EP2923849B1

EP2923849B1 - Recording apparatus and method for cleaning transport belt

Info

Publication number: EP2923849B1
Application number: EP15159609.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Itaru Kozuma
Original assignee: Seiko Epson Corp
Current assignee: Seiko Epson Corp
Priority date: 2014-03-24
Filing date: 2015-03-18
Publication date: 2018-04-25
Anticipated expiration: 2035-03-18
Also published as: EP2923849A1; JP6277809B2; JP2015182849A; TR201809289T4

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a method for cleaning a transport belt.

2. Related Art

In the related art, recording apparatuses in which a recording medium is transported by a transport belt is used. Among them, a recording apparatus including a cleaning section for cleaning the transport belt is used.
For example, a recording apparatus including an endless belt that transports a recording medium by being adhered and fixed, and a cleaning section having a wiping roller in which a peripheral surface of the endless belt is made of a polymeric porous body is disclosed in JP-A-11-192694 .
However, in the recording apparatus including a transport belt that transports the recording medium and a cleaning section that cleans the transport belt as disclosed in JP-A-11-192694 , a friction sound between the transport belt and the cleaning section may be great when cleaning the transport belt. Furthermore, the transport belt vibrates due to contact between the transport belt and the cleaning section and there is a concern that the vibration adversely affects recording quality. Furthermore, there is a concern that foam is greatly generated by ink or cleaning liquid, and the like due to the contact between the transport belt and the cleaning section.
Another example of related art is US 2008/107461 , which discloses an inkjet recording apparatus. The inkjet recording apparatus comprises a conveyance device including an endless belt which conveys a recording medium placed on an exterior surface of the endless belt. The recording apparatus also comprises a recording device which jets ink onto the recording medium conveyed by the conveyance device. The recording apparatus further comprises a cleaning device to clean the surface. The cleaning device includes a flexible sheet member mounted more downstream in a conveyance direction of the belt than a position where the recording device is mounted, and a top of the flexible sheet member comes into sliding contact with the surface. The cleaning device also comprises an elastic supporting member mounted at a side of the flexible sheet member. When the flexible sheet member bends due to running of the belt, the elastic supporting member comes into contact with the flexible sheet member, and the elastic supporting member pushes the flexible sheet member so that the flexible sheet member presses against the surface of the belt.
Thus, in the recording apparatus including the transport belt that transports the recording medium and the cleaning section that cleans the transport belt, it is required to suppress a defect described above when cleaning the transport belt.

SUMMARY

An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to suppress a defect when cleaning a transport belt in a recording apparatus including a transport belt that transports a recording medium and a cleaning section that cleans the transport belt.
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a recording apparatus as defined by claim 1.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for cleaning a transport belt in a recording apparatus as defined in claim 9.
According to the aspects of the invention, in the recording apparatus including the transport belt that transports the recording medium and the cleaning section that cleans the transport belt, it is possible to suppress a defect when cleaning the transport belt.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements.

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view illustrating a recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 3 is a schematic view illustrating a spiral brush of the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 4 is a schematic view illustrating the spiral brush of the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 5 is a schematic view illustrating a spiral brush of a recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the invention.
Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method for cleaning a transport belt of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention will be described in detail with reference to drawings.

First Embodiment (Figs. 1 to 5)

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view illustrating a recording apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the invention.
The recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment includes a delivery section 2 that rotates and delivers a roll-shaped recording medium M. The delivery section 2 of the embodiment can deliver the recording medium M to a transport belt 3 in delivery paths of two types of a tension feeding path T in which the recording medium M is delivered to the transport belt 3 in a tensioned state and a slack feeding path S in which the recording medium M is delivered to the transport belt 3 in a slackened state.
The recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment is provided with a slack sensor 15 that detects whether or not the recording medium M is slackened at a predetermined slack amount or greater when the recording medium M is delivered to the transport belt 3 in the slackened state. Moreover, the slack sensor 15 is an optical sensor capable of detecting whether or not the recording medium M exists in a predetermined position, but a sensor having a configuration other than the optical sensor of the embodiment may be used.
The transport belt 3 of the embodiment is an endless belt in which adhesive is applied to a support surface 7 supporting the recording medium M and which is bridged between a drive roller 4 and a driven roller 5 while tension is applied.
Furthermore, a pressing roller 6 is provided at a position facing the driven roller 5 and the recording medium M delivered from the delivery section 2 is mounted on the transport belt 3 while being pressed to the transport belt 3 by the pressing roller 6.
Thus, the recording medium M mounted on the transport belt 3 is transported in a transport direction A by rotational movement of the transport belt 3 by a driving force of the drive roller 4.
A recording section 8 is provided at a position facing the support surface 7 of the transport belt 3 in a transport path of the recording medium M by the transport belt 3. The recording section 8 includes a recording head 9 that ejects ink onto the recording medium M and a carriage 10 that mounts the recording head 9 and reciprocates in a direction B orthogonal to the transport direction A.
As described above, the recording section 8 of the embodiment performs recording by reciprocating the recording head 9 in the direction B. In a recording operation, when the recording head 9 is moved in the direction B, the transport belt 3 is stopped and when the movement of the recording head 9 to one direction in the direction B is completed, the transport belt 3 is stopped after moving a predetermined amount. Then, the recording head 9 moves in a direction reverse to the one direction in the direction B when the transport belt 3 is stopped after the transport belt 3 moves a predetermined amount. That is, the transport belt 3 of the embodiment is intermittently moved corresponding to reciprocating movement of the recording head 9.
Moreover, the recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment includes the recording head 9 that performs recording while reciprocating, but may be a recording apparatus including a so-called line head in which a plurality of nozzles ejecting the ink are provided in the direction B intersecting the transport direction A.
Here, "line head" is a recording head which is used for the recording apparatus in which a region of the nozzles formed in the direction B intersecting the transport direction A of the recording medium M is provided so as to cover an entirety in the direction B of the recording medium M, one of the recording head and the recording medium M is fixed and the other is moved, and thereby an image is formed. Moreover, the region of the nozzles in the direction B of the line head may not cover the entirety in the direction B of all recording media M corresponding to the recording apparatus.
Moreover, the recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment is configured such that the recording can be performed on an end portion of the recording medium M in a width direction (direction B) and, at this time, the ink ejected from the recording head 9 may be attached to the transport belt 3. Thus, the recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment is provided with the cleaning section 11 capable of cleaning the transport belt 3 to which the ink attached.
The cleaning section 11 has a spiral brush 21 and a cleaning liquid tank 22 which can attach cleaning liquid to the spiral brush 21. Then, the cleaning section 11 has a cleaning section lifting motor 32 (see Fig. 2), and can be moved in a direction in contact with the transport belt 3 and in a direction away from the transport belt 3.
The recording medium M on which the recording is performed by the recording head 9 is wound by a winding section 12 and the recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment is configured such that the recording medium M can be wound across a roll sheet P to suppress ink offset in the recording medium M on which the recording is completed and which is wound in the winding section 12. Winding of the recording medium M across the roll sheet P can be performed by setting the roll sheet P in a roll sheet delivery section 13 and making the roll sheet P be along a surface opposite to a recording surface of the recording medium M from the transport belt 3 to the winding section 12, and winding the recording medium M and the roll sheet P together in the winding section 12.
Furthermore, the recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment has a CPU for controlling an entirety of the recording apparatus 1, a ROM for storing various control programs which are executed by the CPU, a RAM capable of temporarily storing data, and the like. The recording apparatus 1 is provided with a control section 14 performing driving control of each configuration member of a driving system of the recording apparatus 1.
Next, an electric configuration in the recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment will be described.
Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment.
The recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment has the control section 14. The control section 14 is connected to each configuration member of the driving system of the recording apparatus 1 such as a spiral brush motor 16 that is a driving source for driving the spiral brush 21 to rotate, the cleaning section lifting motor 32 that is a driving source when moving the cleaning section 11 in the direction in contact with the transport belt 3 and the direction away from the transport belt 3, a cleaning section position sensor 17 that detects a position of the cleaning section 11, a carriage motor 20 that can move the carriage 10 in the direction B, and a belt motor 29 that is a driving source of the drive roller 4 that drives the transport belt 3 to rotate.
Furthermore, the control section 14 can be connected to a PC 18 that is an external device through an interface (not illustrated) and can receive an instruction from a user through a graphic user interface (GUI) 19 of the PC 18.
According to such a configuration, the control section 14 of the embodiment can control drive of each configuration member of the driving system of the recording apparatus 1 such as the spiral brush motor 16, the cleaning section lifting motor 32, the cleaning section position sensor 17, the carriage motor 20, and the belt motor 29 based on the instruction of the user input from the GUI 19.
Furthermore, as described above, the control section 14 of the embodiment can control drive of the transport belt 3 and the spiral brush 21.
Then, the control section 14 can control the transport belt 3 so as to be intermittently driven and can control the transport belt 3 such that a stop time in the intermittent drive is a rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater.
Thus, the stop time is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater so that the spiral brush 21 rotates one revolution or greater in the stop time. Thus, it is possible to suppress a generation of a portion which does not come into contact with the transport belt 3 in the spiral brush 21. Thus, it is possible to suppress a generation of a cleaning failure portion in the transport belt 3.
Furthermore, the control section 14 of the embodiment can perform a control such that the stop time is increased by controlling the belt motor 29 as a control in which the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater.
A recording operation is performed by the recording head 9 in the stop of the transport belt 3 in the intermittent drive and movement is started in the intermittent drive when completing the recording operation as a trigger. Thus, the stop time in the intermittent drive is varied by the time of the recording operation. For example, if the width (printing width) of the recording medium M in the direction B is narrow and the like, the recording operation is completed in a short time, thus, the stop time of the intermittent drive becomes short. Accordingly, in such a case, it is possible to control the stop time such that the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater by controlling (increasing) a time from the completion of the printing operation to start of the movement of the intermittent drive.
That is it is possible to control the stop time such that the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater without increasing a rotation speed of the spiral brush 21. Thus, it is possible to suppress a generation of foams by the transport belt 3 coming into contact with the cleaning section 11 by increasing the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21.
Furthermore, the control section 14 of the embodiment controls the stop time such that the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater. Thus, it is also possible to control the rotation period such that the rotation period is shortened by increasing the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21. For example, if the printing width is narrow and the printing operation is completed in a short time, control in which the rotation speed is increased and the rotation period is shortened corresponds to this.
That is, it is possible to control the stop time such that the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater without increasing the stop time. Thus, it is possible to suppress a decrease of a recording speed due to the increase of the stop time.
Furthermore, as described above, the recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment includes the recording section capable of ejecting the ink onto the recording medium M transported by the transport belt 3.
Then, the control section 14 of the embodiment can select the control in which the stop time is increased and the control in which the rotation period is shortened by increasing the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21 depending on a type of the ink. Specifically, for example, if the ink is an easily foaming ink containing a large amount of surfactant and the like, the generation of the foams is suppressed by increasing the stop time and if the ink is a hardly foaming ink, it is possible to suppress a decrease of the recording speed due to the increase of the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21.
Thus, it is possible to suppress the generation of the foams due to the increase of the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21 and the decrease of the recording speed due to the increase of the stop time while balancing according to the type of the ink.
Next, the spiral brush 21 of the embodiment will be described.
Figs. 3 and 4 are schematic views illustrating the spiral brush 21 of the embodiment, Fig. 3 is a front view of the spiral brush 21, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the spiral brush 21.
As illustrated in Fig. 3, the spiral brush 21 of the embodiment is provided with a hairlike contact section 23 spirally with respect to a rotation shaft 24.
That is, the recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment has the transport belt 3 that transports the recording medium M and the cleaning section 11 that cleans the transport belt 3, and the cleaning section 11 has the spiral brush 21 in which the hairlike contact section 23 is provided spirally with respect to the rotation shaft 24.
Then, according to such a configuration, a contact area between the transport belt 3 and the contact section 23 is decreased. Defects such as generation of friction sound between the transport belt 3 and the cleaning section 11, generation of vibration of the transport belt 3, and generation of the foams due to contact between the transport belt 3 and the cleaning section 11 are suppressed.
Furthermore, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the spiral brush 21 of the embodiment is a so-called channel brush in which a channel 30 is fixed to the rotation shaft 24 extending in the direction B and the hairlike contact section 23 is fixed with a core bar 31 by being interposed by the channel 30.
The contact section 23 is unlikely to be pulled out by making the spiral brush 21 of the embodiment be the brush having such a configuration.
However, the spiral brush 21 is not limited to the brush having such a configuration.
Furthermore, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the contact section 23 of the embodiment is provided spirally at an angle θ of 45 degrees or greater and less than 90 degrees with respect to the rotation shaft 24. In other words, an angle of the spiral formed by the contact section 23 is 45 degrees or greater and less than 90 degrees with respect to the rotation shaft 24.
According to such a configuration, the contact area of the contact section 23 with respect to the transport belt 3 is decreased in the rotation direction of the rotation shaft 24. Thus, defects such as a generation of friction sound between the transport belt 3 and the contact section 23, a generation of vibration of the transport belt 3, and a generation of the foams due to contact between the transport belt 3 and the cleaning section 11 are suppressed.
Furthermore, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the spiral brush 21 of the embodiment is configured such that a width L1 of the contact section is less than double an interval L2 between the contact sections 23 (that is, L1/L2<2).
According to such a configuration, the contact area of the contact section 23 with respect to the transport belt 3 is decreased. Thus, defects such as the generation of the friction sound between the transport belt 3 and the contact section 23, the generation of the vibration of the transport belt 3, and the generation of the foams due to contact between the transport belt 3 and the cleaning section 11 are suppressed.
Furthermore, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment includes a foam recovery section 25 that recovers the foams generated in the contact section 23 by the contact section 23 coming into contact with the transport belt 3 and the like in one end portion 26 of the rotation shaft 24. Then, the spiral brush 21 is configured such that the contact section 23 is wound around the rotation shaft 24 from one end portion 26 to the other end portion 27 in a first direction (winding to the left) and the foams are rotated in a direction R moving from the other end portion 27 to one end portion 26. The rotation in the direction R is anticlockwise when viewed from one end portion 26 to the other end portion 27 in Fig. 3.
As described above, the spiral brush 21 rotates in a direction in which the foams are moved to the foam recovery section 25. Thus, the recovery of the foams is improved and attachment of the foams to the configuration member inside the recording apparatus 1 is suppressed.

Second Embodiment (Fig. 5)

Next, a recording apparatus of a second embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Fig. 5 is a schematic front view illustrating a spiral brush 21 of the embodiment. Moreover, the same reference numerals are given to the common configuration members with the above embodiment and detailed description will be omitted.
Moreover, a recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment is configured similar to the recording apparatus 1 of the first embodiment other than the shape of the spiral brush 21.
The recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment has a foam recovery section 25 that recovers foams generated in a contact section 23 by the contact section 23 coming into contact with the transport belt 3 in both end portions 26 and 27 of the rotation shaft 24. Then, the spiral brush 21 is configured such that the contact section 23 is wound around a rotation shaft 24 from one end portion 26 to a first point 28 in a first direction (winding to the left), the contact section 23 is wound around the rotation shaft 24 from the first point 28 of the rotation shaft 24 to the other end portion 27 of the rotation shaft 24 in a second direction (winding to the right) reverse to the first direction, and the foams are rotated in a direction R moving from the first point 28 to both end portions 26 and 27 of the rotation shaft 24.
As described above, the spiral brush 21 is rotated in a direction in which the foams are moved to the foam recovery section 25 of both end portions 26 and 27. Thus, the recovery of the foams is improved and attachment of the foams to the configuration member inside the recording apparatus 1 is suppressed.

Embodiment of Method for Cleaning Transport Belt (Fig. 6)

Next, an embodiment of a method for cleaning the transport belt 3 that is used in the recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment will be described.
Fig. 6 is a flowchart of the method for cleaning the transport belt 3 of the embodiment.
When starting the method for cleaning the transport belt 3 of the embodiment, initially, in step S110, the control section 14 obtains ink information from a chip provided in an ink cartridge set in the recording apparatus 1.
Next, in step S120, the control section 14 determines whether the ink of the ink cartridge set in the recording apparatus 1 is easily foaming ink or hardly foaming ink from the ink information obtained in step S110. Moreover, it is possible to determine whether the ink is the easily foaming ink or the hardly foaming ink by storing ink information regarding whether each ink that can be used in the recording apparatus 1 of the embodiment is the easily foaming ink or the hardly foaming ink in the ROM and the like of the control section 14, and by corresponding the ink of the ink cartridge set in the recording apparatus 1 to which ink.
In step S120, if the ink is determined as the hardly foaming ink, the process proceeds to step S130 and the transport belt 3 is cleaned by the spiral brush 21 by driving the spiral brush motor 16 by increasing the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21.
Meanwhile, in step S120, if the ink is determined as the easily foaming ink, the process proceeds to step S140 and the transport belt 3 is cleaned by the spiral brush 21 by driving the belt motor 29 by increasing the stop time in the intermittent drive of the transport belt 3.
Here, all conditions set in step S130 and step S140 are conditions that are set such that the stop time in the intermittent drive of the transport belt 3 is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater.
Then, in step S150, the transport belt 3 is cleaned by the spiral brush 21 until it is determined that the cleaning of the transport belt 3 is completed and the method for cleaning the transport belt 3 of the embodiment is completed.
As described above, in the method for cleaning the transport belt 3 of the embodiment, as illustrated in step S130 and step S140, the transport belt 3 is intermittently driven and the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater.
As described above, the stop time is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater and thereby the spiral brush 21 rotates one revolution or greater in the stop time. Thus, it is possible to suppress the generation of a portion of the spiral brush 21 not coming into contact with the transport belt 3 and the generation of a cleaning failure portion in the transport belt 3.
Furthermore, as described above, in the method for cleaning the transport belt 3 of the embodiment, as illustrated in step S140, it is possible to make the stop time in the intermittent drive be the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater by increasing the stop time.
Thus, it is possible to suppress the generation of the foams due to the increase of the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21.
Furthermore, as described above, in the method for cleaning the transport belt 3 of the embodiment, as illustrated in step S130, it is possible to make the stop time in the intermittent drive be the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater by shortening the rotation period by increasing the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21.
Thus, it is possible to suppress the decrease of the recording speed due to the increase of the stop time.
Furthermore, as described above, in the method for cleaning the transport belt 3 of the embodiment, as illustrated in step S120, a case where the stop time is increased and a case where the rotation period is shortened by increasing the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21 are selected depending on the type of ink that is used.
Thus, it is possible to suppress the generation of the foams due to the increase of the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21 and the decrease of the recording speed due to the increase of the stop time while taking the balance according to the type of the ink that is used.
Moreover, the invention is not limited to the above embodiments, various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention described in the claims, and it goes without saying that they are also included within the scope of the invention.
Above, the invention is described in detail based on specific embodiments. Here, the invention will be described together again.
A recording apparatus 1 of a first aspect of the invention for solving the above problems includes the transport belt 3 that transports the recording medium M and the cleaning section 11 that cleans the transport belt 3, and the cleaning section 11 has the spiral brush 21 in which the hairlike contact section 23 is provided spirally with respect to the rotation shaft 24.
That is, it is possible to decrease the contact area between the transport belt 3 and the contact section 23. Thus, it is possible to suppress defects such as the generation of the friction sound between the transport belt 3 and the cleaning section 11, the generation of the vibration of the transport belt 3, and the generation of the foams due to the contact between the transport belt 3 and the cleaning section 11.
The recording apparatus 1 also includes the control section 14 that controls the transport belt 3 and the drive of the spiral brush 21. The control section 14 can control the transport belt 3 so as to be intermittently driven and can control the stop time such that the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater.
That is, the stop time is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater and thereby the spiral brush 21 rotates one revolution or greater in the stop time. Thus, it is possible to suppress a generation of the portion of the spiral brush 21 not coming into contact with the transport belt 3 and a generation of the cleaning failure portion in the transport belt 3.
Preferably, the control section 14 can control the stop time. That is, is it is possible to control the stop time such that the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater without increasing a rotation speed of the spiral brush 21. Thus, it is possible to suppress a generation of foams due to the increase of the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21.
Preferably, the control section 14 can control the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21. Thus, since the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 can be adjusted, it is possible to control the stop time such that the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater without increasing the stop time. Thus, it is possible to suppress the decrease of the recording speed due to the increase of the stop time.
Preferably, the recording apparatus 1 further includes a recording section 8 capable of ejecting the ink onto the recording medium M transported by the transport belt 3 and the control section 14 can select the control of the stop time and the control of the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21 according to the type of the ink.
Thus, it is possible to suppress the generation of the foams due to the increase of the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21 and the decrease of the recording speed due to the increase of the stop time while taking the balance according to the type of the ink.
Preferably, the angle of the spiral formed by the contact section 23 is 45 degrees or greater and less than 90 degrees with respect to the rotation shaft 24.
That is, it is possible to decrease the contact area of the contact section 23 with respect to the transport belt 3 in the rotation direction of the rotation shaft 24. Thus, it is possible to suppress defects such as the generation of the friction sound between the transport belt 3 and the cleaning section 11, the generation of the vibration of the transport belt 3, and the generation of the foams due to the contact between the transport belt 3 and the cleaning section 11.
Preferably, the spiral brush 21 is configured such that the width L1 of the contact section is less than twice the interval L2 between the contact sections 23.
That is, the contact area of the contact section 23 with respect to the transport belt 3 can be decreased. Thus, defects such as the generation of the friction sound between the transport belt 3 and the cleaning section 11, the generation of the vibration of the transport belt 3, and the generation of the foams due to contact between the transport belt 3 and the cleaning section 11 can be suppressed.
Preferably, a foam recovery section 25 that recovers foams generated in the contact section 23 is provided in one end portion 26 of the rotation shaft 24, the spiral brush 21 is configured such that the contact section 23 is wound around the rotation shaft 24 from one end portion 26 to the other end portion 27 in first direction, and the foams are rotated from the other end portion 27 to the one end portion 26 in the direction R.
That is, the spiral brush 21 is rotated in the direction in which the foams are moved to the foam recovery section 25. Thus, it is possible to improve the recovery of the foams.
Preferably, a foam recovery section 25 that recovers the foams generated by the contact section 23 is provided in both end portions 26 and 27 of the rotation shaft 24, the spiral brush 21 is configured such that the contact section 23 is wound around the rotation shaft 24 from one end portion 26 of the rotation shaft 24 to the first point 28 of the rotation shaft 24 in the first direction, and the contact section 23 is wound from the first point 28 of the rotation shaft 24 to the other end portion 27 of the rotation shaft 24 in the second direction reverse to the first direction. The foams are rotated from the first point 28 to both end portions 26 and 27 of the rotation shaft 24 in the direction R.
That is, the spiral brush 21 is rotated in the direction in which the foams are moved to the foam recovery section 25. Thus, it is possible to improve the recovery of the foams.
A method for cleaning the transport belt 3 of a second aspect of the invention is a method for cleaning a transport belt 3 in a recording apparatus 1 including the transport belt 3 that transports the recording medium M and the cleaning section 11 of the transport belt 3 that has the spiral brush 21 in which the hairlike contact section 23 is spirally provided with respect to the rotation shaft 24, the method including intermittently driving the transport belt 3 and making the stop time in the intermittent drive be the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater.
That is, the stop time is the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater and the spiral brush 21 rotates one revolution or greater in the stop time. Thus, it is possible to suppress a generation of the portion of the spiral brush 21 not coming into contact with the transport belt 3 and a generation of the cleaning failure portion in the transport belt 3.
Preferably, the stop time is adjusted and the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush or greater.
That is, is it is possible to make the stop time in the intermittent drive be the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater without increasing the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21. Thus, it is possible to suppress a generation of foams due to the increase of the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21.
Preferably, the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21 is adjusted and the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush or greater.
That is, it is possible to make the stop time in the intermittent drive be the rotation period of the spiral brush 21 or greater without increasing the stop time. Thus, it is possible to suppress a decrease of the recording speed due to the increase of the stop time.
Preferably, the recording apparatus 1 includes a recording section 8 capable of ejecting the ink onto the recording medium M transported by the transport belt 3, the stop time is adjusted or the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21 is adjusted according to the type of the ink, and the stop time in the intermittent drive is selected to be the rotation period of the spiral brush or greater.
Thus, it is possible to suppress a generation of the foams due to the increase of the rotation speed of the spiral brush 21 and the decrease of the recording speed due to the increase of the stop time while taking the balance according to the type of the ink.
In the recording apparatus 1 according to the above embodiments, the spiral brush 21 is described in a form of being rotated in the direction R, but is not limited to the embodiments, and the transport belt 3 may perform the transport while switching the rotation in the direction R and the reverse rotation thereof, a switching timing may be a timing of movement of the intermittent drive, and may be every predetermined time.
If such switching of the rotation direction of the spiral brush 21 is performed, for example, in the case of the first embodiment described above, the foam recovery sections 25 may be provided in both end portions 26 and 27 similar to the second embodiment. There is also an effect of uniformity of the state of the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid tank 22 or an effect of a decrease in the foams generated in the cleaning liquid tank 22 by switching the rotation direction.
The foregoing description has been given by way of example only and it will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention, as defined by the claims.

Claims

A recording apparatus (1) comprising:
a transport belt (3) configured to transport a recording medium (M);

a cleaning section (11) configured to clean the transport belt (3); and

a control section (14) configured to control the transport belt (3) and drive of the spiral brush (21),

wherein the cleaning section (11) has a spiral brush (21) in which a hairlike contact section (23) is spirally provided with respect to a rotation shaft (24),

characterised in that

the control section (14) is capable of controlling the transport belt (3) to be intermittently driven and capable of controlling a stop time such that the stop time in the intermittent drive is a rotation period of the spiral brush (21) or greater.
The recording apparatus (1) according to Claim 1,
wherein the control section (14) is capable of controlling the stop time.
The recording apparatus (1) according to Claim 1 or Claim 2,
wherein the control section (14) is capable of controlling a rotation speed of the spiral brush (21).
The recording apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:
a recording section (8) that is capable of ejecting ink onto the recording medium (M) transported by the transport belt (3),

wherein the control section (14) is capable of selecting control of the stop time and control of the rotation speed of the spiral brush (21) according to a type of the ink.
The recording apparatus (1) according to any one of the preceding claims,
wherein an angle θ of the spiral formed by the contact section (23) is 45 degrees or greater and less than 90 degrees with respect to the rotation shaft (24).
The recording apparatus (1) according to any one of the preceding claims,
wherein the spiral brush (21) is configured such that a width (L1) of the contact section (23) is less than two times an interval (L2) between the contact sections (23).
The recording apparatus (1) according to any one of the preceding claims,
wherein a foam recovery section (25) configured to recover foams generated in the contact section (23) is provided at one end portion (26) of the rotation shaft (24),
wherein the spiral brush (21) is configured such that the contact section (23) is wound around the rotation shaft (24) from one end portion (26) to the other end portion (27) in a first direction, and
the foams rotate in a moving direction from the other end portion (27) to one end portion (26).
The recording apparatus (1) according to any one of Claims 1 to 6,
wherein a foam recovery section (25) configured to recover foams generated in the contact section (23) is provided in both end portions (26,27) of the rotation shaft (24),
wherein the spiral brush (21) is configured such that the contact section (23) is wound from one end portion (26) of the rotation shaft (24) to a first point (28) of the rotation shaft (24) in a first direction, and the contact section (23) is wound from the first point (28) of the rotation shaft (24) to the other end portion (27) of the rotation shaft (24) in a second direction reverse to the first direction, and
the foams rotate in a moving direction from the first point (28) to both end portions (26,27) of the rotation shaft (24).
A method for cleaning a transport belt (3) in a recording apparatus (1) including a transport belt (3) that transports a recording medium (M), and
a cleaning section (11) of the transport belt (3) in which a hairlike contact section (23) has a spiral brush (21) spirally provided with respect to a rotation shaft (24),
characterised in that the method comprises:
intermittently driving the transport belt (3) and making a stop time in the intermittent drive be a rotation period of the spiral brush (21) or greater.
The method for cleaning a transport belt (3) according to Claim 9,
wherein the stop time is adjusted and the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush (21) or greater.
The method for cleaning a transport belt (3) according to Claim 9 or Claim 10,
wherein a rotation speed of the spiral brush (21) is adjusted and the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush (21) or greater.
The method for cleaning a transport belt (3) according to any one of Claims 9 to 11,
wherein the recording apparatus (1) includes a recording section (8) that is capable of ejecting ink onto the recording medium (M) transported by the transport belt (3), and
wherein the stop time is adjusted or the rotation speed of the spiral brush (21) is adjusted depending on a type of ink, and the stop time in the intermittent drive is the rotation period of the spiral brush (21) or greater.