JP2022154748A - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an inkjet recording device capable of efficiently collecting ink during flushing, and improving conveying performance of a recording medium such as a paper sheet.SOLUTION: The inkjet recording device includes a recording head 51, a first conveying belt 8, a paper suction portion 9, an ink receiving portion 10, a communicating portion 11, a suction fan 12, and an air path switching valve 13. The communicating portion 11 causes the paper suction portion 9 and the ink receiving portion 10 to communicate with each other. The suction fan 12 suctions air inside the communicating portion 11. The air path switching valve 13 is arranged in the communicating portion 11, and can adjust flow rates of the air suctioned from the paper suction portion 9 side by the suction fan 12 and the air suctioned from the ink receiving portion 10 side by the suction fan 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art In an inkjet recording apparatus, in order to reduce or prevent clogging of nozzles due to drying of ink, flushing (idle ejection) for periodically ejecting ink from nozzles is performed. An example of such an inkjet recording apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-200012.

A conventional image recording apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a recording head that ejects ink onto a recording medium conveyed by a conveying belt, a receiving section that receives the ink ejected from the recording head by a flushing operation, Prepare. The receiving section includes an ink receiving tray that vertically overlaps the recording head and receives ink ejected from the recording head, and a discharge port that is formed on the bottom surface of the ink receiving tray and discharges the received ink. The outlet is connected to a waste liquid tank. As a result, the ink received by the ink receiving tray is not discharged from the discharge port and accumulated in the ink receiving tray, and there is no need to remove the ink from the ink receiving tray and throw it away.

JP 2010-23374 A

However, in the prior art, there is a problem in that no consideration is given to changing the method of sucking the paper and receiving the ink during flushing according to the operating state of the device, the conditions for recording an image on the paper, and the like. there were. As a result, there is concern that image recording efficiency may be reduced due to, for example, insufficient suction on thick paper or double-sided recording paper, or generation of a large suction force against the ink receiving tray during non-flushing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of efficiently recovering ink during flushing and improving the transport performance of a recording medium such as paper. .

In order to solve the above problems, the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention includes a recording head, a conveying belt, a recording medium suction section, an ink receiving section, a communication section, an intake fan, and an air passage switching valve. Prepare. The recording head has a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink. The conveying belt is endless, has a plurality of holes for attracting a recording medium, and a plurality of openings through which the ink ejected from the recording head passes, and faces the recording head. Convey the recording medium. The recording medium suction section is arranged to face one surface of the conveying belt opposite to the recording medium conveying surface, and sucks air through the holes and the openings to remove the recording medium from the conveying belt. Make it stick to the conveying surface. The ink receiving section is arranged below the recording head with the conveying belt interposed therebetween. receiving the ink that has passed through the section; The communicating portion communicates the recording medium suction portion and the ink receiving portion. The intake fan sucks the air in the communication section. The air passage switching valve is arranged in the communicating portion, and is capable of adjusting the flow rate of the air sucked from the recording medium sucking portion side by the intake fan and the air sucked from the ink receiving portion side by the intake fan. is.

According to the configuration of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently collect ink during flushing, for example, by increasing the flow rate of air sucked from the ink receiving portion side by the air passage switching valve during flushing. For example, when recording on thick paper or double-sided recording paper, it is possible to improve the transport performance of the recording medium by increasing the flow rate of the air sucked from the recording medium suction unit side by the air passage switching valve. .

1 is a schematic cross-sectional front view of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a top view of the vicinity of a recording unit of the inkjet recording apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the inkjet recording apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view schematically showing a configuration along a sheet conveying path from a sheet feeding section to a second belt conveying section in FIG. 1; 2 is a front view around a recording unit and a first belt conveying unit in FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a first conveyor belt of the first belt conveyor of FIG. 5; FIG. 6 is a plan view of the first belt conveying portion of FIG. 5 with the first conveying belt removed; 6 is a cross-sectional front view of the periphery of the paper suction unit and the ink receiving unit in FIG. 5; FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited to the following contents.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an inkjet recording apparatus 1 according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a top view around the recording section 5 of the inkjet recording apparatus 1 of FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the inkjet recording apparatus 1 of FIG. The inkjet recording apparatus 1 is, for example, an inkjet recording printer. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the inkjet recording apparatus 1 includes an apparatus main body 2, a paper supply section 3, a paper transport section 4, a recording section 5, a drying section 6, and a control section 7. , provided.

The device body 2 includes an operation section 21 . For example, the operation unit 21 is arranged on the front upper part of the apparatus main body 2, and sets recording conditions such as the type and size of paper (recording medium) used for recording, enlargement/reduction, necessity of double-sided recording, and execution commands. directly from the user himself. Image data, recording conditions, execution commands, and the like may be received from an external computer via a network line or the like.

The paper supply unit 3 accommodates a plurality of sheets (recording media) S, and separates and feeds the sheets S one by one at the time of recording. The paper conveying section 4 conveys the paper S fed from the paper supply section 3 to the recording section 5 and the drying section 6 , and discharges the paper S after recording and drying to the paper discharge section 22 . When double-sided recording is performed, the paper conveying unit 4 distributes the paper S after the first surface has been recorded and dried to the reversing conveying unit 44 by the branching unit 43, and the conveying direction is switched to reverse the front and back sides of the paper S. It is conveyed to the recording section 5 and the drying section 6 again.

The sheet conveying section 4 has a first belt conveying section 41 and a second belt conveying section 42 . The first belt conveying unit 41 and the second belt conveying unit 42 convey the sheet S while adsorbing and holding it on the upper outer surface (surface) of the endless belt. The first belt conveying section 41 is arranged below the recording section 5 and conveys the sheet S. As shown in FIG. The second belt conveying section 42 is positioned downstream in the sheet conveying direction with respect to the first belt conveying section 41 , is arranged in the drying section 6 , and conveys the sheet S therefrom.

The recording unit 5 is arranged above the first belt conveying unit 41 with a predetermined space therebetween, facing the sheet S conveyed while being attracted to the upper surface of the first belt conveying unit 41 . The recording unit 5 has a line-type inkjet recording head 51 . The recording head 51 includes recording heads 51B, 51C, 51M, and 51Y corresponding to four colors of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow, respectively, as shown in FIG. A plurality (for example, three) of the recording heads 51 of each color are arranged in a zigzag pattern along the paper width direction Dw orthogonal to the paper transport direction Dc.

The recording head 51 has a plurality of ink ejection nozzles 52 on its bottom. The plurality of ink ejection nozzles 52 are arranged side by side along the paper width direction Dw, and can eject ink over the entire recording area on the paper S. As shown in FIG. That is, the recording head 51 has a plurality of ink ejection nozzles 52 that eject ink onto the paper S. As shown in FIG. The recording unit 5 sequentially ejects ink from four-color recording heads 51B, 51C, 51M, and 51Y toward the paper S conveyed by the first belt conveying unit 41, and records a full-color image or a monochrome image on the paper S. .

The drying section 6 is arranged downstream of the recording section 5 in the sheet conveying direction, and is provided with a second belt conveying section 42 . The paper S on which the ink image has been recorded by the recording unit 5 is dried in the drying unit 6 while being conveyed by being adsorbed and held by the second belt conveying unit 42 .

The control unit 7 includes a CPU, other electronic circuits and electronic components (none of which are shown). The CPU controls the operation of each component provided in the inkjet recording apparatus 1 based on the control programs and data stored in the storage unit 71 to perform processing related to the functions of the inkjet recording apparatus 1 . The paper supply unit 3, the paper transport unit 4, the recording unit 5, and the drying unit 6 individually receive instructions from the control unit 7 and perform recording on the paper S in conjunction with each other.

In addition, the control unit 7 performs flushing (idle ejection) that causes the recording head 51 to eject ink at a timing different from the timing of ink ejection onto the paper S (at the time of recording). By performing flushing, it is possible to reduce and prevent clogging of the ink ejection nozzles 52 due to drying of the ink.

The storage unit 71 is configured by a combination of a non-volatile storage device such as a program ROM (Read Only Memory) and a data ROM (not shown) and a volatile storage device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory).

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a configuration along the paper transport path from the paper supply unit 3 to the second belt transport unit 42 in FIG. For convenience of explanation, the ink (in the form of water droplets) ejected from the recording head 51 is drawn below the recording head 51 in FIG. (droplet shape). The same applies to FIG. 5 and the like used in the later description.

The inkjet recording apparatus 1 includes a registration roller pair 45, a registration sensor 46, a first paper sensor 47, and a second paper sensor 48, as shown in FIG.

The registration roller pair 45 is arranged downstream of the paper feeding section 3 in the paper transport direction Dc. The recording unit 5 and the first belt conveying unit 41 are arranged immediately downstream of the registration roller pair 45 in the sheet conveying direction Dc. The sheet S sent out from the sheet supply section 3 passes through the sheet conveying section 4 and reaches the registration roller pair 45 . The control unit 7 corrects skewing of the sheet S by the pair of registration rollers 45 , and sends out the sheet S toward the first belt conveying unit 41 in timing with the ink ejection operation of the recording unit 5 .

The registration sensor 46 is arranged immediately upstream of the registration roller pair 45 in the paper transport direction Dc. The registration sensor 46 detects the sheet S sent from the sheet supply section 3 and reaching the position of the pair of registration rollers 45 . The control unit 7 controls the rotation of the registration roller pair 45 based on the detection signal of the sheet S received from the registration sensor 46 .

The first paper sensor 47 is arranged downstream of the registration roller pair 45 in the paper transport direction Dc and upstream of the first belt transport section 41 in the paper transport direction Dc. The first paper sensor 47 is a line sensor that detects the position in the width direction of the paper S sent from the registration roller pair 45 to the first belt conveying section 41 . Based on the detection signal of the paper S received from the first paper sensor 47, the control unit 7 ejects ink from the ink ejection nozzles 52 corresponding to the width of the paper among the plurality of ink ejection nozzles 52 of the recording heads 51 of each color. An image can be recorded on the paper S by controlling the operation.

The second paper sensor 48 is arranged downstream of the first paper sensor 47 in the paper transport direction Dc, upstream of the recording unit 5 in the paper transport direction Dc, and above the first belt transport unit 41 . The second paper sensor 48 is a sensor that detects the position of the paper S transported by the first belt transport unit 41 in the transport direction. Based on the detection signal of the paper S received from the second paper sensor 48, the control unit 7 ejects the ink ejection nozzles 52 on the paper S that has reached the position facing the recording heads 51 of each color by the first belt conveying unit 41. controls the ink ejection operation from

The first belt conveying section 41 is arranged below the recording section 5 . The first belt conveying section 41 sucks and holds the sheet S on its upper surface, and conveys the sheet S along the sheet conveying direction Dc. The first belt conveying section 41 includes a first conveying belt (conveying belt) 8 , rollers 412 , a first belt sensor 413 and a second belt sensor 414 .

The first transport belt 8 is an endless belt and is stretched by four rollers 412 arranged inside. The roller 412 is arranged inside the first transport belt 8 and is rotatably supported about a rotation axis extending along the paper width direction Dw (see FIG. 2). One of the four rollers 412 is a drive roller, and the drive roller rotates the first transport belt 8 so that the upper side moves in the paper transport direction Dc. The first conveyor belt 8 has a plurality of holes 81 and a plurality of openings 82 (opening group 83) penetrating from the front and back (see FIG. 6). The first transport belt 8 transports the paper S to a position facing the recording head 51 .

The first belt sensor 413 is arranged on the downstream side of the recording section 5 in the sheet conveying direction Dc and above the first belt conveying section 41 . The second belt sensor 414 is located inside the first transport belt 8 and located upstream of the first transport belt 8 in the rotation direction of the roller 412 adjacent to the upstream end of the upper side of the first transport belt 8 in the paper transport direction Dc. placed in The first belt sensor 413 and the second belt sensor 414 detect the positions of an opening group 83 (see FIG. 6), which is a collection of a plurality of openings 82 provided in the first conveyor belt 8 . Note that the first belt sensor 413 also has the same function as the second paper sensor 48 .

The second belt conveying section 42 is arranged in the drying section 6 . The second belt conveying section 42 sucks and holds the sheet S on its upper surface, and conveys the sheet S along the sheet conveying direction Dc. The second belt conveying section 42 includes a second conveying belt 421 and rollers 422 .

The second conveying belt 421 is an endless belt and is constructed by two rollers 422 arranged inside. The roller 422 is arranged inside the second transport belt 421 and is rotatably supported about a rotation axis extending along the paper width direction Dw (see FIG. 2). One of the two rollers 422 is a drive roller, and the drive roller rotates the second transport belt 421 such that the upper side moves in the paper transport direction Dc.

The drying section 6 has a dryer 61 . The paper S on which an image has been recorded by the recording unit 5 is dried by the dryer 61 in the drying unit 6 while being conveyed by the second belt conveying unit 42, and is conveyed downstream of the drying unit 6 in the paper conveying direction Dc. be.

FIG. 5 is a front view around the recording unit 5 and the first belt conveying unit 41 in FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the first conveying belt 8 of the first belt conveying section 41 of FIG. The inkjet recording apparatus 1 includes a paper suction section (recording medium suction section) 9 and an ink receiving section 10, as shown in FIG.

The paper suction unit 9 is located inside the upper part of the first transport belt 8 and faces one surface (upper inner surface, back surface) of the first transport belt 8 opposite to the paper transport surface (upper outer surface, front surface). are placed. The paper suction unit 9 includes a paper suction housing 91 .

The paper suction housing 91 has a suction space 911 surrounded by side walls on all sides. The suction space 911 is a non-contact space between the first conveyor belt 8 and the recording head 51 on the upstream side and the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction Dc with respect to the facing section So where the first conveyor belt 8 and the recording head 51 face each other. Located in the facing section Sn. The suction space 911 is provided at five locations from below the recording head 51B for black on the upstream side in the paper transport direction Dc to below the recording head 51Y for yellow on the downstream side in the paper transport direction Dc. It faces one surface (upper inner surface, back surface) on the opposite side of the surface (upper outer surface, front surface).

The paper suction housing 91 has a plurality of suction holes 912 arranged above the suction space 911 on its upper surface. A plurality of air intake holes 912 pass through the paper suction housing 91 in the vertical direction.

The first conveyor belt 8 has a plurality of holes 81 and a plurality of openings 82, as shown in FIG. The holes 81 and the openings 82 pass through the front and back of the first conveyor belt 8 . When an intake fan 92, which will be described later, is driven, the sheet suction unit 9 sucks air through the intake holes 912, the holes 81, and the openings 82 to move the sheet S to the sheet conveying surface (upper outer surface) of the first conveying belt 8. , surface).

The plurality of holes 81 and the plurality of openings 82 attract the sheet S to the upper outer surface (front surface) of the first conveyor belt 8, which is the sheet conveying surface, by sucking air from the sheet sucking section 9 . The opening area of the opening 82 is larger than the opening area of the hole 81 . Ink ejected from the recording head 51 passes through the opening 82 during flushing. A plurality (for example, ten) of the openings 82 form an opening group 83 .

The ink receiving section 10 is arranged below the recording head 51 with the first conveying belt 8 interposed therebetween. That is, the ink receiving section 10 is arranged below the facing section So where the first conveying belt 8 and the recording head 51 face each other. Paper suction units 9 are adjacent to the ink receiving unit 10 on the upstream side and the downstream side in the paper transport direction Dc. The ink receiver 10 receives ink that has passed through the opening 82 of the first conveyor belt 8 during flushing.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the first belt conveying portion 41 of FIG. 5 with the first conveying belt 8 removed. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional front view of the periphery of the paper suction section 9 and the ink receiving section 10 of FIG. Below the paper suction section 9 and the ink receiving section 10, a communication section 11, an intake fan 12, and an air passage switching valve 13 are provided.

The ink receiving section 10 has a housing 101 . The housing 101 is arranged immediately below the upper surface of the paper suction housing 91 . The housing 101 is a rectangular parallelepiped box that extends longitudinally along the paper width direction Dw with an open top. Note that the paper suction housing 91 has a plurality of windows 913 arranged on the upper surface of the housing 101 so as to face each other. The same number of windows 913 as the housing 101 are provided. A plurality of windows 913 pass through the paper suction housing 91 in the vertical direction. The housing 101 has a space inside for receiving ink ejected during flushing.

The communication portion 11 is arranged across the ink receiving portion 10 and the paper suction portion 9 positioned downstream in the paper transport direction Dc. The communicating portion 11 has a communicating housing 111 and allows the internal space of the paper suction portion 9 and the internal space of the ink receiving portion 10 to communicate with each other.

The intake fan 12 is positioned below the communication portion 11 . The intake fan 12 is arranged, for example, between the ink receiving section 10 and the paper suction section 9 in the paper transport direction Dc. A plurality of intake fans 12 are preferably arranged in the sheet width direction Dw. The intake fan 12 sucks the air inside the communicating portion 11 . Specifically, the intake fan 12 sucks the air in the communicating portion 11 downward. An exhaust port (not shown) is provided below the intake fan 12 .

The air passage switching valve 13 is arranged inside the communicating portion 11 . The air passage switching valve 13 is driven by a valve drive motor 13M (see FIG. 3). The air passage switching valve 13 moves between a position in which the air circulation path on the side of the paper suction section 9 in the communication section 11 is blocked and a position in which the air circulation path on the side of the ink receiving section 10 in the communication section 11 is blocked. can be done. As a result, the air passage switching valve 13 can adjust the flow rate of the air sucked from the paper suction section 9 side by the suction fan 12 and the air sucked from the ink receiving section 10 side by the suction fan 12 . The adjustment of the air flow rate by the air passage switching valve 13 is a relative adjustment in which one flow rate is increased and the other flow rate is decreased.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to efficiently collect the ink during flushing by increasing the flow rate of the air sucked from the ink receiving section 10 side by the air passage switching valve 13, for example, during flushing. . Further, for example, when recording on thick paper or double-sided recording paper, by increasing the flow rate of the air sucked from the paper suction unit 9 side by the air path switching valve 13, it is possible to improve the transport performance of the paper S. be.

The air passage switching valve 13 is formed in a plate shape extending in the paper width direction Dw. The air passage switching valve 13 is rotatably supported by the communication housing 111 at both ends of a rotary shaft 13x extending in the paper width direction Dw. The air passage switching valve 13 rotates around a rotation shaft 13x extending in the paper width direction Dw. As a result, the air passage switching valve 13 is positioned between the position in the communicating portion 11 that closes the air circulation path on the side of the paper suction portion 9 and the position in the communicating portion 11 that closes the air circulation path on the side of the ink receiving portion 10. Moving. The air passage switching valve 13 can adjust the flow rate of the air sucked by the intake fan 12 .

According to the above configuration, the position of the air passage switching valve 13 can be appropriately changed according to the operating state of the inkjet recording apparatus 1, image recording conditions on the paper S, and the like, for example, during flushing. This makes it possible to arbitrarily change the method of sucking the paper S and recovering the ink during flushing. Therefore, the ink during flushing can be recovered more effectively, and the transport performance of the sheet S can be improved.

The air passage switching valve 13 moves to a first position P1, a second position P2, and a third position P3, as shown in FIG.

The first position P1 is a position where the plate-shaped air passage switching valve 13 extends substantially vertically downward. At the first position P1, the degree of opening of the air circulation path in the communication section 11 on the side of the paper suction section 9 is substantially the same as the degree of opening of the air circulation path in the communication section 11 on the side of the ink receiving section 10 . When the intake fan 12 is driven with the air passage switching valve 13 at the first position P1, air is sucked from the paper suction section 9 side and the ink receiving section 10 side. The air passage switching valve 13 is moved to the first position P1, for example, when single-sided recording is performed on a sheet S having a thickness less than a predetermined thickness.

The second position P2 is a position in which the plate-shaped air passage switching valve 13 extends obliquely toward the ink receiving portion 10 side with respect to the vertically downward direction. At the second position P2, the air circulation path on the side of the ink receiving section 10 in the communication section 11 is closed, and the opening degree of the air circulation path on the side of the paper suction section 9 in the communication section 11 is fully opened. When the intake fan 12 is driven with the air passage switching valve 13 at the second position P2, air is sucked only from the paper suction section 9 side. The air passage switching valve 13 is moved to the second position P2, for example, during single-sided recording and double-sided recording on paper S having a predetermined thickness or more. It should be noted that it is preferable to move the air passage switching valve 13 to the second position P2 during high-density recording.

The third position P3 is a position in which the plate-shaped air passage switching valve 13 extends obliquely toward the paper suction unit 9 side with respect to the vertically downward direction. At the third position P3, the air circulation path on the side of the paper suction section 9 in the communication section 11 is closed, and the opening degree of the air circulation path on the side of the ink receiving section 10 in the communication section 11 is fully opened. When the intake fan 12 is driven while the air passage switching valve 13 is at the third position P3, air is sucked only from the ink receiving portion 10 side. The air passage switching valve 13 is moved to the third position P3, for example, during non-recording. That is, the air passage switching valve 13 is preferably moved to the third position P3 during flushing.

According to the above configuration, during normal recording when the air path switching valve 13 is at the first position P1, the paper S can be sucked above the paper suction portion 9 and above the ink receiving portion 10, and the paper S can be Conveyance performance can be improved. At the time of recording thick paper or the like with the air passage switching valve 13 at the second position P2 and at the time of double-sided recording, the suction force for the paper S can be increased above the paper suction unit 9, and the paper S can be conveyed without slipping. is possible. When the air passage switching valve 13 is in the third position P3 and non-recording is performed, the suction force for the ink in the ink receiving section 10 can be increased, and the ink mist generated between the recording head 51 and the ink receiving section 10 can be prevented from scattering. can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the recording head 51, the first transport belt 8, and the paper S from being stained with ink.

The ink receiving section 10 includes a liquid absorber 102 , a discharge port 103 and an air passage wall 104 .

The liquid absorber 102 is arranged above the discharge port 103 and the air passage wall 104 inside the housing 101 of the ink receiving portion 10 . The liquid absorber 102 is provided over the entire area in the housing 101 in the direction intersecting with the air circulation direction, that is, over the entire area in the housing 101 in the paper transport direction Dc and the paper width direction Dw. The liquid absorbent 102 has a predetermined thickness in the vertical direction. The liquid absorbent 102 is made of a liquid absorbent material such as PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) sponge having a continuous pore structure. The liquid absorber 102 absorbs the ink ejected to the ink receiving portion 10 during flushing.

Note that the liquid absorber 102 may not be provided. If the liquid absorbing portion 102 is not provided, the suction force of the suction fan 12 of the ink receiving portion 10 increases. Therefore, it is preferable to adjust the flow path resistance of the air on the side of the ink receiving section 10 by, for example, widening the occupation area of the air path wall 104 with respect to the air circulation path.

The discharge port 103 is arranged below the liquid absorber 102 and above the air passage wall 104 in the housing 101 . The discharge port 103 is provided on the side wall of the housing 101 on the upstream side in the paper transport direction Dc. The outlet 103 allows communication between the inside of the housing 101 and the outside thereof. The discharge port 103 discharges the ink received by the ink receiving section 10 during flushing.

The air passage wall 104 is arranged on the upstream side in the air circulation direction of the ink receiving portion 10 with respect to the communicating portion 11 . The air passage wall 104 is formed in a plate shape extending in the sheet conveying direction Dc and the sheet width direction Dw. For example, at least one of the air passage walls 104 is arranged below the outlet 103 and extends toward the outlet 103 . The air passage wall 104 guides the ink received during flushing to the discharge port 103 .

Two air channel walls 104 are provided in the housing 101 in this embodiment. The two air passage walls 104 are arranged with a predetermined gap 104s and are shifted in the paper transport direction Dc and in the vertical direction. By adjusting the size of the gap 104s, it is possible to adjust the flow path resistance of the air on the ink receiving section 10 side. In addition, the number of air passage walls 104 is not limited to two, and may be one or three or more.

According to the above configuration, the arrangement configuration of the intake fan 12 that generates a substantially equal suction force in each of the paper suction unit 9 and the ink receiving unit 10 shown in FIG. can be suppressed. That is, in the configuration of the paper suction portion 9, the ink receiving portion 10, and the communicating portion 11 shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to efficiently collect the ink received by the ink receiving portion 10 during flushing.

Note that the intake fan 12 may be arranged sideways, for example, at both ends of the communicating portion 11 in the paper width direction Dw, or at one end of the communicating portion 11 in the paper transport direction Dc (for example, on the side of the paper suction portion 9). good. In this case, it is possible to prevent the ink received by the ink receiving section 10 during flushing from being led to the intake fan 12 side without arranging the air passage wall 104 .

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the scope of the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used in inkjet recording apparatuses.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 inkjet recording device 2 device main body 5 recording unit 8 first conveying belt (conveying belt)
9 paper suction unit 10 ink receiving unit 11 communication unit 12 intake fan 13 air passage switching valve 13x rotating shaft 51 recording head 52 ink discharge nozzle 81 hole 82 opening 101 housing 102 liquid absorption 103 discharge port 104 air passage wall 104s gap 111 Communication housing Dc Paper transport direction Dw Paper width direction P1 First position P2 Second position P3 Third position S Paper (recording medium)

Claims (4)

a recording head having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink;
An endless conveying belt that has a plurality of holes for attracting a recording medium and a plurality of openings through which the ink ejected from the recording head passes, and that conveys the recording medium to a position facing the recording head. When,
A recording medium that is arranged to face one surface of the transport belt opposite to the recording medium transport surface, and that sucks the recording medium onto the recording medium transport surface of the transport belt by sucking air through the holes and the openings. a suction unit;
The ink passing through the opening is arranged below the recording head with the conveying belt interposed therebetween, and the ink that has passed through the opening during flushing that causes the recording head to discharge the ink at a timing different from the timing of discharging the ink onto the recording medium. an ink receiver that receives
a communication section that connects the recording medium suction section and the ink receiving section;
an intake fan for sucking the air in the communicating portion;
an air passage switching valve disposed in the communicating portion and capable of adjusting flow rates of air sucked from the recording medium sucking portion side by the intake fan and air sucked from the ink receiving portion side by the intake fan;
An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: The air passage switching valve is
moving to a first position where air is sucked from each of the recording medium suction unit side and the ink receiving unit side during single-sided recording on the recording medium having a thickness less than a predetermined thickness;
moving to a second position where air is sucked only from the side of the recording medium suction unit during single-sided recording and double-sided recording on the recording medium having a predetermined thickness or more;
2. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein during non-recording, the ink jet recording apparatus moves to a third position where air is sucked only from the ink receiving portion side. the recording medium suction section and the ink receiving section are arranged adjacent to each other in the recording medium conveying direction,
The air passage switching valve is formed in a plate shape extending in the width direction of the recording medium perpendicular to the conveying direction of the recording medium. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flow rate of the air is adjustable. The ink receiving part is
a discharge port for discharging the ink received during the flushing;
an air passage wall disposed on the upstream side in the air circulation direction of the ink receiving portion with respect to the communication portion, extending toward the discharge port and guiding the ink received during the flushing to the discharge port;
4. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising:

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