JP4507570B2 - Ejection surface protection device, liquid ejection cartridge, and liquid ejection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a discharge surface protection device capable of cleaning a discharge surface provided with a discharge port for discharging a liquid pressed by a pressure generated by a pressure generating element to a target, and a liquid discharge cartridge. The present invention relates to a liquid ejection device.

  As an apparatus for ejecting liquid, there is an ink jet printer apparatus that records images and characters by ejecting ink from an ink ejection head onto a recording paper P that is an object. A printer device using this ink jet system has advantages such as low running cost, small device size, and easy colorization of printed images. In a printer apparatus using an ink jet system, for example, ink is filled from a plurality of colors of ink such as yellow, magenta, cyan, black, and the like, and is supplied to an ink chamber of an ink ejection head.

  In this printer apparatus, the ink supplied to the ink liquid chamber or the like presses the ink in the ink with a pressure generating element such as a heating resistor disposed in the ink liquid chamber, and is provided in the ink discharge head. From a so-called nozzle. Specifically, the heating resistor disposed in the ink liquid chamber heats the ink in the ink chamber to generate bubbles in the ink on the heating resistor, and the ink is discharged from the nozzles by the energy when the bubbles break and disappear. The ejected ink is landed on the recording paper P or the like, which is the object, and images and characters are printed.

  In such an ink jet printer, when ink is deposited on the ejection surface on which the nozzles are formed and the ejection surface becomes dirty, no ink is ejected from the nozzles, or ink is ejected from the nozzles. Ink discharge bends that deviate in the ink discharge direction and the print quality deteriorates.

  In order to solve such problems, in the printer apparatus, as shown in Patent Document 1, after ejecting ink, the ejection surface is wiped with a cleaning blade made of an elastic resin such as rubber, for example. A discharge surface cleaning mechanism has been proposed that removes excess ink adhering thereto.

  In the ejection surface cleaning mechanism 201 of Patent Document 1 shown in FIG. 28, the nozzle region 202a provided with the nozzle 203 on the ejection surface 202 is wiped while moving in the direction of arrow S in FIG. A cleaning blade 204 having a corner portion 204a in the vicinity of the approximate center has been proposed. Specifically, in this discharge surface cleaning mechanism 201, the cleaning blade 204 has a corner portion 204a bent at a predetermined angle near the center in the width direction of the nozzle region 202a, and the edge is defined with reference to the corner portion 204a. The end portion 204b is inclined in the direction opposite to the arrow S in FIG. Then, when cleaning the ejection surface 202, the tip of the cleaning blade 204 facing the ejection surface 202 is moved in the direction of arrow S in FIG. The cleaning blade 204 slides and wipes the ejection surface 202 so that excess ink is pushed away from the apex portion 204a to the edge portion 204b to the end in the width direction of the nozzle region 202a, and the ejection surface 202 is cleaned. .

  However, in such a discharge surface cleaning mechanism 201, when the discharge surface 202 is cleaned, stress such as frictional force when wiping the discharge surface 202 on the corner portion 204a of the cleaning blade 204 sliding on the discharge surface 202 is applied. In addition, deformation may occur and a gap may be formed between the corner portion 204a and the ejection surface 202, and ink may remain on the ejection surface 202.

  In the discharge surface cleaning mechanism 201, the cleaning blade 204 is formed of a rubber plate or the like having a certain degree of rigidity in order to clean the entire nozzle region 202a.

  For this reason, in the cleaning blade 204, for example, if the flatness of the discharge surface 202 is poor, it becomes difficult to press the entire tip against the discharge surface 202, and there is a gap between the discharge surface 202 and the tip. It becomes difficult to clean 202.

  Further, in the discharge surface cleaning mechanism 201, it is necessary to press the entire tip of the cleaning blade 204 against the discharge surface 202, and the discharge surface 202 is cleaned so that there is no gap between the tip of the cleaning blade 204 and the discharge surface 202. A troublesome work such as adjusting the contact state of the blade 204 must be performed.

  Furthermore, in the discharge surface cleaning mechanism 201, for example, when the cleaning blade 204 is pressed against the discharge surface 202 without a gap so as not to have a gap between the discharge surface 202 and the cleaning blade 204, the pressure is excessively pressed. The pressed cleaning blade 204 may damage the nozzle 203 on the ejection surface 202 and the print quality may deteriorate.

JP-A-9-216387

  The present invention provides a discharge surface protection device, a liquid discharge cartridge, and a liquid discharge device that can be appropriately cleaned without damaging the discharge surface of a liquid discharge head portion.

The discharge surface protection device according to the present invention that achieves the above-described object discharges liquid droplets from a liquid discharge head unit provided in a liquid discharge device that performs recording by discharging liquid in the form of liquid droplets and landing on an object. A discharge surface protection device that is held on a discharge surface on which a discharge port is formed, and is disposed on a surface parallel to the discharge surface at least when a droplet is discharged from the discharge port of the liquid discharge head unit. On the other hand, the direction of retreating from the rectangular discharge port region where the discharge port of the discharge surface is formed so as to face the discharge port and opening the discharge surface, and the discharge surface of the discharge head unit entering the discharge port region A cover cap portion that is moved in the closing direction, a cap holding portion that holds the cover cap portion movably with respect to the discharge surface of the liquid discharge head portion, and a surface that faces the discharge surface of the cover cap portion Above, rectangular outlet area With a plurality of plate-like blade portions erected along the long side direction, with the tip of each blade portion facing the discharge surface being in contact with the discharge surface, the cover cap portion and the discharge surface A discharge surface cleaning unit that cleans the discharge surface by moving in a direction parallel to the short side of the rectangular discharge port region within the parallel surface. When the center position of the edge in the opening direction side is used as a reference, the blade portions adjacent in the long side direction of the rectangular discharge port region are in a state where the adjacent end portions face each other in the moving direction of the cover cap portion. The discharge surface by the cover cap portion is arranged in the closing direction of the discharge surface by the cover cap portion in order from the one closer to the reference, and the end portion in the width direction of the discharge port region in each blade portion is closer to the reference than the one far from the reference. of Located in the release direction.

The liquid ejection cartridge according to the present invention is a liquid ejection cartridge provided in a liquid ejection apparatus that performs recording by ejecting liquid in a droplet state and landing on the object, and the liquid is in a droplet state When a droplet is discharged from the discharge port of the liquid discharge head unit, the liquid discharge head unit having a discharge surface on which a discharge port for discharging toward the surface is formed and a plane parallel to the discharge surface are at least a target. On the other hand, the direction of retreating from the rectangular discharge port region where the discharge port of the discharge surface is formed so as to face the discharge port and opening the discharge surface, and the discharge surface of the discharge head unit entering the discharge port region A cover cap portion that is moved in the closing direction, a cap holding portion that holds the cover cap portion movably with respect to the discharge surface of the liquid discharge head portion, and a surface that faces the discharge surface of the cover cap portion Above, A cover having a plurality of plate-like blade portions erected along the long side direction of the shape discharge port region, with the tip facing each discharge surface of each blade portion being in contact with the discharge surface A discharge surface protective cover having a discharge surface cleaning portion for cleaning the discharge surface by moving the cap portion in a direction parallel to the short side of the rectangular discharge port region in a plane parallel to the discharge surface; When the discharge surface cleaning unit is based on the center position of the edge of the discharge surface side of the discharge surface by the cover cap unit, the blade portions adjacent in the long side direction of the rectangular discharge port region are Are arranged in the closing direction of the discharge surface by the cover cap part in order from the direction close to the reference with the cover caps facing each other in the moving direction of the cover cap part, and close to the reference among the end parts in the width direction of the discharge port area in each blade part Is based on Situated in the opening direction side of the ejection surface by the cover cap from farther in.

A liquid ejection apparatus according to the present invention is a liquid ejection apparatus that performs recording by ejecting a liquid in a droplet state and landing on the object, and ejects the liquid toward the object in a droplet state. A liquid discharge head unit having a discharge surface in which a discharge port is formed, and a surface parallel to the discharge surface, and at least when the liquid droplet is discharged from the discharge port of the liquid discharge head unit, In the direction to retreat from the rectangular discharge port region where the discharge port of the discharge surface is formed so as to face, and to open the discharge surface, and in the direction to enter the discharge port region and close the discharge surface of the discharge head unit A cover cap portion that is moved over, a cap holding portion that holds the cover cap portion movably with respect to the discharge surface of the liquid discharge head portion, and a rectangular shape on the surface facing the discharge surface of the cover cap portion Across the long side of the discharge port area A plurality of plate-shaped blade portions are provided, and the cover cap portion is rectangular in a plane parallel to the discharge surface in a state where the tip opposite to the discharge surface of each blade portion is in contact with the discharge surface. A discharge surface protective cover having a discharge surface cleaning unit for cleaning the discharge surface by moving in a direction parallel to the short side of the discharge port region of the shape, and when the liquid discharge head unit discharges droplets from the discharge port A discharge control unit that controls the discharge operation, and the discharge surface cleaning unit has a long side direction of the rectangular discharge port region when the center position of the edge of the discharge surface side of the discharge surface by the cover cap unit is used as a reference a blade unit adjacent, aligned in direction of closing the ejection surface by the cover cap in order from the side closer to the reference while being opposed ends adjacent to the moving direction of the cover cap, and ejection of each blade portion Situated in the opening direction side of the ejection surface by the cover cap from the farther the criteria closer to the reference of the end portion in the width direction of the mouth area.

According to the present invention, a plurality of plate-like blade portions erected along the long side direction of the rectangular discharge port region on the surface facing the discharge surface of the cover cap portion are adjacent end portions. Discharge surface by moving the cover cap portion in a direction parallel to the short side of the rectangular discharge port area with the ends facing each other in the direction of movement of the cover cap portion and the tip of the discharge surface contacting the discharge surface Wipe away. That is, according to the present invention, each blade portion contacts the discharge surface, and each of the blade portions wipes the discharge surface, thereby removing foreign matters attached to the discharge surface and cleaning the discharge surface.

According to the present invention, when the center position of the edge of the cover cap portion in the moving direction is used as a reference, the blade portions adjacent in the long side direction of the rectangular discharge port region are adjacent to each other. In the state facing the moving direction of the parts, the cover caps are arranged in the blocking direction of the discharge surface in order from the closest to the reference, and the end closer to the reference among the widthwise ends of the discharge port area in each blade part is the reference It is located on the opening direction side of the discharge surface by the cover cap part from the far side. Therefore, according to the present invention, when the cover cap part moves in the opening direction of the discharge surface and the discharge surface is cleaned, the cover cap part is positioned in the front row in the moving direction of the cover cap part, that is, the first in the reference. The foreign matter adhering to the discharge surface in order from the closest blade portion is pushed away toward the short side of the rectangular discharge port region, and the foreign material is pushed out of the discharge port region to wipe the discharge surface.

According to the present invention, for example, even when the flatness of the discharge surface is poor, a plurality of sheets erected over the long side direction of the rectangular discharge port region on the surface facing the discharge surface of the cover cap portion . Since the plate-like blade portions wipe each contact with the discharge surface and remove foreign matters adhering to the discharge surface, so-called excess liquid, the discharge surface can be appropriately cleaned.

According to the present invention, when cleaning the discharge surface, the foreign matter adhered to the discharge surface in order from the blade portion located in the front row in the moving direction of the cover cap portion is directed toward the short side of the rectangular discharge port region. Since the foreign matter is pushed away and wiped out so as to push out the foreign matter to the outside of the discharge port area, the discharge surface can be appropriately cleaned without any foreign matter remaining in the discharge port region.

According to the present invention, when cleaning the discharge surface, adjacent end portions of a plurality of plate-like blade portions erected across the long side direction of the rectangular discharge port region are the cover cap portions. For example, even if liquid remains at the end of the blade part on the front side in the moving direction of the cover cap part, the liquid is left behind in the moving direction of the cover cap part. end of the other blade portion located from to dispel the wiped in-click can be properly cleaned ejection surface without leaving wiping the liquid ejection surface occurs.

  As described above, according to the present invention, excess liquid adhering to the ejection surface can be appropriately wiped and removed by a plurality of blade portions, and thus, non-ejection and ejection bending caused by excess liquid adhering to the ejection surface are suppressed. Printing with excellent image quality.

  Hereinafter, an example in which the ejection surface protection device, the liquid ejection cartridge, and the liquid ejection device according to the present invention are applied to a printer will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an ink jet printer apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a printer apparatus) 1 to which the present invention is applied ejects ink or the like onto a recording paper P that travels in a predetermined direction to display images and characters. It is something to print. In addition, the printer device 1 is a so-called line in which ink discharge ports (nozzles) are arranged in a substantially line shape in the width direction of the recording paper P, that is, in the direction of the arrow W in FIG. Type printer device. An ink jet printer apparatus 1 to which the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is applied ejects ink, which is liquid, onto a recording paper P, which is an object, and makes it land, for example, from an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer. An image, a character, or the like composed of ink dots corresponding to input character data, image data, or the like is recorded.

  The printer apparatus 1 includes a printer head cartridge (hereinafter referred to as a head cartridge) 2 that is a liquid discharge head, and a printer body 3 that is an apparatus body to which the head cartridge 2 is mounted.

  In the printer apparatus 1, the head cartridge 2 is handled as a consumable item, and the head cartridge 2 can be attached to and detached from the printer main body 3, so that the replacement can be easily performed.

  First, the head cartridge 2 that can be attached to and detached from the printer main body 3 will be described.

  The head cartridge 2 is a so-called line type printer head in which a plurality of nozzles, which are ejection openings for ejecting ink, are arranged in a substantially straight line with a length corresponding to the width of the recording paper P.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the head cartridge 2 includes a cartridge main body 12 in which an ink tank 11 for containing ink is mounted. The cartridge main body 12 has yellow, cyan, and color printing corresponding to color printing. Ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k composed of four colors of magenta and black are detachable.

  These four ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k are containers that are formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape by, for example, injection molding of a resin material or the like, and contain ink corresponding to each color therein. . In addition, these four ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k have an inner surface that is in contact with ink with a surface roughness that is more rough than the outer surface so that minute foreign matters such as dust can be easily removed when the inside is cleaned. Is getting smaller. The four ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k have a long shape corresponding to the long side direction of the cartridge body 12 in order to accommodate as much ink as possible. The ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k are arranged side by side in the short side direction of the cartridge body 12.

  Note that, in these four ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k, the black ink tank 11k that consumes the most ink has a larger capacity than the other ink tanks 11y, 11m, and 11c, and is thicker than the others. It has the same structure except having. Therefore, the configuration of these ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k will be collectively described as the ink tank 11 below.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ink tank 11 that stores the ink i includes an ink storage portion 21 that is a liquid storage portion that stores the ink i, and the ink i in the ink storage portion 21 to the cartridge body 12. An ink delivery part 22 that is a liquid delivery part to be delivered, an external communication hole 23 that allows the ink storage part 21 to communicate with the outside, and an air introduction tube 24 that introduces external air into the ink storage part 21 from the external communication hole 23. And have.

  The ink storage portion 21 forms a storage space for storing the ink i, and has an inner shape substantially corresponding to the outer shape of the ink tank 11 in order to store as much ink i as possible. Further, the ink containing portion 21 is formed so that the bottom surface portion of the ink containing portion 21 is the deepest at the ink sending portion 22 located at the substantially center, and the ink i contained therein flows into the ink sending portion 22 in a concentrated manner. It is made like that.

  The ink delivery unit 22 is a nozzle that supplies ink i from the ink tank 11 communicated with the ink storage unit 21 to the cartridge body 12, and is provided so as to protrude downward from the lower surface central portion of the ink storage unit 21. Yes. The ink delivery part 22 has a tapered shape whose inner diameter is increased toward the tip so that the ink delivery part 22 can be smoothly fitted to a connecting part 35 of the cartridge body 12 described later.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the external communication hole 23 is provided at the center of the upper surface of the ink containing portion 21. Further, the external communication hole 23 is closed by a sealing member (not shown) having air permeability. Thereby, in the ink tank 11, the ink i is prevented from leaking outside from the external communication hole 23, and dust or the like is generated in the ink storage portion 21 when external air is taken in from the external communication hole 23. Preventing intrusion.

  The air introduction tube 24 extends downward from the external communication hole 23 to the inside of the ink containing portion 21. As a result, in the ink tank 11, when the ink i in the ink containing portion 21 is sent from the ink sending portion 22 to the cartridge body 12, the air corresponding to the decrease in the ink i in the ink containing portion 21. Is taken into the ink containing portion 21 from the external communication hole 23 through the air introduction tube 24.

  In addition, in the middle of the air introduction tube 24, a liquid storage unit that temporarily stores the ink i so that the ink i that has flowed back from the ink storage unit 21 does not suddenly flow out of the external communication hole 23. An ink reservoir 25 is provided. The ink storage portion 25 forms a substantially rhombus-shaped internal space in which the longer diagonal line when viewed from the front is aligned with the long side direction of the ink storage portion 21, and the upper corner portion is the air introduction tube 24. Are communicated with the external communication hole 23, and the lower corner portion is communicated with the ink containing portion 21 via the air introduction tube 24. As a result, in the ink tank 11, the ink storage unit 25 temporarily stores the ink i that has flowed back from the ink storage unit 21 through the air introduction tube 24, so that the ink i does not leak to the outside from the external communication hole 23. The ink i can be returned again to the ink container 21 side.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ink tank 11 has an engaging step portion 26 and a locking protrusion 27 which are fixing means for fixing to a tank mounting portion 31 of the cartridge body 12 described later. is doing.

  The engagement step portion 26 is a step portion formed on one end side in the long side direction of the ink tank 11, and a horizontal surface portion 26 a that is parallel to the upper surface portion and lower than the upper surface portion from the side surface portion on the one end side. And an inclined surface portion 26b inclined from the horizontal surface portion 26a toward the upper surface portion.

  The locking projection 27 is a projection formed to project from the side surface portion on the other end side in the long side direction of the ink tank 11, and is positioned below the horizontal surface portion 27a and a horizontal surface portion 27a parallel to the upper surface portion. And an inclined surface portion 27b inclined toward the side surface portion.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the cartridge main body 12 has a tank mounting portion 31 in which the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k corresponding to the above-described colors are mounted.

  The tank mounting portion 31 has a depth sufficient to accommodate the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k from the upper surface portion of the cartridge main body 12 that is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape corresponding to the width of the recording paper P. The bottom surface of the recess is formed by a partition wall 31a so that the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k are arranged in the short side direction of the cartridge body 12. ing.

  The black ink tank 11k is thicker than the other ink tanks 11y, 11m, and 11c. Therefore, the tank mounting portion 31 also has a partition wall 31a that partitions the mounting position of the black ink tank 11k. The interval is formed by a predetermined width wider than the interval of the partition walls 31a that partition the mounting positions of the other ink tanks 11y, 11m, and 11c.

  The tank mounting portion 31 is provided with an engaged portion 32, a latch lever 33, and a leaf spring 34 which are fixing means for fixing the ink tank 11 described above.

  The engaged portion 32 is a portion that is engaged with the horizontal surface portion 26 a of the engagement step portion 26 formed in the ink tank 11 described above, and is an open end that is located on one end side in the long side direction of the tank mounting portion 31. Projecting by a predetermined width in the long side direction.

  The latch lever 33 is an elastic displacement piece that protrudes upward from a bottom corner portion located on the other end side in the long side direction of the tank mounting portion 31, and a tip portion of the latch lever 33 with respect to a side surface portion of the tank mounting portion 31. Thus, it can be elastically displaced in the direction of approaching and separating. Further, a locking hole 33 a for locking the locking protrusion 27 of the ink tank 11 described above is formed in the leading end side of the latch lever 33. A latch lever 33 corresponding to each of the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k is provided along the short side direction of the cartridge main body 12 in the tank mounting portion 31 partitioned by the partition wall 31a.

  The leaf spring 34 is a pressing member that is provided on the bottom surface of the tank mounting portion 31 and presses the ink tank 11 mounted on the tank mounting portion 31 upward. The leaf spring 34 is disposed along the long side direction of the tank mounting portion 31, has one end fixed to the bottom surface portion of the tank mounting portion 31, and an intermediate portion thereof bent upward. ing. A plate spring 34 corresponding to each of the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k is provided along the short side direction of the cartridge main body 12 on the bottom surface of the tank mounting portion 31 partitioned by the partition wall 31a. Yes.

  When the ink tank 11 is mounted on the tank mounting portion 31, as shown in FIG. 5, one end side of the ink tank 11 provided with the engagement step portion 26 is inserted into the tank mounting portion 31 obliquely. The engaging projection 27 of the ink tank 11 is provided with the contact position as a rotation fulcrum while the horizontal surface portion 26a of the engagement step portion 26 is in contact with the engaged portion 32 of the tank mounting portion 31. The other end side is inserted into the tank mounting portion 31 while being rotated. At this time, the locking protrusion 27 of the ink tank 11 elastically displaces the latch lever 33 in a direction close to the side surface of the tank mounting portion 31 by the inclined surface portion 27 b coming into contact with the latch lever 33.

  As shown in FIG. 6, at the same time that the ink tank 11 is mounted to the tank mounting portion 31, the locking protrusion 27 is locked to the locking hole 33 a of the latch lever 33. At this time, the front end portion of the latch lever 33 presses the side surface portion of the ink tank 11 mounted on the tank mounting portion 31, and the leaf spring 34 provided on the bottom surface portion of the tank mounting portion 31 is the bottom surface portion of the ink tank 11. The horizontal surface portion 26a of the engaging step portion 26 is locked to the engaged portion 32 of the tank mounting portion 31, and the horizontal surface portion 27a of the locking protrusion 27 is latched to the latch lever 33. The locking hole 33a is locked. Thereby, the ink tank 11 can be appropriately fixed to the tank mounting portion 31 of the cartridge body 12.

  On the other hand, when removing the ink tank 11 mounted on the tank mounting portion 31, the tip end portion of the latch lever 33 is elastically displaced in a direction away from the side surface portion of the ink tank 11. Thereby, the latching state of the horizontal surface part 27a of the latching protrusion 27 mentioned above and the latching hole 33a of the latch lever 33 is cancelled | released. At this time, since the leaf spring 34 presses the bottom surface portion of the ink tank 11 upward, the ink tank 11 can be easily detached from the tank mounting portion 31.

  Further, the cartridge main body 12 to which the ink tank 11 as described above is attached includes, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, a connecting portion 35 that is connected to the ink delivery portion 22 of the ink tank 11 described above, and this connecting portion. The ink supply unit 36 is a liquid supply unit that supplies the ink i from the ink tank 11 connected to the ink tank 11, and the head unit 37 discharges the ink i supplied by the ink supply unit 36. .

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the connecting portion 35 is a nozzle provided at the center of the bottom surface of the tank mounting portion 31, and the tip of the connecting portion 35 is fitted into the ink delivery portion 22 described above, whereby the ink tank 11 ink delivery units 22. Further, when the ink delivery part 22 of the ink tank 11 is connected to the connection part 35, an opening / closing pin (not shown) provided at the tip of the connection part 35 opens the ink delivery part 22. The connecting portion 35 is provided with a seal member 38 such as an O-ring to prevent the ink i from leaking from the connected ink delivery portion 22. In addition, you may make it the front-end | tip part serve as an opening-and-closing pin. That is, a configuration in which the distal end portion of the connecting portion 35 is fitted to the ink delivery portion 22 and the ink delivery portion 22 is opened may be employed. Further, the distal end portion of the connecting portion 35 has a tapered shape whose outer diameter is reduced toward the distal end so as to be smoothly fitted to the ink delivery portion 22 described above.

  At the center of the bottom surface of the tank mounting portion 31 partitioned by the partition wall 31a, connecting portions 35 corresponding to the respective ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k are provided side by side in the short side direction of the cartridge main body 12. ing.

  When ink i is ejected from a nozzle 52a of the head unit 37, which will be described later, the ink supply unit 36 opens a valve (not shown) due to the negative pressure generated on the head unit 37 side, and from the ink storage unit 21 of the ink tank 11. When the ink i is supplied to the head portion 37 and the ink i is supplied from the ink containing portion 21 of the ink tank 11 to the head portion 37 and the pressure on the head portion 37 side returns to the steady state, the valve is closed to close the ink. This is a valve mechanism that stops the supply of the ink i from the ink storage portion 21 of the tank 11 to the head portion 37.

  And the ink supply part 36 repeats the supply operation | movement of the ink i, whenever the ink i is discharged from the nozzle 52a of the head part 37 mentioned later. On the other hand, in the ink tank 11, when the ink i in the ink storage unit 21 is supplied to the ink supply unit 36 side in conjunction with the supply operation of the ink i by the ink supply unit 36 described above, As the ink i decreases, air corresponding to the decreased ink i is introduced into the ink containing portion 21 from the external communication hole 23 through the air introduction tube 24. Accordingly, it is possible to appropriately supply the ink i to the ink supply unit 36 side while keeping the pressure in the ink storage unit 21 in an equilibrium state.

  In addition, an ink supply unit 36 is provided below the connecting unit 35 corresponding to each color described above.

  The head unit 37 is positioned above the discharge surface 41 on which a nozzle 52a (described later) for discharging the ink i in the form of droplets is formed, and the ink i is supplied from the ink supply unit 36. An ink supply port 42 and an ink flow path 43 that guides ink i supplied from the ink supply port 42 to each nozzle are provided.

  The discharge surface 41 is provided with a plurality of nozzles 52a arranged in a substantially straight line over a length corresponding to the width of the recording paper P. The ink supply port 42 is provided at the center of the upper surface of the ink flow path 43 and communicates with the ink supply unit 36. The ink flow path 43 is provided substantially linearly over a length corresponding to the width of the recording paper P so that the ink i is supplied to each nozzle 52a.

  In the head portion 37, ink discharge heads 44 each having a predetermined number of nozzles 52a are arranged in a staggered manner. That is, the ink discharge heads 44 are arranged so as to be alternately arranged in the width direction of the recording paper P with the ink flow path 43 interposed therebetween.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the ink discharge head 44 is divided into a circuit board 51 serving as a base, a nozzle sheet 52 formed with a plurality of nozzles 52a, and a space between the circuit board 51 and the nozzle sheet 52 for each nozzle 52a. And an ink liquid chamber 54 that pressurizes the ink i supplied through the ink flow path 43, and a heating resistor 55 that heats the ink i supplied to the ink liquid chamber 54.

  The circuit board 51 forms a control circuit including a logic IC (Integrated Circuit), a driver transistor, and the like on a semiconductor wafer made of silicon or the like, and forms an upper surface portion of the ink liquid chamber 54.

  The nozzle sheet 52 is reduced in diameter toward the discharge surface 41, and a nozzle 52 a having a diameter of about 20 μm on the discharge surface 41 side is provided, and the nozzle sheet 52 is disposed to face the circuit board 51 and the film 53. The lower surface of the ink liquid chamber 54 is formed.

  The film 53 is made of, for example, an exposure curable dry film resist, and is formed so as to surround each nozzle 52a except for the portion communicating with the ink flow path 43 described above. Further, the film 53 is interposed between the circuit board 51 and the nozzle sheet 52, thereby forming a side surface portion of the ink liquid chamber 54.

  The ink liquid chamber 54 is surrounded by the circuit board 51, the nozzle sheet 52, and the film 53 described above, thereby forming a pressurizing space that pressurizes the ink i supplied from the ink flow path 43 for each nozzle 52a.

  The heating resistor 55 is disposed on the circuit board 51 facing the ink liquid chamber 54 and is electrically connected to a control circuit or the like provided on the circuit board 51. The heating resistor 55 generates heat by being controlled by a control circuit or the like, and heats the ink i in the ink liquid chamber 54.

  In the ink ejection head 44, the control circuit of the circuit board 51 drives and controls the heating resistor 55, and supplies a pulse current to the selected heating resistor 55 for about 1 to 3 microseconds, for example. To do. Thereby, in the ink discharge head 44, the heating resistor 55 is rapidly heated. Then, in the ink discharge head 44, as shown in FIG. 9A, bubbles b are generated in the ink i in the ink liquid chamber 54 in contact with the heating resistor 55. In the ink discharge head 44, as shown in FIG. 9B, the ink i is pressurized while the bubble b expands in the ink liquid chamber 54, and the pushed ink i becomes a droplet. And discharged from the nozzle 52a. In the ink discharge head 44, after the ink i droplet is discharged, the ink i is supplied to the ink liquid chamber 54 through the ink flow path 43, thereby returning to the state before discharge again.

  In the ink discharge head 44 described above, the film 53 is formed over the entire main surface of the circuit board 51, and the film 53 is formed into a shape corresponding to the ink liquid chamber 54 using a photolithography technique. It is formed by laminating a nozzle sheet 52 thereon.

  The ink ejection head 44 described above employs an electrothermal conversion system in which the ink i is ejected while being heated by the heating resistor 55. However, the present invention is not limited to this system. For example, an electrical machine such as a piezoelectric element is used. An electromechanical conversion system in which droplets of ink i are electromechanically ejected by a conversion element may be employed.

  Further, a head portion 37 is provided below the ink supply portion 36 corresponding to each color described above. The bottom surface of the cartridge main body 12 is provided with discharge surfaces 41 of the head portions 37 corresponding to the ink tanks 11y, 11m, 11c, and 11k, respectively, along the short side direction of the cartridge main body 12. These form a continuous discharge surface 41.

  In addition to the configuration described above, the head cartridge 2 configured as described above includes a guide groove 39 described later, a remaining amount detection unit (not shown) that detects the remaining amount of ink i in the ink storage unit 12, and an ink tank 11y. , 11m, 11c, and 11k, an ink tank identification unit (not shown) is provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bottom surface of the cartridge body 12 protects the ejection surface 41 described above, prevents the ink i exposed from the nozzles 52 a of the ejection surface 41 from being dried, and ejects the ejection surface. A discharge surface protective cover 61 is provided for cleaning the ink i attached to the area other than the nozzle 52a of the 41 nozzle.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 10, the discharge surface protective cover 61 has a substantially rectangular cover cap portion 62 corresponding to the bottom surface portion of the cartridge main body 12 and a cap holding that is detachably held with respect to the cartridge main body 12. A strip 63 and a discharge surface cleaning unit 64 provided on the surface of the cover cap unit 62 facing the cartridge body 12 and cleaning the ink i attached to the discharge surface 41 are provided.

  In the discharge surface protective cover 61, the cover cap portion 62 moves in a plane substantially parallel to the discharge surface 41 when ink i is discharged from the discharge surface 41 of the cartridge body 12, and at least the recording paper. The nozzle 52a of the discharge surface 41 is retracted from the discharge port region 41a where the nozzle 52a is formed so that the nozzle 52a faces the P. The cover cap portion 62 serves as a tray that prevents the ink i from dripping from the head portion 37 in a state where the cover cap portion 62 is held by the cartridge main body 12 and closes the ejection surface 41, and is a bottom portion that is continuous with the cartridge main body 12. Thus, when the cartridge main body 12 is removed from the printer main body 3, the ink i on the ejection surface 41 is prevented from adhering to the other.

  The cap holding pieces 63 are a pair of protrusions that protrude upward on both sides in the long side direction of the cover cap portion 62 and whose front ends are bent substantially at right angles toward the outside, and are attached to and detached from the cartridge body 12. It protrudes over the direction, that is, the short side direction of the cover cap portion 62. The cap holding piece 63 is engaged with a pair of guide grooves 39 provided on the discharge surface 41 of the cartridge body 12, thereby holding the cover cap portion 62 so as to be substantially parallel to the discharge surface 41. .

  The discharge surface cleaning unit 64 includes a first blade unit 71 and a second blade unit 72 that are erected on the surface of the cover cap unit 62 that faces the discharge surface 41. Specifically, the blade portions 71 and 72 are formed of, for example, a resin elastic body such as chloroprene rubber or urethane rubber having a substantially rectangular plate shape, and are discharged on a surface facing the discharge surface 41 of the cover cap portion 62. The cover cap portion 62 is erected along the end portion of the cover cap portion 62 on the side attached to the cartridge main body 12 so as to face one main surface in a direction substantially orthogonal to the width direction of the outlet region 41a. The discharge surface cleaning section 64 is a so-called minute ink droplet that adheres to the discharge surface 41 as extra ink i when the above-described ink discharge head 44 discharges the ink i from the nozzle 52a in the form of a droplet. This is a cleaning mechanism that cleans the ejection surface 41 by wiping and removing ink satellites and the like while the blade portions 71 and 72 slide on the ejection surface 41. Since the blade portions 71 and 72 are detachably supported by a support piece 81a to be described later, for example, when the resin elastic member is deteriorated and the cleaning ability of the discharge surface 41 is lowered, it is easy to be new. Can be replaced.

  In the discharge surface cleaning section 64, the first blade section 71 is in the same direction as the width direction W of the recording paper P in the discharge port area 41a where the nozzle 52a of the discharge surface 41 is formed, that is, in the width direction of the discharge port area 41a. The second blade portion 72 is disposed from substantially the center to the other end in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a. And these blade parts 71 and 72 are made to oppose the edge parts 71a and 72a which adjoin each other in the direction substantially orthogonal to the width direction of the discharge outlet area | region 41a. That is, when cleaning the ejection surface 41, the blade portions 71 and 72 are configured to face at least all the nozzles 52a arranged in parallel in the width direction of the recording paper P.

  In the discharge surface cleaning section 64, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 10, the cover cap section 62 is retracted to the front side of the cartridge body 12, that is, when the cover cap section 62 moves in the direction of arrow A in FIG. When the predetermined position of the edge of the cover cap portion 62 in the moving direction is defined as the reference point B, the blade portions 71 and 72 erected in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a are connected to each other between the adjacent end portions 71a and 72a. In a state of being opposed to the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62, the cover cap portion 62 is arranged in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62, that is, in the direction opposite to the arrow A in FIG. The end portion 71a of the first blade portion 71 near the reference point B is positioned closer to the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62 than the end portion 71b far from the reference point B. The end portion 72a close to the point B is positioned closer to the moving direction side of the cover cap portion 62 than the end portion 72b far from the reference point B. In the following description, it is assumed that the first blade portion 71 of the blade portions 71 and 72 is located closer to the reference point B than the second blade portion 72.

That is, the blade portions 71 and 72 are inclined in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 10 toward the end portion in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a with respect to the end portions 71a and 72a closer to the reference point B. The adjacent end portions 71a, 72a are arranged in the opposite direction of the arrow A in FIG. 10 in order from the side closer to the reference point B while facing each other in the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62.

  In the discharge surface protective cover 61 having such a configuration, the cover cap portion 62 is substantially the same as the width direction of the discharge port region 41a in a state where the tips of the blade portions 71 and 72 facing the discharge surface 41 are in contact with the discharge surface 41. Retreat in the orthogonal direction, that is, when moving in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 10, the blade portions 71, 72 slide on the discharge surface 41, and excess ink i attached to the discharge surface 41 by the blade portions 71, 72 respectively. Wiping is performed and the discharge surface 41 is appropriately cleaned.

  Specifically, in the discharge surface protective cover 61, when cleaning the discharge surface 41, the discharge surface is disposed in order from the first blade portion 71 located on the front side in the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62, that is, close to the reference point B. Excess ink i adhering to 41 is pushed along the main surfaces of the blade portions 71 and 72 toward the end in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a, and the ink i is pushed out of the discharge port region 41a and discharged. The surface 41 is cleaned.

  At this time, in the discharge surface protective cover 61, when the discharge surface 41 is cleaned, the end portion 71a of the first blade portion 71 located on the front side in the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62 slides on the discharge surface 41. Even if the ink i is left unwiped due to deformation such as friction, the end portion of the second blade portion 72 that faces the end portion 71a and is located on the rear side in the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62 Since 72a wipes off the wiping residue of the ink i, the ejection surface 41 can be appropriately cleaned without causing the wiping residue of the ink i to occur on the ejection surface 41.

  Further, in the printer apparatus 1, when clogging or bubble mixing occurs in the nozzle 52 a of the discharge surface 41, the ink i is forcibly discharged from the ink discharge head 44 to eliminate clogging or bubble mixing. At this time, the discharge surface protective cover 61 functions as a tray for receiving the ink i forcibly discharged from the nozzle 52a by the cover cap portion 62. In the cover cap portion 62, an ink absorber 65 such as a sponge for absorbing the ink i is provided on the bottom surface of the cover cap portion 62 to prevent the ink i accumulated on the bottom surface from leaking to the outside. By doing so, the capacity for storing the ink i can be increased. The ink absorber 65 absorbs the ink i, and can be replaced when the ink absorption capacity is reached and the ink absorption capacity is lost.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, a pair of cap holding pieces 63 provided on the cover cap portion 62 are provided in the short side direction on the bottom surface portion of the cartridge body 12 to which the discharge surface protection cover 61 is attached, that is, the discharge surface 41. A pair of guide grooves 39 that are engaged from one end side are formed. The pair of guide grooves 39 correspond to the pair of cap holding pieces 63 and form recesses that are cut from the bottom surface of the cartridge main body 12 at a predetermined depth and cut outward at substantially right angles. ing. The pair of guide grooves 39 are located on both sides in the long side direction of the cartridge body 12 and are formed in parallel over the short side direction of the cartridge body 12.

  Therefore, the discharge surface protection cover 61 is configured to move the discharge surface 41 of the cartridge body 12 while sliding in the short side direction of the cartridge body 12 by engaging the pair of cap holding pieces 63 with the pair of guide grooves 39. The cover cap portion 62 is guided to the closing position where it closes. Further, the discharge surface protective cover 61 slides the cover cap portion 62 that closes the discharge surface 41 of the cartridge main body 12 toward the outside along the pair of guide grooves 39 in the short side direction of the cartridge main body 12. Thus, the cartridge body 12 can be removed from one end side in the short side direction. That is, the discharge surface protection cover 61 can be easily attached to and detached from the cartridge body 12.

  In addition, when the discharge surface 41 is closed by the discharge surface protective cover 61, at least a region facing the discharge surface cleaning unit 64 is recessed toward the ink tank 11 at a position facing the discharge surface cleaning unit 64. A part, specifically, an escape portion 45 (see FIG. 11) for preventing the blade portions 71 and 72 from coming into contact with the discharge surface 41 when the discharge surface cleaning unit does not perform the cleaning operation of the discharge surface 41. Is provided. Thereby, in the discharge surface cleaning unit 64, the blade portions 71 and 72 are brought into contact with the discharge surface 41 only when performing the cleaning operation, and the elastic force that presses the discharge surface 41 of the blade portions 71 and 72 is pressed. Can be prevented from deteriorating.

  By the way, the ejection surface cleaning unit 64 sucks and removes the ink i attached to the ejection surface 41 and the ink i in the nozzle 55a when the cover cap unit 62 is in the outward path of retreating from the ejection surface 41. When the discharge surface 41 is closed, the discharge surface 41 is not cleaned without contacting the discharge surface 41. When the discharge surface 41 is cleaned by reciprocating the cover cap portion 62, the blade portions 71 and 72 are directed toward the end portion in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a with reference to the end portions 71a and 72 closer to the reference point B. Since the ink cap is inclined in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62, excess ink i adhering to the discharge surface 41 is near the center in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a along the blade portions 71 and 72. Because it gathers. Therefore, the discharge surface protective cover 61 is provided with an elevation mechanism 66 for the discharge surface cleaning unit 64 mainly facing the discharge surface 41 of the cover cap unit 62.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the elevating mechanism 66 is provided in the cover cap portion 62, and includes an elevating member 81 to which the discharge surface cleaning unit 64 is attached, and an elevating control lever 82 that controls the elevating of the elevating member 81. Have. The elevating member 81 is formed with a support piece 81 a for supporting the discharge surface cleaning unit 64, and the support piece 81 a supports the blade portions 71 and 72 of the discharge surface cleaning unit 64. The elevating member 81 is attached so as to be movable in the arrow C direction or the counter arrow C direction in FIG. 11 that is close to and away from the discharge surface 41 by a guide wall 81 b formed on the bottom plate of the cover cap portion 62. The guide wall 81b is formed with a locking portion 81c projecting inwardly at the tip, and the step portion 81d of the elevating member 81 is locked to the locking portion 81c. When the elevating member 81 moves in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 11, which is close to the discharge surface 41, the engaging portion 81 c is engaged with the discharge surface 41 of the elevating member 81 by being engaged with the step portion 81 d of the elevating member 81. Restrict movement in the close direction. Further, the lift member 81 is formed with a pressed portion 81 e that is pressed by the lift control lever 82. In such an elevating member 81, an elastic body 83 such as a coil spring is disposed between the bottom plate of the cover cap portion 62 and the elevating member 81. The elastic body 83 constantly urges the elevating member 81 in the direction of arrow C in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the lifting control lever 82 is formed in a substantially L shape, one piece is a control piece 82 a, and the other piece is a pressing piece that presses the pressed portion 81 e of the lifting member 81. 82b. The elevation control lever 82 is formed at the corner portion by a rotation support piece 82c formed on the bottom plate of the cover cap portion 62, a rotation support piece 82c, and a support shaft 92d formed on any one of the corner portions. It is attached so as to be rotatable in the middle arrow D direction and the counter arrow D direction. The control piece 82a is formed such that the end surface in the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62 is an inclined surface and the tip thereof is substantially sharp. The control piece 82a is urged in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 11 by a pulling member 82e such as a coil spring. That is, when the lift control lever 82 is provided, the pressing piece 82b is biased about the support shaft 92d in a direction not pressing the pressed portion 81e of the lifting member 81.

  The lifting mechanism 66 as described above is in a state as shown in FIG. 11 when the cover cap portion 62 closes the discharge surface 41. That is, the discharge surface cleaning unit 64 is located in the escape portion 45 of the discharge surface 41, and the elevation control lever 82 is in the direction of the arrow D in FIG. 11 by the pulling force of the pulling member 82e around the support shaft 92d. The control piece 82a is in a non-contact state with the bottom surface of the head cartridge 2 by the escape portion 45, and the pressing piece 82b does not press the pressed portion 81e of the elevating member 81. It is in. Therefore, the elevating member 81 is in a state of being moved in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 11 adjacent to the ejection surface 41 by the urging force of the elastic body 83.

  Then, when the cover cap portion 62 is in the outward path retracted from the ejection surface 41, the control piece 82a moves from the escape portion 45 on the bottom surface of the head cartridge 2 to the ejection surface 41 as shown in FIG. And when the front-end | tip of the control piece 82a is pressed by the discharge surface 41, the raising / lowering control lever 82 rotates to the opposite arrow D centering on the spindle 92d. Therefore, the pressing piece 82b of the lifting control lever 82 does not yet press the pressed portion 81e of the lifting member 81. Then, the blade portions 71 and 72 of the discharge surface cleaning unit 64 urged in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 12 by the elastic body 83 are pressed against the discharge surface 41 and excess ink attached to the discharge surface 41. i is wiped off and the discharge surface 41 is cleaned.

  As shown in FIG. 13, when the cover cap portion 62 is a return path that closes the discharge surface 41, the tip of the control piece 82 a of the elevation control lever 82 that is in contact with the discharge surface 41 is pressed by the discharge surface 41 and pulled. It rotates in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 13 about the support shaft 92d against the pulling force of the member 82e. Then, the pressing piece 82 b of the lifting control lever 82 presses the pressed portion 81 e of the lifting member 81. Then, the lifting member 81 is separated from the discharge surface 41 while being guided by the guide wall 81b against the urging force of the elastic body 83 when the pressed portion 81e is pressed by the pressing piece 82b. Move in the C direction. Accordingly, during the return path, the ejection surface cleaning unit 64 moves to the escape portion 45 without wiping off the ink i attached to the ejection surface 41 in a state where the blade portions 71 and 72 are separated from the ejection surface 41.

  In the head cartridge 2 configured as described above, maintenance such as cleaning of the ejection surface 41 and ejection of discarded ink can be performed in accordance with the opening / closing operation of the cover cap portion 62. Further, as described above, the ejection surface cleaning unit 64 and the ink absorber 65 are easily replaced when the cleaning capability or the ink absorption capability is deteriorated due to maintenance work such as cleaning of the ejection surface 41 or ejection of discarded ink. it can. Therefore, in the printer apparatus 1, since the ejection surface cleaning unit 64, the ink absorber 65, and the like are replacement parts, for example, when the cleaning ability or the ink absorption ability deteriorates, only the replacement part is replaced with a new one. Only the cleaning effect can be restored and the life of the apparatus can be extended.

  Next, the printer main body 3 to which the head cartridge 2 configured as described above is mounted will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer body 3 has a structure assembled inside an outer casing 81 composed of an upper casing 91a and a lower casing 91b in order to prevent dust and the like from entering the inside. is doing.

  Further, in the printer main body 3, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the front side of the outer casing 81 is a pair of supports provided on both side surfaces of the upper casing 91a on a frame (not shown) in the lower casing 91b. By supporting the shaft 92, the upper casing 91a can be opened and closed with respect to the lower casing 91b.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a paper supply / discharge port 93 through which the recording paper P is supplied / discharged is provided on the front surface of the outer casing 81. The storage tray 94 for storing the recording paper P is attached to the paper supply / discharge port 93 to enable paper feeding. The recording paper P passes through the paper supply / discharge port 93 and is out of the open end of the storage tray 94. The paper is discharged onto a lid tray 95 that closes the front side.

  The upper housing 91a is provided with a head mounting portion 96 to which the above-described head cartridge 2 is mounted. The head mounting portion 96 includes an opening 97 corresponding to the head cartridge 2 and a holding frame 98 that holds the outer periphery of the head cartridge 2 so as to surround the opening 97. When the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting portion 96, the ejection surface 41 of the head cartridge 2 faces a printing position in the lower housing 91b described later. As shown in FIG. 2, a handle 99 is attached to the head cartridge 2. Thereby, the head cartridge 2 is easily attached to and detached from the head mounting portion 96 at the time of replacement or the like.

  A lid 91c that closes the opening 97 of the head mounting portion 96 is attached to the upper housing 91a so as to be openable and closable. The lid body 91c forms an upper surface portion continuous with the upper housing 91a when the opening 97 of the head mounting portion 96 is closed. Further, the lid 91 c can close the opening 97 even when the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting portion 96.

  Further, the upper casing 91a is positioned on the front side where the recording paper P, which will be described later, is supplied and discharged, and the operation button 100 for performing various operations, the printing state, and the like are displayed. A display panel 101 and the like are provided.

  Furthermore, a head cartridge holding mechanism 102 that detachably holds the head cartridge 2 with respect to the head mounting portion 96 when the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting portion 96 is provided on the upper surface portion of the upper casing 91a. ing. Specifically, the head cartridge holding mechanism 102 locks the knob 102a provided on the head cartridge 2 to a biasing member such as a spring (not shown) provided in the locking hole 102b of the holding frame 98 of the upper housing 91a. As a result, the reference surface 3a provided at the upper end of the holding frame 98 in the printer main body 3 and the outer peripheral surface 2a facing the reference surface 3a of the head cartridge 2 are pressure-bonded to the upper housing 91a. The head cartridge 2 can be positioned, held and fixed. Thereby, the ejection surface 41 of the cartridge main body 12 and the main surface of the recording paper P conveyed to the printing position by the conveyance belt 154 to be described later can be arranged opposite to each other at a predetermined interval.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 16, when the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting portion 96, the upper casing 91 a opens and closes the discharge surface protective cover 61 attached to the discharge surface 41 of the head cartridge 2. A cover opening / closing mechanism 103 to be operated is provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 16 to 18, the cover opening / closing mechanism 103 protects the ejection surface from a closed position that closes the ejection surface 41 and an open position that opens the ejection surface 41 and is located above the ejection surface 41. A guide mechanism 111 that guides the cover 61 and a drive mechanism 112 that drives the discharge surface protection cover 61 guided by the guide mechanism 111 between a closed position and an open position are provided.

  The guide mechanism 111 includes a slider 121 that holds the discharge surface protective cover 61 and a pair of guide portions 122 that guide the slider 121 between the open position and the closed position of the discharge surface protective cover 61. ing.

  The slider 121 is formed of a substantially rectangular frame corresponding to the discharge surface protection cover 61 so as to hold the outer peripheral portion of the discharge surface protection cover 61. Further, the slider 121 is provided with a pair of front and rear guide pins 123a and 123b projecting outward from both long side frame portions. Of these guide pins 123a and 123b, the length of the front-side guide pin 123a is longer than the length of the back-side guide pin 123b.

  The slider 121 is formed with a pair of front and rear engaging projections 124a and 124b that project inward from both long side frame portions. On the other hand, a pair of front and rear engaging recesses 125a and 125b are formed on the bottom surface portion of the discharge surface protective cover 61, with which the pair of front and rear engaging protrusions 124a and 124b are engaged. Further, between the pair of front and rear engaging projections 124a and 124b, a pair of support pieces 126 that support the bottom surface portion of the discharge surface protection cover 61 are formed to project inward from both long side frame portions. Has been.

  The slider 121 has a pair of front and rear engaging projections 124 a and 124 b that engage with the pair of front and rear engaging recesses 125 a and 125 b of the discharge surface protection cover 61 when the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting portion 96. At the same time, the pair of support pieces 126 support the bottom surface portion of the discharge surface protection cover 61, thereby holding the outer peripheral portion of the discharge surface protection cover 61.

  The pair of guide portions 122 is formed of a frame formed integrally with the holding frame 98 of the head mounting portion 96 described above, and is positioned outside the slider 121 described above to form side plate portions parallel to each other. The pair of guide portions 122 are respectively provided with a pair of front and rear guide holes 127a and 127b with which the pair of front and rear guide pins 123a and 123b of the slider 121 are engaged.

  Specifically, the pair of front and rear guide holes 127a and 127b is formed so that the discharge surface protection cover 61 is directed from the closed position where the discharge surface protection cover 61 closes the discharge surface 41 of the cartridge body 12 toward the front side of the upper housing 91a. The horizontal portion 128a that slides the pair of front and rear guide pins 123a and 123b in the horizontal direction to the attachment / detachment position at which the cartridge body 12 is attached to and detached from the cartridge main body 12, and the cartridge further from the attachment / detachment position toward the front side of the upper housing 91a. The main body 12 includes an inclined portion 128b that opens the discharge surface 41a of the main body 12 and slides the pair of front and rear guide pins 123a and 123b obliquely upward to an open position positioned above the discharge surface 41.

  Therefore, the pair of guide portions 122 engages the pair of front and rear guide pins 123a and 123b with the pair of front and rear guide holes 127a and 127b, thereby moving the slider 121 between the open position and the closed position of the discharge surface protection cover 61. It is slidably supported in the front-rear direction.

  As described above, in this guide mechanism 111, the discharge surface protective cover 61 detachably attached to the cartridge body 12 is held by the slider 121, and the closing position for closing the discharge surface 41 of the cartridge body 12 is provided. Further, it is possible to guide between the discharge surface 41 of the cartridge main body 12 and the open position positioned above the discharge surface 41.

  As shown in FIG. 18, the drive mechanism 112 has a drive motor 131, a worm gear 132 attached to the rotation shaft of the drive motor 131, and a pinion gear 133 meshed with the worm gear 132 on the lower housing 91 b side. On the upper housing 91a side, there is a rack plate 134 that meshes with the pinion gear 133 and slides in the front-rear direction.

  Of these, the rack plate 134 is formed of a substantially rectangular flat plate member arranged outside the guide portion 122 described above, and a rack gear 135 that meshes with the pinion gear 133 is formed at the lower end portion thereof in the front-rear direction. Has been.

  A pair of front and rear guide pins 136a and 136b are formed on the upper side of the rack plate 134 so as to protrude toward the guide portion. On the other hand, in the pair of guide portions 122, horizontal holes 137 with which the pair of front and rear guide pins 136a and 136b are engaged are formed linearly in the front-rear direction. Therefore, the rack plate 134 is slidable in the front-rear direction by sliding the pair of front and rear guide pins 136a, 136b in the horizontal hole 137.

  Further, on the front side of the rack plate 134, a vertical hole 138 is formed in a straight line extending in the vertical direction to engage the front-side guide pin 123a penetrating the front-side guide hole 127a. .

  In the drive mechanism 112, when the drive motor 131 is driven to rotate, the rack plate 134 is driven to displace in the front-rear direction by the engagement of the pinion gear 133 and the rack gear 135 while the worm gear 132 and the pinion gear 133 that are engaged with each other rotate. Is done. Accordingly, the pair of front and rear guide pins 123a and 123b of the slider 121 are moved in the vertical direction in the vertical hole 138 of the rack plate 134 while the guide pins 123a on the front surface side of the slider 121 are slid in the vertical direction. The guide holes 127a and 127b slide in the front-rear direction. Thereby, the slider 121 can be driven to be displaced between the open position and the closed position.

  On the other hand, inside the lower casing 91b, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 19, the recording paper P is supplied to the head cartridge 2, and the recording paper P printed by the head cartridge 2 is discharged to the outside. A paper discharge mechanism 141 is provided. Specifically, the paper feed / discharge mechanism 141 includes a paper feed unit 142 that feeds the recording paper P from the storage tray 94 and a transport unit that transports the recording paper P fed by the paper feed unit 142 to the printing position. 143 and a paper discharge unit 144 that discharges the recording paper P conveyed by the conveyance unit 143, and these parts are assembled to a frame (not shown) in the lower housing 91b.

  The paper feeding unit 142 serves as a paper feeding unit for feeding the recording paper P from the storage tray 94 to the transport unit 143, a paper feed roller 151 that feeds the recording paper P in the storage tray 94 to the transport unit 143, A pair of separation rollers 152a and 152b for sending the recording paper P sent out by the paper feed roller 151 to the transport unit 143 one by one are provided, and these are driving units provided in the lower casing 91b. While being interlocked with each other by a mechanism (not shown), they are rotationally driven in the directions of arrows F1, F2, and F3 in FIG.

  The paper feed roller 151 is disposed above the recording paper P facing the opening end on the back side of the storage tray 94, and the outer peripheral surface thereof is a paper push-up mechanism (not shown) provided in the storage tray 94. ) Can be brought into contact with the recording paper P pushed up.

  The pair of separation rollers 152 a and 152 b are positioned in the vicinity of the back side of the paper feed roller 151, and are rotationally driven in the same direction while sandwiching the recording paper P fed by the paper feed roller 151. Thus, even when the paper feed roller 151 mistakenly feeds two sheets of recording paper P at the same time, one separation roller 152a feeds one sheet of recording paper P in contact with the outer peripheral surface to the back side, and the other side When the separation roller 152b sends back another sheet of recording paper P in contact with the outer peripheral surface thereof to the storage tray 94 on the front side, only one sheet can be sent to the back side.

  The conveying unit 143 is a reversing roller 153 that reverses the feeding direction of the recording paper P as a conveying unit for conveying the recording paper P from the paper feeding unit 142 to the paper discharging unit 144, and is reversed by the reversing roller 153. A conveyance belt 154 that conveys the recording paper P to the printing position is provided.

  The reversing roller 153 is disposed on the back side in the outer casing 81 and is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow G in FIG. 19 by a driving mechanism (not shown) provided in the lower casing 91b. Further, on the back side of the reversing roller 153, a plurality of pressing rollers 155 a, 155 b, 155 c that press the recording paper P reversed along the outer circumferential surface of the reversing roller 153, and the outer circumferential surface of the reversing roller 153 are opposed. A curved first regulating plate 156 that regulates the movement of the recording paper P is provided.

  Further, a first guide plate 157 for guiding the recording paper P is provided between the reversing roller 153 and the pair of separation rollers 152a and 152b on the lower housing 91b side. Further, between the reverse roller 153 and the conveying belt 154, a second guide plate 158 that guides the recording paper P, and a plane that faces the second guide plate 158 and restricts the movement of the recording paper P. A second restriction plate 159 is provided on the upper housing 91a side.

  The conveyor belt 154 is an endless drive belt wound between a drive pulley 160a and a driven pulley 160b, and the drive pulley 160a is rotationally driven by a drive mechanism (not shown) provided in the lower housing 91b. As a result, it is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow H in FIG. Thereby, the recording paper P can be conveyed to the front side of the printer apparatus 1.

  The transport belt 154 is provided with a platen plate 161 that allows the recording paper P transported to the printing position to face the ejection surface 41 of the head cartridge 2. Further, the transport belt 154 is pushed down by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the platen plate 161 by a pair of pinch rollers 162a and 162b at the front and rear of the platen plate 161. Further, the platen plate 161 is disposed in parallel with the ejection surface 41 of the head cartridge 2 described above at a printing position shown in FIG.

  Further, the lower casing 91b has a transport position for performing a transport operation during printing shown in FIG. 19, and a retract position that is positioned below the transport position and is retracted when not driven as shown in FIGS. A belt elevating mechanism 163 that elevates and lowers the above-described conveyance belt 154 is provided.

  Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, the belt elevating mechanism 163 moves up and down the driven pulley 160b side of the conveying belt 154 wound between the driving pulley 160a and the driven pulley 160b described above. The first rotating member 171 rotated around the support shaft 164, the first rotating member 171 and the tension coil spring 165 are provided on both side surfaces of a frame (not shown) in the lower housing 91b. And a second rotating member 172 that is rotated about a support shaft 164 and a slide member 173 that is slid in the front-rear direction by a drive mechanism (not shown).

  The first rotating member 171 is a flat plate member disposed on the front side of the head mounting portion 96 described above, and a support shaft whose end on the front side is attached to a frame (not shown) in the lower housing 91b. A hole 174 that rotatably supports the driven pulley 160b described above is provided at an end on the back surface side thereof, which is rotatably supported by 164. Further, the first rotating member 171 has a locking piece 175 protruding upward from the intermediate portion on the upper end side, and one end of the tension coil spring 165 is locked to the locking piece 175. A hole 175a is provided. The first rotating member 171 is provided with a stopper for restricting the first rotating member 171 from being rotated upward from the conveying position when the first rotating member 171 is rotated to the conveying position.

  The second rotating member 172 is a flat plate member disposed on the front side of the first rotating member 171 described above, and is located on the outer side of the first rotating member 171 and is disposed on the back side thereof. The end portion is rotatably supported by the support shaft 164. The second rotating member 172 includes a first arm 176 extending upward from an intermediate portion on the upper end side, and a second arm 177 extending upward from an end portion on the front surface side. have.

  The first arm 176 has a locking piece 178 that protrudes toward the back side at the tip, and the locking piece 178 is provided with a notch 178 a that locks the other end of the tension coil spring 165. It has been.

  Therefore, one end of the tension coil spring 165 is locked in the hole 175 a of the locking piece 175 provided in the first rotating member 171, and the other end is locked in the second rotating member 172. The first rotating member 171 and the second rotating member 172 are connected by being locked to the notch 178a of the piece 178.

  The second arm 177 has a contact surface 177a that contacts an operating protrusion 179 of a slide member 173, which will be described later, and the contact surface 177a is provided in a predetermined length in the vertical direction.

  The slide member 173 is made of a long flat plate member, and is supported on a frame (not shown) in the lower housing 91b so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction, positioned on the inner side of the first rotating member 171. . A rack gear 173a meshed with a pinion gear of a drive mechanism (not shown) is formed at the lower end portion of the slide member 173 in the front-rear direction, and is driven to be displaced in the front-rear direction by this drive mechanism.

  The drive mechanism has, on the lower housing 91b side, a drive motor, a worm gear attached to the rotation shaft of the drive motor, and a pinion gear meshed with the worm gear, and the pinion gear is a slide member 173. The slide member 173 is displaced in the front-rear direction by the driving force of the driving motor.

  Further, on one main surface side of the slide member 173, an operation protrusion 179 that comes into contact with the second arm 177 of the second rotating member 172 described above is provided so as to protrude outward. The operating protrusion 179 rotates the second rotating member 172 about the support shaft 164 while contacting the contact surface 177 a of the second arm 177 by sliding the slide member 173 in the front-rear direction. It will be.

  In the belt elevating mechanism 163, when the slide member 173 is slid in the front-rear direction by the driving mechanism, the operating protrusion 179 is in sliding contact with the contact surface 177a of the second arm 177, and the second rotating member 172. Is rotated about the support shaft 164. Then, the first rotation member 171 connected to the second rotation member 172 via the tension coil spring 165 rotates around the support shaft 164 and is rotatably held in the hole 174. The pulley 160b is moved up and down. As a result, the conveyor belt 154 wound between the drive pulley 160a and the driven pulley 160b described above can be raised and lowered between the conveyance position and the retracted position.

  As shown in FIGS. 14 and 19, the paper discharge unit 144 is disposed so as to face the driven pulley 160 b via a transport belt 154 as a paper discharge unit for discharging the recording paper P transported by the transport unit 143. The recording paper P is fed out from between the spur 166 and the conveying belt 154 toward the paper supply / discharge port 93 side.

  Next, the control circuit 181 shown in FIG. 22 for controlling the printer apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The control circuit 181 supplies the cover opening / closing mechanism 103, the paper supply / discharge mechanism 141, and the belt lifting / lowering mechanism 163 of the printer main body 3 described above to the printer control unit 182 that controls the drive, and the ink discharge head 44 corresponding to the ink i of each color. A discharge control unit 183 that controls the current to be output, a warning unit 184 that warns the remaining amount of ink i of each color, an input / output terminal 185 that inputs and outputs signals to and from an external device, and a control program are recorded. It has a ROM (Read Only Memory) 186, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 167 that temporarily stores the read control program and the like and is read out as necessary, and a control unit 188 that controls each unit. .

  Based on the control signal from the control unit 188, the printer control unit 182 controls the cover opening / closing mechanism 103 to drive the drive mechanism 112 constituting the cover opening / closing mechanism 103 to open / close the discharge surface protection cover 61. Further, the printer control unit 182 feeds the recording paper P from the storage tray 94 of the printer body 3 by driving a drive mechanism (not shown) constituting the paper supply / discharge mechanism 141 based on the control signal from the control unit 188. The paper supply / discharge mechanism 141 is controlled to send the recording paper P to the paper supply / discharge port 93 side after printing. The printer control unit 182 drives a driving mechanism (not shown) constituting the belt lifting mechanism 163 based on a control signal from the control unit 188 to transport a transport belt provided in the paper supply / discharge mechanism 141 during transport. The belt elevating mechanism 163 is controlled so as to be raised and lowered between the position and the retracted position retracted when not driven.

  The ejection control unit 183 is a switching element that turns on / off electrical connection with an external power source that supplies a pulse current to the heating resistor 55 provided in the ink ejection head 44, and a pulse current value that is supplied to the heating resistor 55. It is an electric circuit having a control circuit unit for controlling switching of ON / OFF of a resistor, a switching element, and the like. The ejection control unit 183 adjusts a pulse current supplied to the heating resistor 55 provided in the ink ejection head 44 based on a control signal from the control unit 188, and ejects ink i from the nozzle 52a. 44 is controlled.

  The warning unit 184 is a display unit such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), for example, and displays information such as a printing condition, a printing state, and an ink remaining amount. The warning unit 184 may be a voice output unit such as a speaker. In this case, the warning unit 184 outputs information such as a printing condition, a printing state, and a remaining amount of ink by voice. Note that the warning unit 184 may be configured to include both display means and sound output means. Further, this warning may be given by a monitor or a speaker of the information processing apparatus 189.

  The input / output terminal 185 transmits information such as the above-described printing conditions, printing state, ink remaining amount, etc. to an external information processing device 189 or the like via an interface. The input / output terminal 185 receives a control signal for outputting information such as the above-described printing conditions, printing state, ink remaining amount, print data, and the like from an external information processing device 189 or the like. Here, the information processing apparatus 189 described above is an electronic device such as a personal computer or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).

  The input / output terminal 185 connected to the information processing device 189 or the like can use, for example, a serial interface or a parallel interface as an interface, and specifically, USB (Universal Serial Bus), RS (Recommended Standard) 232C, IEEE (Institute). of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 1394. Further, the input / output terminal 185 may perform data communication with the information processing apparatus 189 in any form of wired communication or wireless communication. Note that the wireless communication standards include IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and the like.

  A network such as the Internet may be interposed between the input / output terminal 185 and the information processing apparatus 189. In this case, the input / output terminal 185 may be, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) or ISDN (Integrated Services Digital). Network, xDSL (Digital Subscriber Line), FTHP (Fiber To The Home), CATV (Community Antenna TeleVision), BS (Broadcasting Satellite), etc. It is performed by various protocols such as Internet Protocol.

  The ROM 186 is a memory such as an EP-ROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), and stores a program for each process performed by the control unit 188. The stored program is loaded into the RAM 187 by the control unit 188. The RAM 187 stores a program read from the ROM 186 by the control unit 188 and various states of the printer device 1.

  The control unit 188 controls each unit based on the print data input from the input / output terminal 185, the remaining amount data of the ink i input from the head cartridge 2, and the like. The control unit 188 reads a processing program for controlling each unit from the ROM 186 based on the input control signal and the like, stores it in the RAM 187, and controls and processes each unit based on this processing program.

  That is, the control unit 188 controls the cover opening / closing mechanism 103 to open and close the discharge surface protection cover 61 based on the processing program stored in the ROM 186, or feeds the recording paper P from the storage tray 94, and after printing The belt feeding / discharging mechanism 141 is controlled so as to feed the recording paper P toward the paper feeding / discharging port 93, and the belt is lifted / lowered so that the conveying belt provided in the feeding / discharging mechanism 141 is raised / lowered between the conveying position and the retracted position. The mechanism 163 is controlled.

  In the control circuit 181 configured as described above, the processing program is stored in the ROM 186. However, the medium for storing the processing program is not limited to the ROM 186. For example, the processing program is recorded. Various recording media such as an optical disc, a magnetic disc, a magneto-optical disc, and an IC card can be used. In this case, the control circuit 181 is connected to a drive for driving various recording media directly or via the information processing device 189 so as to read out the processing program from these recording media.

  Here, the printing operation of the printer apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This operation is executed by arithmetic processing or the like of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) in the control unit 188 based on a processing program stored in storage means such as the ROM 186.

  First, a user operates the operation button 100 provided on the printer main body 3 to instruct the printer device 1 to execute a printing operation. Next, in step S <b> 1, the control unit 188 determines whether the ink tank 11 of a predetermined color is mounted on each tank mounting unit 31 and whether the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting unit 96 of the printer main body 3. Judging. The control unit 188 proceeds to step S2 when the ink tank 11 of a predetermined color is properly mounted on all the tank mounting units 31 and the head cartridge 2 is mounted on the head mounting unit 96 of the printer main body 3. When the ink tank 11 is not properly mounted on the tank mounting portion 31 or when the head cartridge 2 is not mounted on the head mounting portion 96 of the printer main body 3, the process proceeds to step S4, and the printing operation is prohibited.

  In step S2, the control unit 188 determines whether or not the ink i in the ink tank 11 is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, that is, is in an ink-free state. A warning to that effect is issued, and the printing operation is prohibited in step S4. On the other hand, when the ink i in the ink tank 11 is greater than or equal to a predetermined amount, that is, when the ink i is full, the control unit 188 permits a printing operation in step S3.

  As shown in FIG. 14, in the printer device 1 that is permitted to perform the printing operation, the outer peripheral portion of the discharge surface protective cover 61 that is held by the discharge surface 41 of the head cartridge 2 is held by the slider 121 of the guide mechanism 111. It becomes a state. Note that the printer apparatus 1 before the printing operation has a belt lifting mechanism 163 below the conveyance position to prevent the conveyance belt 154 on the lower housing 91b side from colliding with the discharge surface protection cover 61 in the closed position. Evacuated to the retreat position.

  When performing the printing operation, first, the control unit 188 drives and controls the mechanisms 103, 141, 163, and the like by the printer control unit 182 to move the recording paper P to a printable position. Specifically, when the printing operation is started, the control unit 188 controls the head cap opening / closing mechanism 103 to drive the discharge surface protective cover 61 in a state where the discharge surface 41 is closed as shown in FIG. The slider 121 moves to the retracted position on the front side of the printer apparatus 1 together with the slider 121. As a result, the ejection surface 41 of the head cartridge 2 is opened, and the ejection surface protection cover 61 is moved above the ejection surface 41 of the head cartridge 2 by moving to the retracted position on the front side as shown in FIG. To position.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 24, the discharge surface protective cover 61 causes the discharge surface cleaning unit 64 provided in the cover cap unit 62 to stain the recording paper P with excess ink i attached to the discharge surface 41 before printing. The ejection surface 41 of the head cartridge 2 is cleaned by sliding the blade portions 71 and 72 at least on the ejection port area 41a in the front side of the printer 1, that is, in the direction of the arrow X1 in FIG.

  Specifically, when the discharge surface protection cover 61 closes the discharge surface 41, as shown in FIG. 11, the discharge surface cleaning unit 64 is located in the escape portion 45 of the nozzle surface 41, and the elevation control lever 82 is in a state of being rotated in the direction of the opposite arrow D in FIG. 11 by the pulling force of the pulling member 82e around the support shaft 82d, and the control piece 82a is not attached to the bottom surface of the head cartridge 2 by the escape portion 45. In the contact state, the pressing piece 82b is not pressing the pressed portion 81e of the elevating member 81. Therefore, the elevating member 81 is in a state of being moved in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 11 adjacent to the ejection surface 41 by the urging force of the elastic body 83.

  When the discharge surface protection cover 61 is retracted from the nozzle surface 41, the control piece 82a moves from the escape portion 45 on the bottom surface of the head cartridge 2 to the discharge surface 41 as shown in FIG. Thus, when the tip of the control piece 82a is pressed by the discharge surface 41, the elevation control lever 82 rotates in the counter arrow D direction around the support shaft 82d. Therefore, the pressing piece 82b of the lifting control lever 82 does not yet press the pressed portion 81d of the lifting member 81. Then, the blade portions 71 and 72 of the discharge surface cleaning unit 64 urged in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 12 by the elastic body 83 slide on the discharge surface 41 while being in pressure contact with the discharge surface 41. The excess ink i adhering to the ink is wiped off, and the ejection surface 41 is cleaned.

  At this time, in the discharge surface protective cover 61, as shown in FIG. 10, the blade portions 71 and 72 are viewed from the opposite end portions 71a and 72b toward the end portion in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a. 10 is inclined in the direction opposite to the arrow A, the excess ink i adhering to the ejection surface 41 in order from the first blade portion 71 located on the front side in the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62 is removed from the blade portions 71 and 72. The ink i is pushed out toward the end in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a along the main surface of the nozzle, and the ink i is pushed out of the discharge port region 41a to appropriately clean the discharge surface 41.

  Further, the discharge surface protective cover 61 is deformed by stress such as friction when the end portion 71a of the first blade portion 71 located on the front side in the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62 slides on the discharge surface 41, and the ink Even if i is left unwiped, the end 72a of the second blade 72 facing the end 71a and located on the rear side in the moving direction of the cover cap 62 wipes off the remaining unwiped ink i. As a result, the ejection surface 41 can be appropriately cleaned without leaving any wiping of the ink i on the ejection surface 41.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 19, the control unit 188 drives and controls the belt lifting mechanism 163 to raise the transport belt 154 from the retracted position to the transport position. As a result, in the printer apparatus 1, the ejection surface 41 of the head cartridge 2 and the platen plate 161 are arranged in parallel and facing each other with a predetermined interval, and the printing position is determined.

  Next, the control unit 188 drives and controls the paper feed / discharge mechanism 141, and feeds the recording paper P pushed up by the paper push-up mechanism (not shown) from the storage tray 94 in the direction of arrow F1 in FIG. The paper is fed so as to press against the outer peripheral surface of the paper. Then, the fed recording paper P is sent to the back side indicated by the arrow J1 in FIG. 19 while passing between the pair of separation rollers 152a and 152b rotating in the directions of arrows F2 and F3 in FIG.

  Next, the control unit 188 reverses the recording paper P sent to the back side along the outer peripheral surface of the reversing roller 153 while moving on the first guide plate 157, and this time the arrow J2 in FIG. The sheet feeding / discharging mechanism 141 is driven and controlled so as to be sent to the front side shown in FIG. Then, the control unit 188 moves the recording paper P sent to the front side between the second guide plate 158 and the second regulating plate 159 and rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow H in FIG. The sheet feeding / discharging mechanism 141 is driven and controlled so as to be conveyed to the printing position by 154. Then, the recording paper P is pushed up by the platen plate 161 at the printing position, and is opposed to the ejection surface 41 of the head cartridge 2.

  Next, the control unit 188 controls the head cartridge 2 by the ejection control unit 183, and ejects and deposits ink i from the nozzle 52a on the recording paper P transported to the printing position, thereby causing an image including ink dots or the like. Record characters.

  Next, the control unit 188 drives and controls the paper supply / discharge mechanism, and the recording paper P that has been printed is driven from the space between the transport belt 154 and the spur 146 to the arrow J2 in FIG. The sheet is fed to the rear side, and is discharged from the paper supply / discharge port 93 onto the lid tray 95. When printing on the recording paper P is finished, the control unit 188 drives and controls the belt lifting mechanism 163 to lower the transport belt 154 from the transport position to the retracted position.

  Next, the control unit 188 drives and controls the cover opening / closing mechanism 103, and as shown in FIG. 25, the discharge surface protection cover 61 together with the slider 121 is closed at the back side of the printer apparatus 1, that is, in the direction of arrow X2 in FIG. Move to. In the middle of closing the discharge surface 41, the discharge surface cleaning unit 64 provided in the cover cap unit 62 is configured such that the tip of the control piece 82a of the elevation control lever 82 that is in contact with the discharge surface 41 is the discharge surface as shown in FIG. It is pressed by 41 and rotates in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 13 around the support shaft 82d against the pulling force of the pulling member 82e. Thereby, the pressing piece 82 b of the lifting control lever 82 presses the pressed portion 81 e of the lifting member 81. 13 is separated from the discharge surface 41 while being guided by the guide wall 81b against the urging force of the elastic body 83 when the pressed portion 81e is pressed by the pressing piece 82b. Move in the C direction. Therefore, during the return path, the blade portions 71 and 72 of the ejection surface cleaning unit 64 move to the escape portion 46 without wiping off the excess ink i attached to the ejection surface 41 while being separated from the ejection surface 41. Returning to the state of FIG. As described above, the printing operation ends.

  As described above, in this printer apparatus 1, the discharge surface protection cover 61 moves the discharge surface 41 of the head cartridge 2 from the state where the transport belt 154 is retracted to the retracted position located below the transport position. After being opened and moved to an open position located above the discharge surface 41, the belt lifting mechanism 163 moves up to a conveyance position where the conveyance belt 154 performs a conveyance operation. Further, from this state, after the conveying belt 154 is lowered by the belt lifting mechanism 163 to the retracted position located below the conveying position, the discharge surface protection cover 61 causes the discharge surface 41 of the head cartridge 2 to be moved by the cover opening / closing mechanism 103. Block.

  Therefore, in the printer apparatus 1, when the head cartridge 2 is removed from the head mounting portion 96 of the printer main body 3, the discharge surface 41 is blocked by the discharge surface protective cover 61, so that the discharge surface 41 is damaged, It is possible to prevent the ink i from leaking from the ejection surface 41 and contaminating the surroundings.

  In the printer apparatus 1, when the discharge surface protective cover 61 is opened and closed, the blade portions 71 and 72 of the discharge surface cleaning unit 64 slide their tips on the discharge surface 41, and extra ink attached to the discharge surface. i is wiped off and the discharge surface 41 is cleaned.

  In the printer apparatus 1, the blade portions 71 and 72 in the discharge surface cleaning portion 64 are directed to the end portions in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a with reference to the opposite end portions 71a and 72b, as shown by the arrow in FIG. Since it is inclined in the A direction, excess ink i adhering to the ejection surface 41 in order from the first blade portion 71 located on the front side in the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62 is applied to the main surfaces of the blade portions 71 and 72. The ink i is pushed away toward the end in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a, and the ink i is pushed out of the discharge port region 41a to clean the discharge surface 41 appropriately.

  Further, in the printer apparatus 1, the end 71 a of the first blade portion 71 located on the front side in the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62 is deformed by stress such as friction when sliding on the discharge surface 41, and the ink Even if unwiping of i occurs, the end 72a of the second blade portion 72 that faces the end 71a and is located behind wipes away unwiping of the ink i. The ejection surface 41 can be appropriately cleaned without causing the ink i to remain unwiped.

  In the above, the case where the discharge surface cleaning unit 64 for cleaning the discharge surface 41 is configured by the two blade portions 71 and 72 has been described as an example. However, the configuration is not limited to such a configuration. As shown in FIG. 26 and FIG. 27, for example, the discharge surface 41 can be appropriately cleaned even by using the discharge surface cleaning unit 191 including three or more blade portions. In FIGS. 26 and 27, the portions other than the ejection surface cleaning unit 191 have the same configuration and the same function as those of the printer device 1 described above, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted and the same reference numerals are given. To do.

  Specifically, the discharge surface cleaning unit 191 has blade portions 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197 erected on the surface facing the discharge surface 41 of the cover cap unit 62. That is, it has six blade portions 192 to 197. These blade portions 192 to 197 are formed of, for example, a resin elastic body such as chloroprene rubber or urethane rubber having a substantially rectangular plate shape, and a surface of the cover cap portion 62 facing the discharge surface 41 of the discharge port region 41a. The cover cap portion 62 is erected along the end portion of the cover cap portion 62 on the side attached to the cartridge main body 12 so as to face one main surface in a direction substantially orthogonal to the width direction. The ejection surface cleaning unit 191 then removes the ink satellites and the like attached to the ejection surface 41 when the ink ejection head 44 described above ejects the ink i from the nozzle 52a in the form of droplets, and the six blade portions 192. ˜197 are wiped while sliding on the discharge surface 41 and removed to clean the discharge surface 41. In these blade portions 192 to 197, since the lifting mechanism 66 is detachably supported by the support piece 81a described above, for example, when the resin elastic member is deteriorated and the cleaning ability of the discharge surface 41 is lowered. You can easily replace it with a new one.

In the discharge surface cleaning unit 64, the blade units 192, 193, 194 are sequentially arranged from the substantially center in the width direction to one end of the discharge port region 41 a where the nozzle 52 a of the discharge surface 41 is formed, and the blade units 195, 196. , 197 are arranged in order from the approximate center in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a to the other end. These blade portions 192 to 197 are configured such that adjacent end portions face each other. Specifically, one end 192b, 195 a between the blade portions 192, 195 substantially near the center in the width direction of the discharge port area 41a is opposed to the direction of movement of the cover cap portion 62, the width direction of the end of the discharge port area 41a The other end 192a of the blade portion 192 and one end 193b of the blade portion 193 face each other in the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62, and the other end 193a of the blade portion 193 and one end 194b of the blade portion 194 are covered with the cover cap portion. It is made to oppose 62 moving directions. Further, on the other end side from the substantially center in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a, the other end 195b of the blade portion 195 and one end 196a of the blade portion 196 are opposed to each other in the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62. The end 196b and the one end 197a of the blade part 197 are opposed to each other in the moving direction of the cover cap part 62. In this way, the blade portions 192 to 197 are arranged so as to face at least all the nozzles 52 a arranged in parallel in the width direction of the recording paper P by cleaning all of the ejection surfaces 41. .

  In the discharge surface cleaning section 191, the cover cap section 62 is retracted to the front side of the cartridge body 12, that is, the movement direction side of the cover cap section 62 when the cover cap section 62 moves in the direction of arrow A in FIG. When the predetermined position of the edge is set as the reference point B, the blade portions 192 to 197 erected in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a have the adjacent ends opposed to the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62. In this state, the cover cap 62 is arranged in the direction opposite to the moving direction in order from the side closer to the reference point B. Further, in each blade portion 192 to 197, one end 192 a to 197 a close to the reference point B is positioned closer to the moving direction side of the cover cap portion 62 than the other end 192 b to 197 b far from the reference point B. Here, it is assumed that the blade part 192 is located closest to the reference point B among the blade parts 192 to 197.

  That is, the blade portions 192 to 197 are inclined in the direction of the opposite arrow A in FIG. 27 toward the end in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a with respect to one end 192a to 197a closer to the reference point B. 27 are arranged in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 27 in order from the side closer to the reference point B, with the adjacent ends facing each other in the moving direction of the cover cap 62.

  In the discharge surface cleaning unit 191 having such a configuration, the cover cap unit 62 is substantially in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a in a state where the tips of the blade units 192 to 197 facing the discharge surface 41 are in contact with the discharge surface 41. Retreat in the orthogonal direction, that is, when moving in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 27, the blade portions 192 to 197 slide on the discharge surface 41, and excess ink i attached to the discharge surface 41 by the blade portions 192 to 197 respectively. Wiping is performed and the discharge surface 41 is appropriately cleaned.

  Specifically, when the discharge surface cleaning unit 191 cleans the discharge surface 41, the cover cap unit 62 is attached to the discharge surface 41 in order from the blade portion 192 that is located on the front side in the moving direction, that is, close to the reference point B. Excess ink i is pushed away toward the one end side in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a by the blade portions 192, 193, 194 and toward the other end side in the width direction of the discharge port region 41a. The ink i is pushed out of the discharge port area 41a to clean the discharge surface 41.

  In the discharge surface cleaning unit 191, as in the case of the discharge surface cleaning unit 64 described above, when the one end 192 a of the blade unit 192 positioned in the forefront in the moving direction of the cover cap unit 62 slides on the discharge surface 41. Even when the ink i is left unwiped on the ejection surface 41 due to deformation such as friction, the one end 195a of the blade portion 195 that faces the one end 192a and is located on the rear side in the moving direction of the cover cap portion 62 is Since the wiping residue of the ink i is wiped off, the ejection surface 41 can be appropriately cleaned without causing the ejection surface 41 to remain unwiped.

  In the discharge surface cleaning unit 191, for example, even when the flatness of the discharge surface 41 of the cartridge body 12 is poor, the six blade portions 192 to 197 are in contact with the discharge surface 41 and wipe the discharge surface 41, respectively. For this reason, the formation of a gap between the discharge surface 41 and the blade portions 192 to 197 is suppressed, and the discharge surface 41 can be appropriately cleaned.

  In the discharge surface cleaning unit 191, the six blade portions 192 to 197 are in contact with the discharge surface 41 and wiped to clean the discharge surface 41. Therefore, a single wide cleaning blade is used as in the prior art. The troublesome work of making contact with the discharge surface so that there is no gap is not necessary, and the yield during printing can be improved.

  In the discharge surface cleaning unit 191, the six blade portions 192 to 197 are in contact with the discharge surface 41 and wiped to clean the discharge surface 41. Therefore, a single wide cleaning blade is used as in the prior art. It is not necessary to press the discharge surface with excessive pressure so that there is no gap between the discharge surface and the discharge surface 41 can be prevented from being damaged. Therefore, during the cleaning operation, scratches that damage the nozzle 52a are not attached to the discharge surface 41, and it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the printing quality. Here, the case where the discharge surface cleaning unit 191 includes six blade units 192 to 197 is described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and three blade units are provided. If provided as described above, it is possible to obtain the same effects as those of the ejection surface cleaning unit 191. The number of blade portions increases when the width of the discharge port region 41 is wide, and decreases when the width of the discharge port region 41 is narrow.

  In the above-described head cartridge 2, the ink tank 11 can be attached to and detached from the cartridge main body 12, but the configuration is not necessarily limited to such a configuration. That is, since the head cartridge 2 itself is handled as a consumable and can be attached to and detached from the printer main body 3, the ink tank 11 can be integrated with the cartridge main body 12. .

  The above is an example in which the present invention is applied to a printer apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to the above example, and can be widely applied to other liquid ejection apparatuses that eject liquid. . For example, a facsimile, a copying machine, a discharge device for a DNA chip in liquid (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-34560), a liquid discharge device that discharges a liquid containing conductive particles for forming a wiring pattern of a printer wiring board, and the like It is also applicable to.

  In the above description, the ink discharge head 44 that heats and discharges the ink i by one heating resistor 55 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to such a structure, and includes a plurality of pressure generating elements. The present invention can also be applied to a liquid ejection apparatus including ejection means that can control the ejection direction by supplying different energy to each pressure generating element or energy at different timings.

  In the above description, the electrothermal conversion method is employed in which the ink i is heated from one nozzle 52a while being heated by one heating resistor 55. However, the present invention is not limited to such a method. For example, an electric device such as a piezoelectric element such as a piezoelectric element is used. An electromechanical conversion method in which ink is electromechanically ejected from a nozzle by a mechanical conversion element or the like may be used.

  In the above, the line type printer apparatus 1 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a serial type liquid in which the ink head moves in a direction substantially orthogonal to the running direction of the recording paper P is described. The present invention can also be applied to a discharge device.

1 is an exploded perspective view showing an inkjet printer apparatus to which the present invention is applied. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the printer head cartridge with which the same inkjet printer apparatus is equipped. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an ink tank in the printer head cartridge. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a cartridge body in the printer head cartridge. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the ink tank is mounted on the cartridge body in the printer head cartridge. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the printer head cartridge. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the printer head cartridge. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an ink discharge head provided in the printer head cartridge. The same ink discharge head is shown. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state where bubbles are generated in the heating resistor, and FIG. 2B is a schematic view showing a state where ink is discharged from the nozzle. FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a discharge port area on a discharge surface of the printer head cartridge. FIG. 5 is a side view schematically showing a configuration of an elevating mechanism that elevates and lowers an ejection surface cleaning unit provided in the printer head cartridge. It is a side view which shows the state which the raising / lowering mechanism pushed up the discharge surface cleaning part, and contacted the discharge surface. It is a side view which shows the state which the raising / lowering mechanism lowered | released the discharge surface cleaning part. It is a see-through | perspective side view which shows the structure of the inkjet printer apparatus. It is a see-through | perspective side view which shows the state by which the upper housing | casing of the inkjet printer apparatus was open | released with respect to the lower housing | casing. It is a side view which shows typically the structure of the cover opening / closing mechanism of the inkjet printer apparatus. It is a top view which shows the structure of the slider with which the cover opening / closing mechanism is equipped. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a part of the configuration of a drive mechanism of the ink jet printer apparatus. It is a see-through | perspective side view for demonstrating the printing operation of the inkjet printer apparatus. FIG. 6 is a side view schematically showing a state in which the transport belt is lowered to a retracted position by a belt lifting mechanism provided in the ink jet printer apparatus. It is a side view which shows typically the state which the conveyance belt raised to the conveyance position by the belt raising / lowering mechanism. It is a block diagram which shows typically the control circuit of the inkjet printer apparatus. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a printing operation of the inkjet printer apparatus. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the discharge surface protective cover of the printer head cartridge cleans the discharge surface while moving to the front side. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which the discharge surface protection cover moves to the back side. It is a perspective view which shows the other example of the discharge surface cleaning part with which the discharge surface protection cover is equipped. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a discharge port area on a discharge surface of the printer head cartridge. It is a top view which shows the conventional discharge surface cleaning mechanism.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printer apparatus (liquid ejection apparatus) 2 Printer head cartridge 2 Printer main body, 11 Ink tank, 12 Cartridge main body, 37 Head part, 39 Guide groove, 41 Ejection surface, 44 Ink ejection head, 52a Nozzle, 45 Escape part, 61 discharge surface protective cover, 62 cover cap part, 63 cap holding piece, 64, 191 discharge surface cleaning part, 66 lifting mechanism, 71 first blade part, 72 second blade part, 91 outer casing, 91a upper casing 91b Lower housing, 103 Cover opening / closing mechanism, 111 Guide mechanism, 112 Drive mechanism, 121 Slider, 122 Guide section, 141 Feed / discharge mechanism, 142 Feed section, 143 Transport section, 144 Discharge section, 163 Belt lifting mechanism , 181 Control circuit, 182 Printer control unit, 183 Discharge control unit, 1 86 ROM, 187 RAM, 188 control unit, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197 Blade unit

Claims (8)

A discharge surface that is held by a discharge surface on which a discharge port for discharging the droplet is formed in a liquid discharge head portion of a liquid discharge device that performs recording by discharging liquid in the form of droplets and landing on an object. In the protective device,
In the plane parallel to the ejection surface, when the liquid droplets are ejected from the ejection port of the liquid ejection head unit, the ejection port of the ejection surface faces at least the ejection port with respect to the object. Is moved from a direction in which the discharge surface is opened by retreating from the rectangular discharge port region in which is formed, and a direction in which the discharge surface of the discharge head portion is closed by entering the discharge port region. A cover cap,
A cap holding portion that holds the cover cap portion movably with respect to the discharge surface of the liquid discharge head portion;
On the surface of the cover cap portion that faces the discharge surface, a plurality of plate-like blade portions that are erected over the long side direction of the rectangular discharge port region, The cover cap moves in a direction parallel to the short side of the rectangular discharge port region in a plane parallel to the discharge surface with the tip facing the discharge surface being in contact with the discharge surface. A discharge surface cleaning unit for cleaning the discharge surface by
The discharge surface cleaning unit has a blade portion adjacent in the long side direction of the rectangular discharge port region adjacent to the center position of the edge of the discharge surface on the side of the discharge surface by the cover cap unit. The mating ends are arranged in the closing direction of the discharge surface by the cover cap portion in order from the side closer to the reference with the end portions facing each other in the moving direction of the cover cap portion, and the discharge port region in each blade portion The discharge surface protection device which is located on the opening direction side of the discharge surface by the cover cap portion from the end in the width direction closer to the reference than the one far from the reference . The discharge surface protection device according to claim 1, wherein the discharge surface cleaning unit cleans the discharge surface only when the cover cap portion moves in the opening direction of the discharge surface. In a liquid ejection cartridge provided in a liquid ejection apparatus that performs recording by ejecting liquid in a droplet state and landing on an object,
A liquid discharge head portion having a discharge surface formed with discharge ports for discharging the liquid in the form of droplets toward the object;
In the plane parallel to the ejection surface, when the liquid droplets are ejected from the ejection port of the liquid ejection head unit, the ejection port of the ejection surface faces at least the ejection port with respect to the object. Is moved from a direction in which the discharge surface is opened by retreating from the rectangular discharge port region in which is formed, and a direction in which the discharge surface of the discharge head portion is closed by entering the discharge port region. A rectangular shape on a surface of the cover cap portion that faces the discharge surface of the cover cap portion; a cap holding portion that holds the cover cap portion movably with respect to the discharge surface of the liquid discharge head portion; A plurality of plate-like blade portions erected across the long side direction of the discharge port region, with the tip of each blade portion facing the discharge surface in contact with the discharge surface The cover cap part is Emission plane and in a plane parallel, and a discharge surface protection cover having a discharge surface cleaning unit for cleaning the ejection face by moving in a direction parallel to the short sides of the rectangular shape of the discharge port area,
The discharge surface cleaning unit has a blade portion adjacent in the long side direction of the rectangular discharge port region adjacent to the center position of the edge of the discharge surface on the side of the discharge surface by the cover cap unit. The mating ends are arranged in the closing direction of the discharge surface by the cover cap portion in order from the side closer to the reference with the end portions facing each other in the moving direction of the cover cap portion, and the discharge port region in each blade portion A liquid ejection cartridge that is located closer to the opening direction of the ejection surface by the cover cap portion than the one that is closer to the reference than the end of the width direction of the cover . The liquid discharge cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the discharge surface cleaning unit cleans the discharge surface only when the cover cap portion moves in the opening direction of the discharge surface.   The liquid discharge cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the liquid discharge head portion has discharge ports formed in the discharge surface arranged in a line. In a liquid ejection apparatus that performs recording by ejecting liquid in the form of droplets and landing on an object,
A liquid discharge head portion having a discharge surface formed with discharge ports for discharging the liquid in the form of droplets toward the object;
In the plane parallel to the ejection surface, when the liquid droplets are ejected from the ejection port of the liquid ejection head unit, the ejection port of the ejection surface faces at least the ejection port with respect to the object. Is moved from a direction in which the discharge surface is opened by retreating from the rectangular discharge port region in which is formed, and a direction in which the discharge surface of the discharge head portion is closed by entering the discharge port region. A rectangular shape on a surface of the cover cap portion that faces the discharge surface of the cover cap portion; a cap holding portion that holds the cover cap portion movably with respect to the discharge surface of the liquid discharge head portion; A plurality of plate-like blade portions erected across the long side direction of the discharge port region, with the tip of each blade portion facing the discharge surface in contact with the discharge surface The cover cap part is Emission plane and in a plane parallel, the ejection surface protection cover having a discharge surface cleaning unit for cleaning the ejection face by moving in a direction parallel to the short side of the rectangular ejection port area,
A discharge control unit that controls a discharge operation when the liquid discharge head unit discharges the droplet from the discharge port;
The discharge surface cleaning unit has a blade portion adjacent in the long side direction of the rectangular discharge port region adjacent to the center position of the edge of the discharge surface on the side of the discharge surface by the cover cap unit. The mating ends are arranged in the closing direction of the discharge surface by the cover cap portion in order from the side closer to the reference with the end portions facing each other in the moving direction of the cover cap portion, and the discharge port region in each blade portion The liquid discharge apparatus which is located on the opening direction side of the discharge surface by the cover cap portion from the end in the width direction closer to the reference than the one far from the reference . The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the ejection surface cleaning unit cleans the ejection surface only when the cover cap portion moves in the opening direction of the ejection surface.   The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the liquid ejection head unit has ejection ports formed in the ejection surface arranged in a line.

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