JP6163717B2 - Liquid ejecting apparatus and wiping method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head unit and a liquid ejecting apparatus, and more particularly to an ink jet recording head unit and an ink jet recording apparatus that eject ink as a liquid.

  As an ink jet recording head that is a typical example of a liquid ejecting head mounted on a liquid ejecting apparatus, for example, a flow path forming substrate in which a pressure generating chamber is formed, and a piezoelectric element provided on one surface side of the flow path forming substrate And ejecting ink droplets from the nozzles by applying pressure in the pressure generating chamber by the displacement of the piezoelectric element.

  In such an ink jet recording head (hereinafter simply referred to as a head), ink or foreign matter may adhere to the surface of a nozzle plate provided with nozzles. For this reason, a wiper member is provided in the liquid ejecting apparatus, and the ink or the like adhering to the nozzle plate surface is removed by the wiper member sliding on the surface of the nozzle plate (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Further, in a head unit in which a plurality of heads are arranged side by side and fixed to a fixing member or the like, ink or the like on the surface of the nozzle plate is removed for each head by a wiper member.

JP 2011-104977 A

  Ink adhering to the surface of the nozzle plate is pushed out of the nozzle plate by the wiper member. Ink pushed out of the nozzle plate may adhere to the side surface of the recording head and be held at an interval between adjacent recording heads. When the head unit performs printing on the paper surface while the ink is held between the recording heads in this way, the ink held between the recording heads may fall on the paper surface and the paper surface may be stained.

  Such a problem exists not only in a head unit including a plurality of recording heads but also in a liquid ejecting head unit that ejects liquid other than ink.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a liquid ejecting head unit and a liquid ejecting apparatus that can prevent ink attached to a liquid ejecting head from falling on a recording medium.

Application Example 1 An application example of the present invention that solves the above-described problem is that a liquid ejecting head unit having a plurality of liquid ejecting heads each having a nozzle plate provided with nozzles for discharging liquid, and the liquid ejecting head. Wiping means having a wiper member for wiping the nozzle plate and a recovery member for collecting the liquid, and the liquid ejecting head is located between the side surfaces of the adjacent liquid ejecting heads that are continuous with the nozzle plate. liquid is juxtaposed at not retained intervals, the liquid adhering to the side surface by wiping of the wiper member, is dropped by its own weight, there is provided a liquid ejecting head unit and recovering by the collecting member.
In this application example, even if the liquid adheres to the side surface of the liquid ejecting head by wiping with the wiper member , the liquid falls by its own weight without being held between the liquid ejecting heads. That is, it is possible to prevent the liquid from continuing to adhere to the liquid ejecting head. Accordingly, even when the liquid ejecting head unit moves and discharges to the recording medium, the liquid ejecting head does not adhere to the liquid, so that the recording medium is prevented from being contaminated with the liquid. . Further, the recovery member can recover the liquid wiped by the wiper member.
Application Example 2 Here, the liquid ejecting head further includes a cover head that covers a part of the nozzle plate and a part of the side surface, and the part of the cover head that covers the side surface is water repellent. Preferably it has been treated. According to this, it is possible to protect the nozzle plate with the cover head and prevent liquid from being held between the cover heads. Since it becomes difficult for the liquid to be held between the side surfaces of the adjacent liquid ejecting heads, the interval between the liquid ejecting heads can be made narrower than when water repellent treatment is not performed. Accordingly, the liquid ejecting head unit can be reduced in size by narrowing the interval between the liquid ejecting heads.
Application Example 3 In addition, the cover head includes a side wall portion that covers a part of the side surface, and the liquid ejecting head has an interval at which liquid is not held between the side wall portions of the adjacent liquid ejecting heads. Are preferably arranged in parallel. According to this, it is possible to reliably prevent liquid from being held between the cover heads .
Application Example 4 Further, the wiping means further includes an open frame-shaped support member, the recovery member is provided inside the support member, and the wiper member moves relative to the support member. By doing so, it is preferable to wipe off the plurality of liquid jet heads. According to this, liquid can be collect | recovered by the collection | recovery member provided in the inside of a support member by moving a wiper member with respect to a support member.
Application Example 5 Further, another application example of the present invention is a method for wiping a liquid ejecting apparatus, wherein the liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head unit including a plurality of liquid ejecting heads, a wiper member, and a recovery member. The liquid ejecting heads are arranged side by side at intervals where the liquid is not held between the side surfaces continuous to the nozzle plates of the adjacent liquid ejecting heads, and the wiper member allows the nozzles of the liquid ejecting head to be arranged in parallel. The wiping method includes a step of wiping the plate, and a step of dropping the liquid adhering to the side surface by wiping the wiper member by its own weight and collecting the liquid on the collecting member. According to this, even if the liquid adheres to the side surface of the liquid ejecting head, the liquid falls by its own weight without being held between the liquid ejecting heads and is collected by the collecting member. That is, it is possible to prevent the liquid from continuing to adhere to the liquid ejecting head. Accordingly, even when the liquid ejecting head unit moves and discharges to the recording medium, the liquid ejecting head does not adhere to the liquid, so that the recording medium is prevented from being contaminated with the liquid. .
Application Example 6 In addition, the liquid ejecting head further includes a cover head that covers a part of the nozzle plate and covers a part of the side surface with a side wall portion, and the liquid ejecting heads are adjacent to each other. It is preferable that the side walls of the liquid jet heads are arranged in parallel at intervals that do not hold the liquid. According to this, it is possible to reliably prevent liquid from being held between the cover heads.
Application Example 7 In addition, the liquid ejecting apparatus further includes an opening frame-shaped support member, the recovery member is provided inside the support member, and the wiper member is disposed on the support member. It is preferable that the plurality of liquid jet heads be wiped by moving. According to this, liquid can be collect | recovered by the collection | recovery member provided in the inside of a support member by moving a wiper member with respect to a support member.
Another application example of the present invention that solves the above problem is a liquid ejecting head unit in which a plurality of liquid ejecting heads each having a nozzle plate provided with nozzles for ejecting a liquid are provided, the liquid ejecting heads being arranged in parallel. Are arranged in parallel at intervals at which the liquid is not held between the side surfaces of the adjacent liquid ejecting heads that are continuous with the nozzle plate.
In this aspect, even if the liquid adheres to the side surface of the liquid ejecting head, the liquid falls by its own weight without being held between the liquid ejecting heads. That is, it is possible to prevent the liquid from continuing to adhere to the liquid ejecting head. Accordingly, even when the liquid ejecting head unit moves and discharges to the recording medium, the liquid ejecting head does not adhere to the liquid, so that the recording medium is prevented from being contaminated with the liquid. .

  Here, it is preferable that the side surface of the liquid jet head is subjected to water repellent treatment. According to this, it is possible to reliably prevent the liquid from continuing to adhere to the liquid ejecting head.

The liquid ejecting head further includes a cover head that covers a part of the nozzle plate and a part of the side surface, and the part that covers the side surface of the cover head is subjected to a water repellent treatment. preferable. According to this, it is possible to protect the nozzle plate with the cover head and prevent liquid from being held between the cover heads. Since it becomes difficult for the liquid to be held between the side surfaces of the adjacent liquid ejecting heads, the interval between the liquid ejecting heads can be made narrower than when water repellent treatment is not performed. Accordingly, the liquid ejecting head unit can be reduced in size by narrowing the interval between the liquid ejecting heads .

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a liquid ejecting apparatus including the liquid ejecting head unit according to the above aspect and wiping means for wiping the liquid ejecting head.
In this aspect, a liquid ejecting apparatus that can prevent ink attached to the liquid ejecting head from falling on the recording medium is provided .

It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of a liquid ejecting apparatus. It is a bottom view of a head unit. It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of a head. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of a head. It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of a head unit and a wiping unit. It is a side view of the head which shows the operation | movement by which a head is cleaned by the wiping unit. It is a side view showing the state of ink attached to the head. It is a side view showing the state of ink held between the heads.

<Embodiment 1>
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments. An ink jet recording head is an example of a liquid ejecting head, and is also simply referred to as a head. The ink jet recording head unit is an example of a liquid ejecting head unit, and is also simply referred to as a head unit. An ink jet recording apparatus is an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus. As illustrated, the ink jet recording apparatus I includes a carriage 2. The carriage 2 is a hollow box-like member on which a head unit 1 including a plurality of heads 10 is mounted. Further, the carriage 2 is a liquid storage means in which a plurality of different color inks such as black (B), light black (LB), cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y) and the like are stored. An ink cartridge 3 is mounted. Each ink cartridge 3 is connected to each head 10 via a flow path member (not shown) so that each ink is supplied to each head 10.

  The carriage 2 is provided on a carriage shaft 5 attached to the apparatus main body 4 so as to be movable in the axial direction (the X direction in the figure; hereinafter, the main scanning direction). Then, the driving force of the driving motor 6 is transmitted to the carriage 2 via a plurality of gears and a timing belt 7 (not shown), so that the carriage 2 is moved along the carriage shaft 5. On the other hand, the apparatus body 4 is provided with a platen 8 along the carriage shaft 5, and a recording medium S (ejection medium) such as paper fed by a paper feeding device (not shown) is conveyed on the platen 8. It has come to be.

  Although not particularly illustrated, the ink jet recording apparatus I is provided with a control unit that controls the movement of the carriage 2 and the conveyance of the recording medium S and transmits a drive signal for causing the head 10 to eject ink. .

  A wiping unit 60 for wiping each head 10 of the head unit 1 is provided at a position corresponding to the home position of the carriage 2, that is, near one end of the carriage shaft 5. Detailed description of the wiping unit 60 will be described later.

  The structure of the head unit and the head will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 is a bottom view of the head unit (surface on the nozzle side), FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the head, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the head.

  The head unit 1 has a plurality of heads 10 fixed to a flat plate-like fixing member 50. In the present embodiment, the five heads 10 are juxtaposed in the main scanning direction and fixed to the fixing member 50. The ejection surface 12 of each head 10 (the surface of the nozzle plate 13 in which the nozzles 11 are opened) is exposed on the lower surface (the surface facing the recording medium S) of the carriage 2 shown in FIG. Ink can be ejected to S.

  The fixing member 50 is provided with five openings 51 corresponding to the heads 10. Various parts connected to the head 10 are inserted through the opening 51. For example, there are a flow path member that supplies ink to the head 10 and wiring that connects the head 10 and a control unit that controls the head 10.

  The head 10 includes a head main body 15 provided with nozzles 11 for discharging ink, a case 20 fixed on the opposite side of the discharge surface 12 where the nozzles 11 of the head main body 15 open, and an ejection surface 12 of the head main body 15. And a cover head 30 for covering.

  The head body 15 includes a nozzle plate 13 provided with a plurality of nozzles 11 for ejecting ink. In this embodiment, two nozzle rows 11A in which the nozzles 11 are arranged in parallel along the longitudinal direction (hereinafter referred to as the Y-axis direction) of the head body 15 are provided in the short direction (hereinafter referred to as the X-axis direction). did. In such a head body 15, the surface on which the nozzles 11 are opened is the ejection surface 12 that ejects ink. The nozzle plate 13 is made of, for example, a metal such as stainless steel or a conductive material such as silicon. Of course, the nozzle plate 13 may be one in which a conductive layer is provided on the surface of a base material made of an insulator.

  Further, the head body 15 is provided with a flow path 14 communicating with the nozzle 11 inside, and ink drops are ejected from the nozzle 11 by causing a pressure change to the ink in the flow path 14 by a pressure generating means (not shown). Is done. As pressure generating means for generating a pressure change in the flow path 14 in this way, for example, a piezoelectric actuator using a piezoelectric element having a piezoelectric material exhibiting an electromechanical conversion function, or a heating element is disposed in the flow path 14. In the flow path 14, an ink droplet is ejected from the nozzle 11 by bubbles generated by the heat generated by the heating element, or static electricity is generated between the diaphragm and the electrode, and the diaphragm is deformed by electrostatic force. A so-called electrostatic actuator that causes a change in pressure to eject ink droplets from the nozzle 11 can be used.

  The case 20 is fixed to the surface opposite to the ejection surface 12 of the head body 15, and fixed portions 21 that protrude from both side surfaces are provided on the opposite side of the surface to which the head body 15 is fixed. Is provided. In the present embodiment, the fixing portions 21 are provided on the side surfaces on both sides in the juxtaposition direction of the nozzles 11 of one nozzle row 11A. A surface on the discharge surface 12 side of the fixed portion 21 is a fixed surface 22.

  Further, the case 20 is provided with a supply path for supplying ink to the head main body 15 inside, not shown, and wiring for supplying a drive signal from the outside to the head main body 15. Such a case 20 can be formed from a resin material, for example. Such a supply path is connected to a flow path member (not shown) in the opening 51 provided in the fixing member 50 described above, and ink is supplied from the ink cartridge via the flow path member. The wiring provided in the head main body 15 is connected to a control unit that controls the head main body via an external wiring inserted through the opening 51.

  The cover head 30 defines an exposed opening 31 that exposes the nozzles 11 on the ejection surface 12 of the head body 15, and a frame portion 32 that covers the peripheral edge side that is a part of the nozzle plate 13 (ejection surface 12). Have. Further, the cover head 30 has a side wall portion 33 that covers a part of a side surface (side surface of the head main body 15 and the case 20) continuous with the nozzle plate 13. The side wall part 33 is formed so as to be bent from the frame part 32.

  The side wall portions 33 located on both end sides of the nozzle row 11 </ b> A are extended to the fixing portion 21, and the tip ends thereof are fixed to the fixing portion 21 with screws 35. The cover head 30 is integrated with the head 10 by fixing the side wall portion 33 to the fixing portion 21 of the case 20.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the frame portion 32 of the cover head 30 is bonded to the ejection surface 12 of the head body 15 via an adhesive 37. The frame portion 32 and the ejection surface 12 of the head main body 15 may not be bonded by the adhesive 37 but may be in contact with each other. By bonding the cover head 30 and the discharge surface 12 with the adhesive 37, the level difference between the discharge surface 12 and the cover head 30 can be reduced. Wiping or wiping the discharge surface 12 with a rubber blade or the like from the nozzle 11 Even if a suction operation for sucking the ink is performed, it is possible to suppress the ink from remaining on the ejection surface 12.

  The wiping unit which is an example of a wiping means is demonstrated using FIGS. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the head unit and the wiping unit. FIG. 6 is a side view of the head showing the operation of cleaning the head by the wiping unit. FIG. 7 is a side view showing a state of ink attached to the head.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the wiping unit 60 includes a movable mechanism 65 provided with a wiper member 66 that wipes each head 10, and a support member 61 that supports the movable mechanism 65.

  The support member 61 is a frame-like member that opens to the top, and is attached to the apparatus main body 4 (see FIG. 1). The support member 61 is provided with a pinion 62 that can rotate around the Y axis.

  On the upper opening side of the support member 61, a movable plate 63 formed in a long shape along the Y-axis direction (main scanning direction) is disposed. A rack 64 that meshes with a pinion 62 provided on the support member 61 is attached to the movable plate 63. The rack 64 is disposed in parallel with the X-axis direction. The movable mechanism 65 including the pinion 62, the rack 64, and the movable plate 63 allows the movable plate 63 to move in the Y-axis direction by moving the rack 64 in the Y-axis direction by the rotation of the pinion 62. Yes.

  A wiper member 66 is provided on the movable plate 63. The wiper member 66 is a flexible member that protrudes upward from the movable plate 63. The upper end portion of the wiper member 66 is set to a height that makes contact with the ejection surface 12 of the head 10 passing above. Although not particularly illustrated, the wiper member 66 is also movable in the vertical direction (direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction). By this vertical movement, the distance between the upper end of the wiper member 66 and the head 10 can be adjusted.

  The rotation of the pinion 62 is configured to be controllable by a control unit provided in the ink jet recording apparatus I. That is, the control unit can move the wiper member 66 by rotating the pinion 62 and the like.

  The operation of the wiping unit 60 for wiping the ejection surface 12 of the head 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

  As shown in FIG. 6, for example, the wiping unit 60 wipes the head 10 when the head unit 1 that has finished printing moves on the wiping unit 60 along the carriage shaft 5 (see FIG. 1). Do. The wiping of the head 10 here means wiping the ejection surface 12 of the nozzle plate 13 provided on the head 10 and the surface of the frame portion 32 of the cover head 30. That is, the surface of the head 10 on which ink may adhere as the ink is ejected (surface facing the recording medium S) is wiped off. The wiping of the discharge surface 12 and the frame part 32 may be performed individually or simultaneously. In the present embodiment, the wiper member 66 has a shape that can come into contact with the ejection surface 12 of the head 10 and the surface of the frame portion 32 of the cover head 30.

  A control unit (not shown) controls the carriage 2 and the movable mechanism 65 and wipes the head 10 with the wiper member 66 as follows.

  First, the carriage 2 is moved so that one head 10 of the head unit 1 is positioned on the wiper member 66. Next, the movable plate 63 is moved so that the wiper member 66 is positioned on one end side (left side in FIG. 6) of the cover head 30 in the Y-axis direction, and the upper end portion of the wiper member 66 is moved to the frame portion 32 of the cover head 30. Make contact.

  And a control part moves the movable plate 63 to the Y-axis direction, ie, the elongate direction of a head, by rotating the pinion 62. FIG. As the movable plate 63 moves, the wiper member 66 moves in the Y-axis direction while contacting the ejection surface 12 and the frame portion 32 of the head 10.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, the ink 38 is attached to the surfaces of the ejection surface 12 and the frame portion 32. As shown in FIG. 7B, the ink adhering to the surfaces of the ejection surface 12 and the frame portion 32 is pushed out by the wiper member 66. As a result, the ink is removed from the ejection surface 12 and the surface of the frame portion 32.

  As described above, the wiper member 66 slides on the surfaces of the ejection surface 12 and the frame portion 32, whereby the ink 38 and the foreign matters attached to the surfaces are removed. After the wiper member 66 finishes wiping from one end to the other end of the head 10 for one head 10, the control unit rotates the pinion 62 to return the wiper member 66 to its original position. Then, the head unit 1 is moved so that the next head 10 is positioned on the wiper member 66, and similarly, the ink and the like adhering to the head 10 is wiped off by the wiper member 66. Such an operation is performed for all the heads 10.

  A part of the ink removed from the ejection surface 12 and the surface of the frame by the wiper member 66 falls down as it is. Although not particularly illustrated, the dropped ink is collected by an ink collection member provided inside the support member 61. On the other hand, some of the ink removed from the ejection surface 12 and the surface of the frame portion 32 may adhere to the side wall portion 33 of the cover head that is the side surface of the head 10.

  Here, the interval between the heads 10 of the head unit 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the interval between the heads 10 refers to the interval L between the side wall portions 33 of the adjacent heads 10 facing each other. In addition, when the cover head 30 is not provided in the head 10, the space | interval of the side surface which the adjacent head 10 opposes among the side surfaces which continue to the nozzle plate 13 of the head 10 is said. The side surface continuing to the nozzle plate 13 of the head 10 is a side surface of members constituting the head 10 such as the case 20, the head body 15, and the nozzle plate 13. As a side surface of the head 10, the side surface 20a of the case 20 is illustrated in the figure.

  The head 10 is attached to the fixing member 50 at an interval L at which the ink 38 discharged to the outside from the frame portion 32 and the ejection surface 12 of the cover head 30 is not retained by wiping the wiper member 66 (see FIG. 7). In the present embodiment, since the head 10 is provided with the cover head 30, the interval L between the side wall portions 33 of the cover head 30 is an interval at which the ink 38 is not held. In other words, the side walls 33 are separated from each other to such an extent that the ink 38 adheres to both of the opposite side wall parts 33 and the ink 38 is not held between the side wall parts 33 due to surface tension.

  Such an interval L between the heads 10 is appropriately determined depending on the viscosity, amount or surface tension of the ink. For example, if the ink viscosity is high, the interval L is widened, and if the amount of ink between the side wall portions 33 is estimated to be large, the interval L is widened, and if the ink surface tension is high, the interval L is widened.

  In the head unit 1 in which the heads 10 are arranged in parallel at such intervals, the ink 38 attached to the frame part 32 and the ejection surface 12 of the cover head 30 is wiped off by the wiper member 66, and a part of the side wall part of the cover head 30. It adheres to 33. However, the ink adhering to the side wall portion 33 is not held by the surface tension between the opposing side wall portions 33, and therefore gradually falls from there due to its own weight. Eventually, the ink wiped by the wiper member 66 is collected by the ink collecting member provided in the wiping unit 60 without adhering to the head 10.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the surface of the side wall 33 of the cover head is subjected to water repellent treatment. Examples of the water repellent treatment include coating the surface of the side wall portion 33 with a water repellent material such as a fluororesin, and forming the side wall portion 33 with a water repellent material. By performing the water repellent treatment in this way, it is possible to prevent the ink 38 attached to the side wall portion 33 from continuing to remain. Although there is no particular limitation on the region where the water repellent treatment is performed, it is preferably performed on the entire side wall portion 33 of the cover head 30.

  Further, the water repellent treatment may be performed on the surface of the frame portion 32 of the cover head 30. By performing the water repellency treatment on the frame portion 32, it becomes easy to remove the ink 38 attached to the surface of the frame portion 32 with the wiper member 66. The region to be subjected to the water repellent treatment is not particularly limited, but is preferably performed on the entire surface of the frame portion 32.

  As described above, in the head unit 1 according to this embodiment, when the head 10 is wiped by the wiping unit 60, the ink attached to the frame portion 32 and the ejection surface 12 is removed. Here, the interval between the adjacent heads 10 is such that ink is not held between the heads 10. Therefore, as a result of wiping by the wiping unit 60, even if ink adheres to the side wall portion 33 of the head 10, the ink gradually falls by its own weight without being held between the heads 10. That is, it is possible to prevent ink from continuing to adhere to the head 10. As a result, even if the head unit 1 moves and prints on the recording medium S, the ink 38 is not adhered to the head 10, so that the recording medium S is prevented from being stained with ink. it can.

  Further, the water repellent treatment is performed on the side wall portion 33 of the cover head 30, so that it is possible to reliably hold the ink continuously attached to the head 10. Thereby, it is possible to more reliably prevent the ink from falling on the recording medium S and being contaminated. Further, if the water repellent treatment is performed on the side wall portion 33 in this way, it becomes difficult to retain the ink between the side wall portions 33, and therefore the interval L can be made narrower than when the water repellent treatment is not performed. Thereby, the head unit 1 can be reduced in size by narrowing the space | interval of each head 10. FIG. In the case where the head 10 is not provided with the cover head 30, the same effect can be obtained by subjecting the side surface of the head 10 to water repellent treatment.

<Other embodiments>
As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, the basic composition of this invention is not limited to what was mentioned above.

  The head 10 is provided with the cover head 30, but is not limited to such a mode. Even in the head 10 not provided with the cover head 30, the head 10 may be disposed so that the ink is not held between the heads 10 when the wiping unit 60 described above is wiped. For example, the arrangement may be such that ink is not held between the side surfaces 20a of the case 20 (see FIG. 8).

  Moreover, although the wiping unit 60 was illustrated as a wiping means, it is not limited to such an aspect. Wiping the surface facing the recording medium S, such as the ejection surface 12 of the nozzle plate 13 provided in the head 10 or the surface of the frame portion 32 of the cover head 30 covering a part of the ejection surface 12 of the nozzle plate 13. Anything is possible.

  Although the ink jet recording apparatus I has exemplified the one in which the head unit 1 is mounted on the carriage 2 and moves in the main scanning direction, it is not particularly limited to this. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a so-called line type recording apparatus in which the head unit 1 is fixed and printing is performed simply by moving a recording sheet such as paper in the sub-scanning direction. In this case, the wiping unit 60 may move to the head unit 1 side to wipe the head 10.

  Furthermore, the present invention is intended for a wide range of liquid jet heads in general, for example, for manufacturing recording heads such as various ink jet recording heads used in image recording apparatuses such as printers, and color filters such as liquid crystal displays. The present invention can also be applied to a coloring material ejecting head, an organic EL display, an electrode material ejecting head used for forming electrodes such as an FED (field emission display), a bioorganic matter ejecting head used for biochip manufacturing, and the like.

  I ink jet recording apparatus (liquid ejecting apparatus), 1 ink jet recording head unit (liquid ejecting head unit), 10 ink jet recording head (liquid ejecting head), 11 nozzle, 13 nozzle plate, 15 head body, 30 cover head, 32 frame part, 33 side wall part, 60 wiping unit, 65 movable mechanism, 66 wiper member

Claims (7)

A liquid jet head unit liquid ejecting head has a plurality of juxtaposed having a nozzle plate in which the nozzles for ejecting liquid is provided,
A wiping means having a wiper member for wiping the nozzle plate of the liquid jet head, and a recovery member for recovering the liquid;
With
The liquid ejecting heads are juxtaposed at intervals at which liquid is not held between the side surfaces of the adjacent liquid ejecting heads that are continuous with the nozzle plate.
The liquid adhering on the side surface by wiping of the wiper member, is dropped by its own weight, a liquid-jet apparatus characterized by recovering by the collecting member. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1,
The liquid jet head further includes a cover head that covers a part of the nozzle plate and covers a part of the side surface,
The liquid ejecting apparatus , wherein a portion covering the side surface of the cover head is subjected to water repellent treatment. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 2,
The cover head has a side wall portion covering a part of the side surface,
The liquid ejecting head, a liquid ejecting apparatus characterized by liquid between said side wall portions of the liquid ejecting head adjacent are arranged side by side at not retained intervals. In the liquid ejecting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
The wiping means further comprises an open frame-shaped support member,
The recovery member is provided inside the support member,
The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wiper member wipes the plurality of liquid ejecting heads by moving with respect to the support member. A method for wiping a liquid ejecting apparatus,
The liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head unit including a plurality of liquid ejecting heads, a wiper member, and a recovery member.
The liquid ejecting heads are juxtaposed at intervals at which liquid is not held between the side surfaces continuous to the nozzle plates of the adjacent liquid ejecting heads,
Wiping the nozzle plate of the liquid jet head with the wiper member;
Dropping the liquid attached to the side surface by wiping the wiper member by its own weight and collecting it on the collecting member;
Including wiping method. The wiping method according to claim 5 ,
The liquid ejecting head further includes a cover head that covers a part of the nozzle plate and covers a part of the side surface by a side wall part,
The wiping method, wherein the liquid ejecting heads are arranged side by side at intervals at which liquid is not held between the side wall portions of the adjacent liquid ejecting heads. In the wiping method according to claim 5 or claim 6 ,
The liquid ejecting apparatus further includes an open frame-shaped support member,
The recovery member is provided inside the support member,
The wiping method, wherein the wiper member moves relative to the support member to wipe the plurality of liquid jet heads.

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