US-12617209-B2 - Liquid ejection apparatus

US12617209B2US 12617209 B2US12617209 B2US 12617209B2US-12617209-B2

Abstract

A liquid ejection apparatus includes a wiper carriage 59 , and a pressurizing mechanism 60 disposed in a liquid supply path 73 via which a liquid from the liquid storage portion 101 is supplied to an ejection head 20 H. The wiper carriage 59 has a wiper 58 , which is an example of a maintenance portion. The pressurizing mechanism 60 includes a liquid storage chamber 63 that forms a portion of the liquid supply path 73 and a diaphragm 62 , which is an example of a deforming member configured to be deformed to change the volume of the liquid storage chamber 63 . The wiper carriage 59 causes the liquid in a nozzle 20 N of the ejection head 20 H communicating with the liquid storage chamber 63 to flow in a discharge direction by pressing the diaphragm 62 at the pressurized position to pressurize the liquid storage chamber 63.

Inventors

Makoto Sawadaishi

Assignees

SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240319
Priority Date: 20230320

Claims (11)

1 . A liquid ejection apparatus comprising: a carriage having a maintenance portion that maintains an ejection head ejecting a liquid from a nozzle; and a pressurizing mechanism disposed in a liquid supply path via which a liquid from a liquid storage portion is supplied to the ejection head, wherein the pressurizing mechanism includes a liquid storage chamber that forms a portion of the liquid supply path and a deforming member configured to deform to change a volume of the liquid storage chamber, the carriage is configured to press the deforming member at a pressurized position on a movement route, and the carriage causes a liquid in the nozzle of the ejection head communicating with the liquid storage chamber to flow in a discharge direction by pressing the deforming member at the pressurized position to pressurize the liquid storage chamber.
2 . The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein cleaning that discharges the liquid from the nozzle by pressurizing the liquid storage chamber is performed.
3 . The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the deforming member is a diaphragm.
4 . The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the pressurizing mechanism includes a biasing member that biases the diaphragm in a direction in which the volume of the liquid storage chamber increases, and when the carriage moves away from the diaphragm, the liquid storage chamber is filled with the liquid from the liquid storage portion.
5 . The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the ejection head is a line head.
6 . The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the maintenance portion is a wiper that wipes a nozzle surface of the ejection head in which the nozzle is open, and the carriage is a wiper carriage having the wiper.
7 . The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the wiper carriage pressurizes the liquid in the nozzle by pressurizing the liquid storage chamber at the pressurized position, and the wiper wipes the nozzle surface of the ejection head with the liquid storage chamber pressurized.
8 . The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the maintenance portion is a cap that receives the liquid discharged from the nozzle of the ejection head, and the carriage is a cap carriage having the cap.
9 . The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a first on-off valve disposed in the liquid supply path, the first on-off valve being located upstream of the pressurizing mechanism in a liquid supply direction in which the liquid is supplied from the liquid storage portion to the ejection head; a second on-off valve disposed in the liquid supply path, the second on-off valve being located downstream of the pressurizing mechanism in the liquid supply direction; and a control portion that controls the carriage, the first on-off valve, and the second on-off valve, wherein the control portion pressurizes the liquid storage chamber by moving the carriage to the pressurized position with the first on-off valve closed and the second on-off valve open.
10 . The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the control portion closes the second on-off valve with the carriage located at the pressurized position after pressurizing the liquid storage chamber.
11 . The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the control portion opens the first on-off valve before the carriage moves away from the pressurized position.

Description

The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2023-043902, filed Mar. 20, 2023, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a liquid ejection apparatus that includes an ejection head that ejects a liquid and a maintenance portion that maintains the ejection head. 2. Related Art For example, JP-A-2020-6583 discloses, as an example of a liquid ejection apparatus, an ink jet print apparatus that includes a print portion, such as an ejection head, and performs printing on a medium to be transported, such as paper. This type of print apparatus has a maintenance portion that maintains the ejection head. The maintenance portion performs maintenance while facing the ejection head. Accordingly, at least one of the ejection head and the maintenance portion needs to move to a position at which both of them face each other. For example, a line head type print apparatus has a structure in which a cap unit including a cap and a wiper as an example of the maintenance portion moves. The cap unit integrally includes a cap that covers the ink ejection surface of a print portion and a wiper that wipes ink from the nozzle surface. In addition, print apparatuses as described above may include, as individual units, a cap unit having a cap, which is an example of a component in the maintenance portion, and a wiper unit having a wiper, which is another example of a component in the maintenance portion. In addition, the print apparatus performs cleaning that forcibly discharges the liquid from the nozzles of the ejection head. The cleaning includes pressurized cleaning and suction cleaning. Pressurized cleaning forcibly discharges the liquid from the nozzles by pressurizing the liquid supply source, such as an ink pack or the like, disposed upstream of the ejection head. On the other hand, suction cleaning forcibly discharges the liquid from the nozzles by the suction pump generating negative pressure in an enclosed space formed between the cap and the ejection head so as to communicate with the nozzles with the ejection head capped by the cap. The liquid ejection apparatus described in JP-A-2020-6583 uses pressurized cleaning. The liquid ejection apparatus includes a pressurizing mechanism. The pressurizing mechanism has two chambers defined by a flexible member. One of the chambers is an air chamber, and the other is a liquid chamber, which is an example of the liquid storage chamber. A spring that biases the flexible member toward the liquid storage chamber is disposed in the air chamber. In addition, the air chamber is coupled to the pressure pump, and the pressure of the air chamber is reduced by the pressure pump being driven. When the pressure of the air chamber is reduced, the flexible member deforms against the biasing force of the spring so as to increase the volume of the liquid storage chamber. This causes the liquid to be stored in the liquid storage chamber. When the reduced pressure of the air chamber is released in this state, the biasing force of the spring causes the flexible member to push out the liquid in the liquid storage chamber. Pressurized cleaning is performed by the pushed out liquid being discharged from the nozzles of the ejection head. However, when the flexible member is pressurized by a spring after a pressure pump causes a liquid, such as ink or the like, to be stored, sealed spaces need to be formed by the surfaces of the flexible member on the liquid storage chamber side and on the air chamber side. Accordingly, since the process of ensuring the hermeticity of these two chambers, the process of checking the hermeticity, and the like are necessary in the manufacturing process, process management becomes complex. In addition, since components, such as a pressure sensor for pressure management via a pressure pump, are necessary for moving the flexible member, the product cost increases. Accordingly, there is a demand for a liquid ejection apparatus in which the pressurizing mechanism and the drive system that drives the pressurizing mechanism each have a simplified structure. SUMMARY A liquid ejection apparatus for solving the problem described above includes: a carriage having a maintenance portion that maintains an ejection head ejecting a liquid from a nozzle; and a pressurizing mechanism disposed in a liquid supply path via which a liquid from the liquid storage portion is supplied to an ejection head, in which the pressurizing mechanism includes a liquid storage chamber that forms a portion of the liquid supply path and a deforming member configured to be deformed to change a volume of the liquid storage chamber, the carriage is configured to press the deforming member at a pressurized position on a movement route, and the carriage causes a liquid in the nozzle of the ejection head communicating with the liquid storage chamber to flow in a discharg