JP2005349676A - Cutting device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cutting device capable of being miniaturized and readily carrying out contacting or separating of a circular blade to or from a fixed blade at an arbitrary position in a cutting region, and an image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: This cutting device cuts a recording medium such that the circular blade 24 is rotated and is moved by being brought into contact with the straight fixed blade 6 fixed in a direction perpendicular to a feeding direction of the recording medium. The circular blade 24 is supported by a circular blade holder 20. The circular blade holder 20 can be rotated to take a position allowing the circular blade 24 to contact the fixed blade 6 and a position allowing it to separate therefrom. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus for cutting a roll-shaped workpiece, and more particularly to a cutting apparatus mounted on an output device such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a laminator, and an image forming apparatus provided with the same.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an apparatus that cuts a recording medium using a pair of blades is known. Such a cutting device is mounted on, for example, an image recording apparatus that accommodates a roll-shaped recording medium, feeds the recording medium to a platen, and records image data by scanning the recording head (reciprocating operation) with a carriage. The The recording medium on which the image data is recorded is used as means for cutting and separating each page.

  As this type of cutting device, a cutting device using a knife-like blade, a cutting device using one of the long fixed blades and the other rotating round blade as a pair of blades, both of which are rotatable There is a cutting device using a round blade.

  The cutting device using a rotatable round blade has a better cutting edge than the cutting device using a knife-like blade, can cut a wide variety of recording media, and Has the advantage of long life.

  However, if the cutting device uses a long fixed blade on one side and a round blade that can rotate on the other as a pair of blades, and the carriage for moving the recording head for recording the image has a round blade, It is essential that the fixed blade and the round blade come into contact with each other. Therefore, when the recording medium is transported during image recording or the like, the round blade may be retracted from the transport path to secure the transport path of the recording medium. is necessary.

  Therefore, in a cutting apparatus that uses a fixed blade and a round blade and has a round blade in a carriage for moving the recording head, a means for bringing the round blade into contact with and retracting from the fixed blade is required.

  As a configuration for bringing the round blade into contact with and retracting from the fixed blade, a technique as shown in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. This is because the sheet cutting part equipped with a round blade is equipped with a lever having a cam groove, and when the round blade and the fixed blade come into contact, the sheet cutting part moves to the retracting part provided on the extension of the fixed blade. Then, the round blade descends along the cam groove by pushing the lever against the frame. When the sheet cutting portion is moved in the cutting direction in this state, the round blade comes into contact with the fixed blade by the guide member provided between the retracting portion and the fixed blade.

  On the other hand, when the round blade and fixed blade are retracted, the round blade is raised along the cam groove by pushing the lever against the frame in the opposite direction to the contact state, and the round blade is retracted from the fixed blade. (See Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-193084

  However, in the conventional round blade contact and retraction configuration as described above, when the round blade is brought into contact with and retracted from the fixed blade, the round blade must be moved to a predetermined position. However, since the predetermined position is provided on the extension of the fixed blade, there is a problem that the width of the apparatus becomes large.

  In addition, in a large-format inkjet printer that needs to cut a recording medium having a cutting width of 10 inches to 44 inches or more, a predetermined position such as a retracting portion is set in accordance with the recording medium of the maximum sheet passing width of the apparatus. Must be provided. Therefore, especially when cutting a 10-inch size recording medium, the distance of idle cutting for moving the round blade without cutting the recording medium becomes longer, and the recording medium on which the image data is recorded from the image data transfer is reduced. There is a problem that the time until cutting and carving becomes long.

  Also, if a cut jam occurs due to the round blade escaping during cutting, the round blade must be retracted from the fixed blade, but the position where the round blade is retracted from the fixed blade is on the cutting end side. There is also a problem that the round blade cannot be easily retracted.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the object thereof is to make it possible to easily contact and retract the round blade and the fixed blade at an arbitrary position in the cutting region while preventing an increase in the size of the apparatus. A cutting device and an image forming apparatus are provided.

  A typical means in the present invention for solving the above-described problems is that a rotatable rotary blade is brought into contact with the fixed blade with respect to a linear fixed blade fixed in a direction orthogonal to the feed direction of the material to be cut. In the cutting device that cuts the workpiece by rotating while moving, the rotary blade is supported by the rotary blade holder, and the rotary blade holder is in a position where the rotary blade comes into contact with the fixed blade and a position where the rotary blade is retracted It is characterized in that it can be rotated.

  In the present invention, the rotary blade holder that supports the rotary blade is configured to be rotatable between a position where the rotary blade comes into contact with the fixed blade and a position where the rotary blade retracts. Therefore, the rotary blade holder can be easily rotated at any place in the cutting area. The blade can be brought into contact with and retracted from the fixed blade.

  Next, an image forming apparatus including a cutting device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is an overall explanatory view of an image forming apparatus provided with a cutting device, FIG. 2 is a view showing a state of a rotary blade, (a) shows a state at the time of retraction, and (b) is a fixed blade. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state at the time of contact | abutting. 3 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing the relationship between the rotary blade holder and the fixed blade during retraction, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing the relationship between the rotary blade holder and the fixed blade during contact.

{Overall configuration of image forming apparatus}
First, the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus will be briefly described. The printer shown in FIG. 1 is a serial type ink jet printer.

  The recording medium 101 is conveyed by the conveying roller 3, and the recording head 1a records the upper part of the platen 4 that guarantees a gap between the recording head 1a as the recording means and the recording medium 101 and also serves as a chassis of the printer body. The carriage 1 reciprocates along the axis of the rail 2 extending in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the medium 101.

  The recording head 1a of the present embodiment mounted on the carriage 1 is an ink jet recording head. The recording head 1a is generated in the ink by energizing the electrothermal transducer in accordance with the recording signal and utilizing film boiling generated in the ink by the thermal energy. The recording is performed by ejecting ink from the ejection ports by the growth and contraction of the bubbles. In this way, by ejecting ink by growing and shrinking bubbles with thermal energy, it is possible to achieve ejection of a liquid with particularly excellent responsiveness.

  When ink is ejected from the recording head and an image is recorded on the recording medium 101 in synchronism with one forward or backward movement of the carriage 1, the conveyance roller 3 intermittently moves the recording medium in the direction of arrow A in FIG. In the same manner as described above, the carriage 1 is moved to record an image. This is repeated to record an image on the entire page. The recorded portion 101a of the recording medium is guided to the discharge guide 7 and discharged outside the printer.

  When the image recording is finished, the recording medium 101 is conveyed to a predetermined cutting position by the conveying roller 3. Then, the recording medium after recording is cut by the cutting device 200. That is, the carriage 1 is moved to the outside of one end of the recording medium 101 (left side in FIG. 1), and the round blade 24 constituting the cutting device is brought into contact with the fixed blade 6. In this state, the carriage 1 is moved in the direction of arrow B in FIG. At this time, cutting is performed along the cut line 101b, and the recorded portion 101a on the downstream side in the recording medium conveyance direction is cut off. The cut line 101b coincides with the cutting edge of the fixed blade 6.

  Then, the cut recording medium 101 is discharged to a stack member (not shown) disposed below the cutting device 200. The relationship between the sheet passing surface of the platen 4 and the upper surface of the fixed blade 6 is slightly lower than the upper surface of the fixed blade 6, and the relationship between the upper surface of the fixed blade 6 and the upper surface of the discharge guide 7 is the upper surface of the discharge guide 7. Is slightly lower. Therefore, these are gradually arranged in a lower position with respect to the direction in which the recording medium 101 is conveyed.

{Cutting device}
Next, the cutting device will be described. The cutting apparatus 200 of this embodiment includes a linear fixed blade 6 fixed in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium 101, and a round blade that is a rotary blade on the carriage 1 that can move along the fixed blade 6. A round blade holder 20 (with a rotary blade holder) 20 that supports 24 is mounted, and the recording medium 101 is cut by rotating the round blade 24 in contact with the fixed blade 6.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a frame 5 is attached to the platen 4, and a linear fixed blade 6 is formed on the upper surface of the frame 5 along the longitudinal direction, such as a double-sided tape, an adhesive, or spot welding. The blade edge of the fixed blade 6 is arranged so as to protrude from the edge of the frame 5.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the round blade holder 20 has a cylindrical body 22 in which a part of the cylindrical shape is cut in a vertically split shape and an opening through which the cutting edge of the round blade 24 is exposed is opened. It is formed in preparation. The cylindrical body 22 is integrally formed with a cylinder bottom 23 that closes the cylindrical body 22 at one end, and a flange 23b having an enlarged diameter of the cylindrical body 22 is formed at the other end. The end of the cylindrical body 22 where the flange 23b is formed is closed by assembling a cylindrical lid 21 having the same diameter as the flange 23b.

  The round blade 24 is pivotally supported on the shaft member 29 via a bearing 27. In this bearing 27, a rotary blade mounting portion 27a and a rotating portion are integrally formed so that the shaft member 29 is inserted and rotatably supported.

  On the outer periphery of the bearing 27, the round blade 24 is sandwiched between the round blade mounting portion 27a and the disc-shaped sandwiching member 26, and is fitted into a hole formed in the shaft core of the round blade 24 and the sandwiching member 26. At least the round blade 24, the clamping member 26, and the bearing 27 rotate integrally. The recess 23a that holds one end of the shaft member 29 formed on the cylinder bottom 23 and the recess 21a that holds the other end of the shaft member 29 formed on the cylinder lid 21 are the axis of the cylinder 22 The cylindrical body 22 and the shaft member 29 are coaxially arranged.

  A coil-like spring 28 for pushing the bearing 27 toward the cylinder bottom 23 is stored with the shaft member 29 inserted therein. When the round blade 24 is brought into contact with the fixed blade 6, a gap having an amount of F is formed in the tube bottom 23 and the clamping member 26. The round blade 24 is pressed against the fixed blade 6 by the spring 28 by an amount corresponding to the gap corresponding to the dimension F.

  The round blade holder 20 is configured to be rotatable between a position where the round blade 24 comes into contact with the fixed blade 6 and a position where it is retracted. Next, the configuration of the round blade holder rotating means for that purpose will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the round blade holder rotating means 30 rotates the round blade holder 20 around the center of the shaft member 33 in the direction in which the round blade 24 comes into contact with the fixed blade 6. It is constituted by a worm and a worm gear provided on the carriage 1.

  The worm 31 is connected to and driven by a worm motor (not shown). The worm gear 32 that meshes with the worm 31 is attached to the shaft member 33, and rotates the shaft member 33 to which the arm 34 that connects the round blade holder 20 and the shaft member 33 is attached. That is, when the worm 31 is rotated, the worm gear 32, the shaft member 33, and the arm 34 are integrally rotated around the shaft member 33.

{Operation of round blade holder}
Next, the operation of the round blade holder 20 when the recording medium is cut will be described. As described above, when the recording medium 101 is conveyed by the conveying roller 3, the carriage 1 scans and ink is ejected from the recording head 1a to record an image. At the time of recording, the round blade holder 20 is in a retracted position where the round blade 24 is separated from the fixed blade 6 as shown in FIG.

  When the image recording for one page is completed, the recording medium 101 on which the image is recorded is transported to a predetermined cutting position by the transport roller 3 and starts a cutting operation.

  As the cutting operation, first, the carriage 1 is moved in the direction of arrow C (see FIG. 1) to the left end position of the recording medium 101. When the carriage 1 is stopped at the left end position of the recording medium 101, a worm motor (not shown) is driven to rotate the worm 31 connected to the motor to rotate the worm gear 32, the shaft member 33, and the arm 34. Let At this time, the round blade holder rotating means 30 causes the round blade 24 to contact the fixed blade 6 from the position (the position shown in FIG. 3) where the round blade 24 is retracted from the fixed blade 6. It moves to the direction of arrow D (refer FIG. 4) to the position (position shown in FIG. 4) which touches. Whether or not the round blade 24 has moved to a predetermined position and has come into contact with the fixed blade 6 is detected by a sensor (not shown). When the round blade 24 comes into contact with the fixed blade 6, the position of the round blade 24 in the cylinder 22 is displaced by a predetermined amount (dimension F in FIG. 2 (b)). The fixed blade 6 is pressed by the force.

  When the round blade holder 20 is moved to a position where the round blade 24 comes into contact with the fixed blade 6 as shown in FIG. 4, the carriage 1 is moved to the right end position of the recording medium 101 while rotating the round blade 24. Move in the direction of arrow B (see FIG. 1).

  When the carriage 1 moves, the recorded portion 101a of the recording medium is cut at the position of the cut line 101b by the fixed blade 6 and the round blade 24. At the time of cutting, since the round blade holder rotating means 30 includes the worm 31, the rotation of the round blade holder 20 is restricted, and the round blade 24 is in contact with the fixed blade 6 with certainty.

  When the cutting of the recorded portion 101a of the recording medium is completed, the carriage 1 is stopped. Next, the round blade holder rotating means 30 drives the worm motor to rotate the arm 34 so that the round blade holder 20 shown in FIG. The round blade 24 shown in FIG. 3 is rotated in the direction of arrow E to the position where the round blade 24 is retracted with respect to the fixed blade 6, and the round blade holder 20 is retracted from the transport path to secure the transport path of the recording medium 101. . Whether or not the round blade 24 has been retracted to a predetermined position is detected by a sensor (not shown).

  Here, when the cutting device 200 is used for a long period of time, a cut jam may occur due to the reason that the round blade 24 escapes during the cutting due to the life of the round blade 24 or the like. In that case, in the cutting device 200 of the present embodiment, the carriage 1 is stopped and the worm motor is driven to rotate the arm 34 so that the round blade holder 20 contacts the fixed blade 6 with the round blade 24. 3 is rotated in the direction of arrow E from the contacted position to the position where the round blade 24 shown in FIG. As a result, the round blade 24 and the round blade holder 20 can be retracted from the recording medium conveyance path, and jamming can be performed after the carriage 1 is moved out of the conveyance path.

  As described above, in the case of the present embodiment, the round blade holder 20 is configured to rotate in the direction in which the round blade 24 comes into contact with and retracts from the fixed blade 6. It is not necessary to provide a predetermined position for abutting and retreating to the blade, and the round blade 24 and the fixed blade 6 can be easily abutted and retreated at an arbitrary position in the cutting region. Therefore, the distance by which the round blade 24 is moved during cutting can be optimized even for the recording medium 101 having different cutting widths.

  Further, since the round blade holder rotating member that rotates the round blade holder 20 includes a worm gear, a force is applied to the round blade holder 20 in a direction in which the round blade 24 is retracted from the fixed blade 6 during cutting. However, the round blade holder 20 can be prevented from rotating in the retracting direction, and the round blade 24 is not retracted from the fixed blade 6, and the round blade 24 reliably contacts and cuts the fixed blade 6. Can do.

  In the above-described embodiment, an ink jet recording type printer is exemplified as an image forming apparatus using a cutting device. However, this is not limited to a printer, and may naturally be used for a copying machine, a facsimile machine, or the like. The cutting apparatus of the present invention can be suitably used for cutting a roll-shaped sheet material in not only an image forming apparatus but also a laminator or the like.

1 is an overall explanatory diagram of an image forming apparatus including a cutting device. It is a figure which shows the state of a rotary blade, (a) shows the state at the time of retraction, (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the state at the time of contact | abutting with a fixed blade. It is sectional explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the rotary blade holder at the time of retraction | saving, and a fixed blade. It is sectional explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the rotary blade holder at the time of contact | abutting, and a fixed blade.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Carriage 1a ... Recording head 2 ... Rail 3 ... Conveying roller 4 ... Platen 5 ... Frame 6 ... Fixed blade 7 ... Discharge guide
20… Round blade holder
21… Cylinder lid
21a ... recess
22… Cylinder
23… Cylinder bottom
23a ... recess
23b ... Flange
24… Round blade
26… clamping member
27… Bearing
27a… part
28… Spring
29… Shaft member
31… Warm
32… Worm gear
33… Shaft member
34 Arm
101… Recording medium
101a ... recorded part
101b ... cut line
200 ... Cutting device

Claims (4)

In a cutting device that cuts a material to be cut by rotating and rotating a rotatable rotary blade in contact with the fixed blade with respect to a linear fixed blade fixed in a direction orthogonal to the feed direction of the material to be cut ,
The rotary device is supported by a rotary blade holder, and the rotary blade holder is rotatable to a position where the rotary blade comes into contact with the fixed blade and a position where the rotary blade retracts. The cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the rotating means for rotating the rotary blade holder includes a worm and a worm gear. In an image forming apparatus capable of transporting a recording medium to form an image and cutting the recording medium after recording,
A carriage mounted with a recording head for recording on a recording medium, and movable in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording medium;
A linear fixed blade fixed in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium;
A rotary blade that is rotatable in contact with the fixed blade;
A rotary blade holder mounted on the carriage and supporting the rotary blade;
Have
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotary blade holder is rotatable to a position where the rotary blade comes into contact with the fixed blade and a position where the rotary blade retracts. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the rotating means for rotating the rotary blade holder includes a worm and a worm gear.

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