JP2003292198A - Sheet member delivery device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet member delivery device capable of correcting the inclination of a sheet member (skew correction) by utilizing members ordinarily installed in a digital photo-printer and the like, and correcting the skew without accompanying the stop of the sheet member and the adjustment of the sheet member, regardless of a size and the strength of the sheet member. <P>SOLUTION: This sheet member delivery device comprises a sheet member delivery path formed by two or more pairs of delivery rollers arranged at intervals shorter than a length in the delivery direction of the sheet member, or a sheet member delivery path formed by two or more pairs of delivery rollers and one or more delivery guide mounted between the pairs of delivery rollers, and delivery path length changing means mounted on at least one of the pairs of delivery rollers and at least one of the delivery guides for varying the delivery length at both sides of the delivery path. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to sheet body conveyance used in an image recording apparatus such as a digital photo printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, when printing an image taken on a photographic film (hereinafter referred to as a film) such as a negative film or a reversal film onto a photosensitive material (photographic paper), the image of the film is projected onto the photosensitive material. The so-called direct exposure, in which exposure is performed, is the mainstream. Further, in recent years, an image captured on a film is photoelectrically read, the obtained signal is converted into a digital signal, various image processing is performed to obtain image data for recording, and the image data is modulated according to the image data. The photosensitive material is exposed with the recorded light and output as a (photographic) print.
Digital photo printers are in practical use.

In such a photographic printer (photographing and developing apparatus), generally, a photosensitive material (printing paper) to be printed is wound into a roll, loaded into the printer, and pulled out from the roll. Then, exposure and back printing are recorded, then wet development processing is performed, and after drying, cutting is performed to obtain one print. That is,
In a photographic printer, a photosensitive material is subjected to all processing while being long, and finally cut into one print.

However, in such a photo printer, it is necessary to form frame information (punch) for indicating a boundary between each print (for each frame), and the photosensitive material in the portion where the frame information is formed is wasted. In addition, a frame information forming means having a punch, a sensor, etc. is required. Further, in a digital photo printer, scanning of the photosensitive material cannot be stopped at the time of exposure in order to record a high-quality image without unevenness, so that a deflection (loop) of the photosensitive material is formed in the upstream and downstream of the exposure position. It is necessary to form the photosensitive material, and the transportation path and the transportation control of the photosensitive material are complicated. For this reason, in recent photographic printers, especially digital photo printers, an apparatus that performs exposure after cutting a photosensitive material into a sheet corresponding to one print is becoming mainstream.

[0005]

If the photosensitive material is tilted (skewed) at the time of exposure, the image is exposed while being tilted with respect to the photosensitive material, that is, the image is bent. The prints recorded in this state are output. Therefore, to obtain a proper print,
It is necessary to supply the photosensitive material to the recording (exposure) position in a proper posture with no skew. Therefore, the sheet-shaped photosensitive material (hereinafter,
In a photographic printer that exposes only a photosensitive material), a process of correcting the orientation of the photosensitive material (correction of skew), that is, a so-called paper resist is performed prior to the exposure.

The paper resist of the photosensitive material in a photographic printer is generally used in a direction (hereinafter, referred to as a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction).
The side edge (hereinafter referred to as the width direction) (hereinafter referred to as the side edge) is brought into contact with the regulation guide, thereby correcting the skew,
In addition, it is performed by a so-called side resist method of adjusting the position of the photosensitive material in the width direction. As an example, a transport roller (hereinafter, referred to as a tilt roller) that is disposed slightly inclined in the transport surface with respect to the transport direction, and a regulation that is movable in the width direction and extends in the transport direction of the photosensitive material. A method using a guide plate is exemplified. In this method, the position of the regulation guide plate is adjusted in the width direction according to the size (width) of the photosensitive material, and the side edge of the photosensitive material is moved by conveying the photosensitive material toward the regulation guide plate by the tilt roller. Is brought into contact with the regulation guide to perform paper registration, skew is corrected, and both the position and the orientation (posture) of the photosensitive material in the width direction are made proper, and the photosensitive material is conveyed to the exposure position.

There is also known a method using a so-called top resist, in which skew is corrected by abutting a leading edge side (hereinafter referred to as a leading edge) of the photosensitive material in the conveying direction to a regulating member or the like. For example, JP-A-11-109
No. 520, in an image recording apparatus using light beam scanning, a pair of conveyance rollers arranged to sandwich a recording position (main scanning line) perform sub-scan conveyance, and a roller between upstream conveyance roller pairs. The leading edge of the photosensitive material is brought into contact with, and in this state, the deflection of the photosensitive material is formed so that the leading edge is aligned with the axial direction of the pair of conveying rollers.
Accordingly, an image recording apparatus that corrects the skew of the photosensitive material and records an image is disclosed. Furthermore, JP 20
No. 01-233507, in an image recording apparatus using light beam scanning, a plurality of plate-shaped stoppers arranged in the main scanning direction upstream of a pair of sub-scanning conveyance rollers arranged across a recording position (main scanning line). By further feeding the photosensitive material by a pair of conveying rollers arranged upstream of the above, the leading edge of the photosensitive material is evenly abutted against the plate-like stopper while the photosensitive material is flexed, and the skew of the photosensitive material is corrected. There is disclosed a sheet body conveying device.

On the other hand, a method has also been proposed in which skew is corrected by providing a difference in transport path length at both ends in the width direction (hereinafter, left and right). For example, JP-A-57-
In the skewed sheet feeding correction device for a copying machine disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 93848, the inclination of a curved guide member for reversing the path of a sheet body (sheet) is adjusted according to a skew signal of the sheet, so that the right and left sides of the sheet body are adjusted. The skew of the sheet body is corrected by providing a difference in the transport path length. In addition, JP-A-60
In the sheet document skew feeding correction device for a copying machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 153358, a pair of curved guide plates for guiding the sheet surface are provided in a substantially linear conveyance path of a sheet body (sheet document). The skew of the sheet body is corrected by making a difference in the conveyance path length between the left and right sides of the sheet body by inclining.

However, in the conventional method using the side resist, in addition to the fact that the regulation guide plate and the tilt roller must be provided, there is sufficient space until the sheet body conveyed obliquely follows the regulation guide plate. In order to secure the above, it is necessary to increase the transport path length.
Further, in the image recording apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-109520, since the skew correction is performed by the top resist using the sub-scanning transport roller pair, it is necessary to stop the transport of the photosensitive material for the skew correction. There is
Moreover, skew correction of the next photosensitive material cannot be performed until the preceding photosensitive material exceeds the upstream sub-scanning conveying roller pair, that is, until the sub-scanning conveyance by the upstream sub-scanning conveying roller pair is completed. , Is disadvantageous in terms of productivity. Further, in the sheet conveying apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-233507, a plate-shaped stopper for skew correction must be separately provided in the conveying path, increasing the conveying path length and increasing the size of the apparatus. I will let you. Moreover, each time the photosensitive material is conveyed to the skew correction unit, the conveying roller is stopped, the stopper is raised, the skew of the photosensitive material is corrected, the stopper is lowered, and the conveying roller is driven to restart the conveyance of the photosensitive material. Since a large number of steps are taken, control is complicated, power consumption is large, and transportation of the photosensitive material is stopped as in the previous example, which is also disadvantageous in terms of productivity.

On the other hand, when the sheet skew feeding correction device of the copying machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-93848 is used for another sheet conveying device, a curved guide member for skew correction must be newly provided. In addition, the transport path length also increases. In addition, when used in a device that conveys a sheet having a relatively large rigidity due to the thickness and material of the sheet, it is necessary to make the bending radius of the guide member large in order to prevent damage to the sheet. Becomes larger. Further, in the case of a small sheet body such as a photographic print, the length of the sheet body in the carrying direction is shorter than that of the guide member, so that the sheet body cannot be carried. On the other hand, JP-A-6
In the skewed sheet document feed correction device for a copying machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 0-153358, since a curved guide plate for skew correction must be provided in the straight portion of the transport path, the length of the transport path is also increased and the apparatus becomes large. In addition to this, there is the inconvenience that the degree of freedom in designing the device is small, and it is difficult to use for a sheet body having a relatively large rigidity and a small size for the same reason as the above example. That is, in both cases, it is unavoidable to set a new sheet conveying path for skew correction, and it is inevitable to increase the size of the apparatus and increase the cost.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. To solve this problem, a sheet-shaped photosensitive material (printing paper) cut according to a print size is exposed to light. A sheet body transporting device used for transporting, for example, a member that is normally arranged in a digital photo printer or the like is used to configure a sheet body tilt correction unit (skew correction unit) to stop the sheet body from being stopped. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet body conveying apparatus that can perform skew correction without speed adjustment and regardless of the size and strength of the sheet body.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides at least two sets of conveying rollers arranged at intervals shorter than the length of the sheet body in the conveying direction and for nipping and conveying the sheet body. A conveyance path of the sheet body formed by a pair, or arranged between the at least two pairs of conveyance rollers and at least one adjacent conveyance roller pair, and guiding the sheet body conveyed by the conveyance roller pair. Conveyance provided on at least one of the conveyance path of the sheet body formed by the conveyance guide, at least one pair of the conveyance rollers and at least one conveyance guide, and different conveyance lengths on both sides of the conveyance path. Provided is a sheet body transporting device having a path length changing means.

In the sheet conveying apparatus according to the present invention as described above, the conveying path length changing means is configured to move the conveying roller pair and the conveying roller pair from the conveying path formed when the conveying roller pair and the conveying guide are at the reference position. By moving at least one end of at least one of the transport guides in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the sheet body,
It is preferable that the angle adjusting means adjusts an angle of at least one of the pair of conveying rollers and the conveying guide with respect to the reference position. Further, it has an angle detecting means for detecting an angle of the sheet body with respect to a conveying direction of the sheet body, and the angle adjusting means, for each of the sheet bodies conveyed on the conveying path, a detection result by the angle detecting means. According to the above, it is preferable to perform the angle adjustment. Further, it is preferable that the angle adjusting means moves the one end of at least one of the transport roller pair and the transport guide. Further, the transport path is
It is preferably a curved transport path.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The sheet conveying apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, the sheet conveying apparatus according to the present invention will be described based on a representative example in which the sheet correcting apparatus is applied to a skew correction unit of an image recording apparatus that exposes and develops a photosensitive material to output a photographic print, but the present invention is not limited to this. Of course not.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an embodiment of an image recording apparatus using the sheet conveying apparatus according to the present invention. An image recording device (hereinafter, referred to as a recording device) 10 in the illustrated example is an image recording device (printer) that constitutes an output device (printer / processor) of the digital photo printer described above.
Basically, the photosensitive material supply unit 12, the cutter 14, the back printing unit 16, the skew correction unit 18, the exposure unit 20,
And a transport means for transporting the photosensitive material through a predetermined transport path, which are arranged at predetermined positions in a housing (housing) 24.

The image recording apparatus 10 shown here cuts the long photosensitive material drawn out from the magazine 30 of the photosensitive material supplying section 12 into a predetermined print size by the cutter 14, and then cuts the photosensitive material P in a sheet form. Is carried by the carrying means 22 along the carrying path shown by the dotted line. The backside printing means 16 carries out backside printing on the photosensitive material P in the middle of this carrying path, and the skew correcting section 18 carries out the photosensitive material P. Of the photosensitive material P is skew-corrected to align the leading edge of the photosensitive material P (registration is performed), and then an image is exposed on the photosensitive material P by the exposure unit 20. To record a latent image, and the photosensitive material P on which the latent image is recorded is supplied to a developing device (processor) 26 to be developed, fixed, washed with water, and dried to obtain a photographic print. It is intended to force. The image recording device 10 and the developing device 26 are arranged in a common housing 24 separated by a partition wall 24a. In the image recording apparatus 10 of the illustrated example, after the back side printed sheet-shaped photosensitive material is divided into a plurality of rows by the skew correction unit 18 according to the print size, skew correction is performed and registration is performed for a plurality of rows. Exposed part 2 on the photosensitive material P of
The image may be exposed at 0 to record a latent image. of course,
After exposure in the exposure unit 20, the exposed photosensitive material P may be distributed into a plurality of rows and then supplied to the developing device 26.

In the photosensitive material supply section 12, a magazine 30 for accommodating a roll 34 of a long photosensitive material formed by winding a long photosensitive material with the emulsion surface outside is provided in a predetermined magazine chamber 32. Is loaded in the position. The magazine 30 for accommodating the roll 34 of the photosensitive material is a light-shielding housing, and in the illustrated example, two magazines 30 are provided.
However, the present invention is not limited to this and one magazine 30 may be arranged, or three or more magazines 30 may be arranged. May be. Here, the magazine chamber 32 shows a predetermined space in which the magazine 30 is loaded, and does not necessarily have to be an independent storage chamber.

Further, the magazine 30 is provided with an outlet (not shown) for the photosensitive material on the lower left side in the drawing, and a shutter (not shown) is provided inside the outlet to close the outlet and block light. And a delivery roller pair 36 are arranged. The pair of delivery rollers 36 is for delivering the long photosensitive material wound in the magazine 30 and stored to the transport path. For example, one end of the rotation shaft of one roller is outside the magazine 30. By loading the magazine 30 at a predetermined position in the magazine chamber 32, which is protruding, a transmission means such as a pulley or a gear provided at one end of the rotating shaft of this one roller and a drive provided in the magazine chamber 32. Side pulleys or gears or other conductive means is engaged via a belt or directly, and rotated by a command from a control means (not shown) to rotate the leading end of the long photosensitive material to the outside of the magazine 30. It is configured to send it toward 14.

The conveying means 22 uses the photosensitive material sent from the magazine 30 by the sending roller pair 36 to the cutter 1.
4, the back printing unit 16, and the skew correction unit 18 to convey to the exposure position z of the exposure unit 20, and then the exposed photosensitive material after the exposure processing is completed from the exposure position z to the developing device 26.
And a feed roller 38 which is rotationally driven by a command from a control means (not shown) to convey the photosensitive material, which is conveyed horizontally from the magazine 30 by the feed roller pair 36. Three nip rollers 40 (shown in FIG.
0a, 40b, 40c), the photosensitive material is conveyed along the conveying path by a known roller row or conveying guide while changing upward along the conveying path. The conveying means 22 used in the present invention may be a known sheet conveying means constituted by a conveying roller pair, a conveying guide and the like. In the image recording apparatus 10, the conveying roller pair and the conveying roller are used. The guides and the like are appropriately arranged continuously in addition to the illustrated ones. At this time, the adjacent conveyance roller pairs are arranged at intervals shorter than those of the cut sheet-shaped photosensitive material P used in the image recording apparatus 10 having the shortest length in the conveyance direction.

In this embodiment, the feed roller pair 36 in the magazine 30 serves as a reference roller for conveying the photosensitive material for cutting the long photosensitive material into a predetermined size by the cutter 14, and the control means ( In accordance with a command from (not shown), the delivery roller pair 36 is rotated by a predetermined angle according to the print size of the photosensitive material while the delivery roller pair 36 is sandwiching the photosensitive material. The cut sheet is fed out by a predetermined length and cut by the cutter 14 to form a cut sheet having a predetermined print size. In the illustrated example, the cutter 1
Although the guillotine type cutter 4 is illustrated, it goes without saying that various known cutting means such as a rotary cutter can be used.

In the illustrated example, the cutter 14 is preferably provided as close as possible to the photosensitive material delivery port of the magazine 30. In this way, the conveying distance until the long photosensitive material sent from the magazine 30 is cut by the cutter 14 is shortened as much as possible, so that the photosensitive material by the sending roller pair 36 provided at the photosensitive material sending outlet of the magazine 30. It is possible to maintain the precision of the feeding length of the sheet, maintain the precision of the size of the cut sheet cut by the cutter 14 with high precision, and reduce the feeding time of the photosensitive material from the magazine 30. In the illustrated example, the feed roller 38 may be used as a reference roller for conveying the photosensitive material for cutting the photosensitive material into a predetermined size. In this case, the nip roller 40 (illustrated by 40a, 40b,
By rotating the feed roller 38 by a predetermined angle according to the print size of the photosensitive material while sandwiching the photosensitive material between the photosensitive material and 40c), the photosensitive material is sent out by a predetermined length according to the print size. Just configure it.

Here, the cut photosensitive material magazine 3 is used.
The leading end on the 0 side remains stopped by the cutter 14 until it is rewound into the magazine 30 by the feed roller pair 36 in accordance with a command from a control means (not shown). By doing so, when the next photosensitive material is cut, the photosensitive material is sent out by a predetermined length with reference to the position cut by the cutter 14, and the photosensitive material is once rewound into the magazine 30 and then again. It is more accurate than when it is sent out, and when cutting the next photosensitive material, it is not necessary to pull it out from the magazine 30, so the response becomes faster,
More efficiently cutting by the cutter 14 and the delivery roller pair 36
Is carried out (sent out).

The back printing means 16 prints back printing on the back surface of the photosensitive material, which has been cut by the cutter 14, while being transported by the transportation means 22, and is an inkjet printer or dot impact printer. A printer or the like is used. However, the back printing means 1
In No. 6, it is necessary that the print does not blur or flow due to the subsequent development processing (usually wet development is performed). In this embodiment, the two magazines 3 arranged above and below are arranged in order to reduce the cost and the device configuration.
Although one back printing means 16 common to 0 is provided, the present invention is not limited to this, and two back printing means 16 arranged one above the other may be used.
The back printing means 16 is provided for each magazine 30.
May be provided.

The skew correction unit 18 corrects the inclination of the photosensitive material P so that the leading edge in the transport direction (hereinafter referred to as the leading edge) matches the main scanning direction described below (hereinafter referred to as skew correction). Is. In the illustrated example, the skew correction unit 18 has two sets of sensors 42 and 43, a pair of conveyance rollers 44 and 48, a pair of skew correction rollers 46, conveyance guides 50 and 52, and a control unit 41 (FIGS. 2 to 2). (See FIG. 5). Such a skew correction unit 18 includes a sensor 42,
43 detects the inclination (skew) of the photosensitive material P,
Skew correction of the photosensitive material P is performed by adjusting the angles of the skew correction roller pair 46 and the transport guides 50 and 52 with respect to the reference positions in accordance with the detected skew state. Here, the skew correction roller pair 4
6 and the reference positions of the transport guides 50 and 52,
The respective positions forming the conveyance path of the photosensitive material P when the skew correction is not performed.

The pair of transport rollers 44 and 48 are a pair of transport rollers arranged such that their central axes coincide with or are parallel to the main scanning direction, which will be described later, and the upstream and downstream portions of the skew correction unit 18. It is arranged in each.

The sensors 42 and 43 are light emitting elements (42a, 42a,
43a) and a light receiving element (42b, 43b) are paired, which is an optical sensor (photointerrupter) for detecting the presence or absence of an object by shading. In this embodiment, since the object to be detected is a photosensitive material, the light emitting element is arranged on the side opposite to the emulsion surface. Alternatively, a light source that uses wavelength light that does not cause fogging, such as a blinking infrared sensor, may be used.

These sensors 42, 43 are arranged in the main scanning direction at a predetermined interval on the upstream side of the conveying roller pair 44, and are shielded by the conveyed photosensitive material P,
The leading edge is detected. The arrangement intervals of the sensors 42 and 43 are set so that the sensors 42 and 43 detect the leading edge of the photosensitive material P even when the target minimum size photosensitive material P is conveyed while being inclined. When the photosensitive material P is conveyed in an inclined (skewed) state,
One of the sensors 42 and 43 detects the leading edge of the photosensitive material P first, and the other one detects the leading edge later. Since the positions and intervals of the sensors 42 and 43 and the transport speed of the photosensitive material P are known, the main scanning direction of the leading edge of the photosensitive material P is determined from the order of detection of the photosensitive material P by the sensors 42 and 43 and the difference in detection time. It is possible to detect the direction and angle of inclination with respect to (hereinafter, both are collectively referred to as a skew amount).

The skew correction roller pair 46 and the transport guides 50 and 52 are arranged so as to form a curved transport path for the photosensitive material P between the transport roller pairs 44 and 48. In the illustrated example, the pair of transport rollers 44, the transport guide 50,
The skew correction roller pair 46, the transport guide 52, and the transport roller pair 48 form a quadrant arc transport path that changes the transport direction of the photosensitive material P by 90 degrees.
Is arranged at the center of the quadrant arc transport path. The skew correction roller pair 46 is a pair of transport rollers similar to the pair of transport rollers 44 and 48, but as shown in FIG. 2, the angle of its central axis is variable with respect to the reference position. Although the two rollers forming the skew correction roller pair 46 integrally change the angle of the central axis, the skew correction roller pair 46 is shown in FIG. 2 for easy understanding. The conceptual diagram which looked at only one roller from the conveyance direction is shown. In the illustrated example, the angle of the central axis is adjusted by moving the left end from the state at the reference position (shown by the solid line) with the right end in the main scanning direction as the fulcrum (shown by the two-dot chain line). However, the right end may be moved with the left end as the fulcrum.

Further, the transport guides 50 and 52 are transport guides composed of a pair of guide plates which are arranged so as to face the transport surface of the photosensitive material P which is transported together, and are provided upstream and downstream of the skew correction roller pair 46. Placed respectively. Such conveyance guides 50 and 52 are used for the skew correction roller pair 4
With the change in the angle of 6, the transport guides 50, 5
The angle with respect to each reference position is changed by moving the other end with one end of 2 as a fulcrum.

By adjusting the angles of the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance guides 50 and 52 in this manner, the conveyance path length of the photosensitive material P in the skew correction section 18 is different on both sides of the conveyance path in the main scanning direction. It is set so as to occur, and the skew of the photosensitive material P is corrected. For the angle adjustment of the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance guides 50 and 52, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the other end is lifted (or the other end is lifted (or the vicinity thereof) as a spindle. , And lowering), the actuators such as the air cylinder are engaged with the bearings of the two roller shafts of the skew correction roller pair 46 and the holding portions at the end portions of the guide plate, and the actuators are operated to operate the holding portions. It may be carried out by a known method such as lifting.

The controller 41 receives the detection results of the photosensitive material P from the sensors 42 and 43, detects the skew amount as described above, and detects the skew correction roller pair 46 and the skew correction roller pair 46 by the amount necessary for the skew correction. Transport guide 50,
The actuator is operated so as to adjust the angle of 52 with respect to each reference position. The angle adjustment direction of the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance guides 50 and 52 for skew correction with respect to the skew amount of the photosensitive material P, and the angle adjustment amount (hereinafter, both are collectively referred to as skew correction amount) are obtained in advance. For example, it is tabulated and set in the control unit 41. Thereby, the control unit 41 determines the skew correction amount from the detection results of the sensors 42 and 43, and adjusts the angles of the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance guides 50 and 52 with respect to the respective reference positions by the actuator. The photosensitive material P
The skew correction amount of the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance guides 50, 52 with respect to the skew amount is calculated for each size of the photosensitive material, and the skew correction is performed according to the size of the photosensitive material supplied from the photosensitive material supply unit 12. You can go. Further, the adjustment of the angles of the skew correction roller pair 46 and the transport guides 50 and 52 with respect to the reference positions is performed as follows.
It is preferable to perform in the normal direction of the conveyance path (conveyance surface) of the photosensitive material P formed by the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance guides 50 and 52 at the reference position.

Skew correction in the skew correction section 18 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views schematically showing the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance roller pairs 44 and 48 which constitute the skew correction section 18, and FIG.
Shows a normal state, and FIG. 3B shows a state when the angle of the central axis of the skew correction roller pair 46 of FIG. 3A is changed. FIG. 4 shows how the photosensitive material P is conveyed in the state of FIG. Here, although the conveyance guides 50 and 52 (see FIG. 1) are not shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 in order to clarify the operation of the skew correction unit, the angles of the conveyance guides 50 and 52 are also skew-corrected. The change is made in accordance with the adjustment of the angle of the roller pair 46, as described above. Further, in the illustrated example, as an example, the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance guides 50 and 52 are adjusted by the same angle with respect to their respective reference positions for skew correction.
In this case, the skew correction unit 46 and the transport guide 50,
This is advantageous in that the control of 52 is relatively easy. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and, for example, the angle adjustment amount of the conveyance guides 50 and 52 may be set to the skew correction roller pair 4.
It may be set smaller than the angle adjustment amount of No. 6, and in this case, it is advantageous in that the load on the photosensitive material P becomes smaller.

As shown in FIG. 3A, when skew correction is not performed, that is, when the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveying roller pair 4 are arranged in the reference position.
Reference numerals 4 and 48 are arranged in parallel with the main scanning direction so as to form a quadrant arc transport path. Further, a conveyance guide (not shown) (see reference numerals 50 and 52 in FIG. 1) between each pair of rollers is also arranged so that the opposing guide surfaces form a quadrant arc conveyance path, and the photosensitive material P is conveyed. It is arranged so as to guide each roller pair without changing its posture along the carrying direction, that is, without rotating on the carrying surface. Therefore, there is no difference in the transport path length on both sides in the main scanning direction, and the posture of the photosensitive material P that has entered the transport roller pair 44 along the transport direction passes through the skew correction roller pair 46 and the transport roller pair 48. It does not change until it passes. When the photosensitive material P is not skewed, the photosensitive material P is conveyed in this state.

On the other hand, when the skew of the photosensitive material P is corrected, the angle of the roller is adjusted as described above. That is, when the control unit 41 detects the skew amount of the photosensitive material P from the detection result of the sensor and determines the skew correction amount, the skew correction roller is correspondingly determined, for example, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 4. The right end portion (right side in the drawing) of the pair 46 is left as it is, and the left end portion pushes up the sheet surface of the photosensitive material P (in the drawing, the normal direction of the conveyance surface at the reference position of the skew correction roller pair 46). ) And tilt it. In addition, the transport guides 50 and 52
Similarly, move one end and tilt it. As a result, the skew correction roller pair 46 includes the conveyance roller pair 44,
Move to a position outside the position parallel to 48.

When the skew correction roller pair 46 is tilted as shown in FIGS. 3B and 4, a difference occurs in the length of the conveyance path on both sides of the conveyance path from the conveyance roller pair 44 to 48 in the main scanning direction. In this state, the photosensitive material P is continuously conveyed downstream from the conveying roller pair 44 via the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveying roller pair 48, whereby the conveying roller pairs 44 to 48 are conveyed. In the process, the direction of the leading edge of the photosensitive material P with respect to the transport direction changes,
Skew correction can be performed as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 5, the change in the transport path length on both sides of the transport path in the skew correction unit will be described in more detail. In FIG. 5, in order to more clearly show the operation of the skew correction section, the conveyance path of the photosensitive material P in the skew correction section 18 is linearly shown. However, the skew correction operation is exactly the same whether the transport path between the transport roller pair 44, 48 and the skew correction roller pair 46 is linear or curved.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing the states shown in FIGS. 3 (B) and 4 in a straight line, and FIG. 5 (A), (B),
(C) shows a left end portion, a central portion, and a right end portion (hereinafter, simply left end portion, central portion, and
FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a right end portion) in a direction parallel to the transport direction. In FIG. 5, the skew correction roller pair 46 is
Similar to FIGS. 3B and 4, the right end portion is a fulcrum toward the conveying direction x, and the left end side is tilted in a direction to push up the sheet surface of the photosensitive material P (upward in FIG. 5), Further, the conveyance guides 50 and 52 are also tilted similarly to the skew correction roller pair 46.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 5C, the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance guide 50 and the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance guide 50 are tilted at the right end, which is the fulcrum of the inclination, as shown in FIG. 5C. Since the change of the positions of 52 and 52 is minute, the transport path length hardly changes.
On the other hand, in the central portion shown in FIG. 5B, the skew correction roller pair 46 and the transport guides 50 and 52 are tilted, so that the transport roller pair 44 and the skew correction roller pair 4 are formed.
6 and the conveyance path length between the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance roller pair 48 (shown by the solid line in FIG. 5) are as shown in FIG.
It becomes longer than (C), and at the left end shown in FIG.
Skew correction roller pair 46 and conveyance guides 50, 52
Since the amount of change in the position of is large, the transport path length is further longer than that in FIG. The difference between the transport path lengths on both sides of the transport path in the main scanning direction is set so as to correct the skew amount of the photosensitive material P. That is, skew correction is performed by the preceding conveyance side of the photosensitive material P being conveyed by a skew correction unit along a path having a long conveyance path length corresponding to the skew amount.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention, the skew correction of the sheet is performed by using the conveying rollers and the conveying guides which are usually arranged in the digital photo printer and the like. Therefore, it is not necessary to stop the sheet body or adjust the speed, and it is also possible to suitably carry a small sheet body such as a photographic print, which has a strong rigidity and skew correction.

Further, as in the above-described example, the skew correction section is formed as a bent conveyance path and is provided at the corner of the image recording apparatus, so that it is not necessary to extend the straight line portion of the conveyance path for skew correction. The device can be downsized. Moreover, in the curved conveyance path, the transition of the conveyance path due to the change in the inclination angle of the skew correction roller pair or the conveyance guide is smoother, and the load on the sheet body is small. In addition, the skew correction roller pair and the conveyance guide have a large degree of freedom in setting the inclination direction, that is, a large degree of freedom in the device design.

In the present invention, when the photosensitive material P enters the skew correction roller pair 46 which is inclined, the photosensitive material P is twisted upstream and downstream of the skew correction roller pair 46. In order to minimize the load on the photosensitive material P due to the twist, the conveying roller pairs 44 and 48, the skew correction roller pair 46, and a roller pair that nips the photosensitive material P at the upstream side thereof, particularly, the conveying roller pair 44 and the pair thereof. The clamping force of the roller pair on the upstream side is such that the photosensitive material P
Is preferably strong enough to slip a little. It is also preferable to adjust the friction coefficient of the roller surface to obtain the same effect. Alternatively, the photosensitive material P
When the sheet enters the skew correction roller pair 46 and is sandwiched, the sandwiching of the transport roller pair 44 and the roller pair sandwiching the photosensitive material P on the upstream side thereof is released to release the twist generated in the photosensitive material P. It is effective.

In order to perform skew correction with higher accuracy, tension is applied to the photosensitive material P to bring the photosensitive material P into close contact with the roller on one side of the pair of conveying rollers in the skew correcting section 18. It is preferably transported. As a result, the fluttering of the photosensitive material P at the portion where the transport path changes can be suppressed, and stable skew correction performance can be obtained. As a method of applying tension to the photosensitive material P,
For example, when skew correction is performed on a curved path as in the illustrated example, the conveying speed of the downstream conveying roller pair is set higher than that of the upstream side, and at the same time, a low-speed upstream roller is used by using a one-way clutch or the like. Examples thereof include a method of reducing an excessive load on the photosensitive material P due to braking of paired conveyance and the like.

The exposure unit 20 arranged downstream of the skew correction unit 18 basically has a sensor 54 and an exposure unit 5.
6 and the sub-scanning conveyance means 58. Such an exposure unit 20 conveys the photosensitive material P in the direction of arrow x (conveys in the sub-scanning direction), and at the same time in the main scanning direction (FIG.
This is a portion where the photosensitive material P is two-dimensionally imagewise exposed by scanning exposure with a light beam L deflected in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface, and an image (latent image) is recorded.

The photosensitive material P may be displaced in the main scanning direction when the skew correction is performed by the skew correction section 18. Therefore, in order to perform proper image recording, it is necessary to correct the position of the photosensitive material P in the main scanning direction (hereinafter referred to as offset correction). In the illustrated example, the sensor 54 detects one position of an edge (hereinafter referred to as a side edge) of the photosensitive material P in the main scanning direction,
Depending on the detection result, the light beam L in the exposure unit 20
The offset correction is performed by adjusting the start position of image recording in the main scanning direction. As the sensor 54, an optical sensor similar to the above-described sensors 42 and 43 can be used. As the detecting means, the conveyance of the photosensitive material P is temporarily stopped, the sensor 54 is moved in the main scanning direction, and one side edge of the photosensitive material P is determined from the movement amount from the base point of the sensor to the detection point of the photosensitive material P. A known method such as detecting the position is used.

The sub-scanning conveying means 58 is constituted by a pair of conveying rollers 58a and 58b which are arranged so as to sandwich the recording position z in the conveying direction and whose rotation axes coincide with the main scanning direction. While being located at the position z, the sub-scanning conveyance is performed at a predetermined sub-scanning speed. As the sub-scanning conveying means, in addition to such a conveying roller pair, for example, a platen roller that supports and conveys the photosensitive material P and a recording position z.
Various known transporting means such as a sub-scanning transporting means including a nip roller pressed by a platen roller with a (scanning line) interposed therebetween can be used.

The exposure unit 56 is a known light beam scanning unit which deflects the light beam L modulated according to the image to be recorded in the main scanning direction and makes it incident on a predetermined recording position z. As described above, the photosensitive material P is transferred to the sub-scanning conveyance means 5
Since it is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction by 8, the light beam L modulated according to the recorded image is two-dimensionally exposed to record a latent image. Here, the photosensitive material P has been skew-corrected by the skew correction unit 18, and the exposure unit 56 has a recording position in the main scanning direction according to the side edge position of the photosensitive material P supplied from the sensor 54. Since the offset correction is performed by adjusting., The photosensitive material P has no inclination and an image is recorded at an appropriate position.

In the image recording apparatus 10 utilizing the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention, the exposure means of the photosensitive material P is not limited to the light beam scanning exposure as shown in the drawing, but a light source and a spatial modulation element are combined. Various exposing means such as an exposing means and an exposing means using an array light source in which point light sources are arranged in a one-dimensional direction can be used.

A photosensitive material P on which a latent image has been recorded in the exposure section 20.
Is transported by a transporting means including the roller pair 60,
It is supplied from the entry roller pair 28 to the carry-in roller pair 62 of the developing device 26.

Next, another embodiment of the sheet conveying apparatus according to the present invention will be described. The present embodiment has the same configuration as the skew correction unit 18 of the previous embodiment described above, and is different only in the operation. Therefore, only the operation will be described. That is, in this embodiment, the skew amount of the photosensitive material P is detected and the skew correction amount is determined from the detection result, and the angles of the skew correction roller pair 46 and the transport guides 50 and 52 are adjusted with respect to their respective reference positions. The method and the geometrical mechanism by which the skew is corrected by this method are basically the same as those in the previous embodiment. Further, in this aspect,
For that reason, the sensors 42 and 43 may be arranged downstream of the pair of transport rollers 48.

When the photosensitive material P is conveyed to the skew correction section 18 through the same route as in the previous embodiment, the control section 41 similarly detects the skew amount according to the detection results of the sensors 42 and 43. Then, the skew correction amount is determined. When the photosensitive material P is conveyed until the leading edge of the photosensitive material P reaches a predetermined position downstream of the conveying roller pair 48, the conveying roller pairs that sandwich the photosensitive material P temporarily stop the conveyance and the skew correction roller pair 46. Also, the pair of transport rollers 48 weaken the holding force of the photosensitive material P to such an extent that the photosensitive material P can slide in the holding portion. Next, in a state in which the photosensitive material P is sandwiched between the pair of transport rollers 44 and the pair of transport rollers upstream thereof, the angles of the skew correction roller pair 46 and the transport guides 50 and 52 are set according to the skew correction amount determined by the control unit 41. To each reference position. Thereafter, the photosensitive material P is nipped and conveyed again by the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance roller pair 48. As a result, similarly to the previous example, the inclination of the leading edge due to the skew of the photosensitive material P is corrected by the difference in the transport path length at both ends in the main scanning direction, so the skew of the photosensitive material P can be corrected. According to this embodiment, the burden on the photosensitive material P can be reduced, and the skew can be corrected more stably.

Further, in the above embodiment, the photosensitive material P is sandwiched by the conveying roller pair 44 and the conveying roller pair upstream thereof,
While the clamping force on the downstream side was weakened, the angles of the skew correction roller pair 46 and the transport guides 50 and 52 were adjusted with respect to their respective reference positions to perform skew correction.
As a method other than this, the photosensitive material P is nipped by the skew correction roller pair 46, and the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance guide 50,
Even if the angle of 52 is adjusted with respect to each reference position, the same effect can be obtained. In this case, the inclination of the leading edge due to the skew of the photosensitive material P is set so as to be corrected by the difference in the transport path length between the skew correction roller pair 46 and the transport roller pair 48 at both ends in the main scanning direction. Good.

Next, still another embodiment of the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention will be described. In each of the above examples, the skew amount is detected for each sheet of the photosensitive material P to be conveyed, the skew correction amount is determined, and the angle adjustment of the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance guides 50 and 52 is performed. Thus, the skew correction is dynamically performed for each sheet of the photosensitive material P. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the skew of the photosensitive material P is corrected by performing the initial setting according to the individual difference of the apparatus. Since this embodiment also has a configuration very close to that of the skew correction unit 18, the names and reference numerals of the constituent members will be cited and the different points will be mainly described.

The skew correction unit 18 of this embodiment will be described later with reference to the conveyance roller pairs 44 and 48, the skew correction roller pair 46, the conveyance guides 50 and 52, and the angles of the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance guides 50 and 52. Angle adjusting means for adjusting with respect to the reference position. The angle adjusting means includes the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance guide 5.
Screws and spacers for adjusting the positions of the end portions of 0 and 52 in the main scanning direction, and the skew correction roller pair 46 and the transport guides 50 and 52 are arranged by the angle adjusting means in the initial state at the time of manufacturing. The angle with respect to the reference position is adjusted and fixed in that state.

Such a skew correction section 18 performs, for example, test printing at the stage where final adjustment is performed after the image recording apparatus is manufactured and before shipment, and the skew correction roller pair 46 and the conveyance are performed according to the result. The angles of the guides 50 and 52 are finely adjusted with respect to the reference position. In this way
Similar to the first embodiment, by causing a difference in the transport path lengths at both ends in the main scanning direction, a slight accuracy error for each device or a habit of each device caused in the manufacturing process is adjusted, and the photosensitive material P is adjusted. It is possible to set the optimum initial state in which the skew of is corrected extremely easily. Further, even when the photosensitive material P becomes skewed during long-term use, the skew can be similarly easily and appropriately adjusted to correct the skew.

The sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention has been described above in detail with reference to an example used in an image recording apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and does not depart from the gist of the present invention. Needless to say, various modifications and changes may be made.

In this embodiment, the skew correction is performed by inclining both the skew correction roller pair and the transport guide forming the skew correction section with respect to their respective reference positions, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, the skew correction may be performed by inclining only one of the skew correction roller pair and the conveyance guide to cause a difference in the conveyance path length at both ends in the main scanning direction of the sheet body.

As described above, in the above embodiment,
By providing the skew correction unit at the corner portion of the sheet body conveying apparatus, it is possible to downsize the apparatus and realize a sheet body conveying apparatus with a small burden on the sheet body.
There is no limitation on the form of the conveyance path in which the skew correction section is provided, and the same effect can be obtained in any case.

The skew correction roller pair and the conveying guide may be inclined in any direction as long as the conveying path lengths on both sides of the conveying path are orthogonal to the conveying direction (main scanning direction). However, when the skew correction roller pair and the transport guide are tilted in the direction normal to the respective transport surfaces, the change in the transport path length caused by tilting them causes the skew correction roller pair and the transport guide to tilt. It is more preferable because the setting and control of the angle adjustment are relatively easy, and the load on the sheet body is relatively small, because the angles are substantially equal in the upstream and downstream. Further, when the skew correction section is provided at the corner of the sheet conveying apparatus, the skew correction roller pair and the conveyance guide are inclined toward the inner peripheral side, so that the sheet body is arranged in the normal arrangement state of the conveyance roller pair and the conveyance guide. Since the transport path length can be made shorter than that of the transport path, the device can be further downsized.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the skew correcting section is constituted by both the conveying roller pair including the skew correcting roller pair and the conveying guide, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the conveying roller pair and the skew correcting roller pair are narrow. It may be arranged at intervals and may not have a conveyance guide. further,
The number and arrangement of the pair of transport rollers and the transport guides can be changed as appropriate. For example, when the skew amount is large, a plurality of skew correction roller pairs and a transport guide or a pair of transport rollers positioned between them are provided to gradually correct the skew amount, thereby increasing the load on the sheet body. To prevent,
This is a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, since the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention is used for the image recording apparatus, the skew correction is performed with reference to the main scanning direction of the exposure section. The sheet body that has passed through the skew correction unit is corrected to have a desired inclination.

The image recording apparatus using the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and is suitable for various apparatuses such as thermal head printers and ink jet printers for scanning and conveying a sheet. It is available.

[0062]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a pair of conveying rollers and a conveying guide that are normally arranged in a digital photo printer or the like are used without separately providing a guide plate for skew correction or the like. The skew correction unit is configured by using the skew correction unit without stopping the sheet or adjusting the speed.
A sheet body conveying apparatus capable of performing skew correction regardless of the size and strength of the sheet body is realized. Furthermore, since the skew correction unit according to the present invention can be applied to a curved portion or a straight portion of a conveyance path, the degree of freedom in device design is high, and a sheet body conveyance device that can be downsized can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an example of an image recording apparatus that uses a sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention.

2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a skew correction roller pair of a skew correction unit of the image recording apparatus shown in FIG.

3A and 3B are schematic perspective views illustrating a skew correction unit of the image recording apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating a normal arrangement state, and FIG. It is a figure showing an arrangement state.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing how the photosensitive material P is conveyed in the arrangement state of FIG.

5A to 5C are partial cross-sectional views illustrating a skew correction unit in the sheet body transporting device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Image recording device 12 Photosensitive material supply section 14 cutter 16 Back printing means 18 Skew correction unit 20 Exposure section 22 Transporting means 24 housing 24a partition wall 26 Developing Device (Processor) 28 Entry roller pair 30 magazines 32 magazine room 34 (Photosensitive material) roll 36 Delivery roller pair 38 Feed roller 40a, 40b, 40c nip rollers 41 Control unit 42, 43 sensor (for skew correction) 42a, 43a light emitting element 42b, 43b light receiving element 44,48 Conveyor roller pair 46 skew correction roller pair 50,52 Transport guide 54 sensor (for offset) 56 Exposure unit 58 Sub-scanning transporting means 58a, 58b Transport roller pair 60 Conveyor roller pair 62 Carry-in roller pair P photosensitive material L light beam x Transport direction (sub-scanning direction) z recording position

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A conveying path of the sheet body, which is formed by at least two pairs of conveying rollers for sandwiching and conveying the sheet body, the passage being arranged at an interval shorter than the length of the sheet body in the conveying direction, or the at least two. A pair of conveying roller pairs and a conveying path of the sheet body formed by a conveying guide arranged between at least one adjacent conveying roller pair and guiding the sheet body conveyed by the conveying roller pair; A pair of said transport rollers and at least one
Provided on at least one of the two transport guides,
A sheet body transporting device, comprising: a transport path length changing unit that varies transport lengths on both sides of the transport path. 2. The sheet conveying path length changing means is arranged such that at least one of the sheet conveying roller pair and the sheet conveying guide extends from the sheet conveying path formed when the sheet conveying roller pair and the sheet conveying guide are at a reference position. The angle adjusting means for adjusting the angle of at least one of the pair of conveying rollers and the conveying guide with respect to the reference position by moving at least one end of the body in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction. The sheet conveying device described. 3. An angle detecting means for detecting an angle of the sheet body with respect to a conveying direction of the sheet body, wherein the angle adjusting means is provided for each of the sheet bodies conveyed along the conveying path.
The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the angle adjustment is performed according to a detection result of the angle detecting unit. 4. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the angle adjusting means moves the one end of at least one of the pair of conveying rollers and the conveying guide. 5. The sheet conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the conveying path is a curved conveying path.