JPH0234348A - Ink-jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent intrusion into ink discharge openings of paper powder, dust, fouled ink drops, etc., by providing a sweeping means sweeping a section, to which the discharge openings are not arrayed, in the direction of movement of a carriage. CONSTITUTION:When a recording head and a carriage are moved to the left along a guide shaft and introduced to the opposed position of a wiper blade 101, the blade 101 crosses above the row of the ink discharge openings 1B of a head discharge surface 1A and the ink discharge openings 1B are swept, and dust 16 and ink drops adhering on the ink discharge opening sections are removed. The recording head 1 is stopped at the opposed position of a belt 102, the belt 102 is driven, the blade 102A is shifted from an upper section to a lower section, and dust 16 and ink drops adhering on both sides of the row of the discharge openings 1B are gotten rid of without being guided to the discharge openings 1B.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device, and in detail,
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus including a means for wiping the ink ejection surface of a recording head in a recovery system.

[Conventional technology]

In an inkjet recording device, ink droplets are ejected from the ink ejection ports of the recording head in synchronization with the relative movement of the recording head and the recording material, and recording is performed by making the ink droplets land on the recording material. However, if ink droplets accumulate around the ejection port, or if dirt or paper dust adheres,
Ink may not be ejected correctly and the ink landing point may be shifted,
In severe cases, the recording may not be ejected and the record may be missing. For this reason, the ejection surface of the head is wiped horizontally or vertically with a wiper blade made of rubber or the like, periodically or whenever a recording failure occurs, to remove ink droplets, dust, etc. attached to the ejection surface.

FIG. 5 shows an example having a horizontal wiping type recovery device. In the figure, 1 is a print head that discharges ink according to a print signal, 2 is an ink tank that supplies ink to the print head 1,
3 is a guide shaft, 4 is an ink tank 2 together with the recording head 1
The carriage is mounted with a carriage and is driven reciprocally along the guide shaft 3 by a belt transmission mechanism and a drive motor (not shown). 5 is a recording paper which is a recording material; 6 is a platen that holds the recording paper 5 from the back side of the recording surface at a position facing the recording head 1; 7 is a paper press plate that brings the recording paper 5 into close contact with the platen 6; 8 is a paper holding plate; A feeding roller 9 feeds the recording paper 5 to the platen 6, a paper feeding motor 9 drives the feeding roller, and a paper pan 10 guides the recording paper 5 toward the paper press plate 7.

Further, 11 is a recovery system that performs a recovery operation to prevent clogging of the ejection ports of the recording head 1, and also performs a spatula cap to prevent the ejection ports from drying when recording is not performed, and 12 is a recovery system. A recovery system drive motor 11 is used to drive the recovery system, and 13 is a wiper blade made of rubber or the like that belongs to the recovery system and wipes the ejection surface of the recording head 1 in the horizontal direction. Note that the wiper blade 13 is connected to the recording head 1.
The ink discharge surface of the head 1 is properly wiped when the wiper blade 13 is moved along the wiper blade 13.

Therefore, the recording head 1 is guided to the position of the wiper blade 13 periodically during the recording operation, or according to instructions from a user who has discovered a recording defect, and the head ejection surface is moved to the position of the wiper blade 13.
By wiping with step 3, ink droplets, dust, etc. attached to the ejection surface are removed.

FIG. 6 shows an example equipped with a vertical wiping type recovery system.

In the figure, 14 is a belt having a wiper blade 14A made of rubber or the like for longitudinally wiping the ejection surface of the recording head 1, and 15 is a motor for driving the belt 14 with the wiper blade. In this example, during wiping, the recording head 1 is temporarily stopped in front of the wiper blade 14, and the belt 14 is rotated by the motor 15, thereby erasing ink droplets, dust, etc. attached to the head ejection surface. be done.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the case of horizontal wiping as shown in FIG. 4, when wiping the head ejection surface LA with the blade 13 as shown in FIG. Garbage attached to 1
There is a risk that 6 may be carried into the discharge port IB. Furthermore, when wiping in the vertical direction with the blade 14A as shown in FIG. 7B, the discharge ports IB are arranged vertically, so the probability that the dust 16 is attached above the discharge ports IB is relatively low. However, there is dust 16 above the discharge port IB as shown in the figure.
If it is attached, there is a high risk that it will enter the discharge port. In this way, when wiping is performed in one direction, whether horizontally or vertically, there is a drawback that the wiping may actually cause non-discharge.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and to provide an inkjet recording device equipped with a recovery system that can rationally clean the ejection surface so as not to carry dirt to the ejection port. be.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides an ink jet from a plurality of ejection ports arranged substantially vertically on the ink ejection surface of the print head while moving the print head mounted on a carriage along a recording material. In an inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by selectively ejecting ink and also has a wiper device that wipes the ink ejection surface after empty ejection as a recovery system to prevent ejection failure, the ejection ports on the ink ejection surface are arranged. a first wiping means for wiping the unused upper part in the direction of movement of the carriage; and a second wiping means for wiping the ink ejection surface from above to below in the direction in which the ejection ports are arranged; The cleaning device is characterized in that the cleaning by the second cleaning device is carried out prior to the cleaning by the second cleaning device.

(Function) According to the present invention, when the recovery system wipes the ink ejection surface, the first wiping means first wipes the upper part of the ink ejection surface where the ejection ports are not arranged, thereby cleaning this area. Ink droplets, paper dust, and other debris adhering to the paper can be removed, and then the second wiping means wipes the ink ejection surface in the direction along the ejection port, thereby cleaning both sides of the ejection port. Ink droplets and dust adhering to the area can be removed, and in this case, since the area above the ejection port is wiped by the first wiping means, the dust in this area is not brought into the ejection port. , so that ideal mopping can be carried out.

(Example) Examples of the present invention will be described below in detail and specifically based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the invention. Here, 1o1 is a wiper blade that wipes the ejection surface of the recording head 1 in the horizontal direction, and as shown in FIG. It is installed so that it can be wiped clean. 102^ is the discharge surface IA
The wiper blade 102 is a belt provided with a plurality of wiper blades 102A, which is driven by a motor 103, and the wiper blades 101 and 102A are both ink-absorbing It is made of a certain rubber-based elastic material.

Therefore, in the recovery type wiper device configured as described above, wiping, that is, wiping by the wiper, is performed periodically or according to the user's instructions or the program of the recording device.In this case, first, the recording head 1
By moving the carriage 4 from the right side in FIG. 1 to the left side along the guide shaft 3, the wiper blade 10
When the wiper blade 101 is guided to the opposing position of
As shown in FIG. 2A, the head ejection surface IA is swept across above the row of ink ejection ports IB to remove dust 16 and ink droplets adhering to this area.

The recording head 1 is thus stopped at a position facing the belt 102, and the belt 102 is driven by the motor 12 to move the wiper blade 102A from above to below as shown in FIG. The dust 16 and ink droplets adhering to the can be removed without guiding them to the ejection port IB.

3A and 3B show a recovery wiper device according to another embodiment of the present invention. In these figures, 2
00 is a wiper holding member, 201 is a wiper blade for horizontal wiping, and 202 is a wiper blade for vertical wiping.The horizontal wiping wiper 201 is fixed to the end of the holding member 200, while the vertical wiping wiper 202 is fixed to the top and bottom. It is attached to a movable plate 203 that is slidable in the direction. 204 is a tapered cam portion formed on the lower surface of the moving plate 203;
5 is a pin protruding from the carriage 4, and when the carriage 4 is moved to the right from the position shown in FIG.
05 comes into contact with the cam portion 204 and can push up the movable plate 203.

Furthermore, in FIG. 3A, 2o6 is a torsion spring, and this torsion spring 206 biases the movable plate 203 downward, causing the locking part 203A of the movable plate 203 to come into contact with the engaging part 20OA of the holding member 200. ing. Also, 20
7 is an elastic piece configured integrally with the holding member 200;
A holding claw 20 that can be engaged with the lower surface of the moving plate 203 is provided on the top thereof.
7A, and a convex portion 207B below it as shown in FIG. 3B.

Therefore, in the recovery wiper device configured as described above, when the carriage 4 crosses the front of the wiper holding member 200 from right to left with the movable plate 203 at the lowest position as shown in FIG. 3A, The pin 205 of the carriage 4 engages with the cam portion 204 of the movable plate 203, and pushes the movable plate 203 upward against the spring force of the spring 206. When the movable plate 203 is pushed up to the position shown in FIG. 3B, the retaining claw 207A engages with the cam portion 204, whereby the movable plate 203 is locked while maintaining the biasing force of the spring 206.

Next, when the carriage 4 moves to the left from the position shown in 3B, the upper part of the ejection port array on the print head ejection surface IA is first wiped in the horizontal direction by the wiper member 201, and then the wiper device 202. At this point, the pin 205 makes sliding contact with the convex portion 207B of the elastic piece 207, thereby pushing the elastic piece 207 deep through the convex portion 207B.
The cam portion 204 is an exception. Therefore, the moving plate 203
is biased downward by a spring 206, and its vertical wiper member 202 sweeps the discharge surface IA from above to below, and these wiping operations cause a process similar to the example shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B to be performed. The dust 16 including paper dust and ink droplets can be wiped off without being guided to the ejection port IB.

FIGS. 48 and 4B show an example of application in which rows of ejection ports IB are arranged obliquely on the ejection surface l8 of the recording head l, and here, although the recovery wiper device itself is not shown, The vertical wiping wiper may be wiped along the row of discharge ports IB while maintaining the direction perpendicular to the row. Therefore, for example, in the wiper device shown in FIGS. 3 and 3B, the wiper member 202 is tilted in the direction shown in FIG. 4B, and the moving direction of the movable plate 203 is not in the vertical direction but in the direction shown in FIG. 4B. 4A and 4B, just by configuring the ejection openings IB to move in the direction along the row of ejection ports IB as shown by the arrow S, the wiping can be similarly effective. can be carried out.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the first wiping means for wiping the upper part of the ink ejection surface of the recording head where the ejection ports are not arranged in the direction of movement of the carriage; The wiper device includes a second wiping means for wiping the ejection surface from above to below along the arrangement direction of the ejection ports, and after the upper part of the ink ejection surface is wiped by the first wiping means, the second Since the ink ejection surface is wiped by the wiping means along the direction in which the ejection ports are arranged, there is no risk of paper dust, dirt, dirty ink droplets, etc. adhering to the ink ejection surface getting into the ejection ports. , the discharge surface can be wiped.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention, FIGS. 2A and 2B are illustrations of the head ejection surface wiping operation according to the present invention, and FIG. 3A is another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3B is a perspective view showing the recovery wiper device shown in Figure 3A in a state immediately before wiping; Figures 4A and 4B are FIGS. 5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams of the cleaning operation of the head ejection surface according to still another embodiment of the present invention.
The figures are perspective views of an inkjet recording apparatus having conventional horizontal wiping type wiper devices and vertical wiping type wiper devices, respectively. Figures 7A and 7B are explanatory diagrams of the wiping operation by the wiper devices shown in Figures 5 and 6. It is. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Recording head, IA... Ejection surface, 1B... Ejection port, 4... Carriage, 11... Recovery system, 12... Recovery system drive motor, 16... Dust, 101 , 1028... wiper blade, 102.
...belt, 103...motor, 200...wiper holding member, 201, 202...wiper blade, 203...
- Moving plate, 204...Cam portion, 205...Pin, 206...Torsion spring, 207...Elastic plate, 2078...Holding claw, 207B...Convex portion. 2A +024 2B Every 16 Figure 4A Figure 4B Figure 7A Figure 7B

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] While moving a recording head mounted on a carriage along a recording material, ink is selectively ejected from a plurality of ejection ports arranged substantially vertically on an ink ejection surface of the recording head. In the inkjet recording apparatus, the inkjet recording apparatus includes a wiper device that performs recording and wipes the ink ejection surface after dry ejection as a recovery system for preventing ejection failure, wherein the upper part of the ink ejection surface where the ejection ports are not arranged. a first wiping means for wiping the area in the moving direction of the carriage; and a second wiping means for wiping the ink ejection surface from above to below in the direction in which the ejection ports are arranged; An inkjet recording apparatus characterized in that wiping by a wiping device is performed prior to wiping by the second wiping device.