Ink jet recording apparatus including a drive mechanism for an ink ejection recovery systems

Claim 2

An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a recording head; a shaft for receiving a rotational driving force; a clutch gear mounted on said shaft, said clutch gear being rotated by rotation of said shaft and being movable in a longitudinal direction of said shaft; a transmission gear engageable with said clutch gear in accordance with translational movement and rotation of said clutch gear, wherein a predetermined mechanism is operated by rotation of said transmission gear upon engagement with said clutch gear after a translational movement and rotation of said clutch gear, wherein said clutch gear includes: a flange disposed at a position engageable with a portion of said transmission gear to prevent rotation of said transmission gear before the translational movement of said clutch gear for the engagement with said transmission gear; a starting tooth for engagement with a predetermined tooth of said transmission gear in accordance with the translational movement and rotation of said clutch gear; and a non-engagement portion positioned adjacent said transmission gear before the engagement of said starting tooth with said predetermined tooth.

Claim 3

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said shaft comprises a lead screw for moving said recording head and for guiding movement of said recording head, wherein said clutch gear engages said transmission gear after said clutch gear is moved in accordance with movement of said recording head to a predetermined position, wherein by rotation of said transmission gear through engagement with said clutch gear, at least one operation from a group comprising a capping operation, a wiping operation and an ink sucking operation is performed on said recording head.

Claim 4

An apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein ink is ejected from said recording head using heat generated by an electrothermal transducer to effect recording.

Claim 5

An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a carrier for carrying a recording head; a driving shaft engageable with said carrier to move said carrier along said shaft by rotation of said shaft; a clutch gear mounted on said driving shaft, rotatable in accordance with rotation of said driving shaft and movable along said driving shaft in accordance with a movement of said carrier; a transmission gear engageable with said clutch gear in accordance with rotation and translational movement of said clutch gear; a latching member provided on said carrier for locking said carrier to prevent movement of said carrier when said clutch gear is engaged with said transmission gear; wherein a predetermined mechanism of said apparatus is operated by rotation of said transmission gear through engagement with said clutch gear when said latching member of said carrier locks said carrier against movement and wherein said driving shaft comprises a lead screw, and said transmission gear is provided with a groove which cooperates with said latching member for locking said carrier to prevent movement of said carrier, and said carrier is released for movement by passing of said latching member out of said groove.

Claim 6

An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a carrier for carrying a recording head; a driving shaft engageable with said carrier to move said carrier along said shaft by rotation of said shaft; a clutch gear mounted on said driving shaft, rotatable in accordance with rotation of said driving shaft and movable along said driving shaft in accordance with a movement of said carrier; a transmission gear engageable with said clutch gear in accordance with rotation and translational movement of said clutch gear; a latching member provided on said carrier for locking said carrier to prevent movement of said carrier when said clutch gear is engaged with said transmission gear; wherein a predetermined mechanism of said apparatus is operated by rotation of said transmission gear through engagement with said clutch gear when said latching member of said carrier locks said carrier against movement and wherein said driving shaft comprises a lead screw, and said transmission gear is provided with a groove which cooperates with said latching member for locking said carrier to prevent movement of said carrier, and said carrier is released for movement by passing of said latching member out of said groove.

Claim 7

An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein ink is ejected from the recording head by heat generated by an electrothermal transducer.