JPH0453752A - inkjet recording device - 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 [Industrial Application Field J] The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device having functions such as a facsimile machine, a copying machine, and a printer, and an inkjet recording device that is used as an output device such as a multifunction device and a workstation equipped with these functions. It relates to a recording device.

[Prior Art] In a conventional inkjet recording apparatus, a recording medium is attracted to the conveying surface of a conveying means and conveyed to a position slightly separated from the ejection openings of the recording head, and is conveyed to a position slightly separated from the ejection openings of the recording head. After an image is recorded by ejecting ink from the ejection ports while being moved relatively, the ink is sent out from the separated position by the transport surface.

The ejection openings of the recording head are normally filled with ink, but if a non-recording special ejection continues for a long time, the ink evaporates and its viscosity increases, causing ink ejection failure. In order to prevent this, a capping device is provided that covers the ejection port of the recording head and seals it from the surrounding atmosphere.

The capping device is located at a different location from the conveyance means, and seals the ejection ports of the print head when not printing, and seals the ejection ports of the print head when printing starts and ends, and prevents the movement of the print head or the conveyance means and The capping device is moved to replace the conveying means.

In addition, with the ejection ports of the print head sealed by the capping device, ink is ejected from the ejection ports of the print head in the same manner as in normal printing operations (hereinafter referred to as "dry ejection"), and the ink supply path is By circulating the ink under pressure and forcibly discharging the ink from the ejection ports of the print head (hereinafter referred to as "pressurized ink circulation"), foreign matter such as dust attached to the ejection ports of the print head can be removed. Some printers perform a recovery operation to remove ink with increased viscosity and restore normal ink ejection. In this case, the capping device is provided with means for recovering waste ink that has been idly ejected or forcibly ejected from the ejection ports of the recording head.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The above-mentioned conventional inkjet recording device requires a space for arranging the capping device in a location separate from the conveying means, which is inconvenient for downsizing the inkjet recording device. There is a problem.

Furthermore, when trying to start recording, the capping device and the conveying means are replaced, but it takes time to move the recording head or to move the conveying means and the capping device, and the ejection ports of the recording head are sealed. There is a problem in that it takes a long time to go from a blank state to a recordable state, and the overall recording time from the start to the end of recording becomes long.

Furthermore, the recording head may perform a recovery operation while multiple recording media are being continuously recorded.
In this case as well, since it takes a long time to replace the capping device and the conveyance means, there is a problem that the recording interruption time is long and the recording time as a whole becomes long.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the conventional technology, and it is possible to realize a miniaturization of an inkjet recording apparatus, and to shorten the time required for the recording head to become ready for recording (thereby reducing the recording time). can be shortened as a whole,
Another object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet recording apparatus that can shorten the recording time when a recovery operation is performed during continuous recording on a plurality of recording media.

1. Means for Solving the Problems] An inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention for achieving the above object includes a recording head that records on a recording medium by discharging ink from an ejection opening, and a recording head that records on a recording medium by ejecting ink from an ejection opening of the recording head. In an inkjet recording apparatus, the inkjet recording apparatus includes a conveying means for conveying the recording medium having conveyance surfaces disposed at separate positions, a holding member for holding the recording head, and a holding member attached to the holding member, A frame portion that surrounds the ejection port of the recording head and protrudes toward the conveying surface, and the holding member and the conveying means are moved relatively back and forth in a direction in which they approach each other and in the opposite direction, so that the frame portion and the The present invention is characterized by being provided with a moving means for bringing the conveyance surface into close contact with and separating from the conveyance surface.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that a cleaning means for cleaning the conveying surface of the conveying means is provided.

The recording head ejects ink using thermal energy, and has a long electrothermal converter for generating the thermal energy, and has ejection ports that cover the entire width of the recording area of the recording medium. It can also be a full-line type in which .

[For production]

In the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the holding member and the conveying means are relatively moved in a direction in which they approach each other by the moving means, and the frame portion and the conveying surface are brought into close contact with each other, so that the recording head The discharge port is sealed from the surrounding atmosphere in a space formed by the holding member, the frame portion, and the conveying surface.

The sealing of the discharge port is released when the holding member and the conveyance means are relatively moved by a moving means in a direction opposite to the direction in which they approach each other, and the frame portion and the conveyance surface are separated. Ru.

If the device is equipped with a cleaning means for cleaning the conveying surface of the conveying means, the waste ink, etc. that are idly ejected or forcibly ejected from the ejection ports of the recording head onto the conveying surface due to recovery operations etc. are removed by the cleaning means. Since the recording medium is removed from the conveying surface, the recording medium is not contaminated.

[Example] An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of this embodiment, and the inkjet recording apparatus having a copying function of this embodiment has a printer section 14.
and a scanner section 17 installed above the printer section 14.
It consists of

The upper surface of the scanner section 17 is a document mounting table into which a glass plate is fitted, on which the document 15 is placed with the image side facing down. A document scanning unit 16 is mounted inside the glass plate so as to be movable back and forth in the direction of arrow A and the opposite direction.

When reading the image on the original 15, the original scanning unit 16 moves and scans in the direction of the arrow from the illustrated position while irradiating the image on the original 15 with light, and condenses the reflected light to create images of different colors. It is read as information and converted into an electrical digital signal.

This electrical digital signal is transmitted to four parts of the printer section 14, which will be described later.
recording heads IC, IM, IY.

The signals are applied to IBk as recording signals through converters and controllers, respectively.

On the other hand, a paper feed cassette 9 is removably installed at the bottom of the printer section 14 to store recording paper, which is a recording medium cut into a predetermined size. A manual feed tray 8 for manually feeding the recording medium is attached.

On the right side of the paper feed cassette 9 in the drawing, there are a pair of transport rollers 21a, one of which is forcibly rotated.

21b are rotatably supported, and as the pair of transport rollers 21a and 21b rotate, recording media pushed out one by one by the pickup roller 20 from the paper feed cassette 9 are pinched and transported. , two curved guide plates 23a, 23b and two pre-registration guide plates 24a, 24b. Further, on the left side of the manual feed tray 8 in the figure, the pair of conveyance rollers 21a are provided.

A pair of manual feed rollers 22a, 22 having the same configuration as 21b.
b are rotatably supported, and the recording medium fed to the manual feed tray 8 is transferred to the manual feed rollers 22a,
22b, and is guided between the two registration front guide plates to move the pair of registration rollers 10a, 1
It is configured to be sent out up to 0b.

The two front register guide plates 24a and 24b are spaced apart from each other as the recording medium advances in the direction in which the recording medium is fed out, and the two front guide plates 24a and 24b are adjacent to each other on the left side in the figure of each edge where the space between them becomes narrower. The pair of registration rollers 10a, 1
0b are rotatably supported, and at least one is forcibly rotated at a predetermined rotation speed.

By being forced to rotate, the pair of registration rollers 10a, 10b pass the recording medium between two post-registration guide plates 7a, 7b onto a conveyor belt 11, which will be described later, while sandwiching the recording medium between their peripheral surfaces. It is configured to be sent out.

Next, the conveyance belt 11, which is a conveyance means for conveying a recording medium provided in the center of the printer section 14, will be explained.

The conveyor belt 11 has a width sufficient to convey the recording medium, and is wound around two rollers lla and llb, which are supported at an appropriate distance s, +ii and whose rotational axes are parallel to each other. The roller 11b located on the left side of the figure is forced to rotate in the direction of arrow B at a predetermined rotational speed, thereby rotating in the direction of arrow B.

The conveyor belt 11 is made of a resin material such as polyurethane or a chargeable material such as rubber, and includes a charger 1 disposed close to the roller lla on the right side of the figure.
2, the recording medium is charged, and the recording medium is attracted and conveyed by static electricity. Therefore, the outer peripheral surface of the conveyor belt 11 serves as a conveyance surface for conveying the recording medium. Further, a plate-shaped back platen 11C of an appropriate length is disposed directly below the upper running path of the conveyor belt 11 in the figure, so that the conveyance surface of the conveyor belt 11 running on the back platen llc is flat. configured to form.

A cleaning means 6 for cleaning the conveyance surface of the conveyance belt 11 is disposed below the roller llb located on the left side in the drawing. The cleaning means 6 includes a rectangular parallelepiped ink absorber 6a made of a continuous porous material such as polyvinyl formal resin and having the same width as the conveyor belt. One surface is brought into sliding contact with the conveyance surface of the rotating conveyance belt 11 by a known moving means, thereby removing dirt such as waste ink adhering to the conveyance surface. Furthermore, the liquid waste ink among the dirt removed from the conveyance surface is absorbed into the inside of the ink absorber 6a from the above-mentioned surface, and then flows out into a waste ink container (not shown) and is collected. .

Here, 4
recording heads IC, IM, IY.

18k and these recording heads IC1IM, IY, IB
The holding member 2 etc. that hold k will be explained.

The holding member 2 is box-shaped with an open negative side,
Each recording head IC, LM is provided on the bottom surface of the conveyance belt 11, which is the surface facing the conveyance surface.

Four holes 2 into which the tips of IY and IBk are inserted, respectively.
Holes a are formed at equal intervals, and a frame 3 made of an elastic material such as rubber is integrally attached to the entire periphery of the bottom surface (see FIG. 2).

Each of the recording heads IC and LM corresponds to each ink color of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.

IY and IBk are full line types in which a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting ink are formed over the entire width of the recording area of the recording medium, and each tip where the ejection ports are formed is located at the tip of the holding member 2. It is inserted into each hole 2a, and is held by the holding member 2 in a state where the periphery of the distal end portion and the hole 2a are sealed via a gasket. Further, the ejection ports of each of the recording heads IC, IM, IY, and 1Bk are located 0.2 to 0.0 mm closer to the bottom surface of the holding member 2 (upper side in the figure) than the opening-shaped contact surface 3a of the frame portion 3. It is located 3mm back.

The holding member 2 is attached to a support member 4a of the moving means 4. Here, the moving means 4 will be explained (see FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b)).

The support member 4a of the moving means 4 is mounted on the main body of the inkjet recording apparatus so as to be able to reciprocate in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveyance surface of the conveyor belt 11 by means such as a known slide mechanism. Rack 4 provided
b meshes with a pinion 4c to which the driving force of a drive motor (not shown) is transmitted via a plurality of gears.

In this moving means 4, the support member 4a reciprocates in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveying surface when the pinion 4c is rotated forward and backward by the driving force of the drive motor, so that the support member 4a comes into contact with the frame portion 3. The surface 3a and the conveying surface of the conveying belt 11 are brought into close contact with each other and separated from each other.

During recording, the moving means 4 separates the contact surface 3a of the frame portion 3 from the conveying surface of the conveying belt 11, as shown in FIG. 3(a), and moves each of the recording heads IC, IM, IY, IB
Move the ejection port of k to a position 1 mm away from the conveyance surface and hold it there,
When sealing the discharge port of k from the surrounding atmosphere, the third
As shown in Figure (b), the contact surface 3a of the frame portion 3 and the conveyance surface are brought into close contact (hereinafter referred to as "capping state"). At this time, each of the recording heads IC, LM, IY, I
The Bk ejection port is sealed within a space formed by the bottom surface of the holding member 2, the frame portion 3, and the transport surface without contacting the transport surface, and the inside of the space reaches the saturated vapor pressure of the ink. This prevents the ink from increasing in viscosity and drying out. Usually, the capping state occurs when the inkjet recording apparatus is not recording or when the power of the inkjet recording apparatus is turned off.

Note that each recording head Ic, IM during the recording.

The separation distance of 1 mm between the IY and IBk ejection ports and the conveyance surface of the conveyor belt 11 is such that if the respective ejection ports are far away from the conveyance surface, the accuracy of the landing position of the ink on the recording medium will deteriorate and the image quality will be impaired. The settings are made with this in mind.

On the left side of the conveyor belt 11 (see FIG. 1), there is a
A plurality of guide plates 13 and a pair of discharge rollers 18a, 18
b are arranged in a row in order, and the recording medium on which the image has been recorded passes from the conveyor belt 11 through the fixing sheet discharge section 5 while receiving hot air from a fan 5a heated by a heater 5b as necessary. It is configured to be dried, fixed, and discharged onto a tray 19.

Here, a forcedly rotated roller (hereinafter referred to as "drive roller") 11 located on the left side of the conveyor belt 11 in the figure
The outer diameter of b will be explained.

The outer diameter of the drive roller llb is such that when the recording medium attracted to the conveyance surface of the conveyance bell 1-11 due to static electricity is sent out toward the fixing sheet discharge section 5, the recording medium is attracted by the attraction force of the static electricity. It is set to be relatively small so that it is separated from the conveyance surface by its own elasticity, and the distance that one part of the conveyance belt 11 on the conveyance surface moves when the drive roller 11b rotates once. and the ejection ports of the recording head IC located at one end to the recording head IB located at the other end.
It also has a size that matches the distance to the ejection port k. This is done in consideration of preventing image distortion when there is an eccentric component in the diameter of the drive roller llb, but ideally the distance traveled by the conveying surface when the drive roller 11b makes one revolution and the distance between adjacent records is It is preferable that the distance between the ejection ports of the head coincides with the distance. However, if this were to be done, the distance from the ejection port of the print head on one end side to the ejection port of the print head on the other end would become extremely long, or the diameter of the drive roller llb would be abnormally small ( Since this is not realistically possible, the outer diameter of the drive roller llb was set as described above.

Next, the image recording operation of this embodiment will be briefly explained.

The image of the original 15 placed with the image side facing down on the original placing table on the upper surface of the scanner section 17 is transferred to the original scanning unit 1.
6, each color is read as image information, each converted into an electrical digital signal, and sent to each record in the printer section 14.

It is transmitted as a recording signal to IM, IY, and IBk. On the other hand, the recording medium that has been sent out by the pair of transport rollers 21a, 21b or the pair of manual feed rollers 22a, 22b and has reached the pair of registration rollers 10a, 10b has its leading edge aligned with the circumference of the pair of registration rollers loa, 10b. After stopping for several milliseconds in a state where a loop is formed by contacting the contact area of the surface, the paper is guided between two post-registration guide plates 7a and 7b at a predetermined paper feeding timing and transferred to the conveyor belt 11. It is attracted by static electricity onto the conveying surface of the conveying belt 11 rotating at a predetermined rotational speed, and passes below the ejection opening surface of each of the color-specific recording heads IC, IM, IY, and IBk. do. At this time, each of the recording heads Ic, IM, IY, and IBk is controlled based on the electrical digital signal in accordance with the ejection timing measured from the sheet feeding timing.

Ink is ejected from the IM, IY, and IBk ejection ports to record an image on a moving recording medium. The recording medium on which the image has been recorded passes through the fixing paper discharge section 5 and is discharged to the tray 19.

Next, each of the recording heads IC, IM, and IY.

Ink pressurization circulation in which the ink in the ink supply path that supplies ink to IBk is circulated under pressure by a recovery pump (not shown), and the ink is forcibly discharged from all ejection ports of each recording head Ic, IM, IY, and IBk. I will explain about it.

When the pressurized ink circulation is performed, each recording head IC, IM, IY, and IBk is brought into the capping state by the moving means 4 (see FIG. 3(b)), and each recording head IC, IM.

Ink is forcibly discharged from all the discharge ports IY and IBk onto the conveying surface of the conveying belt 11 for an appropriate time.

Next, each of the recording heads IC, LM, and IY.

IBk is moved by the moving means 4 to the position at the time of recording, and the capping state is released (FIG. 3(a)).
), one surface of the ink absorber 6a of the cleaning means 6 is brought into contact with the lower conveyance surface of the conveyor belt 1-11 in the figure, and the conveyor belt 11 rotates one rotation or more and is discharged onto the conveyor surface. The waste ink that has been removed is removed, and the pressurized ink circulation operation is completed.

The ink pressurization circulation is controlled by a pressurization circulation timer means and is performed at appropriate time intervals (on the order of several hours) while the inkjet recording apparatus is powered on. The pressurization circulation timer means corresponds to the four recording heads IC, LM, and IY.

The time interval of pressurized ink circulation is changed as appropriate by obtaining humidity information from a humidity sensor (not shown) disposed near the IBk and information on the idle ejection operation (described later). , IY, and IBk, the length of the ejection time during which ink is forcibly ejected from the ejection ports is also changed as appropriate. for example,
When recording and idle ejection operations are not performed much in a low humidity state, the time interval of the pressurized ink circulation is short and the ejection time is long (changed as appropriate).

Immediately after the power is turned on to the inkjet recording apparatus, the ink pressurization circulation is performed once, and thereafter, when the recording signal is not input, each of the recording heads IC, IM, IY,
The IBk is placed in a capping state and receives ink pressurization circulation controlled by the pressurization circulation timer means while waiting for input of a recording signal.

By the ink pressurized circulation and pressurized circulation timer means,
Even when recording is not performed for a long period of time in a high temperature, low humidity environment, each recording head IC.

Foreign matter such as dust attached to the outlet of IM, IY, IBk,
Since the ink with increased viscosity and the bubbles of the ink are appropriately removed, it is possible to prevent ink ejection failure.

Next, in the same way as when performing normal recording, each recording head IC
, LM, IY, and IBk to recover from a minor ink ejection failure by ejecting ink from all the ejection ports will be described.

When the idle ejection is performed, each recording head IC, I
M, IY, and IBk are in the capping state (Fig. 3(b)
), the respective recording heads Ic, LM, IY
, IBk are idle-discharged a suitable number of times toward the conveyance surface of the conveyance belt 11 from all the discharge ports. Then,
As in the case of pressurized ink circulation, the capping state of each of the recording heads IC, LM, IY, and IBk is released (see FIG. 3(a)), and the conveyance belt 11 rotates one rotation or more. The waste ink that has been idly ejected onto the conveying surface is removed by the cleaning means 6, and the idling ejection operation is completed.

The number of times the ink is ejected during the idle ejection is changed as appropriate based on humidity information from the humidity sensor.

For example, when the temperature is low, the number of times of ejection is increased.

Since the idle ejection is performed before printing is started when the printing signal is input, it is possible to prevent ink ejection failure immediately after the start of printing.

In addition, when recording is performed continuously on a plurality of recording media (hereinafter referred to as "continuous recording"), each recording head Ic,
Since ink is not necessarily ejected from all ejection ports of IM, IY, and IBk, the idle ejection is controlled by the ejection timer means and the continuous recording is performed at a predetermined time interval (on the order of a short time of several minutes). This is done by interrupting. However, in this case, each of the recording heads IC, IM, IY, and IBk remains in the recording position (see FIG. 3(a)).

If the continuous recording ends in the middle of the predetermined time interval during which dry ejection is performed, until the remaining time of the predetermined time interval (hereinafter referred to as "one shot - remaining time") elapses, Each recording head IC, IM, IY, and IBk waits for input of the next recording signal without moving from the position at the time of recording, and is placed in a capping state when the remaining output time has elapsed. Further, if a recording signal is input before the elapse of the remaining firing time, recording is started without performing the idle ejection before the start of recording. The output remaining time is determined by each recording head IC.

Considering that IM, IY, and IBk are not in a capping state but in a state in which ink is likely to dry, the actual time is corrected to be slightly shorter than the calculated subtraction time. Due to the idle ejection that is interrupted in the middle of continuous recording as explained above,
All the ejection ports of each recording head 1C1IM, IY, and IBk can always maintain a good condition for ejecting ink.

In this embodiment, each recording head IC, LM.

The holding member 2 that holds IY and IBk is slightly reciprocated in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveyance surface of the conveyor belt 11 by the moving means 4 to bring the abutment surface 3a of the frame portion 3 and the conveyance surface into close contact and to separate them. By simply setting each recording head IC, L
Since it is possible to cap M, IY, and IBk (see Figure 3(b)) and release it (see Figure 3(a)),
There is no need to provide a conventional capping device separately from the conveyor belt 11, and there is no need to provide a space for arranging it in a separate location (therefore, the inkjet recording apparatus can be downsized.

In addition, since the cleaning means 6 for cleaning the conveyance surface of the conveyor belt 11 is provided, there is no need to replace the capping device and the conveyor belt 11 as in the conventional case, and the ink pressurization and circulation can be completed in a very short time. It is possible to complete the recovery operation of the idle ejection.Therefore, each recording head Ic, IM, IY
, 1Bk can be put into a recordable state in a short period of time, and the time from the start to the end of recording can be significantly shortened.

In this embodiment, during continuous recording, each recording head Ic
, IM, IY, and IBk are not placed in the capping state and dry ejection is performed, but the dry ejection may be performed with the capping states set.

Also, when performing a recovery operation due to pressurized ink circulation and idle ejection, the recording medium is transferred from the paper feed cassette 9 to the conveyor belt 11.
The recording medium with the waste ink adhered to it is transferred to the tray 1 by forcing the waste ink onto the recording medium adsorbed on the conveying surface or by dry ejecting the waste ink.
In this case, the cleaning means 6 for cleaning the conveyance surface of the conveyor belt 11 is not necessary, and the recovery operations described above can be further shortened.

In this embodiment, a structure in which the holding member 2 is moved by attaching the holding member 2 to the moving means 4 is shown, but the holding member 2
It is also possible to have a structure in which the conveyor belt 11 is fixed and the conveyor belt 11, which is a conveyor means, is moved by a moving means.

Here, an example of a recording head equipped with an electrothermal transducer used in this embodiment will be described.

In FIG. 4, the recording head 60 is a full line type in which a plurality of ejection ports 50 are formed in a row over the entire width of the recording area of a recording medium, and each of the ejection ports 50 is
In order to eject ink from the ink, an electrothermal transducer 4o is provided for each ink liquid path and is supplied with an applied voltage to generate thermal energy. By applying a drive signal, the electrothermal converter 4o generates thermal energy to cause film boiling and form bubbles in the ink liquid path. The structure is such that ink is ejected from each of the ejection ports 50 by the growth of the bubbles.

The present invention brings about excellent effects particularly in bubble jet recording heads and inkjet recording apparatuses proposed by Canon Co., Ltd. among inkjet recording systems.

As for typical configurations and principles thereof, it is preferable to use the basic principles disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 4,723,129 and US Pat. No. 4,740,796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it is necessary to arrange the liquid (ink) in accordance with the sheet and liquid path that hold it. The electrothermal converter that is
By applying a single drive signal that corresponds to the recorded information and provides a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and a film is formed on the heat-active surface of the recording head. This is effective because it can boil the liquid (ink) and form bubbles in the liquid (ink) in one-to-one correspondence with this drive signal.The growth and contraction of these bubbles causes the liquid (ink) to be ejected through the ejection opening. When the drive signal is in the form of a pulse, the growth and contraction of the bubbles occurs immediately and appropriately, and liquid (ink) ejection with particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. Suitable pulse-shaped drive signals include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,359 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,262. US Patent No. 431
If the conditions described in specification No. 3124 are adopted,
Even better recording can be done.

The configuration of the recording head includes, in addition to the combined configuration of ejection ports, liquid paths, and electrothermal converters (straight liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, a heat acting section. US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600 disclose a configuration in which the
The present invention is also effective for configurations using the specification of the above specification. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1989-5 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge part of a plurality of electrothermal converters.
Publication No. 123670 of 1999 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 123670 of 1972, which discloses a configuration compatible with an open discharge part that absorbs pressure waves of thermal energy.
The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on 1999 No. 138461.

Furthermore, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by an inkjet recording apparatus, the length can be increased by combining multiple recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification. Either a configuration that satisfies the above requirements or a configuration as a single recording head formed integrally may be used, but the present invention can more effectively exhibit the above-mentioned effects.

In addition, a replaceable chip-type recording head that is installed in the inkjet recording device body enables electrical connection to the inkjet recording device body and ink supply from the device body, or a replaceable chip type recording head that is attached to the inkjet recording device body, or the recording head itself. The present invention is also effective when an integrally provided cartridge type recording head is used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means, preliminary auxiliary means, etc. for the recording head, which are provided as a configuration of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specifically, these include a cleaning means for the recording head, a preheating means using an electrothermal converter or a separate heating element, or a combination thereof, and a preliminary ejection mode that performs ejection other than printing. It is also effective to perform stable recording.

Furthermore, the recording mode of an inkjet recording apparatus is not limited to a recording mode in which only the mainstream color such as black is used (although the recording head may be configured integrally or by a combination of two or more, it is also possible to print in multiple colors of different colors or The present invention is also extremely effective for devices equipped with at least one full color by color mixture.

In the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid, but it is an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower, and is softened or liquid at room temperature, or in the inkjet described above, the ink itself is heated at a temperature of 30°C or higher and 70°C. Generally, the temperature is controlled within a range of 0.degree. C. or less so that the viscosity of the ink is within a stable ejection range, so it is sufficient if the ink is in a liquid state when the recording signal is applied. In addition, temperature rise due to thermal energy can be actively prevented by using it as energy to transform the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or ink that solidifies when left standing is used to prevent ink evaporation. In any case, the ink may be liquefied by application of thermal energy in accordance with the recording signal and ejected as liquid ink, or the ink may have already begun to solidify by the time it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to the use of ink that is liquefied for the first time. In such a case, the ink may be ink as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-56847 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-71260.
The porous sheet may be held in a liquid or solid state in the recesses or through holes of the porous sheet, and may face the electrothermal converter. In the present invention, the most effective method for each of the above-mentioned inks is to implement the above-mentioned film boiling method.

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is configured as described above, it produces effects as described below.

By simply reciprocating the holding member and the conveying means relatively in the direction toward each other and in the opposite direction by the moving means, and bringing the frame and the conveying surface into close contact with each other and separating them, the ejection opening of the recording head can be brought into contact with the surrounding atmosphere. Since the capping device can be sealed and opened, there is no need to provide a conventional capping device separate from the conveyance means or to provide a space for placing it in a separate location, allowing for miniaturization of inkjet recording devices. realizable.

Further, since the time required to seal and open the ejection ports of the print head is very short, the print head can be brought into a printable state in a short period of time, and the time from the start to the end of print can be shortened.

If the device is equipped with a cleaning means for cleaning the conveying surface of the conveying means, the cleaning means removes waste ink, etc. that has been idly ejected or forcibly ejected from the ejection ports of the recording head onto the conveying surface during the recovery operation. Since the capping device is removed, there is no need to replace the capping device and the conveying means (and the recovery operation can be performed in a short time. Therefore, the recovery operation is performed during continuous recording of a plurality of recording media. in case of,
The interruption time of the recording operation is short, and the time from the start to the end of the continuous recording can be shortened as a whole.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a holding member of the same embodiment seen from the bottom side, and Fig. 3 is a frame portion and a conveyance means of the embodiment. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the close contact and separation from the surface, where (a) is a diagram showing the separation between the frame part and the conveyance surface, and (b) is a diagram showing the close contact between the frame part and the conveyance surface. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a recording head used in the same embodiment. IC, IM, IY, IBk...Kojiroku head, 2...
- Holding member, 2a... hole. 3...Frame part, 4...Movement means, 4b...Rack, 5...Fixing paper discharge section, 5b...Heater, 6a...Ink absorber, 7a, 7b...Register Rear guide plate, rear... manual feed tray, 9... paper cassette, Oa
, lob...conveyance roller, 1...conveyance belt lla, llb...roller,
1c River back platen, 12... Charger, 3.23a
, 23b=-guide plate, 4... printer section, 15... manuscript, 6...
- Original scanning unit, 17... scanner section, 8a, 1
8b...Discharge roller, 19...Tray, 0...Pickup roller, la, 21b...Conveyance roller, 2a, 22b...Manual feed roller. 0... Electrothermal converter, 5o... Discharge port. 3a... Contact surface, 4a... Support member, 4c... Binion, 5a... Fan, 6... Cleaning means,

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A recording head that performs recording on a recording medium by discharging ink from an ejection opening, and the recording medium having a conveying surface disposed at a position away from the ejection opening of the recording head. an inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a holding member for holding the recording head; and an inkjet recording device that is attached to the holding member, surrounds the ejection port of the recording head, and protrudes toward the conveyance surface. A frame portion, and a moving means for relatively reciprocating the holding member and the conveying means in a direction in which they approach each other and in the opposite direction to bring the frame portion and the conveying surface into close contact with and separate from each other. An inkjet recording device characterized by: 2. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cleaning means for cleaning the conveyance surface of the conveyance means. 3. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the recording head discharges ink using thermal energy, and is equipped with an electrothermal converter for generating the thermal energy. . 4. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head is a full-line type in which ejection ports are formed over the entire width of the recording area of the recording medium.