JPH0661940B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus for recording information such as characters by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, and particularly to an inkjet recording head having nozzles for ejecting ink. The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus having a carriage that detachably mounts a housing having an ink storage portion.

[Prior art]

Since the on-demand ink jet printer is configured to eject ink only when dot printing is necessary, various ink recovery processing mechanisms for recovering excess ink are not required compared to continuous ink jet printers. In addition, the high-pressure and high-voltage are not required, and there are few places where various managements are required to fully exhibit the ink-discharging function, which simplifies the ink-discharging function. Therefore, in the on-demand type ink jet printer, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, the printing mechanism portion 2 including the ink ejecting portion and the ink tank portion is unitized so that it can be attached / detached on / from the carriage 1, which makes it easy for consumers. It is possible to provide a replaceable inkjet printer. It is considered that such a printer will spread considerably as an inkjet printer which is relatively inexpensive and easy to use. However,
In theory, no matter how much extra ink is generated and the ink recovery mechanism is not necessary, in reality, in the unlikely event of a leak accident or impact, the ink will unexpectedly come out of the printing unit. In some cases, the ink fog particles that have flowed out of the inkjet head 2 as a splash from the printed object 4 when the printed object (usually paper) 4 on the platen 3 is printed. Since ink fog particles may adhere to the periphery and collect as ink droplets, the ink that leaks or collects and forms droplets during long-term use, transportation, etc. It accumulates on the carriage 1 on which the head 2 is placed.

In the past, in order to prepare for such a case, no particular measures have been taken on the carriage 1 to treat the ink. Therefore, the ink liquid accumulated on the carriage 1 drops from the carriage 1 to the shaft portion 5, the lexible signal line 6, and the like. Further, the ink propagates through the shaft portion 5 and the like to the inside of the machine body, or the ink that has become droplets is shaken off by the inertial force of the carriage 1 as it moves at a high speed. There has been a problem that the surrounding area is stained with ink. When the user replaces the printing unit 2, the printing unit 20
Since it is on the ink-attached side 1, the user's hand, clothes, etc. may be contaminated with the ink. For this reason, users and maintenance personnel (service personnel) must be careful to clean the carriage and the area around the carriage often, and always keep them dry to prevent ink stains from adhering to others. There wasn't. further,
The formation of an ink film or the like on the carriage 1 as described above causes a leak current because this type of ink is usually conductive, which impairs the normal function of the printing unit. As a result, the equipment on the main body side may be damaged or damaged.

As described above, in the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, when ink leaking from the nozzles is accumulated on the carriage or ink is splashed from the material to be printed and rebounds, the recording apparatus or the material to be printed is There was a serious problem of getting things dirty.

[Purpose] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to collect ink that has leaked from nozzles on a carriage or ink that splashes from an object to be printed and splashes. An ink jet designed to prevent the inside of the recording apparatus or the object to be printed from being soiled due to adhesion or the like without using special complicated means, and to easily and regularly replace the ink absorbing and holding member. To provide a recording device.

[Means for Achieving the Object] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an inkjet recording having a carriage on which an inkjet recording head having nozzles for ejecting ink and a casing having an ink containing portion can be mounted. In the apparatus, the carriage has a groove facing a bottom surface of the ink jet recording head when the ink jet recording head is mounted, and a plurality of grooves that branch in a moving direction of the carriage, starting from below a surface having nozzles of the ink jet recording head. The housing is provided with an ink absorption holding member having a protruding portion that engages with the plurality of grooves.

Further, the present invention may be preferably characterized in that the groove has an inclination such that the groove becomes shallower as it goes away from the lower portion of the nozzle surface.

[Operation] According to the present invention, the carriage is provided with a plurality of grooves that are branched in the moving direction of the carriage that collects and holds the unnecessary ink and the leaked ink that have ejected from the nozzles of the inkjet recording head, and has an ink storage portion. Since the casing has the ink absorbing and holding member having the protruding portion that engages with the plurality of grooves, the ink is held in the plurality of grooves, and the ink absorbing and holding member further holds the ink in the plurality of grooves. Ink can be collected. Therefore, it is possible to prevent ink stains on the apparatus or the printed matter without using a specially complicated means.

In particular, since the ink absorption holding member has a plurality of grooves, the contact area is increased and the ink absorption efficiency is improved. Further, by branching the groove so as to intersect with the moving direction of the carriage, it is possible to prevent the ink from wavy in the groove due to the high speed movement of the carriage in the left-right direction. Therefore,
Even if the recording operation is performed while the ink is held on the carriage, the ink is not likely to be scattered.

Further, since the ink absorption holding member is provided in the housing having the ink containing portion, it can be easily and regularly replaced.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 2 and 3 respectively show the main structure of the carriage portion of the embodiment of the present invention, in which 11A to 11C are ink collecting grooves formed on the carriage 10 and the central groove 11 is shown.
C is a detachable printing unit 2 as shown in Fig. 5 below.
It is formed immediately below 0. The printing unit 20 has an ejection portion (ink jet recording head) 22 and an ink tank portion 21 corresponding to a housing having an ink storage bag 32 as an ink storage portion. In FIG. 3, in particular, the left and right grooves 11A and 11B are communicated with the central groove 11C, and the central groove 11C is concentrated below the nozzle where ink is likely to leak.
In this case, a slight inclination may be provided toward the grooves 11A to 11C in order to facilitate the collection efficiency of the ink accumulated on the carriage 10.

Also, as shown in FIGS. 4 (A) and 4 (B), the ends of the groove 11 are
It is formed so that it becomes wider and shallower as it moves away from 11D, thereby collecting unnecessary ink due to leakage or droplet formation and temporarily storing it in the groove 11 to give an effect of natural drying by evaporation. A plurality of baffle plates 12 (plate-shaped protrusions) perpendicular to the moving direction of the carriage 10 are provided in the groove 11 so as to prevent the ink from wavy in the groove 11 due to the high speed lateral movement of the carriage 10. Is also preferable. Furthermore, the degree of hydrophilic treatment may be increased toward the deeper side 11D of the groove 11 or a treatment for increasing the surface activity may be performed to improve the ink flow and increase the ink recovery efficiency.

As shown in FIG. 5, the printing unit 20 described above includes a tank portion 21 that stores ink ejected from the nozzle array 24 of the ejection portion 22 as ink droplets, the ejection portion 22 described above, and the ejection portion thereof.
It is provided with 22 signal line contacts 23 and a base leg portion 25 (protruding portion that engages with the groove), is compactly formed, and has an easily replaceable structure. Further, as will be described later, an ink storage bag 32 as an ink storage portion and an ink absorption holding member 31 are arranged inside the ink tank portion 21. The printing unit is detachably mounted on the carriage 10 having the ink recovery groove 11 as shown in FIGS. Flexible signal line 6 (see Fig. 1) is a contact
23 to connect the ink droplets to the nozzle array by activating the ejection energy in the ejection unit 22 according to the signal of the signal line 6.
Discharge from 24. As shown in FIG. 6, the printing unit 20 has a normal tank portion 21 when the discharged ink is exhausted.
Just replace it with a new tank to replenish ink and continue printing. However, when the ejection unit 22 which gives ejection energy to the nozzle array 24 has reached the end of its life, when the vicinity of the nozzle array 24 is damaged for some reason and normal ink ejection cannot be continued, or the ejection unit which obtains ejection energy When 22 becomes unrecoverable and cannot function normally, the discharge part 22 can be separated from the tank part 21 and replaced.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 6 (A) and (B) or FIGS. 7 to 9, the leg portion 25 mated with the ink collecting groove 11 of the carriage 10 at the time of mounting is discharged from the printing unit 20. Part 22
The leg portion 25 includes an ink absorbing and holding member 31 made of a porous substance, and the other end of the ink absorbing and holding member 31 is inside the ink tank portion (ink liquid reservoir) 21. It is located in. That is, the legs of the member 31
25 is formed so as to reach the groove 11 on the carriage 10 through the base of the discharge part 22, and the ink accumulated in the groove 11 of the carriage is sucked up to the ink tank part 21 side by the capillary force of the capillary phenomenon, and the ink tank When leading the main part of the ink absorbing and holding member 31 housed in the portion 21, and then replacing the ink tank portion 21, the ink absorbing and holding member 31 containing the unnecessary ink is also removed from the machine. Since the groove 11 and the leg portion 25 are formed so as to be fitted to each other, the ink absorption holding member 31 can be simultaneously used as a member for positioning the ink tank portion 21 and the ink ejection portion 22.

Further, in the on-demand type ink jet printer, the ink pressure to the nozzle 24 must be set to a slight negative pressure, and the circumference of the ink tank portion 21 must be maintained at the same pressure as the nozzle tip, so the ink tank including the ink storage An atmosphere communication hole (not shown) must be opened in the portion 21 as necessary, but in this example, since the ink storage bag 32 of the ink tank portion 21 communicates with the atmosphere through the porous body 31, such an atmosphere is particularly preferable. There is an advantage that a communication hole is not required.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the above-mentioned porous body 31 may be arranged around the ink containing bag 32 to increase the capacity of the bag. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the leg portion 25 may be formed of a porous body only. Also, the ninth
As shown in the figure, the lower part of the ink tank portion 21 is covered with the porous body 31.
It is also possible to form the transparent member 33 whose upper part can be seen only inside so that the ink does not soak into the hand and become dirty even if the ink tank part 21 is held by hand during replacement. preferable.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the ink tank portion 21 and the leg portion may be integrally formed by a porous body 31,
In this case, since it is not necessary to pass the porous body 31 through the base of the discharge unit 22, the positioning becomes easier. In addition, if the ink tank portion 21 is made of a porous material, it is not necessary to open an air communication hole. Also, its porous body
The outer surface of 31 may be subjected to a hydrophobic treatment and the inside thereof may be subjected to a hydrophilic treatment so that the ink does not ooze out to the outer surface.

Furthermore, the porous member 31 in the ink tank portion 21 is not limited to a solid on the sponge, and may be powder as long as it has ink absorbability and ink retention, for example, polymer polymer powder can be used. . In addition, a kind of symbolization (patterning) that makes sense to the shape of the ink recovery groove 11 of the carriage 10 or the leg 25 of the porous member 31 and the outer wall thereof,
Information such as the mounting direction may be given to the user or service person.

〔effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, in addition to forming a plurality of grooves in the carriage in the moving direction of the carriage that collects and holds unnecessary ink and leaked ink that have ejected from the nozzles of the inkjet recording head, Since the housing having the ink containing portion has the ink absorbing and holding member having the protruding portion that engages with the plurality of grooves, the ink is held in the plurality of grooves, and the ink absorbing and holding member further holds the ink. The ink in the plurality of grooves can be collected.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent ink stains on the apparatus or the printed matter without using a specially complicated means.

In particular, since the ink absorption holding member is in contact with the plurality of grooves, the contact area is increased and the ink absorption efficiency is improved. Further, by branching the groove so as to intersect with the moving direction of the carriage, it is possible to prevent the ink from wavy in the groove due to the high speed movement of the carriage in the left-right direction. Therefore, even if the recording operation is performed while the ink is held on the carriage, the ink is not likely to be scattered.

Further, since the ink absorption holding member is provided in the housing having the ink containing portion, it can be easily and regularly replaced.

The present invention is suitable for an inkjet recording apparatus in which the inkjet recording head and the housing having the ink containing portion can be attached and detached.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional inkjet printer, and FIG.
FIG. 3, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 (A) are plan views showing the configuration of the main part of the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 (B) is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 4 (A). 5 is a perspective view showing the structure of a printing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 (A) is a longitudinal sectional view thereof, and FIG. 6 (B) is YY of FIG. 6 (A). 7 to 9 are cross-sectional views showing the construction of a printing unit according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10 is a printing unit according to another embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view which shows the principal part structure. 1,10 …… Carriage, 2,20 …… Printing unit, 11 …… Ink collection groove, 12 …… Ruffle prevention baffle, 21 …… Ink tank part, 22 …… Discharge energy applying part, 23 …… Signal line contact part, 24 ... Nozzle array, 25 ... Leg part, 31 ... Porous member, 32 ... Ink storage bag, 33 ... Transparent member.

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-53-97429 (JP, A) JP-A-55-130782 (JP, A) JP-A-59-45162 (JP, A) Actual development S57-113942 (JP , U)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An inkjet recording apparatus having a carriage that detachably mounts an inkjet recording head having nozzles for ejecting ink and a casing having an ink container, wherein the carriage is the inkjet recording head when the inkjet recording head is mounted. A position facing the bottom surface of the recording head and having a plurality of grooves that start from below the surface having the nozzles of the inkjet recording head and that intersect in a direction that intersects the moving direction of the carriage; An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: an ink absorbing and holding member having a protruding portion that engages with the groove. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the groove is inclined so that it becomes shallower as it goes away from the lower portion of the nozzle surface.