JPH05201029A - Method for restoring ink head and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To sufficiently recover the ink spouted into a cap by providing a recording means by means of delivery of ink, a thermal energy feed means, a capping means for sealing the delivery forming surface of the recording means, and a forced restoring means. CONSTITUTION:When a flashing mode is selected, judgement of step 1 becomes Yes and heating is effected by a heater for thermal insulation until a predetermined temperature is reached. Since fine bubbles of air tend to remain in a head because of temperature control at high temperature, restoration is performed by steps S4-S6 under ordinary drawing restoration conditions in order to remove the bubbles. When the drawing has been completed, a cap is removed from a recording head (step 7) and then the ink in the cap is removed under ordinary drawing mode (step S8, S9), following which, at step 10, the delivery port forming surface of the recording head is cleaned further by means of a wiper blade to obviate the cause for generation of condensation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a copier, a communication device, an ink jet recording apparatus or a printer which can be mounted on or connected to each information apparatus, and a recording head recovery method applied to the same. In particular, the present invention relates to an invention that is effective as a forced recovery mechanism of an apparatus that includes a heating element that generates thermal energy to form bubbles in ink, and that has a drive circuit that drives this by an electric pulse signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a basic invention of forming bubbles by using heat energy, as described in US Pat. No. 4,740,796 and West German Patent Publication No. 2843064, a heating resistor is electrically connected. There are ones that are driven by dynamic pulse signals and some that use light energy, and others that include an element that converts light energy into heat are known.

In the field of ink jet recording, recovery called preliminary ejection is carried out as a step of ejecting ink from an ejection port other than recording. British Patent No. 2169855 is known as an invention that achieves appropriate discharge during the preliminary discharge including during recording and standby. This publication specifically describes, as an invention, the recovery performed during normal recording as preliminary ejection.

On the other hand, with respect to recovery of the recording head in an extreme state, recovery using a pump called normal suction recovery has been put into practical use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,745 which discloses performing appropriate recovery action depending on the state of the recording head.
Also in No. 9, the final forced recovery employs suction recovery instead of preliminary ejection.

Further, since the conventional preliminary ejection is performed relatively frequently, the ejection condition for normal recording is similar to this condition. This is to extend the life of the heating element of the recording head. This pre-ejected ink is normally discharged toward the ink absorber, but other than this, dedicated paper, recording sheet, foam, cap for recording head, etc. are known as ink receiving members. ..

Furthermore, in order to improve the recovery effect of the preliminary ejection, a revolutionary invention in which suction recovery in a state of being in close contact with the recording head is also used for the preliminary ejection is provided by the present invention, assigned in May 1988. 25th Japan-US application SN1
No. 98733.

On the other hand, after the cap is brought into close contact with the recording head and suction is performed, the inside of the cap is communicated with the atmosphere before the cap is separated from the recording head, or after the cap is separated from the recording head, the inside of the cap is separated. The invention disclosing the technique of empty suction is disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,967,204. A main object of the present invention is to prevent ink from leaking from inside the cap.

By the way, the Japanese application date of the present invention is 1
In the invention of serial number SN745480 filed by the assignee of the present invention in the United States on August 14, 1991 before October 18, 991, the heat generated due to a long period of neglect or a large difference in the use frequency of the discharge port unit Provided is a recovery process for solving problems such as adhesion of impurities on the surface of an energy generating type ejection element or difference in ink fluidity. A typical example of the present invention is a forced recovery in which preliminary discharge is performed 10 ³ times or more by supplying energy larger than the minimum energy E ₀ required to cause film boiling and larger than normal discharge. There is a recovery method that has a mode and discharges ink into a recording medium or a cap.

[0009]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present inventors premised on reducing waste of a recording medium when performing recovery such as the forced recovery mode of the prior invention. However, the amount of ejected ink was large and the ejected ink bounced back.Therefore, when the cap was brought into close contact with the recording head during preliminary ejection, on the contrary, the surface of the recording head was covered with a large amount of ejected ink. It was As a result, stable ink ejection cannot be performed, and it becomes difficult to clean the surface of the recording head, and ink that cannot be removed by normal blade cleaning remains on the surface of the recording head. When printing is performed in this state, the ink ejection for printing is disturbed. In short, with the above-described premise configuration, although recovery in the recording head can be achieved, a new recovery problem of the recording head surface is caused, and as a result, sufficient recovery results cannot be obtained.

If the forced recovery mode by the color recording means is executed on the recording medium, the ink storage capacity of the recording medium will be exceeded, causing problems such as stains inside the apparatus due to defective fixing and color mixing during blade cleaning. I got it.

From another point of view, the present inventors have found a problem in that the adaptability to a large amount of preliminary ink ejection is deteriorated due to the change in the position of the cap, and new ink leakage occurs in the future.

The main object of the present invention is to change the energy supplied to the working area where the thermal energy acts on the ink holding area, with respect to the above-mentioned problem requiring forced recovery which is not the normal recovery. Another object of the present invention is to provide a recovery method and apparatus capable of solving the problems of the inside of the head and the surface of the head by idle suction from the cap away from the recording head.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a forced recovery preliminary discharge mode which can more reliably and efficiently execute the above recovery method.

Another object of the present invention is to carry out a step of further increasing the temperature control set temperature during recording of the recording head in order to improve the recovery effect by ink ejection in the forced recovery preliminary ejection mode. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recovery method and an apparatus therefor capable of achieving a longer life.

Further, another object of the present invention is to perform the step of mechanically performing the position adjustment of the cap used apart from the recording head with respect to the recording head in advance of the forced recovery preliminary ejection. Is to provide an effective recovery sequence in which the mechanical position adjustment is performed for each suction step.

In the present invention, as the best mode, the temperature control set temperature at the time of recording in the head to be recovered is set to 60 ° C. or higher to prevent vaporization of dissolved air bubbles for that purpose and to ensure that the ink is inside the recording means. In the previous step of performing more suction than usual in order to fill the recording medium, the recording means is supplied with energy higher than the energy of the normal recording condition, and 10 ⁴ or more preliminary ejections are performed and the head and the cap are mechanically separated from each other. And a flushing recovery step of performing opposite suction position setting and performing idle suction.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a color recording apparatus having a plurality of recording heads and performing a flushing recovery step in which color mixing between the heads is prevented.

[0018]

In any case, the following is a representative example of the device of the present invention. Recording means for forming bubbles by supplying thermal energy for forming to the thermal action part of the ink holding part and ejecting ink for recording, and energy supply for forming the thermal energy in the recording means. Means, a capping means for sealing the ejection port forming surface of the recording means, a suction means for sucking ink from the capping means, and a predetermined multiple of the minimum energy E ₀ required for generating the bubbles. Supply more energy than the recording conditions of 10
^And a forced recovery means for causing the capping means distant from the recording means to perform ^four or more preliminary ejections and for sucking the ink in the cap under the atmosphere from the capping means by the suction means. And According to the present invention, the above-mentioned inconvenience due to the cap that is in close contact with the recording head can be solved and the above-mentioned forced recovery effect can be sufficiently applied to recording, without the need for a recording sheet for collecting the pre-ejected ink.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main configuration of a serial scan type color ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A recording head 1Y for ejecting yellow color ink, a recording head 1M for ejecting magenta color ink,
The printhead 1C that ejects cyan color ink and the printhead 1K that ejects black color ink are the carriage 20.
1 is installed at a predetermined distance. A recording material made of paper, a plastic thin plate, or the like is sandwiched between paper ejection rollers 2 and 3 via a conveyance roller (not shown), and is fed in the direction of arrow C when a conveyance motor (not shown) is driven.

The carriage 201 is guided and supported by the guide shaft 4 and the encoder 5. The carriage 201 includes a carriage motor 8 via drive belts 6 and 7.
Is driven to reciprocate along the guide shaft 4.

A plurality of ejection openings are provided on the surface (ejection opening formation surface) of the recording head 1 which faces the recording material, and heat for ejecting ink is provided inside each ejection opening (liquid path). A heating element (electrical / thermal energy converter) that generates energy is provided.

An image is formed by driving the heating element based on a recording signal in accordance with the reading timing of the encoder 5 to cause the ink liquid to fly and adhere onto the recording material in the order of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. be able to.

The carriage 201 selected outside the recording area
A recovery unit 400 having a cap portion 420 having four caps, which will be described later, is disposed at the home position of the.

When recording is not performed, the carriage 201
To the home position and the caps of the cap portion 420 seal the ejection port forming surfaces of the corresponding recording heads 1 to eject ink due to ink sticking due to evaporation of the ink solvent or adhesion of foreign matter such as dust. Prevent clogging of the outlet.

In addition, the capping mechanism such as the cap portion 420 causes ink to be ejected to the cap portion 420 which is away from the ejection port in order to eliminate ejection failure or clogging of the ejection port of the recording head 1 which has a low recording frequency. It is used for the idle discharge mode for discharging the ink, or for operating the pump (not shown) in the capped state to suck the ink from the discharge opening and recover the discharge of the discharge opening causing the discharge failure.

At a position adjacent to the cap portion 420, a blade 540 and a wiping member 54 used in a sequence described later are provided.
1 is provided and is used for cleaning the ejection port forming surface of the recording head 1.

The ink is supplied to the recording head 1 from the ink tank 10 through the ink tube 9 via a sub tank (not shown) on the carriage 201.

Next, the operation of each part of the recovery unit 400 will be described.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the recovery unit 400 according to this example.

Here, 401 is a unit housing, and the following parts are held in the unit housing 401. Reference numeral 403 is a motor that is a drive source for the operation of each part in the unit, and is a worm 4 attached to a motor output shaft 405.
The driving force is transmitted to the worm wheel shaft 411 via 07 and the worm wheel 409 meshing with this.

Reference numeral 420 denotes the ejection port forming surface 1A of the recording head 1.
Is a cap portion capable of abutting against and covering the periphery of the ejection port, and at least a portion in contact with the ejection port forming surface 1A is formed of an elastic member such as rubber. 430 is a cap portion 420
The respective caps 420A are attached to the ejection port forming surface 1 of each recording head.
It is a cap pressure contact / equalization part for making pressure contact corresponding to A respectively and ensuring a close contact state following this. Reference numeral 440 denotes a pump, which sucks ink through the suction tube 444 communicating with the sub-tank 300 provided in the carriage body 201 to supply ink to the suction tube 442 communicating with each cap 420A of the cap portion 420 and the recording head 1. The force is applied to discharge the ink sucked toward the waste ink absorber (not shown) in the ink tank through the waste ink tube 446. The pump 440 includes a pump drive cam 450 provided on the shaft 411 and a pump drive lever 45 engaged with the pump drive cam 450.
Driven by two.

In this example, the tube 44 that connects the respective caps 420A of the cap portion 420 and the pump 440 to each other.
2 is bent upward in the vertical direction from the in-cap communication hole 442A to which the tube 442 is connected, and then connected to the pump 440 located below. As a result, ink is sucked from the ejection port through the cap portion 420 while the cap 420A is in close contact with the recording head, and then the cap is ejected (from the ejection port formation surface to the cap 4).
Do not perform suction processing (empty suction) when the tip of 20A has a separation distance of 2 mm or more, preferably 5 mm.
Alternatively, if not sufficiently done, a small amount of ink remains in the tube 442. That is, the presence of the bent portion prevents all the ink from flowing into the pump. By using this, for example, in the cap state at the time of recording interruption or recording pause, the ejection port forming surface 1A can be kept in a wet atmosphere, the ejection port can be protected from drying, and clogging can be prevented. Therefore, the suction process at the time of resuming recording can be eliminated or minimized. It is possible to prevent ink from remaining in the tube by performing sufficient idle suction during long-term rest or power off, and prevent sticking in the tube.

Further, in this example, when the unit 400 is attached to the apparatus, the pump 440 is arranged such that the discharge side is located vertically downward and the discharge flow path faces downward. As a result, the ink is smoothly discharged from the pump 440 under the influence of gravity.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of means for performing relative positioning by mechanical engagement so that the caps facing and separated from the recording head of the present invention correspond exactly to the recording head. The present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and includes any lever that extends from the recording head side, or any of the recording head or the cap that can be slightly moved to directly face the above. Further, the engaging portion is not limited to the recording means but may be any of the capping means, and may be a support or head for positioning and holding each member, or the cap itself.

FIG. 3A is a side sectional view of the recovery unit 400. Here, reference numeral 461 is an access lever that directs the cap portion 420 to the ejection port forming surface 1A by entering the recessed portion provided in the recording head cover 205 with its distal end portion 461A, and at least the distal end portion thereof is in the recording head scanning direction ( It can be displaced or moved in a direction perpendicular to the drawing). An access lever drive arm 465 is connected to the access lever 461. The arm is also rotatable about a shaft 465A near one end. Reference numeral 467 denotes a cam provided on the shaft 411, and the arm 46
5 is engaged with the pin 468. 469 is pin 468
Is a spring for conforming the contour of the cam 467 to restrict the operation of the arm 465, and is stretched between the housing 401 and the protrusion 463 provided on the access lever 461 to extend the arm 4
The habit of turning to the side of the cam 467 is given to 65.

Reference numeral 471 is a cap holder for holding the cap portion 420, and 473 is a holder guide lever provided integrally with the cap holder 471.
The numeral 75 projects through a hole provided in the housing 401. The cap holder 471 holds the cap portion 420 and can advance and retreat with respect to the recovery unit 400, and the cap portion 420 and the ejection port forming surface 1A are brought into contact with each other in accordance with the forward movement, and are released in accordance with the withdrawal. .. Further, the cap portion 420 or the cap holder 471 can be displaced in the recording head scanning direction. Reference numeral 477 is a spring for aligning the holder-side engaging portion with the cam that restricts the forward / backward movement of the cap holder 471, and is provided at the tip end portion 475 of the holder guide lever.

The cap portion 420 is provided with an atmosphere communication hole described later, and this communication hole is also opened / closed via a cam 513, a drive lever 511, etc. which will be described later.

The advancing / retreating mechanism of the cap portion, the advancing / retreating mechanism of the access lever, and the like including the opening / closing mechanism of the atmosphere communication hole will be described later with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 3A, reference numeral 481 is a lock portion for obtaining a locked state between the recovery unit 400 and the carriage portion 200 in the recovery processing or the like.

Further, in this example, the pump 440 is held by a holder 483 as shown in FIG. 3B provided in the casing side pump receiving portion 401A. This holder 483 has a substantially C-shape, and its pump 44 is elastically deformed and restored.
Holds 0. Note that reference numerals 491 and 493 denote locking portions on the housing side and the pump side, respectively.
It is used for positioning and holding the mounting position.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the recovery unit with the atmosphere communication hole opening / closing mechanism of the cap portion as the center, and FIG. 5 is the recovery unit side with the opening / closing mechanism, the cap portion advancing / retreating mechanism and the access lever advancing / retreating mechanism as the center. FIG.

First, the atmosphere communication mechanism will be described.

In these drawings, reference numeral 501 is an atmosphere communication hole of the cap portion 420. Reference numeral 503 denotes an opening / closing lever, which is a pad 505 for closing the atmosphere communication hole 501.
And an arm portion 503B that engages with the operating lever 511, and is rotatably supported around a shaft 507. Reference numeral 509 is a spring for giving the opening / closing lever 503 a turning tendency in the direction of closing the atmosphere communication hole.

The operating lever 511 is a cam 5 for opening and closing the communication hole.
13 and a portion 511B that engages with the arm portion 503B of the opening / closing lever 503.
It can be rotated around 5. Reference numeral 517 denotes a spring that moves the operating lever 5 in a direction in which the portion 511A abuts the cam 513.
11 is given a turning habit. As a result, the air inside the cap portion 420 is communicated / interrupted with the atmosphere as the cam 513 is displaced.

Next, the advancing / retreating mechanism of the cap portion 420 will be described.

In FIG. 5, the cap holder 471 and the holder guide lever 473 are shown by a chain double-dashed line. 5
21 is a roller provided on the holder guide lever 473,
It is engaged with the cap advancing / retreating cam 523. Reference numeral 531 is an elongated hole provided in the longitudinal direction of the access lever 461, and a pin 533 protruding from the cap holder 471 is fitted therein. Therefore, in the case of this example, the cap portion 420 is guided to the elongated hole 531 during the forward / backward movement. Further, it is linked with the access lever 461 in the recording head scanning direction.

Reference numeral 535 is a spring which cooperates with the spring 477 to urge the cap portion 420 in the backward direction. Also, 20
Reference numeral 5H is a recess provided in the recording head cover 205 to receive the entry of the access lever 461.

In FIG. 5, the access lever drive arm 465 is shown at a position different from that of FIG. 3 for the sake of simplicity of the drawing.

Next, the forward / backward movement of the access lever 461 and the cap portion 420 will be described.

In general, it is difficult to accurately stop the carriage at a position where the recording head discharge port forming surface and the cap face each other. Therefore, for example, a part that can project to the recovery unit side and a member that can receive this on the recording head side are provided, and the former is thrust into the latter to forcefully set the carriage at the position where the recording head side faces the cap. It may be done. In this example, four recording heads are mounted on the carriage, and the weight thereof is enormous. Therefore, forcibly displacing the recording head as described above not only requires a large force, but also It also causes an excessive load on the protruding member and the cap.

Therefore, in this example, a configuration is adopted in which the cap portion 420 side is displaced so as to face the recording head ejection port forming surface.

This will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 (A) to 6 (C).

First, 4 to be covered by the cap portion
It is assumed that the carriage H is stopped with the disposition range H of one recording head and the disposition range C of the four cap portions separately covering the protrusion forming surface of the recording head being shifted by d as shown in FIG. 6A. (Usually, this distance d is a slight one caused by a minute unevenness of the carriage drive motor,
When a large amount of ink is received as in the present invention, a new problem of ink leakage may be caused. ).

When the accelerator lever 461 is made to project from this state, the taper portion 4 of the tip portion 461A will eventually be provided.
61T engages with the recess 205H of the head cover 205,
If the access lever 461 is supported so as to be displaceable in the carriage scanning direction S, the access lever 461 will move to the left in the drawing and enter the recess 205H as shown in FIG. 6B. In addition, the movement to the left of the pin 533
Since the long hole 531 and the long hole 531 are engaged with each other, the cap holder 471 and the cap portion 420 are displaced in the same direction.

Thus, in the state shown in FIG. 6C in which the access lever tip 461A is completely inserted into the recess 205H, there is no deviation between the range H and the range C, that is, the recording head and the cap part 420 are normal. Since it is in the opposite state, if the cap portion 420 is moved forward, accurate capping will be performed.

In this example, the access lever can be inserted into the recess if a certain degree of accuracy is ensured without requiring strict accuracy in controlling the carriage stop position.

In FIGS. 6A to 6C, 540 is a blade and 541 is a wiping member, which can be moved forward and backward by a cam provided in the recovery unit 400 like the above-mentioned parts, and carriage scanning in a discharged state. According to the above, the recording head ejection forming surface is engaged and cleaned.

7A to 7C show an example of the structure of the pump 440 used in this example. The pump 440 has a cylinder body 551, cylinder heads 553 and 555, a piston 557, and a valve unit 559. The valve unit 559 is attached to one cylinder head 553, and the cylinder head 553 is attached to the cylinder body 551.
The upper protrusion 561 has a portion 563 that is snap-fastened (so-called patching) so that the valve unit 559 and the cylinder head 553 can be easily attached.

The valve unit 559 includes a valve body 565 capable of opening and closing the ink introduction ports from the cap side and the sub tank side.
And a spring 567 that urges this in the closing direction.

The piston 557 includes a piston shaft 577A in which a flow passage 556 is partially formed, a valve body 571 and a flange portion 573 provided on the piston shaft 557A, and a shaft 557A.
And a top 570 which is disposed between the valve body and the flange in a loosely fitted state and has an ink channel 570A formed therein.
In addition, the cylinder head 555 has a sealing seal portion 555A.
And is attached to the cylinder body 551 similarly to the cylinder head 553.

In such a structure, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the piston 557 is displaced downward in the figure, the negative pressure generated in the upper chamber resists the urging force of the spring 567 and causes the valve body 565 to move. Since the ink introduction port is opened, ink is sucked from the cap side and the sub tank side, and the valve body 571 closes the flow path 570A,
The ink in the lower chamber is discharged through the pipe portion 575 without causing backflow. After that, as shown in FIG.
When the piston 557 moves upward, the valve body 571 opens the flow passage 570A, and the ink stored in the upper chamber is introduced into the lower chamber via the flow passages 570A and 556. Further, at this time, the valve body 565 closes the ink introduction port, so that the ink does not flow back to the cap side and the sub tank side.

Pump 4 having the above-described structure and operation
40 is attached to the recovery unit housing 401 with a holder as shown in FIG. In addition, in this example, the piston 440 is 1 for one cap, that is, one recording head.
A total of four are provided.

In the case of this example, four recording heads are provided corresponding to inks of different colors (yellow, magenta, cyan, black).

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram of a drive system for four pumps according to this example. As shown in the figure, in this example, the pump 44
Each set of 0s is driven by a cam 450 and a lever 452 attached to a shaft 471 in each set. In this example, the cam phases of each set are made equal, that is, four pumps 4
40 is driven in the same phase.

The operation timings of the respective cams of the recovery unit or the respective parts driven by the cams can be determined as shown in FIG. 9, for example. In addition, in FIG. 9, the "sensor" is a sensor that detects the open / closed state of the cap.

A head refreshing mode for normalizing ink ejection after leaving the recording head for a long time will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 12. In this example,
This is an example of a mode performed in a state where the ejection port surface of the recording head and the cap are separated from each other (that is, the cap itself is in the atmosphere communication state).

First, in order to enhance the effect of recovering the heat retention temperature of the recording head after being left for a long period of time, the temperature is kept from 35 ° C to 65 ° C (60 ° C).
The above is preferable, and it is more preferable that the temperature is 70 ° C. or lower. ). FIG. 12 illustrates the timing chart of FIG. 9 as a flowchart, and will be used as a supplementary explanation.

When the head temperature reaches 65 ° C., each cam of the recovery unit is reciprocated within the range A. By this operation, the piston operates with the cap in close contact with the ejection port formation surface of the recording head, the ink is sucked, the cap moves away from the ejection port formation surface, and the piston operates to empty the ink in the cap. The inner ink is collected. By this operation, it is possible to remove the air bubbles inside the head generated by rapidly raising the temperature of the recording head to 65 ° C. At this time, the access lever moves forward and backward with respect to the carriage, so that the positions of the heads and caps of the respective colors are accurately maintained.

Next, after the carriage is once moved and retracted from the home position where the recovery unit is located to the recording area side,
Each cam is fixed at the position C, the blade is moved forward with respect to the carriage, and in this state, the carriage is again scanned and moved to the home position side to remove ink droplets, dust and the like adhering to the ejection port forming surface.

Next, while reciprocating each cam in the range of B1, the drive frequency is reduced to 3 KHz, which is a half of the value applied in the normal recording operation, and the pulse time is set to the value applied in the normal recording operation. 4μ that is 1μs longer than 3μs
At s, the heater is driven to eject the ink toward the cap arranged oppositely. In the ink ejection step described above, the suction pump reciprocates once while the cam is reciprocated within the range B1 so that the cap is separated from the ejection port formation surface, and idle suction is performed in accordance with ink ejection. The suction pump makes one reciprocation by one reciprocation of the cam in the range of B1.
000 pulses are ejected. The ejection amount of the ink is such that the ink in the cap can be sufficiently sucked by the suction operation by the above-described pump before the ink ejected toward the cap overflows from the cap. When the ejection of 250,000 pulses per ejection port, that is, when the piston reciprocates 25 times, the ejection in the head flushing mode ends. Also at this time, the access lever repeatedly moves forward and backward with respect to the carriage, the positions of the head ink ejection port and the cap are accurately maintained, and the ink is not ejected outside the cap.

Next, after the carriage is again retracted from the home position where the recovery unit is located to the recording area side, the blade is moved forward and fixed at the position C, and the carriage is moved toward the home position side to eject. After cleaning the outlet formation surface, retract the blade, and then move each cam
Then, the wiping member is moved forward with respect to the carriage, the carriage is reciprocated on the wiping member, and the ejection port forming surface is further cleaned to complete the entire head flushing mode process.

Since the ink ejected into the cap is sucked in the state where the cap is separated from the recording head as described above, the negative pressure generated by the pump does not unnecessarily act on the recording head. Good ejection recovery including heater refreshing due to heat generation from the heater is performed.

According to the present embodiment, since the ejection port forming surface and the cap member are separated from each other by a predetermined distance, the ejection port forming surface gets wet due to the rebound of the ink in the cap and the ejection failure occurs. There is no problem of causing.

Further, even if ink mist or the like adheres to the ejection port forming surface, it is cleaned by cleaning after the ink is ejected, so that the wet state of the ejection port forming surface is eliminated, which causes a problem in ink ejection. There is no such thing.

Further, since the ink is always ejected toward the cap and the ink is sucked from the inside of the cap in response to the ejection of the ink, it is possible to use a waste recording material used for recovery. It is possible to recover the discharge efficiently.

Next, an example of another head flushing mode in the present invention will be described.

Since the structure of the main part of the recording apparatus and the structure and operation of the recovery unit are the same as those of the previous embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 10 shows the operation timing of each part of the recovery unit in this embodiment, and the discharge recovery operation in the refreshing mode will be described. In this embodiment, the recording head and the cap are in contact with each other, and the atmosphere release valve on the cap side is opened (atmosphere open state). In the case of implementing this configuration, if the ink ejected in the cap is set to such an extent that the ink remains partially in the cap (the amount absorbed by the absorber) and the suction force by the suction pump is set, The ink surface does not stain the head surface. The embodiment of FIG. 9 is more preferable than the embodiment of FIG. 10 because the generation rate of ink rebound is extremely small.

First, the heat retention temperature of the recording head after being left for a long time is switched from 35 ° C. to 65 ° C. in order to enhance the recovery effect.

When the head temperature reaches 65 ° C., each cam of the recovery unit is reciprocated once within the range of A. By this operation, the piston operates while the cap is in close contact with the ejection port forming surface of the recording head, sucks ink, and then the cap moves away from the ejection port forming surface, and the piston operates, and the ink in the cap is sucked idle. To be done. It is possible to remove air bubbles inside the head, which are caused by the abrupt temperature rise of the recording head in the above operation. At this time, the access lever moves back and forth with respect to the carriage, so that the positions of the heads of the respective colors and the caps are accurately maintained.

Next, after the carriage is once retracted from the home position where the recovery unit is located to the recording area side,
Each cam is fixed at the position C, and the blade is moved forward with respect to the carriage to move the carriage again to the home position side, and the ink droplets adhering to the ejection port forming surface are removed.

Next, the driving frequency is lowered to 3 KHz which is a half of the normal recording while reciprocating each cam in the range of B2, and the pulse time is increased by 1 μs with respect to 3 μs applied in the normal recording. Ink is ejected toward the caps that are arranged to face each other. When the cam reciprocated once within the range of B2, the cap closed (closed to the discharge port forming surface).
In this state, the suction pump reciprocates once, and ink is sucked from the ejection port. At this time, the atmosphere opening valve provided on the cap side is opened, and the inside of the cap is in the atmosphere communicating state. The pump cam moves from the position of 540 ° of the top dead center to the position of 360 ° of the bottom dead center, and 5000 pulses are discharged per discharge port only when the suction operation is performed, and this amount is the amount when the cap is closed. The amount that the ink does not overflow in the state. When the discharge of 250,000 pulses per discharge port, that is, the piston reciprocates 50 times, the discharge in the recovery mode ends. At this time, the access lever is in a protruding state with respect to the carriage, and the positions of the ink ejection port and the cap are accurately maintained.

Next, the carriage is retracted again from the home position where the recovery unit is located, the blade is fixed at the position C, and the ejection port forming surface is cleaned while moving the carriage to the home position. After fixing to the position, the wiping member is taken out from the carriage, the carriage is reciprocated on the wiping member, and the ejection port forming surface is further cleaned to complete the main ejection recovery operation.

As described above, since the flushing mode is performed with the cap communicating with the atmosphere in contact with the head, the suction negative pressure generated by the pump does not act on the recording head, and the heater is heated by the heat generated by the heater. The ejection state including is well restored.

Further, in this embodiment as well, since the ink in the cap is sucked according to the ink ejection, the ejection recovery can be efficiently performed without using the waste recording material used in the recovery operation. It is possible.

In this embodiment, when the ink is discharged and the ink in the cap is sucked, the cap is not opened to the atmosphere but the ink is discharged and the ink in the cap is sucked in a closed state, so that the inside of the ink discharge port is closed. Due to the forced flow of the ink due to the forced drawing of the ink, the position of the foam nuclei of the bubbles that foam on the surface of the heating element and the defoaming position change, and the entire surface of the heating element can be activated well. It will be possible.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the case where the recording head is left for a long time is taken as an example, but the ejection ports which are not used after recording due to continuous ejection from only some ejection ports. This embodiment can be similarly applied to activate the.

By the way, in each of the embodiments, the ejection condition during the flushing recovery operation after the heater activation is set by increasing the drive voltage or increasing the drive pulse width with respect to the ink ejection condition during recording. The amount of active energy is increased.

The amount of electric energy applied will be examined below.

In this examination, the concept of the K value represented by the ratio of the foaming start voltage (minimum ejection voltage) V ₀ and the drive voltage V was introduced.

That is, the relationship between K = V / V ₀ drive pulse width and K value is: T = K ² × T ₀ where T ₀ = foaming start pulse width (minimum ejection pulse width) T = drive pulse width K = K value

In this example, the driving voltage was fixed in consideration of the characteristics of the recording head, and the number of driving pulses was changed to examine suitable driving conditions.

Table 1 shows the effect of ejection recovery when the number of drive pulses is changed according to the K value.

That is, the drive voltage of the recording head is 28V.
K value is fixed at 1.15, 1.20, 1.25,
The number of pulses for recovery is defined as 1 × 10.
⁵ , 2 × 10 ⁵ , 3 × 10 ⁵ , 4 × 10 ⁵ , 5 × 10 ⁵
Set to, and examined the state of recovery. The head drive frequency was 3.0 KHz, the head heat retention temperature was 65 ° C., and the ejection pulse width Top = 3.0 μs during recording.

In the evaluation, after the recovery operation, the printing condition was recovered in good condition, the mark was marked, the slightly recovered condition was marked with Δ, and the condition in poor recovery condition was marked with x.

In the ejection recovery process, the higher the heat retention temperature of the head, the smaller the amount of energy to be applied, and the smaller the amount of ink ejection (the smaller number of pulses) the effective recovery is.

As is clear from the results shown in Table 1, the K value is 1.2.
By setting the number of discharge discharge pulses to ⁵ or more and the number of recovery discharge pulses to 2 × 10 ⁵ or more, good heater activation can be achieved, and good discharge condition recovery processing can be performed. As described above, Table 1 shows that the number of recovery ejection pulses can be reduced by increasing the K value.
It is also possible to set a K value that allows sufficient recovery even with a pulse number of the 0 ⁴ order. In this example, the frequency is 3 KHz, so the allowable value can be increased, but the frequency is 6 KHz.
Then, the number of recovery ejection pulses may be reduced by increasing the K value, but in the present embodiment, there is a limit because the drive pulse width is increased and the K value is increased, so the K value is 1.
The range of 25 or more and 1.30 or less is preferable.

[0100]

[Table 1]

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 11, the main bus line 60
5, an image input unit 603 for accessing each of them, an image signal processing unit 604 corresponding thereto, and a central control unit CPU 60.
Soft processing means such as 0, operation unit 606, recovery system control circuit 607, inkjet head temperature control circuit 6
16 and a hard system processing means such as a head drive control circuit 617.

The CPU 600 normally has a ROM 601 and a random access memory (RAM) 602, gives appropriate recording conditions to the input information, and drives the recording head 615 to perform recording. A program for executing the above-described recovery timing chart is stored in advance in the RAM 602, and recovery conditions such as preliminary ejection conditions are stored as necessary (for example, a command to execute the forced recovery mode from the operation unit 606). It is applied to the recovery system control circuit 607, the recording head, the heat retention heater, and the like. The recovery system motor 608 includes the access lever 609 as a mechanical engagement positioning means for the recording head and the cap facing and separated from the recording head as described above, a wiping member (urethane sponge or the like) 610, a cleaning blade 611, and a suction pump 613. To drive. The head drive control circuit 611 executes drive conditions of the electrothermal converters for ink discharge of the thermal head, and normally performs preliminary discharge, recording ink discharge, and high-level drive conditions in the flushing mode as in the present invention. The recording head is made to carry out recovery preliminary ejection by.

On the other hand, in the thermal head 615, a heat retention heater is provided on the substrate on which the electrothermal converter for ejecting ink is provided, and the ink temperature in the thermal head can be adjusted by heating to a desired set temperature. .. This heat-retaining heater may be a common liquid chamber heater for an external heating method or a multi-ejection port such as 64 or 128 instead of the substrate.
The thermistor 614 is also provided on the above-mentioned substrate, and is for measuring the ink temperature substantially inside the recording head. Similarly for the thermistor 614,
It may be provided not on the substrate but on the outside, or in the vicinity of the periphery of the recording thermal head.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 11, as the normal recovery mode, suction recovery from the recording thermal head by sealing the cap, normal preliminary ejection (less than 10 ³ pulses), or normal blade cleaning is performed. The apparatus of FIG. 11 can also execute the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 as the forced recovery mode. The normal head temperature control circuit 616 controls the head temperature to 35 ° C., and limits the abnormal temperature rise to 70 ° C. for limiter control. In the forced recovery mode, as described above, the temperature adjustment set temperature is set to 65 ° C. Therefore, by changing the abnormal temperature increase limit to 80 ° C., the temperature adjustment of 65 ° C. is possible.

In FIG. 12, steps S1 to S10 are performed as pretreatment steps for executing the flushing mode, and step S11
However, it can be said that it is a positioning step by mechanical engagement in the present invention. The best mode will be described below.

When the flushing mode is selected, the determination in step S1 becomes "Yes", the head heat retaining temperature is changed from the normal 35 ° C. to 65 ° C., and the head is heated by the heat retaining heater until it reaches the limited temperature. (Step S3).
When the temperature is adjusted to 65 ° C., the residual air bubbles in the ink may remain as fine air bubbles inside the head due to the high temperature control. Therefore, recovery under normal suction recovery conditions for removing the air bubbles is performed in step S4. ~ Performed in step S6. At this time, the positioning by the access bar is unnecessary, but in this embodiment, the highly accurate positioning at the time of flushing is used. When this suction is completed, the cap is removed from the recording head (step S7), and then the ink in the cap is discharged in the normal idle suction mode (step S7).
8, S9). This is for eliminating the ink remaining in the cap and for initializing a state in which a large amount of ink for preliminary flushing ejection can be more reliably secured in the cap. After that, in step S10, the ejection port forming surface of the recording head is further cleaned with a wiper blade, which has an effect of removing the cause of dew condensation in advance.

The above 65 ° C. head temperature control is performed independently, but if the importance is placed on preventing the vaporization of the remaining bubbles, the above suction recovery is performed simultaneously with the 65 ° C. temperature control. It is also possible to carry out the heating while maintaining the ink in the recording head in an appropriate state by using the steps together.

Next, the step of reconfirming or finely adjusting the position of the cap separated from the recording head is performed in step S.
Eleven. This step is particularly effective for a carriage movement type and for performing drive switching of the recovery means in conjunction with carriage movement, and is also particularly effective for a configuration in which the cap itself can be equalized. In any case, step S1
In 1, almost without moving the cap back and forth,
Only the access bar is engaged with the carriage to secure the recording head and the cap that separates the recording head from each other.

Thereafter, in step S12, the recording head is made to carry out preliminary ejection at a higher energy than that of normal preliminary ejection (in this example, the supply pulse width is large), and at the same time,
An empty suction process is performed on the inside of the cap. As a result, the deposits on the heat-acting surface of the electrothermal converter for the ink are removed, the heat energy can be efficiently applied to the bubble formation by the film boiling for recording, and the recovery inside the head is achieved. At the same time, there is no irremovable ink adhesion on the ejection port forming surface of the recording head.

Next, in step S14, the ejection port forming surface is cleaned with a wiper blade. This removes the attachment of water vapor caused by high temperature control. In the present embodiment, the wiping in step S14 is performed after the flushing discharge is completed, but more preferably, the wiping is preferably performed once at a predetermined rate such as per 1 × 10 ⁴ flashing discharges. This is because it is possible to prevent dew condensation due to water vapor from adsorbing other floating dust. As a preferable example of this example, when the total number of flushing pulses is 2.5 × 10 ⁵ , 5 × 10 5
Every ⁴ pulses, interrupt (preliminary discharge + idle suction),
It was optimal to perform the wiping, and after restarting (preliminary discharge + empty suction) after performing the positioning in step S11.

The wiping operation by the wiping member in step S15 is carried out as necessary, and in this example, it is adopted for the multi-color recording head. This step is for more optimally restoring the function of the water-repellent surface that is normally formed on the ejection port forming surface. Thus, when the essential flushing main processing step is completed, it is necessary to immediately return the recording head to the recordable state. Therefore, in the present example, first, of course, the print head temperature control temperature is returned to the normal 35 ° C. (step S16).

Further, since the temperature of the ink inside the recording thermal head is high, it is steps S17 to S22 that the ink is discharged to gradually and surely lower the temperature. This step is performed by closely adhering to the recording head by sealing the cap (S17) and suction recovery step (S1).
8) and empty suction (S20, S21) after removing the cap. As a result, the ink in the cap is further removed, and the ink in the head is refilled, so that the temperature is lowered. Wiping in step S23 is to remove ink adhesion when the cap contacts the ejection port forming surface.

Thereafter, when the head temperature becomes 55 ° C. or lower (step S24), printable is displayed in step S25, and the entire flushing mode process is completed.

As described above, the present embodiment executes all the preferable conditions, but it goes without saying that each claimed invention unit of the present invention has respective effective effects.

The present invention is provided with a means (eg, electrothermal converter or laser light) for generating thermal energy as energy used for ejecting ink, particularly in the ink jet recording system, and The effect is excellent in a recording head and a recording apparatus of the type that causes a change in the ink state by energy. This is because such a method can achieve high density recording and high definition recording.

Regarding its typical structure and principle, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
It can be applied to any of the continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to the sheet holding the liquid (ink) or the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to recorded information and causing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, and film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Cause
As a result, bubbles can be formed in the liquid (ink) that correspond to the drive signals in a one-to-one relationship, which is effective. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection openings by the growth and contraction of the bubbles to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape, because the bubble growth and contraction are immediately and appropriately performed, so that the ejection of the liquid (ink) with excellent responsiveness can be achieved. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise on the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the linear liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333, U.S. Pat. No. 44, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
The configuration using the specification of No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective as a structure based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-138461 which discloses a structure corresponding to a discharge part. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be surely and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium which can be recorded by the recording apparatus. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads or a configuration as one recording head integrally formed.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as in the above example, the recording head fixed to the apparatus main body or the ink from the apparatus main body is electrically connected to the apparatus main body by being attached to the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip type recording head capable of supplying the ink or a cartridge type recording head having an ink tank integrally provided in the recording head itself is used.

Regarding the type and number of recording heads to be mounted, for example, only one is provided corresponding to a single color ink, or a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities are supported. It is particularly effective for a plurality of devices. That is, for example, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode only for mainstream colors such as black,
The recording head may be formed integrally or by combining a plurality of recording heads, but the present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of a mixed color of different colors or a full color of mixed colors.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the ink is described as a liquid, but the ink solidifies at room temperature or lower and softens or liquefies at room temperature, or the ink jet system. In general, the temperature of the ink itself is adjusted within a range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature of the ink so that the viscosity of the ink is within a stable ejection range. Anything can be used. In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the ink that solidifies in the standing state is used for the purpose of preventing evaporation of the ink. In any case, the ink is liquefied by applying heat energy according to the recording signal,
The present invention is also applicable to the case of using an ink that has a property of being liquefied only by thermal energy, such as one that ejects a liquid ink or one that has already started to solidify when it reaches a recording medium. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, in addition to the one used as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmitting / receiving function can be used. It may be in a form or the like.

[0123]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the ink ejected toward the cap member is sucked by the generation of the negative pressure in the atmosphere communicating with the cap member. Can be collected satisfactorily,
Further, since the cap member is open to the atmosphere with respect to the recording means, the negative pressure working in the cap is used only for recovering the ink and does not have any influence on the recording means. It is possible to provide an ink jet recording apparatus in which the heater is driven very efficiently for ink ejection performed for ejection recovery including activation of the heater of the means, and recovery characteristics can be improved.

Further, since the recording material is not used for the recovery by ejecting the ink, useless recording material is not used, and further, the ejection of the ink and the suction of the ink are performed substantially in synchronization with each other. It is possible to provide an inkjet recording apparatus which can shorten the processing time and can perform a recovery operation including activation (refreshing) of a heater of a recording head in a short time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a serial scan type color inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a recovery unit according to the present example.

3A and 3B are a detailed side sectional view of the recovery unit and a front view of a holding portion of the pump.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a recovery unit mainly showing an opening / closing mechanism of an atmosphere communication hole of a cap portion.

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the recovery unit mainly showing the opening / closing mechanism and the like.

6A to 6C are operation explanatory views of a cap portion advancing / retreating mechanism and the like according to the present example.

7A to 7C are explanatory diagrams for explaining the configuration and operation of the pump used in this example.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a pump drive system.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a timing of operation of each unit of the recovery unit according to the present example.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a timing of operation of each unit of the recovery unit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an example apparatus in which the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 12 is an example of a flowchart of an apparatus method in which the present invention is implemented.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Recording Head 2, 3 Paper Ejection Roller 4 Guide Shaft 5 Encoder 6, 7 Drive Belt 8 Carriage Motor 9 Supply Tube 10 Ink Tank 201 Carriage Main Body 205 Head Cover 300 Sub Tank 400 Recovery Unit 401 Unit Case 403 Motor 407 Warm 409 Worm Wheel 420 Cap part 440 Pump 450 Cam 452 Lever 461 Access lever 471 Cap holder 501 Atmosphere communication hole 540 Blade 541 Wiping member

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Atsushi Arai 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Hitoshi Sugimoto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Miyuki Matsubara, 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Shigetasu Nagoshi, 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A recording means for forming a bubble by supplying thermal energy for forming to a thermal action part of an ink holding part and ejecting ink for recording, and forming the thermal energy on the recording means. Energy supply means, a capping means for sealing the ejection port forming surface of the recording means, a suction means for sucking ink from the capping means, and a minimum energy required for generating the bubbles. E
_An energy larger than a recording condition of a predetermined multiple of ₀ is supplied to perform 10 ⁴ times or more of preliminary ejection to the capping means separated from the recording means, and the capping means by the suction means in the atmosphere is used. An inkjet recording apparatus, comprising: a forced recovery unit that causes the internal ink to be sucked. 2. The forcible recovery means has a mechanism for mechanically engaging the recording means and the capping means in the separated state to separate and face each other. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an ejection port forming surface and an ink receiving portion of the capping unit are opposed to each other. 3. The mechanical positioning mechanism is a lever for discharging from the capping means side to the recording means side engaging portion, and an ink absorber is provided in an ink receiving portion of the capping means. Item 2. The inkjet recording device according to item 2. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the mechanical positioning mechanism performs the engagement for each suction step of the suction means. 5. A step of controlling the temperature of the ink holding portion of the thermal ink head to a temperature higher than that during normal ink ejection, and forcibly supplying ink into the thermal ink head, and forming the thermal action portion of the ink holding portion. By supplying thermal energy, a drive pulse width of 1.25 times or more of the minimum drive pulse width required to form bubbles to eject ink is supplied to perform preliminary ejection of 2 × 10 ⁵ times or more. And a forced recovery step of causing the capping means separated from the thermal ink head to perform suction of the ink in the cap from the capping means by the suction means under the atmosphere. Recovery method. 6. The forced recovery step includes a step of mechanically engaging the thermal ink head and the capping means in the separated state to separate and face each other, and the recording means by the mechanism before the forced recovery is executed. 6. The recovery method according to claim 5, wherein the ejection port forming surface of the ink is opposed to the ink receiving portion of the capping means. 7. The recovery method according to claim 6, wherein in the mechanical positioning step, the engagement is performed for each suction step of the suction means. 8. The forced recovery step according to claim 5, wherein the step of cleaning the surface of the thermal ink head on which water vapor is condensed due to the high temperature control is executed by interrupting the operations of the preliminary ejection and the suction means. Recovery method. 9. A recording means for forming a bubble by supplying thermal energy for forming to a thermal action portion of an ink holding portion and ejecting ink to perform recording, and forming the thermal energy on the recording means. Energy supply means, a capping means for sealing the ejection port forming surface of the recording means, a suction means for sucking ink from the capping means, and the recording means and the capping means in a separated state. At this time, the recording means and the capping means in the separated state are mechanically engaged to separate and face each other, and the minimum energy E required to generate the bubbles.
Forced recovery means for supplying energy larger than ₀ to perform pre-ejection to the capping means apart from the recording means, and to suck the ink in the cap under atmospheric pressure from the capping means by the suction means. An inkjet recording device comprising: