JP2001162883A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet printer of a simple structure in which troubles are not generated in the feed of a recording medium and an ink jetted on the recording medium is not made to adhere on a roller. SOLUTION: An ink jet printer is provided with a recording medium transfer mechanism 21 for reciprocatingly feeding a recording medium T and a printing head 23 for printing on the recording medium T, and the recording medium feed mechanism 21 is provided with a pair of feed rollers 33a and 33b formed respectively of driving rollers 35a and 35b and follower rollers 36a and 36b. A pair of feed rollers 33a and 33b are formed of non-slip rollers 33b and slip rollers 33a, and the driving roller 35b for the non-slip roller 33b positioned on the recording face side of the recording medium T is provided with a pair of roller main bodies 39b, 39b positioned outside a printing area S whereon printing is carried out by the printing head 23 and directly and rotatably brought into contact with the recording medium T.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer for feeding a recording medium using a feed roller in printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional ink jet printer, printing is performed by reciprocating a print head and ejecting ink while intermittently feeding a recording medium. In this case, the ink ejected on the recording medium is immediately absorbed, but if the ink remains on the surface of the recording medium in a wet state, it adheres to the feed roller, and the feed roller stains the recording medium as well as the original. I will. For this reason, the recording medium after printing is heated or blown to make the surface dry, and is then brought into rolling contact with the feed roller. When heating or blowing is not performed, use a special recording medium with good ink absorption, slow down the printing speed to increase the drying time, and use thin rollers that roll on the recording surface of the recording medium. The contact area with the recording surface is minimized by using a star-shaped roller.

[0003]

In such a conventional ink-jet printer, there is a problem in that the structure is complicated when heating or blowing air is performed. Further, a printing speed that is slow is not preferable against user needs. Further, even if a star-shaped roller is used, there is a problem that the adhesion of ink is unavoidable, though the amount is very small.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet printer which has a simple structure and does not cause ink ejected on a recording medium to adhere to a feed roller without causing a problem in feeding the recording medium. .

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an ink jet printer comprising a recording medium feeding mechanism for feeding a recording medium in one direction, and a print head for printing on a recording medium to be fed. In the printer,
The recording medium feed mechanism is located forward of the print head in the recording medium feed direction, has a feed roller composed of a driving roller and a driven roller, and is located on the recording surface side of the recording medium among the driving roller and the driven roller. One of the rollers has a pair of roller bodies that are located outside the printing area of the print head and are in direct contact with the recording medium.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet printer including a recording medium feeding mechanism for reciprocatingly feeding a recording medium, and a print head for facing and printing on the fed recording medium. ,
The recording medium feed mechanism is located before and after the print head in the recording medium feed direction, and has a pair of feed rollers each including a drive roller and a driven roller, and the pair of feed rollers includes a non-slip roller and a slip roller. At least the non-slip roller is a pair of the drive roller and the driven roller, one of which is located on the recording surface side of the recording medium and which is located outside the printing area by the print head and is in direct contact with the recording medium. It is characterized by having a roller body.

According to these configurations, in the feed roller for feeding the recording medium, one of the driving roller and the driven roller located on the recording surface side of the recording medium is one of the driving roller and the driven roller.
Since there is a pair of roller bodies located outside the printing area of the print head, the feed roller does not come into contact with the print portion of the recording medium when feeding the recording medium. In other words, the feed roller rolls and feeds the recording medium,
It only touches the outside of the print area of the recording medium, and does not contact the portion where the ink is ejected. Therefore, the feed roller is not stained with ink, and the recording medium is not stained with ink via the feed roller. Further, there is no restriction such as lowering the printing speed in consideration of drying of the ink.

In this case, the apparatus further comprises a head moving mechanism for intermittently feeding the print head in a direction orthogonal to the feed direction, and control means for controlling the recording medium feed mechanism, the print head, and the head moving mechanism. It is preferable to print on the recording medium while reciprocating the recording medium and intermittently feeding the print head.

According to this structure, the recording medium is reciprocated and the print head is intermittently fed, so that the ink jet printing can be performed in which the recording medium is main-scanned and the print head is sub-scanned. Thus, it is not necessary to move a relatively heavy print head at high speed, and the printing speed can be easily increased by reciprocating a relatively lightweight recording medium at high speed. Further, the power consumption of the power source can be reduced as compared with a conventional inkjet printer that performs main scanning of a print head.

In these cases, the recording medium after printing is completed is
It is preferable to further include a longitudinal cutter that cuts in parallel with the feeding direction inside a portion where the pair of roller bodies rolls.

According to this configuration, it is possible to freely obtain a printed recording medium having an arbitrary width by using a recording medium having a constant width. This eliminates the need for a device structure that can accept a plurality of types of recording media having different widths. Further, by printing a predetermined background color on a recording medium and then cutting it to a width slightly smaller than the printing width, a completely solid-colored background can be printed.

In this case, it is preferable that the longitudinal cutter has a pair of left and right cutter blades and a cutting width adjusting mechanism for moving the pair of cutter blades in a direction perpendicular to the feed direction.

[0013] According to this configuration, each recording medium can be freely cut into an arbitrary width, and a printed recording medium having a width intended by the user can be easily obtained.

In these cases, the recording medium has an adhesive and release paper on the back surface opposite to the recording surface, and the longitudinal cutter can cut the recording medium in half while leaving the release paper. ,preferable.

According to this configuration, the cut recording medium can be discharged out of the apparatus together with the release paper, so that the cut recording medium can be easily handled and the printed recording medium can be attached. It can be easily attached to the object.

In these cases, it is preferable that the recording medium is a printing tape which is fed out of a state wound in a roll and used for printing.

According to this configuration, even if the printing tape is long, it can be appropriately fed, and good printing can be performed without causing ink stains.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a case where an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a tape printer will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This tape printer performs color printing of desired characters and the like input by keys on a printing tape by an ink jet method,
The printing portion of the printing tape is cut into a desired width and length to produce a label. In this case, the printing tape is provided with release paper, and is provided in a state of being wound in a roll shape and housed in a tape cartridge.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the tape printing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, in the tape printing apparatus 1, a keyboard 4 is provided at a front part of an apparatus case 3 constituting an outer shell of the apparatus main body 2, a display 5 is provided at an intermediate part, and an opening and closing is provided at a rear part. A lid 6 is provided. A tape discharge port 7 for discharging the printed printing tape (label) T to the outside is formed on the left side of the apparatus case 3, and the printing tape T is moved back on the right side (the details will be described later). ) Is formed with a buffer port 8 for letting it escape. And
With the opening / closing lid 6 opened, a tape cartridge containing the printing tape T and an ink cartridge filled with four colors of ink are attached to and detached from the apparatus main body 2.

Next, the main mechanism of the tape printing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main mechanism with the tape cartridge 10 removed, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the main mechanism with the tape cartridge 10 mounted. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main mechanism, and FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the main mechanism. As shown in these drawings, the main mechanism section 9 includes a tape feed mechanism 21 for feeding a print tape T, and a print mechanism 2 including a print head 23 for printing on the print tape T by an inkjet method.
2, a longitudinal cutter mechanism 24 for cutting the printed portion of the printing tape T to a predetermined width, a crossing cutter mechanism 25 for cutting the printed portion of the printing tape T to a predetermined length, and a printing tape for returning. T, a buffer 26 for accommodating T, a waste ink treatment mechanism 27 to which the print head 23 faces when printing is stopped or when printing is stopped, and a device frame 2 that supports these components.
8 is constituted.

The printing tape T fed from the tape cartridge 10 by the tape feeding mechanism 21 passes through the front surface of the printing mechanism (print head 23) 22 and is fed toward the tape discharge port 7, which will be described later. The print tape T reciprocates on the front surface of the print head 23 as shown in FIG. In response to the reciprocating movement of the print tape T, the print head 2
3 ejects ink while reciprocating in a direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the printing tape T. In this way, the reciprocating motion of the printing tape T and the reciprocating motion of the print head 23 are repeated, and desired printing on the printing tape T is performed. When the printing is completed, the vertical cutter mechanism 24 faces the print tape T sent toward the tape discharge port 7 and cuts (half-cuts) the print tape T into a desired width. Furthermore, the crossing cutter mechanism 25 faces the fed printing tape T and cuts it to a predetermined length, thereby producing a label having a width and length desired by the user.

On the other hand, the return portion of the printing tape T generated when the printing tape T moves backward is sent to the buffer 26 without being wound up by the tape cartridge 10. Further, during non-printing such as when printing is stopped or when the power is turned off, the print head 23 appropriately faces the waste ink processing mechanism 27, and processes such as flushing, cleaning, and ink suction are performed.

Before describing the components in detail, the printing method which is the feature of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 15 in order to facilitate understanding. Explanation will be made while comparing. In both figures,
In order to clearly understand the movement of each part, a case where the recording medium is printing paper P instead of printing tape T will be described.

FIG. 15 shows a conventional printing method. In this case, in synchronization with a print head H reciprocating in a printing area,
The printing paper P is intermittently fed in one direction and printing is performed.
That is, the printing paper P is intermittently fed in the sub-scanning direction with respect to the print head H which ejects ink while reciprocating in the main scanning direction, so that a desired character is printed on the printing paper P.
It is printed at the desired position on the top.

FIG. 6 shows a printing method according to the embodiment. In this case, the printing is performed by intermittently feeding the print head 23 in synchronism with the printing paper P being reciprocated in the printing area. That is, the printing head 23 is intermittently fed while ejecting ink in the sub-scanning direction with respect to the printing paper P reciprocating in the main scanning direction, so that a desired character is printed at a desired position on the printing paper P. You. That is, printing is sequentially performed on the printing paper P that is sufficiently wide compared to the length of the nozzle row 44 described later in the width direction.

As described above, the printing method according to the embodiment is the reverse of the conventional method in which the print head H is used as the main scanning side and the printing paper P is used as the sub-scanning side. On the scanning side, printing is sequentially performed in the width direction of the printing paper P. For this reason, in the printing method of the embodiment, the paper surface of the printing paper P is filled with the characters in the width direction, and in the conventional printing method, the characters are filled with the characters in the length direction. In both methods, the arrangement of the ink nozzles of each color (the extending direction of the nozzle row 44) is also reversed.
The directions are mutually rotated by 90 °.

In the case where a printing tape T continuous in the longitudinal direction is used as a recording medium, the reciprocating distance is set in advance and reciprocating feeding is performed. Therefore, if the label to be created is longer than the reciprocating distance set in advance, printing is performed in a plurality of times. Further, in the printing method according to the embodiment, printing (drive of the print head 23) is performed only when the print tape T moves forward, but printing may be performed even when the print tape T moves backward. Further, it is preferable that the print head 23 performs printing (ink ejection) in any direction in a reciprocating motion.

Next, the tape feeding mechanism 21 for reciprocatingly feeding the printing tape T will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the tape feed mechanism 21 includes a feed motor (not shown) capable of rotating forward and backward, a reduction gear train 32 connected to the feed motor, and a taper gear train 32 connected to the feed motor. And a feed roller 33. The feed roller 33 includes a forward feed roller 33a located downstream of the print head 23 in the tape feed direction and a backward feed roller 33 located upstream.
b, and each of these front and rear feed rollers 3
3a and 33b are driving rollers 35a and 35b and driven rollers 36a and 36
b.

The front and rear feed rollers 33aq, 33
b are provided on the apparatus main body 2 and the driven rollers 36a and 36b are mounted on the tape cartridge 1.
0 is provided. That is, each drive roller 35a,
35b are respectively connected to the reduction gear train 32 and are simultaneously rotated by the feed motor. In addition, each driven roller 36
Reference numerals a and 36b are rotatably attached to the cartridge case 81 of the tape cartridge 10 as free rollers (see FIG. 12). The driven rollers 36a and 36b may be provided on the apparatus main body 2.

As shown in FIG. 7, the drive roller 35a of the forward feed roller 33a is constituted by a so-called slip roller, and the drive roller 35b of the backward feed roller 33b is constituted by a non-slip roller. The slip roller rotates at a slightly higher peripheral speed (peripheral speed) than the non-slip roller. In other words, the drive roller 35b of the post-feed roller 33b that is in a non-slip rotation
, The feed of the printing tape T is controlled, and a constant tension is given to the printing tape T by the driving roller 35a of the forward feeding roller 33a that performs the slip rotation. Further, a one-way clutch is incorporated in the drive roller 35a of the forward feed roller 33a.
During the forward movement, the motor rotates and when returning, the motor rotates freely.

Reference numeral 37 in the drawing denotes a leading end detection sensor for detecting the leading end position of the printing tape T which is reciprocated and fed. The leading end detecting sensor 37 detects the leading end position of the printing tape T at the start of the forward movement. Is accurately detected. This prevents the printing start position from being shifted in the reciprocating printing operation for a plurality of times.

FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the post-feed roller 33b and the print head 23. The driven roller 36b of the rear feed roller 33b includes a roller shaft 38a and a roller body 38b fixed to the roller shaft 38a and substantially corresponding to the tape width of the printing tape T. On the other hand, the driving roller 35b of the post-feed roller 33b has a roller shaft 39a and
It comprises a pair of narrow roller bodies 39b, 39b fixed to both ends of the roller shaft 39a.

The pair of roller bodies 39b, 3
9b is located outside the print area S of the print head 23 and is in rolling contact with the print tape T. That is, the pair of roller bodies 39b, 39b is in rolling contact with a portion corresponding to a print margin in the width direction of the print tape T. Accordingly, when the printing tape T is reciprocated, the driving roller 35b that is in contact with the recording surface thereof does not come into contact with the ink discharge portion of the printing tape T at all, regardless of whether the ink has dried. Therefore, ink does not adhere to the drive roller 35b.

On the other hand, the driven roller 3 of the advance roller 33a
6a has the same form as the driven roller 36b of the backward feed roller 33b, but the drive roller 35a of the forward feed roller 33a has a star-shaped roller body (star wheel) 39b at an intermediate position of the roller shaft 39a. It is equipped. Thus, the drive roller 35 of the post-feed roller 33b
Reference numeral b denotes a non-slip roller which mainly performs reciprocating feeding of the printing tape T, and is configured so as not to come into contact with a portion of the printing tape T where ink is ejected on the recording surface side. Further, the driving roller 35a of the forward feed roller 33a
Are configured so as to contact the recording surface side of the printing tape T with as small an area as possible as a slip roller.

Next, the printing mechanism 22 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the printing mechanism 22 includes a head unit 41 on which the print head 23 is mounted, and a unit moving mechanism 42 for reciprocating the head unit 41 in the vertical direction.
It is composed of The head unit 41 has 5
Print head 23 having three nozzle rows 44 (see FIG. 7)
And an ink cartridge 45 for supplying four color inks of yellow, magenta, cyan and black to the print head 23, and a carriage 46 holding the print head 23 and detachably mounting the ink cartridge 45. .

On the other hand, the unit moving mechanism 42 includes a pair of left and right carriage guide shafts 47, 47 for supporting the head unit 41 in a reciprocating manner, a screw shaft 48 disposed on the back side, and a gear for rotating the screw shaft 48. It comprises a row (not shown) and a forward / reverse rotatable carriage motor (not shown) as a power source. Screw shaft 48
Penetrates the carriage 46 and engages with it, and a screw mechanism is formed between the screw shaft 48 and the engagement portion of the carriage 46. That is, the screw shaft 48 is formed by a male screw, and the engaging portion of the carriage 46 is formed by a female screw. When the screw shaft 48 rotates forward and reverse in response to the rotation of the carriage motor, the head unit 41 It is guided by the guide shafts 47 and reciprocates vertically.

The print head (head unit 41)
23 reciprocates (vertically moves) a printing area corresponding to the width of the printing tape T at the time of printing.
At the time of non-printing such as FF, it moves down beyond the printing area,
It faces the waste ink processing mechanism 27.

The waste ink processing mechanism 27 includes a print head 23
, A head cap 52 facing the print head 23, a cap moving mechanism 53 for moving the head cap 52 forward and backward, and a head cap 5
And a pump mechanism 54 for sucking the waste ink of No. 2 and the ink of the print head 23. For example, when printing is stopped or before or after printing is completed, the print head 23 faces the head cap 52, and so-called flushing is performed. When the power is turned off, the head cap 52
The cap moving mechanism 53 is moved to the print head 23 facing
As a result, the head cap 52 moves forward and comes into close contact with it.
Further, when a predetermined time elapses from this state until the power is turned on, the pump mechanism 54 is driven to suck ink, and the wiper 51 is driven to perform wiping of the nozzle surface of the print head 23.

Next, the longitudinal cutter mechanism 24 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in both figures, the longitudinal cutter mechanism 24 includes a pair of disk-shaped cutter blades 61, a pair of cutter holding members 62, 62 respectively holding the cutter blades 61, and a pair of cutter holding members 62. , 62 movably in a direction perpendicular to the tape feed direction, and a cutting width adjusting mechanism 64 for moving the pair of cutter blades 61, 61 in the direction of separation and contact with each other via a cutter holding member 62. And

The pair of cutter blades 61, 61 cuts only the tape body of the printing tape T composed of the tape body and the release paper. The printing tape T is taped so that the tape body has a predetermined tape width. Parallel to feed direction (vertically)
Half cut at two places. Each cutter holding member 62 includes
A holding member main body 66 on the proximal end side, an arm portion 67 on the distal end side rotatably attached to the holding member main body 66, a torsion coil spring 68 interposed between the holding member main body 66 and the arm portion 67; , And the cutter blade 61 is attached to the tip of the arm portion 67 so as to be capable of braking rotation. That is, the cutter blade 61 abutted against the sent print tape T half-cuts the print tape T while slowly rotating the brake. Further, the support rod 63 is a spline shaft, and the base of the holding member main body 66 is spline-engaged with the support rod 63 slidably in the axial direction.

The arm 67 of the upper cutter holding member 62
Has an interlocking bar 6 extending toward the lower arm 67.
9 is fixed, and the interlocking bar 69 is attached to the lower arm 6.
7 is in contact with the back. Further, a cam block 71 having a cam slope 71a is attached to a lower portion of the interlock bar 69. The cam block 71 has a head unit 41 facing the waste ink processing mechanism 27.
, And the cutter blade 61 is pressed against the printing tape T via the interlocking bar 69 by the cam action of the cam slope 71a (see FIG. 10). A receiving plate 73 that sandwiches the printing tape T between the printing tape T and the cutter blade 61 is disposed on the back side of the illustrated printing tape T (see FIG. 2).

On the other hand, the arm portion 67 is rotationally urged by a torsion coil spring 68 so as to separate the cutter blade 61 from the printing tape T. That is, when the head unit 41 is moved to a position away from the waste ink processing mechanism 27, such as during printing, the torsion coil spring 6
8, the two cutter blades 61, 61 are attached to the printing tape T.
The head unit 41 moves to a standby position separated from the waste ink processing mechanism 27 such as when printing is completed.
Are moved to the cutting position (half cut position) where the cutter blades 61, 61 cut into the printing tape T via the cam block 71.

An upper rack 74 parallel to the support rod 63 is attached to the holding member main body 66 of the upper cutter holding member 62, and similarly, the upper rack 74 is bent to the holding member main body 66 of the lower cutter holding member 62. A lower rack 75 extending parallel to the support rod 63 is attached. The upper rack 74 and the lower rack 75 are opposed to each other by biting a pinion 76, and the rotation of the pinion 76 causes the upper cutter holding member 62 and the lower cutter holding portion 62 to be simultaneously moved in the separating / contacting direction. In addition, they move at the same distance.

Although not shown in the figure, a motor is provided as a power source of the cutting width adjusting mechanism 64, and the pinion 76 is rotated forward and reverse by the motor.
The distance (cut tape width) between the two cutter blades 61, 61 is adjusted. In this case, the cutting width of the printing tape T by the cutting width adjustment mechanism 64 can be input numerically or selectively after mode switching using the keyboard 4.
When printing a background color or the like on the printing tape T,
If the printing width is set to be larger than the cutting width, the printing tape after the cutting will be printed in good solid color. The cutting width adjusting mechanism 64 may be provided with, for example, a knob on the lower rack 75 and operate the lower rack 75 with a finger, so that the lower rack 75 can be manually adjusted. In such a case, the pinion 76 is rotatably attached to the apparatus frame 28 or the like.

When a series of printing is completed, first, the cutting width adjusting mechanism 64 is driven to move the two cutter blades 61 so as to have a predetermined distance (cut tape width), and at the same time, the head unit 41 is discarded. It moves down to the position of the ink processing mechanism 27. Then, when the head unit 41 stops at the lower end position, both cutter blades 61, 61 rotate by the action of a cam and come into contact with the printing tape T, and are in a cutting standby state.
Next, the tape feed mechanism 21 is driven to feed the print tape T toward the tape discharge port 7. Here, the print tape T is half-cut by the interaction between the feed of the print tape T and the cutter blade 61. When the printed portion is half-cut, the tape feed mechanism 21 stops driving, and subsequently, the transverse cutter mechanism 25 is driven, and the printed portion of the half-cut print tape T is fully cut. Disconnect.

The cutter blade 6 of the longitudinal cutter mechanism 24
1 may be configured as a single piece and cut at a predetermined width from one end in the width direction of the printing tape T. Also, an oblique blade may be used instead of the disk-shaped cutter blade. Of course, a structure may be employed in which the cutter blade is rotated using the power of a motor or the like to perform a half cut. Further, as the cutting width adjusting mechanism 64, a screw mechanism or the like may be used instead of the rack and pinion.

On the other hand, as schematically shown in FIG. 9, the transverse cutter mechanism 25 is constituted by a so-called rotary cutter, and is disposed immediately downstream of the longitudinal cutter mechanism 24 in the tape feed direction. The tape discharge port 7 is located immediately downstream of the transverse cutter mechanism 25. Note that, instead of the rotary cutter, the crossing cutter mechanism 25 may be configured by a cutter mechanism including a scissor-type cutter regardless of, for example, automatic or manual. In addition, the transverse cutter mechanism 25
May be disposed upstream of the longitudinal cutter mechanism 24 in the tape feeding direction.

Next, the tape cartridge 10 and the buffer 26 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the tape cartridge 10 is configured by housing a printing tape T wound around a tape core 82 in a box-shaped cartridge case 81. The cartridge case 81 includes the front and rear feed rollers 33a and 33b.
The two driven rollers 36a and 36b are rotatably accommodated. Two roller openings 83a, 8 facing the drive rollers 35a, 35b are provided on the front wall 81a of the cartridge case 81 facing the driven rollers 36a, 36b.
3b is formed. In addition, these two roller openings 8
A head opening 84 facing the print head 23 is formed between 3a and 83b, and a guide wall 85 for guiding the feeding of the printing tape T is formed inside the head opening 84.

Both side walls 81 of the cartridge case 10
b, 81b include the driven roller 36 of the forward feed roller 33a.
A tape outlet 86 is formed in front of the tape feed roller a, and a tape escape opening 87 is formed in the rear of the driven roller 36b of the rear feed roller 33b. A guide roller (guide member) 88 is provided facing the tape escape opening 87, and a guide pin 89 is provided near the guide roller 88. In the cartridge case 81, the path of the printing tape T is changed by a guide pin 89 and a guide roller 88, and both the driven rollers 36
a and 36b, and is fed out from the tape outlet 86 toward the tape outlet 7.

The two driven rollers 36a and 36b and the guide roller 88 are located substantially on a straight line, and a tape escape opening 87 is located on the extension thereof. Therefore, when the printing tape T is sent to the upstream side during the backward movement, the return portion Ta is sent out of the tape escape opening 87 to the outside of the tape cartridge 10 without being wound up by the tape core 82. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a buffer 26 is provided outside the tape cartridge 10 so as to face the tape escape opening 87. Therefore, the return portion Ta of the printing tape T is sent to the buffer 26 from the tape escape opening 87.

The buffer 26 is formed in a U-shaped cross section, and extends on the straight line. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the buffer 26 is
From the outside. With the reciprocating movement of the printing tape T, the return portion Ta of the printing tape T moves in and out of the buffer 26 while drawing a U-shape. In the drawings, the mounting portion of the tape cartridge 10 including the base plate and both side plates is omitted.

Next, an ink jet printer to which the printing method of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. The ink jet printer 11 uses printing paper P as a recording medium, and only the main mechanism 13 will be described here. As shown in both figures,
The main mechanism unit 13 includes a paper feed mechanism 91 for feeding the printing paper P.
A printing mechanism 92 having a print head 93 for performing printing on the printing paper P by an ink-jet method, a waste ink processing mechanism (not shown) facing the print head 93, and an apparatus frame 94 supporting these constituent devices. It is configured.

The device frame 94 includes a pair of left and right side plates 10.
1 and 101, and a guide plate 102 and a buffer plate 103 extending between both side plates 101 and 101. The guide plate 102 extends horizontally between the front and rear feed rollers 113a and 113b, which will be described later, and is disposed so as to face the print head 93. The guide plate 102 guides the feed of the printing paper P used for printing. Buffer plate 1
03 extends horizontally behind the rear feed roller 113b,
In addition, the upper surface is disposed at the same height level as the guide plate 102, and the printing paper P at the time of the backward movement is fed.

The paper feed mechanism 91 introduces a feed motor 111 that can be rotated forward and backward, a reduction gear train 112 connected to the feed motor 111, a feed roller 113 connected to the reduction gear train 112, and the printing paper P. And a paper feed plate 114. The feed roller 113 includes a forward feed roller 113a located downstream of the print head 93 in the paper feed direction and a backward feed roller 1 located upstream.
13b. Each of the front and rear feed rollers 113a and 113b is composed of upper driven rollers 116a and 116b facing each other across the printing paper P and lower drive rollers 117a and 117b.

Then, each of the driving rollers 117a, 117b
Are supported by left and right side plates 101, 101, respectively connected to a reduction gear train 112 disposed outside one side plate 101 (right side in the figure), and a feed motor 111 disposed inside one side plate 101. Rotated by the power of. Also in this case, the forward feed roller 113a is constituted by a slip roller incorporating a one-way clutch, and the backward feed roller 113b is constituted by a non-slip roller.

The feed plate 114 is provided with
It is disposed diagonally forward and downward toward 3b. Although omitted in the drawing, a paper feed roller is provided on the upper front part of the paper feed plate 114, and the rotation of the paper feed roller causes
The printing paper P stacked on the paper feeding plate 114 is fed one by one toward the backward feed roller 113b. In addition, instead of this sheet supply plate 114,
A paper cassette for storing the printing paper P may be detachably mounted.

The printing mechanism 92 includes a head unit 121 including a print head 93, an ink cartridge 122, and a carriage 123, and a unit moving mechanism 124 for reciprocating the head unit 121 in the left-right direction. The unit moving mechanism 124 includes two side plates 101, 1
01 between the front screw shaft 126 and both side plates 1
It comprises a guide shaft 127a and a guide bar 127b on the rear side passed between the gears 01 and 101, a gear train 128 for rotating the screw shaft 126, and a forward / reverse rotatable carriage motor 129 as a power source. Screw shaft 1
26 penetrates the front lower part of the carriage 123,
The guide shaft 127 passes through the rear upper portion of the carriage 123, and the guide bar 127b
The head unit 121 is supported so as to be reciprocally movable so as to be hooked on the lower rear portion of the head unit 3. Also in this case, a screw mechanism is configured between the screw shaft 126 and the engagement portion of the carriage 123, and the carriage motor 1
The head unit 121 reciprocates in the left-right direction by the forward and reverse rotation of the screw shaft 126 in response to the rotation of 29.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the drive roller 35b of the post-feed roller 33b, which mainly feeds the printing tape T, has a pair of roller bodies 39b, 39b. Although the main bodies 39b, 39b are in rolling contact with the recording surface of the printing tape T, they are located outside the printing area S and are in rolling contact with each other.
However, it does not come into contact with the ink discharge portion on the recording surface. Therefore, even if the ink discharged on the recording surface by printing is not in a dry surface state, it does not adhere to the post-feed roller 33b. Also, the post-feed roller 3
It does not adhere to the printing tape T via 3b and does not stain it. Therefore, the print tape T can be smoothly reciprocated and fed without generating stains.

It is needless to say that the feed roller of the present invention can be applied to a general ink jet printer or tape printing apparatus having a print head on the main scanning side and a recording medium on the sub scanning side. In such a case, since the recording medium does not reciprocate, the feed roller located on the downstream side in the tape feed direction is constituted by a pair of roller bodies that roll and contact outside the print area. Further, in the configuration of the pair of roller bodies, when the recording medium is wide, it is preferable to slightly incline each roller body outward to feed the recording medium while applying tension in the width direction. .

[0060]

According to the ink jet printer of the present invention, one of the driving roller and the driven roller located on the recording surface side of the recording medium does not come into contact with the printing portion of the recording medium. The roller can be prevented from being stained with ink. Therefore, not only the feed roller but also the recording medium is not stained with ink, and there is no restriction such as slowing down the printing speed in consideration of drying of the ink.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a tape printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main structure portion (without mounting a tape cartridge) of the tape printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main structure (a tape cartridge is mounted) of the tape printing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the tape printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the tape printing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a printing method of the tape printing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a side view schematically illustrating a relationship between a tape feed mechanism and a print head.

FIG. 8 is a front view schematically showing a relationship between a tape feed mechanism and a print head.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a longitudinal cutter mechanism and a transverse cutter mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a vertical cutter mechanism and a head unit.

FIG. 11 is an external perspective view of the tape cartridge.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of the tape cartridge.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a main structure of an inkjet printer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a side view of a main structure of an inkjet printer according to another embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a printing method of a conventional inkjet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 tape printer 2 mounting body 9 main mechanism 10 tape cartridge 11 inkjet printer 13 main mechanism 21 tape feed mechanism 22 printing mechanism 23 print head 24 longitudinal cutter mechanism 26 buffer 27 waste ink processing mechanism 33 feed roller 33a forward feed roller 33b Rear feed roller 35a Driving roller 35b Driving roller 36a Driving roller 36b Driving roller 39a Roller shaft 39b Roller body 41 Head unit 42 Unit moving mechanism 47 Carriage guide shaft 44 Nozzle row 48 Screw shaft 61 Cutter blade 62 Cutter holding member 64 Cutting width adjusting mechanism 71 cam block 81 cartridge case 87 tape escape opening 88 guide roller 91 paper feed mechanism 92 printing mechanism 93 print head 113 feed roller 113a forward feed Over La 113b after feeding roller 116a driven roller 116b driven roller 117a driven roller 117b driven roller 121 head unit 124 unit moving mechanism T printing tape Ta return part P printing paper S printed area

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet printer comprising: a recording medium feed mechanism for feeding a recording medium in one direction; and a print head for printing on the fed recording medium while facing the recording medium. A print roller is provided in front of the print head in the feed direction of the recording medium, and has a feed roller composed of a drive roller and a driven roller. One of the drive roller and the driven roller is located on the recording surface side of the recording medium. The ink jet printer, wherein the roller has a pair of roller bodies that are located outside a print area of the print head and directly contact the recording medium. 2. An ink jet printer comprising: a recording medium feeding mechanism for reciprocatingly feeding a recording medium; and a print head for facing and printing on the fed recording medium, wherein the recording medium feeding mechanism comprises: A pair of feed rollers, which are located before and after the print head in the feed direction of the recording medium and each include a drive roller and a driven roller, include a non-slip roller and a slip roller. In the non-slip roller, one of the drive roller and the driven roller, which is located on the recording surface side of the recording medium, is located outside a print area by the print head and is in direct contact with the recording medium. An ink jet printer comprising a pair of roller bodies. 3. A head moving mechanism for intermittently feeding the print head in a direction orthogonal to the feed direction, and a control means for controlling the recording medium feeding mechanism, the print head, and the head moving mechanism, 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein the control unit causes the recording medium to perform printing while reciprocatingly feeding the recording medium and intermittently feeding the print head. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a vertical cutter that cuts the recording medium after printing is completed in parallel with the feeding direction inside a portion where the pair of roller bodies roll. 4. The ink jet printer according to claim 2, or 3. 5. The vertical cutting machine according to claim 4, wherein the longitudinal cutter has a pair of left and right cutter blades, and a cutting width adjusting mechanism for moving the pair of cutter blades in a direction orthogonal to the feed direction. Inkjet printer. 6. The recording medium has an adhesive and a release paper on a back surface opposite to a recording surface, and the longitudinal cutter half-cuts the recording medium while leaving the release paper. The inkjet printer according to claim 4 or 5, wherein: 7. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is a printing tape which is fed out of a state wound in a roll and used for printing.