JPH0939223A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize miniaturization of an ink jet recorder and its cost reduction in the ink jet recorder equipped with a function wherein an image on a copy is automatically read, and the read image is printed on recording paper. SOLUTION: An ink jet recorder is composed of a paper carrying part 1, a copy-sending in part which sends a copy into the paper carrying part 1, an image-reading part 3 which reads an image on the copy which is sent into the paper carrying part 1 by the copy-sending in part 6, a paper feed part 5 which feeds recording paper to the paper carrying part 1 after the image on the copy is read by the image-reading part 3, and a printing head part 2 which prints the image read by the image reading part 3 on the recording paper fed to the paper carrying part 1 by the paper feed part 5 by discharge of an ink drop from a nozzle.

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 an inkjet recording apparatus having a function of automatically reading an image on a document and printing the read image on a recording sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional ink jet recording apparatus prints an image on a recording sheet based on image data such as characters and figures input from an external device such as a personal computer. On the other hand, various types of image reading apparatuses have been conventionally known which read an image on a document using a scanner.

[0003]

Therefore, by incorporating the conventional image reading apparatus into the conventional ink jet recording apparatus as it is, the function of automatically reading the image on the original and printing the read image on the recording sheet. It is possible to think of an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with. However, if the conventional image reading apparatus is incorporated into the conventional inkjet recording apparatus as it is, both the mechanism for transporting the recording sheet and the scanning mechanism for the scanner are required, and it is inevitable to increase the size and cost. The problem arises.

Therefore, the present invention has a function of automatically reading an image on a document and printing the read image on a recording sheet, and can realize downsizing and cost reduction. An object is to provide an inkjet recording device.

[0005]

In order to achieve such an object, an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a paper carrying section, a document sending section for sending a document to the paper carrying section, An image reading unit that reads the image on the original fed by the original feeding unit to the paper conveying unit, and a feeding unit that feeds the recording paper to the paper conveying unit after the image on the original is read by the image reading unit. And a print head unit for printing the image read by the image reading unit on the recording paper fed by the paper feeding unit to the paper conveying unit by ejecting ink droplets from nozzles. Is characterized by.

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the paper conveying section serves both to convey the original read by the image reading section and to convey the recording sheet printed by the print head section, the original feeding section. After reading the image on the original sent to the paper transport section, the recording paper is fed from the paper feed section to the paper transport section, and the image read by the image reading section is printed on the fed recording paper. To be done.

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, further comprising a capping portion having a cap for covering the nozzle surface of the print head portion, and the capping portion includes the cap. A first cleaning member for cleaning the nozzle surface of the print head unit and a second cleaning member for cleaning the image reading surface of the image reading unit are attached to the ends.

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the second aspect, when the cap of the capping portion is moved relative to the print head portion and the image reading portion in order to cover the nozzle surface of the print head portion, the first The nozzle surface of the print head unit and the image reading surface of the image reading unit are cleaned by the cleaning member and the second cleaning member.

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,
The image on the recording paper printed by the print head unit is read by the image reading unit, and the image data based on the read image is compared with the image data that has been captured in advance to determine the nozzles of the print head unit. It is characterized by including a clogging detection means for detecting the presence or absence of clogging.

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, the image data based on the image on the recording paper read by the image reading unit, and the image data previously captured such as the image data based on the image on the original document are stored. The presence / absence of a missing image on the recording paper is detected by comparing the above, and thereby the presence / absence of nozzle clogging is detected. Therefore, if clogging has occurred, the ink ejection recovery operation may be performed if necessary.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. In this figure, the ink jet recording apparatus includes a paper transport unit 1, a print head unit 2, an image reading unit 3, a capping unit 4, a paper feeding unit 5, a document feeding unit 6, and a paper discharging unit 7.

The paper transport unit 1 is constructed by a pair of belt rollers 10 and 11 that are arranged opposite to each other and coupled to support shafts 8 and 9, and a transport belt 12 is stretched over the support shaft. The conveyor belt 12 is rotated in the direction of the arrow by the rotational drive of the drive motor 13 that engages with 8. The paper transport unit 1 transports a document and a recording sheet, which will be described later, placed on the transport belt 12 from the right side to the left side in the drawing, that is, from the upstream side to the downstream side. The support shafts 8 and 9 are rotatably supported by a pair of support plates (not shown) oppositely arranged.

The print head unit 2 is arranged above the paper transport unit 1 and includes four units of black, cyan, magenta and yellow.
The print heads 15, 16, 17, 18 for color are provided, and each print head 15, 16, 17, 18 has a large number of nozzles 19, 20, 21, on the surface facing the paper transport unit 1.
22 are formed in an array, respectively, and are integrally supported by a support body 23 near the central portion. A support portion 25 having a through hole 24 formed of a female screw is formed on the support body 23.
Is integrally formed, and a drive shaft 26 made of a male screw is passed through the through hole 24 of the support portion 25.

One end of the drive shaft 26 is directly connected to a drive motor 27 fixed to a support plate (not shown), and the other end is rotatably supported by a support plate (not shown).
When the drive motor 27 is rotationally driven, the drive shaft 26 rotates and the print heads 15, 16, 17, and 18 move in the vertical direction with respect to the paper transport unit 1. A support shaft (not shown), which is arranged in parallel with the drive shaft 26 and also serves as a guide, penetrates through the support portion 25, and the rotation of the drive shaft 26 causes the respective print heads 15, 16, 17, 18 to rotate together. It is supposed not to.

Further, each print head 1 of the print head unit 2
5, 16, 17, 18 are nozzles 19, 20, 21, 2
The pressurizing chambers 30, 31, 32, and 33 are formed on the upstream side of the second ink, and these pressurizing chambers 30 and 3 are formed.
Piezoelectric elements 34, 35, 36, 3 on the outside of 1, 32, 33
7 is attached and configured. The print head unit 2 including the print heads 15, 16, 17, and 18 configured as described above receives the drive signal and is supplied with the piezoelectric element 34,
When 35, 36, 37 are driven, the pressurizing chambers 30, 31, 3
A vibrating plate (not shown) forming a part of the nozzles 2, 33 vibrates to press the ink inside the pressurizing chambers 30, 31, 32, 33, whereby the ink droplets are ejected to the nozzles 19, 20, 2, 2.
Predetermined printing is performed on the recording sheet discharged from the sheet Nos. 1 and 22 and fed to the sheet conveying unit 1.

In this embodiment, each print head 1
Width of 5, 16, 17, and 18 (in the figure, the direction of penetrating the paper)
Has a value substantially similar to the paper width, which is the direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the recording paper fed onto the paper transport unit 1. Therefore, printing is performed within the paper width of the recording paper while the print head unit 2 is fixed, and the entire paper surface is printed by transferring the recording paper from the upstream side to the downstream side. Further, an ink cartridge 38 storing four color inks is arranged below the paper transport unit 1, and each print head 15 or 16 is formed by a flexible synthetic resin pipe (not shown) for each color ink. , 17, 18 are to be supplied.

The image reading unit 3 comprises a reading main body 39 which is arranged adjacent to the upstream side of the print head unit 2 and above the paper conveying unit 1. The reading main body 39 is provided with a reading sensor 40 composed of a CCD therein, and the lens 4 for forming an image on the reading sensor 40 on the surface of the carrying belt 12 facing the paper carrying section 1.
1 and a light source 42 composed of an LED array for illuminating the conveyor belt 12 are provided and supported by a support body 43 near the central portion of the reading main body 39. The reading sensor 40 is a color formed by arranging three line sensors in parallel, each of which has a large number of photosensors one-dimensionally arranged on a line and providing each of the line sensors with an R, G, and B spectral filter. It is used as a line sensor. Further, a support portion 45 having a through hole 44 formed of a female screw is integrally formed in the support body 43, and a drive shaft 47 formed of a male screw is passed through the through hole 44 of the support portion 45.

One end of the drive shaft 47 is directly connected to a drive motor 48 fixed to a support plate (not shown), 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 reading body 39 moves in the vertical direction with respect to the paper transport unit 1. A support shaft (not shown), which is arranged in parallel with the drive shaft 47 and also serves as a guide, passes through the support portion 45, and the reading main body 3 is rotated by the rotation of the drive shaft 47.
9 does not rotate together. In this embodiment, the width of the reading body 39 (in the drawing, the direction of penetrating the paper surface) is the same as the width of the print heads 15, 16, 17, and 18.

The image reading section 3 configured as described above
Illuminates the image forming surface of the original sent to the paper transport unit 1 with a light source 42 and forms an image of the reflected light on the reading sensor 40 via the lens 41, thereby forming an image such as characters and figures on the original. Is read line by line. The reading sensor 40 may be an area sensor configured by arranging a large number of photosensors two-dimensionally, and in such a case, the image on the document can be read every plural lines.

The capping unit 4 is a nozzle 1 of the print heads 15, 16, 17, and 18 which constitute the print head unit 2.
The caps 50, 51, 52, and 53 are integrally formed with each other and have a size that fits the 9, 20, 21, and 22 surface sides, and the caps 50, 51, 52, and 53 are their home positions. It is arranged on the downstream side of the paper transport unit 1. On the inner bottom surface of each cap 50, 51, 52, 53, the nozzle 1 of each print head 15, 16, 17, 18 is provided.
A plurality of through holes 54, 55, 56, 57 are formed at positions corresponding to 9, 20, 21, 22 respectively. Each of these through holes 54, 55, 56, 57 communicates with a common suction hole 58 formed in the bottom portion, and the common suction hole 58 is made of a synthetic resin having flexibility attached to the bottom surface side. It is connected via a pipe 59 to a waste ink tank 60 provided in the lower portion of the paper transport unit 1. A suction pump 61 is attached in the middle of the pipe 59. The cap 50, 51, 52, 53 is provided with a rubber lining or the like in the fitting portion with the print heads 15, 16, 17, 18 for improving the adhesion if necessary.

The cap 5 which constitutes the capping portion 4
A cleaning member accommodating portion 64 is formed at the end portion of the print head portion 2 side of 0, 51, 52, 53, and the print heads 15, 16, 17 constituting the print head portion 2 are formed in the cleaning member accommodating portion 64. , 18 nozzles 19, 20, 2
A first cleaning member 65 made of rubber or the like for cleaning surfaces 1 and 22 and a second cleaning member 66 made of felt or the like for cleaning the image reading surface of the reading body 39 forming the image reading unit 3 are provided. ing. The first cleaning member 65 is located inside, and the second cleaning member 66 is located outside. The width of the first cleaning member 65 and the second cleaning member 66 (the direction of penetrating the paper surface in the drawing)
Are print heads 15, 16, 17, 1 of the print head unit 2.
8 and each width of the reading main body 39 of the image reading unit 3, and is in a state of standing up only during cleaning and protruding upward from the cleaning member storage unit 64.
At other times, as shown in the figure, it is laid down and buried in the cleaning member storage portion 64.

The first cleaning member 65 and the second cleaning member 66 are erected and laid down by a mechanism as described below. That is, the caps 50, 51, 5
The first cleaning member 65 will be described with reference to FIG. 2, which shows an enlarged view of the essential parts of the parts 2, 53. The first cleaning member 65 is rotated by the support shaft 70 between the opposing outer wall parts of the cleaning member housing part 64. It is movably attached. The support shaft 70 projects outward from one outer wall portion and is coupled to one end of an arm 71 arranged on the outer wall surface. Accordingly, when the arm 71 rotates about the support shaft 70 as a fulcrum, the first cleaning member 65 rotates together with the arm 71. This arm 7
A solenoid 72 is attached to the outer wall surface on which the No. 1 is arranged, and a support rod 75 attached to a drive shaft 74 provided in the solenoid main body 73 is attached to the arm 71.
Is attached to the other end of. The support rod 75 is rotatable in the vertical direction within a certain angle range with a mounting portion to the drive shaft 74 as a fulcrum. Also, the arm 71 is
It can rotate in the plane with the mounting portion with the support rod 75 as a fulcrum.

In such a configuration, the solenoid 72
When the coil portion (not shown) is not energized, the drive shaft 74 is compressed by the compression spring 76 as shown in FIG.
The arm 71 is fixed to the position rotated to the right side in the drawing by the elastic force of, and the arm 71 is fixed in the position rotated to the right side in the drawing, and the first cleaning member 65 is in the state of falling sideways. . On the other hand, when the coil portion of the solenoid 72 is energized, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the drive shaft 74 is attracted into the solenoid body 73 against the elastic force of the compression spring 76, whereby the arm 71 is fixed at the position rotated leftward in the drawing, and the first The cleaning member 65 is in the upright state.

The second cleaning member 66 is also erected and laid down by the same structure. That is, to describe with reference to FIG. 3 which is a view seen from the surface opposite to FIG. 2, the second cleaning member 66 is rotatable by the support shaft 77 between the opposing outer wall portions of the cleaning member accommodating portion 64. It is installed. The support shaft 77 projects outward from the other outer wall portion and is coupled to one end of an arm 78 arranged on the outer wall surface. This allows the arm 7
When 8 rotates about the support shaft 77 as a fulcrum, the second cleaning member 66 rotates together with the rotation. A solenoid 79 is attached to the outer wall surface on which the arm 78 is arranged.
A support rod 82 attached to a drive shaft 81 provided at 0 is attached to the other end of the arm 78. The support rod 82 is vertically rotatable within a certain angle range with a joint with the drive shaft 81 as a fulcrum. Further, the arm 78 is rotatable in its plane with the attachment portion with the support rod 82 as a fulcrum.

In such a configuration, the solenoid 79
When the coil portion (not shown) is not energized, the drive shaft 81 is compressed by the compression spring 83 as shown in FIG.
Of the solenoid 78, the arm 78 is fixed to the position pivoted to the left side in the drawing, and the second cleaning member 66 is laid sideways. . On the other hand, when the coil portion of the solenoid 79 is energized, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the drive shaft 81 is attracted into the solenoid body 80 against the elastic force of the compression spring 83, whereby the arm 78 is fixed at the position rotated rightward in the drawing, and the second The cleaning member 66 is in an upright state.

The capping unit 4 configured as described above
Each of the caps 50, 51, 52, and 53 is provided with a timing belt 87 spanning a pair of pulleys 85 and 86 which are attached to a support plate (not shown) and which are arranged to face each other. When the drive motor 88 attached to 85 rotates, the timing belt 87 rotates, which causes the cap 5 to rotate.
0, 51, 52, 53 move to the print head 2 side.

The paper feed unit 5 is a paper feed cassette 90 that stores recording paper of a predetermined size, which is arranged under the ink cartridge 38, and a guide for feeding the recording paper in the paper feed cassette 90 to the paper transport unit 1. A plate 91, a paper feed roller 92 arranged above the paper exit of the paper feed cassette 90, and a guide plate 9
1, a pair of transport rollers arranged on the upstream side and the downstream side of 1,
And 94. The paper feed roller 92 is rotationally driven by a drive motor 95 fixed to a support plate (not shown), and the conveying roller pairs 93 and 94 are rotationally driven by a drive motor 96 fixed to a support plate (not shown). To be done. The paper feed unit 5 actually has a plurality of paper feed cassettes containing recording papers of different sizes, and a paper feed roller, a guide plate, and a pair of transport rollers are provided accordingly. The illustration is omitted here. The sheet feeding section 5 configured as described above is provided with a sheet feeding roller 9
The recording paper is taken out from the paper feeding cassette 90 one by one by the 2 and the recording paper is conveyed to the upstream side conveyance roller pair 9
The sheet is guided to the guide plate 91 by 3 and is fed to the sheet conveying section 1 in synchronization with the printing operation of the print heads 15, 16, 17, and 18 by the conveying roller pair 94 on the downstream side.

The document feeding section 6 includes a manually fed document tray 97 arranged upstream of the paper conveying section 1, and a guide plate 98 provided between the document tray 97 and the paper conveying section 1.
And a paper feed roller 99 provided on the upstream side of the guide plate 98.
And the conveying roller pair 94 described above. That is, in this embodiment, the pair of conveying rollers 94 is the sheet feeding unit 5.
It is also used as. The paper feed roller 99 is
It is rotationally driven by a drive motor 100 fixed to a support plate (not shown). When the document is placed on the document tray 97, the document feeding unit 6 configured in this manner guides the document to the guide plate 98 by the paper feed roller 99 and feeds it to the paper transport unit 1 by the transport roller pair 94. . It should be noted that the document feeding section 6 may be configured such that even when a plurality of documents are placed on the document tray 97 in a stacked state, the documents are fed to the paper transport section 1 one by one.

The paper discharge unit 7 is provided on the downstream side of the paper transport unit 1, the pair of transport rollers 102 provided in the middle of the guide plate 101, and the exit side of the guide plate 101. The discharge roller pair 103 and a discharge tray 104 provided on the downstream side of the discharge roller pair 103. The paper discharge section 7 configured in this way
Is fed into the guide plate 101 from the paper transporting unit 1 and the transport roller pair 102 transports the document or recording paper.
And is discharged to the downstream side, and is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 104 by the paper discharge roller pair 103. The transport roller pair 102 and the paper discharge roller pair 103 are rotationally driven by a drive motor 105 fixed to a support plate (not shown).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the main control arrangement of the ink jet recording apparatus constructed as described above. The inkjet recording device includes an image reading unit 3
It operates by the image data based on the image on the original read by (this operation is called copy mode).
It also operates according to image data input from an external device such as a personal computer (hereinafter this operation is referred to as print mode).
It has become.

The control unit 110 includes a CPU 111 and a storage unit 11.
2, an interface (I / F) unit 113, a signal processing unit 114, etc., and their operations are controlled in synchronization with the internal clock of the CPU 111.

The CPU 111 has a control function such as the recording control unit 115 and the mechanism control unit 116, and the recording control unit 115 and the mechanism control unit 116 perform control operations in synchronization with each other. Further, the CPU 111 performs a control operation in the copy mode or the print mode switched by the mode switching unit 117 such as a mode button provided on the operation unit not shown in FIG.

The storage unit 112 is composed of a ROM in which a program for controlling the operation of the ink jet recording apparatus is stored, a RAM for temporarily storing data, etc., and the CPU 111 is a control program stored in this ROM. Based on the above, the operation of the entire device is controlled.

The interface unit 113 receives data input from an external device such as a personal computer, and outputs image data to the recording control unit 115 and operation data such as paper size to the mechanism control unit 116. Has become.

The signal processing unit 114 performs predetermined analog signal processing such as gain adjustment and clamp level adjustment on the image signals of the R, G and B color components which are analog signals read by the image reading unit 3. The processed analog signal is converted into a digital signal, and the digital signal is subjected to predetermined digital signal processing such as γ correction and shading correction, and output to the recording control unit 115 as image data.

The recording control unit 115 temporarily stores the input image data in the storage unit 112 based on the control operation of the CPU 111, and the image data read out from the storage unit 112 according to each color component. Serially transmits to the drive circuits 118, 119, 120, and 121 of the print heads 15, 16, 17, and 18 constituting the above.

Each drive circuit 118, 119, 120, 12
Reference numeral 1 denotes a print head 15, 16, 17, 18 which has a latch portion and is arranged at an appropriate position in each print head 15, and temporarily latches, for example, one line of image data read from a transmitted original document or recording paper. And convert it to a parallel signal. The recording control unit 115 includes drive circuits 118 and 11
The parallel signals converted by the reference numerals 9, 120, 121 correspond to the piezoelectric elements 34 of the print heads 15, 16, 17, 18.
The pulse drive signals are output to 35, 36, and 37 to control the ejection of ink droplets from the nozzles 19, 20, 21, and 22. The image data for one line is sequentially transmitted at a predetermined cycle, whereby a two-dimensional image is printed.

The mechanism control section 116, via a drive circuit 123, receives a signal from a detection means 122 such as a position detection sensor (not shown in FIG. 1) provided at a proper position of a predetermined component of the ink jet recording apparatus. Drive motor 13 of the paper transport unit 1, drive motor 95 of the paper feed roller 92, drive motor 96 of the pair of transport rollers 93 and 94, paper feed roller 99.
Drive motor 100, a conveyance roller pair 102, a discharge roller pair 103, a drive motor 27 for raising and lowering the print head unit 2, a drive motor 48 for raising and lowering the image reading unit 3, and a drive motor for transferring the capping unit 4. 88, 1st
Second cleaning member 65 rotation solenoid 72,
The solenoid 79 for rotating the cleaning member 66, the suction pump 61, and the like are driven. The drive circuit 12
Reference numeral 3 includes a power supply unit, predetermined electronic components such as transistors, and the like.

The ink jet recording apparatus constructed as described above operates as follows. First, the case where the mode switching means 117 sets the copy mode will be described. When set in the copy mode, the inkjet recording apparatus is in the initial state in the copy mode as shown in FIG. In this initial state, the print heads 15, 16, 17, 18 of the print head unit 2 are moved to the upper side, and the nozzles 19, 20, 21, 22 of the print heads 15 are moved to the print head unit 2 side. Cap 50,
51, 52, and 53 are covered, and the reading body 39 of the image reading unit 3 moves to the lower side to read the image on the original.

When the ink jet recording apparatus is in this initial state, the transport roller pairs 93, 94, 102, the paper discharge roller pair 103, and the paper feed roller 99 rotate, and the transport belt 12 of the paper transport unit 1 also rotates. When an original is placed on the original tray 97 of the original feeding unit 6 in this state, the original is fed to the paper conveying unit 1 at a constant speed, and the reading main body 39 of the image reading unit 3 images the original on the fed original. Are read in order. This scanned image is
Predetermined signal processing is performed by the signal processing unit 114 and temporarily stored in the storage unit 112 as image data.

When all the images on the original are read by the image reading unit 3 and the original has finished passing through the reading main body 39, as shown in FIG. 6, the reading main body 39 of the image reading unit 3 and the print head of the print head unit 2 15, 16, 1
7 and 18 move to the upper side. Next, after the caps 50, 51, 52, 53 of the capping unit 4 move to the home position side, the print head 1 of the print head unit 2
5, 16, 17, and 18 are moved to the lower side, and printing on the recording paper shown in FIG. 1 is possible.

Further, when the original has finished passing through the reading main body 39, the recording paper is taken out from the paper feeding cassette 90, and the conveying roller pair 9 which has already rotated the recording paper.
The paper is fed to the paper transport unit 1 by 3, 94. On the other hand, the document that has been read is sent to the guide 101 of the paper discharge unit 7 by the conveyor belt 12, and is ejected onto the paper ejection tray 104 by the already rotating conveyor roller pair 102 and paper ejection roller pair 103. In this embodiment, the transport belt 12 of the paper transport unit 1, the transport roller pairs 93 and 94 of the paper feed unit 5, the paper feed roller 99 of the document feeding unit 6, and the transport roller pair 102 of the paper discharge unit 7 are discharged. Paper roller pair 10
3 are different drive motors 13, 96, 100, 1
Although it is rotating at 05, for example, it is possible to rotate by the same drive motor except for the paper feed roller 92, or to rotate all by one drive motor and switch the drive appropriately by the clutch. it can.

The recording sheet sent to the above-described sheet conveying section 1 is conveyed to the downstream side by the conveying belt 12, and the print heads 15, 16, 17, 18 of the print head section 2 are provided with the recording sheet during the transfer. On the other hand, color printing is performed based on the image data temporarily stored in the storage unit 112. When the image on the document is monochromatic, for example, monochromatic printing is performed by the black print head 15. The recording paper on which printing has been completed is fed to the guide 101 of the paper discharge unit 7 by the conveyor belt 12 and conveyed to the pair of conveying rollers 102.
Then, the sheet is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 104 by the sheet discharge roller pair 103.

When printing on the recording paper is completed, the print heads 15, 16, 17, and 18 of the print head unit 2 move away from the recording paper and move to the upper side, and at the coil portion of the solenoid 72 shown in FIG. The first cleaning member 65 is energized and stands up. In this state, FIG.
As shown in, the caps 50, 51, 52, 53 move to the lower positions of the print heads 15, 16, 17, 18.
At the time of this movement, the first cleaning member 65 in the cleaning member accommodating portion 64 moves the print heads 15, 16, 17,
Since the 18 nozzles 19, 20, 21, 22 are slid, the surfaces are cleaned. When this cleaning is completed, the energization of the coil portion of the solenoid 72 is stopped, and the first cleaning member 65 is brought to the sideways state.

Then, the coil portion of the solenoid 79 shown in FIG. 3 is energized to bring the second cleaning member 66 into an upright state. In this state, as shown in FIG. 8, the caps 50, 51, 52, 53 are moved to a position where the second cleaning member 66 in the cleaning member housing 64 has passed the reading body 39 of the image reading unit 3. ,
Stop at that position. During this movement, the second cleaning member 66 slides on the reading surface of the reading body 39, so that the surface is cleaned. After that, the energization of the coil portion of the solenoid 79 is stopped, and the second cleaning member 66 is in a state of lying sideways. Then, the timing belt 87 rotates in the opposite direction to rotate the caps 50, 5
1, 52, 53 return to the lower position of the print heads 15, 16, 17, 18 and stop there. In this state, as shown in FIG. 9, the print heads 15, 16, 17, and 18 move downward, and the caps 50, 51, 52, and 53 are moved.
Is the nozzle 19 of each print head 15, 16, 17, 18.
Fits on 20, 21, and 22 surfaces.

After that, the suction pump 61 is operated in this state, and the nozzles 19, 20, 21,
Ink is forcibly sucked from 22 and an ink ejection recovery operation is performed. This ink ejection recovery operation is performed regardless of the presence or absence of clogging in order to prevent clogging of the nozzles.

The first cleaning member 65 described above is used.
Nozzle 1 for print heads 15, 16, 17, 18 by
The cleaning of the surfaces 9, 20, 21, 22 may be performed after the completion of the ink ejection recovery operation. That is, after the ink ejection recovery operation is completed, the print heads 15, 1
6, 17, and 18 are moved to the upper side, the first cleaning member 65 is raised, and in this state, the cap 5
0, 51, 52, 53 are moved to the home position side. As a result, the first cleaning member 65 is slid on the surfaces of the nozzles 19, 20, 21, 22 for cleaning. After that, the caps 50, 51, 52, 53 are moved to the lower positions of the print heads 15, 16, 17, 18, and the print heads 15, 16, 17, 18 are moved downward to move the caps 50, 51, 52. , 53. In this way, if the cleaning is performed after the end of the ink ejection recovery operation, the nozzle 1
Since the ink is not excessively attached to the 9, 20, 21, and 22 surfaces by the previous ink ejection recovery operation, the load on the first cleaning member 65 can be reduced.

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus, the print heads 15, 16, 17, 18 are provided during the printing operation in addition to the ink ejection recovery operation after the printing operation is completed.
It is detected whether or not some of the nozzles 19, 20, 21, and 22 of FIG. 3 are clogged, and if clogged, an ink ejection recovery operation similar to the above is performed. The detection of such nozzle clogging is performed as follows.

That is, the recording paper printed by the print head unit 2 based on the image data obtained by reading the image on the original is returned to the upstream side by rotating the conveyor belt 12 or the like in the opposite direction. Then, the image on the recording paper is read by the image reading unit 3 in the same manner as the image reading on the original, and the image data based on the read image and the original read as the image data previously read. Compare with the image data based on the above image. This makes it possible to detect the presence or absence of images on the recording paper,
If there is a missing image, the print heads 15, 16, 1
It is determined that the nozzles 7, 20, 21, 22 of Nos. 7, 18 are clogged. That is, the clogging detection means is configured based on the predetermined functions of the image reading unit 3 and the control unit 110, and when it is determined that clogging has occurred, the caps 50, 51, 52, 53 are moved. Nozzles 19, 20, 2 of the print heads 15, 16, 17, 18
The first and second surfaces are fitted to each other, and the above-described ink discharge recovery operation is performed by the operation of the suction pump 61.

This nozzle clogging is detected by detecting all the nozzles 19 and 2 of the print heads 15, 16, 17, and 18.
Ink droplets from 0, 21, and 22 are simultaneously ejected onto the recording paper, and the image on the recording paper is read by the image reading unit 3 as described above, and the image data based on the read image and all the nozzles are read. 19, 20, 21,
It may be performed by comparing with data that is pre-loaded as image data based on the image ejected from the ink 22 (not image data read from the document each time).

Next, the operation when the ink jet recording apparatus is set to the print mode by the mode switching means 117 will be described. When set in the print mode, the inkjet recording device is in the initial state in the print mode. The initial state in this print mode is the same as that shown in FIG. In this state, image data or the like is input from an external device such as a personal computer and printing is performed on the recording paper. When the predetermined printing operation is completed, the operation thereafter is the same as the operation after the printing operation on the recording paper in the above-mentioned copy mode is completed. Also in this print mode, as in the case of the copy mode, the print head 15,
It is detected whether or not the nozzles 19, 20, 21, 22 of the nozzles 16, 17, 18 are partially clogged, and if they are clogged, the ink ejection recovery operation is performed.

That is, the image data input from the external device is temporarily stored in the storage unit 112, and the recording paper printed by the print head unit 2 based on the image data input from the external device is conveyed by the conveyor belt 12. Rotate etc. in the opposite direction to return to the upstream side. Then, the image on the recording paper is read by the image reading unit 3,
The image data based on the read image is compared with the image data that is the image data that has been captured in advance and that is input from the external device. With this, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of an image loss on the recording paper, and if there is an image loss, the nozzles 1 of the print heads 15, 16, 17, and 18 can be detected.
It is determined that clogging has occurred in 9, 20, 21, and 22. Then, when clogging occurs, the caps 50, 51, 52, 53 are moved to move the print heads 15, 1.
The nozzles 19, 20, 21, and 22 of the nozzles 6, 17, and 18 are fitted to the surfaces so that the suction pump 61 can perform the above-described ink discharge recovery operation.

Although the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is constructed and operates as described above, the following various modifications are possible.

That is, in the above embodiment, the print heads 15, 16, 17, 18 of the print head unit 2 and the reading main body 39 of the image reading unit 3 are separately driven by separate drive motors. May be driven by the same drive motor, and the reading body 39 may be fixed in position. Further, although the image reading unit 3 is arranged on the upstream side of the print head unit 2,
The image reading unit 3 may be arranged on the downstream side of the print head unit 2. In this case, it is not necessary to rotate the conveyor belt 12 or the like in the opposite direction when reading the image on the recording paper in detecting the clogging of the nozzle, the clogging detection operation is simplified, and the time required for the detection is also reduced. It will be shortened.

In addition, the image reading unit 3 is connected to the print head unit 2
When it is arranged on the downstream side of the capping unit 4, the operation order of the first cleaning member 65 and the second cleaning member 66 attached to the end portions of the caps 50, 51, 52, 53 of the capping unit 4 is appropriately changed as necessary. It should be changed. Further, in the above embodiment, the first cleaning member 65 and the second cleaning member 66 are connected to the cap 5
Although they are attached together at one end of 0, 51, 52, 53, they may be attached separately at opposite ends. Also in this case, the operation order of the first cleaning member 65 and the second cleaning member 66 may be changed as necessary.

Further, in the above embodiment, the print heads 15, 16, 17, 18 of the print head unit 2 are moved only by the ascending / descending operation on the paper conveying unit 1, and the caps 50, 51, 52 of the capping unit 4, 53 is moved to the print head unit 2 side, the caps 50, 51, 5
2, 53 are only the raising and lowering operations at the home position, and the print heads 15, 1, 6, 1 are set at the end of the printing operation.
The configuration may be such that 7, 18 are moved to the cap 50, 51, 52, 53 side. In addition, the print head unit 2
Can be configured with only one print head when only monochrome printing is required.

It is also possible to provide a nozzle clogging detection mode button on an operation unit (not shown) so that only the clogging detection operation is performed when the clogging detection mode button is turned on. . In such a case, the test pattern original created for detecting clogging is read by the image reading unit 3, and the read image is printed on the recording paper. After that, the image on the recording paper is read by the image reading unit 3, and the image data based on the read image is compared with the image data based on the image on the test pattern document, so that the nozzle clogging is performed as described above. The presence or absence of can be detected. If clogging has occurred, the above-described ink ejection recovery operation is performed.

Furthermore, the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention may have a facsimile function,
In such a case, the image on the original to be transmitted is temporarily read by the image reading unit 3 and temporarily stored as image data, and the stored image data is transmitted to the other party. The image data received from the other party may be directly printed on the recording paper by the print head unit 2, or may be temporarily stored in the storage unit of the image reading unit 3 and then printed by the print head unit 2. You may

[0060]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the paper carrying section serves both to carry the original document read by the image reading section and to carry the recording paper printed by the print head section. Therefore, it is possible to realize an inkjet recording apparatus which has a function of automatically reading an image on a document and printing the read image on a recording sheet and which can be downsized and reduced in cost.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, the first cleaning member and the second cleaning member are provided at the end of the cap of the capping portion.
The cleaning member of the ink jet recording apparatus can be used for cleaning the nozzle surface of the print head unit and the image reading surface of the image reading unit at the same time when the capping operation is performed on the print head unit. It can be simplified.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the image on the recording paper printed by the print head unit is read by the image reading unit, and the image data based on the read image and the image that has been captured in advance. Since there is a clogging detection unit that detects clogging of the nozzle of the print head by comparing with the data, it is possible to detect the clogging without using a special member, and depending on the detection of the clogging. If the ink ejection recovery operation is performed, clear printing with high resolution can always be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an essential part of a capping portion for explaining the operation of a first cleaning member of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 (a) shows a state in which the first cleaning member is lying down. FIG. 3B is a view showing a state in which the first cleaning member stands up.

FIG. 3 is a rear view showing the main part of the capping portion for explaining the operation of the second cleaning member of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 (a) shows a state in which the second cleaning member is lying down. FIG. 3B is a view showing a state in which the second cleaning member stands up.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

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

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

FIG. 7 is a front view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a front view for explaining the operation of the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

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

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Paper Conveying Section 2 Print Head Section 3 Image Reading Section 4 Capping Section 5 Paper Feeding Section 6 Document Feeding Section 7 Paper Discharging Section 12 Conveying Belts 15, 16, 17, 18 Print Heads 19, 20, 21, 22 Nozzles 39 Reading Body 50, 51, 52, 53 Cap 65 First cleaning member 66 Second cleaning member 90 Paper feeding cassette 92, 99 Paper feeding roller 93, 94, 102 Conveying roller pair 97 Document tray 103 Paper discharging roller pair 104 Paper discharging tray

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Seiji Hata 1-2-28 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi Inside Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A paper transport unit, a document feed unit for feeding a document to the paper transport unit, an image reading unit for reading an image on the document fed to the paper transport unit by the document feed unit, and an image reading unit. A sheet feeding unit that feeds a recording sheet to the sheet conveying unit after the image on the document is read by the unit, and the image reading unit reads the recording sheet fed to the sheet conveying unit by the sheet feeding unit. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a print head unit that prints the formed image by ejecting ink droplets from a nozzle. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a capping portion having a cap for covering the nozzle surface of the print head portion, the capping portion having a nozzle surface of the print head portion at an end portion of the cap. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a first cleaning member for cleaning an image reading unit and a second cleaning member for cleaning an image reading surface of the image reading unit. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading unit reads an image on a recording sheet printed by the print head unit, and the image data based on the read image is recorded in advance. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a clogging detection unit that detects the presence or absence of clogging of a nozzle of the print head unit by comparing the captured image data.