Maintenance apparatus, recording apparatus, and control method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11787188-B2
Application number	US-202117533871-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 23, 2021
Priority date	Nov 27, 2020
Publication date	Oct 17, 2023
Grant date	Oct 17, 2023

Abstract

A maintenance apparatus that prevents a reduction in image quality of an image recorded by a liquid discharge head is provided. A maintenance apparatus includes an application unit configured to come into contact with a discharge surface included in a recording head and apply a cleaning liquid to the discharge surface, wherein discharge ports configured to discharge a liquid are formed on the discharge surface, a suction unit configured to suction the discharge surface, a movement unit configured to move the suction unit relative to the recording head, and a control unit configured to execute a first cleaning mode where, after the application unit applies the cleaning liquid, the suction unit suctions the discharge surface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A maintenance apparatus comprising:
an application unit configured to come into contact with a discharge surface, on which discharge ports configured to discharge a liquid are provided, included in a recording head and apply a cleaning liquid to the discharge surface by a relative movement of the application unit and the recording head;
a suction unit configured to suction the liquid from the discharge ports by moving along the recording head; and
a control unit configured to execute a first cleaning mode where, after the application unit applies the cleaning liquid, the suction unit suctions the liquid from the discharge ports in a state where the application unit does not apply the cleaning liquid.

2. The maintenance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit executes a second cleaning mode where the application unit does not apply the cleaning liquid before the suction unit suctions the liquid from the discharge ports.

3. The maintenance apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein, based on the number of times the liquid is discharged from the recording head after previous cleaning, the control unit selects which of the first and second cleaning modes is to be executed.

4. The maintenance apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein, in a case where the number of times the liquid is discharged exceeds a threshold, the control unit executes the first cleaning mode and, in a case where the number of times the liquid is discharged does not exceed the threshold, the control unit executes the second cleaning mode.

5. The maintenance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the application unit includes a roller configured to rotate.

6. A recording apparatus comprising:
a recording head including a discharge surface on which discharge ports configured to discharge a liquid are provided;
an application unit configured to come into contact with the discharge surface and apply a cleaning liquid to the discharge surface by a relative movement of the application unit and the recording head;
a suction unit configured to suction the liquid from the discharge ports by moving along the recording head;
a control unit configured to execute a first cleaning mode where, after the application unit applies the cleaning liquid, the suction unit suctions the liquid from the discharge ports in a state where the application unit does not apply the cleaning liquid.

7. The recording apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the control unit executes a second cleaning mode where the application unit does not apply the cleaning liquid before the suction unit suctions the liquid from the discharge ports.

8. The recording apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein based on the number of times the liquid is discharged from the recording head after previous cleaning, the control unit selects which of the first and second cleaning modes is to be executed.

9. The recording apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein, in a case where the number of times the liquid is discharged exceeds a threshold, the control unit executes the first cleaning mode and, in a case where the number of times the liquid is discharged does not exceed the threshold, the control unit executes the second cleaning mode.

10. The recording apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the application unit includes a roller configured to rotate.

11. The recording apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein, after the suction unit suctions the liquid from the discharge ports, the control unit causes the recording head to preliminarily discharge the liquid.

12. The recording apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising:
a storage portion configured to store a liquid to be supplied to the recording head; and
a circulation unit configured to circulate the liquid between the recording head and the storage portion.

13. The recording apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the recording head is a line head in which the discharge ports are provided in a range corresponding to a width of a recording medium.

14. The recording apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein a plurality of the recording head are provided for each ink color.

15. The recording apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the application unit and the suction unit are provided for each ink color.

16. A control method comprising:
recording an image using a recording head including a discharge surface on which discharge ports configured to discharge a liquid are provided;
applying a cleaning liquid using an application unit to the discharge surface by contacting with the discharge surface and by a relative movement of the application unit and the recording head;
suctioning the liquid from the discharge ports by moving a suction unit along the recording head; and
executing a first cleaning mode where, after the applying the cleaning liquid, the suction unit suctions the liquid from the discharge ports in a state where the application unit does not apply the cleaning liquid.

17. The control method according to claim 16 , further comprising executing a second cleaning mode where the applying the cleaning liquid is not executed before the suction unit suctions the liquid from the discharge ports.

18. The control method according to claim 17 , further comprising selecting which of the first and second cleaning modes is to be executed.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Watanabe Hikaru
• Hane Takuya
• Kimura Satoshi

Classifications

• B41J2/16508

  connected with the printer frame · CPC title

• B41J2/16552 Primary

  using cleaning fluids · CPC title

• B41J2/16523

  Waste ink transport from caps or spittoons, e.g. by suction (Collecting or collectors of waste ink B41J2/1721) · CPC title

• B41J2002/16558

  Using cleaning liquid for wet wiping · CPC title

• B41J2/16532

  by applying vacuum only · CPC title