JP2010058441A - Inkjet printer and head unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inkjet printer performing a countermeasure for ink mist and a countermeasure for ink drying by a simple apparatus constitution, and as the result, preventing the image quality from being lowered and improving the printing speed, and to provide a head unit. <P>SOLUTION: Left and right sucking and drying apparatuses 70L and 70R relatively movable together with a printer head 60 to a printing medium M include: housings 71 in which air flow paths 75 having a suction opening 76 approaching the printer head 60 and opposing the printing medium M on one end, and having a vent opening 77 opposing the part of the printing medium M more left or right than the part of the printing medium M to which the suction opening 76 opposes on the other end; blower fans 72 each provided in the air flow path 75, and generating an air flow reaching the vent opening 77 from the suction opening 76 through the air flow path 75; and filters 73 each provided on the upstream side more than the blower fan 72 in the air flow path 75 and catching the ink mist. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet printer and a head unit that perform desired printing on a print medium by ejecting ink while moving a printer head relative to the print medium.

  In such an ink jet printer, ink droplets ejected from a large number of nozzles formed on the printer head adhere to the print medium in layers, whereby desired characters, figures, patterns, photographs, etc. are printed on the print medium. However, when the compatibility between the ink jet printer and the printer head and the optimization of the driving method of the printer head are insufficient, small granular (mist-like) ink droplets (hereinafter referred to as ink mist) called satellites or even smaller mists. ) May occur. Thus, when the ink droplet size is small, the ink droplet is easily affected by air resistance, and cannot reach the target print medium surface. The ink droplets (ink mist) that could not reach the printing medium cause ejection failure when adhering to the nozzle surface of the printer head, and also adhere to other components of the ink jet printer and cause them to become dirty. . Further, the ink mist adheres to the already printed portion on the print medium, which causes a decrease in print quality.

Therefore, as a countermeasure against such ink mist, a suction fan provided separately from the printer head and a mist suction path provided integrally with the printer head and connected via the suction fan and the suction tube are generated during printing. An ink jet printer having an ink mist suction unit that sucks ink mist to be sucked together with air from a suction port of a mist suction path by a suction fan and captures it by a filter built in the mist suction path is known (for example, (See Patent Document 1). Furthermore, in Patent Document 1, the air that has passed through the filter is not exhausted to the outside from the exhaust port of the suction fan, but is led to an air outlet provided in the printer head via an air supply tube attached to the exhaust port, There is also disclosed an ink drying unit that dries ink by being sprayed from a blowout port of a blowout path to a portion on which printing has already been performed after being heated by a heater built in the blowout path.
JP-A-62-111749

  However, in the ink mist suction unit and the ink drying unit disclosed in Patent Document 1, the suction fan is provided apart from the printer head, and warm air is blown toward the mist suction path and the print medium for sucking the ink mist. Since the blow-out path to be discharged is connected to the suction fan via a long tube, there is a problem in that the intake force from the suction port of the mist suction path and the exhaust force from the blow-out opening of the blow path are weakened. In addition, the printer head is provided with an ink supply tube for supplying ink, wiring for signal transmission for performing ink ejection control, and the like, and in addition, an intake tube for sucking ink mist and the like. If provided, the smooth operation of the printer head may be hindered by the large number of tubes. As a result, there has been a problem that the image quality of the ink jet printer and the printing speed are lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and it is possible to perform measures against ink mist and ink drying with a simple apparatus configuration. As a result, it is possible to prevent deterioration in image quality and improve printing speed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet printer and a head unit that can perform the above.

  In order to achieve the above object, the first aspect of the present invention is an ink jet printer that performs desired printing on the print medium by ejecting ink from the printer head while moving the printer head relative to the print medium. The printer head is moved relative to the print medium together with the printer head to suck and remove ink mist generated when ink is ejected from the printer head, and printing on the print medium is performed. A suction drying device (for example, the left suction drying device 70L, the right suction drying device 70R, and the front suction drying device 70F in the present embodiment) for drying the printed portion. In addition, the suction drying apparatus has an intake port facing the print medium in one end close to the printer head, and an exhaust port positioned away from the intake port and facing the print unit at the other end. A housing having an air flow path formed therein, and a blower mechanism (for example, in the present embodiment) that is provided in the air flow path and generates an air flow from the intake port to the exhaust port through the air flow channel A blower fan 72) and a filter provided upstream of the air blowing mechanism in the air flow path and capturing the ink mist are configured.

  In the ink jet printer having the above-described configuration, it is preferable that the filter includes a heating element that generates heat when energized.

  In the ink jet printer having the above configuration, it is preferable that the air blowing mechanism is configured to be able to control a flow rate of air flowing through the air flow path.

  In the ink jet printer having the above-described configuration, it is preferable that the suction drying device is disposed on the rear side in the moving direction of the printer head that moves relative to the ink jet printer. Alternatively, the suction dryer may be disposed on both sides of the printer head in the relative movement direction.

  In the ink jet printer having the above-described configuration, it is preferable that the suction drying device is disposed on at least one side in a direction orthogonal to a moving direction of the printer head that relatively moves.

  In order to achieve the above object, the second aspect of the present invention provides a desired print on the print medium by ejecting ink while moving relative to the print medium in a state of facing the print medium supported by the medium support means. An inkjet printer head unit for ejecting ink toward the print medium, and when the ink is ejected from the printer head by moving relative to the print medium together with the printer head The suction drying device (for example, the left suction drying device 70L, the right suction drying device 70R, the pre-suction drying device in the present embodiment) that removes the ink mist generated in the printing medium and also dries the printing unit on which the printing on the print medium has been performed. 70F). In addition, the suction drying apparatus has an intake port facing the print medium in one end close to the printer head, and an exhaust port positioned away from the intake port and facing the print unit at the other end. A housing in which an air flow path is formed, a blower mechanism that is provided in the air flow path and generates an air flow from the intake port to the exhaust port through the air flow path, and in the air flow path And a filter for capturing the ink mist.

  According to the ink jet printer and the head unit according to the present invention, the suction drying device that moves relative to the print medium together with the printer head has an air inlet that faces the print head at one end and faces the print medium, A housing in which an air flow path having an exhaust port facing a printing portion on which printing on a printing medium is performed is located at the other end away from the air intake port, and an air flow path provided in the air flow channel from the air intake port. A blower mechanism that generates an air flow that passes through the flow path to the exhaust port, and a filter that is provided upstream of the blower mechanism in the air flow path and captures ink mist are configured. If comprised in this way, since the ventilation mechanism is provided in the air flow path, even if it was a small ventilation mechanism, the suction force when sucking ink mist with air from the intake port and the filter passed through the exhaust port. A sufficient exhaust force can be obtained when air is discharged toward the print medium. In addition, since it is not necessary to newly connect an intake tube for sucking ink mist to the printer head, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the smooth operation of the printer head is hindered. In this way, measures against ink mist and measures against ink drying can be performed with a simpler device configuration than conventional devices. As a result, it is possible to prevent image quality deterioration and improve printing speed.

  Note that the filter is preferably formed to include a heating element that generates heat when energized. By doing so, the filter itself becomes hot and warms the air passing through the filter, and warms the print medium from the exhaust port. Therefore, by using a filter including a heating element and a conventional heater in combination, it is possible to promote the absorption and drying of ink attached to the print medium.

  Further, the air blowing mechanism is preferably configured to be able to control the air flow rate flowing through the air flow path. With this configuration, the air flow rate flowing through the air flow path, that is, the intake air amount from the intake port is discharged from the printer head. Further, it is possible to adjust the intake air amount so that the ink vector (ejection direction) is not affected and the ink mist can be sucked. For example, when the gap between the printer head and the print medium, that is, the distance until the ink ejected from the printer head adheres to the print medium can be changed according to the print medium, Since the influence of the intake air amount on the ink vector ejected from the air increases, it is necessary to adjust the intake air amount.

  In addition, the suction drying device is preferably arranged on the rear side of the moving direction of the printer head that moves relative to the print medium, and in this way, the moving direction of the printer head is the ink that is ejected and the ink at that time. Since the generated ink mist vector difference is most likely to appear, the ink mist can be reliably removed by suction together with the ink ejection (printing operation) from the printer head. In addition, the suction drying device may be arranged on both sides of the printer head in the relative movement direction, and in this way, ink generated even when printing is performed by ejecting ink while reciprocating the printer head. Mist can be reliably removed by suction.

  Further, the suction drying device may be arranged on at least one side in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the relatively moving printer head, and in this way, when the printer heads of the respective colors are arranged in parallel in the moving direction, the ink is dried. Since mist can be guided and sucked in the nozzle row direction of each printer head, color mixing does not occur between the inks ejected from each printer head, and good ink ejection by each color printer head can be maintained. it can.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show the overall configuration of an ink jet printer P to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3 shows the main configuration of the apparatus main body 1 in the ink jet printer P. First, referring to these drawings, the ink jet printer The overall configuration of P will be described. In the following description, the directions indicated by the front and rear, left and right, and up and down arrows added in the drawings will be referred to as the front and rear direction, the left and right direction, and the up and down direction, respectively.

  The ink jet printer P includes a horizontally long rectangular box-shaped device main body 1 that performs printing on a sheet-like print medium M, and a support portion 2 that supports the device main body 1 at a height position where it can be easily operated. 2 and before and after the left and right legs 2a, the feeding mechanism 3 for feeding the unprinted (unprinted) print medium M wound in a roll shape to the apparatus main body 1 and printing are completed ( A take-up mechanism 4 for taking up the print medium M that has been printed is provided.

  The apparatus main body 1 includes a body 10 serving as a mounting base for each unit, a platen 20 that supports the print medium M, a medium moving mechanism 30 that moves the print medium M supported by the platen 20 back and forth, and an upper part of the platen 20. A carriage 40 that is movably supported left and right, a carriage moving mechanism 50 that moves the carriage 40 to the left and right relative to the print medium M supported by the platen 20, and a plurality of fixedly supported carriages 40. Printer head 60, left and right suction drying devices 70L and 70R attached to the carriage 40 on both the left and right sides of the printer head 60, and a control unit 80 for controlling the operation of the ink jet printer P.

  The body 10 includes a main body frame 11 including a lower frame 11L supported by the left and right support legs 2a and provided with a platen 20, and an upper frame 11U provided with a support structure for the carriage 40. The upper frame 11U and the lower frame 11L In the meantime, a laterally long window-like medium insertion portion 15 into which the print medium M can be inserted in the front-rear direction is formed. The body 10 is surrounded by a front cover 13a that covers the central portion of the main body frame 11 and side covers 13b and 13b that cover the left and right sides, and is configured as a horizontally-long rectangular box as a whole.

  The platen 20 is provided at the center of the left and right sides of the body 10 and is provided across the front and rear of the medium insertion portion 15. The print medium M is horizontally placed on a print portion (print region) where the printer head 60 moves left and right to perform printing. A main platen 22 having a support surface to be supported, a rear platen 21 extending rearward from the main platen 22 and provided on the rear side of the body 10, and extending forward from the main platen 22 and provided on the front side of the body 10. The front platen 23 is formed. The rear end side of the rear platen 21 and the front end side of the front platen 23 extend downward in a smooth curve, and the printing medium M fed from the feeding mechanism 3 and introduced into the platen 20 is rear platen 21 to main platen 22 to front. After smoothly moving each upper surface in the order of the platen 23, the platen 23 is discharged from the front platen 23 and taken up by the take-up mechanism 4.

  The support surface of the main platen 22 is formed with a large number of suction holes having a diameter of about several millimeters, and a decompression chamber 25 is provided on the lower side thereof so that the negative pressure can be set. By setting the negative pressure, the print medium M is sucked and held in the print unit so that the position of the print medium M does not shift during printing.

  The medium moving mechanism 30 rotates a cylindrical feed roller 31 and a feed roller 31 which are provided so as to be rotatable around a rotation shaft extending in the left-right direction and whose upper peripheral surface is exposed to the support surface of the main platen 22. A servo motor 33 to be driven, a timing belt 32 wound between a driven pulley coupled to the shaft end of the feed roller 31 and a drive pulley coupled to the shaft end of the servo motor 33, each rotating back and forth. The roller assembly 35 includes a plurality of roller assemblies 35 that have a free pinch roller 36 and are disposed above the feed roller 31 at predetermined intervals on the left and right.

  The roller assembly 35 is configured to be displaceable between a clamp position where the pinch roller 36 is elastically engaged with the feed roller 31 and an unclamp position where the pinch roller 36 is spaced above the feed roller 31. In a state where the assembly 35 is set at the clamp position and the print medium M is sandwiched between the upper and lower rollers 36 and 31, the feed roller 31 is rotated to rotate the print medium M according to the rotation angle of the feed roller 31. That is, the sheet is conveyed back and forth by a feed amount corresponding to the drive control value output from the control unit 80 to the servomotor 33.

  The carriage 40 is supported by a guide rail 45 that extends to the left and right in parallel to the feed roller 31 and is attached to the upper frame 11U so as to be movable to the left and right. The guide rail 45 is a support rail of a linear motion bearing. The carriage 40 is fixed to a slide block fitted to the guide rail 45 and is slidably supported left and right. .

  The carriage moving mechanism 50 is wound around a driving pulley 51 and a driven pulley 52 provided near the left and right side ends of the guide rail 45, a servo motor 53 that rotationally drives the driving pulley 51, and the driving pulley 51 and the driven pulley 52. The timing belt 55 is an endless belt that is hung, and the carriage 40 is connected and fixed to the timing belt 55. The rotation of the servo motor 53 is controlled by the control unit 80, and the carriage 40 is slid left and right (reciprocated) by a feed amount corresponding to the drive control value output from the control unit 80 to the servo motor 53.

  The printer head 60 is fixedly supported on the carriage 40 such that a lower surface (nozzle surface) on which a large number of nozzles each ejecting fine ink droplets are formed is separated from the print medium M by a predetermined gap. There are various arrangements for the arrangement of the printer head 60, and an appropriate arrangement can be used. In this embodiment, the nozzle array in which the plurality of nozzles are linearly arranged in the front-rear direction is arranged in two lines in parallel. The head configuration in which the four printer heads 60 formed in step 4 are arranged on the left and right and a total of eight nozzle rows are arranged is illustrated. Note that the carriage 40 can be moved up and down by a carriage lifting mechanism (not shown), thereby adjusting the gap between the nozzle surface of the printer head 60 and the printing medium M according to the printing medium M to be printed. It is possible.

  A maintenance mechanism 65 is provided in the body 10 (on the left side of the platen 20), and the nozzle surface of the printer head 60 and the maintenance mechanism 65 are moved up and down on the carriage 40 on the left end side of the guide rail 45. The printer head 60 is cleaned by moving it to an opposing position (hereinafter referred to as a home position) and sucking and removing residual ink in the nozzle and excess ink adhering to the periphery of the nozzle. .

  As shown in FIG. 4, the left suction drying device 70L and the right suction drying device 70R include a housing 71 having an air flow path 75 therein, a blower fan 72 disposed on the air flow path 75 in the housing 71, And a filter 73 that captures ink mist. The filter 73 is attached to both left and right sides of the carriage 40, that is, both sides in the moving direction of the printer head 60 fixedly supported by the carriage 40, and reciprocates left and right together with the carriage 40 by the carriage moving mechanism 50. Moved. In FIG. 4, in order to explain the configuration and operation of the left and right suction dryers 70L and 70R in an easy-to-understand manner, the granular ink droplets ejected from the nozzles of the printer head 60 are black dots and fog generated at that time. The ink mist is schematically shown by a broken-line circle.

  The air flow path 75 has an air inlet 76 facing the print medium M near one end of the printer head 60 at one end, and is located on the left or right side of the portion of the print medium M facing the air inlet 76 at the other end. An exhaust port 77 facing the portion of the print medium M is formed, and a blower fan 72 is provided in the middle of the air flow path 75. The air flow path 75 on the intake port 76 side is formed so as to be gradually inclined away from the printer head 60 from the intake port 76. Since the blower fan 72 causes air to flow through the air flow path 75, specifically, external air is sucked into the air flow path 75 from the air intake port 76, passes through the air flow path 75, and is discharged from the exhaust port 77. It is a device for exhausting to the outside, and is driven by a fan drive mechanism (not shown). This fan drive mechanism is controlled by the control unit 80, and the air flow rate in the air flow path 75 by the blower fan 72, that is, the intake amount from the intake port 76 and the exhaust port 77 according to the drive control value output from the control unit 80. It is possible to adjust the displacement from the engine.

  The filter 73 is disposed on the air flow path 75 upstream of the blower fan 72 in the housing 71 (on the side closer to the intake port 76), and is formed in a mesh shape including the heat generating element 73a. The heat generating element 73a is energized by an electric signal from the control unit 80 to generate heat, and heats the air flowing through the air flow path 75 when the air passes through the filter 73. The filter 73 only needs to be formed in a coarse mesh shape having both a roughness that does not hinder the air flow in the air flow path 75 and a fineness that can capture the ink mist. There is no limitation on the material of the filter and the configuration other than the above, and a filter having an appropriate configuration can be used.

  The control unit 80 includes the following movements of the printing medium M by the medium moving mechanism 30, the left and right movement of the carriage 40 by the carriage moving mechanism 50, the ink ejection from each nozzle of the printer head 60, and the ink mistake by the left and right suction drying devices 70L and 70R. An ink jet printer receives power supply from a power supply device (not shown) such as a suction operation, an unprinted printing medium M feeding operation by the feeding mechanism 3, and a printed printing medium M winding operation by the winding mechanism 4. It is a control device that controls the operation of each part of P. The control unit 80 combines the forward / backward movement of the print medium M by the medium moving mechanism 30 and the left / right movement of the carriage 40 by the carriage moving mechanism 50 to move the print medium M and the printer head 60 relative to each other. Ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles onto the printing medium M, and characters and figures are printed according to the printing program.

  The control unit 80 is provided on the upper right side of the body 10 (see FIG. 1 or FIG. 3), a liquid crystal display that displays various information on an operation panel 85 that can be operated from the front of the body, a setting Various operation buttons such as a function key for selecting a function to be performed, a jog key for selecting execution contents, an enter key for inputting selection contents, and a clear key for erasing settings are provided. For this reason, the operator can set the printing conditions while confirming the display content of the liquid crystal display, and can execute printing.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the feeding mechanism 3 includes a supporting unit 90 that rotatably and detachably supports a cylindrical winding tube 91 around which an unprinted printing medium M is wound in a roll shape. The tension applying means 95 for applying a tension (tension) in the direction opposite to the conveying direction to the printing medium M between the winding tube 91 and the platen 20 (rear platen 21), and the printing medium M supplied from the winding tube 91 The guide means 98 is smoothly guided to the rear platen 21. The support means 90 has a drive motor (not shown) for rotationally driving the winding tube 91, and the rotation of the drive motor is controlled by the control unit 80, and the unprocessed print medium M wound around the winding tube 91 is used. Is fed toward the rear platen 21 with a feed amount (feed speed) corresponding to the drive control value output by the control unit 80.

  The tension applying means 95 includes a columnar tension bar 96 that is held in a horizontal direction inside the middle portion of the printing medium M that is drawn out from the winding tube 91 and introduced into the platen 20, and a base end portion that supports the tension means 96. A pair of left and right support arms 97 supported by 90 and swingable up and down. Both ends of the tension bar 96 are rotatably supported at the tip portions of the left and right support arms 97. The tension bar 96 and the left and right support arms 97 are self-weighted according to the feed amount of the print medium M from the winding tube 91 and the introduction amount to the platen 20 (slack of the print medium M between the winding tube 91 and the rear platen 21). The tension bar 96 is held by the inner side of the printing medium M to bend the printing medium M, and the printing medium M between the tension bar 96 and the rear platen 21 is opposite to the conveying direction. A tension corresponding to the height position of the tension bar 96, that is, the swinging position of the support arm 97 is applied.

  The winding mechanism 4 is basically configured in the same manner as the feeding mechanism 3, and supports a cylindrical winding tube 101 around which a printed print medium M is wound in a roll shape so as to be rotatable and detachable. A tension applying means 105 for applying a tension in the transport direction to the printing medium M between the platen 20 (front platen 23) and the winding tube 101, and the printing medium M ejected from the front platen 23 to the winding tube 101. And a guide means 108. The support means 100 has a drive motor (not shown) that rotationally drives the winding tube 101. The rotation of the drive motor is controlled by the control unit 80, and the printing medium is discharged from the front platen 23 after printing is completed. M is wound at a winding amount (winding speed) corresponding to the drive control value output by the control unit 80.

  The tension applying means 105 is supported by a columnar tension bar 106 that is horizontally held by the inner side of the middle part of the printing medium M that is discharged from the front platen 23 and taken up by the winding tube 101, and is supported by the base end portion. It comprises a pair of left and right support arms 107 supported by means 100 and swingable up and down. Both ends of the tension bar 106 are rotatably supported at the distal ends of the left and right support arms 107. The tension bar 106 and the left and right support arms 107 are used for the amount of discharge of the print medium M from the front platen 23 and the amount of winding onto the winding tube 101 (the slack of the printing medium M between the winding tube 101 and the front platen 23). Accordingly, the print medium M swings downward by its own weight, holds the tension bar 106 inside the print medium M, bends the print medium M, and transports the print medium M between the front platen 23 and the tension bar 106. A tension according to the height position of the tension bar 106, that is, the swing position of the support arm 107 is applied.

  In the ink jet printer P configured as described above, an operation for printing on the print medium M will be described below. When the printer is stopped, the carriage 40 is at the home position, and the printer head 60 is in a state of being covered (head cap) by the maintenance mechanism 65 (a state where each nozzle is sealed). When power is supplied to the ink jet printer P, first, the maintenance mechanism 65 operates to remove the lid from the printer head 60. At the same time, the operator passes the leading end of the roll-shaped unprocessed print medium M supported by the feeding mechanism 3 in the order of the rear platen 21 to the main platen 22 to the front platen 23 in the order of the winding mechanism. 4 is attached to the winding tube 101 supported by the The decompression chamber 25 provided in the platen 20 is set to a negative pressure, and the print medium M is sucked and held on the support surface (upper surface) of the main platen 22. In this state, while the carriage 40 reciprocates left and right by the carriage moving mechanism 50, ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles of the printer head 60 to the print medium M in a desired print pattern.

  In this way, the suction and drying devices 70L and 70R are activated simultaneously with the start of ink droplet ejection by the printer head 60, and ink mist generated when ink droplets are ejected from the printer head 60 is blown by the blower fan 72. The air is sucked into the air flow path 75 from the air inlet 76 together with the surrounding air. At this time, the blower fan 72 is controlled to an intake air amount that does not affect the vector (ejection direction) of ink droplets ejected from the printer head 60 and can suck ink mist reliably.

  Ink mist sucked into the air flow path 75 is captured by the filter 73. At this time, the filter 73 generates heat by the heat generating element 73a, whereby the ink mist capturing performance of the filter 73 is improved, and the ink mist can be reliably captured. The air that has passed through the filter 73 is warmed (heated) when passing through the filter 73 due to heat generated by the heating element 73 a, and is exhausted from the exhaust port 77 by the blower fan 72. The exhausted warm air (warmed air) is blown onto the print medium M to heat the printing medium M during printing and the front and back thereof. As a result, absorption and drying of the ink adhering to the print medium M can be promoted.

  Next, when ink adheres to one print line of the print medium M in a desired print pattern as described above, the print medium M is transported forward on the support surface of the main platen 22 by the medium moving mechanism 30. The In conjunction with the transport movement of the printing medium M on the main platen 22, the feeding mechanism 3 feeds the unprinted printing medium M toward the rear platen 21, and the winding mechanism 4 finishes printing and the front platen The print medium M ejected from 23 is wound up. In the same manner as described above, the carriage 40 reciprocates left and right, and ink droplets are ejected from the printer head 60 onto a new print line of the print medium M, and ink mist generated at that time is generated by the left and right suction dryers 70L and 70R. Is captured and removed.

  When the printer head 60 reaches the printing end point in this way, the carriage 40 is returned to the home position and stopped. When the carriage 40 stops at the home position, the maintenance mechanism 65 performs maintenance of the printer head 60 by sucking and removing (cleaning) residual ink in the nozzles of the printer head 60 and excess ink adhering to the nozzle surface. . The printer head 60 that has undergone maintenance waits at the home position. As described above, the ink jet printer P performs printing on the print medium M by repeating these series of operations.

  According to the ink jet printer P configured as described above, since the blower fan 72 constituting the left and right suction drying devices 70L and 70R is provided in the air flow path 75, even a small blower mechanism (blower fan 72) is used. It is possible to sufficiently obtain the suction force when the ink mist is sucked together with the air from the suction port 76 and the exhaust force when the air that has passed through the filter 73 from the exhaust port 77 is discharged toward the print medium M. Further, since there is no need to newly connect an ink tube for sucking ink mist to the printer head 60, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the smooth operation of the printer head 60 (carriage 40) is hindered. In this way, the inkjet printer P can take measures against ink mist and ink dryness with a simpler device configuration than the conventional device, and as a result, it is possible to prevent image quality deterioration and improve printing speed. .

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described so far. As shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the left and right suction drying devices 70L and 70R, a front suction drying device 70F attached to the carriage 40 on the front side of the printer head 60 is provided. It may be configured. The pre-suction drying device 70F is configured in the same manner as the left and right suction drying devices 70L and 70R described above, and sucks external air from the intake port 76 into the air flow path and passes through the air flow path to the left and right exhaust ports 77, 70R. 77 is exhausted to the outside.

  Ink mist generated when ink droplets are ejected from the printer head 60 is sucked from the suction port 76 of each device together with the surrounding air by the left and right suction drying devices 70L and 70R and the front suction drying device 70F (FIG. (See arrow shown in 5 (b)). At this time, the blower fan 72 of each device has a main component of the airflow for sucking ink mist so that the intake air amount by the front suction drying device 70F is larger than the intake air amount by the left and right suction drying devices 70L and 70R. Control is performed so as to face the air inlet 76 of the pre-suction dryer 70F. Accordingly, since ink mist can be guided and sucked in the nozzle row direction (front-rear direction) of the printer heads 60 of the respective colors arranged side by side on the carriage 40, the color between the inks ejected from the printer heads 60 can be reduced. Mixing does not occur, and good ink ejection by each printer head 60 can always be maintained.

  The scope of the present invention is not limited to that shown in the above-described embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, since the printer head ejects ink while reciprocating and performs printing (bidirectional printing), the suction drying devices are provided on both sides (left and right sides) in the moving direction of the printer head. However, when unidirectional printing is performed, it may be provided on one side of the printer head. In this case, the suction drying device is preferably provided on the rear side of the moving printer head.

  Further, the present invention can also be applied to an ink jet printer that performs printing by discharging ultraviolet curable ink (hereinafter referred to as UV ink) that is cured by being irradiated with ultraviolet rays from a printer head. In such an ink jet printer, when a UV irradiation device (such as a metal halide lamp or UVLED) for irradiating UV ink adhering to a print medium is disposed on a carriage together with a printer head and a suction drying device, UV irradiation is performed. It is preferable to arrange the device outside the suction drying device. If it does in this way, contamination by ink mist of a UV irradiation device can be prevented, and a light quantity fall can be prevented.

  In the above-described embodiment, as an example of the ink jet printer to which the present invention is applied, the printer head (carriage) with respect to the print medium held on the platen is in one axis (Y axis) direction among two orthogonal axes in the horizontal plane. 1 shows an inkjet printer that reciprocally moves the print medium on the platen and conveys the print medium in another uniaxial (X-axis) direction, and performs printing on the print medium that is fixedly held on the support table. The present invention can also be applied to (so-called flatbed type) ink jet printers and ink jet printers configured to perform printing while placing a print medium such as a CD on a pallet and transporting the pallet by a belt conveyor. It is. In particular, the present invention is applied to inkjet printers that use UV ink and textile printers that need to avoid fuzzing of fabrics, which often perform printing with a relatively large gap between the nozzle surface of the printer head and the print medium. By doing so, the larger effect can be obtained.

It is the perspective view which looked at the inkjet printer which concerns on this invention from diagonally forward. It is a schematic side view which shows the structure of the said inkjet printer. It is a front view which shows the principal part structure of the apparatus main body which comprises the said inkjet printer. It is a partial cross section figure which shows the principal part structure of the suction drying apparatus which comprises the said apparatus main body. It is a figure which shows the other structure of the said suction drying apparatus, (a) is a top view of a suction drying apparatus, (b) is a bottom view of a suction drying apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

M Print medium P Inkjet printer 60 Printer head 70L Left suction dryer (suction dryer)
70R Right suction dryer (Suction dryer)
70F Pre-suction dryer (Suction dryer)
71 Housing 72 Blower fan (Blower mechanism)
73 Filter 73a Heating element 75 Air flow path 76 Inlet port 77 Outlet port

Claims (7)

In an inkjet printer that performs desired printing on the print medium by ejecting ink from the printer head while moving the printer head relative to the print medium,
The printer head is moved relative to the print medium together with the printer head to suck and remove ink mist generated when ink is ejected from the printer head, and printing on the print medium is performed. Equipped with a suction dryer to dry the printed part,
The suction dryer is
An air flow path having an intake port facing one end of the print medium adjacent to the printer head at one end and an exhaust port positioned away from the intake port and facing the print unit is formed at the other end. A housing;
A blower mechanism that is provided in the air flow path and generates an air flow from the intake port through the air flow path to the exhaust port;
An ink jet printer comprising: a filter that is provided upstream of the air blowing mechanism in the air flow path and that captures the ink mist.   The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein the filter includes a heating element that generates heat when energized.   The inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein the blower mechanism is capable of controlling a flow rate of air flowing through the air flow path.   The inkjet printer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the suction drying device is disposed on a rear side in the moving direction of the printer head that relatively moves.   The ink-jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the suction drying device is disposed on each side of the printer head in the relative movement direction.   6. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the suction drying device is disposed on at least one side in a direction orthogonal to a moving direction of the relatively moving printer head. A head unit of an ink jet printer that performs desired printing on the print medium by ejecting ink while moving relative to the print medium in a state of facing the print medium supported by the medium support means,
A printer head that ejects ink toward the print medium;
Suction that moves relative to the print medium together with the printer head, sucks and removes ink mist generated when ink is ejected from the printer head, and dries a printing section on which printing has been performed on the print medium A drying device,
The suction dryer is
An air flow path having an air inlet that faces the print medium adjacent to the printer head at one end and an air outlet that is located away from the air inlet and faces the printing unit is formed at the other end. A housing;
A blower mechanism that is provided in the air flow path and generates an air flow from the intake port through the air flow path to the exhaust port;
A head unit comprising a filter that is provided upstream of the air blowing mechanism in the air flow path and that captures the ink mist.

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