JP2006142534A - Recording medium covering apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To hardly allow wrinkles or the like to occur on a recording medium in a recording medium covering apparatus which uses both a cover sheet and an auxiliary sheet and performs formation of a cover layer by a cover layer forming means and treatment by a cover layer treatment means. <P>SOLUTION: The recording medium covering apparatus is equipped with the cover layer forming means 8 for pressurizing the cover sheet B and the auxiliary sheet E sandwiching the recording medium A in between the two from both surfaces of them to form the cover layer on the surface of the recording medium A, and a cover layer treatment means 10 for pressurizing the recording medium A having a cover layer F formed thereon from both surfaces thereof. A branch means 11 for branching the feed route of the recording medium A and the feed route of the auxiliary sheet E is provided so as to provide a branch position by means of the branch means 11 between the cover layer forming means 8 and the cover layer treatment means 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording medium coating apparatus for forming and protecting a coating layer on the surface of a recording medium on which an image such as a photographic print is recorded.

  The recording methods such as the ink jet recording method and the thermal transfer recording method have been improved on the recording device (printer) and the recording medium (recording paper, etc.), and as a result, an image quality comparable to a silver salt color photograph can be obtained. In recent years, image information captured by a digital camera, image information captured by a scanner, or the like has been widely used as a technique for hard copying. With the expansion of the use of these recording methods, it has become an important issue to improve the water resistance, light resistance, etc. of images recorded by these recording methods, or to improve the beauty of the image recording surface.

  Therefore, as a technique for protecting the image recorded on the recording medium and improving the quality, a technique for protecting the recording surface of the recording medium after the image recording by laminating is known. An example of such a technique is shown below. That is, first, a long recording medium (recording paper) is transported at a constant speed, and a long laminating sheet on which a laminate material can be peeled off is mounted on the mount so as to face the recording surface of the recording medium. Transport the supply. Then, the laminate material is continuously transferred onto the recording surface of the recording medium by applying heat and pressure in a state where the recording medium and the laminate sheet are laminated by the pressure roller pair. Thereafter, only the backing sheet of the laminate sheet is peeled off, and a laminate process is performed on the recording surface of the recording medium. The laminated recording medium is sequentially cut by a cutter at the cuts of the image formed on the recording surface, and discharged in a state of being separated for each image (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-58-224779 (page 1-4, FIG. 1)

  In the above technique, the laminate sheet becomes a covering sheet, and the width of the covering sheet is larger than the width of the recording medium in order to avoid leaving a non-laminated portion on the recording medium. Is done. Therefore, in a normal operation state, an auxiliary sheet having the same width as that of the covering sheet or a slightly wider width is simultaneously applied in order to prevent the remaining portion from being laminated on the recording medium and remaining on the roller. I am trying to supply.

  On the other hand, for example, when the recording medium is made of raster paper, air bubbles may remain between the recording medium and the laminate sheet only by the covering treatment by the covering layer forming means. Therefore, the recording medium on which the coating layer is formed is pressurized and reprocessed. In this type of configuration, as shown in FIG. It was confirmed that problems such as the occurrence of

  This figure shows the state of the covering sheet B, the recording medium A, the auxiliary sheet E, and the covering layer F in a relatively warm state immediately after leaving the first pressurizing mechanism 8 as the covering layer forming means, after cooling. And those subjected to pressurization by the second pressurizing mechanism 10 as the coating layer processing means are shown in order from the right.

In the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 8 (b), after forming the coating layer by the coating layer forming means, the wrinkles are moved to the auxiliary sheet side by cooling, and the wrinkles are moved to the recording medium side by the coating layer processing means. It shows how it affects. Furthermore, when the auxiliary sheet is conveyed between the coating layer forming unit and the coating layer processing unit, the conveyance path must be long, and problems such as meandering in a relatively wide sheet may occur. Similarly, it has been found that the recording medium on which the coating layer is formed may be adversely affected by the pressure applied by the coating layer processing means.
“FIG. 8 (b) This time” shows a state in which a normal coating layer formation in which the problem which is a problem of the present application is solved is realized.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium coating apparatus that uses both a coating sheet and an auxiliary sheet, and further performs coating layer formation by the coating layer forming means and pressure treatment by the coating layer processing means. Another object of the present invention is to obtain a recording medium coating apparatus that is less likely to cause wrinkles.

In order to achieve the above object, the characteristic configuration of the recording medium coating apparatus for forming a coating layer on the surface of the recording medium is as follows:
Recording medium supply means for supplying the recording medium between a cover sheet and an auxiliary sheet conveyed opposite to each other;
A coating layer forming means for pressing the coating sheet and the auxiliary sheet sandwiched between the recording media from both sides to form a coating layer on the surface of the recording medium and on the surface of the auxiliary sheet around the recording medium; ,
Coating layer processing means for pressing the recording medium on which the multi-layer is formed from both sides,
In order to provide a branching unit that branches the conveyance path of the recording medium and the conveyance path of the auxiliary sheet, a branch position by the branching unit is set between the coating layer forming unit and the coating layer processing unit, The auxiliary sheet is branched and the recording medium on which the multi-layer is formed is processed by the coating layer processing means.

  In this apparatus, the coating layer is formed by the coating layer forming means in a state where the recording medium is sandwiched between the coating sheet and the auxiliary sheet. At this time, the covering sheet protruding from the recording medium is transferred to the auxiliary sheet.

  The recording medium on which the coating layer is formed is sent to the coating layer processing means. For example, even when bubbles remain, a good product free of bubbles can be obtained by the processing.

As described above in the section of the problem, there is a problem if the recording medium on which the coating layer is formed and the auxiliary sheet are put into the coating layer processing means for executing the pressure treatment. In this case, a branching unit is provided between the coating layer forming unit and the coating layer processing unit, and the conveyance path for the recording medium and the auxiliary sheet is separated, so that a coating layer is formed in the coating layer processing unit. Only recorded recording media are introduced. As a result, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of wrinkles as a problem of the present application.
Further, in this configuration, since the path of the auxiliary sheet can be shortened, problems such as meandering of the sheet occur and problems such as adversely affecting the recording medium do not occur.

  The branching unit is preferably configured as a branching guide having a branching edge orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium. A branch edge can reliably achieve branching.

  Further, the branching unit may be a roller extending in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium. With respect to this roller, for example, the recording medium can be guided in the tangential direction, and the auxiliary sheet can be guided in a direction different from the conveying direction of the recording medium in the direction in which the auxiliary sheet is in contact with the roller surface.

As a configuration of the recording medium coating apparatus for forming the coating layer on the surface of the recording medium that achieves the above object,
Recording medium supply means for supplying the recording medium between a cover sheet and an auxiliary sheet conveyed opposite to each other;
A coating layer forming means for pressing the coating sheet and the auxiliary sheet sandwiched between the recording media from both sides to form a coating layer on the surface of the recording medium and on the surface of the auxiliary sheet around the recording medium; ,
Coating layer processing means for pressing the recording medium on which the multi-layer is formed from both sides,
After passing through the multi-layer forming means and before reaching the coating layer processing means, the recording medium conveyance path and the auxiliary sheet conveyance path are branched to wind up the auxiliary sheet. it can.

In this configuration, after passing through the multi-layer forming means and before reaching the coating layer processing means, the auxiliary sheet is taken up by the auxiliary sheet take-up means, thereby branching the conveyance path, Occurrence can be avoided.
Furthermore, since the conveyance path can be shortened, the problem of meandering can be solved.

  In order to realize this kind of configuration, the multi-layer forming means is configured to include a driving roller and a pressure roller for the driving roller, and a branch between the recording medium conveyance path and the auxiliary sheet conveyance path is formed. It is the simplest configuration that the auxiliary sheet is raised while being in sliding contact with the surface of the drive roller or the pressure roller.

  As a result, since the stress applied to the recording medium after forming the coating layer is reduced, the deflection of the recording medium after forming the coating layer is eliminated, and it is possible to avoid adverse effects from being applied by the pressure applied by the coating layer processing means. Further, since the auxiliary sheet transport path is shortened, problems such as meandering are solved.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 is a view showing a coating apparatus with a cover according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of the coating apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a view showing a drive system of the apparatus. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the coating apparatus according to the present embodiment cut near the center in the width direction.

  As shown in these drawings, in the coating apparatus according to the present embodiment, the recording paper A is supplied into the apparatus main body along the supply tray 1 and the supply guide 2 continuous therewith. 4, a coating layer is formed on the surface while being transported along a transport path L provided in the horizontal direction, and is discharged to a discharge tray 4 by a discharge mechanism 3 described later.

  At this time, the recording paper A is conveyed with the recording surface on which the image is recorded facing upward, and the coating apparatus forms a coating layer on the recording surface. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the recording paper A constitutes the “recording medium” in the present invention, and the supply tray 1 and the supply guide 2 constitute the “recording medium supply unit” in the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4 and the like, in the apparatus main body of the coating apparatus, the covering sheet conveying mechanism 6 that conveys the covering sheet B, the auxiliary sheet conveying mechanism 7 that conveys the auxiliary sheet E, and the recording paper A are sandwiched. A first pressurizing mechanism 8 that pressurizes the cover sheet B and the auxiliary sheet E from both sides, an auxiliary branch guide 11 that branches the conveyance path L of the recording paper A and the conveyance path of the auxiliary sheet E, and the recording paper A The recording branch guide 9 for branching the conveying path L and the conveying path of the base material C of the covering sheet B, and the recording paper after the auxiliary sheet E and the base material C of the covering sheet B are separated and the covering layer F is formed. A second pressurizing mechanism 10 that further pressurizes A from both sides and a discharge mechanism 3 that discharges the recording paper A after pressurization to the discharge tray 4 are provided.
Each of these components is integrally supported by the main body frame 12.
Hereinafter, these configurations will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 5, the covering sheet B used in the covering apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a base material C and a transfer layer D that can be peeled on one surface.
The transfer layer D is a portion that is transferred to the recording surface of the recording paper A to form a coating layer F, and is provided on the base material C and plays a main role for protecting the recording surface of the recording paper A. The protective layer D1 is provided on the outer side of the protective layer D1 and has an adhesive layer D2 for adhering the protective layer D1 to the recording surface of the recording paper A. Further, here, an anchor layer D3 is provided between the protective layer D1 and the adhesive layer D2 in order to maintain a bonded state.

  Since the transfer layer D of the cover sheet B becomes a cover layer F for protecting the recording surface of the recording paper A, it has excellent adhesion to the recording paper A, high transparency, hardly discolored by heat and light, -It is preferable that it is excellent in physical barrier property. Further, when the recording paper A and the auxiliary sheet E are separated, the portion formed on the recording surface of the recording paper A and the portion formed on the surface of the auxiliary sheet E around the recording paper A are the recording paper. It is preferable to configure with a material and thickness that can be separated along the vicinity of the edge of A. Therefore, it is preferable to use, for example, an acrylic resin, a vinyl acetate resin, or the like for the protective layer D1.

  Here, as will be described later, since the first pressurizing mechanism 8 is configured to pressurize and heat the covering sheet B and the auxiliary sheet E sandwiching the recording paper A from both sides, the adhesive layer D2 includes It is preferable to use a thermoplastic resin such as a polyester resin that has transparency and exerts an adhesive force when heated. The base material C of the covering sheet B has heat resistance and mechanical strength that can stably maintain the shape under the pressurization and heating conditions in the first pressurization mechanism 8 described later, and good peeling from the transfer layer D. It is preferable to have the property. Therefore, for the substrate C, for example, a film of polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyethylene naphthalate or the like is preferably used.

  Further, the cover sheet B has a constant width that is larger than the width of the recording paper A (the width of the recording paper A having the maximum width in the case of recording paper A having a plurality of types of width). The long sheet is used. In the present embodiment, as the covering sheet B, a sheet wound in a roll shape with the base material C as the outside and the transfer layer D as the inside is used. Thus, the cover sheet B is transported by the cover sheet transport mechanism 6 in a direction in which the transfer layer D faces the auxiliary sheet E.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the cover sheet conveyance mechanism 6 includes a supply holding unit 6 a that holds the cover sheet B wound up in a roll shape and a cover branch guide 9, and a conveyance path L of the recording paper A. And a base material recovery part 6b that winds and recovers the base material C of the covering sheet B after the transfer layer D is peeled off.

  In the present embodiment, the supply holding unit 6a is supported at both ends by the main body frame 12, and holds the cover sheet B wound up in a roll shape so as to be rotatable, and restricts the rotation of the holding shaft 6c. A rotation limiting mechanism 6d. As the rotation limiting mechanism 6d, for example, a configuration including a torque limiter between the main body frame 12 and the holding shaft 6c is preferably used.

  The cover sheet B is pulled out by the rotation of a driving roller 8a of the first pressure mechanism 8 and a pressure roller 8b that follows the cover sheet B. At this time, the rotation of the holding shaft 6c is limited by the rotation limiting mechanism 6d. The tension of the covering sheet B from the supply holding unit 6a to the pressure roller 8b of the first pressure mechanism 8 can be maintained.

A free roller 6e is rotatably provided between the supply holding unit 6a and the conveyance path L for the recording paper A. The free roller 6e adjusts the intrusion angle of the conveyance path of the cover sheet B at a portion where the cover sheet B merges with the conveyance path L of the recording paper A by winding the cover sheet B around the outer periphery thereof in a predetermined angle range.
The transport path of the cover sheet B after joining the transport path L of the recording paper A is provided so as to coincide with the transport path L of the recording paper A up to the branch position by the cover branch guide 9.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the base material recovery unit 6 b is a predetermined unit for winding and recovering the base material C of the coated sheet B after being branched from the conveyance path L of the recording paper A by the coating branch guide 9. A winding shaft 6f that is rotationally driven in the direction, a winding shaft drive mechanism 6g that drives the winding shaft 6f, and a driving force transmitted from the winding shaft drive mechanism 6g to the winding shaft 6f. Drive limiting mechanism 6h.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the driving of each part of the coating apparatus is performed by transmitting a driving force from a single motor 13 by a transmission mechanism such as a plurality of sprockets, chains and gears. Has been done. Therefore, the take-up shaft drive mechanism 6g includes a motor 13 that drives the entire coating apparatus, and a transmission mechanism that transmits the driving force of the motor 13 to the take-up shaft 6f. Further, as the drive limiting mechanism 6h, for example, a structure provided with a torque limiter between a transmission mechanism such as a gear constituting the take-up shaft drive mechanism 6g and the take-up shaft 6f is preferably used. Here, the rotational speed of the take-up shaft 6f driven by the take-up shaft drive mechanism 6g in a state that is not restricted by the drive restriction mechanism 6h is obtained by winding the base material C around the take-up shaft 6f. Even when the diameter of the outer periphery changes, the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of the base material C wound around the winding shaft 6 f becomes faster than the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of the driving roller 8 a of the first pressure mechanism 8. Is set to

  Specifically, the base material C is hardly wound around the take-up shaft 6f, and the peripheral speed when the peripheral peripheral speed of the base material C is the slowest is the driving roller of the first pressure mechanism 8. It is preferable that the speed is equal to or slightly faster than the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of 8a. At this time, since the conveyance speed V1 of the base material C of the cover sheet B is determined by the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of the drive roller 8a of the first pressure mechanism 8, the outer periphery of the base material C wound around the winding shaft 6f. The tension of the base material C is maintained by the speed difference from the peripheral speed, and the speed difference is absorbed by being restricted by the drive restriction mechanism 6h so as not to transmit a certain driving force to the winding shaft 6f. The

When the auxiliary layer E forms the coating layer F by transferring the transfer layer D of the covering sheet B onto the recording surface of the recording sheet A, the auxiliary sheet E performs recording on the outer side in the width direction of the recording sheet A or between a plurality of recording sheets A. In the portion where the paper A does not exist, the transfer layer D of the covering sheet B conveyed opposite to the sheet A is transferred.
Therefore, as the material of the auxiliary sheet E, it is preferable to use a material that can easily adhere to the adhesive layer D2 provided on the surface of the transfer layer D of the covering sheet B. Therefore, for example, it is preferable to use a film such as polyethylene terephthalate.

  When transferring the transfer layer D of the cover sheet B, the auxiliary sheet E is equal to or larger than the width of the cover sheet B in order to prevent the transfer layer D from protruding from the side edge of the auxiliary sheet E. It shall have a width. In the present embodiment, as the auxiliary sheet E, a long sheet having a certain width that is slightly wider than the width of the covering sheet B and being wound in a roll shape is used. As a result, the entire lower surface (transfer surface) of the cover sheet B faces the upper surface of the auxiliary sheet E, so that the transfer layer D of the cover sheet B is transferred to the drive roller 8 a of the first pressure mechanism 8. This can be prevented.

  The auxiliary sheet conveying mechanism 7 includes a supply holding unit 7 a that holds the auxiliary sheet E wound up in a roll shape so that the auxiliary sheet E can be supplied, and the auxiliary sheet E after being branched from the conveyance path L of the recording paper A by the auxiliary branch guide 11. And a sheet collecting section 7b that winds and collects the sheet. As shown in the figure, the sheet collection unit 7b is located at an intermediate position between the first pressure mechanism 8 and the second pressure mechanism 10.

  In the present embodiment, the supply holding unit 7a is supported by the main body frame 12 at both ends, the holding shaft 7c that rotatably holds the auxiliary sheet E wound in a roll shape, and the rotation of the holding shaft 7c is limited. A rotation limiting mechanism 7d. As the rotation limiting mechanism 7d, for example, a configuration including a torque limiter between the main body frame 12 and the holding shaft 7c is preferably used. The auxiliary sheet E is pulled out by the rotation of a driving roller 8a of the first pressure mechanism 8 described later and the pressure roller 8b driven by the auxiliary sheet E. At this time, the rotation of the holding shaft 7c is limited by the rotation limiting mechanism 7d. Therefore, the tension of the auxiliary sheet E from the supply holding unit 7a to the driving roller 8a of the first pressure mechanism 8 can be maintained.

  A free roller 7e is rotatably provided between the supply holding unit 7a and the conveyance path L for the recording paper A. The free roller 7e adjusts the intrusion angle of the conveyance path of the auxiliary sheet E at the portion joining the conveyance path L of the recording paper A by winding the auxiliary sheet E around the outer periphery of the free roller 7e in a predetermined angle range. Then, the conveyance path of the auxiliary sheet E after joining the conveyance path L of the recording paper A is the conveyance path L of the recording paper A to the branching position by the auxiliary branch guide 11 located immediately downstream of the first pressurizing mechanism 8. Is provided to match.

  The sheet collecting unit 7b includes a winding shaft 7f that is driven to rotate in a predetermined direction in order to wind up and collect the auxiliary sheet E that has been branched from the conveyance path L of the recording paper A by the auxiliary branch guide 11, and the winding shaft 7f. A take-up shaft drive mechanism 7g for driving the take-up shaft 7f and a drive limiting mechanism 7h for restricting the driving force transmitted from the take-up shaft drive mechanism 7g to the take-up shaft 7f are provided.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the take-up shaft drive mechanism 7g transmits the motor 13 that drives the entire coating apparatus and the driving force of the motor 13 to the take-up shaft 7f. It is composed of a plurality of transmission mechanisms such as sprockets, chains and gears. As the drive limiting mechanism 7h, for example, a structure including a torque limiter between a transmission mechanism such as a gear constituting the take-up shaft drive mechanism 7g and the take-up shaft 7f is preferably used.

  Here, the rotational speed of the take-up shaft 7f driven by the take-up shaft drive mechanism 7g without being restricted by the drive restriction mechanism 7h is obtained by winding the auxiliary sheet E around the take-up shaft 7f. Even when the outer diameter changes, the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of the auxiliary sheet E wound around the winding shaft 7f becomes faster than the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of the driving roller 8a of the first pressure mechanism 8. Is set.

  Specifically, the auxiliary sheet E is hardly wound around the winding shaft 7 f, and the peripheral speed in the state where the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of the auxiliary sheet E is the slowest is the driving of the first pressurizing mechanism 8. It is preferable that the speed is equal to or slightly faster than the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of the roller 8a. At this time, since the conveyance speed V1 of the auxiliary sheet E is determined by the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of the driving roller 8a of the first pressure mechanism 8, the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of the auxiliary sheet E wound around the winding shaft 7f. Thus, the tension of the auxiliary sheet E is maintained, and the speed difference is absorbed by being limited by the drive limiting mechanism 7h so as not to transmit a driving force of a certain level or more to the winding shaft 7f.

  The recording sheet A is interposed between the covering sheet B and the auxiliary sheet E conveyed opposite to each other by the covering sheet conveying mechanism 6 and the auxiliary sheet conveying mechanism 7 as described above via the supply tray 1 and the supply guide 2. The recording sheet A, the cover sheet B, and the auxiliary sheet E are supplied and pressed from both sides by the first pressurizing mechanism 8 in a stacked state.

  The first pressure mechanism 8 includes a driving roller 8a that is rotationally driven in the conveyance direction of the recording paper A, the covering sheet B, and the auxiliary sheet E, a roller driving mechanism 8c that rotationally drives the driving roller 8a, and a driving roller 8a. And a pressure roller 8b that is in contact with the drive roller 8a in a pressurized state and that is rotated by the rotation of the drive roller 8a, and the pressure roller 8b is applied to the drive roller 8a side. And a pressurizing mechanism 8d for pressing.

  In the present embodiment, both the driving roller 8a and the pressure roller 8b are configured such that the surface of a hollow metal roller is covered with a rubber member such as silicon rubber. The thickness of the rubber member covering the surface of the metal roller does not impair the heat conductivity from the heater provided inside the metal roller, as will be described later, and the drive roller 8a and the pressure roller 8b It is preferable that the recording sheet A, the cover sheet B, and the auxiliary sheet E conveyed between them have such a thickness that can sufficiently press the recording sheet A, for example, a thickness of about 1 mm. Furthermore, the rubber hardness is preferably 60-80.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the roller driving mechanism 8 c includes a motor 13 that drives the entire coating apparatus and a plurality of sprockets that transmit the driving force of the motor 13 to the driving roller 8 a. , And a transmission mechanism such as a chain and a gear.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the pressure mechanism 8d includes a holding member 8e that holds both ends of the rotation shaft of the pressure roller 8b so as to be displaceable in the vertical direction, and a spring that urges the holding member 8e downward. And an urging member 8f constituted by an elastic member such as the like. In this embodiment, the pressure applied by the pressure mechanism 8d is set so that the pressure at the nip portion between the driving roller 8a and the pressure roller 8b is about 8 to 12 kg / cm ² .

  Heaters 8g are respectively provided in the driving roller 8a and the pressure roller 8b of the first pressure mechanism 8, and the recording paper A, the cover sheet B, and the auxiliary sheet E are heated while being pressed. ing. In the present embodiment, a halogen lamp is disposed as the heater 8g at the axial center of each of the drive roller 8a and the pressure roller 8b. In this embodiment, the heating temperature by the heater 8g is set to be about 90 to 110 ° C. for the pressure roller 8b and about 50 to 70 ° C. for the driving roller 8a.

  With the above configuration, in the first pressure mechanism 8, the recording paper A, the cover sheet B, and the auxiliary sheet E are pressed from both sides while being conveyed in a laminated state between the driving roller 8a and the pressure roller 8b. Heat with. By this heating and pressurization, the transfer layer D of the covering sheet B adheres to the recording surface of the recording sheet A sandwiched between the covering sheet B and the auxiliary sheet E and the surface of the auxiliary sheet E around the recording sheet A. Is done. That is, the adhesive layer D2 constituting the transfer layer D of the covering sheet B is activated by heating, and is further pressed by the pressure of the driving roller 8a and the pressure roller 8b of the first pressure mechanism 8. As a result, the transfer layer D is adhered to the recording surface of the recording paper A and the surface of the auxiliary sheet E around the recording paper A.

In the recording medium coating apparatus according to the present application, the recording paper A and the cover sheet B are separated from each other by branching the transport path L of the recording paper A and the transport path of the auxiliary sheet E in an auxiliary branch guide 11 described later. The auxiliary sheet E is peeled off. Next, the conveying path L for the recording sheet A and the conveying path for the covering sheet B are branched at a covering branch guide 9 described later, whereby the base material C of the covering sheet B is peeled from the recording sheet A, and the recording sheet A The transfer of the transfer layer D to the recording surface is completed. This transfer layer D forms a coating layer F.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the first pressurizing mechanism 8 constitutes the “coating layer forming means” in the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the auxiliary branch guide 11 is provided on the downstream side of the recording paper A conveyance path L in the immediate vicinity of the first pressure mechanism 8, and the recording paper A conveyance path L and the auxiliary sheet E conveyance path. It is a guide member which branches. This guide member constitutes the “branching means” in the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, the auxiliary branch guide 11 is configured by a member that extends in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording paper A on the conveyance path L of the recording paper A, and below the conveyance path of the recording paper A. A first guide surface 11a disposed substantially in parallel with L is formed, and a second guide surface 11a is provided on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the recording paper A so as to extend downward at an acute angle with respect to the first guide surface 11a. A guide surface 11b is formed.

  The auxiliary sheet E is peeled from the recording paper A at the edge 11c where the first guide surface 11a and the second guide surface 11b are in contact, and the peeled auxiliary sheet E is conveyed along the second guide surface 11b to be a sheet. It is wound and collected by the collection unit 7b. At this time, the recording sheet A moves straight along the conveyance path L in the horizontal direction, whereas the auxiliary sheet E is bent and conveyed downward along the second guide surface 11 b of the auxiliary branch guide 11. Therefore, the transfer layer D formed on the recording surface of the recording paper A and the transfer layer D formed on the surface of the auxiliary sheet E around the recording paper A are separated from each other, and the recording surface of the recording paper A The transfer layer D formed on the recording paper A and the transfer layer D formed on the surface of the auxiliary sheet E around the recording paper A are cut and separated along the vicinity of the edge of the recording paper A.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the covering branch guide 9 is provided on the lower side of the auxiliary branch guide 11 between the first pressure mechanism 8 and the second pressure mechanism 10 in the conveyance path L of the recording paper A, A guide member that branches the conveyance path L of the recording paper A and the conveyance path of the base material C of the cover sheet B. In the present embodiment, the covering branch guide 9 is configured by a member that extends in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording paper A on the conveyance path L of the recording paper A, and below the conveyance path of the recording paper A. A first guide surface 9a disposed substantially parallel to L is formed, and a second guide surface 9a is provided downstream of the recording paper A in the transport direction so as to extend upward at an acute angle with respect to the first guide surface 9a. A guide surface 9b is formed.

  The base material C of the covering sheet B is peeled from the recording paper A and the auxiliary sheet E at the edge 9c where the first guide surface 9a and the second guide surface 9b are in contact with each other. It is conveyed along 9b and is wound and collected by the base material collecting unit 6b.

  Thereby, the coating layer F is formed on the surface of the recording surface of the recording paper A. The covering branch guide 9 has a distance such that the adhesive layer D2 of the covering sheet B activated by the heating by the first pressurizing mechanism 8 is cooled and exhibits a sufficient adhesive force. It is suitable to arrange so that it has.

    The second pressure mechanism 10 is provided to face the drive roller 10a, a drive roller 10a that is rotationally driven in the conveyance direction of the recording paper A, a roller drive mechanism 10c that rotationally drives the drive roller 10a, and the drive roller 10a. A pressure roller 10b that comes into contact with the pressure roller 10a in a pressurized state and rotates following the rotation of the drive roller 10a; and a pressure mechanism 10d that pressurizes the pressure roller 10b toward the drive roller 10a. ing. In the present embodiment, both the driving roller 10a and the pressure roller 10b are configured such that the surface of a hollow metal roller is covered with a rubber member such as silicon rubber.

  The thickness of the rubber member covering the surface of the metal roller does not impair the thermal conductivity from the heater provided inside the metal roller, as will be described later, and the drive roller 10a and the pressure roller 10b It is preferable that the recording paper A and the auxiliary sheet E on which the coating layer F to be conveyed is formed have such a thickness as to have sufficient elasticity so that the thickness is about 1 mm, for example. is there. Furthermore, the rubber hardness is preferably 60-80.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the roller driving mechanism 10 c includes a motor 13 that drives the entire coating apparatus, and a plurality of sprockets that transmit the driving force of the motor 13 to the driving roller 10 a. , And a transmission mechanism such as a chain and a gear. Here, the transmission mechanism is set so that the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of the drive roller 8a of the first pressure mechanism 8 and the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of the drive roller 10a of the second pressure mechanism 10 are substantially the same. Yes.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the pressure mechanism 10d includes a holding member 10e that holds both ends of the rotation shaft of the pressure roller 10b so as to be displaceable in the vertical direction, and a spring that biases the holding member 10e downward. And an urging member 10f constituted by an elastic member such as the like. In this embodiment, the pressure applied by the pressure mechanism 10d is set so that the pressure at the nip portion between the driving roller 10a and the pressure roller 10b is about 3 to 7 kg / cm ² .

In addition, a heater 10g is provided inside the pressure roller 10b of the second pressure mechanism 10, and the recording paper A on which the coating layer F is formed is heated while being pressed. On the other hand, no heater is provided on the drive roller 10a side.
In the present embodiment, a halogen lamp is disposed in the axial center portion of the drive roller 10a as the heater 10g. In this embodiment, the heating temperature by the heater 10g is set to be about 80 to 100 ° C. as the surface temperature of the pressure roller 10b.

  With the above configuration, in the second pressure mechanism 10, the recording paper A on which the coating layer F is formed is pressurized from both sides while being transported and heated from the surface on the coating layer F side. By this heating and pressurization, the recording surface of the recording paper A is pressure-bonded without any gap and is firmly bonded. Therefore, the second pressurizing mechanism 10 and the transport system for the second pressure mechanism 10 constitute the “coating layer processing means” in the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the discharge mechanism 3 is provided on the downstream side of the second pressurizing mechanism 10 in the transport path L of the recording paper A, and the recording after the pressurizing process is performed in the second pressurizing mechanism 10. This is a recording paper A transport mechanism for discharging the paper A to the discharge tray 4.

Here, a driving roller 3a that is rotationally driven in the conveyance direction of the recording paper A, a roller driving mechanism 3c that rotationally drives the driving roller 3a, and a driving roller 3a that are provided opposite to the driving roller 3a, are added to the driving roller 3a. The pressure roller 3b is in contact with the pressure roller and is rotated by the rotation of the drive roller 3a, and the pressure mechanism 3d presses the pressure roller 3b toward the drive roller 3a. In the present embodiment, the driving roller 3a and the pressure roller 3b are both constituted by rollers whose surfaces are covered with a rubber member such as synthetic rubber. These rollers may be metal hard rollers not covered with a rubber member.
In the embodiment, the roller driving mechanism 3c includes a motor 13 that drives the entire coating apparatus, and a transmission mechanism such as a plurality of sprockets, chains, and gears that transmits the driving force of the motor 13 to the driving roller 3a. Has been.

  In the present embodiment, the pressing mechanism 3d, as shown in FIG. 4, is an urging member 3f constituted by a rubber member such as a spring that urges both ends of the rotating shaft of the pressing roller 3b downward. It is comprised.

Specifically, the pressure at the nip portion between the driving roller 3a and the pressure roller 3b is set to be about 0.5 to ³ kg / cm ² . That is, in this embodiment, the force in the transport direction applied to the recording paper A can be limited by adjusting the pressure applied by the pressurizing mechanism 3d. Therefore, it is desirable that the pressurizing mechanism 3d has a configuration in which the pressing force can be finely adjusted by making it possible to adjust the attachment position of the urging member 3f.

[Second Embodiment]
In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the auxiliary branch guide 11 is provided for the auxiliary sheet has been described. However, in the sense that the auxiliary sheet conveyance path is branched with respect to the recording medium conveyance path, the first embodiment is used. A small-diameter roller 110 corresponding to the auxiliary branch guide 11 may be provided at a position where the auxiliary branch guide 11 is provided. An example of such a configuration is shown in FIG. When such a small-diameter roller 110 is employed, the application of stress at the branch can be reduced.

[Third Embodiment]
In the embodiment described so far, the example in which the auxiliary branch guide 11 or the roller 110 is installed on the lower side closest to the first pressure mechanism 8 has been described. You may make it carry out using 8a. Such an example is shown in FIG.
As shown in the drawing, in this example, the auxiliary sheet that has passed through the driving roller 8a is directly wound around the winding shaft 7f. Thus, by minimizing the contact period of the auxiliary sheet E with the recording medium A, the influence on the auxiliary sheet E can be minimized.

[Other Embodiments]
(1) In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the configuration including the supply tray 1 and the supply guide 2 is described as the “recording medium supply unit” in the present invention. A configuration in which an automatic supply mechanism for automatically and continuously supplying A is also possible. That is, the coating apparatus according to the present invention is installed on the downstream side of the recording apparatus that records an image on the recording paper A such as a photographic printer in actual use. Therefore, it is preferable that the recording paper A continuously discharged from the recording apparatus is automatically conveyed and supplied into the apparatus main body of the coating apparatus.

(2) In the above embodiment, an example in which a halogen lamp is used to configure the heating means has been described. However, any heating means can be used as long as the distribution of the heating ability can be adjusted in a predetermined longitudinal direction. it can. For example, a hot wire type heater may be employed.

(3) In the above embodiment, the case where the covering sheet B having the base material C and the transfer layer D provided so as to be peelable from the base material C has been described. The sheet is not limited to this, and for example, it is possible to use a sheet that does not include the base material C and includes only a portion corresponding to the transfer layer D. In this case, the cover sheet conveyance mechanism 6 is configured not to include the base material recovery unit 6b.

The perspective view which shows the coating | coated apparatus which attached the cover which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the internal structure of the coating | coated apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the drive system of the coating | coated apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which cut | disconnected the coating | coated apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention near width direction center. Schematic sectional view showing the structure of the covering sheet according to the first embodiment of the present invention Configuration diagram of the second embodiment Configuration diagram of the third embodiment Illustration of conventional problems

Explanation of symbols

A Recording paper (recording medium)
B Cover sheet C Cover sheet substrate D Cover sheet transfer layer E Auxiliary sheet F Cover layer L Recording paper transport path 3 Discharge mechanism 6 Cover sheet transport mechanism 7 Auxiliary sheet transport mechanism 8 First pressure mechanism (cover layer formation) means)
8g heating means 9 coating branch guide 10 second pressurizing mechanism (coating layer processing means)
11 Auxiliary branch guide (branch means)

Claims (4)

A recording medium coating apparatus for forming a coating layer on the surface of a recording medium,
Recording medium supply means for supplying the recording medium between a cover sheet and an auxiliary sheet conveyed opposite to each other;
A coating layer forming means for pressing the coating sheet and the auxiliary sheet sandwiched between the recording media from both sides to form a coating layer on the surface of the recording medium and on the surface of the auxiliary sheet around the recording medium; ,
Coating layer processing means for pressing the recording medium on which the multi-layer is formed from both sides,
In order to provide a branching unit that branches the conveyance path of the recording medium and the conveyance path of the auxiliary sheet, a branch position by the branching unit is set between the coating layer forming unit and the coating layer processing unit, A recording medium coating apparatus in which the recording medium on which the auxiliary sheet is branched and the multi-layer is formed is processed by the coating layer processing means.   The recording medium coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the branching unit is a branching guide having a branching edge perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording medium.   The recording medium coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the branching unit is a roller extending in a direction orthogonal to a conveyance direction of the recording medium. A recording medium coating apparatus for forming a coating layer on the surface of a recording medium,
Recording medium supply means for supplying the recording medium between a cover sheet and an auxiliary sheet conveyed opposite to each other;
A coating layer forming means for pressing the coating sheet and the auxiliary sheet sandwiched between the recording media from both sides to form a coating layer on the surface of the recording medium and on the surface of the auxiliary sheet around the recording medium; ,
Coating layer processing means for pressing the recording medium on which the multi-layer is formed from both sides,
A recording medium coating apparatus that branches the recording medium conveyance path and the auxiliary sheet conveyance path after passing through the multi-layer forming means and before reaching the coating layer processing means, and winds up the auxiliary sheet. .

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