JPS642064B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an inkjet printer equipped with a nozzle cleaning means for removing ink and dust adhering to the nozzle end face of the inkjet printer, and a capping means for preventing ink from drying in the nozzle. .

Generally, in an inkjet printer, ink is force-fed from an ink supply device to a nozzle via an ink pipe, and mechanical vibrations are applied to the ink at this nozzle, causing the ink to become particles and ejected from the nozzle. Desired printing is performed by selectively deflecting the charged electrode according to the amount of charge and reaching the recording paper. Further, ink particles not used for recording reach the gutter and are returned to the ink supply device.

In such an inkjet printer, minute ink droplets ejected from a nozzle hole during a recording operation adhere to the end face of the nozzle. This adhered ink solidifies if left for a long time.

In addition, when recording is paused when ink jetting is stopped, the ink inside the nozzle is stationary at the tip of the nozzle hole, and if it remains stationary for a long time due to contact with air, the ink solidifies inside the nozzle. However, solidification of these inks adversely affects recording.

The present invention provides an inkjet printer that is equipped with a nozzle cleaning means and means for preventing ink drying of the nozzle to prevent such effects on ink particle formation due to ink solidification, and furthermore, on recording. .

The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment of the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the main parts of the inkjet printer of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are configuration diagrams showing the recording head portion of FIG. 1. In FIGS. 1 and 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a recording head that moves back and forth in the row direction in front of a platen 4 on which recording paper is placed. 2 and are guided back and forth.

The recording head 1 includes a nozzle 5, a pair of deflection electrodes 6, and a gutter 7 for collecting unnecessary ink.
and a moving member 9 provided with a charging electrode 8, which will be described later. The moving member 9 is the recording head 1
At the top, the front head of the nozzle 5 can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the ink jetting direction from the nozzle 5, that is, in the same direction as the moving direction of the head 1, guided by a cross-shaped guide rail 10.

As shown in FIG.
A cylindrical charging electrode 8, which constitutes an ink flight path, is provided inside the member 9 and is attached to the surface facing the nozzle 5, and as shown in FIG. An ink absorber 12 made of Japanese paper, cloth, etc. is attached to the left side of the electrode 8 on the surface facing the nozzle, and a nozzle cap device 13 is further provided to the left of the ink absorber 12.

This FIG. 2 shows the surface of the moving member 9 facing the nozzle 5, and FIG. 3 shows the moving member 9 seen through from above.

The cap device 13 is provided in a through hole 14 provided in the movable member 9, and is made of rubber and closes a leaf spring 15 whose one end is fixed to the member 9 and a nozzle provided on the free end side of the leaf spring 15. The cap 16 is composed of a cap 16 and an engaging protrusion 17 that protrudes from the center of the leaf spring 15 in the opposite direction to the cap 16.

Further, the engagement protrusion 17 comes into contact with the head 1 on the side opposite to the engagement protrusion 17, and the plate spring 1
Guide inclined surface 1 for curving 5 toward the nozzle 5 side
A stand 19 with 8 is provided. Furthermore, when the plate spring 15 is bent by the movement of the movable member 9 in the direction of arrow A and the cap 16 closes the nozzle 5, an engaging protrusion 17 is fitted into the stand 19 in order to hold the nozzle 5 in the closed state. A groove portion 20 is provided.

Therefore, when the movable member 9 moves in the direction of arrow A, the ink absorber 12 first comes into contact with the nozzle 5 to perform cleaning, and then the engagement protrusion 17 is guided by the inclined surface 18 of the stand 19 and gradually performs a bending operation. However, when the engaging protrusion 17 is fitted into the groove 20, the movable member 9 is stopped and held, and the cap 16 closes the nozzle 5.

21 is a spring, and the head 1 is connected to the right end of the moving member 9 via the spring 21.
The charging electrode 8 and the nozzle 5 are normally held in a position facing each other by the spring 21, and the ink absorber 12 is moved by moving the member 9 in the direction of arrow A against the spring 21. The tip of the nozzle 5 is swept and the nozzle 5 is closed by the cap 16.

On the other hand, in the left side plate 3 of the apparatus, an opening 22 is formed at a position corresponding to the left end of the moving member 9 of the head 1, and is large enough to fit the left end.

A rotary lever 24 rotatably supported on the left side plate 3 by a pin 23 is provided on the left side of the left side plate 3, that is, on the outside. One end side 24A of this rotary lever 24 is connected to the opening 2 of the side plate 3.
The other end 24B is connected to a solenoid mechanism 25 which is a driving source for the lever 24.

Therefore, when the solenoid mechanism 25 is energized, the linking end 24B of the rotary lever 24 is pulled downward about the pin 23, and one end 24B of the lever 24 is pulled downward using the pin 23 as a fulcrum.
4A is rotated upward and moved to a position corresponding to the opening 22 of the side plate 3 and closed, and the moving member 9
It becomes a pressing body that collides with the Further, when the solenoid mechanism 25 is not excited, the solenoid mechanism 2
5, one end 24A of the lever 24 rotates downward and is held in the position where the aperture 22 is opened.

The projection 26 provided on the right end of the moving member 9 and the projection 27 provided on the right side plate 3' are connected to the moving member 9.
It is a release device for the nozzle 5 by the cap 16.
When releasing the blocked state, move the protrusion 26 and protrusion 27 further to the right than the right margin during normal printing.
bring it into contact. The collision between the protrusion 26 and the protrusion 27 releases the engagement between the engagement protrusion 17 and the groove 20, and the spring 21 returns the charging electrode 8 and the nozzle 5 to the opposing positions.

Next, this series of operations will be explained.

(1) During normal recording.

As shown in FIG. 1, the charging electrode 8 of the movable member 9 and the nozzle 5 are held in opposing positions, the solenoid mechanism 25 is not operated, and the opening 22 of the side plate 3
is in an open state.

In this state, the head 1 is swept left and right along the platen 4 to perform a recording operation.

At this time, when nozzle 1 reaches the left margin,
When the left end of the movable member 9 passes through the opening 22 of the left side plate 3 and the head 1 reaches the right margin, the protrusion 26 does not come into contact with the protrusion 27 of the right side plate 3'.

(2) Next, when you want to stop recording from the recording state.

The ink jetting from the nozzle 5 is stopped and the solenoid mechanism 25 is driven to close the opening 2 in the left side plate 3.
2 into the closed state.

When the head 1 is moved to the left, the moving member 9 comes into contact with the rotary lever 24 that closes the hole 22, so that the moving member 9 is moved in the direction of arrow A against the spring 21.

As the member 9 moves, the ink absorber 12 first sweeps the tip of the nozzle 5, and the engagement protrusion 17 is guided by the inclined surface 18 of the stand 19, thereby bending the leaf spring 15 toward the nozzle 5. This leaf spring 1
5, the cap 16 closes the nozzle 5. At this time, the engaging protrusion 17 fits into the groove 20 of the stand 19, and the member 9 is stopped and held, and the nozzle 5 is held closed by the cap 16, and the nozzle 5 is closed. Prevents the ink from drying and solidifying in the area.

That is, after the end face of the nozzle 5 is cleaned, the cap 16 can prevent the ink in the nozzle 5 from coming into contact with air.

(3) When restarting the recording operation First, before starting ink jetting, move the head 1 to the right. At this time, since the recording operation has not started, the head 1 moves further to the right from the right merge position and causes the protrusion 26 to collide with the protrusion 27 on the right side plate 3'.

Then, the engagement protrusion 17 and the groove 2 of the stand 19
0 is released, and the moving member 9 is released from the spring 2.
1, the member 9 moves in the opposite direction of arrow A, and is held at a position where the charging electrode 8 of the member 9 and the nozzle 5 face each other.

After the head 1 is moved to the left, it starts ejecting ink and performs recording. At this time, the solenoid mechanism 25 is not driven, and the left side plate 3 is open.

As described above, in the present invention, when recording is stopped, the moving member equipped with an ink absorber and a cap sweeps the nozzle hole surface to remove adhering ink, and then the cap closes the nozzle and the engaging portion Since the nozzle and the groove fit together to maintain the closed state, the sealing performance of the nozzle by the cap is strengthened.
Therefore, printing can be performed under good conditions at the beginning of the printing operation, and records of good quality, that is, high printing quality, can be obtained.

Further, in the present invention, since the nozzle end can be swept even when the head is in the printing position, there is no need to provide a head position for sweeping, which leads to miniaturization of the apparatus.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a plan view showing the main structure of an inkjet printer according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are structural diagrams showing a moving member provided in the recording head portion of FIG. 1. FIG. 1: recording head, 4: platen, 5: nozzle,
6: Deflection electrode, 8: Charging electrode, 9: Moving member, 1
2: Ink absorber, 13: Cap device, 15:
Leaf spring, 16: Cap, 17: Engagement protrusion, 1
9: Stand, 20: Groove, 21: Spring,
24: Rotary lever, 25: Solenoid mechanism, 26
and 27: protrusion.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Generating ink droplets from a nozzle provided on the head, directing the ink droplets in a predetermined path toward a medium to be recorded, and moving the head to a head moving means. Therefore, in the inkjet printer that is reciprocated in the row direction of the medium to perform a desired recording operation, the inkjet printer is provided on the head, is located in front of the nozzle, and moves in a direction perpendicular to the path of the ink droplet flow. An ink absorber for absorbing ink adhering to the end of the nozzle and a cap device for closing the nozzle are provided on a surface that is freely movable and faces the nozzle hole and are arranged in parallel in the moving direction, and the cap device a movable member provided with an engaging member for maintaining the closed state when the nozzle is closed; holding means for holding the movable member in a predetermined standby position; when the head moves to a predetermined standby position, the head collides with the movable member so that the ink absorber abuts the nozzle end; a pressing body provided near the standby position so as to move the movable member against the holding means in a direction in which the cap device closes the nozzle; a pressing body moving means for moving the pressing body; a groove portion that engages with the engaging member at a position where the cap device closes the nozzle; and moving the head to the standby position in response to recording stop of the printer. and driving means for driving the head moving means so as to move the head, and driving the pressing body moving means so as to move the pressing body to the collision position, and when the printer stops recording, the nozzle A nozzle drying prevention device for an inkjet printer, wherein the nozzle is closed by the cap device, and the engaging member and the groove are fitted to maintain the closed state.