JP2756341B2 - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus having an air blowing means, and more particularly to an ink jet recording apparatus having a means for positively blowing air to a recording area, and a surface of a recording medium by flying ink droplets. The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus for forming an image.

The ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention can be used alone or in a copying machine,
It includes an ink recording device that is incorporated or connected to a device such as a facsimile or a word processor, and the entire recording device.

(Prior art)

Some conventional blowers are arranged around a carriage provided with an ink jet recording head and move together with the recording head. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,450, a configuration is known in which air is blown in the same direction as the ink discharge direction in the ink discharge area, and at the same time, the mist is sucked toward the carriage. Conversely, U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,845 discloses a configuration in which suction is performed by two suction ports located above an ink ejection area.

On the other hand, prior to these U.S. patents, U.S. Pat.
Japanese Patent No. 4,399 describes, as another embodiment, a device that blows air onto a printing area on paper and a device that suctions air, and discloses a blowing means fixed to a continuous ink jet recording head. ing.

These are configured for the purpose of removing ink mist, but they do not examine the effects on the recording ink droplets in detail.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-218134 discloses a configuration in which ink mist is efficiently collected by suctioning ink mist from both sides of the recording area, but this also does not consider the entire recording area. . In ink jet recording using bubble formation by on-demand thermal energy, the ink mist can be generated at a high ink droplet speed, but mist often occurs due to collision.

[Background of the present invention]

The present invention examines the relationship between the landing accuracy of recording liquid droplets and the air blowing means for solving problems such as ink mist and dew condensation, which has not been considered in the past, and efficiently performs ink mist collection and dew condensation while performing good printing. Prevention can be achieved.

The present inventor has studied an ink jet recording head, which does not disturb the recording ink droplets from the ink jet recording head, and reliably removes ink mist in the entire recording area from the vicinity of the recording head to prevent dew condensation. It was made while paying attention to the relationship between the mist and the main droplet of the recording ink droplet.

As a result, the ink mist itself is a minute droplet separated from the last area of the recording ink droplet, or a minute droplet generated by a rebound after the recording ink droplet collides with a recording medium such as paper. It was found that the ink droplets moved irregularly along a path different from the main path of the ink droplets, and that the size was 1/20 or less of the recording ink droplets, which was particularly irregular. .

Further, the ink jet recording apparatus is roughly classified into two types, a serial type and a full line type. In any case, when a suction flow or a supply flow by blowing air is formed in a gap between the recording head and the recording medium, at least a part thereof is formed. Will be affected. In pursuit of this, it has been found that the flow caused by airflow changes in the recording area, resulting in turbulence and an area where the airflow effect is not observed. This was particularly noticeable in the full line type.

On the other hand, JP-A-54-156536 and JP-A-54-156537 disclose a method for fixing ink that has landed on a recording medium.
JP-A-62-130863 and JP-A-62-130864 for heating the recording material itself by drying the ink on the recording material using hot air disclosed in In some cases, the ink is dried and fixed.

However, in the conventional fixing means as described above, the method of drying the ink on the recording material using hot air does not provide a sufficient effect, particularly when the method is performed in a low-temperature atmosphere. The heat of the hot air was taken away by surrounding objects and the recording material kept at a low temperature, and it was difficult to achieve satisfactory fixing.

In the case of a system in which a recording material is heated by a heater to fix the ink, when a recording sheet such as a bond paper that easily absorbs moisture is used, the moisture evaporating from the paper surface and the recording ink are used. There is a problem that the inside of the apparatus is filled with water vapor due to the moisture evaporated from the ink and becomes saturated and condensed on the ink discharge port of the recording head, which causes non-discharge and unsteady discharge of the ink. In particular, as will be described later, the tendency of dew condensation is remarkable as the gap between the ink ejection surface of the recording head and the recording material is reduced to improve the recording quality, and sometimes the recording becomes impossible.

According to the study of the present inventor, the generation of water vapor due to fixing is presumed to cause the above-mentioned inconvenience due to the formation of water droplets smaller than or equivalent to the above-mentioned ink mist. The pursuit was that the inconvenience of fixing could be prevented by the blowing means obtained.

(Summary of the present invention)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a main object of the present invention to provide a blowing means capable of reliably removing ink mist or preventing dew condensation in addition to satisfactorily performing recording in an ink jet recording apparatus.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a blower that prevents dew condensation on a recording head in an ink jet recording apparatus having a fixing unit and prevents occurrence of a recording failure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a blowing means capable of forming a steady flow over the entire recording area and stabilizing the recording.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of reliably removing ink mist from a recording area when a recording head capable of high-speed recording using thermal energy is used and sufficiently exhibiting its recording performance. That is. Other and further objects of the present invention will be understood from the following description.

Listed below are representative configurations of the present invention.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, regardless of the type of the recording apparatus, the recording ink droplet has a large volume and a sufficient speed, so that recording can be stabilized, and unnecessary ink mist and water vapor can be recorded. It can be reliably removed from the area.

Although the recording ink droplets vary depending on the recording means, they are usually substantially one droplet, but some of the recording ink droplets are separated into a plurality of ink droplets, and the main ink droplet is divided into 1/5 to 1/10
May be separated into ink droplets called satellites. Of the recording heads that use thermal energy, those that cause film boiling should essentially land this satellite at the same position as the main ink droplet, but in order not to disturb this performance, 2 m It is preferable to stabilize and supply the gas flow within the range of 5 cm / sec or less and 5 cm / sec or more. In the case of an excellent recording head, the ink mist is more likely to have a volume of 1/20 or less of the ink droplet, so we pursue it.If it is 50 cm / sec or less, the mist removal efficiency is not affected by the environment and It was a high standard. Of course, in a stable environment, 25 cm / sec or less was sufficient, and in the case of the serial type, good mist removal was possible even at 16 cm / sec or less.
In this case, the performance of the recording means was sufficiently exhibited without the ink droplets for recording being disturbed. Of course, when a piezo having poor recording head performance is used, the satellite itself will also be turbulent as an ink mist, so the main configuration of the present invention may be employed.

Further, as a general recording means using general thermal energy, since the largest ink mist is 1/5 or less of the main ink droplet, a relative difference of 1% of the velocity of the recording ink droplet is obtained. In the range of / 5 to 5 cm / sec or more, the ink mist can be reliably removed without disturbing the recording.

In particular, for a large recording area, for example, to stabilize the gas flow rate on both sides of the full line recording width,
It is important to use the configuration of claim (9) of the present invention.
According to this configuration, since a stable airflow can be formed over the entire longitudinal direction, the reliability of the ink mist removal effect can be further improved.

Further, according to the present invention, there is an advantage that the flow of gas can be relatively increased, and the problem itself of disturbing the recording ink droplet can be fundamentally solved.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail and specifically with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show one embodiment of the present invention. In these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes an ink jet recording head mounted on a carriage 2, 3 a guide shaft for slidably holding the carriage 2, 4 a friction roller for guiding a recording medium 5 to a recording position, and 6 a recording roller. A platen (hereinafter, referred to as a heat platen) having a function as a fixing unit that holds the recording medium 5 guided to the position and heats and fixes the recording medium 5. The heat platen 6 is preferably provided with a surface treatment such as a Teflon (registered trademark) coat on the surface thereof in order to improve the sliding of the recording medium 5 as a recording medium or a paper for an overhead project (transmission or reflection type). In addition to the above, a heating element 7 such as an electric heater is provided on the back side of the heat platen 6 as shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a blower duct provided almost immediately below the recording head 1 over the scanning range of the printhead 1, 9 denotes a plurality of blowout holes formed on the upper surface of the blower duct 8, and 10 denotes a blower fan from the blower fan 11. This is an air passage for guiding air to the duct 8. The inside of the blower duct 8 is provided with a wall or the like that gradually increases in height as it separates from the blower opening 9 so that the wind from the blower passage 10 is blown uniformly from the blower opening 9. ing. Furthermore, the air duct 8 is provided with a filter 12 so that dust and the like do not enter the air blown out from the air outlet 9. Thus, air is blown up from below by the blowing means toward the recording sheet 5 as a strong wind, and water vapor remaining on the sheet surface is blown off. However, air flows directly below the recording head 1 along the ink discharge surface 1A. Then, ink droplets ejected from an ink ejection port (not shown) of the ejection surface 1A are bent by the flow of air, and the landing positions are shifted, thereby deteriorating the recording quality.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, a shielding plate 13 for closing the air outlet 9 in the carriage 2 is provided in the carriage 2 so that air does not wipe up along the ink ejection surface 1A in the vicinity of the recording head 1. The shape is made smooth so that turbulence does not occur around the carriage 2 as the carriage 2 moves left and right so as not to hinder normal flight of the ink droplets. In addition, this shape can be various shapes that do not cause a shift of the landing position of the ejected ink droplet,
Further, the above-described object may be achieved by providing another member, for example, providing a wall member on a side surface of the head. Further, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 14 denotes recovery means for preventing clogging of the recording head 1, and reference numeral 15 denotes a wiper for wiping the ink discharge surface 1A.

In the ink jet recording apparatus configured as described above, the humid air is blown off from above the recording material 5 by the blowing means before and after recording. In particular, the water vapor heated by the heat platen 6 and evaporated from the recording material 5 is blown off to promote the drying and fixing of the ink, and the water vapor adheres to and condenses on the recording head 1 to hinder recording. Can be prevented.

The present inventor conducted a comparative experiment of recording using a conventional ink jet recording apparatus equipped with only a heat platen and an ink jet recording apparatus according to the above-described embodiment of the present invention using a blowing means in combination with the apparatus. Observation evaluation was obtained.

As is clear from Table 1, according to the present embodiment, almost no dew was observed on the discharge surface 1A in a state where an appropriate interval was maintained between the recording head 1 and the recording material 5. On the other hand, as a result of recording in the full discharge mode by the conventional recording apparatus, as shown in FIG. 3, dew condensation 20 was observed over the entire surface of the ink discharge surface 1A near the ink discharge port 1B. Non-discharge occurred when the recording head was in a proper state.
That is, in such a state, the moisture condensed during the recording operation fluctuates right and left according to the movement of the head, and blocks the ink discharge port 1B, thereby hindering the discharge, bending the discharge direction or causing non-discharge. I do.

Furthermore, the discharge port 1B may be guided by moisture condensed by paper dust or dust adhering to the ink discharge surface 1A, and may even close the discharge port 1B. As can be seen from the above description, by preventing dew condensation, it is possible to prevent the ejection direction from being bent or not to be ejected, and to always perform stable ink ejection.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the air outlet 29 provided in the air duct 8 is formed as a long hole continuous over the entire scanning area of the recording head 1. In order to blow air from the air outlet 29 of this long hole as uniformly as possible. , In addition to processing the inside of the air duct 8,
In this example, the air ducts 10 are connected to both ends of the air duct 8 respectively. In addition, the long hole portion may be processed into a mesh shape, and the air flow can be made more uniform by doing so. Further, in the present embodiment, the right and left sides of the recording head 1 together with the shielding plate 13 are so arranged that the ink ejected from the ejection port 1B is not affected by the air blown out of the air blowing port 29 during the flight or the swing of the air due to the movement of the carriage 2. Shield plates 30 were erected on both sides. The effect of preventing dew condensation on the ink ejection surface 1A during recording and the effect of promoting fixing in the ink jet recording apparatus thus configured are the same, and a description thereof will be omitted.

In each of the above embodiments, an example in which air is blown from immediately below the recording head has been described.However, air may be generated from the side, and various types may be used as long as the purpose of the present invention is satisfied. Deformation is possible, but when air is blown from below, the water vapor component existing between the head and the platen can be more easily escaped, and the temperature rise of the head itself can be eliminated.

As described above, according to this embodiment, in the ink jet recording apparatus in which the fixing unit for heating and fixing the ink landed on the recording medium is provided in association with the platen, the scanning area of the recording head is Is provided over the entire scanning area, so that water vapor evaporated from the recording medium by the heating and fixing means is condensed on the ink ejection surface of the recording head. The ink discharge function is not impaired not only in a low-temperature atmosphere but also in a high-temperature and high-humidity atmosphere, and a high-quality recorded image can be obtained with sufficient fixing. .

In addition, since the supplied air is shielded so as not to be directly guided to the ink ejection surface of the recording head, there is no danger of the printing being disturbed. Can be suppressed from adhering to the ink ejection surface.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a partially improved embodiment of the configuration shown in FIGS.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, even if the air blowing by the air blowing means is very strong, the air blowing to the printing area is blocked by the shielding plate 13, so that the printing is not performed without causing a printing failure. Satisfies the performance of However, if the number of recording heads increases and the shielding area of the shielding plate 13 increases, the accumulation of ink mist generated in the recording area increases the cause of inconvenience as shown in FIG. As the number of ejection parts increases from 84 to 168, the ink mist accumulation is not perfect.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show a structure that can achieve good recording while achieving such ink mist handling. That is, in FIG. 5, a slit 91 (blowing portion permitting portion) is formed in the carriage 2 so that a blowing hole for forming an air flow which hits a lower portion of the recording head 1 among the two rows of blowing holes 9 can be always opened. I have. The air passing through the slit 91 flows into the recording gap weakly during the movement and stoppage of the carriage 2 (in the present embodiment, the velocity of the ink drops from the ink discharge surface is lower than 8 m / sec. After contact and deceleration, a flow of 1 m / sec is formed in the recording gap. This ensures that only the ink mist is guided upward from the recording gap without disturbing the recording ink discharge state, thereby preventing the ink mist from adhering to the ink discharge surface.

Conversely, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the air blowing portion permitting portion of the carriage 2 is provided for the air flow opening 9 for forming an air flow for blowing air directly to the recording gap. This permission unit is a slit 92 in the figure.
This slit 92 forms a stable gas flow of 2 m / sec into the recording gap. Forming a stable gas flow having a gas flow velocity of 2 m / sec or less, preferably 1 m / sec or less, in the gap between recording in this manner not only ensures that ink mist is removed from this gap, but also that the recording ink It is possible to achieve a stable fixing effect and prevent dew condensation without significantly disturbing the speed of the droplet. In this embodiment, since the recording gap is set to 1 mm or less, it is appropriate that the gas flow velocity is 2 m / sec or less and 50 cm / sec or more.

The present inventor did not apply the conventional strong wind to the entire serial-type recording area, but studied a range for achieving the above-described effect, and found that the recording gap between the recording head and the paper and other It was found that it was not necessary to make the flow rates of the slabs significantly different. That is, in the entire width of the recording area, the stable gas flow is slower than the ejection speed of the recording ink droplet (usually 8 m to 10 m / sec), preferably 2 m / sec or less (1 m / sec or less when the heating and fixing area is provided above. Preferred)
The desired effects of the above embodiment were obtained. In this case, even if the characteristics of the recording head 1 fluctuated, the landing accuracy of the recorded image was quite good visually.

7 to 10 illustrate another embodiment of the present invention.

Numeral 40 is a full line 1 head type recording head capable of printing with respect to the maximum width of the recording medium 5 in the transport direction.
A large number of electrothermal transducers for causing film boiling by thermal energy are provided corresponding to the large number of discharge ports 41 (3000 or more). The temperature of the recording head 40 is adjusted to about 40 ° C. to 50 ° C. by ordinary temperature adjusting means (not shown). Reference numeral 55 denotes a discharge path of ink droplets from the discharge port 41 of the recording head 40, which can form a print line 56. Reference numeral 42 denotes a smooth endless rotating belt for electrostatically adsorbing and transporting the recording medium 5, which attracts and transports the recording medium supplied after being uniformly charged by the charger 53. 43 and 44 are rollers for rotating the belt 42.

A supply port 45 supplies the gas from the gas supply means 49 to the downstream side of the recording area via the pipe 50. A suction port 46 faces the supply port 45 and suctions gas in the recording area.
The suction force from the suction means 48 is received via the pipe 47. That is, the gas flow is supplied in the longitudinal direction of the recording area from the supply port 45 on one side of the recording area, and the gas flow by suction from the suction port 46 on the other side of the recording area is formed in the longitudinal direction of the recording area. .

Although this configuration is particularly effective when the recording head is long, the air flow may be further stabilized by providing a suction port opposite to the air blowing port 9 of the serial type configuration described above. The advantage of this configuration will be described with reference to FIG. When trying to obtain a flow rate greater than a desired amount over the entire elongate area due to air resistance, the difference in flow measurement between the vicinity of the supply port or the suction port and the position away from it increases, causing turbulence instead. In some cases. Therefore, in order to form a stable gas flow uniformly throughout the long area, a supply port and a suction port are provided on both sides of the long area so that turbulence does not occur due to the synergistic effect of each other. Is obtained.

Curve 57 in Figure 9 shows the change in gas flow rate in the case where only the gas flow velocity V ₀ from the supply port 45 is supplied. As can be seen from the curve 57, the flow velocity decreases in the middle of the full line recording width, and the flow substantially disappears. Conversely curve 59 shows the variation of the gas flow rate in the case where only the suction port 46 tries to form a gas flow velocity V _0. This also shows the same tendency as curve 57. If only one of them is used to form a desired flow velocity or more over the entire recording area of the full-line recording head 40, the power generating means 48 and 49 become large, and the difference in flow velocity change is large. Since this tends to form a turbulent flow in the end region of the recording head, it is preferable that the supply port 45 and the suction port 46 are output simultaneously in the case of a considerably long head. In the case of this example, when the respective flow velocities V ₀ were formed, the flow velocities V ₀ could be substantially obtained as shown by a curve (broken line) 58 in the central region of the recording head due to the mutual action. This ensures that the gas flow is given as a stable flow to the central region of the recording head, which is the concentrated region of the ink mist, and it is clear that the ink mist is excellent in the effect of removing the ink mist and preventing dew condensation.

The flow velocity V ₀ which in this case smaller than the ink ejection speed, preferably also prevent defective recording by setting below 2m / sec. In this example, since the characteristics of the recording head are good,
Removal of unnecessary drops that become ink mist is 1 /
5 or less, more preferably 1 m / sec or less, more preferably 50 cm / sec or less and 5 cm / sec or more is sufficient, and it is possible to contribute to stabilization of an image because it is not necessary to remove satellite droplets.

The position of the supply port 45 and the suction port 46 in FIG.
Since it tends to concentrate on the downstream side from 55, the discharge path 55
It is preferable to provide it in the vicinity deviating therefrom. FIG. 8 shows this relationship. In the figure, reference numeral 400 denotes the aforementioned electrothermal converter, and reference numeral 41 denotes a discharge port. By setting the ejection path 55 at a deviated position, the gas flow velocity can be made unaffected by ink ejection, and the landing accuracy of recording can be made more stable.

FIG. 10 shows a case where four (that is, plural) full-line recording heads 40 are provided as recording heads for forming different ink droplets. Since the ink mist itself has coloring properties, the tendency of the ink mist to adhere to a head of another color causes color mixing, which makes the desired image color unclear. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a pair of the supply port 45 and the suction port 46 shown in FIG. 8 is provided between each recording head, and the ink mist from each recording head is supplied from either the upstream side or the downstream side. Is also removable. It is important that the directions of these gas flows are all the same. This is because if the direction is changed to a different direction, the ink mist may be concentrated in the recording gap. In this example, the supply port and the suction port between the plurality of heads are slightly larger as common ones, but these may be divided into a plurality. In this case, it is preferable that the flow velocity also satisfies the above-described conditions.

8 and 10, a supply port and a suction port for forming a gas flow are provided avoiding the ink discharge path 55, but a stable flow of 2 m / sec or less, preferably 50 cm / sec or less as described above is provided. Since a reliable route for removing ink mist and water vapor can be formed while maintaining the landing accuracy of the recording ink droplets by formation, it is needless to say that a configuration including the route 55 may be employed.

Incidentally, a connecting pipe 51 indicated by a broken line in FIG. 7 indicates that the supply means 49 is connected to the suction means 48 and one of the means 48 and 49 is removed. By this connection, the blowing efficiency is improved and the pump itself can be downsized.

52 is a control means, in order to form the above-mentioned steady flow,
Before the start of recording, the means 48 and 49 are operated to control the gas flow to be formed in advance.

The present invention provides an excellent effect particularly in a recording head and a recording apparatus of a bubble jet system developed by Canon Inc. among ink jet recording systems.

Regarding the typical configuration and principle, it is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it is arranged corresponding to a sheet or a liquid path holding a liquid (ink). By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to the electrothermal transducer, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and the recording head is heated. This is effective because it is possible to form a bubble in the liquid (ink) by one-to-one correspondence with the drive signal as a result of film boiling on the heat-acting surface. By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,434,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,431,324 of the invention relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As a configuration of the recording head, in addition to a combination configuration of a discharge port, a liquid path, and an electrothermal converter (a linear liquid flow path or a right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in each of the above-mentioned specifications, a heat acting section A configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which the is bent, is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1988-13323 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters.
The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 138461/1984, which discloses a configuration in which a hole for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy corresponds to a discharge portion.

Further, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, the length is determined by a combination of a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above specification. The present invention can exhibit the above-mentioned effects more effectively, though it may be either a structure that satisfies the condition or a structure as a single recording head formed integrally.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like provided as components of the recording apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. More specifically, a preheating means for the recording head by a capping means, a cleaning means, a pressure or suction means, an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof. Performing a preliminary ejection mode in which ejection is performed separately from printing is also effective for performing stable printing.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, and the recording head may be integrally formed or a combination of a plurality of recording heads. The present invention is extremely effective for an apparatus having at least one of the full colors.

〔The invention's effect〕

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION This invention can contribute to the recording ink reliably to recording, and can remove unnecessary floating substances, such as an ink mist and water vapor | steam, reliably from a recording area, improving landing accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows a state in which dew has condensed on an ink ejection surface of a recording head by a conventional ink jet recording apparatus. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a modified configuration of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and FIG. FIGS. 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views of another modification of the embodiment, FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of another embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a side view of a main part of FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of the air distribution in FIG. 7, and FIG. 10 is a side view of a main part of still another embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording head 1A ... Ink ejection surface 1B ... Ink ejection port 2 ... Carrier 5 ... Recording material 6 ... Heat platen 7 ... Heating element 8 ... Ventilation duct 9 ... Ventilation opening 10 ... Blast path 11… Blow fan 13… Shield plate 20… Condensation 30… Shield plate

Claims (16)

(57) [Claims] An ink jet recording apparatus which performs recording on a recording medium by attaching the ink droplets to a recording medium arranged in a recording area by an ink jet recording means having a large number of ejection portions for ejecting ink droplets. And a blower for forming a gas flow in a recording gap between the recording medium disposed in the recording area and the ink jet recording device, wherein the flow rate of the gas formed by the blower is An ink jet recording apparatus characterized in that the velocity is lower than the discharge speed of ink droplets formed by the recording means and is 5 cm / sec or more and 2 m / sec or less. 2. The ink jet recording head is an ink jet recording head which is mounted on a carriage and moves, wherein the blower is provided with a gas blowing port below a recording position in a moving direction of the carriage. The inkjet recording device according to claim 1. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flow rate of the gas is 5 cm / sec or more and 50 cm / sec or less. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flow rate of the gas is 5 cm / sec or more and 25 cm / sec or less. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flow rate of the gas is 5 cm / sec or more and 16 cm / sec or less. 6. An ink jet recording means having a large number of ejection sections for ejecting ink droplets by using thermal energy makes the ink droplets adhere to a recording medium arranged in a recording area, thereby recording on the recording medium. In the ink jet recording apparatus to be performed, the recording medium disposed in the recording area and a blowing means for forming a gas flow in the recording gap between the ink jet recording means, the gas formed by the blowing means An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the flow velocity is not more than 1/5 of the discharge speed of the ink droplet formed by the ink jet recording means and is not less than 5 cm / sec. 7. The ink-jet recording means includes an electrothermal converter for forming ink droplets by thermal energy causing film boiling of the ink, and the flow rate of gas by the blowing means is 5 cm / sec or more and 2 m / sec. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein: 8. The ink jet recording head is an ink jet recording head mounted and moved on a carriage, wherein the air blowing means has a gas blowing port provided below a recording position along a moving direction of the carriage. The inkjet recording device according to claim 7. 9. An ink jet recording apparatus which performs recording on a recording medium by depositing the ink droplets on a recording medium arranged in a recording area by means of an ink jet recording means provided with a large number of ejection sections for ejecting ink droplets. A blower that forms a gas flow in a printing gap between the printing medium and the ink jet printing unit disposed in the printing area, wherein the blowing unit is one of the blowers with respect to a conveyance direction of the printing medium. It has a gas supply port arranged on the side and a gas suction port arranged on the other side, and the flow rate of the gas formed by the blowing means is controlled by the flow rate of ink droplets formed by the ink jet recording means. Slower than the discharge speed, 5cm /
An ink jet recording apparatus having a speed of not less than second and not more than 2 m / sec. 10. The gas supply port and the gas suction port,
10. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said ink jet recording apparatus is opposed to said recording area via said recording area, and is arranged so as to form a main gas flow near a discharge path of said recording ink droplet. 11. The ink-jet recording means includes a plurality of full-line type recording heads each having a recording discharge section corresponding to a recording width in the transport direction of the recording medium, and the gas supply port and the gas suction port. 11. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a plurality of said pairs are arranged so as to be located on both sides of a discharge path of a recording ink droplet of each ink jet recording head. 12. The ink-jet recording means includes an electrothermal converter for forming ink droplets by thermal energy causing film boiling of the ink, and the flow rate of gas by the blowing means is 5 cm / sec or more and 2 m / sec. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein: 13. The ink jet recording means includes an electrothermal converter for forming ink droplets by thermal energy causing film boiling of the ink, and the flow rate of gas by the blowing means is 5 cm / sec or more and 2 m / sec. Claim (1)
1) Ink jet recording device. 14. An ink jet recording apparatus which performs recording on a recording medium arranged in a recording area by applying said ink droplets by an ink jet recording head having an ejection port for ejecting ink droplets. A platen for supporting the recording medium in the recording area, heating means for supplying heat to the platen for heating and fixing the ink droplets attached to the recording medium supported on the platen, Blower means for forming a gas flow in a recording gap between the arranged recording medium and the ink jet print head, and the flow rate of the gas formed by the blower means is controlled by the ink jet print head. It is slower than the ejection speed of the ink droplets to be formed and is not less than 5 cm / sec and not more than 2 m / sec. An ink jet recording apparatus. 15. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a shielding means for shielding air from said air blowing means from a discharge port of said ink jet recording head. 16. The air blowing speed of the air blowing means is:
1 / th of the ejection speed of the ink droplet ejected from the ejection port
The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the number is 5 or less.