JPS59190858A - inkjet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention Technical Field The present invention relates to an inkjet printer, and more particularly, it relates to an inkjet printer that has a recovery mechanism for ink clogging and non-ejection, in which the recovery mechanism is simplified and automated. be.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, various types of printers have been developed as output terminal devices for information processing equipment, such as wire dot matrix printers, type wheel type printers, thermal dot printers, and inkjet printers.

Among them, inkjet printers have been attracting a lot of attention in recent years because they can print on plain paper, can print at high speed, and have very little noise.

Furthermore, the so-called on-demand printer, which prints by scattering ink droplets only during printing, has a simple structure and is therefore suitable for lower prices.

However, inkjet printers have the disadvantage that ink may not be ejected due to clogging of the head, especially if the printer is not used for a long period of time.

To this end, equipment has been developed that is equipped with a pump or recovery system that forcibly sucks ink from the tip of the head and removes clogging when a non-ejection phenomenon occurs.

However, conventional recovery systems have the drawback of being complex and leading to increased costs.

The present invention has been developed to improve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and allows recovery work to be performed using a simple mechanism in which the recording head (ink ejection head) is rotated and pushed against the recovery system. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an inkjet printer configured as follows.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on examples shown in the drawings.

Figures 1 to 3 illustrate one embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a carriage, which performs printing while moving on a guide rail 3 along a platen 2.

The gear ridge 1'' is provided with a rotary table 4, and this rotary table 4 has a head 5 equipped with an inkjet nozzle.
is installed.

(3) The reference numeral 6 is a suction pump, and a coupling portion 6a with the head 5 is provided at the tip thereof.

This suction pump 6 is provided on the hole 11 position side of the carriage 1, and a detection switch 7 of the carriage 1 is provided alongside the suction pump 6.

This detection switch 7 detects the maximum movement position of the carriage 1 when recovering from a non-ejection state, and as will be described later, the position between the coupling part 6a of the head 5 and the suction pump 6 during the recovery operation of the inkjet nozzle is On the other hand, FIG. 2 explains a recovery switch provided on the keyboard side, and a recovery switch 9 is provided in a part of the keyboard 8. ing. This recovery switch 9 is a switch that causes the carriage 1 to move to the recovery operation position and the rotary table 4 to rotate.

On the other hand, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control circuit, and the control circuit 11
constantly monitors the recovery switch 9, the home position (4) output switch 10, and the detection switch 7, and when it detects that the recovery switch 9 has been turned on, it rotates the motor 13 via the motor and drive circuit 12. , moves the carriage 1 toward the home position.

At this time, when the home position detection switch 10 is turned on, the carriage 1 continues to move, and when the home position detection switch 10 is turned on, the carriage 1 moves further by a predetermined step amount. After confirming that the detection switch number is off, the carriage is stopped for a predetermined time using a timer (not shown) built into the control circuit 11, and a recovery operation is performed.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as above will be explained.

The occurrence of the non-ejection phenomenon of the head 5 is confirmed by the operator.

Of course, a configuration may be adopted in which the control circuit 11 side automatically detects the non-ejection phenomenon and notifies the operator of this phenomenon.

When the non-ejection state of the head is confirmed, the operator presses the recovery switch 9.

Then, the control circuit operates as shown in FIG.

That is, when the recovery button 9 is pressed in step S1, the process advances to step S2 and the printing operation is interrupted.

Then, the process advances to step S3, where a carriage return is performed. Then, proceeding to step S4, the carriage 1
It is determined whether or not is at the home position.

If it is determined that the head 4 is at the home position, the head 4 is rotated in step S5. When the rotation of the head is completed, the carriage 1 is moved to the position of the suction pump 6 in step S6. Then, the coupling portion 6a of the suction pump 6 and the head 5 are coupled. Then, in step S7, the suction time by the suction pump 6 is ensured until a predetermined suction time elapses, and the carriage 1 maintains the stopped state.

Suction by the suction pump 6 for a predetermined time, that is, the head 5
After the recovery operation for the non-ejection state is performed, step S
At 8, the carriage 1 returns to the home position in a short distance.

After returning to the home position, the rotary table 4 is rotated in step S9, and the head 5 returns to its original position. Then, the carriage 1 is moved to the position where printing was interrupted, and printing is resumed in step S10.

In this way, the recovery operation of the head equipped with inkjet nozzles is performed.

Since the present embodiment is configured as described above, it is possible to reliably recover from a non-discharge phenomenon at the recovery work position by rotating the head without having a complicated structure as in the past. It is possible to reduce costs.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the recovery operation is performed during printing, but if the recovery operation is performed during printing, if the recovery operation is not performed for a long time, the recovery (7) switch can be pressed before the start of use to restore the non-ejection state. It may be possible to recover the .

In fact, you can always repeat the recovery operation immediately after turning on the power.

Effects As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, a rotary table equipped with an inkjet nozzle is provided on the carriage,
Since a structure is adopted in which the head can be rotated to a position where it can be connected to the suction pump when recovering from a non-discharging state, it is possible to recover from a non-discharging state with an extremely simple structure.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures are for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 1 is a plan view of the main parts, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the keyboard section, Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the sterilization circuit, and Fig. 4 is a control diagram. It is a flowchart figure explaining operation. 1... Carriage 4... Turntable 5... Head
6 ・Suction pump 6a...Connection part
7 ・Detection switch (8゛・9...Recovery switch. Patent applicant Can Co., Ltd. Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A head equipped with an inkjet nozzle is rotatably mounted on a carriage, a suction pump for recovering from ink failure is provided near the home position, and the head and pump can be connected during the recovery operation. An inkjet printer characterized by: (2) The inkjet printer according to claim 1, further comprising a carriage position detection means provided near the home position of the carriage in parallel with the suction pump.