Patent Grant
10081190
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for maintenance of a liquid discharge head and a liquid discharge apparatus, and more particularly, to a technique for maintenance of a liquid discharge head.
2. Description of the Related Art
When an ink jet liquid discharge head discharges liquid from nozzles, liquid adheres to the peripheries of the nozzles and the inside of the nozzles. When liquid adheres to the peripheries of the nozzles and the inside of the nozzles, a cause of the deterioration of discharge performance, such as the occurrence of flying bending of liquid, occurs.
The maintenance of a liquid discharge head is regularly performed in a liquid discharge apparatus, which includes the liquid discharge head, to suppress the deterioration of discharge performance. Examples of the maintenance of the liquid discharge head include wiping processing for a liquid discharge surface and purge processing.
JP2012-51184A and JP2013-71360A disclose wiping devices that wipe the liquid discharge surface of a liquid discharge head. Each of the wiping devices disclosed in JP2012-51184A and JP2013-71360A removes liquid and the like adhering to the liquid discharge surface by making a rotating wiping member be in contact with the liquid discharge surface and wiping the liquid discharge surface.
Terms of “the liquid discharge head”, “the liquid discharge surface”, and “the wiping member” correspond to terms of “an ink jet head”, “a nozzle surface”, and “a wiping pad” of JP2012-51184A and JP2013-71360A, respectively.
JP2013-199081A discloses a liquid discharge apparatus that wipes a liquid discharge surface by using a wiping member of which the surface has been subjected to raising. The liquid discharge apparatus disclosed in JP2013-199081A wipes the inside of nozzles by allowing raised yarn portions of the wiping member to be thrust into the nozzles when wiping a liquid discharge surface by using a wiping member.
Terms of “the wiping member”, “the liquid discharge surface”, and “the liquid discharge apparatus” correspond to terms of “a wiping web”, “a nozzle surface”, and “a liquid droplet discharge apparatus” of JP2013-199081A, respectively.
Various countermeasures in the related art have been taken as a method of suppressing the deterioration of the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head that is caused by materials adhering to the liquid discharge surface or adhering materials that are present in the nozzles. However, an effect of recovering the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head has been insufficient.
The wiping device disclosed in JP2012-51184A and the wiping device disclosed in JP2013-71360A can remove the materials adhering to the peripheries of the nozzles and materials adhering to the liquid discharge surface, but it is difficult for the wiping devices to remove the adhering materials that are present in the nozzles. For this reason, the recovery of the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head is insufficient.
The liquid discharge apparatus disclosed in JP2013-199081A removes adhering materials, which are present in the nozzles, by making the raised yarn, which is formed on the surface of the wiping member, be thrust into the nozzles. However, when the raised yarn is made to be thrust into the nozzles and wipes the inside of the nozzles, bubbles are trapped in the nozzles. For this reason, the number of abnormal nozzles in which a flight direction is significantly bent is increased. As a result, the recovery of the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head is insufficient.
The invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the invention is to provide a method for maintenance of a liquid discharge head and a liquid discharge apparatus that stably and reliably recover the discharge performance of a liquid discharge head of which the discharge performance has deteriorated.
In order to achieve the object, a first aspect provides a method for maintenance of a liquid discharge head. The method comprises: a wiping processing step of performing wiping processing on a liquid discharge surface by eccentrically rotating a wiping surface of a wiping member, which includes raised irregularities on the wiping surface thereof, in a plane parallel to the liquid discharge surface of a liquid discharge head and moving the wiping member in a first direction in a state in which the wiping surface is in contact with the liquid discharge surface; and a post-wiping processing purge processing step of performing post-wiping processing purge processing for discharging liquid, which is present in the liquid discharge head, from a plurality of nozzles provided on the liquid discharge surface by adjusting internal pressure of the liquid discharge head to a pressure, which is equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure, after the wiping processing step. An eccentric parameter as a value obtained by dividing an eccentric distance, which is represented by a distance between a center of noneccentric rotation and a center of eccentric rotation of the wiping surface, by an interval between the nozzles in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, is set to 10 or more, the wiping member is eccentrically rotated, and a pressing force, which allows the irregularities of the wiping surface to be thrust into the nozzles, is applied to the wiping member to make the wiping surface come into contact with the liquid discharge surface, so that the wiping processing is performed on the liquid discharge surface in the wiping processing step.
According to the first aspect, the nozzles can be wiped in multiple directions since the wiping surface is eccentrically rotated. Further, since the wiping surface including raised irregularities is used, adhering materials present in the nozzles can be removed by the raised irregularities thrust into the nozzles. Since the purge processing is performed after the wiping processing, bubbles present in the nozzles can be discharged. Accordingly, it is possible to lengthen the life of the liquid discharge head by recovering the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head of which the discharge state has deteriorated due to the deterioration of discharge performance.
The direction of eccentricity may be a direction that is parallel to the second direction, and may be a direction that is not parallel to the second direction. Examples of the direction, which is not parallel to the second direction, include the first direction orthogonal to the second direction.
According to a second aspect, the method according to the first aspect further comprises a wiping-internal-pressure setting step of setting a set value of the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head of the wiping processing step to a value equal to or larger than a set value of the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head that is set at the time of liquid discharge performed on the basis of input discharge data.
According to the second aspect, the trapping of bubbles in the nozzles at the time of the wiping processing, which uses the wiping member including the raised irregularities on the wiping surface thereof, is suppressed.
According to a third aspect, the method according to the first or second aspect further comprises a purge period setting step of setting a purge period of the post-wiping processing purge processing step to a period three or more times as long as a standard purge period that is a processing period of a standard purge processing step.
According to the third aspect, bubbles trapped in the nozzles can be discharged by the post-wiping processing purge processing even though bubbles are trapped in the nozzles when wiping processing using the wiping member, which includes the raised irregularities on the wiping surface thereof, is performed.
According to a fourth aspect, in the method according to the third aspect, in the purge period setting step, the purge period of the post-wiping processing purge processing step is set to a period five or less times as long as the standard purge period.
According to the fourth aspect, the consumption of liquid is suppressed while the discharge of bubbles, which are present in the nozzles, performed by the post-wiping processing purge processing is maintained.
According to a fifth aspect, in the method according to the third or fourth aspect, in the purge period setting step, a processing period of purge processing in a case in which the purge processing is performed alone or a processing period of purge processing at the time of initialization processing is set to the standard purge period.
In the fifth aspect, from the viewpoint of conditions, such as the structure of the liquid discharge head, the type of liquid to be used, and the environment of the apparatus, and the suppression of the consumption of liquid in the purge processing, the standard purge period is determined as a period in which certain effective effects are obtained.
According to a sixth aspect, in the method according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, in the wiping processing step, the eccentric parameter is set to 20 or more and the wiping member is eccentrically rotated.
According to the sixth aspect, the recovery state of the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head can be made to be a higher recovery state.
According to a seventh aspect, in the method according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, in the wiping processing step, the eccentric parameter is set to 33 or more and the wiping member is eccentrically rotated.
According to the seventh aspect, a variation in the recovery state of the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head is suppressed. Accordingly, the recovery state of the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head can be stably made to be a high recovery state.
According to an eighth aspect, in the method according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, in the wiping processing step, the eccentric parameter is set to be equal to or smaller than a value where the eccentric distance is obtained as a value smaller than a half of the maximum length of the wiping surface, and the wiping member is eccentrically rotated.
According to the eighth aspect, the upper limit of the eccentric parameter can be determined from the size of the wiping member.
According to a ninth aspect, in the method according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, in the wiping processing step, the center of eccentric rotation of the wiping surface is moved on a straight line along the first direction on the liquid discharge surface.
According to the ninth aspect, the liquid discharge surface can be wiped in multiple directions while the wiping surface is moved in one direction.
According to a tenth aspect, in the method according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, a wiping surface, which has the maximum length corresponding to the entire length of the liquid discharge surface in the second direction, is used in the wiping processing step, and the center of eccentric rotation of the wiping surface is moved along a straight line that bisects the entire length of the liquid discharge surface in the second direction and is parallel to the first direction of the liquid discharge surface.
According to the tenth aspect, when the wiping member is eccentrically rotated one time, the wiping member can be made to come into contact with the liquid discharge surface over the entire length of the liquid discharge surface in the second direction. Accordingly, the entire liquid discharge surface can be wiped even though the wiping member is moved relative to the liquid discharge surface only one time.
The liquid discharge surface includes at least nozzle forming area in which the nozzles are formed. The liquid discharge surface may include a support member that supports the nozzle forming area.
According to an eleventh aspect, in the method according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, the wiping member is made to reciprocate in the first direction in the wiping processing step.
According to the eleventh aspect, since the number of times of contact between the liquid discharge surface and the wiping surface of the wiping member is increased, a wiping effect of removing adhering materials can be improved.
According to a twelfth aspect, in the method according to any one of the first to eleventh aspects, a liquid discharge head having a structure in which a longitudinal direction is the first direction, a lateral direction is the second direction, and the plurality of nozzles are arranged two-dimensionally on the liquid discharge surface is wiped in the wiping processing step.
Examples of the liquid discharge head having a structure in which a longitudinal direction is the first direction and a lateral direction is the second direction include a full-line type liquid discharge head where a direction in which the liquid discharge head and a medium are transported relative to each other is the second direction, a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the liquid discharge head and the medium are transported is the first direction, and nozzles are provided over a length corresponding to the entire length of the medium in the first direction.
A thirteenth aspect provides a liquid discharge apparatus comprising: a liquid discharge head; a wiping processing unit that performs wiping processing on a liquid discharge surface of the liquid discharge head; a wiping control unit that controls an operation of the wiping processing unit; a purge processing unit that performs post-wiping processing purge processing for discharging liquid, which is present in the liquid discharge head, from a plurality of nozzles provided on the liquid discharge surface after the wiping processing performed by the wiping processing unit; and a purge control unit that adjusts internal pressure of the liquid discharge head to a pressure equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure. The wiping processing unit includes a wiping member that includes raised irregularities on a wiping surface thereof to be in contact with the liquid discharge surface, and has a structure for setting an eccentric parameter as a value obtained by dividing an eccentric distance, which is represented by a distance between a center of noneccentric rotation and a center of eccentric rotation of the wiping surface, by an interval between the nozzles in a second direction, which is orthogonal to a first direction, to 10 or more and eccentrically rotating the wiping member. The wiping control unit makes the wiping surface come into contact with the liquid discharge surface by applying a pressing force, which allows the irregularities of the wiping surface to be thrust into the nozzles, to the wiping member, eccentrically rotates the wiping surface in a plane parallel to the liquid discharge surface of the liquid discharge head, and moves the wiping member in the first direction in a state in which the wiping surface is in contact with the liquid discharge surface.
In the thirteenth aspect, it is preferable that the liquid discharge apparatus further includes a wiping-internal-pressure setting section for setting a set value of the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head of the wiping processing unit to a value equal to or larger than a set value of the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head that is set at the time of liquid discharge performed on the basis of input discharge data.
Examples of a wiping condition setting section, which sets the condition of the wiping processing performed by the wiping processing unit, can include a wiping-internal-pressure setting section.
In the thirteenth aspect, it is preferable that the liquid discharge apparatus further includes a purge period setting section for setting a purge period of the post-wiping processing purge processing to a period three or more times as long as a standard purge period that is a processing period of standard purge processing.
In the thirteenth aspect, it is preferable that the purge period setting section sets a purge period of the post-wiping processing purge processing to a period five or less times as long as the standard purge period.
In the thirteenth aspect, it is preferable that the purge period setting section sets a processing period of purge processing, which is obtained in a case in which the purge processing is performed alone, or a processing period of purge processing, which is obtained at the time of initialization processing, to the standard purge period.
Examples of a purge condition setting section, which sets the condition of the purge processing performed by the purge processing unit, can include a purge period setting section.
In the thirteenth aspect, it is preferable that the wiping processing unit sets the eccentric parameter to 20 or more and eccentrically rotates the wiping member.
In the thirteenth aspect, it is preferable that the wiping processing unit sets the eccentric parameter to 33 or more and eccentrically rotates the wiping member.
In the thirteenth aspect, it is preferable that the wiping processing unit sets the eccentric parameter to a value equal to or smaller than a value where the eccentric distance is obtained as a value smaller than a half of the maximum length of the wiping surface, and eccentrically rotates the wiping member.
In the thirteenth aspect, it is preferable that the wiping processing unit moves the center of eccentric rotation of the wiping surface on a straight line along the first direction on the liquid discharge surface.
In the thirteenth aspect, it is preferable that the wiping member includes a wiping surface, which has the maximum length corresponding to the entire length of the liquid discharge surface in the second direction, and the wiping control unit operates the wiping processing unit to move the center of eccentric rotation of the wiping surface along a straight line that bisects the entire length of the liquid discharge surface in the second direction and is parallel to the first direction of the liquid discharge surface.
In the thirteenth aspect, it is preferable that the wiping control unit operates the wiping processing unit to make the wiping member reciprocate in the first direction.
In the thirteenth aspect, it is preferable that the liquid discharge head has a structure in which a longitudinal direction is the first direction, a lateral direction is the second direction, and the plurality of nozzles are arranged two-dimensionally on the liquid discharge surface.
According to the invention, the nozzles can be wiped in multiple directions since the wiping surface is eccentrically rotated. Further, since the wiping surface including raised irregularities is used, adhering materials present in the nozzles can be removed by the raised irregularities thrust into the nozzles. Since the purge processing is performed after the wiping processing, bubbles present in the nozzles can be discharged. Accordingly, it is possible to lengthen the life of the liquid discharge head by recovering the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head of which the discharge state has deteriorated due to the deterioration of discharge performance.
A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in detail below with reference to accompanying drawings.
[Structure of Main Portion of Liquid Discharge Apparatus]
Examples of the liquid discharge apparatus 10 include a liquid discharge apparatus that forms a pattern on a recording medium with liquid by an ink jet liquid discharge head. Substrates, which are made of metal, glass, a resin, and the like, can be applied as the recording medium. Liquid containing metal particles, liquid containing resin particles, and the like can be applied as the liquid.
The liquid discharge apparatus 10 transports the recording medium 12 while holding the recording medium 12 on a drawing cylinder 14. Then, cyan ink is discharged to the recording medium 12 from a liquid discharge head 16C, magenta ink is discharged to the recording medium 12 from a liquid discharge head 16M, yellow ink is discharged to the recording medium 12 from a liquid discharge head 16Y, and black ink is discharged to the recording medium 12 from a liquid discharge head 16K.
A color image, which uses cyan ink, magenta ink, yellow ink, and black ink, is formed on the image forming surface of the recording medium 12.
In this specification, alphabets C, M, Y, and K attached to reference numerals of the liquid discharge heads mean the liquid discharge heads corresponding to colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.
The liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K are called ink jet liquid discharge heads or ink jet heads.
Both end portions of a rotating shaft 18 of the drawing cylinder 14 are pivotally supported by a pair of bearings so that the drawing cylinder 14 is rotatable. The bearings are not shown. The pair of bearings is provided in a body frame (not shown), both end portions of the rotating shaft 18 are pivotally supported by the pair of bearings, and the drawing cylinder 14 is mounted in parallel to a horizontal plane 1.
The term of “parallel” of this specification includes “substantially parallel” in which two directions cross each other but the same effects as the effects of a case in which the two directions are parallel to each other can be obtained. Further, the term of “orthogonal” of this specification includes “substantially orthogonal” in which two directions cross each other at an angle smaller than 90° or cross each other at an angle exceeding 90° but the same effects as the effects of a case in which the two directions cross each other at an angle of 90° can be obtained.
A motor is connected to the rotating shaft 18 of the drawing cylinder 14 through a rotation transmission mechanism (not shown). The drawing cylinder 14 is driven and rotated by the motor.
Grippers 24, each of which grips a front end portion of the recording medium 12, are provided on the peripheral surface of the drawing cylinder 14. The grippers 24 are installed at two positions on the outer peripheral surface of the drawing cylinder 14 of this embodiment.
The recording medium 12 is held on the outer peripheral surface of the drawing cylinder 14 while the front end portion of the recording medium 12 is gripped by the gripper 24. The drawing cylinder 14 is provided with a suction-holding mechanism (not shown). Examples of the suction-holding mechanism include electrostatic attraction mechanism, vacuum suction mechanism, and the like.
The recording medium 12, which is held on the outer peripheral surface of the drawing cylinder 14 by suction while the front end portion of the recording medium 12 is gripped by the gripper 24, is held on the outer peripheral surface of the drawing cylinder 14 while the back of the recording medium 12 is sucked by the suction-holding mechanism.
The four liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K are line heads corresponding to the width of the recording medium 12, and are radially arranged at regular intervals on the concentric circle that has a center on the rotating shaft 18 of the drawing cylinder 14. In an aspect shown in
In this embodiment, the four liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K are arranged so as to be symmetrical with respect to the drawing cylinder 14. In the aspect shown in
The respective liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K, which are arranged in this way, are arranged so that liquid discharge surfaces 30C, 30M, 30Y, and 30K of the respective liquid discharge heads face the outer peripheral surface of the drawing cylinder 14 and are inclined with respect to the horizontal plane 1.
Further, the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K are arranged at positions where distances between the outer peripheral surface of the drawing cylinder 14 and the respective liquid discharge surfaces 30C, 30M, 30Y, and 30K are equal to each other.
In other words, gaps having the same size are formed between the outer peripheral surface of the drawing cylinder 14 and the respective liquid discharge surfaces 30C, 30M, 30Y, and 30K of the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K.
In the liquid discharge apparatus 10, the recording medium 12 is fed to the drawing cylinder 14 through a delivery cylinder 26 provided in the front stage. Since the delivery cylinder 26 is disposed so that a delivery position of the recording medium 12 on the delivery cylinder 26 corresponds to a delivery position of the recording medium 12 on the drawing cylinder 14, the delivery cylinder 26 delivers the recording medium 12 to the drawing cylinder 14 without missing the timing. The delivery cylinder 26 shown in
The recording medium 12 on which an image has been formed is delivered to a delivery cylinder 28, which is provided in the subsequent stage, from the drawing cylinder 14. Since the delivery cylinder 28 is disposed so that a delivery position of the recording medium 12 on the delivery cylinder 28 corresponds to a delivery position of the recording medium 12 on the drawing cylinder 14, the delivery cylinder 28 receives the recording medium 12 from the drawing cylinder 14 without missing the timing.
The subsequent stage of the delivery cylinder 28 is not shown in this embodiment. However, the subsequent stage of the delivery cylinder 28 is provided in a sheet discharge section denoted in
A preprocessing section, which performs preprocessing on a recording medium on which an image is not yet formed, may be further provided in the front stage of the delivery cylinder 26. Examples of the preprocessing section include a drying processing section, a fixing section, a coating processing section, and the like.
In this embodiment, a transport method using the drawing cylinder 14 has been exemplified but other transport methods, such as a transport method using a transport belt, may be applied.
[Configuration of Control System]
As shown in
The system controller 100 functions as a total control section that generally controls the respective sections of the liquid discharge apparatus 10, and functions as an arithmetic section that performs various kinds of arithmetic processing. A CPU 100A, a ROM 100B, and a RAM 100C are built in the system controller 100. CPU is the abbreviation for Central Processing Unit, and ROM is the abbreviation for Read Only Memory. RAM is the abbreviation for Random Access Memory.
The system controller 100 also functions as a memory controller that controls the writing of data to memories, such as the ROM 100B, the RAM 100C, and the image memory 104, and the reading of data from these memories.
An aspect in which memories, such as the ROM 100B and the RAM 100C, are built in the system controller 100 has been illustrated in the
The communication section 102 includes a communication interface, and sends and receives data to and from a host computer 103 connected to the communication interface.
The image memory 104 functions as a temporary storage section for various data including image data, and data are read from and written in the image memory 104 through the system controller 100. Image data, which are taken from the host computer 103 through the communication section 102, are temporarily stored in the image memory 104.
The transport control section 110 controls the operation of a transport system 11 for the recording medium 12 shown in
The sheet feeding control section 112 shown in
The drawing control section 118 shown in
The drawing control section 118 shown in
Color separation processing for separating the input image data into each color of RGB, color conversion processing for converting RGB into CMYK, correction processing, such as gamma correction and unevenness correction, and halftone processing for converting the gradation value of each pixel having each color into a gradation value smaller than an original gradation value are performed by the image processing unit.
Raster data, which are represented by a digital value in the range of 0 to 255, can be used as an example of the input image data. Dot data, which are obtained as the result of the halftone processing, may be a binary image and may be a multi-value image having three or more values.
A discharge timing and the amount of ink to be discharged at the position of each pixel are determined on the basis of the dot data generated through the processing performed by the image processing unit. That is, a drive voltage corresponding to the discharge timing and the amount of ink to be discharged at the position of each pixel and a control signal determining the discharge timing at each pixel are generated on the basis of the dot data generated through the processing performed by the image processing unit.
The drive voltage and the control signal are supplied to the liquid discharge head, and dots are formed at a drawing position by liquid that is discharged from the liquid discharge head.
The sheet discharge control section 120 discharges the recording medium 12, which is shown in
A wiping control unit 122 shown in
A purge control unit 124 controls the operation of a purge processing unit 44 in accordance with a command sent from the system controller 100. The purge processing unit 44 performs purge processing on the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K shown in
A head movement control unit 126 controls the operation of a head moving unit 128 in accordance with a command sent from the system controller 100. The head moving unit 128 is means for performing a head moving step of moving the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K when maintenance processing is performed on the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K shown in
The maintenance processing of this embodiment, which is performed on the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K, includes wiping processing that is performed on the liquid discharge surfaces 30C, 30M, 30Y, and 30K of the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K and purge processing that is performed on the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K.
That is, the wiping processing unit 42 and the purge processing unit 44 shown in
The operation section 130 includes an operation member, such as operation buttons, a keyboard, or a touch panel, and sends operation information, which is input from the operation member, to the system controller 100. The system controller 100 performs various kinds of processing in accordance with the operation information that is sent from the operation section 130.
The display section 132 includes a display device, such as a liquid crystal panel, and makes information, such as various kinds of configuration information or abnormality information of the apparatus, be displayed on the display device in accordance with a command sent from the system controller 100.
Various parameters, which are used in the liquid discharge apparatus 10, are stored in a parameter storage section 134. The various parameters, which are stored in the parameter storage section 134, are read through the system controller 100 and are set in the respective sections of the apparatus.
Programs, which are used in the respective sections of the liquid discharge apparatus 10, are stored in a program storage section 136. The various programs, which are stored in the program storage section 136, are read through the system controller 100 and are executed in the respective sections of the apparatus.
A wiping condition setting section 140 sets wiping processing conditions of the wiping processing unit 42. The wiping processing unit 42 operates on the basis of the set wiping processing conditions and performs wiping processing on the liquid discharge surfaces 30C, 30M, 30Y, and 30K of the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K shown in
Examples of the wiping processing conditions include the internal pressures of the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K at the time of the wiping processing, the moving speed of a wiping member at the time of the wiping processing, the eccentric distance of the wiping member, and the eccentrically rotational speed of the wiping member at the time of the wiping processing.
That is, examples of an aspect of the wiping condition setting section include an aspect that includes a wiping-internal-pressure setting section for performing a wiping-internal-pressure setting step of setting the internal pressures of the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K at the time of the wiping processing. The details of the wiping processing conditions will be described below.
A purge condition setting section 142 shown in
Examples of the purge processing conditions include a purge period and the internal pressures of the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K at the time of the purge processing. That is, examples of an aspect of the purge condition setting section include an aspect that includes a purge period setting section for performing a purge period setting step of setting a standard purge period, which is a processing period for standard purge processing other than post-wiping processing purge processing performed after the wiping processing, or a purge period, which is a processing period for post-wiping processing purge processing performed after the wiping processing.
Examples of the standard purge processing include purge processing that is performed as processing for initializing the apparatus and purge processing that is performed between a series of liquid discharge based on discharge data.
Further, examples of another aspect of the purge condition setting section include an aspect that includes an internal pressure setting unit for performing an internal pressure setting step of setting the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head at the time of the purge processing.
A table storage section 144 shown in
The wiping condition setting section 140 can appropriately read the wiping processing conditions stored in the table storage section 144 and can set the wiping processing conditions. Further, the purge condition setting section 142 can appropriately read the purge processing conditions stored in the table storage section 144 and can set the purge processing conditions.
A timer 146 measures a period that has elapsed from the start of processing when processing for managing a processing period is performed. When the timer 146 receives a signal that is sent from the system controller 100 and represents the start of measurement, the timer 146 starts to measure the period. When the period having elapsed from the start of the measurement reaches a set period set in advance, the timer 146 sends an end signal, which represents that the period having elapsed from the start of the measurement reaches the set period set in advance, to the system controller 100.
When receiving the end signal sent from the timer 146, the system controller 100 sends a command signal, which represents that the period having elapsed from the start of processing reaches the set period, to each corresponding section of the apparatus.
The timer 146 shown in
[Schematic Structure of Maintenance Processing Section]
For convenience sake, only one of the four liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K shown in
In this specification, a liquid discharge head 16 is used as a general name of the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K in a case in which the four liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K shown in
Further, a liquid discharge surface 30 is also used as a general name of the liquid discharge surfaces 30C, 30M, 30Y, and 30K in a case in which the liquid discharge surfaces 30C, 30M, 30Y, and 30K can be treated without being distinguished from each other.
The maintenance processing to be described below can apply the same processing contents to the four liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K shown in
As shown in
The wiping processing for the liquid discharge surface 30 of the liquid discharge head 16 includes the wiping processing for the liquid discharge surface 30 and nozzle-inside wiping processing for removing adhering materials present in nozzles that are formed on the liquid discharge surface 30 and are not shown in
The purge processing for the liquid discharge head 16 is processing for applying a pressure, which is equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure, to liquid present in the liquid discharge head 16 and discharging the liquid, which is present in the liquid discharge head 16, to the outside of the liquid discharge head 16 through the plurality of nozzles of the liquid discharge surface 30.
The liquid discharge apparatus 10 of this embodiment can perform the post-wiping processing purge processing, which is performed after the wiping processing for the liquid discharge surface 30 of the liquid discharge head 16, and the standard purge processing.
Examples of the standard purge processing include purge processing that is performed alone to remove bubbles or liquid having increased viscosity, which is present in the nozzles, purge processing as initialization processing at the time of the start of the apparatus, and the like.
The liquid discharge head 16 shown in
The head moving unit 128 shown in
A direction in which the liquid discharge head 16 is moved is not limited to the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. The vertical movement of the liquid discharge head 16 can be substituted with the oblique movement thereof including a vertical component. Further, the horizontal movement of the liquid discharge head 16 can be substituted with the oblique movement thereof including a horizontal component.
The head moving unit 128 shown in
The movement of the liquid discharge head 16, which is shown in
White arrows, which are denoted in
When the liquid discharge head 16 is moved to the wiping position 52, the wiping processing is performed on the liquid discharge head 16 by the wiping processing unit 42. In this embodiment, the wiping processing is performed over the entire liquid discharge surface 30 of the liquid discharge head 16. The details of the wiping processing will be described below.
After the wiping processing is performed on the liquid discharge head 16, the liquid discharge head 16 is moved to the purge position 54 from the wiping position 52. The movement of the liquid discharge head 16 to the purge position 54 from the wiping position 52 is performed via the wiping preparation position 58 and a purge preparation position 60 that is present directly above the purge position 54.
White arrows, which are denoted in
The post-wiping processing purge processing is performed on the liquid discharge head 16 moved to the purge position 54. The details of the post-wiping processing purge processing will be described below. After the post-wiping processing purge processing is performed on the liquid discharge head 16, the liquid discharge head 16 is moved to the drawing position 50 from the purge position 54.
While the liquid discharge head 16 is moved to the drawing position 50 from the purge position 54, the liquid discharge head 16 goes via the purge preparation position 60, the wiping preparation position 58, and the drawing preparation position 56. A white arrow, which is denoted in
Further, a white arrow, which is denoted by reference letter H8, indicates the moving direction of the liquid discharge head 16 to the drawing preparation position 56 from the purge preparation position 60.
An aspect that moves the liquid discharge head 16 by the head moving unit 128 shown in
[Summary of Wiping Processing Unit]
The wiping processing unit 42 shown in
Further, the wiping processing unit 42 includes a body part 72 that supports the wiping member 70 so as to allow the wiping member 70 to be eccentrically rotatable. Furthermore, the wiping processing unit 42 includes a guide part 74 that supports the wiping member 70 and the body part 72 so as to allow the wiping member 70 and the body part 72 to be integrally movable along the longitudinal direction of the liquid discharge head 16. A white arrow, which is denoted in
The wiping processing unit 42 shown in
The wiping member 70 shown in
When the liquid discharge surface 30 of the liquid discharge head 16 is wiped by the wiping member 70, the nozzles formed on the liquid discharge surface 30 are wiped and the inside of the nozzles is also wiped by the wiping member 70. The detailed structure of the wiping processing unit 42 and the details of the wiping processing will be described.
The arrangement of the wiping processing unit 42 and the purge processing unit 44 of the maintenance processing section 40 shown in
[Structure of Purge Processing Unit]
The purge processing unit 44 shown in
Furthermore, the purge processing unit 44 includes a pump 86 that adjusts pressure applied to the liquid present in the liquid discharge head 16. The pressure, which is applied to the liquid present in the liquid discharge head 16, is synonymous with the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head 16.
The purge processing unit 44 shown in
Further, the purge processing units 44 of which the number is smaller than the numbers of the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K are provided, and purge processing may be performed on each of the liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K while the purge processing units 44 are moved.
The detailed structure of the cap part 80 shown in
It is possible to discharge liquid and bubbles, which are present in the liquid discharge head 16, through the nozzles formed on the liquid discharge surface 30 by applying a pressure, which is equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure, to the inside of the liquid discharge head 16 through the operation of the pump 86.
Liquid and bubbles, which are discharged to the cap part 80 from the inside of the liquid discharge head 16 by the purge processing, are sent to the waste liquid tank 84 through the discharge flow passage 82.
The cap part 80 may function as a protective member that protects the liquid discharge surface 30 of the liquid discharge head 16 by being mounted on the liquid discharge surface 30 of the liquid discharge head 16.
[Structure of Liquid Discharge Head]
The liquid discharge head 16 shown in
The same structure can be applied to the plurality of head modules 200 of the liquid discharge head 16. Further, the head module 200 can be made to function as the liquid discharge head alone.
The liquid discharge head 16 shown in
The liquid discharge head 16 including the plurality of head modules 200 has been exemplified in this embodiment, but one or more head modules 200 have only to be provided.
The liquid discharge head 16 having a structure in which the plurality of head modules 200 are arranged in a line along the width direction X of the recording medium 12 has been exemplified in this embodiment, but the plurality of head modules 200 may be arranged in the form of staggered arrangement in the width direction X of the recording medium 12.
In the matrix arrangement of the nozzles 280, the head module 200 has a planar shape of a parallelogram that has an end face of a long side along a V direction inclined with respect to the width direction X of the recording medium 12 by an angle β and an end face of a short side along a W direction inclined with respect to the transport direction Y of the recording medium 12 by an angle α, and the plurality of nozzles 280 are arranged in a row direction along the V direction and a column direction along the W direction.
In other words, the matrix arrangement of the nozzles 280 is the arrangement of the nozzles 280 in which an interval between the nozzles 280 is uniform in a nozzle group 282 projected in the width direction X of the recording medium 12 where the plurality of nozzles 280 are arranged along the width direction X of the recording medium 12 when the plurality of nozzles 280 are projected in the width direction X of the recording medium 12.
Reference letter PNY shown in
The lateral direction of the liquid discharge head 16, which is a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, is shown in
The arrangement of the nozzles 280 is not limited to an aspect shown in
Examples of the internal structure of the liquid discharge head 16 include a structure including a pressure chamber that communicates with the nozzles 280 shown in
The liquid discharge head 16 may have a structure in which a plurality of thin films on which structures, such as flow passages, are formed are laminated, and may have a structure in which working using a chemical method or working using a physical method is performed on a substrate made of silicon or the like to form structures, such as flow passages.
Examples of a discharge system for the liquid discharge head 16 include: a piezoelectric system that discharges liquid, which is present in a pressure chamber, form nozzles 280 by deforming the pressure chamber through the deflection of a piezoelectric element; and a thermal system that discharges liquid form nozzles 280 by heating liquid, which is present in a pressure chamber, and using a film boiling phenomenon of the liquid that is present in the pressure chamber.
A shape in which the diameter of an opening on the liquid discharge surface 30 is smaller than the diameter of the opening inside the liquid discharge head, a shape in which the diameter of an opening on the liquid discharge surface is equal to the diameter of the opening inside the liquid discharge head, and the like can be applied to the nozzle 280.
[Description of Wiping Processing Unit]
[Schematic Structure of Wiping Processing Unit]
The wiping processing unit 42 shown in
The support shaft 71 is connected to a rotation mechanism (not shown) that is built in the body part 72. The rotation mechanism (not shown) is connected to the rotating shaft of a motor (not shown) that is built in the body part 72. When the rotating shaft of the motor (not shown) is rotated, the support shaft 71 is rotated and the wiping member 70 is eccentrically rotated about the center 70C of eccentric rotation as the center of rotation. In
Reference numeral 70B of
The wiping member 70 includes the wiping surface 70D that is to be in contact with the liquid discharge surface 30 of the liquid discharge head 16 shown in
Since the liquid discharge surfaces 30C, 30M, 30Y, and 30K of the four liquid discharge heads 16C, 16M, 16Y, and 16K shown in
The wiping surface 70D shown in
The wiping surface 70D of which the planar shape is a circular shape has been exemplified in this embodiment, but the planar shape of the wiping surface 70D is not limited to a circular shape and may be a polygonal shape, such as a square shape. In a case in which the planar shape of the wiping surface 70D is a shape other than a circular shape, the diameter of the wiping member or the wiping surface corresponds to the maximum length of the wiping member or the wiping surface. Further, in a case in which the planar shape of the wiping surface 70D is a shape other than a circular shape, the center 70B of noneccentric rotation corresponds to the center of gravity of the wiping surface 70D.
[Description of Wiping Surface of Wiping Member]
The wiping surface 70D includes raised yarn 75B that is raised from a ground texture portion 75A. While the raised yarn 75B is thrust into each of the nozzles 280 formed on the liquid discharge surface 30, the liquid discharge surface 30 is wiped.
Accordingly, since dirt, which is present inside the nozzle 280, particularly, on a tapered portion 280A, can be scraped off by the raised yarn 75B, the inside of the nozzle 280 can also be cleaned. Since being able to be caught by the ground texture portion 75A, dirt scraped off from the inside of the nozzle 280 and dirt present on the liquid discharge surface 30 can be wiped off without remaining on the liquid discharge surface 30. At this time, dirt present on the liquid discharge surface 30 can also be efficiently scraped off by the action of the raised yarn 75B.
One of purposes of using the wiping surface 70D including raised yarn 75B, which is raised irregularities, is to scrape off dirt, which is present inside the nozzle 280, by the raised yarn 75B. Accordingly, the wiping surface 70D employs a structure that has surface nature and a surface shape allowing a portion of the raised yarn 75B to be thrust into the nozzles 280 at the time of the wiping processing.
The wiping surface 70D is appropriately selected according to the size, the shape, and the like of the opening of the nozzle 280. That is, the wiping surface 70D, which includes the raised yarn 75B having a thickness and a length allowing the raised yarn 75B to be thrust into the nozzles 280 formed on the liquid discharge surface 30, is used.
Further, it is preferable that the raised yarn 75B has appropriate elasticity, that is, so-called resilience so as to be easily thrust into the nozzle 280 at the time of the wiping processing. Since the elasticity of the raised yarn 75B deteriorates when the length of the raised yarn 75B is set to be too long, it is difficult for the raised yarn 75B to be thrust into the nozzles 280. Accordingly, it is preferable that the raised yarn 75B is adjusted to have an appropriate length.
For example, in a case in which the liquid discharge surface 30 on which tapered nozzles 280, of which the diameter of the opening is 16 μm and the length of the tapered portion 280A is 50 are formed is to be wiped, it is preferable that the diameter of the raised yarn 75B forming a raised portion 75C is set to 5 μm or less. Further, it is preferable that the length of the raised yarn 75B is in the range of 10 μm to 50 μm.
That is, it is preferable that the diameter of the raised yarn 75B is set to a half or less of the diameter of the nozzle 280 on the liquid discharge surface 30. Accordingly, the raised yarn 75B can be made to be thrust into the nozzles 280 at the time of the wiping processing.
Furthermore, it is preferable that the length of the raised yarn 75B is set to a length corresponding to the length of the tapered portion 280A in the case of the nozzle 280 having the tapered portion 280A. Accordingly, since the raised yarn 75B can be made to be thrust into the nozzles 280, dirt present inside the nozzles 280 can be sufficiently scraped off.
If the raised yarn 75B is left inside the nozzles 280, the raised yarn 75B becomes new foreign matters. For this reason, it is preferable that the raised yarn 75B is firmly fixed to the ground texture portion 75A. Moreover, it is preferable that pieces of the raised yarn 75B are densely provided so that the raised portion 75C allows dirt to be efficiently caught between pieces of the raised yarn 75B.
Examples of an aspect, which includes the raised yarn 75B functioning as raised irregularities on the wiping surface 70D, include a sheet that includes the raised yarn 75B on the surface thereof and an aspect in which a web is pasted to the wiping surface 70D.
[Description of Operation of Wiping Member]
As shown in
The lateral direction YA of the liquid discharge head 16 shown in
The wiping surface 70D is eccentrically rotated about the center of eccentric rotation of the wiping surface 70D that is shifted from the center of noneccentric rotation of the wiping surface 70D in a direction parallel to the lateral direction YA of the liquid discharge head 16.
The center of noneccentric rotation of the wiping surface 70D and the center of eccentric rotation of the wiping surface 70D are shown in
A track, which includes overlapping areas shown in
A large number of wiping points, each of which draws the same trajectory as the trajectory shown in
Examples of one cause of the deterioration of the discharge state of the liquid discharge head 16 include the drying and hardening of liquid. When liquid is dried and hardened, it is difficult to recover the deterioration of the discharge state.
For example, even though maintenance, which can remove liquid adhering to the liquid discharge surface 30 and not dried and hardened, is performed, it is particularly difficult to remove dried and hardened liquid that adheres to the inside of the nozzle.
That is, when the wiping surface 70D is eccentrically rotated as shown in
Since the wiping surface 70D shown in
The diameter of the wiping surface 70D has only to be equal to or larger than at least the entire length of the nozzle forming portion 31A in the lateral direction YA of the liquid discharge head 16.
A period in which the liquid discharge surface 30 and the wiping surface 70D are in contact with each other may be further lengthened to further improve the effect of the wiping processing. For example, the moving speed of the wiping member 70 may be reduced or the eccentrically rotational speed of the wiping member 70 may be reduced.
When the moving speed of the wiping member 70 is reduced, a wiping processing period is lengthened. Likewise, when the eccentrically rotational speed of the wiping member 70 is reduced, a wiping processing period is lengthened. The moving speed of the wiping member 70 and the eccentrically rotational speed of the wiping member 70 are determined in consideration of both the wiping processing period and the effect of the wiping processing.
[Description of Post-Wiping Processing Purge Processing]
In a method for maintenance of a liquid discharge head of this embodiment, post-wiping processing purge processing is performed on the liquid discharge head 16 after the wiping processing is performed on the liquid discharge surface 30 of the liquid discharge head 16 by the wiping member 70 shown in
When the wiping surface 70D including the raised yarn 75B and the raised portion 75C shown in
Accordingly, the post-wiping processing purge processing is performed on the liquid discharge head 16 to discharge the bubbles, which are trapped in the nozzles 280, to the outside of the nozzles 280, so that the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head 16 is recovered. The details of purge processing conditions of the post-wiping processing purge processing will be described below.
[Description of Procedure of Method for Maintenance of Liquid Discharge Head]
[Description of the Entire Procedure]
First, in a head moving step S12, the liquid discharge head 16 is moved to the wiping preparation position 58 from the drawing position 50 shown in
Next, a wiping processing step S14 illustrated in
After the wiping processing is performed on the liquid discharge head 16, the liquid discharge head 16 is moved to the wiping preparation position 58 from the wiping position 52 shown in
A post-wiping processing purge processing step S16 is performed after the wiping processing step S14 illustrated in
After the purge processing is performed on the liquid discharge head 16, the liquid discharge head 16 is moved to the purge preparation position 60 from the purge position 54 shown in
After the wiping processing step S14 and the post-wiping processing purge processing step S16 illustrated in
The liquid discharge head 16 may wait for the start of the next drawing job in a state in which the cap part 80 is mounted on the liquid discharge head 16 at the purge position 54. That is, a drawing-start waiting step may be performed instead of the head retracting step S18 of
When the liquid discharge head 16 waits for the start of the next drawing job in a state in which the cap part 80 is mounted on the liquid discharge head 16 shown in
The method for maintenance of a liquid discharge head is ended in an ending step S20 illustrated in
[Description of Wiping Processing Step]
The head moving step S102 illustrated in
Next, the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head 16 shown in
After that, the eccentrically rotational speed of the wiping member 70 shown in
Various kinds of setting at the time of the wiping processing, such as the setting of the wiping internal pressure of the liquid discharge head 16 shown in
Steps of performing various kinds of setting at the time of the wiping processing, which include the wiping-internal-pressure setting step S104, the eccentrically rotational speed setting step S106, and the moving speed setting step S108 illustrated in
After the wiping processing conditions are set through the wiping-internal-pressure setting step S104, the eccentrically rotational speed setting step S106, and the moving speed setting step S108 illustrated in
That is, the wiping surface 70D comes into contact with the liquid discharge surface 30. In this case, a pressing force, which allows the raised yarn 75B of the wiping surface 70D to be thrust into the openings of the nozzles 280, is applied to the wiping member 70. The wiping member 70 is moved in the moving direction A of the wiping member 70 in a state in which the raised yarn 75B of the wiping surface 70D is thrust into the openings of the nozzles 280.
After the wiping processing for the liquid discharge surface 30 is started, whether or not wiping processing for a wiping target area, which is set in advance, has ended is monitored in a monitoring step S112 illustrated in
On the other hand, if the determination of YES in the monitoring step S112 is made, that is, the wiping processing for the wiping target area has ended, the processing proceeds to a head retracting step S116 through a wiping processing ending step S114. In the head retracting step S116, the liquid discharge head 16 is moved to the wiping preparation position 58 from the wiping position 52 shown in
The timer 146 shown in
In this embodiment, the entire liquid discharge surface 30 serves as the wiping target area. A part of the liquid discharge surface 30 may be selectively set as the wiping target area.
The liquid discharge head 16 shown in
[Description of Procedure of Post-Wiping Processing Purge Processing Step]
Next, the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head 16 shown in
Next, the purge period of the liquid discharge head 16 shown in
Setting at the time of the purge processing, such as the setting of the internal pressure and the purge period of the liquid discharge head 16 shown in
After purge processing is started in the purge processing start step S208 illustrated in
Next, a period lapse monitoring step S210 illustrated in
On the other hand, if the determination of YES in the period lapse monitoring step S210 is made, that is, the period elapsed from the start of the purge processing has exceeded the purge period set in the purge period setting step S206, the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head 16 shown in
The timer 146 shown in
After the purge of the liquid discharge head 16 is ended, the processing proceeds to a head retracting step S214 illustrated in
When the liquid discharge head 16 is moved to the purge preparation position 60 from the purge position 54, a series of processing of the purge processing step is ended in an ending step S216.
Since the wiping processing for the liquid discharge surface 30 of the liquid discharge head 16 and the purge processing for the liquid discharge head 16 are used together in this way, the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head 16, which has deteriorated due to use, can be recovered.
[Description of Functional Effects]
A non-raised wiping sheet 92 shown in
When a case in which the wiping member 94 shown in
The moving direction A1 of the wiping member 94 shown in
When the nozzle 280 is wiped, a part of the wiping sheet 92 is thrust into the tapered portion 280A of the nozzle 280. A biasing force, which is generated by the movement of the wiping member 94, acts on a downstream-side surface 280D of the tapered portion 280A of the nozzle 280 in the moving direction A1 of the wiping member 94, so that the wiping sheet 92 is pressed against the downstream-side surface 280D.
On the other hand, since the wiping sheet 92, which is thrust into the tapered portion 280A of the nozzle 280, is separated from the upstream-side surface 280C of the tapered portion 280A of the nozzle 280 in the moving direction A1 of the wiping member 94 due to the movement of the wiping member 94, it is thought that the adhering material 96 is likely to remain on the upstream-side surface 280C as shown in
When the adhering material 96 adheres to the tapered portion 280A or the like of the nozzle 280 as shown in
A liquid droplet 98A, which is shown by a two-dot chain line and of which the flight direction is not bent, is discharged in a direction perpendicular to the liquid discharge surface 30.
As shown in
The nozzle 280 of which the planar shape of an opening 280B is a square shape has been shown in
Accordingly, it is thought that a state in which the adhering material remains in the nozzle 280 is the same even though the planar shape of the opening 280B of the nozzle 280 is the circular shape shown in
The horizontal axes of
The vertical axes of
The measurement of discharge bending has been performed on the basis of the following measurement conditions by the following procedure.
<Measurement Conditions>
The liquid discharge head has a structure in which 2048 nozzles are arranged in the form of a matrix having 32 rows parallel to the X direction of
TORAYSEE manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc. was used as a wiping sheet corresponding to the wiping sheet 92 shown in
In the wiping processing, the wiping member was eccentrically rotated while the wiping surface to which a wiping sheet was attached comes into contact with the liquid discharge surface and a constant contact pressure, a constant rotational speed, a constant eccentric distance were maintained; and the wiping member was made to reciprocate while a constant moving speed was maintained in the longitudinal direction of the liquid discharge head over the entire length of the liquid discharge head in the longitudinal direction.
The wiping processing was manually and cautiously performed so that the contact pressure, the eccentrically rotational speed, the eccentric distance, and the moving speed of the wiping member in the longitudinal direction of the liquid discharge head were maintained constant. The contact pressure between the liquid discharge surface and the wiping surface, which is measured before the start of wiping, is 30 kPa.
An object of this measurement is to grasp a relative difference in a wiping effect depending on whether or not the raised irregularities of the wiping surface are thrust into the nozzle. Since it is thought that whether or not the raised irregularities of the wiping surface are thrust into the nozzle is mainly affected by the contact pressure between the liquid discharge surface and the wiping surface, the initial value of the contact pressure was measured.
If the eccentrically rotational speed, the eccentric distance, and the moving speed of the wiping member in the longitudinal direction of the liquid discharge head are constant, a difference in a wiping effect depending on whether or not the raised irregularities of the wiping surface are thrust into the nozzle can be arbitrarily verified even in a practical range.
<Measurement Procedure>
First, the wiping processing for the liquid discharge surface and the purge processing for the liquid discharge head are performed in an arbitrary state of the liquid discharge head. This state corresponds to the initial state of the liquid discharge head.
Next, discharge conditions where the state of the liquid discharge surface before wiping processing is obtained are set. Discharge conditions, such as discharge frequency and a discharge period, are set and the discharge operation of the liquid discharge head is performed.
The measurement of discharge bending is performed in this state as the state of the liquid discharge head that is not yet subjected to wiping processing. Data of the discharge bending is acquired as described below.
A test chart, which is formed of patterns having a constant interval in the width direction X of the recording medium 12 shown in
A distance between the patterns of the test chart is read. The data of discharge bending is calculated through the subtraction of a theoretical distance between the patterns from an actual distance between the patterns. The data of the discharge bending of all the nozzles are acquired.
Next, the wiping processing step S14 illustrated in
The measurement of discharge bending was performed multiple times before and after the wiping processing in this way, and graphs shown in
When the number of nozzles in which discharge bending occurs in
A standard deviation of landing position errors, which are calculated from a relationship between discharge bending and the number of nozzles shown in
Even though the liquid discharge head is operated under certain discharge conditions, the state of the same liquid discharge surface is unlikely to be obtained. For this reason, a standard deviation of landing position errors was used for the comparison between discharge performance before wiping processing and discharge performance after wiping processing.
When a standard deviation of landing position errors before wiping processing is compared with a standard deviation of landing position errors after wiping processing, it can be said that the effective recovery of discharge performance after wiping processing is not seen. Considering that the liquid discharge head and the wiping sheet used in this measurement come under the category of a liquid discharge head and a wiping sheet to be generally used, the results of this measurement can be treated as the results of the same kind of measurement using a liquid discharge head and a wiping sheet. This also applies to the following measurement.
Since an adhering material 96 remains around the opening 280B on the tapered portion 280A of the nozzle 280 as shown in
It is thought that the adhering material 96 remains around the opening 280B as shown in
Since the measurement conditions and the measurement procedure of discharge bending are the same as those in the case in which a wiping member, which does not include raised irregularities on the lower wiping surface thereof, is used, the description thereof will be omitted. TX2066 manufactured by ITW Texwipe was used for the wiping surface. TX2066 is a trade name of ITW Texwipe.
As shown in
A standard deviation of landing position errors shown in
As shown in
Accordingly, discharge performance can be recovered by the wiping processing using the wiping member that includes raised irregularities on the wiping surface thereof.
[Description of Operational Conditions for Method for Maintenance]
As shown in
Next, the operational conditions, which are required for ensuring stable and high wiping effects, for a method for maintenance of a liquid discharge head will be described.
[Conditions of Eccentric Parameter]
The eccentric parameter is a value that represents a ratio relationship between the eccentric distance d shown in
The recovery rate shown in
The liquid discharge head in the initial state may be a liquid discharge head that does not yet start to be used, and may be a used liquid discharge head that is subjected to certain maintenance processing and has discharge performance corresponding to the discharge performance of a liquid discharge head not yet starting to be used. That is, the liquid discharge head in the initial state has only to correspond to a state serving as a reference of discharge performance before and after the wiping processing.
The liquid discharge head, which has been subjected to the wiping processing, is a liquid discharge head which has been used under certain discharge conditions without being yet subjected to the wiping processing and on which the wiping processing of this embodiment is performed. That is, the recovery rate means a ratio of the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head, which has been subjected to the wiping processing, to the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head in the initial state that is set as 100%.
The following wiping processing conditions were applied to the wiping processing.
<Wiping Processing Conditions>
Contact pressure between wiping member and liquid discharge surface: 23.4 kPa
The number of times of wiping: the wiping member is made to reciprocate over the entire length of the liquid discharge head in the longitudinal direction to perform the wiping of a forward path one time and the wiping of a backward path one time
Moving speed of wiping member: 5 mm per second
Eccentrically rotational speed of wiping member: 150 revolutions per hour
Interval between nozzles in the direction orthogonal to moving direction of wiping member: 0.3 mm
Eccentric distance: five kinds of values of 0 mm, 1.5 mm, 3.0 mm, 6.0 mm, and 10 mm are applied
Eccentric parameter: five kinds of values of 0, 5, 10, 20, and 33 are applied
Direction of center of eccentric rotation from center of noneccentric rotation serving as reference: a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the wiping member
The measurement procedure is as follows.
<Measurement Procedure>
First, a liquid discharge head in the initial state or a liquid discharge head, which has discharge performance corresponding to the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head in the initial state, is used to measure the landing position error of each nozzle and to calculate ±3σ values and a standard deviation Go of landing position errors of the liquid discharge head in the initial state.
Since the measurement of the landing position errors is the same as described above, the description thereof will be omitted here. This also applies to the following description.
Next, after the liquid discharge head is operated under discharge conditions that are determined in advance, the landing position error of each nozzle is measured and ±3σ values and the standard deviation σ1 of the landing position errors of the liquid discharge head immediately before the wiping processing are calculated.
In addition, a liquid discharge head, which has been subjected to maintenance processing under the above-mentioned conditions, is used to measure the landing position error of each nozzle and to calculate ±3σ values and a standard deviation σ2 of landing position errors of the liquid discharge head that has been subjected to wiping processing.
While an eccentric parameter is changed, the above-mentioned measurement is performed for a plurality of kinds of eccentric parameters.
The range of the recovery rate of
In a case in which an eccentric parameter is 20, a standard deviation is 93.3 and the range of a variation in a recovery rate is 12.5%. In a case in which an eccentric parameter is 33, a standard deviation is 98.3 and the range of a variation in a recovery rate is 2.5%.
That is, it was found that a recovery rate is improved and a variation in a recovery rate is reduced when an eccentric parameter is increased.
When the condition of a recovery rate required for achieving certain image quality is specified as 80% or more, an eccentric parameter is 10 or more. Further, when the condition of a recovery rate is specified as 90%, an eccentric parameter is 20 or more. Furthermore, considering a variation in a recovery rate, it is preferable that an eccentric parameter is set to 33 or more.
That is, when a condition of “an eccentric parameter is 10 or more” is employed as the wiping condition of the wiping member 70 shown in
The upper limit of an eccentric parameter is determined from a condition that allows the wiping member to be stably and eccentrically rotated. For example, the upper limit of an eccentric parameter is determined from conditions, such as the size and the eccentrically rotational speed of the wiping member, the moving speed of the wiping member, and whether or not the run-out of the wiping member occurs.
In a case in which the upper limit of an eccentric parameter is specified from the size of the wiping surface of the wiping member, an eccentric parameter is equal to or smaller than a value where an eccentric distance is obtained as a value smaller than a half of the maximum length of the wiping surface.
In this embodiment, the direction of the center of eccentric rotation from the center of noneccentric rotation serving as a reference has been a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the wiping member. However, considering that an object of the eccentric rotation of the wiping surface is to wipe the nozzle in multiple directions, an arbitrary direction can be applied as the direction of the center of eccentric rotation from the center of noneccentric rotation serving as a reference.
[Conditions of Internal Pressure of Liquid Discharge Head]
As described above, a high effect is obtained from the wiping processing for the liquid discharge head using the wiping member, which includes raised irregularities on the wiping surface thereof, in comparison with a case in which the wiping member not including raised irregularities on the wiping surface thereof is used.
The generation of an abnormal nozzle in which a flight direction changes causes a problem in the wiping processing for the liquid discharge head using the wiping member, which includes raised irregularities on the wiping surface thereof, in comparison with a case in which the wiping member not including raised irregularities on the wiping surface thereof is used.
When
For this reason, an operational condition of maintenance processing, which suppresses the generation of an abnormal nozzle to substantially the same level as a case in which the wiping member not including raised irregularities on the wiping surface thereof is used, is necessary. It is thought that the cause of the generation of an abnormal nozzle in a case in which the wiping member including raised irregularities on the wiping surface thereof is used is the trapping of bubbles, which are present between pieces of raised yarn, in the nozzle.
Accordingly, the condition of nozzle surface pressure at the time of the wiping processing is set as the operational condition of maintenance processing so that it is difficult for bubbles to be trapped in the nozzle. The nozzle surface pressure at the time of the wiping processing is managed by the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head.
That is, it is possible to make nozzle surface pressure be in a certain range within the range of a variation of each nozzle by making the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head constant.
The internal pressure of the liquid discharge head 16 is adjusted by the pump 86 shown in
The nozzle surface pressure shown in
<Wiping Processing Conditions>
Contact pressure between wiping member and liquid discharge surface: 23.4 kPa
The number of times of wiping: the wiping member is made to reciprocate over the entire length of the liquid discharge head in the longitudinal direction to perform the wiping of a forward path one time and the wiping of a backward path one time
Moving speed of liquid discharge head: 5 mm per second
Rotational speed of wiping member: 150 revolutions per hour
Interval between nozzles in the direction orthogonal to moving direction of wiping member: 0.3 mm
Eccentric distance: 10.0 mm
Eccentric parameter: 33
Direction of center of eccentric rotation from center of noneccentric rotation serving as reference: a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the wiping member
The eccentric parameter was rounded to one decimal place.
The measurement procedure is as follows.
<Measurement Procedure>
First, a liquid discharge head in the initial state or a liquid discharge head, which has discharge performance corresponding to the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head in the initial state, is operated under discharge conditions that are determined in advance.
After that, the liquid discharge head, which has been subjected to wiping processing under the above-mentioned conditions, is used to measure the landing position error of each nozzle and to measure the number of abnormal nozzles after the wiping processing. A nozzle having a landing position error of 13.0 μm or more is determined as an abnormal nozzle.
While the set value of the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head 16 shown in
The above-mentioned measurement was performed multiple times; and the maximum values, the minimum values, and the average values of the number of abnormal nozzles, which are newly generated, were calculated. In the graph illustrated in
In a case in which the set value of the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head 16 shown in
In a case in which the set value of the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head 16 shown in
A value obtained by subtracting the number of abnormal nozzles after the wiping processing using the wiping member, which does not include raised irregularities on the wiping surface thereof, from the number of abnormal nozzles after the wiping processing using the wiping member, which includes raised irregularities on the wiping surface thereof, is the number of abnormal nozzles that are newly generated after the wiping processing using the wiping member that includes raised irregularities on the wiping surface thereof.
When the set value of the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head 16 shown in
If the number of abnormal nozzles, which are newly generated, is in an allowable range even though the set value of the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head 16 is −2500 Pa, −2500 Pa can be applied as the condition of nozzle surface pressure at the time of the wiping processing.
−2500 Pa can be applied as the set value of the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head 16 of
That is, the set value of the pump 86 is appropriately changed according to the structure of the liquid discharge head, liquid to be used, the environment of the apparatus, and the like. Accordingly, since the set value of the pump 86 at the time of liquid discharge, which is performed on the basis of input data, serves as a reference, nozzle surface pressure based on the set value of the pump 86 at the time of preferred wiping processing can be set even in the cases of any structure of the liquid discharge head, any liquid to be used, and any environment of the apparatus.
[Conditions of Purge Period]
The measurement procedure is as follows.
<Measurement Procedure>
First, a liquid discharge head in the initial state or a liquid discharge head, which has discharge performance corresponding to the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head in the initial state, is operated under discharge conditions that are determined in advance.
After that, the liquid discharge head, which has been subjected to wiping processing under the above-mentioned conditions and has been subjected to post-wiping processing purge processing after the wiping processing, is used to measure the landing position error of each nozzle and to measure the number of abnormal nozzles after the wiping processing.
While a purge period is changed, the measurement of the number of abnormal nozzles after the wiping processing is performed in three kinds of purge periods of 5 sec, 15 sec, and 25 sec.
The measurement of the number of abnormal nozzles after the wiping processing is performed multiple times in each of the purge periods. The maximum value, the minimum value, and the average value of the number of abnormal nozzles are calculated in each of the purge periods. In the graph illustrated in
When a case in which a purge period is 5 sec is compared with a case in which a purge period is 15 sec, a reduction in the number of abnormal nozzles is seen in the case in which a purge period is 15 sec. On the other hand, when a case in which a purge period is 15 sec is compared with a case in which a purge period is 25 sec, a reduction in the number of abnormal nozzles is not seen.
Here, the purge period of the standard purge processing for the liquid discharge head, which is used in the above-mentioned measurement, can be set to 5 sec. In other words, when purge processing is performed on the liquid discharge head, which is used in the above-mentioned measurement, for 5 sec, certain effects of purge processing can be obtained.
Further, when the purge period of the post-wiping processing purge processing, which is performed after the wiping processing, is set to three or more times the standard purge period of the standard purge processing, bubbles trapped in the nozzle at the time of the wiping processing can be more reliably discharged. Accordingly, the stable recovery of discharge performance is realized.
Furthermore, when the period of the post-wiping processing purge processing is set to five or less times the standard purge period, bubbles trapped in the nozzle at the time of the wiping processing can be discharged while the consumption of liquid in the purge processing is suppressed.
From the viewpoint of conditions, such as the structure of the liquid discharge head, the type of liquid to be used, and the environment of the apparatus, and the suppression of the consumption of liquid in the purge processing, the standard purge period in which certain effective effects are obtained is determined. Since the purge period of the post-wiping processing purge processing is set to three to five times the standard purge period, a preferred purge period of the post-wiping processing purge processing can be set regardless of the structure of the liquid discharge head, liquid to be used, and the environment of the apparatus.
[Conditions of Eccentrically Rotational Speed and Moving Speed of Wiping Member]
When the eccentrically rotational speed of the wiping member 70 shown in
When the moving speed of the wiping member 70 is further reduced, the same effect as the effect, which is obtained when the eccentrically rotational speed of the wiping member 70 is further reduced, can be obtained. However, since a period required for the wiping processing is lengthened when the moving speed of the wiping member 70 is further reduced, the moving speed of the wiping member 70 is determined in consideration of the conditions of a period required for the wiping processing.
It is preferable that a plurality of set values are prepared in advance and the set values of the eccentrically rotational speed of the wiping member 70 and the moving speed of the wiping member 70 are appropriately switched in accordance with the state of the liquid discharge surface 30, or the like.
Next, modification examples of this embodiment will be described.
In the wiping processing shown in
Since the number of times of contact between the wiping member 70 and the liquid discharge surface 30, the nozzles 280 shown in
Reference numeral 90A shown in
Reference numeral 90B shown in
When the eccentric rotation direction of the wiping member 70 on the backward path is reversed to be opposite to the eccentric rotation direction thereof on the backward path, the wiping member 70 comes into contact with the nozzles 280 shown in
In the wiping processing shown in
In the wiping processing shown in
Reference numeral 90D shown in
An eccentrically rotational speed in the wiping processing for the forward path shown in
An aspect in which the wiping member is moved one time over the entire length of the liquid discharge head in the longitudinal direction, and an aspect in which the wiping member is made to reciprocate one by one over the entire length of the liquid discharge head in the longitudinal direction have been exemplified in this embodiment, but the number of times of wiping can also be further increased. The post-wiping processing purge processing may be performed after at least the last wiping processing.
In the liquid discharge head including the plurality of head modules 200 shown in
For example, the frequency of use of each head module 200 may be stored and the number of times of wiping processing for the head modules 200 having high frequency of use can also be increased.
Raised yarn 75B may be arranged so as to be randomly directed in various directions as shown in
In all the aspects, the raised yarn 75B is easily thrust into the nozzles 280 at the time of the wiping processing. Accordingly, the inside of the nozzles 280 can be more effectively wiped. Further, dirt adhering to the liquid discharge surface 30 can also be more efficiently scraped off.
As shown in
Even though the surface roughness of a wiping surface 70D may be increased as shown in
Further, a ground texture portion 75A of the wiping surface 70D does not necessarily need to be knitting or woven fabric and may be formed of a sheet made of rubber. That is, as shown in
A sheet-like wiping member including the raised irregularities shown in
[Functional Effects]
According to the method for maintenance of a liquid discharge head and the liquid discharge apparatus, which are formed as described above, the nozzles 280 can be wiped in multiple directions since the wiping surface 70D is eccentrically rotated.
Further, since the wiping surface 70D including raised yarn 75B, which is raised irregularities, is used, the adhering materials 96 present in the nozzles 280 can be removed by the raised yarn 75B that is thrust into the nozzles 280.
Furthermore, since the purge processing is performed after the wiping processing, bubbles present in the nozzles can be discharged.
Accordingly, it is possible to lengthen the life of the liquid discharge head 16 by recovering the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head 16 of which the discharge state has deteriorated due to the deterioration of discharge performance.
Since the internal pressure of the liquid discharge head 16 is set to be equal to or higher than internal pressure at the time of liquid discharge performed on the basis of discharge data, the trapping of bubbles in the nozzles 280 at the time of the wiping processing, which uses the wiping surface 70D including the raised yarn 75B, is suppressed
Since the purge period of the post-wiping processing purge processing is set to three to five times the purge period of standard purge processing, the consumption of liquid is suppressed while bubbles trapped in the nozzles 280 are discharged by the post-wiping processing purge processing even though bubbles are trapped in the nozzles 280 when wiping processing using the wiping surface 70D including the raised yarn 75B is performed.
When an eccentric parameter expressed as d/PNY, which denotes a value obtained by dividing the eccentric distance d by the interval PNY between the nozzles in the lateral direction YA of the liquid discharge head 16, is set to 20 or more and the wiping member is eccentrically rotated, the recovery state of the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head can be made to be a higher recovery state.
In addition, when an eccentric parameter is set to 33 or more, a variation in the recovery state of the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head is suppressed. Accordingly, the recovery state of the discharge performance of the liquid discharge head can be stably made to be a high recovery state.
The method for maintenance of a liquid discharge head and the liquid discharge apparatus, which have been described above, may be appropriately subjected to modification, addition, and removal without departing from the scope of the invention. Further, the above-mentioned embodiments may be appropriately combined.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-243011 | Dec 2014 | JP | national |
The present application is a Continuation of PCT International Application No. PCT/JP2015/082726 filed on Nov. 20, 2015 claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-243011 filed on Dec. 1, 2014. Each of the above applications is hereby expressly incorporated by reference, in their entirety, into the present application.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20170259575 A1 | Sep 2017 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2015/082726 | Nov 2015 | US |
| Child | 15609545 | US |
