JP2010131948A - Fluid spraying apparatus, wiping method of fluid, and wiping device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a mechanism of switching a wiping member abutting on a head in a constitution having a plurality of wiping members. <P>SOLUTION: The fluid spraying apparatus is provided that includes: (A) a head spraying the liquid, (B) the plurality of wiping members wiping off the fluid attached to the head, abutting on the head, (C) a rotary body with the wiping members attached to an outer periphery thereof, rotatably supported, having at least one wiping member among the plurality of wiping members on the outer periphery mounted at a position different from the mounting positions of the other wiping members in a rotational direction of the rotary body, and (D) a switching mechanism switching the wiping member positioned in the rotational direction to the abutting position abutting on the head by rotating the rotary body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

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

  A fluid ejecting apparatus having a head that ejects fluid and a wiping member that comes into contact with the head and wipes off the fluid adhering to the head is already known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such a fluid ejecting apparatus, the wiping member moves between a position in contact with the head and a position not in contact with the head, and wipes off the fluid adhering to the head in a state of being in a position in contact with the head. .

Furthermore, some fluid ejecting apparatuses include a plurality of the wiping members described above. In the configuration including a plurality of wiping members, the wiping member to be brought into contact with the head may be switched depending on the purpose.
JP 2008-149709 A

  In the configuration in which a plurality of wiping members are provided as described above, in order to switch the wiping member to be brought into contact with the head, for example, each of the plurality of wiping members may be individually moved. That is, a drive mechanism that moves the wiping member between a position that contacts the head and a position that does not contact the head may be provided for each wiping member. However, if the drive mechanism is provided for each wiping member, the number of components increases, resulting in an increase in size and cost of the fluid ejection device.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to simplify a mechanism for switching a wiping member that comes into contact with a head in a configuration including a plurality of wiping members.

In order to solve the above problems, the main invention is:
A head for ejecting fluid;
A plurality of wiping members that abut against the head and wipe off the fluid adhering to the head;
The wiping member is attached to an outer peripheral surface, and is a rotating body that is rotatably supported,
A rotating body in which the mounting position of at least one wiping member among the plurality of wiping members on the outer peripheral surface is different from the mounting position of the other wiping members in the rotation direction of the rotating body;
A fluid ejecting apparatus comprising: a switching mechanism that switches the wiping member positioned in the rotation direction to a contact position that contacts the head by rotating the rotating body.

  Other features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

  At least the following will be made clear by the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

First, a fluid ejection device according to the present invention is as follows.
A head for ejecting fluid;
A plurality of wiping members that abut against the head and wipe off the fluid adhering to the head;
The wiping member is attached to an outer peripheral surface, and is a rotating body that is rotatably supported,
A rotating body in which the mounting position of at least one wiping member among the plurality of wiping members on the outer peripheral surface is different from the mounting position of the other wiping members in the rotation direction of the rotating body;
A switching mechanism that switches the wiping member positioned in the rotation direction to a contact position that contacts the head by rotating the rotating body;
Have With such a fluid ejecting apparatus, it is possible to switch the wiping member in contact with the head by a simplified mechanism (that is, the above switching mechanism).

In the above fluid ejecting apparatus,
The attachment position of the wiping member on the outer peripheral surface may be different for each wiping member in the rotation direction. With such a fluid ejecting apparatus, variations in the switching pattern of the wiping member to be brought into contact with the head increase.

In the above fluid ejecting apparatus,
A plurality of the heads are provided for each color of fluid ejected by the heads,
Each of the plurality of wiping members may be in contact with the head corresponding to each of the plurality of heads. With such a fluid ejecting apparatus, it is possible to prevent a phenomenon in which fluids are mixed (color mixing phenomenon) by wiping off fluids adhering to different heads (for example, fluids having different colors) with the same wiping member. Become.

In the above fluid ejecting apparatus,
Each of the plurality of heads includes a nozzle, and ejects fluid from the nozzle.
A suction mechanism that performs a suction operation of sucking fluid from the nozzle to the head;
A controller for controlling the switching mechanism,
The controller is
After the suction mechanism performs the suction operation, among the plurality of wiping members, the switching mechanism is configured so that the wiping member corresponding to the head on which the suction operation has been performed is positioned at the contact position. The rotating body may be rotated. With such a fluid ejecting apparatus, it is possible to reliably wipe off the fluid adhering to the head on which the suction operation has been performed as post-processing after the suction operation.

In the above fluid ejecting apparatus,
The head includes a nozzle surface on which a nozzle is formed and an intersecting surface intersecting the nozzle surface, and ejects fluid from the nozzle.
The plurality of wiping members are
A first wiping member that contacts the nozzle surface and wipes off the fluid adhering to the nozzle surface;
A second wiping member that contacts the intersecting surface and wipes off the fluid adhering to the intersecting surface,
The attachment position of the first wiping member may be different from the attachment position of the second wiping member in the rotation direction. With such a fluid ejecting apparatus, it is possible to wipe not only the ink adhering to the nozzle surface of the head but also the fluid adhering to the intersecting surface of the head.

Furthermore, a fluid wiping method for wiping off the fluid adhering to the head by bringing any of the plurality of wiping members into contact with the head,
The wiping member is attached to an outer peripheral surface, and is a rotating body that is rotatably supported,
By rotating a rotating body in which the mounting position of at least one wiping member among the plurality of wiping members on the outer peripheral surface is different from the mounting position of the other wiping member in the rotation direction of the rotating body, Switching the wiping member located in the rotational direction to a contact position contacting the head;
It is also possible to realize a fluid wiping method including wiping off the fluid adhering to the head by the wiping member positioned at the contact position. Also in such a fluid wiping method, it is possible to switch the wiping member in contact with the head by a simplified mechanism.

Furthermore, as a wiping device according to the present invention,
A plurality of wiping members that come into contact with the head that ejects the fluid and wipe off the fluid adhering to the head;
The wiping member is attached to an outer peripheral surface, and is a rotating body that is rotatably supported,
A rotating body in which the mounting position of at least one wiping member among the plurality of wiping members on the outer peripheral surface is different from the mounting position of the remaining wiping members in the rotation direction of the rotating body;
A switching mechanism that switches the wiping member positioned in the rotation direction to a contact position that contacts the head by rotating the rotating body;
It is also possible to realize a wiping device having With such a wiping device, the wiping member that contacts the head can be switched by a simplified mechanism.

=== About the fluid ejection device of the present embodiment ===
In this embodiment, an ink jet printer (hereinafter, printer 10) as an example of a fluid ejecting apparatus will be described. The printer 10 of the present embodiment is a printing apparatus that prints an image on the roll paper S by ejecting CMYK four color inks as an example of fluid onto the roll paper S as an example of a medium. The portion of the roll paper S on which the image is printed is cut out later and used as a printed material. The roll paper S is set in the printer 10 while being wound in a roll shape, and is fed out when an image is printed. The ink used by the printer 10 may be either water-based ink or oil-based ink.

  Hereinafter, a basic configuration of the printer 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the printer 10. 2 and 3 are diagrams schematically showing the internal configuration of the printer 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram of the internal configuration as viewed from the side, and FIG. 3 is a diagram of the internal configuration as viewed from above. . FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the arrangement of the nozzles Nz formed in each line head 21.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 10 includes a head unit 20, a transport unit 30, a head driving unit 40, a maintenance unit 50 as a suction mechanism, and a wiping unit 60 as a wiping device. Further, the printer 10 includes a controller 70 that controls each unit described above, and a detector group 80.

  The head unit 20 ejects ink onto the roll paper S in order to print an image on the roll paper S. As shown in FIG. 2, the head unit 20 includes a plurality (specifically, four) of line heads 21 provided for each ink. As shown in the figure, the plurality of line heads 21 are fixed at substantially the same position in the vertical direction, and are arranged at regular intervals along the transport direction of the roll paper S. In this embodiment, the black head 21K that ejects black ink, the cyan head 21C that ejects cyan ink, the magenta head 21M that ejects magenta ink, and the yellow ink are ejected from the upstream side to the downstream side in the transport direction. Are arranged in the order of yellow head 21Y.

  Each line head 21 is a long head having a width longer than the paper width of the roll paper S, and has a nozzle surface 21a on which a nozzle Nz is formed. As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of nozzles Nz are arranged in a line along the longitudinal direction of the line head 21 on the nozzle surface 21 a. Each nozzle Nz is provided with an ink chamber and a piezo element (not shown). When the piezo element is driven and the ink chamber is contracted and expanded, ink is ejected from each nozzle Nz in the form of droplets. When the ejected droplet-shaped ink lands on the roll paper S, dots are formed.

  Each line head 21 ejects ink from the nozzles Nz when an area on the roll paper S (specifically, an area where an image is printed) passes immediately below each line head 21. That is, each line head 21 ejects ink while the nozzle surface 21 a faces the roll paper S. Thereby, dots corresponding to the width of the roll paper S are formed in the area at a time.

  Each line head 21 has a cover surface that surrounds the four sides of the nozzle surface 21a. The cover surface corresponds to an intersecting surface that intersects (substantially orthogonal in the present embodiment) with the nozzle surface 21a. Of the four cover surfaces, the surfaces located at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the line head 21 are referred to as longitudinal cover surfaces, and both ends in the short direction of the line head 21 (the line head 21 in the direction along the transport direction). Surfaces positioned at both ends) are referred to as short-side cover surfaces 21b (see FIGS. 2 to 4).

  The transport unit 30 transports the roll paper S in the transport direction so that the area on the roll paper S passes directly under each line head 21. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the transport unit 30 includes a paper feed roller 31, a paper discharge roller 32, and a platen 33. The paper feed roller 31 is a roller that is positioned on the most upstream side in the transport direction, and is a roller that feeds the rolled roll paper S and feeds the roll paper S. The paper discharge roller 32 is a roller located on the most downstream side in the transport direction, and is a roller for winding the roll paper S sent out by the paper feed roller 31. The platen 33 is a table that is provided between the paper feed roller 31 and the paper discharge roller 32 in the transport direction and supports the roll paper S on its upper surface.

  The head drive unit 40 moves each line head 21 in a crossing direction (in other words, a direction along the longitudinal direction of each line head 21) intersecting the transport direction. With the head drive unit 40, each line head 21 can reciprocate between a facing position facing the roll paper S on the nozzle surface 21a and a non-facing position not facing the roll paper S. . The head drive unit 40 is controlled by the controller 70, and when the line head 21 is in a resting state in which ink is not ejected, the line head 21 is positioned in the non-opposing position and is in an operation state in which ink is ejected. Positions the line head 21 at the opposite position. Each line head 21 ejects ink onto the roll paper S while it is stationary at the facing position.

  The maintenance unit 50 performs maintenance so that the ink ejection from the nozzles Nz is satisfactorily maintained with respect to each line head 21 in a pause state (a state where ink is not ejected). The maintenance unit 50 includes a cap 51 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) and a suction pump 52 (see FIG. 5).

  The cap 51 is a substantially box-shaped member whose upper end is an open end, and is located at a position where the roll paper S does not reach in the intersecting direction intersecting the transport direction. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of caps 51 are provided for each line head 21. Each cap 51 moves up and down by a drive mechanism (not shown). Each cap 51 is usually positioned below the line head 21 (more specifically, the line head 21 corresponding to each cap 51) in the vertical direction. Each cap 51 is raised when the line head 21 is located at the non-opposing position, so that the upper end of the cap 51 comes into contact with the nozzle surface 21a of the line head 21 and causes the nozzle Nz of the line head 21 to flow. cover. As a result, it is possible to suppress the solvent evaporation of the ink in the vicinity of the opening of the nozzle Nz of the line head 21 while the line head 21 is in a resting state, thereby preventing clogging at the nozzle Nz. Is done.

  The suction pump 52 is connected to the cap 51 and operates in a state where the cap 51 seals the nozzle Nz. As a result, the inner space of the cap 51 is in a negative pressure state, and the ink in the nozzle Nz is sucked and forcibly discharged.

  As described above, the maintenance unit 50 drives the suction pump 52 with the cap 51 covering the nozzle Nz, thereby performing a suction operation for sucking the ink in the nozzle Nz from the nozzle Nz. The line head 21 on which the suction operation has been performed by the maintenance unit 50 can maintain a state in which the ink is favorably ejected from the nozzle Nz.

  The wiping unit 60 is for wiping off ink adhering to the line head 21. In the present embodiment, the ink wiping operation by the wiping unit 60 is performed on the line head 21 on which the suction operation has been performed after the maintenance unit 50 performs the above suction operation on the line head 21. The details of the wiping unit 60 will be described later.

  The controller 70 controls each unit of the printer 10 through the unit control circuit 74 by the CPU 72 in accordance with a program stored in the memory 73. The controller 70 can communicate with the host computer 110 via the interface 71. When the print data is received from the host computer 110, the controller 70 controls each unit based on the print data and rolls an image corresponding to the print data. Print on paper S. The situation in the printer 10 is monitored by a detector group 80, and the detector group 80 outputs a signal corresponding to the detection result to the controller 70.

  Next, a printing process for printing a color image on the roll paper S using the printer 10 having the above configuration will be described. The printing process starts when the controller 70 receives print data from the host computer 110 via the interface 71. The controller 70 analyzes the contents of various commands in the received print data and controls each unit of the printer 10. Thereby, the conveyance operation by the conveyance unit 30 is first performed. More specifically, the roll paper S wound around the paper feed roller 31 is fed out, and the paper discharge roller 32 winds up the roll paper S, whereby the roll paper S is transported in the transport direction.

  The controller 70 performs the ink ejection operation by the head unit 20 while performing the transport operation by the transport unit 30. As a result, a color image is printed on the roll paper S. More specifically, the black head 21K ejects black ink onto an area on the roll paper S located at a position facing the black head 21K. As a result, black dots are formed in the region. At this time, as described above, dots corresponding to the paper width of the roll paper S are formed at a time. Thereafter, the region moves downstream in the transport direction, and eventually comes to a position where the cyan head 21C faces. Thereafter, the same operation as described above is performed for the inks of other colors, and a color image piece (a part of the color image) is formed in the region. As a result, a color image is finally printed on the roll paper S.

=== About the wiping unit 60 ===
Hereinafter, the wiping unit 60 provided in the printer 10 of the present embodiment will be described.

<< Configuration of Wiping Unit 60 >>
First, the configuration of the wiping unit 60 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a view of the internal configuration of the printer 10 as viewed from the upstream side in the conveyance direction. FIG. 6 is an external view of the wiping unit 60. FIG. 7 is a view showing a cross section of the wiper holder 62 (a cross section intersecting with the rotation shaft 62a).

  As described above, the wiping unit 60 performs an operation (wiping operation) for wiping off ink adhering to the line head 21. The wiping unit 60 is provided at a position where the roll paper S does not reach in the intersecting direction intersecting the transport direction (see FIG. 2), and as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, a wiper 61 as a wiping member, and a rotating body A wiper holder 62, a switching mechanism 63, and a wiper transport mechanism 64.

  The wiper 61 is a member that comes into contact with the line head 21 and wipes off ink adhering to the line head 21, and is made of a rubber material in the present embodiment. However, the wiper 61 may be made of a material other than rubber such as sponge. In the present embodiment, four wipers 61 (corresponding to the first wiping member) that contact the nozzle surface 21 a of the line head 21 and wipe the ink adhering to the nozzle surface 21 a are provided for each line head 21.

  More specifically, one wiper 61 is provided for each of the black head 21K, cyan head 21C, magenta head 21M, and yellow head 21Y to wipe off ink adhering to each nozzle surface 21a. Each of these wipers 61 comes into contact with the nozzle surface 21a of the line head 21 corresponding to each of the plurality of line heads 21 at the end portion on the free end side. For example, in FIGS. 5 to 7, the wiper 61 </ b> K indicates the wiper 61 corresponding to the black head 21 </ b> K and abuts on the nozzle surface 21 a of the black head 21 </ b> K. Similarly, the wiper 61C indicates the wiper 61 corresponding to the cyan head 21C, the wiper 61M indicates the wiper 61 corresponding to the magenta head 21M, and the wiper 61Y indicates the wiper 61 corresponding to the yellow head 21Y.

  Furthermore, the wiping unit 60 according to the present embodiment is a wiper 61 (corresponding to a second wiping member) that abuts on the short-side cover surface 21b of the line head 21 and wipes off ink adhering to the short-side cover surface 21b. Yes). Four wipers 61 are also provided for each line head 21. More specifically, the wiper 61 </ b> H in FIGS. 5 to 7 is the wiper 61 that comes into contact with the short side cover surface 21 b of the line head 21. As shown in FIG. 8, a rectangular notch 61a is formed in the wiper 61H. When the line head 21 is fitted into the notch 61a, the wiper 61H comes into contact with the two short side cover surfaces 21b of the line head 21 at the boundary surface 61b of the notch 61a. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state in which each wiper 61H is in contact with the short side cover surface 21b of the line head 21.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the four wipers 61K, 61C, 61M, 61Y that come into contact with the nozzle surface 21a of the line head 21 and the four wipers 61H that come into contact with the short side cover surface 21b of the line head 21. A plurality of (specifically, eight) wipers 61 are provided. In this embodiment, different wipers 61 come into contact with the line heads 21 that eject different colors of ink.

  The wiper holding body 62 is a member that holds the wiper 61 attached to the outer peripheral surface thereof. The wiper holding body 62 of the present embodiment is a long hollow body made of plastic, and is supported so as to be rotatable about a rotation shaft 62a provided in the longitudinal direction. The longitudinal direction of the wiper holder 62 is along the transport direction, and the four line heads 21 are arranged so as to be positioned between both ends of the wiper holder 62 in the transport direction (FIG. 2). reference). Further, each wiper 61 attached to the outer peripheral surface of the wiper holding body 62 has its contact surface and a contacted portion of the line head 21 corresponding to each wiper 61 (specifically, the nozzle surface 21a or the short surface). The hand direction side cover surface 21 b) and the wiper holder 62 are arranged at the same position in the longitudinal direction.

  Further, the cross section of the wiper holding body 62 (cross section intersecting with the rotation shaft 62a) is a substantially regular pentagon as shown in FIG. That is, the outer peripheral surface of the wiper holding body 62 is divided into five wiper mounting surfaces 62 b in the rotation direction of the wiper holding body 62. In this embodiment, the attachment position of at least one wiper 61 among the plurality of wipers 61 on the outer peripheral surface of the wiper holding body 62 is different from the attachment position of the other wiper 61 in the rotational direction.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the wipers 61K, 61C, 61M, and 61Y that are in contact with the nozzle surface 21a of the line head 21 are attached to different wiper attachment surfaces 62b. Further, the wiper 61H that contacts the short side cover surface 21b of the line head 21 is the wiper mounting surface 62b to which the wipers 61K, 61C, 61M, and 61Y that contact the nozzle surface 21a of the line head 21 are mounted. It is attached to a different wiper attachment surface 62b. That is, in this embodiment, the attachment position of the wipers 61K, 61C, 61M, 61Y corresponding to the first wiping member is different from the attachment position of the wiper 61H corresponding to the second wiping member in the rotation direction of the wiper holder 62. ing.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the switching mechanism 63 includes a motor 63 a as a drive source and a transmission portion 63 b that transmits the rotation of the motor 63 a to the wiper holding body 62, and rotates the wiper holding body 62. Then, the switching mechanism 63 rotates the wiper holding body 62 to switch the wiper 61 located at the contact position where the wiper holding body 62 contacts the line head 21 in the rotation direction of the wiper holding body 62. Here, the wiper 61 located at the contact position refers to each line head in a state in which the wiper holding body 62 and the wiper 61 are transported by a wiper transport mechanism 64 (to be described later) in a state where the uppermost surface is in the horizontal plane. The wiper 61 is attached to a wiper attachment surface 62b opposite to the nozzle 21 (specifically, the nozzle surface 21a).

  That is, only the wiper 61 positioned at the contact position when the wiper holding body 62 and the wiper 61 are conveyed contacts the line head 21. Then, by rotating the wiper holding body 62, it is possible to switch the wiper 61 located at the contact position. The rotation amount when the switching mechanism 63 rotates the wiper holding body 62 is controlled by the controller 70. And the controller 70 will select the wiper 61 (namely, the wiper 61 located in a contact position) used in the case of a wiping operation | movement by controlling the said rotation amount.

  The wiper transport mechanism 64 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the wiper holding body 62 by moving the wiper holding body 62 in an intersecting direction (in other words, a direction along the longitudinal direction of each line head 21) intersecting the transport direction. Each wiper 61 is conveyed. Then, while the wiper transport mechanism 64 transports each wiper 61, the wiper 61 located at the contact position moves along the longitudinal direction of the line head 21 while contacting the contacted portion of the line head 21. . Thereby, the ink adhering to the contacted part is wiped off by the wiper 61.

  The wiper transport mechanism 64 has a position outside the cap 51 in the intersecting direction (a position of the wiper holder 62 shown by a solid line in FIG. 5) and an intermediate position between the cap 51 and the roll paper S ( In FIG. 5, the wiper holder 62 is moved between the wiper holder 62 and the position of the wiper holder 62 indicated by a broken line.

  Further, the wiper transporting operation (in other words, the wiping operation) by the wiper transporting mechanism 64 is such that the line head 21 that is the target of the wiping operation is located at the aforementioned non-opposing position, and the cap 51 corresponding to the line head 21 is This is performed while being separated from the line head 21. That is, the wiper transport operation is performed during a period in which the line head 21 in the resting state is waiting at the non-opposing position. More specifically, after the suction operation is performed on the line head 21 in the resting state during the above period, the cap 51 that has been in contact with the nozzle surface 21a of the line head 21 descends and the nozzle surface After separating from 21a, the wiper transport operation is performed.

<< Wipe operation by wipe unit 60 >>
Next, the ink wiping operation by the wiping unit 60 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 9A to 10D. FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating a process until the wiping operation is performed, and FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating a flow of the wiping operation. 10A to 10D are diagrams showing a state in which the wiping operation proceeds. In the following, in order to make the explanation easy to understand, a case where the wiping operation is performed with the cyan head 21C as a wiping target will be described as a specific example.

  When executing the wiping operation, the cyan head 21C moves to the non-opposing position and stands by at the non-opposing position (S001). Further, before the wiping operation is performed, as described above, the maintenance unit 50 performs a suction operation on the cyan head 21C (S002).

  When the suction operation is completed, the cap 51 that has been in contact with the nozzle surface 21a of the cyan head 21C is lowered and separated from the nozzle surface 21a. At this time, the wiper holding body 62 is located at a position outside the cap 51 (a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 5) in the crossing direction that intersects the transport direction. Of the plurality of wipers 61 attached to the outer peripheral surface of the wiper holding body 62, the wiper 61K corresponding to the black head 21K is located at the contact position. That is, in the initial state (the state before the wiping operation), as shown in FIG. 10A, the wiper mounting surface 62b to which the wiper 61K that contacts the nozzle surface 21a of the black head 21K is mounted is positioned on the uppermost side. It is horizontal.

  Thereafter, the controller 70 performs a wiping operation on the line head 21 on which the suction operation has been performed (that is, the cyan head 21C) (S003). When executing the wiping operation, the controller 70 first controls the switching mechanism 63 to cause the switching mechanism 63 to rotate the wiper holder 62. The wiper 61 located at the contact position is switched by the rotation of the wiper holding body 62 (S011). At this time, the controller 70 causes the switching mechanism 63 to rotate the wiper holding body 62 until the wiper 61C corresponding to the cyan head 21C is positioned at the contact position. More specifically, the controller 70 knows which line head 21 of the plurality of line heads 21 is subjected to the suction operation, and the line head 21 that has performed the suction operation. The wiper 61 that contacts the nozzle surface 21 a is selected, and the rotation amount of the wiper holding body 62 is controlled so that the wiper 61 is positioned at the contact position in the rotation direction of the wiper holding body 62.

  When the wiper 61C that contacts the nozzle surface 21a of the cyan head 21C comes to the contact position, the controller 70 executes a wiper transport operation by the wiper transport mechanism 64 as shown in FIG. 10B (S012). As a result, the wiper holder 62 and the wipers 61 positioned at positions outside the cap 51 in the intersecting direction pass below the cyan head 21C, and the intermediate between the cap 51 and the roll paper S in the intersecting direction. It moves to a position (position indicated by a broken line in FIG. 5). At this time, the wiper 61 located at the contact position, that is, the wiper 61C in contact with the nozzle surface 21a of the cyan head 21C moves while contacting the nozzle surface 21a of the cyan head 21C. As a result, the ink attached to the nozzle surface 21a of the cyan head 21C is wiped off by the wiper 61C.

  Note that immediately before the wiper 61C moves from the longitudinal end of the nozzle surface 21a of the cyan head 21C to the other longitudinal end and reaches the other longitudinal end, the controller 70, as shown in FIG. The wiper holding body 62 is rotated by the switching mechanism 63 so that the wiper 61C is tilted rearward (one end side in the longitudinal direction of the cyan head 21C). Thereby, when the wiper 61C passes the other longitudinal end of the nozzle surface 21a, it is possible to suppress the ink wiped off by the wiper 61C from being scattered.

  Through the above steps, first, the wiping of the ink attached to the nozzle surface 21a of the cyan head 21C is completed (S013). Thereafter, the controller 70 causes the switching mechanism 63 to rotate the wiper holding body 62 while the wiper holding body 62 and each wiper 61 are located at an intermediate position between the cap 51 and the roll paper S in the crossing direction. As a result, the wiper 61 positioned at the contact position is further switched (S014). At this time, the controller 70 causes the switching mechanism 63 to rotate the wiper holding body 62 so that the wiper 61H that contacts the short side cover surface 21b of the line head 21 is positioned at the contact position.

  When the wiper 61H that contacts the short side cover surface 21b is positioned at the contact position, the controller 70 positions the wiper holder 62 and each wiper 61 at the initial state (from the cap 51). The wiper transport operation is executed so as to be returned to the outer position (S015). At this time, as shown in FIG. 10D, the wiper 61H located at the abutting position moves while abutting against the two short side cover surfaces 21b of the cyan head 21C. Thereby, the ink adhering to the short side cover surface 21b of the cyan head 21C is wiped off.

  Then, when the wiper holder 62 and each wiper 61 are returned to the positions where they were located in the initial state, the wiping of the ink attached to the short side cover surface 21b of the cyan head 21C is completed (S016). Thereafter, the controller 70 causes the switching mechanism 63 to rotate the wiper holder 62 to switch the wiper 61 located at the contact position to the wiper 61K that contacts the nozzle surface 21a of the black head 21K (that is, returns to the initial state). (S017). When the series of steps described above are completed, the wiping operation for the cyan head 21C is completed.

=== Effectiveness of Printer 10 of this Embodiment ===
As described above, the printer 10 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of wipers 61, a wiper holder 62 having the plurality of wipers 61 attached to the outer peripheral surface, and a contact position by rotating the wiper holder 62. A switching mechanism 63 for switching the wiper 61 located in the position. Further, the ink wiping method in the present embodiment is to wipe any ink adhering to the line head 21 by bringing any of the plurality of wipers 61 into contact with the line head 21, and rotating the wiper holder 62. And switching the wiper 61 located at the contact position, and wiping off ink adhering to the line head 21 by the wiper 61 located at the contact position.

  As a result, in the present embodiment, the wiper 61 that contacts the line head 21 can be switched by a simplified mechanism. Specifically, as described in the section of the problem to be solved by the invention, as a configuration for switching the wiper 61 to be in contact with the line head 21, for example, a contact position in contact with the line head 21 and A configuration in which a driving mechanism for moving the wiper 61 between the non-contacting position and the non-contacting position is provided for each wiper 61 can be considered. However, with such a configuration, the number of parts increases, leading to an increase in size and cost of the printer 10.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the attachment position (wiper attachment surface 62 b) of at least one wiper 61 among the plurality of wipers 61 on the outer peripheral surface of the wiper holder 62 is the rotational direction of the wiper holder 62. The attachment position (wiper attachment surface 62b) of the other wiper 61 is different. Then, by rotating the wiper holding body 62, the wiper 61 located at the contact position can be switched. That is, the configuration according to the present embodiment is more simplified as a configuration for switching the wiper 61 to be brought into contact with the line head 21. As a result, an increase in size and cost of the printer 10 can be avoided.

  In the present embodiment, the wiper 61 (first wiping member) that contacts the nozzle surface 21 a of the line head 21 and wipes off the ink attached to the nozzle surface 21 a is provided for each line head 21. Each wiper 61 provided for each line head 21 is in contact with the nozzle surface 21a of the line head 21 corresponding to each wiper 61. As a result, it is possible to prevent a phenomenon in which inks are mixed on the nozzle surface 21a (color mixing phenomenon) when inks adhering to different line heads 21 (inks having different colors) are wiped with the same wiper 61. .

  Further, in the present embodiment, after the maintenance unit 50 performs the suction operation on the line head 21 in the dormant state, among the plurality of wipers 61, the wiper 61 to which the line head 21 on which the suction operation has been performed corresponds. The controller 70 causes the switching mechanism 63 to rotate the wiper holder 62 so as to be positioned at the contact position. As a result, as a post-process after the suction operation, it is possible to reliably wipe off ink adhering to the line head 21 on which the suction operation has been performed. That is, it becomes possible to reliably remove the unsucked ink remaining in the vicinity of the opening of the nozzle Nz without being properly sucked during the sucking operation. As a result, the line head 21 on which the suction operation has been performed can appropriately perform ink ejection when the line head 21 again enters an operating state (a state in which ink ejection is performed).

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, in addition to the wipers 61K, 61C, 61M, and 61K that come into contact with the nozzle surface 21a of the line head 21 and wipe off the ink attached to the nozzle surface 21a, the short side cover surface 21b of the line head 21 And a wiper 61H that wipes off ink adhering to the short side cover surface 21b. If the ink adhering to the short side cover surface 21b is left unattended, the ink may spill onto the roll paper S when the line head 21 is positioned on the roll paper S. For this reason, in this embodiment, it is possible to wipe up even the ink adhering to the short side cover surface 21b and prevent the roll paper S from being stained by the ink.

  And the attachment position (wiper attachment surface 62b) of the wipers 61K, 61C, 61M, 61K that contact the nozzle surface 21a of the line head 21 and the attachment position of the wiper 61H that contacts the short side cover surface 21b of the line head 21. The (wiper mounting surface 62b) is different from each other in the rotation direction of the wiper holder 62. As a result, by rotating the wiper holder 62, the wipers 61K, 61C, 61M, 61K that come into contact with the nozzle surface 21a of the line head 21 and the wiper 61H that comes into contact with the short side cover surface 21b of the line head 21 Can be switched by a more simplified mechanism.

=== Modification of Wiping Unit 60 ===
In the above description, an example of the configuration of the wiping unit 60 has been described. However, the configuration of the wiping unit 60 is not limited to the above configuration, and other configurations are also conceivable. Hereinafter, another example regarding the configuration of the wiping unit 60 will be described.

  In the above embodiment, the wiper holder 62 has a substantially regular pentagonal cross section. That is, the outer peripheral surface of the wiper holding body 62 is constituted by five wiper mounting surfaces 62b. Such a configuration shows an example of the shape of the wiper holding body 62. As another example, a wiper holding body 62 having a circular cross section and a wiper holding body 62 having a polygonal cross section different from a regular pentagon are also conceivable. It is done. In particular, in the case of the wiper holder 62 having a more polygonal (for example, regular octagonal) cross section, the wiper holder 62 is attached to each wiper 61 in the rotational direction and attached to each wiper attachment surface 62b. Variations can be diversified with respect to the number and shape of the wipers 61.

  Further, in the above embodiment, each of the four wipers 61K, 61C, 61M, 61Y contacting the nozzle surface 21a of the line head 21 is attached to a different wiper attachment surface 62b, and the short side of the line head 21 Four wipers 61H that come into contact with the cover surface 21b are attached to wiper attachment surfaces 62b other than the wiper attachment surface 62b to which the wipers 61K, 61C, 61M, and 61Y that make contact with the nozzle surface 21a of the line head 21 are attached. It was decided. This configuration shows an example of the positional relationship between the attachment positions of each wiper 61, and at least one attachment position of the plurality of wipers 61 is attached to the other wiper 61 in the rotation direction of the wiper holder 62. Other positional relationships may be used as long as they are different from the positions.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 11, among a plurality of wipers 61, a wiper 61C that contacts the nozzle surface 21a of the cyan head 21C, a wiper 61M that contacts the nozzle surface 21a of the magenta head 21M, and the nozzle surface 21a of the yellow head 21Y. The wiper 61 </ b> Y that comes into contact with may be attached to the same wiper attachment surface 62 b. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another example of the positional relationship between the attachment positions of the wipers 61. On the other hand, a configuration in which the attachment position of the wiper 61 is different for each wiper 61 in the rotation direction of the wiper holder 62 is also conceivable. That is, each of the plurality of wipers 61 may be attached to different portions on the outer peripheral surface of the wiper holding body 62 in the rotational direction. In such a case, variations in the switching pattern of the wiper 61 brought into contact with the line head 21 increase.

  In the above embodiment, each wiper 61 attached to the outer peripheral surface of the wiper holding body 62 is always fixed to the outer peripheral surface. Such a configuration shows an example of an attachment form of each wiper 61. As another example, a configuration in which each wiper 61 is detachably attached to the outer peripheral surface is also conceivable. Specifically, the wiper 61 is placed at a position away from the outer peripheral surface of the wiper holder 62 in the initial state, and is attached to a predetermined position on the outer peripheral surface by an unillustrated attachment mechanism when performing the wiping operation. It is good also as removing from the said outer peripheral surface after completion | finish of wiping off, and returning to the original position.

=== Other Embodiments ===
As described above, the fluid ejecting apparatus, the fluid wiping method, and the wiping apparatus according to the present invention have been described based on the above-described embodiments. However, the above-described embodiments are for facilitating the understanding of the present invention. There is no limitation to the present invention. The present invention can be changed and improved without departing from the gist thereof, and the present invention includes the equivalents thereof.

  In the above embodiment, the head unit 20 has the long line head 21 for each ink color. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, it may be a head unit 20 in which a plurality of heads 22 are arranged in a staggered manner. FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the periphery of the head unit 20 according to a modification. Here, each head 22 according to the modified example has nozzles Nz for four colors of YMCK unlike the line head 21 according to the above embodiment, and the number of nozzles is also smaller than that of the line head 21. The present invention can also be embodied in the printer 10 having such a configuration.

  Specifically, in the configuration illustrated in FIG. 12, a plurality of wipers 61 are provided, and each wiper 61 abuts against each of the wipers 61 and the head 22 located at substantially the same position in the transport direction. For example, the wiper 61 located on the most upstream side in the transport direction comes into contact with the head 22 marked with # 1 and the head 22 marked with # 2 in FIG. The plurality of wipers 61 are attached to the outer peripheral surface of the wiper holder 62, and the attachment positions of the wipers 61 are different among the wipers 61 in the rotation direction of the wiper holder 62. Thereby, when the wiper holding body 62 is rotated, the wiper 61 that contacts the head 22 is switched.

  In the above-described embodiment, the printer 10 is described in which the line head 21 in a fixed state (stationary state) ejects ink to print an image. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as another example, as shown in FIG. 13A, a printer including a head 24 that ejects ink while moving in a crossing direction crossing the transporting direction by the movement of the carriage 23. 10 (so-called serial printer) can be considered. As shown in FIG. 13B, the head 24 provided in the printer 10 has a plurality of nozzles Nz (nozzle rows) arranged in a line along the transport direction for each ink color. Further, as shown in FIG. 13A, the wiping unit 60 has four wipers 61 that contact the nozzle surface 24a of the head 24 for each nozzle row. Each of the four wipers 61 comes into contact with a portion where the nozzle row corresponding to each of the four wipers 61 is formed, and wipes off ink adhering to the portion. Further, when the wiping operation is executed, the wiper holder 62 and each wiper 61 are moved along the transport direction by the wiper transport mechanism 64. The present invention can also be embodied in the printer 10 configured as described above. FIG. 13A is a peripheral view of the head 24 that ejects ink while moving in the intersecting direction, and is a view as seen from the upstream side in the transport direction. FIG. 13B is a diagram showing the arrangement of the nozzles Nz on the nozzle surface 24 a of the head 24.

  In the above-described embodiment, the printer 10 that prints an image on the roll paper S has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a medium on which an image is printed may be a cut sheet (cut sheet paper) or the like. This type of medium may be used. That is, the present invention can be embodied in the printer 10 that prints an image on a medium other than the roll paper S.

  In the above embodiment, the printer 10 that ejects ink is described as an example of the fluid ejecting apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Injects liquids other than ink (in addition to liquids, including liquids in which functional material particles are dispersed, liquids such as gels) and fluids other than liquids (solids that can be jetted as fluids) It can also be embodied in a fluid ejecting apparatus that discharges or discharges. For example, a fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid containing a 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 in a dispersed or dissolved state, and a biochip. It may be a fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects bioorganic matter to be used, or a fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid 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. A fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid onto a substrate, a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects an etching solution such as acid or alkali to etch the substrate, a fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects a gel, a solid such as a powder such as toner A fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects may be used. The present invention can be applied to any one of these fluid ejecting apparatuses.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printer. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an internal configuration of a printer (No. 1). FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an internal configuration of a printer (No. 2). FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement of nozzles Nz formed in each line head 21. FIG. 3 is a diagram of the internal configuration of the printer 10 as viewed from the upstream side in the transport direction. 2 is an external view of a wiping unit 60. FIG. FIG. 6 is a view showing a cross section of a wiper holder 62. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which each wiper 61H is in contact with a short side cover surface 21b of the line head 21. FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating a process until a wiping operation is performed. FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating a flow of a wiping operation. 10A to 10D are diagrams showing a state in which the wiping operation proceeds. It is a figure which shows the other example about the positional relationship between the attachment position of each wiper. FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the periphery of a head unit 20 according to a modification. FIG. 13A is a peripheral view of the head 24 that ejects ink while moving in the intersecting direction. FIG. 13B is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of the nozzles Nz in the head 24.

Explanation of symbols

10 printers, 20 head units,
21 line head, 21K black head, 21C cyan head,
21M magenta head, 21Y yellow head,
21a Nozzle surface, 21b Short side cover surface, 22 heads,
23 Carriage, 24 head, 24a Nozzle surface,
30 transport unit, 31 paper feed roller, 32 paper discharge roller, 33 platen,
40 head drive unit, 50 maintenance unit,
51 cap, 52 suction pump, 60 wiping unit,
61, 61K, 61C, 61M, 61Y, 61H Wiper, 61a Notch,
61b boundary surface, 62 wiper holder, 62a rotating shaft, 62b wiper mounting surface,
63 switching mechanism, 63a motor, 63b transmission unit, 64 wiper transport mechanism,
70 controller, 71 interface (I / F), 72 CPU,
73 memory, 74 unit control circuit, 80 detector group,
110 Host computer, Nz nozzle, S roll paper

Claims (7)

A head for ejecting fluid;
A plurality of wiping members that abut against the head and wipe off the fluid adhering to the head;
The wiping member is attached to an outer peripheral surface, and is a rotating body that is rotatably supported,
A rotating body in which the mounting position of at least one wiping member among the plurality of wiping members on the outer peripheral surface is different from the mounting position of the other wiping members in the rotation direction of the rotating body;
A switching mechanism that switches the wiping member positioned in the rotation direction to a contact position that contacts the head by rotating the rotating body;
A fluid ejecting apparatus comprising: The fluid ejection device according to claim 1,
The fluid ejecting apparatus, wherein the attachment position of the wiping member on the outer peripheral surface is different for each wiping member in the rotation direction. The fluid ejection device according to claim 1 or 2,
A plurality of the heads are provided for each color of fluid ejected by the heads,
Each of the plurality of wiping members is in contact with the head corresponding to each of the plurality of heads. The fluid ejection device according to claim 3, wherein
Each of the plurality of heads includes a nozzle, and ejects fluid from the nozzle.
A suction mechanism that performs a suction operation of sucking fluid from the nozzle to the head;
A controller for controlling the switching mechanism,
The controller is
After the suction mechanism performs the suction operation, among the plurality of wiping members, the switching mechanism is configured so that the wiping member corresponding to the head on which the suction operation has been performed is positioned at the contact position. The fluid ejecting apparatus, wherein the rotating body is rotated. The fluid ejection device according to claim 1,
The head includes a nozzle surface on which a nozzle is formed and an intersecting surface intersecting the nozzle surface, and ejects fluid from the nozzle.
The plurality of wiping members are
A first wiping member that contacts the nozzle surface and wipes off the fluid adhering to the nozzle surface;
A second wiping member that contacts the intersecting surface and wipes off the fluid adhering to the intersecting surface,
The fluid ejecting apparatus, wherein the attachment position of the first wiping member is different from the attachment position of the second wiping member in the rotation direction. A fluid wiping method in which any one of a plurality of wiping members is brought into contact with the head and the fluid adhering to the head is wiped off.
The wiping member is attached to an outer peripheral surface, and is a rotating body that is rotatably supported,
By rotating a rotating body in which the mounting position of at least one wiping member among the plurality of wiping members on the outer peripheral surface is different from the mounting position of the other wiping member in the rotation direction of the rotating body, the head is rotated. Switching the wiping member located in the rotational direction to a contact position that contacts with
Wiping off the fluid adhering to the head by the wiping member located at the contact position;
A fluid wiping method characterized by comprising: A plurality of wiping members that come into contact with the head that ejects the fluid and wipe off the fluid adhering to the head;
The wiping member is attached to an outer peripheral surface, and is a rotating body that is rotatably supported,
A rotating body in which the mounting position of at least one wiping member among the plurality of wiping members on the outer peripheral surface is different from the mounting position of the remaining wiping members in the rotation direction of the rotating body;
A switching mechanism that switches the wiping member positioned in the rotation direction to a contact position that contacts the head by rotating the rotating body;
A wiping device comprising: