JP2010083658A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording device of which meshing sound of meshing a pinion and its mating gears generated on starting the recording device does not bring uncomfortable feeling for many users. <P>SOLUTION: The meshing sound generated when power is transmitted from the pinion 51 to gears 52, 53 when starting a driving motor 40 can be absorbed by the bronze pinion 51. As vibration generated from a printer 100 including a printing part, a conveyance roller 26, a conveyance mechanism, a power device and the like can be absorbed by the bronze pinion 51, noise generated from the printer 100 is reduced and a sound quality is changed not to bring uncomfortable feeling for the users. Thus, it is possible to provide the printer 100 which does not bring uncomfortable feeling owing to the noise on starting the driving motor for the users. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording medium conveyance mechanism of a recording apparatus, and more particularly to a pinion attached to a drive motor used in the conveyance mechanism.

  The recording apparatus is provided with a mechanism for transporting the recording medium. A drive motor is used as a power source for conveyance, and a pinion is attached to the drive motor. The pinion meshes with the mating gear and, in some cases, meshes with other gears. The shaft passed through the gear rotates according to the movement of the drive motor, and conveys the recording medium by the movement of the conveying roller provided on the shaft (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-137030 (Section 10, FIG. 7)

  When the drive motor is started, the pinion and the mating gear mesh with each other, and noise is generated from the recording device. This noise may cause discomfort to the user, and there is a demand for noise reduction.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can be realized as the following forms or application examples.

[Application Example 1]
A printing unit; a conveyance roller that conveys the recording medium to the printing unit; a gear that rotationally drives the conveyance roller; a bronze pinion that transmits power to the gear; and a drive motor equipped with the pinion. A recording apparatus.

  According to this application example, the bronze pinion absorbs the meshing sound when power is transmitted from the pinion to the gear when the drive motor is activated. In addition, vibration generated from the recording device such as the printing unit and the conveyance roller is absorbed by the bronze pinion, noise generated from the recording device is reduced, and the sound quality is changed to a sound quality that does not cause discomfort to the user. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a recording apparatus that does not give the user a sense of discomfort due to noise when starting the drive motor.

[Application Example 2]
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a lubricant is applied to the pinion and the gear.
In this application example, the friction between the pinion and the gear is reduced by the lubricant, and the meshing noise is reduced. Therefore, the above-described effect can be obtained more.

[Application Example 3]
The recording apparatus, wherein the gear is made of resin.
In this application example, since the mating gear of the pinion is soft and made of resin, the meshing sound is small compared to the meshing of the gears made of metal, and vibration generated from the recording apparatus is easily absorbed. Therefore, the above-described effect can be obtained more.

[Application Example 4]
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pinion is formed by sintering.
In this application example, the pinion surface formed by sintering is smoother than machining by cutting, and the meshing noise between the pinion and the counterpart gear is reduced. Therefore, the above-described effect can be obtained more.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a printer 100 which is a recording apparatus according to the embodiment. The printer 100 is an ink jet printer. The figure shows a state in which the cover constituting the appearance is removed.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic sectional view of the printer 100.

1 and 2, the printer 100 includes a printing medium 10 and a recording medium P transport mechanism 20 and a power unit 30 behind the main frame 1. Here, in FIG. 2, the right side is referred to as rear or upstream, and the left side is referred to as front or downstream in the drawing. The recording medium P is fed from upstream and discharged downstream.
The printer 100 feeds the recording medium P by the transport mechanism 20 and prints the recording medium P by the printing unit 10.

The printing unit 10 includes an inkjet recording head 11 and a carriage 13 on which an ink cartridge 12 is mounted.
The ink jet recording head 11 is provided at the bottom of a carriage 13 on which the ink cartridge 12 is mounted. The carriage 13 reciprocates along a carriage guide shaft 14 provided on the main frame 1.
The moving direction of the carriage 13 is called a main scanning direction, and the conveyance direction of the recording medium P is called a sub-scanning direction.

  The transport mechanism 20 includes a hopper 21, a feed roller shaft 22, a feed roller 23, a separation pad 24, a paper guide 25, a transport roller 26, a platen 27, and a paper discharge unit 28.

Hereinafter, conveyance of the recording medium P will be described.
The recording medium P is set in the hopper 21. The feeding roller shaft 22 is rotationally driven by the power device 30. The feeding roller 23 is fitted into the feeding roller shaft 22 and has a substantially D shape when viewed from the side. The lower end portion of the hopper 21 can swing toward the feeding roller 23.
When the feed roller 23 rotates according to the rotation of the feed roller shaft 22, the hopper 21 is swung toward the feed roller 23 by a cam (not shown), and the recording medium P is moved between the hopper 21 and the feed roller 23. The uppermost recording medium P is fed by being sandwiched and rotating the feeding roller 23.

  Next, the arc portion of the feeding roller 23 and the separation pad 24 sandwich and press the recording medium P, and the feeding roller 23 rotates, whereby the recording medium P is conveyed downstream. The leading edge of the recording medium P hits the paper guide 25 and is guided to the conveyance roller 26. Further, the recording medium P is conveyed while being in contact with the platen 27 by the conveying roller 26. Printing is performed on the recording medium P in contact with the platen 27 with the ink ejected from the inkjet recording head 11. The printed recording medium P is conveyed to the paper discharge unit 28 and discharged.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic perspective view of the power unit 30.
In FIG. 3, the power unit 30 includes a drive motor 40 and a power transmission unit 50. The drive motor 40 is fixed to the main frame 1, and a pinion 51 is fitted on the rotation shaft 41. The pinion 51 is engaged with the gears 52 and 53. The gear 52 is attached to the feeding roller shaft 22. The gear 53 is attached to the shaft of the transport roller 26, for example. The combination and configuration of the gears of the power transmission unit 50 can be changed depending on the object to be driven.

Hereinafter, the materials of the pinion 51 and the gears 52 and 53 constituting the power transmission unit 50 will be described in detail based on conventional examples and examples. In particular, the noise from the start of the printer 100 to about 3 seconds when the material of the pinion 51 is changed will be described.
For the gears 52 and 53, a polyoxymethylene molded product (polyacetal resin molded product) was used, and the material of the pinion 51 was changed. The number of teeth of the pinion 51 was 18, the number of teeth of the gear 52 was 135, and the number of teeth of the gear 53 was 149.

The materials and the like of the pinion 51 used in the conventional example and Examples 1 to 5 were as described below.
Conventional Example: A polyacetal resin molded product was also used for the pinion 51, and grease was applied as a lubricant between the pinion 51 and the gears 52 and 53.
Example 1: In the conventional example, grease is not applied.
Example 2: Bronze was used for the pinion 51. Bronze is an alloy containing tin containing copper as a main component. As in the conventional example, grease was applied between the pinion 51 and the gears 52 and 53.
Example 3 Example 3 in which grease was not applied in Example 2 was designated as Example 3.
Example 4: Brass was used for the pinion 51. Brass is an alloy containing zinc containing copper as a main component. No grease was applied between the pinion 51 and the gears 52 and 53.
Example 5: Duralumin was used for the pinion 51. Duralumin is an alloy of aluminum and copper, magnesium or the like. No grease was applied between the pinion 51 and the gears 52 and 53.

The metal pinions 51 of Examples 2 to 4 were produced by sintering. Sintering is performed by kneading each metal powder constituting the composition at a composition ratio and press-molding it, and then heating it to around the melting point and baking it.
The duralumin pinion 51 of Example 5 was prepared by cutting.

The power transmission part 50 comprised by the prior art example and Example 1-Example 5 was mounted | worn with the printer 100, and the noise test was done in the soundless room.
The noise test was performed on a comparison test of sound pressure waveforms for about 3 seconds from the startup of the printer 100, a time variation in sound pressure level, a time variation in loudness, a time variation in sharpness, a loudness density, and an audible sound evaluation.

FIG. 4 shows the result of the sound pressure waveform for about 3 seconds from when the printer 100 was started. The horizontal axis is time (msec), and the vertical axis is sound pressure (mPa). It can be said that the smoother the amplitude of the graph, the smaller the noise.
The sound pressure waveform indicates roughness (a rough feeling of sound). The smaller the amplitude, the lower the sound level. Loudness and sharpness are obtained from the sound pressure waveform.

The results of comparing the sound pressure waveforms are summarized below.
It can be seen that the sound level of the pinion 51 using bronze (Example 2 and Example 3) is small, and particularly that of applying grease (Example 2) has the lowest sound level. Next, in the conventional example, the sound level of the case where grease is not applied (Example 1), the case where grease is not applied to brass (Example 4), and the case where no grease is applied to duralumin (Example 5) is the same level. It can be seen that the sound level of the conventional example is the largest.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show the results of the time variation of the loudness for about 3 seconds from the time when the printer 100 is activated. FIG. 5 shows a conventional example and Examples 1 to 3, and FIG. 6 shows a conventional example, Example 4 and Example 5 in two parts.
The horizontal axis represents time (sec) and the vertical axis represents loudness (sone). Loudness is a noise level that takes into consideration auditory characteristics, and means that “the smaller the amplitude index of loudness” is, the less loud it is.

The results of comparing loudness are summarized below.
It can be seen that the pinion 51 using bronze (Example 2 and Example 3) is not fragile, and in particular, the one coated with grease (Example 2) is the least damaging. Next, the conventional example in which grease is not applied (Example 1) is not complicated, and the conventional example is not complicated next. It can be seen that the case in which no grease is applied to duralumin (Example 5) and the case in which no grease is applied to brass (Example 4) is as large as the conventional example.

FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show the result of the temporal fluctuation of the sharpness for about 3 seconds from when the printer 100 is started. FIG. 7 shows a conventional example and Examples 1 to 3, and FIG. 8 shows a conventional example, Example 4 and Example 5 in two parts.
The horizontal axis represents time (sec) and the vertical axis represents sharpness (acum). Sharpness represents the height of the sound, and the smaller the amplitude, the less expensive the sound is.

The results of comparing sharpness are summarized below.
The conventional example makes the most gentle sound, then the one that does not apply grease to bronze (Example 3), and the one that does not apply grease in the conventional example (Example 1) and the pinion 51 use bronze It was a high pitched sound in the following order: the case where the grease was applied (Example 2), the case where the grease was not applied to duralumin (Example 5), and the case where the grease was not applied to brass (Example 4).

FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 show the results of temporal variation of the sound pressure level for about 3 seconds from the time when the printer 100 is activated. FIG. 9 shows a conventional example and Examples 1 to 3, and FIG. 10 shows a conventional example, Example 4 and Example 5 in two parts.
The horizontal axis represents time (msec), and the vertical axis represents sound pressure level (dB).
The sound pressure level is the same for the case where no grease is applied to bronze (Example 3), the case where grease is applied using bronze (Example 2), and the case where no grease is applied in the conventional example (Example 1). Next, the one that does not apply grease to brass (Example 4) and the one that does not apply grease to duralumin (Example 5) have similar sound pressure levels, and the conventional example has the highest sound pressure level. .

  FIG. 11 shows the result of the loudness density for about 3 seconds after the printer 100 is started. The horizontal axis is frequency (Hz) and the vertical axis is loudness (sone). It is an index representing “noisiness” in a frequency band that can be heard by human ears, and in particular, a frequency band from 800 Hz to 4000 Hz that can be heard regardless of age.

The results of comparing loudness are summarized below.
The pinion 51 using bronze and coated with grease (Example 2) was the least noisy. Next, one that does not apply grease to bronze (Example 3), one that does not apply grease in the conventional example (Example 1), one that does not apply grease to duralumin (Example 5), and grease to brass It turned out that it became noisy in order of the thing (Example 4) which is not apply | coated.

FIG. 12 shows a summary of the results obtained from the sound pressure waveform. Each evaluation result is shown with a ranking. In the ranking, the result that seems to be the best noise is the first.
Although the order varies depending on the sound quality, the result is that the bronze pinion 51 is greased but the overall noise level is low.

  In FIG. 13, the result of the auditory sound evaluation performed by 10 evaluators of AJ was shown. The degree of noise was ranked in the order of increasing noise and the relative evaluation was made. Each person's ranking was summed up to obtain a total score, and the ranking was given in ascending order of the total score.

The results of comparison of auditory sound evaluation are summarized below.
The pinion 51 using bronze and coated with grease (Example 2) feels the least noise, the conventional example, the bronze not coated with grease (Example 3), and the conventional example without grease applied (Example 1) It turned out that it felt that noise became large in the order of what does not apply | coat grease to brass (Example 4), and what does not apply | coat grease to duralumin (Example 5).

(Comprehensive evaluation)
Although how to feel noise differs depending on the evaluator, all the other evaluators except for evaluator C felt that the noise was low when using bronze as the pinion 51 and applying grease (Example 2).
Although the evaluator has a preference for sound, the evaluator C considers the bronze pinion 51 coated with grease to be the second least noisy and generally feels that the bronze pinion 51 coated with grease is less noisy. It can be said that.
From the result of the sound pressure waveform and the result of the human auditory sound evaluation, it can be said that the bronze pinion 51 coated with grease has little noise for about 3 seconds from the start of the printer 100.
Note that the conventional example is a gentle sound from the result of the sound pressure waveform, and the result of the human auditory sound evaluation was good. This seems to be because the resin pinion and the resin gear mesh.

According to this embodiment, there are the following effects.
(1) The bronze pinion 51 can absorb the meshing sound when power is transmitted from the pinion 51 to the gears 52 and 53 when the drive motor 40 is activated. Further, the bronze pinion 51 can absorb vibrations generated from the printer 100 such as the printing unit 10, the conveyance roller 26, the conveyance mechanism 20, and the power unit 30, so that noise generated from the printer 100 is reduced and sound quality is uncomfortable for the user. The sound quality changes without being given. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the printer 100 that does not give the user a sense of discomfort due to noise when the drive motor is activated.

  (2) The friction between the pinion 51 and the gears 52 and 53 is reduced by the grease, and the meshing noise can be reduced. Therefore, the above-mentioned effect can be obtained more.

  (3) Since the mating gears 52 and 53 of the pinion 51 are soft and made of resin, the meshing noise can be reduced as compared with the meshing of the gears made of metal, and the vibration generated from the printer 100 can be absorbed. Therefore, the above-mentioned effect can be obtained more.

  (4) Compared with processing by cutting, the surface of the pinion 51 formed by sintering is smooth, and the meshing noise between the pinion 51 and the counterpart gears 52 and 53 is reduced. Therefore, the above-mentioned effect can be obtained more.

Various modifications other than the above-described embodiment can be made.
For example, the number of gears engaged with the pinion 51 may be three or more, and the number of teeth of the pinion 51 and the gears 52 and 53 is not limited to the number shown in the embodiment.
Further, the lubricant is not limited to grease, and other lubricants, lubricants containing molybdenum disulfide, and the like can be used.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a printer. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a printer. The schematic perspective view of a power unit. The figure showing the result of a comparison test of a sound pressure waveform. The figure showing the result of the time fluctuation of loudness. The figure showing the result of the time fluctuation of loudness. The figure showing the result of the time fluctuation of sharpness. The figure showing the result of the time fluctuation of sharpness. The figure showing the result of the time variation of a sound pressure level. The figure showing the result of the time variation of a sound pressure level. The figure showing the result of a loudness density. The figure which put together the result obtained from a sound pressure waveform. The figure which showed the result of auditory sound evaluation.

Explanation of symbols

  P ... recording medium, 10 ... printing unit, 20 ... conveying mechanism, 26 ... conveying roller, 30 ... power device, 40 ... drive motor, 51 ... pinion, 52,53 ... gear, 100 ... recording device.

Claims (4)

A printing section;
A transport roller for transporting a recording medium to the printing unit;
A gear for rotationally driving the transport roller;
A bronze pinion that transmits power to the gear;
And a drive motor on which the pinion is mounted. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,
A recording apparatus, wherein a lubricant is applied to the pinion and the gear. The recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein
The recording apparatus, wherein the gear is made of resin. In the recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pinion is formed by sintering.

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