JP2011121295A - Fluid jet apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A fluid ejecting apparatus capable of performing highly effective maintenance is provided.
An ejection head that ejects fluid, a fluid receiving portion that receives the fluid, a fluid holding member that is provided in the fluid receiving portion and holds the fluid received by the fluid receiving portion, and the fluid holding member A pressing member that presses the surface of the fluid holding member and a cleaning liquid supply unit that supplies the cleaning liquid to the fluid holding member via the pressing member.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a fluid ejecting apparatus.

  As a fluid ejecting apparatus that ejects fluid, for example, an ink jet recording apparatus that records characters, images, and the like on a recording medium is known. The ink jet recording apparatus is configured to be a recording medium by ejecting ink onto the recording medium from a nozzle provided in the ejection head while conveying the recording medium. The ink jet recording apparatus is provided with a cap that covers the ejection area of the ejection head.

  In an ink jet recording apparatus, the nozzles may become clogged due to ink thickening and solidification due to evaporation of ink from the nozzles of the ejection head, adhesion of dust, and air bubbles, which may cause printing defects. . Therefore, a maintenance operation such as a flushing operation for forcibly discharging the ink in the nozzles is performed separately from the ejection to the recording medium.

  In the flushing operation, the discharged ink is received by, for example, a cap. In the cap, for example, a discharge port for discharging received ink and an absorbing member for absorbing ink so that the ink does not scatter are provided, and the environment in the apparatus is hardly contaminated.

  On the other hand, if the ink absorbed by the absorbing member thickens or solidifies, it closes the discharge port, making it difficult to perform sufficient maintenance. In this case, since there is a problem that the ink is not discharged while being held in the cap, for example, as shown in Patent Document 1, the cleaning liquid is supplied from the bottom of the cap to the absorbing member.

JP 2008-143071 A

  However, in the above configuration, it is difficult to supply the cleaning liquid up to the upper part of the absorbing member, and sufficient cleaning cannot be performed, which causes a problem in terms of maintenance effectiveness.

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a fluid ejecting apparatus capable of performing highly effective maintenance.

  A fluid ejecting apparatus according to the present invention includes: an ejecting head that ejects fluid; a fluid receiving portion that receives the fluid; a fluid holding member that is provided in the fluid receiving portion and holds the fluid received by the fluid receiving portion; And a pressing member that holds the fluid holding member by pressing the surface of the fluid holding member, and a cleaning liquid supply unit that supplies a cleaning liquid to the fluid holding member via the pressing member.

  According to the present invention, since the cleaning liquid can be supplied to the fluid holding member by transmitting the pressing member that presses the surface of the fluid holding member, the cleaning liquid can be permeated into the inside from the surface of the fluid holding member. Accordingly, the cleaning liquid can be uniformly supplied to the fluid holding member for cleaning, so that highly effective maintenance can be performed.

In the fluid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the ejecting head has an ejecting surface that ejects the fluid, and the fluid receiving portion is formed to cover the ejecting surface.
According to the present invention, since the cleaning liquid is uniformly supplied to the fluid holding member, and the fluid hardly remains on the surface of the fluid holding member, the fluid on the fluid holding member is ejected when the ejection surface of the ejection head is covered. It can suppress adhering to.

In the fluid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the fluid receiving portion has a discharge port for discharging at least one of the fluid and the cleaning liquid.
According to the present invention, since the fluid receiving part has the discharge port for discharging at least one of the fluid and the cleaning liquid, the washed fluid can be prevented from staying in the fluid receiving part.

In the fluid ejection device, the discharge port is preferably connected to a suction device.
According to the present invention, since the discharge port is connected to the suction device, the fluid and the cleaning liquid in the fluid receiving portion can be positively discharged. Thereby, the inside of a fluid receiving part can be maintained in a clean state.

The fluid ejecting apparatus preferably further includes a lid member that closes a space including the fluid holding member between the fluid receiving unit.
According to the present invention, the space including the fluid holding member can be closed between the fluid receiving portion and the cleaning liquid can be prevented from drying.

In the fluid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the pressing member has a flow path through which the cleaning liquid flows, and the cleaning liquid supply unit has a cleaning liquid supply source connected to the flow path.
According to the present invention, since the pressing member has the flow path for circulating the cleaning liquid and the cleaning liquid supply unit has the cleaning liquid supply source connected to the flow path, the cleaning liquid can be efficiently distributed.

In the fluid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the pressing member is formed in a linear shape, and the flow path is formed along an extending direction of the pressing member.
According to the present invention, since the pressing member is formed in a linear shape and the flow path is formed along the extending direction of the pressing member, the cleaning liquid can be uniformly supplied to the entire fluid holding member.

In the fluid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the flow path is formed on a surface of the pressing member.
According to the present invention, since the flow path is formed on the surface of the pressing member, the cleaning liquid can be efficiently supplied to the fluid holding member.

In the fluid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the flow path is formed inside the pressing member, and the pressing member has an opening that communicates the inside and the outside of the flow path.
According to the present invention, the flow path is formed inside the pressing member, and the pressing member has the opening that communicates the inside and outside of the flow path, so that the cleaning liquid is efficiently supplied through the opening. can do. Moreover, when it is set as the structure which has said cover member and suction device, the space | closure space is made negative pressure by operating a suction device in the state which closed the space containing a fluid holding member with a cover member. The cleaning liquid can be supplied from the opening using the negative pressure. Further, the same effect can be obtained even when the ejection surface of the ejection head is covered by the fluid receiving portion.

In the fluid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the pressing member is formed along an outer periphery of the fluid holding member, and the opening is provided on an inner peripheral side of the pressing member.
According to the present invention, since the cleaning liquid can be supplied from the outer peripheral side to the inner peripheral side of the fluid holding member, the cleaning liquid can be supplied evenly to the fluid holding member.

In the fluid ejecting apparatus, the flow path is preferably formed so as to be lyophilic with respect to the cleaning liquid.
According to the present invention, since the flow path is formed so as to be lyophilic with respect to the cleaning liquid, the cleaning liquid can be easily circulated.

In the fluid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the flow path is formed to be narrower toward the downstream with respect to the cleaning liquid supply source.
According to the present invention, since the flow path is formed so as to be downstream with respect to the cleaning liquid supply source, the cleaning liquid is supplied to every corner of the flow path even when the supply pressure of the cleaning liquid supply source is low. It can be distributed.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of a capping mechanism of the printer according to the present embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of a capping mechanism. The figure which shows the mode of the capping mechanism when performing a maintenance operation | movement. The figure which shows the other structure of the capping mechanism which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows the other structure of the capping mechanism which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows the other structure of the capping mechanism which concerns on this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing used for the following description, the scale of each member is appropriately changed in order to make each member a recognizable size. In the present embodiment, an ink jet printer will be described as an example of the fluid ejecting apparatus according to the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a printer (fluid ejecting apparatus) 1 according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 includes a carriage 4 on which an ejection head 2 that is a type of liquid ejection head is mounted and an ink cartridge 3 that is a type of liquid storage member is detachably mounted, and a lower portion of the ejection head 2. And a carriage moving mechanism 7 for moving the carriage 4 in the paper width direction of the recording paper 6, and a paper feeding mechanism 8 for conveying the recording paper 6 in the paper feeding direction. It has a configuration. A control device (not shown) for controlling the operation of the entire printer 1 is also provided. The paper width direction is the main scanning direction (head scanning direction). The paper feeding direction is a sub-scanning direction (a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction).
The ink cartridge 3 is not limited to the cartridge mounted on the carriage 4 as in the present embodiment, but a cartridge mounted on the housing side of the printer 1 and supplied to the ejection head 2 via the ink supply tube is employed. May be.

  The guide rod 9 is a support member installed in the main scanning direction. The carriage 4 is attached while being supported by the guide rod 9. The carriage 4 is moved in the main scanning direction along the guide rod 9 by a carriage moving mechanism 7. The linear encoder 10 detects the position of the carriage 4 in the main scanning direction. This detection signal is transmitted as position information to a control unit (not shown). The control unit recognizes the scanning position of the ejection head 2 based on the position information from the linear encoder 10 and controls the recording operation (ejection operation) and the like by the ejection head 2.

  A home position serving as a scanning start point of the ejection head 2 is set in an area outside the platen 5 in the movement range of the ejection head 2. A capping mechanism CP is provided at this home position. The capping mechanism CP seals the nozzle opening forming surface of the ejection head 2 with the cap member 61 to prevent the ink solvent from evaporating. The capping mechanism CP is also used for a cleaning operation for applying a negative pressure to the sealed nozzle opening surface to forcibly suck and discharge ink.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the configuration of the capping mechanism CP.
As shown in FIG. 2, the capping mechanism CP includes a cap member 61 that covers a part of the nozzle formation region of the ejection head 2, an absorbing member 64 fixed in the cap member 61, and the absorbing member 64 as the cap member 61. A fixing pin 65 to be fixed, a pressing member 66 for pressing the surface of the absorbing member 64, and a cleaning liquid supply unit WS for supplying a cleaning liquid to the absorbing member 64 are provided.

  The cap member 61 is made of a resin such as plastic, and is formed in a tray shape, for example. The frame portion 63 of the cap member 61 is provided at the periphery of the bottom portion 62, and a seal member 63a made of, for example, an elastomer is provided at the upper end of the frame portion 63. The seal member 63 a comes into contact with the ejection head 2.

  The absorbing member 64 is made of, for example, a sponge or a porous film. The fixing pin 65 is provided so as to penetrate the absorbing member 64, and is fixed to the bottom portion 62. The fixing pins 65 are arranged, for example, at six locations so as to surround the central portion of the absorbing member 64 in a plan view.

  The pressing member 66 is formed in a linear shape by, for example, a wire. The pressing member 66 is joined to each fixing pin 65 by, for example, heat caulking, and is provided between the fixing pins 65 so as to press the absorbing member 64 from the upper surface 64c of the absorbing member 64 to the bottom 62 side. . The pressing member 66 is formed in an annular shape along the outer periphery of the absorbing member 64 so as to surround the central portion of the absorbing member 64 in plan view.

  A suction opening 67 is provided at the bottom 62 of the cap member 61. For example, two openings 67 are provided in a portion along one long side of the cap member 61. The opening 67 may be arranged at one place or three or more places, or may be arranged at other positions. A suction pipe 68 connected to the opening 67 is provided on the lower surface side of the bottom 62. The suction pipe 68 is connected to a suction device 69 such as a suction pump.

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line AA in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the pressing member 66 has a flow channel 66a inside. The channel 66 is formed along the extending direction of the pressing member 66 and is connected to the cleaning liquid supply source 71 of the cleaning liquid supply unit WS. The pressing member 66 has a cleaning liquid supply port 66b. For example, a plurality of cleaning liquid supply ports 66 b are arranged on the inner peripheral side of the pressing member 66. The cleaning liquid supply port 66b is formed so as to penetrate the flow path 66a of the pressing member 66 and the outside.

  The cleaning liquid supply source 71 has a storage part 71a for storing the cleaning liquid and a pressurizing mechanism 71b for pressurizing the storage part 71a. By pressurizing the reservoir 71a by the pressurizing mechanism 71b, the cleaning liquid is supplied from the reservoir 71a through the pipe 72 into the flow channel 66a. The cleaning liquid supplied into the channel 66a is supplied to the upper surface 64c of the absorbing member 64 via the cleaning liquid supply port 66b. For example, the pipe 72 may be configured to pass through the frame portion 63 of the cap member 61 and be connected to the flow path 66 a via the inside of the absorption member 64.

  The cleaning liquid is used for cleaning the absorbing member 64, and for example, a liquid containing water and silver nanoparticles is used. Specific examples include water-based silver colloids. For example, it can be set as the structure which does not dry easily by adding glycerin which has a moisturizing effect to a washing | cleaning liquid.

  As the cleaning liquid, for example, a liquid that dissolves the cleaning material contained in the liquid as a solute, a liquid that makes the cleaning material colloidal, and a liquid that disperses the cleaning material contained in the liquid as particles It is possible to employ at least one of a liquid that swells the detergency material and the same component as the main component that imparts fluidity to the liquid. Further, the cleaning liquid may contain a surfactant in addition to such a liquid. Further, the cleaning liquid may be a surfactant.

  Examples of the detersive material include silver nanoparticles. However, other conductive materials such as PEDOT / PSS may be used, insulating materials may be used, or semiconductor materials may be used. Furthermore, the functional material may be a pigment. When the functional material is a pigment, a typical pigment is dispersed in diethylene glycol monobutyl ether acetate or 2- (2-n-butoxyethoxy) ethyl acetate in a liquid. Diethylene glycol monobutyl ether acetate or 2- (2-n-butoxyethoxy) ethyl acetate may be contained.

Next, an example of the operation of the printer 1 having the above configuration will be described. Here, the operation of the maintenance unit including the suction operation and the cleaning operation will be mainly described.
When print data is transmitted from the outside, a control device (not shown) develops the ejection data corresponding to the dot pattern and transmits the ejection data to the ejection head 2. The ejection head 2 executes recording (printing / printing) processing, that is, ejection of ink droplets onto the recording paper, based on the received ejection data.

  If it is determined that the operation is to be continued after the recording process, the periodic maintenance process is started when a preset time has elapsed. If it is determined that the operation is not continued after the recording process, the process of the printer 1 is terminated. Hereinafter, the case where it is determined that the operation is continued will be described.

  When the periodic maintenance process is started, the ejection head 2 is lowered to the maintenance position, and the ejection head 2 is brought close to the cap member 61 so that the ejection head 2 and the seal member 63a of the cap member 61 face each other. In this state, the seal member 63a of the cap member 61 is brought into contact with the ejection head 2. Thereby, a sealed space is formed between the cap member 61 and the ejection head 2, and the ejection surface of the ejection head 2 is covered with the cap member 61.

  Subsequently, the control device drives the suction device 69 to place the space in a negative pressure state. As a result, ink is sucked from the inside of the ejection head 2. By setting the space to a negative pressure state, the ink in the ejection head 2 is discharged. The discharged ink is absorbed by the absorbing member 64 and sucked into the opening 67.

  Thereafter, the suction device 69 is reversely driven to release the negative pressure space formed between the cap member 61 and the ejection head 2 to the atmosphere. By reversely driving the suction device 69, air flows between the cap member 61 and the ejection head 2 and is released into the atmosphere. After release to the atmosphere, the ejection head 2 is raised and the cap member 61 is separated.

  Thereafter, the control device pressurizes the cleaning liquid reservoir 71a by the pressurizing mechanism 71b of the cleaning liquid supply unit WS. By this pressurization, the cleaning liquid stored in the cleaning liquid storage part 71 a flows into the flow path 66 a of the pressing member 66 through the pipe 72. The cleaning liquid that has flowed into the flow channel 66a circulates over the entire flow channel 66a, and a part of the cleaning liquid is ejected from the supply port 66b to the outside of the flow channel 66a as shown in FIG. The jetted cleaning liquid WQ is supplied to the upper surface 64 c of the absorbing member 64, absorbed into the absorbing member 64 from the upper surface 64 c, and spreads throughout the absorbing member 64. The ink absorbed in the absorbing member 64 is washed away by the cleaning liquid WQ.

  The control device operates the suction device 69 simultaneously with supplying the cleaning liquid WQ to the absorbing member 64. The cleaning liquid WQ and ink in the cap member 61 are discharged through the opening 67. After finishing the cleaning operation of the absorbing member 64 in this way, the control device restarts the recording operation on the recording paper using the ejection head 2.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the cleaning liquid can be supplied to the absorbing member 64 by being transmitted through the pressing member 66 that presses the surface of the absorbing member 64, the cleaning liquid is supplied from the surface of the absorbing member 64 to the inside. Can penetrate. As a result, since the cleaning liquid can be uniformly supplied to the absorbing member 64 for cleaning, highly effective maintenance can be performed.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the pressing member 66 has the flow path 66a through which the cleaning liquid flows, and the cleaning liquid supply unit WS has the cleaning liquid supply source 71 connected to the flow path 66a. In contrast, the cleaning liquid can be distributed efficiently. In addition, since the pressing member 66 is formed in a linear shape and the flow path 66a is formed along the extending direction of the pressing member 66, the cleaning liquid can be uniformly supplied to the entire absorption member 64. In addition, since the flow path 66a is formed inside the pressing member 66, and the pressing member 66 has the cleaning liquid supply port 66b that communicates the inside and outside of the flow path 66a, the cleaning liquid supply port 66b can be used efficiently. The cleaning liquid can be supplied.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and appropriate modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the flow path 66a is formed inside the pressing member 66. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the flow path may be formed on the surface of the pressing member 66. I do not care.

  For example, in the configuration shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, the pressing member 66 has a flat surface on the upper surface side of the cap member 61 so that the flat portion is on the upper side in the drawing. It is configured in an annular shape. Further, a flow path 66c formed in a groove shape is provided in the flat portion of the pressing member 66. The cleaning liquid channel 66c is formed in the flat portion. A cleaning liquid supply port 66d is formed in the flat portion so as to branch from the flow path 66c to the inner peripheral side of the pressing member 66. As in the above embodiment, the flow path 66c is connected to the cleaning liquid supply unit 71 via the pipe 72 and the like. Thus, since the flow path 66c is formed on the surface of the pressing member 66, the cleaning liquid can be efficiently supplied to the absorbing member 64.

  In the configuration shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the upper surface of the cap member 61 of the pressing member 66 is formed to be flat, as shown in FIGS. The configuration is the same as that shown in b), except that the channel 66e is formed in a part of the flat portion. In the configuration shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the flow path 66e is gradually narrowed from the two upstream ends of the flow path 66e to the downstream side. In this way, the flow path 66e is formed so narrow that it reaches the downstream in the flow direction of the cleaning liquid, so that the cleaning liquid flows to the downstream side of the flow path 66e even when the supply pressure from the cleaning liquid supply unit 71 is low. be able to.

  Furthermore, in the configuration shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the pipe 72 is connected to a portion 66 g of the pressing member 66 where the channel 66 e is not formed. In this case, the cleaning liquid supplied from the pipe 72 is supplied to the flow path 66e through the flat portion 66g of the pressing member 66. As described above, the cleaning liquid may be circulated using the flat portion 66g of the pressing member 66. In this case, the flat portion 66g of the pressing member 66 itself becomes a flow path for the cleaning liquid.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a configuration may be provided that includes a lid member 80 that closes a space including the absorbing member 64 between the cap member 61. The lid member 80 is attached to the carriage 4, for example, and is provided so as to be movable integrally with the carriage 4. Accordingly, the lid member 80 and the cap member 61 face each other as the carriage 4 moves. The dimensions of the facing surfaces of the lid member 80 and the cap member 61 are preferably formed to be substantially the same, for example. When closing the space including the absorbing member 64, first, the carriage 4 is moved to align the lid member 80 and the cap member 61, and then the cap member 61 is raised to contact the lid member 80. You can make it. With such a configuration, drying of the cleaning liquid can be prevented.

  Further, when the lid member 80 shown in FIG. 7 and the suction device 69 described in the above embodiment are configured, the suction device 69 is operated in a state where the space including the absorbing member 64 is closed by the lid member 80. By doing so, the closed space can be set to a negative pressure, and the cleaning liquid can be supplied from the cleaning liquid supply port 66b using the negative pressure. Note that the same operation can be performed when the cap member 61 covers the ejection surface 2A of the ejection head 2 so as to be closed.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated and demonstrated the structure in which the pressing member 66 was cyclic | annularly formed, it is not restricted to this, You may be another shape. Further, the cleaning liquid is supplied toward the inner peripheral side of the annular pressing member 66, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the cleaning liquid may be supplied toward the outer peripheral side. Specifically, the cleaning liquid supply port 66 b may be disposed on the outer peripheral side of the pressing member 66. Thereby, it is possible to reliably distribute the cleaning liquid to every corner of the absorbing member 64.

  Further, in addition to the above-described components, the pressing member 66 may be configured such that the flow path through which the cleaning liquid flows is formed so as to be lyophilic with respect to the cleaning liquid. In particular, in the configuration shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, the cleaning liquid is circulated by making the flat portion 66g or the like in which the flow path 66e is not formed but the cleaning liquid circulates lyophilic with respect to the cleaning liquid. It can be made easy.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer 2 ... Ejection head CP ... Capping mechanism 61 ... Cap member 64 ... Absorbing member 66 ... Holding member 70 ... Cleaning liquid supply part

Claims (12)

An ejection head for ejecting fluid;
A fluid receiving portion for receiving the fluid;
A fluid holding member that is provided in the fluid receiving portion and holds the fluid received by the fluid receiving portion;
A pressing member that holds the fluid holding member by pressing the surface of the fluid holding member;
A fluid ejecting apparatus comprising: a cleaning liquid supply unit that supplies a cleaning liquid to the fluid holding member via the pressing member. The ejection head has an ejection surface that ejects the fluid,
The fluid ejection device according to claim 1, wherein the fluid receiving portion is formed to cover the ejection surface. The fluid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fluid receiving unit includes a discharge port that discharges at least one of the fluid and the cleaning liquid. The fluid ejection device according to claim 3, wherein the discharge port is connected to a suction device. The fluid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a lid member that closes a space including the fluid holding member between the fluid receiving unit and the fluid receiving unit. The pressing member has a flow path for circulating the cleaning liquid,
The fluid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning liquid supply unit includes a cleaning liquid supply source connected to the flow path. The pressing member is formed in a linear shape,
The fluid ejection device according to claim 6, wherein the flow path is formed along an extending direction of the pressing member. The fluid ejection device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the flow path is formed on a surface of the pressing member. The flow path is formed inside the pressing member,
The fluid ejection device according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the pressing member has an opening that communicates the inside and outside of the flow path. The pressing member is formed along the outer periphery of the fluid holding member,
The fluid ejecting apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the opening is provided on an inner peripheral side of the pressing member. The fluid ejection device according to claim 6, wherein the flow path is formed to be lyophilic with respect to the cleaning liquid. The fluid ejection device according to any one of claims 6 to 11, wherein the flow path is formed so as to be downstream from the cleaning liquid supply source.

Images