JPH0118866B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device equipped with a capping system for preventing clogging of ink discharge ports in the inkjet device.

Among the various recording methods currently known, this non-impact recording method generates almost no noise during recording, is capable of high-speed recording, and can record on plain paper without requiring any special fixing process. The so-called inkjet recording method, which has the following advantages, is recognized as an extremely useful recording method.

However, this inkjet recording method also has the disadvantage that the ink ejection opening of the inkjet device used in this method is extremely fine (generally, the diameter is about several tens of microns), so when the device is at rest, They also have the disadvantage that they are easily clogged, and if the ejection ports become clogged, ink cannot be ejected normally, resulting in poor recording.

Due to the above-mentioned circumstances, in the inkjet recording method, it is almost essential to provide a means to prevent or release clogging of the ink ejection port (due to adhesion of dust or drying of ink). It is considered.

In the past, many proposals have been made as means for preventing and removing clogging of this type, but the devices are complicated and large-scale, a large amount of cleaning liquid is required, and the clogging removal effect of cleaning is not sufficient. However, none of these methods has reached the level where they can be put to practical use.

Moreover, these conventional measures are completely impossible to apply to multi-orifice type inkjet devices, which have hundreds to thousands of ink ejection ports, in which multiple regions with multiple ejection ports are arranged in parallel. be. The cap is usually installed not only to prevent the ink ejection port from drying out and from clogging, but also to eject ink during the initial supply of ink to the ink jet head or during preliminary ejection by pressurization. It should also be provided for the purpose of preventing the surroundings of the device from being contaminated by ink leaking from the outlet. Ink leaked from the ink ejection port can be absorbed to some extent (if it is a small amount) by placing an absorber in the cap.
This can prevent its scattering. However, in a multi-orifice type inkjet recording apparatus, stains caused by ink or the like may vary from part to part of the absorber. Then, if even a certain part of the ink absorber becomes dirty enough to adversely affect the ink ejection ports, the entire ink absorber must be replaced with a new one. Moreover, such replacement work becomes a large-scale work, and the efficiency of using the ink absorber deteriorates.

〔the purpose〕

Therefore, in view of the actual situation regarding such inkjet recording technology, the present invention provides an inkjet equipped with a newly constructed clogging prevention system that guarantees good recording quality when a multi-orifice type inkjet device is adopted. The main purpose is to provide recording devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to prevent ink ejection from becoming nonuniform at each ejection port in a multi-orifice type inkjet recording apparatus, and to obtain uniform and good recorded images. In other words, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet recording device that guarantees reliable and stable ink ejection at high speed with a simple system and enables high-quality inkjet recording.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-orifice type inkjet recording device in which a plurality of areas each having a plurality of ejection ports are arranged in parallel, which includes an ink absorber for absorbing ink and a cap for covering the ejection ports. This is achieved by an inkjet recording device characterized in that the ink absorber is divided into a plurality of parts corresponding to the areas, and each part is arranged to be independently attachable to and detachable from the cap.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention. In this Figure 1, 101,
101' is an inkjet head constituting a multi-type inkjet head; 102 is a flexible printed circuit board that connects the head to the semiconductor attached board 106;
03 is a supply pipe for supplying ink to the head from the ink tank 108 via the connection joint 109, and 104 is a common pad for connecting multiple lead wires that drive the multi-head. Drive circuit connection line 129 via wire 105, lead terminal 130, and lead terminal mounting plate 123
It is connected to a signal output section (not shown) attached to the main body of the device to which the illustrated inkjet recording device is installed. Other lead wires 102 necessary for driving are connected to the multilayer wiring board 10 through 106.
7 and wired to the matrix on connector 12
7. Connected to a signal output section, also not shown, via a drive circuit connection line 128. Reference numeral 110 denotes a board on which the heads 101 and 101' are mounted, and the heads are fixed with head fixing claws 111. Also, 110
is fixed to the ink tank holding plate 124 by a joint 125. Reference numeral 112 is a cap that is common to all of the heads and covers all of the ink discharge ports, and 113 is a contact pressure adjustment plate between the cap 112 and the head. 114 is a spring, 115 is a fixing block for setting the inkjet recording device shown in the main body of the device (not shown), and motor 119 is a drive screw 12.
0 and the housing 121, and reciprocates the head mounting plate 110 connected to the housing 121 back and forth. The stop position is determined by detecting the position of the detection plate 116, which moves together with the housing 121, by a backward stop sensor 117 and a forward stop sensor 118. 122 is a guide rail when the housing 121 moves, and 131 is a stopper. The head mounting plate 110 and the fixing block 115 are connected with mounting screws 132.

Further, the motor 126 is a driving force source for swinging the cap 112.

Figure 2 is for explaining the capping mechanism.
The drive mechanism attached to the fixed block 208 has been extracted. For convenience of explanation, the head mounting plate 217 and head 214 are shown, but
Other parts configured on the plate 217 have been omitted. The cap 209 is connected to the swing transmission plate 206 at its support shaft 211, and the transmission plate 2
06 is fixed to a fixing block 208 with a step screw 207 that serves as its fulcrum. Furthermore, cap 209
is always pulled toward the head mounting plate 217 by a spring 210, and when not recording, the head mounting plate 21
7 and a roller 212 attached to the tip thereof. At this time, the head 214 is in close contact with an ink-absorbing porous body 215, which is made of felt or various types of sponge, and which is provided inside the cap 209 for the purpose of absorbing ink. During recording operation, the head mounting plate 217 moves in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure under the action of the motor 201 and its control mechanism 202, and stops at a predetermined position (recording operation position of the head) shown by the dashed line. However, at this time,
The cap 209 is pushed by the mounting plate 217 and rotates about the support shaft 211 in the direction of the arrow in the figure.
It is pushed down to the position shown by the dotted chain line. At this time, the roller 212 serves to smoothly push the cap 209. When the head 214 stops recording, the mounting plate 217 retreats to a predetermined position (shown in solid line).
09 smoothly returns to the original position while contacting the roller 212 by the contraction force of the spring 210, and all the heads 214 are capped facing the corresponding porous bodies 215. Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the cap 209 which is a more characteristic configuration of the present invention
The detailed configuration of (FIG. 2) will be explained.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the cap 209 shown in FIG. 2, in which 301 is the cap main body, 302
is a porous body such as felt, sponge rubber, plastic foam, etc., which is divided into a plurality of parts so as to correspond to the areas where the discharge ports are provided.
The porous body 302 may be fixed by forming a concave portion of the same shape in the cap body 301 in advance and fitting therein, or by attaching the porous body 302 to such an extent that it can be peeled off from the cap body 301. It is fixed. Therefore, these porous bodies 302 are
At any time, each can be independently replaced with a new part that has not yet absorbed ink.

The embodiment of FIG. 3 can also be modified as shown in FIG.

In other words, in this Fig. 4, the cap body 4
As already shown in FIG. 1, on one side of the inkjet heads 101 and 101', which are arranged in a zigzag manner on both the upper and lower surfaces of the mounting plate 110 (as shown), there are porous holes divided into equal numbers of ink jet heads 101 and 101' forming a multi-orifice. A body 402 is arranged corresponding to each head (not shown). In this example, the third
Since parts of the porous body can be replaced in a more detailed manner than in the illustrated embodiment, all the ink ejection ports can be more reliably maintained in good condition.

However, in the above embodiments, all porous bodies 3
02 and 402, it is necessary to take care to cover the entire area of a multi-orifice type ink ejection port (not shown).

In addition, from FIG. 2 onward, details of the ink supply system, head driving device, etc. related to the ink jet head are not shown for convenience of explanation.

Further, in the present invention, the inkjet head and the cap body are detachably attached to their respective supports, so that when either one becomes malfunctioning, the parts can be replaced.

[Effect] When the inkjet recording device according to the present invention described above is used, even if the degree of contamination of the ink absorber differs depending on the corresponding ejection port area, the ink absorber is divided, so that the dirty area This prevents the absorber from contaminating clean areas. Furthermore, since only the dirty part can be removed and replaced with a new one, there is no waste and the replacement work is easy.

In this way, even in a multi-orifice type inkjet recording apparatus, clogging of all the many ink ejection ports can be prevented or eliminated at the same time, and stable inkjet recording can be guaranteed at all times.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view for explaining the main parts of FIG. 1, and FIGS. It is an explanatory diagram of an example. In the figure, 101, 101', 214 are ink jet heads, 102 is a flexible printed board, 103 is an ink conduit, 104 is a common electrode pad, 105 is a lead wire, 106 is a semiconductor attached board, 107 is a multilayer wiring board, 108 is an ink tank, 109 is a pipe connection joint, 110, 2
17 is a head mounting plate, 111 is a head fixing claw, 1
12,209,301,401 is cap, 11
3, 213 is a cap contact pressure adjustment plate, 114 is a spring, 115 is a fixed block, 116 is a detection plate, 1
17 is a reverse stop sensor, 118 is a forward stop sensor, 119 and 126 are motors, 12
0 is a drive screw, 121 is a housing, 122 is a guide rail, 123 is a lead terminal mounting plate, 124
is the tank holding plate, 125 is the holding plate fixing part, 127
is a connector, 128 and 129 are drive circuit connection lines, 130 is a lead terminal, 131 is a stopper,
132 is a mounting screw, 201 and 203 are motors,
202 is a drive control mechanism, 204 is a gear, 205
206 is an eccentric cam, 206 is a swing transmission plate, 207 is a step screw, 208 is a fixed block, 210 is a spring, 21
1 is a spindle, 212 is a roller, 215, 302,
402 is a porous body.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A multi-orifice type inkjet recording device in which a plurality of regions each having a plurality of ejection ports are arranged in parallel, comprising an ink absorber for absorbing ink and a cap for covering the ejection ports. 2. An inkjet recording apparatus, wherein the ink absorber is divided into a plurality of parts corresponding to the areas, and each of the ink absorbers is arranged so as to be independently attachable to and detachable from the cap.