JP2010234579A - Cleaning mechanism for conveying belt and inkjet recording apparatus equipped with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning mechanism for a conveying belt which can surely remove a cleaning liquid that adheres to a conveyance surface after the conveyance surface of the conveying belt formed endless is cleaned, and to provide an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with the same. <P>SOLUTION: The cleaning mechanism 105 includes: a cleaning part 106 which cleans the conveyance surface of the endless-formed conveying belt 102 that conveys a recording medium; and a collecting part 107 which has both a suction part that sucks the cleaning liquid that adheres to the cleaned conveyance surface by a suction nozzle 20 and a jetting part that jets a pressured air from a pair of air knife nozzles 21 disposed adjacently on a moving direction downstream side of the conveying belt 102 to the suction nozzle 20, thereby moving the cleaning liquid left on the conveyance surface to the suction nozzle 20 side. A carriage 22 carrying the suction nozzle 20 and air knife nozzles 21 is scanned with respect to the conveyance surface, whereby the cleaning liquid adhering to the conveyance surface is removed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning mechanism for cleaning a transport surface of an endless transport belt that transports a recording medium, and an ink jet recording apparatus including the cleaning mechanism.

  When a recording operation is performed on a recording medium while the recording medium is conveyed to an endless conveying belt, ink used for the recording operation adheres to the conveying surface of the conveying belt and becomes dirty. For example, when a recording operation is performed by ejecting ink as in an ink jet recording apparatus, the transport surface becomes dirty with ink due to the ejected ink sticking out of the recording medium or oozing out from the back of the recording medium. If the recording medium is conveyed in a state where the conveying surface is dirty, the recording medium is contaminated. Therefore, the conveying surface needs to be cleaned. In addition, when an adhesive layer is provided to hold the recording medium on the conveyance surface, foreign matters such as dust and ink will adhere to the adhesive layer, and the adhesive force will weaken as foreign matter accumulates. In order to remove such foreign matter, the transport surface must be cleaned.

  As a method for cleaning the conveying surface of the conveying belt, for example, in Patent Document 1, the conveying surface of the conveying belt is washed with a cleaning brush to remove dust and the like, and water droplets adhering to the washed conveying surface are removed by a mangle roller. An ink jet recording apparatus is described in which the ink is pressed and removed, and water droplets remaining on the conveying surface are wiped off and the roller is pressed and removed for cleaning.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, in order to clean the plate cylinder of the rotary printing press, a rotary printing press provided with an injection mechanism for spraying a cleaning liquid onto the plate cylinder and a suction mechanism for collecting the cleaning liquid after cleaning the plate cylinder. A cleaning device is described. Patent Document 3 describes a substrate drying apparatus provided with an air knife that is installed obliquely in a plane parallel to a thin plate conveyance surface. Further, in Patent Document 4, the cleaning head is arranged so as to be able to reciprocate over the entire length in parallel with the printing cylinder, and the cleaning head is provided with a cleaning case and an air box so that the recovered cleaning liquid is sucked into the air box. A printing cylinder cleaning device is described.

JP 11-192694 A JP-A-8-332718 JP 2001-227868 A JP-A-6-262758

  In Patent Document 1, water droplets adhering to the conveyor belt are removed by the mangle roller and the wiping roller, but the conveyor belt moves while these rollers are in pressure contact with the conveyor surface of the conveyor belt. There is a risk that the resin layer peels off or the conveyor belt vibrates during conveyance.

  Further, as described in Patent Document 2, when cleaning is performed by sucking a cleaning liquid, fine water droplets are likely to remain on the surface after suction. If the suction force is increased so that no water droplets remain, when applied to the conveyor belt, the conveyor belt may be sucked and damaged, or the conveyor operation may be hindered.

  In addition, as described in Patent Document 3, if the drained water is not collected when draining with an air knife, an endless belt that cannot assume an end, unlike a substrate having edges and corners, Moisture stays on the endless belt and drying becomes insufficient. Even in the cleaning apparatus described in Patent Document 4, the suction and recovery of the cleaning liquid is insufficient, and the cleaning liquid tends to remain.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a cleaning mechanism for a transport belt that can reliably remove the cleaning liquid adhering to the transport surface after cleaning the transport surface of an endless transport belt, and an ink jet recording apparatus including the cleaning mechanism. It is the purpose.

  The transport belt cleaning mechanism according to the present invention includes a cleaning unit that cleans a transport surface of an endless transport belt that transports a recording medium, and a suction unit that sucks a cleaning liquid adhering to the cleaned transport surface from a suction nozzle. An ejecting unit that ejects pressurized air from at least one air knife nozzle disposed close to the suction nozzle on the downstream side in the moving direction of the transport belt to move the cleaning liquid remaining on the transport surface to the suction nozzle side. And a scanning unit that scans the suction nozzle and the air knife nozzle with respect to the transport surface. Furthermore, the suction area of the suction nozzle with respect to the transport surface is set such that the length in the moving direction is longer than the unit travel distance of the transport belt. Further, the air knife nozzle is disposed so as to be inclined with respect to the moving direction, and the length in the moving direction is set longer than the unit moving distance of the transport belt. Further, the air knife nozzle is characterized in that an end portion on the upstream side in the movement direction is disposed close to an end portion on the downstream side in the movement direction of the suction nozzle. Further, the air knife nozzle is provided such that an inclination angle with respect to the moving direction is adjustable.

  An ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention includes the cleaning mechanism described above.

  In the present invention, the air knife nozzle is disposed close to the suction nozzle on the downstream side in the moving direction of the conveyance belt by having the above-described configuration, so that the cleaning liquid adhered to the conveyance surface by the suction nozzle remains after being sucked. The cleaning liquid can be sucked by being moved to the suction nozzle side by the air knife nozzle, and the cleaning liquid adhering to the transport surface can be surely removed. Here, “adjacent arrangement” of the air knife nozzle means that the water droplets blown off and collected by the air knife nozzle are arranged at a position where the water can be sucked by the suction nozzle.

  That is, if the suction nozzle alone is used, it is easy for the cleaning liquid to remain unabsorbed, and if the air knife nozzle is used alone, the cleaning liquid scatters and adheres to the transport surface after cleaning. By arranging both nozzles close to each other as described above, the amount of cleaning liquid left by the suction nozzle becomes a small amount and can be moved to the suction nozzle side without being scattered by the air knife nozzle and removed.

  Further, since the suction nozzle and the air knife nozzle can be operated without contacting the transport surface, the transport surface is not damaged by the cleaning operation.

  Then, the suction nozzle and the air knife nozzle are scanned with respect to the conveyance surface to remove the cleaning liquid adhering to the conveyance surface, so that the openings of the suction nozzle and the air knife nozzle can be set small, and the suction and injection of air are correspondingly reduced. Therefore, it is possible to make a mechanism such as a pump compact. Further, even when the transport belt is transported while performing the recording operation, the cleaning operation can be performed without interrupting the recording operation if the suction nozzle and the air knife nozzle are scanned in accordance with the transport operation.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a main part of an ink jet recording apparatus including an embodiment according to the present invention. It is a perspective view regarding a cleaning mechanism. It is an expansion perspective view regarding a carriage. It is the top view which looked at the carriage from the upper surface. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing regarding a collection | recovery part. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing regarding the modification of a collection | recovery part. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing regarding another modification of a collection | recovery part.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below are preferable specific examples for carrying out the present invention, and thus various technical limitations are made. However, the present invention is particularly limited in the following description. Unless otherwise specified, the present invention is not limited to these forms.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a main part of an ink jet recording apparatus including an embodiment according to the present invention.

  The ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording unit 100 that performs a recording operation in the main scanning direction X using an ink jet recording head, and a transport conveyor 101 that transports the recording medium P in the sub scanning direction Y. When recording an image or the like on the recording medium P, the recording operation is performed by ejecting ink from the ink jet recording head based on the recording signal along the scanning line in the main scanning direction X that is the width direction of the recording medium P. When the recording operation for a predetermined scanning line is completed, the recording medium is transported in the sub-scanning direction Y by a predetermined scanning line by the transport conveyor 101. Then, a recording operation is performed on the next scanning line by the ink jet recording head. By repeating such a recording operation and a conveying operation, an image or the like is recorded on the recording medium P.

  In the conveyor 101, an endless conveyor belt 102 is stretched around a pair of conveyor rollers 103 and 104, and the conveyor roller 103 is rotated by a drive motor or the like to perform a conveyance operation. An adhesive layer is provided on the conveyance surface of the conveyance belt 102 in order to hold the recording medium P so as not to move during the recording operation.

  A cleaning mechanism 105 for cleaning the transport surface of the transport belt 102 is provided below the transport conveyor 101. FIG. 2 is a perspective view relating to the cleaning mechanism 105. In FIG. 2, the conveyance belt 102 is indicated by a dotted line, and the movement direction B of the conveyance belt 102 (the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction Y) is shown.

  The cleaning mechanism 105 includes a cleaning unit 106 that cleans the transport surface with a cleaning liquid and a recovery unit 107 that sucks and collects the cleaning liquid adhering to the transport surface on the upstream side in the movement direction B of the transport belt 105.

  The cleaning unit 106 includes a roll-shaped cleaning brush 10 provided over the entire width of the conveying surface, and a pair of shower tubes 11 and 12 provided over the entire width of the conveying surface on the upstream side and the downstream side of the cleaning brush 10. Yes.

  In the cleaning brush 10, a large number of brush hairs are implanted over the entire circumference of the rotation shaft 10 a, and the rotation shaft 10 a is rotated by the rotational drive of the drive motor 13. The cleaning brush 10 is rotatably supported by an elevator (not shown), and contacts the conveying surface while rotating by the rotational drive of the drive motor 13, and the brush bristles adhere to the conveying surface by slidingly contacting the conveying surface. It acts to scrape off foreign matter such as trash.

  The shower pipes 11 and 12 have a number of injection ports formed in the upper part along the longitudinal direction, and the cleaning liquid is supplied from a supply pipe connected to one end. And a washing | cleaning liquid is sprayed in the shower shape toward the conveyance surface above each injection port. The sprayed cleaning liquid collides with the transport surface and acts to clean foreign matter such as dust and ink attached to the transport surface.

  In the cleaning unit 106, first, the transport surface is primarily cleaned with the cleaning liquid sprayed from the shower tube 11, and foreign matters such as dust that cannot be cleaned by the primary cleaning are scraped off by the cleaning brush 10, and transported in sliding contact with the cleaning brush 10. The surface is subjected to secondary cleaning with a cleaning liquid sprayed from the shower tube 12.

  The collection unit 107 sucks the cleaning liquid adhering to the transport surface from the suction nozzle 20, and pressurizes the compressed air from the pair of air knife nozzles 21 disposed close to the suction nozzle 20 on the downstream side in the movement direction B of the transport belt. An ejection unit that ejects cleaning liquid remaining on the conveyance surface to the suction nozzle 20 side, and scanning that mounts the suction nozzle 20 and the air knife nozzle 21 on the carriage 22 and scans the conveyance surface along the scanning direction A. Department.

  The suction unit includes an intake pump (not shown) via a flexible suction pipe 23 connected to the suction nozzle 20 mounted on the carriage 22. By operating the intake pump, the suction surface from the suction nozzle 20 is conveyed. Air is sucked in with the cleaning liquid. The opening shape of the suction nozzle 20 is formed in an elongated groove shape along the movement direction B.

  The injection unit includes a pressure pump (not shown) via a flexible feed pipe 24 connected to a pair of air knife nozzles 21 mounted on the carriage 22. The cleaning liquid remaining on the transport surface is moved to the suction nozzle 20 side by injecting pressurized air from the air knife nozzle 21. The pair of air knife nozzles 21 are arranged on both sides so as to sandwich the suction nozzle 20, and are inclined with respect to the suction nozzle 20 so that the distance therebetween becomes wider toward the downstream side in the movement direction B. . The opening shape of the air knife nozzle 21 is formed in an elongated groove shape.

  The scanning unit is stretched between a pair of guide bodies 25 that guide the carriage 22 to move in the scanning direction A, a driven pulley 27, and a driving pulley 28, and a timing at which a support member 26 fixed to the carriage 22 is attached. A drive motor 29 that rotationally drives the belt 30 and the drive pulley 28 is provided. When the drive motor 29 is driven to rotate, the timing belt 30 moves along the scanning direction A, and the carriage 22 moves in the scanning direction A as the timing belt 30 moves. The moving range of the carriage 22 is set so as to move over the entire width of the conveying belt 102.

  FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the carriage 22. The suction nozzle 20 is installed toward the upper surface of the carriage 22, and an internal space is formed to a predetermined depth while maintaining the opening shape. A suction pipe 23 is connected to the bottom surface of the internal space. The suction tube 23 may be branched into a plurality of branches and connected along the longitudinal direction of the suction nozzle 20 so that the suction force at the opening of the suction nozzle 20 does not vary in the longitudinal direction of the opening. The air knife nozzle 21 is installed toward the upper surface of the carriage 22, and an internal space is formed to a predetermined depth while maintaining the opening shape. The feed pipe 24 is branched into two and connected to the bottom surface of the internal space of each air knife nozzle 21. The air knife nozzle 21 can also be configured by a plurality of spray nozzles arranged in a straight line.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the carriage 22 as viewed from above. Suction nozzle 20 is disposed along the movement direction B of the conveyor belt 102, the length in the longitudinal direction is set to L _1. The length L ₁ is set to be longer than the unit moving distance in the sub-scanning direction Y during the recording operation of the transport belt 102.

  The pair of air knife nozzles 21 are inclined by an angle θ with respect to the moving direction B, and are arranged so as to widen with the suction nozzle 20 in between. The angle θ can be adjusted by rotating the air knife nozzle 21 around the upstream end. As will be described later, the angle θ is adjusted such that the cleaning liquid that moves when the pressurized air ejected from the air knife nozzle 21 is blown onto the conveying surface flows toward the suction nozzle 20, specifically, the movement of the carriage. Set based on speed.

The upstream end of each air knife nozzle 21 in the moving direction B is set close to the downstream end of the suction nozzle 20 and is positioned upstream from it, and both move by a length d. Duplicate in direction. The length L ₂ of each air knife nozzle 21 in the moving direction B is set to be longer than the unit moving distance in the sub-scanning direction Y during the recording operation of the transport belt 102. Preferably, the difference between the length L ₂ and the length d is set to be longer than the unit movement distance in the sub-scanning direction Y. Since the length L ₂ is determined by the length of the air knife nozzle 21 in the longitudinal direction and the angle θ, it is necessary to consider the length L ₂ when adjusting the angle θ.

  FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram regarding the collection unit 107. First, the carriage 22 is set at an initial position set on one side of the conveyor belt 102 (FIG. 5A). The conveyor belt 102 is a portion W and a cleaning portion C where the cleaning liquid is adhered. The position of the suction nozzle 20 with respect to the boundary line between the two portions is the nozzle end on the downstream side in the movement direction B of the conveyor belt 102. It is set to be located upstream.

Next, while moving the carriage 22 in the scanning direction A, the cleaning liquid adhering to the transport surface is sucked from the suction nozzle 20 (FIG. 5B). Suction region C1 is the washing liquid in a width corresponding to the length L ₁ of the suction nozzle 20 is gradually sucked. The gap between the suction nozzle 20 and the transport surface is set to about several mm, and the suction force is adjusted so that the transport surface is not attracted to the suction nozzle 20. As a result, the cleaning liquid remains slightly.

After the carriage 22 is moved over the entire width of the conveyor belt 102, the carriage 22 is moved to a standby position set on the other side of the conveyor belt 102 (FIG. 5C). Then, the conveying belt 102 is conveyed in the moving direction B by a predetermined unit moving distance D by the recording operation. For this reason, the suction region C ₁ is disposed so as to face the air knife nozzle 21, and the suction nozzle 20 is disposed so as to face the cleaning liquid adhering portion W on the upstream side in the movement direction B of the suction region C ₁ (FIG. 5D). In this case, the length L ₂ of the length L ₁ and an air knife nozzle 21 of the suction nozzle mentioned above is set longer than the unit moving distance D, the suction leak of the suction nozzle region and removing leakage of air knife nozzles It is possible to operate without generating a region.

Next, while moving toward the carriage 22 to its initial position, it sucks the cleaning liquid adhering to the conveyance surface from the suction nozzle 20, scans the washing liquid remaining in the suction region C ₁ by ejecting pressurized air from an air knife nozzle 21 Although it blows toward the direction A, since the air knife nozzle 21 is inclined, the blown cleaning liquid flows toward the suction nozzle 20 by the movement of the carriage 22. Since the ends of the air knife nozzle 21 and the suction nozzle 20 are arranged so as to overlap, the cleaning liquid flowing to the suction nozzle 20 side is reliably sucked (FIG. 5E). Thus, all the cleaning liquid remaining in the suction area C ₁ is sucked by the suction nozzle 20 and collected and cleaned.

Then, the carriage 22 is moved over the entire width of the conveyor belt and returned to the initial position (FIG. 5 (f)). Next, when the transport belt 102 is transported by the unit movement distance by the recording operation, the carriage 22 is moved again toward the standby position, the cleaning liquid is sucked by the suction nozzle 20, and the previous suction region C ₁ is sucked by the air knife nozzle 21. The remaining cleaning liquid is moved to the suction nozzle 20. In this case, since a pair of air knife nozzles 21 are provided, the cleaning liquid remaining in one of the air knife nozzles 21 is moved to the suction nozzle 20 side even when the carriage 22 reciprocates in the scanning direction. The pair of air knife nozzles 21 may be controlled so as to inject pressurized air by operating only the upstream air knife nozzle when moving in the scanning direction.

  In this way, the cleaning liquid adhering to the conveyor belt 102 can be reliably removed while the carriage is reciprocated in the scanning direction A.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram regarding the operation of a modified example of the collection unit 107. In this example, the suction nozzle 20 and one air knife nozzle 21 are mounted on the carriage 22. First, the carriage 22 is set at an initial position set on one side of the conveyor belt 102 (FIG. 6A).

Next, while moving the carriage 22 in the scanning direction A, the cleaning liquid adhering to the transport surface is sucked from the suction nozzle 20 (FIG. 6B). In the suction region C ₁ , the cleaning liquid is sucked with a width corresponding to the length L ₁ of the suction nozzle 20. After the carriage 22 is moved over the entire width of the conveyor belt 102, the carriage 22 is moved to the reverse position set on the other side of the conveyor belt 102 (FIG. 6C). Then, the conveyance belt 102 is conveyed in the movement direction B by a predetermined unit movement distance D by the recording operation, and the carriage 22 is reversed and returned to the initial position (FIG. 6D).

Next, while moving toward the reverse position of the carriage 22 again from the initial position, the cleaning liquid adhering to the conveyance surface from the suction nozzle 20 by suction, the residue in the suction region C ₁ by ejecting pressurized air from an air knife nozzle 21 the washing solution is moved to the suction nozzle 20 side, will be cleaned by suction by all the remaining cleaning liquid suction nozzle 20 to the suction region C ₁ (FIG. 6 (e)).

  When the carriage 22 is moved over the entire width of the transport belt and reaches the reverse position, the transport belt 102 is transported in the moving direction B by a predetermined unit travel distance D by the recording operation, and the carriage 22 is reversed to the initial position. Return (FIG. 6 (f)).

  In this manner, the cleaning liquid adhering to the conveyance belt 102 can be removed while moving the carriage from the initial position in the scanning direction A, and the cleaning liquid can be returned to the initial position at a high speed and sequentially cleaned in accordance with the conveyance operation of the conveyance belt 102.

  FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram regarding another modified example of the collection unit 107. In this example, two carriages 22 equipped with suction nozzles and air knife nozzles are used. Two carriages are installed while being shifted in the movement direction B, and the operation area by the carriage on the upstream side in the movement direction B and the operation area by the carriage on the downstream side are set so as to partially overlap. If the two carriages are moved in the scanning direction A to remove the cleaning liquid, the cleaning liquid in a wide area can be removed at a time, regardless of the transport operation of the unit movement distance of the transport belt during the recording operation. In addition, the cleaning liquid can be removed.

  In addition, the length of the suction nozzle and the air knife nozzle in the longitudinal direction can be increased to widen the width of the cleaning liquid removal region.

  In the example described above, the conveyance surface can be cleaned without interrupting the recording operation, and even when the width of the conveyance surface is large, it can be easily handled, and a stable cleaning operation can be performed with a simple configuration. Yes.

10 Cleaning brush
11 shower tube
12 shower tube
13 Drive motor
20 Suction nozzle
21 Air knife nozzle
22 Carriage
23 Suction tube
24 Feed pipe
25 Guide member
26 Support member
27 Followed pulley
28 Drive pulley
29 Drive motor
30 Timing belt
100 Recording section
101 Conveyor
102 Conveyor belt
103 Conveyor roller
104 Conveyor roller
105 Cleaning mechanism
106 Cleaning section
107 Collection department

Claims (6)

  A cleaning unit that cleans the transport surface of the endless transport belt that transports the recording medium, a suction unit that sucks the cleaning liquid adhering to the cleaned transport surface from the suction nozzle, and the transport belt with respect to the suction nozzle. An injection unit that injects pressurized air from at least one air knife nozzle disposed close to the downstream side in the movement direction to move the cleaning liquid remaining on the transfer surface to the suction nozzle side, and the suction nozzle and the air knife nozzle A transport belt cleaning mechanism, comprising: a scanning unit that scans the transport surface.   The cleaning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the suction area of the suction nozzle with respect to the transport surface is set to have a length in the moving direction longer than a unit travel distance of the transport belt.   The air knife nozzle is disposed so as to be inclined with respect to the moving direction, and the length in the moving direction is set longer than the unit moving distance of the transport belt. The cleaning mechanism described in 1.   4. The cleaning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein an end of the air knife nozzle on the upstream side in the movement direction is disposed close to an end on the downstream side in the movement direction of the suction nozzle.   The cleaning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the air knife nozzle is provided so that an inclination angle with respect to the moving direction can be adjusted.   An ink jet recording apparatus comprising the cleaning mechanism according to claim 1.

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