JPH091814A - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent drying and clogging of ink of a print head even when the print head is not used for a long time in an ink jet recording device. CONSTITUTION: A viscous material supplying section 3 that applies a viscous material 21 for preventing drying of ink ejected from ink ejection nozzles 9 of a print head 2 to a face on which the ink ejection nozzles 9 are formed and a viscous material removing section 4 that removes the applied viscous material 21 from the face on which the ink ejection nozzles 9 of the print head 2 are formed, are provided to an ink jet recording device.

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, and more particularly to an ink jet recording apparatus for preventing clogging due to ink drying of a print head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional ink jet recording apparatus is constructed, for example, as shown in FIG. In this conventional inkjet recording apparatus, a paper transport unit 103, a print head 104, and the like are arranged between a pair of support plates 101 and 102 that are arranged to face each other. The paper transport unit 103 is configured by a transport belt 107 spanning a rotating body 106 that is rotated by the rotation of a drive motor 105, and a paper 108 fed from a paper feed cassette or the like is in a horizontal direction. It is designed to be transferred in the P direction. The print head 104 has a large number of ink ejection openings arrayed on the surface facing the paper 108, and the drive shaft 11 on which the carriage 109 is arranged in parallel.
It is supported by 0 and the support shaft 111.

The drive shaft 110 is formed of a male screw, penetrates the inside of a through hole formed of a female screw of the carriage 109, one end thereof is directly connected to the drive motor 112, and the other end is rotatably supported by the support plate 102. There is. The support shaft 111 also serves as a guide, penetrates the inside of the carriage 109, and both ends thereof are supported by the support plates 101 and 102, and the carriage 109 is movable along the support shaft 111. When the drive motor 112 is rotationally driven, the drive shaft 110 rotates and the carriage 109
The print head 104 moves between the support plates 101 and 102 via the.

The print head 104 moves, for example, between the paper widths in the direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction while the transport of the intermittently transported paper is stopped to perform a predetermined printing on the paper 108. When the predetermined printing is completed, the paper 108 is moved by the next printing and the next new printing is performed. When the necessary printing on the paper 108 is completed, the print head 10
Reference numeral 4 moves to the home position side on the right side of the drawing, which is the position retracted from the paper transport unit 103. A sponge-like soft member 113 is arranged at this home position, and when the print head 104 moves to this home position, the soft member 113 is pressed against the surface of the print head 104 on which the ink ejection ports are formed. It is like this. As a result, the contact of the ink ejection port with the air is blocked, and the ink is prevented from drying and clogging.

[0005]

However, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the above-mentioned conventional example, since the sponge-like soft member 113 is merely pressed against the surface of the print head 104 on which the ink ejection ports are formed, it is completely possible. Since it cannot be shut off from the air, the soft member 11 can be used for a long time.
If 3 is left pressed, the ink dries and some of the ink ejection ports are easily clogged. When some of the ink ejection openings are clogged, a portion of the paper 108 where an image cannot be formed occurs, and image information such as white lines is lost.

In the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, the paper 108 is transported in the horizontal direction, and the paper 10 is transferred.
In the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, the paper 108 is transported in the vertical direction and the ink ejection port 9 of the print head 2 is arranged. There is also a configuration in which the respective constituent members are arranged so that ink is ejected in the lateral direction when the surface on which is formed faces a vertical surface, and such an ink jet recording apparatus also has the same problem as described above. doing.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus in which the ink is not dried even when it is not used for a long time so that the ink ejection port of the print head is not clogged.

[0008]

In order to achieve such an object, an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is provided with a print head for ejecting ink given ejection energy from an ink ejection port. In this case, a viscous material supply unit that applies a viscous material that prevents the ink ejected from the ink ejection port from drying on the surface of the print head on which the ink ejection port is formed, and the applied viscous material of the print head It is characterized in that a viscous material removing portion for removing from the surface on which the ink ejection port is formed is provided.

An ink jet recording apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first aspect, characterized in that the viscous material has a property of retaining or moistening the ink.

An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3 of the present invention is the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:
The viscous material supply unit includes a cap filled with a viscous material, and the surface of the print head on which the ink ejection port is formed is fitted with the cap so that the surface on which the ink ejection port is formed contacts the viscous material in the cap. By doing so, a viscous material is applied to the surface.

An ink jet recording apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first, second or third aspect, wherein the viscous material removing portion includes a blade made of an elastic material,
By removing the viscous material on the surface by sliding the blade relatively on the surface of the print head on which the ink ejection openings are formed and scraping off the viscous material applied to the surface. It has a feature.

[0012]

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first aspect,
When the recording device is not used, etc., the viscous material that prevents the ink applied to the surface of the print head on which the ink ejection openings are formed by the viscous material supply section is completely blocked from the air by the viscous material. Therefore, even when the recording apparatus is not used for a long time, the ink at the ink ejection port does not dry and clogging does not occur. Further, when the recording apparatus is used, the viscous material removing unit removes the viscous material applied to the surface of the print head on which the ink ejection openings are formed, so that the ink is normally ejected from the ink ejection openings of the print head. To be done.

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the second aspect of the invention, the viscous material applied to the surface of the print head on which the ink ejection openings are formed has the property of moisturizing or wetting the ink. The ink is moisturized or wet, and its viscous material completely blocks the ink ejection port from the air, so even if the recording device is not used for a long time, the ink at the ink ejection port will not dry and clogging will occur. Does not happen.

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the third aspect, the surface of the print head on which the ink discharge port is formed is fitted with the print head and the viscous material-filled cap of the viscous material supply section. Since it comes into contact with, the viscous material is surely applied to the surface.

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the blade made of the elastic material of the viscous material removing portion is slid on the surface of the print head on which the ink ejection port is formed and is applied to the surface. Since the viscous material present is scraped off, the viscous material is effectively removed.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the ink jet recording apparatus includes a paper transport unit 1, a print head 2, a viscous material supply unit 3, and a viscous material removal unit 4.
The paper transport unit 1 includes a rotary shaft 6 that is rotated by the rotation of a drive motor 5, and a transport belt 7 is configured to span a rotary body (not shown) fixed to the rotary shaft 6.
Paper 8 on the conveyor belt 7 fed from a paper feed cassette or the like
Are transported in a vertical direction (a direction that penetrates the paper surface in this figure). The rotary shaft 6 is rotatably supported by a pair of support plates (not shown) that are arranged opposite to each other.

In the print head 2, a large number of ink discharge ports 9 are formed on the surface facing the paper 8 surface, and a through hole 10 formed of a female screw is formed near the surface opposite to the surface. A drive shaft 11 made of a male screw is passed through the through hole 10. One end of the drive shaft 11 is the drive motor 1
2, the other end is rotatably supported by a support plate (not shown), and the drive shaft 11 is rotated by the drive motor 12 so that the print head 2 moves in the left-right direction in the drawing. It is supposed to do. Note that, like the conventional example, a support shaft, which is also arranged in parallel with the drive shaft 11 and which also serves as a guide, penetrates the print head 2 and the print head 2 does not rotate together when the drive shaft 11 rotates. It is like this.

The print head 2 has a pressurizing chamber 13 formed upstream of the ink from the ink ejection port 9 and a piezoelectric element 14 mounted outside the pressurizing chamber 13. The print head 2 configured in this way is
When the piezoelectric element 14 is driven, a vibration plate (not shown) forming a part of the pressurizing chamber 13 vibrates to pressurize the ink inside the pressurizing chamber 13, whereby the ink to which the ejection energy is given. Is ejected to the outside from the ink ejection port 9 to perform a predetermined printing on the paper 8. Further, in this embodiment, the convex portion 15 is formed around the surface of the print head 2 on which the ink ejection port 9 is formed so as to surround the surface. The step difference between the convex portion 15 and the surface on which the ink ejection port 9 is formed is
For example, it is in the range of several tens to several hundreds of μm.

The viscous material supplying section 3 and the viscous material removing section 4
Is a drive shaft 11 such that the viscous material removing unit 4 is located between the paper transporting unit 1 and the viscous material supplying unit 3 at the home position of the print head 2 which is the right side position of the paper transporting unit 1 in the drawing.
Are arranged along the axial direction of. This viscous material supply unit 3
Is a surface of the print head 2 on which the ink discharge ports 9 are formed, by applying a viscous material described below to the surface of the print head 2 on which the ink discharge ports 9 are formed to shield the ink discharge ports 9 from the air. It has a cap 16 sized to fit with.
The cap 16 is provided with a support portion 18 having a through hole 17 formed of a female screw.
A drive shaft 19 made of a male screw penetrates through the through hole 17. One end of the drive shaft 19 is directly connected to the drive motor 20, and the other end is rotatably supported by a support plate (not shown). When this drive motor 20 is rotationally driven,
The drive shaft 19 rotates and the cap 16 moves in the direction in which it comes in contact with and separates from the print head 2. It should be noted that the drive shaft 1 does not rotate together with the cap 16 due to the rotation of the drive shaft 19.
A support shaft, which is arranged in parallel with 9 and also serves as a guide (not shown), penetrates the support portion 18.

The cap 16 is shown in a sectional view, and a viscous material 21 is filled inside the cap 16. The viscous material 21 has a property of retaining or moistening the ink ejected from the ink ejection port 9 of the print head 2 (for example, having hydrophilicity when the ink is aqueous).
Therefore, it has such a viscosity that it does not flow out from the cap 16. Preferable specific examples of the viscous material 21 when the ink is water-based include glycerin and ethylene glycol. If the viscous material 21 has a low viscosity such that it flows out from the cap 16, an absorbent material such as a sponge may be housed in the cap 16 so that the absorbent material is filled with the absorbent material soaked. Good.

The viscous material removing section 4 removes the viscous material 21 applied by the viscous material supply section 3 and adhering to the surface of the print head 2 on which the ink ejection openings 9 are formed. It is capable of ejecting ink and is provided with a storage container 22 for storing the removed viscous material 21. The storage container 22 has a shape in which the surface on the side facing the surface on which the ink discharge ports 9 of the print head 2 are formed and the surface on the upper side are missing, and the ink discharge ports 9 of the print head 2 are formed. It is configured so as to fit with the face side. The storage container 22 has a through hole 23 formed of a female screw.
Is formed, and a drive shaft 25 made of a male screw is passed through the through hole 23 of the support portion 24. One end of the drive shaft 25 is directly connected to the drive motor 26, and the other end is rotatably supported by a support plate (not shown). When the drive motor 26 is driven to rotate, the drive shaft 25 rotates and the storage container 22 moves to the print head 2.
Move toward and away from. A support shaft, which is arranged in parallel with the drive shaft 25 and also serves as a guide (not shown), penetrates the support portion 24 so that the storage container 22 does not rotate together with the drive shaft 25.

Inside the storage container 22, a pair of scraping members 27, 2 is provided as shown in FIG.
A belt 29 made of an elastic material, such as rubber, provided with 8 is laid across a pair of rotating bodies 30 and 31 that are arranged to face each other. The pair of scraping members 27, 28 are for scraping off the viscous material 21 adhering to the surface of the print head 2 on which the ink ejection ports 9 are formed. The belts 29 are formed at positions where the lengths of the belts 29 are equal to each other. The rotating bodies 30 and 31
Is rotated by the drive motor 34 shown in FIG. 1, whereby the scraping members 27, 28 of the belt 29 are rotated in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. The belt 29 has a width slightly larger than the width of the print head 2, and the scraping member 2
The widths 7 and 28 include at least the convex portion 15 of the print head 2. Rear standing wall 22 of storage container 22
A removing member 35 is provided at a position where the removing member 35 contacts the scraping members 27 and 28, and the viscous material 21 attached to the scraping members 27 and 28 is removed.

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment configured as described above, when the predetermined printing operation on the paper 8 on the paper transport unit 1 is completed, the drive motor 12 is rotationally driven and the drive shaft 11 is driven. The print head 2 rotates and moves to the position of the viscous material supply unit 3 on the home position side as shown in FIG. When the print head 2 reaches the position of the viscous material supply unit 3, the drive motor 20 is rotationally driven to drive the drive shaft 1.
9 rotates, the cap 16 is moved to the print head 2 side as shown in FIG. 4, and is fitted with the surface side of the print head 2 on which the ink ejection ports 9 are formed. By this fitting, the surface on which the ink ejection port 9 is formed comes into contact with the viscous material 21 filled in the cap 16, and the viscous material 21 is attached to the surface, whereby the ink on the ink ejection port 9 is removed. The ink ejection port 9 is kept moisturized or wet.
Is cut off from the air. The print head 2 is held in this state when the main power is turned off or when the printing operation is temporarily stopped during operation. The above-mentioned fitting is performed by the cap 16
May be made larger than the print head 2 so that a gap is formed around the print head 2.

Next, when the printing operation is started by turning on the main power source or when the printing operation is resumed from the temporarily stopped state, the drive motor 20 is rotationally driven and the drive shaft 19 is rotated, and the position shown in FIG. The cap 16 is separated from the print head 2 and returns to the initial position shown in FIG. In the print head 2 that has been disengaged from the cap 16, the viscous material 21 is applied in a film form on the surface on which the ink ejection port 9 is formed. It becomes impossible to eject ink from the. Therefore, cap 1
When 6 returns to the initial position, the drive motor 12 is rotationally driven to rotate the drive shaft 11, and the print head 2 moves to the position of the viscous material removing unit 4 as shown in FIG.

When the print head 2 reaches the position of the viscous material removing portion 4, the drive motor 26 is rotationally driven to rotate the drive shaft 25, and the storage container 22 is moved to the print head 2 side as shown in FIG. Then, the print head 2 is fitted with the surface side on which the ink discharge port 9 is formed. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the fitted state of the print head 2 and the viscous material removing member 4, and when the storage container 22 is fitted in the print head 2, the drive motor 34 is driven to rotate and the belt inside the storage container 22 is driven. 29 starts rotating. Before the rotation of the belt 29, one scraping member 27 formed integrally with the belt 29 is set at a position corresponding to the upper end portion of the print head 2, and the rotation of the belt 29 causes the scraping member 27 to rotate. 27 moves from the upper end to the lower end of the print head 2, and the ink discharge port 9 of the print head 2
It slides on the surface on which is formed, and the viscous material 21 applied to the surface is scraped off. The convex portion 15 is formed on the surface of the print head 2 as described above, and the scraping member 27 has a width including at least the convex portion 15 portion.
The in-plane viscous material 21 surrounded by 5 is not scraped and remains by the amount of the step. However, since the step of the convex portion 15 is small as described above, the remaining viscous material 21 has a thin film shape.

The other scraping member 28 is removed by the removing member 35 during the scraping operation of the viscous material 21 of the one scraping member 27.
The adhered viscous material 21 is removed by abutting against. Similarly, the other scraping member 28 is the print head 2
When the viscous material 21 on the surface on which the ink ejection port 9 is formed is scraped off, the viscous material attached to the one scraping member 27 is removed by the removing member 35. The viscous material 21 removed from the scraping members 27 and 28 is stored in the storage container 2
The accumulated viscous material 21 is discharged to the outside through a discharge port (not shown).

When the removal of the viscous material 21 applied to the surface of the print head 2 on which the ink ejection openings 9 are formed by the viscous material removing section 4 is completed in this way, the drive motor 12 is rotationally driven to drive the drive shaft 11. Is rotated, the print head 2 moves to the side of the paper transport unit 1 and performs predetermined printing on the paper 8. At this time, the ink ejection port 9 of the print head 2 is covered with the remaining viscous material 21, but since this viscous material 21 is in the form of a thin film, it is removed at the time of printing by the ejection pressure of the ink and normal printing is performed. Done. The remaining thin film-like viscous material 21 is the ink ejection port 9 from which ink is not ejected immediately even when the print head 2 is in the printing operation, or the ink ejection port which is not used during the printing operation. 9 prevents the ink from drying.

If it is not necessary to prevent the ink from drying, the viscous material 21 may not be left without forming the convex portion 15. Even when the convex portion 15 is not formed as described above, when the viscosity of the viscous material 21 is high, some viscous material may remain in a thin film form on the surface of the print head 2 on which the ink ejection ports 9 are formed. In some cases, the convex portion 15
The same effect as when forming is obtained. When the predetermined printing operation on the paper 8 is completed, the print head 2 moves again to the position of the viscous material supply unit 3 on the home position side by the rotation of the drive shaft 11 by the rotation drive of the drive motor 12, and the above operation is performed. repeat.

Since the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment is constructed and operates as described above, the ink is not dried and clogging occurs even when the ink ejection port 9 of the print head 2 is not used for a long time. There is no. Therefore,
The print head 2 can always print in a normal state.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is characterized in that the viscous material supply unit 40 and the viscous material removal unit 41 are integrally formed, and the other components are the same as those in the first embodiment described above, and therefore the same reference numerals are given, Only the differences from the first embodiment will be described below. That is, the viscous material supply unit 40 includes the same cap 42 as in the first embodiment, and the viscous material 21 similar to that in the first embodiment is filled in the cap 42. The viscous material removing portion 41 includes a viscous material receiving portion 43 that uses a part of the cap 42, and a scraping member 44 made of an elastic material such as rubber is attached to an open end of the viscous material receiving portion 43. The width of the scraping member 44 (in the drawing, the direction through the paper surface) is at least the convex portion 15 of the print head 2.
The width includes the part. A supporting portion 46 in which a through hole 45 formed of a female screw is formed is formed in the cap 42 constituting the viscous material supply portion 40, and a drive shaft 47 formed of a male screw is penetrated into the through hole 45 of the supporting portion 46. ing.

One end of the drive shaft 47 is directly connected to the drive motor 48, and the other end is rotatably supported by a support plate (not shown). When the drive motor 48 is rotationally driven, the drive shaft 47 rotates and the cap 42 and the viscous material receiving portion 43 move in a direction in which they come into contact with and separate from the print head 2. In order to prevent the cap 42 and the viscous material receiving portion 43 from rotating together with the rotation of the drive shaft 47, a support shaft, which is arranged in parallel with the drive shaft 47 and also serves as a guide (not shown), penetrates the support portion 46. As described above, the viscous material supply unit 40 and the viscous material removal unit 41 are integrally configured. In the viscous material removing unit 4 of the first embodiment, the storage container 22
Although the belt 29 and the like are disposed inside, the structure is somewhat complicated, but the viscous material removing portion 41 of the second embodiment has a simple structure in which the scraping member 44 is attached to the viscous material receiving portion 43. ing.

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the second embodiment configured as described above, when the printing operation on the paper 8 of the paper transport unit 1 is completed, the print head 2 drives the drive motor 12 as in the first embodiment. Drive shaft 11 driven by rotary drive
By virtue of the rotation of the viscous material supply unit 40 on the home position side
Move to the position. The print head 2 is a viscous material supply unit 4.
At the position of 0, the drive motor 48 is rotationally driven to rotate the drive shaft 47, the cap 42 is moved to the print head 2 side as shown in FIG. 9, and the ink ejection port 9 of the print head 2 is formed. It is fitted with the face side. By this fitting, the surface on which the ink ejection port 9 is formed comes into contact with the viscous material 21 filled in the cap 42, and the viscous material 2 is attached to the surface.
1 is attached, whereby the ink in the ink ejection port 9 is kept moist or wet, and the ink ejection port 9 is shielded from the air. The print head 2 is held in this state when the main power is turned off or when the printing operation is temporarily stopped during operation.

Next, when the printing operation is started by turning on the main power source or when the printing operation is resumed from the temporary stop state, the drive motor 48 is rotationally driven to rotate the drive shaft 47, and the position shown in FIG. The cap 42 is separated from the print head 2 as shown in FIG. In the above-mentioned first embodiment, the cap returns to the initial position by this separating operation,
In the second embodiment, the print head 2 is separated from the print head 2, but stopped at an intermediate position between the initial position and the print head 2. That is, when the cap 42 is separated from the print head 2, the first
Since the viscous material 21 is adhered in a film shape to the surface of the print head 2 where the ink ejection ports 9 are formed as in the embodiment, the cap 42 is a scraping member 44 of the viscous material removing portion 41. Will stop at a position where the viscous material 21 adhering to the print head 2 can be scraped off.

When the cap 42 is stopped at this position, the drive motor 12 is rotationally driven to rotate the drive shaft 11 and the print head 2 is moved to the paper transport unit 1 side. When the print head 2 is moved, as shown in FIG. 11, the surface of the print head 2 on which the viscous material 21 is attached comes into contact with the scraping member 44, so that the scraping member 44 slides on the surface. Therefore, the viscous material 21 is scraped off by the scraping member 44. The scraped viscous material 21 flows into the viscous material receiving portion 43, but is discharged to the outside from a discharge port (not shown) formed at the bottom of the viscous material receiving portion 43. The presence of the convex portion 15 of the print head 2 causes a thin film-like viscous material to remain on the surface on which the ink ejection port 9 is formed as in the first embodiment. However, the convex portion 15 is formed. Alternatively, the viscous material may not remain.

Since the ink jet recording apparatus according to the second embodiment is constructed and operates as described above, the ink does not dry even when the ink ejection port 9 of the print head 2 is not used for a long time as in the first embodiment. No clogging will occur. Moreover, it has an advantage that the structure is simplified as compared with the ink jet recording apparatus of the first embodiment, and since it is not necessary to stop the print head 2 when removing the viscous material 21, the viscous material 21 removing operation is performed. The advantage is that the time is shortened.

In both the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first and second embodiments, the paper 8 is transported in the vertical direction (the direction that penetrates the paper surface in the figure), and the print head 2 is moved.
Is configured by arranging the respective constituent members so as to eject the ink in the horizontal direction, the respective constituent members are arranged so that the paper 8 is transported in the horizontal direction and the print head 2 ejects the ink in the downward direction. It may be arranged and configured. Further, in both the first and second embodiments, the print head 2 may be of a single color or may be provided with four head units of black, cyan, magenta and yellow. Further, in both the first and second embodiments described above, the viscous material supply units 3 and 40 do not have a configuration in which the viscous material 21 is filled in the caps 16 and 42, but spray the viscous material 21 with a sprayer to apply it. It may be configured. Further, the viscous material removing units 4 and 41 do not have a configuration in which the viscous material 21 is scraped by the scraping members 27, 28, and 44, and the viscous material 2 is removed.
A configuration may be adopted in which compressed air is blown onto 1 to remove it.

FIG. 12 is a front view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In this figure,
The inkjet recording device includes a paper transport unit 50, a print head 51, a viscous material supply unit 52, and a viscous material removal unit 53. The sheet conveying unit 50 is configured by a conveying belt 56 spanning a pair of rotators 54 and 55 arranged to face each other, and a sheet 57 on the conveying belt 56 is rotators 54 and 5.
By the rotation of 5, it is transferred in the direction of arrow P, which is the horizontal direction. The print head 51 has four color head portions 58, 5 of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow.
9, 60, 61, and each head unit 5
A large number of ink ejection ports 62, 63, 64, 65 are formed on the surfaces of the sheets 59, 60, 61 facing the sheet 57, respectively, and are integrally supported by a support body 66 in the central portion.

A support portion 68 having a through hole 67 formed of a female screw is formed in the support body 66, and a drive shaft 69 formed of a male screw is passed through the through hole 67 of the support portion 68. One end of the drive shaft 69 is directly connected to the drive motor 70, and the other end is rotatably supported by a support plate (not shown). When the drive motor 70 is rotationally driven, the drive shaft 69 rotates and the print head 51 moves vertically with respect to the paper 57. A support shaft (not shown), which is arranged in parallel with the drive shaft 69 and also serves as a guide, penetrates through the support portion 68 so that the print head 51 does not rotate together with the rotation of the drive shaft 69.

Further, the print head 51 has the same structure as that of the first embodiment and the like, and the ink to which the discharge energy is applied has the ink discharge port 62 of each head part 58, 59, 60, 61.
The ink is discharged from 63, 64, and 65, respectively. In addition, in this embodiment, the head portions 58, 59,
The width of 60, 61 (in the figure, the direction through the paper surface) is the paper 57.
Since it has a value substantially the same as the paper width which is the direction orthogonal to the transport direction of P, the printing between the paper widths of the paper 57 is performed while the print head 51 is fixed, and the paper 57 is indicated by the arrow P.
Printing is performed on the entire surface of the paper by intermittently transferring in the direction. In this embodiment as well, as in the first embodiment and the like, the head portions 58, 5 constituting the print head 51 are constituted.
9, 60, 61 ink ejection ports 62, 63, 64, 65
The convex portion 71 around the surface where the
72, 73, 74 are formed respectively.

The viscous material supplying section 52 and the viscous material removing section 5
3 is integrally formed similarly to the second embodiment, and the viscous material removing unit 53 includes the paper transporting unit 50 and the viscous material supplying unit 52 on the downstream side of the home position of the paper 57 in the transport direction. It is arranged to be located between them. The viscous material supply unit 52 is provided with the ink ejection ports 62, 6 of the head units 58, 59, 60, 61 that form the print head 51.
The caps 76, 77, 78, 79 are sized to fit with the surfaces on which 3, 64, 65 are formed, respectively. The same viscous material 80 as in the examples and the like is filled.
The viscous material removing portion 53 is configured to include a viscous material receiving portion 81 that uses a part of the cap 79 at one end of the viscous material supplying portion 52, and an elastic material such as rubber is provided at the opening end of the viscous material receiving portion 81. A scraping member 82 made of is attached so as to project upward. The width of the scraping member 82 (the direction of penetrating the paper surface in the figure) is at least the convex portions 71, 72, 7 of the head portions 58, 59, 60, 61 constituting the print head 51.
The width includes 3,74 parts.

A pair of pulleys 8 arranged to face the caps 76, 77, 78, 79 forming the viscous material supply section 52 and the viscous material receiving section 81 forming the viscous material removing section 53.
The timing belt 85 is attached to the pulleys 3 and 84, and the drive motor 86 attached to one of the pulleys 83 is rotated to rotate the timing belt 85.
7, 78 and 79 are moved to the positions of the respective head portions 58, 59, 60 and 61 which form the print head 51.

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the third embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration, the paper 5 on the paper transport unit 50 is
When the printing operation for 7 is completed, the drive motor 70 is rotationally driven to rotate the drive shaft 69, whereby the print head 51 is separated from the paper 57 and moves upward as shown in FIG. When the movement of the print head 51 is completed, the drive motor 86 is rotationally driven to rotate the timing belt 85, and as shown in FIG.
Each of the caps 76, 77, 78, 79 constituting the above-mentioned structure moves to the lower position of the print head 51. When the movement of each of the caps 76, 77, 78, 79 is completed, the drive motor 70 is rotationally driven and the drive shaft 69 is rotated, whereby the print head 51 is moved downward, and as shown in FIG. The surface side of the head portions 58, 59, 60, 61 on which the ink ejection ports 62, 63, 64, 65 are formed fits with the caps 76, 77, 78, 79.

By this fitting, the ink ejection ports 62, 6
The surfaces on which 3, 64 and 65 are formed are the caps 76 and 7 respectively.
The viscous material 80 filled in 7, 78, 79 is brought into contact with the viscous material 80, and the viscous material 80 is attached to the surface of the viscous material 80, whereby the ink of the ink ejection ports 62, 63, 64, 65 is kept moist or wet. In addition, the ink discharge ports 62, 63, 64,
65 is isolated from the air. When the main power is off or when the printing operation is temporarily stopped during operation, the print head 5
1 is held in this state.

Next, when the printing operation is started by turning on the main power source or when the printing operation is restarted from the temporarily stopped state, the drive motor 70 is rotationally driven to rotate the drive shaft 69, whereby the print head 51 is rotated. Moves upward and away from each cap 76, 77, 78, 79,
As shown in FIG. 6, the vehicle stops at a position lower than the position shown in FIG. That is, the print head 51 is attached to each of the caps 76 and 7.
When moving away from 7, 78 and 79,
Since the viscous material 80 is adhered in the form of a film on the surface of the print head 51 on which the ink ejection openings 62, 63, 64, 65 of the head portions 58, 59, 60, 61 are formed,
The print head 51 is stopped at a position where the scraping member 82 of the viscous material removing unit 53 can scrape off the viscous material 80 adhering to the print head 51.

When the print head 51 stops at the above position,
The drive motor 86 is rotationally driven to drive the timing belt 85.
Rotates, and the caps 76, 77, 78, 79 move away from the lower position of the print head 51 to the home position side. At this time, as shown in FIG. 17, the surface of the scraping member 82 of the viscous material removing portion 53 to which the viscous material 80 of each of the head portions 58, 59, 60, 61 forming the print head 51 adheres. Sliding on the heads 58, 59, 60,
The viscous material 80 of 61 is scraped off. However, as described above, the width of the scraping member 82 is at least the convex portion 7 of the print head 51.
Since the width includes the 1, 72, 73, and 74 parts,
The convex portions 71, 72 of the head portions 58, 59, 60, 61,
The viscous material 80 in the plane surrounded by 73 and 74 is not scraped and remains as in the first embodiment. The scraped viscous material 80 flows into the viscous material receiving portion 81, and is discharged to the outside from a discharge port (not shown) formed at the bottom of the viscous material receiving portion 81.

When the removal of the viscous material 80 applied to the print head 51 by the viscous material removing unit 53 is completed in this way, the drive motor 70 is rotationally driven to rotate the drive shaft 69, and the print head 51 is moved downward. Move to and stop at a printable position. After that, predetermined printing is performed on the paper 57. At this time, the ink ejection ports 62, 63 of the respective head parts 58, 59, 60, 61 constituting the print head 51,
64 and 65 are covered with the remaining viscous material 80. Since the viscous material 80 is in the form of a thin film, it is removed by the ejection pressure when ink is ejected, and normal printing is performed. The remaining thin film-like viscous material 80 is used during the printing operation of the ink ejection ports 62, 63, 64, 65 where the ink is not ejected immediately even when the print head 51 is performing the printing operation. Ink ejection ports 62, 63, 64, and 65 are prevented from being dried.
However, if it is unnecessary to prevent such ink drying, the viscous material 80 is not left without the convex portions 71, 72, 73, 74 of the surface on which the ink ejection ports 62, 63, 64, 65 are formed. You may do it. When the predetermined printing operation on the paper 57 is completed, the print head 51 moves to the upper part again and repeats the above operation.

Each cap 7 of the viscous material supply section 52
When 6, 77, 78, 79 are separated corresponding to the head portions 58, 59, 60, 61 as in the third embodiment, different color inks are transferred to the head portions via the viscous material 80. It can be surely prevented from adhering, but if such consideration is not necessary, it may be configured with one large cap. Further, the print head 51 may be a single color instead of being composed of four color heads.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the viscous materials 21 and 80 applied to the surfaces of the print heads 2 and 51 on which the ink ejection openings 9 and 62 to 65 are formed may keep or moisten the ink. Although it has a property, it is not necessarily limited to one having such a property, and it is possible to prevent the drying of the ink by blocking the ink ejection ports 9, 62 to 65 from the air. .

In each of the above embodiments, the print heads 2, 5
1. For position detection of the caps 16, 42, 76 to 79 forming the viscous material supply units 3, 40, 52 and the storage container 22 forming the viscous material removing unit 4, for example, a micro switch or A position detection sensor such as a photoelectric switch is used, and the above-described predetermined operation is performed by being sequence-controlled by a signal output from each sensor.

[0051]

As described above, according to the first to fourth aspects of the invention, the viscous material for preventing the ink ejected from the ink ejection port from drying on the surface of the print head on which the ink ejection port is formed. Since the viscous material supply unit for applying and the viscous material removing unit for removing the applied viscous material from the surface of the print head on which the ink ejection openings are formed are provided, the ink jet recording apparatus is not used for a long time. Even when the ink is discharged from the print head, it is possible to prevent the ink from drying at the ink discharge port of the print head and to prevent clogging of the ink discharge port. It can be discharged.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the viscous material applied to the surface of the print head on which the ink ejection openings are formed has a property of moisturizing or moistening the ink. The ink is kept moisturized or wet, and the viscous material completely blocks the ink ejection port from the air, so that the ink is more effectively prevented from being dried and the ink is ejected even when the recording apparatus is not used for a long time. It is possible to prevent clogging of the outlet.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the viscous material supply portion is provided with a cap filled with the viscous material, and the surface side of the print head on which the ink ejection ports are formed is fitted into the cap so as to fit inside the cap. Since the viscous material is brought into contact with the viscous material, the viscous material is reliably applied to the print head, and the ink ejection port of the print head can be reliably shielded from the air.

According to the invention of claim 4, the viscous material removing portion is provided with a blade made of an elastic material, and the blade is slid relative to the surface of the print head on which the ink ejection ports are formed. Since the viscous material applied thereto is scraped off, the viscous material can be effectively removed, and the ink can be normally ejected from the ink ejection port.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the viscous material removing portion of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

5 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the viscous material removing unit of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the invention.

9 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a front view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a third embodiment of the invention.

13 is a front view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a front view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a front view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

16 is a front view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a front view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional inkjet recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 50 Paper transport unit 2, 51 Print head 3, 40, 52 Viscous material supply unit 4, 41, 53 Viscous material removal unit 5, 12, 20, 26, 34, 48, 70, 86 Drive motor 6 Rotation shaft 7 , 56 Conveyor belt 8, 57 Paper 9, 62-65 Ink ejection port 10, 17, 23, 45, 67 Through hole 11, 19, 25, 47, 69 Drive shaft 13 Pressurizing chamber 14 Piezoelectric element 15, 71-74 Convex portion 16, 42, 76-79 Cap 18, 24, 46, 68 Support portion 21, 80 Viscous material 22 Storage container 22a Rear standing wall 27, 28 Scraping member 29 Belt 30, 31 Rotating body 32, 33 Support shaft 35 Removal Member 43, 81 Viscous material receiving portion 44, 82 Scraping member 54, 55 Rotating body 58 to 61 Head portion 66 Supporting body 83, 84 Pulley 85 Timing belt

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shunji Nakai 1-22-28, Chuo-ku, Osaka City Mita Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Koji Umeno 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka City Mita Within Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. In an ink jet recording apparatus having a print head for ejecting ink to which ejection energy is applied from an ink ejection port, ink ejected from the ink ejection port on a surface of the print head on which the ink ejection port is formed. And a viscous material removing section for removing the applied viscous material from the surface of the print head on which the ink ejection openings are formed. Inkjet recording device. 2. The viscous material has a property of retaining or moisturizing ink.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 3. The viscous material supply unit includes a cap filled with a viscous material, and a surface of the print head on which an ink ejection port is formed is fitted with the cap and a surface on which the ink ejection port is formed is The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the viscous material is applied to the surface of the cap by coming into contact with the viscous material in the cap. 4. The viscous material removing portion is provided with a blade made of an elastic material, and the blade is relatively slid on the surface of the print head on which the ink ejection ports are formed, and the viscosity applied thereto. The viscous material on the surface is removed by scraping off the material.
2. The inkjet recording device according to 2 or 3.