JP2005205766A - Inkjet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent various instruments from being stained and images from deteriorating caused by diffusion of ink mist generated during discharging of ink droplets into the inside of an inkjet recording apparatus in the inkjet recording apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A recovering hole 32 is provided along the moving direction of a carriage 12 approximately on the same plane as a nozzle face 28 on the upstream side in the carrying direction of a recording paper P of the carriage 12 mounting a recording head 14. A flexible duct 36 is connected to the recovering hole 32 through a recovering duct 34 arranged along the back face of the carriage. The flexible duct 36 is provided along a flexible cable 38 feeding an electric signal and is connected to an air suction fan 42 provided on a body frame 40. The flexible duct 36 is deformed accompanied with a moving position of the carriage 12, and does not disturb a reciprocating movement of the carriage 12. The flexible duct 36 and the recovering duct 34 are made into a negative pressure by rotating an air suction fan 42, and air is sucked from the recovering hole 32. Therefore, the ink mist generated from the recording head immediately after printing can be rapidly recovered. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that records an image (including characters, hereinafter the same) by ejecting ink droplets onto a recording medium such as paper, and more specifically, ink mist generated when ink droplets are ejected. The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus provided with the recovery means.

  Conventionally, a recording head is mounted on a carriage that reciprocates in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium, and the conveyance of the recording head is repeated while alternately conveying the recording medium every predetermined pitch and reciprocating the carriage. 2. Related Art An ink jet recording apparatus that discharges ink droplets from nozzles and records an image based on image data on a recording medium is known.

  Since this type of ink jet recording apparatus is a system in which ink droplets are ejected from a nozzle and recorded on a recording medium, when ink droplets are ejected, mist-like minute ink particles (hereinafter referred to as “ink mist”). ") Occurs. This ink mist is scattered inside the ink jet recording apparatus, and there is a problem that various devices such as a recording medium and an encoder are contaminated. In addition, if the ink mist is deposited while adhering to various devices in the ink jet recording apparatus, there is a risk of causing trouble such as malfunction.

  Therefore, conventionally, ink jet recording apparatuses are provided with ink mist collection means as a measure for preventing ink mist from scattering.

As the ink mist collecting means, for example, an outside air introduction duct and a blower fan are arranged on one side in the left-right width direction of the ink jet recording apparatus, and a relay duct, a suction fan and an exhaust duct are arranged on the other side, respectively. Those arranged in order along the line have been proposed. In this configuration, the air blown from the upstream side to the downstream side in the transport direction of the recording medium is generated by the blowing fan upstream from the recording head and the suction fan downstream from the recording head, and the air containing the ink mist is removed from the recording medium. The air is sucked into the discharge duct in the discharge direction and discharged to the outside from the exhaust duct (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 11-138777 A

  However, since the ink mist collecting means having such a configuration generates an air flow from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the recording medium in the area facing the recording head, the ink mist is efficiently discharged immediately after printing. It is difficult to collect. That is, since the ink mist diffused downstream in the apparatus is collected by the relay duct due to the airflow generated in the area facing the recording head, various devices such as the encoder are contaminated by the diffused ink mist. Can not be prevented. For this reason, the image quality is deteriorated due to contamination of various devices and recording media, and problems such as contamination of the user's hand touching the apparatus due to replacement of consumable parts occur.

  In addition, in the configuration in which the outside air introduction duct, the relay duct, and the like are provided on both sides in the left-right width direction of the inkjet recording apparatus as described above, ink mist cannot be collected immediately after printing in accordance with the movement of the reciprocating carriage. . Moreover, the installation space of each duct is needed and there also exists a problem that the whole apparatus enlarges.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an ink jet recording apparatus capable of efficiently collecting ink mist immediately after printing corresponding to the reciprocating movement of the carriage without increasing the size of the entire apparatus. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 includes a conveying unit that conveys a recording medium, a recording head that ejects ink droplets from nozzles onto the recording medium, and the recording head that is connected to the recording medium. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a carriage that reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction; and an ink mist that is opened along the moving direction of the carriage on substantially the same plane as the nozzle surface and that is generated by ejection of ink droplets. A suction port, a flexible duct serving as a suction flow path for ink mist sucked from the recovery port, and an air suction fan provided in a main body frame on the downstream side of the duct are characterized.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the inside of the duct is set to a negative pressure by the air suction fan, so that ink mist generated when ink droplets are ejected is sucked into the duct from the recovery port. At this time, since the recovery port is provided on the substantially same surface as the nozzle surface along the carriage moving direction, the ink mist generated from the nozzles does not diffuse immediately after the carriage is reciprocated and immediately after printing. Is sucked into the recovery port.

  Also, since the ink mist suction flow path is a flexible duct, even if the duct is connected between the carriage and the air suction fan of the main body frame, the duct easily deforms depending on the position of the carriage, and the carriage There is no hindrance to the reciprocal movement. For this reason, it is possible to arrange a duct corresponding to the reciprocating movement of the carriage, and the provision of the duct prevents the entire apparatus from being enlarged. In addition, since the weight of the carriage is not increased, high-speed printing can be handled.

  As described above, since the ink mist generated from the nozzle can be promptly recovered from the recovery port immediately after printing, the occurrence of stains and image quality deterioration of various devices due to the diffusion of the ink mist is prevented.

  Furthermore, since the collection port opens along the carriage movement direction, ink mist generated from each print head can be collected quickly even when multiple print heads are mounted in the carriage movement direction. It becomes.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect, the duct is provided along a flexible cable that supplies an electric signal to the recording head.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the duct is provided along the flexible cable for supplying an electric signal to the recording head, the recovery port provided in the carriage and the air suction fan provided in the main body frame are provided. Even if the ducts are connected to each other, the ducts can be efficiently arranged in the apparatus. For this reason, it can be avoided more reliably that the duct hinders the reciprocating movement of the carriage, and the entire apparatus can be reduced in size.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to the first or second aspect, the duct is provided along an ink tube that supplies ink to the recording head.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the duct is provided along the ink tube that supplies ink to the recording head, the duct can be efficiently arranged in the apparatus. For this reason, it can be avoided more reliably that the duct hinders the reciprocating movement of the carriage, and the entire apparatus can be reduced in size.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to the first to third aspects, the recovery port is provided behind the nozzle in the conveyance direction of the recording medium. .

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the recovery port is provided behind the nozzle in the recording medium conveyance direction, the duct is shortened by disposing the air suction fan behind the main body frame. Therefore, the duct can be efficiently arranged in the apparatus. Further, even when a plurality of recording heads are mounted in the carriage moving direction, the duct can be efficiently arranged in the apparatus, and the recording head can be downsized and the entire apparatus can be downsized.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to the second to fourth aspects, the cross section of the duct is a rectangular shape that is long in the width direction of the flexible cable.

  According to the invention described in claim 5, by making the cross section of the duct a rectangular shape that is long in the width direction of the flexible cable, the thickness of the duct can be reduced and the arrangement space can be reduced, and the entire apparatus can be downsized. Is possible. In addition, the duct can be easily deformed in the thickness direction, and the duct can be more reliably avoided from being obstructed when the carriage is reciprocated.

  According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, ink mist generated by ejection of ink droplets can be quickly collected immediately after printing without increasing the size of the entire apparatus. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the ink mist from diffusing in the apparatus, and it is possible to prevent the various devices from being stained and the image quality from being deteriorated.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, the outline of the inkjet recording apparatus 10 will be described first, and then the main part according to the present invention will be described. The recording medium will be described as recording paper P. 1 and 6, the direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the recording paper P in the inkjet recording apparatus 10 is the main scanning direction (represented by an arrow M), and the transport direction of the recording paper P is represented by the sub-scanning direction (represented by an arrow S). ).

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the inkjet recording apparatus 10 includes a carriage 12 on which a recording head 14 described later is mounted. A shaft 16 is installed in the main scanning direction M on the upstream side of the recording head 14 in the conveyance direction of the recording paper P. The carriage 12 is movably supported on the shaft 16 by inserting the shaft 16 through a through hole 13 formed in the rear portion thereof, and is approximately 1.0 m / min by a main scanning mechanism (not shown). The reciprocating movement in the main scanning direction M is possible at a high speed.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the inkjet recording apparatus 10 is provided with a paper feed tray 22 for storing recording paper P before image printing in a bundle, and above the paper feed tray 22, A paper discharge tray 24 for discharging the recording paper P on which an image is printed by the recording head 14 is provided. Then, the recording paper P is fed one by one from the paper feed tray 22, and the recording paper P is conveyed at a predetermined pitch in the sub-scanning direction S in the area facing the recording head 14 by a sub-scanning mechanism (not shown). Is done.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a recording head 14 for each color of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow is mounted on the carriage 12 in a replaceable manner. As shown in FIG. 2, the recording heads 14 for the respective colors are mounted on the carriage 12 so that the nozzle surface 28 having a plurality of nozzles of the recording head 14 faces the recording paper P.

  An encoder 50 is stretched in the main scanning direction M behind the carriage 12 (downstream in the conveyance direction of the recording paper P). As shown in FIG. 3, an optical reading sensor 52 that detects the scale of the encoder 50 is provided on the back side of the carriage 12. The position of the carriage 12 is detected by the reading sensor 52, and the ejection timing of ink droplets from the recording head 14 is controlled by a control device (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 6, the inkjet recording apparatus 10 is provided with a control panel 26 for performing various settings during printing. A maintenance device 46 that performs a dummy jet of the nozzles of the recording head 14 is provided at the standby position of the carriage 12. An openable / closable cover 56 (only part of which is shown) is provided above the main scanning area of the carriage 12.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an ink mist collecting mechanism 30 that collects ink mist is provided upstream of the nozzle surface 28 of the recording head 14 in the conveyance direction of the recording paper P.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ink mist collection mechanism 30 is provided with a collection port 32 for sucking ink mist on substantially the same surface as the nozzle surface 28 on the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the recording paper P. . The collection port 32 is opened along the main scanning direction M of the carriage 12 and is a rectangular opening having substantially the same length as the entire width of the four nozzle surfaces 28 in the main scanning direction M.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a cylindrical collection duct 34 that is bent along the back surface of the carriage 12 (upstream in the conveyance direction of the recording paper P) is connected to the collection port 32. The collection duct 34 is fixedly supported by the carriage 12 with the shaft 16 inserted through the through hole 13 interposed therebetween. The recovery duct 34 has a substantially quadrangular shape with a cross-section substantially the same size as the recovery port 32, and as shown in FIG. 3, the recovery duct 34 passes through an opening 35 provided on the main scanning region side behind the carriage 12. Are connected to the flexible duct 36.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 5, the flexible duct 36 is connected to the recording head 14 on the rear side of the main scanning area of the carriage 12 (upstream in the conveyance direction of the recording paper P), and to the recording head 14. It is provided along the flexible cable 38 that supplies. The flexible duct 36 and the flexible cable 38 are integrally formed, one end extends from the carriage 12 and is curved in a belt shape, and the other end is formed from an opening 41 formed near the center in the width direction of the main body frame 40. Is derived outside. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the main body frame 40 is omitted for easy understanding of the shape of the flexible cable 38.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cross section of the flexible duct 36 has a substantially rectangular shape that is long in the width direction of the flexible cable 38. The flexible duct 36 is formed of an elastically deformable synthetic resin, and the flexible duct 36 and the flexible cable 38 can be easily deformed according to the movement position of the carriage 12. For this reason, there is no hindrance when the carriage 12 reciprocates.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the flexible duct 36 and the flexible cable 38 led out from the opening 41 of the main body frame 40 extend along the back surface of the main body frame 40. The downstream side of the flexible duct 36 is connected to an air suction fan 42 provided on the main body frame 40. The flexible cable 38 is connected to a main body base (not shown) of the inkjet recording apparatus 10.

  The air suction fan 42 sucks air from the recovery port 32 by rotating the flexible duct 36 and the recovery duct 34 to a negative pressure by rotation. Thus, ink mist generated when ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles (not shown) of the recording head 14 can be sucked from the recovery port 32 together with air.

  The ink mist collecting operation is set to be performed by rotating the air suction fan 42 during the printing operation by the recording head 14. Alternatively, after the printing operation by the recording head 14 is finished, the carriage 12 may be dummy scanned over the entire printing area at a speed slower than the normal printing speed, and the ink mist collecting operation may be performed. Further, when the maintenance device 46 recovers the nozzles of the recording head 14 (dummy jet), the ink suction fan 42 is rotated most strongly to perform the ink mist collecting operation.

  Next, the operation of the ink jet recording apparatus 10 will be described.

  The recording paper P is conveyed at a predetermined pitch in the sub-scanning direction S in the area facing the recording head 14 by a sub-scanning mechanism (not shown). The recording head 14 mounted on the carriage 12 causes ink droplets to be ejected from the nozzles (not shown) to the recording paper P while moving in the main scanning direction M on the shaft 16 by a main scanning mechanism (not shown). By discharging, an image is recorded with a predetermined bandwidth.

  When one movement of the recording head 14 in the main scanning direction is completed, the recording paper P is conveyed at a predetermined pitch in the sub-scanning direction S, and the recording head 14 moves again in the main scanning direction M, while An image is recorded with the width. By repeating such an operation a plurality of times, an image based on the image data is recorded on almost the entire surface of the recording paper P.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus 10 as described above, the ink mist collecting operation is performed as follows.

  During the printing operation by the recording head 14, the air suction fan 42 is rotated. Further, after the printing operation by the recording head 14 is completed, the air suction fan 42 may be rotated by performing a dummy scan of the carriage 12 over the entire printing area at a speed slower than the normal printing speed. By rotating the air suction fan 42, the inside of the flexible duct 36 and the recovery duct 34 is set to a negative pressure, and air is sucked from the recovery port 32. The recovery ports 32 are provided on the same plane as the nozzle surfaces 28 along the nozzle surfaces 28 of the four recording heads 14 arranged in the main scanning direction M, and are generated when ink droplets are ejected. Ink mist is sucked from the collection port 32 together with air. Therefore, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 2, the ink mist is quickly sucked from the recovery port 32 immediately after printing, and the ink mist is prevented from diffusing inside the ink jet recording apparatus 10. Further, since the recovery ports 32 are provided along the nozzle surfaces 28 of the four recording heads 14, ink mist generated from the four recording heads 14 can be recovered quickly. Accordingly, contamination of various devices such as the encoder 50 and the cover 56 is reduced, and image quality deterioration is prevented.

  Further, since the flexible duct 36 is easily deformed according to the movement position of the carriage 12, it does not hinder the carriage 12 from reciprocating in the main scanning direction M. Since the flexible duct 36 is provided along the flexible cable 38 and the cross section of the flexible duct 36 has a substantially rectangular shape that is long in the width direction of the flexible cable 38, the installation space for the flexible duct 36 can be reduced. Since the recovery port 32 and the recovery duct 34 are provided behind the nozzle surface 28 (upstream in the conveyance direction of the recording paper P), a flexible duct 36 that connects the recovery duct 34 and the air suction fan 42 is efficiently installed in the apparatus. Can be arranged. For this reason, the recording head 14 can be miniaturized, and further, the ink jet recording apparatus 10 can be miniaturized.

  Further, since the flexible duct 36 is connected to the collection duct 34 provided on the carriage 12, it is possible to prevent the carriage 12 from increasing in weight and to cope with high-speed printing.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the member same as 1st Embodiment, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the ink mist collecting mechanism 70 includes a flexible ink tube 74 that supplies ink of each color to ink tanks 72 provided in each of the four recording heads 14. A flexible duct 76 is provided along the line. As shown in FIG. 8, ink tubes 74 of four colors are arranged in the vertical direction along the flexible cable 38 connected to the recording head 14, and a flexible duct 76 is arranged behind these ink tubes 74. Yes. The four-color ink tubes 74 and the flexible duct 76 are made of a synthetic resin that can be easily deformed.

  A recovery port 32 provided behind the nozzle surface 28 is connected to a cylindrical recovery duct 78 that is bent along the back surface of the carriage 12 on which the recording head 14 is mounted. The recovery duct 78 is connected to the recovery duct 78 via an opening 35. A flexible duct 76 is connected. The flexible cable 38, the ink tube 74, and the flexible duct 76 are in close contact with each other and are curved at the rear of the carriage 12 (upstream in the conveyance direction of the recording paper P) and from the opening 41 to the outside of the main body frame 40. It is extended.

  In such an ink mist collecting mechanism 70, the ink tubes 74 for supplying each color ink to the recording head 14 are arranged in the vertical direction, and the flexible duct 76 is provided along these ink tubes. The ink tube 74 and the flexible duct 76 can be efficiently arranged in the apparatus. The flexible cable 38, the ink tube 74, and the flexible duct 76 can be easily deformed as the carriage 12 reciprocates in the main scanning direction M, and does not hinder the carriage 12 from reciprocating. For this reason, the ink mist immediately after printing can be quickly collected, and the ink mist collecting mechanism 70 can be efficiently arranged in the ink jet recording apparatus to achieve downsizing of the entire apparatus.

  In the ink jet recording apparatuses of the first and second embodiments, the flexible duct is disposed behind the carriage 12, and the air suction fan 42 is disposed on the rear side portion of the ink jet recording apparatus 10 that is a non-scanning region of the carriage 12. However, it is not limited to such an arrangement. The connection position of the flexible duct to the carriage and the position of the air suction fan provided on the main body frame can be appropriately set as long as the carriage does not hinder the reciprocating movement of the carriage.

  The flexible duct is directly connected to the air suction fan 42, but a filter may be provided on the upstream side of the air suction fan 42 so that ink mist contained in the sucked air is trapped by the filter. .

  The ink jet recording apparatus of the present embodiment as described above records an image (including characters) on the recording paper P, but is not limited to this. That is, the recording medium is not limited to paper, and the liquid to be ejected is not limited to ink. For example, it is industrially useful to create color filters for displays by discharging ink onto polymer films or glass, or to form bumps for component mounting by discharging solder in a welded state onto a substrate. It is included in all droplet ejecting apparatuses used.

1 is a perspective view showing an ink mist collecting mechanism of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view showing an ink mist collecting mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and is a view in which a main body frame is omitted. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an ink mist collecting mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a rear perspective view showing an ink mist collecting mechanism of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an ink mist collection mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a partially broken schematic perspective view showing an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the ink mist collection | recovery mechanism of the inkjet recording device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the ink mist collection | recovery mechanism of the inkjet recording device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Inkjet recording device 12 Carriage 14 Recording head 28 Nozzle surface 30 Ink mist collection mechanism 32 Collection port 36 Flexible duct 38 Flexible cable 40 Main body frame 42 Air suction fan 70 Ink mist collection mechanism 72 Ink tank 74 Ink tube 76 Flexible duct

Claims (5)

An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a conveying unit that conveys a recording medium; a recording head that ejects ink droplets from nozzles onto the recording medium; and a carriage that reciprocates the recording head in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the recording medium. In
A recovery port that opens along substantially the same plane as the nozzle surface along the direction of movement of the carriage and sucks ink mist generated by ejection of ink droplets;
A flexible duct serving as a suction flow path for ink mist sucked from the recovery port;
An air suction fan provided in a main body frame on the downstream side of the duct;
An ink jet recording apparatus comprising:   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the duct is provided along a flexible cable that supplies an electrical signal to the recording head.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the duct is provided along an ink tube that supplies ink to the recording head.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the recovery port is provided behind the nozzle with respect to a conveyance direction of the recording medium.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a cross section of the duct has a rectangular shape that is long in a width direction of the flexible cable.

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