JP2001219548A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recorder capable of recording a recording sheet of various sizes to the utmost limit of its margin. SOLUTION: An ink jet recorder records a recording sheet P from a recording head 150 by discharging an ink to the sheet P. The recorder comprises a carriage 141 for placing the head 150, a conveying means for conveying the sheet P, a platen 123 having a guide surface for guiding and supporting the sheet P in a recording section, an opening 124b of a predetermined length extended in the lateral direction of the sheet P provided on the platen 123, and a moving motor 125 movable for the opening 124b to an arbitrary position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus which discharges ink onto a recording medium to perform recording, and more particularly, to an ink jet recording apparatus used in an information processing apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, a word processor, or a computer. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional recording apparatus.

[0003] The recording apparatus 200 includes a paper feeding unit 21 and a paper feeding unit 2.
2, a paper discharge unit 23, a carriage unit 24, and the like.

[0004] The paper supply unit 21 is composed of a paper supply tray 211, a paper supply roller 212 and the like. The recording sheets P are stacked on a paper feed tray 211, separated one by one by a paper feed roller 212, and conveyed to a paper feed unit 22.

[0005] The paper feeding section 22 includes a transport roller 221, a pinch roller 222, a platen 223, and the like. The recording sheet P conveyed from the paper supply unit 21 is conveyed by conveying rollers 221.
And the platen 223
The paper passes through the upper part and is conveyed to the paper discharge unit 23. The platen 223 supports the recording sheet P and keeps the recording sheet P in a flat shape.
0 ink ejection surface.

The carriage section 24 has a carriage 241 on which a recording head 250 is mounted, and is guided by a guide shaft 242 to reciprocally scan on a recording sheet P supported by a platen 223. The recording head 250 discharges ink from nozzles provided on the ink discharge surface to record an image on the recording sheet P.

The paper discharge unit 23 discharges the recording sheet P conveyed from the paper feed unit 22 to the outside of the recording device 200.

With the above arrangement, an image is recorded on the recording sheet P by discharging ink from the recording head 250 in accordance with the main scanning by the carriage unit 24 and the sub-scanning in which the paper feeding unit 22 conveys the recording sheet P. I do.

[0009]

However, the conventional recording apparatus has the following problems. If recording is attempted to the marginal position in the width direction of the recording sheet, the recording head will be shifted in the width direction when the recording sheet is conveyed. Was sometimes done. In addition, the ink adhered to the platen may be transferred to a recording sheet to be conveyed next, and the image on the recording sheet may be stained.

As a countermeasure for this problem, an opening is provided on the platen at a position corresponding to the end of the recording sheet. However, while this measure is effective for recording sheets of a specific limited size, it is not effective for recording sheets other than the fixed size. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, personal computers and recording apparatuses have been widely used in homes, and there is a demand for recording non-standard-size recording sheets up to the margin.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus capable of recording on recording sheets of various sizes up to the margin.

[0012]

To achieve the above object, one aspect of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention is:
In an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from a recording unit to a recording medium, a carriage for mounting the recording unit, a conveying unit that conveys the recording medium, and a recording unit that guides and supports the recording medium. A platen having a guide surface, an opening having a predetermined length extending in a width direction of the recording medium provided on the platen, and a moving unit capable of moving the opening to an arbitrary position are provided. .

Further, the opening is partitioned by a rib extending in a transport direction of the recording medium and guiding and supporting the recording medium.

[0014] Further, an upward slope is provided in the opening toward the downstream side in the conveying direction of the recording medium.

[0015] Further, a detecting means for detecting the size of the recording medium in the width direction is provided.

Further, according to the detection result of the detection means,
The opening is moved.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to provide a recording apparatus capable of recording on recording sheets of various sizes up to the margin.

[0018]

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

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 3 and 4
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an inkjet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The recording apparatus 100 includes a paper feed unit 11 and a paper feed unit 1
2, a paper discharge unit 13, a carriage unit 14, and the like.

The paper supply section 11 is composed of a paper supply tray 111, a paper supply roller 112 and the like. Recording sheets P, which are recording media, are stacked on a paper feed tray 111, separated one by one by a paper feed roller 112, and conveyed to a paper feeding unit 12.

The paper feeding unit 12 includes a conveying roller 121 serving as a conveying unit, a pinch roller 122, and a platen 123.
And so on. The recording sheet P conveyed from the paper supply unit 11 is nipped by a conveyance roller 121 and a pinch roller 122, passes over a platen 123, and is conveyed to a paper discharge unit 13. Further, the platen 123 supports the recording sheet P and keeps the recording sheet P flat, and makes the recording sheet P face the ink ejection surface of the recording head 150 which is a recording unit mounted on the carriage unit 14.

The carriage section 14 has a carriage 141 on which a recording head 150 is mounted, and is guided by a guide shaft 142 to reciprocally scan on a recording sheet P supported by a platen 123. The recording head 150 ejects ink from nozzles provided on the ink ejection surface to record an image on the recording sheet P. The carriage 141 is provided with a recording sheet detecting unit 143 which is a detecting unit. When the carriage 141 moves on the recording sheet P, the size of the recording sheet P in the width direction and the position of the end can be detected.

The paper discharging section 13 discharges the recording sheet P conveyed from the paper feeding section 12 to the outside of the recording apparatus 100.

An opening 123a is provided in the platen 123, and the inside of the opening 123a is provided with a recording sheet support member 124.
Are provided so as to be movable in the moving direction of the carriage 141. The recording sheet support member 124 has a plurality of openings 124a and ribs 124b surrounding the openings 124a. The plurality of openings 124a are at positions corresponding to the nozzles of the recording head with respect to the transport direction of the recording sheet P,
An absorber that absorbs ink discharged from the recording head 150 is provided in the opening 124a. On the downstream side of the opening 124a in the transport direction of the recording sheet P, an upward slope is provided. Therefore, the recording sheet P does not fall into the opening 124a and is guided and conveyed by the rib 124b.

As shown in FIG. 2, a rack mechanism 124c is provided below the recording sheet support member 124. Further, a moving motor 125 which is a moving means for moving the recording sheet support member 124 is provided. When the gear 125a of the moving motor 125 meshes with the rack mechanism 124c, the recording sheet support member 1
24 can be moved in the moving direction of the carriage 141.

Next, the operation of the recording sheet support member 124 will be described with reference to FIGS. The recording sheet P is conveyed by the paper feeding unit 11 and the paper feeding unit 12, and the leading end of the recording sheet P starts to a position below the nozzle of the recording head 150.
Then, by moving the carriage 141, the recording sheet P is detected by the recording sheet detecting means 143 to detect the size, end position, and position of the rib 124b of the recording sheet support member 124. Here, the recording sheet P
It is assumed that the positional relationship between the end portion and the rib 124b is as shown in FIG. In this state, if printing is performed on the print sheet P to a position just before the margin, ink may be ejected on the rib 124b. Therefore, the recording sheet support member 124 is moved to the left side in the figure by driving the moving motor 125 in accordance with the detection result of the recording sheet detection unit 143, and the state shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. That is, the opening 124a provided on the platen 123 is moved. In the state of FIG. 4, the end of the recording sheet P and the rib 124b are sufficiently separated (= L).
Even if recording is performed to the margin of the recording sheet P, the rib 124
No ink is ejected on b. here,
L is desirably at least 1 mm or more.

According to the configuration described above, it is possible to provide a recording apparatus capable of recording on recording sheets of various sizes up to the margin.

In this embodiment, the recording sheet support member 124 is automatically moved by the cooperation of the recording sheet detecting means 143 and the moving motor 125. Even when the user manually performs the detection and the movement of the recording sheet support member 124, the gist of the present invention is not obstructed.

<Second Embodiment> FIGS. 5 and 6 are plan views of a second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, printing can be performed up to the margins in the width direction (left and right ends) of the recording sheet, but printing cannot be performed up to the margins in the transport direction (upper and lower ends) of the recording sheet. In the second embodiment, recording can be performed up to the margin of the recording sheet in the conveying direction.

First, the operation of the recording apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. By the recording sheet detecting means 143, the leading end of the recording sheet P is moved to the opening 124b of the recording sheet support member 124.
Detect that it has reached. In this state, the rib 124
The recording is performed in the area hatched in (a) of FIG. The ink is not discharged onto the rib 124b because it is sufficiently away from the rib 124b.

Next, the recording sheet support member 124 is moved to the left side in the figure to obtain the state shown in FIG. That is, the distance between the unrecorded area and the rib 124b is set to be more than a certain distance. Then, recording is performed in the unrecorded area hatched in FIG. As described above, it is possible to record the entire width of the leading end of the recording sheet P in the width direction.

Depending on the widths and intervals of the openings 124a and the ribs 124b, it may be impossible to record the entire recording sheet P in the width direction by moving the recording sheet supporting member 124 only once. In this case, the above operation is repeated a plurality of times, thereby performing printing in the entire width direction of the leading end of the recording sheet P. The ink that has come off the recording sheet P is
Since the ink is collected in the opening 124a of the recording sheet support member 124, the ink does not adhere to the platen 123 or the rib 124b.

The intermediate portion of the recording sheet P in the transport direction is the first position.
In the same manner as in the first embodiment, recording is performed with the opening 124b of the recording sheet support member 124 coming to the end of the recording sheet. Further, the rear end of the recording sheet P performs recording in the same manner as the front end.

According to the configuration described above, recording can be performed on the entire recording sheet.

<Others> It should be noted that the present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for performing ink ejection, particularly in an ink jet recording system. An excellent effect is obtained in a recording head and a recording apparatus of a type in which the state of ink is changed by the thermal energy. This is because according to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
Although it can be applied to any of the continuous type, particularly, in the case of the on-demand type, the electric heat disposed corresponding to the sheet or the liquid path holding the liquid (ink or processing liquid) is used. By applying to the transducer at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding the nucleate boiling, the electrothermal transducer generates heat energy and is applied to the heat acting surface of the recording head. This is effective because film boiling can be caused, and as a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink or processing liquid) corresponding to this drive signal one-to-one can be formed. A liquid (ink or processing liquid) is ejected through an ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubbles are immediately and appropriately performed, and therefore, the ejection of a liquid (ink or processing liquid) having particularly excellent responsiveness is more preferable. Examples of the drive signal in the form of a pulse include those described in U.S. Pat.
Suitable are those described in US Pat. No. 45,262. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,558,333 and 44,596 which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
The configuration using the specification of No. 00 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an opening for absorbing a pressure liquid of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration is based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be reliably and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as described above, a recording head fixed to the apparatus main body or an electric connection to the apparatus main body or ink from the apparatus main body by being attached to the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself is used.

Further, it is preferable to add a recording head ejection recovery unit, a preliminary auxiliary unit, and the like as the configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. To be specific, these are pre-heating by using a capping unit, a cleaning unit, a pressurizing or suctioning unit, an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof for the recording head. Means and preliminary ejection means for performing ejection other than recording.

The type and number of recording heads to be mounted are not limited to those provided only for one color ink, for example, and for a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities. A plurality may be provided. That is, for example, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to a printing mode of only a mainstream color such as black, but may be any of integrally forming a printing head or a combination of a plurality of printing heads. The present invention is also very effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of the full-color recording modes using mixed colors.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid.
An ink that solidifies at room temperature or below and softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used, or the ink jet method controls the viscosity of the ink by adjusting the temperature of the ink itself within the range of 30 ° C to 70 ° C. Is generally controlled so as to be within the stable ejection range, so that the ink may be in a liquid state when the use recording signal is applied. In addition, in order to positively prevent temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to prevent evaporation of the ink, the ink is solidified in a standing state and heated. May be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start to solidify when reaching the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used. In such a case, the ink is disclosed in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60
As described in JP-A-71260, a configuration may be adopted in which a liquid or solid substance is held in a concave portion or through hole of a porous sheet and opposed to an electrothermal converter. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is not only used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, but also for a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmitting / receiving function. It may take a form.

[0044]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in an ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording by discharging ink from a recording means to a recording medium, a carriage for mounting the recording means, Conveying means for conveying the medium, a platen having a guide surface for guiding and supporting the recording medium in the recording unit, an opening having a predetermined length provided in the platen and extending in the width direction of the recording medium, and an arbitrary opening. And a moving device capable of moving to a position. Therefore, it is possible to provide a recording apparatus capable of recording on recording media of various sizes up to a margin.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the inkjet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 recording device 111 paper feed tray 112 paper feed roller 121 transport roller 122 pinch roller 123 platen 124 recording sheet support member 141 carriage 142 guide shaft 143 recording sheet detecting means 150 recording head

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from a recording unit to a recording medium, a carriage for mounting the recording unit, a conveying unit that conveys the recording medium, and a recording unit that performs the recording. A platen having a guide surface for guiding and supporting a medium; an opening having a predetermined length extending in a width direction of the recording medium provided on the platen; and a moving unit capable of moving the opening to an arbitrary position. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the opening is defined by a rib extending in a conveying direction of the recording medium and guiding and supporting the recording medium. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an upward slope is provided in the opening toward a downstream side in a conveying direction of the recording medium. 4. A recording medium according to claim 1, further comprising a detecting unit for detecting a size of the recording medium in a width direction.
The inkjet recording device according to any one of the above. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the opening is moved according to a detection result of the detection unit. 6. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said recording means records an image using ink droplets formed by thermal energy.