JP2000343718A - Differential wiping device for ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: When a wiping member returns to an initial position, the wiping member is prevented from contacting the nozzle forming surface of the recording head, and the ink in the nozzle opening once adjusted by the wiping operation is removed. To prevent the meniscus from being disturbed. A differential wiping device for wiping a nozzle forming surface of a recording head, wherein a main rack is formed on a slide member along a longitudinal direction thereof, and the slide member is driven by rotation of a pinion meshing with the main rack. The differential rack is configured to be reciprocated and arranged so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction of the slide member. At the terminal end of the movement of the slide member in the forward movement direction, only the differential rack is further pushed out by the pinion and moved in the forward movement direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a differential wiping apparatus for an ink jet recording apparatus having a head discharge characteristic maintaining device for maintaining the discharge characteristics of a recording head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording head mounted on a carriage which reciprocates in a main scanning direction and a recording material feeder for intermittently feeding a recording material such as printing paper by a set amount in a sub scanning direction. Means for ejecting ink droplets from the recording head to the opposed recording material while moving the recording head in the main scanning direction to perform recording.

In a mono-color ink jet recording apparatus, one recording head is usually mounted. In a full-color ink jet recording apparatus, a plurality of recording heads for ejecting black ink and a plurality of color recording heads for ejecting ink of each color such as yellow, cyan, and magenta are mounted. 1326
No. 15).

[0004] The principle of the ink jet type recording apparatus for discharging ink from the recording head is as follows. That is, as is known, the ink is pressurized at a predetermined pressure in the pressure generating chamber, and based on the pressure, the ink is ejected from the nozzle opening on the nozzle forming surface as ink droplets of a controlled size toward the recording material. . Therefore, the characteristic of ink ejection from the nozzle opening of the recording head is:
It is necessary to keep it constant, and if the ink ejection characteristics fluctuate, it leads to a decrease in recording quality.

[0005] The ink discharge characteristics of the recording head fluctuate due to an increase in viscosity due to evaporation and drying of the ink at the nozzle openings, solidification and clogging of the ink, and adhesion of dust and air bubbles. Therefore, in the ink jet recording apparatus, in order to maintain the ink ejection characteristics of the recording head constant, the above-described causes of the fluctuations of the ink ejection characteristics are eliminated,
A head ejection characteristic maintaining device for maintaining the ejection characteristics of the recording head is provided.

[0006] The head discharge characteristic maintaining apparatus first includes a first
And a capping device. At the time of non-recording, the capping device seals the nozzle forming surface and isolates the nozzle opening from the outside, thereby suppressing ink drying and suppressing an increase in ink viscosity.

Further, even if the nozzle forming surface is sealed by the capping device, clogging of the nozzle opening and entry of bubbles into the ink flow path cannot be completely prevented. Therefore, the head discharge characteristic maintaining device is provided with a suction pump capable of forcibly sucking and discharging ink from the nozzle opening in order to remove clogging of the nozzle opening and mixed air bubbles. This suction pump applies a negative pressure to the nozzle opening in a state where the nozzle forming surface is sealed by the capping device, and forcibly sucks and discharges ink from the nozzle opening to remove the clogging and the mixed air bubbles. Remove. Forcible suction and discharge processing of ink by the suction pump can be performed when the printing operation is restarted after a long pause of the printing apparatus, or when the user recognizes that the quality of the printed image has deteriorated and the dedicated switch on the operation panel is used. Is usually executed when is operated.

When the ink is forcibly sucked and discharged by the suction pump as described above, the ink may scatter and adhere to the nozzle forming surface of the recording head, and the meniscus of the ink at each nozzle opening is disturbed. Further, foreign matter easily adheres to the nozzle forming surface of the recording head over time. Therefore, the head ejection characteristic maintaining device is provided with the third
And a wiping device for wiping the nozzle forming surface as necessary.

This wiping device has a plate-shaped wiping member made of a composite material having one surface made of an elastic plate such as rubber and a rubbing material of the same shape made of felt and the like on the other surface. Then, the base end side of the wiping member is squeezed and supported by a holder. Then, the edge portion on the tip side of the wiping member is relatively moved forward and backward while being elastically pressed against the nozzle forming surface to clean the nozzle forming surface. For example, at the time of forward movement or backward movement, the wiping material is pressed against the nozzle forming surface, and at the time of backward movement or forward movement, the rubbing material is pressed against the nozzle forming surface to clean the nozzle forming surface. .

[0010] The cleaning operation of the wiping member by the wiping material is called a "wiping operation". This “wiping operation” plays an important role of uniformly arranging, that is, stabilizing the meniscus of the ink at each nozzle opening, in addition to wiping the ink attached to the nozzle forming surface. Therefore, the pressing force for elastically pressing the edge portion of the wiping material against the nozzle forming surface must be set to a soft and appropriate strength enough to reliably stabilize the meniscus. Technical requirements.

The cleaning operation of the wiping member with the rubbing material is called a "rubbing operation". This “rubbing operation” has a role of scraping foreign matter firmly fixed to the nozzle forming surface. Therefore, there is a second technical requirement that the pressing force for pressing the edge portion of the rubbing material against the nozzle forming surface must be set large enough to scrape off the foreign matter firmly fixed to the nozzle forming surface. .

[0012]

However, conventionally, the first technical requirement and the second technical requirement required for the wiping member are conventionally used.
Technical requirements were met only with the combination of a wiping material that is easy to bend and a rubbing material that is less bendable than the wiping material.Therefore, there is a limit naturally, and it is easy to satisfy both requirements. Was not.

In addition, when the wiping member returns to the initial position after sliding in the forward movement direction, the wiping member comes into contact with the nozzle forming surface of the recording head because it has the same posture as that in the forward movement. Therefore, there has been a problem that the meniscus of the ink at the nozzle opening once adjusted is disturbed.

An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus having a head ejection characteristic maintaining device for maintaining the ejection characteristics of a recording head, wherein the wiping member performs recording when the wiping member returns to an initial position. The wiping operation of the wiping device, which is one of the head discharge characteristic maintaining devices, prevents the ink meniscus of the nozzle opening once adjusted by the wiping operation by preventing the ink from being in contact with the nozzle forming surface of the head. An object of the present invention is to provide a differential wiping device of an ink jet recording apparatus capable of reliably satisfying the first technical requirement and the second technical requirement of a member. Another object of the present invention is to provide a differential device which is an element of the differential wiping device.

[0015]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wiping apparatus for wiping a nozzle forming surface of an ink jet type recording head, wherein the wiping device is provided in parallel with the nozzle forming surface. A reciprocating slide member, supported by the slide member, performing a wiping operation on the nozzle forming surface when the slide member moves in one direction, and a rubbing operation on the nozzle forming surface when the slide member moves in the opposite direction. A wiping member whose free end side is pressed against the nozzle forming surface, a support portion rotatably supporting a base end side of the wiping member to the slide member, and The wiping portion rotated in the direction of the reaction force by receiving a reaction accompanying the pressing from the nozzle forming surface; A spring for biasing and supporting the wiping member in the pressing direction in that state, and a rotation restricting means for restricting the rotation of the wiping member during the rubbing operation to make the wiping member rigidly supported. ,
The slide member has a main rack formed along the longitudinal direction thereof, and the slide member is configured to be reciprocated by rotating a pinion that meshes with the main rack in forward and reverse directions, and Further provided is a differential rack arranged so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction of the member, wherein the differential rack is driven in the same direction as the main rack by rotating the pinions meshing with the differential rack in forward and reverse directions. At the end of movement of the slide member in the forward movement direction, the differential rack alone is further pushed out by the pinion and moved in the forward movement direction. The wiping member is configured to be inclined in the forward movement direction by moving only the differential rack.

According to this configuration, the wiping member is inclined in the forward movement direction by the forward movement of only the differential rack after the wiping operation. And
Since the wiping member is returned to the initial position in the inclined state, the wiping member does not contact the nozzle forming surface of the recording head at the time of returning. Accordingly, the meniscus of the ink at the nozzle opening once adjusted by the wiping operation is not disturbed. This makes it possible to reliably satisfy the first technical requirement and the second technical requirement required for the wiping member of the wiping device, which is one of the head ejection characteristic maintaining devices.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the differential wiping apparatus for an ink jet recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the pitch of the racks in the main rack and the differential rack is substantially the same. The number of teeth of the rack formed on the differential rack is made larger than the number of teeth of the rack formed on the main rack.

By using a differential rack having a pitch substantially the same as that of the main rack, it is possible to easily and reliably realize the inclination of the wiping member in the forward movement direction after the end of the wiping operation. Thus, after the wiping operation is completed, the recording head can be returned to the original position without contacting the wiping member with the nozzle forming surface of the recording head.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the differential wiping device for an ink jet recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the slide member is sandwiched between a base end of the wiping member. A holder member rotatably supported on the holder member, and an arm member supporting the free end side of the holder member and being locked to the differential rack with a play of a predetermined stroke at the other end portion, The wiping member is configured to receive the urging force of the spring within a play range of a predetermined stroke.

According to the present invention, even in a structure using a differential rack, the first requirement can be satisfied with a simple structure.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the differential wiping apparatus for an ink jet recording apparatus according to the third aspect, an elongated hole formed at the other end of the arm member, And a shaft arranged to fit loosely into the elongated hole in the rack, wherein the rack has a play of the predetermined stroke in a moving range of the elongated hole with respect to the shaft. .

According to this configuration, even in the structure using the differential rack, the play of the predetermined stroke is provided in the moving range of the elongated hole with respect to the shaft body, so that the urging force of the spring is stably used. can do.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the differential wiping device for an ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the rotation restricting means includes It is characterized by being constituted by the engagement between a moving rack and a pinion.

According to this configuration, when the pinion and the differential rack and the main rack are engaged with each other at the same time, the movement of the differential rack and the main rack is integrated by the pinion. The rotation of the member in the forward movement direction is restricted. Therefore, even in the structure using the differential rack, a strong pressing force during the rubbing operation can be obtained with a simple structure.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the differential wiping device for an ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the wiping member is formed of an elastic plate. It is characterized by comprising a composite material in which a wiping material and a rubbing material such as felt having greater resistance to bending than the wiping material are joined.

According to this structure, the wiping operation is performed with the wiping material suitable for wiping, and the rubbing operation is performed with the rubbing material suitable for rubbing. The second technical need can be more simply and fully satisfied.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the differential wiping device for an ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the moving direction of the slide member is determined by a nozzle. It is a direction parallel to the nozzle rows arranged on the forming surface.

According to this configuration, the wiping member moves not in the main scanning direction but in the sub-scanning direction.
Ink is less likely to be scattered along with the wiping operation in the main scanning direction, and even in a printing apparatus employing a multi-nozzle head, there is less risk that ink will be mixed in color by the wiping operation.

[0029] The invention described in claim 8 of the present application provides:
8. The differential wiping device for an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the paper transport path is formed on an inclined surface, and a moving direction of the slide member is parallel to the inclined surface and a forward direction is obliquely downward. This is a feature that is configured to be as follows.

Thus, the wiping operation can be performed in the inclined direction along the gravity, that is, while the wiping member is slid diagonally downward, so that the ink or the like scraped off by the wiping is carried diagonally downward. become. Therefore, the gravity can be used for the wiping operation, so that the wiping performance can be improved. Since the inclined state of the wiping member by the differential rack is inclined along the gravity, the inclined state is stable when returning.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the differential according to the present invention, a main rack formed on a slide member along a longitudinal direction thereof, and a main rack parallel to the slide member and slidable in the longitudinal direction. A differential rack arranged to be
A single pinion that meshes with the main rack and the differential rack, and the differential rack is reciprocated at the same pace as the main rack by rotationally driving the pinion in forward and reverse directions, and the slide At the end of the movement of the member in the forward movement direction, only the differential rack is further pushed out by the pinion and moved in the forward movement direction. Thereby, the operation and effect of the invention described in each of the above claims can be obtained.

[0032]

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a unitized head discharge characteristic maintaining device according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing a part of the inside of the apparatus in cross section, and FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a part of the inside of the head ejection characteristic maintaining apparatus in cross section.

This ink jet recording apparatus has a sheet width of 594 mm (JIS standard A1 size) or 728 m.
The printer is a large-sized printer that can print on relatively large-sized paper such as m (JIS standard B1 size). Of course,
The present invention can be applied to a standard size instead of such a large one.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ink-jet printer has a paper feeding unit
The recording unit 2 and the paper discharge unit 3 are arranged. The paper as the recording material is fed from the paper feed unit 1 to the recording unit 2 and the paper discharge unit 3
In the process of being sent to the printer, predetermined printing is performed and the print is discharged to the outside. The paper transport path 8 at the time of printing is formed with an inclination of 65 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane. The nozzle forming surface of the recording head 54 mounted on the carriage 4 and reciprocating in the main scanning direction along the guide shaft 6 is also arranged at an angle of 65 degrees so as to be parallel to the paper transport path 8. . In addition,
The present invention is, of course, not limited to such a recording device having a tilted structure.

A head ejection characteristic maintaining device 30 for maintaining the ejection characteristics of the recording head 54 is provided at a portion of the carriage 4 which will be the home position. Then, when the carriage 4 is at the home position, the head ejection characteristic maintaining device 30
Processing for maintaining the ejection characteristics of the recording head 54 is performed. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 7 denotes a carriage 4
, A drive belt for reciprocating in the main scanning direction, reference numeral 9 denotes an ink cartridge holder, and reference numeral 10 denotes a front cover in an open state.

As shown in FIG. 2, the head discharge characteristic maintaining device 30 is unitized by a unit frame 31 formed in a substantially box shape by both side frames 32 and 33, an upper frame 34 and the like. That is, in this unit frame 31, a wiping device 35 for wiping the nozzle forming surface as needed, a capping device 37 for pressing the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 54 to seal the nozzle opening during non-printing, Wiping device 35
And a drive mechanism 200 for operating the capping device 37, a suction pump 75 for forcibly sucking and discharging ink to remove clogging of the nozzle opening and mixed air bubbles, and ink removal not shown in FIG. Member 55
(FIGS. 3 and 4), a select device 300 (FIG. 3), and the like. Here, the ink removing member 55 is for restoring the ability of the wiping device 35, and the selecting device 300 is capable of performing a wiping operation or the like only for a nozzle row required in the case of a multi-nozzle head. It is to make.

A drive motor 43 for operating the capping device 37 and a pump motor 44 for operating the suction pump 75 are attached to the side frame 32. Reference numeral 45 denotes a gear for transmitting the power of the pump motor 44 to the suction pump 75.

The internal structure of the unit frame 31 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in these figures, the wiping device 35, the capping device 37, and the ink removing member 55 are arranged in this order. This arrangement direction is a direction in which the slide member 46 of the wiping device 35 reciprocates, and the ink removing member 55 is disposed at the end point of the forward movement. Also,
The direction of the reciprocating movement of the slide member 46 in the present embodiment is obliquely configured to correspond to the nozzle forming surface 94. In particular, the forward movement direction of the slide member 46 is parallel to the nozzle forming surface. , And is configured to be obliquely downward.

As shown in FIG. 3, a suction pump 75 and a drive mechanism 200 are provided below the wiping device 35. The overall structure of the drive mechanism 200 is approximately the same as the capping device 37 in FIG.
It is shown in a perspective view in a state where it is disassembled into large element units. The drive mechanism unit 200 uses the drive motor 43 as a power source, and the capping device 37
4 and the non-capping state where the nozzle forming surface 94 of the recording head 54 is unsealed by retracting from the capping state (FIG. 11 and FIG. 3). FIG. 12). Further, the driving mechanism 200
In addition to the opening and closing of the valve member 56 in the capping device 37, the sliding member 46 of the wiping device 35 reciprocates and further controls the selecting operation of the selecting device 300.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the present embodiment,
Wiping device 35 to support multi-nozzle head
Is provided with three wiping units using a set of one wiping member 36 and a corresponding slide member 46 as one wiping unit. These three
The two wiping units are disposed so that the wiping member 36 can swing up and down with the base end side as a fulcrum, and the wiping member 36 is constantly urged downward by a holding plate spring (not shown). Due to this pressing leaf spring, a rack (to be described later) provided on the lower surface of the wiping unit and a fixed position where a pinion that is separate from the wiping unit and supported by a pinion support frame 130 (to be described later) meshes with each other. The wiping unit is pushed and held. Also, three ink removing members 55 are provided corresponding to the three wiping units, and three sealing caps 38 of the capping device 37 are also provided.

Next, the structure of the wiping device 35 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the wiping device according to the present invention, in which the wiping member 36 is supported in a state perpendicular to the reciprocating direction of the slide member 46. Wiping member 36
Is a wiping material 47 made of an elastic plate such as rubber;
The wiping material 47 is made of a composite material joined to a rubbing material 48 such as felt having a greater resistance to bending than the wiping material 47. The base end side of the wiping member 36 is firmly held by the holder member 80 and the support portion 81 at the distal end of the slide member 46 via the holder member 80.
Is mounted so as to be rotatable.

The free end side of the holder member 80 is supported by an arm member 77, and the other end of the arm member 77 is locked to a separate shaft body 82 with a predetermined stroke play. This locking structure is configured by loosely fitting a long hole 78 formed at the other end of the arm member 77 to the shaft 82. Accordingly, the arm member 77 has a play of the predetermined stroke in a limited movement range of the elongated hole 78 with respect to the shaft body 82, whereby the wiping member 36 causes the elongated hole 78 with respect to the shaft body 82 to move. Rotation is possible in a range corresponding to the movable amount. The free end side of the holder member 80 is supported by the arm member 77 as described above.
It is needless to say that the wiping member 36 is rotatably supported so that the wiping member 36 can be rotated and inclined.

When the shaft 82 is fixed to the slide member 46, the range in which the wiping member 36 can rotate is limited to the range of movement of the elongated hole 78 with respect to the shaft 82. Specifically, the rotation of the wiping member 36 in the forward movement direction is mechanically restricted from the orthogonal state with the slide member 46 shown in FIG. It becomes the dynamic limit. This state is used in the rubbing operation described later.

The base 8 to which the shaft 82 is fixed
4 and a coil spring 49 is contracted between the left and right connecting portions 83 on the arm member 77 side.
The wiping member 36 is configured to receive the urging force of the coil spring 49 in a moving range of the long hole 78 with respect to the shaft body 82, that is, in a range in which the wiping member 36 can rotate. The strength of the coil spring 49 is
During the wiping operation, the wiping member 36 that has received a reaction from the nozzle forming surface due to the pressing against the nozzle forming surface and urged the wiping member 36 rotated in the direction of the reaction force in the pressing direction in that state to perform wiping It is set to be supported by both the elastic force of the member 36 itself and the elastic force of the spring 49.

In this embodiment, the base 84 to which the shaft 82 is attached is not fixed to the slide member 46, but is It is fixed to the base 50 (FIG. 6). Therefore, since the differential rack 86 can move with respect to the slide member 46, the wiping member 36 can be further rotated in the forward movement direction of the slide member 46. FIG. 7 shows a state in which the wiping member 36 has been further turned beyond the turning range of the wiping member 36 corresponding to the moving range of the elongated hole 78 with respect to the shaft body 82. That is, by further moving the differential rack 86 with the slide member 46 stopped, the wiping member 36 can be largely inclined in the forward movement direction.

FIG. 6 shows the wiping device 35 in the state of FIG.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a state viewed from the back side. A main rack 85 is formed on the slide member 46 along its longitudinal direction, and a pinion 52 meshed with the main rack 85 is formed.
The slide member 46 is configured to reciprocate by rotationally driving the a, 52b, and 52c (see FIG. 9) in the forward and reverse directions.

Further, a base 50 having the differential rack 86 is further provided so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction of the slide member 46. The differential rack 86 is provided with pinions 52a, 52b, 52 that mesh with the differential rack 86.
It is configured to reciprocate at the same pace as the main rack 85 by the rotational drive of c in the forward and reverse directions. At the end of the movement of the slide member 46 in the forward movement direction, the main rack 85 and the pinion 52 are moved.
The differential rack 86 maintains the meshing state with the pinions 52a, 52b, 52c even after the slide member 46 stops, and only the differential rack 86 has meshed with the pinions 52a, 52b, 52c. Further, it is configured to be pushed out and moved in the forward movement direction.

More specifically, the pitch of the racks in the main rack 85 and the differential rack 86 is substantially the same as shown in FIG. 6, and compared with the number of teeth of the rack formed in the main rack 85. The number of teeth of the rack formed on the differential rack 86 is increased by three. FIG.
Is a state in which the differential rack 86 is not pushed out with respect to the main rack 85, and the teeth 88 located at the extreme end on the differential rack 86 side are the same as the teeth 88 located at the extreme end on the main rack 85 side. Lined up in the same position. On the other hand, the tooth 87 located at the rearmost end on the differential rack 86 side is the main rack 8.
It protrudes backward by three pitches from the tooth located at the rearmost end on the fifth side. Thus, even after the slide member moves to the position where the rearmost tooth of the main rack 85 and the pinion are disengaged and stops, the differential rack 86 is further moved by a distance corresponding to the three teeth at the end. , Can move. Then, the wiping member 36 is rotated by the movement of the differential rack 86 alone, so that the wiping member 36 can be largely inclined in the forward movement direction as shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 shows the wiping device 35 in the state of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the wiping unit of FIG. The differential rack 86 is pushed out with respect to the main rack 85, and the teeth 88 located at the forefront on the differential rack 86 side are three pitches ahead of the teeth located at the forefront on the main rack 85 side. It is protruding. On the other hand, the tooth 87 located at the rearmost end on the differential rack 86 side is the main rack 8.
They are arranged at the same position as the tooth located at the rearmost end on the 5th side.

In this state, when the pinion is engaged with the main rack 85 and the working rack 86 and rotated in the opposite direction,
In the wiping unit, the wiping member 36 is configured as shown in FIG.
Is returned in the inclined state shown in FIG. Then, even after the slide member is moved back to a position where the most advanced tooth of the main rack 85 and the pinion are disengaged and stopped,
The differential rack 86 can move a distance corresponding to the three teeth (FIG. 8) protruding distally including the most advanced teeth 88. Then, the wiping member 36 rotates in the backward movement direction by the backward movement of only the differential rack 86, and the wiping member 36 returns to the state orthogonal to the slide member 46 as shown in FIG.

The base 8 to which the shaft 82 is fixed.
5 is fixed to the base 50 of the differential rack 86 in this embodiment, and the pinions 52a, 52b, 52c are connected to both racks 8 in the state shown in FIG.
5, 5, the wiping member 36 is further restricted from rotating in the forward direction from the orthogonal state shown in FIG. The reason is that, due to the simultaneous meshing of both racks and the pinion, the movement of both racks is integrated, and only the differential rack does not move. Therefore, this position is the rotation limit in the forward movement direction. This state is used in the rubbing operation.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the state where the wiping device 36 meshes with the pinion as viewed from below. Each of the three pinions 52a, 52b, 52c corresponds to three wiping units (see FIG. 4).

Next, returning to FIGS. 3 and 4, the ink removing member will be described. An ink removing member 55 for removing ink from the wiping member 36 is provided at a position immediately after the wiping operation range. The ink removing member 55
When the slide member 46 is moved in the wiping operation direction as it is, the wiping member 36 starts contacting gradually, and the wiping member 36 is pressed against the front surface 107 so that the wiping member 36 is opposed to the moving direction. After being bent in the direction, the back surface 1 which comes off at a stretch
08.

The shape of the front surface 107 of the ink removing member 55 is different from the inclined surface shown in FIGS. 4, 22, and 23, the surface 109 having a large number of irregularities shown in FIG. 24, and the shape shown in FIG. As shown, an example in which the opening 110 is provided at a position facing the edge portion of the wiping member 36 is exemplified.

In any case, the shape of the rear surface 108 is formed in a planar shape orthogonal to the direction of travel of the wiping member 36.

Since the ink 106 is removed from the wiping member 36 by the ink removing member 55, the ability of the wiping member 36 can be restored. This recovery operation is preferably performed for each wiping operation.
Further, the ink removing member 55 includes the wiping member 3.
6, the fronts 107, 109,
Since the wiping member 36 has the ink 110, the scattering of the ink 106 can be reduced even when the wiping member 36 with the ink 106 collides. Further, the wiping member 36 is bent in a direction opposite to the moving direction by being pressed against the front surfaces 107, 109, and 110 of the ink removing member 55, and thereafter has a rear surface 108 which comes off at a stretch. The ink 106 can be blown off from the wiping member 36 at the moment when it comes off, and the ability of the wiping member 36 can be surely recovered.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, FIGS.
As shown in (1), the ink removing member 55 is provided with an ink absorbing material 41 for receiving ink droplets flicked from the wiping member 36. The ink absorbing material 41 is held by the holder 40. According to this configuration, the ink instantly flipped off from the wiping member 36 can be reliably captured without leaking to other parts.

Next, FIG. 3, FIGS. 10 to 12 and FIG.
1, the capping device 37 and its driving mechanism 200 will be described.

First, the capping device 37 has a sealing cap 38 on the upper surface of the cap body 141, and a pair of left and right guides 142 (FIG. 21) are provided on the side frames 32, 33 as shown in FIG. A pair of guide receivers 3
9 can be advanced and retracted with respect to the recording head 54 while being guided by the recording head 9. In addition, the capping device 37
Is provided with a valve member 56 for opening and closing the internal space of the cap body 141, and the valve member 56 disposed on the lower surface of the cap body 141 is pulled in a direction away from the lower surface of the body to close the valve member 56. From the open state. Then, the valve operator 57
Is configured to be driven by a valve driving cam 62 described later.

The recording head 5 of the capping device 37
As shown in FIG. 21, the drive mechanism unit 200 that controls the forward / backward movement to the fourth position and the opening and closing of the valve member 56 is roughly divided into a cam body 143 and an up-and-down motion with the base end as a fulcrum by the action of the cam body 143. And a swinging sub-frame 92.

In the cam body 143, a valve driving cam 62 having a short circumference and a cap driving cam 64 having a long circumference are provided on the outer peripheral surface 61 of a cylindrical small diameter shaft 60 in the circumferential direction. Valve drive cam 62 and cap drive cam 64
Are provided at positions shifted in the axial direction of the small diameter shaft 60 as shown in FIG. The protruding curved surface 63 which continues from the end position of the valve driving cam 62 to the cap driving cam 64 is also a cam surface having one function described later. In this cam body 143, a position on the outer peripheral surface 61 of the small diameter shaft 60 and immediately before the valve driving cam 62 is used as a reference position 65 for cam control, and the reference position 65 is the position shown in FIG. Is set as the control initial position of the cam body 143.

The sub-frame 92 is provided at its base end 105 below the base end of the unit frame 31 shown in FIG.
It is attached so as to be able to swing up and down over three spaces and with the other end side as a free end 140 with the base end 105 side as a fulcrum. The free end 140 of the sub-frame 92 is urged upward by the long coil spring 42 as shown in FIG.

At the center of the bottom of the sub-frame 92,
A cam follower 91 for the cap driving cam 64 is provided. The cam follower 91 is formed in a freely rotatable roller structure. Further, a lever 66 having a fulcrum 67 at a position near the base end of the bottom surface of the sub-frame 92 and rotatable in the vertical direction is provided. At a position adjacent to the cam follower 91 of the lever 66, a cam follower 71 of the valve driving cam 62 is provided. Further, a hand unit 70 is provided at the tip of the lever 66.

The capping device 37 is integrally connected at its bottom to a connection frame 144 provided on the free end 140 side of the sub-frame 92, whereby the capping device 37 moves together with the swing of the sub-frame 92. , With respect to the recording head 54. In this connection state, the hand portion 70 of the lever 66 is locked to the valve actuator 57 of the capping device 37,
In this state, the lever 66 is depressed to exert a pulling force on the operated portion 58 of the valve operator 57,
The valve member 56 changes from the closed state to the open state.
Reference numeral 68 denotes a tip of the lever 66, and the tip 6
8 is rotatably connected to the base end side by a connecting portion 69.

Next, the relationship between the wiping device 35 and its drive mechanism 200 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 14, 21 and 32. The slide member 46 of the wiping device 35 includes the pinions 52a, 52b, 52 as described above.
c and a rack composed of a main rack 85 and a differential rack 86-
It is designed to be reciprocated by a pinion mechanism. In the present embodiment, the pinions 52a, 52b, 52
c is rotated by the drive mechanism 200.

The pinions 52a, 52b, 52c are
Rotational power is transmitted from a drive gear 100 formed on a part of the outer peripheral surface of the drive wheel 101. Drive wheel 1
01 is the cam body 1 as shown in FIGS.
43 is attached to the unit frame 31 coaxially. Specifically, the cam body 143 shown in FIG. 21 is fitted and integrated with the shaft 129 of the drive wheel 101 shown in FIG. 32, and the two are integrally formed around a common shaft using the motor 43 as a power source. It is formed so as to rotate.

FIG. 3 shows the driving gear 100 and the pinions 52a,
52b and 52c are not engaged with each other, and FIG.
4 is a drive gear 100 and pinions 52a, 52b, 52c.
Are engaged with each other. When the drive wheel 101 rotates while the drive gear 100 and the pinions 52a, 52b, 52c are engaged, the wiping device 3
5 slide member 46 reciprocates, and even if the drive wheel 101 rotates in a state where the two are not meshed, the slide member 46 is stopped.

In this embodiment, the phase in the rotational direction of the cam body 143 and the drive wheel 101 in a state where both are integrated as described above is as shown in FIG.
The cap driving cam 64 allows the sub-frame 91
When the capping device 37 is retracted from the recording head, the drive gear 100 and the pinions 52a, 52b, 52c engage with each other. Therefore, the capping device 37 is retracted from the recording head 54 and the nozzle forming surface 94 of the recording head 54 is
The space 93 formed below can be effectively used as a space for the wiping operation.

As shown in FIG. 32, the pinions 52a, 52b, and 52c have a common shaft 35, and both ends of the shaft 35 are supported by a pinion support frame 130. It is supported rotatably. Further, the pinion support frame 1
The reference numeral 30 is attached so as to be slightly rotated around the common axis of the cam body 134 and the drive wheel 101 by contact friction with the rotation of the cam body 134 and the drive wheel 101. On one side of the pinion support frame 130, a projection 131 is provided.
Reference numeral 31 is inserted and locked in a hole (not shown) provided in the side frame 33 with a small clearance in the rotation direction of the pinion support frame 130.

Therefore, the pinions 52a, 52b, 52c
Is configured such that its position can be moved by a slight rotation of the support frame 130. The reason for such a configuration is as follows. The pinion 52a,
When sending out one of the racks 52b and 52c by meshing with the main rack 85 and the differential rack 86, the pinion is disengaged from the last tooth of the rack at the end of feeding. I will. Therefore, even if the pinion is rotated in the reverse direction, the pinion cannot engage with the rack and cannot be moved backward. Therefore, the pinion is slightly moved so that it can mesh with the last tooth portion of the rack. As a result, it is possible to return to the original state even if the rack is sent out using the last tooth of the rack and easily moved backward.

Next, a wiping operation and a rubbing operation in the ink jet recording apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 3 and FIGS. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the capping device 37 advances toward the recording head 54 and seals the nozzle forming surface 94. Drive mechanism 200
Is in the initial position. The drive motor 43 is driven to rotate the cam body 143 and the drive wheel 101 integrally around a common axis.

FIG. 10 shows an initial cam control state. The cam body 143 is slightly rotated from the initial position, and the valve driving cam 62 pushes down the lever 66 via the cam follower 71. Thereby, the valve member 56 changes from the valve closed state to the valve open state. At this time, the subframe 92
Does not move, the capping device 37 keeps the nozzle forming surface 94 of the recording head 54 sealed.

FIG. 11 shows that the cam body 143 further rotates slightly and the curved surface 63 in front of the cap driving cam 64 hits the cam follower 91, whereby the sub-frame 9
2 is slightly lowered. Thus, the capping device 37 is separated from the nozzle forming surface 94 of the recording head 54. In this state, the recording operation is performed in the recording unit 2.
At this time, since the valve driving cam 62 is disengaged from the cam follower 71, the valve member 56 has returned to the closed state.

FIG. 12 shows a state in which the cam body 143 further rotates slightly, and the tip of the cap driving cam 64 hits the cam follower 91, whereby the sub-frame 92 is further pushed down. Thereby, the capping device 37
Is largely retracted from the recording head 54 and the nozzle forming surface 94
A space 93 that can be used for the wiping operation is formed under the space.

FIG. 13 shows a state in which the drive gear 100 of the drive wheel 101 starts to mesh with the pinions 52a, 52b, 52c, and the slide member 46 has started to move in the forward movement direction.

FIG. 14 shows a state in which the drive wheel 101 is further rotated, the slide member 46 is further moved, and a wiping operation is being performed on the nozzle forming surface 94 of the recording head 54. At this time, as described above (FIGS. 5 to 8), the wiping member 36 uses the elastic force of both the wiping member 36 itself and the spring 49 to form the wiping member 36 into the nozzles of the recording head 54. Since the wiping member is pressed against the surface 94, the wiping member is soft and has a sufficient strength so that the ink meniscus at the nozzle opening can be reliably stabilized as compared with the conventional structure in which the wiping member itself is pressed by the elastic force of the wiping member itself. 3
6 can be pressed.

FIG. 15 shows a state in which the wiping operation has been completed and the ability of the wiping member 36 has been restored by the ink removing member 55. The capability recovery operation of the wiping member 36 by the ink removing member 55 has already been described in the description corresponding to FIGS.

FIG. 16 shows a state in which the driving gear 100 is reversed from the state shown in FIG. 15 to move the slide member 46 back, and a rubbing operation is performed on the nozzle forming surface 94. At this time, as described above (FIGS. 5 to 8), the wiping member 36 is
Of the wiping member 36 is rigidly supported by the rotation of the wiping member 36, so that the tip end portion of the wiping member 36 is vertically pressed strongly against the nozzle forming surface 94, and thus the nozzle forming surface 94. The foreign matter firmly adhered to the surface can be reliably scraped off. In addition, this rubbing operation
The wiping operation is not always performed after the wiping operation, but can be performed when necessary.

FIG. 17 shows that the drive gear 100 is further rotated forward from the state shown in FIG. 15, and the slide member 46 is fed out to a position where the meshing state between the main rack 85 and the pinion is stopped and the slide member 46 is stopped. A state is shown in which only the differential rack 86 is moved forward by the engagement between the differential rack 86 and the pinion, and the wiping member 36 is largely rotated in the forward movement direction and tilted.

FIG. 18 shows a state in which the drive wheel 101 is further rotated forward slightly and a select cam of a select device 300 described later is reset.

FIG. 19 shows that the driving wheel 101 is reversed from the state shown in FIG. 18, the driving gear 10 is engaged with the pinion and the rotation is continued further, so that the wiping member 36 is tilted as shown in FIG. Shows a state in which is moved back. The reason why the wiping member 36 can be moved backward while being inclined is that the number of teeth of the differential rack 86 is larger than the number of teeth of the main rack 85 as shown in FIGS. It depends. That is,
As shown in FIG. 8, the differential rack 86 is
If the pinion is reversed in a state where it has been sent out beyond 5, the racks 86 and 85 are sent back together by the common pinion in the same state, so that the wiping member 36 is returned while maintaining the inclined state in the previous period. Be moved. By performing the backward movement in the inclined state, the wiping operation can be completed without bringing the wiping member 36 into contact with the nozzle forming surface 94 on which the wiping operation has been completed.

FIG. 20 shows a state in which the wiping member 36 has passed under the recording head 54 and the wiping member 36 is returning to the original orthogonal state with the slide member 46 again. As shown in FIG. 19, the slide member 46 and the differential rack 86 are moved back together, but the slide member 46 moves by the entire length of the main rack 85, and the end of the main rack 85 is connected to the pinion. When you finish the meshing,
The slide member 46 stops its movement. However, at this point, as is apparent from FIG. 8, the differential rack 86 is still in mesh with the pinion. Therefore, the slide member 4
6 remains stopped and only the differential rack 86 continues to return. Due to the return movement of only the differential rack 86, the wiping member 86 which has been in the inclined state rotates about the support portion 81 as a fulcrum and returns to the orthogonal state. When the wiping member 36 returns to the orthogonal state, the differential rack 86 stops engaging with the terminal teeth 88 and the pinion, and stops moving. At this point, the meshing condition between the drive gear 100 and the pinion is also terminated. After that, the drive wheel 101 rotates but the pinion does not rotate. Since the cam body 134 also rotates integrally with the drive wheel 101, the operation reverses the cam operation already described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 13, and thereafter, from the state of FIG.
The process proceeds in a reverse manner to the state of 0, and finally returns to the initial state shown in FIG.

Next, the selecting device 300 and the driving mechanism 2
The relationship of 00 is shown in FIGS. 26 to 31 and FIGS. 33 to 36.
It will be described based on. As described above, in the present embodiment, in order to correspond to the multi-nozzle head as shown in FIG. 4, the wiping device 35 sets one set of the wiping member 36 and the corresponding slide member 46 to one. As one wiping unit, three wiping units are provided. Fluctuations in the ejection characteristics of these three wiping units are usually not uniform, so the timings at which the wiping operation is required are different. Therefore, if only the wiping unit having the wiping member 36 corresponding to the head of the nozzle row requiring the wiping operation among the multi-nozzle heads is reciprocated, and the others are stopped, there is no waste.

The selecting device 300 is for enabling only the necessary wiping unit to be selected and driven as described above, and is used in all combinations of one or more to three in total. The wiping unit to be driven can be selected.

As shown in the exploded perspective view of FIG. 28, the select device 300 has a drive wheel 1 having the above-described structure.
01, a select cam 111 rotatably supported by a shaft 129 (FIG. 32) of the drive wheel 101, three select levers 72, 172, 272 having cam followers corresponding to the select cam 111, and the select A reset lever 122 for resetting the levers 72, 172, 272 is provided. In FIG. 28, axis 1
29 is omitted from the drawing.

As shown in FIG. 29, the select cam 111 includes a first cam portion 126, a second cam portion 127, and a third cam portion 128 whose cylindrical outer peripheral surface is functionally divided into three in the circumferential direction. Have. The first cam portion 126 corresponds to the select lever 72, the second cam portion 127 corresponds to the select lever 172, and the third cam portion 1 as shown in FIG.
28 corresponds to the select lever 272.

The first cam portion 126 has three cam grooves 11
2, 113, 114 are spaced apart in the circumferential direction. The second cam portion 127 has cam grooves 124 and 123 spaced apart in the circumferential direction. The third cam portion 128 has a cam groove 125. The cam groove 124 is formed so that one end in the circumferential direction of the cam groove 112 is partially located at the same position, and the other end is partially located at the same position as one end of the cam groove 125. The center of the cam groove 125 in the circumferential direction is the cam groove 11.
3 and the other end of the cam groove 125 is formed independently without being in the same position as the other cam grooves.
As shown in FIG. 29, the cam grooves 114 and 123 are also formed independently without being located at the same position as the other cam grooves. By arranging each cam groove in this way, in combination with a cam follower to be described later, any one of the wiping units, or two in an arbitrary combination, and up to three in total, all can be selected, Thus, the wiping unit to be driven can be appropriately selected.

The select cam 111 is connected to the drive wheel 10
Although it is rotatably supported by one shaft 129 (FIG. 32), it is disposed so as to be located between the drive wheel 101 and the cam body 134. In FIG. 3, the select cam 111 is hidden behind the cam body 143 and is not visible.

As shown in FIG. 28, the select cam 1
11 is provided with a rib 115 for locking on a surface facing the drive wheel 101, and a projection 117 is provided on the drive wheel 101 side. Then, the select cam 11
1 is such that when the drive wheel 101 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction in FIGS. 28 and 26, the protrusion 117 is locked on the rib 115 and pushes the rib 115, thereby rotating together with the drive wheel 101. Has been assembled.

On the outer peripheral surface of the select cam 111, a locking projection 116 is provided to protrude. A stopper 119 provided at the tip of an arm (not shown) fixed to the inner surface of the side frame 33 is provided at the position shown in FIG. Then, the select cam 111 is
6, the locking projection 116 is locked by the stopper 119, and the select cam 111 is moved clockwise by the stopper 119.
It is assembled so as to stop at the locking position.

The first cam portion 1 of the select cam 111
26, the second cam portion 127 and the third cam portion 128 are provided with the respective cam levers 72, 172, and 272 described later when the select cam 111 rotates in the counterclockwise direction. Each cam follower 120,
The locking portions 220 and 320 can rotate while sequentially contacting and engaging the cam grooves and the outer peripheral surface of the select cam 111. When the select cam 111 rotates clockwise, the cam followers 120 and 320 are rotated. When the locking portions 220 and 320 are engaged with the cam grooves, the select cam 111 is configured to have a shape whose rotation is restricted. At this time, the select cam 111 is stopped, and only the drive wheel 101 rotates in the clockwise direction.

Further, the select cam 111 is provided with a return spring (not shown), and is assembled in a state where the spring force of the return spring receives an urging force in the clockwise direction in FIG. Therefore, the select cam 111
When released from the force constrained to its rotational position by the rotational force from the protrusion 117 of the drive hole 101 or the cam follower on the select lever 72, 172, 272 side described later, the spring force of the return spring causes The clockwise rotation in FIG.
6 is locked to the stopper 119 and is maintained in that state. FIG. 26 shows this state, in which the select cam 111 has its locking projection 116 locked to the stopper 119, and the projection 117 of the drive wheel 101 is in contact with the rib 115 on the select cam 111 side. The locked state is a reference position for operation control of the select cam 111, that is, an initial position.

As shown in FIGS. 28 to 30, the select levers 72, 172, 272 are provided in the respective cam grooves of the first cam 126, the second cam 127, and the third cam 128 of the select cam 111. , A first cam follower 120, a second cam follower 220, and a third cam follower 320 which are respectively engaged. Further, the select levers 72, 172, 272 are formed so as to be swingable around a fulcrum shaft 73 provided between the side frames 32, 33, and act on the distal end by the urging force of a spring 76 provided on the base end side. The portion 74 is formed to receive an upward force.

FIG. 26 shows select levers 72, 172,
272, the first cam follower 120, the second cam follower 2
20 and all of the locking portions of the third cam follower 320 are
This is a state in which the select cam 111 is disengaged from the cam groove and is in contact with a uniform outer peripheral surface. This state is a state where the distal end working portions 74 of the select levers 72, 172, 272 are retracted downward against the urging force of the spring 76. This retracted state corresponds to the state in which the distal end working portion 74 is not in contact with the lower surface of each wiping unit of the wiping device 35, in this embodiment, the lower surface of the slide member.

Accordingly, in this state, each wiping unit is in a state in which the wiping member 36 is lowered to the lower regulation position by a pressing plate spring (not shown).
And the differential rack 86 is provided with the pinions 52a, 52
Maintain the meshing state with b, 52c. This corresponds to a state where all three wiping units shown in FIG. 4 are operated from the viewpoint of the wiping operation.

FIG. 27 shows the locking portion 121 of the first cam follower 120 of the select lever 72 and the select lever 1.
The locking portion of the second cam follower 220 (which cannot be seen overlapping with the locking portion 121 in FIG. 27) is positioned at the same position as the cam groove 112 of the first cam portion 126 and the cam groove 112 of the second cam portion 127. Are engaged with the cam grooves 124 at the same time, thereby causing the distal end working portions 74 of the select levers 72 and 172 to move upward by the urging force of the spring 76. The amount of advance corresponds to the amount by which the locking portion 121 enters the cam groove. On the other hand, since the locking portion 321 of the select lever 272 is engaged not with the cam groove of the select cam 111 but with the outer peripheral surface,
The tip operating portion 74 corresponding to the select lever 272 is
As described above, the corresponding lower surface of the wiping unit is in a non-contact state.

In this state, the select levers 72, 17
The main rack 85 and the differential rack 86 of each wiping unit corresponding to the pinions 52a, 52
2b is in a non-meshing state, that is, a non-meshing state. From the viewpoint of the wiping operation, only the wiping unit corresponding to the select lever 272 operates to reciprocate, and the others are in the non-operating state. Corresponding to

The positions of the first cam follower 120, the second cam follower 220 and the third cam follower 320 are different from the relative positions of the respective select levers 72, 172 and 272, and as shown in FIG. 1
Localized near 01 and juxtaposed. This localized position corresponds to the width occupied by the first cam portion 126, the second cam portion 127, and the third cam portion 128 of the select cam 111, so that the width of the select cam 111 can be designed to be small. I have to.

Further, as shown in FIG. 30, the reset lever 122 is located at the position closest to the drive wheel 101.
Are rotatably provided on the fulcrum shaft 73. The reset lever 122 is connected to the select levers 72 and 17.
2, 272 to reset the selected state. In this embodiment, the reset state is such that the first cam follower 120, the second cam follower 220, and the third cam follower 320 are all disengaged from the cam grooves of the select cam 111 and abut and engage with the uniform outer peripheral surface. Figure 2
This is the state shown in FIG. Therefore, this reset state is
From the viewpoint of the wiping operation, it corresponds to a select state in which all three wiping units are operated.

The initial position of the selecting operation by the selecting device 300 is set, as described above, when the select cam 111 and the drive wheel 101 are in the state shown in FIG. That is, the select cam 111
However, in a state where the locking projections 116 are locked to the stoppers 119, and the protrusions 117 of the drive wheel 101 are fixed.
Is locked to the rib 115 on the side of the select cam 111, which is the initial position in the select operation control by the select cam 111.

Then, the selecting device 300 in the initial position shown in FIG. 26 is replaced with the cam body 143 of the driving mechanism 200 in the initial position shown in FIG.
The select cam 111 is positioned behind the drive cam unit 200 and is assembled to the drive mechanism unit 200. By assembling the selection device 300 to the drive mechanism 200 in this manner, the cam member 143 is moved from the initial position of the cam member 143 shown in FIG. When rotated in the direction opposite to the turning direction (the clockwise direction), the select cam 1
11 is pushed by the protrusion 117 of the drive wheel 101 and rotates in conjunction therewith. At this time, since the valve drive cam 62 and the cap drive cam 64 do not abut and engage with the respective cam followers 71 and 91, they are in a non-operating state.

Therefore, the portion other than the portion where the valve driving cam 62 and the cap driving cam 64 of one cam body 143 are provided is used without waste, and the valve driving cam 62 and the cap driving cam 64 are operated. Instead, the select operation of the wiping unit can be executed by operating only the select cam 111.

More specifically, the state of the initial position in FIGS. 3 and 26 is a state in which three wiping units perform a wiping operation. In this state, if the cam body 143 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the state shown in FIG. As described above with reference to FIGS. 10 to 20, the three wiping units start the wiping operation following the retreat operation of the capping device 37 and the like. On the other hand, if the cam body 143 is first rotated counterclockwise from the initial position state shown in FIGS. 3 and 26,
Prior to the wiping operation, a select operation is performed.

After a predetermined selection operation is performed by the selection cam 111, the cam body 143 is rotated clockwise in the normal direction. At this time, rotation of the select cam 111 in the clockwise direction is restricted by the engagement of the select levers 72, 172, 272 with one or two of the cam followers 120, 220, 320. Is maintained. Only the wiping unit selected in this way performs the wiping operation.

Next, the operation of the selecting device 300 will be described based on FIG. 31 and FIGS. 32 to 36. FIG. 31 shows the select device 300 in the same initial position as in FIG. In the relation with the cam body 143, the selection device 300 is different from the cam body 1 shown in FIG.
43 corresponds to the state of the initial position for the wiping operation.

In this state, when the cam body 143 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, the projection 117 of the drive wheel 101 rotating integrally with the cam body 143 pushes the rib 115 on the select cam 111 side, and the select cam 111 111 rotates counterclockwise against the urging force of the return spring (not shown). Thereby, the select levers 72, 172, 27 selected in advance in the cam groove of the select cam 111 are selected.
Either one or two of the two cam followers 120, 220, 320 engage.

FIG. 33 shows that the cam followers 120 and 220 of the select levers 72 and 172 are simultaneously engaged with the cam groove 112 and the cam groove 124, and only the cam follower 320 of the select lever 272 abuts on the outer peripheral surface of the select cam 111. Indicates a state of matching. The distal end working portions 74 of the select levers 72 and 172 engaged in this manner move up, and the wiping members 36 of the corresponding wiping unit are raised.
Push up the side. As a result, the meshing state of the rack-pinion is released, so that the corresponding wiping unit is not operated even if the pinion rotates.

On the other hand, in FIG.
Only the wiping unit corresponding to the select lever 272 having the cam follower 320 that does not engage with the one cam groove is an object on which the wiping operation is performed because the rack-pinion meshing state is maintained.

When the selection operation is completed, the cam 13
4 and the drive wheel 101 are rotated clockwise.
FIG. 34 shows this state. As a result, the cam body 143 returns to the initial position shown in FIG. 3 and is further rotated clockwise to open and close the valve member 56 shown in FIGS. The retracting operation of the capping device 37 from the recording head 54, the wiping operation, the ink removing operation of the ink removing member 55 from the wiping member 36, and the rubbing operation are performed as necessary.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 35, the reset lever 122 resets the select levers 72 and 172 with the following configuration. The drive wheel 101 is provided with a reset cam 118 as shown in FIG. The reset cam 118 moves the drive wheel 101 together with the cam body 143 from the state shown in FIG. 17 in which the wiping unit is moved forward by the wiping operation and the wiping member 36 is inclined in the forward movement direction. When it is rotated clockwise as it is, the reset cam 118 pushes the reset lever 122 to rotate.

The rotation of the reset lever 122 by the reset cam 118 causes the cam followers 120 and 2 to rotate.
20 is released from the locked state with the cam groove. Accordingly, the select cam 111 is instantaneously returned to a position where the locking projection 116 abuts the stopper 119 by the urging force 132 of a return spring (not shown). FIG. 35 shows this state.

Thereafter, the drive wheel 101 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, and the projection 117 is brought into contact with the rib 115 on the select cam 111 which has returned to the original position, and stopped. FIG. 36 shows this state. This allows
The drive mechanism unit 200 and the selection device 300 return to the initial position shown in FIGS.

[Embodiment 2] Next, an ink jet recording apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. The basic configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus is substantially the same as that described in the first embodiment. Therefore, in the following, the wiping unit (device), the capping unit (device), and the negative pressure generating unit ( The overall configuration of the cleaning unit in which a suction pump or the like as a unit is unitized and the specific configuration of each unit (device) will be described.

FIG. 37 shows the overall configuration of the cleaning unit and the configuration of the carriage facing the cleaning unit in a see-through state from a direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction. FIG.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the nozzle forming surface of the recording head mounted on the carriage is arranged at an inclination of 65 degrees with respect to the horizontal line, and the cleaning unit is also arranged at the same angle in correspondence with this. Have been.

First, the outer periphery of the carriage 501 is formed in a substantially flat shape, and the guide receiving portions 502 are provided on two sides thereof.
a, 502b are formed. The guide receiving portions 502a and 502b slidably support two carriage guide shafts 503a and 503b whose axes are arranged in parallel with each other with a relationship of 65 degrees with respect to the horizontal direction. Thus, the carriage 501 is configured to reciprocate in the main scanning direction along the two guide shafts 503a and 503b.

A recording head 504 is mounted substantially at the center of the carriage 501. As is well known, the recording head 504 executes print recording on recording paper (not shown) sequentially fed in the sub-scanning direction. Is done. In addition,
FIG. 37 shows a state where the nozzle forming surface 504a of the recording head 504 is capped by capping means described later.

The main part of the cleaning unit 507 is
The cleaning unit 5 is integrally held by a unit frame 508, a part of which is indicated by a chain line.
Reference numeral 07 is arranged outside the printing area (home position) at one end of the recording apparatus.

At a substantially central portion of the unit frame 508, a drive unit 509 having a drive gear, a cap drive cam, a valve drive cam, and the like, which will be described later, is provided.
It is rotatably supported on one support shaft 510 supported by the shaft 8. The drive unit 509 is configured to be driven to rotate in a reciprocating direction by receiving the power of a drive motor attached to the inner wall of the unit frame 508, though not shown in the figure.

A wiping means 511, which will be described later, is disposed at a portion of the unit frame 508 facing the upper guide shaft 503a.
Above 09, a suction pump 512 that suctions an internal space of capping means 514 to be described later to realize a negative pressure state is arranged. And these wiping means 511
The suction pump 512 and the suction pump 512 are both attached to the unit frame 508.

As the suction pump 512, a so-called tube pump is used which realizes a pumping operation by sequentially crushing the flexible tubes 512b arranged in an arc by a pair of rollers 512a.

On the other hand, a locking projection 508a is formed on the upper end of the unit frame 508. The locking projection 508a has a hook-shaped locking portion 513a at its end, and is indicated by a chain line. The frame 513 is locked so as to be rotatable in a cantilever manner. A capping means 514 for capping the nozzle forming surface 504a of the recording head 504 is attached to the free end of the sub-frame 513.

Further, in a space surrounded by the drive section 509 held by the unit frame 508, the wiping means 511 and the suction pump 512, a select mechanism 515 is provided.
The select mechanism 515 is arranged to be driven via a support shaft 516 attached to the frame 508.

Further, the unit frame 508 is integrally formed with an ink removing member 517 for scraping the ink from the wiping member having wiped the nozzle forming surface by the operation of the wiping means 511. In the portion, an ink absorbing member 518 that receives an ink droplet flying from the wiping member when the contact with the ink removing member 517 is released is also arranged.

FIG. 48 shows the external structure of the capping means 514 and the structure of a drive mechanism including a sub-frame 513 which holds the capping means 514 and drives the capping means 514 toward the recording head 504 side. I have. The sub-frame 513 is formed with a pair of arm-shaped portions 521 extending upward.
At the tip of the arm 521, a traction spring 52
2 is locked, and the other ends of the traction springs 522 are locked to the unit frame 508.
Accordingly, the free end side of the sub-frame 513 is urged toward the recording head 504 by the action of the traction spring 522 with the hook-shaped locking portion 513a as a fulcrum.

A pair of columnar projections 524 formed on both sides of the capping means 514 are fitted into a pair of window holes 523 formed on the free end side of the subframe 513. Capping means 514 is attached.

[0126] A pair of guide rails 525 are attached to the inner surface of the unit frame 508 so as to face each other, and the guide rails 525 are formed with concave guide portions 525a, respectively. Further, the box-shaped projections 52
6 are formed, and the pair of box-shaped projections 52 are formed.
6 is a guide portion 52 formed on the guide rail 525
5a is assembled.

Therefore, when the sub-frame 513 is rotated about the hook-shaped locking portion 513a as a fulcrum,
The capping unit 514 moves along a guide portion 525a formed on the guide rail 525, and performs an operation of moving the capping unit 514 toward and away from the recording head 504.

On the other hand, a follower holder 531 is attached along the longitudinal direction substantially at the center of the inner bottom of the sub-frame 513, as shown in FIG. 37. The follower holder 531 is formed in a cylindrical shape. A follower 532 is rotatably mounted. A valve lever 534 is rotatably mounted at an end of the follower holder 531 via a fulcrum 533, and a valve cam, which will be described later, which is disposed in the driving unit 509 is provided at a substantially intermediate portion of the valve lever 534. A projection 535 pressed down by 539 is formed. Although not shown in the drawing, the free end of the valve lever 534 is configured to be biased toward the capping means 514 by spring pressure.

The valve lever 534 is composed of two members, and the tip of the free end side member 536 is formed in an L-shape.
7, so that a valve operator described later can be pulled.

As shown in FIG. 48, a cap driving cam 538 and a valve driving cam 539 are arranged in the driving section 509 so as to be adjacent to each other in the axial direction. It comes into contact with the follower 532 attached to the holder 531,
The valve drive cam 539 is rotated by the rotation of the valve drive cam 539 to form a projection 53 formed almost in the middle of the valve lever 534.
5.

Accordingly, when the drive section 509 is rotationally driven, the follower 532 is pushed down according to the outer diameter shape of the cap drive cam 538, and accordingly, the sub frame 513 is also pushed down with the hook-shaped locking section 513a as a fulcrum. Can be As a result, the sealing of the nozzle forming surface 504a of the recording head 504 by the capping unit 514 is released, and the capping unit 514 performs an operation of retracting. When the cap driving cam 538 rotates and the cam surface reaches the position of the small diameter portion, the free end side of the sub-frame 513 is returned to the recording head 504 side by the action of the traction spring 522 described above. As a result, the capping unit 514 advances toward the recording head 504 and acts to seal the nozzle forming surface 504a of the recording head 504.

Similarly, when the drive section 509 is rotationally driven, the valve lever 534 is pushed down in accordance with the outer diameter of the valve drive cam 539, whereby the L-shaped section 537 is actuated by a valve actuating valve. Tow the child,
It acts so as to open a valve member described later disposed in the capping means 514. When the valve drive cam 539 rotates and its cam surface reaches the position of the small-diameter portion, the valve lever 534 stops towing of a valve actuator described later, and is disposed in the capping means 514. It acts to close a valve member described later.

FIG. 39 shows the structure of the capping means 514 in an exploded state. As shown in FIG. 39, the capping means 514 is provided with a rectangular parallelepiped cap frame 541 having an open upper portion, and the above-mentioned box-shaped projections 526 are integrally formed on both outer sides of the frame 541. Inside the frame 541, a rectangular parallelepiped slider 542 whose upper part is similarly opened is arranged in a so-called cage state.

Then, locking members 542a formed so as to project in the horizontal direction near the four corners of the slider 542 enter window holes 541a opened in the vertical direction near the four corners of the frame 541, respectively. Frame 5
The slider 542 is configured to be able to move in the vertical direction without being separated from the slider 41. Although not shown between the frame 541 and the slider 542, a slight spring force is applied to bias the slider 542 so as to protrude from the frame 541.

The slider 542 accommodates three valve holding members 543, and a hollow cylindrical portion 543a formed in the valve holding member 543 has a valve member 544 having a flat head. Are slidably accommodated. Each of the valve members 544
A neck portion is formed at the lower end of the valve holding member 54.
The neck portions are fitted and attached to the narrowed portions 545a formed in the link member 545 on the lower surface side of 3.

The link member 545 is formed with three pairs of fulcrum projections 545b so as to face each other. Each pair of fulcrum projections 545b is rotatable on the lower surface side of each valve holding member 543. It is supported by Accordingly, by rotating the link member 545 at the fulcrum 545b, the valve member 544 operates to move up and down in the hollow cylindrical portion 543a formed in the valve holding member 543.

A valve actuator 546 is attached to the free end side of the link member 545 via a support shaft 546c. The valve actuator 546 is configured in a two-stage ladder shape, and the upper horizontal member 546a and the lower horizontal member 546b penetrate the slider 542 and the frame 541 and protrude to the lower bottom side of the frame 541. Configured to state.

As shown in FIG. 37, the distal end of the L-shaped portion 537 of the valve lever 534 is inserted between the horizontal members 546a and 546b. As a result, the operation of the valve lever 534 pulls the valve actuator 546 and lowers the valve member 544, thereby opening the internal space of the capping means to the atmosphere as described later.

Further, the valve holding members 543 are respectively fitted to the lower bottom surfaces of the cap members 547 so as to be integrally formed, and the upper portion of each of the cap members 547 is formed of a soft rubber material having a square seal portion. Seal member 54
8 is attached by fitting means. And
Each cap member 547 is provided with a window hole 549a so that the seal member 548 faces the upper part, and the slider 5
It is configured to be held by a cap holding body 549 that is coupled to 42 by fitting means.

Although not shown, an opening to the atmosphere is formed at the lower bottom of each cap member 547, and the flat head of the valve member 544 closes the opening to the atmosphere. In this state, the valve is closed, and as described above, the valve operator 54
6 is pulled to open the valve, and the internal space of the capping means is opened to the atmosphere.

Although not shown in the figure, suction ports are formed in the lower bottom of each cap member 547, and each suction port has a suction pump 51 shown in FIG.
2 is connected via a tube (not shown), and is configured such that the internal space of the capping means is sucked to a negative pressure by the operation of the suction pump 512.

FIGS. 40 and 41 are perspective views showing the wiping means 511 and its driving structure in a partially disassembled state. This wiping means 511 is
Wiping units 5 each having the same configuration are provided in a frame 555 whose outer shell has a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape.
56 are arranged in parallel in three sets. In FIG. 40, one wiping unit 556 is extracted from the frame 555 and is shown in a partially disassembled state.

The wiping unit 556 is provided with a slide member 557 that moves in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the carriage movement direction. As shown in FIG. A main rack 558 is arranged along the main rack.

A differential rack 559 formed at the same pitch as the main rack 558 is disposed adjacent to the main rack 558 so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction of the slide member 557. Moving rack 559
The main rack 558 has a slightly larger number of teeth than the number of teeth of the rack formed on the main rack 558. That is,
If the number of teeth formed on the main rack 558 is, for example, 1
If the number of teeth is 6, the number of teeth of the differential rack 559 is 19, and the number of teeth of the differential rack 559 is three as compared with the number of teeth of the main rack 558 as shown in FIG. Are arranged extra.

On the other hand, a pair of holder support shafts 557a and 557b are formed at the tip of the slide member 557, and the holder support shafts 557a and 557b have
A holder member 561 holding a strip-shaped wiping member 560 is rotatably supported. The wiping member 560 has one side formed of a wiping material 560a such as rubber, and the other side formed of a rubbing material 560b such as felt, which are integrally formed by bonding.

One end of an arm member 562 is pivotally supported on the free end side of the holder member 561. The other end of the arm member 562 has an elongated hole 562a along the longitudinal direction of the arm member 562. Are formed.

As shown in FIG. 41, a shaft 559a formed at the tip of the differential rack 559 is inserted into the long hole 562a so as to be loosely fitted in the long hole 562a. Both ends of the shaft 559a formed at the distal end of the differential rack 559 and a spring receiving portion 562b formed substantially at the center of the arm member 562 in the longitudinal direction are expanded. A coil-shaped load spring 563 biasing in the direction is disposed.

That is, the arm member 562 is
It is locked to the differential rack 559 with a play of a stroke in the longitudinal direction of 62a, and the wiping member 560 is configured to receive the urging force of the load spring 563 in the range of the play of the stroke.

In the state shown in FIGS. 40 and 41, the free end side of the holder member 561 is
2, the wiping member 560 is regulated so as to be orthogonal to the nozzle forming surface of the recording head, and the main rack 558, the differential rack 559, the holder member 5
The combination of 61 and the arm member 562 forms a wiper angle control mechanism.

[0150] A leaf-shaped pressing spring 564 formed in a three-pronged shape is disposed above the frame 555, and the wiping units 556 are held by the pressing spring 564 in a pressed state.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
09 has a drive gear 5 with an angle range of almost 90 degrees.
A drive wheel 568 with 67 formed thereon,
The drive wheel 568 is provided with a pinion group support frame 569 which slides to form a friction clutch mechanism. That is, the support frame 569 acts so as to be dragged in the rotation direction of the drive wheel 568 by the action of the friction clutch mechanism, and a stopper 569a provided on a part of the support frame 569 is formed on a part of the unit frame 508. It is arranged so as to face a window hole (not shown). The support frame 569 is configured to be dragged in the rotation direction of the wheel 568 and rotated in a slight rotation range in which the stopper 569a comes into contact with the window hole and its rotation is restricted. Thus, the support frame 569 forms a planetary mechanism.

By the rotational drive of the wheel 568, the pinion gear 570 supported by the support frame 569 is driven to rotate by meshing with the drive gear 567, and the three pinion gears 57 are arranged coaxially with the pinion gear 570.
1a, 571b, and 571c are also driven to rotate in the same direction.
In this case, each of the three pinion gears 571a to 571c drives three sets of the above-described wiping units 556, and the wiping unit 556 executes a wiping operation of the recording head. .

The selection mechanism 515 shown in FIG.
Has three sets of select levers 5 in the longitudinal direction of the support shaft 516.
15a, and one of the three sets of wiping units 556 is selectively pushed up against the urging force of the presser spring 564 by the turning operation of each select lever 515a via the support shaft 516. It is configured to be.

The main rack 558 and the differential rack 559 of the wiping unit 556 that have been pushed up by the select lever 515a are disengaged from the opposing pinion gears 571a, 571b, and 571c, and the wiping unit 556 reciprocates. Is not executed. In other words, by selecting the state of each select lever 515a in the select mechanism 515, three sets of wiping units 5
Any one, two or all of the 56 can be selected to be driven simultaneously.

FIGS. 42 to 48 show, in order, the operation of the wiping means 511 in the cleaning unit constructed as described above. FIGS. 42 to 48 show a state viewed from a direction opposite to the main scanning direction with respect to the state shown in FIG.

FIG. 42 shows a capping state in which the nozzle forming surface 504a of the recording head 504 is capped by the capping means 514. In this capping state, the capping means 514 disposed on the free end side of the sub-frame 513 is urged toward the recording head 504 by the action of the traction spring 522 with the hook-shaped locking portion 513a of the sub-frame 513 as a fulcrum. .
As a result, the soft rubber seal member 548 disposed on the capping unit 514 is brought into close contact with the nozzle forming surface 504a of the recording head 504, and the capping unit 514 is indicated by F in FIG. It is in a state where it receives an appropriate pressing force.

In this capping state, the capping means 514 functions as a lid for preventing the nozzle opening of the recording head from drying during the pause of the recording apparatus, and also acts on the recording head 504 by applying the negative pressure from the suction pump 512. In addition, it has a function as a cleaning unit for sucking ink from the recording head.

Here, for example, when the driving unit 509 disposed on the unit frame 508 rotates in one direction by receiving the power of the driving motor by a cleaning operation sequence, the valve driving cam 5 disposed on the driving unit 509 is rotated.
39 is a protrusion 535 disposed on the valve lever 534.
, And depresses the valve lever 534. As a result, the L-shaped portion 537 formed on the member 536 attached to the valve lever 534 pulls the valve operator 546 in the direction T in FIG. 43 as shown in FIG. Therefore,
Valve member 54 disposed within capping means 514
4 are respectively lowered, and the internal space of the capping means 514 is opened to the atmosphere.

Then, by operating the suction pump 512 again after release to the atmosphere based on the above sequence, the ink discharged into the capping means is discharged via the suction pump 512.

When the driving section 509 receives the power of the driving motor and rotates in the same direction, the cap driving cam 538 disposed on the driving section 509 comes into contact with the follower 532 attached to the follower holder 531. As a result,
The unit frame 5 can be rotated in a cantilevered manner
44, the free end side of the sub-frame 513 is pushed out. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 44, the capping means 514 is retracted from the recording head 504 to form a clearance in which the wiping unit 556 can reciprocate. .

Subsequently, when the drive unit 509 receives the power of the drive motor and rotates still in the same direction, the drive unit 509
Gear 567 in the drive wheel 568 provided in the vehicle
Are pinion gears 57 supported by a support frame 569.
0 and is driven to rotate. Therefore, the three pinion gears 571a, 571b,
571c is also driven to rotate in the same direction.

Here, if the wiping unit 556 is selected to be in the operating state by the select lever 515a constituting the select mechanism 515, for example, the first pinion gear 571a is disposed at the left end as shown in FIG. Rack 558 and differential rack 5 adjacent to each other in the wiping unit 556
The main rack 558 and the differential rack 559 are simultaneously moved forward with the same step.

At this time, since the main rack 558 and the differential rack 559 move forward at the same pace, the state in which the shaft 559a formed at the distal end of the differential rack 559 pulls the arm member 562 in the forward direction. As a result, the wiping member 56 held by the holder member 561 is held.
Numeral 0 holds a state orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the arm member 562 as shown in FIG.

Then, the arm member 562 still moves in the forward movement direction, and as shown in FIG.
0 is the nozzle forming surface 504a of the recording head 504.
When the wiping member 560 contacts the weighted spring 56,
3 is tilted while contracted. That is,
The pressing force of the wiping member 560 against the nozzle forming surface is appropriately controlled by the weight spring 563.

When the arm member 562 advances in the forward movement direction in this state, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 41, the ink adhering to the nozzle forming surface 504a becomes a wiping material 560a formed by a rubber member. Is scraped off.

After the end of the wiping operation, when the drive section 509 is driven to rotate in the same direction, it reaches the end of the rack teeth formed on the main rack 558. Therefore, the engagement between the pinion gear 571a and the main rack 558 is disengaged, and at the same time, although not shown, the slide member 557 comes into contact with the stopper to stop the movement in the forward movement direction.

However, as described above, the number of teeth of the rack of the differential rack 559 is three extra than the number of the rack teeth of the main rack 558, and the differential rack 559 is still arranged by the pinion gear 571a. It moves forward and is pushed out.

As a result, the shaft body 559a disposed at the tip of the differential rack 559 moves forward, and the arm member 562 also moves forward via the weight spring 563 as a unit. As the arm member 562 advances, the holder member 561 rotates with its lower end as a fulcrum. By this rotation, FIG.
As shown in (5), the wiping member 560 is inclined in the forward movement direction.

The wiping member 560 is connected to the recording head 4
After the wiping operation of moving forward while being pressed against the nozzle forming surface 4a is completed, and before the wiping member 560 passes through and separates from the nozzle forming surface 4a, before the wiping member 560 reaches the inclined state shown in FIG. In the stage, the following processing is performed. That is, the distal end of the wiping member 560 contacts the rib-shaped ink removing member 517 formed integrally with the unit frame 508, and the wiping member 560
The ink adhering to is removed by the ink removing member 517. At this time, the ink removing member 517
At the moment when the contact with the wiping member 560 is released, the tip of the wiping member 560 is repelled in the forward movement direction by the action of the load spring 563. Accordingly, the ink adhering to the wiping member 560 is repelled by the wiping member 560, flies toward the ink absorbing material 518, and is absorbed by the ink absorbing material 518.

Thereafter, a rotational motion in the opposite direction is given to the drive unit 509, and the support frame 569 supporting each of the pinion gears 571a to 571c is slightly rotated by the above-mentioned planetary mechanism. Thereby, each pinion gear 571a
571c are the main rack 558 and the differential rack 5
The rack 59 is advanced so as to mesh with the end of the rack at 59, and both racks 558 and 559 are driven in the backward movement direction.
In this case, the main rack 558 and the differential rack 559 move in the backward direction at the same pace while keeping a shift corresponding to the number of three teeth, so that the wiping member 560 is As shown in FIG. 47, it passes over the recording head 504 in a state inclined in the forward movement direction. Therefore, the slide member 557 is housed in the frame 555 without or slightly in contact with the nozzle forming surface 504a of the tip end of the wiping member 560.

Then, the drive section 509 is still driven to rotate in the same direction to reach the start end of the rack teeth formed on the main rack 558. Therefore, the pinion gear 571a is disengaged from the main rack 558,
At the same time, although not shown in the drawing, the slide member 557 comes into contact with the stopper, and the movement in the backward movement direction is stopped. However, as described above, the rack teeth of the differential rack 559 have three extra teeth compared to the rack teeth of the main rack 558, and the differential rack 559 still has three teeth due to the pinion gear 571a. Step back by the number of minutes.

As a result, the shaft body 559a disposed at the end of the differential rack 559 is retracted, and the holder 561 is pulled by the arm member 562, so that the wiping member 560 moves in a direction perpendicular to the nozzle forming surface of the recording head. Is returned to the initial state.

In the above, a series of wiping operations for wiping ink on the nozzle forming surface using the wiping material 560a such as rubber which constitutes one side surface of the wiping member 560 has been described. When the rubbing operation is performed using the rubbing material 560b such as felt, the following is performed.

That is, when the wiping operation shown in FIG. 45 is completed, in other words, when the slide member 557 reaches a little short of the end portion in the forward movement direction, the drive unit 50 is moved.
9 to the wiping member 56
0 is attached to the arm member 562.
To move in the backward movement direction while maintaining the state of being towed. Therefore, the end surface of the rubbing material 560b that forms the wiping member 560 is slid in contact with the nozzle forming surface of the recording head in a state perpendicular to the nozzle forming surface.

FIG. 48 shows this state. The rubbing material 560b is strongly rubbed against the nozzle forming surface 504a of the recording head 504 by the strength of the rubbing material 560b. For this reason, the foreign matter fixed on the nozzle forming surface 504a can be easily removed.

[0176]

According to the present invention, the wiping member is inclined in the forward movement direction by the forward movement of only the differential rack after the wiping operation. And
Since the wiping member is returned to the initial position in the inclined state, the wiping member does not contact the nozzle forming surface of the recording head at the time of returning. Accordingly, the meniscus of the ink at the nozzle opening once adjusted by the wiping operation is not disturbed. This makes it possible to reliably satisfy the first technical requirement and the second technical requirement required for the wiping member of the wiping device, which is one of the head ejection characteristic maintaining devices.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a unitized head ejection characteristic maintaining device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the inside of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device, a part of which is shown in cross section, and further shows a state in which a cam is at a reference position of a home position.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing the inside of the head ejection characteristic maintaining device, and a part of the device is shown in cross section.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the wiping device according to the present invention, in which the wiping member is in a vertical state.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the wiping device in the state of FIG. 5 as viewed from the back side.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the wiping device according to the present invention, in which the wiping member is rotated in the forward movement direction and is in an inclined state.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the wiping device in the state of FIG. 7 as viewed from the back side.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a state where the wiping device meshes with a pinion as viewed from below.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the inside of the same head ejection characteristic maintaining device as in FIG. 3, showing a state where the cam shaft is slightly rotated from a reference position.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the inside of the same head ejection characteristic maintaining device as in FIG. 10, showing a state where the cam shaft is further rotated slightly.

FIG. 12 is a side view of the inside of the same head ejection characteristic maintaining device as in FIG. 11, showing a state where the camshaft is further rotated slightly.

FIG. 13 is a side view of the inside of the same head ejection characteristic maintaining device as in FIG. 12, showing a state where the cam shaft is further rotated slightly.

FIG. 14 is a side view of the inside of the same head ejection characteristic maintaining device as in FIG. 13, showing a state where the cam shaft is further rotated slightly.

FIG. 15 is a side view of the inside of the same head ejection characteristic maintaining device as in FIG. 14, showing a state where the camshaft is further rotated slightly.

FIG. 16 is a side view of the inside of the same head ejection characteristic maintaining device as in FIG. 15, showing a state where the cam shaft is rotated in a slightly reverse direction.

FIG. 17 is a side view of the inside of the same head ejection characteristic maintaining device as in FIG. 15, showing a state where the cam shaft has rotated to near the end point.

FIG. 18 is a side view of the inside of the same head ejection characteristic maintaining device as in FIG. 17, showing a state in which the cam shaft has been rotated to the end point.

FIG. 19 is a side view of the inside of the same head ejection characteristic maintaining device as in FIG. 18, and shows a state in which the cam shaft has been rotated slightly in reverse from the state in FIG.

20 is a side view of the inside of the same head ejection characteristic maintaining device as in FIG. 19, and shows a state in which the cam shaft has been further rotated in the reverse direction from the state in FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is an exploded perspective view of a drive mechanism and a capping device according to the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a side view of a main part of an ink removing member according to the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of an ink removing member according to the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of another ink removing member according to the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a side view of a main part of another ink removing member according to the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a schematic side view showing a select device according to the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a schematic side view showing the select device according to the present invention, in a state where the select cam is further rotated.

FIG. 28 is an exploded perspective view showing a select device according to the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view of the select cam according to the present invention, as viewed from the direction of the arrow in FIG. 28.

FIG. 30 is a rear view of the selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 31 is a side view of a main part of the select device according to the present invention.

FIG. 32 is a perspective view showing a drive gear and a pinion according to the present invention.

FIG. 33 is a side view of a main part of the select device according to the present invention.

FIG. 34 is a side view of a main part of the select device according to the present invention.

FIG. 35 is a side view of a main part of the select device according to the present invention.

FIG. 36 is a side view of a main part of the select device according to the present invention.

FIG. 37 is a side view showing the overall configuration of a cleaning unit mounted on an ink jet recording apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention and the configuration of a carriage facing the cleaning unit in a see-through state.

38 is an exploded perspective view showing an external configuration of a capping unit mounted on the cleaning unit shown in FIG. 37 and a configuration of a drive mechanism for driving the capping unit to move toward and away from the recording head.

FIG. 39 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the capping means shown in FIG. 38.

40 is an exploded perspective view showing a wiping unit mounted on the cleaning unit shown in FIG. 37 and a driving configuration thereof.

FIG. 41 is a side view showing a detailed configuration of the wiping unit shown in FIG. 40;

42 is a side view showing the capping state in which the wiping unit shown in FIG. 40 has been retracted.

FIG. 43 is a side view showing a state where the valve member arranged in the capping unit shown in FIG. 42 is opened to the atmosphere with a valve opened;

FIG. 44 is a side view showing a state where the capping means shown in FIG. 43 is retracted.

FIG. 45 is a side view showing a wiping operation state of the recording head shown in FIG. 44;

46 is a side view showing a state where ink is removed from the wiping member shown in FIG. 45.

FIG. 47 is a side view showing the wiping member shown in FIG. 46 in a returning operation state.

FIG. 48 is a side view showing a rubbing operation state of the recording head performed after the step of FIG. 45;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 35 wiping device 36 wiping member 46 slide member 47 wiping material 48 rubbing material 49 spring 50 base 77 arm member 78 long hole 80 holder member 81 support portion 82 shaft body 85 main rack 86 differential rack

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C056 EA14 EC22 EC23 EC53 FA10 JA05 JA13 JA16 JB02 JB04 JB07 JB08 JB09 JB10 JC08 JC10

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A wiping device for wiping a nozzle forming surface of an ink jet recording head, comprising: a sliding member reciprocating in parallel with the nozzle forming surface; and a sliding member supported by the sliding member, in one direction of the sliding member. The wiping member whose free end is pressed against the nozzle forming surface as a wiping operation on the nozzle forming surface during the movement of the nozzle forming surface, and the rubbing operation on the nozzle forming surface when the sliding member moves in the opposite direction, A support portion rotatably supporting a base end side of the slide member; and a reaction associated with the pressing against the nozzle forming surface being received from the nozzle forming surface during the wiping operation, being rotated in a direction of the reaction force. A spring for urging and supporting the wiping member in the pressing direction in that state; Rotation restricting means for restricting the rotation of the wiping member during the wiping operation to make the wiping member rigidly supported. The slide member has a main rack along a longitudinal direction thereof. Is formed, and the slide member is configured to be reciprocated by rotating the pinion that meshes with the main rack in the forward and reverse directions, and is disposed so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction of the slide member. The differential rack is further provided, and the differential rack is configured to be reciprocated at the same pace as the main rack by rotationally driving a pinion meshing with the differential rack in forward and reverse directions. At the end of movement in the forward movement direction, only the differential rack is further pushed out by the pinion and moved in the forward movement direction. The differential wiping device for an ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the wiping member is inclined in the forward movement direction by moving only the differential rack. 2. The differential rack according to claim 1, wherein the pitch of the racks in the main rack and the differential rack is substantially the same, and the number of teeth of the rack formed in the main rack is smaller than that of the main rack. A differential wiping apparatus for an ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the number of teeth of a rack is increased. 3. A holder member according to claim 1, wherein said holder member sandwiches a base end side of said wiping member and is rotatably supported by said slide member, and supports a free end side of said holder member. An arm member locked at the other end to the differential rack with a play of a predetermined stroke, wherein the wiping member receives the urging force of the spring within a range of the play of the predetermined stroke. A differential wiping device for an ink jet recording apparatus. 4. The shaft according to claim 3, further comprising: a long hole formed at the other end of the arm member; and a shaft body that is arranged in the differential rack so as to fit loosely into the long hole. A differential wiping apparatus for an ink jet recording apparatus, characterized in that the play is provided with the predetermined stroke in a moving range of the elongated hole with respect to a body. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said rotation restricting means is constituted by meshing between said differential rack and a pinion. Dynamic wiping device. 6. The wiping member according to claim 1, wherein the wiping member comprises a wiping material made of an elastic plate and a rubbing material such as felt having a greater resistance to bending than the wiping material. A differential wiping device for an ink jet recording apparatus, comprising a bonded composite material. 7. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a moving direction of the slide member is a direction parallel to a nozzle row arranged on a nozzle forming surface. Differential wiping device. 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the sheet transport path is formed on an inclined surface, and the moving direction of the slide member is parallel to the inclined surface and the forward direction is obliquely downward. Differential wiping device for an ink jet recording apparatus. 9. A main rack formed on a slide member along a longitudinal direction thereof; a differential rack arranged parallel to the slide member so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction; A single pinion meshing with the moving rack, and the differential rack is reciprocated at the same pace as the main rack by the rotational drive of the pinion in the forward and reverse directions, and the forward movement direction of the slide member. A differential device characterized in that only the differential rack is further pushed out by the pinion and moves in the forward movement direction at the terminal end of the movement.