JP2607086B2 - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a serial type ink jet recording apparatus configured to stabilize printing by performing preliminary ink ejection outside an image forming area.

[Conventional technology]

An ink jet recording apparatus adheres ink droplets ejected (ejected) from ejection ports provided in a recording head (inkjet head) to a recording sheet (paper or a thin plastic plate) and forms an image in a dot pattern composed of the attached ink droplets. It is configured to go.

In this type of recording apparatus, since liquid ink is used, it is easily affected by the temperature and humidity near the recording head, and the printing quality may be unstable due to evaporation of the ink or a change in viscosity. .

Accordingly, stabilization of ink viscosity using a heater, and prevention of ink drying in an ink ejection section using a cap and maintenance of cleanliness have been carried out to improve and stabilize print quality. I have.

However, in the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, stabilization of print quality is still insufficient, despite the above measures.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

That is, in the inkjet recording apparatus, even when the recording head is moisturized by the cap and maintained at an appropriate temperature for ejection by the heater, when recording is started,
This recording head tends to be cooled by environmental air or dried air to increase the viscosity of the ink near the discharge port.

Therefore, a control method for coping with an environment at the time of image recording by incorporating a recovery operation for performing a preliminary ejection for recovering the print head and discharging the thickened ink during a printing operation sequence is performed.

However, in the conventional apparatus for preliminary ejection, the recording head performs preliminary ejection to the ink receiving member provided in the cap as shown in FIG.
Only ejects ink to the connected receiving member 22, so that ink mist causes ink stains on the recording head and the main scanning carriage, thereby contaminating the image on the recording sheet and deteriorating print quality. There was an inconvenience.

The present invention has been made in view of the above prior art,
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of preventing drying of an ink ejection section of a recording head, maintaining the cleanness of the ink ejection section, and improving print quality.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention has a receiving means for receiving ink ejected from an ejection port for recovery of the ejection port, and a receiving means connected to the receiving means for receiving the ink. Storing means for storing the ink, a suction means connected to the receiving means, for performing suction from the receiving means, and a filter disposed in a connection path between the suction means and the receiving means, , And the ink captured and dropped by the filter is received by the storage means.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a main part of an ink jet recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a recording sheet 1 such as a sheet of paper or a thin plastic plate is held in close contact with the surface of a platen 2 which also serves as a feed roller. ).

A guide shaft 3 extending in parallel with the platen roller 2 is provided in front of the platen roller 2, and a carriage 4 reciprocally driven left and right (main scanning direction) along the guide shaft 3.
A recording head (inkjet head) 5 is mounted thereon.

The illustrated example shows a case for color recording, and the carriage 4
On top, three (for example, cyan, magenta, and yellow) recording heads 5 are arranged at a predetermined pitch in the main scanning direction.

In this way, an ink jet recording apparatus that forms an image composed of a dot pattern by attaching ink droplets ejected and flying from the recording head 5 moving in the main scanning direction to the recording sheet 1 is configured.

The recording head 5 can move beyond the image forming area P set to be equal to or less than the entire length of the platen 2, and record at the home position HP set at the left end outside the image forming area P, that is, while the recording operation is stopped. At a position where the heads 5 wait, a moisturizing cap 6 facing each recording head 5 is provided.

The direction in which the cap 6 approaches and separates from the ejection port surface of the recording head 5 (the surface on which the ejection port is formed) (the direction of arrow B).
The recording operation is stopped, and each recording head 5
When the ink comes to the home position HP, it is pressed against the front surface of the recording head 5 to seal (capping) the ejection port, thereby performing a function of moisturizing the ink near the ejection port, and preventing foreign matter from adhering to the ejection port surface. It is configured to keep the protection function.

Receiving means (liquid receiving means) for receiving ink droplets preliminarily ejected from the recording head 5 between a predetermined position outside the image forming area P, that is, between the right side of the cap 6 and the left side of the platen 2 in the illustrated example. The receiving means 7 is provided with an air suction means 8 via an ink suction filter 9.
Is connected.

The receiving means 7 is provided with a front opening 12 (second second opening) for receiving flying droplets of ink which is preliminarily ejected from the recording head 5.
The suction means 8 formed of a hollow body having an air suction fan and the like is provided through the ink suction filter 9 formed of a permeable filter paper or a porous resin foam. It communicates with the inside of the receiving means 7.

FIG. 2 shows a preliminary discharge receiving unit having the receiving means 7, the suction means 8 and the filter 9 in FIG.

In FIG. 2, below the receiving unit,
A storage means 10 connected to the receiving means 7 is provided. The front opening 12 is formed on the surface of the receiving means 7 facing the recording head 5.

The storing means 10 is for collecting ink dripped from the receiving unit, and in addition to directly receiving the ink from the receiving means 7, the storing means 10 is adsorbed by the ink suction filter 9 and once captured. When the ink is dropped, the ink is also received and stored.

Next, the operation of the above-described inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

A head unit configured by arranging three magnetic heads 5 on the carriage 4 has a home position outside the left image forming area P when the recording operation is stopped (or during standby).
At the HP position, the cap 6 adheres to the ejection opening surface of each recording head 5 to keep the ink ejection section moist.

Then, when there is a recording command signal, first, the cap 6 retreats and separates from the recording head 5, and the head unit (carriage 4 and recording head 5) moves to the right, as shown in FIG.

When the head unit comes to the position shown in FIG. 1, preliminary ejection is performed from the recording head 5 near the recording sheet 1 (rightmost).

Next, when the carriage 4 moves further rightward and the next recording head (central head) 5 arrives in front of the receiving means 7, preliminary ejection is similarly performed from the central recording head 5.

Furthermore, the last (leftmost) head 5 is
In the same manner, the preliminary ejection is performed from the head 5 when the head 5 reaches the position before the above.

In this way, preliminary ejection is sequentially performed for each recording head 5.

Since three recording heads 5 are mounted on the recording apparatus of FIG. 1, the first preliminary discharge is completed by sequentially performing three preliminary discharges.

Therefore, the head unit that has completed recording for one line (main scanning), has reversed at a predetermined position on the opposite side and has returned to the position shown in FIG. 1 again, first performs preliminary ejection from the right head 5 in the same manner as described above. Then, preliminary ejection is performed in the order of the center head 5 and the left head 5.

 Thus, the second preliminary ejection is completed.

In each preliminary ejection, control is performed so that the ejection amount changes to an appropriate value depending on the use environment and the degree of use of the recording head 5 in order to minimize the ejection amount of the ink.

The head unit that returned after completing the final main scan (recording) while performing the above preliminary ejection is the home position.
The cap 6 is returned to HP and stopped. Then, the cap 6 is driven forward and brought into close contact with the discharge port surface to be in a capping state, so that the vicinity of the discharge port is moisturized and the discharge port surface is protected.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus described above, the following effects can be obtained.

(I) Receiving means (liquid receiving means) provided separately from cap 6
Since the ink is preliminarily ejected by the ink 7, the ink stain on the cap 6 can be reduced, and therefore, the ink stain on the recording head 5 hermetically sealed by the cap 6 can also be reduced or prevented.

(Ii) Since the suction means 8 communicating with the inside of the receiving means 7 for preliminary ejection is provided, the ink which has been pre-ejected can be completely sucked into the receiving means 7, and therefore, the ink is reflected on the receiving means 7. Thus, the disadvantage that the head unit (the recording head 5 and the carriage 4) is soiled can be eliminated.

(Iii) the ink received by the receiving means 7 is dropped from the receiving means 7 and stored directly in the storing means 10;
Further, since the ink captured by the filter 9 disposed between the receiving means 7 and the suction means 8 and dropped from the filter 9 is also received in the storing means 10, the ink is stored in the receiving means 7 for recovery. The ink that has been pre-discharged and the ink that has been once captured by the filter 9 and then dropped from the filter 9 are stored in one storage means.
By means of 10, batch processing can be performed, and therefore, it is possible to efficiently collect and process preliminarily ejected ink with a simple and compact configuration.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the cap 6 and the receiving means 7 (preliminary discharge receiving unit) are arranged on the left side of the image forming area P. As shown in FIG. 3, it is also possible to arrange the cap 6 on the left and the receiving means 7 on the right.

In the arrangement shown in FIG. 3, the head units 4 and 5 are moved to the right side over the image forming area P to the position shown in FIG. Thus, preliminary ejection is sequentially performed from each recording head 5.

The other parts of the structure of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 are substantially the same as those in the case of FIG.

It is clear that the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained by the configuration shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 shows the front of the ink absorption filter 9,
FIG. 5 shows a central longitudinal section of the ink absorption filter 9 along the line VV in FIG.

As the ink absorption filter 9, a porous or air-permeable filter material having an average pore size that can adsorb the sprayed ink is optimal, and for example, a gas-permeable filter paper or a plastic foam is used. .

Further, it is preferable that the ink absorption filter 9 has a sufficient front area and depth as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 in order to increase the degree of capturing ink mist.

Further, in consideration of the above-described sequence control of the preliminary ejection, it is more convenient to perform the preliminary ejection of the plurality of recording heads 5 simultaneously.

In order to perform this simultaneous ejection, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of (three in the illustrated example) openings 12 corresponding to the plurality of recording heads 5 are provided on the front surface of the receiving means 7, and each of the openings 12 is provided. It is only necessary to accept the preliminary ejection at 12 at the same time.

Further, the receiving means 7 having the opening 12 as shown in FIG. 6 and the suction means 8, the filter 9 and the storing means 10 are combined into a unitary pre-ejection receiving mechanism, as shown in FIG. By providing a drive mechanism for moving back and forth in the B direction, it is possible to provide a capping function similar to that of the cap 6, and the same operation and effect as the configuration shown in FIG. 1 can be obtained.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is apparent from the above description, according to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, receiving means for receiving ink ejected from an ejection port for recovery of the ejection port, and the receiving means connected to the receiving means, Storage means for storing the ink received by the means, suction means connected to the receiving means for performing suction from the receiving means, and a connection path between the suction means and the receiving means; And a filter having a configuration in which the ink caught and dropped by the filter is received by the storage means, so that the suction means is connected to the reception means, so that the preliminary discharge ink can be reliably introduced into the reception means. The ink received by the receiving means and the ink once dropped by the filter after being captured by the filter. Since the inks are received in the same storage means, these inks can be collectively processed by one storage means, whereby the inks which have been pre-discharged can be efficiently collected and processed in a simple and compact configuration. A recording device is provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an essential part of an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a preliminary ejection receiving mechanism in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a main part of another embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus to which the invention is applied, FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of the ink suction filter in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a line in FIG. V-V
6, FIG. 6 is a schematic front view showing another structural example of the receiving means in FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 is a schematic vertical sectional view illustrating a conventional preliminary discharge receiving mechanism. . DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording sheet, 2 ... Platen, 3 ... Guide shaft, 4 ... Carriage, 5 ... Recording head, 6 ... Cap, 7 ... Receiving means, 8 ... Suction means, 9 ... Filter, 10 ... storage means, 12 ... opening.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A receiving means for receiving ink ejected from an ejection port for recovery of the ejection port, and a storage means connected to the receiving means for storing the ink received by the receiving means. And a suction means connected to the receiving means for performing suction from the receiving means; and a filter disposed in a connection path between the suction means and the receiving means, wherein the filter is captured by the filter. An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the dropped ink is received by the storage unit.