ULTRASONIC LIQUID WIPER FOR MAINTENANCE OF INK JET PRINT HEAD

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an ultrasonic liquid wiper device to which a high frequency is applied in order to easily remove a viscous ink plug at every nozzle in a full-width array printing head. SOLUTION: An ultrasonic liquid wiper 18 including a cleaning soln., a means for selectively increasing the pressure of the cleaning soln. in a cleaning nozzle in order to protrude a meniscus forwardly to bring the same into contact with a nozzle surface and at least one vacuum nozzle attached to a carriage 20 adjacent to the cleaning nozzle of the liquid wiper 18 to be possible to advance side by side are provided. Therefore, the liquid wiper 18 has the cleaning nozzle confrontingly aligned but spaced from a printing head nozzle surface 33 and a piezoelectric device for ultrasonically exciting the cleaning soln. and the cleaning soln. is held to the cleaning nozzle by surface tension and the vacuum nozzle is confrontingly aligned but spaced from the printing head nozzle surface 33 in order to perform the vacuum removal of the whole cleaning soln. bonded to the nozzle surface and having ink dissolved or entrained therein.