JP2877989B2 - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording by discharging ink from a recording means onto a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording device having a function such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile or the like, or a recording device used as an output device of a multifunction machine or a workstation including a computer or a word processor, etc. It is configured to record an image on a recording medium such as an OHP. The recording apparatus can be classified into an ink jet type, a wire dot type, a thermal type, a thermal transfer type, a laser beam type, and the like according to a recording method of a recording unit to be used.

In a serial type recording apparatus employing a recording method in which a main scanning is performed in a direction intersecting with a conveying direction (sub-scanning direction) of the recording medium, the recording medium is set at a predetermined recording position, and is then moved along the recording medium. An image is recorded (main scanning) by a recording unit mounted on a moving carriage, and after a recording of one line is completed, a predetermined amount of paper is fed (pitch conveyance).
Is performed, and then the operation of recording (main scanning) the image of the next line is repeated, thereby performing image recording on the entire recording medium. On the other hand, in a line-type printing apparatus that prints only by sub-scanning in which the printing medium is fed in the transport direction, the printing medium is set at a predetermined printing position,
After recording for the row, a predetermined amount of paper feed (pitch feed) is performed, and further, the operation of collectively recording the next row is repeated, thereby performing image recording on the entire recording medium.

Among them, an ink jet type (ink jet recording apparatus) performs recording by ejecting ink from a recording means (recording head) to a recording medium. High-speed recording, recording on plain paper without special processing, low running cost, low noise due to non-impact method, and use of multi-color ink. This makes it easy to record a color image. Above all, a line-type apparatus using a line-type recording means in which a large number of ejection openings are arranged in the paper width direction can further increase the recording speed.

[0005] In particular, an ink jet type recording means (recording head) for discharging ink by using thermal energy,
Through a semiconductor manufacturing process such as etching, vapor deposition, sputtering, etc., an electrothermal converter, an electrode,
By forming the liquid path wall, the top plate, and the like, it is possible to easily manufacture a device having a high-density liquid path arrangement (discharge port arrangement), and to further reduce the size.

In the above ink jet recording apparatus,
Since a recording head is generally used with an array of fine ejection ports, ink is not suitable for ejection or recording when bubbles or dust are mixed into the ejection ports or due to viscosity increase due to evaporation of the ink solvent. In a case where there is no ejection state, an ejection recovery process for removing the cause of ejection failure by refreshing the ink is performed.

As one form of the means for performing such an ejection recovery process, there is provided a cap which can cover the ejection port forming surface of the recording head, and a pump which communicates with the cap and applies a suction force. is there. The operation of the ejection recovery processing includes an operation of ejecting ink by driving an ink ejection energy generating element inside the ejection port in a facing state in which the cap is opposed to the ejection port forming surface, and a step of placing the cap on the ejection port forming surface. There is an operation of forcibly sucking ink from the discharge port by applying a suction force in a capping state in which the cap is pressed and sealed.

On the other hand, a waste ink tank for storing waste ink generated by the above-described ejection recovery process is provided at an appropriate position of the recording apparatus. Then, an operation called idle suction is performed to guide the ink received by each part of the discharge recovery processing device such as the cap, the pump, the waste ink tube, etc. to the waste ink tank by the discharge recovery processing. This idle suction operation is performed by opening the cap to the atmosphere through a hole provided in the cap with the suction force applied, or opening the cap from the recording head to the atmosphere to operate the pump. be able to.

[0009]

However, the ink jet recording apparatus having the above configuration has the following problems to be solved. First, the configuration in which the valve is provided is disadvantageous for downsizing of the recording apparatus, and the configuration is difficult in view of the size of the cap. On the other hand, in the method of performing idle suction in a state where the cap is separated from the recording head and opened to the atmosphere, there is a problem that the ink remaining in the cap cannot be reliably removed only by performing the suction. As a result, when the ink covers the ejection port forming surface with the cap, the ink remaining in the cap adheres to the periphery of the ejection port, thereby changing the ejection direction of the ink and deteriorating the recording quality, or causing the ejection of the residual ink. When the recording medium (recording paper or the like) is stained during recording by adhering to the outlet forming surface, or when one cap covers a recording head of a plurality of colors of ink, the colors of the inks are mixed with each other. There were times when it was lost. Further, the ink adhered to the contact surface of the cap with the recording head adheres to the recording head when the cap and the recording head are brought into contact, and the ink adhered to the recording head is wiped off with a wiper blade or the like thereafter. In some cases, a state similar to the above phenomenon may occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to always remove ink adhering to a cap without using a valve or the like, thereby always achieving good recording quality. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus which can hold a recording medium, can prevent the recording medium from being stained with ink, and can eliminate color mixing of ink even when one cap corresponds to a plurality of color inks. .

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ink jet recording apparatus which performs recording by discharging ink from a recording means to a recording medium, wherein the recording means is mounted on the recording medium and the recording medium is mounted along the recording medium. A moving carriage;
A cap for covering the ejection port forming surface of the recording means,
And a cap-adhered ink removing unit disposed on the carriage for removing ink attached to the cap.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the cap-attached ink removing unit is partially or entirely formed of an ink absorber. Is a wiping member of a rubber-like elastic material, the cap-attached ink removing unit has a suction unit, the cap-attached ink removing unit is fixed, and the cap-attached ink removing unit faces the cap. A control means for moving and stopping the carriage so as to come to a position. When the cap-adhered ink removing means is located at a position facing the cap, the cap abuts against the cap-adhered ink removing means. And a position where the cap adhering ink removing unit faces the cap. The cap is brought into contact with the cap-attached ink removing means, and the ink attached to the cap is sucked and removed by the suction means provided in the cap-attached ink removing means, or the cap is protruded. By moving the carriage with the cap protruding from a position of the carriage that does not come into contact with the ejection port forming surface of the recording means and the cap-adhered ink removing means, the cap-adhered ink removing means is The above object is achieved more efficiently by adopting a configuration in which the cap is passed through the cap while being in contact with the cap.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a document creating apparatus (word processor) as an example of an apparatus suitable for using an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a keyboard unit serving as an input device, and 2 denotes a display unit for displaying an input document or the like. The display unit 2 is rotatably held, and can be folded so as to overlap the keyboard unit 1 when not in use. Reference numeral 3 denotes a transparent or translucent protective cover which is openably and closably provided at a viewing opening for checking the operation state of the recording means (recording head). Reference numeral 4 denotes a spur cover for holding the spur. These will be described later with reference to FIGS.
5 is a recording sheet or a thin plastic sheet (OHP) to be supplied and discharged.
A paper supporter 6 for supporting a recording medium such as a film, etc., and a knob 6 for manually feeding and discharging the recording medium.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the structure of a main part of an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 9 denotes a cartridge type recording unit (head cartridge) in which a recording head and an ink tank are integrated, and 11 denotes a carriage for mounting the recording unit 9 and performing main scanning in the direction of arrow S in FIG. It is. 12
Is a regulating plate for attaching and detaching the head cartridge 9;
Reference numeral 13 denotes a hook for attaching the head cartridge 9 to the carriage 11, and reference numeral 15 denotes a lever for operating the hook 13. Reference numeral 19 denotes a support plate that supports an electrical connection to the head cartridge 9. Reference numeral 21 denotes an FPC for connecting the electrical connection unit and the main body control unit. This F
The PC 21 will be described later with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 23 denotes a guide shaft for guiding the carriage 11 in the direction of arrow S, and reference numeral 25 denotes a bearing of the carriage 11 through which the guide shaft 23 is inserted. 2
Reference numeral 7 denotes a timing belt coupled to the carriage 11 for transmitting power for reciprocating the carriage 11 in the direction of arrow S. 29A and 29B are disposed on both sides of the recording apparatus to stretch the timing belt 27. A pulley 31 is connected to one pulley 29B via a transmission mechanism such as a gear, and is a carriage motor as a drive source for driving the carriage 11.

Reference numeral 33 denotes a conveying roller for regulating the recording surface of the recording medium (hereinafter also referred to as recording paper) and conveying the recording medium at the time of recording or the like. 37 is a paper pan for guiding the recording medium to the recording position from the paper supporter 5 side;
And a feed roller for applying a transport force by pressing the feed roller toward the feed roller. Reference numeral 34 denotes a platen that faces the discharge port of the head cartridge 9 and regulates the recording surface of the recording medium.
Reference numeral 41 denotes a discharge roller disposed downstream of the recording position in the transport direction for discharging the recording medium toward a discharge port (not shown). Reference numeral 42 denotes a spur provided corresponding to the paper discharge roller 41, which presses the recording medium against the paper discharge roller 41 to generate a conveying force of the recording medium by the paper discharge roller 41. Reference numeral 43 denotes a release lever for releasing the pressing force by separating the feed roller 39 and the spur 42 when setting a recording medium or the like.

The platen 34 is rotatably supported at both ends by a shaft 41A of a discharge roller 41, and a paper pan 37 is moved from the stop position of the left and right plates 75, 75.
Is biased toward the front surface portion 45 of the main body. At a plurality of positions of the transport roller (platen roller) 33, relief portions 33A having a reduced diameter are provided. On the other hand, an ear portion 34A is formed at a position of the platen 34 corresponding to the escape portion 33A. Therefore, when there is no recording paper, the ear 34A of the platen 34 is in contact with the inside of the front surface 45 of the paper pan.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 51 denotes a cap which faces the ejection port forming surface of the recording head (head cartridge) 9 where the ink ejection ports are formed at the home position of the carriage 11. The cap 51 is formed of a rubber-like elastic material, and is supported so as to be able to abut / remove from the discharge port forming surface. Note that this cap 51
Is used for protection of a recording head (ejection port forming surface) at the time of non-recording and the like, and for ejection recovery processing of the recording head. In the ejection recovery process, the ink is ejected from all the ejection ports by driving the energy generating element provided inside the ink ejection ports and used for ink ejection, with the cap 51 facing the ejection port formation surface, by this,
Preliminary ejection for removing the cause of ejection failure such as bubbles and dust, and ink that has become unsuitable for recording due to thickening, or ink is forcibly ejected from the ejection openings while being covered with the ejection opening formation surface and the cap 51 separately. This is a process for removing the cause of the ejection failure by discharging the ink.

Reference numeral 53 denotes a pump used for the discharge recovery processing. The pump 53 is used for applying a suction force for forcibly discharging the ink and for sucking the ink received in the cap 51 during the discharge recovery process by the forced discharge and the discharge recovery process by the preliminary discharge.
55 is a first waste ink tank for storing waste ink sucked by the pump 53, and 57 is a pump 53
And a tube that communicates with the waste ink tank 55. Reference numeral 70 denotes a second waste ink tank, which is a tube 71
Through the first waste ink tank 55.

Reference numeral 59 denotes a blade for wiping the ejection port forming surface of the recording head, which protrudes toward the recording head to perform wiping during the movement of the head, and a retreating blade which does not engage with the ejection port forming surface. It is movably supported in the position. Reference numeral 61 denotes a motor, and 63 denotes a cam device for receiving power from the motor 61 to drive the pump 53 and move the cap 51 and the blade 59. Reference numeral 100 denotes a cap-adhered ink removing member fixed on the carriage 11, and an ink absorber 101 is provided on a surface thereof (a surface facing the cap 51). The details of the cap-attached ink removing member 100 will be described later.

Next, the details of the head cartridge 9 will be described. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the head cartridge 9. In FIG. 3, a head cartridge 9 includes an ejection unit 9a which is a main body of a recording unit (recording head).
And the ink tank 9b.
In this embodiment, as a recording unit (recording head),
Since a head cartridge 9 in which a so-called recording head (the above-described ejection unit 9a) and an ink tank 9b are integrated is used, in order to simplify the description, the head cartridge 9 or the ejection unit 9a is simply replaced by the recording means 9 or the recording head. 9 in some cases.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 906e denotes a pawl hooked on a hook 13 provided on the carriage 11 when the head cartridge 9 is mounted. As shown, the nail 9
Reference numeral 06e is provided inside a portion depressed from the surface of the recording head 9. A positioning abutment (not shown) is provided in the vicinity of the ejection unit 9 a on the front side of the head cartridge 9. Reference numeral 906f denotes an opening into which the support plate 19 erected on the carriage 11 is inserted. The support plate 19 is a flexible substrate (electric connection part) described later.
And a rubber pad.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are an exploded perspective view and an external perspective view of the head cartridge shown in FIG. The head cartridge 9 is of a disposable type in which a recording head (ejection unit) 9a and an ink container (ink tank) 9b serving as an ink supply source are integrated. In FIG. 4A showing each component of the discharge unit 9a, reference numeral 911 denotes a heater board.
The heater board 911 has a structure in which an electrothermal conversion element (discharge heater) and a wiring made of aluminum or the like for supplying electric power thereto are formed on a Si substrate by a film forming technique. 92
Reference numeral 1 denotes a wiring board for the heater board 911, and the corresponding wiring is connected by, for example, wire bonding.

Reference numeral 940 denotes a ceiling plate provided with a partition for limiting the ink flow path, a common liquid chamber, and the like. In this embodiment, the ceiling plate 940 is formed of a resin material integrally having a discharge port plate portion. FIG. 4C is a perspective view of the top plate 940. As shown in FIG. 4C, the ejection port forming surface is inclined by a predetermined angle θ with respect to a plane parallel to the recording surface of the recording medium (recording paper), and a step 940a is formed near the ejection port. have. This is performed to arrange the flow path in the discharge port plate portion and the flow path behind it at a predetermined angle in order to process the discharge port by irradiating a laser beam from the flow path side provided on the top plate 940. It is a thing.

In FIG. 4A, reference numeral 930 denotes a metal support, and reference numeral 950 denotes a presser spring. The heater board 911 and the top plate 940 are pressed and fixed by the urging force of the pressing spring 950. Note that the support 930 serves as a reference for positioning the head cartridge 9 with respect to the carriage 11 while the wiring substrate 921 is fixed by bonding or the like. The support 930 also functions as a member for radiating and cooling the heat of the heater board 911 generated when the recording unit 9 is driven.

Reference numeral 960 denotes a sub-tank for receiving ink supply from the ink storage unit 9b serving as an ink supply source and guiding ink to a common liquid chamber formed by joining the heater board 911 and the top plate 940. . Reference numeral 970 denotes a filter disposed in the sub-tank 960 near the ink supply port to the common liquid chamber, and 980 denotes a cover member of the sub-tank 960.

Reference numeral 900 denotes an absorber for impregnating the ink, which is arranged in the ink tank body 9b. 120
Numeral 0 denotes a supply port for supplying ink to a recording element (ejection unit) 9a composed of the above-mentioned components 911 to 980. By injecting ink from the supply port 1200, the absorber 90
0 ink impregnation can be performed. Reference numeral 1100 denotes a lid member of the cartridge main body, and 1300 denotes an atmosphere communication port provided in the lid member for communicating the inside of the cartridge with the atmosphere.

In FIG. 4A, when the ink filling into the ink tank 9b through the supply port 1200 is completed, the discharge unit 9 composed of the components 911 to 980 is formed.
a is positioned and disposed in the portion 1010. The positioning or fixing at this time can be performed, for example, by fitting a projection 1012 provided on the ink tank main body 9b with a corresponding hole 931 provided on the support 930, and thereby, FIG. The head cartridge 9 shown in B) is completed.

The ink in the ink tank 9b is supplied to the supply port 12
00, a hole 932 provided in the support 930, the sub tank 96
0 is supplied into the sub-tank 960 via an inlet provided on the back surface side in FIG. This sub tank 96
The ink in the nozzle 0 is supplied from the outlet through an appropriate supply pipe and the top plate 9.
The ink flows into the common liquid chamber through the 40 ink introduction ports 942. A packing such as a silicone rubber or a butyl rubber is disposed at the connection portion for ink communication described above, whereby sealing is performed to secure an ink supply path.

The discharge port unit 9a as the recording head (recording means) is an ink jet recording means for discharging ink using thermal energy, and has an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy. It is. The recording head 9a performs recording by causing ink to be ejected from an ejection port by utilizing a pressure change caused by growth and shrinkage of bubbles caused by film boiling caused by thermal energy applied by the electrothermal transducer. It is.

FIG. 4D is a partial perspective view schematically showing the structure of the ink ejection section of the recording head (ejection port unit) 9a. In FIG. 4D, a plurality of discharge ports are formed at a predetermined pitch on a discharge port forming surface 221 facing a recording material at a predetermined gap (for example, about 0.5 to 2.0 mm). An electrothermal converter (heating resistor, etc.) 225 for generating energy for ink ejection is arranged along a wall surface of each liquid path 224 communicating the common liquid chamber 223 and each ejection port 222. Has been established. In this example, the recording head 9a is mounted on the carriage 11 in such a positional relationship that the ejection openings 222 are arranged in a direction crossing the moving direction (main scanning direction) of the carriage 11. In this manner, the corresponding electrothermal transducer 225 is driven (energized) based on the image signal or the ejection signal to cause the ink in the liquid path 224 to boil, and the ink is ejected from the ejection port 222 by the pressure generated at that time. The recording head 9a is configured.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the ink jet recording apparatus shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, a gap (head gap) S between the ejection port 222 of the head cartridge 9 and the front surface of the platen 34 is adjusted to an optimal value for printing. The recording paper inserted in the direction of arrow A is urged toward the transport roller 33 by the feed roller 39, and is fed by the frictional force. The leading end of the recording paper is moved between the rake portion 34A of the platen 34 and the paper pan front portion 45 in the direction of arrow B about the shaft 41A against the force of the spring 82 (provided on both sides). Enter while displacing. The gap between the paper pan front surface portion 45 and the discharge port forming surface 221 is appropriately adjusted and fixed.

Accordingly, the distance between the recording paper on the platen 34 and the ejection port forming surface 221 of the recording head 9a is set such that the platen 34 escapes in the direction of arrow B by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the recording paper. Regardless of the thickness, a constant optimum value is always maintained. Then, even when the platen 34 escapes in the direction of arrow B, the contact point between the paper discharge roller 41 and the spur 42 is located on an extension of the front surface of the platen 34. Therefore, the leading end of the recording paper can easily enter between the paper discharge roller 41 and the spur 42. Further, the difference between the head caps above and below the recording unit h due to the platen 34 tilting is as follows.
Distance H between the center of rotation of platen 34 and the center of the recording position
Is so small that it can be ignored.

The center of rotation of the platen 34 does not necessarily have to be concentric with the shaft 41A of the paper discharge roller 41.
Further, the front part 45 does not necessarily have to be formed integrally with the paper pan 37, but may be fixed by bonding or screwing, or may be fixed to another part of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the recording device section showing the carriage 11, the head cartridge 9, the spur 42, the spur cover 4, the protective cover 3 provided at the opening for visual recognition, and the like in FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 6, the spur cover 4
Is overhanging on the upper part of the head cartridge 9 to form a portion for holding the spur 42. For this reason, if the protective cover 3 is transparent or translucent, the operation of the head cartridge 9 can be visually observed even in the cover state as shown, but the discharge port forming surface (discharge port portion) of the discharge unit 9a at the capping position. 221 is difficult to confirm visually. Therefore, a means for visually confirming the discharge port forming surface 221 at the capping position is required.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a conventional electronic device (word processor or the like). Referring to FIG. 7, in the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, the discharge port forming surface 221 at the capping position is visually confirmed. Explain why you can't. In FIG. 7, the standby position of the head cartridge 9 in the capping state is set to a position indicated by a broken line 9 deviating from the sheet passing position of the recording medium. Further, an exterior member 85 other than the protective cover 3 of the opening 3A for visual recognition.
Is generally composed of an opaque mold member.
Therefore, in the capping state shown by the broken line, the position of the head cartridge 9, the discharge unit 9a, the discharge port forming surface 221 and the like cannot be visually confirmed. Further, even if the opening 3A for visual recognition is simply widened in the width direction of the printing apparatus, the ejection port forming surface 221 and the like cannot be visually confirmed.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the electronic apparatus of FIG. 1 provided with an embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the opening 3A for viewing is
Are formed in the width direction of the printing apparatus to the upper part of the discharge port unit, and further formed to a region above the discharge port forming surface 221 of the discharge port unit (print head) 9a. That is, as shown in the figure, it is formed in an L-shape as a whole. The viewing opening 3A is covered with a transparent or translucent openable and closable protective cover 3 having the same shape.
Therefore, according to the present embodiment, in the capping state, not only the head cartridge 9 but also the recording head (ejection port unit) 9a and the ejection port forming surface 221 thereof.
It is now possible to easily confirm the situation visually.

In this embodiment, as described above, since the cover member (protective cover) 3 is provided in the viewing opening 3A, each component inside the apparatus such as the head cartridge 9 is protected even in the non-recording state. can do. Further, the cover member 3 may be made of various materials, but if it is formed of a transparent or translucent member as described above, even when the cover member 3 is left covered, The discharge port forming surface 221 and the like can be visually confirmed.
The cover member 3 may be opaque if the cover member 3 is configured to be openable / closable or easily detachable and the opening 3A can be opened immediately if necessary.

Next, the structure relating to the FPC 21 of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 1
0 is a partial front view showing the FPC 21 of the recording apparatus, FIG. 9 shows a state when the carriage 11 is at the home position, and FIG. 10 shows a state when the carriage 11 is moving. 9 and 10, the left and right frames 75 (FIG. 2) standing from the frame 91 of the recording apparatus include:
A transport roller 33 extending left and right is rotatably supported, and a guide shaft 23 for guiding a carriage is provided in front of the roller 33.
Has been fixed. The carriage 11 is guided and supported so as to be movable left and right along a guide shaft 23. The head cartridge 9 is mounted on the carriage 11.

In FIG. 9 and FIG.
An FPC 21 that electrically connects a control circuit (not shown) to the head cartridge 9 via a connector or the like provided thereon is fixed to 1. The other end of the FPC 21 is fixed to a frame 91. Further, a friction sheet 97 for preventing the FPC 21 from slipping is provided near the portion where the FPC 21 forms the minimum radius on the frame 91. The friction sheet 97 is joined to the frame 91 by an adhesive applied to one side thereof.

In the configuration shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the carriage 11 is moved from the home position in FIG. 9 in the direction of arrow SR along the guide shaft 23 by operating the motor 31 (FIG. 2). Moving. During this movement, the discharge unit 9a of the head cartridge 5 mounted on the carriage 11 via the FPC 21 from the control unit.
A recording signal is sent to the recording medium, and the discharge unit 9a discharges ink on recording paper in accordance with the recording signal, thereby performing recording. After the recording of one line is completed, the carriage 11
Is stopped, and the transporting roller 33 is driven to rotate by a driving means such as a motor 35 (FIG. 2), whereby sub-scanning (paper feeding) of the recording paper is performed.

Thereafter, the carriage 11 moves in the direction of the arrow SL in the figure, and the recording of the next line is performed. FIG. 10 shows the moving state of the carriage 11. In this embodiment, since the friction sheet 97 is provided on the frame 91,
The friction force between the C21 and the friction sheet 97 causes the FP
C21 moves while forming the arc portion 21A without causing slippage with the frame 91. Therefore, F
The PC 21 does not get caught in the lower part of the carriage 11.

FIG. 11 is a partial front view showing the state of the FPC 21 in a conventional recording apparatus without the friction sheet 97. In FIG. 11, the friction sheet 97
Is not provided, the movement of the carriage 11 causes
Sliding occurs between the FPC 21 and the frame 1 in the lower area of the carriage 11, so that the FPC 21 is slackened 21B. If the carriage 11 further moves in the direction of the arrow SR in a state where the slack 21B has occurred, there is a possibility that the FPC 21 may be caught in the carriage 11.

According to the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, by adopting a simple structure in which a member (friction sheet 97) having a high friction coefficient is provided on the frame 91 of the recording apparatus,
The running of the FPC 21 can be stabilized, so that the height of the running portion of the FPC 21 can be reduced, and the size and weight of the recording apparatus can be reduced.
As an example of the friction sheet 97, a sheet material made of, for example, silicon can be used. Also,
In the present embodiment, the connection between the head cartridge 9 and the control circuit is made by the FPC 21. However, the electrical connection means is not limited to the FPC, but may be another type such as a flat cable or a bundle. A configured electrical connection means may be used.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a recovery device including the cap 51, the pump 53, the blade 59, the motor 61, the cam device 63 and the like in the ink jet recording apparatus of FIG. In FIG. 12, reference numeral 501 denotes an ink absorber disposed inside the cap 51, reference numeral 503 denotes a holding member for holding the cap 51, and reference numeral 505 denotes a cap lever attached so as to be rotatable around a pin 507.
The cap lever 505 has a function of bringing the cap 51 into contact with / separating from the discharge port forming surface 221 of the discharge unit 9a by a force applied to the pin 507. 51
Reference numeral 1 denotes a pin that is engaged with the end 509 of the cap lever 505 to restrict the rotation range of the cap lever 505.

In FIG. 12, reference numeral 513 denotes a
This is a jig having a hole into which the pin 507 is inserted. The jig is used to attach the cap lever 505 to the support 515 provided on the pump 53. Reference numeral 516 is a fastening member for securing the attached state. Reference numeral 517 denotes an action portion for applying a force to the cap 51 to come into contact with the discharge port forming surface, and is engaged with substantially the center of the rear side of the cap 51. The operation section 517 has an inlet 517A (FIG. 14C) for introducing the sucked ink. Also,
Inside the cap lever 505, the inside of the pin 507, the inside of the jig 513, and the inside of the support portion 515, an ink flow path for guiding the sucked ink is formed.
When the pump 53 exerts a suction force, the discharge port 22
The ink sucked out of 2 is introduced into the pump 53 from the inlet 517A through the respective ink flow paths as indicated by arrows in the figure.

Reference numeral 519 denotes a shaft protruding from the center of the end face of the pump 53 and having an ink flow path therein. The shaft 519 is rotatably attached to the side wall 520. When the pump 53 itself rotates,
The rotational displacement is applied to the cap lever 5 via the support 515.
05 is transferred as a linear displacement of the cap lever 50.
By the displacement of 5, the cap 51 advances and retreats with respect to the discharge port forming surface 221. 521 is a flow path forming member connected to the pump shaft 519, and 523 is a mounting member for mounting a tube 57 leading to the first waste ink tank 55 (FIG. 2). That is, ink flow paths are formed inside the pump shaft 519, the flow path forming member 521, and the mounting member 523, respectively. As shown in the drawing, the ink is further introduced into the waste ink tank 55 (FIG. 2) through the tube 57.

In FIG. 12, 525 is a piston of the pump 53, 527 is a piston shaft,
29 is a packing and 531 is a cap of the pump 53. Reference numeral 533 denotes a pin attached to the piston shaft 527. The pin 533 has a function of receiving a driving force for operating the piston 525. Reference numeral 535 denotes a blade lever to which the blade 59 is attached.
It is rotatably supported around 19. By rotating the blade lever 535, the blade 59 is rotated.
Can be projected or retracted toward the recording head 9a. 537 is a blade 59 for the blade lever 535.
This is a spring that applies a turning force in a direction in which the projection is made to protrude. Reference numeral 539 denotes a spring that gives the pump 53 itself a turning behavior in the direction in which the cap 53 moves toward the recording head 9a.

Reference numeral 541 denotes a cam device 63 for rotating the motor 61.
Gear train to be transmitted to the vehicle. The cam device 63 includes a pump 53
A cam 547 for engaging and rotating the engaging portion 545 provided on the piston, a cam 549 for operating the pump by engaging a pin 533 provided on a piston shaft 527 of the pump 53, and a blade. Engaging portion 551 provided on lever 535
And a cam 557 which engages with a switch 555 for detecting the home position of the cam device 63. The operation of these cams will be described later.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing details of the cap 51 and the holding member (holder) 503. FIG.
3, the cap 51 in the present embodiment is
0 (FIGS. 4A and 4C) is formed of a rubber-like elastic material to improve the adhesion to the discharge port plate portion (discharge port forming surface 221). Is pressed against the discharge port plate portion (discharge port forming surface 221) of the top plate with the pressing force of. The tip of the rib portion, that is, the edge portion facing the discharge port forming surface 221 is formed so as to be parallel in this example corresponding to the inclination angle θ (see FIG. 4C), and the discharge port position. In order to follow the step 940a (FIG. 4 (C)) of FIG.

In order to prevent a side slip when pressed by the top plate 940 corresponding to the angle θ, the holding members (cap holders) 503 are provided with ribs 503b and 503c.
Is provided. That is, the rubber cap itself is prevented from being deformed by the rib 503c, and the rib 503b prevents the cap 51 and the entire cap holder 503 from being turned sideways on the mounting surface of the cap lever 505.

FIG. 14 is a view showing details of the cap 51. In FIG. 14, (A) is a front view, (B) is a plan view, and (C) is along a line MM in (A). It is sectional drawing. In FIG. 14, an ink suction port 561 is opened at a lower portion of the cap 51 in the vertical direction.
1 is the cap lever 50 through the ink flow path 563.
5 is connected to an ink introduction port 517A provided in the action section 517. In addition, the ink absorber 501 in the cap 51
Are arranged so as not to completely cover the ink suction port 561.

The head cartridge 9 set on the carriage 11 is driven by the carriage motor 31 so that the discharge port 222 thereof is substantially at the center of the cap 51 of the recovery system, and a series of operations such as capping, preliminary discharge, and suction operation are performed. An ejection recovery process is performed. At this time, the top plate 940 of the recording head 9a, as described with reference to FIG.
It is not horizontal to the recording surface of the recording medium, that is, not perpendicular to the pressing direction of the cap 51, but has a predetermined angle θ (θ is about 5 degrees in the present embodiment) and a small step (this embodiment). About 0.2 mm in the example). In addition, when the stepping motor is used as the carriage motor 31, the stop position of the carriage 11 may be shifted by a predetermined amount (for example, about ± 0.5 mm) from the target position.

In FIG. 14, in order to follow the shape of the discharge port plate portion 221 of the top plate 940 (FIG. 12), the tip rib 51a of the cap 51 is preferably small and low in hardness. To withstand the pressure and maintain the airtightness, the rib 51a needs a certain strength. Further, since the discharge port plate portion of the top plate 940 has an angle θ, a force in the direction of pushing and spreading the ribs 51a of the cap 51 acts, and permanent deformation when left for a long time becomes a problem. . In consideration of these, in the present embodiment, the shape of the rib 51a is selected as follows.

That is, in FIG. 14C, regarding the shape of the rib 51a, W ₁ = 0.3 mm and W ₂ =
The above problem could be solved by setting 0.5 mm, H = 0.4 mm, and setting the rubber hardness of the rubber-like elastic material forming the rib 51 to 60 degrees. At the same time, the rib 51a
By making the shape and dimensions of the outer peripheral portion 51b outside the shape of the rib 51a sufficiently large, for example,
By setting the outer width of the rib 51a to 2 to 3 mm or more and the thickness of the peripheral portion 51b to 2 to 3 mm or more, the above problem can be solved more reliably.

As the rubber-like elastic material used for the cap 51, butyl rubber, chlorinated butyl rubber, silicon rubber or the like can be used. By the way, the discharge port formation surface and the plane formed by the edge of the rib 51a do not necessarily have to be parallel. The reason is that, when the cap 51 is parallel, the entire edge portion simultaneously comes into contact with / separates from the discharge port forming surface when the cap 51 comes into contact with / separates from the discharge port forming surface, and a large pressure fluctuation occurs instantaneously in the airtight space inside the cap 51. Therefore, the ink meniscus in the discharge port may not be properly held. That is, the non-parallel shape causes the edge of the rib 51a to gradually come into contact with the discharge port forming surface until the whole is brought into a close contact state at the time of capping. The edge of the rib 51a gradually separates before the separation is performed, which is rather preferable.

From this viewpoint, the configuration of the cap 51 shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 is not necessarily applied only to the discharge port forming surface shown in FIG. 4C. Absent. That is, the cap 51 having the above configuration
Is applicable to, for example, a discharge port forming surface formed in parallel with a non-recording surface of a recording medium. Similarly, from the above viewpoint, the plane formed by the edge of the rib 51a does not necessarily have to be in the direction shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, and the direction can be appropriately selected. Further, the plane formed by the edge of the rib 51a does not necessarily have to be a plane, and the edge may be provided with irregularities.

Next, a recovery system of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing a contour curve of each cam of the cam device 63 (FIGS. 2 and 12), and FIG. FIG. 17 is a sectional view showing a state of the pump 53 at a main operation position. The operation positions a, b,
c, d, f, and h correspond to the operating positions a, b, c, d, f, and h of the respective cams except the pump in FIG.
The numerical values in FIG. 15 indicate the rotation angles of the cams.

The function of the recovery system unit of the ink jet recording apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16, the state a is the home position of the pump cam 549, and is the standby state of the recovery device during the recording operation. At this time, the home position switch 555 is on, the cap 51 is in a state of being separated from the discharge port forming surface of the recording head (hereinafter referred to as an open state), and the blade 59 is in the off state, that is, is separated from the recording port discharge surface of the recording head. It is in a state of having done. The pump 53 is at the top dead center (see FIG. 17).

15 to 17, the next state b is a capping state, which is a state in which the recording operation is not performed and the ejection port forming surface is covered and protected by the cap 51. At this time, the home position switch 555 is turned off, the cap 51 comes into contact with the discharge port forming surface and is closed, the pump 53 is at the top dead center, and the blade 59 is in the off (separated) position.

The state of c is a state where the pumping is completed. At this time, the home position switch 555 is on, the cap 51 is in the closed state (capping state), and the pump 53 is in a state where the valve is fully opened but has not yet reached the bottom dead center. Also blade 5
9 is in the off position.

In FIGS. 15 to 17, the state of d is a vacuum for opening the cap 51 after the pumping is completed, and at the same time, taking in the ink filled in the cap 51 and the cap lever 505 into the pump 53. This is a state where the suction has been completed. At this time, the home position switch 555 is on, the cap 51 is about half open, the pump 53 is at bottom dead center, and the blade 59 is off.

Next, the state of g will be described first. This state of g is a preparation position for starting idle suction for discharging the ink filled in the pump 53 into the waste ink tank 55 (FIG. 2) by pumping. At this time, the home position switch 555 is on, the cap 51 is open, and the pump 53 is at a position slightly lower than the top dead center. The blade 59 is in the off state.

In FIGS. 15 to 17, the state of e and the state of f are the stop positions when the air suction and the hollow suction are performed, respectively. In either position, the home position switch 555 is on, the cap 51 is open, and the blade 59 is off. However, the pump 53 is at the bottom dead center in the state of e, but is completely lowered in the state of f. Not.

State h is a state when wiping is performed. At this time, the home position switch 555 is on, the cap 51 is open, and the pump is at the top dead center.
The blade 59 is in the ON state, and the carriage 11 on which the head cartridge 9 is mounted moves in this state, whereby wiping (wiping and cleaning) of the ejection port forming surface of the recording head 9a can be executed.

FIG. 17A shows a state in which the piston 525 is at the bottom dead center in the pump 53. In the state of (A), pumping works by the negative pressure created by the space on the left side of the piston 525 in the pump 53.
531 is a valve port for transmitting the negative pressure to the cap 51. This state (A) is a state in which the piston 525 has passed over the valve port 531 and further advanced to the right.
In this state, the piston 525 is moved from the left side to the piston shaft 5
27 is pressed by and adhered to the flange portion 527a of the cap 27, so that the generated negative pressure does not leak to the cap 51.
Conveyed to the side. Further, the ink stored in the right side of the piston 525 is pushed out to the waste ink tank 55 (FIG. 2).

FIG. 17B shows a state in which the piston 525 is at the top dead center in the pump 53. Note that the piston 525 has reached the right side of the valve port 531.
The valve port 531 is not closed. That is, in this state, the inside of the cap 51 is in the air communication state. Next, FIG. 17C shows the state of the pump 53 in the state of c in FIG. In this state (C), the piston 525 has passed the valve port 531 and has been slightly advanced to the right.

FIG. 17D shows the state of the pump 53 in the state of g in FIG. The air suction is performed by reciprocating between the state (D) and the state (A), and reciprocating between the state (D) and the state (E) described later. Performs hollow suction. It should be noted here that the valve port 531 is closed by the piston 525. The pump 53 according to the present embodiment is not provided with a valve equivalent to a valve of a normal pump.
The ink may flow backward to the side. Therefore, in the pump 53 of this embodiment, the valve port 531
Is closed to prevent backflow of ink.

FIG. 17E shows the state of the pump 53 when the hollow suction has been completed. Note here that
That is, it stops immediately after the piston 525 has passed over the valve port 531. The reason is that if the piston 525 is moved to the position of the bottom dead center of (A), the valve port 531 is returned when returning to the top dead center of (B) or the empty suction preparation position of (D).
This is because the time during which is open becomes long, and during that time, a positive pressure is generated in the space on the left side due to the resistance of the flow path and the like, and there is a possibility that the ink flows backward. Although a slight gap is formed between the sliding portion of the piston shaft flange portion 527a and the piston 525, and the piston 525 communicates with the space on the right side of the piston 525, the left side space is configured so as not to generate a positive pressure. With this alone, it may not be possible to prevent a positive pressure from being generated in the left space due to the resistance of the flow path. In the present embodiment, as described above,
An operation of returning from the position of (E) to the position of (A);
Since the two kinds of operations of returning from the position (D) to the position (D) are adopted, it is possible to reliably prevent the backflow of the ink.

Next, the cap attached ink removing member 100 shown in FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 18 shows the carriage 1
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a cap-attached ink removing member 100 fixed on the first embodiment. In FIG. 18, the cap-adhered ink removing member 100 is composed of an ink absorber 101 that comes into contact with the cap 51 and a support fixing plate 102 for supporting and fixing the ink absorber on the carriage 11. Cap 51 of the ink absorber 101
Is inclining by an angle θ, like the contact surface of the cap with the recording head 9. Further, the support fixing plate 1
02 and the ink absorber 101 are integrated by an adhesive or the like.

In the configuration example shown in FIG. 18, since the cap-attached ink removing member 100 is fixed to the carriage 11, the cap 51 and the cap-attached ink removing member 10 are fixed.
The carriage 11 is moved and stopped so that the cap-attached ink removing member 100 is located at a position facing the cap 51. A method is adopted in which the cap 51 is advanced and brought into contact. This forward operation can be performed by the same operation as in the case where the cap 51 is brought into contact with the recording head 9 and capping is performed.
The cap 51 and the cap attached ink removing member 1
00 for an appropriate time, so that the cap 5
The attached ink on 1 is absorbed by the ink absorber 101 on the member.

FIG. 19 is a sectional view showing a state where the cap-adhered ink removing member 100 and the cap 51 are in contact with each other. The cross-sectional view of FIG. 19 shows a cross-section at the same location as FIG. In FIG. 19, the ink absorber 101
Has a shape in which the front center portion protrudes, and the cap 5
1, the ink absorber 501 in the cap 51, the inner wall surface of the cap 51, and the rib 5 of the cap 51.
It is in contact with the portion 1a. However, the ink absorber 10
1 does not necessarily have to have the shape as shown in the figure, and any other shape can be used as long as it can remove ink that has protruded from the surface of the cap 51 that comes into contact with the recording head 9 (ejection port forming surface 221) and adhered. Good. For example, the cross section may be a simple convex shape, or may be a flat surface.

Further, since the shape of the cap 51 is not limited to that of the present embodiment, the shape of the ink absorber 101 may be adjusted to the shape of the cap 51, and is not limited to the shape as shown. . Further, in the case where a large-sized ink absorber 101 is required in consideration of the amount of ink to be absorbed, only the portion that comes into contact with the cap 51 is exposed, and the other portion is covered with a cover. You may. By providing such a cover, a cap-adhered ink removing member that is excellent in appearance and does not stain the user's hands can be configured.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control system of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. 20, the capping position and the moving position of the carriage 11 can be known based on the detection of the recovery system home sensor 65 and the carriage home sensor 67. 20, reference numeral 1000 denotes an MPU for executing the control procedures and the like shown in FIGS. 21 to 23 to control each unit, 1001 a ROM storing programs and the like corresponding to the control procedures, 100
2 is a RAM used as a work area when the control procedure is executed, 1003 is a timer for measuring time,
1004 is an interface unit. Note that command data and recording data can be input from the keyboard unit 1 to the control system shown in FIG.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation procedure of the ejection recovery processing by the recovery system unit in the ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. Note that the reference numerals a to h in FIG. 21 correspond to the timings a to h in FIG. The numerical values in FIG. 21 correspond to the numerical values indicating the rotation angles of the cams in FIG. In FIG. 21, the operation of the ejection recovery process starts from the capping state of b in FIG. 15 (step S1). Next, the pump 53 is moved to the state c in FIG. 15 to execute pumping (step S3). In this state, for example, a stop for 3 seconds is performed so that the ink suction is sufficiently performed (step S5). At the same time as opening the cap at d in FIG. 15, suction of small air is performed (step S7). In order to take in the ink in the cap 51 and the cap lever 505, the state is stopped, for example, for one second (step S9).

Next, idle suction for discharging the ink filled in the pump 53 is performed in the following procedure. First, the process proceeds to the idle suction preparation position for g in FIG.
11) From there, for example, 3
Hollow suction is performed by reciprocating twice (steps S13 to S19). Next, the air suction is performed by moving from the empty suction preparation position of g to the stop position after the air suction of e (step S21). Due to the suction of the sky, the ink in the pump 53 is sufficiently discharged to the waste ink tank 5.
It is pushed out to the 5 side. Subsequently, the g is moved to the idle suction preparation position (step S23) to perform the preliminary ejection (step S25), and then the h is set to the wiping position, and the blade 59 is protruded (step S27). The wiping operation of the discharge port forming surface is performed by the step 59 (step S29).

Thereafter, the carriage 11 is moved (step S31) to move the cap-attached ink removing member 100.
Is placed at a position facing the cap 51, the cap 51 is advanced to the capping position (contact position) b in FIG. 15 (step S33), and the capping state is stopped, for example, for 3 seconds (step S35). Next, the cap 51 is opened (step S37), and the recording head 9 is opened.
Moves the carriage 11 to a position opposing the cap 51 (step S38), returns to the original capping state of b (step S39), and ends a series of ejection recovery processing operations. The operation of the above-described ejection recovery process (cleaning) including the recovery process by suction, the idle suction, the preliminary ejection, and the like can be executed at a predetermined timing by the main control routine of the recording apparatus, or in response to an instruction from the operator. It can also be activated as needed.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart showing an example of idle suction operation for taking in the ink accumulated by the preliminary ejection appropriately executed during printing into the waste ink tank. In FIG. 22, the present operation procedure is a process performed by interrupting the recording during recording, and thus starts from the standby state of a in FIG. 15 (step S41). In this state, the cam device 63 is rotated in the reverse direction to move the g to the empty suction preparation position (step S43), and the hollow device is moved from the position g to the stop position after the hollow suction of f (step S45). . Next, in step S47, after moving to the empty suction preparation position of g again to set the position, the air is sucked by moving from the position of g to the stop position after the empty suction of e (step S49). Next, returning to the standby state of a, the cap 51 is opened (step S51), and the idle suction operation ends. After the above-described idle suction operation is completed, recording is performed.

FIGS. 23A and 23B are flowcharts showing an example of a recording and printing processing procedure in the ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. (A) of FIG.
In step S61, when the power is turned on, the recovery system unit is set to the recovery system home position in step S61, the cap is opened, and then the carriage 11 is set to the home position in step S63. Next, step S6
At 5, the predetermined number of preliminary ejections (15 or 7 in this example)
Resets the counter N ₁ used to start the air suction upon reaching times), and waits a data signal recording (printing) after the closing the cap at step S67 (step S69).

When the recording signal is input, step S71
At start the paper feed, after open the cap at step S73, to increment with the counter N ₁ by +1 perform preliminary discharge by setting the carriage 11 in step S75 to the home position. Next, step S7
7 is started it resets the timer T ₁ of the for starting the preliminary discharge at predetermined time intervals during the recording operation (for example, every 30 seconds) at, executes recording of one line in step S79. Thereafter, in step S81, the timer T
_It is determined whether or not the value of ₁ exceeds 30 seconds. If the determination is affirmative, step S8 similar to steps S75 and S77 is performed.
After 3 and S85, the process proceeds to step S87. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made, the process immediately proceeds to step S87.

[0081] the value of the step S87 the counter N ₁ is,
It is determined whether or not "15" has been reached. If the determination is affirmative, idle suction in the middle of printing one page is performed in step S89.
At this time, the procedure shown in FIG. 22 is started. Then, reset the counter N ₁ at step S91 is restarted, the process proceeds to step S93. Step S8
If a negative determination is made in step 7, the process immediately proceeds to step S93.

In step S93, it is determined whether or not the recording of one page has been completed and a page break has been instructed. If an affirmative determination is made in step S95, it is determined in step S97 whether or not there is an END signal indicating that the recording has been completed.

[0083] On the other hand, when the recording signal by Tesuppu S95 is not input, the process proceeds to step S99, the timer T ₂ to be used to perform the capping is reset when the recording data is not a predetermined time (e.g. 5 seconds) Input ,
Restart. Next, in step S101, the presence or absence of a recording signal is determined. If the determination is affirmative, the process returns to step S79 to execute recording of the next line. On the other hand, step S101
Watch contents of timer T ₂ is determined whether or not more than 5 seconds, if a negative determination process proceeds to step S104, and returns to step S101 if there is no input of the END signal but at step S103 if a negative determination .

On the other hand, if 5 seconds have elapsed in step S103, the cap is closed in step S105,
Then, at step S107, stops the timer T _1, the timer T ₃ for starting a preliminary ejection after a predetermined time (e.g. 60 seconds) capped state continues
Reset and restart. Next, it is determined whether or not the END signal and the recording signal are input (step S10).
9 and S111). If there is a recording signal, step S1
13, the cap 51 is opened, and step S115
It determines whether watch the content of the timer T ₃ is greater than the 60 seconds at. If it has exceeded 60 seconds in step S115, the process proceeds to step S75 to perform preliminary ejection and the like, and then returns to step S79. On the other hand, step S115
If it in does not exceed 60 seconds, and returns to step S79 after the timer is started T ₁ at step S117.

[0085] Incidentally, when the page break command is input at step S93, the process proceeds to step S119, determines whether the contents of the counter N ₁ is equal to or greater than "7". If an affirmative determination is made in this case, performs the page between the idle suction in step S121, after performing a reset / start counter N ₁ in step S123, performs the operation of the wiping proceeds to step S125. On the other hand, step S11
If a negative determination is made in step 9, the process immediately proceeds to step S125 to perform the wiping operation. And step S
At step 127, the cap 51 is closed, and step S1 is executed.
After the recording medium (recording paper) on which recording has been completed is ejected at 29, the process proceeds to step S69 to wait for a recording signal for the next page.

If an END signal is detected in step S97 or S109, the end operation of step S131 is executed. This ending operation is performed as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the idle suction (step S141), the reset / start (step S143) counter N _1, the wiping of the discharge port forming surface (step S145), the cap attachment ink removing operation corresponding to step S31~S38 in FIG. 21 (Steps S147 to S155), Cap 5
1 (step S157) and discharge of the recording medium (recording paper) (step S159).

The main operations described above can be summarized as follows. In the present embodiment, the preliminary ejection is performed immediately before printing, and thereafter, the preliminary ejection is performed at intervals of 30 seconds. The timer T ₁ is used for the integration of the 30 second interval. T _1, since at least 5 seconds without a recording signal entered in the capping state is stopped when the elapsed, not counted in the 30 second interval time during capping. If the capping is performed for 60 seconds or longer, the control procedure returns to the preliminary ejection, and after the cap is opened, the preliminary ejection is performed before recording.

In this embodiment, the preliminary ejection is performed in the cap 51. Therefore, when the preliminary ejection is repeatedly performed, it is necessary to perform idle suction for taking the ink accumulated in the cap 51 into the waste ink tank 55 side. This idle suction is the idle suction described with reference to FIG. Basically, idle suction is performed between pages where no recording is performed. When the preliminary discharge counter N ₁ after one page Record is 7 or more small idle suction in FIG. 15 (a state of d) is carried out. However, if N ₁ is also in the middle page in recording it becomes 15 or more, i.e., in the sentence requires a long recording time performing the sky suction in FIG. 15 (state of e). At the end of printing, idle suction and ink removal operation on the cap are performed. Next, regarding the wiping, the ejection port forming surface 22 where the ink has leaked after recording is formed.
1 and is generally controlled to be performed after the end of one page and all recordings.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
By performing the idle suction during printing or the idle suction at the end of printing and the operation of removing the ink attached to the cap, the effect of efficiently sending the ink accumulated in the cap 51 due to the preliminary ejection during printing to the waste ink tank 55 can be obtained. can get. Further, the amount of ink accumulated in the cap 51 by the preliminary ejection is very small compared to the ink sucked at the time of ink suction during the ejection recovery process (cleaning) performed for the ejection recovery. Therefore, the number of times of idle suction during printing is sufficiently smaller than the number of times of idle suction during the ejection recovery process, and reducing the number of times of idle suction during printing as much as possible increases the effective printing speed of the printing apparatus. Is effective.

It should be noted that the number of idle suctions during the ejection recovery process or during printing is not limited to the above-described number of times, but may be set to an appropriate number. Depending on the ejection amount, the ink adhering to the cap according to the present invention may be removed even during idle suction during printing. Further, according to this embodiment, in several times of empty suction,
By shortening the stroke of the piston at first and reaching the bottom dead center in the last few strokes,
To reduce the backflow of ink, to surely take the ink in the cap 51 into the pump 53, and to send out most of the ink in the pump 53 to the waste ink tank 55 to reduce the amount of ink remaining in the pump 53. Therefore, efficient empty suction can be performed. In the above embodiment, the stroke of the empty suction operation is changed three times for the short stroke (hollow suction) and once for the long stroke (hollow suction). Can be done.

FIG. 24 shows an ink removing member 10 attached to a cap.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention. In the above-described embodiment, as the cap-adhered ink removing member 100, one having a configuration in which the ink is removed by the ink absorber 101 is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, FIG. Such a configuration may be adopted. In the embodiment of FIG. 24, the wiper blade 103 is configured to remove the adhered ink. 24 includes a wiper blade 103, a support fixing plate 104 for supporting and fixing the wiper blade 103 to the carriage 11, a fixing plate 105 for fixing the wiper blade 103 and the support fixing plate 104, and the like. It is composed of

According to the configuration shown in FIG. 24, after the cap 51 is made to protrude (advance) by the same operation as the capping of the recovery system, the carriage 11 is moved.
By wiping (wiping) the cap 51 with the wiper blade 103, the ink attached to the cap 51 can be removed. As a result, as in the case where the planar ink absorber is brought into contact with the cap 51, at least the ink that is projected and adhered from the contact surface of the cap 51 with the recording head 9 should be surely wiped off. Can be. Further, a configuration may be adopted in which the ink adhered to the cap 51 is sucked by applying a suction force by the pump 53.

In the above embodiment, the cap-attached ink removing member 100 is configured to be fixed on the carriage 11, but the present invention is not limited to this. The movement may be performed by the cap attached ink removing member itself. Also, the cap-adhered ink removing member does not necessarily need to be entirely composed of a dedicated member.
A cleaning member such as an ink absorber or a wiper blade may be attached to an existing member such as the head cartridge regulating plate 12 shown in FIG.

Next, the configuration of the waste ink tank in this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, in the present embodiment, in addition to providing the first waste ink tank 55, a second waste ink tank 70 is provided by effectively utilizing the space in the printing apparatus. A configuration is adopted in which the ink tanks are connected by tubes 71. Since both waste ink tanks 55 and 70 are provided in series with the recovery unit, the waste ink generated by the discharge recovery processing or the idle suction processing first passes through the tube 57 to the first waste ink tank 55. Will be introduced. While the first waste ink tank 55 has room to store the waste ink, the waste ink is stored here.
When the waste ink tank 55 is unable to store the waste ink, the waste ink overflowing from the waste ink tank 55 is introduced into the second waste ink tank 70 via the tube 71.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the second waste ink tank 70 is provided by effectively utilizing the space in the printing apparatus, the size of the printing apparatus can be reduced without reducing the waste ink capacity. Becomes Incidentally, a suitable ink absorber can be provided in these waste ink tanks.

FIG. 25 is a schematic perspective view showing another configuration example of the waste ink tank. In FIG. 25, in the present configuration example, a three-way joint 57A is provided at the other end of a tube 57 having one end connected to the recovery system unit. It is configured such that waste ink is introduced into the first waste ink tank 55 and the second waste ink tank 70 via the respective tanks. Further, a part of each of the waste ink tanks (waste ink storage members) 55 and 70 is formed of a ventilation cloth 183. The ventilation cloth 183 is made of a material that allows gaseous ink solvent vapor to pass through but does not allow liquid ink to pass through.
By using 3, the inside of each waste ink tank 55, 70 is in a state of ventilation with the atmosphere without causing ink leakage. As a specific material of the ventilation cloth 183,
For example, Vapor Road (Teijin Co., Ltd.) can be used.

Therefore, according to the configuration of the waste ink tank of FIG. 25, the same effect as that of the configuration of the waste ink tank of FIG. 2 can be obtained. Can be spontaneously released to the outside,
As a result, the effective capacity of each of the waste ink tanks 55 and 70 can be increased by that much, and the space efficiency can be increased and the size of the printing apparatus can be further reduced. In addition,
In the configuration of FIG. 25, a part of each of the waste ink tanks 55 and 70 is formed by the ventilation cloth 183, but in some cases, the ventilation cloth 183 may be entirely formed. Further, as the waste ink tanks 55 and 70 in FIG. 2, it is a matter of course that a tank partially or wholly constituted by the ventilation cloth 183 can be used. The two waste ink tanks 55 and 70 are connected in series in the configuration of FIG. 2, but are connected in parallel in the configuration example of FIG.

FIG. 26 is a schematic perspective view showing still another configuration example of the waste ink tank. From the viewpoint of providing a waste ink tank by effectively using the empty space in the recording apparatus which is generally dispersed, not only the second waste ink tank 70 but also more waste ink tanks are added. Can be provided in an appropriate empty space. FIG. 26 shows a configuration example in the case where a waste ink tank is additionally provided.

In FIG. 26, in addition to the waste ink tank 55, two further waste ink tanks 70A and 70B are provided. Regarding the first waste ink tank 55,
The second waste ink tank 70A and the third waste ink tank 70B are provided in parallel. When the waste ink overflows from the first waste ink tank 55, the waste ink is branched by the joint 74, and the tubes 71A and 71B
Are respectively introduced into the second waste ink tank 70A and the third waste ink tank 70B. In this embodiment, each waste ink tank (waste ink storage member) is also used.
A part of 55, 70A, 70B is a ventilation cloth 18 similar to that described above.
3. Also, in this configuration example, the ventilation cloth 183 may form the entire waste ink tank 55, 70A, 70B in some cases.

According to the configuration of the waste ink tank described above with reference to FIG. 26, the same effects as those of the configuration examples shown in FIGS. Accordingly, the waste ink storage amount can be further increased. The configuration related to the waste ink tank is not limited to the above configuration, and the number and arrangement of the waste ink tanks or the connection between the waste ink tanks can be, of course, implemented in various other modes. is there.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the cartridge type recording means (head cartridge) 9 in which the recording head and the ink tank are integrated is used has been described as an example. The present invention can be similarly applied to an ink jet recording apparatus having another configuration of the recording head and the ink tank, such as a configuration in which ink tanks are separately provided and these are connected by an ink supply pipe or the like. Is obtained.

The present invention can be applied to an ink jet recording apparatus using a recording means (recording head) using an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element. The present invention brings about an excellent effect in an ink jet recording apparatus using a recording means of a method of discharging ink using energy. According to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

The typical structure and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
Preferably, this is done using the basic principles disclosed in US Pat. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to an electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path in which Then, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and the film is boiled on the heat acting surface of the recording means (recording head). As a result, air bubbles in the liquid (ink) can be formed one-to-one corresponding to the driving signal. It is valid.

By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and shrinkage of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, US Pat.
Those described in 463359 and 4345262 are suitable. In addition, US Pat. No. 4,431,131 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise of the heat acting surface.
If the conditions described in the specification of JP-A No. 24 are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angle liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
A configuration using the specification of Japanese Patent No. 459600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 123670/1984 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an aperture for absorbing pressure waves of thermal energy. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit. That is, according to the present invention, the recording can be reliably and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

[0106]

It is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like provided as a configuration of the recording apparatus in the present invention, since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If you list these specifically,
For the recording head, a capping unit, a cleaning unit, a pressurizing or suctioning unit, a preheating unit using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof, and a discharge other than recording. Performing the preliminary ejection mode is also effective for performing stable printing.

The type and number of recording heads to be mounted are, for example, not only those provided for one color ink but also a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities. May be provided in plurality. That is, for example, as the recording mode of the recording apparatus, not only the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black,
The recording head may be formed integrally or by a combination of a plurality of recording heads, but the present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of multiple colors of different colors or full color by mixing colors.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or lower and which softens or liquefies at room temperature, or an ink jet ink is used. In the method, the temperature of the ink itself is controlled within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. What is necessary is just to be liquid. in addition,
Whether to positively prevent temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or use ink that solidifies in a standing state to prevent evaporation of the ink In any case, the ink is liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal, and the liquid ink is ejected,
The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time by thermal energy, such as one that starts to solidify when it reaches a recording medium, is used.

The ink in such a case is disclosed in
As described in JP-A-56847 or JP-A-60-71260, a form in which the liquid sheet or the solid sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter while being held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. It may be. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, the form of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention is not only used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, but also a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. And the like.

[0112]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in an ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording by discharging ink from a recording means to a recording medium, the recording means is mounted on the recording medium along the recording medium. A moving carriage, a cap for covering a discharge port forming surface of the recording means, and a cap-adhered ink removing means for removing ink adhered to the cap, which is disposed on the carriage; So, by effectively removing the ink attached to the cap without using a valve, etc.,
An ink jet recording apparatus capable of always maintaining good recording quality, preventing a recording medium from being stained with ink, and eliminating color mixing of ink even when one cap is adapted to ink of a plurality of colors. Is provided.

According to the second to ninth aspects of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, a configuration in which a part or the whole of the cap-adhered ink removing means is formed of an ink absorber,
A configuration in which the cap-adhered ink removing unit is a wiping member made of a rubber-like elastic material; a configuration in which the cap-adhered ink removing unit includes a suction unit; a configuration in which the cap-adhered ink removing unit is fixed; Is located at a position facing the cap,
A configuration having control means for moving and stopping the carriage; and a cap driving means for bringing the cap into contact with the cap-adhered ink removing means when the cap-adhered ink removing means is at a position facing the cap. When the cap-attached ink removing unit is located at a position facing the cap, the cap is brought into contact with the cap-attached ink removing unit, and the suction unit provided in the cap-attached ink removing unit sets the inside of the cap. A configuration in which the ink adhering to the recording medium is sucked and removed, or in a state where the cap is protruded from a position of the carriage such that the cap does not come into contact with the ejection port forming surface of the recording means and the cap adhering ink removing means. By moving the carriage, the cap-adhered ink removing unit is removed. Since a structure that passes through the cap while being in contact with the cap, an ink jet recording apparatus is provided which can achieve the above effects more efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a word processor as an embodiment of an electronic apparatus including an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing one embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the head cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the head cartridge of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an assembly view of the head cartridge of FIG. 4;

6 is an external perspective view of an ink ejection unit of the head cartridge of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view illustrating a schematic structure of an ink discharge unit of the head cartridge of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining a head gap adjusting means of the ink jet recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining a spur cover and a viewing window of the ink jet recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan view for explaining a spur cover and a viewing window of a conventional inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a plan view for explaining a spur cover and a viewing window of the ink jet recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a partial front view illustrating a state in which the means for preventing FPC entanglement of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is in a carriage standby state.

FIG. 13 is a partial front view showing a state in which the means for preventing FPC entanglement of the ink jet recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention is moving when the carriage is moved.

FIG. 14 shows an FP in a conventional ink jet recording apparatus.
FIG. 7 is a partial front view showing a state in which C is involved.

15 is an exploded perspective view of the ejection recovery mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing details of a cap and a cap holder shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 17 is a diagram including a front view, a plan view, and a longitudinal sectional view of the cap shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing a contour curve of a cam for operating each part of the ejection recovery mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing an operation state of each part at a main cam position of the ejection recovery mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an operation state of the pump at a main cam position of the ejection recovery mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

21 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a cap-adhered ink removing member and a cap in FIG. 2;

FIG. 22 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state where the cap-adhered ink removing member of FIG. 21 is in contact with the cap.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a control system of the inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation procedure in an ejection recovery process of the inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

25 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation procedure of an idle suction process related to the ejection recovery process illustrated in FIG. 24.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a recording processing procedure of the inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart of an end operation of the stud 131 in FIG. 26;

FIG. 28 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a cap-adhered ink removing member and a cap of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view showing another example of the configuration of the waste ink system of the ink jet recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 30 is a perspective view showing still another example of the configuration of the waste ink system of the ink jet recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Keyboard part 2 Display part 9 Head cartridge 9a Discharge port unit 9b Ink tank 11 Carriage 12 Restriction plate 19 Support plate 23 Guide shaft 27 Timing belt 31 Carriage motor 33 Transport roller 34 Platen 35 Transport motor 39 Feed roller 41 Discharge roller 51 Cap 51a Rib 53 Pump 55 First waste ink tank 57 Waste ink tube 59 Blade 61 Recovery motor 70 Second waste ink tank 70A Second waste ink tank 70B Third waste ink tank 71 Waste ink tube 63 Cam device (Recovery system) 65 Recovery system home sensor 67 Carriage home sensor 100 Ink removing member attached to cap 101 Ink absorber 102 Support fixing plate 183 Vent cloth (waste ink tank) 221 Formation of discharge port 222 discharge port 225 electrothermal transducer 501 ink absorbing member (the cap)

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 2/165 B41J 2/18 B41J 2/185

Claims (11)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus which performs recording by discharging ink from a recording unit to a recording medium, wherein a carriage mounted with the recording unit and moved along the recording medium; An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a cap for covering; and a cap-adhered ink removing unit disposed on the carriage for removing ink attached to the cap. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a part or the whole of said cap-attached ink removing means is formed of an ink absorber. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cap-adhered ink removing means is a wiping member made of a rubber-like elastic material. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cap-adhered ink removing means has a suction means. 5. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cap-adhering ink removing means is fixed. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to move and stop the carriage so that the cap-adhered ink removing unit is located at a position facing the cap. Ink jet recording device. 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cap driving means for bringing the cap into contact with the cap-adhering ink removing means when the cap-adhering ink removing means is located at a position facing the cap. 7. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 8. When the cap-attached ink removing unit is at a position facing the cap, the cap is brought into contact with the cap-attached ink removing unit, and the suction unit provided in the cap-attached ink removing unit is used. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the ink attached to the cap is removed by suction. 9. A method in which the carriage is moved with the cap protruding from a position of the carriage where the cap does not come into contact with the ejection port forming surface of the recording means or the cap adhering ink removing means even when the cap is protruded. ,
9. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cap-adhering ink removing unit passes through the cap while contacting the cap. 10. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said recording means is an ink jet recording means having an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy for discharging ink.
10. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 9. 11. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the recording means discharges the ink from a discharge port by using film boiling generated in the ink by thermal energy applied by the electrothermal transducer. Ink jet recording device.