Patent ID: 8231201

Claim:
An inkjet recording device comprising: a recording head ejecting ink droplets to record a character and an image onto a recording medium; a carriage with the recording head mounted thereon performing a round-trip scanning movement; a wiping unit including: a wiper blade made of an elastic body and formed in a tabular shape for wiping a nozzle surface of the recording head, the wiper blade including end portions disposed at respective ends in a longitudinal direction of the wiper blade, and a header portion configured to include a side edge extending in the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade and to contact and wipe the nozzle surface of the recording head; a reaction force eliminating member having a flat plate shape, wherein the reaction force eliminating member and the wiper blade are disposed to be parallel to, and facing, each other, the reaction force eliminating member includes a base portion having upper end parts disposed to correspond to the respective end portions of the wiper blade, and the reaction force eliminating member further includes blade contacting sections protruding from the respective upper end parts of the base portion and having respective convex parts disposed on the blade contacting sections, the convex parts being disposed beyond the base portion in the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade and in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade in a plane of the reaction force eliminating member, and to protrude from the plane of the respective blade contacting sections to contact the respective end portions of the wiper blade, and the reaction force eliminating member has spring characteristics to absorb a reaction force of the wiper blade generated when the header portion of the wiper blade separates from the nozzle surface of the recording head and a bend of the wiper blade is straightened at a termination of a wiping operation through the end portions contacting the corresponding convex parts of the blade contacting sections of the reaction force eliminating member to return the wiper blade to an upright position; and a supporting member supporting the wiper blade and the reaction force eliminating member; and a blade elevating unit disposed within a scanning range of the carriage and moving the wiping unit upward and downward in the height direction of the nozzle surface of the recording head.