JP2004074807A - Restoring device for ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a restoring device for an ink jet printer which eliminates waste in ink consumption and shortens purge time. <P>SOLUTION: A first suction operation A with small suction force and short suction time and a second suction operation B with large suction force and long suction time are performed by rotation of a cam member. When replacing an ink cartridge, the first suction operation A guides the ink into the path while expelling the air from an ink path. Subsequently the second suction operation B guides the ink into a recording head. When restoring the discharge, the cam member is rotated to cause the first suction operation A to pass through within time that the first suction operation cannot substantially suck. Then the second suction operation B is performed to suck the ink in the recording head through a suction cap at a stretch. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

The present invention relates to a recovery device for an inkjet printer.

Conventionally, a recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink to a recording medium, a suction pump having a suction cap that comes into contact with and detachable from a nozzle surface of the recording head, and suctioning ink of the recording head through the suction cap, An ink jet printer including a control means for controlling the drive of the suction pump means is known.

In such an ink jet printer, the control means controls the suction pump means to perform a suction operation. Generally, the suction operation generates one large suction negative pressure, and causes the ink in the recording head to pass through the suction cap. It is performed by sucking at a stretch.

However, in the use of such an ink jet printer, when exchanging an ink cartridge including when the ink cartridge is connected to the recording head for the first time, the ink passage between the recording head and the ink cartridge may be filled with air. In such a state, a large suction force is applied through the suction cap to suction the ink of the print head at a stretch in such a state, as in the case of the normal purge operation for recovering the ejection failure during the printing operation. In this case, the ink rapidly flows from the ink cartridge toward the recording head in a state of being mixed with air, the ink foams, and the ink in the ejection channel of the recording head contains bubbles. This tendency is particularly remarkable when a filter member is provided at a connection portion between the recording head and the ink cartridge (for example, an ink supply hole of the ink cartridge) so that dust and the like do not move to the recording head side together with the ink. .
Therefore, at the time of replacing the ink cartridge or the like, there is a demand that the ink be sucked from the recording head in such a manner that the foaming does not occur, in addition to the manner of introducing the ink during the purging operation in the case of a discharge failure.

Therefore, first, a first suction operation is performed with a small suction force to make the ink passage filled with ink, and then a second suction operation is performed with a large suction force to flow into each channel of the print head. Thus, it was conceived that the ink can be sucked from the recording head in such a manner that the foaming does not occur when the ink cartridge is replaced.

However, in this case, although the above-described bubbling does not occur at the time of replacement of the ink cartridge, the ink cartridge does not need to be subjected to the first suction operation at the time of the normal purging operation to eliminate the ink ejection failure. Since the problem of bubbling described above does not occur as in the case of the replacement of the ink, the consumption of the ink by the first suction operation is wasted, and the purging time is lengthened by the time required.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recovery device for an ink jet printer that eliminates waste of ink consumption and shortens a purge time.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink to a recording medium, and a suction cap that comes into contact with the nozzle surface of the recording head so as to be able to come and go. Suction pump means, and a recovery device for an ink jet printer comprising a control means for driving and controlling the suction pump means,
The suction pump unit includes a pump housing, a piston member movable in the pump housing, and configured to change the volume of a pump chamber that sucks ink through the suction cap, and a cam member that moves the piston member.
The cam member moves the piston member to perform a plurality of suction operations in a series of operations,
The control means controls the cam member to pass a first suction operation of the plurality of suction operations in the series of operations in a time period in which the first suction operation does not substantially perform the suction operation. Then, the suction mode in which the second suction operation is performed and the suction mode in which the first suction operation and the second suction operation are sequentially performed are selectively executed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the device according to the first aspect, the cam member includes a first portion that performs the first suction operation and a second portion that performs the second suction operation. The control means controls the rotation of the cam member so as to pass through the first portion in the time period.

The invention according to claim 3 is the device according to claim 2, wherein the control means stops the rotation of the cam member at the first portion when performing the first suction operation, and When the suction operation is not performed substantially, the rotation is controlled without stopping at the first portion.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the pump housing has a suction port connected to the suction cap, and after the first suction operation and Before the second suction operation, the piston member is moved by the cam member so that the suction port is closed to the pump chamber by the piston member.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the device according to the fourth aspect, the pump housing further has a discharge port, and the piston member is formed by first and second piston members forming the pump chamber therebetween. Become
In the first suction operation, the pump chamber is connected to the suction port, and after the first suction operation and before the second suction operation, the suction port is connected to the pump by the first piston member. Closing the discharge port with respect to the pump chamber with a second piston member, and closing the discharge port with the pump chamber with the second piston member in the second suction operation. The first and second piston members are moved by the cam member so that the pump chamber is connected to the suction port in a closed state.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the first suction operation and the second suction operation are suction operations having different suction forces and suction times.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the control means includes the first and second suction operations in one rotation of the cam member, and rotates the cam member a plurality of times. In the first rotation, the first and second suction operations are performed in that order, and in the subsequent rotation, the first suction operation is passed and only the second suction operation is performed.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the piston member is moved by the cam member to pass the first suction operation in a series of operations in a time period in which the first suction operation does not substantially perform the suction operation. By selectively performing the suction mode in which the suction operation is performed and the suction mode in which the first suction operation and the second suction operation are sequentially performed, the suction operation can be performed in each mode according to the situation. As a result, waste of ink consumption is eliminated, and the purge time can be reduced.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the overall configuration of the ink jet printer. In FIG. 1, the inkjet printer 1 has a cylindrical platen roller 3 rotatably supported on a frame 2 by a rotating shaft (not shown) extending in the left-right direction. The platen roller 3 transports the printing paper 4 (recording medium) supplied from a paper feeding cassette or a manual paper feeding unit while facing the recording head 5, and constitutes a part of a so-called paper feeding mechanism LM. ing. The recording head 5 is of an ink jet type having nozzles for ejecting ink droplets on the printing paper 4 and performing a recording operation on the printing paper 4, and a paper feeding mechanism LM drives the paper feeding mechanism LM. An LF motor 14 (see FIG. 5) as a paper feed motor for transporting the printing paper 4 is provided.

The printing paper 4 is supplied in the direction of arrow A from a paper supply port (not shown) behind the frame 2, is fed in the direction of arrow B by rotation of the platen roller 3, and is supplied from a paper discharge port (not shown). It is configured to be discharged in the direction of arrow C. A carriage 6 is provided in front of the platen roller 3 so as to be movable in the direction of arrow D along the axis of the platen roller 3.

The carriage 6 has a recording head 5 and an ink cartridge 7 containing ink supplied to the recording head 5 detachably mounted thereon. In this example, a recording head 5 and an ink cartridge 7 having heads for four colors of yellow, black, cyan, and magenta are respectively mounted.

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, when the ink cartridge 7 is mounted on the cartridge mounting portion 6a of the carriage 6, the ink cartridge 7 is connected to the recording head 5 supported by the head supporting member 16 via the manifold member 15. It is supposed to be. The rear end of the manifold member 15 penetrates the vertical wall portion 6b of the cartridge mounting portion 6a and is connected to the ink cartridge 7 via the joint member 17. In the connection portion, an ink supply hole 7a of the ink cartridge 7 and an adapter 18 are provided, and a net-like filter member 19 is provided on the recording head 5 side so that dust and the like do not move with the ink.

A carriage shaft 8 is provided in parallel with the axis of the platen roller 3, and the carriage 6 is slidably fitted on the carriage shaft 8. The engaging portion 6c of the carriage 6 is guided by a guide rail 9 extending parallel to the carriage shaft 8. Thus, the recording head 5 mounted on the carriage 6 can reciprocate by sliding along the axis of the platen roller 3. The carriage 6 is fixed to a part of the timing belt 11, and the timing belt 11 is wound around the timing pulleys 12 and 13 to form a carriage mechanism CM. Motor) is connected. Thus, the rotation of the CR motor 10 causes the carriage 6 to reciprocate in the recording area where recording is performed on the printing paper via the carriage mechanism CM. The carriage mechanism CM and the CR motor 10 constitute moving means for moving between the recording area and a recovery area where a recovery operation is performed by a suction cap 41, a suction pump 42, and a wiper member 32, which will be described later. . As the CR motor 10, a step motor or a DC motor is used. Although not specifically shown, the carriage 6 is provided with a cartridge replacement detection switch 21 for detecting replacement of the ink cartridge 7 (see FIG. 5).

{Circle around (4)} On the right side of the recording area corresponding to the platen roller 3, there is formed a recovery area in which a purge mechanism RM for recovering from non-ejection or ejection failure of the recording head 5 is arranged. The reason why such a purge mechanism RM is provided is that the ink jet recording head 5 causes a discharge failure due to a cause such as generation of air bubbles inside the ink or drying of the ink during use. This is for restoring a good ejection state.

A flushing area in which the waste ink receiving member 22 is provided is formed on the left side of the printing area corresponding to the platen roller 3. Such a waste ink receiving member 22 is provided just before the printing operation by the print head 5 in order to eliminate clogging of the nozzles of the print head 5 and to remove air bubbles mixed in the ink in the nozzles. This is for preliminarily discharging ink.

The purge mechanism RM is movable between a protruding position protruding into the moving path of the recording head 5 and a standby position retracted from the moving path of the recording head 5, and is in close contact with the nozzle surface of the recording head 5 at the protruding position. And a suction pump 42 for sucking and removing ink in the recording head 5 through the suction cap 41 when the suction cap 41 is in close contact with the nozzle surface of the recording head 5 at the protruding position. Is provided.

A wiper member 32 adjacent to the suction means 31 and movable relative to the recording head 5 so as to wipe the nozzle surface of the recording head 5 toward the recording area is used when the recording head is not recording on the opposite side. The storage cap devices 33 which cover the nozzle surfaces of No. 5 and prevent evaporation of the ink to avoid drying of the nozzle surfaces are provided.

The wiper member 32, the suction cap 41, and the suction pump 42 are associated with a rotationally driven cam member 43. The movement of the wiper member 32, the movement of the suction cap 41, and the operation of the suction pump 42 are performed by a common cam. It is configured to be controlled by the rotation of the member 43.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cam member 43 has a drive gear 46 provided integrally, and is driven to rotate by driving means such as a motor. For example, the drive gear 46 is configured to be removably engaged with a drive gear (not shown) that is rotationally driven by the LF motor 14 of the paper feed mechanism LM. Are driven to rotate. Further, the rear end (cam follower) of the wiper holder 34 supporting the wiper member 32 is movably engaged with the first cam groove 43a of the cam member 43, whereby the wiper member 32 moves the recording head 5 The recording head can reciprocate in a direction orthogonal to the moving path of the recording head 5 between a projecting position protruding into the path and a standby position retracted from the moving path of the recording head 5. 5 is controlled to be wiped.

The suction cap 41 is supported by a cap holder 44, and the rear end (cam follower) of the cap holder 44 has a second cam groove of the cam member 43 on the same plane as the first cam groove 43a. 43b so as to be movable.

The suction pump 42 has a first and second piston members 53 and 54 which are independently and movably fitted into a cylindrical pump housing 52 which is attached and fixed to a frame member 51. In the pump housing 52, a suction port 52a and a discharge port 52b are provided at regular intervals in the axial direction, and the suction port 52a is connected to a suction cap 41 via a suction pipe 55, and the discharge port 52b Are linked to a waste ink tank 58 containing an ink absorbing material 57 (see FIG. 1). One end of the pump housing 52 is an atmosphere opening portion 52c that is open to the atmosphere, and a first piston member 53 is disposed on the side of the atmosphere opening portion 52c.

The first and second piston members 53 and 54 are connected to one ends of the first and second drive shaft members 61 and 62, respectively, and are driven by the drive shaft members 61 and 62, respectively. A pump chamber 52 is formed between the piston members 53 and 54.

The first drive shaft member 61 is slidably fitted into the second drive shaft member 62, and the other end of each of the drive shaft members 61, 62 has an opposite surface to the cam grooves 43a, 43b. The cam member 43 is movably engaged with the third and fourth cam grooves 43c and 43d. The cam grooves 43c and 43d (cam portions) of the cam member 43 correspond to a plurality of suction operations (see FIGS. 8A and 8B), and the rotation of the cam member 43 is temporarily performed as described later. By stopping or performing continuously, a specific suction operation is selected or eliminated.

Therefore, when the cam member 43 is rotationally driven at a certain timing, capping of the suction cap 41, suction of ink by the suction pump 42, and wiping of the nozzle surface of the recording head 5 by the wiper member 32 are sequentially performed. The ink sucked by the suction pump 42 is discharged to the waste ink tank 58 via the suction pump 42, and is absorbed by the ink absorbing material 57 in the waste ink tank 58.

As shown in FIG. 1, the storage cap device 33 has a storage cap 71 that covers each head of the recording head 5, and a casing 72 that supports the storage cap 71 is parallel to the moving direction of the carriage 6. The extending guide rod member 73 is supported so as to be able to slide and rotate. Further, the casing 72 is engaged with the carriage 6 when the carriage 6 moves to the outside of the recording area, and has an engagement protrusion 72a for slidingly moving integrally with the carriage 6 protruding forward. ing. Then, when the carriage 6 moves from the recording area to the recovery area side, the carriage 6 engages with the engaging projection 72a of the casing 72, so that the storage cap 71 slides following the movement of the carriage 6 (FIG. 1). At right). During this sliding movement, the storage cap 71 rotates around the guide rod 73 by the action of the not-shown tilt cam means. As a result, the storage cap 71 rotates in a direction approaching the recording head 5, and the storage cap 71 The capping is performed by contacting the nozzle surface. Thereafter, when the carriage 6 moves in the recording area direction again, the storage cap 71 moves away from the recording head 5 while moving to the recording area side, and returns to the initial state when the carriage 5 comes out of the recovery area.

Next, the control unit of the inkjet printer 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. This control unit is mainly configured by a CPU 100 which is a well-known arithmetic processing device. The CPU 100 is connected to a host computer 102 such as a personal computer via an interface 101, receives a print command from the host computer 1102, and executes various printings in accordance with the command.

ウ イ ン ド ウ A typical window system is a functional configuration of the host computer 102. Various applications (A), (B),... (N) are provided on this window system, and a font driver, a CRT driver, a keyboard driver, a mouse driver, a printer driver, and the like are incorporated. When printing is performed using the inkjet printer 1 during execution of various applications, the printer driver creates output data relating to an image suitable for the printing function of the printer.

The operation panel 103, the ROM 104, and the RAM 105 are connected to the CPU 100. The operation panel 103 sets a paper size and other various parameters and displays them. The ROM 104 stores various programs necessary for controlling the inkjet printer 1. The RAM 105 temporarily stores print data transferred from the host computer 102 and various numerical values required for controlling the ink jet printer 1, and has a backup memory 105a.

The CPU 100 controls the drive of the LF motor 14, the CR motor 10, and the recording head 5 via the LF drive circuit 111, the CR drive circuit 112, and the head drive circuit 113. Further, a signal from a cartridge replacement detection switch 21 provided on the carriage 6 for detecting replacement of the ink cartridge 7 is also input.

The LF motor 14 is configured to drive either the purge mechanism RM or the paper feed mechanism LM via a switching mechanism 121 including a gear that can be disengaged from the drive gear 46. The CPU 100 constitutes control means for controlling the operation of the suction pump 42 to perform the purging operation. That is, the suction pump 42 is capable of performing a plurality of suction operations in a series of operations, and the CPU 100 controls the suction pump 42 to specify a particular one of the plurality of suction operations. The suction operation is selectively extinguished. That is, as shown in FIG. 8A, the suction pump 42 performs the first suction operation A having a small suction force and a short suction time (a small negative pressure peak), a large suction force and a short suction time. Performs a second suction operation B (the peak of the negative pressure is large), and the CPU 100 performs the first and second suction operations at the time of ink cartridge replacement receiving a signal from the cartridge replacement detection switch 21. The operation is selected and none of them is extinguished (see FIG. 8A). On the other hand, during a normal purging operation other than when replacing the ink cartridge, the first suction operation A is extinguished and only the second suction operation B is selected. As shown in FIG. 8B, the rotation of the LF motor 14, which is the driving source of the cam member 43, is controlled.

The CR motor 10 drives the carriage mechanism CM, and the switching mechanism 121 is switched by the movement of the carriage 6 of the carriage mechanism CM.

The purge mechanism RM, the paper feed mechanism LM, and the carriage mechanism CM have respective sensors, and detection signals from the sensors are input to the CPU via a group of counters 122. The purge mechanism RM includes a purge HP sensor 131. When the suction pump 42 is at the home position, the purge HP sensor 131 notifies the purging position counter 122a of the counter group 122 of the fact. This signal is used as a reference for the purge operation by the purge mechanism.

The paper feed mechanism LM has a PE sensor 132. The PE sensor 132 issues a signal at the leading edge of the newly supplied printing paper 4 and notifies the LF position counter 122b of the counter group 122. This signal serves as a reference for controlling the recording position in the vertical direction.

The carriage mechanism CM has a CR position sensor 133. The CR position sensor 133 counts the drive pulses of the CR motor 10, detects the position of the carriage, and notifies the CR position counter 122c of the counter group 122. This position information serves as a reference for controlling the horizontal position to be maintained, and also as a reference for determining whether or not a new supply operation of the printing paper 4 and an operation of discharging the printed paper are possible.

The operation of the inkjet printer 1 configured as described above will be described.
First, in the ink jet printer 1, the recording head 5 is usually in a standby position in a state where the recording head 5 is covered with the storage cap 71. When recording data is input, recording is performed.

(4) The printing paper 4 is supplied between the platen roller 3 and the recording head 5, and the recording head 5 is moved from the standby position to the recording start position by the operation of the CR motor 10. Then, the recording head 5 is reciprocated in the recording area while ejecting ink based on the recording data, so that printing is performed on the printing paper 4. When printing is completed, the recording head 5 is moved to the standby position, covered with the storage cap 71 that has been advanced, and drying of the nozzle surface during use is prevented.

When the purge switch on the operation panel 103 is operated by a user's judgment and a purge command is input, a purge mode for operating the purge mechanism RM is entered, and a suction operation program is executed as described later.

By the way, the purge switch is operated when an ink ejection failure occurs, whereby the suction operation is performed by the suction pump 42 as described above. Is exchanged, and it is necessary to introduce ink into the recording head 5. That is, when the ink cartridge 7 is replaced, the cartridge replacement detection switch 21 provided on the carriage 6 detects this, and the suction operation for ink introduction by replacement of the ink cartridge 7 is performed under the control of the CPU 100. . The suction operation for ink introduction in the case of replacing the ink cartridge includes a first suction operation with a small suction force and a short suction time and a second suction operation with a large suction force and a long suction time. (See FIG. 8A.) In the suction operation when the ink cartridge is not replaced, the CPU 100 eliminates the first suction operation (see FIG. 8B) and changes the ink introduction mode. ing.

In the purge mode, based on the suction operation program, first, the CPU 100 drives the carriage mechanism CM by the CR motor 10 via the CR drive circuit 112 so that the recording head 5 moves from the position facing the storage cap 71 to the suction cap 41. It is moved to the opposite position. When in the recovery area, the switching mechanism 121 has already switched the LF motor 14 to a state where the driving force can be transmitted to the purge mechanism RM. Then, the cam member 43 is rotated by the driving force from the LF motor 14, and the wiper member 32, the suction cap 41, and the suction pump 42 are controlled. The recovery operation, that is, the operation of bringing the suction cap 41 and the wiper member 32 into and out of contact, and the suction / discharge operation by the suction pump 42 are performed. Here, the suction operation includes the operation of bringing the suction cap 41 into close contact with the nozzle surface and sucking ink from the recording head 5 by the suction pump 42, and the operation of suctioning the suction cap 41 by separating at least a part of the suction cap 41 from the nozzle surface. A so-called idle suction operation of sucking ink from the inside of the cap 41 is included.

Next, the operation of bringing the suction cap 41 and the wiper member 32 into and out of the recording head 5 and the operation of suctioning / discharging by the suction pump 42 will be described with reference to FIGS. Will be explained along with the change of

First, when the rotation angle of the cam member 43 is near 0 °, the two piston members 53 and 54 of the suction pump 42 minimize the pump chamber therebetween and the pump chamber is located near the discharge port 52b, while the suction cap is closed. Reference numeral 41 denotes an initial state located at the standby position (see FIG. 6A).

Then, when the cam member 43 is driven to rotate, the first and second piston members 53 and 54 gradually move integrally from around 6 ° to around 97 ° (FIG. 6B). Slightly increase the movement speed.

When the rotation angle of the cam member 43 becomes about 114 °, the piston members 53 and 54 stop moving, and the vicinity of the boundary between the piston members 53 and 54 becomes the vicinity of the suction port 52a (see FIG. 6C).

On the other hand, when the rotation angle of the cam member 43 approaches 57 ° during the movement of the piston members 53 and 54, the suction cap 41 is moved from the standby position to the movement path side of the recording head 5 as shown in FIG. The suction cap 41 covers the nozzle surface of the recording head 5 at around 97 °.

After the suction cap 41 completely covers the nozzle surface of the recording head 5, the rotation angle of the cam member 43 is maintained in the state of FIG. 6C from 114 ° to 122 °, and then from 122 ° to 129 °. While changing to ゜, the second piston member 54 is moved in a direction in which the distance between the first piston member 53 and the first piston member 53 increases while the first piston member 53 remains stationary, and the first and second piston members 53 and 54 are moved. During this time, the pump chamber 52e is enlarged and the suction port 52a is opened to the same chamber (see FIG. 6D), and the first suction operation is started.

Then, while the rotation angle of the cam member 43 is maintained from 129 ° to 145 °, when the ink cartridge 7 is replaced, the CPU 100 receives 136 ° (see position 3A) by a signal from the replacement detection switch 21. Then, the power supply to the LF motor 14 is stopped for about 3 seconds, and the rotation of the cam member 43 is stopped. As a result, the first suction operation is performed for about 3 seconds (see A in FIG. 8A). The amount of ink sucked by the first suction operation may be such that the ink flows from the ink cartridge 7 through the filter member 19 into the manifold member 15. On the other hand, when the ink cartridge 7 is not replaced, the cam member 43 is allowed to pass from 122 ° to 149 ° in about 0.225 seconds without stopping the cam member 43 at the position 3A. Since the suction port 52a is closed (see FIG. 6E), the first suction operation instantaneously appears as shown in A of FIG. 8B, but almost no suction operation is performed. 1 will be substantially extinguished.

Then, from 145 ° to 171 °, the first and second piston members 53 and 54 maintain the volume of the pump chamber as shown in FIG. The member 53 is moved in a direction to close the suction port 52a. At this time, the second piston member 53 closes the outlet 52b.

Thereafter, the rotation angle of the cam member 43 is maintained from 171 ° to 179 °, and the discharge port 52b is closed by the second piston member 54 from 179 ° to 205 °. The first piston member 53 is moved in a direction to open the suction port 52a (see FIG. 6 (f)), the pump chamber 52e is enlarged to increase the negative pressure, and finally the suction port 52a is opened, and the cam member is opened. This state is maintained until the rotation angle of 43 reaches 239 °, but at around 211 ° (see position 3B), the cam member 43 stops rotating for 5 seconds, so that the suction force is lower than the first suction operation. The second suction operation (see FIG. 8B) in which the pressure is large and the suction time is long is performed. The amount of ink sucked by the second suction operation exceeds the amount of filling each channel of the print head 5 with new ink, and is an amount by which a good ejection state is recovered.

Then, while the suction cap 41 starts to separate from the recording head 5 from the rotation angle of the cam member 43 of 221 °, while the first piston member 42 opens the suction port 41a from 239 ° to 272 °, The second piston member 54 is moved backward just before releasing the discharge port 41b (see FIG. 6G), and the suction operation is performed while further expanding the pump chamber 52e. Thereby, the residual ink in the suction cap 41 and the suction pipe 55 is sucked (so-called idle suction).

Then, during the period from the cam members 272 # to 282 #, the second piston member 54 continues to move in the direction to open the discharge port 52b, while the first piston member 53 closes the suction port 52a. Moving. Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (h), the second piston member 54 moves to a position where the pump chamber 52e opens to the discharge port 52b, and stops moving when the rotation angle of the cam member 43 is around 282 °. The first piston member 53 continues the movement until the rotation angle of the cam member 43 becomes around 338 °, compresses the pump chamber 52e, and positively performs the discharging operation (see FIG. 6 (i)). As a result, the ink in the pump chamber 52e is discharged to the waste ink tank 58.

After the discharging operation, the two piston members 53 and 54 maintain the stopped state while the cam member 43 is between 338 ° and 345 °, and thereafter the two piston members 53 and 54 are slightly returned until 354 °, and FIG. ), The state is returned to the same state as the initial state, and the state is maintained from 354 ° to 360 ° (0 °), and becomes the initial state.
Further, the wiper member 32 maintains the standby state when the rotation angle of the cam member 43 is from 0 ° to 269 °, gradually advances from 269 ° to 290 °, and becomes the protruding position at 290 ° from 290 ° to 310 °. During this period, the protruding position is maintained, and the nozzle surface of the recording head 5 moving toward the recording area is wiped (see FIG. 7). It gradually retreats from 310 ° to 331 °, becomes the standby position, and remains at 360 °.

After the nozzle surface of the recording head 5 is wiped by the wiper member 32, first, the recording head 5 is moved to the flushing area, and ink is discharged from all the nozzles of the recording head 5 to the waste ink receiving member 22. Is performed, and then the recording head 5 is moved to the recording start position.

Incidentally, the control of the suction pump 42 by the cam member 43 includes two suction operations having different suction forces for sucking the ink of the recording head 5, that is, a first suction operation having a small suction force and the first suction operation. A second suction operation having a larger suction force and a longer suction time than the suction operation is performed. However, such two suction operations are performed only when the recording head 5 contains ink. When a suction operation is performed by the suction pump 42 in a state where the ink path between the recording head 5 and the ink cartridge 7 is filled with air, a large negative pressure is applied through the suction cap 41 to perform printing. When the ink of the head 5 is sucked at a stroke, the ink flows rapidly from the ink cartridge 7 toward the recording head 5 in a state of being mixed with air, and the ink foams, and This is because air bubbles are contained in the ink in the discharge channel of the ink channel 5. With the above-described configuration, the ink in the ink channel is expelled by the first suction operation while expelling the air in the ink channel. Inflow and subsequent second suction operation perform an operation of filling the recording head with ink, and a favorable ejection state is secured without generating the foaming described above. In particular, when the filter member 19 is provided at the connection portion between the recording head 5 and the ink cartridge 7 so that dust or the like does not move with the ink on the recording head 5 side as described above, the tendency of foaming is particularly remarkable. This is particularly effective in the present embodiment.

一連 A series of operations including the first and second suction operations are performed a plurality of times according to the purpose. For example, after the ink cartridge 7 is replaced, the printing is performed six times on the same recording head 5 continuously. The first series of operations includes the first and second suction operations, and introduces the ink into the recording head without foaming as described above. However, since the ink is not foamed after the second time, The first suction operation is extinguished, and only the second suction operation is repeated. By doing so, the recording head 5 can be reliably filled with new ink and can be ejected. The operation for recovering the ejection may be appropriately performed by the user's key operation as described above, or may be automatically performed by the printer based on a timekeeping operation. The number of times of repeating a series of operations (only the second suction operation with the first suction operation eliminated) can be determined according to the length. In this case, by eliminating the first suction operation, it is possible to save ink consumption and time due to the operation.

In the above-described embodiment, the time when the ink cartridge is replaced and the time when the ink cartridge is not replaced are determined based on the presence or absence of a signal from the detection switch 21, but the user may be able to select the key operation. Further, the suction pump means is not limited to one having two piston members, but may be one having one piston member. Furthermore, not only can the piston member be temporarily stopped or driven, but also the speed of the piston member can be changed by changing the rotation speed of the motor.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of an inkjet printer according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a connection portion between a recording head and an ink cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a relationship among a wiper member, a suction cap, a suction pump, and a cam member according to the present invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the suction pump which concerns on this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control unit of the inkjet printer. (A)-(j) is operation | movement explanatory drawing of a suction pump. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the rotation angle of a cam member and the operation of a suction cap, a wiper member, and a suction pump. It is explanatory drawing of the aspect of a change of the suction negative pressure by a suction pump means.

Explanation of reference numerals

Reference Signs List 1 inkjet printer 5 recording head 7 ink cartridge 14 LF motor 32 wiper member 41 suction cap 42 suction pump 43 cam member 43c cam groove 43d cam groove 52 pump casing 53 first piston member 54 second piston member 100 CPU
121 Switching mechanism

Claims (7)

A recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink to a recording medium, a suction pump having a suction cap that comes into contact with and detachable from a nozzle surface of the recording head, and suctioning ink of the recording head through the suction cap; A recovery unit for an ink jet printer comprising a control unit for driving and controlling the suction pump unit;
The suction pump unit includes a pump housing, a piston member movable in the pump housing, and configured to change the volume of a pump chamber that sucks ink through the suction cap, and a cam member that moves the piston member.
The cam member moves the piston member to perform a plurality of suction operations in a series of operations,
The control means controls the cam member to pass a first suction operation of the plurality of suction operations in the series of operations in a time period in which the first suction operation does not substantially perform the suction operation. And a suction mode in which the second suction operation is performed and a suction mode in which the first suction operation and the second suction operation are sequentially performed are selectively performed. apparatus. The cam member sequentially has a first portion performing the first suction operation and a second portion performing the second suction operation in a rotation direction of the cam member, and the control unit includes: 2. The ink jet printer recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the rotation of the cam member is controlled so as to pass the first portion at the time. 3. The control means stops the rotation of the cam member at the first portion when the first suction operation is performed, and the first portion when the first suction operation is not substantially performed. 3. The ink jet printer recovery device according to claim 2, wherein the rotation control is performed without stopping the operation. The pump housing has a suction port connected to the suction cap, and after the first suction operation and before the second suction operation, moves the suction port to the pump chamber with the piston member. The recovery device for an ink jet printer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cam member moves the piston member so as to close the piston member. The pump housing further has a discharge port, and the piston member includes first and second piston members that form the pump chamber therebetween,
In the first suction operation, the pump chamber is connected to the suction port, and after the first suction operation and before the second suction operation, the suction port is connected to the pump by the first piston member. Closing the discharge port with respect to the pump chamber with a second piston member, and closing the discharge port with the pump chamber with the second piston member in the second suction operation. 5. The ink jet printer recovery device according to claim 4, wherein the first and second piston members are moved by the cam member so as to connect the pump chamber to the suction port in a closed state. 6. The recovery device for an ink jet printer according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first suction operation and the second suction operation are suction operations having different suction forces and suction times. The control unit includes the first and second suction operations in one rotation of the cam member, rotates the cam member a plurality of times, and performs the first and second suction operations in that order at least in the first rotation. 7. The ink jet printer recovery device according to claim 6, wherein in the subsequent rotation, the first suction operation is passed and only the second suction operation is performed.

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