JP2001113686A - Image output apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an image output apparatus in which a dryer fixed to a printer can be drawn in and out freely and can be retreated to a position causing no hindrance when it is not used. SOLUTION: An image is written with ink drops on a long recording medium placed on a recording medium carrying passage provided on a machine body 2 supported at a specified height from the floor surface by means of legs 4 and then the recording medium is discharged downward from the end of the recording medium carrying passage. In such an image output apparatus, a dryer 66 is fixed to the leg 4 such that it can move between a draw-out position facing the recording face of the recording medium discharged from the recording medium carrying passage and a retreating position proximate to the leg 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image output device such as an ink jet printer / plotter and an ink drying mechanism for the image output device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image output apparatus such as an ink jet printer / plotter which forms an image on a recording medium by using ink droplets, after printing on the recording medium, it is very troublesome to handle the recording medium until the ink is not dried. . For this reason, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-166277,
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 96722, an ink drying mechanism for drying ink in a state where the ink is installed near a printing / image forming mechanism has been proposed.

[0003]

When an ink drying mechanism is attached to a printer / plotter, the entire printer / plotter device becomes large, and the storage space becomes large. An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems. Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink drying mechanism that can be easily attached later to an existing printer / plotter.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a body 2 is supported by a leg 4 at a predetermined height from the floor surface, and a long sheet on a recording medium conveying path provided in the body 2 is provided. In an image output apparatus which forms an image on a recording medium in a shape of an ink droplet and discharges the formed recording medium downward from the end of the recording medium transport path, a drying device 66 is attached to the leg 4, The drying device 66 can be moved between a withdrawal position facing the recording surface of the recorded recording medium discharged from the recording medium transport path and a retracted position approaching the leg 4, and the drying position is set to the standard position. And at least two of the weak drying positions further drawn from the standard position. Further, according to the present invention, the body 2 is supported at a predetermined height from the floor surface by the legs 4, and printing is performed by ink droplets on a long recording medium on a recording medium transport path provided in the body 2, In an ink drying mechanism used in an image output device for discharging a printed recording medium downward from the end of a recording medium transport path, guide members 46 and 48 attachable to legs 4 of the image output device; 4
Support member 5 slidable linearly with respect to 6, 48
8, 60, and a drying device 66 supported at the tip of the support members 58, 60. The drying device 66 is attached to the guide members 46, 48 attached to the legs 4 of the image output device. The image output device is movable between a withdrawal position facing a recording surface of a recorded recording medium discharged from a recording medium conveyance path of the image output device and a retreat position approaching the leg 4 of the image output device, and At least two of a standard position and a slightly dry position further extracted from the standard position
It is set at the position.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, 2
Is a body of the ink jet printer, which is supported by the legs 4. The legs 4 are composed of horizontal legs 4a arranged on the left and right sides of the body 2 and two vertical legs 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e provided on each of the horizontal legs 4a. ing.

A stand 6 extending in the direction perpendicular to the paper is fixed to the machine body 2, a platen 8 is supported on the stand 6 via the stand, and sheet guides 10 and 12 are disposed before and after the platen 8. ing. The platen 8, the paper guides 10, 1
Reference numeral 2 denotes a recording medium transport path. Reference numeral 14 denotes a rail, which is installed above a pair of columns fixed near both ends of the gantry 6. A support is fixed to the gantry 6, and a feed roller 16 is supported by the support.

[0007] The feed roller 16 is connected to a paper driving device controlled by a controller. A plurality of arms 18 are rotatably supported on the rail 14 by a shaft 22, and a pressure roller 20 is rotatably supported at the tip of each arm 18. The rear end of the arm 18 is supported by the tension force of a tension spring with the shaft 22 as a fulcrum.
During this time, the pressure roller 20 is urged clockwise, and the pressure roller 20 is in elastic contact with the feed roller 16 by this spring force.

A cursor 24 is movably attached to the rail 14 via a roller.
In addition, an ink jet recording head 26 is attached to face the platen 8. At the lower part of the leg 4 on the front side of the printer, there is provided a paper take-up mechanism 32 including a shaft holder 30 and a drive unit for rotating and driving the shaft 28 in the take-up direction.

A shaft holder 38 for rotatably supporting a shaft 36 mounted on a core of a roll portion 34a of the roll paper 34 is provided at an intermediate portion of the leg 4 on the back side of the printer. . The roll paper 34 fed from the roll portion 34a of the roll paper 34 supported by the shaft holder 38 passes through the guide roller 40, the paper guide 12, the space between the feed roller 16 and the pressure roller 20, the platen 8 and the paper guide 10, and
It is configured to be wound around a winding shaft 28.

Next, the ink drying mechanism will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, elongated box-shaped covers 42, 44 are fixed to the left and right vertical legs 4b, 4c and 4d, 4e of the leg 4 via mounting brackets 5 by screwing. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, each of the covers 42 and 44 has
Elongated guide members 46 and 48 are fixed to each other in the direction parallel to the floor surface and perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rails 14 at the same height.

The guide members 46 and 48 have rollers 50,
As shown in FIG. 7, a frame 62 having a U-shaped cross section fixed to elongated support members 58, 60 is slidably fitted to the rollers. I have. As shown in FIG. 2, both ends of a holder 68 of an elongated drying device 66 are fixed to the tips of the support members 58 and 60. The holder 68 of the drying device 66 holds a quartz tube far-infrared heater 70 and a reflection plate 71. When the drying device 66 is pushed to move the support members 58 and 60 to the innermost ends of the guide members 46 and 48 as indicated by phantom lines in FIGS. Move to position. The drying device 66 shown in FIG. 2 shows a state where it is pushed to the retreat position.

The retracted position is set at a position below the body 2 of the printer so as not to protrude from the front of the printer (the right side in FIG. 1). The pulling-out position of the drying device 66 is set at two positions, a standard position and a weak drying position, and index holes 72, 74, 76, 78 are formed in the support members 58, 60 corresponding to the two positions. Has been drilled.
Arms 82 and 84 are rotatably supported in the covers 42 and 44.
6, 88 are rotatably supported.

The arms 82 and 84 are urged by springs in a predetermined rotational direction, and the urging force causes the rollers 86 and 88 to rotate.
Are in elastic contact with the wall surfaces of the support members 58 and 60. A limit switch 90 is built in the cover 42, and the movable switch piece of the limit switch 90 is
Facing. When the drying device 66 is pulled out to any one of the two positions, the drying device 66 faces the screen of the printed paper 34 in a state of protruding from the front of the printer. It is configured to irradiate the screen 34.

The heater 70 of the drying device 66 is connected to an external AC power supply 96 via an interlocking relay switch 92 and a heater power switch 94 as shown in FIG. One end of a coil 100 of the relay 98 is connected to a DC power supply 102 for driving the relay, and the other end of the coil 100 is connected via a limit switch 90 to a drain of a switching element 104 composed of an FET (field effect transistor). ing. The gate of the switching element 104 is connected to a voltage controller 106 connected to the output of the controller.
Connected to

The voltage control unit 106 includes a controller 1
The digital signal of 0 is converted into a switch-on control voltage signal and a switch-off control voltage signal. Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. When the power of the printer is turned on, the DA converter 10 receives a signal from the controller.
6 supplies a high-level voltage to the gate of the switching element 104, and the switching element 104 becomes conductive.

When the drying device 66 is pushed into the retracted position indicated by the imaginary line in FIG. 1, the drying device 66 is located below the machine body 2 and inside the winding and conveying path of the paper 34, and It is retracted inside the printer by a predetermined distance from the front end of the front. In the retracted state, the rollers 86, 88 are pressed against the lower surfaces of the support members 58, 60 against the spring force, and are displaced downward by a predetermined angle. Due to the displacement of the roller 86, the limit switch 90 is turned off.

When the limit switch 90 is off, the power supply circuit to the coil 100 of the relay 98 is cut off, the relay switch 92 is off, and the power supply to the heater 70 of the drying device 66 is cut off. .
When shifting to the drawing operation, the drying device 66 is pulled out to the front of the printer, and the rollers 86 and 88 are moved by the support members 58 and
When the drying device 66 reaches the standard position as shown in FIG. 5, the drawing operation of the drying device 66 is stopped.

When the roller 86 is fitted into the index hole 72, the limit switch 90 is turned on and the relay 98 is turned on.
Is energized, the relay 98 is activated, and the relay switch 92 is turned on. Thus, when the heater power switch 94 is turned on next, the heater 70 of the drying device 66 is energized. Next, when the drawing operation is started, the feed roller 16 intermittently rotates clockwise in FIG. 1, the roll paper 34 moves rightward on the platen 8, and the roll paper 34 is sequentially moved by the winding mechanism 32. Is wound on the take-up shaft 28.

On the other hand, the cursor 24 is reciprocally driven along the rail 14 in the direction perpendicular to the paper of FIG.
An image is formed on the roll paper 34 by ink droplets ejected from the printer. The screen created by the ink droplets on the roll paper 34 is subjected to a drying process by the drying device 66 before being wound on the winding shaft 28. When it is desired to reduce the heater heat of the drying device 66 due to the humidity of the printing environment, the type of ink, and the like, the drying device 66 is further pulled out to the set slightly dry position.

When the drying device 66 is pulled out to the slightly dry position, the rollers 86 and 88 are fitted into the index holes 74 and 78 of the support members 58 and 60, as shown in FIGS.
Inform the operator of the weakly dry position intuitively. In this weak drying position, the limit switch 90 is turned on. If there is an error in the printer while the drying device 66 is energized,
A cutoff signal is supplied from the controller to the gate of the switching element 104 via the voltage control unit 106, the switching element 104 is turned off, and the relay switch 92 is turned off.

In this embodiment, the roll paper is used as the drawing medium. However, the present invention is not limited to the roll paper.
Further, there is no particular limitation on the configuration in which the discharge side of the roll paper is wound by the winding mechanism. Further, the drying device 66 is not particularly limited to the far-infrared heater, and a blower or the like may be used.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the drying device is not used, the drying device can be evacuated to a position where it does not interfere, and the working space can be effectively utilized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall left side view of an image output apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a part of the drying device in a retracted position.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a part of the drying device in a drawer position.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a weak drying position of the drying device.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a standard position of the drying device.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the drying device.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line AA.

FIG. 8 is a power supply circuit diagram of the drying device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Body 4 Leg 4a Horizontal leg 4b Vertical leg 4c Vertical leg 4d Vertical leg 4e Vertical leg 5 Mounting bracket 6 Mount 8 Platen 10 Paper guide 12 Paper guide 14 Rail 16 Feed roller 18 Arm 20 Pressure roller 22 Axis 24 Cursor 26 Recording head 28 Paper take-up shaft 30 Axis holder 32 Paper take-up mechanism 34 Roll paper 34a Roll paper 36 Axis 38 Axis holder 40 Guide roller 42 Cover 44 Cover 46 Guide member 48 Guide member 50 Roller 54 Roller 56 Roller 58 Support member 60 Support member 62 Frame 64 Frame 66 Drying device 68 Holder 70 Heater 72 Index hole 74 Index hole 76 Index hole 78 Index hole 80 Arm 82 Arm 84 Arm 86 Roller 88 Roller 90 Limit Switch 92 relay switch 94 heater power switch 96 AC power supply 98 relay 100 coil 102 DC power supply 104 switching element 106 voltage controller

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A body (2) is supported by a leg (4) at a predetermined height from the floor, and an image is formed on a long recording medium on a recording medium transport path provided in the body (2) by ink droplets. And a drying device (66) is attached to the leg (4). The drying device (66) is configured to discharge the printed recording medium downward from the end of the recording medium transport path. An image output device that is movable between a pull-out position facing a recording surface of a recorded recording medium discharged from the recording medium transport path and a retracted position approaching the leg (4). apparatus. 2. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing position is set to at least two positions of a standard position and a weak drying position further drawn from the standard position. 3. A body (2) is supported by a leg (4) at a predetermined height from the floor surface, and ink droplets are formed on a long recording medium on a recording medium transport path provided in the body (2) by ink droplets. In an ink drying mechanism used in an image output apparatus in which an image is printed and a printed recording medium is discharged downward from the end of the recording medium transport path, a guide member (4) attachable to a leg (4) of the image output apparatus. 46) and (48) and the guide member (4).
6) Support members (58) and (60) slidable in a linear direction with respect to (48), and the support members (58) and (60).
A drying device (66) supported at the tip of the image output device, and a guide member (46) attached to the leg (4) of the image output device.
With respect to (48), the drying device (66) is pulled out from the recording surface of the recorded recording medium discharged from the recording medium transporting path of the image output device, and a leg ( (4) An ink drying mechanism for an image output device, wherein the ink drying mechanism is movable between a retracted position approaching (4). 4. The ink drying mechanism for an image output device according to claim 3, wherein the drawing position is set to at least two positions of a standard position and a weak drying position further drawn from the standard position. .