Wet-type wiping apparatus of inkjet printer and maintenance apparatus having the same

A wet-type wiping apparatus of an inkjet printer to clean a print head of the inkjet printer includes a moisture storing portion, a moisture suction portion disposed on an upper side of the moisture storing portion and having a plurality of moisture suction holes, and a wiper portion inserted in the moisture storing portion and having a plurality of capillary tubes vertically penetrating therein. The moisture suction portion includes one of calcium chloride, a silica gel, and a high molecular weight substance, which are highly absorbent. The moisture storing portion includes a foam for containing moisture therein.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2003-4625, filed Jan. 23, 2003, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an inkjet printer, and more particularly, to a wet-type wiping apparatus which is capable of effectively cleaning an inkjet print head, and a maintenance apparatus having the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, an inkjet printer prints an image by attaching droplets of ink created by heating the ink stored in a cartridge onto a paper sheet through nozzles, and comprises a wiping apparatus for preventing ink residue from being adhered to an ink head and the print quality from being deteriorated in the next printing.

A conventional wiping apparatus and a maintenance apparatus having the same are described below referring toFIGS. 1 and 2.

Inside the printer body10, a carriage20with an ink cartridge21mounted thereon is disposed to move left and right. The movement area of the carriage20is divided into a print area P in which ink is sprayed through a nozzle portion21aof the ink cartridge21, and a service area S in which the carriage20is parked30or ink at the nozzle portion21ais cleaned. A maintenance apparatus is disposed at one side of the service area S.

The ink cartridge21disposed in the carriage20sprays ink as it moves left and right in the print area P. When the printing is completed, the ink cartridge21moves into the service area S. At this time, the wiping apparatus33wipes the nozzle portion21aof the print head, cleaning off the ink from the nozzle portion21a. When the wiping finishes, the carriage20stops, and a cap34is positioned below the nozzle portion21aand closes the nozzle portion21a, thus preventing the ink from drying. A reference numeral31denotes a housing,32a slider,35a guide groove,36a guide protrusion,37a stopping part, and38a latching member.

Such a wiping apparatus33is for dry wiping and only wipes off ink by a physical frictional force between the wiping apparatus33and the nozzle portion21aof the ink cartridge/printhead. However, since the print head is always dry due to certain characteristics of the print head and the surrounding environment, the ink residue is not completely wiped off with the dry wiping.

Accordingly, there has been a suggestion for a method of moving the wiping apparatus33to a separate apparatus (not shown) which is capable of providing moisture, wetting the wiping apparatus33by the separate apparatus, and then returning the wiping apparatus33back to the initial position, that is, to the wiping position prior to wiping the nozzle portion21aof the print head. However, such a method requires a means for moving the wiping apparatus33and the separate apparatus for providing moisture, thus increasing the number of parts and manufacturing costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention is to solve the foregoing and/or other problems by providing a wet-type wiping apparatus of a simple structure which effectively wipes a nozzle portion of a print head, and a maintenance apparatus having the same.

To accomplish the above aspects and/or other features and advantages of the present invention, a wet-type wiping apparatus for an inkjet printer cleans a print head of the inkjet printer. The wet-type wiping apparatus includes a moisture storing portion, a moisture suction portion disposed on an upper side of the moisture storing portion and having a plurality of moisture suction holes, and a wiper portion inserted into the moisture storing portion and having a plurality of capillary tubes vertically penetrating therein.

The moisture storing portion may include a foam to contain moisture therein.

The moisture suction portion includes one of calcium chloride, a silica gel, and a high molecular substance, which are highly absorbent.

A maintenance apparatus for an inkjet printer includes a housing disposed in an inkjet printer body, a slider movably disposed on the housing, a wet-type wiping apparatus disposed on the slider, and a cap. Here, the wet-type wiping apparatus includes a moisture storing portion, a moisture suction portion disposed on an upper side of the moisture storing portion and having a plurality of moisture suction holes, and a wiper portion disposed to penetrate the moisture storing portion and having a plurality of capillary tubes vertically penetrating therein.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the moisture storing portion includes a foam for containing moisture therein.

The moisture suction portion comprises one of calcium chloride, a silica gel, and a high molecular weight substance, which are highly absorbent.

According to the present invention described above, a wet-type wiping apparatus of simple structure is provided, and the wet-type wiping apparatus maintains moisture at the end of the wiper portion using a capillary phenomenon of the wiper portion so that a separate wiper moving unit is not required.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a wet-type wiping apparatus and a maintenance apparatus having the same according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3Ais a sectional view schematically showing a wiping apparatus for an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, andFIG. 3Bis a perspective view schematically showing a wiper portion ofFIG. 3A.

The moisture suction portion103draws in moisture from the outside through a moisture suction hole103aand stores the moisture in the moisture storing portion105, which will be described later. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the moisture suction portion103is comprised of one of calcium chloride, a silica gel, and a high molecular weight substance which is highly absorbent, thus sucking in moisture from the outside.

The moisture storing portion105stores the moisture drawn in by the moisture suction portion103as described above. The moisture storing portion105has a predetermined shape, that is, typically a shape of a water tank, and stores the moisture in a liquid phase or is provided with foam which contains the moisture therein. Also, the liquid may be directly put into the moisture storing portion105, as necessary.

The wiper portion101is inserted into the moisture suction portion103and has a plurality of capillary tubes101avertically penetrating through the wiper portion101. The moisture stored in the moisture storing portion105is drawn up to the end of the wiper portion101along the capillary tubes101aof the wiper portion101which penetrate the moisture suction portion103and utilize the capillary phenomenon.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the wiper portion101is inserted at a predetermined distance from the bottom surface of the moisture storing portion105, leaving a predetermined space to draw moisture continuously from the moisture storing portion105.

By using the structure of the above-described wiping apparatus100, the end of the wiper portion101is always moisturized, thus enabling an effective inkjet print head wiping with a simple structure.

Hereinafter, the operation of the wiping apparatus, according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described referring toFIGS. 2,3A and3B. For example, the wiping apparatus100of the present invention may replace the wiping apparatus33inFIG. 2. In such an embodiment, a desired image is formed by moving the carriage20left and right along the print area P (FIG. 1), while ejecting ink onto the paper sheet, and after the forming of the desired image is completed, the carriage20is moved to the service area S (FIG. 1) for wiping and capping.

At one side of the service area S, a maintenance apparatus is disposed. By one side of the carriage20moving to the service area S (FIG. 1), the guide protrusion36formed on the slider32of the maintenance apparatus moves along the guide groove35of the housing31and thus, the slider32moves.

The wiping apparatus100disposed on the slider32moves integrally with the slider32, cleaning ink residue on the nozzle portion21awhich has finished printing. At this time, the moisture stored in the moisture storing portion105travels towards the end of the wiper portion101along the capillary tube101athereof, thus allowing wet-wiping of the nozzle portion21aby the wiper portion101moisturized at all times.

After wet-wiping, and when the ink cartridge is parked, that is, when the carriage20is stopped by the stopping piece37, the cap34closes the nozzle portion21ato prevent ink on the nozzle from drying.

The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teaching may be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. The description of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.