JPH09300779A - Image forming device and platen cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a recording material from fouling and also prevent an image quality from deteriorating caused by dirts of a platen by providing a cleaning means to be in contact with the platen. SOLUTION: On a shaft 11a disposed within the frame body 11 of a cartridge 10, a cleaning roller 12 is provided which comprising an excellent moisture absorbable material such as a felt, sponge, or the like provided around a core metal 12a. A part of the cleaning roller 12 is exposed from the opening, and comes in contact with a platen at an appropriate pressure. The cleaning cartridge 10 moves to the carriage of a device main body in substantially the same range as the recording head when mounted displaceable with the recording head 2. In this instance, by allowing the cleaning roller 12 to slidably roll on the surface of the platen 5, ink or other foreign matters adhered thereto are cleaned.

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 such as a plotter, and a platen cleaning apparatus suitable for use in the image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a plotter, an image is formed by ejecting ink from an ink head onto a recording material such as paper placed on a platen formed in a plane shape or a drum shape in accordance with an image signal. What is formed is widely used.

In such an image forming apparatus, in the contact type apparatus, the recording material is supported by a platen from the back side to stabilize the contact between the recording head and the recording material, and the recording head and the recording material. It prevents the occurrence of slippage between the two due to rubbing against the material. In the non-contact type apparatus, the recording material is brought into close contact with the platen to maintain a constant distance between the recording head and the recording material to prevent deterioration of image quality.

By the way, in reality, it is unavoidable that the ink ejected from the recording head directly adheres to the platen depending on the operation of the image forming apparatus. As such a situation, for example, when the recording operation is performed in a state where the recording material does not exist on the platen, or when the recording material smaller than the image recording area is mounted on the platen and the recording operation is performed outside the platen, , Perforation of recording material,
If ink adheres to the platen through the recording holes in the transport holes, the ink will ooze out from the recording material or the scattered ink will reach the platen outside the recording material area by recording up to the vicinity of the recording material. In the case of sticking, the recording material should not be placed at the proper position, or the recording operation should be performed outside the recording material with a deviation from the normal position during conveyance, and it should be mentioned. .

When the ink adheres to the platen due to such a cause, it causes back stain of the recording material that passes through this position thereafter, and paper powder, dust, etc. further adhere to the adhered ink, There is a problem in that the solidification causes poor adhesion of the recording material to the platen, or the traveling direction of the recording material becomes irregular, which impedes normal conveyance of the recording material and leads to deterioration of image quality.

Further, in this type of image forming apparatus, a large number of small holes are provided in the platen, and a negative pressure is applied to the side of the platen opposite to the recording material to bring the recording material into close contact with the platen. However, as described above, if ink adheres to these small holes and solidifies to reduce the opening area, or if the flatness of the platen surface deteriorates, the suction effect on the recording material decreases and Inadequate adhesion to the platen causes problems similar to the above, which inevitably leads to deterioration of image quality.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to cope with such a situation, and an image is formed on a recording material placed on a platen by ink discharged from the recording head. In the forming apparatus, a cleaning device is provided which is provided with a means for cleaning the platen, and by cleaning the platen at appropriate times, it is possible to prevent the recording material from being contaminated and the image quality from being deteriorated due to the contamination of the platen as described above. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus.

[0008]

To achieve the above object, the present invention can be attached to an image forming apparatus having a platen on which a recording material is placed and a recording head that moves relative to the platen. A platen cleaning cartridge (1) for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that the platen cleaning cartridge (1) is equipped with a cleaning unit that presses against the platen.
A cleaning cartridge (2) characterized in that the cleaning means is an elastic roller, or the cleaning cartridge (3) in the above (2), characterized in that the cleaning means comprises a rotation driving means, or In the above (1), the cleaning means is a cleaning belt (4), or in the above (4), a cleaning drive means for driving the cleaning means is provided. Or a cleaning cartridge (6) characterized in that in any of the above (1) to (5), a means for supplying a cleaning liquid to the cleaning means is provided. The cleaning cartridge (7) according to any one of the above (1) to (5), characterized in that a means for supplying a cleaning liquid is provided to a portion to be cleaned of the platen, or Serial (1) to the ones of any of (3), a cleaning cartridge characterized by a plurality including a cleaning means (8), or, (8)
In the cleaning cartridge (9), the cleaning means is provided with a means for supplying the cleaning liquid, or the cleaning cartridge (9) is provided with a means for supplying the cleaning liquid to the portion to be cleaned of the platen. A cleaning cartridge (10) characterized by being provided, or the above (8) to (1)
0) The cleaning cartridge (11) according to any one of (0), characterized in that it has means for contacting and separating at least one of the cleaning means with respect to the platen, or any one of the above (1) to (11) In the cleaning cartridge (12) characterized in that the cleaning member of the cleaning means is made of a fibrous or sponge material, or in any one of the above (1) to (12), the cleaning of the cleaning means Cleaning cartridge (13), characterized in that members are replaceable, or (1) to (13) above
The cleaning cartridge (14) according to any one of (1) to (1) to (1) to (1) to An image forming apparatus (15), characterized in that the cleaning cartridge according to any one of (14) is attached to a recording head, or the cleaning cartridge according to any one of the above (1) to (14) is recorded. An image forming apparatus (1) which is arranged so as to be replaceable with a head and which is provided with a means for distinguishing between the two.
6) Alternatively, the image forming apparatus (17) is provided with the cleaning cartridge according to any one of (1) to (14) above, and is provided with control means for executing a cleaning operation of the cleaning cartridge. is there.

With this structure, it is possible to prevent the ink ejected from the recording head from being directly projected onto the platen, which may cause contamination of the recording material and deterioration of the image quality.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS "FIG. 1" FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a main part of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. Guide rails 8a and 8b are arranged between the side plates 9a and 9b of the apparatus body, and the carriage 3 is slidably mounted on the guide rails 8a and 8b. Also, the side plate 9
An endless conveyor belt 7 driven by a motor 6a is stretched between a and 9b, and the carriage 3 is attached to the belt 7, and the carriage 3 is driven by the motor 6a. It shall move along the guide rails 8a and 8b.

A recording head 2 is detachably mounted on the carriage 3, and its ink ejection surface faces the platen 5. A drive roller is disposed below the platen 5 so that a part of the platen is exposed on the surface of the platen. The pinch roller 4 faces the drive roller so that the pinch roller 4 contacts and separates from the drive roller. It is arranged that the recording material P is sandwiched by both rollers, and the recording material P is advanced in the direction of the white arrow orthogonal to the moving direction of the recording head.

Reference numeral 19 in the figure denotes a cleaning cartridge replacement unit, which will be described later, disposed in the moving area of the recording head 2 and internally houses a cleaning cartridge storage space and a replacement mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a cleaning cartridge according to the present invention, in which a shaft 11a provided in a frame 11 of the cartridge 10 has a material such as felt or sponge having good water absorption around a core metal 12a. A cleaning roller 12 composed of is provided. An opening is formed in the frame body 11 on a side facing the platen 5 when the frame body 11 is arranged at a predetermined position, and a part of the cleaning roller 12 is exposed from the opening and is applied to the platen 5 with an appropriate pressure. Assume that they are in contact with each other.

The cleaning cartridge 10 having such a structure
By rolling the platen 5 while sliding it on the surface of the platen 5, it is possible to clean the ink and other foreign matter attached to the platen 5. It is preferable to set so that the cleaning roller 12 rolls while rubbing the surface of the platen 5 so that there is an appropriate resistance between the shaft 11a and the cored bar 12a supported by the shaft 11a. Alternatively, a one-way clutch may be used so that the cleaning roller 12 rotates only in one direction.

It is convenient that the cleaning cartridge 10 can be moved in substantially the same range as the recording head 2 when it is mounted on the carriage 3 of the main body of the apparatus in an exchangeable manner, but it is added to the recording head 2. Of course, it is also possible to mount it on the carriage 3 at a position near the recording head 2.

It is also possible to maintain the cleaning function by providing a drive source for driving the cleaning roller 12 in the cleaning cartridge 10 to improve the cleaning function and to replace only the cleaning roller. . Further, especially when the cleaning cartridge and the recording head are exchangeable, the controller is connected to the main body of the image forming apparatus to identify the recording head and the cleaning cartridge and automatically perform the image forming operation and the platen cleaning operation. It is also possible to control it dynamically.

Next, an example of the cleaning mode execution when the control unit on the image forming apparatus stores a program for executing the cleaning mode in addition to the control for image formation will be briefly described.
When the cleaning mode is selected manually or automatically after completion of the image forming operation, the carriage 3 carrying the recording head 2 moves to the position of the replacement unit 19 and holds the recording head 2 (not shown). Is released, the head is removed, and the cleaning cartridge 10 is held. After the cleaning cartridge 10 is attached to the carriage 3, the cleaning cartridge 10 is moved in the image forming area and its vicinity in the same manner as the recording head 2 to slide and clean the surface of the platen 5. After the cleaning is completed, the carriage 3 is moved to the position of the exchange unit 19, the holding means (not shown) holding the cleaning cartridge 10 is released to remove the cartridge 10, and the recording head 2 is mounted on the carriage 3 instead. To prepare for the next image forming operation.

It will be easily understood that the cleaning cartridge 10 may be mounted in the recording head 2 or arranged in the vicinity of the recording head 2 in the same manner.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a cleaning cartridge according to the second embodiment, in which parts corresponding to those of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and cleaning rollers are shown. The cleaning mode by 12 is basically the same, and the description thereof is omitted (the same applies to the examples described later).

In the illustrated apparatus, inside the frame 11,
A container 13 containing the cleaning liquid L is arranged above the cleaning roller 12, and a nozzle 13 a directed toward the cleaning roller 12 is formed below the container 13. Since the container 13 has no opening other than the nozzle 13a, the cleaning liquid L in the container is maintained in the container due to the relationship between the atmospheric pressure in the container and the atmospheric pressure.

Further, an elastically deformable dropper portion 13b communicating with the container 13 projects from an opening provided at an appropriate position on the upper portion of the frame 11. Therefore, this dropper part 1
By pressing 3b, the cleaning liquid L can be supplied from the nozzle 13a toward the cleaning roller 12.

The cleaning liquid may be supplied to the cleaning roller 12 by the operator manually pressing the dropper portion 13b at appropriate times, or the pressing means may be provided on the main body of the image forming apparatus on which the cleaning cartridge 10 can be mounted. It may be automatically performed by providing a means for controlling. In this way, by using the cleaning liquid, the thickened or solidified ink on the platen 5 and other foreign matter are softened and rubbed by the rollers 12, so that the cleaning effect is improved.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the cleaning cartridge according to the third embodiment. In this apparatus, the opening end of the nozzle 13a of the cleaning liquid container 13 provided on the upper part of the cleaning roller 12 is located near the platen 5. The operation of each part is similar to that of the embodiment shown in FIG. In the case of this apparatus, a cleaning liquid supply mechanism similar to that of the recording head 2 may be used and the cleaning liquid may be discharged to the platen 5 instead of the ink.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the cleaning cartridge according to the fourth embodiment. In this device, two cleaning rollers 14a and 14b are arranged in series in the frame body 11, and the nozzle 13a of the container 13 is arranged in the running direction side of the cartridge 10 at the time of cleaning, and is shown in the outline in the figure. Roller 1 on the arrow side
It is provided so as to supply the liquid to 4a. Other configurations are the same as those of the above embodiment.

With this construction, when the cartridge 10 is moved for cleaning, the cleaning roller 14a moistened with the cleaning liquid scrubs the platen 5 first, and subsequently the dry cleaning roller 14b. Is platen 5
Since the surface is rubbed, the cleaning effect can be enhanced.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the cleaning cartridge according to the fifth embodiment. In the illustrated apparatus, a cloth, a non-woven fabric, between the supply shaft 25 and the winding shaft 26 provided in the frame body 11,
A cleaning belt 22 having a high water absorption property, such as paper or resin made of a porous material such as sponge, or rubber, is suspended.

The take-up shaft 26 is provided with a gear 26a coaxial with the take-up shaft 26, and a ratchet wheel 27 is engaged with the gear 26a. A part of the ratchet wheel 27 is exposed to the outside of the frame body 11, and the gear 2 is rotated by rotating it from the outside.
The cleaning belt can be wound around the shaft 26 by rotating the shaft 26 via 6a.

A pressing pad 23 is slidably disposed in a lower portion of the frame body 11 (a side facing the platen 5) in a direction of approaching and separating from the frame body 11, and the cleaning belt 22 is provided with It is suspended so as to be located outside the pressing pad 23 and on the side facing the platen 5. The pressing pad 23
Since the spring is biased to the outside by the spring 24, the cleaning belt 22 is always brought into contact with the platen at a predetermined pressure to perform rubbing cleaning.

It is assumed that the cleaning cartridge thus constructed is moved on the platen for cleaning in the same manner as the above-mentioned respective embodiments. Cleaning belt 2
In the second winding operation, it is possible to manually rotate the ratchet wheel 27, and by sequentially winding the cleaning belt 22, cleaning can be performed at a new portion of the belt.

Further, as shown in the right side of FIG. 6, a spring 29, a stopper 28a, and a lever 30 which is kept in a fixed position by them are provided at appropriate positions on the apparatus main body side corresponding to the ratchet wheel 27 of the cleaning cartridge. The ratchet wheel feed portion provided is formed so that the lever 30 abuts on the ratchet wheel 27 and is rotated only when the cleaning cartridge moves in the cleaning direction (the direction of the white arrow in the drawing). The cleaning belt 22 may be wound by a predetermined amount. Needless to say, the cleaning belt winding means is not limited to the one using the above-described ratchet wheel.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the cleaning cartridge according to the sixth embodiment. The illustrated apparatus has basically the same configuration as that shown in FIG. 6, and the description of the common configuration and operation will be omitted.

Inside the frame 11 and above the cleaning belt 22, a container 13 containing the cleaning liquid L is disposed, and a nozzle 13a provided below the container 13 has a cleaning belt in the traveling direction during cleaning. The cleaning liquid is applied to the above portion of the cleaning belt by pressing the dropper portion 13b exposed at the upper portion of the frame body at 22 portions.

The cleaning liquid is supplied by pressing the dropper.
Similar to the apparatus shown in the above-mentioned "FIG. 2" and "FIG. 3", it can be performed manually or automatically as appropriate.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the cleaning cartridge according to the seventh embodiment. The cleaning cartridge 36 is a frame 3
1 and the pins 33c, 33 provided inside thereof.
The first leg portions of the substantially T-shaped arms 33a and 33b are rotatably provided at d, and the cleaning rollers 32a and 32b are disposed on the second leg portions of these arms.

The third leg portions of the arms 33a and 33b extend upward and face each other, and a rotatable cam 35 is disposed between them, and the third leg portions are provided between the tips of the leg portions. A spring 34 is arranged. Therefore, the third leg portions 33a and 33b of the arm are biased toward the spring 34.

Large diameter portions 35a and 35b are formed on the cam 35 at positions substantially facing each other in the diametrical direction. The circumferential length of the large diameter portion 35a is the circumferential length of the large diameter portion 35b. It is formed smaller than that. In the illustrated case, both the large diameter portions 35a and 35b are in contact with the third leg portion, and at this time, the both leg portions are in the most separated state, the cleaning roller 32a is in the clockwise direction, and the cleaning roller 32b is in the clockwise direction. The cleaning roller comes into contact with the platen 5 at the position most rotated counterclockwise.

FIG. 9A shows that the cam 35 has rotated a predetermined angle from the position shown in FIG. 8, and at this time, as described above, the large diameter portion 35a of the cam 35 is the leg of the arm 33a. Large-diameter portion 35b that is long from the circumference but has a long circumferential length
Is in contact with the arm 33b. Therefore, as shown in the figure, the cleaning roller 32b remains in contact with the platen 5, but the cleaning roller 32a is rotated counterclockwise by the action of the spring 34 and separated from the platen 5.

Further, the cam 35 is rotated and "FIG. 9" is displayed.
As shown in (b), when the third leg portion of the arm 33a is in contact with the large diameter portion 35b of the cam 35 and the third leg portion of the arm 33b is in contact with the small diameter portion of the cam 35, the cleaning roller 32a.
Comes into contact with the platen 5, and the cleaning roller 32b moves to the platen 5
Stay away from.

As shown in FIG. 9 (c), both arms 3
When the third leg portions of 3a and 33b come into contact with the small diameter portion of the cam 35, the cleaning rollers 32a and 32b are attracted by the spring 34 and separated from the platen 5.

With this structure, it is possible to bring only the necessary portion into contact with the platen for cleaning when necessary. Further, one cleaning roller is infiltrated with the cleaning liquid, or the cleaning liquid replenishing means as described above is combined to improve the cleaning effect by using both water wiping and empty wiping. Other than the above, it is also possible not to interfere with the normal image forming operation in which both rollers are separated from the platen. An appropriate drive source such as operating the arms 33a and 33b by a solenoid arranged specially can be used.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the platen cleaning cartridge according to the eighth embodiment. Recording head 9 mounted on a carriage (not shown) arranged in the main body of the image forming apparatus
2 is provided with a leaf spring 93 on the lower surface, and the cleaning roller 1 is provided at the tip thereof.
2 is arranged. During normal image formation, the cleaning roller 12 is located at a position separated from the surface of the platen 5 by the action of the spring 93, as shown in FIG. At this time, the plunger 94 of the solenoid 95 disposed near the spring 93 is separated from the leaf spring 93.

When the solenoid 95 is urged, the plunger 94 projects downward in the drawing to abut against the spring 93 and press the spring 93, and the cleaning roller 12 abuts against the platen as shown in FIG. By storing a program for moving the image forming area in a state where the cleaning roller is in contact with the platen 5 in the control unit on the apparatus main body side, a cleaning execution command of a cleaning execution command is automatically generated at an appropriate timing or manually. The platen can be cleaned by applying it.

According to this structure, it is not necessary to replace the recording head with the cleaning cartridge. Further, it is preferable to set materials, size use conditions, etc. so that the life of the cleaning roller 12 is about the same as or slightly longer than the life of the recording head 92.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the cleaning cartridge according to the ninth embodiment. In this apparatus, the cleaning roller mounting portion 102 is provided on the lower surface of the recording head 102 on the apparatus body side.
b is formed in advance, and the spring portion of the cleaning unit 106 including the spring 106a and the cleaning roller 12 arranged at the end thereof is detachably attached to this. The cleaning roller 12 is set so as to come into contact with the platen 5 in a normally mounted state.

When the recording head 102 is mounted on the apparatus main body, the cleaning roller 12 is in pressure contact with the platen 5, so that the cleaning roller 12 cleans the platen 5 as the image forming operation is performed. When the cleaning roller is contaminated, the cleaning unit 106 may be replaced as appropriate. In addition, a program stored in the control unit of the apparatus main body automatically causes the platen cleaning mode to be executed at the start of use immediately after replacement of the recording head 102, and then causes the cleaning car ridge to remove the contaminated cleaning carridge. To do. The cleaning unit removal operation may be performed automatically or manually.

FIG. 12 is a side sectional view of the cleaning cartridge according to the tenth embodiment. The structure of the cartridge itself is the same as that of the cartridge shown in FIG. 3 and the description thereof is omitted.

In this device, the cleaning cartridge 1
0, a detecting means 111 for detecting dirt on the platen at an appropriate position forward of the direction for cleaning, and a control means 112 for connecting to this and controlling the supply amount of the cleaning liquid L according to the detection result. A supply unit 113 that applies the amount of cleaning liquid to the cleaning roller 12 is provided. This makes it possible to apply the cleaning liquid to the cleaning roller 12 according to the degree of stain on the platen.

As the dirt detecting means, the detecting means 111 is used.
It is possible to use a well-known method in which a light projection element and a light receiving element are provided to measure the reflected light amount of the light projected on the platen. As a result, if the amount of reflected light is large, it is assumed that the stain is due to undried ink, and the supply of cleaning liquid to the cleaning roller is reduced. If the amount of reflected light is small or the amount of diffused reflection is large, the stain adheres to the fixed ink. As a result, the amount of cleaning liquid supplied is controlled to increase.

Alternatively, the color of the platen may be set as a color different from that of the image forming ink so as to detect the difference in the amount of reflected light, or the device shown in FIG. 4 may be used to remove the stain on the platen. Only the cleaning liquid is selectively supplied, or the apparatus as shown in FIG. 7 is used to clean the platen without supplying the cleaning liquid at the beginning to detect the stain on the surface as the difference in the reflected light amount. Alternatively, a cleaning liquid may be supplied to the cleaning belt depending on the degree of the stain, and the portion of the belt may be moved to the platen pressing position to clean the platen again.

As described above, the cleaning liquid can be effectively used and the platen can be effectively cleaned by changing the supply amount of the cleaning liquid according to the degree of contamination of the platen. it can.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material placed on a platen with ink ejected from a recording head, a cleaning roller or a cleaning means having cleaning liquid supply means added thereto is run on the platen to directly drive the platen. Since the ink that has been ejected and adhered to the recording medium can be effectively cleaned, the image quality is deteriorated due to the backside contamination of the recording material due to the contamination of the platen, the conveyance failure of the recording material, the unstable holding posture of the recording material on the platen, etc. Can be effectively prevented, which is a remarkable effect in obtaining a high quality image.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the cleaning cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a cleaning cartridge according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of a cleaning cartridge according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of a cleaning cartridge as a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a cleaning cartridge according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of a cleaning cartridge as a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of a cleaning cartridge as a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the same operation.

FIG. 10 is a side view of a cleaning means as an eighth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a side view of a cleaning means as a ninth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a side view of the cleaning cartridge mechanism according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 recording head 3 carriage 4 pinch roller 5 platen 7 conveyor belts 8a, 8b guide rails 9a, 9b side plate 10 cleaning cartridge 11 frame 12 cleaning roller 13 cleaning liquid container 14a, 14b cleaning roller 20 cleaning cartridge 22 cleaning belt 23 pressing pad 25 Supply shaft 26 Winding shaft 27 Claw wheel 31 Frame bodies 32a, 32b Cleaning rollers 33a, 33b Arm 34 Spring 35 Cam 36 Cleaning cartridge 93 Leaf spring 94 Plunger 95 Solenoid

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kei Naosuke Yosuke 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo Within Copier Corporation (72) Inventor Kunitoshi Hayashi 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo No. Copia Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tomohiro Ishizu 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo No. 6-3 Inventor Yasushi Sawada 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo Within Copier Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shigehiko Ito 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka City, Tokyo Within Copier Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Kawamoto 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka City, Tokyo Copier Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takeo Sasaki 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo Copier Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yutaka Kawamata 6-3-3 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka-shi, TokyoPeer inside, Inc.

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning means which can be attached to an image forming apparatus having a platen on which a recording material is placed and a recording head which moves relative to the platen, and which is in pressure contact with the platen. Platen cleaning cartridge for image forming device. 2. The cleaning cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning means is an elastic roller. 3. The cleaning cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the cleaning means includes a rotation driving means. 4. The cleaning cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning means is a cleaning belt. 5. The cleaning cartridge according to claim 4, further comprising a conveyance driving means for the cleaning means. 6. The cleaning cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning means is provided with means for supplying a cleaning liquid. 7. The cleaning cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising means for supplying a cleaning liquid to a portion to be cleaned of the platen. 8. The cleaning cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning cartridge comprises a plurality of cleaning means. 9. The cleaning cartridge according to claim 8, wherein the cleaning means is provided with means for supplying a cleaning liquid. 10. The cleaning cartridge according to claim 8, further comprising means for supplying a cleaning liquid to a portion to be cleaned of the platen. 11. A "claim 8" comprising means for contacting and separating at least one of the cleaning means with respect to the platen.
The cleaning cartridge according to claim 10. 12. The cleaning cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the cleaning member of the cleaning means is made of a fibrous or sponge material. 13. The cleaning cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member of the cleaning means is replaceable. 14. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a means for detecting contamination of the platen, and a control means for changing the supply amount of the cleaning liquid according to the detection result.
The cleaning cartridge according to any one of 3). 15. An image forming apparatus, characterized in that the cleaning cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 14 is attached to a recording head. 16. An image forming apparatus, comprising: the cleaning cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 14 and a recording head, the cleaning cartridge being replaceable with the cleaning cartridge. apparatus. 17. An image forming apparatus comprising the cleaning cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 14 and comprising control means for executing a cleaning operation of the cleaning cartridge.