JP6969232B2 - How to determine the end state of the wiper unit, liquid injection device and wiping member - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for determining an end state of a wiper unit, a liquid injection device, and a wiping member.

There is a liquid injection device that winds up a long wiping member from which the liquid injection head has been wiped off with a take-up roller and determines the amount of the wiping member used from the amount of rotation of the take-up roller (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-103376

If there is an error between the amount of rotation of the take-up roller and the amount of the wiping member used, a driving force may be applied to the take-up roller even though there is no wiping member to be wound up. In this case, an unnecessary load is applied to the rollers and the like, and the state is deteriorated, which may make it impossible to wipe the liquid injection head satisfactorily. An object of the present invention is to provide a wiper unit, a liquid injection device, and a method for determining an end state of a wiping member, which can satisfactorily wipe off a liquid injection head.

The wiper unit that solves the above problems has a long wiping member for wiping the liquid injection head that injects the liquid, and the wiper unit that is rotated by the driving force transmitted from the drive source to rotate the wiper member from the start end side in the longitudinal direction. A take-up shaft to be wound up, a take-out shaft that unwinds the wiper member by rotating as the wiper member is wound from the end in the longitudinal direction and the wiper member is taken up by the take-up shaft, and the above-mentioned The drive force transmission mechanism is provided with a drive force transmission mechanism for transmitting the drive force of the drive source to the take-up shaft, and the drive force transmission mechanism receives the drive force from the drive source in a state where the feed shaft does not rotate. It has a torque limiter set so as not to transmit the driving force to the take-up shaft.

According to this configuration, when the wiping member is in the end state and the feeding shaft does not rotate, the torque limiter operates and the driving force from the driving source is not transmitted to the winding shaft. Therefore, the load generated by transmitting the driving force to the non-rotating take-up shaft is not applied to the take-up shaft, the feeding shaft, and the driving force transmission mechanism. As a result, the state of the constituent members of the wiper unit is kept in good condition, so that the liquid injection head can be wiped off satisfactorily.

It is preferable that the wiper unit includes a drive detection unit that can detect the drive state of the drive source and a feed detection unit that can detect that the wiper member is fed from the feed shaft.

According to this configuration, the drive detection unit can detect that the drive source is being driven, and the feed detection unit can detect that the wiping member is not fed from the feed shaft.
The wiper unit includes a pressing mechanism that pushes a portion of the wiping member extending between the take-up shaft and the feeding shaft toward the liquid injection head, and the feeding detecting unit has the wiping member pressing the mechanism. It is preferable to have a roller that is arranged so as to come into contact with the wiping member at a position closer to the feeding shaft side than the position pushed by the wiper and rotates with the feeding of the wiping member.

According to this configuration, the roller contacts the unused portion of the wiping member to detect the feeding amount, so that the detection accuracy is more stable than the case where the feeding amount is detected by contacting the wiping member altered by use. Can be made to.

In the wiper unit, when the rotation direction in which the winding shaft winds up the wiping member is the winding direction and the direction opposite to the winding direction is the reverse direction, the torque limiter has the winding shaft in the winding direction. It is preferable to set it so that it does not operate when rotating in the reverse direction.

According to this configuration, the torque limiter does not operate when the wiping member is rewound toward the feeding shaft in order to reduce the slack. Therefore, the slack of the wiping member can be appropriately eliminated.

The liquid injection device that solves the above problems is a liquid injection head capable of injecting a liquid, a long wiping member for wiping the liquid injection head, and the wiping that is rotated by a driving force transmitted from a drive source. The wiping is a winding shaft that winds the member from the start end side in the longitudinal direction, and the wiping member is wound from the end in the longitudinal direction and rotated as the wiping member is wound around the winding shaft. A feeding shaft for feeding a member and a driving force transmission mechanism for transmitting the driving force of the driving source to the winding shaft are provided, and the driving force transmission mechanism is from the driving source in a state where the feeding shaft does not rotate. The wiping member has a torque limiter set so as not to transmit the driving force to the take-up shaft when the driving force is received, and the wiping member is not delivered even when the driving source is driven. The drive source stops driving.

According to this configuration, the same effect as that of the wiper unit can be obtained. Further, when the wiping member is in the end state, the feeding shaft does not rotate and the torque limiter operates. In this case, even if the drive source is driven, the wiping member is not fed out, so that the drive source stops driving, so that the drive source does not need to be driven unnecessarily.

The liquid injection device includes a pressing mechanism that pushes a portion of the wiping member extending between the take-up shaft and the delivery shaft toward the liquid injection head, and a drive detection unit that can detect the drive state of the drive source. The wiping member is arranged so as to come into contact with the wiping member at a position closer to the feeding shaft than the position pushed by the pressing mechanism, and has a roller that rotates with the feeding of the wiping member. The feeding detection unit is provided with a feeding detection unit capable of detecting that the wiping member is fed from the feeding shaft, and when the driving detecting unit detects that the driving source is being driven, the feeding detecting unit is provided. However, it is preferable that the drive source stops driving when the rotation of the roller is not detected.

According to this configuration, when the wiping member is in the end state and the roller does not rotate, the drive source stops driving. Therefore, it is not necessary to drive the drive source unnecessarily after the wiping member is in the end state.

The method for determining the end state of the wiping member that solves the above problems is to use a long wiping member for wiping the liquid injection head that injects the liquid, and to rotate the wiping member by the driving force transmitted from the drive source to lengthen the wiping member. The winding shaft to be wound from the start end side in the direction and the wiping member are wound from the end in the longitudinal direction, and the wiping member is unwound by rotating as the wiping member is wound around the winding shaft. A liquid injection device including a feeding shaft and a torque limiter set so as not to transmit the driving force to the winding shaft when the driving force from the driving source is received in a state where the feeding shaft does not rotate. In the method for determining the end state of the wiping member, when the wiping member is not extended even when the drive source is driven, it is determined that the wiping member is in the end state.

According to this configuration, the same effect as that of the wiper unit can be obtained. Further, when the wiping member is in the end state, the feeding shaft does not rotate and the torque limiter operates. In this case, even if the drive source is driven, the wiping member is not fed out, so that it is possible to appropriately detect that the wiping member is in the end state. As a result, the remaining amount of the wiping member can be appropriately managed, so that the liquid injection head can be satisfactorily wiped off by the unused wiping member.

The perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the liquid injection apparatus. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a head unit included in the liquid injection device of FIG. The bottom view of the head unit shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the head unit shown in FIG. The cross-sectional view which shows one Embodiment of a wiper unit. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a torque limiter included in the wiper unit of FIG. The flow chart which shows the process which a control part performs after wiping a liquid injection head.

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 prints on a medium such as paper by injecting ink, which is an example of a liquid.

As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid injection device 11 includes a housing 12, a support member 13 capable of supporting the medium P, a transfer motor 14, a guide shaft 16 extending in the X-axis direction, and a guide shaft 16. A movable carriage 17 is provided. The medium P is conveyed on the support member 13 in the Y-axis direction by a transfer roller (not shown) driven by the driving force of the transfer motor 14. The Y-axis direction is the transport direction of the medium P at the printing position. The X and Y axes intersect the Z axis. The Z-axis direction of the present embodiment is the gravity direction, which is the liquid injection direction. An operation unit 76 for operating the liquid injection device 11 and a display unit 77 for displaying the operating status of the liquid injection device 11 may be provided on the outer surface of the housing 12.

The liquid injection device 11 includes a drive pulley 18, a driven pulley 19, a timing belt 21, and a carriage motor 20. The drive pulley 18 and the driven pulley 19 are rotatably held in the housing 12 at positions separated from each other in the longitudinal direction. The timing belt 21 is wound around the drive pulley 18 and the driven pulley 19. The carriage 17 is connected to the timing belt 21.

The output shaft of the carriage motor 20 is connected to the drive pulley 18. When the timing belt 21 orbits around the drive pulley 18 and the driven pulley 19 by the drive of the carriage motor 20, the carriage 17 moves along the guide shaft 16. When the circumferential direction of the timing belt 21 is reversed, the moving direction of the carriage 17 is reversed.

The liquid injection device 11 includes a liquid injection head 22 fixed to the lower part of the carriage 17. A plurality of (five in this embodiment) ink cartridges 23 for accommodating liquids are detachably mounted on the upper portion of the carriage 17. The liquid injection head 22 prints on the medium P by injecting liquid while the carriage 17 reciprocates. The ink cartridge 23 may be held in the housing 12 instead of on the carriage 17.

The plurality of (five) ink cartridges 23 contain, for example, inks of different colors. Examples of different color combinations include cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), black (K), and white (W). By using the inks of a plurality of colors in this way, the liquid injection device 11 can perform color printing. The liquid injection device 11 performs base printing on the dark-colored medium P by uniformly spraying white ink so as to fill the print area, and then uses a color other than white on the white region as the base. You can also print.

In addition to the four colors of CMYK and white, the liquid injection device 11 may inject inks of colors such as light magenta, light cyan, light yellow, ash, and orange. The number of colors of the ink ejected by the liquid injection device 11 may be CMYK 4 colors, CMY 3 colors, black 1 color, or the like.

The ink may be a pigment ink in which a large number of pigment particles are dispersed in a liquid used as a dispersion medium. As the cyan, magenta and yellow pigments, organic pigments having an average particle size of about 100 nm can be used. As the black pigment, carbon black (inorganic pigment) having an average particle size of about 120 nm can be used. As the white pigment, titanium oxide (inorganic pigment) having an average particle size of about 320 nm can be used. The pigment ink may be a water-based ink in which a large number of pigment particles are dispersed in water as a dispersion medium.

The liquid injection device 11 includes a maintenance unit 25 for performing maintenance of the liquid injection head 22 at an end in the housing 12 in the X-axis direction. The maintenance unit 25 includes a wiper unit 26 and a capping device 27.

The capping device 27 includes a cap 27a and a suction pump (not shown) capable of sucking the inside of the cap 27a. When the liquid injection head 22 stops at a position facing the cap 27a, the cap 27a moves up and covers the liquid injection head 22 is called capping. When the suction pump is driven in the capped state, the inside of the liquid injection head 22 is sucked through the cap 27a. Such a maintenance operation of discharging foreign substances such as air bubbles mixed in the liquid injection head 22 by suction is called suction cleaning.

As another maintenance operation, there is flushing in which the liquid injection head 22 injects the liquid in order to discharge the liquid in the nozzle 38. The liquid ejected by flushing may be received by the cap 27a.

The wiper unit 26 includes a long wiping member 54 for wiping the liquid injection head. The maintenance operation of wiping the liquid injection head 22 using the wiping member 54 is called wiping. It is preferable that the wiping member 54 has the same length dimension in the X-axis direction as the bottom surface of the liquid injection head 22.

The wiper unit 26 includes a wiper cassette 44 that holds the wiper member 54, a wiper holder 45 to which the wiper cassette 44 can be mounted, a guide rail 46 that extends in the Y-axis direction, and a wiper motor 50. The driving force of the wiper motor 50 is transmitted to the wiper holder 45 via a mechanism (for example, a rack and pinion mechanism or a ball screw mechanism) (not shown). When the wiper motor 50 is driven, the wiper holder 45 to which the wiper cassette 44 is mounted reciprocates along the guide rail 46. In the present embodiment, the position downstream from the liquid injection head 22 in the transport direction is the standby position (position shown in FIG. 1) of the wiper unit 26.

A wiping portion 47, which is a part of the wiper member 54, protrudes from the wiper cassette 44. When the wiper cassette 44 moves from the standby position in the direction opposite to the transport direction (the direction indicated by the white arrow in FIG. 1) with the liquid injection head 22 stopped above the guide rail 46, the wiping portion 47 becomes liquid. Wipe off the injection head 22. The moving direction when the wiping portion 47 wipes the liquid injection head 22 is called the wiping direction. When the wiping is completed, the wiper cassette 44 moves in the direction opposite to the wiping direction (transportation direction) and returns to the standby position. The used wiper member 54 can be replaced with an unused wiper member 54 by attaching / detaching the wiper cassette 44 to / from the wiper holder 45.

The liquid injection device 11 includes a control unit 29 that controls components including a transfer motor 14, a liquid injection head 22, and a maintenance unit 25. The control unit 29 drives and controls the transport motor 14 to transport the medium P. When the control unit 29 determines that the maintenance execution condition is satisfied, the carriage 17 is moved to a certain position of the maintenance unit 25, and necessary maintenance operations such as wiping, flushing, and suction cleaning are performed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the head unit 30 includes a bracket 31 and a liquid injection head 22 protruding downward from the bracket 31. The liquid injection head 22 is attached to the lower part of the carriage 17 (see FIG. 1) via the bracket 31. The liquid injection head 22 includes a flow path forming portion 32 protruding downward from the bracket 31, and a head main body 33 fixed below the flow path forming portion 32.

A large number of nozzles 38 are opened on the nozzle opening surface 35 which is the lower surface of the head body 33. A large number of nozzles 38 arranged in the Y-axis direction form a nozzle row 34. A plurality of rows (10 rows as an example) of nozzle rows 34 are formed on the nozzle opening surface 35.

A plate-shaped cover member 36 having a plurality of (five, for example) through holes 36a is attached to the lower portion of the head main body 33. The cover member 36 is made of, for example, metal (stainless steel or the like). The nozzle rows 34 are exposed through the through holes 36a by a predetermined number of rows (two rows as an example). Of the nozzle opening surface 35, the region exposed by the through hole 36a is referred to as a nozzle peripheral region 37.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cover member 36 covers the periphery of the nozzle peripheral region 37. The lower surface of the cover member 36 is referred to as a protruding surface 40. The protruding surface 40 projects downward from the nozzle peripheral region 37 by the thickness of the cover member 36. Therefore, there is a step 41 between the nozzle peripheral region 37 and the protruding surface 40. The entire bottom of the liquid injection head 22, including the protruding surface 40 and the nozzle peripheral region 37, is referred to as a nozzle surface 39, and the entire nozzle surface 39 is subject to wiping.

It is preferable that the nozzle opening surface 35 is subjected to a liquid repellent treatment that repels the jetted liquid. By the liquid repellent treatment, a liquid repellent film 42 is formed on the surface of the nozzle opening surface 35. The liquid-repellent film 42 may be a liquid-repellent coating film or a liquid-repellent monomolecular film. The film thickness of the liquid repellent film 42 and the liquid repellent treatment method can be arbitrarily selected.

The components and composition of the liquid repellent film 42 may be changed according to the liquid to be jetted. For example, in order to repel water-based ink, a liquid-repellent film comprising a thin film base layer mainly made of polyorganosiloxane containing an alkyl group and a liquid-repellent film layer made of a metal alkoxide having a long-chain polymer group containing fluorine. Membrane 42 is suitable.

The liquid-repellent film 42 is gradually worn by being repeatedly wiped, and the liquid-repellent property deteriorates as it wears. When the liquid-repellent property of the liquid-repellent film 42 decreases, the wetting angle (contact angle) of the liquid with respect to the nozzle peripheral region 37 becomes smaller. As a result, when the mist-like droplets adhere to the nozzle peripheral region 37, the droplets are wet and spread and aggregate, and easily grow into large droplets. The enlarged droplets may block the opening of the nozzle 38 or flow into the nozzle 38.

Further, if a droplet is ejected from the nozzle 38 with a liquid attached near the opening of the nozzle 38, the flight direction of the ejected droplet may change. When the flight direction of the droplet changes, the landing position (print dot formation position) of the droplet shifts, and the print image quality deteriorates. Therefore, it is not preferable that the liquid repellent film 42 is worn by wiping.

The surface of the cover member 36 is not treated with a liquid repellent treatment. Therefore, the protruding surface 40 has a lower liquid repellency than the nozzle peripheral region 37. That is, the wetting angle (contact angle) of the liquid with respect to the protruding surface 40 is smaller than the wetting angle of the liquid with respect to the nozzle peripheral region 37.

As shown in FIG. 4, the liquid injection head 22 has a plurality of (five in this embodiment) recording heads 43 (unit heads) arranged in parallel at regular intervals in the X-axis direction. The peripheral edge of the nozzle opening surface 35, which is the lower surface of the recording head 43, is covered with the cover member 36, and the nozzle peripheral region 37 including the nozzles 38 for two rows is exposed from the through hole 36a.

The plurality of nozzles 38 constituting the nozzle row 34 (see FIG. 3) communicate with the flow path 32a passing through the flow path forming portion 32. The plurality of flow paths 32a provided for each color of the ink communicate with each of the plurality of supply pipe portions 30a protruding upward from the upper surface of the flow path forming portion 32. The supply pipe portion 30a communicates with the ink cartridge 23 (see FIG. 1) mounted on the carriage 17. Liquid is supplied to the nozzle 38 of the recording head 43 from the corresponding ink cartridge 23 through the supply tube portion 30a and the flow path 32a.

Next, the configuration of the wiper cassette 44 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 5, the wiper cassette 44 includes a wiping member 54, a take-up shaft 49 for winding the wiper member 54, a pay-out shaft 48 around which the wiper member 54 is wound from the end in the longitudinal direction, and a take-up shaft 49. And a case 52 for holding the feeding shaft 48 rotatably. The case 52 has an opening 51 that opens upward. The wiping portion 47 projects upward from the case 52 through the opening 51.

The axial direction of the take-up shaft 49 and the feed shaft 48 coincides with the X-axis direction. The feeding shaft 48 and the winding shaft 49 may be arranged at positions apart from each other in the Y-axis direction in the case 52. In the case 52, a transport path of the wiping member 54 extending from the feeding shaft 48 on the upstream side toward the winding shaft 49 on the downstream side is set.

The wiper cassette 44 or the wiper unit 26 includes a drive source 56 and a drive force transmission mechanism 80 that transmits the drive force of the drive source 56 to the take-up shaft 49. The take-up shaft 49 is rotated by the driving force transmitted from the drive source to wind the wiping member 54 from the start end side in the longitudinal direction. The feeding shaft 48 pays out the wiping member 54 by rotating as the wiping member 54 is wound around the winding shaft 49.

The wiper cassette 44 includes a first roller 57, a second roller 58, a third roller 59, a fourth roller 60, and a driven roller 61 rotatably supported by the case 52. The first roller 57, the second roller 58, the third roller 59, and the fourth roller 60 are arranged in order from the feeding shaft 48 side toward the winding shaft 49 along the transport path of the wiping member 54, and are spaced from each other. Placed and placed.

The driven roller 61 is paired with the second roller 58, and the wiping member 54 is sandwiched between the driven roller 61 and the second roller 58. The roller paired with the driven roller 61 does not have to be the second roller 58, but is preferably paired with the roller arranged between the feeding shaft 48 and the third roller 59.

The third roller 59 and the fourth roller 60 are arranged on both sides of the opening 51 in the Y-axis direction, respectively. The second roller 58 is arranged below the third roller 59, and the first roller 57 is arranged below the second roller 58. The feeding shaft 48 is arranged so as to be aligned with the first roller 57 in the Y-axis direction. The take-up shaft 49 is arranged below the fourth roller 60.

The surface of the wiping member 54 in contact with the nozzle surface 39 is the front surface, and the surface opposite to the nozzle surface 39 is the back surface. The rollers 57, 59, 60, 61 come into contact with the back surface of the wiping member 54, and the second roller 58 comes into contact with the front surface of the wiping member 54.

When the take-up shaft 49 is rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. 5 (the take-up direction indicated by the solid arrow in FIG. 5) by the drive of the drive source 56, the wiping member 54 extending on the transport path is taken up by the take-up shaft 49. With the rotation of the take-up shaft 49, the wiping member 54 is unwound from the feeding shaft 48 toward the transport path, and is guided by the rollers 57 to 61 for transport. In this way, the rollers 57 to 61 and the drive source 56 function as a transport mechanism for the wiping member 54.

The rotation direction in which the take-up shaft 49 winds up the wiping member 54 is set as the take-up direction, and the direction opposite to the take-up direction is set as the reverse direction. Further, the rotation direction in which the winding shaft 49 unwinds the wiping member 54 is set as the feeding direction, and the direction opposite to the feeding direction (counterclockwise direction in FIG. 5) is set as the rewinding direction.

The wiper cassette 44 may include a pressing mechanism 69 that pushes a portion of the wiper member 54 extending between the winding shaft 49 and the feeding shaft 48 toward the liquid injection head 22. The pressing mechanism 69 includes, for example, a pressing roller 70, a support shaft 71 that rotatably supports the pressing roller 70, and a spring 72 that pushes the support shaft 71 toward the outside of the opening 51. The pressing roller 70 may be arranged between the third roller 59 and the fourth roller 60. The wiping member 54 is pushed by the roller 70 from the back surface, and the pushed portion protrudes from the opening 51 to the outside of the case 52.

Of the wiping member 54, the portion wound around the pressing roller 70 becomes the wiping portion 47. When the wiping portion 47 comes into contact with the liquid injection head 22, the liquid injection head 22 opposes the urging force of the spring 72 and pushes the pressing roller 70 through the wiping portion 47. As a result, the pressing roller 70 is pushed down, and most of the pressing roller 70 is housed in the case 52 (the state shown in FIG. 5). The pressed down roller 70 receives the urging force of the spring 72 and presses the wiping portion 47 against the nozzle surface 39. When the wiper cassette 44 moves in the wiping direction (direction indicated by the white arrow in FIG. 5) in this state, the wiping portion 47 wipes the nozzle surface 39 while absorbing the liquid adhering to the liquid injection head 22.

The wiper cassette 44 preferably includes a load mechanism 62 that applies a tensile load to the wiper member 54. The load mechanism 62 includes a load roller 64 and a spring 65 that pushes the load roller 64. The load roller 64 comes into contact with the back surface of the wiping member 54 between the first roller 57 and the second roller 58. The axial directions of the rollers 57 to 61, 64, 70 are parallel to each other.

The wiper unit 26 preferably includes a drive detection unit 73 that can detect the drive state of the drive source 56, and a feed detection unit 74 that can detect that the wiper member 54 is fed from the feed shaft 48. The drive detection unit 73 is, for example, an encoder capable of detecting the amount of rotation of the drive source 56, which is a motor, and the load applied to the motor.

The feeding detection unit 74 has, for example, a third roller 59 that rotates with the feeding of the wiping member 54, and a rotary encoder 75 that can detect the amount of rotation of the third roller 59. The roller 59 constituting the feeding detection unit 74 may be arranged so as to come into contact with the wiping member 54 at a position closer to the feeding shaft 48 than the portion where the wiping member 54 is wound around the pressing roller 70 and becomes the wiping portion 47. The roller constituting the feeding detection unit 74 may be changed to any of the other rollers 57 to 61 and 70.

The wiper cassette 44 may include a storage medium 78 that stores the feeding amount of the wiping member 54 as the usage amount of the wiping member 54. The storage medium 78 is, for example, an IC chip. In this case, the wiper holder 45 may include a connector 79 that is connected to the storage medium 78 when the wiper cassette 44 is attached to the wiper holder 45.

The connector 79 is electrically connected to the control unit 29. When the connector 79 is connected to the storage medium 78, the control unit 29 reads out the information stored in the storage medium 78 and writes the information in the storage medium 78. As a result, even when the wiper cassette 44 is removed from the wiper holder 45 during use and attached to another wiper holder 45, the remaining amount of the wiper member 54 can be easily managed. The control unit 29 may wirelessly read and write information to and from the storage medium 78 without bringing the connector 79 into contact with the storage medium 78.

Next, the configuration of the driving force transmission mechanism 80 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 5, the driving force transmission mechanism 80 includes a drive gear 81 that rotates integrally with the drive shaft 56a of the drive source 56 that is a motor, a take-up gear 85 that rotates integrally with the take-up shaft 49, and a drive gear 81. It has a gear train 82 that transmits the rotation of the take-up gear 85 to the take-up gear 85. Although the gear train 82 is represented by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 5 as a representative of one gear, it can be configured by combining a plurality of gears.

The driving force transmission mechanism 80 may include a feeding gear 87 that rotates integrally with the feeding shaft 48, and a switching mechanism 89 that switches the transmission destination of the driving force from the take-up gear 85 to the feeding gear 87. As a planetary gear mechanism, the switching mechanism 89 includes a sun gear 83 that meshes with the gear train 82, a planet gear 84 that revolves around the sun gear 83, and a connecting member 86 that connects the sun gear 83 and the planet gear 84. You may prepare.

The planetary gear 84 is revolved to switch between a state in which it meshes with the take-up gear 85 as shown by a solid line in FIG. 5 and a state in which it meshes with a feed-out gear 87 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. When the drive source 56 is driven with the planetary gear 84 meshed with the take-up gear 85 and the take-up gear 85 rotates in the take-up direction (clockwise in FIG. 5) indicated by the solid arrow in FIG. 5, the wiping member 54 Is wound around the take-up shaft 49. When the drive source 56 is driven with the planetary gear 84 meshed with the feeding gear 87 and the feeding gear 87 rotates in the rewinding direction (counterclockwise in FIG. 5) indicated by the arrow of the two-dot chain line in FIG. 5, the wiping member 54 is rewound on the payout shaft 48.

During wiping, the wiping portion 47 moves while in contact with the liquid injection head 22, so that the wiping member 54 may slacken between the pressing roller 70 and the third roller 59 as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. .. When such slack occurs, when the switching mechanism 89 is operated to rewind the wiping member 54 to the feeding shaft 48, the slack of the wiping member 54 is eliminated.

The driving force transmission mechanism 80 preferably includes a torque limiter 88 that cuts off the transmission of torque when an overload is applied between the feeding shaft 48 and the feeding gear 87. The torque limiter 88 is set so that the driving force is not transmitted to the feeding shaft 48 when the driving force from the driving source 56 is received in a state where the feeding shaft 48 does not rotate. As a result, when the slack of the wiping member 54 is eliminated, the rotational force is not applied to the feeding shaft 48.

The driving force transmission mechanism 80 preferably includes a clutch 92 that prevents the take-up gear 85 from reversing. The clutch 92 may be attached to, for example, a gear 91 that meshes with the take-up gear 85. The clutch 92 allows the rotation of the gear 91 when the take-up gear 85 rotates in the winding direction, and regulates the rotation of the gear 91 when the take-up gear 85 tries to rotate in the reverse direction. .. As a result, the take-up gear 85 does not rotate in the reverse direction. Therefore, when the wiping member 54 is rewound to the feeding shaft 48, the wiping member 54 wound around the winding shaft 49 is not unwound. Further, when the wiping portion 47 moves while in contact with the liquid injection head 22, the wiping member 54 wound around the winding shaft 49 is not unwound.

The driving force transmission mechanism 80 has a torque limiter 90 that cuts off the transmission of torque when an overload is applied during winding of the wiping member 54. The torque limiter 90 is arranged, for example, between the take-up shaft 49 and the take-up gear 85. The torque limiter 90 is set so that the driving force is not transmitted to the take-up shaft 49 when the driving force from the driving source 56 is received in a state where the feeding shaft 48 does not rotate. The torque limiter 90 may be arranged in the train wheel between the drive shaft 56a and the take-up shaft 49.

When the winding shaft 49 repeats a predetermined amount of rotation, the wiping member 54 is in the end state (the remaining amount of the wiping member 54 is exhausted), and the wiping member 54 is not fed from the feeding shaft 48. Then, even if the drive source 56 is driven, the take-up shaft 49 does not rotate. In such a case, the torque limiter 90 operates to cut off the transmission of the driving force from the take-up gear 85 to the take-up shaft 49. The torque limiter 90 is preferably set so as not to operate when the take-up shaft 49 rotates in the reverse direction.

When the wiping member 54 is in the end state, the take-up shaft 49 does not rotate even if the drive source 56 is driven, and the wiping member 54 is not fed out. Therefore, if the wiping member 54 is not extended even when the drive source 56 is driven, it is preferable that the drive source 56 stops driving.

As shown in FIG. 6, the torque limiter 90 includes, for example, an engaging claw 90a extending from the winding gear 85 (driving side) and an engaging groove 90b provided on the winding shaft 49 (driven side). And an inclined surface 90c constituting the inner side wall of the engaging groove 90b. While the torque transmitted from the driven side to the driven side is small, the engaging claw 90a engages with the engaging groove 90b, and the winding shaft 49 rotates with the rotation of the winding gear 85. When the torque becomes large, the engaging claw 90a slides on the inclined surface 90c and disengages from the engaging groove 90b, and the rotation of the take-up gear 85 is not transmitted to the take-up shaft 49.

Next, as an embodiment of the method for determining the end state of the wiping member, the control performed by the control unit 29 after the wiping unit 47 wipes the liquid injection head 22 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 29 drives the drive source 56 for a certain period of time in step S11 to rotate the take-up shaft 49. The amount of rotation at this time is preferably an amount in which the wiping portion 47 that has absorbed the liquid by wiping is replaced with an unused portion of the wiping member 54. By this rotation, the wiping member 54 is fed out from the feeding shaft 48, and the used wiping portion 47 that was in contact with the pressing roller 70 moves toward the winding shaft 49. In step S11, it is preferable that the drive detection unit 73 detects that the drive source 56 is being driven.

Next, in step S12, the control unit 29 determines whether or not the feeding detection unit 74 has detected that the wiping member 54 is being fed from the feeding shaft 48. When the wiping member 54 is fed out from the feeding shaft 48, the control unit 29 ends the process. In this case, the wiping member 54 is not yet in the end state.

If the wiping member 54 is not fed from the feeding shaft 48 in step S12, the control unit 29 proceeds to step S13. In step S13, the control unit 29 determines that the wiping member 54 is in the end state (the remaining amount of the wiping member 54 is exhausted).

In step S14 following step S13, the control unit 29 stops driving the drive source 56 and ends the process. In this way, when the drive source 56 is being driven (when the drive detection unit 73 is detecting that the drive source 56 is being driven), the feeding detection unit 74 rotates the third roller 59. If not detected, the control unit 29 determines that the wiping member 54 is in the end state. Then, when the drive detection unit 73 detects that the drive source 56 is being driven, if the feed detection unit 74 does not detect the rotation of the third roller 59, a certain period of time elapses. The drive source 56 stops driving without waiting for.

When the wiper member 54 is in the end state, the control unit 29 notifies the user by displaying on the display unit 77 that the remaining amount of the wiper member 54 is exhausted or that the wiper cassette 44 should be replaced. It is good to do. When the wiping member 54 is in the end state, the control unit 29 may prohibit subsequent wiping.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When the take-up shaft 49 repeatedly rotates and the wiping member 54 is in the end state, the wiping member 54 is not fed from the feeding shaft 48. Then, even if the drive source 56 is driven, the take-up shaft 49 does not rotate. In such a case, if the driving force for rotation is continuously applied to the winding shaft 49, an unnecessary load is applied to the driving source 56, the winding shaft 49, the feeding shaft 48, and the driving force transmission mechanism 80.

In that respect, in the wiper unit 26 of the present embodiment, when the wiper member 54 is in the end state and the feeding shaft 48 does not rotate, the torque limiter 90 operates and the driving force from the driving source 56 is applied to the winding shaft 49. Will not be transmitted to. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the load generated by transmitting the driving force to the winding shaft 49 that does not rotate.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) When the torque limiter 90 is activated, an unnecessary load is not applied to the drive source 56, the take-up shaft 49, the feeding shaft 48, and the drive force transmission mechanism 80, so that the condition of the components of the wiper unit 26 is kept in good condition. Dripping. Therefore, the liquid injection head 22 can be satisfactorily wiped off.

(2) The drive detection unit 73 can detect that the drive source 56 is being driven, and the feed detection unit 74 can detect that the wiping member 54 is not fed from the feed shaft 48.
(3) The third roller 59 constituting the feeding detection unit 74 contacts the unused portion of the wiping member 54 to detect the feeding amount. Therefore, the detection accuracy can be stabilized as compared with the case where the feeding amount is detected by contacting the wiping member 54 which has been deteriorated by use.

(4) Since the third roller 59 comes into contact with the unused portion of the wiping member 54, it is difficult for the third roller 59 to get dirty.
(5) If the torque limiter 90 is set not to operate when the take-up shaft 49 rotates in the reverse direction, the torque limiter 90 does not operate when the wiping member 54 is rewound toward the feeding shaft 48. Therefore, the slack of the wiping member 54 can be appropriately eliminated.

(6) When the wiping member 54 is in the end state, the feeding shaft 48 does not rotate and the torque limiter 90 operates. In this case, even if the drive source 56 is driven, the wiping member 54 will not be fed out. Therefore, by stopping the drive of the drive source 56, it is not necessary to drive the drive source 56 unnecessarily.

(7) When the wiping member 54 is in the end state and the third roller 59 constituting the feeding detection unit 74 does not rotate, the drive source 56 stops driving. Therefore, it is not necessary to drive the drive source 56 unnecessarily after the wiping member 54 is in the end state.

(8) When the wiping member 54 is in the end state, the feeding shaft 48 does not rotate and the torque limiter 90 operates. In this case, even if the drive source 56 is driven, the wiping member 54 is not fed out, so that it can be appropriately detected that the wiping member 54 is in the end state. As a result, the remaining amount of the wiping member 54 can be appropriately managed, so that the unused wiping member 54 can satisfactorily wipe the liquid injection head 22.

(Change example)
The above embodiment may be modified as in the modification shown below. The configuration included in the above embodiment can be arbitrarily combined with the configuration included in the following modification example. The configurations included in the following modification examples can be arbitrarily combined.

The driving force transmission mechanism 80 may include a regulating mechanism for regulating the rotation of the feeding shaft 48, except when the winding shaft 49 winds the wiping member 54.
The rotary encoder 75 detects the rotation of the feeding shaft 48 or the winding shaft 49 to detect that the wiping member 54 is fed or to detect the feeding amount of the wiping member 54. You may do it.

The feeding detection unit 74 may detect the feeding amount of the wiping member 54, and the control unit 29 may calculate the remaining amount or the usage amount of the wiping member 54 based on the feeding amount. In this case, when the wiping member 54 is in the near-end state (a certain amount of remaining amount that will soon disappear), the control unit 29 may notify the user to that effect. Further, when it is presumed that the wiping member 54 is not in the near-end state or the end state based on the calculation result of the control unit 29, but the wiping member 54 is not extended while the drive source 56 is being driven. The control unit 29 may determine that the driving force transmission mechanism 80 has malfunctioned. Even when such a malfunction occurs, the control unit 29 may notify the user to that effect.

-The torque limiters 88 and 90 may be changed to a mechanism that utilizes the friction generated between the friction plates or the friction generated between the belt and the pulley.
The liquid ejected by the liquid injection head 22 for flushing may be received in the used region of the wiping member 54 (the region where the nozzle surface 39 is wiped off).

The pressing roller 70 of the pressing mechanism 69 may be rotated by a drive source such as a motor.
The wiper unit 26 may wipe the nozzle surface 39 by moving the liquid injection head 22 with the wiper unit 26 stopped. Alternatively, the nozzle surface 39 may be wiped while moving both the liquid injection head 22 and the wiper cassette 44.

The liquid injection device 11 may include a mechanism for fixing the ink adhering to the medium P to the medium P. In this case, the same fixing treatment may be applied to the wiping portion 47 to which the ink has adhered by wiping. The fixing treatment may be, for example, UV irradiation for curing the UV ink, or jetting or coating of a treatment liquid for curing the ink. When the used wiping portion 47 is subjected to such a treatment, the user's hand is less likely to get dirty when the wiper cassette 44 is replaced.

The liquid injection device 11 may be a line head type that does not include a carriage 17 that supports the liquid injection head 22 and includes a line head whose printing range covers the entire width of the medium P. If the line head does not move, the wiper cassette 44 may be moved to wipe the liquid injection head 22.

The liquid ejected by the liquid injection head 22 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, the liquid injection head 22 injects a liquid material containing a material such as an electrode material or a coloring material (pixel material) used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an EL (electroluminescence) display, a surface emitting display, or the like in a dispersed or dissolved form. You may.

-The medium P is not limited to paper, but may be a plastic film, a thin plate, or the like, or may be a cloth used for a printing device or the like. The medium P may be clothing of any shape such as a T-shirt, or may be a three-dimensional object of any shape such as tableware or stationery.

11 ... liquid injection device, 12 ... housing, 13 ... support member, 14 ... transfer motor, 16 ... guide shaft, 17 ... carriage, 18 ... drive pulley, 19 ... driven pulley, 20 ... carriage motor, 21 ... timing belt, 22 ... Liquid injection head, 23 ... Ink cartridge, 25 ... Maintenance unit, 26 ... Wiper unit, 27 ... Capping device, 27a ... Cap, 29 ... Control unit, 30 ... Head unit, 30a ... Supply pipe unit, 31 ... Bracket, 32 ... Flow path forming portion, 32a ... Flow path, 33 ... Head body, 34 ... Nozzle row, 35 ... Nozzle opening surface, 36 ... Cover member, 36a ... Through hole, 37 ... Nozzle peripheral area, 38 ... Nozzle, 39 ... Nozzle surface, 40 ... protruding surface, 41 ... step, 42 ... liquid repellent film, 43 ... recording head, 44 ... wiper cassette, 45 ... wiper holder, 46 ... guide rail, 47 ... wiping part, 48 ... feeding shaft, 49 ... Winding shaft, 50 ... Wiping motor, 51 ... Opening, 52 ... Case, 54 ... Wiping member, 56 ... Drive source, 56a ... Drive shaft, 57 ... First roller, 58 ... Second roller, 59 ... Third roller , 60 ... 4th roller, 61 ... driven roller, 62 ... load mechanism, 64 ... load roller, 65 ... spring, 69 ... pressing mechanism, 70 ... pressing roller, 71 ... support shaft, 72 ... spring, 73 ... drive detector , 74 ... Feed detection unit, 75 ... Rotary encoder, 76 ... Operation unit, 77 ... Display unit, 78 ... Storage medium, 79 ... Connector, 80 ... Driving force transmission mechanism, 81 ... Drive gear, 82 ... Gear train, 83 ... Sun gear, 84 ... planetary gear, 85 ... take-up gear, 86 ... connecting member, 87 ... feeding gear, 88 ... torque limiter, 89 ... switching mechanism, 90 ... torque limiter, 90a ... engaging claw, 90b ... engaging groove , 90c ... Inclined surface, 91 ... Gear, 92 ... Clutch, P ... Medium.

Claims (6)

A long wiping member for wiping the liquid injection head that injects liquid, and
A winding shaft that rotates in the winding direction by the driving force transmitted from the driving source and winds the wiping member from the starting end side in the longitudinal direction,
A feeding shaft that unwinds the wiping member by being wound from the end in the longitudinal direction and rotating as the wiping member is wound around the winding shaft.
A driving force transmission mechanism that transmits the driving force of the driving source to the winding shaft,
Equipped with
The driving force transmission mechanism, when the feeding shaft receives a driving force from said driving source in a state of not rotating, have a set torque limiter so as not to transmit the driving force to the winding shaft,
A wiper unit characterized in that the torque limiter is set so as not to operate when the take-up shaft rotates in a reverse direction which is the opposite direction of the take-up direction. A drive detection unit that can detect the drive state of the drive source,
A feeding detection unit capable of detecting that the wiping member is fed from the feeding shaft, and a feeding detection unit.
The wiper unit according to claim 1, wherein the wiper unit is provided with. A pressing mechanism for pushing a portion of the wiping member extending between the winding shaft and the feeding shaft toward the liquid injection head is provided.
The payout detection unit has a roller that is arranged so as to come into contact with the wiper member at a position closer to the payout shaft side than the position where the wiper member is pushed by the pressing mechanism, and rotates with the payout of the wiper member. The wiper unit according to claim 2. With a liquid injection head that can inject liquid,
A long wiping member for wiping the liquid injection head and
A winding shaft that rotates in the winding direction by the driving force transmitted from the driving source and winds the wiping member from the starting end side in the longitudinal direction,
A feeding shaft that unwinds the wiping member by being wound from the end in the longitudinal direction and rotating as the wiping member is wound around the winding shaft.
A driving force transmission mechanism that transmits the driving force of the driving source to the winding shaft,
Equipped with
The driving force transmission mechanism has a torque limiter set so as not to transmit the driving force to the take-up shaft when the driving force from the driving source is received in a state where the feeding shaft does not rotate.
When the wiping member is not extended even when the drive source is driven, the drive source stops driving and the drive is stopped .
A liquid injection device, characterized in that the torque limiter is set so as not to operate when the take-up shaft rotates in a reverse direction which is the opposite direction of the take-up direction. A pressing mechanism that pushes a portion of the wiping member extending between the winding shaft and the feeding shaft toward the liquid injection head.
A drive detection unit that can detect the drive state of the drive source,
The wiping member is arranged so as to come into contact with the wiping member at a position closer to the feeding shaft side than the position where the wiping member is pushed by the pressing mechanism, and has a roller that rotates with the feeding of the wiping member. With a feeding detection unit that can detect that is being fed from the feeding shaft,
Equipped with
When the drive detection unit detects that the drive source is being driven, the drive source stops driving when the extension detection unit does not detect the rotation of the roller. The liquid injection device according to claim 4. A long wiping member for wiping the liquid injection head that injects liquid, and
A winding shaft that rotates in the winding direction by the driving force transmitted from the driving source and winds the wiping member from the starting end side in the longitudinal direction,
A feeding shaft that unwinds the wiping member by being wound from the end in the longitudinal direction and rotating as the wiping member is wound around the winding shaft.
When the driving force from the driving source is received while the feeding shaft does not rotate, the driving force is not transmitted to the winding shaft, and the winding shaft is in the reverse direction opposite to the winding direction. With a torque limiter set to not operate when the
It is a method of determining the end state of the wiping member of the liquid injection device provided with the above method.
A method for determining an end state of a wiping member, which determines that the wiping member is in an end state when the wiping member is not extended even when the drive source is driven.

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