JPH0687212A - Transfer type ink-jet form recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To maintain a recording head without enlarging the size of a recording device wherein a line recording head is used. CONSTITUTION:The recording device is equipped with an ink-jet line recording head 1 and an ink image holding drum 2 which catches ink droplets supplied therefrom and transfers an ink pattern on a recording form. An aperture 8 parallel to the rotary shaft of the drum 2 is formed and also a waste ink tank 10 communicating with the aperture 8 is incorporated into the drum 2. A controlling device is equipped in order to execute blank discharge in a stage wherein the aperture 8 is opposed to the recording head 1. Ink droplets depending on blank discharge approach the drum 2 from the aperture 8 and are held in a waste ink tank 10. A second aperture 9 is provided in the drum 2. A capping member 13 is movably provided forwards and backwards from the aperture 9 in the vicinity thereof. The nozzle aperture of the recording head 1 is sealed by projecting the capping member from the aperture.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer of a type in which ink droplets are ejected from a nozzle to a cylindrical intermediate medium based on print data and a pattern formed by this is transferred to a recording sheet, and more specifically, ink ejection is performed. The present invention relates to a transfer type ink jet recording apparatus provided with a maintenance member that maintains performance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink jet recording in which an ink jet type line recording head for ejecting ink droplets from a nozzle is driven based on print data, and the ink droplets generated at this time are received by a recording paper to record a pattern matching the print data. The device has been put to practical use. Such a device that directly ejects ink droplets onto the recording paper has a simple structure, but has a conflicting property that the recording paper that receives the ink droplets has little ink bleeding and the ink is familiar It is necessary to prepare
There is an inconvenience that the usable recording paper is limited.

In order to solve such a problem, an ink drop generated based on print data is received by a drum formed of a material such as silicone rubber which has a small amount of ink bleeding, and the attached ink is easily peeled off. There has been proposed an inkjet recording apparatus of a type in which an ink pattern is formed on the recording medium, the ink pattern is semi-dried and then transferred to recording paper (US Pat. No. 5,099,256). In this way, when the ink pattern is printed in a semi-dried state on the recording paper, ink bleeding on the recording paper can be reduced as much as possible.

In this apparatus, a line recording head 1 is mounted on a carriage that reciprocates in the widthwise direction of a recording sheet, and an ink pattern is formed on an ink image holding drum while reciprocating the line recording head in conformity with print data. Then, after the pattern is formed on the ink image holding drum, the pattern is transferred to the recording paper. By the way, in any of a type in which ink droplets are directly ejected onto a recording sheet or an ink droplet is once ejected onto a transfer member and then transferred onto the recording sheet, as long as an ink jet recording head is used, the nozzle openings at rest are In order to prevent drying, it is necessary to provide a capping means in the non-printing area to seal the nozzle opening.

By the way, in order to improve the printing speed,
In order to print a plurality of characters at a time in the width direction of the recording paper, use of a long line recording head in which nozzle opening arrays are arranged in the row direction of 100 dots or more, so-called line recording head 1, is being considered. ing. Securing the ejection area outside the printing area for the purpose of preventing such a line recording head from drying and for recovering the ink ejection capacity leads to an increase in the size of the apparatus. Also, it may be possible to provide it at a position different from the axis of the line recording head, but not only is the structure complicated due to the need for a mechanism to move the nozzle opening in this direction, but it is also necessary during the ink ejection recovery operation during printing. There is a problem that the print speed is reduced because the head needs to be moved excessively.

In order to solve such a problem, an ink ejection recovery mechanism and a capping mechanism in a non-transfer type ink jet recording apparatus in which a recording paper is fixed to a drum and ink droplets are directly ejected onto the recording paper. It is also possible to use. That is, a capping member formed of an elastic member such as rubber is fixed to the non-printing area of the rotary drum that fixes the recording paper, and the surface of the line recording head is rubbed every time the rotary drum makes one rotation to prevent clogging. To eliminate this (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-70577), a gutter is provided in the non-printing area of the rotary drum that fixes the recording paper, and when the gutter faces the line recording head, the line recording head is driven to perform the flushing operation. What to do
-179752 gazette).

However, in the former case, the ink droplet receiving member must be arranged outside the area of the rotary drum in order to execute the flushing operation for preventing clogging, and in the latter case, the nozzle opening at the time of resting. The capping means for preventing the drying of the rotating drum 2 must be arranged on the outer side in the axial direction of the rotating drum 2. Even when the ink receiver and the capping member are arranged on the outer side of the rotary drum in the axial direction, the line recording head is reciprocated in the axial direction of the rotary drum 2 as shown in the above-mentioned related arts. In a serial type printer that prints while performing printing, since the horizontal width of the line recording head is small, the size of the printer is not increased.

However, in a line printer that prints a plurality of, for example, several hundreds of dots or more in the main scanning direction of the recording paper by one ink ejection operation, the horizontal width of the line recording head becomes extremely large. Providing the capping member and the ink drop receiver outside the region of the rotary drum in the axial direction has a problem of increasing the size. Since the above-mentioned ink receiver and capping means are applied to a printer of a type that directly ejects ink droplets onto a recording paper, there is a problem that inconvenience arises when diverted to a transfer type.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to incorporate means for capping a line recording head as compactly as possible. Another object of the present invention is to provide a transfer type ink jet recording apparatus capable of performing the above.

[0010]

In order to solve such a problem, according to the present invention, an ink jet line recording head and an ink drop from the line recording head are received, and the formed ink pattern is transferred to a recording sheet. In the recording apparatus including the ink image holding drum, the first and second openings that are parallel to the rotation axis of the ink image holding drum are formed, and the first opening is provided with an ink storage portion that communicates with the first opening. A capping member capable of advancing and retracting in the vicinity of the second opening is incorporated in the ink image holding drum, and ink droplets are ejected at least during a printing period in the nozzle opening of the line recording head in accordance with the rotation cycle of the ink image holding drum. A control means for ejecting ink droplets from the nozzle openings that were not provided was provided.

[0011]

[Operation] When an ink ejection recovery operation is required,
When the opening formed outside the ink pattern forming area faces the line recording head, ink droplets are ejected. The ink ejected from the nozzle opening flies toward the opening of the ink image holding drum and is stored in a waste ink tank inside the drum. When the flushing operation is completed, the pattern forming area of the ink image holding drum is moved to the line recording head 1.
, The pattern is formed based on the print data. Further, when the printing operation is interrupted for a predetermined time, the capping member is projected from the opening to seal the recording head.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention. In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes an inkjet type line recording head 1 for scanning a plurality of characters, for example, a lateral width area of a maximum size recording sheet by one scanning. As shown in FIG. 3, the nozzle openings 1a, 1a ...
Individual, linear, or nozzle opening 1 as shown in FIG.
1b, 1b, ..., 1c, 1c, ... Are arranged in a zigzag pattern with each digit shifted vertically, and one line can be printed by one printing operation. Furthermore, a plurality of nozzles, for example, 400 nozzles are arranged in the row direction at a pitch of a plurality of dots, for example, at an interval of 5 dots, and the recording head is moved by one dot for each rotation of the ink image holding drum. It is possible to use a recording head that can form an image for one page by rotating five times. Each of these nozzle openings communicates with a pressure chamber to which ink is supplied from the ink tank 7, similarly to a normal serial printer, and an energy generation source such as a piezoelectric element or a heating element is connected to each of these pressure chambers. It is arranged to generate ink droplets by selectively driving an energy generation source corresponding to print data.

Reference numeral 2 denotes an ink image holding drum arranged so as to face the line recording head 1. The shaft 2a is connected to a pulse motor 4 via a transmission mechanism 3 such as a timing belt and has a constant rotation speed. The drum 5 is driven to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow D in the figure, and is formed of a material that does not cause ink bleeding on the surface of the drum 5 and is excellent in transferring the ink to the recording paper, for example, silicon rubber or the like. The ink image holding layer 6 is formed. An encoder (not shown) is attached to this in order to detect the relative position with respect to the line recording head 1, and the print area, the flushable area, and the capping area can be detected.

Reference numerals 8 and 9 denote openings for forming the gutter and openings for projecting the capping member, which are formed in the non-transfer area, respectively. The openings for forming the gutter are parallel to the rotation axis of the ink image holding drum 2. And has a length of at least about the lateral width of the line recording head 1 and at least 1
The size is selected to have a width of about the distance to move in the time required to eject ink droplets once, and the capping member projecting opening 9 is set to a size that allows the capping member 13 described later to advance and retract. . 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes a waste ink tank which communicates with the gutter forming opening 8, which communicates with the opening 8 through the flow path 11 and has an ink absorbing material made of a porous material such as sponge for absorbing ink therein. 12 is filled.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a capping member, which has a length capable of covering at least the nozzle opening arrangement region of the line recording head 1 and is opposed to a second opening formed parallel to the axial direction and close to the first opening. As shown in FIG. 5, the spring 13a is normally provided so as to be movable so as to elastically contact the nozzle surface of the line recording head 1, and the surface of the ink image holding drum 2 is driven by a driving means 13b such as a solenoid. A stopper 13d made of an elastic material such as rubber is fixed to the tip of a shaft 13c retracting from the surface. 15 is a position away from the line recording head 1,
In this embodiment, a transfer roller arranged at a position facing the line recording head 1 is composed of a rigid material such as metal and an elastic layer such as rubber formed on the surface thereof. When pressed against the holding drum 2, it slightly elastically deforms with the holding drum 2, and can be brought into and out of contact with the ink image holding drum 2 by a drive mechanism (not shown).

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a controller 20 for controlling the movement of the line recording head 1 and the ink image holding drum 2 for the purpose of maintenance.
A print operation detection unit 21 for determining the presence or absence of a print operation command from the printer, and a relative position of the ink image holding drum 2 with respect to the line recording head 1 based on a signal from the encoder E, that is, a print area of a recording start point and a recording end point. The position of the first opening that accommodates the ink droplets during the flushing operation and the position detection unit 22 that determines the capping position, and the nozzle opening is activated when the printing operation command is stopped, and the nozzle opening is not dried as much as possible. A first timer 23 that outputs a time-up signal when a long time, for example, about 1 minute has passed,
Upon detecting that the printing operation is issued, an urging signal is output to the capping member 13, a signal is output from the first timer 23, and the capping member is detected by the position detecting means 22. The driving means 24 for deenergizing 13 and the driving means 24 which is reset at the time when the flushing operation is performed and which is activated at the time when the flushing operation is finished and the nozzle opening is not dried, for example, 1
A second timer 25 that outputs a signal after the time elapses when a minute elapses, a signal is output from the second timer 25, and a drive for flushing is performed when the flushing area is detected by the position detecting unit 22. A flushing signal output means 26 for outputting a signal to the line recording head 1 is provided.

Next, the operation of the apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
The operation will be described based on the operation explanatory diagram shown in FIG. 8 and the timing chart shown in FIG. In the rest state, the plug 13d is pressed against the nozzle opening of the line recording head 1 (see FIG. 7).
I). In this state, when a print signal is input from a host (not shown), an urging signal is output to the driving means 13b of the cap member 13 and the stopper 13d resists the force of the spring 13a in the central axis direction of the ink image holding drum 2. Be drawn.
As a result, the plug 13d separates from the nozzle opening surface of the line recording head 1 head 1 and retracts into the ink image holding drum 2.

When the retracting of the capping member 13 is completed, a drive pulse is output to the pulse motor 4 and the ink image holding drum 2 starts rotating. Ink image holding drum 2
A signal is output from the encoder along with the rotation of the control unit 20, and the control device 20 determines the position of the ink image holding drum 2 with respect to the line recording head 1. When the recording start position of the ink image holding drum 2 faces the line recording head 1, the control device 20 causes the print data from the host to receive the print data from the host.
To drive it. As a result, the line recording head 1 ejects ink droplets from the corresponding nozzle openings,
An ink pattern is formed on the ink image holding drum 2 (FIG. 1).

In this way, when the formation of the ink image for one page on the ink image holding drum 2 is completed and the recording start position of the ink image holding drum 2 is detected by the encoder, the recording paper is fed by the paper feeding mechanism. P is conveyed to the area where the transfer roller 15 and the ink image holding drum 2 face each other. When the front end of the recording paper P faces the transfer roller 15, the transfer roller 15 is urged toward the ink image holding drum 2 by a driving unit (not shown), and the recording surface of the recording paper P becomes the ink image holding drum 2.
(Fig. 7 II). As a result, the ink image holding drum 2 transfers the ink pattern on the surface to the recording paper P while moving the recording paper P in the direction indicated by the symbol F in the drawing. Since a slight amount of time elapses from the time when the image is formed by the line recording head 1 to the time when the image is transferred to the recording paper, and the air flow acts on the ink image, the ink that forms the image during this time. The ink image is in a semi-dried state when the solvent therein is evaporated and transferred. As a result, the ink image transferred onto the recording paper does not cause bleeding on the recording paper.

When the position detecting means 22 detects that the flushing area faces the line recording head 1 after the printing operation is continued for a predetermined time and the signal is output from the second timer 25, When the formation of the ink image is stopped and the flushing opening 8 faces the line recording head 1 in the non-printing area of the ink image holding drum 2,
The flushing signal output means 26 outputs a flushing signal to at least the energy generating source of the nozzle opening that has not performed the ink ejection operation to eject the ink (FIG. 7I).
II).

The ejected ink is recorded in the line recording head 1.
Flying toward the opening 8 of the ink image holding drum 2 which faces the ink image holding drum 2, flows into the waste ink tank 10 communicating with the opening 8, and is absorbed by the ink absorber 12 housed therein. By this flushing operation, the nozzle openings that have not been ejected in the printing process also eject ink at fixed time intervals, so even if the ink contains a highly volatile solvent, the nozzle openings may be clogged. Instead, continue printing continuously. Since the flushing operation is executed during the transfer period of the ink image, the cycle setting for flushing is unnecessary and the printing speed can be improved.

On the other hand, since the waste ink absorbed in the ink absorber 12 is retained in the flow path 11 and the ink absorber 12 due to the surface tension of the ink absorber 12, it does not leak to the outside and the recording paper or the like. The ink image holding drum 2 is not contaminated. When the flushing operation for recovering the ink ejection is completed, the printing area is again changed to the line recording head 1.
, The unprinted data is output to the line recording head 1 and printing is performed by the above steps.

When the printing of all the print data is completed and the print signal disappears, the first timer 23 operates to measure the non-printing time. When the print operation command is issued again within the time set in the first timer 23, the printing of the print data is restarted by the above-described process. On the other hand, a predetermined time, for example, one minute has elapsed from the time when printing is finished
When the timer 23 outputs the time-up signal, the ink image holding drum 2 is moved so that the opening 9 of the ink image holding drum 2 faces the nozzle opening of the line recording head 1.
And the drive means 13b is deenergized at the same time.
As a result, the plug body 13d loses its holding force and projects from the opening 9 by the biasing force of the spring 13a, and the nozzle body of the line recording head 1 facing the opening 9 and the spring 13a.
The elastic force of “a” elastically contacts and seals the nozzle opening to prevent evaporation of the ink solvent from the nozzle opening (FIG. 7I).

When the amount of ink absorbed by the ink absorber 12 of the waste ink tank 10 becomes saturated due to long-term use, the side plate of the ink image holding drum 2 is removed and the ink absorber 12 is replaced with a new one. . At the time of this replacement, the waste ink is held by the surface tension of the ink absorber 12 and therefore does not drip into the printing device.

9 and 10 show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which reference numeral 30 designates an opening formed in the rotational axis direction of the ink image holding drum 2, which is an ink image holding drum. The size is selected such that the capping member 31 described later is parallel to the rotation axis of the second rotation axis, and the capping member 31 to be described later can move back and forth, and has a width capable of receiving ink during the flushing period.

Reference numeral 31 denotes the above-mentioned capping member, which is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, one end is fixed to a rotary shaft 32a of a driving means 32 such as a torque motor fixed to the drum 5, and an elastic member such as rubber is attached to the tip of an arm 34 which is constantly urged by a spring 33 toward the opening 30 side. A plug 35 made of a material is attached at a position where it can be projected from the opening 30, and when an urging signal is input to the drive means 32, it is retracted to a position where an opening 37a of an ink tank 37 described later can be opened. It is like this. Reference numeral 37 denotes the above-described waste ink tank, which is configured such that an ink absorber 38 is replaceably loaded therein, and is communicated with the opening 30 via a flow path 39.

Next, the operation of the apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
A description will be given based on the explanatory diagram shown in FIG. In the resting state, the arm 34 is moved toward the opening 30 by the biasing force of the spring 33, and the plug 35 at the tip is in elastic contact with the nozzle opening of the line recording head 1 (FIG. 12I). When a printing operation signal is input in this state, the driving means 32 is urged to move the arm 3
4 rotates and the plug 35 retracts from the opening 30. As a result, the ink image holding drum 2 becomes free, and printing is possible. In this state, an ink image is formed on the ink image holding drum 2, and at the stage where an ink image for one page is formed, the recording paper P is conveyed and the transfer drum 15 is urged to perform transfer, whereby printing is performed. Performed (Fig. 12
II).

In this way, after the printing operation is continued for a predetermined time and the signal is output from the second timer-25, the opening 30 is opened.
The position detecting means 2 indicates that the head is opposed to the line recording head 1.
2 is detected, the formation of the ink image is stopped, and the flushing signal output means 26 outputs a flushing signal to at least the energy generating source of the nozzle opening that has not performed the ink ejection operation to eject the ink (FIG. 12 II.
I). The ejected ink flies toward the opening 30 of the ink image holding drum 2 facing the line recording head 1, flows into the waste ink tank 37, and is absorbed by the ink absorber 38 contained therein. .

When the printing of all the print data is completed and the print signal disappears, the first timer 23 operates to measure the non-printing time. When the first timer 23 outputs a time-up signal after a lapse of a predetermined time, for example, one minute, from the time when printing is completed, the opening 30 of the ink image holding drum 2 is in a state of facing the nozzle opening of the line recording head 1. Stop the rotation of the ink image holding drum 2,
At the same time, the driving means 32 is deenergized. As a result, the plug 35
Loses its holding force and projects from the opening 30 by the biasing force of the spring 33, and elastically contacts the nozzle opening of the line recording head 1 and the elastic force of the spring 33 to seal the nozzle opening.
The evaporation of the ink solvent from the nozzle opening is prevented (FIG. 12).
I). According to this embodiment, since the ink droplet receiving port and the projecting port of the capping member at the time of flushing operation can be shared by one opening, it is possible to secure a printing area as large as possible on the ink image holding drum 2.

In this embodiment, the stopper 35 is simply retracted from the opening 30 of the ink image holding drum 2. However, the retracted position of the stopper 35 and the waste ink tank 3 are set.
By selecting the position with the opening 37a of No. 7, the waste ink tank 37 can be sealed by the plug 35 in the printing process. In this case, the plug 35 is moved to the opening 3 of the waste ink tank 37 by the driving means 32 during flushing.
It is sufficient to evacuate from 7a.

FIG. 13 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 40 is a machine body which is rotatable in contact with an opening formed in the ink image holding drum 2, and a torque motor (not shown). It is connected to a rotation driving means such as the above and is supported by the shaft 40a in the drum 2 in parallel with the rotation shaft of the ink image holding drum 2. The machine body 40 has a half-moon shaped cross section and has a flat surface 40a which substantially coincides with the surface of the ink image holding drum 2 when it occupies the first position, in which ink droplets flying by the flushing operation are ejected. An opening 41 for receiving is provided, and a rod-shaped plug body 42 made of an elastic material such as rubber is embedded so that a part thereof projects from the opening 30 (FIG. 10) when the second position is occupied. A flow path is formed so as to connect the opening 41 to an opening of a waste ink tank described later when the first position is occupied. Four
Reference numeral 5 denotes a waste ink tank, which is configured to accommodate an ink absorbing material 46 inside.

Next, the operation of the apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
It will be described based on the explanatory view shown in FIG. Since the machine body 40 occupies the second position in the rest state, the plug body 42 projects from the opening 30 and the plug body 42 elastically contacts the nozzle opening of the line recording head 1 (FIG. 14I). When a printing operation signal is input in this state, the drive unit rotates the machine body 40 to the first position, so that the plug body 42 retracts from the opening 30, and instead the opening 41 faces the opening 30 of the drum 2. (Fig. 13). In this state, an ink image is formed on the ink image holding drum 2, and at the stage when an ink image for one page is formed, the recording paper is conveyed and the transfer drum 15 is urged to perform the transfer, thereby performing printing. Be (Fig. 14 I
I).

In this way, after the printing operation is continued for a predetermined time and the signal is output from the second timer-25, the opening 30 is opened.
The position detecting means 2 indicates that the head is opposed to the line recording head 1.
When detected by No. 2, the formation of the ink image is stopped, and the flushing signal output means 26 outputs the flushing signal to at least the energy generation source of the nozzle opening that has not performed the ink ejection operation to eject the ink (FIG. 14 II.
I). The ejected ink flies toward the opening 30 of the ink image holding drum 2 facing the line recording head 1, enters the opening 41 of the machine body 40, travels along the flow path 43, and flows into the waste ink tank 45. , And is absorbed by the ink absorber 46 housed therein.

When the printing of all the print data is completed and the print signal disappears, the first timer 23 operates to measure the non-printing time. When the first timer 23 outputs a time-up signal after a lapse of a predetermined time from the end of printing, the ink image is held so that the opening 30 of the ink image holding drum 2 faces the nozzle opening of the line recording head 1. The rotation of the holding drum 2 is stopped, and then the body 4
Drive 0 to the second position. As a result, the plug 42 projects from the opening 30 and elastically contacts the nozzle opening of the line recording head 1 by its own elastic force to seal the nozzle opening and prevent the evaporation of the ink solvent from the nozzle opening (FIG. 14).
I). According to this embodiment, since the plug 42 is slightly rotated while being in contact with the nozzle opening, it is possible to wipe off the dust adhering to the vicinity of the nozzle opening.

In the above embodiment, the flushing operation is executed at the timing when the ink image of the ink image holding drum is transferred onto the recording paper, but it may be executed as an independent cycle. Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the rotational position of the ink image holding drum 2 is detected by the encoder.
It is obvious that detection can be performed by counting the drive pulses supplied to the pulse motor 4 that drives the.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the line recording head 1 having a size capable of covering the entire width of the recording paper is used, but as shown in FIG. 15, it is a fraction, for example, 1/4. A line recording head 50 having a length of about
If necessary, the ink tank 51 may be replaced with the ink image holding drum 2
It is obvious that the same effect can be obtained even when applied to the type mounted on the carriage 52 that can reciprocate in parallel with the axial direction. That is, the print data is printed by scanning while the line recording head 1 is sequentially moved four times in the axial direction of the ink image holding drum 2 to form an ink image for one page. When the predetermined time elapses in this manner, the flushing operation is performed in the same manner as in the above-described embodiments, and when the printing operation is stopped for the predetermined time, the capping operation is performed in the same manner as in the above-described embodiments. You can do it like this. According to this embodiment, the flushing position and the capping position are fixed from the end of the ink image holding drum 2 so that the sizes of the waste ink tank and the capping member can be reduced.

[0037]

As described above, in the present invention,
An ink jet line recording head and an ink image holding drum that receives ink droplets from the head and transfers the formed ink pattern onto a recording sheet are provided with an opening parallel to the rotation axis of the ink image holding drum. At the same time, an ink container communicating with the opening is built in the ink image holding drum, and the nozzle opening of the line recording head is adjusted in accordance with the rotation cycle of the ink image holding drum.
Since at least the control means for ejecting ink droplets from the nozzle openings that have not ejected ink droplets during the printing period is provided,
The maintenance means of the line recording head 1 can be provided without increasing the length of the ink image holding drum in the axial direction, and the flushing operation can be performed without comparing the line recording head with the outside of the printing area. Even if the flushing operation is performed at the optimum time interval for preventing the nozzle openings from being clogged, the printing speed is not reduced.

Further, since the second opening is formed in the ink image holding drum and the capping member is housed so as to be able to advance and retreat from this, this can be sealed without retracting the recording head from the printing area. A member for maintaining the line recording head can be installed without increasing the size of the apparatus.

Furthermore, since the ink image holding drum and the maintenance member, which have a shorter life than the line recording head, are integrally housed in the ink image holding drum, the disassembling work at the time of maintenance can be simplified. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a sectional view taken along line AB in FIG. 2, showing an embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an embodiment of the line recording head 1 used in the same apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing an embodiment of the line recording head 1 used in the same apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing a capping member in the same apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a control device for controlling the operation of the above device.

7 (I) to (III) are explanatory views showing the operation of the same apparatus as the above apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing the operation of the above apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a view showing an example of a capping member in the same apparatus.

12 (I) to (III) are explanatory views showing the operation of the same apparatus as the above apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 14 (I) to (III) are explanatory views showing the operation of the same apparatus as the above apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Line Recording Head 2 Ink Image Holding Drum 4 Pulse Motor 6 Ink Image Holding Layer 8 Opening for Receiving Flushing Ink 9 Opening for Plug Projection 10 Waste Ink Tank 13 Capping Member 15 Transfer Roller

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus comprising: an inkjet line recording head; and an ink image holding drum that receives ink droplets from the line recording head and transfers the formed ink pattern onto a recording sheet. A first opening and a second opening parallel to the rotation axis of the ink, and an ink container communicating with the first opening, and a capping member capable of advancing and retracting in the vicinity of the second opening on the ink image holding drum. A transfer including a control means which is built in and ejects an ink droplet from a nozzle opening which has not ejected an ink droplet at least during a printing period among the nozzle openings of the line recording head according to the rotation cycle of the ink image holding drum. Type inkjet recording device. 2. The transfer type ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second openings are formed at the same position. 3. The transfer type ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the capping member is normally urged in a protruding direction from the opening and retracts from the opening when a drive signal is applied.