JP2004255788A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the cost by simplifying a structure in relation to conveyance of a belt type wiping material. <P>SOLUTION: This cleaning device allows the belt type wiping material to slide on a nozzle face a2 of an inkjet head a1 for sequentially ejecting ink to a recording medium by being reciprocated in a direction of a scanning axis. The moving force of the inkjet head a1 is converted to a moving force of the belt type wiping material X. The belt type wiping material X is moved by the moving force at a moving speed different from that of the inkjet head a1 and is urged to the nozzle face a2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning by wiping liquid adhering to a nozzle tip.
[0002]
[Prior art]
An apparatus using an ink jet head is provided with a cleaning device so that clogging of the ink jet head does not occur due to drying of ink, adhesion of foreign matter, and the like on the ink projecting surface. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 06-255117 discloses such an ink jet head cleaning device. As described in this publication, a method of cleaning an inkjet head includes a method of wiping ink from a nozzle surface of an inkjet head with a wipe material and a method of absorbing ink from a nozzle surface by pressing an absorbing roller. is there. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-330074 discloses a technique for cleaning an ink jet head by using a blade as the wipe material.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-255117
[Patent Document 2]
JP 05-330074 A [0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, some of the above-mentioned cleaning devices use a band-shaped fabric or the like in addition to the cleaning device using a blade as a wipe material. The cleaning device using such a strip-shaped wipe material sequentially wipes out the ink and the like by sequentially sending out the strip-shaped wipe material wound around the supply roller at a predetermined speed and sliding it on the nozzle surface, and wipes the ink and the like. The wipe material is sequentially wound around a collection roller. Such a cleaning device requires a drive mechanism such as a feed motor for the strip-shaped wipe material and a control device for controlling the drive mechanism, and the structure is extremely complicated.
[0006]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has an advantage of simplifying a configuration relating to feeding of a strip-shaped wipe material and reducing costs.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, as a first means, a cleaning device that slides a band-shaped wipe material on a nozzle surface of an inkjet head that reciprocates in a scan axis direction and sequentially projects ink on a recording medium. There is a configuration in which the kinetic force of the ink jet head is converted into the feed kinetic force of the strip-shaped wipe material, and the feed kinetic force feeds the strip-shaped wipe material at a feed movement speed different from that of the ink jet head and presses the nozzle surface against the nozzle surface. Is adopted.
[0008]
Further, as a second means, there is provided a cleaning device which slides a band-shaped wipe material on a nozzle surface of an ink jet head which reciprocates in a scan axis direction and sequentially projects ink on a recording medium,
A pair of belt rollers opposed to each other in the scan axis direction;
A belt wound around the belt roller,
A receiving portion attached to a predetermined portion of the belt and receiving an end of the inkjet head;
A feed roller for feeding the strip-shaped wipe material by rotating the strip-shaped wipe material around the nozzle surface while pressing the strip-shaped wipe material,
A connecting unit that is inserted between the one belt roller and the feed roller, and connects the one belt roller and the feed roller only when the receiving unit is pressed by the end of the inkjet head;
Return means for returning the receiving portion to the initial position;
A wipe material supply roller for supplying a strip-shaped wipe material to a feed roller;
A configuration including a wipe material collecting roller for collecting the strip-shaped wipe material from the feed roller is employed.
[0009]
As a third means, in the second means, a configuration is adopted in which the belt-shaped wipe material is slid on the nozzle surface by setting one belt roller and the feed roller coaxially and with different diameters.
[0010]
As a fourth means, in the above second or third means, a configuration is adopted in which the feed roller is a rubber roller.
[0011]
As a fifth means, in any one of the above second to fourth means, a configuration is adopted in which the coupling means is a clutch.
[0012]
As a sixth means, in any of the above second to fifth means, a configuration is employed in which the return means is a spring.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a cleaning device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0014]
FIG. 1 is a front view (a) and a side view (b) showing a schematic configuration of the present embodiment. In these figures, reference numerals 1 and 2 denote belt rollers, 3 denotes a belt, 4 denotes a receiving portion, 5 denotes a spring (return means), 6 denotes a clutch (connecting means), 7 denotes a rubber roller (feed roller), and 8 denotes a wipe material supply. A roller 9 is a wipe material collecting roller, X is a strip-shaped wipe material, a1 is an inkjet head, a2 is a nozzle surface, and a3 is a support plate. The cleaning device includes a belt roller 1, a belt 3, a receiving portion 4, a spring 5, a clutch 6, a rubber roller 7, a wipe material supply roller 8, a wipe material recovery roller 9, and a belt-shaped wipe material X among these components. It is composed of
[0015]
First, the inkjet head a1 according to the present embodiment will be described. The inkjet head a1 is supported by a support plate a3 with the nozzle surface a2 as a lower surface, and is driven in a scan axis direction (lateral direction) by a driving device (not shown). Reciprocate. A large number of ejection holes for ejecting ink are formed on the nozzle surface a2, and the ink jet head a1 ejects ink toward the recording paper (recording medium) from the ejection holes while reciprocating in the scan axis direction. This prints characters and images on recording paper.
[0016]
As described above, the ink jet head a1 reciprocates in the scan axis direction, that is, repeats the movement from right to left → pause → movement from left to right → pause →... It is provided near the left end of the movement. The belt rollers 1 and 2 are provided in such a state that the rotation shafts are arranged in the vicinity of the left end in the scan axis direction, and the endless belt 3 is looped around. In the vicinity of the belt roller 1 on the belt 3, a plate-shaped receiving portion 4 is provided upright as shown in the figure. The receiving portion 4 is for receiving an end portion (left end portion) of the support plate a3 that moves in the scan axis direction together with the inkjet head a1, and its position is elastically regulated by a spring 5.
[0017]
The clutch 6 couples / disengages the transmission of the rotational force between the belt roller 1 and the rubber roller 7 provided on the same rotating shaft according to the rotational direction. That is, when the belt roller 1 rotates counterclockwise in the front view (a), the clutch 6 transmits the rotational force of the belt roller 1 to the rubber roller 7 to rotate the rubber roller 7 in the same rotation direction. When the belt roller 1 rotates clockwise while rotating clockwise, the rotational force of the belt roller 1 is not transmitted to the rubber roller 7 and the rubber roller 7 is left in a rotation stopped state.
[0018]
The rubber roller 7 is a long roller formed to have a slightly larger diameter than the belt roller 1. As shown in the figure, a belt-shaped wipe material X that is fed from a wipe material supply roller 8 and wound around a wipe material recovery roller 9 is wound around the rubber roller 7. The rotation axes of the rubber rollers 7 (that is, the belt rollers 1 and 2) are provided so as to be parallel to the rotation axes of the wipe material supply roller 8 and the wipe material recovery roller 9. The strip-shaped wipe material X wound around the wipe material supply roller 8 is sent out from the wipe material supply roller 8 with the rotation of the rubber roller 7 and is taken up by the wipe material recovery roller 9. The strip-shaped wipe material X is a woven fabric made of fine fibers.
[0019]
Next, the wiping operation of the cleaning device thus configured will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In the following description, the width of the inkjet head a1 in the scan axis direction is W1 as shown in FIG.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 2, when the left end of the support plate a3 comes into contact with the receiving portion 4 by moving the inkjet head a1 to the left, the left end of the nozzle surface a2 is positioned at the position A immediately above the rubber roller Is brought into a state of pressing and contacting the strip-shaped wipe material X located on the peripheral surface of the sheet. Then, the ink jet head a1 further moves leftward from this state by the dimension W2 (≧ W1), stops at the position B, and then moves rightward. Due to such movement of the ink jet head a1, the receiving portion 4 fixed on the belt 3 is pressed leftward by the support plate a3 and moves by the dimension W2 from the initial position.
[0021]
As a result, the belt rollers 1 and 2 rotate counterclockwise by an angle corresponding to the dimension W2 in accordance with the movement of the belt 3 to the left, and the rubber roller 7 also rotates counterclockwise at the same time. Then, by the rotation of the rubber roller 7, the strip-shaped wipe material X looped around the rubber roller 7 is fed out from the wipe material supply roller 8 and taken up by the wipe material recovery roller 9.
[0022]
Here, the nozzle surface a2, whose left end has contacted the band-shaped wipe material X at the position A, has a portion located on the right side from the left end continuously with the band-shaped wipe material X successively with the movement of the inkjet head a1 to the left. Press contact. Moreover, since the diameter of the rubber roller 7 is formed to be larger than the diameter of the belt roller 1, the moving speed of the nozzle surface a2 at the position A is lower than the moving speed (linear speed) of the strip-shaped wipe material X. That is, since the nozzle surface a2 moves at a speed different from the moving speed of the strip-shaped wipe material X at the position A, the entire surface slides on the strip-shaped wipe material X. As a result, the ink solidified on the nozzle surface a2 and the foreign matter adhering to the nozzle surface a2 are effectively wiped off by the belt-shaped wipe material X.
[0023]
On the other hand, the inkjet head a <b> 1 once stopped at the position B reversely moves rightward, and the receiving portion 4 returns to the initial position by the elastic action of the spring 5. As the receiving portion 4 moves, the belt rollers 1 and 2 rotate clockwise. However, since the rotation transmission between the belt roller 1 and the rubber roller 7 is released by the clutch 6, the rubber roller 7 rotates. Therefore, the strip-shaped wipe material X does not move.
[0024]
According to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to separately provide a drive mechanism such as a motor for feeding the strip-shaped wipe material X, so that the configuration of the cleaning device can be simplified, thereby reducing the cost of the cleaning device. It is possible to realize. In this embodiment,
[0025]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and for example, the following modifications are conceivable.
(1) The present invention is most characterized in that the belt-shaped wipe material is fed by using the kinetic force of the ink jet head reciprocating in the scan axis direction. That is, according to the present invention, the kinetic force of the ink jet head is converted into the feed kinetic force of the strip-shaped wipe material, and the feed kinetic force is used to feed the strip-shaped wipe material. In the present invention, by setting the speed (feeding movement speed) in the feeding motion of the strip-shaped wipe material to be different from the motion speed of the inkjet head, the nozzle surface slides on the strip-shaped wipe material, and the strip-shaped wipe material slides. The wipe material wipes off ink and foreign matter on the nozzle surface. Therefore, such a cleaning device configured without departing from the spirit of the present invention belongs to the scope of the present invention.
[0026]
(2) In the above embodiment, the moving speed of the nozzle surface a2 is made different from the moving speed (linear speed) of the belt-shaped wipe material X by making the diameters of the belt roller 1 and the rubber roller 7 provided on the same rotating shaft different. Thus, the strip-shaped wipe material X slides on the nozzle surface a2 with a very simple configuration. However, the means for making the two moving speeds different is not limited to the above means. For example, the moving speeds of the two may be made different by using a transmission formed by combining gears.
[0027]
(3) In the above embodiment, the feed roller is the rubber roller 7. However, the functional requirements of the feed roller are to reliably feed the strip-shaped wipe material X and to surely press the strip-shaped wipe material X into contact with the nozzle surface a2. It is to let. Therefore, a roller other than the rubber roller 7 may be used as long as such a functional requirement is satisfied.
(4) In the above embodiment, the clutch is used as the connecting means, but the present invention is not limited to this.
(5) In the above embodiment, a spring is used as the return means, but the present invention is not limited to this.
[0028]
(6) In the above embodiment, a woven fabric is used as the strip-shaped wipe material X, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, paper may be used in place of the woven fabric.
(7) Further, in the above-described embodiment, the strip-shaped wipe material X is sent in the same direction as the movement direction of the inkjet head a1, but the feed direction of the strip-shaped wipe material X is set with respect to the movement direction of the inkjet head a1. It may be set in the opposite direction. This is realized, for example, by adding a gear to the clutch 6 and rotating the belt rollers 1 and 2 and the rubber roller 7 in reverse.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a cleaning device that slides a band-shaped wipe material on a nozzle surface of an ink jet head that reciprocates in a scan axis direction and sequentially projects ink on a recording medium. The kinetic force is converted to the feed kinetic force of the strip-shaped wipe material, and the feed kinetic force is used to feed the strip-shaped wipe material at a feed movement speed different from the movement speed of the ink jet head and press it against the nozzle surface. There is no need to provide a separate drive mechanism. Therefore, the configuration of the cleaning device can be simplified, and the cost of the cleaning device can be reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view (a) and a side view (b) showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of a main part of one embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1, 2, belt roller 3, belt 4, receiving portion 5, spring (return means)
6. Clutch (connection means)
7. Rubber roller (feed roller)
8 wiping material supply roller 9 wiping material collection roller X wiping material a1 ink jet head a2 nozzle surface a3 support plate

Claims (6)

A cleaning device that slides a band-shaped wipe material on a nozzle surface of an inkjet head that reciprocates in a scan axis direction and sequentially projects ink on a recording medium,
The kinetic force of the inkjet head is converted into the feed kinetic force of the strip-shaped wipe material, and the feed kinetic force feeds the strip-shaped wipe material at a feed movement speed different from that of the inkjet head, and presses the nozzle surface against the nozzle surface. Cleaning device. A cleaning device that slides a band-shaped wipe material on a nozzle surface of an inkjet head that reciprocates in a scan axis direction and sequentially projects ink on a recording medium,
A pair of belt rollers opposed to each other in the scan axis direction;
A belt wound around the belt roller,
A receiving portion attached to a predetermined portion of the belt and receiving an end of the inkjet head;
A feed roller for feeding the strip-shaped wipe material by rotating the strip-shaped wipe material around the nozzle surface while pressing the strip-shaped wipe material,
A connecting unit that is inserted between the one belt roller and the feed roller, and connects the one belt roller and the feed roller only when the receiving unit is pressed by the end of the inkjet head;
Return means for returning the receiving portion to the initial position;
A wipe material supply roller for supplying a strip-shaped wipe material to a feed roller;
A cleaning device, comprising: a wipe material recovery roller configured to recover a strip-shaped wipe material from a feed roller. 3. The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the belt-shaped wipe material is slid on the nozzle surface by setting one of the belt roller and the feed roller to be coaxial and having different diameters. 4. The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the feed roller is a rubber roller. The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the connection unit is a clutch. The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the return unit is a spring.

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