JP2004174821A - Cap member and ink jet recorder using it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a cap member for hermetically sealing the ink ejection opening of a long recording head achieving high speed, high accuracy and high definition, and an ink jet recorder employing that cap member in which performance of a recording head can be sustained by hermetically sealing the ink ejection opening with a low pressing load and a uniform contact pressure when the cap member is pressed against the ink ejection surface. <P>SOLUTION: The cap member being applied tightly to the ink ejection surface has R-shaped corner parts on the short side and the long side at a rib part forming the opening of the cap wherein the waist part on the bottom surface of the cap is larger than the width of waist at the lower part on the long side of the rib. The ink ejection opening can be sealed hermetically with a low pressing load and a uniform contact pressure and the performance of a long recording head achieving high speed, high accuracy and high resolution can be sustained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus and a cap member thereof, the cap member being mounted so as to cover an ink ejection port of an ink jet recording head, and a recovery system for protecting the ink ejection port and preventing ink non-ejection of the recording head. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a cap member that can be used as an ink jet recording apparatus and an ink jet recording apparatus having the same.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A configuration that protects the discharge port of the recording head during long-term storage such as transport and storage (head protection member) for a recording head that is detachable from the inkjet recording device, and a configuration in which an elastic member is pressed against the discharge surface and sealed. (Head protection cap) is known. Further, an ink jet recording apparatus is provided at a position facing the recording head, and is attached to the ink ejection surface of the recording head during non-recording or when a recovery operation is required for the recording head (head protection, suction cap). These members are also required to protect the discharge ports without causing ink leakage against impact, vibration, or changes in environmental temperature.
[0003]
Briefly, FIG. 4 shows a configuration diagram of a recording head, a cap member, and a cap support member. 41 is a cap member, 42 is a cap support member, 43 is a pressing direction, 44 is a recording head, 45 is an ink ejection surface, and 46 is an ink ejection port. When the cap supporting member 42 is pressed, the cap member 41 comes into close contact with the ink ejection surface 45 and seals the ink ejection port 46.
[0004]
As a conventional cap member and its configuration, for example, a cap member (solid cap) which is elastically deformable and is in close contact with the ejection surface of the recording head, and which supports the cap member and adjusts the inclination between the ink ejection surface and the cap member. A configuration including a support mechanism for correcting the pressure and a pressing mechanism for pressing the cap member and the support member, and a cap member which is elastically deformable and is in close contact with the discharge surface of the recording head. A configuration including a cap member (waist type cap) having a waist portion for correcting the inclination with respect to the member, and a pressing mechanism for pressing and pressing the cap member can be provided. The above-described head protection members for the conventional recording head have been put to practical use and are satisfactory at present.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in recent years, ink jet recording apparatuses have been required to achieve higher printing speed, higher image quality, and higher definition. Therefore, the recording head also needs to be longer, for example, by increasing the number of nozzles arranged in one row, to have a higher density of nozzles, to have a smaller nozzle diameter, and the like.
[0006]
Here, in particular, for a long head in which the number of nozzles in one row is increased for high-speed operation, the ink ejection surface corresponding to the long head is brought into close contact with the nozzle, in order to increase the density of the nozzle and reduce the diameter of the nozzle. Attempts to apply a conventional waist cap having a different rib portion aspect ratio and its configuration may cause the following problems.
[0007]
In a conventional waist type cap having different aspect ratios of rib portions, the contact pressure generated by pressing against the ink ejection surface tends to be higher at the rib portion R-shaped portion and the short side portion. Conventional recording heads have such a structure that the contact pressure can be made non-uniform, and the cap can be sealed. However, in recent recording heads, the head structure has been increased due to higher density and smaller nozzle diameter. In the conventional waist-type cap and its configuration described above, when pressed against the ink ejection surface, a strong force is locally applied to the ejection surface, and the head is deformed, resulting in high deformation. There is a possibility that image quality and high definition recording cannot be performed. Therefore, when the pressing load is reduced, there is even a risk that the cap member may not be able to seal the ink discharge port due to the uneven contact pressure.
[0008]
From the above, it is necessary to suppress the deformation of the head and seal the ink discharge port for the long print head that achieves high speed, high image quality and high definition in recent years. In addition, a cap member and an ink jet recording apparatus that can secure the sealing property with a uniform contact pressure are required.
[0009]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a cap member capable of sealing an ink discharge port with a uniform contact pressure with a small pressing load and an ink jet recording apparatus using the same.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a cap member and an ink jet recording apparatus having the following configurations.
[0011]
[1]: A cap member that can be in close contact with the periphery of an ink ejection port of a recording head used in an ink jet recording apparatus that ejects ink to perform recording on a recording material, and is in close contact with the ink ejection surface on the bottom surface of the cap. A cap member having a waist portion wider than a rib portion forming a cap opening portion and having a mechanism for absorbing a tilt generated between an ink ejection surface and a rib surface due to elastic deformation of the waist portion and sealing the ink ejection port. A cap member having a short side, a long side, and an R shape at a corner portion, and a waist width at a lower portion of the short side of the rib is larger than a waist width at a lower portion of the long side of the rib.
[0012]
[2]: The cap member according to [1], wherein the cap member is formed of chlorinated butyl or silicone rubber.
[0013]
[3]: The cap member according to [1], wherein the length of the rib long side portion is 1.5 times or more the length of the rib short side portion. When this ratio is 5 times or more, it is desirable that the waist width at the lower portion of the rib short side portion of the cap member described in [1] be 1.5 times or more the waist width at the lower portion of the rib long side portion. .
[0014]
[4] The cap member according to [1], wherein the cross section of the short side portion, the long side portion, and the R portion of the rib has a substantially semicircular convex shape.
[0015]
[5]: An ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording material using a recording head that discharges ink, wherein the cap is capable of closely sealing the ink discharge port around the ink discharge port of the recording head. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a member and a cap support member for supporting the cap member, wherein the cap member is supported and pressed by the cap support member on the outside of the waist portion of the bottom surface of the cap.
[0016]
(Action)
According to the present invention, the rib portion forming the cap opening that is in close contact with the ink ejection surface has short sides, long sides, and R-shapes at the corners. By making the shape larger than the waist width at the lower part of the long side of the rib and applying it as a cap member, the ink ejection port can be sealed with a uniform contact pressure with a small pressing load, and high speed, high precision, and high definition With respect to a long recording head that achieves the above, the sealing of the ink ejection ports is achieved while maintaining the above performance.
[0017]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0018]
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a cap member according to the present invention and a support member that supports and presses the cap member. In FIG. 1, 11 is a cap member, 12 is a support member for supporting and pressing the cap member, 13 is a cap waist portion, 14 is a cap rib portion, 15 is a long side of the cap rib portion, 16 is a cap rib R-shaped portion, 17 Is a short side of the cap rib portion. FIG. 2 is a YZ sectional view of the cap member of the present invention. 11 is a cap member, 12 is a support member, 21 is a cap waist portion L1 on the short side, and 14 is a cap rib portion. FIG. 3 shows an XZ sectional view of the cap member of the present invention. 11 is a cap member, 12 is a support member, 31 is a cap waist portion L2 on the long side, and 14 is a cap rib portion.
[0019]
In the present embodiment, in the cap member YZ sectional view shown in FIG. 2 and the cap member XZ sectional view shown in FIG. 3, the waist width L1 of the waist portion 21 shown in FIG. The waist width L2 of the portion 31 was set to 0.50 mm. That is, the cap member is such that the relationship between the waist width L1 on the lower side of the cap rib portion and the lower waist width L2 on the long side of the cap rib portion satisfies L1> L2. Also, the length of the cap rib short side 17 shown in FIG. 1 is 2.5 mm, the length of the cap rib long side 15 is 18.4 mm, that is, the length of the rib long side is the length of the rib short side. This is an example in the case where the shape is about seven times as large as the above, and the radius of curvature of the cap rib R-shaped portion 16 is 1.25 mm. Chlorinated butyl was used as the cap material, and a pressing load of 3 N was applied to the support member.
[0020]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a deformed state of a cap member in an apparatus to which the configuration of the present invention described above is applied. Reference numeral 51 denotes a short side cap waist portion L1 and 52 denotes a long side cap waist portion L2. The cap member is pressed from the outside of the waist portion of the cap by the pressing load on the cap support member, and the cap rib surface is in close contact with the ink ejection surface while the cap waist portion is elastically deformed. It has become.
[0021]
In this state, the contact pressure distribution on the outer periphery of the cap rib portion in close contact with the ink ejection surface is as shown in FIG. The contact pressure distribution shown in FIG. 7 shows an example of the contact pressure distribution on the outer periphery of the cap rib of the cap member 1/4 shown in FIG. 6 due to the symmetry of the cap member. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 61 denotes a region around the long side of the cap rib, 62 denotes a region around the R-shaped portion of the cap rib, and 63 denotes a region around the short side of the cap rib. The area 61 on the outer periphery of the long side of the cap rib and the area 63 on the outer side of the short side of the cap rib are 領域 of the cap member. . In FIG. 7, reference numeral 71 denotes a region on the long side of the cap rib, 72 denotes a region on the R-shaped portion of the cap rib, and 73 denotes a region on the short side of the cap rib.
[0022]
In a device of a conventional configuration to which a cap member in which the waist width of the cap waist satisfies the relationship of L1 = L2 = 0.5 mm is applied, the contact pressure distribution on the outer periphery of the cap rib portion which is in close contact with the ink ejection surface due to a pressing load of 3N. Is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 81 denotes a region on the long side of the cap rib, 82 denotes a region on the R-shaped portion of the cap rib, and 83 denotes a region on the short side of the cap rib. Further, in a device having a conventional configuration in which a cap member (L1 = 0.25 mm, L2 = 0.5 mm) in which the waist width of the cap waist portion described above satisfies the relationship of L1 <L2, the pressing load 3N FIG. 9 shows the contact pressure distribution of the cap rib portion in close contact with the ink ejection surface. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 91 denotes a region on the long side of the cap rib, 92 denotes a region on the R-shaped portion of the cap rib, and 93 denotes a region on the short side of the cap rib.
[0023]
FIG. 10 is a graph for comparing the contact pressure distribution on the outer periphery of the cap rib portion with the above-described configuration of the present invention and the contact pressure distribution on the outer periphery of the cap rib portion with the conventional configuration. 10, 101 is the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value in the contact pressure distribution in the configuration L1> L2 of the present invention, 102 is the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value in the contact pressure distribution in the conventional configuration L1 = L2, 103 is a difference between the maximum value and the minimum value in the contact pressure distribution in the conventional configuration L1 <L2. The length of the short side of the cap rib of the cap member is 2.5 mm, the length of the long side of the cap rib is 18.4 mm, the radius of curvature of the R-shaped portion of the cap rib is 1.25 mm, that is, the long side of the rib. Is about 7 times the length of the short side of the rib. Chlorinated butyl is used for the cap material. The pressing load on the support member is 3N.
[0024]
In the conventional configuration in which the cap waist width L1 <L2 (L1 = 0.25 mm, L2 = 0.5 mm), the difference 103 between the maximum value and the minimum value of the contact pressure is 0.152 MPa, and the cap waist width L1 = L2. While the difference 102 between the maximum value and the minimum value of the contact pressure in the configuration (L1 = L2 = 0.5 mm) is 0.097 MPa, the configuration of the present invention in which the cap waist width L1> L2 (L1 = 0. (75 mm, L2 = 0.5 mm), the difference 101 between the maximum value and the minimum value is 0.063 MPa.
[0025]
From the above and FIG. 10, in the conventional waist type caps having different aspect ratios of the rib portions, the contact pressure generated by pressing against the ink ejection surface becomes higher at the rib portion R-shaped portion and the shorter side portion. In the cap member, the waist width L1 of the cap waist portion on the short side is made longer than the waist width L2 of the cap waist portion on the long side, and the cap waist portion on the short side is easily deformed. By reducing the contact pressure at the R-shaped part and the short side part, a structure is obtained in which a uniform contact pressure distribution can be obtained. In other words, it can be said that the contact surface is in close contact with the ink ejection surface with a uniform contact pressure.
[0026]
10, the minimum value of the contact pressure in the conventional configuration where the cap waist width L1 <L2 is 0.169 MPa, and the minimum value of the contact pressure in the conventional configuration where the cap waist width L1 = L2 is 0.185 MPa. On the other hand, the minimum value of the contact pressure in the configuration of the present invention in which the cap waist width L1> L2 is 0.197 MPa.
[0027]
From this, for the same pressing load, the minimum value of the contact pressure in the configuration of the present invention is larger than the minimum value of the contact pressure in the conventional configuration. The device having the above configuration can seal the ink ejection port with a smaller pressing load than the device having the conventional configuration.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the cap rib portion that is in close contact with the ink ejection surface has the short side, the long side, and the R-shape at the corner, and the waist width below the rib short side portion of the cap waist portion. The shape is larger than the waist width at the lower part of the long side of the rib, and by using this as a cap member, the ink ejection port can be sealed with a uniform contact pressure with a small pressing load. It is possible to provide a cap member capable of sealing an ink discharge port while maintaining the above-described performance with respect to a long recording head that achieves high definition, and an ink jet recording apparatus using the same.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cap member and a support member for fixing and supporting the cap member according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a YZ sectional view of a cap member and a support member for fixing and supporting the cap member according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an XZ sectional view of a cap member and a support member for fixing and supporting the cap member according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a recording head, a cap member, and a cap support member.
FIG. 5 shows a deformed state of the cap member of the present invention in which the cap waist width L1 = 0.75 mm and L2 = 0.5 mm.
FIG. 6 shows the shape of a quarter part of a cap member according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 shows a contact pressure distribution on the outer periphery of a cap rib portion of the cap member of the present invention in which the cap waist width L1 = 0.75 mm and L2 = 0.5 mm.
FIG. 8 shows a contact pressure distribution on the outer periphery of a cap rib portion of a conventional cap member having a cap waist width L1 = 0.5 mm and L2 = 0.5 mm.
FIG. 9 shows a contact pressure distribution on the outer periphery of a cap rib portion in a cap member having a conventional configuration in which a cap waist width L1 = 0.25 mm and L2 = 0.5 mm.
FIG. 10 shows the contact pressure distribution outside the cap rib portion of the cap member in the configuration of the present invention and the conventional configuration.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Cap member 12 Support member 13 Cap waist part 14 Cap rib part 15 Cap rib part long side 16 Cap rib R-shaped part 17 Cap rib part short side 21 Short side cap waist part 31 Long side cap waist part 41 Cap member Reference numeral 42 Support member 43 Pressing direction 44 Ink head 45 Ink ejection surface 46 Ink ejection port 61 Area around outer periphery of long side of cap rib part 62 Area around outer periphery of cap rib R-shaped part 63 Area around outer periphery of short side of cap rib part 71 Cap rib part length Area of side part 72 Area of cap rib part R shape part 73 Area of cap rib part short side part 81 Area of cap rib part long side part 82 Area of cap rib part R shape part 83 Area of cap rib part short side part 91 Cap Region 92 on the long side of the rib region Region on the R-shaped portion of the cap rib portion 3 Region 101 of Short Side of Cap Rib Difference between Maximum and Minimum in Contact Pressure Distribution at L1> L2 102 Difference between Maximum and Minimum in Contact Pressure Distribution at L1 = L2 103 Contact at L1 <L2 Difference between maximum and minimum values in pressure distribution

Claims (5)

A cap member which can be in close contact with a peripheral portion of an ink ejection port of a recording head used in an ink jet recording apparatus which performs recording on a recording material by discharging ink,
The bottom of the cap has a waist wider than the rib that forms the cap opening that is in close contact with the ink ejection surface. The elastic deformation of this waist absorbs the inclination between the ink ejection surface and the rib surface, and seals the ink ejection opening. In a cap member having a mechanism for performing
A cap member, wherein a rib portion has a short side, a long side, and an R shape at a corner portion, and a waist width at a lower portion of the rib short side portion is larger than a waist width at a lower portion of the rib long side portion. The cap member according to claim 1, wherein the cap member is formed of chlorinated butyl or silicone rubber. 2. The cap member according to claim 1, wherein the length of the long side of the rib is at least 1.5 times the length of the short side of the rib. 2. The cap member according to claim 1, wherein the cross section of the short side portion, the long side portion, and the R portion of the rib has a substantially semicircular convex shape. An ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording material using a recording head that discharges ink,
A cap member that is in close contact with the periphery of the ink ejection port of the recording head and is capable of sealing the ink ejection port; and a cap supporting member that supports the cap member, wherein the cap member caps the outer periphery of the cap waist portion. An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein a uniform load is applied to an outer periphery of a cap waist portion by a load which is supported and fixed by a support member and is applied to the cap support member.

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