JP2013015874A - Endless elastic belt - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endless elastic belt for improving position detection accuracy.SOLUTION: In an endless elastic belt, a reflection mark for detecting a moving position on a peripheral part of the outer surface of the endless elastic belt is mounted. Both edges of the reflection mark in a circumferential direction, which is a conveyance direction of the endless elastic belt, is formed in a linear manner.

Description

  The present invention relates to an endless elastic belt.

  By providing a belt mark for each screen size on an endless elastic belt provided with a surface for recording a latent image of an image forming drum of an image forming apparatus, and detecting the belt mark to prevent displacement during conveyance. A technique that enables formation of a highly accurate image is known (Patent Document 1).

Further, a pattern line is recorded on an endless elastic belt having a surface for recording a latent image of each color Y, M, C, and B of an image forming drum of a color image forming apparatus, and this pattern line is detected for each color. A technique for preventing the positional deviation of one screen is also proposed. (Patent Document 2)
On the other hand, there is also known a technique of hot stamping a reflection mark for detecting a moving position on the periphery of the outer surface of an endless elastic belt which can be moved by being stretched by a driving roller and a driven roller in correspondence with a latent image. Yes. As described above, since the endless elastic belt used for the image forming apparatus is required to have conductivity for forming a latent image, it usually contains a conductive material such as carbon black.

JP 2006-154289 A JP 2006-2559531 A

  As described above, the reflection mark hot stamped for detecting the moving position is detected by the optical sensor at both ends perpendicular to the conveying direction of the endless elastic belt. For this reason, there is no generation of burrs or the like at both end edges of the reflection mark, and it is an indispensable condition for correct position detection to form it linearly.

  Therefore, in view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a highly accurate optical sensor by linearly forming both end edges orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the endless elastic belt of the hot stamped reflection mark for detecting the moving position. It is intended to be detectable.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides an endless elastic belt in which a reflection mark for detecting a moving position is attached to the peripheral portion of the outer surface of the endless elastic belt, which is in the conveying direction of the endless elastic belt. Both ends of the reflection mark in the circumferential direction are formed linearly.

  The reflective mark includes a base film layer, a release layer on the base film layer, a protective colored layer on the release layer, a metal vapor deposition layer on the protective color layer, and an adhesion on the metal vapor deposition layer. It is a laminate of layers.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to satisfy essential conditions for correct position detection by linearly hot stamping both end edges orthogonal to the conveying direction of the endless elastic belt.

A state in which an endless elastic belt 1 is stretched by a driving roller 2 and a driven roller 3 and a reflection mark 4 for detecting a moving position is attached to a peripheral portion of the outer surface 1 a movably provided, and the optical sensor 5 detects the position. FIG. (a) is a plan view illustrating a conventional hot stamp state, and (b) is a plan view illustrating a hot stamp state according to the present invention. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the reflective tape 11. FIG. It is the external appearance perspective view which illustrated the hot stamp apparatus typically. It is a flowchart of operation | movement description of a hot stamp apparatus.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows the periphery of an outer surface 1a of an endless elastic belt 1 that is stretched by a driving roller 2 and a driven roller 3 and is movably provided. 2 is an external perspective view illustrating a state in which a reflection mark 4 for detecting a movement position is attached to a part and position detection is performed by an optical sensor 5. FIG.

  The endless elastic belt 1 is made of, for example, a raw material in which carbon carbon black is mixed into a chloroprene rubber material or a urethane resin material, and is subjected to centrifugal molding or extrusion molding. The surface 1a of the endless elastic belt 1 is polished by setting and setting the mandrel in a polishing apparatus, and the polishing surface can be obtained by spray coating with urethane resin. The endless elastic belt 1 manufactured in this way is stretched by a driving roller 2 and a driven roller 3 as shown in the figure so as to be movable. On the outer surface 1a of the endless elastic belt 1, Y, M, A latent image G of each color of C and B is formed, and a reflection mark 4 for detecting a moving position detected by the optical sensor 5 is attached to a position corresponding to the latent image G. The optical sensor 5 is fixed to the base of the image forming apparatus, irradiates the light beam from the light emitting element 5a onto the reflection mark 4, and the reflected light is detected by the light receiving element 5b and converted into an electric signal and then sent to the central control unit. The position of the individual latent image G is detected by sending. Specifically, the reflected light from the edges 4a and 4b of the reflection mark 4 is detected. For this reason, it is an indispensable condition for correct position detection to linearly hot-stamp both end edges 4a and 4b.

  FIG. 2A is a plan view illustrating a conventional hot stamp state, and FIG. 2B is a plan view illustrating a hot stamp state according to the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (a), according to the conventional hot stamping apparatus, the endless elastic belt 1 is set on the base 8 shown by the broken line, and the long reflective tape 111 is positioned on the surface 1a. The reflective mark 104 is formed by hot stamping by moving a heater member 109 having a heating surface 109a having a width dimension W or less of the reflective tape. For this reason, burrs may occur at the edges 104a and 104b of the reflection mark 104.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2B, according to the hot stamping apparatus of the present invention, the endless elastic belt 1 is set on the pedestal 8 shown by the broken line, and the reflection mark 4 is formed on the surface 1a. A long reflective tape 11 having a width dimension W1 (for example, 10 mm) to be the edge portions 4a and 4b is positioned. By moving the heater member 9 having the heating surface 9a having (for example, 9 mm) downward and forming the reflective mark 4 by hot stamping, no burrs are generated at the edges 4a and 4b of the reflective mark 4. I have to. The heating surface 9a of the heater member 9 further forms a large arc having a radial dimension R of 4000 mm, and the air accumulated between the surface 1a and the adhesive surface of the reflective tape during hot stamping is driven to the outside. Uniform hot stamping is possible.

  According to the endless elastic belt 1 prepared through the above steps, both end edges 4a and 4b of the reflection mark 4 are formed linearly, so that stable optical detection can be performed.

  Next, FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the reflective tape 11. In this figure, the same reference numerals are given to the components or parts already described, and the description thereof is omitted. The reflective tape 11 includes a base film layer 11a of polyethylene terephthalate film having a thickness of 16 microns and a wax system thereon. And an acrylic-based release layer 11b having a thickness of 0.5 micron, an acrylic epoxy-based protective coloring layer 11c having a thickness of 1 micron, and an aluminum layer having a thickness of 500 angstroms deposited thereon. The vapor deposition layer 11d and the adhesive layer 11e having a thickness of 1 to 2 microns are integrally formed thereon.

  On the other hand, the heater member 9 is fixed to a hot plate 10 containing a heater 10a, and is lowered onto the pedestal 8 in the direction of the arrow to perform hot stamping and move to an upper standby position after hot stamping. It is configured. By this hot stamping, the adhesive layer 11e is adhered and fixed to the surface 1a, so that the vapor deposition layer 11d and the protective coloring layer 11c remain on the surface 1a of the belt 1 and peel off from the base film layer. The layer is rolled up to prepare for the next hot stamp.

  FIG. 4 is an external perspective view schematically showing the hot stamping apparatus together with XYZ axes orthogonal to each other.

  In this figure, the same reference numerals are given to the components or parts that have already been described, and the description thereof is omitted. The hot stamping device having a base (not shown) follows the reflective tape 11 along the Y-axis direction in the figure. The reflective tape supply device 6 configured to intermittently feed is provided. For this purpose, the reflective tape supply device 6 is rotated in the clockwise direction by a reel 61 provided via a clutch (not shown) that is rotatable with respect to the base on the left side in the figure and a stepping motor 69 that is rotatable on the right side in the figure. And a reel 61 driven intermittently.

  An unused reflective tape 11 wound around a core (not shown) is set on the reel 61 on the left side of the reflective tape supply device 6 so that necessary tension is applied between rollers (not shown), and then hot stamping is performed. The later used reflective tape 11 is wound up by intermittently driving the right reel 61 in the direction of the arrow as the stepping motor 69 is energized.

  The endless elastic belt 1 is set at a position illustrated by a one-dot chain line. In order to set the endless elastic belt 1 in this way, the inner peripheral surface is supported by the four rods 57. That is, the inner peripheral surface of the endless elastic belt 1 completed in the previous step is stretched over the rods 57, and the inner surface of the endless elastic belt 1 is pressed so that the region where the reflection mark should be attached can be held in tension. ing.

  On the other hand, the heater member 9 is fixed to the lower surface of the hot plate 10 provided to be movable up and down in the Z-axis direction with respect to the base. Further, the reflective mark 11 is hot stamped from the reflective tape 11 by moving the heater member 9 up and down (in the Z-axis direction).

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the hot stamping apparatus of FIG. In this figure, it progresses to step S1 and an endless elastic belt is set to a belt jig not shown. Subsequently, in step S2, the inner peripheral surface is positioned on the pedestal 8, and a driving rod (not shown) is driven to be in a tension state. Subsequently, in step S3, the belt jig is moved to the hot stamp position to be in the state shown in FIG.

  Next, in step S4, the reflective tape 11 is sent out in the Y-axis direction, and stopped on the outer peripheral surface facing the pedestal 8. In step S5, the heater member 9 is lowered from the standby position and the belt is pressed with a pressure required for hot stamping. Following this, in step S6, for example, the above-mentioned pressing state is maintained for 0.5 seconds, and hot stamping is performed at 140 ° C. At this time, the edge portion that becomes the boundary portion of the reflection mark 4 can be hot stamped linearly. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S7, and the heater member 9 is raised to the standby position by driving the lifting device. Next, the process proceeds to step S8, and the reflective tape 11 in close contact is peeled off by, for example, movement of a peeling rod (not shown). In step S9, the belt jig 5 is moved from the hot stamp position to the take-out position, and in step S10, the endless elastic belt 1 after hot stamping is taken out to finish the process.

  The hot stamp apparatus configured as described above is only an example, and it goes without saying that various apparatuses based on the hot stamp principle described with reference to FIG.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Endless elastic belt 2 Drive roller 3 Driven roller 4 Reflection mark 5 Belt jig 6 Reflective tape supply mechanism 8 Base 9 Heater member 10 Heat plate 11 Reflective tape 11a Base film layer 11b Release layer 11c Protective coloring layer 11d Aluminum vapor deposition layer 11e Adhesion layer

Claims (2)

An endless elastic belt in which a reflection mark for detecting a moving position is attached to the periphery of the outer surface of the endless elastic belt,
An endless elastic belt, wherein both end edges of the reflection mark in the circumferential direction, which is the conveying direction of the endless elastic belt, are linearly formed.   The reflective mark includes a base film layer, a release layer on the base film layer, a protective colored layer on the release layer, a metal vapor deposition layer on the protective color layer, and an adhesive layer on the metal vapor deposition layer. The endless elastic belt according to claim 1, wherein the endless elastic belt is laminated.

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