JPH07241996A - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide an inkjet recording apparatus capable of realizing high-quality / high-reliability recording while suppressing ink consumption and extending the durable life of a wiping member. In an ink jet recording apparatus having an elastic wiping member (10) that wipes by wiping in contact with an ink ejection port surface (23A) of a recording head, a tip portion related to wiping of the wiping member (10) is wiped. The first wiping mode of curving and wiping toward the downstream side in the direction (Fig. 1
(A)) and a second wiping mode in which the tip portion is curved toward the upstream side in the wiping direction and the wiping is performed (FIG. 1 (C)).
And.

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.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet recording apparatus, as a structure for removing ink and dust in the vicinity of an ejection port, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,435, U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,065 or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-94472. As a cleaning unit, there is a structure (hereinafter referred to as the first example) in which the blade formed of an elastic material such as rubber wipes off the ink ejection port surface of the recording head. Further, as another cleaning means, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,245, a structure in which a brush and an ink absorber are slid around a discharge port (hereinafter referred to as a prior art example 2). ).

By the way, in the above-mentioned prior arts 1 and 2, the ink droplets adhering to the periphery of the ink ejection port,
It is possible to remove liquid droplets having a relatively low viscosity such as dew condensation around the discharge port caused by an increase in humidity inside the device. However, if the recording is restarted after being paused or stopped for a long time, the ejection recovery device eliminates the non-ejection, but the deviation in the ink flight direction is not eliminated, and the ink is accurately positioned on the surface of the recording material. There is a risk that the image may be disturbed because the droplet cannot be attached.

Such a deviation in the ink jetting direction occurs because a very thin film having low ink repellency is formed and fixed in the vicinity of the ejection port, and the ejection direction of the ink droplet is bent.

In view of this, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-518 proposes a method of satisfactorily removing the above-mentioned adhered film and deposits by pressing the sliding surface of the discharge port with a sliding member other than the blade at a predetermined timing. There is. FIG. 8 schematically shows a main part configuration of an example of an ink jet recording apparatus having such a rubbing member. In FIG. 8A, a guide shaft 3 is installed in parallel with a recording material 2 such as paper or a plastic thin plate backed up by a platen 1, and a recording means is provided on a carriage 4 that moves along the guide shaft 3. The recording head 5 is mounted as. The recording unit 5 may be of a cartridge type integrated with an ink tank, or may be of a line type having a length that covers the whole or a part of the recording material 2 in the width direction. . Although FIG. 8 shows an example of a monochrome inkjet printer, a color inkjet recording device in which a plurality of recording heads having different ink colors are mounted on the carriage 4 may be used.

At the home position HP of the carriage 4 in FIG. 8A, an ejection recovery device 6 (pump suction type in the illustrated example) of the recording head 5 is arranged. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the discharge recovery device 6. As shown in these figures, the ejection recovery device 6 is arranged so as to be capable of advancing and retreating with respect to the recording head 5, and as shown in FIG. 9, the ejection port surface 5A of the recording head 5 is in the forward position. A capping unit 7 having a cap 17 capable of sealing the ink is provided, and a pump 9 for sucking ink from the ejection port of the recording head 5 via the capping unit 7. The operation of the discharge recovery device 6 is automatically performed, and can also be performed by a switch operation by the user.

It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 9, the side surface of the ejection recovery device 6 wipes the ejection port of the recording head 5 and a surface (ejection port surface) 5A (see FIG. 8B) in the vicinity thereof. An elastic blade (hereinafter referred to as a wiping member) 10 for performing (wiping) is attached. Further, on the side portion of the capping means 7, there is provided a rubbing member 11 which moves forward and backward integrally with the capping means 7. The rubbing member 11 is a member for rubbing the ejection port surface 5A of the recording head 5, and is configured to press-contact and slide on the ejection port surface 5A with a contact area larger than that of the wiping member 10.

Therefore, by controlling the movement of the carriage 4, when the recording head 5 moves from the home position HP shown in FIG. 8A to the position SP shown by the chain double-dashed line, it slides together with the capping means 7. To move the rubbing member 11 forward to bring the rubbing member 11 into pressure contact with the ejection port surface 5A as shown in FIG. 8C, and further move the carriage 4 to the right by a certain distance in FIG. 8A. Thus, the rubbing member 11 is configured to be in sliding contact with the ejection port surface 5A. That is, the rubbing operation of the rubbing member 11 is
It is configured to perform the capping operation and the carriage operation. The rubbing member 11 is used for the recording head 5.
For scraping off the adhered film-thickened ink thickener without damaging the discharge port surface 5A of
It is composed of a porous body, a fibrous structure or a non-woven fabric.
The rubbing operation of the rubbing member 11 is performed every predetermined operation of the recording apparatus. The predetermined operation of this recording apparatus includes the timing before the occurrence of ejection failure,
Alternatively, the operation to be performed is selected at a timing at which it is possible to prevent the peeling strength of the ink film, which causes ejection failure, from increasing, and at a timing at which the ink ejection can be stabilized without the user's awareness. For example, when the ink tank is replaced, a set time managed by a timer, and when the power is turned on are selected. 8B shows a wiping operation performed by the wiping member 10 after the rubbing operation by the rubbing member 11.

As described above, the ejection port surface 5A is pressed and slid on the ejection port surface 5A by the sliding member 11 other than the blade 10 at a predetermined timing to remove the adhered coating film and the adhering substances that cause the ejection failure, and the recording head 5 is removed. It is possible to achieve a long life while maintaining the ejection characteristics of the above, which is an important technology especially in the permanent type recording head.

[0010]

However, in the ink jet recording apparatus having such a rubbing member 11, ink, dust, etc. accumulated on the rubbing member 11 is re-adhered to the head during the rubbing operation, and no ejection occurs. This may cause twisting, and in the case of rubbing a multicolor recording head with one rubbing member 11, ink of different colors may be mixed (hereinafter referred to as “color mixing”). A recovery operation such as a suction recovery operation is required again after the rubbing operation, and it has been difficult to secure high reliability while suppressing ink consumption. Therefore, the provision of the rubbing member causes not only an increase in the size of the main body and an increase in cost, but also an increase in the size of the device due to the increase in the size of the waste ink storage container, an increase in cost, and an increase in running cost.

The object of the present invention is to pay attention to the above-mentioned problems, to realize high-quality / high-reliability recording while suppressing ink consumption, and to extend the durable life of the wiping member for maintenance. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that can realize free.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the inventor of the present invention has earnestly studied to solve the above-mentioned problems and, as a result, has come up with the following constitution.

That is, according to the present invention, in an ink jet recording apparatus having an elastic wiping member which is in sliding contact with the ink ejection port surface of a recording head and wipes the ink ejection port surface, a tip end portion for wiping the wiping member. A first wiping mode for bending and wiping elastically toward the downstream side in the wiping direction, and a second wiping mode for bending and wiping the tip end toward the upstream side in the wiping direction by the elasticity. And a wiping mode.

[0014]

According to the present invention, the first wiping mode and the second wiping mode having a stronger cleaning effect are provided, and the wiping condition of the ink ejection port surface or the moving direction of the recording head is adjusted according to the wiping mode. By setting the switch so that it can be switched over, it is possible to effectively wipe the adhered matter that adheres to the ink ejection port surface that could not be wiped off easily with conventional wiping without needlessly repeating wiping. It became possible to clean the outlet surface without damaging it.

[0015]

EXAMPLES First, prior to the description of the examples, the experiments relating to the invention carried out by the inventor will be described.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the operation of the wiping member in the experiment. Now, as shown in FIG. 2A, in the conventional wiping operation in which the tip of the wiping blade 10 is directed to the downstream side with respect to the wiping direction (shown by an arrow), the recording head 23 added to the tip of the wiping blade 10 is moved. The blade 10 in which the resultant force F of the drag force and the friction force from the ink ejection surface 23A side is formed of an elastic body
Since there is a protrusion 50 formed on the surface by an adhered substance or the like, the wiping blade 10 follows the protrusion 50 and bends. Therefore, the blade 10 easily gets over the protrusion 50,
The removability of adhered substances was low.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
In wiping in which the tip of the wiping blade 10 is directed upstream with respect to the wiping direction W indicated by the arrow (hereinafter referred to as counter wiping), the drag force and the frictional force applied to the blade 10 from the ink ejection port surface 23A are combined with each other. Since the resultant force F is closer to the compression direction B of the blade 10, the deformation of the blade 10 is smaller than that in the above case even if there is the protrusion 50, and it is found that the effect of preventing protrusion protrusion is high. At this time, it was also confirmed that compared to the case where the rubbing member 11 was used, the same adhered matter removability was maintained and there was no adverse effect such as foreign matter pushing.

However, since such a so-called counter wiping has an excessively strong rubbing force, it may damage a functional layer such as a water-repellent layer on the ink ejection port surface 23A if it is performed many times. Therefore, it has been concluded that it is appropriate to perform the conventional wiping operation for the normal wiping, and select and perform the counter wiping operation at an appropriate time when recovery is required due to the generation of adhered matters.

The present invention has been made based on such knowledge.

(First Embodiment) This embodiment is a recording head 2
The conventional wiping and counter wiping are performed in the process of moving 3 in a different direction with respect to a wiping blade (hereinafter referred to as a wiping member) 10. FIG. 1 shows a wiping operation according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, (A) shows a conventional wiping operation in which the tip of the wiping member 10 faces the downstream side with respect to the wiping direction indicated by the arrow W, and the recording head 23 mounted on the carriage has a velocity V1 in the arrow direction. Are moving in. Here, 214 is a part of a blade holder provided on the recovery device side, and 23B is an ink ejection port of the recording head 23. (B) is at the end of this wiping operation and the wiping member 10 moves to the head 2
3 shows a state in which it is stopped while being in contact with the end portion of 3. Furthermore, (C) shows a state in which the moving direction of the head 23 is reversed and counter wiping is performed by the wiping member 10 while moving at the speed V2.

According to our experiment, the urethane wiping member 10 having a thickness of 0.5 mm is used, the flexible length thereof is set to 3 mm, and the penetration amount into the recording head 23 is set to 0.6 mm or more. If set, wipe speed V
When 2 is set to 100 mm / sec or less, even if the wiping direction is changed, the tip portion of the wiping member 10 is not inverted and the counter wiping as shown in FIG. 2B is possible. Thus, both conventional wiping and counter wiping modes could be realized by one recovery mechanism.

Therefore, as a result of studying the recording durability by the printer in which the configuration of the present embodiment is introduced and the counter wiping is performed at a predetermined timing, it is 10 times as compared with the printer which only performs the wiping by the conventional method. The recording quality can be maintained for the above period, and the ink consumption can be suppressed by 10% or more without the need for the suction operation required when the rubbing member is used.

Further, in the present embodiment, by controlling the wiping speeds V1 and V2 differently, the wiping speeds V1 and V2 can be set so that the optimum wiping speed can be obtained in each of the above-mentioned wiping modes. It is possible to improve the wiping performance.

In our experiments, good wiping conditions were obtained under similar blade conditions, for example, when V1 was set to 150 mm / s or more and 250 mm / s or less.
Then, the results of the same recording durability test with V1 = 150 mm / s and V2 = 50 mm / s were compared with the results of the conventional recording durability test with V1 = V2 = 100 mm / s. As a result, it was found that it is possible to reduce the number of times suction recovery is required due to recording failure (non-ejection, twist, etc.) by 20%.

Furthermore, by performing counter wiping after normal wiping as in the present embodiment, the wet ink is removed by normal wiping, so that the wiping member 10 rides over the adhered matter during counter wiping. There is also an effect that it is possible to surely remove the entire surface without causing scratches.

(Second Embodiment) In this embodiment, the amount of intrusion is variable and the counter wiping as described above is performed.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the wiping operation of the second embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 3, (A) shows the wiping member 1.
This shows the conventional wiping operation in which the leading end of 0 is directed to the downstream side with respect to the wiping direction W, and the recording head 23 moves in the arrow H direction. Next, (B) shows a state in which the wiping member 10 is stopped while being in contact with the vicinity of the end of the head 23 at the end of the wiping operation. At this time, the penetration amount S2 of the wiping member 10 with respect to the head 23 is controlled to be larger than the penetration amount S1 in the case of (A).

Further, (C) shows a state in which the moving direction of the head 23 is reversed and counter wiping is performed.
As the intrusion amount varying means, for example, as shown in FIG. 4A, the carriage 22 that holds the recording head 23 is used.
A guide member 31 that restricts the amount of intrusion by abutting a portion 214A of the blade holder 214 that holds the wiping member 10 on the recovery device 21 side with the spring force of the spring 316 is provided to the guide member 31 that is abutted by the guide member 22. As shown in FIG. 4A, the shape of the member 31 may be such that the amount of intrusion is large on the downstream side in the normal wiping direction, or on the downstream side in the normal wiping direction as shown in FIG. 4B. It is conceivable that the ink ejection port surface 23A of the head is projected so as to maintain a gentle curved surface.

In our experiment, when the urethane wiping member 10 having a thickness of 0.7 mm is used and the free length is set to 6 mm, good wiping performance is exhibited by the usual wiping operation as before. For this purpose, the intrusion amount needs to be set to 2 mm or less, but with this intrusion amount, the tip portion of the wiping member is inverted when the wiping direction is changed, and counter wiping cannot be realized. However, in the present embodiment, when the wiping direction is reversed, the wiping member 10 does not turn over even if the wiping direction is changed by setting the blade intrusion amount to be 2.5 mm or more, which is larger than that in the vicinity of the ink ejection port 23.
The counter wiping as shown in (B) and (C) of FIG.

This is because the friction coefficient between the wiping member 10 and the head 23 becomes large when the recording head 23 is temporarily stopped and the moving direction is reversed. It is considered that counterwiping became possible because the 10 was made to lie down and became difficult to turn over, and the direction of movement was reversed after that.

The construction of this embodiment was introduced, and the recording endurance test was conducted using a printer capable of performing counter wiping at a predetermined timing. According to this embodiment, the intrusion amount during normal wiping is optimized. As a result, the recording quality can be maintained for a longer period of time, and the degree of freedom in selecting the blade material is increased.

In this embodiment, in order to further wipe the vicinity of the discharge port 23B, by providing an intrusion amount control means for making the intrusion amount different between the conventional wiping and the counter wiping, it is optimal in each wiping mode. Since the wiping speed can be set, the wiping performance can be further improved.

(Third Embodiment) In this embodiment, the wiping member is held by tilting it.

FIG. 5 shows the wiping operation of the third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, the wiping member 10 is attached so as to enter the wiping member 10 at an angle θ with respect to the direction orthogonal to the ink ejection port surface 23A of the recording head 23.
(A) shows a conventional wiping operation in which the tip of the wiping member 10 faces the downstream side with respect to the wiping direction. The arrow H indicates the moving direction of the recording head 23.

Further, (B) shows a state in which the wiping member 10 is stopped while being in contact with the head end portion at the end of the wiping operation. Furthermore, (C) shows a state in which the moving direction of the recording head 23 is reversed and counter-wapping is performed.

In our experiment, when a urethane blade having a thickness of 0.7 mm was used and a free length was 6 mm, the penetration amount was 2 mm or less in order to exhibit good wiping performance in normal wiping operation. However, if the wiping direction is changed with such an amount of intrusion, the tip of the wiping member is inverted, and counter wiping cannot be realized. However, if the wiping direction at the time of counter wiping is inclined as described above and the inclination angle θ is set to 40 ° or more as in the present embodiment, if an appropriate amount of intrusion during normal wiping is determined, Even if the wiping direction was changed, the wiping member 10 was not inverted and good counter wiping could be performed.

When the structure of this embodiment is introduced, the recording quality can be maintained for a long period of time, the degree of freedom in selecting the blade material is increased, and as shown in FIG. 6, the recording head 23 to the tip of the wiping member 10 is further increased. When the recording sheet 2 is set in the counter wiping direction W, the recording sheet 2 due to the ink scattering is scattered because the scattering direction of the ink attached to the blade is inclined with respect to the horizontal line at the moment when the portion is released.
There is an effect that it is possible to effectively prevent the stain.

Further, in the present embodiment, when the control means is provided at the penetration angle which is different between the conventional wiping and the counter blade wiping, the optimum wiping condition can be set in each wiping mode, so that the wiping performance is further improved. It is possible.

(Fourth Embodiment) In the present embodiment, a bending and changing holding means for forcibly changing the tip end portion of the wiping member in the counter wiping direction W is provided.

FIG. 7 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7
8A shows a conventional wiping operation in which the tip portion of the wiping member 10 faces the downstream side in the wiping direction W, and the arrow H shows the moving direction of the recording head 23. Here, 30 is a bending deflection holding means according to the present embodiment. It should be noted that the recording head 23 is provided with a cutout portion 23C having a smooth curve at the end thereof, and the tip end portion of the wiping member 10 passes through this cutout portion 23C.
The notch portion 23C assists the curved wiping or counter wiping side. (B) shows a state in which the tip end portion of the blade is bent and held by the bending deflection holding means 30 so as to face the upstream side in the counter wiping direction W before the counter wiping operation. Such a state is performed by the movement operation of the bending deflection holding means 30 shown in (A), and the movement causes the bending of the tip portion to be forced. Furthermore, (C) shows a state in which the recording head is moved in the same direction H to perform counter wiping.

In this way, the blade bending / direction changing holding member 30
Thus, by configuring a mechanism for switching between wiping and counter wiping, the wiping direction can be made the same, so that the ink scattering direction can be limited and the wiping direction is limited for various reasons. Is effective for. In the case of the present example, the bending deflection holding means 30 may be moved to the corresponding position depending on whether normal wiping or counter wiping is performed, and the selection may be made by the operator, Further, as described in the other embodiments, it is possible to control so as to switch according to the conditions.

(Other Embodiments) In the above-described embodiments, the case where the blade having a straight ridgeline at the tip end is used has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a blade having a curved ridgeline is used. By arranging this so that the blade tip is directed in the wiping direction during counter wiping, the same effect can be obtained even if the configuration is switched to normal wiping depending on the moving direction of the head.

(Others) The present invention is particularly provided with means for generating heat energy as energy used for ejecting ink (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) even in the ink jet recording system. The present invention brings about excellent effects in a recording head and a recording apparatus of the type in which the state of ink is changed by the heat energy. This is because such a system can achieve high density recording and high definition recording.

Regarding its typical structure and principle, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
It can be applied to any of the continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to the sheet holding the liquid (ink) or the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recording information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, and film boiling is caused on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal in a one-to-one correspondence
It is effective because bubbles can be formed inside. Due to the growth and contraction of the bubbles, the liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be immediately and appropriately grown and contracted, so that liquid (ink) ejection with excellent responsiveness can be achieved. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise on the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the linear liquid passage or the right-angle liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, US Pat. No. 4,558,333, US Pat. No. 4,558,333, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
The structure using the specification of No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration corresponding to the ejection portion is disclosed in JP-A-59-138461. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be surely and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium which can be recorded by the recording apparatus. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads or a configuration as one recording head integrally formed.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as in the above example, the recording head fixed to the main body of the apparatus or the ink jet from the main body of the apparatus is electrically connected to the main body of the apparatus by being mounted on the main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is integrally provided in the recording head itself is used.

Regarding the type and number of recording heads to be mounted, for example, only one is provided corresponding to a single color ink, or a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities are supported. A plurality of pieces may be provided. That is, for example, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but it may be either the recording head is integrally formed or a plurality of combinations may be used. The present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of full-color recording modes by color mixing.

In addition, in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, the ink is described as a liquid, but an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. Or, in the inkjet system, it is common to control the temperature of the ink itself within the range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is within the stable ejection range. Sometimes, a liquid ink may be used. In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy of the state change of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or in order to prevent the evaporation of the ink, it is solidified and heated in the standing state. You may use the ink liquefied by. In any case, by applying thermal energy such as ink that is liquefied by applying thermal energy according to the recording signal and liquid ink is ejected, or that begins to solidify when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention can be applied to the case where an ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time is used. In this case, the ink is
JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-7
As described in Japanese Patent No. 1260, it may be configured to face the electrothermal converter in a state of being held as a liquid or a solid in the concave portion or the through hole of the porous sheet. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, in addition to the one used as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function can be used. It may be a form or the like.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention, the first wiping mode in which the tip end of the wiping member, which is involved in the wiping, is elastically curved toward the downstream side in the wiping direction and is wiped And a second wiping mode in which the tip portion is curved toward the upstream side in the wiping direction by the elasticity and is wiped, so that the consumption amount of ink consumed by the wiping is suppressed and high. It is possible to provide a highly reliable inkjet recording device that can contribute to quality recording.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a wiping mode switching operation according to a first embodiment of the present invention by (A), (B) and (C).

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the principle of the wiping operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a wiping mode switching operation according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing two examples of blade intrusion amount control means according to a second embodiment of the present invention as (A) and (B).

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a wiping mode switching operation according to a third embodiment of the present invention by (A), (B) and (C).

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an ink scattering state according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the wiping mode switching operation according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention with (A), (B) and (C).

FIG. 8 shows a conventional inkjet recording apparatus and its wiping mechanism (A), and a wiping operation (B).
It is explanatory drawing shown by (C).

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing details of a conventional recovery device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Wiping Blade (Wiping Member) 21 Recovery Device 23 Recording Head 23A Ink Ejection Surface 23B Ink Ejection Row 23C Notch 214 214 Blade Holder 216 Spring

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor, Mr. Iwasaki, 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor, Daigoro Kanematsu 3-30-2, Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon (72) Inventor Isao Ebisawa, 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor, Nao Yaegashi, 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. ( 72) Inventor Nobuyuki Kuwahara 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Toshiharu Inui 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Kiichiro Takahashi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A sliding contact with an ink ejection port surface of a recording head,
In an inkjet recording apparatus having an elastic wiping member for wiping the ink ejection port surface, a tip portion involved in the wiping of the wiping member is elastically curved toward a downstream side in a wiping direction and is wiped An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a first wiping mode; and a second wiping mode in which the tip portion is curved toward the upstream side in the wiping direction by the elasticity and is swept. 2. The first wiping mode and the second wiping mode
2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wiping mode is obtained by reversing a relative movement direction of the recording head with respect to the wiping member. 3. The first wiping mode and the second wiping mode
3. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a relative moving speed of the recording head with respect to the wiping member is different from that of the wiping mode. 4. The first wiping mode and the second wiping mode
4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the amount of penetration of the wiping member with respect to the ink ejection port surface of the recording head is different from that of the wiping mode. 5. The wiping member is supported in the first wiping mode and the second wiping mode while maintaining a predetermined acute angle with respect to a vertical line to an ink ejection port surface of the recording head. The inkjet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 6. A tip portion of the wiping member, which is involved in wiping the wiping member, is changed from the direction of the first wiping mode to the second direction.
2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a bending / direction changing and holding unit that changes and holds the direction of the wiping mode. 7. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording head has an electrothermal conversion element that generates thermal energy used as ejection energy.