JP3832215B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention includes an ink jet recording head that is mounted on a reciprocating carriage and ejects ink droplets from nozzle openings to form an image on a recording medium, and the ink droplets when a flushing drive signal is supplied to the recording head. The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus in which a flushing region to be received is disposed on a moving path of the recording head.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The serial type ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording head mounted on a carriage that reciprocates and includes a paper feeding unit that transports the recording paper in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the recording head. By using a recording head capable of ejecting black ink and yellow, cyan, and magenta color inks, not only text printing with black ink but also full-color printing is possible by changing the ejection ratio of each ink. ing.
[0003]
The recording head used in such a recording apparatus is designed to perform evaporation by evaporating the solvent from the nozzle opening because the ink pressurized in the pressure generating chamber is ejected onto the recording paper as ink droplets from the fine nozzle opening. The resulting increase in ink viscosity has the problem of causing printing defects.
[0004]
For this purpose, the recording head is provided with a function of applying a drive signal unrelated to printing and ejecting ink droplets idly, which is called a flushing operation. This flushing operation is executed at regular intervals for the purpose of preventing clogging due to ink thickening, for example, at nozzle openings where ink droplets are less discharged during a printing operation.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, the above-described flushing operation is performed in a capping unit that can seal the recording head in many models, but in order to increase throughput, the recording head is not moved to the capping unit. There is also provided a model in which a flushing area is set on the side opposite to the position where the capping unit is disposed, and the flushing is performed in the flushing area.
[0006]
For example, when the paper size to be handled is large and the carriage movement direction is on the flushing area side, or when the printing direction and the timing at which flushing is required mesh, the sequence for executing flushing in the flushing area described above. Is adopted.
[0007]
Particularly in recent models, flushing is performed on the order of several tens of shots / nozzle on an average every several seconds during a printing operation. This flushing operation is also performed at the timing after the cleaning operation for forcibly sucking and discharging ink from the recording head, or at the timing at the start of printing. In some cases, tens of thousands of shots of ink droplets are discharged.
[0008]
As described above, in the conventional recording apparatus in which the flushing area is set and the flushing operation is performed at the corresponding portion, for example, an opening hole is formed in the paper guide member that conveys the recording paper, and the lower side of the paper guide member is formed. Flushing is performed toward the disposed waste liquid absorber. In such a configuration, it is inevitable that the distance from the nozzle forming surface of the recording head to the waste liquid absorber becomes considerably large, and the flying distance of ink droplets during flushing increases.
[0009]
For this reason, some of the ink droplets ejected from the nozzle opening of the recording head are subjected to air resistance before reaching the absorber, and are further divided into fine ink droplets, which are atomized (ink mist). The problem of changing and floating and polluting the surroundings arises.
[0010]
The ink droplets ejected from the nozzle openings are charged a little, and are accelerated by the influence of static electricity generated by the drive unit in the recording device and the air flow by the exhaust fan arranged to suppress the temperature rise in the device. In addition, there may be a problem that the surroundings (outside) where the recording apparatus is arranged are contaminated. In particular, such a problem appears more conspicuously in a recent printing apparatus that controls the amount of ink droplets per shot as small as possible in order to realize high image quality.
[0011]
Accordingly, it is desirable that the distance between the absorber disposed in the flushing region and the nozzle formation surface of the recording head be as close as possible, and suppress the action of repelling ejected ink droplets toward the recording head. Therefore, it is desirable to use a porous member as the absorbent material.
[0012]
On the other hand, in recent years, diversification of printing has progressed, and in order to obtain better reproducibility, ink using pigment has been used. It is known that a part of the above-described pigment ink does not penetrate into the porous member, and a state in which pigment components and the like stay on the surface thereof is known.
[0013]
Therefore, when the porous member is disposed so as to be close to the recording head in the flushing region, the pigment component or the like is piled up on the porous member. A state in which the recording head has moved to the flushing area may also occur.
[0014]
The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned current problems, and effectively suppresses the generation of ink mist accompanying the flushing operation, thereby achieving a commercial value that does not contaminate the inside and outside of the apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent ink jet recording apparatus. It is another object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that can solve the problem of solidified ink remaining in the flushing area even when pigment ink is used.
[0015]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention configured to achieve the above object is mounted on a reciprocating carriage, and forms an image on a recording medium by ejecting ink droplets from nozzle openings. An ink jet recording apparatus in which a flushing region for receiving an ink droplet when a flushing drive signal is supplied to the recording head is disposed on a moving path of the recording head, wherein a nozzle forming surface of the recording head has a gravity The porous member is disposed so as to be orthogonal to the direction, and in the flushing region, a porous member is disposed so as to face the recording head in the state where the recording head is located in the flushing region, and the porous member The surface facing the recording head is disposed in an inclined state, and the porous member has a flat surface. An opening for flowing the ink received by the flushing in the direction of gravity is formed avoiding the position facing the nozzle row of the recording head where the singing operation is performed, and the arrival of the ink droplets ejected onto the porous member by the flushing operation The opening that allows ink to flow in the direction of gravity is formed downstream of the position on the inclined surface .
[0016]
In this case, the nozzle formation surface of the recording head is formed with a nozzle row for ejecting ink that tends to accumulate and a nozzle row for ejecting ink that hardly accumulates on the porous member by a flushing operation. It is desirable that the ink droplets to be ejected have an arrival position that is set on the upstream side on the inclined surface of the porous member so that the ink droplets do not easily accumulate with respect to the ink that easily accumulates.
[0017]
In addition, an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, which has been made to achieve the above object, is mounted on a reciprocating carriage, and forms an image on a recording medium by ejecting ink droplets from nozzle openings. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a recording head, wherein a flushing region for receiving an ink droplet when a flushing drive signal is supplied to the recording head is disposed on a moving path of the recording head, wherein a nozzle formation surface of the recording head is The porous member is disposed so as to be orthogonal to the direction of gravity, and a porous member is disposed in the flushing region so as to face the recording head in the state where the recording head is positioned in the flushing region, with the surface facing the recording head of the quality member is disposed in the inclined state, the recording head Bruno On the surface where the ink is formed, there are formed a nozzle row for ejecting ink that tends to accumulate and a nozzle row for ejecting ink that hardly accumulate, and the arrival of ink droplets ejected onto the porous member by a flushing operation The position of the ink that does not easily accumulate with respect to the ink that easily accumulates is set on the upstream side on the inclined surface of the porous member .
[0018]
On the other hand, in an ink jet recording apparatus in which two recording heads are mounted side by side in the carriage movement direction on the carriage, the porous member facing each recording head is preferably formed by a single sheet-like member. The sheet-like member is disposed close to the nozzle forming surface of each recording head.
[0019]
In this case, the porous member formed in the shape of one sheet is bent at the center thereof, and the surface of the porous member facing the recording head faces the opening formed in the porous member. A configuration that is inclined is preferably employed.
[0020]
In any of the above-described forms, the waste liquid absorbing material that absorbs and holds the ink received by the porous member is configured to be disposed below the position of the porous member in the direction of gravity. desirable.
[0021]
In this case, it is desirable that the waste liquid absorbent material is accommodated in an absorbent material storage case, and the absorbent material storage case is detachably attached to a support case that supports the porous member.
[0022]
According to the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above, the ink droplets flushed from the recording head in the flushing region are received by the porous member disposed so as to face and oppose the recording head. . In this case, since the porous member is disposed in the immediate vicinity of the recording head, most of the ink droplets ejected from the nozzle openings fly to the porous member and a part of the ink droplets float as mist. Can be made extremely small.
[0023]
In addition, since the porous member has an opening for flowing the flushed ink in the gravity direction on the downstream side thereof, the ink received in accordance with the flushing operation is collected through the opening. be able to.
[0024]
Further, the position where the ink droplets ejected onto the porous member by the flushing operation reaches the upstream side on the inclined surface of the porous member, so that the ink that does not easily accumulate is set on the inclined surface of the porous member. With this configuration, the ink that easily accumulates is mixed with the ink that does not easily accumulate and is discharged toward the opening. Thereby, it is possible to effectively prevent the ink component from stagnating on the porous member despite the long-term use of the recording apparatus.
[0025]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. 1 to 3 show the basic structure of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. 1 is a top view of the recording apparatus in a state where a part thereof is seen through, and FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the recording apparatus in a state where part of the recording apparatus is seen through. FIG. 3 is also a side view of the recording apparatus in a partially transparent state.
[0026]
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a carriage, and the carriage 1 is configured to be reciprocated by being guided by a guide member 2 arranged in a horizontal direction via a timing belt driven by a carriage motor (not shown). Yes. Two recording heads 4 and 5 are mounted side by side in the moving direction of the carriage 1 on the surface of the carriage 1 facing the recording paper 3 (the lower surface of the carriage 1). That is, the nozzle forming surfaces of the two recording heads 4 and 5 are arranged so as to be orthogonal to the direction of gravity.
[0027]
A paper feed roller 6 is arranged in parallel with the guide member 2, and the recording paper 3 is conveyed in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage 1 by the rotational drive of the paper feed roller. Works. Accordingly, ink droplets selectively ejected from the recording heads 4 and 5 mounted on the carriage 1 that reciprocates are driven onto the recording paper 3 that is transported in the orthogonal direction. The image is printed on.
[0028]
In this embodiment, as described above, the two recording heads 4 and 5 are mounted side by side in the moving direction of the carriage 1. The left recording head 4 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is formed with three nozzle rows 4a, 4b, 4c. From these nozzle rows 4a, 4b, 4c, black, cyan, Each of the magenta inks is ejected. Similarly, three nozzle rows 5a, 5b, and 5c are formed on the right recording head 5, and light cyan, light magenta, and yellow inks are respectively formed from these nozzle rows 5a, 5b, and 5c. Is discharged.
[0029]
1 and 2, the nozzle forming surface of the recording heads 4 and 5 mounted on the carriage 1 is sealed when the carriage 1 is moved to the home position (right side). A capping means (not shown) that can be used, a suction pump that can suck the internal space of the capping means, and the like are disposed in the vicinity of the home position.
[0030]
On the other hand, a flushing area is set on the left side of the apparatus in FIGS. 1 and 2 facing the home position. That is, the flushing area is set immediately below the carriage 1 indicated by a virtual line. A flushing box, which will be described later, is installed in the flushing area, and is configured so that ink droplets ejected from the recording heads 4 and 5 can be captured by a porous member disposed in the flushing box. .
[0031]
4 and 5 show the configuration of the flushing box. FIG. 4 is a top view of the flushing box in a partially transparent state, and FIG. 5 (A) is a partially transparent state. It is a side view of a flushing box. FIG. 5B is a bottom view of the flushing box in a partially transparent state. Note that the top view shown in FIG. 4 is enlarged as compared with FIG.
[0032]
The flushing box 11 includes a first case 12 and a second case 13 as shown in FIG. The first case 12 constitutes a support case that supports a porous member that receives ink droplets by a flushing operation, and the second case 13 constitutes an absorbent material storage case that stores a waste liquid absorbent material. Yes. The second case 13 is detachably attached to the first case 12 as will be described later.
[0033]
As shown in FIG. 4, the opening of the first case 12 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from above, and arm members 14 and 15 for positioning when mounted on the recording apparatus. Are integrally formed. Further, the first case 12 is also integrally provided with an arm member 16 having a through hole 16a for fastening the first case 12 positioned by the arm members 14 and 15 to the recording apparatus with a single screw. Is formed.
[0034]
As shown in the side view of FIG. 5A, the first case 12 has a width that is reduced downward from the opening on the upper surface, and a lower end 18 having a window hole 18a is formed. The second case 13 is formed so as to be inserted into the upper opening. The first case 12 is formed with a pair of engaging pieces 19 extending downward, and through holes formed in the pair of engaging pieces 19 are formed on both side wall surfaces of the second case 13. The second case 13 is detachably attached to the first case 12 by engaging with the formed protrusions 13a. In the second case 13, a waste liquid absorbent 30 formed in a flat shape is accommodated.
[0035]
A plurality of pin members 20 are arranged along the opening on the inner surface of the first case 12, and each of these pin members 20 is formed upward. And the porous member 21 penetrated by each said pin member 20 and formed in the sheet shape of 1 sheet is attached so that the opening part of the 1st case 12 may be covered.
[0036]
As shown in FIG. 4, the porous member 21 is formed with a relatively long large rectangular opening 22 at the center thereof, and small rectangular openings 23 on the left and right sides thereof. 24 is formed. When the carriage 1 moves to the flushing area and the ink droplets are ejected from the recording heads 4 and 5 by the flushing operation, the nozzle rows 4a and 4a formed on the recording heads 4 and 5 are formed. The ink droplets ejected from 4b, 4c and 5a, 5b, 5c are configured to fly on the porous member 21 to the same reference numerals indicated by phantom lines.
[0037]
As shown in FIG. 5 (B), the porous member 21 formed in a sheet shape is slightly bent in a “<” shape at the center thereof and moved to the flushing area. It is comprised so that it may each oppose with respect to 4 and 5 nozzle formation surface in a non-parallel state. In other words, when the porous member 21 formed on the inner surface of the first case 12 is attached to the pin member 20 formed in a sheet shape, the porous member 21 is at the center portion thereof. It is configured to be bent.
[0038]
In the above configuration, when the ink droplets accompanying the flushing operation are ejected from the recording heads 4 and 5 moved to the flushing area, the nozzle rows 4a, 4b, 4c and 5a, indicated by phantom lines in FIG. Each ink droplet flies on the porous member 21 corresponding to 5b and 5c and is captured by the porous member 21. In this case, the distance between the nozzle forming surface of each of the recording heads 4 and 5 and the porous member 21 is small, and therefore the degree of change to ink mist during the flight of each ink droplet can be extremely reduced. .
[0039]
As described above, each ink captured by the porous member 21 flows in the direction of the central portion along the slope because the central portion of the porous member 21 is bent and slightly depressed. Then, write non enters one of the openings 22, 23, 24 disposed respectively on the downstream side. That is, the surface of the porous member facing the recording head is configured to be inclined toward the openings 22, 23, 24 formed in the porous member. The ink waste liquid that has entered any one of the openings 22, 23, and 24 is dropped into the second case 13 through the window hole 18a formed in the lower end portion of the first case 12 according to gravity. Then, the ink waste liquid dripped into the second case 13 is absorbed and held by the waste liquid absorbent 30 accommodated in the second case 13.
[0040]
Here, for example, when pigment ink is used in the recording apparatus, the porous member 21 is particularly likely to be clogged, and magenta ink, for example, which tends to accumulate on the porous member 21 is arranged in the nozzle array. It is set to be discharged from 4c. Therefore, in the porous member 21 in FIG. 4, a stagnant state due to magenta ink is likely to occur at the position indicated by the virtual line 4c.
[0041]
However, in the porous member 21 formed in an inclined state as described above, cyan ink that hardly accumulates is ejected at a position indicated by 4b adjacent to the upstream side from the position indicated by 4c from which magenta ink is ejected. Therefore, the magenta ink that easily accumulates is mixed with the cyan ink that hardly discharges and is discharged upstream. And it can flow in the gravity direction through the opening part 22 formed in the porous member 21. Thereby, it is possible to effectively suppress the accumulation of the ink component on the porous member 21 despite the long-term use of the recording apparatus.
[0042]
When the ink waste liquid is gradually accumulated in the second case 13 by the flushing operation as described above and it becomes difficult to hold the waste liquid absorbent 30 stored in the second case, the waste liquid absorbent 30 is replaced. Maintenance is required. In this case, as described above, since the second case 13 is detachable with respect to the first case 12, the maintenance work can be facilitated.
[0043]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to effectively suppress the occurrence of ink mist accompanying the flushing operation, and the inside and outside of the apparatus are contaminated by the occurrence of ink mist. Can be solved. In addition, an ink jet recording apparatus that can suppress the accumulation of specific ink components on a porous member that captures ink droplets accompanying a flushing operation and can guarantee a stable printing operation over a long period of time. Can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a top view showing an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied in a partially transparent state.
FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing a partially transparent state.
FIG. 3 is a side view showing a partially transparent state.
FIG. 4 is a top view showing a flushing box installed in a flushing region of the recording apparatus in a partially transparent state.
FIGS. 5A and 5B are a side view and a bottom view, respectively, shown partially transparently. FIGS.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Carriage 2 Guide member 3 Recording paper 4, 5 Recording head 6 Paper feed roller 11 Flushing box 12 1st case (support case)
13 Second case (absorbing material storage case)
13a Protrusion 19 Engagement piece 20 Pin member 21 Porous members 22, 23, 24 Opening 30 Waste liquid absorber

Claims (7)

A flushing region that is mounted on a reciprocating carriage and includes an ink jet recording head that discharges ink droplets from nozzle openings to form an image on a recording medium, and receives ink droplets when a flushing drive signal is supplied to the recording head Is an ink jet recording apparatus arranged on the moving path of the recording head,
The nozzle forming surface of the recording head is arranged to be orthogonal to the direction of gravity,
In the flushing area, a porous member is disposed so as to face the recording head in the state where the recording head is located in the flushing area,
The surface of the porous member facing the recording head is disposed in an inclined state,
The porous member is formed with an opening for flowing the ink received by the flushing in the direction of gravity, avoiding the position facing the nozzle row of the recording head where the flushing operation is performed,
An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the opening for flowing ink in a gravitational direction is formed on a downstream side on an inclined surface from an arrival position of an ink droplet ejected on the porous member by a flushing operation. A flushing region that is mounted on a reciprocating carriage and includes an ink jet recording head that discharges ink droplets from nozzle openings to form an image on a recording medium, and receives ink droplets when a flushing drive signal is supplied to the recording head Is an ink jet recording apparatus arranged on the moving path of the recording head,
The nozzle forming surface of the recording head is arranged to be orthogonal to the direction of gravity,
In the flushing area, a porous member is disposed so as to face the recording head in the state where the recording head is located in the flushing area,
The surface of the porous member facing the recording head is disposed in an inclined state,
On the nozzle formation surface of the recording head, there are formed a nozzle row for ejecting ink that is likely to accumulate and a nozzle row for ejecting ink that is difficult to accumulate, and is ejected onto the porous member by a flushing operation. An ink jet recording apparatus , wherein an ink droplet reaching position is set on an upstream side on an inclined surface of a porous member, so that ink that does not easily accumulate with respect to ink that easily accumulates is set . On the nozzle formation surface of the recording head, there are formed a nozzle row for ejecting ink that is likely to accumulate and a nozzle row for ejecting ink that is difficult to accumulate, and is ejected onto the porous member by a flushing operation. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the ink droplet reaching position is set on the upstream side on the inclined surface of the porous member.   An ink jet recording apparatus in which two recording heads are mounted side by side in the carriage movement direction on the carriage, wherein the porous member facing each recording head is formed by a single sheet-like member, The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sheet-like member is disposed close to a nozzle forming surface of each recording head. The porous member formed into a single sheet is bent at the center thereof, and the surface of the porous member facing the recording head is inclined toward the opening formed in the porous member. an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4 configured to.   The waste liquid absorbing material that absorbs and holds the ink received by the porous member is disposed below the position where the porous member is disposed in the direction of gravity. Inkjet recording device.   The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the waste liquid absorbing material is stored in an absorbing material storage case, and the absorbing material storage case is detachably attached to a support case that supports the porous member.

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