JPH064335B2 - Recording device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a recording apparatus having a plurality of recording head cleaning mechanisms, and more specifically to a cleaning mechanism that detects clogging of a recording head and is closer to the point. The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that selects and performs cleaning, and is particularly suitable for an inkjet printer including a multi-nozzle and an ink tank.

[Prior Art] As such an inkjet printer, for example, one having a configuration as shown in FIG. 1 has been proposed. Here, 1 is a recording paper, 2 is a paper feed roller for feeding the recording paper 1 in the sub-scanning direction,
3 is a paper feed pulse motor for driving the paper feed roller 2, 4
Reference numerals 5 and 5 are guide rollers forming a recording plane. 6
Is four color recording heads 7Y, 7M, 7C and 7B
A carriage on which K (general number is 7) is placed is driven by a head feed pulse motor 9 via a timing belt 8 and reciprocates in the main scanning direction along a guide rail 10. Reference numeral 11 is an ink supply pipe for supplying ink to each of the heads 7Y to 7BK, 12Y, 12M, 12C, and
12BK (general number is 12) is yellow Y,
The magenta M, cyan C, and black BK ink tanks communicate with the heads 7Y to 7BK via a pipe 11. Reference numeral 13 is a flexible printed wiring board for supplying a drive pulse to each nozzle in each head 7Y to 7BK.

7Y, 7M, 7C and 7BK are yellow Y,
A multi-nozzle inkjet head for magenta M, cyan C, and black BK, each head having a large number of nozzles linearly arranged in the sub-scanning direction at intervals of 8 nozzles / mm (pitch), and each flexible printed wiring Ink of each color is ejected from the nozzle toward the recording paper 1 by the drive pulse supplied through the plate 13. As a method of ejecting the ink, for example, a method of providing a heating element in the nozzle and ejecting the ink as a droplet based on bubbles generated by heat generation by a pulse is used.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] A recording apparatus having a multi-nozzle head as described above can perform image recording at an extremely high speed as compared with a recording apparatus having a single nozzle or a small number of nozzles. However, since the diameter of each nozzle (ejection port) of the recording head 7 is extremely small, it is easy for the nozzle portion to be clogged due to ink impurities, drying, paper dust, dust in the air, etc. The cleaning work was not easy because it had the nozzles. Further, in the color recording apparatus as described above, since the amount of each color ink used is different depending on the mode of the recorded image, the liquid surface of each ink tank 12 becomes uneven, and therefore the ink pressure fluctuates and the image quality deteriorates. There was a difficulty to do it. Furthermore, since the ink tank 12 requires a considerable volume, it hinders the effective use of space, and the downsizing of the entire apparatus cannot be achieved sufficiently.

The present invention eliminates the drawback of the configuration in which the cleaning mechanism of the recording head is provided at only one specific location.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus that can perform a cleaning operation for recovering the function of a recording head more quickly and can achieve high-quality recording at high speed.

[Means for Solving the Problem] The present invention achieves the above object, and an area corresponding to a conveyance path of a recording medium in a main scanning direction of the recording head, the cleaning mechanism being in contact with the recording head for cleaning. A recording apparatus having a clogging detection mechanism for detecting clogging of the recording head, which is provided at each of the left and right ends of the recording head, for recording an area corresponding to the width of the conveyance path of the recording medium. In response to the clogging of the recording head that is reciprocally scanned detected by the clogging detection mechanism, the reciprocating scanning area of the recording head is extended to the cleaning mechanism near the point where the clogging is detected. It is characterized in that it is moved over and cleaning is performed.

[Operation] According to the present invention, it is not always necessary to return the carriage to the position of the cleaning mechanism (head cleaning mechanism) on one side before performing the cleaning operation (head cleaning operation), and the recording head is clogged. Since any one of the cleaning mechanisms closest to the carriage is used at the time point, the cleaning work time of the recording head can be shortened, and the operation time of the recording apparatus as a whole can be shortened.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The same parts as those of the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

2 to 4 show an example of the configuration of a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, in which reference numeral 21 is a main tank provided on the side facing the sub tank 12 with the carriage 6 interposed therebetween. The lower parts 12 communicate with each other via a flexible communication pipe 22 as shown in FIG. 23 are tanks 21 and 1 respectively
It is an air hole that penetrates the ceiling of 2. 24 is each main tank 2
It is an inverted L-shaped angle as a liquid level adjusting means (level adjusting mechanism) for independently adjusting the height of 1 and is slidable in a guide groove 26 provided in a vertical fixing plate 25 as shown in FIG. Insert it and fix it to the desired height with the locking screw 27. Reference numeral 28 denotes a lock screw mounting plate that covers a part of each guide groove 26 and is fixed integrally with the fixed plate 25. Further, it is preferable that a translucent plate or a liquid level inspection port is provided on the back surface of each main tank 21 so that the position of the liquid level can be detected, and further an indicator means for indicating a predetermined liquid level position is provided. In this case, the indicator means may be a thin string with one end fixed. Further, each main tank 21 is attached near an upper portion of a leg of a base 40 described later through an angle 24 or the like as shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a main part of the head cleaning mechanism 70, which is a head cleaner that cleans the nozzles that are in contact with the nozzles (ejection ports) of each recording head 7 to eliminate the clogging and restore the ink ejection characteristics. For example, it is composed of a porous flat plate having good ink absorption. Reference numeral 32 is a supporter (cleaner holder) to which the head cleaners 31 are replaceably mounted.
And a lower retaining plate 34, side stoppers 35 on both sides, and a rear plate 36. Reference numeral 37 is a leaf spring whose curved top is fixed to the center of the back surface of the supporter 32.
It is attached to the base 40 through the 38 and the fixing screw 39. In this way, each head cleaner 31 is attached to the same base 40 via the supporters 32 and the like.

As shown in FIG. 8 (A), the leaf spring 37 has a vertically elongated slot 41 for guiding in the upper part thereof, which engages with the guide screw 38 in a slidable manner.
And is guided between the supporter 32 and the base 40 along the elongated hole 41 and extends upward as shown by the chain line in FIG. 8 (B). The contacted head cleaner 31 is moved relatively upward by a distance 1 via the supporter 32.

As shown in FIG. 2, bases 40 for moving the head cleaner 31 in the direction of the recording head 7 are arranged on both left and right sides of both moving ends of the carriage 6 which has passed the position of the recording paper 1. 42
4 and 43 are slide shafts (guide shafts) for guiding the movement of the base 40 having an L-shaped cross section as shown in FIG. 4, and one slide shaft 42 is a pair of legs provided on one side of the base portion of the base 40. The slide shaft 43 engages with the portion 44 via a slide bearing 45, and the other slide shaft 43 supports the lower surface of a slider 46 provided on the side of the base 40 facing the base portion from below and is slidably slidably in contact therewith. Reference numeral 47 is a return spring that pulls back the base 40 to its original position when the base 40 is tilted in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4, one end of which is at the bottom of the base 40 and the other end of which is a predetermined rest. Fix to a point (fixed point). Reference numeral 48 is an L-shaped rotation stopper that regulates the inclination of the base 40, one end of which is fixed to the bottom of the base 40, and the other end is bent below the slide shaft 43 to incline the base 40 at a predetermined angle or more. At times, it abuts the slide shaft 43 to limit the inclination of the base 40.

51 is a pin protruding from the lower surface of the leg portion 44 of the base 40,
As shown in the figure, it engages with the spiral groove 53 of the groove cam shaft 52 and slides. Reference numeral 54 denotes a notched cylindrical stopper / keley member (hereinafter referred to as a stopper) fixed to a central portion of the groove cam shaft 52 by a fixing screw 55, which restricts the movement of the pin 51 in the recording head direction and at the same time. As shown in FIG. 9, by rotating integrally with the shaft 52 in the direction of arrow B, the pin 51 abutting on the notch is rotated about the slide shaft 42 as a fulcrum, whereby the base 40 is moved to the fourth position. It is rotated in the direction of arrow A as shown by the chain line in the figure. As shown in FIG. 3, reference numeral 56 is a motor for driving the groove cam shaft 52 freely in the forward and reverse and stop directions via a speed reducer 57, a pulley 58, a belt 59 and a pulley 60, and 61 is coaxial with the groove cam shaft 52. It is a manual knob (handle) connected to. The slide shaft 42 is provided in parallel with the groove cam shaft 52, and is arranged substantially at right angles to the moving direction (main scanning direction) of the carriage 6, so that the nozzles of each recording head 7 and the head cleaner 31 are in parallel contact with each other. To be able to contact. Groove cam shaft 52 is a pair of bearings 62
The slide shaft 42 is directly fixed to the fixing plates 25 and 63, while being rotatably supported by the fixing plates 25 and 63 via the. 64 is a stay shaft that supports the fixing plates 25 and 63.

Next, the operation of the recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 9.

At the time of cleaning the recording head, the carriage 6 is moved to the running end portion and stopped at a position where each nozzle of the recording head 7 on the carriage 6 faces each head cleaner 31 which is a recovery system. Next, the groove cam shaft 52 is rotated by driving the motor 56 or manually turning the knob 61. By rotating the groove cam shaft 52 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 9, the pin 51 slides in the spiral groove 53 of the groove cam shaft 52, and the base 40 is inserted through the pin 51.
Moves toward the recording head 7 along the slide shaft 42 to bring the head cleaner 31 into contact with the recording head 7.
Further, the base 40 is moved to the recording head side, and the leaf spring 37 is pressed to move the apex C vertically upward (the third position).
See Fig. And Fig. 8 (B). Therefore, head cleaner 3
1 is rubbed upward along the nozzle surface while being pressed against the nozzle (ink ejection portion) of the recording head 7. At this time, since the head cleaner 31 uses a porous member having a good ink absorbency, the nozzles of the head 7 can be cleaned well and clogging can be eliminated.

Next, when the pin 51 abuts the stopper 54 and the stopper 54 rotates together with the groove cam shaft 52 in the direction of arrow B (see FIG. 9), the pin 51 engages with one end of the notch of the stopper 54. Therefore, the base 40 rotates in the arrow A direction with the slide shaft 42 as a fulcrum via the pin 51 (see FIG. 4). Therefore, the head cleaner 31 is twisted by a predetermined angle relative to the nozzles of the recording head 7. In this way, head cleaner 31
Since the cleaning work is performed by moving the nozzle to the nozzle and then moving it in a plurality of directions, more complete cleaning can be obtained.

Next, when the motor 56 is stopped or the rotation of the knob 61 is stopped, the base 40 returns to its original position by the biasing force of the spring 47, and the slider 46 is seated on the slide shaft 43. Then, the motor
56 or the knob 61 is rotated in the reverse direction to disengage the head cleaner 31 from the recording head 7 and return it to the initial position.

It is also preferable to repeat the above cleaning operation a plurality of times depending on the clogging state of the nozzles.

In place of the stopper 54, a micro switch (not shown) for detecting the moving position of the base 40 or the pin 51 and a plunger (not shown) extending upward in response to a detection signal of the micro switch are provided, and The plunger may be arranged below the base 40 near the slider 46, and when the base 40 reaches a predetermined position, the plunger may be driven to rotate the base 40 in the arrow A direction. It is also suitable to add vibration such as ultrasonic vibration to the head cleaner 31 during the head cleaning operation.

When replacing the head cleaner 31, which is a cleaning member, only support the head cleaner 31 to be replaced.
The replacement work is completed by pulling out from 32 and inserting a new head cleaner 31 into the pulled out portion. As described above, since the head cleaner 31 is provided with the supporter 32 that can be replaced, replacement with a new head cleaner 31 is extremely easy, and maintenance work is simplified. Therefore, the head cleaner 31 always in the best state can be used for cleaning work, and the optimum ink ejection function can be maintained. Further, since a plurality of head cleaners 31 are mounted on the same base 40, the mechanism is simple and the head cleaning work can be performed with the same drive source, which facilitates the work.

The head cleaning mechanism (recovery system) of the present invention described above
70 can be provided at the left and right ends in the main scanning direction as shown in the second illustration. When a plurality of head cleaning mechanisms 70 are provided in this way, the head cleaning operation can be continued even if one of the head cleaners 31 becomes unusable.
In the meantime, a new head cleaner 31 can be replaced. Therefore, maintenance and inspection work becomes easy, and it is not necessary to interrupt the printing work for a long time for replacing the head cleaner 31. Further, it is not necessary to return the carriage 6 to the position of the head cleaning mechanism 70 on one side, and it is not necessary to perform the head cleaning work, and any head cleaning mechanism 70 closest to the carriage 6 at the time when the recording head 7 is clogged. Since it can be used, the head cleaning work time can be shortened.

That is, in this example, the occurrence of clogging of the head is detected by, for example, the temperature sensor provided in the head 7. At the time of detection, that is, at the time of occurrence of clogging, the central processing unit selects the head cleaning mechanism 70 that is closer to the position of the carriage that is grasped based on the information applied to the pulse motor for driving the carriage scan. To do. Immediately, a signal is sent to the pulse motor, the carriage is moved to the selected head cleaning mechanism, and cleaning work for recovering the clogging of the head is performed.

Furthermore, the characteristics of the head cleaner 31 of the mechanism 70 on the right side and the characteristics of the head cleaner 31 of the mechanism 70 on the left side are made different, for example, one cleaner 31 has a relatively good ink absorbability, and the other cleaner 31 has It is also possible to use different grades such that the ink absorbency is relatively poor.

Next, points regarding the ink tanks 21 and 12 will be described. The ink E in each main tank 21 passes through the communication pipe 22 as shown in FIG.
It enters inside, is supplied to the recording head 7 through the ink supply pipe 11, and is ejected from the nozzle (ink ejection port) of the recording head 7 in response to a drive pulse. At this time, since the supply of the ink E is mainly performed by the siphon effect, the height of the liquid surface of each main tank 21 is set to the ink level shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, it is necessary to maintain a position of a predetermined distance D downward from the lowermost nozzle position corresponding to the lowermost surface of the recording head 7.
However, since the amount of ink used differs for each color, the liquid level of each main tank 21 becomes non-uniform through the sub tank 12 when printing is continued. If left as it is, each head 7Y,
Although there is a large difference in the ink ejection pressure for each of 7M, 7C, and 7BK, it becomes impossible to obtain an image with a faithful color tone, but by adjusting the position of the angle 24, as shown in FIG. Such inconvenience can be easily eliminated by aligning the height with a predetermined liquid level position. Further, as described above, since the means for adjusting the height of the ink surface is provided to adjust the position of the liquid surface with respect to the recording head 7, the ink pressure can be made constant without replenishing the ink. You can always easily obtain good image quality.

Further, since the ink tank 21 is arranged in a space near the head cleaning mechanism 70 which is the recovery system, the space can be effectively used and the size of the recording apparatus can be reduced. It is also possible to significantly reduce the number of parts of the supporting member. Further, since the head cleaning mechanism 70 and the ink tank 21 are close to each other, there is an advantage that only one inspection port for maintenance and inspection is required. Further, since the head cleaning mechanism 70 generates vibration during operation,
The pigment type ink in the ink tank 21 can be vibrated to obtain a stirring effect.

Furthermore, in addition to the ink tank 12, another ink tank 21
Since the two tanks 12 and 21 are arranged on different sides with the carriage 6 interposed therebetween, and the two tanks 12 and 21 are connected by the communication pipe 22, the volume of one sub-tank 12 is reduced. This makes it possible to place the sub-tank 12 at any place, and the ink supply pipe 11 itself can be freely routed. Further, since the number of ink tanks increases, the total ink storage capacity also increases. Since the sub tank 12 can be fixed and the height of one of the main tanks 21 can be adjusted, the liquid surface position of the sub tank 12 can be adjusted freely, and the ink liquid pressure can be easily adjusted.

Of course, the present invention can be applied to a monochrome recording device. Further, the invention is not limited to the multi-nozzle inkjet printer.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, of the cleaning mechanisms provided on both sides in the main scanning direction, the cleaning mechanism closer to the carriage is used when cleaning the recording head. Therefore, when any one of the cleaning mechanisms closest to the carriage is used at the time when the recording head is clogged, the cleaning work time of the recording head can be shortened, and the operation time of the recording apparatus as a whole can be shortened. Is effective.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional apparatus, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the main configuration of a recording apparatus to which the method of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3 is a partial cutaway of the main section of FIG. FIG. 4 is a left side view of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a front view showing the essential parts of FIG. 2 in detail, and FIG. 6 is a right side view of the essential parts of FIG. Fig. 7 is an enlarged perspective view showing a part of Fig. 2, Fig. 8 is a side view and a front view showing a leaf spring part of Fig. 3, and Fig. 9 is a front view. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a stopper portion of FIG. 3. 1 ... Recording paper, 2 ... Paper feeding roller, 3 ... Paper feeding pulse motor, 4, 5 ... Guide roller, 6 ... Carriage, 7 (7Y, 7M, 7C, 7BK) ... Recording head, 8 ... Timing belt, 9 ... Head feed pulse motor, 10 ... Guide rail, 11 ... Ink supply pipe, 12 (12Y, 12M, 12C, 12BK) ... Ink tank (sub tank), 13 ... Flexible printed wiring board, 21 ... Main tank (ink tank), 22 … Communication pipe, 23… Air hole, 24… Angle, 25… Fixing plate, 26… Guide groove, 27… Locking screw, 28… Mounting plate, 31… Head cleaner, 32… Supporter, 33… Tilt prevention plate, 34 … Prevention plate, 35… side stopper, 36… back plate, 37… plate spring, 38… guide screw, 39… fixing screw, 40… base, 41… long hole, 42,43… slide shaft, 44… leg Part, 45… slide bearing, 46… slider, 47… Yeah, 48 ... rotation stop, 51 ... pin, 52 ... groove camshaft, 53 ... spiral groove, 54 ... stopper, 55 ... fixing screw, 56 ... motor, 57 ... reducer, 58 ... pulley, 59 ... belt, 60 ... Pulley, 61 ... Knob, 62 ... Bearing, 63 ... Fixed plate, 64 ... Stay shaft, 70 ... Head cleaning mechanism.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning mechanism for contacting a recording head to perform cleaning is provided at both left and right end portions of the recording head in a main scanning direction beyond a region corresponding to a conveyance path of a recording medium. A recording device having a clogging detection mechanism for detecting clogging, wherein the clogging of a recording head that is reciprocally scanned for recording in a region corresponding to the width of the conveyance path of the recording medium is the clogging detection mechanism. A recording apparatus, wherein the recording head is moved beyond the reciprocating scanning area to the cleaning mechanism on the side closer to the point where the clogging is detected, and cleaning is performed. . 2. The recording apparatus is provided with a plurality of the recording heads for forming bubbles by heat generation and ejecting ink accordingly, and a cleaner corresponding to each of the recording heads is provided. The recording apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of recording heads eject ink of different colors to perform color recording. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cleaner is replaceable.