JPH09254397A - Washing of ink jet head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To wash off foreign matter in an ink jet head by washing after cutting. SOLUTION: In a washing method, the vibration plate forming one of the walls of an ink chamber is displaced to pressurize the ink in a pressure chamber to jet ink from the nozzles communicating with the pressure chamber. An ink jet head is arranged in a washing soln. container 4 housing a washing soln. so that nozzles are turned downwardly and a tube 5 comes to an ink supply port through a jig 10 and the washing sol. container 4 is put in an ultrasonic washing machine 9 and the washing soln. in the washing soln. container 4 is passed through the ink jet head by a liquid feed pump 7 while ultrasonic waves are applied to the ink jet head and the ink jet head is washed while the waste washing soln. is sent to a waste soln. container 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning method in a manufacturing process of an inkjet recording device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A vibrating plate forming one of the walls of an ink chamber is displaced by utilizing displacement in the thickness direction of a laminated piezoelectric element to pressurize ink filled in the pressure chamber and communicate with the nozzle. An inkjet head 1 that ejects more ink is shown in FIG. The outline of the structure is as shown in FIG. 7, in which a laminated piezoelectric material is bonded onto a rigid member 109 and grooves are formed on the surface of the laminated piezoelectric material to form a plurality of laminated piezoelectric elements 107 that can be independently driven, and ink is formed. A nozzle 111 for displacing a vibrating plate 103 forming one wall of the chamber 102 to pressurize the ink filled in the ink chamber 102 to communicate with the ink chamber 102.
More ink droplets are ejected. This structure is intended to increase the amount of displacement in the thickness direction by stacking piezoelectric bodies and consequently to arrange the ink chambers at a high density. Further, the laminated piezoelectric element 107 is electrically connected to the electrode pattern 108 formed on the vibrating plate 103 and the rigid member 109 for the purpose of facilitating driving from the outside.

[0003]

In the ink jet head having the above structure, the foreign matter in the ink chamber is not covered by the nozzle 11.
This will cause 1 to be clogged. Therefore, in the inkjet head manufacturing process having the above-mentioned configuration, it is necessary to cleanly remove the foreign matter.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, a method of cleaning an inkjet head according to the present invention comprises a cleaning liquid container containing a cleaning liquid, and a jig so that the nozzle of the inkjet head faces downward. The tube is arranged so that the tube comes to the ink supply port side through the inside, and the cleaning liquid container is put into the ultrasonic cleaning machine, and while applying ultrasonic waves, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid container is passed through the inside of the inkjet head 1 by the liquid feed pump, and the waste liquid is discharged. Rinse while sending liquid to the container.

[0005]

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a cleaning method for an inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. In the cleaning liquid container 4 contained,
The inkjet head 1 is connected via the jig 10 so that the tube 5 comes to the ink supply port side. At this time, the inkjet head 1 is designed so that the nozzle 111 faces downward. The connected tube 5 is connected to the liquid feed pump 7, and the opposite side of the tube 5 is connected to the waste liquid container 8. The cleaning liquid container 4 containing the inkjet head 1 and the like is placed in the ultrasonic cleaning machine 9. In this state, while applying ultrasonic waves with the ultrasonic cleaner 9, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid container 4 is passed through the inside of the inkjet head 1 by the liquid supply pump 7.
Cleaning is performed while the liquid is sent to the waste liquid container 8. In the cleaning method of the present invention, not only the liquid pressure of the liquid feed pump 7 can be removed, but also foreign substances attached to the ink chamber are peeled off by ultrasonic waves, and the foreign substances are removed by the liquid flow by the liquid feed pump 7.

[0006]

As described above, the inkjet cleaning method according to the present invention can be carried out in the final step of cleaning even if foreign matter such as cleaning after grinding is mixed in. It is possible to provide an inkjet head having no ink.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an inkjet.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a cleaning method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Ink Jed Head 4 Cleaning Liquid Container 5 Tube 6 Cleaning Liquid 7 Liquid Transfer Pump 8 Waste Liquid Container 9 Ultrasonic Cleaning Machine 10 Jig 102 Ink Chamber 111 Discharge Port

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method of cleaning an ink jet head, comprising displacing a vibrating plate forming one of the walls of an ink chamber to pressurize the ink filled in the pressure chamber and eject the ink from a nozzle communicating with the pressure chamber. The tube (5) comes to the ink supply port side through the jig (10) so that the nozzle (111) of the inkjet head (1) faces downward in the cleaning liquid container (4) containing the cleaning liquid. The cleaning liquid container 4 is placed in the ultrasonic cleaning machine (9), and the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid container (4) is passed through the inside of the inkjet head 1 by the liquid feed pump (7) while applying ultrasonic waves. A method for cleaning an ink jet, which comprises cleaning while sending liquid to a waste liquid container (8).