Ink jet recording apparatus
AssigneeBrother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorTakaichiro Umeda
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A maintenance unit of an ink jet recording apparatus includes a maintenance motor, a cap member that covers nozzles of a print head, a wiper that wipes ink off a nozzle opening area after a cleaning operation for the print head, a suction pump that suctions the ink, a switching valve that includes a plurality of suction ports connected to the cap member, the wiper, and an ink receiver and a discharge port connected to the suction pump, and a cam that controls a rotating angle of the switching valve. The maintenance motor, the suction pump, the switching valve, and the cam are connected by a plurality of gears. The ink discharged during wiping and flushing operations, as well as the cleaning operation, is selectively suctioned by the maintenance unit.
Claims21
An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising:
- a print head having nozzles, the print head forming an image onto a recording medium by ejecting ink from the nozzles;
- a cap member that covers the nozzles of the print head;
- a wiping member that wipes off the ink on a nozzle surface;
- an ink receiver that receives the ink ejected from the nozzles at a region outside an image recordable area with the print head,
- a suction pump for suctioning the ink;
- and
- a switching mechanism that communicates with the cap member, the wiping member, the ink receiver, and the suction pump, the switching mechanism allowing the suction pump to selectively communicate with the cap member, the wiping member, and the ink receiver.
An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising:
- a print head having a plurality of nozzles, the print head forming an image onto a recording medium by ejecting ink from the plurality of nozzles;
- a cap member that covers the plurality of nozzles, the cap member having at least one cap;
- a wiping member that wipes off the ink on a nozzle surface;
- an ink receiver that receives the ink ejected from the plurality of nozzles at a region outside an image recordable area with the print head,
- a suction pump for suctioning the ink;
- a switching mechanism that communicates with the cap member, the wiping member, the ink receiver, and the suction pump, the switching mechanism allowing the suction pump to selectively communicate with the cap member, the wiping member, and the ink receiver;
- a spring that forces the cap member toward the print head;
- a cam that moves the cap member away from the print head;
- and
- a motor coupled to the cam.
A switching mechanism, comprising:
- a cylindrical main body;
- a discharge port provided on an upper surface of the main body;
- a plurality of suction ports provided on an outer circumferential surface of the main body;
- a switching member rotatably fitted into the main body;
- a plurality of grooves formed on an upper surface and an outer circumferential surface of the switching member, the grooves formed on the upper surface of the switching member communicating with the discharge port, and the grooves formed on the outer circumferential surface of the switching member communicating with the suction ports;
- and
- a gear member connected to the switching member, the gear member rotating the switching member relative to the main body.
A switching mechanism, comprising:
- a cylindrical hollow main body;
- a discharge port provided on an upper surface of the main body;
- a plurality of suction ports provided on an outer circumferential surface of the main body;
- a cylindrical switching member including an outer peripheral surface, at least a portion of the outer peripheral surface being of a diameter greater than an inside diameter of the main body, the switching member rotatably fitted into the main body;
- and
- a plurality of grooves formed on an upper surface and the outer peripheral surface of the switching member, the grooves communicating with each other, the grooves formed on the upper surface of the switching member communicating with the discharge port, and the grooves formed on the outer peripheral surface of the switching member communicating with the suction ports.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.