JPH08132631A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with an inexpensive emission recovery mechanism. CONSTITUTION: A carriage 6 loaded with an emission recovery mechanism is provided and the emission recovery operation of a line ink jet recording head 3 is performed while the emitting surface of the line ink jet recording head 3 is scanned by the carriage 6. Therefore, it is unnecessary to cover the whole of a nozzle surface and an inexpensive and certain emission recovery mechanism can be provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus for ejecting ink from a recording head and adhering the ink to a recording material to record an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a recording device such as a printer, a copying machine or a facsimile connected to a computer or a word processor is constructed to form an image on a recording material such as paper or a plastic thin plate based on image information. ing.

This recording apparatus can be classified into an ink jet type, a wire dot type, a thermal type, a laser beam type, a pen plot type, etc. according to the type, and the ink jet type recording means (ink jet head) among them is an electric type. Recording is performed by ejecting ink onto a recording material by utilizing the pressure change caused by the generation and contraction of bubbles due to film boiling formed by the thermal energy applied by the thermal energy converter. In general, an electromechanical converter such as a piezo element is used to change the volume of an ink chamber and eject ink to a recording material to perform recording for recording.

The ink jet recording apparatus can record a high density image at a high speed, and since it is a non-impact system, the recording noise is small and it is easy to record a color image using a plurality of color inks. Etc., and has many advantages.

The ink used in the ink jet recording apparatus is generally made by dispersing a dye, a pigment or the like in a mixed solvent solution of highly volatile water or alcohol and low volatile glycerin. Is.

The ink jet recording apparatus supplies ink to the ink jet recording head and ejects the ink from a plurality of ejection ports formed on the front surface of the recording head to form an image based on image data on a recording material. It is a thing to record by doing.

In the ink jet recording apparatus, the viscosity of the ink is increased by the evaporation of the ink solvent, the ink is fixed near the ejection port,
Ink ejection failure or defectiveness may occur due to adhesion of dust, dust, or the like, mixing of air bubbles. To prevent these, the ejection port is covered with a cap or the like, or the ink that is thickened by sucking the ejection port through the cap or the like, dust, dust, and air bubbles mixed in the ink are sucked out together with the ink, and the ejection port surface Is wiped with an elastic member such as a blade. A series of these operations is called a discharge recovery operation.

A conventional ink jet recording apparatus is generally a serial type (carriage scanning type) in which an ink jet recording head is mounted on a carriage and the carriage reciprocates over the entire surface of a recording material to perform recording. is there. This serial type ink jet recording apparatus generally has a discharge port group formed by several to several hundred and ten discharge ports. The inkjet recording device has a high resolution, and the pitch between the ejection ports is often 1/360 to 1/300 inch, and the outer dimension of the ejection port group is up to about 10 mm. Therefore, the cap that covers the ejection port surface and the blade that wipes the ejection port surface need only be slightly larger than the outer dimensions of the ejection port group, and can be formed of small parts as is apparent from the above dimension values. Further, when the ejection port surface is wiped, the inkjet recording head mounted on the carriage is rubbed against a blade fixed to the apparatus by the movement of the inkjet recording head itself to be wiped.

[0009]

The line type recording apparatus can perform remarkably high-speed recording as compared with the serial type recording apparatus. The line-type inkjet head is provided with ejection ports over the entire recordable range, and the number of ejection ports is several thousand, and the outer shape is large, ie, several hundred mm. Since the line type inkjet recording head is basically fixed to the device, it is necessary to drive the blade to wipe the ejection port surface, and when trying to suck the ejection port, a single cap is used. Since a large suction area is required to cover and eject the ejection ports with, a large-capacity suction pump is required, and even when performing the ejection recovery process for one ejection port, it is necessary to suck all the ejection ports, resulting in waste of ink. It has a problem that it causes. The running cost of an inkjet recording device is proportional to the amount of ink consumed. If unnecessary suction of ink is repeated, the amount of ink consumption increases and the running cost increases.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus having an inexpensive and reliable ejection recovery mechanism and a low running cost.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a carriage which moves along the ink ejection surface of a recording head, and a blade for wiping the ink ejection surface and an ink ejection port for sucking the ink ejection surface. And a suction means for controlling.

[0012]

With the above-described structure, the present invention is reliable and does not need to suck ink from all of the ink ejection ports when some of the ink ejection ports cannot be ejected. be able to.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4. In FIGS. 1 to 4, 1 is a recording sheet, 2 is a sheet conveying roller for conveying the recording sheet 1, 3 is a line type inkjet recording head having an ejection port 3a, 4 is an ink tank for storing recording ink. ing. An ink supply tube 5 supplies the ink stored in the ink tank 4 to the line type inkjet recording head 3. Reference numeral 6 is a carriage, 7 is a shaft that holds the carriage 6 so that the carriage 6 can reciprocate in front of the ejection port 3a, and 8 is a blade formed of an elastic body that wipes the ejection port 3a of the line-type inkjet recording head 3. It is held by the carriage 6 so that it can be brought into and out of contact with 3a. Reference numeral 9 is a suction pump, 10 is a cap, and the discharge port 3a of the line-type inkjet recording head 3
It is configured to be able to cover a part of the above, and is held by the carriage 6 so that it can be separated from and contact with the discharge port 3a like the blade 8. Reference numeral 11 is a tube for sucking ink.

The operation of the ink jet recording apparatus having the above structure will be described below. At the time of printing, the paper transport roller 2 is driven by a motor or the like to transport the recording paper 1. When the recording paper 1 passes in front of the line type inkjet recording head 3, the line type inkjet recording head 3 ejects ink from the ejection port 3a to perform recording. When recording is performed, ink adheres to the vicinity of the ejection port 3a. The attached ink sticks and is ejected 3
It is necessary to wipe off the adhering ink because it blocks a and changes the ejecting direction of the ink by acting on the ejected ink. When wiping off the adhered ink, the blade 8 is moved forward in the direction of arrow A so as to contact the ejection port 3a, and the carriage 6 is driven by a motor or the like to reciprocate along the ejection port 3a. The blade 8 wipes the ejection port 3a as the carriage 6 reciprocates. In other words, the ejection port 3a can be wiped by driving the carriage 6.

On the other hand, when air bubbles or dust are mixed in the ink flow path or when the ink solvent evaporates and the ink viscosity increases, the ejection energy generated inside the line type ink jet recording head 3 is the ejection port 3a. If the ink cannot be ejected, the ink cannot be ejected, or the ejection speed is insufficient. In order to prevent such discharge failure or discharge failure, it is necessary to suck the discharge port 3a and suck the impurities in the ink flow path together with the ink. Even if ejection failure or ejection failure occurs, normal ejection can be performed again by sucking the ejection port 3a. When the discharge recovery operation as described above is performed, the cap 11 communicating with the suction pump 9 by the tube 11 is advanced in the direction of arrow B so as to be in close contact with the discharge port 3a. Then, the suction pump 9 is driven to generate a negative pressure in the space formed by the cap 10 and the surface of the discharge port 3a. As is clear from FIG. 1, the discharge ports 3a covered with the cap 10 at this time are all the discharge ports 3a.
The cap 10 is a very small part of a and is extremely small. When a negative pressure is applied to the ejection port 3a, bubbles or dust mixed in the ink flow path or impurities such as dust or solvent evaporate and the thickened ink is sucked out. Next, the carriage 6 is moved while the suction pump 9 is driven, and the cap 10 is moved together with the carriage 6. The cap 10 successively covers the new discharge ports 3a, and sequentially discharges the discharge ports 3a.
Suction and discharge recovery.

If some of the ejection openings 3a cannot eject the ink due to thickening of the ink, the carriage 6 is moved to the vicinity of the ejection openings 3a where the ejection becomes impossible,
When suction and discharge are performed, the cap 10 is sufficiently small with respect to all the discharge ports 3a as is clear from the above-described structure description, and therefore only a part of the discharge ports 3a is covered at the same time, and discharge is impossible. Only the discharge port 3a and the discharge ports 3a around it can be sucked.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, the carriage that moves along the ink ejection surface of the recording head is provided, and the blade that wipes the ink ejection surface and the suction means that sucks the ink ejection port are provided on the carriage. By providing the ink, it is not necessary to suck the ink from all the ink ejection ports when it is certain that some of the ink ejection ports cannot be ejected, and it is possible to recover the ejection without waste of the ink, which is small in size. The ejection recovery device can recover the ejection of a large line type inkjet recording head.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a line type inkjet recording head of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an external view of a carriage of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 Recording Paper 2 Paper Conveying Roller 3 Line Type Inkjet Recording Head 3a Ejection Port 4 Ink Tank 5 Ink Supply Tube 6 Carriage 7 Shaft 8 Blade 9 Suction Pump 10 Cap 11 Tube

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An inkjet recording apparatus for recording ink on a recording medium by ejecting ink from a recording head, comprising a wiping member that moves along the ink ejection surface of the recording head and wipes the ink ejection surface. Characteristic inkjet recording device. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a separating / contacting means for separating / contacting the wiping member from the ink ejection surface. 3. An ink jet recording apparatus for recording ink on a recording medium by ejecting ink from a recording head, comprising suction means which moves along an ink ejection surface of the recording head and sucks an ink ejection port of the recording head. An inkjet recording apparatus characterized by the above. 4. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a separating / contacting means for contacting / separating the suction means with respect to the ink ejection surface. 5. An ink jet recording apparatus for recording ink on a recording medium by ejecting ink from a recording head, and a carriage that moves along the ink ejection surface of the recording head, and wipes the ink ejection surface mounted on the carriage. An inkjet recording apparatus, comprising: a wiping member; and a suction unit mounted on the carriage for sucking an ink ejection port of the recording head. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the carriage is provided with a suction pump that constitutes the suction means. 7. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a suction possible area of the suction port of the suction unit is smaller than an outer dimension of the ink discharge port group.