JP4959441B2 - Image recording device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet image recording apparatus capable of double-sided recording in which a plurality of ink jet heads are arranged along the circumferential direction of a drum.

  In general, an image recording apparatus such as a printer having a recording medium transport mechanism and a drum having a platen function is known. For example, Patent Document 1 describes an ink jet printer in which a drum that is rotated by a drive mechanism is disposed in an apparatus housing. An ink jet recording head unit (hereinafter referred to as a head unit portion) having a plurality of nozzles that eject inks of different colors (for example, K, C, M, Y) along the circumferential direction on the cylindrical surface of the drum. Is placed. Furthermore, if the recording medium is cut paper, a front / back reversing mechanism is provided to record an image on the front surface, then the front / back surface is reversed, and the drum is passed again in front of the recording head to record the image on the back surface side. Thus, double-sided image recording becomes possible.

A maintenance mechanism for performing maintenance of the head unit portion is provided on the cylindrical surface of the drum so as to be movable in the circumferential direction of the drum. When performing maintenance, the recording head is raised to the maintenance position by the lifting mechanism so as to be separated from the cylindrical surface. A maintenance mechanism is inserted into the space between the head unit portion and the drum to clean a large number of ink ejection ports of each head unit portion. The maintenance mechanism sucks the ink receiving part that receives the ink that is ejected when positive pressure purge is performed on the nozzles of each head unit part, and dust and highly viscous ink adhering to the periphery of each ink ejection port A suction chamber or the like is provided. In addition, a recovery mechanism is provided for recovering ink accumulated in the ink receiving portion, ink with high viscosity sucked by the suction chamber (hereinafter referred to as waste ink), and the like. Waste ink is stored in a waste ink collection bottle.
JP 2001-260392 A

  The above-described ink jet printer has a configuration suitable for a cut paper type recording medium, but if a long recording medium such as a roll paper type, image recording on both the front and back sides cannot be realized. This is because one head unit portion is arranged on the cylindrical surface of one drum, so that images cannot be recorded on both sides of the long recording medium substantially simultaneously.

  Therefore, two sets of recording heads and a configuration in which these recording heads are arranged on the front and back surfaces of the recording medium are required. For example, double-sided recording can be realized by disposing two drums in contact with the respective surfaces of the long recording medium in sequence and disposing a recording head on each drum. Of course, two sets of maintenance units are required and are provided in the vicinity of each recording head. However, when a plurality of maintenance mechanisms are arranged at different positions, it is necessary to prepare a waste ink collection path connected to the maintenance mechanism. For this reason, it is difficult to route the piping that becomes the waste ink collection path, and the arrangement positions of other parts are limited. Moreover, since a space for routing is required, it is difficult to reduce the size of the entire apparatus.

  Furthermore, if the waste ink is a waste ink recovery path that cannot be recovered by its own weight, a separate suction pump for sucking the waste ink to the waste ink recovery bottle is necessary, which hinders cost reduction. Further, it is necessary to design in consideration of preventing contamination due to a waste ink leakage accident, assembling of a collection path member (for example, a tube or the like), and an arrangement that does not impede maintenance processing.

  Therefore, the present invention records images on the front and back surfaces of a long recording medium, simplifies the waste ink path in the maintenance mechanism of the recording head, and passes through the recovery path by the weight of the ink and is stored in the waste ink tank. An object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus that can be configured.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is supported by a first drum that supports the back surface of a long recording medium capable of image recording on the front surface and the back surface by a cylindrical surface, and the first drum. Moving between a first inkjet head that records an image by ejecting ink onto the surface of the recording medium, and a first maintenance position and a first retraction position on the cylindrical surface of the first drum A first maintenance unit that is supported in such a manner as to perform maintenance processing of the first inkjet head at the first maintenance position, and a waste ink collection bottle that is positioned below the first maintenance unit and the apparatus. It is arranged, supporting the waste ink recovered by the first maintenance unit and the first waste ink path to flow into the waste ink recovery bottle, to contact the surface of the pre-crisis recording medium in a cylindrical surface A second drum, a second inkjet head for recording an image by ejecting ink to the back surface of the recording medium supported by the second drum, and a cylindrical surface of the second drum between the second maintenance position and a second retracted position is supported by the transfer if capacity in, and the second maintenance unit that performs maintenance processing of the second ink jet head in said second maintenance position, wherein disposed between said waste ink recovery bottle located device below the second maintenance unit, the second second waste ink path for flowing the waste ink recovered by the maintenance unit to the waste ink recovery bottle If, in an ink jet printer having a first drum and said second drum, spaced and arranged vertically, the first in the first retracted position Thereby arranged along a second maintenance unit in said second retracted position and the maintenance unit in the vertical direction, the in the second maintenance position and the first maintenance unit in said first maintenance position Provided is an image recording apparatus in which a second maintenance unit is arranged along the vertical direction.

  According to the present invention, images are recorded on the front and back surfaces of a long recording medium, the path of waste ink in the maintenance mechanism of the recording head is simplified, and the ink passes through the recovery path by its own weight and is stored in the waste ink tank. An image recording apparatus that can be configured as described above can be provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIGS. 1A and 1B show a conceptual configuration of an image recording apparatus as a first embodiment according to the present invention.

  In the image recording apparatus 1, two sets of image recording units 2 (2 a, 2 b) are arranged in positions separated in the vertical direction in a housing (apparatus body) 3. These image recording units 2a and 2b are each a platen and a drum 4 (4a and 4b) serving as a transport mechanism, and a head unit that is provided close to the cylindrical surface (or outer peripheral surface) of the drum 4 and performs image recording. The unit 5 (5a, 5b) and the maintenance unit 6 (6a, 6b) for performing maintenance processing on the head unit 5 are configured. The image recording apparatus 1 further includes a plurality of guide rollers and tension rollers for bringing a roll paper type long recording medium (hereinafter referred to as a long recording medium or a continuous recording medium) 7 into close contact with the drum 4. A roller group 8 is provided.

  On the lower surface of the casing of the image recording apparatus 1, a plurality of adjusters 9 for performing horizontal positioning and the like by height adjustment at the time of installation are provided at each corner. Further, in the vicinity of the outside of the apparatus main body 3, a supply drum (not shown) for supplying a long recording medium 7 to be wound and a winding drum (not shown) for winding the long recording medium 7 on which an image is recorded. ) Is arranged. The supply, conveyance and discharge of the long recording medium 7 are performed mainly by the winding operation of the winding drum and the feeding operation of the supply drum. Of course, these drums can be reversed in a direction opposite to that during conveyance in the jam processing or the like. Further, the long recording medium 7 is not limited to the form wound around the drum, and may be in a folded state. The long recording medium 7 may be provided with a cutter and cut and discharged after recording.

  The drum 4 is arranged so that the cylindrical surface is in a horizontal direction (horizontal direction), and the rotation unit 10 (10a, 10b) using a motor as a drive source with the center of the circular end surface as a rotation axis, It is rotationally driven at a predetermined rotational speed that is synchronized with the recording speed. A cover made of a rubber material or the like is attached to the surface portion that is in close contact with the long recording medium 7 on these cylindrical surfaces, and has a non-slip function and functions as a platen.

  Further, a charge applying unit that applies a charge to the surface of the cylindrical surface to generate a charged state and electrostatically attracts the long recording medium 7 may be provided. In particular, in the case of the long recording medium 7 having a smooth surface and a low friction coefficient, the recording medium may be transported while being fixed in close contact with the drum 4 by electrostatic attraction, and the recording accuracy can be further improved. In this embodiment, the drum 4 is rotated to convey the continuous recording paper 7 in close contact during image formation. However, the drum 4 is not necessarily rotated. For example, the cylindrical surface is a mirror surface. The drum 4 may be fixed and the continuous recording paper 7 may be slid. Further, by connecting the drum 4a and the drum 4b with a gear or the like, it is possible to rotate each of the drums 4 using only one of the rotation driving units 10a and 10b.

  The head unit 5 includes ink heads 5K, 5C, 5M, and 5Y that discharge at least four colors of ink for recording a color image along the cylindrical surface of the drum 4 from upstream to downstream in the transport direction. Arranged sequentially. These ink heads 5K, 5C, 5M, and 5Y each have the same gap between the ink discharge surface and the cylindrical surface, and the ink discharge direction is the direction toward the rotation axis of the drum 4 (radial direction). Are mounted on a head fixing frame (not shown) so as to be radial. That is, the imaginary line connecting the ink ejection surfaces of the ink heads 5K, 5C, 5M, and 5Y has substantially the same curvature as the curvature of the cylindrical surface of the drum 4. These ink heads 5K, 5C, 5M, and 5Y can accurately record an image on the long recording medium 7 by disposing the same platen gap with respect to the cylindrical surface of the drum 4. .

  Further, the head unit 5 includes an elevating mechanism (not shown) that moves the head fixing frame up and down from the cylindrical surface in the radial direction of the drum 4 without changing the positional relationship between the ink heads 5K, 5C, 5M, and 5Y. ) Is provided. This elevating mechanism includes, for example, a worm gear in which a groove is formed in a spiral, and a ball nut that encloses a plurality of balls in the groove, and a motor is connected to one end of the worm gear. The ball nut is fixed to the head fixing frame, and the head fixing frame is moved by rotating the worm gear.

  By this movement, the recording unit is raised from the recording position to the maintenance position to form a space in which the maintenance unit 6 is inserted. A stopper portion (not shown) is provided on the head fixing frame side or the drum side. The stopper portion is provided such that when the head fixing frame is lowered and returned to the recording position, the stopper portion abuts against the head fixing frame or the drum and the above-described platen gap can be secured.

  The maintenance unit 6 (6a, 6b) is assigned to the ink ejection surfaces of the ink heads 5K, 5C, 5M, 5Y, and performs a maintenance process for performing a maintenance process for removing dirt and thickened ink. A rotation mechanism 13 that rotates the maintenance unit 6 along the cylindrical surface of the drum 4 and a waste ink collection mechanism 14 that collects the waste ink sucked by each maintenance unit 12 are configured.

  The maintenance unit 12 is configured integrally with a suction unit addressed to an ink discharge port that is opened on the ink discharge surface of each ink head 5 and a wiper unit that wipes the ink discharge surface. A position (surface area) where the suction unit and the wiper unit perform maintenance is defined as a maintenance execution surface. The maintenance unit 12 is disposed on the maintenance frame 16 so that each maintenance execution surface faces the ink ejection surface. An ink pan 15 is provided on the bottom surface of the maintenance frame 16 (on the side facing the drum 4), and collected so that foreign matter such as waste ink and paper dust generated during cleaning is not scattered on or around the drum. To do. The ink pan 15 is an ink receiving portion that receives ink ejected when the ink heads 5K, 5C, 5M, and 5Y perform a positive pressure purge. The wiper part is not always necessary.

  Each maintenance execution surface is disposed so as to be close to and parallel to the opposing ink ejection surface. For this reason, the imaginary line connecting the four maintenance execution surfaces has substantially the same curvature as the curvature of the imaginary curve formed by the ink ejection surfaces of the ink heads 5K, 5C, 5M, and 5Y. It should be noted that in practice, a slight angular difference can be accommodated as a configuration in which the maintenance execution surface is elastically supported using an elastic member such as a spring.

  The maintenance unit 6 is connected to an arm 17 extending from a rotation axis that is coaxial with the rotation axis of the drum 4. In the present embodiment, four arms 17 are connected to the four corners at both ends of the maintenance unit 6. With this configuration, the maintenance unit 6 can be rotated about the rotation axis, and the maintenance unit moving mechanism (not shown) can be rotated between a retracted position during image recording and a maintenance position during maintenance processing. Moving.

  Here, the retracted position in the present embodiment suggests a position located in the horizontal direction in which the drum 4 is quartered with respect to the head unit 5 in the normal state in which the recording operation shown in FIG. Further, the maintenance position is located vertically upward with respect to the drum 4 and interposed between the raised head unit portion 5 and the drum 4 in the maintenance execution state shown in FIG. Suggest location.

  Waste ink collected by the suction unit of the maintenance unit 12 or the ink pan is stored in the waste ink collection mechanism 14. The waste ink collecting mechanism 14 is connected to the suction part and the ink receiving part at one end thereof to bendable tubes 21 and 22 for discharging the collected waste ink and the like, and is connected to the middle of the tube 21 to be disposed of the waste ink and ink pan 15. A gas-liquid separation chamber 24 for separating foreign ink containing waste ink and suction air using a filter or the like with respect to waste ink that has flowed out of the tube, and a suction portion disposed downstream of the gas-liquid separation chamber 24 of the tube 21 12, a suction pump 23 that sucks waste ink and the like, and a waste ink storage bottle 25 that stores waste ink discharged from the gas-liquid separation chamber 24 and waste ink that has flowed out of the ink pan 15.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the waste ink collecting mechanism 14 has a tube arranged in the vertical direction on the left side of the drum 4 corresponding to the retracted position of each maintenance unit section 6, and the others. The components are collectively arranged.

  Accordingly, the waste ink collected by the maintenance unit portions 6a and 6b flows down to the waste ink storage bottle 25 disposed below the apparatus by its own weight (natural fall due to gravity) and is stored in the tank. In particular, the ink discharged by the positive pressure purge to the ink heads 5K, 5C, 5M, and 5Y accumulated in the ink pan 15 flows down in the tube 22 and is collected in the waste ink storage bottle 25. The waste ink discharged by the suction unit flows down the tube 21 by the negative pressure of the suction pump 23 and is stored in the waste ink storage bottle 25.

  Further, since the maintenance unit portions 6a and 6b move between the retracted position and the maintenance position, the tubes 21 and 22 have a margin in advance. If slack or the like that affects the flow of ink occurs due to the state of the tube in the housing, the spiral tube formed in a spiral is used instead of the straight tube. It may be used.

  Further, in the tubes 21 and 22, as shown in FIG. 1B, the overlapping portion of the waste ink path discharged between the maintenance unit portions 6a and 6b is joined to one tube and shared. May be. In addition, if one waste ink path and one suction pump share the suction of the maintenance unit parts 6a and 6b, a switching bubble is interposed in the branch portion of the tube 21, and the switching is performed by switching. It is desirable to select one suction part or both suction parts.

Next, the maintenance process will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1A shows an image recording state, and FIG. 1B shows a head maintenance state. As shown in FIG. 1A, the head unit portions 5a and 5b are disposed above the drum 4 at image recording positions away from the platen gap from the drum 4. In this image recording state, the supplied long recording medium 7 is brought into close contact with the drum 4a by the roller group 8, and in front of the ink ejection surfaces of the ink heads 5K, 5C, 5M, and 5Y as the drum rotates. Passing through, image recording is performed.

  The maintenance process is performed when a preset recording amount (ink usage amount) or usage time is reached, or according to a user instruction. At this time, the maintenance unit 6 is present at the retreat position described above so as not to affect the image recording operation by a maintenance unit moving mechanism (not shown).

The head unit 5 and the maintenance unit 6 move from the recording state shown in FIG. 1A to the maintenance state shown in FIG. More specifically, the head unit 5 is lifted in a direction away from the drum 4 (upward in the figure) by a lifting mechanism (not shown),
Space required for inserting the maintenance unit 6 is made free. Next, the maintenance unit 6 is inserted into the space by the arm 13 being rotated about the rotation axis in the clockwise direction in the drawing by the maintenance unit moving mechanism. As described above, the ascending operation of the head unit 5 and the pivoting operation of the arm may be started after the ascending operation is completed as described above, or may be performed simultaneously at the timing. These operation completion positions are maintenance positions, and the ink discharge surface of the head unit unit 5 and the maintenance unit unit 6 face the suction unit. This positioning may be determined based on a detection signal provided by a position sensor (light sensor, mechanical switch sensor, etc.), or determined by contact of an arm provided with a stopper member on a housing or the like. May be.

  When the positioning of the maintenance position is completed, the head unit unit 5 is lowered by the elevating mechanism, and the ink pan closes to a position where the ink ejection surface and the suction unit abut or the ink does not scatter.

  Next, the ink is forcibly ejected from a large number of nozzles formed on the ink ejection surfaces of the ink heads 5K, 5C, 5M, and 5Y and stopped on the ink pan 15, or sucked to the ink ejection surface. Maintenance processing such as wiping is performed by wiping.

  At this time, the waste ink generated by the forced ejection of the ink flows down from the ink pan 15 through the tube 22 by the weight of the ink and flows into the gas-liquid separation chamber 24 to be separated. The separated ink further flows down by its own weight and is collected in the waste ink storage bottle 25. In addition, waste ink sucked by the suction unit or generated by wiping reaches the suction pump from the suction unit through the tube 21 and is further separated in the gas-liquid separation chamber 24 and flows into the separated waste ink storage bottle 25. And recovered. In this embodiment, the waste ink in each waste ink path falls below the apparatus due to its own weight, and is stored in a common waste ink collection bottle via a common waste ink path installed below the apparatus.

  The collection of the waste ink is performed when the waste ink generated in the suction part is driven when the suction pump is driven, that is, when the maintenance unit 6 is in the maintenance position. In addition, when the waste ink stopped in the ink pan 15 exceeds the amount of ink that can be stopped, it is collected when the maintenance unit 6 is in the maintenance position. Further, if it does not exceed, it may be the maintenance position or the return position.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the ink recovery path that connects the respective retracted positions of the two maintenance unit sections 6 to the waste ink recovery bottle is linearly disposed along the vertical direction. Further, when the two maintenance unit parts 6 are in the maintenance position, they include a part of the obliquely downward ink recovery path and are linearly arranged along the vertical direction. With this configuration, waste ink generated in each of the ink flows down due to the weight of the ink generated by gravity and is collected in one waste ink recovery bottle.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the ink collection paths for the respective waste inks are aggregated into one path and are formed so as to pass straight through the corners of the apparatus housing, thereby saving space and improving assembly. Can be achieved. Since the ink recovery paths can be integrated into one path, the tubes for allowing ink to flow down can be concentrated on a single tube, and the cost can be reduced.

  Further, since the generated waste ink is caused to flow into the waste ink collection bottle disposed below the apparatus housing by its own weight, it can be realized with a simple configuration. By using a spiral tube for the tube, even if the length of the tube is given allowance for the range of movement of the maintenance unit, it prevents slack and prevents the flow down due to the weight of the ink. be able to. Furthermore, even if an accident of waste ink leakage occurs, the waste ink collection path is a single path, so that the countermeasure can be realized with an inexpensive and simple configuration.

  Also, since the retracting position and the maintenance position of the maintenance unit portion are set to the same position with respect to each drum, and the same moving direction and the same moving amount (a quarter circumference of the drum), the moving mechanism for rotating the maintenance unit portion. Furthermore, the control for movement is simplified.

Next, a second embodiment will be described.
2A and 2B show a conceptual configuration of an image recording apparatus as the second embodiment according to the present invention. The image recording apparatus of the present embodiment is configured by the same constituent members as those of the first embodiment described above, and detailed description of the same constituent members will be omitted, and different portions will be described. In the present embodiment, the positions of the head unit 5 and the maintenance unit 6 in the first embodiment are interchanged, and the retracted position and the maintenance position of the maintenance unit 6 are also interchanged.

  2A shows an image recording state, and FIG. 2B shows a maintenance state. In this embodiment, the head unit portions 5 (5a, 5b) of the two image recording units 2 (2a, 2b) are arranged on the side surface (left side in the figure) in the same direction with respect to the cylindrical surface of the drum 4. The head unit 5 (5a, 5b) is arranged such that the ink heads 5K, 5C, 5M, 5Y discharge ink in the radial direction along the cylindrical surface of the drum 4 from the upstream side to the downstream side in the transport direction. Yes. The head unit portion 5 includes a moving mechanism (not shown) having the same configuration as the lifting mechanism in the first embodiment, and moves away from the cylindrical surface of the drum 4 without changing the positional relationship of the ink heads. Is moved between a position (maintenance position) where a space necessary for insertion of the image is inserted, or a position approaching a predetermined platen gap (image recording position).

  The maintenance unit 6 is rotated and moved between a retracted position at the time of image recording and a maintenance position at the time of maintenance by a maintenance unit moving mechanism (not shown) equivalent to the first embodiment. The rotating shaft is coaxial with the rotating shaft of the drum 4, and when retracting, the two maintenance unit parts 6 both rotate clockwise around the quarter of the drum 4, and conversely when rotating to the maintenance position, Rotate the quarter circumference of the drum 4 counterclockwise. With this movement of the quarter circumference, waste ink stored in the ink pan can be prevented from dripping out.

  The waste ink recovery path in the maintenance unit 6 (6a, 6b) includes a part of the diagonally downward ink recovery path at the retracted position shown in FIG. 2A, and linearly extends along the vertical direction. It is arranged below. In addition, at the maintenance position shown in FIG. 2A, the ink collection paths connecting the respective ink pans and suction sections of the two maintenance unit sections 6 to the waste ink collection bottles are arranged linearly downward along the vertical direction. Has been. With this configuration, waste ink generated in each of the ink flows down due to the weight of the ink generated by gravity and is collected in one waste ink recovery bottle.

  In this embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment described above can be obtained.

Each embodiment of the present invention includes the following gist.
(1) An image recording apparatus in which an image recording unit includes a first drum and a second drum each provided on the top of a cylindrical surface, and performs image recording by ejecting ink onto the front and back surfaces of a long recording medium. Because
First and second maintenance units that each have a storage unit that stores waste ink discharged from each of the image recording units and a suction unit that sucks waste ink from the image recording unit and performs maintenance processing. And
The image recording units on the cylindrical surfaces of the first drum and the second drum are moved up and down from the cylindrical surface, and retracted positions on the side surfaces of the cylindrical surfaces, and the top of the cylindrical surface, A moving mechanism for rotating and moving the first and second maintenance unit parts between the maintenance position and
One ink recovery bottle for recovering the waste ink, and a waste ink recovery mechanism having an ink recovery path for recovering the waste ink from the storage unit and the suction unit to the ink recovery bottle,
The waste ink path is characterized in that the storage part, the suction part, and the ink recovery bottle partially include an ink recovery path obliquely downward and extend downward along the vertical direction. Image recording device.

  (2) The ink recovery path is shared in a partial section between the storage unit and the suction unit and the ink recovery bottle in the first maintenance unit and the second maintenance unit. An image recording apparatus according to item (1), wherein an ink recovery path is provided.

(3) The retracted position set on the cylindrical surface of the first drum and the retracted position set on the cylindrical surface of the second drum are located on the same axis with respect to the vertical direction. A first positional relationship;
The maintenance position set on the cylindrical surface of the first drum and the maintenance position set on the cylindrical surface of the second drum are second on the same axis with respect to the vertical direction. Positional relationship,
The image recording apparatus according to item (1), further comprising:

  Therefore, it has the following operations and effects.

  (1) The retraction position or the maintenance position of the first and second maintenance unit sections is set without being separated in the horizontal direction. Therefore, the waste ink collecting mechanism connected to the maintenance unit can be made common without preparing each maintenance unit, and an inexpensive configuration is possible.

  (2) Since the waste ink path in each maintenance unit section has a single shared path, the path is simplified, and assembly and downsizing can be realized. Furthermore, by providing a part of the waste ink path with a shared path, it is possible to deal with a possible waste ink leakage by providing it in a small space. As a result, the waste ink path can be realized with an inexpensive and simple configuration.

  (3) Since the retracted position or maintenance position of the two maintenance unit portions are arranged in the vertical direction without being separated in the horizontal direction, the waste ink collecting mechanism (for waste ink discharge) connected to the two maintenance units Tubes, waste ink collection bottles, etc.) can be consolidated (concentrated) in one place without being divided in the horizontal direction, saving space and improving assembly.

  (4) With a configuration in which a tube serving as a waste ink path extends vertically or obliquely downward, the waste ink flows down in the tube by its own weight and reaches a waste ink bottle. A member such as a suction pump is unnecessary, and the structure is inexpensive and simple.

  (5) Since the retracted position or maintenance position of the first and second maintenance units is arranged at the same position with respect to each drum, the waste ink path can be simplified and the distance can be easily reduced. In addition, by setting the rotation amount of the maintenance unit to be the same, it becomes easy to make the moving mechanism for moving the maintenance unit between the retracted position and the maintenance position common and simplified. The control is also simplified.

1 is a diagram illustrating a conceptual configuration of an image recording apparatus as a first embodiment according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the notional structure of an image recording apparatus as 2nd Embodiment based on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image recording device, 2, 2a, 2b ... Image recording unit, 3 ... Housing | casing (device main body), 4, 4a, 4b ... Drum, 5, 5a, 5b ... Head unit part, 5K, 5C, 5M, 5Y Ink head, 6, 6a, 6b Maintenance unit, 7 Long recording medium, 8 Roller group, 8a Guide roller, 8b Tension roller, 9 Adjuster, 10, 10a, 10b Rotation drive unit DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ..., 12 ... Maintenance part, 13 ... Turning mechanism, 14 ... Waste ink collection mechanism, 15 ... Ink pan, 16 ... Maintenance frame, 17 ... Arm, 21, 22 ... Tube, 23 ... Suction pump, 24 ... Gas liquid Separation chamber, 25 ... Waste ink containing bottle.

Claims (5)

A first drum for supporting the back surface of a long recording medium capable of image recording on the front and back surfaces by contacting the back surface with a cylindrical surface;
A first inkjet head that records an image by ejecting ink onto the surface of the recording medium supported by the first drum;
Is supported between the first maintenance position and the first retreat position on the cylindrical surface of the first drum to the transfer if ability maintenance process of the first ink jet head in said first maintenance position A first maintenance section to perform;
The first maintenance unit is disposed between the waste ink recovery bottle located device downwardly, the first waste ink path for flowing the waste ink recovered by the first maintenance unit to the waste ink recovery bottle When,
A second drum supporting the surface of the pre-handed recording medium by contact with the cylindrical surface,
A second inkjet head for recording an image by discharging ink to the back surface of the recording medium supported by the second drum;
The supported between the transfer if the ability of the second second maintenance position and a second retracted position on the cylindrical surface of the drum, the maintenance process of the second ink jet head in said second maintenance position A second maintenance section to perform;
Wherein disposed between the waste ink recovery bottle, the second waste ink flowing waste ink recovered by the second maintenance unit to the waste ink recovery bottle positioned in the apparatus beneath said second maintenance unit Route,
In an inkjet printer having
The first drum and the second drum are spaced apart from each other,
The first maintenance unit at the first retraction position and the second maintenance unit at the second retraction position are arranged along the vertical direction, respectively.
Image recording apparatus characterized by being arranged and said second maintenance unit in said second maintenance position and the first maintenance unit in said first maintenance position along the vertical direction. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first waste ink path and the second waste ink path are extended along the same line parallel to the vertical direction. The first retracted position with respect to the first drum and the second retracted position with respect to the second drum are the same position, and
Wherein said first maintenance position relative to the first drum, the said second maintenance position on the second drum, but the image recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the same position to each other . The amount of movement of the first maintenance unit from the first retraction position to the first maintenance position, and the amount of movement of the second maintenance unit from the second retraction position to the second maintenance position. And the same amount of movement,
A movement amount of the first maintenance unit from the first maintenance position to the first retraction position, and a movement amount of the second maintenance unit from the second maintenance position to the second retraction position. If, but the image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the same amount of movement to each other. The movement direction of the first maintenance unit from the first retraction position to the first maintenance position, and the movement direction of the second maintenance unit from the second retraction position to the second maintenance position. And are in the same direction of movement,
Movement direction of the first maintenance unit from the first maintenance position to the first retraction position, and movement direction of the second maintenance unit from the second maintenance position to the second retraction position If, but the image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the same movement direction.

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