JP3159149B2 - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cap device used in an ink jet recording device, and more particularly, to a cap device which is brought into close contact with a recording head at the time of non-printing so as to prevent evaporation of a solvent of ink at a nozzle opening and at the time of printing. The present invention relates to a cap device that receives idle discharge of ink from a recording head and prevents clogging of a nozzle opening due to evaporation of an ink solvent.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording apparatus equipped with an ink jet recording head has been used in many printings including color printing, since noise during printing is relatively small and small dots can be formed at a high density. Such a recording apparatus forms dots by discharging ink pressurized in the pressure generating chamber from a nozzle as ink droplets onto recording paper. For this reason, in order to improve the print quality, it is necessary to prevent bleeding on the recording paper, and the material of the ink solvent is made as small as possible, or a material which evaporates easily is used.
As a result, the ink solvent evaporates from the nozzle opening during printing and the viscosity of the ink increases, and even during non-printing, the ink solvent evaporates from the nozzle opening and the viscosity of the ink at the nozzle opening increases. Cause trouble.

In order to prevent this, in a conventional ink jet recording apparatus, the cap device is brought into close contact with the recording head during non-printing to prevent the evaporation of the ink solvent, and at the time of printing, the ink device becomes empty with respect to the cap device. Discharge is performed to recover the nozzle opening. And
When the cap device is separated from the recording head after the close contact state and after the recovery operation, it is required that air bubbles do not enter the nozzle openings and that the ink does not scatter from the cap device. In order to respond to these demands, various proposals have been made, for example, a device provided with an absorbing member for absorbing ink in a cap device as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-43066.

FIG. 11 shows a conventional cap device.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing an example of a conventional cap device, and FIG.
FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 11.

In these figures, a cap member 101 constituting a cap device surrounds a nozzle opening of a recording head 100 and has a front end portion in close contact with the recording head 100, and a lower end portion of the peripheral wall portion 101a. And a bottom wall portion 101b for closing the bottom. Further, a plurality of claw portions 102c for fixing and holding the two ink absorbing materials 102 and 103 in a stacked state are provided along the upper peripheral edge of the peripheral wall portion 101a inside the peripheral wall portion 101a. Have been. In the figure, the claw 102
c is provided at eight places. In addition, the bottom wall portion 101b
Is provided with an ink suction port 104 for discharging ink that has been idly discharged by a pump (not shown) to the outside of the cap device.
And an opening 105 that is connected to or shut off from the atmosphere by a valve (not shown). In the figure, 10
Reference numeral 6 denotes a connection tube, one end of which is fitted to the ink suction port 104, and the other end of which is connected to a pump (not shown). Although not shown, a connection pipe connected to the valve is fitted into the opening 105 in a similar manner. 101c is the ink absorbing material 10
2 shows an accommodation portion for accommodating 2,103.

[0006]

In the meantime, when performing the idle discharge of the ink or the nozzle recovery operation using the conventional cap device, the ink absorbing members 102 and 103 are fixed on the peripheral wall portion 101a. Since the claw portion 102c is provided, the upper surface of the claw portion 102c and the recording head 1
As shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Since the ink droplets I do not come into contact with the ink absorbing members 102 and 103, the ink droplets I cannot be absorbed by the ink absorbing members 102 and 103.

When the ink droplet I remains on the upper surface of the claw portion 102c as described above, when the carriage is moved to return the recording head 100 to the printing operation state after the idle ejection of the ink or the nozzle recovery operation, the ink droplet I Drop I scatters,
There has been a problem that the ink adheres to the lower surface of the recording head 100 and the periphery of the cap device is stained with the ink.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, and it is intended to prevent ink droplets from being scattered by preventing ink from adhering to an upper portion of a peripheral wall portion. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cap device in an ink jet recording apparatus capable of preventing ink from adhering to the lower surface and preventing ink contamination around the cap device.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a peripheral wall portion which is in close contact with a recording head so as to cover a nozzle opening for discharging ink at a leading end; In an ink jet recording apparatus including a bottom wall for closing one surface, a cap member having an ink suction port formed in the bottom wall, and an ink absorbing member in the cap, an inner surface of the peripheral wall includes A concave portion or a convex portion formed integrally with the peripheral wall portion is provided from a leading end portion to at least a position in contact with the ink absorbing material. Further, in such an ink jet recording apparatus, a concave portion or a convex portion is formed on the inner surface of the peripheral wall portion from the front end portion of the peripheral wall portion to the bottom wall portion. Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus, a plurality of concave portions or convex portions are formed on the inner surface of the peripheral wall portion at predetermined intervals. Further, in such an ink jet recording apparatus, the concave portion is a groove provided in the peripheral wall portion. Further, in such an ink jet recording apparatus, the groove is formed in a triangular shape expanding toward the inside of the peripheral wall portion. Further, in such an ink jet recording apparatus, the projection is a ridge formed on the peripheral wall. Also,
Such an ink jet recording apparatus is characterized in that the ridge has a cross section formed in a triangular shape, and has a shape whose apex protrudes inside the peripheral wall portion. Further, the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is formed on a peripheral wall portion which is in close contact with a recording head so as to cover a nozzle opening for discharging ink at a front end portion, a bottom wall portion which covers one surface of the peripheral wall portion, and a bottom wall portion. And a cap member having an ink suction port, wherein a concave portion or a convex portion formed integrally with the peripheral wall portion extending from the front end portion to the bottom wall portion of the peripheral wall portion is provided on the inner surface of the peripheral wall portion. It is characterized by having.

Here, it is desirable to form ink guiding means on the inner surface of the peripheral wall from the front end of the peripheral wall to the bottom wall, and a plurality of ink guiding means are formed on the inner surface of the peripheral wall at predetermined intervals. It is desirable that it is. Preferably, the ink guiding means is a groove, and the groove is formed in a triangular shape that expands toward the inside of the peripheral wall. Further, it is preferable that the ink guiding means is a ridge, and the ridge has a cross section formed in a triangular shape, and a vertex thereof has a shape protruding inside the peripheral wall portion. desirable.

Since the ink guide means is formed on the cap member as described above, ink droplets between the recording head and the upper portion of the peripheral wall portion travel along this groove and are guided toward the bottom wall portion side of the cap member. Absorbed by the ink absorber.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent ink from adhering to the upper portion of the peripheral wall. As a result, scattering of ink droplets can be prevented, ink can be prevented from adhering to the lower surface of the recording head, and ink contamination around the cap device can be prevented.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the ink jet recording apparatus, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a recovery mechanism portion of the ink jet recording apparatus, FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of the recovery mechanism, and FIGS. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a cap device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the cap device shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line DD in FIG. 6.

First, an outline of an ink jet recording apparatus and a recovery mechanism of a cap device will be described with reference to FIGS. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a carriage which is supported by a guide member 2 and connected to a pulse motor 23 via a timing belt 3 so as to be able to reciprocate in parallel with the platen 5.

The carriage 1 has a first ink jet recording head 7 provided with a row of nozzle openings for discharging black ink.
And a second having a nozzle opening array for discharging color ink.
An ink jet recording head 8 (FIG. 4) is provided at regular intervals in the printing direction and the moving direction of the carriage 1;
A black ink cartridge 9 and a color ink cartridge 10 are detachably mounted on the upper portions of the recording heads 7 and 8. A cap device 12 for sealing the recording heads 7 and 8 is provided outside the printing area.

When a drive signal is received from a head drive circuit (not shown) via the flexible cable 11 with such a configuration, printing is performed while the recording heads 7 and 8 are opposed to each other while receiving ink supply from the ink cartridges 9 and 10. Black and colored dots are formed on the paper 6.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an upper surface near the cap device described above. In the figure, reference numeral 20 denotes a paper feed roller, which performs paper feed and pump drive by a gear 22 fixed to one end of a rotating shaft 21. Connected to the pulse motor 24 which also serves as
The printing paper 6 is transported according to the printing process.
In the figure, reference numeral 12 denotes the aforementioned cap device,
The slider 30 occupies two positions, a capping position covering the nozzle opening surfaces of the two recording heads 7 and 8 in conjunction with the movement of the nozzles, and a non-capping position away from the nozzle opening surfaces.
In addition, a first cap member 31 and a second cap member 32 formed in a cup shape by an elastic material are provided. These cap members 31 and 32 respectively correspond to the first
The opening area is set such that the recording head 7 and the second recording head 8 can be sealed, and the ink droplets ejected from the recording heads 7 and 8 can be reliably received in a separated state.

The first and second cap members 31, 32 have their suction ports 31a, 32a (FIG. 3)
Tubes 33 and 34 constituting a part of the tubes 7 and 38 are connected to one ends of the tubes 33 and 34 to receive a suction force.

First and second tube pumps 37 and 38
Is selectively connected to the pulse motor 24 via the train wheel 40, and when the motor 24 rotates in the reverse direction, the first tube pump 3
Only 7 performs the suction operation, and only the second tube pump 38 performs the suction operation during normal rotation.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show an example of the cap device 12 described above, respectively.
Is a slider, and first and second cap members 31, 32 are provided so as to be swingable by shafts 31c, 32c so as to match the interval between the two recording heads 7, 8 mounted on the carriage 1.

In the drawing, reference numerals 41 and 42 denote first and second guide pieces, which are arranged on both sides in accordance with the width of the first and second recording heads 7 and 8 of the carriage 1, and which position the carriage 1 at a predetermined position. When set, it has the function of positioning each recording head 7, 8 with respect to the cap. When the carriage 1 moves to a position where the first and second cap members 31 and 32 and the first and second recording heads 7 and 8 face each other, the carriage 1 An engagement piece 46 is provided at a tip end of the flag piece 45 that abuts the projection 44 at the lower end of the base member 53 so as to abut and separate from a guide member 47 attached to the base 53.

The guide member 47 has a convex portion 47a for preventing the slider 30 from coming off, a flat surface 47b for forming the slider 30 at a fixed distance from the lower ends of the recording heads 7 and 8 suitable for idle discharge, and a cap member 31. , 32 to the recording head 7,
8 and a flat surface 47c that forms a position where it is elastically contacted.

On the other hand, the slider 30 is provided with a shaft 50 perpendicular to the moving direction of the carriage 1 in the center of the lower part thereof. The lower end of the shaft 50 is connected to the shaft 54 of the base 53 via a long groove 52a. Lever 5 swingably attached to
2 is loosely fitted. The slider 30 is attached to the upper end of a coil spring 56 whose lower end is fixed to the base 53 and inclined toward the print area and set to buckle toward the non-print area.

As shown in FIG. 5, during non-capping, the slider 30 has one end positioned at the lowermost end of the inclined surface 47b of the guide member 47 and the center portion positioned toward the printing area by the coil spring 56 while being regulated by the lever 52. The position at which the gap g suitable for idle discharge can be maintained without being urged to bring the cap members 31 and 32 into contact with the recording heads 7 and 8.

The slider 30 is provided on its case 61 side with a valve unit 60 connected to the atmosphere opening ports 31b and 32b provided in the cap members 31 and 32, respectively. 62 project. Thus, by moving the slider 30 to the capping position, the operating punch 62 is moved to the case 61.
The valve unit 60 which is always open
Can be closed to close the atmosphere opening ports 31b and 32b.

Next, the structure of the cap members 31 and 32 will be described with reference to FIGS. Since the cap member 31 and the cap member 32 have basically the same configuration, the cap member 31 will be described as an example. Here, FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an example of the cap member,
7 is a bottom view of the cap member shown in FIG. 6, and FIG.
9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 6, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line DD of FIG.

In these figures, the cap member 31 surrounds the nozzle opening of the recording head and has a tip end in close contact with the recording head, and a lower end of the peripheral wall portion 31c, similarly to the above-mentioned conventional cap member. An ink suction port 31a for discharging ink that has been idle-discharged by a pump (not shown) to the outside of the cap device;
An opening 31b is provided which is communicated with or shut off from the atmosphere by a valve (not shown).

The peripheral wall 31c is provided with a plurality of undercuts 31e on the inner side of the peripheral wall 31c for holding the two ink absorbing members 102 and 103 in a stacked state. I have. FIG. 6 shows an example in which six undercut portions 31e are provided. The undercut portion 31e is formed by cutting off the inner side portion of the peripheral wall portion 31c. The undercut portion 31e has protrusions 102a protruding from the side surfaces of the ink absorbing materials 102 and 103 with respect to the undercut portion 31e. The ink absorbing materials 102 and 103 are fixed to the cap member 31 by inserting the 103a and holding the protrusions 102a and 103a by the undercut portion 31e.

In addition, a plurality of grooves 31f are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall portion 31c at a substantially constant interval. The groove 31f has a triangular shape that is expanded toward the inside of the peripheral wall portion 31c, and the bottom wall portion 31c extends from the distal end side of the peripheral wall portion 31c that contacts the first and second recording heads 7, 8.
d. The shape of the groove 31f is not particularly limited, but may be any shape as long as the ink droplet I is easily guided.

The groove 31f does not necessarily need to be formed from the front end of the peripheral wall 31c in contact with the first and second recording heads 7 and 8 to the bottom wall 31d. 8 as long as it is formed from the front end side of the peripheral wall portion 31c in contact with the ink absorbing material 103 disposed on the upper side. This is because the ink droplet I guided along the groove 31f is smoothly absorbed by the ink absorbing material 103. Preferably, the groove 31f is formed up to the bottom wall portion 31d so that the induced ink droplets are smoothly and quickly absorbed by the ink absorbing materials 102 and 103.

Since the groove 31f is formed in the cap member 31 as described above, the ink droplet I between the recording head and the upper portion of the peripheral wall portion 31c travels along the groove 31f to move toward the bottom wall of the cup member 31. Guided by the ink absorbing material 10
Absorbed by 2,103.

A first concave portion 31g is formed on the outer surface of the bottom wall portion 31d of the cap member 31 so as to surround the ink suction port 31a, and a second concave portion 31h is formed around the open port 31b. As described above, since the recesses 31g and 31h are formed around the ink suction port 31a and the open port 31b, the circumference becomes thin.

The tube 33 is attached to the cap device 31 by press-fitting the other end of the connection tube 26 having the tube 33 connected to one end thereof into the ink suction port 31a. Similarly, a connection pipe (not shown) connected to the valve is press-fitted into the opening 31b to be attached to the cap member 31. The ink suction port 31a is attached by press-fitting the connection pipe 26 into the ink suction port 31a as described above. Even if the ink suction port 31a and the connection pipe 26 are misaligned at this time, the portion of the ink suction port 31a (the concave portion) 31g) is deformed to absorb the positional shift, so that it can be easily assembled by an automatic machine or the like. Further, the ink suction port 31a is formed by the first concave portion 31g.
Since the deformation of the portion is absorbed, the deformation of the ink suction port 31a does not adversely affect other portions of the cap member 31. In particular, the recording head and the cap member 3
There is no adverse effect on the adhesion to the upper part of the peripheral wall 31c.

Similarly, the connection pipe is attached by press-fitting the connection pipe into the opening port 31b. However, even if a positional shift occurs between the opening port 31b and the connection pipe, the opening port 31b is displaced.
(Recess 31h) is deformed to absorb the positional deviation, so that it can be easily assembled by an automatic machine or the like. In addition, since the deformation of the opening 31b is absorbed by the second recess 31h, the deformation of the opening 31b does not adversely affect other parts of the cap member 31. In particular, there is no adverse effect on the adhesion between the recording head and the upper portion of the peripheral wall portion 31c of the cap member 31.

Next, the idle discharge operation of ink from the nozzle openings of the recording head will be described.

First, the carriage 1 on which the first and second recording heads 7 and 8 are mounted moves from the printing area in the direction of the arrow in FIG.
That is, when the lever 72 moves out of the printing area, the lever 72 contacts the inclined surface 73 and rotates about the shaft 71 as shown in FIG. 2, so that the slide gear 74 opposes the urging force of the coil spring 75. It moves and engages with the train wheel 40.

When the slide gear 74 is engaged with the wheel train 40, the power of the paper feed and pump motor 24 is transmitted to the first pump 37 or the second pump 38.

When the carriage 1 reaches the slider 30 located outside the printing area, the first recording head 7 engages with the second guide piece 42.

When the carriage 1 further moves in this state, the first recording head 7 moves to the first guide piece 41 and the second
The engagement of the recording head 8 with the second guide piece 42 causes the slider 30 to be aligned in a posture corresponding to the carriage 1.

Further, when the carriage 1 moves, the projections 44 come into contact with the flag pieces 45, so that the first and second cap devices 31, 32 move the first and second recording heads 7 as shown in FIG. , 8 are opposed to the first and second recording heads 7, 8 at a predetermined interval g at positions that can cover the nozzle openings.

In this state, idle discharge of ink is performed. That is, when a predetermined time has elapsed during the printing process, the idle discharge of the ink from the first and second recording heads 7 and 8 is performed by the cap member 3 in order to prevent the evaporation of the ink solvent from the nozzle openings.
1 and 32. At this time, since the claw portion is not formed on the cap member as in the related art, no ink droplet I is formed between the claw portion and the recording heads 7 and 8. Further, the ink droplets I
Even if is attached, since the grooves 31f and 32f are provided, the ink droplets I are guided to the ink absorbing materials 102 and 103 by the grooves 31f and 32f, and the ink droplets accumulate above the inside of the peripheral wall portions 31c and 32c. Nor.

When the carriage 1 further moves from this state, the slider 30 is pushed up by the flag pieces 45 by the projections 44, so that the rear portion (printing area side) of the slider 30 is lifted up about the shaft 50 as a rotation fulcrum. The two-cap device 32 comes into contact with the second recording head 8. At this time, the second cap device 32 is swingably attached to the slider 30, and the slider 30 is also attached to the base 53 via the lever 52.
The second recording head 8 rises while being guided by the second recording head 8 so as to cover the nozzle opening of the second recording head 8.

Further, when the carriage 1 moves to the case 61 side, the coil spring 56 can no longer withstand the force of the carriage 1 and starts to buckle, lifting the slider 30, so that the slider 30 is mounted on the second cap device. The first cap device 31 is brought into contact with the first recording head 7 while being lifted while the second recording head 8 is fitted to the second recording head 8. When the carriage 1 further moves in this way, the slider 30 moves horizontally to the case 61 while being regulated by the first and second recording heads 7 and 8, and the operating rod 62
Abuts on the case 61, thereby closing the open ports 31b and 32b of the first and second cap devices 31 and 32 and shutting off the atmosphere.

In this state, the coil spring 56 is largely buckled, and the slider 30 is lifted by the urging force of the coil spring 56.
Numeral 2 elastically contacts the first and second recording heads 7 and 8, and securely seals them. Thus, the cap members 31 and 32 are brought into close contact with the recording heads 7 and 8 to prevent evaporation of the ink solvent.

At this time, since the conventional claw portion is not formed, the lower surface of the recording head is not stained with ink. Even if the ink droplet I adheres to the upper portions of the peripheral wall portions 31c and 32c, since the grooves 31f and 32f are provided, the cap members 31 and 32 for the recording heads 7 and 8 are provided.
By the time the device is brought into close contact, the ink droplet I
f and 32f guide the ink to the ink absorbing materials 102 and 103.

As described above, the first and second cap devices 31,
In a state where the recording paper 32 is in elastic contact with the first and second recording heads 7 and 8, the paper feed and pump motor 24 is connected to the train wheel 40 by the lever 72, and the paper feed and pump motor 24 is switched by a switching mechanism (not shown). , The first pump 37 or the second pump 38 is operated, and the ink suction operation is performed. In this ink suction operation, since the ink absorbing material is contained, it is possible to prevent the bubbling of the ink. Even if the ink foams and the ink is scattered, the claw is not formed as in the related art, so that the ink droplet does not adhere to the claw and the ink is formed by the grooves 31f and 32f. Absorbers 102, 103
It is guided to.

The ink sucked in this way is the first ink
The ink passes through the tube 32 or the second tube 33 and is discharged to a waste ink tank (not shown).

After the ink suction operation for a predetermined time is completed, when the carriage 1 is moved to the printing area, the operating rod 62 separates from the case 61, so that the opening 31b,
32b is released to the atmosphere and returns to its original state. When moving from the close contact state, no ink droplets are formed between the claw portions and the recording heads 7 and 8 because claw portions are not formed as in the related art. Therefore, such ink droplets do not scatter and contaminate the recording head or the periphery of the cap member with ink.

Thereafter, the carriage 1 moves in the direction opposite to the above-mentioned direction, that is, in the direction of the printing area, so that the first,
The second recording heads 7, 8 move to the recording area and return to the original state.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of undercut portions 31e and 32e are provided in the circumferential direction inside the peripheral wall portions 31c and 32f, and the protruding portions 102a are provided on the undercut portions 31e and 32e. , 103a are inserted to fix the ink absorbing materials 102, 103,
There is no need to provide claws for fixing the ink absorbing materials 102 and 103 as in the conventional case.

By not forming the claw portions 102c in this manner, it is possible to prevent the ink droplets I from adhering to the inner side of the peripheral wall portion, so that the ink droplets I are not scattered and the first and second recording heads are not scattered. The surfaces facing the printing paper 6 of 7 and 8 are not stained with ink. Also, the periphery of the cap member is not stained with ink. As a result, the printing paper 6 is not stained,
High quality records can be obtained.

Further, first concave portions 31g and 32g are provided around the ink suction ports 31a and 32a to form the ink suction ports 31a and 32g.
The peripheral wall portions 31c and 32c are not deformed even when the connection pipe 26 is pressed into the ink suction ports 31a and 32a, so that the deformation of the peripheral wall portions 31c and 32c is not performed. (1) Adhesion to the second recording heads 7 and 8 can be ensured to ensure a negative pressure, and a reliable capping and recovery operation can be performed. Similarly, the connection pipes are attached by press-fitting the connection pipes into the opening ports 31b and 32b. However, even if a positional shift occurs between the opening ports 31b and 32b and the connection pipes, the opening ports 31b and 32b may be attached.
The portions b and 32b (recesses 31h and 32h) are deformed, and the deformation of the opening portions 31b and 32b are caused by
2 has no adverse effect on the other parts. In particular, there is no adverse effect on the adhesion between the recording heads 7 and 8 and the upper portions of the peripheral wall portions 31c and 32c of the cap members 31 and 32.

Further, since the grooves 31f and 32f are provided inside the peripheral wall portions 31c and 32c, the peripheral wall portions 31c and 32f are provided.
2c, the ink drop I adheres to the inside
Are the ink absorbing materials 102, 10 by the grooves 31f, 32f.
3, the ink droplet I does not accumulate above the inner side of the peripheral wall portions 31c and 32c. Therefore, the ink drop I
Of the first and second recording heads 7 and 8 can be prevented from adhering ink on the surface of the first and second recording heads 7 and 8 facing the printing paper 6, and ink contamination around the cap member can be prevented. , And high quality recording can be obtained.

Next, another embodiment of the cap member according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Note that FIG.
FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 31i denotes ridges (ribs) as ink guiding means, and a plurality of ridges are provided inside the peripheral wall portion 31c at regular intervals. This ridge (rib) 31i
Has a triangular cross section and a vertex protruding inside the peripheral wall portion 31c. Further, similarly to the groove 31f, the groove is provided from the front end side in contact with the first and second recording heads 7, 8 to the bottom wall portion 101b. The shape of the ridge (rib) 31i is not particularly limited, but may be any shape as long as ink droplets are easily guided. Also, the ridges (ribs) 31i do not necessarily need to be formed from the front end side of the peripheral wall portion 31c contacting the recording head to the bottom wall portion 31d, and are arranged at least from the front end side of the peripheral wall portion 31c contacting the recording head. Ink absorber 10
It suffices if it is formed up to the position in contact with 3. This is because the ink droplets guided by the ridges (ribs) 31i by the capillary force are smoothly absorbed by the ink absorbing material 103. The induced ink droplets are applied to the ink absorbing materials 102 and 103.
Preferably, the groove ridges (ribs) 31i are formed up to the bottom wall 31d in order to absorb the water smoothly and quickly.

Since the ridges (ribs) 31i are formed on the cap member 31 as described above, the ink droplets between the recording head and the upper portion of the peripheral wall portion 31c are removed by the ridges (ribs) 31i.
Is guided to the bottom wall side of the cap member 31,
The ink is absorbed by the ink absorbing materials 102 and 103.
In the above description, the case where the ridges (ribs) are provided on the first cap device 31 has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to the second cap device 32 as a matter of course.

In the above-described embodiment, the undercut portions 31e are provided at regular intervals. However, the same effect can be obtained by providing the undercut portions on the entire circumference inside the peripheral wall. Ink absorbers 102, 103
May be provided corresponding to the undercut portion 31e, but when the undercut portion is provided over the entire circumference inside the peripheral wall, the protrusions 102a and 103a are provided over the entire circumference. It is not necessary, and it may be provided at several places.

Although the description has been made using two ink absorbing materials, it goes without saying that one ink absorbing material may be used.

[0058]

As described above, according to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the peripheral wall portion which comes into close contact with the recording head so as to cover the nozzle opening for discharging ink at the tip end portion, and the bottom wall portion which closes one surface of the peripheral wall portion And a cap member having an ink suction port formed in a bottom wall portion, and an ink absorbing member in the cap, wherein the inner surface of the peripheral wall portion has at least an ink absorbing material from a front end portion of the peripheral wall portion. A concave portion or a convex portion formed integrally with the peripheral wall portion is provided up to a position where the peripheral wall portion is in contact with the recording head; In an ink jet recording apparatus including a bottom wall to be closed and a cap member having an ink suction port formed in the bottom wall,
With a configuration in which a concave portion or a convex portion formed integrally with the peripheral wall portion extending from the front end portion of the peripheral wall portion to the bottom wall portion is provided on the inner surface of the peripheral wall portion, the ink attached to the cap peripheral wall portion is moved to a predetermined position. Since the ink guiding means for guiding is not formed of a separate member from the peripheral wall portion as in the related art, the ink guiding means can be provided on the cap capable of stable capping without complicating the configuration of the cap. Therefore, since the capping is stable, the adhesion between the nozzle opening surface of the recording head and the peripheral wall portion is excellent, and stable suction can be performed during the recovery operation of the nozzle opening. Further, since the ink guiding means for preventing the ink from remaining in the upper portion of the peripheral wall portion can be formed at the same time as the peripheral wall portion, there is an effect that the component cost and the assembly cost can be reduced. Therefore, a stable nozzle recovery operation can be performed for a long period of time, and contamination of the recording head and the cap around the ink can be prevented, so that a highly reliable inkjet recording apparatus can be provided at low cost. Has an effect.

As a result, scattering of ink droplets can be prevented, ink can be prevented from adhering to the lower surface of the recording head, and ink contamination around the cap device can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an ink jet recording apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a recovery mechanism portion of the ink jet recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of the cap device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view of the cap device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of the cap device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an example of a cap member.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the cap device shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line DD of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a modification of the cap member.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a conventional cap device.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 11;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 carriage 2 guide member 5 platen 7 first recording head 8 second recording head 9 black ink cartridge 10 color ink cartridge 31 first cap device 31a ink suction port 31b open port 31c peripheral wall 31d bottom wall 31e undercut 31f groove 31g 1st recessed part 31h 2nd recessed part 31i ridge (rib) 32 2nd cap device 32a ink suction port 32b open port 32c peripheral wall part 32d bottom wall part 32e undercut part 32f groove 32g first concave part 32h second concave part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-108556 (JP, A) JP-A-5-35281 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/165

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A peripheral wall portion which is in close contact with a recording head so as to cover a nozzle opening for discharging ink at a leading end portion, a bottom wall portion which covers one surface of the peripheral wall portion, and ink suction formed on the bottom wall portion. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a cap member having a mouth; and an ink absorbing member in the cap, wherein the inner surface of the peripheral wall portion is integrated with the peripheral wall portion from a tip end of the peripheral wall portion to at least a position in contact with the ink absorbing material. Into shape
An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the formed concave portion or convex portion is provided . 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the concave portion or the convex portion is formed on an inner surface of the peripheral wall portion from a front end portion of the peripheral wall portion to a bottom wall portion. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the concave portions or the convex portions are formed on the inner surface of the peripheral wall portion at a predetermined interval. 4. A recess provided in said peripheral wall portion.
The ink-jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the groove is formed in a triangular shape that expands toward the inside of the peripheral wall. 6. A projection formed on the peripheral wall portion.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is an article. 7. The inkjet according to claim 6, wherein the ridge has a cross section formed in a triangular shape, and has a shape whose apex protrudes inside the peripheral wall portion. Recording device. 8. A nozzle for ejecting ink at a tip portion.
Peripheral wall that closely contacts the recording head so as to cover the
A bottom wall for closing one surface of the peripheral wall, and a bottom wall formed on the bottom wall;
And a cap member having a drawn ink suction port.
In the ink jet recording apparatus, on the inner surface of the peripheral wall, from the tip of the peripheral wall to the bottom wall.
A concave or convex portion formed integrally with the extending peripheral wall portion;
Inkjet recording instrumentation, characterized in that provided
Place.