JPH11207977A - Ink-jet printer with ink-absorbing looped mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable repeated use of a cleaning cloth without a special operation by sending the looped cleaning cloth through a position opposite to a nozzle by a tape feed roller and a guide. SOLUTION: A cleaning cloth 1 is sent in a direction of an arrow 7 by a feed roller 2 via an operation face 13, brought into a cleaning cloth storage chamber 8 and stored while overlapped thereinside. The other end of the cloth 1 is sent into the storage chamber 8 via a roller 10 and connected to a leading end of the overlapped and stored cleaning cloth 1. When the cloth 1 is sent subsequent to the rotation of the feed roller 2, the cloth passes an exit in a direction of an arrow 9 and advances to the roller 10. At this time, the cloth 1 is pressed to the roller 10 by a leaf spring 11, generating a friction force thereby applying a tensile force to a part of the operation face 13 formed by guides 12. The cleaning cloth can thus be repeatedly used without a special operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an on-demand type ink jet printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The non-impact recording method has attracted attention because it produces less noise during recording and is easy to perform color recording. Among them, an ink jet printer capable of recording on plain paper has attracted attention. Among the ink jet printers, drop-on-demand type ink jet printers have been increasingly used as output devices for personal computers because they do not require a waste ink collecting mechanism and have a simple structure and are easily miniaturized.

[0003] These ink jet printers are mechanically approximately 1. 1. print head and carriage; 2. paper feed mechanism; And a maintenance station for recovering print quality.

In the current ink jet printer, after the printing operation is completed, the ink and dust attached to the nozzle surface are wiped off using a wiper of a maintenance station provided at or near the home position of the carriage, and the nozzle hole is covered using a cap. To prevent the ink solvent near the nozzle hole from evaporating and solidifying the ink, and immediately before starting the next printing operation, activate the pump connected to the inside of the cap to increase the viscosity of the ink inside the nozzle during standby. To recover the print quality.

[0005] When firing an ink drop, the ink projects momentarily forward and simultaneously around the nozzle hole, often exerting a resistance to the advancing components of the ink. In order to avoid this, the surface of the nozzle surface around the nozzle hole is made water-repellent by means such as fluorine treatment.

However, when ink adhered to the nozzle surface is removed by wiping after the suction of the nozzles, the state of the removed ink varies among the nozzles depending on the position where the ink adheres and the situation. The ink remaining on the nozzle surface evaporates and thickens due to the evaporation of the ink solvent, and adheres to the nozzle surface regardless of the water repellency of the nozzle surface, causing deterioration of the water repellency of the nozzle surface.

[0007] If ink remains around the nozzle hole, variations occur in the flight direction of the ink droplet. This results in uneven printing on the printing surface. In addition, there is no regulation force against ink outflow around the nozzle, and ink flows out of the nozzle hole toward the ink attached to the nozzle surface. Further, the flow of ink near the nozzle hole outlet becomes irregular, and a phenomenon occurs in which air is sucked into the ink passage from the nozzle hole. The air inside the ink passage acts as a damper, absorbing the driving force at the time of ejecting the ink, and the ejection of the ink becomes unstable. When the amount of ink adhering to the vicinity of the nozzle hole increases, phenomena such as the fact that ink droplets are absorbed by the ink accumulated on the nozzle surface and do not fly often appear.

In order to solve these problems, there has been proposed a technique in which a maintenance cloth is provided with a cleaning cloth for wiping ink adhered to the nozzle surface from the nozzle surface and a mechanism for driving the cleaning cloth. The wiping of the nozzle surface by the cleaning cloth is disclosed in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 9-235839.

[0009]

In the prior art,
The cleaning cloth was wound on a reel and driven.
For this reason, there has been a drawback that the winding radius changes between the start of use and after use of the tape, and the winding length changes even when the reel is wound at a fixed angle. In addition, when a cleaning cloth that has been used once is repeatedly used, an operation of exchanging the reel on the sending side and the reel on the winding side is required. In addition, since the cleaning cloth cassette moves up and down every rotation of the cam shaft,
There is a drawback that the cleaning cloth is wound up even when the cam shaft is rotated to raise the cap or the seal, which is not related to the feeding operation of the cleaning cloth. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide (1). Always send a certain length of cleaning cloth in one winding. (2). The cleaning cloth can be used repeatedly without performing any special operation. (3). Even if the cam shaft rotates due to the vertical movement of the cap or the seal, the winding is not performed, and the cleaning cloth can be fed when necessary. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer having functions such as:

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A tape feed roller and a guide are provided at a maintenance station of an ink jet printer so that an annular cleaning cloth passes through a position facing a nozzle. Further, a cleaning cloth storage chamber having a tape inlet and an outlet is provided. In order to generate a frictional force sufficient to feed the cleaning cloth between the tape feeding roller and the cleaning cloth, a pressing roller is provided so as to press the cleaning cloth against the feeding roller by a spring force. The cassette frame formed a part of the cleaning cloth storage chamber, and was configured to include a tape feed roller and a guide.

Further, the drive mechanism of the feed roller is provided separately from the cassette frame so as to be rotatable around the feed roller drive shaft. When the winding is not performed, the lever of the drive mechanism is positioned outside the vertical movement range of the pressing portion by the spring force. By moving the carriage of the printer to a specific position, movement of the carriage deforms a spring constraining the drive mechanism to move the lever of the drive mechanism within the working range of the vertical movement of the pressing portion. Next, the ink jet printer was configured so that the pressing portion was moved up and down by rotating the cam shaft, and the lever of the driving mechanism was rotated to rotate the feed roller by a certain angle.

(Operation) When the control system of the ink jet printer rotates the camshaft, the pressing portion of the cleaning cloth moves in the direction of the cleaning cloth by a spring force, and separates from the cleaning cloth by ascending the cam. At this time, the lever of the drive mechanism is moved, the drive shaft rotates the feed roller, and the cleaning cloth is fed. By the action of the spring force, the pressing roller presses the cleaning cloth against the feed roller, and when the feed roller rotates, generates a frictional force between the cleaning cloth and the cleaning cloth and sends the cleaning cloth into the cleaning cloth storage chamber. Further, in order to transmit a sufficient feeding force to the cleaning cloth, an outer peripheral portion of the feeding roller is made of a rubber material. The cleaning cloth that has passed through the feed roller enters the cleaning cloth storage chamber. The cleaning cloth tape thus guided is folded and stored in the cleaning cloth storage chamber. The tape on the winding side of the cleaning cloth feed roller is guided so as to run at a position facing the nozzle surface of the ink jet head, and its tip further enters the cleaning cloth storage chamber through the cleaning cloth storage chamber outlet. It is connected to the tip of the folded cleaning cloth. A leaf spring is provided so that the cleaning cloth is sandwiched between the cleaning cloth and a roller provided near the exit of the cleaning cloth storage chamber, and tension is applied to the cleaning cloth in a portion facing the nozzle. The take-up roller is provided with a shaft at a position where the drive shaft enters and a position crossing the hole, and a groove at the tip of the drive shaft is combined to transmit rotation from the drive shaft to the feed roller. The control system of the inkjet printer moves the carriage and moves the nozzle to the wiping position. The control system of the inkjet printer rotates the camshaft, and the spring raises the cleaning cloth pressing portion to press the cleaning cloth against the nozzle surface, thereby cleaning the nozzle surface. When the pressed part rises, the lever of the feed roller drive mechanism rotates in the direction of returning the cleaning cloth by the action of the spring, but the one-way clutch provided on the drive mechanism and the braking mechanism provided on the drive shaft function to cut off the rotation Therefore, the feed roller does not rotate in the direction to return the cleaning cloth.

In the above description, the structure is such that the drive shaft is constantly pushed by the pressing part where the lever of the drive mechanism moves up and down to rotate the drive shaft. However, a mounting plate is provided so as to rotate around the drive shaft of the feed roller. The drive mechanism and its lever are arranged above. The lever is normally out of the operating range of the cleaning cloth pressing portion by the spring force, but when the control system of the ink jet printer moves the carriage to a predetermined position, the cam provided on the lower surface of the carriage rotates the mounting plate, By moving the lever within the working range of the pressing portion, the driving portion can be rotated by moving the pressing portion up and down by rotation of the camshaft. With this configuration of the drive mechanism, it is possible to solve the problem that the tape is wasted even if the cam shaft is rotated for a purpose other than the tape feeding. The angle used to generate the vertical movement of the pressing part is about 40% of one rotation of the camshaft. If more efficient feeding is required, the cleaning cloth pressing part is positioned at the most retracted position. It is also possible to stop the shaft, use the movement of the carriage to rotate the lever, and drive the feed roller.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a maintenance station according to the present invention. The cassette 14 for accommodating the tape-shaped cleaning cloth 1 is fixed to the innermost side and forms the working surface 13. The pulse motor 54 for driving the maintenance station is attached to the side plate 52. The rotation of the motor 54 is transmitted to the camshaft gear 58 via the intermediate gears 56 and 57 attached to the side plate 52. Reference numeral 59 denotes a switch that detects a hole provided in the camshaft gear 58 and determines the origin of the camshaft. In order to wipe the nozzle surface of the inkjet head, the cam can be rotated by a predetermined angle to raise the elastic body on the lower surface of the cleaning cloth, and press the working surface 13 against the nozzle surface. The caps 64 and 65 are lifted by a cam provided on the cam shaft and pressed against a nozzle plate stopped at an opposing position to operate a pump (not shown) to suck ink from the nozzles to recover print quality. Used for The seals 66 and 67 are also moved up and down by the cam provided on the cam shaft,
It is used in order to prevent the nozzles from drying even when the inkjet head is in a standby state for a long time by being pressed against the nozzle plate stopped at the opposed position. To prevent the inkjet head from interfering when the carriage moves,
The seals 66 and 67 are lowered when the caps 64 and 65 are raised, and are raised when the caps 64 and 65 are lowered. The ink receiver 68 is an ink receiver fixed to the side plate 52. Used to receive idle-discharged ink to recover print quality.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the maintenance station according to the embodiment of the present invention at a position indicated by an arrow AA in FIG. The side plate 50 is attached to the right side of the main body 37, and the side plate 52 is attached to the left side. Bearing 5 provided on side plate 50
The camshaft 38 is rotatably supported by the bearing 1 and the bearing 53 provided on the side plate 52. The shaft 60 is attached to a hole provided in the camshaft 38, and the gear 58 is attached and fixed with a retaining ring 61 so that the shaft 60 enters the groove of the camshaft gear 58. The shaft 62 is attached to the cam shaft 38, and the cam 39 is attached so that the shaft 62 enters the groove of the cam 39, and is fixed by the retaining ring 63.
A pressing portion 36 of the cleaning cloth is inserted into a guide hole of the main body 37, and a spring 40 acts so as to abut against the cam 39. An elastic body 46 is provided above the pressing portion 36, and the cleaning cloth 1 is pushed up in the direction of the nozzle plate. Cams 81 and 82 are mounted on camshaft 38 in the same manner as cam 39. A cap slide 69 is inserted into a guide hole of the main body 37, and a spring 80 acts so as to come into contact with the cams 81 and 82 from above.
When the cams 81 and 82 rotate, the radius of the cams decreases, and the caps 64 and 65 are retracted by the force of the spring 80. Cam 86,
87 is attached to the camshaft 38 in the same manner as the cam 39. The seal slide 84 is inserted into the guide hole of the main body 37, and comes into contact with the cams 86 and 87 from above.
Spring 85 is acting. When the cams 86 and 87 rotate, the radius of the cams increases, and the springs 85 are extended to seal 6
6, 67 advance in the nozzle direction. The cam 83 is used to release the inside of the caps 64 and 65 to the atmosphere.
An ink receiver 68 is attached to the side plate 52. Body 37
The positioning shafts 48 and 49 are provided on the lower surface of the. The positioning shafts 48 and 49 are used for mounting the relative positions of the mounting table 47 and the ink jet printer main body within a required error range. The cleaning cloth storage chamber 8 is provided in the cassette 14.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the maintenance station according to the present invention, taken along the line BB in FIG.
The cleaning cloth 1 advances in the direction of arrow 7 by the feed roller 2 via the working surface 13 and enters the cleaning cloth storage chamber 8. Lever 5 that rotates around axis 4
The cleaning cloth 1 is pressed against the feed roller 2 by the action of a spring 6 to generate a sufficient frictional force to move the cleaning cloth 1 when the feed roller 2 rotates. . The cleaning cloth 1 is folded and stored inside the cleaning cloth storage chamber 8. The other end of the cleaning cloth 1 enters the cleaning cloth storage chamber 8 via the roller 10 and is connected to the tip of the cleaning cloth 1 that is folded and stored. When the feed roller 2 rotates and the cleaning cloth 1 is fed, an arrow 9
And go to the roller 10 through the exit. A leaf spring 11 is provided so as to press the cleaning cloth 1 against the roller 10, and generates a frictional force when the cleaning cloth 1 passes to apply tension to the working surface 13.
The guide 12 constitutes the working surface of the cleaning cloth 1.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view at the position indicated by arrow CC in FIG. The shaft 25 is rotatably provided on the mounting plate 21 provided on the mounting base 47. The gear 27 attached to the shaft 25 is connected to the gear 30 via intermediate gears 28 and 29. The gear 30 is a one-way clutch 4
5, it is attached to the drive shaft 17. The one-way clutch 45 transmits a rotational force to the drive shaft 17 when the gear 30 rotates counterclockwise, but operates so as to idle when the gear 30 rotates clockwise. The gear 33 receives a clockwise moment by the spring 33. The gear 3 has a shaft 3
5 are provided and enter the elongated holes 34 of the mounting plate 21 and function as stoppers. The pressing portion 36 of the cleaning cloth actuated by the spring 40 and the cam 39 descends from the highest position shown by the solid line to the two-dot chain line 42 as the cam 39 rotates as shown by the two-dot chain line 41. The lever 26 in the operating range of the pressing portion 36 of the cleaning cloth is moved by a two-dot chain line 4 as the pressing portion 36 descends.
Rotate to position 3. The elastic body 46 stops against the nozzle surface via the cleaning cloth 1.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view at the position shown by the arrow DD in FIG. The shaft 25 is supported by a bearing 24 provided on the mounting plate 21. A lever 26 is attached to the shaft 25, and a gear 27 is attached to the other end of the shaft 25. The drive shaft 17 is supported by the bearing 23 of the mounting table 47 and the bearing 22 of the mounting plate 21. The gear 30 is attached to the drive shaft 17 via a one-way clutch 45. The disk 15 is attached to the drive shaft 17, and a leaf spring 19 applies a force from the side to brake the shaft 18 by a frictional force. The leaf spring 19 is attached to a mounting table 47 by a bracket 20. Shaft 1 provided on cassette 14
The feed roller 2 is attached to 6, and a shaft 15 is provided so as to cross the hole of the shaft 16. The groove at the tip of the drive shaft 17 is combined with the shaft 15 to transmit the rotational force to the feed roller 2.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The pressing portion 36 is guided by the hole of the main body 92 and rises by the spring force. The elastic body 46 at the upper end of the pressing portion 36 presses the cleaning cloth 1 against the nozzle surface 103. When the cam 39 rotates, the pressing portion 36 descends to the two-dot chain line 97. A plate 88 to which a feed mechanism having a lever 99 is attached is mounted so as to be rotatable around a drive shaft 89, and a spring 94 provided between a spring hook 93 provided on the main body 92 and a spring hook 91 of the plate 88. The moment in the clockwise direction is applied by the action, and the moment comes into contact with the stopper 95 provided on the mounting base 47 and stops. A cam mounted on the lower surface of the carriage pushes the plate 88 in the direction of arrow 96 to rotate the plate 88 to the position indicated by the solid line. The lever 99 is the shaft 2
5, and drives the gear 27. The gear 27 transmits driving force to the gear 30 via the intermediate gears 28 and 29. A spring 33 is mounted between the spring hook 31 provided on the plate 88 and the spring hook 32 of the gear 30. The shaft 35 provided on the gear 30 enters the groove 34 of the plate 88 and forms a stopper. When the cam 39 rotates, the pressing portion 36 moves to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line 97, and the lever 99 also moves to the two-dot chain line 100.
Rotate to the position. The gear 30 rotates counterclockwise,
The rotational motion is transmitted to the drive shaft 89 via the one-way clutch 45. As the cam 39 rotates further, the pressing portion 36 rises. The lever 99 pushed down to the two-dot chain line 100 is rotated to the position of the lever 99 by the restoring force of the spring 33, and the shaft 35 hits the end of the long hole 34 and stops.
The one-way clutch 45 functions to idle the gear 30, and the rotation is not transmitted to the drive shaft 89. The cleaning cloth cassette has the same structure as the cassette 14 shown in FIG. In this way, the cleaning cloth 1 has the arrow 10
It is sent in the direction of 1, 102. When the carriage is moved after the cleaning cloth 1 has been fed, the support in the direction of arrow 96 is lost, so that the plate 88 rotates again to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line 90 and the lever 99 moves to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line 98. . Thus, even if the camshaft rotates for a purpose other than feeding the cleaning cloth 1, the cleaning cloth 1
Can be prevented from being sent. In this structure, the cam 39 is rotated so that the pressing portion 36 stops at the position indicated by the two-dot chain line 97, the cam shaft is stopped, and the carriage is moved. By rotating the cleaning cloth 1 to the position of 100, the cleaning cloth 1 can be moved. According to this method, the cleaning cloth can be sent more efficiently than using the cam shaft by using the movement of the carriage.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the ink attached to the nozzles of the ink jet head is wiped off with a cleaning cloth. As a result, compared to conventional wipers,
More reliable ink removal has become possible. In addition, a tape-shaped cleaning cloth is attached to the cassette in an annular shape, and a feed roller is rotated by rotation of a cam shaft of the maintenance station, and is fed into the cleaning cloth storage chamber provided in the cassette through the front of the nozzle of the printer. The cleaning cloth is folded and stored in the cleaning cloth storage chamber, and is sequentially sent from the outlet to the wiping position. As a result, the problem that the winding diameter changes near the beginning and end of winding, which is caused by winding on a reel, and the feed amount changes, is solved. Further, the cleaning cloth used once can be used repeatedly. The cleaning cloth feed mechanism can be rotated about the drive shaft, and the drive mechanism can be selectively operated by the cam of the carriage so that the cleaning cloth can be fed only when necessary. By this mechanism, useless feeding of the cleaning cloth can be avoided. Further, by using the same structure to feed the cleaning cloth using the movement of the carriage, the cleaning cloth can be sent more efficiently than using a cam shaft.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a maintenance station according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a maintenance station according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a maintenance station according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a maintenance station according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a cleaning cloth cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a cleaning cloth cassette according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 cleaning cloth 2 feed roller 3 pressing roller 8 cleaning cloth storage chamber 17 drive shaft

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. An on-demand type ink jet printer, comprising a cleaning cloth for removing ink on a nozzle surface after nozzle suction and a feed mechanism therefor. 2. The ink-jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning cloth is annular by connecting both ends of a tape having a finite length. 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein the width of the cleaning cloth is 12 mm and at least a length that can be stored in the cleaning cloth storage chamber. 4. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning cloth and its feeding mechanism are provided with a cleaning cloth feed roller and a cleaning cloth storage chamber. 5. The cleaning cloth storage chamber according to claim 4, wherein a part of the cassette frame forms a bearing between the cleaning cloth storage chamber and a feed roller, and the cleaning cloth travels at a position facing the nozzle surface. An ink jet printer characterized by providing a guide. 6. The ink jet printer according to claim 4, wherein the cleaning cloth storage chamber has a pressing portion for pressing the cleaning cloth against the nozzle surface. 7. A pressing portion for pressing a cleaning cloth against a nozzle surface according to claim 6, wherein the pressing force is generated by a deformed spring, and the pressing portion is returned by raising the cam surface. Characteristic inkjet printer. 8. The ink jet printer according to claim 4, wherein the feed roller of the cleaning cloth has a convex portion or a concave portion for receiving rotation from a driving portion. 9. The ink jet printer according to claim 4, wherein the feed roller of the cleaning cloth has a hole at one end and a shaft at a position crossing the hole. 10. The cleaning cloth according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning cloth and the feed mechanism are provided with a drive shaft for transmitting rotation to the feed roller, a conversion unit for converting a relative movement between a contacting member and the contact member into a rotary movement, and a rotation unit. An ink jet printer comprising: a driving mechanism including a one-way clutch that converts the rotation into a directional rotation. 11. The drive shaft according to claim 10, wherein the drive shaft has a convex portion or a concave portion at one end for transmitting rotation in combination with the concave portion or the convex portion of the feed roller, and the drive shaft feeds when the one-way clutch reversely rotates. An ink jet printer comprising a braking means for preventing a roller from rotating in a reverse direction. 12. The ink jet printer according to claim 10, wherein the relative movement is a return movement of a portion where the cleaning cloth is pressed against the lever of the driving mechanism. 13. The ink jet printer according to claim 10, wherein the relative movement is a displacement of a drive mechanism having a lever abutting on the stationary portion. 14. The drive mechanism according to claim 10, wherein the relative movement is driven by the carriage in accordance with the movement of the carriage, the lever of the drive mechanism moves within the range of movement of the pressing portion, and the movement generated by the rotation of the cam shaft. An ink jet printer, wherein the lever generates a rotational force to rotate the drive shaft.