JP2002307701A - Unit for sustaining head ejection characteristics and recorder comprising it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a unit for sustaining head ejection characteristics through which capping operation and wiping operation can be performed stably at all times through a simple arrangement, and a recorder comprising it. SOLUTION: The head ejection characteristics sustaining unit comprises a means 110 for wiping a recording head, a capping means 130 for sealing the recording head, and a drive means 170 having two planetary gears 176 and 177 for transmitting a driving force to both the wiping means and the capping means and one rotary means 172 for rotating each planetary gear and can drive the wiping means and the capping means for both forward rotation and reverse rotation of the rotating means by switching the meshing of respective planetary gears. Since a cam for driving a cap or a wiper does not require a conventional flag for detecting the initial position of the cap or the wiper, assembling and adjusting work of the unit is facilitated and the cost thereof can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a head ejection characteristic maintaining device for maintaining a constant ink ejection characteristic of a recording head for ejecting ink droplets to a recording medium, and a recording apparatus provided with the head ejection characteristic maintaining device. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an ink jet printer, which is one of recording apparatuses, intermittently intermittently prints a recording medium, such as a printing paper, mounted on a carriage which reciprocates in a main scanning direction in a sub scanning direction. Recording medium feeding means for feeding the recording medium in the sub-scanning direction while moving the print head in the main scanning direction, and ejecting ink droplets from the print head to the recording medium. .

Normally, a mono-color ink jet printer is equipped with one print head. Further, a full-color ink jet printer is equipped with a print head for black ink that discharges black ink and a plurality of print heads for color ink that discharge inks of each color such as yellow, cyan, and magenta.

A print head of an ink jet printer having such a structure is provided with a pressure generating chamber and a nozzle opening connected to the pressure generating chamber. The ink is stored in the pressure generating chamber and pressurized at a predetermined pressure, whereby the nozzle opening is opened. To eject ink droplets of a controlled size toward the recording medium. Therefore, fluctuations in the ink ejection characteristics at the nozzle openings of the print head greatly affect the quality of the recorded image, and thus the ink ejection characteristics must be constantly maintained.

[0005] The ink discharge characteristics fluctuate due to an increase in viscosity and solidification due to evaporation and drying of the ink at the nozzle openings, clogging with solids, adhesion of dust, air bubbles, and the like. Therefore, the ink jet printer is provided with a head discharge characteristic maintaining device for maintaining the ink discharge characteristics in a constant state by eliminating the above-mentioned causes of the fluctuations.

This head discharge characteristic maintaining device includes a capping device, a suction pump, and a wiping device.
The capping device is configured to seal the nozzle forming surface of the print head and isolate the nozzle opening from the outside during non-recording, and has the function of suppressing the evaporation and drying of the ink to suppress the viscosity increase and solidification. ing. In addition, even if the nozzle forming surface is sealed with a capping device, it is not possible to completely prevent clogging of the nozzle opening with solid matter and mixing of air bubbles into the ink flow path, so that they are completely prevented. A suction pump is provided for the purpose.

[0007] The suction pump is configured to apply a negative pressure to the nozzle opening while the capping device seals the nozzle forming surface. It has the function of removing air bubbles. Forcible suction and discharge of ink by the suction pump can be performed when the printing operation is restarted after a long pause of the ink jet printer, or when the user recognizes that the quality of the printed image has deteriorated, and It is usually executed when a switch is operated.

Further, when the ink is forcibly suctioned and discharged by the suction pump, the ink may scatter and adhere to the nozzle forming surface of the printer head, and the meniscus of the ink at each nozzle opening is disturbed. Further, since foreign matter easily adheres to the nozzle forming surface of the print head over time, a wiping device for wiping the nozzle forming surface as necessary is provided.

The wiping device has a wiping member made of an elastic plate made of rubber or the like sandwiched by a holder at a base end thereof. The nozzle forming surface is configured to be moved forward and backward to clean the nozzle forming surface, and in addition to wiping ink and foreign matters attached to the nozzle forming surface, the ink meniscus at each nozzle opening is uniformly arranged, that is, stable. It has a function to make it work.

As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-138830, a conventional head discharge characteristic maintaining device uses a single planetary gear to drive a capping device and a wiping device depending on the rotation direction of a motor as a driving source. And the drive of the suction pump.

[0011]

In the above-described conventional head discharge characteristic maintaining apparatus, since the vertical movement of the cap and the reciprocal movement of the wiper are performed by rotating the motor in one direction, the initial positions of the cap and the wiper are initialized. Can not be changed. For this reason,
It is necessary to provide a flag for detecting the initialization position of the cap or the wiper on a cam for driving the cap or the wiper and perform sensing. Therefore, since a sensor is indispensable, assembly adjustment of the device becomes complicated, and the cost of the device increases.

Further, since the pump is driven in only one direction, the pulley cannot be released from the tube, especially when a tube pump is used, and the pulley may be left in a state where the tube is crushed. For this reason, it is necessary to perform the release operation by moving the carriage to lock the planetary gear. Therefore, since a mechanism for keeping the capping even when the carriage is moved is required, assembly adjustment of the apparatus becomes complicated, which increases the cost of the apparatus and enlarges the outer shape.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned various problems, and has as its object to maintain a head discharge characteristic capable of performing capping, wiping, and pump driving with a simple configuration and always stable operation. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a recording apparatus including the same.

[0014]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for maintaining ink ejection characteristics of a recording head which ejects ink droplets onto a recording medium. A wiping unit for wiping the recording head, a capping unit for sealing the recording head, two planetary gears for transmitting a driving force to both the wiping unit and the capping unit, and rotating each of the planetary gears; A drive unit that has two rotation units and that can switch the meshing of the respective planetary gears to drive the wiping unit and the capping unit for both forward rotation and reverse rotation of the rotation unit. It is characterized by having.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the head discharge characteristic maintaining apparatus according to the first aspect, the driving means includes:
A sun gear connected to the rotating means and meshed with each of the planetary gears; and a toothless gear connected to the wiping means and the capping means and meshable with each of the planetary gears. After the wiping unit and the capping unit are driven, the drive to each of them is stopped.

Thus, the movement of the cap of the capping means and the movement of the wiper of the wiping means can be performed by both forward and reverse rotations of the rotating means, so that the positions of the cap and the wiper can be easily initialized. . Therefore, there is no need to provide a flag for detecting the initialization position of the cap or the wiper on the cam for driving the cap or the wiper as in the related art, and to perform sensing.
It is possible to facilitate the assembly and adjustment of the device and reduce the cost of the device. Further, the cap and the wiper can be reliably positioned at the predetermined positions only by rotating the toothless gear to the toothless portion by the planetary gear by a predetermined angle.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the head discharge characteristic maintaining apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the suction means for sucking the inside of the cap of the capping means sealing the recording head, A suction device driven by the driving device after the driving of the wiping device and the capping device is completed is provided.
As a result, the suction means is also driven in both directions, so that the pulley can be released from the tube, especially when a tube pump is used, and the tube is crushed without using a special mechanism. Can be prevented. Further, since capping can be performed without driving the pump, the pump tube is not crushed even when the capping is opened and closed before and after printing.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the head discharge characteristic maintaining apparatus according to the second or third aspect, the toothless gear is a wiper gear for driving the wiping means,
It is characterized by comprising a four-stage gear meshing with each of the cap gear for driving the capping means and each of the planetary gears. As a result, the rotation of each planetary gear can be reliably transmitted to both the wiper gear and the cap gear, so that the positioning accuracy of the cap and the wiper can be improved, and capping and wiping operate independently. Can be done.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the head discharge characteristic maintaining apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the wiper gear is provided with a lever and a cam mechanism for moving the wiping means horizontally with respect to the recording head. The cap gear is provided with a cam mechanism for vertically moving the capping means with respect to the recording head. Thereby, the present invention can be applied to the wiping unit and the capping unit having the conventional lever and cam mechanism, so that it is possible to simplify the design change and the like.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in a recording apparatus having a recording head for discharging ink droplets on a recording medium,
A head discharge characteristic maintaining device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is provided. Thereby, it is possible to provide a recording device that performs the above-described operations.

[0021]

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

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of an ink jet printer which is one of the recording apparatuses according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a unitized image according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a configuration example of the head discharge characteristic maintaining device, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the head discharge characteristic maintaining device. The ink jet printer shown in FIG. 1 has a sheet width of, for example, 594 mm (JIS standard A1 size).
It is a large-sized printer that can print on a relatively large-sized printing paper such as, for example, 728 mm (JIS standard B1 size).

This ink jet printer is provided with a paper feeding unit 11, a recording unit 12, and a paper discharging unit 13 from the top to the front diagonally below. The printing paper is subjected to predetermined printing in the process of being sent from the paper feeding unit 11 to the recording unit 12 and then to the paper discharging unit 13 and is discharged to the outside. The paper transport path 14 at the time of printing is formed with an inclination of, for example, 65 degrees with respect to a horizontal plane. Guide shaft 16 by drive belt 15
The nozzle forming surface of the print head 18 mounted on the carriage 17 that reciprocates in the main scanning direction along the line is also arranged at an angle of, for example, 65 degrees so as to be parallel to the paper transport path 14.

A head ejection characteristic maintaining device 100 for maintaining a constant ink ejection characteristic of the print head 18 is provided at a portion of the carriage 17 at the home position.
Are arranged. When the carriage 17 is at the home position, the head ejection characteristic maintaining device 100 performs a process of maintaining the ink ejection characteristics of the print head 18.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the head discharge characteristic maintaining apparatus 100 includes a wiping means 110 for wiping the nozzle forming surface in a so-called vertical direction, that is, a sub-scanning direction indicated by an arrow a in FIG. Capping means 130 pressed against the nozzle forming surface of the print head 18 during recording to seal the nozzle opening, and suction means 150 forcibly sucking and discharging ink to remove clogging of the nozzle opening and mixed air bubbles. A driving unit 170 for driving the wiping unit 110, the capping unit 130, and the suction unit 150 is provided between the two side frames 101 and 102, and is formed into a substantially box-shaped unit.

The wiping means 110 and the capping means 130 are arranged side by side in the sub-scanning direction of the print head 18, and the suction means 150 is arranged substantially below the wiping means 110. A driving unit 170 is provided so that the wiping unit 110, the capping unit 130, and the suction unit 150 can be linked. That is, the driving unit 170 moves the wiping unit 110 in the vertical direction indicated by the arrow a in FIGS.
0 is moved in the vertical direction indicated by arrow b in FIG. 3 to operate the suction means 150.

The wiping means 110 includes a wiper 111 and a wiper holder 11 as shown in FIGS.
2 is provided. The wiper 111 is formed in a substantially rectangular flat shape by rubber. The leading end portion is rubbed against the nozzle forming surface of the print head 18. Thereby, the wiper 111 can wipe off the ink adhering to the nozzle forming surface. The wiper 111 may be formed of felt, plastic, or the like depending on the type of ink.

The wiper holder 112 is formed in a substantially rectangular flat plate shape from plastic. Then, the wiper 1 is formed such that the tip of the wiper 111 protrudes from the upper end.
2 and FIG. 3 by the wiper moving means 180 constituting the driving means 170 described later while holding
It moves in the vertical direction shown by.

The capping means 130 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in the figure, the cap 131 and the cap holder 1
32. The cap 131 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape by rubber. Then, the depression 131a provided on the upper portion is pressed against the nozzle forming surface of the print head 18. Thereby, the capping unit 130 can seal the nozzle opening.

The cap holder 132 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape from plastic. The cap 131 is formed such that the upper edge of the cap 131 protrudes from the upper surface.
While holding the moving means 170, the cap moving means 185 constituting the driving means 170 described later moves in the vertical direction indicated by the arrow b in FIG.

The suction means 150 is a general pulsation pump, and continuously presses a predetermined range of the tube T connected to the cap 131 with a plurality of rollers attached at a fixed interval in the rotation direction, so that the inside of the tube is changed. Of the print head 18 is forcibly sucked and discharged. Thereby, the suction means 150 can remove clogging of the nozzle opening and mixed air bubbles.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 from which the wiping unit 110 and the capping unit 130 have been removed, the driving unit 170 includes a forward / reverse switching unit 171, a wiper moving unit 180, a cap moving unit 185, and the pump driving unit 1.
90. The forward / reverse switching means 171 includes a driving force transmission gear 172 disposed outside the side frame 101, a sun gear 174 disposed coaxially with a shaft 173 of the driving force transmission gear 172, and a sun gear 174. Gear 17
4 and a reverse rotation planetary gear 177 disposed on a substantially L-shaped planetary lever 175 so as to mesh with the planetary gear 4.
And a toothless gear 178 that can mesh with each of the planetary gears 176 and 177.

The toothless gear 178 is connected to the planetary gear 17 for normal rotation.
6, four reverse first to fourth toothless gears 178a, 178b meshing with a reverse rotation planetary gear 177, a wiper gear 181 constituting the wiper moving means 180 described later, and a cap gear 186 constituting the cap moving means 185, respectively.
178c and 178d.

The driving force transmission gear 172 transmits the rotation of a motor which is a rotating means (not shown).
Then, depending on the rotation direction of the driving force transmission gear 172, that is, the rotation direction of the motor, either the forward rotation planetary gear 176 or the reverse rotation planetary gear 177 via the planetary lever 175 causes the first toothless gear 178a or the second toothless gear. Gear 1
78b, and transmits rotation via the sun gear 174.

The wiper moving means 180 includes a wiper gear 181, a lever 182, and a cam mechanism 183. The wiper gear 181 is arranged so as to mesh with the third toothless gear 178c. The cam mechanism 183 includes a pin 183 a integrally provided on one side of the lever 182.
And a groove 183b provided in the wiper holder 112. One end of the lever 182 is locked by inserting the pin 183a into the groove 183b, and the other end is arranged coaxially with the wiper gear 181.

The cap moving means 185 includes a cap gear 186 and a cam mechanism 187. The cap gear 186 is disposed so as to mesh with the fourth toothless gear 178d. The cam mechanism 187 includes a pin 187a integrally provided on the outer peripheral side surface of the cap gear 186, and a groove 187b provided on the cap holder 132 and into which the pin 187a is inserted.

The pump driving means 190 includes a pump transmission wheel 191 and a pump wheel 192 disposed coaxially with the shaft 173 of the driving force transmission gear 172. The pump transmission wheel 191 rotates the pump wheel 192 after providing a time lag between the suction unit 150 and the wiping unit 110 and the capping unit 130.

In such a configuration, the driving force of the motor is transmitted from the driving force transmission gear 172 through the sun gear 174,
The first planetary gear 1 from the forward rotation planetary gear 176 or the reverse rotation planetary gear 177 that meshes with the rotation of the planetary lever 175.
78a or the second missing gear 178b, further transmitted to the wiper gear 181 and the cap gear 186 via the third missing gear 178c and the fourth missing gear 178d, and the pump wheel via the pump transmission wheel 191. 192. Thereby, the wiping unit 110 is moved in the vertical direction, the capping unit 130 is moved in the vertical direction, and the suction unit 15 is moved.
0 can be activated.

The wiping means 11 configured as described above
0, the overall operation of the head ejection characteristic maintaining apparatus 100 including the capping unit 130, the suction unit 150, and the driving unit 170 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 is a time chart showing an operation example of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device 100, FIGS. 6 to 11 show the operation when the motor rotates forward, and FIGS. 12 to 17 show the operation when the motor rotates reversely. FIG.

In the case of normal rotation shown in FIG. 5, as shown in FIG. 6, the capping means 130 is located at the lowermost end, and the cap 131 is in the "open" state, that is, in the uncapped state. Also, the wiping means 11
0 is located at the leftmost position in the figure, and the wiper 111 is in a "set" state, that is, a state in which wiping in the right direction in the figure is possible. Further, the roller of the pump, which is the suction means 150, is in a state of "release" with respect to the tube, that is, in a state of not sucking (starting time t1).

In this state, when the motor is driven in the normal direction to rotate the planetary lever 175, the planetary gear for normal rotation 176 meshes with the first toothless gear 178a as shown in FIG. Then, the rotational force of the sun gear 174 is transmitted from the forward rotation planetary gear 176 to the first toothless gear 178a, and further from the third toothless gear 178c to the wiper gear 181. Starts moving rightward in the figure (time t4). Then, the wiper 111 wipes the nozzle forming surface of the print head 18.

When the wiper gear 181 reaches the toothless portion of the third toothless gear 178c and is disengaged, the wiper gear 181 idles, so that the movement of the wiper holder 112 is stopped as shown in FIG. At this time, the wiping unit 110 is located at the rightmost position in the drawing, and the wiper 111 is in the “reset” state, that is, the wiping operation in the rightward direction in the drawing is completed (time t5).

Although the fourth toothless gear 178d also rotates during the period from time t1 to time t5, the cap gear 186 due to the missing tooth.
Is not transmitted, and the cap 131 does not move at the lowest position.

Further, when the motor is driven in the normal rotation direction and the driving force transmission gear 172 rotates, as shown in FIG. 8, the rotation force of the sun gear 174 is changed from the normal rotation planetary gear 176 to the first rotation.
The gear is transmitted to the cap gear 186 from the toothless gear 178a and the fourth toothless gear 178d, and the cap mechanism 132 is started to move upward by the cam mechanism 187 (time t6). Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the cap 131 approaches the print head 18, and as shown in FIG. 10, the cap 131 seals the nozzle forming surface of the print head 18.

When the cap gear 186 reaches the toothless portion of the fourth toothless gear 178d and disengages, the cap gear 186 idles, and as shown in FIG. 11, the lifting of the cap holder 132 stops. At this time, the capping unit 130 is located at the uppermost end, and the cap 131 is in a “closed” state, that is, in a capping state (time t7).

In this state, when the motor is further driven in the normal rotation direction and the driving force transmission gear 172 rotates, the pump wheel 192 starts rotating via the pump transmission wheel 191 and the suction means 150 operates. At this time, the rollers of the pump are in a state of “biting” the tube, that is, in a state of sucking (time points t8 and t9). Thus, the wiping unit 110 and the capping unit 13
When 0 is in operation, power is not transmitted to the pump.

On the other hand, in the case of the reverse rotation shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), the capping means 130 is located at the uppermost end, and the cap 131 is in a "closed" state, that is, in a capping state. The wiping unit 110 is located at the rightmost position in the figure, and the wiper 111 is in a “reset” state, that is, a state in which wiping to the left in the figure is possible. Further, the roller of the pump, which is the suction means 150, is in a state of “biting” the tube, that is, in a state of sucking (start time t10).

In this state, when the motor is driven in the reverse direction to rotate the planetary lever 175, as shown in FIG. 12, the reverse rotation planetary gear 177 meshes with the second toothless gear 178b. Then, the rotational force of the sun gear 174 is transmitted from the reverse rotation planetary gear 177 to the second missing gear 178b, and further from the fourth missing gear 178d to the cap gear 186, and the cap mechanism 132 starts to descend by the cam mechanism 187 (at the time). t7). Then, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the cap 131 is gradually separated from the nozzle forming surface of the print head 18.

When the cap gear 186 reaches the toothless portion of the fourth toothless gear 178d and is disengaged, the cap gear 186 idles, so that the lowering of the cap holder 132 is stopped as shown in FIG. At this time, the capping means 130 is located at the lowermost end, and the cap 131 is in an "open" state, that is, in a non-capping state (time t6).

Further, when the motor is driven in the reverse direction to rotate the driving force transmission gear 172, the rotational force of the sun gear 174 is reduced as shown in FIGS.
77 to the second missing gear 178b, and further the third missing gear 1
78c to the wiper gear 181, the lever 18
2 rotates and the wiper holder 1 is moved by the cam mechanism 183.
12 starts moving leftward in the figure (time t5). And
The wiper 111 wipes the nozzle forming surface of the print head 18.

When the wiper gear 181 reaches the toothless portion of the third toothless gear 178c and disengages, the wiper gear 181 idles, and the movement of the wiper holder 112 stops as shown in FIG. At this time, the wiping unit 110 is located at the leftmost position in the drawing, and the wiper 111 is in the “set” state, that is, the wiping operation in the leftward direction in the drawing is completed (time point t4).

From this state, when the motor is further driven in the reverse direction to rotate the driving force transmission gear 172, the pump wheel 192 starts rotating via the pump transmission wheel 191, and the rollers of the pump are released from the tube.
, That is, a state where suction is not performed, and the rotation of the motor is stopped (time points t3 and t2). As described above, power is not transmitted to the pump while the wiping unit 110 and the capping unit 130 are operating.

In the above-described embodiment, the head ejection characteristic maintaining apparatus 100 including one capping unit 130 and one suction unit 150 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
A head ejection characteristic maintaining device including the suction unit 30 and the suction unit 150 can be configured in the same manner, and the same effect can be obtained.

In the above-described embodiment, a printer has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention is also applicable to a recording apparatus having a recording medium conveyance guide, such as a facsimile apparatus and a copying apparatus. is there.

[0055]

As described above, according to the head discharge characteristic maintaining apparatus and the recording apparatus having the same according to the present invention, the movement of the cap of the capping means and the movement of the wiper of the wiping means are determined by the rotation of the rotating means. The operation can be performed in both reverse rotations. For this reason, the position of the cap and the wiper can be easily initialized, so that a flag for detecting the initialization position of the cap and the wiper is provided on the cam for driving the cap and the wiper as in the related art, and the sensing is performed. This eliminates the necessity to perform the steps, thereby facilitating the assembly and adjustment of the apparatus and reducing the cost of the apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of an ink jet printer which is one of recording apparatuses according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a configuration example of a unitized head discharge characteristic maintaining device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the head discharge characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the head discharge characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2 from which a wiping unit and a capping unit are removed.

FIG. 5 is a time chart showing an operation example of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a first diagram illustrating the operation of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a second diagram illustrating the operation of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a third diagram illustrating the operation of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a fourth diagram illustrating the operation of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a fifth diagram illustrating the operation of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 is a sixth diagram illustrating the operation of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 12 is a seventh diagram illustrating the operation of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 13 is an eighth diagram illustrating the operation of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 14 is a ninth diagram illustrating the operation of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 15 is a tenth diagram illustrating the operation of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 16 is an eleventh diagram illustrating the operation of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 17 is a twelfth diagram illustrating the operation of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 18 print head 100 head discharge characteristic maintaining device 101 side frame 102 side frame 110 wiping means 111 wiper 112 wiper holder 130 capping means 131 cap 132 cap holder 150 suction means 170 driving means 171 forward / reverse rotation switching means 172 driving force transmission gear 173 Shaft 174 Sun gear 175 Planetary lever 176 Forward rotation planetary gear 177 Reverse rotation planetary gear 178 Missing gear 178a First missing gear 178b Second missing gear 178c Third missing gear 178d Fourth missing gear 180 Wiper moving means 181 Wiper gear 182 Lever 183 Cam mechanism 185 Cap moving mechanism 186 Cap gear 187 Cam mechanism 190 Pump driving means 191 Pump transmission wheel 192 Pump wheel Le

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for maintaining ink ejection characteristics of a recording head that ejects ink droplets onto a recording medium, wherein the wiping unit wipes the recording head, the capping unit seals the recording head, and the wiping unit. It has two planetary gears for transmitting driving force to both means of the capping means and one rotating means for rotating each of the planetary gears, and by switching meshing of each of the planetary gears, forward rotation of the rotating means A head discharge characteristic maintaining device, comprising: a driving unit capable of driving the wiping unit and the capping unit for both of reverse rotations; 2. The sun gear connected to the rotating means and meshed with each of the planetary gears, and the driving means is connected to the wiping means and the capping means and meshes with each of the planetary gears. 2. The head ejection characteristic maintaining device according to claim 1, further comprising: a toothless gear that can be engaged, wherein the drive to each of the wiping unit and the capping unit is stopped after driving. 3. A suction unit for sucking the inside of the cap of the capping unit that seals the recording head, wherein the suction unit driven by the driving unit after the driving of the wiping unit and the capping unit is completed. The head discharge characteristic maintaining device according to claim 1, further comprising: 4. The toothless gear according to claim 1, further comprising a wiper gear for driving said wiping means, a cap gear for driving said capping means, and a quadruple gear meshing with each of said planetary gears. Item 4. The head discharge characteristic maintaining device according to item 2 or 3. 5. The wiper gear is provided with a lever and a cam mechanism for moving the wiping means horizontally with respect to the recording head, and the cap gear moves the capping means vertically with respect to the recording head. 5. A cam mechanism for providing a cam mechanism is provided.
3. The head discharge characteristic maintaining device according to claim 1. 6. A recording apparatus having a recording head for ejecting ink droplets on a recording medium, comprising the head ejection characteristic maintaining device according to claim 1. Description: