JP5381096B2 - Droplet detection device and inkjet printer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a droplet detection device and an inkjet printer.

  Conventionally, a method has been disclosed in which a flushing area for ejecting ink droplets from nozzles at a predetermined time interval and an inspection area for performing ink droplet ejection inspection are carried out at the same location in the adjustment area. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 3837999

  However, in the conventional technique as described above, since the flushing area and the inspection area are provided in the adjustment area, the width of the printing apparatus is pressed. Further, since an operation for ejecting a large amount of ink droplets such as flushing is performed in the inspection region, there is a problem that it is disadvantageous to contamination of the optical system of the detection method.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and at least a portion near the ink discharge region where the detection beam passes between the light-emitting portion and the light-receiving portion of the detection module is set to the minimum width, so that The purpose is to reduce the size.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1 performs optical axis adjustment by a light emitting unit that emits light by a light emitting element and a light receiving unit that receives light from the light emitting unit. A droplet detection apparatus having an integrated detection module including discharge detection means for detecting discharge of a droplet from a recording head, comprising: a module base that integrally supports the detection module ; and at least vicinity of the ink ejection region of the passage portion of the sensing beam between the light emitting portion and a light receiving portion of the detection module, so as to approach the width of the ink ejection area, the neighboring portion is formed to the minimum width, the recording A head maintenance cleaning mechanism or a part thereof is arranged on the side of the module base formed in the minimum width and between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit. And wherein the Hai設Su Rukoto.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the module base has a rigid chassis structure, a cross-sectional shape substantially surrounding the detection beam, and the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are coupled. Features.

The invention according to claim 3, in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that arranged detection waste ink tank corresponding to the ink ejection region below the minimum width.

The invention according to claim 4, in claim 1 or 2, and recovering the detected waste ink integrated with maintaining the waste ink tank under the waste ink opening corresponding to the ink ejection region below the minimum width A structure is provided.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the liquid droplet detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is mounted.

  According to the present invention, since the minimum width is near the ink ejection region between at least the detection beam between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit of the detection module, the overall width of the inkjet printer can be reduced. There is an effect.

  Exemplary embodiments of a droplet detection device and an inkjet printer according to the present invention are explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment)
In this embodiment, the detection module is made an independent form, only the ink droplet ejection detection is performed, and the maintenance area and the flushing area of the head are separated, so that the detection section has the minimum width, and the horizontal width dimension of the printing apparatus is reduced. In order to achieve downsizing, and to make the detection module completely independent, an ink waste liquid tank is integrally provided, and the droplet detection device can prevent contamination of the detection optical system due to ink scattering such as flushing And an inkjet printer.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration example of a droplet detection device according to this embodiment and a peripheral portion thereof. FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1 and 2, reference numeral 100 denotes a nozzle detection module, reference numeral 101 denotes a light emitting part having a light emitting element such as a laser diode, reference numeral 102 denotes a light receiving part having a light receiving element such as a photodiode, reference numeral 103 denotes a detection beam, reference numeral Reference numeral 104 denotes a module base that supports the nozzle detection module 100, reference numeral 105 denotes a detection waste ink tank, reference numeral 106 denotes an ink discharge area, reference numeral 110 denotes a maintenance cleaning mechanism, reference numeral 111 denotes a wiper unit, reference numeral 112 denotes a flushing unit, and reference numeral 113 denotes suction.・ It is a moisturizing cap.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 107 denotes an opening, reference numeral 108 denotes a head, reference numeral 115 denotes a maintenance waste ink tank, reference numeral 120 denotes a paper transport system, and reference numeral 121 denotes paper.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a nozzle detection module 100 incorporated in an ink jet printer performs optical axis adjustment using a light emitting unit 101 and a light receiving unit 102 as modules, and is integrated with a module base 104.

  At this time, the light emitting unit 101 houses the light emitting element and its driving circuit. The light receiving unit 102 houses a light receiving element and its detection circuit. On the other hand, the detection region between the light emitting unit 101 and the light receiving unit 102 only needs to secure a space between the ink ejection region 106 and the detection beam 103. When the width of the detection beam 103 is about 1 mm, the space region is 5 mm. It has been confirmed in experiments that even the degree does not affect the detection of ink droplets. Therefore, the area occupied by the circuit portion is wider, and it is effective to make the minimum width W of this detection narrower in order to effectively increase the overall width of the ink jet printer and effectively reduce the size.

  Then, the wiper portion 111, the flushing portion 112, and the like of the maintenance cleaning mechanism 110 are laid out in the position of the minimum width W at the position, so that downsizing can be realized.

  In addition, in the cleaning maintenance system, a suction / moisture retention cap 113 and a maintenance drive system 114 for driving them are disposed in the vicinity. The waste ink of the maintenance drive system 114 is collected into the maintenance waste ink tank 115 from the opening below the flushing portion 112.

  In FIG. 2, the module base 104 needs to have rigidity in consideration of the displacement of the optical axis due to deformation or distortion due to assembly or the like. In particular, with respect to the attachment of the light emitting unit 101, there is a possibility that distortion during attachment to the module base 104, distortion during adjustment of the optical axis, and distortion during attachment of the main body may occur. In order to avoid them, in order to improve the rigidity of the module base 104 itself, a method of increasing the plate thickness of the base or a method of die casting can be considered. However, considering the increase in shape and the trade-off with cost, the module base 104 has a chassis structure by cutting and bending a sheet metal or the like.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the minimum width W portion where the strength is the weakest is bent on both sides to increase the rigidity as a box shape. In addition, an ink discharge receiving opening 107 is provided on the upper portion of the wall so as to surround the detection beam 103 and shield the entrance of ink mist from the maintenance drive system 114 as much as possible. This is because the light emitting unit 101 and the light receiving unit 102 are employed in the nozzle detection module 100, so that the effect of preventing contamination of the optical system can be expected.

  On the other hand, a detection waste ink tank 105 is attached to the module base 104 at the lower part of the detection area, and all the ink ejected for detection is collected here, and it is converted into a single module so that the module can be replaced at the time of maintenance. .

  FIG. 3 is a side view showing another configuration example of the droplet detection device according to this embodiment and its peripheral portion. In this example, as shown in FIG. 3, the maintenance waste ink tank 115 can be extended to the nozzle detection module 100 side to share the maintenance waste ink tank 115. At this time, it is desirable to provide a structure that prevents ink mist from entering the detection unit from the maintenance system by providing the ink mist shielding wall 116. As another configuration, the other of the nozzle detection module 100 includes a configuration of a paper transport system 120. The paper transport system 120 is an element that determines the full width of the ink jet printer from the relationship of the paper size. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 117 denotes a waste ink port, and reference numeral 118 denotes detected waste ink.

  Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, the minimum width W is set in the vicinity of the ink discharge region 106 at least in the passing portion of the detection beam 103 between the light emitting portion 101 and the light receiving portion 102 of the nozzle detection module 100. The overall width of the printer can be reduced.

  Further, by avoiding the light emitting unit 101 and the light receiving unit 102 and disposing the head maintenance cleaning mechanism 110 beside the minimum detection width W, the overall width of the ink jet printer can be reduced and each module can be made independent. Is realized, adjustment and assembly can be performed independently, and cost can be reduced by improving work efficiency.

  Further, the light emitting unit 101 and the light receiving unit 102 are coupled to each other with a rigid chassis structure having a minimum width W, and the cross-sectional shape thereof substantially surrounds the beam. It is possible to prevent contamination of the optical system, and hence deterioration in detection performance, and improve durability.

  In addition, a detection waste ink tank 105 corresponding to the nozzle row width of the detection head is disposed below the minimum width W of the detection unit, and all the ink ejected for detection is collected, and single maintenance by a single module is performed. It can be made easy, no adjustment is required after the main body is installed, and maintenance work can be easily performed at the time of service (maintenance).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the detection waste ink 118 in which the maintenance waste ink tank 115 is integrated under the waste ink port 117 corresponding to the ink discharge area 106 below the minimum width W of the detection unit is collected. Therefore, the configuration of the detection module can be further simplified, and the cost can be reduced by integrating the waste ink tank with the maintenance.

  In addition, by mounting the nozzle detection module 100 having the above-described configuration on an ink jet printer, it is possible to provide a small ink jet printer that can be applied to ink droplet ejection detection and has good print quality.

  As described above, the droplet detection device and the ink jet printer according to the present invention are useful for an image forming apparatus such as an ink jet printer. In particular, the main body layout of the device for detecting the ink discharge state of the ink jet printer using the light emitting and receiving elements. It is suitable for the module structure considering

It is a top view which shows the structural example of the droplet detection apparatus concerning this embodiment, and its peripheral part. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a configuration example of the droplet detection device of FIG. 1 and its peripheral portion. It is a side view which shows the other structural example of the droplet detection apparatus concerning this embodiment, and its peripheral part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Nozzle detection module 101 Light emission part 102 Light reception part 103 Detection beam 104 Module base 105 Detection waste ink tank 106 Ink discharge area 107 Opening part 110 Maintenance cleaning mechanism 111 Wiper part 112 Flushing part 113 Suction / moisture retention cap 114 Maintenance drive system 115 Maintenance waste Ink tank 118 Detection waste ink

Claims (5)

A monolithic detection module including discharge detection means for performing optical axis adjustment by a light-emitting unit that emits light by a light-emitting element and a light-receiving unit that receives light from the light-emitting unit, and detecting discharge of liquid droplets from a recording head A droplet detection device comprising:
A module base that integrally supports the detection module;
Forming a vicinity of the ink ejection region of the passage portion of at least the detection beam, as close to the width of the ink ejection area, the neighboring portion to the minimum width between the light emitting portion and a light receiving portion of the detection module in the module base is, to maintain the cleaning mechanism or part of the recording head, the lateral side of the module base formed on the minimum width, and a wherein arranged to Rukoto between said light emitting portion and the light receiving portion Droplet detection device.   The droplet detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the module base has a rigid chassis structure, has a cross-sectional shape substantially surrounding the detection beam, and combines the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit. Droplet detecting device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that arranged detection waste ink tank corresponding to the ink ejection region below the minimum width. Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that arranged a structure for collecting the sensing waste ink that is integrated with the lower ink ejection area maintaining the waste ink tank under the waste ink opening corresponding to the minimum width Droplet detection device. Jet printer, characterized in that mounting the liquid-droplet detecting apparatus according to any one of claims 1-4.

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