JP2012183664A - Cleaning device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a head cleaning device of an inkjet printer capable of preventing creeping of ink to a head lower face part even after wiping a nozzle face and preventing scattering of ink.SOLUTION: The cleaning device includes a wiper 101 capable of coming in contact with the nozzle face 7a of a head 7 disposed substantially vertically and discharging ink drops in a substantially horizontal direction, and cleans the nozzle face 7a by performing wiping operation. The cleaning device further includes a contamination preventing member 8 disposed movably on the downstream side of the head 7 in the wiper moving direction, and a moving means 108 for selectively moving the contamination preventing member 8 to a first position coming in contact with an end face of the wiper of the head 7 in the downstream side in the wiper moving direction, and a second position separating from the end face. During wiping operation of the nozzle face 7a by the wiper 101, the moving means 108 moves the contamination preventing member 8 to the first position, and one face of the contamination preventing member 8 is substantially flush with the nozzle face 7a when the first position is occupied.

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material by adhering ink droplets ejected from an ejection port of the recording head to the recording material, and more particularly to a cleaning device that cleans the recording head. .

  This type of image forming apparatus is mainly known as a product such as a printer, a facsimile machine, a copying machine, a plotter, and a complex machine of these. An ink jet image forming apparatus ejects ink droplets from a recording head onto a recording material to form an image (recording, printing, printing, and printing may be used synonymously). The recording material is not limited to paper, and means an OHP sheet or the like that can be attached with ink droplets constituting an image, and is also referred to as an image recording medium, a recording medium, or a recording medium. is there. Inkjet image forming apparatuses include a serial type image forming apparatus that forms an image by ejecting ink droplets while the recording head moves in the main scanning direction, and ink droplets that are ejected without the recording head moving. Thus, there is a line type image forming apparatus using a line type head for forming an image.

  The “image forming apparatus” in this specification means an apparatus that forms an image by ejecting ink droplets onto a recording material such as paper, thread, fiber, fabric, leather, metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics, and the like. To do. In this “image formation”, not only an image having a meaning such as a character or a figure is applied to the recording material, but also an image having no meaning such as a pattern is applied to the recording material (simply ink droplets). To land on the recording material). Further, the “ink” to be ejected is not limited to what is generally called ink, and is not particularly limited as long as it is liquid when ejected. Thus, for example, DNA samples, resists, pattern materials, etc. are also included. Further, the “image” is not limited to an image provided on a flat surface, and includes an image provided with a three-dimensional object or an image formed by modeling the three-dimensional object itself.

  In a conventional inkjet image forming apparatus, in order to remove foreign matters that obstruct ink ejection, such as ink and dust adhering to the ejection surface (nozzle surface), and to perform a recovery operation for forming a nozzle meniscus, etc. A wiping process is performed by wiping the discharge surface with a wiper blade formed of an elastic body such as rubber. This wiping process is performed by causing the wiper and the head to move relative to each other after projecting the wiper to a position that overlaps the nozzle surface of the head at a position that does not face the head. The wiper is detached from the nozzle surface. As this wiping operation, there is known a method of moving in a direction parallel to or orthogonal to the nozzle row in accordance with the size and configuration of the printer.

  As an inkjet printer technology that performs the above-described wiping operation, the purpose is to efficiently clean the wiper to prevent ink attached to the wiper from adhering (transferring) to the nozzle surface. A technique for providing a cleaning member on the surface and cleaning the wiper simultaneously with wiping is disclosed in, for example, “Patent Document 1”. In addition, a technique for forming the ink discharge surface in a slope shape so that the distance from the wiper is increased toward the downstream side of wiping (contact force is weakened) in order to prevent ink scattering after wiping, for example, Document 2 ”.

  By the way, as a liquid ejection type image forming apparatus, a recording medium is conveyed in a direction along the vertical direction or in a direction inclined with respect to a direction along the vertical direction, and in a horizontal direction or a horizontal direction with respect to the recording medium. A configuration in which an image is formed on a recording medium by ejecting droplets from a recording head while reciprocating a recording head that ejects droplets in a direction inclined to the recording head, that is, a nozzle that ejects droplets. There is a configuration in which the formed nozzle surface is arranged in a vertical direction or inclined with respect to the vertical direction, and has a recording head that discharges liquid droplets in a horizontal direction or a direction inclined with respect to the horizontal direction. The recording medium is transported in a direction along the vertical direction or in a direction inclined with respect to the direction along the vertical direction, and the liquid is applied in the horizontal direction with respect to the recording medium or in the direction inclined with respect to the horizontal direction. The method of discharging droplets is called “horizontal strike method”. Here, the direction inclined with respect to the horizontal direction is, for example, a range inclined 45 ° obliquely upward from a position inclined 45 ° obliquely downward with respect to the horizontal direction, and this range is referred to as “horizontal direction”. (Inclination with respect to the direction along the vertical direction, meaning of "vertical direction" is also the same). Note that a method in which the medium transport direction and the droplet discharge direction are in a reverse relationship to the above is referred to as a “vertical hitting method”.

  When the above-described horizontal ink jet printer is used and the wiping direction of the nozzle row is a vertical wiping type, wiping from the top to the bottom is performed in order to positively remove ink and paper dust adhered to the nozzle surface. It is well known to do. However, this configuration has a problem that when the wiper is detached from the head, the removed ink is pushed into the lower surface of the head, and the ink remains on the lower surface of the head. This is also the case with each of the above-described technologies, and in any of the technologies, it is not possible to prevent the ink from flowing into the lower surface of the head.

  When ink remains on the lower surface of the head, the remaining ink is dried and thickened. By repeating this, the ink remaining on the lower surface of the head grows in an ice column shape. In the case of a serial type printer, when the carriage scans, the icicle-shaped ink adheres to the component parts, or the icicle-shaped ink falls and contaminates the inside of the apparatus. In the case of a horizontal printer, the lower part of the print area is a paper feed section or a paper feed roller, so if icicle-shaped ink falls there, it is transferred to the printed recording paper. There is a problem of getting dirty.

  In addition to the remaining ink being pushed by the wiper, the wiper that has finished wiping loses its deforming force momentarily as soon as it is detached from the head, and the bent wiper tries to restore its shape rapidly. This wiper is immediately after wiping off the nozzle surface and is in a state where the residual ink is adhered, and therefore, there is a problem that the adhered residual ink is scattered around. Particularly in a horizontal printer, scattered ink adheres to the carriage and becomes thickened ink as described above, and the inside of the machine is contaminated.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, prevents the ink from flowing around the lower surface of the head even after wiping the nozzle surface, and prevents the ink from scattering, and an ink jet printer having the same The purpose is to provide.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wiper that is disposed substantially vertically and has a wiper that can contact a nozzle surface of a head that ejects ink droplets in a substantially horizontal direction, and moves the wiper while being in contact with the nozzle surface. In a recording head cleaning apparatus that cleans the nozzle surface by performing an operation, a contamination prevention member that is movably disposed downstream of the head in the wiper movement direction, and the contamination prevention member is disposed on the wiper of the head. Moving means for selectively moving the first position contacting the downstream end face in the moving direction and the second position spaced apart from the end face of the head, and during the wiping operation of the nozzle face by the wiper The moving means moves the contamination prevention member to the first position, and when the first position is occupied, one surface of the contamination prevention member is the nozzle surface. And forming a substantially coplanar.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the recording head cleaning apparatus according to the first aspect, the moving means further moves the contamination preventing member following the wiping operation of the wiper.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the recording head cleaning apparatus according to the first aspect, the moving means moves the contamination preventing member independently of the wiper.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the recording head cleaning device according to any one of the first to third aspects, at least a part of the contamination prevention member is formed of an elastic body. To do.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the recording head cleaning device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the wiper and the contamination preventing member are both water-repellent, as compared with the wiper. The contamination preventing member has low water repellency.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the recording head cleaning apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the recording head cleaning device further includes a biasing unit that biases the contamination prevention member toward the second position. It is characterized by.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the recording head cleaning device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, when the contamination preventing member occupies the first position, the wiping operation of the nozzle surface is performed. The one surface of the contamination prevention member is wiped by the wiper.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the recording head cleaning apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, the contamination prevention member is replaceable.

  A ninth aspect of the invention is an image forming apparatus having the cleaning device according to any one of the first to eighth aspects.

  According to the present invention, the ink removed from the nozzle surface by the wiper moves onto the contamination prevention member, and the ink removed from the nozzle surface is prevented from going around the lower surface of the head. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of a malfunction such as ink transfer to the ink.

1 is a schematic side view of an inkjet printer to which an embodiment of the present invention can be applied. 1 is a schematic front view of an inkjet printer to which an embodiment of the present invention can be applied. It is the schematic explaining the head cleaning mechanism used for one Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic explaining the wiping operation | movement in one Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic explaining the wiper and pollution prevention member which are used for the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic explaining the wiping operation | movement in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic explaining the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic explaining the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic explaining the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic explaining the 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the head and wiper which can apply this invention. It is the schematic explaining the basic operation | movement of this invention. It is a flowchart of the basic operation | movement of this invention.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of an ink jet printer 1 that employs an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a left side view thereof. The ink jet printer 1 has a carriage 3 that is slidably held in a main scanning direction that is a paper surface direction in FIG. 1 by a guide rod 2 that is horizontally mounted on left and right side plates 9, and is driven by a main scanning motor 4. By moving the timing belt 5 spanned between the pulley 6A and the driven pulley 6B, the carriage 3 connected to the timing belt 5 is moved and scanned in the main scanning direction which is the horizontal direction in FIG. Two guide bushes 3 a are arranged between the guide rod 2 and the carriage 3.

  The carriage 3 is provided with two heads 7 for ejecting, for example, yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (Bk) ink liquids. Nozzle rows that are ink ejection openings are provided in a direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction, and are attached to the carriage 3 so that the ejection direction of the ink droplets is horizontal. The droplet discharge head constituting the head 7 includes a piezoelectric actuator such as a piezoelectric element, a thermal actuator that uses film boiling of a liquid using an electrothermal transducer such as a heating resistor pair, and a shape memory that uses a metal phase change due to a temperature change. An alloy actuator, an electrostatic actuator using an electrostatic force, or the like provided as energy generating means for discharging ink can be used.

  A head tank corresponding to each color for supplying ink of each color to the head 7 is mounted on the carriage 3. Ink is supplied to the head tank from an ink cartridge (not shown) via an ink supply tube. In addition to the head 7 that ejects ink droplets, a head that ejects fixing ink that improves the fixability of the ink by reacting with the ink can be provided.

  The nozzles of the head 7 are likely to be clogged due to drying, and when the carriage is not in operation such as when the apparatus is stopped due to an error during printing or when the power is turned off, the nozzle surface is covered with a cap for moisture retention. The suction cap 71 and the moisture retention cap 72 are provided in the cleaning device, and the cleaning device is disposed on either the left or right side of the apparatus main body.

  A paper feeding unit that feeds the paper 12 stacked on the paper stacking unit 11 of the paper feeding cassette 10 is disposed at the lower part of the apparatus main body. The paper feed unit includes a paper feed roller 13 that feeds the paper 12 from the paper stacking unit 11, a separation pad 14 that is pressed against the paper feed roller 13 and made of a high friction resistance member, and the like. The sheets 12 on the section 11 are separated and fed one by one.

  In FIG. 1, a transport unit that transports the paper 12 from the paper feed unit so as to be parallel to the nozzle surface is disposed on the left side of the paper feed unit. The transport unit includes a transport belt 21 that attracts and transports the paper 12 by electrostatic force, a guide plate 15 that guides the paper 12 sent from the paper feed unit, and a first paper that includes a reflective sensor that detects the leading edge of the paper 12. Presence / absence detection sensor 200, tip press roller 25 urged by the pressing member 24 to press the paper 12 against the conveying belt 21, and a second sensor for detecting the presence / absence of the second sheet, which is fixed to the pressing member 24 and detects the leading end of the paper 12. A sensor 201, a charging roller 26 for charging the surface of the conveyor belt 21, and the like are included. The conveyor belt 21, which is an endless belt, is stretched between the conveyor roller 27 and the tension roller 28, and the conveyor roller 27 that receives the driving force from the sub-scanning motor 31 via the timing belt 32 and the timing roller 33 is provided. By being driven to rotate, it is driven to travel in the belt conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction) shown in FIG. A guide member 29 is disposed on the back side of the conveyance belt 21 and corresponding to the image forming area of the head 7.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a disk-shaped encoder sheet 34 in which light transmitting portions and non-transmitting non-transmitting portions are alternately formed is attached to the rotation center axis of the transport roller 27. An encoder sensor 35 for detecting a transmission portion and a non-transmission portion of the encoder sheet 34 is disposed on a side plate that supports the rotation center axis of the encoder sheet 34, and an encoder 36 is configured by these. The charging roller 26 is in contact with the surface layer of the conveyor belt 21 and rotates following the movement of the conveyor belt 21.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an encoder sheet 42 is provided on the front side of the carriage 3. The encoder sheet 42 is formed by alternately forming a transmissive portion that transmits light and a non-transmissive portion that does not transmit light. An encoder sensor composed of a transmissive photosensor that detects a transmissive portion and a non-transmissive portion of the sheet 42 is provided, and the position of the carriage 3 in the main scanning direction is detected by these. Further, as a paper discharge unit for discharging the paper 12 recorded by the head 7, a separation claw 51 for separating the paper 12 from the transport belt 21, a paper discharge roller 52 and a paper discharge roller 53, and the paper 12 to be discharged. A paper discharge tray 54 and the like are provided.

  In the ink jet printer 1 described above, the paper 12 is separated and fed one by one from the paper feed unit, and the paper 12 fed in the horizontal direction is guided in the vertical direction by the guide plate 15 and the leading end thereof is detected by the first paper presence / absence detection sensor. 200. Thereafter, the paper 12 is transported onto the transport belt 21, and the front end of the paper 12 is again detected by the second paper presence / absence detection sensor 201 while being pressed against the transport belt 21 by the front end pressure roller 25. At this time, an alternating voltage in which a positive (positive) output and a negative (negative) output are alternately repeated is applied to the charging roller 26, and positive and negative are applied to the transport belt 21 in the sub-scanning direction, which is the traveling direction. Electric charges are alternately applied in a strip shape with a predetermined width. When the paper 12 is fed onto the conveyance belt 21 that is alternately charged positively and negatively, the paper 12 is attracted to the conveyance belt 21 by electrostatic force, and the paper 12 is moved in the sub-scanning direction by the circumferential movement of the conveyance belt 21. Be transported.

  By driving the head 7 according to the image signal while moving the carriage 3 in the above-described state, ink droplets are ejected onto the stopped paper 12 to record one line, and the paper 12 is conveyed by a predetermined amount. After that, the next line is recorded. Upon receiving a recording end signal or a signal indicating that the trailing edge of the sheet 12 has reached the recording area, the recording operation is completed, and the sheet 12 is discharged onto the discharge tray 54 by the discharge roller 52 and the discharge roller 53. The inkjet printer 1 has a unidirectional recording mode in which an image is formed only when scanning in one direction, and a bidirectional recording mode in which an image is formed in both directions when scanning is performed. It is possible to arbitrarily set whether to set according to one of the modes.

  In this embodiment, the cleaning device for recovering the nozzles of the head 7 and moisturizing the nozzles while the machine is stopped is disposed on the right side of the apparatus main body as shown in FIG. The right side plate is positioned and fixed with screws. A capping mechanism stepping motor (not shown) is arranged in the frame 110. When the stepping motor is rotated forward, the suction cap 71 and the moisture retaining cap 72 perform capping and decapping operations via a gear and a cam (not shown). Moreover, when a stepping motor for a capping mechanism (not shown) is rotated in the reverse direction, the pump is driven by a tubing pump.

  A wiping mechanism for cleaning the nozzle surface 7a of the head 7 is provided in the frame 110 as shown in FIG. This wiping mechanism guides the movement of the wiper blade 101 having water repellency and moving while contacting the nozzle surface 7a, the holder portion 102 and the slider 103, the gear 104, the stepping motor 105, and the slider 103 holding the wiper blade 101. A guide rail 106 and the like are included. A rack portion is formed on the slider 103, and a gear 104 connected to the output shaft of the stepping motor 105 is engaged with the slider 103. The holder unit 102 and the slider 103 may be integrated or separate. As shown in FIG. 3, when the slider 103 moves downward, the wiper blade 101 removes foreign matters such as ink and paper dust adhering to the nozzle surface 7a. In this embodiment, the rack and pinion mechanism is used as the vertical movement means of the wiper blade 101, but the vertical movement means is not limited to this.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the first embodiment of the present invention, and sequentially shows the operation during wiping while shifting from the left to the right. In FIG. 4, a contamination preventing member 8 made of a material having water repellency is movably disposed below the head 7 on the downstream side in the wiping direction of the wiper blade 101. When the wiping operation is started, the contamination preventing member 8 occupying a position away from the lower surface of the head 7 rises and occupies a position where the head 7 contacts the lower surface which is the downstream end surface in the wiping direction by the wiper blade 101. One surface of the contamination preventing member 8 positioned in parallel with the nozzle surface 7a forms substantially the same plane as the nozzle surface 7a. In this state, the wiper blade 101 wipes the nozzle surface 7a.

  With the above-described configuration, the ink removed from the nozzle surface 7a by the wiper blade 101 moves onto the anti-contamination member 8, and the ink removed from the nozzle surface 7a is prevented from going around the lower surface of the head 7. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of malfunctions such as contamination and transfer of ink to the paper 12. Although it is desirable that one surface of the contamination preventing member 8 is flush with the nozzle surface 7 a, one surface of the contamination preventing member 8 is smooth by the wiper blade 101 from the viewpoint of preventing the ink from entering the lower surface of the head 7. It is desirable that it is located on the side that protrudes toward the wiper blade 101 from the nozzle surface 7a within a range that does not interfere with the wiping operation.

  FIG. 5 shows a specific example of the configuration shown in FIG. 4, and shows a configuration in which a contamination preventing member 8 is added to the wiping mechanism shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, the wiper blade 101 is supported by a slider 103, and the contamination prevention member 8 is attached to a support plate 107 that supports the slider 103 so as to be movable up and down via a lever member 108 as a moving means. Yes. The lever member 108 has two pins 109. One pin 109 is supported by the support plate 107 and the other pin is supported by a non-illustrated immovable member. As a result, the lever member 108 rotates around the pin 109. It is configured to move freely. The support plate 107 is provided with a stopper (not shown) that prohibits the contamination prevention member 8 from moving downward when the lever member 108 rotates counterclockwise from the state shown in FIG. .

  With the above-described configuration, when the slider 103 moves downward as shown in FIG. 6 and the wiping operation of the nozzle surface 7a by the wiper blade 101 is started, one side of the bent lever member 108 moves downward. Pushed by the slider 103, the lever member 108 rotates clockwise in FIG. 5 as the slider 103 moves, and the contamination prevention member 8 contacts the lower surface of the head 7. At this time, the contamination preventing member 8 is positioned so that one surface of the contamination preventing member 8 positioned in parallel with the nozzle surface 7a forms substantially the same plane as the nozzle surface 7a. After that, the slider 103 continues to descend, and the wiper blade 101 wipes the nozzle surface 7a. However, since the contamination prevention member 8 is positioned in contact with the lower surface of the head 7, the removed ink is the contamination prevention member. 8 and the ink is prevented from flowing around the lower surface of the head 7. When the slider 103 moves upward after completion of the wiping operation, the lever member 108 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 5 due to its own weight, and the contamination prevention member 8 moves to the retracted position shown in FIG. Moving.

  In the above example, the contamination preventing member 8 is moved in accordance with the wiping operation of the wiper blade 101. However, the contamination preventing member 8 may be moved by an actuator such as a motor, a cylinder, or a solenoid. As a result, the contamination preventing member 8 can be brought into contact with the lower surface of the head 7 from the beginning of the wiping operation, and ink can be further prevented from entering the lower surface of the head 7.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the contamination preventing member 8 of the present invention is provided to prevent the ink from flowing around the lower surface of the head 7, it can be in close contact with the lower surface of the head 7 during movement as shown in FIG. is necessary. However, in reality, there is a possibility that a gap may be formed between the lower surface of the head 7 during movement as shown in FIG. 7B due to manufacturing tolerances and variations. When the wiping operation is performed in this state, the removed ink is pushed in between the lower surface of the head 7 and the contamination prevention member 8 as shown in FIG. 7C, and as a result, the ink adheres to the lower surface of the head 7. End up. Therefore, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7 (d), the anti-contamination member 8 is made of rubber or the like on the two surfaces around the main body 8a made of metal or hard resin and in contact with the carriage 3 and the head 7. The one coated with the elastic body 8b is used. Then, when the contamination preventing member 8 moves to a position where it comes into contact with the lower surface of the head 7, the elastic body 8 b overlaps with the carriage 3 and the head 7 in a reliable manner. With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 7 (e), the elastic body 8 b is crushed when the anti-contamination member 8 is moved and is in close contact with the lower surface of the carriage 3 and the head 7, thereby reliably preventing ink from entering the lower surface of the head 7. can do.

  In the state shown in FIG. 7 (e), the elastic body 8b may be crushed so that a part of the elastic body 8b swells toward the nozzle surface 7a and the main body 8a. The contamination preventing member 8 including the swelled elastic body 8b is set so as not to hinder the wiping operation of the surface 7a, and is configured to form substantially the same plane as the nozzle surface 7a.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 7D, the two surfaces of the main body 8a are covered with the elastic body 8b. However, if at least one surface contacting the lower surface of the head 7 is covered, the same effect can be obtained. it can. In addition, if the fixing to the member that supports the contamination prevention member 8 is ensured, a configuration in which the entire main body 8a is covered with the elastic body 8b, a configuration in which the main body 8a itself is an elastic body, etc. may be adopted. Good.

  FIG. 8 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In the configuration of the present invention, if the amount of ink adhering to the nozzle surface 7a is small, the wiping operation can be finished without ink adhering to the wiper blade 101 after wiping as shown in FIG. If the amount of ink adhering to the nozzle surface 7a is large, the wiping operation may be completed with the ink remaining on the lower surface of the wiper blade 101 as shown in FIG. 8B. In this state, the ink falls from the wiper blade 101, or the ink is scattered when the wiper blade 101 is lifted, resulting in internal contamination. Therefore, in the third embodiment, the anti-contamination member 8 whose water repellency is lower than that of the wiper blade 101 is used. As a result, even if the amount of ink adhering to the nozzle surface 7a is large, the ink removed from the nozzle surface 7a by the wiper blade 101 is attracted to the contamination prevention member 8, and the ink remains on the wiper blade 101. This can be prevented.

  FIG. 9 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment described above, the lever member 108 supporting the pollution prevention member 8 is rotated by the weight of the pollution prevention member 8 when the slider 103 is raised, and thereby the pollution prevention member 8 is moved to the retracted position. Although the configuration is shown, there is a possibility that the slidability of the pin 109 deteriorates with time and does not return to the retracted position or jumps out to the scanning region of the carriage 3 due to vibration during printing. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, a torsion coil spring 112 as an urging means is arranged between the support plate 107 and the pin 109, and the lever member 108 is disposed in the direction in which the contamination preventing member 8 occupies the retracted position, that is, FIG. Is biased in a direction to rotate counterclockwise. In this example, the lever member 108 is biased by the torsion coil spring 112. However, the lever member 108 is biased by a coil spring, a leaf spring, or an actuator such as a motor, cylinder, or solenoid with a control structure. Also good. Thereby, the lever member 108 and the contamination preventing member 8 can be reliably held at the retracted position, and the occurrence of the above-described problems can be prevented.

  FIG. 10 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the fifth embodiment, a wiper blade 111 for wiping the contamination prevention member 8 is provided below the wiper blade 101 on the slider 103, and the wiping operation is performed by the two wiper blades 101 and 111. With this configuration, the wiping operation of the contamination preventing member 8 can be performed by the wiper blade 111 when the nozzle surface 7a is wiped by the wiper blade 101, and the contamination preventing member 8 can be periodically cleaned without providing a special opportunity. it can. In the configuration shown in FIG. 10, the wiper blade 111 wipes both the nozzle surface 7 a and the contamination prevention member 8. However, depending on the arrangement of the wiper blade 111, the nozzle surface 7 a is wiped twice and the nozzle surface 7 a The wiping property can be improved, or the adhered ink can be further removed by wiping only the contamination preventing member 8.

  In each of the embodiments described above, examples of vertical wiping in which wiping is performed by moving the wiper blades 101 and 111 up and down with respect to the nozzle surface 7a have been shown. However, as shown in FIG. Even in the case of lateral wiping in which wiping is performed by moving the left and right 111, there is a problem that ink remains in the right end, which is the downstream end of the wiper blades 101 and 111 in the wiping direction. In particular, in the case of horizontal wiping, there is a possibility that the ink may remain on the ink ejection surface side and grow, so that the paper surface may be soiled during printing. The present invention can also be applied to such horizontal wiping.

  In each of the above embodiments, the structure in which the contamination preventing member 8 is fixed to the lever member 108 is shown. However, when the contamination preventing member 8 is made detachable from the lever member 108 and the contamination preventing member is damaged, deteriorated, or damaged. For example, the contamination preventing member 8 may be replaceable.

  FIG. 12 shows an outline of the wiping operation in the present invention, and FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of the wiping operation. When the wiping operation is started from the initial state indicated by symbol A in FIG. 12, the contamination preventing member 8 contacts the lower surface of the head 7 as indicated by symbol B (ST01). The contact operation of the contamination prevention member 8 may be performed during wiping of the nozzle surface 7a by the wiper blade 101 in order to shorten the operation time. However, in order to prevent ink from dripping from the nozzle surface 7a, the ink does not drip. It is desirable that the contact is made in accordance with the timing, or the wiper blade 101 is brought into contact before reaching the nozzle surface 7a as in the present embodiment.

  Thereafter, the wiping operation (ST02) of the nozzle surface 7a indicated by reference numeral C in FIG. 12 and the wiping operation (¥ ST03) of the contamination prevention member 8 indicated by reference numeral D in FIG. 12 are continuously performed, and the wiper blade 101 is prevented from contamination. Until the separation from the member 8 (ST04), the contamination prevention member 8 is kept in contact with the lower surface of the head 7, as indicated by the symbol E in FIG. In order to shorten the wiping operation time, the contamination prevention member 8 may be detached from the head 7 when the wiper blade 101 reaches the contamination prevention member 8, but the wiper blade 101 may be separated from the head 7 as indicated by reference numeral F in FIG. In order to detach the adhered ink, it is desirable that the contamination preventing member 8 is detached from the lower surface of the head 7 after the wiper blade 101 is separated from the contamination preventing member 8 (ST05).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printer 7 Head 7a Nozzle surface 8 Contamination prevention member 8b Elastic body 101,111 Wiper (wiper blade)
108 Moving means (lever member)
112 Biasing means (torsion coil spring)

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-229132 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-214785

Claims (9)

The nozzle surface includes a wiper that is arranged substantially vertically and can contact a nozzle surface of a head that ejects ink droplets in a substantially horizontal direction, and performs a wiping operation that moves the wiper in contact with the nozzle surface. In the recording head cleaning device for cleaning
A contamination preventing member movably disposed downstream of the head in the wiper movement direction; a first position where the contamination prevention member contacts the downstream end surface of the head in the wiper movement direction; and the end surface of the head. Moving means for selectively moving to a second position that is spaced apart, and during the wiping operation of the nozzle surface by the wiper, the moving means moves the contamination prevention member to the first position, A recording head cleaning apparatus, wherein one surface of the contamination prevention member forms substantially the same plane as the nozzle surface when occupied. The recording head cleaning device according to claim 1,
The recording head cleaning apparatus, wherein the moving means moves the anti-contamination member following the wiping operation of the wiper. The recording head cleaning device according to claim 1,
The recording head cleaning apparatus, wherein the moving unit moves the contamination prevention member independently of the wiper. The recording head cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The recording head cleaning apparatus, wherein at least a part of the contamination prevention member is made of an elastic body. The recording head cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The recording head cleaning apparatus, wherein both the wiper and the contamination preventing member have water repellency, and the contamination preventing member has a lower water repellency than the wiper. The recording head cleaning device according to claim 1,
A recording head cleaning apparatus, comprising: an urging unit that urges the contamination prevention member toward the second position. In the recording head cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The recording head cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein when the contamination prevention member occupies the first position, the one surface of the contamination prevention member is wiped by the wiper after the wiping operation of the nozzle surface. In the recording head cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
A recording head cleaning apparatus, wherein the contamination prevention member is replaceable.   An image forming apparatus comprising the cleaning device according to claim 1.

Images