JP2009179415A - Paper discharge mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper discharge mechanism (a decurling unit) capable of consistently fixing the placement positions of papers P1, P2 in a paper placement part (a discharge tray 5). <P>SOLUTION: The paper discharge mechanism includes a roller pair composed of a first roller (a conveying roller 81) and a second roller (a decurling roller 82) travelable around the first roller and configured, when the second roller is in a first position, to discharge a piece of paper to a paper placement part by pinching the piece of paper between the first and second rollers and driving at least one of the rollers into rotation with an actuator; and a roller position changing mechanism (a position changing roller 83) for switching the second roller between the first position and a second position located closer to the paper discharge side than the first position. When the trailing edge of the piece of paper is discharged to the paper placement part, the roller position changing mechanism changes the second roller from the first position to the second position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is provided at the end portion of the paper transport path, and discharges the paper transported to the end portion from the end portion to a paper placement portion disposed at a height lower than the end portion. It belongs to the technical field related to paper discharge mechanisms.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it is well known that in a photographic print system or the like, a paper transport path for transporting paper is provided in a printer body. The end portion of the paper transport path is located near the paper discharge port of the printer body, and the paper transported to the end portion (printed paper) is discharged to a paper pair such as a roller pair provided at the end portion. By the mechanism, the paper is discharged from the end portion through the paper discharge port.

In the vicinity of the paper discharge port on the outside of the printer main body, there is disposed a paper placement section that is configured to receive and place the paper, such as a tray or a belt of a belt conveying device (conveyor). When the paper placement unit is a belt conveyance device, the paper placed on the belt of the belt conveyance device is conveyed in a direction orthogonal to the paper discharge direction, and the paper stacking unit is ordered for each order. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-83684 A

  By the way, the paper placing portion is usually disposed at a height position lower than the end portion of the paper transport path.For this reason, the front end of the paper discharged from the end portion to the paper placing portion is The paper hangs down due to gravity, and is discharged while sliding on the upper surface of the paper placing portion or the upper surface of the paper placed thereon. For this reason, after the trailing edge of the paper is discharged, the paper stopping position is not stable due to the frictional resistance acting on the leading edge of the paper, and the paper placement position differs for each paper. In particular, when a long paper wound in a roll is cut into a predetermined length and discharged, the paper is usually wound so that the print surface is on the outside and discharged with the print surface facing upward. For this reason, the discharged paper is curled so that the central portion in the length direction protrudes upward from the both end portions, and thus the variation in the placement position of the paper is further increased. In this way, when the paper placement positions vary, there is a high possibility that the paper will be hindered especially when the paper is conveyed by the belt conveyance device and delivered to the stacking unit or the like.

  Here, if the paper discharge speed is increased to some extent, the paper stop position, that is, the paper placement position can be stabilized.

  However, for example, when a drying unit for drying the ink attached to the print surface of the paper is provided near the discharge port in the printer main body, the discharge speed is slowed down in order to dry the ink reliably. Therefore, it is difficult to increase the paper discharge speed.

  The present invention has been made in view of such points, and the object of the present invention is to place the paper in the paper placement portion even when it is difficult to increase the paper discharge speed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper discharge mechanism that can stabilize the temperature.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a first roller and a second roller configured to be movable around the first roller, and the second roller is on a moving path of the second roller. A pair of rollers for holding the paper between the two rollers and at least one of the rollers being rotated by a driving means so that the paper is discharged to the paper placing portion. Roller position switching means for switching the position of the second roller between the first position and a second position located on the paper discharge side with respect to the first position on the movement path of the second roller; The roller position switching means is configured to switch the position of the second roller from the first position to the second position when the rear end of the paper is discharged to the paper placement section. .

  Specifically, in the first aspect of the present invention, the paper which is provided at the terminal portion of the paper transport path and is transported to the terminal portion is disposed from the terminal portion at a lower height than the terminal portion. The paper discharge mechanism that discharges the paper to the paper placement section is the target.

  And a first roller and a second roller configured to be movable around the first roller, and when the second roller is at a first position on the movement path of the second roller, The paper is sandwiched between both rollers, and at least one of the two rollers is rotationally driven by a driving means, so that the position of the second roller and the pair of rollers for discharging the paper to the paper placing portion is Roller position switching means for switching between a first position and a second position located on the paper discharge side with respect to the first position on the moving path of the second roller, the roller position switching means, When the rear end portion of the paper is discharged to the paper placement portion while the paper is being discharged to the paper placement portion by the first roller and the second roller at the first position, 2 rollers It is assumed to be configured to switch position from the first position to the second position.

  With the above configuration, the second roller moves from the first position to the second position when discharging the rear end portion of the paper to the paper placing portion. A force in the discharge direction is applied to the part from the second roller, and the paper is accelerated in the discharge direction. As a result, even if the discharge speed when the portion other than the rear end of the paper is discharged is slow, the discharge speed is increased when the rear end of the paper is discharged. The placement position becomes stable. In addition, by slowing the discharge speed when a portion other than the rear end portion of the paper is discharged, for example, it is possible to reliably dry the ink attached to the print surface of the paper.

  In the invention of claim 2, in the invention of claim 1, the first position is a position where the rotation axis of the first roller is closer to the paper discharge side than the rotation axis of the second roller, The second position is a position where the rotation axis of the second roller is closer to the paper discharge side than the rotation axis of the first roller, and is a position where the paper nipping by the both rollers is released. .

  As a result, the moving stroke from the first position to the second position of the second roller can be lengthened, and the discharge speed of the paper rear end can be made as fast as possible. Further, in the first position, when the paper is curled, it becomes easy to perform curl correction (decal) of the paper, and the paper placement position in the paper placement portion is further stabilized. It becomes possible to make it. Further, since the paper nipping is released at the second position, the next paper smoothly enters between the first and second rollers, and the leading end of the next paper hits the first or second roller. It can be prevented from hanging.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the rear end of the paper is being discharged by the first roller and the second roller at the first position to the paper placement portion. When the section is discharged to the paper placement section, it is assumed that the rotational driving speed of the roller that is rotationally driven by the driving means is changed to the side where the rotational speed is increased.

  Thus, coupled with the switching of the second roller from the first position to the second position, the paper can be further accelerated in the discharge direction, and the paper placement position in the paper placement section can be increased. It can be further stabilized.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, the roller pair is a terminal portion of a paper conveyance path provided in the printer main body, and is near the paper discharge port of the printer main body. It shall be provided.

  This provides a paper discharge mechanism that is optimal for printers of photographic print systems that use curled paper.

  As described above, according to the paper discharge mechanism of the present invention, when the rear end portion of the paper is discharged to the paper placing portion, the position of the second roller is moved from the first position to the first position. Since the paper is switched to the second position located on the paper discharge side, the paper can be accelerated in the discharge direction, and the paper placement position in the paper placement portion can be stabilized.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the following description of the preferred embodiment is merely illustrative in nature and is not intended to limit the present invention, its application, or its use.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 shows an external appearance of an inkjet printer A including a decurling unit as a paper discharge mechanism according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 5 show an internal configuration of the inkjet printer A. FIG. The inkjet printer A is used in a photographic print system. For example, print paper based on image data transmitted via a communication cable from a reception block that acquires image data and performs necessary correction processing and the like. Automatic printing that prints on P1 and P2, and pulls out one end of a long print paper P2 wound in a roll shape and prints on the print surface of the print paper P2 (hereinafter referred to as roll paper P2). It is configured to be able to execute printing and manual-feed printing that performs printing on a print surface (corresponding to a print surface) of a sheet-like print paper P1 (hereinafter referred to as sheet paper P1) that has been cut into a predetermined size in advance. Yes.

  In the following description, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the sheet paper P1 and the roll paper P2, the sheet paper P1 and the roll paper P2 are referred to as print papers P1 and P2. The printed surface means a surface on which printing is performed, and the printed surface of the sheet paper P1 is determined when the sheet paper P1 is set on the manual feed tray 7 (see FIG. 5). Specifically, when the sheet paper P1 is set on the manual feed tray 7, the surface facing upward is the print surface. Further, the print surface of the roll paper P2 is a surface that faces radially outward when the roll paper P2 is wound in a roll shape.

-Overall configuration-
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the inkjet printer A includes a printer main body 90, a manual feed tray 7 for manually setting and feeding the sheet paper P <b> 1 into the printer main body 90, and a printer main body. And a discharge tray 5 serving as a paper placement section for receiving and placing the print papers P1 and P2 discharged from 90.

  The printer main body 90 is provided in a housing 6, a lower portion in the housing 6, a roll paper housing portion 1 in which a roll paper P 2 wound in a roll shape with the print surface facing outside is housed, and a housing Provided on the upper part of the body 6 (upper side of the roll paper storage unit 1), with respect to the print surface of the sheet paper P1 supplied from the manual feed tray 7 or the print surface of the roll paper P2 drawn from the roll paper storage unit 1 The printing unit 2 that performs printing based on the image data (see FIGS. 2 and 5) and the ink supplied to the printing unit 2 that is positioned on both sides of the roll paper storage unit 1 at the bottom of the housing 6 An ink storage unit 3 for storing and an upper portion of a door member 95 attached to the housing 6 so as to be freely opened and closed, and set on the manual feed tray 7 when the door member 95 is in a closed state. And a conveyor supplying roller unit 200 toward the Topepa P1 to the printing unit 2.

  A roller cutter 41 for cutting unnecessary portions of the printed papers P1 and P2 after printing and a back surface of the printed papers P1 and P2 on the upper side of the casing 6 and on the downstream side in the transport direction of the printing unit 2 The back surface printing unit 4 for printing the serial number, the drying unit U6 for drying the print papers P1 and P2 printed by the print unit 2, and the print papers P1 and P2 printed by the print unit 2 further downstream A discharging unit U4 for conveying and a decurling unit U7 for performing a decurling process for correcting curling of the roll paper P2 are disposed. The decal unit U7 is provided on the downstream side in the paper conveyance direction so as to protrude outward from the paper discharge port of the housing 6 and receives and places the print papers P1 and P2 discharged from the decal unit U7. The discharge tray 5 is disposed.

  In the first embodiment, the side of the discharge tray 5 (the discharge side shown in FIG. 3) in the case 6 is called the front side of the case, and the opposite side (the supply side shown in FIG. 3) is the rear side of the case. The left side when viewed from the front side of the casing is referred to as the left side of the casing, and the right side is referred to as the right side of the casing. Therefore, the left-right direction in FIG. 5 is the front-rear direction of the casing, and the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. The horizontal direction of the housing coincides with the width direction of the sheet paper P1 set and transported on the manual feed tray 7 and the width direction of the roll paper P2 stored and transported in the roll paper storage unit 1.

-Paper transport mechanism-
As shown in FIG. 5, the inkjet printer A is provided with a paper transport mechanism that pulls out the roll paper P <b> 2 from the roll paper storage unit 1 and transports it along a predetermined paper transport path. In order to form the paper transport path, the paper transport mechanism sequentially includes a supply unit U1, a print unit U2, a cutter unit U3, a drying unit U6, a discharge unit U4, and a decal unit U7 from the supply unit U1 that supplies the roll paper P2. The image data is printed on the print surface of the print paper P1, P2 located on the paper transport path of the print unit U2 disposed in the print unit 2.

  The first embodiment is configured such that the sheet paper P1 can be drawn from the manual feed tray 7 and conveyed to the printing unit 2 in addition to supplying the roll paper P2 from the supply unit U1 to the print unit U2. The manual feed unit U5 is also provided.

  At the time of printing on the roll paper P2, the paper transport mechanism transports and supplies the roll paper P2 set in the roll paper storage unit 1 to the print unit U2 by the supply unit U1, and then supplies the supplied roll paper P2 to the print unit. The image data is printed by the print head H while being conveyed by U2. Then, after the printed roll paper P2 is conveyed to the cutter unit U3 and cut into a predetermined print size by the cutter unit U3, the roll paper P2 is dried by the drying unit U6 and discharged while being decurled by the decurling unit U7. Send to tray 5. In the following description, the upstream side and the downstream side in the transport direction when the roll paper P2 is transported during the printing are simply referred to as the upstream side and the downstream side, respectively.

  The supply unit U1 positions the roll paper P2 wound in the roll paper P2 in a roll shape in the roll paper storage unit 1 and the roll paper P2 drawn out from the core roller 21 in the width direction. And a conveyance driving roller 24 that is rotationally driven so as to convey the roll paper P2 by an electric motor (not shown), and the conveyance driving roller 24. There are provided two pressure rollers 25 that are pressure-bonded to the transport driving roller 24 so as to sandwich the roll paper P2.

  The supply unit U1 is configured to pull out the roll paper P2 from the roll paper storage unit 1 and convey it to the printing unit 2 side by the rotational drive of the conveyance drive roller 24.

  The transport drive roller 24 is rotated in the forward direction to pull the roll paper P2 from the roll paper storage unit 1 and transport it to the print unit 2 side by an electric motor (not shown), and the roll paper P2 into the roll paper storage unit 1. The rotation in the reverse direction is possible.

  Thereby, after the printed part of the roll paper P2 is cut into a predetermined size by the cutter unit U3 on the downstream side of the print unit 2, the cut roll paper P2 is returned to the upstream side and the top of the roll paper P2 is started. Printing may be performed, or the cut roll paper P2 may be returned to the roll paper storage unit 1 and a single-sheet print paper may be supplied to the print unit 2 by the manual feed unit U5 for printing. I can do it. Also, when the roll paper P2 is replaced with a new one, the roll paper P2 drawn out of the roll paper storage unit 1 can be returned to the roll paper storage unit 1.

  The print unit U2 ejects ink onto the print papers P1 and P2 to form an image, and paper that holds the print papers P1 and P2 by suction at positions where the print head H can perform printing. A holding unit D and a pressure-type print transport roller 33 disposed on the downstream side of the paper holding unit D are provided. The transport driving roller 24 and the pressure roller 25 of the supply unit U1 are also used as the print unit U2, and serve to transport the print papers P1 and P2 in the print unit U2.

  The print head H is configured to be movable along a rail 30 that extends in the main scanning direction X (see FIG. 3) that coincides with the width direction of the print papers P1 and P2 (horizontal direction of the casing). Specifically, the rotational force of the drive motor 32 is transmitted to the drive belt 31 via a pulley, and the print head H moves in the main scanning direction X according to the rotation amount of the drive belt 31.

  The print head H has two head units 38 (lined up in a sub-operation direction Y (see FIG. 3) that is perpendicular to the main scanning direction X and coincides with the movement direction of the print papers P1 and P2 (front-rear direction of the casing). 5), and by ejecting ink from ink ejection nozzles (not shown) provided in these two head units 38, predetermined images, characters, etc. are applied to the print paper P1, P2. Can be printed.

  Each of the ink reservoirs 3 includes a box-shaped case 61 (see FIG. 4) disposed on both the left and right sides of the ink jet printer A. In the case 61, inks having different hues are sealed. Seven ink cartridges 62 are detachably accommodated (in FIG. 4, three cartridges are accommodated on the left side and four cartridges are accommodated on the right side). Therefore, by removing these ink cartridges 62 from the case 61, the used or used ones can be replaced with new ones. Each of these ink cartridges 62 includes yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), black (K), red (R), violet (V), and clear (CL: transparent) inks. Is enclosed.

  The cutter unit U3 includes a roller cutter 41, and the print paper P1 and P2 are moved in the width direction at predetermined positions in the length direction of the print paper P1 and P2 while rotating the roller cutter 41. It is configured to cut into a predetermined size (length).

  Below the roller cutter 41, a cutter waste collection box 65 for collecting chips of the print paper P1 and P2 by cutting is disposed. The cutter waste collection box 65 can be taken out of the housing 6 by the operator holding the handle 66 and sliding it toward the front of the housing. The waste can be discarded.

  Further, the print papers P1 and P2 cut by the cutter unit U3 are conveyed to the discharge unit U4 by the pressure-conveying type conveyance roller 43. A back side printing unit 4 is disposed between the cutter unit U3 and the discharge unit U4, and the back side printing unit 4 is arranged on the back side (lower side) of the print paper P1, P2 passing through this portion. Numbers etc. are printed.

  The discharge unit U4 has two sets of pressure discharge rollers 45 and 46 for conveying the print papers P1 and P2 and discharging them to the decurling unit U7.

  Here, the transport roller 43 and the discharge rollers 45 and 46 are rotationally driven in synchronization with each other by an electric motor (not shown). Further, a conveyance roller 81 and a decurling roller 82 of a decurling unit U7 described later are similarly driven to rotate in synchronization with the conveying roller 43 and the discharge rollers 45 and 46 by the electric motor. Thus, the electric motor constitutes a driving unit that rotationally drives both the conveying roller 81 and the decurling roller 82. It is not necessary to rotationally drive both the conveying roller 81 and the decurling roller 82, and only one of the rollers (preferably the conveying roller 81) may be rotationally driven.

  In addition, the transport roller 43 and the discharge rollers 45 and 46 are arranged before the leading ends of the print papers P1 and P2 transported by the upstream transport drive roller 24 and the print transport roller 33 are sandwiched between the rollers. Crimping is released.

  Specifically, when the print papers P1 and P2 are conveyed from the conveyance drive roller 24 and the print conveyance roller 33 toward the conveyance roller 43, before the leading ends of the print papers P1 and P2 come into contact with the conveyance roller 43, The upper roller moves upward and the pressure bonding is released. Similarly, when the print papers P1 and P2 that have passed through the transport roller 43 are transported toward the discharge rollers 45 and 46, before the leading ends of the print papers P1 and P2 come into contact with the discharge rollers 45 and 46, respectively, The roller moves upward and the pressure bonding is released. In this way, it is possible to solve problems such as the print papers P1 and P2 being bent due to the leading ends of the print papers P1 and P2 being caught by the transport roller 43 and the discharge rollers 45 and 46.

  In addition, after the image is printed by the print unit U2 and before the print paper P1 and P2 are cut by the cutter unit U3, the upper roller that has been moved upward in the transport roller 43 and the discharge rollers 45 and 46 is simultaneously pressed. By returning to the position, the print papers P1 and P2 are clamped. By doing so, the print papers P1 and P2 are not displaced when the paper is cut, and can be cut accurately.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the drying unit U6 is provided between the upstream and downstream discharge rollers 45 and 46 of the two crimping molds of the discharge unit U4. The air is sucked into the housing 6 from the suction port 48 formed in the vicinity of the upper part of the air, and the sucked air is heated and blown as dry air.

  The drying unit U6 includes a drying chamber 71 provided on the paper transport path of the print papers P1 and P2, a drying device 72 that blows drying air to the drying chamber 71, and a drying device that sucks air sucked from the suction port 48. And an external cover 70 leading to 72. The drying chamber 71 is partitioned by an upper partition wall 71a and a lower partition wall 71b that are opposed to each other with the print papers P1 and P2 interposed therebetween. The drying chamber 71 retains the drying air blown from the drying device 72 to the print papers P1 and P2. It constitutes a space.

  The drying device 72 includes a plurality of suction fans 73 arranged at intervals in the left-right direction of the housing 6 in order to take air into the drying device 72 from outside through the suction port 48 of the housing 6, and the suction fans 73. A heater 74 that heats the air taken in at the bottom, and is provided at the lower end of the drying device 72 and opens toward the downstream side in the paper conveyance direction, and blows the drying air heated by the heater 74 toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction. And an exhaust nozzle portion 75.

  The outer cover 70 is provided above the paper discharge port of the housing 6, and air sucked from the suction port 48 of the housing 6 is circulated through the circulation space 76 inside the outer cover 70 to the suction fan 73. It is for guiding. A rear door 77 that can be opened and closed is provided on the surface of the outer cover 70. By providing such a drying unit U6, even when the ink ejected from the print head H to the print papers P1 and P2 is not yet dried, the drying of the ink can be promoted by blowing the drying air. it can.

-Decal unit-
Hereinafter, the configuration of the decal unit U7, which is a characteristic part of the present invention, will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the decurling unit U7 (a pair of rollers including a conveying roller 81 and a decurling roller 82 described later) is an end portion of a paper conveying path provided in the housing 6 of the printer main body 90. Print papers P1 and P2 that are provided near the paper discharge port of the housing 6 and have been transported to the end portion are discharged from the end portion to the discharge tray 5 through the paper discharge port of the housing 6. To do. The discharge tray 5 is disposed at a height position lower than the end portion (paper discharge port) of the paper transport path, and a step is generated between the discharge tray 5 and the end portion of the paper transport path. .

  The decurling unit U7 also has a role of performing a decurling process for correcting the curl of the roll paper P2, and is configured to be movable around the conveying roller 81 (corresponding to the first roller). A roller pair composed of a second roller and a position changing roller 83 (roller position switching means) for changing the relative position of the decurling roller 82 with respect to the conveying roller 81 are provided. Further, on the upstream side of the transport roller 81, a free roller 80 that rotates in conjunction with the movement of the transported print papers P1 and P2 is disposed.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the transport roller 81 includes a roller shaft 81a extending in the width direction of the print papers P1 and P2, and a plurality of roller portions arranged at intervals in the axial direction of the roller shaft 81a. 81b, 81b,...

  Further, on the downstream side of the transport roller 81, the rear end portions of the print papers P1 and P2 discharged from the transport roller 81 to the discharge tray 5 side are guided while being guided so as not to be caught on the transport roller 81 side. A guide member 92 for smoothly feeding out is provided. The guide member 92 extends in the axial direction so as to cover the lower edge portion of the transport roller 81 and guides the print papers P1 and P2 to the discharge tray 5 side, and a pair of left and right guide plates 92b and 92b, and roller portions 81b and 81b. ,... Projecting from the upper edge portion of the guide plate 92b correspondingly, and projecting portions 92a for guiding the rear end portions of the print papers P1, P2 between the roller portions 81b, 81b,. 92a,...

  The decurling roller 82 has an outer diameter smaller than that of the conveying roller 81 and continuously extends in the width direction of the print papers P 1 and P 2, and is provided to be movable along the roller surface of the conveying roller 81.

  Specifically, the shaft end portion of the decurling roller 82 is rotatably attached to the lever portion 84. The lever portion 84 includes a substantially U-shaped attachment portion 84a having a tip portion branched into two toward the downstream side in a side view, and a contact portion 84b extending obliquely downward from the lower portion on the upstream side of the attachment portion 84a. I have. A decurling roller 82 is rotatably attached to the substantially U-shaped upper end portion of the attaching portion 84a, and a lever shaft 85 is attached to the lower end portion, and the lever portion is centered on the lever shaft 85. The decurling roller 82 is configured to be movable along the roller surface of the conveying roller 81 by rotating 84.

  In addition, a biasing spring 86 is attached to the lever portion 84 so as to straddle between the contact portion 84b and a mounting bracket 91 disposed on the upstream side of the free roller 80. The decurling roller 82 is urged counterclockwise in FIG. 6 to be positioned at a pressure releasing position described later.

  On the upstream side of the lever portion 84, there is disposed a position changing roller 83 that presses while abutting against the abutting portion 84b to rotate the lever portion 84 clockwise against the urging force of the urging spring 86. Yes. The position changing roller 83 includes a main body 83a that is rotatable about a rotation axis extending in the width direction, and a roller 83b that is rotatably attached to the upper end of the main body 83a and abuts against the abutment 84b. The main body 83a is rotated around the rotation axis by a pulse motor (not shown).

  Then, the position change roller 83 changes the rotation angle of the position change roller 83 and presses it while bringing the roller portion 83b of the position change roller 83 into contact with the contact portion 84b of the lever portion 84, thereby conveying the position change roller 83. The relative position of the decurling roller 82 with respect to the roller 81 is changed.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, when the roller portion 83 b of the position changing roller 83 is not brought into contact with the contact portion 84 b of the lever portion 84, the lever portion 84 is leftmost by the biasing force of the biasing spring 86. Positioned at the position where the pressure is released. At this pressure release position, the decurling roller 82 is separated from the paper conveying path on the opposite side of the conveying roller 81, and a predetermined gap H (the print paper P1, P2 between the conveying paper 81 and the decurling roller 82). Larger than the thickness), and the pressure bonding of the print papers P1 and P2 is released. That is, the holding of the print papers P1 and P2 by the transport roller 81 and the decurling roller 82 is released. Further, the rotational axis of the decurling roller 82 is positioned on the paper discharge side with respect to the rotational axis of the conveying roller 81. A detection piece 87 is attached to the main body 83a of the position change roller 83, and when the detection piece 87 is disengaged leftward from the transmission sensor 88, the decal roller 82 is positioned at the pressure release position. It is detected.

  With such a configuration, when the paper conveyance is stopped during image formation, the decurling roller 82 is moved to the pressure releasing position so that the pressure bonding of the print papers P1 and P2 by the conveying roller 81 and the decurling roller 82 is released. Further, it is possible to eliminate the problem that the press-bonding marks of the transport roller 81 and the decurling roller 82 remain on the print papers P1 and P2 and the print quality deteriorates.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 10, the transmission sensor 88 detects while rotating the main body 83a of the position changing roller 83 counterclockwise to bring the roller 83b into contact with the contact 84b of the lever 84. By depressing the piece 87 until it is detected, the lever portion 84 is rotated clockwise against the urging force of the urging spring 86, and the decurling roller 82 is moved to the conveying position where the print paper P1, P2 is conveyed without decurling. Position. At this transport position, the print paper P1, P2 is sandwiched between the transport roller 81 and the decurling roller 82, and the two rollers 81, 82 are driven to rotate, thereby discharging the print paper P1, P2 to the discharge tray 5. Further, at this transport position, the decurling roller 82 is disposed upstream of the transport roller 81. That is, the rotation axis of the transport roller 81 is positioned on the paper discharge side with respect to the rotation axis of the decurling roller 82.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to provide a gap between the rollers 81 and 82 as compared with the case where the conveying roller 81 and the decurling roller 82 are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the paper conveying direction. It is possible to reduce the load applied to the print papers P1 and P2 by weakening the pressure between 81 and 82. At this time, since the print papers P1 and P2 are conveyed in a slightly bent state, the restoring force of the print papers P1 and P2 to extend straight, the print papers P1 and P2, and both rollers 81 and 82 Smooth conveyance using the stiffness of the print papers P1 and P2 can be realized by the frictional force between the two.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the main body 83a of the position changing roller 83 is further rotated counterclockwise until the detection piece 87 is removed from the transmission sensor 88 in the right direction until the roller 83b is not detected. By pressing the contact portion 84b of the lever portion 84, the roll paper P2 is positioned at the decurling position where the roll paper P2 is conveyed while being decurled. At the decurling position, similarly to the conveying position, the print papers P1 and P2 are sandwiched between the conveying roller 81 and the decurling roller 82, and both the rollers 81 and 82 are rotationally driven. Is discharged to the discharge tray 5. Further, the rotation axis of the transport roller 81 is positioned on the paper discharge side with respect to the rotation axis of the decurling roller 82.

  Here, the gap between the decurling roller 82 and the conveying roller 81 when the decurling roller 82 is located at the decurling position is set to be wider than the gap when the decurling roller 82 is located at the conveying position. Has been. Specifically, the gap between the decurling roller 82 and the conveying roller 81 is set wider than the thickness of the roll paper P2 when the decurling roller 82 is located at the decurling position, while when the decurling roller 82 is located at the conveying position. It is set narrower than the thickness of the roll paper P2.

  In this way, when the decurling roller 82 is moved from the conveying position to the decurling position, the gap is gradually changed, so that a strong pressing force against the restoring force that the roll paper P2 is extending straightly is obtained. Abrupt action can be suppressed, and damage to the roll paper P2 can be minimized.

  The decurling positions are set at a plurality of locations (represented by phantom lines in FIG. 11) substantially along the roller surface of the transport roller 81. In the example shown in FIG. 11, the decurling roller 82 described by a solid line is used as a reference. As the decurling position, a strong decurling position where the decurling roller 82 is rotated in the clockwise direction from this position, and a decurling force obtained by rotating the decurling roller 82 in the counterclockwise direction from the reference decurling position. A weak weak position and a weakest position where the decurling roller 82 is rotated further counterclockwise than the weak position are set. The position changing roller 83 adjusts the strength of the decurling force applied to the roll paper P2 by moving the decurling roller 82 between the weakest position and the strong position.

  With such a configuration, an appropriate decurling force according to the curl shape can be applied to the roll paper P2. Specifically, in the vicinity of the inner peripheral portion of the roll paper P2 wound in a roll shape, the curl is strongly curled because the curvature radius is small, and the outer peripheral portion is curled weakly because the curvature radius is large. Therefore, instead of always correcting the curl of the roll paper P2 with a constant decurling force, if the strength of the decurling force is adjusted according to the curl shape, the curl of the roll paper P2 is corrected with the optimal decurling force. be able to.

  Further, when the length of the roll paper P2 is equal to or less than the predetermined value, the decurling force applied to the roll paper P2 is set to be weak, while when the length of the roll paper P2 is equal to or larger than the predetermined value, the decurling force applied to the roll paper P2. May be set strongly. That is, the longer the roll paper P2, the easier it is to bend, so it is judged that the roll paper P2 is strongly curled, and the decurling force is increased.

  Further, the decurling force applied to the roll paper P2 may be adjusted according to the material of the roll paper P2. That is, an appropriate decurling force that easily corrects curling is applied to the roll paper P2, such as setting the decurling force to be strong for the roll material P2 made of hard material.

  In addition to this, for example, the manufacturing date information of the roll paper P2 is stored in an IC chip or the like provided on the roll core of the roll paper P2, and the manufacturing date information is read to obtain the date from the manufacturing date of the roll paper P2. The strength of the decurling force applied to the roll paper P2 may be adjusted according to the elapsed period. That is, when the manufacturing date from the roll paper P2 has passed a predetermined period, it is determined that the roll paper P2 is strongly curled and the decurling force is increased.

  In the present embodiment, the decurling position or the conveyance position corresponds to a first position on the movement path of the decurling roller 82, and the pressure release position is more than the first position on the movement path of the decurling roller 82. This corresponds to the second position located on the side.

  On the lower surface of the downstream side of the lower partition wall 71b forming the drying chamber 71 of the drying unit U6, a detection sensor 93 for detecting the front and rear ends of the print papers P1 and P2 is disposed. When the front end portion of the print paper P1, P2 is detected by the detection sensor 93, the print paper P1, P2 is conveyed by a predetermined length from the detection point, and the front end portion of the print paper P1, P2 is transferred to the conveyance roller 81. When positioned at the corresponding position, the decurling roller 82 of the decurling unit U7 is moved from the pressure release release position to the decurling position or the conveying position. That is, the decurling roller 82 stands by at the pressure release position as will be described later, and when the print paper P1, P2 is transferred from the discharge unit U4 to the decurling unit U7, the conveying roller 81 and the decurling roller 82 smoothly move. The print papers P1 and P2 can be sandwiched. As a result, it is possible to eliminate problems such as the print papers P1 and P2 being bent due to the leading ends of the print papers P1 and P2 being caught by the conveying roller 81 and the decurling roller 82.

  If the detection sensor 93 detects the rear ends of the print papers P1 and P2, the print paper P1 and P2 are conveyed by a predetermined length from the detection point, and the rear ends of the print papers P1 and P2 are detected. When positioned between the free roller 80 and the conveying roller 81, the decurling roller 82 of the decurling unit U7 is moved from the decurling position or the conveying position to the pressure release position. That is, the rear end portions of the print papers P1 and P2 are discharged to the discharge tray 5 while the transfer paper 81 and the decurling roller 82 at the decurling position or the transfer position are discharging the print papers P1 and P2 to the discharge tray 5. At this time, the position of the decurling roller 82 is switched from the decurling position or the conveying position to the pressure releasing position.

  In this way, the rear end portions of the print papers P1 and P2 are moved to the discharge tray 5 side in conjunction with the movement of the decurling roller 82 from the decurling position or the transport position to the pressure release position. The discharge speed of P1 and P2 is increased, whereby the paper can be smoothly transferred to the discharge tray 5, and the placement positions of the print papers P1 and P2 on the discharge tray 5 are stabilized. That is, since there is a step between the discharge tray 5 and the end portion (paper discharge port) of the paper transport path, the tips of the print papers P1 and P2 hang down due to gravity, and the upper surface of the discharge tray 5 or above it. After the rear ends of the print papers P1 and P2 are discharged, the paper stop position is caused by the frictional resistance acting on the front ends of the print papers P1 and P2. That is, the paper placement position is not stable. However, it is possible to stabilize the paper placement position by increasing the discharge speed when discharging the rear ends of the print papers P1 and P2 as described above. On the other hand, by slowing the discharge speed when the portions other than the rear end portions of the print papers P1 and P2 are discharged, the ink attached to the print surface of the print papers P1 and P2 is surely dried by the drying unit U6. Can be. Then, when the discharge of the print papers P1 and P2 is completed, the decurling roller 82 is located at the pressure release position. Therefore, it is only necessary to wait until the leading ends of the next print papers P1 and P2 arrive, and the next print paper P1. , P2 does not need to be placed at the pressure release position.

  Further, in the present embodiment, when the rear ends of the print papers P1 and P2 are positioned between the free roller 80 and the transport roller 81, that is, between the transport roller 81 and the decurling roller 82 at the decurling position or the transporting position. When the rear ends of the print papers P1 and P2 are discharged to the discharge tray 5 while the print papers P1 and P2 are being discharged to the discharge tray 5, in addition to the movement of the decurling roller 82 to the pressure release position, The rotational driving speeds of the roller 81 and the decurling roller 82 are changed to the higher side, so that the placement positions of the print papers P1 and P2 on the discharge tray 5 are further stabilized.

  Further, since the decurling unit U7 is disposed on the downstream side of the drying unit U6 and the roll paper P2 immediately after being dried by the drying unit U6 is decurled, the curl of the roll paper P2 is appropriately corrected. Is advantageous. That is, the roll paper P2 heated by the drying air of the drying unit U6 is in a state of being very easily deformed. Therefore, if the roll paper P2 in this state is decurled by the decurling unit U7, the roll paper P2 is heated. A higher decurling effect can be obtained as compared with the case without the above.

  As described above, according to the inkjet printer A including the decurling unit U7 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, when the roll paper P2 wound in a roll shape is conveyed, the decurling roller 82 is set to the decurling position. The curl of the roll paper P2 is corrected by moving and decurling, while when the sheet-like sheet paper P1 is conveyed, the decurling roller 82 is moved to the conveying position and discharged without performing the decurling process. Since decurling is switched according to the type of print paper P1 and P2 conveyed, such as conveying to the tray 5, the decurling process is performed on the sheet paper P1 that was not originally curled. Without curling, it is possible to roll and sheet-like print papers P1 and P2. It is possible to respond.

  Further, when the rear end portions of the print papers P1 and P2 are discharged to the discharge tray 5, the position of the decurling roller 82 of the decurling unit U7 is switched from the decurling position or the transporting position to the pressure release position, so that the printing papers P1 and P2 are changed. Since P2 is accelerated in the discharge direction, the placement positions of the print papers P1 and P2 on the discharge tray 5 can be stabilized.

<Embodiment 2>
FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of an inkjet printer according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Since the difference from the first embodiment is that the transport unit 100 and the stacking unit 110 are provided instead of the discharge tray 5, hereinafter, the same parts as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and only the differences are described. explain.

  As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the inkjet printer A is disposed on the downstream side of the printer main body 90, the transport unit 100 disposed on the downstream side of the printer main body 90, and the transport direction of the transport unit 100. And an integrated unit 110. The printer main body 90 is assumed to have substantially the same configuration as that described in the first embodiment, and the following description is omitted.

  The transport unit 100 constitutes a paper placement unit that receives and places the print papers P1 and P2 discharged from the paper discharge port of the housing 6 of the printer main body 90, and the placed prints. A transport belt 101 that transports the papers P1 and P2 to the downstream side in a belt conveyor manner, a driving roller 102 that drives the transport belt 101, and a large tray 104 that is disposed on the upstream side in the transport direction of the transport belt 101 are provided. ing. Note that the downstream side in the transport direction of the transport unit 100 refers to the direction toward the right side of the housing 6 (the side of the integrated unit 110).

  The position of the transport belt 101 corresponding to the paper discharge port of the housing 6 is a placement region R (strictly speaking, this placement region R) that receives the print papers P1 and P2 immediately after being discharged through the paper discharge port. Is equivalent to a paper placing portion). Similarly to the discharge tray 5 in the first embodiment 1, the placement region R in the transfer belt 101 is also from the end portion (paper discharge port) of the paper transfer path provided in the housing 6 of the printer main body 90. Is also disposed at a low height position. The transport unit 100 is configured such that the print paper P1 already placed before the print paper P1 and P2 to be discharged next through the paper discharge port of the housing 6 is placed on the placement region R. , P2 is driven and controlled to retract P2 from the placement region R.

  Thereby, since the print papers P1 and P2 do not overlap on the transport belt 101, it is possible to suppress color unevenness or the like of the print image that is caused by the ink on the print papers P1 and P2 not being uniformly dried.

  The drive control of the transport belt 101 adjusts the transport speed so that the next print paper P1, P2 is discharged when the already placed print paper P1, P2 is retracted from the placement area R. Is done. Further, instead of continuing to drive the transport belt 101 at a constant speed, when the next print papers P1 and P2 are transported, the print papers P1 and P2 that have already been placed are transported out of the placement region R all at once. Intermittent feed may be used.

  Here, when the photographic print papers P1 and P2 such as L plates are placed on the transport belt 101, the transport unit 100 transports the transport unit 100 to the stacking unit 110 arranged on the downstream side in the transport direction. On the other hand, when large-sized print papers P1 and P2 of B5 size, A4 size, etc. are placed, the drive control is performed so as to convey the large-size tray 104 on the upstream side in the conveying direction. In this way, if the transport direction is switched according to the sizes of the print papers P1 and P2, the print papers P1 and P2 can be transported to an appropriate storage position for each paper size.

  The stacking unit 110 is disposed on the downstream side of the transport unit 100 in the transport direction, and stacks the print papers P1 and P2 transported from the transport unit 100. The stacking main body 111 and the stacking main body 111 A stacking plate 112 that is provided inside and on which the print papers P1 and P2 transported from the transport unit 100 are placed, and a plurality of stacking plates 112 that are spaced apart from each other are arranged in a belt conveyor manner in the rearward direction of the housing 6. And an integrated belt 113 that is conveyed.

  The stacking plate 112 waits so that the plate surface is horizontal and substantially flush with the belt surface of the transport belt 101 at the transfer position of the print papers P1 and P2 on the downstream side of the transport belt 101. After the number of sheets corresponding to the print order is collected, the next order print papers P1 and P2 are conveyed to the rear side of the housing 6 by the accumulation belt 113 before being conveyed. The plate surface of the accumulation plate 112 held horizontally rises in the middle of conveyance by the accumulation belt 113, and functions as a partition plate that partitions the print papers P1 and P2 for each print order.

  Here, the transport unit 100 transfers the print paper P1 and P2 from the transport belt 101 to the stacking plate 112 of the stacking unit 110 so that the transport speed of the print papers P1 and P2 is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed. The drive is controlled. Specifically, since a gap is provided between the conveyance belt 101 and the stacking plate 112, if the conveyance speed of the conveyance belt 101 is too slow, the edges of the print papers P1 and P2 enter the gap. Therefore, there is a possibility that smooth delivery cannot be performed or the delivery itself fails. Therefore, the transport speed of the transport belt 101 is controlled to be higher than the speed at which the print papers P1 and P2 can be stably delivered, so that the print papers P1 and P2 can be reliably delivered.

  In this way, by separating the print papers P1 and P2 by the stacking plate 112 for each print order, the print papers P1 and P2 for each order can be easily arranged. In addition, since the number of print papers P1 and P2 can be increased, the number of operations for the operator to remove the print papers P1 and P2 after image printing can be reduced, and work efficiency is improved.

  Also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the decurling unit U7 (a roller pair composed of the conveying roller 81 and the decurling roller 82) is provided at the end of the paper conveying path provided in the housing 6 of the printer main body 90. The decurling unit U7 discharges the print papers P1 and P2 to the placement region R of the transport belt 101 through the paper discharge port of the housing 6. As described above, when the paper placement unit is the conveyance belt 101, the level difference from the terminal end (paper discharge port) of the paper conveyance path is usually larger than that of the discharge tray 5. Friction resistance acting on the leading edge of the print paper is large, and the placement position of the print papers P1 and P2 is likely to vary. In this embodiment as well, the rear end portions of the print papers P1 and P2 are the same as in the first embodiment. When positioned between the free roller 80 and the conveying roller 81, the decurling roller 82 of the decurling unit U7 moves from the decurling position or the conveying position to the pressure release position, and the rotational driving speeds of the conveying roller 81 and the decurling roller 82 are increased. It changes so as to become faster, thereby accelerating the print papers P1 and P2 in the discharge direction and loading them. The mounting position of the printing paper P1, P2 in the area R can be stabilized. As a result, the transfer of the print papers P1 and P2 from the transport belt 101 to the stacking plate 112 of the stacking unit 110 is reliably performed.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the second position is a pressure release position where the holding of the print papers P1 and P2 by the transport roller 81 and the decurling roller 82 is released. However, the second position is the first position. As long as the print paper P1, P2 can be accelerated in the discharge direction by moving the decurling roller 82 from the first position to the second position, the print paper P1, It may be a position where P2 can be held and conveyed.

  Further, the positional relationship between the rotation axes of the first and second rollers at the first and second positions is not limited to that of the above-described embodiments.

  Further, when the rear ends of the print papers P1 and P2 are positioned between the free roller 80 and the transport roller 81, it is not always necessary to change the rotational drive speeds of the transport roller 81 and the decurling roller 82 to the higher side. .

  Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the paper discharge mechanism disposed at the end of the paper conveyance path provided in the printer main body 90 of the ink jet printer A, and the paper is removed from the apparatus in the apparatus provided with the paper conveyance path. It can be applied to a paper discharge mechanism that discharges to Moreover, the paper of the 2nd process part arrange | positioned not only in what is discharged | emitted out of an apparatus but in the height position lower than this termination | terminus part, for example from the termination | terminus part of the paper conveyance path | route of the 1st process part inside an apparatus The present invention can also be applied to a paper discharge mechanism that discharges to the placement unit.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful for a paper discharge mechanism that discharges paper that has been transported to the end portion of a paper transport path from the end portion to a paper placement portion that is disposed at a lower height than the end portion. In particular, the present invention is useful for a paper discharge mechanism disposed at a terminal portion of a paper conveyance path provided in a printer main body of a printer apparatus.

It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the inkjet printer provided with the decurling unit as a paper discharge mechanism which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure inside the housing | casing of an inkjet printer. It is a top view which shows the structure inside the housing | casing of an inkjet printer. It is a front view which shows the structure inside the housing | casing of an inkjet printer. It is the schematic seen from the housing | casing left side which shows the conveyance path | route of a print paper. It is sectional drawing seen from the housing | casing left side which shows the structure of a drying unit and a decal unit. It is the perspective view seen from the housing | casing front side which shows the structure of a paper discharge port periphery. It is the front view seen from the case front side which shows the structure around a paper discharge port. It is a side view when a decurling roller is positioned at a pressure release position. It is a side view when a decurling roller is positioned at a conveyance position. It is a side view when a decurling roller is located in a decurling position. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the inkjet printer provided with the decurling unit which concerns on this Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a top view which shows the structure of the inkjet printer which concerns on this Embodiment 2. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

5 Discharge tray (paper placement section)
81 Conveyance roller (first roller)
82 Decal roller (second roller)
83 Position change roller (roller position switching means)
P1 Sheet paper P2 Roll paper U7 Decal unit (paper discharge mechanism)
A Inkjet printer R placement area (paper placement section)

Claims (4)

A paper discharge mechanism that is provided at the end portion of the paper transport path and discharges the paper that has been transported to the end portion from the end portion to a paper placing portion that is disposed at a height lower than the end portion. There,
A first roller and a second roller configured to be movable around the first roller. When the second roller is at a first position on the movement path of the second roller, the two rollers And a pair of rollers for discharging the paper to the paper placement section by sandwiching the paper and rotating at least one of the rollers by a driving means.
Roller position switching means for switching the position of the second roller between the first position and a second position located on the paper discharge side with respect to the first position on the movement path of the second roller; Prepared,
The roller position switching means is configured to discharge a rear end portion of the paper to the paper placement portion while the paper is being discharged to the paper placement portion by the first roller and the second roller at the first position. In this case, the paper discharge mechanism is configured to switch the position of the second roller from the first position to the second position. The paper discharge mechanism according to claim 1,
The first position is a position where the rotation axis of the first roller is closer to the paper discharge side than the rotation axis of the second roller;
The second position is a position where the rotation axis of the second roller is closer to the paper discharge side than the rotation axis of the first roller, and the position where the paper nipping between the two rollers is released. Characteristic paper discharge mechanism. In the paper discharge mechanism according to claim 1 or 2,
When the rear end portion of the paper is discharged to the paper placement portion while the paper is being discharged to the paper placement portion by the first roller and the second roller at the first position, the driving is performed. A paper discharge mechanism, characterized in that the roller driven to rotate is changed so that the rotational drive speed of the roller is increased. In the paper discharge mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The paper discharge mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the roller pair is provided at a terminal end portion of a paper conveyance path provided in the printer main body and in the vicinity of a paper discharge port of the printer main body.

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