JPH0295861A - Blade mechanism of ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stabilize ink discharge after cleaning by providing a pair of blades for cleaning the discharge surface of an ink jet head and a drive device for sliding the blades from the center of a head discharge surface to the end part simultaneously. CONSTITUTION:A blade mechanism 20 consists of a right 21 and a left blade 22, a right 24 and a left arm 23, a coil spring 25 for energizing these paired arms in an attracted direction, an angle 26 for supporting the arms in a freely rotating manner and a pin 27 for supporting the arms axially. During head cleaning, the angle 26 moves in a head 1 direction and the tips of the blades 21, 22 come in contact with a nozzle 1a under pressure. Next, the right blade 23 and the left blade 22 are forcibly opened against the coil spring 25 by the pressing of the inner part from the axially supported position behind the left arm 23 and the right arm 24 by a drive mechanism. In this process, the discharge surface is wiped from the center to both ends. Consequently, impurities are not pressed in and thereby stable ink discharge is ensured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a blade mechanism of an inkjet recording device, and more specifically to a blade mechanism of an inkjet recording device, and more particularly to a blade mechanism of a head that shoots ink droplets toward a recording medium to record an image by collecting dots. The present invention relates to a blade mechanism of an inkjet recording device for cleaning surfaces.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the face of the print head of an inkjet recording device is prone to paper dust from recording paper, dust floating in the air, and droplets caused by the rebound of ink droplets ejected from the nozzles of the head. , this tends to impede stable ink ejection. Therefore, in order to prevent this, conventional methods have been taken to clean the head face surface. For example, a blade made of an elastic material such as rubber is used to wipe the face of the head to remove dust and recording droplets adhering to the face.

Wiping is performed by scanning the face of the head in one direction with a blade.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic perspective view of a conventional blade mechanism, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of an ink jet recording apparatus using the blade mechanism of FIG.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 1 denotes a head equipped with a nozzle 1a, and a blade 70 is disposed in pressure contact with the discharge surface 1b of the head. During cleaning, the blade 1 is moved to the home position and then stopped, and the blade 70 is moved in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, so that the nozzle surface 1b is wiped off by the tip of the blade 70, and nozzle particles adhere to the nozzle surface 1b. Dust and ink droplets are removed. Blade 70 is disposed next to the recovery device, as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 8, 1 is a head equipped with a plurality of nozzles, 2
3 is an ink storage body that supplies ink to the head 1; 3 is a carriage on which the head 1 and the ink storage body 2 are mounted; 4 is a guide shaft that allows the carriage 3 to move in a sliding state; and 5 is a support for the guide shaft 3. A casing 6 is arranged parallel to the guide shaft 4, and a feed roller 7 is arranged above the feed roller 6 and facing the head l, which transports the recording material 10t while winding it according to the recording state. A platen is provided; 8 is a motor that rotationally drives the feed roller 6; 9 is a recovery device for reversing clogging of the nozzles of the head 1;
It is equipped with a driving motor 9a and a rubber camp 9b that covers the ejection surface lb of the head 1 during recovery.

In FIG. 8, when recording, the recording medium 10 is inserted through the paper pan 11 on the back of the device, and the feed roller 6
is rotated and conveyed, and its tip is positioned on the platen 7. Then, by issuing a recording command, an energy generator provided for each nozzle in the head 1 is driven in accordance with the recording information, and ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles.

The ejected ink droplets fly, adhere to the surface of the recording medium 10, are absorbed, and are fixed after a predetermined time. On the other hand, as the recording operation progresses, the carriage 3 is sequentially moved in the main scanning direction by a driving means (not shown).

- When printing for a line is completed or a carriage return signal is issued, the carriage 3 is returned to the printing start position. At the same time, the rotation of the motor 8 causes the feed roller 6 to rotate by one line, and printing of the next line is started. Thereafter, printing is similarly performed sequentially according to the recorded information.

In addition, in order to prevent ink from sticking to the nozzles of the head 1 and causing ejection failure at regular intervals or periodically, the carriage 3 is moved to the home position, the rotation fl device 9 is activated, and the suction operation is performed. Ink is sucked from inside the nozzle to eliminate clogging.

Further, the blade 7o is moved as shown in FIG. 7 in order to wipe off ink and impurities that have adhered to the face surface due to the recording operation and the ejection recovery operation, and to perform stable ejection.

In addition to the blade structure shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, as shown in FIG.
There is also a configuration in which a plurality of blades 94 are attached to the blade 3 at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction. In this configuration, by rotating the endless belt 93, the plurality of blades 94 sequentially clean the face surface.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in such conventional inkjet recording devices, cleaning is performed by moving the blade only in one direction, either horizontally or vertically, so impurities adhering to the face are removed from the nozzle through the ejection port. There were cases where it was pushed inside, making it difficult to completely clean the face surface.

An object of the present invention is to provide a blade mechanism for an inkjet recording device that prevents impurities from entering the inside of a nozzle even when the face surface of a head is cleaned, and can stabilize ink ejection after cleaning.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention provides an inkjet recording apparatus including: a pair of blades for cleaning the ejection surface of the head; and a drive means for simultaneously sliding the pair of blades from the center to the end of the ejection surface of the head; This is to achieve the above purpose.

[Effect]

With the above configuration, during cleaning, the discharge surface is wiped in both left and right directions centering on the nozzles arranged in a vertical line, and the nozzles are not rubbed.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of the blade mechanism according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an inkjet recording apparatus using the blade mechanism according to the present invention.

In addition, in FIG. 2, the same reference numerals are used for the same parts as in FIG. 8, so a duplicate explanation will be omitted below.

In FIG. 1, the blade mechanism 20 includes a right blade 21
, a left blade 22 whose tip abuts the tip of the right blade 21, a left arm 23 and a right arm 24 that hold the left and right blades 21 and 22, and a left arm 23 and a right arm 24 that are inserted between the pair of arms and attached in a direction to draw them together. It is composed of a coil spring 25 that biases the arm, an angle 26 that rotatably supports a pair of arms, and a pin 27 that pivotally supports each arm on the angle 26.

The blade mechanism 20 having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is provided between the recovery device 9 and the platen 7, as shown in FIG. Ru.

In FIG. 1, during head cleaning, the angle 26 moves toward the head 1, and the tips of the blades 21 and 22 come into pressure contact with the nozzle la. Next, a drive mechanism (not shown) presses the left arm 23 and the right arm 24 inward from their pivot positions on the back, and the right blade 21 and the left blade 22 are pushed open against the coil spring 25, and the blades 21 and 22 are pushed open against the coil spring 25. In the process, the discharge surface is wiped from the center to both sides.

At this time, since the pair of blades 21 and 22 starts cleaning the nozzle 1a, the wiped impurities do not enter the nozzle 1a unlike in the conventional case.

3, 4, and 5 are plan views showing details of the blade mechanism and various states during cleaning. In each figure, redundant explanation of the same parts as in FIG. 1 will be omitted.

28 is a base that guides the angle 26 and holds one of the coil springs 29; 29 is a coil spring that biases the angle 26 in the direction away from the head l; 30 is the left arm 23;
and the pair of blades are brought into contact with the back of the right arm 24,
31 is a pair of guide pins that guide the drive lever 30; 32 is a disc rotatably driven by a motor; 33 is a pin eccentrically attached to the disc 32; 34 is a This is a guide pin that guides the angle 26.

Further, the drive lever 30 has an elongated hole 30a for moving the drive lever 30 back and forth in accordance with the rotation of the pin 32, and a protrusion 30b for pressing the back surfaces of the left arm 23 and the right arm 24.

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 to 5 and 6.

First, when print data is received from a host computer or the like, a control circuit (not shown) starts operating. In a standby state before printing, the carriage 3 is positioned such that the head 1 is sealed with the rubber cap 9b of the recovery device 9. Upon receiving the print data (S'61), the rubber cap 9b and the motor 9a start moving backward (S62), and the rubber cap 9b leaves the face of the head 1. When the rubber cap 9b stops retreating, the carriage 3 moves to the printing area along the guide shaft 4 by a drive source (not shown) (S63) and starts printing.

A recording medium 10, which has been conveyed by a feed roller 6, is set in the printing area in advance. The head 1 ejects ink droplets according to the recording information, and sequentially performs recording by adhering to and absorbing the ink droplets on the surface of the recording medium 10 (S64). As this recording operation progresses, paper dust from the recording medium 10, dust floating around, mist-like ink particles generated during ejection, etc. adhere to the ejection surface of the head 1.

When the recording operation is completed (365), the carriage moves out of the printing area (S66), and the blade mechanism 20 moves the head l.
The two stop at the opposite position (S67), resulting in the state shown in FIG. Here, the motor 9a is used to move the comb cap 9b and the blades 21 and 22 by switching its power.

Next, when the circle i33 in FIG. 3 is rotated by the motor 9a in the six directions of arrows, the bottle 32 moves along an arc together with the disk 33. Since the pin 32 is engaged with the elongated hole 30a so as to be able to move inward, the drive lever 30 is pulled by the pin 32 and moves forward in the head direction. The drive lever 30 has a tip 30b in contact with the right arm 24 and the left arm 23. Further, the angle 26 is connected to the arm 23 via a pin 27.
．． 24, the forward force of the drive lever 30 becomes the forward force of the angle 26. Here, the force relationship between the coil spring 25 and the coil spring 29 is set such that the coil spring 25 does not begin to expand until the tip 26a of the pallet pallet 26 comes into contact with the stopper portion 28a of the base 28. There is.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the name of the intermediate state where the tips of the blades 21 and 22 are in contact with the nozzle 1a is:
Arm 23, 24 and angle 2 together with drive lever 30
6 is forward movement (36B) L, tip part 26a and stopper part 2
It stops when 8a comes into contact with it (S69). In this state, the tips 21a, 22a of the blades 21, 22 are in light contact with the discharge surface. Furthermore, the pin 32 moves as the disc 33 rotates, and the drive lever 30 moves forward, so that the arm 23.24 moves against the biasing force of the coil spring 25.
is the tip 2 of the blades 21 and 22 with the pin 27 as the fulcrum.
1a and 22a begin to open left and right as if they are moving apart (Sh
o).

In the process of moving the blades 21, 22 from side to side, the ejection surface of the head l is cleaned. Circle Fi33 changes from the state shown in Figure 3 to 1
When rotated through 80 degrees, the blades 21,22 are fully opened and are in the position shown in FIG.

Next, the carriage 3 moves to a position where the head 1 faces the rubber camp 9b and stops (S72). Then, the rubber cap 9b is moved toward the head 1 by the motor 9a! IJ (373)L, closely contacts the ejection surface of the head 1. Further, the right blade 21 and the left blade 22 are closed (S74) by an operation in the reverse order of the operation described above, and the state shown in FIG. 4 is obtained.

Next, the left arm 23 and the right arm 24 move backward by rotating the disk 33 in the direction of the arrow 575), and when the state shown in FIG. The operation ends.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above, the present invention includes a pair of blades that clean the ejection surface of the head, and a drive means that simultaneously slides the pair of blades from the center to the end of the ejection surface of the head. Since the nozzle is configured so as to be provided, cleaning can be performed without pushing impurities such as paper powder and dust adhering to the ejection surface into the inside of the nozzle, thereby making it possible to stabilize ink ejection.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of the blade mechanism according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an inkjet recording apparatus using the blade mechanism according to the present invention, FIGS. Fig. 5 is a plan view showing details of the blade mechanism and various states during cleaning, Fig. 6 is a flowchart explaining the present invention in detail, Fig. 7 is a schematic perspective view of the conventional blade mechanism, and Fig. 8 is a plan view showing details of the blade mechanism and various states during cleaning. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus using a blade mechanism, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another example of an inkjet recording apparatus using a conventional blade mechanism. ■--Head, la, -11--Nozzle, 3--Carriage, 9 a--Motor, 20--... Flede mechanism, 21-・
--1--・Right blade, 22 Left blade, 23-・
---Left arm, 24---Middle right arm, 25--,
-------Coil spring, 28-1--Base, 3
0--...-11--Drive lever, 33--------
- Disk.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an inkjet recording apparatus, in which a recording liquid droplet is ejected from a nozzle of a head toward a recording medium according to recording information, and a recorded image, etc. consisting of a set of dots is formed on the surface of the recording medium, the ejection surface of the head is A blade mechanism for an inkjet recording apparatus, comprising a pair of blades for cleaning, and a drive means for simultaneously slidingly moving the pair of blades from the center to the end of the ejection surface of the head.