JP2010023372A - Image recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image recording device in which recording accuracy on a recording medium is improved. <P>SOLUTION: When a recording operation is carried out, an inkjet printer rotates a cylinder 32, thereby moving a support face 32b of the cylinder 32 to a support position. In addition, when a flashing operation is carried out, the inkjet printer locates the inkjet head and an opening 19 of a conveyance belt 8 opposite to each other, and rotates the cylinder 32, thereby moving the support face 32b of the cylinder 32 to a retracting position and locating an opening 32a of the cylinder 32 opposite the inkjet head. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for recording an image.

  Patent Document 1 describes an ink jet recording apparatus that adsorbs a sheet material, which is a recording medium, to a carrying surface of a conveyance belt by sucking air from a back surface side of the conveyance belt through a suction hole formed in the conveyance belt. Has been. In this ink jet recording apparatus, an ink receiving member is disposed in an inner region formed by the transport belt and facing the ink jet head across the transport belt. When the ink is ejected from the ink jet head, the ejected ink passes through the suction hole and is received by the ink receiving member.

JP 2007-168277 A (FIG. 2)

  However, in the ink jet recording apparatus described in Patent Document 1, an ink receiving member is disposed at a position facing the ink jet head across the transport belt, and a member that supports the back surface of the carrying surface of the transport belt facing the ink jet head. Is not provided. For this reason, when air is sucked from the back surface side of the transport belt through the suction hole, the region of the transport belt facing the inkjet head is recessed inward. As described above, when the conveying belt is recessed inward, the recording medium placed in the recessed area is also recessed, and the recording accuracy on the recording medium is lowered.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus with improved recording accuracy on a recording medium.

  The image recording apparatus of the present invention has a suction surface in which a plurality of holes are formed, a transport belt that transports a recording medium in a transport direction, and the suction surface that faces the suction surface and discharges droplets to the suction surface. A recording head in which a discharge area is formed; suction means for sucking air from the surface opposite to the suction surface of the transport belt through the hole and sucking the recording medium on the suction surface; and the transport belt A receiving portion that receives the liquid droplets discharged from the recording head through at least one of the plurality of holes, and is opposed to the recording head on the opposite surface. A movable support member having a support surface movable between a support position for supporting the recording surface and a retreat position not facing the recording head, and the recording when the transported recording medium faces the recording head. He During a recording operation of discharging droplets from the recording head, the support surface moves to the support position, and the receiving unit receives the recording medium from the recording head through the hole when the transported recording medium does not face the recording head. Control means for controlling the movable support member so that the support surface moves to the retracted position during a flushing operation for discharging droplets.

  According to the image recording apparatus of the present invention, during the recording operation, the surface opposite to the suction surface of the conveyor belt that faces the recording head is supported by the support surface of the movable support member, so that the suction surface is suppressed from being recessed. The recording accuracy on the recording medium can be improved. Further, during the flushing operation, the support surface of the movable support member is moved to a retracted position that does not face the recording head, so that the support surface of the movable support member is not contaminated by the droplets discharged from the recording head, and the discharged liquid Drops can be reliably collected at the receiving part.

  Further, it is preferable that the support surface moves between the support position and the retracted position by rotating the movable support member.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the axial direction of the movable support member is a direction parallel to the suction surface and orthogonal to the transport direction.

  In addition, the movable support member is a hollow cylindrical member having the receiving portion disposed therein and extending in the axial direction, and the cylindrical member includes an inside and an outside of the cylindrical member. It is preferable that an opening larger than the discharge region to be communicated is formed, and an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member is the support surface.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the absorption member is arrange | positioned at the said receiving part in the said cylindrical member. According to this, the liquid droplets ejected from the recording head during the flushing operation can be absorbed and held by the absorbing member.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the suction amount is reduced during the flushing operation than during the recording operation. According to this, the flying direction of the droplets ejected from the recording head during the flushing operation is unlikely to change, and the droplets can be reliably guided to the receiving portion.

  In addition, the control means further controls the suction amount by the suction means, and it is preferable to control the suction means so that the suction amount is decreased during the flushing operation than during the recording operation. According to this, since the airflow generated by the suction means becomes weak, the flying direction of the droplets ejected from the recording head during the flushing operation is unlikely to change, and the droplets can be reliably guided to the receiving portion.

  Further, the movable support member may include a projecting portion having a rotation shaft and the support surface capable of supporting the opposite surface as the rotation shaft rotates in the receiving portion.

  At this time, it is preferable that the support surface of the protruding portion is exposed to the outside of the receiving portion at the retracted position. According to this, it is possible to prevent droplets from adhering to the support surface of the protrusion during the flushing operation.

  The axial direction of the movable support member may be a direction orthogonal to the suction surface.

  Furthermore, the movable support member may move across the support position and the retracted position by reciprocating in a direction parallel to the suction surface.

  Moreover, it is preferable to further include a cleaning member for cleaning a surface opposite to the suction surface. According to this, the dirt on the surface opposite to the suction surface of the conveyor belt can be cleaned.

  In addition, a detection unit that detects a position of a specific hole in the transport direction among the plurality of holes is further provided, and the detection unit has reached the position where the specific hole faces the recording head. When detected, it is preferable that the control means moves the support surface of the movable support member to the retracted position to cause the recording head to perform the flushing operation.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a preferred first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to an ink jet printer that records characters, images, and the like by ejecting ink onto paper.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ink jet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the ink jet head of FIG. 1 as viewed from below. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the conveyor belt of FIG. 1 as viewed from above. 4 is a plan view of the ink receiving mechanism of FIG. 1. FIG. 4A is a case where the support surface of the cylinder is disposed at the support position, and FIG. 4B is a view where the support surface of the cylinder is disposed at the retracted position. It is the case.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an ink jet printer 1 that is an image recording apparatus is a color ink jet printer having four ink jet heads 2 and a belt conveying device 3. The ink jet printer 1 has a control unit 60 (see FIG. 5) for controlling the ink jet printer 1.

  The four inkjet heads 2 are arranged side by side along the conveyance direction (arrow direction in FIG. 1) of the paper P that is a recording medium, corresponding to four colors of ink (magenta, yellow, cyan, black). It has been. That is, the inkjet printer 1 is a line printer.

  The four inkjet heads 2 have a suction surface 8a of a conveyance belt 8 described later (a surface that is parallel to the bottom surface of the inkjet head 2 on the outer circumferential surface of the conveyance belt 8 and moves in the conveyance direction of the paper P). It has a long and narrow rectangular parallelepiped shape that is long in the width direction (perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1) perpendicular to the transport direction. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of nozzles 2a having a small diameter for ejecting ink are formed on the bottom surface of the ink jet head 2, and these nozzles 2a are gathered to form a discharge region 2b. The discharge region 2b faces a suction surface 8a of the conveyance belt 8 described later.

  The four inkjet heads 2 eject ink of each color from the nozzles 2a toward the upper surface of the paper P when the paper P conveyed on the suction surface 8a passes immediately below the ejection region 2b. A recording operation for recording a desired color image is performed. The four inkjet heads 2 eject ink from the nozzles 2a through the four openings 19 into the cylinder 32 described later when the four discharge areas 2b and four openings 19 of the conveying belt 8 described later face each other. Perform a flushing operation.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the belt conveyance device 3 includes a paper feeding unit 11 on the left side in FIG. 1 and a paper discharge unit 12 on the right side in FIG. 1. The paper P is transported in the transport direction toward. A pair of feed rollers 9a and 9b that convey the sheet while sandwiching the sheet are disposed immediately downstream of the sheet feeding unit 11. The paper P is fed from left to right in FIG. 1 by the pair of feed rollers 9a and 9b.

  The belt conveying device 3 is wound around a pair of belt rollers 13 and 14 having rotation axes parallel to each other and the pair of belt rollers 13 and 14, and the pair of belt rollers 13 and 14 is rotated. And an endless transport belt 8 that transports the paper P placed on the suction surface 8a.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the transport belt 8 is formed with four openings 19 (specific holes) having the same size as the ejection regions 2b of the four inkjet heads along the transport direction. In addition, a plurality of through holes 18 that are uniformly distributed over the entire surface are formed in the conveyance belt 8 in a region excluding the region where the four openings 19 are formed. That is, the transport belt 8 is formed with a large number of holes including four openings 19 and a plurality of through holes 18. Moreover, the outer peripheral surface in the area | region in which the several through-hole 18 was formed except the area | region in which the four openings 19 were formed among the outer peripheral surfaces of the conveyance belt 8 is the adsorption surface 8a. The paper P is placed on the suction surface 8a and is transported in the transport direction.

  The belt roller 13 is a driving roller that receives a driving force from a conveyance motor 74 (see FIG. 5) and rotates clockwise. The belt roller 14 is driven to rotate by the rotational force applied from the conveying belt 8 as the belt roller 13 rotates. The transport belt 8 travels in the transport direction as the pair of belt rollers 13 and 14 rotate.

  An encoder 15 (see FIG. 5) is provided on the rotating shaft of the belt roller 13. The encoder 15 detects the rotational position of the belt roller 13. Based on the rotational position of the belt roller 13 detected by the encoder 15, an opening position acquisition unit 64 described later acquires a position of the opening 19 formed in the conveyance belt 8 in the conveyance direction.

  The paper P sent out from the paper supply unit 11 by the feed rollers 9 a and 9 b is pressed against the suction surface 8 a of the transport belt 8 by the pressing roller 16 facing the belt roller 14. The sheet P pressed against the suction surface 8a by the pressing roller 16 is conveyed downstream in the conveying direction (to the right in FIG. 1) as the conveying belt 8 is driven by the clockwise rotation driving of the belt roller 13. Then, the sheet is peeled from the suction surface 8 a by the peeling mechanism 17 immediately downstream of the transport belt 8 and sent to the paper discharge unit 12.

  Returning to FIG. 1, four ink receiving mechanisms 30 and the rotary fan 5 are arranged in the inner region surrounded by the conveyor belt 8. The four ink receiving mechanisms 30 are opposed to the four inkjet heads 2 with the conveying belt 8 interposed therebetween.

  The ink receiving mechanism 30 receives ink ejected from the inkjet head 2 during the flushing operation, and is provided on the back side of the suction surface 8a as shown in FIG. And a cylinder 32 (movable support member) disposed in the casing 31 and a sponge 33 (absorbing member) disposed in the cylinder 32.

  The casing 31 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape having a width similar to the width of the conveyor belt 8 (the width in the direction perpendicular to the paper in FIG. 1), and is open upward. In addition, the suction that opens from one end of the surface in the width direction of the casing 31 (the front surface in FIG. 4) from the lower end of the cylinder 32 to a position slightly above the lower end of the casing 31. A mouth 34 is formed. The suction port 34 is connected to the rotary fan 5 by a duct (not shown).

  The rotary fan 5 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and sucks air in the housing 31 through a duct (not shown) when a rotary blade provided inside rotates. Then, the inside of the housing 31 is depressurized, and air flows into the housing 31 through the plurality of through holes 18 of the conveyance belt 8 formed in the region facing the housing 31. With this air flow, the paper P placed on the suction surface 8a is sucked to the suction surface 8a.

  The cylinder 32 extends across both ends of the casing 31 in the width direction, and rotates clockwise or counterclockwise about the width direction as a driving force is applied from a rotary motor 76 (see FIG. 5). To do. The cylinder 32 has an opening 32a larger than the discharge area 2b for communicating the inside of the cylinder 32 with the outside, and a support surface 32b capable of supporting the inner peripheral surface of the conveyor belt 8 in the outer peripheral surface area adjacent to the opening 32a in the circumferential direction. And have.

  The tube 32 is rotated under the control of a rotation control unit 65 described later, so that the support position for supporting the inner peripheral surface region of the conveyance belt 8 facing the inkjet head 2 and the opening 32a sandwich the conveyance belt 8 between the inkjet head and the inkjet head. 2 and the support surface 32b is moved over the retreat position opposite to it.

  During the recording operation, the support surface 32b of the cylinder 32 is disposed at the support position, and supports the inner peripheral surface region of the transport belt 8 facing the inkjet head 2. With the support surface 32b of the cylinder 32 disposed at the support position, when the paper P conveyed on the suction surface 8a passes immediately below the ejection region 2b of the inkjet head 2, it faces the upper surface of the paper P. Ink of each color is ejected from the nozzle 2a, and a desired color image is recorded on the paper P. Accordingly, the suction surface 8a of the conveyor belt 8 is suppressed from being recessed, and the recording accuracy on the paper P can be improved.

  Further, during the flushing operation, the support surface 32b of the cylinder 32 is disposed at the retracted position. At this time, the opening 19 of the conveyor belt 8 is opposed to the inkjet head 2. Then, the opening 32 a of the cylinder 32 faces the inkjet head 2 through the opening 19 of the transport belt 8. In this state, ink is ejected from the inkjet head 2, and the ejected ink is received by the inner peripheral surface 32 c of the cylinder 32. Thus, during the flushing operation, the support surface 32b of the cylinder 32 is moved to the retracted position, so that the support surface 32b of the cylinder 32 is not contaminated by the ink ejected from the inkjet head 2, and the ejected ink is retained in the cylinder 32. The inner peripheral surface 32c can be reliably recovered. That is, the inner peripheral surface 32c of the cylinder 32 corresponds to the receiving portion in the present invention.

  The sponge 33 disposed in the cylinder 32 extends across both ends of the casing 31 in the width direction. In other words, the ink ejected from the inkjet head 2 during the flushing operation is absorbed by the sponge 33 in the cylinder 32. Thereby, the ink ejected from the inkjet head 2 can be absorbed and held by the sponge 33.

  Further, two rubbers 35 extending over both ends of the casing 31 in the width direction are attached to the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder 32. The two rubbers 35 are in contact with the side wall of the housing 31 when the support surface 32b of the cylinder 32 is disposed at the retracted position. (See FIG. 4 (b)). As a result, even if the suction operation is performed by the rotary fan 5, the two rubbers 35 are in contact with the side wall of the housing 31, and no air flows in the space above the rubber 35 in the housing 31. That is, the flying direction of the ink ejected from the inkjet head 2 during the flushing operation is unlikely to change, and the ink can be reliably guided into the cylinder 32.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, when the cylinder 32 rotates counterclockwise by a predetermined amount and the support surface 32b is arranged at the support position, one rubber 35 is placed inside the transport belt 8. Contact the peripheral surface. In a state where the rubber 35 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the transport belt 8, the transport belt 8 can travel to clean the inner peripheral surface of the transport belt 8. As a result, the inner peripheral surface of the conveyor belt 8 becomes dirty and does not slip between the belt rollers 13 and 14, and the recording accuracy on the paper P can be further improved.

  Next, the control system of the inkjet printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram showing a control configuration of the ink jet printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The control unit 60 included in the inkjet printer 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that is an arithmetic processing device, a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores a control program executed by the CPU and data used in the control program. A RAM (Random Access Memory) for temporarily storing data during program execution.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 60 includes a head control unit 61, a conveyance control unit 62, a belt roller control unit 63, an opening position acquisition unit 64, a rotation control unit 65, and a suction control unit 66.

  When the control unit 60 receives a print signal from the PC 80 (personal computer), the head control unit 61 controls the head drive circuit 71 to eject ink from the corresponding ink jet head 2 so that an image or the like is generated on the paper P. The recording operation is performed. At this time, the support surface 32 b of the cylinder 32 is moved to the support position under the control of the rotation control unit 65, and supports the inner peripheral surface region of the transport belt 8 facing the ink jet head 2.

  Further, when it is acquired by the opening position acquisition unit 64 that the opening 19 of the conveyor belt 8 has reached the position facing the inkjet head 2, the head controller 61 controls the conveyor belt under the control of the belt roller controller 63. After the travel of 8 is stopped, the head drive circuit 71 is controlled to discharge ink from the corresponding inkjet head 2 to the inner peripheral surface 32c of the cylinder 32 to perform the flushing operation. At this time, the support surface 32 b of the cylinder 32 is moved to the retracted position under the control of the rotation control unit 65, and the opening 32 a of the cylinder 32 faces the inkjet head 2.

  When the control unit 60 receives a print signal from the PC 80, the transport control unit 62 drives the feed motor 72 to rotate both the feed rollers 9 a and 9 b, thereby causing the paper P to be attracted to the transport belt 8. The motor driver 73 is controlled so as to be supplied onto 8a.

  The belt roller control unit 63 drives the conveyance motor 74 to rotate the belt roller 13 when the paper P is supplied onto the suction surface 8a of the conveyance belt 8 as a recording operation under the control of the conveyance control unit 62. Then, the motor driver 75 is controlled so that the transport belt 8 is caused to travel and the paper P on the suction surface 8a is transported in the transport direction. Further, the belt roller control unit 63 drives the conveyance motor 74 during the flushing operation, and when the opening position acquisition unit 64 acquires that the opening 19 of the conveyance belt 8 has reached the position facing the inkjet head 2. Then, the motor driver 75 is controlled so as to stop the rotation of the belt roller 13.

  The opening position acquisition unit 64 acquires the position of the opening 19 formed in the transport belt 8 in the transport direction from the rotation position of the belt roller 13 detected by the encoder 15. That is, the encoder 15 and the opening position acquisition unit 64 constitute detection means in the present invention.

  During the recording operation, the rotation control unit 65 drives the rotation motor 76 to control the motor driver 77 to rotate the cylinder 32 and move the support surface 32b of the cylinder 32 to the support position. Further, during the flushing operation, the rotation control unit 65 drives the rotation motor 76 to rotate the cylinder 32 to move the support surface 32b of the cylinder 32 to the retracted position and to open the opening 32a of the cylinder 32 to the inkjet head 2. The motor driver 77 is controlled so as to oppose.

  The suction controller 66 controls the motor driver 79 to drive the rotary motor 78 and rotate the rotary blades of the rotary fan 5 during the recording operation. Further, the suction control unit 66 controls the motor driver 79 so that the suction amount is reduced during the flushing operation than during the recording operation. Thereby, the flying direction of the ink ejected from the inkjet head 2 during the flushing operation is hardly changed, and the ink can be reliably guided into the cylinder 32.

Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment will be described. 6A and 6B are perspective views of the ink receiving mechanism according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6A is a view when the support surface is disposed at the support position, and FIG. 6B is a view when the support surface is disposed at the retracted position. When it was done. 7A and 7B are plan views of the ink receiving mechanism according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7A is a view when the support surface is disposed at the support position, and FIG. 7B is a view when the support surface is disposed at the retracted position. When it was done. In the second embodiment, only the ink receiving mechanism 30 in the first embodiment is an ink receiving mechanism 230, and other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment. Components similar to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 6A and 7A, the ink receiving mechanism 230 is provided on the back side of the suction surface 8a, and is disposed in the housing 231 (receiving portion) and the housing 231. And a rotating shaft 232 (movable support member).

  The housing 231 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape having a width similar to the width of the transport belt 8 and opens upward. In addition, a suction port 234 that opens from the upper end of the housing 231 to a position slightly above the lower end of the housing 231 is formed on one of the surfaces at both ends in the width direction of the housing 231. The suction port 234 is connected to the rotary fan 5 by a duct (not shown). Ink discharged from the inkjet head 2 during the flushing operation is received on the bottom surface of the housing 231. In addition, two openings 231 a are formed on the side surface in the transport direction of the housing 231 to expose two projecting members 235 described later to the outside of the housing 231.

  The rotation shaft 232 extends across both ends of the casing 231 in the width direction, and is driven by a motor (not shown) to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise about the width direction. The rotating shaft 232 is provided on two discs 233 that are spaced apart from each other in the axial direction and a part of the outer peripheral surface of each disc 233, and the conveyor belt 8 is rotated along with the rotation of the rotating shaft 232. And a projecting member 235 capable of supporting the inner peripheral surface.

  As the rotary shaft 232 rotates, the outer peripheral surface 235a (support surface) of the protruding member 235 supports the inner peripheral surface region of the transport belt 8 facing the inkjet head 2 (see FIGS. 6A and 7). (See (a)) and a retracted position (see FIGS. 6B and 7B) that does not support the inner peripheral surface.

  During the recording operation, the outer peripheral surface 235 a of the protruding member 235 is disposed at the support position, and supports the inner peripheral surface region of the transport belt 8 that faces the inkjet head 2. With the outer peripheral surface 235a of the protruding member 235 being disposed at the support position, when the paper P conveyed on the suction surface 8a passes just below the ejection region 2b of the inkjet head 2, the upper surface of the paper P The ink of each color is ejected from the nozzle 2a toward the paper P, and a desired color image is recorded on the paper P. Accordingly, the suction surface 8a of the conveyor belt 8 is suppressed from being recessed, and the recording accuracy on the paper P can be improved.

  Further, during the flushing operation, the outer peripheral surface 235a of the protruding member 235 is disposed at the retracted position. At this time, the opening 19 of the conveyor belt 8 is opposed to the inkjet head 2. In this state, ink is ejected from the inkjet head 2, and the ejected ink is received in the housing 231. In this way, during the flushing operation, the outer peripheral surface 235a of the protruding member 235 is moved to the retracted position, so that the outer peripheral surface 235a of the protruding member 235 is not contaminated by the ink discharged from the inkjet head 2, and the discharged ink is removed. It can be reliably collected in the housing 231. In this retracted position, the outer peripheral surface 235 a of the protruding member 235 is exposed to the outside of the housing 231. Thereby, it is possible to further prevent ink from adhering to the outer peripheral surface 235a of the protruding member 235 during the flushing operation.

<Third Embodiment>
Subsequently, the third embodiment will be described. FIGS. 8A and 8B are plan views of the ink receiving mechanism according to the third embodiment, where FIG. 8A is a view from above and FIG. 8B is a view from the side. In the third embodiment, only the ink receiving mechanism 30 in the first embodiment is an ink receiving mechanism 330, and other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment. Components similar to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the ink receiving mechanism 330 is provided on the back side of the suction surface 8a, and includes a housing 331 (receiving portion) and a disk 332 (movable support member). ). In the region surrounded by the conveyor belt 8, a platen 350 having an opening 350a at a position overlapping the casing 331 in the vertical direction and supporting the back surface of the suction surface 8a is provided. In the platen 350, one of the regions adjacent to the housing 331 is recessed downward in the transport direction.

  The housing 331 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape having a width similar to the width of the transport belt 8 and opens upward. In addition, a suction port 334 that opens from the upper end of the housing 331 to a position slightly above the lower end of the housing 331 is formed on one of the surfaces at both ends in the width direction of the housing 331. The suction port 334 is connected to the rotary fan 5 by a duct (not shown). Ink discharged from the inkjet head 2 during the flushing operation is received on the bottom surface of the housing 331.

  The disk 332 is disposed on the recessed area of the platen 350 and the opening 350a, and is driven by a motor (not shown) to rotate around the vertical direction perpendicular to the suction surface 8a. In addition, the circular plate 332 is formed with a semicircular opening 332 a larger than the ejection region 2 b of the inkjet head 2. In addition, a plurality of through holes 332c that are uniformly distributed over the entire surface are formed in a semicircular region excluding the opening 332a of the disk 332. As the rotary blades of the rotary fan 5 rotate, air flows into the housing 331 through the plurality of through holes 18 of the transport belt 8 and the plurality of through holes 332 c of the disk 332. With this air flow, the paper P placed on the suction surface 8a is sucked to the suction surface 8a. Further, as the circular plate 332 rotates, the semicircular upper surface 332b (support surface) excluding the opening 332a of the circular plate 332 supports the inner peripheral surface region of the transport belt 8 facing the inkjet head 2. And a retreat position that does not support the inner peripheral surface.

  During the recording operation, the upper surface 332b of the disk 332 is disposed at a support position (a position where the upper surface 332b of the disk 332 faces the inkjet head 2 with the conveyance belt 8 interposed), and the inner surface of the conveyance belt 8 that faces the inkjet head 2 Supports the peripheral area. With the upper surface 332b of the disk 332 placed at the support position, when the paper P conveyed on the suction surface 8a passes immediately below the ejection region 2b of the inkjet head 2, it faces the upper surface of the paper P. Ink of each color is ejected from the nozzle 2a, and a desired color image is recorded on the paper P. Accordingly, the suction surface 8a of the conveyor belt 8 is suppressed from being recessed, and the recording accuracy on the paper P can be improved.

  Further, during the flushing operation, the upper surface 332 b of the disk 332 is disposed at the retracted position (a position where the opening 332 a of the disk 332 faces the inkjet head 2 with the conveyance belt 8 interposed therebetween). At this time, the opening 19 of the conveyor belt 8 is opposed to the inkjet head 2. In this state, ink is ejected from the inkjet head 2, and the ejected ink is received in the housing 331. Thus, during the flushing operation, the upper surface 332b of the disk 332 is moved to the retracted position, so that the upper surface 332b of the disk 332 is not contaminated by the ink ejected from the inkjet head 2, and the ejected ink is stored in the housing. It can be reliably recovered in 331.

<Fourth embodiment>
Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. FIG. 9 is a plan view of the ink receiving mechanism according to the fourth embodiment, where (a) is a view from above and (b) is a view from the side. In the fourth embodiment, the ink receiving mechanism 330 in the third embodiment is merely an ink receiving mechanism 430, and other configurations are the same as those in the third embodiment. In addition, about the thing similar to 3rd Embodiment, it shows with the same code | symbol and abbreviate | omits description.

  As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the ink receiving mechanism 430 is provided on the back side of the suction surface 8a, and includes a housing 331 (receiving portion) and three support plates 432 ( Movable support member).

  The three support plates 432 are disposed on the recessed area of the platen 350 and the opening 350a, and are driven by a motor (not shown) to reciprocate in the transport direction. The support plate 432 has the same length as the width of the housing 331 in the transport direction. As the support plate 432 reciprocates, the upper surface 432b (support surface) of the support plate 432 supports a support position (the support plate 432 supports the transport belt 8) that supports the inner peripheral surface region of the transport belt 8 facing the inkjet head 2. And a retreat position where the inner peripheral surface is not supported (a position where the support plate 432 does not face the inkjet head 2 with the conveyance belt 8 interposed).

  During the recording operation, the upper surface 432b of the support plate 432 is disposed at the support position, and supports the inner peripheral surface area of the transport belt 8 facing the inkjet head 2. With the upper surface 432b of the support plate 432 disposed at the support position, the sheet P conveyed on the suction surface 8a is directed toward the upper surface of the sheet P when passing immediately below the discharge area 2b of the inkjet head 2. Ink of each color is ejected from the nozzle 2a, and a desired color image is recorded on the paper P. Accordingly, the suction surface 8a of the conveyor belt 8 is suppressed from being recessed, and the recording accuracy on the paper P can be improved.

  Further, during the flushing operation, the upper surface 432b of the support plate 432 is disposed at the retracted position. At this time, the opening 19 of the conveyor belt 8 is opposed to the inkjet head 2. In this state, ink is ejected from the inkjet head 2, and the ejected ink is received in the housing 331. Thus, during the flushing operation, the upper surface 432b of the support plate 432 is moved to the retracted position, so that the upper surface 432b of the support plate 432 is not contaminated by the ink ejected from the inkjet head 2, and the ejected ink is stored in the housing. It can be reliably recovered in 331.

  Next, modified examples in which various modifications are added to the above-described embodiment will be described. In the embodiment described above, the conveyance belt 8 is provided with the through hole 18 for sucking the paper P and the opening 19 that faces the inkjet head 2 during the flushing operation. However, the conveyance belt 8 is conveyed without being provided with the opening 19. A plurality of through holes 18 may be formed on the entire surface of the belt 8. That is, the suction hole for the paper P and the hole facing the inkjet head 2 during the flushing operation may be shared. At this time, the plurality of through holes 18 of the transport belt 8 are formed at positions that overlap the plurality of nozzles 2 a formed in the inkjet head 2 along the vertical direction.

  In the first embodiment described above, the support surface 32 b of the cylinder 32 that supports the inner peripheral surface of the conveyance belt 8 may be any region on the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder 32.

  The present invention is not limited to the ink jet printer as in the above-described embodiment, and can be applied to various apparatuses as long as the apparatus is an image recording apparatus.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an inkjet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is the top view which looked at the inkjet head of FIG. 1 from the lower surface. It is the top view which looked at the conveyance belt of FIG. 1 from the upper surface. FIGS. 2A and 2B are plan views of the ink receiving mechanism of FIG. 1, in which FIG. 1A shows a case where the support surface of the cylinder is disposed at the support position, and FIG. is there. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the control structure of the inkjet printer which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the ink receiving mechanism according to the second embodiment of the present invention, (a) is when the support surface is disposed at the support position, (b) is when the support surface is disposed at the retracted position. is there. It is a top view of the ink receiving mechanism which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention, (a) is when a support surface is arrange | positioned in a support position, (b) is when a support surface is arrange | positioned in a retracted position. is there. It is a top view of the ink receiving mechanism which concerns on 3rd Embodiment, (a) is when it sees from upper direction, (b) is when it sees from the side. It is a top view of the ink receiving mechanism which concerns on 4th Embodiment, (a) is when it sees from upper direction, (b) is when it sees from the side.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printer 2 Inkjet head 3 Belt conveying apparatus 5 Rotating fan 8 Conveying belt 18 Through-hole 19 Opening 30 Ink receiving mechanism 31 Case 32 Cylinder 32a Opening 33 Sponge 60 Control part

Claims (13)

A conveyance belt having a suction surface formed with a plurality of holes and conveying a recording medium in a conveyance direction;
A recording head that is opposite to the suction surface and in which a discharge region for discharging droplets is formed on the suction surface;
Suction means for sucking air from the surface opposite to the suction surface of the transport belt through the hole to suck the recording medium on the suction surface;
A receiving portion that faces the recording head across the conveying belt and receives droplets discharged from the recording head through at least one of the plurality of holes;
A movable support member having a support surface that is movable over a support position that supports a surface of the opposite surface that faces the recording head, and a retracted position that does not face the recording head;
During a recording operation in which droplets are ejected from the recording head when the transported recording medium faces the recording head, the support surface moves to the support position, and the transported recording medium is connected to the recording head. Control means for controlling the movable support member so that the support surface moves to the retracted position during a flushing operation in which droplets are ejected from the recording head to the receiving portion through the hole when not facing each other; An image recording apparatus comprising:   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support surface moves between the support position and the retracted position when the movable support member rotates.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an axial direction of the movable support member is a direction parallel to the suction surface and orthogonal to the transport direction. The movable support member is a hollow cylindrical member having the receiving portion disposed therein and extending in the axial direction,
The cylindrical member is formed with an opening larger than the discharge region for communicating the inside and the outside of the cylindrical member,
The image recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member is the support surface.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein an absorbing member is disposed in the receiving portion in the cylindrical member.   6. The image recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the suction amount is reduced during the flushing operation compared to during the recording operation.   7. The control means further controls a suction amount by the suction means, and controls the suction means so that the suction amount is decreased during the flushing operation as compared with the recording operation. The image recording apparatus described in 1.   The movable support member includes a projecting portion having a rotation shaft and the support surface capable of supporting the opposite surface as the rotation shaft rotates in the receiving portion. The image recording apparatus described in 1.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the support surface of the protruding portion is exposed to the outside of the receiving portion at the retracted position.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an axial direction of the movable support member is a direction orthogonal to the suction surface.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the movable support member moves between the support position and the retracted position by reciprocating in a direction parallel to the suction surface.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cleaning member that cleans a surface opposite to the suction surface. It further comprises detection means for detecting the position of a specific hole in the transport direction among the plurality of holes.
When the detection means detects that the specific hole has reached a position facing the recording head, the control means moves the support surface of the movable support member to the retracted position, and The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flushing operation is performed by a recording head.

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