JP2003260841A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording apparatus capable of installing a rotation detecting means for feeding control of a recording medium even in the case where the space provided in the apparatus is small. <P>SOLUTION: A rotation detecting means 172 for feeding control of a recording medium is mounted on intermediate gears 173c, 173d comprising a feeding wheel row 173. Consequently, although it is difficult to mount the rotation detecting means on the gear of the final stage due to its small diameter in the case a carriage with a recording head mounted and a feeding roller of the recording medium are overlapped, since an intermediate gear has a diameter size of a certain degree, the rotation detecting means can be mounted easily thereon so that the recording apparatus can be miniaturized owing to the arrangement with the carriage and the feeding roller overlapped. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus for recording a recording medium by scanning the recording head while conveying the recording medium, and more particularly to a recording apparatus having an improved mounting of a rotation detecting means for controlling the feeding of the recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an ink jet printer, which is one of recording devices, is provided with a recording section having a recording head, a head driving mechanism, an automatic continuous paper feeding mechanism, a sheet conveying mechanism, etc. A tray for storing printing paper before printing is disposed so as to incline toward the rear of the upper portion, and a stacker for receiving the printing paper after printing is disposed so as to horizontally protrude on the front surface of the main body.

In such a structure, the printing paper in the tray is fed by the automatic continuous paper feeding mechanism and is sandwiched between the paper feeding roller and the driven roller which constitute the paper feeding mechanism. An image or the like is printed on the printing paper by ink droplets ejected from the recording head by the head driving mechanism while being fed by the rotation of the paper feeding roller. The printing paper is further delivered by the rotation of the paper feed roller, and is sandwiched between the paper ejection roller and the paper ejection serration forming the paper conveyance mechanism.

The printing paper on which printing has been completed is ejected onto the stacker by the rotation of the ejection roller.
When the ink in the ink cartridge is exhausted, the main body cover is opened upward to remove the ink cartridge, a new ink cartridge is loaded, the main body cover is closed, and printing is continued.

An encoder provided with a disc-shaped scale and a light emitting / receiving sensor is used as the rotation detecting means of the drive motor constituting the paper transport mechanism. The scale is arranged on the shaft of the paper feed roller, and the sensor is arranged so as to sandwich the outer peripheral portion of the scale. Then, the sensor reads the state change of the rotation detection pattern accompanying the rotation of the scale and feeds it back to the control unit,
The feeding of printing paper is controlled with high precision.

[0006]

In contrast to such a general ink jet printer, there has been proposed an ink jet printer in which the feeding / discharging of printing paper and the attachment / detachment of an ink cartridge can be operated from the front side of the apparatus. However,
Since the space in the apparatus of such a front-operated inkjet printer is smaller than the space in the apparatus of a general inkjet printer, the installation space of the paper transport mechanism is restricted, and the scale of the encoder described above is limited. Cannot be placed on the axis of the paper feed roller.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to be able to install rotation detecting means for controlling feeding of a recording medium even if the space in the apparatus is small. To provide a recording device.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a recording apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is a recording apparatus which scans a recording head while conveying a recording medium to perform recording.
The rotation detecting means for controlling the feeding of the recording medium is attached to an intermediate gear forming a feeding train wheel.
As a result, when the carriage on which the recording head is mounted and the feed roller for the recording medium are arranged so as to overlap with each other, it is difficult to attach the rotation detecting means because the diameter of the final stage gear becomes small, but the intermediate gear Since the diameter of the carriage has a certain size, the rotation detecting means can be easily attached, and the recording apparatus can be downsized by disposing the carriage and the feed roller so as to overlap each other.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to the first aspect, a gear having a large diameter and a gear having a small diameter are coaxial, and the intermediate gear is arranged in order from the inside of the device. Means are mounted between the large diameter gear and the small diameter gear. As a result, the rotation detecting means and the intermediate gear can be arranged side by side in the depth direction of the recording apparatus, so that the size of the recording apparatus in the width direction can be shortened.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the recording apparatus according to the second aspect, the feed wheel train has a gear mounted on a drive motor shaft that meshes with the large diameter gear, and a feed roller that meshes with the small diameter gear. And a gear attached to the. Accordingly, the rotation of the drive motor can be directly transmitted to the feed roller, so that the feed accuracy can be improved.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, in the rotation detecting means, the light blocking portion and the light transmitting portion are arranged at a constant pitch in the circumferential direction. From a disc-shaped scale in which the rotation detection patterns alternately arranged are formed on the outer peripheral portion, and a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit that convert the state change of the rotation detection pattern due to the rotation of the scale into an electric signal. It is characterized in that it is an encoder equipped with a sensor. According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the recording apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the scale is disposed coaxially with the intermediate gear. As a result, the rotary shaft of the scale and the rotary shaft of the feed roller are separate, and these are engaged by the feed train wheel, so by adjusting the reduction ratio of the feed train wheel, a high-performance sensor is used. Even without it, the scale can be downsized without degrading the resolution of the encoder.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a configuration example of an ink jet printer, which is one of the ink jet recording apparatuses according to the embodiments of the present invention, as seen obliquely from the front. The inkjet printer 100 has a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is configured so that all operations can be performed from the front side of the apparatus. Therefore, since the upper surface of the device has no movable parts or operation parts and the upper surface of the device is formed flat, it is possible to mount peripheral devices and the like on the upper surface of the device.

A paper conveying section 140, a printing section 150, etc. shown in FIG. 3 and the like of the ink jet printer 100, which will be described later, include a case 101 whose front side is open and the case 101.
Is covered by a front frame 102 fitted on the front side of the. As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 101 is formed, for example, by metal plate processing of a metal plate or by plastic injection molding.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front frame 102 is formed by injection molding of plastic, and can be taken in and out in the sub-scanning direction (printing paper conveying direction) indicated by an arrow a in the lower part of the opening. A tray 110 is arranged, an operation panel 130 is arranged beside them, and an opening / closing cover 103 that can be opened and closed in the front-rear direction is attached to the upper part of the opening.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tray 110 has a tray main body 111 for accommodating printing paper before printing, and a tip of the printing paper slantingly upward for supplying the printing papers stacked and accommodated one by one. It has a convex portion 112.
As shown in FIG. 2, the tray main body 111 is made slightly larger than, for example, A4 size printing paper, and the printing paper is arranged inside the printing paper positioning member 113 in the width direction. The lengthwise positioning member 114 is positioned at a predetermined position for stacking and storing. As shown in FIG. 2, the convex portion 112 is formed in a rod shape, and is disposed in a substantially central portion of the bottom surface of the tray main body 111 so that the longitudinal direction thereof faces the width direction of the printing paper. The printing paper stored in the is lifted in a mountain shape.

This tray 110, as shown in FIG.
Printing paper can be supplied in a state of being housed in the housing 101 behind the front frame 102, and as shown in FIG. The printing paper can be replenished or exchanged. Plain paper, special paper, recommended OH
P sheet, glossy paper, glossy film, label sheet, official postcard, etc. can be used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the operation panel 130 is provided with a power button 131, a reset button 132, a paper discharge button 133, etc., and the housing 101 shown in FIG.
Electrical wiring is connected to a dedicated controller board or the like of the control unit 160 built in. This operation panel 130
By operating the buttons 131 to 133, etc., the inkjet printer 100 can be started, printed, stopped, and the like.

The opening / closing cover 103 is, as shown in FIG.
It is formed to a size capable of covering substantially the upper half of the front frame 102 by injection molding of plastic, and is configured to be rotatable and openable around the lower part by pulling the upper part to the front side. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, shaft support ribs 103 a are formed so as to project at two lower portions of the opening / closing cover 103, and these shaft support ribs 103 a serve as the center of rotation of the opening / closing cover 103 and are attached to the front frame 102. It is supported.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the opening / closing cover 10
Locking ribs 103b are formed on the upper portions of both side surfaces of the protrusion 3, and these locking ribs 103b are formed on the opening / closing cover 103.
Opening and closing cover 1 is caught on the front frame 102 when the door is closed
03 is locked to the front frame 102. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, a sheet conveying section 140 is disposed above the tray 110 when the opening / closing cover 103 is opened, and above the sheet conveying section 140, a main scanning direction (indicated by an arrow c in FIG. A printing unit 150 that is movable in a scanning direction of a carriage 151 described later) is provided.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the housing 101, the front frame 102 and the opening / closing cover 103 are removed, and FIG.
FIG. 6 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 6 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 7 is a side view thereof. Referring to FIGS. 4 to 7, the paper transport unit 140, the printing unit 150, the transport drive unit 170, and the print drive unit 180 are shown. The detailed configuration will be described.

The paper transport unit 140 stores print paper in the housing 10.
1 has a so-called switchback transport function of transporting once from the tray 110 housed in 1 to the rear side of the casing 101 and then to the front side of the casing 101.
The following members are sequentially arranged from the rear surface side to the front surface side. That is, the paper retracting unit 1 having the cover 141a (see FIGS. 4 to 7) and the paper guide 141b (see FIG. 7).
41, a pair of planet rollers 142a, 142b (FIG. 4,
5 and 7) and their supporting arms 142c (see FIG. 4,
5 and 7), a paper feed roller 142, a paper scooping plate 143 (see FIGS. 4 and 7), and a driven roller 144 (see FIG. 4).
5 and 7), the paper feed roller 145 (see FIGS. 4, 5, and 7), the paper guide 146 (see FIGS. 4, 5, and 7), the paper discharge serrated roller 147 (see FIGS. 4 to 7), and the paper discharge roller 148. (See FIGS. 6 and 7).

The paper retracting portion 141 has a cover 141a formed in a box shape for covering the rear portion of the tray 110, and has a paper guide 14a.
1b is formed so as to curve from the lower inside rear surface of the cover 141a toward the inside upper surface front. This paper evacuation unit 1
The reference numeral 41 is for retracting the rear end of the uppermost one sheet of printing paper in the tray 110 along the inner surface of the paper guide 141b.

The paper feed roller 142 is a pair of planetary rollers 1.
42a and 142b are rotatably axially supported by both ends of a support arm 142c, the support arm 142c is rotatably axially supported by a pivot shaft 142d (see FIGS. 4 and 7) penetrating substantially the center, and the pivot shaft 142d is a printing paper. Both ends are rotatably supported by the inner side surface of the cover 141a so as to face in the width direction. Then, a pair of planet rollers 142a, 142b
The swivel shaft 142d and the swivel shaft 142d are connected to each other by gears so as to rotate in opposite directions. In the paper feed roller 142, the support shaft 142c pivots in the rotation direction of the pivot shaft 142d, and one of the planet rollers 142a and 142b comes into contact with and feeds the printing paper.

The paper scoop plate 143 is provided with a paper feed roller 142.
One end on the side is formed in a shape obliquely cut in the width direction of the printing paper, and one end on the side of the paper feed roller 145 is pivotally supported by a turning shaft 143a (see FIG. 7) extending in the width direction of the printing paper. The sheets are arranged so as to be inclined from one end on the paper feed roller 142 side toward one end on the paper feed roller 145 side.

The sheet scooping plate 143 is used for the sheet feeding roller 1.
The projecting corner of the one end on the 42 side is always in contact with the uppermost printing paper in the tray 110, and the projecting corner of the printing paper fed from the paper feeding roller 142 is at this projecting corner. By scooping up one corner, the entire leading edge of the printing paper is gradually scooped up over one end on the paper feed roller 142 side and lifted toward one end on the paper feed roller 145 side.

A driven roller 144 and a paper feed roller 145
Are arranged so as to face each other vertically, and sandwich the printing paper conveyed through the paper scoop plate 143 to sandwich the paper guide 146.
It is designed to be transported to. The paper guide 146 is arranged below the printing unit 150 and holds the printing paper flat. The paper ejecting roller 147 and the paper ejecting roller 148 are arranged so as to face each other in the vertical direction.
The printing paper conveyed through 6 is pinched and discharged.

The printing unit 150 includes a carriage 151 (see FIG. 4).
To FIG. 7), the ink cartridge 152 (see FIGS. 4 to 7).
Recording head 153 (see FIG. 7), guide bar 15
4 (see FIGS. 4 to 7), a flexible wiring board 155 (see FIGS. 4, 5, and 7) and the like. Carriage 151
Is a carriage main body 151a on which the ink cartridge 152 is mounted and the recording head 153 is mounted.
(See FIGS. 4 to 7) and the frame 10 on which the print driving unit 180 and the like are arranged from the rear of the carriage body 151a.
4 (see FIGS. 4 to 6) and a balance member 151b (see FIGS. 4, 5, and 7) arranged across the carriage body 15
A locking means 120 (see FIGS. 4 to 7) attached to the ink cartridge 1a for locking the ink cartridge 152 is provided.

A guide rod 154 arranged in the main scanning direction is penetrated through the rear portion of the carriage body 151a, and is moved along the guide rod 154. The balance member 151b supports the flexible wiring board 155, and brings the weight balance of the entire carriage 151 closer to the guide rod 154 to reduce the swinging reduction of the carriage body 151a during movement.

The locking means 120 is a carriage body 151.
The toggle mechanism 121 (see FIGS.
Of the ink cartridge 152, and the ink cartridge 152 is moved up and down by the toggle mechanism 121.
The ink cartridge 152 is provided with a storage frame 122 (see FIGS. 4 to 6) for pressing and releasing the ink cartridge 152.

The ink cartridge 152 can be inserted into and removed from the carriage 151 in the front-rear direction and has a locking means 1.
It is removably locked by 20. The ink cartridge 152 in this example is, for example, yellow, magenta,
It has a total of four colors, a cartridge in which each cyan ink tank is integrated and a cartridge in a black ink tank, and is configured to enable full-color printing.

The recording head 153 is mounted below the carriage 151 and has a plurality of nozzle rows for ejecting ink droplets. One end of the flexible wiring board 155 is electrically connected to the recording head 153, and
The back side of the frame 104 is routed through the balance member 151b of 51 and the other end is electrically connected to a dedicated controller board of the control unit 160 or the like.

The transport drive section 170 is provided with a drive motor 171.
(See FIGS. 4 and 5), encoder 172 (see FIGS. 4 and 5), gear mechanism 173 for paper feed roller 145 and discharge roller 148 (see FIGS. 4 to 6), wiper for recording head 153, cap For pumps and paper feed rollers 142
A gear mechanism or the like (not shown) is provided. Drive motor 1
71, the encoder 172, the gear mechanism 173 for the paper feed roller 145 and the paper discharge roller 148 are disposed on the left side surface of the paper conveyance unit 140 when viewed from the front side, and the recording head 15
3 wiper, cap, pump and paper feed roller 1
The gear mechanism for 42 includes a paper transport unit 140 when viewed from the front side.
Is disposed on the right side surface of the.

The print drive unit 180 includes a drive motor 181.
(See FIG. 5), linear encoder 182 (see FIGS. 4 to 6), belt mechanism 183 for carriage 151 (see FIGS. 4 to 6).
(See FIG. 6) and the like. The drive motor 181 is disposed on the back side of the frame 104, and the linear encoder 18
2. The belt mechanism 183 is arranged on the front side of the frame 104.

An outline of the operation of such a configuration will be described. It is assumed that the connection wiring between the inkjet printer 100 and the computer or the like and the connection of the power plug have already been completed. First, the user pulls the tray 110 forward by hanging the finger on a recess provided in the bottom surface of the tray 110 and pulling the finger. Then, after a plurality of printing sheets are stacked and stored at a predetermined position in the tray body 111 of the tray 110, the tray 110 is pushed backward and set. At this time, the printing paper is
The substantially central portion is in a state of being projected upward by the convex portion 112.

Next, the user operates the operation panel 130 to put the ink jet printer 100 in a standby state, and inputs a print command from a computer or the like. Then, the drive motor 171 of the conveyance drive unit 170 rotates, and the rotational force of the drive motor 171 is transmitted via the gear mechanism 173 and the like to the paper feed roller 142.
To the planetary rollers 142a and 142b via gears. At this time, the turning shaft 142d rotates clockwise in FIG. 7, and the planet rollers 142a and 142b rotate counterclockwise in FIG.

Therefore, the paper feed roller 14 on the rear side of the apparatus is
2a is swung downward and contacts the uppermost print sheet in the tray 110, and the print sheet is conveyed to the rear side of the apparatus. At this time, when the printing papers are overlapped and conveyed, first,
A coarse separation pad 115 (see FIG. 7) disposed at the rearmost portion of the tray 110 roughly separates the sheet into two or three sheets, and further a separation pad disposed on the inner surface of the sheet guide 141b of the sheet evacuation unit 141. 141c (see FIG. 7) separates the sheet into one sheet, and then the drive motor 17 of the transport drive section 170 is separated.
1 stops.

Then, the drive motor 1 of the transport drive unit 170
71 rotates in the opposite direction to the one described above, and the rotational force thereof is the gear mechanism 173.
Is transmitted to the swivel shaft 142d of the paper feed roller 142 via gears, and the planetary rollers 142a and 142b are further transmitted via gears.
Be transmitted to. At this time, the turning shaft 142d rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 7, and the planet rollers 142a and 142b rotate clockwise in FIG.

Therefore, the paper feed roller 14 on the front side of the apparatus
2b is swung downward and contacts the print sheet separated into one sheet, and the print sheet is conveyed to the front side of the apparatus. Then, a corner of the tip of the printing paper is placed on the paper scoop plate 14
By being scooped up by the protruding corner portion of one end of 3, the entire front end of the printing paper is gradually scooped over the one end of the paper scooping plate 143.

This printing paper is nipped between the driven roller 144 and the paper feed roller 145 and is further sent to the front side of the apparatus. When the print paper reaches the paper guide 146, the carriage 151 starts to move in the main scanning direction. Then, the recording head 153 ejects ink droplets while moving in the main scanning direction onto the printing paper being conveyed in the sub-scanning direction, and prints predetermined print information on the printing paper. The scanning timing and the ink ejection timing of the recording head 153 at this time are controlled by a dedicated controller board of the control unit 160, etc., and highly accurate ink dot control, halftone processing, etc. are executed.

Then, the print sheet is nipped between the sheet discharge roller 147 and the sheet discharge roller 148 and is further sent to the front side of the apparatus, and the print sheet which is finally printed is discharged to the outside. . Here, the ink cartridge 15
When the ink in 2 is exhausted, it is shown in FIGS. 8 (A) and 8 (B).
9A and 9B, the ink cartridge 152 is removed according to the procedure shown in FIGS. In these figures,
For example, the removal work of the ink cartridge 152 in which the yellow, magenta, and cyan ink tanks are integrated is shown, but the removal work of the ink cartridge 152 of the black ink tank is also the same.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the opening / closing cover 10
3 is opened, and as shown in FIG. 8B, the toggle lever 123, which constitutes the toggle mechanism 121 of the locking means 120, is grasped from the front side of the apparatus and opened toward the side surface of the apparatus to release the locking of the ink cartridge 152. . As a result, the ink cartridge 152 is stored in the storage frame 122 of the locking means 120.
Since it is lifted by, as shown in FIG.
The ink cartridge 152 is pulled out to the front side of the apparatus, and as shown in FIG. 9B, the ink cartridge 152 is removed from the storage frame 122.

Subsequently, the loading operation of the ink cartridge 152 is performed. The new ink cartridge 152 is aligned with the front part of the storage frame 122 and inserted horizontally into the storage frame 122. When the ink cartridge 152 is completely stored in the storage frame 122, the toggle lever 12
Ink cartridge 1
Lock 52. As a result, the ink cartridge 1
52 is pushed down by the storage frame 122.

In the recording head 153, the ink cartridge 15 is inserted into the ink cartridge 152.
2. An ink injection needle for receiving the ink supply from No. 2 is provided. The ink injection needles are arranged in parallel for each color so that the ink ejection direction in the recording head 153, that is, the tip of the ink injection needle faces upward. Therefore, the ink cartridge 15 by the storage frame 122
By the pushing-down operation of 2, the ink injection needle is completely inserted into the ink supply port of the ink cartridge 152. Now that the ink cartridge 152 has been loaded,
The open / close cover 103 is closed and the printing process is started.

As described above, according to the ink jet type printer 100, all the processes from the setting of the printing paper before printing to the taking out of the printing paper after printing to the replacement of the ink cartridge 152 are performed on the front side of the apparatus. Therefore, the operation can be performed quickly and easily, the printing efficiency can be improved, and the peripheral device can be installed on the upper portion of the printer, so that the work space can be effectively used.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the details of the drive motor 171, the encoder 172, and the gear mechanism 173 for the paper feed roller 145 and the paper discharge roller 148 of the conveyance drive unit 170, as seen from the front side of the apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 12 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 13 is a plan view thereof.

The drive motor 171 is a DC motor,
It is arranged on the back side of the frame 104 and inside the left side frame 105 when viewed from the front side of the apparatus. The gear mechanism 173 includes a gear 173a attached to the drive shaft 171a of the drive motor 171, a gear 173b attached to the paper feed roller 145, and intermediate gears 173c, 17 arranged between the gear 173a and the gear 173b.
It has 3d. Further, a gear 173e (see FIG. 13) having a diameter smaller than that of the gear 173b attached to the paper feed roller 145 inside the gear 173b, the paper discharge roller 14
8 has a gear 173f, and a gear 173g arranged between the gear 173e and the gear 173f.

The intermediate gears 173c and 173d are gears 173 attached to the drive shaft 171a of the drive motor 171.
It has a gear 173c that meshes with a and a gear 173d that is coaxial with the gear 173c and that is arranged outside and that meshes with a gear 173b attached to the paper feed roller 145.

The encoder 172 is a disk-shaped scale 1
72a and a photo interrupter (optical sensor) 172b. The scale 172a includes intermediate gears 173c and 1
It is coaxial with 73d and is mounted between the intermediate gears 173c and 173d. Photo interrupter 172b
Together with the printed circuit board 172c and the sensor holder 172
It is attached to d. Then, the sensor holder 172
d is attached to the side frame 105.

The scale 172a has a slit-shaped rotation detection pattern in which light-transmitting portions and light-shielding portions having substantially the same width are alternately and repeatedly formed in the circumferential direction at a constant pitch in the circumferential direction. . Photo interrupter 172b
Includes a light emitting portion that emits light and a light receiving portion that receives the light emitted from the light emitting portion, and a certain gap is formed between the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion. Then, in the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion, the outer peripheral portion of the scale 172a is inserted into the gap, and the optical axis of the light emitted from the light emitting portion to the light receiving portion is the scale 1.
It is arranged so as to vertically penetrate the outer peripheral portion of 72a.

That is, the scale 172a does not come into contact with the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion of the photo interrupter 172b, and is substantially parallel to the light emitting surface of the light emitting portion facing the scale 172a and the light receiving surface of the light receiving portion facing the scale 172a. In this state, the outer peripheral portion is arranged so as to enter the space. The printed board 172c is provided with a connector having a terminal for transmitting an electric signal to the outside and a terminal for supplying power from the outside, and is connected to the control unit 160 via this connector.

The sensor holder 172d has an arm-shaped outer restricting portion 172e that extends vertically on the front side of the device with respect to the light emitting portion and then reaches the vicinity of the upper portion of the light emitting portion, and an inner side provided so as to sandwich the light receiving portion. Regulator 172f (Fig. 1
2) is formed. Then, the outer restriction portion 17
A protrusion that protrudes toward the scale 172a is formed on the side of the tip of 2e that faces the outer surface of the scale 172a. In addition, in the inside regulation portion 172f,
On the side facing the inner surface of the scale 172a, the scale 1
A protrusion that protrudes toward 72a is formed.

The protruding portion of the outer restricting portion 172e slightly projects from the light emitting surface of the light emitting portion toward the scale 172a, and forms a slight gap with the outer surface of the scale 172a.
The scale 172a is regulated so as not to bend outward. In addition, the protrusion of the inner restricting portion 172f is
The light receiving surface of the light receiving portion slightly projects toward the scale 172a, and a minute gap is formed between the light receiving surface and the inner side surface of the scale 172a so that the scale 172a is prevented from bending inward.

According to this structure, when the paper feed roller 145 is rotated to convey the printing paper, the scale 172a is also rotated at the same time. Therefore, the light emitting portion of the photo interrupter 172b according to the rotation detection pattern changes from the light receiving portion to the light receiving portion. The transmission and blocking of the traveling light is repeated.
As a result, a rectangular wave signal that alternately repeats ON and OFF is sent from the photointerrupter 172b to the control unit 160, the carry amount of the printing paper is obtained from the number of the rectangular waves, and the repetition cycle of the rectangular wave is calculated. The conveyance speed of printing paper is required.

Since the encoder 172 and the gear mechanism 173 can be arranged so as to overlap with each other by the transport driving unit 170 having the above-described structure, the size of the ink jet printer 100 in the width direction can be shortened. , Paper feed roller 145 and carriage 15
1 can be arranged so as to overlap with each other, so that the size of the inkjet printer 100 in the depth direction can be shortened. Further, the paper feed roller 145 is further reduced in diameter to reduce the size of the inkjet printer 100 in the height direction. However, when the paper feed roller 145 has a small diameter, the paper feed roller 145 is easily bent. Therefore, an intermediate support portion that supports the middle of the paper feed roller 145 is provided.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the periphery of the mounting portion of the middle supporting portion of the paper feed roller 145 as seen from the right side of the front surface of the apparatus, and FIG.
FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the same as seen from the left side of the front surface of the apparatus, and FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing an intermediate support portion. As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the middle supporting portion 149 is locked to the side frame 106 disposed beside the driven roller 144 at the right end when seen from the front side of the apparatus, and the middle of the paper feed roller 145. I support you. As shown in FIG. 16, the middle support portion 149 is integrally formed with a placing portion 149 a on which the paper feed roller 145 is placed and a lower portion of the placing portion 149 a, and is locked to the side frame 106. It has locking portions 149b and 149c.

The mounting portion 149a has a flat upper surface and comes into linear contact with the mounted paper feed roller 145, thereby reducing friction during rotation of the paper feed roller 145. There is. Locking portion 149b and locking portion 149c
Is spaced by about the thickness of the side frame 106,
Further, the one locking portion 149b is formed to be shorter than the other locking portion 149c. Further, a convex portion 149d is formed inside the tip of the locking portion 149c. Then, the locking portion 149b is hooked on the upper end of the side frame 106, and the convex portion 149d of the locking portion 149c is provided in the side surface of the side frame 106 in the hole 106a.
(See FIG. 15), the locking portions 149b, 1
49c is adapted to sandwich and lock the side frame 106.

Although the present invention has been described above with respect to various embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and other embodiments within the scope of the invention described in the claims. Needless to say, also applies. For example, although the printer has been described as an example in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and is applicable to, for example, a facsimile device, a copying device, or the like.

[0059]

As described above, according to the recording apparatus of the present invention, when the carriage on which the recording head is mounted and the feed roller for the recording medium are arranged so as to overlap each other, the diameter of the final gear However, since the diameter of the intermediate gear has a certain size, the rotation detecting means can be easily attached and the carriage and the feed roller are overlapped. By arranging them in such a manner, the recording apparatus can be downsized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a configuration example of an inkjet printer, which is one of the inkjet recording apparatuses according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed obliquely from the front.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a tray of the ink jet printer of FIG. 1 is pulled out.

3 is a perspective view showing a state in which an opening / closing cover of the ink jet printer of FIG. 1 is opened.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where the casing, front frame and open / close cover of the inkjet printer of FIG. 1 are removed.

5 is a plan view of the ink jet printer of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the ink jet printer of FIG.

7 is a side view of the ink jet printer of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a first perspective view showing a procedure for replacing an ink cartridge of the inkjet printer shown in FIG.

9 is a second perspective view showing a procedure for replacing the ink cartridge of the ink jet printer of FIG.

10 is a perspective view showing the details of a drive motor, an encoder, a gear mechanism for a paper feed roller and a gear mechanism for a paper discharge roller of the conveyance drive unit of the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 1, as viewed from the front side of the apparatus.

11 is a perspective view showing the details of a drive motor, an encoder, a gear mechanism for a paper feed roller and a gear mechanism for a paper discharge roller of the conveyance drive unit of the inkjet printer shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a side view of FIG.

13 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the vicinity of the mounting portion of the center support portion of the paper feed roller of the ink jet printer of FIG. 1, as viewed from the front right side of the apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the periphery of the mounting portion of the center support portion of the paper feed roller of the inkjet printer of FIG. 1, as viewed from the front left side of the apparatus.

16 is a perspective view showing a center support portion of a paper feed roller of the ink jet printer of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 inkjet printer 101 case 102 front frame 103 Open / close cover 104 frames 105 side frame 110 trays 111 tray body 112 convex 115 Coarse separation pad 120 locking means 121 Toggle mechanism 122 storage frame 123 Toggle lever 124 Toggle spring 130 Operation panel 140 paper transport 141 paper evacuation section 141a cover 141b Paper guide 141c Separation pad 142 paper feed roller 142a, 142b Planetary rollers 142c support arm 143 Paper scoop 144 driven roller 145 Paper feed roller 146 Paper guide 147 Paper ejection roller 148 Paper ejection roller 149 Middle support 150 printing department 151 carriage 151a Carriage body 151b Balance member 152 ink cartridge 153 recording head 154 Guide rod 155 flexible wiring board 160 control unit 170 Transport drive unit 171 drive motor 172 encoder 172a scale 172b Photo interrupter (optical sensor) 173 Gear mechanism 173c, 173d Intermediate gear 180 Print drive 181 drive motor 182 Linear encoder 183 belt mechanism

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus for scanning and recording a recording head while conveying a recording medium, wherein rotation detecting means for controlling the feeding of the recording medium is attached to an intermediate gear forming a feed train wheel. Recording device. 2. In the intermediate gear, a large-diameter gear and a small-diameter gear are coaxial and are arranged in order from the inside of the device, and the rotation detecting means is provided between the large-diameter gear and the small-diameter gear. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is attached. 3. The feed train includes a gear attached to a drive motor shaft that meshes with the large diameter gear, and a gear attached to a feed roller that meshes with the small diameter gear. The recording device according to 1. 4. The rotation detecting means comprises a disk-shaped scale having a rotation detecting pattern formed on the outer peripheral portion in which light blocking portions and light transmitting portions are alternately arranged at a constant pitch in the circumferential direction, 4. The encoder according to claim 1, wherein the encoder is provided with a sensor including a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit that converts a change in the state of the rotation detection pattern due to rotation of the scale into an electric signal. The recording device according to the item. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the scale is arranged coaxially with the intermediate gear.