JP2002225393A - Cleaning method for recording medium and recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning method for a recording medium capable of executing a cleaning operation without posing the adverse effect such as displacement to a fixed recording medium even in the case the adhesion property of a cleaning roller is large, and a recording apparatus. SOLUTION: This method comprises a step of relatively moving a cleaning roller 50 while contacting, to the substantially center part in the relative movement direction of a recording medium 1 fixed on a recording medium fixing member 12, separating the cleaning roller 50 from the surface of the recording medium fixing member 12 after passage of the cleaning roller 50 by one of the relative movement direction end parts of the recording medium 1, relatively moving the cleaning roller 50 while contacting again, to the substantially center part in the relative movement direction of the recording medium 1 in the opposite direction with respect to the previous moving direction, and separating the cleaning roller 50 from the surface of the recording medium fixing member 12 after passage of the cleaning roller 50 by the other relative movement direction end part of the recording medium 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium cleaning method and a recording apparatus for removing foreign substances on a recording medium by using an adhesive cleaning roller for removing foreign substances on the recording medium. The present invention relates to a technique for preventing displacement, detachment, and film peeling of a recording medium due to a cleaning operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a recording apparatus for recording image information on a recording medium by laser exposure or the like, for example, a recording head is irradiated with laser light by a recording head onto a recording medium which is suction-fixed on a recording rotating drum by vacuum suction or the like. There is a recording device that performs image recording. In such a case, the recording medium includes a color material sheet having a color material layer formed on a transparent support and capable of heat transfer, and an image receiving sheet having an image receiving layer for receiving the color material layer. The color material sheet is exposed and heated according to the image data in a state where the sheet and the image receiving sheet are overlapped. Thus, the heated or unheated portion of the color material layer is transferred to the image receiving layer, and an image is recorded on the image receiving sheet.

After these recording media are supplied to a supply tray or the like of a recording apparatus, one of the uppermost layers is taken out by a pickup roller, and the recording medium is rotated by a conveyance roller (a nip roller or the like) arranged in the conveyance path. It is transported to the drum position, wound around the drum surface and fixed. The recording drum is provided with an adhesive roller using an adhesive material for cleaning the drum peripheral surface and the surface of the fixed recording medium so that the roller can freely contact and separate from the drum peripheral surface and the fixed recording medium. It is provided facing the drum peripheral surface.

The cleaning roller cleans the drum surface by rotating the recording drum in contact with the drum surface before mounting the recording medium on the recording drum. Further, after the recording medium is mounted on the recording drum, the cleaning roller is brought into contact with the recording medium surface to rotate the recording drum, thereby cleaning the recording medium surface. By the way, if image recording is performed while foreign matter adheres to the surface of the recording medium or the surface of the rotating drum for recording, image defects shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 occur. FIG. 11 is a view showing a state in which after the image receiving sheet to which the foreign matter X is attached is mounted on the recording rotary drum 12, the color material sheet 3 is mounted on the outer periphery thereof. The image receiving layer 2c of the image receiving sheet 2 and the color material layer 3c of the color material sheet are adsorbed in a stacked state, and when a foreign substance X such as dust enters between the sheets, the image receiving layer 2c and the color material sheet 3 Wide range S1
A gap G is formed. In a range S1 in which the gap G is formed by deforming the color material sheet 3 in a convex shape,
White spots occur in the recorded image.

Further, if recording is performed with foreign matter adhered to the surface of the recording rotary drum 12, a poor adhesion portion shown in FIG. 12 will be generated. That is, the recording drum 12
When the foreign matter X exists between the front surface and the image receiving sheet 2, the image receiving sheet 2 is deformed in a convex shape around the position where the foreign matter X exists. The color material sheet 3 receives this convex deformation, and a gap G is formed annularly between the color material sheet 3 and the image receiving sheet 2 around the position of the foreign matter.
As a result, an image defect called ring omission occurs in a range where the gap G is formed.

[0006]

In the above-described conventional method for cleaning a recording medium, one end of the recording medium mounted on the recording drum is used as a cleaning start point, and the other end is used as a cleaning end point. The cleaning is continuously performed by bringing a cleaning roller into contact with the recording medium. FIG. 13 shows a conventional cleaning procedure. As shown in FIG. 13A, the end 1a of the recording medium 1
Alternatively, the cleaning roller 5 is provided on the drum
0 is brought into contact with the recording drum 1 and the recording drum 1 is rotated at the end 1 a of the recording medium 1.
Since the suction force to the cleaning roller 50 tends to decrease, the adhesive force of the cleaning roller 50 may be relatively larger than the vacuum suction force from the recording rotary drum 12. in this case,
As shown in FIG. 13B, the end 1 a of the recording medium 1 is wound around the cleaning roller 50. Similarly,
When the cleaning roller 50 in contact with the recording medium 1 is vertically separated at the end 1 a of the recording medium 1, the recording medium 1 is pulled up, a part of the end 1 a is detached from the recording rotary drum 12, or the recording medium 1 is removed. Film may be peeled off.

For this reason, the adhesive strength of the cleaning roller 50 is appropriately designed in advance according to the properties of the recording medium 1. However, it is necessary to expand the applicable types of the recording medium 1 and to remove foreign substances more strongly. When this occurs, a cleaning roller made of a material having a strong adhesive force may be used, or a rubber roller having a small rubber hardness and high flexibility may be used. At this time, the recording medium 1 on the recording rotating drum 12 is displaced due to the strong adhesiveness of the cleaning roller 50, and the positional deviation increases suction leakage for fixing the recording medium. There has been a problem that the recording medium 1 is detached from the recording rotary drum 12 or the film of the recording medium 1 (such as the image receiving layer 2c and the cushion layer 2b of the image receiving sheet 2) is peeled off.

The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem. Even when the cleaning roller has a large adhesiveness, the cleaning roller has a bad influence such as a positional shift on a fixed recording medium. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium cleaning method and a recording apparatus which can perform cleaning without any problem.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for cleaning a recording medium, comprising the steps of: providing a cleaning roller having an adhesive property on a recording medium adsorbed and fixed on a surface of a recording medium fixing member; In the cleaning method of a recording medium, in which the cleaning roller is relatively moved with respect to the recording medium fixing member while being brought into contact with the recording medium to remove foreign matters on the surface of the recording medium, the relative movement direction of the recording medium fixed to the recording medium fixing member The cleaning is performed from the substantially central portion of the recording medium toward one end in the relative movement direction, and thereafter, the recording medium is cleaned from the substantially central portion in the relative movement direction toward the other end in the relative movement direction.

In this method of cleaning a recording medium, the cleaning roller is brought into contact with a substantially central portion of the recording medium in the relative movement direction, and the cleaning roller is relatively moved toward one end in the relative movement direction to thereby move the surface of the recording medium. Cleaning, and thereafter, the cleaning roller is brought into contact with the substantially central portion of the recording medium in the relative movement direction again, and the cleaning roller is relatively moved toward the other relative movement direction end, thereby cleaning the recording medium surface.
Even if the cleaning roller has high adhesiveness,
The entire surface of the recording medium is cleaned without turning over the fixed recording medium, causing peeling of the film, and causing no displacement of the recording medium. This makes it possible to form a high-quality image by preventing image defects in the recorded image.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of cleaning a recording medium, wherein the cleaning roller having an adhesive property is brought into contact with the recording medium adsorbed and fixed to the surface of the recording medium fixing member, and the cleaning roller is moved to the recording medium fixing member. In the recording medium cleaning method of removing the foreign matter from the surface of the recording medium by moving the cleaning roller relative to the recording medium while bringing the cleaning roller into contact with a substantially central portion of the recording medium in the relative movement direction. After passing through the end portion in the direction, the cleaning roller is separated from the surface of the recording medium fixing member.

In this method of cleaning a recording medium, the cleaning roller is relatively moved toward the end of the recording medium in the relative movement direction while being in contact with the substantially central portion of the recording medium in the relative movement direction. After passing through the end portion in the relative movement direction, the cleaning roller is separated from the surface of the recording medium fixing member that has moved over from the recording medium, so that even if the cleaning roller has high adhesiveness, the end of the fixed recording medium can be removed. The entire surface of the recording medium is cleaned without turning over, peeling off the film, or causing the recording medium to be displaced. This makes it possible to form a high-quality image by preventing image defects in the recorded image.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of cleaning a recording medium, wherein the cleaning roller having an adhesive property is brought into contact with the recording medium adsorbed and fixed on the surface of the recording medium fixing member, and the cleaning roller is moved relative to the recording medium fixing member. The recording medium fixed to the recording medium fixing member, the cleaning roller being in contact with a substantially central portion of the recording medium fixed in the recording medium fixing member in the relative movement direction. After the cleaning roller has passed one end of the recording medium in the relative movement direction, the cleaning roller is separated from the surface of the recording medium fixing member. While making it contact again, it is relatively moved in the direction opposite to the moving direction, and the cleaning roller is After passing through the other of the relatively moving direction end portion of the recording medium, characterized in that to separate the cleaning roller from the recording medium fixing member surface.

In this method of cleaning a recording medium, the cleaning roller is relatively moved while being in contact with a substantially central portion of the recording medium fixed to the recording medium fixing member in the relative movement direction, and the cleaning roller is moved relative to one of the recording media. After passing through the end portion in the direction, the cleaning roller is separated from the surface of the recording medium fixing member, and then the cleaning roller is brought into contact with the substantially central portion in the relative movement direction of the recording medium again in the direction opposite to the previous movement direction. After the cleaning roller has passed the other end of the recording medium in the relative movement direction, the cleaning roller is separated from the surface of the recording medium fixing member. Accordingly, even when the cleaning roller has a large adhesiveness, the end of the fixed recording medium is not turned up, the film is not peeled off, the recording medium is not displaced, etc., and the entire surface of the recording medium is not generated. Is cleaned. Accordingly, image defects of the recorded image are prevented, and high-quality image formation can be performed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning method of the recording medium, the substantially central portion in the relative movement direction of the recording medium includes the central position in the relative movement direction of the recording medium, and has a length of 50 in the relative movement direction of the recording medium. %.

In this recording medium cleaning method, the substantially central portion of the recording medium in the relative movement direction includes the center position of the recording medium in the relative movement direction and is located within a range of 50% of the length of the recording medium in the relative movement direction. By doing so, it is possible to maintain a sufficient distance from the end of the recording medium in the relative movement direction, and to expand the cleaning area per time.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method of cleaning a recording medium, the substantially central portion of the recording medium in the relative movement direction is ±± the length of the recording medium relative movement direction about the center position of the recording medium in the relative movement direction. It is characterized by being located within a range of 25%.

In this method of cleaning a recording medium, the substantially central portion of the recording medium in the relative movement direction is within a range of ± 25% of the length of the recording medium in the relative movement direction around the center position in the relative movement direction of the recording medium. By being located, more efficient cleaning can be performed.

In a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for cleaning a recording medium, comprising: a first cleaning area extending from a substantially central portion in the relative movement direction of the recording medium to one end in the relative movement direction;
It is characterized in that a second cleaning region extending from a substantially central portion in the relative movement direction to an end portion in the other relative movement direction overlaps.

In this recording medium cleaning method, the first cleaning area and the second cleaning area overlap each other, so that the cleaning is reliably performed over the entire length of the recording medium.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the method of cleaning a recording medium, an amount of overlap between the first cleaning area and the second cleaning area is 45% or less of a length of the recording medium relative to the moving direction. And

In this method of cleaning the recording medium, even if there is an error in the rotational position of the recording drum or an error in the fixed position of the recording medium, the recording medium can be reliably overlapped and cleaned. Wasteful cleaning can be prevented.

According to a eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus for performing recording according to character / image data on a recording medium which is suction-fixed to a surface of a recording medium fixing member, wherein the fixed recording medium is brought into contact with and separated from the recording medium. 2. A cleaning roller having an adhesive property, which is freely provided to face the recording medium fixing member, and a contact and separation operation of the cleaning roller, and a relative movement operation between the recording medium fixing member and the cleaning roller. And a control unit for performing control based on the recording medium cleaning method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

In this recording apparatus, the control section controls the contact and separation operations of the cleaning roller and the relative movement operation between the recording medium fixing member and the cleaning roller.
The cleaning roller is moved relative to the recording medium fixed to the recording medium fixing member while making contact with the cleaning roller substantially at the center in the relative movement direction, and after the cleaning roller passes through one end of the recording medium in the relative movement direction, the cleaning roller is moved. The recording medium is separated from the surface of the recording medium fixing member, and thereafter, the cleaning roller is brought into contact with the substantially central portion of the recording medium in the relative movement direction again and relatively moved in the direction opposite to the previous movement direction, and the cleaning roller is moved to the other side of the recording medium. After passing through the end portion in the relative movement direction, an operation of separating the cleaning roller from the surface of the recording medium fixing member becomes possible. Accordingly, even when the cleaning roller has a large adhesiveness, the end of the fixed recording medium is not turned up, the film is not peeled off, the recording medium is not displaced, etc., and the entire surface of the recording medium is not generated. Is cleaned. Accordingly, image defects of the recorded image are prevented, and high-quality image formation can be performed.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus, the recording medium fixing member is a recording rotary drum that is driven to rotate while fixing the recording medium on a peripheral surface.

In this recording apparatus, since the recording member fixing member is a recording rotary drum, relative movement control with respect to the cleaning roller can be easily performed, and a low-cost apparatus configuration can be provided.

[0027]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a recording medium cleaning method and a recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of a recording apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a recording head unit of the recording apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a recording medium.

In general, a recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium includes, for example, a recording medium attached to the peripheral surface of a rotating drum and the rotating drum being driven to rotate, while the recording head is moved in the drum axis direction, or Drum rotation recording system that performs recording by moving the laser light from the
Alternatively, while the recording medium is conveyed to a recording position by a conveyance roller or the like, recording is performed by moving the recording head in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, or by moving laser light from the recording head in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction. There is a self-propelled recording method to perform. Here, the drum rotation recording method will be described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this method.

First, the configuration of the recording apparatus of the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a recording section of the recording apparatus 100 is provided with a recording rotary drum (recording medium fixing member) 12, and a recording head 16 is provided opposite to the recording rotary drum 12. I have. Further, a signal based on image data is supplied to the recording head 16 and the recording apparatus 1
The control unit 17 that controls the entire operation of the control unit 00 is connected. The recording medium 1 is supplied from a recording medium supply unit including a supply tray 20 and a pickup roller 22 to the recording unit having the recording rotary drum 12 and the recording head. Further, a cleaning roller 50 is provided facing the peripheral surface of the recording rotary drum 12 so as to be able to contact and separate from the peripheral surface of the drum.

The recording rotary drum 12 has a hollow cylindrical shape, and is rotatably supported by a frame 14 shown in FIG. The recording rotating drum 12 is connected to a rotating shaft of a motor 13 and is driven to rotate. Rotating drum 12 for recording
The recording medium 1 composed of an image receiving sheet having an image receiving layer and a color material sheet having a color material layer is superposed on each other, and is fixed by suction using a vacuum suction device such as a vacuum pump (not shown). In the recording apparatus 100, the rotation direction of the recording drum 12 is the main scanning direction.

The recording head 16 is mounted so as to be linearly movable in a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the recording rotary drum 12 along a guide rail 18 by a driving device (not shown). This moving direction is the sub-scanning direction. The recording head 16 emits the laser light Lb toward the recording drum 12, and transfers the image receiving layer of the color material sheet at the irradiation position of the laser light Lb to the image receiving layer of the image receiving sheet. Accordingly, a desired position on the color material sheet covering the image receiving sheet can be selectively exposed to laser light by a combination of the rotation of the recording drum 12 (main scanning) and the linear movement of the recording head 16 (sub scanning). It becomes possible. Therefore, the supply tray 20
The recording medium 1 placed on the recording medium 1 is taken out from the upper side by a pickup roller 22 and mounted on the recording drum 12,
A desired image is formed on the recording medium 1 by scanning the recording medium 1 with the drawing laser light Lb, performing on-off modulation based on the image information, and exposing.

The cleaning roller 50 is connected to a drive mechanism 52 such as an air piston at both ends of the roller, and is driven into contact with or separated from the surface of the recording drum 12 at a predetermined timing by operating the drive mechanism 52. The motor 13 for driving the rotation of the recording drum 12, the recording head 16, and the driving mechanism 52 of the cleaning roller 50 are connected to and controlled by the controller 17.

Next, the recording medium 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the image receiving sheet 2 forming the recording medium 1 has a support layer 2a, a cushion layer 2b, and an image receiving layer 2c laminated in this order, and the recording drum 12 has the support layer 2a side inside. It is attached by winding around. As a material of the support layer 2a, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) base, TAC (triacetyl cellulose) base, PEN
A material such as a (polyethylene naphthalate) base is used. The image receiving layer 2c has a function of receiving a color material layer transferred from the color material sheet 3, and the cushion layer 2b has a function of absorbing a step when a plurality of color materials are stacked.

On the other hand, the color material sheet 3 has a support layer 3a, a light-to-heat conversion layer 3b, and a color material layer 3c laminated in this order.
c is set so as to be in contact with the image receiving layer 2 c of the image receiving sheet 2. As the support layer 3a, any material can be selected from general support materials (for example, the same material as the above-described support layer 2a) as long as it transmits laser light. Light-to-heat conversion layer 3b
Has a function of converting the energy of the irradiated laser light into heat, and is a general substance that converts light energy into heat energy, such as carbon, a black substance, an infrared absorbing dye, and a specific wavelength absorbing substance. Any material can be selected from the photothermal conversion materials. As the color material layer 3c, for example, each color of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) is prepared, and in some cases, a color called a special color such as gold or silver is also prepared. .

For example, when the recording order of each color is K → C → M → Y, the supply order of the recording medium 1 to the recording drum 12 is R (image receiving sheet). ), K (black color material sheet), C (cyan color material sheet), M (magenta color material sheet), and Y (yellow color material sheet). For this reason, the recording media placed on the supply tray 20 are set in the order of RKCMY from the upper layer. The details of the recording medium are described in, for example, JP-A-4-2965.
No. 94, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 4-327982, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
See -327983.

Next, the placed image receiving sheet 2 and the color material sheets 3 of the four colors K, C, M, and Y are sequentially pulled out from the supply tray 20, and a desired color image is placed on the image receiving sheet 2. Will be described with reference to FIG. First,
Printing is started with the recording medium 1 placed on the supply tray 20 shown in FIG. 1 in a predetermined order. Then, the pickup roller 22 operates to take out the uppermost image receiving sheet 2,
The sheet is conveyed to the recording rotary drum 12 by conveying means (not shown). The image receiving sheet 2 is a rotary drum 1 for recording.
2 and is fixed by suction by a vacuum suction device (not shown). As described above, in Step 1 shown in FIG. 4, the image receiving sheet 2 is supplied to the recording rotary drum 12 and wound and fixed. Note that the recording medium 1 is directly transferred to the recording rotary drum 12.
In the case of the configuration in which is attached, the pickup roller 22 becomes unnecessary.

Next, in step 2, the K color material sheet 3 is similarly taken out from the supply tray 20 and the image receiving sheet 2 is taken out.
Is supplied to the recording rotary drum 12 mounted with. Then, if necessary, the image receiving sheet 2 wound around the recording rotary drum 12 and the color material sheet 3 are laminated by heating and pressing the K color. This laminating step may be omitted in some cases.

In the next step 3, laser exposure is performed by the recording head 16 based on image data given in advance. Thus, the laser light is thermally converted by the photothermal conversion layer 3b of the color material sheet 3, and the color material layer 3c is bonded to the image receiving layer 2c of the image receiving sheet 2. Here, the image data is color-separated into images for each color, and the laser exposure is performed based on the color-separated image data for each color, that is, K color data.

Then, in Step 4, only the K color material sheet 3 is peeled off from the recording rotary drum 12. Thus, when the toner is used as the color material layer, the toner layer of the color material sheet 3 is transferred to the image receiving sheet 2, and an image is formed on the image receiving sheet 2. Step 2 above
The processing similar to the above-described steps 4 to 4 is repeatedly performed on the color material sheets 3 for all colors used for image recording. That is, the processes from Steps 5 to 13 are repeated for the color material sheets 3 of C, M, and Y colors other than the transferred K color. As a result, the color material layers of the color material sheets 3 of four colors (K, C, M, Y) are transferred image-wise to one image receiving sheet 2, and the image receiving sheets 2
A color image is formed thereon. Thereafter, the image receiving sheet 2 on which the image is formed is removed from the recording rotary drum 12.
In the removed image receiving sheet 2, a transfer image on the image receiving sheet 2 is further transferred to an arbitrary printing paper by a separate image transfer unit. The color printing is performed by the above steps.

When the recording medium 1 is supplied to the recording apparatus 100, a recording medium cassette in which the image receiving sheets 2 and the color material sheets 3 are previously stacked and stored in a predetermined order is used, and is sequentially taken out from the recording medium cassette. It may be configured. FIG. 5 shows a sectional view of the recording medium cassette in this case. In the recording medium cassette 26, the image receiving sheet 2 and the color material sheet 3 as the recording medium 1 are stacked and stored in the order in which they are supplied to the recording rotary drum 12. For example, when the supply conveyance order to the recording rotary drum 12 is the image receiving sheet R, the K color material sheet, the C color material sheet, the M color material sheet, and the Y color material sheet, the recording medium is stacked in the order of RKCMY from the upper layer. Is done. Although only one set of each recording medium is illustrated in FIG. 5, a plurality of sets can be accommodated and continuous supply can be realized.

As described above, by accommodating the recording medium 1 in the recording medium cassette 26 and loading the recording medium 100 into the recording apparatus 100, continuous supply of the recording medium 1 becomes possible, thereby reducing the number of recording steps and loading the recording medium 1. It is possible to reduce the probability that a foreign substance from clothes or air of a person adheres. If the cassette body is made of metal, the recording medium 1 can be prevented from being charged with static electricity.

Next, a procedure for cleaning the surface of the recording medium (image receiving sheet and color material sheet) mounted on the peripheral surface of the recording rotary drum 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the recording medium mounted on the recording rotary drum and the cleaning roller, and FIG. 7 is a view showing the positional relationship between the recording medium and the cleaning roller by developing the peripheral surface of the recording rotary drum. FIG. First, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 7A, the cleaning roller 50 is fixed to the recording drum 12 at a substantially central portion in a circumferential direction (a moving direction relative to the cleaning roller 50) of the recording medium 1. 6B and 7B, the recording rotary drum 12 is driven to rotate (here, as an example, clockwise). Then, FIG. 6 (c) and FIG. 7 (c)
After the cleaning roller 50 passes through one circumferential end of the recording medium 1 as shown in FIG.
From the surface of the recording medium 1 substantially vertically. By the above operation, cleaning is performed on the region from the center in the circumferential direction where the cleaning roller 50 first contacts the recording medium 1 to one end in the circumferential direction.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 6D and 7D, the cleaning roller 50 is
6 (e) and 7 (e), the recording drum is rotated in the opposite direction (counterclockwise here) as shown in FIGS. 6 (e) and 7 (e). To rotate. Then, as shown in FIGS. 6F and 7F, after the cleaning roller 50 has passed the other circumferential end of the recording medium 1, the cleaning roller 50 is separated substantially perpendicularly from the surface of the recording medium 1. With the above operation, cleaning is performed on the region from the circumferential center portion where the cleaning roller 50 has again contacted the recording medium 1 to the other circumferential end portion, and the cleaning has been performed on the entire surface of the recording medium. Become.

Here, the position where the cleaning roller 50 is brought into contact with the recording medium 1 is preferably set to the following position. FIG. 8 shows the contact start position of the cleaning roller on the recording medium on the peripheral surface of the recording drum.
As shown in FIG. 8, assuming that the circumferential length of the recording medium 1 is L, the circumferential central position of the recording medium is a position 0.5 L from the circumferential end of the recording medium 1. It is preferable to start the contact of the cleaning roller within a range of ± 0.25 L from the center in the circumferential direction in the circumferential direction, that is, within a range of 50% of the circumferential length around the center in the circumferential direction. By starting the contact within this range, a sufficient distance can be maintained from the circumferential end of the recording medium, and the cleaning area per time can be expanded, so that efficient cleaning can be performed.

FIG. 9 shows a state in which the first cleaning area on one circumferential end of the recording medium 1 and the second cleaning area on the other circumferential end overlap. Was. As shown in FIG. 9, by overlapping the cleaning areas in each direction, the entire surface of the recording medium 1 can be cleaned without gaps. By setting the overlap amount to 45% or less of the length of the recording medium in the circumferential direction, even if a rotational position error of the recording rotary drum or a fixed position error of the recording medium occurs, the overlap is reliably performed so that the cleaning is performed. And unnecessary cleaning due to excessive overlapping can be prevented.

According to the above-described method of cleaning the recording medium 1, the recording medium 1 is prevented from being turned up from the surface of the recording rotary drum 12, and the recording medium 1 is displaced, the film is peeled off, or the recording is performed. From the rotary drum 12 for use. When the cleaning roller 50 cleans the image receiving sheet 2,
Foreign matter adhering to the image receiving layer 2c of the image receiving sheet 2 is removed, and the occurrence of image omission shown in FIG. 11 can be prevented.
When the upper color material sheet 3 is cleaned, the foreign matter on the support layer 3a of the color material sheet 3 is removed, so that the laser beam irradiated at the time of recording is not interrupted, and the occurrence of image omission can be prevented.

The recording drum 12 has a smooth surface to prevent image defects such as ring omission, and a recording medium for smoothly mounting recording media of various sizes on the recording drum 12. A surface fixing member may be attached. This recording medium surface fixing member is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 0, a fixing / unlocking mechanism 58 provided on the recording rotary drum 12 is wound around the peripheral surface of the recording rotary drum 12 and is formed of a smooth plate-shaped member made of resin or metal. Clamped and fixed by Accordingly, the peripheral surface of the recording rotary drum 12 can be formed to be a smooth surface, and it is possible to prevent the recording medium 1 to be mounted from having irregularities.

The foreign matter can be removed from the recording medium 1 fixed to the surface of the recording medium surface fixing member 56 by the cleaning roller 50 in the same manner as described above. Accordingly, the foreign matter X adhered to the surface of the recording medium 1 can be removed without causing a displacement of the recording medium 1 or the like, and the occurrence of image defects due to the foreign matter in the recorded image can be prevented.

Further, in the present embodiment, a rotary drum type recording apparatus for recording by fixing a recording medium on the recording rotary drum 12 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the recording rotary drum 12 with the developed peripheral surface is regarded as a flat fixed base, and a fixed recording apparatus that performs recording while fixing the recording medium is also used. The above-described cleaning method of the recording medium can be similarly applied to a transport type recording apparatus for recording. That is, any configuration is possible as long as the cleaning roller can relatively move with respect to a recording medium fixing member such as a recording rotary drum or a flat fixing table.

[0050]

According to the recording medium cleaning method of the present invention, the cleaning roller is brought into contact with a substantially central portion of the recording medium in the relative movement direction, and the cleaning roller is relatively moved toward one end in the relative movement direction. By cleaning the surface of the recording medium, the cleaning roller is again brought into contact with the approximate center of the recording medium in the relative movement direction, and the cleaning roller is relatively moved toward the other end in the relative movement direction. To clean.
Further, the cleaning roller is relatively moved toward the end of the recording medium in the relative movement direction while being in contact with the recording medium, and after the cleaning roller has passed through the end of the recording medium in the relative movement direction, the cleaning roller is transferred from the recording medium. Away from the surface of the recording medium fixing member. Accordingly, even when the cleaning roller has a large adhesiveness, the end of the fixed recording medium is not turned up, the film is not peeled off, the recording medium is not displaced, etc., and the entire surface of the recording medium is not generated. Is cleaned. Therefore, it is possible to form a high-quality image by preventing image defects of a recorded image.

According to the recording apparatus of the present invention, an adhesive cleaning roller is provided so as to come into contact with and separate from the fixed recording medium and to face the recording medium fixing member, and has an adhesive property.
A control unit for controlling the contact and separation operations of the cleaning roller and the relative movement operation between the recording medium fixing member and the cleaning roller is provided, so that the recording medium fixed to the recording medium fixing member is substantially at the center in the relative movement direction. After the cleaning roller has passed one end of the recording medium in the relative movement direction, the cleaning roller is separated from the surface of the recording medium fixing member, and then the cleaning roller is moved in the relative movement direction. After the cleaning roller has passed through the other end of the recording medium in the relative movement direction, the cleaning roller is relatively moved in the opposite direction to the previous movement direction while again bringing the cleaning roller into contact with the substantially central portion of the recording medium fixing member. An operation of separating from the surface becomes possible. Accordingly, even when the cleaning roller has a large adhesiveness, the end of the fixed recording medium is not turned up, the film is not peeled off, the recording medium is not displaced, etc., and the entire surface of the recording medium is not generated. Is cleaned, and a high-quality image can be formed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of a recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording head unit of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a recording medium.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for forming a color image on an image receiving sheet.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a recording medium cassette.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between a recording medium mounted on a recording rotary drum and a cleaning roller.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between a recording medium and a cleaning roller by developing a peripheral surface of a recording drum.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a contact start position of a cleaning roller on a recording medium on a peripheral surface of a recording rotary drum.

FIG. 9 illustrates a state in which a cleaning area to one circumferential end of the recording medium and a cleaning area to the other circumferential end overlap.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a recording medium is fixed on a recording medium surface fixing member and cleaning is performed.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an image receiving sheet to which a foreign substance is attached is mounted on a rotating drum for recording, and then a color material sheet is mounted on an outer periphery thereof.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a foreign substance exists between the surface of a recording rotating drum and an image receiving sheet.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a conventional cleaning procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording medium 2 Image receiving sheet 2a Support layer 2c Image receiving layer 3 Color material sheet 3a Support layer 3b Light-to-heat conversion layer 3c Color material layer 12 Recording rotating drum (recording medium fixing member) 16 Recording head 17 Control unit 20 Supply tray 22 Pickup roller 24 Cassette mount 26 Recording medium cassette 50 Cleaning roller 52 Drive mechanism 100 Recording device Lb Laser beam X Foreign matter

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning device having an adhesive property, wherein a cleaning roller having an adhesive property is brought into contact with a recording medium adsorbed and fixed on a surface of a recording medium fixing member, and the cleaning roller is moved relative to the recording medium fixing member, thereby causing foreign matter on the recording medium surface. In the method for cleaning a recording medium to be removed, the recording medium fixed to the recording medium fixing member is cleaned from a substantially central portion in the relative movement direction toward one end in the relative movement direction, and thereafter, the recording medium is fixed. A method of cleaning a recording medium, wherein cleaning is performed from a substantially central portion in a relative movement direction to an end portion in the other relative movement direction. 2. A cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning roller is moved relative to said recording medium fixing member while an adhesive cleaning roller is in contact with said recording medium adsorbed and fixed on a surface of said recording medium fixing member. In the method of cleaning a recording medium to be removed, the cleaning roller is relatively moved while being in contact with a substantially central portion of the recording medium in the relative movement direction, and after passing through an end of the recording medium in the relative movement direction, the cleaning roller is cleaned. A method for cleaning a recording medium, comprising: separating a roller from a surface of the recording medium fixing member. 3. A cleaning roller having an adhesive property is brought into contact with a recording medium adsorbed and fixed on a surface of the recording medium fixing member, and the cleaning roller is moved relative to the recording medium fixing member to thereby remove foreign matter on the recording medium surface. In the method for cleaning a recording medium to be removed, the cleaning roller is relatively moved while being in contact with a substantially central portion of the recording medium fixed to the recording medium fixing member in the relative movement direction, and the cleaning roller is one of the recording media. After moving through the end of the relative movement direction, the cleaning roller is separated from the surface of the recording medium fixing member. Thereafter, the cleaning roller is brought into contact with the substantially central portion of the recording medium in the relative movement direction again while being opposite to the movement direction. And the cleaning roller has passed the other relative movement direction end of the recording medium. Cleaning method of a recording medium, characterized in that to separate the cleaning roller from the recording medium fixing member surface. 4. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein a substantially central portion of the recording medium in the relative movement direction includes a center position of the recording medium in the relative movement direction and is located within a range of 50% of a length of the recording medium in the relative movement direction. The method for cleaning a recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein 5. A method according to claim 1, wherein a substantially central portion of the recording medium in the relative movement direction is located within a range of ± 25% of a length of the recording medium in the relative movement direction with respect to the center position of the recording medium in the relative movement direction. The method for cleaning a recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein 6. A first cleaning area extending from a substantially central portion of the recording medium in one of the relative movement directions to an end portion in one of the relative movement directions, and a first cleaning region extending from the substantially central portion of the recording medium in the other movement direction. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second cleaning area overlaps the second cleaning area. 7. The recording medium according to claim 6, wherein the amount of overlap between the first cleaning area and the second cleaning area is not more than 45% of the length in the recording medium relative movement direction. Cleaning method. 8. A recording apparatus for performing recording according to character / image data on a recording medium that is attracted and fixed to a surface of a recording medium fixing member, wherein the recording medium fixing member is freely contacted with and separated from the fixed recording medium. 8. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: an adhesive cleaning roller provided to face the recording medium; and a contact and separation operation of the cleaning roller, and a relative movement operation between the recording medium fixing member and the cleaning roller. A control unit for performing control based on a medium cleaning method. 9. The recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the recording medium fixing member is a recording drum that is driven to rotate while fixing the recording medium on a peripheral surface.