JPH05270007A - Ink jet record device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to obviate contamination in the interior and exterior of a device and damage thereto even when leak of ink has occurred in the device and a large amount of ink has flowed out of the device. CONSTITUTION:An ink bottle 20 for receiving ink having flowed out into a main body of an ink jet record device is provided and a pair of electrodes 22,22 are disposed in the bottle 20 to detect if the amount of the ink in the bottle 20 has reached a certain amount, thereby detecting the leak of the ink.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus for recording by ejecting ink from nozzles provided in a recording head, and particularly to an ink jet recording apparatus capable of preventing damage to the apparatus due to ink leakage. Recording device

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an ink jet recording apparatus for ejecting ink fed to a recording head from its nozzle to perform desired printing on a recording medium such as paper.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of such an ink jet recording apparatus. A cylindrical platen 2 is rotatably driven inside the apparatus body 1 and the front side of the platen 2 is shown. Has two guide shafts 3,3
Are arranged along the axial direction of the platen 2.

A carriage 4 is provided on each of the guide shafts 3 so as to be reciprocally movable along the guide shafts 3. The carriage 4 has, for example, inks of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black colors. A recording head 5 for ejecting ink is mounted, and a plurality of ink cartridges 6 having an ink tank for supplying each color ink to the recording head 5 are mounted.

Further, a continuous paper 7 wound in a roll shape, for example, is disposed behind the platen 2 of the apparatus main body 1, and the paper 7 is printed along the outer periphery of the platen 2 in a predetermined manner. You will be guided to the location.

Further, in the apparatus main body 1, when the ink is not ejected to the recording head 5, the ink in the recording head 5 is pressurized or sucked to flow out from the nozzle, so that the nozzle clogging or the ink is discharged. A recovery device 8 for removing the air bubbles and foreign substances mixed in the flow path and performing the recovery operation of the recording head is attached and disposed inside the apparatus main body 1. Incidentally, reference numeral 9 in the figure denotes a side plate which is erected inside the apparatus main body 1.

FIG. 4 shows this recovery device 8 and its mounting structure. The surface side of the recovery device 8 facing the recording head 5 is formed with an opening 10, and in this opening 10, recording is performed. A plurality of caps 11 for covering a nozzle opening (not shown) for ejecting ink provided in the head 5 and pressurizing the ink in the ink cartridge 6 when performing the recovery operation of the nozzles. A pressurizing port 12 is provided for causing the ink to flow out from the nozzle port. The recovery device 8 is mounted and fixed on a plate-shaped base 13, and the base 13 is further attached to a side plate 9 provided upright on the device body 1 by screwing or the like so that the device body 1 It is fixed inside.

The base 13 on which the recovery device 8 is placed
An ink absorber 14 made of felt or the like for absorbing ink is attached to a peripheral portion of the recovery device 8 and a side facing the recording head 5, and when an ink leak occurs in the recovery device 8, the recovery device 8 The ink that has flowed out of the apparatus is absorbed by the ink absorber 14 so as to prevent the ink from flowing into the apparatus main body 1.

[0009]

However, in the above-described prior art, since the amount of ink that can be absorbed by the ink absorber 14 is limited, if the ink leakage is small, the ink absorber 14 can absorb the ink. Although it is possible to prevent the ink from flowing out into the apparatus main body 1, if the cause of the ink leakage is, for example, the ink tube coming off, a large amount of ink leakage that cannot be completely absorbed by the ink absorber 14 alone. As a result, there is a problem that the leaked ink flows out into the apparatus main body 1 to contaminate the inside of the apparatus, or flows out onto the circuit board to damage the electric circuit. In addition, if the amount of ink leakage is further large, the leaked ink may flow out of the recording apparatus, and the desk on which the recording apparatus is mounted may be contaminated.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems. Even when a large amount of ink leaks out due to ink leakage in the recovery device, contamination of the inside and outside of the device due to ink leakage and the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet recording device that can prevent damage to the device.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention includes a recording head for ejecting ink from a nozzle onto a recording medium for recording, and recovery of the recording head. An ink jet recording apparatus having a recovery device that performs an operation is characterized in that detection means for detecting outflow of ink into the apparatus main body is provided.

[0012]

According to the present invention, since the detecting means for detecting the outflow of the ink into the main body of the apparatus is provided, if the outflow of the ink into the main body of the apparatus is detected, it is detected by the user. Can be recognized.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, about the same structure as the above-mentioned conventional one, the same code | symbol is attached in drawing and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

1 and 2 show an embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the main part thereof, and FIG. 2 is a recovery device and an outflow in FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining in more detail a mechanism for detecting the ejected ink.

In the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the recovery device 8 is mounted and fixed on a plate-shaped base 13, and the base 13 is further attached to the apparatus main body 1. It is similar to the conventional one in that it is fixed in the apparatus main body 1 by being attached to the standing side plate 9 by screwing or the like, but a through hole 15 is formed in the side portion of the base 13. The point that an ink discharge path 19 is formed below the base 13 and that a detection mechanism for detecting the outflow of ink is provided below the ink discharge path 19 are different from the conventional ones. ing.

That is, the base 1 on which the recovery device 8 is mounted
3 has a rectangular through hole 1 on the side opposite to the side plate 9.
5 is formed, and the ink leaked from the inside of the recovery device 8 onto the base 13 flows out through the through hole 15 downward. A gutter-shaped ink discharge path 19 is attached to the side plate 9 below the through hole 15, and an ink bottle 21 having a funnel-shaped ink inlet 20 is arranged below the gutter-shaped ink discharge path 19. There is.

In the ink bottle 21, a pair of electrodes 2 is provided.
2 and 22 are provided, and the electrodes 22 and 22 are connected to the detection circuit 24 by lead wires 23 and 23.
Between the pair of electrodes 22 and 22, when the ink in the ink bottle 21 is below a certain amount, it is in a non-conducting state, and when the ink is above a certain amount, it is in a conducting state. Then, it is detected whether or not the outflow of ink has occurred. Further, a display means 25 and a buzzer 26 are connected to the detection circuit 24 so that the user can recognize the occurrence of ink leakage.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the recovery device 8 is provided with a pump 27 for sucking the ink flowing out of the nozzles of the recording head into the cap 11 during the recovery operation. Between 27 and pump 2
An ink tube 28 is provided between the pump 7 and a waste liquid tank (not shown) that stores the sucked ink.
And 29.

In the recovery device 8 as described above, a large amount of ink flows out into the recovery device 8 when an abnormality occurs such that the ink tube 28 or 29 comes off from the connection part of the pump 27 or the cap 11.

When an ink leak occurs in the cap device 8, the leaked ink flows out through the opening 10 of the recovery device 8 and onto the base 13. The ink flowing out onto the base 13 is regulated in its flowing direction by the side walls 15, 16 and 17 provided on the base 13.
The ink flows down through the through hole 15 provided in the side portion of the base 13 facing the side plate 9 onto the ink discharge path 19 provided below the base 13.

The ink flowing down onto the ink discharge path 19 is
The ink flows down on the ink discharge path 19 along its inclination, flows down from the one end 19a thereof, and flows into the ink bottle 21 provided further below the ink discharge path 19.

When the amount of ink flowing into the ink bottle 21 exceeds a certain level, the pair of electrodes 22, 22 provided in the ink bottle 21 changes from a non-conducting state to a conducting state, and this change is detected. By being detected by 24, it is detected that an ink leak has occurred in the recovery device 8.

When ink leakage is detected, the detection circuit 24
A detection signal is output from the display unit 25 and the buzzer 26 to notify the user of the occurrence of ink leakage.

The display means 25 and the buzzer 26 are
It is not always necessary to provide both, and if at least one is provided, the purpose of notifying of ink leakage is achieved, and it is also possible to provide other notifying means, for example, means for notifying by voice. Good.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when an ink leak occurs in the recovery device 8, the leaked ink is guided to a specific path and flows into the ink bottle 21, and at the same time, this ink is discharged. Since the occurrence of ink leakage is detected and notified when the ink in the bottle 21 reaches a certain amount, contamination of the inside of the device due to diffusion of the leaked ink to unspecified locations in the device main body 1 It is possible to prevent damage to the circuit.

In the present embodiment, description has been given by taking as an example a structure in which the occurrence of ink leakage is detected by detecting the amount of ink in the ink bottle provided below the recovery device. Is not limited to this, for example, a flow path may be provided for guiding the outflowing ink onto the base, and a mechanism for detecting ink leakage by detecting the presence or absence of ink in this flow path may be used. It is of course within the scope of the present invention to provide a similar mechanism other than the recovery device, for example, on the carriage so as to detect ink leakage that occurs in the path from the ink tank on the carriage to the nozzles.

Further, a valve such as a solenoid valve is provided in the ink transfer path, and when the occurrence of ink leakage is detected, this valve is automatically closed to stop the further outflow of ink. If you have a mechanism like this,
The safety against contamination and damage of the device can be further improved, and various changes can be made as necessary.

[0029]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, by providing the detecting means for detecting the outflow of the ink into the main body of the apparatus, if an ink leak occurs in the main body of the apparatus, it can be detected. Can be detected early and can be recognized by the user, and it is possible to prevent contamination of the inside and outside of the device and damage to the device due to the spilled ink, and an abnormality such as a large amount of ink spill occurred. The effect is even more pronounced in some cases.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of an embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the recovery device of FIG. 1 and a detection mechanism of ink that has flowed out.

FIG. 3 is an overall perspective view showing a general configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a recovery device in a conventional inkjet recording device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Device Main Body 2 Platen 5 Recording Head 6 Ink Cartridge 8 Recovery Device 9 Side Plate 10 Opening 11 Cap 13 Base 15 Through Port 19 Ink Discharge Path 21 Ink Bottle 22 Electrode 24 Detection Circuit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication location B41J 2/165 2/125 8306-2C B41J 3/04 102 N 9012-2C 104 K

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus having a recording head for ejecting ink from a nozzle onto a recording medium for recording, and a recovery device for recovering the recording head. An ink jet recording apparatus, characterized in that a detection means for detecting is detected.