JP2005111950A - Maintenance device of ink head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of a conventional maintenance device of ink head that a suction nozzle unit touches and slides on an ink ejecting surface arranged with ink ejection openings at the time of maintenance to cause damage on the surface of the ink ejecting surface or the edge of ejection opening. <P>SOLUTION: The maintenance device of an ink head is arranged such that the ink ejecting surface of an ink head abuts, at the opposite end parts thereof, against a guide provided on the upper surface of a maintenance suction part when the suction part is applied to the ink head and since a gap is formed between the ink ejecting surface and the upper surface of the maintenance suction part, the maintenance suction part does not touch the ink ejecting surface even if the suction part is slid at the time of maintenance, and impact damage on the ink head is lessened since an elastic part follows up an abutting displacement of the maintenance suction part with respect to the ink head. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a maintenance device for maintaining ink heads and nozzles of an inkjet image forming apparatus that forms an image by ejecting ink onto an image forming medium.

  In general, an image forming apparatus using an ink jet head performs printing by ejecting ink from the head nozzles of the ink head. Therefore, in order to prevent the nozzles from being clogged with ink regularly or according to the number of prints, maintenance is performed. Is required.

  This maintenance includes suction maintenance that removes and prevents nozzle clogging by sucking ink remaining from the nozzles, wiping maintenance for removing dirt on the nozzle formation surface and ink droplets attached by suction maintenance, and dedicated installation There is spitting maintenance for forcibly ejecting ink to the ink receiver.

  For example, FIG. 8 shows a schematic configuration of a cleaning device for maintaining ink discharge ports of a plurality of nozzles in Patent Document 1.

  This cleaning device slides along a main scanning direction a lifting mechanism 72 for lifting and lowering a nozzle unit 71, a swinging mechanism 74 for swinging a maintenance mechanism 73, and a carrier 76 on which a suction nozzle unit 75 is mounted. And a recovery mechanism 78 that recovers waste ink including foreign matters such as paper dust attached to the vicinity of the tip of the nozzle unit 71 via the maintenance mechanism 73.

In this configuration, the collection mechanism 76 performs suction maintenance, and the suction nozzle unit 75 is brought into a negative pressure state by the suction pump 79 and is slid while being pressed against the ink discharge port 80 of the nozzle block. Due to this negative pressure state, the ink ejection ports 80 arranged in a row and the ink adhering to the periphery thereof are continuously collected into the waste liquid tank 81 together with paper dust and the like.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-120386, FIGS. 4 and 7, paragraph number [0075]

  According to Patent Document 1, the disclosed effect can be obtained by mounting the ink block on an ink head having a configuration in which the nozzle blocks 82 are arranged in a line.

  However, in this suction maintenance, the suction nozzle unit 75 in a negative pressure state is pressed against the ink discharge port 80 of the nozzle block and is slid. For this reason, since the suction nozzle unit 75 contacts and slides on the ink discharge surface on which the ink discharge port 80 is disposed, the surface of the ink discharge surface and the discharge port edge may be damaged.

  Therefore, the present invention eliminates direct contact of the maintenance suction part with the ink ejection surface of each ink head during the maintenance operation of the plurality of ink heads arranged so as to overlap in the transport direction, and the suction part. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink head maintenance device that prevents damage to the nozzles by supporting the displacement of the suction portion with respect to the ink head during the maintenance operation by the elastic portion. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a maintenance apparatus for an image forming apparatus having an ink head for discharging ink from a plurality of arranged nozzles and drawing an image on an image forming medium conveyed by a platen unit. And a base portion that is disposed to face the ink head and is slidable along the nozzle arrangement direction, communicates with the base portion, and is slid on the ink discharge surface on which the nozzle is disposed. A suction part that sucks unnecessary ink adhering to the ink discharge surface; and an elastic part that is provided between the base part and the suction part and elastically supports the suction part, On the upper surface of the suction portion, there are one or more grooves having a suction port arranged at substantially the center, and at each end of the upper surface along the sliding direction, each of which is inclined toward the groove. When the ink head faces the suction portion, both ends of the ink discharge surface abut against the guide slope, and the ink discharge surface and the suction port are provided. Provided is a maintenance device for an ink head that is configured so as not to come into contact with a surface on which a groove is disposed, and wherein the elastic portion is driven by displacement of the suction portion during the sliding in the guide portion abutment.

In a maintenance apparatus for an image forming apparatus having a plurality of ink heads for discharging ink from a plurality of nozzles arranged in a plurality of rows and drawing an image on an image forming medium conveyed by a platen unit, A base portion that is arranged to face and is slidable along the arrangement direction of the nozzles, communicates with the base portion, slides addressed to an ink discharge surface on which the nozzles are arranged, and the ink discharge surface A suction part that sucks unnecessary ink adhering to the base, and an elastic part that is provided between the base part and the suction part and elastically supports the suction part. In the approximate center, a convex positioning guide that slidably contacts a guide groove provided in the center of the ink head, and on both sides of the positioning guide on the upper surface, respectively. One or more grooves that suction port is opened is provided,
When the ink head faces the suction portion, the positioning guide comes into contact with the guide groove of the ink head so that the ink discharge surface does not contact the surface on which the groove having the suction port is arranged. A maintenance device for an ink head is provided that is configured and has the elastic portion driven by displacement of the suction portion during the sliding in the guide portion abutment.

The ink head maintenance device configured as described above is a guide in which both ends of the ink discharge surface are provided on both sides of the upper surface of the suction portion when the maintenance suction portion of the maintenance device is opposed to the ink head during the maintenance operation. The ink discharge surface and the upper surface of the suction portion slide without being in contact with the inclined surface, and the contact displacement of the suction portion with respect to the ink head during sliding is driven by the elastic portion.
Alternatively, when the maintenance suction part is brought into contact with the ink head during maintenance, for example, a positioning guide provided on the surface of the contact part in the guide groove provided in the center of the two nozzle rows of the ink head. The ink discharge surface slides without contact with the surface on which the suction port is disposed, and the contact displacement of the suction portion with respect to the ink head during sliding is driven by the elastic portion.

  According to the ink head maintenance device of the present invention, when the maintenance suction unit is assigned to the ink head, even if the maintenance suction unit is slid on the ink head, the ink ejection surface is not contacted. In addition, the contact displacement of the maintenance suction portion with respect to the ink head is driven by the elastic portion, so that the contact damage to the ink head can be reduced.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conceptual configuration of a first embodiment according to the head row maintenance apparatus of the present invention as viewed obliquely from above. In this embodiment to be described below, a nozzle that ejects ink for image formation is a nozzle, a surface on which nozzles in one row are arranged is a nozzle formation surface, and a nozzle formation surface and its peripheral part are nozzle formation regions (ink ejection regions). Surface) an ink head provided with one nozzle formation area, a head unit in which a plurality of ink heads are arranged, a head unit, and a head in which a plurality of head arrays are arranged two-dimensionally (ink ejection) Part). Further, in the following embodiments, the medium transport direction is described as the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction orthogonal to the horizontal direction is defined as the front-rear direction, and the Z-axis direction orthogonal to the vertical direction is described as the vertical direction.

  The ink head 2 in the image forming apparatus of the present invention is an ink jet type image forming apparatus that discharges minute ink droplets from a plurality of nozzles 3 arranged over the entire medium width and draws and outputs an image (color or black and white). is there. As shown in FIG. 1, it is roughly divided into four groups of head rows 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D for each color (black, yellow, magenta, and cyan), and the like in the conveyance direction of the image forming medium. It arrange | positions at intervals (space S). In this example, each of the head rows 1A to 1D has two rows of six ink heads 2 in the front-rear direction (Y-axis direction), and the rows of nozzles 3 slightly overlap so that there is no gap during image formation. So that they are staggered.

  In the head rows 1A to 1D of this embodiment, the ink heads 2 are arranged in two rows by dividing into four blocks. Of course, the head rows are not limited to this example. The arrangement form can be changed. For example, in this embodiment, since four colors of ink are used, four blocks are divided. However, if five colors are used, five blocks may be divided, or the same color may be divided into a plurality of blocks.

Each of the ink heads 2 in the head arrays 1A to 1D is provided with an equally spaced space on the support 22 as shown in FIG. 3 so that the ink supplied from the ink supply system 13 is lowered from the ink discharge port of the nozzle 3. It is suspended and arranged to discharge in the direction (Z-axis direction).
As shown in FIG. 1, the maintenance device is provided with maintenance units 4A, 4B, 4C and 4D divided into four blocks so as to correspond to the positions of the head rows 1A to 1D. These maintenance units 4A to 4D are accommodated in each space S provided at equal intervals between the head rows 1A to 1D, and the six maintenance suction parts 6 are oiled so as to match the arrangement form of the ink head 2 described above. Arranged on the pan 5. In this embodiment, the ink head 2 is disposed so as to face one end side. The oil pan 5 is provided to collect the ink discharged during maintenance so that it does not scatter to other components.

  As will be described later, these maintenance units 4A to 4D are retracted to the space S during image formation (the state shown in FIG. 1), and are taken out and face the ink ejection ports 3 of the respective ink heads 2 during the maintenance operation. . The ink sucked by the maintenance suction unit 6 and the ink collected by the oil pan 5 are collected in a waste liquid tank (not shown).

  The maintenance suction unit 6 has a plurality of suction ports 9 arranged on the upper surface, is connected to a negative pressure generation unit 10 including a suction pump, and is slid while facing the ink discharge surface 12 of the nozzle 3 in close proximity. At this time, the ink adhering to the ink discharge surface 12 is sucked from the suction port 9.

  Further, a wiper 14 for wiping the ink ejection surface 12 of the nozzle 3 during sliding movement is attached to the upper surface of the maintenance suction unit 6 and in front of the suction port 9. The wiper 14 is formed of an elastic member such as rubber, resin, or the like. In the present embodiment, the rubber is formed in a plate shape, and the ink is wiped by sliding the rubber tip against the ink discharge surface 12 of the nozzle 3 in a bent state.

  The oil pan 5 is supported by parallel side frames (first support members) 17 so that front and rear ends (Y-axis direction) can be slid in the front-rear direction by a support member (not shown). These side frames 17 are respectively formed with oval slits 18 on both ends in the transport direction. Further, a lifting frame (second support member) 20 having a slit 19 formed in a vertical direction (Z direction) orthogonal to the slit 18 of each side frame 17 is fixed to an image forming apparatus main body frame (not shown). Further, the slits 18 and 19 of the side frames 17 and the lifting frame 20 are overlapped and fitted by a connecting portion 21 made of screws or the like.

  The side frame 17 is connected to a slide moving unit 24 including a moving mechanism such as a motor and a gear, so that the side frame 17 can move along the conveying direction integrally with the oil pan 5. The onl pan 5 is slidable in the front-rear direction, and is connected to a maintenance moving unit 8 including a moving mechanism including a motor, a gear, and the like, and the maintenance suction unit 6 serves as an ink ejection surface 12 of the nozzle 3 during maintenance. Driven to move along. Further, an up-and-down moving unit 23 is provided that is connected to the oil pan 5 or the side frame 17 and moves the maintenance suction unit 6 up and down. In the present embodiment, the up-and-down moving unit 23 is also used as a platen lifting unit 55 described later.

  With such a configuration, the oil pan 5 on which the maintenance units 4 </ b> A to 4 </ b> D (maintenance suction unit 6) are placed is suspended from the lift frame 20 via the side frame 17. The maintenance units 4 </ b> A to 4 </ b> D can be moved along the transport direction by the slide mechanism unit 24, and can be moved in the vertical direction by the up-and-down moving unit 23.

  2A to 2E show specific configuration examples of the maintenance suction unit 6. 2A is a front view of the maintenance suction unit 6, FIG. 2B is a top view thereof, FIG. 2C is a side view seen from the moving direction side, and FIG. 2D is a front view. FIG. 2E is a cross-sectional configuration diagram viewed from the moving direction side when viewed from the side.

  The maintenance suction part 6 is roughly divided into a base part 31 fixed to the oil pan 5 and a lower fitting part formed by an elastic member such as rubber or resin fitted to a protrusion on the base part 31. 32, a plurality of suction ports 9 on the upper surface, a suction portion 33 provided on the lower surface side with a projection 34 that fits airtightly with the lower fitting portion 32, a lower fitting portion 32, and a projection 34 And a coil spring 35 fitted in the fitting portion. In this configuration, the base portion 31, the lower fitting portion 32, the suction portion 33, and the projection portion 34 are hollow and can be sucked from the suction port 9 by the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generating portion 10. . Further, the ink sucked from the suction port 9 is collected in a waste liquid tank (not shown) through the oil pan 5. Further, since the coil spring 35 is provided, when the suction portion 33 is slid, the coil spring 35 and the lower fitting portion 32 (elasticity) that have elasticity even if the space between the suction surface 33 and the ink discharge surface 12 is displaced vertically. ), The ink ejection surface 12 is always fitted by following the displacement.

  Three suction grooves 36 are formed substantially along the X-axis direction at the center of the upper surface of the suction part 33, and suction ports 9 are opened at positions deviating from the groove center in the X-axis direction. That is, the suction port 9 is formed so as not to face the ink head nozzle position on the ink discharge surface 12. Note that the number of suction ports 9 is not limited to three. In addition, guide portions 37 are provided on both sides of the suction groove 36 on the upper surface of the suction portion 33. These guide portions 37 have guide inclined surfaces 38 toward the suction grooves 36. That is, the upper surface of the suction portion 33 is provided at a position lower than the upper surface of the suction groove 36 provided with the suction port 9, and the inner side surface that continues from the upper surface of the guide portion 37 to the suction groove 36 is an inclined surface.

  In this configuration, during the maintenance operation, as shown in FIG. 2E, when the ink head 2 is applied to the maintenance suction portion 6, both ends of the ink ejection surface 12 of the ink head come into contact with the guide slope 38. Thus, a slight gap is formed so that the ink discharge surface 12 and the surface on which the suction port 9 (suction groove 36) is arranged do not contact each other.

  Next, FIGS. 3 to 6 are diagrams for explaining the movement of the maintenance suction unit 6 in the maintenance process for the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment. First, with reference to FIG. 3, the main part of the medium transport system of the image forming apparatus will be described.

  The medium conveyance system of the image forming apparatus is roughly divided into an image forming medium supply unit 40, a platen unit 50, and an image forming medium discharge unit 60. In the image forming medium supply unit 40, a medium tray 42 for storing the image forming medium 41, a pickup roller 43 for picking up the medium 41 from the medium tray 42, and an inclination of the picked up medium 41 are eliminated so as to follow the transport direction. A registration roller pair 44 to be corrected, and a supply roller pair 45 for supplying the medium 41 to the platen unit 50 side.

  The platen unit 50 is provided inside, defines a reference position for image formation of the medium 41 to be conveyed, opposes the nozzle 3, and has a suction function for the medium 41 being conveyed, and a platen frame 51. A platen exterior frame 52 to be accommodated, a platen belt 53 that is hung on the entire outer periphery of the platen exterior frame 52 and transports the medium 41 to the platen frame 51, and rotates in the direction of the arrow while applying a predetermined tension to the platen belt 53 And a platen belt roller 54.

  Further, the platen unit 50 removes or repairs the image forming position (FIG. 3), the cap position (not shown), the maintenance position or the standby [stop] position (FIG. 6), and the medium 41 by the platen lifting / lowering unit 55. It is raised and lowered to the height of four stages of the jam processing position for performing. Although the jam processing position is not shown, the platen frame 51 is the lowest position.

  The platen lifting / lowering portion 55 includes an arm 56 that rotates so that at least four upper end portions 56a simultaneously have the same height, and these upper end portions 56a support the bottom surface of the platen exterior frame 52 so as to be movable. . Further, by placing the side frame 17 of the maintenance device on the platen exterior frame 52, the side frame 17 can be lifted and lowered while being guided by the slit 19 of the lift frame 20 as the platen exterior frame 52 is lifted. it can.

  The image forming medium discharge unit 60 also includes a discharge tray 59 that stores the image-formed medium 41, a discharge unit transport roller 57 that discharges the image-formed medium 41 from the platen unit 50, and the medium 41 to the discharge tray 59. It is comprised with the discharge part discharge roller 58 to accommodate.

Next, the operation of the maintenance device will be described.
First, FIG. 3 shows a state in which the maintenance units 4A to 4D (maintenance suction unit 6) are retracted during normal image formation. As described above, the side frame 17 is pushed up by the platen elevating part 55 via the platen exterior frame 52, and the maintenance units 4A to 4D are retracted so as to be stored in the space S between the head rows 1A to 1D. .

  Next, when the user instructs maintenance on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus (not shown), or when maintenance is automatically performed by setting the number of processed sheets and the accumulated processing time, a platen as shown in FIG. The arm 51 of the raising / lowering part 55 is rotated so that it falls, and the arm upper end part 56a falls. Accordingly, the platen exterior frame 52 and the side frame 17 are lowered. This lowering temporarily stops at a position where the upper surface of the maintenance suction unit 6 is slightly lowered from the ink discharge surface 12 of the ink head 2.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the side frame 17 is moved to the upstream side in the transport direction by the slide mechanism unit 24 (see FIG. 1), and the upper surface of the maintenance suction unit 6 faces the ink ejection surface 12 of the ink head 2. It stops at the position.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the arm 56 of the platen lifting / lowering portion 55 is rotated to raise the upper end portion 56a of the platen, and the side frame 17 is raised together with this, and the guide inclined surface 38 of the maintenance suction portion 6 is formed on the ink head 2. Stops after contact (maintenance position).

  Thereafter, the maintenance units 4A to 4D arranged on the oil pan 5 are slid and moved downward by the maintenance moving unit 8 under the head rows 1A to 1D. At this time, a spitting process for forcibly ejecting ink may be performed. Along with this sliding movement, the suction port 9 that performs the suction operation by the negative pressure generating unit 10 while the wiper 14 wipes the ink discharge surface 12 of the nozzle 3 (wiping maintenance) while the ink discharge surface 12 of the ink head 2 is wiped. The ink remaining from 3 is sucked (suction maintenance) and collected in a waste liquid tank (waste liquid tank 25 shown in FIG. 1) (not shown). Further, the ink scattered at this time is collected by the oil pan 5 and sent to a waste liquid tank (not shown).

  In the maintenance device described above, when the maintenance suction unit is addressed to the ink head, both end portions of the ink ejection surface of the ink head abut against the guide inclined surface provided on the upper surface of the maintenance suction unit, and the ink ejection surface and the maintenance device are maintained. A gap is formed between the upper surface of the suction part. Even if the maintenance suction part is slid during maintenance, suction maintenance can be performed without contacting the ink ejection surface through this gap. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent damage to the ink ejection surface during maintenance, and to reduce contact damage to the ink head by causing the contact displacement of the maintenance suction portion to the ink head to be driven by the elastic portion.

  Next, FIGS. 7A to 7E show a specific configuration example of the maintenance suction unit 6 according to the second embodiment. 7A is a front view of the maintenance suction unit 6, FIG. 7B is a top view thereof, FIG. 7C is a side view seen from the moving direction side, and FIG. 7D is a front view. FIG. 7E is a cross-sectional configuration diagram viewed from the moving direction when viewed from the side. The second embodiment uses an ink head provided with two nozzle formation areas, whereas the first embodiment described above is an example of an ink head provided with one nozzle formation area. A maintenance device having a maintenance suction unit applied to an image forming apparatus.

  The ink head 69 of the image forming apparatus to which the present embodiment is applied has two ink heads integrated with each other, and has two nozzle formation regions (nozzles 3a and 3b). A guide groove 69a is formed at the joining portion of the two ink heads and is used for a guide and a guide described later.

  The maintenance suction part 6 is roughly divided into a base part 61 fixed to the oil pan 5 and a lower fitting formed by an elastic material such as rubber or resin fitted to a protrusion on the base part 61. A plurality of suction ports 9 are provided on the upper surface of the joint portion 62, a suction portion 63 provided with a protrusion 64 that is airtightly fitted to the lower fitting portion 62 on the lower surface side, and the lower fitting portion 62 and the protrusion. The coil spring 65 is fitted into the fitting portion with the portion 64.

  In this configuration, the base part 61, the lower fitting part 62, the suction part 63 and the protrusion part 64 are hollow and can be sucked from the suction port 9 by the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generating part 10. . Further, the ink sucked from the suction port 9 is collected through an oil pan 5 to a waste liquid tank (not shown) (a waste liquid tank 25 shown in FIG. 1).

  On the upper surface of the suction portion 63, three suction grooves 66a and 66b along the X-axis direction shown in FIG. 1 are formed in two rows, and at positions away from the center of the grooves (in this example, outside). Each suction port 9 is opened. That is, the suction port 9 is formed so as not to face the ink head nozzle position on the ink discharge surface 12. Note that the number of suction ports 9 is not limited to three. Further, between the suction grooves 66a and 66b on the upper surface of the suction part 63, the guide groove 69a provided at the center of the ink head 69 is in contact with the position of the suction port 9 of the suction part 63 and the ink discharge surface when sliding. A convex positioning guide 67 for maintaining the relationship is provided.

  The relationship between the positioning guide 67 and the above-described guide groove 69a is that when the positioning guide 67 comes into contact with the guide groove 69a, there is a slight gap so that the formation surfaces of the suction grooves 66a and 66b do not come into contact with the ink discharge surface. It is adjusted to be free.

  Further, wipers 14a and 14b for wiping the ink discharge surfaces of the nozzles 3a and 3b are attached to the upper surface of the maintenance suction unit 6 and in front of the suction port 9 in the sliding direction, respectively. Further, since the coil spring 65 is provided, even when the suction portion 63 is slid, the coil spring 65 and the lower fitting portion 62 (elastic portion) having elasticity even if the suction portion 63 is displaced up and down from the ink discharge surface. ), It follows the displacement and is always fitted to the ink discharge surface 12.

  In the maintenance device described above, when the maintenance suction unit is addressed to the ink head, the guide groove and the positioning guide provided on the ink ejection surface of the ink head provide a space between the ink ejection surface and the upper surface of the maintenance suction unit. There is a slight gap. Even if the maintenance suction part is slid during maintenance, suction maintenance can be performed without contacting the ink ejection surface through this slight gap. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent damage to the ink ejection surface during maintenance, and to reduce contact damage to the ink head by causing the contact displacement of the maintenance suction portion to the ink head to be driven by the elastic portion.

  The present invention is not limited to the first and second embodiments described above, and can be appropriately modified and combined with respect to the constituent parts without departing from the disclosed gist. In each of the embodiments described above, the example in which the maintenance units 4A to 4D integrally maintain all the ink heads has been described. However, if the maintenance units 4A to 4D are individually movable by the maintenance moving unit, the ink may be used. Data such as the cumulative discharge amount (ink consumption amount) and the cumulative head use time can be taken to selectively maintain ink head arrays that are frequently used. For example, if the image formation is document printing using a lot of black ink, maintenance may be performed by selecting only the ink head row that discharges the black ink. Of course, the constituent parts of the described embodiments may be combined, and some constituent parts may be deleted from the constituent parts as desired.

It is the perspective view which looked at the notional composition of a 1st embodiment concerning the maintenance device of the ink head of the present invention from the slanting upper part. It is a figure which shows the structure of the maintenance suction part of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the state which the maintenance unit of the maintenance apparatus of 1st Embodiment retracted. It is a figure which shows the state which the maintenance unit of the maintenance apparatus of 1st Embodiment is moving. It is a figure which shows the state which the maintenance unit of the maintenance apparatus of 1st Embodiment is moving. It is a figure which shows the state which the maintenance unit of the maintenance apparatus of 1st Embodiment moves to a maintenance position, and can perform maintenance operation | movement. It is a figure which shows the structure of the maintenance suction part of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the installation structural example of the maintenance apparatus in a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1A-1D ... Head row, 2,69 ... Ink head, 3, 3a, 3b ... Nozzle, 4A-4D ... Maintenance unit, 5 ... Oil pan, 6 ... Maintenance suction part, 8 ... Maintenance moving part, 9 ... Suction port DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Negative pressure production | generation part, 12 ... Ink discharge surface, 13 ... Ink supply system, 14, 14a, 14b ... Wiper, 17 ... Side frame, 18, 19 ... Slit, 20 ... Lifting frame (2nd support member) , 21 ... connecting part, 22 ... support, 23 ... elevating and moving part, 24 ... slide moving part, 25 ... waste liquid tank, 31, 61 ... base part, 32, 62 ... lower fitting part, 33, 63 ... suction part , 34, 64 ... projections, 35, 65 ... coil springs, 36, 66a, 66b ... suction grooves, 37 ... guide parts, 38 ... guide slopes, 67 ... positioning guides, 69a ... guide grooves.

Claims (21)

In a maintenance device of an image forming apparatus having an ink head for discharging ink from a plurality of arranged nozzles and drawing an image on an image forming medium conveyed by a platen unit,
A base portion disposed opposite to the ink head and slidable along the arrangement direction of the nozzles;
A suction portion that communicates with the base portion, slides addressed to an ink discharge surface on which the nozzle is disposed, and sucks unnecessary ink adhering to the ink discharge surface;
An elastic portion provided between the base portion and the suction portion and elastically supporting the suction portion;
On the upper surface of the suction portion, there are one or more grooves having a suction port arranged at a substantially center, and guide slopes that are inclined toward the grooves at both ends of the upper surface along the sliding direction. When the ink head faces the suction portion, both ends of the ink discharge surface abut against the guide inclined surface, and the groove having the ink discharge surface and the suction port is provided. An ink head maintenance device, wherein the ink head is configured so as not to come into contact with an arranged surface, and the elastic portion is driven by the displacement of the suction portion during the sliding in the guide portion abutment. In a maintenance apparatus for an image forming apparatus having a plurality of ink heads that eject ink from a plurality of nozzles arranged in a plurality of rows and draw an image on an image forming medium conveyed by a platen unit,
A base portion disposed opposite to the ink head and slidable along the arrangement direction of the nozzles;
A suction portion that communicates with the base portion, slides toward an ink discharge surface on which the nozzle is disposed, and sucks unnecessary ink adhering to the ink discharge surface;
An elastic portion provided between the base portion and the suction portion and elastically supporting the suction portion;
On the upper surface of the suction portion, approximately at the center is a convex positioning guide that slidably contacts a guide groove provided in the center of the ink head, and suction is disposed on both sides of the positioning guide on the upper surface. One or more grooves with open mouths,
When the ink head faces the suction portion, the positioning guide comes into contact with the guide groove of the ink head so that the ink discharge surface does not contact the surface on which the groove having the suction port is arranged. An ink head maintenance device, comprising: the elastic portion being driven by the displacement of the suction portion during the sliding in the guide portion contact. A negative pressure generating means for generating a negative pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure;
A local suction means connected to the negative pressure generating means and having a suction opening formed in a size facing one or several units of nozzle area is held by a positioning guide, and the local guide is held by the positioning guide with respect to the head body. An end portion having a suction opening moving means for moving the suction openings of the local suction means relative to the nozzle arrangement direction in a state in which the suction means is positioned is formed in a plane, and is formed in the head body. In an ink head maintenance device in which a large number of nozzles are arranged,
A suction part having one suction hole inside at least one groove formed at a predetermined depth at a substantially central position, and two inclined surfaces widely formed upward from both ends of the groove;
A protrusion extending substantially vertically from a substantially central back surface of the suction portion;
A fixing portion disposed opposite to the protruding portion;
An elastic member sandwiched between the protruding portion and the fixed portion,
Ink head maintenance, wherein the suction portion and the fixing portion are connected by the elastic portion, and the two inclined surfaces slide while abutting both sides of an end surface substantially parallel to the nozzle position of the ink head. apparatus. During the slide,
The ink head maintenance device according to claim 3, wherein a wiper slides the nozzle in advance before the groove faces the nozzle. 5. The ink head maintenance device according to claim 4, wherein the wiper is a plate-like rubber. 4. The ink head maintenance apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the groove is a long hole formed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the suction opening moving direction. The ink groove maintenance device according to claim 3, wherein three grooves are formed substantially in parallel with the suction opening moving direction. The ink head maintenance device according to claim 3, wherein the elastic portion is formed of metal, rubber, or resin. The ink head maintenance device according to claim 8, wherein the metal of the elastic portion has a spring shape. The ink head maintenance device according to claim 9, wherein the spring shape includes the rubber. A negative pressure generating means for generating a negative pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure;
A local suction means connected to the negative pressure generating means and having a suction opening with a size facing one or several nozzle areas is held by a positioning guide, and separated by a predetermined distance by the positioning guide. A suction opening moving means for relatively moving the suction openings of the local suction means in the nozzle arrangement direction in a state where the local suction means is positioned with respect to the head body in which the back surfaces of the ink heads are bonded together. In an ink head maintenance device in which an end portion having a flat surface and a plurality of nozzles are arranged in the head body
A suction part having one suction hole in each of at least two grooves formed at a predetermined depth and spaced apart by a predetermined distance;
At least one first protrusion extending substantially perpendicularly from the suction portion in the nozzle direction;
A second protrusion extending substantially vertically from a substantially central back surface of the suction portion;
A fixing portion disposed opposite to the second protrusion,
An elastic member sandwiched between the suction part and the fixing part,
An ink head maintenance device, wherein the suction portion and the fixing portion are coupled by the elastic portion, and the first protrusion slides while abutting against a bonding end surface of the ink head. When the nozzle slides,
The ink head maintenance device according to claim 11, wherein a wiper slides the nozzle in advance before the groove faces the nozzle. The ink head maintenance device according to claim 12, wherein the wiper forms two protrusions. The ink head maintenance apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the wiper is a plate-shaped rubber. 12. The ink head maintenance device according to claim 11, wherein the groove is a long hole formed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the suction opening moving direction. 12. The ink head maintenance device according to claim 11, wherein the groove is formed in line symmetry on both sides of the first protrusion. The ink head maintenance device according to claim 11, wherein the number of grooves formed symmetrically with respect to each other is three in parallel with the outside of the first protrusion. The ink head maintenance device according to claim 11, wherein the elastic portion is made of metal, rubber, or resin. The ink head maintenance device according to claim 18, wherein the metal of the elastic portion has a spring shape. The ink head maintenance device according to claim 19, wherein the spring shape includes the rubber. 4. The ink head maintenance device according to claim 1, wherein the suction port of the suction unit is formed so as not to face the ink head nozzle position during the sliding.

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