Methods of and apparatuses for wiping a line head in an ink jet recorder

摘要

For a line head in an ink jet recorder wherein the line head comprises a plurality of long narrow rectangular plate like nozzle heads which are inclined together in a direction relative to that in which they are disposed side by side in a line in the line head, the invention is designed to be capable of wiping ink as well that gets into gaps between adjacent nozzle heads. To this end, an elastically deformable blade 13 is used that is brought into pressure contact with nozzle faces of a line head 23 and moved in a direction in which nozzle heads 24 are inclined while maintaining the blade 13 under pressure to cause it to be deformed against the nozzle faces as it is moved. Also, contaminants adhered on the blade by the wiping action is flushed with cleaning liquid rather than by a contaminant removal member. To this end, a line head wiping apparatus for an ink jet recorder having a line head 23 comprising a plurality of nozzle heads disposed in a line for wiping nozzle faces of the line head 23 by moving a blade 13 in contact with the nozzle faces, includes: a means whereby the blade 13 is movable between a wiping position at which it is brought into contact with the nozzle faces of the line head 23 and a standby position at which it is held away from the line head; and a spray nozzle means disposed opposite to an end of the blade at the standby position for spraying a cleaning liquid onto the same.