JP2009083349A - Inkjet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable printing to a desired position of a recording medium. <P>SOLUTION: The inkjet printer 1 includes a paper feeding mechanism 11, a conveyance device 40 which conveys paper P sent out of the paper feeding mechanism 11 in a conveyance direction B orthogonal to its feed direction A, an inkjet head 2 which prints the paper P conveyed by the conveyance device 40, and a skew correcting member 80. The skew correcting member 80 positions the paper P and parallels an extension direction of a front end 7 along the conveyance direction B by butting against the front end 7 in the feed direction A of the paper P sent out of the paper feeding mechanism 11 to the conveyance device 40. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus that prints an image on a recording medium.

  In Patent Document 1, a recording sheet conveyed toward an image forming unit is temporarily stopped on a sheet conveyance path, and a positional deviation in the sheet width direction is detected by a CCD line sensor, and a pair of rollers is used. An image forming apparatus is described in which a recording sheet is sandwiched from the front and back sides, and these rollers are slid in the sheet width direction by an amount of deviation to correct the position in the width direction of the recording sheet to an appropriate position.

JP 2005-22820 A

  However, in the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1, since the deviation in the width direction of the recording paper is corrected by sliding the recording paper, the recording paper is inclined again when the recording paper is slid. Or the edge of the paper is bent, and an image cannot be printed at a desired position on the recording paper.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that can perform printing at a desired position on a recording medium without causing the recording medium to be obliquely arranged or bent.

  An ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention includes a paper feed unit that can store a recording medium, a transport unit that transports the recording medium fed from the paper feed unit in a transport direction orthogonal to the feed direction, and transported by the transport unit. An inkjet head having a plurality of ink ejection openings arranged along the feeding direction on an ink ejection surface opposite to the recorded recording medium, and a recording medium fed from the paper feeding unit to the conveying unit in the feeding direction. And a skew correction member that makes the recording medium positioned in parallel with the front end by extending the front end in parallel with the conveying direction.

  According to this, since the feed direction and the transport direction are orthogonal to each other, the recording medium sent from the paper feed unit to the transport means is positioned by the skew correcting hand member, and its front end is parallel to the transport direction. When the recording medium is conveyed by the conveying means, the recording medium is in a side-registered state. Therefore, unlike the technique described in Patent Document 1, there is no need to slide the recording medium, and the recording medium is perpendicular to the transport direction without causing the recording medium to be disposed obliquely or bent. With respect to the width direction, printing can be performed at a desired position on the recording medium.

  In this invention, it is preferable that the said skew correction member is a plate-shaped member long in the said conveyance direction. This simplifies the configuration of the skew correction member.

  Further, in the present invention, the conveying unit includes a holding unit having a flat holding surface capable of holding the recording medium fed from the paper feeding unit, and a moving mechanism for reciprocating the holding unit in the conveying direction. It is preferable to include. As a result, printing can be performed on the recording medium while the recording medium on the holding surface is held flat. Therefore, ink landing accuracy can be improved.

  In the present invention, the transport means is transported by the support base for supporting the recording medium sent out from the paper feed unit, the transport roller for transporting the recording medium from the support base in the transport direction, and the transport roller. A transport mechanism that transports the recorded recording medium to a position facing the ink discharge surface, and the transport mechanism is configured to form a pair of rollers and a transport surface parallel to the ink discharge surface. It is preferable that the conveyor belt spans between the pair of rollers. Thereby, high-speed printing becomes possible.

  In the present invention, it is preferable to further include a detecting unit that detects the position of the recording medium in the transport direction. Thereby, it is possible to print at a desired position on the recording medium in the transport direction.

  In the present invention, the discharge means for discharging the recording medium transported by the transport means in a direction opposite to the feeding direction, and the discharge means are disposed on the same side as the paper feed unit with respect to the transport means. It is preferable to further include a paper discharge unit that stores the recording medium discharged by the above. Thereby, size reduction of an inkjet recording device can be achieved.

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

  FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an ink jet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the ink jet printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  An ink jet printer (ink jet recording apparatus) 1 includes a paper feeding mechanism 11 that feeds paper P in a feeding direction A (a direction parallel to the main scanning direction) from the upper side to the lower side in FIG. 1, and a paper fed from the paper feeding mechanism 11. A conveyance device (conveyance means) 40 that conveys in the conveyance direction B (sub-scanning direction) from right to left in FIG. 1 while holding P, and four sheets that print on the paper P conveyed by the conveyance device 40 And an inkjet head 2.

  Further, the printer 1 includes a paper discharge unit 21 that stores the paper P discharged from the transport device 40 in a discharge direction C (a direction parallel to the main scanning direction) opposite to the feed direction A, and four inkjet heads 2. And a control device 90 for controlling operations of the transport device 40, the paper feed mechanism 11, and the like. The sub-scanning direction is a direction parallel to the transport direction B, and the main scanning direction is a direction orthogonal to the sub-scanning direction and along a horizontal plane (up and down direction in FIG. 1).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the paper feed mechanism 11 has a box-shaped paper feed portion 15 that opens upward so that a plurality of paper sheets P can be stored in a stacked state in the vertical direction. Further, the paper feeding mechanism 11 includes a pickup roller 12 disposed so as to be in contact with the uppermost paper P among the plurality of papers P stored in the paper feeding unit 15, a plurality of rollers 13 coaxially connected, and These rollers 13 and one long roller 14 that forms a pair are provided. The rollers 13 and 14 are disposed between the paper feeding unit 15 and the transport device 40 and transport the paper P, which is fed in the feed direction A by the pickup roller 12, in the same feed direction A. Further, the pickup roller 12 and the rollers 13 and 14 are rotated by a drive motor (not shown) controlled by the control device 90.

  In this configuration, the paper P is sent out to the transport device 40 as the pickup roller 12 and the rollers 13 and 14 rotate under the control of the control device 90.

  FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the inside of the housing 42 included in the transport apparatus 40 shown in FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV shown in FIG. 3, (a) is a diagram showing a state in which the conveyance surface of the conveyance belt protrudes from the holding surface, and (b) is a diagram from the holding surface. It is a figure which shows the state in which the conveyance surface does not protrude.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the transport device 40 includes a holding mechanism 41 that holds the paper P fed from the paper feeding unit 15. The holding mechanism 41 has a rectangular parallelepiped housing 42 having a space inside. The housing 42 is formed with four partition walls 43a to 43d that partition the internal space into five spaces 42a to 42e. Three fans 45a to 45c disposed in the three spaces 42a, 42c, and 42e are fixed to the bottom plate 44 of the housing 42, respectively. The three fans 45a to 45c are driven by the control of the control device 90, and discharge the air in the spaces 42a, 42c, and 42e from discharge ports (not shown) formed in the bottom plate 44. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a plurality of through holes 46 a are formed in regions facing the spaces 42 a, 42 c, 42 e of the top plate 46 of the housing 42. In addition, two openings 46 c are formed in regions facing the spaces 42 b and 42 d of the top plate 46 of the housing 42.

  In this configuration, when the paper P is arranged on the flat holding surface (upper surface in FIG. 4) 46b of the top plate 46, the three fans 45a to 45c are driven by the control of the control device 90, so that the external Are sucked from the plurality of through holes 46a, and the paper P is adsorbed to the holding surface 46b in a flat state. When the driving of the three fans 45a to 45c is stopped, the suction of the paper P on the holding surface 46b is released.

  A transport mechanism 51 is provided in the housing 42 as shown in FIG. The transport mechanism 51 includes two shafts 52 and 53, two pairs of rollers 54 to 57, and two pairs of rollers 54 to 57 that are arranged so as to penetrate the four partition walls 43a to 43d in the sub-scanning direction. It includes two conveyor belts 58 and 59 that are stretched over, and a drive motor 60 that rotates a shaft 53.

  Each pair of rollers 54 to 57 is fixed to shafts 52 and 53, respectively. The pair of rollers 54 and 55 and the conveyor belt 58 are disposed in the space 42b. The pair of rollers 56 and 57 and the conveyor belt 59 are disposed in the space 42d. Further, the conveying surfaces 58a and 59a, which are the surfaces of the conveying belts 58 and 59, are arranged so as to be exposed from the opening 46c as shown in FIG.

  The two shafts 52 and 53 are rotatably supported at both ends by two support plates 61a and 61b that are long in the main scanning direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the two shafts 52 and 53 are passed through long holes 62 formed in two in each of the four partition walls 43 a to 43 d. The long hole 62 extends in the vertical direction. In addition, two solenoids 63 a and 63 b are fixed to the bottom plate 44. The solenoids 63a and 63b are disposed in the spaces 42a and 42e, and the cylinders of the solenoids 63a and 63b are fixed to the center of the lower ends of the corresponding support plates 61a and 61b. Solenoids 63 a and 63 b are driven under the control of the control device 90.

  With this configuration, when the solenoids 63a and 63b are driven by the control of the control device 90 and the cylinders are extended as shown in FIG. 4A, the conveying surfaces 58a and 59a of the conveying belts 58 and 59 are connected to the holding surface 46b. It arrange | positions in the position which protrudes slightly from the holding surface 46b in a parallel state. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the cylinder is contracted, the conveying surfaces 58a and 59a are arranged at positions where they do not protrude from the holding surface 46b.

  As shown in FIG. 3, an L-shaped flange 64 is fixed to the support plate 61 a, and the drive motor 60 is fixed to the flange 64. A gear 65 is fixed to the drive shaft of the drive motor 60 and meshes with a gear 66 fixed to the end of the shaft 53. The drive motor 60 is driven by the control of the control device 90, and the gear 65 rotates.

  In this configuration, the drive motor 60 is driven by the control of the control device 90, and the gear 65 rotates in a predetermined direction, so that the gear 66, the shaft 53, and the rollers 53 and 55 rotate in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction. The conveyance belts 58 and 59 travel so that the conveyance surfaces 58a and 59a move along the feed direction A by the rotation of the rollers 53 and 55. The entire paper P sent out from the paper supply unit 15 by the travel of the transport belts 58 and 59 is transported onto the holding surface 46b. On the other hand, when the gear 65 rotates in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction, the gear 66, the shaft 53, and the rollers 53 and 55 rotate in the predetermined direction. The conveyance belts 58 and 59 travel so that the conveyance surfaces 58a and 59a move along the discharge direction C opposite to the feed direction A by the rotation of the rollers 53 and 55. The paper P on the holding surface 46 b is discharged to the paper discharge unit 21 by the travel of the transport belts 58 and 59.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the transport device 40 includes a moving mechanism 70 that reciprocates the holding mechanism 41 in parallel along the transport direction B. The moving mechanism 70 includes two guide rails 71 and 72 that are disposed so as to penetrate both ends of the housing 42 in the main scanning direction in the sub scanning direction, the paper feeding unit 15 and the paper discharging unit 21 in the main scanning direction. It has a pair of rollers 73 and 74 arranged in the position which overlaps along, and the belt 75 spanned over these rollers 73 and 74. FIG.

  The roller 74 is rotated by a drive motor (not shown) controlled by the control device 90, and the roller 73 is a driven roller and is rotatably supported. A protruding portion 76 that protrudes from the downstream side surface in the feed direction A of the housing 42 is fixed to the belt 75. In this configuration, when the roller 74 rotates in a predetermined direction under the control of the control device 90, the belt 75 travels and the holding mechanism 41 moves along the transport direction B. On the other hand, when the roller 74 rotates in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction, the holding mechanism 41 moves in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction B.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 is disposed at a position overlapping the paper feeding unit 15 in the main scanning direction, and is disposed on the downstream side of the downstream side surface in the feed direction A of the housing 42. A correction member 80 is provided. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, it is disposed at a position sandwiched between the casing 42 and the belt 75. The skew correction member 80 is formed of a plate-like member that is long along the conveyance direction B, and as illustrated in FIG. 2, the upper end of the skew correction member 80 is disposed at a position protruding above the holding surface 46b. In this configuration, the front end 7 in the feeding direction A of the sheet P fed from the sheet feeding unit 15 and transported on the holding surface 46b by the transport belts 58 and 59 and the upper end of the skew correction member 80 come into contact with each other. The positioning of the paper P and the skew of the paper P can be corrected on the holding surface 46b. To correct this skew, even if the transported paper P is tilted during the transport, the front end 7 tilted with respect to the sub-scanning direction comes into contact with the skew correcting member 80. The extending direction of the front end 7 is corrected in parallel to the sub-scanning direction, and the extending direction of both ends of the paper P in the sub-scanning direction is corrected to be parallel to the main scanning direction.

  The skew correction member 80 in the present embodiment is fixed to the printer main body so as not to move, but a skew correction member may be provided on the downstream side surface in the feed direction A of the housing 42 so as to be movable up and down. . In this case, when the paper P is conveyed on the holding surface 46b, the upper end of the skew correction member is disposed at a position protruding upward from the holding surface 46b, and the holding mechanism 41 moves along the conveyance direction B. In addition, the upper end may be moved to a retracted position where it does not protrude from the holding surface 46b. Further, the skew correction member 80 may be provided on the printer main body so as to be movable up and down. In this case, when the paper P is conveyed on the holding surface 46b, the upper end of the skew correction member 80 is disposed at a position protruding upward from the holding surface 46b, and the holding mechanism 41 moves along the conveyance direction B. Sometimes, the skew correction member 80 and the holding mechanism 41 do not overlap with each other in the feed direction A, and the skew correction member may be moved to a retracted position separated from the holding surface 46b.

  Further, the printer 1 is provided with rollers 16 and 17 having the same configuration as the rollers 13 and 14 between the paper discharge unit 21 and the guide rail 71. The rollers 16 and 17 convey the sheet P discharged from the holding surface 46b on the downstream side of the inkjet head 2 in the conveyance direction B while conveying the sheet P in the discharge direction C. The rollers 16 and 17 are rotated by a drive motor (not shown) controlled by the control device 90. In this configuration, the paper P is discharged to the paper discharge unit 21 by the rotation of the rollers 16 and 17 under the control of the control device 90. The discharge means for discharging the paper P adsorbed on the holding surface 46 b to the paper discharge unit 21 is constituted by a transport mechanism 51 and rollers 16 and 17.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the paper discharge unit 21 is disposed on the same side as the paper supply unit 15 (upward in FIG. 1) with respect to the transport device 40, and is downstream of the inkjet head 2 in the transport direction B. On the side, the paper P discharged from the holding surface 46b is stored. As described above, by arranging the paper discharge unit 21, the lateral space of the paper supply unit 15 can be effectively used in the transport direction B. This contributes to downsizing of the printer 1.

  The four inkjet heads 2 correspond to inks of four colors (magenta, yellow, cyan, and black) and have a rectangular shape that is long in the main scanning direction in plan view as shown in FIG. Yes. The four inkjet heads 2 are arranged in the sub-scanning direction and fixed to the frame-shaped frame 3 to constitute one head unit 4.

  The surface (that is, the ink ejection surface 2a) that can face the holding surface 46b of the inkjet head 2 is configured by two nozzle rows in which a plurality of nozzles (ink ejection ports) 5 are arranged along the main scanning direction. Ink discharge region 6 is formed. As shown in FIG. 2, the ink ejection surface 2a and the lower surface of the frame 3 are formed on substantially the same plane level. Further, in the inkjet head 2, an actuator (not shown) provided therein is driven under the control of the control device 90, and ink is ejected from the nozzle 5.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the ink discharge region 6 is formed on the ink discharge surface 2 a so that the lower end thereof overlaps the front end 7 of the paper P positioned by the skew correction member 80 along the conveyance direction B. . Therefore, with respect to the main scanning direction, an image can be printed at a desired position of the paper P that is transported along the transport direction B by the transport device 40. In the present embodiment, the lower end of the ink discharge region 6 overlaps the front end 7 along the transport direction B, but the front end 7 may overlap a portion other than the lower end of the ink discharge region 6. That is, if any part of the ink discharge region 6 and the front end 7 overlap, the above-described effect can be obtained.

  A photo sensor (detection means) 85 connected to the control device 90 is fixed at the center of the upstream end of the frame 3 in the transport direction B. The surface that can face the holding surface 46b of the photosensor 85, that is, the detection surface 85a is provided with a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit, and the sheet P that has been sucked and conveyed by the holding surface 46b in the conveyance direction B is provided. Detect the front edge. Thus, by detecting the front end in the conveyance direction B of the paper P by the photo sensor 85, the timing at which the paper P faces the ink ejection surface 2a can be known. Therefore, an image can be printed at a desired position on the paper P with respect to the transport direction B.

  Next, a printing operation when printing an image on the paper P will be described below. FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a state in which the paper P is positioned on the holding surface 46b. FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating a state in which the paper P passes through a region facing the ink ejection surface 2a by the transport of the transport device 40. It is a figure which shows a state.

  When printing on the paper P, the control device 90 controls the paper P to be sent out from the paper supply unit 15 by the pickup roller 12 and the rollers 13 and 14 and conveyed onto the holding surface 46b by the traveling of the conveyor belts 58 and 59. . At this time, the cylinders of the solenoids 63a and 63b are extended by the control of the control device 90, and the conveying surfaces 58a and 59a are arranged at positions slightly protruding from the holding surface 46b (see FIG. 4A). For this reason, the entire sheet P can be transported onto the holding surface 46b by the travel of the transport belts 58 and 59. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5A, the front end 7 of the sheet P conveyed on the holding surface 46b comes into contact with the skew feeding correcting member 80, so that the positioning is performed on the holding surface 46b. As it is done, skew is corrected.

  Next, under the control of the control device 90, the cylinders of the solenoids 63a and 63b are contracted, and the conveying surfaces 58a and 59a are arranged at positions where they do not protrude from the holding surface 46b (see FIG. 4B). Then, the three fans 45a to 45c are driven by the control of the control device 90, and the sheet P is adsorbed to the holding surface 46b. In this way, after the transport surfaces 58a and 59a are arranged at positions where they do not protrude from the holding surface 46b, the paper P is attracted to the holding surface 46b, so that the paper P is held on the holding surface 46b in a flat state.

  Next, in a state where the sheet P is attracted to the holding surface 46b, the roller 74 is rotated in a predetermined direction and the holding mechanism 41 is moved in the transport direction B under the control of the control device 90. That is, in the transport direction B, the paper P is transported from the upstream side to the downstream side of the inkjet head 2. At this time, the front end of the paper P is detected by the photo sensor 85 when the front end in the conveyance direction B of the paper P passes through a region facing the detection surface 85a. Then, the control device 90 controls the inkjet head 2 according to the detection result of the photosensor 85, and the upstream side in the transport direction B is at an appropriate timing when the paper P passes through the region facing the ink ejection surface 2a. Ink is sequentially ejected from the nozzles 5 of the inkjet head 2 and an image is printed at a desired position on the paper P.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, when almost the entire sheet P and the holding mechanism 41 are arranged at a position overlapping the paper discharge unit 21 in the main scanning direction, the moving mechanism is controlled by the control device 90. The movement of the holding mechanism 41 by 70 is stopped. Thereafter, under the control of the control device 90, the driving of the fans 45a to 45c is stopped, the cylinders of the solenoids 63a and 63b are extended, and the conveying surfaces 58a and 59a are arranged at positions slightly protruding from the holding surface 46b. Then, under the control of the control device 90, the conveyor belts 58 and 59 are run and the rollers 16 and 17 are rotated so that the paper P is discharged in the discharge direction C. Thus, the printed paper P is discharged to the paper discharge unit 21 and stored. Thereafter, under the control of the control device 90, the roller 74 is rotated in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction, and the holding mechanism 41 is moved in the direction opposite to the conveying direction B, so that the original position (that is, FIG. Return to the indicated position. In this way, the printing operation for one sheet P is completed.

  As described above, according to the ink jet printer 1 of the present embodiment, the feeding direction A and the transport direction B are orthogonal to each other, so that the paper P fed from the paper feeding unit 15 to the holding surface 46b is fed to the skew correction member 80. The front end 7 thereof is parallel to the transport direction B while being positioned by. Therefore, when the paper P is transported by the transport device 40, the paper P is side-registered by the skew correction member 80 (in the paper P transported in the transport direction B, the end in the width direction of the paper P is transported. State parallel to direction B). Therefore, unlike the technique described in Patent Document 1 in which the paper is slid and moved in order to align the ink ejection area and the paper, the paper P does not need to be slid and the paper P is disposed obliquely. In other words, printing can be performed at a desired position on the paper P with respect to the width direction of the paper P perpendicular to the conveyance direction B without causing a state of bending or bending.

  Moreover, since the skew correction member 80 is made of a plate-like member, the configuration thereof is simplified. Further, since the paper P is transported by the transport device 40 to a region facing the ink ejection surface 2a while being held on the flat holding surface 46b, the printing surface of the paper P and the entire surface of the paper P The separation distance from the ink ejection surface 2a is constant, and the landing accuracy of the ink ejected from the nozzle 5 is improved.

  Next, an inkjet printer 201 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of an inkjet printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  The ink jet printer 201 according to the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment only in the configuration of the transport device that transports the paper P sent out from the paper supply unit 15 along the transport direction B. It is almost the same as the form. Components similar to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the ink jet printer 201 includes a paper feed mechanism 11, a transport device 240 that transports the paper P sent out from the paper feed mechanism 11 in the transport direction B, four ink jet heads 2, and a paper discharge unit 21. And a control device 290 for controlling these operations.

  The transport device (transport means) 240 includes a first support base 241 that supports the paper P sent out from the paper supply unit 15, a transport roller 245 that transports the paper P in the transport direction B from the first support base 241, and a transport A transport mechanism 250 that transports the paper P transported by the rollers 245 to a position facing the ink ejection surface 2 a, a second support 261 that supports the paper P transported from the transport mechanism 250, and a transport mechanism 250. And seven spur rollers 265 that convey the entire sheet P so as to be conveyed onto the second support 261.

  The transport roller 245 is formed in a long shape along the feed direction A. The seven spur rollers 265 are coaxially arranged and arranged at equal intervals along the feed direction A. Both the transport roller 245 and the spur roller 265 are rotated by a drive motor (not shown) controlled by the control device 290. Further, the transport device 240 includes a moving mechanism (not shown) that moves the transport roller 245 and the spur roller 265. This moving mechanism is also operated by a drive source controlled by the control device 290, and moves the transport roller 245 and the spur roller 265 to either a position in contact with the paper P or a position away from the paper P.

  The first support base 241 has substantially the same shape as the housing 42 of the first embodiment, but the top plate 242 is not formed with a plurality of through holes, and a fan is provided inside. Not. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to move the 1st support stand 241 to the conveyance direction B, the guide rail is also not penetrated and arrange | positioned. The top plate 242 is formed with two openings 243 similar to the openings 46c of the first embodiment, and the first support 241 has a structure similar to that of the transport mechanism 51 of the first embodiment. A mechanism 251 is provided. Further, in the first support base 241, the first embodiment in which the transport surfaces 258a and 259a of the two transport belts 258 and 259 of the transport mechanism 251 are moved to either the position where they protrude from the support surface 241a or the position where they do not protrude. A solenoid similar to the above is provided.

  In this configuration, the conveyor belts 258 and 259 are run under the control of the control device 290, and the entire sheet P sent out from the sheet feeding unit 15 is conveyed onto the first support base 241. Further, when the solenoid is driven by the control of the control device 290 and the cylinder is extended, the transport surfaces 258a and 259a move to positions protruding from the support surface 241a. On the other hand, when the cylinder is contracted, the transport surfaces 258a and 259a move to positions where they do not protrude from the support surface 241a.

  The second support base 261 has the same configuration as the first support base 241, and the plane size is slightly larger than that of the first support base 241. Two openings 263 similar to the opening 46c of the first embodiment are formed in the top plate 262 of the second support base 261. The second support base 261 includes the transport mechanism 51 of the first embodiment. A transport mechanism 271 having the same configuration is provided. Further, in the second support base 261, the transport surfaces 278a and 279a of the two transport belts 278 and 279 of the transport mechanism 271 are moved to either a position protruding from the support surface 261a or a position not protruding. A solenoid similar to the above is provided.

  In this configuration, the conveyor belts 278 and 279 are driven under the control of the control device 290, and the sheet P conveyed from the conveyance mechanism 250 is discharged from the support surface 261a along the discharge direction C to the sheet discharge unit 21. Further, when the solenoid is driven by the control of the control device 290 and the cylinder is extended, the transport surfaces 278a and 279a move to the positions protruding from the support surface 261a. On the other hand, when the cylinder is contracted, the transport surfaces 278a and 279a move to a position where they do not protrude from the support surface 261a.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the printer 201 is provided with a skew correction member 80 similar to that of the first embodiment. The skew correction member 80 is disposed at a position overlapping with the paper feeding unit 15 along the main scanning direction and in the vicinity of the downstream side surface in the feed direction A of the first support base 241. Note that the upper end of the skew feeding correction member 80 protrudes from the support surface 241a, and corrects the positioning and skew of the paper P on the support surface 241a as in the first embodiment.

  The transport mechanism 250 includes a pair of rollers 251 and 252 and a transport belt 253 spanned between the pair of rollers 251 and 252. The roller 252 is rotated by a drive motor (not shown) controlled by the control device 290, and the roller 251 is a driven roller and is rotatably supported. The surface of the transport belt 253 that faces the ink discharge surface 2a is a transport surface 253a that transports the paper P, and is parallel to the ink discharge surface 2a.

  In this configuration, when the roller 252 rotates in a predetermined direction under the control of the control device 290, the conveyance belt 253 travels, and the sheet P conveyed by the conveyance roller 245 from the support surface 241a to the conveyance surface 253a is the ink ejection surface 2a. Are transported in the transport direction B so as to pass through a region facing the.

  Next, a printing operation when printing an image on the paper P will be described below. When printing on the paper P, the control device 290 controls the paper P to be sent out from the paper supply unit 15 by the pickup roller 12 and the rollers 13 and 14 and conveyed onto the support surface 241a by the conveyance belts 258 and 259. At this time, the cylinder of the solenoid is extended under the control of the control device 290, and the transport surfaces 258a and 259a are disposed at positions slightly protruding from the support surface 241a. For this reason, the entire sheet P can be transported onto the support surface 241a by the travel of the transport belts 258 and 259. Further, at this time, the sheet P conveyed on the support surface 241a comes into contact with the front end 7 and the skew correction member 80 as shown in FIG. 6, so that the support surface is the same as in the first embodiment. At 241a, positioning is performed and skew is corrected.

  Next, under the control of the control device 290, the cylinder of the solenoid is contracted, and the transport surfaces 258a and 259a are arranged at positions where they do not protrude from the support surface 241a. Then, under the control of the control device 90, the transport roller 245 is disposed at a position in contact with the paper P, and the paper P is transported from the support surface 241a to the transport surface 253a by the rotation of the transport roller 245. Then, as the transport belt 253 travels, the paper P is transported in the transport direction B so as to pass through a region facing the ink ejection surface 2a. At this time, the front end of the paper P is detected by the photo sensor 85 when the front end in the conveyance direction B of the paper P passes through a region facing the detection surface 85a of the photo sensor 85. Then, the control device 290 controls the inkjet head 2 in accordance with the detection result of the photosensor 85, and the upstream side in the transport direction B at an appropriate timing when the paper P passes through the region facing the ink ejection surface 2a. Ink is sequentially ejected from the nozzles 5 of the inkjet head 2, and an image is printed at a desired position on the paper P.

  Next, under the control of the control device 290, the seven spur rollers 265 are arranged at positions where they come into contact with the paper P conveyed from the conveyance mechanism 250, and the entire paper P is supported on the support surface 261a by the rotation of the seven spur rollers 265. Transported up. Then, under the control of the control device 290, the cylinder of the solenoid is extended, and the transport surfaces 278a and 279a are disposed at positions slightly protruding from the support surface 271a. Next, the conveyor belts 278 and 279 are caused to travel and the rollers 16 and 17 are rotated so that the paper P is discharged in the discharge direction C under the control of the control device 290. In this way, the printed paper P is discharged and stored in the paper discharge unit 21, and the printing operation for one paper P is completed.

  As described above, also in the ink jet printer 201 of the present embodiment, since the feeding direction A and the conveying direction B are orthogonal to each other, the sheet P fed from the sheet feeding unit 15 to the support surface 241a is the skew correction member 80. The front end 7 thereof is parallel to the transport direction B while being positioned by. Therefore, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained. In addition, the same effect is acquired about the part which has the structure similar to 1st Embodiment.

  Further, unlike the transport device 40 of the first embodiment, the transport device 240 has a transport configuration in which the support base 241 does not move when transporting the paper P in the transport direction B. Therefore, after the paper P is transported from the support surface 241a to the transport mechanism 250 and printing is being performed on the paper P, a new paper P can be sent from the paper supply unit 15 to the support surface 241a. Become. Therefore, it is possible to perform printing on a larger number of sheets P than the printer 1 of the first embodiment within a predetermined time, and high-speed printing is possible.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made as long as they are described in the claims. For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the skew correction member 80 is formed of a plate-like member, but may have any shape as long as the paper P can be positioned and the skew correction can be corrected. . Further, the photo sensor 85 may be disposed anywhere as long as the front end of the paper P in the transport direction B can be detected before the paper P faces the ink ejection surface 2a. Further, when the front end in the conveyance direction B of the paper P whose positioning and skew have been corrected by the skew correction member 80 is disposed at a substantially constant position, the photo sensor 85 is not particularly necessary. In each embodiment, the photo sensor 85 is used as the detection unit, but other reflection type sensors and line sensors may be used. Further, the paper discharge unit 21 may be provided at a position other than the same side as the paper supply unit 15 with respect to the transport devices 40 and 240.

1 is a schematic plan view of an ink jet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic side view of an inkjet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view which shows the inside of the housing | casing contained in the conveying apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV shown in FIG. 3, (a) is a diagram showing a state where the conveyance surface of the conveyance belt protrudes from the holding surface, and (b) is a diagram where the conveyance surface protrudes from the holding surface. It is a figure which shows the state which is not. FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a state in which the sheet is positioned on the holding surface, and FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating a state in which the sheet has passed through an area facing the ink ejection surface by conveyance of the conveyance device. It is a schematic plan view of the inkjet printer by 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1,201 Inkjet printer (inkjet recording device)
2 Inkjet head 2a Ink ejection surface 5 Nozzle (ink ejection port)
6 Ink ejection area 7 Front end 15 Paper feed unit 21 Paper discharge unit 40, 240 Conveying device (conveying means)
41 Holding mechanism 46b Holding surface 70 Moving mechanism 80 Skew correction member 85 Photo sensor (detection means)
241 1st support stand 245 Conveying roller 250 Conveying mechanism 251,252 Roller 253 Conveying belt 253a Conveying surface

Claims (6)

A paper feed unit capable of storing a recording medium;
Transport means for transporting the recording medium sent out from the paper feed unit in a transport direction orthogonal to the feed direction;
An inkjet head having a plurality of ink ejection openings arranged along the feeding direction on an ink ejection surface facing the recording medium conveyed by the conveyance means;
The skew correction member that makes the recording medium positioned in parallel with the extending direction of the front end along the conveying direction by contacting the front end in the feeding direction of the recording medium sent from the paper feeding unit to the conveying unit. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising:   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the skew correction member is a plate-like member that is long in the transport direction.   The conveying means includes a holding means having a flat holding surface capable of holding a recording medium fed from the paper feeding unit, and a moving mechanism for reciprocating the holding means in the conveying direction. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The conveying means supports a recording medium sent out from the paper feeding unit, a conveying roller that conveys the recording medium from the supporting table in the conveying direction, and a recording medium conveyed by the conveying roller. A transport mechanism that transports the ink ejection surface to a position facing it;
2. The transport mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising: a pair of rollers and a transport belt that is stretched between the pair of rollers so as to form a transport surface parallel to the ink discharge surface. Or the inkjet recording apparatus according to 2;   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a detection unit that detects a position of the recording medium in the transport direction. Discharging means for discharging the recording medium conveyed by the conveying means in a direction opposite to the feeding direction;
6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a paper discharge unit that is disposed on the same side as the paper feed unit with respect to the transport unit and that stores the recording medium discharged by the discharge unit. 2. An ink jet recording apparatus according to item 1.

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