JP2007301818A - Recording device, and processing device for recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording device which can stop the evaporation and the leakage of a processing liquid, and to provide a processing device for a recording medium. <P>SOLUTION: This recording device comprises an absorbing element 8 which imparts a processing liquid to the peripheral surface of an applying roller 2 and a subsidiary tank 9 in a protective cover 16. When the applying motion of the processing liquid to a recording medium 1 is stopped, the opening section 16a of the protective cover 16 is pressed to the peripheral surface of the applying roller 2, and the inside of the protective cover 16 is made a sealed space. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus having a function of applying a processing liquid for improving image recording performance and robustness to a recording medium, and a recording medium processing apparatus for applying the processing liquid to the recording medium. Is.

  Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3 describe a recording apparatus having a mechanism for applying a treatment liquid by a roller to a recording medium before an image is recorded. These recording apparatuses are configured to apply the treatment liquid onto the surface of the recording medium by rotating the application roller having the treatment liquid attached to the surface while keeping contact with the surface of the recording medium. An image is recorded on the surface of the recording medium after the treatment liquid is applied.

JP-A-8-72227 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-096452 US Pat. No. 6,183,079

  However, in the above-described conventional recording apparatus, the mechanism portion for applying the processing liquid to the application roller is exposed to the outside, so that moisture in the processing liquid evaporates from the exposed portion, and the concentration of the processing liquid is increased. May change. When the concentration of the processing liquid changes, the processing liquid may not be satisfactorily applied to the recording medium, and the function of the processing liquid may be impaired or the processing liquid may be wasted. Further, when the recording apparatus is tilted during transportation of the recording apparatus, the processing liquid may leak out.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus and a recording medium processing apparatus capable of suppressing evaporation and leakage of the processing liquid.

  The recording apparatus of the present invention is a recording apparatus having a treatment liquid coating mechanism for applying a treatment liquid to a recording medium before or after recording an image by a coating roller. An applying means for applying, and a protecting means for covering the applying means and preventing evaporation of the processing liquid when the operation of applying the processing liquid to the recording medium is stopped.

  The recording medium processing apparatus of the present invention is a recording medium processing apparatus for applying a processing liquid to a recording medium by an application roller, the applying means for applying a processing liquid to the peripheral surface of the application roller, and the recording And a protective means for covering the application means and preventing evaporation of the processing liquid when the operation of applying the processing liquid to the medium is stopped.

  According to the present invention, when the application of the treatment liquid to the recording medium is stopped, the application means for applying the treatment liquid to the application roller is covered with the protection means, so that evaporation and leakage of the treatment liquid from the application means are suppressed. Can do. As a result, it is possible to adequately apply the treatment liquid having a predetermined concentration to the recording medium before or after the image recording, and to sufficiently exhibit the function of the treatment liquid for improving the image recording property and the robustness.

  Further, the processing liquid overflowing from the applying means and the excess processing liquid applied to the peripheral surface of the coating roller are collected in the protective cover, so that the processing liquid can be reused to reduce its consumption. be able to.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a recording medium conveyance system in the recording apparatus of the present embodiment. The recording medium 1 accommodated in the cassette 20 is fed into a conveyance path one by one by a sheet feeding roller 21. Is done. The fed recording medium 1 is conveyed in the direction of arrow A in the conveyance path by the conveyance rollers 22, 23, 24, and 25. An image is recorded on the recording medium 1 in the conveyance path by the recording head 26. The recording head 26 is, for example, an ink jet recording head capable of ejecting ink, and records an image by ejecting toward the recording medium 1. The ink jet recording head can use an electrothermal converter (heater), a piezo element, or the like as energy generating means for discharging ink. When the electrothermal converter is used, the ink can be foamed by the heat generated by the electrothermal converter, and the ink can be ejected from the ejection port using the foaming energy.

  The recording head 26 may be moved in the main scanning direction along the width direction of the recording medium 1 (the front and back direction of the paper surface in FIG. 1), or the width direction of the recording surface on the recording medium 1 (see FIG. It may extend over the entire area in the direction of the front and back sides of one sheet of paper. The former recording apparatus using the recording head is a serial scanning type that alternately repeats recording scanning that involves movement of the recording head in the main scanning direction and conveyance operation of the recording medium 1. A recording apparatus using the latter recording head is a full-line type that records an image while continuously transporting the recording medium 1. As described above, the recording method of the recording apparatus and the configuration of the recording head are arbitrary.

  Reference numeral 100 denotes a processing liquid application mechanism incorporated in the recording apparatus, which applies the processing liquid to the surface of the recording medium 1 before the image is recorded. The coating mechanism 100 includes a coating roller 2 and a pressing roller, which are disposed between the paper feed roller 21 and the transport roller 22. Reference numeral 16 denotes a protective cover.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the coating mechanism 100 when the recording operation is stopped, and FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of the coating mechanism 100 during the recording operation.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the recording medium 1 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow with the rotation while being sandwiched between the application roller 2 and the pressing roller 3. As a result, the treatment liquid attached to the peripheral surface of the application roller 2 is transferred to the surface of the recording medium 1. The peripheral surface of the application roller 2 is formed of, for example, a resin material. Gears 4 and 5 are connected in series to the outer peripheral gear portion of the application roller 2, and the planetary gear 6 a of the planetary gear unit 6 is arranged to be connectable to the gear 5. The sun gear 6 b of the planetary gear unit 6 is connected to the rotation shaft of the drive motor 7.

  Reference numeral 8 denotes an application absorber, which is formed of a material such as felt that absorbs and holds liquid. The application absorber 8 is held inside the sub tank 9 so as to be surrounded by the sub tank 9 and is in contact with the peripheral surface of the application roller 2. When the processing liquid is supplied into the sub tank 9, the processing liquid is sucked up by the application absorber 8 and applied to the peripheral surface of the application roller 2. The sub tank 9 communicates with the main tank 12 containing the processing liquid via the tube 10, and the processing liquid in the main tank 12 is supplied to the sub tank 9 by the pump 11. An adjustment blade 13 is fixed to the outer wall of the sub tank 9, and a part of the adjustment blade 13 is in contact with the peripheral surface of the application roller 2. A cleaner blade 14 is urged by a spring 15 and is in contact with the peripheral surface of the application roller 2 with a predetermined pressure.

  Reference numeral 16 denotes a protective cover, which is formed so as to surround the coating absorber 8, the sub tank 9, the adjusting blade 13, the cleaner blade 14, and the like. The opening 16 a of the protective cover 16 corresponds to the peripheral surface of the application roller 2. The protective cover 16 is held so as to be movable in the vertical direction in FIGS. 2 and 3, and is further biased by a spring 17 in a direction close to the peripheral surface of the application roller 2. The planetary gear unit 6 is connected to the shaft portion 16b provided in the protective cover 16, and the protective cover 16 moves up and down in conjunction with the revolution of the planetary gear 6a. The inside of the protective cover 16 communicates with the main tank 12 of the processing liquid via the tube 18, and the processing liquid collected in the protective cover 16 is collected in the main tank 12 by the pump 19. The pump 11 and the pump 19 are connected to the drive motor 7 and are driven simultaneously by the drive motor 7.

  Next, the operation of the treatment liquid coating mechanism 100 will be described.

  When the recording operation is stopped, the drive motor 7 is stopped and the coating mechanism 100 is in the state shown in FIG. At the start of the recording operation, the following recording preparation operation is performed.

  First, driving of the drive motor 7 is started, and supply operation and recovery operation of the processing liquid by the pumps 11 and 19 connected to the drive motor 7 are started. The processing liquid supplied from the main tank 12 to the sub-tank 9 is absorbed and held in the coating absorber 8. Simultaneously with the operations of the pumps 11 and 19, the planetary gear 6a of the planetary gear unit 6 connected to the drive motor 7 revolves counterclockwise. Thereby, the protective cover 16 connected to the planetary gear unit 6 is moved downward against the spring 17, and the opening 16a of the protective cover 16 is separated from the peripheral surface of the application roller 2 as shown in FIG. . Further, when the planetary gear 6a of the planetary gear unit 6 is engaged with the gear 5, the driving force of the drive motor 7 is transmitted to the application roller 2 via the gear 4, and the application roller 2 is rotated in the clockwise direction of the arrow in FIG. It is rotated.

  As a result, the treatment liquid absorbed and held by the application absorber 8 is supplied onto the peripheral surface of the application roller 2. Since the peripheral surface of the application roller 2 rotates in the clockwise direction, the surplus of the processing liquid supplied to the peripheral surface is removed by the adjustment blade 13. As a result, the processing liquid adjusted to a predetermined amount adheres to the peripheral surface of the application roller 2. The peripheral surface of the coating roller 2 to which the processing liquid is attached reaches the position of the pressing roller 3, then reaches the position of the cleaner blade 14, and the processing liquid is scraped off. Thereafter, the processing liquid is supplied again by the coating absorbent 8. In this way, the processing liquid supply operation and the scraping operation on the peripheral surface of the application roller 2 are repeated. The contact pressure of the adjusting blade 13 with respect to the application roller 2 is adjusted so that the amount of treatment liquid adhering to the peripheral surface of the application roller 2 becomes a predetermined amount. The processing liquid removed from the coating roller 2 by the adjusting blade 13 and the cleaner blade 14 is received by the protective cover 16 and then continuously collected in the main tank 12 through the tube 18.

  Such a recording preparation operation is continued for a predetermined time, and the recording operation is started when the state of the treatment liquid on the application roller 2 reaches a steady state.

  That is, the feeding of the recording medium 1 from the cassette 20 is started by the paper feed roller 21. When the recording medium is conveyed between the roller 2 and the pressing roller 3, the recording medium is conveyed in the rotation direction of the applying roller 2 while being pressed against the applying roller 2 by the pressing roller 3 with a predetermined pressure. At that time, the adjusted amount of the processing liquid adhering to the peripheral surface of the application roller 2 is uniformly transferred onto the recording medium 1. At this time, even if dust such as paper dust on the recording medium 1 adheres to the peripheral surface of the application roller 2, the dust is removed from the application roller 2 by the cleaner blade 14. Therefore, the dust does not hinder the uniform application of the treatment liquid.

  The recording medium 1 on which the treatment liquid is uniformly applied in this way is conveyed to a recording position facing the recording head 26 by the conveying rollers 22, 23, 24, 25 as shown in FIG. The recording head 26 records an image on the surface of the recording medium 1 coated with the treatment liquid. The recording medium 1 after the image is recorded is discharged to the outside of the recording apparatus.

  After an image is recorded on the designated number of recording media 1 by such a recording operation, the paper feeding operation by the paper feeding roller 21 is stopped and the recording operation is terminated.

  That is, the drive of the drive motor 7 is stopped, whereby the pumps 11 and 19 are stopped, and the processing liquid supply and recovery operations are stopped. Further, since the planetary gear unit 6 is not driven, as shown in FIG. 2, the protective cover 16 is returned upward by the spring 17, and the planetary gear unit 6 is rotated and returned clockwise.

  In such a stopped state of the recording operation, the opening 16a of the protective cover 16 contacts the peripheral surface of the application roller 2 as shown in FIG. Therefore, the processing liquid absorbed in the coating absorbent 8 and the processing liquid accumulated in the protective cover 16 are located in a space sealed by the protective cover 16 and the coating roller 2. As a result, even when the recording apparatus is left for a long time with the recording operation stopped, evaporation of moisture in the processing liquid can be suppressed. Further, even when the recording apparatus in such a stopped state of the recording operation is tilted, the leakage of the processing liquid in the protective cover 16 can be suppressed.

(Other embodiments)
The coating mechanism 100 in the above-described embodiment applies the treatment liquid to the recording medium 1 before the image is recorded. However, by providing the application mechanism 100 in the conveyance path of the recording medium 1 after the image is recorded, the processing liquid can be applied to the recording medium 1 after the image is recorded. Also, such a treatment liquid application mechanism 100 can be configured as a recording medium processing apparatus different from the recording apparatus. The processing device may be configured as an accessory device of the recording device, or may be used independently of the recording device.

  The drive mechanism of the protective cover 16 is not limited to the configuration using the planetary gear unit 6 and is optional, and the drive source is not necessarily the same as the drive source for supplying and collecting the processing liquid. . In short, when the treatment liquid application operation is stopped, the evaporation and leakage of the treatment liquid from the application mechanism portion (absorber 8 and sub tank 9) for applying the treatment liquid to the peripheral surface of the application roller 2 is suppressed. It is only necessary that the treatment liquid application mechanism portion be surrounded by the protective cover 16. The stop of the operation of applying the treatment liquid to the recording medium 1 includes the stop of the recording operation and does not include the above-described recording preparation operation. In the embodiment described above, the opening 16a of the protective cover 16 is pressed against the peripheral surface of the coating roller 2 to form a space for sealing the treatment liquid application mechanism. However, the sealed space of the treatment liquid application mechanism portion may be formed without using the application roller 2, and for example, a shutter for closing the opening 16a of the protective cover 16 may be provided.

  Further, as the processing liquid, for example, various liquids such as a liquid for improving the image recording property on plain paper and a liquid for improving the fastness (water resistance, weather resistance, etc.) of the recorded image may be used. it can.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a transport system of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram when a recording operation of a treatment liquid application mechanism in FIG. 1 is stopped. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram during a recording operation of a treatment liquid application mechanism in FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording medium 2 Application | coating roller 8 Absorber 9 Sub tank 11, 19 Pump 12 Main tank 13 Adjustment blade 14 Cleaner blade 16 Protection cover 16a Opening 26 Recording head

Claims (8)

In a recording apparatus having a processing liquid coating mechanism that applies a processing liquid to a recording medium before or after recording an image by a coating roller.
Applying means for applying a treatment liquid to the peripheral surface of the application roller;
Protection means for preventing evaporation of the processing liquid by covering the applying means when the operation of applying the processing liquid to the recording medium is stopped;
A recording apparatus comprising: The giving means is
A sub-tank to which processing liquid is supplied;
An absorber for absorbing the treatment liquid in the sub-tank and applying it to the peripheral surface of the application roller;
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The protective means is
A protective cover that surrounds the applying means and has an opening at a position facing the peripheral surface of the application roller;
A closing mechanism that closes the opening of the protective cover so as to form a space for sealing the applying means when the operation of applying the treatment liquid to the recording medium is stopped;
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   The recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the closing mechanism presses an opening of the protective cover against a peripheral surface of the coating roller to form a space for sealing the applying unit.   An adjustment blade for removing the processing liquid from the peripheral surface of the coating roller and guiding the removed processing liquid into the protective cover so as to adjust the amount of the processing liquid attached to the peripheral surface of the coating roller is provided. The recording apparatus according to claim 3 or 4.   The recording apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising an adjustment blade that scrapes off the processing liquid from the peripheral surface of the coating roller and guides the scraped processing liquid into the protective cover.   The recording apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a collecting unit that collects the ink in the protective cover. A recording medium processing apparatus for applying a processing liquid to a recording medium by an application roller,
Applying means for applying a treatment liquid to the peripheral surface of the application roller;
Protection means for preventing evaporation of the processing liquid by covering the applying means when the operation of applying the processing liquid to the recording medium is stopped;
A recording medium processing apparatus comprising:

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