JP2006154449A - Image recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image recording apparatus that prevents sucking failure of a recording material on a drum 10 due to environmental influences such as humidity. <P>SOLUTION: The image recording apparatus is operated so as to suck a sheet type recording material to the outer surface of a drum by reducing the inner pressure of the drum having a plurality of holes 31 in the peripheral wall and to exposed the recording material, and the apparatus is equipped with: a carrying means to carry a recording material to the drum; an evacuating means P1 to suck the air inside the drum to reduce the inner pressure of the drum; a humidity monitoring means 63 to measure and monitor the humidity near the drum; a humidity controlling means to control the humidity in the apparatus; and a controlling means to control the humidity control means to function when the humidity measured by the humidity monitoring means exceeds a predetermined range. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus that performs exposure by adsorbing a sheet-shaped recording material onto a drum.

  An image recording apparatus such as a color proof producing apparatus includes an exposure apparatus that exposes an image on a recording material. As such an exposure apparatus, a drum having a plurality of through holes that penetrate a peripheral wall from an external space to an internal space thereof, Air suction means for sucking air from the internal space, rotation means for rotating the drum, feeding means for feeding the recording material to the drum, and exposure means for exposing the recording material held on the outer peripheral surface of the drum; The recording material fed by the feeding means is held on the outer peripheral surface of the drum by the pressure difference between the external space and the internal space caused by suction by the air suction means, and A recording material that is exposed by an exposure means is known (see Patent Document 1 below).

  When paper is used as the base of the recording material used for image formation in the image recording apparatus as described above, warping, curling, etc. are caused by the shrinkage and expansion of the recording material due to environmental influences (particularly humidity). When the recording material is fed to the drum and adsorbed, there is a possibility that an adsorption failure may occur.

  In Patent Document 2 below, a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor are provided in a paper box containing a long color thermal recording paper in the form of a roll, and the temperature and humidity are measured at regular intervals by a timer. Disclose a color thermal printer that monitors the quality of color thermal recording paper according to the elapsed time and turns on a warning lamp that prompts the user to replace the recording paper if the quality deteriorates below a preset standard. (See summary).

However, the above-mentioned patent document 2 performs quality control of a recording material by issuing an expiration date warning by monitoring temperature, humidity, and elapsed time, and poor adsorption of the recording material on the drum due to environmental changes such as humidity. There are no disclosures or suggestions for measures to prevent this.
JP 2001-215724 A JP 2004-167789 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the related art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus that prevents a recording material drum from adsorbing poorly due to environmental influences such as humidity.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image recording apparatus according to the present invention exposes a recording material by depressurizing the inside of a drum having a plurality of through holes in a peripheral wall and adsorbing a sheet-like recording material on the outer peripheral surface of the drum. An image recording apparatus comprising: a conveying unit that conveys the recording material to the drum; a decompressing unit that sucks air in the drum and depressurizes the drum; and a humidity that measures and monitors the humidity in the vicinity of the drum Monitor means; humidity control means for adjusting the humidity inside the apparatus; and control means for controlling the humidity control means to operate when the humidity measured by the humidity monitor means exceeds a predetermined range. Features.

  According to this image recording apparatus, the humidity in the vicinity of the drum is measured, and the humidity in the apparatus is adjusted when the measured humidity exceeds a predetermined range. Therefore, the recording material is prevented from expanding and contracting, and the recording material is disturbed by the drum. It is possible to prevent the recording material from adsorbing on the drum of the recording material due to the influence of the environment such as humidity.

  In the image recording apparatus, the humidity control means can adjust the humidity in the apparatus by performing exhaust and intake air in the apparatus.

  Further, the pressure reducing means also serves as the humidity adjusting means, and the humidity inside the apparatus is adjusted by exhausting the inside of the apparatus by operating the pressure reducing means before the recording material is adsorbed to the drum. it can.

  Moreover, the humidity control means can adjust the humidity in the apparatus by including a fan that takes outside air into the apparatus.

  Further, it is preferable that the control means can arbitrarily set a predetermined range of the humidity, and an appropriate upper limit and adjustment of the humidity can be set according to the use environment, the type of recording material to be used, etc. Humidity can be adjusted.

  The control means continuously operates the humidity control means until the humidity inside the apparatus reaches the predetermined range, and performs image recording operations such as exposure to the recording material and conveyance of the recording material to the drum. It is preferable to perform control so as to wait.

  According to the image recording apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to prevent poor adsorption of the recording material on the drum due to the influence of the environment such as humidity.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the entire image recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a view of the inside of the image recording apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from the front side. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the main part of the drum and the optical unit of the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 2 as viewed from above.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an image recording apparatus 1 according to this embodiment includes an exposure unit 11 that exposes a sheet-like silver salt photosensitive material to form an image, and a developing unit 21 that develops the exposed silver salt photosensitive material. And comprising. In the sheet-like silver salt photosensitive material, an emulsion photosensitive surface made of a silver salt photosensitive material is formed on paper, and hereinafter referred to as “recording paper”.

  The exposure unit 11 includes a front panel 5 that can be opened and closed so that maintenance can be performed from the front, a display unit 2 that includes various information displays and a touch panel, and can be input for operation of the entire apparatus, and is wound in a roll shape inside. Loading sections 12 and 12 ′ capable of loading a cartridge 13 containing sheet-like recording paper after the paper feed covers 3 and 4 are opened. FIG. 1 shows a state before and after the cartridge 13 is loaded in the loading units 12 and 12 ′.

  The development unit 21 includes an upper panel 6 that can be opened and closed for maintenance, and a replenishment panel 7 that is provided on the front surface so as to be opened and closed for replenishment of a developing solution or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the exposure unit 11 of the image recording apparatus 1 includes a feeding unit 14 including a pair of conveyance rollers 40, 41, and 42 that feed recording paper from a cartridge 13 loaded in the loading units 12 and 12 ′. The recording paper S fed from the feeding unit 14 is wound around the outer peripheral surface, vacuum sucked and held, the drum 10 rotating in the rotation direction R for main scanning, and LED light for the recording paper on the drum 10 And an optical unit 16 that exposes a light beam such as a laser beam to form a latent image on the recording paper, and a sub-scanning unit 17 that transports the optical unit 16 in the sub-scanning direction (the vertical direction in FIG. 2) for sub-scanning. And a peeling member 15 that peels off the recording paper on the drum 10 after image recording.

  The image recording apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2 further includes a driven roller 43 that is arranged downstream of the conveying roller pair 42 and is driven to rotate following the conveyance of the recording paper fed toward the drum 10, and the recording paper between the drum 10. The driven roller 31 that is conveyed, the guide member 18 that guides the recording sheet when the recording sheet peeled from the drum 10 by the peeling member 15 is conveyed by the drum 10 and the driven roller 31, and the guide member 18 are sent. A pair of conveying rollers 32 that further conveys the recording sheet to the outlet 19, an accumulator 30 for accumulating the recording sheet that has reached the pair of conveying rollers 32, and a recording disposed near the downstream side of the pair of conveying rollers 32. A light reflection type detection sensor 33 for detecting the leading edge of the paper. The exposed recording paper is conveyed to the developing unit 21 through the outlet 19 and the connecting portion 19a.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a fan 64 that sucks outside air into the apparatus is disposed on the back side of the apparatus housing of the exposure unit 11, and humidity adjustment and cooling inside the exposure unit 11 are performed by the fan 64. Can do.

  A relatively narrow driven roller 43 arranged in the vicinity of the downstream side of the conveying roller pair 42 is driven to rotate along with the movement of the recording paper, and a rotary encoder 58 is connected coaxially to the driven roller 43. The rotary encoder 58 rotates with the driven roller 43 and measures the amount of rotation, whereby the length of the recording paper wound around the drum 10 after passing through the conveying roller pair 42 can be obtained. Further, the downstream conveying roller pair 32 has a one-way clutch structure, and can freely rotate in the feeding direction to the downstream side of the recording paper.

  Further, cut portions 10a for cutting the recording paper are arranged in the vicinity of the downstream side of the pair of conveyance rollers 40 and 41 in FIG. 2, and each cut portion 10a has a rotary cutter that is driven to rotate by a motor (not shown). The recording paper is cut into a predetermined length based on the above-described measurement of the recording paper length.

  When the detection sensor 33 detects the leading edge of the recording paper that has reached the conveyance roller pair 32, the conveyance roller pair motor 61 (FIG. 4) that drives the conveyance roller pair 32 stops and conveyance of the recording paper stops. The accumulator motor 62 (FIG. 4) is activated, the guide member 18 is rotated and opened as indicated by the broken line in FIG. 2, the accumulator 30 is formed below the pair of conveying rollers 32, and the recording paper S1 is accumulated. The

  The developing unit 21 in FIG. 2 performs wet development on the exposed recording paper sent from the exposure unit 11 to visualize the latent image of the recording paper, and includes a developing unit 23 that performs the development processing of the recording paper, and a fixing unit. A fixing unit 24 that performs processing, a stabilizing unit 25 that performs stabilization processing, a drying unit 26 that performs drying processing, a discharge unit 27 that discharges dried recording paper to the outside by a pair of conveyance rollers 27a, and the like, and an image is visualized And a stacking unit 28 for stacking the discharged recording paper.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the drum 10 of the image recording apparatus 1, the rotating shaft 14a of the rotating shaft portion 14 ′ and the rotating shaft 15a of the rotating shaft portion 18 ′ can rotate to the support bases 34a and 34b via bearings 33a and 33b. Is pivotally supported. One rotating shaft 15a of the drum 10 is provided with a driving pulley 35a. The driving pulley 35a is connected to an output pulley 35b of a drum driving pulse motor M6 by a belt 36, and is driven by the drum driving pulse motor M6. 10 rotates. The rotary shaft 15a of the drum 10 is provided with a rotary encoder 37, which outputs a pulse signal for rotation and is used for pixel clock control synchronized with the rotation of the drum.

  The other rotating shaft 14 a of the drum 10 is connected to a suction blower P <b> 1 as decompression means for sucking air inside the drum 10 and decompressing the inside of the drum 10.

  The through hole of the drum 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing a through hole formed in the drum of FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, a large number of through holes 31 c are formed on the outer peripheral surface 31 a of the drum 10 so as to extend linearly in the rotation axis direction. As shown in FIG. 5, each through hole 31c is formed as a relatively small hole that penetrates the peripheral wall 10b between the outer peripheral surface 31a of the drum 10 and the groove 31d formed in the inner peripheral surface 31b. The inside of the drum 10 is depressurized by driving the suction blower P1, and the recording paper S indicated by a broken line in FIG. 5 is attracted to the outer peripheral surface 31a of the drum 10.

  That is, the suction blower P1 sucks the air in the drum 10 through the suction connection pipe 51 by an air suction pump to make the inside of the drum 10 have a negative pressure. Wrap around and adsorb.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a humidity sensor 63 is disposed in the vicinity of the drum 10 in the optical unit 16 and measures the humidity in the vicinity of the drum 10. The humidity sensor 63 uses a polymer film humidity sensor that measures the relative humidity of the atmosphere from a change in dielectric constant accompanying absorption and release of moisture in the polymer film, a ceramic humidity sensor that uses porous ceramics that easily adsorb water vapor, and the like. However, it is not limited to these.

  The optical unit 16 is configured to be movable in parallel with the drum axis by the sub-scanning unit 17, receives a digital image signal, exposes the recording paper adsorbed to the drum 10 with a light beam, and writes an image. As shown in FIG. 3, an LED unit 320, an LED unit 321, and an LED unit 322 are arranged in the optical unit 16 as light sources for three wavelengths, for example, B, G, and R light sources.

  The light beams from the LED units 320, 321, and 322 expose the image on the recording paper on the drum 10 from the condenser lens 331 via the mirrors 325, 326, and 327. The exposure shutter 332 is opened / closed by an exposure solenoid 333 to open / close the optical path at the start / end of exposure.

  The optical unit 16 is fixed to a moving belt 340, and is guided by a pair of guide rails 341 and 342 so as to be movable in a direction parallel to the drum shaft. The moving belt 340 is stretched over a pair of pulleys 343 and 344, and one pulley 344 is connected to the output shaft 345 of the sub-scanning motor M7, and the optical unit 16 moves in parallel with the drum shaft by driving the sub-scanning motor M7. .

  FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a flow of image data in the exposure unit 11 of the image recording apparatus 1 of FIGS. 1 to 3 and a control system of the image recording apparatus 1.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the image recording apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 converts halftone dot image data from raster data using a RIP (Raster Image Processor) 49, which is an external image processing apparatus, for example, to create a color proof. The halftone dot image data is created and transferred from the RIP 49 to the exposure unit 11.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the exposure unit 11 temporarily stores the image data I / F unit 52 to which the halftone dot image data from the external RIP 49 is input and the halftone dot image data from the image data I / F unit 52. A data buffer 53 comprising a hard disk storage device or the like to be output and an exposure lookup table (exposure lookup table) for setting the exposure light quantity for exposure on the recording paper by associating the light source drive values for the YMCK halftone dot image data from the data buffer 53 LUT) 54 and a plurality of D / A converters 55a, 55b, and 55c corresponding to the B, G, and R LED units 320 to 322 that convert the digital signal of the exposure data from the exposure lookup table 54 into an analog signal. And the LEs of the LED units 320 to 322 according to the analog signals from the D / A converters 55a to 55c. Directly provided with a plurality of drivers 56a to analog modulation drive, 56b, and 56c, the a.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the control system of the image recording apparatus 1 includes a control unit 50 including a central processing unit (CPU). The control unit 50 receives signals from the detection sensor 33, the humidity sensor 63, and the like. Input and control the image data I / F unit 52, data buffer 53, exposure lookup table 54, display unit 2, conveyance roller pair motor 61, accumulator motor 62, suction blower P1, fan 64 and other device parts. To do.

  The control unit 50 in FIG. 4 determines whether or not the humidity is within a predetermined range based on the humidity measurement value by the humidity sensor 63. When the humidity exceeds the predetermined range, the suction blower is operated until the humidity is within the predetermined range. Control is performed so that at least one of P1 and the fan 64 is operated. That is, by operating the suction blower P1 in a state where the recording paper is not attracted to the drum 10, the inside of the exposure unit 11 passes through the suction connection pipe 51 from the vicinity of the drum 10 through the many through holes 31c of the outer peripheral surface 31a of the drum 10. Exhaust the air outside. Further, by operating the fan 64, outside air is sucked into the exposure unit 11.

  The control unit 50 can set an upper limit value and a lower limit value of humidity for humidity control, and can set a predetermined range. For example, the upper limit value and the lower limit value are input from the display unit 2 and the predetermined range for humidity control is input. You can change the settings. This makes it possible to set appropriate upper and lower humidity limits so that warpage or curl due to shrinkage / expansion is unlikely to occur in the recording paper, depending on the usage environment or the type of recording material used. The humidity can be adjusted.

  The operation (steps S01 to S08) of the image recording apparatus of FIGS. 1 to 5 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the image data is input from the external RIP 49 in FIG. 4 (S01), it is determined whether or not the humidity is within a predetermined range based on the humidity measurement value near the drum 10 by the humidity sensor 63 (S02).

  When the humidity exceeds the predetermined range, the recording paper conveyance operation is stopped and the standby state is set, while the suction blower P1 and the fan 64 are operated (S03), thereby adjusting the humidity inside the exposure unit 11 to obtain the humidity. The operation is continued until the humidity measured by the sensor 63 is within a predetermined range. Note that the recording paper is not wound around the drum 10 when the suction blower P1 is operated in step S03.

  When the humidity is within the predetermined range in step S02, or when the humidity exceeds the predetermined range, if the humidity is within the predetermined range by the operation of step S03 (after the operation of the suction blower P1 and the fan 64 is stopped), loading The recording paper is conveyed from the cartridge 13 loaded in the section 12 or 12 ′ toward the drum 10 (S 04), wound around the outer peripheral surface 31 a of the drum 10 and adsorbed (S 05).

  Next, the optical unit 16 exposes the recording paper based on the input image data to form a latent image (S06), and then the exposed recording paper is peeled off from the drum 10 by operating the peeling member 15 to guide the recording paper. It is sent to the developing unit 21 through the member 18, the conveying roller pair 32, etc., and development processing is performed (S07). Then, the recording paper on which the latent image is visualized is discharged from the discharge unit 27 and output to the stacking unit 28 (S08).

  As described above, according to the image recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the humidity in the vicinity of the drum 10 is measured, and the humidity in the exposure unit 11 is adjusted when the measured humidity exceeds a predetermined range. Expansion and contraction of the paper can be prevented, the recording paper can be adsorbed to the drum 10 without any trouble, and poor adsorbing of the recording paper on the drum 10 due to environmental influences such as humidity can be prevented.

  In the present embodiment, the suction blower P1 for adsorbing and holding the recording paper on the drum 10 can also be used as a humidity adjusting unit, and the fan 64 can also be used as a cooling fan for cooling the exposure unit 11. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a special humidity adjusting means, and the apparatus configuration is not complicated.

  The image recording apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is a silver salt photosensitive material using a plurality of light sources having different wavelengths based on halftone image data processed by a RIP (raster image processor) or a halftone dot conversion processing device. It is suitable for application to a color proof producing apparatus for producing a color proof for confirming in advance the finish of printed matter by exposing (recording paper).

  As described above, the best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. For example, the humidity sensor 63 continuously monitors the humidity in the exposure unit 11, and when the humidity exceeds a predetermined range, the suction blower P1 and the fan 64 are operated to adjust the humidity in the exposure unit 11 within the predetermined range. You may control as follows. For example, after the apparatus is turned on, humidity monitoring by the humidity sensor 63 is continued. When the humidity exceeds a predetermined range, the conveyance of the recording paper to the drum 10 is interrupted each time, and the inside of the exposure unit 11 is performed as described above. Adjust the humidity within a predetermined range.

  Further, for example, the numerous through holes 31c in the outer peripheral surface 31a of the drum 10 may of course be distributed in a manner other than that shown in FIG.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of an entire image recording apparatus according to an embodiment. It is the figure which looked at the inside of the image recording device of FIG. 1 from the front side. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a main part when the drum and the optical unit of the image recording apparatus of FIG. 2 are viewed from above. 4 is a block diagram showing a flow of image data and a control system of the image recording apparatus 1 in the exposure unit 11 of the image recording apparatus 1 of FIGS. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the through-hole formed in the drum of FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation (steps S01 to S08) of the image recording apparatus of FIGS.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image recording device 10 Drum 10b Perimeter wall 11 Exposure unit 12,12 'Loading part 14 Feeding part (conveying means)
16 Optical unit (exposure means)
21 Developing unit 31a Drum outer peripheral surface 31c Through hole 50 Control unit (control means)
63 Humidity sensor (humidity monitoring means)
64 fans (humidity control means)
P1 suction blower (pressure reduction means, humidity control means)
S Recording paper (sheet-like recording material)

Claims (6)

An image recording apparatus that exposes the recording material by depressurizing the inside of the drum having a plurality of through holes in the peripheral wall and adsorbing the sheet-like recording material to the outer peripheral surface of the drum,
Conveying means for conveying the recording material to the drum;
Decompression means for sucking air in the drum and decompressing the inside of the drum;
Humidity monitoring means for measuring and monitoring the humidity in the vicinity of the drum;
Humidity control means for adjusting the humidity inside the device;
An image recording apparatus comprising: control means for controlling the humidity control means to operate when the humidity measured by the humidity monitor means exceeds a predetermined range.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the humidity control unit performs exhaust and intake in the apparatus.   3. The image according to claim 1, wherein the decompression unit also serves as the humidity control unit, and the inside of the apparatus is exhausted by operating the decompression unit before the recording material is adsorbed to the drum. Recording device.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the humidity control unit includes a fan that takes outside air into the apparatus.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit can arbitrarily set a predetermined range of the humidity. 6. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the humidity control unit to continuously operate until the humidity inside the apparatus reaches the predetermined range and to wait for an image recording operation. The image recording apparatus according to any one of the above.

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