JP2016159501A - Liquid droplet ejection device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid droplet ejection device in which deposit deposited on a wiper blade can be removed in a contactless manner by wiping a nozzle surface and the removed deposit can be surely recovered.SOLUTION: A liquid droplet ejection device 31 is provided that comprises: a recording head 32 comprising a nozzle 33 for ejecting liquid droplets; a wiper blade 44 that dispels a nozzle surface 32a by contacting a tip thereof with the nozzle surface 32a of the recording head 32 to remove deposit 50 deposited on the nozzle surface 32a; a blowing device 48 that blows, toward the wiper blade 44, air for removing the deposit 50 deposited on the wiper blade 44 by dispelling ; and a recovery device 47 that is provided corresponding to the wiper blade 44 and suctions the deposit 50 which falls by the blown air to recover the deposit forcibly.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a droplet discharge device and an image forming apparatus.

  As an image forming apparatus provided with a droplet discharge device, for example, an ink jet printer is known. The liquid droplet ejection apparatus includes an inkjet head in which ejection nozzles that eject liquid droplets toward a recording medium are formed.

  On the nozzle surface of the ink jet head, ink or the like adheres to the nozzle surface as a result of ejection or ejection of the ink or the like, and becomes dirty or clogs the ejection nozzle. Therefore, this nozzle surface is cleaned (cleaned).

As a cleaning mechanism for deposits adhering to the nozzle surface, for example, a wiping device that wipes the nozzle surface with the tip of a flexible wiper blade is known.
When the nozzle surface is wiped by the wiper blade, the adhered matter adhering to the nozzle surface adheres to the tip of the wiper blade.

If this is left as it is and the next wiping (cleaning) is performed, the deposits removed by the previous wiping (cleaning) may adhere to the nozzle surface again.
Therefore, every time wiping is performed, the adhered matter adhering to the wiper blade is removed by a scraping device, and the adhered matter is removed from the wiper blade by applying wind to the wiper blade (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).

  In Patent Document 1, in order to remove the adhering matter attached to the wiper blade, air filtered by a filter is blown from the lateral direction of the wiper blade, and the adhering matter adhering to the wiper blade is blown away. A configuration is disclosed.

  However, in the configuration in which the deposit adhered to the wiper blade is mechanically removed by the scraping device, the deposit adheres again to the wiper blade, and this deposit adheres to the nozzle surface again.

  Further, in the configuration in which the deposits attached to the wiper blade are blown away by wind, depending on the scattering direction of the deposits, there is a possibility that the remaining mechanism constituting the ink jet printer becomes dirty.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a droplet discharge device capable of removing deposits adhering to a wiper blade in a non-contact manner by wiping the nozzle surface and reliably collecting the removed deposits. is there.

  The droplet discharge device of the present invention has a recording head provided with nozzles for discharging droplets, and the tip of the recording head is in contact with the nozzle surface, thereby wiping the nozzle surface and adhering to the nozzle surface. A wiper blade that removes deposits, a blower that blows wind that removes deposits adhering to the wiper blade by wiping toward the wiper blade, and a blower that is provided corresponding to the wiper blade and that blows the wind And a recovery device for forcibly recovering the adhering matter falling by the suction.

  According to the present invention, since the wind is blown and dropped on the adhered matter attached to the tip of the wiper blade by wiping, the attached matter dropped by the wind is sucked. The removed deposits can be reliably recovered while removing them in a non-contact manner.

1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus including a droplet discharge device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of an arrangement state of recording heads of the droplet discharge device shown in FIG. 1 viewed from the nozzle surface side. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a maintenance device provided corresponding to the recording head of the droplet discharge device shown in FIG. 1. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically an example of the capping unit shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the principal part structure of the wiping apparatus shown in FIG. 3, Comprising: It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which exists in the standby position which the wiping member evacuated from the nozzle surface. It is the elements on larger scale which looked at the wiping member shown in FIG. 5 from right above. It is explanatory drawing which shows the principal part structure of the wiping apparatus shown in FIG. 3, Comprising: It is explanatory drawing which shows the state in which the wiping member exists in the wiping start position which starts wiping of a nozzle surface. It is the elements on larger scale of the wiping member for demonstrating the collection | recovery state of the deposit | attachment adhering to the front-end | tip of the wiper blade of the wiping member shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the droplet discharge apparatus which concerns on Example 2 of this invention, Comprising: It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which inclined the front-end | tip of the wiper blade to the wiping start position side in the standby position of a wiping member. It is the elements on larger scale of the wiping member for demonstrating the state by which the wind is mainly sprayed on the deposit | attachment adhering to the wiping member shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the droplet discharge apparatus which concerns on Example 3 of this invention, Comprising: It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which provided the monitoring control apparatus in the air blower. It is explanatory drawing of the droplet discharge apparatus which concerns on Example 4 of this invention, Comprising: It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which provided the wind speed adjustment apparatus in the air blower, and provided the suction speed adjustment apparatus in the vacuum suction apparatus. It is explanatory drawing of the droplet discharge apparatus which concerns on Example 5 of this invention, Comprising: It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which has the cap unit shown in FIG. 1 in a standby state. It is explanatory drawing of the droplet discharge apparatus which concerns on Example 5 of this invention, Comprising: It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which has the cap unit shown in FIG. 1 in a capping position.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
Example 1
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus provided with a droplet discharge device according to the present invention.
Here, the image forming apparatus 1 is a full-line type ink jet recording apparatus. The image forming apparatus 1 is supplied with a recording medium P as continuous paper.

  Inside the image forming apparatus 1 (inside the apparatus), rollers 2 to 26, a heater roller 27, and motors 28 to 30 are provided. The recording medium P is sent to the inside of the image forming apparatus 1 by these transport mechanisms, and then sent to the outside (outside of the apparatus) of the image forming apparatus as shown in FIG.

  A droplet discharge device 31 is provided in the conveyance path of the recording medium P. The droplet discharge device 31 discharges ink droplets toward the recording medium P and forms a first droplet discharge head 31a to a fourth droplet discharge head 31d for forming an image on the recording medium P as shown in FIG. Have. The first droplet discharge head 31a to the fourth droplet discharge head 31d are sequentially arranged in the transport direction (arrow A direction) of the recording medium P.

  Each of the droplet discharge heads 31a to 31d is configured by alternately arranging a plurality of recording heads 32 in the width direction (arrow B direction) orthogonal to the conveyance direction (arrow A direction) of the recording medium P. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 32 a indicates the nozzle surface of the recording head 32.

  A droplet discharge nozzle 33 is opened on each nozzle surface 32a. The droplet discharge nozzles 33 are arranged in the width direction (arrow B direction) orthogonal to the conveyance direction (arrow A direction) of the recording medium P to form a nozzle row. Here, for each recording head 32, two nozzle arrays are formed in the conveyance direction of the recording medium P.

  Each of the droplet discharge heads 31a to 31d discharges ink droplets of each color of, for example, yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (K). As a result, an image of a desired color is formed on the recording medium P.

  The image forming apparatus 1 may be provided with a droplet discharge head that discharges a processing liquid for fixing an image or improving the glossiness of an image on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the recording medium P.

  A maintenance device for performing maintenance of each recording head 32 is provided below each of the droplet discharge heads 31a to 31d. This maintenance device includes a cap unit 34 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and a nozzle surface wiping device 35 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cap unit 34 includes a cap member 34a for capping each nozzle surface 32a. The cap member 34 a communicates with the suction pump 36. The cap unit 34 is advanced and retracted in the transport direction (arrow A direction) and in the opposite direction, and is positioned immediately below each recording head 32 during maintenance, and then lifted to cap each recording head 32.

  The nozzle surface wiping device 35 has a support plate 37 that is moved up and down as shown in FIG. A driving roller 38 and a driven roller 39 are provided on the support plate 37 with an interval in the width direction (arrow B direction) orthogonal to the conveyance direction (arrow A direction) of the recording medium P. An endless belt 40 is stretched between the driving roller 38 and the driven roller 39.

  The endless belt 40 is provided with a wiping member 41. The wiping member 41 includes a fixed plate portion 42 fixed to the endless belt 40, an attachment base portion 43 formed integrally with the fixed plate portion 42, and a flexible member that is integrated with the attachment base portion 43 and wipes the nozzle surface 32a. And a wiper blade 44 of the nature.

  The wiper blade 44 is reciprocated between the standby position WP and the wiping start position SP. The attachment base 43 is formed with a suction port 43a that opens upward, as shown in FIG. The suction port 43a is connected to a stretchable suction hose 43c through a suction passage 43b.

  The suction hose 43c is connected to a vacuum suction device 45 such as a hydraulic pump. The vacuum suction device 45 constitutes a recovery device 47 in cooperation with a recovery container such as a suction hose 43c and a recovery tank 46. A blower 48 is provided above the standby position WP of the wiper blade 44.

The blower 48 includes a blower fan 48a and a blower nozzle 48b. The blower fan 48a supplies the air taken in through the stretchable suction hose 48c to the blower nozzle 48b.
The suction hose 48c is provided with a filter for filtering air.

Hereinafter, the operation of the nozzle surface wiping device 35 will be described.
The support plate 37 is lowered when the wiper blade 44 is in the standby position. When wiping the nozzle surface 32a, the endless belt 40 is rotated so that the wiper blade 44 moves from the standby position WP toward the wiping start position SP.

  Next, the support plate 37 is raised so that the tip end portion 44a of the wiper blade 44 is at a height that contacts the nozzle surface 32a. Next, the endless belt 40 is rotated in the opposite direction, and the wiper blade 44 shown in FIG. 7 is moved from the wiping start position SP toward the standby position WP.

  While the wiper blade 44 moves from the wiping start position SP to the standby position WP, the deposit 50 attached to the nozzle surface 32a is cleaned by the tip 44a of the wiper blade 44. FIG. 8 shows the deposit 50 attached to the tip 44 a of the wiper blade 44.

  When the wiper blade 44 returns to the standby position WP after wiping the nozzle surface 32a, for example, the wiping end detection switch is turned on and the support plate 37 is lowered. Further, the vacuum suction device 45 is driven at the same time as the blower fan 48a is driven. As a result, high-pressure air is blown from the blower nozzle 48 b to the tip end portion 44 a of the wiper blade 44 as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 8, and the deposit 50 adhering to the wiper blade 44 is pushed toward the mounting base 43.

The deposit 50 moves in accordance with the flow of air sucked from the suction port 43a, and is collected in the collection tank 46 through the suction passage 43b.
According to the first embodiment, by the cooperation of the blower 48 and the vacuum suction device 45, the deposit 50 is moved according to the air flow of the vacuum suction device 45, and the deposit 50 is forcibly recovered. Therefore, the deposit 50 attached to the wiper blade 44 can be reliably recovered while removing the deposit 50 attached to the wiper blade 44 in a non-contact manner.

(Example 2)
In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, a tilting shaft 51 is provided between the fixed plate portion 42 that constitutes a part of the wiping member 41 and the attachment base portion 43. When the wiper blade 44 returns to the standby position WP after wiping the nozzle surface 32a, for example, the tip 44a of the wiper blade 44 is inclined toward the wiping start position SP when the wiping end detection switch is turned on. So that it is tilted.

  In other words, the standby position WP of the wiper blade 44 is defined as the downstream side, the wiping start position SP is defined as the upstream side, and the wiper blade 44 is inclined by a predetermined angle θ with respect to the axis of the blower nozzle 48b. That is, the wiper blade 44 is inclined by a predetermined angle θ with respect to the blowing direction by the blowing device 48.

  As a result, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 10, high-pressure wind is intensively blown toward the tip end portion 44 a to which a large amount of the deposit 50 is attached. Therefore, as compared with the first embodiment, the removal of the deposit 50 attached to the wiper blade 44 is further ensured.

  In the second embodiment, the wiper blade 44 is returned to the standby position WP after the nozzle surface 32a is wiped, whereby the tip end portion 44a of the wiper blade 44 is inclined toward the wiping start position SP. However, a configuration in which the nozzle surface 32a is wiped in a state where the tip end portion 44a of the wiper blade 44 is inclined in advance toward the wiping start position SP may be employed.

(Example 3)
In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the image forming apparatus 1 is provided with a monitoring control device 52. The monitoring control device 52 includes a temperature adjusting device 52a that adjusts the blowing temperature and a humidity adjusting device 52b that adjusts the humidity.

  For example, a detection signal from a temperature sensor that detects the temperature inside the image forming apparatus 1 is input to the temperature adjustment device 52a. For example, a detection signal from a humidity sensor that detects the humidity inside the machine is input to the humidity control device 52b.

When the image forming apparatus 1 is operated and the temperature inside the apparatus rises and the temperature and humidity change, the temperature adjusting device 52a and the humidity adjusting device 52b are adapted to generate wind blown to the tip 44a of the wiper blade 44. The temperature and humidity of the air taken into the blower 48 are adjusted so that the temperature and humidity are kept constant.
Thereby, even in the case of the deposit 50 having thermosetting properties (the deposit cured at a high temperature) 50, the deposit 50 adhered to the wiper blade 44 can be reliably recovered while being prevented from solidifying.

Example 4
In the fourth embodiment, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a wind speed adjusting device 53 that adjusts the wind speed and a suction speed adjusting device 54 that adjusts the suction speed, as shown in FIG. The wind speed adjusting device 53 controls the rotational speed of the motor that drives the fan 48a. The suction speed adjusting device 54 adjusts the rotational speed of the rotor of the vacuum suction device 45 such as a hydraulic pump, for example.

  According to the fourth embodiment, the wind speed at the start of blowing by the blower 48 is reduced and the wind speed can be gradually increased, so that it is possible to prevent the wind having a large wind speed from hitting the wiper blade 44. Therefore, it is possible to further prevent the deposit 50 attached to the wiper blade 44 from scattering in an unexpected direction.

  In the first to fourth embodiments, a plurality of recording heads 32 are provided in the width direction (arrow B direction) orthogonal to the conveyance direction (arrow A direction) of the recording medium P. However, only one recording head 32 may be used. Further, the number of arrangement of the droplet discharge nozzles 33 is not limited to two rows.

(Example 5)
In the fifth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, wiper blades 44 are respectively provided corresponding to a plurality of recording heads 32 provided in the transport direction (arrow A direction). It is assumed that the wiper blade 44 wipes down the recording heads 32 and is lowered to the standby position WP.

  The blower 48 is provided on the endless belt 55 together with the cap unit 34. The endless belt 55 is bridged between the drive pulley 56 and the driven pulley 57. The endless belt 55 is reciprocated in the conveyance direction (arrow A direction) of the recording medium P.

  The drive pulley 56 and the driven pulley 57 are supported by a support plate 58 that moves up and down. When the cap unit 34 moves from the lower standby position retracted from the recording head 32 toward the capping position directly below the recording head 32, the blower 48 moves the cap unit 34 as shown in FIG. In conjunction with this, the recording medium P is moved in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction.

  In conjunction with the movement of the cap unit 34, the blower 48 is moved in the direction opposite to the transport direction (the direction opposite to the arrow A direction) while sending wind downward. During this movement, wind is blown onto the wiper blade 44, and the deposit 50 attached to the wiper blade 44 is removed.

  Therefore, according to the fifth embodiment, even when a plurality of recording heads 32 are provided in the conveyance direction (arrow A direction) of the recording medium P, the single air blower 48 adheres to the plurality of wiper blades 44. The attached deposit 50 can be removed.

  After the wiping, the cap unit 34 is raised by raising the support plate 58, and each recording head 32 is protected by the cap member 34a.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 31 ... Droplet discharge apparatus 32 ... Recording head 32a ... Nozzle surface 33 ... Droplet discharge nozzle 44 ... Wiper blade 47 ... Recovery apparatus 48 ... Blower 50 ... Adhered matter

JP 2007-253592 A

Claims (6)

A recording head having a nozzle for discharging droplets;
A wiper blade that wipes off the nozzle surface when the tip comes into contact with the nozzle surface of the recording head and removes deposits adhering to the nozzle surface;
An air blower that blows air toward the wiper blade to remove deposits attached to the wiper blade by the wiping;
And a recovery device that is provided corresponding to the wiper blade and sucks and forcibly recovers the deposits that fall due to the blowing of the wind.   The wiper blade is reciprocated between a wiping start position for starting wiping the nozzle surface and a standby position retracted from the nozzle surface, the standby position is defined as a downstream side, and the wiping start position is defined as an upstream side. The wiper blade is inclined with respect to the blowing direction by the blower so that the tip of the wiper blade faces the upstream side at the standby position. Droplet discharge device.   The droplet discharge device according to claim 1, further comprising a monitoring control device that adjusts a temperature and humidity of air blown from the blower.   A plurality of the recording heads are provided in the recording medium conveyance direction, the wiper blades are provided corresponding to the plurality of recording heads, respectively, and a cap unit including a cap for protecting each nozzle surface is provided. The air blower is connected to the cap unit, and the air blower is interlocked with the cap unit moving from a standby position where the cap unit is performing image formation by the recording head to a capping position that protects the nozzle surface. The droplet discharge device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the apparatus removes deposits on the wiper blade by blowing air onto the wiper blade.   5. The droplet discharge device according to claim 1, wherein a wind speed of the blower and a suction speed of the recovery device are respectively controlled.   An image forming apparatus comprising the droplet discharge device according to claim 1.