JP2006110766A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To constitute a discharge means and a receiving means capable of realizing an optimal carrying operation depending on the kind of recording sheet through a simple arrangement in a recorder comprising the means for discharging the recording sheet and the means for receiving the discharged recording sheet. <P>SOLUTION: In the recorder comprising a means 20 having a drive roller 21 and a driven roller 23 being pressed against the drive roller and discharging a recording sheet P, and a means 30 for receiving the recording sheet discharged from the discharging means, the discharging means 20 and the receiving means 30 are rotatable, discharging direction can be varied depending on the kind of the recording sheet P, and contact pressure of the driven roller 23 to the drive roller 21 can be varied. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that records an image on a recording sheet using a recording head, and more particularly to a recording apparatus that includes a discharge unit that discharges a recording sheet and a receiving unit that receives the discharged recording sheet.

  In a recording apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile, or a multifunction printer, a recording sheet discharging means for discharging a recording sheet to the outside of the apparatus main body, and a recording sheet receiving means for receiving a recording sheet discharged from the recording sheet discharging means There is something with. FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a driven example of this type of recording apparatus, and FIG. 6 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the recording apparatus of FIG. 5 and 6, the pressure plate 102 of the paper feeding unit 101 is rotatably supported by the paper feeding unit frame 103, and a bundle of recording sheets is stacked on the upper surface thereof. When feeding a recording sheet, the feeding roller 105 is driven to rotate by a feeding motor 104 as a driving source, so that only the uppermost sheet of the bundle of recording sheets is separated and fed downstream in the conveying direction. Is done.

  The recording sheet separated and fed by the paper feed unit 101 is fed to the transport roller 106 by further rotation of the paper feed roller 105. The recording sheet is conveyed onto the platen 107 by the conveying roller 106 and is held by the upper surface of the platen 107 at a position facing the recording element array surface of the recording head 108. Next, recording (printing, image formation) is performed on the recording sheet supported on the recording sheet passing surface of the platen 107 while scanning with the carriage 109 by the recording head 108 mounted on the carriage 109. When the recording apparatus is an inkjet recording apparatus, recording is performed by ejecting ink from the ejection port of the recording head.

The recording sheet after recording is discharged out of the apparatus main body by a discharge roller 110 as a driving roller and a spur 112 as a driven roller. Be contained. The spur 112 that is the driven roller is pressed against the discharge roller 110 by a spur spring 111. The spur 112 is rotatably supported by a spur holder 114 that is a support member of the driven roller 112 via a spur spring 111. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-238252 (Patent Document 1) discloses an image recording apparatus having the above-described conventional configuration.
JP 2000-238252 A

  However, in such a conventional example, the discharging means for discharging the recording sheet and the receiving means for receiving the discharged recording sheet can be simply configured, but it is difficult to change the mechanism depending on the type of the recording sheet. It has become. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve such problems of the prior art and to provide a recording apparatus that can perform an appropriate conveying operation according to the type of recording sheet with a simple configuration.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a discharge means that has a drive roller and a driven roller that is pressed against the drive roller, and discharges the recording sheet, and a receiving means that receives the recording sheet discharged from the discharge means. In the recording apparatus, the discharge unit and the receiving unit are rotatable, the discharge direction is variable depending on the type of the recording sheet, and the pressure contact force of the driven roller to the drive roller is variable. It is characterized by.

  According to the present invention, the discharge direction is made variable depending on the type of the recording sheet, and the pressure contact force of the driven roller to the driving roller is made variable, so that an appropriate conveying operation according to the type of the recording sheet can be performed with a simple configuration. There is provided a recording apparatus capable of performing the above.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the same reference numerals denote the same or corresponding parts throughout the drawings. In addition, the recording apparatus in the present application is not limited to a normal printing apparatus. Any apparatus that forms an image based on recording information, such as a copying machine, a facsimile, or a multifunction printer, may be of any form. Is included. Furthermore, the recording apparatus can be divided into an ink jet recording apparatus, a thermal transfer recording apparatus, a thermal recording apparatus, a wire dot recording apparatus, a laser beam recording apparatus, etc., depending on the recording system of the recording head. The present invention can be widely applied regardless of those, and includes various recording methods. In the following, embodiments of the present invention will be described mainly with reference to an example in which the recording apparatus is an inkjet recording apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a pressure plate 12 of a sheet feeding unit 11 is rotatably supported by a sheet feeding unit frame 13, and a bundle of recording sheets is stacked on the upper surface thereof. When a recording sheet is fed, the feeding roller 15 is rotationally driven by a feeding motor 14 as a driving source, so that only the uppermost sheet of the bundle of recording sheets is separated and fed downstream in the conveying direction. Is done. The recording sheet separated and fed by the paper feeding unit 11 is fed to the nip portion between the conveying roller 16 and the pinch roller 41 by further rotation of the paper feeding roller 15. The fed recording sheet is conveyed onto the platen 17 by the conveying roller 16 and the pinch roller 41 and is held at a position facing the recording element array surface (discharge port array surface in the ink jet type) of the recording head 18. Next, recording (printing and image formation) is performed on the recording sheet supported on the sheet passing surface of the platen 17 by the recording head 18 mounted on the carriage 19 while scanning with the carriage 19. When the recording apparatus is an inkjet recording apparatus, recording is performed by ejecting ink from the ejection port of the recording head.

  The recording apparatus according to the present embodiment has a driving roller and a driven roller pressed against the driving roller, a discharging unit that discharges the recording sheet, and a receiving unit that receives the recording sheet discharged from the discharging unit. It has. In the present embodiment, the discharge means and the receiving means can be rotated so that the discharge direction is variable depending on the type of the recording sheet, and the pressure contact force of the driven roller to the drive roller is variable. It is configured. This will be specifically described below.

  2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which the recording sheet is discharged in the substantially horizontal direction by the recording apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a case in which the recording sheet is discharged in the substantially vertical direction by the recording apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the discharging means and receiving means of the recording apparatus of FIG. 1. 1 to 4, the recording sheet that has been recorded is discharged out of the apparatus main body by a discharge roller 21 that is a driving roller and a spur 23 that is a driven roller. The discharged recording sheet is a recording sheet receiving means. The paper is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 31 and received. In the present embodiment, the discharge rollers 21 are arranged at two places with a predetermined interval in the transport direction, and a spur 23 is provided on each of the discharge rollers 21. Each spur 23 is pressed against the discharge roller 21 by a spur spring 22. Each spur 23 is rotatably supported by a spur holder 24 via a spur spring 22.

  2 to 4, in the present embodiment, the discharge means 20 for discharging the recording sheet P includes a discharge roller 21 and a spur 23, and the receiving means 30 for receiving the discharged recording sheet P is a discharge means. The discharge unit 20 and the receiving unit 30 are integrally formed so as to be rotatable about an axis substantially parallel to the scanning direction of the carriage 19 as a rotation center. That is, the discharge rollers 21 and 21 are rotatably supported by the support case 25, and a discharge tray 31 constituting the receiving means 30 is integrally formed on the support case 25.

  The spurs 23 and 23 arranged corresponding to the discharge rollers 21 and 21 are rotatably supported by a spur holder 24 which is a support member via spur springs 22 and 22 which are elastic members, respectively. Each spur 23 is pressed against each discharge roller 21 by attaching the spur spring 22 while being bent by elastic deformation. Further, the spur holder 24 is urged in a direction away from the support case 25 and each discharge roller 21 by a spur holder spring 26 which is an urging member disposed at both ends in the paper width direction. The movement, that is, the upper limit position (top dead center) in the separation direction is defined by a locking protrusion 27 that is a locking member provided integrally with the support case 25 of the discharge roller 21.

  As described above, the discharging unit 20 having the driving roller 21 for discharging the recording sheet P and the driven roller 23 pressed against the driving roller, and the sheet discharging for receiving the recording sheet P discharged from the discharging unit. The receiving means including the tray 31 is integrated to form the same unit. This unit is configured to be rotatable about rotary shafts 28 and 28 (FIG. 4) provided in parallel to the scanning direction of the carriage 19 at both ends of the support case 25 of the discharge roller 21 in the paper width direction. Here, a gear train including intermediate gears 42, 43, 44 is provided to transmit the drive from the conveying roller 16 to the discharge rollers 21, 21, and the shafts of the rotary shafts 28, 28 serve as the intermediate gears. By making it the same as the rotation center of any one of 42, 43 and 44, the drive transmission is maintained even if the integrated unit of the discharging means 20 and the receiving means 30 is rotated. In the present embodiment, an intermediate gear 45 for driving transmission is also provided between the two discharge rollers 21 and 21.

  Next, the operation of the discharging means 20 and the receiving means 30 will be described. When printing on a recording sheet that is easily scratched by spurs 23, such as special paper with a coating on the surface of a sheet for photographic printing or the like, the scratches are conspicuous, as shown in FIG. 20 and the receiving means 30 are set in a substantially horizontal posture, the recording sheet is discharged in a substantially horizontal direction, and the discharged recording sheet is received in a substantially horizontal state. At this time, the pressing force by the spur spring 22 of the spur 23 that is a driven roller is set to a value that is sufficient to cause the spur 23 to be discharged to the discharge tray 31 without causing scratches on the recording sheet surface. Yes.

  On the other hand, when printing is performed on a recording sheet of a kind such as plain paper that is hardly scratched by the tip of the spur 23 or hardly scratched, as shown in FIG. The means 30 is pivoted upward about the rotation shaft 28 as a center of rotation, so that the posture is nearly vertical, and the recording sheet is discharged in a substantially vertical direction, and the discharged recording sheet is received in a substantially vertical state. At this time, by utilizing the rotation of the discharging means 20 and the receiving means 30, a projection (not shown) provided on the apparatus main body or the exterior case etc. is abutted against the spur holder (supporting member) 24. By applying a pressing force in a direction indicated by an arrow in FIG. 3 to the spur holder 24, the spur holder 24 is displaced in a direction approaching the discharge roller 21 by a predetermined distance a. Thereby, the curvature of the spur spring 22 is increased, and the pressure contact force of the spur 23 to the discharge roller 21 is increased. As a result, the discharge force (conveyance force) of the drive roller 21 with respect to the recording sheet increases, and the recording sheet can be discharged in a substantially vertical direction. The discharged recording sheet is held on a shelf (FIG. 3) formed by the base end vertical surface 46 of the paper discharge tray 31.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the discharge means 20 and the receiving means 30 are rotated from the substantially horizontal direction (FIG. 2) to the substantially vertical direction (FIG. 3), so that the upstream side of the discharge means 20 in the recording sheet conveyance direction. Further, a guide member (not shown) for distorting the recording sheet from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction is configured to protrude. That is, when the unit comprising the discharging means 20 and the receiving means 30 is rotated upward, the recording sheet is directed upward between the platen 17 that supports the recording sheet P and the support case 25 of the discharge roller 21. A sheet guide member (not shown) to be guided (toward the conveyance direction) is configured to protrude. By providing such a sheet guide mechanism, the direction of the recording sheet P can be changed more smoothly along with the change of direction of the conveyance path.

  Note that the above-described rotation of the discharging unit 20 and the receiving unit 30 may be manually performed according to a user's judgment, or an instruction from a user by a printer driver or the like on a personal computer, or a load placed on the paper feeding unit 11. You may perform automatically by the drive source based on the detection result of the sensor which discriminate | determines the kind of recording sheet.

  As described above, the recording apparatus according to the present embodiment changes the discharge direction of the recording sheet by rotating the discharge unit 20 and the receiving unit 30 according to the type of the recording sheet P to be used, and the spur discharge roller. It is configured to change the pressure contact force. Specifically, for example, when using a recording sheet of a type that is easily damaged by a spur or the like, such as photographic glossy paper, or that is easily noticeable, the spur (driven roller) with respect to the discharge roller (drive roller) The recording sheet is transported with emphasis on the quality of the recorded image by suppressing the strength of the pressing force to a level that does not damage the recording sheet and ejecting it in a substantially horizontal direction. On the other hand, when a recording sheet of a kind such as plain paper that is not easily scratched by spurs or the like, or is not noticeable, is rotated so that the discharging means and the receiving means are discharged in a substantially vertical direction. In addition, the pressure contact force of the spurs with the discharge roller is increased (strengthened) more than when discharged in a substantially horizontal direction, enabling discharge in a substantially vertical direction in which the weight of the recording sheet acts greatly, and saving space. Carrying on the important recording sheet. By so doing, it is possible to realize optimum conveyance according to the type of recording sheet.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case of a serial recording type recording apparatus that performs recording while moving the recording unit relative to the recording sheet as the recording material (main scanning) has been described as an example. The invention can be similarly applied to a line recording type recording apparatus that records only by sub-scanning using a line-type recording means having a length that covers the entire width or part of the recording material. The effect of this is achieved. The present invention also provides a gradation using a recording apparatus using a single recording means, a color recording apparatus using a plurality of recording means for recording with different color inks, or a plurality of recording means for recording with the same color and different densities. The present invention can be similarly applied to a recording apparatus and further to a recording apparatus that combines these, and the same effect can be achieved.

  Further, when the present invention is applied to an ink jet recording apparatus, a configuration using a replaceable ink cartridge in which the recording means and the ink tank are integrated, the recording means and the ink tank are separated, and an ink supply tube or the like is provided between them. The present invention can be similarly applied to any arrangement of the recording means and the ink tank, such as a connection configuration, and the same effect can be obtained. The present invention can be applied to an ink jet recording apparatus, for example, a case where a recording unit using an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element is used. This provides an excellent effect in an ink jet recording apparatus that uses a recording unit that ejects ink.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case of a serial recording type recording apparatus that performs recording while moving the recording head relative to the recording sheet as a recording medium (main scanning) has been described as an example. Can be similarly applied to the case of a line-recording type recording apparatus that records only by sub-scanning using a line-type recording head having a length that covers the entire width or part of the recording sheet. There is an effect. The present invention also provides a gradation using a recording apparatus using one recording head, a color recording apparatus using a plurality of recording heads that record with different color inks, or a plurality of recording heads that record with the same color and different densities. The present invention can be similarly applied to a recording apparatus and further to a recording apparatus that combines these, and the same effect can be achieved.

  Further, when the present invention is applied to an ink jet recording apparatus, a configuration using a replaceable ink cartridge in which a recording head and an ink tank are integrated, the recording head and the ink tank are separated, and an ink supply tube or the like is provided between them. The present invention can be similarly applied to any arrangement configuration of the recording head and the ink tank, such as a connection configuration, and the same effect can be obtained. When the present invention is applied to an ink jet recording apparatus, it can be used for various forms of ink jet recording apparatuses, such as those using a recording head using an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element. This provides an excellent effect in an ink jet recording apparatus that uses a recording head that ejects ink using energy.

1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a state when a recording sheet is discharged in a substantially horizontal direction by the recording apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a state when a recording sheet is discharged in a substantially vertical direction by the recording apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a discharging unit and a receiving unit of the recording apparatus in FIG. 1. It is a typical perspective view of the conventional recording device. FIG. 6 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the recording apparatus of FIG. 5.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Paper feed part 12 Pressure plate 13 Paper feed part frame 14 Paper feed motor 15 Paper feed roller 16 Conveyance roller 17 Platen 18 Recording head 19 Carriage 20 Discharge means 21 Drive roller (discharge roller)
22 spur spring 23 driven roller (spur)
24 Support member (spur holder)
25 Support case 26 Spur holder spring 27 Locking protrusion 28 Rotating shaft 30 Receiving means 31 Paper discharge tray 41 Pinch roller 42, 43, 44, 45 Intermediate gear P Recording sheet

Claims (8)

A recording apparatus comprising: a driving roller and a driven roller pressed against the driving roller; and a discharging unit that discharges the recording sheet; and a receiving unit that receives the recording sheet discharged from the discharging unit.
A recording apparatus characterized in that the discharge means and the receiving means are rotatable, the discharge direction is variable depending on the type of recording sheet, and the pressure contact force of the driven roller to the drive roller is variable.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a pressure contact force of the driven roller to the driving roller is increased as a recording sheet discharge direction is closer to a vertical direction.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driven roller is a spur.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driven roller is rotatably supported by a support member via an elastic member.   The support member of the driven roller is urged by a urging member in a direction away from the driving roller, and movement in the urging direction is restricted by a locking member. Recording device.   The pressure contact force of the driven roller to the drive roller is such that the support member moves toward the drive roller as the discharging means and the receiving means rotate from a substantially horizontal direction to a substantially vertical direction, and the attachment force is applied. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the urging force of the urging member increases as the urging force increases.   When the discharging unit and the receiving unit are rotated from a substantially horizontal direction to a substantially vertical direction, a guide member for distorting the recording sheet protrudes at a position upstream of the discharging unit in the recording sheet conveyance direction. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is a recording apparatus.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharging unit and the receiving unit are rotated based on a determination result of a determination unit that determines a type of the recording sheet.

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