Ink-jet printer with maintenance mechanism
AssigneeBrother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorJunji Nakahara
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ink-jet printer with a maintenance mechanism uses a single cam to clean and maintain a recording head. The cam is driven by a paper-feed motor in the forward direction during the maintenance operations. When the recording head is disposed in a maintenance area, the driving force of the paper-feed motor is transferred to the cam via a coupler. In one revolution of the cam, a suction cap, a suction pump, and a wiper are driven at a predetermined timing to clean the recording head. The paper-feed motor is also used to drive the platen roller during the recording operation. Because a common motor is used to drive the platen roller and the cam, and because a single cam completes the maintenance operations in one revolution, the structure and its control are simplified.
Claims25
An ink-jet printer for ejecting ink drops at a recording medium, the ink-jet printer provided with a maintenance mechanism for performing a maintenance operation, comprising:
- a recording-medium transporter that transports the recording medium;
- a driving unit that provides a driving force to drive the recording-medium transporter;
- a recording head having a plurality of nozzles and a nozzle surface, the plurality of nozzles ejecting ink drops toward the recording medium;
- a suction cap that covers the nozzle surface of the recording head when the maintenance operation is performed;
- a suction pump that sucks ink out of the recording head via the suction cap;
- a wiper that wipes the nozzle surface of the recording head;
- a carriage that holds the recording head;
- a lock that secures the carriage at a predetermined position;
- a cam that drives the suction cap, the suction pump and the wiper, and a connection/disconnection mechanism that selectively either transfers the driving force provided by the driving unit to the cam to drive the cam in a forward direction only or prevents the driving force provided by the driving unit from being transferred to the cam.
A method of performing a maintenance operation for an ink-jet printer, the ink-jet printer ejecting ink drops at a recording medium and including a recording-medium transporter that transports the recording medium and a recording head that has a plurality of nozzles and a nozzle surface and is held on a carriage, the plurality of nozzles ejecting ink drops toward the recording medium, comprising the steps of:
- providing a driving force to drive the recording-medium transporter with a driving unit;
- covering the nozzle surface of the recording head with a suction cap when the maintenance operation is performed;
- sucking ink out of the recording head via the suction cap with a suction pump;
- wiping the nozzle surface of the recording head with a wiper;
- driving the suction cap, suction pump and wiper with a cam that moves in a forward direction only;
- securing the carriage at a predetermined position with a lock;
- and selectively either transferring the driving force provided by the driving unit to the cam or preventing the driving force provided by the driving unit from being transferred to the cam with a connection/disconnection mechanism.
An ink-jet printer for ejecting ink drops at a recording medium, the ink-jet printer provided with a maintenance mechanism for performing a maintenance operation, comprising:
- a recording-medium transporter that transports the recording medium;
- a driving unit that provides a driving force to drive the recording-medium transporter;
- a recording head having a plurality of nozzles and a nozzle surface, the plurality of nozzles ejecting ink-drops toward the recording medium;
- a suction cap that covers the nozzle surface of the recording head when the maintenance operation is performed;
- a suction pump that sucks ink out of the recording head via the suction cap;
- a wiper that wipes the nozzle surface of the recording head;
- a carriage that holds the recording head;
- a cam that drives the suction cap, the suction pump and the wiper, the cam having grooves on an opposite cam surface, the grooves being formed so that the suction cap covers the nozzle surface during a first suction in order to allow ink to be sucked out of the recording head by the suction pump, and the suction cap is gradually separated from the nozzle surface during a second suction in order to allow ink to be sucked out of the suction cap by the suction pump and
- a connection/disconnection mechanism that selectively either transfers the driving force provided by the driving unit to the cam to drive the cam in a forward direction only or prevents the driving force provided by the driving unit from being transferred to the cam.
An ink-jet printer for ejecting ink drops at a recording medium, the ink-jet printer provided with a maintenance mechanism for performing a maintenance operation, comprising:
- a recording-medium transporter that transports the recording medium;
- a driving unit that provides a driving force to drive the recording-medium transporter;
- a recording head having a plurality of nozzles and a nozzle surface, the plurality of nozzles ejecting ink drops toward the recording medium;
- a suction cap that covers the nozzle surface of the recording head when the maintenance operation is performed;
- a suction pump that sucks ink out of the recording head via the suction cap;
- a wiper that wipes the nozzle surface of the recording head;
- a carriage that holds the recording head;
- a cam, with a plurality of grooves, that drives the suction cap, the suction pump and the wiper;
- and
- a connection/disconnection mechanism that selectively either transfers the driving force provided by the driving unit to the cam to drive the cam in a forward direction only or prevents the driving force provided by the driving unit from being transferred to the cam, wherein the driving unit is a single driving motor that drives the cam in forward direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.