JP2000141703A - Method for recovering waste ink for ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently recover and reuse waste ink which is sucked or ejected from each of ink nozzles for maintenance of a print head. SOLUTION: A waste ink tank 7WK is formed on an ink cartridge 7 and waste ink sucked from each of ink nozzles by an ink pump 93 through a head cap 91 is recovered to the waste ink tank 7WK. Each color ink vessel in the ink cartridge 7 normally becomes vacant before the waste ink tank 7WK is occupied so that it is possible to prevent a problem such as overflow of the waste ink which may occur when the waste ink tank is occupied.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer, and more particularly to a method for collecting waste ink sucked or discharged from each ink nozzle for maintenance of a print head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an ink jet printer performs desired printing on a recording paper while reciprocating a print head carried on a carriage in a direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of the recording paper. The print head is moved to a position outside the printing range, and maintenance is performed.

[0003] As maintenance of the print head,
Generally, a head cleaning operation and a purge operation are known. The head cleaning operation is an operation of recovering each ink nozzle by sucking deteriorated ink or the like from each ink nozzle by an ink pump with the nozzle surface of the print head capped. Also,
The purging operation is an operation for recovering each ink nozzle by wastefully ejecting ink droplets from each ink nozzle of the print head.

[0004] The waste ink sucked or discharged from the ink nozzles by such an operation is collected in the head cap.

[0005]

Here, the waste ink collected in the head cap is absorbed by an ink absorber or the like communicating therewith. However, when the amount of the collected waste ink increases, the waste ink may leak and the surrounding portion may be stained.

Discarding the ink consumed at the time of head maintenance as it is is not economical because the use efficiency of the ink is reduced. It is desired to reuse such waste ink for printing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to propose a method for collecting waste ink of an ink jet printer which can reliably collect waste ink consumed during head maintenance.

Another object of the present invention is to propose a method for collecting waste ink of an ink jet printer suitable for reusing waste ink consumed during head maintenance.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, ink is supplied to a print head from an ink cartridge detachably mounted on a printer main body, and printing is performed.
In an inkjet printer that performs a head cleaning operation for sucking ink from each ink nozzle and a purge operation for discharging ink droplets from each ink nozzle for maintenance of a print head, the waste ink sucked by the head cleaning operation and the purge operation And collecting the waste ink discharged by the ink cartridge into the ink cartridge.

Here, a dedicated waste ink tank for collecting the waste ink is formed in the ink cartridge, and the waste ink can be collected here. Alternatively, the waste ink can be directly collected in the black ink tank of the ink cartridge.

As a method of reusing the waste ink collected in the waste ink tank for printing, the waste ink tank and the black ink tank are communicated, and the waste ink collected in the waste ink tank is stored in the black ink tank. There is a way back.

Alternatively, the waste ink tank is used as a black ink tank and the black ink tank is used as a waste ink tank by changing the mounting state of the ink cartridge with respect to the mounting portion of the ink cartridge formed in the printer body. A method can also be adopted.

On the other hand, the waste ink sucked by the head cleaning operation and the waste ink discharged by the purge operation can be collected in a dedicated waste ink cartridge detachably mounted on the printer main body.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an ink jet printer to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Overall Configuration) FIGS. 1 and 2 are a plan configuration diagram and a cross-sectional configuration diagram showing a recording paper transport path of an ink jet printer of this embodiment. Referring to these drawings, the inkjet printer 1 has a printer main unit 2 and a paper feed unit 4 connected to the unit 2. The printer main unit 2 includes a carriage unit 8 on which a head unit 6 and an ink cartridge 7 are mounted.

The carriage unit 8 includes a pair of gears 81.
When the carriage motor 83 is driven by being connected to the timing belt 82 bridged over the a and 81b, it can reciprocate in the unit width direction along the carriage guide 84. The ink nozzle surface 61 of the head unit 6 can be reciprocated in the print area 62 by the carriage unit 8. Further, the user can move to a home position 63 outside the print area 62.

A head maintenance unit 9 is mounted on a portion of the printer body unit 2 on the side of the home position 63. The head maintenance unit 9 includes a head cap 91 and a head wiper 92 that can move up and down. When the head unit 6 is located at the home position 63, the head nozzle 92 can cap the ink nozzle surface 61. With 92, the ink nozzle surface 61 can be wiped.

The waste ink collected by the head cap 91 is collected in the waste ink tank 7WK of the ink cartridge 7 by the pumping action of the ink pump 93. Further, the waste ink wiped off by the head wiper 92 is supplied to the waste ink tank 21 disposed at the bottom of the printer main unit 2.
Can be recovered. Each operating part of the head maintenance unit 9 is driven by a motor 94.

In the main unit 2, the platen guide 22 is disposed at a position facing the ink nozzle surface 61 of the head unit 6 over the entire width of the printing range 62. Recording paper is supplied from the paper feed unit 4 to the print position defined by the platen guide 22.

The paper feed unit 4 includes a paper feed tray 41 and a paper feed roller 42 for feeding out the recording paper loaded therein one by one from above. A paper feed motor 23 (hereinafter, referred to as an LF motor) is disposed on the side of the printer main unit 2, and the LF motor 23 drives a paper feed roller 42 to rotate, thereby recording from the paper feed tray 41. Paper is sent out.

At the upstream end of the platen guide 22 in the sheet feeding direction, there is disposed a feed roller 24, which is also rotationally driven by an LF motor 23. A press roller 25 is pressed against the feed roller 24 by a spring force. I have. The recording paper fed from the paper feed tray 41 is held by the feed roller 24 and the pressing roller 25,
The sheet is conveyed toward the platen guide 22.

On the recording paper conveyed along the platen roller 22, predetermined recording is performed while the head unit mounted on the carriage unit 6 moves directly above the recording paper. Discharge rollers 26 and 27 are disposed on the downstream side of the platen guide 22 in the sheet feeding direction. These rollers are also driven to rotate by the LF motor 23, and the recorded recording paper is discharged from the discharge port 28 to the outside. Discharge.

(Ink Supply / Recovery System) Next, an ink supply / recovery system of the ink jet printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The ink supply source is an ink cartridge 7 detachably mounted on a mounting portion 81 formed on the carriage 8.
It is. The ink cartridge 7 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole, and is internally divided into five sections. Four of these compartments 7K, 7Y, 7M, 7C are:
These are ink chambers storing black ink, yellow ink, magenta ink, and cyan ink, respectively. The remaining one compartment is a waste ink chamber 7WK for collecting waste ink. The ink stored in each of the ink chambers 7K, 7Y, 7M, and 7C is ejected as an ink droplet from an ink nozzle of the head unit 6, and forms a predetermined print on a recording paper.

Ink droplets ejected from the ink nozzles of the head unit 6 at the home position 63 are collected by the head cap 91 of the head maintenance unit 9. The waste ink collected in the head cap 91 is
By the ink pump 93, the ink tubes 95, 96
And is supplied to the ink needle 97 at the end of the ink tube 96 via the.

The ink needle 97 is connected to the printer main unit 2.
When the ink cartridge 7 is returned to the home position 63 by the carriage 8, the ink cartridge 7 is inserted through an insertion hole 71 formed in the waste ink chamber WK. Since the ink pump 93 is driven in this state, the waste ink sent to the ink needle 97 is collected in the waste ink chamber 7WK.

Generally, before the waste ink chamber 7WK becomes full, the ink in each ink chamber becomes empty, and the ink cartridge 7 is replaced. Therefore, there is no adverse effect such that the waste ink collecting portion becomes full, the waste ink overflows, and the peripheral portion becomes dirty.

Here, the head cap 91 can be opened to the atmosphere through an air tube 98 and an air opening valve 99 attached to the tip thereof. When the ink pump 93 is driven to collect the waste ink collected in the head cap 91 into the waste ink chamber WK, the head cap 9
1 is opened to the atmosphere.

In the printer 1 of the present embodiment, the waste ink wiped off by the head wiper 92 mounted on the head maintenance unit 9 passes through a waste ink guide 92c made of a sponge-like ink-absorbing material attached thereto. Thus, the waste ink can be collected in a waste ink tank 21 (see FIG. 1) disposed on the bottom surface of the printer main unit 2.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the head wiper 92 includes a horizontally long wiper body plate 92a made of an elastic material such as rubber, a wiper holding plate 92b made of a rigid member holding the wiper body plate 92a, and an ink And a T-shaped waste ink guide 92c made of an absorbent synthetic resin material. The wiper body plate 92a is connected to the wiper holding plate 9
2b and the waste ink guide 92c are fastened with two screws. The wiper main body 92a may be formed from an ink-absorbing material.

If the ink that has been wiped off from the ink nozzle surface 61 and adhered to the wiper body plate 92a of the head wiper 92 remains without drying, the surrounding area may be stained with the wiped waste ink. In particular, when an oil-based ink that does not easily dry is used as the ink, the possibility is high.

However, in this embodiment, the wiper body plate 92a
The ink that has been wiped by the printer is collected in the waste ink tank 21 attached to the printer main unit 2 via the waste ink guide 92c and the ribbon 101. Therefore, the ink wiped by the head wiper 92 does not adhere to the surrounding area.

(Modification 1 of Ink Cartridge) FIG. 4 shows a modification of the ink cartridge 7. As shown in the drawing, the inside of a rectangular parallelepiped main body of the ink cartridge 710 of this example is divided into seven sections. A magenta ink tank M is formed at the center, and a yellow ink tank Y,
A cyan ink tank C and a black ink tank K are formed, and on the other side, a cyan ink tank C, a yellow ink tank Y, and a waste ink tank WK are formed.

The black ink tank K and the waste ink tank WK located at both ends are formed with insertion holes (not shown) into which the ink needles 97 can be inserted at rotationally symmetric positions.

When the ink cartridge 710 having this configuration is mounted on the cartridge 8 in a normal state, the carriage 8 is mounted on the waste ink tank WK in the home position 6.
When returning to 3, the ink needle 97 is inserted, and the waste ink is collected in the tank.

However, if the ink cartridge 710 is
When mounted in a state rotated by 80 degrees, the carriage 8
Returns to the home location 63, the ink needle 97 is inserted into the tank, and the waste ink is collected in the tank. That is, the black ink tank K functions as a waste ink tank. The side of the waste ink tank WK functions as a black ink tank.

As described above, the ink cartridge 71 of this embodiment
Reference numeral 0 denotes a structure that can be attached to the ink cartridge attachment portion on the main printer side while being rotated by 180 degrees, and the waste ink collected in the waste ink tank WK can be used as black ink for printing. Therefore, when the black ink runs out, if the ink cartridge 710 is re-mounted while being rotated by 180 degrees, printing can be continued using the collected waste ink.

When using the ink cartridge 7 in which the respective ink tanks are partitioned as shown in FIG. 3, the arrangement of the ink flow paths for supplying the ink from the respective ink tanks is devised so as to be 180 degrees. The ink cartridge can be mounted in a rotated state. In the case of a monochrome cartridge, mounting in a state where the cartridge is rotated by 180 degrees can be easily realized.

(Modification 2 of Ink Cartridge) FIG. 5 shows still another example of the ink cartridge. In the ink cartridge 720 of this example, an ink tank 72Y for yellow ink, cyan ink, magenta ink, black ink, and waste ink is provided in a rectangular parallelepiped case.
72C, 72M, 72K, and 72WK are arranged in this order. The ink tank 72K for black ink and the ink tank 72WK for waste ink which are arranged adjacent to each other communicate with each other at the bottom.

That is, the waste ink ink tank 72W
The bottom wall 721 of K is located one step higher than the bottom wall 722 of the adjacent ink tank 72K for black ink, and between the bottom plate 721 and the bottom plate 722, the inside of the ink tank 72K for black ink is located. Ink absorber 72 disposed in
3 is extended. A core 724 for ink communication is embedded in the portion of the ink absorber 723, and an ink supply hole 725 is opened in a bottom wall 722 of the waste ink tank facing the core 724.

In the ink cartridge 720 having this configuration, the waste ink collected in the waste ink tank 72WK is supplied to the black ink tank 72K, so that it can be reused as black ink for printing.

(Another Example of Waste Ink Tank 21) In this example, waste ink collected from the head cap 91 is collected in the waste ink tank 7WK formed in the ink cartridge 7, but instead of this, the waste ink tank It is also possible to form an ink collection path so that the ink is collected on the side 21. In this case, the ink tube 96 connected to the discharge side of the ink pump 93 shown in FIG.

In this case, the waste ink tank 21 can be a waste ink cartridge detachable from the printer main body. If the cartridge type is used, it is only necessary to replace the waste ink tank with a new one when the waste ink tank becomes full.

(Head Maintenance Unit) Next, the head maintenance unit 9 of this embodiment will be described.
6A and 6B are a plan view of the head maintenance unit 9 and a plan view showing a state after the rack has been moved. FIGS. 7A and 7B are explanatory views showing the movement of the head cap accompanying the rack movement.
(B) is an explanatory view showing the opening and closing operation of the open valve accompanying the rack movement. FIG. 9 is a timing chart showing the operation of each part.

The head maintenance unit 9 performs an operation of capping the ink nozzle surface 61 of the head unit 6 that has returned to the home position 63.
, The head cleaning operation of sucking ink from each ink nozzle by the ink pump 93 with the head cap 91 placed on the ink nozzle surface 61, the operation of moving the carriage stopper to a position where the carriage can be stopped, the head This is for performing, in a fixed sequence, a purge operation for recovering each ink nozzle by discharging ink from the ink nozzles in a state of facing the cap 91. The head maintenance unit 9 of the present example is configured to perform a series of these operations as the rack slides.

First, the overall structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B.
A rectangular chassis 901 is provided, and an elongated rack 902 is arranged at the center of the chassis 901 in a direction orthogonal to the head unit moving direction. Lat 902
Are formed at both ends thereof, and are provided with stopper tap screws 905, 90 attached to the chassis 901 in a freely slidable state.
6 is inserted. Therefore, the rack 902 is configured as shown in FIG.
It is slidable from an initial position (retracted position) shown in FIG. 6A to a forward position shown in FIG.

The rack 902 has a cam groove 961 for raising and lowering the head cap at a rear end thereof, and a cam groove 962 for rotating a carriage stopper at a front end thereof. A pair of teeth portions 963 and 964 are formed on the side surface of the rack 902 on the side of the motor 94. Further, a cam projection 965 for opening and closing the air valve is formed on the side surface on the opposite side of the rack 902.

A pair of teeth 96 formed on the rack 902
A pair of planet gears 911 and 912 rotatably supported at a position 180 degrees apart by a common carrier 910 are disposed at positions adjacent to the third and the 964, and the carrier 910 moves relative to the rack drive gear 913. The frictional engagement state is established coaxially by a friction arm (not shown). A pair of planet gears 911 and 9
12 is a pair of teeth 963, 96 formed on the rack 901.
4 can be engaged. Rack drive gear 913
Is connected to the output shaft of the motor 94 via transmission gears 921, 922, 923.

A planet gear 911 and a planet gear 911 are located on the opposite side of the rack 902 with the rack drive gear 913 therebetween.
A transmission gear 924 that can mesh with the transmission gear 912 is arranged. The transmission gear 924 meshes with a cam gear 926 for rotating the cylindrical cam 925. Cylindrical cam 92
A cam follower 930 formed at the tip of one arm of a pump lever 929 that can swing about a swing center pin 928 is slidably inserted into the fifth cam groove 927 (see FIG. 7). .

The other end of the pump lever 929 is connected to a flexible pump valve 931 of the ink pump 93. When the pump lever 928 swings, the pump valve 931 bends up and down, thereby increasing or decreasing the capacity of the ink chamber of the ink pump 93 to generate a pumping action. As a result, as described with reference to FIG. 3, the waste ink collected by the head cap 91 is transferred to the ink tubes 95 and 9.
6 and is collected in the waste ink tank WK.

Here, a leaf spring piece 941 that can be elastically deformed is formed on the side surface of the rack 902, and the tip of the leaf spring piece 941 is always elastically attached to a guide surface 942 formed on the chassis 901. Pushed with power.
The play of the rack 902 is suppressed by the elastic force of the leaf spring piece 941.

Next, a head cap 91 and a head wiper 92 are arranged on the opposite side of the rack 902 from the ink pump 93. These head cap 91 and head wiper 92 are attached to chassis 90
It is attached to a cap base 953 that can be moved up and down while being horizontal while being guided by the vertical guide pins 951 and 952 formed in FIG. A cap holder spring 954 is disposed between the cap base 953 and the chassis 901 in a compressed state, and constantly presses the cap base 953 upward (see FIG. 7).

The cap base 953 is attached to one end of a cap swing arm 956 that can swing up and down around a swing center pin 955. A cam follower 957 is formed at the other end of the cap swing arm 956, and the cam follower 957 is slidably inserted into a cam groove 961 formed in the rack 902 (see FIG. 7).

On the side of the front end portion of the rack 902, a carriage stopper 971 is pivotable so that the chassis 90
It is held at 1. The stopper arm 972 extending above the carriage stopper 971 is normally pulled to a position where the stopper arm 972 has fallen by the coil spring 973. A cam follower 974 is formed at the end of the other arm of the carriage stopper 971, and the cam follower 974 slides along a cam groove 962 formed in the rack 902.

On the side of the rear end of the rack 902, an air opening lever 982 that can pivot around a vertical pin 981 formed on the chassis 901 is arranged. One arm 983 of the opening lever 982 is for opening and closing the opening valve 99 attached to the tip of the air tube 98 communicating with the head cap, so that the opening valve 99 is always closed. , And a coil spring 984. The tip of the other arm 985 of the opening lever 982 is in contact with the side surface of the rack 902. Rack 902
When the arm slides, the arm 985 is pushed by the cam projection 965, so that the opening lever 982 pivots, the opening valve 99 is opened, and the head cap 91 is opened to the atmosphere.

The operation of the head maintenance unit 9 configured as described above will be described. First, FIG.
With reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B and FIG. 9, driving of the ink pump 93 accompanying sliding of the rack 902 will be described. When the motor 94 is rotated forward (counterclockwise) in a state where the rack 902 is at the initial position (retracted position) shown in FIG.
23, 922, 921 via the rack drive gear 91
3 and the rack drive gear 913 starts rotating counterclockwise. A pair of planet gears 91 supported by a carrier 910 integrally with the gear 913
1 and 912 also rotate counterclockwise, and one planet gear 912 meshes with the teeth 964 of the rack 902. Thereafter, the rotation of the planet gear 912 causes the rack 902 to rotate.
Starts sliding forward in FIG. 6A.

When the rack 902 reaches the forward position shown in FIG. 6B (at time T4 in FIG. 9), the planet gear 912 is fitted between the pair of teeth 964 and 963, and becomes idle. On the other hand, the other planet gear 911 is engaged with the transmission gear 924, and the cylindrical cam 925 starts rotating via the transmission gear 924. When the cylindrical cam 925 rotates, the swing arm 929 starts swinging, and the pump valve 931 repeats elastic displacement vertically. As a result, the pumping operation by the ink pump 93 starts. While the motor 94 is rotating counterclockwise, such a pumping operation continues (between time points T4 and T5 in FIG. 9).

When the motor 94 is rotated in the reverse direction (clockwise rotation) while the rack 902 is at the forward position as shown in FIG. 7B (time T5 in FIG. 9),
The rack drive gear 913 starts rotating clockwise,
Along with this, the pair of planet gears 911 and 912 supported by the carrier 910 also turn clockwise.
As a result, since the planet gear 911 separates from the transmission gear 924, the cylindrical cam 925 stops, and accordingly, the ink pump 93 stops.

When the rotating planetary gear 911 turns to the position of one tooth 963 of the rack 902, it meshes with the tooth 963. After this, the planet gear 91
Due to 1, the rack 902 starts sliding toward the retracted position shown in FIG. When the rack 902 returns to the retracted position, the planet gears 911 just move to the teeth 963.
And 964, and the slide of the rattle 902 stops (time T8 in FIG. 9). At the same time, the other planet gear 912 meshes with the transmission gear 924. Thereafter, the cylindrical cam 925 is driven by the motor 94,
The ink pump 93 is driven. When the motor 93 is stopped,
The pumping operation of the ink pump 93 also stops.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 7 and 9, the operation of moving the head cap 91 and the head wiper 92 up and down as the rack 902 slides will be described. When the rack 902 is at the retracted position (the position shown in FIG. 6A), the head cap 91 and the head wiper 92 are at the lowered position as shown in FIG. 7A. When the rack 902 starts sliding toward the forward position (time T in FIG. 9).
1) The cam follower 957 of the cap swing arm 956 slides along the cam groove 961 formed in the rack 902. Since the cam groove 961 moves downward with the slide of the rack 902, the cap swing arm 956 supporting the cap base 953
Moves upward.

As described above, the head cap 91 and the head wiper 92 supported by the cap base 953 are raised to the raised position (head capping position) shown in FIG. 7B (time T23 in FIG. 9). As a result, the raised head cap 91 is capped on the ink nozzle surface 61 of the head unit 6 returning to the home position 63.

When the motor 94 is stopped at a predetermined timing while the rack 902 is being slid from the retreat position to the forward position, the head wiper 92 is at a height position at which the ink nozzle surface 61 can be wiped. When the head unit 6 is moved by the carriage 8 in this state, the ink nozzle surface 61 is wiped by the head wiper 92.

Next, the turning operation of the carriage stopper 971 will be described. As shown in FIG. 7A, the carriage stopper 971 is pulled by the coil spring 973, and the upper stopper arm 972 is at a position where it has fallen. In this state, it does not hit the carriage 8.

When the rack 902 slides, it is guided by the cam groove 962 formed at the front end of the rack 902, and the carriage stopper 971 pivots upward to a vertically upright position as shown in FIG. 7B. . In this state, the projection 975 formed on the carriage stopper 971 comes into contact with a stopper 976 formed on the chassis side. The raised stopper arm 972 is located at a height where it can collide with the carriage 8, and the movement position of the carriage 8 can be regulated by the carriage stopper 971.

Next, the opening and closing operation of the opening valve 99 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG.
When the rack 902 is in the retracted position (the position shown in FIG. 6A), the opening lever 982 is in a state where the opening valve 99 is closed by the spring force of the coil spring 984 (time T1 in FIG. 9). When the rack 902 slides forward, one end of the opening lever 982 rides on the cam projection 965 formed on the side surface thereof. As a result, the opening lever 982 is turned to form a state in which the opening valve 99 is opened as shown in FIG. 8B (time points T2 to T3 in FIG. 9).

When the rack 902 slides further forward, the cam projection 965 is disengaged from the opening lever 982, and the opening valve 99 is closed again (at time T in FIG. 9).
3). When the rack 902 slides to its forward position and retreats, the opening valve 99 opens again (FIG. 9).
At time T6 to T7).

As described above, in the head maintenance unit 9 of this embodiment, the ink nozzle surface 61 of the head unit 6 returning to the home position 62 is capped in conjunction with the slide of the rack 902. Further, an operation of opening the head cap 91 to the atmosphere is performed in conjunction with the slide of the rack 902. Therefore, the head cap 91 can be released to the atmosphere while reliably following the capping operation by the head cap 91.

In this example, when the rack 902 slides to the capping position, the rack 902 and the motor 9
The power transmission path for the ink pump 93 and the motor 94 is formed instead. Similarly, when the rack 902 returns to the retracted position, the rack 902
The power transmission path between the motor and the motor 94 is cut off.
A power transmission path for the ink pump 93 and the motor 94 is formed. Therefore, the ink suction operation after capping and the empty ink suction operation after capping is released can be realized by switching the rotation direction of the motor.

Further, in this example, the slide of the rack 902 is regulated by the leaf spring piece 941 and one arm 985 of the opening lever 982. Therefore, for example, the coil spring 9 pushing up the cap base upwards
With the spring force of 54, it is possible to reliably prevent the rack 902 from moving forward. As a result, the state in which the number of steps of the carriage motor (stepping motor) 83 and the sliding motion of the rack 902 can always be maintained. Therefore, the number of times of detecting the position of the rack 902 can be reduced, and as a result, the printing speed can be increased.

In addition, in this embodiment, the carriage stopper 971 is pivoted to its operating position in conjunction with the sliding of the rack 902, so that a mechanism for constantly stopping the carriage 8 at a fixed position is simplified. , And can be made compact.

[0070]

As described above, according to the method for collecting waste ink of the ink jet printer of the present invention, since the waste ink is collected in the ink cartridge or the dedicated waste ink cartridge, the collection of the waste ink may be omitted. It can be performed efficiently without accompanying.

Further, in the present invention, the collected waste ink is reused as black ink for printing, so that the ink use efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a planar configuration of an inkjet printer to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a cross-sectional configuration of the inkjet printer of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows the ink supply and ink supply of the inkjet printer of FIG. 1;
It is explanatory drawing which shows a collection system.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the ink cartridge.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing still another example of the ink cartridge.

6 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a planar configuration of a head maintenance unit of the inkjet printer of FIG. 1, and a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a planar movement position of each part in a head capping state.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a head capping operation in the head maintenance unit of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an opening and closing operation of an air opening lever in the head maintenance unit of FIG. 6;

9 is a timing chart showing the operation of each part of the head maintenance unit of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink-jet printer 2 Printer main body unit 4 Paper supply unit 6 Head unit 7 Ink cartridge 8 Carriage 9 Head maintenance unit 91 Head cap 92 Head wiper 93 Ink pump 94 Motor Y, M, C, B Ink tank WK Waste ink tank 7Y, 7M , 7C ink tank 7K black ink tank 7WK waste ink tank 710 ink cartridge 720 ink cartridge

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Uejima 2-3-5 Honcho, Okaya-shi, Nagano Inside Fine Technology Co., Ltd. (72) Hideyuki Koizumi 2-53-3, Honcho, Okaya-shi, Nagano F-Term in Fin Technology Co., Ltd. (Reference) 2C056 EA27 EC54 EC57 JA13 JB04 JC10 JC14 JC20 JC23 JC25 KC01 KC04 KC09 KC13

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A head cleaning device that supplies ink from an ink cartridge detachably mounted to a printer body to a print head to perform printing, and suctions ink from each ink nozzle for maintenance of the print head. An ink jet printer that performs an operation and a purge operation of ejecting ink droplets from each ink nozzle, wherein the waste ink sucked by the head cleaning operation and the waste ink ejected by the purge operation are collected in the ink cartridge. Waste ink collection method for inkjet printers. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a waste ink tank is formed in the ink cartridge, and the waste ink is collected in the waste ink tank. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the waste ink is collected in a black ink tank of the ink cartridge. 4. The printing method according to claim 2, wherein the waste ink collected in the waste ink tank is changed to black ink by changing a mounting state of the ink cartridge to a mounting portion of the ink cartridge formed in the printer main body. A method for collecting waste ink in an ink jet printer, comprising supplying the waste ink to a head and collecting the waste ink in the black ink tank. 5. The method according to claim 2, wherein the waste ink collected in the waste ink tank is supplied to the black ink tank. 6. An ink jet printer for performing a head cleaning operation for sucking ink from each ink nozzle and a purging operation for discharging ink droplets from each ink nozzle for maintenance of a print head, wherein the waste ink sucked by the head cleaning operation is removed. A method of collecting waste ink for an ink jet printer, comprising: collecting ink and waste ink discharged by the purge operation into a waste ink cartridge detachably mounted on the printer main body.