JP2006192577A - Recording device, and liquid jet device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inexpensively and efficiently achieve the cooling of a control device in a recording device. <P>SOLUTION: The recording device is structured so as to deliver waste ink discharged from a capping device 59 to an ink absorbing material SP through a waste ink tube C. A part of the waste ink tube C is arranged in a state of contacting a heat sink HS to dissipate the heat of a head driver 108. Waste ink generated from the capping device 59 is delivered to the ink absorbing material SP in the waste ink tube C by the delivery force of a tube pump 591, and is discharged to the ink absorbing material SP after cooling the heat sink HS. By arranging a part of the waste ink tube C to discharge the waste ink generated from the capping device 59 to the ink absorbing material SP in a state of contacting the heat sink HS, the recording device can cool the head driver which generates heat and become hot by the waste ink flowing in the waste ink tube C. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that performs recording by ejecting ink from a recording head to a recording material, and a liquid ejecting apparatus that performs recording by ejecting liquid from a liquid ejecting head to the recording material.

  Here, the liquid ejecting apparatus refers to an ink jet recording apparatus, a copying machine, a facsimile, or the like that performs recording on a recording material by ejecting ink from a recording head as a liquid ejecting head to a recording material such as recording paper. In addition to the recording apparatus, instead of ink, a liquid corresponding to a specific application is ejected from the liquid ejecting head corresponding to the recording head to the ejected material corresponding to the recording material, and the liquid is ejected to the ejected material. Used to include the device to be attached. In addition to the recording head described above, the liquid ejecting head includes a color material ejecting head used for manufacturing a color filter such as a liquid crystal display, an electrode material used for forming an electrode such as an organic EL display and a surface emitting display (FED) ( Examples thereof include a conductive paste) ejection head, a bio-organic matter ejection head used for biochip manufacturing, and a sample ejection head that ejects a sample as a precision pipette.

  A recording apparatus such as a so-called ink jet printer generally includes a control device that controls a recording material conveyance device such as a recording head or a conveyance driving roller to perform recording execution control on the recording material. . The control device is usually composed of an electronic circuit having a recording head drive circuit, a microcomputer control circuit, and the like. In an electronic circuit constituting the control device, heat is generated from an element having a particularly large power consumption, such as a transistor of a head driving circuit or an MPU (micro processing unit). These elements are generally provided with a cooling means such as a heat sink that radiates and cools the heat of the elements in order to prevent overheating of the elements. The larger the heat sink, the higher the cooling efficiency. On the other hand, a large space is required for mounting, which causes a problem that the recording apparatus becomes larger according to the amount of heat generated by the control apparatus.

  As a conventional technique for solving such a problem, a cooling fan provided for cooling the inside of the recording apparatus is operated by using a rotational driving force such as a carriage driving motor of the recording apparatus or a driving motor of a paper feed roller. A recording apparatus is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Since the cooling fan is operated by using the rotational driving force of the electric motor as a driving force source for the carriage and the paper feed roller in common, the inside of the recording apparatus can be efficiently cooled.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-64886

  However, the conventional technology as described above has a problem that the cost increases due to the provision of the cooling fan.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to more efficiently realize cooling of the control device inside the recording apparatus at a low cost.

  To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording head for ejecting ink onto a recording material, and recording for executing recording on the recording material by controlling ink ejection of the recording head. A recording apparatus including a control device, wherein a part of the waste ink is used as a cooling medium to cool a part of the recording control device.

In a recording apparatus that performs recording by ejecting ink from a recording head to a recording material, a small amount of ink supplied from the ink cartridge or the like to the recording head is ejected to the recording material. Usually, the ink is discarded as waste ink. This waste ink is discharged to an ink absorbing material or the like and is eventually discarded. In the present invention, a part of the waste ink that has been simply discarded is used as a cooling medium. Since the temperature of ink in a general recording apparatus is substantially normal temperature, waste ink can be used to cool a part of the recording control apparatus inside the recording apparatus.
As a result, according to the recording apparatus described in the first aspect of the present invention, a part of the waste ink that has been simply discarded is used as a cooling medium. The effect of cooling the apparatus) can be achieved more efficiently at a lower cost.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect described above, a head surface suction device capable of suctioning in a state where the head surface of the recording head is sealed is provided, and the head of the recording head is provided by the head surface suction device. The recording apparatus is characterized in that the ink sucked from the surface becomes the waste ink.

  As described above, the recording head can obtain stable ink ejection characteristics by periodically sucking the head surface by the head surface suction device. Then, by using the waste ink generated periodically from the head surface suction device as a cooling medium, the waste ink as the cooling medium can be stably supplied to the high temperature portion of the recording control device and cooled. In particular, when recording is continuously performed for a long time when the recording control apparatus is in a high temperature state, the number of times of suction operation of the recording head surface by the head surface suction device is increased, and the amount of waste ink is also increased. . Therefore, more waste ink can be supplied as a cooling medium, and the high temperature portion of the recording control apparatus can be efficiently cooled.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect described above, the waste ink pipe is sent from the head surface suction device to the ink absorbing material via the waste ink pipe. The recording apparatus is characterized in that a part thereof is disposed in contact with a heat generating portion of the recording control apparatus.
As described above, by disposing a part of the waste ink tube for sending the waste ink generated from the head surface suction device to the ink absorbing material in contact with the heat generating part of the recording control device, heat is generated and the temperature rises. The recording control device can be cooled with waste ink flowing in the waste ink tube.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect described above, the waste ink used as a refrigerant is collected and radiated, and then the waste ink is circulated so that it can be used again as a refrigerant. This is a recording apparatus characterized by that.
As described above, the recycling efficiency of the waste ink can be further improved by recycling the waste ink as the refrigerant.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect described above, the waste ink storage unit collects the waste ink used as a refrigerant, and the waste ink recovered in the waste ink storage unit is A recording apparatus having a configuration in which air is cooled in a waste ink storage unit.
As described above, the waste ink storage unit for collecting the waste ink used as the refrigerant is provided, and the waste ink is air-cooled in the waste ink storage unit, so that the heat of the recording control apparatus can be efficiently radiated to the atmosphere. it can. For example, by forming the waste ink storage portion with a metal material such as an aluminum material, it is possible to efficiently dissipate the heat of the waste ink having heat used as the refrigerant into the atmosphere. Further, if the waste ink storage unit is configured to be detachable, the waste ink can be discarded as necessary.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the third to fifth aspects described above, the recording control device includes a head driving circuit for driving the recording head, and the waste ink is discharged. The recording apparatus is characterized in that a part of the head driving circuit is cooled as a cooling medium.
Since the head driving circuit continuously drives the recording head while performing recording by ejecting ink onto the recording material, the head driving circuit consumes a lot of power and generates heat. Therefore, the recording control apparatus can be efficiently cooled by cooling the head drive circuit that is the heat source that consumes the most power and generates the most heat during the execution of recording. In addition, by improving the cooling efficiency of the recording head, it is possible to lengthen the continuous driving time of the recording head until the temperature of the recording head reaches the limit temperature. The frequency of occurrence of circuit downtime is reduced, and the throughput of recording execution can be improved.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the third to sixth aspects described above, the recording control apparatus includes a heat sink for cooling a specific element, and a part of the waste ink. The recording apparatus is characterized in that the heat sink is cooled by using as a cooling medium.
Thus, the cooling efficiency by a heat sink can be improved by setting it as the structure which cools a heat sink with waste ink. Therefore, the heat sink can be reduced in size, and thereby the recording apparatus can be reduced in size.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejecting head for ejecting liquid onto the material to be ejected, and a liquid ejecting control apparatus for controlling the liquid ejecting of the liquid ejecting head to perform liquid ejecting onto the material to be ejected. A liquid ejecting apparatus including the liquid ejecting apparatus, wherein a part of the waste liquid is used as a cooling medium to cool a part of the liquid ejecting control apparatus.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus as an example of a “recording apparatus” according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an essential part of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof. FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention.
The ink jet recording apparatus 50 includes a “main scanning drive unit” that scans the recording paper P in the main scanning direction X by ejecting ink onto the recording paper P as a “recording material”. As shown, a carriage 61 supported by a carriage guide shaft 51 so as to be movable in the main scanning direction X is provided. The carriage 61 is equipped with a recording head 62 and a PW sensor 34 to be described later, and the rotational driving force of the CR motor 63 (FIG. 3) is transmitted by a belt transmission mechanism using an endless belt (not shown) to perform the main scanning direction. Reciprocates to X. A platen 52 that defines a gap between the head surface of the recording head 62 and the recording paper P is provided at a position facing the head surface of the recording head 62.
A known capping device 59 is provided outside the one end side of the reciprocating region of the carriage 61 in the main scanning direction X. In a standby state in which recording is not performed, the carriage 61 moves over the capping device 59 and stops, and the head surface of the recording head 62 is sealed by the cap CP provided in the capping device 59. The stop position of the carriage 61 is defined as a home position HP.

  Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus 50, a conveyance driving roller 53 that conveys the recording paper P in the sub-scanning direction Y is used as “sub-scanning driving means” that causes the recording head 62 to scan the recording paper P in the sub-scanning direction Y. And a conveyance driven roller 54 are provided. The conveyance driving roller 53 rotates when the rotation driving force of the PF motor 58 (FIG. 3) is transmitted to the gear, and the recording paper P is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction Y by the rotation of the conveyance driving roller 53. A plurality of transport driven rollers 54 are provided and are individually urged by the transport driving roller 53, and the recording paper P is in contact with the recording paper P when the recording paper P is transported by the rotation of the transport driving roller 53. Rotates following the transport of A coating having a high frictional resistance is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the transport driving roller 53. The recording paper P pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the transport driving roller 53 by the transport driven roller 54 comes into close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the transport driving roller 53 by the frictional resistance of the outer peripheral surface, and rotates in the sub scanning direction by the transport driving roller 53. To be transported. The “recording execution unit” of the inkjet recording apparatus 50 includes the above-described “main scanning driving unit” and “sub-scanning driving unit”, and the recording paper P is placed between the carriage 61 and the platen 52 in the sub-scanning direction Y. Recording is performed on the recording paper P by alternately repeating the operation of transporting the recording head 62 with the transport amount and the operation of ejecting ink from the recording head 62 onto the recording paper P while the recording head 62 is reciprocated once in the main scanning direction X. Is called.

  On the upstream side of the conveyance drive roller 53 in the sub-scanning direction Y, a paper feed tray 57 as a “recording material stacking unit” capable of stacking a large number of recording sheets P is disposed. The paper feed tray 57 is configured to feed (feed) recording paper P such as plain paper or photo paper. In the vicinity of the paper feed tray 57, an ASF (automatic feeding means) that automatically feeds the uppermost recording paper P stacked on the paper feeding tray 57 to the "recording execution means" Auto sheet feeder) is provided. The ASF is an automatic paper feed mechanism having a paper feed roller 57b provided on the paper feed tray 57 and a separation pad (not shown). The paper feed roller 57 b is disposed on one side of the paper feed tray 57. The recording paper guide 57a is provided on the paper feed tray 57 so as to be slidable in the width direction in accordance with the width of the recording paper P. Then, the recording paper P placed on the paper feed tray 57 is fed by the rotational drive force of the paper feed roller 57b rotated by the transmission of the rotational drive force of the PF motor 58 (FIG. 3) and the frictional resistance of the separation pad. Paper. At this time, a plurality of recording sheets P are not fed at a time, but only the top recording sheet P is accurately separated and automatically fed one by one. A paper detector 33 according to a known technique is disposed between the paper feed roller 57b and the conveyance drive roller 53.

On the other hand, as means for discharging the recording paper P after execution of recording, a paper discharge driving roller 55 and a paper discharge driven roller 56 as “discharge driving rollers” are provided. The paper discharge driving roller 55 is rotated by transmission of the rotational driving force of the PF motor 58 (FIG. 3), and the recording paper P after recording is discharged in the sub-scanning direction Y by the rotation of the paper discharge driving roller 55. Is done. The paper discharge driven roller 56 has a plurality of teeth around it, and is a toothed roller sharply sharpened so that the tip of each tooth makes point contact with the recording surface of the recording paper P. The plurality of paper discharge driven rollers 56 are individually urged by the paper discharge driving roller 55, and come into contact with the recording paper P when the recording paper P is discharged by the rotation of the paper discharge driving roller 55. Rotates following paper discharge.
A PF motor 58 (FIG. 3) that rotationally drives the paper feed roller 57b, the conveyance drive roller 53, and the paper discharge drive roller 55, and a CR motor 63 (FIG. 3) that drives the carriage 61 in the main scanning direction will be described later. The drive is controlled by the recording control unit 100. Similarly, the recording head 62 is driven and controlled by the recording control unit 100 to eject ink onto the surface of the recording paper P.

The recording control unit 100 as a “recording control apparatus” will be described with reference to FIGS.
The recording control unit 100 as a “recording control device” includes a ROM 101, a RAM 102, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) 103, an MPU 104, a nonvolatile memory 105 as a “nonvolatile storage medium”, a PF motor driver 106, and a CR motor driver. 107 and a head driver 108 are provided. The MPU 104 includes a rotary encoder 31 as a “rotation amount detection unit” that detects the rotation amount of the transport drive roller 53 via the ASIC 103, and a linear encoder 32 as a “carriage movement amount detection unit” that detects the movement amount of the carriage 61. The paper detector 33 for detecting the leading edge and the trailing edge of the conveyed recording paper P, the PW sensor 34 for detecting the edge of the recording paper P in the main scanning direction X, and the ink jet recording apparatus 50 are turned on. An output signal of the power switch 35 for turning off / off is input.

The known rotary encoder 31 has a rotary scale 311 that rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the conveyance drive roller 53, and a rotary scale sensor 312 that detects slits formed at equal intervals along the outer periphery of the rotary scale 311. (FIG. 2). An output signal of the rotary scale sensor 312 that changes with the rotation of the transport driving roller 53 is output to the MPU 104 via the ASIC 103.
A known linear encoder 32 detects a linear scale 321 disposed in the vicinity of the carriage 61 substantially in parallel with the main scanning direction X and a linear scale that detects slits formed at equal intervals in the linear scale 321 mounted on the carriage 61. And a scale sensor 322 (FIG. 2). An output signal of the linear scale sensor 322 in which the period of the pulse corresponding to the amount of movement of the carriage 61 in the main scanning direction X changes with the moving speed is output to the MPU 104 via the ASIC 103.

  The known paper detector 33 is given a self-returning behavior to a standing posture and protrudes into the conveyance path of the recording paper P so as to be able to rotate only in the conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction Y) of the recording paper P. This detector has a lever that is pivotally supported in the state, and the lever rotates when the tip of the lever is pushed by the recording paper P, whereby the recording paper P is detected (FIG. 2). . The paper detector 33 detects the start end position and the end position of the recording paper P fed from the paper feed roller 57 b, and the detection signal is output to the MPU 104 via the ASIC 103. The PW sensor 34 is configured by a non-contact optical sensor, and detects the end position of the recording paper P in the main scanning direction X (side end position of the recording paper P), and the detection signal is transmitted via the ASIC 103. And output to the MPU 104. Based on the output signals of the paper detector 33 and the PW sensor 34, the MPU 104 calculates the transport position of the recording paper P, the size of the recording paper P, and the like.

A ROM 101, a RAM 102, an ASIC 103, an MPU 104, and a nonvolatile memory 105 are connected to the system bus of the recording control unit 100. The MPU 104 performs arithmetic processing for executing recording control of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 and other necessary arithmetic processing. The ROM 101 stores a recording control program (firmware) necessary for controlling the ink jet recording apparatus 50 by the MPU 104, and various data necessary for processing the recording control program is stored in the nonvolatile memory 105. . The RAM 102 is used as a work area for the MPU 104 and a storage area for recording data.
The ASIC 103 has a control circuit for performing speed control of the PF motor 58 and the CR motor 63 which are DC motors and driving control of the recording head 62. Based on the control command sent from the MPU 104, the output signal of the rotary encoder 31, and the output signal of the linear encoder 32, various calculations are performed to control the speed of the PF motor 58 and the CR motor 63. The motor control signal based on this is sent to the PF motor driver 106 and the CR motor driver 107. Further, based on the recording data sent from the MPU 104, a control signal for the recording head 62 is calculated and generated and sent to the head driver 108 to drive and control the recording head 62. The ASIC 103 has a host IF 112 as “information transmission means” for realizing information transmission with the personal computer 301 or the like as an “information processing apparatus”.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus 50 having such a configuration, the above-described CR motor 63 (FIG. 3) discharges waste ink as “waste liquid” discharged from the capping device 59 (FIG. 1) as “head surface suction device”. It has the structure cooled using it as a cooling medium.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part near the capping device 59. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the main part in the vicinity of the capping device 59.
The carriage 61 is pivotally supported so as to be able to reciprocate in the main scanning direction X in a state where the carriage guide shaft 51 disposed in parallel with the main scanning direction X is inserted into the bearing portion 611. A CR motor 63 which is an “electric motor” as a driving force source of the carriage 61 is disposed in the vicinity of the capping device 59 as shown in the figure. The carriage 61 is connected to an endless belt 632 that is hung on a drive pulley 631 of the CR motor 63 and a driven pulley (not shown). As the CR motor 63 rotates in both directions, the endless belt 632 rotates in both directions. As a result, the carriage 61 supported by the carriage guide shaft 51 reciprocates in the main scanning direction X. Ink is ejected onto the recording paper P from the recording head 62 mounted on the carriage 61 that reciprocates, and recording on the recording paper P is executed.

  As described above, when the carriage 61 is stopped at the home position HP, the head surface of the recording head 62 mounted on the carriage 61 is sealed by the cap CP of the capping device 59. The capping device 59 can suck ink on the head surface while the head surface of the recording head 62 is sealed with the cap CP. The suction of the head surface of the recording head 62 by the capping device 59 is periodically executed between recording executions. It is also executed when a predetermined time or more has elapsed in a standby state where recording is not being executed. Thereby, the state of the head surface of the recording head 62 is always kept in the best state, and good ink ejection characteristics can be stably obtained. The ink sucked from the head surface of the recording head 62 by the capping device 59 is discharged out of the capping device 59 as waste ink through the flexible waste ink tube C.

  Part of the waste ink tube C passes through a known tube pump 591. A tube pump 591 operating by transmitting the rotational driving force of the PF motor 57 (FIG. 3) generates a negative pressure in the waste ink tube C and generates a suction force in the cap CP. When the tube pump 591 is operated in a state where the head surface of the recording head 62 is sealed with the cap CP, ink on the head surface of the recording head 62 is sucked, and the sucked ink is used as waste ink in the waste ink tube C. It flows and is discharged.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which the heat of the heat sink of the head driver 108 can be cooled by the waste ink flowing in the waste ink tube C.
The head driver 108 as a “head drive circuit” for driving the recording head 62 described above is repeatedly turned on / off with a large current while ink is ejected from the recording head 62 and recording on the recording paper P is executed. As a result, a large amount of electricity is consumed and large heat is generated. Therefore, the recording control unit 100 has a heat sink HS for cooling the elements constituting the head driver 108 described above, and uses part of the waste ink as a cooling medium in addition to the air-cooling heat radiation effect by the heat sink HS. The heat sink HS is cooled with water. A part of the waste ink tube C through which the waste ink flows is arranged in contact with the heat sink HS so as to sew between the fins of the heat sink HS as illustrated.

  In this way, by disposing a part of the waste ink tube C through which waste ink generated periodically from the capping device 59 flows in contact with the heat sink HS, the heat sink HS whose temperature has risen due to heat generated by the head driver 108. Can be cooled with waste ink flowing in the waste ink tube C. In particular, when recording is continuously performed for a long time when the head driver 108 is in a high temperature state, the number of suction operations of the recording head 62 by the capping device 59 increases, and the amount of waste ink also increases. Therefore, more waste ink can be supplied as a cooling medium, and the head driver 108 can be efficiently cooled.

Moreover, the cooling efficiency by the heat sink HS can be improved by adopting a configuration in which the heat sink HS is cooled with waste ink. Therefore, the heat sink HS can be reduced in size, and thereby the inkjet recording apparatus 50 can be reduced in size.
Then, the recording control unit 100 can be efficiently cooled by cooling the head driver 108, which is the heat source that consumes the most power and generates the most heat during the execution of recording, with waste ink. Since the continuous driveable time of the recording head 62 can be increased, the frequency of the pause time of the head driver 108 during the continuous recording is reduced, and the recording execution throughput can be improved.
Furthermore, by disposing the flexible waste ink tube C in contact with the heat sink HS so as to sew between the fins of the heat sink HS, the contact area between the waste ink tube C and the heat sink HS is increased. be able to. Thereby, the cooling efficiency of the head driver 108 with waste ink is improved, and the head driver 108 can be cooled more efficiently. The waste ink tube C is preferably made of a material having as high a thermal conductivity as possible because the cooling efficiency by the waste ink is improved.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of cooling the heat sink HS with waste ink.
In this embodiment, the waste ink discharged from the capping device 59 is sent to the ink absorbing material SP via the waste ink tube C. A part of the waste ink tube C is disposed in a state of being in contact with the heat sink HS for radiating the heat of the head driver 108 (the state shown in FIG. 6). Waste ink generated from the capping device 59 is sent to the ink absorbing material SP through the waste ink tube C by the feed output of the tube pump 591, cools the heat sink HS, and is then discharged to the ink absorbing material SP.
In this way, by disposing a part of the waste ink tube C that discharges the waste ink generated from the capping device 59 to the ink absorbing material SP in contact with the heat sink HS, the head driver 108 that has generated heat and has risen in temperature. Can be cooled with waste ink flowing in the waste ink tube C.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of cooling the heat sink HS with waste ink.
In this embodiment, the waste ink discharged from the capping device 59 is sent to a waste ink tank 592 as a “waste ink storage section” via a waste ink tube C. The waste ink tank 592 is detachably disposed on the ink jet recording apparatus 50. Waste ink generated from the capping device 59 is sent out to the waste ink tank 592 through the waste ink tube C by the feed output of the tube pump 591, and is discharged to the waste ink tank 592 after cooling the heat sink HS. Since the waste ink tank 592 is detachably disposed, the waste ink can be discarded as necessary. As described above, the configuration may be such that the waste ink is discharged to the waste ink tank 592, and the possibility that the waste ink leaks into the inkjet recording apparatus 50 is reduced by appropriately collecting the waste ink in the waste ink tank 592. Is done.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of cooling the heat sink HS with waste ink.
In this embodiment, after the waste ink discharged from the capping device 59 is directly sent to the waste ink tank 592 as the “waste ink storage unit” as shown in the figure, the waste ink in the waste ink tank 592 passes through the heat sink HS. A waste ink tube C is disposed so as to constitute a circulation path that is returned to the waste ink tank 592 again. In this way, by recycling the waste ink as the refrigerant, the waste ink used as the refrigerant can be recovered and dissipated, and then reused as the refrigerant. Therefore, the cooling efficiency of the waste ink can be further improved. it can.
Further, the waste ink collected in the waste ink tank 592 as the “waste ink storage unit” is cooled by air, so that the heat of the head driver 108 can be efficiently radiated to the atmosphere. For example, by forming the waste ink tank 592 from a metal material such as an aluminum material, it is possible to efficiently dissipate the heat of the waste ink having heat used as the refrigerant into the atmosphere.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a fourth embodiment of cooling the heat sink HS with waste ink.
In the present embodiment, as shown in the drawing, the waste ink discharged from the capping device 59 is sent to the waste ink tank 592 via the heat sink HS, and the waste ink in the waste ink tank 592 passes through the heat sink HS. The waste ink tube C is disposed so as to form two waste ink cooling channels with a circulation path returning to the waste ink tank 592 again. By providing two waste ink cooling channels in this way, the waste ink discharged from the capping device 59 can be immediately used as a refrigerant, and the waste ink having heat used as the refrigerant is cooled by the waste ink tank 592. After that, the head driver 108 can be cooled again by using it as a refrigerant.

  In this way, the head driver 108 serving as a heat source in the ink jet recording apparatus 50 can be more efficiently cooled at low cost by using waste ink. Therefore, the cooling of the recording control unit 100 inside the ink jet recording apparatus 50 can be more efficiently realized at a low cost.

  The object to be cooled using waste ink is not particularly limited to the head driver 108, and may be any element such as an MPU 104 that consumes a large amount of power and becomes a heat source. It is possible that the effects of the present invention can be obtained. And this invention is not limited to the said Example, A various deformation | transformation is possible within the range of the invention described in the claim, and they are also contained in the scope of the present invention. Needless to say.

1 is a schematic plan view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a schematic side view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. It is a principal part perspective view of a capping device vicinity. It is a principal part top view of a capping device vicinity. It is a perspective view of the heat sink of a head driver. It is 1st Example of cooling of the heat sink by waste ink. It is 2nd Example of cooling of the heat sink by waste ink. It is 3rd Example of cooling of the heat sink by waste ink. It is a 4th example of cooling of a heat sink by waste ink.

Explanation of symbols

50 Inkjet recording apparatus, 51 Carriage guide shaft, 52 Platen, 53 Conveyance drive roller, 54 Conveyance driven roller, 55 Discharge drive roller, 56 Discharge driven roller, 57 Feed tray, 57b Feed roller, 58 PF motor, 59 capping device, 591 tube pump, 592 waste ink tank, 61 carriage, 62 recording head, 63 CR motor, 100 recording control unit, 101 ROM, 102 RAM, 103 ASIC, 104 MPU, 105 non-volatile memory, 106 PF motor driver , 107 CR motor driver, 108 head driver, C waste ink tube, P recording paper, X main scanning direction, Y sub-scanning direction

Claims (8)

A recording apparatus comprising: a recording head for ejecting ink onto a recording material; and a recording control device for controlling the ink ejection of the recording head to execute recording on the recording material,
A recording apparatus, wherein a part of the waste ink is used as a cooling medium to cool a part of the recording control apparatus. 2. The head surface suction device capable of suctioning with the head surface of the recording head sealed, wherein the ink sucked from the head surface of the recording head by the head surface suction device becomes the waste ink. A recording apparatus characterized by that. 3. The structure according to claim 2, wherein the waste ink is sent from the head surface suction device to an ink absorbing material via a waste ink tube, and a part of the waste ink tube is in contact with a heat generating portion of the recording control device. A recording apparatus, characterized in that the recording apparatus is arranged in a state where 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the waste ink used as the refrigerant is collected and radiated, and then the waste ink is circulated so that it can be used again as the refrigerant. 5. The structure according to claim 4, further comprising: a waste ink storage unit that collects the waste ink used as a refrigerant, wherein the waste ink collected in the waste ink storage unit is air-cooled in the waste ink storage unit. A recording apparatus characterized by that. 6. The head control circuit according to claim 3, wherein the recording control device includes a head driving circuit for driving the recording head, and a part of the waste ink is used as a cooling medium. A recording apparatus characterized by cooling. The recording control device according to claim 3, wherein the recording control device includes a heat sink for cooling a specific element, and cools the heat sink by using a part of the waste ink as a cooling medium. A recording apparatus characterized by that. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: a liquid ejecting head for ejecting a liquid to an ejected material; and a liquid ejecting control device for controlling the liquid ejecting of the liquid ejecting head to execute the liquid ejecting onto the ejected material. ,
A liquid ejecting apparatus, wherein a part of the waste liquid is used as a cooling medium to cool a part of the liquid ejecting control apparatus.

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