JPH06964A - Cleanuing device for ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce an influence on an ink discharge state by cleaning ink remaining on an ink discharge opening surface. CONSTITUTION:A carriage 8 on which a printing head is mounted moves to a cleaning home position 6 for purging and cleaning. An adaptor 3 applied to a counter abuts against a carriage side face. The adaptor 3 applied to the counter pushes a wiping member blade 5 just before a carriage end part comes in contact with the wiping member blade 5, and rubs in a counter direction (a). Then, the carriage 8 moves while being integrated into the adaptor 3 applied to the counter to carry out cleaning (b). An ink absorbing material 9 exists at the carriage end part, and wipes ink stuck to the wiping member 5 off. The carriage 8 is reciprocated several times to scrape the ink away (c) thoroughly.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning device for an inkjet printer, and more particularly to a cleaning device for an inkjet recording head that prints by recording ink on a recording medium such as a printer or a fax machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an ink jet recording apparatus, if a minute ink droplet other than a droplet ejected from an ejection port or a satellite or the like adheres to the ejection port surface (head surface), the original ejection function is impaired. Therefore, it may be difficult to discharge from a certain discharge port, or the direction of the discharge port may be changed (deviated). In order to solve this phenomenon, a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the ejection port surface has been proposed.
Further, when the ink is ejected from the ejection port, in addition to the required ink droplets, a small amount of ink adheres to the vicinity of the ejection port together with paper powder, dust, and the like. When this accumulates in a dry state, it hinders the ink from flying, and it becomes impossible to accurately discharge the ink to a predetermined location.

In order to solve such a point, for example,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-198859 proposes an "ink jet recording device provided with an ink cleaning member". In this publication, an elastic continuous pore porous body is used as an ink cleaning member, and the ink ejection port surface is subjected to water repellent treatment. However, since the moving direction of the blade (wiping member) is the forward direction, the blade pressing force is small and therefore the cleaning effect is poor. In particular, when the amount of ink to be wiped off is large and the ink absorbed by the elastic continuous pore porous body becomes close to the saturated state, there is a possibility that unwiping will occur. Further, since the ink absorbed by the elastic continuous pore porous body remains after drying, the absorbency gradually deteriorates, and the dry ink powder spills out, causing clogging of the ejection port. Further, the "ink jet head cleaning method" proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-99857 involves a wiper operation while exuding ink, but the wiper has a weak force to scrape ink in the forward direction. There is a drawback that.

[0004]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a cleaning device for an inkjet printer, which can surely clean ink even when ink remains on the ink ejection port surface and does not affect the ink ejection state. It was made for the purpose of doing.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides (1)
In an inkjet recording apparatus that ejects ink from a nozzle to print on a recording medium, a wiping member that cleans ink adhering to the ink ejection surface is provided, and the wiping member is applied to the ink ejection surface in a counter direction. (2) At least a plurality of the wiping members are overlapped, and the wiping member is wiped on the ink ejection surface. (3) In (2), the at least a plurality of wiping members are overlapped. Permeating the ink solvent between the
(4) In (2), the contact angle between the wiping member and the ink ejection surface is an acute angle, and further, (5)
In (2), the wiping member and the ink ejection surface are contacted at different contact angles with each other, and (6) In (3), the wiping for penetrating the ink solvent. Coarse treatment between members or provision of grooves, and (7)
In (3), the portion of the wiping member that permeates the ink solvent that contacts the ink ejection surface is roughened or a slit is provided, and (8) In (3), when the power supply is started, At the time of the first cleaning operation, the wiping operation is performed after the ink solvent applying operation and the ink dissolving time is allowed. Hereinafter, description will be given based on examples of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of a cleaning device for an ink jet printer according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the case of a serial printer will be described. In the figure, 1 is a slide mechanism, 2 is a fulcrum, 3
Is a counter contact adapter, 4 is a spring, 5 is a wiping member (blade), 6 is a purge position, 7 is an ink ejection port surface, 7a is an ink ejection port, 8 is a print head mounting carriage, and 9 is an ink absorber.

Instead of moving the wiping member 5 in the forward direction as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b),
It is moved in the counter direction as shown in (b). In the method of moving the wiping member in the counter direction, the blade edge is strongly pressed against the cleaning surface (this is called press contact force. Generally, the cleaning ability greatly contributes to the press contact force), so that the ink that is slightly dry But you can scratch it. In carrying out the present invention, a key point is how to make the wiping member blade, which normally reciprocates, be naturally in the forward direction in the counter direction. In this embodiment, a counter contact adapter 3 which is a counter contact jig is provided at the cleaning home position.

4A to 4C are views for explaining the cleaning operation of the cleaning device. The carriage 8 carrying the print head moves to the cleaning home position 6 for purging and cleaning. Purge if necessary. The counter contact adapter 3 contacts the side surface of the carriage, and immediately before the end of the carriage contacts the wiping member blade 5, the counter contact adapter 3 pushes the wiping member blade 5 in the counter direction (FIG. (A)). After that, the carriage 8 is moved and cleaned while being integrated with the counter contact adapter 3 (FIG. (B)). An ink absorber (a porous body such as urethane foam) 9 is provided at the end of the carriage, and the ink on the wiping member 5 is wiped off by the ink absorber 9. The carriage 8 is reciprocated several times to thoroughly wipe out the ink (Fig. (C)).

FIG. 5 is a view showing another embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention. Wiping members 5a, 5b
An even greater effect can be expected by stacking multiple sheets. Conventionally, the wiping operation is required several times, but the cleaning time is shortened by reducing the number of operations. That is, at least two wiping members
By superimposing more than one sheet (a plurality of sheets), there is an effect of a plurality of wiping operations by one carriage movement. Further, in this case, the effect that the ink enters the gap between the wiping members and sucks the ink by the capillary phenomenon can be expected.

FIG. 6 is a view showing still another embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention. If the ink is dried and solidified due to some trouble, such as when the power is turned off during printing and the printing is finished without cleaning, the remaining ink that cannot be cleaned spreads from there and the cleaning failure may occur. Therefore, even the completely dried and solidified ink can be cleaned. The ink solvent (here, pure water) 11 is allowed to soak into the gap between the wiping members from the ink solvent tank 10, and the once solidified ink is wiped. Then, the ink solvent 11 is applied to the ink ejection surface and melts the ink. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when three or more wiping members (5a to 5c) are overlapped,
It is not necessary to allow the ink solvent to soak into all the overlapping portions, and it is better to have a portion to scrape the ink together.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are views showing still another embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention. Figure (a)
In the above, the wiping member 5 is provided with the groove 12 serving as a flow path for supplying the ink solvent. That is, the ink solvent inlet 13 is provided at the upper end of the wiping member 5,
Groove 12 that widens toward wiping member tip 14
Are provided in plural. The groove 12 is not cut out to the tip 14 of the wiping member (if cut out, the ink solvent will be exposed to air and evaporated). When wiping in the forward direction, the wiping member 5 is inclined, the groove 12 appears at the tip, and the ink solvent 11 is supplied. Further, roughening treatment may be performed instead of the grooves.

FIG. 9 is a view showing another embodiment of the wiping member. The wiping member tip 14 is slit 15 or roughened so that the ink solvent is uniformly applied.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are views showing still another embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention. This is for facilitating the scraping of the ink in consideration of the wettability and the viscosity of the ink. As shown in Figure (a),
The contact angle when the wiping member is in contact with the counter is generally an obtuse angle, but an acute angle as shown in FIG. The ink is generally treated to make it wet easily. On the other hand, if the wiping member hits an obtuse angle, the wiping member is likely to dig under the edge portion.
That is, this is a cleaning failure. To prevent this, the tip of the wiping member is cut to make an acute angle.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention. In consideration of the wetting angle existing in a certain area of the ink and the change in viscosity due to drying to some extent, more reliable cleaning is realized. A plurality of wiping members are brought into contact with each other at different angles. this is,
The wetting angles of the scraped ink are not always the same. Further, there is a contact angle for easily removing paper dust and other stains, and it is advisable to gradually change the contact angle of the wiping member accordingly.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the cleaning device according to the present invention. When completely dry ink is attached when the power is turned on, it works to remove it completely. First, turn on the power.
Set (step 1) and move the carriage to the initial position (st
ep2). Next, apply ink solvent to the ink ejection surface (st
ep3), purging is performed (step 4). After the paper is fed (step 5), it is confirmed that the ink is dissolved (step 6), the wiping operation is executed (step 7), and printing is performed (step 8). That is, assuming that dry solid ink is attached to the cleaning surface when the power is turned on, the wiping operation is executed after a period of time until the ink is easily removed by the ink solvent. Purging and feeding operations should be performed during this waiting time.

[0016]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following effects. (1) In the ink jet cleaning mechanism of the first aspect, since the wiping member is applied in the counter direction, the pressure contact force is strong, and paper dust, ink stains, etc. on the ink ejection surface can be removed. (2) In the inkjet cleaning mechanism of the second aspect, since two or more wiping members are superposed on each other, it is possible to remove paper dust, ink stains and the like on the ink ejection surface, and shorten the cleaning time. (3) In the inkjet cleaning mechanism of the third aspect, since the ink solvent is permeated between the wiping members, it is possible to remove the dried and solidified ink stains. (4) In the inkjet cleaning mechanism of the fourth aspect, since the contact angle between the wiping member and the ink ejection surface is an acute angle, it is possible to further remove paper dust, ink stains, etc. attached to the ink ejection surface. (5) In the inkjet cleaning mechanism of the fifth aspect, since the contact angles of the wiping member and the ink ejection surface are different from each other, the paper dust on the ink ejection surface can be further improved. Ink stains can be removed. (6) In the ink jet cleaning mechanism of the sixth aspect, since the wiping members for permeating the ink solvent are roughened or grooves are provided, the ink solvent can be discharged smoothly. (7) In the inkjet cleaning mechanism of the seventh aspect, since the portion of the wiping member that comes into contact with the ink ejection surface is roughened or provided with slits, the ink solvent can be applied uniformly. (8) In the inkjet cleaning mechanism according to claim 8, when the power supply is started and the first cleaning operation is performed,
After the ink solvent application operation, the wiping operation is performed after the ink dissolution time, so that the dry solid ink can be easily removed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment of a cleaning device for an inkjet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a forward direction of a wiping member for explaining the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a counter direction of a wiping member for explaining the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a view showing still another embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a view showing still another embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a view showing still another embodiment of the cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the cleaning device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Slide mechanism, 2 ... fulcrum, 3 ... counter contact adapter, 4 ... spring, 5 ... wiping member (blade), 6 ...
Purge position, 7 ... Ink ejection port surface, 7a ... Ink ejection port, 8 ... Carriage with print head mounted, 9 ... Ink absorber.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus for ejecting ink from a nozzle to print on a recording medium, wherein a wiping member for cleaning ink adhering to the ink ejection surface is provided, and the wiping member is applied to the ink ejection surface in a counter direction. An inkjet printer cleaning device characterized by the above. 2. The cleaning device for an ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein at least a plurality of the wiping members are provided so as to overlap each other, and the wiping members are wiped on the ink ejection surface. 3. The cleaning device for an ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein an ink solvent is allowed to permeate between the wiping members which are overlapped with each other. 4. The cleaning device for an inkjet printer according to claim 2, wherein the contact angle between the wiping member and the ink ejection surface is an acute angle. 5. The cleaning device for an inkjet printer according to claim 2, wherein the wiping member and the ink ejection surface contact each other at different contact angles. 6. The cleaning device for an ink jet printer according to claim 3, wherein the wiping members for permeating the ink solvent are roughened or grooves are provided. 7. A roughening treatment is applied to a portion of the wiping member that permeates the ink solvent, the portion being in contact with the ink ejection surface.
The cleaning device for an inkjet printer according to claim 3, further comprising a slit. 8. The cleaning device for an ink jet printer according to claim 3, wherein a wiping operation is performed after an ink solvent applying operation and an ink dissolving time at the first cleaning operation at power-on.