JP2001018422A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely execute capping to a recording head without increasing an initial volume of a pump as a sucking means. SOLUTION: In this recorder, a cap 11 and a cylinder 12 of a suction pump are integrated to be a unit. The unit is moved by virtue of swinging of an arm 15. As a result, capping and uncapping of the cap to the recording head 7 which is moved to a predetermined position is executed. A moving space of a wiper 17 can be formed between the recording head 7 and the cap 11 at the uncapping time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus capable of recording an image on a recording medium using a recording head capable of discharging ink.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording device having a function such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile, or a recording device used as an output device of a composite electronic device or a workstation including a computer or a word processor is based on image information. It is configured to record an image on a recording material (recording medium) such as a recording medium or a plastic thin plate. Such a recording apparatus is an inkjet type,
It can be classified into a wire dot type, a thermal type, a laser beam type and the like.

[0003] In a serial type recording apparatus employing a serial scan system in which the recording means performs a main scan in a direction intersecting the transport direction (sub-scanning direction) of the recording material, a carriage is moved along the recording material. A paper feed (pitch transport) for transporting a recording material by a predetermined amount in the sub-scanning direction after recording (main scanning) an image for one line by the loaded recording means.
Then, the image of the next row is recorded (main scanning) on the stopped recording material again. By repeating such an operation, an image is recorded on the entire recording material. On the other hand, in a line type recording apparatus that records an image only by sub-scanning in the transport direction of the recording material without scanning the recording means, the recording material is set at a predetermined recording position, and one line is collectively set. After printing the minute, a predetermined amount of paper feed (pitch feed) is performed, and the printing of the next line is performed collectively. By repeating such an operation, an image is recorded on the entire recording material.

[0004] An ink jet recording apparatus (ink jet recording apparatus) performs recording by discharging ink from a recording means (recording head) onto a recording material. This ink jet recording apparatus can easily make the recording means compact, can record high-definition images at high speed, can record on plain paper without special processing, and can reduce running costs. However, since it is inexpensive and uses a non-impact method, it has advantages such as low noise and easy recording of a color image using multicolor inks.

[0005] In particular, an ink jet type recording means (recording head) for discharging ink by using thermal energy,
On a substrate, through a semiconductor manufacturing process such as etching, vapor deposition, and sputtering, an electrothermal converter, an electrode, a liquid path wall,
A top plate or the like can be formed into a film. Therefore, it is possible to easily manufacture a recording unit having a high-density liquid path arrangement (discharge port arrangement), and it is possible to further reduce the size.

In an ink jet recording apparatus, recording is performed by discharging ink from fine discharge ports. Therefore, in the vicinity of the discharge ports, the ink thickens and sticks due to evaporation of the solvent of ink, dust adheres to paper powder and the like, and bubbles are generated. When the occurrence or mixing of ink occurs, ejection failure such as displacement of the ejected ink (a shift in the ejection direction of the ink) or non-ejection of the ink may occur. Therefore, as a process for eliminating the ejection failure of the recording head, there is a suction recovery operation using a cap connected to a suction pump. That is, while covering the discharge port of the recording head with the cap, the suction pump is operated to generate a negative pressure in the cap, and the negative pressure discharges foreign substances such as thickened ink and bubbles from the discharge port together with the ink, and At the same time, the nozzle is filled with new ink. After performing the suction recovery operation, the recording head is cleaned to maintain and recover the normal ejection operation.

FIG. 9 shows a conventional example of a cleaning unit as a means for performing such a suction recovery operation.

The cleaning unit 6 includes a pump 60 for generating a negative pressure acting on the ink ejection port of the recording head, a cap 61 for suppressing drying of the ejection port of the recording head, and a surface (a surface on which the ejection port of the recording head is formed). A wiper 63 for scraping off ink residue and dust adhering to the “ink ejection surface”, and a drive switching arm 6 for switching the driving force from a transport roller for transporting the recording material to a paper feed unit and a pump 60.
2 and so on.

The cap 61 is connected to the cylinder 6 of the pump 60.
4 The cylinder 64 has an axis O
It is rotatable around a and is urged by a cylinder spring 57. When the cap 61 is not capped, the cap 61 stands by together with the cylinder 64 as shown in FIG. When a carriage (not shown) on which the recording head 7 is mounted moves in the direction of arrow A, the cylinder 64 moves.
Is pressed, the tip of the cap 61 rotates substantially in synchronization with the ink ejection surface of the recording head 7, and the cap 61 is pressed against the ink ejection surface so as to cover the ink ejection surface, thereby completing the capping.

On the other hand, the drive switching arm 62
At times other than cleaning, a driving force is not transmitted to the sheet feeding unit and the pump 60 by fixing a planetary gear (not shown) rotating around the axis of the transport roller at a predetermined position. The drive switching arm 6 is moved by the movement of the carriage.
When 2 moves in the direction of arrow A, the planetary gears become free, and the planetary gears move in accordance with the forward and reverse rotation of the transport roller. When the transport roller 36 rotates forward, the driving force is transmitted to the paper feeding unit, and when the transport roller 36 rotates reversely, the driving force is transmitted to the pump 60.

Therefore, when the transport roller rotates in the capping state, the cam in the pump 60 rotates to introduce a negative pressure into the cap 61, and the ink is sucked from the ink discharge port by the negative pressure. Suction removal of foreign matter such as fixed ink and ink filling into the nozzles are performed.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the pump 60.
In the cylinder 64, a piston 65 and a piston shaft 66 are provided.
The outer peripheral surface of the piston 65 is slidably adhered to the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 64. Pump 60
Receives a driving force in the left direction in the figure, the piston shaft 66 is pushed into the cylinder 64. At this time, the piston shaft 6
The flange 66a of FIG. 6 closely contacts the rear part of the piston 65 (FIG. 10B), and pushes and moves the piston 65 while keeping the suction chamber 67 hermetically closed (FIG. 10C). As a result, the pressure in the suction chamber 67 decreases, and when the piston 65 passes through the suction hole 68, a negative pressure is applied to the cap 61 at a stretch (FIG. 10D), and ink is discharged from the discharge port of the recording head. Suction. The negative pressure at this time is referred to as an “initial negative pressure”, and it is necessary to give an appropriate magnitude as the negative pressure in order to eliminate clogging of the ejection openings and fill the nozzles with ink. Thereafter, when the piston 65 and the piston shaft 66 further move to the left and reach a predetermined amount of ink suction, the carriage moves and the recording head and the cap 61 are moved.
Release contact with

When the piston shaft 66 is moved out of the cylinder 64 (to the right in the drawing), the piston shaft 6
The sixth flange portion 66a is separated from the rear portion of the piston 65, and a gap is formed therebetween. The ink in the suction chamber 67 can flow out of the cylinder 64 through this gap and the hole at the center of the piston 65 (FIG. 10).
(E)). In this state, the piston 65 is pulled by the hook 66b at the tip of the piston shaft 66 and moves rightward in the cylinder 64, and the ink is discharged from the suction chamber 67 as the volume of the suction chamber 67 decreases. .

Further, the ink remaining in the cap 61 and the cylinder 64 is discharged to the outside of the pump 60 by repeating the above-described suction and discharge operations with the cap 61 opened.

The wiper 63 is installed so as to be able to protrude and retract on the path along which the ejection surface of the recording head moves by scanning the carriage. Then, when the wiper 63 projects, the ejection surface passes through the opposing position, so that the tip of the wiper 63 scrapes ink residue, dust and the like adhering to the ejection surface (wiping operation) and cleans the ejection surface. Ensure a good ink ejection state.

[0016]

In the above-described conventional ink jet recording apparatus, when the carriage moves in the main scanning direction, the wiper 63 arranged on the orbit of the ejection surface removes foreign matter adhering to the ejection surface. I'm scraping. However, depending on the type of recording head, there is a case where the direction of such a foreign matter scraping operation by the wiper 63 must be set in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction of the carriage. Cannot be moved by moving the wiper 6
A moving means for moving the third side in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction must be separately provided.

In order to provide the wiper moving means without increasing the size of the apparatus, the cap can be moved up and down, and the wiper is passed through a space between the cap and the recording head formed by retracting the cap. There is also an example in which a scraping operation of the ejection surface is performed. However, in this case, the cap mounted on the moving means and the pump must be connected by a flexible tube to widen the moving range of the cap, and the initial space in the pump is reduced by the space in the tube. There is a problem that the volume increases and it becomes difficult to obtain a sufficient initial negative pressure.

An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of reliably performing capping on a recording head without increasing the initial volume of a pump as a suction means.

[0019]

An ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention uses a recording head capable of discharging ink from an ink discharge port, and records an image on a recording medium while moving the recording head in the main scanning direction. In a possible ink jet recording apparatus, a cap capable of releasing and releasing the cap for the ink ejection port by contacting and separating from the recording head, and a unit integrally formed with the cap to form a unit; And a moving means capable of moving the unit so that the cap contacts and separates from the recording head moved to a predetermined position.

[0020]

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

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 (a) is a front view showing a capping state of a cleaning unit in this embodiment, FIG. 1 (b) is a side view thereof, and FIG. 2 (a) is a cap of the cleaning unit. FIG. 2B is a front view of the open state, and FIG.

The structure of the cap 11 and the cylinder 12 is the same as the conventional cap 61 and the cylinder 64 described above.
Similarly, the cap 11 is installed directly on the cylinder 12 of the suction pump.

In order to realize the purpose of the present invention, in this embodiment, a lever 15 is newly provided as a cap moving means. The lever 15 is swingably supported on the same axis as the rotation center O of the pump drive gear 16, and supports the cylinder 12 and the pump cam gear 14. When the lever 15 is swung about the axis O by a drive source (not shown), the cylinder 12 and the pump cam gear 1 are rotated.
4 moves, and the cap 11 is pressed against or separated from the recording head 7. At this time, the center distance between the pump drive gear 16 and the pump cam gear 14 and the relative positional relationship between the pump cam gear 14 and the cylinder 11 are kept constant, and the pump cam gear 14 is driven regardless of whether or not the capping state is established. It is possible to

A cam portion 14a is provided inside the pump cam gear 14.
The pump operation is performed by driving the piston shaft 13 in the cylinder 12 by rotating the pump cam gear 14.

In the case of this example, the cap 11 and the cylinder 1
2 is not connected by a flexible tube or the like, so that the cap 11 can be largely moved, and the performance as a pump remains the same as before, while the cap 11 is not opened. A wide distance from the recording head 7 can be ensured. That is, with the recording head 7 stopped at the capping position, the lever 15 is swung as shown in FIG.
, It is possible to form a large space between the cap 11 and the recording head 7 through which the wiper 17 can pass. As a result, in addition to the wiping in the direction perpendicular to the nozzle row shown in the conventional example, the wiping in the direction (direction B in FIG. 2) orthogonal to the scanning direction of the carriage (direction A in FIG. 2) is supported. It becomes possible. That is, there is no need to separately provide a carriage position for wiping, and the cleaning unit 6 can be downsized.

An example of the configuration of a recording apparatus on which the cleaning unit 6 can be mounted will be described with reference to FIGS.

The recording apparatus 1 having an automatic paper feeder includes a paper feed unit 2, a paper feed unit 3, a paper discharge unit 4, a carriage unit 5, and a cleaning unit 6. Therefore, these configurations will be described in order by dividing them into items. 3 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the recording apparatus 1, FIG. 4 is a front view of the recording apparatus 1, and FIG.

(A) Paper Feeding Unit The paper feeding unit 2 includes a pressure plate 21 for loading the recording material P,
A feed rotator 22 for feeding the recording material P is attached to the base 20. A movable side guide 23 is movably provided on the pressure plate 21, and regulates the loading position of the recording material P. The pressure plate 21 is rotatable around a rotation axis connected to the base 20,
The feeding rotary body 22 is urged by the pressure plate spring 24. A recording material P is provided at a portion of the pressure plate 21 facing the feeding rotary body 22.
Is provided with a separation pad 25 made of a material having a large coefficient of friction, such as artificial leather, for preventing the double feeding of the paper. The base 20 further includes a separation claw 26, a bank 27, a switching lever 2
8. A release cam 29 is provided. Separation claw 26
Covers the recording material P in one direction and separates the recording material P one by one. The bank portion 27 is formed integrally with the base 20 in order to separate the recording material P such as cardboard that cannot use the separation claw 26. The switching lever 28 is for switching so that the separating claw 26 operates at the plain paper position and does not operate at the thick paper position. The release cam 29 is composed of the pressure plate 21 and the feed rotating body 2.
This is for releasing the contact with No. 2.

In the above configuration, in the standby state, the release cam 29 pushes the pressure plate 21 down to a predetermined position.
Thereby, the contact between the pressure plate 21 and the feeding rotating body 22 is released. In this state, the driving force from the transport roller 36 is transmitted to the feed rotator 22 and the release cam 29 by a gear or the like.
Is released, the release cam 29 separates from the pressure plate 21 and the pressure plate 21 rises, so that the feeding rotating body 22 and the recording material P come into contact with each other. Then, with the rotation of the feeding rotating body 22, the recording material P is picked up and fed, and the recording material P is started.
Are separated one by one by a separation claw 26 and sent to the paper feeding unit 3. The feed rotator 22 and the release cam 29 rotate until the recording material P is fed into the paper feeding unit 3, and then come into a standby state in which the contact between the recording material P and the feed rotator 22 is released again. Thus, the driving force from the transport roller 36 is cut off.

(B) Paper Feeding Section The paper feeding section 3 includes a transport roller 36 for transporting the recording material P,
It has a PE sensor 32. The transport rollers 36 include
A pinch roller 37 driven by the pinch roller 37 is provided in contact with the pinch roller 37. The pinch roller 37 is held by the pinch roller guide 30, and the pinch roller 37 is pressed against the conveyance roller 36 by the urging force of the pinch roller spring 31, thereby generating a conveyance force of the recording material P. Further, an upper guide 33 and a platen 34 for guiding the recording material P are provided at the entrance of the paper feeding unit 3 to which the recording material P is transported. The upper guide 33 is provided with a PE sensor lever 35 that operates the PE sensor 32 to detect the leading and trailing ends of the recording material P.

Further, a recording head 7 for forming an image on the recording material P based on image information is provided downstream of the transport roller 36 in the recording material transport direction.

In the above configuration, the recording material P sent to the paper feeding section 3 is guided by the platen 34, the pinch roller guide 30 and the upper guide 33, and is sent to a pair of transport rollers 36 and a pinch roller 37. Can be At this time, the PE sensor lever 35 detects the leading end of the conveyed recording material P and activates the PE sensor 32 to determine the recording position of the recording material P. The recording material P is conveyed on a platen 34 by rotating a pair of rollers 36 and 37 by an LF motor (not shown).

(C) Carriage The carriage section 5 has a carriage 50 to which the recording head 7 is attached. The carriage 50 has a guide shaft 81 for reciprocatingly guiding the recording material P in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the recording material P, and the recording head 7 and the recording material P while holding the rear end of the carriage 50. And a guide rail 82 that maintains the gap. The guide shaft 81 and the guide rail 82 are mounted on the chassis 8. The carriage 50 is driven by a carriage motor 80 attached to the chassis 8 via a timing belt 83. The timing belt 83 is stretched by an idle pulley 84,
Supported. Further, the carriage 50 includes a flexible substrate 56 for transmitting a recording signal from the electric substrate 9 to the recording head 7.

In the above configuration, when an image is formed on the recording material P, the roller is moved so that the row position (position in the transport direction of the recording material P) on the recording material P on which the image is formed is moved to the recording position. The pair 36 and 37 convey the recording material P, and at the same time, the carriage 50 is moved by the carriage motor 80 so that the row position on the recording material P where an image is to be formed (position in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the recording material P). The recording head 7 is made to face. Thereafter, the recording head 7 discharges ink toward the recording material P in accordance with a signal from the electric substrate 9 to form an image.

(D) Paper Discharge Unit The paper discharge unit 4 is provided with a transmission roller 40 which comes into contact with the transport roller 36 and further comes into contact with the paper discharge roller 41.
Therefore, the driving force of the transport roller 36 is
0 to the paper discharge roller 41. Further, a spur 42 that can rotate in accordance with the paper discharge roller 41 is in contact with the paper discharge roller 41. With the above configuration, the recording material P on which an image has been formed by the carriage unit 5
It is conveyed by being sandwiched between the spur 1 and the spur 42, and is discharged out of the apparatus.

(E) Recording Head FIG. 6 shows the configuration of a recording head mounted on the above recording apparatus. FIG. 7 shows a configuration of a color recording head which has substantially the same outer shape as the recording head of FIG. 6 and has a detachable ink tank. The color recording head of this example has a configuration in which two ink tanks, a black ink tank and a YMC (yellow, magenta, cyan) color ink tank, can be mounted.

Since the recording heads of FIGS. 6 and 7 have substantially the same configuration except for the ink tank section, FIG. 6 is mainly used in the description of the recording heads hereinafter. As shown in FIG. 6, the recording head 7 includes an ink tank 73 and a head unit 71. In the ink tank 73,
A sponge (ink absorber) impregnated with ink is packed. A piping section 706 for supplying ink to the head unit 71 is provided on the bottom surface of the ink tank 73.

The head unit 71 has a plurality of nozzles having a density of 360 nozzles / inch, an electrothermal transducer (heater element), electrodes,
A silicon plate, a recording head substrate, a liquid chamber, an ink filter, an ink supply pipe, and the like, which are electrically wired, are formed. Since the nozzle row is inclined by 1 ° to 4 ° with respect to a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction due to the driving method, the head unit 71 is attached to the tank 73 with an inclination.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the nozzle 70 in the head unit 71. This head unit 7
1 can apply heat to the ink in the ink flow path 184 by the heater element 185. The ink causes film boiling due to the heat, and a pressure change occurs due to the growth or shrinkage of bubbles generated at that time, and the pressure change causes
Ink is ejected from the nozzles 70 of the recording head 7 to form an image on the recording material P.

The color recording head 71 shown in FIG. 7 includes a housing 703 on which the head unit 201 is mounted, a mounting portion 710 for a black ink tank, and a three-color ink tank for YMC (yellow, magenta, and cyan). Mounting portion 711 is provided. The head part 201 has a nozzle 201B
K, 201Y, 201M, and 201C are provided.
The nozzle 201BK is a nozzle for discharging black ink in the black ink tank. Nozzles 201Y,
201M and 201C are nozzles for discharging yellow, magenta, and cyan inks in the color ink tank, respectively.

By mounting the color recording head 71 on the carriage 50, a color image can be recorded on the recording material P.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 11 shows a main part of a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11A shows a capping state of the cleaning unit in the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment, and FIG. 11B shows a cap open state.

The cylinder 102 and the cap 101 are
It is configured similarly to the cylinder 12 and the cap 11 described above, and moves between the capping state and the cap open state by the operation of the rail 108 constituting the cap moving means, as in the above-described embodiment. At this time, the cylinder 102 and the cap 101 are
It is guided by 110 and linearly moves up and down directly under the head 7 while maintaining its posture. This is the main difference in operation from the first embodiment described above. The guide portion 110 is provided on the cylinder and the cap 101 side, and is vertically movably guided on the guide portion 109 on the apparatus main body side. The pump cam gear 104 and the pump drive gear 106 are configured at the same time as the pump cam gear 14 and the pump drive gear 16 of the above-described embodiment.

Even if the cylinder 102 moves linearly, the cylinder 102 and the pump cam gear 10 are moved so that the relative position between the cylinder 102 and the pump cam gear 104 does not change.
4 are connected by a lever 103. The lever 1 is located between the axes of the pump cam gear 104 and the pump drive gear 106.
05, the pump can be driven regardless of whether it is in the capping state. Reference numeral 108 denotes a lever that is swingable about an axis O1 on the apparatus main body side, and a shaft portion on the cylinder 102 side is loosely fitted in an elongated hole 108a at a tip end thereof.

The present embodiment has the following effects in addition to the case of the first embodiment described above.

That is, since the opening of the cap 101 is always directed to the direction of the head 7 directly below the head 7, the preliminary discharge performed as a part of the cleaning operation can be performed in the cap 101. The preliminary ejection is a process of ejecting ink that does not contribute to image recording from the head 7, and the ink ejected at that time can be received in the cap 101. This allows
Even if a position for the preliminary ejection is not separately provided, the inside of the cleaning unit is not stained, and as a result, the apparatus can be further downsized and the operation can be simplified.

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

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

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 44,558 which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
A configuration using the specification of Japanese Patent No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an aperture for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration is based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be reliably and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

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

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

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

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

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

Further, the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the one used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. It may take a form.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, the cap and the suction means are integrated into one unit,
The suction path between the cap and the suction means is shortened in order to move the unit for capping and uncapping the cap with respect to the recording head moved to the predetermined position, and the pump as the suction means is accordingly reduced. A sufficient initial negative pressure can be obtained without increasing the initial volume, and the reliability can be improved by reducing the number of joints in the suction path that may cause a leak.

In addition, since the capping is performed without moving the recording head by moving the unit in which the cap and the suction means are integrated, the capping is performed as the recording head moves as compared with the conventional case. It is not necessary to synchronize the movement of the recording head with the capping, and the friction between the recording head and the cap due to the synchronization deviation can be eliminated, and the durability of the cap can be improved.

Further, without accompanying the movement of the recording head,
The cap can be sufficiently separated from the recording head and retracted. Therefore, a sufficient space for moving the wiper is provided between the cap and the recording head at the time of evacuation,
A wiper moving mechanism or the like can be incorporated while minimizing the size of the entire apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a front view of a cleaning unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention in a capping state, and FIG.
It is the side view.

FIG. 2A is a front view of the cleaning unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention with a cap open, and FIG. 2B is a side view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an overall configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 4 is a schematic front view showing the entire configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the entire configuration of the inkjet recording apparatus of FIG.

6A is a side view of a recording head for black ink that can be used in the ink jet recording apparatus of FIG. 3, FIG. 6B is a view of arrow b in FIG. 6A, and FIG. 6C is c in FIG. Arrow view, (d)
FIG. 3 is a view as viewed from an arrow d in FIG.

7A is a side view of a color recording head that can be used in the ink jet recording apparatus of FIG. 3, FIG. 7B is a sectional view thereof, FIG. (A) is a view as seen from the arrow c, and (e) is a view as seen from the arrow e in (c).

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view schematically showing a structure of an ink ejection unit in the recording head of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cleaning unit in a conventional inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 10 (a), (b), (c), (d), (e)
FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional side view for explaining different operation states of the pump in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11A is a front view showing a capping state of a cleaning unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a front view of the cleaning unit with the cap open.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording device 2 Paper feed part 3 Paper feed part 4 Paper discharge part 5 Carriage part 6 Cleaning part 7 Recording head 8 Chassis 9 Electric board 11 Cap 12 Cylinder 13 Piston shaft 14 Pump cam gear 14a Cam part 15 Lever 16 Pump drive gear 17 Wiper

Claims (10)

[Claims] An ink jet recording apparatus capable of recording an image on a recording medium using a recording head capable of discharging ink from an ink discharge port while moving the recording head in a main scanning direction. And a cap capable of releasing the cap with respect to the ink ejection port by separation and separation, a suction unit capable of integrally forming a unit with the cap and suctioning the inside of the cap, and moving to a predetermined position. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a moving unit that can move the unit so that the cap contacts and separates from the recording head. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a suction port of the suction unit and a suction force introduction port of the cap are directly connected. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a wiper capable of wiping an ink ejection port of the recording head moved to the predetermined position. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said moving means includes a lever which supports and swings said unit.
4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 3. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the lever is provided with a gear train for transmitting a driving force to the suction unit. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said moving means has a restricting portion for restricting a posture of the unit while the unit is moving. 7. The unit according to claim 1, wherein the restricting unit restricts the posture of the unit such that the cap moves while maintaining a posture facing the ink ejection port of the recording head at the predetermined position. 7. The ink jet recording apparatus according to 6. 8. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the wiper wipes an ink ejection port of the recording head along a moving direction of the recording head. 9. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the wiper wipes an ink discharge port of the recording head along a direction different from a moving direction of the recording head. 10. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head has an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy as ink ejection energy.