JP2002331678A - Ink jet head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a color integrated ink jet head excellent in ink jet recording in which good print can be carried out continuously over a long term. SOLUTION: In an ink jet head comprising an ink jet nozzle group including a plurality of ink discharge openings arranged laterally and an discharge opening plane provided with the discharge openings is wiped in a specified direction by means of a cleaning blade, the discharge opening plane is provided with a central water repellent region surrounding the region provided with the plurality of discharge openings, and hydrophilic regions arranged on the opposite sides of the discharge opening array along the arranging direction of the discharge openings in a region contiguous to the central water repellent region and spaced apart by a specified distance from the plurality of discharge openings. Area of the hydrophilic region on the side for starting wiping of the blade is set smaller than the area of the hydrophilic region on the other side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet head for ink jet recording in which a recording liquid (ink or the like) is ejected from an ejection port (orifice) as flying droplets and adheres to a recording medium to perform recording. In particular, the present invention relates to an ink jet head for color printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The ink jet recording method is a non-impact recording method which hardly generates noise during recording among various recording methods known at present, and is noted for its high speed recording. It is evaluated as an effective recording method, and is widely used.

[0003] In such an ink jet recording system, there is a method in which ink is ejected from an ejection port by causing film boiling in the ink by using heat. Is a preferable recording method from the viewpoint of the stability of the ink ejection direction.

However, when recording is actually performed,
Along with the main ink droplet ejected in response to the recording signal, there is a case where minute ink flying from the ejection port is generated later than the main ink droplet. Further, when the main ink droplet lands on the recording paper, a phenomenon occurs in which the ink rebounds upon landing, and an extremely fine ink droplet may be generated in the recording area.

When such fine ink (hereinafter, also referred to as ink mist) is generated, the fine ink adheres to the discharge port surface of the ink jet head, and often causes a liquid pool of the ink. It is known that the occurrence of the liquid pool causes problems such as making the ejection of the ink droplet from the ejection port unstable or causing a non-ejection of the ink. Conventionally, in order to solve such a problem, Japanese Patent Application No. 4-211
No. 959, the surface of the discharge port provided with the discharge port is treated to be water-repellent. FIG. 12 schematically shows a discharge port surface of a conventional water-repellent inkjet head.

In FIG. 12, reference numeral 101 denotes a water-repellent film;
Is an ink supply port, 103 is a grooved top plate formed by integrally forming a nozzle, a liquid chamber, a flow path, and a nozzle forming surface, 104 is a discharge port, and 104a is a discharge port surface provided with a discharge port.
Reference numeral 5 denotes a substrate having an element for discharging ink from a discharge port. In FIG. 12, the water-repellent film 101 is formed on almost the entire discharge port surface 104a.

When the water-repellent film 101 is formed on almost the entire surface of the discharge port 104a as described above, the stagnation of ink in the peripheral portion of the discharge port is reduced, and the problem of unstable discharge of the ink and the like is reduced to some extent. You.

However, continuous high frequency driving for a long period of time enables high printing speed and high duty.
When printing is performed, the amount of generated ink mist increases, and ink droplets gradually accumulate on the ejection port surface.

For a monochromatic head, see Japanese Patent Application No. 5-259.
No. 981, a central water-repellent region surrounding a region provided with a plurality of discharge ports, and a region separated by a predetermined distance from the plurality of discharge ports in at least one region adjacent to the central water-repellent region In addition, by providing the hydrophilic region along the direction in which the plurality of ejection ports are arranged, the problem caused by the ink pool on the ejection port surface is solved.

[0010]

In the case of a color integrated head using a plurality of inks, the inks may be mixed and reacted at the discharge port surface, and sticking matters and deposits may be generated. Thus, there is a problem that the discharge port surface is contaminated.

[0011] In addition, the ink mixed at the discharge port surface may be pushed into the nozzle when the blade is wiped, causing color mixing on a printed matter. Alternatively, in the case where preliminary ejection is performed before printing to prevent this color mixture, a considerably large amount of ejection is required, and there is a problem that unnecessary waste of ink is inevitable.

Further, when ink having a low surface tension and easily wettable to the discharge port surface is used, the ink in the hydrophilic region and the ink at the time of discharge are connected by the ink mist and the ink remaining after wiping of the blade. There is also a problem that non-discharge occurs due to wetting.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent color integrated head for ink jet recording, which can continuously perform good color printing for a long period of time, and a method for manufacturing the head.

[0014]

The above object is achieved by the present invention described below. That is, the present invention relates to an ink jet head having a group of ink jet nozzles laterally formed by a plurality of discharge rollers for discharging ink, and wiping a discharge port surface provided with the discharge port in a predetermined direction by a cleaning blade. A central water-repellent region surrounding the region provided with the plurality of discharge ports, and a region adjacent to the central water-repellent forehead region and separated by a predetermined distance from the plurality of discharge rollers, And a hydrophilic region provided on both sides of the discharge port row along the arrangement direction of the discharge ports, wherein the area of the hydrophilic area on the blade wiping start side is smaller than the area of the hydrophilic area on the other side. Is disclosed.

According to the present invention, a central water-repellent region surrounding the area provided with the plurality of discharge ports on the discharge port surface and the plurality of discharge ports in at least one of the areas adjacent to the central water-repellent area are provided. By providing hydrophilic regions separated for each of the nozzle groups along a direction in which the plurality of ejection ports are arranged in a region separated by a predetermined distance, it is possible to minimize the complex mixing of ink on the ejection port surfaces. it can.

Further, by making the area of the hydrophilic area adjacent to the central water-repellent area on the wiping start side of the blade for cleaning the discharge port surface smaller than the area of the hydrophilic area on the other side, the blade is left unwiped. Can be improved.

Further, the distance from the discharge port to the hydrophilic region is
Differentiating each nozzle group in accordance with the wettability of the used ink to the ejection port surface, that is, the nozzle group using ink having a high surface tension and having a low ejection port surface is difficult to reduce the distance, By increasing the distance, the nozzle mist that uses ink that is low in wetness on the ejection port surface is low, so that the ink mist in the latter case is connected to the ink in the hydrophilic region and the ink during ejection by the unwiped ink of the nozzles and blades. Can be prevented.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

Embodiment 1 The present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows a nozzle group in which a plurality of nozzles in each of which a plurality of discharge ports D having a diameter of about 30 μm are intermittently arranged at a constant arrangement density in a substantially central region of a discharge port surface.
Up to the fourth nozzle group is arranged. The vicinity of the periphery is a central water-repellent region E subjected to a water-repellent treatment. Then, the first and second hydrophilic regions C1 and C2 are adjacent to the central water-repellent region E at a predetermined distance H from the ejection port array D, and on both sides along the ejection port array, to have a width W. The nozzles are provided separately for each nozzle group.

The first and second hydrophilic regions C1 and C2 are:
The distance H from the discharge port is about 35 to 250 μm, and the width W is 1
It is provided as 00 to 800 μm. The first and second hydrophilic regions C1 and C2 are configured as band-shaped grooves, so that ink that moves from outside the ejection port surface is not captured in the grooves and reaches the ejection ports. Functioning.

Further, the hydrophilic region processed into the groove shape is subjected to a water repellent treatment on the surface of the resin-made discharge port forming substrate material,
It is formed by laser processing where the water-repellent film is provided. That is, by irradiating a laser from the water-repellent film side and shaving the surface of the discharge port forming substrate, a part of the water-repellent film is removed, and a hydrophilic region is formed.

Accordingly, the cross-sectional shape of the processed groove-like hydrophilic region is, as shown in the hydrophilic regions C1 and C2 schematically shown in FIG. 2, formed on the bottom portion and a part of the groove wall rising from the bottom portion. The surface of the substrate is exposed, and this portion becomes a hydrophilic region, and the remaining groove walls are formed of a water-repellent film.

The ink droplets trapped in the groove-shaped hydrophilic region processed in this manner are such that the ink adheres well to the bottom surface of the groove and a part of the groove wall, and the ink droplets are extremely difficult to move on the discharge port surface. Becomes In addition, it can be easily removed by cleaning the discharge port surface described later. When the thickness of the water-repellent film is 0.1 to 0.2 μm, the depth of the groove formed on the discharge port surface is preferably about 0.2 to 0.6 μm.

The first hydrophilic region C1 and the second hydrophilic region C2
As described above, the band-shaped portion can be formed as described above, but if it is possible to hold the fine ink mist and maintain the effect of the water-repellent region around the ejection port, the band-shaped portion is appropriately divided.
The configuration may be substantially the same as that of the water-repellent region in which the hydrophilic portion is dotted.

It should be noted that the present invention is different from the one shown in FIG. 1 in which the first and second groove-like hydrophilic regions C1 and C2 are provided on both sides of the discharge port, and only the first groove-like hydrophilic region C1 is provided. Is provided so that processing is performed only on one side with the discharge port as a boundary.

According to the present invention, particularly, high frequency recording, high duty printing, high printing speed, etc.
It functions effectively under recording conditions where the generation of ink mist increases. FIGS. 3 to 5 show specific patterns of the water-repellent region and the hydrophilic region on the discharge port surface to which the present invention is applied. The ejection port surface of the ink jet head is subjected to a water-repellent treatment on the entire surface, and thereafter, various patterns of hydrophilic regions described below are provided.

Embodiment 2 In the pattern of the hydrophilic area shown in FIG. 3, the pattern width W1 of the blade wiping start side C1 and the pattern width W2 of the other C2 are in a relationship of W1 <W2. Specifically, W1
When W2 was set to about 100 to 400 [mu] m and W2 was set to about 400 to 800 [mu] m, good results were obtained, such as the wiping property of the blade and the supplemental property of the ink pool generated by the bonding of the ink mist.

FIG. 4 shows a collection of small island-shaped hydrophilic region patterns 10. This island pattern 1
The same effect can be obtained by setting the relationship between the total area S10 of each nozzle group of 0 and the C2 band pattern area SC2 as S10 <SC2.

Embodiment 3 The hydrophilic area pattern shown in FIG. 5 is effective when inks having different surface tension and different wettability to the ejection port surface are used. For example, Bk ink is applied to the first nozzle group,
The fourth to fourth nozzle groups use cyan, magenta, and yellow inks. Since the character quality of the Bk ink is prioritized, it is often practiced to reduce the penetrability of the paper to increase the density of the dye remaining on the paper surface. On the other hand, in the case of color ink, since the ejection density is high (up to 300%), an ink having good permeability is used.

As described above, since the preferential characteristics are different, the surface tension is different between the Bk ink and the color ink. As a result, in the case of color ink, the wettability of the ink with respect to the ejection opening surface is increased, and non-wetting is likely to occur due to the ink connection between the ejection opening and the hydrophilic region. Therefore, the above problem can be solved by setting the distance H from the ejection port to the hydrophilic region as H2 <H1.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view for illustrating a situation in which the discharge port surface 8 is cleaned by etching 12 of the cleaning blade 11. The cleaning blade 11 relatively moves the ink droplets and ink mist existing in the groove-shaped hydrophilic area 5 provided on the ejection port face 8 and the central water-repellent area E around the ejection port 4 in the arrow direction of the ejection port face 8. Then, it is removed from the discharge port surface 8 by sliding.

That is, the cleaning blade 11 relatively slidably moves the ejection port face 8 in the direction of the arrow as the ink jet head is scanned and moved, and at this time, is held in the groove of the groove-shaped hydrophilic area 5. The falling ink droplet is removed from the groove by the edge 12. The removed ink droplet moves as a larger ink droplet 13 while uniting the ink mist existing in the central water-repellent region E.

As described above, the ink is successively united by the cleaning blade 11 and moved on the discharge port surface 8, so that the ink droplets existing on the discharge port surface 8 can be wiped off satisfactorily.

Since the ink to be wiped off moves on the ejection port surface 8 as a very large liquid mass, when the ink mass passes through the ejection port 4 together with the blade, an ink tank (not shown) is used. The ink carried by the blade into the nozzle due to the negative pressure enters the ejection port, but is separated separately for each nozzle group on the ejection port surface as in the present invention, and only the same ink is carried by the blade as much as possible. With this configuration, it is possible to minimize the color mixture due to the ink intrusion, and it is possible to easily remove the intruding ink by preliminary ejection.

The ink jet head provided with the desired hydrophilic regions as described above is manufactured according to the steps shown in FIG. First, a liquid chamber (not shown), a channel 31,
A grooved top plate 3 integrally provided with a discharge port plate 1 is formed by an injection molding method (step S1). 1A and 1B respectively show the front and back surfaces of the discharge port plate on which the discharge ports are formed. The discharge port plate 1 has discharge ports, and the first nozzle group has 64 discharge ports.
And the second to fourth nozzle groups each have 24, 360 dp
i.

The surface 1A of the discharge port plate 1 of the grooved top plate 3 thus formed is subjected to a water-repellent treatment (step S2). In this example, the application range of the water repellent is not the entire surface of the discharge port, but a certain application range including the cap contact range is specified.
The reason for this is to prevent the water repellent from being applied during application and drying.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when the cap contact ranges A, B, and C are located 0.6 mm inward from the end of the discharge port surface, the water repellent application ranges are A, B. , C
In each region, the position is 0.5 mm from the end of the discharge port surface.

However, when the water repellent does not flow to the back side of the substrate, it can be applied to the entire surface on which the discharge port is formed. The water-repellent treatment was performed by a transfer method, and the applied thickness was 0.1 to 0.2 μm.

The water repellent treatment is not limited to the transfer method, and any ordinary coating method such as a roll coater method can be used. The coating thickness of the water repellent is not limited to the above range. However, if the thickness is smaller than this range, the water repellent effect is not sufficiently obtained. It will be easier. Further, a heat treatment is performed on the grooved top plate 3 including the discharge port plate 1 that has been subjected to the water-repellent treatment, and the water-repellent agent is thermally cured to form a water-repellent film.

Next, an excimer laser ELA is applied to the water-repellent film formed on the surface (1A) of the discharge port plate 1 through a mask MS having a predetermined location corresponding to a location where a hydrophilic portion is to be formed. To form a hydrophilic region (step S3). The power of the excimer laser in this case is
When the thickness of the water repellent is 0.1 to 0.2 μm, 200 mj
/ Cm ² , one pulse to several pulses.

Thereafter, the discharge port 4 is formed by irradiating a laser from the back surface (1B) side of the discharge port plate 1 with an excimer laser at an incident angle θ of 5 to 10 degrees (step S4). ).

Incidentally, carbon adheres to the discharge port forming surface during laser processing, and this is removed by applying an adhesive tape and peeling off the carbon from the discharge port forming surface. The grooved top plate 3 thus processed is bonded to a substrate having a heating resistor, which is means for discharging ink from the nozzles, to obtain a desired inkjet head.

In this case, in many cases, the material of the grooved top plate 3 must be selected from limited materials due to restrictions such as moldability and ink contact property, but in the present invention, polysulfone is used. ing. It should be noted that polysulfone acts as a hydrophilic member for ink and the like, and has a contact angle with ink of about 60 degrees.

As the water repellent, for example, a polymer having a fluorine-containing heterocyclic structure in the main chain, specifically, Cytop CTX-105 (manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.), Cytop CTX
-805 (manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.) or an alternating copolymer of fluoroolefin and vinyl ether, specifically, for example, commercially available Lumiflon (manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.), Fluonate (DI
C), Cefral Coat (Central Glass), C
-1 (manufactured by Daikin Glass Co., Ltd.), Triflon (manufactured by Mitsui Petrochemical Glass Co., Ltd.), KYNAR-SL / KYNAR-ADS (AT
OCHEM) or a photo-radical polymerization type fluororesin composition comprising a reactive oligomer and a diluent monomer, specifically, for example, commercially available DEFENSA (manufactured by DIC),
Alternatively, a copolymer comb-shaped fluoropolymer, specifically, for example, commercially available LF-40 (manufactured by Soken Kagaku) or fluorosilicon, specifically, for example, commercially available KP801M (manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.), or perfluorocyclopolymer Specifically, for example, commercially available TeflonAF (manufactured by DUPON) or the like can be applied.

Of these materials, Cytop CTX-
105 can be suitably used. The contact angle of the ink with Cytop CXT-105 is about 70 degrees.

In the present invention, the relative difference in the contact angle of the ink between the water-repellent area and the hydrophilic area is 10
By selecting a water repellent so that the degree of the water repellency is about or higher, a good measure against ink mist can be achieved.

First, the groove-shaped hydrophilic region 5 is formed at a predetermined distance H from the discharge port and substantially parallel to the discharge port arrangement direction. By the way, the ink jet head on which the predetermined processing is performed on the ejection port surface as described above is mounted on an apparatus as described below, and achieves good recording by applying a recording signal. be able to.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing an apparatus on which the ink jet head of the present invention is mounted. In FIG.
The carriage HC that engages with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has a pin (not shown), , B.

An ink jet cartridge IJC is mounted on the carriage HC. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate, which presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the carriage moving direction.

Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this region and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013.

Reference numeral 5016 denotes a member for supporting a cap member 5022 for capping the front surface of the recording head. Reference numeral 5015 denotes suction means for sucking the inside of the cap.
The suction recovery of the recording head is performed via 023.

Reference numeral 5017 denotes a cleaning blade.
Reference numeral 19 denotes a member which enables the blade to move in the front-rear direction, and these members are supported by a main body support plate 5018.
It goes without saying that a well-known cleaning blade other than this embodiment can be applied to the present invention.

Reference numeral 5012 denotes a lever for starting a suction recovery operation. When the carriage HC moves to the home position, a part of the carriage HC contacts the cam 5020. Thereby, the cam 502
When 0 moves to the left in the figure, the driving force transmission gear 5009 and the cam 5020 mesh with each other, and the transmission path changes.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery operations are configured so that when the carriage comes to the home position side area, desired operations can be performed at the corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005. If a desired operation is performed at a known timing, any of the embodiments can be applied.

A control configuration for executing each operation such as recording and recovery in the above-described apparatus will be described with reference to a block diagram shown in FIG. In the figure showing the control circuit, reference numeral 176 denotes a CPU including an interface for inputting a recording signal as an external input, and a program ROM for storing a control program executed by the CPU and various data (supplied to the recording signal and the head). Recording data, etc.)
And a dynamic RAM for storing the number of print dots, the number of replacements of the ink jet head, and the like.

The driving means 172 is provided for the inkjet head 1.
73, a gate array for controlling supply of recording data to 73, an interface, a program ROM, a RAM
The head is driven by this data. Reference numeral 171 denotes a frequency setting unit that can change the driving frequency of the driving unit 172.

In this embodiment, the setting of the high-speed frequency and the normal recording frequency is changed. Reference numeral 174 denotes a cleaning unit (hereinafter, also referred to as a blade) that cleans the ejection port surface of the inkjet head.

At 175, the ink adhering to the blade that cleaned the ink jet head was removed.
This is a blade cleaning unit for cleaning the blade. Reference numeral 177 denotes a capping unit that performs data processing during recording or capping when any inconvenience occurs, and also performs normal suction recovery and capping during standby.

FIG. 11 schematically shows the state of capping applied to the ink jet head and the state of cleaning for convenience. Therefore,
The relative positional relationship between the cap means 177 and the blade 174 is not limited to the illustrated one.
Further, the inkjet head in the following description is an inkjet head having a discharge port surface having the surface configuration shown in FIG.

With respect to the ink jet head, after recording is performed, while the ink jet head is moving toward a predetermined home position of the ink jet head in the head moving direction, the blade 174 slides on the discharge port surface of the ink jet head. The discharge port surface is cleaned by rubbing. At that time, the blade 174 first contacts the side surface 175 of the inkjet head.

Thereafter, the blade 174 is moved by moving the ink jet head in the head moving direction.
The discharge port surface is cleaned in the order of the first groove-like hydrophilic region C1, the central water-repellent region E, and the second groove-like hydrophilic region C2.

As described above, at the beginning of cleaning, the cleaning surface of the blade 174 rubs against the side surface 175 of the ink jet head, so that the ink adhered to the cleaning surface of the blade 174 by the previous cleaning can be removed. Therefore, the discharge port surface can be cleaned by the clean blade 174, so that the cleaning state can be kept good.

Incidentally, an absorber or an aluminum plate may be provided as a separate member on the side surface 174 of the ink jet head against which the blade 174 slides, and by providing these separate members, the cleaning condition of the blade is further improved. .

After the discharge port surface is cleaned in this way, the discharge port surface is capped by the cap means 177A. This protects the ejection port surface of the ink jet head, and at the same time, caps 177.
By operating the suction pump 177C connected to A, suction recovery of the discharge port can be performed. Note that an absorbing member 177B for absorbing ink discharged from the ejection port is housed in the cap means 117A.

After the cleaning operation (suction pump operation and blade operation), preliminary ejection is performed by the driving means 172 to remove the ink on the ejection port surface that has entered the ejection port.
The cleaning operation may be performed before the inkjet head is released from the capping state and starts recording. This makes it possible to satisfactorily remove ink droplets adhering to the ejection port surface by performing the recovery operation, and to maintain the printing state satisfactorily from the start of recording.

[0066]

According to the present invention, a central water-repellent region surrounding an area provided with the plurality of discharge ports and the plurality of discharge ports in at least one of the areas adjacent to the central water-repellent area are provided on the discharge port surface. By providing a hydrophilic area separated for each nozzle group along the arrangement direction of the plurality of ejection ports in an area at a predetermined distance from the outlet, it is possible to minimize the complex mixing of ink on the ejection port surface. it can.

Further, by making the area of the hydrophilic area adjacent to the central water-repellent area on the wiping start side of the blade for cleaning the discharge port surface smaller than the area of the hydrophilic area on the other side, the wiping of the blade is performed. The residue can be improved.

Further, the distance from the discharge port to the hydrophilic area is
Differentiating each nozzle group in accordance with the wettability of the used ink to the ejection port surface, that is, the nozzle group that uses a high surface tension ink that is difficult to wet the ejection port surface has a small distance,
In addition, by increasing the distance in the nozzle group that uses ink that has a low surface tension and is easily wetted on the ejection port surface, the ink mist in the latter case becomes unremoved with the ink in the hydrophilic region due to the ink remaining after wiping the nozzle or blade. It is possible to prevent connection to ink.

As described above, the present invention is particularly effective in the case of a color integrated head using a plurality of inks, and provides an excellent ink jet head capable of performing good color printing continuously for a long period of time. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a discharge port surface according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a discharge port surface shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a discharge port surface according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another discharge port surface according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a discharge port surface according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow chart showing a processing step of a discharge port surface.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a discharge port surface.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a discharge port surface cleaning state.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus on which the inkjet head of the present invention is mounted.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a recording control mechanism of the inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relative relationship between an inkjet head, a cap unit, and a cleaning blade of the inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional inkjet head.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 discharge port plate 1A discharge port plate surface 1B discharge port plate back surface 3,103 grooved top plate 4,104 discharge port 5 hydrophilic region 8 discharge port surface 10 island-like hydrophilic region pattern 11,5017 cleaning blade 12 edge 13 ink droplet 31 Flow path 101 Water repellent film 102 Ink supply port 105 Substrate 171 Frequency setting means 172 Driving means 173 Ink jet head 174 Cleaning means (blade) 175 Blade cleaning means 176 CPU 177 Capping means 177B Absorbing member 177C Suction pump 5000 Platen 5002 Paper press plate 5004 spiral groove 5005 lead screw 5006 carriage lever 5007,5008 photocoupler 5011,5009 drive force transmission gear 5012 suction recovery lever 5013 drive motor 501 Suction means 5016 support member 5018 body supporting plate 5019 cleaning blade moving member 5020 cam 5022 cap member 5023 capping the opening

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] April 22, 2002 (2002.4.2
2)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claim 1

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claim 4

[Correction method] Change

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[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0001

[Correction method] Change

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[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink-jet head for ink-jet recording, in which a recording liquid (ink or the like) is ejected from an ejection port (orifice) as flying droplets and adhered to a recording medium to perform recording. regarding that.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0009

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[Procedure amendment 5]

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[Correction target item name] 0010

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[Procedure amendment 6]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0011

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[Procedure amendment 7]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0012

[Correction method] Change

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[0012]

However, there has been a problem that the ink in the hydrophilic region and the ink at the time of discharge are connected by the ink mist and the ink remaining after wiping of the blade, and as a result, non-discharge occurs due to large wetting. .

[Procedure amendment 8]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0013

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, capable of performing continuously for a long period of good Printout is to provide a superior f head for ink jet recording.

[Procedure amendment 9]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0014

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0014]

The above object is achieved by the present invention described below. That is, the present invention has a jet nozzle group which consists each of a plurality of discharge b for discharging the ink, the ink jet head is wiped in the predetermined direction the discharge port surface by the cleaning blade with the discharge port A central water-repellent area surrounding the area provided with the plurality of discharge ports on the discharge port surface, and a position adjacent to the central water-repellent area and away from the plurality of discharge rollers, And a hydrophilic region provided on both sides of the discharge port array along the arrangement direction of the discharge ports, wherein the area of the hydrophilic area on the blade wiping start side is smaller than the area of the hydrophilic area on the other side. This discloses a featured inkjet head.

[Procedure amendment 10]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0015

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[Procedure amendment 11]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0016

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

According to the present invention, a plurality of discharge
A central water-repellent region surrounding the region with the mouth, and the central water-repellent region
At a position adjacent to and away from the plurality of discharge ports.
Parents provided on both sides of the discharge port row along the outlet arrangement direction
A water area, and an inkjet head having the area of the hydrophilic area adjacent to the central water-repellent area on the wiping start side of the blade for cleaning the ejection port surface is made smaller than the area of the hydrophilic area on the other side, It is possible to improve the blade remaining after wiping.

[Procedure amendment 12]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0018

[Correction method] Change

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[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, reference examples and embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[Procedure amendment 13]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0019

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Reference Example A reference example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows a nozzle group in which a plurality of nozzles D each having a diameter of about 30 μm are intermittently arranged at a constant array density in a line in a substantially central region of a discharge port surface. . The vicinity of the periphery is a central water-repellent region E subjected to a water-repellent treatment. Then, the first and second hydrophilic regions C1 and C2 are adjacent to the central water-repellent region E at a predetermined distance H from the ejection port array D, and on both sides along the ejection port array, to have a width W. The nozzles are provided separately for each nozzle group.

[Procedure amendment 14]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0027

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Example 1 In the pattern of the hydrophilic region shown in FIG. 3, the pattern width W1 of the blade wiping start side C1 and the pattern width W2 of the other C2 are in a relationship of W1 <W2. Specifically, W1
When W2 was set to about 100 to 400 [mu] m and W2 was set to about 400 to 800 [mu] m, good results were obtained, such as the wiping property of the blade and the supplemental property of the ink pool generated by the bonding of the ink mist.

[Procedure amendment 15]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0029

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Embodiment 2 The hydrophilic area pattern shown in FIG. 5 is effective when inks having different surface tension and wettability to the ejection port surface are used. For example, Bk ink is applied to the first nozzle group,
The fourth to fourth nozzle groups use cyan, magenta, and yellow inks. Since the character quality of the Bk ink is prioritized, it is often practiced to reduce the penetrability of the paper to increase the density of the dye remaining on the paper surface. On the other hand, in the case of color ink, since the ejection density is high (up to 300%), an ink having good permeability is used.

[Procedure amendment 16]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0066

[Correction method] Deleted

[Procedure amendment 17]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0067

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0067]

According to the present invention, the area of the hydrophilic area adjacent to the central water-repellent area on the wiping start side of the blade for cleaning the discharge port surface is made smaller than the area of the hydrophilic area on the other side. As a result, the remaining unwiped blade can be improved.

[Procedure amendment 18]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name]

[Correction method] Deleted

[Procedure amendment 19]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0069

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0069] The present invention as described above, it is possible to provide an excellent ink-jet head can be continuously performed over a good good indicia characters long term.

[Procedure amendment 20]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Brief description of drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a discharge port surface of Reference Example 1.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a discharge port surface shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a discharge port surface according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is another schematic view of a discharge port surface of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a discharge port surface according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow chart showing a processing step of a discharge port surface.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a discharge port surface.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a discharge port surface cleaning state.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus on which the ink jet head of the present invention is mounted.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a recording control mechanism of the inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relative relationship between an inkjet head, a cap unit, and a cleaning blade of the inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional inkjet head.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Discharge port plate 1A Discharge port plate surface 1B Discharge port plate back surface 3,103 Slotted top plate 4,104 Discharge port 5 Hydrophilic area 8 Discharge port face 10 Island-like hydrophilic area pattern 11,5017 Cleaning blade 12 Edge 13 Ink Droplet 31 Flow Path 101 Water Repellent Film 102 Ink Supply Port 105 Substrate 171 Frequency Setting Means 172 Driving Means 173 Inkjet Head 174 Cleaning Means (Blade) 175 Blade Cleaning Means 176 CPU 177 Capping Means 177B Absorbing Member 177C Suction Pump 5000 Platen 5002 Paper press plate 5004 Spiral groove 5005 Lead screw 5006 Carriage lever 5007,5008 Photocoupler 5011,5009 Driving force transmission gear 5012 Suction recovery lever 5013 Driving Motor 5015 sucking means 5016 support member 5018 body supporting plate 5019 cleaning blade moving member 5020 cam 5022 cap member 5023 capping the opening

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet head having an ink jet nozzle group laterally formed by a plurality of ejection rollers for ejecting ink, wherein an ejection port surface provided with the ejection port is wiped in a predetermined direction by a cleaning blade. ,
The discharge port surface includes a central water-repellent region surrounding a region provided with the plurality of discharge ports, and a discharge region formed in a region adjacent to the central water-repellent area and separated from the plurality of discharge rollers by a predetermined distance. And a hydrophilic region provided on both sides of the discharge port array along the arrangement direction of the outlets, wherein the area of the hydrophilic region on the start side of the blade wiping is smaller than the area of the hydrophilic region on the other side. Inkjet head. 2. The ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein the hydrophilic regions provided on both sides of the discharge port array are band-shaped hydrophilic regions. 3. The ink jet head according to claim 2, wherein the width of the hydrophilic region on the blade wiping start side is smaller than the width of the hydrophilic region on the other side. 4. The width of the hydrophilic region on the blade wiping start side is in the range of 100 to 400 μm, and the width of the hydrophilic region on the other side is in the range of 400 to 800 μm.
2. The inkjet head according to item 1. 5. The ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein one of the hydrophilic regions provided on both sides of the discharge port array is a band-like hydrophilic region, and the other side is an island-like hydrophilic region. 6. The ink jet head according to claim 5, wherein the island-shaped hydrophilic area is an area on the starting side of blade wiping. 7. The ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein the discharge port array and the hydrophilic region do not overlap in the predetermined direction. 8. The ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the nozzle groups are provided for discharging a plurality of types of inks.