JP2003225998A - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: Even if borderless printing is performed on recording paper of various shapes other than a regular quadrangle, the amount of ink droplets protruding from the paper guide member and discharged is effectively suppressed. To provide a recording device capable of doing so. SOLUTION: A carriage 4 on which a recording head 7 is mounted is provided with a paper width detecting mechanism by a photo interrupter 17, and detects the width of the recording paper 9 conveyed along a paper guide member 8. The recording head 7 mounted on the carriage 4 is scanned based on the information from the paper width detecting mechanism so as to protrude beyond the edge of the recording paper 9 by a predetermined amount, and the marginless printing is performed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with a recording head mounted on a carriage and ejecting ink droplets based on print data, and more particularly to at least left and right edges of recording paper, more preferably upper and lower edges. The present invention relates to an ink jet type recording apparatus capable of performing borderless printing in which the margins of the edges are eliminated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There has been provided an ink jet type recording apparatus capable of performing marginless printing by eliminating margins on left and right edges and upper and lower edges of a recording sheet. A recording apparatus capable of performing such borderless printing includes a print control for ejecting ink droplets from the recording head to the outside of the left and right edges of the recording sheet, and before the start edge of the recording sheet passes. Print control is executed to start the ink droplet ejection operation from the recording head and to continue the ink droplet ejection operation from the recording head until after the trailing edge of the recording sheet is passed.

Therefore, most of the ink droplets ejected outside the left and right edges and the upper and lower edges of the recording paper are received by the paper guide member that conveys the recording paper. In such a recording apparatus, in order to prevent the recording paper from being contaminated by the ink waste liquid on the paper guide member, an ink receiving hole is formed in the paper guide member, and the ink waste liquid is guided into the ink receiving hole. It is configured to do.

Further, a porous ink absorbing material is housed in the ink receiving hole, and ink droplets ejected from the recording head are projected outside the left and right edges and the upper and lower edges of the recording paper. By being received by the ink absorbing material, it is configured to prevent the ink droplets from being divided into mist and floating as an ink mist as much as possible.

[0005]

By the way, in the conventional recording apparatus capable of executing the borderless printing as described above, for example, by an operation button or the like arranged on an operation panel of the recording apparatus, or by the recording apparatus. On the utility of the printer driver installed in the host computer that supplies the print data to the printer, the width of the paper for borderless printing is manually set in advance.

FIG. 7 shows a paper width set manually and
This shows the relationship with the ink droplet ejection area of the recording head that is scanned. That is, when the paper width is set to A, the width of the ink ejection area by the recording head is automatically set to B. Here, the inner area set as the paper width A corresponds to the recording paper 9, and therefore, in the portions X1 and X2 that exceed the left and right ends of the recording paper 9 corresponding to the width of BA, Ink droplets are ejected to the paper guide member.

Further, in order to perform borderless printing on the upper and lower sides of the recording paper, a width corresponding to Y1 exceeding the start end of the conveyed recording paper 9 and a width corresponding to Y2 exceeding the end of the recording paper 9. Thus, the ink droplets are ejected to the paper guide member.

As described above, in the conventional recording apparatus, by manually setting the width of the paper for borderless printing, the ejection area of the ink droplets by the recording head is automatically set. If there is an error in the setting operation of, the printing will naturally fail. Further, when a larger paper width is set for the recording paper that is actually mounted, excessive ink droplets are ejected to the paper guide member.

Recently, in addition to the regular quadrilateral recording sheet shown in FIG. 7, for example, a heart-shaped medium-sized sheet (recording medium) shown in FIG.
For 9 as well, there is an increasing demand for borderless printing.
In the case where borderless printing is performed on the paper 9 having such a medium size, the ink ejection area shown as B is automatically set by manually setting the paper width A in the same manner. Excessive ink droplets are ejected onto the member.

As described above, when a paper width setting error occurs or when paper of a medium size as shown in FIG. 8 is frequently used, a large amount of ink is introduced into the ink waste liquid receiving hole of the paper guide member. Will be done. Therefore, a large amount of ink waste liquid is accumulated in the porous ink absorbing material arranged in the receiving hole, and the ink absorbing capacity of the ink absorbing material is limited. In this way, when the absorption capacity of the waste liquid is limited, the ink waste liquid accumulates on the upper part of the ink absorbent, which contaminates not only the upper and lower edges of the recording paper but also the entire back surface of the recording paper. Bring the result of letting.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, and the occurrence of the above-mentioned setting error of the sheet width or the use of a large number of sheets of the medium size causes an excess to the sheet guide member. It is a first object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus capable of preventing the discharge of various ink droplets.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to control the amount of ink ejected to a position outside the upper and lower edges and the left and right edges of the recording sheet, and thereby the recording sheet is contaminated as described above. A second object is to provide a recording apparatus capable of preventing the above.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention made to achieve the above-mentioned object is a recording head mounted on a carriage for ejecting ink droplets based on print data, and the carriage. An ink jet type recording apparatus, which is arranged along a main scanning direction for scanning, and comprises a paper guide member for conveying a recording paper in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. Paper width detecting means for detecting the width of the recording paper conveyed by the paper, and print control means for ejecting ink droplets from the recording head so as to extend outside the left and right edges of the recording paper detected by the paper width detecting means. And a waste liquid amount accumulating means for accumulatively counting the amount of ink waste liquid ejected outside the right and left edges of the recording paper. Characterized by a point.

In this case, the print control means preferably starts the operation of ejecting ink droplets from the recording head before the start edge of the recording sheet conveyed along the sheet guide member has passed, and at the same time, the recording is performed. It is configured to execute a printing operation for continuing the ejection operation of the ink droplets from the recording head until after the trailing edge of the sheet has passed. In addition, the waste liquid amount integrating means calculates the amount of ink waste liquid ejected from the recording head before the leading edge of the recording sheet passes and after the trailing edge of the recording sheet passes,
Further, it is configured to perform integrated counting.

On the other hand, in a preferred embodiment, the waste liquid amount integrating means integrates the amount of ink waste liquid based on the number of ink droplets ejected from the recording head. Further, the paper width detection means is preferably mounted on a carriage and configured to detect an edge of the recording paper conveyed along the paper guide member.

In this case, the paper width detecting means can preferably utilize the structure of a photo interrupter including a light emitting element for projecting light onto the recording paper and a light receiving element for receiving the reflected light from the recording paper. . Further, preferably, the paper width detection means is configured to detect the paper width for each one-pass operation of the carriage and control the scanning width of the recording head with respect to the recording paper based on the paper width detection data.

Also, the recording paper is ejected from the recording head to the paper guide member at a position protruding outside the left and right edges of the conveyed recording paper and at a position where the start edge and the end edge of the conveyed recording paper pass. It is desirable that an ink receiving hole for receiving the ink waste liquid to be formed is formed and an ink absorbing material is arranged in the ink receiving hole.

In this case, there is preferably provided an integration judging means for verifying whether or not the count value of the waste liquid quantity integrating means has reached a predetermined value, and the integration judging means is provided to confirm that the predetermined value has been reached. It is configured to drive the notification means when verified.

On the other hand, in the lower portion of the ink receiving hole formed in the paper guide member in the direction of gravity, the ink waste liquid from the capping means for sealing the nozzle forming surface of the recording head and applying a negative pressure by the suction pump is provided. It is preferable that a waste liquid absorbing material that absorbs and holds the ink is disposed so that the ink waste liquid in the ink receiving hole can move to the waste liquid absorbing material. In this case, the amount of the ink waste liquid discharged to the paper guide member and absorbed by the ink absorbing material in the ink receiving hole and the amount of the ink waste liquid absorbing and holding the ink waste liquid from the capping means by the waste liquid absorbing material are summed up. It is desirable to provide a means for integrating the amount of waste liquid, which counts by counting.

Further, in this case, the count value of the ink waste liquid absorbed by the waste liquid absorbing material is preferably configured to utilize a preset value corresponding to the maintenance operation of the recording head. In addition, the waste liquid amount integrating means,
Even when the amount of ink waste liquid absorbed by the ink absorbing material in the ink receiving hole and the amount of ink waste liquid absorbed by the waste liquid absorbing material are summed up and counted, the count value of the waste liquid amount integrating means Is provided with an integration determination means for verifying whether or not a predetermined value has been reached, and is preferably configured to drive the notification means when the integration determination means verifies that the value has reached a predetermined value. .

In any of the above-mentioned configurations, the integration determination means is configured to verify whether or not the count value of the waste liquid amount integration means reaches a predetermined value when the recording paper is discharged. It is desirable that

According to the ink jet recording apparatus constructed as described above, the print control means ejects ink droplets from the recording head so as to extend outside the left and right edges of the recording paper detected by the paper width detection means. It is made to let you. Then, the waste liquid amount accumulating means integrates and counts the amount of the ink waste liquid ejected outside the left and right edges of the recording paper. Therefore, when executing borderless printing, it is possible to omit the operation of manually setting the paper width in advance, and it is possible to prevent excessive ink droplets from being ejected to the paper guide member due to an error in manual setting.

Further, the paper width detecting means detects the paper width for each one-pass operation of the carriage and controls the scanning width of the recording head with respect to the recording paper on the basis of the paper width detection data. Even when a recording paper of a different shape is used, it is possible to perform borderless printing while preventing excessive ink droplets from being ejected to the paper guide member.

Then, when the amount of the ink waste liquid absorbed and held by the ink absorbing material in the paper guide member is integrated and counted by the waste liquid amount integrating means, and it is verified by the integration determining means that the count value has reached a predetermined value. In addition, by being configured to notify this, it is possible to notify the user that maintenance of the ink absorbing material is necessary. In other words, this can solve the problem that the recording paper conveyed along the paper guide member is contaminated with the ink waste liquid.

On the other hand, a waste liquid absorbing material that absorbs and holds the waste liquid of the ink from the capping means is disposed below the ink droplet receiving hole formed in the paper guide member in the direction of gravity, and is disposed in the ink droplet receiving hole. If the ink waste liquid absorbed by the ink absorbing material can be dropped onto the waste liquid absorbing material according to gravity, the amount of borderless printing that can be performed on the recording paper can be greatly increased.

Also in this case, by providing a waste liquid amount integrating means for adding up and counting the amount of the ink waste liquid discharged to the paper guide member side and the amount of the ink waste liquid absorbed by the waste liquid absorbing material, The amount of waste liquid ink stored in the waste liquid absorbent can be grasped mainly. Then, when it is verified by the integration determination means that the count value of the integration means has reached a predetermined value, by being configured to notify this, the waste liquid absorbent material stored in the waste liquid tank is presented to the user. Can be notified that maintenance is required.

[0027]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view showing the basic structure of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. This recording device has left and right frames 1 and 2.
The carriage 4 is configured to be movable in the left-right direction in the drawing, that is, in the main scanning direction by the guide shaft 3 supported by. A black ink cartridge 5 and a color ink cartridge 6 are detachably mounted on the upper side surface of the carriage 4, and the same carriage 4 is used.
Each ink is configured to be supplied to the recording head 7 mounted on the lower side surface.

Below the scanning of the recording head 7, a paper guide member 8 is arranged in correspondence with the scanning direction, and the recording paper 9 placed on the guide member 8 is inserted into the recording head 7. It is configured so that it can be conveyed in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the scanning direction of.

As will be described later in detail, the paper guide member 8 has receiving holes 10A and 10B1 for receiving ink droplets ejected from the recording head when performing vertical and horizontal borderless printing. , 10B2 are formed. It should be noted that the guide member 8 shown in FIG. 1 is shown in a cross-sectional state broken in the longitudinal direction at the positions where the ink receiving holes 10A are arranged when performing left and right borderless printing.

Reference numeral 11 in FIG. 1 indicates a capping means arranged in a non-printing area (home position). The capping means 11 rises when the recording head 7 moves right above and nozzles of the recording head 7 are raised. It is configured so that the forming surface can be sealed. The capping means 1 is provided below the capping means 11.
A suction pump 12 for applying a negative pressure to the internal space 1 is arranged.

The capping means 11 functions as a lid for preventing the nozzle openings of the recording head 7 from drying during the recording apparatus rest period, and also applies a negative pressure from the suction pump 12 to the recording head 7. Also, by sucking and discharging the ink from the recording head 7, it also functions as a cleaning unit for maintaining the function of ejecting ink droplets from the recording head.

The ink discharged into the capping means 11 by executing the cleaning means is
The suction pump 12 sends the waste liquid to a waste liquid tank 13 arranged at the bottom of the apparatus, and the waste liquid absorbent 14 made of a porous material accommodated in the waste liquid tank 13 absorbs and holds the waste liquid. As shown in the drawing, the waste liquid tank 13 is formed to have a size including the entire area of the guide member 8 in the longitudinal direction, and the waste liquid absorbent 14 also fills the inner volume of the waste liquid tank 13. It is formed to the size that it runs out.

On the other hand, a wiping member 15 formed of, for example, a rubber material in a strip shape is arranged on the side of the printing area adjacent to the capping means 11 and is required when the carriage 4 reciprocates toward the capping means 11 side. Accordingly, the wiping operation of advancing to the movement path of the recording head 7 and wiping and cleaning the nozzle forming surface is performed. A photo interrupter 17 that functions as a paper width detecting unit is mounted on the lower surface of the carriage 4 adjacent to the recording head 7.

2 and 3 show the structure of the paper guide member 8 described above. 2 shows the guide member 8
3 is shown in a plan view in which a part in the longitudinal direction is omitted, and FIG. 3 shows a part of the guide member 8 in an enlarged manner. As described above, the paper guide member 8 has a receiving hole 10A for receiving ink droplets ejected from the recording head and protruding from the paper when the marginless printing is performed in the horizontal direction of the recording paper, and the vertical direction. 10B for receiving ink droplets in a portion that is ejected from the recording head and protrudes from the paper when performing borderless printing in
1, 10B2 are formed.

On the other hand, a plurality of protrusions 21 and 22 are arranged on the upper surface of the guide member 8 along the main scanning direction. These protrusions 21 and 22 are arranged intermittently in the longitudinal direction of the guide member 8 with the receiving hole 10B2 interposed therebetween.
As shown in FIG. 3, each of the protrusions 21 arranged on the upstream side in the conveying direction of the recording sheet has a slope 21a that rises along the conveying direction of the recording sheet. Further, each of the other protrusions 22 is formed with a slope 22a that rises along the conveyance direction of the recording sheet and a top surface 22b. With this configuration, the recording paper sent from the upstream side is
Scanning is performed along the top surface 22b formed on each protrusion 22, and a predetermined paper gap is formed between the projection 22 and the recording head 7.

When performing borderless printing on a regular quadrilateral sheet, the center of the ink receiving hole 10A formed on the home position side (right side in the figure) shown in FIG. 2 is used as a reference position. The right end of the recording paper is set, and the arrangement position of the ink receiving hole 10A is determined so that the left end of the recording paper faces the other ink receiving hole 10A due to the difference in the size of the paper width. ing. With this configuration, ink droplets that extend to the left and right of the recording sheet and are ejected from the recording head are formed by the ink receiving hole 10A formed on the home position side and any other ink receiving hole 10A determined by the sheet width. It is made to receive.

Further, elongated ink receiving holes 10B1 and 10B2 are formed in the front and rear along the longitudinal direction of the guide member 8 so as to sandwich the ink receiving holes 10A. The ink receiving hole 10B1 arranged on the downstream side in the transporting direction of the recording paper is configured to receive the ink droplets ejected from the recording head while protruding from the starting end portion of the recording paper when the starting end portion passes. In addition, the ink receiving hole 10 arranged on the upstream side in the conveying direction of the recording sheet.
When the trailing end of the recording sheet passes, B2 is configured to protrude from the trailing end and receive ink droplets ejected from the recording head.

Then, the long ink receiving holes 10B1 and 10B for receiving the ink droplets in the upper and lower borderless printing.
In B2, for example, an ink absorbing material 26 formed by forming a urethane material into a cross beam shape is stored. In addition, the above-mentioned ink receiving hole 1 for receiving ink drops in upper and lower borderless printing
Each of the ink absorbing materials 25, which is formed of, for example, a urethane material in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, is housed in 0A.
Then, the ink received by these ink absorbing materials 25 and 26 by performing the borderless printing on the recording paper in the vertical and horizontal directions passes through an opening (not shown) formed on the lower bottom of the guide member 8 as appropriate. It is configured to be dropped onto the waste liquid absorbing material 14 in the waste liquid tank 13 arranged below.

On the other hand, on the upper surface of the guide member 8, a driving roller 23 is arranged along the longitudinal direction, and a driven roller 24 which is rotated in contact with the driving roller 23 is provided. Then, the drive roller and the driven roller constitute a paper discharge roller unit, which is configured to discharge the recording paper conveyed along the upper surface of the guide member 8 while pinching the recording paper.

With the above configuration, when the upper and lower borderless printing is executed, when the starting edge of the recording paper passes, the ink droplets ejected to the position protruding from the starting edge fly toward the ink receiving hole 10B1. To do. Further, when the trailing edge of the recording sheet passes, the ink droplets ejected to the position protruding from the trailing edge fly toward the ink receiving hole 10B2.

Further, when the left and right borderless printing is executed,
The ink droplets ejected outside the left and right edges of the recording paper are directed toward the ink receiving hole 10A located on the home position side and any other ink receiving hole 10A determined by the width of the recording paper. To fly. Then, since the ink absorbing materials 25 and 26 are housed in the respective ink receiving holes, the ink droplets are captured and absorbed by the absorbing material, so that the generation of ink mist can be prevented.

FIG. 4 shows the construction of the photo interrupter 17 which is mounted on the lower surface of the carriage 4 and functions as a paper width detecting means. The photo interrupter 17 is composed of a light emitting element 17 a that projects light onto the recording paper 9 and a light receiving element 17 b that receives reflected light from the recording paper 9, and the photo interrupter 17 includes the recording paper 9 and the paper guide member 8. The difference in light reflectance is used to detect the edge of the recording sheet 9 conveyed along the sheet guide member 8.

Then, the photo interrupter 17 is scanned in accordance with the reciprocating scanning of the carriage 4, and also detects the width of the recording paper 9 and the start end and end of the recording paper to be conveyed. Further, the outer shape of the recording sheet can be detected by the above-mentioned operation.

Next, FIG. 5 shows an example of a control circuit mounted on the recording apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration. Particularly, the paper width detection by the photo interrupter 17 and the borderless printing are executed by utilizing the detection. At the same time, an example of a control circuit that can count the amount of ink ejected by ejecting the paper during borderless printing is shown. Note that, in FIG. 5, parts corresponding to the parts already described are indicated by the same reference numerals, and therefore, redundant description will be omitted.

Here, in the above-mentioned embodiment,
Each ink receiving hole 10A, 1 formed in the paper guide member 8
0B1 and 10B2 are vertically penetrated as shown in FIG. 1, and therefore, ink receiving holes 10A and 10B are formed.
The ink waste liquid that cannot be absorbed and held by the ink absorbers 25 and 26 housed in 1 and 10B2 is dropped onto the waste liquid absorber 14 housed in the waste liquid tank 13 arranged therebelow.

However, it is also possible to adopt a structure in which each ink receiving hole does not vertically penetrate the guide member 8 and has a bottomed shape. Therefore, in the following, first, the cumulative operation of the ink waste liquid will be described assuming that each ink receiving hole has a bottomed shape, and then each ink receiving hole penetrates the guide member 8 vertically and The operation of integrating the ink waste liquid in the configuration in which the ink can be dropped on the waste liquid absorbing material 14 stored in the waste liquid tank 13 will be described.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 30 indicates a host computer, and a printer driver 31 is mounted on the host computer 30. The printer driver 31 is configured such that, for example, selection of monochrome / color printing, selection of recording mode, data such as fonts, print commands, and the like can be input by the input device 32 on its utility. A display 33 is connected to the host computer 30 so that the input status of the input device can be confirmed.

Reference numeral 34 is a print control means. The print control means 34 generates bit map data based on the print data sent from the host computer 30, and the head drive means 35 generates a drive signal based on this data. The recording head 7 mounted on the carriage 4 has a function of ejecting ink droplets. The head driving means 35 is provided with a drive signal based on print data,
Upon receiving a flushing command signal from the flushing control means 36, a drive signal for flushing operation is output to the recording head 7.

Reference numeral 37 is a cleaning control means,
The cleaning control means 37 receives the control signal from the cleaning command detection means 38 and receives the pump drive means 39.
Is controlled to drive the suction pump 12. Then, by operating the cleaning command switch 40 arranged on the operation panel or the like of the recording apparatus, the cleaning command detecting means 38 is operated, and the manual cleaning operation is executed.

Further, the cleaning control means 37 is also configured to receive a control signal from the print control means 34, by which the pump drive means 39 is similarly controlled,
It also has operation functions such as timer cleaning for driving the suction pump 12.

On the other hand, a control signal is sent from the print control means 34 to the carriage drive means 41, and a drive signal is sent from the carriage drive means 41 to the carriage motor 18 so that the above-mentioned borderless printing is performed. It is configured to execute printing and the like. In this case, the carriage drive means 41 is configured to be supplied with a control signal from the scan control means 42.

The scanning control means 42 includes an encoder 4
The position information of the carriage 4 which is provided from No. 4 is supplied. Although not shown in the drawing, the encoder 44 is arranged along the moving direction of the carriage, and a linear linear scale in which stripes are arranged at equal intervals, and a photo that moves in the main scanning direction together with the linear scale so as to sandwich the linear scale. It is composed of a coupler. Therefore, the position of the carriage in the main scanning direction can be grasped by the information signal provided from the encoder 44, and the printing operation is executed in synchronization with the ejection timing of the ink droplet ejected from the recording head based on the print data. To be done.

On the other hand, the scanning control means 42 is configured to be supplied with a control signal from the paper width detection means 43 which receives a signal from the photo interrupter 17 mounted on the carriage 4. Therefore, the width of the recording paper to be printed can be recognized by the control signal from the paper width detecting means 43 and the position information from the encoder 44. When executing borderless printing, the scanning control unit 42 sets the scanning width of the carriage (recording head) by the carriage driving unit 41 in accordance with the information on the paper width detected by the paper width detection unit 43. Controlled.

In this case, the paper width detection means 43 detects the paper width for each one-pass operation of the carriage, and the scanning control means 42 determines the scanning width of the recording head with respect to the recording paper based on the paper width detection data. Operates to control.
As a result, when borderless printing is performed on the medium-size paper 9 having, for example, a heart shape as shown in FIG. 8, a predetermined width (X1, X2 and Y1, Y2) is set to the ejection area C of the ink drop that runs off, and borderless printing can be performed. As a result, the amount of ink waste liquid that is ejected from the recording paper and that is received by the paper guide member 8 can be reduced as much as possible.

By the way, according to the above-mentioned configuration, when the marginless printing is executed, the amount of the ink waste liquid received by the paper guide member 8 is controlled to be as small as possible, but the marginless printing is performed in a large amount. Assuming that the ink absorbing material 25,
It is conceivable that there will be a limit to the absorption and retention of the ink waste liquid by 26 and the recording paper will be contaminated. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, in this recording apparatus, the ink absorbing material 25,
It has a function of counting the amount of waste liquid held by 26.

That is, the control signal is sent from the printing control means 34 to the waste liquid amount counting means 47, and when the above-mentioned borderless printing is executed, the vertical and horizontal directions of the paper are The amount of ink droplets ejected in a direction is counted. Then, the waste liquid amount counting means 4
The value counted by 7 is sent to a waste liquid amount integrating counter 48 which constitutes a waste liquid amount integrating means, and the amount of ink waste liquid introduced into each ink receiving hole 10A, 10B1, 10B2 is integrated in the counter. Done.

In this embodiment, the waste liquid amount counting means 47 counts the amount of ink ejected to the paper guide member 8 side for each one-pass operation of the carriage, and the waste liquid amount integration counter 48 counts it. It works so as to sequentially send out the count value for each one-pass operation. This makes it possible to calculate the amount of ink ejected to the side of the paper guide member 8 based on the paper width information obtained from the paper width detection means 43. In this case, the waste liquid amount counting means 47 is 1
Even if a predetermined constant is sent to the waste liquid amount integration counter 48 for each pass operation, it is possible to carry out the integration count of the ink waste liquid amount that is sufficiently satisfactory in practical use.

The integrated value is sent from the waste liquid amount integration counter 48 to the integration determination means 49, and the integration determination means 49 is ejected from the paper guide member 8 side. It functions to verify whether the count value of the waste liquid has reached a predetermined value. in this case,
The integration determination unit 49 is configured to verify whether or not the count value has reached a predetermined value when the recording paper is ejected. Then, when it is determined that the count value of the ink waste liquid has reached a predetermined value, a control signal is sent from the integration determination means 49 to the display means 50 and the print control means 34 as the notification means. Has been done.

In this case, the display means 50 displays a message prompting maintenance such as replacement of the ink absorbing materials 25 and 26 housed in the ink receiving holes. Further, in this case, the print control means 34 receives a command from the integration determination means 49 to stop the next printing operation, or controls so as to adopt a normal print form in which margins are provided above and below and to the left and right of the recording paper. To be done. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the recording paper from being contaminated by the ink waste liquid due to the excess ink waste liquid being accumulated in the ink receiving hole.

The above description is based on the assumption that each ink receiving hole has a bottomed shape, but as described in the following embodiments, the paper guide member 8 is used.
The operation of integrating the ink waste liquid will be described in the case where the opening is formed in the lower bottom part of the ink waste liquid and the ink waste liquid is dripped to the waste liquid absorbing material 14 side when the borderless printing is performed. In this case, the cleaning control means 37 is configured to send a control signal to the waste liquid amount counting means 47 in the control block shown in FIG. Coefficient information is supplied.

The coefficient setting means 51 receives control signals from the cleaning control means 37 and the print control means 34, and extracts the waste liquid amount count value according to each operation mode shown in FIG. 6, for example. . That is, the coefficient setting means 51 stores a map describing the relationship between each operation mode as shown in FIG. 6 and the waste liquid amount count value.

"Cleaning 1" shown in FIG. 6 is an ink waste liquid which is discarded in the waste liquid absorbent 14 in the waste liquid tank 13 when the user operates the cleaning command switch 40 to perform a manual cleaning operation. Shows the constant of. Further, “cleaning 2” indicates the constant of the ink waste liquid which is discarded in the waste liquid absorbent 14 in the waste liquid tank 13 when the initial filling cleaning is performed when the ink is first introduced into the recording apparatus. . When this initial filling cleaning is executed, the replacement liquid filled in the ink flow path leading to the recording head is completely discharged and a new ink is filled, so the amount of waste liquid is very large. Therefore, the waste liquid amount count value is also a large value.

Further, "cleaning 3" indicates a constant value of the ink waste liquid discarded in the waste liquid absorbing material 14 in the waste liquid tank 13 by the exchange cleaning operation performed when the ink cartridge is exchanged, for example. Further, the "timer cleaning" is periodically executed to discharge the ink thickened in the recording head with the elapse of a predetermined time. In this case, the waste liquid absorbing material in the waste liquid tank 13 is used. 14 shows the constant of the ink waste liquid discarded.

Further, "at the time of marginless printing 1" indicates the constant value of the ink waste liquid which is ejected from the edge of the recording paper in the left-right direction and is captured by the paper guide member 8 as described above. Indicates the numerical value made in one pass. “Borderless printing 2” indicates the constant of the ink waste liquid which is ejected from the edge of the recording paper in the vertical direction and is ejected and captured by the paper guide member 8. This is done for one line. Indicates a numerical value.

Therefore, the waste liquid amount counting means 47 is
When the control signal from the cleaning control means 37 is received, the count setting means 51 is based on the cleaning mode.
The table constructed in is accessed to read the waste liquid amount count value corresponding to each cleaning mode. Then, it acts so as to send out the count value to the waste liquid amount integration counter 48. Further, when the waste liquid amount counting means 47 receives a control signal from the print control means 37, the "borderless printing 1" or "borderless printing 2" is performed for each pass.
To read out the count value corresponding to and to send it to the waste liquid amount integration counter 48.

Therefore, in this case, the waste liquid amount integrating counter 48 is discharged from the paper guiding member 8 so that the amount of the ink waste liquid absorbed by the ink absorbing material in the ink receiving hole and the waste liquid absorbing material 14 by the cleaning operation.
It acts so as to count the total amount of waste liquid absorbed by the.

Then, in the integration judging means 49, a threshold value is set to fill the waste liquid absorbing material 14 in the waste liquid tank 13 with the waste liquid, and whether or not the count value of the waste liquid has reached a predetermined value (threshold). It is made to verify whether. When it is determined that the count value has reached a predetermined value, the integration determination unit 49 causes the display unit 5 as a notification unit.
A control signal is sent to 0 to display a message prompting maintenance such as replacement of the waste liquid absorbing material 14 and replacement of the ink absorbing materials 25 and 26 housed in the ink receiving holes as necessary.

In the table shown in FIG. 6,
Although the waste liquid amount count value when the flushing operation is performed is not shown, the constants at the time of the flushing operation are also set in the table, and the waste liquid amount counting means 47 measures the waste liquid amount integration counter 48 for each flushing operation. If it is configured to send out a numerical value, more preferable management of the amount of waste liquid can be performed.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the waste liquid amount integrating means is configured to integrate and count the waste liquid amount for each one-pass operation of the carriage. The integrated counting may be performed when the paper is ejected. Further, the integrated counting may be executed when the operating power supply to the recording apparatus is cut off.

Further, in the table shown in FIG.
Although a fixed count value is adopted as the "borderless printing 1" and the "borderless printing 2", based on the paper width information obtained from the paper width detecting means 43,
It is possible to calculate the ink waste liquid amount for each pass that is ejected to the paper guide member 8 side. Therefore, when the calculation result is used to integrate the count value of the ink waste liquid, it is possible to perform more preferable management of the waste liquid amount.

[0071]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the ink jet type recording apparatus of the present invention, the paper width detecting means for detecting the width of the recording paper conveyed along the paper guide member, and the paper. Since the recording head is provided with a print control means for ejecting ink droplets from the recording head to the outside of the edge of the recording paper detected by the width detection means, for example, for recording paper of various shapes other than a regular quadrangle. Even if the borderless printing is performed, the amount of the waste ink discharged from the sheet guide member can be effectively suppressed.

Further, according to the ink jet type recording apparatus of the present invention, since the waste liquid amount accumulating means for integrating and counting the amount of the waste liquid ejected and ejected to the paper guiding member side is provided, the ink is accumulated on the paper guiding member side. It is possible to manage the amount of ink waste liquid. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the problem that the ink waste liquid is excessively accumulated on the side of the paper guide member and contaminates the recording paper, for example.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a basic structure of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention with a part thereof shown in a sectional view.

FIG. 2 is a top view showing a configuration of a paper guide member used in the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top view of a part of the paper guide member shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a photo interrupter mounted on the lower surface of the carriage and functioning as a paper width detection unit.

5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit mounted on the recording apparatus shown in FIG.

6 is a map diagram describing the relationship between each operation mode used in the control circuit shown in FIG. 5 and a waste liquid amount count value.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a manually set paper width and an ink droplet ejection area of a recording head that is scanned by the paper width.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a sheet other than a regular quadrangle and an ink droplet ejection area of a recording head that is scanned when borderless printing is performed on the sheet.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 Carriage 5, 6 Ink cartridge 7 Recording head 8 Paper guide member 9 Recording paper (recording medium) 10A Ink receiving holes 10B1, 10B2 Ink receiving hole 11 Capping means 12 Suction pump 13 Waste liquid tank 14 Waste liquid absorbing material 17 Photo interrupter 17a Light emitting element 17b Light receiving elements 25, 26 Ink absorbing material 30 Host computer 31 Printer driver 34 Print control means 35 Head drive means 36 Flushing control means 37 Cleaning control means 39 Pump drive means 41 Carriage drive means 42 Scanning control means 43 Paper width detection means 44 Encoder 47 waste liquid amount counting means 48 waste liquid amount integrating counter (waste liquid amount integrating means) 49 integration determining means 42 display means (informing means) 51 coefficient setting means

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A recording head mounted on a carriage for ejecting ink droplets based on print data, and a recording sheet arranged in a main scanning direction in which the carriage scans and in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. An ink jet type recording apparatus provided with a paper guide member for carrying a paper, the paper width detecting means for detecting a width of a recording paper carried along the paper guide member, and the paper width detecting means for detecting the width. Print control means for ejecting ink droplets from the recording head outside the left and right edges of the recording sheet, and an integrated amount of ink waste liquid ejected outside the left and right edges of the recording sheet. An ink jet type recording apparatus, comprising: 2. The print control means starts the operation of ejecting ink droplets from the recording head before the start edge of the recording paper conveyed along the paper guide member passes, and the end of the recording paper. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a printing operation for continuing the ejection operation of ink droplets from the recording head is executed until after the passage of the edge. 3. The waste liquid amount integrating means further integrates and counts the amount of ink waste liquid ejected from the recording head before the leading edge of the recording sheet passes and after the trailing edge of the recording sheet passes. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 2, which is configured. 4. The ink jet recording according to claim 1, wherein the waste liquid amount accumulating means is adapted to cumulatively count the ink waste liquid amount based on the number of ink droplets ejected from the recording head. apparatus. 5. The sheet width detection means is configured to detect an edge of a recording sheet mounted on a carriage and conveyed along a sheet guide member.
The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of 1. 6. The ink jet type according to claim 5, wherein the paper width detecting means comprises a photo interrupter with a light emitting element for projecting light onto the recording paper and a light receiving element for receiving light reflected by the recording paper. Recording device. 7. The paper width detection means is configured to detect the paper width for each one-pass operation of the carriage and control the scanning width of the recording head with respect to the recording paper based on the paper width detection data. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 5 or claim 6. 8. The recording head is ejected from the recording head to a position protruding outward from both left and right edges of the conveyed recording paper, and a position where an upper edge and a lower edge of the conveyed recording paper pass. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein an ink receiving hole for receiving the ink waste liquid is formed, and an ink absorbing material is arranged in the ink receiving hole. 9. An integration determination means for verifying whether or not the count value of the waste liquid integration means has reached a predetermined value, and when the integration determination means verifies that the predetermined value has been reached, The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, which is configured to drive an informing unit. 10. An ink waste liquid from a capping means that seals a nozzle forming surface of a recording head and applies a negative pressure by a suction pump at a lower portion in a gravity direction of an ink receiving hole formed in the paper guide member. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a waste liquid absorbing material for absorbing and holding is arranged, and the ink waste liquid in the ink receiving hole can be moved to the waste liquid absorbing material. 11. The amount of the ink waste liquid discharged to the paper guide member and absorbed by the ink absorbing material in the ink receiving hole, and the amount of the ink waste liquid absorbing and holding the ink waste liquid from the capping means by the waste liquid absorbing material. 11. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising waste liquid amount integrating means for adding up and counting. 12. The ink jet recording according to claim 11, wherein the count value of the ink waste liquid absorbed by the waste liquid absorbing material is configured to use a preset value corresponding to the maintenance operation of the recording head. apparatus. 13. The waste liquid amount accumulating means determines the amount of the ink waste liquid discharged to the paper guide member and absorbed by the ink absorbing material in the ink receiving hole, and the amount of the ink waste liquid absorbing by the waste liquid absorbing material. In addition to being configured to count by summing, there is provided integration determination means for verifying whether or not the count value of the waste liquid integration means has reached a predetermined value, and the integration determination means has reached a predetermined value. 12. When it is verified that this is done, the notification means is configured to be driven.
2. The inkjet recording device according to 2. 14. The integration determination unit according to claim 9, wherein the integration determination unit verifies whether or not the count value of the waste liquid amount integration unit reaches a predetermined value when the recording paper is discharged. Inkjet recording device.