JPH09314853A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To ensure the close contact state and airtightness of a cap member and a recording head by providing the recording head, the cap member for hermetically sealing the recording head and a cap case for holding the cap member and integrally molding the cap member and the cap case. SOLUTION: Pipe-shaped projections 12c, 12d are formed on the bottom surface of a cap case 12 and communication holes 17, 18 allowing the inside of a cap member 11 to communicate with the outside are formed to the cap member 11 and the cap case 12 through the pipe-shaped projections 12c, 12d to connect a suction tube 15 and an atmosphere open tube 16 to the pipe-shaped projections 12c, 12d. Since the cap member 11 and the cap case 12 holding the same are integrally molded, the cap member 11 can be certainly held to the cap case 12 by extremely simple constitution to be enhanced in close adhesiveness and airtightness and the close contact state and airtightness of the cap member 11 and a recording head 1 are enhanced and the ink section capacity from the recording head 1 is enhanced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus, and more particularly to a cap member holding structure for sealing a recording head provided in a reliability recovery mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since an inkjet head used as a recording head in an inkjet recording apparatus pressurizes ink in a liquid chamber by an actuator element such as a piezoelectric element or a heating resistor to eject an ink droplet from a nozzle hole, If ink or dust adheres to the surface of the head and the nozzle holes become clogged, it may not be possible to eject ink droplets, or the direction of ejected ink droplets may bend and image quality may deteriorate. Become.

Therefore, in general, in an ink jet recording apparatus, in order to prevent the ink jet head from drying or clogging, the recording head is covered with a cap member and sealed during standby or stop, and further, it is periodically or predetermined. At a timing, a suction pump sucks ink from the nozzle hole through the cap member to maintain the reliability of the head, and a reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism for recovering the reliability is provided.

By the way, as a cap member and a cap case used in a conventional ink jet recording apparatus, there is one as shown in FIG.
See also Japanese Patent No. 25019). This is a box-shaped cap member 101 made of an elastic material such as rubber for sealing a recording head (not shown), and the cap member 101.
And a cap case 102 for holding the projections 101a, 101 formed on the side of the bottom surface of the cap member 101.
b is fitted into holes 102a and 102b formed on the bottom of the cap case 102 on the side, and the cap member 101
Are held in the cap case 102.

Further, tubular caps 101c and 101d are integrally formed on the bottom surface of the cap member 101, and pipes 103 and 104 are provided in the caps 101c and 101d.
A suction tube 105 and an atmosphere opening tube 106 are connected to these pipes 103 and 104, respectively.

[0006]

In the conventional ink jet recording apparatus as described above, the projection of the cap member and the hole of the cap case are fitted so that the cap member and the cap case operate integrally. Are
Further, in order to prevent the cap member from being deformed due to the negative pressure of suction and deteriorating the sealing property, it is necessary to increase the thickness of the cap member or bond the cap member and the cap case.

Therefore, the cap member and the cap case are required to have high dimensional accuracy, the molding die is complicated, and the shape of the cap member is increased in order to uniformly increase the thickness of the cap member. Further, the number of manufacturing processes increases, such as the need for an adhesive process and a fitting process.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and improves the adhesion and airtightness between the cap member and the cap case with a simple structure, and ensures the adhesion and airtightness between the cap member and the recording head. The purpose is to do.

[0009]

In order to solve the above problems, an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a recording head, and a cap member for sealing the recording head,
In an inkjet recording apparatus including a cap case that holds the cap member, the cap member and the cap case are integrally formed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the cap member is made of a material having a hardness lower than that of the cap case.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein
The cap member is made of a soft elastomer, and the cap case is made of a thermoplastic resin.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus including a plurality of recording heads, a plurality of cap members for sealing the plurality of recording heads, and a cap case for holding the plurality of cap members. In the device, the plurality of cap members and the cap case are integrally molded.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the ink jet recording device according to the fourth aspect, wherein the plurality of cap members are formed of a material having a hardness lower than that of the cap case.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus according to the third or fourth aspect, wherein the plurality of cap members are made of a soft elastomer and the cap case is made of a thermoplastic resin. did.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of a main part of a reliability maintaining / restoring mechanism part of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and FIG.

A guide shaft 4 is provided with a recording head 1 composed of an ink jet head and a carriage 3 having an ink cartridge 2 for supplying ink to the recording head 1.
The guide plate 5 and the guide plate 5 are reciprocally movable. A nozzle hole for ejecting an ink droplet is formed on the front surface (ejection port surface) 1a of the recording head 2, and an ink droplet is ejected from the nozzle hole according to a recording signal by an actuator element such as a piezoelectric element or a heating resistor (not shown). Eject and print. The recording head 1 may be integrated with the ink cartridge 2 into a unit.

On the other hand, on the reliability maintaining / restoring mechanism 6 side, a cap member 11 for sealing the recording head 1 is held by a cap case 12, and pin members 12a, 12b provided on the sides of the cap case 12. Is rotatably held by a case holder 13, and a compression spring 14 is interposed between the cap case 12 and the case holder 13. A suction tube 15 and an atmosphere open tube 16 are connected to the cap member 11.

The reliability maintaining / restoring mechanism 6 advances the case holder 13 toward the recording head 2 by a cam (not shown) so that the cap member 11 causes the ejection port surface of the recording head 1 to move as shown in FIG. The recording head 1 is brought into contact with 1a and is pressed against the ejection port surface 1a of the recording head 1 by the urging force of the compression spring 14 to seal the recording head 1 with the cap member 11. In this state, a valve (not shown) at the tip of the atmosphere opening tube 16 is closed, and a suction pump (not shown) connected to the tip of the suction tube 15 is operated to generate a negative pressure in the cap member 11, thereby causing the recording head 1 to move. Ink is sucked from the ejection port (nozzle hole).

Therefore, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the first embodiment, the box-shaped cap member 11 and the box-shaped cap case 12 that holds the cap member 11 are integrally molded (two-color molding). Here, the cap member 11 is made of a soft elastomer, the cap case 12 is made of a thermoplastic, and the cap member 11 is made of a material having a hardness lower than that of the cap case 12.

Then, pipe-shaped projections 12c and 12d are formed on the bottom surface of the cap case 12, and the pipe-shaped projections 12 are formed on the cap member 11 and the cap case 12.
Communication holes 17 and 18 that communicate the inside and the outside of the cap member 11 via c and 12d are formed, and the suction tube 15 and the atmosphere open tube 16 are connected to these pipe-shaped projections 12c and 12d.

As described above, since the cap member 11 and the cap case 12 for holding the cap member 11 are integrally molded, the cap member 11 can be securely held in the cap case 12 with an extremely simple structure. Improves the adhesiveness and airtightness, and thereby the cap member 11
The adhesion and airtightness between the recording head 1 and the recording head 1 are improved, and the ink suction performance from the recording head 1 is improved. In addition, by integrally forming the cap member 11 and the cap case 12, the structure around the cap is simplified and the size can be reduced.

Further, since the cap member is formed of a material having a hardness lower than that of the cap case, it is possible to secure the adhesion and airtightness between the cap member and the recording head, and the ink suction performance from the recording head is further improved. . Further, the cap member is formed of a soft elastomer and the cap case is formed of a thermoplastic resin, so that the hardness of the cap member can be lowered and the adhesion between the cap member and the cap case can be ensured more reliably. It is possible to secure the close contact property and airtightness between the cap member and the recording head, and further improve the ink suction performance from the recording head.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, the cap member 21 is formed only in the contact portion with the recording head 1, and the bottom surface portion is also used as the cap case 12 to form a square tube shape. The cap member 21 and the cap case 12 are integrally molded (two-color molding) as in the above embodiment.
doing. This structure simplifies the structure.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, the carriage 3
A plurality of recording heads, for example, a recording head 1Y for ejecting a yellow (Y) ink droplet, a recording head 1M for ejecting a magenta (M) ink droplet, and a cyan (C).
The recording head 1C for ejecting the ink droplets of 1 and the recording head 1K for ejecting the ink droplets of black (K) are provided to enable full-color recording.

The plurality of recording heads 1Y, 1
A plurality of cap members 11Y, 11M, 11C and 11K for respectively sealing M, 1C and 1K are integrally formed with one cap case 22. The cap members 11Y, 11M, 11C and 11K may have the same shape as that shown in the second embodiment. Further, the cap members 11Y, 11M, 11C and 11K are all made of soft elastomer, and the cap case 22 is made of thermoplastic resin.
Cap case 1 for 1M, 11C and 11K
A material having a hardness lower than 2 is used.

In this way, the plurality of cap members 11Y, 1
1M, 11C, 11K and a plurality of these cap members 11
Since the cap case 22 that holds Y to 11K is integrally formed, the cap member 11Y to
It is possible to securely hold 11K in the cap case 22, and the adhesion and airtightness are improved, whereby the adhesion and airtightness between the cap members 11Y to 11K and the recording heads 1Y to 1K are improved, and the recording head The ink suction performance from 1Y to 1K is improved. In addition, a plurality of cap members 1
By integrally molding 1Y to 11K and the cap case 22, the structure around the cap can be simplified and the size can be reduced.

[0027]

As described above, according to the ink jet recording apparatus of the first aspect, the recording head, the cap member for sealing the recording head, and the cap case for holding the cap member are provided. In the inkjet recording apparatus, since the cap member and the cap case are integrally molded, the cap member can be securely held in the cap case with a very simple structure, and the adhesion and airtightness are improved. Thereby, the adhesion and airtightness between the cap member and the recording head are improved, and the ink suction performance from the recording head is improved. Further, by integrally molding the cap member and the cap case, the structure around the cap can be simplified and the size can be reduced.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 2, in the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 1,
Since the cap member is formed of a material having a hardness lower than that of the cap case, it is possible to secure the adhesion and airtightness between the cap member and the recording head, and the ink suction performance from the recording head is further improved.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the third aspect, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the first or second aspect, the cap member is made of a soft elastomer and the cap case is made of a thermoplastic resin. It is possible to reduce the hardness of the member, more reliably ensure the close contact between the cap member and the cap case, and ensure the close contact and airtightness between the cap member and the recording head. The ink suction performance of is further improved.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus including a plurality of recording heads, a plurality of cap members for sealing the plurality of recording heads, and a cap case for holding the plurality of cap members. Since the plurality of cap members and the cap case are integrally molded in the ink jet recording apparatus, the same effect as that of the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 can be obtained in a color ink jet recording apparatus having a plurality of recording heads. To be

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the fifth aspect, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the fourth aspect,
Since the plurality of cap members are made of a material having a hardness lower than that of the cap case, the same effect as that of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the second aspect can be obtained even in a color ink jet recording apparatus including a plurality of recording heads.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus according to the third or fourth aspect, wherein the plurality of cap members are made of a soft elastomer and the cap case is made of a thermoplastic resin. Therefore, the same effect as that of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the third aspect can be obtained even in a color ink jet recording apparatus including a plurality of recording heads.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a main part of a reliability maintaining / restoring mechanism section of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an essential part of the operation state of the reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing a conventional inkjet recording device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1Y, 1M, 1C, 1K ... Recording head, 3 ... Carriage, 11, 11Y, 11M, 11C, 11K, 21 ...
Cap member, 12, 22 ... Cap case, 15 ... Suction tube, 16 ... Atmosphere releasing tube.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a recording head, a cap member for sealing the recording head, and a cap case for holding the cap member, wherein the cap member and the cap case are integrally formed. An ink jet recording apparatus characterized by the above. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cap member is formed of a material having a hardness lower than that of the cap case. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cap member is made of a soft elastomer and the cap case is made of a thermoplastic resin. 4. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a plurality of recording heads, a plurality of cap members for sealing the plurality of recording heads, and a cap case for holding the plurality of cap members, wherein the plurality of caps are provided. An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein a member and a cap case are integrally molded. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of cap members are formed of a material having a hardness lower than that of the cap case. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of cap members are made of a soft elastomer, and the cap case is made of a thermoplastic resin.