KR20060081032A - Printhead cleaning method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus and a cleaning method of a printhead for maintaining the state of the nozzle at the best. The cleaning apparatus includes a wiper fixed to the body and the body and installed on the body toward the nozzle and a wiper contacting the nozzle of the printhead, wherein the suction means is spaced apart from the nozzle by a predetermined interval and is installed on the left and right sides of the wiper. The first vacuum nozzle and the second vacuum nozzle are included. The cleaning method includes a step in which nozzles of the cleaning device and the printhead face each other, a first vacuum nozzle installed in the cleaning device to suck impurities from the nozzle, and a wiper installed in the cleaning device to remove the impurities by contacting the nozzle and cleaning. Spitting the nozzle to a second vacuum nozzle installed in the apparatus.

Inkjet Printers, Printheads, Nozzles, Cleaning, Maintenance

Description

Printhead cleaning method and apparatus

1 is a perspective view showing a cleaning apparatus and a full-width array printhead of a printhead according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2A to 2C are plan views illustrating an operation process of the cleaning apparatus of the printhead in FIG. 1.

3 is a partial cutaway perspective view showing an inkjet printer equipped with a cleaning apparatus for a printhead according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

** Explanation of symbols in main part of drawing **

20: printhead,

101: body,

102: wiper,

104, 105: vacuum nozzle,

80: means of transportation.

The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus and a cleaning method of a printhead, and more particularly, to a cleaning apparatus and a cleaning method of a printhead for maintaining the state of the nozzle to the best.

An inkjet printer is a kind of image forming apparatus which injects the ink stored in the cartridge in the form of fine droplets onto the surface of the print medium to obtain a print of a desired form, and the ink stored in the cartridge is ejected through the nozzle of the printhead.

The method of spraying ink by the printhead can be largely classified into a thermal drive method and a piezoelectric drive method. The structure and manufacturing method of a thermal drive inkjet printhead are described in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2004-0033183, Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2004-0101862, US Patent No. 5,278,584, US Patent No. 4,683,481 and the like. According to the thermally driven inkjet printhead, when a pulse-type current is applied to the heater, ink is instantaneously heated to form bubbles on the surface of the heater, whereby ink droplets are discharged through the nozzle by the increased pressure. Will be discharged.

The printhead is divided into a serial type and a full-width array according to its width. In the serial type printhead, the printhead is relatively smaller than the width of the print media (paper, etc.), and the printhead is installed on a movable carrier, and the print and the print media are moved relatively. Recently, in order to improve printing speed, full-width array printheads have been developed in which the width of the printhead is extended by the width of the print medium. Since the full-width array printhead can print on one line at a time without the need for a reciprocating movement of the printhead, not only can the printing speed be greatly improved, but also the configuration of the carrier is not necessary, thereby simplifying the mechanism configuration.

One of the biggest problems with inkjet printers is contamination of the printheads. If debris of the print media or dust introduced from the outside accumulates on the printhead, the nozzle may be clogged. In addition, if the nozzle is not used at a proper period, the ink remaining in the nozzle solidifies and becomes a high viscosity ink residue, which causes a problem of clogging the nozzle or distorting the direction and droplet amount of the ejected ink. In the case of an inkjet printer, if a problem occurs with one nozzle, the print quality will be degraded. Therefore, proper cleaning and maintenance of each nozzle is necessary. Modern inkjet printers also use a combination of fine nozzles and fast drying inks to improve print quality. In this case, a quick and complete cleaning of the printhead will be more urgently needed.

A device for cleaning and maintaining the printhead is also commonly referred to as a service station or maintenance station. In serial type printheads, the carrier is typically moved to a service station installed outside the print area to clean or cap the printhead.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2004-0079280 discloses a service station of an inkjet printer in which a head cap covering a print head is installed in a sliding movement space of a slider on which a wiper and a spittoon are installed and rotated through a rotating member. It is starting.

US Patent Publication No. 2004-0252154 discloses a service station that reduces the noise caused by maintenance of the printhead by adjusting the speed at which the carrier with the printhead enters the service area.

For full-width array printheads, a service station other than that of the serial type printhead is required for cleaning and maintenance of the printhead. Firstly, the number of nozzles in a full-width array printhead is much higher than the number of nozzles in a serial type printhead. For example, about 5,100 nozzles are installed for a full-width array printhead with a print area width of 8.5 inches and a resolution of 600 dpi. An apparatus for maintaining such a plurality of nozzles at once has a problem that it is difficult to be incorporated into an inkjet printer because the volume is too large. Therefore, there is a need for a device that can be compact and quickly washes a plurality of nozzles.

Second, there is a lot of unused nozzles compared to the serial type printheads, so there is a high risk of ink drying. For example, since a user usually prints margins on the top, bottom, left, and right sides of the printing paper, the nozzles in the area corresponding to the margin are rarely used, and thus the ink is likely to dry. Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus for periodically releasing ink droplets to prevent drying of the ink.

U. S. Patent No. 5,589, 865 discloses a method of cleaning a full width array printhead using a cleaning medium. According to the same document, a washing medium having a solvent pad and an absorbent pad attached thereto is washed by passing through a printhead. However, this requires a user to prepare the cleaning medium separately, and there is a problem that it is inconvenient to use because automatic cleaning is not made.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a cleaning apparatus and a cleaning method for a printhead for maintaining the state of a nozzle at the best to solve the above problems.

Another technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a cleaning device and a cleaning method for a printhead that can quickly clean the nozzle.

According to an aspect of the present invention for solving the above technical problem includes a wiper fixed to the body and in contact with the nozzle of the printhead and the suction means installed on the body toward the nozzle. This makes it possible to maintain the state of the nozzle at the best by performing three washing operations such as adsorbing impurities, removing impurities using a wiper, and spitting in one nozzle.

Also provided on one side of the frame and the frame driven by the motor driven by the motor and the other side of the frame driven pulley and the power pulled from the drive pulley and wound around the drive pulley and the driven pulley and connected to the body It is preferable to include a belt for reciprocating the body facing the nozzle. This makes it possible to reduce the size of the device by moving a relatively small cleaning device when the printhead is difficult to move, such as a full-width array printhead.                     

It is preferable to include an adsorbent which is installed in the adsorption means to absorb the adsorbed ink. This can prevent the adsorption means from being blocked by the adsorbed ink.

Preferably, the suction means includes a first vacuum nozzle and a second vacuum nozzle which are spaced apart from the nozzle at predetermined intervals and installed at left and right sides of the wiper. As a result, the cleaning of the print head can be performed while simultaneously performing the adsorption of impurities, removing impurities using the wiper, and spitting, thereby reducing the time required for cleaning the print head.

According to another aspect of the present invention for solving the above technical problem, the washing apparatus and the nozzle of the printhead facing each other, and the first vacuum nozzle installed in the washing apparatus to suck the impurities of the nozzle and to the washing apparatus The wiper is installed in contact with the nozzle to remove impurities and the nozzle is spitting on the second vacuum nozzle installed in the cleaning device.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present embodiment is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below and may be embodied in other forms. Rather, the embodiments introduced herein are provided to ensure that the disclosed subject matter is thorough and complete, and that the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art will fully convey. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the specification.

1 is a perspective view showing a cleaning apparatus and a full-width array printhead of a printhead according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the ink cartridge 10 includes a full width array printhead 20 having a nozzle 22 and an ink reservoir 30 supplying ink to the printhead 20. Here, the ink cartridge 10 serves to mount and support the printhead 20, and the shape of the ink cartridge 10 may be modified in various forms according to the shape of the printer.

When a printing medium (not shown) such as paper or the like is supplied, the ink cartridge 10 is pivoted by the pivot 12 so that the printhead 20 is directed to the recording medium (not shown). This is called the print mode. In Fig. 1, the ink cartridge 10 'positioned in the printing mode is indicated by a dashed line. In the printing mode, the printing medium (not shown) passes through the print head 20 at a constant speed, and ink is discharged through the nozzle 22 to perform printing. When printing is completed or cleaning of the nozzle 22 is required at a predetermined cycle, the ink cartridge 10 is rotated through the pivot 12 to the service mode position. In FIG. 1, the ink cartridge 10 is in service mode. In the service mode, the cleaning of the nozzle 22 of the printhead 20 using the cleaning device 100 is performed, and a separate capping mechanism (not shown) is installed to prevent capping of ink.

The full width array printhead 20 has a plurality of nozzles 22 extending by a width corresponding to the print area. In the present embodiment, the full-width array printhead 20 represents a linehead type printhead in which a plurality of nozzles are configured as a single line array, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The tile type is configured by arranging a plurality of unit heads. It can also be applied to the printhead. An example of a tile type printhead is disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,198,054.                     

When the ink cartridge 10 is in the service mode, the cleaning device 100 is located in front of the print head 20.

1 and 2A, the cleaning apparatus 100 is a body 101 and a wiper 102 for removing impurities and adsorption means for adsorbing impurities or adsorbed ink through spitting. Vacuum nozzles 104, 105.

The wiper 102 is fixed to the body 101 and contacts the nozzle 22 to remove impurities. That is, the wiper 102 directly wipes off the debris and the like of the print medium attached to the nozzle 22 and not removed by the vacuum pressure. The wiper 102 is made of a flexible material such as synthetic rubber and can be installed one or more.

The vacuum nozzles 104 and 105 are provided on the left and right sides of the wiper 102 toward the nozzle 22. The vacuum nozzles 104 and 105 may also suck dust or residual ink around the nozzle 22 and also serve as a pittoon. That is, spitting or priming is a process of removing a plurality of ink droplets from the nozzle 22 to remove residual ink or dust from the nozzle 22 irrespective of printing. The place where ink droplets are collected is called a spittoon.

The vacuum nozzles 104 and 105 are installed at intervals between the nozzle 22 and 'a'. As the 'a' increases, the installation of the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105 is more convenient, but the vacuum pressure for adsorption of impurities or ink should be increased, and thus the capacity of the vacuum pump 110 should be increased. Therefore, in the present embodiment, 'a' is preferably 1 mm or less.

Vacuum pipes 108 and 109 are connected to the rear surfaces of the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105, which in turn are connected to the vacuum line 112 outside the body 101, and the vacuum pump 110 is connected to the vacuum line 112. To form a vacuum. In the present embodiment, the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105 and the vacuum pipes 108 and 109 are formed by forming holes in the body 101, but may be configured by using a separate pipe or the like.

At the rear end of the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105, adsorbents 106 and 107 for absorbing ink droplets are provided. When the ink droplets sucked through the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105 accumulate, the adsorbent 106 may be caused to flow down through the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105 or the vacuum pipes 108 and 109 and block the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105. 107 to absorb and prevent ink droplets. The adsorbents 106 and 107 are made of a porous material so as not to influence the formation of vacuum pressure, and preferably made of a material such as a sponge.

In addition, although not shown in the drawings, in order to prevent the dust and the like sucked through the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105 from being introduced into the vacuum pump 110, a storage tank (not shown) is installed on the vacuum line 112 to prevent dust or the like. You can filter it out in advance.

Referring to FIG. 1, the washing apparatus 100 includes a moving unit 80 for moving the body 101. That is, in the case of the full-width array print head 20, since the width thereof is difficult to install a device for driving the same, the nozzle 101 is moved by the moving means 80 to wash each nozzle.

The moving means 80 includes a driven pulley 84 and a driving pulley 82 and a driven pulley 84 which are spaced apart from the driving pulley 82 and the driving pulley 82 connected to the motor 86 and the motor 86. It includes a belt 81 provided between. The driving pulley 82 and the driven pulley 84 are fixed to the frame of the printer (not shown), and the belt 81 connected between the driving pulley 82 and the driven pulley 84 is a nozzle of the printhead 20. Place it to move parallel to the face. In the body 10, a hole (not shown) is formed and the upper belt 81a of the upper belt 81a and the lower belt 81b facing each other passes through the hole (not shown) and the body 101 and the upper side. The belt 81a is fixed. As the motor 86 rotates, the drive pulley 82 connected thereto rotates and the belt 81 moves accordingly. Along with this, the body 101 fixed to the upper belt 81a moves. Although not shown in the drawing, a stopper may be installed to prevent the body 101 from colliding with the driving pulley 82 or the driven pulley 84.

In the present embodiment, a system using a belt is used as the driving means 80. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, but a system for changing the rotational motion of the motor such as a ball-screw system or a rack and pinion system to a straight line or a linear motor It is also possible to configure the system using a linear motion.

In addition, the guide rod 70 is installed to move the body 101 along the belt 81 stably. Both ends of the guide rod 70 are installed to be fixed to the frame (not shown) of the printer, so that the body 101 slides along the guide rod 70. As a result, shaking due to the movement of the body 101 can be prevented, so that more precise movement is possible.

An encoder 88 is attached to the motor 86 connected to the driving pulley 82. The encoder 88 is connected to the printer controller 50, through which the printer controller 50 can know the position of the body 101, that is, the position of the wiper 102 and the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105. The spitting takes place when the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105 are correctly positioned in front of the nozzle 22, and the discharged ink liquid must be sucked through the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105. Spitting ink droplets in the wrong place can cause contamination of the print media passing area. Therefore, the printer controller 50 grasps the positions of the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105 through the encoder 88 and located in front of the nozzle 22 to be spun to control and sputter the heater (not shown).

Hereinafter will be described the operation of the cleaning device 100 configured as described above. 2A to 2C show each step of cleaning the printhead in this embodiment. For convenience of explanation, only one nozzle is shown.

When the ink cartridge 10 is rotated so that the print head 20 is in the service mode, the body 101 is moved by the moving means 80. At this time, the vacuum pump 110 is operated to form a vacuum pressure in the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105.

Referring to FIG. 2A, as the body 101 moves, the first vacuum nozzle 104 is positioned on the front surface of the nozzle 22 to suck and remove impurities on the nozzle 22.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the body 101 moves, and the wiper 102 contacts the nozzle 22 to remove impurities that are not adsorbed by mechanical contact.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 2C, the body 101 moves and the nozzle 22 spits on the second vacuum nozzle 105. This allows complete removal of residual ink. The discharged ink droplet 24 is sucked into the second vacuum nozzle 105 and adsorbed to the adsorbent 107.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the complete state of the nozzle can always be maintained by continuously performing the adsorption removal of impurities, washing with a wiper and stepping. In addition, since the first vacuum nozzle 104 and the second vacuum nozzle 105 have the same structure, it is possible to maximize the state of the furnace by repeating the above process in the same manner while proceeding in the reverse direction.

In addition, although only one nozzle 22 is shown in the above, the entire nozzle may be quickly cleaned by moving the body 101 while simultaneously performing the above process for a plurality of nozzles.

In this embodiment, in order to shorten the time taken for cleaning, the vacuum nozzles 104 and 105 are installed on the left and right sides of the wiper 102, respectively, to serve as adsorption and spouting. This allows impurity adsorption and spitting in a single movement. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and one vacuum nozzle may be installed as the adsorption means to simultaneously perform the role of adsorption of impurities and a pittoon.

3 is a partial cutaway perspective view showing an inkjet printer equipped with a cleaning apparatus for a printhead according to a second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the present invention is applied to a serial type printhead, and there is no moving means.

Referring to FIG. 3, the inkjet printer 200 includes an outer case 250 and a carrier 210 and a cleaning device 300 that are embedded in the outer case 250 to transfer the ink cartridge 230.

The ink cartridge 230 includes an ink reservoir (not shown) and a printhead 240. The printhead 240 of the present embodiment is mounted on the carrier 210 sliding through the guide rail 220 as a serial type printhead. The nozzle face of the printhead 240 is exposed under the carrier 210. The carrier 210 may be reciprocated by a driving motor (not shown). The carrier 210 moves to one end area of the guide rail 220, that is, a service area, when the print job is not in progress, and waits.

The cleaning device 300 according to the present embodiment is installed in the service area. The cleaning device 300 includes a body 302, a wiper 306, and vacuum nozzles 306 and 308 installed on left and right sides of the wiper 304. In addition, a capping system may be added to cover the printhead 240 to prevent drying of the ink. The configurations of the wiper 306 and the vacuum nozzles 306 and 308 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus descriptions thereof will be omitted.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the print head 240 is moved by the carrier 210, and the impurities are adsorbed through the first vacuum nozzle 306, the impurities are removed by the wiper 304, and the second vacuum nozzle 308 is sputtered. Perform a series of cleaning operations. That is, unlike the full width array printhead, in the serial type printhead, the printhead may be moved, thereby fixing the washing apparatus 300 and moving the printhead.

Although the inkjet printer has been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the present invention may be applied to a fax machine or a copying machine using an inkjet printhead.

 As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to maintain the state of the nozzle at the best by performing three washing operations such as adsorbing impurities, removing impurities using a wiper, and spitting in one nozzle.                     

In addition, according to the present invention can perform the cleaning of the printhead while performing the series of operations at the same time it is possible to reduce the time due to the cleaning of the printhead.

Claims (5)

Body; A wiper fixed to the body and in contact with the nozzle of the printhead; And And a suction means installed on the body toward the nozzle. The method of claim 1, frame; A driving pulley provided on one side of the frame and driven by a motor; A driven pulley provided on the other side of the frame to receive power from the driving pulley; And And a belt wound around the drive pulley and the driven pulley and connected to the body to reciprocally move the body facing the nozzle. The method of claim 1, And an adsorbent installed on the adsorption means to absorb the adsorbed ink. The method of claim 1, The suction means is a cleaning device for a printhead, characterized in that it comprises a first vacuum nozzle and a second vacuum nozzle which is spaced apart from the nozzle at a predetermined interval and installed to the left and right of the wiper. Facing nozzles of the cleaning device and the printhead; A first vacuum nozzle installed in the cleaning device for sucking impurities from the nozzle; A wiper installed in the washing apparatus contacting the nozzle to remove impurities; And And spitting the nozzle to a second vacuum nozzle installed in the cleaning device.

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