JP2005335127A - Liquid ejector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid ejecting apparatus capable of being wiped by contacting with a uniform pressure distribution on a nozzle forming surface by using a contact force that does not damage a water repellent treatment layer on the nozzle forming surface. .
A wiping means 80 includes a blade portion 90 that comes into contact with a nozzle forming surface, and load distribution portions 92, 95, and 702 that distribute a load acting on the blade portion during wiping.
[Selection] Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a wiping unit and a liquid ejecting apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to a wiping unit for wiping off a solution on an ejection port forming surface of an ejection head, and a liquid ejecting apparatus including the wiping unit.

  As a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid onto a target, an ink jet recording apparatus that performs printing by ejecting ink droplets from a recording head onto a recording medium has been known. Such an ink jet recording apparatus records an image such as a desired character or graphic by ejecting minute ink droplets from a nozzle of a recording head onto a recording medium.

  In this ink jet recording apparatus, since the recording head comes close to the recording medium during the recording operation, the scattering of ink generated when the ink droplet collides with the recording medium rebounds on the nozzle forming surface of the recording head. May contaminate.

  In particular, in the recording head of an on-demand type ink jet recording apparatus, since the ejection of nozzle droplets is due to weak pressure applied to the ink in the vicinity of the nozzles, the ejection energy of the ink droplets is small, and the interval between the recording medium and the recording medium is about several millimeters. In other words, the splash of ink splashes easily adhere to the nozzle formation surface. However, since the pressure is small, once clogging occurs in the nozzle, the clogging cannot be easily restored.

  For this reason, in order to prevent or recover from clogging of the nozzles of the recording head, a suction operation is performed to suck the ink from the nozzle openings and discharge the clogged ink during the non-printing operation.

  After this suction, the ink may remain on the nozzle forming surface, which may contaminate the nozzle forming surface. Such contamination of the nozzle formation surface of the recording head leads to the adhesion of fibers and dust on the recording medium, which may cause clogging of the nozzle during long-term use of the recording head, and may cause ink ejection failure or ejection. In some cases, the ink droplets may be adversely affected such as bent flight.

In order to solve such problems, a wiping blade has been proposed in order to remove all ink and foreign matter on the nozzle forming surface, ink dyes, dry deposits of fibers, etc., and prevent ink ejection failure. (For example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-103070 (pages 5 to 6, FIG. 7)

  However, the conventional ink jet recording apparatus has the following inconvenience when wiping the nozzle forming surface by the wiping unit.

  First, the wiping unit is fixed to an elevating mechanism or the like in order to move to a wiping position where the nozzle forming surface of the recording head is wiped and a standby position where the nozzle forming surface is not wiped. Due to the position accuracy of the wiping unit by this lifting mechanism and the position accuracy of the nozzle formation surface of the recording head, the contact pressure on the nozzle formation surface by the wiping unit varies, and the pressure distribution on the nozzle formation surface of the wiping unit is uniform. It was difficult to do. Therefore, due to the different wiping conditions in the nozzle formation surface, a sufficient wiping effect cannot be obtained depending on the position of the nozzle, and there are adverse effects such as inability to eject ink due to dust remaining in the vicinity of the nozzle and flying deflection of ejected ink. There was an effect. On the other hand, in order to obtain a sufficient wiping effect in all nozzles in the nozzle formation surface, when the rigidity of the wiping part is increased or the contact force is increased, the water repellent treatment layer provided on the nozzle formation surface is damaged, Similarly, there is a possibility of adverse effects such as inability to eject ink or bending of flying ink droplets during ejection.

  In view of such a technical problem, the present invention uses a contact force that does not damage the water repellent treatment layer on the nozzle forming surface, and makes it possible to wipe the liquid by contacting the nozzle forming surface with a uniform pressure distribution. It aims at providing an injection device.

  In order to solve the above problems, in the liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention, a carriage that reciprocates, a liquid ejecting head that is mounted on the carriage and ejects liquid from the nozzle opening to the target, In a liquid ejecting apparatus including a wiping means for wiping the nozzle forming surface on the nozzle opening side of the liquid ejecting head by relative movement with the ejecting head, the wiping means includes a blade portion that contacts the nozzle forming surface, and a wiping means It is characterized by comprising a load distribution portion that disperses the load acting on the blade portion at the time.

  In the invention, the load distribution portion is constituted by a blade holder for holding the blade portion and a U-shaped lever, and the blade holder is supported by an end portion of the U-shaped lever. To do.

  In the invention, the blade holder is supported by a plurality of levers.

  The invention further includes a second lever constituted by a plurality of levers, and a U-shaped first lever that supports the top of the second lever.

  In the invention, the end of the U-shaped lever and the blade holder are rotatably connected.

  In the present invention, the second lever and the first lever are rotatably connected.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus 10.

  Here, the ink jet recording apparatus 10 is an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus. The recording head of the ink jet recording apparatus 10 is an example of a liquid ejecting head of the liquid ejecting apparatus. The nozzle provided in the recording head is an example of an ejection port of the liquid ejecting head. Moreover, the recording material is an example of a target.

  However, this embodiment is not limited to the ink jet recording apparatus. Another example of the liquid ejecting apparatus is a color filter manufacturing apparatus that manufactures a color filter for a liquid crystal display. In this case, the color material ejecting head of the color filter manufacturing apparatus is an example of a liquid ejecting head. Still another example of the liquid ejecting apparatus is an electrode forming apparatus that forms electrodes such as an organic EL display and an FED (surface emitting display). In this case, the electrode material (conductive paste) ejecting head of the electrode forming apparatus is an example of a liquid ejecting head. Still another example of the liquid ejecting apparatus is a biochip manufacturing apparatus that manufactures a biochip. In this case, the bioorganic matter ejecting head of the biochip manufacturing apparatus and the sample ejecting head as a precision pipette are examples of the liquid ejecting head. The liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention includes other liquid ejecting apparatuses having industrial use.

  The printing unit 40 includes a timing belt 402, a carriage motor 404, a black ink cartridge 406, and a color ink cartridge 408.

  When the carriage motor 404 drives the timing belt 402, the carriage 42 is guided by the guide shaft 48 and reciprocates substantially at right angles to the feeding direction of the recording material 11. A recording head 44 including a black ink nozzle and a color ink nozzle is mounted on the side of the carriage 42 facing the substrate. A black ink cartridge 406 and a color ink cartridge 408 for supplying ink to the recording head 44 are detachably mounted on the carriage 42.

  In the configuration described above, the ink jet recording apparatus 10 ejects ink while reciprocating the recording head 44 along the guide shaft 48. The ink jet recording apparatus 10 performs printing on the entire recording object 11 by feeding the recording object 11 each time the recording head 44 performs one scan. Note that the recording head 44 may perform printing on both the forward path and the backward path, and may perform printing on only one side.

  The ink jet recording apparatus 10 further includes an ink transport unit 70 that transports the discharged ink, and a wiping unit 80 having a weighted dispersion unit of the present invention to be described later. The ink transport unit 70 includes a cap unit 72 that seals the nozzles of the recording head 44, a tube 75 that transports the ink ejected by the nozzles to the cap unit 72, and a portion of the tube that is elastically deformed. A pump 76 for transporting and a waste liquid box 79 for accumulating the ink transported by the pump 76 are provided in this order in the ink transport direction.

  The ink transport unit 70 is disposed in a non-printing area (home position) outside the printing area (feeding path of the recording object 11). The wiping portion 80 includes a blade portion having elasticity, and is disposed in the vicinity of the end portion of the cap portion 72 on the printing region side. The ink transport unit 70 and the wiping unit 80 constitute a head cleaning mechanism 161 that cleans the recording head 44.

  In the above configuration, when the ink jet recording apparatus 10 does not perform printing, the carriage 42 moves from the printing area to the non-printing area. When the recording head 44 provided on the carriage 42 has moved directly above, the cap portion 72 rises toward the carriage 42 and seals the surface of the recording head 44 having the nozzles.

  Here, in this sealed state, the pump 76 sucks air in the internal space formed by the recording head 44 and the cap portion 72, thereby forcibly sucking and discharging ink from the nozzles of the recording head 44. Can be cleaned. The cap part 72 can suppress drying of the nozzles by sealing the surface of the recording head 44 having the nozzles. Further, the cap unit 72 receives the ink ejected in the idling state during the flushing in which the recording head 44 ejects the ink droplets idly. This flushing is performed by applying a drive signal unrelated to printing to the recording head 44.

  When returning from the non-printing area to the printing area, the carriage 42 first leaves the cap portion 72. Further, as the carriage 42 moves to the non-printing area side, the wiping unit 80 advances onto the moving path of the recording head 44 and wipes ink on the nozzle formation surface of the recording head 44.

  2, 3, and 4 show a detailed configuration of a head cleaning mechanism 161 as an example of a cap unit according to the ink jet recording apparatus 10. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the head cleaning mechanism 161. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the head cleaning mechanism 161, and FIG. 5 shows a side cross section of the head cleaning mechanism 161. In addition, in order to simplify description, description of the tube 75, the pump 76, and the waste liquid box 79 is abbreviate | omitted in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the head cleaning mechanism 161 includes a capping unit 220, a contact part 200, a lever 240, and a bracket 164. The capping unit 220 includes a cap part 72, a wiping part 80, and a cap holder 170. The cap holder 170 supports a wiping portion 80 including a cap portion 72 and a load distribution portion of the present invention described later. The capping means 220 has a slider 167 that can slide with respect to the bracket 164. The cap holder 170 is connected to the slider 167 and can slide with respect to the bracket 164 together with the slider 167. The contact portion 200 is provided at an end portion of the cap holder 170, and the contact portion 200 plays a role of stopping the sliding of the cap holder 170 with respect to the bracket 164.

  The bracket 164 holds the capping means 220 slidably. The bracket 164 is disposed in the vicinity of the non-printing area of the recording head 44 in the ink jet recording apparatus 10 and is fixed to the ink jet recording apparatus 10. Further, the bracket 164 integrally includes a stop portion 210 that comes into contact with the contact portion 200 and stops the sliding of the capping means 220. The stop portion 210 is formed so as to protrude laterally from the end of the bracket 16 in the direction of the printing area (left side in the figure) and further upward to a position where it can come into contact with the contact portion 200. When the capping unit 220 returns to the standby position, the abutment part 200 formed on the cap holder 170 of the capping unit 220 comes into contact with the stop unit 210, so that the stop unit 210 stops the sliding of the capping unit 220. .

  As shown in FIG. 5, the bracket 164 has a pair of guide grooves 165 and 166 on both side walls that extend in substantially the same direction as the moving direction of the recording head 44 (the direction of arrow A in the figure). The guide groove 165 includes a horizontal lower step portion 165a, a first inclined portion 165b inclined upward in the drawing, a horizontal intermediate step portion 165c, a second inclined portion 165d inclined upward in the drawing, and a horizontal upper step portion 165e. Have continuously. Further, the guide groove 166 continuously includes a horizontal lower step portion 166a, a first inclined portion 166b inclined upward in the drawing, and a horizontal upper step portion 166e.

  The slider 167 has a pair of support pins 168 and a support pin 169 provided so as to protrude from both side surfaces. The support pins 168 and the support pins 169 are inserted into the guide grooves 165 and 166, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the slider 167 is supported by support pins 168 and 169 inserted in the guide grooves 165 and 166, thereby moving the recording head 44 along the guide grooves 165 and 166 and the recording head. It is possible to move in the vertical direction approaching and separating from the nozzle forming surface 44a. Here, the guide grooves 165 and 166 and the support pins 168 and 169 convert the movement of the carriage 42 on which the recording head 44 is mounted into an operation in which the cap holder 170 approaches and separates. Further, the slider 167 has an engaged portion 180 that protrudes from the upper portion of the slider 167.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the bracket 164 includes a spring fastening portion 240 and a slider moving spring member 232 whose one end is fastened to the spring fastening portion 240. The other end of the slider moving spring member 232 is fastened to the support pin 169 of the slider 167. As a result, the slider moving spring member 232 pulls the support pin 169 of the slider 167 toward the spring fastening portion 240 of the bracket 164. In other words, the slider 167 is urged by the slider moving spring member 232 toward the print region side of the recording head 44, that is, the left side and the lower side in FIG. A cap spring member 230 is provided between the cap holder 170 and the slider 167, and biases the cap holder 170 upward.

  FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the cap holder 170 provided with the wiping portion 80 according to the present invention. A cap portion 72 is disposed in a region surrounding the center of the cap holder 170. The cap part 72 and the wiping part 80 are provided to protrude on the cap holder 170. Further, the wiping portion 80 and the abutting portion 200 are disposed on the end portion of the cap holder 170.

  The cap portion 72 and the blade portion 90 of the wiping portion 80, which will be described in detail later, are formed using a material having a higher elastic modulus than the cap holder 170. The cap part 72 and the blade part 90 are formed using the same material, for example, a soft material having a high elastic modulus such as an elastomer.

  The upper peripheral edge of the cap portion 72 has a substantially triangular cross-sectional shape. The outer peripheral edge of the upper end of the cap portion 72 is in close contact with the nozzle forming surface 44a of the recording head 44 with elastic deformation, and seals the discharge forming surface 44a so that the internal space of the cap portion 72 is sealed. The upper end edge of the blade portion 90 has a substantially triangular cross-sectional shape. The upper end edge of the blade portion 90 comes into sliding contact with the nozzle forming surface 44a of the recording head 44 with elastic deformation, and wipes and cleans the nozzle forming surface 44a. The cap holder 170 includes a funnel-shaped ink discharge port 173 disposed at a position corresponding to the cap portion 72, and a connection tube 174 disposed on the bottom surface of the ink discharge port 173. The connection pipe 174 is integrally formed with the ink discharge port 173.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a pump 76 is disposed below the connection pipe 174 of the cap holder 170. The pump 76 is connected to the connection pipe 174 through the tube 75. Further, the pump 76 is connected to a waste liquid tank 79 through a tube 75. With the cap portion 72 sealing the nozzle forming surface 44a of the recording head 44, the pump 76 applies a negative pressure to the internal space of the cap portion 72 via the tube 75, whereby ink is sucked from the recording head 44 and the waste liquid. It is discharged into the tank 79.

  Further, the cap holder 170 has an ink receiving recess 176 on the upper surface. The ink receiving recess 176 is formed between the cap portion 72 and the wiping portion 80 and has a pair of discharge holes 177 at the bottom. The ink waste liquid scraped off from the nozzle forming surface 44 a of the recording head 44 by the wiping unit 80 is received in the ink receiving recess 176 and discharged from the discharge hole 177. Here, a waste liquid absorber may be disposed below the discharge hole 177. In this case, the recording material 11 and the recording apparatus 10 can be prevented from being contaminated due to the waste of the ink wiped by the wiping unit 80.

  6 to 7 are diagrams showing a detailed configuration of the wiping unit 80 of the present invention.

  FIG. 6 shows a cap holder 170 provided with a wiping portion 80 and a cap portion 72 of the present invention.

  The wiping unit 80 includes a first blade lever 95, a second blade lever 92, a blade holder 702, and a blade unit 90, which are load distribution units. As described above, the blade portion 90 is formed using a soft material having a high elastic modulus such as an elastomer. The blade portion 90 is held by a blade holder 702, and the blade holder 702 is supported by two second blade levers 92 formed in a U shape. The curved tops of the two second blade levers 92 are supported by a first blade lever 95 formed in a U-shape that is fixed to the cap holder 170, and the blade holder 702 includes first and second blade holders 702. The blade lever is supported in a tournament shape.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a load distribution when the wiping unit 80 contacts the nozzle forming surface. When the blade portion 90 of the wiping portion 80 comes into contact with the nozzle formation surface, a force acts on the first blade lever 95 in the direction indicated by the arrow A relatively. The load acting on the arrow A is distributed to two points connected to the second blade lever by the first lever which is a load distribution portion. The load received by the second blade lever 92 serving as a load distribution portion is distributed in the extending direction of the blade holder 702, and loads in four directions indicated by arrows B act on the blade holder 702. Then, the blade holder 702 that supports the entire base end portion of the blade portion 90 and also functions as a load distribution portion causes the four loads indicated by arrows B to be substantially applied to the entire blade portion 90 as indicated by the load distribution indicated by C. The load can be evenly distributed.

  Even if the wiping position accuracy of the wiping unit 80 by the head cleaning mechanism 161 and the position accuracy of the nozzle forming surface of the recording head vary, the contact pressure on the nozzle forming surface by the wiping unit may vary. When the curved portion of the second blade lever 92 formed in the shape is bent, the pressure variation can be absorbed.

  Therefore, when wiping the nozzle forming surface, the blade portion can be brought into contact with the nozzle forming surface with a substantially uniform load distribution, giving a stable wiping effect to each nozzle on the nozzle forming surface, and in the vicinity of the nozzle. It is possible to prevent adverse effects such as inability to eject ink due to residual dust or the like, and flying bend of ink droplets during ejection. Further, since it is not necessary to increase the rigidity of the blade part unnecessarily, the nozzle forming surface is not damaged.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the first and second blade levers can be rotatably supported by the rivet 98. Thereby, when the contact pressure on the nozzle forming surface by the wiping portion varies, the pressure variation can be absorbed more remarkably.

  8 to 10 are side views showing the operation of the head cleaning mechanism 161. FIG. 8 shows the state of the head cleaning mechanism 161 when the recording head 44 is positioned in the printing area.

  FIG. 9 shows the state of the head cleaning mechanism 161 when the recording head 44 is positioned in the suction area. The suction area refers to an area where the recording head 44 is disposed during a cleaning operation in which ink is forcibly sucked and discharged from the nozzles of the recording head 44.

  FIG. 10 shows a state of the head cleaning mechanism 161 when the recording head 44 is positioned in the wiping area. The wiping area refers to an area where the recording head 44 is disposed in the process of wiping the ink on the nozzle formation surface of the recording head 44 by the wiping unit 80.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the carriage 42 has an engaging portion 179 that protrudes from the lower end side portion of the carriage 42 on the non-printing area side. The engaging portion 179 of the carriage 42 and the engaged portion 180 of the slider 167 constitute an interlocking mechanism 178 that interlocks the movement of the carriage 42 and the movement of the slider 167.

  Further, the carriage 42 has an engaging portion 189 formed so as to protrude from the lower end portion of the carriage 42 on the non-printing area side. The lever 240 includes a holding claw 182 that protrudes downward from the right end portion of the lever and an engaged portion 190 that protrudes upward from the left end portion of the lever 240. The engaging portion 189 of the carriage 42 is provided so as to be able to be engaged with and disengaged from the engaged portion 190 of the lever 240. The engagement portion 189 of the carriage 42 and the engaged portion 190 of the lever 240 constitute a release mechanism 188. The lever 240 has a long hole 183 and is placed between the slider 167 and the bracket 164 with the support pin 168 inserted through the long hole 183.

  The cap holder 170 has an engaging protrusion 186 that is disposed directly below the wiping portion 80 and is formed to protrude from the lower surface of the cap holder 170. The bracket 164 has an engaged protrusion 187 formed so as to protrude from the upper surface of the end portion. The engaged protrusion 187 can be engaged with and disengaged from the engagement protrusion 186. The engaging protrusion 186 of the cap holder 170 and the engaged protrusion 187 of the bracket 164 constitute a suppressing mechanism 185 that suppresses the downward displacement of the cap holder 170. It should be noted that the surfaces where the engaging protrusion 186 and the engaged protrusion 187 engage with each other are formed in an oblique shape.

  The head cleaning mechanism 161 includes a holding mechanism 181 that locks the movement of the slider 167 with respect to the bracket 164. The holding mechanism 181 includes a holding claw 182 provided on the lever 240 and a locking portion 184 provided on the bracket 164. The lever 240 is supported by one support pin 168 of the slider 167 through a long hole 183 so as to be relatively movable and rotatable. The locking portion 184 is formed on the bracket 164 so as to be detachable from the holding claw 182. The lever 240 is urged by the holding claw spring member 234 toward the printing area side of the recording head 44, that is, toward the left side in FIG. 8, and is urged to rotate in the clockwise direction.

  When the recording head 44 is located in the printing area, the cap holder 170, the slider 167, the lever 240, and the bracket 164 are in the positional relationship shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 10, when the carriage 42 moves to the suction region, the support pin 168 comes into contact with one end 183a of the elongated hole 183 of the lever 240, and the holding claw 182 is guided to the locking portion 184 by the guide surface 184a. , Engage with the locking portion 184. With the holding claw 182 engaged with the locking portion 184, the pump 76 sucks and discharges ink from the recording head 44.

  As shown in FIG. 10, after the operation of sucking and discharging ink from the recording head 44 is completed, when the carriage 42 moves out from the suction area shown in FIG. 9 to the printing area shown in FIG. The capping means 220 is moved to the printing area by the urging force of the slider moving spring member 232 while remaining in the portion 184.

  At this time, the support pin 168 of the slider 167 slides from the upper step portion 165e of the guide groove 165 to the middle step portion 165c via the second inclined portion 165d. Further, the support pin 169 of the slider 167 slides from the upper step portion 166e of the guide groove 166 to the first inclined portion 166b. Therefore, the capping unit 220 moves downward to an intermediate position where the cap portion 72 is separated from the nozzle forming surface 44a of the recording head 44 by a predetermined distance, and releases the sealing of the nozzle forming surface 44a by the cap portion 72. Further, the wiping portion 80 is disposed at a wiping position where the wiping portion 80 can be slidably contacted with the nozzle forming surface 44a.

  In this state, the support pin 168 of the slider 167 contacts the other end 183 b of the elongated hole 183 of the lever 240. Further, by the holding claw 182 engaged with the locking portion 184, the capping means 220 is locked and held at an intermediate position where the cap portion 72 is separated from the nozzle forming surface 44 a of the recording head 44 by a predetermined distance. The In this state, when the carriage 42 moves out from the wiping area shown in FIG. 10 to the printing area shown in FIG. 8, the wiping unit 80 slides on the nozzle forming surface 44a of the recording head 44 and wipes the nozzle forming surface 44a. to clean. The wiping and cleaning can be performed on the entire nozzle forming surface 44a with a uniform load by the action of the load dispersing portion.

  Then, when the carriage 42 moves to the wiping region shown in FIG. 10, the engagement protrusion 186 of the suppression mechanism 185 engages with the engagement protrusion 187. That is, the engagement protrusion 186 faces the upper part of the engagement protrusion 187 and is supported by the engagement protrusion 187. Therefore, even when the wiping unit 80 wipes and cleans the nozzle forming surface 44 a of the recording head 44, the cap is pressed by the engaged protrusion 187 even if the recording head 44 applies a downward pressing force to the cap holder 170. The downward displacement of the holder 170 is suppressed. Therefore, the wiping unit 80 is held in a state of sliding contact with the nozzle forming surface 44a by the suppression mechanism 185.

  When the cap holder 170 moves to the left in FIG. 10 along the moving direction of the recording head 44, the engagement state between the engagement protrusion 186 and the engagement protrusion 187 is easily released. On the other hand, when a downward force is applied to the wiping portion 80, the slopes of the engaging protrusion piece 186 and the engaging protrusion piece 187 that engage with each other resist the downward force and are engaged. To maintain.

  When the recording head 44 moves together with the carriage 42 from the wiping area shown in FIG. 10 to the printing area shown in FIG. 8, the engaging portion 189 of the carriage 42 engages with the engaged portion 190 of the lever 240. Therefore, the lever 240 is rotationally moved in the counterclockwise direction and detached from the locking portion 184. Accordingly, the capping unit 220 is released from the locked holding state by the holding claw 182. Therefore, the lever 240 returns to the original position shown in FIG. 8 by the biasing force of the holding claw spring member 234.

  In addition, you may change this embodiment as follows.

  In the above-described embodiment, the wiping member 80 is arranged at the wiping position using the drive of the carriage 42, but a dedicated drive source that moves the wiping member 80 back and forth to the wiping position may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the liquid ejecting apparatus is used in an ink jet printer, but may be applied to a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid other than ink. For example, a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting a liquid such as an electrode material or a coloring material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an EL display, an FED (surface emitting display), or the like, or a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting a bio-organic material used for biochip manufacturing A sample injection device as a precision pipette may be used.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus 10. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the head cleaning mechanism 161. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the head cleaning mechanism 161. FIG. 4 shows a side cross section of the head cleaning 161 mechanism. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the cap holder 170. FIG. 6 shows a cap holder provided with a wiping portion 80 and a cap portion 72 of the present invention. FIG. 7 shows a load distribution when the wiping unit 80 contacts the nozzle forming surface. FIG. 8 shows the state of the head cleaning mechanism 161 when the recording head 44 is positioned in the printing area. FIG. 9 shows the state of the head cleaning mechanism 161 when the recording head 44 is positioned in the suction area. FIG. 10 shows a state of the head cleaning mechanism 161 when the recording head 44 is positioned in the wiping area.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Inkjet recording device, 20 ... Feeding unit, 30 ... Conveying unit, 40 ... Printing unit, 42 ... Carriage, 44 ... Recording head, 50 ... Discharging unit , 70 ... Ink transport part, 72 ... Cap part, 75 ... Tube, 76 ... Pump, 79 ... Waste liquid box, 80 ... Wiping part, 90 ... Blade part, 92 ... Second blade lever, 95 ... First blade lever, 161 ... Head cleaning mechanism, 165,166 ... Guide groove, 167 ... Slider, 168,169 ... Support pin , 170 ... Cap holder, 178 ... Interlocking mechanism, 179 ... Engagement part, 180 ... Engaged part, 181 ... Holding mechanism, 182 ... Holding claw, 184 ... Locking portion, 185... Suppression mechanism, 18 ... engaging protrusions, 187 ... engaged protrusions, 188 ... release mechanism, 190 ... engaged part, 200 ... buffer part, 210 ... stop part, 220 ..Capping means, 240 ... lever, 702 ... blade holder.

Claims (6)

A reciprocating carriage;
A liquid ejecting head mounted on the carriage and ejecting liquid from a nozzle opening to a target;
In a liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: a wiping unit that wipes a nozzle forming surface on the opening side of the nozzle in the liquid ejecting head by relative movement with the ejecting head;
The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wiping means includes a blade portion that contacts the nozzle forming surface and a load distribution portion that distributes a load acting on the blade portion during the wiping.   The load distribution portion is configured by a blade holder that holds the blade portion and a U-shaped lever, and the blade holder is supported by an end portion of the U-shaped lever. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1.   The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the blade holder is supported by a plurality of the levers.   The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: a second lever configured by the plurality of levers; and a U-shaped first lever that supports a top portion of the second lever.   The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an end portion of the U-shaped lever and the blade holder are rotatably connected.   The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second lever and the first lever are rotatably connected.

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