KR20000046019A - Apparatus for cleaning ink jet printer head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus for cleaning an ink jet printer head is provided to adopt a step motor having a smaller driving force by generating a negative pressure by using a cylinder having a larger volume, thereby improving the head cleaning efficiency while preventing abrasion of parts. CONSTITUTION: An apparatus for cleaning an ink jet printer head includes a driving element(10) for generating power supply according to an electrical signal, a power transmission element(20) for reducing the power generated from the driving element, a pumping element(30) for generating negative suction pressure by reciprocating movement in a selective engagement with gears by the driving force transmitted by the power transmission element, and an ink suction element(40) for forcibly inhaling an ink blocking an ink discharge hole of the head by the negative pressure generated by the pumping element and supplied to an ink cap in a close contact between the head of a head carrier and the ink cap of a slider, wherein the driving element is to be a step motor(11) which rotates in both directions, and the power transmission element includes a plurality of gears(21) having different gear ratios

Description

Cleaning device for inkjet print head

The present invention relates to a head cleaning device for preventing clogging of a nozzle, which is an ink ejection hole of a head, in an inkjet printer. More particularly, the ink is sucked using a cylinder having the best suction efficiency, thereby improving the cleaning efficiency of the head. To a cleaning device for an inkjet print head.

In general, an inkjet printer is a device that prints by discharging ink in the form of droplets.

At this time, the nozzle of the head for discharging ink does not print for a long time, or if it comes into contact with outside air for a long time, the end is hardened, causing the nozzle clogging phenomenon that ink is not discharged when the head is driven.

In order to prevent the nozzles from being clogged and not printed properly, the head cleaning device is provided so that the printer itself can be solved recently.

The head cleaning apparatus is usually provided with a head carriage bottom at a position where the head carriage is transferred from one side of the printer, and the configuration thereof is as shown in FIG.

As a driving means, a step motor 100 that can normally be rotated in reverse direction is used, and the power from the step motor 100 is decelerated through a plurality of gears 200 engaged with each other, and the driving force transmitted in this way is the first pump. And is delivered to the pumping unit 300 consisting of a second pump.

As shown in FIG. 7, the pumping part 300 includes a case 310 covering the outside and a first pump 320 and a second pump 330 provided to correspond to each other on both sides of the case 310. Each pump is composed of a drum 321, 331 and a pair of rotating rollers 322, 332 formed to correspond to each other.

8A and 8B illustrate the first pump 320 and the second pump 330, and long holes 323 and 333 are formed at one side of the drums 321 and 331 of each pump, respectively. 323 and 333 are provided with a pair of rotating rollers 322 and 332 to be movable in directions opposite to each other.

In addition, along the inner circumferential surface of the case 310, the respective tubes 324 and 334 for introducing mono ink or color ink to the outside of the rotary rollers 322 and 332 are wound.

On the other hand, Figure 9 shows the ink suction unit 400 is in close contact with the head carriage and first sucks ink from each head of the carriage.

The ink suction unit 400 is largely formed as a slider 410 and a guide 420 for guiding the slider 410 horizontally or vertically. The slider 410 has an ink cap for sucking mono ink and color ink, respectively. 411 is provided.

Each ink cap 411 is connected to the first pump 320 and the second pump 330 of the pumping unit 300 through the tubes 324 and 334, respectively.

As described above, the head cleaning apparatus may be moved from the printing area to the upper portion of the ink suction part 400 after the head carriage 500 equipped with the mono and color heads 510 is finished, as shown in FIG. 10A. When the stopper 412 protruding upward of one end of the slider 410 is caught by the head carriage 500, the slider 410 is moved to one side.

At this time, the slider 410 ascends along the guide hole 421 formed in the guide 420, and the mono and color ink caps 411 of the slider 410 are respectively provided as shown in FIG. 10B of the head carriage 500. It is in close contact with the mono and color heads 510, respectively.

In this state, when the electric operation signal is given, the step motor 100 starts to drive and transmits power to the pumping unit 300 through the plurality of reduction gears 200.

In the pumping unit 300, the drums 321 and 331 on both sides are simultaneously rotated in the same direction, and at this time, a pair of rotary rollers supported by the long holes 322 in the drum 321 of the first pump 320 ( Since the 323 moves outward along the long hole 322 and rotates together with the drum 321 while pressing the tube 324 supported by the case 310, a negative pressure is formed in the tube 324.

At this time, the second pump 330 corresponding to the other side is also rotated at the same time, but the pair of rotary rollers 333 provided in the drum 331 has a long hole 332 is formed in the opposite direction, so the inside of the drum 321 In this case, the tube 334 supported by the case 310 is kept as it is, and only continues to idle in a state that does not affect the tube 334.

If the step motor 100 is to rotate in reverse, the first pump 320 is idling as in the second pump 330 as opposed to the case described above, the negative pressure by the second pump 330 Will form.

As such, when a negative pressure is generated on one side of the tube, it is delivered to the ink cap 411 of the slider 410 connected to the tube to suck ink from the head that is already in close contact, thereby drilling the ink discharge port of the head 510. Will be given.

However, in the above-described head cleaning apparatus, the pumping unit 300 has a very complicated structure, and each of the tubes 324 and 334 is urged by a pair of rotary rollers 323 and 333 to allow the tubes 324 and 334 to be used. The pressure inside the tank is reduced to form a negative pressure, so the suction efficiency is very weak.

In addition, although the rotary rollers 322 and 332 rotate with their own rotational force, the rollers 322 and 334 are in continuous contact with the tubes 324 and 334, so that the durability of the tubes is reduced by friction with the tubes.

Accordingly, the present invention is to solve the above problems, the present invention generates a suction negative pressure by using a cylinder with a large suction volume, thereby increasing the ink suction force to improve the cleaning efficiency of the head of the ink jet printer head cleaning device The main purpose is to provide.

In addition, the present invention has another object to improve the durability and reliability of the performance by removing the friction between parts during the negative pressure occurs.

1 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of an inkjet printer head cleaning apparatus according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side view schematically showing an embodiment of the pumping means according to the invention,

3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of main parts of the pumping means according to the present invention;

4 is a front sectional view of the ink suction means according to the present invention;

5 is an operating state of the pumping means according to the invention,

6 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of a conventional inkjet printer head cleaning apparatus;

7 is a detailed cross-sectional view of the conventional pumping unit,

Figure 8a, 8b is a side cross-sectional view showing the operating state of the conventional pumping unit,

9 is a perspective view of a conventional ink suction unit,

10A and 10B are operation state diagrams of a conventional ink suction unit.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawing>

10: drive means 11: step motor

20: power transmission means 22: driven gear

30: pumping means 31: friction gear

32: drum gear 33: cylinder

40: ink suction means

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a drive means for generating power by an electrical signal;

Power transmission means for decelerating power from the drive means;

Pumping means selectively geared by a driving force transmitted from the power transmission means to generate underpressure by reciprocating movement of the piston;

It is characterized in that it is provided with an ink suction means for sucking the ink from the ink discharge port of the head clogged by the negative pressure supplied by the pumping means and supplied to the ink cap while in close contact between the head and the ink cap by the transfer of the head carrier.

Hereinafter, described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention.

1 is a plan view schematically showing the overall configuration of a head cleaning apparatus according to the present invention, the present invention is largely as a drive means 10, a power transmission means 20, a pumping means 30 and an ink suction means 40 It is a configuration made.

The driving means 10 consists of a step motor 11 which generates a driving force while rotating by an electrical signal, and the step motor 11 uses a bidirectional drive motor capable of forward and reverse rotation.

The power transmission means 20 is a structure that transmits power by connecting a plurality of gears 21 having different gear ratios as before, and transmits by decelerating a driving force in the driving means 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pumping means 30 is configured as a cylinder 33 which is connected to the friction gear 31, the drum gears 32 on both sides, and the drum gears 32, respectively, to perform a pumping action. The friction gear 31 is engaged with the small gear 22a formed in the driven gear 22 of the power transmission means 20 and connected to the link between the central shafts 22b so as to move in the rotational direction when the driven gear 22 rotates. Being an idling gear.

The drum gear 32 is a gear which is provided on both sides of the friction gear 31 so as to interlock with the friction gear 31 that the driven gear 22 moves in the rotational direction during rotation.

As shown in FIG. 3, a portion of the inner surface of the drum gear 32 forms a helical guide surface 32a, and a guide hole 32c is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the shaft 32b in a direction corresponding to the guide surface 32a. have.

The cylinder 33 is composed of a cylinder body 33a and a piston 33b. An induction path 33c is formed at an inner end of the piston 33b, and the induction path 33c is formed by a non-return valve 33c. Allow it to open and close.

The protruding end of the piston 33b is eccentrically supported by the drum gear 32, and the pin 33d inserted into the guide hole 32c of the shaft 32b protrudes to one side on the outer circumferential surface of the protruding end, and the cross section is helically shaped. It comes in close contact with the guide surface 32a.

On the other hand, the ink suction means 40 is made as large as the slider 41 and the guide 42 as in the past, as shown in Figure 4, the slider 41 is mono and color ink cap 41a in close contact with the head of the head carriage ), A stopper 41b protrudes integrally at one end thereof, and a spring 41c for supporting the ink cap 41a with a constant elasticity is embedded at the bottom of the ink cap 41a.

Looking at the ink suction effect by the cleaning device of the above configuration as follows.

During printing, if the print status is not good or you do not print for a long time, you want to print the head for normal printing.

Therefore, when an electrical signal is sent by a button or a switch operation, the head carriage first moves from the printing position to the upper portion of the ink suction means 40. At this time, the stopper 41b of the slider 41 is caught by the head carriage. The slider 41 is moved at the same time.

When the slider 41 is moved in this way, the slider 41 is guided along the guide hole of the guide 42, which is a fixed member, and rises at the same time as the horizontal movement. As a result, the mono and color ink caps 52a of the slider 41 are raised. The head of the head carriage is in close contact with each other.

At this time, when the switch is operated by selecting a mode to be cleaned, the step motor of the driving means 10 starts to rotate in one direction.

The driving force generated by the driving means 10 is transmitted to the pumping means 30 via a power transmission means 20 in which a plurality of gears are coupled. At this time, the driven gear 22 of the power transmission means 20 has a small gear ( 22a is formed integrally, and the friction gear 31 of the pumping means 30 is meshed with the small gear 22a, and the shaft of the friction gear 31 is connected by the link 22b. The friction gear 31 rotates in the rotational direction of the gear 22.

That is, when the driven gear 22 rotates clockwise as shown in FIG. 2, the friction gear 31 also rotates clockwise while the friction gear 31 and the color ink suction drum gear 32 mesh with each other to transmit power. On the contrary, when the driven gear 22 rotates counterclockwise, the friction gear 31 also rotates counterclockwise while the friction gear 31 meshes with the mono ink suction drum gear 31 to transmit power. do.

Therefore, when a driving force is transmitted to the drum gear 32 in the rotational direction of the driven gear 22, the cylinder 33 connected to the drum gear 32 starts to drive.

As shown in FIG. 5, an end portion of the piston 33b drawn from the cylinder 33 is connected to the drum gear 32 between the drum gear 32 and the cylinder 33 provided to be fixed to each other on both sides thereof, so that the piston 33b is connected to the drum gear 32. ) Only to make a linear movement.

In other words, a helical guide surface 32a is formed in a part of the inner surface of the drum gear 32, and a guide hole 32c is formed in the shaft 32b, so that the end face of the piston 33b and the end of the piston 33b are formed. As the pins 33d protruding from the outer peripheral surface are guided respectively, the piston 33b is pushed and pulled by the rotation of the drum gear 32.

Therefore, the end of the piston 33b is in close contact with the guide surface 32a until the drum gear 32 is rotated by an angle, and is advanced along the guide surface 32a. The pin 33d protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the end portion 33b is inserted into the guide hole 32c and at the same time the piston gear 32 reverses the piston 33b along the helical guide hole 32c when the drum gear 32 rotates. 32b) reciprocates back and forth in the cylinder main body 33a by rotation of the drum gear 32. FIG.

During the reciprocating movement of the piston 33b, in particular, when the piston 33b moves backward, the non-return valve 33e having one side fixed to the insertion end of the piston 33b is opened and the pressure at the inlet side is discharged to the outlet side. When the non-return valve 33e is closed, a large negative pressure is generated at the inlet side so that the pressure in the tube 34 between the pumping means 30 and the ink suction means 40 is reduced.

When the pressure in the tube 34 of the ink suction means 40 is forcibly reduced by the piston 33b, the negative pressure generated at this time is transmitted to the mono and the ink cap 41a of the ink suction means 40, and from each head. The ink is forced to be sucked into the cylinder 33.

The ink sucked into the cylinder body 33a is discharged to the outlet through the non-return valve 33e, which is opened when the piston 33b is retracted, and pumps by repeating operations of sucking and retracting the ink while moving forward. Will be.

On the other hand, such a pumping action sucks the mono ink or the color ink by the drum gear 32 in which the friction gear 31 gears in accordance with the direction in which the step motor 11 in the driving means 10 rotates. Since the driving method in each cylinder is the same.

Therefore, in the present invention, since the suction negative pressure of the ink is formed by the cylinder 33 having a relatively large volume, the volume of the generated negative pressure becomes larger than when the negative pressure is formed by pressurizing a tube having a small volume as in the past. At 40, the suction force for sucking ink from each head also becomes very powerful.

This increases the head cleaning efficiency by allowing the plugged outlet of the head to be drilled more quickly and powerfully, while eliminating the parts that cause severe friction such as pressurization of the tube by conventional rotating rollers. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of various problems such as.

Therefore, according to the present invention, by forming a negative pressure using a relatively large volume of cylinders, it is possible to use a step motor having a lower driving force than the driving means, and to prevent wear of parts and to reduce manufacturing and maintenance costs. do.

In addition, it is possible to obtain a more powerful negative pressure when pumping through the cylinder to improve the cleaning efficiency of the head, thereby increasing the reliability of the performance significantly.

Claims (7)

Drive means for generating power by an electrical signal; Power transmission means for decelerating power from the drive means; Pumping means selectively geared by a driving force transmitted from the power transmission means to generate underpressure by reciprocating movement of the piston; Forced suction of ink from the ink discharge port of the head which is blocked by the negative pressure generated by the pumping means and supplied to the ink cap while keeping the head carrier head and the ink cap of the slider close to each other by the transfer of the head carrier. Ink suction means; Cleaning apparatus of the ink-jet printer head provided by. The method of claim 1, wherein the driving means Cleaning device for an inkjet print head, which is a bi-directional stepper motor capable of reverse rotation. The method of claim 1, wherein the power transmission means And a plurality of gears having different gear ratios to reduce and transfer the driving force from the driving means. The method of claim 1, wherein the pumping means A friction gear connected to an interaxial link while being geared to a small gear integrally formed with a driven gear of the power transmission means; Drum gears on both sides which are provided on both sides of the friction gear, respectively, and rotate in engagement with the friction gear that rotates simultaneously with the movement in the rotational direction of the driven gear; And an eccentrically connected piston to the drum gear to cause the piston to reciprocate back and forth from the cylinder body by rotating the drum gear, thereby generating a negative pressure. The drum gear of claim 4, wherein the drum gear A spiral guide surface is formed on a portion of the inner surface, and a helical guide hole is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the shaft in a direction corresponding to that of the guide surface. And a piston protruding from the outer circumferential surface of the end portion of the piston at the projected end face of the guide surface to insert the pin into the guide hole and to reverse the piston along the helical guide hole. The method of claim 4, wherein the piston of the cylinder And an induction path formed at an inner end inserted into the cylinder body, and at the end of the induction path, a backflow preventing valve is provided to be opened and closed. The ink suction device of claim 1, wherein the ink suction means A slider having mono and color ink caps in close contact with the head of the head carriage, having a stopper protruding integrally at one end thereof, and a spring having a spring for supporting the ink cap with a constant elasticity at the bottom of the ink cap; A guide for returning and simultaneously lifting and lowering the slider during horizontal movement; The cleaning apparatus of the inkjet printer head provided with.