JP2019025709A - Head cleaning mechanism and an inkjet recording apparatus including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a head cleaning mechanism and an inkjet recording apparatus capable of cleaning an ink ejection surface while suppressing damage of a wiper.SOLUTION: The head cleaning mechanism includes a recording head 17 including an ink ejection surface F1 in which ink ejection ports are opened, and a wiper which wipes the ink ejection surface F1. The recording head 17 includes a cleaning liquid supply surface F2 which is disposed on an upstream side with respect to the ink ejection surface F1 in a wiping direction and on which cleaning liquid supply ports are opened. The cleaning liquid supply surface F2 is disposed at a position which is higher than the ink ejection surface F1 by a height lower than an amount scratched by the wiper into the ink ejection surface F1. There is provided a step part 63 having an inclined surface 63a in a boundary part between the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 and the ink ejection surface F1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

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, a cleaning liquid supply port is provided outside the ink discharge region (upstream in the wiping direction of the wiper) where a plurality of ink discharge ports of the ink discharge surface open. An ink jet recording apparatus provided with a plurality of ink jets is known. In this ink jet recording apparatus, after supplying the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid supply port, the wiper is moved along the ink discharge surface from the outside of the cleaning liquid supply port, so that the ink discharge surface is held while the wiper holds the cleaning liquid. Can be wiped. In this way, the recording head recovery process can be performed.

  An ink jet recording apparatus in which a plurality of cleaning liquid supply ports are provided on the ink discharge surface of the recording head is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151867.

JP 2007-83396 A

  However, the above-described conventional ink jet recording apparatus has a problem in that the wiper passes over the cleaning liquid supply port every time the recovery process of the recording head is performed, and the edge of the cleaning liquid supply port causes a scratch on the tip of the wiper. . In addition, when the damage | wound of the tip of a wiper becomes large and a chip | tip arises in the tip of a wiper, the wiping performance of a wiper will fall remarkably and wiping will arise.

  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 cleaning the ink discharge surface while suppressing damage to the wiper. And an inkjet recording apparatus including the same.

  In order to achieve the above object, a head cleaning mechanism according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a recording head including an ink discharge surface in which a plurality of ink discharge ports for discharging ink on a recording medium are opened, and an ink discharge surface. A wiper for wiping in a predetermined direction. The recording head includes a cleaning liquid supply surface that is disposed on the upstream side of the wiping direction, which is the direction in which the wiper wipes the ink discharge surface with respect to the ink discharge surface, and that has a plurality of cleaning liquid supply ports that supply the cleaning liquid. The cleaning liquid supply surface is disposed at a position higher than the ink discharge surface by a height equal to or less than the amount of biting of the wiper with respect to the ink discharge surface. A step portion having an inclined surface inclined downward toward the downstream side in the wiping direction is provided at a boundary portion between the cleaning liquid supply surface and the ink discharge surface.

  According to the head cleaning mechanism of the first aspect of the present invention, the recording head is disposed upstream of the ink discharge surface in the wiping direction, which is the direction in which the wiper wipes the ink discharge surface, and supplies a plurality of cleaning liquids. The cleaning liquid supply surface includes a cleaning liquid supply surface that is open. Thus, after supplying the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid supply port, the ink discharge surface is held while the cleaning liquid is held by the wiper by moving the wiper along the ink discharge surface from the upstream side in the wiping direction with respect to the cleaning liquid supply port. Can be wiped. For this reason, the ink discharge surface can be cleaned.

  The cleaning liquid supply surface is disposed at a position higher than the ink ejection surface. Thereby, since the press-contact force of the wiper with respect to the cleaning liquid supply surface can be suppressed, the tip of the wiper can be suppressed from being damaged by the edge of the cleaning liquid supply port. The cleaning liquid supply surface is disposed at a position higher than the ink discharge surface by a height equal to or less than the amount of penetration of the wiper with respect to the ink discharge surface, so that the cleaning liquid is cleaned without contacting the cleaning liquid supply surface. It can suppress remaining on a liquid supply surface.

  Further, a step portion having an inclined surface inclined downward toward the downstream side in the wiping direction is provided at a boundary portion between the cleaning liquid supply surface and the ink discharge surface. Thereby, when the wiper moves from the cleaning liquid supply surface to the ink discharge surface, it is possible to prevent the cleaning liquid from remaining at the boundary portion between the cleaning liquid supply surface and the ink discharge surface.

1 is a diagram illustrating a structure of an ink jet recording apparatus including a head cleaning mechanism according to an embodiment of the present 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 print head, sub tank, and main tank The figure which shows the structure of the boundary part of the cleaning liquid supply surface of a recording head, and an ink discharge surface 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.

  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. The cleaning liquid supply surface F2 is disposed in parallel with the ink ejection surface F1. Note that at least the ink discharge surface F1 of the head portion 18 is formed of, for example, SUS (stainless steel), and the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 of the cleaning liquid supply member 60 is formed of, for example, SUS or resin.

  Further, an upstream 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).

  The cleaning liquid is preferably a solution composed of components similar to the ink, and is a liquid composition mainly composed of water and a solvent component, to which a surfactant, an antiseptic and fungicide are added as necessary.

  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 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 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 is configured to be able to switch between a state where the inlet and the outlet of the supply pump 72 are blocked and a state where the supply pump 72 is in communication with the supply pump 72 when the supply is stopped. The detailed structure 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. In parallel, the cleaning liquid 23 is supplied from the cleaning liquid supply ports 60a (see FIG. 5) of all the recording heads 17 to the cleaning liquid supply region R2, and the ink discharge surface F1 is moved by the wiper 35 described later. Wipe off and 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 is forcibly discharged from the ink discharge port 18 a of the recording head 17. The cleaning liquid 23 supplied from the ink and cleaning liquid supply port 60a is wiped off, and the wiped ink and 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, and the cap unit 90 is moved horizontally below the recording unit 9 and further moved upward. Mounted on the lower surface of the recording head 17.

  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. 8) movable 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 at a portion upstream of the wiping direction (here, the upstream inclined surface 62), and 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) by the movement. The maintenance unit 19 and the recording head 17 constitute a head cleaning mechanism.

  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. Thereby, the liquid level (upper surface) of the cleaning liquid 23 in the sub tank 71 is maintained at a substantially constant height.

  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 FIG. 5, the cleaning liquid supply ports 60a are arranged at a pitch of, for example, 1 mm along the head width direction (arrow BB ′ direction, a 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.

  Here, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 is disposed at a position higher than the ink discharge surface F1. The cleaning liquid supply surface F2 is disposed at a position higher than the ink discharge surface F1 by a height equal to or less than the amount of biting (overlap amount) of the wiper 35 with respect to the ink discharge surface F1 when the wiper 35 wipes the ink discharge surface F1. Has been. Specifically, the amount of biting of the wiper 35 with respect to the ink ejection surface F1 when the wiper 35 wipes the ink ejection surface F1 is set to, for example, 1.0 mm or more and 1.5 mm or less. The cleaning liquid supply surface F2 is disposed at a position that is, for example, 0.8 mm higher than the ink discharge surface F1. Note that the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 is preferably disposed at a position higher than the ink discharge surface F1 by about 0.2 mm or more.

  Further, the boundary portion between the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 and the ink discharge surface F1 has an inclined surface 63a inclined downward toward the downstream side in the wiping direction, and a step protruding downward from the cleaning liquid supply surface F2. A portion 63 is provided. The step portion 63 is provided integrally with the cleaning liquid supply member 60, and the inclined surface 63a is formed continuously with the cleaning liquid supply surface F2.

  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 cleaning liquid supply surface F2 and the ink discharge surface F1 of the inclined surface 63a. 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 with respect to the ink ejection surface F1 at the tip of the wiper 35 is set to about 45 °. The inclination angle α1 of the inclined surface 63a with respect to the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 and the ink discharge surface F1 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 35a contacts the inclined surface 63a. That is, the downstream side surface 35b of the wiper 35 in the wiping direction does not contact the inclined surface 63a.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the downstream end 63b of the inclined surface 63a in the wiping direction is disposed flush with the ink ejection surface F1 or at a position lower than the ink ejection surface F1. When the downstream end 63b of the inclined surface 63a is disposed at a position lower than the ink discharge surface F1, the downstream end 63b of the inclined surface 63a is 1/2 of the level difference between the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 and the ink discharge surface F1 (= It is preferably disposed at a position lower than the ink ejection surface F1 by a height of about 0.4 mm or less, and here, it is disposed at a position lower than the ink ejection surface F1 by about 0.2 mm.

  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. 8) 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. When a predetermined amount of the cleaning liquid 23 is supplied, the supply pump 72 is stopped (turned off), and the inlet and outlet of the supply pump 72 are blocked.

(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 the wiper 35 into contact with the upstream 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 by about 1.0 mm or more and about 1.5 mm or less. As a result, the amount of biting (overlap amount) of the wiper 35 with respect to the ink discharge surface F1 is about 1.0 mm or more and about 1.5 mm or less, and the amount of biting of the wiper 35 with respect to the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 is about 0.2 mm or more. It becomes about 0.7 mm or less. Note that when the wiper 35 is raised, the wiper 35 may not be in pressure contact with the upstream inclined surface 62. That is, the wiper 35 may be raised at a position on the right side of FIG.

  From the state in which the tip of the wiper 35 is in pressure contact with the upstream inclined surface 62 of the cleaning liquid supply member 60, the controller 110 moves the wiper 35 along the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 in the direction of the ink discharge region R1 (see FIG. 13). Move in the direction of arrow A). As a result, the wiper 35 moves in the direction of the ink ejection region R <b> 1 while holding 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.

  The wiper 35 moves the inclined surface 63a of the stepped portion 63 in the left direction (arrow A direction) while maintaining the state where the cleaning liquid 23 is held. As shown in FIG. 9, when the wiper 35 moves below the inclined surface 63a in the wiping direction (arrow A direction), only the corner portion 35a at the tip of the wiper 35 moves while contacting the inclined surface 63a.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the wiper 35 moves to the left (in the direction of arrow A) on the ink ejection surface F <b> 1 while maintaining the state where the cleaning liquid 23 is held. At this time, the cleaning liquid 23 and the ink (purge ink) 22 dissolve the ink droplets (waste ink) that adhere to the ink ejection surface F1 and solidify, 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 recording head 17 is disposed on the upstream side in the wiping direction with respect to the ink ejection surface F1, and the cleaning liquid supply that opens the plurality of cleaning liquid supply ports 60a that supply the cleaning liquid 23 opens. Includes surface F2. Thus, after supplying the cleaning liquid 23 from the cleaning liquid supply port 60a, the wiper 35 is moved along the ink discharge surface F1 from the upstream side of the cleaning liquid supply port 60a in the wiping direction. The ink discharge surface F1 can be wiped while holding the ink. For this reason, the ink discharge surface F1 can be cleaned.

  Further, the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 is disposed at a position higher than the ink discharge surface F1. Thereby, since the press-contact force of the wiper 35 with respect to the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 can be suppressed, it is possible to suppress the tip of the wiper 35 from being damaged by the edge of the cleaning liquid supply port 60a. The cleaning liquid supply surface F2 is disposed at a position higher than the ink discharge surface F1 by a height equal to or less than the amount of penetration of the wiper 35 with respect to the ink discharge surface F1, so that the wiper 35 is in contact with the cleaning liquid supply surface F2. Without remaining on the cleaning liquid supply surface F2.

  Further, a stepped portion 63 having an inclined surface 63a inclined downward toward the downstream side in the wiping direction is provided at a boundary portion between the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 and the ink discharge surface F1. Thereby, when the wiper 35 moves from the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 to the ink discharge surface F1, it is possible to suppress the cleaning liquid 23 from remaining at the boundary portion between the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 and the ink discharge surface F1.

  Further, as described above, the inclination angle α1 of the inclined surface 63a with respect to the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 is the pressure contact angle α2 with respect to the ink discharge surface F1 at the tip of the wiper 35 in the state where the wiper 35 wipes the ink discharge surface F1. Smaller than. 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 63a, 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 has a corner on the downstream side in the wiping direction at the tip. Only the part 35a moves while contacting the inclined surface 63a. That is, the side surface 35b of the wiper 35 does not contact the inclined surface 63a. For this reason, it is possible to suppress the cleaning liquid 23 from remaining on the inclined surface 63a.

  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 in the wiping direction downstream can be made to contact the inclined surface 63a easily.

  Further, as described above, the downstream end 63b of the inclined surface 63a is disposed flush with the ink ejection surface F1 or at a position lower than the ink ejection surface F1. Thereby, when the wiper 35 moves from the inclined surface 63a to the ink discharge surface F1, the tip of the wiper 35 is prevented from being damaged by the upstream end in the wiping direction of the head portion 18 (upstream end of the ink discharge surface F1). be able to. Further, when the wiper 35 moves from the inclined surface 63a to the ink discharge surface F1, it is possible to suppress the cleaning liquid 23 from remaining at the boundary portion between the inclined surface 63a and the ink discharge surface F1.

  Further, as described above, the downstream end 63b of the inclined surface 63a is disposed at a position lower than the ink discharge surface F1 by a height that is ½ or less of the step between the cleaning liquid supply surface F2 and the ink discharge surface F1. Yes. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the downstream end 63b of the inclined surface 63a from protruding too far below the ink discharge surface F1. For this reason, when the wiper 35 moves from the inclined surface 63 a to the ink ejection surface F 1, it is possible to suppress the tip of the wiper 35 from being damaged by the downstream end 63 b of the stepped portion 63. Further, when the wiper 35 moves from the inclined surface 63a to the ink discharge surface F1, it is possible to suppress the cleaning liquid 23 from remaining at the boundary portion (downstream of the step portion 63) between the inclined surface 63a and the ink discharge surface F1. Can do.

  Further, as described above, the recording head 17 includes the head portion 18 having the ink ejection surface F1 and the cleaning liquid supply member 60 having the cleaning liquid supply surface F2. Thereby, the cleaning liquid supply port 60a can be easily formed as compared with the case where the cleaning liquid supply port 60a is formed in the head portion 18.

  Further, as described above, the inclined surface 63 a is provided on the cleaning liquid supply member 60. Thereby, compared with the case where the inclined surface 63a is formed in the head part 18, the inclined surface 63a can be formed easily.

  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. That is, all of the cleaning liquid supply surface F2, the inclined surface 63a, and the ink discharge surface F1 may be provided in the head unit 18. In this case, since it is not necessary to consider the dimensional tolerance and assembly error between the cleaning liquid supply member 60 and the head portion 18, the downstream end 63b of the inclined surface 63a can be arranged flush with the ink ejection surface F1. .

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the stepped portion 63 having the inclined surface 63 a is provided in the cleaning liquid supply member 60 is described, but the stepped portion 63 may be provided in the head portion 18.

  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.

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 63 Stepped portion 63a Inclined surface 63b Downstream end 100 Inkjet recording apparatus F1 Ink ejection surface F2 Cleaning liquid supply surface S Paper (recording medium)
α1 Inclination angle α2 Pressure contact angle

Claims (8)

A recording head including an ink ejection surface in which a plurality of ink ejection openings for ejecting ink on a recording medium are opened;
A wiper for wiping the ink ejection surface in a predetermined direction;
With
The recording head is disposed upstream of the ink discharge surface in the wiping direction, which is the direction in which the wiper wipes the ink discharge surface, and a cleaning liquid supply surface having a plurality of cleaning liquid supply ports for supplying a cleaning liquid is opened. Including
The cleaning liquid supply surface is disposed at a position higher than the ink ejection surface by a height equal to or less than the amount of wiper biting into the ink ejection surface,
A head cleaning mechanism, wherein a step portion having an inclined surface inclined downward toward the downstream side in the wiping direction is provided at a boundary portion between the cleaning liquid supply surface and the ink ejection surface.   The inclination angle of the inclined surface with respect to the cleaning liquid supply surface is smaller than a pressure contact angle of the tip portion of the wiper with respect to the ink discharge surface in a state where the wiper wipes the ink discharge surface. Item 2. The head cleaning mechanism according to Item 1.   The head cleaning mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the inclination angle is 15 ° or more and less than 45 °.   The downstream end of the inclined surface in the wiping direction is disposed flush with the ink ejection surface or at a position lower than the ink ejection surface. The described head cleaning mechanism.   The downstream end of the inclined surface in the wiping direction is disposed at a position lower than the ink ejection surface by a height of ½ or less of a step between the cleaning liquid supply surface and the ink ejection surface. The head cleaning mechanism according to claim 4.   6. The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the recording head includes an ink discharge head portion having the ink discharge surface and a cleaning liquid supply head portion having the cleaning liquid supply surface. The head cleaning mechanism according to the item.   The head cleaning mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the inclined surface is provided in the cleaning liquid supply head unit.   An ink jet recording apparatus comprising the head cleaning mechanism according to claim 1.

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