JP2007237676A - Ink-jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that the necessity of reducing mist stains is increased since, for example, the resolution is increased in recent ink-jet recording apparatuses, the ink mist amount is increased since the ink discharge amount is increased compared with low-resolution ink-jet recording apparatuses, and the resolution of encoders is improved. <P>SOLUTION: Inflow of outside air from a paper discharge opening is blocked by a paper discharge opening outside air inflow preventing member so that the outside air flowing in from a recording apparatus rear surface collects mist and the air amount sent to a mist collecting duct air intake opening is not reduced. The paper discharge opening outside air inflow preventing member is disposed so that the air that flows into the space is blocked when a spur unit having a paper discharge spur is lowered to expand the space from the mist collecting duct. When the spur unit is elevated to close the space from the mist collecting duct, the paper discharge opening outside air inflow preventing member changes the position in cooperation with the spur unit so that it is housed between the spur unit and the mist collecting duct. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus, and more particularly to a mist collection mechanism inside the recording apparatus.

  In an ink jet recording apparatus, when an ink liquid is ejected for the purpose of recording or the like, fine mist droplets (ink mist) may be generated along with main droplets mainly related to recording. The ink mist is a fine droplet compared to the main droplet, and the moving speed is remarkably slow. Most of the ink mist does not land on the recording medium and floats in the air. In addition, when the main droplet lands on the recording medium, the thing that bounces without being fixed to the recording medium may float as ink mist. If these ink mists are floating in the machine, the following problems may occur.

  (1) Ink mist adheres to the recording medium, and the recording quality is significantly deteriorated.

  (2) Ink mist adheres to the encoder provided to increase the accuracy of the carriage unit operation and the like, and the reading accuracy of the encoder is significantly reduced.

  (3) When ink mist adheres to the sliding part with the carriage unit, for example, the guide shaft, the sliding resistance of the carriage unit increases due to thickening or solidification of the ink mist due to evaporation of the ink mist solvent, etc. As a result, the carriage unit malfunctions.

  (4) Ink mist adheres to metal and electrical parts, causing corrosion and deterioration of the parts.

  (5) Ink mist splashes and adheres not only within the recording apparatus but also around the recording apparatus installation location, which causes environmental degradation and further adheres to the recorded recording medium. As a result, the quality of the recorded image is remarkably deteriorated or the hands and clothes of the operator who operates the recording apparatus are stained.

From the above, in the ink jet recording apparatus, in particular, the ink mist processing is indispensable. For this reason, conventionally, a fan is provided inside the recording apparatus, and the ink mist is discharged from the recording apparatus without adhering to the recording medium or encoder. It has been proposed to take the means (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP2004-181704 (FIG. 1)

  However, in recent years, the resolution of inkjet recording apparatuses has increased, and the amount of ink mist has increased by increasing the amount of ink discharged compared to inkjet recording apparatuses with low resolution. The need is increasing.

  An object of the present invention is to provide means for efficiently collecting generated ink mist for the purpose of preventing problems caused by the generated ink mist.

  The present invention relates to a recording head that performs recording by discharging ink onto a sheet, a platen that is a sheet conveyance surface from the recording unit to the paper discharge unit, a paper discharge roller for discharging the sheet from a paper discharge port, And a spur unit that can be moved up and down to secure a sheet insertion space at the paper discharge port when the sheet is pressed against the paper discharge roller by the paper discharge spur when the sheet is discharged, and at the time of manual paper feeding from the paper discharge port. Ink jet recording apparatus comprising a mist collecting duct that is installed above the spur unit and sucks the outside air taken in from the outside air intake on the back side of the ink jet recording apparatus, and the air that has flowed from the outside air intake is ink inside the ink jet recording apparatus When the air flow is generated so that it flows into the mist collection duct intake port while collecting the mist, the outside air from the discharge port is Prevents outside air from entering the discharge port so as not to reduce the amount of outside air that flows in through the space above the spur unit provided to avoid interference when raising the spur unit during manual feed. Install the members. The discharge outlet outside air inflow prevention member is arranged to block the air flowing into this space when the spur unit falls and the space with the mist collection duct widens, and when the spur unit rises and the space with the mist collection duct is closed The discharge port outside air inflow prevention member is configured to be accommodated between the spur unit and the mist collecting duct intake port in conjunction with the spur unit. The discharge port outside air inflow prevention member may be a member that can prevent air from flowing in, such as a sheet material, a mold material, a rubber material, or a sponge.

  By using the present invention, it is possible to efficiently generate a flow of air that flows into the mist recovery duct intake port from the outside air intake port provided on the back surface of the inkjet recording apparatus, so that the ink mist stain inside can be reduced, Longer equipment life and improved product quality. Further, by using only a discharge port outside air inflow prevention member linked with a spur unit having a paper discharge spur, for example, one part of the sheet material, blocking of outside air inflow when the spur unit moves up and down and storing operation in closing Can be realized at low cost.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1A and 1B show an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The ink jet recording apparatus according to this embodiment includes a recording head 3 that performs recording by discharging ink onto a sheet P, a conveyance roller 9 and a pinch roller 12 that convey a sheet that has been fed and conveyed, and a sheet discharged from a recording unit. A sheet conveying surface to the sheet discharge section 16, a sheet discharge roller 16 for discharging the sheet from the sheet discharge outlet 23, and a sheet P with a sheet discharge spur 17 against the sheet discharge roller 16 during recording and sheet discharge. And a spur unit 18 having a discharge spur 17 that rises to secure a space for the discharge outlet 23 when manually feeding from the discharge outlet 23, and a mist recovery duct intake port disposed above the spur unit 25, a discharge port outside air inflow prevention member 24 for preventing outside air 26 from flowing in from the top of the spur unit, and outside air 27 from the back side of the inkjet recording apparatus. Consisting of outside air intake 28..

  The ink mist floating inside the ink jet recording apparatus is carried on the flow of the outside air 27 flowing in from the outside air intake port 28 provided on the back side of the apparatus, and is sucked by a fan (not shown). It is collected at. At this time, if the outside air 26 from the paper discharge port 23 flows in through the space above the spur unit 18 provided for avoiding interference when the spur unit 18 is lifted when manually feeding the front surface, the apparatus is correspondingly increased. The amount of the outside air 27 flowing from the outside air intake port 28 is reduced, leading to a reduction in ink mist collection efficiency. Therefore, when the spur unit 18 is lowered and the upper space is expanded (FIG. 1A), the discharge port outside air inflow prevention member 24 is disposed so as to block the outside air 26 flowing into this space. When the upper space is closed and the upper space is closed (FIG. 1 (b)), the discharge port outside air inflow prevention member 24 changes its posture in conjunction with the spur unit 18, and between the spur unit 18 and the mist collection duct air intake 25. It is configured to be stored in between.

  Next, the mechanism for moving the spur unit 18 up and down and the operation of the discharge port outside air inflow prevention member 24 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIGS. 2A and 2B show a state in which the spur unit 18 is lowered and the paper discharge spur 17 is in pressure contact with the paper discharge roller 16 and shows a paper feeding, recording, and paper discharging operation. As shown in FIG. 2B, the spur unit 18 is supported at both ends of the seat width by parallel links of a link a18a and a link b18b, and is operated by a spur unit drive unit (not shown). The link b18b cantilever-supports the discharge port outside air inflow prevention member 24, and the free end of the sheet discharge port outside air inflow prevention member 24 is in contact with the bottom surface of the mist collecting duct.

  FIG. 3A shows a state in which the spur unit 18 is raised, and shows front manual feed. The discharge port outside air inflow prevention member 24 that is cantilevered by the link b18b moves to the position shown in the figure as the spur unit 18 is raised, and the free end of the discharge port outside air inflow prevention member 24 contacts the bottom surface of the mist collecting duct. ing.

  As a method of moving the spur unit 18 up and down, a gear installed on the rotation shaft of the link may be rotated by a motor, or the spur unit 18 may be pushed up from below by a cam rotated by the motor. Alternatively, it may be manually operated by the user.

  Next, the entire inkjet recording apparatus having the ink mist collection mechanism will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an ink jet printer which is an example of a recording apparatus including the cut sheet feeding device shown in the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the recording apparatus.

  In the traveling direction of the sheet P conveyed from the sheet feeding device through the sheet conveying path R, a conveying roller 9 and a pinch roller 12, an image recording unit 3a, a discharge roller 16 and a discharge spur 17 are sequentially arranged. Yes. The conveyance roller 9 and the pinch roller 12 convey the sheet conveyed through the sheet conveyance path R to the image recording unit 3a, and the sheet discharge roller 16 and the sheet discharge spur 17 are sheets conveyed to the image recording unit 3a. To the outside of the printer.

  The image recording unit 3 a includes a platen 22 that supports a sheet that is nipped and conveyed by the conveyance roller 9 and the pinch roller 12, a carriage 2 that is arranged to face the platen 22, and moves in the scanning direction. The recording head 3 is mounted and performs recording by discharging ink onto a sheet on the platen 22.

  The carriage 2 is slidably supported by a guide shaft 7 and a guide rail 8 which are fixed to the frame 6 of the printer main body 1A at both ends and are parallel to each other. The guide shaft 7 is driven by a belt driving device and a motor (not shown). And reciprocal movement along the guide rail 8 is possible.

  The recording head 3 includes a plurality of nozzle rows (not shown) that eject ink on the surface facing the sheet. These nozzle rows are arranged in the sub-scanning direction, and different color inks are ejected for each nozzle row. The corresponding color ink is supplied from the ink tank 4 to the nozzle rows of the respective colors via the supply tubes 5.

  The printer main body 1 is provided with a cassette cover 13 so as to cover the sheet storage means 10 in a state where a paper feeding device is attached. When replenishing the sheet storage means 10 or replacing the sheet member 22, the cassette cover 13 is opened.

  Next, an image recording operation of the ink jet printer will be described.

  When the image recording operation is started, first, the paper feed roller 15 comes into contact with the uppermost sheet P1 of the sheets P stacked on the sheet storage unit 10 by the downward rotation of the arm 14 and the weight of the paper feed roller 15. Is done. When the sheet feeding roller 15 rotates in this state, the sheet P1 is conveyed, separated by receiving a resistance force in the separation plate 19, and conveyed to the roller guide 20 along the slope of the separation plate 19.

  The sheet P1 conveyed to the roller guide 20 enters the sheet conveyance path R, is guided to the positions of the conveyance roller 9 and the pinch roller 12 by the rotation of the U-turn roller 21, and is sandwiched between the conveyance roller 9 and the pinch roller 12. It is conveyed to a recording position on the platen 22.

  When the sheet P1 is conveyed to the recording position, the printing (image recording) operation by the recording head 3 mounted on the carrier 2 is subsequently started. In this printing operation, for example, when printing for one scan by the recording head 3 is completed, the printing operation is temporarily interrupted, the sheet P1 on the platen 22 is conveyed by a predetermined amount by the conveying roller 9, and then the carrier 2 is moved again. Printing is performed according to the procedure of performing printing for the next one scanning while moving along the guide shaft 7. In this way, a desired image is recorded on the sheet 2 by ejecting ink from the recording head 3 toward the sheet P1 while moving the carrier 2 back and forth.

  After the printing operation is completed, the sheet P1 on which a desired image is recorded is sandwiched between the paper discharge roller 16 and the paper discharge spur 17 and discharged onto the cassette cover 13.

  In the first embodiment, the cut sheet feeding from the cassette is described. However, the same ink mist collecting mechanism can be configured by feeding the roll paper when the roll paper is installed.

(A) It is a block diagram when the spur unit concerning the 1st Example of this invention falls. (B) It is a block diagram when the spur unit concerning the 1st Example of this invention goes up. (A) It is a spur unit block diagram when the spur unit concerning the 1st Example of this invention falls. (B) It is a spur unit perspective view when the spur unit concerning the 1st Example of this invention falls. It is a spur unit block diagram when the spur unit concerning the 1st Example of this invention goes up. 1 is a perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1A Inkjet printer 1B Paper feeder 2 Carrier 3 Recording head 3A Recording part 4 Ink tank 5 Supply tube 6 Main body frame 7 Guide shaft 8 Guide rail 9 Conveyance roller 10 Sheet storage means 11 Head recovery means 12 Pinch roller 13 Cassette cover 14 Arm 14a Support point 15 Paper feeding roller 16 Paper ejection roller 17 Paper ejection spur 18 Spur unit 18a Link A
18b Link B
19 Separation member (separation plate)
20 Guide Roller 21 U-Turn Roller 22 Platen 23 Discharge Port 24 Discharge Port Outside Air Inflow Prevention Member 25 Mist Collection Duct Inlet 26 Outside Air from Spur Unit Upper Part 27 Outside Air from Back Side 28 Outside Air Intake Port P Sheet P1 Top Sheet P1a Top sheet top P1b Top sheet back

Claims (4)

  A recording head that performs recording by discharging ink onto the sheet, a platen that is a sheet conveyance surface from the recording unit to the paper discharge unit, a paper discharge roller that discharges the sheet from the paper discharge port, and during recording and sheet discharge When paper is ejected, the sheet ejection spur presses the sheet against the sheet ejection roller, and when it is manually fed from the sheet ejection port, it moves up and down, and it can move up and down. In an ink jet recording apparatus that collects mist by sucking air from the mist recovery duct intake port, the discharge port is used to block outside air flowing from the discharge port into the apparatus when the spur unit for recording and discharging is lowered. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising an outside air inflow prevention member.   2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a discharge port outside air inflow preventing member is provided in the spur unit, and is interlocked with an up and down operation of the spur unit.   2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an elastic member is used as the outside air inflow preventing member for the paper discharge port.   2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plate material is used for the outside air inflow preventing member for the paper discharge port.

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