JPH06336031A - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize the reduction of the number of parts, the improvement of fabricability, the simplication of the adjustment of wiping action and the reduction of cost in the cleaning means for wipingly cleaning the neighborhood of the jetting ports of a recording head. CONSTITUTION:Blade parts 44 for cleaning the neighborhood of the jetting ports of a recording head 11 are formed by some part of a feed roller 7 made of rubbery elastomer so as to clean the jetting port surfaces of the recording head 11 by taking advantage of the rotating action of the feed roller 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus using an ink jet recording apparatus as an output section of an image display apparatus or an image forming apparatus, for example, a printer or an output section of a copying machine, a facsimile, a calculator, a typewriter, a computer or the like. The present invention relates to a cleaning member for removing dew condensation and ink leakage generated on an ink ejection surface of a recording head mounted on an inkjet recording apparatus applicable to all models such as a multifunction machine, and an inkjet recording apparatus including the cleaning member.

[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 material (recording medium) 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 conveying direction (sub-scanning direction) of a recording material, the recording material is set at a predetermined recording position and then the recording material is recorded. An image is recorded (main scanning) by a recording unit mounted on a carriage that moves along the material, a predetermined amount of paper is fed (pitch conveyance) after the recording of one line is completed, and then the recording is stopped again. The entire recording material is recorded by repeating the operation of recording (main scanning) the image of the next row on the recording material. On the other hand, in a line-type recording apparatus that records only by sub-scanning in the transport direction of the recording material, the recording material is set at a predetermined recording position, and one line of recording is continuously performed collectively. A fixed amount of paper feed (pitch feed) is performed, and an image is recorded on the entire recording material.

Among the above-mentioned recording apparatuses, an ink jet type recording apparatus (ink jet recording apparatus) discharges ink from a recording means (recording head) onto a recording material to perform recording, so that the recording means can be made compact. Easy and
High-definition images can be recorded at high speed, plain paper can be recorded without requiring special processing, running costs are low, and the non-impact method produces less noise and multi-color images. It has advantages such as easy recording of a color image using ink. Above all, the line type apparatus using the line type recording means in which a large number of ejection ports are arranged in the paper width direction can further speed up the 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 material,
In recent years, ordinary recording materials such as paper and resin thin plates (OHP)
Etc.), thin paper or processed paper (paper with punched holes for filing, perforated paper, paper of any shape, etc.) has been required to be used.

As the ink jet recording apparatus method, a method using a piezoelectric element and a bubble jet method (represented by Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-61985), which can be miniaturized and excellent in liquid form in recent years, are the mainstream. It is mentioned as a thing. These form droplets in response to the desired electrical signal,
The ejected droplets are adhered to a recording medium (recording material) away from the ejection port of the inkjet head to perform printing or image formation.

In the recording apparatus to which the ink jet recording system is applied, the moisture contained in the ink or the recording medium evaporates, and the atmosphere of the recording head becomes high humidity, and the recording is performed depending on the conditions such as the temperature of the recording head and the atmosphere. Condensation may occur on the surface of the head on which the ink ejection port is formed.

Further, the ejected ink is repelled when landed on a recording material (recording medium), or minute ink droplets other than the droplets ejected from the ejection port, satellites thereof, etc. are ejected ( That is, it may adhere to the head surface). In this way, condensation may occur on the discharge port surface,
When the minute ink droplets adhere, the original function may be impaired, ejection from a certain ejection port may become difficult, or the ejection direction may be changed (deviated). That is,
When dew is wetted on the ejection surface, water droplets or the like are nonuniformly attached to the ejection surface, and the attached water droplets or the like pull the ejected ink unevenly when the ink is ejected from the ejection port. As a result, the ejection direction and ejection speed of the ink and the diameter of the ink droplet vary, resulting in a deterioration in recording quality. Further, paper powder, dust and the like are likely to adhere due to the wetting of the ejection surface. Therefore, these may adversely affect the ink ejection direction and the like, or may cause clogging of the ejection port, which may cause deterioration in recording quality.

The above-mentioned phenomenon of dew condensation or wetting may become more noticeable when a fixing heater is used to accelerate the fixing of the recorded image to the recording medium or when the dot duty of the recorded image is high.

In order to solve this phenomenon, it has been proposed and proposed to clean the discharge port surface to remove dew condensation, wetting and the like. First, wiping the discharge port surface with a solid rubber blade or a metal blade, and second,
Examples include wiping with an absorber. Wiping with an absorber uses a porous material, or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
There are proposals of Japanese paper or cloth such as JP-A-7-80064 and JP-A-57-116655, but they have not been implemented yet.

On the other hand, unlike the general cleaning, a sponge impregnated with an ink-soluble liquid is brought into contact with the ejection port surface and the liquid is applied to the ejection port surface for the purpose of cleaning the ejection port surface. It is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 59-164149. On the other hand, as a method for wiping the discharge port surface with a rubber blade, there are Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 52-102728 (2607313.2, German number) and 61-23.
0949 publication etc. are mentioned. In these and other applications showing many rubber solid blades, only that configuration is shown. Of course, by using these blades, the effect of cleaning the discharge port forming surface is recognized. For example, if cleaning is not used, the head surface (ejection port surface), which is the surface on which the ejection port is provided, is shown in FIG.
A so-called “leak state” 3 of ink, such as a minute ink droplet and an ink droplet that has become huge due to its agglomeration or the like, occurs on the surface 2. This is especially likely to occur with an on-demand type inkjet system such as the BJ (bubble jet) system when the ejection duty is high, and the usp33733437 and usp329803 are more likely to occur.
The continuous jet type ink jet method described in U.S. Pat. No. 8, usp3416153 or the like continuously ejects the recording liquid from the ejection port, so that the environment is more likely to cause “leak”.

In the rubber blade, as shown in FIG. 8, the blade 2 is attached in the moving path of the recording head 1 and at a position outside the printing area. The carriage 3 that has completed printing moves to the left, passes in front of the blade 2, contacts the ejection surface of the recording head 1, and cleans the ejection surface. Further, although the fixed type blade has been described here, there is a type in which the blade itself is moved back and forth by a cam or the like to control the cleaning timing.

[0013]

However, the above-mentioned conventional example has the following problems. That is,
(I) Since the cleaning effect changes depending on the amount of penetration of the blade 2, it is necessary to make adjustments during mounting, and it is also necessary to manage the accuracy of many parts even if they are not adjusted. (Ii), a member for holding the blade 2 or the blade 2
The number of parts such as mechanical parts for moving the robot increases. (Ii
The cost increases due to i), the above (i), and (ii).

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of improving the assembling property, reducing the number of parts, and further reducing the cost.

[0015]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording by ejecting ink from a recording means onto a recording material, the ejection means of the recording means having an ejection port for ejecting the ink. The above-mentioned object is achieved by adopting a configuration in which the cleaning means that comes into contact with the outlet forming surface and cleans the outlet forming surface is formed by a part of a roller of a rubber-like elastic body.

In addition to the above-mentioned constitution, the invention of claims 2 to 4 is such that the roller is a platen roller which also functions as a paper feed and a platen, and the recording means is used for ejecting ink. A structure which is an ink jet recording means provided with an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy, or the recording means uses film boiling generated in ink by thermal energy applied by the electrothermal converter, By adopting a configuration in which ink is ejected from the outlet, the above object is achieved more efficiently.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a side view of the inkjet recording apparatus, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of a recording head of the inkjet recording apparatus, and FIG. 5A to 5G are explanatory views of the operation of the same ink jet recording means when ejecting ink.
FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a blade portion of the inkjet recording apparatus. First, the overall configuration of the apparatus will be described. In FIGS. 1 and 2, a recording sheet 4 serving as a recording medium is conveyed by a sheet conveying unit 5. At this time, the recording sheet 4 is pressed by the sheet pressing member 6 against the feed roller 7 made of an elastic body so as not to float from the platen 8. The platen 8 is tilted backward by about 30 ° so that the recording sheet 4 can be easily discharged and the recording result can be easily seen. When using an ink that is difficult to dry, a heater can be provided on the back surface of the platen 8.

When the recording sheet 4 is conveyed, the carriage 9 is reciprocated along the guide rail 10 and
The recording means 11 is driven to record an image on the recording sheet 4.
The carriage 9 reciprocates by fixing a part of a timing belt stretched in parallel with the guide rail 10 between a carriage motor (not shown) and an idler pulley, and rotating the carriage motor forward or backward. Is. The sheet 4 after recording is discharged by the discharging means 12
Of the discharge roller 12A and the spur 12 that presses against the discharge roller 12A
It is configured to be conveyed by B and discharged to the stacker 13.

Next, the configuration of each part of the recording apparatus will be specifically described. The sheet conveying means 5 is for conveying the recording sheet 4 to the recording means 11, and in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The recording sheet fed from the SF (Auto / Sheet / Feeder) 14, the recording sheet manually fed from the manual feed port 15, and the continuous paper fed from the pin feed tractor 16 are conveyed.

The sheet conveying means 5 in this embodiment is a feed roller 7 which is a first rotating body which is driven to rotate in the direction of an arrow a in FIG. 2 and a pinch roller 17 which is a second rotating body which is driven by the feed roller 7. Also, the recording sheet 4 is conveyed to the recording means 11 by the rear pinch roller 18. As shown in FIG. 1, a feed gear 20 is attached to the rotary shaft 19 of the feed roller 7, the gear 20 meshes with an idler gear 21, and the idler gear 21 meshes with a discharge gear 22. The idler gear 21 meshes with the feed output gear 23 via a transmission gear (not shown). Further, the driving force of the feed motor is configured to be selectively transmitted to any of the feed output gear 23, the ASF output gear 24, and the pump gear 25.

Therefore, when the feed motor is driven and rotated, the rotational force is transmitted to the rotary shaft 19 via the gear train, and the feed roller 7 is rotated. Further, the driving force of the feed motor is transmitted to the pin feed tractor 16 via a transmission mechanism (not shown). The pinch rollers 17 and 18 are attached to the surface of the feed roller 7 under pressure by springs or the like (not shown) and are driven and rotated by the rotation of the feed roller 7. Therefore, the recording sheet 4 is nipped between the rotating feed roller 7 and the pinch rollers 17 and 18, and a conveying force is applied.

The ratio of the feed speeds of the feed roller 7, the pin feed tractor 16 and the discharge roller 12A is 0.900 to 0.999 for the feed roller 7 and the discharge roller 1 when the feed speed of the pin feed tractor 16 is 1.
2A is set to 1.001 to 1.010. Below the feed roller 7, as shown in FIG. 2, a paper pan 2 curved along the peripheral surface of the feed roller 7.
7 is attached. And the paper pan 27
Extends to the manual feed port 15 and serves as a lower guide for the manually fed recording sheet 4. Further, upper guide plates 28 and 29 are attached above the paper pan 27 at predetermined intervals to form a conveyance path for the recording sheet 4.

In the above structure, when the feed motor is driven to rotate the feed roller 7 in the direction of arrow a in FIG. 2, the recording sheet 4, the front pinch roller 17 and the feed roller 7 fed from the ASF 14 are moved. The nip is performed, the U-turn is carried along the peripheral surface of the feed roller 7, and the nip between the rear pinch roller 18 and the feed roller 7 is carried to the recording means 11 located above.

On the other hand, the recording sheet 4 fed from the manual feed port 15 is nipped by the feed roller 7 and the rear pinch roller 18 and conveyed to the recording position. Also,
In the case of continuous paper, the pin feed tractor 16 feeds between the upper guide plate 28 and the paper pan 27, and the nip is formed between the front pinch roller 17 and the feed roller 7,
The paper is conveyed by U-turns along the peripheral surface of the feed roller 7, further nipped between the rear pinch roller 18 and the feed roller 7, and conveyed to a recording position located above.

The sheet pressing member 6 prevents the recording sheet 4 from floating from the platen 8 by pressing the recording sheet 4 conveyed by the sheet conveying means 5 against the feed roller 7. As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet pressing member 6 is composed of a single plate-shaped member that is wider than the moving range of the carriage 9 so as to press the entire width of the recording sheet 4. The feed rollers 7 are pressed against each other by pressing means. The leading end of the sheet pressing member 6 is located below the recording position of the recording unit 11, and the conveyed recording sheet 4 is pressed against the feed roller 7 by the member 6. As a result, the recording sheet 4 at the recording position does not rise above the platen 8. The front end of the carriage 9 is always in contact with the sheet pressing member 6.

The carriage 9 is for reciprocating the recording means 11 in the width direction of the recording sheet 4. This carriage 9 has guide rails 10 having circular cross sections whose both ends are fixed to left and right side walls, and a guide plate 3 provided in parallel therewith.
It is slidably attached to 0. An elastic member 31 provided on the carriage 9 is engaged with the guide plate 30, and the elastic force urges the carriage 9 toward the platen 8. The urging force applied to the carriage 9 is balanced when the carriage 9 contacts the sheet pressing member 6. The position where the carriage 9 comes into contact is in the vicinity of the back surface of the contact portion between the sheet pressing member 6 and the feed roller 7, and when the sheet pressing member 6 retracts toward the recording means 11 side by the passage of the recording sheet 4, the carriage 9 similarly. It is configured to retract.

Therefore, regardless of the thickness of the recording sheet 4,
Recording means 11 and recording sheet 4 mounted on the carriage 9
The interval between and is always kept constant. Therefore,
A high-quality image is recorded without causing a recorded image due to ink ejection from the recording unit 11 to swell.

The recording means 11 is mounted on the carriage 9 as described above, and the recording sheet 4 conveyed by the sheet conveying means 5 is used.
The ink image is recorded on. An inkjet recording system is preferably used as the recording means in this apparatus. The ink jet recording system is provided with a liquid ejection port for ejecting and ejecting a recording ink liquid as flying droplets, a liquid channel communicating with the ejection port, and a part of this liquid channel. Ejection energy generating means for giving ejection energy for giving ejection energy for forming flying droplets in the liquid. The ejection energy generating means is driven according to the image signal to eject ink droplets to form an image.

As the ejection energy generating means, for example, a method of using pressure energy generating means such as an electromechanical converter such as a piezo element, or electromagnetic energy for irradiating and absorbing electromagnetic waves such as laser into an ink liquid to generate flying droplets is used. There are a method using a generating means, a method using a thermal energy generating means such as an electrothermal converter, and the like. Among them, the method of using a heat energy generating means such as an electrothermal converter is suitable because the ejection ports can be arranged at a high density and the recording head can be made compact.

In this embodiment, a bubble jet recording method which is one of the ink jet recording methods is used as the recording means. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the recording unit (recording head) 11, and FIGS. 4A to 4G are explanatory diagrams of the bubble jet recording principle. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 32 denotes a heater board, on which an electrothermal converter (discharge heater) 33 and an electrode 34 made of aluminum or the like for supplying electric power to the electrothermal converter 33 are formed and arranged on a silicon substrate. The heater board 32 is configured by adhering a top plate 36 having a partition wall for partitioning the recording liquid passage 35. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, an ink cartridge 37 for supplying ink to the recording means 11 is replaceably attached to the left side portion of the apparatus.

Ink supplied from the ink cartridge 37 through a conduit (not shown) is filled in a common liquid chamber 39 in the recording means 11 from a supply port 38 provided in the top plate 36, and then from the common liquid chamber 39. It is introduced into each liquid path 35. Ink ejection openings 40 are formed in these liquid paths 35, and the ejection openings 40 are formed at a predetermined pitch in the sheet conveying direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1) facing the recording sheet 4 of the recording means 11. It is

The principle of ink flight in the bubble jet recording system will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (g). In the steady state, as shown in FIG.
The surface tension and the external pressure of the ink 41 filled inside are balanced at the ejection port. When flying the ink 41 in this state, the electrothermal converter 33 in the liquid passage 35 is energized to cause the ink 41 in the liquid passage 35 to rapidly rise in temperature over nucleate boiling. Then, as shown in FIG.
The ink 41 adjacent to the electrothermal converter 33 is heated to generate minute bubbles (bubbles), the ink in the heated portions is vaporized to cause film boiling, and the bubbles 42 are generated as shown in FIG. 4C.
Grows rapidly.

When the bubble 42 grows to the maximum as shown in FIG. 4 (d), the ink droplet is pushed out from the ejection port in the liquid passage 35, and the ink droplet flies to the recording sheet 4 at that speed. It records an image. Electrothermal converter 33
When the energization of the air is completed, as shown in FIG. 4E, the grown bubble 42 is cooled and contracted by the ink 41 in the liquid passage 35, and further, as shown in FIG. Three
The ink comes into contact with the three surfaces and is rapidly cooled, and the bubbles 42 disappear or shrink to a substantially negligible volume. When the bubble 42 contracts, ink is supplied from the common liquid chamber 39 into the liquid passage 35 by the capillary phenomenon as shown in FIG. 4 (g) to prepare for the next energization. Therefore, the ink image is recorded on the recording sheet 4 by synchronizing with the movement of the carriage 9 and energizing the electrothermal converter 33 according to the image signal.

As shown in FIG. 1, capping means 43 is provided at the left end of the moving range of the carriage 9. By covering the capping means 43 and the ink ejection surface of the recording means 11 at the time of non-recording, the ink near the ejection openings of the recording means 11 has a function of preventing the ink from drying and the solidification associated therewith. Further, a pump (not shown) is connected to the capping means 43, and the pump is operated by driving a pump cam in order to prevent or prevent defective ejection or removal of ink,
By the suction force, the ink can be sucked from the ejection port to perform the recovery process.

The discharging means 12 is for discharging the recording sheet 4 recorded by the recording means 11. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this configuration includes a discharge roller 12A,
It is composed of a spur 12B that contacts this. A discharge gear 22 is provided at the end of the roller shaft 12C of the discharge roller 12A.
Is attached, and this discharge gear 22 is the idler gear 21.
Meshes with. Therefore, when the transport motor is driven, the driving force is transmitted to the discharge roller 12A and the roller 12A is driven.
A rotates, and the recording sheet 4 ejects the discharge roller 12A and the spur 1
It is discharged by the cooperation with 2B. The discharged recording sheets 4 are stacked on the stacker 13 located above the discharging roller 12A.

A blade portion 44 for cleaning the ejection surface of the recording means 11 is provided at a part of the feed roller 7. Now, a schematic side view of the blade portion 44 is shown in FIG. When the carriage 9 reaches the cleaning position, the feed roller 7 is rotated by the feed motor. By this rotation operation, the blade blade portion 44 is brought into pressure contact with the ejection surface of the recording means 11, and the "wet state" of the ejection surface of the recording means 11 is cleaned. The ink droplets, water, etc. removed at this time are cleaners 45 made of a porous member located within the rotation radius of the blade portion 44.
Absorbed by Further, the blade portion 44 has a missing portion 4
6 is present and, for example, when cleaning by the blade portion 44 is not required, the feed roller 7 is stopped at this portion and the carriage 9 is passed.

The blade portion 44 is not limited to the above-mentioned structure, but may be provided on the entire circumference of the feed roller 7 as shown in FIG. By doing so, the directionality of the parts is eliminated, and the assembling property can be improved. In addition, as shown in FIG.
Even with a structure in which only two are provided on the outer circumference of the feed roller 7, the same wiping effect as in the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

The present invention can be applied to an ink jet recording apparatus using 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. , Generates heat energy in the electrothermal converter to cause film boiling on the heat acting surface of the recording means (recording head), and as a result, bubbles can be formed in the liquid (ink) in a one-to-one correspondence with this drive signal. So effective.

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 linear 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 above is associated with the discharge portion. 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 material (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 or 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 or preliminary auxiliary means to the recording head provided as a constitution of the recording apparatus in the present invention because the effect of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specific examples thereof include capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suctioning means, electrothermal converters or heating elements other than these, or preheating means for the recording head. It is also effective to perform stable recording by performing a preliminary discharge mode in which discharge different from recording is performed.

Regarding the type and the 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 formed 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 of mixed 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, the temperature rise due to the thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the ink is solidified in the standing state for the purpose of preventing the evaporation of the ink. In either case, the ink is liquefied by the application of the thermal energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink is ejected, or the one that has already started to solidify when it reaches the recording medium, etc. The present invention can also be applied to the case of using an ink that has the property of being liquefied for the first time by thermal energy as described above. 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, other than 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 transmission / reception function. And the like may be used.

[0048]

As is clear from the above description, according to the first aspect of the invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus for recording by ejecting the ink from the recording means to the recording material, the ejection port for ejecting the ink. Since the cleaning means that comes into contact with the ejection port forming surface of the recording means having the cleaning means for cleaning the ejection port forming surface is formed by a part of the rubber-like elastic roller, the number of parts is reduced. It is possible,
Further, it is possible to manage the entering amount of the cleaning means only by adjusting the gap between the roller and the recording means, improve the assemblability, and reduce the cost by reducing the number of parts and the number of assembling steps. A recording device is provided.

According to the second to fourth aspects of the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the roller is a platen roller which also functions as a paper feed and a platen, and the recording means is used for ejecting ink. Of an ink jet recording means having an electrothermal converter for generating heat energy, or an ejection port utilizing film boiling generated in ink by the thermal energy applied by the electrothermal converter by the recording means. Since it is configured to eject more ink, it is possible to more efficiently reduce the number of parts, and it is also possible to manage the amount of entry of the cleaning unit simply by adjusting the gap between the roller and the recording unit. (EN) Provided is an ink jet recording apparatus which can improve the assemblability and can reduce the cost by reducing the number of parts and the number of assembling steps.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

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

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a structure of an ink ejection portion of the recording unit in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining an ink ejection operation of the recording unit in FIG.

5 is a schematic side view of a blade portion of the inkjet recording apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing another embodiment of the blade portion of the inkjet recording apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing still another embodiment of the blade portion of the inkjet recording apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional inkjet recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Recording Material (Recording Medium, Recording Sheet) 5 Sheet Conveying Means 7 Feed Roller 8 Platen 9 Carriage 11 Recording Means (Recording Head) 12 Ejecting Means 33 Electrothermal Converter 35 Liquid Channel 37 Ink Cartridge 40 Ink Ejection Port 41 Ink 43 Capping means 44 Blade part 45 Cleaner 46 Missing part

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. In an ink jet recording apparatus for recording by ejecting ink from a recording means to a recording material, the ejection port forming surface of the recording means having an ejection port for ejecting the ink is contacted to form the ejection port. An inkjet recording apparatus, wherein cleaning means for cleaning the surface is formed by a part of a roller made of a rubber-like elastic material. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the roller is a platen roller that also functions as a paper feed and a platen. 3. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording unit is an inkjet recording unit including an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy used to eject ink. 4. The ink jet recording according to claim 3, wherein the recording unit ejects the ink from an ejection port by utilizing film boiling generated in the ink by thermal energy applied by the electrothermal converter. apparatus.