JP2001138548A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet printer in which troubles due to the generation of ink mist can be eliminated through a low cost arrangement without fixing any fan. SOLUTION: The ink jet printer comprises wind guides 101a, 101b, 102a, 102b, 103a, 103b as means for generating an air flow from the periphery of a recording head toward predetermined discharge points by the moving force of a recording head relative to a recording medium. Ink mist generated on the periphery of the recording head is guided by the air flow generated from the air flow generating means to a filter 100 disposed at the discharge points.

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 improvement in processing of ink mist generated during an ink jet recording operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet printer, when an ink liquid is discharged for the purpose of recording or the like, fine mist-like droplets (ink mist) may be generated mainly due to main droplets involved in recording. The ink mist is a very small droplet compared to the main droplet, and its moving speed is extremely slow. Most of the ink mist does not land on the recording medium and floats in the air. In addition, when the main droplet lands on the recording medium, the main droplet that rebounds without being fixed to the recording medium may float as an ink mist. If these ink mist are floating inside the machine, the following problems may occur.

(1) Ink mist adheres to a recording medium,
Remarkably degrades recording quality.

(2) Ink mist adheres to an encoder provided for improving the accuracy of the operation of the carriage unit and the like, and the reading accuracy of the encoder is significantly reduced.

(3) sliding portion with the carriage unit;
For example, when the ink mist adheres to the guide shaft or the like, the sliding resistance of the carriage unit increases due to the thickening or solidification of the ink mist due to the evaporation of the solvent of the ink mist, and the carriage unit malfunctions.

(4) Ink mist adheres to metal and electric parts, causing corrosion and deterioration of the parts.

(5) Ink mist scatters and adheres not only inside the printer but also around the place where the printer is installed.
In addition to deteriorating the environment, the attached ink mist further adheres to a recorded recording medium or the like, significantly deteriorating the quality of a recorded image, and soiling the hands and clothes of an operator who operates the printer.

[0008] The problems caused by such ink mist, particularly the influence on the image, become more remarkable as the resolution of the printer increases. For example, in the case of a low-resolution printer of about 360 dpi, the ejection amount of the head used for recording is about 50 ng, which is larger than that of a high-resolution printer.
Therefore, the dot diameter on the recording medium is relatively large, and even if minute mist adheres to the recording medium, the deterioration of the recording quality due to the mist is very small. Further, in the case of a low-resolution printer, even when an encoder is used to increase the positional accuracy of the carriage unit, the pitch thereof is sufficient to be about 180 dpi, and even if ink mist adheres, the effect is small.

On the other hand, in a high resolution printer of 1200 dpi class, the ejection amount of a head used for recording is about 17 ng, which is relatively smaller than that of a low resolution printer. Therefore, the effect on the image when the mist adheres to the recording medium is relatively large. Also, when using an encoder, the encoder pitch is 360 dpi.
Or more is required. Therefore, when mist adheres to the encoder, the frequency with which the encoder cannot be read becomes relatively larger than that of a low-resolution printer.

[0010] As described above, ink mist processing is particularly indispensable in a high-resolution printer. Therefore, conventionally, a fan is provided inside the printer to generate an airflow in a certain direction in the printer, so that the mist is generated by the recording medium or the recording medium. It has been proposed to take a measure of discharging the paper out of the printer without adhering to the encoder.

[0011]

However, in recent ink jet printers, even low-cost printers have 12
The demand for high-resolution printers of the 00 dpi class has increased,
Along with this, the necessity of mist treatment is increasing,
Attachment of a fan, which is an expensive component, is very difficult in terms of cost, and is currently difficult to achieve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an ink jet printer which can solve the problems caused by the generation of ink mist in a low-cost configuration without attaching expensive components such as a fan. To provide.

[0013]

To achieve the above object, the present invention has the following arrangement.

That is, the invention according to claim 1 includes a recording head for discharging ink toward a recording medium, and performs recording by performing an ink discharging operation while relatively moving the recording medium and the recording head. An ink jet printer configured to perform an operation, comprising: an airflow generating unit configured to generate an airflow from a periphery of the recording head toward a predetermined discharge location by a moving force of the recording head with respect to the recording medium; The mist is guided to the discharge location by an air current generated by the air current generating means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, mist collecting means for adhering and collecting ink mist is provided at the discharge point, and the air flow generating means is provided near the head when the recording head is moved. The air is guided by the air guide plate toward the mist collecting means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the air guide plate is fixed to a carriage unit that reciprocates in the main scanning direction while holding a recording head, and moves the carriage unit. Direction forward air,
The recording head is guided in a direction to reach the mist collecting means through the vicinity of the ink discharge nozzle of the recording head.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the air guide plate is provided at a front end and a rear end of the carriage unit in the forward movement direction, and the recording head moves along the main scanning direction. When moving forward, the air guide plate forward in the forward direction guides the air ahead of it to the vicinity of the ink ejection nozzles of the print head, and the air guide plate behind the forward direction in the forward direction mist collects the air guided near the ink discharge nozzles. On the other hand, when the recording head moves forward in the main scanning direction, the air guide plate in the forward direction guides the air in front of the head toward the vicinity of the ink discharge nozzles of the recording head and guides the air in the rear direction in the forward direction. The air plate guides the air guided near the ink discharge nozzles to the mist collecting means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the fourth aspect, the two air guide plates are provided in the carriage unit so as to be changeable in an installation position, and when the carriage unit moves forward and backward. And a driving means for switching the installation positions of the two air guide plates is provided.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the invention, the carriage unit has an exhaust port at a position facing the mist collecting means, and the baffle plate allows air to flow through the exhaust port. It is characterized by leading.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the air flow generating means is constituted by a hollow elastic body whose internal space is expanded and contracted in accordance with the movement of the carriage unit. However, during contraction, air inside the nozzle of the recording head is discharged to generate an airflow toward the mist collecting means.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the seventh aspect, the hollow elastic body is provided at a front portion and a rear portion of the carriage unit in the forward movement direction, respectively. One of the hollow elastic members contracts and exhausts the internal air from the exhaust port to the vicinity of the nozzle, and the hollow elastic member located rearward in the forward movement direction is in an expanded state and the air discharged from the exhaust port is enlarged. To generate an airflow from the vicinity of the nozzle to the mist collecting means provided near the intake port.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the seventh aspect of the present invention.
In the invention described above, the hollow elastic body has a bellows structure.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to ninth aspects, the mist collecting means is constituted by a porous absorber having air permeability and ink absorbability. is there.

[0024] The invention of claim 11 is the invention according to claims 1 to 10
In any one of the inventions described above, the recording head has an electrothermal converter in the nozzle, generates bubbles in the nozzle by heat energy generated in the electrothermal converter, and causes the nozzle to eject ink by the pressure of the bubbles. It is characterized by the following.

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, the carriage unit of the ink jet printer moves in the main scanning direction to generate an airflow in the printer, and the airflow causes the ink mist to collect the predetermined mist. To remove. Therefore, the ink mist does not adhere to the inside of the printer and the encoder.

[0026]

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

FIGS. 1 to 3 are views showing a first embodiment of an ink jet printer of a cartridge exchange type according to the present invention, and show a state in which a front cover is removed to expose an internal structure.

In FIG. 1, P is a main body of the ink jet printer P according to this embodiment, and is composed of exterior materials such as the front cover and the rear cover P12 and a chassis P11. A carriage unit 2 is slidably held in the axial direction (main scanning direction) along a guide shaft 8 rotatably supported by the main body P1. The head unit 1 is detachably held by the carriage unit 2.

The head cartridge 1 includes a recording head having a large number of ink nozzles, an ink tank for supplying ink to the recording head, and the like. The recording head according to this embodiment has an electrothermal conversion element (heater), so-called bubble jet recording in which bubbles generated in the ink in the nozzles by the heat generated from the heater and the ink is ejected from the nozzles by the pressure of the bubbles. The method is adopted.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a holder for fixing the head cartridge 1 to the carriage unit 2, which operates in conjunction with the cartridge fixing lever 4. That is, after the head cartridge 1 is mounted in the carriage unit 2, the head cartridge 1 is pressure-bonded to the carriage unit 2 by operating the cartridge fixing lever 4. The cartridge 1 and the carriage unit 2 can be electrically contacted.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a flexible cable for transmitting an electric signal to the carriage unit 2. Reference numeral 6 denotes a carriage motor for reciprocating the carriage unit 2 in the main scanning direction. A carriage belt 7 is driven by the carriage motor 6 to move the carriage unit 2. The carriage unit 2 moves along the guide shaft 8 by turning the carriage belt 7 in the forward or reverse direction. Move or return.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a home position sensor comprising a photocoupler and the like.
Is located at the home position, the light shielding plate 10 provided on the carriage unit 2 is detected to detect that the carriage unit 2 has reached the home position position. A home position unit 12 includes a recording head recovery system. The recovery system of the print head includes a capping unit that prevents drying of the ink discharge ports of the head, a pump unit that performs suction recovery to remove dirt from the ink discharge ports and dirt inside the print head, and a wiping unit that removes dirt from the ink discharge ports. Etc. are included.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a preliminary ejection port for performing preliminary ejection during recording or after suction recovery or wiping. Immediately below the preliminary ejection port 14, a waste ink tank absorber (not shown) for storing waste ink. ) Is provided. 13
Is a paper discharge roller for discharging the recording medium, and the paper discharge roller 13 rotates while pinching the recording medium with a spur unit (not shown), and discharges the recording medium outside the printer. It has become. Reference numeral 100 denotes a filter (ink mist collecting means) provided for the purpose of removing mist, which is formed of a band-shaped member having excellent ink absorbability such as a porous absorber, and is provided on the rear side of the carriage unit 2. Is provided.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the carriage unit 2 of the recording apparatus shown in FIG. The printer according to the first embodiment employs a so-called one-way printing method in which a printing operation is performed only when the carriage unit 2 moves in the forward movement direction α. On both sides of a surface (front surface) located in front of the carriage unit 2 in the recording operation direction (forward direction), an inclined air guide plate 1 that projects diagonally forward is provided.
01a and 101b are provided, and an air guide plate 103b that is inclined obliquely upward is provided on the upper side. Each of the baffle plates 101a and 101b is protruded in an expanded state so that angles θ1 and θ2 between the baffle plate 101a and the front surface portion 2a are obtuse angles, and the baffle plate 103a is formed at an angle θ3 with the horizontal plane. Are inclined obliquely upward so as to form an obtuse angle.

The rear surface 2b of the carriage unit 2 has a baffle plate 102a projecting obliquely rearward.
102b are provided substantially in parallel. Each air guide plate 102
a and 102b have an obtuse angle θ4 between the rear surface 2b of the carriage unit 2 and the rear end protruding toward the filter 100 disposed on the rear side of the moving path of the carriage unit 2. .

In this embodiment having the carriage unit 2 configured as described above, during the printing operation, the movement of the carriage unit 2 causes an airflow as shown in FIG. 3 inside the printer, especially near the movement path of the carriage unit 2. Occurs.

That is, when the carriage unit 2 moves forward to perform the recording operation, the air around the moving path (main scanning path) of the carriage unit 2 is blown by the air guide plates 101a and 101a.
It is guided below the carriage unit 2 by the inclination of 1b, 103a, passes through the recording medium S, and is drawn out rearward. At this time, below the carriage unit 2,
Ink is ejected from the recording head, and ink mist is generated around the movement path at the same time when the main droplets land on the recording medium. The ink mist moves rearward with the airflow as the airflow passes below the carriage unit 2 and is discharged to the rear of the carriage unit 2. However, since the main drops involved in recording are relatively heavy, the influence of the airflow can be almost ignored.

Thereafter, the air and ink mist led to the rear of the carriage unit are blown by the air guide plates 102a and 102a.
It flows toward the filter 100 by the inclination of 2b. The air that reaches the filter 100 passes there, but ink mist adheres to the filter 100 and is collected. As described above, in the first embodiment, since the air containing the ink mist generated by the recording operation is sent to the filter and only the ink mist is removed, the ink is supplied to both the inside and the outside of the printer. Adheres,
The adverse effect that the recording medium is stained by the ink mist does not occur.

In the above-described embodiment, a description has been given by taking as an example a one-way printing printer which performs a printing operation only when the carriage unit 20 moves forward.
As in the second embodiment shown in FIG.
If the position of 2a is switched between the forward movement and the backward movement, it is possible to cope with a so-called two-way printing printer which performs the printing operation not only at the time of the forward movement but also at the time of the backward movement.

That is, the air guide plates 111a and 112a according to the second embodiment are axially mounted on the carriage unit 20 and are driven by a wind guide plate 111a via a driving mechanism 113 including link members 114 to 116 and the like. And 112a, and the drive mechanism 113 is operated by a predetermined actuator such as a motor or a solenoid to switch the position of the air guide plate.

Here, a solenoid 110 is used as an actuator, and the solenoid 11 is used at the time of forward movement.
0 is in the retracted position and the link 11
4 is held at a position indicated by a solid line in the figure to keep the air guide plate 111a at an air collecting position where the air guide plate 1a is expanded outward.
12a is maintained in a rectifying position, that is, a position for guiding air to the filter 100 side. Also, when returning, the plunger 11
0a rotates the advancing link 114 in the counterclockwise direction in the figure to rotate the air guide plate 111a to the rectifying position shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure, and moves the air guide plate 112a to the air collection position. Let it. Accordingly, the ink mist removing effect can be similarly exhibited not only in the recording operation in the forward movement direction but also in the recording operation in the backward movement direction.

As described above, most of the ink mist generated at the time of recording can be attached to the mist collection filter, and the adverse effects of the ink mist can be avoided.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The third embodiment has a carriage unit 30 as shown in FIG. 6, which is different from the above-described embodiment. That is, in this embodiment, an ink jet printer that performs the bidirectional printing method is assumed, and the front surface 30a of the carriage unit 30 in the forward movement direction (α direction) is provided with the same shape as the air guide plate in the first embodiment. Three air guide plates are fixed, and three air guide plates symmetrical to the three air guide plates are fixed to the other portion. First, this point is described in the first embodiment. And different.

Further, the carriage unit 30 extends from an inlet 123a formed in the front part (rear part in the backward direction) 30a in the forward movement direction to an outlet 123b formed in the rear part 30c of the carriage unit 30. The first air flow path R1 and the rear part in the forward direction (the front part in the reverse direction) 3
A second air flow path R2 is formed from an inlet 124a formed at 0a to an outlet 124b formed at the back surface 30c of the carriage unit 30. The outlets 123b and 124b are connected to the ink mist. It faces the band-shaped filter 100 which is a collecting means. The other points are the same as in the first embodiment.

In the third embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration, the air around the moving path of the carriage unit 30 flows as shown in FIG. 7 by the reciprocating operation of the carriage unit 30 in the recording operation. That is, when the carriage unit 30 moves in the forward movement direction (the direction of the arrow α), air in front of the carriage unit 30 around the movement path of the carriage unit 30 is supplied to the inlet 12 by the air guide plates 101A, 101b, and 103a.
3a and the lower part of the carriage unit 30. However, in order to improve the recording quality, the carriage unit 30 has a distance between the recording head and the recording medium S of about 1 m.
m, the flow resistance of the air passing therethrough is relatively large.

On the other hand, since the first ventilation passage has a larger cross-sectional shape than that below the carriage unit 30, the flow resistance of the air is relatively small. , The air guide plate 101
Most of the air guided by a, 101b, and 103a passes through the first ventilation channel R1. Then, the air that has flowed in from the inflow port 123 flows out of the outflow port 123b and passes through the filter 100. Since this air contains ink mist generated and floating during recording, the ink mist adheres to the filter 100 and is removed.

Also, in the rearward operation of the carriage unit 30, since air is guided to the second flow path R2 by the air guide plates 122a, 102b and 103b and passes through the filter 100, the air is generated by the recording operation at the time of the backward movement. The ink mist is also removed. Thus, this third
In the embodiment, while the carriage unit 30 continues the reciprocating operation, an airflow is constantly generated in the direction of the filter 100 and the ink mist can be removed, so that the ink mist can be more efficiently removed. it can. Further, since the airflow generated below the carriage unit 30 is slight, the influence of the airflow on the main droplet of ink ejected from the recording head is further reduced.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the fourth embodiment, the air flow generating means for removing the ink mist is constituted by a hollow elastic body which expands and contracts by the reciprocating movement of the carriage unit 40. This hollow elastic body is used for the carriage unit 4.
The bellows-like bag 131 (hereinafter, referred to as the front side)
A front bellows bag) and a bellows-shaped bag 132 (hereinafter, referred to as a rear bellows bag) located rearward in the forward movement direction.
, The other end is fixed to the forward end of the chassis P11 in the forward movement direction.
32 has one end fixed to the rear surface 40a of the carriage unit 40 in the forward movement direction, and the other end fixed to the rear end of the chassis P11 in the forward movement direction.

The bellows bags 131, 132 are formed with vent holes 131a, 132a which open downward, and flow into the bellows bags 131, 132 from the vent holes 131a, 132a. Filter as ink mist collecting means for removing ink mist from the air
201 and 202 are provided. Therefore, in this embodiment, the filter 100 used in the above embodiment is omitted, and this is different from the above embodiment. Also,
The carriage unit 40 is the same as that conventionally used, and does not include the air guide plate in each of the above embodiments.

In the above configuration, the carriage unit 4
When 0 moves in the forward direction, as shown in FIG. 10, the front bellows bag 131 contracts, and the inside becomes pressurized, and the air is discharged rearward from the vent 131a. On the other hand, since the bellows bag 132 on the rear side is elongated and the inside thereof is in a decompressed state, the surrounding air is sucked from the vent 132a. By these discharge and suction operations, the carriage unit 40
Below, the airflow is generated in the backward direction (indicated by arrow β). Below the carriage unit 40, ink is ejected from the recording head for recording, and
At the same time, ink mist is generated. For this reason,
When the airflow passes through the lower part of the carriage unit 40, the ink mist flows with the airflow, reaches the filter 202 in the bellows bag 131, adheres to the filter 202, and is removed.

When the carriage unit 40 performs the reciprocating operation, an airflow is generated from the vent 202 of the rear bellows bag 132 to the vent of the front bellows bag 131, and the filter 201 is moved.
As a result, the ink mist is removed, thereby avoiding the adverse effects of the ink mist. Also in this case, since the main droplet involved in the recording is heavy, the influence of the passage of the air current can be almost ignored. As described above, in each of the above-described embodiments, airflow can be generated by using the reciprocating operation of the carriage unit without using expensive components such as a fan, and ink mist can be reliably removed. Thus, the adverse effects of ink mist can be completely avoided.

(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 discharging ink, 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 configuration (a linear liquid flow path or a right-angled liquid flow path) of a discharge port, a liquid path, and an electrothermal converter 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, even in the case of the serial type as described above, the recording head fixed to the apparatus main body or the ink supply from the apparatus main body by being mounted on the apparatus main body to electrically connect with the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head which enables the recording 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 because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. To be more specific, pre-heating is performed by using a capping unit, a cleaning unit, a pressurizing or suctioning unit, an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof for the recording head. Means and preliminary ejection means for performing ejection other than recording.

Regarding the type and number of recording heads to be mounted, for example, in addition to the recording head having only one corresponding to a single color ink, it corresponds to 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 embodiments 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.

In addition, the form of the ink jet printer of the present invention is not only used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, but also as a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and further as a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. May be adopted.

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An airflow is generated around the movement path of the printhead by the reciprocating operation of the printhead, and the ink mist generated during printing or the like is guided to the ink mist collection body by the airflow, so that the ink mist can be reliably removed. it can. For this reason, it is possible to prevent contamination inside the printer, contamination around the printer installation location, and the like, which have conventionally occurred due to the generation of ink mist, and there is no possibility that the recording medium is stained by the ink attached to the inside and outside of the printer. In addition, the ink mist adheres to the encoder or the like or adheres to the guide shaft, so that there is no inconvenience that a recording operation failure occurs, and the appropriate recording operation is maintained for a long time. Can be. Further, since the airflow is generated by utilizing the reciprocating operation of the recording head, the configuration can be made at extremely low cost as compared with a conventional apparatus having an expensive fan.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an internal structure of an inkjet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a carriage unit of the printing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory enlarged perspective view showing an airflow generated near a movement path of the carriage unit shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a carriage unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

5 is an explanatory enlarged plan view showing the air guide plate, the link member, and a driving mechanism thereof shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a carriage unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

7 is an explanatory enlarged perspective view showing an air flow generated near a movement path of the carriage unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating an internal structure of an inkjet printer according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

9 is an enlarged perspective view showing the carriage unit shown in FIG. 8 and a bellows bag provided therein.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory vertical sectional side view showing an airflow generation state in the one shown in FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 head cartridge 2 carriage unit P inkjet printer S recording medium 20 carriage unit 100 filter (ink mist collecting means) 101a, 101b wind guide plate 102a, 102b wind guide plate 103a, 103b wind guide plate 110 solenoid 113 drive mechanism 111a, 112a guide Wind plate 30 Carriage unit 123a Inflow port 123b Outflow port R1 First air flow path R2 Second air flow path 124a Inflow port 124b Outflow port 122a Baffle plate 40 Carriage unit 131 Front bellows bag 131a Vent 132 Rear bellows bag 132a Vent 201 Filter (ink mist collecting means) 202 Filter (ink mist collecting means)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Taka 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Takashi Ishikawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inside (72) Inventor Yuji Konno 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Hiroo Inoue 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. ( 72) Inventor Shinya Hirai 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Kenji Takashi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term in Canon Inc. (Reference) 2C056 EA18 EA27 FA03 FA10 HA37 JC17

Claims (11)

[Claims] An ink jet printer comprising a recording head for discharging ink toward a recording medium, and performing a recording operation by performing an ink discharging operation while relatively moving the recording medium and the recording head. An airflow generating means for generating an airflow from a periphery of the recording head toward a predetermined discharge location by a moving force of the recording head with respect to the recording medium, wherein an air mist generated around the recording head is subjected to airflow by the airflow generation means. An ink-jet printer, wherein the ink-jet printer is guided to the discharge location. 2. A mist collecting means for adhering and collecting ink mist at the discharge location, wherein the airflow generating means guides air near the head toward the mist collecting means when the recording head moves. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, comprising a wind plate. 3. The air guide plate is fixed to a carriage unit that reciprocates along a main scanning direction while holding a recording head, and blows air in the moving direction of the carriage unit near an ink discharge nozzle of the recording head. 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein the ink is guided in a direction to reach the mist collecting means via the mist collecting means. 4. The air guide plate is provided at a front end portion and a rear end portion of the carriage unit in the forward movement direction, and when the recording head makes a forward movement along the main scanning direction, the wind guide plate located forward in the forward movement direction is moved. The print head guides the air in front of the recording head near the ink discharge nozzle and the air guide plate in the forward movement direction guides the air guided near the ink discharge nozzle to the mist collecting means, while the print head moves in the main scanning direction. When moving forward, the air guide plate forward in the forward direction guides the air ahead of it toward the vicinity of the ink discharge nozzles of the print head, and the air guide plate behind the forward direction in the forward direction mist mist the air guided near the ink discharge nozzles. 4. The ink jet printer according to claim 3, wherein the ink jet printer is guided to a collection unit. 5. A drive means for providing both of said air guide plates to said carriage unit so as to be changeable in installation position, and driving means for switching the installation position of said both air guide plates between forward and backward movements of said carriage unit. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein:
The ink-jet printer as described. 6. The ink jet printer according to claim 3, wherein the carriage unit has an exhaust port at a position facing the mist collecting means, and the air guide plate guides the air to the exhaust port. 7. The airflow generating means is constituted by a hollow elastic body whose internal space expands and contracts with the movement of the carriage unit, and the hollow elastic body is provided near the nozzle of the recording head when contracted when contracted. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein air is discharged to generate an air flow toward the mist collecting means. 8. The hollow elastic body is provided at a front part and a rear part of the carriage unit in the forward movement direction, respectively, and at the time of the carriage unit forward movement, one of the hollow elastic bodies located forward in the forward movement direction contracts and internal air is reduced. Is discharged from the exhaust port to the vicinity of the nozzle, and the hollow elastic body located rearward in the forward movement direction is in an expanded state, sucks the air discharged from the exhaust port, and is provided from the vicinity of the nozzle to the vicinity of the intake port. 8. The ink jet printer according to claim 7, wherein an air flow reaching the mist collecting means is generated. 9. The ink jet printer according to claim 7, wherein the hollow elastic body has a bellows structure. 10. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein said mist collecting means is constituted by a porous absorber having air permeability and ink absorbability. 11. The recording head has an electrothermal transducer in a nozzle, generates bubbles in the nozzle by thermal energy generated in the electrothermal transducer, and discharges ink from the nozzle by the pressure of the bubbles. The inkjet printer according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein: