JP2010143186A - Liquid discharge device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid discharge device having a recovery mechanism structured so as to easily prevent contamination on a discharge surface by reducing residual ink even when a target structure has step portions. <P>SOLUTION: In the liquid discharge device wherein a protective cover member 150 is provided on the nozzle discharge surface 34n of a liquid discharge head having a nozzle discharging droplets, the performance recovery mechanism 81 of the liquid discharge head is provided with a first ink removal means 160 capable of ink removal for the entire area of the ink discharge surface 34n and a second removal means 161 capable of ink removal for the inside periphery portion of the opening of the head discharge surface cover member. The first and second ink removal means set their wiping directions in the same direction or in the straight direction with respect to the ink discharge surface 34n. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid discharge apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a configuration for wiping and cleaning the surface of a droplet discharge nozzle.

  As is well known, a printer, a facsimile, a copying apparatus, and an image forming apparatus having a combination of these functions are referred to as an inkjet printer having a recording head composed of a liquid ejection head that ejects liquid droplets such as ink. A configuration using a liquid ejecting apparatus is known.

In a liquid ejection apparatus, an image is formed by adhering or penetrating droplets ejected from a recording head while conveying a recording medium such as recording paper.
The target of the recording medium includes not only the recording paper described above but also a material capable of adhering or penetrating liquids such as fibers such as intention, leather and metal, resin, glass, wood and ceramics.

In the liquid ejection device, a part of the wall of the liquid chamber filled with ink is vibrated and displaced by a piezoelectric actuator or the like to increase the pressure in the liquid chamber and discharge the ink, or a heating element that generates heat by energizing the liquid chamber There is a method in which the pressure in the liquid chamber is increased by bubbles generated by the heat generated by the heating element, and ink is ejected.
A droplet discharge head that discharges ink is mounted on a carriage. The carriage is serially scanned in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording medium, and the recording medium is intermittently conveyed according to the recording width. Then, an image is formed on the recording medium by alternately repeating conveyance and recording (that is, droplet discharge).

  In an image forming apparatus provided with a liquid discharge device, it is important to maintain and recover the performance of the liquid discharge head in order to stabilize the ink discharge operation from the droplet discharge head. That is, it is desired to maintain a state in which residual ink is not adhered to the liquid discharge surface of the droplet discharge head, that is, the nozzle surface, due to the degree of dry solidification or adhesion, so that the liquid discharge is not hindered. .

Therefore, an apparatus for maintaining and recovering the ink ejection function to a normal state has been proposed.
The functions used for maintenance and recovery in the maintenance and recovery device include cap function that covers the nozzle surface with a moisturizing cap that has a high sealing property to suppress ink evaporation, and ejection by bubbles generated in the nozzle hole. There are a discharge recovery function that discharges defects by filling and feeding a recording liquid, and a wiping function that wipes off residual ink that adheres to the nozzle surface and causes the droplet flight state to change.
By the way, if the ink remains on the ejection surface of the droplet ejection head after the wiping operation, the water in the ink evaporates with time and the viscosity increases. As a result, in the next ejection surface wiping operation, removal by wiping becomes difficult, and ink removal efficiency decreases.

Therefore, conventionally, the following configuration has been proposed as a configuration for preventing ink from remaining due to such a decrease in removal efficiency.
For the configuration where a protective cover is provided to protect the discharge surface against the droplet discharge surface and to suppress burr at the time of processing, the blade used for wiping has an outer edge at the inner periphery of the opening of the protective cover. That is, a slit is provided to separate the portion that rides on the protective cover, and the wiping property at the stepped portion is improved (for example, Patent Document 1), a fine slit is provided at the tip of the wiping member, and the capillary tube at this portion There is a configuration (for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3) in which ink is adsorbed using a phenomenon.

JP 2005-67028 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-23999 JP 05-104734 A

However, in the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, streaky ink residue may be generated due to ink wiping remaining between the slits.
Further, in the configurations disclosed in Patent Documents 2 and 2, not only the processing of the adsorbed ink is required, but if the processing is not properly performed, the saturated ink is reversely transferred to the ejection surface and the ink is discharged. May remain.

  On the other hand, when a configuration in which a protective cover member is provided on the discharge surface as disclosed in Patent Document 1 is targeted, a step is generated at the boundary between the droplet discharge surface and the protective cover member. In this case, the ink that is wiped off and attached to the blade may be scraped off.

  The ink thus scraped off increases in viscosity as the evaporation of water progresses over time, and contaminates the nozzle surface due to sliding by the blade during the next droplet discharge surface wiping operation. For this reason, in a configuration where a member having a step, such as a protective cover member, is provided on the droplet discharge surface, it is currently impossible to reliably remove ink.

  The object of the present invention is to discharge with less ink remaining even in the case of a configuration having a stepped portion in view of the problems in the above-described conventional droplet discharge device, in particular, the ink removal on the discharge surface having the stepped portion. An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid droplet ejection apparatus and an image forming apparatus having a recovery mechanism having a configuration capable of easily preventing surface contamination.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises the following arrangement.
(1) In order to protect a part of the ink ejection surface, a liquid ejection head that ejects droplets from the nozzle, means for wiping the ink ejection surface of the liquid ejection head to remove ink from the ink ejection surface, and A liquid discharge apparatus including a head discharge surface cover member having an opening that exposes the ink discharge portion.
A head performance recovery mechanism for wiping the ink discharge surface is provided,
The head performance recovery mechanism includes a first ink removing unit capable of removing ink for the entire area of the ink ejection surface and a second ink capable of removing ink for the inner periphery of the opening of the head ejection surface cover member. Removing means,
The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second ink removing means have a wiping direction set in a direction perpendicular to the ink ejection surface.

(2) In order to protect a part of the ink ejection surface, a liquid ejection head that ejects liquid droplets from the nozzle, means for wiping the ink ejection surface of the liquid ejection head to remove ink from the ink ejection surface, and A liquid discharge apparatus including a head discharge surface cover member having an opening that exposes the ink discharge portion.
A head performance recovery mechanism for wiping the ink discharge surface is provided,
The head performance recovery mechanism includes a first ink removing unit capable of removing ink for the entire area of the ink ejection surface and a second ink capable of removing ink for the inner periphery of the opening of the head ejection surface cover member. Removing means,
In the first and second ink removing means, a wiping direction is set in the same direction with respect to the ink discharge surface, and the wiping direction is a longitudinal direction or a short direction of the head discharge surface. Liquid ejection device.

(3) The wiping direction of the first ink removing unit is a short direction of the ink ejection surface, and the wiping direction of the second ink removing unit is a longitudinal direction of the ink ejection surface. The liquid ejection device according to (1) or (2).

(4) The wiping direction of the first ink removing unit is a longitudinal direction of the ink ejection surface, and the wiping direction of the second ink removing unit is a lateral direction of the ink ejection surface. The liquid ejection device according to (1) or (2).

(5) The first ink removing unit has a function of removing ink by wiping the ink discharge portion, and the second ink removing unit removes ink from the inner periphery of the opening of the head discharge surface cover member. The liquid ejection device according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the liquid ejection device has a function of absorbing.

(6) The liquid ejecting apparatus according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the wiping operation by the second ink removing unit is performed after the wiping operation by the first ink removing unit.

(7) The liquid ejecting apparatus according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the wiping operation by the second ink removing unit is performed after the wiping operation by the second ink removing unit.

(8) An image forming apparatus using the liquid ejection device according to any one of (1) to (7).

  According to the present invention, the first and second ink removing means are provided, and one of these ink removing means can be dedicated to removing the ink remaining in the stepped portion, so that the ink remaining in the stepped portion can be efficiently used. It can be removed well to leave almost no wiping residue.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view of an image forming apparatus using a night liquid ejecting apparatus according to the present invention.
The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 has an apparatus main body 1, a paper feed tray 2 for loading paper mounted on the apparatus main body 1, and a detachably mounted on the apparatus main body 1 to record images ( And a paper discharge tray 3 for stocking the formed paper.
Further, a cartridge loading for loading an ink cartridge that protrudes from the front surface to the front side of the apparatus main body 1 and is lower than the upper surface is provided at one end side of the front surface of the apparatus main body 1 (side of the paper supply / discharge tray section). The cartridge loading unit 4 has an operation / display unit 5 provided with operation buttons and a display.

  The cartridge loading unit 4 includes a plurality of ink cartridges 10k each containing inks of different color materials, such as black (K) ink, cyan (C) ink, magenta (M) ink, and yellow (Y) ink. 10c, 10m, and 10y (referred to as “ink cartridge 10” when colors are not distinguished) can be inserted and loaded from the front side of the apparatus main body 1 toward the rear side. Has a front cover (cartridge cover) 6 that can be opened and closed when the ink cartridge 10 is attached and detached.

Next, the mechanism part of this liquid discharge apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 is a schematic side view illustrating the outline of the mechanism, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory plan view of the main part.
In FIG. 3, a carriage 33 is slidably held in a main scanning direction by a guide rod 31 which is a guide member horizontally mounted on the left and right side plates 21A and 21B and a stay 32, and a timing belt is interposed by a main scanning motor (not shown). In FIG. 3, the scanning is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow (carriage main scanning direction).

  On the carriage 33, droplet discharge heads 34a and 34b for discharging ink droplets of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (K) colors (if not distinguished, “droplet discharge” The head 34 "is arranged in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction, and the ink droplet ejection direction is directed downward.

  In FIG. 2, each of the droplet discharge heads 34 has two nozzle rows. One nozzle row of the droplet discharge head 34a is black (K) droplets, and the other nozzle row is cyan (C). One nozzle row of the droplet discharge head 34b can discharge a magenta (M) droplet, and the other nozzle row can discharge a yellow (Y) droplet. It is also possible to eject ink droplets of the same color from the nozzles.

  As an inkjet head constituting the droplet discharge head 34, a piezoelectric actuator such as a piezoelectric element, a thermal actuator that utilizes a phase change caused by liquid film boiling using an electrothermal transducer such as a heating resistor, a metal phase caused by a temperature change, and the like. A shape memory alloy actuator using a change, an electrostatic actuator using an electrostatic force, or the like provided as pressure generating means for generating a pressure for discharging a droplet can be used.

  The carriage 33 is also provided with head tanks 35a and 35b (not distinguished from each other) as liquid storage containers constituted by the liquid containers according to the present invention for supplying ink of each color corresponding to the nozzle rows of the droplet discharge heads 34. Is equipped with a "head tank 35". As described above, the head tank 35 is supplied with ink of each color from the ink cartridge 10 of each color mounted in the cartridge loading unit 4 via the ink supply tube 36 of each color. The cartridge loading 4 is provided with a supply pump unit 24 for feeding ink in the ink cartridge 10.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the sheets 42 are separated one by one from the sheet stacking section 41 as a sheet feeding section for feeding the sheets 42 stacked on the sheet stacking section (pressure plate) 41 of the sheet feeding tray 2. A half paddle (feeding roller) 43 to be fed and a separation pad 44 made of a material having a large friction coefficient are provided opposite to the feeding roller 43, and this separation pad 44 is urged toward the feeding roller 43 side.

  A guide member 45 for guiding the paper 42, a counter roller 46, a transport guide member 47, and a tip pressure roller 49 for feeding the paper 42 fed from the paper feed unit to the lower side of the droplet discharge head 34. And a holding belt 48 which is a conveying means for electrostatically attracting the fed paper 42 and conveying it at a position facing the droplet discharge head 34.

  The transport belt 51 is an endless belt, and is configured to wrap around the transport roller 52 and the tension roller 53 and circulate in the belt transport direction (sub-scanning direction). Further, a charging roller 56 that is a charging unit for charging the surface of the transport belt 51 is provided. The charging roller 56 is disposed so as to come into contact with the surface layer of the transport belt 51 and to rotate following the rotation of the transport belt 51. The transport belt 51 rotates in the belt transport direction of FIG. 3 when the transport roller 52 is rotationally driven through timing by a sub-scanning motor (not shown).

  As a paper discharge unit for discharging the paper 42 recorded by the droplet discharge head 34, a separation claw 27 for separating the paper 42 from the conveying belt 51, a paper discharge roller 28, and a paper discharge roller 29 are provided. The paper discharge tray 3 is provided below the paper discharge roller 28.

  A duplex unit 38 is detachably mounted on the back surface of the apparatus body 1. The duplex unit 38 takes in the paper 42 returned by the reverse rotation of the conveyance belt 51, reverses it, and feeds it again between the counter roller 46 and the conveyance belt 51. The upper surface of the duplex unit 38 is a manual feed tray 39.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 used as a characteristic part of the present invention to be described later is provided in a non-printing area on one side of the carriage 33 in the scanning direction.

  The droplet discharge head 34 (see FIG. 2) used in the present embodiment uses a thermal method. That is, although not shown in detail, the droplet discharge head 34 (34a or 34b) includes a heating element substrate and a liquid chamber forming member, and discharges ink supplied from a flow path formed in the head fixing member. Can do.

The droplet discharge head 34 (34a or 34b) is a thermal type that obtains discharge pressure by boiling the ink film by driving the heating element, and ink for the discharge energy acting part (heating element part) in the liquid chamber 343. Of the side shooter system in which the flow direction of the nozzle and the central axis of the opening of the nozzle 344 are perpendicular to each other.
As the droplet discharge head 34 (34a or 34b), there are various methods such as a method in which a diaphragm is deformed using a piezoelectric element, and a diaphragm is deformed by an electrostatic force to obtain a discharge pressure. However, the thermal head method has an advantage that the nozzle density can be easily increased.

  Among other thermal head methods, there is an edge shooter method with different ejection directions, but this edge shooter method has a problem of so-called cavitation phenomenon that gradually destroys the heating element due to the impact when bubbles disappear. is there. In the side shooter method, bubbles grow, and when the bubbles reach the nozzle 344, the bubbles are brought into the atmosphere, and the bubbles do not contract due to a temperature drop. Therefore, there is an advantage that the life of the recording head is long. Further, there is a structural advantage that the energy from the heating element 342 can be more efficiently converted into the formation of ink droplets and the kinetic energy of the flight, and the meniscus can be quickly returned by supplying ink. Therefore, the side shooter system is adopted in this apparatus.

The maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 described above is a mechanism used to maintain the nozzle surface in a state in which the ink discharge operation from the droplet discharge head 34 is stabilized.
The maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 includes cap members (hereinafter referred to as “caps”) 82a and 82b (hereinafter referred to as “caps 82” when not distinguished) for capping each nozzle surface of the droplet discharge head 34, and nozzles. A wiper blade 83, which is a blade member for wiping the surface, and an empty discharge receiver 84 for receiving droplets when performing an empty discharge for discharging droplets that do not contribute to recording in order to discharge thickened ink, and the like. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the non-printing area on the other side in the scanning direction of the carriage 33, the liquid used when performing the idle ejection for ejecting the liquid droplets that do not contribute to the recording in order to discharge the ink that has been thickened during the recording or the like. An empty discharge receiver 84 for receiving droplets is disposed, and the empty discharge receiver 84 is provided with an opening along the nozzle row direction of the droplet discharge head 34.

  The details of the maintenance / recovery mechanism indicated by reference numeral 81 in FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining the configuration of the maintenance / recovery mechanism 81, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory side view of a wiping mechanism for wiping the ejection surface of the recording head 34. As shown in FIG.

  In the maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 in FIG. 4, as described above, the cap holder 112 including the holding mechanism for holding the suction and moisturizing cap 82a and the moisturizing cap 82b, and the nozzle surface 34n of the recording head 34 are cleaned ( A blade holder 113 that holds a wiper blade 83 that is a blade made of an elastic body for wiping off, and a blank discharge receiver for performing a blank discharge operation (preliminary discharge operation) for discharging droplets that do not contribute to printing from the recording head 34. 84 is arranged.

  Here, a tubing pump (suction pump) 120, which is a suction means, is connected to the suction and moisture retention cap 82a closest to the print area via a flexible tube 119. Therefore, when performing the maintenance recovery operation of the recording head 34, the recording head 34 performing the recovery operation is selectively moved to a position where it can be capped by the cap 82a.

A cam shaft 121 rotatably supported by a frame is disposed below these cap holders 112, and a cap cam 122 for raising and lowering the cap holder 112 and a blade holder 113 are raised and lowered on the cam shaft 121. A wiper cam 124 is provided.
In order to rotationally drive the tubing pump 120 and the camshaft 121, the motor gear 132 provided on the motor shaft 131a rotates with the motor 131 and the pump gear 133 provided on the pump shaft 120a of the tubing pump 120 is meshed. An intermediate gear 136 with a one-way clutch 137 is engaged with an intermediate gear 134 integral with 133 via an intermediate gear 135, and the intermediate gear 138 coaxial with the intermediate gear 136 is fixed to the camshaft 121 via the intermediate gear 139. The cam gear 140 is engaged.

  In the maintenance / recovery mechanism 81, when the motor 131 is rotated forward, the motor gear 132, the intermediate gear 134, the pump gear 133, the intermediate gears 135 and 136 are rotated, and the shaft 120a of the tubing pump 120 is rotated, whereby the tubing pump 120 is rotated. Is activated to suck the inside of the suction cap 82a (this operation is referred to as “in-cap suction” or “head suction”). Since the other gears 138 and thereafter are blocked by the one-way clutch 137, they do not rotate (activate).

  Further, since the one-way clutch 137 is connected by the reverse rotation of the motor 131, the rotation of the motor 131 is transferred to the cam gear 140 through the motor gear 132, the intermediate gear 134, the pump gear 133, the intermediate gears 135, 136, 138, and 139. As a result, the camshaft 121 rotates. At this time, the tubing pump 120 has a structure that does not operate when the pump shaft 120a is reversed.

  5 indicates a mechanism 86 for cleaning the ink attached to the wiper blade 83. The cleaner roller 181 for removing the ink attached to the blade 83, the cleaner roller holder 182 for holding the cleaner roller 181; A cleaner pressure plate 188 that transmits the movement of the cleaner cam 128 to the cleaner cam holder 182 is configured to rotate around a fulcrum 184.

  The ink sucked by the suction pump 120 by the maintenance / recovery operation of the maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 as described above, or the ink that adheres to the wiper blade 83 and is removed from the wiper blade 83 by the wiper cleaner 181 becomes waste ink. Not discharged into the waste liquid storage tank.

Next, an example of the wiping operation of the conventional maintenance / recovery mechanism in the maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, in FIG. 6, with the recording head 34 that performs the maintenance recovery operation at the position of the suction cap 82 a, the motor 131 is reversed to raise the suction cap 82 a to cap the nozzle surface of the recording head 34. Is rotated forward and the tube pump 120 is operated to perform suction (nozzle suction) from the nozzles of the recording head 34. From this state, the motor 131 is reversed to separate the suction cap 82a from the nozzle surface of the recording head 34 (the state indicated by the arrow D in FIG. 6B). At this time, the ink 502 removed from the nozzle surface 34n adheres to the wiper blade 83.
Thereafter, the wiper blade 83 rises to the wiping position (position where it comes into contact with the nozzle surface). In this state, the carriage 33 is moved, and the nozzle surface 34n of the recording head 34 is wiped by the wiper blade 83 (in FIG. 6A). , State indicated by arrow C).

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the nozzle surface 34n is provided with a nozzle cover 150 as a protective cover member for the purpose of protecting the peripheral edge. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 300 indicates the remaining ink before wiping.
There is a level difference of at least the thickness of the nozzle cover between the nozzle surface 34n and the nozzle cover 150. When the ink adhering to the nozzle surface 34n is wiped with the wiper blade 83 over the entire area including the nozzle cover 150, this level difference Since the contact pressure of the blade is low in the portion 151, the ink tends to remain. (FIGS. 7A and 7B).
That is, when the entire nozzle surface is wiped in the longitudinal direction of the head ejection surface 34n, the ink (301, 302) remains on the nozzle surface 34n in the longitudinal step portion and the short step portion as shown in FIG. It's easy to do. )

  As described above, the present invention targets a configuration in which a step is generated between the nozzle surface 34n as in the case of using the nozzle cover 150 used as a protective cover member, in other words, Ink remaining at the boundary between the nozzle surface 34n and the nozzle cover 150 is removed. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following drawings, (A) shows a plan view of the ejection surface, and (B) shows a side view of the ejection surface.

  FIG. 8 is a view showing an embodiment of the invention as set forth in claims 2 and 4. In FIG. 8, the maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 has a first ink removal for removing ink in the entire area of the head ejection surface 34n as a wiping member. Means 160 and second ink removing means 170 for removing the ink on the inner periphery of the opening of the nozzle cover 150 that protects the head ejection surface are provided.

First, the first ink removing means 160 is configured to remove the head discharge surface 34n in the longitudinal direction by a plate-like blade member so that ink can be removed over the entire nozzle surface 34n corresponding to the ink discharge surface. To be wiped out.
In the configuration shown in FIG. 8, the material of the blade is EPDM. (This material is not limited to EPDM, and the material is not limited unless an excessive load is applied to the nozzle surface.)

  The ink remaining on the nozzle surface after wiping is as shown in FIG. That is, the inks 301 and 302 remain at the boundary between the nozzle surface 34n and the nozzle cover 150 on the rear side in the longitudinal direction and in the direction perpendicular to this direction.

Next, the second ink removing means 170 removes the ink 301 remaining in the nozzle cover step portion by removing the ink around the inner periphery of the opening of the nozzle cover 150 with respect to the nozzle surface 34n corresponding to the head ejection surface. The plate blade member having a shape for wiping only the stepped portion as shown in FIG. 8B is used, and the head discharge surface 34n is wiped in the longitudinal direction.
The amount of ink remaining on the head discharge surface 34n is reduced by wiping the ink 301 remaining after the first ink removing means is wiped by the second ink removing means 170.

  In such a configuration, the removal of ink targeting different regions by the first and second ink removing means, particularly the ink remaining in the stepped portion located at the boundary between the nozzle surface 34n and the nozzle cover 150 is targeted. By providing a dedicated ink removing function, it is possible to almost completely remove the ink remaining in the stepped portion which is the boundary portion.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 9 is a view showing an embodiment of the first and third aspects of the invention.
According to the first and third aspects of the present invention, the first ink removing means 161 that removes the ink on the entire area of the head ejection surface 34n and the second ink that removes the ink on the inner periphery of the opening of the nozzle cover 150 that protects the head ejection surface. The ink wiping direction of the first ink removing means 161 and the ink wiping direction of the second ink removing means 170 are orthogonal to each other.

  Also by this, similarly to the configuration shown in FIG. 8, the ink remaining in the stepped portion can be removed by a dedicated ink removing means for this ink.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the invention as set forth in claim 5, in which the first ink removing and wiping direction is the short direction, and the second ink removing and wiping direction is the longitudinal direction. It has become.

On the other hand, the first ink removing means 161 shown in the figure uses a plate-like blade member that removes ink over the entire area of the head ejection surface, whereas the second ink removing means has a step difference of the nozzle cover 150. For the purpose of removing ink remaining in the portion 151, a member 171 having an absorptivity is used for a portion to be wiped with respect to the stepped portion, and the member 171 having the absorptivity is pressed.
As a result, the amount of ink remaining on the head discharge surface 34n is reduced by removing the ink remaining after the first ink removing means with the absorber.

  In the present invention, as described above, the case where the wiping directions of the first and second ink removing means 160 and 161 are orthogonal to each other and the 0 longitudinal direction or the short direction of the nozzle surface 34n are set respectively. 161 exclusively removes ink remaining in the stepped portion located at the boundary between the nozzle surface 34 n and the nozzle cover 150.

  In the present invention, as the wiping operation procedure by the first and second ink removing means described above, the procedure for starting the wiping work by the second ink removing means 161 after the wiping work by the first ink removing means 160 (claims) 6) or a procedure for performing the wiping operation by the first ink removing means 160 after the wiping operation by the second ink removing means 161 (Claim 7) can be selected as appropriate. In any of these procedures, the nozzle surface 34n Since the stepped portion located at the boundary portion with the nozzle cover 150 can be wiped exclusively, the ink remaining on the stepped portion can be removed almost certainly, and as a result, the ink can be removed from the entire nozzle surface 34n. It can be done.

1 is an external view of an image forming apparatus using a liquid ejection device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining an internal configuration of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the internal configuration shown in FIG. 2. It is a schematic block diagram explaining the structure of a maintenance recovery mechanism. FIG. 4 is a side view of a wiping mechanism for wiping the ejection surface of a recording head used in the maintenance / recovery mechanism shown in FIG. 3. It is a figure for demonstrating the wiping operation | movement conventionally implemented. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a remaining state of ink on a nozzle surface during the wiping operation illustrated in FIG. 5. It is a figure for demonstrating the effect | action by this invention embodiment. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the effect | action by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the effect | action by another embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 34 Droplet discharge head 34n Nozzle surface 150 Nozzle cover which is a protective cover member 160 1st ink removal means 161 2nd ink removal means 171 Member which has ink absorptivity

Claims (8)

A liquid ejection head for ejecting liquid droplets from the nozzle, means for wiping the ink ejection surface of the liquid ejection head to remove ink from the ink ejection surface, and the ink for protecting a part of the ink ejection surface In a liquid ejection apparatus comprising a head ejection surface cover member having an opening that exposes the ejection unit,
A head performance recovery mechanism for wiping the ink discharge surface is provided,
The head performance recovery mechanism includes a first ink removing unit capable of removing ink for the entire area of the ink ejection surface and a second ink capable of removing ink for the inner periphery of the opening of the head ejection surface cover member. Removing means,
The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second ink removing means have a wiping direction set in a direction perpendicular to the ink ejection surface. A liquid ejection head for ejecting liquid droplets from the nozzle, means for wiping the ink ejection surface of the liquid ejection head to remove ink from the ink ejection surface, and the ink for protecting a part of the ink ejection surface In a liquid ejection apparatus comprising a head ejection surface cover member having an opening that exposes the ejection unit,
A head performance recovery mechanism for wiping the ink discharge surface is provided,
The head performance recovery mechanism includes a first ink removing unit capable of removing ink for the entire area of the ink ejection surface and a second ink capable of removing ink for the inner periphery of the opening of the head ejection surface cover member. Removing means,
In the first and second ink removing means, a wiping direction is set in the same direction with respect to the ink discharge surface, and the wiping direction is a longitudinal direction or a short direction of the head discharge surface. Liquid ejection device.   The wiping direction of the first ink removing unit is a short direction of the ink ejection surface, and the wiping direction of the second ink removing unit is a longitudinal direction of the ink ejection surface. Item 3. The liquid ejection device according to Item 1 or 2.   The wiping direction of the first ink removing unit is a longitudinal direction of the ink ejection surface, and the wiping direction of the second ink removing unit is a lateral direction of the ink ejection surface. Item 3. The liquid ejection device according to Item 1 or 2.   The first ink removing unit has a function of removing ink by wiping the ink discharge portion, and the second ink removing unit has a function of absorbing ink from the inner periphery of the opening of the head discharge surface cover member. The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid ejection apparatus is provided.   6. The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wiping operation by the second ink removing unit is performed after the wiping operation by the first ink removing unit.   6. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wiping operation by the second ink removing unit is performed after the wiping operation by the second ink removing unit.   An image forming apparatus using the liquid ejection device according to claim 1.

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