Patent Publication Number: US-8523345-B2

Title: Recording apparatus

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A line-type inkjet recording apparatus includes a line-type recording head in which a nozzle row is formed over the entire recording area. In the nozzle row, volatile components in ink contained in nozzles that are not frequently used evaporate and viscosity of the ink increases accordingly. When the viscosity of the ink increases, there is a risk that ink ejection failure will occur in the nozzles. 
     To prevent this, a system has been proposed in which humidified gas (air) is supplied to an area around the nozzles of the recording head to suppress evaporation of the volatile components in the ink. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-44021 discusses a recording apparatus including a humidifying unit that supplies the humidified gas to a gap between the recording head and a sheet. 
     A large amount of energy is used to generate the humidified gas. A large amount of energy loss occurs if the humidified gas supplied to the area around the nozzles is directly discharged to the outside of the apparatus. Therefore, according to an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-44021, a circulation system is provided in which the humidified gas that has passed by the nozzles is guided to the humidifying unit again by a duct and is reused. 
     However, this is a local circulation system that involves only the humidifying unit. Therefore, the energy efficiency of the entire system of the recording apparatus can be further increased. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a recording unit that performs a recording operation by applying ink to a sheet using a recording head; a humidifying unit that generates humidified gas; a drying unit that dries the ink applied to the sheet; a first duct that supplies gas discharged from the drying unit to at least one of the humidifying unit and the recording unit; and a second duct that supplies the generated humidified gas to the recording unit. 
     Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating the overall structure of a recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view illustrating the inner structure of the recording apparatus. 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view illustrating the inner structure of a drying unit. 
         FIGS. 4A ,  4 B, and  4 C are diagrams illustrating the operation of an exhaust duct. 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating the manner in which a recording unit, the drying unit, and a humidifying unit are connected to each other. 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view illustrating the inner structure of the humidifying unit. 
         FIGS. 7A ,  7 B, and  7 C are block diagrams illustrating the concept of a gas circulation system according to respective embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating the overall structure of a recording apparatus  1  according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The recording apparatus  1  includes a sheet feeding unit  23 , a recording unit  4 , a cutter unit  22 , a drying unit  5 , an ink tank unit  26 , a control unit  7 , and a sheet ejecting unit  8 , which are arranged from an upstream side to a downstream side along a conveying direction in which a sheet is conveyed in a recording operation. In addition, a humidifying unit  17  including a mixing chamber  14  and a buffer unit  20  is disposed adjacent to the recording unit  4  and the drying unit  5 . Three ducts  10 ,  29 , and  40  are connected to the humidifying unit  17 . 
       FIG. 2  is a sectional view illustrating the inner structure of the recording apparatus  1  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . A rolled sheet  3  is rotatably retained in the sheet feeding unit  23 . In this example, the sheet  3 , which is a recording medium, is a continuous sheet. However, the sheet  3  may instead be a cut sheet. The sheet feeding unit  23  includes a feeding mechanism that pulls out the sheet  3  and conveys the sheet  3  downstream in the sheet conveying direction (hereinafter referred to as a Y direction or a first direction). 
     The recording unit  4  includes a plurality of recording heads  2  that correspond to inks of different colors. In this example, four recording heads corresponding to four colors, which are C, M, Y, and K, are provided. However, the number of colors is not limited to this. The ink of each color is supplied from the ink tank unit  26  to the corresponding recording head  2  through an ink tube. Each recording head  2  is a line-type recording head in which an inkjet nozzle row is formed so as to cover the maximum width of the sheet  3  in which the recording head  2  may be used. The nozzle row extends in a direction (hereinafter referred to as an X direction or a second direction) that crosses the first direction (perpendicular to the first direction in this example). The nozzle row may either have a structure in which units of nozzle chips are arranged in an orderly pattern, such as a staggered pattern, over the entire area in the width direction or a structure in which a single row of nozzle chips is formed over the entire area in the width direction. An inkjet method may be, for example, a method using heating elements, piezoelectric elements, electrostatic elements, or MEMS elements. 
     A sheet conveying path extends through the recording unit  4  and faces the recording heads  2 , and a conveying mechanism for conveying the sheet along the sheet conveying path is provided in the recording unit  4 . The conveying mechanism includes a plurality of conveying rollers arranged along the sheet conveying path and a platen that supports the sheet  3  in areas between the adjacent conveying rollers. The recording heads  2  and the conveying mechanism are accommodated in a substantially closed space in a housing  21 . 
     The cutter unit  22  is a unit that cuts the continuous sheet that has been subjected to the recording operation in the recording unit  4  into predetermined sizes. The drying unit  5  is a unit for drying the ink on the cut sheet in a short time, and includes a heater  24  and a plurality of conveying rollers  35  arranged along the conveying path. The sheet ejecting unit  8  stores cut sheets ejected from the drying unit  5 , and a plurality of sheets are stacked in the sheet ejecting unit  8 . The control unit  7  is a controller that controls various operations in the entire system of the recording apparatus  1 , and includes a CPU, a memory, and various I/O interfaces. 
     The detailed structure of the drying unit  5  will now be described.  FIG. 3  is a sectional view illustrating the inner structure of the drying unit  5 . The drying unit  5  includes a warm gas device  9  that ejects warm gas A for drying the ink ejected onto the sheet  3 . The warm gas device  9  includes the heater  24  that heats gas and a fan  25  that generates a gas flow. The heated gas (warm gas) is ejected from nozzles toward a surface of the sheet  3  to which the ink has been applied. While the sheet  3  is being conveyed by the conveying rollers  35 , drying of the ink on the sheet  3  is accelerated by the warm gas that has been ejected toward the sheet  3 . A humidity sensor  32  is provided in the drying unit  5  as a unit for obtaining humidity information regarding humidity in the drying unit  5 . The humidity sensor  32  can either directly detect the humidity or indirectly obtain the humidity information by detecting a temperature. 
     In the case where images for which a large amount of ink is used (images with a large recording duty), such as photographic images, are successively recorded, an amount of ink ejected from the recording heads  2  per unit time increases. Therefore, when the ink applied to the sheet is dried in the drying unit  5 , the humidity in the drying unit  5  increases owing to the evaporation of a large amount of moisture. For example, when the drying unit  5  is in a high-humidity state in which the humidity is more than 20% at a set warm-gas temperature (80° C. in the present embodiment), volatile components in the ink cannot be easily evaporated even when the warm gas is ejected toward the sheet. Therefore, the humidity of the gas in the drying unit  5  is to be reduced before the state of the drying unit  5  changes to the high-humidity state. 
     The duct  10 , which is an exhaust duct, is connected to the drying unit  5 , and high-humidity gas in the drying unit  5  is exhausted through the exhaust duct  10 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4A  to  4 C, the exhaust duct  10  includes two ducts, which are a first duct  18  and a fourth duct  19 , one of which is selected as an exhaust destination in accordance with an operational state of a valve  15 , which will be described below. In an ordinary state, the position of the valve  15  is set such that the gas is exhausted through the fourth duct  19 . 
     The first duct  18  is connected to the mixing chamber  14 , which will be described below. A filter  30  is disposed in the first duct  18  at an intermediate position thereof. The fourth duct  19  is connected to the drying unit  5  such that the gas discharged therethrough can be re-introduced into the drying unit  5 . A filter  31  is disposed in the first duct  18  at an intermediate position thereof. In addition, a small hole  27  is provided in the fourth duct  19  at an intermediate position thereof. While the exhaust gas passes through the fourth duct  19 , a part of the exhaust gas is replaced by outside gas (gas in the inner space of the recording apparatus  1 ), which is less humid than the gas in the fourth duct  19 , through the hole  27 . In other words, the high-humidity exhaust gas returns to the drying unit  5  after a part of the high-humidity exhaust gas is dissipated into the inner space of the recording apparatus  1 . Therefore, the humidity in the drying unit  5  can be somewhat reduced. 
       FIG. 4A  illustrates the state in which neither of the first duct  18  and the fourth duct  19  is blocked by the valve  15 .  FIG. 4B  illustrates the state in which the valve  15  blocks the fourth duct  19  to select the first duct  18 .  FIG. 4C  illustrates the state in which the valve  15  blocks the first duct  18  to select the fourth duct  19 . The valve  15  is a mechanism for controlling the flow of the gas that is exhausted from the drying unit  5 . The valve  15  controls an operation of supplying the gas from the drying unit  5  to the recording unit  4 . The valve  15  can be rotated about a support shaft by a switching mechanism  33  including a motor and a gear. The rotation of the valve  15  is controlled by the control unit  7 . One of the states illustrated in  FIGS. 4B and 4C  is selected. The state of the valve  15  is determined by a sensor  34  (photo interrupter or the like) that detects a rotational phase of the switching mechanism  33 . Thus, the first duct  18  and the fourth duct  19  included in the exhaust duct  10  are arranged adjacent to each other, and one of the first and fourth ducts  18  and  19  is selected as a path through which the gas is to be exhausted in accordance with the rotation of a single valve  15 . Therefore, the switching operation can be quickly performed by a simple structure. 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating the manner in which the recording unit  4 , the drying unit  5 , and the humidifying unit  17  are connected to each other with the ducts. The humidifying unit  17  generates humidified gas (humidified air) and supplies the humidified gas to an area around the nozzle rows in the recording heads  2 . End portions of the nozzles are humidified by the humidified gas that flows by the nozzles, and accordingly the evaporation and drying of the ink in the nozzles can be reduced. Therefore, even if the time in which the nozzles have not been used is long, ejection failure due to sticking of the ink in the nozzles can be prevented. 
     The humidifying unit  17  includes the mixing chamber  14  that generates the humidified gas and the buffer unit  20  that accumulates the generated humidified gas while maintaining the temperature and humidity thereof at predetermined temperature and humidity. The buffer unit  20  and the recording unit  4  are connected to each other by the second duct  29 . The second duct  29  is connected to the buffer unit  20  at one end thereof, and to an opening  36 , which is an inlet formed in a side surface of the housing  21  of the recording unit  4 , at the other end thereof. The humidified gas supplied from the humidifying unit  17  flows through the second duct  29  and is introduced into the housing  21  through the opening  36 . The opening  36  formed in the housing  21  is positioned such that the humidified gas flows into a gap between the sheet and one of the recording heads  2  that is at the most upstream position in the sheet conveying direction (see  FIG. 2 ). Accordingly, the humidified gas introduced into the housing  21  can smoothly flow through the gap between the sheet surface and the recording heads  2  from an upstream position to a downstream position along the direction in which the sheet is conveyed. An opening  39 , which is an outlet, is also provided in the recording unit  4 , and one end of the third duct  40  is connected to the opening  39 . The other end of the third duct  40  is connected to the mixing chamber  14 . The opening  39  is formed in the housing  21 , and is positioned downstream of one of the recording heads  2  that is at the most downstream position in the sheet conveying direction (see  FIG. 2 ). Accordingly, the humidified gas that has flowed through the gap between the sheet surface and the recording heads  2  from the upstream position to the downstream position can be smoothly discharged from the housing  21 . The humidified gas introduced into the recording unit  4  through the second duct  29  is discharged through the third duct  40  and is re-introduced into the mixing chamber  14  as reflow gas for reuse (recycle). In other words, the gas discharged from the recording unit  4  is re-introduced into the humidifying unit  17  through the third duct  40 . 
       FIG. 6  is a sectional view illustrating the inner structure of the humidifying unit  17 . The humidifying unit  17  includes the mixing chamber  14  and the buffer unit  20 . The mixing chamber  14  generates the humidified gas by a vaporizing method. The mixing chamber  14  includes a disc  41  on which a liquid absorbing member  42  is bonded. The disc  41  can be rotated about a shaft  43  by a driving mechanism. Alternatively, the disc  41  itself may be formed of a material having a high liquid absorbability. A part of the disc  41  is in contact with water  47  that is stored in a lower section of a water tank  45 . The disc  41  rotates to cause the entire body of the liquid absorbing member  42  to absorb water. A fan  46  causes the gas supplied from the drying unit  5  through the first duct  18  to generate a gas flow in the mixing chamber  14 . The gas to be reused is also introduced into the mixing chamber  14  through the third duct  40 , and is mixed into the gas flow in the mixing chamber  14 . The gas flow generated by the fan  46  is heated by a heater  51 , and passes the liquid absorbing member  42  of the disc  41 , which is being rotated, while hitting the liquid absorbing member  42 . At this time, a part of the moisture carried by the liquid absorbing member  42  is mixed into the gas. Thus, the humidified gas is generated. The humidifying performance of the mixing chamber  14  can be adjusted in accordance with the rotational speed of the disc  41 , the rotational speed of the fan  46 , and the amount of heat generated by the heater  51 . The humidifying performance is feedback-controlled by the control unit  7  on the basis of the result of detection of a humidity sensor (not shown) so that the humidified gas at an appropriate humidity can be generated. The structure of the humidifying unit  17  is not limited to that in the present embodiment. For example, various known methods, such as a vaporizing method, a water atomizing method, and a steam method, may be used. The vaporizing method includes a moisture permeable film method, a dripping seepage method, and a capillary method in addition to the rotating method used in the present embodiment. The water atomizing method includes a supersonic method, a centrifugal method, a high-pressure spray method, and a two-fluid atomizing method. The steam method includes a steam line method, an electrothermal method, and an electrode method. 
     The buffer unit  20  is a chamber that stores the humidified gas generated in the mixing chamber  14  while maintaining the temperature and humidity thereof at predetermined temperature and humidity. The humidified gas generated in the mixing chamber  14  is introduced into the buffer unit  20  through a supply duct  52  and a fan  53 . The humidified gas supplied to the buffer unit  20  is heated by a heater  54  and is stored while the temperature and humidity thereof are maintained constant. The humidified gas stored in the buffer unit  20  is discharged through the second duct  29  by a fan  55 . 
       FIG. 7A  is a block diagram illustrating the concept of a gas circulation system in the recording apparatus  1  according to the present embodiment. The drying unit  5  and the mixing chamber  14  in the humidifying unit  17  are connected to each other by the first duct  18 . An exhaust port and an inlet port of the fourth duct  19  are both connected to the drying unit  5 . One of the first duct  18  and the fourth duct  19  is selected as the exhaust destination by the above-described valve  15 . The humidified gas generated in the mixing chamber  14  is introduced into the buffer unit  20 . The buffer unit  20  and the recording unit  4  are connected to each other by the second duct  29 . The recording unit  4  and the mixing chamber  14  are connected to each other by the third duct  40 . 
     In an ordinary state, the fourth duct  19  is selected by the valve  15 . The humidity information of the drying unit  5  is obtained by the humidity sensor  32 . If it is determined from the humidity information that the humidity is higher than a predetermined value, the valve  15  switches to the first duct  18 . The high-humidity gas generated in the drying unit  5  is introduced into the mixing chamber  14  through the first duct  18  as a gas flow AF 1  and is mixed with the gas in the mixing chamber  14 , thereby assisting the generation of the humidified gas in the humidifying unit  17 . A gas flow AF 2  from the buffer unit  20  is introduced into the recording unit  4  through the second duct  29 . The humidified gas in the recording unit  4  is introduced into the mixing chamber  14  through the third duct  40  as a gas flow RF and is mixed with the gas in the mixing chamber  14 , thereby assisting the generation of the humidified gas in the humidifying unit  17 . Thus, the moisture discharged from the drying unit  5  and the moisture discharged from the recording unit  4  are both reused for humidification. Thus, a system structure with an extremely high energy utilization efficiency that is capable of generating desired humidified gas in a short time at a low power consumption is provided. In particular, in the recording unit  4  according to the present embodiment, a large amount of humidified gas is used since a plurality of recording heads  2  having long nozzle rows are provided. Therefore, compared to the case in which the above-described system structure is not used, the power consumption can be greatly reduced. In addition, since the state in which a large amount of humidified gas is discharged into the installation environment of the recording apparatus  1  does not occur, an increase in humidity in the installation environment can be suppressed. 
     The position at which the humidity sensor  32  is installed is not limited to the drying unit  5 , and the humidity sensor  32  may instead be installed in the first duct  18  or the fourth duct  19 . Alternatively, the humidity sensor  32  may be installed in the mixing chamber  14 , the buffer unit  20 , the second duct  29 , or the recording unit  4 . More specifically, a unit for obtaining the humidity information is provided in at least one of the drying unit, the humidifying unit, the recording unit, and the ducts thereof, and the valve  15  is controlled in accordance with the obtained humidity information. Alternatively, the operation of opening or closing the valve  15  may be controlled in accordance with the recording duty in the recording unit  4 . 
       FIG. 7B  is a block diagram illustrating the concept of a gas circulation system in a recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Components similar to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and explanations thereof are thus omitted. 
     In this structure, the drying unit  5  and the recording unit  4  are connected to each other by a first duct  37 . Accordingly, the high-humidity gas generated in the drying unit  5  is not introduced into the humidifying unit  17 , but is introduced directly into the recording unit  4  thought the first duct  37  as a gas flow AF 1 . One of the first duct  37  and the fourth duct  19  is selected by a valve  15  having a structure similar to that of the value shown in  FIG. 4 . The humidified gas generated in the humidifying unit  17  is introduced into the recording unit  4  thought the second duct  29  as a gas flow AF 2 . Thus, the gas exhausted from the drying unit  5  and the humidified gas generated in the humidifying unit  17  are both introduced into the recording unit  4 . Therefore, the energy consumption can be reduced compared to the case in which only the humidified gas generated by the humidifying unit  17  is used. The recording unit  4  and the mixing chamber  14  are connected to each other by the third duct  40 , so that the gas can be resupplied to the mixing chamber  14  as a gas flow RF. Thus, the humidified gas is reused. Accordingly, effects similar to those of the first embodiment can be obtained by the above-described structure. 
       FIG. 7C  is a block diagram illustrating the concept of a gas circulation system in a recording apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Components similar to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and explanations thereof are thus omitted. 
     The gas exhausted from the drying unit  5  is guided along two paths through a first duct  18  and a first duct  37 . The first duct  18  is connected to the mixing chamber  14 , and the first duct  37  is connected to the recording unit  4 . Accordingly, the high-humidity gas generated in the drying unit  5  is introduced into both the humidifying unit  17  (gas flow AF 2 ) and the recording unit  4  (gas flow AF 1 ). One of the first duct  37  and the fourth duct  19  is selected by a valve  15  having a structure similar to that of the value shown in  FIG. 4 . The humidified gas generated in the humidifying unit  17  is introduced into the recording unit  4  thought the second duct  29  as a gas flow AF 3 . The recording unit  4  and the mixing chamber  14  are connected to each other by the third duct  40 , so that the gas can be resupplied to the mixing chamber  14  as a gas flow RF. Thus, the humidified gas is reused. 
     The structure of  FIG. 7C  corresponds to the combination of the structures of  FIGS. 7A and 7B . The exhaust gas from the drying unit  5  may be introduced into the recording unit  4  through the first duct  37  before the humidified gas generated by the humidifying unit  17  is supplied. In such a case, the temperature of the recording heads  2  and the housing  21  can be increased in advance. In the case where this preheating process is performed, dewing, which may occur if the humidified gas from the humidifying unit  17  immediately after the activation of the apparatus while the recording heads  2  and the housing  21  are still cool, can be prevented. If dewing occurs, there is a risk that ejection failure will occur in the recording heads  2  or water droplets will drop onto the sheet. However, such a risk can be reduced. In addition, since the heat generated in the recording apparatus is efficiently used, a starting time can be reduced in a cold environment. 
     In each of the structures illustrated in  FIGS. 7A to 7C , the gas exhausted from the drying unit  5  is supplied to at least one of the humidifying unit  17  and the recording unit  4  through the first duct. In addition, the humidified gas generated in the humidifying unit  17  is supplied to the recording unit  4  through the second duct  29 . Accordingly, the gas having a relatively high humidity that is exhausted from the drying unit  5  can be supplied to at least one of the humidifying unit  17  and the recording unit  4  and be used to assist the generation of the humidified gas. Therefore, the energy efficiency in the total system of the inkjet recording apparatus including the recording unit  4 , the humidifying unit  17 , and the drying unit  5  can be largely increased. In addition, the gas discharged from the recording unit  4  is supplied to the humidifying unit  17  through the third duct  40  and is reused. Therefore, the overall energy efficiency is significantly high. 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions. 
     This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-262071 filed Nov. 17, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.