JP2009051097A - Liquid consumption apparatus, recorder, and media processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid consumption apparatus, a recorder, and a media processor, which prevent in a simple structure a droplet from scattering to an injection area side. <P>SOLUTION: A label printer is provided with: a wiper 121 contactable with and separable from a nozzle forming face of a reciprocating inkjet head 61; and a wiping means 102 for wiping the nozzle forming face with the wiper 121 by moving the inkjet head 61 in the state of the wiper 121 being brought into elastic contact with the nozzle forming face. The printer is also provided with: an inclined face 66b which is provided in the front side in a direction of wiping by the wiper 121 in the nozzle forming face, and is separated gradually from the wiper 121 as it is separated from the nozzle forming face, and a recess forming member 66 forming the recess; and a scattering prevention plate (member) 131 having a width greater than one orthogonal to a wiping direction of the recess on an opposite side to the inkjet head 61 and on a printing area side from the position of the wiper 121. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid consumption apparatus, a recording apparatus, and a media processing apparatus having a maintenance mechanism for cleaning a nozzle forming surface of a liquid jet head in a liquid consumption apparatus such as an ink jet printer.

  In recent years, disc dubbing devices that write data to information storage media such as blank CDs (Compact Discs) and DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs), and media that produce data by performing data writing and label printing Media processing apparatuses such as CD / DVD publishers that can be issued in this manner are known. This type of media processing apparatus includes a drive that writes data to a medium and a printer that is a recording apparatus that performs printing on the label surface of the medium.

  In general, this type of printer (liquid consuming device) is configured such that an ink jet head mounted on a reciprocating carriage performs printing by ejecting ink droplets from a plurality of ink nozzles to desired positions. . Since foreign matter such as ink and dust may adhere to the nozzle forming surface of the ink jet head during printing, it is necessary to appropriately clean and perform maintenance outside the printing area.

  In order to perform this maintenance, for example, a maintenance mechanism including a wiping unit that wipes a nozzle forming surface of an inkjet head with a wiper is known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3). However, if the wiper that has wiped the nozzle forming surface while being elastically deformed is suddenly restored, ink may be scattered from the wiper at the time of restoration to stain the surroundings. For this reason, a technique has been developed in which an inclined surface is provided on the side of the nozzle forming surface, and the elastically deformed wiper is gradually restored to prevent ink scattering (see, for example, Patent Document 4).

JP-A-6-234221 JP-A-10-235894 JP-A-10-286970 JP 2002-52728 A

However, when the inclined surface is provided as described above, when the ink jet head passes through the wiper, a liquid film is formed between the gradually separating wiper and the inclined surface, and the liquid film is scattered when the liquid film disappears. The liquid droplets to be scattered scatter to the rear side (jet region side) in the wiping direction and may cause malfunction due to adhesion to the media or adhesion to the sliding portion of the media transport mechanism. On the other hand, if a dedicated wiping mechanism for moving the wiper is provided, there is a disadvantage of increasing the device cost.
The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and has a simple structure, can prevent liquid droplets from scattering toward the ejection region, and has a liquid ejection head maintenance mechanism that does not contaminate other members. An object is to provide a consumption device, a recording device, and a media processing device.

According to the present invention, there is provided a wiper that can be brought into contact with and separated from a nozzle forming surface of a liquid ejecting head that reciprocates, and the liquid ejecting head is moved in a state where the wiper is elastically contacted with the nozzle forming surface. Wiping means for wiping the nozzle forming surface with the wiper,
A wiper guide portion provided on a front side in the wiping direction by the wiper on the nozzle forming surface, and including an inclined surface gradually separating from the wiper as being separated from the nozzle forming surface, and a recess provided at least on the inclined surface; In a liquid consuming apparatus comprising:
A liquid consuming apparatus comprising a scattering prevention member having a width at least equal to or larger than a width perpendicular to the wiping direction of the concave portion on the side opposite to the liquid jet head and closer to the jet region than the wiper position. Achieved.

  According to the liquid consuming device having the above configuration, when the liquid ejecting head passes through the wiper, a liquid film is formed between the wiper that gradually separates and the concave portion of the wiper guide portion, and the liquid film disappears. The liquid droplets scattered on the splatter hit the scattering prevention member, and the liquid droplets do not scatter to the ejection region side from the scattering prevention member.

In the liquid consuming device having the above-described configuration, the scattering prevention member is more than the substantially intermediate position in the moving direction between the separation position where the wiper separates from the recess forming member forming the recess and the start end position of the recess. It is desirable to stand on the injection region side.
According to the liquid consuming apparatus having such a configuration, scattering prevention from the substantially intermediate position, which is a position where the liquid film stretched by the wiper moving in the wiping direction across the concave portion of the concave portion forming member starts to break, is prevented. By erecting the member, it is possible to reliably prevent droplets that scatter toward the ejection region when the liquid film disappears.

  Further, in the liquid consuming apparatus having the above-described configuration, the liquid transfer prevention gap that prevents the liquid adhering to the nozzle forming surface from being transferred to the scattering preventing member between the tip of the scattering preventing member and the nozzle forming surface. Is preferably formed.

  According to the liquid consuming apparatus having such a configuration, the tip of the anti-scattering member is spaced below the nozzle forming surface by the liquid transfer preventing gap, so that the liquid droplets attached to the nozzle forming surface and the liquid ejecting head Can be prevented from directly touching and adhering to the tip of the anti-scattering member.

Further, in the liquid consuming device having the above-described configuration, the wiper that is movable to a side perpendicular to the moving direction of the liquid ejecting head;
A wiper cleaner provided in the movement path of the wiper;
One end portion in the width direction orthogonal to the wiping direction is the scattering preventing member disposed close to the wiper cleaner,
It is desirable to provide.

  According to the liquid consuming apparatus having such a configuration, when the wiper is cleaned, the wiper is moved, and the liquid droplets scattered when one end in the moving direction passes through the wiper cleaner hits the scattering preventing member, and the scattering preventing member described above. It is also possible to prevent liquid droplets from the wiper cleaner that are scattered more toward the ejection region side.

  The above-described object of the present invention is achieved by a recording apparatus in which the liquid consuming apparatus having the above-described configuration performs printing on an object to be printed by ejecting ink from the liquid ejecting head.

  According to such a recording apparatus, it is possible to clean the nozzle forming surface and the inclined surface on the side thereof, thereby performing high-quality printing processing.

Another object of the present invention is a media processing apparatus that performs various types of processing on media.
This is achieved by a media processing apparatus comprising the recording apparatus having the above configuration.

  According to such a media processing apparatus, high-quality printing is performed on the label surface of the media without causing problems such as smearing the disk-shaped media such as CDs and DVDs to be printed and smearing the surrounding mechanical parts. be able to.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a liquid consuming apparatus, a recording apparatus, and a media processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to a media processing apparatus including a publisher will be described as an example.
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a publisher (media processing apparatus) with each part closed, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the publisher with each part open, and FIG. 3 is a front top view of the publisher with the case removed. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a label printer portion installed in the publisher. In the figure, the arrow Y indicates the vertical direction, the arrow X indicates the apparatus left-right direction, and the arrow Z indicates the apparatus depth direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a publisher 1 is a media processing apparatus that writes data on a disk-shaped medium such as a CD or DVD and prints on a label surface of the medium. I have. Opening and closing doors 3 and 4 that can be opened and closed to the left and right are attached to the front surface of the case 2. An operation surface 5 on which display lamps, operation buttons, and the like are arranged is provided at the upper left end portion of the case 2, and a mounting leg portion 6 is provided at the lower end of the case 2 so as to protrude downward. Are provided on both the left and right sides. A drawer mechanism 7 is provided at a position between the left and right legs 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, the opening / closing door 3 on the right side of the front view opens and closes the opening 8 on the front side of the publisher 1. For example, when setting an unused (blank) medium M through the opening 8. Alternatively, it is a door that opens and closes when the created medium M is taken out through the opening 8.
The opening / closing door 4 on the left side when viewed from the front is for opening and closing when the ink cartridge 12 of the label printer 11 shown in FIG. 3 is replaced. When the opening / closing door 4 is opened, a plurality of cartridges arranged in the vertical direction are opened. The cartridge mounting portion 14 having the holder 13 is exposed.

  Inside the case 2 of the publisher 1, there are a media stacker 21 as a media storage unit capable of stacking a plurality of (for example, 50) unused media M for which data writing processing has not been performed, and a plurality of (for example, 50) A media stacker 22 as a media storage unit in which unused media M or created media M are stored are arranged vertically in a coaxial state. Each of the media stacker 21 and the media stacker 22 is detachable from a predetermined position.

  The upper media stacker 21 is provided with a pair of left and right arc-shaped frame plates 24 and 25, thereby allowing the media M to be received from the upper side and accommodated in a coaxially stacked state. The operation of accommodating or replenishing the media M in the media stacker 21 can be easily performed by opening the door 3 and taking out the media stacker 21.

  The lower media stacker 22 also has the same structure, and includes a pair of left and right arc-shaped frame plates 27 and 28, thereby constituting a stacker that can receive the media M from the upper side and can be accommodated in a coaxially stacked state. Has been.

  Further, from the open / close door 3, it is also possible to take out the medium M that has been processed (that is, the medium that has completed data writing and label surface printing).

  A media transport mechanism 31 is disposed behind the media stacker 21 and the media stacker 22. The media transport mechanism 31 has a vertical guide shaft 35 that is vertically spanned between the main body frame 30 and the top plate 33 of the chassis 32. A transport arm 36 is supported on the vertical guide shaft 35 so as to be able to move up and down and turn. The transport arm 36 can be moved up and down along the vertical guide shaft 35 by a drive motor 37 and can be swung left and right about the vertical guide shaft 35.

Two media drives 41 that are stacked one above the other are disposed on the sides of the upper and lower stackers 21 and 22 and the media transport mechanism 31, and the label printer 11 that is a liquid consuming device is disposed below these media drives 41. A carriage 62 (see FIG. 4) described later is movably disposed.
The media drive 41 has media trays 41a that can move between a data writing position on the media M and a media delivery position for receiving and delivering the media M, respectively.

  Further, the label printer 11 has a media tray 45 that is movable between a print position where label printing can be performed on the label surface of the medium M and a medium delivery position where the medium M is received and delivered.

  FIG. 3 shows a state in which the media tray 41a of the upper and lower media drives 41 is pulled out to the front and is in the media delivery position, and a state in which the media tray 45 of the lower label printer 11 is in the media delivery position on the front side. Yes. The label printer 11 is an ink jet printer, and ink cartridges 12 of various colors (black, cyan, magenta, yellow, light cyan, and light magenta in this embodiment) are used as the ink supply mechanism 60, and these ink cartridges. 12 is mounted on each cartridge holder 13 of the cartridge mounting section 14 from the front.

  Here, a gap is formed between the pair of left and right frame plates 24 and 25 of the media stacker 21 and between the pair of left and right frame plates 27 and 28 of the media stacker 22 so that the transport arm 36 of the media transport mechanism 31 can be moved up and down. Yes. Further, a gap is opened between the upper and lower media stackers 21 and the media stacker 22 so that the transport arm 36 of the media transport mechanism 31 pivots horizontally and can be positioned directly above the media stacker 22. Further, when both the media trays 41a are pushed into the media drive 41, the transport arm 36 of the media transport mechanism 31 is lowered to access the media tray 45 at the media delivery position.

  The transport arm 36 of the media transport mechanism 31 is further below the height position of the media tray 45 with both media trays 41a positioned at the data writing position and the media tray 45 positioned at the back printing position. It is possible to descend to. A guide hole (holding hole) 65 shown in FIG. 2 is formed below the media delivery position of the media tray 45, in which the transport arm 36 receives the media M that has been lowered to this position and released.

  The drawer mechanism 7 has a drawer tray 70 that can be pulled out and opened or housed and closed under the main body frame 30. The drawer tray 70 is provided with a stacker portion 71 that is recessed downward. When the drawer tray 70 is in the stored state (closed state), the stacker unit 71 is disposed at an inner position than the opening 8 for inserting / removing media in the publisher 1 and positioned below the guide hole 65. The stacker unit 71 receives the medium M inserted through the guide hole 65 and stores the medium M in a relatively small amount (for example, about 5 to 10 sheets). The stacker unit 71 can receive the medium M from above and can be accommodated in a state of being stacked coaxially.

  A media stacker (separate stacker) 72 having a larger amount of media M than the stacker unit 71 can be attached to and detached from the stacker unit 71 and the guide hole 65 of the drawer tray 70 in the stored state (see FIG. 3). . The media stacker 72 also includes a pair of arc-shaped frame plates 73 and 74, which allows the media M to be received from above and accommodate a plurality of sheets (for example, 50 sheets) in a coaxially stacked state. . A gap is formed between the pair of arc-shaped frame plates 73 and 74 so that the transport arm 36 of the media transport mechanism 31 can be moved up and down. In addition, a handle 75 that is gripped by the user at the time of attachment / detachment is provided on the upper portion of one frame plate 74.

When the media stacker 72 is attached, the unused media M is taken out from the upper media stacker 21, recorded and printed by the media drive 41 and the label printer 11, and then stored in the media stacker 72. be able to.
Also, for example, the upper media stacker 21 and the lower media stacker 22 are loaded with the maximum number of unused media M (50 sheets + 50 sheets), respectively, and the total number of lower media stackers 22 (50 sheets). ) Media M are sequentially processed and stored in the media stacker 72. Next, all the media M (50 sheets) in the upper media stacker 21 are sequentially processed to make the lower media stacker 22 empty. To house. In this way, the maximum number of sheets (50 + 50 sheets) of media M in the upper media stacker 21 and the lower media stacker 22 is processed at once (batch processing mode).

  If the media stacker 72 is removed, the unused media M is taken out from the upper media stacker 21 or the lower media stacker 22, and data recording and printing are performed by the media drive 41 and the label printer 11. It can be accommodated in the stacker portion 71 of the drawer tray 70 in the accommodated state.

  As a result, the completed medium M can be taken out of the stacker unit 71 by pulling out the drawer tray 70. That is, even during processing on the medium M, it is possible to take out one sheet or a plurality of sheets at a time from the completed medium M with the open / close door 3 closed (external discharge mode).

  Here, by the combined operation of raising and lowering the transport arm 36 of the media transport mechanism 31 and turning to the left and right, the media M is transferred to the media stacker 21, the media stacker 22, the stacker unit 71 (or the media stacker 72) of the drawer tray 70, It is appropriately conveyed between the media tray 41a of the media drive 41 and the media tray 45 of the label printer 11.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the label printer 11 is provided with a carriage 62 having an ink jet head 61 provided with ink ejection nozzles (not shown). The carriage 62 is moved to the carriage guide shaft by the driving force of the carriage motor. And reciprocates horizontally (not shown).

  The label printer 11 includes an ink supply mechanism 60 having a cartridge mounting portion 14 in which the ink cartridge 12 is mounted. The ink supply mechanism 60 has a vertical structure and is erected on the main body frame 30 of the publisher 1 and arranged in the vertical direction. One end of a flexible ink supply tube 63 is connected to the ink supply mechanism 60, and the other end of the ink supply tube 63 is connected to a carriage 62.

The ink in the ink cartridge 12 mounted on the ink supply mechanism 60 is supplied to the carriage 62 via the ink supply tube 63, and passes through a damper unit and a back pressure adjustment unit (not shown) provided on the carriage 62. The ink is supplied to the inkjet head 61 and discharged from an ink nozzle (not shown).
The ink supply mechanism 60 is provided with a pressurizing mechanism 64 so as to dispose a main portion on the upper portion thereof. The pressurizing mechanism 64 pressurizes the inside of the ink cartridge 12 by sending out compressed air so that the ink is supplied. The ink stored in the ink pack in the cartridge 12 is sent out.

A head maintenance mechanism 81 is provided on the lower side of the carriage 62 at the home position (position shown in FIG. 4).
The head maintenance mechanism 81 includes a head cap 82 that covers the ink nozzles of the ink jet head 61 exposed on the lower surface of the carriage 62 disposed at the home position, and is discharged to the head cap 82 by the head cleaning operation and ink filling operation of the ink jet head 61. And a waste ink suction pump 83 for sucking the discharged ink.

The ink sucked by the waste ink suction pump 83 of the head maintenance mechanism 81 is sent to the waste ink absorption tank 85 through the tube 84.
The waste ink absorption tank 85 has an absorbent material (not shown) disposed in a case 86, and the upper surface thereof is covered with a cover 88 having a plurality of vent holes 87.
Below the head maintenance mechanism 81, a waste ink receiving portion 89, which is a part of the waste ink absorption tank 85, is provided to receive the ink dropped from the head maintenance mechanism 81 and absorb it by the absorbent material. Yes.

Next, the head maintenance mechanism 81 will be described in detail.
5 is a perspective view for explaining the structure of the head maintenance mechanism, FIG. 6 is a front view for explaining the structure of the head maintenance mechanism, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the vicinity of the position where the anti-scattering member is attached, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a main part enlarged view showing the positional relationship of the wiper guide portion, the wiper, and the scattering prevention member, and FIG. 10 is a view of the liquid ejecting head for explaining the wiper guide portion. It is a front view and (b) AA sectional view arrow view.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the head maintenance mechanism 81 is a head cap mechanism 101 for sealing the nozzle formation surface 61a of the inkjet head 61 and a wiping means for wiping the nozzle formation surface 61a. A wiper mechanism 102 is provided.

  The head cap mechanism 101 includes a cap slider 111. The cap slider 111 is formed in a case shape, and slides in a direction approaching or separating from the nozzle forming surface 61 a of the inkjet head 61.

  A cap holder 112 having a head cap 82 fixed to the tip end portion is held in the upper end recess of the cap slider 111 so as to be able to move forward and backward with respect to the cap slider 111. The head cap 82 is formed of a box-shaped rubber having an opening large enough to seal the nozzle forming surface 61a of the inkjet head 61, and a multilayer structure absorbent material 113 is attached to the opening. It has been.

The wiper mechanism 102 includes a wiper 121 made of a rubber plate, which is an elastic material, and the wiper slider 122 is supported so that the wiper 121 can advance and retreat in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the inkjet head 61. It is fixed to. Depending on the type of ink, the wiper 121 may be formed of a soft plastic or the like.
Then, the wiper 121 has a wiping position (state shown in FIG. 5) disposed in the movement path of the inkjet head 61 in order to perform a wiping process for wiping away dirt on the nozzle forming surface 61a by the movement of the wiper slider 122, and the inkjet The head 61 can be moved in the direction of arrow A between the retracted position deviated from the moving path of the head 61.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the wiper 121 has its tip disposed on the ink jet head 61 side by an amount s that protrudes from the nozzle forming surface 61a. Accordingly, the wiper 121 is brought into contact with the nozzle forming surface 61a of the inkjet head 61 by moving the inkjet head 61 from the home position to the printing area (ejection area) in a state where the wiper 121 is disposed at the wiping position. Then, the nozzle forming surface 61a is wiped by the wiper 121, and foreign matters such as ink adhering to the nozzle forming surface 61a are removed.

The carriage 62 is gradually adjacent to the inkjet head 61 at a portion that is substantially the same plane as the nozzle formation surface 61a and the flat portion 66a shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 and gradually upward as the distance from the nozzle formation surface 61a increases. A plurality of (four in this embodiment) rib projections having inclined surfaces 66b that are inclined are provided with recess forming members 66 that form a plurality (three in this embodiment) of recesses 66c.
As shown in FIG. 10, the recess forming member 66 is provided on the front side (right side in the drawing) of the nozzle forming surface 61a in the wiping direction by the wiper 121 and gradually moves away from the wiper 121 as the nozzle forming surface 61a moves away from the nozzle forming surface 61a. A wiper guide portion including the inclined surface 66b and the recess 66c is configured.
Therefore, the wiper 121 is moved to the inclined surface 66b side through the flat portion 66a after the nozzle forming surface 61a is wiped off.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the wiper mechanism 102 includes an absorbent material 123 that is a wiper cleaner in the middle of the path of the sliding wiper 121, and the wiper 121 slides while contacting the absorbent material 123. The ink adhering to the wiper 121 is wiped off by the absorbent material 123.
The cap slider 111 of the head cap mechanism 101 and the wiper slider 122 of the wiper mechanism 102 are both slid by driving the waste ink suction pump 83.

  In the label printer 11, the inkjet head 61 is cleaned by the head maintenance mechanism 81. This cleaning process is performed at a predetermined timing set in advance or at the time of a user's operation, and the lip portion 82a of the head cap 82 is brought into close contact with the nozzle forming surface 61a of the ink jet head 61 by the waste ink suction pump 83. Ink suction cleaning for sucking the inside and sucking the thickened ink from the ink nozzles of the inkjet head 61 and wiping for wiping the dirt on the nozzle forming surface 61a of the inkjet head 61 with the wiper 121 are performed.

  Further, in the label printer 11 having the head maintenance mechanism 81, a predetermined amount of ink is supplied from the ink nozzles of the ink jet head 61 before the start of printing or periodically in order to form a meniscus of ink at the ink nozzles of the ink jet head 61. In order to prevent clogging of the ink nozzles and flushing for discharging the ink into the head cap 82, capping is also performed after the printing is suspended to protect the head cap 82 by closely contacting the nozzle forming surface 61a of the inkjet head 61.

The wiper mechanism 102 is provided with a scattering prevention plate (scattering prevention member) 131 shown in FIG. The anti-scattering plate 131 is made of an L-shaped sheet metal material and is fixed to the frame or the like of the wiper mechanism 102 by a fixing screw 133.
A transport mechanism 135 for the medium M is provided on the opposite side of the wiper 121 across the anti-scattering plate 131. The transport mechanism 135 includes a tray 137, a guide rail 139, and a sliding portion 142 (see FIG. 6) shown in FIG. The inkjet head 61 is moved on the medium M placed on the tray 137 moved along the guide rail 139.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the scattering prevention plate 131 is a substantially intermediate position of the distance L in the moving direction between the separation position 141 where the wiper 121 is separated from the concave portion forming member 66 forming the concave portion 66 c and the starting end position 143 of the concave portion 66 c. It is erected on the print area side (left side in the figure) from 145. The substantially intermediate position 145 is an ink film (liquid film) stretched around the opening edge of the recess 66c by the wiper 121 that moves in the wiping direction across the plurality of recesses 66c formed by the plurality of rib protrusions in the recess forming member 66. ) Is the position that begins to break. Further, the scattering prevention plate 131 has a width equal to or larger than a width W (width in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the inkjet head 61) W perpendicular to the wiping direction of the plurality of recesses 66c (see FIG. 10).

  By disposing the anti-scattering plate 131 in this region, it is possible to prevent the liquid droplet from scattering at an optimal position when the liquid film formed on the opening edge of each concave portion 66c disappears with the separation of the wiper 121. Further, a liquid transfer prevention gap K is formed between the upper end (tip) of the scattering prevention plate 131 and the nozzle forming surface 61a and the flat portion 66a. By providing the liquid transfer prevention gap K, the upper end of the anti-scattering plate 131 is spaced downward with respect to the nozzle forming surface 61a and the flat portion 66a, so that droplets adhering to the flat portion 66a and the ink jet head 61 can be removed. It is prevented that the upper end of the scattering prevention plate 131 is directly touched and adhered.

  Further, the scattering prevention plate 131 is disposed in the vicinity of the absorbent material 123 at one end in the width direction orthogonal to the wiping direction along the movement direction (arrow A direction) of the wiper 121 described above. As a result, when the wiper 121 is cleaned, the wiper 121 is moved, and droplets scattered when the end portion (one end portion) in the moving direction passes through the absorbent material 123 hit the scattering prevention plate 131, and the scattering prevention plate 131 described above. Further, it is also possible to prevent droplets from the absorbent 123 that scatters more toward the print area side (that is, the transport mechanism 135 side).

Next, wiping of the nozzle forming surface 61a of the inkjet head 61 using the head maintenance mechanism 81 of the present embodiment will be specifically described.
When wiping is started, the wiper 121 first moves from the retracted position to the wiping position. In this state, the inkjet head 61 moves together with the carriage 62 toward the printing area. As a result, the wiper 121 comes into contact with and rubs against the nozzle forming surface 61a of the inkjet head 61, and the nozzle forming surface 61a is wiped by the wiper 121, thereby removing ink and foreign matter adhering to the nozzle forming surface 61a.

  Further, when the inkjet head 61 moves toward the printing area together with the carriage 62, the wiper 121 having wiped the nozzle forming surface 61a contacts the flat portion 66a of the wiper guide portion in the carriage 62, as shown in FIG. It moves to the inclined surface 66b through the flat part 66a. Thereby, the wiper 121 is gradually restored while being in contact with the inclined surface 66b, and then separated from the inclined surface 66b. Thereby, the scattering of ink due to the rapid restoration of the wiper 121 is prevented.

At this time, a liquid film is formed between the wiper 121 and the concave portion 66c of the wiper guide part that gradually separate from each other. The liquid droplets scattered when the liquid film disappears hit the anti-scattering plate 131, and the liquid The droplets do not scatter to the printing area side from the scattering prevention plate 131, that is, to the transport mechanism 135.
This prevents a situation where droplets adhere to the medium M placed on the tray 137 or droplets adhere to the sliding portion 142 with the guide rail 139 and increase the driving load of the tray 137. can do.

  As described above, according to the maintenance mechanism 81 according to the above-described embodiment, when the inkjet head 61 passes through the wiper 121, the liquid is passed between the wiper 121 that gradually separates and the recess 66 c of the wiper guide portion. Although a film is formed, the liquid droplets scattered when the liquid film disappears hit the anti-scattering plate 131, and the liquid droplets are not scattered from the anti-scattering plate 131 to the printing region side. Then, according to the media processing apparatus including the label printer 11 including the maintenance mechanism 81 and the publisher 1 including the label printer 11, the nozzle forming surface 61a and the wiper guide portions on the side portions thereof can be cleaned. Thus, high-quality printing processing can be performed, and high-quality printing can be performed on the label surface of the medium M.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a publisher having a label printer that performs printing on the label surface of the disk-shaped medium M has been described. However, the head maintenance mechanism 81 of the present invention is a printer that performs printing on a sheet. Of course, the present invention can also be applied.
Further, the liquid consuming apparatus according to the present invention includes the ink jet printer head exemplified in the above embodiment, a color material ejecting head used for manufacturing a color filter such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, and a surface emitting display (FED). It can also be applied to electrode material (conductive paste) ejection heads used for electrode formation, bio-organic matter ejection heads used for biochip manufacturing, sample ejection heads as precision pipettes, liquid ejection heads such as textile printing devices and micro-dispensers .

1 is an external perspective view of a publisher (media processing apparatus) according to the present invention. It is an external appearance perspective view of the publisher which opened each part. It is the perspective view seen from the front side of the state which removed the case of the publisher. It is a perspective view of the label printer part installed in the publisher. It is a perspective view explaining the structure of a head maintenance mechanism. It is a front view explaining the structure of a head maintenance mechanism. It is a perspective view of the attachment position vicinity of a scattering prevention member. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing in the state from which a wiper leaves | separates from the separation position of a recessed part formation member. It is a principal part enlarged view showing the positional relationship of a wiper guide part, a wiper, and a scattering prevention member. 4A is a front view of a liquid jet head for explaining a wiper guide portion, and FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Publisher (media processing device), 11 ... Label printer (recording device), 61 ... Inkjet head (liquid ejecting head), 61a ... Nozzle formation surface, 66 ... Recess formation member, 66b ... Inclined surface, 66c ... Recess, 102 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Wiper mechanism (wiping means), 121 ... Wiper, 123 ... Absorber (wiper cleaner), 131 ... Spattering prevention plate (scattering prevention member), 141 ... Separation position away from recess formation member, 143 ... Start end position of recess, 145 ... substantially intermediate position, K ... liquid transfer prevention gap, M ... media.

Claims (6)

A wiper that can be brought into contact with and separated from the nozzle forming surface of the liquid ejecting head that reciprocally moves, and the nozzle forming surface is moved by moving the liquid ejecting head in a state in which the wiper is in elastic contact with the nozzle forming surface. Wiping means for wiping with a wiper;
A wiper guide portion provided on a front side in the wiping direction by the wiper on the nozzle forming surface, and including an inclined surface gradually separating from the wiper as being separated from the nozzle forming surface, and a recess provided at least on the inclined surface; In a liquid consuming apparatus comprising:
A liquid consuming apparatus comprising a scattering prevention member having a width at least equal to or larger than a width perpendicular to the wiping direction of the concave portion on the side opposite to the liquid ejecting head and on the ejecting region side from the wiper position.   The scattering prevention member is erected on the injection region side from a substantially intermediate position in a moving direction between a separation position where the wiper is separated from the concave portion forming member forming the concave portion and a starting end position of the concave portion. The liquid consuming apparatus according to claim 1.   The liquid transfer prevention gap which prevents that the liquid adhering to the said nozzle formation surface transfers to the said scattering prevention member is formed between the front-end | tip of the said scattering prevention member, and the said nozzle formation surface. Item 3. The liquid consuming device according to Item 1 or 2. The wiper movable to a side orthogonal to the moving direction of the liquid jet head;
A wiper cleaner provided in the movement path of the wiper;
One end portion in the width direction orthogonal to the wiping direction is the scattering preventing member disposed close to the wiper cleaner,
The liquid consuming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid consuming device performs printing on a printing material by ejecting ink from the liquid ejecting head. A media processing apparatus that performs various types of processing on media,
A media processing apparatus comprising the recording apparatus according to claim 5.

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