JP2000141818A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To protect a carrying belt against contamination by disposing a means for cleaning the surface of a rotary carrying body having a means for drying the surface thereof on the downstream side of the drying means in the rotational direction of the rotary carrying body thereby preventing adhesion of ink. SOLUTION: Ink arriving at a halogen heater section is warmed by means of a halogen heater 37 and since internal moisture is evaporated, the ink adheres to the surface of a carrying belt 31. Ink remaining on the surface of the carrying belt 31 is moved, through turning of the belt 31, to a cleaning means located in the downstream of the halogen heater 37. The ink in solid state exhibiting reduced adhesion to the carrying belt 31 can be cleaned easily and since the ink itself is in solid state, contamination of a brush roller 38 with ink is suppressed as compared with liquid ink and the carrying belt 31 is not contaminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer, an FA
In an image forming apparatus which is an ink jet recording apparatus employed in an X machine, a copying machine, etc., a cleaning mechanism for cleaning dirt accumulated in a recording medium feeding mechanism for conveying a recording medium recorded by a recording head. And an image forming apparatus having the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an ink jet recording apparatus performs recording by ejecting ink from a recording head to a recording medium. It is easy to make the recording head compact and to record a high-definition image at a high speed. It has advantages such as low running cost, low noise due to the non-impact method, and easy recording of a color image using multicolor inks. Above all, a full-line type apparatus using a line-type recording head in which a large number of ejection ports are arranged in the paper width direction can further increase the recording speed.

However, in a full-line type apparatus, the distance from the recording head at the most upstream position to the recording head at the most downstream position becomes considerably long.
Since the recording sheet is lifted in the recording area, the recorded image is disturbed, and it may cause a jam or the like,
It is necessary to urge the recording sheet downward so as not to rise. As a method for this, a method of providing a conductive electrode, giving an electric charge to generate an electrostatic force, and adsorbing a recording sheet is generally used in many cases.

In such an ink jet recording apparatus, a recording sheet fed by a sheet feeding device is attracted and held on an upper surface of a conveying belt by an electrostatic attraction plate provided on a platen in a recording area, and is recorded by a recording head. While being transported by the transport belt.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional ink jet recording apparatus, and FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are enlarged views of a main part thereof.

In FIG. 6, a recording sheet P, which is a recording medium, is stacked on a paper feed unit 2
Are fed one by one from the top.

[0007] The fed recording sheet P is transported by the transport belt 3.
1 and a pinch roller 33, and a driving roller 3 driven by a driving source which is a pulse motor (not shown)
The sheet is conveyed to a printing start position on the platen by the belt 31 conveyed by the roller 4. The transport belt 31 is stretched by a driving roller 34, a driven roller 32, and a pressure roller 35. Below the transport belt 31, a suction force generating unit 36 is provided in close proximity to the platen 30. Note that the pressure roller 35 is rotatably attached to the other end of an arm 50 that is pivotally attached to the platen 30 at one end, and applies tension to the transport belt 31 by the arm 50 being pressed by a spring 51. ing.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a full-line type recording head in which a plurality of recording elements are arranged over the entire width of the recording area of the recording sheet P.
(Black), 7C (cyan), 7M (magenta), and 7Y (yellow) are arranged in this order at predetermined intervals, and the recording head 7 is attached to a head holder 7A.

FIG. 9 is a view of the recording apparatus as viewed from above.
As shown in the figure, the size S covering the occupied area Sl of the recording head 7 is provided below the recording head 7 and below the transport belt 31.
As shown in FIG. 7, the attracting force generating means 36 includes a set of an electrode plate 36A made of a conductive metal and an earth plate 36B, as shown in FIG. They are comb-shaped, and are arranged in such a manner that the respective convex portions enter the respective concave portions. Terminal 36A of electrode plate 36A
A positive or negative voltage is applied to 1 and the terminal 36B1 of the ground plate 36B is grounded.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken from the direction of arrow a in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the attraction force generating means 36 is provided on the electrode plate 3 made of a conductive metal.
6A and the earth plate 36B are the base layer 36C and the surface layer 36D.
And is protected in a sandwiched manner with the surface layer 36.
A transport belt 31 is provided above D. The base layer 36C and the surface layer 36D are made of a synthetic resin such as polyethylene and polycarbonate.

Conventionally, the electrode plate 36A and the earth plate 36
B is integrally provided in the conveyor belt 31, and a positive or negative voltage is applied from one end of the conveyor belt 31 in the width direction, the other is grounded, and the conveyor belt 31 itself is used as an attraction force generating means. .

In the above configuration, the recording sheet P
Is attracted to the upper surface of the transport belt 31 by the attracting force generating means 36, and the transport belt 3 is printed while being printed by the recording head 7.
1 transported.

Reference numeral 41 denotes a paper discharge roller, which is driven by the rotating force of the driven roller 34 by transmission means (not shown).

Reference numeral 42 denotes a spur that comes into pressure contact with the paper ejection roller 41. The printed recording sheet P is sandwiched between the paper ejection roller 41 and the spur 42, and is ejected and stored in an ejection tray 43. Since the spur 42 rolls on the printed surface after recording, the spur 42 has a sharpened tip so that the ink of the printed image does not transfer as much as possible.

During printing on the recording sheet P by the recording head 7, an ink mist (the ink ejected from the recording head turns into a mist and floats in the apparatus) adheres to the transport belt 31 or When a certain amount of ink accumulates on the face and drops onto the transport belt 31, the surface of the transport belt 31 may be wet with the ink.

When the ink adheres to the surface of the transport belt 31 as described above, the non-recording surface of the recording sheet P which is sucked and transported by the transport belt 31 is contaminated by the ink on the transport belt 31 or the transport belt 31 If the recording sheet P is electrostatically attracted in a state of being wetted with the ink, an attraction force cannot be obtained, and the recording sheet P is displaced with respect to the transport belt 31.

Therefore, in order to prevent the above-mentioned adverse effects, a cleaning means for cleaning the surface of the conveying belt is provided on the downstream side in the conveying direction and at a position other than the recording sheet conveying path. The transport belt is cleaned by the dirty transport belt passing through the cleaning unit, and the cleaned transport belt returns to the recording sheet transport path again, and sucks and transports the recording sheet, thereby preventing ink contamination on the recording sheet. Measures have been taken. A method often used as a cleaning means is a blade cleaning method in which an edge portion of an elastic plate material is abutted against a conveyor belt to remove dirt on the belt surface, or a brush-like roller is rotated to remove dirt on the conveyor belt surface. There is a fur brush method to take.

[0018]

However, when the liquid ink is cleaned by the cleaning means as described above, there arises a problem that the liquid ink permeates the cleaning means and the cleaning means itself becomes dirty.
If the cleaning operation is continued by the cleaning unit that has been soaked with ink, the ink that has adhered to the cleaning unit moves to the transport belt in reverse during continuous printing, and the transport belt may be soiled.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing ink from adhering to a cleaning unit and preventing a transfer belt from being stained as much as possible.

[0020]

According to a first aspect of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems, a transportable rotating body is rotatably driven, and a recording sheet is adsorbed on a surface of the transportable rotating body to be transportable. An image forming apparatus comprising: a conveying unit; and an image recording unit configured to record an image on the recording sheet by spraying ink on the recording sheet conveyed by the sheet conveying unit. A drying unit that can dry the surface of the transport rotator, and a cleaning unit that can clean the surface of the transport rotator is provided downstream of the drying unit in the rotation direction of the transport rotator. And

In the invention according to a second aspect, the transport rotating body is a transport belt wound around a plurality of rollers, and the drying means is one of the plurality of rollers.
And a drying unit configured to dry a surface of a portion of the transport belt that is in contact with the one roller.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the transport rotator is a transport belt wound around a plurality of rollers, and the cleaning unit is disposed to face one of the plurality of rollers. The cleaning unit is configured to clean a surface of a portion of the transport belt that is in contact with the one roller.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the transport rotating body is a transport belt wound around a plurality of rollers, and the drying means and the cleaning means are at least one of the plurality of rollers. Are disposed between the drying unit and the cleaning unit in the rotation direction of the transport belt.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sensor for detecting dirt on the surface of the transport rotary member, and the cleaning means performs a cleaning operation based on a detection signal from the sensor. Be characterized.

[0025]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. A recording apparatus 1 having an automatic paper feeder includes a paper feed unit 2, a paper feed unit 3, a paper discharge unit 4, a print head unit 7,
It is composed of Therefore, these are divided into items and outlines are sequentially described. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of the recording apparatus 1. Referring to FIG.
A description will be given of (I) the paper feeding unit, (III) the recording head unit, and (IV) the paper discharging unit.

(I) Paper Feeding Unit The paper feeding house 2 is configured such that a pressure plate 21 on which the recording paper P is loaded and a feed rotator 22 for feeding the recording paper P are attached to the base 20. The pressure plate 21 is rotatable about a rotation axis a coupled to the base 20, and is urged by the pressure plate spring 24 to the feeding rotating body 22. A separation pad 25 made of a material having a large coefficient of friction, such as artificial skin, for preventing double feeding of the recording paper P is provided at a portion of the pressure plate 21 facing the feeding rotating body 22. Further, the base 20 covers a corner in one direction of the recording paper P, and a separation claw 26 for separating the recording paper P one by one, and releases the contact between the pressure plate 21 and the rotary feeder 22 (not shown). Release cam is provided.

In the above configuration, in the standby state, the release cam pushes the pressure plate 21 down to a predetermined position. Thereby, the contact between the pressure plate 21 and the feeding rotating body 22 is released.
When the driving force of the transport roller 32 is transmitted to the feed rotator 22 and the release cam by a gear or the like in this state, the release cam separates from the pressure plate 21 and the pressure plate 2
1 rises, the feed rotator 22 comes into contact with the recording sheet P, and the recording sheet P is picked up by the rotation of the feed rotator 22 and starts to be fed. It is sent to the paper unit 3. The feed rotator 22 rotates until the recording paper P is fed into the paper feed unit 3, and again the recording paper P and the feed rotator 2
2 is brought into a standby state where the contact with the transport roller 3 is released.
The driving force from 2 is cut off.

Numeral 90 denotes a feeding rotating body for manual paper feeding. The recording paper P set on the manual feed tray 91 is fed by the feeding rotating body 90 in accordance with a recording command signal of the computer, and is conveyed to the conveying roller 32.

(II) Paper Feeding Section The paper feeding section 3 is a transport belt 31 for sucking and transporting the recording paper P.
And a PE sensor (not shown). Conveyor belt 31
Is driven by a drive roller 34 and is wound around a transport roller 32 and a pressure roller 35 which are driven rollers.

A pinch roller 33 driven by the conveyor belt 31 is provided at a position facing the conveyor roller 32. The pinch roller 33 is pressed against the conveyor belt 31 by a spring (not shown) to guide the recording paper P to the recording unit. Further, an upper guide 27 and a lower guide 28 for guiding the recording paper P are provided at the entrance of the paper feeding section 3 to which the recording paper P is conveyed. Also, the upper guide 27
Is provided with a PE sensor lever 29 for transmitting detection of the leading and trailing edges of the recording paper P to a PE sensor (not shown). Further, a recording head 7 that forms an image based on image information is provided downstream of the transport opening 32 in the recording paper transport direction.

As a typical material used for the transport belt 31, a PVD belt having good removability of dry ink is preferable.

In the above configuration, the recording paper P sent to the paper feeding section 3 is guided by the upper guide 27 and the lower guide 28,
It is sent to a roller pair of a transport roller 32 and a pinch roller 33. At this time, the leading end of the recording paper P conveyed by the PE sensor lever 29 is detected, and the printing position of the recording paper P is obtained by this. The recording paper P is transported by the rotation of the transport belt 31 via the transport roller 32 by an ultrasonic motor described later.

(III) Recording Head Unit The recording head 7 according to the first embodiment is a line type ink jet recording head in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the recording paper P is conveyed.
7K (black), 7C (cyan), 7
M (magenta) and 7Y (yellow) are arranged in this order at predetermined intervals, and the recording head 7 is attached to a head holder 7A. The recording head 7 can apply heat to the ink by a heater or the like. Then, the ink causes film boiling due to the heat, and ink is ejected from the nozzles 70 of the recording head 7 by a pressure change caused by growth or contraction of bubbles due to the film boiling, and an image is formed on the recording paper P.

One end of the recording head 7 is rotatably fixed by a shaft 71, and a projection 7A formed at the other end is engaged with the rail 72, so that the distance between the nozzle surface and the recording paper P (the paper interval) ) Is stipulated.

(IV) Paper discharge unit The paper discharge unit 4 is composed of a paper discharge roller 41 and a spur 42, and the recording paper P on which an image is formed by the recording head unit 7 is
The paper is sandwiched between the paper discharge roller 41 and the spur 42, conveyed, and discharged to the paper discharge tray 43.

Next, the structure and operation of suction conveyance in the recording head unit 7 will be described with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a transport belt which moves while adsorbing and holding the recording paper P, and is made of a synthetic resin such as polyethylene or polycarbonate having a thickness of about 0.1 mm to 0.2 mm and has an endless belt shape. are doing. Numeral 36 denotes an attraction force generating means, which is fixed at a position facing the recording head 7 and applies an attraction voltage of about 0.5 kV to 10 kV to apply an attraction force to the transport belt 31 at the recording portion by the recording head 7. This is connected to a high-voltage power supply (not shown) for generating a predetermined high voltage.

As described above, rollers 32, 34 and 35 support the conveyor belt 31 and apply an appropriate tension.
Is connected to a paper feed motor (not shown). Also,
A paper pressing member (not shown) as pressing means for pressing the recording paper P against the transport belt is attached around the rotation axis of the pinch roller 33 as a rotation center, and is biased toward the transport belt 31 by biasing means (not shown). I have. The paper holding member is made of a conductive metal plate.

Reference numeral 37 denotes a halogen heater,
1 and at a position downstream of the recording head 7Y in the conveying belt rotation direction, and at a position facing the recording head 7Y where the conveying belt is bent. Here, the halogen heater 37 is used.
At the position opposed to the transfer pressure roller 35.
Place the surface where it will heat. Halogen heater 3
7 is adjusted by adjusting the distance from the belt 31 and the capacity of the heater 37 so that the surface temperature of the conveyor belt 31 is around 100 degrees. Preferably, the halogen heater capacity is 600 W and the belt heater distance is 10 mm.

Next, the operation will be described. The recording paper P is nipped between the pinch roller 33 and the transport belt 31, guided to the recording unit, enters the suction force generating unit in a state where the recording paper P is pressed against the transport belt 31 by the paper pressing member, and from the suction force generating unit 36. The conveying belt 31 is provided by the applied suction force.
The paper is fed in the direction of arrow a by the paper feed motor and the roller 34 while being adsorbed on the flat portion of the paper and printed by the recording head 7. At this time, the transport belt 31 holding the recording paper P
Since there is no member traveling to the recording head 7 even when recording the leading and trailing end portions of the recording paper P, the discharge nozzle at the end of the recording head and the end of the recording paper p can be recorded while approaching each other. Thus, a highly accurate recorded image can be obtained.

When a large amount of ink is ejected onto the recording paper P, the recording paper P swells, and a wavy (cockling) occurs. Also in this case, the recording paper P is attracted to the conveyor belt 31 by the suction force of the suction force generating means 36 and the pressing force of the paper pressing member, so that the recording paper P does not float to the head 7 side, and the head 7 Stable recording can be performed without contact of the recording paper P. Further, even when the end of the recording paper P is wavy or curled due to environmental changes such as temperature and humidity, the recording paper P is pressed against the transport belt 31 by the paper pressing member, and Can be conveyed to the suction force generating section in a state where the recording paper has been removed, so that stable suction can be performed in the recording section.

The recording sheet P reaching the recording head position is
The ink is sprayed by the recording head 7 while being conveyed by the conveyance belt 31 to form an image on a recording sheet, and further conveyed downstream to be discharged out of the apparatus by a discharge roller 41. All of the ink ejected from the nozzles of the recording head 7 is not absorbed on the recording sheet P, and a small amount of the ejected ink floats in the air inside the apparatus in a mist spray state during ejection ( (Mist), and adheres to the surface of the transport belt 31 which is close to the recording head while floating in the apparatus for a while. On the other hand, a small amount of the ink discharged from the recording head remains on the nozzle surface of the recording head, and the ink gradually accumulates and falls on the transport belt 31 due to the weight of the ink itself. Due to these phenomena, ink adheres to and contaminates the surface of the transport belt 31 during the recording operation. The liquid ink adhering to the surface of the conveyor belt 31 moves to the halogen heater section by the rotation of the conveyor belt 31.

The ink that has reached the halogen heater section is warmed by the halogen heater 37, and the moisture contained therein evaporates, so that the ink adheres to the surface of the conveyor belt 31. Normally, when the transport belt 31 is not bent, 1
The ink that has been rapidly heated and fixed above 00 degrees is
The adhesive force with the belt 1 is strong, and the belt 1 is not easily peeled off. However, in the first embodiment, the halogen heater 37 is disposed at a position where the transport belt 31 is bent, that is, in the configuration of FIG. 1, the heater is located at a position where the traveling direction of the transport belt 31 is changed by the pressing roller 35. By arranging the conveyor belts 37, as shown in FIG.
Ink IK on the surface Q when the surface Q of the
Sticks. The portion of the conveyor belt 31 where the ink is fixed passes through the pressure roller 35 due to the rotation of the conveyor belt 31 itself. Then, the surface Q of the conveyor belt 31 is as shown in FIG.
As shown in (2), by passing through the pressure roller 35, an attempt is made to contract to return to the original state. The force of contraction of the belt surface Q becomes an external force F in the peeling direction between the transport belt 31 and the ink IK, and the fixed ink IK tends to peel off from the surface of the transport belt 31. Some of the solid ink is peeled off from the surface of the conveyor belt 31, but most of the ink is not adhered to the belt 31 in a state where the fixing force is low.
Remains on the surface.

The ink remaining on the surface of the belt 31 is the belt 3
By one rotation, the cleaning unit moves to the cleaning unit located downstream of the halogen heater 37. As the cleaning means here, a fur brush method is employed in which the brush roller 38 is rotated by a drive motor (not shown) to remove dirt on the surface of the transport belt 31. Brush roller 3
The rotation direction b of 8 is preferably opposite to the rotation direction a of the conveyor belt 31 (counter direction: b) in order to improve the cleaning ability.

The ink IK in the solid state having a low fixing force to the conveyor belt 31 described above can be easily cleaned, and the ink roller itself is in a solid state, so that the brush roller 38 is more easily cleaned than the liquid ink. The transfer belt 31 is not stained by ink and does not stain the transport belt 31 in reverse.

Further, since the ink fixing force is low and the cleaning is easy, the rotation speed of the brush roller 38 is increased to improve the cleaning performance, and the amount of the brush tip of the brush roller 38 penetrating the transport belt 31 is increased. Since it is not necessary to make the transfer belt 3
1 does not give a large external force (in this case, the external force is a frictional force between the brush roller 38 and the conveyor belt 31), the driving torque of the conveyor belt 31 can be reduced, and the disturbance by the brush roller 38 can be reduced. It is less likely that the print performance is reduced in the print area by being transmitted along the transport belt 31.

The operation of cleaning the transport belt 31 by the brush roller 38 is also available. There is a method in which the brush roller 38 is constantly rotated when the transport belt 31 rotates to perform cleaning. As another operation, there is a method of rotating the brush roller 38 at predetermined intervals by a timer (not shown) built in the image forming apparatus or a counter for counting the number of prints.

Further, as another operation, an optical line sensor 100 capable of simultaneously detecting the area of the width of the conveyor belt 31 is provided in the image forming apparatus. 38
To operate. In this case, the brush roller 3
8 is preferably provided with a mechanism capable of being separated from the transport belt 31, and it is desirable to separate the brush roller 38 from the belt 31 during printing so as to prevent disturbance to the printing area.

Although the fur brush method has been described as the cleaning means in the first embodiment, as another cleaning means, for example, as shown in FIG. The effect of the present invention can be sufficiently achieved even by a blade cleaning method or the like in which the surface of the belt is rubbed to remove dirt.

Second Embodiment Next, another example of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. The schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the same members will be described with the same reference numerals. The following description focuses on the configuration of the transport belt cleaning mechanism, which is a feature.

In FIG. 4, the surface of the conveyor belt 31 passing through the print area is wetted with ink by ink mist or the like. By arranging a halogen heater 37 as an ink drying means at a position on the downstream side of the printing area facing the belt surface, the liquid ink adhered to the transport belt 31 is dried and solidified. Liquid ink belt 31
By drying above, the ink is fixed on the surface of the belt 31 with a strong force. The fixed ink moves to the position of the brush roller 38, which is a cleaning unit further downstream, by the rotation of the transport belt 31.
Here, the brush roller 38, which is a cleaning means, conveys the conveyor belt 31 and is disposed at a position facing the pressure roller 35 for applying tension to the belt 31. Since the traveling direction of the belt 31 is changed by the pressure roller 35, the transport belt 3 when passing through the pressure roller 35 is moved.
Since the surface of the belt 1 is stretched as shown in FIG. 3, the ink IK fixed to the surface of the belt 31 is subjected to a peeling force from the belt 31 and is easily peeled. The cleaning performance is improved by cleaning the solid ink, which has easily peeled off, with the brush roller 38. Further, by cleaning the solid ink, the brush roller 38 itself is less likely to be stained, which leads to improvement in the durability of the brush roller 38.

Although the fur brush method has been described as the cleaning means in the second embodiment, another cleaning means is a blade cleaning method in which an edge of an elastic plate material is abutted against a conveyor belt to remove dirt on the belt surface. Even in the system, the effect of the present invention can be sufficiently achieved.

Third Embodiment Next, another example of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. The schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus is the same as in the first and second embodiments, and the same members will be described with the same reference numerals. The following description focuses on the configuration of the transport belt cleaning mechanism, which is a feature.

In the first and second embodiments, the position where the belt 31 is bent, that is, in this embodiment, the position of the pressure roller 35 is set between the halogen heater 37 on the upstream side in the belt rotation direction and the brush roller 38 on the downstream side. To As a result, the liquid ink on the belt 31 passes through the heater 37 and becomes solid and adheres to the belt 31. When the ink passes through the pressure roller 35, the surface of the belt 31 is once stretched, so that a peeling force acts between the belt 31 and the ink. Further, after passing through the pressure roller 35, the belt 31 once stretched
Since the surface is returned to its original state and shrunk, the action of peeling the ink on the belt 31 works more. The cleaning performance can be further improved as compared with the first and second embodiments by allowing the solid ink that is easily peeled to pass through the brush roller 38.

[0056]

As described above, the present invention (claim 1)
According to the method, when the ink sprayed by the image recording means adheres to the surface of the transport rotating body in a liquid state, the ink is dried on the surface of the transport rotating body by the drying means to be solidified, and then the solid state is formed. Is cleaned by the cleaning means. This prevents the ink from adhering to the cleaning means, and minimizes contamination of the transport rotating body. Further, the cleaning performance is improved and the durability is improved.

The transport rotating body is a transport belt wound around a plurality of rollers.
In the case where the drying unit is disposed so as to face one of the plurality of rollers, and the drying unit is configured to dry a surface of a portion of the transport belt that is in contact with the one roller (claims). In 2), the ink is dried while the transport belt is bent and the surface of the belt is stretched, and thereafter the belt returns to the original state, so that the ink fixed on the belt is easily peeled off, and the subsequent cleaning process is facilitated. Can be done. Further, since the cleaning is easy, an aggressive cleaning process is not required, so that the rotation load on the transport belt is reduced and the printing performance is not hindered.

Further, the transport rotating body is a transport belt wound around a plurality of rollers, the cleaning means is disposed to face one of the plurality of rollers, and the cleaning means is In a case where the surface of the portion of the transport belt that is in contact with the one roller is cleaned (claim 3), the surface of the transport belt is stretched by bending at the position of the roller. Thus, the dried and solid ink adhering to the belt is applied with a peeling force, so that the cleaning by the cleaning means can be performed more effectively, and the cleaning performance is improved.

Further, the transport rotating body is a transport belt wound around a plurality of rollers, and the drying unit and the cleaning unit are configured to rotate at least one of the plurality of rollers in a rotation direction of the transport belt. In this case, when the toner is disposed between the drying means and the cleaning means (claim 4), the transport belt on which the dried and solid ink adheres is bent at the position of the roller and the belt is bent. Since the surface of the belt contracts in such a manner that the surface is stretched and then returned to the original state, the effect of peeling off the ink fixed on the transport belt is further enhanced, and the cleaning performance is improved.

A sensor for detecting contamination on the surface of the transport rotating body is provided, and the cleaning means performs a cleaning operation based on a detection signal from the sensor. In the above, the cleaning unit is operated only when ink is attached to the surface of the transport rotating body by a sensor. Thus, the influence of the load, vibration, and the like caused by the cleaning operation by the cleaning unit on the transport rotating body can be minimized. Further, disturbance to the printing area can be prevented as much as possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a conveyor belt.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of another example different from FIG. 1 in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an overall view of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an overall view of an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional ink jet recording apparatus.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view showing a main part of a conventional recording apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an attraction force generating means.

FIG. 9 is a view of the recording apparatus as viewed from above.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 recording device 2 paper feed unit 3 paper feed unit 4 paper discharge unit 7 recording head unit 21 pressure plate 22 feed rotator 24 spring 25 separation pad 26 separation claw 27 upper guide 28 lower guide 29 PE sensor lever 30 platen 31 transport belt 32 Conveyance roller 33 Pinch roller 34 Drive roller 35 Pressure roller 36 Attraction force generating means 37 Halogen heater 38 Brush roller 41 Paper discharge roller 42 Spur 43 Paper discharge tray 50 Arm 51 Spring 52 Blade

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sheet transport means having a transport rotary member rotatably and capable of adsorbing a recording sheet on a surface of the transport rotary member and capable of transporting the recording sheet, and a recording sheet transported by the sheet transport means. Image recording means capable of recording and forming an image on the recording sheet by spraying ink on the recording sheet;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a drying unit that can dry the surface of the transport rotator; and a cleaning unit that can clean the surface of the transport rotator, and a cleaning unit that can clean the surface of the transport rotator. An image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus is also provided on the downstream side. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transport rotating body is a transport belt wound around a plurality of rollers, wherein the drying unit is disposed to face one of the rollers. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a surface of a portion of the transport belt that is in contact with the one roller is dried. 3. The transporting rotator is a transport belt wound around a plurality of rollers, and the cleaning unit is one of the plurality of rollers.
The cleaning unit is disposed opposite to one of the conveyor belts.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a surface of a portion that is in contact with the two rollers is cleaned. 4. The transport rotating body is a transport belt wound around a plurality of rollers, and the drying unit and the cleaning unit rotate at least one of the plurality of rollers in a rotation direction of the transport belt. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is disposed between the drying unit and the cleaning unit. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor for detecting dirt on the surface of the transport rotator, wherein the cleaning unit performs a cleaning operation based on a detection signal from the sensor. Item 2. The image forming apparatus according to Item 1.