JP2003170574A - Ink jet recorder and its controlling method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make an ink jet recorder compact while reducing cost and saving electric power by sharing a drive source between a carrying belt and a belt cleaning means. <P>SOLUTION: An endless carrying belt 31 is circulated and a recording medium is carried to a specified recording position where recording is performed by a recording means ejecting ink to the recording medium. The ink jet recorder comprises a cleaning means 38 for removing ink adhered to the carrying belt, a drive source 50 generating a driving power for circulating the carrying belt, and a driving power of the cleaning means, means 51 for transmitting the driving power generated from the drive source to the cleaning means or interrupting transmission of the driving power thereto, and means for controlling transmission/interruption of the cleaning driving power transmitting means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention conveys a recording medium conveyed from a conveying roller and fed by a circulating conveying belt, and at the same time, an ink is ejected onto the recording medium by a recording means. The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus for recording an image and a control method for the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, an image recording apparatus uses a full line type recording means (recording head), that is, a recording means in which nozzles for ejecting ink are arranged in a line over the entire width of a recording area of a recording medium. There is. As the full line type recording means, there is a line type ink jet type recording means or an LED type recording means. Such full-line type recording means, by utilizing the characteristics of the line shape,
High-resolution images can be recorded at high speed.

As a full line type recording head,
For example, a recording head having 7200 nozzles is known. In the recording device for recording a color image, recording heads for ejecting cyan ink, magenta ink, yellow ink, and black ink are arranged one for each ink.

In a recording apparatus using such a full-line type ink jet recording head, since the number of nozzles provided in one recording head is large, the image quality is deteriorated due to nozzle clogging or the like. Sometimes. In order to solve this, an ink ejection operation unrelated to image recording is performed on the surface of the conveyor belt in advance before the recording operation is started. In such an apparatus that ejects ink onto the surface of the conveyor belt, a belt cleaning unit is provided to remove the ejected ink and clean the surface of the conveyor belt.

[0005]

However, in the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, a motor dedicated to the cleaning means is provided in addition to the motor used for conveying the recording medium such as the conveyor belt. This has led to the increase in cost, cost, and power consumption.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and by making the driving means of the conveying roller and the driving source of the belt cleaning means common, the ink jet recording apparatus can be made compact and the cost can be reduced. , And to save power.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention makes an endless conveyor belt circulate, conveys a recording medium on the conveyor belt to a predetermined recording position, and A recording device configured to perform recording by a recording unit that ejects ink, including a cleaning unit that removes ink adhering to the conveyor belt, a driving force for rotating the conveyor belt, and a cleaning unit. A driving source for generating a driving force, a cleaning driving force transmitting unit for transmitting / blocking the driving force generated by the driving source to the cleaning unit, and a control unit for controlling transmission / blocking of the cleaning driving force transmitting unit. , Is provided.

According to the present invention, an endless conveyor belt is circulated, a recording medium on the conveyor belt is conveyed to a predetermined recording position, and recording is performed by recording means for ejecting ink onto the recording medium. A method of controlling an inkjet recording apparatus, comprising: a cleaning unit that removes ink adhering to the conveyor belt; and a drive source that generates a driving force for rotating the conveyor belt and a cleaning unit. And a control step for controlling the cleaning means to transmit / block the driving force generated by the driving source.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a cross section of the overall configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention. Here, mainly the paper feed unit, the transport unit, the recording head unit, and the paper discharge unit will be described. The paper feed section
A pressure plate 21 on which the recording paper P is stacked and a feeding rotator 22 that feeds the recording paper P are rotatable about a rotation shaft coupled to the base 20, and are attached toward the feeding rotator 22 by a pressure plate spring 24. Energized. The pressure plate 21 has a separation pad (not shown) having a large friction coefficient for preventing double feeding of the recording paper P and a separation claw (not shown) for separating the recording paper. A release cam (not shown) that releases the contact between the pressure plate 21 and the feeding rotating body 22 is provided.

In the above structure, the release cam pushes down the pressure plate 21 in the standby state. As a result, the pressure plate 21
The contact between the feeding rotating body 22 and the feeding rotating body 22 is released. And
In this state, when the driving force of the transport roller 32 is transmitted to the feeding rotating body 22 and the release cam by a gear or the like, the release cam separates from the pressure plate 21, the pressure plate 21 rises, and the feeding rotating body 22 and the recording paper. The recording paper P is picked up as the feeding rotary body 22 rotates, and the feeding rotary body 22
Rotates until the recording paper P is fed to the transport section.

The transport section has a transport belt 31 for sucking and transporting the recording paper P, and a PE sensor (not shown). The conveyor belt 31 is made of a synthetic resin such as polyethylene and has an endless shape, and is installed over a conveyor roller 32 and a pressure roller 35, which are driven rollers, and a drive roller 34.
It is designed to run around by the rotational force of. The drive roller 34 uses the belt motor 50 as a drive source.

In the figure, F is a power feeding means. The power supply means F applies a voltage of about 0.5 kV to 10 kV to the conveyor belt 31 to bring the recording paper P into close contact with the conveyor belt 31, and the well-known high voltage generation means, high voltage control means, etc. It is configured.

In the standard recording mode, the conveyor belt 31 moves at a speed of 170 mm / sec, and the distance between recording sheets before and after conveyance (paper-paper distance) is A4 size. In the standard recording mode, it is 10 cm. A pinch roller 33, which is driven by the transport belt 31, is in contact with a position facing the transport roller 32. Recording heads 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7S, and 7K are provided downstream of the transport roller 32 in the transport direction. Recording head 7Y to yellow ink, recording head 7M to magenta ink, recording head 7C to cyan ink, recording head 7S to processing ink, recording head 7
Black ink is ejected from K, respectively. The distance between the recording heads is 10 cm. These recording heads are line type inkjet recording heads in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction,
The resolution is 600 dpi. Further, in these recording heads, heat is applied to the ink by a heater or the like to cause film boiling in the ink, and the pressure change caused by the growth or contraction of bubbles due to the film boiling ejects the ink from the nozzles, and the recording paper P is ejected. It is supposed to form an image on.

On the other hand, the paper discharge section includes a paper discharge roller 41 and a spur 42.
The recording paper P on which an image is formed is sandwiched between a paper discharge roller 41 and a spur 42 driven by a paper discharge motor (not shown), and is conveyed and discharged onto a paper discharge tray 43. The discharging speed of the recording paper by the discharging roller 41 is almost the same as the speed of the conveyor belt, and in the standard recording mode, it moves at a speed of 170 mm / sec.

The paper discharge sensor 40 checks the presence / absence of the recording paper P in the paper discharge section. The separation sensor 49 is arranged on the paper discharge port side of the belt and checks the presence or absence of the conveyed paper. Further, 38 is a cleaning roller for cleaning the conveyor belt 31, which is driven by the driving force transmitted by the driving force transmitting means described later. Reference numeral 39 denotes a charge eliminating roller for removing the electric charge charged on the conveyor belt.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of the power transmission system shown in FIG. The power transmission system shown here is a belt motor 50 (driving source), a cleaning roller (cleaning means) 38, and a cleaner clutch (electromagnetic clutch).
It consists of 51 mag. The transmission of the driving force between the belt motor 50 (driving source) and the cleaning roller (cleaning means) 38 is performed by a transmission mechanism such as a gear or a belt.

If the belt motor 50 operates and the cleaner clutch 51 is off, the cleaning roller 38 is stopped. Further, if the belt motor 50 is stopped, the cleaning roller 38 is stopped even if the cleaner clutch 51 is turned on.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numeral 80 denotes a control unit as a control means for controlling each unit. The control unit 80 has a CPU 80a which operates according to a control program, a ROM 80b which stores the program, a work area for data processing and the like. RA having a storage area for temporarily storing data
Equipped with M80c and the like. Further, reference numeral 80d is a gate array, and together with the CPU 80a, recording heads 7S, 7Y, 7M
LS for controlling signals to 7C and 7K and adsorption means
I.

Next, the control operation in the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in step S11, the belt motor 5
The driving of 0 starts the traveling of the conveyor belt.
At this time, the rotation speed of the belt motor 50 is set so that the traveling speed of the belt is 170 mm / sec. However, at this point, the paper feed unit is in a stopped state,
The recording sheets laminated inside are in a state of not being fed (a weight state). Further, since the cleaner clutch 51 is off at this time, the cleaning roller 3
8 is not spinning.

Then, after the ink discharge is waited in step S12, the ink is discharged onto the conveyor belt 31 in step S13, and the wait is waited until the cleaner is started in step S14. This standby continues until the ink on the conveyor belt 31 approaches a predetermined position with respect to the belt cleaner (cleaning roller 38). When reaching the specified position (at the end of weight)
Then, the cleaner clutch 51 is turned on, and rotation of the cleaner (rotation of the cleaning roller 38) is started (step 15). The cleaning roller 38
The rotation speed of is reduced by a gear (not shown).

Then, the cleaning operation waits for a preset distance in step S16, and when the cleaning is completed, the cleaning operation is stopped (step S17). The cleaning operation distance performed in steps S15 to S16 is sufficient for cleaning the distance range in which a plurality of recording heads are arranged as shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the ink ejection operation for recovering the recording head, which does not contribute to the recording on the recording paper before the recording operation is started. As shown in the figure, in this recovery ejection operation, five inks are ejected from the nozzles of each recording head onto the surface of the conveyor belt 31. Y
P1 to YP5 indicate patterns from each head.
YP1 to YP5 each have an elongated strip shape, and
The distance between P1 and YP5 is about 1 cm. The belt cleaner removes these five strips of ink. Then, the transport belt 31 from which the ink has been removed
Moves in the direction of the arrow.

Thereafter, in step S17, the cleaner clutch 51 is turned off, the cleaner is stopped, and the cleaner is in a standby state (step 18). Here, in step S18, the paper feeding operation is started in the paper feeding unit, the conveyance of the recording medium is started, and the recording operation is executed at the recording position. After the recording operation is completed, in step S19, the paper feeding operation of the paper feeding unit is stopped and the belt motor 5
0 stops. With the above, a series of recording operations is completed.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. The second embodiment has the same structure as the structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, and the description thereof will be omitted.

First, in step S21, the recording mode set in the recording apparatus is either a mode for obtaining standard image quality (standard mode) or a mode for obtaining high image quality (high image quality mode). Determine if there is. The high image quality mode is a mode in which an image is formed with ink droplets having a double ink amount. For this reason, the transport speed is halved to secure the time for the ink droplets to penetrate the recording medium. If it is determined in step 21 that the mode is the standard mode, the process proceeds to step S22, and if it is determined that the image quality mode is selected, the process proceeds to step S31.

Here, a case where it is determined that the standard mode is set will be described. First, in step S22, the belt motor 50 is driven to start the circular traveling of the conveyor belt 31. At this time, the belt motor 50 starts so that the belt traveling speed becomes 170 mm / sec.
In step S23, after the start of the belt motor 50,
Waiting is performed in step S23 until the timing of ink ejection. In step S24, five inks are ejected onto the conveyor belt 31, and then in step S25, the ink on the conveyor belt 31 is cleaned (cleaning roller 38). The cleaning (rotation of the cleaning roller 38) is started when the predetermined position is reached (step 26). The speed of the cleaning roller 38 is reduced by a gear (not shown). Then, in step S27, a certain waiting state (waiting state) is performed, and the cleaning of the set distance is waited for. Then, in step S28, the cleaning operation is stopped, and in step S29, the standby state (wait state) is set until the recording operation is completed. When the recording operation is completed, the belt motor 50 is turned off and the conveyance of the conveyor belt 31 is stopped (step S28). S30). Next, a case where it is determined in step S21 that the high image quality mode is set will be described. In this case, first, step S
At 31, the conveyor belt 31 is driven by the belt motor 50.
The orbiting of the car starts. At this time, the belt motor 50
Starts so that the belt traveling speed becomes 85 mm / sec. Then, in order to eject the ink, step S3
Wait at 2. Then, in step S33, five inks are ejected onto the conveyor belt 31, and then in step S34, the ink on the conveyor belt 31 is waited until it approaches the cleaner (cleaning roller 38). The cleaner (rotation of the cleaning roller 38) starts when it reaches a predetermined position (step 3).
5). The speed of the cleaning roller 38 is reduced by a gear (not shown). Then, cleaning is performed for a preset distance in the constant standby state (wait state) in step S27. The standby time at this time is set to double the standard mode. This is because in the high image quality mode, the ink ejection amount is twice that in the standard mode, and the belt moving speed is half, so the moving time is twice as long.

When the set cleaning time has elapsed,
The cleaning operation is stopped (step S28), and a standby state (wait state) is set until the recording operation is completed in step S29. Then, when the recording operation is completed, the belt motor 50 is turned off, and the conveyance of the conveyance belt 31 is stopped (step S30). With the above, a series of recording operations is completed.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The third embodiment is provided with an emergency stop function for immediately stopping the running of the conveyor belt and the operation of the cleaner when any error occurs during operation, and an example thereof is provided. This is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In FIG. 7, steps S41 to S49.
Are steps S11 to S1 in the first embodiment.
9, and also includes a paper feed unit, a transport unit, a control system, a recording head, and the like similar to those described with reference to FIGS. However, in this embodiment, if an error occurs in each step, step S50
In this case, the traveling of the conveyor belt and the operation of the cleaner are urgently stopped, which is different from the first embodiment. And this emergency stop can be performed by stopping the belt motor which is a drive source, and the control can be simplified. That is, also in this embodiment, the conveyor belt 31 and the cleaning roller 38 are shared by the same belt motor 50 as in the first or second embodiment. Even if 51 operates, the cleaner is stopped.

In each of the above embodiments, the ink is ejected onto the conveyor belt before the recording operation is started.
In order to keep the ink condition in the print head proper,
It is also effective to eject ink after the recording operation is completed.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, the drive source for the belt cleaning means and the drive source for the belt are the same, so that the drive source for the belt cleaning means is provided in comparison with the conventional ink jet recording apparatus. As a result, downsizing of the device, cost reduction, and power saving can be realized.

Further, since the drive source is shared, the cleaning operation can be started and ended in synchronization with the operation of the conveyor belt even when the conveyor belt is operated in a plurality of modes having different speeds. Became.

Further, even when an error or the like occurs during the carrying operation and the carrying operation and the cleaning operation of the recording medium are stopped, both operations can be stopped substantially simultaneously by stopping the single drive source. . Therefore, unnecessary cleaning operation is not performed, and efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional side view schematically showing the overall structure of a mechanism in an embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional side view schematically showing a configuration of a power transmission system in the one shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a pattern of ink ejected onto a conveyor belt before a recording operation in the one shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control operation in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control operation in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control operation in the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

7K black recording head 7C cyan recording head 7M magenta recording head 7Y Yellow recording head 7S Special ink recording head 31 conveyor belt 32 transport rollers 33 pinch rollers 34 Drive roller 38 Cleaning roller 51 Clutch for cleaner

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet system in which an endless conveyor belt is circulated, a recording medium on the conveyor belt is conveyed to a predetermined recording position, and recording is performed by recording means for ejecting ink onto the recording medium. In the recording apparatus, a cleaning unit that removes ink adhering to the conveyor belt, a drive source that circulates the conveyor belt and a driving source that generates the driving force of the cleaning unit, and the cleaning unit. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a cleaning driving force transmitting unit that transmits / blocks a driving force generated by the driving source; and a control unit that controls transmission / blocking of the cleaning driving force transmitting unit. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an ink ejection control unit that causes a recording head to eject ink not related to recording on the recording medium, on the conveyor belt. 3. The ink ejection control means causes the recording means to eject ink onto the conveyor belt from the time the conveyor belt is started until the recording medium reaches the recording position. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The ink jet recording according to claim 2, wherein the ink ejection control unit causes the recording unit to eject ink onto the conveyor belt after a recording operation on the recording medium is completed. apparatus. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning driving force transmitting means includes a clutch mechanism provided between the driving source and the cleaning means. 6. A conveyance roller drive control means for changing the speed of the conveyance roller drive means, wherein the conveyance roller drive control means can be driven at different speeds during operation of the cleaning means and during conveyance operation. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is an inkjet recording apparatus. 7. The recording means includes a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink, and the nozzles are arranged in a line along a direction intersecting a conveyance direction of a recording medium by a conveyance belt and have an arrangement width. 7. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is a full-line recording head set to have a maximum recording width on a recording medium or more. 8. The ink jet recording according to claim 7, wherein the recording means is provided with different full line type recording heads for ejecting a plurality of different colors along a recording medium conveying direction by the conveying belt. apparatus. 9. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording means generates bubbles in the ink by thermal energy and ejects the ink by the generated energy of the bubbles. 10. An ink jet system in which an endless conveyor belt is circulated, a recording medium on the conveyor belt is conveyed to a predetermined recording position, and recording is performed by recording means for ejecting ink onto the recording medium. A method of controlling a recording apparatus, comprising: a cleaning unit that performs an operation of removing ink adhering to the conveyor belt; and a drive source that generates a driving force for rotating the conveyor belt and a cleaning unit. A method for controlling an inkjet recording apparatus, comprising: a control step of controlling transmission / interruption of a driving force generated by the driving source to the cleaning unit.