JP4433767B2 - Liquid ejection device and replacement time detection method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a replacement time detecting method for a liquid ejection apparatus and the head cap provided with a head cap which is a replacement part for protecting the liquid discharge head unit for discharging toward the main surface of the object fluid in the form of droplets .

  As an apparatus for ejecting liquid, there is an ink jet printer apparatus that records an image or a character by ejecting ink from a head chip onto a recording paper as an object. In a printer apparatus using an ink jet system, for example, ink of a plurality of colors such as yellow, magenta, cyan, and black is supplied to an ink liquid chamber of a head chip or the like. In this printer apparatus, the ink supplied to the ink liquid chamber or the like is pressed against the ink in the ink by a pressure generating element such as a heating resistor disposed in the ink liquid chamber, and the minute amount provided on the head chip. The ink is ejected from an ink ejection port, so-called nozzle. Specifically, the heating resistor disposed in the ink liquid chamber heats the ink in the ink chamber to generate bubbles in the ink on the heating resistor, and the ink is discharged from the nozzles by the energy when the bubbles break and disappear. The ejected ink is landed on a recording paper or the like as an object to print an image or a character.

  In such an ink jet printer, an ink cartridge is mounted on the ink head, and the ink head mounted with the ink cartridge is substantially perpendicular to the recording paper width direction, that is, the recording paper running direction. There is a serial type printer that makes ink of a predetermined color land on a recording paper by reciprocating. Specifically, the serial type printer device stops the running of the recording paper when the ink head moves in a direction substantially orthogonal to the running direction of the recording paper, and the ink head moves to the stopped recording paper. Printing is performed by discharging and landing ink while repeating this process.

  In the serial type ink jet printer apparatus, as shown in Patent Document 1 below, in order to prevent printing defects due to nozzle clogging, the ink head portion is moved to the ink receiving portion at the home position, and ink is ejected empty, that is, ink Do not throw away. At this time, the discarded ink is stored in a waste ink container built in the main body of the printer apparatus. Further, when the ink head portion is moved, the ink adhering to the nozzle surface is wiped off by contacting the blade.

  However, the blade in the printer device of Patent Document 1 deteriorates every time the cleaning of the ejection surface is repeated, and the ink ejection surface cannot be reliably cleaned.

  In addition, in an ink jet printer apparatus, discarded ink is applied to an ink absorber that is built in the apparatus and cannot be replaced. In this case, when the ink capacity of the ink absorber is exceeded, the product life of the printer device is reached. Among ink jet printer apparatuses, there is a line type printer apparatus in which an ink discharge port is provided over almost the entire width of a recording sheet. Also in this line type printer device, it is necessary to discard ink as in the serial type. However, since the line type printer device has a large number of ejection openings, the amount of ink discarded is larger than that of the serial type, and therefore the capacity of the ink absorber is reached in a short period of time. Will also be shorter.

Japanese Patent No. 2557791

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid ejection capable of notifying the replacement timing of a head cap provided with a maintenance mechanism for the liquid ejection head section at an appropriate time. An object of the present invention is to provide a device and a method for detecting the replacement time of the head cap .

A liquid discharge apparatus according to the present invention includes a liquid discharge head portion having a discharge surface in which a discharge port for discharging liquid in the form of droplets toward a main surface of an object is formed, and the discharge surface in contact with the discharge surface. A head cap having a cleaning roller for removing liquid adhering to the surface and a liquid absorber for receiving discarded liquid droplets, and attached to the liquid discharge head unit so as to close the discharge surface of the liquid discharge head unit; , The transport mechanism for transporting the head cap over the closed position where the ejection surface of the liquid ejection head portion is closed and the retracted position where the head cap is retracted from the ejection surface, and the number of movements of the head cap is counted and the number of movements data is stored. holding together, counting means liquid discharge head unit to store discarded out number of times counted purging count data was droplets, the upper limit data of the number of times of use of the cleaning roller Comparison with a storage unit for storing the upper limit data of purging the number of droplets to liquid absorbing body and a moving frequency data counted by the upper data and the counting means the number of times of use of the cleaning roller which is stored in the storage means In addition, the comparison means for comparing the upper limit data of the number of times the liquid drops are discarded with respect to the liquid absorber stored in the storage means and the data for the number of times the liquid is discarded, and the notice for notifying the replacement timing of the head cap. Means. Then, when either the movement count data or the discard hit count data reaches the upper limit data, the comparison means notifies the head cap replacement time by the notification means.

Further, the head cap replacement time detection method in the liquid ejection apparatus according to the present invention includes a step of counting the number of times the head cap has been moved and storing the number of times of movement data, and the number of times the liquid ejection head unit has discarded the droplets. and a step of storing the purging count data, counted comparing a limit data of the number of times of use of mobile number data and the cleaning roller, the droplet with respect to counted purging number data and the liquid absorber purging number of The step of comparing with the upper limit data, the step of determining whether either the movement count data or the discard hit count data has reached the upper limit data, and either the move count data or the discard hit count data has reached the upper limit data And announcing the replacement time of the head cap.

Furthermore, the liquid ejection device according to the present invention is in contact with the liquid ejection head unit having an ejection surface in which an ejection port for ejecting liquid in the form of liquid droplets toward the main surface of the object is formed, and the ejection surface. A head having a cleaning roller for removing the liquid adhering to the ejection surface and a liquid absorber for receiving discarded liquid droplets, and attached to the liquid ejection head unit so as to close the ejection surface of the liquid ejection head unit The cap, the head cap, a transport mechanism that transports the liquid ejection head unit from the closed position where the ejection surface of the liquid ejection head is closed, and the retracted position that is retracted from the ejection surface, and the number of movements of the head cap are counted and while saving, counting means liquid discharge head unit to store discarded out number of times to count the purging count data and the droplet, the upper limit data of the number of times of use of the cleaning roller Saves the, storage means for storing the upper limit data of purging the number of droplets to liquid absorber, the number of moves data counted by the count means for the upper limit data of the number of times of use of the cleaning roller which is stored in the storage means Calculating the ratio data, calculating the ratio data of the number of discarding times counted by the counting means for the upper limit data of the number of times the droplets are discarded with respect to the liquid absorber stored in the storage means, And a notification means for notifying the replacement time. Then, the calculation means notifies the usage status of the head cap by the notification means based on the ratio data of the movement count data and the ratio data of the discard hit count data.

Further, the head cap replacement time detection method in the body discharge apparatus according to the present invention includes the step of counting the number of movements of the head cap and storing the number of movements data, and counting the number of times the liquid discharge head unit has thrown away the droplets. A step of saving throwing-off number data, a step of calculating ratio data of the counted number of movements data with respect to the upper limit data of the number of times of use of the cleaning roller stored in the memory, and a droplet for the liquid absorber stored in the memory Calculating the ratio data of the counted number of discarded times data with respect to the upper limit data of the number of discarded times, and detecting the higher ratio data of the ratio data of the movement number data and the ratio data of the number of discarded times data; , Movement frequency data ratio data, abandonment frequency data ratio data There way on the basis of the ratio data, and a step of stepwise notified usage of the head cap.

According to the present invention, the replacement time of the head cap having the cleaning roller that contacts the ejection surface and removes the liquid adhering to the ejection surface and the liquid absorber that receives the discarded liquid is represented by the movement frequency data. Since the warning is issued when any one of the discard count data reaches the upper limit data, the head cap can be used even if the cleaning roller and the liquid absorber are consumed at different times. Can be notified at an appropriate time.

According to the present invention, the upper limit of the replacement time of the head cap having the cleaning roller that contacts the discharge surface and removes the liquid adhering to the discharge surface and the liquid absorber that receives the discarded liquid is limited. Since the warning is issued when the ratio of the number of movements to the data and the number of times of discard reaches a predetermined ratio, even if the usage method is such that the life of the cleaning roller and the liquid absorber that are consumed at different times will come, It is possible to notify the head cap replacement time at an appropriate time.

  A printer apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an ink jet printer apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a printer apparatus) 1 to which the present invention is applied has a width direction of the recording paper P, that is, an arrow in FIG. This is a so-called line type printer device in which ink discharge ports (nozzles) are arranged in a line substantially in the same width as the recording paper P in the W direction. An ink jet printer apparatus 1 to which the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is applied is an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, for example, by ejecting and landing ink i that is a liquid on a recording paper P that is an object. An image, a character, or the like formed by a set of ink dots corresponding to the input character data, image data, or the like is printed.

  The printer apparatus 1 includes a printer head cartridge (hereinafter referred to as a head cartridge) 2 that performs printing by ejecting ink onto a recording paper P, and a printer main body 3 to which the head cartridge 2 is mounted. In this printer device 1, in addition to the ink tank 11, the head cartridge 2 to which the ink tank 11 is mounted and the head cap 61 that protects the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2 are handled as consumables. In the printer apparatus 1, the head cartridge 2 can be attached to and detached from the printer main body 3.

  First, the head cartridge 2 that can be attached to and detached from the printer main body 3 will be described. The head cartridge 2 is a so-called line-type ink ejection head in which a plurality of nozzles, which are ejection openings for ejecting ink, are arranged in a substantially straight line with a length corresponding to the width of the recording paper P. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the head cartridge 2 includes a cartridge main body 12 in which an ink tank 11 for containing ink is mounted. The cartridge main body 12 has yellow, cyan, and color printing corresponding to color printing. Ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k composed of four colors of magenta and black are detachable. These four ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k are containers that are formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape by, for example, injection molding of a resin material or the like, and contain ink corresponding to each color therein. . These four ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k have a long shape corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the cartridge body 12 in order to accommodate as much ink as possible. The ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k are arranged side by side in the short side direction of the cartridge body 12.

  Note that, in these four ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k, the black ink tank 11k that consumes the most ink has a larger capacity than the other ink tanks 11y, 11m, and 11c, and is thicker than the others. It has the same structure except having. Hereinafter, the configuration of the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k is collectively referred to as an ink tank 11.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ink tank 11 includes an ink storage unit 21 that stores the ink i, an ink delivery unit 22 that sends the ink i in the ink storage unit 21 to the cartridge body 12, and an ink storage unit. An external communication hole 23 for communicating the portion 21 with the outside, and an air introduction tube 24 for introducing external air into the ink storage portion 21 from the external communication hole 23 are provided.

  The ink storage portion 21 forms a storage space for storing the ink i, and has an inner shape substantially corresponding to the outer shape of the ink tank 11 in order to store as much ink i as possible. The ink delivery unit 22 is a nozzle that communicates with the ink storage unit 21, is provided to protrude downward from the center of the lower surface of the ink storage unit 21, and is connected to a connection unit 35 of the cartridge body 12 described later. Part. When the ink delivery unit 22 is mounted on the cartridge body 12, the ink delivery unit 22 supplies the ink i to the connecting portion 35 of the cartridge body 12.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the external communication hole 23 is provided at the center of the upper surface of the ink containing portion 21. Further, the external communication hole 23 is closed by a sealing member (not shown) having air permeability. Thereby, in the ink tank 11, the ink i is prevented from leaking outside from the external communication hole 23, and dust or the like is generated in the ink storage portion 21 when external air is taken in from the external communication hole 23. Preventing intrusion.

  The air introduction tube 24 extends downward from the external communication hole 23 to the inside of the ink containing portion 21. As a result, in the ink tank 11, when the ink i in the ink containing portion 21 is sent from the ink sending portion 22 to the cartridge body 12, the air corresponding to the decrease in the ink i in the ink containing portion 21. Is taken into the ink containing portion 21 from the external communication hole 23 through the air introduction tube 24.

  A buffer portion 26 that temporarily stores ink i is provided in the middle portion of the air introduction tube 24 so that the ink i that flows backward from the ink storage portion 21 does not suddenly flow out of the external communication hole 23. It has been. The buffer portion 26 forms a substantially rhombus-shaped internal space in which the longer diagonal line when viewed from the front is made to coincide with the longitudinal direction of the ink containing portion 21, and the upper corner portion passes through the air introduction tube 24. In addition, the corner portion on the lower side is communicated with the ink containing portion 21 through the air introduction tube 24. In the ink tank 11, the buffer 26 temporarily stores the ink i that has flowed back from the ink containing portion 21 through the air introduction tube 24, so that the ink i does not leak to the outside from the external communication hole 23, and the ink i again. Can be returned to the ink container 21 side.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ink tank 11 has an engaging step portion 27 and a locking protrusion 28 for fixing to a tank mounting portion 31 of the cartridge body 12 described later. The engagement step portion 27 is a step portion formed on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the ink tank 11, and a horizontal surface portion 27 a that is parallel to the upper surface portion from the side surface portion on the one end side and one step lower than the upper surface portion, It has the inclined surface part 27b which inclines toward the upper surface part from this horizontal surface part 27a. The locking protrusion 28 is a protrusion formed to protrude from the side surface on the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the ink tank 11, and is positioned below the horizontal surface portion 28 a parallel to the upper surface portion and the horizontal surface portion 28 a. And an inclined surface portion 28b inclined toward the side surface portion.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cartridge main body 12 to which the ink tank 11 as described above is attached has a tank attachment portion 31 to which the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k corresponding to the above-described colors are attached. Is provided. The tank mounting portion 31 has a depth sufficient to accommodate the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k from the upper surface portion of the cartridge main body 12 that is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape corresponding to the width of the recording paper P. The bottom surface is partitioned by the partition wall 31a so that the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k are arranged in the short side direction of the cartridge body 12.

  The black ink tank 11k is thicker than the other ink tanks 11y, 11m, and 11c. Therefore, the tank mounting portion 31 also has a partition wall 31a that partitions the mounting position of the black ink tank 11k. The interval is formed by a predetermined width wider than the interval of the partition walls 31a that partition the mounting positions of the other ink tanks 11y, 11m, and 11c.

  The tank mounting portion 31 is provided with an engaged portion 32 for fixing the ink tank 11 described above, a latch lever 33, and a pressing portion 34 including a leaf spring. The engaged portion 32 is a portion to be engaged with the horizontal surface portion 27 a of the engaging step portion 27 formed in the ink tank 11 described above, and from an opening end located on one end side in the longitudinal direction of the tank mounting portion 31. It is formed to protrude by a predetermined width in the longitudinal direction. The latch lever 33 is an elastic displacement piece that protrudes upward from a bottom corner portion located on the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the tank mounting portion 31, and a tip portion of the latch lever 33 with respect to a side surface portion of the tank mounting portion 31. Elastic displacement is possible in the direction of approaching and separating.

  A locking hole 33 a for locking the locking protrusion 28 of the ink tank 11 described above is formed on the leading end side of the latch lever 33. A latch lever 33 corresponding to each of the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k is provided along the short side direction of the cartridge main body 12 in the tank mounting portion 31 partitioned by the partition wall 31a.

  The pressing portion 34 is a pressing member that is provided on the bottom surface of the tank mounting portion 31 and is formed by bending a plate spring that presses the ink tank 11 mounted on the tank mounting portion 31 upward. The pressing portion 34 is arranged along the longitudinal direction of the tank mounting portion 31 and has one end fixed to the bottom surface portion of the tank mounting portion 31 and a middle portion thereof bent upward. Yes. On the bottom surface portion of the tank mounting portion 31 partitioned by the partition wall 31a, pressing portions 34 corresponding to the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k are provided side by side in the short side direction of the cartridge main body 12.

  When the ink tank 11 is mounted on the tank mounting portion 31, as shown in FIG. 3, one end side of the ink tank 11 where the engagement step portion 27 is provided is inserted obliquely into the tank mounting portion 31. While the horizontal surface portion 27a of the engagement step portion 27 is brought into contact with the engaged portion 32 of the tank mounting portion 31, a locking projection 28 of the ink tank 11 is provided with the contact position as a rotation fulcrum. The other end side is inserted into the tank mounting portion 31 while being rotated. At this time, the latching protrusion 28 of the ink tank 11 elastically displaces the latch lever 33 in the direction close to the side surface of the tank mounting portion 31 by the inclined surface portion 28 b coming into contact with the latch lever 33. Then, at the same time that the ink tank 11 is mounted on the tank mounting portion 31, the locking projection 28 is locked in the locking hole 33 a of the latch lever 33. At this time, the front end portion of the latch lever 33 presses the side surface portion of the ink tank 11 mounted on the tank mounting portion 31, and the pressing portion 34 provided on the bottom surface portion of the tank mounting portion 31 serves as the bottom surface portion of the ink tank 11. The horizontal surface portion 27a of the engaging step portion 27 is locked to the engaged portion 32 of the tank mounting portion 31, and the horizontal surface portion 28a of the locking protrusion 28 is latched to the latch lever 33. The locking hole 33a is locked. Thereby, the ink tank 11 can be appropriately mounted on the tank mounting portion 31 of the cartridge body 12.

  When the ink tank 11 mounted on the tank mounting portion 31 is removed, the tip end portion of the latch lever 33 is elastically displaced in a direction away from the side surface portion of the ink tank 11. Thereby, the locking state between the horizontal surface portion 28 a of the locking protrusion 28 and the locking hole 33 a of the latch lever 33 is released. At this time, since the pressing portion 34 presses the bottom surface portion of the ink tank 11 upward, the ink tank 11 can be easily detached from the tank mounting portion 31.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cartridge main body 12 to which the ink tank 11 as described above is attached includes a connecting portion 35 connected to the ink delivery portion 22 of the ink tank 11 described above, and the connecting portion 35. An ink supply unit 36 that supplies ink i from the connected ink tank 11 and a head unit 37 that discharges the ink i supplied by the ink supply unit 36 are provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the connecting portion 35 is a nozzle provided at the center of the bottom surface of the tank mounting portion 31, and its tip is fitted into the ink delivery port of the ink delivery portion 22 described above. Thus, the ink delivery unit 22 of the ink tank 11 is connected. Specifically, a connecting portion 35 corresponding to each of the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k is provided at a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the cartridge body 12 at the center of the bottom surface of the tank mounting portion 31 partitioned by the partition wall 31a. The cartridge main body 12 is provided side by side in the short side direction. The ink supply unit 36 supplies an appropriate amount of ink i from the ink storage unit 21 of the ink tank 11 to the head unit 37. In addition, an ink supply unit 36 is provided below the connecting unit 35 corresponding to each color described above.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the head unit 37 has an ejection surface 50 on which nozzles 55a to be described later for ejecting ink i in the form of droplets are formed, and is positioned above the ejection surface 50, and an ink supply unit An ink supply port 51 to which ink i is supplied from 36 and an ink flow path 52 that guides the ink i supplied from the ink supply port 51 to each nozzle are provided. A plurality of nozzles 55 a are arranged on the ejection surface 50 in a substantially straight line over a length corresponding to the width of the recording paper P. The ink supply port 51 is provided at the center of the upper surface of the ink flow path 52 and communicates with the ink supply unit 36. The ink flow path 52 is provided substantially linearly over a length corresponding to the width of the recording paper P so that the ink i is supplied to each nozzle 55a. In the head portion 37, head chips 53 each having a predetermined number of nozzles 55a are arranged in a staggered manner. That is, the head chips 53 are arranged so as to be alternately arranged in the width direction of the recording paper P with the ink flow path 52 interposed therebetween.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the head chip 53 includes a circuit board 54 on which various electric circuits are formed, a nozzle sheet 55 on which a plurality of nozzles 55a are formed, and a nozzle 55a between the circuit board 54 and the nozzle sheet 55. A film 56 that is divided every time, an ink liquid chamber 57 that pressurizes the ink i supplied through the ink flow path 52, and a heating resistor 58 that heats the ink i supplied to the ink liquid chamber 57. .

  The circuit board 54 forms a control circuit including a logic IC (Integrated Circuit), a driver transistor, and the like on a semiconductor wafer made of silicon or the like, and forms an upper surface portion of the ink liquid chamber 57. The nozzle sheet 55 is formed with a nozzle 55a having a reduced diameter toward the ejection surface 50, and is disposed so as to face the circuit board 54 and the film 56, thereby forming a lower surface portion of the ink liquid chamber 57. ing. The film 56 is made of, for example, an exposure-curing type dry film resist, and is formed so as to surround each nozzle 55a except for the portion communicating with the ink flow path 52 described above. Further, the film 56 is interposed between the circuit board 54 and the nozzle sheet 55, thereby forming a side surface portion of the ink liquid chamber 57.

  The ink liquid chamber 57 is surrounded by the circuit board 54, the nozzle sheet 55, and the film 56 described above, thereby forming a pressurizing space that pressurizes the ink i supplied from the ink flow path 52 for each nozzle 55a.

  The heating resistor 58 is disposed on the circuit board 54 facing the ink liquid chamber 57 and is electrically connected to a control circuit or the like provided on the circuit board 54. The heating resistor 58 generates heat by being controlled by a control circuit or the like, and heats the ink i in the ink liquid chamber 57.

  In the head chip 53, the heating resistor 58 is driven and controlled by the control circuit of the circuit board 54. Specifically, a pulse current is supplied to the heating resistor 58 selected by the control circuit only for about 1 to 3 microseconds, for example. Thereby, in the head chip 53, the heating resistor 58 is rapidly heated, and bubbles b are generated in the ink i in the ink liquid chamber 57 in contact with the heating resistor 58, as shown in FIG. In the head chip 53, as shown in FIG. 6B, the ink i is pressurized while the bubbles b expand in the ink liquid chamber 57, and the pushed ink i becomes a droplet. It is discharged from the nozzle 55a. In the head chip 53, after the ink i droplet is ejected, the ink i is supplied to the ink liquid chamber 57 through the ink flow path 52, thereby returning to the state before ejection again.

  In the head chip 53 described above, a film 56 is formed over the entire main surface of the circuit board 54, and the film 56 is formed into a shape corresponding to the ink liquid chamber 57 by using a photolithography technique. It is formed by laminating a nozzle sheet 55 thereon. In addition, the head chip 53 described above employs an electrothermal conversion method in which the ink i is ejected while being heated by the heating resistor 58, but is not limited to such a method, for example, an electromechanical conversion such as a piezoelectric element. An electromechanical conversion method in which ink i droplets are ejected electromechanically by an element may be employed.

  A head unit 37 is provided below the ink supply unit 36 corresponding to each color described above. The bottom surface of the cartridge main body 12 is provided with discharge surfaces 50 of the head portions 37 corresponding to the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k, respectively, along the short side direction of the cartridge main body 12. These form a continuous discharge surface 50.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the bottom surface of the cartridge main body 12 protects the ejection surface 50 described above, prevents drying of the ink i exposed from the nozzle 55a of the ejection surface 50, and other than the nozzle 55a of the ejection surface 50. A head cap 61 for cleaning the ink i attached to the region is provided.

  The head cap 61 is provided with a cap portion 62 that closes the ejection surface 50 of the cartridge main body 12 and a pair of cap holding pieces 63 that are detachably held with respect to the cartridge main body 12.

  The cap part 62 serves as a tray that prevents the ink i from dripping from the head part 37. The cap portion 62 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape so that the entire bottom surface portion of the cartridge body 12 on which the ejection surface 50 is formed can be closed. In the head cap portion 62, as a maintenance mechanism for maintaining the discharge surface 50, when the discharge surface 50 is moved in the opening direction, the discarded ink discharged from the nozzle 55a along the long side positioned on the upstream side. Is formed, and a cleaning roller 65 for removing ink adhering to the ejection surface 50 is provided adjacent to the downstream side of the ink receiving portion 64.

  The waste ink receiver 64 is formed of an ink absorber having excellent ink absorbability, such as a sponge, and sucks the discarded ink discharged from the nozzle 55a. In the head cartridge 2, when clogging or bubble mixing occurs in the nozzle 55 a of the discharge surface 50, the ink i is forcibly discharged from the head chip 53 and discharged to the waste ink receiver 64 to clog or bubble mixing. Eliminate etc. At this time, the head cap 61 functions as a tray for receiving the ink i forcibly ejected from the nozzle 55a by the cap portion 62.

  The cleaning roller 65 is also formed of an ink absorber having an excellent ink absorbability on the peripheral surface of the cleaning roller 65, similarly to the waste ink receiver 64. The cleaning roller 65 removes excess ink i attached to the ejection surface 50 while being in contact with the ejection surface 50 of the cartridge body 12 as the head cap 61 is opened and closed. Specifically, in order to remove the ink i adhering to the nozzle surface 50, in addition to using the cleaning roller 65, the ink i is sucked with a non-woven fabric, or the ink i is wiped off with an elastically displaceable blade or the like. It may be.

  The cap unit 62 further includes a waste ink storage unit 64a that stores unnecessary ink. The ink absorber 64a is formed of the ink absorber as described above, and is connected to the waste ink receiver 64 and the cleaning roller 65 so as to contact the ink sucked by the waste ink receiver 64 and the cleaning roller 65. It sucks by capillary action etc. and holds unnecessary ink.

  As described above, the waste ink receiver 64, the cleaning roller 65, and the waste ink storage section 64a absorb the ink i, and are consumed in that the ink absorption capacity is lost when the ink absorption allowable amount is reached. It is a product.

  The cap holding pieces 63 are a pair of guide projecting pieces that protrude upward on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the cap portion 62 and whose front ends are bent at substantially right angles toward the outside. That is, it is formed so as to protrude over the short side direction of the cap portion 62.

  On the other hand, a pair of guides with which a pair of cap holding pieces 63 provided on the cap portion 62 are engaged from one end side in the short side direction on the bottom surface portion of the cartridge body 12 to which the head cap 61 is attached, that is, the ejection surface 50. A groove 59 is formed. The pair of guide grooves 59 correspond to the pair of cap holding pieces 63 to form recesses that are cut at a predetermined depth from the bottom surface of the cartridge main body 12 and cut at substantially right angles toward the outside. ing. The pair of guide grooves 59 are located on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the cartridge body 12 and are formed in parallel with each other in the short side direction of the cartridge body 12. Therefore, the head cap 61 is configured such that the discharge surface 50 of the cartridge main body 12 is moved to the cap portion while sliding in the short side direction of the cartridge main body 12 by engaging the pair of cap holding pieces 63 with the pair of guide grooves 59. It is moved to the closing position where 62 is closed. Further, the head cap 61 slides a cap portion 62 that closes the ejection surface 50 of the cartridge body 12 toward the outside along the pair of guide grooves 59 in the short side direction of the cartridge body 12. The cartridge body 12 can be removed from one end side in the short side direction. That is, the head cap 61 is a replacement part that can be easily attached to and detached from the cartridge body 12.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the ejection surface 50 has a cleaning in which at least a region facing the cleaning roller 65 is recessed toward the ink tank 11 at a position facing the cleaning roller 65 when being closed by the head cap 61. An escape portion 60 for the roller 65 is provided. Specifically, the escape portion 60 prevents the cleaning roller 65 from contacting the ejection surface 50 when the cleaning roller 65 does not perform the cleaning operation. As a result, the cleaning roller 65 is brought into contact with the ejection surface 50 only when the cleaning operation is performed, and it is possible to prevent the elastic force of the cleaning roller 65 that cleans the ejection surface 50 from being deteriorated.

  By the way, when the head cap 61 is in the forward path of opening the nozzle surface 50, the cleaning roller 65 comes into contact with the discharge surface 50 and sucks and removes the ink i attached to the discharge surface 50 and the ink i in the nozzle 55a. When the return path closes the surface 50, the discharge surface 50 is not contacted and the discharge surface 50 is not cleaned. When the ejection surface 50 is cleaned by the reciprocation of the head cap 61, the ink i in the nozzle 55a is sucked and removed twice in the forward path and the return path in which the head cap 61 reciprocates, and the ink i in the nozzle 55a is more than necessary. It is because it will remove too much. Therefore, the cap unit 62 is provided with an elevating mechanism 66 for bringing the cleaning roller 65 into contact with the ejection surface 50 only in the forward path in which the head cap 61 opens the nozzle surface 50.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the elevating mechanism 66 is provided in the head cap portion 62, and includes an elevating member 67 to which the cleaning roller 65 is attached, and an elevating control lever 68 that controls the elevating member 67 to elevate. The elevating member 67 is formed with a support piece 67a for rotatably supporting the cleaning roller 65, and the support piece 67a supports the support shaft 65a of the cleaning roller 65. The elevating member 67 is attached so as to be movable in the arrow X direction or the counter arrow X direction in FIG. 8 that is close to and away from the ejection surface 50 by a guide wall 67 b formed on the bottom plate of the cap portion 62. The guide wall 67b is formed with a locking portion 67c projecting inward at the tip, and a stepped portion 67d of the elevating member 67 is locked to the locking portion 67c. When the lifting member 67 moves in the direction of arrow X in FIG. 8, which is close to the discharge surface 50, the locking portion 67 c is locked to the stepped portion 67 d of the lifting member 67, thereby Restrict movement in the close direction. Further, the lift member 67 is formed with a pressed portion 67 d that is pressed by the lift control lever 68. In such a lifting member 67, an elastic body 69 such as a coil spring is disposed between the bottom plate of the cap part 62 and the lifting member 67. The elastic body 69 constantly urges the elevating member 67 in the direction indicated by the arrow X in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the lifting control lever 68 is formed in a substantially L shape, one piece is a control piece 68 a, and the other piece is a pressing piece that presses the pressed portion 67 d of the lifting member 67. 68b. The lift control lever 68 has an arrow in FIG. 8 at a corner by a rotation support piece 68c formed on the bottom plate of the cap portion 62, and a support shaft 68d formed on either the rotation support piece 68c or the corner. It is attached so as to be rotatable in the Y direction and the opposite arrow Y direction. The control piece 68a is formed such that the end surface in the moving direction of the head cap 61 is inclined and the tip is tapered. The control piece 68a is urged in the direction of arrow Z in FIG. 8 by a pulling member 68e such as a coil spring. That is, the lifting control lever 68 is biased about the support shaft 68 in a direction in which the pressing piece 68 d does not press the pressed portion 67 d of the lifting member 67.

  The lifting mechanism 66 as described above is in a state as shown in FIG. 8 when the ejection cap 50 is closed by the head cap 61. That is, the cleaning roller 65 is located in the escape portion 60 of the nozzle surface 50, and the elevation control lever 68 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow Y in FIG. 8 by the pulling force of the pulling member 68e around the support shaft 68d. The control piece 68a is in a state of non-contact with the bottom surface of the head cartridge 2 by the escape portion 60, and the pressing piece 68b is not pressing the pressed portion 67d of the elevating member 67. . Therefore, the elevating member 67 is in the state of being moved in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 8 adjacent to the ejection surface 50 by the urging force of the elastic body 69.

  When the head cap 61 is in the forward path to open the nozzle surface 50, the control piece 68a moves from the notch 60 on the bottom surface of the head cartridge 2 to the ejection surface 50 as shown in FIG. Then, when the tip of the control piece 68a is pressed by the discharge surface 50, the lifting control lever 68 is separated from the pressed portion 67d of the lifting member 67 in FIG. It rotates in the direction of the opposite arrow Y. Therefore, the pressing piece 68b of the lifting control lever 68 does not yet press the pressed portion 67d of the lifting member 67. Then, the cleaning roller 65 urged by the elastic body 69 in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 9 is pressed against the ejection surface 50, rotates around the support shaft 65a, and removes the ink i adhering to the ejection surface 50 by suction. To do.

  As shown in FIG. 10, when the head cap 61 is in the return path that closes the ejection surface 50, the tip of the control piece 68 a of the elevation control lever 68 that is in contact with the ejection surface 50 is pressed by the ejection surface 50, and the tension member It rotates in the direction of arrow Y in FIG. 10 about the support shaft 68d against the pulling force of 68e. Then, the pressing piece 68 b of the lifting control lever 68 presses the pressed portion 67 d of the lifting member 67. Then, the elevating member 67 is separated from the discharge surface 50 while being guided by the guide wall 67b against the urging force of the elastic body 69 when the pressed portion 67d is pressed by the pressing piece 68b. Move in the X direction. Therefore, during the return path, the cleaning roller 65 moves to the escape portion 60 without being suctioned and removed from the ink i attached to the ejection surface 50 while being separated from the ejection surface 50.

  In the head cartridge 2 configured as described above, maintenance such as cleaning of the ejection surface 50 and ejection of discarded ink can be performed in accordance with the slide of the head cap 61. The waste ink receiver 64, the cleaning roller 65, and the waste ink storage section 64a absorb ink i and are consumables in that the ink absorption capability is lost when the ink absorption capacity is reached. Thus, the head cap 61 having a plurality of consumables is handled as a replacement part, and is replaced when the waste ink receiver 64, the cleaning roller 65, or the waste ink reservoir 64a stops functioning. Accordingly, in the printer apparatus 1, since the head cap 61 is a replacement part, only the new head cap 61 is attached when the ink absorption effect of the waste ink receiver 64, the cleaning roller 65, and the waste ink reservoir 64a is reduced. The cleaning effect can be restored just by exchanging, and the life of the apparatus can be extended.

  The head cap 61 as described above is provided with a waste ink receptor 64 and a cleaning roller 65 as a maintenance mechanism. Further, the ink i that contacts the ejection surface 50 and adheres to the ejection surface 50 is removed. As a means for removing, in addition to the cleaning roller 65, a blade that can be elastically displaced in the moving direction of the head cap 61 may be provided.

  Next, the printer main body 3 to which the head cartridge 2 configured as described above is mounted will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the printer main body 3 has a structure assembled inside an outer casing 71 composed of an upper casing 71a and a lower casing 71b in order to prevent dust and the like from entering the inside. is doing.

  Further, in the printer main body 3, the front side of the outer casing 71 is a pair of supports provided on both side surfaces of the upper casing 71a on a frame (not shown) in the lower casing 71b as shown in FIGS. By supporting the shaft 72, the upper housing 71a can be opened and closed with respect to the lower housing 71b.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a feed / discharge port 73 through which the recording paper P is fed / discharged is provided on the front surface of the outer casing 71. The storage tray 74 for storing the recording paper P is attached to the paper supply / discharge port 73 to enable paper feeding. The recording paper P passes through the paper supply / discharge port 73 and the front side of the opening end of the storage tray 74 is provided. The paper is discharged onto the lid tray 75 that closes.

  The upper housing 71a is provided with a head mounting portion 76 to which the above-described head cartridge 2 is mounted. The head mounting portion 76 includes an opening 77 corresponding to the head cartridge 2 and a holding frame 78 that holds the outer periphery of the head cartridge 2 so as to surround the opening 77. When the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting portion 76, the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2 faces a printing position in the lower housing 71b described later. As shown in FIG. 2, a handle portion 79 is attached to the head cartridge 2. Thereby, the head cartridge 2 can be easily attached to and detached from the head mounting portion 76 at the time of replacement.

  A lid 71c that closes the opening 77 of the head mounting portion 76 is attached to the upper housing 71a so as to be openable and closable. The lid 71c forms an upper surface continuous with the upper casing 71a when the opening 77 of the head mounting portion 76 is closed. Further, the lid 71 c can close the opening 77 even when the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting portion 76.

  On the upper surface of the upper casing 71a, the operation button 80 for performing various operations, the printing state, the replacement time of the head cap 61, etc. A display panel 81 or the like is provided.

  Furthermore, a head cartridge holding mechanism 82 that detachably holds the head cartridge 2 with respect to the head mounting portion 76 when the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting portion 76 is provided on the upper surface portion of the upper casing 71a. ing. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the head cartridge holding mechanism 82 includes a knob 82a provided in the head cartridge 2 and a spring (not shown) provided in the locking hole 82b of the holding frame 78 of the upper housing 71a. The reference surface 3a provided at the upper end of the holding frame 78 in the printer main body 3 and the outer peripheral surface 2a facing the reference surface 3a of the head cartridge 2 are pressure-bonded. The head cartridge 2 is positioned, held and fixed with respect to the upper housing 71a. As a result, the head cartridge holding mechanism 82 disposes the ejection surface 50 of the cartridge body 12 and the main surface of the recording paper P conveyed to the printing position by the conveyance belt 134 described later in parallel with each other at a predetermined interval. Can do.

  As shown in FIG. 13, in the upper casing 71a, a head cap that opens and closes a head cap 61 attached to the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2 when the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting portion 76. An opening / closing mechanism 83 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 13 to 15, the head cap opening / closing mechanism 83 includes a guide mechanism 91 for guiding the movement of the head cap 61 between a closing position for closing the discharge surface 50 and a position for opening the discharge surface 50; The head cap 61 guided by the guide mechanism 91 has a drive mechanism 92 that moves between a closed position and an open position.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the guide mechanism 91 includes a slider 101 that holds the head cap 61, and a pair of guide portions 102 that guide the slider 101 slidably between the open position and the closed position of the head cap 61. And have.

  As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the slider 101 is formed of a substantially rectangular frame corresponding to the head cap 61 so as to hold the outer periphery of the head cap 61. The slider 101 is provided with a pair of front and rear guide pins 103a and 103b projecting outward from both longitudinal frame portions. Of these guide pins 103a and 103b, the length of the front-side guide pin 103a is longer than the length of the back-side guide pin 103b.

  The slider 101 is formed with a pair of front and rear engaging projections 104a and 104b that project inward from both longitudinal frame portions. On the other hand, on the bottom surface of the head cap 61, a pair of front and rear engagement recesses 105a and 105b are formed to engage the pair of front and rear engagement protrusions 104a and 104b. Between the pair of front and rear engaging projections 104a and 104b, a pair of support pieces 106 that support the bottom surface of the head cap 61 are formed so as to protrude inward from both longitudinal frame portions.

  The slider 101 has a pair of front and rear engaging projections 104 a and 104 b engaged with a pair of front and rear engaging recesses 105 a and 105 b of the head cap 61 when the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting portion 76. The pair of support pieces 106 support the bottom surface portion of the head cap 61 to hold the outer peripheral portion of the head cap 61.

  The pair of guide portions 102 is formed of a frame integrally formed with the holding frame 78 of the head mounting portion 76 described above, and has side plate portions that are positioned outside the slider 101 and are parallel to each other. The pair of guide portions 102 is formed with a pair of front and rear guide holes 107a and 107b with which the pair of front and rear guide pins 103a and 103b of the slider 101 are engaged.

  Specifically, the pair of front and rear guide holes 107a and 107b are arranged such that the head cap 61 moves toward the front side of the upper casing 71a from the closed position where the head cap 61 closes the ejection surface 50 of the cartridge body 12. The horizontal portion 108a that slides the pair of front and rear guide pins 103a and 103b in the horizontal direction to the attachment / detachment position with respect to the attachment / detachment position, and the discharge of the cartridge body 12 from the attachment / detachment position further toward the front side of the upper casing 71a. An inclined portion 108b that slides the pair of front and rear guide pins 103a and 103b obliquely upward to an open position that opens the surface 50a and is located above the discharge surface 50 is provided. That is, the pair of guide portions 102 engages the slider 101 between the open position and the closed position of the head cap 61 by engaging the pair of front and rear guide pins 103a and 103b with the pair of front and rear guide holes 107a and 107b. It is slidably supported in the front-rear direction.

  As described above, in the guide mechanism 91, the closing position for closing the ejection surface 50 of the cartridge main body 12 while the head cap 61 detachably attached to the cartridge main body 12 is held by the slider 101, and the cartridge The discharge surface 50 of the main body 12 is opened, and the movement between the open position located above the discharge surface 50 can be guided.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the drive mechanism 92 that moves the slider 101 holding the head cap 61 guided by the guide mechanism 91 as described above has a drive motor 111 serving as a drive source on the lower housing 71b side. The worm 112 attached to the rotation shaft of the drive motor 111, the pinion gear 113 meshed with the worm 112, and the movement moved in the front-rear direction by meshing with the pinion gear 113 on the upper housing 71a side. Plate 114.

  The moving plate 114 is a substantially rectangular flat plate member arranged outside the guide portion 102 described above, and a rack gear 115 that meshes with the pinion gear 113 is formed at the lower end portion thereof in the front-rear direction. .

  On the upper side of the moving plate 114, a pair of front and rear guide pins 116a and 116b are formed protruding toward the guide portion. On the other hand, the pair of guide portions 102 is formed with a horizontal slit 117 linearly extending in the front-rear direction so that the pair of front and rear guide pins 116a and 116b are engaged. Therefore, the movable plate 114 can slide in the front-rear direction by sliding the pair of front and rear guide pins 116 a and 116 b in the horizontal slit 117.

  On the front side of the moving plate 114, a vertical slit 118 is formed linearly in the vertical direction to engage the front-side guide pin 103a penetrating the above-described front-side guide hole 107a.

  In the drive mechanism 92 as described above, when the drive motor 111 is driven to rotate, the worm 112 and the pinion gear 113 that are meshed with each other rotate, and the moving plate 114 is moved in the front-rear direction by the meshing of the pinion gear 113 and the rack gear 115. Driven by. Accordingly, a pair of front and rear guide pins 103 a and 103 b of the slider 101 are moved in the vertical direction while the guide pins 103 a on the front side of the slider 101 slide in the vertical slit 118 of the moving plate 114. Slide in the guide holes 107a and 107b in the front-rear direction. Thereby, the moving plate 114 moves the slider 101 holding the head cap 61 between the open position and the closed position.

  On the other hand, inside the lower casing 71b, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 16, the recording paper P is supplied to the head cartridge 2, and the recording paper P printed by the head cartridge 2 is discharged to the outside. A paper discharge mechanism 121 is provided. Specifically, the paper feed / discharge mechanism 121 includes a paper feed unit 122 that feeds the recording paper P from the storage tray 74 and a transport unit that transports the recording paper P fed by the paper feed unit 122 to the printing position. 123 and a paper discharge unit 124 that discharges the recording paper P conveyed by the conveyance unit 123, and these parts are assembled to a frame (not shown) or the like in the lower housing 71b.

  The paper feeding unit 122 that feeds the recording paper P from the storage tray 74 transports the recording paper P in the storage tray 74 as a paper feeding unit for feeding the recording paper P from the storage tray 74 to the transport unit 123. And a pair of separation rollers 132a and 132b for feeding the recording paper P fed by the paper feed roller 131 to the transport unit 123 one by one. In addition, they are driven to rotate in the directions of arrows A1, A2, and A3 in FIG.

  The paper feed roller 131 is disposed above the recording paper P facing the opening end on the back side of the storage tray 74, and the outer peripheral surface thereof is pushed up by a paper lifting mechanism provided in the storage tray 74. Contact with the paper P is possible. The pair of separation rollers 132a and 132b are positioned in the vicinity of the back side of the paper feed roller 131, and are rotationally driven in the same direction while sandwiching the recording paper P fed by the paper feed roller 131 therebetween. As a result, even if the paper feed roller 131 mistakenly feeds two sheets of recording paper P at the same time, one separation roller 132a feeds one sheet of recording paper P in contact with the outer peripheral surface to the back side, and the other side When the separation roller 132b sends back another sheet of recording paper P in contact with the outer peripheral surface thereof to the storage tray 74 on the front side, only one sheet can be sent to the back side.

  The transport unit 123 that transports the recording paper P fed by the paper feed unit 122 to the printing position as described above serves as a transport unit for transporting the recording paper P from the paper feed unit 122 to the paper discharge unit 124. The reversing roller 133 reverses the feeding direction of the recording paper P, and the conveying belt 134 conveys the recording paper P reversed by the reversing roller 133 to the printing position.

  The reverse roller 133 is disposed on the back side in the outer casing 71, and is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 16 by a driving mechanism (not shown) provided in the lower casing 71b. Further, on the back side of the reversing roller 133, a plurality of pressing rollers 135 a, 135 b, 135 c that press the recording paper P reversed along the outer peripheral surface of the reversing roller 133 and the outer peripheral surface of the reversing roller 133 are opposed. A curved first regulating plate 136 that regulates the movement of the recording paper P is provided. A first guide plate 137 for guiding the recording paper P is provided between the reversing roller 133 and the pair of separation rollers 132a and 132b on the lower housing 71b side. Further, between the reversing roller 133 and the conveying belt 134, a second guide plate 138 that guides the recording paper P, and a plane that faces the second guide plate 138 and restricts the movement of the recording paper P. A second restriction plate 139 is provided on the upper housing 71a side.

  The conveying belt 134 is an endless belt that is stretched between the driving pulley 140a and the driven pulley 140b, and is driven by a driving mechanism (not shown) provided in the lower housing 71b so that the driving pulley 140a is rotated. In FIG. 16, the recording paper P is transported to the front side of the printer device 1 in the direction of arrow C.

  In the vicinity of the transport belt 134, a platen 141 is provided for allowing the recording paper P transported to the printing position to face the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2. Further, the transport belt 134 is pushed down by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the platen 141 by a pair of pinch rollers 142a and 142b at the front and rear of the platen 141. Further, the platen 141 is arranged in parallel with the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2 described above at a printing position shown in FIG.

  The lower casing 71b is located between a transport position where the transport operation is performed at the time of printing shown in FIG. 16 and a retracted position which is located below the transport position and is retracted when not driven as shown in FIGS. Thus, a belt elevating mechanism 143 for elevating the conveying belt 134 described above is provided.

  Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the belt elevating mechanism 143 elevates and lowers the driven pulley 140b side of the conveying belt 134 that is stretched between the driving pulley 140a and the driven pulley 140b described above. The first rotating member 151 rotated around the support shaft 144, the first rotating member 151, and the tension coil spring 145 are provided on both side surfaces of a frame (not shown) in the lower housing 71b. It has a second rotating member 152 that is connected and rotated about a support shaft 144, and a slide member 153 that is slid in the front-rear direction by a drive mechanism (not shown).

  The first rotating member 151 is a flat plate member disposed on the front side of the head mounting portion 76 described above, and a support shaft whose end on the front side is attached to a frame (not shown) in the lower housing 71b. A slit 154 that rotatably supports the driven pulley 140b described above is provided at an end portion on the back surface side thereof while being rotatably supported by the 144. The first rotating member 151 has a locking piece 155 that protrudes upward from the middle portion on the upper end side, and the locking piece 155 has a hole that locks one end of the tension coil spring 145. A portion 155a is provided. The first rotating member 151 is provided with a stopper for restricting the first rotating member 151 from being rotated upward from the conveying position when the first rotating member 151 is rotated to the conveying position.

  The second rotating member 152 is a flat plate member disposed on the front side of the first rotating member 151 described above, and is located on the outer side of the first rotating member 151 and is disposed on the back side thereof. The end is rotatably supported by the support shaft 144. The second rotating member 152 includes a first arm 156 that extends upward from an intermediate portion on the upper end side, and a second arm 157 that extends upward from an end portion on the front surface side. have.

  The first arm 156 has a locking piece 158 that protrudes toward the back side at the tip, and the locking piece 158 is provided with a notch 158 a that locks the other end of the tension coil spring 145. It has been. Therefore, one end of the tension coil spring 145 is locked in the hole 155 a of the locking piece 155 provided in the first rotating member 151 and the other end is locked in the second rotating member 152. The first rotating member 151 and the second rotating member 152 are connected by being locked to the notch 158 a of the piece 158.

  The second arm 157 has a contact surface 157a that comes into contact with an operating protrusion 159 of a slide member 153, which will be described later. The contact surface 157a is provided with a predetermined length in the vertical direction. Yes.

  The slide member 153 is made of a long flat plate member, and is supported on a frame (not shown) in the lower housing 71b on the inner side of the first rotating member 151 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction. . A rack gear 153a meshed with a pinion gear of a drive mechanism (not shown) is formed at the lower end portion of the slide member 153 in the front-rear direction, and the slide member 153 is slid in the front-rear direction by this drive mechanism.

  The drive mechanism has, on the lower housing 71b side, a drive motor as a drive source, a worm attached to the rotation shaft of the drive motor, and a pinion gear meshed with the worm, and the pinion gear Is engaged with the rack gear 153a of the slide member 153, and the slide member 153 is moved in the front-rear direction by the driving force of the drive motor.

  On one main surface side of the slide member 153, an operation protrusion 159 that comes into contact with the second arm 157 of the second rotating member 152 described above is provided to protrude outward. The operating protrusion 159 rotates the second rotating member 152 around the support shaft 144 while contacting the contact surface 157a of the second arm 157 by sliding the slide member 153 back and forth. Move.

  In the belt elevating mechanism 143, when the slide member 153 is slid in the front-rear direction by the drive mechanism, the second projecting member 152 moves while the operating protrusion 159 is in sliding contact with the contact surface 157a of the second arm 157. It is rotated around the support shaft 144. Then, the driven pulley that is rotatably held in the slit 154 while the first rotating member 151 connected to the second rotating member 152 via the tension coil spring 145 rotates about the support shaft 144. 140b is moved up and down. Thereby, the conveyance belt 134 spanned between the driving pulley 140a and the driven pulley 140b described above can be raised and lowered between the conveyance position and the retracted position.

  As shown in FIGS. 11 and 16, the paper discharge unit 124 that discharges the recording paper P conveyed by the conveyance unit 123 as described above is for discharging the recording paper P conveyed by the conveyance unit 123. As a paper discharge means, it has a spur 146 arranged to face the driven pulley 140b via the transport belt 134, and feeds the recording paper P from between the spur 146 and the transport belt 134 toward the paper supply / discharge port 73 side.

  Next, the control circuit 161 for controlling the printer apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. The control circuit 161 includes a printer driving unit 162 that controls driving of the head cap opening / closing mechanism 83, the paper feeding / discharging mechanism 121, and the belt lifting / lowering mechanism 143 of the printer main body 3 described above, and ink of each color. a discharge control unit 163 for controlling the current supplied to the head chip 53 corresponding to i, a warning unit 164 for notifying the user of the replacement timing of the head cap 61, and the input / output of signals with the external device I / O terminals 165 for performing the control, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 166 in which a control program and the like are recorded, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 167 in which the read control program and the like are loaded, and data relating to maintenance are stored. A maintenance memory 168 and a control unit 169 that controls each unit are included.

  Based on the control signal from the control unit 169, the printer driving unit 162 controls the head cap opening / closing mechanism 83 to drive the driving mechanism 92 constituting the head cap opening / closing mechanism 83 to open / close the head cap 61. The printer driving unit 162 feeds the recording paper P from the storage tray 74 of the printer main body 3 by driving a driving mechanism (not shown) constituting the paper feeding / discharging mechanism 121 based on a control signal from the control unit 169. The paper supply / discharge mechanism 121 is controlled to send the recording paper P to the paper supply / discharge port 73 side after printing. The printer driving unit 162 drives a driving mechanism (not shown) that constitutes the belt lifting mechanism 143 based on a control signal from the control unit 169 to transport the transport belt provided in the paper feeding / discharging mechanism 121 at the time of printing. The belt elevating mechanism 143 is controlled so as to be raised and lowered between the position and the retracted position retracted when not driven.

  The ejection control unit 163 switches the switching element for turning on / off the electrical connection with an external power source that supplies a pulse current to the heating resistor 58 provided in the head chip 53, and the pulse current value supplied to the heating resistor 58. An electric circuit having a resistor to be adjusted, a control circuit unit for controlling on / off switching of a switching element, and the like is provided. The ejection control unit 163 adjusts the pulse current supplied to the heating resistor 58 provided in the head chip 53 based on the control signal from the control unit 169, and generates bubbles b in the ink i in the ink liquid chamber 57. Thus, the ink i is discharged from the nozzle 55a.

  The warning unit 164 is a display unit such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), for example, and displays information such as a printing condition, a printing state, and an ink remaining amount. The warning unit 164 is, for example, the display panel 81 described above. Note that the warning unit 164 may be a voice output unit such as a speaker. In this case, information such as a printing condition, a printing state, and a remaining amount of ink is output by voice. Further, the warning unit 164 may be configured to include both display means and sound output means. Further, this warning may be given by a monitor or a speaker of the information processing apparatus 170.

  The input / output terminal 165 transmits information such as the above-described printing conditions, printing state, ink remaining amount, and the like to an external information processing apparatus 170 or the like via an interface. The input / output terminal 165 receives a control signal for outputting information such as the above-described printing conditions, printing state, ink remaining amount, print data, and the like from an external information processing apparatus 170 or the like. Here, the information processing apparatus 170 described above is an electronic device such as a personal computer or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).

  The input / output terminal 165 connected to the information processing apparatus 170 or the like can use, for example, a serial interface or a parallel interface as an interface, and specifically, USB (Universal Serial Bus), RS (Recommended Standard) 232C, IEEE (Institute). of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 1394. Further, the input / output terminal 165 may perform data communication with the information processing apparatus 170 in any form of wired communication or wireless communication. Note that the wireless communication standards include IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and the like.

  A network such as the Internet may be interposed between the input / output terminal 165 and the information processing apparatus 170. In this case, the input / output terminal 165 may be, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) or ISDN (Integrated Services Digital). Network, xDSL (Digital Subscriber Line), FTHP (Fiber To The Home), CATV (Community Antenna TeleVision), BS (Broadcasting Satellite), etc., and data communication is performed using TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / This is performed according to various protocols such as Internet Protocol.

  The ROM 166 is a memory such as an EP-ROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), for example, and stores a program for each process performed by the control unit 169. The stored program is loaded into the RAM 167 by the control unit 169. The RAM 167 stores a program read from the ROM 166 by the control unit 169 and various states of the printer apparatus 1.

  The maintenance memory 170 is also composed of a memory such as an EP-ROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory). In this printer apparatus 1, as described above, in order to prevent clogging of the nozzles 55 a on the ejection surface 50, ink is ejected empty, that is, waste ink is ejected to the waste ink receiver 64. The allowable amount of ink in the waste ink receiver 64 and the waste ink reservoir 64a is known, and it is also known how many times the ink disposal reaches the allowable amount. In view of this, the maintenance memory 170 stores upper limit data of the number of times ink is ejected until the ink capacity of the waste ink receiver 64 and the waste ink reservoir 64a is reached. The head cap 61 is provided with a cleaning roller 65 for cleaning the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge. The cleaning roller 65 is also formed of an ink absorber and has an ink absorption allowance. Therefore, the maintenance memory 170 stores upper limit data on the number of times the cleaning roller 65 is used. As described above, since the cleaning roller 65 performs cleaning only in the forward path while the head cap 61 opens and closes the ejection surface 50, the number of times the cleaning roller 65 is used is the same as the number of times the head cap 61 is opened and closed. Become. Further, the maintenance memory 170 stores the number of ejections of discarded ink from the start of use of the head cap 61 and the number of uses of the cleaning roller 65.

  The control unit 169 controls each unit based on the print data input from the input / output terminal 165, the remaining amount data of the ink i input from the head cartridge 2, and the like. The control unit 169 reads a processing program for controlling each unit based on the input control signal and the like from the ROM 166 and stores it in the RAM 167, and controls and processes each unit based on this processing program. That is, the control unit 169 controls the head cap opening / closing mechanism 83 to open and close the head cap 61 based on a processing program stored in the ROM 166, or feeds the recording paper P from the storage tray 74 and supplies it after printing. A belt elevating mechanism that controls the paper supply / discharge mechanism 121 so as to feed the recording paper P toward the paper output port 73, and moves the conveyance belt provided in the paper supply / discharge mechanism 121 up and down between the conveyance position and the retracted position. 143 is controlled.

  The control unit 169 counts the number of times the head cap 61 is opened and closed by the head cap opening / closing mechanism 83, that is, the number of times the discharge surface 50 is cleaned by the cleaning roller 65, and stores the count in the maintenance memory 170. When the head cap 61 moves between the position where the ejection surface 50 is closed and the position where it is opened, when the cleaning roller 65 is used in the forward path and the return path without using the above-described lifting mechanism 66, the head cap 61 is moved once. The number of uses of the cleaning roller 65 in the reciprocation may be defined as two. Further, the control unit 169 counts the number of times of ejection of discarded ink that is performed when the head cap 61 opens and closes the ejection surface 50, and stores it in the maintenance memory 170.

  Then, the control unit 168 compares the upper limit data of the number of discarded ink ejections stored in the maintenance memory 170 with the current discarded ink ejection number data. Further, the control unit 168 compares the upper limit data on the number of times of use of the cleaning roller 65 stored in the maintenance memory 170 with the current number of times of use of the cleaning roller 65. The control unit 168 displays a warning to the user in the warning unit 164 when either the number of times of ejection of the discarded ink or the number of uses of the cleaning roller 65 reaches the upper limit data.

  In the control circuit 161 configured as described above, the processing program is stored in the ROM 166. However, the medium for storing the processing program is not limited to the ROM 166. For example, the processing program is recorded. Various recording media such as an optical disc, a magnetic disc, a magneto-optical disc, and an IC card can be used. In this case, the control circuit 161 is connected to a drive for driving various recording media directly or via the information processing apparatus 170 so as to read out the processing program from these recording media.

  Here, the printing operation of the printer apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This operation is executed by arithmetic processing or the like of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) in the control unit 169 based on a processing program stored in a storage unit such as the ROM 166.

  As shown in FIG. 20, first, the user operates the operation button 80 provided on the printer main body 3 to instruct the printer apparatus 1 to execute the printing operation. Next, in step S <b> 1, the control unit 169 determines whether the ink tank 11 of a predetermined color is mounted on each tank mounting unit 31 and whether the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting unit 76 of the printer main body 3. Judging. The control unit 169 proceeds to step S2 when the ink tank 11 of a predetermined color is appropriately mounted on all the tank mounting units 31 and the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting unit 76 of the printer main body 3. When the ink tank 11 is not properly mounted on the tank mounting portion 31, or when the head cartridge 2 is not mounted on the head mounting portion 76 of the printer body 3, the process proceeds to step S4, and the printing operation is prohibited.

  In step S2, the control unit 169 determines whether or not the ink i in the ink tank 11 is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, that is, is in an ink-free state. In step S4, the printing operation is prohibited. On the other hand, when the ink i in the ink tank 11 is a predetermined amount or more, that is, when the ink i is filled, the control unit 169 permits the printing operation in step S3.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the printer device 1 permitted to perform the printing operation is in a state in which the outer peripheral portion of the head cap 61 held on the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2 is held by the slider 101 of the guide mechanism 91. . In addition, in the printer apparatus 1 before the printing operation, in order to prevent the transport belt 134 on the lower housing 71b side from colliding with the head cap 61 in the closed position, the belt lifting mechanism 143 is used to prevent the transport position from being lower than the transport position. Have been saved.

  When performing the printing operation, first, the control unit 169 drives and controls the mechanisms 83, 121, 143, and the like by the printer control unit 162, and moves the recording paper P to a printable position. Specifically, when the printing operation is started, the control unit 169 controls the drive of the head cap opening / closing mechanism 83 so that the head cap 61 in a state where the ejection surface 50 is closed as shown in FIG. And as shown in FIG. 23, it moves to the open position of the front side of the printer apparatus 1 with the slider 101. FIG. As a result, the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2 is opened, and the head cap 61 is positioned above the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2 by moving to the open position on the front side as shown in FIG. .

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 22, the head cap 61 is arranged so that the cleaning roller 65 provided in the cap unit 62 does not contaminate the recording paper P with excess ink i attached to the ejection surface 50 before printing. The ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2 is cleaned by sliding at least the area where the nozzles 55 a are formed on the front side of the printer apparatus 1. Specifically, when the head cap 61 closes the ejection surface 50, as shown in FIG. 8, the cleaning roller 65 is positioned in the escape portion 60 of the nozzle surface 50, and the elevation control lever 68 is supported. The control piece 68a is rotated in the direction of the opposite arrow Y in FIG. 8 by the pulling force of the pulling member 68e around the shaft 68d. Yes, the pressing piece 68b is not pressing the pressed portion 67d of the elevating member 67. Therefore, the elevating member 67 is in the state of being moved in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 8 adjacent to the ejection surface 50 by the urging force of the elastic body 69.

  When the head cap 61 opens the nozzle surface 50, the control piece 68 a moves from the notch 60 on the bottom surface of the head cartridge 2 to the ejection surface 50 as shown in FIG. 9. Then, when the tip of the control piece 68a is pressed by the discharge surface 50, the elevation control lever 68 rotates in the counter arrow Y direction around the support shaft 68d. Therefore, the pressing piece 68b of the lifting control lever 68 does not yet press the pressed portion 67d of the lifting member 67. Then, the cleaning roller 65 urged by the elastic body 69 in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 9 is pressed against the ejection surface 50, rotates around the support shaft 65a, and removes the ink i adhering to the ejection surface 50 by suction. To do.

  After cleaning is performed by the cleaning roller 65, the control unit 169 controls the head cartridge 2 by the discharge control unit 163, and discards the waste ink receiver 64 provided adjacent to the cleaning roller 65 from the nozzle 55a. Ink i is ejected to refresh the ink in the nozzle 55a.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 16, the control unit 169 drives and controls the belt lifting mechanism 143 to raise the transport belt 134 from the retracted position to the transport position. As a result, in the printer apparatus 1, the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2 and the platen 141 are arranged in parallel and facing each other with a predetermined interval, and the printing position is determined.

  Next, the control unit 169 drives and controls the paper supply / discharge mechanism 121 to feed the recording paper P pushed up by the paper push-up mechanism (not shown) from the storage tray 74 in the direction of arrow A1 in FIG. The paper is fed so as to press against the outer peripheral surface of the paper. Then, the fed recording paper P is sent out to the back side indicated by an arrow Y1 in FIG. 16 while passing between a pair of separation rollers 132a and 132b rotating in the directions of arrows A2 and A3 in FIG.

  Next, the control unit 169 reverses the recording paper P sent to the back side along the outer peripheral surface of the reversing roller 133 while moving on the first guide plate 137, and this time the arrow Y2 in FIG. The sheet feeding / discharging mechanism 121 is driven and controlled so as to be fed to the front side shown in FIG. The control unit 169 then conveys the recording belt P fed to the front side and rotates between the second guide plate 138 and the second regulating plate 139 in the direction of arrow C in FIG. The sheet feeding / discharging mechanism 121 is driven and controlled so as to be conveyed to the printing position by 134. Then, the recording sheet P is pushed up by the platen 141 at the printing position, and is opposed to the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2.

  Next, the control unit 169 controls the head cartridge 2 by the discharge control unit 169, and discharges and landes the ink i from the nozzle 55a on the recording paper P transported to the printing position, thereby causing an image including ink dots or the like. Record characters. Next, the control unit 169 drives and controls the paper supply / discharge mechanism, and the recording paper P that has been printed is driven from the space between the transport belt 134 and the spur 146 by the drive of the transport belt 134, as indicated by the arrow Y2 in FIG. The sheet is discharged to the back side shown in FIG.

  When the printing on the recording paper P is finished, the control unit 169 drives and controls the belt lifting / lowering mechanism 143 to lower the transport belt 134 from the transport position to the retracted position. Next, the control unit 169 drives and controls the head cap opening / closing mechanism 83 to move the head cap 61 together with the slider 101 to the closed position on the back side of the printer apparatus 1 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 24, in the middle of closing the discharge surface 50, the cleaning roller 65 provided in the cap portion 62 has the control piece 68 a of the elevation control lever 68 in contact with the discharge surface 50 as shown in FIG. 10. The tip is pressed by the discharge surface 50 and rotates in the direction of the arrow Y in FIG. 10 about the support shaft 68d against the pulling force of the pulling member 68e. Then, the pressing piece 68 b of the lifting control lever 68 presses the pressed portion 67 d of the lifting member 67. Then, the elevating member 67 is separated from the discharge surface 50 while being guided by the guide wall 67b against the urging force of the elastic body 69 when the pressed portion 67d is pressed by the pressing piece 68b. Move in the X direction. Therefore, during the return path, the cleaning roller 65 moves to the escape portion 60 without being suctioned and removed from the ink i adhering to the ejection surface 50 while being separated from the ejection surface 50, and returns to the state shown in FIG. .

  In addition, when the head cap 61 returns to the closed position of the ejection surface 50, the waste ink may be applied to the waste ink receiver 64. Here, however, the waste ink is discharged as in the forward path. No discharge is performed.

  Further, when printing on a plurality of recording sheets P continuously, the control unit 169 performs the cleaning operation by the head cap 61 described above for each recording sheet P or several times during printing one sheet. The cap opening / closing mechanism 83 is controlled. As described above, the printing operation ends.

  As described above, in this printer apparatus 1, the head cap 61 opens the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2 by the head cap opening / closing mechanism 83 from the state where the transport belt 134 is retracted to the retracted position located below the transport position. Then, after moving to an open position located above the discharge surface 50, the belt lifting mechanism 143 raises the conveyance belt 134 to a conveyance position where the conveyance operation is performed. Further, from this state, the belt elevating mechanism 143 lowers the conveying belt 134 to the retracted position located below the conveying position, and then the head cap 61 closes the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2 by the head cap opening / closing mechanism 83. To do. Therefore, in this printer apparatus 1, when the head cartridge 2 is removed from the head mounting portion 76 of the printer main body 3, the ejection surface 50 is blocked by the head cap 61, so that the ejection surface 50 is damaged or the ejection surface. It is possible to prevent the ink i from leaking out of the ink 50 and soiling the surroundings.

  Further, when printing on the recording paper P as described above, the control unit 168 prints on the recording paper P with a stable image quality, so that one or several times during printing of one recording paper, The head cap 61 is reciprocated every time the recording sheet P is printed or every several recording sheets P are printed, the ejection surface 50 is cleaned once by the cleaning roller 65, and the waste ink is discarded as the waste ink receiver 64. To discharge. Therefore, the control unit 168 adds the number of times of movement of the head cap 61 by one time, stores it as the number of times of use of the cleaning roller 65 in the maintenance memory 170, and adds the number of times of ejection of the discarded ink by one time. And stored in the maintenance memory 170.

  By the way, the printer apparatus 1 is not always used, but is used only when necessary, and may not be used for several hours to several days. As described above, if the ink i is not used for a long period of time, the water of the ink i in the nozzle 55a and the ink i adhering to the ejection surface 50 evaporates to increase the viscosity, and the ink i may not be ejected accurately. is there. Therefore, when the cleaning mode is selected by the user, the control unit 168 more carefully performs the maintenance by discharging the discarded ink and performing the cleaning by the cleaning roller 65 at the time of normal printing when the timer counts and a predetermined time elapses. Do. Specifically, when a cleaning execution signal is input, the control unit 168 reciprocates the head cap 61 several times, and suctions and removes ink adhered to the ejection surface 50 by the cleaning roller 65 a plurality of times. In some cases, for example, once, the waste ink is ejected to the waste ink receiver 64. Even in such a cleaning mode, the control unit 168 stores the number of movements of the head cap 61 as the number of times of use of the cleaning roller 65 in the maintenance memory 170, and the number of discarded ink ejections is also maintained for maintenance. Is stored in the memory 170.

  As described above, in the printer device 1, the number of times the cleaning roller 65 is used and the number of discarded ink ejections do not necessarily match. Therefore, the control unit 168 warns the user with the warning unit 164 when the upper limit is reached first among the number of times the cleaning roller 65 is used and the number of times of ejection of the discarded ink.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 25, when a cleaning execution signal or a print execution signal is input from the operation unit in step S11, the control unit 168 accesses the maintenance memory 170 in step S12, Reference is made to the number of uses n of the cleaning roller 65 and the number of times m of discarded ink is discharged. In step S <b> 13, the control unit 168 determines whether the number n of times the cleaning roller 65 has been used up to now is equal to or less than the upper limit N of the number of times the cleaning roller 65 has been stored in the maintenance memory 170. It is determined whether the number m of ink ejection is equal to or less than the upper limit M of the number of discarded ink discharges stored in the maintenance memory 170 in advance. If both are equal to or less than the upper limit, the process proceeds to step S14. When the upper limit is exceeded, the process proceeds to step S17.

  When both are equal to or less than the upper limit, the control unit 168 executes printing as described above or the cleaning mode as described above in step S14. When the printing or cleaning mode ends, in step S15, the control unit 168 adds the number of uses of the cleaning roller 65 used this time to the number of uses n of the cleaning roller 65 up to now. Further, the control unit 168 adds the number of discarded ink ejections performed this time to the number of discarded ink ejections n thus far.

  When any of the values exceeds the upper limit in step S13, the control unit 168 displays a warning prompting the head cap 61 to be replaced by the warning unit 164 in step S16.

  Here, the head cap 61 is replaced by a pair of caps 62 provided on the ejection surface 50 that close the ejection surface 50 of the head cartridge 2 in a state where the head cartridge 2 is removed from the printer body 3. The head cap 61 can be easily removed from one end side in the short side direction of the head cartridge 2 by sliding outward along the guide groove 59 in the short side direction of the cartridge body 12. Further, in this printer apparatus 1, the cap portion 62 removed from the head cartridge 2 is slid toward the ejection surface 50 in the short side direction of the cartridge body 12 along a pair of guide grooves 59 provided on the ejection surface 50. By doing so, the head cap 61 can be easily attached from one end side in the short side direction of the head cartridge 2. Then, the head cartridge 2 with the head cap 61 replaced is attached to the printer main body 3.

  In step S17, the control unit 168 determines whether or not the head cap 61 has been replaced. For example, the control unit 168 displays that the head cap 61 has been replaced by the warning unit 164 and then determines that the head cap 61 has been replaced when it is detected that the head cartridge 2 has been removed and mounted. Then, when the head cap 61 is replaced, the control unit 168 proceeds to step S18 and resets the counter. That is, the control unit 168 resets the number of times n the cleaning roller 65 has been used up to now and the number of times n has been discharged to date, that is, “0”. When the head cap 61 has not been replaced, the control unit 168 repeats step S16 and continues to warn the user.

  The head cap 61 of the printer apparatus 1 to which the present invention is applied is handled as a replacement part because the waste ink receiver 64, the cleaning roller 65, and the waste ink storage section 64a are consumables. In some cases, the number m of discarded ink ejections does not match depending on how the user uses the ink. However, the printer device 1 displays a warning that prompts the user to replace the head cap 61 when the number of uses of the cleaning roller 65 or the number of times of ejection of discarded ink reaches a predetermined upper limit. Therefore, it is possible to notify the user of the replacement time of the head cap 61 with certainty.

  As shown in FIG. 26, the printer apparatus 1 may notify the user of the replacement timing of the head cap 61 step by step. That is, when a cleaning execution signal or a print execution signal is input from the operation unit in step S21, the control unit 168 accesses the maintenance memory 170 in step S12, and the number n of times the cleaning roller 65 has been used so far. And the number m of discarded ink ejections are referred to. In step S23, the control unit 168 sets the number of uses n of the cleaning roller 65 to the upper limit N of the number of uses of the cleaning roller 65 stored in advance in the maintenance memory 170 to a predetermined ratio, for example, 90% and 95%. Determine if it has been reached. In addition, the predetermined ratio used as a threshold here is not limited to one step, and may be a multi-step. Further, the control unit 168 determines whether or not the number m of discarded ink discharges up to the present with respect to the upper limit M of the number of discarded ink discharges stored in advance in the maintenance memory 170 has reached a predetermined ratio, for example, 90%. Then, the control unit 168 proceeds to step S24 when either the number n of use times of the cleaning roller 65 up to now or the number of discharge times m of discarded ink up to the present reaches a predetermined ratio, and when not reached, Proceed to S25.

  In step S <b> 24, the control unit 168 notifies the user of the warning unit 164 urging that it is almost time to replace the head cap 61. When the warning unit 164 displays a warning, the control unit 168 proceeds to step S25.

  In step S <b> 25, the control unit 168 determines whether the number n of times the cleaning roller 65 has been used up to the present time is equal to or less than the upper limit N of the number of times the cleaning roller 65 has been stored in the maintenance memory 170. It is determined whether the number m of ink ejection is equal to or less than the upper limit M of the number of discarded inks stored in advance in the maintenance memory 170. If both are equal to or less than the upper limit, the process proceeds to step S26. When the upper limit is exceeded, the process proceeds to step S27.

  When both are equal to or lower than the upper limit, the control unit 168 executes printing as described above or executes the cleaning mode as described above in step S26. When the printing or cleaning mode ends, in step S27, the control unit 168 adds the number of uses of the cleaning roller 65 used this time to the number of uses n of the cleaning roller 65 up to now. Further, the control unit 168 adds the number of discarded ink ejections performed this time to the number of discarded ink ejections n thus far.

  When any of the values exceeds the upper limit in step S25, the control unit 168 displays a warning prompting replacement of the head cap 61 by the warning unit 164 in step S28. Then, in step S29, the control unit 168 determines whether or not the head cap 61 has been replaced. For example, the control unit 168 displays that the head cap 61 has been replaced by the warning unit 164 and then determines that the head cap 61 has been replaced when it is detected that the head cartridge 2 has been removed and mounted. Then, when the head cap 61 is exchanged, the control unit 168 proceeds to step S30 and resets the counter. That is, the control unit 168 sets “0” to the current number n of use of the cleaning roller 65 up to the present and the number of discarded ink discharges n up to the present. When the head cap 61 is not replaced, the control unit 168 repeats step S28 and continues to warn the user.

  In the method for detecting the replacement timing of the head cap 61 as described above, it is possible to warn the user of the replacement timing of the head cap 61 in multiple stages in steps S24 and S28. Further, in this replacement time detection method, since the ratio of the number of times the cleaning roller 65 is used with respect to the upper limit or the ratio of the number of times of ejection of the discarded ink becomes a predetermined value or more, the replacement time of the head cap 61 is accurately set by the user Can let you know.

  In the above example, the case where the head cap 61 is replaced with the head cartridge 2 removed from the printer main body 3 has been described. However, the present invention uses the head cap 61 as a component on the printer main body 3 side, The head cap 61 may be exchanged from the opening provided in the printer main body 3 so that the head cap 61 can be ejected from the insertion / removal opening provided in the printer main body 3. The ejection of the head cap 61 can be realized, for example, by extending the transport distance of the head cap 61 by the head cap opening / closing mechanism 83 to the insertion / removal opening provided on the front surface of the printer main body 3.

  In the head cartridge 2 described above, the ink tank 11 can be attached to and detached from the cartridge main body 12, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to such a configuration. That is, since the head cartridge 2 itself is handled as a consumable and can be attached to and detached from the printer main body 3, the ink tank 11 can be integrated with the cartridge main body 12. .

  In the above description, the head chip 53 in which one heating resistor 58 heats and discharges the ink i has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to such a structure, and a plurality of pressure generating elements are provided. In addition, the present invention can be applied to a liquid discharge apparatus including discharge means that can control the discharge direction by supplying energy to each pressure generating element at different energy or at different timing.

  In the above description, the electrothermal conversion method in which the ink i is heated from one nozzle 55a while being heated by the single heating resistor 58 is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this method. For example, a piezoelectric element such as a piezoelectric element or the like. An electromechanical conversion method in which ink is electromechanically ejected from a nozzle by an electromechanical conversion element or the like may be used.

  Further, the line type printer apparatus 1 has been described above as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the serial type in which the ink head moves in a direction substantially orthogonal to the traveling direction of the recording paper P. The present invention can also be applied to other inkjet printer apparatuses.

  Further, the example in which the present invention is applied to the printer apparatus has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above example, and can be widely applied to other liquid ejecting apparatuses that eject liquid. It is. For example, a facsimile, a copying machine, a discharge device for a DNA chip in liquid (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-34560), a liquid discharge device that discharges a liquid containing conductive particles for forming a wiring pattern of a printer wiring board, and the like It is also applicable to.

1 is an exploded perspective view showing an inkjet printer apparatus to which the present invention is applied. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the printer head cartridge with which the same inkjet printer apparatus is equipped. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where an ink tank is mounted on the printer head cartridge. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the printer head cartridge. It is sectional drawing which shows a state. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a head chip provided in the printer head cartridge. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state where bubbles are generated in a heating resistor shape, and FIG. 2B is a schematic view showing a state where ink is ejected from a nozzle. FIG. It is a perspective view of a head cap. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the head cap closes the ejection surface of the head cartridge. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the head cap opens the ejection surface of the head cartridge. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the head cap closes the ejection surface of the head cartridge. It is a see-through | perspective side view which shows the structure of the inkjet printer apparatus. It is a see-through | perspective side view which shows the state by which the upper housing | casing of the inkjet printer apparatus was open | released with respect to the lower housing | casing. It is a side view which shows typically the structure of the head cap opening / closing mechanism of the inkjet printer apparatus. It is a top view which shows the structure of the slider with which the head cap opening / closing mechanism is equipped. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a part of the configuration of a drive mechanism of the ink jet printer apparatus. It is a see-through | perspective side view for demonstrating the printing operation of the inkjet printer apparatus. FIG. 6 is a side view schematically showing a state in which the transport belt is lowered to a retracted position by a belt lifting mechanism provided in the ink jet printer apparatus. It is a side view which shows typically the state which the conveyance belt raised to the conveyance position by the belt raising / lowering mechanism. It is a block diagram which shows typically the control circuit of the inkjet printer apparatus. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a printing operation of the inkjet printer apparatus. FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state where the head cap closes the ejection surface of the head cartridge. FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state in which the head cap is cleaning the ejection surface of the head cartridge. It is a side view which shows the position of the head cap when performing printing. It is a side view showing a state when the head cap closes the ejection surface of the head cartridge. It is a flowchart explaining the replacement time detection method of a head cap. 10 is a flowchart for explaining another example of a head cap replacement time detection method.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printer apparatus, 2 Printer head cartridge 2 Printer main body, 11 Ink tank, 12 Cartridge main body, 37 Head part, 50 Discharge surface, 53 Head chip, 55a Nozzle, 59 Guide groove, 61,172,174 Discharge surface protective cover, 62 cap part, 63 cap holding piece, 64, 171 cleaning part, 71 outer casing, 71a upper casing, 71b lower casing, 83 head cap opening / closing mechanism, 91 guide mechanism, 92 drive mechanism, 101 slider, 102 guide section, 121 Feeding / Discharging Mechanism, 122 Feeding Unit, 123 Conveying Unit, 124 Discharging Unit, 143 Belt Lifting Mechanism, 161 Control Circuit, 162 Printer Control Unit, 163 Discharge Control Unit, 166 ROM, 167 RAM, 168 Maintenance Memory 169 Control unit

Claims (8)

A liquid discharge head unit having a discharge surface formed with a discharge port for discharging liquid in the form of droplets toward the main surface of the object;
A cleaning roller that contacts the discharge surface and removes the liquid adhering to the discharge surface ; and a liquid absorber that receives the discarded liquid droplets, and closes the discharge surface of the liquid discharge head unit. A head cap to be attached to the liquid discharge head portion;
A transport mechanism for transporting the head cap over a closed position where the discharge surface of the liquid discharge head portion is closed and a retracted position where the head cap is retracted from the discharge surface;
Counting means for counting the number of movements of the head cap and storing the number of movements data, and counting the number of times the liquid discharge head unit has discarded the droplets and storing the number of times of discarding,
Storage means for storing upper limit data of the number of times of use of the cleaning roller , and storing upper limit data of the number of times the liquid droplet is discarded with respect to the liquid absorber;
The upper limit data of the number of times of use of the cleaning roller stored in the storage means is compared with the movement frequency data counted by the counting means, and the droplets are discarded from the liquid absorber stored in the storage means. A comparison means for comparing the upper limit data of the number of times with the number of discards counted by the counting means,
A notification means for notifying the replacement timing of the head cap,
The comparison means is a liquid ejecting apparatus which notifies the replacement timing of the head cap by the notification means when either the movement count data or the discard hit count data reaches the upper limit data. The liquid discharge head portion is formed in a substantially linear shape on the discharge surface so that the plurality of discharge ports are substantially the same length as the width of the object in a direction substantially perpendicular to the traveling direction of the object. The discharge ports formed in a straight line are formed side by side in the traveling direction of the object,
The head cap, a liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein by the transport mechanism moves in the running direction of the recording material. A liquid discharge head portion having a discharge surface on which a discharge port for discharging liquid in the form of droplets toward the main surface of the object is formed, and the liquid adhering to the discharge surface in contact with the discharge surface is removed. A head cap that includes a cleaning roller and a liquid absorber that receives discarded liquid droplets, and is attached to the liquid discharge head portion so as to close the discharge surface of the liquid discharge head portion; and the head cap; A method for detecting the replacement timing of the head cap in a liquid ejection apparatus comprising: a closed position where the ejection surface of the liquid ejection head portion is closed; and a transport mechanism that transports the ejected surface over a retracted position retracted from the ejection surface,
A step of counting the number of movements of the head cap and storing movement number data;
A step of counting the number of times the liquid discharge head unit has discarded and dropping the droplets and storing the number of times of discarding,
Comparing the counted movement number data with the upper limit data of the number of times the cleaning roller is used;
Comparing the counted number of times of discarding and the upper limit data of the number of times of discarding the liquid with respect to the liquid absorber;
Determining whether any of the above movement count data and discard stroke count data has reached the upper limit data;
And a step of notifying the replacement time of the head cap when either the movement number data or the discard number of times data reaches the upper limit data. A liquid discharge head unit having a discharge surface formed with a discharge port for discharging liquid in the form of droplets toward the main surface of the object;
A cleaning roller that contacts the discharge surface and removes the liquid adhering to the discharge surface ; and a liquid absorber that receives the discarded liquid droplets, and closes the discharge surface of the liquid discharge head unit. A head cap to be attached to the liquid discharge head portion;
A transport mechanism for transporting the head cap over a closed position where the discharge surface of the liquid discharge head portion is closed and a retracted position where the head cap is retracted from the discharge surface;
Counting means for counting the number of movements of the head cap and storing the number of movements data, counting the number of times the liquid discharge head unit has discarded the droplets, and storing the number of times of discarding,
Storage means for storing the upper limit data of the number of times of use of the cleaning roller , and storing upper limit data of the number of times of discarding droplets with respect to the liquid absorber;
The ratio data of the movement frequency data counted by the counting means with respect to the upper limit data of the number of times of use of the cleaning roller stored in the storage means is calculated, and droplets with respect to the liquid absorber stored in the storage means are calculated. A calculating means for calculating ratio data of the number of times of discards counted by the counting means with respect to the upper limit data of the number of times of discards;
A notification means for notifying the replacement timing of the head cap,
The liquid ejecting apparatus, wherein the calculating means notifies the use state of the head cap by the notifying means based on the ratio data of the movement number data and the ratio data of the discard hit number data. The liquid discharge head portion is formed in a substantially linear shape on the discharge surface so that the plurality of discharge ports are substantially the same length as the width of the object in a direction substantially perpendicular to the traveling direction of the object. The discharge ports formed in a straight line are formed side by side in the traveling direction of the object,
The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the head cap is moved in the traveling direction of the recorded matter by the transport mechanism. 5. The liquid according to claim 4 , wherein the notifying means notifies the usage status of the head cap step by step based on the higher ratio data of the ratio data of the movement count data and the ratio data of the discard hit count data. Discharge device. A liquid discharge head portion having a discharge surface on which a discharge port for discharging liquid in the form of droplets toward the main surface of the object is formed, a cleaning roller for removing the liquid adhering to the discharge surface, and abandoned A liquid absorber for receiving liquid droplets, and a head cap attached to the liquid discharge head unit so as to close the discharge surface of the liquid discharge head unit; and the head cap is connected to the liquid discharge head unit. A method for detecting the replacement timing of the head cap in a liquid ejection apparatus comprising a closed position where a surface is closed and a transport mechanism which transports a retracted position retracted from the discharge surface,
A step of counting the number of movements of the head cap and storing movement number data;
A step of counting the number of times the liquid discharge head unit has discarded and dropping the droplets and storing the number of times of discarding,
Calculating a ratio data of the counted movement number data with respect to the upper limit data of the number of times of use of the cleaning roller stored in a memory;
Calculating ratio data of the counted number of times of discarding with respect to the upper limit data of the number of times of discarding droplets with respect to the liquid absorber stored in a memory ; and
A step of detecting a higher ratio data among the ratio data of the movement number data and the ratio data of the number of throwing-off data;
And a step of notifying the use status of the head cap in a stepwise manner based on the higher ratio data of the ratio data of the movement count data and the ratio data of the discard hit count data. The replacement timing detection method according to claim 7 , wherein the notification is performed in a stepwise manner using the head cap.

Images