JP3536958B2 - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink jet head used as a recording head of an ink jet recording apparatus presses ink in an energy liquid chamber generated by energy generating means such as an electromechanical transducer or an electrothermal transducer to discharge ink droplets from a discharge port. Therefore, if the ejection openings are clogged with paper dust, dust, or ink adhering to the ejection surface of the recording head, the ink droplets cannot be ejected or the direction of the ejected ink droplets The image quality is degraded due to bending.

Therefore, in general, in an ink jet recording apparatus, foreign matter adhering to a recording head is removed,
Means are provided for recovering the operation of the recording head in which clogging has occurred (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 62-10147 and 62-103147). For example, in order to prevent drying and clogging of the recording head, the recording head is covered with a cap during standby or stop, and the cap is sealed at regular or predetermined timing. The clogging is eliminated by forcibly sucking the ink. In addition, the ejection surface of the recording head is wiped with a cleaning member made of an elastic material such as rubber to remove foreign matter attached to the ejection surface.

[0004]

By the way, in an ink jet recording apparatus, recording paper from a recording head (meaning that ink droplets adhere thereto, and the material is not limited to paper but includes OHP sheets and the like). If the distance to is long,
Variations tend to occur at the landing points of the recording dots, and variations also tend to occur in the recording dot diameter itself, so that good image quality cannot be maintained. Therefore, there is a printer in which the position of the recording head is displaced in accordance with the thickness of the recording paper so that the distance between the ejection surface of the recording head and the recording paper can be adjusted to be constant.

However, when the ejection surface of the recording head is cleaned with the cleaning member such as the blade described above, the cleaning performance varies depending on the amount of overlap between the recording head and the cleaning member. Insufficient cleaning results in unwiped residue. Therefore, especially in the inkjet recording apparatus in which the distance between the ejection surface of the recording head and the recording paper can be adjusted as described above, the cleaning performance is reduced and the head cannot be reliably recovered.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to reliably perform so the recovery of f head even when the position of the recording head is changed.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 is provided with a guide lock.
Mounted on a carriage slidably held on a slide
The ink droplets are ejected downward from the head and recorded on the recording paper.
Recording and cleaning the ejection surface of the recording head
In an ink jet recording apparatus provided with a cleaning member,
The guide rod must be displaced in at least three levels in the vertical direction.
And the guide rod
Up and down in conjunction with the vertical displacement of the guide rod
And a slider that is displaced in the
The cleaning member was held.

[0008] inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 2, the gas
Mounted on a carriage slidably held by an id rod
Ink droplets from the recording head
While recording on the recording paper, the ejection surface of the recording head
Ink jet recording with capping cap
In the apparatus, the guide rod is vertically moved in three or more stages.
A recording paper set lever that can be displaced upward;
Engage with the guide rod, the vertical displacement of the guide rod
And a slider that is vertically displaced in conjunction with
The slider was configured to hold the cap.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a schematic front view of a mechanism of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the mechanism, FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of an operation state of the cap means, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of an overlapping amount of the recording head and the cleaning member, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of a cleaning state by the cleaning member. FIG.

The mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus is as follows.
The guide rod 3 is suspended between the main frames 1 and 2 on both sides formed integrally, and a stay (guide plate) 4 is provided.
(See FIG. 4), one end of the carriage 5 is slidably fitted and held on the guide rod 3, and the other end of the carriage 5 is
The carriage 5 is slidably mounted, and the carriage 5 is movable in the main scanning direction.

A recording head 6 composed of an ink-jet head is mounted on the lower surface of the carriage 5 with its discharge surface (nozzle surface) 6a facing downward, and ink is supplied to the recording head 6 on the upper surface of the carriage 5. And an ink cartridge 7 for performing the operation.

The carriage 5 is connected to a timing belt 10 stretched between a driving pulley 8 and a driven pulley 9 which are rotated by a main scanning motor (not shown), and drives the main scanning motor to control the carriage. 5, that is, the recording head 6 is moved in the main scanning direction.

Further, sub-frames 12 and 13 are erected on a bottom plate 11 connecting the main frames 1 and 2 and a platen roller 15 for feeding the recording paper 14 in the sub-scanning direction is rotated between the sub-frames 12 and 13. Freely holding. A sub-scanning motor 16 is disposed on the side of the sub-frame 13, and the rotation of the sub-scanning motor 16 is controlled by a platen roller 15.
The gear 17 fixed to the rotation shaft of the sub-scanning motor 16 and the gear 1 fixed to the shaft of the platen roller 15
8 is provided.

Further, a gap (gap) between the ejection surface 6a of the recording head 6 and the recording paper 14 is provided on the side of the main frame 1.
Is provided with a gap adjusting mechanism 20 which is an interval adjusting means for adjusting the distance. This gap adjusting mechanism 20 is provided in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the bearing 22 of the recording paper set lever 21 is rotatably mounted in a hole formed in the main frame 1, and the shaft of the guide rod 3 is mounted on the bearing 22 of the recording paper set lever 21. 3a is inserted eccentrically with respect to the rotation center of the bearing portion 22. Also, a convex portion 23 is formed on the surface of the recording paper set lever 21 on the main frame 1 side,
The main frame 1 can be engaged with a plurality of protrusions 23 (3
Forming a hole portion 24 of the pieces), these protrusions 23 and the hole 2
4 constitutes a click mechanism.

In this gap adjusting mechanism 20, the guide rod 3 is finely moved in the vertical direction by three or more steps by swinging the recording paper set lever 21 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. Figure 1
As shown in (1), the gap (gap) A between the ejection surface 6a of the recording head 6 and the recording paper 14 can be adjusted in three or more stages .

On the other hand, a reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism (subsystem) 25 for the recording head 6 is arranged on the side of the subframe 12. As shown in FIG. 4, the reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism 25 holds a cap 26 for capping the ejection surface 6a of the recording head 6 with a cap case 27, and a pin member 28 provided on a side of the cap case 27. , 2
8 is rotatably held by a cap holder 29, and a compression spring 30 is provided between the cap case 27 and the cap holder 29.
The suction tube 31 and the atmosphere opening tube 32 are connected to the cap 26. The cap holder 29 is swingably held by the link mechanism 33, and the cap holder 29 is provided with a projection 29a that comes into contact when the carriage 5 is moved to the reliability maintenance / recovery area.

The reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism 25 includes a cleaning member 34 made of an elastic member such as a fiber member, a foam member, or rubber for cleaning the ejection surface 6a of the recording head 6. The cleaning member 34 is attached to a holding member 35 and held by a holder 36 as shown in FIG. The holder 36 has an elongated hole 38 formed in the holder 36 and an elongated hole 3 formed in the holder 36 at one end rising portion 37a of a slider 37 having a substantially U shape.
8 and a pin member 39 implanted in the slider 37 that engages with the slider 8 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction.

A cam plate 41 fixed to a shaft 40 is brought into contact with the rear end surface of the holder 36, a return spring 42 is interposed between the slider 37 and the cam plate 41, and the cam plate 41 is rotated. 36 moves forward against the restoring force of the return spring 42 so that the cleaning member 34 can be moved to the cleaning-possible position.

Further, a holder 36 holding a cleaning member 34
Is held movably in the front-rear direction.
The first rising portion 37a is vertically movably guided and held by guides 45, 45 attached to the sub-frame 12, so that the cleaning member 34 overlaps with the ejection surface 6a of the recording head 6 in an amount B (see FIG. 6). ) Is adjustable.

The other end rising portion 37b of the slider 37 extends outward from a hole 46 formed in the main frame 1 and guides 47, 47 attached to the main frame 1.
The guide 37 is held movably up and down by the
A long hole 48 is formed in the other end rising portion 37b, and the shaft portion 3a of the guide rod 3 is engaged in the long hole 48.

Therefore, the slider 37 is moved up and down by swinging the recording paper set lever 21 to displace the guide rod 3 up and down, and is held by the slider 37.
Since the entire reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism 25 changes in the vertical direction, and the vertical position of the cleaning member 34 changes, the ejection surface 6 of the recording head 6 interlocks with the operation of the recording paper set lever 21.
The overlap amount B between the cleaning member 34 and the cleaning member 34 can be adjusted. That is, the cleaning member 34 and the ejection surface 6 of the recording head 6 are moved in accordance with the amount of adjustment by the distance adjusting mechanism 20.
This constitutes means for adjusting the amount of overlap with a. Also,
Since the vertical position of the cap 26 also changes, the recording paper
The recording head 6 in conjunction with the operation of the
The pressing force can be adjusted.

The operation of the ink jet recording apparatus configured as described above will be described. In this ink jet recording apparatus, while the carriage 5 is moved and scanned in the main scanning direction, and the recording paper 14 is conveyed in the sub scanning direction by the platen roller 15, the energy generating means of the recording head 6 is driven in accordance with the printing signal. By discharging ink droplets downward, a desired image is recorded on the recording paper 14 in monochrome or color.

When the print signal is interrupted during printing and it is determined that printing is not being performed, periodically or when printing is completed, or when the ink cartridge 7 is replaced, the carriage 5 is connected to the reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism. Move to position 25. At this time, when the carriage 5 comes into contact with the projection 29a of the cap holder 29, the link mechanism 33
The cap 26 held by the cap holder 29 advances toward the recording head 6, and as shown in FIG. 5, the cap 26 comes into contact with the ejection surface 6 a of the recording head 6, and the recording head is biased by the compression spring 30. The recording head 6 is pressed against and closely adheres to the ejection surface 26a of the recording medium 26, and the recording head 6 is sealed with the cap 26 to suppress drying of the ink at the ejection ports.

In this state, the open-to-atmosphere tube 32
By closing a valve (not shown) at the end of the nozzle and operating a suction pump (not shown) connected to the end of the suction tube 31 to generate a negative pressure in the cap 26, ink is sucked from the discharge port (nozzle hole) of the recording head 6. Is performed, and the ink mixed with air bubbles and the thickened ink are discharged.

When the ink is forcibly discharged from the recording head 6, the cleaning member 34 is moved forward to a position where the recording head 6 is cleaned in order to wipe off the ink adhering to the ejection surface 6a of the recording head 6. After that, by moving the carriage 5 in the printing area direction, the cleaning member 34 comes into contact with the ejection surface 6a of the recording head 6 and cleans the ink and the like on the ejection surface 6a as shown in FIG.

When the thickness of the recording paper 14 to be used is different, the guide rod 3 is moved up and down by swinging the recording paper set lever 21 of the interval adjusting mechanism 20 as described above. The gap A between the ejection surface 6a of the recording head 6 and the recording paper 14
It can be adjusted in three stages .

At this time, since the shaft portion 3a of the guide rod 3 is engaged with the elongated hole 48 formed in the slider 37 holding the holder 36 holding the cleaning member 34,
When the guide rod 3 is displaced up and down by swinging the recording paper set lever 21, the slider 37 also moves up and down, and the cleaning member 34 and the cap 26 move up and down. Therefore, in conjunction with the gap adjustment by the recording paper set lever 21, the cleaning member 34 and the recording head 6 are moved as shown in FIG.
The overlapping amount B of the recording head 6 with the ejection surface 6a is also adjusted.
Tomo If can be kept constant overlapping amount B even when changing the gap A between the discharge surface 6a and the recording sheet 14
The pressing force of the cap 26 against the recording head 6 is also constant.
Can be adjusted .

As described above, by making the amount of overlap between the recording head 6 and the cleaning member 34 adjustable, the amount of overlap can be kept constant even when the position of the recording head 6 changes, and good cleaning can be achieved. can be performed, also key
The pressing force of the cap 26 against the recording head 6 is also kept constant.
It is possible to reliably recover the reliability of the head.

[0029]

As described above, according to the ink jet recording apparatus of the first aspect, the guide rod is vertically moved.
Recording paper set lever that can be displaced in three or more steps
And engage the guide rod, and the vertical displacement of the guide rod
And a slider that is vertically displaced in conjunction with
The cleaning member is held by a slider.
As a result, the ejection surface of the recording head can always be satisfactorily cleaned, and the printing state of the recording head can be maintained in a good condition, thereby improving the image quality.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the second aspect, the guide rod can be displaced in the vertical direction by three or more steps.
Engages with the recording paper set lever and guide rod
And changes in the vertical direction in conjunction with the vertical displacement of the guide rod.
And a cap that holds the slider.
The print head ejection surface
Capping is good for recording head
Print condition can be kept good and image quality improved
I do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a mechanism of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory side view of a cap means of the reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of an operation state of the cap means.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the amount of overlap between a recording head and a cleaning member.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a cleaning state by a cleaning member.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 ... guide rod, 5 ... carriage, 6 ... recording head,
Reference numeral 15: platen roller, 20: interval adjusting mechanism, 21: recording paper set lever, 25: reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism, 34:
Cleaning member, 36 ... holder, 37 ... slider.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-101968 (JP, A) JP-A-10-13864 (JP, A) JP-A-10-138500 (JP, A) JP-A-10-108 86480 (JP, A) JP-A-10-29315 (JP, A) JP-A-7-40533 (JP, A) JP-A-2-204042 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/165 B41J 25/304

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A key slidably held by a guide rod.
From the recording head mounted on the cartridge.
Recording on recording paper by discharging droplets,
Ink jet provided with a cleaning member for cleaning the ejection surface of the head
In the slot recording device, the guide rod is
Recording paper set lever that can be displaced in three or more steps
And engaged with the guide rod, and on the guide rod
With a slider that displaces up and down in conjunction with the downward displacement
And that the cleaning member is held by the slider.
An inkjet recording apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. A key slidably held by a guide rod.
From the recording head mounted on the cartridge.
Recording on recording paper by discharging droplets,
A head with a cap that caps the ejection surface of the head
In the ink jet recording apparatus, the guide rod is lifted up.
A recording paper set that can be displaced downward by three or more steps
And the guide rod is engaged with the guide rod.
Slide that moves in the vertical direction in conjunction with the vertical
And the slider holds the cap.
An ink jet recording apparatus.