JP2007111991A - Method and device for suppressing deposition of waste ink, recorder, and liquid jet device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress deposition of waste ink by preventing waste ink with a low fluidity from being dried to be solidified without greatly changing a structure. <P>SOLUTION: This method for suppressing deposition of waste ink is adopted to a recorder 100 that comprises a longitudinal arrangement type recording head 13 wherein a nozzle opening 131B for ejecting an ink (magenta) with a low fluidity and a nozzle opening 131A for ejecting an ink (cyan) with a high fluidity are arranged in a sub-scanning direction Y, and a platen 28 which is provided to a position opposite to the recording head 13 with a prescribed gap therebetween and has an ink absorption material 34. In this method for suppressing the deposition of the waste ink, ejection for moisture retention for ejecting only the ink (magenta) with the low fluidity is carried out at a portion on the ink absorption material 34 where the ink (magenta) with the low fluidity is deposited, in order to prevent drying of the portion, when marginless printing is performed on a recording medium. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a longitudinally arranged type recording head in which nozzle openings for ejecting non-flowable ink and nozzle openings for ejecting fluid ink are disposed along the sub-scanning direction, and a position facing the recording head. The present invention relates to a waste ink accumulation inhibiting method and a waste ink accumulation inhibiting device applied to a recording apparatus provided with a predetermined gap and a platen having an ink absorbing material.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus such as an ink jet recording apparatus that ejects (ejects) a liquid such as ink from a head to perform recording on a recording material (liquid ejecting material) (attaches liquid). It is.

  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.

Hereinafter, an ink jet printer that is an example of an ink jet recording apparatus or a liquid ejecting apparatus will be described as an example with reference to FIGS.
In the recording head of the ink jet printer, the number of inks to be used and the nozzle openings 131 provided are arranged in parallel in the main scanning direction X that is the carriage moving direction. FIG. 3B shows a horizontal arrangement type recording head 130 as shown in FIG. 3A and a part of the nozzle opening 131 arranged along the sub-scanning direction Y that is the paper transport direction. There is such a vertical array type recording head 13. The nozzle openings 131 provided along the sub-scanning direction Y in the recording head 13 shown in FIG. 3B are, for example, cyan (C), magenta (M ) And yellow (Y) nozzle openings 131 corresponding to the inks of the respective colors are provided.

  Further, not all of the inks of the respective colors ejected from the respective nozzle openings 131 are used for execution of recording, but as shown in FIG. 4, the ink absorption of the platen 28 is performed during borderless printing or the like. It is discarded as waste ink on the surface of the material 34. The waste ink discarded on the surface of the ink absorbing material 34 is absorbed by the ink absorbing material 34 and passes through an independent waste ink discharge path 30 for each ink provided in the lower portion of the platen 28 and is not shown below. The ink is guided to a waste ink collection tank and collected. Here, reference numerals 30A, 30B, 131A, and 131B will be clarified in the description of the embodiments described later.

  However, among the inks of the above colors, cyan (C) has high fluidity and flows almost without being deposited on the surface of the ink absorbing material 34 of the platen 28, whereas magenta (M) has low fluidity and has a platen. There is a tendency to deposit on the surface of 28 ink absorbers 34. In borderless printing, since the amount of ink discarded on the surface of the ink absorbing material 34 is very small, magenta (M), which has a particularly low fluidity, has an inside of the ink absorbing material 34 when the ink absorbing material 34 is not wet. However, it tends to dry and solidify quickly on the surface of the ink absorbent 34. Then, if magenta (M) is discarded again at the same position after drying and solidifying on the surface of the ink absorbing material 34, the magenta (M) is not absorbed by the ink absorbing material, and the dried and solidified magenta (M). There is a risk of further solidifying and depositing on the surface. As ink deposition progresses in this way, there is a risk of smearing the back surface of the paper that has been passed. This tendency is prominent in pigment-based inks that are rapidly spreading recently.

  Further, attempts to suppress the accumulation of the waste ink have already been performed in part as shown in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 below. Among them, in Patent Document 1, an additional nozzle opening for ejecting the moisturizing agent to the recording head is added to increase the amount of the non-flowable waste ink by ejecting the moisturizing agent to the non-flowable waste ink having low fluidity. I try to suppress the thickening. Further, Patent Document 2 discloses an attempt to suppress the accumulation of non-flowable waste ink by providing an ink suction mechanism capable of forcibly sucking waste ink.

  However, the two attempts disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 have a problem in that the structure of the recording head is complicated and a new new configuration is added, resulting in an increase in parts and product costs. . In addition, the addition of the above configuration is an obstacle to downsizing the recording head and the printer body.

JP 2003-266664 A JP 20022252531 A

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in light of the existence of such background technology and the problems of the background technology, and the problem is that the flowability is eliminated without greatly changing the basic configuration. By preventing the ink from drying and solidifying and suppressing the accumulation of waste ink, it is possible to reduce the possibility of soiling the back surface of the recording material due to the accumulation, as well as the reduction of parts and product costs and the miniaturization of the apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a waste ink accumulation suppression method, a waste ink accumulation suppression device, and a recording apparatus to which the waste ink accumulation suppression method is applied.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vertical arrangement type in which nozzle openings for ejecting non-flowable ink and nozzle openings for ejecting fluid ink are arranged along the sub-scanning direction. A method for suppressing waste ink accumulation applied to a recording apparatus comprising: a recording head; and a platen provided with a predetermined gap at a position facing the recording head and having an ink absorbing material. Moisturizing discharge that discharges only the non-flowable ink is performed on the location on the ink absorbing material where the non-flowable ink has been discarded when performing the borderless recording of the medium. It is characterized by doing.

  Here, “discarding” means that, during borderless recording, the ink ejected from the nozzle openings moves outward from the end of the recording medium and flies to the ink absorbing material of the platen. The amount of ink that is discarded is very small to reduce wasteful waste ink, whereas the amount of ink that is moisturized and discharged is sufficient to moisten the part and keep it moist for a certain period of time. It is.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for suppressing the accumulation of waste ink with respect to a location on the ink absorbing material where the non-flowable ink has been discarded when performing edgeless recording on a recording medium. Since the moisturizing discharge for discharging only the non-flowable ink is executed, it is possible to prevent the portion from being dried. That is, the portion of the surface of the ink absorbing material where the non-flowable ink is discarded can be kept moist. Further, at this time, a small amount of the non-flowable ink discarded at the location can be integrated with a sufficient amount of the non-flowable ink that has been moisturized and discharged into the ink absorbing material.
Furthermore, if the surface of the ink absorbing material is moist, even if a borderless recording is subsequently performed and the non-flowable ink is discarded at that location, a sufficient amount of flowing on the surface or inside of the ink absorbing material is obtained. The ink can be absorbed by drawing a small amount of the non-flowable ink discarded from the surface of the ink absorbing material into the ink absorbing material. Therefore, there is no possibility of ink accumulation due to drying and solidification of the ink on the surface of the ink absorbing material. As a result, there is no risk of the recording medium being soiled due to contact between the recording medium and the deposited ink. Further, since a new configuration is not added to the recording head or a large new additional configuration is not added, it can contribute to reduction of parts and product cost and downsizing of the apparatus.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the moisturizing discharge is performed before, after, or both before and after the recording apparatus performs recording on the recording medium. To do.

When moisturizing and discharging is executed during recording, the end of the recording medium is soiled if a sufficient amount of ink is discharged to the surface in order to keep the surface of the ink absorbing material, which is the location, moisturized. There is a risk. Furthermore, there is a possibility that the portion cannot be reliably moistened due to the possibility of ink landing on the end of the recording medium.
Therefore, according to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the same effects as the first aspect, the moisturizing discharge is performed before or after the recording apparatus performs recording on the recording medium. Or run both before and after. That is, the timing for executing the moisturizing discharge is a state in which the nozzle opening is not opposed to the recording medium. Therefore, when the moisturizing discharge is executed, it is possible to surely and sufficiently moisten the portion on the ink absorbing material where the non-flowable ink is discarded when the marginless recording of the recording medium is executed.

For example, when moisturizing discharge is performed before borderless recording, a small amount of spillable ink discarded during borderless recording is absorbed by the ink with the surface of the ink absorber sufficiently moisturized. It is possible to absorb into the receiving inside the material surface. In other words, the discarded small amount of the non-flowable ink is drawn in by a sufficient amount of the non-flowable ink that has been moisturized and discharged inside the ink absorbing material, and is absorbed from the surface of the ink absorbing material to the inside.
In addition, when performing moisturizing discharge after executing borderless recording, moisturizing discharge is performed before the trace amount of the refractory ink discarded during borderless recording is dried and solidified on the surface of the ink absorbing material. It is possible to prevent the surface from drying. That is, before the abandoned trace amount of the non-flowable ink is dried, the trace amount of the non-flowable ink is integrated with a sufficient amount of the non-flowable ink that has been moisturized and discharged into the ink absorbing material. Can be soaked.
Further, when it is executed both before and after executing borderless recording, both of the above-described effects can be obtained.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the moisturizing discharge is executed at predetermined time intervals determined by a temperature sensed by a temperature sensor.
Whether or not the portion that is the surface of the ink absorbing material from which ink has been discarded dries is largely affected by the temperature and humidity around the portion.

Therefore, according to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the same effect as the second aspect, the moisturizing discharge is executed at predetermined time intervals determined by the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor.
For example, when a temperature sensor is provided in the vicinity of the ink absorbing material and the temperature is high, the portion that is the surface of the ink absorbing material is easily dried and solidified at an early stage. Can always be kept moist. On the other hand, when the temperature is low, the portion is difficult to dry and solidify at an early stage. Therefore, it is possible to lengthen the cycle of the moisturizing discharge and keep the portion moist. It is desirable to configure the recording apparatus such that the above period is calculated and controlled by the control unit when the recording apparatus is on standby.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect, the moisturizing discharge is executed every predetermined time determined by humidity sensed by a humidity sensor.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the same effects as the second or third aspect, the moisturizing discharge is executed at predetermined time intervals determined by the humidity sensed by the humidity sensor.
For example, when a humidity sensor is provided in the vicinity of the ink absorbing material and the humidity is low, the portion that is the surface of the ink absorbing material is easily dried and solidified at an early stage. Can always be kept moist. On the other hand, when the humidity is high, the part is difficult to dry and solidify at an early stage. Therefore, it is possible to lengthen the period of the moisturizing discharge and keep the part moist.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the second to fourth aspects, the moisturizing discharge is performed for a predetermined time determined by the amount of ink discarded immediately before the flow-resistant ink is discarded. It is characterized by being executed after elapse.

How much time the ink discarded on the surface of the ink absorbing material dries is greatly influenced by the amount of the discarded ink. That is, if the amount of the ink is very small, it tends to dry and solidify early, and if the amount of the ink is large, it tends to be difficult to dry and solidify early.
Therefore, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the same function and effect as in any one of the second to fourth aspects, the moisturizing discharge is discarded immediately before the location where the non-flowable ink is discarded. The process is executed after a predetermined time determined by the determined ink amount.
For example, if the amount of ink that was discarded just before the location where the non-flowable ink was discarded is small, it is easy to dry and solidify at an early stage. Further, it is possible to always keep the portion of the surface of the ink absorbing material where the non-flowable ink is discarded in a moist state. On the other hand, if the amount of discarded ink is large, it is difficult to dry and solidify at an early stage. Therefore, it is necessary to lengthen the time until the moisturizing discharge is performed after the end of recording, and keep the portion moist. Is possible.
Here, “the amount of ink discarded immediately before” refers to the amount of ink discarded when the immediately preceding borderless recording is executed.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a longitudinally arranged type recording head in which nozzle openings for ejecting non-flowable ink and nozzle openings for ejecting fluid ink are disposed along the sub-scanning direction. A waste ink accumulation suppression apparatus in a recording apparatus provided with a predetermined gap at a position facing a head and a platen including an ink absorbing material, when performing borderless recording on a recording medium In order to prevent drying of the spot on the ink absorbing material where the non-flowable ink has been discarded, a moisturizing and discharging means for discharging only the non-flowable ink is provided. is there.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the deposition suppressing device includes the moisturizing discharge means, the same effect as that of the first aspect can be obtained in the deposition suppressing device.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a longitudinally arranged type recording head in which nozzle openings for ejecting non-flowable ink and nozzle openings for ejecting fluid ink are disposed along the sub-scanning direction, and the recording A recording apparatus provided with a predetermined gap at a position facing a head and a platen provided with an ink absorbing material, and the non-flowable ink is thrown away when performing edgeless recording of a recording medium In addition, in order to prevent drying of the portion on the ink absorbing material, it is configured to perform moisturizing discharge that discharges only the non-flowable ink.
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus, it is possible to obtain the same operational effects as in the first aspect.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a longitudinally-arranged type liquid ejecting head in which nozzle openings for ejecting a flow-resistant liquid and nozzle openings for ejecting a fluid liquid are disposed along the sub-scanning direction; A liquid ejecting apparatus including a platen provided with a liquid absorber and provided with a predetermined gap at a position facing the liquid ejecting head, the liquid ejecting apparatus performing a borderless liquid ejecting of the liquid ejecting medium. In order to prevent drying of the location on the liquid absorbent material where the difficult liquid has been thrown away, it is configured to perform a moisturizing jet that jets only the difficult-to-flow liquid. To do.

  Hereinafter, a recording apparatus that is an example of a waste ink accumulation suppressing device and a liquid ejecting apparatus including the waste ink accumulation suppressing device according to the present invention will be described. First, an ink jet printer 100 is taken up as the best mode for carrying out a liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention and a recording apparatus as an example thereof, and an outline of the entire configuration will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an ink jet printer, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the internal structure of the ink jet printer.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the ink jet printer 100 described here includes an upper cover 4 on the front side of the upper surface of a printer main body 3 as an example of a recording apparatus main body as an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus main body, an operation button 6 on the upper right corner of the front surface, This is an ink jet printer provided with a disc tray cover 7 at the upper front, a discharge stacker 50 at the lower front, and the automatic feeder 2 at the rear of the upper surface.

  In addition, the inkjet printer 100 has a function as a copying machine equipped with a scanner device, and has an insertion portion such as a memory card on which a photograph taken with a digital camera is recorded, and starts a personal computer. Of course, those having a function of directly executing printing without being included are also included.

  The upper surface cover 4 is an openable cover that can expand the front side upward with a hinge portion (not shown) provided on the back side as a rotation center. Then, by expanding the top cover 4, the inside of the printer body 3 can be accessed, and maintenance work such as replacement of the ink cartridge can be performed. The disc tray cover 7 is a cover that covers a disc tray insertion slot (not shown). The disc tray cover 7 can be expanded with the hinge portion (not shown) provided on the upper side as a rotation center and the lower side facing forward.

  When the disc tray is used, the disc tray cover 7 is expanded, and an optical disc such as a CD-R, CD-RW, or DVD is set on the disc tray with the label side up, and the disc tray insertion slot is inserted. Insert into. When the disc tray is manually inserted and inserted to a predetermined insertion position, the disc tray is automatically guided into the transport path. The discharge stacker 50 is configured such that the upper side can be expanded toward the front with a hinge portion (not shown) provided on the lower side as a rotation center. The discharge stacker 50 is expanded at the time of recording, and the upper surface of the expanded discharge stacker 50 is a placement surface 51 on which the recording paper P is stacked.

  The automatic feeding device 2 includes a feeding tray 5 on which a plurality of recording materials P (hereinafter also simply referred to as paper P), which is an example of a liquid ejecting material, and a feeding tray 5 can be stacked. A hopper 16 that pushes up the sheet P toward the feeding roller 14, a feeding roller 14 that picks up the upper sheet P on the feeding tray 5 by a pressure feeding action with the hopper 16, and the uppermost A separation pad (not shown) that is an example of a separation operation unit that separates the succeeding sheet P that has been multi-fed so that only the sheet P is fed from the uppermost sheet P, and the separated succeeding sheet P A return mechanism (not shown) for returning to the feeding tray 5 is provided.

  In FIG. 1, a portion of the printer main body 3 that is closer to the rear of the upper surface is a feeding tray cover 9, with a hinge portion (not shown) provided on the back side as a rotation center and the front side upward. In addition, the internal feeding tray 5 can be used by expanding it obliquely rearward. Further, an automatic conveyance path for cut sheets for automatically feeding the sheet P and conveying the sheet P toward the recording position 26 and the discharge stacker 50 is provided inside the printer body 3.

  Next, the outline of the internal structure of the inkjet printer 100 will be described according to the automatic conveyance path of the paper P. First, a feeding tray 5 which is an example of a liquid injection material stacking unit for stacking sheets P is provided on the most upstream side in the transport direction. The feeding tray 5 is in contact with one side edge (edge) of the paper P and is fixed to the feeding tray 5 in a fixed state, and the other side edge of the paper P ( And a movable edge guide 15B provided in a state in which the sheet P can move in the width direction of the paper P (in the main scanning direction X) with respect to the feeding tray 5.

  The fixed edge guide 15A and the movable edge guide 15B have a role of performing alignment in the width direction of the paper P and guiding smooth conveyance of the paper P in the conveyance direction (the sub-scanning direction Y). . The sheet P on the feeding tray 5 is raised at a predetermined timing with the rotation of the rotation shaft 17 of the feeding roller 14 and pushed up toward the feeding roller 14. Then, with the rotation of the feeding roller 14, the number of units is borrowed with the aid of a separation pad (not shown) which is an example of a separating action unit provided in the vicinity of the feeding roller 14 in order from the paper P positioned on the top surface. Picked up one by one and sent downstream in the transport direction.

  Downstream of the feeding roller 14 is provided a recording material detection means (not shown) (hereinafter simply referred to as a detection lever) that is an example of a liquid injection material detection means that detects the passage of the paper P. On the downstream side, a conveyance roller 19 including a conveyance drive roller 19a and a conveyance driven roller 19b is provided. Among them, the transport driven roller 19b is pivotally supported on the downstream side of the roller holder 18 for the transport driven roller. The roller holder 18 is provided so as to be rotatable about a rotation shaft (not shown) and is a torsion (not shown). The coiled spring is urged to rotate so that the conveyance driven roller 19b is always in a nip state in pressure contact with the conveyance drive roller 19a.

  Further, an auxiliary presser roller 18c is provided downstream of the roller holder 18 in the conveying direction, and the auxiliary presser roller 18c is pivotally supported by a roller holder for an auxiliary presser roller (not shown) so as to be driven to rotate. The auxiliary presser roller 18c is provided for the purpose of preventing head rubbing caused by lifting of the end of the paper P. Then, the sheet P conveyed while being pinched by the conveying roller 19 is guided to the recording position 26 through the lower side of the auxiliary pressing roller 18c.

  The recording position 26 is supported by a carriage guide shaft 12 that can reciprocate in the main scanning direction X as a main component of a recording execution unit that is an example of a liquid jet execution unit that executes recording on the paper P. A carriage 10 is provided. A recording head 13, which is an example of a liquid ejecting head that performs recording by ejecting (ejecting) ink, which is an example of liquid, onto the paper P is mounted on the lower surface of the carriage 10 (in this embodiment). As will be described later, a vertical array type recording head 13 is mounted). The carriage 10 is mounted with an ink cartridge (not shown) which is an example of a liquid cartridge.

  A platen 28 that defines the gap PG between the head surface of the recording head 13 and the paper P is provided below the recording head 13 so as to face the recording head 13. Then, between the carriage 10 and the platen 28, the sheet P is transported by a predetermined transport amount in the sub-scanning direction Y orthogonal to the main scanning direction X, and the recording head 13 is reciprocated once in the main scanning direction X. The desired recording is performed over the entire recording surface of the paper P by alternately repeating the operation of ejecting ink from the recording head 13 onto the paper P. Note that the gap PG is an extremely important element for executing high-precision recording, and is appropriately adjusted according to the change in the thickness of the paper P or the use of a disc tray or the like. .

  A discharge roller 20, which is an example of a liquid ejecting material discharge unit configured by a discharge drive roller 20 a and a discharge driven roller 20 b, is provided downstream of the recording head 13. Further, a discharge auxiliary roller 22 for assisting discharge of the paper P is provided downstream in the transport direction of the discharge roller 20. The discharge auxiliary roller 22 also belongs to the liquid ejecting material discharge means, and includes a discharge auxiliary drive roller 22a and a discharge auxiliary driven roller 22b. Then, the paper P discharged by the discharge auxiliary roller 22 is further discharged onto the placement surface 51 on the discharge stacker 50 which is an example of the liquid injection material receiving portion located downstream in the transport direction. Yes.

  The discharge driven roller 20b and the discharge auxiliary driven roller 22b are toothed rollers having a plurality of teeth on the outer periphery thereof, and are rotatably supported by a roller holder that holds each of them. The transport driven roller 19b is disposed so that its axial center position is located somewhat downstream in the transport direction with respect to the transport drive roller 19a. By taking such an arrangement, the sheet P is slightly curved downward between the transport roller 19 and the discharge roller 20 and forms a curved state commonly called “reverse sled”. Is done. As a result, the paper P located at the position facing the recording head 13 is pressed against the platen 28, and the paper P is prevented from being lifted, so that the recording is normally executed.

[Example]
Next, the waste ink accumulation suppressing apparatus 1 and the waste ink accumulation inhibiting method according to the present invention provided for the ink jet printer 100 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing the recording head and its periphery.
As shown in FIG. 4, the waste ink accumulation suppressing apparatus 1 includes a carriage 10, a recording head 13, and a control unit 150. Among these, the control unit 150 is configured to drive the carriage 10 in the main scanning direction X and eject ink from the nozzle openings 131 of the recording head 13. A nozzle opening 131 provided in the recording head 13 discharges magenta (M), a nozzle opening 131A that discharges cyan (C) from the upstream side in the transport direction (sub-scanning direction Y) of the paper P on the left side of the drawing. The nozzle openings 131B and the nozzle openings 131 for discharging yellow (Y) are arranged in a so-called vertical arrangement.

When the recording apparatus performs borderless recording on the paper P, ink is ejected from the nozzle openings 131, 131A, 131B in a range larger than the range of the paper P in order to record to the end of the paper P. Accordingly, a part of the ejected ink is removed from the end portion of the paper P to the outside and discarded to the ink absorbing material 34. The abandoned cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) land on locations on the surface of the ink absorber 34 facing the nozzle openings 131, 131A, 131B, respectively. At this time, the amount of ink discarded is a very small amount because it is wasted ink that does not land on the paper P.
In this embodiment, among cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), cyan (C) has high fluidity and flows almost without being deposited on the surface of the ink absorbing material 34 of the platen 28. On the other hand, magenta (M) has low fluidity and tends to be deposited on the surface of the ink absorbing material 34 of the platen 28.

  For example, if a small amount of cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) of the same amount are simultaneously discarded on the surface of the ink absorbing material 34, the cyan (C) first soaks into the ink absorbing material 34. Next, yellow (Y) permeates. At this time, since it takes time for the magenta (M) to permeate, there is a possibility that the magenta (M) may dry and solidify on the surface of the ink absorbing material 34 during that time.

  Therefore, the control unit 150 that executes the method for suppressing waste ink accumulation according to the present embodiment performs the process on the ink absorbing material 34 in which magenta (M) that is a flow-resistant ink is discarded when the borderless recording of the paper P is executed. In order to prevent the portion from being dried, the moisturizing discharge for discharging only magenta (M) is executed.

  Specifically, when the borderless recording is performed on the paper P, that is, when there is no paper P between the nozzle opening 131B and the ink absorbing material 34, the control unit 150 which is a moisturizing discharge unit. However, the moisturizing discharge is performed in which only the magenta (M) is discharged from the nozzle opening 131B by moving the carriage 10 to the position where the magenta (M) is discarded during the borderless recording. The amount of ink that is moisturized and discharged at this time is sufficient to moisten the surface of the ink absorbing material 34.

As a result, the said part can be made into the moist state. Further, before a small amount of magenta (M) discarded when performing borderless recording is dried and solidified on the surface of the ink absorbing material 34, the ink absorbing material is integrated with a large amount of magenta (M) which is moisturized and discharged. 34 can be soaked into the interior.
Furthermore, the said location can be kept moistened for a fixed time. Then, if borderless recording is performed in a state where the portion is moistened and a small amount of magenta (M) is discarded again at the portion, a large amount of magenta (M) on the surface of the ink absorbing material 34 or on the inside thereof is formed on the surface. By drawing the trace amount of magenta (M) into the interior, the trace amount of magenta (M) can be absorbed.

  Accordingly, all the inks of cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) can be absorbed from the surface of the ink absorbing material 34 and moved. Thereafter, cyan (C) is collected in the lower waste ink collecting tank via the discharge path 30A, magenta (M) through the discharge path 30B, and yellow (Y) through the discharge path 30.

Further, in the standby state from the end of recording of the paper P to the start of recording on the next paper P, the temperature and humidity near the surface of the ink absorbent 34 are measured by a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor (not shown). The control unit 150 is configured to periodically perform moisturizing discharge.
Specifically, since the ink is relatively easy to dry in the case of high temperature and low humidity, the period for performing the moisturizing discharge can be shortened to keep the portion moist. On the other hand, since the ink is relatively difficult to dry in the case of low temperature and high humidity, the period can be lengthened to keep the portion moist.

  In addition, when performing borderless recording, the amount of magenta (M) discarded varies depending on the portion discarded. For example, when magenta (M) is uniformly recorded on the front surface of the paper P, the recording head 13 first records the leading end of the paper P. At this time, magenta (M) deviated from the front end portion reaches the ink absorbing material 34. That is, the ink reaches the surface of the ink absorbing material 34 in a range larger than the width of the paper P. Next, the recording head 13 records the intermediate portion of the paper P in the transport direction (sub-scanning direction Y). At this time, magenta (M) that has moved outward from the left and right ends of the paper P lands on the ink absorbing material 34. That is, it does not land within the range of the width of the paper P, but lands on the surface of the ink absorbing material 34 in a slight range outside the left and right end portions of the paper P. Finally, the recording head 13 records the rear end portion of the paper P. At this time, magenta (M) deviated outward from the rear end portion lands on the ink absorbing material 34. That is, the ink reaches the surface of the ink absorbing material 34 in a range larger than the width of the paper P.

  Although the amount of ink that magenta (M) is discarded varies depending on the data to be recorded, the description of magenta (M) that deviates outward from the leading edge, middle edge, and trailing edge of the paper P, and the recording head 13 Is moved only in the main scanning direction X, so that the amount of magenta (M) ink at a location outside the left and right end portions of the paper P is magenta (M) at a location inside the left and right end portions of the paper P. Obviously, it tends to be larger than the amount of ink.

  By the end of the recording, at the location where the magenta (M) has landed outside the left and right end portions of the paper P, the amount of magenta (M) discarded is large, and the surface of the ink absorbing material 34 is sufficiently at that location. When it is moist, it is not necessary to immediately execute the moisturizing discharge. That is, how much time the ink discarded on the surface of the ink absorber 34 dries is greatly influenced by the amount of the discarded ink.

The control unit 150 of the present embodiment stores the amount of magenta (M) ink at the location that was discarded when the previous borderless recording was executed, and the control unit 150 after the end of recording based on the ink amount Is configured to execute the moisturizing discharge after a predetermined time has elapsed.
Specifically, a portion where the ink amount of magenta (M) is abundant and the surface of the ink absorbent 34 is sufficiently moistened at the portion discarded when the previous borderless recording is executed, for example, left and right of the paper P Moisturizing discharge is executed after a predetermined long time has passed to a location where magenta (M) has landed outside the side end. On the other hand, for a portion within the range of the paper width where the amount of magenta (M) ink that has been abandoned is very small, the moisturizing discharge is executed after a predetermined short time.

It should be noted that the moisturizing and discharging may be performed at once on all the portions to be moisturized and discharged, and at that time, the amount of magenta (M) ink discharged by the moisturizing and discharging may be changed depending on the wetness of the portion. Specifically, a small amount of magenta (M) may be discharged to a relatively wet location, and a large amount of magenta (M) may be discharged to a relatively wet location.
Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims, and these are also included in the scope of the present invention. Needless to say.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an inkjet printer. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure of the ink jet printer. The bottom view which shows two types of recording heads (A) (B) from which a type differs. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a recording head and its periphery.

Explanation of symbols

1 Waste ink accumulation control device 2 Automatic feeding device 3 Printer body 4 Top cover
5 Feed tray, 6 operation buttons, 7 disc tray cover,
9 Feed tray cover, 10 carriage, 12 carriage guide shaft,
13 recording head (vertical array type), 14 feeding roller, 15A fixed edge guide 15B movable edge guide, 16 hopper, 17 rotating shaft (for feeding roller),
18 roller holder (for driven roller for conveyance), 18c auxiliary presser roller,
19 transport roller, 19a transport drive roller, 19b transport driven roller,
20 discharge roller, 20a drive roller for discharge, 20b driven roller for discharge,
22 discharge auxiliary roller, 22a discharge auxiliary drive roller,
22b Auxiliary driven roller for discharge, 26 recording position, 28 platen,
30 Waste ink discharge path, 30A (flowable waste ink) discharge path,
30B (flowing waste ink) discharge path, 34 absorbent, 50 discharge stacker,
51 mounting surface, 100 inkjet printer, 130 recording head (horizontal array type),
131 nozzle opening, 131A nozzle opening (for fluid ink),
131B Nozzle opening (of non-flowable ink), 150 control unit, P paper (recording material),
X main scanning direction, Y sub-scanning direction, PG platen gap

Claims (8)

A longitudinally arranged type recording head in which nozzle openings for ejecting difficult-to-flow ink and nozzle openings for ejecting fluid ink are arranged along the sub-scanning direction, and a predetermined gap at a position facing the recording head And a waste ink accumulation suppressing method applied to a recording apparatus provided with a platen provided with an ink absorbing material.
A moisturizing discharge that discharges only the non-flowable ink in order to prevent drying of the spot on the ink absorbing material where the non-flowable ink was discarded when performing borderless recording on the recording medium. A method for suppressing the accumulation of waste ink, comprising:   2. The method for suppressing waste ink accumulation according to claim 1, wherein the moisturizing discharge is executed before, after, or both before and after the recording apparatus executes recording on the recording medium.   3. The method for suppressing waste ink accumulation according to claim 2, wherein the moisturizing discharge is executed at predetermined time intervals determined by a temperature sensed by a temperature sensor.   4. The method for suppressing accumulation of waste ink according to claim 2, wherein the moisturizing discharge is executed every predetermined time determined by humidity sensed by a humidity sensor.   5. The waste according to claim 2, wherein the moisturizing discharge is performed after a predetermined time determined by the amount of ink discarded immediately before the flow-resistant ink is discarded. Ink accumulation suppression method. A longitudinally arranged type recording head in which nozzle openings for ejecting difficult-to-flow ink and nozzle openings for ejecting fluid ink are arranged along the sub-scanning direction, and a predetermined gap at a position facing the recording head And a waste ink accumulation suppressing device in a recording apparatus provided with a platen provided with an ink absorbing material.
A moisturizing discharge that discharges only the non-flowable ink in order to prevent drying of the spot on the ink absorbing material where the non-flowable ink was discarded when performing borderless recording on the recording medium. A waste ink accumulation suppressing device comprising: means. A longitudinally arranged type recording head in which nozzle openings for ejecting difficult-to-flow ink and nozzle openings for ejecting fluid ink are arranged along the sub-scanning direction, and a predetermined gap at a position facing the recording head And a platen provided with an ink absorbing material and spaced apart from each other,
A moisturizing discharge that discharges only the non-flowable ink in order to prevent drying of the spot on the ink absorbing material where the non-flowable ink was discarded when performing borderless recording on the recording medium. A recording apparatus configured to execute the above. A vertically arranged liquid ejecting head in which nozzle openings for ejecting a flow-resistant liquid and nozzle openings for ejecting a flowable liquid are disposed along the sub-scanning direction, and a position facing the liquid ejecting head. A liquid ejecting apparatus including a platen provided with a predetermined gap and a liquid absorbent.
In order to prevent drying of the liquid-absorbing material, the liquid-absorbing medium is ejected only in order to prevent drying of the liquid-absorbing material where the liquid-disappearing liquid has been discarded. A liquid ejecting apparatus configured to perform moisturizing ejection.

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