JPH09254398A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent emission inferiority by rapidly scraping off ink droplets transferred and bonded to a blade and well keeping cleaning function by providing a heating member in the vicinity of the flexible blade cleaning an ink emitting surface. SOLUTION: A blade support plate 28 is arranged to the support member of a support 16 in a freely revolvable manner and a blade 26 and a surface heating element are provided in a box-shaped support member 32 by the spring material provided to the bent region 28b of the support plate 28. A solenoid 30 is fixed to the support member 33 and the support plate 28 is driven by a plunger, a spring 31 and a stopper 16a. A recording head is moved to the position passing on the blade 26 periodically and, at this time, the blade 26 is slid along the ink emitting surface of the recording head to clean the same. At this time, since the blade 26 and the surface heating element are arranged in close vicinity to each other, the ink scraped off to be bonded to the blade is rapidly dried and solidified. Therefore, the emission inferiority of ink 7 and the shift of the impinging position of ink are prevented to realize an image of good quality.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image (including characters and symbols) by ejecting ink from a recording head onto a recording material such as paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus in which a recording material is arranged opposite to an ink ejection surface provided in a recording head containing ink and an image is formed by ink ejected from the ink ejection surface according to an image signal is already widely used. Has been done.

In this type of image forming apparatus, it is necessary that ink is always ejected normally from all of a large number of fine nozzles arranged on the ink ejection surface. However, when ink is ejected from such nozzles for a long period of time, unnecessary ink droplets adhere to the ink ejection surface and solidify, or dust, paper powder generated from paper as a recording material, or the like adheres to the ink. Ejection failure, which may cause deterioration of image quality.

This will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18. Reference numeral 50 in FIG. 17 denotes a recording head that is removably attached to a carriage provided in the main body of the image forming apparatus, and has an ink ejection surface 50b having an ink ejection hole 50a provided on one surface thereof. When the sheet is mounted on the carriage of the image forming apparatus, the ejection surface 50b faces the recording material.

FIG. 18 is a sectional view showing the recording head 50 ejecting ink droplets from the ink ejection surface 50b facing the recording material. When the ink droplet 54 is ejected from the liquid path 52 of the recording head 50 toward the recording material 55, a mist-like ink mist 53 is generated, which adheres to the ink ejection surface 50b and gradually grows. It becomes a large ink drop 51, which is the ink ejection hole 50.
There is a possibility that the a may be blocked to prevent normal ejection of the ink, or the ink may drop on the recording material and contaminate it.

In order to avoid such a situation, it has been proposed that a flexible blade is disposed so as to face the ink ejection surface 50b and the ink ejection surface 50b is periodically rubbed and cleaned.

[0007]

On the other hand, in such a cleaning means, since the contamination transferred from the ink ejection surface adheres to the blade itself, the contaminated blade is gradually rubbed and the cleaning is performed. However, there is a risk that the contamination of the blade side adheres to the ink ejection surface, and the same inconvenience as during non-cleaning may occur, resulting in deterioration of image quality.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and image formation is provided with a recording head having an ink ejection surface as described above, and a blade for slidingly cleaning the ink ejection surface. In the device, ink droplets transferred to the blade due to cleaning are quickly scraped off, and the blade cleaning function is maintained well to prevent ink ejection failure, deviation of ink droplet landing position, etc. to obtain a high quality image. An object of the present invention is to provide a useful image forming apparatus.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a recording head detachably mounted on a carriage that moves along a recording material, and an ink ejection surface of the recording head. An image forming apparatus having a flexible blade for rubbing to clean the ink ejection surface, characterized in that a heating member for heating the blade is provided in the vicinity of the blade. The image forming apparatus (1) or the image forming apparatus (2) according to (1) above, wherein the heating member is a planar heating element disposed in contact with the blade. 2), an image forming apparatus (3), wherein the heating member is a heater arranged in contact with or close to a blade, or a recording detachably mounted on a carriage moving along a recording material. Head and An image forming apparatus comprising: a flexible blade that cleans the ink ejection surface by abrading the ink ejection surface of the recording head, and a blower fan that blows air near the blade is provided. An image forming apparatus (4) characterized by comprising:
In the above (4), the blower fan is equipped with a heat source for sending heated air to the blade, or the image forming apparatus (5) or the carriage moving along the recording material is detachably mounted. In an image forming apparatus including a recording head and a flexible blade that abuts against the ink ejection surface of the recording head to clean the ink ejection surface, the blade is configured as a heating member. In the image forming apparatus (6) characterized by the above, or any one of the above (1) to (6), the recording head is provided with a peeling unit for peeling the ink or the like adhering to the blade. In the image forming apparatus (7) or any one of the above (1) to (7), the ink attached to the blade is attached to the carriage on which the recording head is mounted. An image forming apparatus characterized by comprising providing a release means for stripping (8).

With this arrangement, the ink ejection surface of the recording head can be kept clean at all times, so that the blade will be contaminated by the long-term use of the blade and the cleaning function will be deteriorated and the image quality will be deteriorated. It is possible to preferably avoid such a situation.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plotter to which the present invention is applied. This apparatus is provided with a support 9 (right), a support 16 (left) and a platen 7 located between them, and a recording material 5 is placed on the platen and moved in a direction F in the drawing. And The platen is provided with a plurality of small holes 7c so that air is sucked from the lower side of the platen 7 to bring the placed recording material 5 into close contact with the platen 7.

A guide rail 14 and a belt 15 are disposed above the platen 7 and extend over the supports 9 and 16, and the belt is driven by a motor (not shown) which is rotatable in forward and reverse directions. There is.

A carriage 13 is attached to the belt 15, and the carriage 13 is attached to the guide rail 1.
4 is engaged, and the carriage 1 is driven by the motor.
3 moves in the left-right direction in the figure along the guide rail 14. The position of the carriage 13 at this time is the same as that of the linear scale 4 and the carriage 1 stretched between the supports 9 and 16.
3 linear sensor (not shown), carriage 16 home position sensor (not shown)
Shall be controlled by.

The platen 7 has an opening,
The drive roller 2 arranged below the platen is exposed on the platen. Left and right pinch roller units 11 and 12 are arranged above and below the platen. The left unit 11 is fixed to a proper position in the frame of the apparatus, and the right unit 12 is movable in the left-right direction in the drawing according to the width of the recording material 5.

A pinch roller 3 is provided in each of the pinch roller units, and a lever 17 provided in each unit is moved up and down to contact and separate from the drive roller 2 to pinch or release the recording material. .

A flexible blade 26 is provided on the support 16 at a position outside the image area at a position facing the recording head 1 which will be described later, and a preliminary ejection space for performing preliminary ejection so that normal ink ejection can always be performed. 24. A cap 25 having a space 25a for activating the recovery pump that sucks the ink in the nozzle is provided by blocking the ink ejection surface of the recording head in the standby state by pressing and sealing the ink ejection surface. is there.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a recording head mounted on the carriage 13. Ink is ejected from a predetermined nozzle according to an image signal on an ink ejection surface 1b provided on one surface of a main body containing an ink tank. A plurality of nozzles 1a for discharging are formed.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a blade portion for rubbing and cleaning the ink ejection surface 1b of the recording head 1 during non-image formation, and FIG. 4 is a plan view thereof. Carriage 13
Due to the extension of the traveling path of the recording head 1 mounted on the recording head 1, a blade 26 extending in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction is arranged at an appropriate position outside the image forming area by the following configuration.

A blade supporting plate 28 is rotatably arranged on a supporting member provided on the support 16, and a blade 26 is mounted on a box-shaped supporting member 32 made of a spring material, which is arranged at a bent portion 28b of the supporting plate. A sheet heating element 29 is internally provided.

A solenoid 30 is fixed to a support member 33 provided on the support 16, and a plunger of the solenoid 30 is engaged with a free end 28c of the support plate 28. Further, one end of a spring 31 supported by an immovable part such as the support 16 abuts on the lower surface of the support plate 28 near a central portion of the support plate 28 to give the support plate 28 a tendency to rotate upward. It is restrained by the side stopper 16a.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 1, the recording head 1 periodically moves to a position where the recording head 1 passes over the blade 26. At this time, the blade is moved to the position of the recording head 1. Clean the ink ejection surface by rubbing. At this time, since the planar heating element 29 is arranged close to the blade 26, the ink scraped off from the ink ejection surface of the recording head and adhered to the blade is quickly dried and solidified, and is easily peeled off from the blade. ing.

The mode of cleaning will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 to 9. "Figure 5", "Figure 6"
FIG. 3 is a front view of the blade member as seen from the traveling direction of the recording head 1 (direction perpendicular to the paper surface). When not in operation, each part of the blade member is in the position shown in FIG. 5, and at this time, the tip edge of the blade for rubbing and cleaning the ink ejection surface 1b of the recording head 1 is in the position J in the figure.

At the time of cleaning, the recording head 1
Moves in the direction of symbol B in FIG. 7 and the ink ejection surface 1b approaches the blade 26, the solenoid 30 is urged to lower the leading edge of the blade 26 to the position of symbol D shown in FIG. Then, the ink ejection surface 1b passes through the blade as it is (operation 1).

When the solenoid 30 is deenergized when the ink ejection surface 1b has passed the blade 26, the blade leading edge moves up to the position J. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, the leading edge of the blade 26 is set so as to be engaged with the protrusion 1E provided at a position subsequent to the ink ejection surface of the recording head 1 ( Operation 2).

Further, when the recording head 1 is moved in the direction of the symbol B and reaches the position where the protrusion 1E contacts the blade 26, the recording head 1 is moved to this position as shown in FIG.
As indicated by the symbols B and C, the blade 26 is reciprocated once or several times in both directions, and both edges 1c and 1d of the protrusion 1E are rubbed on both sides of the blade 26 to adhere to the blade 26. Ink and other foreign substances are removed (operation 3).

Then, the recording head 1 is moved in the C direction as shown in FIG. 9 to bring the ink ejection surface 1b to the position of the blade 26, and the surface is slid and cleaned by the blade 26 to prepare a preliminary ejection space. After performing the preliminary ejection in 24, the image forming operation is restarted (operation 4).

At the beginning of the initial recording, the recording head 1 is moved in the direction C from the state where the ink ejection surface 1b is closed by the cap 25, and first, by the protrusion 1E,
Foreign matter adhering to the blade 26 is removed in the same manner as in the above-described operation 3, and then the cleaning operation is completed by the same operation as in the above-described operation 4, and then image formation is performed.

At the end of recording, after the operation 1 described above, the recording head is further moved in the B direction, and the solenoid 30 is deenergized after the ink ejection surface 1b reaches the position of the cap 25.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the blade mechanism section showing the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the recording head. The apparatus shown in "FIG. 10" is basically the same as that shown in "FIG. 3" and "FIG. 4" described above, and corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is necessary. Unless otherwise specified (the same applies to the examples described below).

In this apparatus, the blade 26 is provided on the elastic support member 32 attached to the bent portion 28b of the blade support plate 28, and the heater support plate 42 is provided on the rotatable blade support plate 28. The ceramic heater 43 is attached to this. Also, the recording head 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the protrusion 1E following the ink ejection surface 1b during image formation is divided into two parts, and edges 1c, 1d, 1e, 1f are formed on these legs.

With such a structure, the ink droplets adhering to the blade 26 are dried by the ceramic heater 43 by performing cleaning in the same manner as in the apparatus of the above-described embodiment, and the protrusion of the recording head is dried. By scraping off this by the edge of, the same effect as the device of the above embodiment can be obtained.

In this case, since the ceramic heater 43 can be brought into contact with the blade 26, the adhered ink droplets can be efficiently dried, and the edge for rubbing the blade is also 4
Since it is a part, the scraping efficiency is also improved.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a blade mechanism portion showing a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 13 is a perspective view thereof. The blade mechanism portion including the blade 26 is basically the same as that shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 except that the planar heating element is not provided, and the portions corresponding to those are designated by the same reference numerals. It is shown attached.

In the apparatus of the illustrated embodiment, a fan support plate 63 is arranged in the vicinity of this blade mechanism portion, and the blower fan 6 is attached to this.
2 is attached, and is configured to accelerate the drying of the blade 26 by driving the fan 62.

By operating the above-mentioned structure in the same manner as the above-mentioned respective embodiments, it is possible to dry the ink droplets adhering to the blade and remove the scraped-off ink by the recording head. The drying efficiency can be improved by using warm air as the air blown by the fan 62.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an essential part showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a blade used for this. Also in this device, the configuration of the blade mechanism portion including the blade is basically the same as that of the device shown in the above-mentioned "FIG. 3", and the corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this embodiment, the support member 32
The blade attached to has the configuration described below. FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the blade, which is a heating element 7 made of nickel alloy foil or the like.
1c is sandwiched between elastic blade members 71a and 71b. Reference numeral 71d is a lead wire.

A blade mechanism having such a structure that the blade is a heating element is used, and a recording head having an edge as shown in FIGS. 4 and 11 is used. The ink droplets adhering to the blade can be effectively dried and removed by operating in the same manner as the apparatus of the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 16 shows a modification of the blade. In this blade, the length of the elastic material for sandwiching the heating element is different at the tip edge that rubs the ink ejection surface of the recording head. By this, a step is formed. With such a configuration, it is possible to adjust the function such as the rubbing force of the ink ejection surface even if the heating element is sandwiched.

Although not shown, the above-mentioned "FIG. 4",
As shown in FIG. 11, instead of providing the recording head with an edge for scraping off the ink droplets adhering to the blade, the same effect can be obtained by forming this on the carriage on which the recording head is mounted.

Further, the blade mechanism section shown in FIG. 3 uses the recording head shown in FIG. 11 and each blade mechanism section is combined with a blade provided with a scraping edge on the carriage side. It goes without saying that is possible.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the image forming apparatus configured to eject the ink ejected from the recording head onto the recording material to form an image, and periodically clean the ink ejection surface of the recording head with the blade, the ink adheres to the blade during cleaning. Since the ink droplets are dried and the dried ink is scraped off and removed continuously, the function of the blade can always be maintained in a good condition, so that defective ejection of ink ejected from the recording head and misalignment of ink landing can be effectively performed. It can be prevented and has a remarkable effect in obtaining a high quality image.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a recording head to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a blade mechanism for cleaning an ink ejection surface to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 Same as above

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the relative position of each part when not cleaning the same as above.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing the relative positions of the respective parts during the above-mentioned cleaning.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a relational arrangement of a cleaning blade and a recording head.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a cleaning blade wiped by an edge portion of a recording head.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a cleaning blade slidingly cleaning an ink ejection surface of a recording head.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an essential part showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a recording head used in the same as above.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the main part of the same as above.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an essential part showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a blade used in the same as above.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the blade.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a known recording head.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing a mode in which ink is ejected from a recording head to a recording material in a known image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Recording Head 1a Ink Ejection Hole 1b Ink Ejection Surface 1c, 1d, 1e, 1f Edge 2 Drive Roller 3 Pinch Roller 5 Recording Material 7 Platen 9 Support (Right) 11 Pinch Roller Left Unit 12 Pinch Roller Right Unit 13 Carriage 14 Guide Rail 15 Conveyor Belt 16 Support (Left) 25 Cap 26 Blade 28 Blade Support Plate 29 Sheet Heating Element 30 Solenoid 31 Spring 32 Supporting Member 43 Ceramic Heater 62 Blower Fan 71 Blade 71a, 71b Elastic Blade Material 71c Heating Element

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Keisuke Naosuke 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo Within Copier Corporation (72) Inventor Tomohiro Ishizu 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo No. 3 In Copier Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasushi Sawada 6-3 3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka City, Tokyo No. 3 In Copier Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shigehiko Ito 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka City, Tokyo No. Copia Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Kawamoto 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka City, Tokyo No. 3 Copier, Inc. (72) Keno Sasaki 6-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka City, Tokyo No. 3 In Copier Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yutaka Kawamata 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka City, Tokyo No. 3 In Copier Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Fumitaka Aoki 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka City, Tokyo Copy A in the Corporation

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A recording head removably mounted on a carriage that moves along a recording material, and a flexible blade for cleaning the ink ejection surface by abrading the ink ejection surface of the recording head. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming apparatus, wherein a heating member for heating the blade is provided in the vicinity of the blade. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating member is a planar heating element disposed in contact with the blade. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating member is a heater arranged in contact with or close to the blade. 4. A recording head removably mounted on a carriage that moves along a recording material, and a flexible blade for cleaning the ink ejection surface by rubbing against the ink ejection surface of the recording head. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming apparatus, wherein a blower fan that blows air is provided in the vicinity of the blade. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the blower fan has a heat source for sending warm air to the blade. 6. A recording head removably mounted on a carriage that moves along a recording material, and a flexible blade that abuts and rubs against the ink ejection surface of the recording head to clean the ink ejection surface. An image forming apparatus comprising: the blade, and the blade formed integrally with a heating member. 7. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the recording head is provided with a peeling unit for peeling off ink or the like adhering to the blade. . 8. The carriage according to claim 1, wherein the carriage on which the recording head is mounted is provided with a peeling unit for peeling off ink or the like adhering to the blade. Image forming device.