JPH0615241B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that ejects ink droplets from a plurality of ejection nozzles onto recording paper at high speed to perform recording.

2. Description of the Related Art Among various recording methods known at present, it is a non-impact recording method that generates almost no noise during recording, is capable of high-speed recording, and does not require special fixing processing on plain paper. The so-called ink jet recording method that can be performed is a very useful method for realizing printing devices such as various printers, copying machines and word processors.

Regarding this ink jet printer recording method, various methods have been proposed and improved so far, and some have been commercialized, while others have been making efforts for practical use.

The ink jet printer recording method is one in which small droplets of ink are ejected according to various principles of operation and are attached to a recording material such as paper to perform recording. Such an ink jet recording apparatus is generally an ink jet head for forming ink droplets, an ink supply means for supplying the ink to the ink jet head, a recovery processing means for ink discharged from the head except during a recording operation, and the head. The jet nozzle and the clogging recovery processing means for eliminating the clogging of the flow path.

As described above, the ink jet recording method is an extremely excellent recording method with a simple device configuration, but it also has a problem.

One of the problems is clogging of the injection nozzle. There are about two causes of clogging, and one is that the evaporation of the solvent from the ejection nozzle surface increases the viscosity of the ink at the nozzle tip and causes ejection failure.

The other is that fine dust in the ink liquid enters the ejection nozzle to cause ejection failure.

Further, as another problem, when bubbles in the ink liquid enter the ejection nozzle, the bubbles absorb the flying energy to cause ejection failure or dispersion of droplets, so-called splash.

As a means for treating the above-mentioned problems, generally, the clogging recovery processing means with a pump means interposed is provided. There are two ways of interposing the pump means included in the ink flow path system with respect to the system, one of which is between the ejection head and the ink tank and presses the ink in the ink tank to the head,
The high-viscosity ink in the nozzle and the flow path is for treating fine dust or bubbles in the ink liquid as waste ink by discharging it from the tip of the nozzle.

The other one is that high-viscosity ink or fine dust in the head and in the flow path for supplying ink to the method by sucking ink from the nozzle tip with a suction pump or bubbles in the ink liquid is sucked from the nozzle tip as waste ink. Is to process.

During the recovery operation by the recovery processing means, the nozzle surface is covered with the waste ink leaked from the nozzle.

In the case of a head nozzle having a plurality of nozzles arranged in a row on the nozzle surface, if the ink discharged from the upper nozzle covers the lower nozzle, the ink is ejected from the lower nozzle during the recording operation. Disappear. Further, if the ink is left for a long time with the nozzle surface covered, the ink solvent evaporates, and thus the remaining dye or the like forms a thin film on the nozzle surface, so that the nozzle covered by the film causes ejection failure. There were drawbacks such as.

The present invention has been proposed in order to improve the above-mentioned problems, and is a highly reliable ink jet recording apparatus capable of surely collecting waste ink leaked from a head as recording means without contaminating the inside of the apparatus. The purpose is to provide.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, and replaces a recording unit that ejects ink to a recording material to perform recording and an ink tank that stores ink supplied to the recording unit. A carriage that is mounted so that it can be scanned and a cap that is disposed on the surface of the non-recording area that faces the recording means and that covers the ink ejection surface of the recording means by abutting it and that is configured integrally with the ink tank. An ink jet recording apparatus having an exhaust ink storage member for storing the exhaust ink discharged from the recording means, wherein the cap means guides the waste ink discharged from the recording means to the waste ink storage member. A passage and a shielding member for shielding the flow of the guided ink, and by disposing the carriage at a position facing the cap means, A capping state in which a link guide path is connected to the waste ink storage member, and a recovery state in which the shielding state by the shielding member is further released from this capping state so that the waste ink in the cap can be recovered. Is characterized by.

By having such a capping state, it is possible to reliably prevent ink evaporation from the ink ejection port of the recording unit, and by further shifting from this capping state to the collecting state, the waste ink discharged from the recording unit Can be collected.

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

First Embodiment FIGS. 1 to 6 explain one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 shows the details of the ink supply system.

This ink supply system is composed of a recording head 1, a pump 9, and an ink cartridge 18.

The details of each part are as follows.

The recording head 1 has two parts, a substrate 1e and a cover 1g.
It consists of and.

The cover 1g is formed as a flat housing with one side open, and the injection nozzle 1a formed as a plurality of grooves is formed along the open end, and the ventilation nozzle 1b also formed as a groove is formed. Has been formed.

The spray nozzle 1a and the ventilation nozzle 1b are the cover 1
It communicates with the ink chamber 1c which occupies the center of g.

Further, an ink passage 1h is formed on the other side of the ink chamber 1c, the upper end thereof communicates with the ink chamber 1c via the passage, and the lower end is connected to the pump side described later through a small hole. To be done.

On the other hand, on the side of the substrate 1e, a plurality of heating elements (not shown) are formed at positions corresponding to the jet nozzles 1a, and liquid level detection electrodes 1f are arranged vertically at a certain distance. Has been done.

The heating element 1h, the level detection electrode 1f, and the materials suitable for the respective purposes described above can be extremely easily formed on the substrate 1e by a thin film forming means such as vapor deposition or sputtering.

The substrate 1e having the above structure and the cover 1g are integrated in a state in which the jet nozzle 1a and the heating element are superposed.

Then, the cover 1g in which one side surface is opened
Is closed by the substrate 1e.

The level detection electrode 1f is a substrate 1
Needless to say, it may be provided on e by adhesion or other means.

When a predetermined pulse voltage is applied as an applied signal to the recording head 1 having such a structure, a predetermined heating element generates heat, and the ink introduced into the ejection nozzle 1a momentarily expands to eject the ejection nozzle 1a. It is ejected from the front end of 1a toward the recording paper.

By the way, the heating element is not used only for ejecting ink,
It is also used for the following purposes.

That is, the ink used in the ink jet printer uses a medium having a large molecular weight in order to make the vapor pressure as low as possible. For this reason, the viscosity of the ink often increases at a temperature of 10 ° C. or lower.

Since increasing the viscosity of the ink causes non-ejection of the ink, it has been conventionally proposed to heat the vicinity of the recording head or the inside of the printer at a low temperature.

However, it takes an extremely long time and a large amount of energy to heat a portion having a large heat capacity such as the vicinity of the recording head or the inside of the printer to obtain a predetermined temperature.

Therefore, in the present invention, a current is supplied to the heating element so that the heating element is heated to a temperature at which ink is not ejected, and the portions of the ejection nozzle 1a and the ink chamber 1c can be heated in a short time with a small amount of energy. Has been done.

On the other hand, the ink passage 1h is connected to the head pedestal 3 via an O-ring 4 that shuts off the connection with the outside air.

The head pedestal 3 has a liquid passage 3a connected to the ink passage 1h and a liquid passage 3b continuous with the liquid passage 3a, and a space between them is separated by a filter 3c.

The filter 3c is for removing fine dust in the ink 2, and is formed by bundling thin hollow needles made of glass having a diameter of about 20 to 30 μm into a slice. In addition to the role of removing dust, the filter 3c also has the effect of increasing the hydraulic resistance in the liquid passage behind the ejection nozzle 1a when ejecting ink from the ejection nozzle 1a.

On the other hand, a cap 7 is provided corresponding to the recording head 1. The cap 7 is attached so as to be rotatable about a shaft 7b, and can be displaced between a state in which the portion of the injection nozzle 1a is covered and a state in which it is separated from the state.

The cap 7 is an absorber 8 that absorbs ink leaked or ejected from the ejection nozzle 1a and the ventilation nozzle 1b.
And a large number of small holes 7a formed on the back surface for discharging ink from the absorber.

On the other hand, the pump 9 is configured as follows.

The motor 1 is placed in a circular space formed in the casing of the pump 9.
A rotor 9a that is rotated by 0 is rotatably mounted, and a plurality of rollers 9c are rotatably supported by a shaft 9b at equal intervals in the circumferential direction in the rotor 9a.

Although there is a difference between the inner diameter of the circular space of the pump 9 and the diameter of the rotor 9a, the roller 9c is configured so as to be able to rotate while being in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the circular space.

The tube 5 is guided between the arc wall 9d and the rotor 9a located above the circular space of this pump.

One end of the tube 5 communicates with the liquid passage 3a on the side of the head pedestal 3, and a hollow needle 16 to be inserted into a rubber plug of an ink cartridge described later is attached to the other end.

Further, one end of the tube 6 is connected to the cap 7 side, and the other end is connected to the ink cartridge side.

On the other hand, a through hole 9f is formed on the side of the pump 9,
A pin 11 is slidably fitted in the through hole 9f.

The inner end of the pin 11 is desired to be on the side of the arc-shaped space of the pump 9, and the other end of the pin 11 projects to the outside of the pump 9 and contacts the lever 12 a of the microswitch 12.

Therefore, the rotor 9a rotates and the roller 9c moves to the pin 1
1, the pin 11 projects away from the arcuate space, that is, to the outside of the pump 9, and the lever 12a
The micro switch 12 can be turned on by pressing.

Therefore, the micro switch 12 can detect the rotational position of the roller 9c, and by counting this signal, the rotational speed of the rotor 9a can also be detected.

The micro switch 12 and the motor 10 are connected to the motor drive circuit 19.

On the other hand, reference numeral 18 denotes an ink cartridge, which is divided into upper limit spaces 18a and 18b by a partition wall 18c, and the ink bag 13 is accommodated in the upper space 18a side.

The ink bag 13 is formed by laminating a polymer film such as nylon or polyethylene on an aluminum foil, and has one end sealed and a pipe 14 at the other end.
And a rubber plug 15 is provided. By inserting the hollow needle 16 of the tube 5 into the rubber plug 15 and inserting the hollow needle 16 into the pipe 14, the ink 2 in the ink bag 13 can be guided to the recording head side through the tube 5.

On the other hand, the ink absorber 17 is housed in the space 18b below the ink cartridge 18, and absorbs the waste liquid of the ink sucked through the tube 6.

On the other hand, FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a mechanical portion of a printer including the above-described ink supply system, and the same portions as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 24 is a carriage,
This carriage is slidably fitted to guide rails 25 and 26. The carriage 24 includes a pulley 29 fixed to the tip of the output shaft of a motor 28 for driving the carriage,
It is partially connected to a wire 31 stretched endlessly between the driven pulley 30 and the guide rails 25, 26.
You can move freely along.

On the carriage 24, the above-described ink supply system, recording head, etc. are mounted.

On the other hand, the reference numeral 27 indicates a platen, and the recording paper 32 is guided along the platen 27.
The recording paper 32 can be fed in the print digit direction by rotating the.

Next, the operation of the inkjet printer configured as described above will be described.

First, the ink supply operation will be described.

A control device (not shown) monitors the liquid level of the ink in the ink chamber 1c in the recording head 1 via the level detection circuit 20 every time the printing operation for one page is completed.

When the level detection circuit 20 detects that the ink level in the ink chamber 1c is below a predetermined level,
The control device rotates the motor 10 via the motor drive circuit 19 to operate the pump 9.

When the ink level in the ink chamber 1c reaches a preset level, the pump 9 rotates for a predetermined number of rotations and then stops.

The reason why the pump 9 is rotated by a predetermined number of revolutions in this way is to additionally supply the volume of the ink in the ink chamber 1c above the electrode 1f and the volume of the ink ejected from the nozzle.

On the other hand, based on the roller position signal generated from the micro switch 12 generated when the roller 9c of the pump 9 and the sliding pin 11 contact each other, the control device causes the roller 9c to move the sliding pin 11 as shown in FIG. Be sure to press and stop at a position where it is not in contact with the tube 5.

In this state, the tube 5 is not crushed by the roller 9c, and the liquid path of the tube 5 is open.

By the way, during the printing operation of the recording head 1, the capillary phenomenon due to the surface tension of the ink 2 and the negative pressure in the ink chamber 1c caused by the ejection of the ink from the ejection nozzle 1a cause the ink to pass from the ink bag 13 through the tube 5. It is supplied into the ink chamber 1c.

On the other hand, when the level detection circuit 20 determines that the ink berger is set, the above operation is not performed.

Next, the detection of ink shortage and the recovery operation are performed as follows.

If the ink does not reach the level detection electrode 1f even after the above-described ink supply operation has been performed for a certain period of time and the ink is not detected by the level detection circuit 20, the control device has no ink in the ink bag 13. to decide.

Then, the control device notifies the ink shortage by means such as lighting a light emitting element (not shown) or generating an alarm sound, and stops the recording operation.

On the other hand, the operation when replacing the ink cartridge 18 is as follows.

When the cartridge without ink is removed and a new cartridge with ink is installed, the motor 10 rotates,
The pump 9 operates and the ink 2 in the ink bag 13 is sent to the ink chamber 1c by the tube 5 or the like. Then, when the ink reaches the inlet of the ventilation nozzle 1b, the pump 9 stops at a predetermined position.

During this operation, the ventilation nozzle 1b and the injection nozzle 1
The ink leaked from a is absorbed by the absorber 8, and the absorbed ink is discharged into the absorber 17 of the cartridge 18 through the pipe 6.

Next, the first recovery operation after printing is not performed for a long time will be described.

When the device is turned off and has not been used for a long time, or when the power is turned on but the printing operation has not been performed for a long time, the first printout may not be printed or the print density may be low. Accidents such as ink splashing and dirt adhering to the recording paper occur.

This is because the viscosity of the ink at the tip of the ejection nozzle is increased due to the evaporation of the solvent of the ink from the tip of the ejection nozzle 1a.

If you did not print for a long time like this,
The control device first detects that the printing operation is not performed for a predetermined time, and also detects the ink level via the level detection circuit 20. When the ink level has not reached the predetermined level, the ink supply operation described above is performed.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the ink level is at the predetermined level, the pump 9 is rotated a predetermined number of times and stopped. This is because the volume of the ink in the ink chamber 1c and the amount of ink ejected from the nozzles are additionally supplied from the level detection electrode 1f, as described in the ink supply operation.

Next, the operation of the cap 7 and the suction operation of the waste liquid by the cap 7 will be described.

The cap 7 is rotated about the shaft 7b by driving a motor (not shown) in a position other than the printing operation, that is, in the range of the home position, and covers the entire surface of the ejection nozzle 1a. In this state, it is possible to prevent evaporation of the ink solvent from the ejection nozzle 1a and adhesion of dust to the nozzle surface.

On the other hand, when the cap 7 is fitted, the ink absorber 8 absorbs the ink leaking from the ejection nozzle 1 a, and the pump 9 is operated to force the ink in the cap 7 via the tube 6. The absorber 17 in the space 18b for storing the waste liquid of the ink cartridge 18
Discharge inside.

The specific operation of the cap 7 is as follows.

That is, when the operation of the pump 9 is started as described above, the cap 7 is fitted into the injection nozzle 1a, and when the recovery operation is completed, the operation of the pump 9 is stopped and the cap 7
Moves away from the nozzle 1a.

On the other hand, when the recording operation for one page is completed, the recording head 1 returns to the home position, but when the recording head returns to the home position, the cap 7 is fitted on the tip of the ejection nozzle 1a. Immediately before the printing operation for the next page is started, the cap 7 is separated from the ejection nozzle 1a, and the normal printing operation is performed.

By the way, the pump 9 during the recovery operation as described above
If the ink cartridge 18 is not attached during the operation of, the waste liquid will be discharged into the apparatus, so the pump 9
The above operation is performed only when a signal indicating that the ink cartridge 18 is mounted is output.

Next, details of one embodiment of the cap device portion applied to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6.

A screw shaft 36 is provided so as to be axially supported by bearing members 34 and 35 provided on the substrate 33. The rotation of the motor 39 is transmitted to the screw shaft 36 via gears 37 and 38. The screw shaft is a leg portion 40 of the box body 40.
Since the gears a and 40b are meshed with each other, the rotation of the motor 39 causes the box 40 to approach the head 1 or retract.

Reference numeral 41 denotes an elastic member made of rubber or the like, which is provided around the opening of the box body 40 with respect to the head 1 and serves to increase the airtightness when the box body 40 and the head 1 are relatively joined. .

4 and 5, as the ink liquid absorber 42, a solid synthetic fiber or a synthetic resin sponge having water absorbability is used. The absorber 42 is a plate member 4
It is fixed to the moving shaft 44 through 3.

In FIG. 4, the motor mounting portion 4 at the rear of the box 40
0c is provided with a motor 45, and on the other hand, a cam disk 4 via a gear 46 and a gear 47 provided on the motor shaft.
The rotation of the motor 45 is transmitted to the motor 8.

The cam disk 48 is attached to the rear end rising portion 44 of the moving shaft 44.
a is engaged.

The upper end 44b of the rising portion 44a and the end portion 40 of the box body 40
Since the spring 49 is stretched between d, the urging force in the direction of approaching the head 1 always acts on the absorber 42 via the moving shaft 44.

In FIG. 6, reference numerals 50 and 51 are diaphragm plates, 52 is a shaft member that rotatably supports the diaphragm plate, and 53 is a lower end portion 50 of the diaphragm members 50 and 51 fixed to a shaft 54.
It is a diaphragm member drive cam inserted between a and 51a.

The rotation of the motor 55 is transmitted to the shaft 54 via gears 56 and 57. The tip of the L-shaped hollow tube portion 40e provided at the lowermost portion of the box body 40 projects into the waste ink container inlet 18d of the ink cartridge 18 when the carriage 24 is at the home position as shown in FIG. To do.

Reference numeral 58 denotes the hollow tube portion 40e in which the ink accumulated at the bottom of the box 40 is
It is a valve member for blocking the outflow to the opening and closing of the valve in conjunction with the suction element 59 driven by the electromagnet 60.

In FIG. 3, the screw shaft 36 provided between the shaft support members 34 and 35 is the leg portions 40 a and 40 of the box body 40.
It penetrates through the bearing provided in b and guides the linear movement of the box body 40 with respect to the head 1.

Next, the operation of the cap device section described above will be described for each operation item.

(1) Capping operation When the carriage 24 stops at a predetermined position of the home position in FIG. 2, the motor 39 in FIGS. 3 and 4 rotates, and subsequently, the screw shaft 36 moves through the gears 38 and 37. Rotate.

The box body 40 screw-connected to the screw shaft 36 approaches the head 1 by the rotation of the screw shaft 36 and contacts the peripheral portion of the nozzle 1a via the rubber elastic member 41, and then the movement of the box body 40 is stopped. To do.

In this state, the nozzle 1a is shielded from the outside air by the rubber elastic member 41, so that the evaporation of the ink solvent at the tip of the nozzle 1a is prevented.

(2) Leakage ink suction operation When the rotation of the motor 45 is transmitted by the gears 46 and 47, the cam disk 48 rotates, and the rising portion 44a of the moving shaft 44 that follows the cam disk 48 is shown in FIG. The force of the spring 49 moves from the position indicated by the two-dot chain line to the position indicated by the solid line. By moving to the shaft 44, the entire surface of the absorber 42 comes into contact with the ejection port surface of the nozzle 1 a of the head 1. In the above state, the pump 9 shown in FIG.
When it leaks from the tip of a, the absorber 42 absorbs the leaked ink and does not leave the ink liquid on the ejection surface of the nozzle 1a.

(3) Operation of squeezing out the ink in the absorber 42 When the absorber 42 has saturated its absorbing power due to leaked ink, or after absorbing a predetermined number of times, the motor 45 rotates in reverse and the moving shaft 44 is shown by a solid line. Return from the position of to the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line. Therefore, the absorbent body 42 has the moving shaft 4
Move away from head 1 in conjunction with 4.

On the other hand, the absorber 42 separated from the head 1 is formed by the diaphragm plates 50, 5
Located between 1 and stops.

The rotation of the motor 55 is transmitted to the shaft 54 by the gears 56 and 57, and in conjunction with the rotation of the shaft 54, the diaphragm member drive cam 53.
When the vertical state changes from the vertical state to the horizontal state, the upper portions of the diaphragm plates 50 and 51 come close to each other. Therefore, the ink liquid in the absorber squeezed between the diaphragm plates 50, 51 flows out from the absorber 42 and the lower end portions 50a, 5 of the diaphragm plates 50, 51.
1a is transmitted and collects at the bottom of the box 40.

The absorber 42, from which the ink in the absorber has been squeezed out by the diaphragm plates 50 and 51, restores the ability to absorb the leaked ink from the nozzle 1a again.

(4) Discharging Operation of Absorbed Ink to Ink Cartridge When the valve 58 is opened in a state where the hollow tube portion 40e of the box body 40 is inserted into the ink discharge port 18d of the ink cartridge 18, the bottom portion of the box body 40 is opened. The accumulated ink is hollow tube 40e.
Flows into the absorber 17 of the ink cartridge 18 from the tip of the.

When the valve is closed after a predetermined time, the ink stops flowing into the absorber 17. Further, when the valve 58 is closed, the inside of the box body 40 is shut off from the outside air, so that the vapor pressure inside the box body 40 becomes the same as the vapor pressure of the ink, so that the evaporation of ink from the nozzle 1a is minimized.

Further, the waste ink liquid absorbed by the absorber 17 of the ink cartridge may be discarded for each ink cassette when the ink in the ink bag 13 is exhausted, and it is not necessary to provide a tank for specially treating the waste liquid. A device that is very convenient for the user can be provided.

(5) State of Cap Device Portion When Printing Operation is Paused and Recording Device is Not Used When the recording device is in a pausing state, the absorber 42 is always separated from the nozzle surface of the head 1. On the other hand, since the elastic body 41 is in close contact with the periphery of the nozzle 1a, the nozzle 1a
Is shielded from the atmosphere, and the evaporation of ink from the ejection port of the nozzle 1a is suppressed to a small extent.

Since the ink squeezing mechanism of the absorber 42 of this embodiment can be made equal to the width dimension L1 of the absorber 42 as shown in FIG. 5, it can be made equal to the width dimension L2 of the diaphragm plates 50 and 51 shown in FIG. The absorber 42 has a feature that it can be pressed over a wide area, and therefore the liquid squeezing effect is large. Further, since the diaphragm plates 50 and 51 are thin plates having a spring property, when the diaphragm driving member 53 rotates, if the collapsing margin of the absorber 42 has no allowance, the diaphragm plates 50 and 51 will bend, so that the diaphragm driving member 53 will not bend. It has an excellent feature that rotation is not hindered.

Second Embodiment Next, another embodiment of the cap mounting portion will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10.

In the drawings, members having the same functions and shapes as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description of their functions and operations will be omitted.

In FIGS. 7 and 9, 61 is an ink absorber, 62 is a hollow tube for holding the absorber, and a state in which the tip portion 62a of the hollow tube 62 is inserted into the absorber 61 Both are combined with. Reference numeral 63 denotes an O-ring, which is interposed between the outer periphery of the hollow tube and the wall portion of the box body 40 to form the hollow tube 6
The outer circumference of 2 and the wall of the box body 40 are hermetically sealed and also function as a bearing when the hollow tube 62 swings.

A piston shaft 64 is slidably provided in a bearing portion 40f provided on the side surface of the box body 40.

The tip portion 64a of the piston shaft has an annular shape, and the hollow tube 62 is inserted inside the annular portion.

A guide member 64b having a slide guide groove is provided at the other end of the piston shaft 64.

The slide pin 65 set up on the gear 47 is engaged with the groove of the guide member 64b.

Next, the operation of discharging the absorbed ink liquid from the inside of the absorber 61 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

When the motor 45 rotates in the state of FIG. 7, the gear 46,
The guide pin 65 is displaced to the position shown in FIG.

In association with the guide pin 65, the guide member 64b also has an eighth
Since it moves to the right as shown in the figure, the hollow tube 62 rotates counterclockwise with the O-ring 63 as a fulcrum via the tip portion 64a of the piston shaft 64.

Therefore, the rear end portion 61b of the absorber 61 is the wall portion 40 of the box body 40.
Since the rear end portion of the absorber is crushed by hitting g, the rear end portion 6
The ink liquid in 1b is squeezed to the outside.

The ink liquid squeezed from the absorber 61 is a hollow tube 62.
It passes through the inside and collects at the bottom of the box 40.

The ink liquid accumulated at the bottom is discharged into the ink cartridge 18 through the L-shaped tube member 40e and the hole 18c of the ink cartridge 18. The front surface 61a of the absorber 61 is simultaneously separated from the nozzle surface of the head 1 by the counterclockwise rotation of the hollow tube 64.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the diaphragm operation of the absorber and the operation of separating the absorber 61 from the surface of the head 1 are performed by one drive source, so that the mounting is easy. Further, since the hollow tube 62 and the absorber 61 are coupled with a simple structure, the absorber 61 has an excellent feature that the absorber 61 can be easily replaced.

FIG. 10 is a view showing another coupling means of the hollow tube 62 and the absorber 61. A plate 62b having a plurality of pores 62c is provided at an end 62a of the hollow tube 62, and a right side surface of the plate 62b is provided. The absorber 61 is provided, and the absorber 66 is provided on the left side surface.

Since the absorbent body 61 is made of a material of which the absorbent body is not easily decomposed, the strips or fibers of the absorbent body 61 do not enter the nozzle 1a of the head 1.

On the other hand, the absorber 66 is made of a soft material, and is easily crushed by a pressing force so that the ink liquid can be easily ejected.

Third Embodiment Next, another embodiment of the cap device portion will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 15.

In the drawings, members having the same functions and shapes as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 10 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the explanation of their functions and operations will be omitted.

In FIGS. 11 and 13, 67 is an absorber, which is held by the frame 68.

69 is a support shaft when the frame 68 swings, 70 is a rubber plate for reducing the wear between the side wall in the box 40 and the absorber 67, and 71 is an ink liquid that slides on the bottom surface of the box 40. And the ink liquid discharge port 40 of the box 40
It is a shoe member that covers h and also functions as a valve.

Reference numeral 72 is a spring member that imparts clockwise rotation to the frame 68.

Reference numeral 73 is a sliding pin that transmits clockwise rotation to the frame 68, and 74 is a cam disk that works with the gear 47 to drive the sliding pin 73.

In FIG. 11, the absorber 67 is in contact with the surface of the head 1 by the force of the spring 72 via the frame 68. The ink liquid leaking from the nozzle 1a is absorbed by the absorber 67 in the above state. In the above state, the motor 45
When is rotated, the cam disc 74 is rotated to the position shown in FIG. 12 via the gears 46 and 47. Since the sliding pin 73 moves to the right by the rotation of the cam disk 74, the frame 68 rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 69 against the force of the spring 72, so that the absorber 67 is moved downward. Since the side portion 67a and the plurality of pore surfaces 40i provided on the inner wall of the box body 40 abut on each other and the lower portion of the absorber 67a is crushed, the ink liquid in the absorber 67 is squeezed out, and the squeezed ink is Hole 40
The liquid is discharged into the ink cartridge 18 through the liquid path 40j connecting the i, the discharge port 40h, and the L-shaped nozzle 76.

The ink liquid collected at the bottom is forcibly discharged from the discharge port 40h to the outside by the shoe member 71 when the frame 68 repeatedly swings.

Further, in a state where the recording operation is not performed, the absorber 67 is separated from the head 1, while the shoe member 71 is arranged so that the shoe member 71 is discharged.
Since h is blocked, the ink inside the box 40 does not leak outside.

As a matter of course, the material of the portion of the absorber 67 that contacts the head 1 and the portion of the box body 40 that contacts the wall 40i may be changed as described in FIG.

Next, the shutter for covering the opening portion of the box body 40 facing the head 1 and the L-shaped nozzle 76 provided in the lower portion of the box body 40 will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15.

Reference numeral 77 denotes a shutter plate which covers the elastic member 41 provided around the opening of the box 40 during the recording operation of the carriage 24 in FIG. 2, and when the carriage 24 is at the home position, the elastic member 41 is removed from the elastic member 41. fall back.

The shirt plate 77 is held by a guide member 78 so as to be movable left and right. End portion 78a of the guide member
Is fixed to the outer surface of the box body 40.

Further, since the spring 79 is stretched between the bent end portion 78b of the guide member 78 and the bent end portion 77a of the shutter plate 77, the shutter plate 77 has a habit of always covering the opening.

Reference numeral 80 is a pin provided near the head 1 on the carriage 24. Reference numeral 77b is a bent portion at the other end of the shutter plate 77.

In FIG. 15, the pin 8 is pressed while the carriage 24 is recording.
Since 0 is at least to the right of the position 80 'indicated by the two-dot chain line, the bent portion 77b of the shutter is located at the position 77b' indicated by the two-dot chain line, and accordingly, the shutter plate 77.
Is located at the position shown by the chain double-dashed line 77 '.
Since the opening of 0 is covered by the shutter plate 77, the entry of dust is prevented, and the surface of the absorber 67 in contact with the head surface is protected from dust.

When the carriage 24 approaches the home position, the pin 80 hits the bent portion 77b of the shutter, and while the carriage 24 reaches the home position, the pin 80 pushes the shutter bent portion 77b to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. Since it continues, the shutter plate 77 retracts from the surface of the opening.

Next, the rotation operation of the L-shaped nozzle 76 will be described.

Since the cylinder tip of the L-shaped nozzle 76 that functions as a conduit for discharging the ink in the box body 40 to the waste liquid storage portion of the ink cartridge 18 mounted on the carriage 24 is provided parallel to the moving direction of the carriage 24, the carriage 24
While approaching the home position, the ink cartridge 18 naturally rushes into the discharge port 18c.

Further, in FIG. 12, the L-shaped nozzle 76 is a box body 40.
It is rotatably provided through the O-ring 75 at the discharge port of.

The pins 82 set in the L-shaped nozzle 76 and the box body 4
The spring 84 stretched between the pins 83 set up at the front part of 0 urges the L-shaped nozzle 76 to rotate counterclockwise.

Reference numeral 76a denotes a cam protrusion provided on the L-shaped nozzle, which is a cam surface 7
6b. Reference numeral 85 is a cam drive member provided below the carriage 24.

In FIG. 15, when the carriage 24 is away from the home position, the cam drive member 85 and the cam surface 76b are disengaged, so that the position of the L-shaped nozzle 76 comes to the position shown by the chain double-dashed line 76 '. There is. In this state, the nozzle 7
The ink in 6 does not spill down.

On the other hand, as the carriage 24 approaches the home position, the cam drive member 85 is interlocked with the cam drive member 85 indicated by a two-dot chain line 85 '.
When the left end of the cam drive member 85 hits the cam surface 76b 'of the L-shaped nozzle 76, the L-shaped nozzle 76 rotates to the position indicated by the solid line. In this state, the discharge port 18c of the ink cartridge 18 further approaches, and finally the tip of the L-shaped nozzle is at the discharge port 18c.
plunge into c.

Effect As is clear from the above description, the apparatus of the present invention has a capping state in which the ink discharge guide path is connected to the ink discharge accommodating member by disposing the carriage at a position facing the cap means, and the capping state. From the state, the shielding state by the shielding member is further released so as to take a collecting state in which the waste ink in the cap can be collected. In the capping state, ink is evaporated from the ink discharge port of the recording unit. The discharge ink discharged from the recording unit can be reliably collected by shifting from the capping state to the collection state.

Further, only when the waste ink storage member and the waste ink guide path from the cap means are connected, the shielding means is released to discharge the waste ink to the waste ink storage member, and the waste ink storage member and the waste ink guide path from the cap means. In the non-connected state, since the structure that shields the discharge of the ink from the waste ink guide path is adopted, the leaked waste ink can be reliably collected without contaminating the inside of the device, and the inside of the device can be discharged. It is possible to provide a highly reliable inkjet recording device capable of reliably collecting the discharged ink with a simple configuration without crawling the tube for collecting the ink.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 6 illustrate one embodiment of the present invention.
1 is an explanatory view of an ink supply system, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of a recording apparatus, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view of a cap device,
4 is a vertical side view of the cap device, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the ink absorber, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the ink throttling mechanism, and FIG.
Figures 10 to 10 explain another embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a cross-sectional plan view, FIG. 8 is a vertical side view, FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an ink absorber, FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another structural example of the ink absorber, and FIGS. FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional side view, FIG. 12 is a vertical sectional side view showing the operation, FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an ink absorber, and FIG. A cross-sectional plan view and FIG. 15 are front views. 1 ... Recording head, 1a ... Injecting nozzle 2 ... Ink, 5, 6 ... Tube 7 ... Cap, 9 ... Pump 18 ... Ink cartridge 36 ... Screw shaft, 40 ... Box 41 ... Elastic members 42, 61, 67 ... Ink absorber

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-53-97428 (JP, A) JP-A-58-56861 (JP, A) Jikho-57-18122 (JP, Y2)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A recording means for ejecting ink onto a recording medium to perform recording, a carriage which is replaceably mounted with an ink tank containing ink supplied to the recording means, and a carriage which is scanned. A cap unit arranged on the surface facing the recording unit to cover the ink ejection surface of the recording unit in contact therewith, and a waste ink storage member configured integrally with the ink tank and storing the waste ink discharged from the recording unit. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a cap means for guiding the waste ink discharged from the recording means to the waste ink storage member; and a shielding member for shielding the flow of the guided ink. And a carriage in which the waste ink guide path is connected to the waste ink storage member by disposing the carriage at a position facing the cap means. An ink jet recording apparatus for a ring state, and a recovery condition to allow recovery of waste ink in the cap to release the blocking state by further said shield member from the capping state, characterized in that take.