Inkjet recording apparatus

Abstract

In a cleaning unit that cleans nozzles are provided a support base, a wiping portion that moves together with the support base to clean an ink on the nozzles, and a suction nozzle that is provided on the support base through a spring behind the wiping portion with respect to a traveling direction along which a cleaning operation is performed and sucks the ink subjected to cleaning. The wiping portion is moved by a set pin to adjust a gap between the wiping portion and a recording head, and contact cleaning or non-contact cleaning is selected at the time of cleaning. As a result, there can be provided an inkjet recording apparatus that can prevent an ink-repellant coating from being abraded, stably eject the ink, and record a high-quality image.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an inkjet recording apparatus of a first embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a periphery of a recording head;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a suction nozzle from a direction A depicted in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the suction nozzle;

FIG. 5 is a view showing the recording head from a side opposed to the nozzle plate;

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the recording head from the direction A depicted in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional perspective view of a periphery of a wiping portion in a cleaning unit;

FIG. 8A shows the wiping portion in a state where an engagement piece of a wiper support shaft is placed at a lower edge of an opening portion by an urging force of a spring at a wiper home position;

FIG. 8B shows the wiping portion in a state where the wiper support shaft is being moved up by a set pin at the wiper home position;

FIG. 8C shows the wiping portion in a state where the engagement piece of the wiper support shaft engages with a latch portion of a swiveling piece and a height of the wiper in a Z axis direction is set at the highest position at the wiper home position;

FIG. 8D shows the wiping portion in a state where the wiper is placed at the highest position and performing contact cleaning with respect to a nozzle plate;

FIG. 8E shows a state where a cancel operating portion of the swiveling piece is in contact with a cancel pin and where the wiper shifts from a contact condition to a non-contact condition with respect to the nozzle plate at a wiper cancel position;

FIG. 8F shows the wiping portion in a state where the engagement piece of the wiper support shaft is placed at the lower edge of the opening portion at the wiper cancel position;

FIG. 9A is a view showing a state where the wiper moves in contact with a nozzle plate surface;

FIG. 9B is a view showing a state where the wiper removes an ink remaining on the nozzle plate surface;

FIG. 9C is a view showing how the wiper removes the ink from the nozzle plate and moves in a Y axis direction;

FIG. 9D is a view showing a state where the wiper moves without contacting with the nozzle plate surface;

FIG. 9E is a view showing a state where the wiper removes the ink remaining on the nozzle plate surface;

FIG. 9F is a view showing how the wiper removes the ink from the nozzle plate surface and moves in the Y axis direction;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing timings of recording and cleaning;

FIG. 11 shows a modification of a housing and the wiper support shaft in this embodiment;

FIG. 12 shows a modification of the housing and the wiper support shaft in this embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a schematic side view of a periphery of a recording head according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a schematic perspective view of a periphery of a recording head according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 15A is a cross-sectional view (a cross-sectional view showing a wiping portion 22 from a Y axis direction) taken along a line segment A-A depicted in FIG. 15B;

FIG. 15B is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the wiping portion;

FIG. 16A shows a state where a load with respect to a cover is not generated at all at a wiper home position, i.e., a so-called free state and also a state where a cover portion is placed at the highest position in a Z axis direction;

FIG. 16B shows a state where the cover is pressed from above by a set pin, both springs are compressed at maximum, and the housing and the cover are moved down to the lowest position at the wiper home position;

FIG. 16C shows a state where the set pin is moved up and an engagement piece of the cover engages with a latch portion, and a state where the entire housing is moved up with respect to the support base by an urging force of the spring;

FIG. 16D shows a state where the wiper performs contact cleaning with respect to the nozzle plate;

FIG. 16E shows a state where a cancel operating portion of a swiveling piece is in contact with a cancel pin and also a state where the wiper shifts from a contact condition to a non-contact condition with respect to the nozzle plate at a wiper cancel position;

FIG. 16F shows a state where the wiper performs non-contact cleaning with respect to the nozzle plate 34;

FIG. 17A is a side view showing a suction nozzle from a direction B depicted in FIG. 13;

FIG. 17B is a side view showing that the wiper is in contact with the nozzle plate from an X axis direction;

FIG. 17C is a side view showing that the wiper is not in contact with the nozzle plate from the X axis direction;

FIG. 18 is a schematic side view of a cleaning unit according to a third embodiment;

FIG. 19 is an enlarged view of a periphery of a wiping portion;

FIG. 20 is a side view showing the wiping portion from a direction C depicted in FIG. 19;

FIG. 21A is a view showing how a rotary member rotates;

FIG. 21B is a view showing how the rotary member rotates;

FIG. 21C is a view showing how the rotary member rotates;

FIG. 21D is a view showing how the rotary member rotates;

FIG. 22 is a schematic side view of a cleaning unit according to a fourth embodiment;

FIG. 23 is a side view showing a recording head and a cleaning unit in a fifth embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a schematic perspective view showing a recording head, a cleaning unit, a frame, and a height adjustment member;

FIG. 25A is a view showing the height adjustment member;

FIG. 25B is a view showing the height adjustment member;

FIG. 25C is a view showing the height adjustment member;

FIG. 26 is a side view showing the cleaning unit;

FIG. 27A is a side view of the cleaning unit that is not in contact with the recording head;

FIG. 27B is a side view of the cleaning unit that is in contact with the recording head;

FIG. 28 is a view showing a relationship between a leaving time (t) at each ambient temperature and an evaporation amount (μl) of the ink according to a sixth embodiment;

FIG. 29 is a schematic side view of a periphery of a recording head;

FIG. 30 is an enlarged view of a periphery of a nozzle;

FIG. 31 is a schematic view showing a state where a plurality of recording heads are provided;

FIG. 32 is a view showing recording heads arranged in accordance with respective colors;

FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing timings of recording and cleaning;

FIG. 34 is a schematic side view of a cleaning unit according to a seventh embodiment;

FIG. 35A is an enlarged view of a periphery of a rotary member;

FIG. 35B is an enlarged view of the periphery of the rotary member;

FIG. 36A shows a conventional maintenance apparatus for an inkjet printer; and

FIG. 36B shows the conventional maintenance apparatus for an inkjet printer.

Claims

1. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a recording head having a nozzle plate on which a nozzle string formed of a plurality of nozzles that eject inks onto a recording medium is arranged; anda wiper that cleans a surface of the nozzle plate,wherein one of a first cleaning mode in which the wiper comes into contact with the nozzle plate, and a second cleaning mode in which the wiper does not come into contact with the nozzle plate is selected at the time of cleaning, and the wiper relatively moves with respect to the nozzle string to perform the cleaning.

2. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wiper tends to more easily get wet than the surface of the nozzle plate.

3. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, comprising: a wiping portion having the wiper; anda gap adjustment mechanism that adjusts a gap between the wiper and the nozzle plate through the wiping portion.

4. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the gap adjustment mechanism has a first adjustment member that adjusts the gap, and when the first adjustment member pushes the wiping portion, the wiper moves to adjust the gap.

5. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the gap adjustment mechanism comprises: a second adjustment member arranged in the vicinity of the nozzle plate; andan elastic member that faces the second adjustment member and is provided in the wiping portion, andthe wiping portion pushed by the second adjustment member is urged in a direction of the nozzle plate by the elastic member to adjust the gap.

6. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the gap adjustment mechanism adjusts the gap on multiple stages.

7. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, when the wiper cleans the surface of the nozzle plate, the gap adjustment mechanism selects one of the first cleaning mode and the second cleaning mode to adjust the gap.

8. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the gap adjustment mechanism comprises a changing member that changes the first cleaning mode to the second cleaning mode.

9. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the gap adjustment mechanism has a rotary portion that moves the wiper.

10. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the rotary portion has an elliptic portion that rotates, and the wiper moves to adjust the gap when the elliptic portion rotates.

11. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the rotary portion has an elliptic portion that rotates, the plurality of wipers are provided on the elliptic portion, and one of the plurality of wipers is selectively moved to adjust the gap when the elliptic portion rotates.

12. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the rotary portion has a circular portion that rotates, the circular portion is provided with at least one of the wipers, and when the circular portion rotates, one of the wipers is selectively moved to adjust the gap.

13. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wiper relatively moves in the arrangement direction of the nozzle string to clean the surface of the nozzle plate in the first cleaning mode and the second cleaning mode.

14. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, comprising: a measurement portion that measures a temperature in the vicinity of the nozzle plate,wherein one of the first cleaning mode and the second cleaning mode is selected in accordance with the temperature measured by the measurement portion.

15. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the first cleaning mode and the second cleaning mode is selected in accordance with the number of the recording mediums that has been recorded.

16. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first cleaning mode or the second cleaning mode is selected in accordance with a non-recording time in which the recording head does not eject the ink.

17. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first cleaning mode or the second cleaning mode is selected in accordance with at least one of a non-recording time in which the recording head does not eject the ink, the number of the recording mediums that has been recorded, and a temperature in the vicinity of the nozzle plate.