JP4359104B2 - Head cleaning device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a head cleaning device and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a head cleaning device that cleans a nozzle surface of a droplet discharge head that discharges droplets and an image forming apparatus including the device.

  Inkjet recording apparatuses used as various image forming apparatuses such as printers, facsimiles, copying machines, plotters, etc., form (record) images by mounting a droplet discharge head that discharges liquid recording liquid (ink) from fine nozzles. )

  By the way, in an ink jet recording apparatus, since ink droplets are ejected from fine ejection ports, the ejection ports are clogged due to ink thickening or sticking due to drying or bubbles generated in the ink. , Ejection failure may occur. Therefore, in order to prevent such a discharge failure, a recovery device is provided for maintaining and recovering the ink discharge function to a normal state.

  As a recovery method using such a recovery device, for example, when ejection failure occurs due to bubbles generated in the ejection port during recording, maintenance recovery is performed in which the ejection port is recovered by filling the recording head with ink using a pressurizing unit. Maintenance / recovery method that performs preliminary ejection (empty ejection) in preparation for thickening and fixing of ink due to natural evaporation of ink in the ejection port, and maintenance / recovery method that wipes off ink droplets and dust adhering to the ejection port surface One or a combination of two or more is used as appropriate.

Here, as a head cleaning device having a blade for wiping the nozzle surface of the head that has performed preliminary ejection, a recording head having a nozzle row in which a plurality of nozzles (ejection ports) are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction of the carriage; The recording head includes one or a plurality of blades for wiping the nozzle surface in the nozzle arrangement direction, and the one or the plurality of blades are formed with a plurality of slits in a direction orthogonal to the nozzle arrangement direction. is there.
JP 7-171967 A

  This head cleaning device will be described with reference to FIG. 24. The recording head 501 has a nozzle row 503 in which a large number of nozzles 502 are arranged, and the recording head 501 is arranged in the nozzle arrangement direction (this is referred to as “nozzle arrangement direction” or In an apparatus that is mounted on the carriage in a plurality of head movement directions orthogonal to the “nozzle row direction”), the blade 505 is configured to relatively move the wiping blade 505 in the same wiping direction as the nozzle arrangement direction. A plurality of slits 506 are formed in the wiping direction.

Further, as a head cleaning device, a plurality of recording heads having a nozzle row in which a plurality of nozzles (ejection ports) are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction of the carriage, and a direction perpendicular to the nozzle arrangement direction with respect to the recording head. A blade that wipes the nozzle surface in the direction, and four slits are formed in the blade in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the nozzles are arranged to form three parts, one side part, a central part, and the other side part, Some recording heads are wiped at one side portion and the central portion, and other recording heads are wiped at the central portion and the other side portion.
JP 2000-198211 A

  This head cleaning device will be described with reference to FIG. 25. As a configuration in which the wiping blade 515 is relatively moved in the head moving direction, a plurality of slits 516 are formed in the blade 515 in the wiping direction. The blade portions 515a, 515b, and 515c are formed. When the recording head 511 is wiped, the blade portions 515a and 515b of the blade 515 are used for wiping, and when the recording head 512 is wiped, the blade portions 515b and 515c of the blade 515 are used. And then wipe.

  However, in the above-described head cleaning device of Patent Document 1, the position of the slit formed on the blade is arbitrary, and therefore when the blade surface of the head is wiped with the blade, the slit portion corresponds to the nozzle surface. It will be.

  In this way, even if the nozzle surface is wiped at the slit portion of the blade, wiping is easily left at the slit portion, and cleaning by wiping cannot be performed sufficiently.

  Further, even in the above-described head cleaning device of Patent Document 2, the slit portion of the blade corresponds to the nozzle surface of one head, so that wiping is easily generated, and cleaning by wiping is sufficiently performed. I can't.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a head cleaning device with improved cleaning performance by a blade and an image forming apparatus provided with this device.

In order to solve the above problems, a cleaning device according to the present invention includes:
Two blades divided into at least a tip portion corresponding to the nozzle formation region of the nozzle surface and a portion not corresponding to the nozzle formation region of the nozzle surface;
A blade that is not divided, and
The undivided blade is sandwiched between the two divided blades, and the divided blade and the non-divided blade are disposed in close contact with each other,
The cuts resulting from the division of the divided blades are provided so as to correspond to the inner side of the nozzle cover that covers the periphery of the nozzle surface of the droplet discharge head.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a liquid droplet ejection head that ejects liquid droplets from a nozzle, and a head cleaning device according to the present invention including a blade that wipes the nozzle surface of the liquid droplet ejection head. .

According to the cleaning device of the present invention and the image forming device of the present invention , at least the front end portion is divided into a portion corresponding to the nozzle formation region of the nozzle surface and a portion not corresponding to the nozzle formation region of the nozzle surface And a blade that is not divided, the blade that is not divided is sandwiched between the two divided blades, and the blade that is divided and the blade that is not divided are in close contact with each other Since the cuts resulting from the division of the divided blades are provided so as to correspond to the inner side of the nozzle cover that covers the periphery of the nozzle surface of the droplet discharge head, the nozzle formation region on the nozzle surface There is no longer any remaining wiping, improving the cleaning performance.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention provided with a head cleaning device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of an image forming unit of the apparatus.

  The image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit 2 for forming an image, a sub-scanning conveying unit 3, and the like inside the apparatus main body 1 (housing), and a paper feeding unit 4 provided at the bottom of the apparatus main body 1. To a recording medium (hereinafter referred to as “paper”, but is not limited to paper) 5 is fed one by one, and the sub-scanning conveying unit 3 conveys the sheet 5 at a position facing the image forming unit 2. However, after forming (recording) a required image by ejecting droplets onto the paper 5 by the image forming unit 2, the paper 5 is placed on the paper discharge tray 7 formed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1 through the paper discharge transport unit 6. Is ejected. In the apparatus main body 1, an electrical component 9 including a control unit that controls the entire apparatus is provided.

  The image forming apparatus also has an image reading unit (scanner) for reading an image above the discharge tray 8 above the apparatus main body 1 as an input system for image data (print data) formed by the image forming unit 2. Part) 11. The image reading unit 11 includes a scanning optical system 15 including an illumination light source 13 and a mirror 14 and a scanning optical system 18 including mirrors 16 and 17. The scanned document image is read as an image signal by the image reading element 20 disposed behind the lens 19, and the read image signal is digitized and subjected to image processing, and the image-processed print data is printed. be able to. A pressure plate 10 is provided on the contact glass 12 for pressing the document.

  Further, this image forming apparatus uses an information processing apparatus such as an external personal computer, an image reading apparatus such as an image scanner, and an imaging apparatus such as a digital camera as an input system for image data (print data) formed by the image forming unit 2. For example, print data including image data from the host side can be received via a cable or a network, and the received print data can be processed and printed.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the image forming unit 2 of the image forming apparatus is guided by a carriage guide 21 and moved on a carriage 23 that can move in a main scanning direction (a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction). A recording head 24 for discharging droplets of different colors is mounted, the carriage 23 is moved in the main scanning direction, and the droplets are discharged from the recording head 24 while feeding the paper 5 in the paper transport direction (sub-scanning direction). The shuttle type is used for image formation.

  The recording head 24 includes four liquid droplet ejection heads that eject black (Bk) ink, cyan (C) ink, magenta (M) ink, and yellow (Y) ink, respectively, and a sub tank 25 mounted on the carriage 23. Are supplied with ink of each color. Ink is replenished and supplied to each sub tank 25 from an ink cartridge 26 (FIG. 1) of each color which is a main tank detachably mounted in the apparatus main body 1 through a tube (not shown). In addition to the recording head 24 that discharges ink droplets, a recording head that discharges a fixing treatment liquid (fixing ink) that reacts with the recording liquid (ink) to improve the fixing property of the ink can be provided.

  Further, in the non-printing area on one side of the scanning direction of the carriage 23, a maintenance / recovery mechanism (hereinafter referred to as "subsystem") including the head cleaning device according to the present invention for maintaining and recovering the state of the nozzles of the recording head 24. .) 27 is arranged. The subsystem 27 includes cap members 28a, 28b, 28c, and 28d for capping the nozzle surface of the recording head 24, a wiper blade 29 for wiping the nozzle surface, and the like.

  The sub-scanning conveyance unit 3 is arranged on the upstream side in the sheet conveyance direction of the image forming unit 2 with a pair of printing unit conveyance rollers 34 that conveys the sheet 5 fed from the sheet feeding unit 4 upward. A printing unit conveyance roller 31 that conveys the sheet 5 with its conveyance direction changed by approximately 90 degrees, and a pressing roller 32 that also serves as a roller that defines the feed angle of the sheet 5 from the printing unit conveyance roller 31. A sheet guide plate that is disposed downstream of the image forming unit 2 in the sheet conveying direction and includes a pair of printing unit conveying rollers 33 that conveys the sheet 5 and that guides the lower surface of the sheet 5 to face the image forming unit 2. 35 is arranged. Here, the paper 5 is transported by the transport roller. However, for example, it may be transported by a transport belt that sucks and transports the paper 5 by electrostatic adsorption.

  The paper feed unit 4 can be inserted into and removed from the apparatus main body 1, and a paper feed cassette 41 for stacking and storing a large number of papers 5 and a paper feed for separating and feeding the papers 5 in the paper feed cassette 41 one by one. A paper roller 42 and a friction pad 43 are provided.

  This image forming apparatus is provided with a manual feed tray 46 that can be turned upside down and loaded with sheets 5 and accommodated on one side of the apparatus main body 1 in order to perform manual paper feed and straight paper discharge.

  The paper discharge transport unit 6 sends a paper discharge roller pair 61 for transporting the paper 5 on which image formation has been performed, a paper discharge roller 62, and a paper 5 fed from the paper discharge roller 62 to the paper discharge tray 8. A paper discharge conveyance roller pair 63 and a discharge roller 64 are provided. Further, the paper discharge conveyance unit 6 has a straight paper discharge path 66 for straight paper discharge conveyance of the sheet 5 on which the image has been formed, and other than the main body 1 from the paper discharge roller 62 through the straight paper discharge path 66. Paper can be discharged to a straight paper discharge tray 67 that can be opened on the side. This paper discharge path is switched by a switching plate (not shown).

Next, the configuration of the recording head 24 in this image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 is an explanatory plan view of the recording head, FIG. 4 is an explanatory perspective view, FIG. 5 is an explanatory sectional view of the main part, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory sectional view in the nozzle row direction.
The recording head 24 includes four heads 121k, 121c, 121m, and 121y (hereinafter simply referred to as “head 121”) that are droplet discharge heads mounted on the head frame 120.

  The head 121 uses a piezoelectric element as pressure generation means (actuator means) for pressurizing ink in the ink flow path (pressure generation chamber), and deforms a diaphragm that forms the wall surface of the ink flow path to change the contents of the ink flow path. A so-called piezo type that discharges ink droplets by changing the product, or a so-called thermal type that discharges ink droplets with pressure generated by generating bubbles by heating ink in the ink flow path using a heating resistor. The diaphragm and the electrode forming the wall surface of the ink flow path are placed opposite to each other, and the diaphragm is deformed by the electrostatic force generated between the vibration plate and the electrode, thereby changing the volume of the ink flow path. An electrostatic type that ejects ink droplets can be used.

  Here, the head 121 has a plurality of nozzles 124 formed on the nozzle surface 123 which is the surface of the nozzle plate 122 (the row of each nozzle 124 is called a “nozzle row 125”, and the arrangement direction of the nozzles 124 is “ Nozzle row direction "). The recording head 24 is attached to the head frame 120 with the nozzle row direction of each head 121 as the sub-scanning direction and the arrangement direction of the heads 121 as the main scanning direction.

  The head 121 includes a nozzle cover 126 that covers the periphery of the nozzle surface 123. The nozzle cover 126 has an opening 126 a for opening a predetermined range of the nozzle surface 123. Therefore, there is a step a (FIG. 6) between the nozzle surface 123 of the head 121 and the surface of the nozzle cover 126.

Next, the subsystem 27 including the head cleaning device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 is an explanatory plan view of the system, and FIG. 8 is a schematic schematic configuration diagram.
In the frame 211, two cap holders 212A and 212B, an idle discharge receptacle 213, a wiper blade 73 which is a wiping member including an elastic body as a cleaning means, and a carriage lock 215 are held so as to be able to move up and down. Yes.

  Cap holders 212A and 212B (hereinafter collectively referred to as “cap holder 212”) include caps 28a and 28b for capping the nozzle surface 123 of each head 124 of the recording head 24, and 28c and 28d (hereinafter these are referred to as “cap holder 212”). (Referred to as “cap 28”).

  Here, a tube pump (suction pump) 220 as a suction means is connected to the cap 28a held by the cap holder 212A closest to the printing area via a tube 219, and the other caps 28b, 28c and 28d are tubes. Pump 220 is not connected. That is, only the cap 28a is a recovery and moisture retention cap, and the other caps 28b, 28c, and 28d are all just moisture retention caps. Therefore, when performing the recovery operation of the recording head 24, the head 121 that performs the recovery operation is selectively moved to a position where it can be capped by the cap 28a.

  A cam shaft 221 is rotatably disposed below the cap holders 212A and 212B. The cam shaft 221 includes cap cams 222A and 222B for moving the cap holders 212A and 212B up and down, and a wiper blade 29. A wiper cam 224 for raising and lowering the carriage and a carriage lock cam 225 for raising and lowering the carriage lock 215 via the carriage lock arm 217 are provided.

  Further, a wiper cleaner 218 for cleaning the wiper blade 28 can be swung in the direction indicated by an arrow on the print area side of the wiper blade 28 and is urged in a direction away from the wiper blade 28 by a spring (not shown). The camshaft 221 is provided with a wiper cleaner cam 228 for swinging the wiper cleaner 218.

  Here, the cap 28 is moved up and down by the cap cams 222A and 222B. The wiper blade 29 is moved up and down by the wiper cam 224. When the wiper cleaner 218 moves down, the wiper cleaner 218 moves forward and descends while being sandwiched between the wiper cleaner 218 and the empty discharge receiver 213, so that the ink attached to the wiper blade 29 is empty. It is scraped off by the discharge receptacle 213.

  The carriage lock 215 is urged upward (in the lock direction) by a compression spring (not shown) and is moved up and down by the carriage lock arm 217.

  In order to rotationally drive the tube pump 220 and the cam shaft 221, the rotation of the motor 231 is meshed with the motor gear 232 provided on the motor shaft 231 a and the pump gear 233 provided on the pump shaft 220 a of the tube pump 220 is further engaged. An intermediate gear 234 with a one-way clutch 237 is engaged with an intermediate gear 234 integrated with the intermediate gear 233, and the intermediate gear 238 coaxial with the intermediate gear 236 is fixed to the camshaft 221 via the intermediate gear 239. The cam gear 240 is engaged.

  The cam shaft 221 is provided with a home position sensor cam 241 for detecting the home position. When the cap 28 comes to the lowermost end by a home position sensor (not shown) provided in the subsystem 27, a home position lever is provided. (Not shown) is activated, and the sensor is opened to detect the home position of the motor 231 (other than the pump 220). Note that when the power is turned on, the position moves up and down (up and down) regardless of the position of the cap 28 (cap holder 212), the position is not detected until the movement starts, and the position is determined after detecting the home position of the cap 72 (in the middle of rising). To the bottom end. Thereafter, the carriage moves left and right, returns to the cap position after position detection, and the recording head 24 is capped.

  In this subsystem 27, when the motor 231 rotates forward, the motor gear 232, the intermediate gear 233, the pump gear 234, the intermediate gears 235, and 236 rotate, and the tube pump 220 rotates by rotating the shaft 220a of the tube pump 220. Operates to suck the inside of the recovery / moisturizing cap 28a. Since the other gears 238 and thereafter are blocked by the one-way clutch 237, they do not rotate (activate).

  Since the one-way clutch 237 is connected by the reverse rotation of the motor 231, the rotation of the motor 231 is transmitted to the cam gear 240 through the motor gear 232, the intermediate gear 233, the pump gear 234, the intermediate gears 235, 236, 238 and 239. The cam shaft 221 rotates. At this time, the tube pump 220 has a structure that does not rotate by the reverse rotation of the pump shaft 220a.

  Therefore, with the head 121 of the recording head 24 performing the recovery operation at the position of the cap 28a, the motor 231 is reversely rotated to rotate the cam shaft 221 to raise the cap 72a, thereby capping the nozzle surface 123 of the head 121. Then, the motor 231 is rotated forward to operate the tube pump 220 to perform the first step of sucking from the nozzle 124 of the head 121.

  Subsequent to the first step, the cam shaft 221 is rotated by reversing the motor 231, thereby performing the second step of separating the cap 28 a from the nozzle surface 124 of the head 121.

  Subsequent to this second step, the wiper blade 29 rises to a wiping position (a position in contact with the nozzle surface), and in this state, the carriage 23 is moved in the main scanning direction, whereby the nozzle surface 124 and the wiper blade of the head 121 are moved. 29, the nozzle surface 124 of the head 121 is wiped with the wiper blade 29 to clean the deposits and the like, and then the wiper blade 29 is moved down and separated from the nozzle surface. Perform 3 steps.

  Subsequent to the third step, the fourth step of operating the tube pump 220 to suck the ink in the cap 28a is performed.

  The ink sucked by the suction pump 220 by the recovery operation of the subsystem 27 or the ink that adheres to the wiper blade 29 and is removed from the wiper blade 29 by the wiper cleaner 218 becomes waste ink, and waste liquid (not shown) It is discharged to the storage tank.

Next, details of the wiper blade 29 in the first embodiment of the head cleaning device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 is an explanatory perspective view of the wiper blade, and FIG. 10 is an explanatory side view of the relationship with the head 121 as viewed from the main scanning direction.
The wiper blade (hereinafter simply referred to as “blade”) 29 is made of an elastically deformable member such as rubber and is attached to the blade holder 130.

  The blade 29 has a length equal to or longer than the length of the head 121 in the nozzle row direction, and slits 131 and 131 are formed at two positions on the tip end side (side contacting the head 121 during wiping). .

  Here, the area of the nozzle surface 123 where the nozzles 124 of the head 121 are formed is the nozzle formation area A, the length of the opening 126 a of the nozzle cover 126 in the nozzle row direction is the nozzle cover opening length B, and the blade 29 is 2 When the interval between the two slits 131 and 131 is defined as the slit interval C, the slits 131 and 131 are formed so that the slit interval C satisfies the relationship B> C> A.

  That is, the slits 131, 131 of the blade 29 are formed outside the nozzle formation area A of the head 121 in the nozzle row direction and at a position in the opening 126 a of the nozzle cover 126.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the nozzle formation area A is strictly the area length A1 between the opening ends of the nozzles 124 and 124 at both ends (in the case of two nozzle arrays, the distance between the farthest nozzles). ) Is preferably set to a region length A2 including a margin corresponding to the nozzle pitch Pn outside the nozzles 124 at both ends. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the slit 131 from corresponding to the nozzle 124 due to an attachment error of the blade 29 or a formation position error of the slit 131.

  As a result, the tip of the blade 29 has a portion corresponding to the nozzle formation region A of the head 121 (hereinafter referred to as “center portion”) 29 a and a portion corresponding to the region outside the nozzle formation region A of the head 121 (hereinafter referred to as “the central portion”). It is divided into portions 29b and 29b, and the central portion 29a and both end portions 29b can be independently deformed. That is, the slit 131 is not provided in the central portion 29 a corresponding to the nozzle formation area A of the head 121 of the blade 29.

  The operation of the thus configured head cleaning device will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the state of the blade during wiping, FIG. 13 is an explanatory perspective view, and FIG. 14 is an explanatory side view as viewed in the most ping direction.

  As shown in FIG. 12, when the head 121 is moved in the head moving direction and the blade 29 is moved relatively in the wiping direction to wipe the nozzle surface 123 of the head 121, as shown in FIGS. The central portion 29a of the blade 29 is a region including the nozzle formation region of the nozzle surface 123 and is wiping (wiping off) the blade 29 by reliably contacting and wiping while deforming into a region narrower than the opening 126 of the nozzle cover 126. Both end portions 29b and 29b come into contact with the surface of the nozzle cover 126 while being deformed to perform wiping.

  Thereby, the deposits (ink, dust, etc.) adhering to the nozzle surface 123 of the head 121 can be reliably wiped off and cleaned (cleaning). In this case, since the slit 131 is not provided in the central portion 29a of the blade 29 corresponding to the nozzle formation area A of the nozzle surface 123 of the head 121, no wiping residue is generated by the slit, and the cleaning is performed more reliably. It can be performed.

  Since the slits 131 and 131 are provided outside the nozzle formation area A of the nozzle surface 123 of the head 121 and inside the opening 126a of the nozzle cover 126, the corner portions between the nozzle cover 126 and the nozzle surface 123 are left unwiped. And can be more reliably cleaned.

  That is, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, when the slit 131 is provided in the central portion 29 a of the blade 29 corresponding to the nozzle formation area A of the nozzle surface 123 of the head 121, the slit 131 is located in the nozzle formation area A. As a result, the wiping residue may not be generated at the slit 131, and if the contact positions of the left and right portions separated by the slit 131 are not exactly the same, a wiping residue streak is generated at the position of the slit 131. It will be.

  Further, when the nozzle cover 126 is provided on the head 121, a step is generated between the nozzle cover 126 and the nozzle surface 123. Therefore, not only when the slit 131 is not provided, but also when the slit 131 is provided, depending on the position. Will not leave the blade 29 in contact with the K portion, which is the corner shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, by leaving the slit position outside the nozzle formation region and inside the nozzle cover opening as in the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce as much as possible the remaining wiping of the corner (K portion). it can. In this case, the slit position is preferably closer to the end of the opening 126 a of the nozzle cover 126.

  In this embodiment, the wiping direction by the blade is described as an example of the head arrangement direction (direction orthogonal to the nozzle row direction). However, the configuration in which the nozzle surfaces of a plurality of heads are wiped by one blade (wiping) This is also applicable to the case where the direction is the nozzle row direction of the head), and even in this case, the slit is made not to correspond to the nozzle formation region of each head.

Next, a second embodiment of the head cleaning device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 17 is an explanatory perspective view of the blade of the apparatus, and FIG.
In this embodiment, the blade 29A in which the slit 131 having the same configuration as the blade 29 in the first embodiment described above is formed and the blade 29B in which the slit 131 is not formed are brought into close contact with each other and held in the blade holder 130. .

  In this case, the blade 29 </ b> A in which the slit 131 is formed is positioned on the near side in the wiping direction, that is, on the side that comes into contact with the nozzle surface 123 first when wiping the nozzle surface 123 of the head 121.

  With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 18, even if a wiping residue by the slit of the blade 29 </ b> A in which the slit 131 is formed occurs on the nozzle surface 123, the wiping residue by the slit 131 is wiped by the blade 29 </ b> B that comes later. The cleaning property is further improved.

Next, a third embodiment of the head cleaning device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The figure is a perspective view of the blade of the apparatus.
In this embodiment, a blade holder 130 is formed by sandwiching a blade 29B having no slit 131 between two blades 29A having a slit 131 having the same configuration as the blade 29 of the first embodiment. Hold on.

  With this configuration, in the second embodiment, the direction of wiping is limited (the blade 29A comes first), but such limitation is eliminated, and even if the wiping direction is both directions. As in the second embodiment, it is possible to wipe off the remaining wiping by the slit.

  Here, when a plurality of blades are used as described above, the blades can be easily manufactured and the cost can be reduced by using the same material, thickness and hardness of the plurality of blades.

  In addition, by making at least one of the material, plate thickness, and hardness of the blades different, it is possible to use the material, plate thickness, and hardness suitable for the blade for wiping unwiping residue. Compared with the case, the cleaning property can be improved.

  Next, a fourth embodiment of the head cleaning device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 20 is a perspective explanatory view of the blade of the apparatus, and FIG. 21 is a side explanatory view seen from the main scanning direction for explaining the relationship with the head 121.

  The wiper blade (hereinafter simply referred to as “blade”) 129 of this embodiment is made of an elastically deformable member such as rubber, and has a central portion (referred to as “central blade”) 129a and both sides in the nozzle row direction. (This is referred to as “double-sided blades”) 129b and 129b, and each is attached to the holder 130 without a gap.

  Here, as in the first embodiment described above, the area of the nozzle surface 123 on which the nozzles 124 of the head 121 are formed is defined as the nozzle formation area A, and the length in the nozzle row direction of the opening 126a of the nozzle cover 126 is defined as the nozzle. When the cover opening length is B and the distance between the cuts 132 and 132 by dividing the central blade 129a and the both-end blades 129b, that is, the length of the central blade 129a in the nozzle row direction is D, the length of the central blade 129a in the nozzle row direction The central blade 129a is formed so that D has a relationship of B> D> A.

  That is, the cuts 132 and 132 due to the division of the blade 129 are formed outside the nozzle formation area A of the head 121 in the nozzle row direction and at a position in the opening 126 a of the nozzle cover 126.

  Thus, the tip of one blade 29 has a central blade 129a corresponding to the nozzle formation region A of the head 121 and both end blades 129b and 129b corresponding to regions outside the nozzle formation region A of the head 121, The central blade 129a and the both end blades 129b can be deformed independently. That is, the cut 132 due to the division of the blade does not occur at a position corresponding to the nozzle formation area A of the head 121 of the blade 129.

  With this configuration, as in the first embodiment described above, the nozzle formation region of the nozzle surface 123 is wiped with the central blade 129a without any breaks, so that no wiping remains, and the nozzle surface 123 and the nozzle cover 126 are removed. The remaining unwiped portions at the corners with the opening 126a can be reduced, and the cleaning performance is improved.

  In addition, since the central blade 129a and the both end blades 129b are separate members, a material and hardness suitable for wiping the nozzle forming region of the nozzle surface 123 on the central blade 129, and the nozzle cover 126 on the both end blades 129b. For example, use of a material and hardness that can easily enter the corner of the opening 126a of the opening 126a widens the scope for selection, thereby further improving the cleaning performance.

Next, a fifth embodiment of the head cleaning apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The figure is a perspective view of the blade of the apparatus.
In this embodiment, the central blade 129a having the same configuration as the blade 129 of the fourth embodiment described above, the blade 129A divided into the both-end blades 129b and 129b, and the blade 129B that is not divided are brought into close contact with each other, thereby the blade holder 130. Hold on.

  In this case, the divided blade 129 </ b> A is positioned on the front side in the wiping direction, that is, the blade 129 </ b> A is positioned on the side that first contacts the nozzle surface 123 when wiping the nozzle surface 123 of the head 121.

  By configuring in this way, similarly to the second embodiment described above, even if the wiping residue due to the cut 132 portion of the divided blade 129A occurs on the nozzle surface 123, the blade 129B coming later leaves the wiping residue due to the cut portion. Can be wiped off, and the cleaning property is further improved.

Next, a sixth embodiment of the head cleaning apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The figure is a perspective view of the blade of the apparatus.
In this embodiment, the central blade 129a having the same configuration as the blade 129 of the fourth embodiment described above and the blade 129B that is not divided between the two blades 129A divided into the two-end blades 129b and 129b are sandwiched and adhered. Are held by the blade holder 130.

  With this configuration, in the fifth embodiment, the wiping direction is restricted (the blade 129A comes first), but such restriction is eliminated, and even if the wiping direction is both directions. As in the fifth embodiment, it is possible to wipe off the remaining wiping by the slit.

  Also in this case, when a plurality of blades are used in this way, the blades can be easily manufactured by reducing the material, thickness and hardness of the plurality of blades, and the cost can be reduced.

  In addition, by making at least one of the material, plate thickness, and hardness of the blades different, it is possible to use the material, plate thickness, and hardness suitable for the blade for wiping unwiping residue. Compared with the case, the cleaning property can be improved.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration of the plurality of blades is two or three, but may be four or more.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory plan view of an image forming unit of the image forming apparatus. 2 is an explanatory plan view of a recording head in the image forming apparatus. FIG. It is a perspective explanatory view of a recording head. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the recording head in the head arrangement direction. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the recording head in the nozzle row direction. FIG. 3 is an explanatory plan view of a recovery mechanism of the image forming apparatus. It is a typical side surface explanatory view of a recovery mechanism. It is a perspective explanatory view of the blade of the first embodiment of the head cleaning device according to the present invention. It is side surface explanatory drawing seen from the main scanning direction explaining the relationship between the braid | blade and a head. It is a plane explanatory drawing used for description of the nozzle formation area of the head. It is explanatory drawing of the direction in alignment with the wiping direction explaining the state at the time of the wiping of the blade. It is a perspective explanatory view explaining the state at the time of wiping of the blade. It is explanatory drawing of the direction in alignment with the nozzle row direction explaining the state at the time of the wiping of the blade. It is explanatory drawing of the direction in alignment with the wiping direction explaining the state at the time of the wiping provided for description of the braid | blade of a comparative example. It is explanatory drawing of the direction in alignment with the nozzle row direction explaining the state at the time of the wiping of the blade of a comparative example similarly. It is a perspective explanatory view of a blade of a second embodiment of a head cleaning device according to the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of the direction in alignment with the wiping direction explaining the state at the time of the wiping of the blade. It is a perspective explanatory view of a blade of a third embodiment of a head cleaning device according to the present invention. It is a perspective explanatory view of a blade of a fourth embodiment of a head cleaning device according to the present invention. It is side surface explanatory drawing seen from the main scanning direction explaining the relationship between the braid | blade and a head. It is a perspective explanatory view of a blade of a fifth embodiment of a head cleaning device according to the present invention. It is a perspective explanatory view of a blade of a 6th embodiment of a head cleaning device concerning the present invention. It is a plane explanatory view used for description of a conventional blade. It is side explanatory drawing seen from the wiping direction with which it uses for description of the other conventional blade.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Apparatus main body 2 ... Image formation part 3 ... Sub-scanning conveyance part 4 ... Paper feed part 5 ... Paper (recording medium)
6 ... Paper discharge conveyance unit 7 ... Paper discharge tray 11 ... Image reading unit 23 ... Carriage 24 ... Recording head 27 ... Recovery mechanism 29, 129 ... Blade

Claims (2)

In a head cleaning device comprising a blade for wiping the nozzle surface of a droplet discharge head for discharging droplets from a nozzle,
Two blades divided into at least a tip portion corresponding to the nozzle formation region of the nozzle surface and a portion not corresponding to the nozzle formation region of the nozzle surface;
A blade that is not divided, and
The non-divided blade is sandwiched between the two divided blades, and the divided blade and the non-divided blade are disposed in close contact with each other,
The head cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the cut by the divided blades is provided so as to correspond to an inner side of a nozzle cover that covers a periphery of a nozzle surface of the droplet discharge head. 2. The image forming apparatus comprising: a droplet discharge head that discharges droplets from a nozzle; and a head cleaning device that includes a blade that wipes a nozzle surface of the droplet discharge head. The head cleaning device according to claim 1 . An image forming apparatus, which is a head cleaning device.

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