JP3359198B2 - Ink jet recording device and cap mechanism - 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 and a cap mechanism used for the apparatus. Here, the recording includes printing (printing) on all ink supports to which ink is applied, such as cloth, thread, paper, and sheet material, and includes only meaningful images such as characters. But also meaningless images such as pattern images. The recording device includes all of the various information processing devices or a printer as an output device thereof, and the present invention can be used for them.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recording devices such as thermal transfer, LBP, dot impact, and ink jet are used as output devices for personal computer terminals, copiers, faxes, and the like.

[0003] Among them, the ink-jet method has attracted attention as a printing method excellent in quietness. Among them, a method utilizing foaming of liquid by heating is easy in high density and excellent in quietness. It has excellent features such as easy colorization and high-speed printing, and is attracting attention as a high-quality and inexpensive printing method.

[0004] Further, with the increase in speed, a type equipped with a recording head (hereinafter referred to as a multi-head) in which a plurality of recording elements are arranged has been generalized. ing.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the structure of a main part of a printer which discharges ink from the multi-head substantially downward in the vertical direction and records on the paper. In this figure, reference numeral 30 denotes an ink cartridge. These include an ink tank 29 filled with four color inks, black (Bk), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), and a multi-head 2.
9. A carriage 23 supports the four ink cartridges 30 and moves them together with recording. This means that when recording is not being performed, or when multi-head recovery work or the like is to be performed, the printer stands by at the home position (h) indicated by the dotted line in the figure.

Before the start of recording, the carriage 23 at the position h (home position) receives a recording start command,
While moving in the x-direction, the n multi-nozzles on the multi-head 28 perform recording on the paper only for the width D. When data recording is completed to the end of the sheet, the carriage returns to the original home position and performs recording in the x direction again.
In the case of reciprocal printing, printing is performed while moving in the −x direction. From the end of the first recording to before the start of the second recording, the paper is fed by the width D in the y direction. In this manner, by repeating recording and paper feeding for the multi-head width D for each carriage scan, data recording on one sheet is completed.

In such a recording apparatus, a suction cap 27 is used in common for each head 28 so that recovery can be performed when non-ejection occurs, and a recovery operation can be performed for each head 28 independently. And a pump 27a for supplying a negative pressure to the cap 27. With such a configuration, the configuration can be simplified as compared with having caps and pumps corresponding to the respective heads by the number of heads, and the device can be manufactured at low cost.

Further, a wiper blade 31 for wiping and cleaning the tip of the head 28 is provided at a position between the cap 27 and the recording paper transport section.

The performance of a printing apparatus that performs printing by discharging ink largely depends on the viscosity of the ink. That is, various ejection characteristics such as the ejection amount, the ejection speed, and the upper limit of the driving frequency are greatly affected by the viscosity of the ink. However, in this type of ink jet printer, if the nozzle used for recording is left in a state where ejection is not performed, drying occurs on the surface of the nozzle and the ink in the meniscus portion formed at the nozzle tip is concentrated and the viscosity is increased. Will rise. On the other hand, the ejection mechanism that ejects ink from the nozzle has a viscosity limit that allows ejection in accordance with the physical energy that can be generated, and the viscosity of the ink in the concentrated thickened portion exceeds the viscosity limit. In such a case, the ejection can no longer be performed and non-ejection may be caused. Or, even if non-ejection does not occur, the dot is likely to be distorted and the recorded image is likely to be deteriorated. In order to prevent such image deterioration such as non-ejection and distortion, ink is periodically discharged to unused nozzles or all nozzles before the time when image deterioration is assumed to occur, and the ink in the nozzles is refreshed. In addition, a technique referred to as a so-called preliminary ejection for preventing the ink from being extremely thickened is used in many printing apparatuses. But,
Such a technique is effective in recovering unused nozzles during printing and recovering from a short pause, but if the pause is extended for a long time or left for a long time, it is very effective. Therefore, a large amount of waste ink is consumed, and it is difficult to say that this is an appropriate means.

Therefore, when the ejection is not performed for a long time,
Means are taken to cover the nozzle surface with some means to prevent ink evaporation from the meniscus. These methods have already been used in many printing apparatuses (for example, inkjet printing apparatuses manufactured by Canon Inc. such as BJ10V and BJC-600). When these means for protecting the head do not have sufficient performance, when thickening or drying in the nozzle as described above is extremely advanced for a long time, or when additives, dyes and pigments in the ink are used. Precipitates, causing a so-called sticking phenomenon that solidifies in the vicinity of the nozzle.
A recovery operation such as pressurization is required, and wasteful ink is consumed. In addition, if the sticking reaches the inside of the head such as the nozzle and ink supply path, and if the sticking is extremely strong, it cannot be recovered by recovery operation such as suction and pressure purge, and the head itself becomes unusable and must be replaced. May need to be done. Heads used in inkjet recording devices are often expensive due to their complex structure and difficult processing, and replacement of the head leads to a large increase in running costs.
In order to enhance the reliability, it is very important to prevent thickening and sticking by preventing drying.

Therefore, as a method of preventing thickening due to evaporation of the ink, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 52-138132 discloses a method of protecting the face surface with a drying prevention cap. In a recent example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 201109 also discloses a cap for protecting the face surface of the head.

[Background Art] In recent years, a tank replacement method has been proposed in which a head for discharging ink and a tank holding ink are separately provided for the purpose of reducing running costs. The above-described apparatus shown in FIG. 6 employs such a tank exchange system. Details of the tank head are shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. In the recording apparatus using a head tank shown in these figures, a system called an on-carriage tank is used in which a tank 30 is mounted on a carriage 23 (FIG. 6) for holding a head in order to minimize a supply system. Used. In the case of such a tank exchange method, as shown in FIG. 7, the inside of the tank 30 is generally divided into a portion filled with the ink 35 as it is and a portion filled with the absorber 33 absorbing the ink 35. Have been. With such a structure,
The ink supply port 28a of the head 28 with respect to the absorber 33
Is pressed, the ink contained in the pressed portion 33a of the absorber 30 is squeezed out of the absorber 30 together with the press, and the ink in a state where no negative pressure is applied near the supply port 28a is temporarily removed. Will occur. For this reason, during normal use, the negative pressure that should have been applied to the meniscus from the rear may not be generated temporarily,
In the case of this figure, the position of the tank is the face 2 of the head.
8b, the force applied to the meniscus is a positive pressure. In such a state, when the meniscus is destroyed due to wetting or vibration of the face surface, the ink 35 stored in the head may flow out and block the communication hole.

Although the anti-drying cap is completely sealed, it is ideal only for the purpose of preventing drying. However, in the case of a closed type cap, when the cap for protecting the head is provided, the inside of the cap is protected. Pressure is applied, destroying the meniscus, and as a result, a phenomenon is seen in which air is blown into the head, or ink filled in the head is drawn back to the tank side by negative pressure from the tank. Therefore, the next time printing is performed, it is necessary to supply ink to the inside of the head by a method such as suction and pressurization.
This leads to an increase in useless ink consumed without being used for recording.

Conversely, when the cap is opened from the head for recording, the inside of the cap becomes negative pressure when the cap is separated from the face, so that the meniscus is destroyed and the ink in the nozzle is drawn out. As a result, there is an adverse effect that the face surface is wetted. Further, if a temperature change occurs after capping, the air inside the cap expands and contracts due to the temperature difference, and the pressure change caused by the expansion and contraction causes the same harm as at the time of capping and at the time of opening the cap.

For example, the case where pressure is applied during capping will be described below.

The dimension (inner dimension) of the cap is horizontal: 5 mm,
When the length is 10 mm and the height of the rib is 1 mm, and the deformation amount of the cap rib after closing the cap is 0.2 mm, the volume in the cap is as follows.

The volume at the time of sealing 5 × 10 × 1.0 = 50 mm ³ The volume after capping 5 × 10 × 0.8 = 40 mm ³ The fluctuation of the air pressure inside the cap is as follows.

[0018]

[Outside 1]

At the time of capping, in the above configuration, the inside of the cap is pressurized at 0.25 atm compared to the atmospheric pressure.

When pressure is applied due to temperature fluctuations after capping, capping is performed at an outside air temperature of 5 ° C.
Assuming that the temperature has risen to 5 ° C., the fluctuation of the air pressure in the cap is as follows.

[0021]

[Outside 2]

When the above-mentioned temperature fluctuation occurs, the inside of the cap is pressurized by 0.11 atm compared to the atmospheric pressure.
As described above, when the temperature fluctuates, when the cap is closed, or the like, it is expected that the meniscus is destroyed and ejection failure occurs.

In order to prevent the above-mentioned adverse effects,
The cap is provided with a mechanism called an atmosphere communication hole, which communicates the inside of the cap with the outside air to eliminate pressure fluctuation.

For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-201009, a cap is formed by laminating two members.
An example in which an air communication hole is formed in the bonding surface is disclosed. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the cap is composed of the cap rubber 2 and the cap holder 3, a groove is formed in the bottom end surface of the cap holder 3, and a gap between the cap member 3 and the sealing member 40 that seals the opening is formed as an air communication hole. It is assumed to be 1. The diameter of the air communication hole 1 is preferably as small as possible and desirably as long as possible for the purpose of preventing drying.

[0025]

However, when the ink leaks as described above, the ink may stay in the cap and the air communication hole may be clogged, thereby causing ink drop.

Further, as proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-201009, an air communication hole is formed on a bonding surface of two members, and a capillary force is applied to a gap between the two members formed on both sides of the air communication hole. In the form in which the ink is absorbed, the ink receiving amount is finite, and the ink receiving portion is a gap between the two members. Therefore, if the ink receiving amount is to be increased, the gap must be increased. In this case, the drying prevention performance deteriorates, and if sufficient drying prevention performance is to be provided, a sufficient volume for receiving ink cannot be obtained around the air communication hole. Furthermore, in this method, since the leaked ink passes through the communication hole, a small amount of ink may remain in the communication hole head side opening, the atmosphere side opening, and the like, and is an ideal method for preventing the communication hole from being closed. Not a typical thing.

On the other hand, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-201009 as another configuration, a configuration in which a notch is formed in the face surface has a sufficient length and thinness as a communication hole for preventing drying. It is difficult to have, and it is hard to say that it is a desirable form. In addition, there is a possibility that the communication hole may be closed by ink attached to the face surface. Further, a mechanism for providing a buffer for preventing pressure fluctuation and connecting the inside of the cap that covers the face and the buffer with a freely movable thin film is also used. In such a configuration, the leaked ink is received by the cap, and the ink cannot be received more than the internal volume of the cap. Therefore, in order to secure a sufficient capacity against ink leakage, it is necessary to increase the volume in the cap, and to prevent drying, it is necessary to reduce the evaporable volume in the cap as much as possible. The cap is required to have two different opposing performances.

As described above, according to the prior art, since the tolerance for ink leakage is low, it occurs when the recent tank replacement method described above is used more than in the conventional head unit replacement method integrated with the tank head. There is a possibility that it will not be possible to respond to ink leakage.

In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides a cap mechanism for preventing the air communication hole of a cap provided for preventing drying of a nozzle for discharging ink from being blocked by ink leakage, and a cap mechanism for the cap mechanism. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus using the same.

[0030]

One aspect of the present invention to achieve the above object is an ink jet recording apparatus having a cap for covering a face surface of an ink jet head, wherein the cap is in close contact with the face surface. The cap rubber, the bottom surface is in an open state, a cap holder for supporting the cap rubber, an atmosphere communication path for communicating the inside of the cap with the atmosphere, and a cap which is in close contact with the bottom surface of the cap holder, An ink-jet recording apparatus, comprising: a contact plate that discharges ink in the cap by separating from a bottom surface of the cap holder when the cap is opened.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cap mechanism having a cap for covering a face surface of an ink jet head, wherein the cap is a cap rubber that is in close contact with the face surface, and a bottom portion is open. A cap holder that supports the cap rubber, an atmosphere communication path for communicating the inside of the cap with the atmosphere, and a cap that is in close contact with the bottom surface of the cap holder when the cap is opened and separates from the bottom surface of the cap holder when the cap is opened A contact plate for discharging ink in the cap by
And a cap mechanism.

[0032]

When the ink is discharged outside the cap by such a mechanism, the ink leak generated when the tank is replaced or when the main body is vibrated is reliably treated, and the air communication hole is always maintained in a good state. It becomes possible to do.

[0033]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the present invention, in addition to an air communication path for communicating the atmosphere inside the cap with the cap for covering the ink discharge port, the ink accumulated in the cap uses its own weight. And an ink discharging means for discharging the ink outside the cap. Thus, the ink accumulated in the cap can be reliably processed, and the air communication path can be always maintained in a good communication state.

According to the present invention, in a device of the type in which the cap caps substantially upward with respect to the ejection port for ejecting ink substantially downward in the vertical direction, at least the bottom plate portion of the cap is in contact with other portions as ink discharging means. It is preferably in a detachable form. This is because the ink is discharged smoothly by utilizing its own weight, and the fixation of the ink is reliably prevented by the contact and separation of a relatively large member such as the bottom plate of the cap.

[0035]

[0036]

[0037]

[0038]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on embodiments.
In the embodiment, the cap mechanism will be mainly described. However, various configurations such as the apparatuses shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 can be adopted for an ink jet recording apparatus which can be provided with such a cap mechanism.

(Embodiment 1) FIGS. 1A and 1B conceptually show a head and cap mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in these drawings, in the configuration of the present embodiment, when the cap is opened, the sealing plate on the bottom surface of the cap separates from the cap holder to discharge the ink in the cap.

FIG. 1A is a sectional view of the head 28 and the cap mechanism 26 in a state where the head is protected by capping. The cap is a face 28b of the head 28
The cap rubber 2 which is in close contact with the cap rubber 2 and the cap holder 3 which is included in the cap rubber 2 and supports the cap rubber 2 are formed separately and combined to be integrated. The bottom of the cap holder 3 is open, and an air communication hole 1 is formed on the bottom thereof. The cap rubber 2 and the cap holder 3 are supported by a push plate 6 via a spring 5 so as to be movable in the vertical direction in the figure, and between the push plate 6 and the cap holder 3 inside the spring 5. , The sealing member 4 is held. The sealing member 4 is a contact plate 4 that is in close contact with the bottom surface of the cap holder 3.
a and a support portion 4b for fixing the contact plate 4a to the pressing plate 6.

[0041] In such a configuration of the cap mechanism, as shown in FIG. 1 (A) when the cap, by pushing up the push plate 6, the cap rubber 2 in close contact with the head 28 by the pressing force of the spring 5, further adhesion plate 4a To the bottom surface of the cap holder 3. As a result, capping is completely performed, and drying of the nozzle is prevented well.

On the other hand, when the cap is opened for recording, first, the contact plate 4a fixed to the push plate 6 separates from the bottom of the cap holder 3 and is in the state shown in FIG. If there is ink in the cap 26 at this stage,
It is discharged from the bottom opening of the cap holder 3. afterwards,
When the push plate 6 is further moved downward and the spring 5 is extended, the cap rubber 2 and the cap holder 3 pressed against the face surface by the spring 5 are separated from the ink ejection surface of the head 28 so that operations such as recording can be performed. State.

In this embodiment, the air communication hole 1 is formed by a gap between the sealing plate 4a and the cutout on the bottom surface of the cap holder 3 to facilitate the processing. , The cap rubber 2 and the sealing plate 4a may be provided individually with holes, and a cutout or the like may be provided at a portion where these components are in contact with each other to form an air communication hole.

FIGS. 2 (A) and 2 (B) show the holes in the side walls of the cap holder 3 and the cap rubber 2 as the air communication holes 1.
1, except that the same members as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. In such a configuration, the air communication hole 1 is formed in the upper part of the side wall of the cap holder 3. The volume of the ink receiving portion formed by the cap holder 3 and the sealing plate 4a is set to be equal to or larger than the ink leakage amount expected when the tank is replaced, or the like.

The cap shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B is incorporated into a recording apparatus, and ink is intentionally dropped into the cap, causing the same phenomenon as ink leakage. (1) Ink drop, (2) High temperature Table 1 shows an example in which standing under low humidity and (3) defect confirmation by recording were repeatedly performed. As a comparative example, one in which the sealing plate 4a of FIG. 2A and the bottom surface of the cap holder 3 were fixed was used. The amount of the ink dropped was set to the volume excluded by the pressure contact between the head and the tank. In addition, as a pattern for checking a recording failure, a pattern for confirming the ejection status of each nozzle is recorded, ejection for each nozzle is confirmed, and then ejection for all nozzles is performed for several scans, and the communication hole is closed. The presence or absence of ink drop due to the pushing of air bubbles into the head caused by the above was confirmed. In this configuration, the discharging operation is performed every time the cap is opened before recording.

The results are as shown in Table 1. In the case of having no method for discharging the leaked ink, the structure of the present embodiment having the discharging method is 20 times as compared with the case where the blockage occurs by about three times of ink leakage. No failure due to blockage occurred even when the ink leaked twice.

[0047]

[Table 1]

[0048] (Reference Example 1) capping mechanism according to Reference Example 1 shown in FIG. The same members as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

The cap 26 of the reference example 1 comprises the cap rubber 2 and the cap holder 3.
A sealing member 40 is fixed to the bottom surface of. Sealing member 4
At 0, a communication hole 1A and a communication hole 1B, which are tubular members serving as air communication holes, are held in a penetrating state. Communication hole 1
The upper end of A is flush with the surface of the sealing member 40, while the upper end of the communication hole 1B is separated from the sealing member and above. Therefore, the ink accumulated in the cap can be discharged from the communication hole 1A. In this case, the communication hole 1B is used as a hole for supplying air when the ink is discharged.

In such a configuration, the ink stored in the cap is sucked into the air communication hole 1A by capillary force, and is discharged from the air side opening hole by its own weight. Therefore, even if the air communication hole 1A may be temporarily closed by the ink, the thickened and fixed ink is redissolved at the time of the next ink leak, and the discharge effect is not easily lost.

In order to maintain sufficient absorption performance and prevent ink from remaining in the air communication hole, as shown in FIG. It may have a configuration in which the absorber 8 having a pore diameter smaller than the diameter is pressed.

In this configuration, the ink that has penetrated into the communication hole 1A is guided to the tip of the communication hole on the absorber side by capillary force and own weight as in the above-described example. If the capillary force of the absorber 8 is set to be larger than the capillary force of the air communication hole 1A based on the contact angle, the pore diameter of the absorber, and the like, the ink can be more easily discharged from the air communication hole 1A.

[0053] The (Reference Example 2) FIG. 5 (A) ~ (E), showing a capping mechanism according to the reference example 2. In the reference example 2 , the gap between the cap rubber 102 and the cap holder 103 constituting the cap (the interval is, for example, 0.03 to 0.08 mm) is used as the ink discharge path 101.
In the center of the upper opening, the leaked ink is
Ink lead-out section 102a for leading to cap rubber 1
It is provided integrally in a form protruding from 02.
Although the cap holder 103 is formed integrally with the bottom member, a tubular air communication hole 1C is formed at the bottom.
Is fixed in a penetrating state so that the upper end of the air communication hole 1C is located above the cap holder 103 apart from the bottom of the cap holder 103.

In this configuration, the leaked ink 35 is forcibly flown in the direction of the discharge path 101 by the ink lead-out section 102a before reaching the atmosphere communication hole 1C (FIG. 5A).
And (B)), the capillary force causes absorption and
It is discharged (FIGS. 5C and 5D). Further, the absorbed ink 35 is supplied to the cap rubber 10 accompanying the capping operation.
Due to the change in the gap between the cap holder 103 and the cap rubber 102 and the gravity applied to its own weight, which is caused by the deformation of No. 2, it is discharged out of the cap (FIG. 5D). FIG. 5 (D)
The ink 35 that has reached the lower end of the holder (C in FIG. 5B) and stays there is dropped by its own weight by the cap operation of the main body. Note that a higher discharge effect can be obtained by attaching an absorber to the portion C in FIG. 5 (B).

The difference between Reference Example 2 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-201009 is that in this configuration, the ink is forcibly absorbed into the discharge path 101 via the ink outlet section 102a without reaching the air communication hole. That is.

In addition, in the case of Reference Example 2 , since there is a portion for storing the ink before the ink reaches the upper opening of the air communication hole 1C, the ink is only incompletely discharged. In this case, the cap is not hermetically sealed due to the adhesion of the ink even when the cap is not performed at all (FIG. 5E).

[0057]

As described above, by providing such an ink discharging mechanism, clogging of the air communication hole due to ink can be prevented, and high reliability can be obtained without increasing ink consumption. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cap and a head according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing another example of the cap and the head according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a cap mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing another example of the cap mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a cap mechanism according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an external view illustrating an example of an inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an inkjet head.

FIG. 8A is a sectional view showing a cap mechanism and a head according to the background art, and FIG. 8B is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1A, 1B Atmospheric communication hole 2, 102 Cap rubber 3, 103 Cap holder 4 Sealing member 4a Adhesive plate 5 Spring 6 Push plate 8 Absorber 9 Head face surface 23 Carriage 26 Cap mechanism 27 Suction cap 28 Head 30 Tank 40 Sealing member 101 Discharge path 102a Outgoing part

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-5-201010 (JP, A) JP-A-5-201009 (JP, A) JP-A-6-79877 (JP, A) JP-A-5-201007 (JP, A) , A) JP-A-7-132608 (JP, A)

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a cap for covering a face surface of an ink jet head, wherein the cap has a cap rubber in close contact with the face surface and a bottom portion in an open state. A cap holder for supporting, an atmosphere communication passage for communicating the inside of the cap with the atmosphere, and a cap that is in close contact with the bottom surface of the cap holder when the cap is opened and separates from the bottom surface of the cap holder when the cap is opened; An ink-jet recording apparatus, comprising: a contact plate for discharging ink from the inside. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the atmosphere communication passage is formed on a bottom surface of the cap holder. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the atmosphere communication path is a hole formed in a side wall of the cap holder and the cap rubber. 4. The ink jet recording according to claim 1, further comprising an ink tank formed detachably with said ink jet head and storing an ink to be supplied to said ink jet head. apparatus. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink jet head includes an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy used for discharging ink. 6. A cap mechanism having a cap for covering a face surface of an ink jet head, wherein the cap has a cap rubber that is in close contact with the face surface and a bottom portion that is open to support the cap rubber. A cap holder, an atmosphere communication passage for communicating the inside of the cap with the atmosphere, and a cap that is in close contact with the bottom surface of the cap holder and separates from the bottom surface of the cap holder when the cap is opened, so that the inside of the cap is removed. A cap mechanism comprising: a contact plate for discharging ink. 7. The cap mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the atmosphere communication passage is formed on a bottom surface of the cap holder. 8. The cap mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the atmosphere communication path is a hole formed in a side wall of the cap holder and the cap rubber.