JP2018094724A - Head cleaning mechanism and ink jet recording device having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a head cleaning mechanism which can suppress ink adhering to a wiper from adhering to a recording head.SOLUTION: A head cleaning mechanism includes: a recording head 17 which has an ink discharge surface F1 provided with an ink discharge region R1 where a plurality of ink discharge ports 18a discharging ink onto a sheet S are opened; and a wiper 35 which wipes the ink discharge surface F1 in the prescribed direction. The recording head 17 is arranged on the upstream side in a wiping direction, which is a direction in which the wiper wipes the ink discharge surface with respect to the ink discharge surface F1, is inclined downward toward the downstream side in the wiping direction, and includes an inclined surface 62 into which the tip of the wiper 35 is brought into pressure-contact during the wiping operation. An inclination angle α1 with respect to the ink discharge surface F1 of the inclined surface 62 is smaller than a pressure-contact angle α2 with respect to the ink discharge surface F1 of the tip of the wiper 35.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 14

Description

  The present invention relates to a head cleaning mechanism including a recording head having an ink discharge port for discharging ink onto a recording medium such as paper, and an ink jet recording apparatus including the head cleaning mechanism.

  2. Description of the Related Art As a recording apparatus such as a facsimile, a copying machine, and a printer, an ink jet recording apparatus that forms an image by ejecting ink is widely used because it can form a high-definition image.

  In such an ink jet recording apparatus, a micro ink droplet (hereinafter referred to as a mist) ejected together with an ink droplet for image recording, or a bounce mist generated when the ink droplet adheres to a recording medium, The ink adheres to the ink ejection surface and solidifies. When the mist on the ink ejection surface gradually increases and overlaps the ink ejection port, the straightness of the ink (flying curve), non-ejection, etc. occur and the print performance of the recording head decreases.

  Therefore, in order to clean the ink discharge surface of the recording head, after the ink is forcibly pushed out (purged) from the ink discharge port, the purge ink adhering to the ink discharge surface is wiped with a wiper, and the recovery process of the recording head is performed. The configuration to do is known. In addition, a plurality of cleaning liquid supply ports are provided outside the ink discharge area (upstream in the wiping direction of the wiper) where a plurality of ink discharge ports open on the ink discharge surface, and the cleaning liquid is supplied from the cleaning liquid supply port. There is also a known configuration in which the recording head recovery process is performed by moving the wiper along the ink ejection surface from the outside of the cleaning liquid supply port after the supply.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which after the ink is forcibly pushed out from the ink ejection port, the purge ink adhering to the ink ejection surface is wiped with a wiper and the recovery process of the recording head is performed. An ink jet recording apparatus in which a plurality of cleaning liquid supply ports are provided on the ink ejection surface of a recording head and the recovery process of the recording head is performed using the cleaning liquid is disclosed in Patent Document 2, for example.

JP 2016-155240 A JP 2007-83396 A

  In the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, the wiper is pressed against the ink discharge surface so that the amount of wiper biting (overlap amount) with respect to the ink discharge surface is about 1 mm. For this reason, when the wiper is brought into pressure contact with the ink ejection surface perpendicularly, a load when the wiper is brought into pressure contact with the ink ejection surface becomes large.

  Therefore, a method is conceivable in which the wiper is raised at a position upstream of the ink discharge surface in the wiping direction, and the wiper is moved in the horizontal direction (wiping direction) from that position. As a result, the tip of the wiper is pressed against the ink discharge surface while being bent in the direction opposite to the wiping direction, and it is possible to suppress an increase in load when the wiper is pressed against the ink discharge surface.

  However, in this method, when the wiper comes in contact with the side surface of the recording head by moving the wiper in the wiping direction, the ink adhering to the side surface of the wiper is removed from the corner portion of the recording head (the side surface and the ink discharge surface). The connection portion) is scraped off, and the ink adheres to the corner portion of the recording head. In this case, when the recording medium rubs against the recording head, there is a problem that the ink adheres to the recording medium and stains the recording medium.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a head cleaning mechanism capable of suppressing ink adhering to a wiper from adhering to a recording head, and the same. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising:

  In order to achieve the above object, a head cleaning mechanism according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a recording medium including an ink discharge surface provided with an ink discharge region in which a plurality of ink discharge ports for discharging ink are opened on a recording medium. A head and a wiper for wiping the ink discharge surface in a predetermined direction. The recording head is disposed on the upstream side in the wiping direction, which is the direction in which the wiper wipes the ink ejection surface with respect to the ink ejection surface, and is inclined downward toward the downstream side in the wiping direction. The inclined surface with respect to the ink discharge surface is smaller than the pressure contact angle with respect to the ink discharge surface at the tip of the wiper in a state where the wiper wipes the ink discharge surface.

  According to the head cleaning mechanism of the first aspect of the present invention, the tip of the wiper is bent in the direction opposite to the wiping direction by raising the wiper below the inclined surface and moving the wiper from the position in the wiping direction. In this state, the pressure is pressed against the ink discharge surface, and unlike the case where the wiper is pressed perpendicularly to the ink discharge surface, it is possible to suppress an increase in load when the wiper is pressed against the ink discharge surface. .

  In addition, the inclination angle of the inclined surface with respect to the ink discharge surface is smaller than the pressure contact angle with respect to the ink discharge surface at the tip of the wiper in a state where the wiper wipes the ink discharge surface. As a result, when the wiper moves in the wiping direction while being pressed against the inclined surface of the recording head, the wiper does not bend more than the pressure contact angle with respect to the ink ejection surface. Move while touching the inclined surface. That is, the side surface of the wiper does not contact the side surface (inclined surface) of the recording head. For this reason, even if the ink adheres to the side surface of the wiper, the ink can be prevented from adhering to the corner portion of the recording head (the connection portion between the ink discharge surface and the side surface (inclined surface)). As a result, even when the recording medium rubs against the recording head, it is possible to suppress the ink from adhering to the recording medium, and thus it is possible to suppress the recording medium from becoming dirty.

The figure which shows the structure of the inkjet recording device provided with the recording head of one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which looked at the 1st conveyance unit and recording part of the ink-jet recording device shown in Drawing 1 from the upper part Diagram of the recording head that constitutes the line head of the recording unit View of the recording head viewed from the ink ejection surface View of the cleaning liquid supply port of the cleaning liquid supply member of the recording head viewed from below Diagram showing the configuration around the recording head, tank, and replenishment tank The figure which shows the structure of a cleaning liquid supply member The figure which shows the state which is moving to the arrow A direction in the state in which the wiper was press-contacted to the ink discharge surface The figure which shows the state which the wiper is moving to the arrow A direction in the state pressed against the inclined surface of the cleaning liquid supply member The figure which shows the state which has arrange | positioned the maintenance unit under the recording part The figure which shows the state which has arrange | positioned the wiper under the recording head The figure which shows the state which raised the wiper from the state of FIG. 11, and was made to press-contact with the cleaning liquid supply member The figure which shows the state which moved to the arrow A direction in the state which pressed the wiper to the cleaning liquid supply member from the state of FIG. The figure which shows the state which moved the wiper further to the arrow A direction from the state of FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a state where the wiper is further moved in the direction of arrow A from the state of FIG. 14 and then the wiper is lowered and separated from the ink discharge surface. The figure which looked at the head part of the recording head of the modification of the present invention from the lower part

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a paper feed tray 2 for storing paper S (recording medium) is provided on the left side of the ink jet recording apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the accommodated sheets S are conveyed one by one from the uppermost sheet S one by one to a first conveying unit 5 to be described later, and the sheet feeding roller 3 is in pressure contact with the sheet feeding roller 3 and is driven to rotate. A driven roller 4 is provided.

  A first transport unit 5 and a recording unit 9 are disposed on the downstream side (right side in FIG. 1) of the paper feed roller 3 and the driven roller 4 with respect to the paper transport direction (arrow X direction). The first transport unit 5 includes a first drive roller 6, a first driven roller 7, and a first transport belt 6 that is stretched over the first drive roller 6 and the first driven roller 7. When the first drive roller 6 is driven to rotate in the clockwise direction by a control signal from the control unit 110 of the recording apparatus 100, the paper S held on the first transport belt 8 is transported in the arrow X direction.

  The recording unit 9 includes a head housing 10 and line heads 11C, 11M, 11Y, and 11K held by the head housing 10. These line heads 11C to 11K are supported at such a height that a predetermined interval (for example, 1 mm) is formed with respect to the conveying surface of the first conveying belt 8, and as shown in FIG. The recording head 17 is composed of one or more (in this case, one) recording heads 17 extending along the orthogonal sheet width direction (vertical direction in FIG. 2).

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an ink discharge region R1 in which a large number of ink discharge ports 18a (see FIG. 2) are arranged is formed on the ink discharge surface F1 of the head portion (ink discharge head portion) 18 of the recording head 17. Is provided.

  In the recording heads 17 constituting the line heads 11C to 11K, inks of four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) stored in ink tanks (not shown) are provided for the respective colors of the line heads 11C to 11K. To be supplied.

  Each recording head 17 is directed to the sheet S conveyed by being held by suction on the conveying surface of the first conveying belt 8 in accordance with image data received from an external computer by a control signal from the control unit 110 (see FIG. 1). Ink is ejected from the ink ejection port 18a. As a result, a color image in which four colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are superimposed is formed on the sheet S on the first conveying belt 8.

  The recording head 17 is provided with a cleaning liquid supply member (cleaning liquid supply head section) 60 for supplying a cleaning liquid. The cleaning liquid supply member 60 is disposed adjacent to the head portion 18 on the upstream side in the wiping direction of the wiper 35 described later (the right side in FIG. 3). The cleaning liquid supply member 60 has a cleaning liquid supply surface F2 including a cleaning liquid supply region R2 in which a large number of cleaning liquid supply ports 60a (see FIG. 5) for supplying a cleaning liquid are arranged. Note that at least the ink discharge surface F1 of the head portion 18 is formed of, for example, SUS (stainless steel). Further, at least the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 of the cleaning liquid supply member 60 is formed of, for example, SUS or resin.

  The cleaning liquid supply surface F2 is formed flush with the ink discharge surface F1. Further, an inclined surface 62 is formed at a portion upstream of the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 of the cleaning liquid supply member 60 in the wiping direction (right side in FIG. 3).

  As shown in FIG. 5, the cleaning liquid supply ports 60a are arranged at a pitch of 1 mm, for example, along the head width direction (arrow BB ′ direction, direction orthogonal to the wiping direction). In FIG. 5, only one row composed of a plurality of cleaning liquid supply ports 60a arranged along the head width direction is drawn, but this row is adjacent to the wiping direction (arrow A direction). It may be provided.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the cleaning liquid supply port 60 a (see FIG. 5) of the cleaning liquid supply member 60 is connected to the downstream end of the cleaning liquid supply path 70 formed of a tube through which the cleaning liquid 23 passes. The upstream end of the cleaning liquid supply path 70 is connected to a tank (also referred to as a sub tank) 71 that stores the cleaning liquid 23 supplied to the cleaning liquid supply member 60. The upstream end of the cleaning liquid supply path 70 is immersed in the cleaning liquid 23. The cleaning liquid supply path 70 is provided with a supply pump 72 that draws the cleaning liquid 23 from the sub tank 71 and sends it to the cleaning liquid supply member 60. In the figure, the cleaning liquid 23 is hatched for easy understanding.

  The subtank 71 is connected to the downstream end of a cleaning liquid supply path 80 made of a tube through which the cleaning liquid 23 passes. The upstream end of the cleaning liquid supply path 80 is connected to a supply tank (also referred to as a main tank) 81 that stores the cleaning liquid 23 to be supplied to the sub tank 71. The upstream end of the cleaning liquid supply path 80 is immersed in the cleaning liquid 23. The cleaning liquid supply path 80 is provided with a supply pump 82 that pumps the cleaning liquid 23 from the main tank 81 and sends it to the sub tank 71. As the supply pump 72 and the replenishment pump 82, for example, a tube pump, a syringe pump, a diaphragm pump, or the like can be used. However, the supply pump 72 has a function of switching between a state where the inlet and the outlet of the supply pump 72 are blocked and a state where the supply pump 72 communicates with the supply pump 72 when the supply is stopped. The cleaning liquid supply path 70, the sub tank 71, the supply pump 72, the cleaning liquid supply path 80, the main tank 81, the supply pump 82, and the recording head 17 constitute a head cleaning mechanism. Detailed structures around the cleaning liquid supply member 60, the sub tank 71, and the main tank 81 will be described later.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus 100, in order to clean the ink discharge surface F1 of the recording head 17, ink is discharged from the ink discharge ports 18a of all the recording heads 17 at the start of printing after being stopped for a long time and between printing operations. , The cleaning liquid 23 is supplied from the cleaning liquid supply port 60a (see FIG. 5) of all the recording heads 17 to the cleaning liquid supply region R2, and the ink discharge surface F1 is wiped off by a wiper 35 described later. Prepare for the next printing operation.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the second transport unit 12 is arranged on the downstream side (right side in FIG. 1) of the first transport unit 5 with respect to the paper transport direction. The second transport unit 12 includes a second drive roller 13, a second driven roller 14, and a second transport belt 15 stretched over the second drive roller 13 and the second driven roller 14. When the two drive rollers 13 are rotationally driven in the clockwise direction, the paper S held on the second transport belt 15 is transported in the arrow X direction.

  The paper S on which the ink image is recorded by the recording unit 9 is sent to the second transport unit 12, and the ink ejected on the surface of the paper S while passing through the second transport unit 12 is dried. A maintenance unit 19 and a cap unit 90 are disposed below the second transport unit 12. When performing the wiping operation by the wiper 35 described above, the first transport unit 5 is lowered, the maintenance unit 19 is moved below the recording unit 9, and the ink discharged forcibly from the ink discharge port 18 a of the recording head 17. The cleaning liquid 23 supplied from the cleaning liquid supply port 60a is wiped off, and the wiped ink and the cleaning liquid 23 are collected. When capping the ink ejection surface F1 (see FIG. 3) of the recording head 17, the first transport unit 5 is lowered, the cap unit 90 is moved horizontally below the recording unit 9, and further moved upward to move the recording head. 17 is attached to the lower surface.

  Further, on the downstream side of the second transport unit 12 with respect to the paper transport direction, a discharge roller pair 16 that discharges the paper S on which an image is recorded to the outside of the apparatus main body is provided. Is provided with a discharge tray (not shown) on which the sheets S discharged outside the apparatus main body are stacked.

  The maintenance unit 19 supports a plurality of wipers 35 (see FIG. 11) that can move along the ink ejection surface F1, a substantially rectangular carriage (not shown) to which the plurality of wipers 35 are fixed, and the carriage. And a support frame (not shown). A carriage (not shown) is supported to be slidable in the direction of arrow AA ′ with respect to a support frame (not shown).

  The wiper 35 is an elastic member (for example, a rubber member made of EPDM) for wiping off the cleaning liquid 23 supplied from the cleaning liquid supply port 60a (see FIG. 5) of each recording head 17. The wiper 35 is brought into pressure contact with a cleaning liquid supply region R2 (see FIG. 4) of the cleaning liquid supply member 60 on a portion (here, the inclined surface 62) on the upstream side in the wiping direction, and is moved by movement of a carriage (not shown). The cleaning liquid supply surface F2 and the ink discharge surface F1 are wiped in a predetermined direction (arrow A direction).

  Next, the structure around the cleaning liquid supply member 60, the sub tank 71, and the main tank 81 will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the sub tank 71 is provided with an air opening 71 a for making the air pressure in the internal space equal to the atmospheric pressure. A first detection sensor 73 that detects the cleaning liquid 23 is provided at a predetermined position of the sub tank 71. The first detection sensor 73 has an electrode pair (not shown) that is applied with a voltage and is disposed in the sub tank 71. The first detection sensor 73 can detect the presence or absence of the cleaning liquid 23 based on the presence or absence of energization between the electrodes. When the first detection sensor 73 detects the absence of liquid (no power supply), the cleaning liquid 23 is supplied from the main tank 81 to the sub tank 71 by the supply pump 82 until the presence of liquid (energization) is detected. As a result, the liquid surface (upper surface) of the cleaning liquid 23 in the sub tank 71 is maintained at a substantially constant height in the sub tank 71.

  A second detection sensor 83 that detects the cleaning liquid 23 is provided below the main tank 81. The second detection sensor 83 has an electrode pair (not shown) that is arranged in the main tank 81 while being applied with a voltage. The second detection sensor 83 can detect the presence or absence of the cleaning liquid 23 based on the presence or absence of energization between the electrodes. When the second detection sensor 83 detects the absence of liquid, the display panel (not shown) of the inkjet recording apparatus 100 is notified that the main tank 81 is empty. Thereby, the main tank 81 is replaced with a new one or the main tank 81 is replenished with the cleaning liquid 23 by a user or an operator.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the cleaning liquid supply member 60 has an inclination angle α1 (see FIG. 7) with respect to the ink discharge surface F1 and the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 of the inclined surface 62, and the wiper 35 has the ink discharge surface F1. The wiper 35 is formed to be smaller than the pressure contact angle α2 (see FIG. 8) with respect to the ink discharge surface F1 of the wiper 35 in the wiping state. Specifically, the pressure contact angle α2 of the tip of the wiper 35 with respect to the ink discharge surface F1 and the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 is set to about 45 °. The inclination angle α1 of the inclined surface 62 with respect to the ink discharge surface F1 and the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 is preferably set to 15 ° or more and less than 45 °, and more preferably set to 30 ° or more and less than 40 °. .

  Since the inclination angle α1 is smaller than the pressure contact angle α2, as shown in FIG. 9, when the wiper 35 is moved in the wiping direction (left direction in FIG. 9), the tip of the wiper 35 is moved in the wiping direction. Only the downstream corner portion 35 a contacts the inclined surface 62. That is, the downstream side surface 35 b of the wiper 35 in the wiping direction does not contact the inclined surface 62.

  Next, the recovery operation of the recording head 17 using the maintenance unit 19 in the inkjet recording apparatus 100 of the present embodiment will be described. The recovery operation of the recording head 17 described below is executed by controlling the operations of the recording head 17, the maintenance unit 19, the supply pump 72, and the like based on a control signal from the control unit 110 (see FIG. 1). The

  When performing the recovery operation of the recording head 17, first, as shown in FIG. 10, the control unit 110 (see FIG. 1) lowers the first transport unit 5 located below the recording unit 9. Then, the control unit 110 horizontally moves the maintenance unit 19 disposed below the second transport unit 12 so as to be disposed between the recording unit 9 and the first transport unit 5. In this state, the wiper 35 (see FIG. 11) of the maintenance unit 19 is disposed below the ink discharge surface F1 and the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 (see FIG. 3) of the recording head 17.

(Cleaning liquid supply operation)
Prior to the wiping operation (wiping operation described later), the supply pump 72 (see FIG. 6) is driven (turned on) by the control unit 110 (see FIG. 1), and the cleaning liquid 23 is applied to the recording head 17 as shown in FIG. Supplied. The supply pump 72 is stopped (turned off) when a predetermined amount of the cleaning liquid 23 is supplied, and the inlet and the outlet are shut off.

(Ink extrusion operation)
Prior to the wiping operation (wiping operation described later), the ink 22 is supplied to the recording head 17 by the control unit 110 (see FIG. 1) as shown in FIG. The supplied ink 22 is forcibly extruded (purged) from the ink discharge port 18a. By this purging operation, thickened ink, foreign matter and bubbles in the ink discharge port 18a are discharged from the ink discharge port 18a. At this time, the purge ink 22 is pushed out to the ink discharge surface F1 along the shape of the ink discharge region R1 where the ink discharge port 18a exists. In the figure, the ink (purge ink) 22 is hatched for easy understanding.

(Wiping operation)
As shown in FIG. 12, the control unit 110 raises the wiper 35 to bring it into contact with the inclined surface 62 of the cleaning liquid supply member 60 of the recording head 17 with a predetermined pressure. At this time, the wiper 35 is raised so that the upper surface of the wiper 35 is higher than the ink discharge surface F1 and the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 by about 1 mm. As a result, the amount of biting (overlap amount) of the wiper 35 with respect to the ink discharge surface F1 and the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 becomes about 1 mm. Note that when the wiper 35 is raised, the wiper 35 may not be in pressure contact with the inclined surface 62. That is, the wiper 35 may be raised at a position on the right side of FIG.

  From the state where the tip of the wiper 35 is in pressure contact with the inclined surface 62 of the cleaning liquid supply member 60, the control unit 110 moves the wiper 35 along the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 in the direction of the ink discharge region R1 (arrow A) as shown in FIG. Direction). As a result, the wiper 35 moves in the direction of the ink ejection region R <b> 1 while holding the cleaning liquid 23. As shown in FIG. 9, when the wiper 35 moves below the inclined surface 62 in the wiping direction (arrow A direction), only the corner portion 35 a at the tip of the wiper 35 contacts the inclined surface 62. Even if the ink adheres to the side surface 35b, the ink does not adhere to the corner portion of the cleaning liquid supply member 60 (the connection portion between the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 and the inclined surface 62). Ink adhering to the side surface 35 b of the wiper 35 is dissolved by the cleaning liquid 23.

  When the tip of the wiper 35 passes through the cleaning liquid supply region R2, the inlet and outlet of the supply pump 72 are switched to the communication state.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 14, the wiper 35 moves on the ink ejection surface F1 in the left direction (arrow A direction) while maintaining the state where the cleaning liquid 23 and the purge ink 22 are held. At this time, the ink droplets (waste ink) adhered and solidified on the ink ejection surface F 1 are dissolved by the cleaning liquid 23 and the purge ink 22 and are wiped off by the wiper 35. The wiper 35 further moves in the left direction (arrow A direction), and stops moving in the left direction when reaching the position opposite to the cleaning liquid supply region R2 with respect to the ink discharge region R1. The cleaning liquid 23 and waste ink wiped off by the wiper 35 are collected in a cleaning liquid collection tray (not shown) provided in the maintenance unit 19.

(Separation operation)
After execution of the wiping operation, as shown in FIG. 15, the control unit 110 lowers the wiper 35 and separates it from the ink ejection surface F1.

  Finally, the control unit 110 horizontally moves the maintenance unit 19 arranged between the recording unit 9 and the first conveyance unit 5 and arranges the maintenance unit 19 below the second conveyance unit 12 to place the first conveyance unit 5 in a predetermined manner. Raise to the position. In this way, the recovery operation of the recording head 17 is completed.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the tip of the wiper 35 is bent in the direction opposite to the wiping direction by raising the wiper 35 below the inclined surface 62 and moving the wiper 35 from that position in the wiping direction. In this state, the ink discharge surface F1 is pressed against the ink discharge surface F1, and unlike the case where the wiper 35 is pressed perpendicularly to the ink discharge surface F1, the load when the wiper 35 is pressed against the ink discharge surface F1 is suppressed. can do.

  In addition, the inclination angle α1 of the inclined surface 62 with respect to the ink discharge surface F1 is smaller than the pressure contact angle α2 with respect to the ink discharge surface F1 of the tip portion of the wiper 35. Accordingly, when the wiper 35 moves in the wiping direction in a state where the wiper 35 is in pressure contact with the inclined surface 62 of the recording head 17, the wiper 35 does not bend more than the pressure contact angle α2 with respect to the ink ejection surface F1, and therefore the wiper 35 is only the corner portion 35a. Moves while contacting the inclined surface 62. That is, the side surface 35 b of the wiper 35 does not contact the side surface (the inclined surface 62) of the recording head 17. For this reason, even if the ink adheres to the side surface 35b of the wiper 35, the ink is prevented from adhering to the corner portion of the recording head 17 (the connection portion between the ink ejection surface F1 and the side surface (the inclined surface 62)). can do. As a result, even if the paper S is rubbed against the recording head 17, it is possible to suppress the ink from adhering to the paper S, so that the paper S can be prevented from being stained.

  Further, as described above, the recording head 17 is provided with the cleaning liquid supply region R2 in which the plurality of cleaning liquid supply ports 60a for supplying the cleaning liquid 23 are opened. Thereby, even if the ink is attached to the side surface 35 b of the wiper 35, the ink attached to the side surface 35 b of the wiper 35 can be dissolved by the cleaning liquid 23. For this reason, it is possible to effectively suppress the ink adhering to the side surface 35 b of the wiper 35 from adversely affecting the recovery operation of the recording head 17.

  Further, as described above, the recording head 17 includes the head portion 18 and the cleaning liquid supply member 60 having the inclined surface 62. Thereby, compared with the case where the inclined surface 62 is formed in the head part 18, the inclined surface 62 can be formed easily.

  As described above, the inclination angle α1 is not less than 15 ° and less than 45 °. Thereby, only the corner part 35a of the front-end | tip of the wiper 35 can be made to contact the inclined surface 62 easily, suppressing the load at the time of making the wiper 35 press-contact with the inclined surface 62 becoming large.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description of the embodiments but by the scope of claims for patent, and further includes all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims for patent.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the cleaning liquid supply member 60 in which the cleaning liquid supply port 60a is formed is provided separately from the head unit 18, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The cleaning liquid supply member 60 may be provided in the head portion 18 without providing the cleaning liquid supply member 60. At this time, the cleaning liquid supply port 60a is adjacent to the ink discharge port 18a (for example, the ink discharge port 18a and the cleaning liquid supply port 60a, as in the recording head 17 of the modification of the present invention shown in FIG. 16, for example). And alternately).

  In the above embodiment, an example in which the recovery process of the recording head 17 is performed using the cleaning liquid 23 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The recording head 17 may be recovered by wiping the purge ink adhering to the ink discharge surface F1 with the wiper 35 after forcibly pushing out the ink from the ink discharge port 18a.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which the recovery operation of the recording head 17 is performed using the cleaning liquid 23 and the ink (purge ink) 22 has been described. However, the recovery operation of the recording head 17 is performed using only the cleaning liquid 23. Also good. That is, it is not necessary to perform the ink pushing operation.

  Further, a configuration obtained by appropriately combining the configurations of the above-described embodiment and modification examples is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

17 Recording Head 18 Head (Ink Ejection Head)
18a Ink discharge port 22 Ink 23 Cleaning liquid 35 Wiper 60 Cleaning liquid supply member (cleaning liquid supply head)
60a Cleaning liquid supply port 62 Inclined surface 100 Inkjet recording apparatus F1 Ink discharge surface R1 Ink discharge region R2 Cleaning liquid supply region S Paper (recording medium)
α1 Inclination angle α2 Pressure contact angle

Claims (5)

A recording head including an ink ejection surface provided with an ink ejection area in which a plurality of ink ejection openings for ejecting ink are opened on a recording medium;
A wiper for wiping the ink ejection surface in a predetermined direction;
With
The recording head is disposed on the upstream side in the wiping direction, which is the direction in which the wiper wipes the ink ejection surface with respect to the ink ejection surface, and is inclined downward toward the downstream side in the wiping direction, and also has a wiping operation. Including an inclined surface to which the tip of the wiper is sometimes pressed,
The head cleaning is characterized in that an inclination angle of the inclined surface with respect to the ink discharge surface is smaller than a pressure contact angle with respect to the ink discharge surface of a tip portion of the wiper in a state where the wiper wipes the ink discharge surface. mechanism.   The recording head has a cleaning liquid supply region that is disposed upstream of the ink discharge region and downstream of the inclined surface with respect to the wiping direction and has a plurality of cleaning liquid supply ports that supply cleaning liquid. The head cleaning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the head cleaning mechanism is provided.   The said recording head is comprised by the ink discharge head part which has the said ink discharge surface, and the cleaning liquid supply head part which has the said cleaning liquid supply area | region and the said inclined surface. Head cleaning mechanism.   The head cleaning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the inclination angle is 15 ° or more and less than 45 °.   An ink jet recording apparatus comprising the head cleaning mechanism according to claim 1.

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