JP2008179129A - Cleaning apparatus, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently clean an ink adhered to a blade. <P>SOLUTION: This cleaning apparatus 22 is used for cleaning the ink discharging section 211 of an inkjet printer 1. The cleaning apparatus 22 is equipped with a blade member 221, a cleaning blade 231, and a cleaning blade moving mechanism 232. The blade member 221 is relatively movable with respect to the ink discharging section 211, and cleans the ink discharging section 211 by making the end edge section slide contact to the ink discharging section 211. The cleaning blade 231 is arranged in such a manner that the cleaning-working surface may form an angle with respect to the surface including the edge of the blade member 221, and cleans the end edge section of the blade member 221 with the cleaning-working surface by moving from one end of the end edge section of the blade member 221 to the other end under a state being in contact with the edge of the end edge section of the blade member 221. The cleaning blade moving mechanism 232 relatively moves the blade member 221 and the cleaning blade 231. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning device, and more particularly to a cleaning device for cleaning an ink discharge portion of an image forming apparatus.

  The present invention also relates to an image forming apparatus having a cleaning device.

  Among image forming apparatuses, there is an apparatus that forms an image on a sheet by ejecting ink onto the sheet, such as an inkjet color printer. Such an image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit capable of forming an image, a paper storage unit for storing paper on which an image is formed, a paper transport unit for transporting paper to the image forming unit, and an image on the surface. And a paper discharge unit capable of discharging the paper on which the paper is formed. In this image forming apparatus, the paper stored in the paper storage unit is transported to the image forming unit by the paper transport unit, and an image based on the image information is formed on the paper. Then, the sheet on which the image is formed on the sheet by the image forming unit is discharged to the sheet discharge unit.

  Here, the image forming unit includes an ink discharge unit that can discharge ink onto a sheet, and a cleaning device that cleans the ink discharge unit. During the image forming operation, ink is ejected from the ink ejection unit onto the paper, and the ink ejection unit is cleaned by the cleaning device. The cleaning device includes a blade formed of an elastic member, and the blade wipes the surface of the ink discharge unit.

However, when a large amount of ink adheres to the blade, it becomes difficult to clean the ink discharge portion. For this reason, some have a cleaning mechanism in which ink adhering to the blade after this wiping operation is absorbed by an ink absorber (see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-57992

  In the cleaning device described in Patent Document 1, the blade is rotated to come into contact with the ink absorber so that the ink adhering to the blade is absorbed by the ink absorber. Then the blade comes into contact. For this reason, the contact portion of the ink absorber with the blade may not be able to absorb the ink of the blade. As described above, in particular, with the blade that is in a state where the ink is attached to the tip portion in contact with the ink discharge portion, the ink in the ink discharge portion cannot be efficiently scraped.

  An object of the present invention is to efficiently clean ink adhering to a blade.

  A cleaning device according to a first aspect of the present invention is a cleaning device for cleaning an ink discharge portion of an image forming apparatus, and includes a blade, a cleaning blade, and a moving mechanism. The blade can move relative to the ink discharge portion, and cleans the ink discharge portion by bringing the end portion into sliding contact with the ink discharge portion. The cleaning blade is arranged so that the cleaning action surface has an angle with respect to the surface including the blade edge, and moves from one end of the blade edge to the other end in contact with the blade edge. Clean the edge with a cleaning surface. The moving mechanism is a mechanism that relatively moves the blade and the cleaning blade.

  In this cleaning device, the blade is brought into sliding contact with the ink discharge portion in order to remove ink adhering to the ink discharge portion after the image forming operation is completed. The ink discharge portion is cleaned by the sliding contact of the blade. When the blade returns to the standby position, the cleaning blade is moved from one end to the other end of the blade edge by the moving mechanism in contact with the downstream edge of the blade edge in the ink wiping direction. With this movement, the edge of the blade is cleaned.

  Here, the ink discharge part can be cleaned by sliding contact of the blade. Further, the ink attached to the blade can be cleaned by moving the cleaning blade. At this time, since the cleaning blade is brought into sliding contact with at least the downstream edge in the ink wiping direction, it is possible to clean the downstream edge in the ink wiping direction where ink is most likely to adhere. For this reason, the ink adhering to the blade can be efficiently cleaned.

  The cleaning device according to claim 2 is the cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein when the cleaning blade comes into contact with the edge of the blade edge, at least the peripheral region including the edge can be contacted. The portion of the blade edge that contacts the edge is elastically deformable.

  Here, the cleaning blade can bite into the edge of the blade edge, and the peripheral area including the edge can be cleaned.

  A cleaning device according to a third aspect is the cleaning device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the cleaning blade extends in a direction intersecting the width direction of the blade and the tip side is separated from the edge of the blade edge portion. Therefore, it inclines so that it may be located below.

  Here, since the cleaning blade crosses the width direction of the blade, it is easy to scrape off ink adhering to the upper end of the blade, and the cleaned ink easily moves to the tip side of the cleaning blade, that is, to the lower side. It has become.

  A cleaning device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the cleaning device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the moving mechanism includes a rack on which the cleaning blade is attached, and the rack when the driving force is transmitted to the rack. And a pinion gear for moving the motor.

  Here, when the pinion gear is rotated, the rack meshing with the pinion gear is moved, and thereby the cleaning blade is moved.

  The cleaning device according to claim 5 is the cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a non-contact portion with the blade sequentially contacts the blade from one end side to the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the blade. Move the cleaning blade so that.

  Here, since the non-contact portion of the cleaning blade with the blade comes into contact with the blade as it moves, the ink attached to the blade can be cleaned well.

  A cleaning device according to a sixth aspect is the cleaning device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the cleaning blade is a member capable of absorbing ink adhering to the blade.

  Here, the ink can be removed by absorbing the ink adhering to the blade by the cleaning blade.

  A cleaning device according to a seventh aspect includes an image forming unit, a cleaning device, and a cleaning device moving mechanism. The image forming unit includes an ink discharging unit having an ink discharge surface capable of discharging ink, and forms an image on the image forming target by discharging ink onto the image forming target by the ink discharging unit. The cleaning device is the device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The cleaning device moving mechanism is a mechanism that moves the cleaning device along the ink ejection surface.

  In the present invention, the ink adhering to the blade can be efficiently cleaned.

1. Overall Configuration FIG. 1 shows an inkjet printer 1 as an image forming apparatus in which an embodiment of the present invention is adopted. The inkjet printer 1 is connected to an external computer (not shown) and the like, and is an apparatus capable of forming an image based on image information transmitted from the computer, and includes an image forming unit 2, a paper storage unit 3, A paper transport unit 4, a lifting device 7, and a discharge unit 5 are provided. The ink used in the ink jet printer 1 is obtained by coating the surface of a pigment with a resin.

  The image forming unit 2 forms an image based on image information, and includes four inkjet heads 21 and a cleaning device 22 (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

  The four inkjet heads 21 are arranged side by side above a paper transport belt 42 of a paper transport unit 4 described later, and are portions that eject ink onto paper based on image information. Each ink jet head 21 stores ink of different colors, and has an ink discharge section 211 (see FIG. 3) capable of discharging the stored ink. Furthermore, the inkjet head 21 is a member extending in one direction (a direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 1) and is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped member. The ink ejection part 211 has an ink ejection surface 212 (see FIG. 3) arranged to face the paper, and the ejection surface 212 has a plurality of ink ejection holes (not shown) arranged side by side. Is provided. The ink ejection surface 212 has a rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction. Here, the “front-rear direction” means a direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 1, and the front side is “front” and the back side is “rear” in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cleaning device 22 is a device for cleaning the surface of the ink jet head 21, and includes a blade member 221 that slides on the ink jet head 21 to scrape ink and a blade member 221. A cleaning device moving mechanism 8 (refer to FIG. 7, hereinafter simply referred to as a moving mechanism) for moving, and a cleaning mechanism 23 are provided. The cleaning device 22 will be described in detail later.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet storage unit 3 is a portion that can store a sheet on which an image is formed, and is disposed below the inkjet printer 1. The paper storage unit 3 has a paper supply roller 31 for supplying paper to the paper transport unit 4 above the front end of the paper supply side.

  The paper transport unit 4 is a part for transporting the paper in the paper storage unit 3 to the image forming unit 2 and transporting the paper on which the image is formed on the surface by the image forming unit 2 to the discharge unit 5. The paper transport unit 4 includes a plurality of rollers 41 for transporting paper and a transport belt 42. The conveyor belt 42 is an endless belt that is disposed below the inkjet head 21 and has rollers 44 and 45 for circulating the conveyor belt 42 at both ends. The conveyor belt 42 is supported by rollers 44 and 45 on a box-shaped belt support member 43 that faces the conveyor belt 42 at the front, rear, and lower sides of the conveyor belt 42 and that is open on both sides. In FIG. 1, for easy understanding, only a portion of the belt support member 43 that faces the conveyance belt 42 at the rear and below the conveyance belt 42 is illustrated.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lifting device 7 is disposed below the transport belt 42 of the paper transport unit 4 and is a device for lifting the transport belt 42 up and down. The lifting device 7 has a pair of eccentric cams 71 and 72. Of the pair of eccentric cams 71 and 72, the eccentric cam 71 located on the left side in FIG. 1 (hereinafter referred to as “first eccentric cam 71”) is provided to be rotatable about the shaft portion 73 and is not shown. It is rotationally driven by a motor. The first eccentric cam 71 is provided with a plurality of bearings 74, and the first eccentric cam 71 supports the belt support member 43 via the bearings 74. In FIG. 1, only one of the bearings 74 is given a reference numeral and the other is omitted. An eccentric cam 72 (hereinafter referred to as a “second eccentric cam 72”) located on the right side in FIG. 1 has the same structure as the first eccentric cam 71, and the first eccentric cam 71 and the left-right direction in FIG. It has a different shape. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the conveyor belt 42 is raised. From this state, the pair of eccentric cams 71 and 72 rotate inward, and the conveyor belt 42 is lowered (see FIG. 2). When the image forming unit 2 forms an image on a sheet, the elevating device 7 sets the conveying belt 42 in the raised state shown in FIG. In the embodiment, about 1 mm) is provided. Further, the lifting device 7 sets the transport belt 42 in the lowered state shown in FIG. 2 when processing a jam generated on the transport belt 42 or cleaning the inkjet head 21 by the cleaning device 22 described later. The gap between the inkjet head 21 and the paper is widened.

  The discharge unit 5 is a portion for discharging the paper on which the image is formed by the image forming unit 2, and is disposed on the upper portion of the ink jet printer 1. The discharge unit 5 includes a plurality of rollers 51, and the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming unit 2 is conveyed by the conveyance belt 42 of the sheet conveyance unit 4 and the roller 51 of the discharge unit 5, and is discharged from the discharge port 52. It is discharged outside the machine.

2. 2. Configuration of cleaning device 2-1. Blade member The blade member 221 is a member for scraping the ink on the ink discharge surface 212 and is a plate-like member extending in the short direction of the ink discharge surface 212. Further, the length of the blade member 221 is substantially the same as the length of the ink discharge surface 212 in the short direction. Further, when cleaning the ink discharge surface 212, the upper end of the blade member 221 is disposed at a position slightly higher than the ink discharge surface 212 (see FIG. 3). Further, the blade member 221 is formed of an elastically deformable material, such as EPDM, fluororubber, or the like, and is disposed along the short direction of the ink ejection surface 212.
2-2. Moving Mechanism The moving mechanism 8 shown in FIG. 7 is a mechanism for moving the blade member 221 of the cleaning device 22 in the longitudinal direction of the inkjet head 21. FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view schematically showing the configuration of the moving mechanism 8. The moving mechanism 8 includes a pair of rail members 81, 82, a pair of sliders 83, 84, a movement support member 85, a plurality of pulleys 86 a to 86 e, a drive motor 87, and a frame body that supports these members ( (Not shown).

  The pair of rail members 81 and 82 have an elongated shape extending in the front-rear direction, and are arranged in parallel to each other at a distance in the left-right direction.

  The pair of sliders 83 and 84 are provided so as to be slidable along the rail members 81 and 82, respectively.

  The movement support member 85 is formed by bending a plate material, and is provided across a pair of rail members 81 and 82. The movement support member 85 is fixed to a pair of sliders 83 and 84, and moves back and forth as the sliders 83 and 84 move along the rail members 81 and 82 (see arrows A1 and A2). A plurality of blade members 221 are fixed to the front portion of the upper surface of the moving support member 85. A plurality of cap members 89 corresponding to the ink ejection surface 212 of the inkjet head 21 are provided behind the blade member 221. In FIG. 7, only one of the cap members 89 is given a reference numeral and the other is omitted. The cap member 89 is a member for covering and covering the ink discharge surface 212 in the standby state, and thereby, drying and deterioration of the ink can be prevented.

  The plurality of pulleys 86a to 86e include five pulleys from the first pulley 86a to the fifth pulley 86e, and are provided rotatably. The first pulley 86a and the second pulley 86b are disposed in front of and behind the rail member 81 with the rail member 81 interposed therebetween. A belt 88 a having one end fixed to the front end of the slider 83 and the other end fixed to the rear end of the slider 83 is wound around the first pulley 86 a and the second pulley 86 b. The third pulley 86c and the fourth pulley 86d are disposed in front of and behind the rail member 82 with the rail member 82 interposed therebetween. A belt 88b having one end fixed to the front end of the slider 84 and the other end fixed to the rear end of the slider 84 is wound around the third pulley 86c and the fourth pulley 86d. The third pulley 86c is rotationally driven by the drive motor 87. The fifth pulley 86e rotates in the opposite direction to the third pulley 86c by receiving the rotation from the drive motor 87 via a gear (not shown) that is rotationally driven by the drive motor 87. An endless belt 88c is stretched between the fifth pulley 86e and the first pulley 86a.

  In the moving mechanism 8, when the third pulley 86c is rotationally driven counterclockwise in FIG. 7 by the drive motor 87, the belt 88b is driven and the slider 84 moves forward. At the same time, the fifth pulley 86e is driven clockwise, whereby the endless belt 88c and the belt 88a are driven, and the slider 83 moves forward. As a result, the cleaning device 22 moves forward together with the movable support member 85 (see arrow A1). When the drive motor 87 is driven in the opposite direction, the movement support member 85 and the cleaning device 22 move backward (see arrow A2).

2-3. Cleaning Mechanism The cleaning mechanism 23 is a mechanism for cleaning ink adhering to the blade member 221, and is disposed in the vicinity of the blade member 221 as shown in FIGS. The cleaning mechanism 23 includes four cleaning blades 231 provided corresponding to the four blade members 221, a cleaning blade moving mechanism 232, and a connecting member 233 that connects the four cleaning blades 231. 8 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 7, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a part thereof. Further, in FIG. 8, the state of the cleaning mechanism 23 before cleaning the blade member 221 is indicated by a solid line, and the state of the cleaning mechanism 32 after cleaning the blade member 221 is indicated by a broken line.

  The cleaning blade 231 has a connection portion 231a and a blade portion 231b. The connection portion 231a is a plate-like portion fixed so as to come into surface contact with the connecting member 233, and is formed of a hard member such as plastic. The blade portion 231b is a substantially rectangular plate-like member, which is bonded to the connection portion 231a by adhesion and is formed of a material capable of absorbing ink, for example, a porous member such as sponge. The blade portion 231b is a portion provided so as to protrude from the connection portion 231a, and is disposed obliquely with respect to the direction (longitudinal direction) in which the blade member 221 extends (see FIG. 5A). And the front-end | tip of the direction orthogonal to the blade member 221 is located in the low position in the up-down direction rather than a rear end (connection part 231a) (refer FIG.5 (b) and FIG. 6). That is, the bottom surface 231c (see FIG. 5B), which is the cleaning action surface of the cleaning blade 231, is the most important part of the blade member 221 when the blade member 221 cleans the ink discharge portion 211 of the inkjet head 21. As shown in FIG. 5B, the surface 221a including the edge 221b (the upper surface of the blade member 221) is in contact with the angle α. As a result, the cleaning action surface 231c of the cleaning blade 231 does not come into surface contact with the upper surface 221a of the blade member 221, but is the most important part when cleaning the ink discharge surface 212 of the ink discharge portion 211 of the inkjet head 21. The edge 221b of the blade member 221 can be satisfactorily cleaned, and the blade portion 231b is elastically deformed when it comes into contact with the edge 221b at the edge of the blade member 221, and includes a peripheral region including the edge 221b. Will also come into contact.

  The cleaning blade moving mechanism 232 moves the connecting member 233 in the direction of arrow P in FIG. 4, and moves the cleaning blade 231 from the one end side in the longitudinal direction of the blade member 221 (left side in FIGS. 4 to 6) to the other end side (same as above). It is a mechanism that moves while making contact until the right side of the figure. As a result, the cleaning blade moving mechanism 232 contacts the upper end (particularly the edge 221b) of the blade member 221 and the non-contact portion of the cleaning blade 231 from one end side to the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the blade member 221. The cleaning blade 231 is moved. That is, as the cleaning blade 231 moves, the position of the cleaning blade 231 that contacts the edge 221b of the blade member 221 changes. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5A, when the cleaning blade 231 moves to the right as indicated by an arrow P from the left end of the drawing, the blade member 221 of the cleaning blade 231 is moved along with the movement. Are moved relatively in a direction (indicated by an arrow Q) perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the blade member 221. The direction of the arrow P is the direction in which a rack 232a, which will be described later, extends, and is also indicated by the arrow P in FIG.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the cleaning blade moving mechanism 232 has a rack 232a that is movably provided, and a pinion gear 232b that is rotatable around a fixed rotation shaft. The rack 232a is a plate-like member extending in the arrow P direction, and one end thereof is fixed to one end of the connecting member 233 with a screw or the like. The rack 232a is formed with gear teeth (not shown), and in FIG. 4, the rack 232a is disposed so as to be inclined so that the tip side (the side fixed to the connecting member 233) is below the opposite side. The pinion gear 232b is a member that moves the rack 232a, and has gear teeth that mesh with the gear teeth of the rack 232a. In addition, a shaft of a motor (not shown) that rotates the pinion gear 232b is attached to the pinion gear 232b, and the pinion gear 232b is rotated by the motor.

  A pair of guide rails 234a and 234b are arranged at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the connecting member 233 (not shown in FIG. 4) as shown in FIGS. These guide rails 234a and 234b extend in the direction of arrow P in FIG. 4 and the like, and the right guide rail 234a in FIGS. 7 and 8 is arranged below the rack 232a (not shown in FIGS. 7 and 8). The movement of the rack 232a is guided. Further, a moving roller (not shown) provided at the end of the connecting member 233 is engaged with the left guide rail 234b to guide the movement of the connecting member 233.

3. Operation 3-1. Printing Operation First, the printing operation will be described.

  When image information is transmitted from a computer (not shown) connected to the outside, the paper is transported from the paper storage unit 3 to the image forming unit 2 by the paper transport unit 4. Specifically, it is conveyed to the conveyor belt 42. When the paper is transported onto the transport belt 42, ink is ejected from the inkjet head 21 and an image is formed on the paper. The sheet on which the image is formed is transported to the discharge unit 5 by the sheet transport unit 4 and is discharged from the discharge unit 5.

3-2. Ink Ejecting Portion Cleaning Operation When the printing operation is completed, a predetermined number of printing operations are performed, and then the blade member 221 is slid in contact with the ink ejecting portion 211 of the inkjet head 21 to remove ink on the ink ejection surface 212 of the ink ejecting portion 211 To do.

  The ink ejection surface 212 of the inkjet head 21 is normally cleaned by forced ink ejection (empty) to prevent defective ink ejection due to drying when image formation is not performed for a predetermined time and ink ejection is not performed. After discharge). More specifically, in the case of forced ink ejection, it is necessary to push out ink that has been clogged by drying, so that the ink is ejected at a higher pressure than usual. For this reason, a large amount of ink is ejected, and the ink ejection surface 212 is contaminated with ink. Therefore, the ink ejection surface 212 is cleaned after such forced ejection of ink.

  Specifically, first, the pair of eccentric cams 71 and 72 of the lifting device 7 are rotated inward in FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the conveyance belt 42 is separated from the inkjet head 21, and a space is formed between the inkjet head 21 and the conveyance belt 42.

  Next, the cleaning device 22 is moved by the moving mechanism 8. That is, the cleaning device 22 is retracted behind the inkjet head 21 before the cleaning operation is started (see FIG. 7), and is moved forward by the start of the cleaning operation. When the cleaning device 22 passes below the inkjet head 21 and moves to the lower end in FIG. 7 (the end of the inkjet 21 farthest from the retracted position), the movement of the cleaning device 22 by the moving mechanism 8 is temporarily performed. Stop.

  When forced ink ejection is executed, it is executed at this point. When the ink is forcibly ejected, the cap member 89 is brought close to the ink ejection surface so that the ink is received by the cap member 89.

  Next, the blade member 221 that has been maintained in the horizontal posture until then is changed to a vertical posture by a rotation mechanism (not shown). As a result, the blade member 221 comes into contact with the ink ejection surface 212 of the inkjet head 21. The rotation mechanism of the blade member 221 includes a rotation shaft fixed to the blade member 221 and a motor for rotating the rotation shaft.

  Next, in a state where the blade member 221 is maintained in a vertical posture, the cleaning device 22 is moved in the opposite direction (from the lower side to the upper side in FIG. 7). By this movement, a part of the upper surface 221a including the edge 221b of the blade member 221 comes into contact with the ink ejection surface 212 of the ink ejection unit 211, and the ink ejection surface 212 is cleaned.

  The ink scraped off by the blade member 221 falls into a container (not shown) and is finally discharged outside the container.

  Then, when the blade member 221 of the cleaning device 22 comes to the retracted position, the movement of the cleaning device 22 by the moving mechanism 8 is stopped, the following ink absorption operation is executed, and then the blade member 221 is returned to the horizontal posture.

3-3. Ink Absorbing Operation After the ink of the ink ejection unit 211 is scraped off by the blade member 221 as described above, the ink adhering operation to the blade member 221 is absorbed.

  With the blade member 221 stopped at the position shown in FIG. 7, the cleaning blade 231 moves from its home position and is brought into contact with one longitudinal end (left end in FIG. 4) of the upper end of the blade member 221. The cleaning blade 231 is moved in the direction of arrow P by the cleaning blade moving mechanism 232 from this state to the other end in the longitudinal direction of the blade member 221. Specifically, the pinion gear 232b is rotated by a motor (not shown), and the rack 232a is moved in the arrow P direction as the pinion gear 232b rotates. Due to the movement of the rack 232a, the connecting member 233 and the four cleaning blades 231 fixed to the connecting member 233 move in the same direction. However, it comes into contact with the portion of the cleaning blade 231 that has not been in contact so far. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, when the cleaning blade 231 contacts the blade member 221 and moves in the direction of arrow P, the cleaning blade 231 moves relative to the blade member 221 in the direction of arrow Q. Will also move to. Then, the portion of the cleaning action surface 231c of the cleaning blade 231 that contacts the upper surface 221a (particularly the edge 221b) of the blade member 221 changes as the cleaning blade 231 moves. Accordingly, when the cleaning blade 231 moves, the cleaning blade 231 comes into contact with a portion that has not been in contact with the blade member 221 until then.

4). Features Here, since the cleaning action surface 231c, which is the lower surface of the cleaning blade 231, contacts the edge 221b of the upper surface 221a of the blade member 221, the ink on the blade member 221 can be cleaned well.

  Further, since the cleaning blade 231 is installed so as to be inclined so that the front end side is downward, the ink easily moves to the front end side, and the ink removal efficiency of the blade member 221 is improved.

  Further, as the cleaning blade 231 moves, the contact portion of the cleaning blade 231 with respect to the blade member 221 changes, so that the absorbed ink does not partially accumulate excessively in the cleaning blade 231 and the ink absorption efficiency is improved. It becomes high and ink removal efficiency becomes good.

5. Other Embodiments (a) In the above embodiment, a rectangular plate-like portion is used as the blade portion 231b of the cleaning blade 231, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the portion that contacts the upper end of the blade member 221 is a straight line. It suffices if it is a shaped member.

  (B) In the above embodiment, the cleaning blade moving mechanism 232 moves the cleaning blade 231 from one end side to the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the blade member 221 so that the upper end of the blade member 221 and the non-contact portion are in contact with each other. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cleaning blade 231 may be moved in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the blade member 221.

  (C) Further, in the above embodiment, the cleaning blade moving mechanism 232 for moving the cleaning blade 231 relative to the blade member 221 is provided. However, the cleaning blade 231 is fixedly arranged, and the blade member 221 is moved relative to the cleaning blade. You may make it have a moving mechanism to make.

  (D) FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the cleaning mechanism. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the four cleaning blades 231 are connected by the connecting member 233 and operated in synchronization with each other. However, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 231 are operated independently.

  That is, each blade member 221 has a cleaning blade 231, a rack 232 a ′ to which the cleaning blade 231 is fixed, and a pinion gear 232 b ′ that meshes with the rack 232 a ′. Each rack 232a 'moves along a support member such as a guide rail (not shown). In this case, the cleaning blade 231 can be cleaned as necessary for each color.

An ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the mechanism for raising / lowering a conveyance belt. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a cleaning device for an ink discharge unit. The figure which shows a cleaning mechanism. It is a figure which shows the arrangement | positioning relationship between a blade member and a cleaning blade, (a) is a top view, (b) is a side view. The front view which shows the arrangement | positioning relationship between a blade member and a cleaning blade. The top view which shows the moving mechanism of a cleaning apparatus. The figure which expands and shows a part of FIG. The figure equivalent to FIG. 7 of other embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 Inkjet printer (image forming device)
2 Image forming unit 8 moving mechanism (cleaning device moving mechanism)
21 Ink-jet head 22 Cleaning device 23 Cleaning mechanism 211 Ink discharge part 221 Blade member 231 Cleaning blade 232 Cleaning blade moving mechanism (moving mechanism)
232a, 232a 'rack 232b, 232b' pinion gear

Claims (7)

A cleaning device for cleaning an ink discharge portion of an image forming apparatus,
A blade that is movable relative to the ink discharge portion, and that cleans the ink discharge portion by sliding an edge portion in sliding contact with the ink discharge portion;
The cleaning surface is disposed at an angle with respect to the surface including the edge of the blade, and moves from one end of the blade end edge to the other end in contact with the blade end edge, and the blade A cleaning blade for cleaning an edge portion with the cleaning surface;
A moving mechanism for relatively moving the blade and the cleaning blade;
A cleaning device.   When the cleaning blade comes into contact with the edge of the blade edge portion, at least a portion in contact with the edge of the blade edge portion can be elastically deformed so that it can also contact a peripheral region including the edge. The cleaning device according to claim 1.   3. The cleaning blade according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning blade extends in a direction intersecting with a width direction of the blade, and is inclined so that a tip side is positioned downward as it is away from an edge of the blade edge portion. Cleaning device. The moving mechanism is
A rack to which the cleaning blade is attached;
A pinion gear that meshes with the rack and moves the rack when a driving force is transmitted;
The cleaning device according to claim 1.   5. The moving mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the moving mechanism sequentially moves the cleaning blade from one end side to the other end side in the longitudinal direction so that a non-contact portion with the blade comes into contact with the blade. The cleaning device described.   The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning blade is a member capable of absorbing ink attached to the blade. An image forming section that includes an ink discharge section having an ink discharge surface capable of discharging ink, and forms an image on the image forming object by discharging ink onto the image forming object by the ink discharging section;
A cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 6;
A cleaning device moving mechanism for moving the cleaning device along the ink ejection surface;
An image forming apparatus.

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