JPH06328705A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent printing defect caused by the adhesion of foreign matter, in the cleaning device of an ink jet recording apparatus, by making the overlap quantity of a cleaning member and a nozzle part constant and preventing wiping irregularity and the remaining of a non-wipen part. CONSTITUTION:The cleaning mechanism of an ink jet recording apparatus is constituted of a cleaning member 1 for wiping out a nozzle part 10, the cleaning lever 3 rotatable around the shaft 6 attached to a frame 13, the holder 2 engaged with the cleaning lever 3 and having the cleaning member 1 attached to the end part thereof and the grooved cam 8 provided to the frame 13 and permitting a holder shaft 7 to slide and having at least the part parallel to the nozzle part 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention mainly relates to an inkjet recording apparatus, and more particularly to an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with a cleaning mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink jet recording apparatus is constructed so that a nozzle provided in an ink jet head ejects ink droplets toward a recording sheet to perform printing.

In the above ink jet recording apparatus,
If foreign matter such as paper dust or dust and excess ink adhere to the nozzle portion, defective printing may occur due to missing dots, curved flight of ink droplets, or the like. For this reason, it is necessary for the ink jet recording apparatus to be provided with means for preventing this type of printing failure and for recovering from the printing failure state.

As one means for this, there has been devised a method of wiping the nozzle portion of the ink jet head with a plate-shaped cleaning member made of an elastic member to remove the adhering foreign matter and excess ink.

A conventional technique for removing foreign matter and excess ink will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the structure of a conventional cleaning mechanism and a wiping state. The cleaning lever 102 with the cleaning member 101 attached to the end is
The frame 106 is rotatably supported by the shaft 103, and is rotated in the direction of arrow B from a standby state shown by a broken line in the drawing by a driving unit (not shown). As the cleaning lever 102 rotates, the tip of the cleaning member 101 attached to the end portion of the cleaning lever 102 has a frame 106.
A locus 108 of an arc around the axis 103 of is drawn. The nozzle member 105 of the ink ejecting head 104 positioned so as to overlap the trajectory 108 of the tip of the cleaning member 101 is wiped by the cleaning member 101, and the foreign matter 109 adhering to the nozzle unit 105 and the excess ink 110 are cleaned. It is attached to 101 and removed. Further, an ink absorber 107 made of a porous member is supported by the frame 106 at a position overlapping the trace 108 of the tip of the cleaning member 101 after wiping.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a state after wiping of a conventional cleaning mechanism.

On the cleaning member 101 after wiping the nozzle portion 105, the foreign matter 10 wiped from the nozzle portion 105 is removed.
9, and the excess ink 110 is attached, the cleaning lever 102 further rotates in the direction of arrow B even after the wiping, and the ink absorber 107 provided at the position overlapping the locus 108 of the tip of the cleaning member 101. The cleaning member 101 abuts on the surface of. At this time, since the foreign material 109 adhering to the cleaning member 101 from the nozzle portion 105 by wiping and the excess ink 110 are wiped by the ink absorber 107,
The foreign matter 109 adheres to the surface of the ink absorber 107, and the excess ink 110 is absorbed inside the ink absorber 107,
The foreign matter 109 adhering to the cleaning member 101 and the excess ink 110 are removed.

[0009]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the cleaning lever having the cleaning member attached to the end thereof makes a rotational movement, and the locus of the arc of the tip of the cleaning member overlaps with the nozzle portion. Since the cleaning member wipes the nozzle portion to remove foreign matter and excess ink adhering to the nozzle portion, the amount of overlap between the tip of the cleaning member and the nozzle portion at the time of wiping is not constant. When the cleaning member wipes the upper part of the nozzle, the overlap amount is small, when the central part of the nozzle is wiped, the overlap amount becomes maximum, and when the lower part of the nozzle is wiped, the overlap amount becomes small again. If the overlap amount at the time of wiping is not constant, uneven wiping is likely to occur in a place where the overlap amount is small and a place where the overlap amount is large. However, there is a problem in that printing defects such as dot dropouts and flight deviations of ink drops occur due to adhesion of excess ink. or,
Even if a cleaning operation is performed in order to recover from such a print defect state, there is a problem that a reliable recovery operation cannot be performed.

Further, when the amount of overlap with the tip of the cleaning member is small and unevenness in wiping and the unwiping residue are apt to be sufficiently secured, the tip of the cleaning member and the central portion of the nozzle are not secured. The overlap amount of is even larger. If the amount of overlap between the tip of the cleaning member and the nozzle is too large, the wiping force of the cleaning member will be large, damaging the delicate nozzle and causing printing defects such as flight deflection of ink droplets, and the worst case. In this case, there was a risk of ruining the ink jet head.

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with a cleaning mechanism capable of performing reliable and stable cleaning.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an ink jet head for ejecting ink droplets and a nozzle portion of the ink jet head in an ink jet recording apparatus for ejecting ink droplets toward recording paper for printing. A cleaning mechanism having a cleaning mechanism for removing foreign matter such as adhered paper dust and dust, and excess ink, the cleaning mechanism rotating the cleaning member for wiping the nozzle portion and a shaft attached to the frame as a fulcrum. The lever and the cleaning lever are integrally rotated by engaging with the cleaning lever, and the holder having the cleaning member attached to the end thereof and the holder shaft provided on the frame and integrally formed with the holder slide during cleaning. And a grooved cam having at least a portion parallel to the nozzle portion.

[0013]

According to the above configuration of the present invention, the cleaning member always wipes the nozzle portion with a certain amount of overlap with the nozzle portion to remove foreign matters such as paper dust and dust adhering to the nozzle portion, and Since the excess ink is removed, uneven wiping and unwiping residue do not occur.

[0014]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are views showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a partial construction of an ink jet recording apparatus using the cleaning mechanism of the present invention, showing the construction at a cleaning position. In the figure, 1 is a plate-like cleaning member made of an elastic member, 2
Is a holder having the cleaning member 1 attached to its end, and 3 is a cleaning lever having an elongated hole 5 formed so that an oval convex portion 4 formed integrally with the holder 2 can be engaged with and slid, The shaft 6 attached to the frame 13 can be rotated about a fulcrum by a driving unit (not shown). Reference numeral 7 is a holder shaft integrally formed with the holder 2 and the oval convex portion 4, 8 is a groove cam formed on the frame 13 so that the holder shaft 7 integrally formed with the holder 2 slides, It is composed of arcuate portions 8a and 8c centered on the shaft 6 attached to the frame 13 and a linear portion 8b parallel to the nozzle portion 10 for ejecting ink droplets.
Reference numeral 9 is an ink jet head, 11 is a carriage on which the ink jet head 9 is mounted, 12 is a guide shaft when the carriage 11 reciprocates in the print digit direction, and 14 is an ink absorber made of a porous member supported by a frame 13. Is. or,
Although not shown, a printing paper, a platen for guiding the printing paper, and a paper feeding device are provided at a position facing the head in the printing area.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the structure of the cleaning mechanism of the present invention, which also shows a state immediately before wiping the nozzle portion 10. The cleaning lever 3 is rotatably supported by the shaft 6 of the frame 13, and is rotated in the direction of arrow A from a standby state shown by a broken line in the drawing by a driving unit (not shown). Holder 2 with cleaning member 1 attached to the end
In the cleaning lever 3 pivotally supported by the shaft 6 of the frame 13, the oval convex portion 4 formed integrally with the holder 2 and the elongated hole 5 formed in the cleaning lever 3 are engaged with each other. Therefore, like the cleaning lever 3, the holder 2 having the cleaning member 1 attached to the end also has the frame 1
It rotates in the direction of arrow A about the shaft 6 of 3. The holder shaft 7 formed integrally with the holder 2 slides within the arcuate portion 8a of the groove cam 8 centering on the shaft 6, and the tip of the cleaning member 1 draws a locus 15a. The ink ejecting head 9 is located on the side facing the cleaning member 1, the locus 15 of the tip of the cleaning member 1 and the nozzle portion 10 overlap each other, and the cleaning member 1 moves to the tip of the tip as the cleaning lever 3 rotates. It comes into contact with the nozzle portion 10 that overlaps the locus 15.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state where the nozzle portion 10 is being wiped. The cleaning member 1 is the nozzle unit 10.
When the cleaning lever 3 and the holder 2 continue to rotate in the direction of arrow A even after the contact with the holder 2, the holder shaft 7 formed integrally with the holder 2 has a linear portion 8b parallel to the nozzle portion 10 of the groove cam 8. Sliding inside, the tip of the cleaning member 1 draws a locus 15b parallel to the nozzle portion 10. At this time, since the oval convex portion 4 formed on the holder 2 can freely slide in the elongated hole 5 formed on the cleaning lever 3 in the longitudinal direction of the convex portion 4, the locus 15b of the tip of the cleaning member 1 can be obtained. Is determined only by the shape of the grooved cam 8b provided on the frame 13. Further, the convex portion 4 formed on the holder 2 is not a circular shape but an oval shape, and the oval convex portion 4 and the elongated hole 5 formed on the cleaning lever 3 are loosely fitted, so that the holder 2 is convex. It is possible to slide the convex portion 4 only in the longitudinal direction without rotating in the elongated hole 5 around the fulcrum 4. Along with the rotation of the cleaning lever 3, the cleaning member 1 wipes the nozzle portion 10 overlapping the locus 15 of the tip, and foreign matter 16 such as paper dust and dust attached to the nozzle portion 10 and the excess ink 1
7 is attached to the cleaning member 1 and removed. Furthermore,
The tip of the ink absorber 14 made of a porous member supported by the frame 13 has a cleaning member 1 after wiping.
It is arranged so as to overlap the locus 15c of the tip of the.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state immediately after wiping the nozzle portion 10. After the nozzle member 10 is wiped with the cleaning member 1, the foreign material 16 attached to the nozzle member 10 and the excess ink 17 are attached to the cleaning member 1.

FIG. 5 shows the foreign matter 16 after the nozzle portion 10 has been wiped,
FIG. 6 is a side view showing the processing of the excess ink 17; Even after the wiping of the nozzle portion 10, the cleaning lever 3 and the holder 2 continue to rotate in the direction of the arrow A by a driving unit (not shown), and the cleaning member 1 overlaps the locus 15c of the tip after the wiping. Abut on 14.
When the cleaning member 1 is further rotated in the direction of the arrow A after the contact, the cleaning member 1 is wiped by the tip of the ink absorber 14.
The foreign matter 16 adhering to the cleaning member 1 and the excess ink 17 are both guided to the ink absorber 14. The foreign matter 16 guided to the ink absorber 14 is
The surplus ink 17 is absorbed inside the ink absorber 14 by adhering to and depositing on the surface of the. Therefore, the foreign matter 16 and the surplus ink 17 are all adhered to and absorbed by the ink absorber 14, so that the foreign matter 16 and the surplus ink 17 are not adhered and deposited on the cleaning member 1.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, at the time of cleaning, the holder shaft integrally formed with the holder to which the cleaning member is attached moves within the groove cam parallel to the nozzle portion formed on the frame. By sliding, the trajectory of the tip of the cleaning member draws a straight line parallel to the nozzle portion, and therefore the cleaning member wipes the nozzle portion of the ink jet head with a constant overlap amount.

Therefore, since the amount of overlap between the cleaning member and the nozzle portion of the ink jet head does not change unlike the conventional case, uneven wiping and unwiping residue do not occur depending on the location of the nozzle portion. It is possible to prevent printing defects such as dot dropouts and ink droplet flight bending due to the adhesion of foreign matter to the nozzle portion, and it is possible to reliably recover from the printing defect state. Moreover, since the amount of overlap between the cleaning member and the nozzle portion of the ink jet head does not change during cleaning, the wiping force by the cleaning member becomes uniform, and reliable and stable cleaning is performed without damaging the delicate nozzle portion. It has the effect that Thus, the practical effect of the present invention is extremely large.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus using an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the structure of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a wiping state according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state immediately after wiping in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state after wiping in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a conventional structure and a wiping state.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a state after wiping according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cleaning Member 2 Holder 3 Cleaning Lever 6 Shaft 7 Holder Shaft 8 Groove Cam 9 Ink Jet Head 10 Nozzle Part 13 Frame 16 Foreign Material 17 Excess Ink

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hisayuki Koike 3-3-5 Yamato, Suwa, Nagano Seiko Epson Co., Ltd. (72) Sadaho Murata 3-3-5 Yamato, Suwa, Nagano Prefecture Seiko -In Epson Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: an ink jet head for ejecting ink droplets; and a cleaning mechanism for removing foreign matter such as paper dust and dust attached to the nozzle portion of the ink jet head and excess ink. A cleaning member for wiping the nozzle portion; a cleaning lever rotatably attached to the frame; and a holder attached to the cleaning lever so as to extend and contract and holding the cleaning member at an end portion thereof. Is a cleaning mechanism in which a holder shaft formed on the side surface of the groove is slidably guided by a groove cam provided on the frame, and the groove cam has a portion parallel to the nozzle portion. Inkjet recording device.