| 摘要 |
PURPOSE: To provide a handy, compact maintenance unit which can be easily attached/detached to/from a recording device and in which mechanisms and labor associated with the exchange of the unit are curtailed in particular. CONSTITUTION: This maintenance unit 30 is composed of a wipe mechanism and a waste ink chamber 130, the wipe mechanism contacts maintenance paper 40 fed from a supply spool closely with a head and wipes the surface of a nozzle plate 20 which is wetted with ink. The used paper 40 is recovered onto a take-up spool 60. The waste ink chamber 130 receives discharged ink 150 containing bubbles or solids discharged by a purge operation. In the maintenance unit 30, the volume of the waste ink chamber 130 is set up so that its service term is longer than that of the service term of the maintenance paper 40, and a sensor is attached only to the wipe mechanism to judge the time for the exchange of the unit 30 from the amount of the used maintenance paper 40. |
