JP3284454B2 - Case structure in inkjet printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a case structure having a waste ink tank for storing ink discharged from a recording head to a cap member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink jet printer forms dots on a recording medium by discharging ink having a relatively high viscosity and a high drying rate from an extremely thin nozzle opening, so that the nozzle opening is likely to be clogged. This requires a so-called ejection recovery operation in which a cap member is brought into contact with the nozzle opening surface of the recording head and a negative pressure is applied to the nozzle opening to forcibly eject ink from the nozzle opening. Further, at the beginning of use or when the ink tank is replaced, a so-called filling operation is required in which a large amount of ink is sucked out of the recording head in order to remove the maintenance liquid and bubbles from the recording head. The waste ink discharged in this manner is stored in a waste ink tank provided with an ink absorbing material such as felt stored in a box of the printer body.

[0003]

In order to cope with the downsizing of the printer, it is difficult to secure a space for accommodating the waste ink tank, and it is necessary to actively use an empty space such as the bottom of the box. Therefore, a thin ink absorbing material must be spread. In addition, it is necessary to suppress bleeding on recording paper in order to improve print quality, and when ink with a high drying speed is used, the thinner the thickness of the ink absorbing material, the more easily the waste ink solidifies, and the more the ink absorbing material becomes harder. There is a problem that the ink is prevented from flowing around and the waste ink can be stored in a much smaller amount than the ink absorbing material originally has. Furthermore, when the waste ink cannot be sufficiently absorbed, there is a problem that the overflowed waste ink may flow into the power supply unit and cause an accident such as a short circuit. The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and a purpose thereof is to make it possible to efficiently store waste ink by making full use of the original ink absorbing ability of the ink absorbing material. An object of the present invention is to provide a case structure suitable for an inkjet printer. Another object of the present invention is to provide a case structure that can protect a power supply unit from waste ink.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided a printing mechanism having an ink jet type recording head, a cap member for sealing the recording head, and a communication with the cap member. And a waste ink storage chamber formed by partitioning the bottom of a box accommodating a pump for sucking ink from the recording head by a wall surface and containing an ink absorbing material, and one wall surface forming the waste ink storage chamber. The power supply unit accommodating chamber for accommodating the power supply unit is formed by two wall surfaces which are opposed to each other and are continuously formed integrally with the adjacent two wall surfaces and the bottom surface of the box. And a waste ink receiving port for receiving ink from the pump in contact with the wall surface, and an ink guide path including a narrow groove connecting the waste ink receiving port and a central portion of the waste ink storage chamber. The ink absorbing material was stored so as to cover the road.

[0005]

The waste ink is absorbed from the center of the ink absorbing material, and even if the ink is solidified in a part, the ink is spilled from another area to absorb the waste ink into the ink absorbing material, and the waste ink storage chamber. Even if ink leaks from
The wall constituting the power supply unit housing room prevents entry into the power supply unit housing room, thereby reliably preventing short-circuiting, electric leakage and the like due to ink. Further, the waste ink is guided to the center of the ink absorbing material, and is brought into contact with a large area of the ink absorbing material to be efficiently absorbed.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which reference numeral 1 denotes a case of a printer,
The upper space 3 is composed of a recording head 5, a carriage 7 on which an ink cartridge 6 is mounted, a motor 9 for reciprocating the carriage 7 along a platen 8, and the like. A printing mechanism and a cap member 1 for sealing a nozzle opening of the recording head 5 when printing is not performed
0 is stored.

The cap member 10 is connected to a suction port of the suction pump 11 via a flow path (not shown), and receives a negative pressure from the suction pump 11 at the time of ink filling or recovery of the discharge capacity. A tube 12 is connected to a discharge port of the suction pump 11, and a waste ink receiving port 13 described later is provided.
Is communicated to.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a power supply unit housing chamber, which is a wall surface 16 or 17 extending integrally from the bottom surface 1a of the box 1 and extending integrally from two adjacent side walls 1b and 1c of the box 1. The box 1 is configured to partition a partial area. In the drawing, reference numeral 18 denotes a timing belt for connecting the motor 9 and the carriage 7, and 19 denotes a flexible cable for transmitting a signal to the recording head 5.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the waste ink tank formed in the bottom region of the above-mentioned box. Reference numerals 20, 21, 22, and 23 in the figure denote waste ink storage chambers 25, respectively. Is formed integrally with the bottom surface 1a of the box 1 so as to be slightly higher than the thickness of an ink absorbing material 28 described later. Almost in the center of the waste ink storage chamber 25,
A liquid distribution member 26 described later is formed, and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the waste ink receiving passage 13 has a groove 27a having a U-shaped cross section and a groove 27b having a V-shaped cross section as shown in FIG. It is connected to the. These grooves 27a and 27b are wide enough to hold the waste ink by capillary force, for example, 2 m.
m or less.

Reference numeral 28 denotes the above-described ink absorbing material, which is formed by molding fibers or the like into a plate shape by needle punching, and is accommodated in the waste ink accommodating chamber 25 so as to cover the liquid distribution member 26 and the waste ink guide path 27. ing.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the liquid distribution member 26, showing a high portion 30 connected to the waste ink guide path 27.
Grooves 31a, 31a that descend at a constant inclination from
分配 are provided and provided.

Returning to FIG. 2, reference numeral 13 in the figure denotes the above-described waste ink receiving port 13, which is divided into two regions 13b and 13c by a partition plate 13a. Is connected to the other end of the waste ink guide path 27.

In addition, through holes 24, 24, 24 for discharging waste ink are provided around the wall surfaces 16, 17 which define the power supply unit accommodation room 15 so as to surround the power supply unit accommodation room 15.

In this embodiment, the tube 12 is inserted into the area 13c outside the ink receiving port 13, and
The external suction pump is operated by positioning the suction port of the external suction means here.

Next, when the suction pump 11 built in the printer is operated, the ink equivalent liquid sucked from the recording head 5 and filled for the test of the recording head 5 flows into the waste ink guide path 27. It is not sucked before by the external suction pump and remains in the box 1. When the discharge of the ink equivalent liquid is completed, the tube 1
2 is inserted into the area 13b on the waste ink storage chamber 25 side before shipment.

When the recording head 5 is used for the first time, or when clogging is eliminated, the nozzle opening of the recording head 5 is sealed with the cap member 10 and the suction pump 11 is operated. Forcibly suck out.

By this operation, bubbles of the recording head 5 and ink particles adhering to the nozzle openings are discharged as waste ink to the receiving port 13 through the tube 12 together with the ink. The waste ink reaches the liquid distribution member 30 due to the capillary force of the guide path 27, flows out of the plurality of distribution channels 31, 31 to four sides of the bottom surface 1a, and is absorbed by the ink absorbing material 28 disposed here. Therefore, even if the waste ink is solidified in a part of the region, the waste ink can flow around to another region and is surely absorbed by the ink absorbing material 28.

By the way, even if the printer is poorly installed and the receiver 13 side is low and the liquid distribution member 26 side is high, if the height difference between the two is within the printer installation standard, usually within 3 cm, Due to the capillary force of the grooves 27a, 27b of the waste ink guide path 27, the waste ink guide path 27 moves toward the liquid distribution member 30, flows out from the distribution flow paths 31, 31, and is absorbed from a wide area of the ink absorbing material.

The waste ink storage chamber 25 has a certain beat.
Even if the waste ink flows out of the housing 1, since the power supply unit accommodating chamber 15 is surrounded by the through holes 24, 24, 24, the leaked ink flows out of the box 1 through the through holes 24, 24, 24. Discharged quickly. Further, even if the power supply unit housing chamber 15 is not completely discharged from the through hole 46, the power supply unit housing chamber 15 is partitioned by the wall surfaces 1b, 1c and the wall surfaces 16 and 17 that are continuous with the bottom surface 1a. 17 prevents the waste ink from flowing into the power supply unit housing chamber 15.

In the above-described embodiment, the liquid distribution member 26 is provided at the end of the waste ink guide path 27, but the liquid distribution member 26 is provided at the end 27c of the waste ink guide path 27 as shown in FIG. Even if a slope 27d descending at a constant gradient is formed and connected to the bottom surface 1a of the box 1, as shown in FIGS.
The waste ink that has flowed from d into the bottom surface 1a is diffused by a capillary force into a gap formed between the bottom surface 1a and the ink absorbing material 28, and is absorbed by a large area of the ink absorbing material 28.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, a printing mechanism having an ink jet recording head, a cap member for sealing the recording head, and a pump communicating with the cap member and sucking ink from the recording head are provided. And a waste ink storage chamber formed by partitioning the bottom of the box by the wall surface to store the ink absorbing material, and one wall surface forming the waste ink storage chamber, and two adjacent two boxes of the box. Since the power supply unit housing chamber for housing the power supply unit is formed by the wall surface formed continuously and integrally with the wall surface and the bottom surface, the waste ink can be reliably absorbed into the waste ink storage room, and the ink from the waste ink storage room can be removed. Even if it leaks out, the walls that make up the power supply unit housing room prevent it from entering the power supply unit housing room and ensure that there is no short circuit or leakage due to ink. It is possible to improve safety by preventing.

Further, the waste ink can be poured into the central portion of the ink absorbing material and brought into contact with the waste ink over a wide area, so that even if the ink is solidified in one area, it can be covered in another area. It is possible to provide a box most suitable for a book type ink jet printer whose thickness is limited.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of an ink jet printer having a waste ink tank according to the present invention, with a part of a box cut away.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the waste ink tank of the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A shows the structure of the bottom surface of the box, and FIG. 2B shows A in FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure in the cross section in the -A line.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are cross-sectional views each showing an embodiment of a waste ink guide path. FIG.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a top view and a sectional view, respectively, showing an embodiment of a liquid distribution member.

5A and 5B show another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5A is a top view, and FIGS. 5B and 5C are enlarged views of the structure of the end of the waste ink guide path. It is a top view and a sectional view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Box 1a Bottom surface 11 Suction pump 12 Tube 13 Waste ink port 15 Power supply unit accommodation room 20-23 Side wall partitioning waste ink room 25 Waste ink accommodation room 26 Liquid distribution member 27 Waste ink guideway 28 Ink absorbing material

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-250069 (JP, A) JP-A-4-49051 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/18 B41J 2/185 B41J 2/01

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printing machine having an ink jet recording head, a cap member for sealing the recording head, and a bottom portion of a box containing a pump communicating with the cap member and sucking ink from the recording head. A waste ink storage chamber that is formed by partitioning the wall surface and stores the ink absorbing material, and faces one wall surface that forms the waste ink storage chamber and is continuous with two adjacent wall surfaces and a bottom surface of the box; Case structure in an ink jet printer in which a power supply unit housing chamber for housing a power supply unit is formed by a wall formed integrally with the power supply unit 2. An ink comprising a waste ink receiving port for receiving ink from the pump in contact with the wall surface of the waste ink storage chamber, and a narrow groove connecting the waste ink receiving port and a central portion of the waste ink storage chamber. 2. A case structure in the ink jet printer according to claim 1, further comprising a guide path, and containing an ink absorbing material so as to cover said waste ink guide path. 3. The case structure of the ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein an inclined portion which is in contact with the bottom surface of said box at a constant gradient is formed at an end of said ink guide path. 4. A case structure in an ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein a liquid distribution member through which waste ink flows is connected to an end of said ink guide path on the waste ink storage chamber side. 5. The case structure according to claim 3, wherein the liquid distribution member is formed to have a slope that descends outward from a high place, and waste ink flows into the high place. 6. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of through holes for discharging ink are formed in a bottom surface of the box between a wall surface of the waste ink storage chamber and the power supply unit storage chamber. Case structure.