JPH11334090A - Ink jet recorder and information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce overall size by providing a plurality of means for wiping an ink ejection opening forming plane in the circumferential direction about an axis extending in parallel with the moving direction of a carriage thereby reducing the space required for recovery operation. SOLUTION: At the time of normal recording, the part 2a having no wiper blade is located above. At the time of recovery operation of a recording head 21, a carriage is located at home position HP and a recording head 21 is located directly above a cap part 18. A blade support 2 is turned when the carriage is located at HP and the wiper blade 1a is shifted to an upper position. When the carriage moves subsequently toward the recording region side and the recording head 21 passes above a wiping part, the blade 1a abuts against the recording head 21 to wipe an ejection opening forming plane. After wiping is finished, the support 2 is turned when the carriage is located on the recording region side.

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 capable of forming a high-quality image on a recording medium, a printer using the recording apparatus as output means, a word processor, a personal computer, a copying machine, The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus such as a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, paper, cloth, plastic sheet, O
An ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording medium (hereinafter, also simply referred to as recording paper) such as an HP sheet can perform a high-density and high-speed recording operation. Printer as an output terminal of a personal computer, facsimile, electronic typewriter, word processor, workstation, etc.
It is used and commercialized as a handy or portable printer provided in a computer, a host computer, an optical disk device, a video device, and the like.
In this case, the inkjet recording apparatus has a configuration corresponding to the functions, usage patterns, and the like specific to these apparatuses.

Generally, an ink jet recording apparatus is a recording means (recording head) which is detachably or fixedly mounted.
An ink tank for supplying ink to the recording head, a carriage on which the recording head and the ink tank are mounted, conveying means for conveying recording paper, and control means for controlling the operation of these members. Have. And
A recording head for ejecting ink droplets from a plurality of ejection ports is serially scanned in a direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the recording paper conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction), while the recording paper is set to a recording width when not recording. Intermittently transport by equal amount. Further, the recording method applied to this recording apparatus is to perform recording by discharging ink onto recording paper in accordance with a recording signal, and is widely used as a quiet recording method with low running cost.

In the above-described ink jet recording apparatus, recording is performed by ejecting ink droplets from a recording head onto recording paper. Therefore, fine ink droplets (mists) generated in addition to the ejected main ink droplets and ink droplets on the recording paper are formed. The following problems to be solved arise due to the rebound of ink droplets. That is, if ink adheres to the ejection port forming surface of the recording head and collects around the ejection port in a large amount, or if foreign matter such as paper dust further adheres to such attached ink, ejection is hindered and unexpectedly disturbed. The ink droplets may be ejected (distorted), or the ink ejection port may be blocked by such attached ink or foreign matter, and the ejection of the ink droplets may not be caused (non-ejection). In addition, if the recording head is in a non-recording state and is not ejected for a long period of time, the ink in the ejection ports will evaporate and dry, and the thickened and solidified ink will be clogged in the ejection ports, causing ejection defects such as twisting and non-ejection. May cause.
The ink jet recording apparatus is provided with recovery means for solving such a problem. The recovery means includes ink absorption, wiping, preliminary ejection, and the like. Ink absorption is to absorb thickened and solidified ink from the recording head discharge port, and wiping is to wipe off unnecessary ink and foreign matter such as paper dust on the discharge port formation surface with a flexible plate-like wiper blade. Preliminary ejection is to eject ink in areas other than the recording area before the start of recording in order to eject the thickened and solidified ink.

Here, a recovery device of a general ink jet recording apparatus will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an outline of a general inkjet recording apparatus. Reference numeral 11 denotes an ink jet unit, which is provided with a recording head in which a plurality of ink ejection ports are linearly arranged on an ejection port forming surface, and an ink tank for storing ink supplied to the recording head, as described later. Have been. Reference numeral 12 denotes a guide shaft for guiding the carriage 13, 14 denotes a drive belt whose both ends are fixed to the carriage 13 and moves the carriage 13 at a predetermined timing, and 15 denotes a drive belt 1
4 is a carriage motor for driving the carriage motor 4. The ink jet unit 11 is mounted on a carriage 13, is moved along a guide shaft 12 by a drive belt 14, and is held at a position facing the ink discharge port from the ink ejection port at a predetermined timing during the scanning. Ink is ejected for each ejection port to form a recorded image. In addition,
The recording paper P may be various types of special recording paper in addition to plain paper. The recording paper P is fed from a feeding unit (not shown) to a printing position in the direction of the arrow, and printing for one scan is performed. Each time the sheet is fed, the sheet is discharged out of the apparatus by a discharge roller 16. A recovery unit 17 is provided at a home position (HP) outside the recording area, and includes a cap 18, a pump (not shown), a wiper blade 1, and the like. A specific description will be given later.

FIG. 10 shows an ink discharge port forming surface 22 of the recording head unit 21 of the ink jet unit 11 and an arrangement of ink discharge ports 23 arranged on the surface 22. Arrow Y indicates the scanning direction of the recording head unit 21 (the moving direction of the carriage 13).

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of the recovery unit 17. Reference numeral 21 denotes an ink jet unit to be recovered, which reciprocates in the arrow Y direction by the movement of the carriage 13 not shown in this figure. During the recovery operation, the recording head 21 moved to the home position (HP)
The cap portion 18 is in close contact with the discharge port forming surface 22, and ink is absorbed from each ink discharge port by a pump (not shown) to perform recovery. The ink sucked by the pump is discharged to a waste ink tank (not shown) through a tube. In addition, the cap 18 has a function of receiving ink preliminarily ejected with the ink ejection port slightly separated from the ink ejection port, and the ink ejection port surface is covered with a cover to prevent adhesion of foreign matter such as paper dust and dust and evaporation of the ink solvent. It also has the function of suppressing ink sticking. The preliminary ejection may be performed at a dedicated ejection port other than the cap unit 18 provided exclusively. The wiper blade 1 is disposed between a home position (HP) and a recording area. Usually, the recording head is retracted downward, for example, when recording is performed, so that it does not interfere with the recording head. When the recovery operation is performed, when the recording head 21 passes above the wiping unit, the wiper blade 1 protruding from the recording head discharge port forming surface 22 causes the print head discharge port forming surface 2 to move.
2 and wipes ink droplets adhered to the discharge port forming surface 22.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the configuration of another conventional recovery unit. In this example, a plurality of wiper blades 1a to 1d are arranged at the center of the axis which is parallel to the recording head ejection port forming surface and orthogonal to the carriage moving direction. Each of the wiper blades 1a to 1d is a blade support 3
Attach to 1. The blade support 31 is supported rotatably about a shaft 32 and is rotated by a drive source (not shown). By the way, the edge portion of the wiper blade in contact with the recording head may be damaged and cracked or chipped during repeated wiping. Then, the cleaning ability of the wiper blade is significantly reduced. The provision of a plurality of wiper blades as shown in FIG. 12 is for this measure. In such a configuration, the wiper blades 31 rotate and the positions of the wiper blades 1a to 1d are switched so that the wipers are used once every time or every several times of wiping, or after the cleaning ability is deteriorated. The frequency of use per blade can be reduced, and the cleaning ability can be maintained for a long time.

Further, a recording apparatus having a plurality of recording heads and capable of discharging a plurality of types of inks is capable of performing multi-value recording using a plurality of inks of the same color and different densities. It becomes possible. In such a printing apparatus, if the same wiper blade is used for a print head that discharges various types of ink, ink is mixed on a print head discharge port forming surface, thereby preventing correct printing.
Some apparatuses have a plurality of wiper blades corresponding to each recording head for the purpose of preventing this. Also in this case, the use frequency of the wiper blade can be reduced, and the recording head can be reliably recovered for a long period of time.

[0010]

However, the above conventional example has the following problems to be solved. That is, in a recording apparatus having a plurality of wiper blades,
In the case where a plurality of wiper blades are arranged at the center of an axis parallel to the recording head ejection port forming surface and orthogonal to the moving direction of the carriage and the wiper blades are switched by rotation,
A space must be provided for the rotation diameter of the wiper blade, which increases the size in the carriage movement direction, which hinders compactness of the entire apparatus.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above problems,
An ink jet recording apparatus capable of performing a stable and reliable recovery operation for a long period of time and miniaturizing the entire apparatus by minimizing the space required for the recovery operation, and an output means for the recording apparatus It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus.

[0012]

In order to solve the above problems, an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention comprises a carriage for mounting at least one recording means,
In an ink jet recording apparatus comprising at least one recovery means for removing an adhering substance adhered to an ink discharge port forming surface of a recording means, the recovery means comprises: an axis parallel to a moving direction of a carriage; and a circumference around the axis. And a plurality of wiping means for performing a wiping operation on the ink discharge port forming surface, and each of the wiping means constituting the plurality of wiping means can be switched by rotation of a shaft. Features.

Preferably, the recovery means includes a position at which at least one of the plurality of wiping means can come into contact with the ink discharge port forming surface, and a position at which all of the wiping means are separated from the ink discharge port forming surface by a predetermined distance. It is possible to move between.

Preferably, the wiping means is a flexible plate-like wiper blade.

[0015] Preferably, the wiping means is a spongy member having absorbency.

Preferably, the recording means is an energy generating means for ejecting the ink, and a heating resistor element for causing film boiling of the ink is used as an energy generating means for ejecting the ink.

Further, the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention may be of a color type. For example, the three primary colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) or these three primary colors are black (B)
A plurality of recovery means may be provided to correspond to four types of recording heads corresponding to four colors including.

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention uses the above-mentioned ink jet recording apparatus as an output means, and is preferably selected from the group consisting of a copier, a facsimile, a printer, a word processor, and a personal computer.

According to the present invention, by arranging a plurality of wiping means (for example, wiper blades) around the axis parallel to the moving direction of the carriage and switching the wiping means by rotation, the frequency of use of each wiping means is reduced. It is possible to prolong the period until the cleaning ability is suppressed and to reduce the dimension in the carriage moving direction, so that it is possible to obtain a compact recording apparatus capable of reliably recovering the ink jet recording head for a long period of time. Can be.

The recording medium used in the present invention includes paper, sheet material (plastic sheet,
OHP sheet), cloth, non-woven fabric, etc., to which a liquid such as an ink containing a dye or a pigment is applied. Further, recording refers to the application of a liquid such as an ink to the recording medium (printing, image formation, printing). , Dyeing, etc.).
Therefore, the present invention is applicable not only to a specific field (for example, information processing field) but also to a wide range of industrial fields using a recording medium to which a liquid such as ink such as cloth, paper, and sheet material is applied.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a recovery unit applied to an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. The wiper blades 1a to 1d are attached to the blade support 2, and are rotatably supported around a shaft 3 parallel to the moving direction Y of the carriage to constitute a wiping portion. Further, the wiper blades 1a to 1d can rotate around the shaft 3 by a driving source (not shown). Reference numerals 18, 21, and 22 in the figures denote a cap portion, a recording head, and a discharge port forming surface, respectively, as in the configuration described in the conventional example of FIGS.

Here, an example of the operation of the wiping unit will be described. FIG. 2 is a side view of the blade support 2 as viewed from three directions around the center. The wiper blade at the upper position in the drawing comes into contact with the recording head to perform wiping. During normal recording, the portion 2a without the wiper blade is at the upper position as shown in FIG. 2A. In this state, when the recording head passes over the wiping portion, it passes without contacting anything. When the print head recovery operation is performed, first, the carriage is at the home position (HP), and the print head 21 is located directly above the cap portion 18. Here, when performing ink suction before wiping, the cap portion 1
8 closely adheres to the recording head ejection port forming surface 22 to perform ink suction. While the carriage 13 is at the home position (HP), the blade support 2 rotates, and the wiper blade 1a comes to an upper position as shown in FIG. 2B. When the carriage 13 moves toward the recording area and the recording head 21 passes over the wiping portion, the wiper blade 1a comes into contact with the recording head and the ejection port forming surface is wiped. After the end of the wiping, the rotation of the blade support 2 is performed again while the carriage is on the recording area side, and the state returns to the state of FIG. Further, when the next wiping is performed, the wiping may be performed again with the wiper blade 1a in the state shown in FIG. 2B, but the state shown in FIG. 2D, the rotational position of the blade support 2 is changed every time as shown in FIG. 2D, the next wiping is shown in FIG. 2E, and the next wiping is shown in FIG. 2A. May be. In addition, the wiper blade may be changed every time instead of every time. Further, if the maximum number of times that the wiper blade can be used can be expected, the same wiper (or a marginally small number of times) is used up to that number. You may decide to continue using the blade. In this example, four wiper blades 1a to 1d were prepared. However, two or three wiper blades may be used, and five or more wiper blades may be used. It is possible to increase the number of times until it is no longer possible, or to use a wiper blade made of a material with reduced durability, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in design.

Further, a blade cleaner 4 may be provided at a position near the blade support 2 as shown in FIG. The blade cleaner is for removing ink or the like attached to the wiper blade after wiping, and is a spongy member having a function of absorbing ink, or a blade-like member for contacting and scraping off. May be. In such a configuration, the wiper blade to which the wiping has been completed and the ink or the like has adhered comes into contact with the blade cleaner 4 by the rotating operation of the blade support 2 each time or once every several times, and adheres. The ink will be removed. This enables more reliable recovery of the recording head.

In the case of a recording apparatus in which a plurality of recording heads are arranged side by side in the moving direction of the carriage, it is more effective. By rotating the blade support 2 at the moment when an adjacent print head and an intermediate portion of the print head pass over the wiping portion, the wiper blade can be switched for each print head. This eliminates the need to continuously use the wiper blade to which ink or the like has adhered immediately after wiping, and ensures that a plurality of recording heads can always recover reliably. When a corresponding wiper blade is provided for each recording head, various types of inks do not mix. Further, by providing the above-described blade cleaner 4, the recovery performance can be further enhanced.

As described above, by rotating the wiping unit about the axis 3 parallel to the moving direction Y of the carriage, it is possible to reduce the dimension in the carriage moving direction while holding a plurality of wiper blades. FIG. 4 is a diagram comparing the space occupied in the carriage moving direction between the conventional example and the embodiment. The arrow Y direction is the carriage moving direction. In the conventional example of FIG. 4A with respect to the carriage movement direction, the dimension A occupied by the wiping portion in the carriage movement direction needs to be equal to or larger than the rotation diameter d. FIG. 4 (b)
It can be understood that the dimension B occupied in the carriage moving direction of the wiping unit according to the present embodiment can be smaller than A. This makes it possible to reduce the size of the entire apparatus in the carriage movement direction, and realize a more compact recording apparatus.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention. Portions common to the first embodiment are omitted, and only different portions will be described. This is an example of a recording apparatus provided with a plurality of recording heads.
d has four recording heads. These plural recording heads are different from each other in the type of ink to be ejected. For example, in the case of a device for recording a color image, black,
Often four colors, yellow, cyan and magenta.
Accordingly, four cap portions 18a to 18d are provided at the home position (HP). The rotation axis 3 of the blade support 2 is attached to a blade support arm 5. The blade support arm 5 is supported by an arm fulcrum shaft 6 and can be moved up and down by a drive source (not shown). FIG. 6 is a view of the ink jet unit 11 having four recording heads 21a to 21d as viewed from the ejection port side. The four recording heads 21a to 21d are configured independently of each other, and a space is formed between the ejection port forming surfaces 22a to 22d. FIG. 7 is a view of another ink jet unit viewed from the ejection port side. In these cases, four recording heads are integrated, and all the ejection port forming surfaces are formed as continuous surfaces. The above-mentioned first
In the embodiment of the present invention, when the wiper blade is switched for each print head, a printing apparatus having an ink jet unit as shown in FIG. 6 can be realized, but a printing apparatus having an ink jet unit as shown in FIG. In this case, interference between the adjacent print heads and the wiper blade occurs at an intermediate portion between the print heads, and the blade support 2 cannot rotate. The second embodiment is conceived for a recording apparatus having such an ink jet unit. Since the blade support arm 5 moves downward at the intermediate portion between the adjacent print heads and the wiper blades face each other, the blade support 2 can be rotated without interference.

A specific operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8A shows a normal recording state in which the portion 2a of the blade support 2 without the wiper blade is located above, so that the recording head does not interfere with anything even when the carriage passes over the wiping portion. Pass by. During wiping, when the carriage is at the home position (HP), FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8B, the blade support 2 is rotated at the same time as the blade support arm 5 is lowered downward around the center of the arm fulcrum shaft 6, and the blade support arm 5 returns to the original position as shown in FIG. 8C. Sometimes, the wiper blade 1a of the blade support 2 comes upward. Thereafter, the carriage starts to move, and when the recording head 21a passes over the wiping portion, the recording head 21a comes into contact with the wiper blade 1a to perform wiping.
Further, after the recording head 21a passes over the wiping unit, the same operation of the wiping unit as described above is performed. After the recording head 21a passes over the wiping unit, the same operation as the above-described wiping unit is performed. Since the wiping portion is retracted downward, interference between the recording head and the wiper blade does not occur. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8D, when the wiper blade 1b comes upward and the recording head 21b passes over the wiping portion, the recording head 21b comes into contact with the wiper blade 1b and wiping is performed. By repeating this operation, the recording heads 21a to 21d are wiped by the wiper blades 1a to 1d, respectively, and return to the state of FIG. 8A after the carriage has passed. In this example, the blade support 2 has a portion 2 without a wiper blade.
Although a was provided, wiper blades may be provided at all positions. In this case, during normal recording, interference between the recording head and the wiper blade is avoided only by moving the blade support arm 5 downward. It shall be.

With such a configuration, any wiper blade is not continuously used for wiping, and more reliable recovery can be performed. Further, by providing the blade cleaner 4, the wiping is performed in a state where the ink is not always adhered to the wiper blade, so that a more reliable recovery can be achieved.

Although the wiping with the wiper blade has been described above in general, instead of the wiper blade, a spongy member having absorptivity is provided in the same configuration as the wiping means, and the sponge-like member is formed on the recording head discharge port forming surface. It is also possible to apply to a recovery means by a method of wiping ink droplets or the like by contacting the ink droplets. This makes it possible to remove ink droplets and the like adhering to the concave portion of the ejection port forming surface that cannot be removed by wiping.

(Others) It should be noted that the present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for performing ink ejection, particularly in an ink jet recording system. An excellent effect is obtained in a recording head and a recording apparatus of a type in which the state of ink is changed by the thermal energy. This is because according to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
Although it can be applied to any type of continuous type, in particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to a sheet holding liquid (ink) or an electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding the nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis.
This is effective because air bubbles inside can be formed. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination configuration (straight liquid flow path or right-angle liquid flow path) of the discharge port, liquid path, and electrothermal converter as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat.
A configuration using the specification of Japanese Patent No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an aperture for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration is based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be reliably 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 on which a recording apparatus can record. 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 integrally formed recording head.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as described above, a recording head fixed to the apparatus main body or an electric connection with the apparatus main body or ink from 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 that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself is used.

It is preferable to add a recording head ejection recovery unit, a preliminary auxiliary unit, and the like as the configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If these are specifically mentioned, the recording head is heated using capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, an electrothermal transducer, another heating element or a combination thereof. Pre-heating means for performing the pre-heating and pre-discharging means for performing the discharging other than the recording can be used.

The type and number of recording heads to be mounted are, for example, not only one provided for single color ink, but also a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities. A plurality may be provided. That is, for example, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to a printing mode of only a mainstream color such as black, but may be any of integrally forming a printing head or a combination of a plurality of printing heads. The present invention is also very effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of the recording modes of full color by color mixture.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or lower and which softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. In general, the ink jet method generally controls the temperature of the ink itself within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. Sometimes, the ink may be in a liquid state. In addition, in order to positively prevent temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to prevent evaporation of the ink, the ink is solidified in a standing state and heated. May be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start solidifying when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used. In such a case, the ink
JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-7
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1260, it is also possible to adopt a form in which the sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter in a state where it is held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. 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, the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is not only used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, but also for a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. It may take a form.

[0040]

As described above, the ink jet recording apparatus and the information processing apparatus according to the present invention are provided with the recovery means provided with a plurality of wiping means as described above, so that the frequency of use of each wiping means is reduced. It is possible to prolong the period until the cleaning ability is suppressed and the cleaning ability is degraded, so that the recording head can be reliably recovered for a long period of time.
At the same time, by rotating the plurality of wiping units about the axis parallel to the moving direction of the carriage, the dimension in the moving direction of the carriage can be reduced, so that the entire apparatus can be made compact.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a recovery unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an operation of a wiping unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a wiper cleaner unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a comparison diagram of a wiping unit of the first embodiment of the present invention with a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a recovery unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an example of an inkjet unit having a plurality of recording heads.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an example of an inkjet unit having another plurality of recording heads.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an operation of a wiping unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view showing an operation of a wiping unit according to a second general example.

FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of a recording head section viewed from a discharge port side.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a conventional recovery unit.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of another conventional recovery unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wiper blade 2 Blade support 11 Inkjet unit 13 Carriage 17 Recovery unit 18 Cap part 21 Recording head 22 Discharge port formation surface

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a carriage for mounting at least one recording unit; and at least one recovery unit for removing a substance attached to an ink ejection port forming surface of the recording unit. Comprises an axis parallel to the movement direction of the carriage, and a plurality of wiping means provided in a circumferential direction around the axis and performing a wiping operation on the ink discharge port forming surface, An ink jet recording apparatus, characterized in that it is possible to switch among the wiping units constituting the plurality of wiping units by rotating the shaft. 2. The recovery device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of wiping units is in contact with the ink discharge port forming surface, and each of the wiping units is at a predetermined distance from the ink discharge port forming surface. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink jet recording apparatus is movable between a position away from the apparatus and a position away from the apparatus. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said wiping means is a flexible plate-shaped wiper blade. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wiping means is a spongy member having absorbency. 5. The ink-jet method according to claim 1, wherein the recording means includes a heat-generating element for causing film boiling of the ink as an energy generating means for discharging the ink. Recording device. 6. An information processing apparatus using the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 as output means. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the information processing apparatus is selected from the group consisting of a copier, a facsimile, a printer, a word processor, and a personal computer.