JP2002254664A - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recovery mechanism of an ink jet recording device capable of preventing clogging in an ink jet port or poor jetting or the like without bringing about an increase in production cost and making the device large in size even in a recording head which is protected by a cap means not having a suction mechanism of a plurality of cap means. SOLUTION: The plurality of caps are constituted by an ink suction cap 31a and non-suction caps 31b and 31c, and the cap constitution is allowed to be different by a method for making a material of an ink absorber inside of the cap, at least one of a pore diameter and a porosity, at least one of a shape and volume, or a pressure welding force against a recording means different with the ink suction cap and a non-suction cap means.

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 provided with a protection mechanism for preventing clogging of an ink discharge port of a recording means and defective ink discharge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording device having a function such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile or the like, or a recording device (printing device) used as an output device such as a composite electronic device including a computer or a word processor or a workstation is an image forming device. Based on the information (recorded information)
2. Description of the Related Art Ink jet recording apparatuses that execute recording by ejecting ink toward a recording medium (recording material) such as paper, cloth, a plastic sheet, and an OHP sheet have become widespread. In addition, there are various demands for the material of these recording media, and in recent years, developments in response to these requirements have progressed, and paper (including thin paper and processed paper) and thin resin sheets (such as OHP sheets) which are ordinary recording media have been developed. Besides, cloth, leather, non-woven fabric,
Further, a recording apparatus using a metal or the like as a recording medium has been used.

In the above-mentioned ink jet recording apparatus,
Since recording is performed by discharging ink from fine discharge ports, clogging may occur in the discharge ports, and the quality of a recorded image may be degraded due to defective discharge (including non-discharge). As a countermeasure for this, a recovery mechanism for maintaining and recovering the ink discharge performance of the recording means has been used.

An ink jet recording apparatus discharges liquid ink from a recording head as recording means and records (prints, etc.) on recording paper as a recording medium.
The apparatus is characterized in that the apparatus can be miniaturized and a full-color image can be recorded. Recently, black has been added to cyan, magenta, and yellow, which are the minimum required for full-color recording, and light inks for the purpose of reducing graininess and special color inks for the purpose of expanding the color reproduction range have been developed. For example, ink colors (ink types) to be mounted are increasing. Further, for the purpose of improving the recording (image forming) speed, it has been proposed to use a plurality of recording heads for one color.

Due to the technical background described above, the number of recording heads mounted on an ink jet recording apparatus has been increasing in recent years. With the increase in the number of recording heads, caps for protecting ink discharge ports of the recording heads have been increasing. The number of means also tends to increase. With the increase in the number of the cap means, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-32599, a plurality of cap means are provided for sucking ink from ink discharge ports of a recording head. A technique has been proposed which is configured to include a small number of ink suction cap means to realize cost reduction and downsizing of the apparatus.

However, the above-mentioned prior art, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
In the ink jet recording apparatus described in Japanese Patent No. 32599, the plurality of cap means are configured to include a smaller number of ink suction cap means than the cap means for sucking ink from the ink ejection port of the recording head. Therefore, the cap means having no suction mechanism does not provide a sufficient moisturizing effect as the cap means compared to the ink suction cap means due to the fact that the inside of the cap is not wet or the like. There was a technical problem to be solved that it was difficult to maintain performance.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-062207, a plurality of recording heads for ejecting ink droplets to perform recording on a recording medium, and a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the recording medium with the plurality of recording heads mounted thereon. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a carriage member movable to
A plurality of cap members that respectively cover the vicinity of the ink ejection ports of the plurality of recording heads when the plurality of recording heads are not used; and a common ink storage chamber that communicates with at least two of the plurality of cap members. ,
A negative pressure generating means capable of sucking ink from the common ink storage chamber, and enabling sufficient emptying of the ink even in the cap means having no suction mechanism, by enabling idle discharge of the ink. Techniques have been proposed that can achieve the effect and maintain highly reliable ejection performance.

However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-06 / 2000
In the ink jet recording apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2207, a common ink storage chamber communicating with a plurality of cap means is required, and it is necessary to arrange cap means having no suction mechanism adjacent to each other. There is a restriction, and it is necessary to further comprise the common ink storage chamber and negative pressure generating means for sucking ink from the common ink storage chamber, which also leads to a significant increase in cost and size of the apparatus. The technical problem of this still remains.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above technical problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a non-suction cap means having no suction mechanism among a plurality of cap means. Ink jet recording apparatus capable of preventing clogging of ink ejection ports and defective ink ejection, etc., and maintaining highly reliable ejection performance without significantly increasing the cost and increasing the size of the apparatus also in the recording means protected by It is to provide.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention (claim 1) provides a recording means for discharging ink from a discharge port, and a cap including a cap for capping the ink discharge port of the recording means. In an ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a plurality of means, and suction means for sucking ink from the ink ejection port, the plurality of cap means include a suction cap means and a suction means connected to the suction cap means. And a non-suction cap unit that is not connected, wherein the suction cap unit and the non-suction cap unit have different configurations.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the suction cap means and the non-suction cap means are different from each other in a material of an ink absorber provided in the cap. The non-suction cap means is different from the non-suction cap means in that at least one of a pore diameter and a porosity of an ink absorber provided in the cap is different. The suction cap means and the non-suction cap means are ink absorbers provided in the cap. The suction cap means is connected to a suction tube connected to a pump serving as the suction means, and the non-suction cap means is connected to a protection tube not connected to the pump. A configuration in which the suction tube and the protective tube are different in at least one of a diameter and a length of the tube. Alternatively, the cap of the suction cap means has a singlet structure, a structure in which the cap of the non-suction cap means having a double structure,
The above object is achieved more efficiently.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus for ejecting ink from an ejection port, a plurality of cap means including a cap for capping the ink ejection port of the recording means, and A suction unit for sucking ink from the discharge port, wherein the plurality of cap units are a suction cap unit connected to the suction cap unit and a non-suction cap unit not connected to the suction unit. And the relationship between the pressing force Pa of the suction cap means against the recording means and the pressing force Pb of the non-suction cap means is Pa <P.
b.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic front sectional view showing Embodiment 1 of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, 1 is a carriage, 2 is an apparatus main body including a paper transport system unit, 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D are recovery mechanisms for maintaining and recovering ink ejection performance of a recording head as a recording unit, and 5 is a recording unit. As the recording head. The carriage 1 is movably guided and supported along a guide shaft 11, and is reciprocally driven (reciprocated) by a driving force transmitted from a carriage motor 12 to a belt 14.

When the apparatus main body receives the recording data, the carriage 1 is controlled to scan along the guide shaft 11 to record on a recording medium (recording paper or the like) fed by a paper transport unit (not shown). Is done. An encoder film 13 for detecting the absolute position of the carriage is provided in the vicinity of the carriage 1, and the encoder mounted on the carriage 1 detects the absolute position of the carriage. The home position of the carriage 1 (the position facing the recovery mechanism in this embodiment) is set based on the position detection of the encoder.

FIG. 2 shows the recording head 5 as recording means.
It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of. In FIG. 2, when the carriage 1 is waiting at the home position, the black heads 5-
BKA, light cyan head 5-LCA, cyan head 5-
CA, magenta head 5-MB, light magenta head 5-
LMB, yellow head 5-YB, yellow head 5-
YC, light magenta head 5-LMC, magenta head 5
-MC, cyan head 5-CD, light cyan head 5-L
The CD and the black head 5-BKD are arranged side by side. As the inks used, in addition to cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, inks of a total of six colors (six types) including light inks for the purpose of reducing graininess are employed. In the illustrated example, two recording heads are used for one color (one type) of ink in order to improve the recording speed, and a total of 12 recording heads are mounted on the carriage. I have.

Each of the recording heads as recording means is an ink jet recording head for discharging ink using thermal energy, and has an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy. Further, the recording head causes film boiling in the ink by thermal energy applied by the electrothermal transducer, and causes the ink to be ejected from the ejection port by utilizing a pressure change due to growth and shrinkage of bubbles generated at that time. Recording.

FIG. 19 is a partial perspective view schematically showing the structure of the ink ejection section of the recording head. In FIG. 19, the ejection port face 81 facing the recording medium at a predetermined gap (for example, about 0.2 to about 2.0 mm) includes:
A plurality of discharge ports 82 are formed at a predetermined pitch, and an electrothermal converter (not shown) for generating energy for ink discharge along a wall surface of each liquid path 84 communicating the common liquid chamber 83 and each discharge port 82. A heating resistor 85) is provided. The recording head is mounted on the carriage 1 such that the ejection openings 82 are arranged in a direction intersecting with the main scanning direction (the moving direction of the recording head and the carriage). In this way, the corresponding electrothermal transducer 85 is driven (energized) based on the image signal or the ejection signal to cause the ink in the liquid path 84 to boil, and the pressure generated at that time causes the ejection port 82
A recording means (recording head) for discharging ink from the printer is constituted.

The recovery mechanism for maintaining and recovering the ink ejection performance of the twelve recording heads as shown in FIG. 2 includes four recovery mechanisms 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D. The recovery mechanism 3A includes the 5-BKA, 5-LCA, 5-CA
In order to recover the three recording heads. The recovery mechanism 3B includes the above 3A, 5-MB, 5-LMB, 5-MB
This is for recovering three recording heads of YB.
In addition, the recovery mechanism 3C includes the 5-YC, 5-LMC,
-MC for recovering the three recording heads, and the recovery mechanism 3D further includes the 5-CD and 5-LC.
This is for recovering three recording heads D and 5-BKD. These four recovery mechanisms 3A, 3B, 3C, 3
D have substantially the same configuration. Therefore, in the following description, the recovery mechanism 3A arranged closest to the transport system unit will be mainly described as a representative.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing the structure of the recovery mechanism 3A. In FIG. 3, 31a is a suction cap, 3
1b is a protective cap to which no suction mechanism is connected, 32
Is a cap holder for holding each cap, 35 is a pump (a suction pump constituting a suction mechanism), and 36 is a lever for operating the pump. 33a is a suction cap 31a
Reference numeral 33b denotes a suction cap ink absorber, and reference numeral 33b denotes a protection cap ink absorber in the protection cap 31b.

FIG. 4 shows a suction cap ink absorber 33a.
FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing the protective cap ink absorber 33b. As the ink absorber for the suction cap (FIG. 4), an absorber made of polyvinyl formal, having a pore diameter of about 120 μm, and having a shape as shown in FIG. 4 is used. The protective cap ink absorber (FIG. 5) is made of polyethylene and has a pore diameter of 20 μm.
An absorber having a shape as shown in FIG. 5 is used. By doing so, the moisturizing effect of the protective cap 31b is improved as compared with the moisturizing effect of the suction cap 31a.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 3, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a state at the time of capping without sucking ink along line BB in FIG. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 37 denotes a cam gear for operating the lever 36, and reference numeral 38 denotes a motor (recovery system motor) for operating the cam gear. The recovery mechanism 3A
As shown in FIG. 1, other recovery mechanisms 3B, 3C, 3D
Rather, it is mounted (disposed) at a position closer to the paper transport unit (in the illustrated example, at a position adjacent to the side surface of the paper transport unit).

The home position of the carriage 1 is set at three printing heads 5-BK on the carriage 1 at the end of printing.
A, 5-LCA, and 5-CA (the three recording heads on the left side in FIG. 2) are set at positions where they can stop and face the three caps of the recovery mechanism 3A. The recovery mechanism 3A has a discharge port surface of the recording head 5 (a surface on which ink discharge ports are provided).
Are provided, namely, a suction cap 31a as one suction cap means and two protective caps 31b as non-suction cap means in the example shown in the figure. These caps 31
a, 31b, 31b are locked to the cap holder 32.

In this case, the suction cap 31 arranged at the position closest to the paper transport system unit among the three caps.
The suction tube 34a is connected only to a, and communicates with a pump (suction pump) 35. The other two protective caps 3
A protection tube 34b is connected to 1b, but this protection tube is not connected to the pump. Further, a tube having a hole diameter of 2.5 mm is used as the suction tube 34a, and a tube having a length of 10 mm and a hole diameter of 0.3 mm is used as the protection tube 34b. The protective cap (non-suction cap means) 31b is connected to the protective tube 34b to improve the moisture retention. The cap holder 32 is used for the cam gear 3.
7 can be vertically moved by sliding on the cam groove 37a. Further, the cam gear 37 is also provided with a cam 37b interlocked with the lever 36. By rotating the lever 36 reciprocally, the piston 39 of the pump 35 is reciprocated, and ink is sucked from the recording head or the discharge port. Can be.

Next, the operation of each recovery mechanism (recovery mechanism operation) will be described. Since each of the recovery mechanisms 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D performs the same operation, the recovery mechanism 3
The operation of the recovery mechanism of A will be described. During recording, the suction cap 31a is retracted from the head capping position and is in the cap open state. FIG. 7 shows a state where the cap is opened at the cam position. When the recording is completed, the carriage 1 stops at the home position (the position facing the recovery mechanism). Here, when the motor 38 provided in the recovery mechanism 3A rotates forward by a signal from the system of the main body, the cam gear 37 rotates in the direction of the arrow a, and moves the cap holder 32 up along the cam groove 37a. At this time, the piston 39 does not operate. That is, a capping operation without a suction operation is performed.

FIG. 8 shows a state at the cam position when the recording head is capped. FIG. 9 is a lift diagram showing the lift amount of the cap holder and the lift amount of the piston with respect to the cam angle of the gear cam of the recovery mechanism. Then, the cam lift when the capping operation without the suction operation is performed from the cap open state in FIG. 7 is performed using the area indicated by the section x (the section between a and b) in FIG. In FIG. 9, a is the cap open position, and b is
Is the capping position. With this operation, it is possible to prevent the recording head from drying when not recording, and to maintain the performance of the recording head.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a state at the time of capping for sucking ink along the line BB in FIG.
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a state when the carriage is stopped for sucking cyan ink along the line AA in FIG. When the recovery operation is performed due to the occurrence of non-ejection of ink or the like from the state during printing, the carriage 1 is located at a position where the print head 5 to be recovered faces the ink suction cap 31a.
To stop. For example, to recover the cyan head 5-CA, as shown in FIG.
The carriage 1 is stopped at a position where the and the suction cap 31a match.

In this state, as shown in FIG. 10, when the motor 38 is rotated in the reverse direction, the cam gear 37 rotates in the direction of the arrow b, the cap holder 32 rises and the cam gear 37 moves in conjunction with the cam groove 37b set on the side of the cam gear. The lever 36 reciprocates to drive the pump 35. By the operation of the pump 35, the recording head (here, the cyan head 5-C) is operated.
The ink suction operation from A) is performed, and the recording head 5-C
A performance recovery is performed. The cam lift at this time is shown in FIG.
This is performed using a region indicated by a section y in the middle (between a and d in FIG. 9). At this time, if the ink is reversed at the position d and returned to the position a, one ink suction and one idle suction (removal of ink remaining on the ejection opening surface of the recording head by ink suction while opening the cap) are performed. Then, the recording head in which the ejection failure has occurred can be recovered. Further, by repeatedly driving between the positions c and d in FIG. 9, continuous suction of the recording head can be performed. At this time, no ink is sucked in the other recording heads, so that the ink is not wasted.

(Comparative Embodiment 1) For comparison with Embodiment 1 which is one embodiment of the present invention, a comparative embodiment 1 using a conventional technique will be described. In the first embodiment,
As the protective cap ink absorber 33b in FIG. 3, an ink absorber made of polyethylene, having a pore diameter of about 20 μm, and having a shape as shown in FIG. 5 was used. Then, as the ink absorber for the protective cap, the ink absorber 33a for the suction cap is used.
The same ink absorber as that described above, that is, the material is polyvinyl formalin, the pore diameter is about 120 μm, and the ink absorber having the shape shown in FIG. 4 is used. In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Was used, but in the first comparative example, the protective tube was not connected to the protective cap 31b. Other configurations of the first embodiment are substantially the same as the configurations of the first embodiment, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Therefore, an experiment was conducted to compare the performance of protecting the ink discharge ports by the cap means in both the first embodiment and the first comparative example. In this experiment, the carriage 1
Was set to the home position, the recording head was capped with a cap, and after performing a standing test in an environment of 5 degrees Celsius and 10% humidity, the ratio of clogging of the recording head and defective ink discharge was measured. FIG. 12 is a graph showing experimental results of the reliability of ink ejection in the first embodiment and the first comparative example. In FIG. 12, in the first comparative example using the related art, the ejection reliability of the print head capped by the protective cap is extremely low, whereas according to the first embodiment, the print head capped by the protective cap is used. Of the recording head capped by the suction cap is equivalent to that of the recording head, and it can be seen that the ejection reliability is remarkably improved.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, in the recording head protected by the cap means (non-suction cap means, protection cap) 31b which does not have a suction mechanism smaller than the number of caps among the plurality of cap means. Also, by changing the configuration of the material of the ink absorber in the protective cap 31b and adding a tube below the protective cap (addition of the protective tube 34b), it is possible to significantly increase the cost and increase the size of the device without causing the ink An ink jet recording apparatus capable of preventing clogging at the discharge ports and defective ink discharge, and maintaining highly reliable discharge performance was obtained.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view showing the structure of a recovery mechanism 3A in Embodiment 2 (second embodiment) of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 13, 31a is a suction cap (suction cap means), 31c is a protective cap (non-suction cap means), and 33a is a suction cap ink absorber in the suction cap 31a. Note that no ink absorber is provided in the protective cap 31c. FIG. 14 is a schematic perspective view showing a protective cap 31c according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view along line AA in FIG. The protective cap 31c in the second embodiment has a double structure as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, and the moisturizing performance is improved as compared with the suction cap 31a. That is, the protective cap 31 in the present embodiment
c denotes a space inside the cap partitioned by vertical ribs (or plate-like members) 31d, 31d made of the same material as the cap, and a plurality of partition spaces 31e, 3d partitioned by the rib.
1e and 31e are used to individually seal a plurality of ejection opening arrays (for example, a plurality of ejection opening arrays for ejecting different types of inks) during capping.
It has a heavy structure.

FIG. 16 is a sectional view showing the structure of the recovery mechanism according to the second embodiment along the line AA in FIG. In FIG. 16, one suction cap 31a and two protection caps 31c are locked by a cap holder 32. In the present embodiment, two protective caps 31 are used.
The protective tube 34b as shown in the first embodiment is not connected to any of (c). In the second embodiment, the relationship between the pressing force Pa of the suction cap means 31a against the recording means and the pressing force Pb of the non-suction cap means 31b on the recording means is Pa <Pb.

Specifically, when the distance between the suction cap 31a and the cap holder 32 is La and the distance between the protective cap 31c and the cap holder 32 is Lc, the relationship of La <Lc is maintained. By doing so, the distance between the protective cap 31c and the recording head is increased by the suction cap 31.
It is set smaller than the distance between a and the printhead (closer to the printhead). Therefore, when a capping operation without a suction operation is performed, the cap pressing force of the suction cap 31a on the recording head is Pa, and the cap pressing force of the protective cap 31c on the recording head is Pc. As shown, Pa <Pc,
The moisture retention of the protective cap (non-suction cap means) 31c can be improved to the same degree as the moisture retention of the suction cap (suction cap means). Other configurations and operations of the second embodiment are substantially the same as those of the above-described first embodiment, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

(Comparative Embodiment 2) For comparison with Embodiment 2, a comparative embodiment 2 using a conventional technique will be described. In Embodiment 2, the protective tube is not connected to the two protective caps 31c in FIG. 13, and the pressing force Pa of the suction cap (suction cap means) 31a against the recording means is equal to the protection cap (non-suction cap means). ) 3
1b is configured to be smaller than the pressing force Pb against the recording means. On the other hand, in the second comparative example, a cap having the same configuration as the suction cap 31a was employed as the protective cap.

In the second comparative example, the relationship between the distance La between the suction cap 31a and the cap holder 32 and the distance Lc between the protective cap and the cap holder is set to La = Lb as in the prior art. The relation between the cap pressing force Pa of the suction cap to the recording head and the cap pressing force Pb of the protective cap to the recording head was set to Pa = Pb. The other configuration of the second embodiment is substantially the same as that of the second embodiment, and the detailed description is omitted.

Therefore, an experiment was conducted to compare the protection performance of the ink discharge port by the cap means in both the second embodiment and the second embodiment. In this experiment, the carriage 1
Was set to the home position, the recording head was capped with a cap, and after performing a standing test in an environment of 5 degrees Celsius and 10% humidity, the clogging of the recording head and the ratio of defective ink discharge were measured. FIG. 18 shows the second embodiment.
11 is a graph showing experimental results of ink ejection reliability in Comparative Example 2 and FIG. In FIG. 18, in the second comparative example using the related art, the ejection reliability of the recording head capped by the protective cap is extremely low, whereas according to the second embodiment, the recording head capped by the protective cap is used. Of the recording head capped by the suction cap is equivalent to that of the recording head, and it can be seen that the ejection reliability is remarkably improved.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the recording head protected by the cap means (non-suction cap means, protection cap) 31c having no suction mechanism less than the number of caps among the plurality of cap means. Also, the protective cap 31c has a double structure, and the relationship between the cap pressing force Pa of the recording head of the suction cap and the cap pressing force Pc of the protective cap on the recording head is Pa <P.
By setting c, it is possible to obtain an ink jet recording apparatus which can prevent clogging of ink discharge ports and defective ink discharge, and maintain highly reliable discharge performance, without significantly increasing the cost and increasing the size of the apparatus. Was completed.

The present invention is directed to an ink jet recording apparatus using a plurality of recording means, a color recording apparatus using a plurality of recording means for recording using inks of the same or different colors, or a recording medium having the same color but different densities. The present invention can be similarly applied to a gradation recording apparatus using a plurality of recording means for recording, and a recording apparatus in which these are combined, and can achieve the same effect. Further, the present invention provides a recording means such as a configuration using a replaceable ink jet cartridge in which the recording means and the ink tank are integrated, a configuration in which the recording means and the ink tank are separated, and the space between them is connected by an ink supply tube or the like. The present invention can be similarly applied to any arrangement of the ink tank and the ink tank, and the same effect can be obtained.

In the case of an ink jet recording apparatus, the present invention can be applied to, for example, an apparatus using recording means using an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element. The present invention brings about an excellent effect in an ink jet recording apparatus using a recording means of a discharge type. According to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

[0040]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention (claim 1), a recording means for discharging ink from a discharge port, and a cap including a cap for capping the ink discharge port of the recording means. In an ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a plurality of means, and suction means for sucking ink from the ink ejection port, the plurality of cap means include a suction cap means and a suction means connected to the suction cap means. Since the suction cap means and the non-suction cap means have different configurations from each other, the protection means is protected by the non-suction cap means having no suction means among the plurality of cap means. Also, the recording means to be used does not greatly increase the cost and the size of the apparatus, and can reduce the amount of Prevents Mari or ink ejection failure or the like, an ink jet recording apparatus is provided which can maintain a highly reliable ejection performance.

According to the second to seventh aspects of the present invention, in addition to the above-described structure, the suction cap means and the non-suction cap means are different from each other in a material of an ink absorber provided in the cap. Means and the non-suction cap means are different in at least one of a pore diameter and a porosity of an ink absorber provided in the cap, and the suction cap means and the non-suction cap means are ink provided in the cap. A structure in which at least one of the shape and volume of the absorber is different, a suction tube connected to a pump as the suction means is connected to the suction cap means, and a protection tube not connected to the pump is connected to the non-suction cap means. The suction tube and the protection tube are different in at least one of the diameter and the length of the tube. Since the cap of the suction cap means has a single structure and the cap of the non-suction cap means has a double structure, the non-suction cap having no suction means among the plurality of cap means is provided. Even with the recording means protected by the means, it is possible to prevent clogging and defective ink discharge at the ink discharge ports more efficiently, without causing a significant cost increase and an increase in the size of the apparatus, and to achieve a reliable discharge performance. An ink jet recording apparatus that can be maintained is provided.

According to the invention of claim 8, recording means for discharging ink from the discharge port, a plurality of cap means including a cap for capping the ink discharge port of the recording means, and ink from the ink discharge port are provided. Suction means for suctioning, and an ink jet recording apparatus comprising:
The plurality of cap means include a suction cap means connected to the suction cap means and a non-suction cap means not connected to the suction means, and a pressing force Pa of the suction cap means against the recording means and the non-suction cap means The relationship between the pressing force Pb and Pa is less than Pa <Pb. Therefore, even in the recording means protected by the non-suction cap means having no suction means among the plurality of cap means, the cost and the device Provided is an ink jet recording apparatus that can prevent clogging of an ink ejection port, ink ejection failure, and the like without increasing the size, and can maintain highly reliable ejection performance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front sectional view showing an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a recording unit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a recovery mechanism in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing an ink absorber for a suction cap in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing an ink absorber for a protective cap in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the recovery mechanism taken along line AA in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state when the cap is opened along a line BB in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a state at the time of capping without suctioning ink along a line BB in FIG. 3;

9 is a lift diagram showing a lift amount of a cap holder and a lift amount of a piston with respect to a cam angle of a gear cam of the recovery mechanism of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state at the time of capping for sucking ink along a line BB in FIG. 3;

11 is a cross-sectional view showing a state when the carriage is stopped for sucking cyan ink along a line AA in FIG. 3;

FIG. 12 is a graph showing experimental results of reliability of ink ejection in Embodiment 1 and Comparative Embodiment 1.

FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a recovery mechanism in a second embodiment (second embodiment) of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 14 is a schematic perspective view showing a protective cap according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the recovery mechanism according to the second embodiment along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a graph showing the cap pressing force of the suction cap and the protection cap on the recording head according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a graph showing experimental results of reliability of ink ejection in Embodiment 2 and Comparative Embodiment 2.

FIG. 19 is a partial perspective view schematically showing a structure of an ink ejection unit of the recording unit in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 carriage 2 apparatus main body (including transport system unit) 3 recovery mechanism 5 recording means (recording head) 11 guide shaft 12 carriage motor 13 encoder film 14 belt 31 a suction cap means (suction cap) 31 b non-suction cap means (protection cap) 31c Non-suction cap means (protection cap) 32 cap holder 33a ink absorber for suction cap 33b ink absorber for protection cap 34a suction tube 34b protection tube 35 pump 36 lever 37 cam gear 37a cam groove 37b cam groove 38 motor 39 piston 81 spout Outlet surface 82 Discharge port 85 Electrothermal converter

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takeshi Hata 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yoshihiro Takada 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Incorporated F term (reference) 2C056 EA17 EA24 EC11 EC22 EC57 FA03 FA10 JA05 JA06 JA13 JA17 JC11 JC20

Claims (10)

[Claims] A recording means for discharging ink from an ejection port; a plurality of cap means including a cap for capping the ink ejection port of the recording means; and a suction means for sucking ink from the ink ejection port. Wherein the plurality of cap means include a suction cap means connected to the suction cap means and a non-suction cap means not connected to the suction means, wherein the suction cap means and the non-suction cap An ink jet recording apparatus having a different configuration from the means. 2. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said suction cap means and said non-suction cap means are different from each other in the material of an ink absorber provided in the cap. 3. The suction cap device according to claim 1, wherein the suction cap device and the non-suction cap device have at least one of a pore diameter and a porosity of an ink absorber provided in the cap. Ink jet recording device. 4. The suction cap means and the non-suction cap means are different from each other in at least one of a shape and a volume of an ink absorber provided in the cap. Inkjet recording device. 5. A suction tube connected to a pump as the suction means is connected to the suction cap means, and a protection tube not connected to the pump is connected to the non-suction cap means. Item 5. An ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 4. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the suction tube and the protection tube are different in at least one of a diameter and a length of the tube. 7. The ink-jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cap of the suction cap means has a single structure, and the cap of the non-suction cap means has a double structure. . 8. A recording means for ejecting ink from an ejection port, a plurality of cap means including a cap for capping the ink ejection port of the recording means, and a suction means for sucking ink from the ink ejection port. Wherein the plurality of cap means include a suction cap means connected to the suction cap means and a non-suction cap means not connected to the suction means, wherein the suction cap means with respect to the recording means Pressing force P
a and the pressure contact force Pb of the non-suction cap means is P
An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein a <Pb. 9. The ink jet recording device according to claim 1, wherein the recording device is an ink jet recording device including an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy used for discharging ink. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1. 10. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said ink jet recording means discharges the ink from a discharge port using film boiling generated in the ink by thermal energy generated by the electrothermal transducer. apparatus.