An ink stack device and an inkjet printer

Abstract

The utility model belongs to the technical field of printing head maintenance, solve the deficiency that the prior art exists drive structure is complex, cost is high, debugging is tedious, provide ink stack device and ink jet printer, ink stack device is used for maintaining the printing head on the printing trolley of ink jet printer and includes: base, scraper subassembly is supported on the base and includes scraper, and scraper is used for scraping the residual ink attached on the surface of printing head, ink stack body is supported on the base and includes ink pad, and ink pad is used for abutting with printing head to keep it moist, connecting plate is used for fixed on the frame of ink jet printer and is slidably connected with base, lifting drive mechanism is connected with base drive and drives base to slide relative to connecting plate, thereby makes scraper and ink pad synchronously relative to printing head along the lifting direction and does relative close or relative far away lifting movement. The utility model provides ink stack device and ink jet printer have the advantages that drive structure is simplified, cost is low, and debugging is simple.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of printhead maintenance technology, and in particular to an ink stack device and an inkjet printer. Background Technology

[0002] Inkjet printers have extremely fine printheads. During daily use, after printing, the printheads need to be cleaned and moisturized in a timely manner to prevent residual ink from solidifying on the printhead surface and causing blockages.

[0003] Currently, inkjet printers are often equipped with an ink stack device that cleans and moisturizes the printhead. This ink stack device mainly includes a base located directly below the initial zero position of the printhead, a doctor blade mounted on the base, a movable seat movably mounted on the base, an ink stack body assembled on the movable seat, and doctor blade drive modules and ink stack body drive modules, respectively used to drive the doctor blade and ink stack body to move back and forth relative to the printhead. The doctor blade drive module and ink stack body drive module usually each contain independent motors, transmission mechanisms, and control units, resulting in a large number of components in the overall structure, complex assembly, and high cost. In addition, the movement stroke and synchronization of the two drive modules need to be independently adjusted, making the debugging cumbersome. After the inkjet printer finishes printing, the print carriage moves the print head back to the cleaning position. The scraper drive module then raises the scraper to a suitable height to clean the print head. After removing any residual ink, the print carriage moves the print head back to the moisturizing position. The ink stack drive module then raises the ink stack to a suitable height to clean the print head. The ink pads on the ink stack then moisturize the print head to prevent it from drying out and clogging.

[0004] Existing technologies require separate blade drive modules and ink stack drive modules to drive the movement of the blade and ink stack, respectively. Using two drive modules results in a complex drive structure, high cost, and cumbersome debugging.

[0005] Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide an ink stack device and inkjet printer with a simplified drive structure, low cost, and easy debugging. Utility Model Content

[0006] This invention addresses the shortcomings of existing technologies, such as complex drive structures, high costs, and cumbersome debugging. To achieve one objective, it provides an ink stack device for maintaining the printhead on the print carriage of an inkjet printer. The device includes: a base; a scraper assembly supported on the base and including a scraper for scraping away residual ink adhering to the surface of the printhead; an ink stack body supported on the base and including an ink pad for contacting and moisturizing the printhead; a connecting plate for fixing to the frame of the inkjet printer and slidably connected to the base; and a lifting drive mechanism connected to the base and driving the base to slide relative to the connecting plate, thereby causing the scraper and ink pad to move synchronously relative to the printhead in a lifting direction, moving closer or further away.

[0007] Furthermore, the ink stack device also includes a horizontal drive mechanism, which is connected to the doctor blade assembly. The print carriage can reciprocate between the printing area and the maintenance area along the reciprocating direction. The free tips of both the doctor blade and the ink pad are higher than the free tip of the base. When the print carriage moves to the cleaning position in the maintenance area, the doctor blade is located below the print head. The lifting drive mechanism drives the base and doctor blade to rise synchronously from the initial position to the ink scraping position. The horizontal drive mechanism drives the doctor blade to move horizontally to scrape off residual ink. After scraping is completed, The lifting drive mechanism drives the base and the doctor blade to descend synchronously from the ink scraping position to the initial position. The lifting direction, reciprocating direction, and horizontal direction are all perpendicular to each other. When the printing carriage moves to the moisturizing position in the maintenance area along the reciprocating direction, the ink pad is located below the print head. The lifting drive mechanism drives the base and the ink stack to rise synchronously from the initial position to the contact position. The print head performs ink ejection operation. The ink pad absorbs the ink ejected during the ink ejection operation. After the absorption is completed, the lifting drive mechanism drives the base and the ink stack to descend synchronously from the contact position to the initial position.

[0008] Furthermore, the lifting drive mechanism includes a lifting drive motor, a lifting plate, and a fixed plate. The lifting drive rod of the lifting drive motor has an external thread on its outer periphery, and the lifting plate has an internal thread hole that is threaded to the external thread of the lifting drive rod. The fixed plate is fixedly connected to the first outer wall of the base and the lifting plate respectively. The lifting drive motor drives the lifting drive rod to rotate forward or backward so that the lifting plate rises or falls relative to the lifting drive motor, thereby the lifting plate drives the base to move reciprocally up and down through the fixed plate.

[0009] Furthermore, the scraper assembly also includes a motion plate that movably supports the scraper. The horizontal drive mechanism includes a horizontal drive motor and a horizontal transmission block. The outer periphery of the horizontal drive rod of the horizontal drive motor is provided with an external thread. The horizontal transmission block is fixedly connected to the motion plate and is provided with an internal thread hole that is threadedly connected to the external thread of the horizontal drive rod. The motion plate is provided with a first plate hole, and the horizontal drive rod passes through the first plate hole. The horizontal drive motor drives the horizontal drive rod to rotate forward or backward to correspondingly make the horizontal transmission block approach or move away from the horizontal drive motor, thereby causing the horizontal transmission block to drive the motion plate to reciprocate horizontally in the horizontal direction.

[0010] Furthermore, the scraper assembly also includes a detachable mounting bracket. The scraper, made of elastic material, is mounted on the detachable mounting bracket. Each side of the detachable mounting bracket has a spring arm with a locking block. The moving plate has a mounting groove. The spring arms of the detachable mounting bracket are elastically compressed and arranged in the mounting groove. The moving plate has a pair of locking plates extending close to each other on both sides of the mounting groove, and the locking blocks elastically engage with the locking plates. The detachable mounting bracket has an open cavity containing a pair of wedge-shaped blocks and a positioning block. Each side of the cavity has a support plate. The scraper has a pair of slots and a through groove, and each side of the scraper has a notch. The bottom of the scraper elastically deforms and inserts into the cavity through a pair of wedge-shaped blocks, so that the pair of wedge-shaped blocks engage with the pair of slots, the positioning block engages with the top surface of the through groove, and the pair of support plates correspondingly support the top surfaces of the pair of notches.

[0011] Furthermore, the horizontal drive mechanism also includes a pair of guide posts, which are arranged parallel to the horizontal drive rod on both sides of the horizontal drive rod. One end of the guide post is fixed to the first outer wall of the base, and the other end passes through the sleeve hole of the bushing that is fixed to the second plate hole of the moving plate. The horizontal drive rod drives the moving plate so that the bushing slides under the guidance of the guide posts.

[0012] Furthermore, the ink stack device also includes a rising sensing component, which includes a first sensing plate and a first sensor. The first sensing plate is disposed on the second outer wall of the base, and the first sensor is disposed on the connecting plate. The first sensing plate moves with the base relative to the first sensor, and the first sensor determines that the base has risen to the contact position relative to the connecting plate by sensing the first sensing plate.

[0013] Furthermore, the ink stack device also includes a horizontal movement sensing component, which includes a second sensing plate and a pair of second sensors. A through groove is provided on the third outer wall of the base. The third outer wall is parallel to and spaced apart from the second outer wall. The pair of second sensors are fixed to the third outer wall at intervals in the horizontal direction. The second sensing plate is fixedly connected to the doctor blade assembly and passes through the through groove, moving between the pair of second sensors with the doctor blade assembly. The pair of second sensors determine the horizontal movement range of the doctor blade assembly in the horizontal direction by sensing the second sensing plate.

[0014] Furthermore, the connecting plate includes an outer convex plate and a pair of sliding plates connected to both ends of the outer convex plate respectively. The outer convex plate forms a cavity, and the lifting drive mechanism is arranged in the cavity. The ink stack device also includes a pair of sliding connection components, with a sliding connection component arranged between the pair of sliding plates and the first outer wall of the base respectively. The sliding connection component includes a slider and a slide rail that are slidably engaged. The slider is fixed on the first outer wall, and the slide rail is fixed on the sliding plate.

[0015] To achieve another objective of this utility model, an inkjet printer is provided, comprising a body, an inkjet unit, and any of the above-mentioned ink stack devices. The body includes a frame and a housing mounted on the frame. Both the inkjet unit and the ink stack device are supported by the frame. The inkjet unit includes a carriage, a print carriage, and a print head. The print carriage reciprocates along a reciprocating direction on the carriage. The print head for ejecting ink toward the printing platform is mounted on the print carriage. The ink stack device is located below one end of the carriage away from the printing platform. When the print head needs maintenance, the print carriage moves to the end along one of the reciprocating directions.

[0016] The beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows: The ink stack device and inkjet printer provided by this utility model adopt a base that simultaneously supports the doctor blade assembly and the ink stack body. By using a lifting drive mechanism, the base can be driven to move the doctor blade assembly and the ink stack body synchronously up or down relative to the print head. Thus, the print head can be cleaned and moisturized simply by controlling the movement position of the print carriage as needed. Therefore, the ink stack device only needs to use a single lifting drive mechanism to simultaneously drive the lifting of the doctor blade assembly and the ink stack body, thereby simplifying the drive structure and reducing costs. Moreover, it eliminates the need for debugging the operation of the lifting drive mechanism, especially its stroke relative to the print carriage, significantly reducing the debugging complexity and making debugging simple. Attached Figure Description

[0017] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this utility model, the drawings used in the embodiments of this utility model will be briefly introduced below. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort, and these are all within the protection scope of this utility model.

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an inkjet printer provided in an embodiment of the present utility model; Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the internal structure of the 3D inkjet printer provided in an embodiment of the present invention, viewed from a top-down direction. Figure 3 For corresponding Figure 2 The diagram shows the structure of the inkjet unit, which is hidden. Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the inkjet device of the inkjet printer provided in an embodiment of the present utility model; Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the ink stack device provided in an embodiment of this utility model from a main upward view. Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the ink stack device provided in an embodiment of this utility model from another main upward view; Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the ink stack device provided in this embodiment of the present invention, with the base concealed; Figure 8 An exploded view of the scraper assembly of the ink stack device provided in an embodiment of this utility model; Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures: 1. Ink stack device; 11. Base; 111. First outer wall; 112. Second outer wall; 113. Third outer wall; 114. Through groove; 12. Scraper assembly; 121. Scraper; 1211. Slot; 1212. Through groove; 1213. Notch; 122. Moving plate; 1221. First plate hole; 1222. Mounting groove; 1223. Clamping plate; 1224. Second plate hole; 123. Detachable mounting bracket; 1231. Cavity; 1232. Wedge block; 1233. Positioning block; 1234. Support plate; 124. Spring arm; 125. Clamping block; 13. Ink stack body; 131. Ink pad; 14. Connecting plate; 141. Outer protrusion plate; 142. Sliding plate; 15. Lifting drive mechanism; 151. Lifting 152. Drive motor; 153. Lifting drive rod; 154. Lifting plate; 155. Fixing plate; 16. Horizontal drive mechanism; 161. Horizontal drive motor; 162. Horizontal drive rod; 163. Horizontal transmission block; 164. Guide column; 165. Bushing; 17. Lifting sensing assembly; 171. First sensing plate; 172. First sensor; 18. Motion sensing assembly; 181. Second sensing plate; 182. Second sensor; 19. Sliding connection assembly; 191. Slider; 192. Slide rail; 2. Machine body; 21. Frame; 22. Outer shell; 3. Inkjet device; 31. Carriage; 32. Printing carriage; 33. Printing nozzle; 4. Printing platform; X: Reciprocating movement direction; Y: Horizontal direction; Z: Lifting direction. Detailed Implementation

[0019] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of this utility model clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. In the description of this utility model, it should be understood that the terms "center," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," and "counterclockwise," etc., indicating orientation or positional relationships, are based on the orientation or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this utility model. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element limited by the phrase "comprising..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element. Unless otherwise specified, embodiments of the present invention and the various features thereof can be combined with each other, all within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0020] Refer to Figure 1 to Figure 3 and Figures 5 to 8 As an objective of this invention, an ink stack device 1 is provided for maintaining the printhead 33 on the print carriage 32 of an inkjet printer. The ink stack device 1 includes a base 11, a scraper assembly 12, an ink stack body 13, a connecting plate 14, and a lifting drive mechanism 15. The scraper assembly 12 is supported on the base 11 and includes a scraper 121 for scraping away residual ink adhering to the surface of the printhead 33. The ink stack body 13 is supported on the base 11 and includes an ink pad 131 for contacting the printhead 33 to moisturize it. It should be noted that the ink pad 131 is located downstream of the scraper 121 in the direction in which the print carriage 32 moves toward the ink stack device 1. The connecting plate 14 is fixed to the frame 21 of the inkjet printer and slidably connected to the base 11. The lifting drive mechanism 15 is driven to the base 11 and drives the base 11 to slide relative to the connecting plate 14, so that the scraper 121 and the ink pad 131 move synchronously relative to the print head 33 in the lifting direction Z, either relatively close or relatively far apart.

[0021] The ink stack device 1 provided by this utility model adopts a base 11 to simultaneously support the scraper assembly 12 and the ink stack body 13. By using a lifting drive mechanism 15, the base 11 can be driven to move the scraper assembly 12 and the ink stack body 13 synchronously up or down relative to the print head 33. Thus, the print head 33 can be cleaned and moisturized by controlling the movement position of the print carriage 32 as needed. Therefore, the ink stack device 1 only needs to use a lifting drive mechanism 15 to simultaneously drive the lifting of the scraper assembly 12 and the ink stack body 13, thereby simplifying the drive structure and reducing costs. Moreover, it eliminates the need to adjust the operation of the lifting drive mechanism 15, especially its stroke relative to the print carriage 32, which significantly reduces the complexity of the adjustment and makes the adjustment simple.

[0022] Please refer to the reference. Figures 5 to 8 Specifically, the ink stack device 1 also includes a horizontal drive mechanism 16, which is driven and connected to the doctor blade assembly 12. The printing carriage 32 can move back and forth between the printing area and the maintenance area along the reciprocating movement direction X. The maintenance area is located at a relatively far end of the printing area. The printing area corresponds to the area where the print head 33 performs inkjet printing relative to the printing platform 4. The maintenance area includes a cleaning position where the doctor blade 121 scrapes off residual ink on the print head 33 and a moisturizing position where the ink pad 131 moisturizes the print head 33. The free tips of both the doctor blade 121 and the ink pad 131 are higher than the free tip of the base 11, thus printing the printhead 33. When the print carriage 32 moves to the cleaning position, the doctor blade 121 is located below the printhead 33. The lifting drive mechanism 15 drives the base 11 and doctor blade 121 to rise synchronously from the initial position to the ink scraping position. The horizontal drive mechanism 16 drives the doctor blade 121 to move along the horizontal direction Y to scrape off residual ink. After scraping is completed, the lifting drive mechanism 15 drives the base 11 and doctor blade 121 to fall synchronously from the ink scraping position back to the initial position. The lifting direction Z, the reciprocating movement direction X, and the horizontal direction Y are all perpendicular to each other. Therefore, driven by the horizontal drive mechanism 16, the doctor blade 121 can reliably scrape off the residual ink adhering to the surface of the printhead 33 by reciprocating horizontal movement.

[0023] When the printing carriage 32 moves along the reciprocating direction X to the moisturizing position in the maintenance area, the ink pad 131 is located below the print head 33. The lifting drive mechanism 15 drives the base 11 and the ink stack 13 to rise synchronously from the initial position to the contact position. The print head 33 performs ink ejection, and the ink pad 131 absorbs the ink ejected during the ink ejection operation. After absorption is completed, the lifting drive mechanism 15 drives the base 11 and the ink stack 13 to fall synchronously from the contact position back to the initial position. Therefore, the lifting drive mechanism 15 can accurately raise the ink pad 131 to a preset height to ensure that the ink pad 131 contacts the print head 33 with appropriate force, thus avoiding damage to the print head 33 while ensuring good moisturizing effect.

[0024] Please refer to the reference. Figure 7Specifically, the lifting drive mechanism 15 includes a lifting drive motor 151, a lifting plate 153, and a fixing plate 154. The lifting drive rod 152 of the lifting drive motor 151 has an external thread on its outer periphery. The lifting drive rod 152 can also be understood as a lead screw nut. The lifting plate 153 has an internal threaded hole that is threaded to the external thread of the lifting drive rod 152. The fixing plate 154 is fixedly connected to the first outer wall 111 of the base 11 and the lifting plate 153 respectively. The lifting drive motor 151 drives the lifting drive rod 152 to rotate forward or reverse, so that the lifting plate 153 rises or falls relative to the lifting drive motor 151. Thus, the lifting plate 153 drives the base 11 to move reciprocally up and down through the fixing plate 154. Because the overall structure of the lifting drive mechanism 15 is compact, the driving of the lifting movement of the base 11 is both reliable and stable.

[0025] Please refer to the reference. Figure 5 Specifically, the scraper assembly 12 also includes a motion plate 122, which movably supports the scraper 121. The horizontal drive mechanism 16 includes a horizontal drive motor 161 and a horizontal transmission block 163. The outer periphery of the horizontal drive rod 162 of the horizontal drive motor 161 is provided with an external thread. The horizontal drive rod 162 can also be understood as a lead screw nut. The horizontal transmission block 163 is fixedly connected to the motion plate 122 and is provided with an internal thread hole that is threadedly connected to the external thread of the horizontal drive rod 162. The motion plate 122 is provided with a first plate hole 1221, and the horizontal drive rod 162 passes through the first plate hole 1221. The horizontal drive motor 161 drives the horizontal drive rod 162 to rotate forward or backward so that the horizontal transmission block 163 approaches or moves away from the horizontal drive motor 161 accordingly. Thus, the horizontal transmission block 163 drives the motion plate 122 to reciprocate horizontally along the horizontal direction Y. In this way, through the threaded engagement between the external thread of the horizontal drive rod 162 and the internal thread of the horizontal transmission block 163, the horizontal drive motor 161 can precisely and reliably drive the moving plate to reciprocate in the horizontal Y direction relative to the print head 33 by forward and reverse rotation.

[0026] Please refer to the reference. Figure 8Specifically, the scraper assembly 12 also includes a detachable mounting bracket 123. A scraper 121 made of elastic material is mounted on the detachable mounting bracket 123. Each side of the detachable mounting bracket 123 has a spring arm 124, and each spring arm 124 has a locking block 125. The moving plate 122 has a mounting groove 1222. The spring arms 124 of the detachable mounting bracket 123 are elastically compressed and arranged in the mounting groove 1222. The moving plate 122 has a pair of mutually close extending locking plates 1223 on both sides of the mounting groove 1222. The locking blocks 125 elastically engage with the locking plates 1223. The detachable mounting bracket 123 has an open cavity 1231. Inside the cavity 1231 are a pair of wedge-shaped blocks 1232 and a positioning block 1233. Each side of the cavity 1231 has a support plate 1234. The scraper 121 has a pair of slots 1211 and a through slot 1212, and a notch 1213 on each of its opposite sides. The bottom of the scraper 121 elastically deforms and is inserted into the cavity 1231 through a pair of wedge blocks 1232, so that the pair of wedge blocks 1232 engage with the pair of slots 1211 and the positioning block 1233 engages with the top surface of the through slot 1212, and the pair of support plates 1234 correspondingly support the top surfaces of the pair of notches 1213. Since the scraper assembly 12 is detachable, it not only facilitates the disassembly of the detachable mounting bracket 123 relative to the moving frame, but also facilitates the disassembly of the scraper 121 relative to the detachable mounting bracket 123, thereby improving the convenience of replacing the scraper 121.

[0027] Please refer to the reference. Figure 5 Preferably, the horizontal drive mechanism 16 further includes a pair of guide posts 164, which are arranged parallel to the horizontal drive rod 162 on both sides of the horizontal drive rod 162. One end of the guide post 164 is fixed to the first outer wall 111 of the base 11, and the other end passes through the sleeve hole of the bushing 165, which is fixed to the second plate hole 1224 of the moving plate 122. The horizontal drive rod 162 drives the moving plate 122, causing the bushing 165 to slide under the guidance of the guide posts 164. In this way, the cooperation between the pair of guide posts 164 and the pair of bushings 165 makes the horizontal reciprocating movement of the moving plate 122 more stable and the ink scraping force of the doctor blade 121 more uniform.

[0028] Please refer to the reference. Figure 5Specifically, the ink stack device 1 further includes a rising sensing component 17, which includes a first sensing plate 171 and a first sensor 172. The first sensing plate 171 is disposed on the second outer wall 112 of the base 11, and the first sensor 172 is disposed on the connecting plate 14. The first sensing plate 171 moves with the base 11 relative to the first sensor 172, and the first sensor 172 determines that the base 11 has risen to the contact position relative to the connecting plate 14 by sensing the first sensing plate 171. Therefore, by using the first sensing plate 171 and the first sensor 172 respectively disposed on the base 11 and the connecting plate 14, the relative position of the base 11 and the connecting plate 14 can be sensed and identified, thereby facilitating accurate control of the lifting drive mechanism 15, especially the lifting drive motor 151, based on the sensing signal.

[0029] Please refer to the reference. Figure 6 Preferably, the ink stack device 1 further includes a horizontal movement sensing component 18, which includes a second sensing plate 181 and a pair of second sensors 182. A through groove 114 is provided on the third outer wall 113 of the base 11. The third outer wall 113 and the second outer wall 112 are parallel and spaced apart. The pair of second sensors 182 are fixedly fixed to the third outer wall 113 at intervals in the horizontal direction Y. The second sensing plate 181 is fixedly connected to the scraper assembly 12 and passes through the through groove 114 and moves with the scraper assembly 12 between the pair of second sensors 182. Preferably, the second sensing plate 181 is fixedly connected to the outer side of the inner side of the aforementioned motion frame facing the base 11. The pair of second sensors 182 determine the horizontal movement range of the scraper assembly 12 in the horizontal direction Y by sensing the second sensing plate 181. Therefore, the second sensing plate 181 and the second sensor 182 respectively provided on the scraper assembly 12 and the base 11 can sense and identify the relative position of the scraper 121 and the base 11, thereby facilitating accurate control of the horizontal drive mechanism 16, especially the horizontal drive motor 161, based on the sensing signal.

[0030] Please refer to the reference. Figure 6 and Figure 7 Specifically, the connecting plate 14 includes an outwardly protruding plate 141 and a pair of sliding plates 142 connected to both ends of the outwardly protruding plate 141. The outwardly protruding plate 141 forms a cavity, in which the lifting drive mechanism 15 is arranged. This saves space for the lifting drive mechanism 15 and prevents it from being accidentally impacted. The ink stack device 1 also includes a pair of sliding connection components 19, with one sliding connection component 19 arranged between the pair of sliding plates 142 and the first outer wall 111 of the base 11. The sliding connection component 19 includes a sliding slider 191 and a slide rail 192 that are slidably engaged. The slider 191 is fixed to the first outer wall 111, and the slide rail 192 is fixed to the sliding plate 142. This makes the lifting movement of the base 11 relative to the connecting plate 14 more stable.

[0031] Please refer to the reference. Figure 5 and Figure 6 Preferably, the base 11 is a hollow rectangular body, the first outer wall 111 is a long rectangular surface of the rectangular body, and the second outer wall 112 and the third outer wall 113 are a pair of opposite short rectangular surfaces of the rectangular body. In this way, the entire ink stack device 1 has a compact structure and a reasonable transmission layout.

[0032] Please refer to the reference. Figures 1 to 4 As another objective of this utility model, it also provides an inkjet printer, such as a 3D inkjet printer or an inkjet flatbed printer, which includes a body 2, an inkjet unit 3, and an ink stack device 1 as described in any of the above embodiments. The body 2 includes a frame 21 and a housing 22 covering the frame 21. Both the inkjet unit 3 and the ink stack device 1 are supported by the frame 21. The inkjet unit 3 includes a carriage 31, a printing carriage 32, and a print head 33. The printing carriage 32 reciprocates along the reciprocating direction X on the carriage 31. The print head 33, which ejects ink toward the printing platform 4, is mounted on the printing carriage 32. The ink stack device 1 is located below one end of the carriage 31 away from the printing platform 4. When the print head 33 needs maintenance, the printing carriage 32 moves to the end along one of the reciprocating directions X. The inkjet printer can obtain the beneficial effects brought by any of the ink stack devices 1, which will not be elaborated further here. Therefore, inkjet printers offer advantages such as simplified drive structure, low cost, and easy debugging for maintaining the printhead 33.

[0033] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this utility model, and not to limit it. Although the utility model has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some or all of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this utility model. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of this utility model should be included within the protection scope of this utility model.

Claims

1. An ink stack device for maintaining a print head on a print carriage of an inkjet printer, the device comprising: include: Base; A scraper assembly, supported on the base and including a scraper for scraping off residual ink adhering to the surface of the print head; An ink stack body, supported on the base and including an ink pad, the ink pad being used to contact the print head to keep it moist; A connecting plate is used to fix it to the frame of the inkjet printer and is slidably connected to the base; The lifting drive mechanism is connected to the base drive and drives the base to slide relative to the connecting plate, so that the doctor blade and the ink pad move synchronously relative to the print head in the lifting direction, moving relatively closer or relatively farther apart.

2. The ink stack device of claim 1, wherein The ink stack device also includes a horizontal drive mechanism, which is connected to the blade assembly. The printing carriage can move back and forth between the printing area and the maintenance area along the reciprocating direction. The free tip of the blade and the free tip of the ink pad are both higher than the free tip of the base. When the printing carriage moves to the cleaning position of the maintenance area, the scraper is located below the print head. The lifting drive mechanism drives the base and the scraper to rise synchronously from the initial position to the ink scraping position. The horizontal drive mechanism drives the scraper to move horizontally to scrape off the residual ink. After scraping is completed, the lifting drive mechanism drives the base and the scraper to fall synchronously from the ink scraping position back to the initial position. The lifting direction, the reciprocating movement direction, and the horizontal direction are all perpendicular to each other. When the printing carriage moves to the moisturizing position of the maintenance area along the reciprocating movement direction, the ink pad is located below the print head. The lifting drive mechanism drives the base and the ink stack to rise synchronously from the initial position to the contact position. The print head performs ink ejection operation. The ink pad absorbs the ink ejected during the ink ejection operation. After absorption is completed, the lifting drive mechanism drives the base and the ink stack to fall synchronously from the contact position back to the initial position.

3. The ink stack device of claim 2, wherein The lifting drive mechanism includes a lifting drive motor, a lifting plate, and a fixed plate. The lifting drive motor has an external thread on its outer periphery, and the lifting plate has an internal thread hole that is threaded to the external thread of the lifting drive motor. The fixed plate is fixedly connected to the first outer wall of the base and the lifting plate. The lifting drive motor drives the lifting drive motor to rotate forward or backward to correspondingly raise or lower the lifting plate relative to the lifting drive motor. Thus, the lifting plate drives the base to move reciprocally up and down through the fixed plate.

4. The ink stack device of claim 2, wherein The scraper assembly also includes a moving plate that movably supports the scraper. The horizontal drive mechanism includes a horizontal drive motor and a horizontal transmission block. The outer periphery of the horizontal drive rod of the horizontal drive motor is provided with an external thread. The horizontal transmission block is fixedly connected to the moving plate and is provided with an internal thread hole that is threadedly connected to the external thread of the horizontal drive rod. The moving plate is provided with a first plate hole, and the horizontal drive rod passes through the first plate hole. The horizontal drive motor drives the horizontal drive rod to rotate forward or backward to correspondingly make the horizontal transmission block approach or move away from the horizontal drive motor, thereby the horizontal transmission block drives the moving plate to reciprocate horizontally along the horizontal direction.

5. The ink stack device of claim 4, wherein, The scraper assembly also includes a detachable mounting bracket. The scraper, made of elastic material, is mounted on the detachable mounting bracket. Each side of the detachable mounting bracket has a spring arm with a locking block. The moving plate has a mounting groove. The spring arms of the detachable mounting bracket are elastically compressed and arranged in the mounting groove. The moving plate has a pair of locking plates extending close to each other on both sides of the mounting groove. The locking blocks elastically engage with the locking plates. The detachable mounting bracket has an open cavity. Inside the cavity are a pair of wedge-shaped blocks and a positioning block. Each side of the cavity has a support plate. The scraper has a pair of slots and a through groove. Each side of the scraper has a notch. The bottom of the scraper elastically deforms and passes through the pair of wedge-shaped blocks to insert into the cavity. Thus, the pair of wedge-shaped blocks engage with the pair of slots, and the positioning block engages with the top surface of the through groove. The pair of support plates correspondingly support the top surfaces of the pair of notches.

6. The ink stack device of claim 4, wherein The horizontal drive mechanism further includes a pair of guide posts, which are arranged parallel to the horizontal drive rod on both sides of the horizontal drive rod. One end of each guide post is fixed to the first outer wall of the base, and the other end passes through the sleeve hole of a bushing that is fixed to the second plate hole of the moving plate. The horizontal drive rod drives the moving plate so that the bushing slides under the guidance of the guide posts.

7. The ink stack device of claim 1, wherein The ink stack device further includes a rising sensing component, which includes a first sensing plate and a first sensor. The first sensing plate is disposed on the second outer wall of the base, and the first sensor is disposed on the connecting plate. The first sensing plate moves with the base relative to the first sensor, and the first sensor determines that the base has risen to the abutment position relative to the connecting plate by sensing the first sensing plate.

8. The ink stack of claim 2, wherein, The ink stack device further includes a horizontal movement sensing component, which includes a second sensing plate and a pair of second sensors. A through groove is provided on the third outer wall of the base. The third outer wall is parallel to and spaced apart from the second outer wall. The pair of second sensors are fixedly fixed to the third outer wall at intervals in the horizontal direction. The second sensing plate is fixedly connected to the doctor blade assembly and passes through the through groove, moving with the doctor blade assembly between the pair of second sensors. The pair of second sensors determine the horizontal movement range of the doctor blade assembly in the horizontal direction by sensing the second sensing plate.

9. The ink stack device of claim 1, wherein, The connecting plate includes an outwardly protruding plate and a pair of sliding plates respectively connected to both ends of the outwardly protruding plate. The outwardly protruding plate forms a cavity, and the lifting drive mechanism is arranged in the cavity. The ink stack device also includes a pair of sliding connection components, one of which is arranged between the pair of sliding plates and the first outer wall of the base. The sliding connection component includes a slider and a slide rail that are slidably engaged. The slider is fixed to the first outer wall, and the slide rail is fixed to the sliding plate.

10. An inkjet printer, comprising a body, an inkjet unit, and an ink stack device as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the body includes a frame and a housing mounted on the frame, the inkjet unit and the ink stack device are both supported by the frame, the inkjet unit includes a carriage, a print carriage, and a print head, the print carriage reciprocates on the carriage in a reciprocating direction, the print head for ejecting ink toward a printing platform is disposed on the print carriage, and the ink stack device is located below an end of the carriage away from the printing platform, wherein when the print head requires maintenance, the print carriage moves to the end in one of the reciprocating directions.

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