JP4904845B2 - Liquid ejecting apparatus and processing liquid mist collecting method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects processing liquid from a liquid ejecting head that is reciprocally moved in a direction substantially orthogonal to the transport direction with respect to an object to be transported, and a processing liquid mist collection method.

An ink jet printer, which is an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects processing liquid from a liquid ejecting head, performs printing that is reciprocated in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction with respect to a sheet (object to be processed) transported on a platen. Ink liquid (treatment liquid) is ejected from the head (liquid ejection head).
In recent years, the particle size of ink droplets ejected from a print head has become increasingly finer as the print quality of an ink jet printer becomes higher. As the ink droplets become finer, a part of the ink droplets ejected from the print head does not adhere to the printing surface of the paper and easily floats in the apparatus case as a minute ink mist during the printing process. Yes.

Such ink mist (floating mist) floating in the apparatus case may adhere to a conveying means or the like in the apparatus case and cause a decrease in print quality.
Therefore, a printer equipped with mist collecting means for sucking and collecting floating mist in the apparatus case by a suction fan has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

FIG. 7 shows the processing procedure of the mist collecting means provided in the conventional printer.
When paper is fed in accordance with the print command (step S101), the suction fan of the mist collecting means is turned from OFF to ON and the suction force is turned on (step S102).
Next, from the first print position on the paper, one-band printing (printing performed by the print head while the carriage makes one reciprocation in the paper width direction) and paper feed for feeding a certain amount of paper (for one band) Is repeated until printing is completed (steps S103 to S105).
When all the printing on the paper is completed, the suction fan of the mist collecting means is turned off from the on state to turn off the suction force (step S106), and the process is terminated when the paper is discharged.

JP-A-7-17037 Japanese Patent Publication No.8-111447

  However, in the process of the conventional mist collecting means shown in FIG. 7, if the suction force of the suction fan is increased in order to reduce the generation of mist, the air flow generated by the suction force of the suction fan of the mist collection means during the printing process Therefore, the flight trajectory of the ink droplets ejected from the print head to the paper may be disturbed, and the image quality may be deteriorated due to the deviation of the landing positions of the ink droplets. This problem is particularly noticeable during borderless printing in which printing is performed up to the edge of the paper.

  That is, when borderless printing is performed on the paper, the influence of the airflow due to the suction force of the suction fan is small in the central area of the paper and no noticeable deterioration in image quality occurs. It is easily affected by airflow. Therefore, the flight trajectory of ink droplets bends to the outside of the paper, resulting in a decrease in the number of ink droplets landing and displacement of landings, resulting in a lighter print color and distortion in the image. There has been a problem that the image quality is degraded.

  Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the floating mist collecting operation affects the flight trajectory of the processing droplet on the object to be processed, resulting in processing failure due to deviation or lack of landing of the processing droplet. It is an object to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus and a processing liquid mist recovery method that does not generate mist.

The above object of the present invention is a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a processing liquid from a liquid ejecting head to an object to be conveyed,
A mist collecting means for sucking and collecting floating mist floating in the apparatus case without adhering to the object to be processed by suction force of a suction fan;
The mist collecting unit is configured to eject the processing liquid from the liquid ejecting head so that the suction force of the suction fan does not affect the flight trajectory of the processing droplets ejected from the liquid ejecting head onto the object to be processed. This is achieved by a liquid ejecting apparatus that reduces the suction force of the suction fan.

According to the liquid ejecting apparatus having the above-described configuration, when the processing liquid is ejected by the liquid ejecting head, the suction force of the suction fan of the mist collecting unit can be reduced by stopping the suction fan or weakening the rotation. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the airflow generated by the suction of the mist collecting means from affecting the flight trajectory of the processing droplet to the object to be processed.
Therefore, the air flow generated by the suction of the mist collecting means does not cause a processing failure due to the deviation or lack of landing of the processing droplets, and a highly accurate injection processing can be realized over the entire area of the object to be processed.

  In the liquid ejecting apparatus having the above configuration, the mist collecting means includes a suction hole formed in the platen, a suction duct that communicates the suction hole and the outside of the apparatus case, and a suction fan provided in the suction duct. And a mist capturing means for capturing the floating mist.

  According to the liquid ejecting apparatus having such a configuration, the floating mist floating in the apparatus case is sucked and collected from the suction hole formed in the platen, and each part in the apparatus case is contaminated by the floating mist. To prevent. In addition, since the floating mist sucked into the suction duct from the suction hole is reliably captured by the mist capturing means, the floating mist is not released to the outside of the apparatus case and does not pollute the environment around the apparatus.

  In the liquid ejecting apparatus having the above-described configuration, the mist capturing unit may cover the suction hole so as to cover the suction hole so as to absorb the processing liquid ejected from the liquid ejecting head and not attached to the object to be processed. It is desirable to have an absorbent material provided.

  According to the liquid ejecting apparatus having such a configuration, the absorbing material that absorbs the processing liquid ejected from the liquid ejecting head and did not adhere to the object to be processed is the mist absorbing material as the mist capturing unit that captures the floating mist. Since the structure is also used, it is easier to dispose the suction holes and the suction duct as compared with the case where a dedicated mist absorbing material is provided, and the increase in size and cost of the apparatus can be suppressed.

In the liquid ejecting apparatus having the above-described configuration, it is preferable that the mist collecting unit has an opening / closing mechanism capable of opening / closing the suction duct.
According to the liquid ejecting apparatus having such a configuration, the suction force for sucking the floating mist at the time of ejecting the processing liquid can be easily and reliably reduced by opening / closing the opening / closing mechanism.

Further, the above object of the present invention is to provide a floating mist that floats in an apparatus case without adhering to the object to be processed in a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a processing liquid from a liquid ejecting head to the object to be conveyed. A processing liquid mist recovery method for sucking and recovering
The suction force for sucking the floating mist is reduced when the processing liquid is ejected by the liquid ejecting head so as not to affect the flight trajectory of the processing droplet ejected from the liquid ejecting head to the object to be processed. This is achieved by the featured process liquid mist recovery method.

According to the processing liquid mist collection method described above, when the processing liquid is ejected by the liquid ejecting head, the suction force for sucking the floating mist is reduced by stopping the suction fan or weakening the rotation. It is avoided that the generated airflow affects the flight trajectory of the processing droplet to the object to be processed.
Therefore, the air flow generated by the suction does not cause a processing failure due to the deviation or lack of landing of the processing droplets, and a highly accurate jetting process can be realized over the entire area of the object to be processed.

In the processing liquid mist collection method, it is desirable to reduce the suction force for sucking the floating mist by controlling the operation of the suction fan.
According to the processing liquid mist recovery method having such a configuration, the operation control of the suction fan can be easily realized, for example, by controlling the power supply to the suction fan. Can be easily and reliably reduced.

Further, in the above-described processing liquid mist collection method, the suction force for sucking the floating mist is reduced by communicating the suction hole formed in the platen with the outside of the apparatus case and controlling the opening and closing of the suction duct provided with the suction fan. It is desirable to make it.
According to the processing liquid mist collection method having such a configuration, the opening / closing control of the suction duct can be easily realized by, for example, opening / closing an opening / closing mechanism provided in the suction duct. The suction force to be reduced can be easily and reliably reduced.

  According to the liquid ejecting apparatus and the processing liquid mist collecting method according to the present invention, when the processing liquid is ejected by the liquid ejecting head, the suction force for sucking the floating mist is reduced by stopping the suction fan or weakening the rotation. Therefore, it is avoided that the air flow generated by the suction affects the flight trajectory of the processing droplet to the object to be processed.

Therefore, the air flow generated by the suction does not cause a processing failure due to the deviation or lack of landing of the processing droplets, and a highly accurate jetting process can be realized over the entire area of the object to be processed.
Accordingly, the liquid ejecting apparatus and the processing liquid mist recovery in which the recovery operation of the floating mist does not affect the flight trajectory of the processing liquid droplets on the object to be processed and the processing failure due to the deviation or lack of the landing of the processing liquid droplets does not occur. A method can be provided.

Hereinafter, a liquid ejecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 is an external perspective view of the liquid ejecting apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the liquid ejecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 with the paper discharge tray and the upper case removed, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control of the mist suction operation of the mist collecting means shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a sheet conveyed on the platen shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows the head position and fan suction restriction | limiting range with respect to.

An ink jet printer 1 as a liquid ejecting apparatus according to the first embodiment is a front feed / discharge type printer, and includes an apparatus case including an upper case 2 and a lower case 3 as shown in FIG. A substantially box-shaped paper cassette 5 in which sheets P are stacked and accommodated is detachably inserted in the center of the front surface of 4.
In addition, a paper discharge tray 6 for receiving the printed paper is provided so as to cover the open top surface of the paper cassette 5.
Further, a display unit 7 such as an indicator and an operation unit 8 such as a power switch are disposed on the left and right sides of the front surface of the device case 4.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, inside the apparatus case 4, the paper P fed one by one from the paper cassette 5 by the pickup roller (paper feed roller) 21 of the paper feed unit 22 is conveyed in a U-shaped conveyance path ( A transport mechanism 11 that transports along the transport path), a carriage 13 that is reciprocally movable in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the paper P in the middle of the U-shaped transport path by the transport mechanism 11, and the carriage 13 And a print head (liquid ejecting head) 44 that performs printing by ejecting minute droplets of recording ink (treatment liquid) onto the paper P, and an ink tank 15 that stores recording ink supplied to the print head 44. , 16 and a control unit (CPU) (not shown) that controls the transport speed of the paper P by the transport mechanism 11, the moving speed of the carriage 13, the ink ejection operation of the print head 44, and the like. It has been kicked.

In the case of the ink jet printer 1 of the present embodiment, the U-shaped transport path through which the paper P is transported by the transport mechanism 11 is an arc-shaped transport that transports the paper P fed from the paper cassette 5 as shown in FIG. A path A and a linear transport path B connecting the arcuate transport path A to the paper discharge tray 6 are configured.
Further, the transport mechanism 11 has an auto sheet feeder (ASF) unit and a paper feeding unit.

  The auto sheet feeder unit is equipped with a sheet feeding unit 22 for feeding a plurality of sheets P stacked and accommodated in the sheet cassette 5 one by one to the entrance of the arcuate conveyance path A at the rear of the apparatus, and the arcuate conveyance path A. Then, the sheet P fed out by the sheet feeding unit 22 is fed along the outer circumference of the intermediate roller 31 and the assist roller 33 for sandwiching and conveying the sheet P between the pair of sheet feeding rollers 41 that is separated by a predetermined distance downstream. And a guide portion 34 that regulates the conveyance direction of the sheet P to be an arc shape reaching the exit of the arc-shaped conveyance path A.

  The intermediate roller 31 as a driving roller sandwiches and conveys the paper P by sandwiching the paper P with the assist roller 33 as a driven roller. A retard roller 32 is provided on the upstream side of the assist roller 33 to prevent a plurality of sheets P from being fed out to the arcuate conveyance path A.

The paper feeding section is transported from the arc-shaped transport path A by the paper feed roller pair 41 composed of a paper feed roller 41a and a driven roller 41b as driving rollers set on the linear transport path B. This is a paper feeding unit that conveys the incoming paper P onto a platen 91 having a platen surface (printing reference surface) 91a set downstream thereof (see FIG. 3).
In the case of the present embodiment, the paper feed roller pair 41 is configured such that the driven roller 41b presses and urges the upper surface of the paper P against the paper feed roller 41a as a driving roller that contacts the lower surface of the paper P. Nipping and conveying.

  Further, inside the apparatus case 4, a print head 44 is incorporated as a liquid ejecting head for printing an image such as characters and figures on the paper P conveyed on the platen surface 91 a of the platen 91. The paper P that has been printed by the print head 44 is nipped and conveyed by a paper discharge roller pair 48 including a paper discharge roller 48a that is a driving roller and a star wheel 48b that is a driven roller, and a U-shaped conveyance path. The paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 6 at the exit.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the paper feed unit 22 is configured such that the rear end of a frame 25 having a pickup roller 21 for feeding at the front end can be rotated in the vertical direction in the figure by a support pin 24. The sheet feeding unit 22 can bring the pickup roller 21 into contact with the uppermost sheet P in the sheet cassette 5 by swinging the sheet feeding lever 25 in the vertical direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, the paper feed unit 22 keeps the pickup roller 21 away from the paper P on the paper cassette 5 while the paper feed lever 25 is maintained substantially horizontal as shown in FIG. It is.
When paper is fed, the pickup roller 21 is pressed against the uppermost paper P in the paper cassette 5 by the downward rotation of the paper feeding lever 25 around the support pin 24, and the paper cassette is rotated by the rotation of the pickup roller 21. The sheet P in the sheet 5 comes into contact with the inclined friction pad 23 and is fed out to the arcuate conveyance path A one by one while being separated by the frictional force and the waist strength of the sheet P.

At this time, the retard roller 32 applies a force in a direction to push the paper P back to the paper cassette 5 and sandwiches it between the intermediate rollers 31 so as to separate the paper P one by one and to provide a downstream arcuate conveyance path. When the printing is started by the print head 44 after the paper feeding is separated and conveyed to A, the paper feeding lever 25 is returned to the original horizontal state as shown in FIG.

An auxiliary guide member 35 is provided on the upper side of the guide portion 34 together with an assist roller 33 for feeding the conveyed paper P toward the linear transport path B side.
The auxiliary guide member 35 is rotatably supported at the rear end side with respect to the guide portion 34 and is swingable at the front end side.
The auxiliary guide member 35 holds the sheet P conveyed from the arcuate conveyance path A to the linear conveyance path B by its own weight from above, and the ink jet printer 1 along the linear conveyance path B. Guide to the front side.

  The paper feed roller 41a and the driven roller 41b constituting the paper feed roller pair 41 are provided at a predetermined distance from the exit end of the arcuate conveyance path A (downstream end of the guide portion 34) on the front side of the apparatus. The sheet P that has been fed from the arcuate conveyance path A to the linear conveyance path B is sandwiched and conveyed under the print head 44 that is the printing position. The paper P can be positioned with respect to the print head 44 by controlling the rotational driving amount of the paper feed roller 41a.

As shown in FIG. 3, the print head 44 has a discharge nozzle 46 that discharges ink toward the paper P. The print head 44 detects the paper P on the upstream side of the transport path from the discharge nozzle 46. A PW sensor 47 for detecting the width is provided.
The PW sensor 47 detects the presence or absence of the paper P by detecting the reflected light of the light irradiated toward the paper P, and detects the width of the paper P by the movement of the carriage 13.
In the ink jet printer 1 of the present embodiment, similarly to the PW sensor 47, a paper detection sensor that detects the presence or absence of the paper P by detecting reflected light is provided at an appropriate position in the transport path. .

The carriage 13 disposed above the platen 91 is driven in the paper width direction by a carriage driving mechanism 50 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the carriage driving mechanism 50 supports the carriage 13 movably in the paper width direction by a pair of carriage shafts 52 and 53 extending in the paper width direction, and a timing belt 54 to which the carriage 13 is fixed. Is driven by the carriage motor 14 to move the carriage 13 to an arbitrary position in the paper width direction.

The ink jet printer 1 controls the ink ejection from the print head 44 mounted on the carriage 13 with the transport direction of the paper P as the sub-scanning direction and the moving direction of the carriage 13 as the main scanning direction. Perform image recording (printing) of characters and graphics.
Further, the carriage drive mechanism 50 of this embodiment is provided with a position detection sensor that detects the position of the carriage 13 that is moved by the carriage motor 14 in the paper width direction.
The position detection sensor includes a linear linear scale (main scale) 55 arranged in parallel along the carriage shaft 53, and an encoder that reads the scale on the linear scale 55 that is mounted on the carriage 13 and faces the carriage when moving. The carriage motor 14 composed of a DC motor is controlled on the basis of a detection signal detected by the encoder.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ink jet printer 1 according to the first embodiment collects floating mist that does not adhere to the paper P and floats in the apparatus case 4 by suction using the suction force of the suction fan 69. Means 72 are provided.
The mist collecting means 72 includes a suction hole 63 formed in the platen 91, a suction duct 61 that communicates the suction hole 63 with the outside of the apparatus case 4, and a suction fan provided at an outlet side opening end of the suction duct 61. 69, and a mist absorbing material 71 as mist capturing means for capturing floating mist.

In the case of the present embodiment, the mist absorbing material 71 is provided on the platen 91 so as to cover the suction hole 63, and absorbs ink droplets that are ejected from the discharge nozzle 46 of the print head 44 and do not adhere to the paper P. Also serves as an absorbent material.
That is, the mist absorbing material 71 is disposed in a region along the paper width direction of the platen 91 facing the discharge nozzle 46 of the print head 44 that is mounted on the carriage 13 and moves in the paper width direction.

  Therefore, ink droplets that have not landed on the paper P during borderless printing or the like are absorbed by the mist absorbent 71, and the floating mist that has not adhered to the paper P is a suction hole 63 positioned below the mist absorbent 71. And is captured by the mist absorbent 71. The mist absorbing material 71 is preferably composed of a porous member such as a sponge.

The suction duct 61 includes a wide inlet-side opening end corresponding to a plurality of suction holes 63 appropriately disposed along the sheet width direction of the platen 91, and an outlet-side opening end to which the suction fan 69 is attached. 4 is a duct laid in 4.
Furthermore, the control unit that controls the operation of the suction fan 69 provided in the suction duct 61 according to the present embodiment performs on / off control of power supply to the suction fan 69 to thereby reduce the ink droplets ejected toward the paper P. The suction force of the suction fan 69 can be reduced so as not to affect the flight trajectory.

  In the ink jet printer 1 described above, during the printing process in which the paper P is conveyed on the platen 91, the suction operation by the mist collecting means 72 is controlled based on the flowchart shown in FIG. Is done.

First, according to the print command. The paper is fed so that the first print position on the paper P is positioned at the print position by the print head 44 (step S401).
Next, in the next step S402, one-band printing (printing performed by the print head 44 while the carriage 13 reciprocates once in the paper width direction) is performed.

Next, when printing is completed, the suction fan 61 of the mist collecting means 72 is switched from OFF to ON, and mist suction from the suction hole 63 is started (step S403).
Next, paper feeding for one band is performed (step S404), so that mist is sucked during paper feeding that is not printed. When the paper feed for one band is completed, the process proceeds to the next step S405.

In step S405, the suction fan 69 of the mist collecting means 72 is switched from ON to OFF, and mist suction from the suction hole 63 is stopped.
The above one-band printing, paper feeding for one band, and mist suction for a predetermined time are repeated until all the printing on the paper P is completed (step S406).

When all the printing on the paper P is completed, the suction fan 69 of the mist collecting means 72 is switched from OFF to ON until the paper P is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 6, and from the suction hole 63. Is continued (steps S407 and S408).
When the paper P is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 6, the suction fan 69 of the mist collecting means 72 is switched from ON to OFF, the mist suction from the suction hole 63 is stopped, and the process ends. (Step S409).

  That is, in the ink jet printer 1 of the first embodiment, the print head 44 is wider than the outer shape of the paper P shown in FIG. 4 by controlling the suction fan 69 on / off by the mist collecting means 72 described above. When positioned in the fan suction restriction region R1, the suction force of the suction fan 69 can be reduced so as not to affect the flight trajectory of the ink droplets ejected toward the paper P.

Then, during non-printing when ink droplets are not ejected toward the paper P, the suction fan 69 of the mist collecting means 72 is driven to perform the mist suction operation. Therefore, the floating mist that has been ejected from the print head 44 and has not adhered to the paper P is sucked into the suction hole 63 located below the mist absorbent 71 through the suction duct 61 and captured and collected by the mist absorbent 71. The
Therefore, each part in the device case 4 is prevented from being polluted by the floating mist, and the floating mist sucked by the mist collecting means 72 is surely captured by the mist absorbent 71, and the floating mist is trapped in the device case 4. It is not released to the outside and does not pollute the environment around the device.

  Note that the mist suction operation by the mist collecting means 72 of the present invention only has to reduce the suction force of the suction fan 69 so as not to affect the flight trajectory of the ink droplets ejected toward the paper P. When the head 44 is positioned in the fan suction non-restriction region R2 narrower than the outer shape of the paper P shown in FIG. 4, the suction fan 69 can be driven.

Therefore, when the print head 44 is located in the fan suction non-restricted region R2, the suction force acting on the suction hole 63 by the suction fan 69 has almost an influence on the flight trajectory of the ink droplets ejected toward the paper P. Since it is not given, a mist suction operation by the mist collecting means 72 can be performed.
That is, the mist collecting means 72 of the present invention reduces the suction force of the suction fan 69 when the print head 44 is positioned at least near the outer peripheral edge (front and rear ends and both side edges) of the paper P conveyed on the platen. Just do it.

According to the ink jet printer 1 of the first embodiment described above, the suction fan 69 of the mist collecting means 72 is stopped or rotated during the printing process by the print head 44 (at the time of ink droplet ejection). By weakening, the suction force of the suction fan 69 of the mist collecting means 72 can be reduced, so that the air flow generated by the suction of the mist collecting means 72 affects the flight trajectory of the ink droplets onto the paper P. Is avoided.
Therefore, the air flow generated by the suction of the mist collecting means 72 does not cause a printing defect due to a deviation or lack of landing of ink droplets, and even when marginless printing or the like is performed, the sheet including the peripheral portion of the sheet P is printed. A highly accurate image printing process can be realized in the entire area.

  Note that the mist absorbing material 71 in the present embodiment also serves as an absorbing material for absorbing ink droplets that have been ejected from the discharge nozzle 46 of the print head 44 and have not adhered to the paper P, and therefore, a dedicated mist absorbing material. Compared with the case where a material is provided, the arrangement of the suction holes 63 and the suction duct 61 is facilitated, and the increase in size and cost of the apparatus can be suppressed.

  In the above embodiment, the mist suction force from the suction hole 63 is reduced by stopping the suction fan 69 of the mist collecting means 72 during the printing operation of the print head 44. That is, even if the control unit switches the power supply to the suction fan 69 from ON to OFF, the suction force does not immediately become completely zero, but does not affect the flight trajectory of the ink droplets ejected by the print head 44. There is no problem as long as the suction force of the suction fan 69 is reduced to a certain extent. Of course, it is also possible to configure the mist collecting means so that the suction force of the suction fan 69 becomes completely zero.

For example, as in the mist collecting means 172 in the ink jet printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 6, a butterfly valve 80 as an opening / closing mechanism is provided in the middle of the suction duct 61 to control the opening / closing of the suction duct 61. By doing so, the suction force for sucking the floating mist from the suction hole 63 can be reduced.
According to such a mist collecting means 172, since the suction force can be easily switched by opening and closing the butterfly valve 80 provided in the suction duct 61, the suction force for sucking the floating mist at the time of ink droplet ejection. Can be easily and reliably reduced.

In each of the above embodiments, the mist absorbing material 71 as mist capturing means for capturing floating mist absorbs ink droplets that are ejected from the discharge nozzle 46 of the print head 44 and do not adhere to the paper P. Although it is a structure which also serves as an absorbent material, the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that various forms can be taken based on the gist of the present invention.
For example, a porous mist filter having air permeability may be disposed upstream or downstream of the suction fan 69 provided at the outlet side opening end of the suction duct 61 as mist capturing means. Moreover, you may make it equip with a collection tank instead of a mist filter.

  The liquid ejecting apparatus according to the present invention includes an ink jet printer exemplified in the above embodiment, an apparatus having a color material ejecting head used for manufacturing a color filter such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, and a surface emitting device. An apparatus having an electrode material (conductive paste) ejecting head used for electrode formation such as a display (FED), an apparatus having a bioorganic matter ejecting head used for biochip manufacturing, and an apparatus having a sample ejecting head as a precision pipette It can also be applied to textile printing devices, micro dispensers, and the like.

1 is an external perspective view of a liquid ejecting apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the liquid ejecting apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 with a paper discharge tray and an upper case removed. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the liquid ejecting apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a flowchart which shows control of the mist suction operation of the mist collection | recovery means shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a head position and a fan suction restriction range with respect to a sheet conveyed on the platen shown in FIG. 3. It is principal part sectional drawing of the liquid ejecting apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the mist collection | recovery means in the conventional inkjet printer.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inkjet printer (liquid ejecting apparatus), 2 ... Upper case, 3 ... Lower case, 4 ... Device case, 5 ... Paper cassette, 6 ... Paper discharge tray, 11 ... Conveyance mechanism, 13 ... Carriage, 14 ... Carriage motor 44... Print head (liquid ejecting head) 50. Carriage drive mechanism 52 and 53 Carriage shaft 61 61 Suction duct 63 Suction hole 69 Suction fan 71 Mist absorbing material (mist capturing means) 72 ... Mist collecting means, 80 ... Butterfly valve (opening / closing mechanism), 91 ... Platen, P ... Paper (processed object)

Claims (3)

A liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a processing liquid from a liquid ejecting head that is reciprocally moved in a direction orthogonal to a conveyance direction of the object to be processed ,
A mist collecting means for sucking and collecting floating mist floating in the apparatus case without adhering to the object to be processed by suction force of a suction fan;
The mist collecting means captures the floating mist, a suction hole formed in a platen, a suction duct communicating the suction hole and the outside of the device case, the suction fan provided in the suction duct, and the suction mist. Mist capturing means,
The mist collecting means is configured to prevent the suction force of the suction fan from affecting the flight trajectory of the processing droplets ejected from the liquid ejecting head to the processing object. The liquid ejecting apparatus, wherein when the processing liquid is ejected to the peripheral portion, the suction force by the suction fan is reduced as compared with the time when the processing liquid is ejected to a region inside the peripheral portion of the object to be processed. The mist capturing means has an absorbent material provided on the platen so as to cover the suction hole so as to absorb the processing liquid ejected from the liquid ejecting head and not adhered to the object to be processed. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the mist collecting unit includes an opening / closing mechanism capable of opening / closing the suction duct .

Images