JP2003205636A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet recorder in which only one specified nozzle array can be purged or all nozzle arrays can be purged simultaneously. <P>SOLUTION: At the time of purging one of a plurality of nozzle arrays, a first coupling opening 46 is set at the position of one second suction opening communicating with an enclosed space covering a specified nozzle array being purged by turning a switching member 42 and only that enclosed space is interconnected with a suction pump 27. At the time of purging all nozzle arrays, each second coupling opening 47-50 is set at a second suction opening 36-39 by turning the switching member 42 and all enclosed spaces are interconnected with the suction pump 27. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

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 plurality of nozzle rows, and more particularly to a predetermined one.
The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus capable of purging only one nozzle array or all nozzle arrays simultaneously.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a color ink jet printer as an ink jet recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium, a purging process for sucking highly viscous ink, air or the like to recover a nozzle having a discharge failure has been performed. Has been done. In this purging process, since the ink having high viscosity is sucked from the nozzle by the suction pump, the ink is discharged together with the ink having high viscosity. Therefore, when a plurality of nozzle rows are provided as in a color ink jet printer, only one nozzle row that needs the purge processing is purged out of the plurality of nozzle rows, and the purge processing is not required. It is necessary to prevent the wasteful discharge of ink from the nozzle row. Therefore, the purging device that executes the purging process is configured to be able to execute the purging process for each nozzle row.

A purging device 80 for executing the purging process will be described with reference to FIG. The purging device 80 is disposed at a position facing the inkjet head 84, and a cap member 81 that forms a closed space for each nozzle row, and a suction pump 83 that makes the closed space formed by the cap member 81 a negative pressure. And a switching mechanism 82 that is provided between the suction pump 83 and the cap member 81 and that performs a purging process for each nozzle row.

Specifically, the cap member 81 is provided with two compartments 85 and 86 for partitioning the nozzle rows 84a to 84d of the ink jet head 84 into each nozzle row. The first 86
Suction ports 87 and 88 are provided. The switching mechanism 82 is
The main body portion 89 and the switching member 90 that is fitted in the main body portion 89 so as to be rotatable relative to the main body portion 89 are provided. Second suction ports 93, 94 for connecting to the first suction ports 87, 88 via the tubes 91, 92 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the main body 89.
And a discharge port 96 for connecting to the suction pump 83 via the tube 95. Also, the switching member 9
In the inside of 0, the discharge port 96 and one of the second suction ports 9
A communication passage 97 is provided for communicating with 3, 94.

In the purge device 80 having the above-described structure, for example, when a purge process execution command is issued for one nozzle row 84b, the cap member 81 abuts the ink jet head 84, and the partition row 86 causes the nozzle row to be formed. A closed space is formed so as to cover 84b. And
The switching member 90 is rotated to move the communication passage 97 through the second suction port 94.
The second suction port 94 and the discharge port 96 communicate with each other. In this way, the sealed space formed by the compartment 86 communicates with the suction pump 83, and closes the sealed space formed by the other compartment 85 with the suction pump 83. In this state, the suction pump 83 is operated to make the closed space formed by the compartment 86 covering the nozzle row 84b negative pressure. The negative pressure sucks the highly viscous ink, air, or the like from the nozzle row 84b to recover the ink ejection state.

[0006]

As described above, the purging device 80 of a color ink jet printer having a plurality of nozzle rows is configured to be able to execute the purging processing for each nozzle row and requires the purging processing. It is necessary to prevent the outflow of ink from other nozzle rows. However, when a purge process execution command is issued for all nozzle rows, the above-described purging device 80 must execute the purge processing for each nozzle row, and the purge processing is completed for all nozzle rows. There was a problem that it took a lot of time to do so.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in particular, it is an object of the invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of purging only one predetermined nozzle row or all nozzle rows at the same time. I am trying.

[0008]

In order to achieve this object, an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is an ink jet head having a plurality of nozzle rows and a plurality of nozzle rows of the ink jet head. The sealed space formed in each compartment is made into a negative pressure via a cap member that divides each compartment and forms a sealed space in each compartment, and a first suction port formed in each compartment of the cap member. A suction pump, and a switching mechanism that is provided between the suction pump and the cap member and that switches the sealed space to be a negative pressure by the suction pump from within the sealed space formed for each section. The switching mechanism brings one of the closed spaces formed in each of the compartments into communication with the suction pump, and the other closed space with the suction pump in a closed state, thereby sucking the suction pump. A first setting mechanism for setting a closed space for making a negative pressure by a pump to one of the closed spaces formed for each of the compartments, and a whole of the closed space formed for each of the compartments communicates with the suction pump. And a second setting mechanism for setting the closed space to be a negative pressure by the suction pump in all of the closed spaces formed in each of the sections.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the first aspect, the purge for sucking the highly viscous ink, air or the like from the plurality of nozzle rows formed in the ink jet head to recover the ink ejection state. In order to perform the process, the cap member partitions the plurality of nozzle arrays of the inkjet head into each nozzle array and forms a closed space in each partition. Here, in the case where one of the sealed spaces formed for each of the sections is set to a negative pressure by the suction pump, the first setting mechanism of the switching mechanism forms the section for each of the sections. One of the closed spaces is in communication with the suction pump, and the other closed space is closed with the suction pump. On the other hand, in the case of setting all the closed spaces to be a negative pressure by the suction pump among the closed spaces formed for each section, the second setting mechanism of the switching mechanism is used to set the closed spaces for each section. Put everything in communication with the suction pump.

An ink jet recording apparatus according to a second aspect is the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first aspect,
The switching mechanism communicates through the tube with the discharge port provided on the bottom surface for communicating with the suction pump through the tube, and the first suction port formed in each section of the cap member. A cylindrical main body having a plurality of second suction ports provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and a plurality of second suctions that are rotatably fitted in the cylindrical main body relative to the cylindrical main body. A first connection port provided on the outer peripheral surface for communicating one of the ports with the discharge port, and a first connection port provided on the outer peripheral surface offset from the first connection port, and the plurality of second connection ports are provided.
And a cylindrical switching member having a plurality of second connection ports that communicate all of the suction ports with the discharge port.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the second aspect, the same operation as that of the ink jet recording apparatus of the first aspect is achieved, and the hermetically sealed space in which a negative pressure is set by the suction pump is formed in each compartment. When one of the plurality of second suction ports is connected to the discharge port, the switching member is rotated relative to the main body to set the first connection port. To set. Also, that one second
The suction port communicates with one closed space via the tube, and the discharge port communicates with the suction pump via the tube. Therefore, one closed space communicates with the suction pump. In this state, the suction pump is operated to set one of the closed spaces formed in each compartment to a negative pressure and perform the purging process. On the other hand, when setting the closed space to be a negative pressure by the suction pump to all the closed spaces formed for each section, the switching member is rotated relative to the main body portion so that the plurality of second suction ports The second connection port is set so that all of them and the discharge port communicate with each other. Further, each second suction port communicates with each sealed space via a tube, and the discharge port communicates with a suction pump via a tube. Therefore, the entire closed space and the suction pump communicate with each other. In this state, the suction pump is operated to make all of the closed space formed in each compartment a negative pressure, and the purging process is executed.

An ink jet recording apparatus according to a third aspect is the ink jet recording apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the switching member is rotated relative to the main body portion, and the first connecting port is connected to the main body portion. When communicating with one of the plurality of second suction ports provided on the outer peripheral surface of the plurality of second connection ports, the plurality of second connection ports are provided at positions that are closed with the other second suction ports. There is.

An ink jet recording apparatus according to a fourth aspect is the ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the first setting mechanism sets a closed space for negative pressure to one closed space. In this case, when the suction force of the suction pump is set to the first suction force and the closed space for making the negative pressure by the second setting mechanism is set to the entire closed space, the suction force of the suction pump is set to the first suction force. Suction force setting means for setting a second suction force larger than the suction force is provided.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the fourth aspect, the same action as the ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of the first aspect to the third aspect, and the suction force setting means is set by the first setting mechanism. When the closed space for pressure is set to one closed space, the suction force of the suction pump is set to the first suction force, while the closed space for setting a negative pressure is closed by the second setting mechanism. When the space is set, the suction force of the suction pump is set to the second suction force which is larger than the first suction force.

An ink jet recording apparatus according to a fifth aspect is the ink jet recording apparatus according to the fourth aspect, wherein the suction force setting means sets the rotational speed of a drive source for driving the suction pump to the first rotation speed. When setting the closed space for negative pressure by the setting mechanism to one closed space,
When the closed space for making the negative pressure by the second setting mechanism is set to all the closed spaces at the first rotation speed,
The second rotation speed is set to be higher than the second rotation speed.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a color ink jet printer 1 which is an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a carriage 8 on which first and second ink jet heads 6 and 7 are mounted and a purging device 17. It is a front view of a first and second
A part of the inkjet heads 6 and 7 is shown in cross section.
The arrow X in the figure indicates the moving direction of the carriage 8, and the arrow Z indicates the moving direction of the cap members 25 and 26. A color inkjet printer (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "printer") 1 is a full-color printing device by moving a carriage 8 having two first and second inkjet heads 6 and 7 in the directions of arrow X and counter arrow X. It is a serial printer that can perform.

On the frame 2 of the printer 1, the recording paper P
A platen roller 3 for conveying the sheet is rotatably attached, and a guide rod 4 and a guide member 5 are fixed in parallel with the platen roller 3. On the guide rod 4, the first and second inkjet heads 6, 7 are provided.
A carriage 8 on which is mounted is movably supported in a direction (arrow X or counter arrow X direction in FIG. 1) orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording paper P. The guide member 5 is brought into contact with the upper end surface of the carriage 8, and a belt 9 fixed to the carriage 8 is provided below the guide member 5.

The belt 9 is a CR motor (carriage motor) 10 provided on one side of the frame 2 (right side in FIG. 1).
It is bridged between a drive pulley 11 that is rotationally driven by and a driven pulley 12 that is provided on the other side (left side in FIG. 1) of the frame 2. When the drive pulley 11 rotates by driving the CR motor 10, the drive pulley 11 and the driven pulley 1
The belt 9 moves in the direction of the arrow X or the opposite arrow X between the belt 9 and the belt 2. By the movement of the belt 9, the carriage 8 moves along the guide rod 4 and the guide member 5 in the direction parallel to the platen roller 3, that is, in the arrow X direction or the opposite arrow X direction in FIG.

The carriage 8 has first and second ink jet heads 6 and 7, ink tanks 13 and 14 for supplying ink to the first ink jet head 6, and a second ink jet head.
Ink tanks 15 and 16 for supplying ink to the inkjet head 7 are mounted. The first and second inkjet heads 6 and 7 are provided in the lower portion of the carriage 8, and the ink ejection surface 6 a formed on the lower surface of the first inkjet head 6 has nozzle openings 21 and 22 capable of ejecting ink. Has been drilled. Similarly, the ink ejection surface 7a formed on the lower surface of the second inkjet head 7 is provided with nozzle openings 23 and 24 capable of ejecting ink. The plurality of nozzle openings 21, 22, 23, 24 are provided in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage 8 and are arranged so as to form four nozzle rows.

The four ink tanks 13 to 16 mounted on the carriage 8 are filled with four colors of ink of black, yellow, cyan, and magenta in order from the left side of FIG. , Nozzle mouth 2
The yellow ink is ejected from No. 2, the cyan ink is ejected from the nozzle port 23, and the magenta ink is ejected from the nozzle port 24. Therefore, full-color printing can be performed on the recording paper P. It should be noted that the ink tanks 13 to 16 are individually and detachably mounted on the upper portion of the carriage 8 so that only the ink tanks 13 to 16 having a shortage of ink can be individually replaced. .

Nozzle openings 21, 22, 23, 24 are provided on the side of the platen roller 3 along the moving direction of the carriage 8.
A purging device 17 is provided for executing a purging process for discharging a highly viscous ink, air, or the like that closes the nozzle to recover a good ejection state. The purging device 17 is arranged so as to face the inkjet heads 6 and 7 when the carriage 8 carrying the first and second inkjet heads 6 and 7 is at the purge execution position, and the cap members 25 and 26 are provided. , Suction pump 27, and ink reservoir 2
8, and the cap member 25,
26 is moved, and the suction pump 27 is driven. The cap members 25 and 26 contact the inkjet heads 6 and 7 to form a closed space for each nozzle row. The closed space is cap 25,2
Negative pressure is applied by a suction pump 27 arranged below 6. Due to this negative pressure, highly viscous ink or the like that closes the nozzle openings 21 and the like is discharged. The discharged highly viscous ink or the like is stored in the ink storage unit 28. The purging device 17 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 8.

A wiper member 29 movable relative to the ink jet heads 6 and 7 is disposed on the platen roller 3 side with the cap members 25 and 26 interposed therebetween, and above the ink storage section 28 on the opposite side. A protective cap 30 is provided. The wiper member 29 is a member for wiping off the ink attached to the ink ejection surfaces 6a and 7a by the purging process. The elastic material such as ethylene propylene rubber is formed into a plate shape, and one end thereof is supported by the wiper holder 31. Then, the ink ejection surface 6a,
When wiping 7a, it is configured to project in the arrow Z direction by rotation of the cam 18.

The protective cap 30 comes into contact with the ink ejection surfaces 6a and 7a of the ink jet heads 6 and 7 mounted on the carriage 8 which has been returned to the reset position after the printing is completed, and the ink ejection surfaces 6a and 7a. For coating. The protective cap 30 is provided with four rectangular protruding portions facing each nozzle row formed on the ink ejection surfaces 6a and 7a, and the protruding portions cover each nozzle row. This prevents ink evaporation.

Next, the above-mentioned purging device 17 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 shows the first
And the ink ejection surface 6 of the second inkjet heads 6 and 7.
It is a front view showing the state where cap members 25 and 26 contacted a and 7a, and the suction pump 27 is schematically illustrated in the figure. 4 and 5 are enlarged views of the switching mechanism 31, and FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the switching mechanism 31.

The above-described purging device 17 includes cap members 25 and 26, a suction pump 27, and an ink storage section 28.
In addition to the above, as shown in FIG.
Between the suction pump 27 and the suction pump 27, and the cap member 2
A switching mechanism 31 is provided for switching the closed space, which is made negative by the suction pump 27, from the closed space for each nozzle row formed by the nozzles 5, 26. The switching mechanism 31 is
Cap members 25, 26 and four tubes 60, 61,
62 and 63, and the suction pump 27 and the tube 64.

Here, the purging device 17 will be described in detail. The cap member 25 has two compartments 25a, 2
5b, and each of the compartments 25a and 25b partition the two nozzle rows formed in the first inkjet head 6 into each nozzle row. Similarly, the cap member 2
6 includes two compartments 26a and 26b, and each compartment 26a and 26b partitions the two nozzle rows formed in the second inkjet head 7 into each nozzle row. That is, the first and second inkjet heads 6 and 7
The four nozzle rows formed on the cap member are cap members 25, 2
The six compartments 25a, 25b, 26a, 26b are divided into columns. Further, the first suction ports 32, 33, 34, 35 are formed to project in the respective compartments 25a, etc., and the respective first suction ports 32, 33, 3 are formed.
4, 35 have tubes 60, 61, 62, 6 respectively.
3 is connected.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the switching mechanism 31 connected to the tubes 60 to 63 has a cylindrical main body portion 41 and is rotatably fitted in the main body portion 41. The switching member 42, the rotating member 43 that supports the switching member 42 on the outer periphery, and the cam member 45 that is fitted in the center hole 44 of the rotating member 43.

Each tube 60 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the main body 41.
Second suction ports 36, 37, 38 for connecting to
39 are provided so as to project at intervals of approximately 90 degrees, and a discharge port 40 is provided on the bottom surface. On the outer peripheral surface of the switching member 42, a gap is formed between the switching member 42 and the inner surface wall of the main body 41,
To connect one of the second suction ports 36 to 39 to the discharge port 40, one first connection port 46, and to connect the four second suction ports 36 to 39 to the discharge port 40 Four second connection ports 47, 48, 49, 50 are provided. The four second connecting ports 47 to 50 are arranged at intervals of about 90 degrees, and the first connecting port 46 is provided in the middle of the second connecting ports 47 and 48 with a shift of 45 degrees.

Then, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the switching member 42 is relatively rotated with respect to the main body 41 by the drive mechanism 70, which will be described later, so that the first connection port 46 is connected to the second suction port 3.
The second suction port 38, which is one of 6 to 39, is set at a position corresponding to the second suction port 38. In this case, the second connection ports 47 to 50 are present at positions displaced by 45 degrees from the other second suction ports 36, 37, 39. That is, when the first connection port 46 is located at the same position as the second suction port 38, the second connection ports 47 to 50 communicate with the other second suction ports 36, 37, 39 and the discharge port 40. Is closed, and only the second suction port 38 corresponding to the first connection port 46 is in communication with the discharge port 40 via the first connection port 46.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the switching member 42 is rotated relative to the main body 41 by the drive mechanism 70, which will be described later, so that the second connection ports 47 to 50 are connected to the second suction port 3.
Set it to a position that matches 6 to 39. In this case, the first connection port 46 is located at a position displaced from the second suction ports 36 to 39 by 45 degrees. That is, in such a case,
The first connection port 46 does not communicate with any of the second suction ports 36 to 39, and each of the second suction ports 36 to 39 has a second connection port 47.
It is in a state of communicating with the discharge port 40 via the through 50.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a claw portion 66 for preventing the rotating member 43 from coming off is provided on the upper portion of the main body portion 41.
Is provided. The claw portion 66 engages with the engagement portion 67 provided on the side portion of the rotating member 43, and the main body portion 41 includes the switching member 42 and engages with the rotating member 43. Further, a lip portion 68 is provided at the upper end of the switching member 42 to maintain airtightness with respect to the inner surface of the main body portion 41.

Next, the drive mechanism 70 of the switching mechanism 31 will be described with reference to FIG. The drive mechanism 70 is connected to the LF motor 71 by a connection mechanism (not shown) when the carriage 8 moves the heads 6 and 7 to a position facing the purging device 17, as shown in the figure. Gear mechanism 7 driven by 71
2 and. The gear mechanism 72 includes one planetary gear 73. And this planetary gear 73
By the action of rotating the switching member 42 of the switching mechanism 31 to a predetermined position and operating the suction pump 27,
Negative pressure is applied to a predetermined closed space. This LF motor 71 is
It is composed of a stepping motor, and drives a predetermined angle by outputting a predetermined pulse signal. A piston structure is used for the suction pump 27, and the suction port 76 to which the tube 64 connected to the discharge port 40 of the switching mechanism 31 is attached and the sucked ink are discharged to the ink storage section 28. Tube 65 for
And a discharge port 77 to which is mounted.

Specifically, the planetary gear 73 is replaced by the sun gear 74.
LF motor 7 so that it rotates in the counterclockwise direction in the figure.
1 is driven to shift the planetary gear 73 to the switching mechanism 31.
The gear mechanism 75 (see FIG. 6) provided on the side of the rotary member 43 is engaged (see the solid line in the figure), and in this state, the LF motor 71 is driven in the same direction to switch the switching mechanism 31. The member 42 is rotated to set the first connection port 46 to a predetermined second suction port position, or each of the second connection ports 47 to 47.
50 is set at the position of the second suction ports 36 to 39. The cam member 45 of the switching mechanism 31 is provided with a protrusion 78 for detecting the origin. The protrusion 78 for detecting the origin is brought into contact with the detection piece 79a of the microswitch 79,
It is configured so that the origin position can be detected.

In this way, when the first connecting port 46 or the second connecting ports 47 to 50 are set at predetermined positions, the LF motor 71
By rotating the sun gear 74 clockwise around the sun gear 74 by engaging the gear portion 18a of the cam 18 (see the chain double-dashed line in the figure). By continuing to rotate the LF motor 71 in the same direction, the ink suction operation by the cap members 25, 26 and the suction pump 27 is executed.

Next, the electric circuit configuration of the color ink jet printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. A control device for controlling the color inkjet printer 1 includes a main body side control board 100 and a carriage board 120. The main body side control board 100 has a one-chip microcomputer (CPU) 108 and a ROM 109.
A RAM 110, an image memory 111, a gate array (G / A) 112, etc. are mounted.

The CPU 108, which is an arithmetic unit, has the ROM 1
According to a control program stored in advance in 09, control of each processing such as print processing, purge processing, wipe processing, etc. is executed. In addition, a print timing signal and a reset signal are generated, and each signal is transferred to the gate array 112 described later. A motor drive circuit 102 for driving the CR motor 10 for operating the carriage 8 and the operation panel 107 for displaying the printer status by the user and for instructing the CPU to the CPU 108. A motor drive circuit 104 for operating the LF motor 71 that conveys the recording paper P, a paper sensor 105 that detects the leading end of the recording paper P, an origin sensor 106 that detects the origin position of the carriage 8, and the like are connected. The operation of each connected device is controlled by this CPU 108.

Here, on the operation panel 107, one-color purge keys 107a to 107d for outputting an instruction to execute a purging process for one nozzle row and an all-colors purge key 10 for outputting an instruction to execute a purging operation for all nozzle rows.
7e are provided. One color purge key 107a-1
Reference numeral 07d is Bk that outputs a purge process execution command for only the nozzle row that ejects black (Bk) ink.
Similarly to the purge key 107a, Y which outputs an instruction to execute a purge process for only one nozzle row corresponding to each color.
It is composed of a purge key 107b, a C purge key 107c, and an M purge key 107d. Depending on the operator
When any of the purge keys 107a to 107e is pressed, the purge process (see FIG. 9) corresponding to the pressed purge key is executed.

The ROM 109 stores a control program for executing each process such as a purge process executed by the CPU 108, and the one-color purge program 10
9a and an all color purge program 109b.
The one-color purge program 109a uses the one-color purge key 10
7a to 107d is a program for performing a purge process for one nozzle row when any of the nozzles 7a to 107d is pressed, and the switching member 42 is rotated to set the first connection port 46 to the predetermined second suction port 36 to. Set to any one of 39. Further, in this case, the first pulse signal is output to the LF motor 71 for driving the suction pump 27, and the LF motor 71 is driven at the first rotation speed.

The all-colors purging program 109b is a program for performing the purging process for all nozzle rows at the same time when the purging key 107e is pressed.
The switching member 42 is rotated to set the second connection ports 47 to 50 to the second suction ports 36 to 39. Further, in this case, the LF motor 71 for driving the suction pump 27 is provided with a first
The second pulse signal having the number of pulses larger than the number of pulses of the pulse signal is output, and L is output at the second number of revolutions higher than the first number of revolutions.
Drive the F motor.

The gate array 112 includes a print timing signal transferred from the CPU 108 and the image memory 11.
1, print data (driving signal) for printing the image data on a recording medium based on the image data stored in 1, a transfer clock synchronized with the print data, a latch signal, and a basic print waveform signal. And a jetting timing signal that is output at a constant cycle, and transfers each of these signals to the carriage substrate 120 side on which the head driver is mounted.

In addition, the gate array 112 is provided by the Centro interface 11 from an external device such as a computer.
The image data transferred via 3 is stored in the image memory 111. Then, a centro data reception interrupt signal is generated based on the centro data transmitted from the host computer or the like via the centro interface (I / F) 113, and the signal is generated by the CPU.
Transfer to 108.

The carriage substrate 120 is a substrate for driving the ink jet heads 6 and 7 by a mounted head driver (driving circuit). The inkjet heads 6 and 7 and the head driver have a thickness of 50 to 150 μm.
They are connected by a flexible wiring board in which a copper foil wiring pattern is formed on a polyimide film of m. The head driver is controlled via the gate array 112 mounted on the main body side control substrate 100, and applies a drive pulse having a waveform suitable for the recording mode to each drive element. As a result, a predetermined amount of ink is ejected.

The CPU 108 and the ROM 10 described above are used.
9, the RAM 110 and the gate array 112 are connected via a bus line 114. Further, each signal communicated between the carriage substrate 120 and the gate array 112 is transferred via a harness cable connecting the both.

Next, the purging process in the color ink jet printer 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the purging process, the operator selects which of the purge keys 107a to
It is determined whether 107e is pressed. For example, when it is determined that the C purge key 107c, which is one of the one-color purge keys 107a to 107e, has been pressed (S
1: Yes), the CR motor 10 is driven to move the carriage 8 having the inkjet heads 6 and 7 to the purge execution position, and the connection mechanism is operated to connect the LF motor 71 to the gear mechanism 31. The cam 18 is rotated by a predetermined angle to move the cap members 25 and 26 to the purge execution position (S2). In this case, the purge caps 25, 26
Is the ink ejection surface 6 of each inkjet head 6, 7.
The four compartments 25a, 25b, 26a, 26b of the purge caps 25, 26 are in contact with the a, 7a so as to cover the four nozzle rows formed on the ink ejection surfaces 6a, 7a one by one. Form an enclosed space.

By reversing the rotation of the LF motor 71, the switching member 42 is rotated with respect to the main body 41, and the first connection port 46 of the switching member 42 is ejected to the nozzle port 23 for ejecting cyan ink. The enclosed space and tube 6
It is set at the position of the second suction port 38 connected via 2 (S3). Thus, the second suction port 38 and the discharge port 40
Communicate with. That is, the closed space that covers the nozzle opening 23 that ejects cyan ink is the first suction opening 34 and the tube 6.
The second suction port 38, the first connection port 46, the discharge port 40, and the tube 64 communicate with the suction pump 27.

When the predetermined closed space and the suction pump 27 communicate with each other, a first pulse signal is output to the LF motor 71,
The rotation of the LF motor 71 is again reversed at the first rotation speed (S4). By driving the LF motor 71, the suction pump 27 operates to make the closed space covering the nozzle port 23 that ejects cyan ink a negative pressure (S5). Due to this negative pressure, the highly viscous ink or the like that closes the nozzle port 23 is discharged, and the highly viscous ink or the like is stored in the ink storage unit 28 together with the ink that is also discharged, and the purging process ends.

On the other hand, one-color purge keys 107a to 107d
If none of the above is pressed (S1: No) and it is determined that the all-colors purge key 107e is pressed (S6: Yes)
The carriage 8 and the purge cap 2 in the same manner as described above.
5 and 26 are moved to the purge execution position (S7), and the four compartments 25a and 25b of the purge caps 25 and 26,
A closed space is formed by 26a and 26b so as to cover the four nozzle rows formed on the ink ejection surfaces 6a and 7a one by one.

Then, the switching member 42 is rotated with respect to the main body portion 41, and the second connecting ports 47 to 50 of the switching member 42 are rotated.
Are set to the positions of the respective second suction ports 36 to 39 of the main body 41 (S8). Thus, all of the second suction ports 36-39
And the discharge port 40 communicate with each other. That is, all enclosed spaces are
It communicates with the suction pump 27.

When all the closed spaces communicate with the suction pump 27, a second pulse signal is output to the LF motor 71,
The LF motor 71 is driven at a second rotation speed higher than the first rotation speed (S9). That is, the second pulse signal outputs a larger number of pulses than the above-mentioned first pulse signal. Therefore, the LF motor 71 configured by the stepping motor is driven by a larger number of rotations as compared with the case of outputting the first pulse signal to the LF motor 71. By the driving of the LF motor 71, the suction pump 27 reciprocates the piston a number of times to perform high suction, thereby making the entire sealed space negative (S10).

Here, in the case where the closed space is made to have a negative pressure at the same time, when the closed space is made to have a negative pressure by a suction force similar to the suction force when making one closed space a negative pressure,
It is conceivable that the suction force with respect to one closed space is reduced and it is not possible to discharge highly viscous ink or the like. Therefore,
In the case of purging all the closed spaces at the same time, the suction force of the suction pump 27 is set to be higher (for example, 4 times) than the suction force when one closed space has a negative pressure. It is possible to reliably perform the purging process on the closed space.

In this way, the suction pump 27 is operated with a high suction force to make the entire sealed space negative pressure, so that the highly viscous ink or the like that closes the nozzle openings 21 and the like is discharged. The viscous ink and the like are stored in the ink storage unit 28 together with the ink that is discharged together, and the purging process ends. The one-color purge key is not pressed (S1:
No), and if the all-colors purge key 107e is not pressed (S6: No), the purge process ends.

As described in the above embodiments, according to the color ink jet printer 1 of the present invention, the switching member 42 is rotated to cover the predetermined nozzle row for which the purging process is performed on the first connection port 46. By setting the position of one second suction port that communicates with the closed space,
Only the closed space is communicated with the suction pump 27, and the purging process can be executed only on the single closed space.
Therefore, from other nozzle rows that do not require purging,
It is possible to prevent wasteful ink from being discharged by the purging process.

On the other hand, when it is desired to execute the purging process for all the colors, the switching member 42 is rotated to set the second connection ports 47 to 50 to the second suction ports 36 to 39, respectively. By making all the closed spaces communicate with the suction pump 27, the purging process can be simultaneously executed for all the closed spaces. Therefore, the purge process can be promptly performed for all the nozzle rows.

The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. This can be easily guessed.

For example, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the second suction ports 36 to 39 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the main body 41 at intervals of approximately 90 degrees. However, the position where the second suction ports 36 to 39 are arranged is not limited to this position, and as shown in FIG. You may arrange. In such a case, the tubes 60 to 64 can be connected to the second suction ports 36 to 39 without undue stress. In this case, when the switching member 42 is rotated to set the first communication port 46 to one second suction port 47 to 50, the second connection port 47 to 50 is set to the other second suction port 47. Needless to say, it is provided at a position where it is closed to 50.

Further, instead of rotating the switching member 42, the main body portion 41 can be rotated by a predetermined angle.

After the purging process, the switching member 42 is moved to the second position.
By moving the connecting ports 47 to 50 to a position facing the second suction ports 36 to 39, and stopping the piston of the suction pump 27 at a position where the suction port 76 communicates with the atmosphere through the discharge port 77. , Then the cap members 25, 26
The positive pressure does not act on the nozzle openings 21 to 24 when the ink comes into contact with the inkjet heads 6 and 7.

After the switching member 42 is moved to the desired purge processing position of the nozzle port, the rotation of the motor 71 is reversed to move the cap members 25 and 26 toward the ink jet heads 6 and 7 for suction. The pump 27 may be continuously driven.

Further, in this embodiment, the suction force was adjusted by the number of reciprocating operations of the piston type suction pump, but the suction force is controlled by the operation time of the tube type pump, and the number of operations of these pumps per unit time ( That is, the suction force can be controlled by adjusting the operation speed).

Further, in this embodiment, the two cap members 25 and 26 have two compartments 25a and 25b, respectively.
The case where 26a and 26b are provided and four nozzle rows are divided one by one has been described. However, instead of this, four cap members may be used, or four compartments may be provided in one cap member.

[0061]

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the first aspect, the first setting mechanism of the switching mechanism brings one of the closed spaces formed in each compartment into communication with the suction pump. At the same time, the other closed space is closed with the suction pump. Therefore, if the purging process is executed in this state, it is possible to perform the purging process for only one nozzle row and prevent the ink from being ejected by the purging process from the other nozzle rows that do not require the purging process. effective.

Further, the switching mechanism uses the second setting mechanism to bring the entire closed space formed for each compartment into communication with the suction pump. Therefore, if the purging process is performed in this state, the purging process can be simultaneously performed for all the nozzle rows, and the purging process can be promptly performed for all the nozzle rows.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the ink jet recording apparatus of the first aspect, a closed space for making a negative pressure by a suction pump is formed in each closed space. In the case of setting one of the above, the switching member is rotated relative to the main body,
The first connection port is set so that one of the plurality of second suction ports communicates with the discharge port. On the other hand, when setting the closed space to be a negative pressure by the suction pump to all the closed spaces formed for each section, the switching member is rotated relative to the main body portion so that the plurality of second suction ports The second connection port is set so that all of them and the discharge port communicate with each other. That is, it is possible to set whether to set the closed space for negative pressure to one or to set all the closed spaces by rotating the switching member to a predetermined position. The effect is that the state can be easily set.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the third aspect, in addition to the effect of the ink jet recording apparatus of the second aspect, the switching member is relatively rotated with respect to the main body portion, and the first connecting port is formed in the main body. When communicating with one of the plurality of second suction ports provided on the outer peripheral surface of the portion, the plurality of second connection ports are provided at positions that are closed with the other second suction ports. There is. Therefore, there is an effect that the second suction port other than the one second suction port communicating with the first connection port and the suction pump can be closed. Therefore, if the suction pump is operated in this state, only one sealed space communicating with one second suction port can be made negative pressure.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the fourth aspect, in addition to the effect of the ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the suction force setting means includes:
When the closed space for making the negative pressure by the first setting mechanism is set to one closed space, the suction force of the suction pump is set to the first
When the closed space for setting negative pressure by the second setting mechanism is set to the entire closed space,
The suction force of the suction pump is set to the second suction force which is larger than the first suction force. Therefore, even when the closed space for negative pressure is set to all closed spaces, it is possible to prevent the suction force of the suction pump acting on one closed space from decreasing.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the fifth aspect, in addition to the effect of the ink jet recording apparatus of the fourth aspect, the suction force setting means has a closed space for reducing the negative pressure to 1 by the first setting mechanism. When two closed spaces are set, the rotation speed of the drive source for driving the suction pump is set to the first rotation speed, while the second setting mechanism sets the negative pressure to a negative pressure. When the space is set, the rotation speed of the drive source is set to the second rotation speed which is higher than the first rotation speed. Therefore, when the closed space for making the negative pressure by the second setting mechanism is set to the entire closed space,
There is an effect that the suction force of the suction pump can be easily set to the second suction force which is larger than the first suction force.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a color inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a carriage on which an inkjet head is mounted and a purging device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a purging device.

FIG. 4A is a plan view of a switching mechanism. (B) is a sectional view of the switching mechanism.

FIG. 5A is a plan view of a switching mechanism. (B) is a sectional view of the switching mechanism.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a switching mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing a drive mechanism of a switching mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an outline of an electric circuit configuration of a color inkjet printer.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of purge processing.

FIG. 10A is a plan view showing a modification of the switching mechanism. (B) is sectional drawing which showed the modification of the switching mechanism.

FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically showing a conventional purging device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Color Inkjet Printer (Inkjet Recording Device) 6,7 Inkjet Head 17 Purge Device 25,26 Cap Member 27 Suction Pump 31 Switching Mechanism 32-35 First Suction Port 60-65 Tube 36-39 Second Suction Port 41 Main Body 42 Switching member 46 First connection port 47 to 50 Second connection port 71 LF motor (driving source)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet head having a plurality of nozzle rows, a plurality of nozzle rows of the ink jet head are divided into respective nozzle rows, and a cap member that forms a closed space in each division, and a cap thereof. A suction pump that makes a closed space formed in each compartment a negative pressure through a first suction port formed in each compartment of the member, and the suction pump provided between the suction pump and the cap member. In an ink jet recording apparatus provided with a switching mechanism for switching the closed space to be a negative pressure by the suction pump from the closed space formed in the, the switching mechanism, in the closed space formed for each section One of the compartments is connected to the suction pump, and the other closed space is closed to the suction pump so that a negative pressure is created by the suction pump. A first setting mechanism for setting one of the formed closed spaces, and a closed structure in which all of the closed spaces formed for each of the compartments are in communication with the suction pump and a negative pressure is created by the suction pump. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a second setting mechanism for setting a space in the entire closed space formed in each of the sections. 2. The switching mechanism includes a discharge port provided on a bottom surface for communicating with the suction pump via a tube, a first suction port formed in each section of the cap member, and a tube. And a cylindrical main body provided with a plurality of second suction ports provided on the outer peripheral surface for communicating with each other via a cylindrical main body and rotatably fitted in the cylindrical main body. In order to communicate one of the plurality of second suction ports with the discharge port, a first connection port provided on the outer peripheral surface and a first connection port provided on the outer peripheral surface offset from the first connection port,
The inkjet recording device according to claim 1, further comprising: a cylindrical switching member that includes a plurality of second connection ports that allow all of the plurality of second suction ports to communicate with the ejection port. 3. The switching member is rotated relative to the main body, and the first connection port is set to one of a plurality of second suction ports provided on the outer peripheral surface of the main body. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of second connection ports are provided at positions that are in a closed state with other second suction ports when they are communicated with each other. 4. When the closed space for making a negative pressure by the first setting mechanism is set as one closed space, the suction force of the suction pump is set to the first suction force and the suction force of the second setting mechanism is set to be negative. When the closed space for pressure is set to all closed spaces, a suction force setting means for setting the suction force of the suction pump to a second suction force larger than the first suction force is provided. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is characterized in that. 5. The suction force setting means, when the number of rotations of a drive source for driving the suction pump is set to one closed space by which the first setting mechanism sets a negative pressure, When the closed space for making a negative pressure by the second setting mechanism is set to all the closed spaces at the first rotation speed, the second rotation speed higher than the first rotation speed is set respectively. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, which is characterized in that.