JPS62135372A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a recording ink from being dried and prevent an ink- ejecting port from being clogged, by preheating or heating a recording paper before, during and after ink jet recording, and sealing the ink-ejecting port when a stand-by condition in which ink jet recording is not conducted is continued for at least a predetermined period of time or in a stopped condition. CONSTITUTION:A recording paper 3 is preheated or heating to 100-130 deg.C before, during and after ink jet recording by heat generating elements 2 provided at the surface of a platen 1, whereby a recording ink constituting an ink jet recorded image is rapidly dried. When it is detected by a controlling circuit 13 that a stand-by condition in which ink jet recording is not conducted is continued for at least a predetermined period of time, the circuit 13 operates a carriage motor 11 to move a recording head 5 to the side of a motor 9 so that an ink-ejecting port is opposed to a cap 12. Further, the cap 12 is operated by a solenoid 16 to seal the ink-ejecting port. Accordingly, clogging of the ink-ejecting port or defective ejection can be prevented from occurring due to drying of the ink under heating.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus having a means for heating and drying recording ink.

[Prior Art] A typical example of an inkjet recording apparatus having means for heating and drying recording ink is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-60464.

55-84670, and is an extremely effective means for preventing unnecessary bleeding and paper wrinkles caused by recording ink and staining caused by unfixed ink.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the ink drying means may have an adverse effect on clogging of the ink ejection ports of the print head and ejection failure, which is the biggest drawback in conventional Infusiera I recording. .

For example, when the platen is heated by a heating element to preheat and heat the recording paper from the back side to promote drying of the recording ink as in the conventional example, when the recording head is in a standby state where inkjet recording is not being performed, If the ink discharge port stops in front of the platen, the ink discharge port remains facing the heated platen, and the recording ink at the ink discharge port becomes dry or semi-dry, causing clogging or defective discharge. Further, when the heating temperature of the platen portion reaches a high temperature of 100° C. or higher, similar problems are likely to occur even if the ink ejection ports are not opposed to the platen.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention solves these problems, and when a standby state in which inkjet recording is not performed continues for a certain period of time or a stopped state, the ink ejection openings of the recording head are closed with a cap or the like. It is sealed to prevent it from drying out.

[Function] According to the present invention, the ink ejection port is prevented from drying by being sealed with a cap or the like in the standby state or in the stopped state, so that drying due to the thermal influence of the heating drying means for the recording ink can be prevented. This can prevent clogging and ejection failure.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a schematic overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

The recording head 5 moves in the direction of arrow I while being guided by a carriage guide 6, and performs inkjet recording on the recording paper 3 which is fed by intermittent line feeds in synchronization with the recording head 5 by the platen 1 and guide rollers 4. The recording head 5 is provided with a plurality of ink discharge ports (not shown), and a dot image is formed on the recording paper 3 by ink discharge means such as piezoelectric element control, electric field control, and charge control. The recording head 5 of this example has nine ink ejection ports in a vertical row with a pitch of 0.635 mm, and ejects ink droplets with a diameter of about 120 um. The ink material used is an aqueous ink whose main components are 10 to 20% glycerin and 1 to 2% dye dissolved in water.

Recording paper 3, which is general-purpose recording paper such as commercially available high-quality paper, is placed on platen 1.
A heating element 2 consisting of a 100V, 80W heating resistor on the surface of the
It is preheated and heated to 00 to 130°C to rapidly dry the recording ink recorded by inkjet recording to prevent unnecessary bleeding, paper wrinkles, and stains due to unfixed ink, and to obtain a good printing condition.

The control circuit 13 shown in FIG. 2 indicates that the standby state in which inkjet recording was not performed for a certain period of time continued in FIG.
When the carriage motor 11 is detected, the control circuit 13
is activated, the recording head 5 is moved toward the paper feed motor 9 side, and the ink discharge port is opposed to the cap 12. moreover,
The cap 12 is connected to the solenoid 16 as shown in FIG.
(not shown in FIG. 1) is operated to seal the ink discharge port.

While the standby state continues, this sealed state is continued to protect the ink ejection ports from drying due to the influence of the heating and drying means for the recording ink. The length of the certain time varies depending on the platen heating temperature, platen gap, recording ink material, etc., and is approximately 0 sec to 60 sec. On the other hand, when inkjet recording is finished and stopped, the ink ejection ports are sealed as described above. The stopping action similarly protects the ink ejection ports from drying due to the residual heat of the recording ink heating and drying means. Further, even if the main power source 14 is turned off for some reason, the auxiliary power source 15 performs the sealing operation.

Although this example is a monochrome inkjet recording device, it is obvious that the present invention can also be applied to a color inkjet recording device.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention, the ink ejection ports are sealed in the standby state or the stopped state, so that the ink ejection ports are sealed due to the thermal influence of the recording ink heating and drying means. can prevent clogging and poor ejection.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the main circuit configuration of the present invention. 3a and 3b are partial side views of FIG. 1 showing the operating state of the cap portion of the present invention. 4...Guide roller 6...Carriage guide 8...Paper feed gear and above''

Claims (1)

[Claims] It has a function that accelerates the drying of recording ink by preheating and heating the recording paper before and after inkjet recording, and when the standby state without inkjet recording continues for a certain period of time or when the recording head is stopped, the ink in the recording head is An inkjet recording device characterized in that an ejection port is sealed with a cap or the like to prevent drying.