JP2855002B2 - Sheet feeding apparatus and recording apparatus having the sheet feeding apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus capable of continuously feeding a plurality of recording sheets and a recording apparatus to which the sheet feeding apparatus is applied.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in recording devices such as printers and copiers, classification and counting devices, reading devices and the like, it is possible to manually supply recording sheets, but separate recording sheets are fed one by one. A possible sheet feeding device is detachably mounted. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a recording sheet 50 loaded on a feeding stacker 51 capable of loading a plurality of recording sheets is separated one by one by a separation rib 52 at the leading end, and the separation rib 52 and the recording sheet are separated. The paper is fed downstream by a feed roller 53 that rotates with a conveyance force larger than the friction with the roller 50. 57 is a recording sheet stacked on the feeding stacker 51.
It is a sheet guide that can be moved according to the width size of 50,
58 is a discharge roller for discharging the recording sheet 50 after recording, and 59 is a discharge stacker.

In the sheet feeding apparatus, as shown in FIG. 6, when the recording sheet 50 is fed by a feeding roller 53, the leading end of the sheet is conveyed to prevent the recording sheet 50 from skewing. After a loop R is formed by abutting the roller 54 and the pinch roller 55 near a pressing point M or a point N on the peripheral surface of the pinch roller 55, the transport roller 54 is driven to rotate to transport and record the recording sheet 50. Done. When correcting the skew of the recording sheet 50, a guide member 56 for guiding a loop is provided to accurately guide the leading end of the sheet to the vicinity of the pressing point M or the point N. The guide member 56 is made of a thick and strong sheet material such as polyester or vinyl chloride, and has one end attached to a chassis of the apparatus.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, since a thick and strong sheet material is used as the guide member 56, a large load is applied when the loop of the recording sheet 50 is formed, and the inflection point ( Multiple points of curvature)
As a result, since the inflection point cannot form a single natural loop, a cueing failure may occur depending on environmental conditions, sheet size, sheet type, and the like. Further, since the guide member 56 is formed of one sheet material,
Due to deformation due to changes in the surrounding temperature, mounting errors, and the like, the right and left balance may be lost during loop formation, causing skew.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and to apply a sheet feeding apparatus which performs a stable feeding operation irrespective of environmental conditions, types of recording sheets, and the like, and a sheet feeding apparatus therefor. A recording device is provided.

[0006]

To solve the conventional technical problems SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The typical means applied to the embodiment described below, and the feeding member to separate and feed the recording sheet, conveyance
The end of the upstream side in the direction is fixed, and the feeding operation of the recording sheet is performed.
A guide member for guiding, and disposed downstream of the guide member
And a pair of conveyed rollers, and fed by the feeding member.
Abutting the leading end of the recorded recording sheet against the transport roller pair
Sheet feeding device that forms a loop of recording sheets
Te, the width of the guide member, characterized in that it narrows towards the free end of the conveying direction downstream side of the fixed end of the upstream side.

[0007]

According to the above construction, the width of the guide member is reduced from the fixed end toward the free end, thereby reducing the strain on the free end side of the guide member and performing appropriate guide of the recording sheet and natural loop formation. be able to.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to an ink jet printer employing an ink jet recording method as a recording apparatus will be described.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a schematic configuration of an ink jet printer, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a guide member, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a recording sheet feeding operation.

First, a schematic configuration of an ink jet printer will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes a sheet feeding device, which is detachably mounted on the inkjet printer 2.

The ink jet printer 2 has a transport roller 3 for transporting the recording sheet S supplied from the sheet feeding device 1 and a pinch roller 4 for pressing the peripheral surface thereof.
a, 4b are provided. Further, the sheet feeding device 1
Is supplied along the paper pan 5. Reference numeral 6 denotes a recording head which is recording means for recording an image in accordance with image information, and is provided to face the transport roller 3. The recording head 6 is mounted on a carriage 7, and drives the recording head 6 while scanning the carriage 7 to perform recording for each line.

The recording head 6 discharges ink from ink discharge ports by applying energy according to a recording signal. In the present embodiment, a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy is used as the energy used for ejecting the ink in the ink jet recording system, and the thermal energy causes a change in the state of the ink. What is used. This is because according to this method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

A carriage driving motor is connected to the carriage 7 via a timing belt (not shown). The carriage driving motor is driven to reciprocate the carriage 7 along the guide shaft 7a (from the front to the rear of the drawing). Side).

A discharge roller 8 and a spur 9 are provided downstream of the recording head 6 in the sheet conveyance direction, and a spur cover 10 is provided further downstream. The spur cover 10 has an opening through which the recording sheet S passes.
10a is drilled.

Next, the configuration of the sheet feeding apparatus 1 mounted on the recording apparatus 2 will be described. Reference numeral 11 denotes a feeding stacker for stacking the recording sheets S in a feedable manner, and the leading end in the feeding direction is urged upward by a spring 11a. The last recording sheet S is provided on the upper surface of the feeding stacker 11.
The friction sheet 11b is adhered so that is not fed at the same time as the previous recording sheet S. Further, the feed stacker 11
A sheet guide 11c slidable left and right (from the front to the back of the drawing) in accordance with the width of the recording sheet S is provided above.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a feeding roller which is a feeding member for feeding the recording sheet S. The uppermost recording sheet S of the recording sheets S stacked on the feeding stacker 11 is a spring 11.
The sheet is pressed against the feed roller 12 by the urging force of “a”. Also 13
Reference numeral denotes separation ribs for contacting the leading end of the recording sheets S stacked on the feeding stacker 11 and separating them one by one from the uppermost side. A guide member 14 for guiding a recording sheet S feeding operation is provided between the feeding roller 12 and the conveying roller 3 in the inkjet printer 2.

A discharge stacker 15 is provided in front of the feed roller 12 (left side in the drawing) at a predetermined interval to discharge and store the recording sheet S after recording. Reference numeral 16 denotes a discharge roller for discharging the recording sheet S to the discharge stacker 15, and reference numeral 17 denotes a pinch roller for pressing the discharge roller 16. The discharge roller 16 is mounted on a rotation shaft 16 a rotatably mounted between the left and right side plates 18, and is configured to rotate in conjunction with the transport roller 3 in the inkjet printer 2. A front cover 19 is mounted between the left and right side plates 18, and a leaf spring 20 having a V-shaped cross section is mounted on the front cover 19. A pinch roller 17 is mounted on a support shaft 17 a supported by the leaf spring 20. It is mounted so that it can swing.

The recording operation of the ink jet printer constructed as described above will be described. When a feed signal is transmitted from a control unit (not shown), the feed roller 12 is driven to rotate and is stacked on the feed stacker 11. The recording sheets S are separated and fed one by one from the top. The recording sheet S is
The paper is fed along the paper pan 5, and abuts against the pressing portions of the transport roller 3 and the pinch roller 4a to form an appropriate loop by the guide member 14, thereby correcting skew. Next, the recording sheet S is conveyed while being nipped by the conveying roller 3 and the pinch rollers 4a and 4b by rotating the conveying roller 3. When the leading end of the recording sheet S is nipped by the discharge roller 8 and the spur 9, the transport roller 3 temporarily stops the transport operation. In this state, while the carriage 5 reciprocates (moves from the near side to the far side in the drawing) along the guide shaft 5a, ink is ejected from the recording head 4 in response to an image signal and the recording sheet 2 is lined up on the recording sheet 2 line by line. To record. Each time one line of recording is completed, the transport roller 3 and the discharge roller 8 are simultaneously driven to convey the recording width and prepare for the next line recording. By repeating the above operation, recording on the recording sheet S is performed, and when recording of one sheet is completed, the discharge roller 8 and the discharge roller 16 are driven to discharge the recording sheet S to the discharge stacker 15.

Here, the guide member 14 will be described with reference to FIG. The guide member 14 is shaped so that the width of the free end is smaller than that of the fixed end having the positioning hole 14a.
The strain has become weaker, and the recording sheet has changed from a single inflection point.
It has enough rigidity to form a natural loop
Is set . Also at a predetermined position of the free end of the guide member 14 are slits 14b are bored at a smaller interval than the larger long side than the short side of the postcard size, in any direction of longitudinal direction or transverse direction of the postcard Also, it is configured such that the strength of the stiffness becomes appropriate rigidity during the feeding operation. Further, the slit 14b can also absorb the distortion at the time of mounting the guide member 14 and the influence of the deformation due to the ambient temperature.

Next, the guide member 14 when the recording sheet S is fed.
3 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The recording sheets S stacked on the feed stacker 11 are fed by feed rollers.
By rotating the sheet 12, the uppermost recording sheet S is separated and fed by the separation rib 13. At this time, FIG.
As shown in (1), the leading end of the recording sheet S abuts near the fixed end of the guide member 14 where it is strong, and is fed along the guide member 14 in the free end direction. Next, at the relatively weak free end of the guide member 13, the leading end of the recording sheet S is fed toward the pressing point M of the transport roller 3 and the pinch roller 4a. Then, as shown in FIG. 3B, the leading end of the recording sheet S abuts near the pressing point M of the conveying roller 3 and the pinch roller 4a to form a natural loop while bending the free end of the guide member 14. Then, the skew is corrected.

The shape of the guide member 14 is not limited to the one shown in FIG.
The shape shown in FIG.

In the above-described embodiment, the ink jet recording system is used as the recording means. However, an electric current is supplied to the electrothermal transducer in accordance with a recording signal, and bubbles are generated by heating exceeding film boiling by the electrothermal transducer. It is more preferable that the recording is performed by discharging the ink from the discharge port. Regarding the typical configuration and principle, it is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it is arranged corresponding to a sheet or a liquid path holding a liquid (ink). By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recording information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to the electrothermal transducer, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and the recording head is driven. This is effective because film boiling occurs on the heat-acting surface, and consequently bubbles in the liquid can be formed corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis. The liquid is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet.
When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are immediately and appropriately performed, so that particularly excellent liquid ejection can be achieved, which is more preferable.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of a discharge port, a liquid path, and an electrothermal converter (a linear liquid flow path or a right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, The present invention also includes a configuration using U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,558,333 and 4,459,600 which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region. For a plurality of electrothermal transducers, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge section of the electrothermal transducer, and an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of heat energy is formed in the discharge section. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration is based on JP-A-59-138461 which discloses a configuration corresponding to the above. That is, according to the present invention, the recording can be performed reliably and efficiently regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium on which a recording apparatus can record. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by combining a plurality of recording heads, or a configuration as a single recording head that is integrally formed.

In addition, even with the above-mentioned serial type, the recording head fixed to the carriage or mounted on the carriage enables electrical connection with the apparatus main body and supply of ink from the apparatus main body. A replaceable chip type recording head or a cartridge type recording head in which an ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself may be used. It is preferable to add a recording head recovery unit, a preliminary auxiliary unit, and the like, which are provided as components of the recording apparatus of the present invention, since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. To be more specific, capping means for the recording head, cleaning means, pressurizing or suctioning means, preheating means using an electrothermal conversion type or another heating element or a combination thereof, and printing Performing a preliminary ejection mode for performing another ejection is also effective for performing stable printing.

Regarding the type and number of recording heads mounted on the carriage, for example, only one recording head is provided corresponding to a single color ink, and a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities are supported. May be provided in plurality. That is, for example, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to a printing mode of only a mainstream color such as black, and may be a combination of a plurality of print heads integrally formed. To at least one of the full-color devices.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or below and which softens or liquefies at room temperature, or an ink jet recording system 30 ink itself
It is common to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in the stable ejection range by adjusting the temperature within the range of not less than 70 ° C and not more than 70 ° C if the ink is in a liquid state when the use recording signal is applied. good. In addition, positively prevent the temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or use an ink that solidifies in a standing state to prevent evaporation of the ink. In any case, the ink is liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal, and the ink is liquefied, and the liquid ink is discharged. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink that liquefies for the first time by energy is used. The ink in such a case is disclosed in
No. 56847 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 60-71260, in which the porous sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter while being held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. It is good. The most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-described film boiling method.

Further, as the form of the above-mentioned ink jet recording apparatus, in addition to a form used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, a form of a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a form of a facsimile apparatus having a transmitting / receiving function. It may be something to be taken.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, the width of the guide member is reduced from the fixed end toward the free end, thereby reducing the strain on the free end side of the guide member and providing a proper guide for the recording sheet. Loop formation can be performed.
Further, by forming slits in the guide member at intervals larger than the shorter side of the postcard size and smaller than the longer side, the strength of the strain can be made appropriate during the feeding operation of the postcard in the vertical and horizontal directions, and Distortion when mounting members,
The influence of deformation and the like due to the ambient temperature can be absorbed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an ink jet printer.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a guide member.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a recording sheet feeding operation.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of another example of a guide member.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a conventional sheet feeding apparatus.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory sectional view showing a conventional sheet feeding operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

S is a recording sheet, 1 is a sheet feeding device, 2 is an inkjet printer, 3 is a conveying roller, 4a, 4b, 17 is a pinch roller, 5 is a paper pan, 6 is a recording head, 7 is a carriage, 7a is a guide shaft, 8 and 16 are discharge rollers, 9 and 17 are spurs, 10 is a spur cover, 10a is an opening, 11
Is a feeding stacker, 11a is a spring, 11b is a friction sheet, 11c
Is a sheet guide, 12 is a feed roller, 13 is a separation rib, 14 is a guide member, 14a is a hole, 14b is a slit, 15 is a discharge stacker, 18 is a side plate, 19 is a front cover, and 20 is a leaf spring.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65H 5/36 B65H 5/38 B65H 29/52 B41J 13/00-13/32 G03G 15/00

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A feed member for separating and feeding a recording sheet, and an end portion on an upstream side in a conveying direction fixed to the feeding member .
A guide member for guiding the feeding operation;
A conveying roller pair disposed downstream, and the feeding member
The leading end of the recording sheet fed by the
Sheet feeding to form a loop of recording sheet
In the apparatus, the width of the guide member is transportable from the fixed end of the upstream side
A sheet feeding device, which is narrowed toward a free end on a downstream side in a feeding direction . And a guide member extending in a conveying direction.
And a slit opened at the free end is formed.
The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The sheet feeding device according to claim 2, wherein an interval between the slits is larger than a short side of the postcard size and smaller than a long side.
Place . 4. The recording member to be conveyed with said guide member
The sheet is deflected by a loop pressure of the sheet.
The sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
Place. 5. A feeding section for separating and feeding recording sheets.
Material and the end on the upstream side in the conveyance direction are fixed and the recording sheet is
A guide member for guiding the feeding operation;
It is arranged downstream and has a recording sheet loop between itself and the feeding means.
Transport roller that forms a loop and transport by the transport roller.
An image is formed on the fed recording sheet according to the image information.
Recording means for transporting the guide member from the fixed end on the upstream side in the transport direction.
It is characterized in that it is narrower toward the free end on the downstream side in the feeding direction.
Recording device 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said recording means is of an ink jet recording type which performs recording by discharging ink according to a signal. 7. An ink jet recording system in which said recording means supplies a current to an electrothermal transducer in response to a signal, and performs recording by discharging ink using thermal energy from said electrothermal transducer. Recording device. 8. The recording means energizes an electrothermal transducer in response to a signal, and performs recording by ejecting ink from an ejection port by growth of bubbles generated by heating exceeding film boiling by the electrothermal transducer. The recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the recording apparatus is an ink jet recording method.