JP2000108325A - Ink jet imaging system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a low cost ink jet imaging system in which ink adhering to a recording medium can be dried quickly. SOLUTION: Two holes are made in the bottom wall 14c of the housing 14 for a plotter 50 and a suction fan 40 is secured directly under each hole. A heater 54 for heating the air being supplied from the fan 40 in the direction shown by an arrow E is secured directly under the suction fan 40. A roller 52 for winding a recording medium 22 formed with an image is disposed directly under the heater 54 while being separated slightly therefrom.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet type image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium such as recording paper by discharging ink based on image information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one of output devices of computers and workstations, there is known an ink jet type image forming apparatus which forms an image on a recording medium such as recording paper by discharging ink. An example of a conventional ink jet type image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional ink jet type image forming apparatus (plotter), and FIG. 4 is a side view schematically showing the ink jet type image forming apparatus shown in FIG. However, in FIG. 3, some of the components shown in FIG. 4 are omitted.

[0004] The plotter 10 is fixed to an upper portion of a stand 12 with casters 12a. The plotter 10 includes a housing 14, and a left plate 16 and a right plate 18 are fixed to both left and right ends of the housing 14, respectively. The inside of the housing 14 is hollow 14a. Also, housing 1
4 have many holes (not shown) in the top wall 14b and the bottom wall 14c.
Are formed. On the upper wall 14b, the recording medium 22
Is fixed, and the platen 26 is also formed with a number of holes 26a. Bottom wall 1
A suction fan 40 that sucks the recording medium 22 to the platen 26 is disposed directly below 4c. This suction fan 4
By actuating 0, a downward wind (in the direction of arrow A) passing through the holes formed in the upper wall 14b and the bottom wall 14c and the hole 26a of the platen 26 is generated, and the recording medium 22 is sucked into the platen 26.

The rear of the housing 14 (the rear side of the plotter 10)
As shown in FIG. 4, a roll paper 20 to be pulled out in the direction of arrow B is disposed in the printer. A take-up roller 24 for taking up the recording medium 22 pulled out from the roll paper 20 and conveyed in the direction of arrow B ′ is provided below the front side of the housing 14.
Is arranged. Note that the roll paper 20 and the recording medium 2
2, and the winding roller 24 are not shown in FIG.

The plotter 10 has a platen 26 on which the recording medium 22 pulled out from the roll paper 20 is placed. Above the platen 26, a platen 2
The two guide shafts 28 are stretched in parallel to 6. A carriage 30 that reciprocates in the direction of arrow C by a motor (not shown) and a belt (not shown) is attached to the guide shaft 28 via a slide bearing (not shown).

A print head 32 is mounted on the carriage 30. The print head 32 has an ink ejection surface (not shown) on which a plurality of ink ejection ports for ejecting ink are formed. In front of the ink ejection surface is an image forming area where an image is formed, and an ink is ejected from an ink ejection port to a portion of the recording medium 22 located in the image forming area to form an image.

As shown in FIG. 4, a drying fan 42 for drying ink adhered to the recording medium 22 is disposed diagonally below the winding roller 24. This drying fan 42
Then, wind in the direction of arrow D is generated, and the ink adhering to the recording medium 22 immediately before or taken up by the take-up roller 24 dries.

In order to form an image on the recording medium 22, the recording medium 22 is pulled out from the roll paper 20, and the leading end of the recording medium 22 is inserted into a recording paper insertion slot 34 and placed on a platen 26. This placed recording medium 22
Is transported by a transport roller 36 that exposes a part of the outer peripheral surface from an opening formed in the platen 26 and a pinch roller 38 that presses both ends of the recording medium 22 from above, and transported by a motor (not shown). The roller 36 is rotated to carry the sheet. The recording medium 22 being conveyed is temporarily stopped, the carriage 30 is reciprocated in the direction of arrow C above the recording medium 22, and the ink ejection port based on the image signal carrying the image information transmitted to the print head 32. Eject ink from the
In the portion of the recording medium 22 located in the image forming area, 1
An image corresponding to the band is formed.

Thereafter, the recording paper is conveyed by a width of one band and stopped, and the ink is ejected from the ink ejection port based on the image signal while the carriage 30 is reciprocated again in the direction of arrow C. 22, an image is formed in a portion newly located in the image forming area. By repeating such an operation, an image is formed on the recording medium 22. When the recording medium 22 is conveyed by a predetermined length, the cutter 39 is reciprocated in the direction of arrow C so that the recording medium 22 is moved.
To cut.

The recording medium 22 on which an image has been formed as described above is guided by a paper ejection guide 44 and is taken up by a winding roller 24.
It is wound up. As shown in FIG. 4, a wind in the direction of arrow D is blown from the drying fan 42 to the recording medium 22 that is being wound up or wound up by the winding roller 24.
The wind dries the ink that has adhered to the recording medium 22 and forms an image. As described above, the reason for drying the ink using the drying fan 42 is that a difference occurs in the drying speed of the ink due to the material of the recording medium 22, and when the drying speed is low, the ink is dried when the recording medium 22 is wound. This is because the ink adheres to the back surface (the surface opposite to the printing surface to which the ink is adhered) and the image is disturbed.

[0012]

As described above, the conventional ink jet type image forming apparatus is provided with the drying fan 42 for drying the ink. Also,
Motor (not shown) for operating the drying fan 42
Is also installed. Therefore, there is a problem that the cost of the ink jet type image forming apparatus is increased by the cost of the drying fan 42 and the motor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost ink-jet type image forming apparatus capable of rapidly drying ink adhering to a recording medium.

[0014]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink-jet image forming apparatus including a platen on which a recording medium is mounted, and ejecting ink to the recording medium mounted on the platen. (1) a suction fan for sucking a recording medium placed on the platen onto the platen, and (2) winding up the recording medium on which the image is formed. And a take-up roller disposed downstream of the suction fan.

Here, the winding roller may be arranged at a position where (3) the image formed on the recording medium does not touch the floor.

Further, the ink jet type image forming apparatus may include (4) a heat generating means disposed between the suction fan and the winding roller for heating the passing wind.

Further, the ink jet type image forming apparatus may include (5) a controller for controlling the heat generating means based on an amount of ink adhering to the recording medium.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an ink jet type image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing one embodiment of an ink jet type image forming apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a housing and a suction fan of the ink jet type image forming apparatus shown in FIG. It is a perspective view. In these figures,
The same components as those shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The characteristics of the plotter 50 are the position of the take-up roller 52 and the heater (an example of a heating means according to the present invention).
54. Two holes 14d are formed in the bottom wall 14c of the casing 14 of the plotter 50. These two
Suction fans 40 are fixed directly below the four holes 14d. A heater 54 that heats the wind sent from the suction fan 40 in the direction of arrow E is fixed directly below the suction fan 40. The heater 54 is controlled by a controller (not shown), and is turned on when the amount of ink adhering to the recording medium 22 is larger than a predetermined amount, and turned off when the amount of ink is smaller than the predetermined amount. Is done.

A take-up roller 52 for taking up the recording medium 22 on which an image has been formed is located slightly below the heater 54 and directly downstream of the suction fan 40. Further, the position of the take-up roller 52 is a position where the recorded image of the rear end portion of the recording medium 22 after recording does not touch the floor surface. That is, the winding roller 52 is arranged at a position where the image formed on the recording medium does not touch the floor. Therefore, even after cutting, or even when the final end of the roll paper hangs down past the pinch roller 38 and the transport roller 36, the end 22b does not contact the floor as shown by the broken line in FIG. The winding roller 52
Is configured to rotate in the winding direction (the direction of arrow F) by a motor (not shown).

The case where the recording medium 22 on which an image is formed is taken up by the take-up roller 52 will be described. The recording medium 22 on which the image has been formed hangs down while being guided by the paper ejection guide 44.
Fixed to. As a result, the recording medium 22 is transported in the direction of arrow G and is taken up by the take-up roller 52. Recording medium 2
While the roller 2 is being taken up by the take-up roller 52, the recording medium 22 hangs down somewhat as shown in FIG. However, since the take-up roller 52 is disposed at a position where the recording medium 22 does not contact the floor surface, the printing surface (the surface to which ink is attached) 22a does not contact the floor surface. For this reason, the printing surface 22
The image formed in a is not disturbed. Winding roller 5
As shown in FIG. 1, the wind blown in the direction of arrow E from the suction fan 40 hits the recording medium 22 wound up in the direction 2 to some extent. The wind dries the ink that has adhered to the recording medium 22 and forms an image. Therefore, the winding roller 5
2 when the recording medium 22 is wound around
The image is not disturbed due to the adhesion of the ink to the surface on the side opposite to a).

When the amount of ink adhering to the recording medium 22 is equal to or more than a predetermined amount, the heater is turned on by the controller. Thereby, the wind blown in the direction of arrow E from the suction fan 40 is heated and the warm wind hits the ink. As a result, even if the amount of ink is large, the ink dries quickly, so that the image is not disturbed. When the amount of ink is less than the predetermined amount, the ink dries quickly enough even if the heater 54 is turned off. Therefore, the heater 54 is turned off. In this case, power consumption is small and energy is saved.

[0024]

As described above, in the ink jet type image forming apparatus of the present invention, since the take-up roller is disposed downstream of the suction fan, the recording medium taken up by the take-up roller is transferred from the suction fan to the recording medium. The wind hits. For this reason, the ink that forms an image by adhering to the recording medium wound up or being wound up by the winding roller dries quickly. Therefore, a separate fan for drying the ink is not required, and a low-cost inkjet image forming apparatus can be obtained.

Here, when the take-up roller is arranged at a position where the image formed on the recording medium does not touch the floor, the ink adhering to the recording medium and forming the image forms a floor surface. , So that the ink does not touch the floor surface to disturb the image.

In the case where the ink jet type image forming apparatus is provided with a heating means disposed between the suction fan and the take-up roller for heating the passing wind, the wind sent from the suction fan to the take-up roller is provided. Is heated by the heat generating means and hits the recording medium. For this reason, the ink adhering to the recording medium dries faster.

Further, when the ink jet type image forming apparatus is provided with a controller for controlling the heating means based on the amount of ink adhering to the recording medium, the amount of ink adhering to the recording medium is small. In some cases, the heating means can be turned off by controlling it, so that the power consumption is small and energy is saved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing one embodiment of an ink jet type image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a housing and a suction fan of the inkjet type image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a conventional ink jet type image forming apparatus (plotter).

FIG. 4 is a side view schematically showing the ink jet type image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 22 recording medium 26 platen 40 suction fan 50 inkjet type image forming apparatus 52 take-up roller 54 heater

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) // B65H 23/24 B41J 29/00 H

Claims (4)

[Claims] A platen on which a recording medium is placed;
An ink jet image forming apparatus for forming an image by ejecting ink onto a recording medium mounted on the platen, comprising: a suction fan for suctioning the recording medium mounted on the platen to the platen; An ink-jet type image forming apparatus, comprising: a take-up roller that winds a recording medium, and is disposed downstream of the suction fan. 2. The ink-jet image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the winding roller is arranged at a position where an image formed on a recording medium does not touch a floor. 3. The ink jet image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a heat generating means disposed between the suction fan and the winding roller to heat the passing wind. . 4. The ink-jet image forming apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a controller that controls the heating unit based on an amount of ink attached to the recording medium.