JP2000255112A - Apparatus for printing label of optical disk - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an apparatus for printing optical disk labels which can stably transfer optical disks and prevent generation of abnormal images such as image irregularity and the like. SOLUTION: Suction openings 28 are formed in an open state to a disk- loading part 26, to which a negative pressure-generating part for generating a negative pressure is connected. An optical disk D loaded on the disk-loading part 26 is sucked by the negative pressure generated to the suction openings 28 of the disk-loading part 26 and securely sucked to the disk-loading part 26. Since the optical disk D is transferred in a state of close contact with the disk-loading part 26, a shift of images when transferred at a transfer position, a displacement of the optical disk D when images are fixed by a fixing device, and the like are prevented. Generation of abnormal images such as image irregularity and the like can thus be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a CD-ROM
The present invention relates to an optical disk label printing apparatus for performing label printing on the disk surface of an optical disk such as a DR by an electrophotographic method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, label printing on the surface of an optical disk such as a CD-ROM or CD-R is performed by screen printing or offset printing. However, these printing methods require a plate making process and are not suitable for small-quantity, multi-type printing. Therefore,
As a label printing method suitable for high-mix low-volume production, an apparatus for performing label printing by an electrophotographic method is disclosed in
No. 2857 proposes this.

FIG. 7 shows a conventional label printing apparatus 1.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a configuration of a first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, an optical disk (CD-ROM, CD-R, or the like) D before label printing is applied to the label printing apparatus 101.
Optical disk supply device 102 for supplying the optical disk and optical disk integration device 103 for integrating the label-printed optical disk D '
A disk transport device 104 for transporting the optical disks D and D ′ in the direction A is provided, and a printer unit 106 including a fixing device 105 is provided in the disk transport device 104.
Is provided.

[0004] The printer unit 106 is mainly composed of a drum-shaped photosensitive member 107 which is driven to rotate in one direction. Around the photosensitive member 107, a charging device 108, a developing device 109,
At the transfer position X, a transfer device 110 for transferring an image to the optical disk D and a cleaning device 111 are sequentially arranged. The transfer device 110 also has the cleaning device 1
12 are provided. An exposure position is between the charging device 108 and the developing device 109, and an optical writing device 113 is provided at the exposure position.

[0005] The disk transport device 104 is composed of transport belts 104a and 104b with a belt stretched over rollers.

In addition, a disk charging device 114 for uniformly charging the optical disk D is disposed on the disk transport device 104 and upstream of the transfer position X in the transport direction A.

In such a configuration, when image data is transmitted to a control unit (not shown) of the label printing apparatus 101, various drive control signals are transmitted to the disk transport apparatus 10
4 and the printer unit 106 to start label printing on the optical disk D. Printer unit 10
6, an optical writing device 113 is attached to the photoconductor 107 uniformly charged to one polarity by the charging device 108.
Then, light corresponding to the image data is irradiated from the above, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor 107. This electrostatic latent image is stored in the developing device 1
09 to develop the image. Then, the toner image is transferred onto the transfer device 110 and is conveyed to the transfer position X.

On the other hand, in the disk transport device 104, the optical disk D is transported from the optical disk supply device 102 to the transfer position X. The printing surface of the optical disk D is transported to the transfer position X while the disk charging device 1
14, the toner is uniformly charged to a polarity opposite to that of the toner image of the transfer device 110. Thereafter, the uniformly charged optical disc D and the transfer device 110 are brought into contact at the transfer position X, so that the toner image is attracted to the surface of the optical disc D by electrostatic force and transferred. Further, the transferred optical disk D is transported by the disk transport device 104 in the transport direction A.
And the unfixed toner on the optical disc D is fixed by the heating / pressing action of the fixing device 105. As a result, an image is formed, and the label-printed optical disk D 'is completed. The completed label-printed optical disk D 'is carried to the optical disk integration device 103 and integrated.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the configuration of another conventional label printing apparatus 201. As shown in FIG. 8, the label printing apparatus 201 is different from the above-described label printing apparatus 101 only in that a disk transport apparatus 202 having a different structure from the disk transport apparatus 104 is provided instead of the disk transport apparatus 104. Are different.
The disk transport device 202 includes a feed screw 204 driven by a servomotor 203 and a transport tray 205 that reciprocates on the feed screw 204 by the action of the feed screw 204.
And is constituted by. The optical disc D is label-printed by the printer unit 106 in the process of being conveyed in the direction A by the disc conveying device 202.

[0010]

However, in the label printing apparatus 101 as shown in FIG. 7, the transport belts 104a, 104b each having a belt stretched over rollers.
The configuration of the disk transport device 104 makes it difficult to control the position and orientation of the optical disk D to be transported, causing blurring during image transfer and displacement of the optical disk D during image fixing. And an abnormal image is generated. The transport belt 10
Since the belts 4a and 104b are generally made of a flexible material, the belt expands and contracts and twists, so that vibrations and speed fluctuations occur, and an abnormal image similarly occurs. There's a problem.

Also, in the label printing apparatus 201 as shown in FIG. 8, since unevenness of the feed due to the bending of the feed screw 204 and vibration due to the rotation of the screw occur, an abnormal image similarly occurs. There's a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a label printing apparatus for an optical disk capable of stably transporting the optical disk and preventing occurrence of abnormal images such as image unevenness.

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical disk label printing apparatus capable of improving the productivity of image printing on an optical disk.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A disk transport device that transports an optical disk mounted on a disk mounting portion, a disk charging device provided on a transport path of the disk transport device, and uniformly charges the disk surface of the optical disk; An image forming apparatus for transferring a toner image formed by an electrophotographic method to a uniformly charged disc surface of the optical disc at a predetermined transfer position, and then fixing the transferred toner image with a fixing device. An optical disk label printing apparatus for printing a desired image on a disk surface of the optical disk; a negative pressure generating unit for generating a negative pressure; and a negative pressure generating unit that is provided in an open state on the disk mounting unit of the disk transport device; And a suction port communicating with the pressure generating unit.

Therefore, the optical disk mounted on the disk mounting portion is attracted and fixed to the disk mounting portion by the negative pressure generated at the suction port of the disk mounting portion. As a result, the optical disk is transported in a state in which the optical disk is in close contact with the disk mounting portion, so that blurring during image transfer at the transfer position and deviation of the optical disk during image fixing in the fixing device are prevented.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the label printing apparatus for an optical disk according to the first aspect, the disk transport device functions as a slider and a stator, each of which has the disk mounting portion and functions as a mover. The slider is driven by a linear motor including a rail for guiding the slider in a linear direction.

[0017] Therefore, when the disk transport device for transporting the optical disk is driven by the linear motor, the vibration and the speed fluctuation are extremely reduced, so that the optical disk mounted on the disk mounting portion is stably transported. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the label printing apparatus for an optical disk according to the second aspect, wherein a plurality of the sliders are provided near the transfer position and the fixing device. And the fixing device, and the optical disk mounted on the disk mounting portion of the slider positioned on the transfer position side is transferred to the disk mounting portion of the slider positioned on the fixing device side. And a disk transfer mechanism.

Therefore, in the disk transfer mechanism provided between the transfer position and the fixing device, the optical disk mounted on the disk mounting portion of the slider positioned on the transfer position side is mounted on the disk mounting portion of the slider positioned on the fixing device side. The transfer to the copying unit enables the transfer operation at the transfer position and the fixing operation in the fixing device to be performed at the same time and at the respective optimum speeds, thereby improving the productivity of image printing on the optical disk.

[0020]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The label printing apparatus according to the present embodiment is applied to a label printing apparatus for performing label printing by electrophotography on the surface of an optical disk such as a CD-ROM or a CD-R.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the configuration of the label printing apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the label printing device 1 integrates an optical disk supply device 2 for supplying an optical disk (CD-ROM, CD-R, etc.) D before label printing and a label-printed optical disk D ′. The optical disk D, D
′ In the direction A is provided,
A printer unit 6 which is an electrophotographic image forming apparatus including a fixing device 5 is provided in the disk transport device 4.

The printer section 6 is mainly composed of a drum-shaped photosensitive member 7 which is driven to rotate in one direction by a motor or the like (not shown). Around the photoreceptor 7, a charging device 8, a developing device 9 containing four color toners of yellow Y, magenta M, cyan C, and black K in order of a process based on an electrophotographic method, a plurality of rollers A transfer device 10 and a cleaning device 11, which are mainly constituted by a stretched belt and transfer an image to an optical disk D at a transfer position X while rotating in the opposite direction to the photoconductor 7, are arranged in this order. Note that the transfer device 10 is also provided with a cleaning device 12. An exposure position is provided between the charging device 8 and the developing device 9, and an optical writing device 13 is provided at the exposure position, for example, in which an LED array head is arranged as a writing light source and opposed to each other.

In addition, on the transport path of the disk transport device 4 and on the upstream and downstream sides in the transport direction A across the transfer position X, there are disk charging devices 14 and 15 for uniformly charging the optical disk D. Are arranged. The distance between the disk charging device 14 and the disk charging device 15 is
The distance is set shorter than the outer diameter of the optical disc D. Here, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram partially showing a configuration near the transfer position X of the label printing apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the disk charging device 14 includes a corona charger 16 and a charge supply device 17. The corona charger 16 is of a scorotron type and has a discharge wire 1
6a and a grid 16b. Charge supply device 1
Numeral 7 applies a predetermined voltage to the discharge wire 16a and the grid 16b. A voltage of 3 to 6 KV is applied to the discharge wire 16a, and a voltage of 800 V is applied to the grid 16b. Is applied.

On the other hand, the disk charging device 15 includes a corona charger 18 and a charge supply device 19. The corona charger 18 is of a scorotron type and includes a discharge wire 18a and a grid 18b. The charge supply device 19 applies a predetermined voltage to the discharge wire 18a and the grid 18b, applies a voltage of 3 to 6 KV to the discharge wire 18a, and applies a voltage to the grid 18b. A voltage of 700 V is applied. The disk charging devices 14 and 15 are disposed at positions separated from the transfer position X by at least 10 mm or more.

Next, the disk transport device 4 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the disk transport device 4 includes a transport rail 20 which is a rail provided along the transport direction A.
And a slider 21 a disposed on the transport rail 20.
A transfer conveyance tray 22 provided on the upper surface to convey the optical disk D to the transfer position X; and a fixing conveyance provided on a slider 21 b disposed on the conveyance rail 20 for conveying the optical disk D to the fixing device 5. It comprises a tray 23 and an intermediate transfer section 24 fixedly provided between the transfer / transport tray 22 and the fixing / transport tray 23 and functioning as a disk transfer mechanism. Here, the transport rail 20 and the slider 21 (sliders 21a and 21b) function as linear motors by passing currents through the respective rails. The transport rail 20 functions as a stator and the slider 21 (slider 21a). , 21b) function as movers. That is, the slider 21 (sliders 21 a and 21 b) can reciprocate linearly along the transport rail 20. The transport rail 20 corresponds to a fixed magnetic field in the rotary motor, and the slider 21 corresponds to a rotary magnetic field in the rotary motor. Here, the linear motor in the transfer conveyance tray 22 is set to LM.
1. The linear motor in the fixing conveyance tray 23 is LM2
The linear motor LM1 and the linear motor LM2 can be driven separately. In addition, a magnet (not shown) is provided on the slider 21 (sliders 21a and 21b).
The slider 21 (sliders 21a and 21b) can be raised and lowered with respect to the transport rail 20 by adjusting the magnetic field generated in the transport rail 20 that repels the magnetic field of the magnet. .

Next, the transfer / transport tray 22 will be described. Here, FIG. 3A is a plan view showing the upper portion of the transfer / carrying tray 22, and FIG. 3B is a vertical sectional side view partially showing the transfer / carrying tray 22. As shown in FIG. 3, the transfer / transport tray 22 includes a flat base portion 25, and a convex disc mounting portion 26 protrudingly formed on the base portion 25.
And is constituted by. Note that the transfer conveyance tray 22
Width E perpendicular to the transport direction A of the disc mounting portion 26
Are formed smaller than the outer diameter L of the optical disc D. More specifically, the maximum width E of the disk mounting portion 26 is set in a range of L-40 (mm) ≦ E ≦ L-4 (mm).

Six positioning pins 27 are provided on the disk mounting portion 26 of the transfer / transport tray 22 so as to be movable in the thickness direction of the optical disk D (arrow a in FIG. 3B). These positioning pins 27 are for positioning the optical disc D by inserting a center hole formed in the optical disc D, and are capable of moving up and down. Therefore, by positioning the optical disc D with the positioning pins 27, the transfer / transport tray 22 can load six optical discs D at a time. In the initial state, it is assumed that the positioning pin 27 is located at a position protruding from the disk mounting portion 26. In addition, a number of suction ports 28 are formed in the disk mounting portion 26 in an open state.

Next, the fixing and conveying tray 23 will be described. Here, FIG. 4A is a plan view showing an upper part of the fixing and conveying tray 23, and FIG. 4B is a vertical sectional side view partially showing the fixing and conveying tray 23. As shown in FIG. 4, the fixing conveyance tray 23 includes a flat base portion 29 and a convex-shaped disk mounting portion 30 formed on the base portion 29 so as to project therefrom.
And is constituted by. Note that the fixing conveyance tray 23
Width G perpendicular to the transport direction A of the disc mounting portion 30
Are formed smaller than the outer diameter L of the optical disc D. More specifically, the maximum width G of the disk mounting portion 30 is
It is set in the range of L-40 (mm) ≦ G ≦ L-4 (mm). The fixing transport tray 23 can hold six optical discs D at a time. In addition, a large number of suction ports 31 are formed in the disk mounting portion 30 in an open state.

Next, the intermediate transfer section 24 will be described.
Here, FIG. 5A is a plan view showing an upper part of the intermediate transfer unit 24, and FIG. 5B is a front view showing a side of the intermediate transfer unit 24 orthogonal to the transport direction A. As shown in FIG. 5, the intermediate transfer unit 24 includes two rail forming members 32 and 33 having an L-shaped cross section and opposed to each other in a state parallel to the transport direction A. A rail-forming member 34 having an inverted T-shape in cross section is disposed at a substantially central portion between the rail-forming member 32 and the rail-forming member 33, and is provided above these rail-forming members 32, 33, 34. The four support members 24a are formed by two support members 35 that are bridged.
(See FIG. 1) so as to support the transport rail 20.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the distance between the inner wall of the rail forming member 32 and the inner wall of the rail forming member 34 of the intermediate transfer portion 24 and the inner wall of the rail forming member 33 and the rail are formed. The space between the member 34 and the inner wall is W1. These intervals W1 correspond to the optical disc D
Is formed to be larger than the outer diameter L. More specifically,
The interval W1 is set in a range of L + 0.1 (mm) ≦ W1 ≦ L + 0.6 (mm).

Further, between the bottom of the rail forming member 32 and the bottom of the rail forming member 34 and between the bottom of the rail forming member 33 and the bottom of the rail forming member 34, the rail 36 extends in the transport direction A. Each is formed. These rails 36 are set at substantially the same height as the height of the disc mounting portion 26 of the transfer conveyance tray 22 and the height of the disc mounting portion 30 of the fixing conveyance tray 23. The width of each of the rails 36 is W2. These widths W2 are formed to be larger than the maximum width E of the disk mounting portion 26 of the transfer conveyance tray 22 and the maximum width G of the disk mounting portion 30 of the fixing conveyance tray 23. Note that the distance between the inner wall of the rail forming member 32 and the inner wall of the rail forming member 34 (the inner wall of the rail forming member 33 and the rail forming member 3) is larger than the width W2 of the rail portion 36.
4) is formed sufficiently long. Further, a portion that does not correspond to the rail portion 36 in such a range of the interval W1 is a disk holding portion 37.

As shown in FIG. 1, the label printing apparatus 1 has a built-in control unit 38. This control unit 38
Under the overall control of a CPU that centrally controls various units by executing various arithmetic processes that operate according to operation programs stored in a ROM, various drive control signals based on image data transmitted from the host computer 39 are transmitted to various controllers ( (Not shown) to drive and control each unit such as the disk transport device 4 and the printer unit 6. This control unit 3
The drive control of each unit by the control unit 8 includes, for example, control of the drive timing and current amount of the linear motor LM1 and the linear motor LM2 of the disk transport device 4, control of the irradiation timing and irradiation intensity of the optical writing device 13 of the printer unit 6, and the like. And control of drive timing of a motor or the like for driving the photoconductor 7.

Further, the label printing apparatus 1 is provided with a suction motor 40 which is a negative pressure generating section for generating a negative pressure. The suction motor 40 is provided with an air duct (not shown).
Through the suction port 28 of the transfer conveyance tray 22 and the suction port 31 of the fixing conveyance tray 23. When the suction motor 40 is driven and controlled by the control unit 38, a negative pressure is generated in each of the suction ports 28 and 31, and the mounted optical disc D is vacuum-sucked to the disc having the suction ports 28 and 31. Since it is possible to bring the optical disk D into close contact with the mounting portions 26 and 30, the conveyance force of the optical disk D is increased.

Further, the label printing device 1 is provided with a pressure detecting device 41. This pressure detecting device 41
Is provided inside an air duct (not shown) communicating with the suction port 28 of the transfer conveyance tray 22 and the suction port 31 of the fixing conveyance tray 23. The drive of the pressure detection device 41 is controlled by the control unit 38, so that each of the suction ports 28,
The detection of the pressure at 31 is possible. Note that, in the present embodiment, the value of the vacuum pressure P is set in the range of 54 (kPa) ≦ P ≦ 88 (kPa) when expressed in absolute pressure. If a vacuum pressure P of 54 (kPa) or less is detected, an abnormality notification signal is transmitted to the control unit 38 as a suction error, and the conveyance is stopped.

In such a configuration, when image data is transmitted from the host computer 39 to the control unit 38, various drive control signals are transmitted from the control unit 38 to the disk transport device 4, the printer unit 6, etc. via the various controllers. And label printing on the optical disc D is started.

In the disk transport device 4, the optical disk D is supplied from the optical disk supply device 2 to the transfer transport tray 22, and each optical disk D is set on a positioning pin 27 protruding above the transfer transport tray 22. When the optical disc D is set on the transfer / transport tray 22, the transport of the optical disc D is started in the transport direction A. The transport of the optical disk D is performed by driving the suction motor
After the optical disk D is normally vacuum-sucked to the transfer / transport tray 22 and the positioning pins 27 are lowered,
This is executed by driving the linear motor LM1. The transport of the optical disk D is performed by the disk charging device 14.
Is temporarily stopped in front of.

On the other hand, in the printer section 6, the photosensitive member 7 is uniformly charged to one polarity by the charging device 8.
Subsequently, at the exposure position of the uniformly charged photoconductor 7,
Light corresponding to image data is emitted from the optical writing device 13 to form an electrostatic latent image. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 7 is developed and visualized by attracting toner having a potential difference from the electrostatic latent image at a contact portion between the photoconductor 7 and the developing device 9. Thereafter, the visualized toner image on the surface of the photoconductor 7 is attracted to the surface of the transfer device 10 by the potential difference, and the toner remaining on the photoconductor 7 is wiped by the cleaning device 11. These series of operations are performed for each color, and images of the respective colors are superimposed on the transfer device 10, so that a full-color toner image is formed on the transfer device 10. Thereafter, the full-color toner image thus formed on the transfer device 10 is transported to the transfer position X.

On the other hand, with respect to the optical disk D on the transfer / transport tray 22 which has been stopped before the disk charging device 14, the full-color toner image of the transfer device 10 is conveyed to the transfer position X in synchronization with the operation. The transport starts again in the transport direction A. Optical disc D whose transport has been resumed
The printing surface (disk surface) is uniformly charged to a polarity opposite to that of the toner of the transfer device 10 when passing under the disk charging device 14. Thereafter, the uniformly charged optical disk D and the transfer device 10 are brought into contact with each other at the transfer position X, so that a full-color toner image is formed on the optical disk D.
Is attracted and transferred to the surface by electrostatic force. In addition,
When the disk D passes below the disk charging device 15 after passing through the transfer position X, the transfer device 1
The toner is uniformly charged to a polarity opposite to that of the 0 toner. As a result, the distance between the disk charging device 14 and the disk charging device 15 is set to a distance shorter than the outer diameter of the optical disk D, so that at least one of the disk charging device 14 and the disk charging device 15 is used during transfer. Since an electric charge is always supplied to the optical disc D from either side, a good image can be obtained over the entire surface of the optical disc D. In addition, since both the disk charging device 14 and the disk charging device 15 use a scorotron-type corona charger, they are not in contact with the optical disk D and thus are not easily affected by a change with time. Since the charging voltage of D is controlled by the grid voltage, stable transfer characteristics can be obtained for a long period of time.
After the transfer, the toner remaining on the transfer device 10 is wiped by the cleaning device 12.

Thereafter, the transfer / transport tray 22 on which the optical disc D with unfixed toner adhered is placed in the transport direction A.
Is further conveyed to the intermediate transfer unit 24. Transfer transport tray 22 that has reached the intermediate transfer unit 24
As shown in FIG. 6, the disk is further transported in the transport direction A while inserting the disk mounting portion 26 along the rail portion 36 of the intermediate transfer portion 24. Thereafter, when the transfer conveyance tray 22 overlaps the intermediate transfer section 24, the transfer rail 2
By lowering the disk mounting part 26 by adjusting the magnetic field generated at 0, all the optical disks D on the disk mounting part 26 are held on the disk holding part 37 of the intermediate transfer part 24 (FIG. 5). (A)). Thereafter, the transfer transport tray 22 is transported in the transport direction A in the opposite direction.
The apparatus waits again for the supply of the optical disk D from the optical disk supply device 2.

After the transfer / transport tray 22 is separated from the intermediate transfer section 24, the fixing / transport tray 23 is transported to the intermediate transfer section 24. The fixing transport tray 23 that has reached the intermediate transfer unit 24 is further transported in the direction opposite to the transport direction A while inserting the disc mounting unit 30 along the rail 36 of the intermediate transfer unit 24. Thereafter, when the fixing conveyance tray 23 overlaps with the intermediate transfer unit 24, the disk mounting unit 30 is raised by adjusting the magnetic field generated on the transfer rail 20, thereby the disk holding unit 3 of the intermediate transfer unit 24.
All the optical disks D held on the disk 7 are mounted and held on the disk mounting portion 30 of the fixing and conveying tray 23 (see FIG. 4A). Thereafter, the optical disc D is driven by the suction motor 40 so that the fixing conveyance tray 2
3 and is transported in the transport direction A.

The optical disk D to which the unfixed toner has adhered is heated when the fixing and conveying tray 23 passes through the fixing device 5 arranged in the conveying direction A.
The unfixed toner is fixed by the pressing action. Thus, an image is formed on the optical disc D, and the label-printed optical disc D 'is completed. The completed label-printed optical disk D 'is carried to the optical disk integration device 3 and integrated.

Here, the optical disk D mounted on the disk mounting portion 26 of the transfer transport tray 22 and the optical disk D mounted on the disk mounting portion 30 of the fixing transport tray 23
Is sucked and fixed to the disk mounting portions 26 and 30 by the negative pressure generated at the suction ports 28 and 31. As a result, the optical disk D is conveyed in a state in which the optical disk D is in close contact with the disk mounting portions 26 and 30, so that blurring during image transfer at the transfer position X and displacement of the optical disk D during image fixing in the fixing device 5 are prevented. .

When the disk transport device 4 for transporting the optical disk D is driven by the linear motors LM1 and LM2, the vibration and speed fluctuations are extremely reduced, and the optical disk mounted on the disk mounting portions 26 and 30 is reduced. D is transported stably.

Further, in the intermediate transfer portion 24 provided between the transfer position X and the fixing device 5, the optical disk D mounted on the disk mounting portion 26 of the slider 21a located on the transfer position X side is moved to the fixing device 5 Slider 21b located on the side
Is transferred to the disc mounting portion 30, the transfer operation at the transfer position X and the fixing operation at the fixing device 5 can be performed at the same time and at the respective optimum speeds. Improvement is achieved.

[0045]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the optical disk mounted on the disk mounting portion is attracted and fixed to the disk mounting portion by the negative pressure generated in the suction port of the disk mounting portion. Since the optical disk can be transported in a state in which the optical disk is in close contact with the disk mounting portion, blurring during image transfer at the transfer position and displacement of the optical disk during image fixing in the fixing device can be prevented, and occurrence of an abnormal image can be prevented. Can be prevented.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the label printing apparatus for an optical disk according to the first aspect, the disk transport device for transporting the optical disk is driven by a linear motor, so that vibrations and speed fluctuations are extremely reduced. Therefore, the optical disk mounted on the disk mounting portion can be stably transported, and occurrence of an abnormal image such as image unevenness can be prevented.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the label printing apparatus for an optical disk according to the second aspect, the disk loading mechanism of the slider located on the transfer position side in the disk transfer mechanism provided between the transfer position and the fixing device. By transferring the optical disk mounted on the mounting portion to the disk mounting portion of the slider located on the fixing device side, the transfer operation at the transfer position and the fixing operation in the fixing device can be performed simultaneously and at the respective optimum speeds. As a result, the productivity of image printing on an optical disc can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a configuration of a label printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram partially showing a configuration near a transfer position of the label printing apparatus.

FIG. 3A is a plan view illustrating an upper portion of a transfer conveyance tray.
FIG. 3B is a longitudinal sectional side view partially showing the transfer conveyance tray.

FIG. 4A is a plan view illustrating an upper portion of a fixing conveyance tray,
FIG. 3B is a vertical sectional side view partially showing the fixing conveyance tray.

FIG. 5A is a plan view showing an upper portion of an intermediate transfer unit,
(B) is a front view showing the side which intersects perpendicularly with the conveyance direction of an intermediate transfer part.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the disk mounting portion of the transfer conveyance tray is conveyed while being inserted along the rail portion of the intermediate transfer portion.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a configuration of a conventional label printing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a configuration of another conventional label printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 4 disk transport device 5 fixing device 6 image forming device 14, 15 disk charging device 20 rail 21 slider 24 disk transfer mechanism 26, 30 disk mounting portion 28, 31 suction port 40 negative pressure generating portion D, D 'optical disks LM1, LM2 Linear motor X transfer position

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Haruki Morikawa 3rd name Nakamiku, Shinmei-do, Shibata-cho, Shibata-cho, Miyagi Prefecture Tohoku Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Noboru Onodera Shibata-cho, Shibata-gun, Miyagi No. 3 Shinmeido, Tohoku Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tomiaki Kaneko No. 3 Shinmeido, Shinmei-cho, Shibata-cho, Shibata-gun, Miyagi Prefecture F-term in Tohoku Ricoh Co., Ltd. 2C062 RA01 2H030 AD05 2H072 CA03 JA08

Claims (3)

[Claims] A disk transport device that transports an optical disk placed on a disk loading portion, a disk charging device provided on a transport path of the disk transport device, and that uniformly charges a disk surface of the optical disk; Image formation in which a toner image formed by an electrophotographic method is transferred at a predetermined transfer position to a disk surface of the optical disk uniformly charged by the disk charging device at a predetermined transfer position, and the transferred toner image is fixed by a fixing device. A label printing device for an optical disk that prints a desired image on the disk surface of the optical disk, a negative pressure generating unit that generates a negative pressure, and an open state in the disk mounting unit of the disk transport device. And a suction port provided in communication with the negative pressure generating section. 2. The disk transport device according to claim 1, wherein the disk transport device is a linear motor that includes a slider that functions as a mover by mounting the disk mounting portion and a rail that functions as a stator and guides the slider in a linear direction. The optical disk label printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the label printing apparatus is driven. 3. A plurality of sliders which are respectively provided near the transfer position and the fixing device, and which are provided between the transfer position and the fixing device and are located on the transfer position side. 3. A disk transfer mechanism for transferring the optical disk mounted on the disk mounting portion of the slider to the disk mounting portion of the slider located on the fixing device side. An optical disk label printing apparatus as described in the above.