JPH05124212A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the sticking of a cap causing the consumption of excess ink by a simple mechanism by a method wherein a cap cleaning means for removing a contaminant adhering on the contact cap surface with a delivery part of a recording head is actuated upon completion of a recording action. CONSTITUTION:With the elapse of time, a solvent component in ink transferred to a rib 5026 evaporates, and a solute content separates out and results in a contaminant 5027 remaining on the rib 5026 as a solid material. If a delivery surface of a recording head is covered with a cap with the contaminant 5027 remaining, the sealing properties of the cap is deteriorated, and a resultant gap between the rib 5026 and the delivery surface of the recording head induces the evaporation of ink from delivery ports. For preventing the contaminant 5027 from remaining, water is jetted out of a nozzle 5031 provided on the upper surface of a capping member 5022. If a slight amount of ink adheres on the rib 5026, the ink can be simply washed out by water and directly removed by jetting water at every recording action completion.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus, and more particularly to a cleaning means for cap means for covering an ejection portion of the ink jet recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an ink jet recording apparatus has a surface having an ejection port (hereinafter referred to as "ejection surface") in order to evaporate or flow out ink from the ejection port or protect the ejection port when not in use. ), Has a capping mechanism for the purpose of sealing. This capping mechanism is composed of a cap which is usually made of a material having elasticity (for example, rubber) and a support member which supports the cap.

However, in such a structure, when the recording apparatus is used for a long period of time, the cap comes into contact with the ejection surface of the recording head a number of times, and during that time, the cap of the recording head moves. In some cases, the ejection surface remains wet with ink and the cap contacts.
If the ejection surface is capped while it is wet, ink will also adhere to the portion of the cap member that contacts the ejection surface (hereinafter referred to as the "contact surface of the cap"). When the recording operation continues, the contact surface of the cap to which the ink adheres comes into contact with the outside air, and thus the adhered ink gradually evaporates, and the solute component solidifies and remains adhered (so-called). (Sticking phenomenon) occurs. As the fixation on the cap side progresses gradually, the smoothness of the contact surface of the cap with the recording head deteriorates, and as a result, the hermeticity when covering the ejection surface of the recording head deteriorates. The deterioration of the airtightness of the cap makes it easier for the ejection port of the recording head to be exposed to the outside air. In addition, ejection failure due to a decrease in water content may occur, or bubbles may accumulate in the middle of the ink supply path, resulting in ejection failure. Further, the deterioration of the smoothness of the contact surface of the cap is also caused by adhesion of dust or the like floating in the air. Conventionally, when such a problem occurs, ejection failure is dealt with by an operation called recovery operation.

The following devices are generally used for this recovery operation. That is, the ejection surface of the recording head is covered with a cap member, and the negative pressure generated by suctioning with a vacuum pump or the like through the internal space causes the ink to be sucked out from the ejection port, and at the same time, it is dusted with the ink. And those that remove air bubbles (hereinafter referred to as suction recovery), or those that are equipped with a pump in the ink supply system of the recording head and force the ink to be pushed out together with dust and air ( Hereinafter, referred to as pressure recovery).

[0005]

However, the use of such a method is not without problems.
That is, in both suction recovery and pressure recovery, in order to completely replace the ink in the nozzles of the print head with fresh ink, it is necessary to flow more ink than the internal volume of the ink passage of the print head. However, extra ink consumption other than recording is generated, which is not preferable. In particular, if the recording device is not used for a long period of time, the cap may become firmly stuck, and it may be necessary to repeat the above operation several times without recovering sufficiently with only one recovery operation. If the airtightness of the cap is impaired, the more ink is wasted. Further, a cartridge-type recording head in which the recording head portion and the ink storage portion are integrated has a great influence on the running cost, which is not preferable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of preventing the sticking of a cap portion which leads to excessive ink consumption with a simple mechanism in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems. To do.

[0007]

The present invention has been made as a result of intensive studies on the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to always ensure the sealing property of the cap and suppress the excessive consumption of ink. Is.

That is, the present invention provides a capping mechanism of an ink jet recording apparatus having a cap means for covering an ejection portion of an ink jet recording head having an ejection port for ejecting ink, in which the ejection means ejects the ink jet recording head. The ink jet recording apparatus is characterized in that it has a cap cleaning means for removing contaminants adhering to a contact surface in contact with the portion from the cap means, and the cap cleaning means is activated at least at the end of the recording operation. The cap cleaning means ejects a liquid capable of dissolving the contaminants onto the contaminants adhering to the contact surface of the cap means in contact with the ejection portion of the inkjet recording head, or the inkjet recording head of the cap means. A means for scraping off contaminants adhering to the contact surface in contact with the ejection portion of the ink jet printer, and an absorbing means for absorbing contaminants adhering to the contact surface in contact with the ejection portion of the ink jet recording head of the cap means. It is a feature.

The liquid that dissolves the contaminants adhering to the cap may be any liquid that can dissolve the solute components of the ink, such as water or alcohol, which is a common ink solvent for ink jet recording. preferable.

The means for scraping off the contaminants adhering to the cap means can be achieved by bringing the ridge portion of the plate member made of plastic or metal into contact with the contaminant portion. In general, the contaminants formed by fixing the ink are softer than these members, and thus it is sufficient to scrape off with such a configuration. However, at this time, it is necessary to consider hardness and shape so that the contact surface of the cap is not damaged by bringing the members into contact with each other.

Further, the means for absorbing the contaminants adhering to the cap means can be achieved by pressing a highly water-absorbing member against the surface on which the contaminants adhere. As the material of the member having high water absorption, for example, a porous material such as polyurethane, polyvinyl formal, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, ethylene vinyl acetate can be used.

When the above-mentioned means is realized on the recording apparatus, since it is necessary to operate at least before the ejection surface is capped for a long time, the above method works at least when the recording operation is completed. Can be achieved by doing so. In addition, it is more effective if a mechanism that automatically operates at fixed intervals is provided, or if the operator of the recording device confirms the status of contaminants adhering to the cap and manually operates as necessary. It goes without saying that this is the target.

[0013]

The cap means is kept clean by subjecting the contaminants attached to the cap means to chemical and physical (mechanical) treatment at least at the end of the recording operation.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Before describing the embodiments of the present invention, an outline of an ink jet recording apparatus main body in which the present invention is preferably used will be described first.

An overview of the ink jet recording apparatus 15 to which the present invention is applied is shown in FIG. Stray groove 5004
Engraved lead screw 5005 is the drive motor 5
The driving force transmission gear 5011,
It is rotationally driven via 5009. The carriage 16 carrying the ink jet cartridge 11 having the ink jet recording head is engaged with the spiral groove 5004 by a pin (not shown) provided in the mounting portion, and is slidably guided by the guide rail 5003. By doing so, it is reciprocated in the directions indicated by arrows a and b. The paper pressing plate 5002 presses the recording medium 5200 against the platen roller 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage 16. The photocouplers 5007 and 5008 are the carriage 16
The home position detecting means is configured to confirm the existence of the lever 5006 in this area and reverse the rotation direction of the drive motor 5013. A cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the inkjet recording head is supported by a supporting member 5016, further includes a suction unit 5015, and performs suction recovery of the inkjet recording head through the opening 5023 in the cap. A support plate 5019 is attached to the main body support plate 5018.
Cleaning blade 50 slidably supported by 19
17 is moved in the front-rear direction by a driving means (not shown). The form of the cleaning blade 5017 is not limited to that shown in the figure, and it goes without saying that a known one can be applied to this example. The lever 5012 is for starting the suction recovery operation, and is for the cam 50 that contacts the carriage 16.
20 and the driving force from the drive motor 5013 is controlled by a known transmission means such as a gear 5010 and clutch switching.

Each of the capping, cleaning, and suction recovery processes is performed at the corresponding position by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage 16 reaches the home position side area. As long as the desired operation is performed at a known timing, any of these can be applied to this example. The configurations described above are excellent both individually and in combination, and show preferable configuration examples for the present invention.

Next, the cap means in this ink jet recording apparatus, which is an embodiment of the present invention, will be described in detail.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the capping means of the ink jet recording apparatus shown in FIG. In this capping means, the cap 5022 formed of chlorinated butyl rubber or the like and the support member 5016 are bonded by adhesion or engagement. Further, a rib 502 integrally molded is formed on a portion of the cap member 5022 that contacts the ejection surface of the recording head.
6, the contact surface is a smooth surface. In addition, inside the rib, a hole 5 that penetrates to the supporting member 5016 is formed.
023 is opened, and this hole is the suction means 5 in FIG.
015 (support member 5016 and suction means 5
Although the connection with 015 is not shown in the figure, the connection may be made by a generally known configuration. ), When the suction means for suction recovery operates, the ink sucked from the ejection port of the recording head passes through the hole 5023 and the suction means 501.
It will flow into 5.

When the recording apparatus is used in this form, the rib 5026 of the cap member may come into contact with the ejection surface leaked by the ink several times, and accordingly, the ink is transferred to the rib 5026 and the time is consumed. The solvent component in the ink is evaporated with the passage of time, solute is deposited, and the contaminant 5027 remains as a solid on the rib 5026. If the ejection surface of the recording head is covered with the contaminant 5027 remaining,
It may occur that the sealing performance of the cap is impaired,
The resulting gap between the rib 5026 and the ejection surface of the recording head induces the evaporation of ink from the ejection port. In order to prevent the contaminant 5027 from remaining, a nozzle 5031 is provided on the upper surface of the cap member 5022, and water is jetted from this nozzle. By ejecting water every time the recording operation is completed, the rib 5026 is ejected.
Even if there is a slight amount of ink on it, it can be easily washed off with water and immediately removed.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 3 is a modification of Embodiment 1 in which the nozzle 5031 is arranged on the extension surface of the contact surface of the rib 5026 of the cap member 5022. With such a configuration, the liquid ejected from the nozzle 5031 is prevented from flowing into the rib 502.
Therefore, the contaminant 5027 can be washed out more efficiently with a small amount of liquid. Further, since the liquid in which the contaminant 5027 is dissolved flows to the lower side of FIG. 3, there is no inconvenience that the liquid remains in the cap. If the ejection surface of the recording head is sealed while the unnecessary liquid remains in the cap, the ejection surface may be wet, and as a result, the direction of the flying droplet may be bent during the next recording operation. There is almost no chance of causing a problem.

Embodiment 3 FIG. 4 shows a member 503 for scraping off contaminants 5027 on the rib on the side of the cap member 5022 facing the opening.
2 is provided. The material and shape of this member do not need to be special, and a plate-shaped member may be used as the rib 50.
The surface of 26 may be slid. In operation, the scraping member 5032 passes over the rib 5026 by rotating in the direction of arrow c around the rotation fixing shaft of the scraping member 5032 (not shown), and the contaminant 5027 is removed accordingly. .. Here, a plate-shaped member made of plastic or the like is preferable in terms of cost and shape accuracy. In this scraping operation, it is more effective if the hardness of the scraping member 5032 is higher than the hardness of the cap member.

Embodiment 4 FIG. 5 shows a member 503 for absorbing contaminants 5027 on the rib on the side of the cap member 5022 facing the opening.
3 is provided. Here, a porous body of polyurethane is used as the absorbing member 5033. The absorbing member 5033 is adhered to the supporting member 5034, and the driving unit and the connecting unit 5035 (not shown) of the recording apparatus main body.
Communicate with. By moving the absorbent member in the direction of arrow d, the contaminant 5027 on the cap comes into contact with the absorbent member 5033, and as a result, the contaminant 5027 is absorbed by the absorbent member 5033.
Then, the contact portion of the cap with the recording head can be cleaned.

When performing this operation, the following mechanism may be added to the main body of the recording apparatus. At the end of the recording operation, the carriage 16 is moved to temporarily retract the ink jet cartridge 11 so that the ejection surface of the recording head and the contact surface of the cap do not come into contact with each other, and then the ink cartridge 11 is moved to a position opposite to the opening of the cap member 5022. The contaminant absorbing member 5033 is taken out and the above-mentioned operation is performed. When the cleaning operation is completed, the contaminant absorbing member 5033 is housed inside the apparatus, the carriage 16 is returned to the regular home position, and the ejection port is capped. Since a mechanism for taking out and storing the contaminant absorbing member 5033 may be performed by using a known technique, detailed description of that portion will be omitted here.

[0024]

As described above, the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention has a means for removing contaminants such as ink adhered to the contact portion of the cap means for covering the ejection portion of the recording head, and the contaminants. Since the operation of removing the recording medium is performed at least at the end of recording, the portion of the cap that comes into contact with the recording head is always cleaned, and the airtightness of the recording head ejection portion can be ensured. As a result, it is possible to prevent a defect that has conventionally occurred, that is, a discharge defect at the start of recording due to the incomplete sealing of the discharge portion of the recording head during non-recording.
Further, since it is possible to suppress the evaporation of the ink from the ejection portion of the recording head as much as possible, it is possible to reduce the running cost, especially for a replaceable cartridge in which the recording portion and the ink storage portion are integrated, which is very useful. It can be said that there is.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with an inkjet cartridge.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a capping means according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5016 Cap support member 5022 Cap member 5023 Ink suction hole 5026 Rib 5027 Contaminant adhering to rib 5031 Clean liquid ejection nozzle 5032 Contaminant scraping member 5033 Contaminant absorber 6034 Absorber support member

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising cap means disposed at a pomme position of an ink jet recording head having an ejection port for ejecting ink, the cap means covering an ink ejection portion of the recording head. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a cap cleaning unit that removes contaminants adhering to a contact surface of the inkjet recording head that is in contact with an ejection unit from the cap unit, and the cap cleaning unit is activated at least at the end of the recording operation. 2. The cap cleaning means is means for ejecting a liquid capable of dissolving the contaminant to a contaminant adhered to a contact surface of the cap means which is in contact with an ejection portion of the ink jet recording head. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The ink jet recording according to claim 1, wherein the cap cleaning means is means for scraping off contaminants adhering to a contact surface of the cap means in contact with an ejection portion of the ink jet recording head. apparatus. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cap cleaning unit is an absorbing unit that absorbs contaminants attached to a contact surface of the cap unit that is in contact with an ejection portion of the ink jet recording head. Recording device.