JP4765970B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus having an inkjet head that ejects ink.

  A liquid jet having a recording head in which a large number of nozzles for discharging ink are formed, and a wiping member (wiper) for wiping off ink adhering to the ink discharge surface of the recording head (that is, the surface in which the nozzle openings are formed) An apparatus is known (see Patent Document 1). According to the apparatus, the suction pump is driven with the cap covering the ink discharge surface to generate a negative pressure in the cap, and the ink is forcibly discharged from the nozzle on the ink discharge surface, and then the wiping member is driven. And wiping. At this time, the wiping member made of an elastic material such as rubber was moved relative to the recording head while contacting the ink discharge surface of the recording head (that is, wiping was performed), and adhered to the nozzle opening and its periphery. Excess ink is removed.

JP 2004-74774 A

  However, in the liquid ejecting apparatus described in Patent Document 1 described above, the wiping member is brought into contact with the ink ejection surface to wipe the ink ejection surface. If foreign matter such as thickened ink or dust adheres to the wiping member and the ink discharge surface, the foreign matter moved on the ink discharge surface by the wiping member is pushed into the nozzle by the pressing force against the ink discharge surface of the wiping member. May be. As a result, the ink ejection characteristics from the nozzles are disturbed.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of preventing foreign matter from being pushed into an ink discharge port.

An ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention includes an ink jet head having an ink discharge surface formed with an ink discharge region elongated in one direction in which a plurality of ink discharge ports are formed and an outer region surrounding the ink discharge region, and a flat surface. It has a bent shape that opens in the one direction in a plan view, and has an air discharge portion that discharges air toward the ink discharge surface along the bent shape. An air discharge body in which the air discharge portion extends across the ink discharge region with respect to a direction orthogonal to the direction, and air that supplies air to the air discharge body so that air is discharged from the air discharge portion A supply mechanism, a moving mechanism for moving at least one of the air discharge body and the inkjet head, the air discharge section, and the ink discharge surface. Movement control for controlling the moving mechanism so that the air discharge body moves relative to the ink-jet head in the one direction starting from the open side of the air discharge portion having a bent shape while being opposed to each other And when the movement mechanism is controlled by the movement control means, the foreign matter attached to the ink discharge area moves in the center of the ink discharge area in the orthogonal direction and in the movement direction of the air discharger relative to the inkjet head. Air supply control means for controlling the air supply means . The air discharge body is disposed on the downstream side of the air discharge section with respect to the moving direction of the air discharge body starting from the open side of the air discharge section having a bent shape, and the air discharge section An ink receiving member is provided that is spaced from the ink ejection surface when facing the ink ejection surface.

As a result, the air discharged from the air discharge portion flows from the region facing the air discharge portion of the ink discharge surface toward the inner region partially surrounded by the region, and thus the ink discharge surface. It is possible to suppress foreign matters (such as thickened ink and dust) adhering to the ink from being scattered around and to remove foreign matters adhering to the ink ejection surface from the ink ejection area in a non-contact manner. Therefore, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from being pushed into the ink discharge port. In addition, when wiping with a wiper or the like in contact with the ink ejection surface, the foreign matter removal performance from the ink ejection surface is reduced with the deterioration of the wiper, but in the present invention, the removal of foreign matter from the ink ejection surface is reduced. Since it is performed in a non-contact manner by air, the foreign substance removal performance does not deteriorate. Further, the ink adhering to the ink ejection surface by the ink receiving member can be partially removed without contact. For this reason, the ink adhering to the ink discharge surface is less likely to be scattered around by the air discharged from the air discharge portion, and the recording apparatus is less likely to become dirty.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the air discharge portion has a pair of parallel portions respectively opposed to a pair of parallel regions of the outer region sandwiching the ink discharge region with respect to a direction orthogonal to the one direction. As a result, the foreign matter attached to the ink ejection surface is less likely to be scattered around.

  Further, in the present invention, the air discharge body is disposed on the downstream side of the air discharge section with respect to the moving direction of the air discharge body starting from the open side of the air discharge section having a bent shape. A wiper for wiping off ink adhering to the ink ejection surface is provided, and an elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering at least one of the inkjet head and the air discharger, and the wiper and the ink ejection surface are brought into contact with each other As described above, a lifting mechanism control means for controlling the lifting mechanism is further provided. The elevating mechanism control means controls the elevating mechanism so that the wiper and the ink ejection surface come into contact with each other when the wiper passes through the ink ejection area and the entire outer area faces the outer area. The movement control means is configured such that, after the ink discharge surface and the wiper are in contact with each other, the air discharge body is attached to the ink jet head in the one direction with the open side of the air discharge portion having a bent shape as a head. It is preferable to control the moving mechanism so as to make a relative movement. Accordingly, the foreign matter adhered to the ink ejection surface by the air discharged from the air discharge portion can be moved from the ink discharge region to the outer region, and then the foreign matter moved to the outer region by the wiper can be removed. Therefore, it is difficult for foreign matter to remain on the ink ejection surface.

  Moreover, in this invention, it is preferable that the said air discharge part is arranged in the bending shape which the several hole opened upwards opened toward the said one direction. Accordingly, the air discharge unit is configured to discharge air from the plurality of holes.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional side view of an ink jet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the main part of the inkjet printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the four inkjet heads as viewed from below.

  An ink jet printer (ink jet recording apparatus) 1 is a color ink jet printer having four ink jet heads 2 as shown in FIG. The ink jet printer 1 is provided with a paper feed mechanism 11 on the left side in FIG. 1 and a paper discharge unit 12 on the right side in FIG.

  Inside the inkjet printer 1, a paper conveyance path is formed through which a paper as a recording medium is conveyed from the paper supply mechanism 11 toward the paper discharge unit 12. The paper feed mechanism 11 is provided with a pickup roller 22 that sends out the uppermost sheet among the plurality of sheets stored in the sheet tray 21. When the pickup roller 22 is driven by a pickup motor 132 (see FIG. 7), the paper is fed from the left to the right in FIG. Two belt rollers 6 and 7 and an endless conveyor belt 8 wound around the rollers 6 and 7 are arranged in the middle of the sheet conveyance path. Among these, the belt roller 6 is supplied with a driving force from a transport motor 133 (see FIG. 7) and is rotated clockwise (in the direction of arrow A) in FIG. The conveyance surface 8a of the conveyance belt 8 has adhesiveness. A pressing roller 5 is disposed immediately downstream of the sheet feeding mechanism 11 at a position facing the conveying belt 8, and presses the sheet fed from the sheet feeding mechanism 11 against the conveying surface 8 a of the conveying belt 8. . As a result, the sheet pressed against the transport surface 8a is transported toward the downstream side while being held by the adhesive force of the transport surface 8a.

  A peeling member 13 is provided immediately downstream of the conveying belt 8 along the sheet conveying path. The peeling member 13 is configured to peel the paper held on the conveyance surface 8a of the conveyance belt 8 from the conveyance surface 8a and send it to the right paper discharge unit 12.

  In a region surrounded by the conveyance belt 8, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped platen 9 that supports the ink jet head 2 from the inner peripheral side by contacting with the lower surface of the conveyance belt 8 located on the upper side is disposed. Has been.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the four inkjet heads 2 correspond to the four colors of ink (magenta, yellow, cyan, and black) along the paper conveyance direction (the direction from the bottom to the top in FIG. 2) B. Four are arranged side by side. That is, the ink jet printer 1 is a line type color printer. The inkjet head 2 is arranged in a direction in which the longitudinal direction is orthogonal to the paper transport direction B, and has an elongated rectangular shape. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a head body (a channel unit in which an ink channel including a pressure chamber is formed) and an actuator that applies pressure to the ink in the pressure chamber are provided at the lower end of the inkjet head 2. It has a laminated body 3).

  A reservoir unit 10 that is partially covered by a cover 14 and temporarily stores ink is fixed to the upper surface of the head body 3. The reservoir unit 10 is connected to a tube joint 10a fixed to the upper surface of the cover 14, and an ink reservoir for storing ink supplied from the tube joint 10a is formed inside. As shown in FIG. 3, the reservoir unit 10 has a head fixing portion 10 b that is formed longer than the head body 3 in the direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction B. The head fixing portion 10b is formed to extend on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the head main body 3, and serves as a fixing portion to the frame 4 described later. The ink in the reservoir unit 10 is supplied to an ink channel (not shown) of the head body 3.

  The tube joint 10a is connected to an ink tank and a tube (both not shown) via an ink pump 134 (see FIG. 7). During normal image formation, ink is supplied from the ink tank to the head body 3 along this path. At this time, the ink pump 134 can circulate ink therein, and constitutes a part of the ink flow path. When initial ink introduction and purging to the ink jet head 2 are performed, the ink pump 134 is driven. Thereby, the ink is forcibly sent to the inkjet head 2 side.

  The bottom surface of the head body 3 is opposed to the transport surface 8a, and as shown in FIG. 4, an ink ejection surface 3a in which a large number of minute diameter nozzles (ink ejection ports) 3b are arranged. The ink discharge surface 3a is composed of an ink discharge region 15 that is long in the longitudinal direction of the head body 3 (a direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction B) and an annular outer region 16 that surrounds the ink discharge region 15. In the region 15, the nozzles 3b are arranged in a matrix.

  The head body 3 is disposed such that the ink discharge surface 3a and the transport surface 8a of the transport belt 8 are parallel to each other, and a certain gap is formed between these surfaces. This gap portion is configured as a part of the sheet conveyance path. With this configuration, when the paper passes sequentially below the four head bodies 3, the ink of each color is ejected from the nozzle 3b toward the upper surface of the paper, that is, the printing surface, and a desired color image is formed on the paper. It is formed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the four inkjet heads 2 are fixed to a rectangular frame-like frame 4 in a state of being adjacent to each other along the paper conveyance direction B. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the frame 4 has a support portion 4 a that protrudes to a position facing the lower surface of the head fixing portion 10 b of the reservoir unit 10. The head fixing portion 10b is fixed to the support portion 4a with screws 50. In the present embodiment, the ink ejection surface 3a is exposed from the opening of the frame 4 at substantially the same height (that is, on the same plane) as the bottom surface of the frame 4, as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the frame 4 is supported by the main body frame 1a of the printer 1 so as to be vertically movable. The frame moving mechanism (elevating mechanism) 51 is a mechanism for moving the frame 4 up and down, and is disposed outside the row of the four inkjet heads 2 (up and down in FIG. 2) as shown in FIG. . Each frame moving mechanism 51 is erected on the frame 4 so as to mesh with a head motor 52 as a drive source for moving the frame 4 up and down, a pinion gear 53 fixed to the shaft of each head motor 52, and each pinion gear 53. And a guide 56 disposed at a position where the rack gear 54 is interposed between the rack gear 54 and the pinion gear 53.

  The two head motors 52 are fixed to the main body frame 1 a disposed so as to face each other in the paper conveyance direction B. The two rack gears 54 extend in the vertical direction, and the lower ends are fixed to the side surfaces of the frame 4. Further, the side surface of the rack gear 54 opposite to the pinion gear 53 is slidably in contact with the guide 56. The guide 56 is fixed to the main body frame 1a.

  In this configuration, when the two head motors 52 are synchronized and the pinion gears 53 are rotated in the forward and reverse directions, the rack gear 54 is moved in the vertical direction. As the rack gear 54 moves up and down, the frame 4 and the four inkjet heads 2 move up and down.

  In addition, guide portions 59 are disposed on both sides of the inkjet head 2 in the longitudinal direction. Each guide part 59 is comprised from the rod-shaped member 58 and a pair of guide 57 which pinches | interposes this. Among these, the pair of guides 57 extend in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 3, and are respectively fixed to the main body frames 1 b facing each other in the direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction B. On the other hand, the bar-shaped member 58 extends in the vertical direction similarly to the guide 57, and is fixed to the side surface of the frame 4 disposed opposite to and parallel to the main body frame 1b. Further, the rod-shaped member 58 is slidably sandwiched between the pair of guides 57. The guide portion 59 can prevent the ink discharge surface 3a of the inkjet head 2 from being inclined with respect to the transport surface 8a when the frame 4 is moved in the vertical direction by the frame moving mechanism 51. In other words, even when the frame 4 and the inkjet head 2 are moved in the vertical direction by the frame moving mechanism 51, the ink discharge surface 3a is always parallel to the opposing transport surface 8a. As a result, the accuracy of ink landing on the paper is improved during printing.

  Normally, the frame 4 is arranged at a printing position (position shown in FIG. 3) where the four inkjet heads 2 eject ink onto a sheet and perform printing. During maintenance of the ink jet head 2 (in this embodiment, when purging forcibly ejecting ink from the ink jet head 2 or when wiping off ink adhering to the ink ejection surface 3a), the frame moving mechanism 51 performs 4 Two inkjet heads 2 are arranged at a head maintenance position above the printing position.

  Next, the maintenance unit 70 for performing maintenance on the inkjet head 2 will be described. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the maintenance member 72. 6A is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIa-VIa shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIb-VIb shown in FIG. (C) is sectional drawing along the VIc-VIc line | wire shown by FIG. In FIG. 5, the ink discharge surface 3 a when the maintenance member 72 and the four inkjet heads 2 face each other is depicted by a two-dot chain line.

  In the inkjet printer 1, a maintenance unit 70 for performing maintenance on the head body 3 is disposed on the left side of the inkjet head 2 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The maintenance unit 70 has a horizontally movable tray 71 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the tray 71 has a substantially square box shape opened upward.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the side of the tray 71 opposite to the inkjet head 2 is opened, and the ink discharged from the inkjet head 2 onto the tray 71 as described below is caused to flow to a waste liquid tray 77 described later. It is possible. Further, when the maintenance unit 70 moves horizontally as will be described later, the frame 4 is moved to the head maintenance position in the upper direction (in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 3) in advance, and the four ink discharge surfaces 3a and the transport surface 8a are moved. A space for the maintenance unit 70 is secured between them. Thereafter, the maintenance unit 70 is moved horizontally in the direction of arrow D in FIG.

  A waste ink receiving tray 77 is disposed immediately below the maintenance unit 70. The waste ink receiving tray 77 has a size including the tray 71 in a plan view, and even when the tray 71 moves to the right end in FIG. 2, the edge of the tray 71 opposite to the inkjet head 2 overlaps. have. An ink discharge hole 77 a penetrating in the vertical direction is formed at the end of the waste ink receiving tray 77 on the ink jet head 2 side. The ink discharge hole 77a distributes the waste ink that has flowed from the tray 71 onto the waste ink receiving tray 77 to a waste ink reservoir (not shown).

  A maintenance member 72 for maintaining the ink discharge surface 3a is provided at the end of the tray 71 on the ink jet head 2 side. The maintenance member 72 includes an air discharge member (air discharge body) 74 having an air discharge portion 73 that discharges air toward the ink discharge surface 3a, an ink receiving member 75 provided on the air discharge member 74, and an air discharge member. And four wipers 76 provided at 74.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the air discharge member 74 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape having a longitudinal direction in the paper transport direction B. As shown in FIG. 6, the air discharge member 74 has a base portion 78 fixed on the tray 71 and a lid portion 79 that covers the entire top surface of the base portion 78. Five protruding portions 78a protruding in the longitudinal direction of the ink discharge surface 3a are formed at the left end portion of the base portion 78 in FIG. These five protrusions 78a are opposed to the end portions of the ink discharge surface 3a in the short direction, and are arranged at equal intervals along the short direction. An ink receiving member 75 is disposed in the gap between the five protrusions 78a.

  Further, a protruding portion 78b protruding leftward in FIG. 5 is formed at the left end portion in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the projecting portion 78 b has an inclined surface (upper surface) that starts from an intermediate portion of the gap formed by the projecting portion 78 a and is inclined obliquely downward to the left. Further, a groove 78c extending in the longitudinal direction of the air discharge member 74 and opening upward is formed in the approximate center of the base 78. The groove 78 c constitutes an air supply path when the upper surface of the base 78 is covered with the lid 79. Further, on the upper surface of the base portion 78, an inclined surface 78 d is formed that is inclined in the diagonally downward right direction at the right end portion in FIG. 6.

  The left end of the lid 79 in FIG. 5 is formed with five protrusions 79a protruding leftward, and these five protrusions 79a and the above-described five protrusions 78a face each other. . The protruding portion 79a has the same size and planar shape as the protruding portion 78a, and the planar shape of the lid portion 79 is the same as the planar shape of the upper surface of the protruding portion 78a and the base 78 connected thereto. Further, the lid portion 79 has an inclined portion 79b inclined at the right end portion in FIG. 6 corresponding to the inclined surface 78d.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a tube member 80 having a bent planar shape that opens toward the left (longitudinal direction of the ink discharge region 15) is attached to the upper surface of the lid 79. Yes. The tube member 80 is formed by molding a resin. Specifically, the pipe member 80 as the air supply path has a planar shape in which four U-shaped characters opened to the left for each corresponding inkjet head 2 are connected in the vertical direction. The tube member 80 has a hollow region 80a (see FIG. 6) whose end is closed. A plurality of holes 81 opened upward are formed on the upper surface of the pipe member 80. These holes 81 are arranged at equal intervals along the planar shape of the pipe member 80 to constitute an air discharge portion 73. In the present embodiment, the air discharge portion 73 is configured by the plurality of holes 81, but the air discharge portion may be formed by one through hole in which all the holes 81 are connected.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the air discharge portion 73 has a bent flat shape that opens toward the left as in the case of the pipe member 80. Specifically, the air discharge unit 73 is paired in parallel with each pair of parallel inkjet heads 2 facing the pair of parallel regions 16a of the outer region 16 sandwiching the ink discharge region 15 in the short direction of the ink discharge surface 3a. It has the part 73a and the curved part 73b which connects a pair of parallel part 73a. The pair of parallel parts 73a are arranged at positions facing the projecting parts 78a and 79a, respectively. Due to the regularity of the arrangement of the portions 73a, 78a, and 79a, they have a width straddling between the parallel regions 16a of the adjacent inkjet heads 2.

  As shown in FIG. 5, five through holes 82 and 83 are formed in the wall portion facing the groove 78 c below the pipe member 80. These through holes 82 and 83 are spaced apart from each other along the extending direction of the groove 78c. The five through holes 82 and 83 are arranged at positions facing the boundary vicinity region between the parallel part 73a and the curved part 73b of the air discharge part 73, and the two outermost two through holes 82 have three The opening shape is slightly smaller than the through hole 83. The lid portion 79 is also formed with five through holes 84 and 85 that are opposed to the five through holes 82 and 83 and communicate with the groove 78c. By these through holes 82 to 85, the air supply path constituted by the groove 78 c and the lid portion 79 communicates with the hollow region 80 a of the pipe member 80.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a tube 86 that communicates with an air supply path constituted by a groove 78 c and a lid portion 79 is connected to one side surface of the air discharge member 74. As shown in FIG. 2, one end of the tube 86 is connected to an air pump (air supply means) 87 provided on the side of the maintenance unit 70. With this configuration, when the air pump 87 is driven, the air from the air pump 87 passes through the tube 86, the air supply path, the through holes 82 to 85, and the hollow region 80 a of the pipe member 80, and the air discharge unit 73. Discharged from.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the ink receiving member 75 faces two frame portions 4 b (see FIG. 4) along the longitudinal direction of the frame 4 when the maintenance member 72 faces the ink ejection surface 3 a. Two contact portions 61, a plate-like member 62 bridged between the lower ends of the contact portions 61, and a plurality of thin plates 63 erected on the plate-like member 62 between the projecting portions 78a and 79a. ing. Although the ink receiving member 75 is partly positioned between the pair of parallel portions 73a of the air discharge portion 73, as a whole, as shown in FIG. In this way, the air discharge member 74 is arranged on the downstream side of the air discharge portion 73 with respect to the moving direction of the air discharge member 74 starting from the open side of the air discharge portion 73.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the plate-like member 62 has a planar shape that is notched in a concavo-convex shape so that it can partially exist between the projecting portions 78 a and 79 a. In a plan view, three thin plates 63 are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the ink discharge region 15 on each convex portion of the plate-like member 62 (the portion existing between the projecting portions 78a and 79a). As shown in FIG. 5, the thin plates 63 are slightly longer than the length of the ink discharge region 15 in the short direction and slightly shorter than the length of the ink discharge surface 3a in the short direction. The three thin plates 63 are arranged in parallel with each other at a narrow interval at which ink can be sucked between the thin plates 63 by capillary force. Each thin plate 63 is made of stainless steel.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the contact portion 61 includes an upper end surface 61a parallel to the upper end surface of the thin plate 63, an inclined surface 61b formed on the left side of the upper end surface 61a, and an inclination formed on the right side of the upper end surface 61a. It has the surface 61c and the protrusion part 61d formed in the lower right part of the contact part 61. As shown in FIG. The upper end surface 61 a is separated from the upper end surface of the thin plate 63 by about 0.5 mm in the direction perpendicular to the upper end surface of the thin plate 63.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a through hole 61e is formed at the end of the projecting portion 61d, and a swing shaft 64 that supports the contact portion 61 so as to swing is inserted into the through hole 61e. . The swing shaft 64 is formed with a male screw (not shown) at one end. The male thread portion of the swing shaft 64 is formed at a position facing the through hole 61e of the base 78, and a female screw is formed on the inner peripheral surface. The contact portion 61 is swingably supported by being screwed into a through hole (not shown). Two springs 65 as elastic members are disposed between the plate-like member 62 and the protruding portion 78 b of the base portion 78. By these springs 65, the ink receiving member 75 is urged upward about the pivot shaft 64 as a rotation center.

  In this configuration, when the contact portion 61 and the frame 4 are not in contact with each other, as shown in FIG. 6, the plate-like member 62 of the ink receiving member 75 is inclined upward by the bias of the spring 65. Become. When air wiping (described later) foreign matters such as ink adhering to the ink ejection surface 3a, the ink receiving member 75 causes the pivot shaft 64 to be the center of rotation by bringing the upper end surface 61a into contact with the two frame portions 4b of the frame 4. And the plate-like member 62 is in a horizontal state. At this time, the distance between the upper end surface of the thin plate 63 and the ink ejection surface 3a is always kept at about 0.5 mm. Further, when the frame 4 is moved downward from here and the wiper 76 and the ink ejection surface 3a are brought into contact with each other, the ink receiving member 75 swings around the swing shaft 64 as a rotation center. The inclined surface 61c comes into contact with the two frame portions 4b of the frame 4, and the plate-like member 62 is inclined downward. Note that the upper end of the tube member 80 is always disposed at a position lower than the upper end of the ink receiving member 75, and does not come into contact with the ink ejection surface 3a.

  As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the four wipers 76 are erected at positions that are inclined portions 79 b of the lid portion 79 and are opposed to the respective ink ejection surfaces 3 a. That is, the wiper 76 is on the left side of the air discharge part 73 and upstream of the air discharge part 73 with respect to the moving direction of the air discharge member 74 starting from the open side of the air discharge part 73 as will be described later. (Right side).

  Further, the longitudinal directions of the four wipers 76 coincide with the short direction of the ink discharge surface 3a and are arranged along a straight line. The tip of each wiper 76 is at a position lower than the upper end of the ink receiving member 75 in a state where the entire upper end surface 61 a is in contact with the two frame portions 4 b of the frame 4, and is inclined to the two frame portions 4 b of the frame 4. It is disposed at a position higher than the upper end of the ink receiving member 75 in a state where the entire surface 61c is in contact.

  With this configuration, the entire upper end surface 61a is brought into contact with the two frame portions 4b of the frame 4 and air wipe described later is performed, so that the wiper 76 adheres to the ink ejection surface 3a without being brought into contact with the ink ejection surface 3a. It becomes possible to remove foreign matter such as ink from the ink discharge region 15. At this time, foreign matters such as ink are collected in the outer region 16. Next, by bringing the entire inclined surface 61 c into contact with the two frame portions 4 b of the frame 4, the wiper 76 can be brought into contact with the ink discharge surface 3 a and is brought close to the outer region 16 by the wiper 76. Foreign matter can be removed from the outer region 16. As shown in FIG. 5, the four wipers 76 are slightly longer than the length of the ink discharge region 15 in the short direction and slightly shorter than the length of the ink discharge surface 3a in the short direction. The wiper 76 is made of an elastic material such as rubber.

  When maintenance described later is not performed, the maintenance unit 70 is in a “retracted position” (a left position that does not face the inkjet head 2 in FIG. 2) away from the inkjet head 2 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. It is stationary. When maintenance is performed, the maintenance unit 70 is horizontally moved from the retracted position to a “maintenance position” facing the ink ejection surface 3 a of the inkjet head 2. At this time, since the inkjet head 2 is disposed at the head maintenance position, the tip of the ink receiving member 75 does not contact the ink ejection surface 3a.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the tray 71 is movably supported by a pair of guide shafts 96a and 96b extending in a direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction B. The tray 71 is provided with two bearing members 97a and 97b and protrudes from both upper and lower side surfaces of the air discharge member 74 in a plan view. Further, both ends of the pair of guide shafts 96a and 96b are fixed to the main body frames 1b and 1d, and are arranged parallel to each other between the frames 1b and 1d. With such a configuration, the tray 71 can move horizontally along the guide shafts 96a and 96b in the left-right direction in the drawing (the direction of arrow D and the direction opposite to the direction of arrow D).

  Here, the horizontal movement mechanism 91 that horizontally moves the tray 71 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the horizontal movement mechanism (movement mechanism) 91 includes a tray motor 92, a motor pulley 93, an idle pulley 94, a timing belt 95, guide shafts 96a and 96b, and the like. The tray motor 92 is fixed with a screw or the like to an attachment portion 1c formed at an end portion of the main body frame 1b extending in parallel with the paper conveyance direction B. The motor pulley 93 is connected to the tray motor 92 and rotates as the tray motor 92 is driven. The idle pulley 94 is rotatably supported by the leftmost main body frame 1d in FIG. The timing belt 95 is disposed in parallel with the guide shaft 96a and is wound so as to be bridged between the motor pulley 93 and the idle pulley 94 paired therewith. Further, the timing belt 95 is connected to a bearing member 97 a provided on the air discharge member 74.

  In this configuration, when the tray motor 92 is driven, the timing belt 95 travels as the motor pulley 93 rotates in the forward or reverse direction. As the timing belt 95 travels, the tray 71 and the maintenance member 72 in the tray 71 move together with the timing belt 95 in the left or right direction in FIG. 2, that is, in the direction toward the retracted position or the maintenance position.

  Next, the control system of the ink jet printer will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing a control configuration of the inkjet printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The inkjet printer 1 is provided with a control unit 101 that controls each operation of the printer. The control unit 101 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that is an arithmetic processing unit, a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores a control program executed by the CPU and data used for the control program, and data when the program is executed. It comprises a RAM (Random Access Memory) for temporary storage, and includes a head controller 111, a transport controller 112, and a purge controller 113 as shown in FIG.

  When the control unit 101 receives print data from a PC (personal computer) 100, the head control unit 111 controls the head drive circuit 121 to eject ink from the corresponding inkjet head 2. Further, when the number of printed sheets reaches a predetermined number, the head control unit 111 controls the head driving circuit 121 to stop ink ejection from the corresponding inkjet head 2.

  When the control unit 101 receives print data from the PC 100, the conveyance control unit 112 controls the pickup motor 132 with the motor driver 122 so that the pickup roller 22 is rotated and the sheet is conveyed onto the conveyance belt 8. The motor driver 123 is controlled to drive the transport motor 133 to transport the paper on the transport belt 8. Further, the conveyance control unit 112 controls the pickup motor 132 with the motor driver 122 so as to stop the rotation of the pickup motor 22 when the number of printed sheets reaches a predetermined number, and the sheet on the conveyance belt 8 is discharged. Then, the motor driver 123 is controlled so as to stop the driving of the transport motor 133.

  The purge control unit 113 includes an ink pump control unit 116, a head movement control unit (elevating mechanism control unit) 117, a maintenance unit movement control unit (movement control unit) 118, and an air pump control unit 119. The ink pump control unit 116 drives the ink pump 134 to forcibly supply ink when the control unit 101 receives a purge signal from the PC 100 and when ink is initially introduced into the inkjet head 2. The pump driver 124 is controlled to send to

  When the control unit 101 receives a purge signal from the PC 100 and when ink is initially introduced into the inkjet head 2, the head movement control unit 117 drives the head motor 52 so that the four inkjet heads 2 are in the printing position. The motor driver 125 is controlled to move to the head maintenance position. Further, the head movement control unit 117 controls the motor driver 125 so that when the maintenance operation for the inkjet head 2 is completed, the head motor 52 is driven to move the four inkjet heads 2 from the head maintenance position to the printing position. To do.

  The maintenance unit movement control unit 118 drives the tray motor 92 to move the tray 71 to the maintenance position when the control unit 101 receives a purge signal from the PC 100 and when ink is initially introduced into the inkjet head 2. Then, the motor driver 127 is controlled. Further, the maintenance unit movement control unit 118 controls the motor driver 127 so as to drive the tray motor 92 and move the tray 71 to the retracted position after purging from the inkjet head 2 and initial ink introduction.

  The air pump control unit 119 controls the pump driver 126 to drive the air pump 87 and discharge air from the air discharge unit 73 when the tray 71 moves from the maintenance position to the retracted position.

  Next, the maintenance operation of the maintenance unit 70 will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a situation when the foreign matter attached to the ink ejection surface is removed. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a situation in which foreign matter attached to the ink ejection surface moves due to air wiping with air discharged from the air discharge unit 73. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a situation where the wiper 76 wipes foreign matter moved to the outer region 16 by air wipe.

  When performing a purge operation for recovering the inkjet head 2 that has fallen into an initial ink introduction or ejection failure to the inkjet head 2, the head movement control unit 117 synchronizes the two head motors 52 via the motor driver 125. Driven to move the inkjet head 2 upward. Then, as shown in FIG. 8A, when the inkjet head 2 reaches the head maintenance position, the head movement control unit 117 stops the two head motors 52 via the motor driver 125. At this time, a space in which the maintenance unit 70 can move is formed between the ink ejection surface 3a and the transport belt 8. Note that the ink discharge surface 3a of the inkjet head 2 and the bottom surface of the frame 4 at the head maintenance position are not in contact with the ink receiving member 75 and the wiper 76 even when the maintenance unit 70 moves to the maintenance position.

  Next, the maintenance unit movement control unit 118 drives the tray motor 92 via the motor driver 127 to move the tray 71 in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 3 (the direction of moving from the retracted position to the maintenance position). Then, as shown in FIG. 8A, when the tray 71 reaches the maintenance position, the maintenance movement control unit 118 stops the tray motor 92 via the motor driver 127. At this time, the left end portion of the tray 71 in the drawing overlaps with the right end portion of the waste ink receiving tray 77 disposed at the retracted position in plan view.

  Next, the head movement control unit 117 drives the two head motors 52 in synchronization via the motor driver 125, and moves the inkjet head 2 downward. At this time, the lower surface of the two frame portions 4b along the longitudinal direction of the frame 4 and the inclined surface 61b of the contact portion 61 come into contact, and the ink receiving member 75 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. Rocks. Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the entire upper end surface 61 a comes into contact with the lower surface of the frame 4, the head movement control unit 117 stops the two head motors 52 via the motor driver 125. At this time, the distance between the upper end surface of the thin plate 63 and the lower surface of the frame 4 is about 0.5 mm.

  Next, the pump control unit 116 drives the ink pump 134 via the pump driver 124, forcibly supplies ink to the inkjet head 2, and performs a purge operation for ejecting ink from the nozzles of the inkjet head 2. By this purging operation, the clogging of the nozzle that has caused the ejection failure and the thickening of the ink in the nozzle are eliminated, and the ejection characteristics are restored. The operation at the time of initial ink introduction into the inkjet head 2 is performed in substantially the same manner as the purge operation. The ink pump 134 is stopped when a predetermined time has elapsed. Further, the ink that has fallen into the tray 71 from the ink ejection surface 3 a moves to the left side in FIG. 8 along the bottom surface of the tray 71 and flows into the waste ink receiving tray 77. Then, ink is discharged from the ink discharge hole 77 a of the waste ink receiving tray 77.

  Next, the air pump control unit 119 drives the air pump 87 via the pump driver 126 and discharges air upward from the air discharge unit 73. Then, the maintenance unit movement control unit 118 drives the tray motor 92 via the motor driver 127, and moves the tray 71 in the direction (left direction in FIG. 8) starting from the one where the air discharge unit 73 is opened in plan view. Then, as shown in FIG. 8C, air wiping of the ink discharge surface 3a by the air discharged from the air discharge portion 73 is performed.

  As shown in FIG. 9 (a), the ink ejection surface 3a immediately before air wiping and after purging is almost entirely free of foreign matter (mainly ink, such as thickened ink and dust). Including) is attached. In FIG. 9, hatching is applied to make it easy to understand the foreign matter 17 (foreign matter 17a, 17b) adhering to the ink ejection surface 3a. When the tray 71 is moved as described above, the air discharge portion 73 and the ink discharge surface 3a face each other, and the air discharged from the air discharge portion 73 is transferred to the ink discharge surface as shown in FIG. 9B. 3a flows along the ink discharge surface 3a from the direction of the arrow in the drawing, that is, from the region facing the air discharge portion 73 of the ink discharge surface 3a. Specifically, the air from the portion forming the pair of parallel portions 73a of the air discharge portion 73 strikes the ink discharge surface 3a and flows mainly in the short direction of the ink discharge region 15, and from the portion forming the curved portion 73b. The air mainly flows in a direction parallel to the direction connecting the center point S of the bending portion 73b and the center point of the hole 81 formed in the bending portion 73b.

  Due to the flow of air from the air discharge unit 73 and the movement of the tray 71, the foreign matter 17 mainly attached to the ink discharge region 15 is sequentially shortened in the ink discharge region 15 as shown in FIG. Air wipe is performed in the direction of movement of the tray 71 while being moved toward the center in the hand direction. At this time, the air discharge part 73 has a pair of parallel parts 73a, and the air from the parallel part 73a hits the ink discharge surface 3a and is in the short direction of the ink discharge area 15 toward the center of the ink discharge area 15. Since the air flows from the curved portion 73b, even if the foreign matter moves in the moving direction of the tray 71, the foreign matter passes between the pair of parallel portions 73a and faces the air discharge portion 73 of the ink ejection surface 3a. It becomes difficult to scatter around the outside.

  At this time, as the tray 71 moves to the retracted position side, the thin plate 63 of the ink receiving member 75 removes most of the foreign matter (mainly ink) 17 a brought closer to the center side in the short side direction of the ink discharge region 15. Although the thin plate 63 is not in contact with the ink discharge surface 3 a, the foreign matter 17 b that cannot be partially absorbed remains attached to the ink discharge region 15. Since the remaining foreign matter 17b is moved in the moving direction of the tray 71 by the air from the curved portion 73b, the air discharge portion 73 and the ink discharge surface 3a face each other as the tray 71 moves toward the retracted position. Little remains in the area. In this way, the foreign matter 17 adhering to the ink discharge region 15 can be moved to the outer region 16 by air wipe, and the foreign matter can be removed from the ink discharge region 15. The ink removed by the ink receiving member 75 flows from the tray 71 to the waste ink receiving tray 77 and is discharged from the ink discharge hole 77a.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 10A, the foreign matter adhering to the ink discharge surface 3a is moved from the ink discharge region 15 to the outer region 16 by air wipe, and the wiper 76 passes through the ink discharge region 15 and passes through the outer region 16. The maintenance movement control unit 118 stops the tray motor 92 via the motor driver 127, and the air pump control unit 119 stops the driving of the air pump 87 via the pump driver 126. The discharge of air from the discharge unit 73 is stopped.

  Next, the head movement control unit 117 drives the two head motors 52 in synchronization via the motor driver 125, and moves the inkjet head 2 downward. At this time, the lower surface of the two frame portions 4b along the longitudinal direction of the frame 4 and the inclined surface 61c of the contact portion 61 contact each other, and the ink receiving member 75 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. Rocks. Then, as shown in FIG. 10B, when the tip of the wiper 76 and the outer region 16 come into contact with the entire inclination 61c and the lower surface of the frame 4, the head movement control unit 117 The two head motors 52 are stopped via the motor driver 125.

  Next, the maintenance unit movement control unit 118 drives the tray motor 92 via the motor driver 127, and the tray 71 is moved in the direction (left direction in FIG. 10) starting from the one where the air discharge unit 73 is opened in plan view. The ink wiped by the wiper 76 is moved and moved to the end side (outer region 16) of the ink ejection surface 3a by the air wipe. Thereby, foreign matters such as ink, thickened ink, and dust adhered to the ink discharge surface 3a can be removed without remaining on the ink discharge surface 3a. At this time, the wiper 76 moves in a direction away from the ink discharge region 15 while contacting the outer region 16 where the nozzle 3b is not formed. The wiper 76 does not pass while being in contact with the ink discharge region 15. Therefore, foreign matter such as thickened ink and dust is not pushed into the nozzle 3b by the wiper 76. The foreign matter removed by the wiper 76 flows on the tray 71 along the wiper 76, then flows from the tray 71 to the waste ink receiving tray 77, and is discharged from the ink discharge hole 77a.

  When the tray 71 reaches the retracted position, the maintenance unit movement control unit 118 stops the tray motor 92 via the motor driver 127. Thus, the maintenance operation of the maintenance unit 70 related to the operation at the initial ink introduction and the purge operation is completed.

  When the maintenance operation is completed, the head movement control unit 117 drives the two head motors 52 in synchronization via the motor driver 125, and moves the inkjet head 2 downward. When the ink jet head 2 reaches the printing position, the head movement control unit 117 stops the two head motors 52 via the motor driver 125.

  According to the ink jet printer 1 according to the first embodiment as described above, the air discharged from the air discharge portion 73 hits the ink discharge surface 3a and partially extends from the region facing the air discharge portion 73 of the ink discharge surface 3a to the region. Since the liquid flows toward the inner region surrounded by the ink, it is possible to suppress foreign matter (ink, thickened ink, dust, etc.) adhering mainly to the ink discharge region 15 of the ink discharge surface 3a from being scattered around. The foreign matter adhering to the ink discharge surface 3a can be removed from the ink discharge region 15 in a non-contact manner by air wipe. Therefore, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from being pushed into the nozzle 3b. Further, in the case where the wiper is wiped against the majority of the ink ejection surface 3a, the foreign matter removal performance from the ink ejection surface is reduced as the wiper deteriorates. Since the foreign matter is removed in a non-contact manner by air, the foreign matter removal performance does not deteriorate.

  Further, the air discharge member 74 is provided with an ink receiving member 75, and at the time of air wiping, most of the ink in the ink discharge area 15 is sucked out in a non-contact manner, so that the ink adhering to the ink discharge area 15 is Air wipe makes it difficult to scatter around. As a result, the recording apparatus is less likely to get dirty.

  Next, an ink jet printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is a plan view of the maintenance member. In FIG. 11, the ink discharge surface 3 a when the maintenance member 272 and the four inkjet heads 2 face each other is depicted by a two-dot chain line.

  In the present embodiment, the configuration of the maintenance member 272 is slightly different from the configuration of the maintenance member 72 of the first embodiment, but is otherwise the same as that of the first embodiment. The description is omitted.

  The maintenance member 272 of this embodiment includes an air discharge member (air discharge body) 274, an ink receiving member 275 provided on the air discharge member 274, and four wipers 276 provided on the air discharge member 274. ing. The wiper 276 is the same as the wiper 76 of the first embodiment.

  The air discharge member 274 has a planar shape different from that of the air discharge member 74 of the first embodiment, and has a base portion 278 having a rectangular flat shape, but does not have the lid portion 79 as in the first embodiment. The base 278 is substantially the same as the base 78 of the first embodiment except that the protrusion 78a and the groove 78c of the first embodiment are not formed.

  The air discharge member 274 has a pipe 280 attached to the upper surface of the base 278. As shown in FIG. 11, the pipe 280 has a bent planar shape that opens toward the left in FIG. 11 (longitudinal direction of the ink ejection region 15) for each corresponding inkjet head 2. Specifically, the pipe 280 as an air supply path has a planar shape in which four V-shaped characters that open to the left for each corresponding inkjet head 2 are connected in the vertical direction. A plurality of holes 281 opened upward are formed on the upper surface of the pipe 280. These holes 281 are arranged at substantially equal intervals along the planar shape of the pipe 280 to constitute an air discharge part 273.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the air discharge portion 273 has a bent plane shape that opens toward the left in FIG. 11, as with the pipe 280. Specifically, the air discharge portion 273 has a planar shape in which four V-shaped characters opened to the left for each corresponding inkjet head 2 are connected in the vertical direction. Each V-shaped portion 273a of the air discharge portion 273 extends across the ink discharge region 15 with respect to the short direction of the ink discharge surface 3a, and both the upper and lower ends of the V-shaped portion 273a in FIG. The portion is opposed to a pair of parallel regions 16 a of the outer region 16 sandwiching the ink discharge region 15.

  Moreover, the tube 86 connected to the air pump 87 is connected to the one end part of the pipe 280 similarly to 1st Embodiment. With this configuration, when the air pump 87 is driven, air from the air pump 87 passes through the tube 86 and the hollow region of the pipe 280 serving as an air supply path, and is discharged from the air discharge portion 273.

  The ink receiving member 275 is substantially the same as the ink receiving member 75 of the first embodiment, but only the plate-like member 262 is different from the first embodiment. Since the plate-like member 262 is not formed with the projecting portions 78a and 79a of the first embodiment on the air discharge member 274, the planar shape thereof is a rectangular planar shape having no irregularities. The rest is the same as the plate-like member 62 of the first embodiment.

  Next, the flow of air discharged from the air discharge unit 273 in this embodiment will be described below. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a situation in which the foreign matter attached to the ink ejection surface is moved by air wiping with the air discharged from the air discharge unit.

  The maintenance operation in the present embodiment is substantially the same as that in the first embodiment, but the flow of air discharged from the air discharge unit 273 is different from that in the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, air is discharged from the air discharge unit 273 at the same timing as in the first embodiment, the maintenance unit movement control unit 118 drives the tray motor 92 via the motor driver 127, and the air is discharged in plan view. The tray 71 is moved in a direction (left direction in FIG. 12) starting from the opening of the part 273, and the ink discharge surface 3a is wiped with air discharged from the air discharge part 273.

  Naturally, also in the present embodiment, the ink ejection surface 3a immediately after air wiping and after purging has a foreign matter (mainly ink mainly) in the entire ink ejection area 15 as shown in FIG. , Including thickening ink and dust). In FIG. 12, hatching is applied to make it easy to understand the foreign matter 217 (foreign matter 217a, 217b) adhering to the ink ejection surface 3a.

  When the tray 71 is moved as described above, the air discharge portion 273 and the ink discharge surface 3a face each other, and as shown in FIG. 12B, the air discharged from the air discharge portion 273 is the ink discharge surface. 3a flows along the ink discharge surface 3a from the direction of the arrow in the drawing, that is, from the region facing the air discharge portion 273 of the ink discharge surface 3a. Specifically, air from the portions forming the two oblique sides of the V-shaped portion 273a of the air discharge portion 73 strikes the ink ejection surface 3a and flows mainly in a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of each oblique side portion. The air from the part which forms the connecting part (the end part of both oblique sides) of both oblique sides of the letter-shaped part 273a strikes the ink ejection surface 3a and flows mainly in the longitudinal direction of the ink ejection surface 3a.

  Due to the flow of air from the air discharge unit 273 and the movement of the tray 71, the foreign matter 217 mainly attached to the ink discharge region 15 is sequentially shortened in the ink discharge region 15 as shown in FIG. Air wipe is performed in the direction of movement of the tray 71 while being moved toward the center in the hand direction. At this time, the air discharged from the V-shaped portion 273a of the air discharge portion 273 flows from the region facing the air discharge portion 273 of the ink discharge surface 3a toward the inner region partially surrounded by the region. Therefore, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from being scattered around the outside of the region facing the air discharge portion 273 of the ink discharge surface 3a.

  At this time, as the tray 71 moves to the retracted position side, the thin plate 63 of the ink receiving member 275 moves toward the center side in the short direction of the ink discharge region 15 as in the first embodiment. Most of the (mainly ink) 217a is sucked by capillary force, but the thin plate 63 does not come into contact with the ink discharge surface 3a, so that the foreign matter 217b that cannot be partially sucked remains in the ink discharge region 15. Since the remaining foreign matter 217b is drawn in the moving direction of the tray 71 by the air from the air discharge portion 273, it has been opposed to the air discharge portion 273 of the ink discharge surface 3a as the tray 71 moves to the retracted position side. Little remains in the area. In this way, the foreign matter adhering to the ink discharge region 15 can be moved to the outer region 16 by air wipe, and the foreign matter can be removed from the ink discharge region 15.

  Also in the ink jet printer according to the second embodiment as described above, the air discharged from the air discharge portion 273 hits the ink discharge surface 3a and partially extends from the region facing the air discharge portion 273 of the ink discharge surface 3a to the region. Since the liquid flows toward the inner region surrounded by the ink, it is possible to suppress foreign matter (ink, thickened ink, dust, etc.) adhering mainly to the ink discharge region 15 of the ink discharge surface 3a from being scattered around. The foreign matter adhering to the ink discharge surface 3a can be removed from the ink discharge region 15 in a non-contact manner by air wipe. Therefore, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from being pushed into the nozzle 3b. Further, in the case where the wiper is wiped by contacting the majority of the ink ejection surface 3a, the foreign matter removal performance from the ink ejection surface is reduced as the wiper deteriorates. Since the foreign matter is removed by air in a non-contact manner, the foreign matter removing performance does not deteriorate.

  Further, the air discharge member 274 is provided with an ink receiving member 275, and at the time of air wiping, most of the ink in the ink discharge area 15 is sucked out in a non-contact manner, so that the ink attached to the ink discharge area 15 is Air wipe makes it difficult to scatter around. As a result, the recording apparatus is less likely to get dirty.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made as long as they are described in the claims. For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the air discharge units 73 and 273 have a planar shape in which four U-shaped or V-shaped characters facing each ink jet head 2 are connected vertically. However, the air discharge portion may have a planar shape of a U-shape and a V-shape facing sideways independently of each ink jet head 2. Moreover, the air discharge part should just have the bending shape which the head part opened in the direction which moves the tray 71 from a maintenance position to a retracted position. For example, the air discharge part which consists of the curved part 73b which does not have a pair of parallel part 73a of the air discharge part 73 may be sufficient. In other words, in the first embodiment, the air discharge part 73 may not have the pair of parallel parts 73a. Also in this case, the air discharged from the curved portion 73b serving as the air discharge portion hits the ink discharge surface 3a and is an inner region partially surrounded by the region from the region facing the curved portion 73b of the ink discharge surface 3a. Therefore, foreign matter (ink, thickened ink, dust, etc.) adhering mainly to the ink discharge area 15 on the ink discharge surface 3a can be prevented from being scattered around the ink discharge surface 3a. The adhered foreign matter can be removed from the ink discharge area 15 in a non-contact manner by air wipe. Therefore, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from being pushed into the nozzle 3b. Further, the ink receiving members 75 and 275 may not be provided. Further, the wipers 76 and 276 may not be provided.

1 is a schematic sectional side view of an inkjet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic plan view of the principal part of the inkjet printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing along the III-III line | wire shown in FIG. It is a schematic plan view when four inkjet heads are viewed from below. It is a top view of a maintenance member. (A) is sectional drawing along the VIa-VIa line shown by FIG. 5, (b) is sectional drawing along the VIb-VIb line shown by FIG. 5, (c) is FIG. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VIc-VIc shown in FIG. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the control structure of the inkjet printer by 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the condition when removing the foreign material adhering to an ink discharge surface. It is a figure which shows the condition where the foreign material adhering to an ink discharge surface moves by the air wipe by the air discharged | emitted from the air discharge part. It is a figure which shows the condition which wipes off the foreign material which moved to the outer side area | region by the air wipe with a wiper. It is a top view of a maintenance member. It is a figure which shows the condition where the foreign material adhering to an ink discharge surface moves by the air wipe by the air discharged | emitted from the air discharge part.

Explanation of symbols

1 Inkjet printer (inkjet recording device)
2 Inkjet head 3a Ink ejection surface 3b Nozzle (ink ejection port)
15 Ink discharge area 16 Outer area 16a Parallel area 51 Frame moving mechanism (elevating mechanism)
73,273 Air discharge part 73a Parallel part 74,274 Air discharge member (air discharge body)
75,275 Ink receiving member 76,276 Wiper 81,281 hole 87 Air pump (air supply means)
91 Horizontal movement mechanism (movement mechanism)
117 Head movement control unit (lifting mechanism control means)
118 Maintenance unit movement control unit (movement control means)

Claims (4)

An ink jet head having an ink discharge surface in which an ink discharge region elongated in one direction in which a plurality of ink discharge ports are formed and an outer region surrounding the ink discharge region; and
In the flat plane view has an air discharge unit for discharging the air toward the ink ejection surface along the bent shape and has a bent shape opened toward the one direction, the in the ink ejection plane An air discharge body in which the air discharge portion extends across the ink discharge region with respect to a direction orthogonal to one direction;
Air supply means for supplying air to the air discharge body such that air is discharged from the air discharge portion;
A moving mechanism for moving at least one of the air discharger and the inkjet head;
The air discharger moves relative to the inkjet head in the one direction with the air discharge unit having a bent shape as the head, with the air discharge unit facing the ink discharge surface. A movement control means for controlling the movement mechanism ;
When the movement mechanism is controlled by the movement control unit, the foreign matter attached to the ink discharge area moves in the direction of the air discharger relative to the center of the ink discharge area and the inkjet head in the orthogonal direction. Air supply control means for controlling the air supply means ,
The air discharger is disposed on the downstream side of the air discharger with respect to the moving direction of the air discharger with the opening of the air discharger having a bent shape at the head, and the air discharger is the ink discharger. An ink jet recording apparatus , comprising: an ink receiving member spaced apart from the ink discharge surface when facing the discharge surface .   2. The air discharge portion according to claim 1, wherein the air discharge portion includes a pair of parallel portions respectively opposed to a pair of parallel regions of the outer region sandwiching the ink discharge region with respect to a direction orthogonal to the one direction. The ink jet recording apparatus described. The air discharge body adheres to the ink discharge surface disposed upstream of the air discharge section with respect to the moving direction of the air discharge body with the opening of the bent air discharge section as the head. Wiper to wipe off the ink that has been removed,
An elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering at least one of the inkjet head and the air discharger;
A lifting mechanism control means for controlling the lifting mechanism so as to bring the wiper and the ink ejection surface into contact with each other;
The elevating mechanism control means controls the elevating mechanism so that the wiper and the ink ejection surface come into contact with each other when the wiper passes through the ink ejection area and the entire outer area faces the outer area.
The movement control means is configured such that after the ink discharge surface and the wiper are in contact with each other, the air discharge body is directed toward the ink jet head in the one direction with the air discharge portion having a bent shape opened as a head. for relative movement, the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the controller controls the moving mechanism. The air discharge unit, in any one of claims 1 to 3, a plurality of holes open upward is characterized by being composed are arranged in a bent shape opened toward the one direction The ink jet recording apparatus described.

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