JP2002192782A - Holder for sheet discharge driven roller and sheet discharger and recorder comprising the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print mechanism in which the surface of a recording material is protected against scratching, stripping or digging due to contact with the tooth of a sheet discharge driven roller. SOLUTION: The holder 22 for sheet discharge driven roller is disposed on the downstream side of a recording section in order to hold a sheet discharge driven roller 12 rotatably while touching the recording surface of a recording material. The holder 22 has such a structure as the forward end side thereof can oscillate vertically with the base end side as a fulcrum. Through a release mechanism utilizing that oscillation, the sheet discharge driven roller 12 can be switched between (a) normal position where the sheet discharge driven roller 12 can touch the recording material and (b) waiting position where the sheet discharge driven roller 12 does not touch the recording material.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a discharge paper driven roller holder for holding a paper discharge driven roller which plays a role of discharging a recording material from a recording section in a recording apparatus represented by, for example, an ink jet printer. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a recording apparatus such as an ink-jet printer, as shown in FIG.
Is generally provided with a paper feed roller 40 for transporting the recording material P to a recording unit 51 having a recording head 100 and a paper discharging roller 10 for discharging the recording material P on which recording has been performed from the recording unit 51. ing. Here, a plurality of rollers according to the width of the recording material P perform main scanning at a position downstream of the recording unit 51 of the recording apparatus in the sub-scanning direction (that is, the conveying direction of the recording material P). It is provided side by side in the direction. The paper discharge roller 10 includes a paper discharge drive roller 11 and a paper discharge driven roller 12. The paper discharge driven roller 12 has a plurality of teeth around it, and the tips of the teeth make point contact with the printing surface. As described above, a toothed roller which is sharply pointed at an acute angle is used, and a toothed driven roller holder (not shown in FIG. 6; hereinafter, simply referred to as a "holder") so that the teeth are exposed vertically. There is). Further, on the downstream side of the paper discharge roller 10 in the sub-scanning direction, there is provided a discharge roller 60 that is driven to rotate by the feeding force of the recording material. The term “paper discharge driven roller” in the present invention refers to the paper discharge driven roller 12 and the discharge roller 6 illustrated in FIG.
This is a concept that includes both "0" and "paper discharge driven rollers."
Means one or both of the discharge driven roller 12 and the discharge roller 60.

By the way, the paper discharge driven roller, which is driven and rotated while contacting the recording material, is slightly inclined right and left from a state in which the teeth of the roller abut against the paper surface while the recording material is being conveyed. May be inclined. In the state where the change (inclined) of the angle in the vertical direction occurs, the discharge driven roller cannot rotate smoothly, and the surface (printing surface) of the discharge driven roller abuts on the recording material. The dents and scratches may cause print quality deterioration.

In particular, when a so-called coated paper whose surface is coated with a chemical or a synthetic resin or the like is used as the recording material, the rotation direction of the paper discharge driven roller is parallel to the transport direction of the recording material. State (hereinafter, "parallel state")
However, the printed surface is more likely to be damaged as the fine dents are formed on the surface of the coated paper due to the contact of the teeth of the discharge driven roller, and it is necessary to avoid the contact of the teeth in an unnatural state as much as possible.

[0005] That is, when the teeth come into contact with the coating paper in a state of being inclined from the vertical direction, the coating layer around the dent is slightly peeled off, or the coating layer around the dent is turned up (so-called). "Hojire"
Formation). Therefore, when peeling or dents are formed in high-quality printing comparable to a photograph, the finish after printing is impaired.

[0006] The peeling of the coating layer and the formation of dents are most problematic when the paper discharge driven roller rotates in the reverse direction. For example, in printing using a continuous recording material such as roll paper, since a cutting mechanism for cutting the recording material after printing is provided on the downstream side in the transport direction from the paper discharge rollers, extra paper is discharged. It is necessary to reversely feed the paper back to the upstream side in the transport direction from the recording unit, and for this purpose, the above-mentioned rollers are reversely rotated. However, if peeling or dents are formed at the time of the reverse rotation, peeling or dents are present on the surface of the recording material returned to the recording portion (that is, the paper surface before printing). The effect on print quality is likely to increase.

In addition to the above-mentioned problems of peeling and stabbing, it is more convenient for the user to set the discharge driven roller so as not to contact the surface of the recording material for the purpose of printing.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to prevent a tooth of a discharge driven roller from contacting a recording material in accordance with the purpose of printing so that the surface of the recording material is not damaged or peeled. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing mechanism capable of preventing occurrence of stabbing.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a holder for a discharge driven roller, which is disposed downstream of a recording unit and contacts a recording surface of a recording material. And a paper discharge driven roller holder for rotatably holding a paper driven driven roller that is driven and rotated, wherein the holder has a structure in which a tip end side can swing up and down with a base end side as a fulcrum. By means of a release mechanism utilizing movement, the holder is provided so as to be switchable between a normal position where the discharge driven roller can contact the recording material and a retracted position where the discharge driven roller does not contact the recording material. It is characterized by being.

According to this feature, there is provided a release mechanism capable of switching the discharge driven roller holder between a normal position where the discharge driven roller can contact the recording material and a retracted position where the discharge driven roller does not contact the recording material. By providing, for example, printing using coated paper is performed at the retreat position to avoid peeling and dents, such as printing conditions that do not leave traces on the surface of the recording material according to the purpose of printing. It becomes possible to choose.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the release mechanism holds the discharge driven roller holder at a retracted position when the recording material is reversely fed. It is characterized by being able to.

According to this feature, for example, the recording paper driven roller holder is held at the retracted position when the recording material is reversely fed, for example, in which the coated paper is liable to peel or form stabbing, which tends to cause a problem in quality. It is possible to select that the discharge driven roller does not contact the recording material.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the holder has a structure in which the distal end slightly swings left and right with the base end as a fulcrum. And at the front end side, two wall bodies substantially parallel to the rotation direction of the paper discharge driven roller so as to sandwich the paper discharge driven roller from both sides, and the recording material of the two wall bodies is The distance between the inner walls on the downstream side in the transport direction is longer than the distance between the inner walls on the upstream side in the transport direction of the recording material. Here, the phrase "slightly swing" on the tip end side (the side on which the paper discharge driven roller is stored) with the base end side of the holder as a fulcrum means that the holder has a structure capable of swinging up and down. Corresponding to the slight backlash that occurs in the support part of the holder,
It means swinging to the left and right by the play. Also,
Forming the distance between the inner walls on the downstream side in the recording material transport direction “longer” than the distance between the inner walls on the upstream side in the transport direction means that the discharge driven rollers can return to the parallel state. It means the extension of the distance. The distance between the extending inner walls is appropriately set according to the diameter of the paper discharge driven roller and the size of the holder.

According to the above feature, the distance between the inner walls on the downstream side in the recording material transport direction of the two wall members of the paper discharge driven roller holder provided in parallel so as to sandwich the driven roller therebetween is the same. Even when the paper discharge driven roller holder is inclined left and right with respect to the recording material conveyance direction, the paper discharge driven roller is It can easily return to the parallel state. Therefore, the teeth of the paper discharge driven roller can be brought into contact with the paper surface in a normal state, and it is possible to avoid peeling of the coating layer and stabbing even in coating paper printing. Also, with the adoption of a release mechanism that allows the holder to swing up and down, abnormal contact between the paper discharge driven roller and the recording material caused by the left and right swings occurring in the holder support section is reduced. The improvement can prevent scratches, peeling, dents, and the like on the surface of the recording material.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the holder has a structure in which the distal end slightly swings right and left around the base end. In addition, at the front end side, there are two wall bodies so as to sandwich the paper discharge driven roller from both sides, and the holder is provided on the inner wall surface of the two wall bodies by the swinging of the recording material. A relief portion is provided which allows the discharge driven roller to be positioned parallel to the recording material transport direction in a state where the roller is slightly inclined with respect to the transport direction. Here, the expression “slightly swinging” on the distal end side with the base end side of the holder as a fulcrum has the same meaning as in claim 3, and the “escape portion” refers to the diagonal direction. The space in the holder is enlarged in a sufficient range so that the driven paper output roller can return to the parallel state without being disturbed by the inner wall of the holder in the holder which is also inclined by the slight swing. Means

According to the above feature, a relief portion is formed on the inner wall surface of the two walls provided so as to sandwich the discharge driven roller therebetween, so that the holder can be moved in the conveying direction of the recording material. Even in the inclined state, the return of the discharge drive roller to the parallel state is not hindered, so that the coating layer can be prevented from peeling and stabbing in coated paper printing as in the third aspect. Also, with the adoption of a release mechanism that allows the holder to swing up and down, the recording material of the paper ejection driven roller caused by the left and right swing corresponding to a slight backlash generated in the support portion of the holder. By improving the abnormal contact state, it is possible to prevent the surface of the recording material from being scratched, peeled off, and to be loose.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the distance between the inner walls on the downstream side in the recording material conveyance direction is set to be equal to the distance between the inner walls on the upstream side in the recording material conveyance direction. As means for making the wall longer than the distance, a step is formed on the inner wall surface so that the wall thickness of the wall body on the downstream side in the transport direction is smaller than the wall thickness on the upstream side in the transport direction.

According to this feature, the step is formed so that the wall thickness of the wall of the discharge driven roller holder on the downstream side in the transport direction is smaller than the wall thickness on the upstream side in the transport direction. The distance between the downstream inner walls can be increased without increasing the width of the holder itself.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet discharge driven roller holder according to any one of the third to fifth aspects, wherein the holder supports the driven roller by an elastically deformable shaft. It is characterized by that.

According to this feature, since the paper discharge driven roller is supported by the elastically deformable shaft, it is easy to return the paper discharge driven roller to the parallel state by the centering action of the shaft.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the holder for a sheet discharge driven roller according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the release mechanism rotates a cam provided on a fixed rotating shaft. Then, the holder is swung between a normal position and a retracted position by a cam mechanism that abuts and releases the cam follower on the base end side of the holder.

According to this feature, since the paper discharge driven roller held by the holder having the structure in which the leading end can swing up and down is swung together with the holder using the cam mechanism, the release is performed. It will be possible to release reliably.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the first aspect, the release mechanism slides a plate provided at a lower portion of the holder forward and backward. And a switching mechanism for switching between the normal position and the retracted position by swinging the holder by a slide mechanism for abutting and releasing the bottom of the holder.

According to this feature, since the paper discharge driven roller held by the holder having a structure in which the front end side can swing up and down is swung together with the holder by using the slide mechanism of the plate, the release is performed. It is possible to release reliably despite its structure.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the eighth aspect of the present invention, the one side of the plate on the upstream side with respect to the recording material conveying direction is formed in a waveform in the eighth aspect. Features.

According to this feature, one side of the plate on the upstream side in the recording material transport direction is formed in a waveform, so that the recording material is prevented from being caught and paper jam and paper jam are prevented from occurring. it can. That is, when the plate of the slide mechanism is mounted on the discharge path side of the lower surface of the discharge frame, even if the recording material jumps and is transported until it comes into contact with the plate due to curl or the like, even if the recording material is conveyed, In order to avoid catching by flowing the paper, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of paper jam or paper jam.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper discharge device according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, wherein the paper discharge driven roller held by the paper discharge driven roller holder and the recording material are applied. And a paper discharge drive roller for driving and rotating the sheet while in contact with it to convey the recording material. With this feature,
A paper discharge device having the same operation and effect as the invention according to any one of the first to ninth aspects is obtained.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus including the sheet discharging device according to the tenth aspect.
With this feature, it is possible to obtain a recording apparatus having the same functions and effects as the tenth aspect.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the eleventh aspect, a switching lever for switching the holder between a normal position and a retracted position is accommodated in a cover that covers a main body of the recording device, and The recording apparatus is characterized in that it is provided so as to protrude forward at the front of the recording apparatus so that it can be operated even with the cover attached. According to this feature, the switching lever for switching between the normal position and the retracted position of the holder is provided so as to protrude forward in front of the recording apparatus, so that the operability is excellent and the switching operation of the holder can be performed extremely easily. . Further, since the recording device is provided in front of the recording device, it can be easily visually recognized from the front, and when the switching lever is operated, forgetting to return to the normal position can be reduced.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the twelfth aspect, the operation of returning the holder from the retracted position to the normal position by the switching lever is performed in conjunction with another mechanism of the recording apparatus. It is characterized by the following. According to this feature, the operation of returning the holder from the retracted position to the normal position is performed in conjunction with another mechanism of the recording apparatus. For example, when the user forgets to return the switching lever to the normal position, Even if the position is left, it can be automatically returned to the normal position. The discharge driven roller serves to prevent floating by contacting the recording material in the paper discharge device during normal printing.
It is possible to avoid an abnormal paper discharge state due to forgetting to switch the lever by automatic return. Here, as the "other mechanism" for performing the return operation in conjunction with, for example, a mechanism relating to an operation of closing the paper discharge tray or an initial mechanism of a carriage driven when the power supply of the inkjet printer is turned on. A mechanism related to the operation is given.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the discharge driven roller holder is disposed downstream of the recording unit, and the discharge driven roller that is driven and rotated while being in contact with the recording surface of the recording material is rotatable. A holder for a discharge driven driven roller to be held, the holder comprising a first holder and a second holder held by the first holder, wherein the second holder is provided from the first holder. The distal end side can swing up and down independently with the base end side as a fulcrum. By the release mechanism using the swing, the second holder allows the discharge driven roller to contact the recording material. The present invention is characterized in that it is provided so as to be switchable between a possible normal position and a retracted position where the discharge driven roller does not contact the recording material.

According to this feature, the discharge driven roller holder comprises a first holder and a second holder held by the first holder, and the second holder is formed of the first holder. Independent of the discharge driven roller can be switched between a normal position where the discharge driven roller can contact the recording material and a retracted position where the discharge driven roller does not contact the recording material, so a large-scale mechanism for the release operation is required. This makes it possible to reduce the size of the device. This is because a smaller part can be adopted as the second holder than the first holder.
Compared to a release mechanism where the holder swings together,
This is because the distance from the fulcrum during swinging to the tip of the holder can be set small.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, the discharge driven roller held by the discharge driven roller holder according to the fourteenth aspect is configured to drive and rotate while being in contact with the recording material. And a discharge drive roller for conveying the recording material. With this feature, it is possible to obtain a paper discharge device having the same operation and effect as the invention described in claim 14.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus including the sheet discharging device according to the fifteenth aspect.
With this feature, it is possible to obtain a recording apparatus having the same operation and effect as the invention described in claim 15.

[0035]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an arrangement state of paper discharge rollers 10 in an ink jet recording apparatus 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Discharge roller 10
The paper discharge driven rollers 12 are provided in a state where the upper portion thereof is exposed to the paper discharge frame 2, and are arranged at a plurality of positions in the main scanning direction according to the width of the recording material P. A so-called discharge roller 60 is disposed further downstream of the discharge roller 10 in the transport direction. This discharge roller 60
Are usually provided in a smaller number than the paper discharge rollers 12 (three in this embodiment), and form a part of the paper discharge device (see FIG. 5). The following description will be made based on the discharge driven roller 12, but it does not prevent the discharge roller 60 from having the same mechanism.

In FIG. 1, when the recording material is fed forward, the recording material is conveyed from upstream in the conveyance direction (above the paper surface in FIG. 1), and a discharge drive roller (not shown) The sheet is discharged to the outside of the recording apparatus via a discharge roller 60 arranged downstream (downward in FIG. 1) in the transport direction while being nipped by the paper driven roller 12. In the case of reverse feeding, the recording material P is transported upward in the plane of FIG.
The discharge driven roller 12 rotates in the reverse direction. In the present invention, the terms “upstream in the transport direction” and “downstream in the transport direction” are based on forward feed unless otherwise specified.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.
This shows a state in which the paper discharge frame 2 has been removed to clarify the internal structure. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part along line III-III in FIG.

In this embodiment, the discharge driven roller holder comprises:
The first holder includes a main holder 21 and a second holder includes a plurality of small holders 22. The main holder 21 is integrally formed by itself, and has a space inside the main holder 21 to hold all the small holders 22 and the paper discharge driven rollers 12. The small holder 22 is the main holder 21
However, a cam follower 23 of a cam 31 which will be described later is provided at the base end thereof, and as shown in FIGS. The main holder 21 is provided on a bearing portion (not shown) of the main holder so as to be able to swing up and down independently of the main holder 21 with the support portion 24 as a fulcrum. The vertical position of the small holder 22 is switched by the cam 31 of the switching means 30 and the cam follower 2.
3 is performed by a cam mechanism.

That is, in this example, the cam 31 is provided so as to be rotatable, and by operating the switching means 30, the cam 31 rotates and comes into contact with the cam follower 23 (FIG. 3B). The release mechanism is configured by being configured to be switchable to the non-contact state [FIG. 3A]. A bar spring 33 presses the small holder 22 at a central portion from the base end side to the distal end side of the small holder 22 (upstream in the transport direction from the support portion 24), and is in a state of being urged downward. . Therefore, the cam 31 is moved to the cam follower 2
When the small holder 22 is not in contact with the recording material 3, the urging force of the bar spring 33 lowers the distal end of the small holder 22 with the support portion 24 as a fulcrum [FIG.
(A)]. On the other hand, when the cam 31 is brought into contact with the cam follower 23 by the switching means 30, the distal end side of the small holder 22 swings upward with the support portion 24 as a fulcrum, against the downward urging force of the bar spring 33. Then, it shifts to the retreat position [see FIG. 3 (b)]. With this release mechanism, a normal position [FIG. 3 (a)] where the discharge driven roller 12 can contact the recording material and a retract position [FIG. 3 (b)] where the discharge driven roller 12 does not contact the recording material. You can choose two positions.

An inclined surface 28 is provided at the leading end of the small holder 22, so that the conveyed sheet can be discharged regardless of whether the small holder 22 is in the normal position or the retracted position. In FIG. 3, the paper discharge driven roller 12
And the paper discharge drive roller 11).

The paper discharge driven roller 12 is a roller in which two paper discharge driven rollers having teeth 13 on the outer periphery are grouped and stored in parallel in one small holder 22 (hereinafter referred to as a "two-pack roller").
) And a sheet discharge driven roller stored in the small holder 22 (hereinafter, referred to as a “single roller”) are alternately arranged, and the single roller is more than a double roller. Due to this arrangement, the single roller also functions as a jump-up preventing roller for preventing the recording material from jumping up.

Each paper discharge driven roller 12 is separately rotatably supported by a small holder 22 by a shaft 14, and the shaft 14 is connected to the left and right wall 2 of the small holder 22.
The small holder 22 is supported on both sides of the left and right wall bodies 26a, 26b through the bearings 25, which penetrate the 6a, 26b. Here, the shaft body 14 may be a metal rod, but is preferably an elastically deformable shaft body having a centering action,
In this embodiment, a bar spring is employed.

In this embodiment, a vertical step 27 (see FIG. 4) is provided on the inner wall surface of the two wall bodies 26a and 26b of the small holder 22 slightly upstream of the support section by the shaft body 14 in the transport direction. By reducing the wall thickness on the downstream side in the transport direction, the distance between the inner surfaces of the wall bodies 26a and 26b is formed to be longer than on the upstream side in the transport direction. With this structure, the space on the downstream side in the transport direction in the small holder 22 is widened, and a relief portion is formed to allow the discharge driven roller 12 to be positioned parallel to the transport direction of the recording material. Even when the holder 22 is inclined in the oblique direction, the discharge driven roller 12 can easily return to the normal direction.

Hereinafter, the principle of returning the paper discharge driven roller 12 to the parallel state will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, for convenience of description, the features and the inclination angles of the respective parts are emphasized. Arrows in the drawing indicate the transport direction of the recording material.

While the recording material is being conveyed, the discharge driven roller 12
May tilt from a state where the teeth 13 abut perpendicularly to the paper surface to a state where the teeth 13 are slightly tilted left and right. In order to eliminate the change (inclination) in the angle in the vertical direction, the paper discharge driven roller 12 rotates the direction in the small holder 22 while rotating, from the state parallel to the transport direction (FIG. 4, (a)). To a state that is slightly oblique to the direction.
(B)]. On the other hand, the small holder 22 originally has a role of regulating the rotation direction of the paper discharge driven roller 12, but since the small holder 22 is configured to be able to swing up and down as described above, the support for supporting the small holder 22 is provided. The portion 24 has some play (play), and there is room for the small holder 22 to slightly swing left and right about the support portion 24 as a fulcrum. For this reason, with the change in the direction of the paper discharge driven roller 12, the small holder 22 having a margin for swinging slightly in the left and right directions in the transport direction is also pushed by the paper discharge driven roller 12 from the inside. It tilts in an oblique direction and stops at the tilt limit [(c)]. Here, the paper discharge driven roller 12 has a property of naturally returning to the normal direction while rotating, but since the small holder 22 is still inclined, the inner wall of the small holder 22 becomes an obstacle and the small holder 22 becomes normal. Return in the direction is prevented. If the recording material is continued to be transported in this state, the discharge driven roller 12 cannot rotate smoothly, so that the teeth 13 cause a fine dent or scratch on the surface (printing surface) of the recording material, and peel off. It may cause print or stabbing, leading to a decrease in print quality.

For this reason, in this embodiment, the step 27 is provided on the inner wall surfaces of the walls 26a and 26b of the small holder 22, and the distance between the inner walls on the downstream side in the transport direction is longer than the distance between the inner walls on the upstream side in the transport direction. By doing so, the downstream portion of the discharge driven roller 12 to be returned in the transport direction is
In the small holder 22, it is possible to escape into the space (escape portion) widened by the step portion 27 so that the paper discharge driven roller 12 can quickly return to the normal direction. ]. As described above, the discharge driven roller 12
Creating a situation where the child is likely to return to the normal direction
This minimizes the contact time of the recording paper 3 in a state of being inclined with respect to the paper surface, thereby making it possible to avoid scratches on the surface of the recording material and peeling and stabbing when using coated paper. Further, as in the present embodiment, the discharge driven roller 1
When an elastically deformable bar spring is used as the shaft 14 serving as the second rotation shaft, the return to the normal direction is promoted by the centering action.

Although the ink jet recording apparatus has been described as an example, the discharge driven roller holder structure of the present invention can be applied to a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile, etc. having a similar recording material discharging mechanism.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the configuration example of the inkjet printer according to the second embodiment as viewed obliquely from the front, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the same as viewed obliquely from the rear. This ink jet printer includes a carriage 105 having a recording head 100 in a main body 101 covered by a cover 101a, a carriage driving mechanism (not shown), an automatic sheet feeder (automatic continuous paper feeding mechanism) not shown, and a paper gap switching unit / paper ejection. A driven roller release unit / driven roller separation unit 200 is provided, a paper discharge port 102 is provided on the front surface of the main body 101, and a manual paper supply port 103 is provided on a rear surface of the main body 101.

Further, a paper feed port 103 on the rear surface of the main body 101
A tray 104 for an automatic sheet feeder is disposed on the upper side of the sheet feeder, and an operation means 200C of a paper gap switching means / discharge driven driven roller release means / driven roller separation means 200 is provided beside the paper feed port 103 (see FIG. 9). ) Is disposed so as to protrude from the main body 101.

The recording head 100 includes, for example, ink cartridges (not shown) of a total of four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, and is configured to perform full-color printing. The ink ejection timing of the recording head 100 and the scanning of the head drive mechanism are controlled by a dedicated controller board or the like built in the main body 101, so that highly accurate ink dot control, halftone processing, and the like are performed. ing.

The recording material fed to the tray 104 is automatically sent out by an automatic sheet feeder.
The sheet is further fed out while being sandwiched between a paper feed driving roller (not shown) and a driven roller (not shown), and is discharged from the paper discharge port 102. The recording material manually fed into the paper feed port 103 is similarly nipped and fed by a paper feed roller and a driven roller, and is discharged from the paper discharge port 102.

As the recording material fed from the tray 104, plain paper, special paper, recommended OHP sheet, glossy paper, glossy film, label sheet, postcard made by government, etc. can be used.
As the recording material fed manually, thick materials such as thick paper and extra-thick paper (including an information recording disk tray), that is, materials that are difficult to bend, can be used in addition to the above-described papers.

Operation lever 2 constituting operation means 200C
01 slides stepwise in the direction of arrow a shown in the figure along a slit 110 provided linearly in the main body 101,
Paper gap switching means / discharge driven roller release means / driven roller separation means 200 can be set. Here, the paper gap switching means is provided to maintain the printing accuracy at a substantially constant high accuracy regardless of the thickness of the recording material, in order to maintain the printing accuracy at a substantially constant level. The recording head 100 can be moved and adjusted so that is always substantially constant. The paper discharge driven roller release means can release the paper discharge driven roller to a retreat position where the paper discharge driven roller does not come into contact with the recording material if necessary according to the type of the recording material. The driven roller separating means applies pressure to the driven roller to pinch the recording material between the paper feed driving roller and the driven roller, or to remove the recording material from between the driving roller and the driven roller. The driven roller is pressed against the driven roller, or the pressure is released to separate the driven roller from the driven roller.

FIG. 9 shows the operation means 200C and the paper gap switching means 2 in the paper gap switching means / discharge driven driven roller release means / driven roller separation means 200.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a relationship between a sheet discharge driven roller release unit 200 </ b> A and a driven roller separation unit 200 </ b> B. As shown in FIG. 9, the operation unit 200C includes a paper gap switching unit 200A and a driven roller separation unit 20A.
The paper gap switching means is mechanically linked to the paper discharge driven roller release means 200D. That is, the operation means 200
The paper gap switching means 200 is provided by stepwise sliding operation of only one operation lever 201 constituting C.
A, by operating the paper discharge driven roller release means 200D and the driven roller separation means 200B, the recording head 10
0, the discharge driven roller 12 and the driven roller 202 can be set in a desired state.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a detailed example of the operation means 200C, the paper gap switching means 200A, the paper discharge driven roller release means 200D, and the driven roller separation means 200B. The operation means 200C is provided with the operation lever 20
1 is provided with a first missing gear 211, a second missing gear 212 and a third missing gear 214. The paper gap switching means 200A includes a first link 231, a second link 2
32, a third link 233, a fourth link 234, a fifth link 235, and an eccentric cam 236 to which a carriage including the recording head 100 is attached. The paper discharge driven roller release means 200D includes a cam shaft 35 having a U-shaped receiving portion 317 and a cam 31, a paper discharge driven roller holder having a cam follower 23, and a paper gap switching means 2.
An arm portion (sixth link 311) connected to 00A and a guide groove 315 as a guide structure are provided (see FIGS. 18 to 21). The driven roller separation means 200B
A fourth partially toothed gear 213 and a fifth partially toothed gear 215 having a shaft 213a with a part of the peripheral surface formed as a flat surface, a driven roller arm 204 having a driven roller 202 rotatably mounted at one end, and a coil spring 205. It has.

The operation lever 201 is provided with the first toothless gear 211.
It is integrally molded so as to protrude from the circumference of
Further, a ratchet 222 is meshed with the first partially toothed gear 211. Thereby, the operation lever 201 can reciprocate in the direction of arrow a around the shaft 211a of the first partially toothed gear 211, and can be positioned in steps A, B, C, and D stepwise. Has become.

Here, when the operation lever 201 is positioned at the position A, it is a position where a recording material having a normal thickness, for example, plain paper is used, and when the operation lever 201 is positioned at the position B, This is a position where a slightly thick recording material, for example, a thick paper is used, and when the recording material is positioned at the position C, a very thick recording material, for example, an extremely thick paper including an information recording disc tray is used. The position to use. Further, when the operation lever 201 is positioned at the position D, it is a position where the driven roller 202 is separated from the driven roller 203.

The first partially toothed gear 211 is provided with the second partially toothed gear 21.
2 so as to be meshable with the second toothless gear 21.
2 is provided so as to be able to mesh with the fourth toothless gear 213. Further, the third missing gear 214 coaxially arranged with the second missing gear 212 is arranged to be able to mesh with the fifth missing gear 215.

The shaft 213a of the fourth partially toothed gear 213 is a so-called D-axis in which a part of the peripheral surface is formed as a flat surface. The other end of a driven roller arm 204 on which one end of a driven roller 202 is rotatably mounted is rotatably attached to the D shaft 213a. This driven roller arm 2
A substantially central portion of the coil spring 205 has one end locked to the driven roller 202 and the other end locked to the center of a coil spring 205 that is in contact with the D shaft 213a.

The first and second shafts 215a of the fifth partially toothed gear 215 are connected to each other in a substantially L-shape by hinges 231a.
Of the links 231 and 232, the free end of the first link 231 is fitted. The free ends of the second link 232 are connected to the third, fourth and fifth links 233, 234, 234, and 2 connected in a substantially U-shape by hinges 233a and 234a.
35, the third link 233 is connected to the end on the hinge 233a side by the hinge 232a. The free end of the third link 233 is connected to the carriage 105 via the eccentric cam 236, and the free end of the fifth link 235 is rotatably supported by the main body 101.

The sixth link 311 is a connecting arm having a crank shape, and has one end connected to the fourth and fifth links 233,
The other end is engaged with a U-shaped receiving portion (not shown) by a pin 313 as a projection at the other end (see FIGS. 18 to 20).

The discharge driven roller holder comprises a main holder 21 as a first holder and a plurality of small holders 22 as a second holder. The main holder 21 is integrally formed by itself, and has a space inside the main holder 21 to hold all the small holders 22 and the paper discharge driven rollers 12. The paper discharge driven roller 12 is composed of a pair of two rollers having teeth 13 on the outer circumference, and a pair of small rollers 22 arranged in parallel.
, And one roller in which one roller is stored in the small holder 22 is arranged alternately, and the single roller is slightly upstream in the transport direction than the double roller. (See FIG. 25).

Each of the driven driven rollers 12 has a shaft 1
4 rotatably supports the small holder 22.
Here, the shaft body 14 may be a metal rod, but is preferably an elastically deformable shaft body having a centering action. In this embodiment, a rod spring is employed.

An inclined surface 28 is provided at the leading end of the small holder 22, so that the conveyed recording material is discharged regardless of whether the small holder 22 is in the normal position or the retracted position. It can be smoothly guided to a path (defined by the paper discharge driven roller 12 and the paper discharge drive roller 11 in FIG. 21).

The small holder 22 is held by the main holder 21 and has a cam follower 23 of a cam 31 at the base end thereof, as shown in FIGS. 21 (a) and 21 (b).
A leading end side for holding the sheet discharge driven roller 12 is provided on a bearing portion (not shown) of the main holder with the support portion 24 as a fulcrum so as to be vertically swingable independently of the main holder 21. A bar spring 33 presses the small holder 22 at a central portion from the base end side to the distal end side of the small holder 22 (upstream in the transport direction from the support portion 24), and is in a state of being urged downward. . The vertical position of the small holder 22 is switched by the cam 3
1 and a cam follower 23.

That is, in this example, the cam 31 is provided rotatably, and can be switched between a state of contacting the cam follower 23 (FIG. 21B) and a non-contact state (FIG. 21A). , The discharge driven roller 12 can be released. When the cam 31 is not in contact with the cam follower 23, the urging force of the bar spring 33 lowers the distal end of the small holder 22 around the support portion 24 as a fulcrum,
It is in a normal position where it can contact the recording material [FIG.
(A)]. On the other hand, by bringing the cam 31 into contact with the cam follower 23, the distal end side of the small holder 22 swings upward with the support portion 24 as a fulcrum, and shifts to the retreat position, against the downward biasing force of the bar spring 33. [See FIG. 21 (b)]. With this cam mechanism, two positions can be selected: a normal position where the discharge driven roller 12 can contact the recording material and a retracted position where the discharge driven roller 12 does not contact the recording material.

A limit switch 241 for turning on / off the automatic sheet feeder by rotation of the first missing gear 211 and a limit switch 242 for switching on / off the printer are provided below the first missing gear 211. ing. An encoder 243 used for control at the time of printing on a recording material is attached to the driving roller 203.

As described above, the operating means 200C for operating the three systems of the paper gap switching means 200A, the paper discharge driven roller releasing means 200D, and the driven roller separating means 200B in series is provided.
Switching of the paper gap, switching of the release state of the discharge driven roller, and switching of the separation state of the driven roller can be performed by only the operation of C. For this reason, the paper gap switching, the paper discharge driven roller release operation, and the driven roller separation operation can be smoothly performed without any mistake, and the usability of the user can be improved.

Further, since the functions of paper gap switching, discharge driven roller release, and driven roller separation and their operation functions are integrated, the operation means 200
C, the structure of the paper gap switching means 200A, the discharge driven roller release 200D, and the driven roller separating means 200B is simplified, design is facilitated, design errors can be reduced, and manufacturing and assembly costs are reduced. Man-hours can be reduced.

An outline of the operation in such a configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. The state of FIG.
That is, when the operation lever 201 is positioned at the position A, as shown in FIG. 11, the driven roller 202 pushes the plain paper P sent between itself and the Coil spring 20 being pressed
An elastic force of 5 is applied. Further, the recording head 100 is set to have a paper gap ha corresponding to the plain paper P. At this time, since the recording head 100 has a thickness of, for example, about 0.6 mm or less including the variation of the plain paper, the movement is adjusted so that the paper gap ha is about 1.2 mm.

In FIG. 10, the sixth link 311 is in the most inclined state, and as shown in FIG. 18, the pin 313 provided at the free end of the sixth link is engaged with the U-shaped receiving portion 317 to be engaged. The U-shaped receiving portion 317 is located near the tip of the U-shaped portion of FIG.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 21A, the cam shaft 35 is not rotating, and the cam 31 is not in contact with the cam follower 23 of the small holder 22. Therefore, the paper discharge driven roller remains at the normal position where it can contact the recording material such as plain paper.

The limit switch 24 at this time is
Both lamps 1 and 242 are turned on, and the lamps 106 and 107 shown in FIG.

Next, when the operating lever 201 is moved from the position A to the position D in the state shown in FIG. The fourth missing tooth gear 214 rotates in the illustrated arrow c1 direction along with the 212, and the fifth missing tooth gear 215 further rotates in the illustrated arrow d1 direction. Thereby, each link 2
1 to 235 rotate in the direction of the arrow e1 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the recording head 100 moves, that is, moves up in the direction of the arrow f1 in the figure. The recording head 100 has a thickness of about 1.6 mm to 2.
Because it is 5 mm, from the position of the plain paper in FIG.
The position is further raised by about 2.8 mm.

Further, during the above operation, as shown in FIG. 12, the third partially toothed gear 213 starts to rotate in the direction of the arrow g1 in the drawing, so that the coil spring 205 is moved to the flat portion of the D shaft 213a as shown in FIG. , The driven roller 202 is released from the elastic force of the coil spring 205 and the driven roller 20
3 in a direction indicated by an arrow m1.

When the operating lever 201 is switched from the position A to the position D, the sixth link 311 shifts to the most upright state. The pin 313 at the free end of the sixth link 311 moves from the distal end position of the U-shaped receiving portion 317 (see FIG. 18) to the position where it is most deeply engaged with the U-shaped receiving portion 317 (see FIG. 20). Then, the U-shaped receiving portion 317 is further pressed and the U-shaped receiving portion 317 is pressed to rotate the U-shaped receiving portion 317 in the direction r2 in FIG. 19 along the arc portion 315b of the guide groove 315. As a result, FIG.
As shown in (b), the cam shaft 35 rotates and the cam 31 contacts the cam follower 23 of the small holder 22, and the small holder 2
Press down on the proximal end of 2. As a result, the distal end side of the small holder 22 swings against the pressing force of the bar spring 33 about the support portion 24 as a fulcrum, and the paper discharge driven roller 12 does not come into contact even when an extremely thick paper such as a CD-R tray is inserted. Evacuate to the position. The discharge driven roller 12 in this state (standby position) is displaced upward by about 3 mm from the normal position. The target to be released to the retreat position may be all the driven driven rollers 12, but here, the discharged paper to be released among the plurality of driven driven rollers 12 arranged in the width direction of the recording material is described. The driven roller 12 is provided so as to be biased to a predetermined width. That is, when viewed from the U-shaped receiving portion 317 side, the CD-R
Is released only at the portion corresponding to the width of the paper ejection driven roller 12. By doing so, the camshaft 3
5 can be released stably and reliably because no extra load is required.

At this time, the limit switch 24
Both lamps 1 and 242 are turned off, and the lamps 106 and 107 shown in FIG.

Next, when the operation lever 201 is moved from the position D to the position B in the state shown in FIG. 14, the first toothless gear 211 rotates in the direction of the arrow b2 in FIG. The fourth missing gear 214 rotates in the direction of arrow c2, and the fifth missing gear 215 further rotates in the direction of arrow d2. Thereby, each link 231-
Since the reference numeral 235 turns in the illustrated arrow e2 direction, as shown in FIG. 15, the recording head 100 moves in the illustrated arrow f2 direction, that is, descends.

At this time, the recording head 100 has a thickness of, for example, about 0.7 mm to 1.5 mm including variations in thick paper.
From the position of the plain paper in FIG.
The movement is adjusted so as to be a position separated by about mm. At the same time, as shown in FIG.
Rotates in the direction of the arrow g2 shown in the figure, and the coil spring 205 is pushed by the D-axis 213a as shown in FIG. Coil spring 205 pressed by D-axis 213a so as to press the thick paper PP
Is applied.

When the operation lever 201 moves to the position B,
The pin 313 of the sixth link 311 engages with the U-shaped receiving portion 317 at the U-shaped bottom portion, and along the guide groove 315 in the circumferential direction as shown in FIG. 20, the arc portion 315b of the guide groove 315. The U-shaped receiving portion 317 engaged with the pin 313 also rotates in the r1 direction. As a result of the cam shaft 35 rotating in synchronization with the rotation of the U-shaped receiving portion 317, the cam 31 releases the contact with the cam follower 23, and the distal end side of the small holder 22 is pushed down by the pressing force of the bar spring 33. Then, it returns to a normal position where it can come into contact with a recording material such as plain paper or thick paper (see FIG. 21A).

The limit switch 241 at this time is
Is off, the limit switch 242 is on, and the
The lamp 106 shown in FIG. 7 disposed on the front of the light source 01 flashes, and the lamp 107 is turned on.

Next, when the operation lever 201 is moved from the position D to the position C in the state shown in FIG. 16, the rotation of the first partially toothed gear 211 in the direction of the arrow b2 in the drawing causes the second partially toothed gear 212 and the second partially toothed gear 212 to rotate. The fourth missing gear 214 is indicated by an arrow c2 in the figure.
, And the third partially toothed gear 213 rotates in the direction indicated by arrow g2. As a result, as shown in FIG. 17, the coil spring 205 is pushed by the D-axis 213a, so that the driven roller 202 turns in the direction of the arrow m2 in the drawing and is fed between the driven roller 203 and the extra thick paper PPP. The elastic force of the coil spring 205 pressed by the D-axis 213a is applied so as to press.

On the other hand, the position D and the position C of the operation lever 201
In the switching with the fifth toothless gear 215, the fourth toothless gear 21
4, the links 231 to 235 do not move, and the recording head 100 does not move. Therefore, the recording head 100 is about 2.8 from the position of the plain paper in FIG.
It is maintained at a position displaced by about mm. Further, since the sixth link 311 is not displaced, the pin 313 and the U-shaped receiving portion 3 are not displaced.
The state of engagement with the roller 17 is the same as that of the roller 19, and the paper discharge driven roller 12 is maintained at the retracted position.

At this time, the limit switch 241 is turned off, the limit switch 242 is turned on, and the
The lamp 106 shown in FIG. 7 disposed on the front side of the LED flashes, and the lamp 107 is turned on.

As described above, in the ink jet printer of the present embodiment, by switching the operation lever 201, the paper gap is set to the normal paper at the position A, the thick paper at the position B,
At position C, switching to the three stages of the CD-R tray,
The discharge driven roller 12 is not released at the positions A and B, but is released at the positions C and D (separated driven rollers). Then, in order to release the paper discharge driven roller 12 only at a necessary timing while interlocking with the paper gap switching means 200A, the guide groove 3 composed of the linear portion 315a and the arc portion 315b is provided.
15 and a U-shaped receiving portion 317. That is, in switching the operation lever 201 from the position A to the position B, the movement of the paper gap switching means 200A is released as the movement of the linear portion 315a of the pin 313, and the U-shaped receiving portion 31 is moved.
7, the pin 313 moves along the arc 315b by switching from the position B to the position C, and the movement of the paper gap switching means 200A is changed to the rotation of the U-shaped receiving portion 317. And the cam mechanism is activated.

The above paper gap switching means 2
At 00A, when printing a CD-R, if the paper gap is erroneously set to normal (operation lever 201 is at position A) or thick paper (operation lever 201 is at position B), a separate CD-R tray is provided. A thickness error occurs due to the paper thickness detection means used, and printing cannot be performed.

As described above, in the ink jet printer of the second embodiment, the recording head 100 is moved to switch the paper gaps having different intervals, and the paper discharge driven roller 12 is displaced to the normal position. Release system 200D of the driven driven roller for switching between the retracted position and driven roller separating means 200B for applying or releasing the pressure to the driven roller 220 and adjusting the pressing force on the recording material having a different thickness. Since the switching of the driving operation can be realized by one operating lever 201 constituting the operating means 200C, the switching operation can be performed reliably and with high accuracy.

That is, the operation of one operating lever 201 sets the paper gaps of the recording head 100 at different intervals of the recording head 100 by the paper gap switching means 200A via the second missing gear 212 and the third missing gear 214. The output driven roller 12 interlocks with the paper gap setting.
Is displaced to switch from the normal position to the retracted position, the release of the driven driven roller and its return, the application of the pressure of the driven roller 202 by the driven roller separating means 200B, and the release of the pressure of the driven roller 202 by the driven roller separating means 200B. And step-by-step switching can be performed smoothly. Further, the operation unit 200C, the paper gap switching unit 200A, and the release unit 200D of the paper discharge driven roller
In addition, the driven roller separating unit 200B can be realized with a simple configuration including a gear mechanism, a link mechanism, and a cam mechanism.

The ink jet printer according to the second embodiment includes a release means (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a "first release means") 200D of a paper discharge driven roller interlocked with the paper gap switching means, and a user's user. A release means (hereinafter, referred to as "second release means") capable of releasing the discharge driven roller 12 even when printing on normal paper or thick paper according to the purpose of use is provided. Hereinafter, the second release means will be described with reference to FIGS.

The second release means can release the paper discharge driven roller 12 independently of the first release means 200D. In this embodiment, a plate 80 illustrated in FIG. 22 is used.

The plate 80 is a flat plate made of a material such as SUS, for example, and is mounted on the discharge frame 2 from below the small holder 22 as shown in FIG. At the front part of the plate 80 (upper side in FIG. 22), seven hooks 83 are formed, and engage with the main holder 21 so as to be slidable back and forth. Similarly, the four engaging portions 82 are engaged with claws (not shown) formed on the paper discharge frame 2 so as to be slidable back and forth. The plate 80 is mounted with two positioning portions 87 inserted into slits of the paper discharge frame 2 so that left and right positions are defined. Unlike the first release means, in the second release means, the width of the plate 80 is made to correspond to the width of the arranged discharge driven rollers 12 so as to swing all the discharge driven rollers 12. . A large opening 88 is provided at a position corresponding to the discharge roller 60 (see FIG. 25) when the plate 80 is mounted, and a small holder is provided when the discharge driven roller 12 swings to the standby position. A small opening 89 is formed so that the tip of the base 22 on the side of the base end can escape. Further, the plurality of small projections 84 form a sliding surface for positioning in the height direction of the plate and sliding.

Since the plate 80 is mounted on the discharge path side of the lower surface of the discharge frame 2, one end 87 of the plate 80, that is, one side 87 of the side facing the recording material printed and discharged by the recording unit, Even if the recording material jumps up to the plate 80 due to curl or the like and is conveyed, it is formed in a waveform, so that the paper leading edge is discharged at the waveform side 87 to avoid the paper jam or paper jam. The occurrence of clogging can be prevented.

FIG. 24 is a view for explaining the operation of releasing the paper discharge driven roller 12 by the second release means. FIG. 24A shows a state in which the paper discharge driven roller 12 is at the normal position. When the plate 80 is slid forward (to the right toward the paper surface of FIG. 24) from this position, it is shown in FIG. So that the upper surface of the plate 80 is
The tip of the small holder 22 is swung upward with the support portion 24 as a fulcrum by slidingly contacting the bottom of the second holder 2. Due to this swing, the paper discharge driven roller 12 is released to the retracted position. Second
The swing width of the release means (displacement amount of the paper discharge driven roller 12) is smaller than the swing width by the cam mechanism of the first release means 200D described with reference to FIG. 21, for example, about 1 mm for the following reason. Is set to be the swing width of. In the first release means 200D, the release operation of the paper discharge driven roller 12 is linked with the paper gap switching means 200A, and the displacement width at the time of release is set to the same width as the paper gap adjustment. For this reason, at the time of release of the paper discharge driven roller 12,
The paper gap is always large, and the carriage is necessarily displaced to the upper position with the same width. On the other hand, in the second release means, the paper discharge driven roller 12 can be released independently of the paper gap adjustment, for example, while keeping the paper gap in the minimum state. If the displacement of the roller 12 is too large, the paper discharge driven roller 12 at the retracted position may collide with the carriage reciprocating at the low position with the minimum paper gap, and may hinder normal printing. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the displacement of the second release means is set to, for example, about 1 mm to avoid contact with the carriage at a low position.

FIG. 25 is a plan view of a main part of the paper ejection device of the ink jet printer, for explaining the operation section 90 in the second release means. This operation unit 9
Reference numeral 0 indicates that the second operation lever 91 is provided near the front center of the inkjet printer so as to protrude to a position where the second operation lever 91 can be easily viewed from the front of the inkjet printer and can be operated. , The second release means can be switched. More specifically, the operation unit 90 is configured to rotate the paper discharge frame 2 around the support unit 93 as a fulcrum.
The engagement portion 92 at a position slightly distant from the support portion 93 is provided with an engagement projection (not shown) directed downward. 80 is inserted into the engaging hole 81. When the second operation lever 91 is swung rightward from the state shown in FIG. 25 at the reference position toward the paper surface, the engagement protrusions are moved downward through the guide holes 86 of the paper discharge frame 2 with the support portion 93 as a fulcrum. The plate 80 mounted on the sheet is slid forward, and
2 is set in the retracted state [FIG. 24 (b)]. Conversely, when the second operation lever 91 is swung to the reference position to the left toward the paper surface from this state (the separated position of the second operation lever 91), the engaging projections are supported by the support portion 93 as a fulcrum. Is slid backward to return the paper discharge driven roller 12 to the normal position [FIG. 24 (a)].

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of the ink jet printer according to the present embodiment as viewed from the front upper side, and shows a state in which the discharge tray 109 is expanded. When the tray 109 is closed, the second operation lever 91 is returned to a reference position (a left position with respect to the sheet of FIG. 26) at a position corresponding to the second operation lever 91 when the tray 109 is closed. There is provided a return means 94 for causing the return. As the return unit 94, a part of the upper surface of the discharge tray 109 is
Is formed as an inclined surface having a small friction coefficient at an angle such that it contacts the second operation lever 91 at the separated position in a closed state and does not contact when the lever returns to the reference position 91. This inclined surface may be the entire upper surface of the paper discharge tray 109, or may be, for example, a surface curved and inclined in an arc shape. When the user attempts to close the discharge tray 109 while keeping the second operation lever 91 at the separated position of the discharge driven roller 12 (the right position in FIG. 26), the second operation lever The leading end of the second operating lever 91 is slid along the inclined surface by using the pressing force at the time of the closing operation, so that the leading end of the second operating lever 91 contacts the inclined surface as the return means 94. Can be automatically returned by swinging to the reference position. If necessary, a rotating structure may be provided at the tip of the second operation lever 91 so that the pressing force of the closing operation of the discharge tray 109 can be efficiently converted to the returning operation.

Another example of the return means 94 is a structure which can be engaged with the second operation lever at the time of the initial operation of the carriage 105 driven when the power supply of the ink jet printer is turned on. Alternatively, a mechanism that returns the second operation lever 91 to the reference position in association with the reciprocation of the carriage in the initial operation may be employed.

In the ink jet printer of the second embodiment, the linear scale, which is the means for detecting the position of the carriage 105 in the main scanning direction, can be displaced in conjunction with the adjustment of the paper gap by the paper gap switching means. Hereinafter, the interlocking mechanism of the linear scale will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of a main part showing a state where the holder 510 is mounted on the ink jet printer of this embodiment, and FIG. 28 is a sectional view of a main part around the holder 510 in FIG.

The carriage guide shaft 502 is supported by the left and right side frames 501 via an eccentric mechanism 530 so as to be vertically displaceable. An eccentric shaft may be used as the eccentric mechanism 530, but here, an eccentric bush is used as the eccentric mechanism 530. By using this eccentric bush, a shaft having a concentric cross section can be used as the carriage guide shaft 502, and the displacement distance can be increased without increasing the diameter of the carriage guide shaft 502 itself. The width can be increased, and the degree of freedom in adjusting the paper gap increases.

The shape of the holding tool 510 is arbitrary as long as the carriage guide shaft 502 and the linear scale 504 can be interlocked. In this embodiment, a flat member is used, and the holding tool 510 is formed to be slightly wider. The lower portion engages with the carriage guide shaft 502 and the upper portion has a linear scale 5.
A mounting portion 513 of the side frame 501 is provided, and an intermediate portion between the two portions rises substantially vertically upward from below, and has a rising portion 512 that comes into contact with the wall surface of the side frame 501 on the surface.
The holder 510 is provided with a small-diameter shaft 50 of the carriage guide shaft 502 at an engagement portion with the carriage guide shaft 502.
3 has a substantially semicircular bearing shape portion corresponding to the outer periphery of the carriage guide shaft 502 and a small diameter shaft 503 of the carriage guide shaft 502.
Are engaged with the carriage guide shaft 502 so as to be fitted. The bearing-shaped portion of the holder 510 is larger than the outer circumference of the carriage guide shaft 502 so as not to hinder the rotation of the carriage guide shaft 502, and the carriage guide shaft 5
The holder 510 is formed so as to be able to move in synchronization with the carriage guide shaft 502 without being detached during the displacement operation of No. 02. A disc spring 551 is sandwiched between the engagement portion with the carriage guide shaft 502, and is biased so as to press the holder 510 against the side frame 501.

The shape of the peripheral holder 510 that engages with the carriage guide shaft 502 is formed in a substantially inverted U-shaped cross section, and the upper and lower sides of the inverted U-shaped side frame 501 are provided. However, the plate-shaped flat surface around the engagement portion forms a separated shape portion 511 so as to be separated from the wall surface of the side frame 501. The eccentric mechanism 530 fitted to the side frame 501 by the separated shape portion 511
The load on the carriage guide shaft 502 is released to the side frame 501 in such a manner as to straddle, and the load on the eccentric mechanism 530 is reduced.

That is, the carriage guide shaft 502 receives a horizontal load due to the reciprocating movement of the carriage in the main scanning direction, and a vertical load due to the weight of the carriage and the vertical displacement caused by the eccentric mechanism 530. Concentrates on the eccentric mechanism 530 that supports the carriage guide shaft 502 at both ends.
The load is released to the side frame 501, which is a structural member, by the separated shape portion 511 of 0, so that the eccentric mechanism 530 is formed.
To reduce the burden on

Attachment 513 for linear scale 504
Is a holding unit 510 mounted so as to rise from below.
At an upper portion of the linear scale 50 (i.e., at a right angle to the flat surface of the holder 510).
(Parallel to 4), and a part of the bent mounting portion is further bent twice at substantially right angle to form a so-called hook-shaped hook 514 for engagement. I have. This hook 5
The linear scale 504 is attached so that 14 is hooked into an engagement hole at the end of the linear scale 504.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view of an essential part showing the state of the holder 510 mounted on the side frame 501 on the opposite side of FIG. 27 in the recording apparatus of the same embodiment. The basic configuration of the holder 510 is the same as that shown in FIGS. 27 and 28. The holder 510 is formed using a flat plate-like member, and has a separation-shaped portion 511 at the lower portion that is separated from the side frame 501. (In a U-shape), and is engaged with the carriage guide shaft 502 at this portion. FIG.
27, the linear scale 504 is different from the holder 5 shown in FIG.
Rather than being directly attached to the holding member 10, it is attached to a leaf spring 520 attached to the holder 510. That is, an opening hole is formed near the center of the holder 510, and the leaf spring 520 is inserted into the opening hole. This leaf spring 5
20 is a holder 51 at a lower portion by means not shown.
0, and is attached so as to be vertically displaceable along the same trajectory as the carriage guide shaft 502 and the holder 510. At the upper part of the leaf spring 520, an attachment portion for a linear scale 504 formed by being bent so as to be substantially perpendicular to the flat surface of the leaf spring 520 (that is, to be parallel to the linear scale 504 in a tape shape) is provided. 27, and the attachment portion 513 of the linear scale 504 in FIG.
Similarly to the above, a hook for attaching the linear scale 504 is formed, and the hook is hooked on an engagement hole at an end of the linear scale 504 so that the linear scale 504 is attached.
Is installed. By attaching the linear scale 504 to the leaf spring 520 attached to the holder 510 in this manner, and attaching the linear scale 504 to this attachment part, the tension is applied while utilizing the urging force of the leaf spring 520. The linear scale 504 can be held. In this embodiment, the leaf spring 520 is formed as a separate component from the holder 510, but it is also possible to provide a part of the holder 510 so as to be elastically deformable and obtain the same urging action as the leaf spring 520.

The upper part of the holder 510 in FIG.
The linear scale 504 is bent so as to be substantially perpendicular to the flat surface of the tenth (that is, parallel to the tape-shaped linear scale 504), thereby providing a positioning portion 515 in the height direction of the linear scale 504. A protruding piece 516 is formed by further bending a part of the bent positioning part 515 at a substantially right angle. By inserting the protruding piece 516 into a height positioning hole provided on the linear scale 504, The height of the linear scale 204 can be defined so that the vertical position does not shift.

As shown in FIG. 28 and FIG. 30, a protrusion 521 is provided on a flat rising portion 512 of the holder 510 which rises substantially vertically from below, and the protrusion 521 is attached to the side frame 501. Together with the formed guide hole 541, a guide structure for defining a trajectory when the holder 510 is moved up and down is formed. The shape of the lower half of the guide hole 541 is
Are formed so as to have the same locus as the displacement locus of the carriage guide shaft 50 during the displacement operation.
It is guided by the same trajectory as 2. Therefore, the linear scale 504 attached to the holder 510 is
02, so that the carriage moves along the same trajectory as the carriage, thereby enabling displacement in a state where the relative position between the linear scale 504 and the carriage is secured. Further, the tip side of the protrusion 521 is formed in a T-shaped cross section, and functions as a stopper 522 that prevents the protrusion from coming out of the guide hole 541. The upper portion of the guide hole 541 is formed wider than the locus shape of the lower portion, and when the holder 510 is mounted, the protrusion 521 is inserted from the upper portion of the guide hole 541 so that the guide hole 541 of the protrusion 521 is inserted. It can be easily fitted into the device. Further, the protrusion 521
Is connected to the side frame 501 by a play preventing spring 552 for preventing play in the guide hole 541, and is guided in the guide hole 41 in a stable state.

Based on the above, the operation of the linear scale interlocking mechanism in this embodiment will be described.

The linear scale 504 is attached to the holder 510.
(Or a leaf spring 520 mounted on the holder 510). The holder 510 is displaced up and down in synchronization with the displacement of the carriage guide shaft 502 provided with the eccentric mechanism 530 for adjusting the paper gap. As a result, the linear scale 504 is vertically displaced in conjunction with the carriage guide shaft 502.

As described above, the linear scale 5 is attached to the carriage guide shaft 502 employing the eccentric mechanism 530.
As a result, the carriage guide shaft 502 and the linear scale 504 are displaced in conjunction with each other, so that the paper gap can be adjusted and the position of the linear scale 504 can be changed with only one switching operation. It can be changed. As the eccentric mechanism 530,
Not only the above-mentioned eccentric bush but also a known mechanism such as an eccentric shaft can be adopted.

The present invention has been described with reference to various embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and other embodiments may be implemented within the scope of the invention described in the appended claims. It goes without saying that also applies. For example, the second partially toothed gear 2 for switching the driving operation between the paper gap switching means 200A (and the discharge driven roller releasing means 200D) and the driven roller separating means 200B.
The twelfth and third partially toothed gears 214 may be separately manufactured and joined so as to be coaxial, or may be integrally manufactured in advance.

In the above-described embodiment, the switching position of the operation lever 201 includes a recording material having a normal thickness, that is, a position A where plain paper or the like is used, and a recording material having a slightly thicker recording material, that is, A position B where thick paper is used, a position C where extremely thick recording material, that is, an extremely thick paper including an information recording disk tray is used, and a position D where the driven roller 202 is separated from the driving roller 203. Although the case where four stages are connected in series has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and a position P where the first paper gap is set and a second paper gap that is at least larger than the first paper gap are set. The present invention can be applied to a case where three stages of a position Q and a position R at which the driven roller 202 is separated from the driven roller 203 are continuously provided.

The switching positions connected in sequence are A, B, C,
The present invention is not limited to the order of D, and the present invention can be applied in any order. For example, the switching positions P, Q, R
, The switching position P, Q, R, the switching position R,
In the case of P and Q, the case of the switching positions P, R and Q can be applied.

Further, in the above embodiment, the first release means 200D uses the cam mechanism including the cam 31 and the cam follower 23, and the second release means uses the slide mechanism of the plate 80, respectively. It is also possible to adopt another mechanism that can achieve the above object.

The pressing means for the driven roller 202 in the driven roller separating means 200B includes a coil spring 205,
The present invention is not limited to 305, but can be applied to any elastic member such as rubber. If the D-axis 213a is formed in an acute fan shape, the operation angle of the operation lever 201 can be increased.

[0114]

According to the holder of the present invention, the paper discharge device provided with the same, and the recording device provided with the paper discharge device, the paper discharge driven roller holder is moved to the normal position where it can contact the recording material, By providing a release mechanism that can be switched to a retracted position where the discharge driven roller does not contact the recording material,
For example, printing using coated paper can be performed at the retracted position to avoid peeling or ragging, so that printing conditions that do not leave traces on the surface of the recording material can be selected according to the purpose of printing. become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an outline of a paper discharge driven roller according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the discharge driven roller taken along line III-III.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state of a paper discharge driven roller and a holder when a recording material is conveyed.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a sheet discharging device in the recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an essential part cross-sectional view showing an outline of a periphery of a recording unit of an ink jet recording apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a configuration example of an ink jet printer according to another embodiment of the present invention as viewed obliquely from the front.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the ink jet printer of FIG. 7 viewed obliquely from behind.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a relationship among operation means, paper gap switching means, paper discharge driven roller release means, and driven roller separation means of the ink jet printer of FIG.

10 is a side view showing a detailed example of a first state of the paper gap switching unit / discharge driven roller release unit / driven roller separation unit of the ink jet printer of FIG. 7;

11 is a side view showing a first operation example of a paper gap switching unit / discharge driven roller release unit / driven roller separation unit of the ink jet printer of FIG. 7;

12 is a side view showing a detailed example of a second state of the paper gap switching unit / discharge driven roller release unit / driven roller separation unit of the ink jet printer of FIG. 7;

13 is a side view showing a second operation example of the paper gap switching means / discharge driven roller release means / driven roller separation means of the ink jet printer of FIG. 7;

14 is a side view showing a detailed example of a third state of the paper gap switching unit / discharge driven roller release unit / driven roller separation unit of the inkjet printer of FIG. 7;

FIG. 15 is a side view showing a third operation example of the paper gap switching means / discharge driven roller release means / driven roller separation means of the ink jet printer of FIG. 7;

FIG. 16 is a side view showing a detailed example of a fourth state of the paper gap switching means / discharge driven roller release means / driven roller separation means of the inkjet printer of FIG. 7;

FIG. 17 is a side view showing a fourth operation example of the paper gap switching unit / discharge driven roller release unit / driven roller separation unit of the inkjet printer of FIG. 7;

18 is a perspective view of an essential part for explaining a sheet discharge driven roller release unit in the state of FIG. 10;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of an essential part for explaining a sheet discharge driven roller release unit in the state of FIGS. 12 and 16;

20 is a perspective view of an essential part for explaining a sheet discharge driven roller release unit in the state of FIG. 14;

FIGS. 21A and 21B are diagrams for explaining the operation of a sheet discharge driven roller release unit, where FIG. 21A is a normal position, and FIG.

FIG. 22 is a plan view for describing a plate used for a slide mechanism of a second release unit.

FIG. 23 is a drawing for explanation of a state in which the plate of FIG. 22 is mounted.

FIGS. 24A and 24B are diagrams for explaining the operation of the second release means, where FIG. 24A is a normal position, and FIG.

FIG. 25 is a view for explaining an operation unit of a second release unit.

FIG. 26 is a view for explaining a return means of the second release means.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of a main part for describing a linear scale interlocking mechanism of the ink jet printer of FIG. 7;

FIG. 28 is a cross-sectional view of a main part for describing a linear scale interlocking mechanism of the ink jet printer of FIG. 7;

FIG. 29 is a perspective view of an essential part for explaining a linear scale interlocking mechanism of the ink jet printer of FIG. 7;

30 is a main part side view showing a state of the outside of the side frame of the ink jet printer of FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink jet recording apparatus 2 Discharge frame 10 Discharge roller pair 11 Discharge drive roller 12 Discharge driven roller 13 Teeth 14 Shaft 21 Main holder 22 Small holder 23 Cam follower 24 Support part 25 Bearing 26a, 26b Wall 27 Step 28 inclined surface 29 relief portion 30 switching means 31 cam 33 bar spring 35 cam shaft 40 paper feed roller pair 50 platen 51 recording portion 60 discharge roller 80 plate 81 engagement hole 82 hook portion 83 hook 84 small protrusion 85 corrugated side 86 guide Hole 87 Positioning part 88 Large opening 89 Small opening 90 Operating part 91 Operating lever 92 Engaging part 93 Support part 94 Return means 100 Recording head 101 Main body 101a Cover 102 Paper discharge port 103 Paper supply port 104 Tray 105 Ink cartridge 106 Lamp 107 lamp 10 Discharge tray 110 Slit 200 Paper gap switching means / discharge driven roller release means / driven roller separation means 200A Paper gap switching means 200B driven roller separation means 200C operating means 200D paper discharge driven roller release means 201 operating lever 202 driven roller 203 paper Feed roller 204 Driven roller arm 205 Coil spring 211 First missing gear 212 Second missing gear 213 Fourth missing gear 214 Third missing gear 215 Fifth missing gear 213a D axis 222 Ratchet 231 First link 232 Second Link 233 Third link 234 Fourth link 235 Fifth link 241 Limit switch 242 Limit switch 243 Encoder 311 Sixth link 313 Pin 315 Guide groove 315a Linear portion 315b Arc 317 U-shaped receiving portion 501 Side frame 502 Carriage guide shaft 503 Small diameter shaft 504 Linear scale 510 Holder 511 Separated shape portion 512 Rising portion 513 Mounting portion 514 Hook portion 515 Positioning portion 516 Projection piece 520 Leaf spring 521 Protruding portion 522 Working part 530 Eccentric mechanism 531 Paper gap adjusting bush 532 Parallelism adjusting bush 533 Locking part 541 Guide hole 542 Mounting hole 543 Locking means 551 Disc spring 552 Anti-rattle spring

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masahiro Isono 3-3-5 Yamato, Suwa-shi, Nagano Seiko Epson Corporation (72) Inventor Mamoru Ukita 3-5-35 Yamato, Suwa-shi, Nagano Seiko Epson Corporation (72) Inventor Hiroshi Asa 3-3-5 Yamato, Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture Inside Seiko Epson Corporation (72) Inventor Kenjiro Ishihara 3-3-5 Yamato Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture Inside Seiko Epson Corporation (72) Inventor Koji Hashiuchi 3-5-5 Yamato, Suwa-shi, Nagano Seiko Epson Corporation (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Tajima 3-5-5 Yamato, Suwa-shi, Nagano F-term in Seiko Epson Corporation (reference) 2C059 BB03 BB07 BB10 BB12 BB13 BB17 BB22 BB25 BB26 2C060 BB04 BC04 BC12 BC15 BC22 BC23 BC33 BC35 BC38 3F049 AA10 CA02 CA32 DA12 DB02 DB03 EA07 EA08 LA07 LB03

Claims (16)

[Claims] A discharge paper driven roller holder disposed downstream of a recording unit and rotatably holding a paper discharge driven roller that is driven and rotated while being in contact with a recording surface of a recording material, the holder being a holder. Has a structure in which the tip end side can swing up and down with the base end side as a fulcrum.By the release mechanism using this swing, the holder is moved to a normal position where the discharge driven roller can contact the recording material. A discharge driven roller holder that is switchably provided to a retracted position in which the discharge driven roller does not contact a recording material. 2. The discharge follower roller holder according to claim 1, wherein the release mechanism can hold the discharge follower roller holder at a retreat position when the recording material is fed backward. 3. The holder according to claim 1, wherein the holder has a structure in which a front end side slightly swings left and right with a base end side as a fulcrum, and the discharge driven roller is interposed between the front end side from both sides. And a wall between the inner walls on the downstream side in the recording material conveyance direction of the two wall bodies, the distance between the inner walls on the downstream side in the recording material conveyance direction being upstream in the recording material conveyance direction. Characterized in that the distance is longer than the distance between the inner walls on the side. 4. The holder according to claim 1, wherein the holder has a structure in which a tip end side slightly swings left and right with a base end side as a fulcrum, and the discharge driven rollers from both sides on the tip end side. The paper discharge device has two wall members sandwiched between the two wall members, and the inner wall surface of the two wall members is configured such that the holder is slightly inclined with respect to the transport direction of the recording material due to the swing. A sheet discharge driven roller holder provided with a relief portion that allows the driven roller to be positioned in parallel with the transport direction of the recording material. 5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the distance between the inner walls on the downstream side in the recording material transport direction is longer than the distance between the inner walls on the upstream side in the recording material transport direction. A paper discharge driven roller holder, wherein a step is formed on the inner wall surface so that the wall thickness is smaller than the wall thickness on the upstream side in the transport direction. 6. The paper discharge driven roller holder according to claim 3, wherein the holder supports the driven roller by an elastically deformable shaft. 7. The holder according to claim 1, wherein the release mechanism rotates a cam provided on a fixed rotating shaft to abut on a cam follower on a base end side of the holder. A paper discharge driven roller holder characterized in that the holder is swung by a cam mechanism for releasing the contact to switch between a normal position and a retracted position. 8. The slide according to claim 1, wherein said release mechanism slides a plate provided at a lower portion of said holder back and forth to abut and release a bottom portion of said holder. A paper discharge driven roller holder, wherein the holder is swung by a mechanism to switch between a normal position and a retracted position. 9. The paper discharge driven roller holder according to claim 8, wherein one side of the plate on the upstream side in the transport direction of the recording material is formed in a waveform. 10. A discharge driven roller held by the discharge driven roller holder according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the discharge driven roller is driven and rotated by itself while being in contact with the recording material, thereby rotating the recording material. And a paper discharge drive roller for conveying the paper. 11. A recording device provided with the paper ejection device according to claim 10. 12. The recording apparatus according to claim 11, wherein a switching lever for switching the holder between a normal position and a retracted position is accommodated in a cover that covers a main body of the recording apparatus, and is operable even when the cover is mounted. The recording device is provided so as to protrude forward in the front of the recording device. 13. The recording apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the operation of returning the holder from the retracted position to the normal position by the switching lever is performed in conjunction with another mechanism of the recording apparatus. . 14. A discharge driven roller holder, which is disposed downstream of a recording unit and holds the driven driven discharge roller that is driven and rotated while being in contact with the recording surface of a recording material, the holder being a driven discharge roller. Comprises a first holder and a second holder held by the first holder. The second holder is independent of the first holder, and the tip end is vertically moved with the base end as a fulcrum. The second holder has a normal position where the discharge driven roller can come into contact with the recording material, and the discharge driven roller has a recording position. A paper discharge driven roller holder, which is provided so as to be switchable to a retracted position where it does not come into contact with a material. 15. A paper discharge driven roller held by the paper discharge driven roller holder according to claim 14, and a paper discharge drive roller for driving and rotating by itself to transport the recording material while being in contact with the recording material. And a paper ejection device. 16. A recording apparatus comprising the paper ejection device according to claim 15.