JPS5863464A - Cleaning and maintenance of ink jet apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a clear printing with a better ink discharge by having a gas and/or fluid inject to an ink discharge port from a cap and recover into the cap, which is mounted on the ink discharge port. CONSTITUTION:When a head positioning plate 107 located at the tip of a supporting plate 106 comes in contact with a cleaner head 133, air or a cleaning liquid is injected to an ink discharge port from pressure nozzles 207 in recesses 206 of the cleaner head 133 to clean the ink discharge port. After that, the air or cleaning liquid is sucked and discharge through suction nozzles 208.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cleaning and maintenance method for preventing clogging of ink discharge ports in an inkjet device.

Among the various recording methods currently known, this is a non-impact recording method that generates almost no noise during recording, is capable of high-speed recording, and can record on plain paper without the need for special fixing treatment. The so-called inkjet recording method, which has advantages such as being able to perform the following, is recognized as an extremely useful recording method.

However, the other aspect of this inkjet recording method is that the ink ejection ports of the inkjet device used in this method are extremely fine (generally, if the ports become clogged, normal ink ejection cannot be performed). However, it also has the disadvantage of causing poor recording.

Due to the circumstances described on paper, in the inkjet recording method, it is necessary to provide a means to prevent or release clogging of the ink ejection port (due to adhesion of dust or drying of ink).
V is considered essential.

In the past, many proposals have been made as means to prevent or remove clogging of these four holes, but 1) the equipment becomes complicated and too large, 2) a large amount of cleaning liquid is required, and 2) clogging by cleaning is not possible. It has disadvantages such as insufficient effectiveness,
None of these methods has yet reached a level where they can be put to practical use.

Moreover, these conventional precautions cannot be applied to a multi-array orifice type inkjet device having hundreds to several small ink ejection ports arranged in parallel.

Therefore, in view of the actual situation related to such inkjet recording technology, the present invention provides a cleaning and maintenance method for an inkjet device that guarantees good recording quality even when a multi-array orifice type inkjet device is adopted. The main purpose is to provide. In other words, the main object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning and maintenance method for an inkjet apparatus that guarantees reliable and stable ink ejection with a simple system and enables high-speed, high-quality inkjet recording.

The cleaning and maintenance method of the present invention that achieves the above objective includes: after attaching a cap to the ink ejection port of an inkjet device,
The device is characterized in that gas and/or liquid is injected from the cap toward the discharge port, and the gas and/or liquid is further collected into the cap. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

Figure $1 is an external perspective view of an ink cartridge recording station according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is a recording head unit, and this recording head unit 101 is composed of an inkjet head section 103 having a plurality of orifices 102 arranged in a line, a drive control section 104, and a wiring section 105. The head unit 103, drive control unit 104, and wiring unit 105 are connected to each other by bonding wires, flexible printed boards, etc. (not shown), and by inputting a recording signal to the wiring unit 105, the head unit 101 can be individually connected. It is set so that printing is possible. Reference numeral 106 denotes a support plate for the head unit 101, and the support plate for the head unit 101 is coated on both the front and back sides of the support plate.
As shown in the figure, multiple pieces are arranged side by side to form the width of the specified printing paper (.
In other words, the orifices 102 are arranged in a so-called full line. And each head enits)
101 is attached to the support plate 106, its fixing position in the left and right direction is adjusted by a head positioning plate 107, and its fixing position in the vertical direction is adjusted by a head holding plate 108, and it is arranged to be detachable from the support plate 106. It is set up.

109 is a flexible printed board for transmitting an output signal from a signal output section (not shown) to the wiring section 105K of each head unit 101 via a cable 110 and a connector 111; As a result, each head unit 101K is pressed into contact with the individual wiring section 105, and is electrically connected to each wiring section 105.

- In this way, the print 109 and each wiring part 105 are not joined to each other and can be freely attached and detached. 113 is a plate with a lead terminal rate, which is attached to the head unit 1.
Another signal line 114 from a signal output section (not shown) for driving the head unit 1 of each head unit 101.
A signal line (not shown) directly connected to 03 is detachably connected by screwing or the like.

Reference numerals 115 and 115' indicate ink supply pipes for supplying ink from the inflator 116 to each head section 103. Two ink supply pipes 115 and 115' are connected to each head unit 103, and ink is supplied to the ink supply pipes 115 and 115'. It is also possible to pressurize and circulate ink between the ink tank 116 and the head section 103 by using one for feeding and the other for collecting ink.

The ink tank 116 is equipped with a cylinder block 117 containing a pressure pump for operating the pulp mechanism, and an air filter block 118 having ventilation holes. A removable cap 119 is attached to the cap 119 to prevent ink from scattering.

The ink tank 116 is provided with an ink refill port (not shown), and ink is replenished from the refill tank 120 so that the ink level in the ink tank 116 is kept approximately constant throughout. . This replenishment tank 120 has fixing claws 121, 121 provided on the side of the ink tank 116.
' is removably locked to the ink tank 116.
It is possible to exchange old and new tanks as needed. The ink tank 116 is fixed on an ink tank base (not shown), and is also fixed to the support plate 106 with fixing fittings 122, 122'.

'123 is a head unit 1010 cover provided with grooves for fixing the ink supply tubes 115, 115', and this cover 123 prevents the head unit 101 from being contaminated by ink or the like or being damaged by impact during handling. It is for the purpose of

124 and 124' are positioning bins, which are fitted into bin holders attached to a paper conveyance system (not shown) to maintain a predetermined distance and positional relationship between the orifice 102 of each head section 103 and the recording paper. is now set.

Further, the positioning pins 124 and 124' are fixed to the support plate 106 by respective brackets 125 and 125'.

126 is a substrate on which the support plate 106 is mounted, and is used to attach the illustrated inkjet recording apparatus to an unillustrated device main body. Drive mechanism and orifice 1
02 capping mechanism etc. are attached.

Further, the support plate 106 has its front portion connected to a support plate guide 127.
, 127', and the rear portion is supported by hinge holders 129, 129' via hinge stands 128, 128' attached to the support plate 106.

The hinge holders 129 and 129' are connected to the guide shaft bracket on the base plate 126, respectively, and the guide shaft 131 is connected to the guide shaft bracket on the base plate 126.
132 (the guide shaft 131' side is not shown).

Here, by retracting the guide shaft collars 130 and 130' along the respective guide shafts 131 and 131', the support plate 106 also moves toward the guides 127 and 127.
' By sliding on the top and moving in the direction of the arrow in the figure, the front end surface of the head can be set at a predetermined position such as a recording position, a capping position, a maintenance position, etc., as described later.

133 is a head for capping and cleaning the orifice 102, and the side facing the orifice has an ejection hole for ejecting air or cleaning liquid toward the orifice, and a suction hole for suctioning the orifice. (not shown). The ejection hole and the suction hole are respectively
Pressure side tubes 134, 134' and suction side tubes 135, 135'K are connected at locations not shown, and the joint 13
6 and 137, and the pressure side joint 136 is connected to the suction side joint 1 via a lubricator (not shown).
37 are connected to the pressure side and the suction side of a pump (not shown) through a filter (not shown), respectively. still,
The cleaner head 133, which also serves as a cap, is also set so that it can assume a marking posture, a capping posture, and a maintenance posture in response to the movement of the support plate 106.

Further, the support plate 106 can rotate so that the side surface of the orifice 102 of the support plate 106 draws an arc using the hinge bins 138 and 13g' attached to the hinge stands 128 and 128' as support shafts. The plate 106 is the substrate 12
A stay 141, one end of which is pivoted to a stay angle 140 fixed to the support plate 106, is crimped with a screw 142 to a stay angle 139 joined to the support plate 106, thereby forming a desired angle with respect to the surface of the substrate 126. It can be held and fixed.

Furthermore, by removing the fixing screws 142 from the stay angle 139, the support plate 106 can be easily removed from the base plate 126.

Incidentally, 143 is the tube 134, 13.4', 13
5, 135' is a tube guide for fixing on the board 126, and 144 is a cable 11o1 signal line 11
4, it is possible to prevent the cable 110 and the signal line 114 from being damaged or cut due to external pressure being applied unexpectedly.

FIG. 2 shows the cleaner head 133 in the example shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the external appearance for explaining the detailed configuration of the device.

In FIG. 2, the cleaner head 133 has a pressurizing chamber 201,
It consists of a decompression chamber 202 and an outer lid 203, and backings 204, 204 are installed to prevent leakage between each part.
' are inserted and combined with screws, etc. A direction plate 205 is provided at a position corresponding to the head unit (not shown) on the pressure screen 201, which is on the side where the cleaner head 133 faces the orifice of the inkjet head (not shown).
, 205' are provided, and a pressure nozzle 207 and a suction nozzle 208 are disposed at both ends of each recess 206. The pressurizing nozzle 207 of each recess 206 communicates with the pressurizing joints 209 and 209' via a common groove (not shown) in the pressurizing chamber 201, and further communicates with the pressurizing side tubes 134, 134 shown in FIG. '
It leads from the fitting 136K. Similarly, suction nozzle 20
8 communicates with the joint 137 via a common groove (not shown) in the decompression chamber 202 from the suction joints 210, 210' through the suction side tubes 135, 135' shown in FIG.

Brackets 211 and 211' are attached to both ends of the cleaner head 1330 configured as described above.
These platters 211 and 211' are pivoted on support stands 213 and 213', respectively, and shafts 212 and 212
It is possible to rotate around ′. Also, bracket 211
, 211' and the support stands 213, 213',
Hanging pins 214, 214', 215, 215
The tension is exerted by the coil springs 216, 216' which are locked to the '. Here, Fig. 3 (a), (b),
A support plate 106 on which a cleaner head 133 and an inkjet head unit (not shown) are mounted using (C)
I would like to explain about the four works in conjunction with. Figure 3 (a), (b)
), (C), the hinge pin 138 of the hinge stand 128 attached to the support plate 106 is connected to the hinge holder 129.
The pin receiver is locked to the hinge holder 129 by being pivotally supported in the groove. After the guide shaft collar 130 is fitted into the hinge holder 129, it is locked by a ring 301 via a spring 302.

At this time, the collar 130 is rotatable within the holder 129. The guide shaft collar 130 is slidably fitted onto the guide shaft 13, and the guide shaft 131 is fixed to the platen 132, and the bracket 132 is fixed to the base plate 126.

The guide shaft 131 has three ring shapes #304 and 30.
5306 is provided, and three ring-shaped grooves 304, 3
05306 communicate by an axial groove 307.

A guide pin 303 is attached to the guide shaft collar 130, which is connected to the grooves 304, 305, 306,
The guide shaft collar 130 can be moved by fitting into a predetermined groove of the guide shaft 131, and the guide shaft collar 130 can be fixed at a position in any ring-shaped groove of the guide shaft 131. That is, by sliding the guide pin 303 in the axial groove 307, the collar 130 is moved to a predetermined position, and by fitting the guide pin 303 into any of the grooves 304, 305, and 306, the collar 130 is moved to the guide shaft 13.
It can be fixed in any of the 103 groove positions, 304, 305, or 306.

First, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3(a), the guide/303 fits into the ring-shaped groove 304 at the right end in the figure to fix the collar 130 at the position on the guide shaft 131 (furthest from the cleaner head 133). It is. At this time, the hinge holder 1.29 is pushed to the left in the drawing via the spring 302, and the hinge stand 128 locked to the hinge holder 129 and the support plate 106 connected thereto are driven by the hinge holder 129. Move to the left of the drawing. In this state, the tip of the support plate 106 is attached to the cleaner head 133 (
...This one crashes onto the support stand 213 and stands upright)
It is separated from. Therefore, the support plate 106 is connected to the substrate 126.
The support plate 106 can be fixed at a position away from the cleaner head 133 at an angle to the surface of the substrate 126 by rotating the support plate 106 about the hinge pin 138. It is easy to perform maintenance work on the head 133.

FIG. 3(b) shows the state when the guide bin 303 is fitted into the 2-IIth ring-shaped groove 305 from the right on the guide shaft 131. At this time, the support plate 106 moves to the left in the drawing in the same manner as in the case of FIG. 3(a).

The support plate 106 is further moved to the left in the drawing by the distance between the ring-shaped grooves 304 and 305 compared to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3(a), and the head positioning plate 107 located at the tip of the support plate 106 is It comes into contact with the cleaner head 133.

In this state, the orifice 102 of each head portion 103 shown in FIG.
It is located in each concave portion 2o6 (shown in the second figure) to prevent clogging of the orifice 1o2 (shown in the first figure) during non-recording and to supply air or cleaning liquid from the pressure nozzle 207 (both shown in the second figure). After spraying, these are sucked into the suction nozzle 208 (shown in the second figure).
By inhaling and discharging it, the surface of the Oriace can be protected by capping and cleaned.

FIG. 3(C) shows a state in which the guide bin 303 is fitted into the third ring-shaped groove 306.

When moving the guide bin 303 from the second ring-shaped groove 305 through the axial groove 307 to the third ring-shaped #11306, the bracket at the end of the cleaner head 133)
211 is attached to the lower part of the support plate 106, and one 9 roller 3
It is pushed down to the left in the drawing by a roller 309 pivotally supported by 08. When the guide bin 303 is fitted into the third ring-shaped groove 306 in this way, it is fixed in the state shown in FIG. 3(C), and the positioning bins 124 and 124' shown in FIG. (shown in the figure), the orifice 102 is set at a predetermined distance from the paper surface, thereby enabling the inkjet head section 103 to perform a printing operation.

@4 Figures (a), (b), and (C) are cross-sectional views for explaining in more detail the positional relationship between the multi-head section 103 and the cleaner head 133 in the state of Figure 3 (b). .

Note that FIG. 4(a) is a partial cross-sectional view of the cleaner head when cut in the longitudinal direction, and FIG. 4(b) is a partial cross-sectional view of the cleaner head at the position where the pressure nozzle is located. FIG. 4(C) is a partial cross-sectional view when the cleaner head is cut in the short side direction at a position where the suction nozzle is located.

@4 In Figures (a), (b), and (C), the cleaner head 133 connects the positioning plate 107 with the flat surface 401 of the pressurizing chamber 201, and the inkjet head with the convex portion 402 of the pressurizing chamber 201. In contact with 103. Then, the direction plates 205 and 205' come into contact with the head positioning plate 1o, and the oriice surface 403 of the head section 103
It is almost sealed in the recess 206 of 01.

Therefore, if the arrangement of the cleaner head 133 and the head unit 103 is kept in the state shown in FIG. In addition, even if printing defects occur due to clogging of the orifice or adhesion of dirt, if air or cleaning liquid is injected from the pressure nozzle 207, the air can be removed from the direction plate 205. Alternatively, the cleaning liquid is sprayed toward the orifice surface 403,
By suctioning and discharging from the suction nozzle 208, clogging and dirt can be particularly easily removed. Pressure nozzle 2
07, the suction nozzle 208 is connected to the common grooves 404 and 405 in the pressurizing chamber 201 and the depressurizing chamber 202, and the pressurizing joint 209, respectively.
, 209' suction joint 21o.

210'.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a system for pumping and suctioning air or cleaning liquid to the L1 cleaner head 133. In FIG. 5, 501 is a pump, 50
2, 506 is a three-way valve, 503 is a check valve, 50
4 is an accumulator, 50 to 507 is a pressure switch, 5
08 is Luprikata, 509 is Filter, 510, 51
1.-519 is a pipe.

First, air is pumped into the accumulator 504 by the pump 501. Inside the accumulator 504 (when the D pressure reaches a predetermined pressure, the pressure switch 505 is activated and the pump 50
1 stops and directs the three-way valve 502 in a direction that connects the pipes 510 and 511.

When the pressure in the accumulator 504 reaches a predetermined pressure, when the three-way valve 506 connects the pipes 514 and 516, the pressurized air in the accumulator 5o4 is
Pipe 514. 516 Ruprikenita 508, Pi 2,
517, Micro Cub j-136, Pressure side tube 1
34 to the cleaner head 133. At this time, the pump 501 is activated by the Kuda switch 507 attached to the pipe 516, and negative pressure is generated from the cleaner head 133 through the suction side tube 135, the micro coupler 137, the tube 518, the filter 509, and the pipe 519. Air is sucked in. In other words, the pump 501 operates when the pressure inside the accumulator 504 is below a predetermined pressure or when the pressure inside the pipe 516 exceeds a predetermined pressure, and when the pressure inside the accumulator 504 reaches a predetermined pressure. It also operates when the pressure is higher than that.

When the pressure in the accumulator 504 exceeds a predetermined pressure and the pressure switch 507 operates the pump 501, the pressure switch 505 causes the pressurized air from the pump 501 to be discharged from the three-way valve 502 through the pipe 511. When the three-way valve 506 is turned in the direction in which the pipes 515 and 516 communicate, the pressurized air is stopped, the pressurized air between the three-way valve 506 and the lubricator 508 is exhausted through the pipe 515, and the pressure switch 507 stops the pump 501.

Further, if cleaning liquid is placed in the lubricator 508, it is possible to send only pressurized air or to forcefully feed the cleaning liquid by adjusting the valve of the lubricator 508.

In the above text, detailed explanations of the ink supply system related to the inkjet head unit, the drive system of the head, etc. are omitted for convenience.

By using the cleaning and maintenance method according to the present invention as described above, ① With an extremely simple system, clogging of multiple ink ejection ports can be prevented at the same time, and furthermore, clogging can also be cleared, resulting in a stable system at all times. Inkjet recording can be guaranteed.

■ It is possible to completely prevent ink discharge ports from becoming clogged or clogged due to drying of ink or adhesion of dust, etc., without requiring complicated auxiliary equipment.

(2) Since the inkjet device and its capping member can be easily and accurately positioned (aligned), clogging prevention capping and clogging removal can be reliably achieved.

It is possible to obtain various effects such as.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention, $2 is an external perspective view showing the detailed structure of the cleaner head, and FIGS. An explanatory diagram of the operation of the device, FIG. 4(a). FIG. 4(b) and (C) are partial sectional views for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the cleaning system of the present invention. In the figure, 1 (11 is a recording head unit, 102 is an orifice, 103 is an inkjet head section, 104 is a drive control section, 105 is a wiring section, 106 is a support plate, 107
is the head positioning plate, 108 is the head holding plate, 109
110 is a printed board, 110 is a cable, 111 is a connector, 112 is a pressing jig, 113 is a lead terminal mounting plate, 11
4 is a signal line, 115, 115' Hiro ink supply pipe, 11
6. 120 is an ink tank, 118 is an air filter block, 121, 121' is a fixing claw 122, 12
2' is a fixing metal fitting, 123 is a cover, 124° 124' is a positioning pin, 125, 125', 132, 21
1. 211' is a bracket, 126 is a board, 127, 12
7' Hiro support plate guide, 128, 128' are hinge stands,
129°129' is a hinge holder, 130, 130
' is the guide shaft collar, 131, 131' is the guide shaft,
]33 is a cleaner head, 134, 134', 1
35, 135' are tubes, 1'36, 137,
209, 209', 210, 210' are joints, 1
38° 138' line hinge bin, 139, 140 stay angle, 141 stay, 142a screw, 143 tube guide, 144 protective case, 2o1 pressurization chamber, 202 decompression chamber, 203 outer cover, 205, 205 '
is a direction plate, 206 is a recess, 207 is a pressure nozzle, 20g
is a suction nozzle, 212, 212' is a shaft, 213, 2
13' is a support stand, 214, 214', 215, 2
15' is a pin, 216, 216'. 302 is a spring, 3o1 is a ring, 3o3 is a guide pin,
304, 305, 306, 307 are grooves, 308 is one roller, 309 is a roller, 403 is an orifice surface, 404°405 is a common groove, 501 is a pump, 502
, 503, 506 are valves, 504 are accumulators, 5
05, 507 is a pressure switch, 508 is a lubricator, 5o9 is a filter, 510.511, 512,
513, 514, 515. 516, 517, 518, and 519 are pipes. Patent applicant Canon Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] After attaching a cap to the ink ejection port of an inkjet device, gas and/or gas is supplied from the cap to the ink ejection port.
A method for purifying and maintaining an inkjet device, characterized by ejecting liquid and collecting the liquid in the cap.