JPH1058703A - Waste liquid receiving device for preliminary ejection of ink jet head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce possibility of contaminating a finger of an operator in regard to a waste liquid receiving device for preliminary ejection of an ink jet head. SOLUTION: There is disclosed a waste liquid receiving device 30 for receiving a liquid consisting of ink which is preliminarily ejected from an ink jet head 4. It comprises an aperture 31 opposed to an ink ejection face of the ink jet head 4 when it is placed on a predetermined preliminary ejection position, a waste liquid receiving section 32 that receives the ink ejected from the ink ejection face via the aperture 31, an openable shutter 35 that covers the aperture 31, an arm 35 that opens the shutter 35 when the ink jet head 4 is placed on the preliminary ejection position and closes it when the ink jet head is away from the position and a spring 37.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention belongs to the technical field of preliminary ejection (flushing) of an ink jet head used in an ink jet printer or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to eliminate clogging of a jet nozzle of an ink jet head or to remove air bubbles mixed in ink in the nozzle, a pre-ejection (flushing) of the thickened ink inside the ink jet head immediately before printing. Techniques for doing so are known. According to this technique, the ink that has been pre-discharged when the ink-jet head comes to a predetermined pre-discharge position enters the opening provided at the pre-discharge position facing the ejection surface of the ink-jet head,
The waste liquid is received by a waste liquid receiving device composed of a waste liquid foam or the like.

[0003]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional waste liquid receiving apparatus, since the opening for preliminary discharge is located near the platen, the user erroneously passes through the opening when paper is jammed or the like. There is a high possibility of touching a waste liquid foam or the like. When the finger touches the waste liquid form as described above, in addition to the finger being stained, there is a problem that the paper transport path and various components are stained by the waste liquid attached to the finger.

Further, if the opening of such a waste liquid receiving device is provided in the paper conveyance path, there is a high possibility that the paper comes into contact with the opening during conveyance and becomes dirty with waste liquid. There is a need to provide the printer device at the end portion of the printer device which is not the paper transport path, and as a result, there is a problem that the printer device is enlarged in the width direction of the paper.

In particular, in the case of a printer of a type in which a plurality of ink jet heads for a color printer are arranged along a platen, a plurality of heads are arranged so as to temporarily receive ink preliminarily ejected from the plurality of ink jet heads. Since a large opening corresponding to the width is generally provided,
The above-mentioned problems are more serious than those for a single inkjet head for monochrome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a waste liquid receiving device for preliminary ejection of an ink jet head, which can reduce the possibility of soiling a user's finger and can be provided in a paper transport path.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste liquid receiving apparatus for preliminary discharge of an ink jet head for receiving a waste liquid composed of ink preliminarily discharged by an ink jet head. A waste liquid receiving device, wherein when the inkjet head comes to a predetermined preliminary ejection position, the inkjet head has an opening facing the ink ejection surface of the inkjet head, and ejects the ink from the ink ejection surface through the opening. Waste ink receiving means for receiving the ink to be discharged, an openable and closable shutter covering the opening, the shutter is opened when the inkjet head comes to the preliminary ejection position, and the shutter is opened when the inkjet head moves away from the preliminary ejection position. And a driving means for closing the drive.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the opening of the waste liquid receiving means is closed by the shutter when the ink jet head is away from the predetermined preliminary discharge position. . Here, when the inkjet head comes to a predetermined preliminary ejection position, the shutter is opened by the driving means, and the ink ejection surface of the inkjet head faces the opening of the waste liquid receiving means. Here, when the inkjet head performs the preliminary ejection, the ink ejected from the ink ejection surface enters the opening where the shutter is opened, and is received as waste liquid by the waste liquid receiving means through this opening. When the ink jet head moves away from the predetermined preliminary ejection position, the shutter is closed by the driving unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste liquid receiving device for preliminary discharge of an ink jet head according to the first aspect.
The driving unit mechanically interlocks with the operation of moving the inkjet head to the preliminary ejection position and opens the shutter, and mechanically interlocks with the operation of moving the inkjet head from the preliminary ejection position. The shutter is closed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the inkjet head comes to a predetermined preliminary ejection position, the driving means causes
The shutter is opened mechanically in conjunction with the movement of the inkjet head to the preliminary ejection position. Then, when the inkjet head moves away from the predetermined preliminary ejection position,
The driving means closes the shutter mechanically in conjunction with the movement of the inkjet head from the preliminary ejection position.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste liquid receiving apparatus for preliminary discharge of an ink jet head according to the second aspect.
The driving means is attached to the shutter,
When the inkjet head comes to the preliminary ejection position, an arm that rotates and opens the shutter by contacting at least a part of the inkjet head and a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted;
Spring means for urging the shutter in the closing direction.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the inkjet head comes to a predetermined preliminary ejection position, the arm comes into contact with at least a part of the inkjet head and the carriage. When the arm abuts in this way, the shutter attached to the arm is rotated and opened against the urging force of the spring means. When the ink jet head moves away from the predetermined preliminary ejection position, the arm stops contacting at least a part of the ink jet head and the carriage, and the shutter is rotated and closed by the urging force of the spring means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste liquid receiving device for preliminary discharge of an ink jet head according to the first aspect.
The apparatus further includes a detecting unit that detects a position of the inkjet head and outputs a detection signal, and the driving unit includes:
An electric driving device that opens and closes the shutter based on the detection signal is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste liquid receiving device for preliminary discharge of an ink jet head, wherein the detecting means comprises:
The position of the inkjet head is detected, and a detection signal is output. Then, when the ink jet head reaches a predetermined preliminary ejection position based on the detection signal, the shutter is opened by the electric driving device. Then, based on this detection signal, when the inkjet head moves away from the predetermined preliminary ejection position, the shutter is closed by the electric drive device.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste liquid receiving device for preliminary discharge of an ink jet head according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the opening is provided with: The inkjet head is provided so as to face a conveyance path of a sheet to be printed.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the inkjet head performs the preliminary ejection, the ink ejected from the ink ejection surface faces the paper transport path when the inkjet head performs the preliminary ejection. The shutter is incident on an opened opening, and is received as waste liquid by the waste liquid receiving means through this opening. Here, since the shutter is closed when the ink jet head is separated from the preliminary ejection position, when the paper conveyed during normal printing passes over this opening, the opening is opened. To prevent contact with the ink received by the waste liquid receiving means.

If the position of the sheet provided with the opening facing the transport path is, for example, the position facing the left and right margins of the largest printable sheet, the position of the sheet when the sheet passes over the opening is determined. Is advantageous because the inkjet head does not move to the position of the opening, so that an undesired situation in which the sheet faces the opening with the shutter opened can be completely eliminated.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste liquid receiving apparatus for preliminary discharge of an ink jet head according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the opening is provided with: The ink jet head has a size that allows ink jetted from the ink jetting surfaces of a plurality of ink jet heads to pass at the same time.

According to the waste liquid receiving device for preliminary ejection of the ink jet head according to the sixth aspect, the opening has a size that allows ink jetted from the ink jetting surfaces of the plural ink jet heads to pass at the same time, ie, a single opening. However, when the inkjet head is separated from a predetermined preliminary ejection position, it is closed by a shutter. For this reason, even if the opening is large, it is possible to prevent the user from touching the ink waste liquid received by the waste liquid receiving means through this opening. On the other hand,
When the plurality of inkjet heads are at the predetermined preliminary ejection positions, all the preliminary ejections from the plurality of inkjet heads can be received at one time.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an ink jet printer 1 according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, an inkjet printer 1 according to the present embodiment includes a cylindrical platen 2 extending in an axial direction.
The platen 2 is attached to the frame 3 via a shaft (not shown) so as to be rotatable in the arrow H direction.

The ink jet head 4 is mounted on a carriage 5 so as to face the platen 2, and the carriage 5 is slidably supported by a guide rod 6 provided in parallel with the axis of the platen 2. And is engaged with a timing belt 9 wound around a pair of pulleys 7 and 8. Therefore, the one pulley 7 is rotated by the carriage drive motor 10 and the timing belt 9 is fed, so that the carriage 5 moves along the platen 2 with the arrow K
Moved in the direction.

The ink ejecting heads 4 which are reciprocated within a predetermined printing range at the time of printing by such a mechanism are provided with a large number of ink channels (not shown) and the ink channels, respectively. An injection nozzle 11 having a large number of injection ports is provided. The ink flow path is supplied with ink from an ink supply device (not shown) fixed to the frame 3 or mounted on the carriage 5, and vibrates to form a wall of the ink flow path. When the plate is deformed by a drive circuit (not shown) based on a command from a control device (not shown), ink is ejected from the ejection port of the ejection nozzle 11 due to a pressure change caused by the deformation. The ink is ejected on the recording paper 12 supplied between the platen 2 and the ink ejecting head 4 along with the movement of the carriage 5, whereby an image for one line is formed. When the image formation for one line is completed, the recording paper 12 is fed by one line by the rotation of the platen 2, and the image for one line is formed again. By repeating this, an image is formed on the entire recording paper 12. The recording paper 12
Is supplied in the direction of arrow L from a sheet supply port (not shown) behind the frame 3, sent in the direction of arrow M by rotation of the platen 2, and discharged from a sheet discharge port (not shown).

When the recording operation as described above is completed, the ink ejecting head 4 is retracted to the non-recording position, and a recovery device 13 is provided at a position facing the ink ejecting head 4 in the non-recording position. I have.

The recovery device 13 is provided on the side of the platen 2 and has a rubber cap member 14 having a suction function. A rectangular recess corresponding to the injection nozzle 11 is formed in the cap member 14. When the carriage 5 has moved to the position of the recovery device 13 when the printing operation is stopped, the cap member 14 is moved using the cam 15 and its driving mechanism, and the liquid is supplied to the ejection nozzle 11 of the ink ejection head 4. Fit tightly. This makes it possible to protect the ejection nozzles 11 of the ink ejection head 4 and prevent the ejection nozzles 11 from drying. When printing is next started, a suction recovery operation is performed by the suction pump 16. The ink sucked by the suction pump 16 is discharged to the waste liquid form 18 from the discharge port 16a.

By the suction recovery by the recovery device 13, the thickened ink inside the ink jet head 4 can be sucked and discarded, and thus the clogging of the jet nozzle 11 can be prevented or eliminated. The recovery device 13 also functions as a device that introduces ink into the ink ejection head 4 when the ink cartridge is replaced.

In FIG. 1, a wiper device is provided adjacent to the recovery device 13, and the wiper blade 19 made of rubber is sprayed in response to the rotation of the cam 15.
1 is moved forward or backward to wipe off the ink remaining on the tip end surface of the ejection nozzle 11 after being sucked as described above.

In the present embodiment, a waste liquid receiving device 30 is provided at the end of the platen 2 opposite to the recovery device 13. The waste liquid receiving device 30 has an opening facing the ink jetting surface of the ink jet head 4 when the ink jet head 4 comes to the preliminary ejection position facing the waste liquid receiving device 30.

FIGS. 2 to 6 show the waste liquid receiving device 30.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the waste liquid receiving device 30 attached to the printer 1 together with the ink jet head 4, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the waste liquid receiving device 30 with the shutter closed (normal printing state). FIG. 4 is a plan view from the opening side of FIG.
5 is a plan view of the waste liquid receiving device 30 in a state where the shutter is opened (preliminary discharge state) when viewed from the opening side, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the ink jet head 4 together with the ink jet head 4.

In FIG. 2, when the ink ejecting head 4 reaches a predetermined preliminary ejection position, the waste liquid receiving device 30 has an opening 31 facing the ink ejecting surface of the ink ejecting head 4.
A waste liquid receiving portion 32 that receives ink ejected from the ejection nozzle surface through the opening 31, an openable shutter 35 that covers the opening 31, and a shutter 35 that opens and closes when the ink ejection head 4 reaches the preliminary ejection position. And an arm 36 and a spring 37 that constitute an example of a driving unit that closes the shutter 35 when the ink ejecting head 4 moves away from the preliminary ejection position. The arm 36 is integrally attached to the shutter 35 and is attached to the main body of the printer 1 so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis as shown by an arrow R, and the ink ejection head 4 is moved to the preliminary ejection position. When it comes, it comes into contact with a part of the carriage 5 on which the ink jet head 4 is mounted at the contact portion 36a, and the shutter 35 is rotated and opened as shown by an arrow R '. The spring 37 is a helical spring that constitutes an example of a spring unit that biases the shutter 35 in the closing direction.

In FIG. 3, the opening 3 of the waste liquid receiving device 30
Reference numeral 1 is provided at a preliminary ejection position for the ink ejection head 4 to perform preliminary ejection. In FIG. 4, the waste liquid receiving section 32 includes a waste liquid receiving case 33 that defines the opening 31, and a waste liquid foam 34 made of a sponge or the like put inside the waste liquid receiving case 33.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the ink ejecting head 4 is separated from the preliminary ejection position, the shutter 35 is urged by the spring 37 and the opening 31 is closed. That is, during normal printing by the printer 1, the opening 31 of the waste liquid receiving device 30 is configured to be closed by the shutter 35.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the ink jet head 4 comes to the preliminary ejection position, a part of the carriage 5 comes into contact with the contact portion 36a of the arm 36 and follows the guide lot 6. In the direction (K direction), the arm 36 rotates against the urging force of the spring 37,
5 is a state where the opening 31 is opened. That is, the printer 1
The shutter 35 of the opening 31 of the waste liquid receiving device 30 is configured to be opened at the time of preliminary discharge by the liquid ejecting apparatus.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. First, when the ink ejecting head 4 is in the retracted state or the normal printing state, the carriage 5 is moved along the guide rod 6 by the timing belt under the control of the control microcomputer of the printer to perform the preliminary ejection. The position facing the recovery device 13 of FIG.
It is located at a position facing the like. Therefore, in such a state, the opening 31 of the waste liquid receiving device 30 is positioned at the position shown in FIG.
4 and is closed by a shutter 35. Therefore, even if a paper jam or the like occurs in such a state, the presence of the shutter 35 prevents the user from accidentally touching the ink waste liquid received by the waste liquid receiving portion 32 through the opening 31 with a finger.

Next, when the timing at which the ink ejection head 4 should perform preliminary ejection comes, the carriage 5 is moved along the guide rod 6 by the timing belt under the control of the control microcomputer of the printer.
Is moved toward the preliminary ejection position. When the ink ejection head 4 comes to the preliminary ejection position, the shutter 35 is opened by the action of the arm 36, and the ink ejection surface of the ink ejection head 4 faces the opening 31 of the waste liquid receiving device 30. Here, when the ink ejecting head 4 performs preliminary ejection, ink ejected from the ink ejecting surface
5 enter the opened opening 31, and are received as waste liquid by the waste liquid receiving portion 32 through this opening 31, and the waste liquid form 3 is received.
Stored in 4. For this reason, the preliminary ejection is performed in the same manner as in the related art, so that the clogging of the ejection nozzles of the ink ejection head 4 can be eliminated, and the bubbles mixed with the ink in the nozzles can be removed.

Next, when the preliminary ejection is completed, the carriage 5 is moved along the guide rod 6 by the timing belt under the control of the control microcomputer of the printer, and the ink ejecting head 4 is separated from the predetermined preliminary ejection position. Then, the shutter 35 is closed by the action of the spring 37. Therefore, even if a paper jam or the like occurs in such a state, the user does not accidentally touch a finger with the ink waste liquid received by the waste liquid receiving portion 32 through the opening 31 due to the presence of the shutter 35. .

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the ink ejecting head 4 performs an operation other than the preliminary ejection,
The presence of the shutter 35 prevents the user from touching the ink waste liquid received in the waste liquid receiving portion 32 through the opening 31 with a finger. On the other hand, when performing the preliminary discharge, the shutter 35 is opened, so that the preliminary discharge can be performed without any trouble.

In the above embodiment, the shutter 35 is mechanically opened and closed.
5 may be configured to be opened and closed by an electric drive device such as an electric actuator or an electric motor. in this case,
Detecting means for detecting the position of the ink ejection head 4 and outputting a detection signal is provided. When the ink ejection head 4 comes to the preliminary ejection position based on the detection signal, a shutter 35
The drive device is controlled so as to open the shutter 35 and close the shutter 35 when it is separated therefrom.

In the above embodiment, the opening 31 is
The recording paper 12 may be provided adjacent to the end of the transport path, or may be provided facing the transport path. Even when the ink jet head 4 is located away from the preliminary ejection position, the shutter 35 is closed when the ink ejecting head 4 is away from the preliminary ejection position. When the paper 12 passes over the opening 31, the opening 31
Does not come into contact with the ink received in the waste liquid receiving portion 32 through the ink. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of the printer 1 in the width direction of the recording paper 12 while reducing the possibility that the recording paper 12 comes into contact with the opening during the conveyance and becomes dirty with waste liquid.

When the opening 31 is provided facing the transport path in this manner, the position of the recording sheet 12 where the opening 31 is provided facing the transport path is set, for example, in the left and right margins of the maximum printable recording paper 12. When the recording paper 12 is passing over the opening 31, the ink ejecting head 4 does not move to the position of the opening 31 when the recording paper 12 passes through the opening 31, so that the recording is performed on the opening 31 with the shutter 35 opened. It is possible to completely eliminate the occurrence of an undesirable situation in which the paper 12 faces.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which the present invention is applied to a mono-color printer having an ejection head having a single ejection nozzle.
The present invention is not limited to this, and is also applicable to a color printer having a plurality of ejection nozzles. In this case, the opening of the waste liquid receiving device has a size that allows ink ejected from the ink ejecting surfaces of the plurality of ink ejecting heads to pass at the same time, that is, the opening of the single liquid ejecting head 4 described above. It is configured to have several times the size in the direction along the platen. Even if the opening is made large in this way, if a large shutter corresponding to the size of the opening is used, the user does not touch his / her finger with the ink waste liquid received by the waste liquid receiving portion through the large opening. I can do it.

[0041]

As described above in detail, according to the waste liquid receiving apparatus for preliminary discharge of the ink jet head according to the first aspect, it is determined whether the ink jet head is located at the predetermined preliminary discharge position. The presence of the shutter that is opened and closed by the driving means prevents the user from touching the ink waste liquid received by the waste liquid receiving means through the opening when the ink jet head is not at the predetermined preliminary ejection position, and the ink jet head. When the head is at the predetermined preliminary discharge position, the preliminary discharge can be performed as before.

According to the waste liquid receiving device for preliminary discharge of the ink jet head according to the second aspect, the driving means can
Since the shutter is opened and closed mechanically in conjunction with the movement of the inkjet head, using a mechanical configuration,
The shutter opening / closing operation control and timing control can be performed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste liquid receiving apparatus for preliminary discharge of an ink jet head, wherein the driving means comprises:
The shutter opening / closing operation control and timing control can be performed using a relatively simple mechanical configuration including an arm and a spring.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the shutter is electrically opened and closed according to the moving position of the ink jet head by the detecting means and the electric drive device. In addition, the control of the opening and closing operation of the shutter and the timing control can be accurately performed.

According to the waste liquid receiving device for preliminary discharge of the ink jet head according to the fifth aspect, the waste liquid receiving device can be provided facing the paper conveyance path while keeping the paper from being soiled. In the width direction, the size of the printer can be reduced.

According to the waste liquid receiving device for preliminary discharge of an ink jet head according to the sixth aspect, the user can discharge waste liquid through the large opening while enabling the preliminary discharge for a plurality of ink jet heads through the large opening. The finger can be prevented from touching the ink waste liquid received by the operator.

As a result of the above, according to the present invention, while performing high-quality printing by the preliminary ejection, the situation where the user's finger or paper is stained is prevented, and the preliminary ejection of the inkjet head suitable for miniaturization of an image forming apparatus such as a printer is performed. Waste liquid receiving device can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a waste liquid receiving device provided in the ink jet printer of FIG. 1 together with an ink jet head.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a waste liquid receiving device provided in the ink jet printer of FIG. 1 during normal printing.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a waste liquid receiving device provided in the ink jet printer of FIG. 1 at the time of preliminary ejection.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inkjet printer 2 ... Platen 3 ... Frame 4 ... Ink ejection head 5 ... Carriage 6 ... Guide rod 7 ... Pulley 8 ... Pulley 9 ... Timing belt 10 ... Drive motor 11 ... Injection nozzle 12 ... Recording paper 13 ... Recovery device 14 ... Cap member 15 ... Cam 16 ... Pump 18 ... Waste liquid form 19 ... Wiper blade 30 ... Waste liquid receiving device 31 ... Opening 32 ... Waste liquid receiving part 33 ... Waste liquid receiving case 34 ... Waste liquid foam 35 ... Shutter 36 ... Arm 36a ... Contact 37: Spring

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A waste liquid receiving device for receiving a waste liquid composed of ink preliminarily ejected by an ink jet head, the ink jet surface of the ink jet head being provided when the ink jet head comes to a predetermined preliminary discharge position. A waste liquid receiving means for receiving ink ejected from the ink ejecting surface through the opening, an openable / closable shutter covering the opening, and the inkjet head being at the preliminary ejection position. Drive means for opening the shutter when it comes, and closing the shutter when the ink jet head moves away from the pre-ejection position. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the driving unit mechanically interlocks with the operation of moving the inkjet head to the preliminary ejection position, opens the shutter, and mechanically operates the inkjet head from the preliminary ejection position. The waste liquid receiving device for preliminary ejection of an ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein the shutter is closed in conjunction with the operation. 3. The driving unit is attached to the shutter, and when the inkjet head comes to the preliminary ejection position, the driving unit contacts at least a part of the inkjet head and a carriage on which the inkjet head is mounted. 3. The waste liquid receiving device for preliminary ejection of an ink jet head according to claim 2, further comprising an arm for rotating and opening the shutter, and a spring for urging the shutter in a direction to close the shutter. 4. A detecting device for detecting a position of the inkjet head and outputting a detection signal, wherein the driving device includes an electric driving device for opening and closing the shutter based on the detection signal. 2. A waste liquid receiving device for preliminary discharge of an ink jet head according to claim 1, wherein: 5. The preliminary ejection for an ink-jet head according to claim 1, wherein the opening is provided so as to face a conveyance path of a sheet to be printed by the ink-jet head. Waste liquid receiving device. 6. The inkjet according to claim 1, wherein the opening has a size that allows ink ejected from ink ejection surfaces of a plurality of inkjet heads to pass at the same time. Waste liquid receiving device for preliminary discharge of head.