JP2002029110A - Recording medium conveying device and recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording medium conveying device capable of conveying a recording medium of fabric, or the like highly accurately by controlling the adhesive layer of a conveying means so as to have a predetermined adhesive force, and a recording device comprising the same. SOLUTION: In a recording medium conveying device for conveying the recording medium for recording an image on a recording medium, an adhesive layer 11a for bounding the recording medium 1, a conveying belt 11 for bonding and conveying the recording medium 1 on the adhesive layer 11a, and an adhesive controlling means for functioning on the adhesive layer corresponding to the characteristic change of the adhesive layer, are provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium transport apparatus for transporting a recording medium by adhering it to transport means having an adhesive layer, and a recording apparatus having the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a copying machine and a printer use an elastic roller as a means for conveying a recording medium of a recording apparatus, and a paper is sandwiched between nips of rollers to transfer necessary driving force to the paper for conveyance. In general, the paper is placed on a rotating roller and the paper is conveyed by the frictional force.

However, in the case of a recording medium, such as a cloth, which has a characteristic of elongating with respect to the pulling drive, the driving force is transmitted to the cloth surface which becomes the recording surface in a configuration in which the recording medium is transported by a pair of rollers.
The recording surface is deformed, causing image distortion.

[0004] Therefore, in the conventional cloth transport, a pin tender that pulls the edge of the cloth by using a roller with a needle on a cloth transport member and transports the cloth with a predetermined width, or a grip tender that grips and transports the edge of the cloth. There was. However, in a textile printing printer that directly records on a cloth with an ink jet printer or the like, accuracy is required for the flatness of the cloth as a recording surface. Further, since the precision in the feed direction is also required, the above-described cloth transport structure cannot be taken.

Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-214766, there has been proposed a construction in which a transport belt capable of maintaining flatness is formed in an ink jet printer, and an adhesive layer is provided thereon to adhere and transport the cloth. . For the adhesive layer, for example, a double-sided adhesive tape can be used. By using the double-sided adhesive tape, it becomes possible to repeatedly adhere, transport, and peel the cloth, and it is more environmentally friendly than an adhesive that uses a solvent, and is easier to handle for users. There are many advantages such as no special equipment required.

[0006]

However, it is known that the adhesive force of an adhesive tape fluctuates due to many factors such as a use environment and durability fluctuation.

If the adhesive strength is too high, the adhesiveness and transportability are good, but there is a problem in peeling. This is equivalent to the inability to transport the cloth. Also, if the adhesion is weak,
A problem occurs in the conveyance, and a gap is formed between the cloth serving as the recording medium and the adhesive surface, and the recording surface is distorted.

It has been found that the adhesive tape has low adhesive strength in the initial stage of use, increases with use, and gradually decreases as durability increases. Particularly, the change in the initial stage is large, which may hinder the conveyance of the fabric.

Therefore, it is required to minimize this change and use an adhesive tape in a stable area.

Further, the adhesive tape must be prepared according to the type of the adherend. That is, the same adhesive tape greatly changes depending on the material of the adherend, the surface condition, the preparation method, and the like. In addition, there are many objects to be recorded in the ink jet printer, and it is necessary to prepare an adhesive tape suitable for each object.

However, this causes factors such as an increase in the number of parts and an increase in the cost of parts management. Therefore, it is required to adhere a large number of adherends with as few types as possible, and therefore, control of the adhesive force has been an issue.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and
An object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium transport device capable of transporting a recording medium such as a cloth with high accuracy by controlling the adhesive layer of a transport unit to have a predetermined adhesive strength, and a recording device including the same. To provide.

[0013]

A typical configuration according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a recording medium transport apparatus for transporting a recording medium for recording an image on the recording medium. Having an adhesive layer for adhering the medium,
Conveying means for adhering and transporting a recording medium to the adhesive layer, and for controlling the adhesive layer to a predetermined adhesive strength, an adhesion control means acting on the adhesive layer in response to a change in the properties of the adhesive layer,
It is characterized by having.

In the above configuration, a stable adhesive strength is always maintained by heating the adhesive layer or performing brush cleaning according to the characteristics of the adhesive layer. Thus, even a recording medium such as a cloth can be accurately conveyed, and high-quality image recording can be performed.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a recording apparatus provided with a recording medium transport device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] An example in which a recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is configured as a textile printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

{Overall Configuration} FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a recording apparatus A. Reference numeral 1 denotes a cloth as a recording medium, which is unwound according to the rotation of an unwind roller 2,
4, after being conveyed in a substantially horizontal direction by a recording medium conveying device B provided at a portion facing the recording means 5,
It is wound on a winding roller 8 via a feed roller 6 and an intermediate roller 7.

The conveying device B includes conveying rollers 9 and 10 provided on the upstream and downstream sides of the recording means 5 in the conveying direction of the cloth 1, and an endless belt-shaped conveying means wound between the rollers. A transport belt 11 and a pair of platen rollers 12 provided to improve flatness by extending the transport belt 11 with an appropriate tension within a predetermined range so as to regulate the recording surface of the fabric 1 flat when recording by the recording means 5. have.

In this embodiment, the transport belt 11 is made of a metal as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-212851, and is partially enlarged in FIG.
An adhesive layer (sheet) 11a is provided on the surface.
Then, the cloth 1 is adhered to the conveyor belt 11 by the adhesive roller 11a by the attaching roller 13, and the flatness at the time of recording is secured.

The ink is applied by the recording means 5 in the area between the platen rollers 12 to the cloth 1 conveyed in a state where the flatness is ensured, and the convey belt 11 or the adhesive layer The film is peeled off from the roller 11a and wound up by the winding roller 8, and a drying process is performed by the drying heater 14 on the way. The drying heater 14 may be of any suitable type, such as a type that blows warm air onto the cloth 1 and a type that irradiates infrared rays.

Next, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG.
Will be described. FIG. 2 is a perspective explanatory view schematically showing a recording system 5 and a conveyance system of the cloth 1.

First, in FIGS. 1 and 2, the recording means 5 is scanned in a direction different from the transport direction (sub-scanning direction) f of the cloth 1, for example, in the width direction s of the cloth 1 orthogonal to the transport direction f. It has a carriage 15. Reference numeral 16 denotes a support rail extending in the s direction (main scanning direction), which supports a slider 17 fixed to the carriage 15 and supports a slide rail 18 for guiding. Reference numeral 19 denotes a motor serving as a drive source for performing main scanning of the carriage 15, and its driving force is transmitted to the carriage 15 via a belt 20 to which the carriage 15 is fixed and other appropriate transmission mechanisms.

The carriage 15 moves the recording head 21 having a large number of ink applying elements arranged in a predetermined direction (the conveying direction f in the present embodiment) in a direction different from the predetermined direction (the main scanning direction s in the present embodiment). ), And in the present embodiment, these are held in two stages in the transport direction. A plurality of recording heads 21 at each stage are provided in correspondence with inks of different colors, thereby enabling color recording.

The colors used for the inks and the number of recording heads can be appropriately selected according to the image to be formed on the fabric 1 and the like. For example, the three primary colors of printing are yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan. (C) or further obtained by adding black (Bk) thereto. Alternatively, or in addition to these, it is possible to use a special color (metallic color such as gold or silver, vivid red or blue, etc.) which cannot be expressed or is difficult with the three primary colors. Alternatively, light-color inks having the same color but different densities may be used.

In this case, a plurality of recording heads 21 arranged in the main scanning direction s are provided in two stages in the transport direction f, as shown in FIG. The colors, arrangement numbers, arrangement orders, and the like of the inks used by the recording heads in each stage may be the same or different for each stage, depending on the image to be recorded. Further, it is also possible to perform printing again by the next-stage print head on an area printed by the main scan of the one-stage print head. However, high-speed recording may be performed by sharing the recording area. Furthermore, the number of stages of the recording head is 2
The number of stages is not limited to one, and may be one or three or more.

In the present embodiment, as the recording head 21, an ink-jet head, for example, an ink-jet head having a heating element for generating thermal energy for causing film boiling of ink as energy used for discharging ink is used. ing. Then, the fabric 1 conveyed in the substantially horizontal direction by the conveying device B is used with the ink ejection ports serving as the ink applying elements facing downward, so that the head difference between each ejection port is eliminated, The conditions are made uniform to enable good printing, and a uniform recovery process for all ejection ports is made possible.

A flexible cable 22 provided to follow the movement of the carriage 15 is connected to each recording head 21.
Various signals such as a head drive signal and a head state signal are exchanged with a control unit (not shown). Also, the recording head
Ink 21 is supplied to the ink 21 via a flexible tube from an ink supply source 23 containing each color ink.

{Control of Adhesive Strength of Conveying Belt} As described above, the conveying belt 11 has the adhesive layer 11a.
The cloth 1 is adhered to and conveyed, and the change in the adhesive property is examined. As a result, the adhesive force and the temperature change show that the properties change depending on the temperature.
It was found that the characteristics changed in a time series from the middle and late stages.

It is known from the result of the examination that the adhesive strength required for the adhesion depends on the material and surface condition of the recording medium to be adhered. In addition, these characteristics are not general, and there are differences in the characteristics depending on the pressure-sensitive adhesive, so that control specific to the pressure-sensitive adhesive is required. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the characteristic of the change in the adhesive force is captured, and the adhesive force is always controlled within a range of the adhesive force that is considered appropriate for use by the adhesive control means.

More specifically, FIG. 3 shows the change in the durability and the adhesive strength of the adhesive layer (adhesive tape) used in the present embodiment. Here, it can be seen that the initial pressure-sensitive adhesive tape has low adhesive strength (A region in FIG. 3). The adhesive layer 11a according to the present embodiment has a urethane-based adhesive, and a PET film base is used as a base. Between the adhesive layers is an adhesive material having a three-layer structure having an easily adhesive treatment layer.

As described above, the recording apparatus according to the present embodiment has the heater 14 for drying the fabric 1 after recording. Therefore, when the adhesive layer 11a is in the initial state, the drying heater 14 is used, and the heat generated from the heater 14 is sent to the adhesive layer 11a of the conveyor belt 11 by a fan (not shown) or the like, and heat is applied to the adhesive layer 11a. Is controlled as follows.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the surface temperature of the adhesive layer 11a and the adhesive force according to the present embodiment. It can be seen that the adhesive strength of the adhesive layer 11a increases as the temperature increases. In the case of this embodiment, the other parts of the recording device are not affected, and the adhesive layer 11a is not affected.
Is preferably about 26 ° C. to 28 ° C. as a range in which the temperature can be raised. However, this is not a general thing, and some of them have a property that the adhesive strength increases at low temperatures.In this case, the heat source of the drying heater 14 is turned off, and the cool air is sent to lower the surface temperature of the adhesive layer 11a, thereby reducing the adhesive strength. Increase power. In order to apply heat to the entire adhesive layer 11a, the heat is applied while rotating the conveyor belt 11 having the adhesive layer 11a. The adhesive layer 11a can be controlled to a desired adhesive strength by controlling the time for applying the heat and the temperature of the heater.

Further, the temperature change resulting from the application of these amounts of heat is measured by a temperature sensor 24 (FIG.
) And monitor the temperature of the adhesive layer,
This heat quantity control can be performed accurately. Further, by providing the temperature sensor 24, it is possible to accurately measure the surface temperature of the adhesive layer 11a at the time of actual application.

Further, by providing the above-described operation in a sequence in the apparatus, the adhesive force of the adhesive layer can be constantly stabilized, and the cloth 1 can be transported accurately, and a high-quality ink image can be formed. Can be recorded.

[Second Embodiment] In the above-described embodiment, an example was shown in which the adhesive force was adjusted by controlling the temperature of the adhesive layer. However, as a second embodiment, the adhesive layer was cleaned by cleaning. An example of adjusting the adhesive strength will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory view of the recording apparatus according to the second embodiment, and the first embodiment described above.
Members having the same functions as those of the embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a cleaning means 25 is arranged below the recording medium transport device B in the recording device A of the first embodiment described above. The cleaning means 25 includes a water pipe 25a for supplying water to the adhesive layer 11a,
and a cleaning brush 25b that rotates in contact with a, and a tray 25c is arranged below the cleaning brush 25b.

The adhesive layer 11a rotates together with the conveyor belt 11, during which water is sent from the water pipe 25a and the cleaning brush
25b presses and comes into contact with the conveyor belt 11, and then rotates to wash the adhesive layer 11a with water.

In order to remove excess water from the adhesive layer 11a that has been washed with water, a pair of pressure rollers 25d is disposed downstream of the cleaning brush 25b in the belt transport direction so as to sandwich the transport belt 11. Moisture is removed by pressurizing the washed conveyor belt 11.

In this way, of the ink recorded on the fabric 1 by the recording means 5, the ink recorded outside the range of the fabric, thread lint at the edge of the fabric, and dirt on the surface of the adhesive layer 11a such as greetings are removed. The adhesive strength of the adhesive layer 11a is restored by removing dirt and the like from the surface. It has been found that the adhesive strength is also improved by brush-cleaning the surface of the adhesive layer 11a for the purpose other than cleaning the structure and operation.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the brush cleaning time of the adhesive layer and the adhesive strength.
It was found that the cleaning time gradually increased to about 40 minutes, and then started to increase suddenly. Therefore, by controlling the brush cleaning time, a desired adhesive strength can be controlled. In the present embodiment, the preferable adhesive strength was obtained by washing for about 60 minutes.

The above-mentioned cleaning step includes a sequence for controlling the adhesive force in the control sequence of the recording apparatus, and is performed before recording. When recording is performed continuously, priority is given to recording. This pre-recording cleaning sequence compensates for the initial decrease in the adhesive strength of the adhesive layer 11a, and realizes stable cloth conveyance.

Next, when this recording apparatus is used, an adhesive layer is used to some extent, and when the durability is advanced, it becomes an area where the adhesive strength is increased. (Area B in FIG. 3) Although the degree of the durability varies depending on the characteristics of the adhesive layer, as shown in FIG. 3, if the first predetermined length (for example, L [m]) is used and the medium enters the middle period, After that, it is not necessary to increase the adhesive strength before recording because the adhesive strength increases.

Further, when the adhesive strength is increased to some extent, the above-mentioned effect is small. In this case, the pre-recording cleaning sequence is not necessary. In this case, control is performed so as not to perform this sequence in order to improve the productivity of the recording apparatus. The recording device has a memory for storing the recorded distance (for example, L [m]). When the recording distance exceeds L [m], this cleaning step is not performed. In the present embodiment, the predetermined length L is about 100 [m].

When the adhesive tape is replaced, the recording length memory is also cleared once. This clearing may be reset by the user, or may be automatically detected and cleared by the recording apparatus. For example, resetting is performed by an ON signal of the tape attaching roller 13 shown in FIG.

By controlling the adhesive force as described above, the adhesive force of the adhesive layer can be constantly stabilized, as in the first embodiment, and the cloth can be conveyed accurately. Images can be recorded.

[Third Embodiment] In the above-described embodiment, a cloth is exemplified as a recording medium. However, the conveyance apparatus according to the present invention is effective even when conveying and recording not only the cloth but also an elastic sheet or the like. It is.

In the above-described embodiment, the ink jet recording means is exemplified as an example of the recording means. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be similarly applied to an electrophotographic method or the like. It is.

[0048]

The present invention is constructed as described above.
By heating or brush-cleaning the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer according to the characteristics of the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer, a stable pressure-sensitive adhesive force is always maintained. Thus, even a recording medium such as a cloth can be accurately conveyed, and high-quality image recording can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a printing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a perspective explanatory view schematically showing a recording unit and a cloth conveying system.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the durability of use of an adhesive layer (adhesive tape) and a change in adhesive strength.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a relationship between a surface temperature of an adhesive layer and an adhesive force.

FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory view of a recording apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the brush cleaning time of the adhesive layer and the adhesive strength.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A: Recording device B: Conveying device 1: Cloth 2: Unwinding rollers 3, 4: Intermediate roller 5: Recording means 6: Feeding roller 7: Intermediate roller 8: Winding roller 9, 10: Conveying roller 11: Conveying belt 11a … Adhesive layer 12… Platen roller 13… Adhering roller 14… Dry heater 15… Carriage 16… Support rail 17… Slider 18… Slide rail 19… Motor 20… Belt 21… Record head 22… Flexible cable 23… Ink supply source 24… Temperature sensor 25: Cleaning means 25a: Water pipe 25b: Cleaning brush 25c: Tray 25d: Pressure roller pair

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A recording medium transport device for transporting a recording medium for recording an image on the recording medium, comprising: an adhesive layer for adhering the recording medium, wherein the recording medium is adhered to the adhesive layer. A recording medium, comprising: a conveying unit that conveys the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer; and an adhesion control unit that acts on the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer in response to a change in the properties of the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer so that the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer has a predetermined adhesive force. Transport device. 2. A recording medium transporting apparatus for transporting a recording medium for recording an image on the recording medium, comprising: an adhesive layer for adhering the recording medium, wherein the recording medium is adhered to the adhesive layer. A recording medium, comprising: a conveying unit that conveys the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer; and an adhesion control unit that acts on the adhesive layer in response to a change with time of the adhesive layer so that the adhesive layer has a predetermined adhesive strength. Transport device. 3. The adhesive force control means has a temperature detection sensor for detecting a temperature of the adhesive layer, and heats the adhesive layer in accordance with a detection result of the temperature detection sensor. 2. The recording medium transport device according to 1. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said adhesive control means applies pressure and heat to said adhesive layer for a predetermined time before recording or when a member having said adhesive layer is replaced. Media transport device. 5. The recording medium transport apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said adhesive force control means brush-cleans a surface of said adhesive layer using water or a solvent for a predetermined time. 6. A recording apparatus for conveying a recording medium to form an image, the recording medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1, and recording means for forming an image on the recording medium. A recording device, comprising: