JP2017124582A - Liquid jetting device and method for controlling ionizer in liquid jetting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid jetting device that can readily conduct proper ion irradiation by an ionizer, and to provide a method for controlling an ionizer in a liquid jetting device.SOLUTION: An ink-jet-type printer includes: a liquid jetting head 27 having a nozzle formation surface where a nozzle 26 for jetting ink is formed and capable of jetting ink with respect to a medium 13 from the nozzle 26; the ionizer 180; a charging amount measurement part for measuring a charging amount of the ink jetted from the liquid jetting head 27; and a control part for controlling the ionizer 180 based on the charging amount of the ink measured by the charging amount measurement part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus such as an ink jet printer and an ionizer control method in the liquid ejecting apparatus.

  In general, an ink jet printer that prints paper by ejecting ink from a plurality of nozzles formed on a nozzle plate (nozzle forming surface) of a recording head is known as a kind of liquid ejecting apparatus. In such a printer, when the nozzle plate is charged, the ink is charged with a polarity different from that of the nozzle plate.

  For this reason, when the paper is charged with the same polarity as the ink, the paper and the ink repel each other due to the electrostatic repulsive force, so that the ink ejected from the nozzle to the paper is repelled by the electrostatic repulsive force. There arises a problem that it adheres to the nozzle plate without landing on the nozzle plate. This problem can be solved by adjusting the surface potential of the nozzle plate to an appropriate value.

  Conventionally, as a printer that can vary the surface potential of the nozzle plate, for example, a printer disclosed in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. In such a printer, the surface potential of the nozzle plate is measured by a surface potential sensor, and the surface potential of the nozzle plate is set in advance by irradiating the nozzle plate with ions from an ion irradiation unit (ionizer) based on the measurement result. The charge amount of the nozzle plate is adjusted by approaching (appropriate value).

JP 2004-155154 A

  By the way, in the printer as described above, since the ion irradiation from the ion irradiation unit is controlled based on the measurement result obtained by measuring the surface potential of the nozzle plate by the surface potential sensor, for example, foreign matter or ink mist adheres to the nozzle plate. In this case, the variation in the measured value of the surface potential of the nozzle plate increases. For this reason, there exists a problem that it becomes difficult to perform appropriate ion irradiation by an ion irradiation unit.

  These problems are not limited to ink jet printers that perform printing by ejecting ink from nozzles, but include an ion irradiation unit that performs ion irradiation on the nozzle plate based on the measurement result when the surface potential of the nozzle plate is measured. The liquid ejecting apparatuses are generally common.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such problems existing in the prior art. An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus and an ionizer control method in the liquid ejecting apparatus that can easily perform appropriate ion irradiation by the ionizer.

Hereinafter, means for solving the above-described problems and the effects thereof will be described.
A liquid ejecting apparatus that solves the above-described problem has a nozzle forming surface on which a nozzle that ejects liquid is formed, a liquid ejecting unit that can eject the liquid from the nozzle to a medium, an ionizer, and the liquid ejecting A charge amount measurement unit that measures the charge amount of the liquid ejected from the unit, and a control unit that controls the ionizer based on the charge amount of the liquid measured by the charge amount measurement unit.

  According to this configuration, the measured value of the charge amount of the liquid measured by the charge amount measuring unit has a smaller variation than the measured value when the charge amount of the nozzle forming surface is measured. Since the ionizer is controlled based on the measured value of the charge amount of the liquid measured by the charge amount measuring unit, it is possible to easily perform appropriate ion irradiation by the ionizer.

  The liquid ejecting apparatus includes a flushing receptor that receives the liquid ejected in a flushing operation of ejecting the liquid from the nozzle as a maintenance operation of the liquid ejecting unit, and the charge amount measuring unit includes the flushing receptor It is preferable to measure the charge amount of the liquid received.

According to this configuration, the charge amount of the liquid can be measured using the maintenance unit that maintains the liquid ejecting unit.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the control unit controls the ionizer to eject ions having the same polarity as the liquid charging polarity measured by the charge amount measuring unit toward the nozzle forming surface. .

According to this configuration, it is possible to perform charge removal on the nozzle forming surface charged to a polarity opposite to the charged polarity of the ejected liquid.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the control unit controls the ionizer to repeatedly eject the ions until the charge amount of the liquid measured by the charge amount measuring unit is equal to or less than a set magnitude. It is preferable.

According to this configuration, the charge amount on the nozzle forming surface can be controlled appropriately.
In the liquid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the liquid is ejected onto the medium after the ions are ejected.

According to this configuration, since the liquid can be ejected onto the medium in a state where the degree of charging of the nozzle forming surface is reduced, charging of the medium and generation of mist can be suppressed.
An ionizer control method in a liquid ejecting apparatus that solves the above problems includes a liquid ejecting unit that can eject liquid from a nozzle, an ionizer, and a charge amount measuring unit that measures the charge amount of the liquid ejected from the liquid ejecting unit. And controlling the characteristics of ions generated from the ionizer based on the charge amount of the liquid measured by the charge amount measuring unit.

  According to this configuration, the measured value of the charge amount of the liquid measured by the charge amount measuring unit has a smaller variation than the measured value when the charge amount of the nozzle forming surface is measured. And since the characteristic of the ion generated from an ionizer is controlled based on the measured value of the charge amount of the liquid measured by the charge amount measuring unit, appropriate ion irradiation by the ionizer can be easily performed.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an ink jet printer according to an embodiment. FIG. The plane schematic diagram which shows the positional relationship of a support stand and a maintenance part. The perspective view of a head unit. The schematic diagram of a nozzle surface. The cross-sectional schematic diagram of FIG. The perspective view of a flushing unit. The disassembled perspective view of a flushing unit. Sectional drawing of FIG. The side surface schematic diagram of a wiper unit. The perspective view which shows the principal part of FIG. The cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows 2nd contact operation | movement. The side surface schematic diagram which shows a state when wiping a nozzle surface. The schematic diagram which shows a state when the state when wiping a nozzle surface is seen from the nozzle surface side. The cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows 1st contact operation | movement.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a liquid ejecting apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, an ink jet printer 11 as an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus includes a transport unit 14 that transports a medium 13 such as paper supported by a support base 12 in the transport direction Y along the surface of the support base 12. And a printing unit 15 that performs printing by ejecting ink as an example of a liquid onto the conveyed medium 13.

  The support base 12, the transport unit 14, and the printing unit 15 are assembled to a printer main body 16 that includes a housing, a frame, and the like. In the inkjet printer 11, the support base 12 extends in the width direction of the medium 13 (a direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 1). A cover 17 is attached to the printer body 16 so as to be openable and closable.

  The transport unit 14 is disposed on the downstream side of the transport roller pair 19 in the transport direction Y and supports the medium 13 by being disposed on the downstream side of the transport roller pair 19 in the transport direction Y. And a guide plate 20 for guiding the vehicle. The transport unit 14 rotates along with the surface of the support base 12 and the surface of the guide plate 20 by rotating the pair of transport rollers 18 and 19 while driving the transport motor (not shown) and sandwiching the medium 13. 13 is conveyed in the conveyance direction Y.

  The printing unit 15 is guided by guide shafts 22 and 23 that extend along a scanning direction X that is a width direction of the medium 13 that is orthogonal to (intersects) the conveyance direction Y of the medium 13, and the guide shafts 22 and 23. And a carriage 25 that can reciprocate in the scanning direction X. The carriage 25 reciprocates in the scanning direction X as the carriage motor 24 (see FIG. 2) is driven.

  At least one (two in this embodiment) liquid ejecting heads 27 as an example of a liquid ejecting section having a nozzle 26 for ejecting ink are attached to the lower end of the carriage 25. That is, the liquid ejecting head 27 is attached to the carriage 25 such that the lower surface of the liquid ejecting head 27 faces the support base 12 at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction Z. Together with the carriage 25 as the carriage motor 24 (see FIG. 2) is driven. Reciprocates in the scanning direction X. The liquid ejecting heads 27 are arranged so as to be separated from each other by a predetermined distance in the scanning direction X and shifted by a predetermined distance in the transport direction Y.

  On the other hand, a part of a supply mechanism 31 that supplies ink from the ink cartridge 30 to the liquid ejecting head 27 is attached to the upper side of the carriage 25. The supply mechanism 31 causes the ink to flow along the supply direction A from the upstream side that is the ink cartridge 30 side toward the downstream side that is the liquid ejecting head 27 side. The ink cartridge 30 and the supply mechanism 31 are provided in at least one set (5 sets in the present embodiment) for each type of ink.

  The five ink cartridges 30 are detachably attached to a plurality (five in the present embodiment) of attachment parts 32, and contain different colors (types) of ink. As an example, cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), black (K), and white (W) inks are stored in each ink cartridge 30. By ejecting ink supplied from each ink cartridge 30 from the liquid ejecting head 27, color printing or the like on the medium 13 is performed. As an example, in the case of the dark medium 13, after white printing (background printing) is performed, color printing is performed thereon.

  The supply mechanism 31 includes a supply path 33 that supplies ink from the ink cartridge 30 to the liquid ejecting head 27. In the supply path 33, in order from the upstream side, the supply pump 34 that flows ink in the supply direction A, the filter unit 35 that captures bubbles and foreign matters in the ink, and the flow of ink flowing through the supply path 33 are changed to supply ink. A static mixer 36 for stirring, a liquid storage chamber 37 for storing ink, and a pressure adjusting unit 38 for adjusting the pressure of the ink are provided.

  The supply pump 34 includes a diaphragm pump 40 having a variable pump chamber volume, a suction valve 41 disposed upstream of the diaphragm pump 40, and a discharge valve 42 disposed downstream of the diaphragm pump 40. doing. The suction valve 41 and the discharge valve 42 are configured by a one-way valve that allows the ink flow to the downstream side and inhibits the ink flow to the upstream side.

  Therefore, the supply pump 34 sucks ink from the ink cartridge 30 side through the suction valve 41 as the volume of the pump chamber of the diaphragm pump 40 increases, and as the volume of the pump chamber decreases. Ink is ejected to the liquid ejecting head 27 via the ejection valve 42. The filter unit 35 is disposed at a position corresponding to the cover 17 of the printer main body 16 and is detachably attached to the supply path 33. The filter unit 35 can be replaced by opening the cover 17.

  The ink jet printer 11 includes a control unit 39 that controls the entire ink jet printer 11 in an integrated manner. The control unit 39 controls driving of the conveyance motor (not shown), the carriage motor 24 (see FIG. 2), the supply pump 34, and the like that drive the conveyance roller pairs 18 and 19, and each nozzle 26 of the liquid ejecting head 27. Perform ink ejection control. The liquid ejecting head 27 prints by ejecting ink onto the medium 13 conveyed on the support 12 from each nozzle 26 while reciprocating in the scanning direction X together with the carriage 25 as the carriage motor 24 is driven. I do.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a maintenance unit 43 for performing maintenance of the liquid ejecting head 27 is provided at a position adjacent to one end of the support base 12 in the scanning direction X. On the other hand, an ionizer 180 capable of individually irradiating positive ions and negative ions is disposed at a position adjacent to the other end of the support 12 in the scanning direction X. The ionizer 180 is controlled by the control unit 39 (see FIG. 1).

  In the present embodiment, a region where the liquid ejecting head 27 ejects ink onto the medium 13 for printing and a region where the medium 13 may be transported is a transport region PA. In this case, the maintenance unit 43 and the ionizer 180 are disposed within the scanning range of the carriage 25 in the scanning direction X and outside the conveyance area PA.

  The maintenance unit 43 includes a flushing unit 45, a wiper unit 46, and two bottomed square box-shaped cap portions 47 that are open at the upper end, which are arranged in order from the position close to the conveyance area PA in the scanning direction X. The cap unit 48 is provided. The carriage 25 and the liquid ejecting head 27 stand by at the home position HP where the cap unit 48 is disposed when printing is not performed or when the power is turned off. In other words, the liquid ejecting head 27 is movable between the transport area PA and the home position HP in the scanning direction X that is orthogonal to (intersects) the transport direction Y.

  When the two liquid ejecting heads 27 are moved to the home position HP, the two cap portions 47 face the two liquid ejecting heads 27 in the vertical direction. Each cap 47 is moved up and down between a position where it can contact each liquid ejecting head 27 and a position away from each liquid ejecting head 27 by driving the capping motor 49.

  Each cap portion 47 is in contact with each liquid ejecting head 27 so as to surround the plurality of nozzles 26, thereby performing capping to form a closed space with each liquid ejecting head 27, thereby drying the ink in each nozzle 26. Suppress. Each liquid ejecting head 27 is capped by each cap portion 47 at the home position HP when printing is not performed.

  The inside of each cap part 47 can be sucked by the suction pump 50 via a suction tube (not shown) having one end connected to each cap part 47. Each liquid ejecting head 27 sucks the inside of each cap portion 47 (closed space) by driving the suction pump 50 in a state where it is capped by each cap portion 47 at the home position HP, whereby each nozzle 26 Thus, so-called head cleaning is performed in which the thickened ink, bubbles, and the like in each liquid ejecting head 27 are discharged into each cap portion 47. The discharged matter in each cap 47 is discharged to a waste ink tank (not shown). The capping motor 49 and the suction pump 50 are driven and controlled by the control unit 39 (see FIG. 1).

  The wiper unit 46 is in the shape of a square box with a bottom that has an open upper end on which a wiper cassette 52 is mounted, which is in contact with the lower surface of the liquid jet head 27 and can absorb ink, and on which the wiper cassette 52 is detachably mounted. Wiper holder 53. The wiper unit 46 is guided by the pair of rail portions 54 so as to be capable of reciprocating along the transport direction Y.

  Further, the flushing unit 45 is ejected when performing a so-called flushing operation in which ink droplets are ejected from each nozzle 26 regardless of printing, as a maintenance operation for preventing or eliminating clogging of each nozzle 26 and the like. Receiving flushing ink. The flushing unit 45 is disposed so as to be positioned below the left liquid ejecting head 27 in FIG. 2 when the right liquid ejecting head 27 in FIG. 2 is positioned above the wiper unit 46.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the head unit 55 is attached to the lower surface portion of the carriage 25, and includes a bracket portion 56 for attachment to the carriage 25, and a rectangular parallelepiped liquid ejecting head 27 protruding downward from the bracket portion 56. It has. The liquid ejecting head 27 includes a rectangular parallelepiped flow path forming portion 57 that protrudes downward from the bracket portion 56, and a rectangular plate-shaped head main body 58 that is fixed to the lower side of the flow path forming portion 57. A plurality of rows (for example, 10 rows) of nozzle rows 59 are formed on the lower surface of the head main body 58 in FIG.

  Further, on the lower surface side of the head main body 58, a plate-shaped cover member 60 having a plurality of (for example, five) through holes 60a is opened to each nozzle 26 (see FIG. 4) constituting the nozzle row 59. It is attached so as to cover a part of the formed nozzle formation surface 61 (lower surface in this example). The plurality of nozzle rows 59 are exposed by a predetermined number of rows (two rows as an example) in one through hole 60a.

  In this example, the area exposed by the through hole 60 a in the nozzle forming surface 61 is the nozzle peripheral area 62. That is, the surface of the liquid ejecting head 27 having the nozzle 26 is covered with the cover member 60 having a through hole 60 a that exposes the nozzle peripheral region 62 in a portion corresponding to the nozzle peripheral region 62. The nozzle peripheral area 62 includes an opening area of each nozzle 26 (see FIG. 4).

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cover member 60 covers the portion other than the nozzle peripheral region 62 exposed by the through hole 60 a in the nozzle forming surface 61, and the liquid ejecting head has a fixing structure such as a latch. 27 is fixed. As shown in FIG. 3, the entire bottom surface of the liquid ejecting head 27 is a nozzle surface 63 that is a wiping target of the wiper unit 46. The nozzle surface 63 is a nozzle peripheral region 62 (that is, a region in the through-hole 60 a) and a non-nozzle peripheral region other than the nozzle peripheral region 62. In the example, a protruding surface 64 protruding by 0.1 mm) is provided.

  Therefore, a step 65 exists between the nozzle peripheral region 62 and the protruding surface 64 (non-nozzle peripheral region). That is, the nozzle surface 63 is constituted by a concave / convex surface that becomes a concave portion in the nozzle peripheral region 62 and a convex portion in the protruding surface 64 portion. The cover member 60 is made of, for example, a metal (for example, stainless steel).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the nozzle row 59 includes a large number (for example, 180 or 360) of nozzles 26 arranged at a constant pitch along the transport direction Y. Each nozzle row 59 ejects one color ink corresponding to the ink color of the ink cartridge 30 (see FIG. 1). Of course, inks of colors other than the four colors of CMYK and white (W) may be ejected. For example, inks of colors such as light magenta, light cyan, light yellow, gray, and orange may be ejected. Further, the number of colors of the liquid ejecting head 27 may be four colors of CMYK, three colors of CMY, one color of black, or the like. Further, an unused nozzle row in which ink is not ejected may exist in the plurality of nozzle rows 59.

  The nozzle forming surface 61 is subjected to a liquid repellent treatment (ink repellent treatment) that easily repels ink, and a liquid repellent film 66 (ink repellent film) is formed on the surface. The ink used in the present embodiment is a water-based ink using water as a main solvent or a non-aqueous ink using an organic solvent as a main solvent, and a large number of pigment particles are dispersed in a solvent that is a dispersion medium. .

  The liquid repellent film 66 may be composed of, for example, a thin film underlayer mainly composed of a polyorganosiloxane containing an alkyl group and a liquid repellent film layer made of a metal alkoxide having a long-chain polymer group containing fluorine. The liquid repellent film 66 is gradually worn by repeated wiping on the nozzle forming surface 61, and when the liquid repellent film 66 is worn more than a certain level, its liquid repellency is lowered. The liquid repellent film 66 may be a liquid repellent coating film or a liquid repellent monomolecular film, and the film thickness and the liquid repellent treatment method can be arbitrarily selected.

  In a state where the liquid repellency of the liquid repellent film 66 is lowered, the wetting angle (contact angle) of the liquid such as ink mist with respect to the nozzle peripheral region 62 becomes small. For this reason, the plurality of ink mists adhering to the nozzle peripheral region 62 spreads out and tends to grow into one relatively wide ink droplet (attached ink). For this reason, such adhering ink may exist in the vicinity of the nozzles 26, block the openings of some of the nozzles 26, and further flow into the nozzles 26.

  Further, when an ink droplet is ejected from the nozzle 26 in a state where the adhered ink exists in the vicinity of the nozzle 26, the ejected ink droplet comes into contact with the adhered ink and induces a flying bend of the ink droplet. Such flying bending of the ink droplet causes the landing position of the ink droplet on the medium 13 (that is, the print dot formation position) to deviate from the assumed position, and causes a decrease in print image quality. For this reason, it is necessary to suppress the abrasion of the liquid repellent film 66 due to wiping.

  On the other hand, the cover member 60 is manufactured by processing a metal plate into a predetermined shape, and the surface of the cover member 60 is not subjected to liquid repellent treatment. For this reason, the protruding surface 64 (non-nozzle peripheral area) has lower liquid repellency than the nozzle peripheral area 62. That is, the ink wetting angle with respect to the protruding surface 64 is smaller than the ink wetting angle with respect to the nozzle peripheral region 62.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the liquid ejecting head 27 has a plurality (for example, five in this embodiment) of recording heads 67 (unit heads) arranged in parallel at a constant pitch in the scanning direction X. The peripheral portion of the nozzle forming surface 61 that is the lower surface of the recording head 67 is covered by the cover member 60, and the nozzle peripheral region 62 including the nozzles 26 for two rows is exposed from the through hole 60 a drilled in the cover member 60. Yes.

  Each nozzle 26 communicates with each ink flow path 57a passing through the flow path forming section 57, and each ink flow path 57a protrudes upward from the upper surface of the flow path forming section 57 through a flow path (not shown). It communicates with 55a. Each supply pipe portion 55a communicates with a supply port of a pressure adjustment unit 38 (see FIG. 1) mounted on the carriage 25 via a flow path (not shown).

  Therefore, from each pressure adjusting unit 38 (see FIG. 1), the corresponding color ink is supplied to the nozzle 26 of the corresponding recording head 67 through each supply pipe portion 55a and each ink flow path 57a. The liquid ejecting head 27 may be configured by one head having three or more nozzle rows.

Next, the configuration of the flushing unit 45 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the flushing unit 45 has a rectangular shape corresponding to the nozzle forming surface 61 of the liquid ejecting head 27 and an upward opening 128 a, and a housing 128 whose overall shape is a rectangular parallelepiped shape. , A flushing receiver 129 having a liquid absorbing function that is detachably mounted on the casing 128 and a second receiving member 163.

  The flushing receiver 129 includes a receiving member 146 having an ink absorption function, and a rectangular frame body portion 145 a corresponding to the opening 128 a of the housing 128 and provided so as to surround the receiving member 146. A member holding portion 145 and a fixing member 147 that contacts the receiving member 146 assembled to the receiving member holding portion 145 and is fixed to the receiving member holding portion 145 are provided. The receiving member 146 is formed of a porous body of melamine resin as an example.

  The receiving member holding part 145 is made of a non-conductive synthetic resin material. As shown in FIG. 7, the receiving member holding portion 145 is formed with a receiving recess 148 capable of receiving a rectangular mat-shaped receiving member 146 that opens to the upper surface side (+ Z side). A beam member 149 that holds a receiving member 146 in parallel with the XY plane so as to face the nozzle forming surface 61 from the lower side (−Z side) is provided on the bottom surface of the housing recess 148. The beam member 149 has a through hole 149b formed at the center in the XY plane, and a plurality of ink dropping holes 149a having an opening area smaller than the through hole 149b is formed around the through hole 149b.

  From the side surface of the receiving member holding portion 145 on one side (left side in FIG. 7) in the longitudinal direction (Y direction) of the frame body portion 145a, the convex portions 150 paired in the short direction of the frame body portion 145a are in the longitudinal direction. It protrudes toward one side (mounting direction side to the housing 128). The convex portion 150 has a rectangular cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the protruding direction. And the lower surface of the convex part 150 is formed in the taper surface which makes the thickness of the convex part 150 thin, so that it goes to a front-end | tip.

  Further, an extending portion 145b extends to the + Y side from the side surface on the other side in the longitudinal direction of the frame body portion 145a (right side in FIG. 7). The extending portion 145 b faces the rear side wall 128 b of the housing 128 when the receiving member holding portion 145 is inserted and attached to the opening 128 a of the housing 128. The extending portion 145 b is formed with a grip portion 151 for gripping the receiving member holding portion 145 when the receiving member holding portion 145 is mounted in the opening 128 a of the housing 128.

  When the user holds the grip 151, the flushing receiver 129 with an ink absorbing function in which the receiving member 146 is integrally incorporated in the receiving member holding portion 145 is lowered downward when the user removes the housing 128. It can be easily displaced between the oblique posture and the horizontal posture.

  In addition, a hook portion 152 that is elastically deformable in the Y direction protrudes downward from the lower surface of the grip portion 151. Two locking portions 145c are provided at intervals in the Y direction on the inner surface of the frame body portion 145a on the + X side and the −X side. The locking portion 145c has a substantially triangular plate shape in which the amount protruding inward gradually increases toward the lower side (−Z side).

  The fixing member 147 is formed of a conductive material such as a stainless material. The fixing member 147 is formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape in plan view having an outer shape smaller than that of the housing recess 148 so as to be housed in the housing recess 148 in the receiving member holding portion 145. The fixing member 147 has a mesh portion 147a and a hook portion 147b. The net-like portion 147a is disposed in parallel to the XY plane on the + Z side with respect to the receiving member 146. The mesh portion 147a forms an attachment surface 170 (see FIG. 6) to which the ink ejected from the liquid ejecting head 27 adheres together with the receiving member 146 in the above-described flushing operation.

  The position of the attachment surface 170 (mesh portion 147a) in the Z direction is substantially the same as the position of the upper surface of the frame body portion 145a of the receiving member holding portion 145. That is, the distance between the nozzle forming surface 61 and the upper surface of the frame body portion 145a in the flushing operation is substantially the same as the distance between the nozzle forming surface 61 and the attachment surface 170. The position of the attachment surface 170 in the Z direction is more on the −Z side than the support surface (upper surface) of the medium 13 by the support base 12. That is, the distance between the nozzle formation surface 61 and the attachment surface 170 in the flushing operation is set to be larger than the distance between the nozzle formation surface 61 and the support base 12 when ink is ejected onto the medium 13.

  A plurality of hook portions 147b are provided so as to extend from the + X side end edge and the −X side end edge of the mesh portion 147a to the −Z side. Each hook part 147b can be elastically deformed in the X direction, and has a hole part 147c having a rectangular shape in front view penetrating in the X direction. The hole 147c is formed in a size that allows the locking portion 145c to be inserted at a position where the locking portion 145c of the frame body portion 145a is disposed.

  When the fixing member 147 is inserted into the receiving recess 148 in the receiving member holding part 145 from the + Z side, the tip part 147d located on the −Z side (lower side) of the hole 147c comes into contact with the locking part 145c. When the distal end portion 147d gets over the locking portion 145c, the locking portion 145c is inserted into the hole portion 147c by elastic restoring force. As a result, the upper surface of the tip portion 147d is locked to the lower surface of the locking portion 145c, and movement of the hook portion 147b to the + Z side is restricted. As a result, the fixing member 147 is fixed to the receiving member holding portion 145 in a state where the receiving member 146 is covered from the + Z side.

  One end of the electric wire 181 is electrically connected to a part of the fixing member 147, and the other end of the electric wire 181 is electrically grounded. An electrode plate 182 and a switch element 183 are provided in the middle of the electric wire 181. The switch element 183 is switched between an on state and an off state by the control unit 39 (see FIG. 1). That is, the control unit 39 (see FIG. 1) can switch the switch element 183 between the on state and the off state to place the fixing member 147 in a grounded state or a non-grounded state. .

  A surface potentiometer 184 that measures the potential of the electrode plate 182 in a non-contact manner is disposed near the electrode plate 182 so as to face the electrode plate 182. The surface potential meter 184 is electrically connected to the control unit 39 (see FIG. 1). The control unit 39 calculates the charge amount (charge amount) of the electrode plate 182 based on the potential of the electrode plate 182 measured by the surface potential meter 184.

  Then, the control unit 39 receives the flushing ink ejected in the flushing operation of ejecting the flushing ink from each nozzle 26 of the liquid ejecting head 27 (see FIG. 1) as the maintenance operation by the flushing receiver 129, and then the electrode plate 182. The charge amount of the flushing ink received by the flushing receiver 129 is grasped by calculating the charge amount.

  In this case, since the potential of the electrode plate 182 and the potential of the flushing ink attached to the fixing member 147 (flushing receptor 129) are the same, the charge amount of the electrode plate 182 and the fixing member 147 (flushing receptor 129) The amount of charge of the flushing ink adhering to each other is the same.

  In the present embodiment, a charge amount measuring unit that measures the charge amount of ink (flushing ink) ejected from each nozzle 26 of the liquid ejecting head 27 by the control unit 39, the surface potential meter 184, and the electrode plate 182 is provided. It is configured. The control unit 39 (see FIG. 1) controls the ionizer 180 (see FIG. 2) based on the charge amount of the ink (flushing ink) measured by the charge amount measuring unit.

  The casing 128 is made of a nonconductive material such as PBT (polybutylene terephthalate resin). The casing 128 has an ink receiving surface 130 for receiving ink dropped downward from the receiving member 146 of the flushing receiver 129 mounted in the opening 128a through the ink dropping port 149a of the receiving member holding portion 145. doing. The ink receiving surface 130 is formed in a slanted shape such that one side in the longitudinal direction of the casing 128 (left side in FIG. 7) is higher in the direction of gravity than the other side (right side in FIG. 7).

  In addition, a discharge port 133 is formed in the lower portion of the rear side wall 128b when the mounting direction when the flushing receiver 129 is mounted on the housing 128 is the front-rear direction (Y direction). The discharge port 133 is connected to the upstream end of a discharge tube 126 whose downstream end is connected to a waste ink tank (not shown). The discharge port 133 is formed at substantially the same height as the lower position on the oblique ink receiving surface 130. That is, the ink discharged to the ink receiving surface 130 is discharged from the discharge port 133 to the waste ink tank (not shown) through the discharge tube 126.

  A mounting wall portion 135 having a thick wall portion 135a having a thickness dimension in the Y direction larger than that of the front side wall 128c is extended vertically upward (+ Z side) above the front side wall 128c of the housing 128. Yes. The thick wall portion 135a of the mounting wall portion 135 has an interval substantially corresponding to the interval between the pair of convex portions 150 protruding from the frame body portion 145a of the receiving member holding portion 145 in the flushing receiver 129. They are spaced apart in the short direction.

  Further, the projection 150 on the flushing receiver 129 side is provided in the mounting direction (Y of the flushing receiver 129) at a portion of the mounting wall 135 that is a boundary between the lower end of the thick wall portion 135a and the upper end of the front side wall 128c. The hole 136 that can be inserted and removed in the direction) is formed so as to penetrate a rectangular hole 136.

  In the thick wall portion 135a of the mounting wall portion 135, a concave groove 137 that can be guided while sliding the convex portion 150 on the flushing receiver 129 side from the upper side of the hole 136 toward the lower hole 136 along the vertical direction. It is formed to extend. That is, the concave groove 137 is formed such that its lower end communicates with the hole 136 in the vertical direction from directly above.

  Furthermore, on the upper part of the rear side wall 128b located on the + Y side in the housing 128, the locking part 141 disposed in the center part in the X direction and the both sides in the X direction with the locking part 141 interposed therebetween, respectively. Protrusions 142 and 143 are provided. When the flushing receiver 129 is mounted in the opening 128a of the housing 128, the locking portion 141 elastically deforms and hooks the hook portion 152 on the flushing receiver 129 side in the Y direction (+ Y side). . The locking portion 141 has a rectangular cross-section perpendicular to the vertical direction, and the upper portion of the rear surface, which is the surface along the vertical direction, is formed on a tapered surface 141a that makes the locking portion 141 thinner toward the upper end. Yes.

  The second receiving member 163 protrudes and is held on the ink receiving surface 130 by the pressing member 164. The second receiving member 163 and the pressing member 164 protruding from the ink receiving surface 130 are inserted into a through hole 149b formed in the beam member 149 of the receiving member holding portion 145 when the flushing receiver 129 is attached to the housing 128. The upper end portion is inserted and formed so as to contact the lower surface of the receiving member 146.

  Further, the flushing receptor 129 is inserted into the hole 136 in an oblique state in which the convex portion 150 side (−Y side) is lowered with respect to the gripping portion 151 side (+ Y side), and the oblique posture state thereof. Is pivotally displaced with the engaging part of the hole 136 and the convex part 150 as a fulcrum so that the horizontal posture is achieved. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, in the flushing receiver 129, the hook portion 152 hanging from the rear portion of the frame body portion 145a is elastically deformed and locked to the locking portion 141 on the housing 128 side.

  At this time, in the hole 136, the projecting portion 150 is engaged between the upper and lower inner surfaces of the hole 136 from above and below. As a result, the flushing receiver 129 is attached to the casing 128 in a state where the flushing receiver 129 is correctly positioned in a horizontal posture within the opening 128 a of the casing 128. When the flushing receiver 129 is mounted in the opening 128 a of the housing 128, the upper end portion of the second receiving member 163 contacts the lower surface of the receiving member 146.

Next, the configuration of the wiper unit 46 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 9, the wiper unit 46 includes a wiper cassette 52 mounted with a cloth sheet 51 that contacts the nozzle surface 63 of the liquid ejecting head 27 and can absorb ink adhering to the nozzle surface 63. And a wiper holder 53 that is detachably mounted. As the cloth sheet 51 of the present embodiment, a sheet having a thickness of 0.34 mm to 0.41 mm is employed.

  The wiper unit 46 is guided along a pair of rail portions 54 via a guide portion 68 fixed to the lower portion thereof, and can reciprocate along the transport direction Y. On the printer main body 16 (see FIG. 1) side, an electric motor 69 serving as a power source and a power transmission mechanism 70 for transmitting the power of the electric motor 69 are provided.

  A rack and pinion mechanism 71 is provided on the side of the wiper unit 46. The rack and pinion mechanism 71 is fixed to the side surface of the wiper holder 53 so that the longitudinal direction of the wiper holder 53 coincides with the transport direction Y. The rack and pinion mechanism 71 meshes with the rack gear portion 71a and via the power transmission mechanism 70. And a pinion gear portion 71b that rotates with the transmitted power.

  When the electric motor 69 is driven to rotate forward, the pinion gear portion 71b rotates forward, and the wiper unit 46, together with the rack gear portion 71a, moves forward from the retracted position shown in FIG. 9 to the downstream side in the transport direction Y (leftward in FIG. 9). To do. When the electric motor 69 stopped after this forward movement is driven in reverse, the pinion gear portion 71b meshing with the rack gear portion 71a is reversely rotated, and the wiper unit 46 is moved backward in the transport direction Y (rightward in FIG. 9). To return to the retracted position shown in FIG.

  In the wiper cassette 52, the feeding shaft 72 and the winding shaft 73 are pivotally supported with a predetermined distance in the transport direction Y. An unused cloth sheet 51 is supported on the feeding shaft 72 in a wound state, and the cloth sheet 51 that has been used from the feeding shaft 72 is wound on the winding shaft 73. Supported. The unused cloth sheet 51 is impregnated in advance with a cleaning liquid (for example, water) for improving the wiping property on the nozzle surface 63. Of course, the cleaning liquid may be applied to the unused cloth sheet 51 before the nozzle surface 63 is wiped off.

  As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the cloth sheet 51 on the way from the feeding shaft 72 toward the winding shaft 73 is upward from a rectangular opening 52 a formed at the center of the upper surface of the wiper cassette 52. A part of the outer peripheral surface of the protruding pressing roller 74 is wound from above.

  The pressing roller 74 includes a round bar-shaped support shaft 75 and a plurality (six in this embodiment) of annular shapes as an example of convex portions formed on the peripheral surface of the support shaft 75 at equal intervals in the axial direction. And a plurality of (in the present embodiment, five) annular small-diameter portions having an outer diameter smaller than that of the large-diameter portions 76 formed between the large-diameter portions 76 on the peripheral surface of the support shaft 75. 77. Therefore, the peripheral surface of the pressing roller 74 is constituted by an uneven surface having a step. In this case, the difference in height from the circumferential surface of the support shaft 75 between each large-diameter portion 76 and each small-diameter portion 77 (step difference on the circumferential surface of the pressing roller 74) is 0.6 mm ± 0.1 mm in this embodiment. Is set to

  The support shaft 75 is made of a hard material such as metal or hard synthetic resin, for example, and each large diameter portion 76 and each small diameter portion 77 is made of an elastic material such as rubber. The large diameter portions 76 and the small diameter portions 77 are alternately arranged with no gap in the axial direction of the support shaft 75 and are integrally formed. The pressing roller 74 is urged upward by the spring 78 on the support shaft 75, and each large diameter portion 76 of the pressing roller 74 is in a state of pressing the cloth sheet 51 upward.

  Therefore, the pressing roller 74 can press the cloth sheet 51 from the side opposite to the side in contact with the nozzle surface 63 of the cloth sheet 51 to bring the cloth sheet 51 into contact with the nozzle surface 63. The width of the cloth sheet 51 in the scanning direction X (the axial direction of the support shaft 75) is slightly wider than the width of the nozzle surface 63 of the liquid jet head 27 in the scanning direction X. For this reason, it is possible to wipe the entire nozzle surface 63 with the cloth sheet 51. The cloth sheet 51 of the present embodiment employs a sheet that can absorb and hold 350% of the liquid (ink and cleaning liquid) by weight.

  In the state where the wiper unit 46 is in the forward movement end position, for example, the power transmission to the pinion gear portion 71b is interrupted by a clutch mechanism (not shown) in the power transmission mechanism 70, and the winding shaft 73 transmits power. It is connected to the mechanism 70 so that power can be transmitted. In this state, the take-up shaft 73 is rotated by the power transmitted from the electric motor 69 via the power transmission mechanism 70, and the unused cloth sheet 51 is fed from the feeding shaft 72 and is used. 51 is taken up by the take-up shaft 73.

  During this time, the carriage 25 (see FIG. 2) is retracted from the position where the nozzle surface 63 of the liquid ejecting head 27 is wiped by the wiper unit 46. Then, after the wiping operation by the wiper unit 46 is completed, when the electric motor 69 is driven in reverse, the wiper unit 46 moves backward and returns to the retracted position shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the dimension M of the large-diameter portion 76 in the direction intersecting the direction of relative movement with the liquid jet head 27 in the direction along the nozzle surface 63 in a state where the cloth sheet 51 is in contact with the nozzle surface 63 is It is shorter than the dimension L of the nozzle peripheral region 62 in the intersecting direction. That is, the dimension M of the large-diameter portion 76 in the scanning direction X, which is a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction Y, which is the direction in which the cloth sheet 51 moves when wiping the nozzle surface 63, is It is shorter than the dimension L.

  In this case, the dimension L of the nozzle peripheral region 62 in the scanning direction X is slightly longer than the sum of the dimension of the large diameter portion 76 in the scanning direction X and the dimension corresponding to twice the thickness of the cloth sheet 51. It is preferable. The dimension L of the nozzle peripheral region 62 in the scanning direction X, the dimension of the through hole 60a in the scanning direction X, and the dimension of the small diameter portion 77 of the pressing roller 74 in the scanning direction X are the same. In the present embodiment, the dimension L of the nozzle peripheral region 62 in the scanning direction X is set to 6.58 mm.

  Further, the size of the portion sandwiched between the nozzle peripheral regions 62 in the scanning direction X of the cover member 60, that is, the interval between the nozzle peripheral regions 62 in the scanning direction X is the same as the size M of the large diameter portion 76 in the scanning direction X. It has become. Therefore, the six large diameter portions 76 in the pressing roller 74 are arranged in the scanning direction X with an interval corresponding to the dimension L of the nozzle peripheral area 62 in the scanning direction X, and the five nozzle peripheral areas 62 have a large diameter in the scanning direction X. The portions 76 are arranged in the scanning direction X with an interval corresponding to the dimension M.

  With this configuration, by moving the liquid ejecting head 27 side in the scanning direction X and adjusting the position in the scanning direction X between the nozzle surface 63 and the large diameter portion 76 of the pressing roller 74, the pressing roller 74 in the cloth sheet 51 is adjusted. It is possible to selectively press (contact) the portion wound around the large-diameter portion 76 against the nozzle peripheral region 62 and the protruding surface 64 (non-nozzle peripheral region) of the nozzle surface 63. ing.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 14, the operation of bringing the cloth sheet 51 pressed by the large-diameter portion 76 of the pressing roller 74 into contact with the nozzle surface 63 at a position corresponding to the nozzle peripheral region 62 in the nozzle surface 63 is as follows. The first contact operation is performed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11, the cloth sheet 51 pressed by the large diameter portion 76 of the pressing roller 74 is applied to a non-nozzle peripheral region (projecting surface 64) that is a region other than the nozzle peripheral region 62 in the nozzle surface 63. The operation of contacting the nozzle surface 63 at the corresponding position is the second contact operation.

Next, the operation of the ink jet printer 11 will be described.
As an example, the ink jet printer 11 applied to the present embodiment records an image on the medium 13 using non-aqueous ink. In this specification, the “non-aqueous ink” is an ink having an organic solvent as a main solvent and water as a main solvent. Preferably, the content of water in the ink is 3% by mass or less, more preferably 1% by mass or less, further preferably less than 0.05% by mass, more preferably less than 0.01% by mass, and further More preferably, it means less than 0.005% by mass, and most preferably less than 0.001% by mass. Or it is good also as an ink which does not contain water substantially. “Substantially not containing” means not intentionally containing. The content of the organic solvent in the non-aqueous ink can be the remaining amount excluding the other components when the non-aqueous ink composition contains other components other than the solvent such as the color material and the resin. For example, it can be 70% by mass or more, further 80% by mass or more, and the upper limit of the content can be 100% by mass or less, and further 99% by mass or less.

Hereinafter, components included in the non-aqueous ink and components that can be included will be described in detail.
<Organic solvent>
The non-aqueous ink preferably contains glycol ethers as the organic solvent. Glycol ethers can control the wettability and penetration speed of the medium 13 to suppress unevenness in the recorded image. Examples of glycol ethers include alkylene glycol monoether and alkylene glycol diether. Glycol ethers can be used alone or in combination of two or more.

  Examples of the alkylene glycol monoether include ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, ethylene glycol monoethyl ether, ethylene glycol monoisopropyl ether, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylene glycol monohexyl ether, ethylene glycol monophenyl ether, diethylene glycol monomethyl ether, diethylene glycol monoethyl. Ether, diethylene glycol monobutyl ether, diethylene glycol monohexyl ether, triethylene glycol monomethyl ether, triethylene glycol monoethyl ether, triethylene glycol monobutyl ether, tetraethylene glycol monomethyl ether, tetraethylene glycol monoethyl ether, Tiger ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, propylene glycol monomethyl ether, propylene glycol monoethyl ether, dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether, dipropylene glycol monoethyl ether and the like.

  Examples of the alkylene glycol diether include ethylene glycol dimethyl ether, ethylene glycol diethyl ether, ethylene glycol dibutyl ether, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether, diethylene glycol diethyl ether, diethylene glycol ethyl methyl ether, diethylene glycol dibutyl ether, diethylene glycol butyl methyl ether, triethylene glycol dimethyl ether, triethylene glycol dimethyl ether, Ethylene glycol diethyl ether, triethylene glycol dibutyl ether, triethylene glycol butyl methyl ether, tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether, tetraethylene glycol diethyl ether, tetraethylene glycol dibutyl ether, propylene glycol di Chirueteru, propylene glycol diethyl ether, dipropylene glycol dimethyl ether, dipropylene glycol diethyl ether, and the like.

  The content of glycol ethers contained in the non-aqueous ink is preferably 10% by mass or more, and more preferably 20% by mass or more, based on the total mass (100% by mass) of the non-aqueous ink. Is more preferable, and it is still more preferable that it is 30 mass% or more. Further, the upper limit is preferably 95% by mass or less, more preferably 90% by mass or less, still more preferably 85% by mass or less, and further preferably 80% by mass or less, It is particularly preferably 75% by mass or less. When the content is 20% by mass or more, the wettability of droplets is improved, and a good image with excellent smoothness can be formed. Further, when the content of the glycol ether solvent is 95% by mass or less, there are cases where aggregation unevenness due to excessive wetting and spreading can be suppressed.

  The non-aqueous ink according to this embodiment preferably contains a lactone as the organic solvent. Lactone can dissolve a part of the recording surface (preferably a recording surface containing a vinyl chloride resin) and allow the non-aqueous ink to penetrate into the medium, thereby improving the adhesion of the non-aqueous ink to the medium. As used herein, “lactone” refers to a general term for cyclic compounds having an ester group (—CO—O—) in the ring. The lactone is not particularly limited as long as it is included in the above definition, but is preferably a lactone having 2 to 9 carbon atoms. Specific examples of such lactones include α-ethyl lactone, α-acetolactone, β-propiolactone, γ-butyrolactone, δ-valerolactone, ε-caprolactone, ζ-enantiolactone, η-caprolactone, γ-valerolactone, γ-heptalactone, γ-nonalactone, β-methyl-δ-valerolactone, 2-butyl-2-ethylpropiolactone, α, α-diethylpropiolactone, and the like. Of these, γ-butyrolactone is particularly preferred. The lactone illustrated above may be used individually by 1 type, and may be used in mixture of 2 or more types.

  When the lactone is contained, the content thereof is preferably 5% by mass or more, and more preferably 10% by mass or more with respect to the total mass of the non-aqueous ink. When the lactone content is 5% by mass or more, the abrasion resistance of the image tends to be further improved. The content is preferably 75% by mass or less, more preferably 40% by mass or less, and further preferably 30% by mass or less. When it is 75% by mass or less, the glossiness of the image tends to be improved.

<Other organic solvents>
The non-aqueous ink may contain esters, hydrocarbons, and alcohols in addition to or in place of the above organic solvents as other organic solvents other than those described above. Esters include methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, n-propyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, isobutyl acetate, isopentyl acetate, sec-butyl acetate, amyl acetate, methoxybutyl acetate, methyl lactate, ethyl lactate, butyl lactate , Methyl caprylate, ethylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate, ethylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate, propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate, propylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate, diethylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate, diethylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate, diethylene glycol monobutyl ether acetate, etc. .

  Examples of hydrocarbons include aliphatic hydrocarbons (eg, paraffin, isoparaffin), alicyclic hydrocarbons (eg, cyclohexane, cyclooctane, cyclodecane, etc.), aromatic hydrocarbons (eg, benzene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene, Tetralin and the like). As such hydrocarbons, commercially available products may be used, such as IP solvent 1016, IP solvent 1620, IP clean LX (all trade names made by Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd.), Isopar G, Isopar L, Isopar H, Isopar M, Exxsol D40, Exxsol D80, Exxsol D100, Exxsol D130, Exxsol D140 (all are trade names manufactured by Exxon), NS Clean 100, NS Clean 110, NS Clean 200, NS Clean 220 (all above) , JX Nippon Mining & Energy Co., Ltd.), Naphthezol 160, Naphthezol 200, Naphthezol 220 (all of these are brand names of JX Nippon Mining & Energy Co., Ltd.) and other aliphatic hydrocarbon solvents or alicyclic charcoal Examples thereof include hydrofluoric solvents and aromatic hydrocarbon solvents such as Solvesso 200 (trade name manufactured by Exxon).

  Examples of alcohols include methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 2-butanol, 3-pentanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-2-butanol, isoamyl alcohol, 3 -Methyl-2-butanol, 3-methoxy-3-methyl-1-butanol, 4-methyl-2pentanol, allyl alcohol, 1-hexanol, 1-heptanol, 2-heptanol, 3-heptanol and the like can be mentioned. One or two or more of the other organic solvents may be used, and the content of one or more of them is preferably 10% by mass or more, more preferably 30% by mass or more based on the total mass of the non-aqueous ink. More preferably, 50% by mass or more is further preferable, 90% by mass or less is preferable, and 80% by mass or less is more preferable.

<Resin>
The non-aqueous ink used in the present embodiment preferably contains a resin. The resin is a resin that forms a film and protects the image obtained by the non-aqueous ink, a resin that improves the adhesion of the ink film of the image, and a resin that adjusts the glossiness of the ink film of the image In addition, resin for improving the quality of the ink coating film of an image is mentioned. Of these, a resin having at least a function of forming a film and protecting an image obtained with a non-aqueous ink is preferable from the viewpoint of friction fastness of recorded matter, and this embodiment is particularly useful. The resin is sometimes called a fixing resin.

  Examples of the resin include (meth) acrylic resins (for example, poly (meth) acrylic acid, poly (meth) acrylic acid methyl ester, poly (meth) acrylic acid ethyl ester, (meth) acrylic acid- (meth) acrylic acid ester). Copolymer resins, styrene- (meth) acrylic copolymer resins, ethylene- (meth) acrylic acid copolymer resins, ethylene alkyl (meth) acrylate resins, ethylene- (meth) acrylic ester copolymer resins, etc.), vinyl chloride Resin (for example, polyvinyl chloride, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer resin, etc.), aliphatic polyester, aromatic polyester, polyurethane, epoxy resin, polyvinyl acetate, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin, polycarbonate, polyvinyl butyral, Polyvinyl alcohol, phenoxy resin, ethyl cellulose tree , Cellulose acetate propionate resin, cellulose acetate butyrate, nitrocellulose resin, polystyrene, vinyltoluene-α-methylstyrene copolymer resin, polyamide, polyimide, polysulfone resin, petroleum resin, chlorinated polypropylene, polyolefin, terpene Examples thereof include various synthetic rubbers such as resins, rosin-modified phenol resins, NBR, SBR, and MBR, and modified products thereof. These resins may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

  Among the above resins, it is preferable to use at least one of (meth) acrylic resin and vinyl chloride resin from the viewpoint of further improving the abrasion resistance of the image. (Meth) acrylic resin contains at least either (meth) acrylate or (meth) acrylic acid as a monomer component used during resin synthesis, and vinyl chloride resin as a monomer component used during resin synthesis. It contains at least vinyl chloride.

  Commercially available products may be used as the (meth) acrylic resin, for example, Acrypet MF (trade name, manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., acrylic resin), Sumipex LG (trade name, manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., acrylic resin) ), Paraloid B series (trade name, manufactured by Rohm and Haas, acrylic resin), Parapet G-1000P (trade name, manufactured by Kuraray Co., Ltd.), and the like. In the present specification, (meth) acrylic acid means both acrylic acid and methacrylic acid, and (meth) acrylate means both acrylate and methacrylate.

  Commercially available products may be used as the above-mentioned vinyl chloride resin, for example, Kane Vinyl S-400, HM515 (trade name, manufactured by Kaneka Corporation), Solvain C (trade name, Nisshin Chemical Co., Ltd.), etc. Can be mentioned.

  The resin contained in the non-aqueous ink may be any type of resin such as solid, solution, emulsion, etc., but is soluble in ink (resin dissolved in ink) Is preferably used.

  The content of the resin in terms of solid content is preferably 0.5% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less, and preferably 0.5% by mass or more and 6% by mass or less, with respect to the total mass of the non-aqueous ink. More preferably, the content is 0.5% by mass or more and 5% by mass or less. By setting the resin content to 0.5% by mass or more, the abrasion resistance of the image tends to be further improved. Further, by setting the resin content to 10% by mass or less, the viscosity of the non-aqueous ink can be easily set in a range suitable for inkjet recording.

<Color material>
The non-aqueous ink according to this embodiment may contain a color material. As the color material, a dye may be used, and pigments such as inorganic pigments and organic pigments may be used, but pigments are preferably used from the viewpoint of light resistance and the like. These coloring materials may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

  Examples of organic pigments include azo pigments (for example, azo lakes, insoluble azo pigments, condensed azo pigments, chelate azo pigments), polycyclic pigments (phthalocyanine pigments, perylene and perylene pigments, anthraquinone pigments, quinacridone pigments, dioxazine pigments, Thioindigo pigments, isoindolinone pigments, quinophthalone pigments, etc.), dye lakes (for example, basic dye type lakes, acid dye type lakes, etc.), nitro pigments, nitroso pigments, aniline black, daylight fluorescent pigments and the like. Examples of inorganic pigments include carbon black, titanium dioxide, silica, and alumina.

The content of the color material can be appropriately set as desired, and is not particularly limited, but is usually 0.1% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less with respect to the total mass of the non-aqueous ink.
Moreover, when using a pigment as a coloring material, you may contain a pigment dispersant, for example, Hinoact KF1-M, T-6000, T-7000, T-8000, T-8350P, T-8000E ( Polyester polymer compounds such as Takefu Fine Chemical Co., Ltd.), Solsperse 20000, 24000, 32000, 32500, 33500, 34000, 35200, 37500 (all manufactured by LUBRIZOL), Disperbyk-161, 162, 163, 164, 166 , 180, 190, 191, 192, 2091, 2095 (all manufactured by Big Chemie Japan), Floren DOPA-17, 22, 33, G-700 (all manufactured by Kyoeisha Chemical Co., Ltd.), Azisper PB821, PB711 (all Taste Made prime Co., Ltd.), LP4010, LP4050, LP4055, POLYMER400,401,402,403,450,451,453 (all manufactured by EFKA Chemicals Co., Ltd.), and the like. The content in the case of using the pigment dispersant can be appropriately selected according to the pigment to be contained, but preferably 5 parts by mass or more and 200 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the pigment in the non-aqueous ink. It is 30 parts by mass or less and more preferably 30 parts by mass or less.

<Other ingredients>
The non-aqueous ink according to this embodiment includes chelating agents such as surfactants (for example, silicon surfactants, acetylene glycol surfactants, fluorine surfactants), pH adjusters, ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA), and the like. Substances for imparting a predetermined performance such as an agent, an antiseptic / an antifungal agent, and a rust inhibitor may be contained.

<Preparation method of non-aqueous ink>
The non-aqueous ink according to this embodiment is obtained by mixing the components described above in an arbitrary order, and removing impurities by filtering or the like as necessary. As a method for mixing the components, a method in which materials are sequentially added to a container equipped with a stirring device such as a mechanical stirrer or a magnetic stirrer and stirred and mixed is suitably used. As a filtration method, centrifugal filtration, filter filtration, and the like can be performed as necessary.

<Physical properties of non-aqueous ink>
The non-aqueous ink according to this embodiment preferably has a surface tension at 20 ° C. of 20 mN / m or more and 50 mN / m from the viewpoint of a balance between recording quality and reliability as an ink for ink jet recording, and 25 mN / m m or more and 40 mN / m or less is more preferable. The surface tension is measured by using an automatic surface tension meter CBVP-Z (manufactured by Kyowa Interface Science Co., Ltd.) by confirming the surface tension when the platinum plate is wetted with ink in an environment of 20 ° C. be able to.

  From the same viewpoint, the viscosity of the non-aqueous ink at 20 ° C. is preferably 2 mPa · s or more and 15 mPa · s or less, and more preferably 2 mPa · s or more and 10 mPa · s or less. The viscosity is measured by using a viscoelasticity tester MCR-300 (manufactured by Pysica), increasing the Shear Rate to 10 to 1000 in an environment of 20 ° C., and reading the viscosity at Shear Rate 200. Can be measured.

  In the ink jet printer 11 described above, a printing operation is performed in which ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles 26 of the liquid ejecting head 27 while the carriage 25 is moving in the scanning direction X, and recording is performed for one scan on the ink adhering surface of the medium 13. By alternately repeating the transport operation for transporting the medium 13 to the next printing position, printing on the medium 13 is advanced. During printing, the wiper unit 46 stands by at the retracted position shown in FIG. The ink jet printer 11 also performs an operation of performing printing by performing the operation of ejecting the ink a plurality of times on the same scanning region of the ink adhering surface of the medium 13 while scanning the liquid ejecting head 27.

  As media 13 used for printing, in addition to paper, polyvinyl chloride and tarpaulin (the surface is a synthetic resin film (soft polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, EVA, etc.) and fiber fabrics (polyester material, cotton, etc.) are sandwiched. Resin films such as those laminated and bonded together can be used. As such a resin film, there are a resin film having a high surface resistance value that is difficult to discharge the ejected ink, and a resin film (tarpaulin type) that is easily charged in the process of conveyance.

<Capping operation and wiping operation>
In the ink jet printer 11, the ink in the liquid ejecting head 27 from the nozzle 26 is included in the maintenance operation at a predetermined timing (when the ink cartridge 30 is replaced, when ink ejection failure occurs from the nozzle 26, before printing, etc.). The head cleaning is performed to forcibly suck and discharge. In performing the head cleaning, first, the carriage motor 24 is driven to move the carriage 25 and the liquid ejecting head 27 to the home position HP where the cap unit 48 is disposed, and then the capping motor 49 is driven to drive the cap portion. By raising 47, the liquid ejecting head 27 is capped by the cap portion 47.

  Subsequently, when the suction pump 50 is driven to suck the inside of the cap portion 47 (closed space), the thickened ink and bubbles in the liquid ejecting head 27 are discharged from the nozzles 26 into the cap portion 47. At this time, since the inside of the cap part 47 is filled with the ink discharged from each nozzle 26, the area corresponding to the inside of the cap part 47 on the nozzle surface 63 is immersed in the ink.

  When a predetermined amount of ink is discharged from each nozzle 26, the suction pump 50 is stopped. Subsequently, when an air release valve (not shown) provided in the cap portion 47 is opened, the inside of the cap portion 47 is opened to the atmosphere. Subsequently, when the cap portion 47 is lowered by driving the capping motor 49, the cap portion 47 is separated from the liquid ejecting head 27.

  Thereafter, the suction pump 50 is driven for a predetermined time, and empty suction in the cap unit 47 is performed, whereby ink remaining in the cap unit 47 is discharged. Thereby, the head cleaning is completed. After the head cleaning is completed, the area corresponding to the inside of the cap portion 47 in the nozzle surface 63 is wet with ink, so that it is necessary to wipe the nozzle surface 63 with the wiper unit 46 in order to remove this ink. is there.

  In this case, since the nozzle forming surface 61, that is, the nozzle peripheral region 62 is covered with the liquid repellent film 66, a small ink droplet (an ink droplet smaller than the 0.1 mm step 65) attached to the nozzle peripheral region 62 is It flows when the cap 47 is separated from the liquid ejecting head 27. For this reason, large ink droplets (large ink droplets with a height difference of 0.1 mm or more) remain in the nozzle peripheral region 62.

  When the wiper unit 46 wipes the nozzle surface 63, first, the carriage 25 is moved to a position where the nozzle surface 63 of the liquid ejecting head 27 is wiped by the wiper unit 46 by driving the carriage motor 24. In this case, the nozzle surface of the cloth sheet 51 pressed by the large-diameter portion 76 of the pressing roller 74 at a position corresponding to the non-nozzle peripheral region (projecting surface 64) that is a region other than the nozzle peripheral region 62 in the nozzle surface 63. The carriage 25 is moved to a position at which the cloth sheet 51 can be contacted by the second contact operation for contacting the sheet 63.

  Subsequently, when the wiper unit 46 is moved forward in the transport direction Y from the retracted position, the cloth sheet 51 moves in the order of the Pa position, the Pb position, the Pc position, and the Pd position, as shown in FIGS. The entire nozzle surface 63 is wiped off. At this time, the portion pressed by the large diameter portion 76 of the pressing roller 74 of the cloth sheet 51 is pressed against the protruding surface 64 with a relatively large pressure, so that the adhering ink on the protruding surface 64 is absorbed by the cloth sheet 51, It is almost surely wiped off.

Further, at this time, the load applied to the pressing roller 74 is 3.43 N, and the contact area when the pressing roller 74 is elastically deformed to contact the cloth sheet 51 is 132.8 mm ^2. The pressure when pressing the sheet 51 against the protruding surface 64 is 25.8 kPa.

  At this time, since the cloth sheet 51 having a thickness of 0.34 mm to 0.41 mm is pressed against the protruding surface 64 by the pressing roller 74, the compression amount of the cloth sheet 51 is 0.07 mm to 0.08 mm. The thickness when the cloth sheet 51 wipes the protruding surface 64 is 0.26 mm to 0.34 mm.

  Furthermore, at this time, as shown in FIG. 11, the pressing roller 74 has a small diameter portion 77 corresponding to the through hole 60 a, and the pressing roller 74 corresponds to the nozzle peripheral region 62 of the cloth sheet 51. Almost no pressing is performed, and it is possible to avoid being pushed into the through-hole 60a with a strong pressing force.

  As a result, the portion of the cloth sheet 51 corresponding to the through hole 60a contacts the nozzle peripheral region 62 with a pressure smaller than the pressure (wiping pressure) at which the portion of the cloth sheet 51 corresponding to the protruding surface 64 contacts the protruding surface 64. To do. That is, in the contact of the cloth sheet 51 by the second contact operation, the pressing force applied to the nozzle peripheral area 62 by the contact of the cloth sheet 51 is applied to the protruding surface 64 (non-nozzle peripheral area) by the contact of the cloth sheet 51. The pressing force is smaller.

  At this time, the compression rate of the portion pressed against the nozzle peripheral region 62 in the cloth sheet 51 is smaller than the compression rate of the portion pressed against the protruding surface 64 (non-nozzle peripheral region) of the cloth sheet 51. Then, the cloth sheet 51 is moved in the transport direction Y, which is also the wiping direction, with the cloth sheet 51 in contact with the pressures P1 and P2 shown at the position Pc in FIG. Wiped off.

<Flushing operation>
Next, a flushing operation for ejecting ink from the liquid ejecting head 27 to the flushing unit 45 will be described.

  The ink flushed from the liquid ejecting head 27 adheres to the adhesion surface 170 formed by the receiving member 146 and the mesh portion 147a of the fixing member 147. The ink adhering to the receiving member 146 penetrates into the receiving member 146 and is absorbed. On the other hand, when the ink adhering to the mesh portion 147a cannot be held by the mesh portion 147a, the ink penetrates into the receiving member 146 and is absorbed by the capillary force of the receiving member 146 contacting the mesh portion 147a.

  The ink absorbed by the receiving member 146 moves downward in the receiving member 146 over time. Since the second receiving member 163 is in contact with the central portion of the lower surface of the receiving member 146, the ink absorbed in the central portion of the receiving member 146 and its periphery is absorbed by the second receiving member 163 and is contained in the housing 128. The ink drops on the ink receiving surface 130 of the ink.

  The ink absorbed by the receiving member 146 at a position away from the contact portion of the receiving member 146 with the second receiving member 163 passes through the ink dropping port 149a from the lower surface of the receiving member 146 and receives the ink in the housing 128. It drops (drops) on the surface 130. The ink dropped on the ink receiving surface 130 is discharged from the discharge port 133 to the waste ink tank (not shown) through the discharge tube 126.

<Ion injection operation>
For example, if the nozzle forming surface 61 of the liquid ejecting head 27 is negatively charged when printing the medium 13, the ink ejected from each nozzle 26 toward the medium 13 has a negative charge on the nozzle forming surface 61. Positively charged under the influence. The positively charged ink repels the medium 13 when the medium 13 is positively charged, and therefore adheres to the nozzle forming surface 61 without landing on the medium 13 and stains the nozzle forming surface 61. End up.

  For this reason, before printing the medium 13, the charge amount of the nozzle forming surface 61 is set to a predetermined size (for example, the absolute value is close to 0) or less in order to land the ink properly on the medium 13. It is preferable to keep it. That is, before printing the medium 13, the nozzle forming surface 61 is ejected from the ionizer 180 toward the nozzle forming surface 61 with ions having the same polarity as the charging polarity of the ink (polarity different from the charging polarity of the nozzle forming surface 61). It is preferable to set the charge amount of the above to the preset size or less.

  When the charge amount of the nozzle forming surface 61 is set to be equal to or smaller than the preset size, first, the control unit 39 turns on the switch element 183 and sets the fixing member 147 to the ground state, and then immediately switches the switch element 183. And the fixing member 147 is not grounded. Thereby, the charge amount of the fixing member 147 is reset. Subsequently, the control unit 39 controls the driving of the carriage motor 24 so that the liquid ejecting head 27 faces the flushing unit 45. Subsequently, when the control unit 39 ejects ink from the liquid ejecting head 27 in the flushing operation, the ink adheres to the fixing member 147.

  At this time, if the nozzle forming surface 61 is negatively charged, for example, the ink ejected from each nozzle 26 toward the flushing unit 45 is positively charged due to the negative charge of the nozzle forming surface 61. The fixing member 147 to which the ink is attached is also positively charged like the ink. Furthermore, since the electrode plate 182 is electrically connected to the fixing member 147 via the electric wire 181, the electrode plate 182 is also positively charged like the ink.

  The potential of the electrode plate 182 is measured by the surface potential meter 184, and the control unit 39 grasps the charge amount and the charge polarity of the electrode plate 182 from the measurement result. That is, the charge amount and the charge polarity of the electrode plate 182 at this time are substantially the same as the charge amount and the charge polarity of the ink attached to the fixing member 147, so the control unit 39 grasps the charge amount and the charge polarity of the ink.

  Subsequently, the control unit 39 controls the drive of the carriage motor 24 to move the liquid ejecting head 27 to a position facing the ionizer 180. Subsequently, the control unit 39 controls the ionizer 180 so that ions from the ionizer 180 toward the nozzle forming surface 61 have the same polarity as the ink charging polarity (a polarity different from the charging polarity of the nozzle forming surface 61) (here, plus). Ions) are ejected (irradiated).

  In this case, the control unit 39 grasps the charge amount of the flushed ink, and controls the characteristics (for example, polarity and amount) of ions generated from the ionizer 180 based on the grasped charge amount of the ink. Note that the injection of ions from the ionizer 180 may or may not be accompanied by the injection of a fluid such as air.

  Subsequently, as described above, the control unit 39 resets the charge amount of the fixing member 147 and then performs a flushing operation to grasp the charge amount and charge polarity of the ink. Then, when the charge amount of the grasped ink is equal to or less than the above-described preset size, the control unit 39 estimates that the charge amount of the nozzle forming surface 61 is also equal to or less than the preset size. Then, the medium 13 is printed by ejecting ink from the nozzles 26 of the liquid ejecting head 27 toward the medium 13.

  On the other hand, when the grasped charge amount of the ink is larger than the preset size, the control unit 39 again ejects ions from the ionizer 180 toward the nozzle forming surface 61 in the same manner as described above. In this case, the control unit 39 grasps the charge amount of the ink ejected from each nozzle 26 in the flushing operation until the charge amount of the ink ejected from each nozzle 26 by the flushing operation becomes equal to or less than the preset size. (Measurement) and ion injection (irradiation) to the nozzle forming surface 61 from the ionizer 180 are repeatedly performed.

  Then, the control unit 39 estimates that the charge amount of the nozzle forming surface 61 is also equal to or less than the preset size when the grasped charge amount of the ink is equal to or less than the preset size. Then, the medium 13 is printed by ejecting ink from the nozzles 26 of the liquid ejecting head 27 toward the medium 13.

As described above, according to the embodiment described in detail, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The ink jet printer 11 measures the charge amount of the ink ejected from the liquid ejecting head 27 and controls the ionizer 180 based on the measured charge amount of the ink. In other words, in the ink jet printer 11, the ionizer 180 is controlled based on the measured value of the charge amount of the ink having less variation than the measured value when the charge amount of the nozzle forming surface 61 is measured. For this reason, appropriate ion irradiation by the ionizer 180 can be easily performed.

  (2) The ink jet printer 11 measures the charge amount of the ink received by the flushing receiver 129. For this reason, the charge amount of the ink can be measured using a part of the maintenance unit 43 that maintains the liquid ejecting head 27.

  (3) The ink jet printer 11 controls the ionizer 180 to eject ions having the same polarity as the charging polarity of the ink toward the nozzle forming surface 61. For this reason, it is possible to perform charge removal of the nozzle forming surface 61 charged to a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the ink ejected from the liquid ejection head 27.

  (4) The ink jet printer 11 controls the ionizer 180 to repeatedly eject ions onto the nozzle forming surface 61 until the charge amount of the ink becomes equal to or less than the set size. For this reason, the charge amount of the nozzle forming surface 61 can be appropriately controlled.

  (5) The ink jet printer 11 ejects ink onto the medium 13 after ejecting ions onto the nozzle forming surface 61. For this reason, since ink can be ejected onto the medium 13 with the degree of charging of the nozzle forming surface 61 reduced, charging of the medium 13 and generation of mist can be suppressed.

  (6) The ink jet printer 11 measures the charge amount of the ink ejected from the liquid ejecting head 27 and controls the characteristics of ions generated from the ionizer 180 based on the measured charge amount of the ink. That is, in the ink jet printer 11, the characteristics of the ions generated from the ionizer 180 are controlled based on the measured value of the charge amount of the ink having less variation than the measured value when the charge amount of the nozzle forming surface 61 is measured. For this reason, appropriate ion irradiation by the ionizer 180 can be easily performed.

  (7) In the ink jet printer 11, since the ionizer 180 is disposed on the opposite side of the support unit 12 with respect to the maintenance unit 43, the ionizer 180 is contaminated by ink when performing maintenance of the liquid ejecting head 27. Can be suppressed.

(Example of change)
In addition, you may change the said embodiment as follows.
In the ink jet printer 11, it is not always necessary to eject (print) ink onto the medium 13 after ejecting ions onto the nozzle forming surface 61. In other words, ions may be ejected onto the nozzle forming surface 61 regardless of ink ejection (printing) onto the medium 13, for example, at regular intervals.

In the ink jet printer 11, it is not always necessary to repeatedly eject ions onto the nozzle forming surface 61 until the charge amount of the ink becomes equal to or less than the set size.
In the inkjet printer 11, it is not always necessary to eject ions having the same polarity as the charging polarity of the ink toward the nozzle forming surface 61.

In the ink jet printer 11, it is not always necessary to measure the charge amount of the ink received by the flushing receiver 129.
Instead of the electrode plate 182 and the surface potential meter 184, a charge amount measuring device may be used as the charge amount measuring unit. That is, the charge amount of the ink attached to the fixing member 147 may be directly measured by electrically connecting the charge amount measuring device to the fixing member 147 via the electric wire 181.

  The electrode plate 182 may be fixed to the housing 128. In this case, the electrical connection between the fixing member 147 and the electrode plate 182 is not limited to the use of the electric wire 181, and conductive parts constituting the flushing unit 45 may be used.

  The ionizer 180 may be disposed on the maintenance unit 43 side. For example, the ionizer 180 may be disposed between the support base 12 and the flushing unit 45, or may be disposed between the flushing unit 45 and the wiper unit 46.

The ionizer 180 may generate only ions having one polarity (for example, positive ions).
When the ion ejection by the ionizer 180 involves the ejection of a fluid such as a gas, the ink mist adhering to the nozzle forming surface 61 may move and cause an ejection failure of the ink from the nozzle 26. For this reason, after the ions are ejected from the ionizer 180 to the nozzle forming surface 61, the nozzle forming surface 61 may be wiped.

  The ions may be ejected from the ionizer 180 to a region other than the nozzle formation surface 61 based on the charge amount of the ink measured by the charge amount measurement unit. For example, ions having a polarity opposite to the measured polarity may be jetted onto the transport path of the medium 13, the support 12, the wiper unit 46, the cap unit 48, and the like. Alternatively, a trapping portion that traps ink mist and dust marks with static electricity is provided in a region adjacent to the liquid jet head 27 in the carriage 25 that supports the liquid jet head 27, and ions having a polarity opposite to the polarity measured in the trapping portion are provided. You may make it inject.

  When the ink jet printer 11 includes a fluid cleaning device that performs maintenance by ejecting fluid onto the nozzle forming surface 61, the fluid ejected from the fluid cleaning device based on the charge amount of the ink measured by the charge amount measuring unit (Gas or liquid) may be charged by the ionizer 180.

  The surface electrometer 184 may be disposed above the electrode plate 182 so as to face the electrode plate 182. Further, the surface potential meter 184 may be detachable from the printer main body 16.

  The surface electrometer 184 may be arranged outside the transport area PA in the scanning direction of the carriage 25 in the scanning direction X (direction intersecting the direction in which the medium 13 is transported). Alternatively, the surface electrometer 184 may be disposed on the upstream side or the downstream side of the support base 12 in the direction in which the medium 13 is transported (transport direction Y).

The ionizer 180 may be detachable from the printer main body 16.
In the above embodiment, the liquid ejecting apparatus may be a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects or discharges liquid other than ink. Note that the state of the liquid ejected as a minute amount of liquid droplets from the liquid ejecting apparatus includes a granular shape, a tear shape, and a thread-like shape. The liquid here may be any material that can be ejected from the liquid ejecting apparatus. For example, it may be in a state in which the substance is in a liquid phase, such as a liquid with high or low viscosity, sol, gel water, other inorganic solvents, organic solvents, solutions, liquid resins, liquid metals (metal melts ). Further, not only a liquid as one state of a substance but also a substance in which particles of a functional material made of a solid such as a pigment or a metal particle are dissolved, dispersed or mixed in a solvent is included. Typical examples of the liquid include various liquid compositions such as water-based ink, non-water-based ink, oil-based ink, gel ink, and hot-melt ink as described in the above embodiment, liquid crystal, and the like. As a specific example of the liquid ejecting apparatus, for example, a liquid containing a material such as an electrode material or a color material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an EL (electroluminescence) display, a surface emitting display, or a color filter in a dispersed or dissolved form. There is a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting the liquid. Further, it may be a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a bio-organic matter used for biochip manufacturing, a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid as a sample that is used as a precision pipette, a printing apparatus, a micro dispenser, or the like. In addition, transparent resin liquids such as UV curable resin to form liquid injection devices that pinpoint lubricant oil onto precision machines such as watches and cameras, and micro hemispherical lenses (optical lenses) used in optical communication elements. May be a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects the liquid onto the substrate. Further, it may be a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects an etching solution such as acid or alkali in order to etch a substrate or the like.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Inkjet printer as an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus, 12 ... Support base, 13 ... Medium, 14 ... Conveying section, 15 ... Printing section, 16 ... Printer body, 17 ... Cover, 18 ... Conveying roller pair, 19 ... Conveying Roller pair, 20 ... guide plate, 22 ... guide shaft, 23 ... guide shaft, 24 ... carriage motor, 25 ... carriage, 26 ... nozzle, 27 ... liquid ejecting head as an example of liquid ejecting unit, 30 ... ink cartridge, 31 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Supply mechanism, 32 ... Mounting part, 33 ... Supply path, 34 ... Supply pump, 35 ... Filter unit, 36 ... Static mixer, 37 ... Liquid storage chamber, 38 ... Pressure adjustment unit, 39 ... Charge amount measurement part Control part 40 ... Diaphragm pump 41 ... Suction valve 42 ... Discharge valve 43 ... Maintenance part 45 ... Flushing unit 46 ... Wiper unit, 47 ... Cap part, 48 ... Cap unit, 49 ... Capping motor, 50 ... Suction pump, 51 ... Cloth sheet, 52 ... Wiper cassette, 52a ... Opening, 53 ... Wiper holder, 54 ... Rail part 55 ... head unit, 55a ... supply pipe section, 56 ... bracket section, 57 ... flow path forming section, 57a ... ink flow path, 58 ... head body, 59 ... nozzle row, 60 ... cover member, 60a ... through hole, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 61 ... Nozzle formation surface, 62 ... Nozzle peripheral area, 63 ... Nozzle surface, 64 ... Projection surface, 65 ... Level difference, 66 ... Liquid-repellent film, 67 ... Recording head, 68 ... Guide part, 69 ... Electric motor, 70 ... Power Transmission mechanism, 71 ... rack and pinion mechanism, 71a ... rack gear part, 71b ... pinion gear part, 72 ... feeding shaft, 73 ... winding shaft, 74 ... Pressure roller, 75 ... support shaft, 76 ... large diameter part, 77 ... small diameter part, 78 ... spring, 126 ... discharge tube, 128 ... housing, 128a ... opening, 128b ... rear side wall, 128c ... front side wall, 129 ... Flushing receptor, 130 ... ink receiving surface, 133 ... discharge port, 135 ... mounting wall portion, 135a ... thick wall portion, 136 ... hole, 137 ... concave groove, 141 ... locking portion, 141a ... taper surface, 142 ... protrusion 143 ... Projection 145 ... Receiving member holding part 145a ... Frame body part 145b ... Extension part 145c ... Locking part 146 ... Receiving member 147 ... Fixing member 147a ... Reticulated part 147c ... hole, 147d ... tip, 148 ... receiving recess, 149 ... beam member, 149a ... ink drop port, 149b ... through hole, 150 ... convex, 151 ... gripping part, 152 ... hook part, 163 ... second receiving member, 164 ... pressing member, 170 ... attachment surface, 180 ... ionizer, 181 ... electric wire, 182 ... electrode plate constituting charge amount measuring unit, 183 ... switch element, 184 ... constituting charge amount measuring unit Surface potentiometer, A ... supply direction, L ... dimension, M ... dimension, X ... scanning direction, Y ... conveying direction, Z ... vertical direction, HP ... home position, P1 ... pressure, P2 ... pressure, PA ... conveying area, Pa to Pd: position.

Claims (6)

A liquid ejecting unit having a nozzle forming surface on which a nozzle for ejecting liquid is formed, and capable of ejecting the liquid from the nozzle to a medium;
With ionizers,
A charge amount measuring unit for measuring a charge amount of the liquid ejected from the liquid ejecting unit;
A control unit that controls the ionizer based on the charge amount of the liquid measured by the charge amount measurement unit;
A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: A flushing receiver for receiving the liquid ejected in the flushing operation of ejecting the liquid from the nozzle as a maintenance operation of the liquid ejecting unit;
The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the charge amount measuring unit measures a charge amount of the liquid received by the flushing receiver.   The control unit controls the ionizer to eject ions having the same polarity as the charge polarity of the liquid measured by the charge amount measurement unit toward the nozzle formation surface. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 2.   The control unit controls the ionizer to repeatedly eject the ions until the charge amount of the liquid measured by the charge amount measurement unit is equal to or less than a set magnitude. Item 4. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to Item 3.   The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the liquid is ejected onto the medium after ejecting the ions. A liquid ejecting section capable of ejecting liquid from the nozzle;
With ionizers,
A charge amount measuring unit that measures the charge amount of the liquid ejected from the liquid ejecting unit,
A method for controlling an ionizer in a liquid ejecting apparatus, wherein characteristics of ions generated from the ionizer are controlled based on a charge amount of the liquid measured by the charge amount measuring unit.

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