JPH0535281U - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The ink on the nozzle forming surface of the inkjet head is uniformly and quickly removed without directly contacting the porous absorbent member with the nozzle, thereby stabilizing immediately after restarting printing. Ink droplets can be ejected, enabling fine printing with well-formed fonts. An inkjet head 1 that ejects ink droplets from a nozzle 2, a cap 4 that abuts the nozzle forming surface 1a of the inkjet head 1 to form a chamber between the nozzle forming surface 1a, and a space portion 6 of the cap 4. In an ink jet recording apparatus having suction means 8 communicating with, a porous absorbing member 5 made of a single plate material is locked in a cap 4 on a communication hole communicating with the suction means 8 in a space 6, and A portion of the porous absorbent member 5 along the outer circumference of the cap 4 is locked in the cap 4 so as to project toward the inkjet head 1 side more than the inner side 5b of the portion along the outer circumference.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that ejects ink directly onto a recording medium to perform recording, and particularly relates to an apparatus that eliminates defects in the nozzle portion.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 The inkjet recording device ejects ink from a nozzle in accordance with an electric signal to perform recording on a recording medium. If a mechanical shock or a sudden temperature change is applied to this nozzle, the normal meniscus of the nozzle will be destroyed and air will enter the nozzle. When air enters, ink droplets are not ejected from the nozzles according to the electric signal. In order to recover this non-ejection state, conventionally, an operation has been performed in which ink is sucked from the nozzle tip by a suction means to recover a normal meniscus.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 When the cap is opened after the ink has been sucked from the nozzle by the conventional suction means, the ink may locally accumulate on the nozzle formation surface. If the accumulated ink reaches the nozzle, stable ink ejection is possible. Has been hindered. Moreover, even an ink pool not directly related to the nozzles has been a cause of contamination such as transfer to the recording medium during the printing operation.

A device in which a cap is provided with a porous absorbing member for absorbing ink as shown in JP-B-3-43066 and JP-B-2-32444 in order to eliminate ink accumulation on the nozzle forming surface. It has been known.

FIG. 5 illustrates an ink pool eliminating means shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-43066. A porous absorbing member 105 having an ink absorbing ability is provided in a portion of the cap 104 that seals the tip of the nozzle 102 directly contacting the nozzle 102, and eliminates an ink pool formed around the tip of the nozzle 2 when the cap 104 is opened. . However, in the configuration in which the porous absorbing member 105 is brought into direct contact with the nozzle 102 to absorb ink, foreign matter such as dust adhering to the porous absorbing member 105 adheres to the nozzle forming surface 101a, and stable ink is formed. There is a problem that the ejection of drops is disturbed and printing defects occur.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an ink jet head and a cap for explaining an ink pool eliminating means shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 32-4444. The nozzle forming surface 201a of the ink jet head 201 is provided with vertical grooves 203 vertically penetrating between the nozzle rows along the direction in which the nozzles 202 are arranged. The cap 204 that forms the chamber is provided with a porous absorbing member 205 that comes into contact with a portion below the nozzle row of the vertical groove 203 provided on the nozzle forming surface 201a and that absorbs the ink adhering to the nozzle forming surface 201a. ing. As a result, the ink remaining between the nozzle rows can be absorbed, the ink ejection direction does not bend, and fine printing with a well-formed font is possible. However, in the structure in which the porous absorbing member 205 is brought into contact with the lower portion of the nozzle row of the vertical groove 203 provided in the nozzle forming surface 201a to absorb the ink, when the cap 204 is in contact with the nozzle forming surface 201a, Ink cannot be removed even along the outer periphery of the cap 204 where ink is likely to collect, that is, the ink on the upper portion and the lateral portion of the nozzle forming surface 201a. Further, since the vertical groove 203 for guiding the ink is provided on the nozzle forming surface 201a below the nozzle forming surface 201a, there is a problem that the nozzle arrangement is limited. Therefore, the present invention solves such a problem, and its purpose is to make the ink on the nozzle forming surface of the inkjet head uniform without directly contacting the porous absorbing member with the nozzle. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet recording device that can be quickly removed and can stably eject ink droplets even when printing is restarted, enabling fine printing with well-shaped fonts.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention comprises an ink jet head for ejecting ink droplets from a nozzle, a cap for contacting a nozzle forming surface of the ink jet head to form a chamber between the nozzle forming surface, and a cap for the cap. In an ink jet recording apparatus having suction means communicating with a chamber, a porous absorbing member made of a single plate material is locked in the cap on a communication hole communicating with the suction means in the chamber, and A portion of the porous absorbent member along the outer periphery of the cap protrudes toward the inkjet head side from the inner side of the portion along the outer periphery and is locked in the cap.

[0008]

[Action]

 According to the above configuration of the present invention, when the cap covers the nozzle portion of the inkjet head, only the portion of the porous absorbent member along the outer circumference of the cap comes into contact with the inkjet head together with the outer circumference of the cap. The ink on the nozzle forming surface of the inkjet head can be uniformly and quickly removed without directly contacting the nozzle with the nozzle.

[0009]

【Example】

 The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings of the embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing how the cap 4 covers the nozzle 2 portion of the inkjet head 1. In FIG. 1, nozzles 2 that form rows in the lateral direction (depth direction in the drawing) are formed on the front surface of the inkjet head 1. The cap 4 facing the inkjet head 1 is provided with a space 6 on the surface facing the nozzle forming surface 1 a of the inkjet head 1. The space 6 is connected to a suction pump 8 as a suction means via a connecting tube 9. The porous absorbent member 5 is locked on the communication hole that communicates with the suction step 8 of the space 6 of the cap 4. At this time, the convex portion 5a of the multi-porous absorbing member projects along the outer periphery of the cap 4 from the inner portion 5b thereof toward the ink jet head 1 side. The cap 4 is movable in the direction of the arrow, and when the ink is filled into the inkjet head 1 or when ink is sucked from the nozzle 2 when ejection failure occurs, it moves to the inkjet head 1 side and comes into close contact with the nozzle forming surface 1a. A room is airtightly formed between the nozzle forming surface 1a and the nozzle forming surface 1a. When the cap 4 comes into contact with the nozzle forming surface 1a, the convex portion 5a of the porous absorbent member also comes into contact with or comes close to the nozzle forming surface 1a along the outer periphery of the cap 4, as shown in FIG. As a result, not only the ink pool around the tip of the nozzle 2 but also the ink remaining on the nozzle forming surface 1a along the outer periphery of the cap 4 is absorbed. Where the outer circumference of the cap 4 of the nozzle forming surface 1a abuts, as shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle shape is formed by the capillary force acting on the corner 10 formed by the outer circumference of the cap 4 and the ink jet forming surface 1a. This is a place where the ink on the surface 1a collects and tends to remain when the cap 4 is opened. The ink adhering to the nozzle forming surface 1a which is not in contact with the convex portion 5a of the porous absorbing member can be sufficiently absorbed by the capillary force of the porous absorbing member 5 through the convex portion 5a. In this way, the convex portion 5a of the porous absorbing member is brought into contact with or in proximity to the nozzle forming surface 1a along with the cap 4 along the outer periphery of the cap 4, so that the ink adhered to the nozzle forming surface 1a can be uniformly distributed. Can be absorbed quickly. Further, since only the convex portion 5a of the porous absorbent member contacts the nozzle forming surface 1a and the porous absorbent member 5 does not directly contact the nozzle 2, dust and the like adhering to the porous absorbent member 5 can be prevented. No foreign matter is attached to the nozzle 2 to prevent stable ejection of ink droplets. Further, the multi-porous absorption member 5 once absorbs the ink and wets it, so that the space 6 formed by the cap 4 and the nozzle forming surface 1a is kept in a wet state during capping, and the nozzle 2 front end part is maintained. Ink can be prevented from drying and normal printing can be performed immediately when printing is restarted. In particular, since the porous absorbent member 5 has a size sufficient to cover the inside of the cap 4, the wet state of the space 6 can be maintained for a long period of time.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of the shape of the porous absorbent member 5. The porous absorbent member 5 is a flat plate member having a convex portion 5 a and is attached to the inside of the cap 4 when the porous absorbent member 5 is mounted. The convex portion 5a is bent and attached along the outer periphery of the cap 4. The porous absorbent member 5 is formed of a single member by having the convex portion 5a.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an embodiment of the cap 4 to which the porous absorbent member 5 of the present invention is attached. The porous absorbent member 5 is attached to the concave portion of the cap 4, and the porous portion 5a is formed by the protrusion 4a of the cap 4. The quality absorbing member 5 is prevented from coming off from the cap 4. As a result, it is possible to assemble very easily without requiring a special attachment process such as bonding.

[0013]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, by providing the porous absorbent member along the outer periphery of the cap that abuts the periphery of the nozzle forming surface, the porous absorbent member can be attached to the nozzle tip without directly contacting the nozzle. It is possible to easily absorb and remove the ink pool where the outer periphery of the cap is in contact with the peripheral portion as well as the peripheral portion, which enables good ink droplet ejection.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining an embodiment according to the present invention and is a schematic view showing how a cap covers a nozzle portion of an inkjet head.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a corner formed by the outer periphery of the cap and the nozzle forming surface being in contact with each other.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of the shape of a porous absorbent member according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a cap provided with a porous absorbent member according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing another conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Inkjet head 1a Nozzle formation surface 2 Nozzle 3 Vertical groove 4 Cap 5 Porous absorbing member 6 Space 7 Head cover 8 Suction pump 9 Connecting tube 10 Corner

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An inkjet head that ejects ink droplets from a nozzle, a cap that abuts a nozzle forming surface of the inkjet head to form a chamber between the nozzle forming surface, and communicates with the chamber of the cap. In an inkjet recording apparatus having suction means, a porous absorbent member made of a single plate material is locked in a communication hole inside the chamber, the communication hole communicating with the suction means, and The part along the outer periphery of the cap is
An inkjet recording apparatus, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is protruded toward an inkjet head side rather than an inside side of a portion along the outer periphery and locked in the cap.