JPH1120187A - Ink-jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve reliability of a reliability maintenance recovery mechanism by providing a cap-cleaning means which moves together with a carriage and wipes ink adhering to a cap means and removing ink remaining at the cap means. SOLUTION: A spring 56 is interposed between a carriage 5 and a holder 53. While the carriage 5 is capped, a cap-cleaning means 51 is in a state in which it is lowered so that an ink-absorbing body 52 can be in touch with a cap means. When the capping by the cap means is freed in this state and the carriage 5 moves in a direction of a print area, the ink-absorbing body 52 of the cap-cleaning means 51 comes in touch with a contact part of the cap means to a discharge face of a head 6 and the interior of the cap means, and moves along with the carriage 5 while wiping adhering remaining air bubbles, an adhering substance such as ink, etc. Each cap means is cleaned in this manner.

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, and more particularly to an ink jet recording apparatus provided with a maintenance and recovery mechanism for maintaining and recovering the performance of a recording head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet recording apparatus used as an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile, a copying apparatus, etc., a plurality of nozzles for discharging ink droplets, an ink liquid chamber communicating with each nozzle, and an ink liquid in each ink liquid chamber are provided. An ink jet head having an energy generating means such as an electromechanical transducer or an electrothermal transducer for generating energy for ejecting ink droplets from a nozzle by applying pressure to a nozzle is used as a recording head. By driving according to the print data, an ink droplet is ejected from a required nozzle to record an image. Therefore, if the ejection openings are clogged due to paper dust, dust, or ink adhering to the ejection surface of the recording head, the ink droplets cannot be ejected, or the direction of the ejected ink droplets is bent. Image quality will be degraded.

Therefore, in general, in an ink jet recording apparatus, the reliability of the recording head is maintained and recovered in order to remove foreign substances adhering to the ejection surface of the recording head and to recover the operation of the recording head which has been clogged. A maintenance and recovery mechanism is provided (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-5020).
4, JP-A-7-47679, JP-A 7-1
01085, JP-A-7-13207, JP-A-7-137268, JP-A-7-17196, JP-A-7-81085, etc.).

[0004] Such a head reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism includes a wiper member for wiping the ejection surface of the recording head and cap means for capping the recording head. Then, the ejection surface of the recording head is sealed with cap means, and negative pressure is applied to the inside of the cap means by a suction pump, whereby ink is forcibly sucked from the ejection ports (nozzles) of the recording head to remove clogging and the like. Further, the ejection surface of the recording head is wiped with a wiper member (wiper blade) made of an elastic material such as rubber to remove foreign matter attached to the ejection surface.

[0005]

However, in the head reliability maintaining / recovering mechanism as described above, bubbles are generated when the ink in the cap means is discharged,
Ink adheres to the portion of the cap means that has come into contact with the head, and remains without being able to be completely discharged even when suctioned by the suction pump, and the remaining ink and bubbles from the cap means re-transfer to the recording head and adhere. However, the printing quality may be adversely affected.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to improve the reliability of the reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism by removing ink remaining on the cap means.

[0007]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a recording head; a carriage on which the recording head is mounted; and cap means for capping an ejection surface of the recording head. And a cap cleaning means which moves together with the carriage and wipes off the ink adhering to the cap means.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a recording head; a carriage on which the recording head is mounted; cap means for capping an ejection surface of the recording head; and a wiper member for cleaning the ejection surface. The recording apparatus is configured to include a cap cleaning unit that moves together with the carriage and wipes off the ink attached to the cap unit and the wiper member.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the inkjet recording apparatus of the first or second aspect,
The cap cleaning means has an ink absorber capable of absorbing ink, and the ink absorber is formed of a member having a cut formed substantially parallel to a depth direction of the cap means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the inkjet recording apparatus of the first or second aspect,
The cap cleaning means has an ink absorber capable of absorbing ink, and the ink absorber is formed of a member formed by bundling fiber members and forming a brush shape.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus comprising a recording head, a carriage on which the recording head is mounted, and cap means for capping a discharge surface of the recording head. The apparatus is provided with a cap cleaning means including a member and means for displacing the ink absorbing member to a position in contact with the cap means and a position away from the cap means in accordance with the position of the carriage.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, further comprising an ink absorbing means capable of absorbing ink adhering to the cap cleaning means. The configuration was adopted.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a main part of a mechanism of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part explaining a connection state of an ink cartridge and a recording head of the recording apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of an essential part for explaining the capping state of the recording head by the cap, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a relationship between movement of a carriage of the recording apparatus and a lift-down operation of a cap unit.

The mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus is as follows.
A guide rod 3 is laid horizontally between the side plates 1 and 2 on both sides, and a guide plate (not shown) is laid horizontally. One end of the carriage 5 is slidably fitted and held on the guide rod 3, and the other end is slid. The carriage 5 is slidably mounted on the guide plate (not shown) so that the carriage 5 can be moved in the main scanning direction (the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure).

On the lower surface side of the carriage 5, four recording heads 6 each composed of an ink jet head for discharging a yellow (Y) ink, a magenta (M) ink, a cyan (C) ink, and a black (Bk) ink, respectively.
Is mounted with its discharge surface (nozzle surface) 6a facing downward, and four recording heads 6
And four ink cartridges 7 which are ink supply bodies of respective colors for supplying ink to the respective cartridges are exchangeably mounted.

The carriage 5 is connected to a timing belt 10 stretched between a driving pulley 8 and a driven pulley 9 which are rotated by a main scanning motor (not shown) to control the driving of the main scanning motor. That is, the four recording heads 6 are moved in the main scanning direction (the direction indicated by the arrow).

Further, sub-frames 12 and 13 are erected on a bottom plate 11 connecting the side plates 1 and 2 to each other.
A platen roller 15 for feeding the recording paper 14 in the sub-scanning direction is rotatably held between the rollers 2 and 13. A sub-scanning motor 16 is provided on the side of the sub-frame 13, and a gear 1 fixed to a rotation shaft of the sub-scanning motor 16 to transmit the rotation of the
7 and a gear 18 fixed to the shaft of the platen roller 15.

In the recording head 6, as shown in FIG. 2, an ink chamber 22 and an ejection port 23 for ejecting ink droplets are formed by a liquid chamber forming member 21, and the ink in the ink chamber 22 is recorded. An energy generating element 24 for applying pressure according to a signal, for example, an electromechanical conversion element such as a piezoelectric element, an electrothermal conversion element, or the like is provided. By driving the energy generation element 24, the ink in the ink liquid chamber 22 is Is pressurized, and ink droplets are ejected from the ejection port 23. An ink cartridge 7 can be exchangeably mounted on the recording head 6, and supplies ink from the ink cartridge 7 into the ink liquid chamber 22 through an ink supply path 25 formed by the liquid chamber forming member 21.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ink cartridge 7 has a foam body 27 in a cartridge case 26.
The ink is supplied to the recording head 6 from the ink supply port 28 via the filter 29.

Returning to FIG. 1, the side plate 1 and the sub-frame 12
A reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism (hereinafter, referred to as a “subsystem”) 31 of the recording head 6 is disposed between them.
In this subsystem 31, four cap means 32 for capping the ejection surface of each recording head 6 are held by a holder 33, and the holder 33 is swingably held by a link member 34, as shown in FIG. The carriage 5 is moved to the engagement portion 35 provided on the holder 33 by the movement of the carriage 5 in the main scanning direction.
The holder 33 lifts up in accordance with the movement of the carriage 5 to cap the ejection surface 6a of the recording head 6 with the cap means 32, and the carriage 5 moves to the printing area side as shown in FIG. Thus, the holder 33 moves the lift-down cap means 32 away from the ejection surface 6 a of the recording head 6 in accordance with the movement of the carriage 5.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the cap means 32 is formed with a suction hole on the bottom surface and connected to a suction pump 37 via a suction tube 36, respectively. It communicates with the atmosphere through an opening tube 38 and an atmosphere opening valve 39. The suction pump 37 discharges the sucked waste liquid to a waste liquid storage tank (not shown) via a drain tube or the like.

Further, on the side of the holder 33, a wiper blade 41, which is a wiping means made of an elastic member such as a fiber member, a foam member or rubber, for wiping the ejection surface of the recording head 6, is attached to a blade arm 42. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the blade arm 42 is
A pivoting shaft 3 supports the cam 44 which is rotated by a driving means (not shown).

Therefore, a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to this ink jet recording apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. The carriage 5 is located on the side of the carriage 5.
A cap cleaning means 51 for moving together with the cap means 32 and wiping the ink adhered to the cap means 32 is attached. The cap cleaning means 51 holds an ink absorbing member 52 capable of absorbing ink with a substantially L-shaped holder 53, and the holder 53 swings on a projection 54 attached to the side surface of the carriage 5 with a support shaft 55. A spring 56 is interposed between the carriage 5 and the holder 53 as much as possible.

On the other hand, on the apparatus main body side, as shown in FIG.
The cam members 60 and 61 are disposed on the rear side of the cam member 1 respectively. The cam member 60 has a cam groove 62 and a groove 63 in which a pin member 57 provided in the holder 53 of the cap cleaning member 51 is engaged, and the cam member 61 has a cam surface 64 in which the pin member 57 is also engaged. doing.

The cam groove 62 of the cam member 60 guides the pin member 57 of the cap cleaning member 51 obliquely upward and causes the holder 53 to jump up when the carriage 5 moves from the subsystem 31 side to the printing area side. Groove for
The groove 63 is provided so that the carriage 5 is
It is a groove for moving the pin member 57 straight when moving to the first side. The cam surface 64 of the cam member 60 guides the pin member 57 of the cap cleaning member 51 obliquely downward when the carriage 5 moves to the capping position by the subsystem 31 to return the holder 53 to the cleaning state. The cam surface.

FIGS. 10 and 1 show the operation of this embodiment.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The carriage 5 is the cap means 3
In the state capped in 2, the cap cleaning means 5
1 is in a lowered state in which the ink absorber 52 can contact the cap means 32 as shown in FIG. In this state,
When the capping by the cap means 32 is released and the carriage 5 moves in the print area direction, as shown in FIG. 10, the ink absorber 52 of the cap cleaning means 51 is brought into contact with the head ejection surface 6a of the cap means 32 or the cap means. It moves together with the carriage 5 while wiping off the attached matter 65 such as air bubbles and ink remaining in contact with the inside of the inside 32. Thereby, each cap means 32 is cleaned.

Here, the movement trajectory when the cap cleaning means 51 moves from the capping position by the subsystem 31 to the printing area side is shown by a trajectory line a in FIG. That is, after the cleaning of the cap unit 32 is completed, FIG.
(A) As shown in FIG.
7 engages with the cam groove 62 of the cam member 60 and the carriage 5
When the pin member 57 moves along the cam groove 62 according to the movement of the cap member and the cap cleaning means 51 gradually rotates upward as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9C, the cap cleaning means 51 is held in a state of being flipped up by the tensile force of the spring 56. In this state, the carriage 5 performs main scanning and printing is performed.
1 does not touch the paper.

On the other hand, the movement trajectory when the carriage 5 moves from the printing area to the subsystem 31 side for the reliability maintenance / recovery operation is as shown by a trajectory line b in FIG. That is, the cap cleaning means 51 passes over the cap means 32 while being jumped up by the pin member 57 passing through the groove 63 of the cam member 60, and the pin member 57 contacts the cam surface 64 of the other cam member 61. Spring 5 by contact
8 is returned downward to the state in which the cap means 32 shown in FIG. At this time, the head ejection surface 6a of the recording head 6 of the carriage 5 is capped by the cap means 32 as described above.

As described above, by providing the cap cleaning means which moves together with the carriage and wipes off the ink adhering to the cap means, the cap cleaning means cannot completely discharge the ink even if sucked by the suction pump. It is possible to remove the adhering matter such as bubbles and ink which are generated, and it is possible to prevent the remaining bubbles and ink from being transferred to and adhere to the recording head from the cap means, thereby preventing the printing quality from being deteriorated.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 12 and FIGS. When the capping of the head ejection surface 6a by the cap means 32 of the subsystem 31 is released and the carriage 5 is moved to the print area side, the wiper blade 41 is raised as shown in FIG. Wipe off the ink
The ejection surface 6a of the last recording head 6 is the wiper blade 4
7, the cam member 44 is rotated to lower the wiper blade 41 to the same height as the cap means 32, as shown in FIG.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 12, the ink absorber 5 of the cap cleaning means 51 provided on the carriage 5
Since the wiper blade 41 contacts the wiper blade 41, the wiper blade 41 that has wiped the ink and the like from the head ejection surface 6a is also cleaned by the cap cleaning means 51, so that the ink and the like do not remain. Therefore, the ink or the like adhering to the wiper blade 41 is prevented from being re-transferred to the head ejection surface 6a at the time of the next reliability maintenance / recovery operation, and the printing quality is not adversely affected.

Here, an example of the cap cleaning means 51 will be described with reference to FIGS. As the ink absorber 52 of the cap cleaning means 51, a material in which fiber members are bundled and formed into a brush shape to absorb ink is used. By using such an ink absorber 52, it is possible to move along the step of the cap means 32 as shown in FIG. 14, and to remove ink or the like adhering to the bottom surface, end face, ridge line, etc. of the cap means 32. It can be removed more reliably, and the reliability of cleaning the cap means 32 is improved.

The ink absorber 52 may be, for example, a brush formed by forming a number of cuts substantially parallel to the depth direction of the cap means in a flat porous member.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, a member capable of absorbing ink with which the ink absorber 52 of the cap cleaning means 51 comes into contact, for example, an ink absorbing means 67 made of a porous member, is arranged near the end of movement of the carriage 5 on the apparatus body side. ing.

Therefore, when the carriage 5 moves to the capping position, a part of the ink absorbed by the ink absorber 52 of the cap cleaning means 51 is transferred to the ink absorbing means 67. Ability to recover. This prevents the ink absorber 52 of the cap cleaning unit 51 from saturating, thereby preventing the ink from adhering to the cap unit 32 and the wiper blade 41, and preventing the paper from being stained by dropping during printing.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, an ink absorbing member 71 for absorbing ink, a position where the ink absorbing member 71 is brought into contact with the cap means 32 according to the position of the carriage 5, and a cap means 32 And a means for displacing the cap away from the cap.

The ink absorbing member 71 includes a base 72 made of a member capable of absorbing ink such as a porous body, and the base 7.
Ink absorbing portion 7 that comes into contact with cap means 32 integrally with
Three. Here, the base 72 and the ink absorbing portion 73 are formed of the same member, but a member that does not absorb ink may be used for the base 72.

As means for displacing the ink absorbing member 71, a roller 74 which is in contact with the side surface of the carriage 5 is attached to the tip of the base 72 of the ink absorbing member 71, and a cam member (not shown) having a cam groove 75 formed on the apparatus main body side. The pin member 76, which is provided as a shaft of the roller 74, and the pin member 77 at the other end are engaged with the cam groove 75. A spring 78 is interposed between the roller 74 side end of the ink absorbing member 71 and the apparatus main body, and a spring 79 is interposed between the other end and the apparatus main body. The tension of the spring 78 is greater than the tension of the spring 79.

When the ink absorbing member 71 is at the position shown in FIG. 16 (storage position), it contacts the ink absorbing portion 73 to absorb the ink absorbed by the ink absorbing portion 73 and the like. Is arranged.

FIGS. 17 and 1 show the operation of this embodiment.
Referring to FIG. 8, when the carriage 5 is in the capping position of the subsystem 31, the carriage 5 is opposed to the pulling force of the spring 78 as shown in FIG.
, The roller 74 is pressed, so that the ink absorbing member 71
Is held by the pulling force of the spring 79 at the storage position shown in the figure.

When the carriage 5 moves from this state to the printing area, the ink absorbing member 71 is pulled toward the roller 74 by the pulling force of the spring 78 as shown in FIG.
As the carriage 5 is gradually moved out of the storage position in accordance with the movement of the carriage 5, and the pin member 76 moves along the cam groove 75, the pin member 76 moves along the trajectory of the cam groove 75, and as shown in FIG. 32, the ink absorbing member 73 of the ink absorbing member 71
In the cap means 32.

Accordingly, the ink and air bubbles remaining on the inside of the cap means 32, the end face, the ridge line and the like are absorbed and removed by the ink absorbing portion 73 of the ink absorbing member 71. As a result, there is no bubble or ink remaining on the cap means without being able to completely discharge even if sucked by the suction pump, and the remaining bubbles and ink from the cap means re-transfer to and adhere to the recording head. In addition, the printing quality can be prevented from deteriorating.

Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. As in the above-described embodiment, the cap cleaning means 70 in this embodiment includes an ink absorbing member 81 that absorbs ink on the side of the moving end of the carriage 5 and on the side of the moving end of the carriage 5, and an ink absorbing member 81 that absorbs the ink. It comprises means for displacing the member 81 to a position in contact with the cap means 32 and a position away from the cap means 32 according to the position of the carriage 5.

An ink absorbing member 81 is provided on a base material 82 which can be folded in two at a substantially central portion, and ink absorbing members 83, 83 which come into contact with cap means 32 formed of a member such as a porous material capable of absorbing ink. have. As a means for displacing the ink absorbing member 81, a roller 84 abutting on the carriage 5 is attached to the front end of the base material 82, and a cam member (not shown) having a cam groove 85 is provided on the apparatus main body side. A pin member 86 serving as a shaft is engaged with the cam groove 85, and the other end of the base member 82 is fixed. A spring 87 is interposed between the roller 84 side end of the ink absorbing member 81 and the apparatus main body, and the other end is swingably attached to the apparatus main body.

FIGS. 20 and 2 show the operation of this embodiment.
Referring to FIG. 1, when the carriage 5 is at the capping position of the subsystem 31, the carriage 5 is opposed to the pulling force of the spring 87 as shown in FIG.
, The roller 84 is pressed.
It is held at the storage position shown in the figure in a state of being folded into a letter shape.

When the carriage 5 moves from this state to the printing area, the ink absorbing member 81 is pulled toward the roller 84 by the pulling force of the spring 87 as shown in FIG.
The pin member 86 expands in accordance with the movement of the carriage 5.
Move following the cam groove 85, and follow the trajectory of the cam groove 86. When the carriage 5 moves to a position away from the cap means 32 as shown in FIG. Cap means 3
2 will be stuck.

Therefore, the ink and air bubbles remaining on the inside of the cap means 32, the end face, the ridge line and the like are absorbed and removed by the ink absorber 83 of the ink absorbing member 81. As a result, there is no bubble or ink remaining on the cap means without being able to completely discharge even if sucked by the suction pump, and the remaining bubbles and ink from the cap means re-transfer to and adhere to the recording head. In addition, the printing quality can be prevented from deteriorating.

[0048]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus comprising a cap cleaning means which moves together with a carriage and wipes off ink adhering to the cap means. Ink remaining in the cap and in the contact area with the head during the maintenance / recovery operation can be removed to prevent transfer to the head, improving the reliability of the reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism and improving image quality. improves.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, since the cap cleaning means which moves together with the carriage and wipes off the ink adhering to the cap member and the wiper member is provided, the cap maintenance and recovery operation is carried out. The ink remaining on the inside or in the contact portion with the head or the ink adhering to the wiper member can be removed to prevent transfer to the head, and the reliability of the reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism is improved.
Image quality is also improved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the first or second aspect, the cap cleaning means is capable of absorbing ink having a notch substantially parallel to a depth direction of the cap means. Because of the presence of the absorber, the residue in the cap can be reliably removed.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the fourth aspect, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the first or second aspect, the cap cleaning means has an ink absorber capable of absorbing ink formed in a brush shape by bundling fiber members. So
The residue in the cap can be reliably removed.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the fifth aspect, since the ink absorbing member is displaced to a position in contact with the cap means and a position away from the cap means in accordance with the movement of the carriage, the reliability maintaining and recovering operation is performed. By removing ink etc. remaining in the cap and the contact area with the head, transfer to the head can be prevented, the reliability of the reliability maintenance and recovery mechanism is improved, the image quality is improved, and multiple colors are Color mixing can be prevented when the above-mentioned ink is used.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 6, in the ink jet recording apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 5, there is provided an ink absorbing means capable of absorbing ink attached to the cap cleaning means. It is possible to prevent the ink absorbed by the cap cleaning unit from being saturated and re-transferred to the head, or from falling onto the paper.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a main part of a mechanism of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part illustrating a connection state between an ink cartridge and a print head of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part for explaining a capping state of a recording head by cap means of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a movement of a carriage and an operation state of a cap unit of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a movement of a carriage and an operation state of a cap unit of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation state of a carriage and a wiping unit of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation state of a carriage and a wiping unit of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a main part for explaining a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a front view for explaining a cap cleaning unit according to the present invention;

FIG. 14 is an explanatory perspective view for explaining the cap cleaning means;

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment;

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment;

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is an explanatory view serving to explain the operation of the embodiment;

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

3: Guide rod, 5: Carriage, 6: Recording head,
6a: ejection surface, 7: ink cartridge, 31: reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism, 32: cap means, 41: wiper blade, 51: cap cleaning means, 52: ink absorber,
67: ink absorbing member, 71, 81: ink absorbing means.

Claims (6)

[Claims] An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a recording head; a carriage on which the recording head is mounted; and cap means for capping an ejection surface of the recording head. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a cap cleaning means for wiping ink that is present. 2. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a recording head; a carriage on which the recording head is mounted; cap means for capping an ejection surface of the recording head; and a wiper member for cleaning the ejection surface. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a cap cleaning means for moving and wiping ink adhered to the cap means and the wiper member. 3. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cap cleaning means has an ink absorber capable of absorbing ink, and said ink absorber is substantially parallel to a depth direction of said cap means. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a member formed with a notch. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cap cleaning means has an ink absorber capable of absorbing ink, and the ink absorber is formed by bundling fiber members into a brush shape. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a member. 5. An ink-jet recording apparatus comprising: a recording head; a carriage on which the recording head is mounted; and cap means for capping an ejection surface of the recording head. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a cap cleaning means comprising: means for displacing a position of the carriage in contact with the cap means and a position apart from the cap means in accordance with the position of the carriage. 6. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an ink absorbing means capable of absorbing ink adhering to said cap cleaning means. Recording device.