JP6859617B2 - Liquid injection device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a liquid injection device such as a printer.

As an example of the liquid injection device, a wiper member that wipes the recording head that ejects droplets, a suction cap that ejects liquid from the recording head, and a moisturizing cap that suppresses drying of the recording head when the droplets are not ejected. And, there is an inkjet printer provided with (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-39723

By the way, after wiping by moving the recording head relative to the wiper member, the liquid or the like collected by wiping may scatter in the wiping direction due to the momentum when the wiper member separates from the recording head. is there. When the liquid scattered in this way adheres to the moisturizing cap, there is a problem that the liquid adheres to the recording head through the moisturizing cap, and the paper comes into contact with the recording head to become dirty. It should be noted that such a problem is generally common not only in a printer that ejects ink to print, but also in a liquid injection device in which a liquid may scatter with wiping.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid injection device capable of suppressing contamination by a liquid scattered from a liquid injection head by wiping.

Hereinafter, means for solving the above problems and their actions and effects will be described.
A liquid injection device for solving the above problems includes a liquid injection head having a nozzle for injecting liquid toward a medium and an opening surface through which the nozzle opens, a receiving cap for receiving the liquid discharged from the nozzle, and the above. A moisturizing cap that forms a closed space with the opening surface when the liquid is not ejected from the nozzle, and a wiping member that wipes the opening surface as it moves relative to the liquid injection head. The wiping member is arranged between the receiving cap and the moisturizing cap in the relative moving direction, and moves relative to the wiping member so that the liquid injection head moves from the receiving cap side to the moisturizing cap side. By doing so, the wiping is performed.

According to this configuration, when the opening surface is wiped, the liquid injection head moves relative to the wiping member so as to move from the receiving cap side to the moisturizing cap side, so that the wiping member finishes wiping and starts from the liquid injection head. When leaving, there is a receiving cap at the end of the wiping direction. Therefore, even if the liquid or the like collected by wiping scatters in the wiping direction due to the momentum when the wiping member separates from the liquid injection head after wiping, the scattered liquid is a receiving cap for receiving the liquid. Is accepted by. Since the wiped liquid is hard to scatter toward the moisturizing cap, the liquid may adhere to the moisturizing cap, the liquid may adhere to the liquid injection head via the moisturizing cap, or the medium may become dirty through the liquid injection head. If difficult. Therefore, it is possible to suppress contamination by the liquid scattered from the liquid injection head by wiping. The wiping direction is a direction in which wiping proceeds on the opening surface, is a moving direction of the wiping member when the liquid injection head does not move during wiping, and is a liquid jet when the wiping member does not move during wiping. The direction opposite to the moving direction of the head.

The liquid injection device includes a support portion that supports the medium, and a displacement mechanism that displaces the liquid injection head to a first position facing the support portion and a second position for wiping. The moisturizing cap is arranged at a position closer to the support portion than the receiving cap.

According to this configuration, the moisturizing cap is arranged closer to the support portion than the receiving cap, so that even if the liquid is scattered due to the wiping of the liquid injection head, the scattered liquid is in the direction away from the support portion. jump. Therefore, it is possible to suppress contamination of the support portion by the liquid scattered from the liquid injection head by wiping.

In the liquid injection device, the displacement mechanism causes the liquid injection head to be displaced to the first position and the second position by rotation.
According to this configuration, the displacement mechanism rotates the liquid injection head, so that the posture of the liquid injection head can be smoothly changed.

The liquid injection device has a suction mechanism for sucking the inside of the receiving cap, a waste liquid accommodating portion for accommodating the liquid sucked from the receiving cap as a waste liquid, and a moisturizing unit connecting the waste liquid accommodating portion and the moisturizing cap. It is provided with a flow path.

According to this configuration, the waste liquid accommodating portion and the moisturizing cap communicate with each other via the moisturizing flow path, so that the components vaporized from the waste liquid contained in the waste liquid accommodating portion can be introduced into the moisturizing cap. Thereby, the closed space formed by the moisturizing cap can be humidified, and the nozzle opening in the closed space can be effectively moisturized.

The liquid injection device includes an on-off valve that opens and closes the moisturizing flow path, and the on-off valve opens when the moisturizing cap forms the closed space, and the moisturizing cap does not form the closed space. Close the valve.

According to this configuration, the on-off valve opens when the moisturizing cap forms a closed space, so that the components of the waste liquid vaporized in the waste liquid accommodating portion can be introduced into the closed space and humidified. Further, when the moisturizing cap does not form a closed space, the on-off valve is closed, so that the evaporation of the waste liquid contained in the waste liquid storage portion can be suppressed.

In the liquid injection device, the waste liquid accommodating portion has an atmospheric communication passage for communicating the internal space with the external space, and the atmospheric communication passage includes a meandering flow path for extending the path.
According to this configuration, since the waste liquid accommodating portion has a meandering flow path as an atmospheric communication passage, the internal space of the waste liquid accommodating portion can be opened to the atmosphere while suppressing evaporation of the waste liquid contained in the waste liquid accommodating portion.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an embodiment of a liquid injection device. The bottom view of the liquid injection head included in the liquid injection device of FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid injection head of FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a configuration of a maintenance device included in the liquid injection device of FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the maintenance device of FIG. The cross-sectional view which shows typically the 1st modification example of a liquid injection apparatus. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a second modification example of the liquid injection device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the liquid injection device will be described with reference to the drawings. The liquid injection device is, for example, an inkjet printer that records (prints) by injecting ink, which is an example of a liquid, onto a medium such as paper. In the following description, the direction vertically below is defined as the direction of gravity Z, and the two horizontal directions that are different from each other are defined as the first direction X and the second direction Y.

As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid injection device 11 includes a housing 12, a liquid injection head 13 for injecting liquid in the housing 12, a maintenance device 31 for maintaining the liquid injection head 13, and a liquid injection head 13. A displacement mechanism 14 for displacement, a cassette 17 for accommodating a plurality of media S, and a support portion 18 for supporting the medium S fed from the cassette 17 are provided. Further, the liquid injection device 11 includes a moving mechanism 34 that moves the maintenance device 31 along the second direction Y, and a control unit 100 that controls the operations of the liquid injection head 13, the displacement mechanism 14, the maintenance device 31, and the moving mechanism 34. And. The components shown by the broken lines in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 are schematically shown to show their existence.

One or more (four in this embodiment) of liquid accommodating bodies 19 for accommodating the liquid to be supplied to the liquid injection head 13 are mounted on the inside or the outside of the housing 12 (inside of the housing 12 in this embodiment). A mounting portion 20 is provided. Further, the liquid injection device 11 includes a liquid supply path 21 for supplying the liquid to the liquid injection head 13 and a pressurizing mechanism 22 for pressurizing the liquid. When the pressurizing mechanism 22 pressurizes the liquid contained in the liquid container 19, the pressurized liquid is supplied to the liquid injection head 13 through the liquid supply path 21. The pressurizing mechanism 22 may adopt a configuration in which the liquid in the liquid supply path 21 is directly pressurized.

The displacement mechanism 14 includes a holding member 15 for holding the liquid injection head 13, and by rotating the holding member 15 around the rotation shaft 16 as shown by an arrow, the liquid injection head 13 is shown by a solid line in FIG. It is displaced to the first position shown and the second position shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. The liquid injection head 13 has an opening surface 13b that faces vertically downward when in the second position.

When the liquid injection head 13 is in the first position, the opening surface 13b is in an inclined state with respect to the horizontal. When the liquid injection head 13 is in the second position, the inclination of the opening surface 13b with respect to the horizontal is smaller than that in the first position. In the present embodiment, the opening surface 13b is horizontal when the liquid injection head 13 is in the second position, but it does not necessarily have to be horizontal, and the opening surface 13b is closer to horizontal than when it is in the first position. Just do it. That is, "the inclination of the opening surface 13b with respect to the horizontal is smaller than that when the opening surface 13b is in the first position" includes that the inclination of the opening surface 13b with respect to the horizontal becomes zero and the opening surface 13b becomes horizontal.

When the liquid injection head 13 is in the first position, the liquid injection head 13 performs a printing process by injecting the liquid as droplets onto the medium S supported by the support portion 18. In the present embodiment, the direction in which the medium S advances on the support portion 18 is the transport direction F, and the direction in which the liquid injection head 13 injects the liquid at the first position is the injection direction J. Further, a direction different from both the transport direction F and the injection direction J is defined as the width direction W.

As shown in FIG. 2, the liquid injection head 13 has a plurality of nozzles 23 for injecting liquid toward the medium S in the injection direction J, and an opening surface 13b through which the nozzles 23 open. The liquid injection head 13 of the present embodiment constitutes a line head having a large number of nozzles 23 arranged so that the printing range in the width direction W is equal to or larger than the width of the medium S.

The liquid injection head 13 has a nozzle plate 24 on which the nozzle 23 is formed, and a protective member 25 having an opening 25a that exposes the nozzle 23. In the present embodiment, the lower surface of the nozzle plate 24 through which the nozzle 23 opens and the lower surface of the protective member 25 are combined to form an opening surface 13b through which the nozzle 23 opens.

In the present embodiment, the plurality of nozzles 23 are arranged in the width direction W to form a nozzle row. In the present embodiment, four rows of nozzle rows N1, N2, N3, and N4 are arranged in the transport direction F so as to individually correspond to four types of liquids (for example, four colors of ink). The nozzle row N1 and the nozzle row N2 form a pair adjacent to each other, and the nozzle row N3 and the nozzle row N4 form a pair adjacent to each other. The two sets of nozzle rows, each of which is divided into two rows, are each divided in the width direction W, and the divided portions are arranged so as to be alternately displaced in the transport direction F, whereby the transport direction F and the width direction are arranged. It constitutes a plurality of nozzle groups arranged while shifting their positions to W.

The arrangement of a plurality of nozzle groups arranged while shifting their positions in the transport direction F and the width direction W in this way is referred to as "stagger arrangement". The openings 25a of the nozzle plate 24 and the protective member 25 are provided for each nozzle group. Further, in the nozzle group arranged in the stagger, the end portion in the width direction W overlaps with the transport direction F so that a gap does not occur in the ejection range of the droplet by the nozzle 23.

As shown in FIG. 3, the liquid injection head 13 includes a common liquid chamber 61 in which a liquid is supplied through the liquid supply path 21, and a cavity 62 which is a liquid chamber communicating with the common liquid chamber 61 and the nozzle 23. The common liquid chamber 61 communicates with a plurality of cavities 62 in order to supply liquid to a plurality of nozzles 23 included in one nozzle group, for example, for each nozzle row (that is, for each type of liquid).

Further, the liquid injection head 13 includes a diaphragm 63 that can be flexed and displaced in a direction of increasing or decreasing the internal volume of the cavity 62, and an actuator 65 housed in a storage chamber 64 partitioned from the cavity 62 via the diaphragm 63. To be equipped. The actuator 65 is, for example, an electrostatic actuator including a piezoelectric element 66 that is compressed and deformed by energization. The piezoelectric element 66 is attached to the diaphragm 63.

When the piezoelectric element 66 contracts and deforms due to the application of a driving voltage, the diaphragm 63 bends and displaces in the direction of expanding the internal volume of the cavity 62. When the internal volume of the cavity 62 is expanded, the liquid stored in the common liquid chamber 61 is introduced into the cavity 62. After that, when the energization is stopped, the diaphragm 63 bends and displaces in the direction of reducing the internal volume of the cavity 62 due to the reaction of releasing the contraction of the piezoelectric element 66. Then, as the internal volume suddenly decreases, the liquid in the cavity 62 is pushed out into the nozzle 23, and the pushed out liquid is ejected as droplets from the nozzle 23. The diaphragm 63 undergoes damping vibration after the drive voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 66 until the next drive voltage is applied. This damping vibration is called the residual vibration of the diaphragm 63.

Here, when air bubbles are mixed in the nozzle 23 or clogging occurs, the diaphragm 63 attenuates and vibrates in a pattern different from that in the case where the nozzle 23 is in a good state. Therefore, the actuator 65 functions as a sensor that obtains a voltage from the displacement of the diaphragm 63, and by detecting the residual vibration of the diaphragm 63 accompanying the drive of the piezoelectric element 66, the state of the nozzle 23 is poor, that is, the nozzle 23 is defective. It becomes possible to detect the nozzle.

At this time, the actuator 65 functions as a detection unit capable of detecting whether the state of the nozzle 23 is good or bad for each nozzle 23. Detecting whether the state of the nozzle 23 is good or bad by the actuator 65 is also referred to as "nozzle check". The nozzle check can be performed during the printing process, or the diaphragm 63 can be displaced to the extent that droplets are not ejected when the printing process is not performed.

Next, the configuration of the maintenance device 31 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 4, the maintenance device 31 includes a wiping member 32 that wipes the opening surface 13b as it moves relative to the liquid injection head 13, a receiving cap 40 that receives the liquid discharged from the nozzle 23, and the nozzle 23. Includes a moisturizing cap 50 that forms a closed space with the opening surface 13b when the liquid is not sprayed.

The receiving cap 40 has a plurality of lip portions 41 formed in an annular shape so as to individually surround the nozzle group. The lip portion 41 is staggered according to the arrangement of the nozzle group. Further, the two lip portions 41 arranged in the second direction Y are connected via the connecting portion 42 to form a substantially H-shaped cap member 49 in a plan view.

A suction port 43 is provided in a portion surrounded by the annular lip portion 41, and the upstream end of the suction flow path 35 is connected to the suction port 43. The suction flow path 35 is surrounded by a plurality of branch flow paths 35c individually connected to the suction port 43 surrounded by the lip portions 41 corresponding to the nozzle rows N1 and N2, and the lip portion 41 corresponding to the nozzle rows N3 and N4. A plurality of branch flow paths 35d individually connected to the suction port 43 are included. The plurality of branch flow paths 35c merge to form a merging flow path 35a, and the plurality of branch flow paths 35d merge to form a merging flow path 35b.

The merging flow paths 35a and 35b are connected to a suction mechanism 36 that sucks the inside of the receiving cap 40 (the region surrounded by the lip portion 41 in this embodiment). Further, the downstream end of the suction flow path 35 extending from the suction mechanism 36 is connected to a waste liquid storage unit 37 that stores the liquid sucked from the receiving cap 40 as a waste liquid. On-off valves 46 and 47 may be provided in the merging flow paths 35a and 35b, respectively. The waste liquid accommodating portion 37 may accommodate an absorbent 38 that absorbs the waste liquid.

The moisturizing cap 50 of the present embodiment includes a sealing member 51 which is a single cap member provided so as to cover all the nozzles 23, and an urging member 52 which urges the sealing member 51 toward the opening surface 13b. (See FIG. 5). By connecting the sealing member 51 to the waste liquid accommodating portion 37 via the moisturizing flow path 53, the internal space of the sealing member 51 and the internal space of the waste liquid accommodating portion 37 (particularly, the upper part of the internal space) can be connected. It is preferable to be able to communicate with each other. An on-off valve 54 may be provided in the moisturizing flow path 53 so that the communication state between the internal space of the sealing member 51 and the internal space of the waste liquid accommodating portion 37 can be switched.

The waste liquid can be introduced smoothly when the waste liquid accommodating portion 37 is communicated with the atmosphere rather than keeping the internal space closed. Therefore, it is preferable that the waste liquid accommodating portion 37 has an atmospheric communication passage 37a for communicating the internal space accommodating the waste liquid with the external space at a position away from the absorbent material 38 or the like. The atmospheric communication passage 37a preferably includes a meandering flow path for extending the path.

The wiping member 32 is arranged between the receiving cap 40 and the moisturizing cap 50 arranged in the second direction Y so as to extend in the first direction X. The wiping member 32 is preferably made of a plate-shaped member that can be elastically deformed, such as a rubber member or an elastomer, but may be made of a cloth or a porous material that can absorb a liquid such as a non-woven fabric. It is preferable that the three components of the moisturizing cap 50, the wiping member 32, and the receiving cap 40 are arranged so as to be arranged in the second direction Y in order from the side closest to the support portion 18 (see FIG. 1). In this case, the support portion 18, the moisturizing cap 50, the wiping member 32, and the receiving cap are arranged along the second direction Y, and the moisturizing cap 50 is arranged at a position closer to the supporting portion 18 than the receiving cap 40.

As shown in FIG. 5, the maintenance device 31 includes an elevating mechanism 45 for elevating and moving the receiving cap 40, and an elevating mechanism 55 for moving the sealing member 51 up and down. The maintenance device 31 performs various maintenance operations including cleaning, wiping (wiping), and capping when the liquid injection head 13 is in the second position shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG.

Next, the maintenance operation performed by the maintenance device 31 will be described.
Suction cleaning, which is a type of cleaning, is performed when the maintenance device 31 is in the position shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. In executing the suction cleaning, first, the receiving cap 40 is moved up by the elevating mechanism 45, and the lip portion 41 comes into contact with the opening surface 13b so as to surround the nozzle group. When the suction mechanism 36 is driven with the cap member 49 forming a closed space between the cap member 49 and the opening surface 13b, foreign matter such as air bubbles in the liquid injection head 13 is discharged from the nozzle 23 together with the liquid.

In the suction cleaning, the nozzle rows N1 and N2 and the nozzle rows N3 and N4 may be separately performed by opening and closing the on-off valves 46 and 47 in order to suppress the liquid consumption due to the cleaning. Alternatively, an on-off valve may be provided for each suction flow path 35 corresponding to one or a plurality of nozzle groups, and suction cleaning may be performed for each nozzle group. Further, in order to shorten the cleaning time, all nozzle rows may be performed at the same time.

Here, when suction is performed by driving the suction mechanism 36, the lip portion 41 may fall inward due to the negative pressure generated in the closed space, and the closed space may communicate with the outside air. In particular, if the lip portion 41 is elongated in the first direction X, the portion extending in the longitudinal direction due to negative pressure tends to fall inward. In that respect, in the cap member 49 of the present embodiment, since the portions extending in the longitudinal direction of the two lip portions 41 arranged in the second direction Y are connected by the connecting portion 42, the lip portion 41 is less likely to fall inward. There are advantages.

As another cleaning, pressure cleaning may be performed in which the liquid is discharged from the liquid injection head 13 into the cap member 49 by pressurizing the pressurizing mechanism 22 (see FIG. 1). Cleaning is performed when the receiving cap 40 is below the liquid injection head 13. The position of the maintenance device 31 (the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 1) when cleaning is performed is referred to as a receiving position. Cleaning is performed before the start of the printing process, after the printing process is completed, or when a defective nozzle is detected by the nozzle check.

Wiping is performed by moving the liquid injection head 13 relative to the wiping member 32 so as to move from the receiving cap 40 side to the moisturizing cap 50 side. In the present embodiment, the moving mechanism 34 moves the maintenance device 31 including the wiping member 32 in the second direction Y away from the support portion 18 (see FIG. 1), and wipes the opening surface 13b at the tip portion of the wiping member 32. To do. In the present embodiment, the relative movement direction of the liquid injection head 13 and the wiping member 32 at the time of wiping is the direction along the second direction Y. In FIGS. 1 and 4 to 7, the wiping direction during wiping is indicated by a white arrow. The wiping direction is the direction in which wiping proceeds on the opening surface 13b, is the moving direction of the wiping member 32 when the liquid injection head 13 does not move during wiping, and when the wiping member 32 does not move during wiping. Is the direction opposite to the moving direction of the liquid injection head 13.

Wiping is preferably performed when dirt such as liquid adheres to the liquid injection head 13. For example, after cleaning, the liquid discharged from the nozzle 23 adheres to the opening surface 13b, so wiping may be performed. Further, when the liquid injection head 13 injects the liquid toward the medium S, fine mist is generated along with the injection and adheres to the opening surface 13b and the like. When the amount of adhesion is large, the adhered liquid becomes droplets and drips, which may contaminate the medium S and surrounding members. Therefore, when the printing process takes a long time, wiping may be performed during the printing process at a predetermined timing so that the liquid does not drip.

Capping is performed when the moisturizing cap 50 is below the liquid injection head 13, as shown by the solid line in FIG. When performing capping, the elevating mechanism 55 moves the sealing member 51 up and down to form a closed space with the opening surface 13b. The position of the maintenance device 31 when capping is performed is called a capping position. Capping is performed to suppress drying of the nozzle 23 when the liquid injection head 13 pauses the liquid injection operation, including when the power is turned off.

Therefore, the on-off valve 54 provided in the moisturizing flow path 53 connecting the sealing member 51 and the waste liquid accommodating portion 37 is opened when the sealing member 51 forms a closed space (when capping), and the waste liquid is discharged. It is preferable to humidify the closed space with a liquid component (moisture when the liquid is a water-soluble ink) vaporized from the waste liquid stored in the storage portion 37. On the other hand, when the sealing member 51 does not form a closed space (when capping is not performed), it is preferable to close the on-off valve 54 to suppress the vaporization of the waste liquid contained in the waste liquid storage portion 37. If the atmospheric communication passage 37a includes the meandering flow path, it is possible to suppress the vaporization of the waste liquid while communicating the inside of the waste liquid storage portion 37 with the atmosphere.

In addition, as a maintenance operation, the liquid injection head 13 performs flushing to inject and discharge the liquid when a slight injection defect occurs or after wiping. When the liquid injection head 13 is in the second position, the moving mechanism 34 may move the maintenance device 31 to the receiving position to perform flushing, and the cap member 49 may receive the liquid discharged by the flushing. In this case, it is preferable that the cap member 49 is not moved ascending and is arranged at a position away from the liquid injection head 13. Further, the liquid received by the cap member 49 may be stored in the waste liquid storage unit 37 by driving the suction mechanism 36.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the support portion 18 is provided with a rib 18a for supporting the medium S and a concave liquid receiving portion 18b provided around the rib 18a, and the medium S is not provided on the support portion 18. Occasionally, flushing may be performed toward the liquid receiving portion 18b. In this case, the liquid injection head 13 will be flushed at the first position.

When the liquid receiving portion 18b is provided on the support portion 18, for example, when printing is performed on a plurality of media S, the liquid injection head 13 is placed between the conveyed media S and the medium S (between papers). Flushing can be performed while it is placed in one position. Therefore, the maintenance operation time can be shortened as compared with the case where the liquid injection head 13 is displaced to the second position during the printing process and flushed toward the cap member 49. Further, when flushing between papers, the nozzle check may be performed by utilizing the residual vibration generated by the liquid injection, or the diaphragm 63 is displaced to the extent that droplets are not ejected between the papers. It may be allowed to perform a nozzle check.

The liquid received by the liquid receiving unit 18b may be stored in the waste liquid storage unit 37 through a waste liquid tube or the like (not shown). According to this configuration, the amount of liquid that can be received by the liquid receiving unit 18b can be increased, and the received liquid can be easily processed. Further, the liquid received by the liquid receiving portion 18b can humidify the inside of the waste liquid accommodating portion 37 and the closed space formed by the sealing member 51.

As described above, the maintenance device 31 performs different maintenance operations depending on the situation of the liquid injection head 13. Further, the maintenance device 31 needs to be moved to a different place when performing cleaning, wiping or capping. Therefore, it is preferable that the moving mechanism 34 moves the maintenance device 31 according to the situation of the liquid injection head 13.

For example, if capping is performed before the start of the printing process, the liquid injection head 13 is in the second position and the maintenance device 31 is in the capping position. Then, when the printing process is started, the sealing member 51 moves downward so as to move away from the liquid injection head 13 to release the capping, the liquid injection head 13 moves to the first position, and the printing process on the medium S ( Liquid injection operation) is performed.

In this printing process, the maintenance device 31 is preferably kept at the capping position while the processing amount (number of printed sheets, number of droplets to be ejected, injection time, etc.) is smaller than a predetermined threshold value. As a result, when the liquid injection head 13 is displaced from the first position to the second position after finishing a small amount of printing processing, the moisturizing cap 50 at the capping position can quickly perform capping.

On the other hand, when the processing amount exceeds the above-mentioned threshold value, it is preferable that the moving mechanism 34 moves the maintenance device 31 from the capping position to the receiving position until the printing process is completed. Then, after a large amount of printing processing is completed and the liquid injection head 13 is displaced from the first position to the second position, the moving mechanism 34 moves the maintenance device 31 from the receiving position in the wiping direction (second direction Y). Therefore, the mist adhering to the opening surface 13b can be quickly wiped off by the wiping member 32. Further, after the wiping member 32 wipes the opening surface 13b, capping can be performed immediately by the moisturizing cap 50.

Further, even when a defective nozzle is detected by performing a nozzle check during the printing process or between papers, the moving mechanism 34 moves the maintenance device 31 to the receiving position until the printing process is completed. Good. Then, after the printing process is interrupted or the liquid injection head 13 is displaced from the first position to the second position after the printing process is completed, maintenance operations such as wiping, flushing, and cleaning by the wiping member 32 are promptly started. can do.

Next, the operation of the liquid injection device 11 configured as described above will be described.
In wiping (wiping), the wiping member 32 scrapes the liquid adhering to the opening surface 13b, so that when the wiping member 32 that has finished wiping separates from the liquid injection head 13, the scraped liquid scatters in the wiping direction. It may end up. In particular, when the wiping member 32 is made of an elastic body and the dirt on the opening surface 13b is scraped off while being elastically deformed, when the wiping member 32 separates from the liquid injection head 13, its tip momentum toward the wiping direction. By flexing and displacementing well, the liquid tends to scatter in the wiping direction.

When the liquid scattered in this way adheres to the sealing member 51, the liquid may adhere to the liquid injection head 13 with capping. Then, the liquid injection head 13 becomes dirty and injection defects occur in the nozzle 23, or the medium S comes into contact with the liquid injection head 13 during the printing process and becomes dirty.

Further, when this liquid is a water-based ink containing glycerin or the like as a moisturizer, the hygroscopic force of the moisturizer contained in the ink contained in the sealing member 51 causes the ink in the nozzle 23 to be charged during capping. The water contained may be deprived. When water is lost from the ink in the nozzle 23, the viscosity of the ink increases, which may cause injection failure.

In that respect, in the liquid injection device 11 of the present embodiment, the liquid is wiped by moving relative to the wiping member 32 so that the liquid injection head 13 moves from the receiving cap 40 side to the moisturizing cap 50 side. There is a receiving cap 40 at the destination. Therefore, almost no liquid is scattered toward the moisturizing cap 50, and the scattered liquid is unlikely to adhere to the sealing member 51. Since the receiving cap 40 originally has a structure for receiving the liquid, even if the scattered liquid adheres, a big problem does not occur. The receiving cap 40 may include a single cap member such as the sealing member 51 in order to efficiently receive the scattered liquid.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) When the opening surface 13b is wiped, the liquid injection head 13 moves relative to the wiping member 32 so as to move from the receiving cap 40 side to the moisturizing cap 50 side, so that the wiping member 32 finishes wiping and the liquid When moving away from the injection head 13, there is a receiving cap 40 at the tip in the wiping direction. Therefore, even if the liquid or the like collected by wiping scatters in the wiping direction due to the momentum when the wiping member 32 separates from the liquid injection head 13 after wiping, the scattered liquid is for receiving the liquid. It is received by the receiving cap 40. Since the wiped liquid is less likely to scatter toward the moisturizing cap 50, the liquid may adhere to the moisturizing cap 50, the liquid may adhere to the liquid injection head 13 via the moisturizing cap 50, or the liquid may adhere to the liquid injection head 13 via the liquid injection head 13. The medium S is also less likely to get dirty. Therefore, it is possible to suppress contamination by the liquid scattered from the liquid injection head 13 by wiping.

(2) Since the moisturizing cap 50 is arranged at a position closer to the support portion 18 than the receiving cap 40, even if the liquid is scattered due to the wiping of the liquid injection head 13, the scattered liquid is separated from the support portion 18. Fly in the direction. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the contamination of the support portion 18 by the liquid scattered from the liquid injection head 13 by wiping.

(3) By rotating the liquid injection head 13 by the displacement mechanism 14, the posture of the liquid injection head 13 can be smoothly changed.
(4) By communicating the waste liquid accommodating portion 37 and the sealing member 51 constituting the moisturizing cap 50 via the moisturizing flow path 53, the component vaporized from the waste liquid contained in the waste liquid accommodating portion 37 is sealed member 51. Can be introduced within. As a result, the closed space formed by the sealing member 51 can be humidified, and the nozzle 23 that opens in the closed space can be effectively moisturized.

(5) By opening the on-off valve 54 when the moisturizing cap 50 forms a closed space, the component of the waste liquid vaporized in the waste liquid accommodating portion 37 can be introduced into the closed space and humidified. Further, when the moisturizing cap 50 does not form a closed space, the on-off valve 54 is closed, so that the evaporation of the waste liquid contained in the waste liquid storage portion 37 can be suppressed.

(6) Since the waste liquid storage unit 37 has a meandering flow path as the atmospheric communication passage 37a, the internal space of the waste liquid storage unit 37 can be opened to the atmosphere while suppressing evaporation of the waste liquid stored in the waste liquid storage unit 37. ..

The above embodiment may be changed as in the modification shown below. Moreover, each configuration included in the above-described embodiment and each configuration included in the following modification example may be arbitrarily combined.
The displacement mechanism 14 is not limited to rotating the liquid injection head 13, and for example, by moving the liquid injection head 13 along the second direction Y, the support portion 18 and the opening surface 13b face each other in the first position and the maintenance operation is performed. The liquid injection head 13 may be displaced to the second position to be performed. In this case, by moving the liquid injection head 13 from the receiving cap 40 side to the moisturizing cap 50 side along the second direction Y, wiping is performed by the wiping member 32 between the receiving cap 40 and the moisturizing cap 50. You may do so. Further, both the liquid injection head 13 and the wiping member 32 may move in opposite directions to perform wiping.

FIG. 6 shows the liquid injection device 11A of the first modification. In FIG. 6, the direction in which the liquid is injected is the injection direction Z, the direction in which the medium S is conveyed during the printing process is the transfer direction Y, and the direction different from both the injection direction Z and the transfer direction Y is the movement direction X. To do.

The liquid injection device 11A includes a housing 12, a guide shaft 26 erected in the housing 12, and a carriage 27 that is guided by the guide shaft 26 and reciprocates along the moving direction X. This is a serial type printer that holds the liquid injection head 13. The liquid injection device 11A may be an on-carriage type in which the liquid container 19 containing the liquid supplied to the liquid injection head 13 is held in the carriage 27, or an off-carriage in which the liquid container 19 is arranged at a position other than on the carriage 27. It may be a type.

In the housing 12, the receiving cap 40, the wiping member 32, the moisturizing cap 50, and the support portion 18 may be arranged in order from one end (right end in FIG. 6) of the carriage 27 in the moving direction X. The receiving cap 40 of this modified example includes a single cap member 49 provided so as to cover all the nozzles 23. Further, the maintenance device 31 includes an elevating mechanism 33 that moves the wiping member 32 up and down, and lowers the wiping member 32 to a low position that does not come into contact with the liquid injection head 13 that moves along the moving direction X when wiping is not performed. Keep it.

Then, in this modified example, when the liquid injection head 13 moves from the receiving cap 40 side to the moisturizing cap 50 side together with the carriage 27, the wiping member 32 between the receiving cap 40 and the moisturizing cap 50 wipes (wiping). Do.

FIG. 7 shows the liquid injection device 11B of the second modification. The liquid injection device 11B is a serial type printer similar to the first modification shown in FIG. 6, but includes a guide rail 34a in which the moving mechanism 34 extends in the transport direction Y, and the maintenance device 31 is provided along the guide rail 34a. It differs from the first modification in that it is moved in the transport direction Y to perform wiping. Further, the maintenance device 31 of the second modification includes a moisturizing cap 50, a wiping member 32, and a receiving cap 40 arranged in order from the upstream side to the downstream side in the transport direction Y.

Then, when the liquid injection head 13 performs the printing process, the moving mechanism 34 arranges the receiving cap 40 on the moving path of the liquid injection head 13, and the liquid injection head 13 directs the receiving cap 40 toward the receiving cap 40 during the recording process or the like. Flush. At this time, the wiping member 32 is arranged outside the moving path of the liquid injection head 13 so as not to come into contact with the liquid injection head 13.

When wiping is performed in the liquid injection device 11B, first, the liquid injection head 13 is moved on the movement path of the maintenance device 31. After that, the moving mechanism 34 moves the maintenance device 31 in the transport direction Y to bring the wiping member 32 into sliding contact with the opening surface 13b. Wiping can also be performed by the moving mechanism 34 moving the maintenance device 31 in the direction opposite to the transport direction Y. In this case, the maintenance device 31 may include a moisturizing cap 50, a wiping member 32, and a receiving cap 40 arranged in order from the downstream side to the upstream side in the transport direction Y.

A mechanism for introducing a moisturizer into the sealing member 51 may be provided. According to this configuration, the closed space can be humidified by the moisturizer in the sealing member 51 at the time of capping, and the nozzle 23 can be moisturized for a longer time.

A removing member for removing the liquid adhering to the sealing member 51 may be provided. For example, if an absorbing member that absorbs a liquid is housed in the sealing member 51 so that the absorbing member absorbs the liquid that has entered the sealing member 51, the liquid adheres to the liquid injection head 13 during capping. It becomes difficult to do. Alternatively, an absorbing member that can come into contact with the sealing member 51 of the moisturizing cap 50 may be provided outside the opening surface 13b of the liquid injection head 13. By doing so, even if the liquid adheres to the sealing member 51, the liquid can be removed, so that contamination by the liquid can be suppressed. Further, in this case, the sealing member 51 may be subjected to a water repellent treatment in order to facilitate the transfer of the liquid adhering to the sealing member 51 to the absorbing member.

-The receiving cap 40, the moisturizing cap 50, or the wiping member 32 may be configured to move by different moving mechanisms. Alternatively, any two of these three may be moved by one moving mechanism, and the remaining one may be moved by another moving mechanism.

-The maintenance device 31 may be a replaceable unit. Alternatively, the moisturizing cap 50 or the wiping member 32 may be a replaceable unit. According to this configuration, even if a member such as the moisturizing cap 50 or the wiping member 32 becomes dirty with the liquid, the dirt can be reset by replacement. Further, by exchanging the member or the like in the unit unit, other members can be continuously used.

The liquid ejected by the liquid injection head 13 is not limited to ink, and may be, for example, a liquid material in which particles of a functional material are dispersed or mixed in the liquid. For example, printing is performed by injecting a liquid material containing materials such as electrode materials and coloring materials (pixel materials) used in the manufacture of liquid crystal displays, EL (electroluminescence) displays and surface emitting displays in the form of dispersion or dissolution. It may be configured.

-The medium S is not limited to paper, but may be a plastic film, a thin plate material, or a cloth used for a printing device or the like. Further, the medium S does not have to be a single piece cut to a predetermined size, for example, it may be a roll-shaped medium wound in a cylindrical shape, or clothing of an arbitrary shape such as a T-shirt. It may be a three-dimensional object of any shape such as tableware or stationery.

11 ... Liquid injection device, 12 ... Housing, 13 ... Liquid injection head, 13b ... Opening surface, 14 ... Displacement mechanism, 15 ... Holding member, 16 ... Rotating shaft, 17 ... Cassette, 18 ... Support, 18a ... Ribs , 18b ... Liquid receiving part, 19 ... Liquid container, 20 ... Mounting part, 21 ... Liquid supply path, 22 ... Pressurizing mechanism, 23 ... Nozzle, 24 ... Nozzle plate, 25 ... Protective member, 31 ... Maintenance device, 32 ... Wiping member, 33 ... Elevating mechanism, 34 ... Moving mechanism, 35 ... Suction flow path, 36 ... Suction mechanism, 37 ... Waste liquid storage part, 38 ... Absorbent, 40 ... Receiving cap, 41 ... Lip part, 42 ... Connection part , 43 ... suction port, 45 ... elevating mechanism, 46 ... on-off valve, 47 ... on-off valve, 49 ... cap member, 50 ... moisturizing cap, 51 ... sealing member, 52 ... urging member, 53 ... moisturizing flow path, 54 ... on-off valve, 55 ... elevating mechanism, 61 ... common liquid chamber, 62 ... cavity, 63 ... vibrating plate, 64 ... accommodating chamber, 65 ... actuator, 66 ... piezoelectric element, 100 ... control unit, S ... medium.

Claims (7)

A support part that supports the medium and
A liquid ejecting head having an open surface nozzles and the nozzle for ejecting liquid toward the medium is opened,
A receiving cap that receives the liquid discharged from the nozzle,
A moisturizing cap that forms a closed space with the opening surface when the liquid is not ejected from the nozzle.
A wiping member that wipes the opening surface as it moves relative to the liquid injection head.
A displacement mechanism that displaces the liquid injection head to a first position facing the support portion and a second position for wiping.
With
The moisturizing cap is arranged between the receiving cap and the support portion in the relative moving direction.
The wiping member is in the relative movement direction, is arranged between the receiving cap the moisturizing cap,
A liquid injection device for performing the wiping by moving the liquid injection head relative to the wiping member so as to move from the receiving cap side to the moisturizing cap side. The liquid injection device according to claim 1, wherein the displacement mechanism displaces the liquid injection head to the first position and the second position by rotation. A support part that supports the medium and
A liquid ejecting head having an open surface nozzles and the nozzle for ejecting liquid toward the medium is opened,
A receiving cap that receives the liquid discharged from the nozzle,
A moisturizing cap that forms a closed space with the opening surface when the liquid is not ejected from the nozzle.
A wiping member that wipes the opening surface as it moves relative to the liquid injection head.
A displacement mechanism that displaces the liquid injection head to a first position facing the support portion and a second position for wiping.
With
The moisturizing cap is arranged between the receiving cap and the support portion in the relative moving direction.
The wiping member is in the relative movement direction, is arranged between the receiving cap the moisturizing cap,
The displacement mechanism is a liquid injection device characterized in that the liquid injection head is displaced to the first position and the second position by rotation. A suction mechanism that sucks the inside of the receiving cap and
A waste liquid accommodating portion for accommodating the liquid sucked from the receiving cap as a waste liquid,
A moisturizing flow path connecting the waste liquid accommodating portion and the moisturizing cap,
The liquid injection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the liquid injection device is provided. An on-off valve for opening and closing the moisturizing flow path is provided.
The liquid injection device according to claim 4, wherein the on-off valve opens when the moisturizing cap forms the closed space, and closes when the moisturizing cap does not form the closed space. .. The waste liquid accommodating portion has an atmospheric communication passage that communicates the internal space with the external space.
The liquid injection device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the atmospheric communication passage includes a meandering flow path for extending the route. A support part that supports the medium and
A liquid ejecting head having an open surface nozzles and the nozzle for ejecting liquid toward the medium supported by the supporting portion is open,
A receiving cap that receives the liquid discharged from the nozzle,
A moisturizing cap that forms a closed space with the opening surface when the liquid is not ejected from the nozzle.
A wiping member that wipes the opening surface as it moves relative to the liquid injection head.
With
The moisturizing cap is arranged between the receiving cap and the support portion in the relative moving direction.
The wiping member is in the relative movement direction, a liquid-jet apparatus characterized by that will be disposed between the receiving cap and the moisturizing cap.

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