping unit 83 is located below the maintenance mechanism. ing.

When the head unit 21 approaches the maintenance mechanism sufficiently as shown in FIG. 7B, the wiping unit 83 moves upward as indicated by the arrow Q in FIG. 1 rubs (wipes) the nozzle array surface 21-6 of the head chip 21-1 of the head unit 21 to clean it.

When the wiping unit 83 moves to the upper stop position and the wiping blade 83-1 opens the nozzle arrangement surface 21-6 of the head unit 21 as shown in FIG. 21 further moves to the right. Thereby, the capping member 57
(See also FIGS. 4A and 4C.) The four nozzle arrays 33 (see FIG. 3A) formed on the surface of the head chip 21-1 are in close contact with each other so as to surround them. The surface 21-6 is sealed (capped) from the outside. This prevents the ink filled in the nozzle holes 34 (see FIGS. 2A and 2B) from drying.

At the same time, as shown in FIG. 8C, the ink circulation port 52 (52) provided in the chip holder 21-2 of the head unit 21 (see FIG. 3A).
Y, 52M, 52C, and 52K), the recirculation protrusions 81 (81) of the ink circulation channel unit 25 also shown in FIG.
K, 81C, 81Y, 81M, see FIG. 8 (a)) are inserted and closely attached, and the ink supply ports 51 (51Y, 51M, 51C,
51K, see FIG. 3 (a)).
Supply projection 82 (82K, 82C, 82Y, 82
M) is inserted and adheres.

Thus, the ink passes through the ink holding chamber 53 (53Y, 53M, 53C, 53K, see FIGS. 3B and 3C) inside the head unit 21 (the ink holding chamber 5).
3 is replenished with ink and excess ink is discharged).

In this state, when the bellows pump 77 is repeatedly driven to be pushed and released by the drive mechanism 24 via the pumping arm 24-3 (see FIG. 1A), the ink cartridge unit not shown in FIG. 23 ink storage chambers 62 (62K, 62C, 62Y, 62M, FIG. 4).
4 (a)), the respective inks are supplied from the supply holes 63 (78K, 78C, 78Y, 78M) and the pump input valve plate 75 (see FIG. 4 (b)) by the restoring force of the bellows pump 77. It is sucked into the bellows pump 77 via the input valve shown in FIGS.

Then, the ink pushed out from the inside of the bellows pump 77 by the pushing operation again passes through the output valve of the pump output valve plate 73, and the pick-up projection 82 of the flow path plate A71 and the tip holder 21. 2 through a flow path of the ink supply port 51 of the chip holder 2.
1-2, the excess ink is supplied to the ink holding chamber 53, the excess ink is supplied to the ink circulating port 52 of the chip holder 21-2, the recirculating projection port 81 of the flow path plate A71, and the flow path plate C7.
6 return hole projection 79 and ink cartridge unit 2
The ink is returned to the ink cartridge unit 23 through a flow path of a return hole 64 of the third ink storage chamber 62.

Returning to FIG. 8C again, the head unit 21 in which the ink has been sufficiently supplied to the ink holding chamber 53 as described above, the head unit 21 is moved to the capping member based on the printing start command by the control system. 8D, the wiping unit 83 moves downward as shown by the arrow R in the figure to clean the nozzle surface 21-6 of the head unit 21 in the opposite direction to the previous time, as shown in FIG. I will do it.

When the wiping unit 83 moves to the lowermost part of the maintenance section, the head unit 21 moves again close to the capping member 57 as shown in FIG. Trial ejection (priming) is performed through an open window formed in the pedestal 83-2 to restore the ejection function of the nozzle 34 that may be clogged. As described above, the waste ink absorber 58 is disposed inside the capping member 57, and the head unit 21 discharges ink several times toward the waste ink absorber 58, and performs the priming process to form the nozzles 34. After the ejection function is restored, the operation proceeds to the printing operation.

As described above, in the maintenance and maintenance according to the present invention, a series of maintenance and maintenance work of wiping, capping, ink replenishment, and priming is performed almost simultaneously at one maintenance and maintenance mechanism.

Here, the volume of the waste ink absorber 58 is determined so that the ink absorption is not saturated by the priming process. In the present example, the configuration is made in consideration of a margin, for example, to allow for a volume of 1/4 of the total ink amount.

When the ink inside the ink cartridge unit 23 is consumed and lost by the printing process, the capping member 57, the waste ink absorber 58, the capping table 59, The capping spiral spring 61 is also replaced with a new one at the same time.

Incidentally, the processing of the maintenance work of the recording head by the rotation of the head unit according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described ink jet printer which performs recording by scanning the recording head in a predetermined direction. The present invention is also applicable to an ink jet printer that performs printing by moving a sheet without scanning a recording head or by moving a printer itself. In this case, as a method of changing the attitude of the recording head during the maintenance work, it is also possible to provide a dedicated rotating lever and manually operate it.

The change of the recording head from the recording position to the maintenance position is not limited to the rotation. The point is that the maintenance member is arranged so that there is no waste in the space inside the printern, and the maintenance can be performed by changing the attitude of the recording head with respect to the maintenance member. The miniaturization of the ink jet printer is promoted.

Further, such a change of the recording head from the recording posture to the maintenance / maintenance posture is not limited to the tubeless recording head described above, but can be applied to a printer in which the recording head and the ink cartridge are integrated. .

Further, in the above embodiment, the maintenance and maintenance members such as the wiping member and the capping member, the waste ink absorber as the priming member, and the refill ink cartridge are unitized and arranged collectively at a predetermined position in the non-printing area. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the maintenance member only needs to include at least one of the above-described members, and the maintenance member is most suitable for each member so as to promote downsizing of the device. It may be divided and arranged at positions.

[0069]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a head attitude changing mechanism capable of changing the attitude of the recording head is provided, and the recording head is provided with respect to a member for performing maintenance such as priming and wiping. Since the posture is changed to correspond to the configuration, the maintenance member can be installed at an optimum position that does not generate a useless space inside the printer. As a result, the space inside the printer can be effectively used without waste, and the size of the printer apparatus body can be further reduced.

Further, by combining with the tubeless ink replenishment method, the downsizing of the printer is further promoted, and a printer which is easy to use can be provided. Further, since the position of the recording head can be changed, the arrangement position of the maintenance member is not restricted by the transport path of the print medium, which increases the degree of freedom in designing the arrangement position of the transport path of the print medium. In other words, a user-friendly printer capable of quickly responding to a wide variety of print media such as size and thickness, for example, performing printing by mounting on a print medium without having a transfer path of the print medium A printer or the like can be made compact.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a recording unit inside a driving mechanism of a main part of an ink jet printer according to an embodiment, and FIG. 1B is an exploded perspective view of a head unit thereof.

2A is a plan view schematically showing an ink ejection surface of a head chip of a head unit, FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC ′ of FIG. 2, and FIG. It is a figure showing a silicon wafer.

3A is a plan view of the head unit as viewed from the ink ejection surface, FIG. 3B is a sectional view taken along the line DD ′ of FIG. 3A, and FIG. 3C is a view of FIG.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line EE ′ of FIG.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of an ink cartridge unit,
(b) is a sectional view taken along the line FF 'of (a), and (c) is a sectional view of G-
It is G 'sectional arrow view.

FIG. 5A is an exploded perspective view of an ink circulation channel unit,
(b), (c), and (d) are diagrams schematically showing the connection state of the flow paths of the respective laminated plates.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams for explaining the operation of the recording posture and the maintenance / maintenance posture of the head unit.

FIGS. 7 (a), (b), and (c) are step-by-step operation explanatory diagrams showing an operation state when the head unit is turned to a maintenance position in a stepwise manner.

8 (a) to 8 (e) are operation explanatory diagrams for each stage showing the operation state of the maintenance work in the maintenance posture in a stepwise manner.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view schematically showing a conventional ink jet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink-jet printer 2 Recording head 3 Carriage 4 Platen roller 5 Guide shaft 6 Toothed belt 7 Motor 8 Paper 9 Auxiliary roller 10 Motor 11 Lid opening and closing device 12 Cleaning device 13 Black ink cartridge 14 Color ink cartridge 20 Recording unit 21 Head unit 21-1 Head Chip 21-2 Chip Holder 21-3 FPC 21-4 Shaft 21-5a, 21-5b Rotating Engagement Teeth 21-6 Nozzle Arrangement Surface 21-7 End Face 22 Carriage 22-1 Groove Fitting Member 22 -2 Engagement projection 22-3 Pin 22-4 Stopper 23 Ink cartridge unit 24 Drive mechanism 24-1 Lead screw 24-2 Drive gear 24-3 Pumping arm 25 Ink circulation channel unit 26 Frame part 27ー 27-1 Shaft engaging portion 28 Torsion spring 31 Chip substrate 32 Orifice plate 33 Nozzle row 34 Nozzle (orifice) 35, 36 Wiring electrode 37 Silicon wafer 38 Drive circuit 39 Common electrode 41 Individual wiring electrode 42 Heating portion (resistance heating element) 43) ink reservoir 44 partition wall 45 common ink supply path 46 ink inlet hole 47 ink flow path 51 (51Y, 51M, 51C, 51K) ink supply port 52 (52Y, 52M, 52C, 52K) ink circulation port 53 (53Y, 53M) , 53C, 53K) Ink holding chamber 54 Check valve 55 Filter 56 Cartridge container 57 Capping member 58 Waste ink absorber 59 Capping table 61 Capping spiral spring 62 (62K, 62C, 62Y, 62M) Ink storage chamber 63 Supply hole 64 Return hole 65 Check valve 71 Flow path plate A 72 Flow path plate B 73 Output valve plate for pump 74 Spacer 75 Input valve plate for pump 76 Flow path plate C 77 (77K, 77C, 77Y, 77M) Bellows pump 78 (78K , 78C, 78Y, 78M) Supply hole protrusion 79 (79K, 79C, 79Y, 79M) Return hole protrusion 81 (81K, 81C, 81Y, 81M) Recirculation protrusion 82 (82K, 82C, 82Y, 82M) Supply protrusion Mouth 83 Wiping unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet printer comprising: a recording head having a plurality of ink ejection nozzles, wherein recording is performed by pressurizing ink and ejecting the ink from the ink ejection nozzles of the recording head in a predetermined direction. A head attitude changing mechanism that reciprocates between a printing attitude for performing printing by ejecting ink from the printing head and a maintenance attitude for receiving maintenance work for normal ink ejection; and And a maintenance member for performing a maintenance operation on the recording head. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the recording head performs a print scan by moving in a predetermined direction. 3. The ink-jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the recording head reciprocates between the recording position and the maintenance position over an angle of about 90 degrees. 4. The maintenance and maintenance member comprises at least one of an absorber of a waste ink which has been trial-discharged from the ink discharge nozzle, a wiping member, a capping member, and an ink supply cartridge. 4. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the members are detachably unitized.