JP2010201795A - Liquid injection device - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus in which a conveyance guide is hardly contaminated and jam is hardly generated.
An area that allows a cap to be raised with respect to a recording head 33 during a capping operation of a line type recording head 33 and an ink that is ejected during a flushing operation of the recording head 33 are supported on a conveyance guide portion 31 that supports and guides printing paper. A plurality of conveyance guide members 53 that form an opening 52 including a region where the mist spreads and guide the printing paper 21 that passes through the opening 52 during normal printing are provided to be movable forward and backward with respect to the opening 52. With this configuration, the conveyance guide member 53 can be retracted from the opening 52 during the flushing operation and the capping operation of the line type recording head 33, so that the ink adheres to the conveyance guide member 53 and the conveyance guide of the cap 37. Contact with the member 53 can be avoided.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid from a liquid ejecting head onto a medium that is transported on a transport guide unit.

  Conventionally, in an ink jet printing apparatus that is one of the liquid ejecting apparatuses, if the ink is not ejected for a long time, the moisture and moisturizing components of the ink naturally evaporate, and foreign matters such as paper dust and dust adhere to the nozzle. Nozzle clogging occurs. Therefore, in order to maintain and restore the performance of the inkjet head, the ink is ejected to prevent nozzle clogging by ejecting a certain amount of ink that is not related to printing, just before printing or between printings. An operation (hereinafter referred to as a flushing operation), an operation of wiping ink adhering to the tip of the nozzle (hereinafter referred to as a wiping operation), and the like are performed. Various techniques have been proposed for performing a flushing operation, a wiping operation, and the like, such as the following inkjet printer.

<First example>
The first is an ink jet printer capable of maintaining / recovering the ink jet head without reducing the printing speed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  This ink jet printer (hereinafter referred to as the first example printing apparatus) includes a transport guide for guiding the transport of paper, and the transport guide is adapted to the size and position of the nozzle row in the line type ink jet head. An elongated opening is formed in the alignment direction of the nozzle rows.

  Even during the flushing operation, the conveyance guide is located at the opening with the conveyance guide being disposed directly below the line-type inkjet head and the conveyance guide being disposed directly below the line-type inkjet head. A certain amount of ink is ejected from the line-type inkjet head.

  Further, when printing is suspended, when the operation of covering the nozzles to prevent the nozzles of the line-type inkjet head from drying (hereinafter referred to as a capping operation) is performed, the conveyance guide is moved in the paper conveyance direction. Then, the cap is raised and put on the nozzle.

<Second example>
The second type is an ink jet printer that can be downsized and reduced in price and can realize good print quality (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  In this ink jet printer (hereinafter referred to as a second example printing apparatus), a line type ink jet head is arranged on the front side of the transport guide across the transport guide for guiding the transport of the paper, and on the back side of the transport guide. A maintenance member (for example, a cap, a blade, etc.) is disposed so as to face the line-type inkjet head. During maintenance, a maintenance member comes out from the opening formed in the conveyance guide to the front side of the conveyance guide, and various operations (for example, flushing, wiping, etc.) are performed.

JP 2006-56047 A JP 11-291511 A

However, the above conventional techniques have the following problems.
<The first problem>
First, in the first printing apparatus, ink is ejected from an opening formed in the conveyance guide. At this time, a part of the ejected ink becomes countless minute droplets (hereinafter referred to as ink mist). For this reason, at the time of the flushing operation, the ink mist adheres to the transport guide, and the transport guide becomes dirty with the ink mist.

  In the printing apparatus of the first example, there is a section where the conveyance guide is not disposed between the upstream conveyance roller and the downstream conveyance roller so that the conveyance guide can be retracted in the sheet conveyance direction. For this reason, since the conveyance of the paper is not guided in the section where the conveyance guide is not arranged, the posture of the paper is likely to be unstable, and a jam is likely to occur.

<The second problem>
Next, in the second printing apparatus, the maintenance member enters and exits from the opening formed in the conveyance guide. For this reason, at the time of flushing, the ink mist adheres to the transport guide, and the transport guide becomes dirty with the ink mist.

  In the second printing apparatus, the blade moves from the upstream side to the downstream side of the line-type inkjet head in order to wipe off ink adhering to the tip of the nozzle during wiping. In order to keep the tip of the nozzle moist during standby, the lower part of the line-type inkjet head is covered with a cap. For this reason, an opening having substantially the same size as the bottom surface dimension of the line type ink jet head is formed in the transport guide.

  That is, in the second example of the printing apparatus, an opening having a size substantially the same as the width of the line-type inkjet head exists between the upstream-side conveyance roller and the downstream-side conveyance roller. For this reason, when the width of the conveyed paper is narrower than the width of the line-type ink jet head, the leading edge of the paper being conveyed is opened at the opening, and the posture of the paper may become unstable and jam may occur. is there.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus in which a conveyance guide is hardly soiled and jam is hardly generated.

  In order to solve the above problems, a liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention is a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid from a liquid ejecting head to a medium that is transported on a transport guide section, and the transport guide section In addition, an opening region including at least a region through which the mist of the liquid ejected during the flushing operation of the liquid ejecting head passes is formed, and a medium passing through the opening region during normal transport is guided to the transport guide unit. And a conveyance guide member which is movable forward and backward with respect to the opening region.

  In the liquid ejecting apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, the opening region may include a region that allows the cap of the liquid ejecting head to rise during the capping operation of the liquid ejecting head.

  In the liquid ejecting apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, the conveyance guide portion may include a rotation shaft that supports one end of the conveyance guide member, and the opening guide region may be rotated forward and backward about the rotation shaft. In contrast, the conveyance guide member can be freely advanced and retracted.

  In the liquid ejecting apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, a plurality of the transport guide members may be provided on the upstream side and the downstream side in the transport direction of the opening region, and the transport guide members may be rotated relative to each other to rotate the transport region relative to the opening region. The guide member can be freely advanced and retracted.

  In the liquid ejecting apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, the conveyance guide member may protrude into the opening area during normal conveyance and retreat outside the opening area during the capping operation and the flushing operation.

  As described above, according to the present invention, by providing the opening area in the transport guide, it is possible to prevent the liquid ejected during the flushing operation of the liquid ejecting head from adhering to the transport guide, and thus adhere to the transport guide. Since the medium can be prevented from being contaminated by the liquid, and the conveyance guide member is provided in the conveyance guide, the leading edge of the medium that passes through the opening area during normal conveyance contacts the edge on the downstream side of the opening area and a jam occurs. Occurrence can be prevented.

4A and 4B are diagrams of a conveyance guide unit that constitutes an image forming unit of the ink jet printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view of an image forming unit of the ink jet printing apparatus. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming unit of the ink jet printing apparatus, in which (a) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2, and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating a positional relationship between a recording head and a cap of an image forming unit of the ink jet printing apparatus. FIG. 2A illustrates a normal printing operation, FIG. 2B illustrates a flushing operation, and FIG. 2C illustrates a capping operation. It is a schematic diagram which shows the whole structure of the inkjet printing apparatus.

Hereinafter, as an embodiment of the liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention, an ink jet printing apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 5, the ink jet printing apparatus 11 includes a paper feed mechanism section 12, a paper transport mechanism section 13, an image forming section (printing apparatus main body section) 14, a paper discharge apparatus 15, and a paper receiving mechanism section 16. ing.

The paper feed mechanism unit 12 includes a paper feed base 22 on which the print paper 21 as a medium is stacked, a paper feed roller 23 for feeding the print paper 21 from the paper feed base 22 one by one, and a paper feed base 24. The mechanism unit 13 includes a pair of upper and lower conveying rollers 25 that supply the printing paper 21 fed from the paper feeding mechanism unit 12 to the image forming unit 14. The printing paper 21 is fed to the image forming unit 14 one by one. Supply. Then, the printing paper 21 printed in the image forming unit 14 to be described in detail later is discharged by the paper discharge device 15 and is stacked on the paper receiving mechanism unit 16.
[Image forming unit 14]
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the image forming unit 14 is a printing unit that performs printing by ejecting water-based ink (an example of a liquid) onto the paper surface of the printing paper 21 by an inkjet method. A conveyance guide unit 31 and a conveyance roller unit 32 that form the sheet 30, a plurality of line-type recording heads (an example of a liquid ejecting head) 33 disposed above the conveyance surface 30, a regulating member 34, and a sheet introduction member 35. I have. The conveyance guide unit 31 has a function of supporting and guiding the printing paper 21 to be conveyed from below, and the conveyance roller unit 32 supports the printing sheet 21 on the conveyance surface 30 from below and moves it in the conveyance direction A. It has a function.

"Line type recording head 33"
The line-type recording head 33 has an image forming range having a predetermined width in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction A, and a plurality of ink discharge portions 33a formed in a line shape as schematically and transparently shown. Are arranged in a plurality of stages along the transport direction A, and may be of a type in which a plurality of colors are ejected by one ink ejection part 33a, and a single color is ejected by one ink ejection part 33a. A type that discharges a different color for each 33a may be used, and the structure thereof is publicly known, and thus the description thereof is omitted. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, cap means 36 are respectively disposed below and opposed to each line type recording head 33, and the cap means 36 includes caps 37 corresponding to the respective line type recording heads 33. And a suction pump 38 and a waste liquid tank 39. The cap 37 is configured to be vertically movable by an elevating device (not shown).

  The plurality of line-type recording heads 33 are arranged in a staggered pattern, and a plurality of line-type recording heads 33 arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction A form a recording head array. Are arranged in multiple stages along the conveying direction A.

  For this reason, in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction A, the image forming ranges of all the line type recording heads 33 do not overlap each other, and a plurality of line type recording heads 33 are arranged in parallel to substantially reduce the width of the recording area. An image forming apparatus with a widened area. In the present embodiment, two recording head arrays are arranged before and after the transport direction A, but the number of recording head arrays is not limited to the configuration exemplified in the present embodiment. In the following description, the line type recording head 33 is described as a first line type recording head 33A that is arranged in the preceding recording head row, and the second line type recording head 33B is arranged in the subsequent recording head row. To do. The transport guide section 31 corresponds to each of the preceding recording head array and the succeeding recording head array.

"Conveying roller unit 32"
The transport roller section 32 is composed of three parts sandwiching the front and rear transport guide sections 31. Each of the guide members 40 forming the transport surface 30 and the transport direction A are arranged at right angles and are composed of rollers. As a roller, a first transport roller portion 32A provided with a first transport roller 41 and an upstream second line-type recording head 33B, which are respectively arranged upstream of the first-stage first line-type recording head 33A. A third transport roller unit 32B having a second transport roller 42 disposed on the upstream side of the recording medium and a third transport roller 43 having a third transport roller 43 disposed on the downstream side of the subsequent recording head row. The conveyance roller unit 32C is configured. Each of the transport rollers 41, 42, and 43 includes upper and lower transport rollers (driven rollers) 41a, 42a, and 43a and lower transport rollers (drive rollers) 41b, 42b, and 43b that are paired up and down. Is formed with openings 40a corresponding to the positions of the lower conveying rollers 41b, 42b, 43b, and the lower conveying rollers 41b, 42b, 43b are in contact with the printing paper 21 on the guide member 40, The printing paper 21 can be transported by the action of the transport rollers 41a, 42a, 43a. The guide member 40 is formed of a low friction member or a member coated with a low friction agent.

  The first and second transport rollers 41 and 42 have the rotational axes of the lower transport rollers 41b and 42b positioned upstream in the transport direction A with respect to the rotational axes of the upper transport rollers 41a and 42a. Thus, the printing paper 21 is sent obliquely downward toward the conveyance surface 30 when passing through the conveyance rollers 41 and 42. Further, the upper conveying roller 43a of the third conveying roller 43 is a point contact roller that makes point contact with the printing paper 21, and is in minimal contact with the image forming surface of the printing paper 21 after the image is formed. Thus, the printing paper 21 can be conveyed. Note that the number of the conveyance roller units 32 in the conveyance direction A is not limited to the configuration exemplified in the present embodiment.

"Transport guide 31"
The conveyance guide portion 31 includes a first conveyance guide portion 31A corresponding to the preceding recording head row and a second conveyance guide portion 31B corresponding to the latter recording head row. With this configuration, the conveyance of the image forming portion 14 is performed. The surface 30 is formed in order from the upstream side in the transport direction A by a first transport roller portion 32A, a first transport guide portion 31A, a second transport roller portion 32B, a second transport guide portion 31B, and a third transport roller portion 32C. The

  The conveyance surface 30 of each conveyance guide portion 31 (first and second conveyance guide portions 31A and 31B) is formed by a guide member 51 made of a low friction member (or a member coated with a low friction agent). In 51, an opening (opening region) 52 is provided corresponding to the recording head row. A plurality of caps 37 are positioned below the openings 52 so as to face the recording head rows, and the openings 52 are raised at least with respect to the line type recording heads 33 during the capping operation of the recording head rows. And a region through which ink mist ejected during the flushing operation of the line-type recording head 33 passes. The opening 32 allows the cap 37 to rise without contacting the conveyance guide portion 31 (guide member 51), and prevents the conveyance guide portion 31 (guide member 51) from being contaminated by ink mist. ing.

  Further, a step 51A that forms a recess from the transport direction A is provided at the upstream and downstream edges of the opening 52 of the guide member 51, and the printing paper that passes through the opening 52 during normal printing is provided at the step 51A. A plurality of transport guide members 53 that guide the guide 21 and are movable forward and backward with respect to the opening 52 are provided on the upstream side and the downstream side of the opening 52 in the transport direction A, respectively. These upstream and downstream transport guide members 53 are formed of a low friction member (or a member coated with a low friction agent), and can rotate forward and backward with respect to the opening 52 by rotating in opposite directions. Length that partially overlaps in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction A when protruding from the opening 52 in parallel with the transport direction A (length that interferes with each other with respect to the center of the transport direction A of the opening 32) ). Further, the level of the upper surface of each conveyance guide member 53 is set to the same level as the conveyance surface 30, and the level difference 51 </ b> A is set to such a depth that the level of the upper surface of each conveyance guide member 53 is the same level as that of the conveyance surface 30. Is set.

  The rotation mechanism for rotating the transport guide member 53 is as follows. That is, the same diameter and the same diameter are provided in the step 51A so as not to protrude into the opening 52 in a plane perpendicular to the conveying direction A on the upstream side and the downstream side in the conveying direction A of the opening 52, respectively. A plurality of gears 55 (10 in the figure) are rotatably held and arranged so as to mesh with each other sequentially. A rack 56 that meshes with the most upstream gear 55A and the downstream 55B is provided so as to be movable in the transport direction A, and a drive gear 57 that meshes with the rack 56 and moves is provided. The rotation shaft of the servo gear 58 that can rotate forward and reverse is connected to the rotation shaft of the drive gear 57.

  The conveyance guide unit 31 includes a rotation shaft 53A that supports one end of the conveyance guide member 53, and the rotation shaft of the gear 55 is connected to the rotation shaft 53A. As shown in FIG. 1, in order to overlap, the length x of the conveyance guide member 53 is, for example, 2/3 of the dimension p in the conveyance direction A of the opening 52 to the radius m of the gear 55. And the conveyance guide member 53 can be stored so that it does not protrude into the opening 52 when it is retracted from the opening 52 and is rotated in opposite directions. On the upstream side, the conveyance guide member 53 is connected to the even-numbered second, sixth, and tenth gears 55 counted from the gear 55A that meshes with the rack 56, and on the downstream side, the rack 55 A conveyance guide member 53 is connected to the third and seventh odd-numbered gears 55 counted from the gear 55 </ b> B meshing with the gear 56. The size of the gear 55 is set by the length allowed for the conveyance guide portion 31 and the dimension p of the opening 52 in the conveyance direction A in order to define the length of the conveyance guide portion 31 in the conveyance direction A. The number of gears 55 is set by the dimension q of the opening 52 in the transport direction A.

  With the above configuration, when the rack 56 is moved to the downstream side by the servomotor 58, the conveyance guide member 53 is rotated so as to be parallel to the conveyance direction A as shown by the solid line, and protrudes into the opening 52. When the rack 56 is moved upstream by the servo motor 58, the conveyance guide member 53 is rotated at a right angle to the conveyance direction A and retracted from the opening 52 as indicated by a virtual line. Each conveyance guide member 53 protrudes into the opening 52 during normal printing, and is retracted outside the opening 52 during the capping operation and the flushing operation.

"Regulatory member 34"
Above the conveyance guide portion 31, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of regulating members 34 face the conveyance surface 30 in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction A and between the conveyance surface 30. Are arranged via a predetermined gap (for example, 2 mm). These restricting members 34 extend to the upstream side in the transport direction A from the first line type recording head 33A to the first transport roller 41, and are closest to the upstream side of the second line type recording head 33B in the transport direction A. It extends to.

  The regulating member 34 is made of a conductive material, removes static electricity charged on the printing paper 21 to prevent the paper from sticking, and regulates the contact between the printing paper 21 and the first line type recording head 33A in the previous stage. The lower surface of the regulating member 34 protrudes downward by a predetermined distance (for example, 0.5 mm) from the lower surfaces of the first line type recording head 33A and the second line type recording head 33B, and the lower conveyance rollers 41b and 42b. Protrudes upward from the conveying surface 30 by a predetermined distance (for example, 0.8 mm).

  Further, the regulating member 34 is located on the upstream side of the second line type recording head 33B at the rear stage, outside the image forming range of the first line type recording head 33A at the front stage, that is, between the first line type recording heads 33A adjacent to each other. Located between.

"Paper introduction member 35"
On the upstream side of the first line-type recording head 33A in the previous stage, the paper introduction member 35 is disposed so as to face the conveyance surface 30 and between the conveyance surface 30 with a predetermined gap (for example, 2 mm). . As shown in FIG. 3A, the paper introduction member 35 extends to the first conveying roller 41 on the upstream side of the first line type recording head 33A.

  The paper introduction member 35 has a predetermined width at least equal to that of the first line type recording head 33 </ b> A in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction A, and is disposed between the regulation member 34 and the regulation member 34.

Further, the regulating member 34 and the paper introduction member 35 have a shape in which the corner portion of the upstream end face in the transport direction A is chamfered, and is wide open from the transport surface 30 so that the edge of the printing paper 21 can escape. There is no.
[Operation and Effect of Image Forming Unit 14]
With the configuration described above, the present embodiment has the following operational effects.

"Normal printing (normal transport)"
The recording head rows are arranged in multiple stages along the conveyance direction A of the printing paper 21, and the first line type recording head 33A and the second line type recording head 33B of each recording head row are respectively in an image forming range having a predetermined width. By forming an image (printing) on the printing paper 21, it is possible to form an image at an arbitrary position on the printing paper 21.

  That is, the printing paper 21 is conveyed in the conveyance direction A in a state in which the printing paper 21 is pinched by the upper conveyance roller 41a and the lower conveyance roller 41b of the first conveyance roller 41 and prevented from being lifted, and the printing paper 21 is conveyed to the first line. An image is formed on the printing paper 21 by being conveyed between the mold recording head 33A and the conveying surface 30 by the first line recording head 33A.

  Further, the printing paper 21 that has passed through the first line type recording head 33A is conveyed in the conveying direction A in a state in which the printing paper 21 is pinched by the upper conveying roller 42a and the lower conveying roller 42b of the second conveying roller 42 to prevent lifting. Then, the printing paper 21 is conveyed between the second line type recording head 33A and the conveying surface 30 and an image is formed on the printing paper 21 by the second line type recording head 33B.

  At this time, since the line type recording heads 33 are arranged in a staggered manner above the conveying surface 30, the image forming range of the first line type recording head 33A in the front stage and the second line type recording head 33B in the rear stage. The second image forming range does not overlap, and the second transport roller 42 at the rear stage can be disposed outside the image forming range of the first line type recording head 33A at the first stage.

  Therefore, the second conveyance roller 42 at the rear stage abuts on the printing paper 21 without touching the image-formed area formed by the first line-type recording head 33A at the front stage, and the printing paper 21 is moved from above the conveyance surface 30. Can prevent floating.

  Further, by disposing the second transport roller 42 at the rear stage between the recording head row at the front stage and the recording head row at the rear stage, the first transport roller 41 at the front stage and the second transport roller 42 at the rear stage are arranged. The printing paper 21 is prevented from floating at the front and rear positions in the transport direction A across the first line type recording head 33A in the preceding stage.

  Therefore, even if the gap between the printing paper 21 and the first and second line type recording heads 33A and 33B is set narrow, the printing paper 21 becomes the first and second line type recording heads 33A and 33B. A clear print result can be obtained without contact.

  Next, in the first and second transport rollers 41 and 42, the rotational axis of the lower transport rollers 41b and 42b is positioned upstream in the transport direction A from the rotational shaft of the upper transport rollers 41a and 42a. Thus, when passing through the transport rollers 41, 42, the printing paper 21 is sent obliquely downward toward the transport surface 30. That is, the printing paper 21 is corrected to curl downward.

  Therefore, the printing paper 21 is urged in the direction away from the first and second line type recording heads 33A and 33B, while the first and second line type recording heads 33A and 33B and the conveying surface 30 are urged. Pass through. In addition, when the printing paper 21 passes through the first line-type recording head 33A in the preceding stage, the regulating member 34 prevents the printing paper 21 from floating along the transport direction A. By correcting the conveyance rollers 41 and 42 so that the printing paper 21 is curled downward, the printing paper 21 is prevented from floating in an area along the second line type recording head 33B in the conveyance direction A. There is no need to arrange a regulating member.

  Therefore, even if the gap between the printing paper 21 and the first and second line type recording heads 33A and 33B is set narrow, the printing paper 21 becomes the first and second line type recording heads 33A and 33B. There is no contact, ink smear does not occur, and a clear print result can be obtained.

Further, the paper introduction member 35 suppresses the occurrence of a jam when the printing paper 21 is introduced between the first line-type recording head 33A in the preceding stage and the transport surface 30.
Next, the upper conveying roller 43a of the third conveying roller 43 forms a point contact roller, so that after the image is formed, the printing paper 21 is brought into minimal contact with the image forming surface of the printing paper 21. Can be transported.

  At the time of this normal printing, as shown in FIG. 4A, the conveyance guide member 53 protrudes from the opening 52 so as to be parallel to the conveyance direction A, and the printing paper 21 is supported by the conveyance surface 30 and the conveyance guide member 53. Printed by ink that is guided and ejected from the line-type recording head 33. At this time, the conveyance guide members 53 on the upstream side and the downstream side are overlapped.

“When the line-type recording head 33 is flushed”
During the flushing operation of the line-type recording head 33 executed during normal printing on the printing paper 21, the cap 37 is not raised, but as shown in FIG. The member 53 is retracted. Therefore, the ejected ink is prevented from adhering to the conveyance guide member 53.

“When the line type recording head 33 is capped”
During the capping operation of the line type recording head 33, the conveyance guide member 53 is retracted from the opening 52 as shown in FIG. Therefore, when the cap 37 is lifted, contact with the conveyance guide member 53 is avoided, and the cap 37 is lifted through the opening 52 and fitted with the line type recording head 33 to perform a moisture retaining function.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, by providing the opening 52, the conveyance guide portion 31 (guide member 51) can be prevented from being contaminated by ink mist, and thus the ink adhering to the conveyance guide portion 31 can be prevented. It is possible to prevent the printing paper 21 from becoming dirty. Further, during normal printing, the conveyance guide member 53 protrudes from the opening 52 so as to be parallel to the conveyance direction A, and the printing paper 21 moving through the opening 52 is supported and guided by the conveyance guide member 53. The printing paper 21 moving through the opening 52 can be prevented from dripping and coming into contact with the downstream edge of the opening 52, and jamming can be prevented, and the printing surface can be prevented from becoming unclear.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the conveyance guide unit 31 includes the rotation shaft 53A that supports one end of the conveyance guide member 53, and the rotation shaft of the gear 55 is connected to the rotation shaft 53A to rotate forward and backward. By making the opening 52 movable forward and backward, the conveyance guide unit 31 can be retracted from the opening 32 during the flushing operation of the line-type recording head 33 and the capping operation of the line-type recording head 33, and thus the flushing. During operation, it is possible to avoid the ink ejected to the conveyance guide member 53 from adhering and becoming dirty, and to prevent the cap 37 from contacting the conveyance guide member 53 during the capping operation.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the upstream and downstream transport guide members 53 are rotated in opposite directions, so that the upstream and downstream transport guide members 53 overlap in the opening 32. When storing, it is possible to avoid contact with each other, and it is possible to increase the number by reducing the distance between the upstream and downstream transport guide members 53 as compared to when rotating in the same direction. The paper 21 can be supported and guided more reliably.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the transport guide members 53 provided on the upstream side and the downstream side partially overlap in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction A when protruding with respect to the opening 52. By forming the length, it is possible to prevent the leading edge of the printing paper 21 from entering the space between the upstream side and the downstream side conveyance guide member 53 and causing a jam.

  In this embodiment, the rotation mechanism of the conveyance guide member 53 is formed by the gear 55, the rack 56, the drive gear 57, and the servo motor 58. However, the rotation mechanism is not limited to such a rotation mechanism. Any mechanism that can rotate the shaft 53A may be used. For example, the rotary shaft 53A may be rotatably supported, a pulley may be fixed to the rotary shaft 53A, and the belt may be put on the pulley and driven to drive the belt.

  In the present embodiment, the ink jet printing apparatus 11 that ejects water-based ink is described as the liquid ejecting apparatus. However, the liquid ejecting apparatus ejects or discharges liquid (droplets) other than ink. It may be. In this case, the droplet refers to the state of the liquid ejected from the liquid ejecting apparatus, and includes liquid droplets having a granular shape, a tear shape, and a thread shape. The liquid here may be any material that can be ejected by the liquid ejecting apparatus. For example, it may be in a state in which the substance is in a liquid phase, such as a liquid with high or low viscosity, sol, gel water, other inorganic solvents, organic solvents, solutions, liquid resins, liquid metals (metal melts ) And liquids as one state of the substance, as well as those obtained by dissolving, dispersing or mixing particles of a functional material made of solid materials such as pigments and metal particles in a solvent. In addition, as a typical example of the liquid, the ink as described in the above embodiment can be given, and as another example, a liquid crystal or the like can be given. Here, the ink includes general water-based inks and oil-based inks, and various liquid compositions such as gel inks and hot-melt inks. As a specific example of the liquid ejecting apparatus, for example, a liquid containing a material such as an electrode material or a coloring material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an EL (electroluminescence) display, a surface emitting display, a color filter, or the like in a dispersed or dissolved state. It may be a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting, a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting a bio-organic material used for biochip manufacturing, a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting a liquid as a sample used as a precision pipette, a textile printing apparatus, a microdispenser, or the like. In addition, transparent resin liquids such as UV curable resin to form liquid injection devices that pinpoint lubricant oil onto precision machines such as watches and cameras, and micro hemispherical lenses (optical lenses) used in optical communication elements. May be a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid onto the substrate, or a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects an etching solution such as acid or alkali to etch the substrate. The present invention can be applied to any one of these liquid ejecting apparatuses. Needless to say, the medium conveyed on the conveyance guide unit 31 differs depending on the liquid ejecting apparatus.

  In the present embodiment, the plurality of line-type recording heads 33 arranged above the conveyance surface 30 are arranged in a zigzag pattern, but may be arranged so that a target image can be printed on the printing paper 21. For example, one row may be used instead of two rows upstream and downstream, and one long line head may be used instead of the plurality of line type recording heads 33.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the opening 52 is ejected at least during the flushing operation of the line type recording head 33 and the area allowing the cap 37 to rise with respect to each line type recording head 33 during the capping operation of the recording head row. In the case where the inkjet printing apparatus 11 is continuously used and no capping operation is required, the opening 52 is a cap 37 for each line type recording head 33. It is not necessary to include an area that allows the increase of

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Inkjet printer 14 Image formation part 21 Printing paper 30 Conveyance surface 31 Conveyance guide part 32 Conveyance roller part 33 Line type recording head 34 Control member 35 Paper introduction member 37 Cap 40 Guide member 41, 42, 43 Conveyance roller 51 Guide member 52 Opening 53 Transport Guide Member 53A Rotating Shaft 55 Gear 56 Rack 57 Drive Gear 58 Servo Motor

Claims (5)

A liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid from a liquid ejecting head to a medium being transported on a transport guide unit,
Forming an opening region in the transport guide part including at least a region through which the mist of the liquid ejected during the flushing operation of the liquid ejecting head passes;
The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a conveyance guide member configured to guide the medium passing through the opening area during normal conveyance, and to move forward and backward with respect to the opening area. 2. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the opening region includes a region that allows a cap to be lifted with respect to the liquid ejecting heads during a capping operation of the liquid ejecting heads. The transport guide portion includes a rotation shaft that supports one end of the transport guide member,
3. The liquid ejection according to claim 1, wherein the transport guide member can be moved forward and backward with respect to the opening region by rotating the transport guide member forward and backward about the rotation shaft. apparatus. A plurality of the transport guide members are provided on the upstream side and the downstream side in the transport direction of the opening region, respectively.
4. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance guide member is allowed to advance and retreat with respect to the opening region by rotating in directions opposite to each other. 5. 5. The conveyance guide member according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance guide member protrudes into the opening area during normal printing and is retracted outside the opening area during the capping operation and the flushing operation. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1.

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