JPH0477669B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an improvement in cleaning means for the front surface of a recording head provided with ink ejection ports in an ink jet recording apparatus.

[Prior art]

In ink jet recording devices, the ink ejection orifices may become clogged with paper scraps, dust, or thickened ink that adheres to the front surface of the recording head, resulting in ink ejection failure, so cleaning the ink ejection orifice surface is required. Ru.

As this cleaning means, a device is employed in which a flexible blade provided facing the recording head removes the front surface of the recording head (the surface on which ink ejection ports are provided).

However, in conventional cleaning means of this type, the blade slides back and forth against the front surface of the recording head, so the dust that has been pushed to one side is pushed back to the other side, and at that time, the dust is ejected from the ink. There was a problem that the cleaning effect was insufficient because the cleaning agent had a tendency to be pushed into the mouth.

〔the purpose〕

The present invention was proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is a simple method for retracting the blade by using the movement of the carriage in one predetermined direction without using a dedicated drive source for cleaning. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet recording device which has a simple structure and can perform reliable cleaning without pushing dirt or the like into the ink ejection openings.

〔overview〕

The present invention achieves the above-mentioned object, and after the recording head is cleaned by scanning a non-recording area in which a cleaning member is arranged in a predetermined direction, the recording head is cleaned in the predetermined direction. As a result of further scanning, a part of the carriage comes into contact with the locking member that stops the cleaning member at the cleaning position, thereby releasing the locked state;
The cleaning member is brought into the non-cleaning state by a biasing force of a backward biasing member that biases the cleaning member in the backward direction.

Cleaning performed only by scanning the carriage in one predetermined direction prevents dust from adhering to the ink ejection ports. Furthermore, since the carriage scan is used to release the locked state of the blade and move the blade backward, a special structure for retracting the blade is not required and a simple structure can be adopted.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the main structure of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment.

In FIG. 1, a guide shaft 3 is installed in front of a sheet of paper 2 that has been flapped onto a platen 1, and a recording head 5 is mounted on a carriage 4 that moves along the guide shaft.

An ink recovery device 6 is provided at the home position HP of the carriage 4 (in the illustrated example, on the left side of the platen 1). This ink recovery device includes a capping means 7 which is driven forward and backward relative to the recording head 5 and seals the front surface of the recording head (the surface on which the ink ejection ports are formed) in the forward position, and a suction operation lever 8 that drives the capping means 7 to pass the ink through the capping means 7. It is composed of a pump 9 that sucks ink from an ejection port.

A flexible blade 10 is attached to the side of the capping means 7 for removing the front surface of the recording head 5 (the surface where the ink ejection ports are provided). This blade 10 moves forward as the capping means 7 moves forward, but is attached to the capping means by a mechanism that leaves it at the forward position in a locked state when the capping means 7 retreats, that is, a leaving mechanism. The blade 10 is moved backward by releasing the locked state by the movement of the carriage 4 as it passes from right to left.

FIG. 2 illustrates the structure of the ink recovery device 6.

In FIG. 2, the suction operation lever 8, the pump 9 driven by pushing down the lever, and the capping means 7 are supported on a base 11, and the capping means is supported so as to be movable forward and backward.

A blade support plate 12 is mounted on the right side of the capping means 7 and is biased in the backward direction by an elongated hole 13, a stop pin 14, and a retraction spring 15. A flexible blade 10 consisting of the following is attached. Further, on the base 11, a swinging engagement member 17 is biased by a spring 16 to a position where it can engage with the support plate 12.
is installed. This engagement member 17 is configured to rotate (be pushed down) in the direction of arrow B when the carriage 4 (or its protrusion) collides with its distal end slope 18 from the direction of arrow A.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained with reference to FIG.

Carriage 4 moves from right to left to home position
When the HP is reached, the capping means 7 advances to close the front surface of the recording head 5. That is, the cap closing operation is automatically performed. At this time, the blade 10 also moves forward.

Next, the suction operation lever 8 is pressed to perform an ink recovery operation (ink suction operation), and when the ink suction operation is completed, the capping means 7 is retreated. At this time, the blade 10 is still left in the forward position.

Next, the carriage 4 moves to the left from the home position HP, and at this time the engaging member 17 (FIG. 2) is pushed down and the blade 10 is moved backward.

Next, the carriage 4 moves from the left end position to the right, passes the home position HP, and stops at a position a predetermined distance to the right.

Therefore, the capping means 7 is advanced to advance the blade 10, and then the capping means is retracted. At this time, the blade 10 is left in the forward position.

Following this, the carriage 4 is moved to the left and driven past the home position HP to the left end position.
At this time, first, the front surface of the recording head 5, that is, the surface where the ink ejection ports are provided, is removed by the blade 10 to clean the ejection port surface before reaching the home position HP. Carriage 4 while moving further to the left.
Alternatively, the protrusion hits the engaging member 17 (FIG. 2), causing the blade 10 to retreat.

The direction in which the front surface of the recording head is removed by the blade 10 is set only in the direction in which the carriage 4 moves to the left, that is, in one direction.

Thereafter, the carriage 4 is moved to the right, and in the normal case, a test print is performed, followed by a normal printing operation in which printing is started in response to a print signal.

Normally, in a printing operation from the cap state, printing is performed after the carriage 4 is moved to the left and the blade 10 is retreated, so the recording head 5 does not come into contact with the blade 10.

According to the embodiment described above, the blade 10 is driven forward and backward by the movement of the capping means 7 and the movement of the carriage 4, and the front surface of the recording head 5 is removed by the blade using the movement of the carriage 4. With this configuration, the cleaning operation of the ink ejection orifice surface by the blade 10 could be performed using the existing mechanism without requiring a dedicated drive source. Therefore, it has become possible to construct a device for removing the recording head 5 with an extremely simple and compact mechanism at low cost.

At the same time, since the configuration is such that the front surface of the recording head 5 can be removed by the blade 10 only when the carriage 4 moves from right to left, the direction in which the front surface of the recording head is removed by the blade 10 is unidirectional (unidirectional). ), the ink discharge port can be cleaned reliably without the phenomenon that the dust that was pushed to one side is pushed into the ink discharge port while being pushed to the other side again as in the conventional case. Ta.

In the above description, the extraction operation of the blade 10 is completed in one operation, but this can be easily and freely set to a desired number of operations, two or more, by appropriately modifying the sequence, if necessary.

Further, in the illustrated embodiment, the blade 10 is driven forward and backward when removing the ink ejection orifice surface, but this can also be configured so that the recording head 5 is driven forward and backward.

Furthermore, the removal operation using the blade can be performed whenever necessary, regardless of the capping operation or the like.

〔effect〕

As is clear from the above explanation, cleaning performed only by scanning the carriage in one predetermined direction is an inkjet recording device that performs reliable and stable cleaning without causing dust or the like to re-adhere to the ink ejection ports. can be provided.

In addition, since the carriage scan is used to release the locked state of the blade and move the blade backward,
No dedicated configuration for blade retraction is required;
An inkjet recording device with a simple cleaning mechanism can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing essential parts of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the ink recovery device shown in FIG. 1. 4... Carriage, 5... Recording head, 10...
blade.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A mechanism for cleaning the front surface of a recording head by sliding a carriage capable of mounting a recording head that discharges ink in a non-recording area that is outside a recording area where recording is performed. In the inkjet recording device, the cleaning mechanism includes: a cleaning member for rubbing and cleaning the recording head; a locking member for locking the cleaning member at a position where it rubs against the recording head; a backward biasing member for retracting the member to a position away from the recording head where it does not rub against the recording head, the cleaning member being in the cleaning position and the carriage cleaning the recording head; After cleaning the recording head by scanning the non-recording area where the cleaning member is arranged in one predetermined direction, a part of the carriage is cleaned by further scanning in the one predetermined direction. The cleaning member is engaged with a part of the locking member to release the locked state of the cleaning member, and the cleaning member is brought into the non-cleaning state by the biasing force of the backward biasing member. Inkjet recording device. 2. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member is moved forward in conjunction with the advance of a cap member provided adjacent to the cleaning member.