JP5533565B2 - Ink jet recording apparatus and method for cleaning protective member provided on the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus and a method for cleaning a protective member provided on the inkjet recording apparatus.

  In the ink jet printer described in Patent Document 1, a print head (ink jet head) is mounted and rotated on both ends of the carriage reciprocating in the scanning direction with respect to the scanning direction, respectively, on axes extending in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction. A roller (protective member) that is freely supported is arranged so as to partially protrude from the ink ejection surface. The recording paper (recording medium) is always pressed downward in contact with the protective member.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-61078 (FIG. 1)

  By the way, in the ink jet printer described in Patent Document 1, the protective member is in contact with the recording medium and pressed downward to prevent the recording medium from being lifted, so that the recording medium is ejected from the ink jet of the ink jet head. This prevents contact with the surface. However, if the protective member is always in contact with the recording medium, the conveyance of the recording medium is hindered. For this reason, there is usually a gap between the protective member and the recording medium to be conveyed. A configuration is preferred in which the recording medium comes into contact only when it rises.

  Further, since the protective member is disposed near the ink ejection surface of the inkjet head, the ink is liable to adhere and easily become dirty. If the floating recording medium comes into contact with the protective member while the protective member is dirty, the dirt adheres to the recording medium and stains the recording medium.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of cleaning a protective member and a method for cleaning the protective member provided thereon.

An ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention includes an ink jet head having an ink ejecting surface in which nozzles for ejecting ink are opened, a carriage on which the ink jet head is mounted, and reciprocating scanning of the carriage in a scanning direction parallel to the ink ejecting surface. A carriage scanning means for transporting, a transport means for transporting a recording medium placed on the transport surface in a transport direction orthogonal to the scan direction along a transport surface opposite to the ink ejection surface, and an inkjet head A protective member that is disposed on at least one side in the scanning direction with respect to the ink ejection surface, protrudes toward the transport surface than the ink ejection surface, and protects the ink ejection surface; Is capable of transporting the cleaning member placed on the transport surface, and at least during the recording operation to the recording medium, A first holding means for holding the serial protective member to the first position away from said conveying surface, said protective member, said first position, can contact with the cleaning member which is placed on the conveying surface, the And a protection member moving unit that moves the second position away from the ink ejection surface than the first position in a direction perpendicular to the plane perpendicular to the ink ejection surface .

  According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, when the protective member is positioned at the first position away from the transport surface during the recording operation on the recording medium, the recording medium is protected even if the recording medium is warped. Since it is pressed by the member, it is possible to prevent the recording medium from coming into contact with the ink ejection surface. Further, when the ink adheres to the protective member, the protective member is pushed to the cleaning member by transporting the cleaning member to the transport surface by the transport means and moving the protective member to the second position. Is removed. In this way, by configuring the protection member to be movable between the first position and the second position, the protection member can be easily cleaned by pressing the protection member against the cleaning member that can be transported by the transport means.

  The cleaning member is preferably the recording medium. According to this, the running cost can be reduced by using a recording medium on which recording is performed as the cleaning member as compared with the case where a dedicated cleaning sheet or the like is used.

In addition, the conveying surface extends in the transport direction, a plurality of ribs plane connecting the top of which is spaced intervals in the scanning direction, wherein the protective member, the protective and the conveying surface It is preferable to be able to move to a position where the members intersect. According to this, regardless of the thickness of the cleaning member, the protective member can be reliably brought into contact with the cleaning member placed on the cleaning member, and the ink attached to the protective member can be more reliably removed.

Further, the carriage and with reciprocates integrally with said scanning direction, relative to the carriage, which is movable in the front Symbol surface perpendicular direction, further comprising by a Tsuido member as the protective member moving means The protection member is fixed to the follower member, and the follower member moves in the direction perpendicular to the plane with respect to the carriage to move the protection member to the first position and the second position. It is preferable to move between the positions. According to this, since the follower member to which the protective member is fixed is configured to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the plane with respect to the carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted, the protective member remains in a fixed position. Can be moved to a second position where it can contact the cleaning member. Therefore, even if the protective member is moved to the second position when cleaning the protective member, it is possible to more reliably prevent the ink ejection surface from coming into contact with the cleaning member.
The protection member is supported by the carriage so as to be movable in the plane orthogonal direction with respect to the carriage, and the protection member moving means moves the protection member in the plane direction with respect to the carriage. It is preferable to move the protective member between the first position and the second position by moving in the orthogonal direction.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said protection member is a roller rotatably supported by the axis | shaft extended in the said conveyance direction. According to this, the protective member is a roller that is rotatably supported by a shaft extending in the transport direction so that it is less likely to be caught and jammed even if it hits the end of the recording medium. For this reason, even when the roller is moved in the scanning direction together with the carriage in contact with the cleaning member, the roller itself rotates and the cleaning member is not easily caught by the roller, and the roller is easy to clean.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the first holding unit is a biasing unit that biases the protection member in a direction away from the transport surface. According to this, the protection member is urged by the urging means and does not move to the second position where it can contact the cleaning member unless it is pushed down. Therefore, the protective member can be prevented from coming into contact with the recording medium in which no warpage occurs. When cleaning the protective member, the protective member is pushed down against the urging force of the urging means to be moved to the second position where the cleaning member can come into contact with the cleaning member and is placed on the conveying surface. Can be contacted.

  In addition, it is preferable to further include second holding means for positioning and holding the protective member in the second position. According to this, it can hold | maintain in the state which made the protection member contact the cleaning member.

  Moreover, it is preferable to further include a releasing unit that releases the holding of the protective member positioned at the second position by the second holding unit. According to this, after cleaning of the protection member, the protection member positioned at the second position can be moved to the first position.

  Furthermore, the release means has a protrusion that can come into contact with a contact member disposed on a travel path of the carriage that is moved by the carriage scanning means, and the carriage is moved by the carriage scanning means, It is preferable that the holding of the protective member by the second holding unit is released when the protruding portion of the releasing unit comes into contact with the contact member. According to this, at the time of cleaning of the protection member, the carriage is moved in a region not in contact with the release means to clean the protection member. Then, after cleaning the protective member, the protective member positioned at the second position can be moved to the first position by using the movement of the carriage to bring the protruding portion of the release means into contact with the contact member.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for cleaning a protective member of an ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: an ink jet head having an ink ejecting surface having an ink ejecting nozzle; a carriage on which the ink jet head is mounted; and the carriage parallel to the ink ejecting surface. Carriage scanning means for reciprocating scanning in a scanning direction and conveying means for conveying a recording medium placed on the conveying surface in a conveying direction orthogonal to the scanning direction along a conveying surface facing the ink ejection surface And disposed on the carriage and disposed on at least one side in the scanning direction with respect to the ink ejection surface of the inkjet head, and protrudes closer to the transport surface than the ink ejection surface to protect the ink ejection surface A cleaning method for cleaning the protection member of an ink jet recording apparatus comprising: The transport means is capable of transporting the cleaning member placed on the transport surface, and the protection member is disposed at the first position away from the transport surface and the cleaning placed on the transport surface. It is possible to contact a member and move between a second position farther from the ink ejection surface than the first in a direction perpendicular to the plane perpendicular to the ink ejection surface , and at least during a recording operation on the recording medium Further comprising first holding means for holding the protection member at the first position, and the transport surface in the state where the protection member is opposed to the cleaning member placed on the transport surface. The carriage is moved from the first position away from the second position to the second position and brought into contact with the cleaning member, and the carriage is reciprocated in the scanning direction while keeping the contact.

  According to the method for cleaning the protective member of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the protective member is transported to the transport surface by the transport means, and the protective member is moved from the first position away from the transport surface to the second position. Is pressed against the cleaning member, and the ink adhering to the protective member is removed. In this way, the protection member is configured to be movable, and during the recording operation, the cleaning member that is transported by the transport means can be simply moved to the second position by moving the protection member positioned at the first position away from the transport surface to the second position. It can be easily cleaned by pressing the protective member. The cleaning effect can be improved by reciprocating the carriage while the protective member is in contact with the cleaning member.

  During the recording operation on the recording medium, the protection member is positioned at the first position away from the conveyance surface, and the recording medium can be prevented from coming into contact with the ink ejection surface. When ink adheres to the protection member, the cleaning member is placed on the transport surface, and the protection member is moved to the second position to remove the ink attached to the protection member. In this way, by configuring the protection member so as to be movable between the first position and the second position, the protection member can be pressed against the cleaning member conveyed by the conveying means and easily cleaned.

1 is a schematic plan view of an ink jet printer according to an embodiment. It is the figure which looked at FIG. 1 from the direction of arrow II. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an electrical configuration of an ink jet printer. It is a figure equivalent to FIG. 2 at the time of cleaning mode execution. It is a figure equivalent to FIG. 1 in a modification. FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of a portion A surrounded by a broken line in FIG. 5, (a) is when the cleaning mode is executed, and (b) is during the recording operation. It is a side view of a raising / lowering mechanism, (a) is at the time of cleaning mode execution, (b) is at the time of recording operation.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described. This embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to an inkjet printer that records desired characters or images on a recording sheet by ejecting ink from the inkjet head onto the recording sheet.

  First, a schematic configuration of the ink jet printer according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of the ink jet printer according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a view of FIG. 1 viewed from the direction of arrow II. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an ink jet printer 1 (ink jet recording apparatus) is mounted on a carriage 2 configured to be reciprocally movable along a predetermined scanning direction (left and right direction in FIG. 1). The inkjet head 3, the follower member 20 configured to reciprocate in the scanning direction integrally with the carriage 2, the two rollers 17 provided on the follower member 20, and the recording paper P in the scanning direction. The transport mechanism 4 transports in the orthogonal transport direction (from the top to the bottom in FIG. 1), the platen 8 that supports the recording paper P transported by the transport mechanism 4 from the lower surface, and controls the operation of each part to control the overall operation. A control device 50 and the like are included.

  The carriage 2 is supported by two guide shafts 6 and 7 extending in parallel with the scanning direction, and is configured to reciprocate in the scanning direction along the two guide shafts 6 and 7. An endless belt 9 is connected to the carriage 2, and when the endless belt 9 is driven to travel by a carriage drive motor 63 (see FIG. 3), the carriage 2 scans in the scanning direction as the endless belt 9 travels. To move to. In this embodiment, the two guide shafts 6 and 7, the endless belt 9, and the carriage drive motor 63 correspond to the carriage scanning means in the present invention.

  An ink jet head 3 is mounted on the lower surface of the carriage 2. The ink jet head 3 is supplied from an ink cartridge (not shown) and ejects ink in the ink flow path of the stored flow path unit from a plurality of nozzles 15 by a piezoelectric actuator. A plurality of nozzles 15 are arranged side by side in the transport direction to form a nozzle row, and four nozzle rows are arranged in the scanning direction. The lower surface of the inkjet head 3 is an ink ejection surface 16 that is parallel to the scanning direction and the conveyance direction, and each of the plurality of nozzles 15 is open. For each nozzle row, magenta, cyan, yellow, and black Ink is ejected.

  The transport mechanism 4 includes a paper feed roller 10 disposed upstream of the inkjet head 3 in the transport direction (upward in FIG. 1) and a paper discharge roller 11 disposed downstream of the inkjet head 3 in the transport direction. doing. The paper feed roller 10 and the paper discharge roller 11 are rotationally driven by a paper feed motor 61 and a paper discharge motor 62 (see FIG. 3), respectively. The transport mechanism 4 supplies the recording paper P to the inkjet head 3 from above in FIG. 1 by the paper feed roller 10, and records the characters and images recorded by the inkjet head 3 by the paper discharge roller 11. The paper P is configured to be discharged downward in FIG.

  The platen 8 is disposed below the carriage 2 (in the depth direction of the paper surface in FIG. 1) between the paper feed roller 10 and the paper discharge roller 11 in the transport direction, and on the upper surface facing the ink ejection surface 16, A plurality of ribs 5 are formed at intervals equal to or larger than the diameter of a roller 17 described later in the scanning direction. The plurality of ribs 5 reduce the contact area with the recording paper P and reduce the friction with the recording paper P, and are arranged extending in the transport direction. A virtual surface including the tips of the plurality of ribs 5 is a conveyance surface 8a on which the recording paper P is conveyed. The transport surface 8 a is parallel to the ink ejection surface 16. The recording paper P is conveyed along the conveyance surface 8a while being supported by the conveyance surface 8a.

  The follower member 20 is supported by the guide shafts 6 and 7, and includes two support portions 31 and a connection portion 32 that connects the two support portions 31. The two support portions 31 are disposed on both sides in the scanning direction of the carriage 2 and extend in the transport direction. The connection part 32 is located above the carriage 2 and connects the upper ends of the two support parts 31.

  Further, rollers 17 (protective members) that are rotatably supported by shafts extending in the transport direction are provided at both ends of the carriage 2 in the scanning direction and at the lower ends of the support portions 31, respectively. ing. The two rollers 17 extend longer than the length in which the nozzles 15 are arranged in the transport direction, and have portions protruding downward from the ink ejection surface 16 of the inkjet head 3, and transport the transport surface 8 a. This is a driven roller that can rotate when it comes into contact with the recording paper P to be printed. The two rollers 17 are connected to each other via a support portion 31 and a connection portion 32.

  When the carriage 2 moves to the right in FIG. 1, the support member 31 on the right side in FIG. 1 is pushed by the carriage 2, so that the follower member 20 moves to the right in FIG. 1. When the carriage 2 moves to the left, the follower member 20 moves to the left in FIG. Thus, as the carriage 2 reciprocates in the scanning direction, the follower member 20 reciprocates in the scanning direction integrally with the carriage 2.

  In addition, there is a space between the two support portions 31 and both sides of the carriage 2 in the scanning direction. Each of the spaces has a compression spring 41 (biasing means: first holding member) extending in the vertical direction. Means) are arranged.

  And the both sides | surfaces regarding the conveyance direction of each support part 31 have the protrusion 23 formed in the part located above the guide shafts 6 and 7, and the part located below the guide shafts 6 and 7, respectively. In addition, a protrusion 24 is formed. The follower member 20 cannot move below the position where the lower surface of the protrusion 23 contacts the upper surfaces of the guide shafts 6 and 7. When the lower surface of the protrusion 23 is in contact with the upper surfaces of the guide shafts 6 and 7, the follower member 20 is closest to the conveying surface 8 a, and the roller 17 is formed between the two ribs 5 adjacent to the platen 8. It is positioned at a position (second position) that has moved downward and moved downward.

  Further, the follower member 20 cannot move above the position where the upper surface of the protrusion 24 abuts against the lower surfaces of the guide shafts 6 and 7. When the protrusion 24 is in contact with the lower surfaces of the guide shafts 6 and 7, the tracking member 20 is farthest from the transport surface 8a, and the roller 17 is positioned away from the transport surface 8a (first position). Positioned on.

  The compression spring 41 has a lower end attached to a spring attachment portion 42 provided on a side surface in the scanning direction of the carriage 2 and an upper end provided on a side surface of the support portion 31 on the carriage 2 side. It is attached to the attachment part 43. As a result, the follower member 20 is biased upward (in a direction away from the conveying surface 8a along the vertical direction) by the compression spring 41 with respect to the carriage 2, and the upper surface of the protrusion 24 is always at the guide shaft. 6 and 7 are in contact with the lower surface.

  In this case, the follower member 20 is biased upward by the compression spring 41, so that the upper surface of the protrusion 24 does not drop downward from the position where it contacts the lower surfaces of the guide shafts 6 and 7. The upper surface of the protrusion 24 is always in contact with the lower surfaces of the guide shafts 6 and 7, and the follower member 20 is restricted from moving upward. Accordingly, the distance between the roller 17 and the conveyance surface 8a in the vertical direction can be always kept constant. Thus, the follower member 20 is movable in the vertical direction with respect to the carriage 2, and accordingly, the roller 17 moves from a position away from the transport surface 8a to a position below the transport surface 8a. It is movable.

  By the way, for example, the recording paper P is bent when it swells by absorbing the ink ejected from the ink jet head 3. If the roller 17 is not provided, the gap between the recording sheet P on the transport surface 8a and the ink ejection surface 16 of the inkjet head 3 is very small. There is a possibility that the nozzle 15 formed on the ink ejection surface 16 may be damaged by contacting the nozzle 16. Therefore, by providing a roller 17 projecting downward from the ink ejection surface 16, the roller 17 is in contact with the bent recording paper P, and the recording paper P is prevented from contacting the ink ejection surface 16.

  Further, as described above, when the recording paper P is bent by absorbing and swelling the ink, the recording paper P is swollen and bent immediately after the ink has landed. The length of the nozzle 15 is longer than the length of the nozzle 15 in the conveying direction. Therefore, the bent recording paper P reliably contacts the roller 17, not the ink ejection surface 16. In this way, it is possible to reliably prevent the recording paper P from coming into contact with the ink ejection surface 16.

  Next, the control device 50 that controls the entire inkjet printer 1 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the ink jet printer. The control device 50 includes, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM) that stores various programs and data for controlling the overall operation of the inkjet printer 1, and a CPU. A random access memory (RAM) that temporarily stores data to be processed is provided, and a program stored in the ROM is executed by the CPU to perform various controls as described below. May be. Alternatively, it may be a hardware type in which various circuits including an arithmetic circuit are combined.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 50 includes a head control unit 51, a transport control unit 52, and a carriage control unit 53. The head control unit 51 controls the inkjet head 3 based on data input from the PC 60 that is an external device, and records images, characters, and the like on the recording paper P.

  The transport control unit 52 controls the paper feed motor 61 and the paper discharge motor 62 of the transport mechanism 4 so that the recording paper P is transported downstream in the transport direction by the paper feed roller 10 and the paper discharge roller 11. The carriage control unit 53 controls the carriage drive motor 63 to reciprocate the carriage 2 in the scanning direction, thereby causing the inkjet head 3 to reciprocate.

  By the way, the roller 17 that prevents the recording paper P from contacting the ink ejection surface 16 may become dirty for various reasons. When the dirty roller 17 comes into contact with the recording paper P, the dirt adheres to the recording paper P and stains the recording paper P. There are various causes for the contamination of the roller 17. For example, when ink is ejected by the ink jet head 3, ink mist floats around the ink jet head 3, and the ink is applied to the rollers 17 disposed at both ends of the carriage 2. Mist adheres and the roller 17 becomes dirty.

  As described above, the rollers 17 disposed at both ends of the ink jet head 3 may contaminate the recording paper P which has been soiled and contacted due to the reasons described above. Therefore, it is necessary to execute the cleaning mode to clean the rollers 17. There is. As will be described in detail later, the cleaning mode is a mode executed by the user when cleaning the roller 17, unlike the normal recording operation on the recording paper P.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 50 further includes a cleaning mode execution unit 54 and a display control unit 55 in addition to the above-described configuration. The cleaning mode execution unit 54 sets the display content by the display control unit 55 when the cleaning mode is executed, and sets the conveyance amount of the recording paper P by the carriage control unit 53. The display control unit 55 causes the display 65 of the PC 60 to display the operation content that the user performs in the cleaning mode.

  Next, the cleaning operation of the roller 17 in the cleaning mode will be described. FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 when the cleaning mode is executed. First, when the user presses the button 64 of the inkjet printer 1 for a predetermined time or longer, a trigger for executing the cleaning mode is entered. The operation for entering this trigger may be any operation such as pressing a button (not shown) for starting the cleaning mode displayed on the display 65 of the PC 60.

  When the cleaning mode is started, the display control unit 55 displays on the display 65 of the PC 60 that the recording paper P is placed on a paper feed tray (not shown). Thereafter, when the user places the recording paper P on the paper supply tray and presses the button 64, the conveyance control unit 52 controls the paper supply motor 61 to reciprocate the recording paper P together with the carriage 2 in the scanning direction. The ink is transported to a position that can face the ink ejection surface 16 (roller 17) of the inkjet head 3.

  When the cleaning mode is started, the control of the carriage 2 by the carriage control unit 53 is released, and the user can hold the carriage 2 and freely move back and forth in the scanning direction. In this state, the display control unit 55 moves the follower member 20 to the display 65 of the PC 60 to above the recording paper P (opposite position) and pushes it down toward the recording paper P, so that the roller 17 is moved to the recording paper P. Display to contact with. When the cleaning of the roller 17 is completed, a message indicating that the button 64 is pressed is displayed.

  Then, the user opens the casing of the inkjet printer 1, grasps the follower member 20, moves it in the scanning direction, makes the roller 17 face the recording paper P, and then biases the compression spring 41. Against the recording paper P. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the roller 17 is pressed against the recording paper P. In this state, the user scans the follower member 20 in one of the scanning directions beyond the circumferential length of the roller 17. Then, the ink adhering to the entire circumference of the roller 17 is removed.

  Note that the user may increase or decrease the number of times the follower member 20 is reciprocated according to the degree of ink adhesion to the roller 17.

  When the user determines that the cleaning of the roller 17 has been completed and releases the follower member 20, the roller 17 moves away from the transport surface 8 a, and then, when the button 64 is pressed, the transport control unit 52 causes the paper feed motor to move. 61 and the discharge motor 62 are controlled to discharge the recording paper P, and the cleaning mode is completed.

  According to the inkjet printer 1 of the present invention, during the recording operation on the recording paper P, when the roller 17 is positioned at a position away from the transport surface 8a, the recording paper P is bent toward the ink ejection surface 16. However, it is possible to prevent the recording paper P from coming into contact with the ink ejection surface 16 due to contact with the roller 17. When the ink adheres to the roller 17, the recording paper P is placed on the conveyance surface 8 a and the roller 17 is pushed down toward the recording paper P, so that the roller 17 is pressed against the recording paper P and adheres to the roller 17. The removed ink is removed. As described above, the roller 17 is configured to be movable from a position away from the conveying surface 8a to a position where the roller 17 can come into contact with the recording sheet P, so that the roller 17 can be easily pressed against the recording sheet P conveyed by the conveying mechanism 4. Can be cleaned.

  Further, when a cleaning member that contacts the roller 17 and cleans the roller 17 is provided, for example, as a part of the ink jet printer 1, the cleaning member is used to maintain the cleaning function of the cleaning member permanently. Although it is necessary to remove the ink adhering to the ink-jet printer, if the ink-jet printer 1 is equipped with a mechanism for removing the ink, the size is increased. Therefore, when cleaning is performed by contacting the roller 17, a configuration in which a member to be contacted with the roller 17 can be used by being inserted from the outside of the inkjet printer 1 is desirable.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the recording paper P is used as a member to be brought into contact with the roller 1, and the recording paper P is transported into the inkjet printer 1 using the transport mechanism 4 to clean the roller 17. As a result, it is possible to realize a configuration that can be used by being inserted from the outside of the ink jet printer 1, and it is also possible to always clean using new recording paper P. Therefore, printing can be performed without the roller 17 coming into contact with the recording paper P during printing and making the recording paper P dirty. The recording paper P in the present embodiment corresponds to the cleaning member in the present invention and can be transported by the transport mechanism 4.

  Further, by using the recording paper P on which recording is performed as the cleaning member, the running cost can be reduced as compared with the case where a dedicated cleaning sheet or the like is used.

  Further, since the follower member 20 to which the roller 17 is fixed is configured to be movable in the vertical direction with respect to the carriage 2 on which the inkjet head 3 is mounted, the position where the roller 17 can come into contact with the recording paper P. Even if it is moved up to, the inkjet head 3 (ink ejection surface 16) does not move. Therefore, even if the roller 17 is moved when cleaning, it is possible to more reliably prevent the ink ejection surface 16 from coming into contact with the cleaning member.

  Furthermore, the roller 17 moves to the conveyance surface 8a side and can move downward between the ribs 5 and is positioned below the tip of the rib 5, and the carriage 2 scans in this positioned state. Therefore, regardless of the thickness of the recording paper P, the roller 17 can be reliably brought into contact with the recording paper P and pressed. In addition, the contact pressure when the roller 17 is brought into contact with the recording paper P can be increased to more reliably remove the ink adhering to the roller 17.

  When the cleaning mode is selected and executed by using the roller 17 rotatably supported on the shaft extending in the transport direction as a protective member for protecting the recording paper P so as not to contact the ink ejection surface 16. In addition, even if the roller 17 moves in the scanning direction in contact with the recording paper P, the roller itself rotates and the recording paper P is not easily caught by the roller 17, and the roller is easy to clean.

  Next, modified examples in which various changes are made to the present embodiment will be described. However, the same reference numerals are given to those having the same configuration as in the above embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

  In this embodiment, when the cleaning mode of the roller 17 is executed, the user depresses the roller 17 together with the follower member 20 and presses it against the recording paper P, and then moves in the scanning direction to clean the roller 17. However, the cleaning mode may be executed by automatic control while eliminating the user's operation as much as possible.

  Hereinafter, an example will be described. FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 in a modified example. 6 is an enlarged plan view of a portion A surrounded by a broken line in FIG. 5, (a) is when the cleaning mode is executed, and (b) is during the recording operation. FIGS. 7A and 7B are side views of the elevating mechanism, where FIG. 7A is when the cleaning mode is executed, and FIG. 7B is when the recording operation is performed. As shown in FIG. 5, the ink jet printer 100 includes an elevating mechanism 70 (release means), a push-down plate 71, and a contact member 72 in addition to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the lifting mechanism 70 includes a first engagement portion 73 (protrusion portion) provided on the carriage 2 and a second engagement portion provided on the connection portion 32 of the follower member 20. 74. The first engaging portion 73 has a U-shape, and has a first convex portion 73a protruding downward at the lower end thereof, and is upstream in the transport direction with respect to the carriage 2 (FIG. 7A). (In the direction of arrow 75). The second engaging portion 74 has a U-shape, and has a second convex portion 74 a that protrudes upward at its upper end and can be engaged with the first convex portion 73 a. Is biased upward (in the direction of arrow 76 in FIG. 7A).

  The push-down plate 71 is provided at the connection portion 32 of the follower member 20. When the pusher plate 71 is pushed down by the user, the follower member 20 is also pushed down. In addition, the roller 17 and the second engagement portion 74 are pushed down together with the follower member 20. The contact member 72 is provided on the guide shaft 6 and is inclined from the upstream side to the downstream side in the transport direction as it goes outward in the scanning direction.

  During a normal recording operation, as shown in FIG. 7B, the engagement state of the first engagement portion 73 and the second engagement portion 74 is released, and the second engagement portion 74 is biased. Is moving upward. The roller 17 is located away from the recording paper P.

  First, similarly to the above-described embodiment, when a trigger for executing the cleaning mode is entered and the cleaning mode is started, the display control unit 55 supplies the recording paper P to the display 65 of the PC 60 on the paper feed tray (not shown). ) Is displayed. Thereafter, when the user places the recording paper P on the paper supply tray and presses the button 64, the conveyance control unit 52 controls the paper supply motor 61 to reciprocate the recording paper P together with the carriage 2 in the scanning direction. The ink is transported to a position that can face the ink ejection surface 16 (roller 17) of the inkjet head 3.

  Thereafter, the carriage control motor 53 controls the carriage drive motor 63 to move the carriage 2 to a position facing the recording paper P. Then, the display control unit 55 displays on the display 65 of the PC 60 that the push-down plate 71 is pushed down.

  Then, when the user pushes down the push-down plate 71, as shown in FIG. 7A, the first engagement portion 73 moves to the upstream side in the transport direction (to the right in FIG. 7A), and the first The engaging portion 73 and the second engaging portion 74 are engaged. And even if a user stops pushing down of the push-down board 71, the follower member 20 (roller 17) remains pressed down because the 1st engaging part 73 and the 2nd engaging part 74 are engaging. . At this position, the roller 17 is pressed against the recording paper P. In this state, under the control of the carriage control unit 53, the follower member 20 is scanned in one of the scanning directions along with the carriage 2 beyond the circumferential length of the roller 17. Then, the ink adhering to the entire circumference of the roller 17 is removed. At this position, the lower end portion of the roller 17 is lower than the top portion of the rib 5 of the platen 8, but the roller 17 and the recording paper P are brought into contact with each other due to the deformation of the guide shafts 6 and 7 and the platen 8 when scanning the carriage 2. The rib 5 of the platen 8 can be overcome.

  When the cleaning of the roller 17 is finished, the carriage 2 is moved to a position where the first engaging portion 73 can come into contact with the contact member 72 as shown in FIG. Then, the first engaging portion 73 moves downstream in the transport direction along the inclination of the contact member 72. Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the engagement state of the first engagement portion 73 and the second engagement portion 74 is released, and the second engagement portion 74 moves upward by the urging force. Then, the roller 17 moves away from the recording paper P to a position during recording operation. Thereafter, the conveyance control unit 52 controls the paper feed motor 61 and the paper discharge motor 62 to discharge the recording paper P, and the cleaning mode is completed. Note that the contact member 72 does not hinder the carriage 2 from moving in the scanning direction in a posture in which the first engagement portion 73 is disengaged from the second engagement portion 74.

  In the present embodiment, the follower member 20 is urged upward with respect to the guide shafts 6 and 7, but may be urged upward with respect to the carriage 2. Further, such upward biasing means may not be provided. In this case, it is desirable that the roller 17 includes a stopper for holding the follower member 20 at a position away from the recording paper P. Then, by releasing the stopper, it may move downward by its own weight, or may be biased downward with respect to the guide shafts 6 and 7 and the carriage 2.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the rollers 17 are provided on both sides of the carriage 2, but only one of them may be provided.

  In the present embodiment, the recording paper P on which recording is performed is used as the cleaning member of the roller 17. However, the structure in which the ink attached to the roller 17 is easily removed when contacting the roller 17, for example, from the recording paper P Also, the cleaning member may be a cleaning sheet dedicated to cleaning that can be transported by the transport mechanism 4 and that has a high ink absorption capacity and lowers the viscosity of the ink that is wet on the surface and adheres to the roller 17.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the roller 17 that is rotatably supported by the shaft extending in the transport direction is used as the protective member that protects the recording paper P so as not to contact the ink ejection surface 16. For example, any member such as a plate may be used.

  In the present embodiment, the two rollers 17 are provided on the follower member 20, but may be provided on the carriage 2. At this time, as a configuration for moving the two rollers 17 toward the recording paper P, the rotation shaft of the roller 17 is supported by a long hole extending in the vertical direction of the carriage 2, and the parallel movement in the vertical direction is performed. A configuration in which the carriage 2 can be moved downward with respect to the guide shafts 6 and 7, or a configuration in which the guide shafts 6 and 7 can be moved downward with respect to the casing of the inkjet printer 1. It is possible to do.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the operation that the user performs in the cleaning mode is displayed on the display 65 of the PC 60. However, when the inkjet printer 1 includes a display unit such as a display, the display unit includes It may be displayed. Further, the display is not limited to display by the display unit. For example, a speaker may be provided and a voice guide may be provided, or a notification unit other than the display unit for notifying the user of the operation in the cleaning mode may be provided. Furthermore, the notification unit may not be provided for an operation to be performed by the user in such a cleaning mode.

  Further, in this embodiment, the follower member 20 is urged upward by the compression spring 41, but the follower member 20 is guided by the guide shaft 6 by another urging member such as a tension spring or an elastic member other than the spring. , 7 may be biased upward.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printer 2 Carriage 3 Inkjet head 4 Conveyance mechanism 6, 7 Guide shaft 8a Conveyance surface 9 Endless belt 15 Nozzle 16 Ink ejection surface 17 Roller 41 Compression spring P Recording paper

Claims (11)

An ink jet head having an ink ejecting surface in which a nozzle for ejecting ink is opened;
A carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted;
Carriage scanning means for reciprocally scanning the carriage in a scanning direction parallel to the ink ejection surface;
Conveying means for conveying a recording medium placed on the conveying surface in a conveying direction orthogonal to the scanning direction along a conveying surface facing the ink ejection surface;
A protective member that is disposed on at least one side in the scanning direction with respect to the ink ejection surface of the inkjet head, protrudes toward the transport surface than the ink ejection surface, and protects the ink ejection surface. ,
The transport means can transport a cleaning member placed on the transport surface,
At least during a recording operation on the recording medium, a first holding means for holding the protection member at a first position away from the transport surface ;
The protective member can contact the first position and the cleaning member placed on the transport surface, and is further away from the ink ejecting surface than the first position in a direction orthogonal to the ink ejecting surface. And a protection member moving means for moving between the second position and the second position.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member is the recording medium. The conveying surface extends in the transport direction, made from a plane connecting the tops of a plurality of ribs disposed at an interval in the scanning direction,
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protection member is movable to a position that intersects the transport surface. With reciprocates the carriage integrally with the scanning direction, relative to the carriage, which is movable in the front Symbol surface perpendicular direction, further comprises a Tsuido member as the protective member moving means,
The protective member is fixed to the follower member;
The said follower member moves in the said surface orthogonal direction with respect to the said carriage, and moves the said protection member between the said 1st position and the said 2nd position. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of the above.   The protection member is supported by the carriage so as to be movable in the plane orthogonal direction with respect to the carriage,
  The protective member moving means moves the protective member between the first position and the second position by moving the protective member in a direction perpendicular to the surface direction with respect to the carriage. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The protective member is an ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a roller rotatably supported by a shaft extending in the conveying direction. It said first holding means, the ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that a biasing means for biasing the protective member in a direction away from the conveying surface. The ink-jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it further comprises a second holding means for holding position the said protective member to the second position. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 8 , further comprising a releasing unit that releases the holding of the protective member positioned at the second position by the second holding unit. The release means has a protrusion that can come into contact with a contact member disposed on a travel path of the carriage that is moved by the carriage scanning means,
The carriage is moved by the carriage scanning means, when the protruding portion of the releasing means is in contact with the contact member, according to claim, characterized in that holding by said second holding means of the protective member is canceled 9 2. An ink jet recording apparatus according to 1. An ink jet head having an ink ejecting surface in which nozzles for ejecting ink are opened; a carriage on which the ink jet head is mounted; carriage scanning means for reciprocally scanning the carriage in a scanning direction parallel to the ink ejecting surface; and the ink A conveyance unit that conveys a recording medium placed on the conveyance surface in a conveyance direction orthogonal to the scanning direction along a conveyance surface that faces the ejection surface; The protection of an ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a protection member that is disposed on at least one side in the scanning direction with respect to the ink ejection surface, protrudes toward the transport surface from the ink ejection surface, and protects the ink ejection surface. A cleaning method for cleaning a member,
The transport means can transport a cleaning member placed on the transport surface,
The protective member is capable of contacting the first position away from the transport surface and the cleaning member placed on the transport surface, and the ink is more in-line than the first in a direction perpendicular to the ink ejection surface. Movable between a second position away from the ejection surface ;
At least during a recording operation on the recording medium, further comprising a first holding means for holding the protection member in the first position;
In a state where the protection member is opposed to the cleaning member placed on the transport surface, the protection member is moved from the first position away from the transport surface to the second position, and is brought into contact with the cleaning member. A cleaning method for a protective member of an ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the carriage is reciprocated in the scanning direction while being kept in contact.

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