JP2002292886A - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To improve the function of preventing the occurrence of clogging by a cap member and reduce the size of a recording head. SOLUTION: Nozzle groups 51 to 53 for discharging ink droplets
A recording head 5 that reciprocates between a printing area and a non-printing area, seals the nozzle groups 51 to 53 of the recording head 5, and receives ink from the nozzle groups 51 to 53 by receiving a negative pressure of a suction pump. And a capping means 6 for sucking and discharging. The nozzle groups 51 to 53 are formed by a nozzle row aggregate including two nozzle rows 51 a to 53 a and 51 b to 53 b adjacent in the head moving direction. ~ 5
3. A plurality of cap members 71-73 having seal portions 71a-73a in contact with the formation surface of No. 3 and ink discharge ports 71b-73b communicating with these seal portions 71a-73a.
Are provided in the capping means 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus provided with a capping means for sucking and discharging ink from a recording head by receiving a negative pressure from a suction pump.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink jet recording apparatuses have been used in many types of printing, including color printing, in recent years, since noise during printing is relatively small and small dots can be formed at a high density. . Such an ink jet recording apparatus is provided with a recording head which receives supply of ink from an ink cartridge, and a paper feeding means for moving recording paper relatively to the recording head. Then, recording is performed by ejecting ink droplets on recording paper to form dots while moving the recording head in accordance with the print signal. In this case, a recording head capable of ejecting, for example, black, yellow, cyan, and magenta inks is mounted on the carriage, and full-color printing is enabled by changing the ejection ratio of each ink.

As described above, the ink jet type recording apparatus has the following problems in relation to printing by discharging ink as ink droplets from nozzles onto recording paper. That is, clogging occurs in the nozzle opening due to an increase in ink viscosity due to evaporation of the ink solvent from the nozzle opening, solidification of ink on the nozzle forming surface, and adhesion of dust, and furthermore, bubbles are mixed in the recording head,
This is a problem of causing printing failure.

For this reason, the ink jet type recording apparatus includes a capping means for sealing the nozzle forming surface of the recording head during non-printing, a suction pump for sucking and discharging ink into the capping means, and a method for discharging ink by the suction pump. Wiping means for cleaning the nozzle forming surface of the recording head after suction and discharge. Then, in order to prevent the occurrence of clogging of the nozzle openings and the incorporation of air bubbles into the recording head, the ink is forcibly sucked and discharged from the recording head into the capping unit by the suction pump, and then the recording head is discharged by the wiping unit. Of the nozzle forming surface is wiped (wiping).

[0005] Forcibly discharging the ink, which is performed to eliminate the clogging of the recording head or when bubbles remain in the recording head, is called a cleaning operation. This is executed when printing is resumed after a long pause in the recording apparatus, or when the user operates the cleaning switch after recognizing poor print quality such as blurred print.

In an ink jet recording apparatus, ink is discharged from a nozzle opening of a recording head into a capping means at regular intervals, so that clogging of the nozzle opening is eliminated. Has also been done.

Heretofore, this type of ink jet recording apparatus employs, for example, one provided with a capping means as described below. The capping means of this recording apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the capping means when the recording head is in the capping state. As shown in FIG. 6, the capping means 6 is a rectangular box-shaped cap holder 9 that opens upward.
And a cap member 7 made of a soft material having ink resistance.

The cap member 7 has an annular seal portion 7a in contact with the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5 and a through hole (ink discharge port) 7b communicating with the seal portion 7a.
Is provided. In the cap member 7, an ink absorbing sheet 8 made of a porous material having excellent ink resistance and ink absorbability is accommodated. When the carriage (not shown) moves the position where the capping means 6 is moved by the carriage (not shown), the slider 10 supporting the cap holder 9 is moved upward by a rotating arm or the like while maintaining a substantially horizontal posture, and the recording head is moved. The plurality of nozzle groups (nozzle forming surfaces) in No. 5 are configured to be sealed by the seal member 7b.

On the other hand, the cap holder 9 is provided with an ink discharge port 9a communicating with the internal space of the cap member 7, and a tube communicating with the ink discharge port 9a and reaching a suction pump (not shown). 11 are connected.

In the above-described configuration, when the carriage moves to the capping means side, the slider 10 is pushed up, and the seal portion 7a of the cap member 7 seals the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5. By operating the suction pump, a negative pressure is applied to the internal space (airtight space) formed by the cap member 7 via the tube 11.

As a result, ink is sucked and discharged from the nozzle opening (not shown) of the recording head 5 into the internal space of the cap member 7 and the ink absorbing sheet 8 in the cap member 7 is discharged.
And is stored in the cap member 7. Further, when the ink suction from the recording head 5 is completed, the capping means 6 is slightly moved downward, the sealing of the recording head 5 by the cap member 7 is released, and the suction pump is operated. An operation sequence for discharging the ink stored in the printer is executed.

[0012]

However, in the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, a single cap member 7 is provided.
Therefore, since the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5 is sealed, the internal volume of the cap member 7 needs to be increased. As a result, the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5 is easily dried in the capping state, and the cap member 7 is dried.
Therefore, there is a problem that the function of preventing clogging of the nozzle opening due to the above-described method is reduced.

Therefore, it is conceivable to dispose the same number of cap members as the number of nozzle rows to reduce the internal volume of each cap member. In this case, however, a space for each cap member to contact at the time of sealing (see FIG. Since it is necessary to secure a sealing area, the nozzle forming surface is widened, and the recording head becomes large.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an ink jet recording apparatus capable of improving the function of preventing the occurrence of clogging by the cap member and reducing the size of the recording head. The purpose is to provide.

[0015]

An ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, which has been made to achieve the above object, has a plurality of nozzle groups for discharging ink droplets. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: an ink jet type recording head that reciprocates; and capping means for sealing a nozzle group of the recording head and receiving and discharging ink from the nozzle group under a negative pressure of a suction pump. In addition, each of the nozzle groups is formed by a nozzle row aggregate including two nozzle rows adjacent to each other in the head moving direction. A plurality of cap members having ink discharge ports communicating with each other are provided on the capping means.

With this configuration, the plurality of cap members contact the nozzle forming surface of the recording head, and the nozzle group corresponding to each cap member is sealed. Therefore, since the cap member can set the internal volume of each cap member to a volume sufficient to secure the wet state of each nozzle group, the function of preventing clogging of the nozzle openings by the cap member can be enhanced. . Further, since two nozzle rows can be sealed by each cap member, the nozzle forming surface is not widened as compared with the case where each nozzle row is sealed by each cap member, and the size of the recording head can be reduced. it can. When each cap member seals each nozzle row, the internal volume of the cap member becomes small, and a small amount of ink discharged from each nozzle row into each cap member overflows the outside of the cap member. Further, when a single cap member seals three or more nozzle rows, the internal volume of the cap member becomes large, and the nozzle forming surface of the recording head easily dries in the capping state.

In this case, it is desirable that a dimension between two adjacent nozzle groups among the nozzle groups is set to be larger than a dimension between nozzle rows of each nozzle group. With such a configuration, a sufficient space on the nozzle forming surface of the recording head is secured for the cap member to abut, and a sufficient space for preventing the specific ink from mixing with the nozzle opening.

The nozzle group is composed of a nozzle array consisting of black / black nozzle arrays, a nozzle array consisting of black / cyan nozzle arrays, and a magenta / yellow nozzle array. It is desirable to use a nozzle array. With such a configuration, a sufficient space is secured on the nozzle formation surface of the recording head to prevent the mixture of the high density black ink and the low density yellow ink.

An ink suction pipe communicating with the ink discharge port is provided in the capping means, and the ink suction pipe is connected to the suction pump. With this configuration, the ink discharged into each cap member is sucked into the ink suction pipe from the ink discharge port by the suction pump. Further, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a common space interposed between each of the ink discharge ports and the ink suction pipe is provided in the capping means, and an ink absorber capable of absorbing ink is loaded in the common space. With such a configuration, the ink discharged into each cap member flows into the common space and is absorbed by the ink absorber in the common space.

Furthermore, it is desirable that the cross-sectional shape of the seal portion is semicircular or triangular. With this configuration, the sealing portion of each cap member with respect to the nozzle forming surface at the time of sealing is easily crushed by pressing.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. 1 and 2 are side views showing a non-capping state and a capping state of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
4 and FIG. 4 are a cross-sectional view and a perspective view, respectively, showing a main part of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the carriage denoted by reference numeral 1 is mounted on a part of a timing belt (not shown) that reciprocates by a carriage motor (not shown). Then, it is configured to be guided by the guide rod 2 and reciprocate in parallel with the paper guide plate 3. On the upper surface of the carriage 1, ink cartridges (not shown) corresponding to black, cyan, magenta, and yellow are detachably provided. A recording head 5 facing the recording paper 4 on the paper guide plate 3 at the time of printing is mounted on the lower surface of the carriage 1.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the recording head 5 has three nozzle groups 51 to 53 capable of ejecting ink droplets on a recording paper 4 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2). The carriage 1 (FIGS. 1 and 2)
(Shown in FIG. 2). The nozzle group 51 has two nozzle rows 51a and 51b (a nozzle row aggregate) for discharging black (B) ink, and these two nozzle rows 51a and 51b are adjacent to each other in the moving direction of the recording head 5. It is arranged on the printing area side. The nozzle group 52 includes a nozzle row 52a that discharges magenta (M) ink and a nozzle row 52b (nozzle row assembly) that discharges yellow (Y) ink.
The two nozzle rows 52a and 52b are arranged on the non-printing area side adjacent to the two nozzle rows 51a and 51b in the parallel direction. The nozzle group 53 has a nozzle row 53a that discharges black ink and a nozzle row 53b (nozzle row assembly) that discharges cyan ink. These two nozzle rows 53a and 53b are connected to the recording head. 5 in the direction of movement of the two nozzle groups 5
1, 52 are arranged.

The dimension between two adjacent nozzle groups 51 and 53 among the nozzle groups 51 to 53 (nozzle groups 52 and 53)
The dimension a between the nozzle rows of the nozzle groups 51 to 53 (the dimension between the nozzle rows 51a and 51b,
The dimension is larger than the dimension between 2a and 52b and the dimension between nozzle rows 53a and 53b) b. Then, a structure is provided such that a sufficient space on the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5 can be secured between the two nozzle groups 51 and 53 (both the nozzle groups 52 and 53) to allow a part of a cap member (described later) to abut. Have been. Also, a configuration is provided on the nozzle formation surface of the recording head 5 in which a sufficient inter-nozzle row dimension can be secured to prevent specific inks (for example, black ink and yellow ink having a large density difference) from being mixed into the nozzle openings. Have been.

A capping means 6 capable of sealing the nozzle forming surface (nozzle group) of the recording head 5 is arranged in a non-printing area (home position) at one end of the recording apparatus. The capping means 6 has cap members 71 to 73 capable of sealing the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5 and a cap holder 9 for holding the cap members 71 to 73. The cap members 71 to 73 are provided integrally with the cap holder 9 by, for example, a two-color molding method.

The cap members 71 to 73 are arranged in parallel in the moving direction of the recording head 5 in a capping state, and are entirely formed of an elastic material such as an elastomer. These cap members 71
Reference numerals 73 to 73 respectively denote seal portions 7 which come into contact with the formation surfaces of the nozzle groups 51 to 53 (the nozzle formation surfaces of the recording head 5).
1a to 73a and ink discharge ports 71b to 73b communicating with the inside of the seal portions 71a to 73a are provided. Then, at the time of non-printing, each nozzle group 51 of the recording head 5
And a function for forcibly discharging ink from the recording head 5 by receiving a negative pressure from a suction pump described later during a cleaning operation. .

The seal portions 71a to 73a are formed by seal portions having a triangular cross section in the non-capping state. Thereby, the tip portion is easily crushed by the pressure contact of the seal portions 71a to 73a of the cap members 71 to 73 with the nozzle forming surface during capping (sealing). Even if the seal portions 71a to 73a have a semicircular cross section, the tip of the seal portion is easily crushed at the time of capping, as in the case of a triangular cross section.

One end of a tube (not shown) constituting a part of a suction pump (not shown) is connected to the ink discharge ports 71b to 73b via ink suction pipes 12 to 14. . Accordingly, when a cleaning command is received, a negative pressure by the suction pump is applied to the internal space of the capping unit 6 in a state where the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5 is sealed, and ink is forcibly discharged from the recording head 5. Can be discharged.

On the other hand, the cap holder 9 is formed of a substantially rectangular box having the above-mentioned ink suction pipes 12 to 14,
On both side walls, flat plate-shaped spring receiving portions (not shown) are provided to protrude in the horizontal direction. The cap holder 9 is entirely formed of a material that is harder than the material (elastomer) of each of the cap members 71 to 73. The cap holder 9 is held on a slider 10 constituting a slider lifting mechanism as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and is elastically mounted between the slider 10 and the spring receiving portion (not shown). The compression spring 11 constantly urges the recording head.

An engaging portion (not shown) is provided at the center of one end of the cap holder 9 and at both sides of the other end, and engaging members (not shown) corresponding to these engaging portions, respectively. Are provided on the slider 10. Thereby, the cap holder 9 is restricted from moving upward, that is, moving toward the recording head side, by the engaging portions being locked by the locking members.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of long holes 12 are formed in the bottom of the slider 10 so as to extend substantially in the horizontal direction. A pair of first horizontal shafts 15a located at the free ends of the arms 14 are respectively movably held. The opposite free end of the arm 14 is connected to the frame member 13.
Is rotatably held via a second horizontal shaft 15b. Thus, the slider 10 can rise up with an arc-shaped locus with respect to the frame member 13 via the arm 14.

Guide pieces 10b (only one is shown) are provided at both ends of the slider 10 on the non-printing area side.
Is provided. These guide pieces 10b are configured to be held by respective guide grooves 16 provided in the frame member 13. A low portion 16a and a high portion 16b are disposed at both ends of each of the guide grooves 16, and an inclined portion 16c is provided between these two portions 16a and 16b.
Is arranged.

Further, one of the two guide pieces 10b is connected to the frame member 13 as shown in FIG.
Are connected to each other via a tension spring 17. This allows
The slider 10 is biased downward in a direction approaching the print area and away from the recording head 5, that is, from the state shown in FIG. 2 to the state shown in FIG.

When the carriage 1 moves directly above the capping means 6 as shown in FIG. 1, the engaging member 1a provided on the carriage 1
The slider 10 stands up via the arm 14 against the elasticity of the tension spring 17 as shown in FIG. Thereby, the nozzle groups 51 to 53 (nozzle formation surfaces) of the recording head 5 can be sealed with the cap members 71 to 73.

When the carriage 1 moves to the printing area, the contact of the engaging member 1a with the engaging portion 10c is released, and the slider 10
The state shown in FIG. Thereby, the sealing of the nozzle groups 51 to 53 in the recording head 5 by the cap member 7 can be released.

The sealing surfaces of the cap members 71 to 73, that is, the upper end surfaces abutting the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5, are not parallel to the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5 as shown in FIG. It is arranged to be in a state. In other words, the sealing surface of the cap member 7 is arranged in an inclined state such that the printing region side end is located slightly below the home position side (right side in FIG. 1) end.

The cap members 71 to 73 are
When the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5 is sealed, first, the nozzle is brought into contact with the nozzle forming surface from the home position side end, and acts to seal the entire nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5 as the slider 10 moves upward. I do. When the cap members 71 to 73 are to unseal the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5, first, the cap members 71 to 73 are separated from the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5 from the end portion on the printing region side, and
The upper end face of 73 is made non-parallel.

On the other hand, on the printing area side of the capping means 6, as shown in FIG. 2, a wiping means (cleaner) for wiping the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5 with the movement of the carriage 1. 20 are arranged. The wiping means 20 is, for example, a wiping member (cleaning member) made of an elastic material such as rubber.
21 and holder 2 for holding wiping member 21
Two.

The wiping means 20 moves in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the reciprocating direction of the carriage 1, advances to the wiping position in the moving path of the recording head 5, and retreats from the moving position to the outside of the moving path. It is configured as follows. Therefore, at the time of cleaning (wiping), dust and paper dust adhering to the nozzle forming surface before ink suction is removed by the wiping member 21, and ink adhering to the nozzle forming surface after ink suction is wiped off.

In this case, the moving operation of the wiping means 20 and the suction operation of the pump for reducing the internal space of the capping means 6 to a negative pressure are performed by a paper feed motor (for conveying the recording paper 4 on the paper guide 3). (To be described later) is used. The wiping means 20 (wiping member 21) is configured to advance and retreat in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the reciprocating direction of the carriage 1 inside and outside the moving path of the recording head 5 with the driving operation of the suction pump.

In the above configuration, when the carriage 1 moves from the state shown in FIG. 1 to the non-printing area (home position) side by driving the carriage motor, the engaging body 1a of the carriage 1 engages with the engaging portion 10c of the slider 10. Combine. Then, as the carriage 1 still moves to the home position side, the slider 10 rises via the arm 14 against the elasticity of the tension spring 17 as shown in FIG. In this case, the guide piece 10b of the slider 10 is moved from the low portion 16a of the guide groove 16 to the high portion 16 through the inclined portion 16c.
Move to b. As a result, the nozzle forming surfaces (nozzle groups 51 to 53) of the recording head 5 are sealed by the cap members 71 to 73. Thus, the cap member 71
When the sealing of the nozzle forming surface by the nozzles 73 to 73 is completed, the cap members 71 to 73 cut off the communication with the atmosphere and become airtight, suppress the evaporation of ink from the nozzle openings, and prevent the recording head 5 from clogging. To prevent.

On the other hand, when the carriage 1 is moved toward the printing area by driving the carriage motor from the state shown in FIG. 2, the engaging body 1a of the carriage 1 is separated from the engaging portion 10c of the slider 10. For this reason, the slider 10 is lowered via the arm 14 by the elastic force of the tension spring 17.
In this case, the guide piece 10b of the slider 10 is
b to the lower part 16a via the inclined part 16c.
Thereby, the sealed state of the recording head 5 by the cap members 71 to 73 is released.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the plurality of cap members 71 to 73 come into contact with the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5 during capping, and
The nozzle groups 51 to 53 corresponding to No. 3 are sealed. Therefore, the nozzle groups 51 to 51 are formed by the cap members 71 to 73.
Since the inner volume of each of the cap members 71 to 73 can be set to a volume sufficient for the 53 to maintain a wet state, the function of preventing the nozzle openings from being clogged by the cap members 71 to 73 can be enhanced.

Further, in the present embodiment, the nozzle rows 51a to 53
Since a and 51b to 53b can be sealed, the nozzle forming surface does not become wider than in the conventional example (when each nozzle row is sealed with each cap member), and the size of the recording head 5 can be reduced. it can. Further, in the present embodiment, since the dimension a between the nozzle groups is set to be larger than the dimension b between the nozzle rows, it is sufficient to bring the cap members 71 to 73 into contact with the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5. Space is secured. At the same time, a sufficient space for preventing specific inks (for example, a black ink having a high density and a yellow ink having a low density) from being mixed with each other is secured.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a main part of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, the same members as those in FIG. 3 and FIG. Is omitted. In FIG.
A cap holder 90 is provided with an ink suction pipe 9 communicating with a tube (not shown) of a suction pump (not shown).
1 and two upper and lower box bodies 90a and 90b having the same shape as the cap holder 9.
(Shown in FIGS. 1 and 2). In the cap holder 90, a common space 90c communicating with the ink suction pipe 91 and the ink discharge ports 71b to 73b is provided.
Are formed. An ink absorber 92 capable of absorbing ink (ink waste liquid) is loaded in the common space 90c. Thereby, each nozzle group 51 of the recording head 5
To the common space 90c by absorbing the ink ejected from
It is configured so that it can be temporarily held in the inside. In addition,
A seal member (not shown) for improving the airtightness of the common space 90c is interposed between the upper and lower boxes 90a and 90b of the cap holder 90.

With this configuration, the cap members 71 to 73 are provided.
Are in contact with the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5 during capping, and the nozzle groups 51 to 51 corresponding to the cap members 71 to 73.
53 is sealed. Therefore, in the present embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the function of preventing clogging of the nozzle openings (nozzle groups 51 to 53) by the cap members 71 to 73 can be enhanced, and the size of the recording head 5 can be reduced. Can be planned.

In this embodiment, since the dimension a between the nozzle groups is set to be larger than the dimension b between the nozzle rows, the space enough for the cap members 71 to 73 to come into contact with each other and the specific space for the nozzle opening are determined. As in the first embodiment, a sufficient space for preventing mixing of inks is secured on the nozzle forming surface of the recording head 5. Further, in the present embodiment, the evaporation of the ink solvent from the nozzle groups 51 to 53 can be suppressed by the ink absorber 92 in the cap holder 90 (the common space 90c), and the function of preventing the nozzle openings from being clogged is provided. It can be more effectively increased.

[0047]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the function of preventing clogging by the cap member can be enhanced, and the size of the recording head can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a non-capping state of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a capping state of the ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a main part of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a main part of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state of sealing by a capping means of a conventional ink jet recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 carriage 2 guide rod 3 paper guide plate 4 recording paper 5 recording head 6 capping means 9 cap holder 10 slider 12 ink suction pipe 20 wiping means 21 wiping member 22 holder 51 to 53 nozzle group 51a to 53a, 51b to 53b nozzle row 71 -73 Cap member 71a-73a Seal part 71b-73b Ink outlet

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording head having a plurality of nozzle groups for ejecting ink droplets and reciprocating between a printing area and a non-printing area, and a suction pump for sealing the nozzle groups of the recording head. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a capping unit for sucking and discharging ink from the nozzle group by receiving a negative pressure of the nozzle group, wherein each of the nozzle groups includes two nozzle rows adjacent to each other in a head moving direction. The capping means is formed by a row assembly, and a plurality of cap members having a seal portion in contact with the nozzle forming surface of each of the nozzle row assemblies and an ink discharge port communicating with each of the seal portions are provided in the capping means. Ink jet recording apparatus. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a dimension between two adjacent nozzle groups among the nozzle groups is set to be larger than a dimension between nozzle rows of each nozzle group. Inkjet recording device. 3. The nozzle group includes a nozzle array consisting of black / black nozzle arrays, a nozzle array consisting of black / cyan nozzle arrays, and a magenta / yellow nozzle array. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink jet recording apparatus is a nozzle array. 4. An ink suction pipe communicating with the ink discharge port is provided in the capping means, and the ink suction pipe is connected to the suction pump.
An ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. A method according to claim 1, wherein a common space interposed between each of said ink discharge ports and said ink suction pipe is provided in said capping means, and an ink absorber capable of absorbing ink is loaded in said common space. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cross-sectional shape of the seal portion is semicircular or triangular.