JP2002001997A - Waste ink absorption body, spare discharge receiving mechanism and ink-jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink-jet recording device, by which air current of ink mist can be controlled, which has a waste ink absorption body, a spare discharge receiving mechanism, and a platen member. SOLUTION: A material of coarse density is used for a waste ink absorbing body, which collides with a dropping of ink, by a spare discharge.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus having an ink jet recording head for performing recording by discharging ink, wherein an ink mist blows up from a preliminary discharge port and flows from a gap between the preliminary discharge port and a waste ink absorber. 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waste ink absorber capable of controlling an air flow of a spreading ink mist, and an ink jet recording apparatus having a preliminary ejection receiver.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, paper, cloth, plastic sheet, O
2. Description of the Related Art A recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording medium (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “recording paper”) such as an HP sheet uses various recording methods, for example, a recording method using a wire dot method, a thermal method, a thermal transfer method, or an ink jet method. It has been proposed as a form in which a head can be mounted.

[0003] Among these methods, the ink-jet method is one of low-noise non-impact methods in which ink is ejected and directly adhered to recording paper. Nias system (including charged particle control system and spray system)
And an on-demand method (including a piezo method, a spake method, and a bubble jet (registered trademark) method).

In the continuous system, ink is continuously ejected, and only required droplets are charged. The droplets adhere to the charged droplet recording paper, and the rest is wasted. On the other hand, the on-demand method discharges ink only when necessary for printing, so that there is no waste of ink. In addition, since the on-demand method starts and stops ink ejection, the response frequency is lower than that of the continuous method. For this,
Higher speed is realized by increasing the number of nozzles. Therefore, most of the recording devices currently in practical use are of the on-demand type, and the recording device equipped with such an ink jet type recording head can perform a high-density and high-speed recording operation. Output means of the information processing system, for example, a printer as an output terminal such as a copying machine, a facsimile, an electronic typewriter, a word processor, a workstation, or a handy or portable printer provided in a personal computer, a host computer, an optical disk device, a video device, etc. It has been used and put to practical use. In this case, the inkjet recording apparatus has a configuration corresponding to the functions, usage patterns, and the like specific to these apparatuses.

In general, an ink jet recording apparatus includes a carriage on which recording means (recording head) and an ink tank are mounted, transport means for transporting recording paper, and control means for controlling these.

Then, the recording head for ejecting ink droplets from the plurality of ejection ports is moved in the recording paper transport direction (sub-scanning direction).
Is serially scanned in a direction (main scanning direction) perpendicular to the direction, while the recording paper is intermittently conveyed by an amount equal to the recording width during non-recording. This recording method is to perform recording by discharging ink on recording paper in accordance with a recording signal, and is widely used as a quiet recording method with low running cost. In addition, by using a recording head in which a number of nozzles for ejecting ink are arranged in a straight line in the sub-scanning direction, the recording head scans once on the recording paper to record a width corresponding to the number of nozzles. You. Therefore, it is possible to achieve a high-speed recording operation.

[0007]

However, in such a conventional ink jet recording apparatus, the preliminary ejection receiver for receiving the waste ink, including the waste ink absorber that absorbs the ink dropped by the preliminary ejection, is provided with an ink. Because the airflow of the mist is not controlled, the in-machine contamination caused by the spouting of the ink mist from the preliminary outlet and the ink mist flowing from the gap between the preliminary outlet and the waste ink absorber accumulates together with the number of durable sheets. But it is a big problem.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the related art, the present invention provides a waste ink absorber, a preliminary discharge receiving mechanism, a platen member, and an ink jet recording apparatus having the same, which can control the air flow of ink mist. The purpose is to provide.

[0009]

Therefore, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the waste ink absorber according to the present invention is made of a material having a coarse density of the waste ink absorber which directly collides with ink droplets by preliminary ejection. It is characterized by the following.

The waste ink absorber of the present invention is characterized in that a foam having a cell number of 300 cells / inch or less is used.

Further, the preliminary discharge receiving mechanism of the present invention is characterized in that a waste ink absorber of a material having a low density is used, and the angle of entry of the ink droplet with respect to the surface of the waste ink absorber is an acute angle.

Further, an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the ink discharge speed at the time of preliminary discharge is made slower than the ink discharge speed at the time of printing using the above-mentioned preliminary discharge receiving mechanism.

Further, an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the driving frequency at the time of preliminary ejection is made lower than the driving frequency at the time of printing using the above-mentioned preliminary ejection receiving mechanism.

Further, the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the ink discharge amount at the time of preliminary discharge is made larger than the ink discharge amount at the time of printing by using the above-mentioned preliminary discharge receiving mechanism.

[0015]

According to the waste ink absorber, the preliminary ejection receiving mechanism, and the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention thus configured, the density of the waste ink absorber that directly collides with the ink droplet by the preliminary ejection is reduced. An exhaust port that is made of a coarse material, has an acute angle at which the ink droplet enters the waste ink absorber with which the ink collides, and has a space where the ink mist floats or is absorbed near the ink mist generated by the collision. In addition, the exhaust flow path through which the discharged ink mist passes is formed in a maze shape, or the exhaust flow path is provided with a turn-back like a dead end, and the waste ink absorber and the preliminary discharge receiver that receive the preliminary discharge are formed in a V-shape. A preliminary outlet end extending downward from the preliminary outlet on the platen disposed so as to protrude inward into the room formed by the structure of the absorber and the preliminary discharge receiver is provided. The end of the spout is tapered to the inside of the opening of the member, and a mold member having a height higher than the preliminary spout is arranged at the preliminary spout on the side in the scanning direction of the carriage after the preliminary ejection. A turbulence is generated along with the carriage operation near the discharge port, and a ventilation port is provided in the housing near the carriage reversing position, the discharge speed is made slower than the printing speed at the time of preliminary discharge, and at the time of preliminary discharge, at the exhaust port having a folded portion at the time of preliminary discharge. By reducing the flying speed of the ink mist, it is possible to perform the ejection with a larger ejection amount at the time of preliminary ejection than at the time of printing.

[0016] Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of several embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, a waste ink absorber, a preliminary ejection receiving mechanism, and an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIGS. 13 and 14 show an ink jet recording apparatus to which an example of a preliminary ejection receiving mechanism having a waste ink absorber according to the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 13, the ink jet recording apparatus is provided on the rear side of the housing 2 to stack and house sheets Pa as recording media,
a, and a sheet Pa that is sent from the sheet feeding unit 4 one by one to a downstream transport unit, which will be described later.
And a pinch roller 30, which cooperate to pinch and convey the sheet Pa onto a platen member 34, which will be described later, and discharge the ink onto the recording surface of the sheet Pa conveyed onto the platen member 34 to perform a recording operation. Cartridge 26 having a recording head 26H for performing
A carriage member 22 which is detachably mounted and which is transported orthogonally to the transport direction of the paper Pa;
H in cooperation with the paper P'a printed by H
, That is, the paper discharge roller 36 and the spur 38 for discharging toward the front of the housing 2 and the preliminary ejection port 3 in the ejection recovery processing position where the preliminary ejection is performed as the ejection recovery processing.
And a preliminary discharge receiving mechanism provided with a preliminary discharge receiving member 35 formed with the reference numeral 7.

As shown in the figure, the paper feed unit 4 is provided to be inclined with respect to the rear surface of the housing 2, and one end of the paper Pa loaded on the inner slope is It is regulated by a side guide member 4a movably supported with respect to the sheet feeding unit 4 along a direction substantially orthogonal to the transport direction of the sheet Pa. Also, at one end of the paper feeding unit 4, the paper Pa loaded on the slope is sequentially sent out one by one to the conveyance path, or one sheet is manually fed through a manual insertion slot (not shown). There is provided a switching lever 6 that is operated to selectively switch between sending out to the transport path one by one. As shown in FIG. 13, the downstream end of the paper feed unit 4 is fixed to the back side of the support member 8 in the housing 2.

At the front side of the support member 8, there are disposed conveying rollers 28 fixed to rotating shafts rotatably supported on both sides of the support member 8, respectively. Transport roller 28
Has a central axis extending along a direction substantially orthogonal to the transport direction of the paper Pa. The output shaft of a transport motor 46 for rotating the transport roller 28 is connected to one end of the rotation shaft of the transport roller 28.

The outer peripheral portion of the transport roller 28 is in contact with the outer peripheral portions of a plurality of pinch rollers 30 fixed to a rotating shaft disposed parallel to the transport roller 28. The rotation shafts to which the pinch rollers 30 are fixed are rotatably supported on both sides of the support member 8. The paper Pa is located above the pinch roller 30.
And a plurality of pinch rollers 30
The front end of a pinch roller guide 32 for guiding the outer periphery of the pinch roller guide 32 is disposed. Thereby, the transport motor 46
Is activated, the paper Pa is conveyed toward its downstream side. In the transport path, a platen member 34 that supports the paper Pa from below so as to be flat is provided at a portion downstream of the portion where the transport rollers 28 are provided. Further, on the downstream side of the platen member 34, the printed paper P'a is
A paper discharge roller 36 and a spur 38 that cooperate to pinch and discharge are provided. The discharge roller 36 is an idle roller 4
The rotation of the conveyance roller 28 in the counterclockwise direction through the rotation of the conveyance roller 28 is performed. Therefore, the printed sheet P′a is discharged by the discharge roller 36 and the spur 38.

Above and below the front side of the support member 8, an L-shaped guide rail 10 and a guide shaft 12 are provided in parallel with the conveying roller 28. The guide rail 10 is made of, for example, an L-shaped thin steel plate, and both ends thereof are supported on the side of the support member 8, and the guide shaft 12 is similarly parallel to the guide rail 10 by the support member 8. It is stuck to. The carriage member 22 has an upper engaged portion whose guide rail 10
And the guide shaft 1 is inserted into the through hole provided in the lower part.
2 are inserted and slidably supported. Further, the carriage member 22 is connected to the timing belt 14. The pulley 16 and the pulley 1, which are rotatably provided on the support member 8 in opposition to each other,
8 is wound. The pulley 16 is connected to an output shaft of a carriage driving motor 20, and the pulley 18 is supported by a rotation shaft rotatably supported by the support member 8. The operation causes the carriage member 22 to move between the guide rail 10 and the guide shaft 1 via the timing belt 14.
It is configured to be reciprocated in the left-right lateral direction along the line 2.

One end of a flexible cable 24 is electrically connected to a connector portion of the data input board provided on the carriage member 22. The carriage member 22 has a mounted portion 22M on which an ink cartridge 26 having a connector electrically connected to the data input board is mounted.

The ink cartridge 26 has, for example, an ink tank 26T for storing ink of a predetermined color, and a recording head 26H to which ink from the ink tank 26T is supplied. Recording head 2
As shown in FIG. 14, 6H is provided at the lower part of the ink cartridge 26 such that the ink discharge port forming surface 26A is arranged to face the recording surface of the paper Pa to be conveyed.

The recording head 26H has an ink ejection port forming surface 26 in which a plurality of ink ejection ports are formed in a line at predetermined mutual intervals along the transport direction of the paper Pa in the direction of arrow F, for example.
A. Each ink ejection port on the ink ejection port formation surface 26A communicates with each ink flow path in the recording head 26H. Although not shown, each ink flow path is provided with a heater as an electrothermal converter for heating the ink and selectively discharging the ink from the ink discharge port. Each ink flow path communicates with a common room to which the ink from the ink tank unit 26T is supplied. Each heater is controlled based on a drive control pulse signal group CP of a print head operation control unit 70 described later (see FIG. 16).

When the recording head 26H performs a recording operation, the carriage driving motor 20 is driven and controlled, so that the carriage member 22 reciprocates a predetermined distance with the recording head 26H. The carriage member 22 is positioned at a predetermined position separated from one end of the conveyed paper Pa when the recording head 26H does not perform a recording operation or when a recovery process described later is performed.
Has set a home position to wait.
In this home position, as shown in FIG.
A recovery processing unit 42 for performing a recovery process on the recording head 26H is provided. This recovery processing unit 42
Is a blade member 44 for wiping ink or the like adhering to the ink ejection port forming surface 26A of the recording head 26H when the recording head 26H moves toward the home position or the recording area side, and the recording head 26H standing by at the home position. And a vacuum pump 50 that performs a suction operation through a communication hole of the capping member 48 as a main component.

The blade member 44 is made of, for example, a rubber material having flexibility, and its upper end is used to wipe off the ink attached to the ink discharge port forming surface 26A of the recording head 26H. The lower end of the blade member 44 is fixed to a side of the recovery processing unit 42 facing the transport path of the case. Further, since the thickened ink or the wiped ink accumulated in the blade member 44 during the operation by the blade member 44 is pushed into the ink ejection port, the recording head is moved to a preliminary ejection position including a preliminary ejection port 37 described later. 26H is moved to perform an ejection recovery process (hereinafter, referred to as “preliminary ejection”), thereby discharging the ink that has been pressed into the ink ejection port and affects the print image.

The capping member 48 is arranged in the recovery processing unit 42 in a direction away from the blade member 44 with respect to the transport path. Capping member 48
Is held by a holder connected to a slide mechanism of a lifting mechanism (not shown). The elevating mechanism includes a holder for holding the capping member 48 and the holder for the recording head 26H as the carriage member 22 moves.
And a slide mechanism for raising the ink ejection port toward the ink ejection port forming surface 26A.

The portion of the capping member 48 that is in close contact with the ink discharge port forming surface 26A of the recording head 26H is
It communicates with one end of the suction tube through a communication hole (not shown). The other end of the suction tube is connected to a vacuum pump 50
Is connected to the suction side. The vacuum pump 50 is controlled by the control unit 64 (FIG. 16). Control unit 6
4 shows a recording start command signal from a recording / recovery processing command unit 60 which issues a command for the recovery process to the recording head 26H and issues a command for the recovery process to the recovery processing unit 42. Scp, recovery processing start command signal S
cr and a recording operation stop command signal Ss are supplied (see FIG. 16).

The control unit 64 is supplied with data from the data input operation unit 62. The data input operation unit 62 is operated, for example, when the ink cartridge 26 is newly replaced or when the recording image data is changed, and sends out the respective data. The slide mechanism moves the holder to the recording head 2 by engaging the lower portion of the carriage member 22 moving toward the home position.
When the carriage member 22 is moved in a direction away from the home position to be engaged, the holder is lowered by the urging means. Let it.

The recording head 26H may cause a printing failure due to nozzle clogging or the like, but this is solved by a series of recovery sequences in FIG. At the time of the preliminary ejection process 86 in the recovery sequence, the recording head 26H is moved to a preliminary ejection position to be described later, and ink is ejected at a predetermined number of ejections (for example, 200 shots per nozzle), that is, ejection not directly related to printing. A certain preliminary ejection 86 is performed to remove the cause of clogging such as paper dust and thickened ink in the nozzle. Further, the preliminary ejection position is provided at a location where the waste ink absorber is directly dropped by ejection. This preliminary ejection position is provided outside the printing area.
8, a preliminary ejection port 37 provided at a position where the conveyance of the paper Pa on the platen member 34 is not affected, and below the preliminary ejection port 37, a preliminary ejection port for receiving the preliminary ejected ink droplet d is provided. A receiving member 35 is provided.

At this time, according to an experiment by the present inventor, the ink droplet d ejected from the recording head 26H is about 15 m
/ S and collides with the waste ink absorber Ab. At this time, it has been confirmed that the flow of the airflow of the ink mist m generated at the time of collision varies depending on the angle at which the ink droplet d enters the waste ink absorber Ab. For example, when the ink droplet d collides with the waste ink absorber Ab vertically (the ink droplet d is ejected along the gravity), FIG.
As shown in (2), the ink droplet d spreads along the surface of the waste ink absorber Ab as an ink mist m. Here, it has been confirmed by the present experiment that the range in which the ink mist m spreads varies depending on the angle at which the ink droplet d enters the waste ink absorber Ab. In the experimental results, waste ink absorbers Ab having different areal densities were prepared, and the approach angle was changed to verify how the ink mist m soared. If the surface density of the waste ink absorber Ab is coarse, the rise of the ink mist m is small, and if the entrance angle becomes acute, the rise of the ink mist m decreases.

FIG. 2 shows an example of this experiment. In this case, the ink droplet d was set to collide with the waste ink absorber 111 at an entrance angle θ of 45 degrees (the ink droplet d was ejected along gravity). Here, the collided ink droplet d becomes an ink mist m, and the
Soar in both directions. However, instead of flying up equally, more ink mist m spread and flew up in the A direction, and only a little ink mist m flew up in the B direction. in this way,
It is considered that the reason why the ink mist m flies less than in FIG. 1 is that the force at the time of collision is dispersed. Based on this phenomenon, the ink mist m soars, that is, the position where the air flow occurs is controlled (control).
The structure of the waste ink absorber 111 shown in FIG. 3 can be proposed.

Here, a waste ink absorber 111 having a certain angle of entry with respect to the above-described ejected ink droplet d is arranged, and the ink mist m soars in the above-mentioned A direction, and is placed on the platen member 34. The formed preliminary outlet 37 side,
That is, a chamber for generating a turbulent flow such as an airflow buffer 112 is formed so as to reduce the upward movement of the ink mist m and reduce the flying speed of the ink mist m flowing in the A direction. As a result, the spray of the ink mist m from the preliminary discharge port 37, which has been extended, is eliminated, and the waste ink absorber 1 of the generated ink mist m is eliminated.
11 accelerates the rate of absorption.

As shown in the drawing, the preliminary discharge receiving mechanism of the present invention comprises a platen member 34 having a preliminary discharge port 37.
And a preliminary discharge receiving member 35 on which the waste ink absorber 111 is disposed, and the waste ink absorber 1 receiving the ink droplet d.
An airflow buffer 112 is formed on the side of 11. Therefore, most of the ink mist m of the ink droplet d colliding with the waste ink absorber 111 flows in the direction A and the airflow buffer 11
The ink mist m flows as a turbulent flow in the nozzle 2, and the flying speed of the ink mist m is greatly reduced, and the ink mist m is well absorbed by the waste ink absorber 111. Further, it is preferable that a shielding member 34 a is provided below the preliminary discharge port 37 of the platen member 34 so that a part of the ink mist that has risen upward does not flow below the platen member 34. In the present invention, the waste ink absorber having a low density refers to an absorber having a cell number of 300 cells / inch or less of a material constituting the absorber. In particular, the number of cells of the waste ink absorber is preferably 20 cells / inch or more. Further, the number of cells of the waste ink absorber is 20 cells / inch or more and 100 cells / in.
ch or less is preferable. As the material of the waste ink absorber, a melamine-based resin foam is preferable. The incident angle of the ink droplet on the surface of the waste ink absorber is 20 to 50 degrees, particularly 30 to 4 degrees.
Five degrees is preferred.

(Embodiment 2) A waste ink absorber 1 having an acute entering angle with respect to a pre-discharged ink droplet d in an ink jet recording apparatus having substantially the same configuration as that of Embodiment 1 described above.
The ink mist m generated when the ink droplet d collides with the waste ink absorber 111 is positively flown in the direction A in FIG. This ink mist m flowing along the surface of
As shown in FIG. 4, by feeding into the elongated exhaust port 113 provided in the preliminary discharge receiving member 35, the flying speed of the ink mist m is reduced, and the flow of the ink mist m is favorably controlled. Discharged from 114.

That is, as shown in the figure, the preliminary discharge receiving mechanism of the present invention comprises a platen member 34 having a preliminary discharge port 37 and a preliminary discharge receiving member 35 on which a waste ink absorber 111 is disposed. An elongated exhaust port 113 is formed on the side of the waste ink absorber 111 that receives the droplet d. Accordingly, most of the ink mist m of the ink droplet d colliding with the waste ink absorber 111 flows in the direction A and the exhaust port 1
The ink mist m is greatly reduced in flying speed while flowing into the inside 13 and flowing through the elongated exhaust port 113, and is discharged from the discharge port 114.

The preliminary discharge receiving member 35 in which the exhaust port 113 is formed is entirely made of the same material as the waste ink absorber 111, and suitably absorbs the ink mist m flowing in the exhaust port 113. be able to.

FIG. 5 is a plan sectional view showing a modification of the above embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the preliminary discharge receiving member 35 has a plurality of exhaust ports 113 forming a flow path of ink mist. Are formed so as to form a maze-like pattern having the folded portions 115 in the traveling direction.
In a portion, the flying speed of the ink mist m is reduced to absorb the ink mist m, the flying speed of the ink mist m is reduced, and the ink mist m is removed from the outlet 114 of the exhaust port 113 as air. Is to be discharged.

Further, in this example, the exhaust port 113 is provided in the horizontal direction in the drawing, but the exhaust port 113 may be arranged vertically or in a three-dimensional arrangement. That is, the exhaust port 11 is provided in a portion where the ink mist m is stored.
3, that is, a ventilation structure is provided, and the flow of air from the preliminary discharge port 37 to the waste ink absorber 111 is generated by the flying of the ink droplet d that is preliminary discharged. m is pushed out to the outlet 114 through the maze-shaped outlet 113.

Accordingly, the air flow of the ink mist m is controlled by such a configuration. Further, since the exhaust port 113 has a structure having a folded portion 115 like a dead end in the traveling direction, thereby generating a turbulent flow, the flying speed of the ink mist m is greatly reduced by the turbulent flow. Thus, the ink is suitably absorbed by the preliminary ejection receiving member 35 made of the waste ink absorber material. In this manner, the extruded air from which the ink mist m has been removed passes through the exhaust port 113 and the exhaust port 114.
As a result, the ink mist that has flowed out from the gap between the components of the recording apparatus and the like is eliminated, and it is feasible to greatly reduce in-machine contamination.

(Embodiment 3) In Embodiment 3, as shown in FIG. 6, a member made of a thread-like or mesh-like material that repels moisture and is disposed at a position where the pre-discharged ink droplet d does not directly contact. By 116, the rise of the ink mist is suppressed and dispersed and suppressed. In other words, the sowed ink mist collides with the above-described member 116 and is dispersed to generate a turbulent flow. At the same time, the flow of the ink mist is reduced by flowing between the members 116, and the flying speed of the ink mist is reduced by these phenomena. It is gradually decelerated, and finally absorbed by the preliminary ejection receiving member 35 composed of a waste ink absorber member having 300 cells / inch. In addition, a shielding member 34a is attached to the preliminary discharge port 37 so that the ink mist does not flow below the platen member 34.
Is provided below the preliminary outlet 37.

(Embodiment 4) In Embodiment 4, as shown in FIG. 7, the structure of the waste ink absorber is such that the installation space is small and the amount of ink droplets to be discharged into the waste ink absorber is small. It is effective for The waste ink absorber 101 is installed so that the angle of entry of the ink droplet d ejected from the recording head 26H into the waste ink absorber 101 is acute, so that most of the ink mist flows in the direction A, and A waste ink absorber 102 is provided substantially vertically so as to face the ink absorber 101, and a wedge-shaped space is formed between the waste ink absorbers 101 and 102. Here, if the entering angle with respect to the waste ink absorber 101 is a sharper angle, it is possible to positively collide with the waste ink absorber 101 disposed at the flow destination, but the flying speed of the ink mist is Since the entry angle does not decrease as the entry angle becomes acute, the probability of secondary occurrence of ink mist also increases in the waste ink absorber 101. According to the experiment of the present inventor, the angle of entry of the ink droplet with respect to the surface of the waste ink absorber 101 is set to 20 to 50 degrees, and further to 30 to 4 degrees.
When the angle is set in the range of 5 degrees, the ink droplet d having a discharge speed of 15 m / s can be appropriately absorbed without causing the ink mist to fly up. Further, it has been confirmed by experiments of the present inventor that the generation of ink mist due to the collision of the ink droplet d is reduced by making the waste ink absorbers 101 and 102 a material having a low density. ,
By using such waste ink absorbers 101 and 102, the waste ink absorbers 101 and 102 can be easily installed even in a narrow place, and space saving can be realized.

(Embodiment 5) As shown in FIG. 8, it has been confirmed in the previous experiment that the flow of the ink mist proceeds downward. By using this phenomenon, in the present embodiment, the waste ink absorber 1 of the ink droplet d ejected from the recording head 26H is substantially the same as in the fourth embodiment.
First, the waste ink absorber 101 is installed so that the entering angle with respect to the first ink droplet 01 becomes an acute angle so that most of the ink mist flows in the direction A, and the waste ink absorber 10
1, the waste ink absorber 103 is provided in a state inclined slightly outward from the vertical position, so that the waste ink absorber 101,
The waste ink absorbers 101 and 103 are arranged such that a wedge-shaped, substantially V-shaped space is formed between the 103. By arranging the waste ink absorbers 101 and 103 in this manner, first, the ink droplet d collides with the waste ink absorber 101, and then the ink mist continuously collides with the waste ink absorber 103. The flying speed of the ink mist is more suitably reduced. Further, the V-shaped shape in such a structure is not particularly limited to symmetric or asymmetric. Further, similarly to the fourth embodiment, a material having a low density can be used as the waste ink absorbers 101 and 103, which is suitable to be provided in a narrow installation space. Can be greatly reduced.

(Embodiment 6) As shown in FIG. 9, in Embodiment 6, a recess 117 is provided in a preliminary ejection receiving member 35 for receiving a preliminary ejected ink droplet d.
A waste ink absorber made of a material having a low density is used for the inner surface side member 116 forming 17. Accordingly, by forming the material of the inner surface side member 116 of the waste ink absorber that forms the depression 117 where the ink droplet d and the ink mist collide with each other from a material having a low density, the ink mist due to the collision of the ink droplet d is formed. By reducing the generation and causing the generated ink mist to collide, the flying speed of the ink mist can be reduced and absorbed. Further, a shielding member 34 a is provided below the platen member 34 in the preliminary ejection port 37 to prevent the ink mist from flowing below the platen 34.

(Embodiment 7) Since the ink mist of the ink droplet d preliminarily ejected has the property of flowing along the colliding surface, in this embodiment 7, the preliminary ejection receiving member 3
10 has a octopus structure as shown in FIG. 10, so that a pre-discharge receiver comprising a shielding member 34a extending downward below a pre-discharge port 37 formed on the platen member 34 and a waste ink absorber of the present invention. The ejection of the ink mist from the gap Sp <b> 1 with the member 35 is prevented. That is, the opening of the preliminary ejection receiving member 35 is provided with a cover 35a having an opening at the center. Furthermore, by taking the above-mentioned properties into consideration, if the opening at the end of the shielding member 34a extending downward below the preliminary spout 37 formed on the platen member 34 is slightly narrowed, the ink mist is prevented from further blowing out. Structure.

(Embodiment 8) In Embodiment 8, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
In the direction opposite to the direction in which the carriage 22 (FIG. 13) on which the carriage 6 is mounted moves, the position is higher than the height of the preliminary ejection port 37 on the platen member 34 and does not interfere with the recording head 26H. (Trade name), a turbulent flow is generated in the preliminary discharge port 37 in accordance with the operation of the carriage, an ink mist generated immediately after the preliminary discharge, and By intentionally generating a turbulent flow with the ink mist floating in the vicinity, it is possible to prevent the ink mist from blowing out from the preliminary discharge port 37 to the outside. That is, by providing the mylar 34b upstream of the preliminary spout 37, it is possible to prevent the ink mist from blowing out of the preliminary spout 37 due to the occurrence of a turbulent flow inside the preliminary spout 37 due to the movement of the carriage as shown in the drawing. Is done. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the ink mist from flowing out from the gap between the components of the recording apparatus and to greatly reduce the contamination of the inside of the recording apparatus. Also in the present embodiment, similarly, in the preliminary ejection port 37, a shielding member 34 is provided so that the ink mist does not flow below the platen member 34.
a is provided below the preliminary outlet 37 of the platen 34. Also in this embodiment, the waste ink absorber of the present invention is used for the preliminary discharge receiving member.

(Embodiment 9) With the movement of the carriage, particularly when the carriage is reversed, the space between the carriage and the side surface of the housing is reduced, and the flow of air around the recording head and around the preliminary ejection port becomes faster. However, since the ink mist once taken into the preliminary discharge port 37 blows out due to wind pressure, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. By providing the ventilation hole 120 with the housing 2 of the above, the above-mentioned decompression space is eliminated, and the generated wind pressure is reduced, so that the ink mist is preferably blown outward from the preliminary discharge port 37 of the ink mist. Can be prevented. Also in this embodiment, the waste ink absorber of the present invention is used for the preliminary discharge receiving member.

(Embodiment 10) An experiment conducted by the present inventor has shown that a drive frequency of 15
Although the frequency was gradually lowered from kHz, the lower the driving frequency, the smaller the amount of ink mist generated by the collision between the ink droplet and the waste ink absorber. However, the effect can be obtained by the density of the waste ink absorber, and the result that the generation of the ink mist is almost suppressed at 5 kHz or less, with the material of the waste ink absorber used in the experiment being melamine. For this reason, by setting the driving frequency at the time of preliminary ejection at a value lower than the driving frequency at the time of printing and in accordance with the surface density of the waste ink absorber, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of ink mist at the time of preliminary ejection. .

(Example 11) In the experiment of the present inventors,
It has been found that when the ejection speed is reduced, the generation of ink mist is reduced. According to experiments, for example, when the discharge speed is
By controlling to m / s or less, the amount of generated ink mist was reduced. Therefore, in this embodiment, in the ink jet printer head that discharges ink by bubbling of a heating element or the piezoelectric ink jet head that discharges ink by using a piezo element, the discharge during the preliminary discharge is controlled by controlling the voltage and the pulse. By driving the head so as to reduce the speed, it is possible to reduce ink mist generated when the ink droplet collides with the waste ink absorber.

(Embodiment 12) The amount of ink droplets ejected at the same ejection speed of 15 m / s, that is, the ink ejection amount is 5
The amount of ink mist generated by the collision of the waste ink absorber and the ink droplet with the recording head 26H different from pl and 30pl was compared, and it was found that the amount of ink mist was smaller when the ejection amount was 30pl. Was confirmed by the present inventors' experiments. Accordingly, the voltage and the pulse are controlled for the ejection amount at the time of the preliminary ejection, and the ejection amount is increased so as to reduce the generation of ink mist.

As apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, by controlling the air flow of the ink mist in the preliminary ejection, it is possible to suppress the generation of the ink mist and the blowing of the ink mist from the preliminary ejection receiving member. Becomes possible.

The present invention can of course be applied to various ink jet recording apparatuses as long as they use ink as a recording agent. Among them, thermal energy is used as an energy used for ejecting ink. (E.g., an electrothermal converter or a laser beam), and provides an excellent effect in a recording (recording) head and a recording apparatus of a system in which a change in ink state is caused 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 structure and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. No. 4,723,129 and US Pat.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of US Pat. No. 740,796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it is arranged corresponding to a sheet or a liquid path holding a liquid (ink). Applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recording information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to the electrothermal transducer, thereby causing the electrothermal transducer to generate thermal energy, thereby causing the recording head to emit heat energy. This is effective because a film in the liquid (ink) corresponding to the driving signal can be formed one by one by causing film boiling on the heat acting surface. 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 liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. It should be noted that U.S. Pat.
If the conditions described in the specification are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As a configuration of the recording head, a combination configuration (a linear liquid flow path or a right-angled liquid flow path) of an ink discharge port, a liquid path, and an electrothermal converter as disclosed in each of the above-mentioned specifications.
In addition to the above, a configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600 which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region is also included in the present invention. Included. 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, when the recording head is fixed to the apparatus main body or is attached to the apparatus main body, the recording head is electrically connected to the apparatus main body and ink from the apparatus main body is discharged. 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.

As a configuration of a printing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied, various forms of ejection recovery means (including preliminary auxiliary means and the like) of the printing head may be used. Specifically, capping means for the recording head,
A cleaning means such as a blade, a means for removing ink from the ink ejection port by pressurizing the ink supply system or suctioning as described above, an electrothermal converter, a separate heating element, or a combination thereof. Any means may be used as long as it includes a preliminary heating means for performing heating by heating and a preliminary ejection means for performing ejection other than recording. In the case where ink adheres or remains on the head face after such recovery processing, the arrangement of the absorber in the cap as in this example is effective, and the arrangement of the absorber for keeping the blade clean. This is because ink can be prevented from dropping onto an undesired portion.

Regarding the type and number of recording heads to be mounted, for example, in addition to the one provided corresponding to a single color ink, a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities as described above are used. May be provided in plurality. 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 solidifying when it reaches 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, it is also possible to adopt a form in which the sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter in a state where it is held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. 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, examples of the form of the ink jet recording apparatus applicable to the present invention include those used as image output terminals of information processing equipment such as computers, copying apparatuses combined with readers and the like, and transmission / reception functions. May be adopted as a facsimile apparatus having

[0063]

According to the waste ink absorber of the present invention, since the density of the waste ink absorber that directly collides with the ink droplet by the preliminary ejection is made of a material having a low density, the ink droplet can be received and absorbed satisfactorily.

The preliminary discharge receiving mechanism of the present invention has a preliminary discharge receiving member in which the angle of entry of the ink droplets flying by the preliminary discharge with respect to the colliding waste ink absorber is acute.
Ink droplets can be suitably received and absorbed.

In the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the ejection speed is made slower than the printing speed at the time of preliminary ejection, so that the occurrence of ink mist can be suppressed.

In the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the driving frequency at the time of preliminary ejection is set lower than the driving frequency at the time of printing, so that the occurrence of ink mist at the time of preliminary ejection can be suppressed.

Since the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention performs a larger discharge amount at the time of preliminary discharge than at the time of printing,
The generation of ink mist can be suitably suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a moment when an ink droplet vertically collides with a waste ink absorber according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a moment when an ink droplet collides with a waste ink absorber according to the present invention at an acute angle of approach.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an example of a preliminary ejection receiving mechanism having a waste ink absorber according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing another example of a preliminary ejection receiving mechanism having a waste ink absorber according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan sectional view showing another example of the exhaust port of the preliminary discharge receiving mechanism having the waste ink absorber of FIG. 4 according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing still another example of the preliminary ejection receiving mechanism having the waste ink absorber according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing another example of a preliminary ejection receiving mechanism having a waste ink absorber according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing still another example of the preliminary ejection receiving mechanism having the waste ink absorber according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing still another example of the preliminary ejection receiving mechanism having the waste ink absorber according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing an example of a structure of a preliminary ejection receiving mechanism including a waste ink absorber according to the present invention and a structure of a platen member.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing another example of the structure of the preliminary outlet of the platen member in the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing an example of a recording apparatus to which an example of the recovery processing method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 14 is a partial cross-sectional view of the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram provided for an operation of an example of the recovery processing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing control blocks provided in a recording apparatus to which an example of the recovery processing method according to the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Housing 4 Paper feed unit 4G Side guide member 6 Switching lever 8 Support member 10 Guide rail 12 Guide shaft 14 Timing belt 16 Pulley 18 Pulley 20 Carriage driving motor 22 Carriage member 22M Mounting part 24 Flexible cable 26 Ink cartridge 26H Recording Head 28 Conveying roller 30 Pinch roller 32 Pinch roller guide 34 Platen member 35 Pre-discharge receiving member 36 Paper discharge roller 37 Pre-discharge port 38 Spur 40 Idle roller 42 Recovery processing unit 44 Blade member 46 Transport motor 48 Capping member 50 Vacuum pump 60 Recording / recovery processing command section 62 Data operation input section 64 Control unit 70 Print head operation control section 86 Pre-discharge processing 101 Waste ink absorber 102 Waste ink absorption Collecting body 111 Waste ink absorber 113 Exhaust port 114 Outlet port 115 Return 120 Vent CP Drive control pulse signal group Pa Paper Scp Recording start command signal Scr Recovery processing start command signal Ss Recording operation stop command signal

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. A waste ink absorber, wherein a material having a low density is used in a waste ink absorber that collides with an ink droplet by preliminary ejection. 2. A waste ink absorber comprising a foam having 300 cells / inch or less. 3. The waste ink absorber according to claim 2, wherein the number of cells is 20 cells / inch or more. 4. The number of cells is 20 cells / inch or more and 100 cells / in.
3. The waste ink absorber according to claim 2, which is equal to or less than ch. 5. The waste ink absorber according to claim 2, wherein the foam is a melamine resin foam. 6. A preliminary ejection receiving mechanism, wherein a waste ink absorber of a material having a low density is used, and an entering angle of an ink droplet with respect to a surface of the waste ink absorber is an acute angle. 7. The preliminary ejection receiving mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the approach angle is 20 to 50 degrees. 8. The preliminary ejection receiving mechanism according to claim 7, wherein the approach angle is 30 to 45 degrees. 9. The preliminary ejection receiving mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the waste ink absorber is a foam having 300 cells / inch or less. 10. The preliminary ejection receiving mechanism according to claim 9, wherein the number of cells is 20 cells / inch or more. 11. The number of cells is 20 / inch or more and 100 /
10. The preliminary ejection receiving mechanism according to claim 9, wherein the diameter is equal to or less than inch. 12. The preliminary discharge receiving mechanism according to claim 9, wherein the foam is a melamine resin foam. 13. The preliminary discharge receiving mechanism according to claim 6, wherein a space for absorbing the ink mist is provided near an area where the ink mist generated by the collision of the ink droplet and the waste ink absorber soars. 14. The preliminary ejection receiving mechanism according to claim 6, wherein an exhaust port through which ink mist generated by the ink droplet colliding with the waste ink absorber flows is provided. 15. The preliminary discharge receiving mechanism according to claim 14, wherein a flow path of the exhaust port through which the discharged ink mist flows is provided in a maze shape. 16. The preliminary discharge receiving mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the preliminary discharge receiving member is arranged in a V-shape. 17. The preliminary discharge receiving mechanism according to claim 6, wherein a shielding member is provided from a preliminary discharge port of the platen member toward a space formed by the waste ink absorber. 18. The preliminary discharge receiving mechanism according to claim 6, wherein a thin plate member is disposed at the preliminary discharge port of the platen member, and a turbulent flow is generated along with the carriage operation near the preliminary discharge port to prevent diffusion with ink mistakes. . 19. A preliminary ejection receiving mechanism using the ink absorber according to claim 2, wherein a member made of a thread-like or mesh-like material is used to suppress the rise of the ink mist and reduce the flying speed of the ink mist. 20. An ink jet recording apparatus using the preliminary ejection receiving mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the ink ejection speed at the time of preliminary ejection is made slower than the ink ejection speed at the time of printing. 21. An ink jet recording apparatus using the preliminary ejection receiving mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the driving frequency at the time of preliminary ejection is lower than the driving frequency at the time of printing. 22. An ink jet recording apparatus using the preliminary discharge receiving mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the ink discharge amount at the time of preliminary discharge is made larger than the ink discharge amount at the time of printing.