JP3166518B2 - Ink jet device and wiping member - 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 apparatus, and more particularly, to a wiping member for cleaning a nozzle surface of a head for ejecting ink droplets, and a wiping member for cleaning the nozzle surface.
The present invention relates to an ink jet apparatus provided with the above wiping member .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an ink jet apparatus,
If the surface (= nozzle surface) of the head on which the nozzles for ejecting the ink are formed becomes wet or dirty, the ink ejection direction or the particle shape of the ejected ink droplets has an adverse effect on the ink ejection situation. In some cases, the original print quality of the ink jet recording apparatus may be impaired. In order to solve such a problem, a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the nozzle surface of the head has been proposed.

Some of the conventional cleaning mechanisms use a wiper blade to scrape or wipe off ink, dust and the like on a nozzle surface. As the wiper blade, a flat plate made of a plastic material is usually used, but a wiper blade that has been processed so as not to leave unwiped ink when the amount of ink to be wiped is large has been devised.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-23999 discloses an ink jet printer in which a nozzle surface is cleaned by a wiper blade having a slit. FIGS. 4 and 5A and 5B show a schematic configuration of a conventional inkjet apparatus described in this publication.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

[0005] A head 35 for ejecting ink from nozzles (not shown) is mounted on a carriage 34, and the carriage 34 is driven by a driving source (not shown).
1 along. The printing paper 32 conveyed onto the platen 31 by a rubber roller (not shown)
On the top, ink is ejected from the head 35 as the carriage 34 moves, and image data is printed. Near the home position HP of the carriage 34 (left side of the platen 31 in FIG. 3), at least one blade group 36 including a plurality of flexible wiper blades for wiping the nozzle surface of the head 35 is provided. Of these, the last wiper blade in the moving direction of the carriage 34 is a wiper blade without a slit, and at least one of the remaining wiper blades is a wiper blade with a slit.

After printing the image data, the nozzle surface 35a of the head 35 and the cleaning surface of the wiper blade are slid by the movement of the carriage 34, so that the nozzle surface 35a is wiped.

[0007]

However, in the above-described ink jet apparatus, a plurality of wiper blades are required, and when wiping is performed with a wiper blade having a slit, the wiper blade adheres to the edge of the slit and the waste ink. Dust could damage the nozzle. Further, when wiping was performed only with the wiper blade having a slit, waste ink was left in a streak shape due to the slit, so that reliable cleaning was not performed.
For this reason, in the above-described conventional example, wiping is performed again with a wiper blade having no slit.
The cleaning process is troublesome, and the cleaning mechanism is large.

Further, the slits of the wiper blades are completely separated from each other, and their widths and positions are easily displaced. Therefore, the ink held in the slits is easily scattered by a slight vibration or impact. As a result, it may be scattered in the ink jet device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides an inexpensive ink jet apparatus and a wiping member which do not damage the nozzle surface during wiping and do not stain the inside of the printer unit. With the goal.

[0010]

[MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS] To achieve this object
ToClaim 1The ink jet device according to the invention has an ink jet device.
A head for ejecting droplets from nozzles,
And a wiping member for cleaning the
Further, the wiper opposed to the relative movement direction of the head
Capillary force generating means provided with a groove on the cleaning surface of the
Provided, one end of the groove portion is in contact with the nozzle surface of the head.
A position immediately before the working end surface of the contacting wiping member
Placed inAnd the capillary force generating section is provided with the groove
Has an ink reservoir at the other end opposite the one end
You.

The groove may be formed so as to extend in a direction away from the working end face of the wiping member.

An ink jet printer according to a third aspect of the present invention.
A head for ejecting ink droplets from nozzles,
A retracted position that does not contact an advanced position that can slide on the head.
And the nozzle of the head in the forward position.
A wiping member that is relatively movable in the direction to clean the surface.
The ink jet apparatus, further comprising the head
Cleaning surface of the wiping member facing the relative movement direction of
Capillary force generating means provided with a groove is provided on the
Wiping pin, one end of which is in contact with the nozzle face of the head
Is located just before the working end face of the
The wiping member is positioned at the retracted position of the wiping member.
The wiping portion is disposed in parallel with the cleaning surface of the wiping member.
Absorber having a surface that comes into contact with the cleaning surface by retreating the material
Materials are provided .

[0013] A wiping device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention.
The member is a nozzle of the head that ejects ink droplets from the nozzle
A wiping member for cleaning the surface;
Cleaning of the wiping member facing the relative movement direction of the
Capillary force generating means provided with a groove on the surface is provided,
Wai pin one end of the groove is in contact with the nozzle surface of the head
Located immediately before the working end face of the
Further, the capillary force generating portion is connected to one end of the groove.
It has an ink reservoir at the other end on the opposite side .

[0014]

In the ink jet apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention having the above structure, the operative end surface of the wiping member contacts the nozzle surface with a continuous line or surface, so that the nozzle surface is left unwiped or scratched by waste ink. Clean without causing. Then, as the nozzle surface of the head is wiped, the waste ink scraped off by the working end of the wiping member penetrates into the groove of the capillary force generating portion provided on the cleaning surface when exceeding a predetermined amount, It flows along the groove by capillary force without remaining near the working end forever. Further, the waste ink passes through the groove, and
It sucked into parts, are Riho cut by the surface tension of the ink. Therefore, it is possible to wipe off a large amount of waste ink.
And does not contaminate other components in the device. In addition, I wiped it
The retention of waste ink is also improved.

In the ink jet apparatus according to the second aspect, since the groove extends in a direction away from the working end face, a large amount of waste ink does not remain in the vicinity of the working end face, so that the cleaning surface is prevented. Will be held in a wide area. Therefore, cleaning without remaining wiping is performed.

In the ink jet apparatus according to the third aspect, the working end face of the wiping member is continuous with the nozzle face.
Contact with the broken line or surface, leaving residual ink on the nozzle surface
Clean without causing damage or scratches. And head
Wiping the nozzle surface of the
A predetermined amount of waste ink scraped by the working end of the member
Exceeds the limit, immersed in the groove of the capillary force generation section provided on the cleaning surface
Hair without lingering forever near the working end.
It flows along the groove due to the tube force, and due to the surface tension of the ink.
Suspended. And the front of the wiping member
When the cleaning surface comes into contact with the absorbing member, the waste
The ink is absorbed and removed by the absorbing member. Therefore, Wai
The amount of waste ink retained on the ping member does not saturate,
Cleaning is performed properly .

In the wiping member according to the fourth aspect ,
Is a line where the working end surface of the wiping member is continuous with the nozzle surface.
Or touch the surface, leaving the waste ink on the nozzle surface
Clean without scratching. And the Wipin
Waste ink scraped by the working end of the
If it exceeds the amount, it will be inserted into the groove of the capillary force generating section provided on the cleaning surface.
Without penetrating and remaining forever near the working end,
It flows along the groove by capillary force. In addition, waste
Ink is drawn into the ink reservoir through the groove.
And is retained by the surface tension of the ink. Therefore, a large amount
It is possible to wipe off the waste ink of other
Does not contaminate components. Furthermore, retention of wiped waste ink
Is also good .

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the housing 21 of the printer 1, the platen 16
Are provided rotatably in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1, and the guide shaft 4 is provided along the platen 16. A carriage 3 is slidably mounted on the guide shaft 4, and a belt 7 is mounted on the carriage 3. The belt 7 is hung on the idle pulley 8 and the drive pulley 6. The drive pulley 6 is rotated by the drive motor 5, and the carriage 3 is moved in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1 along the guide shaft 4 via the belt 7 by the rotation of the drive pulley 6. The head 2 is mounted on the carriage 3 so as to face the platen 16, and the head 2 contains printing ink.

The printing paper 17 is inserted into the housing 21 in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 1 from behind the printer 1, conveyed along the platen 16 in the direction of arrow D, and discharged from the housing 21 of the printer 1. The printing paper 17 is
When transported to the platen 16, the head 2 ejects ink along with the movement of the carriage 3, so that required data is printed.

A cap 9 is provided at a non-printing position of the head 2 on the left side of the platen 16 in FIG. 1, and a cap rubber 10 for adhering to the head 2 is provided on the cap 9.
Is attached. The cap 9 is attached to the head 2 so as to be movable in the direction of arrow E in FIG. A connection tube 12 is attached to the cap 9 and is connected to the pump 11. A discharge tube 13 is connected to the pump 11.
Is connected to the waste ink tank 14 in which the adsorbent 15 is stored.

A flexible wiping member 22 is provided between the platen 16 and the cap 9 at the non-printing position. The wiping member 22 is attached so as to be movable in the direction of arrow F in FIG. The wiping member 22 normally stands by at a retracted position where the wiping member 22 does not come into contact with the head 2, and at the time of wiping, is moved to a forward position where the wiping member 22 can slidably contact the head 2 by a moving means (not shown). As shown in FIG. 2 when the inside of the printer 1 is viewed obliquely, the wiping member 22 is provided with a capillary force generating portion 42 having a groove 40 on a wiping surface 22a corresponding to a cleaning surface of the present invention, and one end of the groove 40. Does not reach the contact surface between the wiping member 22 and the head 2.

The groove 40 is a groove that does not penetrate the wiping member 20, and the groove 40 is provided so as to extend in a direction away from the contact surface.
Further, a slit 41 having a large capacity is formed at an extended end of the groove 40. The slit 41 corresponds to the ink reservoir of the present invention. The wiping member 22 is disposed such that the wiping surface 22 a can wipe the entire nozzle surface of the head 2.

Further, the suction member 23 for absorbing the ink is
The wiping member 22 is located in a direction perpendicular to the wiping surface 22a at the retracted position and is arranged parallel to the wiping surface 22a. The surface of the suction member 23 facing the wiping surface 22a is a cleaning surface 23a that comes into contact with the wiping surface 22a due to the retreat of the wiping member 22 and cleans the wiping surface 22a.

Next, the operation of the printer 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing paper 17 is
Is inserted into the housing 21 of the printer 1 in the direction of FIG. The head 2 attached to the carriage 3 moved in the direction of arrow B by the drive motor 5 ejects ink in accordance with the data input when sent to the position of the printing paper 17, and Form an image. Thereafter, when the head 2 prints a fixed amount or when the user performs an operation as needed, the head 2 is maintained. At the time of the maintenance, the head 2 is placed on the left side of the platen 16 in FIG. Is moved to the non-print position. Next, the cap 9 approaches the head 2, the cap rubber 10 adheres to the head 2, and the vicinity of the nozzle of the head 2 is covered. Then, the ink and bubbles in the head 2 and the foreign matter attached near the nozzles are sucked by the pump 11 and discharged to the adsorbent 15 in the waste ink tank 14.

When the nozzle surface of the head 2 is stained with ink or the like, or every time the head 2 performs a predetermined amount of printing,
The wiping member 22 is moved to the advance position where the wiping member 22 can be engaged with the head 2 by the moving means. Then, as shown in FIG. 3 when the inside of the printer 1 is viewed from above, the nozzle surface of the head 2 and the wiping surface 22a of the wiping member 22 move with the movement of the head 2 to the non-printing position (the direction of arrow B1 in the figure). Are in sliding contact with each other, and the nozzle surface is wiped. At the time of this wiping, the wiping member 22 is moved as shown in FIG.
Sliding contact is made in a state of being bent from the position of the two-dot chain line in the middle to the position of the solid line. At this time, the waste ink scraped from the nozzle surface of the head 2 is applied to the wiping surface 22a of the wiping member 22.
Is transmitted to the head 2 in a direction opposite to that of the head 2 and is stored in the slit 41.

At the end of wiping, the wiping member 22 is retracted, and the waste ink stored in the slit 41 on the wiping surface 22a comes into contact with the cleaning surface 23a of the suction member 23 to clean the wiping surface 22a. This prevents the amount of ink held in the capillary force generation unit 42 from becoming saturated, and prevents the capillary force and ink holding force of the wiping member 41 from decreasing.

Further, by the restoring force of the wiping member 22 immediately after the wiping, the wiping surface 22a is applied to the cleaning surface 23 with such a force that the ink is not scattered.
a, the capillary force generating section 42, especially the slit 4
Cleaning surface of waste ink held in one copy
3a, and the cleaning effect of the wiping member 41 can be promoted.

In the ink jet printer 1 configured as described above, the wiping surface 22a of the wiping member 22
The groove 4 which does not reach the contact surface with the head 2 (= working end surface)
0 and the slit 41 for storing the waste ink, so that the wiping member 22 does not hurt the nozzle surface of the head 2 during wiping, and the waste ink remains on the wiping member 22 until the wiping member 22 is cleaned after wiping. Since it is kept, the inside of the printer 1 is not stained.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the present embodiment, the capillary force generator 4
2 was composed of a groove 40 and a slit 41,
You may comprise only the groove part 40. Further, the capillary force generating portions 42 may cross each other.

In this embodiment, the ink jetted from the head 2 flies in the horizontal direction and is printed by the printer 1.
Although the ink-jet device of the present invention is used in the present invention, the ink-jet device does not have to be in the horizontal direction.

Further, in the present embodiment, the suction member 23 is fixed, but may be provided so as to be movable and move at the time of wiping.

In this embodiment, the head 2 is arranged perpendicular to the moving direction B. However, the head 2 may be arranged to be inclined with respect to the moving direction B.

[0035]

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, according to the present <br/> onset bright, the position immediately before beyond the working end surface which can be by contact with a cleaning surface and the nozzle surface of the head of the wiping member Waipi ring a capillary force generating portion provided with a groove which is disposed
Since the waste ink is provided on the cleaning surface of the member, the waste ink wiped immediately after the wiping flows along the groove due to the capillary force . In addition, waste ink passes through the groove to
To the ink reservoir and retained by the ink surface tension.
It is. Therefore, it is possible to wipe off a large amount of waste ink.
Yes, the retention of the wiped waste ink is improved. For this reason, it is possible to improve the quality of wiping without causing waste ink wiping failure, damaging the nozzle surface of the head, or soiling the inside of the printer unit. Ma
In addition, an absorbing member that the wiping member comes into contact with
The waste ink retained on the cleaning surface
The amount of waste ink retained by the wiping member
Does not saturate and can always be properly cleaned.
I can .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of a wiper member of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a top view showing the vicinity of a wiper member of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view around a conventional wiper member.

FIG. 5 (a) is a main perspective view showing a conventional wiper member. (B) It is a side view which shows the conventional wiper member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Head 22 Wiping member 22a Wiping surface 23 Adsorbent 40 Groove part 41 Slit 42 Capillary force generation part

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink jet apparatus comprising: a head for ejecting ink droplets from a nozzle; and a wiping member for cleaning a nozzle surface of the head, wherein a cleaning surface of the wiping member opposed to a relative movement direction of the head is provided. Capillary force generating means having a groove portion is provided, and one end of the groove portion is disposed at a position immediately before the working end surface of the wiping member that comes into contact with the nozzle surface of the head, and the capillary force generating portion Is one of the grooves.
Ink jet apparatus according to claim Rukoto that having a fountain in the other end portion opposite to the end portion. 2. The ink jet apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the groove is formed so as to extend in a direction away from an operating end surface of the wiping member. 3. A head for ejecting ink droplets from nozzles.
And a retreat that does not come into contact with a forward position that can slide on the head.
Position, and when the head is in the forward position,
Wiping member that can move relatively in the direction to clean the chisel surface
In the ink jet apparatus having the bets, said wiping part opposite to the relative direction of movement of the head
Capillary force generating means with grooves is provided on the cleaning surface of the material.
And one end of the groove comes into contact with the nozzle surface of the head.
Located just before the working end face of the wiping member
The wiping member is moved to the retracted position of the wiping member.
The wiping member is disposed in parallel with the cleaning surface of the member.
An absorbing member having a surface that comes into contact with the cleaning surface by retreating;
It is provided, wherein the to Louis inkjet device. 4. A head for ejecting ink droplets from a nozzle.
A wiping member for cleaning a nozzle surface, wherein the wiping portion opposes a relative movement direction of the head.
Capillary force generating means with grooves is provided on the cleaning surface of the material.
And one end of the groove comes into contact with the nozzle surface of the head.
Located just before the working end face of the wiping member
Further, the capillary force generating section is provided in one of the grooves.
It is necessary to have an ink reservoir at the other end opposite to the end.
Characterized wiping member .