JP2009292030A - Maintenance recovery apparatus and droplet ejector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a maintenance recovery apparatus and a liquid droplet discharging device capable of extending the life of an absorber because of an absorbed amount per volume being able to be larger by the way that a clogging with drying is prevented by using the absorber with a large pore diameter for the contact part of nip part of a cap member for suction, and the absorber with a small pore diameter contacting the absorber with a large pore diameter sucks up an ink from the absorber with a large pore diameter by the strength of capillary force. <P>SOLUTION: The maintenance recovery apparatus maintains the condition of a recording head wherein at least one or more cap members for suction to which a suction pump for making the ink ejected from a nozzle hole by covering the nozzle face containing a head nozzle hole and by making the inside into negative pressure has been connected are installed. The maintenance recovery apparatus includes an ink absorbing member having a porous absorber which absorbs the ink adhering to the nip part concerned with contacting the nip part of the cap member for suction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a maintenance / recovery device and a droplet discharge device, and more particularly to a mechanism for removing ink adhering to a cap member that covers a recording head.

  In an ink jet recording apparatus that records an image by ejecting ink droplets from an ink ejection port of an ink jet recording head to a recording medium such as paper based on image information, excess ink, dust, bubbles, etc. in the ink jet recording head, particularly in nozzle holes In some cases, the ink jet recording head is restored to an optimum state for ejecting ink droplets by sucking the foreign matter by a suction device.

  As an environment surrounding inkjet printers in recent years, great expectations are placed on high image quality and high speed independent of paper. In this regard, the development of ink is very important, and the development for the purpose of improving wet spreadability (wetability) and quick drying on paper is underway.

  On the other hand, in the head nozzle surface and maintenance device that dislikes the adhesion of ink, improvement in wettability is not preferable in terms of maintaining cleanliness. Therefore, as a specific solution, there is a method of sealing the nozzle surface including the nozzle hole at the time of maintenance and sucking ink from the nozzle hole. However, the ink sucked out from the nozzle hole adheres to the nip portion of the suction cap, and the ink adheres to the cap nip portion having low ink repellency at the time of decap. Therefore, the ink is wiped off by wiping on the nozzle surface side. However, the ink adhering to the nip side of the cap not only stays on the inside of the cap due to its wettability but also flows around the nip. For this reason, at the time of capping again, the ink adheres again to the nozzle surface. If the ink is left in this state or printed, the viscosity of the ink increases due to drying, and the degree of cleanliness at the time of maintenance is reduced, causing problems such as color mixing and ejection failure. Further, when this state progresses, ink accumulation occurs on the nozzle surface or nip, and the sealing performance of the nip is lowered, which may lead to a functional failure due to poor suction. For this reason, reducing the ink adhering to the nip before capping again is an important issue.

Several proposals have been made for such problems. As one of them, Patent Documents 1 to 4 propose a configuration in which an absorber is provided at a position facing the suction cap to absorb ink in the nip portion. Further, Patent Document 5 proposes that the ink adhering to the nip portion of the cap is washed away by a dummy head through which the cleaning liquid can be passed.
JP 2000-289214 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-300643 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-068767 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-171104 JP 2004-195932 A

  However, the absorber in the configurations of Patent Documents 1 to 4 above is a single object, and due to the change from dye-based ink to pigment-based ink, which has inevitably changed due to the above-described recent demand for ink, and quick-drying improvement. It is difficult to cope with a single absorber. For example, when matching the pore size of the absorber with the pigment, it is better to use one with a relatively large pore size in order to prevent clogging due to drying of the surface. The per capita absorption is small and has no life. As a countermeasure against this, the consumables on the ink cartridge side are dealt with by periodically replacing the ink cartridge with an absorber. However, as a result, the user must pay for each replacement of the ink cartridge. Profit is generated to the user. Further, according to the above-mentioned Patent Document 5, a cleaning liquid flow path configuration to the dummy head and a liquid feed pump are required, which causes adverse effects that lead to complicated mechanisms and increased costs.

  The present invention is to solve these problems, and an absorptive body having a large pore diameter is used for the contact portion of the nip portion of the suction cap member to prevent clogging due to drying. Absorber with small pore diameter in contact with large absorber absorbs ink from absorber with large pore diameter due to the strength of capillary force, so that the amount of absorption per volume can be increased, thus extending the life of the absorber. It is an object of the present invention to provide a maintenance / recovery device and a droplet discharge device that can perform the above-described operation.

  In order to solve the above problems, the maintenance and recovery device of the present invention covers a nozzle surface including a head nozzle hole, and a suction pump connected to a suction pump that discharges ink from the nozzle hole by making the inside negative pressure. The condition of the recording head provided with at least one cap member is maintained. The maintenance / recovery device of the present invention is characterized in that it includes an ink absorbing member having a porous absorber that contacts the nip portion of the suction cap member and absorbs ink adhering to the nip portion. Therefore, clogging can be prevented, the amount of absorption per volume can be increased, and the life of the absorber can be extended.

  Further, the porous absorbent body is constituted by combining a plurality of absorbent bodies having different pore diameters. Furthermore, other absorbers having different pore diameters are arranged toward the absorber that contacts the cap member for suction. Then, the absorbers arranged in order from the absorber in contact with the suction cap member are arranged so that the pore diameter is increased from the smallest. Alternatively, a plurality of absorbers having different pore diameters are overlapped in a direction in which the porous absorber is brought into contact with the suction cap member. Then, the absorbers arranged in order from the absorber in contact with the suction cap member are arranged so that the pore diameter of the absorber is increased from the smallest to the smallest. Therefore, size reduction can be achieved and a large absorption amount can be increased.

  Furthermore, rather than impregnating the absorbent body that does not come into contact with the suction cap member with a moisturizing agent that retains moisture, it is possible to effectively use the volume of the absorbent body by securing and diffusing the fluidity of the ink. It becomes possible to extend the life regardless of the usage condition.

  In addition, since the portion of the porous absorber that comes into contact with the suction cap member has a concave shape, the absorber is also brought into contact with or close to the side surface of the nip portion of the suction cap member. Ink attached to the ink can be removed, and problems such as the life of the absorber and nip wear can be solved.

  Furthermore, a droplet discharge device as another invention is characterized in that it includes the maintenance and recovery device. Therefore, the condition of the recording head can be maintained for a long time, ink can be stably ejected from the recording head, and a highly reliable droplet ejection apparatus can be provided.

  According to the present invention, the life of the absorber itself is improved by including the ink absorbing member having a porous absorber that abuts on the nip portion of the suction cap member and absorbs ink adhering to the nip portion. Further, the absorber can be made as small as possible in the carriage movement direction, and the amount of absorption can be increased. In addition, other absorbers having different pore diameters are arranged side by side toward the absorber that contacts the suction cap member, or a plurality of absorbers having different pore diameters are stacked in the contact direction with the cap member. The amount of absorption can be further increased.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a droplet discharge device as an image forming apparatus of the present invention as viewed from the front. A droplet discharge apparatus 100 as an image forming apparatus according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1 includes an apparatus main body 101, a paper feed tray 102 for loading paper mounted on the apparatus main body 101, and a detachable attachment to the apparatus main body 101. And a paper discharge tray 103 for stocking the paper on which an image is recorded (formed). Further, a cartridge loading for loading an ink cartridge that protrudes from the front surface to the front side of the apparatus main body 101 and is lower than the upper surface is provided at one end of the front surface of the apparatus main body 101 (side of the paper supply / discharge tray section). The cartridge loading unit 104 is provided with an operation / display unit 105 such as operation buttons and a display.

  The cartridge loading unit 104 stores a plurality of recording liquids (inks) that are different color materials, such as black (K) ink, cyan (C) ink, magenta (M) ink, and yellow (Y) ink. Ink cartridges 110k, 110c, 110m, and 110y (referred to as “ink cartridge 110” when the colors are not distinguished) are recording liquid cartridges serving as recording liquid storage units from the front side to the rear side of the apparatus main body 101. A front cover (cartridge cover) 106 that is opened when the ink cartridge 110 is attached or detached is provided on the front side of the cartridge loading unit 104 so as to be openable and closable. Further, the ink cartridges 110k, 110c, 110m, and 110y are configured to be loaded side by side in the horizontal direction in a vertically placed state.

  Further, the operation / display unit 105 has the remaining amounts of the ink cartridges 110k, 110c, 110m, and 110y for the respective colors at the arrangement positions corresponding to the installation positions (arrangement positions) of the ink cartridges 110k, 110c, 110m, and 110y for the respective colors. The remaining amount display sections 111k, 111c, 111m, and 111y for each color for displaying the near end and the end are arranged. Further, the operation / display unit 105 is also provided with a power button 112, a paper feed / print resume button 113, and a cancel button 114.

  Next, the mechanism part of this droplet discharge device will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 is a side view showing the outline of the mechanism, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the main part.

  In the mechanism of the droplet discharge device, the carriage 133 is slidably held in the main scanning direction by the guide rod 131 and the stay 132 which are guide members horizontally mounted on the left and right side plates 121A and 121B constituting the frame 121. A main scanning motor (not shown) moves and scans in a direction indicated by an arrow (carriage main scanning direction) in FIG. 3 via a timing belt.

  As described above, the carriage 133 is provided with the recording head 134 including four droplet discharge heads that discharge ink droplets of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (Bk). A plurality of ink ejection openings are arranged in a direction crossing the main scanning direction, and are mounted with the ink droplet ejection direction facing downward.

  As an inkjet head constituting the recording head 134, a piezoelectric actuator such as a piezoelectric element, a thermal actuator that uses a phase change due to liquid film boiling using an electrothermal conversion element such as a heating resistor, and a metal phase change due to a temperature change. It is possible to use a shape memory alloy actuator to be used, an electrostatic actuator using an electrostatic force, or the like provided as pressure generating means for generating a pressure for discharging a droplet.

  A driver IC is mounted on the recording head 134 and is connected to a control unit (not shown) via a harness (flexible print cable) 122. In addition, the carriage 133 is equipped with a sub tank 135 for each color for supplying ink of each color to the recording head 134. As described above, each color sub-tank 135 is supplementarily supplied with each color ink from each color ink cartridge 110 mounted in the cartridge loading unit 104 via each color ink supply tube 136. The cartridge loading 104 is provided with a supply pump unit 124 for feeding ink in the ink cartridge 110, and the ink supply tube 136 is locked to the rear plate 121C constituting the frame 121 in the middle of turning. It is held by the member 125.

  On the other hand, as a paper feeding unit for feeding the paper 142 stacked on the paper stacking unit (pressure plate) 141 of the paper feeding tray 102, a half-moon roller (feeding) that separates and feeds the paper 142 from the paper stacking unit 141 one by one. A separation pad 144 made of a material having a large friction coefficient is provided facing the paper roller 143 and the paper feed roller 143, and the separation pad 144 is urged toward the paper feed roller 143 side.

  In order to feed the sheet 142 fed from the sheet feeding unit to the lower side of the recording head 134, a guide member 145 for guiding the sheet 142, a counter roller 146, a transport guide member 147, and a tip pressure roller. And a holding belt 148 that is a conveying means for electrostatically attracting the fed paper 142 and conveying it at a position facing the recording head 134.

  The conveyor belt 151 is an endless belt, and is configured to wrap around the conveyor roller 152 and the tension roller 153 and circulate in the belt conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction). Further, a charging roller 156 that is a charging unit for charging the surface of the transport belt 151 is provided. The charging roller 156 is disposed so as to come into contact with the surface layer of the conveyor belt 151 and to rotate following the rotation of the conveyor belt 151. Further, a guide member 157 is disposed on the back side of the conveyance belt 151 so as to correspond to a printing area by the recording head 134.

  The transport belt 151 rotates in the belt transport direction of FIG. 3 when the transport roller 152 is rotationally driven through timing by a sub-scanning motor (not shown).

  Further, as a paper discharge unit for discharging the paper 142 recorded by the recording head 134, a separation claw 161 for separating the paper 142 from the transport belt 151, a paper discharge roller 162, and a paper discharge roller 163 are provided. A paper discharge tray 103 is provided below the paper discharge roller 162.

  A double-sided unit 171 is detachably attached to the back surface of the apparatus main body 101. The duplex unit 171 takes in the paper 142 returned by the reverse rotation of the transport belt 151, reverses it, and feeds it again between the counter roller 146 and the transport belt 151. The upper surface of the duplex unit 171 is a manual feed tray 172.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a maintenance / recovery mechanism 181 including a recovery means for maintaining and recovering the nozzle state of the recording head 134 is arranged in the non-printing area on one side of the carriage 133 in the scanning direction. Yes.

  The maintenance / recovery mechanism 181 includes cap members (hereinafter referred to as “caps”) 182a to 182d (hereinafter referred to as “caps 182” when not distinguished) for capping each nozzle surface of the recording head 134, and nozzle surfaces. A wiper blade 183 that is a blade member for wiping the ink, and an empty discharge receiver 184 that receives liquid droplets when performing empty discharge for discharging liquid droplets that do not contribute to recording in order to discharge the thickened recording liquid. ing. Here, the cap 182a is a suction and moisture retention cap, and the other caps 182b to 182d are moisture retention caps.

  Then, the waste liquid of the recording liquid generated by the maintenance / recovery operation by the maintenance / recovery mechanism 181, the ink discharged to the cap 182, the ink attached to the wiper blade 183 and removed by the wiper cleaner 185, and the idle ejection to the idle ejection receptacle 194 The discharged ink is discharged and stored in a waste liquid tank (not shown).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, in the non-printing area on the other side in the scanning direction of the carriage 133, idle discharge is performed to discharge liquid droplets that do not contribute to recording in order to discharge the recording liquid thickened during recording or the like. An empty discharge receiver 188 for receiving the droplets is disposed, and the empty discharge receiver 188 is provided with an opening 189 along the nozzle row direction of the recording head 134.

  In the droplet discharge device as the image forming apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the paper 142 is separated and fed one by one from the paper feed tray 102, and the paper 142 fed substantially vertically upward is guided by the guide 145. Guided, transported by being sandwiched between the transport belt 151 and the counter roller 146, and further guided at the front end by the transport guide 137 and pressed against the transport belt 151 by the front end pressure roller 149 to change the transport direction by approximately 90 °. Is done.

  At this time, a positive output and a negative output are alternately repeated from the high-voltage power supply to the charging roller 156 by a control circuit (not shown), that is, an alternating voltage is applied, and a charging voltage pattern in which the conveying belt 151 alternates, that is, a loop In the sub-scanning direction, which is the direction, plus and minus are alternately charged in a band shape with a predetermined width. When the sheet 142 is fed onto the conveying belt 151 that is alternately charged with plus and minus, the sheet 142 is attracted to the conveying belt 151, and the sheet 142 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the circumferential movement of the conveying belt 151.

  Therefore, by driving the recording head 134 according to the image signal while moving the carriage 133 in the main scanning direction based on the main scanning position information by the linear encoder 137, the ink droplets are ejected onto the stopped paper 142. One line is recorded, and after the sheet 142 is conveyed by a predetermined amount, the next line is recorded. Upon receiving a recording end signal or a signal that the trailing edge of the sheet 142 has reached the recording area, the recording operation is terminated and the sheet 142 is discharged onto the discharge tray 103.

  During printing (recording) standby, the carriage 133 is moved to the maintenance / recovery mechanism 181 side, the recording head 134 is capped by the cap 182, and the nozzles are kept in a wet state, thereby preventing ejection failure due to ink drying. . Further, the recording liquid is sucked from the nozzle by a suction pump (not shown) with the recording head 134 capped by the cap 182 (referred to as “nozzle suction” or “head suction”), and the thickened recording liquid and bubbles are discharged. Perform recovery action. In addition, an idle ejection operation for ejecting ink not related to recording is performed before the start of recording or during recording. As a result, the stable ejection performance of the recording head 134 is maintained.

  Therefore, an outline of the configuration of the maintenance and recovery apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 is a plan view showing the configuration of the main part of the maintenance and recovery apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing the mechanism configuration of the maintenance and recovery apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a right side view of FIG.

  The frame 19 in the maintenance / recovery device 10 of the present invention is a wiping member including two cap holders 20a and 20b (cap holders 20 when not distinguished) and an elastic body as a cleaning means. A certain wiper blade 22 and a carriage lock 21 are held so as to be movable up and down (movable up and down). Further, an empty discharge receiver 13 is disposed between the wiper blade 12 and the cap holder 10a, and the wiper blade 12 is a cleaning member for the empty discharge receiver 13 from the outside of the frame 18 in order to clean the wiper blade 12. A wiper cleaner 14 that is a cleaner means including a cleaner roller 14 that is a cleaning member that is pressed against the wiper cleaner 14 side is swingably held. The cap holders 10a and 10b hold two cap members 11a and 11b and cap members 11c and 11d, respectively, for capping the nozzle surfaces of the two recording heads.

  Here, a tubing pump (suction pump) 23 as a suction means is connected to the cap member 11a held by the cap holder 10a closest to the printing area via the flexible tube 22, and the other cap members 11b, The tubing pump 23 is not connected to 11c and 11d. That is, only the cap member 11a is used as a suction (recovery) cap and a moisturizing cap, and the other cap members 11b, 11c, and 11d are all used as mere moisturizing caps. Therefore, when performing the recovery operation of the recording head, the recording head performing the recovery operation is selectively moved to a position where it can be capped by the cap member 11a.

  A cam shaft 24 rotatably supported by the frame 19 is disposed below the cap holders 20a and 20b. Cap cams 25a and 25b for raising and lowering the cap holders 20a and 20b are disposed on the cam shaft 24. A wiper cam 26 for raising and lowering the wiper blade 12, a carriage lock cam 28 for raising and lowering the carriage lock 21 via the carriage lock arm 27, and an empty discharge to which liquid droplets discharged in the empty discharge receiver 13 are applied. A roller 29 as a rotating body, which is a landing member, and a cleaner cam 30 for swinging the wiper cleaner 15 are provided.

  Here, the cap member 11 is moved up and down by the cap cams 25a and 25b. The wiper blade 12 is moved up and down by the wiper cam 26. When the wiper blade 15 is lowered, the wiper cleaner 15 advances, and the wiper blade 12 moves downward while being sandwiched between the cleaner roller 16 of the wiper cleaner 15 and the wiper cleaner 15 of the idle discharge receiver 13. The ink adhering to 12 is scraped off into the empty ejection receiver 13. The carriage lock 21 is urged upward (in the locking direction) by a compression spring (not shown), and is lifted and lowered via a carriage lock arm 27 driven by a carriage lock cam 28.

  In order to rotationally drive the tubing pump 23 and the cam shaft 24, the motor gear 32 provided on the motor shaft 31a rotates the motor 31 and the pump gear 33 provided on the pump shaft 23a of the tubing pump 23 is meshed. An intermediate gear 37 with a one-way clutch 36 is engaged with an intermediate gear 34 integral with the intermediate gear 35 via an intermediate gear 35, and the intermediate gear 38 coaxial with the intermediate gear 37 is fixed to the camshaft 24 via an intermediate gear 39. The cam gear 40 is engaged. An intermediate shaft 41 that is a rotation shaft of the intermediate gears 37 and 38 with the clutch 36 is rotatably held by the frame 19.

  The cam shaft 24 is provided with a home position sensor cam 42 for detecting the home position. When the cap member 11 comes to the lowermost end by a home position sensor (not shown) provided in the maintenance / recovery device 10, A position lever (not shown) is operated, the sensor is opened, and the home position of the motor 31 (other than the tubing pump 23) is detected. When the power is turned on, the cap member 11 (cap holder 20) moves up and down (up and down) regardless of the position, and the position detection is not performed until the movement starts. Move the set amount to the bottom end. Thereafter, the carriage moves left and right, returns to the cap position after position detection, and the recording head is capped.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing the main configuration of the maintenance / recovery device of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a schematic side view showing a state of contact between the cap member and the absorber in the maintenance / recovery device of the present invention. In both figures, the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 3 and 4 indicate the same components. As shown in both figures, an ink absorbing means comprising an absorber 51 and an absorber holder 50 for storing the absorber 51 is attached to the side surface of the carriage 133. The absorber holder 50 may be configured by a part of the carriage 133. In order for the suction cap member 11a and the absorber 51 to contact each other, the carriage 133 is moved in parallel in the print region direction according to the determined parameters, and then the cap cam 25a is driven so that the suction cap member 11a is moved. Raised and brought into contact with the absorber 51.

  FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the absorber. The absorber in the present invention is composed of a plurality of absorbers having different pore diameters. As shown to (a) of the figure, the absorber 51 is comprised by two types of large and small absorbers 51a and 51b of a pore diameter. An absorber 51a is provided on the side where the suction cap member 11a abuts, and an absorber 51b is provided adjacent to the absorber 51a. As the pore diameter, it is desirable that the pore diameter of the absorber 51a is larger than the pore diameter of the absorber 51b. This is because the absorber 51a with which the suction cap member 11a abuts is suitable for the pores that are less likely to clog the dried ink than the absorbed amount, and the absorber 51b having a small pore diameter adjacent thereto holds a large amount of ink. Is preferred. Since the capillary force is inversely proportional to the pore size, the ink moves from the absorber 51a to the absorber 51b. In the case where the pores of the composite absorbers are different from each other, two types are described above, but three types of absorbers having different pore diameters may be used as shown in FIG. In this case, three or more types of combinations are possible by changing the pore diameter in order of the absorber 51a, the absorber 51b, and the absorber 51c. Further, it is possible to prevent the ink from drying by attaching a cover (not shown) to the surface of the absorber that is not in contact with the suction cap member 11a, for example, the surface of the absorber 51b shown in FIG.

  FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing another configuration of the absorber. As can be seen from the figure, a plurality of absorbers are arranged in the suction cap contact direction, the order of which is the pore diameter of the absorber 51a with which the suction cap 11a contacts in order of increasing pore diameter. It is larger than the pore diameter. By adopting such a configuration, the ink is absorbed toward the upper absorber 51b side having a higher capillary force. Here, if the volume of the absorber 51b is made larger than the volume of the absorber 51a as the absorber volume, the amount of absorption can be increased. Similarly, three or more types of absorbers having different pore diameters shown in FIG. 9B are also set as absorber 51a, absorber 51b, and absorber 51c in this order from the side on which the suction cap member 11a abuts. You can also. At this time, the absorbent bodies 51b and 51c other than the outermost absorbent body 51a can be impregnated with a moisturizing agent.

  FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another state of contact between the suction cap member and the absorber in the maintenance / recovery device of the present invention. In the suction cap member 11a shown in FIG. 6A, the portion that contacts the nozzle surface of the recording head is formed by an elastic member 60 such as rubber or elastomer, and immediately after decapping after suction from the recording head. Since the ink 61 adheres to the nip portion of the cap member 11a for suction, if the capping is continued again, the ink is transferred to the nozzle surface, causing a failure. In addition, it is necessary to select a material for the absorber that is good with respect to ink resistance and dust generation, but in this case, since the material is often less elastic, the contact pressure of the suction cap member It is difficult to absorb the ink that has penetrated the side of the nip by encroaching on the nip. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, a concave receiving portion 62 is formed on the surface of the absorbent body 51a in contact with the suction cap member 11a, and the receiving portion 62 is used for suction. The cap member 11a is formed in such a size that the nip portion can be accommodated. Therefore, the nip portion of the suction cap member 11a is accommodated in the concave receiving portion 62 and comes into contact with the absorber 51a, so that the ink 61 attached to the nip portion of the suction cap member 11a is absorbed. It can be absorbed and removed by the body 51a. As shown in FIG. 5C, the depth A of the concave receiving portion 62 is preferably about 0.5 to 5 mm, and the end of the nip portion of the cap member 11a and the inner side surface of the receiving portion 62 are preferred. The gap B is preferably about 0 to 2 mm.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It cannot be overemphasized that various deformation | transformation and substitution are possible if it is description in a claim.

1 is a perspective view of a droplet discharge device as an image forming apparatus of the present invention as viewed from the front. It is a side view which shows the outline | summary of the mechanism part of the droplet discharge apparatus of this invention. It is a top view which shows the outline | summary of the mechanism part of the droplet discharge apparatus of this invention. It is a top view which shows the principal part structure of the maintenance recovery apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic side view which shows the mechanism structure of the maintenance recovery apparatus of this invention. FIG. 5 is a right side view of FIG. 4. It is a schematic side view which shows the principal part structure of the maintenance recovery apparatus of this invention. It is a schematic side view which shows the mode of contact | abutting with the cap member and absorber in the maintenance recovery apparatus of this invention. It is an expanded sectional view showing the composition of an absorber. It is an expanded sectional view showing another composition of an absorber. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows another aspect of contact | abutting with the cap member for absorption in the maintenance recovery apparatus of this invention, and an absorber.

Explanation of symbols

10; maintenance and recovery device, 50; absorber holder,
51, 51a, 51b, 51c; absorber, 62; receiving part,
100; droplet discharge device.

Claims (9)

Maintains the condition of the recording head provided with at least one suction cap member that is connected to a suction pump that covers the nozzle surface including the head nozzle hole and discharges ink from the nozzle hole by making the inside negative pressure In the maintenance and recovery device to
A maintenance / recovery device comprising an ink absorbing means having a porous absorber that abuts against a nip portion of the cap member for suction and absorbs ink adhering to the nip portion.   The maintenance / recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the porous absorber in the ink absorbing means is configured by combining a plurality of absorbers having different pore diameters.   The maintenance / recovery device according to claim 2, wherein the other absorbers having different pore diameters are arranged toward the absorber contacting the cap member for suction.   The maintenance / recovery device according to claim 3, wherein the absorbers arranged in order from the absorber in contact with the suction cap member are arranged so that the pore diameter of the absorber becomes larger to the smallest. .   The maintenance / recovery device according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the absorbers having different pore diameters are overlapped in a direction in which the porous absorber is brought into contact with the cap member for suction.   6. The maintenance recovery according to claim 5, wherein the absorbers are arranged in order from the larger pore size of the absorbers that are superposed in order from the absorber that contacts the suction cap member. apparatus.   The maintenance / recovery device according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein the absorbent body that does not contact the cap member for suction is impregnated with a moisturizing agent that retains moisture.   The maintenance / recovery device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a portion of the porous absorber that comes into contact with the cap member for suction has a concave shape.   A droplet discharge device comprising the maintenance / recovery device according to claim 1.

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