JP3531382B2 - Inkjet printer recovery 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 recovery device for an ink jet printer that ejects ink onto a recording medium to perform printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an ink jet printer for ejecting ink droplets onto a recording medium for printing includes an ink jet type print head and an ink cartridge for containing ink to be supplied to the print head inside a main body case. A replaceable recording device, a transport device for transporting the recording medium, and a carriage device for reciprocating the recording device according to the size of the recording medium transported by the transport device are provided.

Further, in order to maintain a good ink ejection state in the print head, there is provided a suction cap which comes into contact with and separates from the nozzle surface of the print head, and a large negative pressure is applied through the suction cap to cause the print head to operate. It is also known to provide suction pump means for sucking the ink.

[0004]

By the way, in the use of the ink jet printer as described above, when the user prints for the first time, or when the amount of remaining ink is low, the user has a defective ejection. If a misjudgment is made and a suction operation is performed by the suction pump means and the ink in the print head runs out, there may be a case where the print head does not contain ink and the ink passage is filled with air. In such a state, when the suction operation is performed by the suction pump means, if a large negative pressure is applied through the suction cap to suck the ink of the print head at once, a large number of channels of the print head from the ink cartridge ( The ink abruptly flows into the ink passage) in a state where it is mixed with air, and the ink bubbles to cause air bubbles in the ink in the print head. And thus Murrell. In particular, this tendency is remarkable when a filter member is provided at the connecting portion between the print head and the ink cartridge (for example, the ink supply hole of the ink cartridge) so that dust and the like do not move together with the ink on the print head side.

Further, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-4220, for example, the pressure generated by the pressure generating means is used to discharge the ink from the nozzle, thereby recovering the defective ejection of the ink from the nozzle. In the ink ejection device to perform, grasp the ink ejection status from the nozzle,
The pressure for the recovery generated by the pressure generating means,
It has been proposed that the recovery is performed as different first and second values corresponding to the different first and second ink ejection states that have been grasped, but the ink ejection state from the nozzles is proposed. Is grasped and controlled based on it, the control becomes complicated.

Further, there is also known a recovery device of an ink jet printer which crushes a tube pipe with a cam and performs purging with the pressure so as to change the amount of crushing the tube pipe by controlling the drive amount of the cam. However, the control becomes complicated as described above.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points. Even when the print head does not contain ink and the ink passage is filled with air, the suction operation by the suction pump means can be performed without foaming. An object of the present invention is to provide a recovery device for an inkjet printer that can perform the operations.

[0008]

The invention of claim 1 is a recording
A print head that ejects ink onto a medium to perform printing, and the print head.
Ink cartridge connected to the
Ink cart at the connection between the cartridge and print head
First and second provided on the ridge side and the print head side, respectively
And the second filter member and the nozzle surface of the print head
The suction cap has a suction cap that can come into contact with and separate from the suction cap.
Pump means for sucking ink from the print head through
In the recovery device of the inkjet printer equipped with
Therefore, the suction operation performed by the suction pump means has a small suction force.
First and second suction operations and the first and second suction operations
The third suction, which has a larger suction force and a longer suction time than the operation
Is a pulling operation, and the first pump by the suction pump means.
The suction action causes ink to pass through the first filter member.
The second suction operation is performed with the suction force necessary for
Ink further passes through the second filter member and the ink
The suction force required to fill the ink passages in the letter head
It is characterized by being performed by

With this configuration, the suction pump means is used.
The first suction operation causes the ink to pass through the first filter member.
The second suction operation is performed with the suction force required to pass
Ink in the printhead passes through the second filter member.
The suction force needed to fill the track
And after them, suction more than the first and second suction action
Perform a third suction action that has a large force and a long suction time
Ink does not bubble.

The pump means as claimed in claim 2.
Are two independently movable pump casings.
It may be configured to have a piston member.

The suction pump according to claim 3
A cam whose suction action by means is linked to a piston member
It may be configured to be controlled by a member.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 showing the appearance of an ink jet printer.
In, the inkjet printer 1 has a cylindrical platen roller 3 rotatably supported by the printer frame 2 by a rotation shaft (not shown) extending in the left-right direction. The platen roller 3 conveys the print paper 4 supplied from a paper feed cassette or a manual paper feed unit while facing the ink jet print head 5, and constitutes a part of a paper feeding device.

The printing paper 4 is supplied in the direction of arrow A from a paper supply port (not shown) behind the printer frame 2, and is fed in the direction of arrow B by the rotation of the platen roller 3 and is not shown. The sheet is discharged from the sheet discharge port in the direction of arrow C.

A carriage 6 is provided in front of the platen roller 3 so as to be movable in the direction of arrow D along the axis of the platen roller 3. In addition to the print head 5, the carriage 6 is detachably mounted with an ink cartridge 7 that contains ink to be supplied to the print head 5. The connection portion between the print head 5 and the ink cartridge 7 is, as shown in detail in FIG.
Print head 5 supported by a head support member 9 via
Are connected. A rear end of the manifold member 8 penetrates the vertical wall portion 6b of the cartridge mounting portion 6a and is connected to the ink cartridge 7 via a joint member 10. At the connecting portion, a mesh-shaped filter member 12 is provided together with the adapter 11 in the ink supply hole 7a of the ink cartridge 7. In addition, 14 and 15 are an upper cover and a lower cover, respectively.

The carriage 6 includes a platen roller 3
Is slidably inserted into a carriage shaft 8 provided in parallel with the axis of the print head 5, so that the print head 5 mounted on the carriage 6 can reciprocate by sliding along the axis of the platen roller 3. Has become.

The carriage 6 is driven by a carriage driving motor 21 via a belt driving mechanism having a belt 22 and pulleys 23 and 24.

On the right side of the printing area corresponding to the platen roller 3, there is formed a recovery area in which suction pump means 31 as a purging device for recovering non-ejection or ejection failure of the print head 5 is arranged. Has been done. The reason why the suction pump means 31 is provided is that the ink jet type print head 5 is caused by the generation of bubbles inside the ink jet head, the deposition of ink droplets on the ejection surface, and the like. This is to cause ejection failure, and to recover this to a good ejection state.

A wiper member 32 for wiping the nozzle surface of the print head 5 on the print area side is provided adjacent to the suction pump means 31, and the nozzle surface of the print head 5 is provided on the opposite side when printing is not performed. A protective cap device 33 is provided to prevent evaporation of the covering ink and to prevent the nozzle surface from drying.

The suction pump means 31 is used for the print head 5.
Of the print head 5 at the protruding position, which is movable between a protruding position protruding into the moving path of the print head 5 and a standby position retracted from the moving path of the print head 5. Is the suction cap 34
Negative pressure is generated when the print head 5 is covered.
And a suction pump 35 for sucking and removing the residual ink therein, and the operation of the suction pump 35 is controlled by a cam member 36.

As shown in FIG. 3, the suction pump 35 includes first and second piston members 42 and 43 in a pump casing 41 having a suction port 41a and a discharge port 41b.
Is provided, and the other ends of the shaft members 44 and 45, one ends of which are connected to the piston members 42 and 43, are engaged with the cam grooves of the cam member 46. The suction cap 34 is connected to the suction port 41a of the suction pump 35 via a suction pipe (not shown), and the discharge port 41b is linked to the waste ink tank 46 containing the adsorbent 45 through the discharge pipe 44. .

Therefore, the residual ink in the nozzle of the print head 5 sucked by the suction pump 35 is discharged to the waste ink tank 46 via the suction pump 35, and is adsorbed to the adsorbent 45 in the waste ink tank 46. It has become so.

The suction pump 35 is controlled by the cam member 36 so as to perform two or more suction operations with different suction forces in order to suck the ink of the print head 5. That is, the suction operation performed by the suction pump 35 is a first suction operation having a small suction force and a second suction operation having a larger suction force and a longer suction time than the first suction operation.

The two suction operations are performed in such a manner that the print head 5 does not contain ink and the ink passages thereof are filled with air.
5, when a large negative pressure is applied through the suction cap 34 to suck the ink of the print head 5 at a stretch, the ink cartridge 7 causes the ink to flow into many channels (ink passages) of the print head 5. This is because the ink abruptly flows in the state of being mixed with the air, and the ink foams, so that the ink in the print head 5 contains the air bubbles.

Next, the recovery operation of the ink jet printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

When the recovery operation is performed on the ink jet printer 1, as is well known, the carriage 6 is moved to the recovery area under the control of a control circuit (not shown), and the cam member 36 controls according to this movement. The operations of the suction cap 34, the suction pump 35, and the like are controlled, whereby a series of recovery operations for recovering a good ink ejection state is performed.

First, when the rotation angle of the cam member 36 is near 0 °, both piston members 42 and 43 of the suction pump 35 are.
The suction cap 34 is in the initial state in which the suction cap 34 is located at the standby position while the vicinity thereof is located near the discharge port 41b.

Then, when the cam member 36 is rotationally driven, the first and second piston members 42 and 43 are integrated and gradually move from a rotation angle of about 6 ° as shown in FIG. A little faster at around 97 °. When the rotation angle of the cam member 36 approaches 114 °, both piston members 42, 43 stop moving, and both piston members 42, 4
The vicinity of the boundary of 3 becomes the vicinity of the suction port 41a (see FIG. 6).
On the other hand, during the movement of both the piston members 42 and 43, the suction cap 34 moves from the standby position to the print head 5.
The print head 5 is moved forward to cover the nozzle surface of the print head 5.

After the suction cap 34 completely covers the nozzle surface of the print head 5, the first piston member 42 remains stationary while the rotation angle of the cam member 36 changes from 122 ° to 129 °. The second piston member 43 is the first
Is moved in a direction in which the distance between the piston member 42 and the piston member 42 increases, and a pump chamber 46 is formed between the first and second piston members 42 and 43 (see FIG. 7). Maintains the volume of the pump chamber 46 between 129 ° and 145 °, and suction force (-0.1-
The first suction operation with a small value of 0.25 kg / cm2) is performed. By this first suction operation, suction is performed with a small negative pressure, and when the print head contains air, the ink is sucked while expelling the air.

Then, the rotation angle of the cam member 36 becomes 145.
The first and second piston members 42, 43 maintain the volume of the pump chamber 46 during the period from 0 ° to 171 ° by the first piston member 42 and the suction port 41a.
Is moved in the direction to close the first suction operation, and the first suction operation is completed. At this time, the second piston member 43 is
b is blocked.

After that, the above-mentioned state is maintained for the rotation angle of the cam member 36 from 171 ° to 179 °, and the following 1
Between 79 ° and 205 °, the first piston member 42 is moved in the direction of opening the suction port 41a while the discharge port 41b is closed by the second piston member 43, and the pump chamber 46 is enlarged. The negative pressure is increased, and finally the suction port 41a is opened as shown in FIG.
The state is maintained up to around 9 °, and the second suction operation, which has a larger suction force and a longer suction time than the first suction operation, is started.

Then, the rotation angle of the cam member 36 is 239.
From 1 ° to 272 °, the second piston member 43 is moved with the first piston member 42 in the state where the suction port 41a is opened until just before the second piston member 43 opens the discharge port 41b (see FIG. 10). The second while expanding the chamber 46
Suction operation is performed. By this second suction operation, the ink in the print head 5 is sucked at once, and a good ejection state is restored.

Then, the cam members 272 ° to 282.5
The second piston member 43 continues to move in the direction of opening the discharge port 41b up to the angle .degree., While the first piston member 42 moves in the direction of closing the suction port 41a. Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the second piston member 43 moves to a position where the pump chamber 46 is opened to the discharge port 41b,
Although the movement of the cam member stops when the rotation angle of the cam member is around 282.5 °, the first piston member 42 does not move the cam member 3.
The rotation is continued until the rotation angle of 6 becomes around 338 °, the pump chamber 46 is compressed, and the discharge operation is positively performed (see FIG. 12). As a result, the ink in the pump chamber 46 is discharged to the waste liquid tank 46.

After the ejecting operation, both the piston members 42 are kept in the stopped state while the cam member 36 is in the range of 338 ° to 345 °, and thereafter in the range of 354 °.
Is returned to a state similar to the initial state, as shown in FIG. 13, and the state is maintained from 354 ° to 360 ° (0 °) to become the initial state.

In the above embodiment, the first piston member 42 is moved from the rotation angle 145 ° of the cam member 36 to 20 °.
Although it is displaced between 5 °, as shown in FIG. 14, only the second piston member 43 is displaced while the first piston member remains stationary without being displaced,
The same control can be performed. In this case, the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment is achieved except that the timing of the second suction operation is slightly advanced.

In the above-described embodiment, the filter member 12 is provided only in the ink supply hole 7a of the ink cartridge 7, but the connecting portion of the ink cartridge 7 and the print head 5 is In some cases, the filter member 12A is also provided on the print head (manifold) side (see FIG. 2), and in such a case, the suction operation performed by the suction pump 35 is performed with the first and second suction forces having a small suction force. By performing the suction operation and the third suction operation, which has a suction force larger than that of the first and second suction operations and a suction time longer than that of the first and second suction operations, the same operational effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

That is, the first suction operation by the suction pump 35 is performed by the suction force required for the ink to pass through the first filter member 12, and the second suction operation is performed for the ink further to the next filter member. Print head 5 passing through member 12A
By it performed by a suction force necessary to meet the ink channel of the, after them, the first and second suction operation (-
The third suction operation (-0.5 kg / cm ² ) having a suction force larger than that of 0.1 to −0.25 kg / cm ² and a suction time longer than
The ink does not bubble even when the pressure is cm ² ).

[0038]

The present invention is based on the first invention by the suction pump means.
Suction action causes ink to pass through the first filter member
The second suction operation is performed with the suction force necessary for
Pass through the second filter member and pass through the ink in the print head.
The suction force required to fill the path allows it to
After these, the suction force is larger than in the first and second suction operations.
Even if you perform the third suction operation, which requires a long and long suction time,
There is no foaming.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an inkjet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a suction pump according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a connecting portion between a print head and an ink cartridge according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a time chart of control by a cam member for the suction cap and the first and second piston members of the suction pump.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the suction pump.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the suction pump.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the suction pump.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the suction pump.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the suction pump.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the suction pump.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the suction pump.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the suction pump.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the suction pump.

FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 4 for another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 inkjet printer 4 printing paper 5 print head 12 Filter member 12A filter member 31 suction pump means 34 Suction cap 35 suction pump 36 Cam member 42 First Piston Member 43 Second piston member

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Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A print head for ejecting ink onto a recording medium for printing, and an ink cart connected to the print head.
The ridge and the ink cartridge and print head.
The ink cartridge side and print head side of
An inkjet provided with the first and second filter members provided therein, and a suction pump unit that has a suction cap that comes into contact with and separates from the nozzle surface of the print head, and that suctions ink of the print head through the suction cap. In the recovery device of the printer, the suction operation performed by the suction pump means has a small suction force.
First and second suction operations, and the first and second suction operations
Third suction motion with a larger suction force and longer suction time than
And the first suction operation by the suction pump means is
Suction required for the clogs to pass through the first filter member
The second suction operation is performed before the ink
The ink inside the print head passes through the second filter member.
The recovery device for inkjet printers is characterized by the suction force required to fill the passage . 2. The pump means is in a pump casing.
The recovery device for an inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein the recovery device has two piston members that can move independently . 3. The suction operation by the suction pump means,
The recovery device for an inkjet printer according to claim 2, wherein the recovery device is controlled by a cam member linked to the piston member .