JPH0516390A - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce dimension in the width direction of a recording device and make the device small in size and light in weight by designating a position of an ink receiver for receiving ink discharged from a recording means at other time than recording time on the inside of a width area of the record medium. CONSTITUTION:When a recording device is started to operate, in preliminary discharge carried out for correcting defective discharge of a record head 16, an ink receiver 30 for receiving ink discharge is provided in the inside of a width area Z of a record medium. The ink receiver 30 is formed by a thin wall provided in front of an end of a front face of a platen 20 (platen face) with a predetermined gap. At an end edge of the record medium, paper can be sent passing through the gap between the platen 20 and the ink receiver 30. A groove 30a is made in the underside of the ink receiver 30 and an ink absorber 29 is provided at the outside of the groove 30a. Thus, the ink discharged in the ink receiver 30 is sent to the ink absorber 29 through the groove 30a so as to be absorbed.

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 for recording by ejecting ink from a recording means onto a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording device having functions such as a printer, a copying machine and a facsimile, or a recording device used as an output device of a composite electronic device including a computer, a word processor, etc. An image is recorded on a recording medium (recording material) such as a plastic thin plate. The recording apparatus can be classified into an ink jet type, a wire dot type, a thermal type, a laser beam type, etc., depending on the recording method.

In a serial type recording apparatus which employs a serial scan system in which main scanning is performed in a direction intersecting a conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction) of the recording medium, the recording medium is set at a predetermined recording position and then along the recording medium. The image is recorded (main scanning) by the recording means mounted on the moving carriage, and after the recording for one line is completed, the paper is fed by a predetermined amount (pitch conveyance), and then the recording medium is stopped again. Then, by repeating the operation of recording (main scanning) the image of the next row, the entire recording medium is recorded. On the other hand, in a line type printing apparatus that prints only by sub-scanning in the conveyance direction of the print medium, the print medium is set at a predetermined print position, one line of print is performed at a time, and then a predetermined amount of paper is printed. The entire recording medium is recorded by repeating the operation of feeding (pitch feeding) and then collectively recording the next row.

Among the above-mentioned recording apparatuses, the ink-jet recording apparatus (ink-jet recording apparatus) performs recording by ejecting ink from a recording unit (recording head) onto a recording medium, and it is easy to make the recording unit compact. And
High-definition images can be recorded at high speed, plain paper can be recorded without any special processing, running costs are low, and the non-impact method produces less noise and multicolor images. It has advantages such as easy recording of a color image using ink. Above all, a line type apparatus using a line type recording means in which a large number of ejection openings are arranged in the paper width direction can further speed up recording.

In particular, an ink jet type recording means (recording head) for ejecting ink by utilizing heat energy,
Through the semiconductor manufacturing process such as etching, vapor deposition, and sputtering, the electrothermal converter formed on the substrate, the electrode,
By forming the liquid passage wall, the top plate, and the like, it is possible to easily manufacture a liquid discharge device having a high-density liquid passage arrangement (ejection port arrangement), and to further reduce the size. On the other hand, there are various requirements for the material of the recording medium,
In recent years, ordinary recording media such as paper and resin thin plates (OHP)
Etc.), thin paper and processed paper (paper with punched holes for filing, perforated paper, paper of any shape, etc.) have been required to be used.

In the above ink jet recording apparatus,
Immediately before performing a recording operation (an operation of ejecting a predetermined amount of ink at a predetermined position on a recording medium to record an image) when the power of the apparatus is turned on or when the apparatus is left on for a specified time or more. In addition, a method of ejecting a preset amount of ink at a predetermined position of the recording apparatus and then starting a regular recording operation is generally adopted. The operation of ejecting ink at times other than the regular recording operation is called "preliminary ejection".

The purpose of this preliminary discharge is as follows.
In the inkjet recording apparatus, the liquid ink is selectively ejected from the ejection port of the recording head to form an image on the recording medium. The viscosity of the ink near the ejection port increases due to ink evaporation or low temperature, and it tends to be difficult to eject the ink from the ejection port. for that reason,
If the recording operation is suddenly started after being left for a long time, there is a possibility that a recording defect such as an image defect or ink deviation may occur at the time of recording disclosure.

Therefore, immediately before the recording operation, by ejecting a preset amount of ink, the thickened ink near the ejection port of the recording head is discharged out of the ejection port, and the ink near the ejection port is ejected. Operation to restore viscosity to normal,
That is, the preliminary discharge is performed. By performing this preliminary ejection, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of the above-described recording failure.

[0009]

However, in the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, the position in the width direction of the recording apparatus that receives the pre-ejected ink (the position at which the pre-ejection is performed) is the maximum width of the recording medium (recording paper). Since it is set outside the width of the recording material), it is necessary to secure a dedicated space for preliminary ejection, and the width of the recording device must be increased accordingly, which is small and lightweight. There was a problem that had to be solved, which was an obstacle to commercialization.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to save a space for receiving ink ejected from a recording unit at a time other than a recording operation such as preliminary ejection. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet recording apparatus which can be reduced in size and reduced in size in the width direction of the recording apparatus, and can be made smaller and lighter.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an ink jet recording apparatus for recording by ejecting ink from a recording means to a recording medium, and an ink for receiving ink ejected from the recording means at the time other than recording on the recording medium. The above object is achieved by adopting a configuration in which the position of the receiving portion is selected inside the width region of the recording medium.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a left side view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a front view, and FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of FIG. 1. 1 to 5, 1 is a frame of the recording apparatus, 2 is a step motor as a drive source, and 3 is a motor gear fixed to a motor shaft 2a of the step motor 2. The motor 2
Is fixed to the frame 1 and connected to a control circuit (not shown). The shaft 1a provided on the frame 1 has
A transmission gear 4, which is in mesh with the motor gear 3, is pivotally supported.

A lead screw 5 is rotatably supported on the frame 1, and a gear portion 5a fixed to one end of the lead screw 5 is in mesh with the transmission gear 4. Also, the lead screw 5
A paper feed transmission gear 6 is fixed to the other end of the paper by a fixing pin 7. The lead screw 5 is inserted into a hole provided in the frame 1 and is rotatably supported. The paper feed intermediate gear 8 is formed with two gear portions 8a and 8b, the gear portion 8a meshes with the paper feed transmission gear 6, and the gear portion 8b meshes with the clutch gear 9. The paper feed intermediate gear 8 is rotatably supported by a shaft provided on the frame 1.

As shown in FIG. 4, the end portion 14a of the clutch spring 14 is engaged with the groove portion 9a of the clutch gear 9, and the clutch spring 14 serves as the paper feed roller 10.
It is in a state of being wound around the end portion 10a (FIGS. 1 and 5).
The paper feed roller 10 is inserted into a hole provided in the frame 1 and is in a rotatable state. 1 to 5,
An annular feed member 13 made of an elastic material (for example, a rubber material) is provided at the center of the paper feed roller 10, and a pinch roller 11 is provided at a position facing the feed member 13. The pinch roller 11 is axially supported by a pinch roller shaft 12, and the pinch roller shaft 12 is supported by a groove portion 1e provided in the frame 1 and is rotatably supported and movable in the arrow B direction (FIG. 5). . Pinch roller shaft 12
Is urged by the arm portion 27c of the pinch roller spring 27 (FIGS. 1 and 5) in a direction in which the pinch roller spring 27 is pressed against the paper feed roller 10.

The pinch roller spring 27 is fixed to the frame 1 as shown in FIG.
The receiving portion 1c supports the base of the arm portion of the pinch roller spring 27, and the receiving portion 1d
Receives a bending force (direction of arrow C in FIG. 5) centered on the receiving portion 1c of the pinch roller spring 27.

Next, the recording means and its related structure will be described. 1 to 5, a recording unit (recording head) 16 is mounted on a carriage 15, and the carriage 15 is arranged along a guide shaft 28 in an arrow direction (left-right reciprocating direction).
Is being guided to. The lead screw 5 is formed with a screw-shaped screw groove 5b (FIG. 4), and a shaft 19 (FIG. 4) protruding from the carriage 15 is engaged with the groove 5b. Further, the carriage 15 is provided with a groove portion 15b as shown in FIG. 5, and the carriage 15 includes the groove 15b and the wall 1f of the frame 1 in addition to the guide shaft 28 described above.
The reciprocating motion in the left-right direction is also guided by the engagement with. As shown in FIG. 5, a platen 20 is removably mounted on the frame 1, and a sheet-shaped recording medium such as paper or a resin thin plate is inserted from an inlet 22 and sent out from an outlet 23.

1 to 5, a control circuit (not shown)
A flexible circuit board 18 for sending an image signal and electric power from the recording means (recording head) 16 is electrically connected to the recording head 16 by a set lever 17. Reference numeral 24 indicates a detection switch for detecting the home position of the carriage 15, and the home position of the carriage 15 is detected by pushing the switch 24 when the end 15a (FIG. 4) of the carriage 15 moves to the home position. . This detection switch 24 is also connected to a control circuit (not shown). Reference numeral 21 indicates a plurality of mounting feet for supporting the recording apparatus, and each mounting foot 21 is formed of an elastic material such as rubber and has a frame 1
Are inserted into the protrusions 1b provided at a plurality of desired positions.

The recording means (recording head) 16 is a recording means for ejecting ink by utilizing heat energy, and is provided with an electrothermal converter for generating heat energy. Further, the recording means 16 performs recording by ejecting ink from an ejection port by utilizing a pressure change caused by growth and contraction of bubbles due to film boiling caused by thermal energy applied by the electrothermal converter. Is.

FIG. 6 shows the recording means (recording head) 16
FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view schematically showing the structure of the ink ejection portion 16a of FIG. In FIG. 6, a plurality of ejection openings 52 are formed at a predetermined pitch on an ejection opening surface 51 facing a recording material with a predetermined gap (for example, about 0.5 to 1.0 mm). An electrothermal converter (a heating resistor or the like) 55 for generating energy for ejecting ink is disposed along the wall surface of each liquid passage 54 that connects the common liquid chamber 53 and each ejection port 52. In this embodiment, the recording means 16 is mounted on the carriage 15 in such a positional relationship that the ejection ports 52 are arranged in a direction intersecting the scanning direction (moving direction) of the carriage 15. Thus, the corresponding electrothermal converter 55 is driven (energized) based on the image signal or the ejection signal,
The recording unit 16 is configured to cause the ink in the liquid passage 54 to film-boiling and to eject the ink from the ejection port 52 by the pressure generated at that time.

Next, the recording operation will be specifically described. When the step motor 2 is rotationally driven in a predetermined direction by a drive signal from the control circuit, the lead screw 5 rotates in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 4 via the transmission gear 4 and the like and engages with the screw groove 5b. Carriage 15 by pin 19 (axis)
Moves in the direction of arrow H. When the carriage 15 moves a predetermined amount, the end portion 15a of the carriage 15 turns on the detection switch 24, and the position of the home position is confirmed. At this detection position, the drive signal to the step motor 2 is reversely rotated, the screw 5 is rotationally driven in the arrow G direction, and the carriage 15 is moved in the arrow I direction. After moving in the direction of arrow I by a predetermined amount, a recording signal is applied to the recording unit (recording head) 16 to selectively eject ink from the ejection port 52 of the ink ejecting unit 16a, thereby ejecting paper or resin. Recording is performed on a recording medium such as a thin plate.

Here, the movement of the carriage 15 in the direction of arrow I, that is, the rotation of the lead screw 5 in the direction of arrow G is transmitted to the paper feed transmission gear 6 and the paper feed intermediate gear 8, and the clutch gear 9 is indicated by the arrow. It is driven to rotate in the J direction (Fig. 4). However, at this time, since the clutch spring 14 rotates in the loosening direction, the rotational force is not transmitted to the paper feed roller 10, and therefore the recording medium is not fed.

After recording on the recording medium while the carriage 15 is moving a predetermined amount in the direction of arrow I, the drive signal to the step motor 2 is reversed again and the lead screw 5 is rotated.
Is rotated in the arrow F direction to move the carriage 15 in the arrow H direction. At this time, the clutch gear 9 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow K, and the clutch spring 14 is tightened so as to drive the end portion 10a of the paper feed roller 10. Therefore, the paper feed roller 10 is driven and the recording medium is fed by a predetermined amount. In the above series of operations, the carriage 1
By moving 5 in the directions of arrow I and arrow H by the same amount, it is possible to make the paper feed amount of the recording medium constant.

In the ink jet recording apparatus described above, the recording means (recording head) 16 mounted on the carriage 15 is moved in the arrow H direction or the arrow I direction by a signal from the control circuit (CPU), and during the operation, Further, by applying a signal for image recording to the recording means 16 by the control circuit to selectively eject ink from each ejection port 52, an image is formed on the recording material. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control system for such a recording operation.

In FIG. 7, when a recording operation signal is input to the control circuit 61 from an input device 62 such as a keyboard, the control circuit 61 passes through a step motor (carriage motor) driving IC and a recording head driving IC 64. Then, the recording device 65 as a driving device is controlled. The step motor drive IC 63 and the recording head drive I
A power supply unit 66 for the C64 and the recording device 65.
Drive energy is supplied from the. The carriage 1
The detection signal of the home position detection switch 24 (FIG. 4) of No. 5 is supplied to the control circuit 61.

In the ink jet recording apparatus, preliminary ejection is performed under preset conditions such as when the recording apparatus is turned on or when the recording apparatus is left on for a specified time or more. This preliminary ejection is performed separately from the recording operation on the recording medium by ejecting a set amount of ink from each ejection port 52 at a preselected position in the recording apparatus. For example, this preliminary ejection is performed immediately before the recording operation, that is, the operation of ejecting a predetermined amount of ink onto a predetermined position of the recording medium to form an image.
The preliminary ejection is for recovering the ejection failure of the recording head 16 and eliminates the sticking of the ink in the vicinity of the ejection port 52, the increase in the viscosity, the mixing of bubbles, etc., and the dot missing or the dot deviation at the time of image formation. The purpose is to eliminate the cause of defective recording such as. Further, this preliminary ejection is often performed when the power of the recording apparatus is turned on, or after a lapse of a certain time while the power is on and immediately before the first recording. In addition, this preliminary ejection is performed by a method in which the ink is absorbed toward an ink absorber (a porous member or the like having excellent ink absorbency) mounted at a preselected position in the recording apparatus. Often.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when ink is ejected at times other than recording on a recording medium, such as the above preliminary ejection, the position of the ink receiving portion for receiving the ejected ink, that is, ink other than recording The ejection position is selected inside the width of the recording medium with respect to the width direction of the recording medium. The width of this recording medium (usually the width of the maximum recording medium) is indicated by a region Z in FIGS. 1 and 4.

Therefore, in the above-described first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the ink receiving portion 30 for receiving ink ejection other than recording such as preliminary ejection is inside the width region Z of the recording medium. It is provided in. The ink receiving portion 30 is formed by a thin wall provided with a predetermined gap in front of the end portion (the left end portion of the platen 20 in FIG. 4) of the front surface (platen surface) of the platen 20. Therefore, the edge portion (edge portion on the left side) of the recording medium is fed through the gap between the platen 20 and the ink receiving portion 30. A groove 30a is formed below the ink receiving portion 30, and the groove 30a is further formed.
An ink absorber 29 made of a porous material having an excellent ink absorbability is provided at a position on the outside of a (left side in FIG. 4) in contact with the groove 30a. According to such a configuration, the ink ejected to the ink receiving portion 30 flows down along the ink receiving portion (wall surface), flows down into the groove 30a, travels through the groove 30a, and the ink absorber 29 is transmitted. The ink penetrates inside and is absorbed by the ink absorber 29.

According to the embodiment described above, the ink receiving portion 30 for receiving the ink ejected from the ejection port 52 at the time other than the recording operation such as the preliminary ejection is provided at the position inside the width area Z of the recording medium. Since it is provided, an extra space for providing the ink receiving portion 30 is not required, and the dimension of the recording apparatus in the width direction can be reduced accordingly, and the recording apparatus can be made smaller and lighter. . In addition,
The ink receiving portion 30, the groove 30a and the ink absorber 2
9 is the same even if it is provided at a position (right side) symmetrical to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 with respect to the width region Z of the recording medium.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a second embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 9 is a front view of the ink jet recording apparatus of FIG. In the ink jet recording apparatus of FIGS. 8 and 9, two positions on the left and right of the region Z of the width of the recording medium (usually the width of the maximum recording medium) are used.
Ink receiving portions 30 and 3 for receiving ink ejected from the ejection port 52 at times other than the recording operation such as preliminary ejection.
1 is provided. Then, the ink receiving portions 3 on both sides
Both 0 and 31 are provided inside the width region Z of the recording medium. In addition, the ink receiving portions 30 and 31 are connected to the platen 2
It is formed by a thin wall provided with a predetermined gap in front of both ends of the front surface (platen surface) of 0. Therefore, the left and right edge portions of the recording medium are fed through the gap between the platen 20 and the left and right ink receiving portions 30 and 31.

Also in the second embodiment of FIGS. 8 and 9,
Grooves 30a and 31a are provided below the ink receiving portions 30 and 31, respectively.
Further, the ink absorbers 29 and 32 formed of a porous material having excellent ink absorbability are formed at positions on the outer sides of the grooves 30a and 31a in the recording medium width direction, which are in contact with the grooves 30a and 31a. Is installed. According to such a configuration, either one of the ink receiving portions 30 or 31
The ink ejected to the ink flows down along the ink receiving portion (wall surface), flows down into the grooves 30a and 31a formed on the lower side thereof, travels through the grooves 30a and 31a, and is adjacent to the ink absorber 29. Alternatively, it penetrates into 32 and is absorbed by the ink absorbers 29 and 32.

Other configurations of the ink jet recording apparatus shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 are substantially the same as those of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of FIGS.
Corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. According to the second embodiment of FIGS. 8 and 9, as in the case of the above-described first embodiment, the ink receiving portion 30 for receiving the ink ejected from the ejection port 52 at the time other than the recording operation such as the preliminary ejection, Since 31 is provided inside the width area on both the left and right sides of the width area of the recording medium, an extra space for providing the ink receiving portions 30 and 31 is not required, and the widthwise dimension of the recording apparatus is correspondingly increased. It has become possible to make the recording apparatus smaller and lighter by reducing the size.

In each of the above embodiments, the case of an ink jet recording apparatus having one recording means has been described as an example, but the present invention provides a plurality of recording means using different color inks. A color ink jet recording device having, or an ink jet recording device for gradation recording using a plurality of recording means having the same color but different densities,
The present invention can be similarly applied regardless of the number of recording means, and the same operational effect can be achieved. As the recording means (recording head) in each of the above embodiments, a replaceable cartridge type recording means in which the recording head and the ink tank are integrated, or the recording head and the ink tank are separately provided, and for example, a coupler is used. Also, recording means of various structures can be used, such as a recording means of a structure coupled via a tube.

The present invention can be applied to any ink jet recording apparatus that uses a recording means (recording head) using an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element, but among them, thermal energy is used. In this way, an excellent effect is brought about in an ink jet recording apparatus of the type that ejects ink. This is because such a system can achieve high density recording and high definition recording.

Regarding the typical structure and principle thereof, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740.
This is preferably done using the basic principles disclosed in 796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type, but particularly in the case of the on-demand type, a liquid (ink) is used.
By applying at least one drive signal to the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path in which is stored, which corresponds to the recorded information and causes a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling. Since the electrothermal converter generates heat energy to cause film boiling on the heat acting surface of the recording means (recording head), as a result, bubbles can be formed in the liquid (ink) in a one-to-one correspondence with this drive signal. It is valid.

The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection openings by the growth and contraction of the bubbles to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make the driving signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be grown and contracted immediately and appropriately, and thus a liquid (ink) with excellent responsiveness can be ejected. As this pulse-shaped drive signal, US Pat.
Those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,633,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Incidentally, US Pat. No. 43131 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise of the heat acting surface
If the conditions described in the specification of No. 24 are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the ejection port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the straight liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications. US Pat. No. 4,558,333, US Pat. No. 4,558,333, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
A configuration using the specification of No. 459600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 123670/1984 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy. The present invention is also effective as a structure based on Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 138461/1984, which discloses a structure in which the discharge section is associated with the discharge section. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be reliably and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium which can be recorded by the recording apparatus. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads or a configuration as one recording head integrally formed. In addition, even with the serial type as in the above example, it is possible to electrically connect to the device body and supply ink from the device body by mounting it on the recording head fixed to the device body or the device body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip type recording head or a cartridge type recording head in which an ink tank is integrally provided in the recording head itself is used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, etc., which are provided in the present invention as a configuration of the recording apparatus, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If you list these specifically,
Capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suctioning means, electrothermal converter or other heating element or preheating means by a combination thereof, and ejection different from recording are applied to the recording head. Performing the preliminary ejection mode is also effective for stable recording.

Regarding the type and number of recording heads to be mounted, for example, only one is provided corresponding to a single color ink, or a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities are supported. And a plurality of them may be provided. That is, for example, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to a recording mode only for mainstream colors such as black,
The recording head may be integrally configured or a combination of a plurality of recording heads may be used, but the present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of a mixed color of different colors or a full color by mixing colors.

In addition, in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, the ink is described as a liquid, but it is an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and that softens or liquefies at room temperature, or an ink jet. In the method, the temperature of the ink itself is generally adjusted within a range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature of the ink so that the viscosity of the ink is within a stable ejection range. It may be in a liquid form. in addition,
Whether the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively used as the energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the ink that solidifies when left standing for the purpose of preventing evaporation of the ink is used. In any case, the ink is liquefied by applying the thermal energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink is ejected,
The present invention is also applicable to the case of using an ink that has a property of being liquefied only by thermal energy, such as one that has already started to solidify when it reaches the recording medium.

The ink in such a case is disclosed in JP-A-54-
As described in JP-A-56847 or JP-A-60-71260, a mode in which it is held as a liquid or a solid in the recesses or through holes of the porous sheet and faces the electrothermal converter. May be In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as the form of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, besides the one used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmitting / receiving function. And the like may be used.

[0043]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in an ink jet recording apparatus for recording by ejecting ink from the recording means to the recording medium, the ink is ejected from the recording means at the time other than recording on the recording medium. Since the position of the ink receiving part for receiving the ink is selected inside the width area of the recording medium, preliminary ejection, etc.
Provided is an ink jet recording apparatus which can save an extra space for receiving ink ejected from a recording unit at a time other than a recording operation, and can reduce the size of the recording apparatus in the width direction, thereby reducing the size and weight of the apparatus. To be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a left side view of the inkjet recording apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the inkjet recording apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the inkjet recording apparatus of FIG.

5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the inkjet recording apparatus of FIG.

6 is a partial perspective view schematically showing a configuration of an ink ejection unit of a recording unit (recording head) of the inkjet recording apparatus of FIG.

7 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control system of the inkjet recording apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of another embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

9 is a front view of the ink jet recording apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 frame 2 Device drive motor (carriage motor) 5 Lead screw (for carriage drive) 6 Paper feed transmission gear 9 clutch gear 10 Paper feed roller 15 carriage 15a Carriage end 16 Recording means (recording head) 16a Ink ejection section of recording means 18 Flexible circuit board 20 Platen 24 Home position detection switch 29 Ink absorber 30 Ink receiver 30a groove 31 Ink receiver 31a groove 32 ink absorber 51 Discharge port forming surface 52 Discharge port 54 liquid path 55 Electrothermal converter 61 Control circuit (CPU) 63 Stepping motor drive IC 64 recording head drive IC 65 Drive device (recording device) Z recording medium width area

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus for recording by ejecting ink from a recording means onto a recording medium,
An ink jet recording apparatus, characterized in that the position of an ink receiving portion for receiving ink ejected from a recording means at a time other than recording on a recording medium is selected inside a width region of the recording medium. 2. The ink jet recording means, wherein the recording means is provided with an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy for ejecting ink.
Inkjet recording device. 3. The ink jet recording according to claim 2, wherein the recording unit ejects the ink from the ejection port by utilizing film boiling generated in the ink by the thermal energy applied by the electrothermal converter. apparatus.