JP2007161368A - Recording paper conveying device and recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely attract a recording medium to a conveying carrier (conveying belt) even if the moisture content of the recording medium changes and even if the rigidity (paper stiffness) of the recording medium changes in the case of single side recording and in the case of double side recording. <P>SOLUTION: The recording paper conveying device has a recording means for recording images on the recording medium, the conveying carrier for conveying the recording medium and an electrostatic attractive power generating means arranged in the inner peripheral surface of the conveying carrier and formed by alternately arranging comb electrodes having different polarities. A non-electrode part of the conveying carrier is formed to be projected in relation to the comb electrodes having different polarities. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a conveying apparatus that sucks and conveys a recording medium onto a conveying belt, and a recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording medium conveyed by the conveying apparatus.

  In general, an ink jet recording apparatus performs recording by ejecting ink from a recording head to a recording medium conveyed by a conveying unit or the like. Inkjet recording devices can easily make the recording head compact, can record high-definition images at high speed, have low running costs, are non-impact, have low noise, and use multicolor ink. It has an advantage that it is easy to use and record a color image. In particular, a full line type apparatus using a line type recording head in which a large number of ejection openings are arranged in the width direction of the recording medium can further increase the recording speed.

  However, in a full-line apparatus, an apparatus having a large number of line-type recording heads in the recording medium conveyance direction increases the distance from the recording head at the most upstream position to the recording head at the most downstream position. For this reason, when the water content of the recording medium increases in the recording area, the recording medium is lifted, and the ink ejected from the recording head does not land on the desired position of the recording medium, which may affect the recording quality. Conceivable. In order to prevent this influence, it is necessary to urge the recording medium to the conveying means so that the recording medium does not float up.

As a means for urging the recording medium to the conveying means, there is generally known a method in which an electrode is provided on the conveying means, an electric charge is applied to the electrode to generate an electrostatic force, and the recording medium is attracted to the conveying means ( For example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-284383 A

  By the way, recently, not only recording on one side of a recording medium but also recording on both sides of the recording medium has been required even in an ink jet printer. When recording on both sides of the recording medium, first, ink is ejected by the recording head on the first surface, and then ink is ejected by the recording head on the second surface. In this case, since the water content of the recording medium increases, when the recording medium performs recording on the second surface, the recording medium may swell greatly and a wave (so-called cockling) may occur, affecting the recording quality. There is. However, even with the above-described conventional double-sided conveyance, it is possible to satisfy the recording quality desired at that time, but in recent years, higher recording quality has been demanded.

  In addition, when using a conveyor belt as a conveyor member, if the belt is left for a long period of time while attached to the apparatus main body, wrinkles may occur in a portion having a strong curvature that abuts the conveyor roller or the like.

  Also, when performing single-sided recording or double-sided recording, the rigidity of the recording medium (the stiffness of the paper) may change even if the moisture content of the recording medium changes.

  Further, even if the surface resistance value of the recording medium is the same, the attractive force varies greatly depending on the basis weight and surface smoothness of the recording medium.

  In the experiments of the present inventors, the smaller the basis weight value, the less rigid (waist) of the recording medium, and when the recording medium is adsorbed and fixed to the carrier with a pinch roller, air is mixed due to the waviness of the recording medium. If it is adsorbed as it is, there will be no escape space for air and the part where air is mixed will be convex.

  Also, the smoothness of the surface smoothness is more likely to be adsorbed than the rough one.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reliably adsorb a recording medium to a recording medium conveyance carrier without being affected by the surface resistance value, smoothness, and rigidity of the recording medium.

  A typical configuration according to the present invention for achieving the above object includes a recording means for recording an image on a recording medium, a conveying carrier for conveying the recording medium, an inner peripheral surface of the conveying carrier, and different polarities. In the recording paper transport apparatus having the electrostatic attraction force generating means formed by alternately arranging the comb-tooth electrodes, the non-electrode portion is convex with respect to the comb-tooth electrode portions having different polarities of the transport carrier. To do.

  In the present invention, the recording medium can be reliably adsorbed to the recording medium transport carrier without being affected by the surface resistance value, smoothness, and rigidity of the recording medium.

  Since the present invention has the configuration and operation as described above, the recording medium can be reliably adsorbed to the recording medium transport carrier without being affected by the surface resistance value, smoothness, and rigidity of the recording medium.

  Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, an embodiment of a recording medium transport apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail. In the following embodiments, a recording medium transport device used in an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink is illustrated.

  A recording apparatus provided with a recording medium conveying apparatus according to the present embodiment will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

  First, the overall configuration of the recording apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. A recording apparatus having an automatic feeding device includes a feeding unit, a conveying belt unit (conveying means, a conveying device), a double-sided conveying unit attached to the conveying belt unit, a discharge unit, and a recording head unit. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of the recording apparatus 1. The feeding unit 2, the conveyor belt unit 3, the duplex conveying unit 6, the recording unit 7, and the discharging unit 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The feeding unit 2 is configured such that a pressure plate 21 on which a recording medium P as a recording medium is stacked and a feeding rotating body 22 that feeds the recording medium P are attached to the base 20. The pressure plate 21 is rotatable about a rotation axis a coupled to the base 20 and is urged by the pressure plate spring 24 to the feeding rotating body 22. A separation pad 25 made of a material having a large coefficient of friction such as an artificial skin for preventing the double feeding of the recording medium P is provided at a portion of the pressure plate 21 facing the feeding rotating body 22. Further, the base 20 covers a corner portion of the recording medium P in one direction, and the separation claw 26 for separating the recording medium P one by one, the pressure plate 21 and the feeding rotating body 22 are released from contact with each other. A release cam is provided.

  In the above configuration, the release cam pushes the pressure plate 21 down to a predetermined position in the standby state. As a result, the contact between the pressure plate 21 and the feeding rotating body 22 is released. In this state, when the driving force of the conveying roller 32 is transmitted to the feed rotating body 22 and the release cam by a gear or the like, the release cam moves away from the pressure plate 21, and the pressure plate 21 rises, and the feed rotating body 22 and the recording medium P come into contact with each other, and the recording medium P is picked up as the feeding rotating body 22 rotates, and feeding is started. The recording media P are separated one by one by the separation claw 26 and are sequentially fed to the conveyance belt unit 3 described later. When the feeding rotator 22 rotates until the recording medium P is fed to the conveyance belt unit 3 and then enters a standby state where the contact between the recording medium P and the feeding rotator 22 is released again, the feeding roller 32 is driven from the conveyance roller 32. Power is cut off.

  Reference numeral 90 denotes a feeding rotating body for manual feeding. The feeding rotator 90 rotates in accordance with a computer recording command signal and conveys the recording medium P installed on the manual feed tray 91 in the direction of the conveying roller 32.

  The conveyor belt unit 3 is configured to attract and convey the recording medium P to a conveyor belt (conveying member) 31. The transport belt unit 3 includes a transport belt 31 that transports the recording medium P and a PE sensor (not shown).

  The conveyance belt 31 has an adsorption force generating means 36 for adsorbing the recording medium P to the conveyance belt 31.

  The conveyor belt 31 is driven by a driving roller 34 and is wound around a conveyor roller 32 and a pressure roller 35 which are driven rollers. The conveying roller 32 and the driving roller 34 are rotatably attached to the platen 30, and the pressure roller 35 is rotatably attached to the other end of the arm 50 that is swingably attached to the platen 30. Tension (2.0 kgf) is applied to the conveyor belt 31 by the arm 50 being pressed by the spring 51. The platen 30 is located below the conveyor belt 31 and serves to regulate the downward displacement of the conveyor belt 31.

  A conveying belt 31 and a driven pinch roller 33 are provided in contact with each other at a position facing the conveying roller 32. The pinch roller 33 is brought into pressure contact with the transport belt 31 by a spring (not shown) to guide the recording medium P to the recording head unit. Further, electric charges accumulated in the surface layer of the conveyor belt 31 are removed by conducting with a main body frame (not shown).

  Further, an upper guide 27 and a lower guide 28 for guiding the recording medium P are disposed at the entrance of the conveying belt unit 3 to which the recording medium P is conveyed. In addition, the upper guide 27 is provided with a PE sensor lever 23 that transmits detection of the leading edge and the trailing edge of the recording medium P to a PE sensor (not shown). Further, on the downstream side of the conveyance roller 32 in the recording medium conveyance direction, a recording unit 7 that forms an image based on image information is provided.

  In the above configuration, the recording medium P sent to the transport belt unit 3 is guided by the upper guide 27 and the lower guide 28 and sent to the roller pair of the transport roller 32 and the pinch roller 33. At this time, the leading end of the conveyed recording medium P is detected by the PE sensor lever 23 to obtain the recording position of the recording medium P. Further, the recording medium P is conveyed by the rotation of the conveying belt 31 via the conveying roller 32 by the motor.

  The conveyance belt 31 that moves while adsorbing and holding the recording medium P is made of a synthetic resin such as polyethylene or polycarbonate having a thickness of about 0.1 mm to 0.2 mm, and forms a seamless endless belt shape. is doing. Although it is conceivable that the applied voltage changes at the joint when there is a joint, the conveying belt 31 of this embodiment is endless and has no joint, so that the voltage can be uniformly applied on the belt.

  The conveyor belt 31 is composed of an adsorbing force generating means 36, a base layer 36c, and a surface layer 36d made of comb-like electrodes having an electrode plate 36a and a ground plate 36b. They are joined by means such as heat welding.

  Here, the adsorption force generating means 36 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the attracting force generating means 36 is configured by alternately arranging electrodes of different polarities (electrode plate 36a, ground plate 36b) made of conductive metal, and each tooth is formed as shown in the figure. A plurality of comb teeth are provided on the conveyor belt 31 so as to face each other in a direction perpendicular to the belt conveyance direction. Further, the non-electrode portion 83 has a convex shape with a step of 0.2 mm or less from the electrode portions (electrode plate 36a, ground plate 36b).

  More specifically, the recording medium P conveyed from the feeding unit is suction-fixed to the conveying carrier by the pinch roller 33 in FIG. 1, but there is a problem in the case of special paper unique to the recording medium conveying apparatus. Although there is no normal apparatus, multiple types of recording media are guaranteed.

  In particular, the recording medium P having a low surface resistance value, low rigidity (waistness), and good surface smoothness is easily adsorbed to the carrier and is thin and not rigid so that it is conveyed from the feeding unit. When the recording medium P, which has been conveyed while undulating, is adsorbed and fixed to the conveyance carrier by the pinch roller 33, air is mixed and adsorbed and fixed, so there is no air escape from the surface of the conveyance carrier. The recording medium was raised by the amount of air, and the surface property was poor.

  The upper part of the electrode plate (electrode plate 36a, ground plate 36b) has the strongest electric field, that is, the strongest adsorption force, and the upper part of the non-electrode plate 84 has the weakest electric field, that is, the weakly attractive force.

  Therefore, the present inventor does not make the electrode portions (electrode plate 36a, ground plate 36b) and the non-electrode portion 84 on the same plane, and pinches the air mixed during the adsorption to the transport carrier by providing a step of 0.2 mm or less. When the air is pressed with a la, air is vented from the electrode section (electrode plate 36a, ground plate 36b) and the edge section 83 of the non-electrode section 84 in FIG. Even a recording medium with low surface smoothness and good adsorption efficiency could be adsorbed and fixed to the carrier with uniform flatness. Further, since the electrode portion (electrode plate 36a, ground plate 36b) and the non-electrode portion 84 are not flush with each other, recording is performed with the electrode portion (electrode plate 36a, ground plate 36b) with the non-electrode portion 84 as a vertex when pressed by a pinch roller. The force for attracting the medium P works, and the recording medium P can be attracted in a tensioned state without looseness.

  The reason why the step between the electrode part (electrode plate 36a, ground plate 36b) and the non-electrode part 84 is 0.2 mm or less is that if the step is large, the distance from the nozzle row of the recording unit as recording means affects the image quality. There was no range.

  In addition, the recording medium is easily affected by humidity, and depending on the environment in which it is left or used, the recording medium itself may be wavy. The above effect can be sufficiently exerted.

  Terminals 36a ′ and 36b ′, which are power-feeding portions exposing the pattern, are provided at both ends in the moving direction of the conveyor belt 31 so as to have a distance longer than the width of the electrodes 36a and 36b in the belt moving direction. In addition, conductive power supply brushes 52 that are in contact with each other at a predetermined pressure are provided, and a positive or negative voltage is applied to the terminal 36a ′ of the electrode plate 36a by a high voltage power source (not shown), and the terminal 36b of the ground plate 36b 'Has been dropped to earth. By applying a voltage of about 0.5 kV to 10 kV to the power supply brush 52, an attracting force is generated on the conveying belt 31 at a recording position below each recording head 7. The power supply brush 52 is connected to a high voltage power source (not shown) that generates a predetermined high voltage.

  When a voltage is applied to the electrode plate 36a, an electric force is generated in the direction from the electrode plate 36a to the ground plate 36b, and electric lines of force are formed. Then, an attractive force is generated above the transport belt 31 due to the potential difference between the electrode plate 36a and the ground plate 36b, and the same polarity as the voltage applied to the electrode plate 36a is formed on the recording surface of the recording medium P. Charge (surface potential) is generated. Incidentally, the adsorption force of the recording medium P is the lowest region where there is no conductive metal between the electrode plate 36a and the ground plate 36b.

  38 is a pair of cleaning rollers, and is sandwiched between the belt 31. The cleaning roller 38 can absorb ink to remove stains such as ink adhering to the belt 31, and has a pore diameter to prevent deterioration in durability. And is formed of a sponge of a reticulum (preferably 10 μm to 30 μm). The transport belt 31 is cleaned by the cleaning roller pair 38 and then neutralized by a neutralizing brush 37 serving as a neutralizing unit.

  The double-sided conveyance unit 6 reverses the recording medium P conveyed by the conveyance belt 31 with the first surface facing the front surface, and supplies the recording medium P to the conveyance belt 31 again with the second surface, which is the back surface of the first surface. It is. Specifically, the double-sided conveyance unit 6 turns over the recording medium P as follows. First, the recording medium P on which recording on one side (first side) is completed is conveyed to the discharge side. When the rear end of the recording medium P reaches the nip portion of the discharge roller 41 and the spur 42, the discharge roller 41 is reversed. The recording medium P is reversely conveyed. The recording medium P is introduced into a double-sided conveyance path 61 disposed in the lower part of the conveyance belt unit 3 in FIG. 1 and conveyed by a plurality of feed rollers in the double-sided conveyance path 61, and then again the conveyance roller 32 and the pinch roller. The recording medium P is supplied onto the conveying belt through the space 33. As a result, the surface (first surface) opposite to the surface on which the recording was first performed on the recording medium P (second surface) can be set as the front surface and directed toward the recording unit 7, and recording on both sides is possible. Become. The double-sided conveyance path 61 can store a plurality of recording media.

  The recording unit 7 as a recording unit uses a line type ink jet recording head in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium P, and is 7K (black) from the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the recording medium P. , 7C (cyan), 7M (magenta), and 7Y (yellow) are arranged at predetermined intervals in this order, and the recording heads 7K, 7C, 7M, and 7Y are attached to the head holder 7a. This recording head can apply heat to the ink by a heater or the like. The heat causes the ink to boil, and the ink is ejected from the nozzles of the recording head by a pressure change caused by the growth or contraction of the bubbles due to the film boiling, so that an image is formed on the recording medium P.

  One end of the recording unit 7 is pivotally fixed by a shaft 71, and a projection 7B formed on the other end engages with a rail 72 to define a distance (between paper) between the nozzle surface and the recording medium P. It has come to be.

  The discharge unit 4 includes a discharge roller 41 and a spur 42. The recording medium P recorded by the recording unit 7 is sandwiched and conveyed between the discharge roller 41 and the spur 42 and is discharged to the discharge tray 43. The discharge roller 41 is driven by the rotational force of the drive roller 34 by a transmission means (not shown). The spur 42 rolls on the recording surface after recording, so that the contact area with the recording medium is small, and even if it contacts the recording surface after recording, the recorded image on the recording medium is not disturbed. It is the comprised rotary body.

  Next, the configuration of the transport belt unit according to the present embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of the entire conveyance belt unit, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a platen.

  First, the platen 30 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the platen 30 has convex portions 30a at positions facing the recording heads 7K, 7C, 7M, and 7Y, and a nozzle surface (direction perpendicular to the transport direction) in the nozzle row direction (direction perpendicular to the transport direction). It is arranged in parallel with the (face surface).

  The surface 30b of the convex portion 30a facing the conveyance belt 31 is a plane using a predetermined width (in the belt conveyance direction), and the surfaces 30b of the convex portions 30a facing the nozzle surface of each recording head are the same plane. Located on the top. In order to obtain a sufficient suction force, the convex portion 30a is made of a conductive material, and a low friction layer 30c (such as a Teflon (registered trademark) film or a high molecular weight polyethylene film) is provided on a surface 30b that slides on the conveyor belt 31. (Thickness: 100 μm, friction coefficient 0.2) is configured on the entire surface, and during transportation, the friction with the conveyor belt 31 is reduced and the rotational load during rotation is stabilized to ensure the conveyance accuracy. Yes.

  A description will be given of the principle of suppressing the suction force residual wrinkle shape of the transport belt and the fluttering of the transport belt due to transport in the actual operation situation.

  First, the residual ridge shape will be described. As described above, the conveyor belt 31 is composed of the adsorption force generating means 36 (electrode plate 36a, ground plate 36b), the base layer 36c, and the surface layer 36d, and the layers are means such as an adhesive or heat welding. However, due to the difference in curvature inherent to the material, the curvature of contact with the conveying roller 32, the driving roller 34, and the pressure roller 35 when the conveying belt unit 3 is left attached to the recording apparatus 1 for a long period of time. Wrinkles occur in the strong parts (creep). When the conveyance operation is started in this state, the conveyance belt 31 is pulled in the conveyance direction by the tension applied by the pressure roller 35 at a position facing the recording head unit suspended by the conveyance roller 32 and the driving roller 34. In the part with the mark, the shape of the ridge remains, and a wave of about 0.5 mm to 1.0 mm is generated.

  In this embodiment, an electric force is generated by applying a high voltage (0.5 kV to 10 kV) to a conveying belt provided with comb-teeth electrodes, and the recording medium P is sucked on the upper surface to cock the recording medium P. Similarly, the lower surface of the platen 30 is attracted to the convex portion 30a to suppress the wave of the conveying belt 31 to realize stable recording on the recording medium and conveyance of the conveying belt 31.

  On the other hand, when the recording medium P for recording on both sides is attracted to the conveyance belt 31, the first side of the recording medium P is recorded, and the recording is performed by the duplex conveying unit 6 after the recording on the first side is finished. Thus, the inventor has found that it is necessary to change the applied voltage when recording the second surface. When recording on the second surface, ink droplets are driven into the recording medium P, the moisture content (moisture content) of the recording medium P changes, and when the moisture content increases, the adsorption force becomes a phenomenon. It is to do. In addition, when the environment changes depending on the conditions, particularly when the humidity is high, the amount of water in the recording medium P increases, and it may be difficult to adsorb even on one side.

  With this configuration, the recording apparatus of the present embodiment applies a desired applied voltage to each transport surface when transporting a recording medium having a high water content and causing cockling. Therefore, the recording medium can be reliably adsorbed to the conveyance belt. According to the present embodiment, since the recording medium is reliably adsorbed to the conveyance belt, the distance between the recording head and the recording medium can be kept constant, and the recording quality can be maintained even in the double-sided conveyance.

  By the way, when performing recording on both sides of the recording medium, after recording on the first side, the recording medium is turned over and recording on the second side is performed. However, if the next recording medium is supplied after recording on both sides, it is difficult to achieve high-speed recording in recent years. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the recording medium is once held in the double-sided conveyance path 61 when the recording on the first surface is completed.

  The first recording medium on which recording on the first surface is completed is transported into the double-sided conveyance path 61, and at the same time, recording on the first surface of the subsequent recording medium is performed. Then, the first recording medium is conveyed from the double-sided conveyance path 61 to a position facing the recording unit 7 with the operation of conveying the subsequent recording medium into the double-sided conveyance path 61. Recording is performed on the transported first recording medium by the recording unit 7 on the second side.

  In this way, after recording on the first surface of the first recording medium, the recording surface 7 records the first surface of the subsequent recording medium at the same time as it is transported into the duplex transport path 61. Next, the subsequent recording medium is conveyed to the double-sided conveyance path 61, and at the same time, the first recording medium is conveyed to a position facing the recording unit 7, and recording is performed by the recording unit 7. As described above, the recording speed can be increased by alternately performing the recording on the first surface of the subsequent recording medium and the recording on the second surface of the first recording medium.

[Other Examples]
In the above-described embodiment, an endless transport belt without joints is illustrated as the transport member, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a drum shape may be used.

  In the above-described embodiments, the case of an inkjet double-side recording apparatus for color recording using a plurality of recording heads that record with different color inks has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Rather, for example, an inkjet recording apparatus that uses one recording head, or an inkjet recording apparatus for gradation recording that uses a plurality of recording heads that record with the same color and different densities, also relates to the number of recording heads. The present invention can be applied in a similar manner, and the same effects can be achieved.

  Further, as the recording means (recording head), the recording type and the recording head and the ink tank are integrated, or the recording head and the ink tank are separated and connected by an ink supply tube. Any configuration of the ink tank can be applied in the same manner, and the same effect can be achieved.

  In addition, when the present invention is applied to an ink jet recording apparatus, it can be applied to, for example, a recording unit that uses an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element. In particular, ink is ejected using thermal energy. In the ink jet recording apparatus using the recording means of the above system, an excellent effect is brought about. This is because such a system can achieve higher recording density and higher definition.

  Furthermore, the present invention can be effectively applied to a so-called serial type recording apparatus that performs recording while moving the recording head in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium. Alternatively, even in the case of a full-line type recording apparatus having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium that can be recorded by the recording head, such a recording head has a length that is determined by a combination of a plurality of recording heads. Either a satisfying configuration or a single recording head formed integrally may be used. In addition, even with the serial type described above, the recording head fixed to the main body of the apparatus, or the replacement that enables the electrical connection with the main body of the apparatus and the supply of ink from the main body of the apparatus when mounted on the main body. The present invention is also effective when a free chip type recording head or a cartridge type recording head in which an ink tank is integrally provided in the recording head itself is used.

  In addition, as an embodiment of the above-described ink jet recording apparatus, an ink jet input / output apparatus that can be used as an image output terminal device of an information processing device such as a computer, or a scanner other than a recording head can be mounted on a carriage. Further, it may be a copying machine combined with a reader or the like, or a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function.

1 is an overall explanatory diagram of a recording apparatus. The figure which looked at the conveyance belt from the upper surface. The perspective view of a conveyance belt. Sectional drawing of a conveyance belt.

Explanation of symbols

P Recording medium (recording medium)
1 Recording device (Recording device)
3 Conveying belt (conveying means, conveying device)
6 Double-sided conveyance unit (Double-sided conveyance unit)
7 Recording section (recording means)
31 Conveying belt (conveying member)
36 Adsorption force generation means (Adsorption force generation means)
36a Electrode plate (electrode)
36b Ground plate (electrode)
52 Power supply brush
61 Double-sided conveyance path (double-sided conveyance path)

Claims (5)

  Recording means for recording an image on a recording medium, a conveying carrier for conveying the recording medium, and an electrostatic attraction force generating means which are arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the conveying carrier and are alternately arranged with comb-shaped electrodes of different polarities And a non-electrode portion that is convex with respect to the comb-shaped electrode portions of different polarities of the transport carrier.   2. The recording paper transport device according to claim 1, wherein the convexity of the non-electrode portion is 0.2 mm or less with respect to the comb electrode portion of the transport carrier.   2. The recording paper transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport carrier is an endless belt member having no joints.   A recording apparatus comprising: a conveying unit that conveys a recording medium; and a recording unit that is disposed to face the conveying unit, wherein the conveying unit is the recording paper conveying device according to claim 1. Recording device.   The recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the recording unit is an ink jet recording head that ejects ink onto a recording medium.

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