JP2003118908A - Recording medium feeder and recording device therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent fouling of other recording media by preventing fouling of recording media due to rubbing against a recording head or the like, preventing the mark of a spur produced by a spur roller, and absorbing waste ink mists in the case of frameless printing. SOLUTION: A suction unit 100 is disposed on the side of a recording device 10 from which the recording media 1 is discharged, to avoid the floating of the recording media 1, and discharge rollers 124 and 125 are disposed in positions a predetermined distance L away from the print position of a recording media feeding surface 105, so that the discharge rollers 124 and 125 discharge the recording media to the outside with ink sufficiently dried. Further, a hard porous material 114 is disposed in a position of the recording media conveying surface 105 corresponding to an edge of the recording media, so that waste ink mists attached to the outsides of the peripheral edges of the recording media during frameless printing are absorbed by the hard porous material 114.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium conveying device and a recording device provided with the recording medium conveying device. Technology for doing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in an ink jet printer or an ink jet plotter, after a recording medium is fed to a recording portion by a paper feed roller, it is pressed by a paper discharge roller (drive roller) and a spur roller as a driven roller thereof. While there is a configuration that discharges. Figure 5
(A), (b) is a figure which extracts and shows only the recording part in such an inkjet printer etc., and the principal part of the conveyance apparatus of a recording medium.

That is, in such an ink jet printer or the like, as shown in FIG. 5A, after the recording medium 1 is fed into the recording section 3 by the paper feed roller 2 (and its driven roller 2a), the paper discharge roller is provided. The sheet is discharged while being pressed by (driving roller) 4 and spur roller 5 as a driven roller thereof. In this case, the pressing force of the spur roller 5 is set so that the recording medium 1 is not scratched (spur trace).

[0004]

However, in an ink jet printer provided with a recording medium conveying device as shown in FIG. 5A, a large number of ink particles such as a solid image are ejected onto the recording medium 1. When the image to be recorded is recorded, the recording medium 1 absorbs a large amount of ink and
As shown in (b), the recording head 6 swells in a wavy shape,
So-called cockling may occur.

When this cockling occurs, the distance between the recording medium 1 and the recording head 6 becomes narrower, and the flying distance of the ink particles varies, causing uneven recording, or the recording medium 1 contacts the recording head 6. There was a problem that it got dirty.

Therefore, in order to prevent the upper end and the lower end of the recording medium 1 from floating and avoid contact with the recording head 6, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the paper feed is performed. The driven roller 2a on the roller side is displaced forward, and the spur roller 5 is displaced rearward so that the conveying direction of the recording medium by the paper feeding roller 2 is slightly downward, and the recording medium is conveyed by the discharge roller 4. There is also known a recording medium transporting device having a configuration in which the direction is slightly upward.

However, in the recording medium conveying device having such a structure, the paper discharge roller 4 and the spur roller 5 are
As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, an S-shaped conveyance path is formed in the recording medium 1 in the conveyance direction so that the recording medium 1 is warped in the opposite direction. As shown, the recording medium is supported in a wavy shape in order to secure a pressing force in the width direction of the recording medium 1. For this reason, as shown in FIG.
A spur mark will be attached. This spur mark is particularly noticeable on plain paper with a large cockling, which is one of the causes of lowering the printing quality.

Further, it is not easy to select the position of the driven roller 2a with respect to the paper feed roller 2 and the position of the spur roller 5 with respect to the paper discharge roller 4 because the conditions vary depending on the material of the recording medium 1. Further, even during assembly, it is difficult to adjust the positions of the driven roller 2a and the spur roller 5.

On the other hand, in the recording medium conveying device shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 6 (a), if the distance L between the recording head 6 and the discharge roller 4 is relatively short, the above cockling is allowed. It is also possible to prevent the above-mentioned problems as much as possible by keeping the pressure within the range.

However, if this distance L is shortened,
Since the ink particles attached to the recording medium 1 reach the spur roller 5 before the ink particles adhere to the recording medium 1, the spur roller 5 is soiled with the ink, and the spur roller 5 to which the ink is attached contaminates another recording medium 1. Sometimes. In order to prevent this, the spur roller 5 is provided instead of the cylindrical roller in order to avoid the ink stain on the spur roller 5 as much as possible, but it is still difficult to completely eliminate the ink stain. .

By the way, recently, so-called borderless printing has come to be performed in ink jet printers and the like, and ink particles from the recording head land on the recording medium outside the peripheral edge of the recording medium. Instead, so-called waste ink mist that hits the recording medium conveyance surface has become a problem.

If such a waste ink mist adheres to the recording medium conveyance surface, it will stain the back surface of the recording medium. Therefore, a conventional mesh screen disposed in this area is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-169155. Are known.

However, in such a structure, although some of the ink particles ejected toward the mesh screen pass through the mesh screen, some of them collide with the skeleton body constituting the mesh screen,
It will generate floating mist.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to prevent stains on the recording medium due to rubbing of the recording head and spur marks from spur rollers and to absorb waste ink mist in the case of borderless printing. The purpose is to prevent other recording media from becoming dirty.

[0015]

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, a suction unit is arranged on the recording medium discharge side in a recording apparatus to suppress the floating of the recording medium and to discharge the sheet. Is placed at a position separated from the printing position on the recording medium conveyance surface by a predetermined distance, so that the recording medium is ejected to the outside by the paper ejection roller in a state where the ink is sufficiently dried, and the recording medium conveyance surface of the suction unit is further ejected. By arranging the hard porous material at a position corresponding to the edge of the recording medium, the so-called waste ink mist landing on the outside of the peripheral edge of the recording medium at the time of borderless printing is absorbed by the hard porous material. .

That is, the recording medium conveying device according to the first aspect comprises a suction unit for sucking and holding the recording medium, and recording medium conveying means for conveying the recording medium from the upstream side to the downstream side of the suction unit. The recording medium supplied onto the recording medium conveyance surface of the suction unit by the pair of paper feed rollers on the upstream side of the recording medium conveyance means is adsorbed onto the recording medium conveyance surface via the suction hole by the suction means during printing. While
In a recording medium conveying device for conveying the recording medium from the upstream side to the downstream side, the recording medium conveying means is provided with a pair of paper discharge rollers for nipping the recording medium and conveying the recording medium to the downstream side after printing, The discharge roller is arranged at a position separated from the printing position on the recording medium conveying surface by a predetermined distance such that the printing ink dries.

According to this structure, the recording medium is supplied onto the recording medium conveying surface of the suction unit by the paper feeding roller of the recording medium conveying means, and is directed toward the recording medium conveying surface through the suction hole by the suction means. Sucked. Then, the recording medium is printed on the recording medium conveying surface by the recording head, and is gradually conveyed from the upstream side to the downstream side by the recording medium conveying means, and after the printing is completed, the recording medium is conveyed to the outside by the discharge roller. Is discharged to.

In this case, since the paper discharge roller is arranged at a position separated from the printing position on the recording medium conveying surface by a predetermined distance, the ink particles landed on the surface of the recording medium from the recording head at this printing position. , Dry sufficiently while being conveyed to the position of the discharge roller. Therefore, even if the paper discharge roller comes into contact with the surface of the recording medium, the paper discharge roller is not contaminated by the ink that has not dried.

Accordingly, it is not necessary to configure the paper discharge roller of the pair of paper discharge rollers, which comes into contact with the printing surface side of the recording medium, as a spur roller, so that the recording medium does not have a spur trace.

Further, since the recording medium is sucked toward the recording medium conveying surface by the suction unit, the upper end or the lower end of the fed recording medium does not float up from the recording medium conveying surface.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium transport apparatus according to the first aspect.
The recording medium transport path from the paper feed roller to the paper discharge roller is
The feature is that it extends straight in a substantially horizontal direction.

According to this structure, the driven roller is arranged perpendicular to the recording medium conveying path with respect to the paper feed roller and the paper discharge roller, that is, immediately above the paper feed roller and the paper discharge roller. become. Therefore, it is not necessary to configure the recording medium conveyance path slightly downward by the paper feed roller and slightly upward by the paper discharge roller as in the conventional case. Therefore, the paper feed roller and its driven roller, the paper discharge roller and its The driven roller can be easily arranged, and the cost can be reduced by the simple structure.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the recording medium transport apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the suction force of the suction unit lifts the recording medium from the recording medium transport path. It is characterized in that it is selected to prevent it.

According to this structure, the suction unit does not need to suck and hold the recording medium on the recording medium conveying surface.
The device for generating the suction force of the suction unit is small in size, and the simple configuration reduces the cost.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the recording medium transporting apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the recording medium transporting surface is provided at a position corresponding to a recording medium edge portion. It is characterized in that a hard porous material is arranged.

According to this structure, in borderless printing,
Even if the ink particles from the recording head land as a so-called waste ink mist on the recording medium transport surface of the suction unit outside from the peripheral edge of the recording medium, the hard porous material is arranged near the landing position. The waste ink mist will land on the hard porous material.

As a result, the waste ink mist is absorbed in the hard porous material without staying on the surface of the hard porous material. Therefore, the recording medium is not contaminated by the waste ink mist remaining on the recording medium conveying surface of the suction unit.

Further, since the porous material that absorbs the waste ink mist is hard, even if force is applied to the porous material for some reason, the porous material is deformed and the absorbed waste ink mist flows out. There is nothing to do.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording device including the recording medium conveying device.

According to the recording apparatus having such a configuration, the paper discharge roller is arranged at a position separated from the printing position on the recording medium conveying surface by a predetermined distance, so that the recording medium is moved from the recording head to the recording medium at this printing position. The ink particles that have landed on the surface of the sheet are sufficiently dried while being conveyed to the position of the paper discharge roller. Therefore, even if the paper discharge roller comes into contact with the surface of the recording medium, the paper discharge roller is not contaminated by the ink that has not dried.

With this arrangement, it is not necessary to configure the paper discharge roller, which comes into contact with the printing surface side of the recording medium, of the pair of paper discharge rollers as a spur roller, so that the recording medium does not have spur marks.

Further, since the recording medium is sucked toward the recording medium conveying surface by the suction unit, the upper end or the lower end of the fed recording medium does not float up from the recording medium conveying surface.

[0033]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A recording medium conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Since the embodiments described below are preferred specific examples of the present invention, various technically preferable limitations are attached, but the scope of the present invention particularly limits the present invention in the following description. Unless otherwise stated, the present invention is not limited to these modes.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 shows an inkjet printer as a recording apparatus incorporating the recording medium conveying apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a recording medium conveying apparatus as a main part thereof.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ink jet printer 10 basically has a recording medium 1 housed in a paper tray 12a of an automatic paper feeding (ASF) unit 12 obliquely attached to a printer body 11. Is conveyed to the recording unit 14 including the recording head 13 and the suction unit 100 located below the recording head 13 by the recording medium conveyance device 20 that conveys the recording medium 1 in the conveyance direction D at the time of recording, and the recording medium 1 after recording is printed by the printer. It is configured to be discharged to the outside of the main body 11.

A manual paper feed port 15 (see FIG. 2), which is not shown in FIG. 1, is formed on the back side of the printer body 11, and a recording medium inserted and fed from the manual paper feed port 15 is formed. Similarly, 1 also feeds the recording medium 1 to the recording unit 14 by the recording medium conveying device 20 at the time of recording, and ejects the recording medium 1 after recording to the outside of the printer body 11.

Incidentally, in FIG. 1, the printer main body 11 is
Support frame 11a, exterior cover 11b, and recording medium 1
The discharge port 11c is included. As the recording medium 1, various kinds of paper such as OHP film, tracing paper, and postcard can be used in addition to dedicated paper for an inkjet printer and plain paper.

Here, the recording head 13 is arranged in parallel with the guides E and F (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the conveyance direction D (paper feeding direction or sub-scanning direction) of the recording medium 1. The carriage 13a is mounted on a carriage 13a slidably supported on a shaft (not shown).
A timing belt driven by the C motor 13b slides on a guide shaft (not shown). The recording head 13 has a nozzle row including a plurality of nozzles such as 96 nozzles for each color, and prints ink supplied for each color from the ink cartridge 13c detachably mounted on the carriage 13a. Fine ink particles are ejected onto the recording medium 1 from all or part of the plurality of nozzles according to the data.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the structure of the main part of the recording medium conveying device 20, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the suction unit.

As shown in FIG. 2, the recording medium conveying device 20.
Is a suction unit 1 that holds the recording medium 1 by suction during recording.
00 and recording medium conveying means 120 for conveying the recording medium 1 from the upstream side to the downstream side of the suction unit 100.

The suction unit 100 is arranged on the lower side of the recording head 13 for printing on the recording medium with the recording medium conveying path L interposed therebetween, and the upper suction portion 101 and the lower suction force are arranged. It is formed in the shape of a hollow box composed of the generating part 104 and having two upper and lower stages.

As shown in FIG. 2, the suction section 101 includes a decompression chamber 102 formed inside and a conveying surface 10 for the recording medium 1.
5 and a plurality of suction holes 106 that are open to each other and communicate with the decompression chamber 102.

The suction force generation unit 104 is in communication with the decompression chamber 102 of the suction unit 101 through a communication hole 108, and has a pump 110 having a centrifugal fan therein.

The pump 110 is attached to a predetermined position below the decompression chamber 102 in a state of communicating with the decompression chamber 102 via the communication hole 108, and the centrifugal fan is rotationally driven at the time of recording.

Here, the suction force generated by the suction force generation unit 104 of the suction unit 100 does not suck and hold the recording medium 1 on the recording medium conveyance surface 105 on the surface of the suction unit 101, but rather the recording medium 1 Need only be sucked toward the recording medium carrying surface 105, so that it is selected to be relatively small.
As a result, the pump 110 can be small.

Furthermore, preferably, as shown in FIG. 3, the recording medium conveying surface 105, which is the surface of the suction portion 101, is
Paper widths W1, W2 of various recording media 1 used for printing
Hard porous materials 112 are arranged at positions corresponding to W3, that is, at the right end common position in FIG. 3, at the center distances W1, W2, and W3 to the left.

These hard porous materials 114 are made of, for example, a foam material such as urethane, and are embedded in the recording medium conveying surface 105 as shown in FIG. It is located in a low position.

The recording medium conveying means 120 is arranged upstream of the suction unit 100 and the recording head 13 so that the recording medium 1 stored in the paper tray 12a is picked up and sent out one by one. A paper feed roller 121 disposed below the paper feed roller 121, a pair of paper feed rollers for feeding the recording medium 1 between the recording head 13 and the suction unit 100, that is, a paper feed roller 122, and an upper portion of the paper feed roller 122. A driven roller 123 that is pressed in a substantially vertical direction from the above, a pair of paper ejection rollers that eject the recording paper 1 after recording to the outside of the recording unit 14, that is, a paper ejection roller 124, and the paper ejection roller 124 that is substantially above the paper ejection roller 124. It is composed of a driven roller 125 which is pressed and contacted vertically. In this case, the driven roller 125 is not a spur roller but a cylindrical roller.

Here, the pair of paper discharge rollers, that is, the paper discharge roller 124 and the driven roller 125, are arranged at a distance L from the print position of the recording head 13, that is, the recording medium conveying surface 105, as shown in FIG. Has been done.

The distance L is selected so that the ink droplets that have landed on the surface of the recording medium 1 from the recording head 13 at the printing position are sufficiently dried.

Recording medium conveying device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention
0 is configured as described above and operates as follows.

First, when a recording command for the recording medium 1 housed in the paper tray 12a is input by a host computer (not shown) or the like, the paper feed roller of the ASF unit is rotationally driven to be housed in the paper tray 12a. The recording mediums 1 are picked up and fed one by one, and the paper feed roller 122 of the recording medium conveying means 120 is rotationally driven to convey the recording medium 1 between the recording head 13 and the suction unit 100. To do.

On the other hand, in the suction unit 100, the centrifugal fan starts to rotate, whereby the suction force of the pump 110 is passed through the communication hole 108 and the decompression chamber 102.
6 is actuated, and the intake suction state is established.

As a result, the recording medium 1 sent to the recording section 14 is transferred to the recording medium conveying surface 10 of the suction unit 100.
5 is sucked and conveyed while suppressing the rising. At the same time, while the recording head 13 moves above the recording medium 1 in the main scanning directions E and F, ink particles are ejected onto the recording medium 1 to perform image recording.

Then, after the printing of the recording medium 1 is completed, the trailing edge of the recording medium 1 is the paper feed roller 12 of the recording medium conveying means.
It is released from between the 2 and the driven roller 123, and is discharged by the paper discharge roller 124 and the driven roller 125.

Here, when the recording medium 1 is conveyed to the recording unit 14, when the front edge (that is, the upper end) of the recording medium 1 advances to the recording unit 14 between the paper feed roller 122 and the driven roller 123 in a substantially horizontal direction. The leading edge is sucked toward the recording medium conveyance surface 105 by the suction unit 100, so that the rising edge is suppressed. When the trailing edge of the recording medium 1 comes out between the paper feed roller 122 and the driven roller 123 after printing is completed, the suction unit 100 similarly sucks the trailing edge toward the recording medium transport surface 105.
Lifting is suppressed.

As a result, the recording medium 1 is prevented from rising by being sucked from the upper end to the lower end toward the recording medium conveying surface 105, so that the entire surface is printed by the recording head 13. You can

In this case, the paper feed roller 122 and the driven roller 123, and the paper discharge roller 124 and the driven roller 12
Since it suffices that the recording medium transport path 5 is configured to be substantially horizontal, the arrangement and assembly adjustment of these can be performed easily and at low cost.

Further, the recording medium conveying surface 105 is the recording medium 1
By providing the hard porous material 112 at positions corresponding to both side edges of the recording medium 1, in the case of marginless printing on the recording medium 1, for example, with respect to the paper width W1 of the recording medium 1, the ink particles from the recording head 13 It will land as a waste ink mist on the corresponding hard porous material 112 outside the both side edges of the recording medium 1.

The waste ink mist landing on the hard porous material 112 is absorbed in the hard porous material 112.

On the other hand, for the hard porous material 112, the pump 1
Since the suction force of 10 causes air to flow from the recording medium conveyance surface 105 through the hard porous material 112,
This air flow promotes evaporation of water contained in the waste ink mist absorbed by the hard porous material 112.

Therefore, since the capacity of the hard porous material 112 to absorb the waste ink mist is enhanced, the size of the hard porous material 112 can be reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, the hard porous material 112 has the sheet widths W1, W2, ..., Wn of the various recording media 1 used for printing on the recording medium conveying surface 105.
, That is, the common position at the right end in FIG. 3, the center distances W1, W2, ..., Wn to the left, respectively.
Are arranged in the respective positions, but not limited to this,
Further, a second hard porous material that extends in the width direction may be provided over the entire width of the paper used.

By the second hard porous material, the waste ink mist at the upper edge and the lower edge of the recording medium is absorbed by the second hard porous material in the borderless printing characters.

[0065]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the paper discharge roller is arranged at a position separated from the print position on the recording medium conveying surface by a predetermined distance, the discharge head is separated from the print head at this print position. The ink particles that have landed on the surface of the recording medium are
Dry sufficiently while being conveyed to the position of the discharge roller.
Therefore, even if the paper discharge roller comes into contact with the surface of the recording medium, the paper discharge roller is not contaminated by the ink that has not dried.

Accordingly, it is not necessary to configure the paper discharge roller, which comes into contact with the printing surface side of the recording medium, of the pair of paper discharge rollers as a spur roller, so that no spur trace is attached to the recording medium.

Further, since the recording medium is sucked toward the recording medium conveying surface by the suction unit, the upper end or the lower end of the fed recording medium does not float up from the recording medium conveying surface.

Further, when the hard porous material is arranged at a position corresponding to the edge of the recording medium on the recording medium conveying surface, the ink particles from the recording head are printed at the peripheral edge of the recording medium in the borderless printing. Even if landed as a so-called waste ink mist on the recording medium transport surface of the suction unit from the outside,
By disposing the hard porous material near the landing position, the waste ink mist will land on the hard porous material.

As a result, the waste ink mist is absorbed in the hard porous material without remaining on the surface of the hard porous material. Therefore, the recording medium is not contaminated by the waste ink mist remaining on the recording medium conveying surface of the suction unit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an inkjet printer as a recording device incorporating a recording medium conveying device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a recording medium conveyance device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a suction unit of the recording medium conveyance device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the suction unit shown in FIG.

5A and 5B are views showing only a recording unit in a conventional inkjet printer and a main portion of a recording medium conveying device.

6A and 6B are views showing another configuration example of a recording medium conveying device in a conventional inkjet printer or the like, and FIG. 6C is an axial sectional view of a discharge roller and a spur roller.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a spur trace of an image recorded by a conventional inkjet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 recording medium 10 Inkjet printer (recording device) 20 Recording Medium Conveying Device 100 suction unit 101 suction unit 102 Decompression chamber 104 Suction force generator 106 suction hole 108 communication hole 110 pumps 112 Hard porous material 120 recording medium conveying means 121 paper feed roller 122 Paper feed roller 123 Driven roller (paper feed roller) 124 Paper ejection roller 125 Driven roller (paper discharge roller)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A suction unit for sucking and holding a recording medium, and a recording medium transporting unit for transporting the recording medium from the upstream side to the downstream side of the suction unit, and a pair of papers on the upstream side of the recording medium transporting unit. While adhering the recording medium supplied on the recording medium conveying surface of the suction unit by the feed roller to the recording medium conveying surface via the suction hole by the suction means during printing, the recording medium is moved from the upstream side to the downstream side. In the recording medium conveying device for conveying the recording medium to the recording medium conveying device, the recording medium conveying means is provided with a pair of paper discharge rollers for nipping and conveying the recording medium to the downstream side after the printing is completed. A recording medium conveying device, which is arranged at a position separated from a printing position on a surface by a predetermined distance to such an extent that the printing ink dries. 2. The recording medium carrying device according to claim 1, wherein a recording medium carrying path from the paper feeding roller to the paper discharging roller extends straight in a substantially horizontal direction. 3. The recording medium conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the suction force by the suction unit is selected to such an extent that the recording medium is prevented from rising from the recording medium conveying path. Recording medium transport device. 4. The recording medium conveying device according to claim 1, wherein a hard porous material is arranged at a position corresponding to the recording medium edge portion of the recording medium conveying surface. And a recording medium conveying device. 5. A recording apparatus comprising the recording medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1.