JP2019151034A - Liquid discharge unit and liquid discharge device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a liquid discharge unit and liquid discharge device which can clean a nozzle surface while preventing scattering of ink to an adjacent head with one wiping operation.SOLUTION: A liquid discharge unit 11 includes: a plurality of liquid discharge heads 12Y, 12M, 12C, 12K of discharging the liquid from a nozzle surface 12c; a head suction member 15 which suctions the liquid from the plurality of liquid discharge heads 12Y, 12M, 12C, 12K; and a movable and restoring-deformable wiping member 17a which wipes each nozzle surface 12c of the plurality of liquid discharge heads 12Y, 12M, 12C, 12K. The plurality of liquid discharge heads 12Y, 12M, 12C, 12K are respectively arranged so that the liquid discharge head 12M located on the downstream side in the movement direction of the wiping member 17a with respect to the one liquid discharge head 12Y is located in the direction where the nozzle surface 12c is separated toward the upstream side in the discharge direction of the liquid with respect to the one liquid discharge head 12Y.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid discharge unit and a liquid discharge apparatus.

  Printers, facsimiles, copiers, plotters, and other multi-function devices such as these, which have a liquid discharge head that discharges the recording liquid, have a performance maintenance and recovery mechanism that maintains and recovers the performance of the recording head. A liquid discharge unit is essential. This performance maintenance and recovery mechanism is a cap function that covers the recording head with a highly-sealing cap member to prevent the recording liquid near the nozzle holes from thickening and sticking due to natural evaporation of ink, bubbles generated in the nozzle holes, etc. A discharge recovery function that discharges the recording liquid and sucks the recording liquid from the nozzle of the recording head through the cap function to prevent the occurrence of defective discharge caused by the ink, and changes the flying state of the droplets attached to the nozzle surface It has a wiping function for wiping off the residual recording liquid as a factor.

  In such a performance maintenance and recovery mechanism, after suction is performed with the capping member capping the nozzle surface of the recording head, the nozzle surface of the recording head is wiped and cleaned by the wiping member, and then the nozzle of the recording head is again cleaned. A step of capping the surface with capping means is performed. Here, in the operation of wiping the nozzle surface after the recording head suction operation described above, when the wiping operation for wiping the nozzle surface is performed, the ink attached to the wiping member due to the restoring deformation at the tip of the wiping member is adjacent to the side surface of the recording head. In addition, there is a problem that the recording medium is scattered on the nozzle surface, and the scattered ink drips down to the transport unit and the recording medium becomes dirty.

  After the nozzle suction is performed by capping the nozzle surface with a suction cap in order to prevent the ink adhering when the tip of the wiping member is restored and deformed in order to eliminate the above problems By wiping without wiping the nozzle surface with the wiper blade, ink splattering on the tip of the blade is reduced, and then wiping off the nozzle surface again with the wiper blade to clean the entire nozzle surface. A technique is known (for example, refer to “Patent Document 1”).

However, in the above-described technique, since the wiping operation is performed a plurality of times, the work efficiency is low, and at the time of the last wiping, the ink attached to the wiping member due to the restoring deformation of the wiping member is scattered on the side surface and the nozzle surface of the adjacent head, and the conveyance unit There is a problem of drooping.
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and to provide a liquid discharge unit and a liquid discharge apparatus capable of cleaning a nozzle surface while preventing ink from scattering to an adjacent head by a single wiping operation. And

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of liquid ejection heads that eject liquid from a nozzle surface, a head suction member that sucks liquid from the plurality of liquid ejection heads, and the nozzle surfaces of the plurality of liquid ejection heads are provided. A liquid wiping member that is movable and can be restored and deformed, and the liquid discharge head that is located downstream of the one liquid discharge head in the movement direction of the wiping member includes the nozzles rather than the one liquid discharge head. The plurality of liquid ejection heads are respectively arranged so that the surface is positioned in a direction away from the upstream side in the liquid ejection direction.

  According to the present invention, when the wiping member wipes off the nozzle surface of one liquid ejection head, the ink droplets adhering to the wiping member that is deformed and deformed are more downstream than the one liquid ejection head in the movement direction of the wiping member. Since the liquid discharge head located in the position away from the upstream side in the ink discharge direction is prevented from adhering to the liquid discharge head located downstream in the movement direction of the wiping member, the attached ink droplet It is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of the problem that the recording medium is soiled by falling onto the transport section.

It is a schematic block diagram explaining the problem in the conventional liquid discharge unit. It is the schematic explaining the wiping operation | movement in the conventional liquid discharge unit. It is a figure explaining the conventional problem. It is the schematic of the liquid discharge unit used for the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic explaining the behavior of the ink drop at the time of the wiping operation | movement in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the liquid discharge unit in one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state of a recording head and a suction cap during a wiping operation according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic for demonstrating the further another problem of this invention. It is the schematic for demonstrating the further another problem of this invention. It is the schematic of the liquid discharge unit used for the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the liquid discharge unit used for the modification of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the liquid discharge unit used for the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the liquid discharge unit used for the modification of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic perspective view of the liquid discharge apparatus which can mount the liquid discharge unit of this invention. It is a schematic front view of the liquid discharge apparatus which can mount the liquid discharge unit of this invention.

Prior to the description of the present invention, the configuration and problems of a conventional liquid discharge unit will be described.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional liquid discharge unit. In FIG. 1, the liquid ejection unit 1 has recording heads 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K that are liquid ejection heads, and each recording head 2 is integrally provided with ink tanks 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K, respectively. It has been. Here, Y represents yellow, M represents magenta, C represents cyan, and K represents black. The same applies to the following configurations.
Each prismatic recording head 2 has a nozzle surface 2c having a nozzle 2b for ejecting ink at the lower end, which is the tip of the side surface 2a. Although only the recording head 2Y is illustrated in FIG. 1, the other recording heads 2M, 2C, and 2K are similarly configured. The ink supplied from each ink tank 3 to each recording head 2 is ejected from top to bottom in FIG.

In FIG. 1, the recording heads 2 arranged side by side in the horizontal direction are configured to be movable in the horizontal direction by a moving means (not shown). Below each recording head 2, suction caps 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K configured to be movable up and down in FIG. Each suction cap 4 is configured to be detachable from each recording head 2.
In FIG. 1, below the recording head 2 </ b> Y located on the leftmost side, a pump 5 that performs suction of each recording head 2 through each suction cap 4 is disposed. A waste liquid tank 6 is disposed below the pump 5, and waste ink sucked from each recording head 2 by the pump 5 is stored in the waste liquid tank 6.

On the left side of the pump 5, a wiping device 7 for wiping each nozzle surface 2c of each recording head 2 is disposed. As shown in FIG. 2, the wiping device 7 configured to be movable up and down is detachable with respect to the recording head 2 and wipes and cleans the nozzle surface 2c of the recording head 2 in the contact state. A brush 7a is provided. The wiping device 7 is also used as an ink receiver when each recording head 2 performs idle ejection.
On the left side of the wiping device 7 in FIG. 1, a transport unit 8 for transporting a recording medium is disposed.

  Next, the wiping operation will be described with reference to FIG. When the recording head 2 to be wiped (here, the recording head 2Y) is moved above the wiping device 7 (see FIG. 2A), the wiping brush 7a is moved upward to the nozzle surface 2c of the recording head 2Y. Press contact (see FIG. 2B). Next, the wiping brush 7a horizontally moves to the right in FIG. 2 (see FIG. 2C), and ink, paper dust, etc. adhering to the nozzle surface 2c due to this movement are wiped off by the wiping brush 7a. When the wiping brush 7a wipes off the nozzle surface 2c, the wiping operation is completed.

FIG. 3 shows a state where the wiping brush 7a wipes off the nozzle surface 2c in FIG. 2 (d). As shown in FIG. 3A, after the wiping brush 7a wipes off the nozzle surface 2c, the wiping brush 7a is restored and deformed by its own elasticity and returns to a vertically upright state. At this time, when viewed from the wiping brush 7a, the direction in which the recording head 2Y is located is the upstream side in the movement direction of the wiping brush 7a, and the direction in which the recording head 2M is located is the downstream side in the movement direction of the wiping brush 7a. In other words, in the moving direction of the wiping brush 7a indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 3A, the recording head 2Y is positioned on the upstream side and the recording head 2M is positioned on the downstream side. As the wiping brush 7a is restored, the ink droplets 9 adhering to the wiping brush 7a are scattered rightward by the elastic force accompanying the restoration of the wiping brush 7a as shown in FIG. Attached to the side surface 2a and the nozzle surface 2c, the state shown in FIG.
When the ink droplets 9 are dropped by gravity from the state shown in FIG. 3B, there is a problem that the recording medium adheres to the conveyance unit 8 and is fouled.

An embodiment of the present invention that solves the above-described problems will be described below.
FIG. 4 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the liquid ejection unit 11 has recording heads 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K that are liquid ejection heads, and each recording head 2 is integrally provided with ink tanks 13Y, 13M, 13C, and 13K, respectively. It has been.
Each prismatic recording head 12 has a nozzle surface 12c having a nozzle 12b that ejects ink at the lower end, which is the tip of the side surface 12a. Although only the recording head 12Y is illustrated in FIG. 4, the other recording heads 12M, 12C, and 12K are similarly configured. The ink supplied from each ink tank 13 to each recording head 12 is ejected from top to bottom in FIG. The arrangement position of each recording head 12 will be described later.

  In FIG. 4, a wiping device 17 for wiping each nozzle surface 12c of each recording head 12 is disposed on the left side of the recording head 12Y. The wiping device 17 configured to be movable up and down has a wiping brush 17a as a wiping member that is configured in the same manner as the wiping brush 7a described above and that wipes and cleans the nozzle surface 12c of each recording head 12. Yes. The wiping device 17 is also used as an ink receiver when each recording head 12 performs idle ejection. In FIG. 4, on the left side of the wiping device 17, a transport unit 18 for transporting the recording medium is disposed.

Here, the arrangement position of each recording head 12 will be described. Similarly to the wiping brush 7a shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when the wiping brush 17a wipes the nozzle surface 12c of the recording head 12Y, the recording heads 12 are aligned in the horizontal direction in the same manner as the recording heads 2. In the case where they are arranged side by side, the ink droplet 9 adheres to the side surface 12a of the recording head 12M located downstream in the moving direction of the wiping brush 17a when viewed from the recording head 12Y.
In order to prevent the occurrence of the above-described problems, in the present embodiment, the recording head 12M located on the downstream side in the moving direction of the wiping brush 17a with respect to the recording head 12Y is separated from the recording head 12M in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. In other words, they are arranged so as to be located away from the upstream side of the liquid ejection direction, which is the direction of ink ejection from the nozzle 12b. That is, in the moving direction of the wiping brush 17a indicated by the arrow B in FIGS. 4 and 5, the recording head 12M positioned downstream from the recording head 12Y positioned upstream is separated toward the upstream side in the liquid ejection direction. Placed in position.

  With this configuration, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, when the wiping brush 17a wipes off the nozzle surface 12c of the recording head 12Y, the ink droplets 9 attached to the wiping brush 17a that is restored and deformed are Since the recording head 12M located on the downstream side in the movement direction of the wiping brush 17a with respect to 12Y is arranged at a position away from the upstream side in the ink ejection direction, it adheres to the side surface 12a and the nozzle surface 12c of the recording head 12M. Thus, it is possible to surely prevent the occurrence of the problem that the ink droplet 9 attached to the recording head 12M falls on the transport unit 18 and thereby contaminates the recording medium.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the recording head 12C located downstream of the recording head 12M in the movement direction of the wiping brush 17a is positioned away from the recording head 12M in the vertical direction, as compared with the recording head 12C. As shown in FIG. 4, the recording heads 12K located on the downstream side in the moving direction are arranged so as to occupy positions away from the recording head 12C in the vertical direction. Each recording head 12 is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction by a moving means (not shown) while maintaining the positional relationship shown in FIG.

Below each recording head 12, suction caps 14Y, 14M, 14C, and 14K configured to be movable up and down in FIG. 4 are disposed. Each suction cap 14 is configured to be detachable from each recording head 12.
In FIG. 4, below the recording head 12Y, a pump 15 is disposed as a head suction member that sucks each recording head 12 through each suction cap 14Y. A waste liquid tank 16 is disposed below the pump 15, and waste ink sucked from each recording head 12 by the pump 15 passes through a waste ink passage 20 that connects the suction cap 14 </ b> Y and the pump 15 to the waste liquid tank 16. To be stored.
The pump 15 and the wiping device 17 are connected to a control unit 19 which is a well-known microcomputer having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O port, and the like, and its operation is controlled by the control unit 19.

Next, the operation of the liquid discharge unit 11 will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.
When a recovery start switch (not shown) is pressed, ink is supplied from the ink tank 13Y to the recording head 12Y (ST01). Next, the suction cap 14Y is raised and positioned at the position shown in FIG. 4, and the pump 15 is actuated based on the operation command from the control means 19 to perform the head suction of the recording head 12Y (ST02).

When the head suction of the recording head 12Y is completed, each recording head 12 is translated leftward in FIG. 4 after the suction cap 14 is lowered, and the recording head 12Y is positioned at a position corresponding to the wiping device 17. After positioning, after the wiping brush 17a is raised and contacts the nozzle surface 12c of the recording head 12Y, the wiping brush 17a moves rightward and the wiping operation of the nozzle surface 12c of the recording head 12Y is performed (ST03).
When the wiping operation is completed, the recording head 12Y performs idle ejection toward the wiping device 17 (ST04), and a series of operations in the recording head 12Y is completed.
When the wiping to the recording head 12Y is completed and the wiping brush 17a returns to the initial position, the suction cap 14 rises, and the suction cap 14Y caps the recording head 12M, resulting in the state shown in FIG. Thereafter, a series of operations on the recording head 12M is performed in the same manner as described above.

  According to the above-described configuration, the pump 15 sequentially sucks each recording head 12 one by one, so that the configuration as a conventional liquid discharge unit can be used as it is, and ink droplets to adjacent recording heads during wiping can be used. Can be prevented and the cost can be reduced.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, even if a plurality of recording heads are arranged in the same positional relationship as in the first embodiment, among the ink tanks attached to the plurality of recording heads, the shape of the ink tank differs from the others. The structure which solves the problem which generate | occur | produces when including is shown. First, this problem will be described.

FIG. 8 shows the liquid discharge unit 21. The liquid discharge unit 21 has a plurality of recording heads 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K, as with the liquid discharge unit 11 shown in the first embodiment. Each of the recording heads 12Y, 12C, and 12K is integrally provided with the same ink tanks 13Y, 13C, and 13K as in the first embodiment, but the recording head 13M has a large capacity that is larger than each of the ink tanks 13. An ink tank 22 is integrally provided.
Further, suction caps 23Y, 23M, 23C, and 23K that are movable up and down, similar to the suction cap 14, are disposed at positions corresponding to the recording heads 12, respectively. The suction cap 23Y and the pump 15 are connected by a waste ink passage 20, and the waste ink sucked from the recording head 12Y by the pump 15 is stored in the waste liquid tank 16 through the waste ink passage 20.

  In the liquid ejection unit 21 configured as described above, when the wiping operation of the recording head 12Y is performed as in the first embodiment, each recording head 12 occupies a position corresponding to the wiping device 7 in the recording head 12Y. It occupies the position shown in FIG. At this time, since the recording head 12M is provided with the large-capacity ink tank 22, the distance between the suction caps 23Y and 23M is different from the distance between the suction caps 23M and 23C. For this reason, the moved recording head 12C does not fit into the suction cap 23M, and there is a problem that the recording head 12C and the suction cap 23M may be damaged.

A second embodiment of the present invention that solves the above-described problems will be described below.
Compared with the liquid ejection unit 21, the liquid ejection unit 10 illustrated in FIG. 10 has a waste ink path 24 that connects the suction cap 23 </ b> M and the pump 15 in addition to the waste ink path 20 that connects the suction cap 23 </ b> Y and the pump 15. The second embodiment is different in that it has a waste ink passage 25 that connects the suction cap 23C and the pump 15, and a waste ink passage 26 that connects the suction cap 23K and the pump 15.

By using the liquid discharge unit 10 having the above-described configuration and simultaneously performing the suction operation of each recording head 12 by the pump 15, it is possible to surely prevent the occurrence of the above-described problems during capping, and further, the adjacent suction caps Regardless of the interval or shape, it is possible to reliably prevent problems caused by ink scattering during the wiping operation.
As a modification of the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, instead of the recording head 12M and the suction cap 23M, a recording head 27 as a liquid ejection head having a size corresponding to the large-capacity ink tank 22 and Even if the suction cap 28 is used, the same effect can be obtained.

Next, another configuration that solves the same problem as that of the second embodiment will be described as a third embodiment.
Compared with the liquid discharge unit 10 shown in FIG. 11, the liquid discharge unit 29 shown in FIG. 12 has a pump 15 A connected to the waste ink passage 24 and a pump 15 B connected to the waste ink passage 25 in addition to the pump 15. The second embodiment is different in that it has a pump 15C connected to the waste ink passage 26, and the other configurations are the same.
By using the liquid discharge unit 29 having the above-described configuration and simultaneously performing the suction operation of the recording heads 12 and 27 by the pumps 15, 15A, 15B, and 15C, it is possible to obtain the same effects as those of the second embodiment. At the same time, a more stable suction operation can be performed on the large-capacity ink tank 22 and the recording head 27 corresponding thereto.
As a modification of the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, a pump 15D that sucks only the large-capacity ink tank 22 and the corresponding recording head 27 is provided, and the other recording heads 13Y, 13C, and 13K are provided. A similar effect can be obtained even if the pump 15 is configured to suck.

Next, an ink jet recording apparatus as a liquid ejecting apparatus equipped with the liquid ejecting units 10, 11, 21, 29 described above will be described with reference to FIGS. In this description, only the liquid discharge unit 11 will be described as a representative.
An ink jet recording apparatus 54 as a liquid ejection apparatus has a carriage 55 that can move in the main scanning direction and mount each recording head 12 inside the apparatus main body. Further, inside the apparatus main body, a liquid discharge unit 11 and the like configured by each recording head 12 and an ink tank 13 for supplying ink to each recording head 12 are stored. A paper feed cassette (or a paper feed tray) 59 on which a large number of transfer sheets 58 serving as recording media can be stacked from the front side is detachably attached to the lower part of the apparatus main body. Further, the apparatus main body is provided with a manual feed tray 60 that is opened when the transfer sheet 58 is manually fed. The ink jet recording apparatus 54 takes in the transfer sheet 58 fed from the paper feed cassette 59 or the manual feed tray 60, records a desired image by the liquid discharge unit 11, and then arranges the transfer sheet 58 after image formation on the rear side. The paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 61 provided.

The liquid discharge unit 11 holds a main guide rod 62, a sub guide rod 63, and a carriage 55, which are guide members stretched between left and right side plates (not shown), so as to be slidable in the main scanning direction. The carriage 55 is provided with the recording heads 12 that discharge ink droplets of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (Bk).
Also, each ink tank 13 that supplies each color ink to each recording head 12 is replaceably mounted on the carriage 55. Each ink tank 13 has an air port communicating with the air at the top and a supply port for supplying ink to each recording head 12 at the bottom. The ink tank 13 is provided with a porous body filled with ink, and the ink supplied to the recording head 12 is maintained at a slight negative pressure by the capillary force of the porous body.

  The carriage 55 is slidably fitted to the main guide rod 62 on the downstream side in the paper conveyance direction, and is slidably mounted on the secondary guide rod 63 on the upstream side in the paper conveyance direction, which is the front side. Yes. In order to move and scan the carriage 55 in the main scanning direction, a timing belt 67 is stretched between a driving pulley 65 and a driven pulley 66 that are rotationally driven by a main scanning motor 64, and the timing belt 67 is fixed to the carriage 55. . With this configuration, the carriage 55 is reciprocated by forward and reverse rotation of the main scanning motor 64.

  On the other hand, in order to convey the transfer sheet 58 set in the paper feed cassette 59 to the lower side of the recording head 12, a paper feed roller 68 and a friction pad 69 for separating and feeding the transfer sheet 58 from the paper feed cassette 59 are provided. ing. Further, a guide member 70 that guides the transfer sheet 58 and a transport roller 71 that reverses and transports the fed transfer sheet 58 are disposed. Furthermore, a conveyance roller 72 pressed against the circumferential surface of the conveyance roller 71 and a leading end roller 73 that defines a feeding angle of the transfer sheet 58 from the conveyance roller 71 are provided. The transport roller 71 is rotationally driven through a gear train by a sub scanning motor (not shown).

  Corresponding to the range of movement of the carriage 55 in the main scanning direction, a printing receiving member 74 as a sheet guide member is provided to guide the transfer sheet 58 fed from the conveying roller 71 at a position below the recording head 12. Yes. A conveyance roller 75 and a spur 76 that are rotationally driven to send the transfer sheet 58 in the paper discharge direction are provided on the downstream side of the printing receiving member 74 in the sheet conveyance direction. Further, a discharge roller 77 and a spur 78 for sending the transfer sheet 58 to the discharge tray 61, and guide members 79 and 80 for forming a discharge path are provided.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus 54 described above, the recording head 12 is driven according to the image signal while moving the carriage 55 during recording. Thus, ink is ejected onto the stopped transfer sheet 58 to record one line, and after that, the transfer sheet 58 is conveyed by a predetermined amount, and then the next line is recorded. Upon receiving a recording end signal or a signal that the rear end of the transfer sheet 58 reaches the recording area, the ink jet recording apparatus 54 ends the recording operation and discharges the transfer sheet 58.

  A recovery device 81 for recovering defective ejection of the recording head 12 is disposed at a position outside the recording area on the right end side in the movement direction of the carriage 55. The recovery device 81 includes the suction cap 14, the pump 15, and the wiping device 7. The carriage 55 is moved to the recovery device 81 side during printing standby, and the recording head 12 is capped by the suction cap 14 to keep the nozzle 12b in a wet state, thereby preventing the occurrence of ejection failure due to ink drying. Further, by ejecting ink that is not related to recording during recording or the like, the ink viscosity of all the nozzles 12b is made constant and a stable ejection state is maintained.

When a discharge failure occurs, the nozzle 12 b of the recording head 12 is sealed with the suction cap 14, and bubbles and the like are sucked out of the nozzle 12 b with the ink through the waste ink passage 20 by the pump 15. Then, ink, dust, or the like adhering to the nozzle surface 12c is removed by the wiping brush 17a, thereby recovering the ejection failure. The sucked ink is discharged to a waste liquid tank 16 provided at the lower part of the main body, and is absorbed and held by an ink absorber provided inside the waste liquid tank 16.
In the above-described ink jet recording apparatus 54, since the liquid discharge unit 11 of the present invention is mounted, the ink droplet 9 scatters on the side surface 12a of the adjacent recording head 12 during wiping, and the ink droplet 9 attached to the side surface 12a is conveyed. It is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of the problem that the transfer sheet 58 is soiled by dropping onto the part.
In the above description, the liquid ejecting unit 11 ejects ink. However, the liquid to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to ink. For example, the liquid ejecting unit 11 may be used in an apparatus that ejects a liquid resist for patterning. May be applied. Further, the liquid discharge unit 11 may be applied to an apparatus for discharging a gene analysis sample.

  In the above-described embodiment and each modified example, an example using a color printer as a liquid ejecting apparatus has been shown. However, the liquid ejecting apparatus is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to a printer, a facsimile machine, a multifunction machine, and the like. . In this embodiment and the modification, the transfer sheet 58 is used as a recording medium on which an image is formed. However, the transfer sheet S is not limited to a recording sheet, and is a cardboard, a postcard, an envelope, a normal sheet, and the like. It includes paper, thin paper, coated paper (coated paper, art paper, etc.), tracing paper, OHP sheet, OHP film, resin film, etc. It may be used.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and unless specifically limited by the above description, the present invention described in the claims is not limited. Various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist. The effects described in the embodiments of the present invention are merely examples of the most preferable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are limited to those described in the embodiments of the present invention. is not.

10, 11, 21, 29 Liquid discharge unit 12Y, 12M, 12C, 12K, 27 Liquid discharge head (recording head)
12c Nozzle surface 15, 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D Head suction member (pump)
17 Wiping member (wiping brush)
19 Control means 54 Liquid ejection device (inkjet recording device)

Japanese Patent No. 4210574

Claims (6)

A plurality of liquid discharge heads for discharging liquid from the nozzle surface;
A head suction member for sucking liquid from the plurality of liquid discharge heads;
A movable and restoring deformable wiping member for wiping each nozzle surface of the plurality of liquid ejection heads;
The liquid discharge head located downstream of the one liquid discharge head in the movement direction of the wiping member has a direction in which the nozzle surface moves away from the one liquid discharge head toward the upstream side of the liquid discharge direction. A liquid discharge unit in which the plurality of liquid discharge heads are respectively arranged so as to be positioned. The liquid discharge unit according to claim 1, wherein
A liquid discharge unit comprising control means for controlling operations of the head suction member and the wiping member. The liquid discharge unit according to claim 2, wherein
The liquid discharge unit, wherein the head suction member sequentially sucks the plurality of liquid discharge heads one by one. The liquid discharge unit according to claim 2, wherein
The liquid discharge unit, wherein the head suction member sucks the liquid discharge heads simultaneously. In the liquid discharge unit according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
A liquid discharge unit comprising a plurality of the head suction members.   A liquid ejection apparatus comprising the liquid ejection unit according to claim 1.

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