JPS60206650A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to simplify an ink recirculation system, by driving a pump by the drive member of a carriage when a head came to the outside of the opposed region with recording paper and providing a gutter in opposed relation to this position. CONSTITUTION:The ink in a sub-tank 9 is detected by a detector and, when said tank 9 is not filled, a carriage is moved to the left and a pump 3 is pressed by a press rod 4 to supply the ink in a tank 1 to the sub-tank 9 through a check valve set 2 and said carriage 10 waits a printing order at a stand-by position. When there is no printing order for a certain time, a cap 8 is closed in order to prevent the drying of a nozzle and, when the printing order comes, printing is started at a printing region. When the preliminarily calculated number of lines are printed, the carriage 10 returns to the stand-by position to perform ink supply operation. The similar operation is performed even in purging but the moving speed of the carriage is accelerated to absorb the ink emitted from the nozzle by an ink gutter 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device, and more specifically, the present invention relates to an inkjet recording device, and more specifically, ink supply and discharge from a recording head, and purging of ink from the recording head to remove harmful substances such as air bubbles and dust. Concerning circulation mechanism.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, in a recording apparatus using an ink ribbon, the carriage is used to feed the ink ribbon, so that the reciprocating motion of the carriage is also used as power for another mechanism. This simplified the power system for ribbon feeding.

In conventional inkjet recording devices, the ink circulation mechanism is driven by a motor or plunger that is independent from other mechanisms.

For this reason, when the carriage carrying the head is facing the recording paper, a malfunction may occur that causes ink to be supplied from the tank to the recording head, or ink to be discharged, resulting in the inconvenience of staining the recording paper. Ta.

Purpose of the present invention An object of the present invention is to simplify the p-ink circulation system by directly or indirectly driving the p-ink circulation system with a carriage.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus in which an ink circulation mechanism driven by a pump does not malfunction, operates only when necessary, and does not stain recording paper.

<Example> The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention is equipped with an inkjet head 5 and has a carriage 10 that moves back and forth across the recording paper relative to the recording paper. Carriage 1
A driving member for a diaphragm type pump 3 is arranged on the pump 0. The pump 3 is disposed between a tank 1 for storing ink and the head 5, and is activated when the head 5 comes out of the area facing the recording paper. The apparatus has an ink gutter 6, which faces the head 5 when the pump driving member drives the pump 8. The inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention has such an ink circulation mechanism.

The operation of the apparatus of the present invention will be explained below.

The ink circulation mechanism of the inkjet recording device of the present invention includes:
Head 5. Carriage 10 integrated with sub tank 9
A reciprocating pump push rod 4 that is mounted on the tank pushes the pump 8, which supplies ink from the tank 1 to the sub-tank 9 and performs purging. These operations are not performed until the head 5 comes in front of the ink gutter 6 away from the printing area. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the power is off or a state in which printing commands are being circulated. At this time, the head 5 is in the standby position, and a cap 8 is attached to protect the nozzle end face. In this position, the pump push rod 4 is connected to the pump 3.
is not pressed. FIG. 2 is a state diagram in which the pump push rod 4 is pushing the pump 8.

This shows ink supply and purging operations.

A check valve set 2 is connected to the pump 8, and as shown in FIG. Ink is replenished within 8 minutes.

At the time of printing, the head 5 is completely outside the printing area in the ink gutter 6.
Since it is placed in front of the printer, there is no chance of accidentally staining the printing paper or Planar 7. The operation will be explained in detail while referring to the flowchart in FIG. When you turn on the power, first open the cap 8. Next, a detector attached to the sub-tank 9 detects whether the sub-tank 9 is full of ink. If it is not full, move the carriage to the left and push the pump 3 with the pump push rod 4 to supply ink to the sub-tank 9, and stop the supply when it is detected that the ink is full. When the sub-tank 9 is full, it waits for a printing command at the standby position, and if no printing command is received for a certain period of time, the cap 8 is closed to prevent the nozzle from drying out and it waits for a printing command. When a printing command is received, the cap 8 is opened and printing begins. After printing the number of lines calculated in advance from the amount of ink consumed per line, the printer returns to the standby position to supply ink and executes the routine from the first routine. In the case of purging, the pump 3 is similarly pushed with the pump push rod 4. What differs from the supply operation here is the moving speed of the carriage 10. When the speed at which the pump push rod 4 pushes the pump 3 is increased, the pressure in the sub-tank 9 increases and ink is blown out from the nozzle. The above operation is absorbed by the ink gutter 6.

Although the sub-tank 9 is arranged on the carriage 10 in the above embodiment, a structure may be adopted in which the sub-tank 9 is not provided and the reservoir in the head communicates with the tank 1.

In this embodiment, a diaphragm type pump is shown as the pump, but other types such as bellows, piston and cylinder types are also conceivable. Furthermore, by interposing a cam between the carriage and the pump, it is possible to drive not only a reciprocating pump but also a rotary pump such as a tube pump, or a pump that makes complex movements.

Effect> As described above, the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention has the following effects by driving the pump of the ink circulation mechanism with the carriage.
Not only does it eliminate the need for a power source and power transmission system to drive the pump of the ink circulation mechanism, but it also eliminates the need to detect the position of the head and time the drive of the ink circulation mechanism. There is no need to worry about contaminating the recording device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the ink circulation mechanism of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention, and shows a standby state. FIG. 2 is the same schematic diagram as FIG. 1, and shows the state in which the pump is being driven. FIG. 8 shows a flowchart for operating the ink circulation mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention. Applicant Epson Corporation Figure 1 Wait Figure 2 Sui + Off Time

Claims (1)

[Claims] A carriage carrying an inkjet head and reciprocating across the recording paper, a pump drive unit disposed on the carriage, a tank for storing ink, and a carriage disposed in the head position so that the head faces the recording paper. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a pump that operates when the head comes out of the area; and a gutter that faces the head when the pump driving member drives the pump.