JP2021146556A - Head cleaning device and liquid discharging device - Google Patents

Abstract

To eliminate risks of deterioration in absorption capacity of a cleaning member due to solidification and drying of ink and of adhesion of ink to a peripheral part of a cap.SOLUTION: A head cleaning device comprises: a cap unit having a cap for closing a head; a wet-type first cap cleaning member that is contacted with the cap of the cap unit to absorb ink adhering to a peripheral part of the cap and is constituted of an absorbent including washing liquid or moisture liquid; a second cap cleaning member constituted of a dry-type absorbent which is contacted with the cap of the cap unit to absorb the washing liquid or the moisture liquid adhering to the peripheral part of the cap; and a driving part that moves the cap unit from a cap position at which the head is closed to a stamp position at which the cap is cleaned, and makes the first cap cleaning member and the second cap cleaning member clean the cap of the cap unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a head cleaning device and a liquid discharge device.

Protective / suction caps are a technique used for cleaning the ejection nozzles of inkjet printers and for moisturizing means during printing. As a protection / suction cap, a cap stamper (cap cleaning member) that cleans dirt adhering to the cap edge when the discharge nozzle is capped by bringing the cap into contact with a sponge-like stamper at the position where the cap retracts from the head. (For example, Patent Document 1).

Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which a sponge-shaped cap cleaning member is brought into contact with a cap to remove ink. However, when the ink solidifies and dries, the absorption capacity of the cleaning member decreases, and the edge of the cap is reduced. There was a risk of sticking to the part.

An object of the present invention is to provide a head cleaning device in which there is no risk of deterioration of the absorption capacity of the cleaning member due to solidification and drying of the ink and adhesion of the ink to the edge of the cap.

The head cleaning device according to the present invention is a wet first cap cleaning device composed of a cap unit having a cap for closing the head and an absorber containing a cleaning liquid or a moisturizing liquid with which the cap of the cap unit is in contact. A second cap cleaning member composed of a member and a dry absorber with which the cap of the cap unit is in contact, and the cap unit from a cap position for closing the head to a stamp position for cleaning the cap. The head cleaning device is configured to include a drive unit that is moved to clean the cap of the cap unit by the first cap cleaning member and the second cap cleaning member.

According to the present invention, there is no possibility that the absorption capacity of the cleaning member is lowered due to the solidification and drying of the ink, and the ink is not attached to the edge of the cap.

It is a schematic block diagram of an inkjet recording apparatus. It is a schematic block diagram of each station part. It is a figure which shows the example of the cleaning control at the time of cleaning by a cap cleaning means. It is a figure which shows the example of the cleaning control at the time of cleaning by a cap cleaning means. It is a figure which shows the example of the cleaning control at the time of cleaning by a cap cleaning means. It is a figure which shows the example of the cleaning control at the time of cleaning by a cap cleaning means.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention has the following features in a cleaning means having a cap cleaning member that protects the head of an inkjet printer. In short, in cleaning the cap, the cap was first cleaned by a first cap cleaning means having a first cap cleaning member containing a cleaning liquid or a moisturizer, and then a dry second cap cleaning member was provided. The second cap cleaning means is characterized by absorbing and removing the first cleaning liquid or moisturizing liquid. The features of the present invention described above will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of an inkjet recording device 1000 which is an example of the head cleaning device and the liquid ejection device of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the inkjet recording device 1000 reverses the carry-in section 8, the carry-out section 9, the front engine section (first printing section) 1, and the back engine section (second printing section) 2. It has a part 4 and these are connected by a transport path.

The carry-in unit 8 carries in a recording medium (for example, roll paper) and sends it to the front engine unit 1. The front engine unit 1 prints the surface of the sent recording medium and sends it to the reversing unit 4, and the reversing unit 4 reverses the front and back of the recording medium and then sends it to the back engine unit 2.

The back engine unit 2 prints the back surface of the transmitted recording medium and sends it to the unloading unit 9, and the unloading unit 9 winds up the recording medium. The above series of operations is controlled by a control means (not shown).

The front engine unit 1 and the back engine unit 2 are means for forming an image on a recording medium. These engine units have a recording head, and the recording head forms an image by ejecting droplets (hereinafter, referred to as ink) onto a recording medium.

In the following, the description will be made on the assumption that the recording medium is roll paper, but the recording medium is not limited to roll paper. Includes cut paper, plain paper, woodfree paper, thin paper, thick paper, and recording paper, as well as transparencies, synthetic resin films, metal thin films, and other surfaces capable of forming images with ink or the like.

The front engine unit 1 and the back engine unit 2 each have a station unit 400 (400K, 400C, 400M, 400Y in FIG. 1) that ejects inks of four colors K, C, M, and Y, respectively. The front surface of the recording medium is printed by each station unit 400 of the front engine unit 1, the front and back surfaces are inverted by the inversion unit 4, and then the back surface is printed by each station unit 400 of the back engine unit 2. The cleaning operation of the cap that protects the recording head of each station unit is performed except during printing. For configurations other than those shown in FIG. 1, it is assumed that the inkjet recording apparatus has a general configuration to be provided.

A schematic configuration diagram of each station unit 400 is shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the cap position will be described including a state in which the head 401 is capped by the cap 402 and a state in which the head 401 is separated downward from the capped state. Further, the position of the cap holding portion 406 from the time when the cap holding portion 406 is cleaned by the first cap cleaning means 301 to the time when the cap holding portion 406 is cleaned by the second cap cleaning means 302 is set as the retracted position, and the contact (stamp) is performed. ) Position will be described as a cleaning position by each cleaning means.

After the cap 402 is separated from the head 401, when the nozzle is sucked and cleaned, the ink adhered to the edge of the cap 402 is pressed against the first cap cleaning means 301 to transfer the ink for cleaning (FIG. FIG. 3). Since the first cap cleaning means 301 is composed of a wet absorber and is impregnated with a cleaning liquid or a moisturizing liquid, the ink diffuses into the absorber of the first cap cleaning means 301. Therefore, it is possible to prevent ink from accumulating on the surface of the first cap cleaning means 301. When the cap 402 is separated from the first cap cleaning means 301, almost no ink adheres to the edge of the cap 402, but the cleaning liquid or moisturizing liquid impregnated in the absorber of the first cap cleaning means 301 is present. It adheres to the edge of the cap 402.

The cap 402 is held by a cap holding portion 406 that serves as a cap unit, and the cap holding portion 406 has a roller 407 for moving to the positions of the first cap cleaning means 301 and the second cap cleaning means 302. There is. That is, the cap 401, the cap holding portion 406, and the roller 407 constitute the cap moving portion 403. The cap moving portion 403 has a transport rail 408 for rotating and moving the roller 407. The cap moving unit 403 moves the transport rail 408 and is moved to the positions of the first cap cleaning means 301 and the second cap cleaning means 302 held by the cleaning unit 305 configured by the housing or the like. .. Further, the cap moving portion 403 moves together with the transport belt 433 driven by the belt rollers 431 and 432.

Next, after the cap 402 is separated from the first cap cleaning means 301, the cap cleaning means is switched from the first cap cleaning means 301 to the second cap cleaning means 302 as shown in FIG. Then, the cap 402 is pressed against the second cap cleaning means 302 composed of the dry absorber (FIG. 5). By performing such control, the cleaning liquid or moisturizing liquid of the first cap cleaning means 301 attached to the edge of the cap 402 is absorbed by the absorber of the second cap cleaning means 302 and adheres to the edge of the cap 402. Liquid can be removed. In this case, since the edge of the cap 402 contains almost no ink having a high solid content, no deposit is generated on the surface of the dry absorber.

In this embodiment, the first cap cleaning means 301 and the second cap cleaning means 302 are switched by rotation in the rotation direction D about the rotation axis X, but the means for switching is limited to this method. I can't. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the first cap cleaning means 301 and the second cap cleaning means 302 may be arranged horizontally, and the cap 402 may be moved to the position and pressed.

For the control of the operation of the first cap cleaning means 301 and the second cap cleaning means 302 described above, various conventionally known methods may be used. For example, in the rotation control of the first cap cleaning means 301, the cap cleaning means is switched by operating a drive motor or a gear (not shown) connected to the rotation shaft X to abut (stamp) the cap 402. Just do it. Further, regarding the control of moving the second cap cleaning means 302 horizontally, the cap is operated by operating a drive motor or a gear (not shown) connected to a transport path for moving the second cap cleaning means 302. The cleaning means may be switched so that the cap 402 is brought into contact with the cap 402.

The second cap cleaning means 302 removes the liquid adhering to the edge of the cap 402, so that the edge comes into contact with the nozzle body 401b during capping to the nozzle surface 401a, and is separated after the subsequent suction cleaning. In some cases, the generation of film and bubbles can be suppressed between the edge of the cap 402 and the nozzle surface 401a, and it is possible to prevent the meniscus of the nozzle surface 401a from being affected. Further, by repeating these operations a plurality of times, the cleanliness of the cap can be further improved.

Further, the ink used in the inkjet recording apparatus 1000 is an ink containing at least water, a water-soluble organic solvent, a pigment, and resin fine particles, and the evaporation residue is 5 to 30% by weight of the total amount of the ink, and is 25 ° C. The effect is likely to be obtained when an inkjet recording pigment ink formulated so that the ink viscosity in the above is 5 to 20 mPa · s and the surface tension of the ink is 25 mN / m or less. Similarly, the cleaning liquid or moisturizing liquid impregnated in the first cap cleaning member contains at least water and a water-soluble organic solvent, does not contain a particle dispersion, and has a viscosity at 25 ° C. of 1.5 mPa · s or more. The effect is easy to obtain.

As described above, the head cleaning device of the inkjet recording device 1000 adheres to the cap edge when the cap holding portion 406, which is a cap unit having a cap 402 for closing the head 401, is in contact with the cap of the cap unit. The wet first cap cleaning member (first cap cleaning means) composed of an absorber containing a cleaning liquid or a moisturizing liquid that absorbs ink and the cap of the cap unit are brought into contact with each other to adhere to the cap edge. A stamp that cleans the cap 402 from the cap position that closes the head 401 with the second cap cleaning member (second cap cleaning means) composed of a dry absorber that absorbs the cleaning liquid or moisturizing liquid. A drive unit (for example, a roller 407, a transport rail 408, a belt roller 431 and 432, which is moved to a position and has the cap of the cap holding portion 406 cleaned by the first cap cleaning member and the second cap cleaning member. Since the transport belt 433 and the drive motor (not shown) connected to the rotating shaft X are provided, the absorption capacity of the cleaning member due to the solidification and drying of the ink is reduced, and there is no risk of the ink adhering to the edge of the cap. Specifically, the cleaning degree of the edge of the cap is increased, and the generation of bubbles when the cap is separated from the nozzle surface is suppressed, so that the effect of preventing the destruction of the nozzle meniscus can be enhanced. In addition, by cleaning the rib part of the cap and removing the liquid adhering to the rib part, it is possible to prevent the generation of bubbles generated when the cap separates from the nozzle surface and keep the meniscus of the nozzle normal. can.

Further, since the drive unit performs an abutting operation in which the cap 402 abuts on the first cap cleaning member and then abuts on the second cap cleaning member, the cleaning liquid or the moisturizing liquid is reliably absorbed and removed. can do. Further, the certainty is increased by repeating the contact operation a plurality of times by the drive unit.

Further, when the drive unit performs the contact operation to switch the cleaning member from the first cap cleaning member to the second cap cleaning member, the drive unit conveys a predetermined retracting position (for example, as shown in FIG. 4). Since the cap unit is retracted to the center position of the road), the cap unit does not interfere with the switching operation of the cleaning member when the cleaning member is switched.

Further, the first cap cleaning member and the second cap cleaning member are provided on different housing surfaces, and the drive unit is a cleaning member by rotating the housing around a rotation axis X. Is switched from the first cap cleaning member to the second cap cleaning member, so that the cleaning member can be switched in a compact configuration.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the first cap cleaning member and the second cap cleaning member are arranged side by side along a transport path for substantially horizontally moving the cap unit 406, and the drive unit is arranged side by side. By moving the cap unit 406 from the position of the first cap cleaning member to the position of the second cap cleaning member, the cleaning member is switched from the first cap cleaning member to the second cap cleaning member. Therefore, even if there is no space for providing the housing in the height direction, it is possible to switch the cleaning member with a simple configuration.

In Patent Document 1, the cap is cleaned to keep the nozzle surface normal, but the ink adhering to the contact portion of the cap cleaning member dries and solidifies, so that the absorption capacity of the cap cleaning member decreases. The ink adhering to the cap edge cannot be completely absorbed and the ink is deposited on the cap edge, or the ink deposit adhering to the cap edge is transferred to the head nozzle surface side when the cap and the head come into contact with each other, resulting in contamination of the nozzle surface. There was a problem that the nozzle did not eject, but by using the above-mentioned method, such a problem can be solved.

In the present application, the liquid to be discharged may have a viscosity and surface tension that can be discharged from the head, and is not particularly limited, but the viscosity becomes 30 mPa · s or less at room temperature, under normal pressure, or by heating or cooling. It is preferable that it is a thing. More specifically, solvents such as water and organic solvents, colorants such as dyes and pigments, polymerizable compounds, resins, functionalizing materials such as surfactants, biocompatible materials such as DNA, amino acids and proteins, and calcium. , Solvents, suspensions, emulsions, etc. containing edible materials such as natural dyes, etc. These are, for example, inks for inkjets, surface treatment liquids, components of electronic elements and light emitting elements, and formation of electronic circuit resist patterns. It can be used for applications such as a liquid for use and a material liquid for three-dimensional modeling.

Piezoelectric actuators (laminated piezoelectric elements and thin-film piezoelectric elements), thermal actuators that use electrothermal conversion elements such as heat-generating resistors, and electrostatic actuators that consist of a vibrating plate and counter electrodes are used as energy sources for discharging liquid. Includes what to do.

The "liquid discharge unit" is a liquid discharge head integrated with functional parts and a mechanism, and includes an aggregate of parts related to liquid discharge. For example, the "liquid discharge unit" includes a head tank, a carriage, a supply mechanism, a maintenance / recovery mechanism, a main scanning movement mechanism, a liquid circulation device in which at least one of the configurations is combined with a liquid discharge head, and the like.

Here, "integration" means, for example, a liquid discharge head and a functional component, a mechanism in which the mechanism is fixed to each other by fastening, adhesion, engagement, etc., or one in which one is movably held with respect to the other. include. Further, the liquid discharge head, the functional parts, and the mechanism may be detachably attached to each other.

For example, as a liquid discharge unit, there is one in which a liquid discharge head and a head tank are integrated. Further, there is a case in which the liquid discharge head and the head tank are integrated by being connected to each other by a tube or the like. Here, a unit including a filter can be added between the head tank of these liquid discharge units and the liquid discharge head.

Further, as a liquid discharge unit, there is a liquid discharge head and a carriage integrated.

Further, as a liquid discharge unit, there is a liquid discharge head in which the liquid discharge head and the scanning movement mechanism are integrated by holding the liquid discharge head movably by a guide member forming a part of the scanning movement mechanism. In some cases, the liquid discharge head, the carriage, and the main scanning movement mechanism are integrated.

Further, as a liquid discharge unit, there is a carriage to which a liquid discharge head is attached, in which a cap member which is a part of the maintenance / recovery mechanism is fixed, and the liquid discharge head, the carriage, and the maintenance / recovery mechanism are integrated. ..

Further, as a liquid discharge unit, there is a liquid discharge unit in which a tube is connected to a head tank or a liquid discharge head to which a flow path component is attached, and the liquid discharge head and a supply mechanism are integrated. Through this tube, the liquid of the liquid storage source is supplied to the liquid discharge head.

The main scanning movement mechanism shall also include a single guide member. Further, the supply mechanism includes a single tube and a single loading unit.

The "liquid discharge device" includes a device including a liquid discharge head or a liquid discharge unit, which drives the liquid discharge head to discharge the liquid. The liquid discharge device includes not only a device capable of discharging a liquid to a device to which the liquid can adhere, but also a device for discharging the liquid into the air or the liquid.

This "liquid discharge device" can also include means related to feeding, transporting, and discharging paper to which a liquid can adhere, as well as a pretreatment device, a posttreatment device, and the like.

For example, as a "liquid ejection device", an image forming apparatus that ejects ink to form an image on paper, and a powder in which powder is formed in layers in order to form a three-dimensional model (three-dimensional model). There is a three-dimensional modeling device (three-dimensional modeling device) that discharges the modeling liquid to the body layer.

Further, the "liquid discharge device" is not limited to a device in which a significant image such as characters and figures is visualized by the discharged liquid. For example, those that form patterns that have no meaning in themselves and those that form a three-dimensional image are also included.

The above-mentioned "material to which a liquid can adhere" means a material to which a liquid can adhere at least temporarily, such as one that adheres and adheres, and one that adheres and permeates. Specific examples include paper, recording paper, recording paper, film, recording media such as cloth, electronic substrates, electronic components such as piezoelectric elements, powder layers (powder layers), organ models, and media such as inspection cells. Yes, including anything to which the liquid adheres, unless otherwise specified.

The material of the above-mentioned "material to which liquid can be attached" may be paper, thread, fiber, cloth, leather, metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics, or the like as long as the liquid can be attached even temporarily.

Further, the "liquid discharge device" includes, but is not limited to, a device in which the liquid discharge head and the device to which the liquid can adhere move relatively. Specific examples include a serial type device that moves the liquid discharge head, a line type device that does not move the liquid discharge head, and the like.

In addition, as a "device for ejecting a liquid", a treatment liquid coating device for ejecting a treatment liquid to a paper in order to apply the treatment liquid to the surface of the paper for the purpose of modifying the surface of the paper, etc. There is an injection granulation device that granulates fine particles of the raw material by injecting a composition liquid in which the raw material is dispersed in a solution through a nozzle.

In addition, image formation, recording, printing, printing, printing, modeling, etc. in the terms of the present application are all synonymous.

1000 Head Inkjet Printing Device 1 Table Engine Section (1st Printing Section)
2 Back engine part (second printing part)
4 Reversing part 8 Carry-in part 9 Carry-out part 301 First cap cleaning means 302 Second cap cleaning means 401 Head 402 Cap 403 Cap moving part 406 Cap holding part 407 Roller 408 Transport rail 431, 432 Belt roller 433 Transport belt

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-043481

Claims (9)

A cap unit with a cap that closes the head that discharges liquid,
A wet first cap cleaning member composed of an absorber containing a cleaning liquid or a moisturizing liquid with which the cap of the cap unit is abutted, and
A second cap cleaning member composed of a dry absorber with which the cap of the cap unit is in contact, and
The cap unit is moved from the cap position for closing the head to the stamp position for cleaning the cap, and the cap of the cap unit is cleaned by the first cap cleaning member and the second cap cleaning member. Drive unit and
A head cleaning device characterized by having. The drive unit performs an abutting operation in which the cap abuts on the first cap cleaning member and then abuts on the second cap cleaning member.
The head cleaning device according to claim 1. The drive unit repeats the contact operation a plurality of times.
The head cleaning device according to claim 2. The drive unit retracts the cap unit to a predetermined retracted position when the cleaning member is switched from the first cap cleaning member to the second cap cleaning member by performing the contact operation.
The head cleaning device according to claim 2. The first cap cleaning member and the second cap cleaning member are provided on different housing surfaces.
The drive unit switches the cleaning member from the first cap cleaning member to the second cap cleaning member by rotating the housing around the shaft.
The head cleaning device according to claim 4. The first cap cleaning member and the second cap cleaning member are arranged side by side along a transport path that substantially horizontally moves the cap unit.
The drive unit moves the cap unit from the position of the first cap cleaning member to the position of the second cap cleaning member, thereby moving the cleaning member from the first cap cleaning member to the second cap. Switch to cleaning materials,
The head cleaning device according to claim 2. The liquid is an ink
The first cap cleaning member is an ink containing at least water, a water-soluble organic solvent, a pigment, and resin fine particles, and the evaporation residue is 5 to 30% by weight of the total amount of the ink, and the ink viscosity at 25 ° C. is high. Absorbs the ink having a surface tension of 5 to 20 mPa · s and a surface tension of 25 mN / m or less.
The head cleaning device according to claim 1. The second cap cleaning member absorbs the cleaning liquid or moisturizing liquid containing at least water and a water-soluble organic solvent, containing no particle dispersion, and having a viscosity at 25 ° C. of 1.5 mPa · s or more.
The head cleaning device according to claim 1. A liquid discharge device including the head cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

Images