JPH06218940A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a recording sheet, an apparatus and the like from being contaminated by ink absorbed by an ink absorbing body, by providing a second absorbing body which contacts with a first absorbing body at a predetermined timing to absorb and remove attachment retained in the first absorbing body. CONSTITUTION:Mounted on a stage 5 of capping means is a second absorbing body 22 adapted to contact a first absorbing body 21 mounted to a side surface of a head 1 at a predetermined timing. A material having a high absorption coefficient of 80 % is used for making the second absorbing body 22 which is smaller in void content than the first absorbing body 21 so that when it contacts with the first absorbing body 21, attachment such as ink and the like absorbed by the first absorbing body 21 is permitted to be naturally transferred therefrom to the second absorbing body 22 by a capillary phenomenon.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording for cleaning the ink discharge port surface of a recording head by wiping off ink droplets, dust, paper dust, etc. adhering to the ink discharge port surface of the recording head with a cleaning blade. It relates to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an ink jet recording apparatus, ink droplets, dust,
Paper dust on the recording paper is likely to adhere. In this way, when ink droplets, dust, or the like adhere to the ink ejection port surface of the recording head, they impede stable ink ejection of the recording head,
The recorded image quality is likely to be deteriorated.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the ink ejection port surface 101 of the recording head 100 is cleaned in order to remove ink droplets, dust, and other adhering substances adhering to the ink ejection port surface 101 of the recording head 100. Cleaning blade 1
An ink jet recording apparatus has been already proposed in which 02 is provided, the recording head 100 is moved in the arrow direction, and the cleaning blade 102 cleans the ink ejection port surface 101 of the recording head 100.

However, in the case of the above ink jet recording apparatus, the cleaning blade 102 is used as the recording head 10.
There is no means for removing adhering substances such as ink drops and dust adhering to the cleaning blade 102 after cleaning the No. 0 ink ejection surface 101. Therefore, when the cleaning blade 102 cleans the ink ejection port surface 101 of the recording head 100 next time, the cleaning blade 102
The ink droplets and dust that have adhered to the recording head 1
No. 00 adheres to the ink ejection port surface 101 again, which hinders stable ink ejection of the recording head 100, resulting in deterioration of recorded image quality.

Therefore, as means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-240551 has been already proposed.

In the ink jet recording head according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-240551, an ink jet recording head in which the ejection port surface is cleaned by wiping with a blade, ink is ejected at a position where the blade tip comes into contact after the ejection port surface is wiped. It is configured such that an absorber is provided.

[0007]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following problems. That is, in the case of the ink jet recording head disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-240551, the ink absorber is arranged at the position where the tip of the blade comes into contact after the ejection port surface is wiped off. However, as the amount of ink accumulated in this ink absorber increases, the ink absorbed in this ink absorber drips due to vibration during printing, etc., which may damage recording paper, devices, etc. In the case of a color inkjet recording device equipped with a head,
There is a problem that color mixing occurs through the ink absorber.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The purpose of the present invention is to stain the recording paper and the device due to the ink absorbed in the ink absorber. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet recording apparatus that can prevent the occurrence of color mixture and can prevent the occurrence of color mixture of ink even in the case of a color inkjet recording apparatus including a plurality of recording heads.

[0009]

That is, the present invention is
A recording head that ejects ink to record an image,
In an ink jet recording apparatus including a cleaning member for cleaning deposits such as ink adhered to the ink ejection port surface of the recording head, and a first absorber for absorbing and removing the deposits removed by the cleaning member A second absorbent body is provided which comes into contact with the first absorbent body at a predetermined timing and absorbs and removes the deposits accumulated in the first absorbent body.

[0010]

In the present invention, the second absorbent body is provided which comes into contact with the first absorbent body at a predetermined timing and absorbs and removes the deposits accumulated in the first absorbent body. Therefore, after cleaning the ink ejection port surface of the recording head by the cleaning means, the adhering matter absorbed and removed by the cleaning member is absorbed and removed by the first absorber from the cleaning member. Then, the adhering matter accumulated in the first absorbent body is absorbed by the second absorbent body from the first absorbent body by bringing the second absorbent body into contact with the first absorbent body at a predetermined timing. It is possible to prevent the adherence of ink or the like from accumulating on the first absorber to cause stains on the recording paper, the apparatus, etc., and further, a color inkjet recording apparatus having a plurality of recording heads. In this case also, it is possible to prevent the color mixture of ink.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a recording head. The recording head 1 records an image by ejecting ink droplets in accordance with image information from an ink ejection port formed on the lower end surface thereof. Is to do. In the illustrated example, two recording heads 1 are arranged side by side, and these recording heads 1 can record images of different colors with inks of different colors. The recording head 1
Is integrally attached to a recording head carriage (not shown), and this recording head carriage can be moved in the arrow direction by a driving means (not shown). Further, the recording head 1 is moved to a recording position in the right direction in the drawing by the driving means, and an image is recorded at this recording position. After the recording operation of the image is completed, the recording head 1 is moved to the capping position shown in FIG. 2 by the driving means, and the recording head 1 has its ink ejection port the capping means 2.
Configured to be capped by. By doing this, the inkjet recording device
At the time of non-printing, the ink ejection port of the recording head 1 is sealed with a cap member to prevent the ink in the ink ejection port of the recording head 1 from drying.

As shown in FIG. 2, the capping means 2 is provided with a cap 3 made of an elastic material such as rubber for capping the ink ejection ports of the recording head 1, and the cap 3 is made of synthetic resin or the like. It is attached to the upper end of the cap holder 4. The cap holder 4
Is attached to the stage 5 which is installed along the horizontal direction of the capping means 2. The cap holder 4 is biased upward by a coil spring 6 loosely fitted to the outer periphery of the cap holder 4, and the lower end of the cap holder 4 is fixed to the stage 5. Upward movement is blocked by 7. And the cap holder 4 is
The cap holder 4 is designed to stop in a state of protruding above the stage 5, and the cap holder 4 resists the elastic force of the coil spring 6 while the cap 3 is in contact with the ink ejection surface of the recording head 1. The cap 3 is moved slightly downward so that the cap 3 comes into close contact with the ink ejection port surface of the recording head 1. The coil spring 6 is interposed between the flange portion 4a of the cap holder 4 and the stopper 7.

The stage 5 is held by the frame 8 of the capping means 2 so as to be vertically movable. That is, the stage 5 is provided with rods 9 and 9 protruding from both ends thereof so as to be orthogonal to each other.
Two protrusions 10 and 10 are provided on the outer surface of 9 along the vertical direction. The protrusions 10 and 10 of this stage 5
Is fitted into a groove 11 provided in the frame 8 of the capping means 2, and the stage 5 is fitted into the frame 8 of the capping means 2 via the projections 10 and 10 fitted in the groove 11. It is mounted slidably along the vertical direction. Moreover, the rods 9 and 9 of the above stage 5
Has a projection 12 as a cam follower projecting inwardly on the inner surface thereof, and the projection 12 is fitted into a cam groove 14 of an eccentric cam 13. Then, the stage 5 is movable in the vertical direction via the projection 12 as a cam follower engaging with the cam groove 14 of the eccentric cam 13 by rotationally driving the eccentric cam 13 by the rotary shaft 15. Has become.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the cap 3 of the capping means 2 is connected to a suction pump (not shown) through a suction passage 17 and a tube 18 whose suction port 16 communicates with the suction port 16. ing. And
The suction pump sucks the ink in the ink discharge port of the recording head 1 through the cap 3 to prevent the ink discharge port from being clogged with the dry ink.

Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a cleaning blade 20 for cleaning the ink ejection port surface of the recording head 1 is provided on the stage 5 of the capping means 2 in the number of the recording heads 1. The number corresponding to (two in the illustrated example) is attached. This cleaning blade 20
For example, rubber made of rubber such as EPDM is used. Then, as the recording head 1 moves relative to the cleaning blade 20, the ink ejection port surface of the recording head 1 removes ink droplets, dust, and other adhering substances adhering to the cleaning blade 20 from the cleaning blade. It is designed to be removed by 20. In the figure, 20a indicates a holder holding the cleaning blade 20.

Further, on one side surface of the recording head 1,
After the cleaning blade 20 cleans the ink ejection port surface of the recording head 1, the first absorber 21 is attached to the position where the tip of the cleaning blade 20 comes into contact. As the first absorbent body 21, for example, a product name "Sunfine" manufactured by Asahi Kasei Co., Ltd. having a high water absorption rate of 80% is used.

By the way, in this embodiment, FIG. 1 and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a second absorber 22 that comes into contact with the first absorber 21 attached to one side surface of the recording head 1 at a predetermined timing is attached on the stage 5 of the capping means 2. . As the second absorber 22, for example, a product name "Sunfine" manufactured by Asahi Kasei Co., Ltd., which has a high water absorption rate of 80%, is used. The second absorber 22 has a porosity of It is lower than the first absorbent body 21, and when it comes into contact with the first absorbent body 21, the adhering substances such as ink absorbed by the first absorbent body 21 are absorbed by the second absorbent body 22 by a capillary phenomenon. It is possible to shift to.

The second absorber 22 is arranged on one side of the cap holder 4 on the stage 5 of the capping means 2, and the stage 5 moves upward for capping the recording head 1. When I moved
The tip of the second absorbent body 22 contacts the first absorbent body 21. In addition, this second absorber 22
Is set lower than the cleaning blade 20 also provided on the stage 5 of the capping means 2.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the second absorber 22 is elastically downward by a shaft portion 23 protruding from the lower end thereof and a spring 24 loosely fitted to the outside of the shaft portion 23. Even if the second absorber 22 comes into contact with the first absorber 21 at the same time when the cap 3 comes in contact with the recording head 1 by moving upward during capping, The second absorber 22 is configured so as not to hinder capping by moving slightly downward.

In the case of the ink jet recording apparatus according to this embodiment having the above construction, the ink absorbed by the ink absorber is prevented from causing stains on the recording paper, the apparatus, etc. in the following manner. At the same time, even in the case of a color image recording apparatus having a plurality of recording heads, the color mixture of ink is prevented from occurring.

That is, in the above ink jet recording apparatus, as shown in FIG. 2, the recording head 1 is moved to the recording position in the right direction in the drawing, and an ink droplet is ejected from the ink ejection port of the recording head 1 according to image information. By discharging, an image is recorded on a recording medium (not shown). The ink jet recording apparatus is configured such that the ink ejection port of the recording head 1 is sealed by the cap 3 in order to prevent the ink in the ink ejection port of the recording head 1 from being dried when the apparatus is not used. There is.

When the recording operation is completed in the above ink jet recording apparatus, the recording head 1 is moved to the capping position by the driving means (not shown) as shown in FIG. When the recording head 1 moves to the capping position, the stage 5 of the capping means 2 moves upward by rotationally driving the eccentric cam 13, and the tip of the cleaning blade 20 mounted on the stage 5 causes the recording head 1 to move. It is possible to make contact with the ink ejection port surface 1a.

Next, in this state, the recording head 1 is moved rightward in the figure by a predetermined amount to clean the ink ejection port surface 1a of the recording head 1 with the cleaning blade 20, as shown in FIG. The attached matter such as ink and dust removed from the ink ejection port surface 1a of the recording head 1 by the cleaning blade 20 comes into contact with the cleaning blade 20 following the ink ejection port surface 1a as the recording head 1 moves. It is absorbed and removed by the first absorber 21. At that time, each recording head 1 moves to a position facing the cap 3 of the capping means 2 and stops, as shown in FIG.

Then, the stage 5 of the capping means 2
Moves further upward by a predetermined amount by rotating the eccentric cam 13, and the cap 3 mounted on the stage 5 via the cap holder 4 ejects ink from the recording head 1 as shown in FIG. Capping is performed by making contact with the outlet surface 1a, and the tip of the second absorber 22 mounted on the stage 5 comes into contact with the first absorber 21 mounted on one side of the recording head 1. It is like this.

At this time, the porosity of the second absorbent body 22 is lower than that of the first absorbent body 21, and when the second absorbent body 22 comes into contact with the first absorbent body 21, the first absorbent body 22 is absorbed. Since the adhered substances such as ink absorbed by the body 21 can be naturally transferred to the second absorber 22 by the capillarity, the ink I etc. absorbed by the first absorber 21 is shown in FIG. As shown, move to the second absorbent body 22 side by itself, and then move to the first absorber 22 side.
Even when the absorbent body 21 and the second absorbent body 22 contact each other, they do not move to the second absorbent body 22 and the first absorbent body 21.

As described above, the first
The second absorbent body 22 that comes into contact with the first absorbent body 21 and absorbs and removes the adhering substances such as ink accumulated in the first absorbent body 21 is provided, so that the ink discharge port of the recording head 1 is provided. After cleaning the surface 1a with the cleaning blade 20, the adhering substances absorbed and removed by the cleaning blade 20 are absorbed and removed from the cleaning blade 20 by the first absorbent body 21 and stayed in the first absorbent body 21. The first absorber 21 is brought into contact with the first absorber 21 by bringing the second absorber 22 into contact with the attached matter at a predetermined timing.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent the second absorbent body 22 from absorbing and removing the second absorbent body 22, and prevent the first absorbent body 21 from accumulating deposits such as ink and the like on the recording paper and the apparatus. Moreover, even in the case of a color inkjet recording apparatus having a plurality of recording heads, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of color mixture of ink.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show other embodiments of the present invention. The same parts as those of the above embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and will be described. In this embodiment, the first embodiment will be described. The end faces of the absorbent body 21 and the second absorbent body 22 are not flat with each other, and in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the first absorbent body 21 and the second absorbent body 22 are
6, the end faces of the absorbent body 22 are arcuately uneven, and in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the end faces of the first absorbent body 21 and the second absorbent body 22 are corrugated with each other. Each of them has a shape, and by increasing the contact area between the first absorbent body 21 and the second absorbent body 22 in each case, ink or the like is applied from the first absorbent body 21 to the second absorbent body 22. It is possible to efficiently transfer kimonos.

The other structure and operation are the same as those of the above-mentioned embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the above-described embodiment, the first absorbent body 21 and the second absorbent body 22 do not necessarily have to have the same thickness, and for example, the second absorbent body 22 may be the first absorbent body. It may be set thicker than the body 21 to increase the absorption capacity of the second absorber 22.

[0032]

According to the present invention having the above-described structure and operation, it is possible to prevent the ink absorbed in the ink absorber from causing stains on the recording paper, the apparatus and the like, and moreover, a plurality of recordings are performed. Even in the case of a color inkjet recording device including a head, it is possible to provide an inkjet recording device capable of preventing the occurrence of color mixture of ink.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main part configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of the device.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are perspective views showing a state in which the ink ejection port surface of the recording head is being cleaned by a cleaning blade.

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are schematic diagrams showing a state in which the ink is transferred from the first absorber to the second absorber.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of essential parts showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an essential part showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7A to FIG. 7C are perspective views showing cleaning states of a conventional inkjet recording apparatus, respectively.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 recording head, 1a ink ejection port surface, 20 cleaning blade, 21 first absorber, 22 second absorber.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A recording head for ejecting ink to record an image, a cleaning member for cleaning deposits such as ink adhered to an ink ejection port surface of the recording head, and a cleaning member removed by the cleaning member. In an ink jet recording apparatus provided with a first absorber for absorbing and removing a kimono,
An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a second absorbent body which comes into contact with the first absorbent body at a predetermined timing and absorbs and removes adhered matter accumulated in the first absorbent body.