Printing apparatus and platen

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10183505-B2
Application number	US-201615160756-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 20, 2016
Priority date	May 27, 2015
Publication date	Jan 22, 2019
Grant date	Jan 22, 2019

Abstract

A printing apparatus includes a suction unit configured to allow a negative pressure, by which a sheet is sucked to a supporting portion, to act on the sheet; and ink receivers configured to receive ink ejected outside of the sheet. Waste ink ejected to the ink receivers is guided to a waste ink discharge port formed on an outer peripheral wall of a platen through waste ink channels. A sheet sucking mechanism configured to apply the negative pressure is disposed adjacent to the suction unit. A discharging mechanism configured to forcibly discharge waste ink outside of the platen is connected to the waste ink discharge port.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A printing apparatus comprising:
a printhead configured to eject ink;
a sheet conveying unit configured to convey a sheet in a first direction;
a suction unit configured to suction ink; and
a platen unit configured to support the sheet to be printed with the printhead,
wherein the platen unit comprises:
supporting portions arranged in a second direction intersecting with the first direction, and configured to support the sheet;
an ink receiver for receiving ink ejected from the printhead, the ink receiver being adjacent to the supporting portions in the first direction and extending in the second direction;
an ink channel including an inclined bottom surface for allowing flow of ink received by the ink receiver, the ink channel being disposed below the ink receiver and extending in the second direction;
an ink collector which can contain the ink flowing from the inclined bottom surface and is disposed below the inclined bottom surface; and
a discharge port for discharging ink contained in the ink collector by suction of the suction unit through a tube connected to the discharge port.

2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a negative pressure chamber configured to apply a negative pressure to a suction hole formed at the supporting portions is disposed under the supporting portions.

3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the supporting portions, the ink receiver, the ink collector and the ink channel are aggregated into a single resin-molded component part.

4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a tank for storing ink suctioned by the suction unit, the tank being connected to the tube.

5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the ink receiver includes a first ink receiver disposed upstream of the supporting portions with respect to the first direction, and a second ink receiver disposed downstream of the supporting portions with respect to the first direction.

6. The printing apparatus according to claim 5 , further comprising:
a first ink channel disposed below the first ink receiver;
a second ink channel disposed below the second ink receiver; and
a third ink channel for connecting the first ink channel to the second ink channel,
wherein the ink collector is disposed at a bottom of the second ink channel, and the third ink channel is inclined to guide ink flowing in the first ink channel to the ink collector.

7. The printing apparatus according to claim 5 , further comprising:
an upstream supporting portion for supporting the sheet upstream of the first ink receiver; and
a downstream supporting portion for supporting the sheet downstream of the first ink receiver.

8. The printing apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein at the bottom surface of at least one of the first ink channel, the second ink channel, and the third ink channel, concave-convex portions extending along the inclination of the bottom surface are formed.

9. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an ink absorber for receiving ink ejected from the printhead, the ink absorber being disposed in the ink receiver,
wherein the ink received in the ink absorber drops into the ink channel.

10. The printing apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein a plurality of lock members configured to lock the ink absorber onto the ink receiver are formed at the platen unit.

11. The printing apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein a sealant or a water repellent is applied between the platen unit and the lock members.

12. The printing apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein an ink deposition preventing operation is performed so as to eject ink from the printhead onto the ink absorber upon completion of a printing operation in order to prevent an ink component from being deposited on the ink absorber.

13. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of supporting portions are disposed near an end of the sheet conveyed by the sheet conveying unit with respect to the second direction, and a right/left end ink receiver extending in the first direction is disposed between adjacent supporting portions.

14. A platen unit for supporting a sheet to be printed with a printhead, comprising:
supporting portions arranged in a sheet widthwise direction, and configured to support the sheet;
an ink receiver for receiving ink ejected from the printhead, the ink receiver being adjacent to the supporting portions in a second direction crossing the sheet widthwise direction, the ink receiver extending in the sheet widthwise direction;
an ink channel including an inclined bottom surface for allowing flow of ink received by the ink receiver, the ink channel being disposed below the ink receiver and extending in the second direction;
an ink collector which can contain the ink flowing from the inclined bottom surface, the ink collector being disposed below the inclined bottom surface; and
a discharge port for discharging ink contained in the ink collector through a tube connected to the discharge port.

15. The platen unit according to claim 14 , wherein the ink receiver includes a first ink receiver disposed upstream of the supporting portions with respect to the sheet widthwise direction and a second ink receiver disposed downstream of the supporting portions with respect to the sheet widthwise direction.

16. The platen unit according to claim 15 , further comprising:
a first ink channel disposed below the first ink receiver;
a second ink channel disposed below the second ink receiver; and
a third ink channel for connecting the first ink channel to the second ink channel,
wherein the ink collector is disposed at a bottom of the second ink channel, and the third ink channel is inclined to guide ink flowing in the first ink channel to the ink collector.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Ogasawara Seiji
• Kurata Tetsuji
• Tsukuda Masakazu
• Onuma Takahide
• Saito Yasunori

Classifications

• B41J13/10

  Sheet holders, retainers {, movable guides}, or stationary guides · CPC title

• B41J11/0005

  Curl smoothing, i.e. smoothing down corrugated printing material, e.g. by pressing means acting on wrinkled printing material · CPC title

• B41J11/0065

  Means for printing without leaving a margin on at least one edge of the copy material, e.g. edge-to-edge printing · CPC title

• B41J11/06

  Flat page-size platens {or smaller flat platens having a greater size than line-size platens (B41J11/0085 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B41J11/0085 Primary

  Using suction for maintaining printing material flat (on rotatable drums B41J13/226) · CPC title