US-12617208-B2 - Inkjet recording apparatus

Abstract

An inkjet recording apparatus includes a recording head, a waste ink container, and a suction mechanism. The waste ink container has a plurality of receiving ports to receive ink ejected from the recording head, a suction port disposed at a position apart from each of the plurality of receiving ports, and a plurality of suction air passages connected to the plurality of receiving ports, respectively, so as to communicate between a destination receiving port and the suction port. The plurality of suction air passages are each bent between the destination receiving port and the suction port, and at least two suction air passages join at a predetermined position between the destination receiving port and the suction port.

Inventors

• Aiichiro Otana

Assignees

• KYOCERA DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20240618

Priority Date

20230626

Claims (4)

1. 1 . An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a recording head configured to eject ink to a recording medium during conveyance so as to record an image; a waste ink container disposed to face the recording head in a predetermined direction via a recording medium conveying path, the waste ink container including a storage region inside, so as to store ink ejected from the recording head without being used for image recording, in the storage region; and a suction mechanism configured to suck gases from the waste ink container, wherein the waste ink container has a plurality of receiving ports to receive the ink ejected from the recording head, a suction port disposed at a position apart from each of the plurality of receiving ports viewed from the predetermined direction, so as to be connected to the suction mechanism, and a plurality of suction air passages connected to the plurality of receiving ports, respectively, so that communication between the destination receiving port and the suction port allows a suction air flow to pass, which is generated when the suction mechanism is driven, the plurality of suction air passages are each bent between the destination receiving port and the suction port viewed from the predetermined direction, and at least two suction air passages among the plurality of suction air passages join at a predetermined position between the destination receiving port and the suction port viewed from the predetermined direction, so as to have a common part from the predetermined position to the suction port.
2. 2 . The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the common part bends at least one time viewed from the predetermined direction.
3. 3 . The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of suction air passages have the same number of bending times viewed from the predetermined direction.
4. 4 . The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the waste ink container includes an absorbing member to absorb the ink in the storage region, and the plurality of suction air passages are each formed by a space without the absorbing member in the storage region.

Description

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the corresponding Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-104388 filed Jun. 26, 2023, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to an inkjet recording apparatus. A conventional inkjet recording apparatus is provided with a waste ink container that stores waste ink to be discarded. The waste ink container is connected to a suction mechanism. The suction mechanism sucks gases from the waste ink container. The gases sucked by the suction mechanism flows in an air passage formed in the waste ink container. Note that the gases contain ink mist. SUMMARY An inkjet recording apparatus of the present disclosure includes a recording head, a waste ink container, and a suction mechanism. The recording head ejects ink to a recording medium during conveyance so as to record an image. The waste ink container is disposed to face the recording head in a predetermined direction via a recording medium conveying path, and includes a storage region inside, so as to store ink ejected from the recording head without being used for image recording, in the storage region. The suction mechanism sucks gases from the waste ink container. The waste ink container has a plurality of receiving ports, a suction port, and a plurality of suction air passages. The plurality of receiving ports receive the ink ejected from the recording head. The suction port is disposed at a position apart from each of the plurality of receiving ports viewed from the predetermined direction, and is connected to the suction mechanism. The plurality of suction air passages are connected to the plurality of receiving ports, respectively, so that communication between the destination receiving port and the suction port allows a suction air flow to pass, which is generated when the suction mechanism is driven. The plurality of suction air passages are each bent between the destination receiving port and the suction port viewed from the predetermined direction. At least two suction air passages among the plurality of suction air passages join at a predetermined position between the destination receiving port and the suction port viewed from the predetermined direction, so as to have a common part from the predetermined position to the suction port. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a recording unit of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a conveyor belt of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a conveyor belt and its vicinity of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of the conveyor belt and its vicinity of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the embodiment (a diagram illustrating a state where all waste ink containers are mounted). FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of the conveyor belt and its vicinity of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the embodiment (a diagram illustrating a state where one of the waste ink containers is detached). FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a storage region of the waste ink container of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram corresponding to a cross section taken along line A-A illustrated in FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically illustrating air flows in suction air passages of the waste ink container illustrated in FIG. 8. FIG. 11 is a diagram for describing a disadvantage caused when the suction air passage is bent on a horizontal plane. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10, an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described by exemplifying a printer 100. The printer 100 is installed on a flat floor and is used in this state. In the following description, a direction perpendicular to the flat floor, on which the printer 100 is installed, is defined as an up and down direction. In addition, the printer 100 records (i.e., prints) an image on a sheet S as a recording medium. As the sheet S, a paper sheet is mainly used. It may be possible to use other sheets S such as an OHP sheet. In addition, it is also possible to use fabric or cardboard. <Structure of Printer> As illustrated in FIG. 1, the printer 100 (corresponding to the “inkjet recording apparatus”) of this embodiment includes a first conveying unit 1 and a second conveying unit 2. The first conveying unit 1 feeds the sheet S (corresponding to the “recording medium”) set in a sheet feed cassette CA and conveys the same to a recording position. In a print job by the printer 100, image recording (printi