Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-17
2001-02-06
Le, N. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Ejector mechanism
C347S029000, C347S088000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06183060
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink-jet printer including a maintenance mechanism for keeping a good ejection condition of the ink-jet head, and more specifically relates to an ink-jet printer including a maintenance mechanism using strip-like cleaning paper for receiving ejected ink from the head and/or wiping the nozzle surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional ink-jet printers have an ink-jet head for ejecting ink, a carriage for moving the head along a recording medium in order to eject ink at a desired position of the recording medium, and a maintenance mechanism for keeping a good ejection condition of the ink-jet head.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,505 corresponding to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-141,439 discloses a maintenance mechanism in which cleaning of an ink-jet head is performed by pressing the head against paper on a platen and frictionally sliding the head relative to the paper.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-323,999 discloses a maintenance unit for an ink-jet printer using hot-melt type ink. This maintenance unit has an ink wiping mechanism wherein a strip of maintenance paper spooled out from a supply spool is put in contact with the head to thereby wipe ink.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-141,898 (corresponding to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/751,768) discloses a cleaning device which, in order to remove dust and air remaining in the a nozzle of the ink-jet head, forces ink to eject out from the nozzle to thereby collect the dust etc., on cleaning paper disposed marginally spaced away from the nozzle. The ink-jet printer disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-141,898, comprises a pump which may apply either a positive back pressure or negative pressure to the ink-jet head, a conveyer having a strip of cleaning paper and conveying it to the head and a pushing means for pushing the cleaning paper against the head. However, an ink-jet printer of this type, was provided with a dedicated motor or solenoid as the driving source for the means of pushing the cleaning paper. Further, separate driving sources were used to drive the pump and the conveying means for the cleaning paper. In short, driving of the maintenance mechanism needed a multiple number of driving sources, resulting in a complicated configuration. Moreover, an ink-jet printer needs driving sources such as one as a feed motor for feeding print sheets and one for the carriage. Thus, an ink-jet printer needs a number of driving sources, resulting in a complex configuration and producing difficulties in reduction of the manufacturing cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A first object of the invention is to provide an ink-jet recording apparatus having a mechanism which can move the strip to be used for maintaining the head toward the head, without using a special actuator such a motor, solenoid or the like.
A second object of the invention is to provide a maintenance device which can drive a pump and a strip-conveyer used for maintaining the ink-jet head with a lower number of driving sources as well as to provide an ink-jet recording apparatus having the maintenance device.
In accordance with the first aspect of the invention, an ink-jet recording apparatus is provided which comprises:
a recording head having a nozzle for ejecting ink;
a carriage for conveying the recording head and moving across the width of the recording area opposing a recording medium and an additional area outside thereof;
a moving element which is disposed within the area outside the recording area and is capable of moving by being put in contact with the carriage or the head when the carriage has moved to the outside area;
a strip disposed within the outside area for cleaning the recording head with the surface thereof; and
a support element for supporting the rearside of the strip, which can move toward the recording head to press the strip against the nozzle of the recording head, wherein the support element is caused to move toward the head by the driving force generated by the movement of the moving element, to thereby press the strip against the head.
In accordance with the ink-jet recording apparatus of the invention, when the carriage having the head therein has moved to the area outside the recording area, for example to the position opposing the strip in the maintenance area, the moving element, e.g., a rotational lever is pressed by the head or the carriage and moved. A force generated when the moving element is moved, for example, a rotational force can be used for the power source for causing the support element, e.g., a pressing plate, to move the strip toward the head. Accordingly, in the present invention, there no need to provide any dedicated actuator for moving the support element, thus simplifying the configuration of the maintenance mechanism, and hence reducing the manufacturing cost of the ink-jet printer.
In this document, it should be noted that cleaning of the recording head with a strip, includes not only wiping the ink adhering to the head by pressing the strip against the recording head, but also the cleaning of the ink channels and the nozzle by ejecting ink toward the strip.
The ink-jet recording apparatus may further comprise transmission elements for transmitting the force generated by the movement of the moving element to the support element. When the moving element is a rotational lever, the transmission elements may comprise: a first gear connected to the rotational lever; a second gear meshing with the first gear; a rotational element connected to the second gear; and a pivot arm urged by the rotational element so as to pivot. The pivot arm may be engaged with the support element. The pivot arm may comprise: an upper arm; a lower arm; a rotational shaft for rotatably supporting the lower arm with respect to the upper arm; and a spring urging the lower arm in the predetermined rotational direction with respect to the upper arm. The upper arm may have a pivot axle for the pivot arm, the lower arm may be engaged with the support element, and the lower arm may rotate with respect to the upper arm, opposing the urging force of the spring, when the support element has pressed the strip against the head.
Further, the ink-jet recording apparatus may further comprise: a damper for damping the impacts when the support element has pressed the strip against the head. The damper beneficially protects the head from impacts and can absorb the error and fluctuations occurring from the support element of the strip during manufacture and/or assembly. Therefore, it is possible to further enhance the durability of the head and the productivity of the ink-jet recording apparatus. The aforementioned lower arm and the spring may function as a damper for damping the impacts arising when the support element presses the strip against the head. Further, an elastic element may be provided on the support surface of the support element, to provide the functionality of a damper.
In accordance with the second aspect of the invention, an ink-jet recording apparatus is provided which comprises:
a recording head having ink channels formed therein and a nozzle for ejecting ink;
a pump which applies a pressure to the interior of the recording head to purge the ink channels and the nozzle;
a strip used for cleaning the recording head;
a conveyer for conveying the strip to thereby refresh the part of the strip opposing the nozzle; and
a common driving source for driving the pump and the conveyer.
In the ink-jet recording apparatus in accordance with the second aspect thus configured, since the pump and the conveyer is driven by the common driving source, the number of the driving sources in the recording apparatus can be reduced to realize a very simplified configuration, and hence it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost of the ink-jet recording apparatus.
The ink-jet recording apparatus of the second aspect may further comprise a carriage for conveying the recording head. The recording h
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Hsieh Shih-Wen
Le N.
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
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