JP2008221805A - Liquid consumption device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid consumption device having a liquid jetting head in which, even when the liquid adhering on a lip adheres on the counter surface of a cap upon removal of a head cap, the liquid does not spherically bulge. <P>SOLUTION: The moisture of an application head 100 of a label printer is retained by covering nozzles 60 perforated in a nozzle plate 57 with a head cap by capping the counter surface 55 to the cap by the head cap. In the lip contact region of the counter surface 55 to the cap in contact with the lip provided on the distal end of the head cap, a non-water-repellent region 59 is formed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid consuming apparatus, and in particular, a liquid consuming apparatus including a liquid ejecting head in which a nozzle formed in a nozzle plate is covered with the head cap and moisturized by capping the cap facing surface. About.

  In recent years, there has been a media processing device such as a disc dubbing device that writes data to a large number of media such as blank CDs and DVDs, and a CD / DVD publisher that can produce and issue media by performing data writing and label printing. Are known. This type of media processing device includes a drive for writing data to the media and a liquid consuming device (hereinafter also referred to as “printer”) that performs printing on the label surface of the media.

  Generally, in this type of printer, an ink jet printer head (hereinafter also referred to as “print head”) as a liquid ejecting head loaded in a carriage that can reciprocate ejects ink droplets from a plurality of ink nozzles to a desired position. By doing so, it is configured to perform printing. Since foreign matter such as ink and dust may adhere to the nozzle plate of the print head during printing, it is necessary to clean the print head outside the printing area for appropriate maintenance.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, in the printer 500, a head maintenance mechanism that performs the maintenance operation of the print head 501 is arranged in a maintenance area that is out of the print area by the print head 501. Then, by this head maintenance mechanism, a wiping process for dirt on the cap facing surface (nozzle plate) 503 of the print head 501, a capping process for preventing clogging of the ink nozzles, and an ink that sucks thickened ink from the ink nozzles A suction cleaning or the like is performed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Ink suction cleaning is forcibly discharging ink remaining in the ink nozzles by suction. That is, by operating the suction pump in a state where the lip 507 of the head cap 505 is in close contact with the peripheral edge of the nozzle plate 503 in the print head 501, the ink 509 and the bubbles in the ink nozzle are removed from the ink reservoir in the head cap 505. The suction pump is used for suction, and is discharged from the suction pump to a predetermined waste ink storage unit.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-1835

  Conventionally, after the maintenance process (ink suction to nozzle plate wiping) is completed, as shown in FIG. 6D, capping is performed by a head cap 505 in order to keep the ink nozzles formed in the nozzle plate moist. Is made. Then, during this capping, a phenomenon was observed in which the ink droplet 509b remaining on the lip 507 of the head cap 505 adhered to the nozzle plate 503, and a spherical ink droplet 509b remained on the surface.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the nozzle plate 503 is separated from the medium M such as a CD by a predetermined clearance D. However, if the protruding height d of the ink droplet 509b increases (d> D), the nozzle M It adheres and gets dirty. In addition, the claw part 513 for positioning the medium M protrudes from the medium M at a height h even if it does not protrude larger than the clearance D with the medium M. Therefore, the clearance G (D−h) with the nozzle plate 503 is increased. There is a possibility that the ink becomes smaller and ink adheres during carriage scanning (for example, when a disk is detected before printing is started or when printing is performed).

On the other hand, since the nozzle plate 503 is stained with ink sucked from the nozzle opening during maintenance, the wiper member 511 wipes the surface of the nozzle plate in order to wipe it off as shown in FIG. In this case, it is necessary to reliably remove the attached ink 509a. For this reason, the surface of the nozzle plate is coated with a particularly good water repellency, which further promotes the height d of the ink droplet 509b to which the nozzle plate adheres.
For this reason, in order to remove the adhering ink, it is necessary to repeat capping and wiping several more times, and the processing time and maintenance accuracy have been reduced.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and provides a liquid consuming apparatus including a liquid ejecting head that does not rise in a spherical shape even when liquid adhering to the lip when the head cap is separated adheres to the cap facing surface. It is to be.

The above object of the present invention is a liquid consuming apparatus including a liquid ejecting head in which a nozzle formed in a nozzle plate is covered with the head cap and moisturized by capping the cap facing surface. ,
The liquid consuming device is characterized in that a non-water-repellent region is formed in a lip contact region on the cap-facing surface of the liquid jet head, which is in contact with a lip provided at the tip of the head cap.

  According to the liquid consuming apparatus having the above configuration, the droplets attached to the lip contact area on the cap facing surface of the liquid ejecting head spread without staying in a spherical shape due to the low water repellency (hydrophilic action) of the non-water repellency area, Since it does not rise high, the droplet height can be kept low. Further, since a water-repellent region similar to the conventional one can be formed in a necessary region of the nozzle plate, there are no problems such as a decrease in maintenance accuracy and an increase in processing time due to an increase in the number of wiping operations.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid consuming apparatus including a liquid ejecting head in which a nozzle formed in a nozzle plate is covered with the head cap and moisturized by capping the cap facing surface. There,
According to the liquid consuming apparatus, a groove for causing capillary action is formed in the vicinity of the outside of the lip contact area on the cap-facing surface of the liquid ejecting head, which is in contact with the lip provided at the tip of the head cap. Achieved.

  According to the liquid consuming device having the above configuration, the liquid droplets attached to the lip contact area on the cap facing surface of the liquid ejecting head do not travel along the groove while being extended by the capillary phenomenon due to the groove, and do not rise to a spherical shape. The height is kept low. And since the water-repellent area similar to the conventional one can be formed in the necessary area of the nozzle plate, there are no problems such as a decrease in maintenance accuracy and an increase in processing time due to an increase in the number of wiping operations.

Further, since the groove is formed outside the lip contact area, the lip does not contact the groove when closely contacting, and the airtightness of the lip does not deteriorate. When the lip is pressed with a predetermined pressing force from the state in contact with the cap facing surface, the lip is elastically deformed and the tip of the lip is displaced inward from the groove. In other words, the lip tip moves from the outside of the groove to the inside of the groove through the groove, and comes into close contact with the regular position.
As a result, the droplets attached to the inside of the tip of the lip can easily enter the groove, and the introduction of the droplet into the groove can be performed more efficiently.

  In the liquid consuming apparatus including the liquid jet head having the above-described configuration, it is preferable that the groove is formed in an annular shape along the lip.

  According to the liquid consuming apparatus having such a configuration, a groove is formed along the lip formed in an annular shape in order to maintain airtightness, and the groove is disposed in the region where the droplet is most likely to adhere. The droplet can be effectively discharged into the groove. In addition, the liquid droplet introduced into an arbitrary position of the groove is flattened along the annular groove, and the height of the liquid droplet can be suppressed low. Thereby, a droplet becomes high and it becomes difficult to rise.

  Further, in the liquid consuming apparatus including the liquid ejecting head having the above-described configuration, a lead-out groove whose base end is connected to the groove and whose distal end extends toward the outside of the cap facing surface is opposed to the cap of the liquid ejecting head. It is desirable to form on the surface.

  According to the liquid consuming apparatus having such a configuration, the liquid droplet flowing into the annular groove is further discharged from the groove through the outlet groove, and the liquid droplet flattening capacity of the groove is increased. Thereby, a droplet becomes high and it becomes difficult to rise.

In the liquid consuming apparatus including the liquid jet head having the above-described configuration, a plurality of the lead-out grooves are provided at predetermined intervals.
It is preferable that the leading end of each of the lead-out grooves is connected to an integrated groove formed outside the annular groove.

  According to the liquid consuming apparatus having such a configuration, the liquid droplets discharged from the annular groove through the outlet groove are guided to the integrated groove, and the liquid droplet discharge function of the outlet groove is increased. In addition, the integrated groove is formed in a shape that allows easy wiping of the droplets by the wiping process, so that the derived droplets can be removed by the integrated groove every time the wiping process is performed, and the cumulative adhesion of the droplets is prevented. It becomes possible to prevent.

Hereinafter, a liquid consuming apparatus including a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 is an external perspective view of a publisher (media processing apparatus) in which a label printer having a liquid jet head according to the first embodiment of the present invention is installed, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a label printer portion installed in the publisher. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the liquid jet head shown in FIG.

  The print head 100 that is a liquid ejecting head according to the first embodiment is mounted on, for example, a label printer (liquid consuming device) 13 of the publisher 1. Of course, the print head 100 may be mounted on a printer that performs printing on normal paper in addition to the label printer 13.

  A publisher 1 shown in FIG. 2 is a media processing apparatus that writes data on a disk-shaped medium (recording medium) such as a CD or DVD and prints on a label surface of the medium. I have. Opening and closing doors 5 and 7 that can be opened and closed to the left and right are attached to the front surface of the case 3. The upper left end of the case 3 is provided with an operation surface 9 on which display lamps, operation buttons, and the like are arranged, and the lower end of the case 3 is provided with a media discharge port 11 for discharging the created media. ing.

The open / close door 5 on the right side when viewed from the front opens and closes when a blank medium is set or when a created medium is taken out.
The opening / closing door 7 on the left side when viewed from the front is for opening and closing when the ink cartridge 21 of the label printer 13 shown in FIG. 2 is replaced. When the opening / closing door 7 is opened, the opening / closing door 7 has cartridge holders 15 arranged in the vertical direction. A container mounting portion (cartridge mounting portion) 17 is exposed.

  In addition, although not shown, inside the case 3 of the publisher 1, in addition to the label printer 13, a blank media stacker capable of stacking a plurality of unused blank media, a media drive for writing data to the media, already created A created media stacker for storing media, a media transport mechanism for transporting media between each unit, and the like are provided.

  The label printer 13 is an ink jet printer, and has ink cartridges 21 for each color (black, cyan, magenta, yellow, light cyan, and light magenta in this embodiment) attached to the ink supply mechanism 19. The ink cartridge 21 is mounted on each cartridge holder 15 of the cartridge mounting unit 17 from the front.

  The label printer 13 includes a carriage 23 having a print head 100 having ink ejection nozzles, and the carriage 23 reciprocates horizontally along a carriage guide shaft by a driving force of a carriage motor (not shown). Moving.

  The label printer 13 includes an ink supply mechanism 19 having a cartridge mounting portion 17 to which the ink cartridge 21 is mounted. The ink supply mechanism 19 has a vertical structure and is erected on the base 25 of the publisher 1 and arranged in the vertical direction. One end of a flexible ink supply tube 26 is connected to the ink supply mechanism 19, and the other end of the ink supply tube 26 is connected to the carriage 23.

  The ink in the ink cartridge 21 mounted on the ink supply mechanism 19 is supplied to the carriage 23 via the ink supply tube 26, and is supplied to the print head 100 through a damper unit and a back pressure adjustment unit provided on the carriage 23. Supplied and discharged from the nozzle.

The print head 100 mounted on the carriage 23 has the nozzle surface of the nozzle plate facing downward, and a media tray (not shown) can reciprocate horizontally in the front-rear direction at the lower position of the print head 100. Yes.
The ink supply mechanism 19 is provided with a pressurizing mechanism 29 so as to dispose a main portion on the upper portion thereof. The pressurizing mechanism 29 pressurizes the ink cartridge 21 and the ink in the ink cartridge 21. The ink stored in the pack is sent out.

A head maintenance mechanism 30 is provided on the lower side of the home position (position shown in FIG. 2) of the carriage 23 out of the print area. The head maintenance mechanism 30 performs a maintenance operation of the print head 100 exposed on the lower surface of the carriage 23. Do.
The head maintenance mechanism 30 is provided with an ink suction mechanism 31. The ink suction mechanism 31 includes a head cap 33 that covers the nozzles of the print head 100 exposed on the lower surface of the carriage 23 disposed at the home position, and head cleaning of the print head 100. A waste ink suction pump 35 that sucks the waste ink discharged to the head cap 33 by the operation and the ink filling operation is provided.

  The head cap 33 is accommodated in a box-shaped cap holder (not shown) having an open top. When the print head 100 is moved from the print area to the maintenance area, the head cap 33 is moved up and down by a lift mechanism (not shown) and approaches or separates from the cap facing surface 55 of the print head 100, as shown in FIG. The nozzle plate 57 which is the nozzle forming surface of the print head 100 can be sealed.

  The head cap 33 is formed of a box-shaped rubber member having an opening large enough to seal the nozzle plate 57 of the print head 100, and is closely attached to the nozzle surface of the nozzle plate 57 at the upper edge. A possible lip 67 (see FIG. 5) is provided. In the present embodiment, the lip 67 is brought closer to the inner side than the peripheral edge 53 of the nozzle plate 57 on the cap facing surface 55. A plate frame 51 is attached to the outer side of the peripheral edge 53 of the nozzle plate 57 to fix the nozzle plate 57 (see FIG. 5).

  The head cap 33 has a storage recess, and a multilayer structure absorbing material that absorbs waste ink is stored in the storage recess. This absorbent material is held by a pressing member or the like, and its upper surface is at a position lower than the tip position of the lip 67.

  One end of the tube 27 from the ink suction mechanism 31 is connected to the head cap 33, and the waste ink suction pump 35 of the ink suction mechanism 31 is driven with the lip 67 in close contact with the nozzle plate 57. As a result, the pressure in the head cap 33 is reduced, and ink is sucked from the nozzles 60 of the print head 100.

  The waste ink sucked by the waste ink suction pump 35 is sent to the waste ink absorption tank 37 through the tube 27. The waste ink absorption tank 37 has an absorbent material (not shown) disposed in a case 39, and the upper surface thereof is covered with a cover 43 having a plurality of air holes 41. A waste ink receiving portion 45 that is a part of the waste ink absorption tank 37 is provided below the waste ink suction mechanism 31 so that the waste ink dropped from the waste ink suction mechanism 31 is received and absorbed by the absorbent material. It has become.

  After the maintenance process (ink suction to nozzle plate wiping) is completed, the print head 100 is capped by the head cap 33 on the nozzle plate 57 to keep the nozzle portion moist. That is, the head cap 33 is capped from below on the cap facing surface 55 formed on the lower side in the vertical direction, and the nozzle 60 drilled in the nozzle plate 57 is covered with the head cap 33 and moisturized.

  Here, a non-water-repellent region 59 is formed in the lip contact region of the cap facing surface 55 with which the lip 67 provided at the tip of the head cap 33 contacts. In the present embodiment, the non-water-repellent region 59 is formed inside the peripheral edge 53 of the nozzle plate 57. In other areas of the nozzle plate 57, water-repellent areas are formed. The water repellent region is formed by a water repellent surface obtained by performing water repellent treatment on the surface of the nozzle plate 57. On the other hand, the non-water repellent region 59 can be formed by partially removing the water repellent surface with an excimer laser or the like.

In addition, the non-water-repellent region 59 can be formed by a hydrophilic surface treatment. It can also be formed by roughening (below ▽▽). Furthermore, the non-water-repellent region 59 can be formed by performing a masking process so that the water-repellent treatment is not performed from the beginning only in this region.
Ink droplets adhering to the non-water-repellent region 59 extend flat on the adhering surface. Therefore, the ink droplets adhering to the horizontally disposed water repellent surface rise to a height of approximately 0.6 mm due to the surface tension, but the same volume of ink droplets adhering to the non-water repellent region 59 is approximately 0.2 mm. It is extended flat at height.

As shown in FIG. 3, the non-water-repellent region 59 is formed as an annular region having a predetermined width at a portion where the annular lip 67 is in close contact and in the vicinity thereof. In other words, the lip 67 is formed so as to correspond to the region to which the ink can adhere.
That is, the ink attached from the lip 67 is flattened only in the non-water-repellent region 59. On the other hand, the other areas are water-repellent surfaces, and ink removal by wiping is easy as in the prior art.

  In this print head 100, ink droplets adhering to the lip contact area of the cap facing surface 55 spread without staying in a spherical shape due to the low water repellent action (hydrophilic action) of the non-water repellent area 59. That is, the ink droplet height is kept low without being raised. In addition, a water-repellent region similar to the conventional one can be formed in the other region of the nozzle plate 57 on the cap facing surface 55, which causes problems such as a decrease in maintenance accuracy and an increase in processing time due to an increase in the number of wiping operations. Absent.

  Therefore, according to the label printer 13 equipped with the print head 100 of the first embodiment, the lip contact area on the cap facing surface 55 of the print head 100 with which the lip 67 provided at the tip of the head cap 33 comes into contact with the lip 67 is not Since the water-repellent region 59 is formed, the ink droplets (droplets) attached to the lip contact region of the cap facing surface 55 spread without staying in a spherical shape and do not rise up so that the ink droplet height can be kept low. . Further, since a water-repellent area similar to the conventional one can be freely formed in the necessary area of the nozzle plate 57 on the cap facing surface 55, there are problems such as a decrease in maintenance accuracy and an increase in processing time due to an increase in the number of wiping operations. Absent. As a result, while maintaining good maintainability, a clearance with other parts and media can be secured, and contamination of other parts and media inside the printer can be prevented.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the liquid jet head according to the second embodiment of the present invention viewed upside down, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing the positional relationship between the groove and the lip. The same members as those in the liquid jet head according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the print head (liquid ejecting head) 100 </ b> A according to the second embodiment has a lip contact area of the cap facing surface 55 that contacts the lip 67 provided at the tip of the head cap 33. A groove 61 that causes capillary action is formed in the vicinity of the outside.

When the tip 67a of the lip 67 comes into contact with the nozzle plate 57A (before elastic deformation), it comes into contact with the position indicated by the imaginary line in FIG.
When the head cap 33 is raised from this state and pressed against the nozzle plate 57A, the tip 67a of the lip 67 is displaced so as to fall into the groove 61 due to elastic deformation. That is, the groove 61 is disposed near the outside of the lip contact area after the elastic deformation.

The groove 61 is formed in an annular shape along the lip 67. In order to maintain airtightness, a groove 61 is formed along the lip 67 formed in an annular shape, and the groove 61 is disposed in a region where ink is most likely to adhere.
Thereby, the ink adhering to the lip contact area can be effectively discharged to the groove 61 by capillary action. Further, the ink introduced at an arbitrary position of the groove 61 is flattened along the annular groove 61, and the ink droplet height is kept low. This makes it more difficult for the ink droplets to rise higher.

  A lead-out groove 63 is connected to the groove 61, a base end of the lead-out groove 63 is connected to the groove 61, and a distal end extends toward the outside of the cap facing surface 55. The ink that has flowed into the annular groove 61 is further discharged from the groove 61 via the lead-out groove 63, and the ink droplet flattening capacity of the groove 61 increases. As a result, the ink droplets can be made difficult to rise.

  Furthermore, the print head 100 </ b> A has a configuration in which a plurality of lead-out grooves 63 are provided in the groove 61 at a predetermined interval, and the leading ends of the lead-out grooves 63 are connected to the integrated groove 65. The integrated groove 65 is disposed between the annular groove 61 and the peripheral edge 53A of the nozzle plate 57A. In the configuration in which the integrated groove 65 is provided, the ink discharged from the annular groove 61 through the outlet groove 63 is guided to the integrated groove 65, and the ink discharging function of the outlet groove 63 is increased. In addition, since the integrated groove 65 is formed in a shape that allows easy wiping of the ink droplets by the wiping process, the derived ink droplets can be removed by the integrated groove 65 each time the wiping process is performed, and the cumulative amount of adhering ink is increased. It becomes possible to prevent adhesion.

  Therefore, according to the label printer 13 including the print head 100A of the second embodiment, the ink droplets attached to the lip contact region of the cap facing surface 55 travel along the groove 61 while extending due to the capillary phenomenon by the groove 61, and are spherical. Therefore, the ink drop height can be kept low. Since the water repellent region similar to the conventional one can be formed in the necessary region of the nozzle plate 57A on the cap facing surface 55, there are problems such as a decrease in maintenance accuracy and an increase in processing time due to an increase in the number of wiping operations. Absent.

Further, since the groove 61 is formed outside the lip contact region, the lip 67 does not contact the groove 61 when in close contact, and the airtightness of the lip 67 does not deteriorate. When the lip 67 is pressed with a predetermined pressing force from the state in contact with the nozzle plate 57 </ b> A on the cap facing surface 55, the lip 67 is elastically deformed and the lip tip 67 a is displaced inward from the groove 61. That is, the lip tip 67a moves from the outside of the groove 61 to the inside of the groove 61 through the groove 61, and comes into close contact with the regular position.
As a result, the ink droplets adhered to the inside of the lip tip 67a can easily enter the groove 61, and the ink droplets can be introduced into the groove 61 more efficiently.

  The configurations of the liquid ejecting head, the head cap, the nozzle plate, the non-water-repellent region, the groove, the liquid ejecting head, and the like according to the liquid consuming apparatus of the present invention are not limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiments. It goes without saying that various forms can be taken based on the spirit of the invention.

  For example, in each of the above embodiments, the case where the non-water-repellent region 59 and the groove 61 are formed in the nozzle plates 57 and 57A on the cap facing surface 55 has been described as an example. And the groove 61 may be formed, for example, on the surface of the plate frame 51 that is another cap-facing surface, the other surface of the print head, or the like, as long as the lip tip 67a of the lip 67 can be in close contact with the groove 61. The same effects as described above can be obtained.

  The liquid ejecting head according to the liquid consuming apparatus of the present invention includes the ink jet printer head exemplified in the above embodiment, a color material ejecting head used for manufacturing a color filter such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, and surface emission. Electrode material (conductive paste) ejecting head used for electrode formation such as display (FED), bioorganic matter ejecting head used for biochip manufacturing, sample ejecting head as precision pipette, liquid ejecting head such as textile printing device and micro-dispenser It can also be applied to.

1 is an external perspective view of a publisher (media processing apparatus) in which a label printer including a liquid jet head according to a first embodiment of the present invention is installed. It is a perspective view of the label printer part installed in the publisher. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the liquid ejecting head illustrated in FIG. 2 viewed upside down. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a liquid jet head according to a second embodiment of the present invention viewed upside down. It is an expanded sectional view showing the positional relationship between a groove and a lip. It is explanatory drawing showing the adhesion condition of the ink droplet. It is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the clearance between ink droplets and media.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Label printer (liquid consumption apparatus), 33 ... Head cap, 55 ... Cap opposing surface, 57, 57A ... Nozzle plate, 59 ... Non-water-repellent area, 60 ... Nozzle, 61 ... Groove, 63 ... Lead-out groove, 65 ... Integrated groove, 67 ... lip, 100, 100A ... print head (liquid ejecting head)

Claims (5)

A liquid consuming apparatus including a liquid ejecting head in which a head cap caps a cap-facing surface so that a nozzle formed in a nozzle plate is covered with the head cap and is moisturized.
A liquid consuming apparatus, wherein a non-water-repellent region is formed in a lip contact region on a cap-facing surface of the liquid ejecting head, which is in contact with a lip provided at a tip of the head cap. A liquid consuming apparatus including a liquid ejecting head in which a head cap caps a cap-facing surface so that a nozzle formed in a nozzle plate is covered with the head cap and is moisturized.
A liquid consuming apparatus, wherein a groove for causing capillary action is formed in the vicinity of the outside of the lip contact region on the cap-facing surface of the liquid ejecting head, which is in contact with a lip provided at the tip of the head cap.   The liquid consuming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the groove is formed in an annular shape along the lip.   4. The lead-out groove having a proximal end connected to the groove and a distal end extending outward of the cap facing surface is formed on the head cap facing surface of the liquid ejecting head. Liquid consuming equipment. A plurality of the outlet grooves are provided at predetermined intervals;
The liquid consuming device according to claim 4, wherein the leading end of each lead-out groove is connected to an integrated groove formed outside the annular groove.

Images