JP2010023453A - Maintenance method of fluid ejection device and fluid ejection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the maintenance method of a fluid ejection device which reduces occurrence of problems due to a fluid, by removing the fluid adhering to a seal surface, and also to provide the fluid ejection device. <P>SOLUTION: The fluid ejection device includes: an ejection head having an ejection surface in which an ejection port for ejecting the fluid is formed; and a maintenance part having a cap member coming into contact with the ejection surface and a wiping member wiping the ejection surface. The device adopts a method including: a first process for sequentially performing a suction operation S45 for bringing the cap member into contact with the ejection surface, to suck the fluid in space formed by the ejection surface and the cap member, a separation operation S46 for separating the cap member from the ejection surface, and a wiping operation S47 for wiping the ejection surface by the wiping member; and a second process for sequentially performing a transfer operation S50 for bringing the cap member into contact with the ejection surface, to transfer the fluid adhering to the cap member to the ejection surface, a separation operation S51, and a wiping operation S52. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

 The present invention relates to a fluid ejecting apparatus maintenance method and a fluid ejecting apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a fluid ejecting apparatus that records information on a recording medium by ejecting a fluid such as ink onto a recording medium from an ejection port. Moreover, in order to maintain a normal injection characteristic, the said apparatus requires maintenance of an injection port etc., for example, when the viscosity of the fluid with which the injection port was filled increases.
Here, Patent Document 1 discloses a maintenance unit that performs the maintenance and a fluid ejection device that includes the maintenance unit.
The maintenance unit disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a cap member that abuts an ejection surface on which an ejection port for ejecting fluid is formed and a wipe member that wipes the ejection surface, and the cap member abuts on the ejection surface. And sucking in the sealed space formed by the ejection surface and the cap member, the thickened fluid filled in the ejection port is aspirated, and then the cap member is separated from the ejection surface, and the wipe member Maintenance of the injection port and the injection surface is performed by wiping the fluid adhering to the injection surface.
JP-A-7-246715 (page 19, FIG. 7)

By the way, in the suction operation, fluid may adhere to the contact surface (seal surface) with the ejection surface of the cap member. However, in the maintenance unit and device disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is not considered to remove the fluid adhering to the seal surface.
For this reason, if the fluid adheres to the seal surface and the cap member is brought into contact with or separated from the ejection surface when the fluid is not dry, the fluid adhering to the seal surface is scattered, and the droplets enter the ejection port. There has been a problem that the meniscus of the formed fluid is broken and injection failure occurs.
Moreover, if the fluid adhering to the seal surface dries, there is a risk of hindering the close contact of the seal surface with the ejection surface. Therefore, the space formed by the ejection surface and the cap member is not hermetically sealed, and the outside air flows in during the suction operation, causing a problem that maintenance of the ejection port is not sufficiently performed.

 The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a fluid ejection device maintenance method and fluid ejection that reduce the occurrence of problems caused by the fluid by removing the fluid adhering to the sealing surface of the cap member. The object is to propose a device.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means.
The present invention relates to a fluid ejecting apparatus including an ejecting head having an ejecting surface in which an ejection port for ejecting fluid is formed, a maintenance unit having a cap member that contacts the ejecting surface and a wipe member that wipes the ejecting surface. A suction operation for sucking a fluid in a space formed by the ejection surface and the cap member, a separation operation for separating the cap member from the ejection surface, and ejection by the wipe member A first step of sequentially performing a wiping operation for wiping the surface, a transfer operation for bringing the cap member into contact with the ejection surface and transferring the fluid adhering to the cap member to the ejection surface, the separation operation, and the wiping operation. And a second step that is sequentially performed.

 In the present invention employing such a method, after the fluid adhering to the ejection surface is removed by wiping by the wiping operation in the first step, the fluid adhering to the cap member is transferred to the ejection surface by the transfer operation in the second step. It can be removed by transfer.

Further, the present invention employs a method of performing the second step a plurality of times.
In the present invention employing such a method, for example, when a large amount of fluid adheres to the cap member and it is difficult to remove the fluid by one transfer operation, the wiping operation and the transfer operation are repeated a plurality of times. The fluid can be more reliably removed than when the transfer operation is performed only once.

Further, the present invention employs a method of determining the number of executions of the second step according to the amount of fluid sucked in the suction operation.
When the amount of fluid to be sucked is large, a large amount of fluid may adhere to the cap member. Therefore, in the present invention employing the above method, when the amount of fluid to be sucked is large, the second step is performed a plurality of times to more reliably remove the fluid adhering to the cap member, and the amount of fluid to be sucked is reduced. When the number is small, the maintenance time can be reduced by reducing the number of executions of the second step, and flexible maintenance corresponding to the amount of fluid to be sucked can be performed.

Further, the present invention employs a method of determining the number of executions of the second step according to the viscosity of the fluid.
When the viscosity of the fluid to be sucked is high, a large amount of fluid may adhere to the cap member. Therefore, in the present invention employing the above method, when the viscosity of the fluid to be sucked is high, the fluid adhering to the cap member is more reliably removed by performing the second step a plurality of times, and the viscosity of the fluid to be sucked is determined. If the flow rate is low, the maintenance time can be reduced by reducing the number of executions of the second step, and flexible maintenance according to the viscosity of the fluid to be sucked can be performed.

 In addition, the fluid ejection device of the present invention includes an ejection head having an ejection surface in which an ejection port for ejecting fluid is formed, a maintenance member having a cap member that contacts the ejection surface and a wipe member that wipes the ejection surface, A control unit that controls the maintenance unit, and the control unit abuts the cap member on the ejection surface and sucks the fluid in the space formed by the ejection surface and the cap member, and separates the cap member from the ejection surface. After performing the first process of sequentially performing the separating operation and the wiping operation of wiping the ejection surface with the wiping member, and then transferring the fluid adhering to the cap member to the ejection surface by bringing the cap member into contact with the ejection surface A configuration is adopted in which the second process of sequentially performing the operation, the separation operation, and the wiping operation is executed.

 In the fluid ejecting apparatus of the present invention employing such a configuration, after the fluid adhering to the ejection surface is removed by wiping by the wiping operation in the first step, the fluid adhering to the cap member is transferred in the second step. Thus, it can be removed by transferring to the ejection surface.

Further, the control unit in the fluid ejection device of the present invention employs a configuration in which the second process is executed a plurality of times.
In the fluid ejecting apparatus of the present invention employing such a configuration, for example, when a large amount of fluid adheres to the cap member and it is difficult to remove the fluid by one transfer operation, the wiping operation and the transfer operation are performed a plurality of times. By repeating, the fluid can be more reliably removed than when the transfer operation is performed only once.

Further, the control unit in the fluid ejecting apparatus of the present invention employs a configuration in which the number of executions of the second process is determined according to the amount of fluid sucked in the suction operation.
When the amount of fluid to be sucked is large, a large amount of fluid may adhere to the cap member. Therefore, in the fluid ejecting apparatus of the present invention adopting the above configuration, when the amount of fluid to be sucked is large, the fluid adhering to the cap member is more reliably removed and sucked by performing the second step a plurality of times. When the amount of fluid is small, the maintenance time can be reduced by reducing the number of executions of the second step, and flexible maintenance according to the amount of fluid to be sucked can be performed.

Moreover, the control part in the fluid ejecting apparatus of the present invention employs a configuration in which the number of executions of the second process is determined according to the viscosity of the fluid.
When the viscosity of the fluid to be sucked is high, a large amount of fluid may adhere to the cap member. Therefore, in the fluid ejecting apparatus of the present invention employing the above configuration, when the viscosity of the fluid to be sucked is high, the fluid attached to the cap member is more reliably removed and sucked by performing the second step a plurality of times. When the fluid viscosity is low, the maintenance time can be reduced by reducing the number of executions of the second step, and flexible maintenance according to the viscosity of the fluid to be sucked can be performed.

(First embodiment)
A configuration of the fluid ejecting apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a fluid ejecting apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the ejection head and the maintenance unit in the first embodiment of the present invention.
In the following description, the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording paper and along the horizontal plane is defined as the main scanning direction, and the direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction and along the horizontal plane is defined as the sub-scanning direction.

The fluid ejecting apparatus according to the present embodiment is an ink jet printer P that prints information on recording paper by ejecting ink that is a fluid onto recording paper that is a recording medium.
The inkjet printer P includes a carriage 1 having an ejection head 11 that ejects ink and a cartridge 15 that stores ink, a platen 2 that is disposed below the ejection head 11 and supports recording paper, and the platen 2 in the main scanning direction. A maintenance unit 3 provided near one end, a paper feeding cassette 71 for storing recording paper, a paper feeding unit 72 for conveying recording paper, and a control unit 8 for controlling each part of the ink jet printer P (FIG. 1). And (not shown in FIG. 2).

The carriage 1 is installed in the inkjet printer P so as to be horizontally movable in the main scanning direction, and is connected to a drive unit 18 for movement. The carriage 1 can move from above the platen 2 to above the maintenance unit 3.
The ejection head 11 is installed in the lower part of the carriage 1 and has an ejection surface 12 on which a plurality of ejection ports 13 for ejecting ink are formed, and an ejection unit 16 for ejecting ink from the ejection ports 13 (FIGS. 1 and FIG. 1). 2 (not shown). The ejection surface 12 and the ejection port 13 are both opposed downward.
The cartridge 15 is installed on the upper portion of the carriage 1 and is connected to the ejection port 13 of the ejection head 11 via an ink supply path (not shown) for supplying ink.

The maintenance unit 3 includes a cap unit 4 that contacts the ejection surface 12, a wipe member 5 that is connected to the cap unit 4 and wipes the ejection surface 12, a suction unit 6 that sucks ink, the cap unit 4 It has the raising / lowering part 31 (not shown in FIG.1 and FIG.2) which moves the wipe member 5 in an up-down direction together.
The cap part 4 and the wiping member 5 can be stopped at respective positions of an upper limit position, a lower limit position, and a wiping position between them. The upper limit position is a position where the cap portion 4 can contact the ejection surface 12, the wiping position is a position where only the wipe member 5 can contact the ejection surface 12, and the lower limit position is the cap portion 4 and the wipe member. All of the positions 5 are positions that do not interfere with the ejection surface 12.

The paper feed cassette 71 is provided on the back side of the ink jet printer P, and is configured to accommodate a plurality of stacked recording papers.
The paper feed unit 72 can transport the recording paper from the paper feed cassette 71 to the front surface of the inkjet printer P through the lower part of the carriage 1 and on the platen 2.

The structure of the maintenance part 3 of this embodiment is demonstrated based on FIG.
2A shows a state in which the cap portion 4 is separated from the ejection surface 12, and FIG. 2B shows a state in which the cap portion 4 is in contact with the ejection surface 12.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the cap portion 4 includes a cap body portion 41 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape without an upper surface, and a sealing member having a substantially rectangular frame shape provided on the upper end sides of the side surfaces of the cap body portion 41. 45 and an absorber 47 made of a porous member provided inside the cap main body 41 for absorbing ink.
The cap main body 41 has a suction port 42 penetrating in the thickness direction on the lower surface thereof. The seal member 45 is made of an elastic body such as an elastomer, and the upper end portion of the cap body 41 and the seal member 45 are formed in a shape along the ejection surface 12.
As shown in FIG. 2B, in the state where the cap portion 4 is in contact with the ejection surface 12, a sealed space K is formed by the ejection surface 12 and the cap portion 4.

 The wipe member 5 is formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape extending in the sub-scanning direction, and is connected to the cap portion 4 so as to be orthogonal to the horizontal plane and to be parallel to the ejection surface 12. The wipe member 5 is made of an elastic body such as an elastomer.

 As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the suction unit 6 includes a pump 61 for sucking ink in the space K and a tank 62 for storing ink sucked by the pump 61. The suction port 42 of the cap main body is connected to the pump 61 via the first tube 63, and the pump 61 is connected to the tank 62 via the second tube 64.

The electrical configuration of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an electrical configuration of the ink jet printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The control unit 8 provided in the ink jet printer P includes an ejection unit 16 in the ejection head 11, a drive unit 18 that moves the carriage 1, an elevating unit 31 that raises and lowers the cap unit 4 and the wipe member 5, and ink in the space K. A pump 61 in the suction unit 6 that sucks the paper, a paper feed unit 72 that transports the recording paper, and the like are connected.
The control unit 8 has a calculation function for making an appropriate determination according to a predetermined program or the like, and controls the above-described units of the inkjet printer P using the program or the like and the calculation result.

Next, the operation of the ink jet printer P, particularly the maintenance method, will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, an outline of operations in the ink jet printer P of the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of the operation of the ink jet printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

 When the operation of the inkjet printer P is started, the control unit 8 determines whether or not maintenance is to be performed (step S1). As a condition for performing the maintenance, for example, the case where the inkjet printer P has not been operated for a long time can be cited.

If it is determined in step S1 that the conditions for performing maintenance are not satisfied, the control unit 8 performs a printing operation on the recording paper (step S2).
Then, after the printing is finished, the control unit 8 determines whether or not to continue the operation of the ink jet printer P (step S3). If it is determined to continue, the control unit 8 executes Step S1 again. If it is determined not to continue, the control unit 8 ends the operation of the ink jet printer P.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S1 that the condition for performing maintenance is satisfied, the control unit 8 performs a maintenance process (step S4). Details of the maintenance process will be described later.
And after completion | finish of a maintenance, the control part 8 implements step S2 and S3 which were mentioned above.

Next, the maintenance process (maintenance method) in step S4 will be described.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a maintenance method of the ink jet printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The maintenance method of the ink jet printer P includes an arithmetic processing step (S41, S42) in which the control unit 8 determines the content of the maintenance operation, a first step (S43 to S48) in which the maintenance of the ejection port 13 and the ejection surface 12 is performed, A second step (S49 to S54) for maintaining the sealing member 45 and the ejection surface 12 and a flushing step (S55) for flushing the ejection port 13 are performed in order.
Hereinafter, each step will be described.

First, the control unit 8 performs an arithmetic processing step.
When the maintenance is started, the control unit 8 determines the ink suction amount in the space K in the main maintenance (step S41). Specifically, the drive speed and drive time of the drive part (motor etc.) used for the pump 61 of the suction part 6 are determined. This is because the ink suction amount depends on the speed and time.
Next, the control unit 8 determines the number of times the second step is performed (for example, three times) according to the suction amount determined in step S41 and the viscosity of the ink used by the inkjet printer P (step S42). ). This is because when the suction amount is large or the viscosity of the ink is high, a large amount of ink may adhere to the seal member 45 in the suction operation, and it is necessary to perform the second step a plurality of times. is there.
This completes the arithmetic processing step.

After completion of the arithmetic processing step, the control unit 8 performs the first step.
First, in a state where the cap unit 4 and the wipe member 5 of the maintenance unit 3 are positioned at the lower limit of movement, the control unit 8 operates the drive unit 18 of the carriage 1 to move the carriage 1 to above the cap unit 4. Move horizontally (step S43).
Next, the control part 8 raises the cap part 4 and the wipe member 5 by operating the raising / lowering part 31 of the maintenance part 3, and makes the sealing member 45 contact | abut to the injection surface 12 (step S44). By this operation, as shown in FIG. 2B, a space K sealed by the ejection surface 12 and the cap portion 4 is formed.

Next, the control unit 8 operates the pump 61 of the suction unit 6 to suck the ink in the space K (Step S45, suction operation). By this operation, the space K becomes a negative pressure, and the ink in the ejection port 13 facing the space K is discharged into the cap main body 41.
At this time, the discharged ink is absorbed by the absorber 47 in the cap main body 41 and further discharged from the suction port 42 through the first tube 63 and the second tube 64 and finally to the tank 62. . In addition, ink adheres to the seal member 45 with the suction operation, and more ink adheres to the seal member 45 as the ink suction amount increases.

Next, the control unit 8 operates the elevating unit 31 to lower the cap unit 4 and the wiping member 5 to the wiping position (Step S46, separation operation).
Next, the control unit 8 operates the drive unit 18 to move the carriage 1 horizontally from above the cap unit 4 to above the platen 2 (step S47, wiping operation). At this time, since the cap part 4 and the wipe member 5 are in the wiping position and only the wipe member 5 is in a position where it can contact the ejection surface 12, the wipe member 5 wipes the ejection surface 12 as the carriage 1 moves. By this wiping operation, the ink adhering to the ejection surface 12 is removed.
Finally, the control unit 8 operates the elevating unit 31 to lower the cap unit 4 and the wipe member 5 to the lower limit of movement (step S48).
Thus, the first step is completed.

After the end of the first step, the control unit 8 performs the second step.
First, the control unit 8 operates the drive unit 18 to move the carriage 1 horizontally above the cap unit 4 (step S49).
Next, the control part 8 raises the cap part 4 and the wipe member 5 by operating the raising / lowering part 31, and makes the sealing member 45 contact | abut to the injection surface 12 (step S50, transfer operation | movement). At this time, the ink is attached to the seal member 45 and the ink is removed from the ejection surface 12, so that the ink on the seal member 45 is transferred to the ejection surface 12.

Next, the control unit 8 operates the elevating unit 31 to lower the cap unit 4 and the wiping member 5 to the wiping position (step S51, separation operation). At this time, since the ink adhering to the seal member 45 is transferred to the ejection surface 12, the ink on the seal member 45 is removed.
Next, the control unit 8 operates the drive unit 18 to move the carriage 1 horizontally from above the cap unit 4 to above the platen 2 (step S52, wiping operation). By this operation, ink adhering to the ejection surface 12 is removed as in step S47.
Next, the control unit 8 operates the elevating unit 31 to lower the cap unit 4 to the lower limit of movement (step S53).

 Finally, the control unit 8 determines whether or not to execute the second step again (step S54). This is determined based on whether or not the number of executions of the second process determined in step S42 has already been performed.

When the number of executions of the second process determined in step S42 has not been performed yet, the control unit 8 executes step S49 to perform the second process again. The control unit 8 repeats the second step until the number of times the second step is performed.
As described above, when the number of executions of the second step is determined to be, for example, three times, the control unit 8 repeats the second step two more times.

On the other hand, in step S54, when the number of executions of the second process determined in step S42 has already been performed, the second process ends. And the control part 8 implements a flushing process (step S55).
First, the control unit 8 operates the drive unit 18 to move the carriage 1 horizontally above the cap unit 4.
Next, the control unit 8 operates the elevating unit 31 to raise the cap unit 4 and the wipe member 5 and bring the seal member 45 into contact with the ejection surface 12.
Next, the control unit 8 operates the ejection unit 16 of the ejection head 11 for a short time to perform the flushing operation of the ejection port 13. By this operation, the meniscus of the ink filled in the ejection port 13 is adjusted.
Finally, the control unit 8 operates the elevating unit 31 to lower the cap unit 4 and the wipe member 5 to the lower limit of movement.
Thus, the flushing process is completed.

 When the flushing process is finished, the maintenance of the ink jet printer P is finished.

Therefore, according to the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
According to the present embodiment, by removing the ink adhering to the seal member 45 of the cap portion 4, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of problems caused by the ink.
In addition, according to the present embodiment, the number of executions of the second step can be varied depending on the ink suction amount in the space K and the ink viscosity. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, when the amount of ink to be sucked is large or the viscosity of the ink is high, the ink attached to the cap member is more reliably removed by performing the second step a plurality of times, and suction is performed. When the amount of ink to be drawn is small or the viscosity of the ink is low, the maintenance time is reduced by reducing the number of executions of the second step, and flexible maintenance is performed according to the amount or viscosity of the sucked ink There is an effect that can be.

(Second Embodiment)
The configuration of the ink jet printer of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
Since the configuration other than the ejection head 11 and the cap unit 4 and the operation of the ink jet printer P in the present embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof will be omitted.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the configuration of the ejection head and the cap portion in the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows a state where the cap portion 4 is in contact with the ejection surface 12.
In FIG. 6, the same components as those of the ink jet printer P in the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, the cap body 41 has a shape in which a substantially rectangular plate-like member 41 </ b> A is provided inside a substantially rectangular parallelepiped member having no upper surface. Since the plate-like member 41A is erected perpendicular to the lower surface while being parallel to one side surface of the cap body portion 41, each side surface of the cap body portion 41 and the plate-like member 41A are substantially in a letter shape in plan view. Presents. The plate-like member 41 </ b> A is formed at the same height as the side surface of the cap main body 41.
The seal member 45 is provided on all upper end sides of the cap main body 41 and has a substantially Japanese character shape.
The suction port 42 and the absorber 47 are respectively provided on both sides of the plate-like member 41A.

In the state where the cap portion 4 is in contact with the ejection surface 12, spaces K1 and K2 sealed by the ejection surface 12 and the cap portion 4 are formed.
On the ejection surface 12, an ejection port 131 is formed at a position facing the space K1, and an ejection port 132 is formed at a position facing the space K2. Further, the inks ejected from the ejection ports 131 and the ejection ports 132 are different from each other.
The distance between the seal member 45 and the injection port 131 or the injection port 132 in a state where the cap portion 4 is in contact with the injection surface 12 is between the seal member 45 and the injection port 13 in the first embodiment. It is shorter than the distance. Therefore, ink tends to adhere to the seal member 45 during the suction operation, and there is a tendency that problems due to the ink are more likely to occur.

Therefore, according to the second embodiment, the following effects can be obtained in addition to the effects obtained by the first embodiment.
According to this embodiment, since the distance between the seal member 45 and the ink ejection ports 131 and 132 is short, even if the ink is likely to adhere to the seal member 45 during the suction operation, the ink attached to the seal member 45 By removing the ink, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of problems caused by the ink.

 Note that the operation procedures shown in the above-described embodiment, or the shapes and combinations of the components are examples, and can be variously changed based on process conditions, design requirements, and the like without departing from the gist of the present invention. is there.

 For example, in the above-described embodiment, the carriage 1 can move horizontally in the main scanning direction, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and a plurality of carriages 1 and ejection heads 11 are arranged in the main scanning direction. A so-called line-type printer having the configuration provided in FIG.

 In the above-described embodiment, the case where the fluid ejecting apparatus is the ink jet printer P has been described as an example. However, the fluid ejecting apparatus is not limited to the ink jet printer, and may be an apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile.

 In the above-described embodiment, the case where the fluid ejecting apparatus is a fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects a fluid (liquid material) such as ink has been described as an example. However, the fluid ejecting apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to ink. The present invention can be applied to a fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects or discharges another fluid. Fluids that can be ejected by the fluid ejecting apparatus include fluids, liquids in which particles of functional materials are dispersed or dissolved, gel-like fluids, solids that can be ejected as fluids, and powders (such as toner). .

 In the above-described embodiment, as the fluid (liquid material) ejected from the fluid ejecting apparatus, not only ink but also fluid corresponding to a specific application can be applied. By providing the fluid ejecting apparatus with an ejecting head capable of ejecting a fluid corresponding to the specific application, ejecting the fluid corresponding to the specific application from the ejecting head, and attaching the fluid to a predetermined object, A given device can be manufactured. For example, the fluid ejecting apparatus (liquid ejecting apparatus) according to the present invention uses a predetermined material such as an electrode material or a color material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an EL (electroluminescence) display, and a surface emitting display (FED). The present invention is applicable to a fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects a fluid (liquid material) dispersed (dissolved) in a dispersion medium (solvent).

Further, the fluid ejecting apparatus may be a fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects a bio-organic matter used for biochip manufacturing, or a fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects a fluid that is used as a precision pipette and serves as a sample.
In addition, transparent resin liquids such as UV curable resins to form fluid injection devices that inject lubricating oil onto precision machines such as watches and cameras, micro hemispherical lenses (optical lenses) used in optical communication elements, etc. For example, a fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid onto a substrate, a fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects an etching solution such as acid or alkali to etch the substrate, a fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects gel, and a powder such as toner. It may be a toner jet recording apparatus that ejects a solid. The present invention can be applied to any one of these fluid ejecting apparatuses.

1 is a perspective view showing an ink jet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the ejection head and maintenance part in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of an ink jet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement outline | summary of the inkjet printer in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the maintenance method of the inkjet printer in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the ejection head and cap part in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

 P: inkjet printer (fluid ejection device), 11: ejection head, 12 ... ejection surface, 13 ... ejection port, 131 ... ejection port, 132 ... ejection port, 3 ... maintenance section, 4 ... cap section (cap member), 5 ... wipe member, 8 ... control unit, K ... space, K1 ... space, K2 ... space

Claims (8)

Maintenance of a fluid ejection device comprising: an ejection head having an ejection surface in which an ejection port for ejecting fluid is formed; a maintenance unit having a cap member that contacts the ejection surface and a wipe member that wipes the ejection surface A method,
A suction operation for aspirating the fluid in a space formed by the ejection surface and the cap member by bringing the cap member into contact with the ejection surface; a separation operation for separating the cap member from the ejection surface; and the wipe member A first step of sequentially performing a wiping operation of wiping the ejection surface;
A second step of sequentially performing the transfer operation, the separation operation, and the wiping operation in which the cap member is brought into contact with the injection surface and the fluid adhering to the cap member is transferred to the injection surface. A maintenance method for a fluid ejecting apparatus.  The maintenance method for a fluid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second step is performed a plurality of times.  The maintenance method for the fluid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of executions of the second step is determined according to the amount of the fluid sucked in the suction operation.  The maintenance method for the fluid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of executions of the second step is determined according to the viscosity of the fluid. A maintenance unit having an ejection head having an ejection surface in which an ejection port for ejecting fluid is formed, a cap member in contact with the ejection surface, a wipe member for wiping the ejection surface, and a control unit for controlling the maintenance unit And
The controller is
A suction operation for aspirating the fluid in a space formed by the ejection surface and the cap member by bringing the cap member into contact with the ejection surface; a separation operation for separating the cap member from the ejection surface; and the wipe member After executing the first process of sequentially performing the wiping operation of wiping the ejection surface,
Performing a second process of sequentially performing a transfer operation, a separation operation, and a wiping operation in which the cap member is brought into contact with the injection surface and the fluid adhering to the cap member is transferred to the injection surface. A fluid ejecting apparatus.  The fluid ejecting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control unit executes the second process a plurality of times.  7. The fluid ejecting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control unit determines the number of executions of the second process according to an amount of the fluid sucked in the suction operation. The fluid ejecting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control unit determines the number of executions of the second process according to the viscosity of the fluid.

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