JP2004338223A - Ink-jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely remove ink left at a discharge face of a recording head at the maintenance time of the recording head. <P>SOLUTION: A maintenance mechanism 30 for carrying out maintenance of the recording head which discharges a photo-curing type ink from a predetermined discharge face is arranged at a home position of the ink-jet printer. The maintenance mechanism 30 has a first wiping device 40 for wiping the discharge face of the recording head by a wiping body 45 impregnated with a cleaning liquid 41, and a second wiping device 50 for wiping the discharge face of the recording head by a dry sheet material 51. At the maintenance time of the recording head, the discharge face of the recording head is first wiped by the wiping body 45 of the first wiping device 40, and then the discharge face of the recording head is wiped by the sheet material 51 of the second wiping device 50. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink jet printer, and more particularly, to a maintenance mechanism for performing maintenance of a recording head.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, the inkjet recording method has been applied to various printing fields such as special printing such as photographs, various printings, markings, and color filters because images can be created more easily and at lower cost than the gravure printing method. In particular, in the ink jet recording method, an ink jet printer of the ink jet recording method that discharges and controls fine dots, ink with improved color reproduction area, durability, and discharge suitability, ink absorption, color material coloring, surface gloss, etc. By combining this with a special paper that dramatically improves the image quality, it is possible to obtain image quality comparable to silver halide photography.
[0003]
By the way, conventional ink jet printers can be classified by the type of ink. That is, conventional inkjet printers include a phase-change inkjet system using a wax ink that is solid at room temperature, a solvent-based inkjet system that uses an ink mainly composed of a quick-drying organic solvent, and a photocurable ink that cures when irradiated with ultraviolet rays. There is a photo-curing type ink jet system used. Above all, the photo-curable ink jet system has a relatively low odor compared to other recording systems, and has attracted attention because it can be recorded on a recording medium other than specialty paper, which has a fast drying property and no ink absorption.
[0004]
In such a photo-curing type ink jet printer, an ultraviolet light source that emits ultraviolet light is mounted on a carriage in addition to a recording head that discharges ink as minute droplets onto the recording medium, and the ultraviolet light is applied to the recording medium. The carriage is moved while the light source is turned on, and the ink immediately after landing on the recording medium is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to immediately cure the ink (for example, see Patent Document 1). Then, when the image recording operation is temporarily suspended or terminated, the carriage moves to a predetermined position (home position) deviating from the transport path of the recording medium, and maintenance processing of the recording head is performed. In the maintenance process, in addition to idle discharge of ink from the print head and suction of ink from the print head, the ink remaining on the ink discharge surface of the print head (the surface where the ink discharge ports are formed) is completely removed. For wiping, the ink ejection surface of the recording head is wiped with a dry wiping member.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-60-132767
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when a recording medium having an uneven surface is used, when the flatness of the platen is not sufficiently maintained, or when the distance between the ink discharge surface of the recording head and the recording medium is large, the surface of the recording medium is The ultraviolet rays reflected by the recording head easily enter the ejection surface of the recording head. Therefore, when the image recording operation is performed for a long time, the viscosity of the ink gradually increases on the ejection surface of the recording head, and it is difficult to simply wipe the ink ejection surface of the recording head with a dry wiping body in the maintenance process. This makes it difficult to completely remove the ink remaining on the ejection surface of the recording head.
[0007]
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer that can reliably remove ink remaining on a discharge surface of a print head during maintenance of the print head.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an ink jet printer according to the first aspect of the present invention includes:
A recording head that ejects ink that is cured by light irradiation from a predetermined ejection surface,
A maintenance mechanism for performing maintenance of the recording head;
With
The maintenance mechanism has a first wiping device for wiping the ejection surface of the recording head with a wiping member impregnated with a cleaning liquid, and a second wiping device for wiping the ejection surface of the recording head with a dry wiping member. Yes,
During maintenance of the recording head by the maintenance mechanism, the ejection surface of the recording head is first wiped by the wiping member of the first wiping device, and thereafter, the ejection surface of the recording head is wiped by the wiping member of the second wiping device. It is characterized by being wiped.
[0009]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, at the time of maintenance of the recording head, the ejection surface of the recording head is first wiped by the wiping member of the first wiping device, and thereafter, the ejection surface of the recording head is wiped by the wiping member of the second wiping device. Therefore, first, the ink remaining on the ejection surface of the recording head can be wiped off with the wiping body while dissolving the ink remaining on the ejection surface of the recording head with the cleaning liquid soaked into the wiping body, and then the ink dissolved with the cleaning liquid is dried together with the cleaning liquid. It can be wiped off with a wiping body. According to the first aspect of the present invention, ink remaining on the ejection surface of the recording head during maintenance of the recording head can be reliably removed.
[0010]
The invention described in claim 2 is
The inkjet printer according to claim 1,
The wiping body of the first wiping device is mounted on a rotatable roller, and rotates while following the rotation of the roller in a state of being immersed in the cleaning liquid during maintenance of the recording head.
[0011]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the wiping member of the first wiping device rotates in a state of being immersed in the cleaning liquid during maintenance of the recording head. Therefore, the wiping member of the first wiping device is dried during maintenance of the recording head. Therefore, it is possible to always maintain the state in which the cleaning liquid is soaked.
[0012]
The invention according to claim 3 is:
The inkjet printer according to claim 1 or 2,
The wiping body of the first wiping device is made of a porous material.
[0013]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the wiping member of the first wiping device is made of a porous material, the first wiping device can easily impregnate the cleaning liquid over almost all portions of the wiping member.
[0014]
The invention described in claim 4 is
The inkjet printer according to claim 1 or 2,
The wiping body of the second wiping device is made of fibers having a fineness of 0.1 denier or less.
[0015]
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the wiping body of the second wiping device is made of ultrafine fibers having a fineness of 0.1 denier or less, the ink dissolved with the cleaning liquid of the first wiping device can be used. The cleaning liquid can be surely absorbed by the wiping body, and the ejection surface of the recording head can be prevented from being left unwiped.
[0016]
The invention according to claim 5 is
The inkjet printer according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The ink is a cationically polymerizable photocurable ink containing a cationically polymerizable compound as one main component.
[0017]
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the ink is a cationic polymerization-based photocurable ink, the ink can be cured with ultraviolet light having relatively low illuminance.
[0018]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of an ink jet printer according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of the invention is not limited to the illustrated example.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the inkjet printer 1.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 1, the inkjet printer 1 has an image recording unit 2 as a part for performing an image recording operation on a recording medium, and the image recording unit 2 performs various recording operations for recording an image on the recording medium. A system member is provided. The image recording unit 2 is partially covered with a long casing 3 having a polygonal left and right side surface and extending in the left and right direction. A rectangular opening 3a is formed on the front side of the housing 3 when viewed from the front, so that the recording operation in the image recording unit 2 can be visually recognized from the opening 3a. On the other hand, a slit-shaped carry-in port (not shown) for feeding a recording medium into the housing 3 is formed on the rear side of the housing 3.
[0020]
The image recording section 2 is provided with a long and flat platen 4 extending in the left-right direction. The platen 4 supports the recording medium in a sheet shape from the non-recording surface (the surface opposite to the recording surface).
[0021]
Although the recording medium is omitted in FIG. 1, the recording medium is fed from the rear entrance of the housing 3, and is unmounted on the platen 4 by a transport mechanism (not shown) provided inside the housing 3. While passing through the inside of the housing 3 from the rear to the front while being supported by the recording surface, it is carried out of the housing 3. That is, the recording medium is transported along the transport direction A so as to pass through the inside of the housing 3 by the transport mechanism.
[0022]
Above the platen 4, a long guide member 5 extending in the left-right direction inside the housing 3 is provided. A carriage 6 is supported on the guide member 5. The carriage 6 is scanable (movable) along a scanning direction B extending in the left-right direction while being guided and supported by the guide member 5.
[0023]
A state in which four recording heads 7 to 10 for ejecting inks of respective process colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (K) downward are arranged in a line on the carriage 6. It is equipped with. A plurality of nozzles (not shown) are arranged on the lower surface of each of the recording heads 7 to 10, and each of the recording heads 7 to 10 discharges ink from the nozzles as minute droplets. That is, in the present embodiment, the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10 are the ink ejection surfaces.
[0024]
On both left and right sides of a recording head group composed of four recording heads 7 to 10, ultraviolet irradiation mechanisms 11 and 12 for irradiating ultraviolet rays downward are provided, respectively. Each of the ultraviolet irradiation mechanisms 11 and 12 is provided with a linear ultraviolet light source that emits ultraviolet light. When the ultraviolet light sources are turned on, the ultraviolet irradiation mechanisms 11 and 12 can emit ultraviolet light downward. It has become. As an ultraviolet light source, LED (Light Emitting Diode), ultraviolet laser, xenon flash lamp, insect trap, black light, germicidal lamp, cold cathode tube, hot cathode tube, low pressure mercury lamp, high pressure mercury lamp, metal halide lamp, electrodeless ultraviolet A lamp or the like is applicable, and a light source other than these may be applied.
[0025]
In FIG. 1, on the left side of the platen 4, four ink tanks 23 to 26 for storing ink to be supplied to the four recording heads 7 to 10 are provided. The ink tanks 23 to 26 are respectively connected to recording heads 7 to 10 for discharging the colors of Y, M, C, and K via a supply member (not shown) such as a flexible tube. The ink corresponding to the color ejected by the recording heads 7 to 10 is supplied to the recording heads 7 to 10 from the ink tanks 23 to 26 that store the colors.
[0026]
In FIG. 1, the position on the right side of the platen 4 (the position on the right side in FIG. 1 covered with the housing 3) is a “home position” where the carriage 6 can move and pause. At the home position, a maintenance mechanism 30 for maintaining the recording heads 7 to 10 is provided.
[0027]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the maintenance mechanism 30, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the maintenance mechanism 30.
[0028]
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the maintenance mechanism 30 has a base member 31 that can move up and down in a vertical direction, on which various devices for performing maintenance of the recording heads 7 to 10 are mounted. On the upper part of the base member 31, a wet first wiping device 40 for wiping the lower surface of each of the recording heads 7 to 10 using the cleaning liquid 41, and a dry type for wiping the ink on the lower surface of the recording heads 7 to 10 with the dried sheet material 51 The second wiping device 50 and a suction device 60 for sucking ink from the lower surface of each of the recording heads 7 to 10 are provided. The first wiping device 40, the second wiping device 50, and the suction device 60 are arranged at positions separated from the platen 4 in this order.
[0029]
The first wiping device 40 has a container 42 for storing a cleaning liquid 41 and a wiping roller 43. The wiping roller 43 has a structure in which a cylindrical wiping body 45 is mounted on an outer peripheral portion of a roller 44 having a predetermined length, and an end of the roller 44 is rotatably attached to a side wall of the container 42. . A driving source such as a motor is connected to the roller 44, and the roller 44 rotates counterclockwise in FIG.
[0030]
The wiping member 45 is made of a sponge-like flexible porous material, and is made of, for example, a plastic polymer in which a plurality of air bubbles are continuously formed. A "porous material" is a heterogeneous material in which solids and voids are intimately mixed. With such a configuration, the wiping body 45 is excellent in absorbing liquid, and when the wiping body 45 comes into contact with a liquid such as the cleaning liquid 41, the liquid permeates almost all portions of the wiping body 45. .
[0031]
The container 42 stores a predetermined amount of the cleaning liquid 41. The lower side of the wiping body 45 is immersed in the cleaning liquid 41 stored in the container 42, and almost all portions of the wiping body 45 are soaked with the cleaning liquid 41. In addition, a supply mechanism (not shown) for supplying the pure cleaning liquid 41 and a drainage mechanism (not shown) for draining the polluted cleaning liquid 41 are connected to the container 42. In the present embodiment, the supply mechanism and the drainage mechanism operate in accordance with the use state of the cleaning liquid 41, and a predetermined amount of the cleaning liquid 41 having a purity higher than the standard is stored in the container 42. As a result, the lower side of the wiping member 45 is always immersed in the cleaning liquid 41, so that the cleaning liquid 41 can be maintained in a state in which almost all parts of the wiping member 45 are soaked.
[0032]
In addition, as the cleaning liquid 41, pure water, pure water to which a surfactant is added, or the like can be used. As the cleaning liquid 41, a liquid similar in properties to the ink ejected from each of the recording heads 7 to 10 is used. Preferably, a liquid containing the same components as the ink ejected from each of the recording heads 7 to 10 is used. The term “liquid having similar properties to ink” refers to a liquid that does not aggregate even when mixed with ink and does not significantly change properties such as viscosity and surface tension of the ink. In the present embodiment, examples of such a liquid (the cleaning liquid 41) include a liquid obtained by removing a coloring material such as a pigment and a dye and a photoinitiator from ink. Further, a preservative or the like may be added to the cleaning liquid 41 from the viewpoint of long-term storage of the cleaning liquid 41.
[0033]
The second wiping device 50 has an original winding roller 52 that winds a sheet material 51 as a wiping body and a winding roller 53 that winds the sheet material 51. Two driven rollers 54 and 55 for guiding the sheet material 51 are disposed between the original winding roller 52 and the winding roller 53 and at a position higher than the original winding roller 52 and the winding roller 53. ing.
[0034]
2 and 3, the sheet material 51 wound around the original winding roller 52 is guided to a winding roller 53 via driven rollers 54 and 55. A drive source such as a motor is connected to the winding roller 53, and the winding roller 53 is rotatable in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. When the take-up roller 53 rotates, the sheet material 51 is fed out from the original wind roller 52, and the fed sheet material 51 passes through the driven rollers 54 and 55 and is taken up by the take-up roller 53.
[0035]
The sheet material 51 is a woven fabric, a knitted fabric, a knitted fabric, a nonwoven fabric, or the like made of a fiber such as polyester, acrylic, or nylon, and has a fineness of 0.1 denier or less. For this reason, the sheet material 51 is excellent in absorptivity to liquid, and in the present embodiment, the ink and the cleaning liquid 41 can be absorbed quickly and efficiently.
[0036]
A pressing member 56 that presses the lower surface of the sheet material 51 hung between the driven rollers 54 and 55 is disposed between the driven rollers 54 and 55. The pressing member 56 is made of an elastic body such as a resin, and is movable in the left-right direction while pressing the lower surface of the sheet material 51 upward.
[0037]
The suction device 60 has four cap members 61 to 64. Each of the cap members 61 to 64 has a size enough to sufficiently cover the lower surface of the recording heads 7 to 10, and each of the cap members 61 to 64 is provided with a pump (not shown) via a tube (not shown). Are connected. In the suction device 60, a suction force can be transmitted to the cap members 61 to 64 via the tube by operating the pump. The tubes connected to the cap members 61 to 64 are guided to a waste ink tank (not shown) that stores the ink sucked from the cap members 61 to 64 as waste ink.
[0038]
In each of the first wiping device 40, the second wiping device 50, and the suction device 60, the upper surface of the wiping roller 43, the upper surface of the sheet material 51 hung between the driven rollers 54 and 55, and the respective caps Each member is arranged such that the upper surfaces of the members 61 to 64 are at substantially the same height position.
[0039]
As shown in FIG. 1, in the ink jet printer 1, the lower portion of the image recording unit 2 is supported by two inverted T-shaped legs 70, 70. Two reinforcing members 71, 71 for firmly supporting the own weight of the various members disposed in the image recording unit 2, the ink tanks 23 to 26, the maintenance mechanism 30, and the like are stretched between the legs 70. In addition, two casters 72 are arranged below each leg 70. With such a configuration, the inkjet printer 1 is movable in the front-rear direction or the left-right direction.
[0040]
Next, “ink” used in the present embodiment will be described.
The ink used in the present embodiment is a photocurable ink having a property of being cured by irradiation with ultraviolet rays, and is a polymerizable compound (including a known polymerizable compound such as an oxetane compound, an epoxy compound, and a vinyl ether compound). ), An ink containing a photoinitiator and a coloring material as main components.
[0041]
Photocurable inks are roughly classified into radical polymerizable inks containing radical polymerizable compounds and cationic polymerizable inks containing cationic polymerizable compounds as polymerizable compounds, and both inks are used in the present embodiment. Each of the inks can be applied as an ink to be used, and a hybrid ink obtained by combining a radical polymerization ink and a cationic polymerization ink may be applied as the ink used in the present embodiment.
[0042]
Next, the “recording medium” used in the present embodiment will be described.
The recording medium used in the present embodiment may be a recording medium that does not absorb ink, or may be a recording medium that absorbs ink. The term "non-absorbent", although it means that does not absorb ink composition, in this embodiment, substantially when transfer amount of the ink in the Bristow method is less than 0.1 ml / mm ² The recording medium having a density of 0 ml / mm ² is called a non-absorbing recording medium, and the other recording medium is called an absorptive recording medium.
[0043]
As the non-absorptive recording medium, for example, various resin films used for flexible packaging can be applied in addition to ordinary non-coated paper, coated paper, and the like. Specific types of resin for the resin film include polyethylene terephthalate, polyester, polyolefin, polyamide, polyesteramide, polyether, polyimide, polyamideimide, polystyrene, polycarbonate, poly-ρ-phenylene sulfide, polyetherester, and polyvinyl chloride. , Poly (meth) acrylate, polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, and the like, and further, a copolymer of these resins, a mixture of these resins, and a cross-linked product of these resins. The non-absorbing recording medium preferably has a surface energy within a range of 35 to 60 mN / m, and more preferably has a surface energy within a range of 40 to 60 mN / m. Examples of the absorbent recording medium include plain paper (copy paper) and high-quality paper.
[0044]
Next, the operation of the inkjet printer 1 will be described.
During the recording operation of the ink jet printer 1, the transport mechanism disposed inside the casing 3 is operated, and the recording medium sent into the casing 3 from the entrance of the casing 3 is moved to the inside of the casing 3. The sheet is transported in the transport direction A while the non-recording surface is supported by the platen 4 inside. Accordingly, the carriage 6 operates to reciprocate just above the recording medium in the scanning direction B, and the four recording heads 7 to 10 and the two ultraviolet irradiation mechanisms 11 and 12 follow the reciprocation of the carriage 6. .
[0045]
In this state, the recording heads 7 to 10 eject ink toward the recording surface of the recording medium, and the ultraviolet light sources of the ultraviolet irradiation mechanisms 11 and 12 are turned on to record the recording medium from the ultraviolet irradiation mechanisms 11 and 12. The surface is irradiated with ultraviolet light. Then, the ink discharged from each of the recording heads 7 to 10 lands on the recording surface of the recording medium and is irradiated with ultraviolet rays immediately after that. Thereby, the ink is immediately cured and fixed on the recording surface of the recording medium.
[0046]
Thereafter, the inkjet printer 1 repeats each of the above operations, and a desired image composed of countless dots of each process color is sequentially recorded on the recording surface of the recording medium.
[0047]
In the inkjet printer 1, in addition to performing the above-described recording operation, the carriage 6 moves to the home position every time a predetermined number of images are recorded, and maintenance of the four recording heads 7 to 10 by the maintenance mechanism 30 is performed. It is carried out.
[0048]
Before maintenance of the recording heads 7 to 10, the base member 31 of the maintenance mechanism 30 is waiting at the “initial position”, and the upper surface of the wiping roller 43 and the sheet material 51 hung between the driven rollers 54 and 55. And the height positions of the upper surfaces of the cap members 61 to 64 are slightly lower than the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10.
[0049]
Then, immediately before the carriage 6 moves to the home position, the base member 31 of the maintenance mechanism 30 rises from the “initial position” to the “maintenance position”. Then, the height positions of the upper surface of the wiping roller 43, the upper surface of the sheet material 51 hung between the driven rollers 54 and 55, and the upper surfaces of the cap members 61 to 64 are substantially the same as the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10. Placed in the position.
[0050]
Here, there are the following two patterns for the maintenance of each of the recording heads 7 to 10, and the maintenance of one of the patterns is selectively performed according to the use state of each of the recording heads 7 to 10.
[0051]
[Pattern 1]
In a state where the base member 31 is located at the “maintenance position”, the roller 44 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 3 and the carriage 6 moves right above the first wiping device 40, and the lower surface of each of the recording heads 7 to 10 Moves while contacting the upper surface (outer peripheral surface) of the wiping body 45 of the wiping roller 43 in the rotated state. As a result, the ink adhering and remaining on the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10 is wiped off by the wiping body 45 soaked with the cleaning liquid 41.
[0052]
Thereafter, when the carriage 6 moves right above the first wiping device 40 and moves right above the second wiping device 50, the take-up roller 53 rotates and the sheet material 51 moves in the moving direction of the carriage 6 (from left to right). Along the direction toward In this state, the pressing member 56 moves in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the carriage 6 (direction from right to left) while pressing the sheet material 51 against the lower surface of each of the recording heads 7 to 10. As a result, the ink adhering and remaining on the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10 is absorbed by the sheet material 51 together with the cleaning liquid 41, and the ink adhering and remaining on the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10 is wiped by the sheet material 51 together with the cleaning liquid 41. Taken.
[0053]
When the maintenance processing of each of the recording heads 7 to 10 by the first wiping device 40 and the second wiping device 50 is completed, the base member 31 moves down from the “maintenance position” to the “initial position”. Then, the carriage 6 moves from the home position to the platen 4 from right to left, and the image recording operation before the maintenance of each of the recording heads 7 to 10 is restarted.
[0054]
[Pattern 2]
In a state where the base member 31 is located at the “maintenance position”, the roller 44 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 3 and the carriage 6 moves right above the first wiping device 40, and the lower surface of each of the recording heads 7 to 10 Moves while contacting the upper surface (outer peripheral surface) of the wiping body 45 of the wiping roller 43 in the rotated state. As a result, the ink adhering and remaining on the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10 is wiped off by the wiping body 45 soaked with the cleaning liquid 41.
[0055]
Thereafter, when the carriage 6 moves right above the first wiping device 40 and moves right above the second wiping device 50, the take-up roller 53 rotates and the sheet material 51 moves in the moving direction of the carriage 6 (from left to right). Along the direction toward In this state, the pressing member 56 moves in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the carriage 6 (direction from right to left) while pressing the sheet material 51 against the lower surface of each of the recording heads 7 to 10. As a result, the ink adhering and remaining on the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10 is absorbed by the sheet material 51 together with the cleaning liquid 41, and the ink adhering and remaining on the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10 is wiped by the sheet material 51 together with the cleaning liquid 41. Taken.
[0056]
Thereafter, when the carriage 6 passes directly above the second wiping device 50 and moves directly above the suction device 60, the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10 are covered by four cap members 61 to 64, respectively, and the carriage 6 Stop at position. In this state, the pump operates to suck ink from the nozzles of the recording heads 7 to 10, and the recording heads 7 to 10 perform idle discharge of the ink toward the four cap members 61 to 64. The sucked or idle-discharged ink is collected in the waste ink tank while flowing through the tube as waste ink.
[0057]
Thereafter, the carriage 6 is moved from immediately above the suction device 60 to immediately above the second wiping device 50 again. Then, similarly to the above, the take-up roller 53 rotates, and the sheet material 51 is conveyed in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the carriage 6 (the direction from left to right). In this state, the pressing member 56 moves in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the carriage 6 (the direction from left to right) while pressing the sheet material 51 against the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10. As a result, the ink that has been suctioned or idle-discharged in the process of the suction device 60 and has adhered to and remains on the lower surface of each of the recording heads 7 to 10 is absorbed by the sheet material 51, and The attached ink is wiped off.
[0058]
When the maintenance processing of each of the recording heads 7 to 10 by the first wiping device 40, the second wiping device 50, and the suction device 60 is completed, the base member 31 is lowered from the “maintenance position” to the “initial position”. Then, the carriage 6 moves from the home position to the platen 4 from right to left, and the image recording operation before the maintenance of each of the recording heads 7 to 10 is restarted.
[0059]
In the ink jet printer 1 as described above, at the time of maintenance of the recording heads 7 to 10 by the maintenance mechanism 30, first, the lower surface of each recording head 7 to 10 is wiped by the wiping member 45 of the wiping roller 43 of the first wiping device 40. Since the ink is wiped off, the ink remaining on the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10 can be wiped off while dissolving out the ink remaining on the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10 with the cleaning liquid 41 soaked in the wiping body 45.
[0060]
In this case, since the wiping roller 43 rotates while the wiping member 45 is immersed in the cleaning liquid 41, the wiping member 45 can always be kept in a state of being soaked with the cleaning liquid 41 without being dried. Ink remaining on the lower surface of the ink 10 can be reliably dissolved.
[0061]
After the wiping operation by the first wiping device 40, the lower surface of each of the recording heads 7 to 10 is wiped by the sheet material 51 of the second wiping device 50. The sheet material 51 can be wiped off. With such a configuration, the ink jet printer 1 can reliably remove ink remaining on the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10 during maintenance of the recording heads 7 to 10.
[0062]
Also, in particular, in the second wiping device 50, since the sheet material 51 composed of ultrafine fibers having a fineness of 0.1 denier or less is applied as the wiping member, the ink dissolved by the cleaning liquid 41 is surely applied to the sheet together with the cleaning liquid 41. This can be absorbed by the material 51, so that the lower surfaces of the recording heads 7 to 10 can be prevented from being left unwiped.
[0063]
By the way, the ink (including radical polymerization type ink, cationic polymerization type ink and hybrid type ink) used in the present embodiment is cured by irradiation with ultraviolet rays as described above, but is not necessarily limited to this. Alternatively, the resin may be cured by irradiation with light other than ultraviolet light. The “light” in the present specification is light in a broad sense, and includes electromagnetic waves such as ultraviolet rays, electron beams, X-rays, visible rays, and infrared rays. That is, the ink used in the present embodiment is applied with a polymerizable compound that is polymerized and cured by light other than ultraviolet light, and a photoinitiator that starts a polymerization reaction between the polymerizable compounds with light other than ultraviolet light. Is also good. When a photo-curable ink that cures with light other than ultraviolet light is used as the ink used in the present embodiment, a light source for irradiating the light must be provided in each of the ultraviolet irradiation mechanisms 11 and 12.
[0064]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the ink remaining on the ejection surface of the recording head can be wiped off by the wiping body while the ink remaining on the ejection surface of the recording head is dissolved by the cleaning liquid soaked into the wiping body, and thereafter, the ink is dissolved by the cleaning liquid. The dried ink can be wiped off together with the cleaning liquid with a dry wiping body. With such a configuration, it is possible to reliably remove the ink remaining on the ejection surface of the recording head during maintenance of the recording head.
[0065]
According to the second aspect of the invention, at the time of maintenance of the recording head, it is possible to keep the cleaning liquid soaked without constantly drying the wiping body of the first wiping device.
[0066]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the first wiping device, the cleaning liquid can be easily soaked into almost all portions of the wiping body.
[0067]
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the ink dissolved by the cleaning liquid of the first wiping device can be reliably absorbed by the wiping body together with the cleaning liquid, and the ejection surface of the recording head can be prevented from being left unwiped. it can.
[0068]
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the ink can be cured with ultraviolet light having relatively low illuminance.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink jet printer.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a maintenance mechanism.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a maintenance mechanism.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inkjet printer 2 ... Image recording part 3 ... Housing 4 ... Platen 5 ... Guide member 6 ... Carriage 7-10 ... Recording heads 11, 12 ... Ultraviolet irradiation mechanisms 23-26 ... Ink tank 30 ... Maintenance mechanism 31 ... Base member 40 first wiping device 41 cleaning liquid 42 container 43 wiping roller 44 roller 45 wiping member 50 second wiping device 51 sheet material (wiping member)
52: original winding roller 53 ... winding rollers 54, 55 ... driven roller 56 ... pressing member 60 ... suction devices 61 to 64 ... cap member 70 ... leg 71 ... reinforcing member 72 ... caster

Claims (5)

A recording head that ejects ink that is cured by light irradiation from a predetermined ejection surface,
A maintenance mechanism for performing maintenance of the recording head;
With
The maintenance mechanism has a first wiping device for wiping the ejection surface of the recording head with a wiping member impregnated with a cleaning liquid, and a second wiping device for wiping the ejection surface of the recording head with a dry wiping member. Yes,
At the time of maintenance of the recording head by the maintenance mechanism, the ejection surface of the recording head is first wiped by the wiping member of the first wiping device, and then the ejection surface of the recording head is wiped by the wiping member of the second wiping device. An inkjet printer characterized by being wiped. The inkjet printer according to claim 1,
The wiping member of the first wiping device is mounted on a rotatable roller, and rotates while following the rotation of the roller while being immersed in the cleaning liquid during maintenance of the recording head. . The inkjet printer according to claim 1 or 2,
The wiping body of the first wiping device is made of a porous material. The inkjet printer according to claim 1 or 2,
The wiping body of the second wiping device is made of a fiber having a fineness of 0.1 denier or less. The inkjet printer according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the ink is a cationically polymerizable photocurable ink containing a cationically polymerizable compound as a main component.

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