JP2009083364A - Ink-jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a suitable structure in which a recording medium is not contaminated by ink. <P>SOLUTION: This ink-jet printer 1 discharges the ink from an ink-jet head 7 onto the surface of the recording medium 17. The ink-jet printer has an elastically-deformable ink absorbing body 9 which is disposed so as to be opposed to the ink-jet head 7 in the rear side of the recording medium 17, slits 9a which are formed so as to penetrate through the ink absorbing body 9, a supporting member 8 which is press-fitted into the slits 9a from the rear side of the ink absorbing body 9, projects outward from the surface of the ink absorbing body 9 toward the ink-jet head 7, and supports the recording medium 17 from the rear side, a motor 31 which displaces the supporting member 8 and the ink absorbing body 9 relative to the normal-line direction of the recording medium 17 so that the supporting member 8 can be projected out and retracted behind the surface of the ink absorbing body 9, and a controller 38 which controls the motor 31. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet printer.

There has already been provided an ink jet printer having a borderless printing function for forming an image on the entire surface without leaving a margin in the peripheral portion of a sheet to be recorded (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In borderless printing, in order to land ink droplets on the peripheral portion of the paper without leaving a margin, extra ink droplets are also ejected outside the peripheral portion of the paper. Therefore, in order to prevent ink droplets ejected outside the paper from soiling the back surface of the paper, some support members that support the paper are provided with an ink absorber. As a result, the ink droplets ejected to the outside of the paper land directly on the ink absorber and penetrate into the ink absorber.
JP 2007-55059 A

  However, a general support member has a flat plate portion and a rib that protrudes upward from the flat plate portion and directly supports the paper, and when ink adheres to the tip of the rib, the paper to be printed next The back side may be soiled. As countermeasures, the user is wiping the ink at the tip of the rib with a cotton swab, or passing unnecessary paper to absorb the ink at the tip of the rib, which places a burden on the user.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a suitable configuration in which a recording medium is not stained with ink.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an ink jet printer according to the present invention is an ink jet printer that discharges ink from an ink jet head toward the surface of a recording medium. An elastically deformable ink absorber disposed on the back side so as to face the inkjet head, a slit formed so as to penetrate the ink absorber, and press-fitted into the slit from the back side of the ink absorber And a support member that protrudes from the surface of the ink absorber toward the ink jet head and supports the recording medium from the back surface side, and the support so that the support member can protrude and retract from the surface of the ink absorber. Drive means for relatively displacing the member and the ink absorber in the normal direction of the recording medium, and control for controlling the drive means Characterized in that it comprises a stage.

  According to the above configuration, when ink adheres to the tip of the support member, the ink at the tip of the support member is wiped off by the ink absorber if the support member is buried in the slit and then protruded again. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the back surface of the recording medium to be printed next from being stained.

  The support member may have a tapered or curved tip shape that narrows toward the tip on the protruding side.

  According to the above configuration, since the tip of the support member is tapered or curved, it is possible to reduce resistance when the support member embedded in the slit protrudes from the surface of the ink absorber.

  The ink absorber may be a single piece, and the slit may be partially formed in the ink absorber.

  According to the said structure, the ink adhering to the front-end | tip of a support member can be wiped off with a simple structure.

  The ink absorber may be configured by combining a plurality of elastic liquid absorbers, and the slit may be formed by a gap between two adjacent liquid absorbers.

  According to the said structure, when forming an ink absorber with a some liquid absorber, it becomes unnecessary to slit an ink absorber and manufacturing efficiency improves.

  A holding member that positions and holds the ink absorber at a predetermined position may be provided, and the driving unit may be configured to raise and lower the support member relative to the ink absorber.

  According to the above configuration, the holding member can prevent the ink absorber from moving following the friction with the support member when the support member moves up and down.

  A plurality of the support members are provided, the drive means can individually lift and lower the plurality of support members, and the control means is configured to selectively raise and lower the plurality of support members. The structure which controls this may be sufficient.

  According to the said structure, the drive force required for a drive means can be reduced by selectively raising / lowering only the support member with which ink may adhere.

  The control means controls the driving means so that the support member protrudes from the surface of the ink absorber during printing, and performs borderless printing in which the ink jet head is allowed to land ink to the edge of the recording medium. After the operation, and before starting printing on the next recording medium, the driving unit is controlled so that the supporting member is once buried in the ink absorbing body and then protruded again. There may be.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to effectively prevent the ink that protrudes from the recording medium during the previous borderless printing and adheres to the tip of the support member from contaminating the back surface of the recording medium for the next printing. .

  The control means controls the driving means so that the support member is temporarily buried in the ink absorbing body and then protruded again when the recording medium for the next printing is larger than the recording medium for the next printing. It may be configured to.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to effectively prevent the ink that protrudes from the recording medium during the previous printing and adheres to the tip of the support member from contaminating the back surface of the recording medium that is to be printed next time.

  The control unit may be configured to control the driving unit so as to change a distance between the inkjet head and the support member in accordance with printing conditions.

  According to the said structure, it can serve as the gap adjustment mechanism which adjusts the gap between an inkjet head and a to-be-recorded body according to printing conditions.

  The ink jet head further includes a cap device that tightly seals the nozzle surface of the ink jet head so as to surround the nozzle group, and the driving means drives the cap device to approach / separate the ink jet head. You may also serve.

  According to the said structure, since the drive of a cap apparatus and the drive of a supporting member are performed by one drive means, the increase in a number of parts and an occupation space can be suppressed.

  As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, when ink adheres to the tip of the support member, the ink at the tip of the support member can be obtained by burying the support member in the slit and then projecting it again. Are wiped off by the ink absorber. Therefore, it is possible to suitably prevent the back surface of the recording medium to be printed next from becoming dirty.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the direction in which ink is ejected from the inkjet head is defined as the downward direction, and the opposite side as the upward direction.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a front view of an ink jet printer 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the inkjet printer 1 has a guide shaft 4 supported by left and right frames 2 and 3 extending in the left-right direction. The guide shaft 4 moves the carriage 5 in the left-right direction (scanning direction). It is supported so that it can slide. The carriage 5 is joined to a timing belt (not shown) that reciprocates in the left-right direction. When the timing belt is reciprocated by a motor (not shown), the carriage 5 reciprocates in the left-right direction.

  Four ink cartridges 6 respectively corresponding to four colors of ink (black, cyan, magenta, yellow) are detachably mounted on the upper surface side of the carriage 5. On the lower surface side of the carriage 5, an inkjet head 7 having a nozzle surface 7 a on which a nozzle for discharging ink is formed on the lower surface is attached. That is, the ink from the nozzles of the inkjet head 7 is directed toward the surface of the recording medium 17 (see FIG. 2) made of paper or the like that is conveyed in the front-rear direction (conveyance direction) perpendicular to the scanning direction below the inkjet head 7. It becomes the structure discharged.

  Below the inkjet head 7, a support member 8 (platen) extending in the scanning direction is disposed to support the recording medium 17 from the back side. A rectangular parallelepiped ink absorber 9 is disposed around the support member 8. A frame-shaped holding member 10 is attached around the ink absorber 9. The holding member 10 is configured not to cover a region on the ink absorber 9 where the ink from the inkjet head 7 can land, and the ink absorber 9 is positioned at a predetermined position by the holding member 10. Below the ink absorber 9, a waste ink tank 11 having an upper surface opened is provided. In the waste ink tank 11, a waste ink absorbing member 12 made of a porous member is accommodated.

  A cap device 14 is arranged in a maintenance area where printing is not performed. The cap device 14 is configured such that when the ink jet head 7 moves immediately above, the nozzle device 7a of the ink jet head 7 can be sealed by being raised by a driving force of a motor 31 (see FIG. 3) described later. A suction pump 15 for applying a negative pressure to the sealed space of the cap device 14 is disposed below the cap device 14. The cap device 14 serves as a lid for preventing the nozzles of the ink jet head 7 from being dried during the suspension of printing. In addition, the cap device 14 causes the negative pressure from the suction pump 15 to act on the nozzles of the ink jet head 7 to dry the ink. It also serves to perform a purging operation that sucks negative pressure and foreign matter. Thereby, the ink discharged into the cap device 14 is sent to the waste ink tank 11 by the suction pump 15 and is absorbed by the waste ink absorbing member 12 accommodated in the waste ink tank 11.

  FIG. 2 is a side view of the inkjet printer 1 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, a paper feed tray 16 is disposed at the rear of the inkjet printer 1. At the lower facing position of the paper feed tray 16, there is provided a paper feed drive roller 18 that supplies the uppermost one of the recording media 17 made of paper stacked on the paper feed tray 16 to the transport path 19. . The conveyance path 19 is guided from the lower end of the paper feed tray 16 to the paper discharge tray 21 through the recording position 20 forward.

  On the upstream side of the inkjet head 7, a conveyance roller 22 and a pinch roller 23 are provided that sandwich the recording medium 17 flowing through the conveyance path 19 and convey it onto the support member 8 at the recording position 20. On the downstream side of the ink jet head 7, a paper discharge roller 24 and a pinch roller 25 that sandwich the recording medium 17 on which printing has been performed and convey it to the paper discharge tray 21 are provided. That is, the recording medium 17 is moved to the recording position 20 where the ink from the inkjet head 7 can land by the paper feed tray 16, the paper feed drive roller 18, the transport roller 22, the pinch roller 23, the paper discharge roller 24 and the pinch roller 25. Positioning and conveying means for conveying while positioning is configured.

  The ink jet head 7 is a well-known one, and a flow path unit having a plurality of flow paths (not shown) for guiding ink flowing from the ink cartridge 6 to a plurality of nozzles (not shown) formed on the nozzle surface 7a. (Not shown) and a piezoelectric drive actuator (not shown) that selectively applies a discharge pressure toward the nozzle to the ink in the flow path of the flow path unit.

  FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of the ink jet printer 1 shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing a main part viewed from the IV direction of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the support member 8 includes a flat plate portion 8 a and a plurality of ribs 8 b protruding upward from the flat plate portion 8 a at intervals in the scanning direction. At one end of the flat plate portion 8a, a driven projection 8d protrudes sideways. The tip 8c of the rib 8b has a curved surface shape that narrows toward the tip. Note that the shape of the tip portion 8c of the rib 8b is not limited to this, and may be a tapered shape that narrows toward the tip side, for example, like the tip portion 108c of the rib 108b in FIG. The shape may be flat in the horizontal direction like the tip 118c of the rib 118b of 5 (b).

  The ink absorber 9 is made of an elastically deformable porous body (for example, sponge, urethane, non-woven fabric, etc.) that is an integral body, and has slits 9a formed at intervals in the scanning direction. The slit 9a is a cut formed along the transport direction so as to penetrate the ink absorber 9 vertically, and is partially disposed so as to be within the outline of the ink absorber 9 in a plan view. That is, the slit 9 a is configured to be closed by the elasticity of the ink absorber 9. A rib 8b of the support member 8 is press-fitted into the slit 9a from the lower surface (back surface) side of the ink absorber 9, and the tip 8c of the rib 8b protrudes upward from the upper surface (front surface) of the ink absorber 9. ing.

  The driven projection 8 d of the support member 8 is guided by the first slide cam member 30. A gear rack 30 a is provided on the lower end surface of the first slide cam member 30. A first pinion 33 is engaged with the rack portion 30a, and a first rotating shaft 32 connected to the first pinion 33 is rotationally driven by a motor 31 (driving means). The motor 31 is connected to a controller 38 (control means) that controls the amount and direction of rotation of the motor 31. The motor 31 is provided with a second rotating shaft 34 that protrudes on the opposite side of the first rotating shaft 32, and the second rotating shaft 34 is coaxially and integrally synchronized with the first rotating shaft 32. Rotate. A second pinion 35 is connected to the second rotating shaft 34. The second pinion 35 is meshed with a rack portion 36 a that is geared to the lower end surface of the second slide cam member 36. The second slide cam member 36 guides a driven protrusion 37 a that protrudes laterally from a connecting member 37 connected to the cap device 14.

  The cap device 14 includes a cap main body 14b communicating with the suction pump 15, and a frame-like elastic seal portion 14a protruding upward from the cap main body 14b. The elastic seal portion 14 a can be in close contact with the nozzle surface 7 a of the inkjet head 7 so as to surround a nozzle group (not shown). That is, when the elastic seal portion 14a is in close contact with the nozzle surface 7a, a sealed space is formed by the nozzle surface 7a, the elastic seal portion 14a, and the cap body 14b, and negative pressure from the suction pump 15 is applied to the sealed space. It has a configuration.

  FIG. 6 is a view showing a main part viewed from the VI direction of FIG. FIG. 7 is a view showing a main part viewed from the VII direction of FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the first slide cam member 30 has a cam groove 30 b that guides the driven protrusion 8 d of the support member 8. The cam groove 30b is formed in a high order at the A position, from the left to the right in the drawing, so as to be gradually inclined from the high position to the low position at the D position, and at a low position at the B and C positions. Yes. As shown in FIG. 7, the second slide cam member 36 has a cam groove portion 36 b that guides the driven projection portion 37 a of the connecting member 37 of the cap device 14. The cam groove portion 36b is formed in order from the left to the right in the drawing at a low position at the A position, the D position, and the B position, and is formed so as to be gradually inclined from a low position to a high position from the B position to the C position. In, it is formed high.

  Next, the operation of the inkjet printer 1 will be described along the flow of FIG. 8 with reference to FIGS. 3, 6, 7, 9 and 10 as appropriate. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the inkjet printer 1 shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a main part at the position B of the ink jet printer 1 shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a main part at the position C of the ink jet printer 1 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 8, first, the controller 38 determines whether or not the cap device 14 has received a cap instruction for sealing the nozzle surface 7a of the inkjet head 7 (step S1). When receiving the cap instruction, the controller 38 drives the motor 31 to rotate the pinions 33 and 35, and the driven projections 8d and 37a are moved to the C position along the cam grooves 30b and 36b (FIG. 6). And the process returns to step S1 (step S7). Then, as shown in FIG. 10, the driven protrusion 37a of the connecting member 37 rises to a high level, and the cap device 14 rises. At that time, the inkjet head 7 is moved immediately above the cap device 14 in the maintenance area by the movement of the carriage 5 (see FIG. 1) in accordance with the cap instruction. Therefore, the elastic seal portion 14 a is brought into close contact with the nozzle surface 7 a of the ink jet head 7 by raising the cap device 14. At the same time, the driven projection 8d of the support member 8 is lowered to a lower position, and the support member 8 is lowered. Therefore, each rib 8 b of the support member 8 is lowered in the slit 9 a and buried in the ink absorber 9.

  Next, when there is no cap instruction, the controller 38 drives the motor 31 to rotate the pinions 33 and 35, and the driven protrusions 8d and 37a are moved to the A position along the cam grooves 30b and 36b (FIG. 6 and FIG. 6). 7) (step S2). Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the driven projection 8 d of the support member 8 rises to a high level, and the support member 8 rises. That is, each rib 8 b of the support member 8 rises in the slit 9 a and protrudes upward from the upper surface of the ink absorber 9. At this time, the ink-jet head 7 is moved above the support member 8 by the movement of the carriage 5 (see FIG. 1) because there is no cap instruction. At the same time, the driven projection 37a of the connecting member 37 is lowered to a lower position, and the cap device 14 is lowered.

  Next, whether or not the controller 38 has performed borderless printing in which the ink from the inkjet head 7 is landed on the surface of one recording medium 17 without leaving a margin in the peripheral portion of the recording medium 17. Is determined (step S3). If it is not immediately after borderless printing, the process returns to step S2. That is, the rib 8b of the support member 8 protrudes from the surface of the ink absorber 9 during printing (during ink ejection) or the like.

  On the other hand, if it is immediately after borderless printing, the controller 38 temporarily stops printing on the next recording medium 17 (step S4), and the driven protrusions 8d and 37a are temporarily moved along the cam grooves 30b and 36b. Controls the motor 31 so as to return to the A position (FIGS. 6 and 7) after moving to the B position (FIGS. 6 and 7) (step S5). Then, since the driven projection 8d of the support member 8 descends to a low position and then rises again to a high position, the support member 8 once retreats as shown in FIG. 9 and then reciprocates ascending again as shown in FIG. do. That is, the rib 8b of the support member 8 descends in the slit 9a, is once buried in the ink absorber 9, and then protrudes upward again, so that the ink attached to the tip 8c of the rib 8b absorbs the ink. The body 9 is wiped away. At this time, since the ink absorber 9 is positioned by the holding member 10, the ink absorber 9 is prevented from moving following the friction with the rib 8 b when the rib 8 b is moved up and down. Since the cam groove portion 36b of the second slide cam member 36 is low in both the A position and the B position (FIG. 7), the cap device 14 remains lowered.

  Next, the controller 38 starts printing on the next recording medium 17 and returns to step S1 (step S6). If the operation in step S5 can be performed between the printing operation for the previous recording medium and the printing operation for the next recording medium, printing on the next recording medium does not have to be paused. .

  Further, the controller 38 controls the motor 31 so as to change the distance between the tip 8c of the rib 8b of the support member 8 and the nozzle surface 7a of the inkjet head 7 according to printing conditions. Specifically, the controller 38 controls the motor 31 so that the driven projection 8d moves along the cam groove 30b inclined at the D position according to the printing conditions. As a result, the height of the driven projection 8d of the support member 8 can be continuously changed from high to low, and the amount of protrusion of the rib 8b from the upper surface of the ink absorber 9 can be freely adjusted. it can. That is, the gap amount between the recording medium 17 supported by the rib 8 b and the nozzle surface 7 a of the inkjet head 7 can be adjusted. At this time, for example, the protruding amount of the rib 8b controlled by the controller 38 may be controlled so as to decrease as the printing resolution as the printing condition increases.

  According to the above configuration, even when the ink protrudes from the recording medium 17 and adheres to the tip 8c of the rib 8b of the support member 8 during the previous borderless printing, the tip 8c of the rib 8b is placed in the slit 9a. Then, the ink at the tip 8c of the rib 8b can be wiped off by the ink absorber 9 by allowing the ink to be projected again. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the back surface of the recording medium 17 to be printed next from being stained. Further, the tip 8c of the rib 8b has a curved surface shape (or taper shape) that narrows toward the tip side, so that the resistance when the rib 8b buried in the slit 9a protrudes from the upper surface of the ink absorber 9 is used. Can be reduced. Furthermore, since the slide cam members 30 and 36 that move in the front-rear direction are used as cams for raising and lowering the driven projections 8d and 37a, the occupied space in the vertical direction can be reduced. Moreover, since the existing motor 31 which raises / lowers the cap apparatus 14 is utilized as a drive means for raising / lowering the support member 8, the increase in a number of parts and an occupation space can be suppressed.

  The holding member 10 of the present embodiment is configured to hold a side end portion of the ink absorber 9 in a frame shape, but is not limited to this, for example, as a mesh-like member that covers the entire ink absorber 9 Also good. In this embodiment, the support member 8 is moved up and down to displace the support member 8 relative to the ink absorber 9 in the vertical direction (normal direction of the recording medium). Further, the support member 8 may be relatively displaced in the vertical direction with respect to the ink absorber 9 by moving the holding member 10 up and down.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the ink jet printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 11, steps S1, S2, and S4 to S7 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted. After step S2, the controller 38 (see FIG. 3) determines whether or not the size of the recording medium to be printed next time is larger than the size of the recording medium printed last time (step S13). . If the size of the recording medium to be printed next time is larger than the size of the recording medium printed last time, the process proceeds to step S4. Otherwise, the process returns to step S2.

  According to the above configuration, when the recording medium for the next printing is larger than the recording medium for the next printing, the support member 8 (see FIG. 3) is temporarily buried in the slit 9 a of the ink absorber 9. Then it will protrude again. This effectively prevents the ink sticking out from the recording medium during the previous printing and adhering to the tip 8c of the rib 8b of the support member 8 from staining the back surface of the recording medium that will be printed the next time. be able to. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment described above, description thereof is omitted.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 12 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 of an ink jet printer according to a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 12, the ink absorber 109 of this embodiment is configured by arranging a plurality of liquid absorbers 109 </ b> A to 109 </ b> D in a line in the scanning direction and adjacent to each other. Each liquid absorber 109A-D consists of a porous body (for example, sponge, urethane, a nonwoven fabric, etc.) which has a rectangular parallelepiped elasticity. Adjacent liquid absorbers 109 </ b> A to 109 </ b> D are in surface contact with each other, so that a gap 40 is formed in the ink absorber 109 along the transport direction. The gap 40 is used as the slit 40, and the rib 8 b is press-fitted into the slit 40 from below, so that the tip of the rib 8 b protrudes above the upper surface of the ink absorber 109.

  According to the above configuration, the ink absorber 109 is formed by the plurality of liquid absorbers 109A to 109D, and the gap between the adjacent liquid absorbers 109A to 109D is used as the slit 40 into which the rib 8b is press-fitted. It is not necessary to slit the ink absorber 109, and the manufacturing efficiency is improved. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment described above, description thereof is omitted.

(Fourth embodiment)
FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of a main part of an ink jet printer according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In addition, about the part which is common in 1st Embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the following description is abbreviate | omitted. As shown in FIG. 13, a plurality of support members 208 and 218 of the present embodiment are provided. Specifically, the support members 208 and 218 include flat plate portions 208a and 218a and ribs 208b and 218b protruding upward from the left ends of the flat plate portions 208a and 218a. At the right ends of the flat plate portions 208a and 218a, driven projection portions 208d and 218d protrude laterally. The rib 218b of the left support member 218 is longer downward than the rib 208b of the right support member 208. Further, the tip portions 208c and 218c of the ribs 208b and 218b have a curved surface shape that narrows toward the tip side. The driven projection 218d of the left support member 218 and the driven projection 208d of the right support member 208 are provided in a vertically aligned position.

  The driven projection 208 d of the support member 208 is guided by the upper slide cam member 130. The lower slide surface of the upper slide cam member 130 is provided with a toothed rack portion 130a. The upper side of the first pinion 33 is engaged with the rack portion 130a. The driven projection 218 d of the support member 218 is guided by the lower slide cam member 230. A gear rack part 230 a is provided on the lower end surface of the lower slide cam member 230. The lower side of the first pinion 33 meshes with the rack portion 230a. The first pinion 33 is rotationally driven by the motor 31 via the first rotating shaft 32, and a controller 138 is connected to the motor 31.

  FIG. 14 is a view showing a main part viewed from the XIV direction of FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, the upper slide cam member 130 has a cam groove 130 b that guides the driven protrusion 208 d of the support member 208. The cam groove portion 130b is formed in a high order at the A position and the B position in order from the left to the right in the figure, and is formed so as to be gradually inclined from the high position to the low position from the B position to the C position, and at the C position. Is formed. Further, the lower slide cam member 230 has a cam groove portion 230b that guides the driven projection 218d of another support member 218. The cam groove portion 230b is formed at a low position at the A position in order from the right to the left in the figure, and is formed so as to be gradually inclined from a low position to a high position from the A position to the B position, and at a high position at the B position and the C position. Is formed. When the first pinion 33 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 14, for example, by the motor 31, the upper slide cam member 130 moves to the left side in FIG. 14, and the lower slide cam member 230 moves to the right side in FIG. Move to.

  As shown in FIG. 14, when the driven projections 208d and 218d are at the B position of the cam grooves 130b and 230b, the driven projections 208d and 218d are both in the upper position, and therefore the ribs 208b and 218b are both The ink absorber 9 protrudes upward from the upper surface.

  When the driven projections 208d and 218d are moved to the A position along the cam groove portions 130b and 230b by the motor 31 and then returned to the B position, the upper driven projection 208d remains at the high position and the lower driven projections. After 218d descends to a low level, the reciprocating motion rises to a high level again. That is, only the rib 218b of one support member 218 descends in the slit 9a and is once buried in the ink absorber 9, then protrudes upward again, and selectively wipes off ink adhering to the specific rib 218b. can do.

  On the other hand, when the driven projections 208d and 218d are moved to the C position along the cam groove portions 130b and 230b by the motor 31 and then returned to the B position, the lower driven projection 218d remains in the high position and the upper driven After the projecting portion 208d is lowered to the lower position, the reciprocating motion is performed to rise again to the higher position. That is, only the rib 208b of another support member 208 descends in the slit 9a and is once buried in the ink absorber 9, and then protrudes upward again to selectively wipe off the ink attached to the specific rib 208b. can do.

  According to the above configuration, only the ribs 208b and 218b to which ink may adhere can be raised and lowered individually, so that the driving force required for the motor 31 can be reduced. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment described above, description thereof is omitted.

(Fifth embodiment)
FIG. 15 is a view corresponding to FIG. 3 of an ink jet printer according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In addition, about the part which is common in 1st Embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the following description is abbreviate | omitted. As shown in FIG. 15, the driven projection 8 d of the support member 8 is guided by the first rotating cam member 330. The first rotating cam member 330 is connected to the motor 31 via the first rotating shaft 32. A controller 338 is connected to the motor 31. Further, the motor 31 is connected to the second rotating cam member 336 via the second rotating shaft 34. The second rotating cam member 336 guides a driven protrusion 37 a that protrudes laterally from the connecting member 37 connected to the cap device 14.

  FIG. 16 is a view showing a main part viewed from the XVI direction of FIG. FIG. 17 is a view showing a main part viewed from the XVII direction of FIG. As shown in FIG. 16, the first rotating cam member 330 has a cam groove 330 a that guides the driven projection 8 d of the support member 8. The cam groove portion 330a is formed in a high order (outer peripheral position) at the A position in the clockwise order from the upper side in the figure, and is gradually formed from a higher position (outer peripheral position) to a lower position (inner peripheral position) at the D position. In the B position and the C position, they are formed at a low position (inner peripheral side position), and gradually formed from the lower position (inner peripheral side position) to the higher position (outer peripheral side position) from the C position to the A position.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the second rotating cam member 336 has a cam groove 336 a that guides the driven protrusion 37 a of the connecting member 37 of the cap device 14. The cam groove portion 336a is formed at a low position (inner peripheral side position) at the A position, the D position, and the B position in the clockwise order from the upper side in the figure, and gradually decreases from the lower position (inner peripheral side position) from the B position to the C position. It is formed toward the higher position (outer peripheral position), is formed at the higher position (outer peripheral position) at the C position, and gradually increases from the higher position (outer peripheral position) to the lower position (inner peripheral position) from the C position to the A position. Is formed.

  As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, when each driven projection 8d, 37a is at the position A of the cam grooves 330a, 336a, the driven projection 8d is at the upper position and the driven projection 37a is at the lower position. 8b is projected upward from the upper surface of the ink absorber 9, and the cap device 14 is lowered.

  The first rotary cam member 330 and the second rotary cam member 336 rotate, and the driven projections 8d and 37a once move clockwise along the cam groove portions 330a and 336a once to the B position and then counterclockwise to the A position. If it returns to, the driven projection part 8d of the support member 8 will once descend to low level, and will raise to high level. That is, the rib 8b of the support member 8 descends in the slit 9a (see FIG. 15), is temporarily buried in the ink absorber 9, and then protrudes upward again. The ink attached to the tip 8c of the rib 8b The ink absorber 9 is wiped away. At this time, since the cam groove portion 336a of the second rotating cam member 336 is low in both the A position and the B position, the cap device 14 remains lowered.

  Further, when the first rotating cam member 330 and the second rotating cam member 336 rotate and the driven projections 8d and 37a move to the C position along the cam groove portions 330a and 336a, the driven projection 37a of the connecting member 37 becomes higher. And the cap device 14 rises. As a result, the elastic seal portion 14a is brought into close contact with the nozzle surface 7a of the inkjet head 7 that has moved directly above. At that time, the driven projection 8d of the support member 8 is lowered to a lower position, and the support member 8 is lowered.

  According to the above configuration, since the rotary cam members 330 and 336 are used to convert the rotary motion by the motor 31 into the up-and-down motion of the support member 8, the pinion 33 is compared with the case where the slide cam member is used. , 35 becomes unnecessary, and the number of parts can be reduced. Further, since the cam groove portions 330a and 336a of the rotating cam members 330 and 336 are loops that are circumferentially closed, the driven protrusions 8d and 37a are directly moved from the A position to the B and D positions. It is also possible to move to the C position. Then, the movement operation of the driven protrusions 8d and 37a from the A position to the C position can be performed in a short time.

  As described above, the ink jet printer according to the present invention has an excellent effect of preventing the recording medium from being stained with ink, and it is beneficial to be widely applied to ink jet printers capable of exhibiting the significance of this effect.

1 is a front view of an inkjet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of the ink jet printer shown in FIG. 1. It is a principal part enlarged view in the A position of the inkjet printer shown in FIG. It is drawing which shows the principal part seen from the IV direction of FIG. (A) (b) is principal part sectional drawing which shows the modification of the rib of a supporting member. It is drawing which shows the principal part seen from the VI direction of FIG. It is drawing which shows the principal part seen from the VII direction of FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 1. It is a principal part enlarged view in the B position of the inkjet printer shown in FIG. It is a principal part enlarged view in the C position of the inkjet printer shown in FIG. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the inkjet printer which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 of an inkjet printer according to a third embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part enlarged view of the inkjet printer which concerns on 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is drawing which shows the principal part seen from the XIV direction of FIG. It is drawing equivalent to FIG. 3 of the inkjet printer which concerns on 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is drawing which shows the principal part seen from the XVI direction of FIG. It is drawing which shows the principal part seen from the XVII direction of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printer 7 Inkjet head 7a Nozzle surface 8,208,218 Support member 9,109 Ink absorber 9a, 40 Slit 10 Holding member 14 Cap apparatus 17 Recorded object 31 Motor (drive means)
38, 138, 338 Controller (control means)
109A-D Liquid absorber

Claims (10)

An inkjet printer that ejects ink from an inkjet head toward the surface of a recording medium,
An elastically deformable ink absorber disposed on the back side of the recording medium so as to face the inkjet head;
A slit formed to penetrate the ink absorber;
A support member that is press-fitted into the slit from the back side of the ink absorber and protrudes from the surface of the ink absorber toward the inkjet head, and supports the recording medium from the back side;
Drive means for relatively displacing the support member and the ink absorber in the normal direction of the recording medium so that the support member can protrude and retract from the surface of the ink absorber;
An ink jet printer comprising: control means for controlling the driving means.   The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the support member has a tapered or curved tip shape that narrows toward a tip on the protruding side. The ink absorber is an integral object,
The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein the slit is partially formed in the ink absorber. The ink absorber is composed of a plurality of liquid absorbers each having elasticity,
The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the slit is configured by a gap between two adjacent liquid absorbers. A holding member for positioning and holding the ink absorber at a predetermined position;
The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein the driving unit is configured to move the support member up and down with respect to the ink absorber. A plurality of the support members are provided,
The driving means can individually lift and lower the plurality of support members,
The inkjet printer according to claim 5, wherein the control unit is configured to control the driving unit so as to selectively raise and lower the plurality of support members.   The control means controls the driving means so that the support member protrudes from the surface of the ink absorber during printing, and performs borderless printing in which the ink jet head is allowed to land ink to the edge of the recording medium. After the operation, and before starting printing on the next recording medium, the driving unit is controlled so that the supporting member is once buried in the ink absorbing body and then protruded again. An ink jet printer according to any one of claims 1 to 6.   The control means controls the driving means so that the support member is temporarily buried in the ink absorbing body and then protruded again when the recording medium for the next printing is larger than the recording medium for the next printing. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the ink jet printer is configured as described above.   The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to control the driving unit so as to change a distance between the inkjet head and the support member in accordance with printing conditions. . The ink jet head further includes a cap device that tightly seals the nozzle surface of the inkjet head so as to surround the nozzle group,
The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the driving unit also serves as a driving unit that moves the cap device toward and away from the ink jet head.

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