JP5609715B2 - Maintenance device and liquid ejection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a maintenance device that performs maintenance of a liquid ejecting head, and a liquid ejecting device including the maintenance device.

  Conventionally, ink jet printers are widely known as a kind of liquid ejecting apparatus. This printer is provided with a liquid ejecting head in a reciprocating carriage, and paper that transports ink, which is an example of liquid, from a nozzle opened on the nozzle forming surface of the liquid ejecting head in a direction crossing the moving direction of the carriage This is jetted onto the medium and printed.

  In such a printer, generally, maintenance for maintaining ejection characteristics for properly ejecting ink from the nozzles of the liquid ejecting head, that is, maintenance of the liquid ejecting head is performed. For example, after the carriage is moved to a non-printing area outside the printing area where ink is ejected onto the paper, the cap is applied so as to cover the nozzle opening on the nozzle forming surface of the liquid ejecting head. Make contact. In the abutting state, the cap inner space formed between the nozzle forming surface and the cap is brought into a negative pressure state by the rotation operation of the suction pump, so that, for example, thickened ink is sucked from the nozzle in the nozzle. Then, the liquid is discharged through a tube serving as a suction passage connected to the cap. By doing so, maintenance is performed so that ink can be properly ejected from the nozzles.

  In this maintenance, the printer can select and maintain a nozzle that needs suction. That is, the nozzle formation surface is configured to be divided into a plurality of areas in units of nozzle arrays in accordance with the color of ink ejected from the nozzles constituting each nozzle array, and each partitioned area is covered with a cap. Yes. And the nozzle formed in the area | region is maintained by making the space in a cap formed in the area | region covered with the cap among nozzle formation surfaces into a negative pressure state.

  As a printer having such a configuration, Patent Document 1 discloses that a liquid ejecting head is provided in a liquid ejecting head, and a tube is selected by a closing member that reciprocates as the carriage reciprocates. A technique for selecting a space has been proposed. According to the technique of Patent Document 1, since the carriage is reciprocated, it is possible to selectively close the tube as the suction passage without expanding the movement range of the carriage. Therefore, a printer capable of selectively sucking a plurality of cap inner spaces without increasing the size is obtained.

JP 2010-201111 A

  However, in the proposed technique of Patent Document 1, the closing member moves as the carriage reciprocates in the non-printing area where the cap abuts the liquid ejecting head to form the space inside the cap. For this reason, the carriage cannot be moved while maintaining the state where the tube to be crushed is selected. In addition, when the carriage moves from the printing area to the non-printing area, the cap is brought into contact with the nozzle forming surface by operating the raising mechanism using the movement of the carriage as a driving force to raise the cap. .

  For this reason, in Patent Document 1, when performing so-called idle suction in which the cap is sucked away from the nozzle formation surface, if the carriage is moved from the non-printing area toward the printing area in order to lower the cap, Along with this, the closing member also moves in the direction of the printing area. As a result, the state of selectively crushing the tube as the suction passage is released, so that all caps are sucked at the same time, and the suction force is dispersed. There is a problem that it decreases. Further, during the reciprocating movement of the carriage in the non-printing area, in addition to the load accompanying the upward movement of the cap, the load accompanying the reciprocating movement of the closing means increases. Therefore, an excessive load may be applied to the motor for reciprocating the carriage. For this reason, there is a problem that the motor to be used becomes a large motor with a large rated current so that a large torque can be obtained.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and while suppressing an increase in load during movement of the carriage, the carriage is moved while maintaining a state in which a cap internal space that should be in a negative pressure state is selected. The main purpose is to realize a movable maintenance device. Furthermore, it aims at providing the liquid ejecting apparatus provided with such a maintenance apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, a maintenance device according to the present invention includes a carriage provided to be reciprocably supported by a liquid ejecting head that ejects liquid from a plurality of nozzles, and the carriage performs maintenance of the liquid ejecting head. A cap that forms a plurality of internal spaces between the liquid ejecting head and abutting the liquid ejecting head so as to approach the liquid ejecting head and surround the nozzle as moving to the maintenance area to be performed; A suction means for sucking each internal space of the cap through a suction passage corresponding to each internal space, and a state in which the carriage is engaged with the carriage in an intermediate movement region located in the middle of movement to the maintenance region Has a moving member that moves in conjunction with the carriage, and the suction passages are selected as the moving member moves. And selectively closing means for releasing the engagement between the moving member and the carriage while maintaining the closed state of the selected suction passage, and moving the moving member toward and away from the carriage. And a separating / moving means for establishing and releasing the engagement between the moving member and the carriage.

  According to the above configuration, the internal space of the cap that should be in a negative pressure state is selected in the region that is in the process of moving to the maintenance region where the cap is brought into contact and suction is performed, and the suction corresponding to the selected internal space The carriage can be moved to the maintenance area while maintaining the closed state of the passage. As a result, the maintenance of the liquid ejecting head can be appropriately performed without reducing the cap suction performance. Further, if an area in the middle of movement for selecting the suction passage to be closed does not overlap with an area in which the carriage moves so that the cap contacts the liquid ejecting head, an increase in load caused by movement of the carriage is suppressed. be able to.

  In the maintenance device of the present invention, the moving member includes an engaging portion that can be engaged with the carriage in a region where the carriage is moving, and a closing member that is displaced to selectively close the suction passages. The selective closing means includes a cam member having a cam surface formed so as to guide the closing member to a selected position corresponding to selection of the suction passage to be closed by reciprocating movement of the moving member. The separation / contact moving means is driven so that the selective closing means approaches and separates from the carriage in a state where the closing member is located at the selected position.

  According to the above configuration, since the position of the moving member when the engagement between the carriage and the moving member is released is specified as the selected position, when the engaging portion of the moving member is subsequently engaged with the carriage, The carriage can be easily engaged with the engaging portion. In addition, since the suction passage to be closed is switched by the reciprocating movement of the moving member, the selected position can be the same position in the moving direction of the moving member. Therefore, regardless of the selection state of the suction passage, the carriage and the moving member can be engaged at a fixed position in the moving intermediate region.

The maintenance device of the present invention includes a biasing unit that biases the moving member so that the closing member is guided toward the selected position.
According to the above configuration, when the engagement between the carriage and the moving member is released, the moving member is urged by the urging means so that the closing member moves in the selected position direction. As a result, for example, when the engagement between the carriage and the moving member is released during the movement of the carriage, the position of the moving member is moved by the urging means to a position that can be specified in the moving direction of the moving member. When the engaging portion is engaged with the carriage, the carriage can be easily engaged with the engaging portion.

  In the maintenance device according to the present invention, the selective closing means regulates movement of the moving member in a direction in which the carriage moves from the maintenance area to the intermediate movement area at the selected position where the blocking member is guided. A movement restricting portion is formed.

  According to the above configuration, the carriage that has moved to the maintenance area is engaged with the engaging portion of the moving member that is in the movement-restricted state in the selective blocking means, so that the carriage does not move from the maintenance area toward the moving area. Can be regulated. Therefore, the engaging portion of the moving member can function as a carriage locking means.

In the maintenance device according to the aspect of the invention, the region where the carriage is moving includes a region where the liquid is ejected from the liquid ejecting head to the medium.
According to the above configuration, it is possible to select in advance the internal space of the cap to be sucked using the movement operation of the carriage during the process of ejecting the liquid onto the medium. Accordingly, maintenance can be performed by sucking the maintenance target nozzle immediately after completion of printing.

The liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention includes a liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid onto a medium, and the maintenance device having the above-described configuration.
According to the liquid ejecting apparatus having the above configuration, the same effects as the effects of the maintenance apparatus can be obtained. In other words, the liquid ejecting head can be maintained without reducing the suction performance by selecting the cap to suck the internal space using the reciprocating movement of the carriage while suppressing an increase in the load of the driving source.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a printer having a maintenance device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The schematic block diagram of the maintenance apparatus of embodiment. The perspective view of the maintenance device of an embodiment. The perspective view of the maintenance apparatus seen from the left front diagonal upper direction in the state which removed the frame. The perspective view of the maintenance apparatus seen from diagonally lower right back in the state which removed the frame. The perspective view which shows the structure of the raising / lowering mechanism of a wiper and a lock lever, and a clutch mechanism. (A) is a front view which shows the state of the raising / lowering mechanism in which a wiper and a lock lever are in a retracted position, (b) is a schematic cross section by the 7b-7b arrow line in (a). (A) is a front view which shows the state of the raising / lowering mechanism in which a lock lever is in a locked position, (b) is a schematic cross section by the 7b-7b arrow line in Fig.7 (a). (A) is a front view which shows the state of the raising / lowering mechanism in which a wiper is in a wiping position and a lock lever is in a retracted position, and (b) and (c) are schematic cross-sectional views taken along line 7b-7b in FIG. 7 (a). The disassembled perspective view which shows the component in a clutch mechanism. The front view which shows the clutch mechanism related component in an OFF state by front arrow view. The front view which shows the clutch mechanism related component in the state which can be switched from an OFF state to an ON state by a front arrow view. The perspective view which shows the mechanism structure of switching from an OFF state to an ON state in a clutch mechanism. The perspective view which shows the state switched from the OFF state in the clutch mechanism to the ON state. The front view which shows the clutch mechanism related component in an ON state by a front arrow view. The perspective view which shows the raising / lowering mechanism of a selective block means. It is a figure which shows the engagement state of a carriage and a selective closing means, (a) is a front view which shows each before a raising of a selective closing means, and (b) after the raising of a closing means by a right arrow. (A) is a perspective view which shows the structure of the rack slider of this embodiment, (b) is the MM arrow sectional drawing in (a). The perspective view which shows the raising / lowering mechanism of the selective blocking means in which the selective closing means is in an elevated state. The perspective view which shows the selective block means of the state which removed the slider. The top view which shows the rotation state of the closure member in a cam surface by upper arrow view. The perspective view which shows the obstruction | occlusion mechanism of a tube. The operation | movement flowchart which shows the switching operation | movement of the clutch mechanism in embodiment. The top view which shows the movement position with respect to the maintenance apparatus of the carriage in the state which can switch power transmission in a clutch mechanism by an upper arrow. The top view which shows the movement position with respect to the maintenance apparatus of the carriage in which the engaging part of a slider and the recessed part of a carriage are in an engagement state by an upper arrow. The upper arrow top view of the maintenance apparatus provided with the selective block means of the modification. (A) is a schematic diagram which shows the modification of a selective block means, (b) is a schematic diagram which shows the block | closed state of a tube in (a). The perspective view which shows the other modified example of a selective block means typically.

  An embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in an ink jet printer that is an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus will be described below with reference to the drawings. In order to facilitate the following description, as shown in FIG. 1, the gravity direction in the vertical direction is defined as the downward direction, and the antigravity direction is defined as the upward direction. Also, the direction that intersects the vertical direction and the paper P fed to the printer is transported during image formation is defined as the forward direction, and the direction opposite to the transport direction is defined as the rear direction. Furthermore, the direction that intersects both the vertical direction and the conveyance direction and in which the carriage reciprocates, that is, the scanning direction, is referred to as the right direction and the left direction, respectively, when viewed from the front.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a support for supporting a sheet P, which is an example of a medium, along the longitudinal direction at the bottom of a frame 12 having a substantially rectangular box shape in a printer 11 as a liquid ejecting apparatus. The member 13 is extended. On the support member 13, the paper P is fed from the rear side to the front side on the support member 13 by a paper feed mechanism (not shown) based on driving of a paper feed motor 14 provided at the lower back of the frame 12. It is supposed to be sent.

  A guide shaft 15 is installed above the support member 13 in the frame 12 along the longitudinal direction of the support member 13. A carriage 16 is supported on the guide shaft 15 so as to be able to reciprocate along the axial direction of the guide shaft 15. That is, a support hole 16a is formed in the carriage 16 so as to penetrate in the axial direction of the guide shaft 15, and the guide shaft 15 is inserted into the support hole 16a. Accordingly, the carriage 16 is supported so as to reciprocate in the axial direction of the guide shaft 15, that is, in the scanning direction (left-right direction).

  A driving pulley 17a and a driven pulley 17b are rotatably supported at positions corresponding to both ends of the guide shaft 15 on the inner surface of the rear wall of the frame 12. An output shaft of a carriage motor 18 serving as a driving source for reciprocating the carriage 16 is connected to the driving pulley 17a, and a part of the driving pulley 17a is connected to the carriage 16 between the driving pulley 17a and the driven pulley 17b. An endless timing belt 17 is hung. Accordingly, the carriage 16 is moved in the axial direction (left and right direction) of the guide shaft 15 via the endless timing belt 17 by the driving force of the carriage motor 18 while being guided by the guide shaft 15.

  A liquid ejecting head 19 is provided on the lower surface of the carriage 16. A plurality of colors as fluids for the liquid ejecting head 19 are provided on the carriage 16 (in this embodiment, four colors of black, cyan, yellow, and magenta). Ink cartridges 20 for supplying the respective inks are detachably mounted.

  On the lower surface of the liquid jet head 19, a plurality of rows (four in this embodiment) of nozzle rows 22A to 22D (see FIG. 2) in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in parallel in the left-right direction. In the present embodiment, the nozzle rows 22A to 22D are a nozzle row 22A, a nozzle row 22B, a nozzle row 22C, and a nozzle row 22D in order from the left side. Each ink in the ink cartridge 20 is supplied from the ink cartridge 20 to the liquid ejecting head 19 by driving a pressurizing unit such as a piezoelectric element (not shown) provided in the liquid ejecting head 19. 19 is ejected from the nozzles of the nozzle rows 22A to 22D.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 1, in the printer 11, a region corresponding to the support member 13 that is supported when the paper P is conveyed is a print region PA. Then, by driving a piezoelectric element (not shown) provided in the liquid ejecting head 19 while reciprocating the carriage 16 in the left-right direction in the printing area PA, each sheet P fed to the support member 13 is driven to each sheet P. Ink is ejected and printing is performed. In this case, black ink is ejected from each nozzle constituting the nozzle row 22A, cyan ink is ejected from each nozzle constituting the nozzle row 22B, and yellow ink is ejected from each nozzle constituting the nozzle row 22C. The magenta ink is ejected from each nozzle constituting the nozzle row 22D.

  In the present embodiment, the non-printing area outside the printing area PA located on the right side of the left and right sides of the support member 13 is a maintenance area MA for performing maintenance such as cleaning of the liquid ejecting head 19. . A maintenance device 23 that moves the liquid jet head 19 to a predetermined position in the maintenance area MA and maintains the ejection characteristics of ink from the nozzles is provided.

  The maintenance device 23 includes a cap 27 that rises as the carriage 16 moves to the maintenance area MA, and is in contact with the liquid ejecting head 19 so as to surround the nozzles in the maintenance area MA. In this contact state, a plurality (here, two) of internal spaces (hereinafter referred to as “cap internal spaces”) formed between the liquid ejecting head 19 and the cap 27 are flexible as a suction passage. The liquid ejecting head 19 is maintained by sucking the pressure through a tube and reducing the pressure and sucking ink from the nozzle. When the ink is sucked, the maintenance device 23 of the present embodiment has a plurality of (here, two) suction passages for each cap inner space, and the tube is crushed according to the selection of the cap inner space to be depressurized. A selective closing mechanism (selective closing means) 40 that closes the suction passage is provided.

Next, the maintenance device 23 of the present embodiment will be specifically described.
First, a schematic configuration of the maintenance device 23 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 schematically shows the maintenance device 23 in a state where the carriage 16 moves in the left-right direction on the left side of the break line, and the carriage 16 moves in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface on the right side of the break line. The maintenance apparatus 23 in the state to perform is shown typically.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a partition wall 30 that separates the inside of the cap 27 into two left and right chambers is provided in the cap 27. In the cap 27, the left part from the partition wall 30 is a first cap part 31, and the right part from the partition wall 30 is a second cap part 32. When the carriage 16 moves to a position above the maintenance device 23 in the maintenance area MA and the cap 27 is raised, the first cap 31 surrounds the nozzle row 22A and the first cap between the liquid ejecting head 19 and the nozzle row 22A. An internal space 31a is formed. Further, the second cap portion 32 forms a second cap inner space 32a with the liquid ejecting head 19 while surrounding the nozzle rows 22B to 22D.

  A first protrusion 33 protrudes downward from the bottom wall of the first cap part 31, and a first for discharging ink from the first cap part 31 in the first protrusion 33. The discharge path 33a is formed so as to penetrate in the vertical direction. On the other hand, a second protrusion 34 protrudes downward from the bottom wall of the second cap portion 32, and the second protrusion 34 is used to discharge ink from the second cap portion 32. The second discharge path 34a is formed so as to penetrate in the vertical direction.

  A base end side (upstream side) of a second discharge tube 37 as a flexible tube is connected to the second protrusion 34, and the other end side (downstream side) of the second discharge tube 37 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape. It is inserted into the waste ink tank 36. On the other hand, the base end side (upstream side) of the first discharge tube 35 as a flexible tube is connected to the first protrusion 33, and the other end side (downstream side) of the first discharge tube 35 is connected to the first protrusion 33. The two discharge tubes 37 are connected so as to join the second discharge tube 37 at a joining point G provided in the middle.

  Both the discharge tubes 35 and 37 are routed so as to be lined up to the junction G. The second discharge tube 37 is located downstream of the confluence G with the first discharge tube 35 in the first discharge tube 35 and the second discharge tube 37 from the cap 27 side to the waste ink tank 36 side. One tube pump 38 is provided as a suction means for suctioning toward the front.

  That is, when the tube pump 38 is driven, the inside of both the discharge tubes 35 and 37 is sucked simultaneously. Accordingly, the second discharge tube 37 and the first discharge tube 35 form suction passages for sucking the first cap inner space 31a and the second cap inner space 32a, respectively.

  The nozzle 27 is cleaned by driving the tube pump 38 with the cap 27 raised and in contact with the liquid jet head 19. That is, the thickened ink is sucked from the nozzles constituting each of the nozzle rows 22A to 22D together with bubbles and discharged into the waste ink tank 36 via the cap 27 and the discharge tubes 35 and 37. Yes. The waste ink tank 36 accommodates a waste ink absorber 39 that absorbs and holds the ink discharged into the waste ink tank 36.

  In addition, a selective closing mechanism 40 that can selectively close both the discharge tubes 35 and 37 is disposed at a position upstream of the joining point G in both the discharge tubes 35 and 37. The selective closing mechanism 40 includes a base 60 and a slider 41 as a moving member that slides relative to the base 60.

  The slider 41 includes an engaging portion 42 that engages with the carriage 16 in the scanning direction (left-right direction) by ascending from below into a recess 16 h provided on the lower surface side of the carriage 16, and the slider 41. A closing member 43 that is rotatably supported on the lower surface side and closes the suction passage is provided. The base 60 is provided with a cam member 50 having a cam surface on one surface, and a surface (upper surface) facing the closing member 43 is a cam surface. When the engaging portion 42 is engaged with the concave portion 16h of the carriage 16, the closing member 43 is guided and moved by the cam surface along with the movement of the slider 41 interlocking with the carriage 16 moving in the scanning direction. Either the second discharge tube 37 or the first discharge tube 35 is crushed so that one of the suction passages is closed.

  In addition, although not shown in FIG. 2, the maintenance device 23 of the present embodiment is driven by a driving source, and is a separation / contact movement unit that moves the slider 41 selective closing mechanism 40 toward and away from the carriage 16. Is provided. Furthermore, a power transmission switching device is provided for switching between the state where the power of the drive source is transmitted and the state where the power of the drive source is not transmitted. The power transmission switching device switches so that the power of the drive source is transmitted to the contact / separation moving means so that the slider 41 moves in conjunction with the carriage 16 in an area where the carriage 16 is moving to the maintenance area MA. Thus, the selective closing mechanism 40 is raised and lowered. Hereinafter, a detailed configuration of the maintenance device 23 including the above-described separating / moving means and the power transmission switching device will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the maintenance device 23 of the present embodiment includes a cap 27, a selective closing mechanism 40, a tube pump 38, a wiper 75 that wipes the liquid ejecting head 19, and a lock lever that regulates the movement of the carriage 16. 84. These are supported or fixed by a resin frame 29 serving as a base of the device, and are driven by a single motor 26 as a drive source so that predetermined operations are performed in the maintenance device 23. It has become. In the present embodiment, the raising / lowering operation of the cap 27 and the reciprocating operation of the slider 41 are switched in accordance with the movement of the carriage 16. The lifting and lowering operations of the wiper 75, the lock lever 84, and the selective closing mechanism 40 are also performed by the driving force of the motor 26. Further, the rotation operation of the tube pump 38 is also performed by the motor 26. Next, the structure for performing these operations will be sequentially described below.

  The cap 27 is held by a substantially box-shaped cap holding member 71 provided at a substantially central portion of the maintenance device 23 via an elastic member (not shown). The cap holding member 71 is erected in the vertical direction at the front and back of the cap holding member 71 and guided by a frame wall 29a extending in the horizontal direction so that the cap holding member 71 can move in the horizontal direction and rises as it moves from left to right. It has become.

  That is, in each frame wall 29a, two sets of through-grooves 28 arranged in opposition to each other in the front-rear direction are formed in two, conveniently four, at different positions in the left-right direction. Each through groove 28 includes a lower flat portion 29b that extends straight from left to right, a slope portion 29c that extends straight from the right end of the lower flat portion 29b to the upper right, and a right end of the slope portion 29c. And an upper flat portion 29d extending straight from the right to the right. In each through groove 28, the lower flat portion 29b, the inclined surface portion 29c, and the upper flat portion 29d communicate with each other.

  The cap holding member 71 is provided with a total of four support bars 72 extending in the front-rear direction so as to enter the respective through grooves 28 corresponding to the respective through grooves 28. Each support rod 72 is slidably inserted in each through-groove 28 to enter. Accordingly, the cap holding member 71 contacts the right surface of the carriage 16 and moves from left to right, so that the support rod 72 slides through the through groove 28 from left to right and the lower flat portion 29b to the slope portion 29c. And is moved to the upper flat portion 29d to rise.

  Further, the cap holding member 71 is always biased toward the left side by referring to the coil spring 74 as shown in FIG. 5. In a printing state where the carriage 16 is not positioned in the maintenance area MA, the support rods 72 are biased by the biasing force of the coil spring 74. Is located in the leftmost lower flat portion 29b in each through groove 28. Therefore, the cap holding member 71 is in a lowered state when the carriage 16 is positioned in the printing area PA. When the carriage 16 moves from the printing area PA toward the maintenance area MA from the left to the right, the right surface of the carriage 16 is formed with a ridge having a convex surface on the left at the right end of the cap holding member 71 in the vertical direction. Then, the cap holding member 71 is moved to the right together.

  Along with the movement in the right direction, in the process in which each support rod 72 provided on the cap holding member 71 slides on the slope portion 29c in each through groove 28 toward the right side, the cap 27 together with the cap holding member 71 is placed. Gradually rises toward the liquid ejecting head 19. Then, the cap 27 comes into contact with the liquid ejecting head 19 when each support rod 72 reaches the upper flat portion 29 d of each through groove 28.

  In the state where the carriage 16 is moved to the maintenance area MA located on the right side of the support member 13, the cap holding member 71 is positioned with the cap 27 on the upper flat portion 29 d in each through groove 28. ing. Therefore, the load required for movement of the carriage 16 increases in the process in which each support bar 72 slides toward the right side of the slope portion 29c in each through groove 28.

  In the maintenance device 23, the selective closing mechanism 40 is disposed at a position in front of the cap holding member 71. In the selective closing mechanism 40, the base 60 is fixed to the frame body 29, and the base 60 is guided by a concave groove portion 60a provided at the front and rear positions of the base 60 so as to extend in the left-right direction. Thus, a slider 41 that slides in the left-right direction with respect to the base 60 is provided. In the present embodiment, a coil spring 61 as an urging means is provided between a hook 41c provided at a midway position in the left-right direction of the slider 41 and a hook 60c provided at the right end position of the base 60. Is urged so that the slider 41 is positioned at the right end of the sliding range in the left-right direction.

  The slider 41 is provided with an engaging portion 42 formed so as to protrude upward at substantially the center of the upper surface thereof. Then, the selective closing mechanism 40 rises and the engaging portion 42 engages with the concave portion 16 h of the carriage 16, whereby the slider 41 is driven by the carriage 16 and reciprocates in the left-right direction with respect to the base 60 in conjunction with the carriage 16. Is configured to move.

  The base 60 is internally provided with a cam member 50 whose one surface is a cam surface so as to face the slider 41 that reciprocates on the cam surface. On the other hand, a closing member 43 (see FIGS. 20 to 22) is rotatably supported on the lower surface of the slider 41. The closing member 43 is configured to rotate with the reciprocating movement of the slider 41 and to crush the second discharge tube 37 or the first discharge tube 35 in accordance with the change in the rotation posture. The structure of crushing the tube by the closing member 43 will be described in detail later.

  Further, the maintenance device 23 is provided with separation / contact movement means for raising and lowering the slider 41 by raising and lowering the base 60 in the selective closing mechanism 40. In the present embodiment, the gear train of a plurality of gears rotatably supported by the frame body 29 uses the rotational force of the motor 26 as a driving force to drive the lock lever 84, including the drive of the separating / moving means. The up and down drive of the wiper 75 and the rotational drive of the tube pump 38 are performed.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4 when the maintenance device 23 with the frame body 29 removed is viewed from the left front direction, the pinion 26a rotating integrally with the motor 26 is provided to each of the first transmission gear 81 and the pump transmission gear 88. The gear train is configured to mesh and transmit the rotation of the motor 26.

  The pump transmission gear 88 meshes with a pump gear (not shown) connected to the drive shaft of the tube pump 38, thereby transmitting the rotational power of the motor 26 to the pump gear to drive the tube pump 38. In this embodiment, the tube pump 38 is adapted to perform a suction operation when the motor 26 rotates counterclockwise as viewed from the left (hereinafter referred to as “CCW rotation”). When rotating in the clockwise direction (hereinafter referred to as “CW rotation”), the pump does not perform a suction operation.

  On the other hand, the first transmission gear 81 transmits the rotation of the motor 26 to the second transmission gear 82 and the third transmission gear 86 that mesh with the first transmission gear 81. Further, the third transmission gear 86 is further meshed with a fourth transmission gear 87 which is an example of a rotating portion, and transmits the rotation of the motor 26 to the fourth transmission gear 87. With this configuration of the gear train, in this embodiment, when the motor 26 (pinion 26a) rotates CCW, the second transmission gear 82 rotates CCW and the fourth transmission gear 87 rotates CW. .

  The second transmission gear 82 is pressed against the cam gear 90 located on the right side on the back side by a spring 83 provided on the rotary shaft portion 82j. The cam gear 90 generates a frictional force between the second transmission gear 82 and the second transmission gear 82 by contact with the second transmission gear 82, and the second transmission gear 82 rotates in synchronization with the second transmission gear 82 by the generated frictional force. A friction clutch mechanism is formed between the gear 82 and the gear 82.

  In the present embodiment, the lock lever 84 is normally biased to rotate CW around the rotation shaft portion 84j by the lock spring 85, and is inclined such that the upper side is slightly inclined forward. When the cam gear 90 rotates, the lock lever 84 rotates about the rotation shaft portion 84j according to the cam shape formed on the cam gear 90, and CCW rotation is performed against the urging force of the lock spring 85. Thus, it is configured to be in a substantially upright state.

  When the cam gear 90 is rotated, the wiper 75 is raised and lowered according to the cam groove formed in the cam gear 90. In this embodiment, the wiper 75 has a wiper blade 75a for wiping the liquid ejecting head 19 and a wiper holding member 76 for holding the wiper blade 75a. When the cam gear 90 (second transmission gear 82) rotates CCW, the wiper The holding member 76 is raised. Also, below the wiper holding member 76, an absorbing member 78 that receives and absorbs the ink of the liquid ejecting head 19 that is wiped by the wiper blade 75a and then drops in the gravity direction through the wiper 75 is disposed. .

  On the other hand, the fourth transmission gear 87 is configured to raise and lower the selective closing mechanism 40 (base 60). That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the fourth transmission gear 87 is a slide member on which the rack 66 is formed by rotating the clutch gear 122 provided in the clutch member 120 (here, CW rotation). The rack slider 65 is moved forward. That is, the rack 66 always meshes with the clutch gear 122, and the rack 66 moves forward by the rotation of the clutch gear 122, thereby sliding the rack slider 65 forward.

  Two slope portions 67 are provided in front of the rack slider 65, and two extending portions 62 extending at a predetermined width below the base 60 are brought into contact with the slope portions 67 while racking. When the slider 65 moves forward, the extended portion 62 rises along the slope portion 67, and as a result, the base 60 also rises. Conversely, when the rack slider 65 moves rearward, the extended portion 62 of the base 60 is lowered along the slope portion 67, so that the base 60 is also lowered. In this way, the base 60 is moved up and down selectively by the rack slider 65 formed with the rack 66 meshing with the clutch gear 122 rotating together with the fourth transmission gear 87 and the extended portion 62 of the base 60 and selectively closed. A part of the separating / moving means for separating or approaching the mechanism 40 with respect to the carriage 16 is configured.

  In this separation / contact means, the clutch member 120 transmits the rotation of the fourth transmission gear 87 to the sliding movement of the rack slider 65 (this is also referred to as “on state”), and the sliding movement of the rack slider 65. The state is switched to two states, that is, a state where it is not transmitted to (which is also referred to as an “off state”). In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the clutch member 120 is turned on and off by the lever member 79 as a displacement member that is rotationally displaced about the rotation shaft portion 79 a that is rotatably supported by the frame body 29. It is configured to be able to switch between states. Thus, the clutch mechanism 100 including the clutch member 120 and the fourth transmission gear 87 as the rotating portion, and switching the rotation transmission state between the fourth transmission gear 87 and the clutch member 120, and the displacement member The lever member 79 constitutes a power transmission switching device.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 6, in a state where the cap holding member 71 moves to the right as the carriage 16 moves to the maintenance area MA, the upper end 79c that is one end side of the lever member 79 is the cap holding member. It contacts the lower surface portion 71 c formed on the lower surface of 71. The lever member 79 rotates around the rotation shaft portion 79a by this contact, and is displaced so that the lower end portion 79b on the other end side moves to the left. Due to the displacement of the lever member 79, the clutch mechanism 100 is allowed to switch the transmission state of rotation between the fourth transmission gear 87 and the clutch gear 122.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the cap holding member 71 is formed with a stopper 71b that protrudes forward at the left end. The stopper 71 b restricts the rotation of the stopper 71 b by engaging with the cam gear 90 in a state where the support bars 72 are positioned on the lower flat portions 29 b of the through grooves 28 of the frame body 29 in the cap holding member 71. On the other hand, in the state where the cap holding member 71 is moved rightward as the carriage 16 moves to the maintenance area MA, the wiper 75 is moved up and down by separating from the cam gear 90 and releasing its rotation restriction. The lock lever 84 is allowed to rotate.

  Next, the configuration of the cam shape of the cam gear 90 that rotationally drives the lock lever 84 and the cam groove of the cam gear 90 that drives the wiper 75 to move up and down will be described with reference to FIGS. Thereafter, the switching between the on state and the off state in the clutch mechanism 100 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, the cam gear 90 has a convex portion 96 having a part of the outer peripheral surface protruding in a substantially trapezoidal shape radially outward. The convex portion 96 has slopes in which both end portions of the outer peripheral surface gradually change in the radial distance from the axis of the cam gear 90, and the tip portion of the outer peripheral surface is an arc surface. Therefore, when the cam gear 90 is rotated in one direction, the upper end portion of the lock lever 84 is obtained when the slope on the rotation start end side of the convex portion 96 is engaged with the protrusion 84b on the lower end side of the lock lever 84. 84a rises. Then, as shown in FIG. 8 (a), the arc surface of the convex portion 96 is substantially erected while the arc surface of the convex portion 96 is engaged with the protrusion 84b, and is held at the lock position that restricts the movement of the carriage 16. Further, when the cam gear 90 continues to rotate and the inclined surface of the convex portion 96 is engaged with the protrusion 84b, the cam gear 90 descends, as shown in FIG. 9A, as shown in FIG. It returns to the original position (retracted position). Thus, the convex part 96 of the cam gear 90 is formed.

  A guide pin 77 is formed on the end surface of the cam gear 90 opposite to the contact surface (clutch surface) with the second transmission gear 82 so as to protrude from the wiper holding member 76 of the wiper 75 to the cam gear 90 side. Is formed. The cam groove 95 is formed in a predetermined path in which the radial distance from the axis of the cam gear 90 to the cam groove 95 gradually increases as the cam gear 90 rotates CCW. In the process from one end of the cam groove 95 to the other end, the amount of deviation in the radial direction from the axis of the cam gear 90 to the cam groove 95 coincides with the lift stroke length of the wiper 75. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 9A, when the guide pin 77 is guided by the cam groove 95 and moves upward, the wiper 75 rises from the retracted position by the lift stroke length and wipes the liquid ejecting head 19. It is arranged at the wiping position. Of course, when the cam gear 90 rotates in the reverse direction (CW rotation in this case), the guide pin 77 inserted into the cam groove 95 is guided by the cam groove 95 and moves downward to the original position shown in FIG. It will be. As a result, the wiper 75 is lowered from the wiping position by the up / down stroke length and is arranged at the retracted position.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7A, the cam gear 90 is formed with a locking recess 91 at a position opposite to the cam groove 95 across the shaft center. The locking recess 91 engages the stopper 71 b that protrudes forward from the cap holding member 71 when the cap holding member 71 (cap 27) is lowered and the cap 27 is in the retracted position away from the liquid ejecting head 19. Thus, a locked portion that stops the rotation of the cam gear 90 is configured.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the wiper 75 and the lock lever 84 are in the retracted position, the stopper 71 b is inserted into the locking recess 91 of the cam gear 90. For this reason, when the cap 27 is in the retracted position, the wiper 75 and the lock lever 84 are locked in the retracted position by being locked by the stopper 71b. In this state, the cam gear 90 is restricted from rotating against a rotational load exceeding a predetermined value by the locking of the stopper 71b, so that the power from the motor 26 is transmitted to the second transmission gear 82 and rotated. However, slippage occurs in the friction clutch between the cam gear 90 and the second transmission gear 82 is idle.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the stopper 71b comes out of the locking recess 91 due to the rise of the cap holding member 71, the cam gear 90 can be rotated (CCW rotation in this case). Ascending from the retracted position to the wiping position becomes possible.

  In the state where the wiper 75 is in the wiping position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 9a, the carriage 16 moves to the left from the maintenance area MA and the cap holding member 71 is lowered to the locking position. A recess 94 is formed at a position facing the stopper 71b that has returned to the left end position. Since the carriage 16 moves from the maintenance area MA to the printing area PA after the ink suction operation is completed, the cap 27 is lowered prior to the wiping of the liquid ejecting head 19 by the wiper 75. The stopper 71b that moves in the direction is inserted into the recess 94 of the cam gear 90, as shown in FIG. 9B.

  Then, in a state where the stopper 71b is inserted into the recess 94, when the cam gear 90 rotates in the reverse direction to rotate CW, the stopper 71b inserted in the recess 94 moves relative to the cam gear 90. The inner wall surface on the direction side is formed on the slope 93. The inclined surface 93 is an inclined surface that gradually decreases in depth from the same depth as the bottom surface of the concave portion 94 toward the relative movement direction side of the stopper 71b when the cam gear 90 rotates CW. For this reason, if the motor 26 is driven by CW rotation in the state shown in FIG. 9A, the stopper 71b can climb over the slope 93 and come out of the recess 94 as shown in FIG. 9C. Therefore, the CW rotation, that is, the reverse rotation of the cam gear 90 is allowed. In this way, the inclined surface 93 allows the stopper 71b on the path from the recess 94 to the locking recess 91 to allow the cam gear 90 to reversely move the wiper 75 from the wiping position to the retracted position. It is a movement-permitting surface that allows movement.

  Further, on the outer peripheral surface of the cam gear 90, a tooth portion 90a is formed at a position over a predetermined angle range (about 90 degrees in this example) on the substantially opposite side to the convex portion 96. When the wiper 75 that moves up and down by the guide pin 77 being guided by the cam groove 95 when the cam gear 90 rotates is in the middle region of the lifting stroke excluding the retracted position and the wiping position, The cam gear 90 is formed at a predetermined portion on the outer peripheral surface so as to be directly meshed with the transmission gear 81. That is, the cam gear 90 is formed at a predetermined portion on the outer peripheral surface of the cam gear 90 so as to be able to directly mesh with the first transmission gear 81 when the cam gear 90 is in the middle region of the finite rotation range.

  Therefore, when the first transmission gear 81 rotates, the power is directly transmitted from the first transmission gear 81 to the tooth portion 90a when the wiper 75 is in the middle region of the lifting stroke, so that the cam gear 90 is reliably rotated. To do. Further, the portion of the outer peripheral surface of the cam gear 90 where the teeth 90 a are not formed is an arc surface that cannot mesh with the first transmission gear 81, and the guide pin 77 has both ends of the cam groove 95. When in the rotation position located in the vicinity, the first transmission gear 81 cannot be meshed. For this reason, when the first transmission gear 81 is not meshed with the tooth portion 90a, the rotation is transmitted to the cam gear 90 only through the frictional engagement with the second transmission gear 82.

  Further, when the guide pin 77 comes into contact with one end surface 95a of the cam groove 95, the friction clutch slips, the second transmission gear 82 is idled, and the cam gear 90 is further rotated (CW rotation). Are now regulated. Similarly, when the guide pin 77 comes into contact with the other end surface 95b of the cam groove 95, the friction clutch slips and the second transmission gear 82 rotates idly, and the cam gear 90 rotates further. Movement (CCW rotation) is regulated. As described above, the friction clutch mechanism is configured such that the cam gear 90 reciprocates only within a predetermined angle range even when the second transmission gear 82 continues to rotate in any direction.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7A, the convex portion 96 engages with the protrusion 84b of the lock lever 84 in one halfway of the rotation range of the cam gear 90 that reciprocally rotates only within a predetermined angle range. As described above, the central angle (about 30 degrees in this example) of the formation position and the formation range of the convex portion 96 with respect to the cam gear 90 is set. Therefore, the convex portion 96 starts to engage with the protrusion 84b after the cam gear 90 has been CCW rotated by a predetermined amount from the initial position shown in FIG. As a result, as can be seen from FIGS. 7 to 9, in the maintenance device 23, the wiper 75 first starts to rise, and the lock lever 84 starts to rise from the middle of the rise to reach the lock position. From there, the cam gear 90 is further rotated about 30 degrees, and then the lock lever 84 is lowered from the lock position to return to the retracted position, and then the wiper 75 is operated so as to reach the wiping position.

  Next, the configuration of the switching mechanism between the on state and the off state in the clutch mechanism 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 10, the clutch mechanism 100 of the present embodiment includes a clutch shaft 101, a locking portion 102, an engaging member 110, a washer 118, a first coil spring 119 as a first direction biasing member, and a clutch member 120. The second coil spring 124, the washer 125, and the fourth transmission gear 87 as the second direction biasing member are configured. In addition, the 1st direction biasing member and the 2nd direction biasing member have shown the biasing direction in a certain state, and are not always the members which are biasing in a fixed direction.

  The clutch shaft 101 functions as a rotation shaft, and shaft end portions 101 a and 101 b on both sides thereof are formed with shaft portions that are rotatably supported with respect to the frame body 29. On one of the shaft end portions 101 a, a locking portion 102 having two protruding portions 103 protruding in a direction crossing the axial direction at a diagonal position centering on the clutch shaft 101 is a clutch portion 102. It is provided so as to rotate integrally with the shaft 101. In the present embodiment, the locking portion 102 is formed integrally with the clutch shaft 101. Of course, the locking portion 102 may be formed separately from the clutch shaft 101 and may be fixed to the clutch shaft 101 so as to rotate integrally with the clutch shaft 101.

  The engaging member 110 is first inserted through the clutch shaft 101 from the shaft end portion 101b side which is the first direction side. The engaging member 110 has a disc portion 111 having a bowl shape on the side of the shaft end portion 101 a whose peripheral edge is the second direction side, and a cylindrical portion 112 having a smaller diameter than the disc portion 111. The cylindrical portion 112 is formed with a first engaging portion 113 and a second engaging portion 114 that engage with the protruding portion 103 in the axial direction. The first engagement portion 113 and the second engagement portion 114 are groove shapes that are dug down in the first direction along the axial direction of the clutch shaft 101 from the end surface of the cylindrical portion 112 on the second direction side opposite to the first direction. have. In the present embodiment, the first engaging portion 113 is formed in a groove shape deeper than the second engaging portion 114. In other words, the groove bottom surface 113B of the first engagement portion 113 and the groove bottom surface 114B of the second engagement portion 114 are specifically arranged in the first engagement so as to be separated from each other in the axial direction of the clutch shaft 101. The groove bottom surface 113B of the joint portion 113 is formed so as to be positioned on the first direction side with respect to the groove bottom surface 114B of the second engagement portion 114. Further, the width of the groove shape, that is, the dimension in the rotational direction is slightly wider than the protruding portion 103, and the protruding portion 103 moves in the axial direction at the first engaging portion 113 or the second engaging portion 114, and the groove bottom surface. 113B or groove bottom surface 114B can be contacted and engaged.

  In addition, between the groove of the first engagement portion 113 and the groove of the second engagement portion 114, a predetermined amount from the axial end face (groove bottom surface 114B) of the groove portion of the second engagement portion 114 in the second direction. A wall portion 115 having a height of 1 mm is formed. The wall portion 115 is provided so as to prevent the protruding portion 103 from rotating and moving between the first engaging portion 113 and the second engaging portion 114. That is, when the protrusion 103 rotates together with the clutch shaft 101, the wall 115 rotates in the direction of rotation when the clutch shaft 101 rotates with the protrusion 103 and the second engagement portion 114 engaged. It is formed at a height that maintains the engaged state.

  Subsequently, the washer 118 and the first coil spring 119 are passed through the clutch shaft 101. By the washer 118, relative rotation between the first coil spring 119 and the engaging member 110 is smoothly performed.

  Next, the clutch member 120 is passed through the clutch shaft 101. The clutch member 120 has a substantially cylindrical clutch main body 121 serving as a shaft portion, and a clutch gear 122 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the end of the clutch main body 121 on the first coil spring 119 side. Then, on the opposite side of the clutch gear 122 in the axial direction of the clutch body 121, the driven body projects in the first direction opposite to the first coil spring 119 from the proximal end portion of the clutch body 121 along the axial direction of the clutch shaft 101. A plurality of (three in this case) side protrusions 123 are formed at predetermined intervals in the rotational direction (circumferential direction).

  Subsequently, the second coil spring 124 and the washer 125 are passed through the clutch shaft 101. By the washer 125, relative rotation between the second coil spring 124 and the fourth transmission gear 87 is smoothly performed. Further, the spring force of the second coil spring 124 is smaller than the spring force of the first coil spring 119.

  Finally, the fourth transmission gear 87 as a rotating portion is attached on the shaft end portion 101b side of the clutch shaft 101 so as to rotate integrally with the clutch shaft 101. The fourth transmission gear 87 has a cylindrical portion 127 on the side facing the clutch member 120. Further, on the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 127, a driving side protrusion that protrudes from the proximal end portion of the cylindrical portion 127 so as to correspond to the driven side protrusion 123 of the clutch body 121 along the axial direction of the clutch shaft 101. A plurality (three in this case) 126 are formed at predetermined intervals in the outer circumferential direction.

  The clutch mechanism 100 is configured in this way. Accordingly, the engaging member 110, the washer 118, the first coil spring 119, and the clutch member 120 can rotate along the axial direction of the clutch shaft 101 while rotating around the clutch shaft 101 as a concentric shaft. Yes. On the other hand, the fourth transmission gear 87 and the clutch shaft 101 do not move in the axial direction. The second coil spring 124 that is compressed during this movement is set so that the compression force when compressed is always smaller than the compression force of the first coil spring 119. Further, the engaging member 110 and the clutch member 120 can be rotated relative to the clutch shaft 101.

  Now, in the maintenance device 23 including the clutch mechanism 100 having such a configuration, the fourth transmission depends on whether the protruding portion 103 is engaged with the first engaging portion 113 or the second engaging portion 114. Whether or not the rotation of the gear 87 is transmitted to the rotation of the clutch gear 122, that is, the on state or the off state is switched. With regard to this switching mechanism, a configuration serving as a switching mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the clutch mechanism 100 is initially in an off state.

  As shown in FIG. 11, for example, when the carriage 16 moves in the printing area PA and does not come into contact with the cap holding member 71, each support bar 72 is positioned in the lower flat portion 29 b in the through groove 28. In this state, the lower surface portion 71 c of the cap holding member 71 is separated from the upper end portion 79 c of the lever member 79. Accordingly, the lower end portion 79 b of the lever member 79 is in a state in which no external force is applied to the disc portion 111 of the engaging member 110. Therefore, the clutch member 120 is biased to the right by the second coil spring 124 with respect to the fourth transmission gear 87. The engaging member 110 is biased to the right by the first coil spring 119 with respect to the clutch member 120. At this time, the protruding portion 103 of the clutch shaft 101 is engaged with the first engaging portion 113 in the cylindrical portion 112 of the engaging member 110. Therefore, the engaging member 110 is positioned closest to the right side with respect to the clutch shaft 101. As a result, the driven-side protrusion 123 formed on the clutch member 120 is separated in the axial direction so as not to engage with the drive-side protrusion 126 formed on the fourth transmission gear 87, that is, is turned off. It is configured. At this time, the first coil spring 119 is in a state where it is hardly compressed, that is, has a substantially free length. The second coil spring 124 is slightly compressed or has a substantially free length.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 12, when the carriage 16 moves to the maintenance area MA, the support rods 72 of the cap holding member 71 are positioned at the upper flat portion 29 d in the through groove 28. At this time, in the present embodiment, each support rod 72 moves to the left end position (referred to as “first maintenance position MP1”) in the upper flat portion 29d, and the lower surface portion 71c of the cap holding member 71 is the lever member 79. It is comprised so that it may be in the state substantially contact | abutted with the upper end part 79c. Thereafter, the upper end 79c of the lever member 79 is moved to the right by moving each support rod 72 to the right side along the upper flat portion 29d by a distance SK (referred to as “maintenance position MP2”). Let Accordingly, the lever member 79 is displaced by rotating the cap holding member 71 by the distance SK around the rotation shaft portion 79a, and the lower end portion 79b of the lever member 79 is connected to the disc portion 111 of the engaging member 110. Push left while touching. Then, the engagement member 110 is moved to the left side against the urging force of the first coil spring 119 and the second coil spring 124.

  As the engagement member 110 moves to the left, the first coil spring 119 and the second coil spring 124 are compressed. Here, since the compression force of the second coil spring 124 is smaller than that of the first coil spring 119, the second coil spring 124 is compressed more than the first coil spring 119 as the engaging member 110 moves to the left. The amount increases. As the second coil spring 124 is compressed, the clutch member 120 moves to the left. When the clutch member 120 is moved to a position where it comes into contact with the fourth transmission gear 87, the first coil spring 119 is compressed. In this state, since the compression force of the first coil spring 119 is greater than that of the second coil spring 124, the clutch member 120 is biased to the left side. In FIG. 12, the leading end of the driven side projection 123 of the clutch member 120 and the driving side projection 126 of the fourth transmission gear 87 are in contact with each other (the same applies to FIG. 13). When the fourth transmission gear 87 rotates from this state, the driven-side protrusion 123 and the drive-side protrusion 126 are displaced in the rotation direction. Since the clutch member 120 is biased to the left, the clutch member 120 moves to the left. As shown in FIG. 14, the driven-side protrusion 123 engages with the drive-side protrusion 126 by a predetermined amount in the left-right direction. By the engagement in the left-right direction, the rotation of the fourth transmission gear 87 is transmitted to the clutch member 120, and the clutch gear 122 of the clutch member 120 is rotated. Therefore, the 4th transmission gear 87 functions as a rotation part, and the clutch member 120 functions as a rotation transmission part.

  When the engagement member 110 is moved to the left side, the wall 115 of the engagement member 110 is positioned on the left side of the protrusion 103 as shown in FIG. In other words, the protruding portion 103 can move between the first engaging portion 113 and the second engaging portion 114 by the rotation of the clutch shaft 101. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the left direction along the axial direction is the first direction, and the right direction is the second direction. In this state, the fourth transmission gear 87 is rotated by the motor 26 (here, CW rotation), whereby the protruding portion 103 is moved by a predetermined angle with respect to the engaging member 110 via the clutch shaft 101 and the locking portion 102. Rotate relatively. As a result, as shown in FIG. 14, the protrusion 103 rotates from the position disengaged from the first engagement portion 113, and passes through the right side of the wall portion 115 by rotating to the left and right of the second engagement portion 114. It moves to a position facing in the direction (the axial direction of the clutch shaft 101).

  By the way, when the clutch member 120 moves to the left, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the driven-side protrusion 123 and the drive-side protrusion 126 are axially moved in accordance with the rotation state of the fourth transmission gear 87. In other words, there may occur a state in which they abut in the left-right direction (that is, the end faces are abutted). In such a case, the clutch mechanism 100 compresses the first coil spring 119 so that the movement of the engaging member 110 that moves to the left in accordance with the displacement (rotation) of the lever member 79 is not restricted. It has become. Further, in the present embodiment, after the fourth transmission gear 87 is rotated so as to release the state in which the driven-side protruding portion 123 and the driving-side protruding portion 126 are in contact with each other, the fourth transmission gear 87 is turned on from the off state. It is comprised so that switching to may be performed.

  Incidentally, in the present embodiment, first, the fourth transmission gear 87 is rotated by a predetermined amount (here, CCW rotation) in a direction in which the rack slider 65 does not move forward. The clutch member 120 is configured such that the clutch gear 122 is always engaged with the rack 66 of the rack slider 65 and always has a predetermined rotational load. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the frictional resistance, that is, the rotational load generated when the relative movement is made on the contact surface between the driving side protrusion 126 of the fourth transmission gear 87 and the driven side protrusion 123 of the clutch member 120, The rotational load of the clutch member 120 is smaller.

  By the way, in this embodiment, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, in the state from which the contact state of this drive side protrusion 126 and the driven side protrusion 123 was cancelled | released, the drive side protrusion 126 and the driven side protrusion 123 A gap is formed in the CW rotation direction. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 14, the fourth transmission gear 87 then rotates CW by a predetermined angle, thereby rotating the protrusion 103 within a range where the driving side protrusion 126 and the driven side protrusion 123 do not contact each other, The first engaging portion 113 can be moved to a position facing the second engaging portion 114 in the left-right direction. As a result, the clutch member 120 does not rotate CW during the rotational movement of the protrusion 103, so that the rack slider 65 does not move forward.

  After that, as shown in FIG. 15, when the carriage 16 moves from the second maintenance position MP2 to the printing area PA, the upper end 79c of the lever member 79 is released from contact with the lower surface portion 71c of the cap holding member 71. Then, the lower end 79b of the lever member 79 moves in the right direction. Accordingly, the engaging member 110 moves rightward by the urging force of the first coil spring 119. At this time, since the protruding portion 103 faces the second engaging portion 114 in the left-right direction, the protruding portion 103 contacts and engages with the groove bottom surface 114B on the left side of the second engaging portion 114. Since the groove bottom surface 114B of the second engagement portion 114 is located on the second direction side with respect to the groove bottom surface 113B of the first engagement portion 113, the position of the engagement member 110 in FIG. 15 is the engagement member 110 in FIG. It is located on the first direction side from the position. At this time, the distance between the engagement member 110 and the clutch member 120 is increased, and the first coil spring 119 is in an extended state, but the second coil spring 124 is still compressed. Therefore, the clutch member 120 is maintained in a state of being biased to the left, and the driving side protrusion 126 of the fourth transmission gear 87 is in a state of maintaining engagement with the driven side protrusion 123 of the clutch body 121 in the left-right direction. . As a result, in the clutch mechanism 100, the driving-side protrusion 126 engages with the driven-side protrusion 123 in the left-right direction so that they are in contact with each other during rotation, and the rotation of the fourth transmission gear 87 can be transmitted to the clutch body 121. It will be ready. Thus, the clutch mechanism 100 is set to an on state in which the clutch gear 122 of the clutch body 121 is rotated by the fourth transmission gear 87.

  On the other hand, when changing the clutch mechanism 100 from the on state to the off state, as is apparent from the above description, the relative rotation direction of the protrusion 103 with respect to the engaging member 110 is changed from the off state to the on state. It is only necessary to rotate in the direction opposite to the rotation direction. That is, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the carriage 16 moves to the second maintenance position MP2, and the engagement state between the protrusion 103 and the second engagement portion of the engagement member 110 is released. Then, the fourth transmission gear 87 is rotated by a predetermined angle (here, CCW rotation), and the protruding portion 103 is protruded from the second engaging portion 114 of the engaging member 110 to a position facing the first engaging portion 113. 103 is moved. Thereafter, when the carriage 16 moves from the second maintenance position MP2 to the first maintenance position MP1 or to the left, the engagement member 110 and the clutch member 120 are moved to the right by the urging force of the second coil spring 124. By this movement, the protruding portion 103 is engaged with the groove portion of the first engaging portion 113. At this time, the second coil spring 124 is in an extended state as shown in FIG. 11, and the driven-side protrusion 123 of the clutch member 120 is separated from the drive-side protrusion 126 of the fourth transmission gear 87 and turned off. It is configured to be in a state.

  Even when the clutch mechanism 100 is switched from the on state to the off state, the rack slider 65 does not move. More specifically, the driven-side protrusion 123 and the drive-side protrusion 126 are not rotated in the rotational direction without causing a state in which the driven-side protrusion 123 is in contact with the driving-side protrusion 126 in the axial direction, that is, in the left-right direction. It is in a contact state. Therefore, for example, when the clutch member 120 is rotated CCW and the rack slider 65 is moved backward, the rack slider 65 is switched from the on state to the off state. No. 65 has been moved rearward and does not move further. Further, when the clutch member 120 is rotated CW and the rack slider 65 is moved forward, the drive-side protrusion is changed even when the fourth transmission gear 87 is rotated CCW by a predetermined angle. The portion 126 is set so as not to contact the driven side protrusion 123. That is, each protrusion is formed between the drive-side protrusion 126 and the driven-side protrusion 123 so as to have a gap corresponding to a predetermined angle of the fourth transmission gear 87 in the rotation direction.

  In the maintenance device 23 of the present embodiment, the operation state of the clutch mechanism 100 can be set to either the on state or the off state by moving the carriage 16 to the maintenance position in this way. It has become. A part of the separating / moving means for moving the selective closing mechanism 40 toward and away from the carriage 16 is constituted by the clutch mechanism 100 which is set to the on state set by the carriage 16 moving to the second maintenance position MP2. Has been.

  In the present embodiment, an elevating mechanism that moves the selective closing mechanism 40 closer to the carriage 16 and moves it away by lowering is configured as a part of the separating / moving means. The selective closing mechanism 40 is configured as a selection mechanism that selects a tube to be crushed by moving the slider 41 in which the engaging portion 42 is engaged with the carriage 16 by the movement of the carriage 16 when the selective closing mechanism 40 is lifted. The raising / lowering mechanism of the selective closing mechanism 40 and the selection mechanism in the selective closing mechanism 40 will be sequentially described below.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the elevating mechanism includes an extending portion 62 provided on the base 60 of the selective closing mechanism 40, a rack slider 65, a clutch member 120 and a fourth transmission gear 87 set to an on state, It is comprised. The rack slider 65 is configured such that the rack 66 formed on the lower surface of the flat plate portion 65 a on the rear end side always meshes with the clutch gear 122 formed on the clutch member 120. Further, as described above, a slope portion 67 is provided on the front end side of the rack slider 65 so as to engage with the extended portion 62 and move upward by moving forward. Here, it is assumed that the selective closing mechanism 40 is in a lowered state.

  Now, as shown in FIG. 17A, when the carriage 16 moves in the left-right direction and the engaging portion 42 of the slider 41 is positioned in the recess 16h provided in the carriage 16 in the up-down direction, the carriage 16 As the movement stops, the engaging portion 42 rises from the lowered state. That is, the rotation of the motor 26 is transmitted via the first transmission gear 81 and the third transmission gear 86, and the fourth transmission gear 87 rotates CW, so that the clutch gear 122 in the on state also rotates CW. Then, as shown in FIG. 17 (b), the rack slider 65 moves forward to raise the extension part 62 of the base 60, thereby raising the selective closing mechanism 40 together with the base 60 and engaging the slider 41. The portion 42 is caused to enter the recess 16 h of the carriage 16. As a result, the slider 41 is brought into an engaged state in which it moves in conjunction with the movement of the carriage 16 in the left-right direction.

  Of course, as shown in FIG. 17 (b), the clutch gear 122 is reversely rotated (that is, CCW rotation) from the state where the rack slider 65 is moved forward and the selective closing mechanism 40 is raised as described above. The selective closing mechanism 40 is lowered by moving the rack slider 65 rearward. Due to the lowering of the selective closing mechanism 40, the slider 41 enters the disengaged state in which the engaging portion 42 is retracted from the concave portion 16h of the carriage 16 and does not move in conjunction with the carriage.

  In the present embodiment, the rack slider 65 is in contact with the frame body 29 to restrict the movement range in the front-rear direction. In this restricted movement range, as described above, the rack 66 of the rack slider 65 and the clutch gear 122 are always meshed with each other. Therefore, when the clutch gear 122 rotates CCW in the state shown in FIG. 17A, or when the clutch gear 122 rotates CW in the state shown in FIG. 17B, either the rack 66 or the clutch gear 122 The meshing is maintained. That is, at least one of the gears is urged in a direction that meshes with the other gear, and when one of them rotates, the mesh is disengaged, and when the rotation stops, the mesh is reengaged by urging. Yes.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18A, the rack 66 has four rack teeth 66a, 66b, 66b, 66c. The rack teeth 66a at the front end and the rack teeth 66c at the rear end are formed at the front end of the cantilever part 66af and the front end of the cantilever part 66cf in which a gap is formed in the three sides of the flat plate part 65a of the rack slider 65. Each is formed. Therefore, the rack teeth 66a and the rack teeth 66c can be bent and deformed in the vertical direction. The rack teeth 66b are formed integrally with the rack slider 65.

  Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 18B, when the clutch gear 122 rotates CCW while the selective closing mechanism 40 is lowered, the cantilever portion 66af is deformed upward and bent as shown by a two-dot chain line in the figure. As a result, the rack teeth 66a are disengaged from the clutch gear 122. When the rotation of the clutch gear 122 is stopped, it is urged by the elasticity of the cantilever portion 66af to return to the original deformation indicated by the two-dot chain line in the figure, and the rack teeth 66a mesh with the clutch gear 122. Yes. Although the description is omitted, the same applies to the rack teeth 66c.

  Subsequently, in the selective closing mechanism 40 that crushes the selected tube as the slider 41 moves in conjunction with the carriage 16, the selection mechanism of the crushing tube will be described with reference to FIGS. 19 to 22.

  As shown in FIG. 19, in the selective closing mechanism 40 raised by the lifting mechanism, the slider 41 is pulled rightward by the coil spring 61 as described above. Accordingly, the engaging portion 42 of the slider 41 rises so as to engage with the carriage 16 at a fixed position in the left-right direction. The slider 41 that is lifted and engaged with the carriage 16 (recess 16h) moves on the cam surface of the cam member 50 that is built in the base 60 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. In the present embodiment, the second discharge tube 37 to the first discharge tube 35 are selected and crushed by the movement of the slider 41.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 20, the selective closing mechanism 40 includes a base 60 with a cam member 50 and a slider 41. The closing member 43 pivotally supported on the lower surface of the slider 41 facing the cam surface is guided to a selected position which is a specific position on the cam surface. Hereinafter, a configuration in which the closing member 43 is guided to the selected position in the selective closing mechanism 40 including the selected position will be described.

  The slider 41 has a substantially rectangular shape in plan view from above, and a cylindrical convex portion 45 is formed at a substantially central position on the lower surface thereof. The convex portion 45 includes a blocking member 43 having a rectangular plate-like arm portion that extends straight from the annular annular portion fitted to the convex portion 45 toward the left, which is one of the radial directions. The annular portion is urged upward by the pressing member 46 and is maintained in the fitted state, so that it is pivotally supported. A cylindrical pin portion 43a that protrudes downward is formed on the lower surface of the closing member 43 in the vicinity of the tip of the arm portion.

  A side wall is formed in the vertical direction at an end portion in the front-rear direction of the slider 41, and guide piece portions 41a projecting in a plate shape from the side wall to the inside are formed at four corners on the lower surface side. On the other hand, the base 60 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped case member, and concave groove portions 60a extend in the left-right direction on the front and rear side walls. A guide piece 41a of the slider 41 is inserted into the concave groove 60a from the left side, and the slider 41 slides in the left-right direction. The groove 60a is provided with a terminal portion 60b in the right direction, and the slider 41 is positioned in the left and right direction by contacting the terminal portion 60b with the right guide piece 41a of the slider 41. Movement in the direction is regulated.

  The base 60 includes a cam member 50 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and an intermediate portion between the second discharge tube 37 and the first discharge tube 35 is arranged between the base 60 and the cam member 50 in the front-rear direction. It is comprised so that it may support (refer FIG. 16). The cam member 50 includes a first pressing member 57B and a second pressing member 57C as pressing members capable of pressing a part of the first discharge tube 35 and a part of the second discharge tube 37 from the upper side ( (See FIG. 22).

  On the upper surface of the cam member 50, the first wall 51, the second wall 52, the third wall 53, and the fourth wall 54 are respectively set to a predetermined height upward from the lower base surface 50 a from the rear end portion to the front end portion. It is set up with a thickness. Further, on the left side of the first wall 51 to the fourth wall 54, an island-like fifth wall 55 and a sixth wall 56 are erected with a predetermined height upward from the base surface 50a. The cam member 50 is built in the base 60 so that the region where these wall portions are formed is located from the substantially central portion of the base 60 in the left-right direction to the left end.

  By the wall portions 51 to 56, a so-called cam surface having a groove portion that is long in the left-right direction is formed on the upper surface of the cam member 50. This groove portion is wide open on the left end side, and on the right end side, guide grooves SL1, SL2, and three selection passages that are substantially parallel to each other at equal intervals in the front-rear direction and have a rectangular shape in plan view that is long in the left-right direction. SL3 is formed. Each of the guide grooves SL1 to SL3 is formed as a guide groove SL1, a guide groove SL2, and a guide groove SL3 in this order from the rear side, and the width before and after each of the guide grooves SL1 to SL3 is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the pin portion 43a of the closing member 43. It is set to be. A first pressing member 57B is disposed in the guide groove SL1, and a second pressing member 57C is disposed in the guide groove SL2 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The closing member 43 moves in the left-right direction as the slider 41 moves in conjunction with the reciprocating movement of the carriage 16, and the pin portion 43 a is guided in the groove formed in this way, so that a predetermined position on the cam surface is obtained. To be guided to.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 20 and FIG. 21, the fourth wall 54 has a slight step in the extending direction and is positioned at the right end side of the rear side 54 a that extends straight in the left-right direction. An inclined surface 54b inclined obliquely rearward is formed. On the other hand, the front side surface of the third wall 53 that forms the guide groove SL3 with the fourth wall 54 extends straight in the left-right direction. Further, the first wall 51 that forms the guide groove SL1 with the second wall 52 has a front-rear direction gap with the fourth wall 54 at a position on the left end side with respect to the fifth wall 55 and the sixth wall 56. The front side surface 51a is formed in a substantially triangular outline shape so that the front side is convex in plan view so as to be narrow.

  With this configuration, when the slider 41 is inserted by moving from the left to the right so as to be assembled to the base 60, the pin portion 43 a of the closing member 43 is formed by a substantially triangular contour portion on the front side surface 51 a of the first wall 51. After moving to the front side along the left side of the protrusion, it passes through the gap between the fourth wall 54 and the rear side surface 54a. Then, as shown by the solid line arrow in the figure, when the slider 41 moves to a position where the movement in the right direction is restricted by sliding in contact with the inclined surface 54b, the specific in the guide groove SL3 is specified. It will be guided to the position of. In the present embodiment, this position is referred to as an initial position. This initial position is one of the selected positions, and at this initial value, the closing member 43 is in the state shown by the solid line indicated by reference numeral 43A.

  Next, when the slider 41 moves to the left from the state in which the pin portion 43a is at the initial position, the pin portion 43a is inclined to the left rear in the sixth wall 56 as shown by the broken line arrow 56a. , And slides on the inclined surface 56a to contact the rear side surface 56b of the sixth wall 56 extending straight in the left-right direction. Thereafter, when the slider 41 continues to move further leftward, the pin portion 43a moves further leftward along the rear side surface 56b, and the tip of the substantially triangular contour portion on the front side surface 51a of the first wall 51. After coming into contact with the right side portion, the gap between the fourth wall 54 and the rear side surface 54a passes to the left side. As a result, the pin portion 43a moves again to the position when the slider 41 is inserted into the base 60.

  On the other hand, in the state where the pin portion 43a is positioned in contact with the rear side surface 56b of the sixth wall 56, when the slider 41 is reversed and moved rightward, the pin portion 43a is indicated by a solid arrow in the figure. In this way, the third wall 53 comes into contact with the inclined surface 53b inclined rightward and rearward and slides to the right. When the slider 41 moves to a position where movement in the right direction is restricted, the slider 41 is guided to a specific position in the guide groove SL2. In the present embodiment, this position is referred to as a second closed position. This second closing position is one of the selected positions, and in this second closing position, the closing member 43 is in the state shown by the two-dot chain line indicated by reference numeral 43C.

  Next, when the slider 41 moves leftward from the state where the pin portion 43a is in the second closed position, the pin portion 43a is inclined to the left rear on the fifth wall 55 as indicated by the broken line arrow in the figure. It abuts on the inclined surface 55a, and comes into contact with the rear side surface 55b that slides on the inclined surface 55a and extends straight in the left-right direction of the fifth wall 55. Thereafter, when the slider 41 continues to move further leftward, the pin portion 43a moves further leftward along the rear side surface 55b, and from the tip of the substantially triangular contour portion on the front side surface 51a of the first wall 51. After contacting the right side part, the gap between the fourth wall 54 and the rear side surface 54a passes to the left side. As a result, the pin portion 43a moves to a position where the pin portion 43a can move to the second closed position or a position when the slider 41 is inserted into the base 60.

  On the other hand, in the state where the pin portion 43a is positioned in contact with the rear side surface 55b of the fifth wall 55, when the slider 41 is reversed and moved to the right, the pin portion 43a is indicated by a solid line arrow in the figure. In addition, the second wall 52 is in contact with an inclined surface 52b inclined rightward and rearward and slides to the right. When the slider 41 moves to a position where movement in the right direction is restricted, the slider 41 is guided to a specific position in the guide groove SL1. In the present embodiment, this position is referred to as a first closed position. The first closing position is one of the selected positions, and the closing member 43 is in the state shown by the two-dot chain line indicated by reference numeral 43B at the first closing position.

  Next, when the slider 41 moves to the left from the state where the pin portion 43a is in the first closed position, the pin portion 43a contacts the front side surface 51a of the first wall 51 as indicated by the broken line arrow in the figure. The front side surface 51a is slid leftward. That is, the pin portion 43a abuts on the right side of the front end 51a of the first wall 51 with respect to the right end portion of the substantially triangular outline, and then passes to the left side through the gap between the rear side surface 54a of the fourth wall 54. To do. As a result, the pin portion 43 a can be moved again to a position where the pin portion 43 a can be moved to the second closing position or a position when the slider 41 is inserted into the base 60.

  As described above, the closing member 43 is guided by the groove portion formed in this way as the slider 41 moves in the left-right direction in conjunction with the reciprocating movement of the carriage 16, and the pin portion 43 a is in the initial position on the cam surface. The position is guided to any one of the position, the first closed position, and the second closed position (these are collectively referred to as a selected position). In the state where the pin portion 43a is located at the first closing position, the first pressing member 57B is pushed downward by the pin portion 43a to crush the first discharge tube 35, and the pin portion 43a is brought to the second closing position. In the positioned state, the second discharge member 37 is crushed by the second pressing member 57C being pressed downward by the pin portion 43a.

  Next, the structure of the first pressing member 57B and the second pressing member 57C will be described. In the present embodiment, the first pressing member 57B and the second pressing member 57C are symmetrical with respect to each other with a vertical plane extending in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction as symmetry planes. Therefore, here, the second pressing member 57C will be described as a representative.

  As shown in FIG. 22, the second pressing member 57 </ b> C is provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction in the cam member 50 in the selective closing mechanism 40 (not shown). And the base part 59a which has the inclined surface part 57a which the upper end is exposed in the guide groove SL2, and inclines in the upper right direction, and the block-shaped part 57b which equipped the compression spring 58, and the tube pushing part 59b are provided. Yes. The tube pushing portion 59b is slidable in the vertical direction with respect to the base portion 59a via the compression spring 58.

  The tube pushing portion 59b has a predetermined width in the front-rear direction, the width in the left-right direction gradually decreases as it goes to the distal end portion (lower end portion), and the distal end (lower end) is rounded. The distal end is disposed so as to abut on the upper surface of the first discharge tube 35 in the selective closing mechanism 40.

  Therefore, when the pin portion 43a of the closing member 43 is moved by the swing of the arm portion and is guided to the second closing position, for example, the inclined surface portion 57a at the upper end of the second pressing member 57C is pushed down by the pin portion 43a. It is like that. When the base part 59 a is lowered by this depression, the compression spring 58 is compressed, and the compression of the compression spring 58 causes the tube pushing part 59 b to crush the second discharge tube 37. And the state which this 2nd discharge tube 37 was crushed is maintained by maintaining the state which the slider 41 does not move.

  Thus, in the selective closing mechanism 40, the discharge tube to be crushed can be selected by rotating the closing member 43 by reciprocating movement of the slider 41 and moving the pin portion 43a to the selected position. In this manner, either the second discharge tube 37 or the first discharge tube 35 is crushed before the junction point G provided in the middle of the first discharge tube 35. Of course, when the selected position of the pin portion 43a is at the initial position, neither the second discharge tube 37 nor the first discharge tube 35 is crushed.

The ink suction action performed in the printer 11 using the maintenance device 23 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 23, first, the carriage 16 is moved to the maintenance area MA (second maintenance position MP2) (step S1). That is, the carriage 16 is moved rightward by the rotation of the carriage motor 18 as shown in FIG. 1, and the cap holding member 71 is moved rightward as shown in FIG. The engaging member 110 is moved to the left. In this state, the selective closing mechanism 40 is in the lowered position, and the engaging portion 42 of the slider 41 does not engage with the concave portion 16h of the carriage 16 so that the movement of the carriage 16 is not hindered. Yes.

  Next, the rotation of the motor 26 causes the fourth transmission gear 87 to rotate forward and reverse (CW rotation and CCW rotation) according to a predetermined procedure, and the clutch shaft 100 is rotated to set the clutch mechanism 100 to the on state (step S2). ). That is, the protrusion 103 is rotated so as to change from the engaged state with the first engaging portion 113 to the engaged state with the second engaging portion 114.

  Next, step S3 of moving the carriage 16 leftward from the maintenance area MA (second maintenance position MP2) to a position where it engages with the slider 41. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 25, the carriage 16 is moved so that the engaging portion 42 of the slider 41 is planarly located in the region of the recess 16 h of the carriage 16 in plan view from above. Let In the present embodiment, the concave portion 16h is arranged so that the carriage 16 engages with the engaging portion 42 of the slider 41 at least at a position spaced leftward with respect to the locking portion 71a of the cap holding member 71. Is formed at the right end of the.

  By this movement of the carriage 16, the cap holding member 71 moves to the left, so that the pressure on the upper end 79 c of the lever member 79 is also released, and in the clutch mechanism 100, the engagement member 110 receives the urging force of the second coil spring 124. Move to the right. As a result, the projecting portion 103 comes into contact with the groove bottom surface 114B of the second engaging portion 114 and engages with the second engaging portion 114 (ie, an on state). Of course, in the movement of the carriage 16, the lock lever 84 is in a retracted position that does not restrict the movement of the carriage 16.

  Next, the clutch shaft 101 is rotated to raise the selective closing mechanism 40 (step S4). That is, the fourth transmission gear 87 is rotated CW by the rotation of the motor 26 to rotate the clutch shaft 101, thereby moving the rack slider 65 forward via the clutch gear 122. As a result, the selective closing mechanism 40 is raised.

  Next, a suction passage that is closed by reciprocating the carriage 16 is selected (step S5). For example, when the nozzle row 22A for ejecting black ink is sucked, the cap inner space to be sucked in the printer 11 is the first cap inner space 31a. Therefore, the first discharge tube communicated with the first cap inner space 31a. The second discharge tubes 37 other than 35 need to be crushed. Therefore, the slider 41 is reciprocated so that the selected position of the pin portion 43a of the closing member 43 becomes the second closing position so that the second discharge tube 37 is crushed.

  Next, the clutch shaft 101 is rotated to lower the selective closing mechanism 40 (step S6). That is, by rotating the fourth transmission gear 87 CCW by rotating the motor 26 and rotating the clutch shaft 101, the rack slider 65 is moved backward via the clutch gear 122. As a result, the selective closing mechanism 40 is lowered. By doing so, the carriage 16 is disengaged from the engaging portion 42 of the slider 41, and the pin portion 43a of the closing member 43 is maintained at the selected position (for example, the second closed position) in the selective closing mechanism 40. It will be in the state that has been done.

  Next, the carriage 16 is moved again to the maintenance area MA (second maintenance position MP2) (step S7). Then, the carriage 16 is moved to the right by the carriage motor, and again, as shown in FIG. 24, the cap holding member 71 is moved to the right, the lever member 79 is rotated, and the engaging member 110 in the clutch mechanism 100 is moved. Move left. At the same time, the cap 27 is in contact with the liquid jet head 19 so as to surround the nozzle rows 22A to 22D.

  Next, the fourth transmission gear 87 is rotated CCW by the rotation of the motor 26, and the clutch mechanism 100 is turned off by rotating the clutch shaft 101 (step S8). By this operation, the rotation of the motor 26 is not transmitted to the rotation of the clutch member 120. Therefore, the selective closing mechanism 40 maintains the lowered state regardless of the rotation of the motor 26. In this embodiment, the carriage 16 is moved from the second maintenance position MP2 to the first maintenance position MP1 at this time. Thus, the clutch mechanism 100 is turned off while maintaining the state where the cap 27 is in contact with the liquid ejecting head 19.

  Next, the tube pump is driven (step S9). That is, the motor 26 is rotated CCW and the tube pump 38 is suctioned to suck the space in the cap. As a result, the cap inner space (for example, the first cap inner space 31a) to be sucked is sucked.

According to the embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) In the region in the middle of moving to the maintenance region MA (first maintenance position MP1) where suction is performed with the cap 27 in contact, the internal space of the cap 27 to be in a negative pressure state is selected and selected. The carriage 16 can be moved to the maintenance area MA while maintaining the closed state of the suction passage corresponding to the inner space. As a result, maintenance of the liquid ejecting head 19 can be performed appropriately without reducing the suction performance of the cap 27. In addition, since the area in the middle of movement for selecting the suction path to be closed can be prevented from overlapping the area in which the carriage 16 abuts on the cap holding member 71 and moves it, the load caused by the movement of the carriage 16 can be reduced. Increase can be suppressed.

  (2) Since the position of the slider 41 when the engagement between the carriage 16 and the slider 41 is released is specified as a selected position from the initial position to the first closed position or the second closed position, When the engaging portion 42 of the slider 41 is engaged with the carriage 16, the carriage 16 (recess 16 h) can be easily engaged with the engaging portion 42. Further, since the suction passage to be closed is switched by the reciprocating movement, the initial position or the first closed position or the second closed position can be set to the same position in the moving direction of the slider 41. Therefore, the carriage 16 and the slider 41 can be engaged with each other at a fixed position in the moving region regardless of the selection state of the suction passage.

  (3) When the engagement between the carriage 16 and the slider 41 is released, the slider 41 is urged by the coil spring 61 so as to move the closing member 43 toward the initial position or the first closing position or the second closing position. To do. As a result, for example, when the engagement between the carriage 16 and the slider 41 is released during the movement of the carriage 16, the position of the slider 41 is moved to an identifiable position such as the initial position by the coil spring 61. When the engaging portion 42 is engaged with the carriage 16, the carriage 16 can be easily engaged with the engaging portion 42.

  (4) During the process of ejecting ink onto the paper P, the internal space of the cap 27 to be sucked can be selected in advance using the movement operation of the carriage 16. Accordingly, maintenance can be performed by sucking the maintenance target nozzle immediately after completion of printing.

The above embodiment may be changed to another embodiment as described below.
-In above-mentioned embodiment, as shown, for example in FIG. 26, it is good also as a structure which has the symmetrical shape with respect to the vertical surface of the up-down front-back direction as shown in FIG. That is, the slider 41 is restricted from moving leftward, and in a state where this movement is restricted, the pin portion 43a of the closing member 43 is positioned at the initial position or the first closing position or the second closing position. May be.

  When such a selective closing mechanism 40a is used, the concave portion 16h is located at a position including the engaging portion 42 of the slider 41 in a plan view from above in a state where the carriage 16 is moved to the maintenance area MA for maintenance. Be prepared. That is, the carriage 16 is provided with another recess 16h in addition to the recess 16h that engages with the engaging portion 42 when the slider 41 is reciprocated. When the carriage 16 is moved to the maintenance area MA to perform maintenance, if the selective closing mechanism 40a is raised, the engaging portion 42 and the concave portion 16h of the slider 41 in a state where the leftward movement is restricted. Are engaged in the vertical direction. By this engagement, the engaging portion 42 of the slider 41 functions as a movement restricting portion that restricts the movement of the carriage 16.

According to this modification, in addition to the effects (1) to (4) in the above embodiment, the following effects are obtained.
(5) By engaging the carriage 16 that has moved to a specific position (for example, the first maintenance position MP1) in the maintenance area MA with the engaging portion 42 of the slider 41 that is in the movement restricted state in the selective closing mechanism 40a, the carriage 16 Can be restricted from moving from the maintenance area MA to the printing area PA. Therefore, since the engaging portion 42 of the slider 41 can function as a carriage locking means, for example, the lock lever 84 in the above embodiment is not necessary.

  In the above embodiment, the discharge tube to be crushed may be selected according to the position of the carriage 16 in the left-right direction without using the reciprocating movement of the carriage 16. An example of this modification will be described with reference to FIGS. 27 (a) and 27 (b).

  As shown in FIG. 27 (a), the selective closing mechanism 40A of this modification is engaged with the recess 16h of the carriage 16 to move in the left-right direction, the first discharge tube 35, and the second discharge tube 37. Is provided with a base 60A, a first pressing member 57E, and a second pressing member 57F. On the lower surface of the moving body 41A, a substantially semicircular protruding portion 41AC is formed when viewed from the front. The first pressing member 57E is arranged to be movable in the vertical direction in the base 60A, and the lower end surface is in contact with the upper side of the first discharge tube 35, while the upper end portion with the chamfered corners in the left and right direction is the base. Projecting upward from 60A. Similarly, the second pressing member 57F is disposed so as to be movable in the vertical direction in the base 60A, and the upper end portion whose lower end surface is in contact with the upper side of the second discharge tube 37 and whose corners in the left and right direction are chamfered. Protrudes upward from the base 60A.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 27B, in the selective closing mechanism 40A of this modification, for example, the moving body 41A engages with the concave portion 16h of the carriage 16 and moves in the left-right direction (left direction in the figure). Therefore, it is assumed that the overhanging portion 41AC is positioned at the position where the second pressing member 57F is disposed. Then, the second pressing member 57F is pushed down, and the lower end surface crushes the second discharge tube 37. In this state, by moving the moving body 41A away from the carriage 16 and releasing the engagement with the carriage 16, the state where the second discharge tube 37 is crushed in the selective closing mechanism 40A is maintained. .

  Although not shown, when the overhanging portion 41AC moves from the disposition position of the second pressing member 57F to the disposition position of the first pressing member 57E, the second pressing member 57F is not pressed by the overhanging portion 41AC. . Accordingly, the second discharge tube 37 rises due to the restoring force of the second discharge tube 37, and the second discharge tube 37 returns to its original state before being almost crushed by the restoring force. The same applies to the first pressing member 57E and the first discharge tube 35.

  Therefore, according to the configuration of the present modification, the discharge tube to be crushed without reciprocating the carriage 16 can be selected, so that the movement of the carriage 16 is reduced and the load accompanying the movement of the carriage 16 is reduced.

  In the embodiment described above, refer to FIG. 28 for another example of the modification in which the discharge tube to be crushed is selected according to the position in the left-right direction of the carriage 16 without using the reciprocating movement of the carriage 16. I will explain.

  As shown in FIG. 28, the selective closing mechanism 40B of this modification includes a rack member 41B that reciprocates, and a first cam 43G that rotates integrally with the rotation shaft portion J of the pinion HG that meshes with the rack of the rack member 41B. And a second cam 43H. Further, when the rotary shaft portion J rotates, the first pressing member 57G whose upper end surface is pushed and moved downward by the first cam 43G, and the second pressing member which moves downward by being pushed by the second cam 43H. 57H. The lower end surface of the first pressing member 57G is disposed so as to contact the upper side of the first discharge tube 35, and the lower end surface of the second pressing member 57H is disposed to contact the upper side of the second discharge tube 37. The first cam 43G and the second cam 43H are attached to the rotary shaft portion J so as not to press the first pressing member 57G and the second pressing member 57H at the same time.

  Therefore, in the selective closing mechanism 40B of this modification, for example, the concave portion 16H of the carriage 16 engages with the engaging portion 42B provided on the rack member 41B, and the rack member 41B moves in the left-right direction (left direction in the figure). By moving, the pinion HG rotates. Then, the rotation shaft portion J rotates and the first cam 43G and the second cam 43H rotate, so that any one of the discharge tubes can be crushed. For example, as shown in FIG. 28, when the first pressing member 57G is pushed downward by the first cam 43G, the lower end surface thereof crushes the first discharge tube 35. In this state, by releasing the engagement between the rack member 41B and the carriage, the state where the first discharge tube 35 is crushed in the selective closing mechanism 40B is maintained.

  Although not shown, when the first cam 43G rotates and the first pressing member 57G cannot be pushed down, the first pressing member 57G rises due to the restoring force of the first discharge tube 35, and the first discharge tube 35 returns to the original state before being almost crushed by the restoring force from the crushed state. The same applies to the second pressing member 57H and the second discharge tube 37. Therefore, according to the configuration of the present modification, the discharge tube to be crushed without reciprocating the carriage 16 can be selected, so that the movement of the carriage 16 is reduced and the load accompanying the movement of the carriage 16 is reduced.

  In the above embodiment, the selective closing mechanism 40 may be driven up and down using the power of the paper feed motor 14 (see FIG. 1). Since printing is not performed at the time of maintenance of the liquid ejecting head, the power of the paper feed motor 14 can be used in a state where the load caused by the paper feed operation is reduced.

  -In the said embodiment, the coil spring 61 does not necessarily need to be provided. For example, when the reciprocating movement of the slider 41 is completed and the engaging portion 42 is lowered and the engagement with the carriage 16 is released, the slider 41 is located at the initial position or the first closed position or the second closed position. If the probability is high, this may be done.

  In the above-described embodiment, the back-and-forth movement mechanism that moves the selective closing mechanism 40 rearward relative to the carriage 16 to approach and moves the selective closing mechanism 40 forward may be configured as the contact / separation moving means. In this case, the engaging portion 42 of the slider 41 protrudes backward, and the recess 16h of the carriage 16 may be configured to have an opening in the forward direction.

  In the above embodiment, the liquid ejecting apparatus is embodied as the ink jet printer 11 as an example, but may be embodied as a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects or discharges liquid other than ink. The present invention can be used for various liquid ejecting apparatuses including a liquid ejecting head that ejects a minute amount of liquid droplets. In addition, a droplet means the state of the liquid discharged from the said liquid ejecting apparatus, and shall also include what pulls a tail in granular shape, tear shape, and thread shape. The liquid here may be any material that can be ejected by the liquid ejecting apparatus. For example, it may be in a state in which the substance is in a liquid phase, such as a liquid with high or low viscosity, sol, gel water, other inorganic solvents, organic solvents, solutions, liquid resins, liquid metals (metal melts ) And a liquid as one state of a substance, as well as a material in which particles of a functional material made of a solid such as a pigment or metal particles are dissolved, dispersed or mixed in a solvent. Further, representative examples of the liquid include ink and liquid crystal as described in the above embodiment. Here, the ink includes general water-based inks and oil-based inks, and various liquid compositions such as gel inks and hot melt inks. As a specific example of the liquid ejecting apparatus, for example, a liquid containing a material such as an electrode material or a color material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an EL (electroluminescence) display, a surface emitting display, a color filter, or the like in a dispersed or dissolved state. There is a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting. Alternatively, it may be a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a bio-organic material used for biochip manufacturing, a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid that is used as a precision pipette and a sample, a printing apparatus, a micro dispenser, or the like. In addition, transparent resin liquids such as UV curable resin to form liquid injection devices that pinpoint lubricant oil onto precision machines such as watches and cameras, and micro hemispherical lenses (optical lenses) used in optical communication elements. A liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid onto the substrate or a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects an etching solution such as an acid or an alkali to etch the substrate may be employed. The present invention can be applied to any one of these liquid ejecting apparatuses.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Printer as liquid ejecting device, 16 ... Carriage, 19 ... Liquid ejecting head, 23 ... Maintenance device, 27 ... Cap, 40, 40A, 40a, 40B ... Selective closing mechanism, 42, 42B ... Engagement part, 43 ... Blocking member, 50 ... cam member, MA ... maintenance area.

Claims (6)

A carriage provided so as to be able to reciprocate while supporting a liquid ejecting head for ejecting liquid from a plurality of nozzles;
As the carriage moves to a maintenance position for performing maintenance of the liquid ejecting head, the liquid ejecting head comes into contact with the liquid ejecting head so as to approach the liquid ejecting head and surround the nozzle. A cap that forms a plurality of internal spaces,
Suction means for sucking each internal space of the cap through a suction passage corresponding to each internal space;
A moving member that moves in conjunction with the carriage in a state where the carriage is in the middle of moving to the maintenance position in a state of being engaged with the carriage, and each of the suctions as the moving member moves. Selective closing means for selectively closing the passage and releasing the engagement between the moving member and the carriage while maintaining the closed state of the selected suction passage;
Separation / contact movement means for establishing and releasing engagement between the movement member and the carriage by moving the movement member so as to approach and separate from the carriage;
A maintenance device comprising: The maintenance device according to claim 1,
The moving member is provided with an engaging portion that can be engaged with the carriage in a region where the carriage is moving, and a closing member that is displaced to selectively close the suction passages.
The selective blocking means includes
A cam member having a cam surface formed so as to guide the closing member to a selected position corresponding to the selection of the suction passage to be closed by reciprocating movement of the moving member;
The separation / contact movement means includes:
A maintenance device that drives the selective closing means to approach and separate from the carriage in a state where the closing member is located at the selected position. The maintenance device according to claim 2,
A maintenance device comprising urging means for urging the moving member so that the closing member is guided toward the selected position. The maintenance device according to claim 2 or 3,
The selective blocking means includes
In the selected position where the closing member is guided, a movement restricting portion for restricting movement of the moving member in a direction in which the carriage moves from the maintenance area to the intermediate movement area is formed. Maintenance device. In the maintenance apparatus as described in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 4,
The maintenance device according to claim 1, wherein the carriage moving area includes an area for ejecting the liquid from the liquid ejecting head to the medium. A liquid ejecting head that ejects liquid onto a medium;
The maintenance device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising:

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