Maintenance apparatus, recording apparatus, and control method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022169027-A1
Application number	US-202117533871-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 23, 2021
Priority date	Nov 27, 2020
Publication date	Jun 2, 2022
Grant date	—

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 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.

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, and the suction unit suctions the discharge surface.

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 is a roller configured to rotate.

6 . The maintenance apparatus according to claim 5 , further comprising a relative movement unit configured to move the recording head and the roller relative to each other.

7 . A recording apparatus comprising:
a recording head including a discharge surface on which discharge ports configured to discharge a liquid are formed; an application unit configured to come into contact with the discharge surface and apply a cleaning liquid to 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.

8 . The recording apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the control unit executes a second cleaning mode where the application unit does not apply the cleaning liquid, and the suction unit suctions the discharge surface.

9 . The recording apparatus according to claim 8 , 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.

10 . The recording apparatus according to claim 9 , 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.

11 . The recording apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the application unit is a roller configured to rotate.

12 . The recording apparatus according to claim 11 , further comprising a relative movement unit configured to move the recording head and the roller relative to each other.

13 . The recording apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein, after the suction unit suctions the discharge surface, the control unit causes the recording head to preliminarily discharge the liquid.

14 . The recording apparatus according to claim 7 , 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.

15 . The recording apparatus according to claim 7 , 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.

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 formed; applying a cleaning liquid to the discharge surface by contacting with the discharge surface; suctioning the discharge surface by a suction unit; moving the suction unit relative to the recording head; and executing a first cleaning mode where, after the applying the cleaning liquid, the suction unit suctions the discharge surface.

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

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

• B41J2/16538

  with brushes or wiper blades perpendicular to the nozzle plate · CPC title

• B41J2/16532

  by applying vacuum only · CPC title

• B41J2/16588

  Print heads movable towards the cleaning unit · CPC title

• B41J2/16526

  by applying pressure only · CPC title