JP2011156696A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of supporting a conveyance roller with a simple composition and free from removal of the conveyance roller from a bearing part even when an impact, etc., is applied. <P>SOLUTION: A second guide member 24 is formed with a regulation member 28. The regulation member 28 is, for example, a projecting member formed to be integrated with the second guide member 24, and extending from the second guide member 24 to one surface 22a of a unit frame 22. If the second guide member 24 rotates to the counterclockwise direction R2 around a rotary shaft 26, the regulation member 28 regulates a movable range (a range in which a driven roller can move) to a direction N3 to which the driven roller 36 formed on the second guide member 24 is separated from a first guide member 23 by a top part 28a of the regulation member 28 contacting the surface 22a of the unit frame 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

   The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly, to prevention of falling off of a conveyance roller for conveying a print medium.

   As an example of a printing apparatus that performs printing on a printing medium such as paper, an ink jet printer (printing apparatus) is known. An ink jet printer is a device that records characters, images, and the like on a print medium, and performs recording by ejecting ink from a nozzle provided on a discharge head (jet head) toward the print medium.

   When printing on such a print medium, the paper is sent out from a paper feed cassette in which a plurality of print media (for example, print paper, hereinafter simply referred to as “paper”) is arranged, and a recording section (print section) ) To feed the paper one by one. When feeding a sheet toward such a recording unit, a structure in which the sheet is sandwiched between a conveyance roller provided immediately before the recording unit and a driven roller facing the conveyance roller and fed to the recording unit is generally used. is there.

   By the way, the conveyance roller for feeding paper to such a recording unit can be easily attached to the bearing at the time of manufacture. 2. Description of the Related Art There is known a paper feeding device in which a lower rotation stopper is integrally formed by press-cut molding so that a bearing portion of a transport roller has a simple structure (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

However, in the configuration shown in Patent Document 1, since the bearing support portions of the transport roller are integrally formed with the guide plate that forms the sheet passing surface, it is necessary to form the bearing support portions alternately up and down. Therefore, it is necessary to switch back and assemble the transport roller with respect to the guide plate on which the bearing support portion is formed, so that the manufacturing process becomes complicated and the manufacturing cost may increase.
In addition, since it is necessary to form bearing support portions at both ends outside the sheet-passing surface, in a printer with a long paper width direction, for example, when a strong impact such as dropping is applied, the transport roller is deformed to improve component accuracy. There is also a risk of damage.

   For this reason, as a simple bearing structure in which the transport roller can be easily attached, for example, a configuration in which the transport roller is rotatably supported by a groove-shaped bearing having an open upper surface is conceivable. In such a configuration, since it is only necessary to drop the transport roller into the groove-shaped bearing in the mounting process of the transport roller, the manufacturing process becomes extremely simple, and the number of parts constituting the bearing of the transport roller can be reduced. It is expected that the manufacturing cost can be greatly reduced.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-147753

However, when the conveyance roller is supported by the groove-shaped bearing whose upper surface is opened, for example, when a strong impact such as dropping is applied, the conveyance roller may jump up and be separated from the open side of the bearing.
On the other hand, if a member for preventing the conveyance roller from coming off is newly formed in the bearing portion, the bearing structure becomes complicated again, the manufacturing process becomes complicated, and the manufacturing cost increases.

   Some aspects according to the present invention have been made in view of the above circumstances, can support the transport roller with a simple configuration, and the transport roller can be removed from the bearing portion even when an impact or the like is applied. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus that does not leave.

In order to solve the above problems, some embodiments of the present invention provide the following printing apparatus.
That is, the printing apparatus according to the present invention is arranged to face each other, and follows the rotation of the first guide member and the second guide member that guide the print medium, the transport roller that transports the print medium, and the transport roller. And a driven roller that is rotated and sandwiches the print medium together with the transport roller,
The first guide member has a bearing portion that is open on the second guide member side, and is provided so as to rotatably support the transport roller on the bearing portion. The second guide member includes the driven roller And a regulating member that regulates a movable range in a direction in which the second guide member separates from the first guide member, and is configured to urge the driven roller toward the transport roller. It is provided with.

   The restriction member is a protrusion provided on the second guide member, and when the second guide member moves in a direction away from the first guide member, the protrusion constitutes a casing of the printing apparatus. It is preferable to restrict the movable range by contacting the unit frame.

The amount of regulation of the movable range may be set in a range in which the transport roller is not separated from the bearing portion due to contact with the driven roller when the transport roller moves to the open side of the bearing portion. preferable.
In addition, it is preferable that a plurality of the regulating members are formed, and at least one of them is provided in a region through which the print medium passes along the axial direction of the transport roller.

1 is an external perspective view showing an example of a printing apparatus (inkjet printer) of the present invention. It is principal part sectional drawing in the AA line in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of a conveying apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of the printing apparatus (inkjet printer) of this invention. It is a top view which shows the formation position of the control member in a main scanning direction. It is a top view which shows another example of the formation position of a control member. It is a principal part expanded sectional view which shows another example of the printing apparatus (inkjet printer) of this invention.

   Hereinafter, an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present embodiment is specifically described for better understanding of the gist of the invention, and does not limit the invention unless otherwise specified. In addition, in the drawings used in the following description, in order to make the features of the present invention easier to understand, there is a case where a main part is shown in an enlarged manner for convenience, and the dimensional ratio of each component is the same as the actual one. Not necessarily.

As an example of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment, an ink jet printer that performs recording on a recording medium by ejecting ink from an ejection port of an ejection head to the recording medium will be described.
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an example of a printing apparatus (inkjet printer) according to the present embodiment.
The inkjet printer 1 includes a stacking device 10 that can stack a plurality of sheets (printing media), an operation panel 52 on which a user inputs predetermined operation information, and the like.

   The stacking apparatus 10 is configured such that a paper discharge tray 46 is provided on the paper feed cassette 11 at an outlet 53 formed in the housing 2. The paper feed cassette 11 is configured to be drawable to the downstream side (front side of the apparatus) in the paper take-out direction. The operation panel 52 is provided on the upper portion of the stacking apparatus 10 and may include a tilt mechanism that can be displaced from a reference angle forming the same plane as the housing 2 to a predetermined angle.

   For example, when an instruction is input from the operation panel 52, the inkjet printer 1 picks up the sheets stacked in the sheet feeding cassette 11 one by one, scans the recording head disposed in the housing 2, and A printing process is performed in which desired information such as characters and images is recorded by ejecting ink onto one side of the paper. The paper that has undergone the printing process is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 46 disposed on the paper feed cassette 11 and stacked.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the main part showing a cross section taken along the line AA, with the upper portion of the casing of the ink jet printer shown in FIG. 1 removed.
As shown in FIG. 2, the ink jet printer 1 according to the present embodiment is a printer in which the recording head 42 is mounted on the lower surface of the carriage 40 that can reciprocate in the width direction X intersecting the transport direction Y in the recording execution area 56. .

   First, a description will be given based on the XYZ orthogonal coordinate system shown in FIG. In this XYZ orthogonal coordinate system, the XY plane is a plane parallel to the horizontal plane, and the Z direction is the vertical upward direction. Further, the transport direction (also referred to as discharge direction and sub-scanning direction) of the paper (print medium) P is referred to as Y direction, and the width direction of the transport path, that is, the scanning direction of recording head 42 (also referred to as main scanning direction) is referred to as X direction. May be explained. Further, the downstream side and the upstream side in the transport direction of the paper P are based on a series of flow directions of the paper P.

   The ink jet printer 1 includes a housing 2 that forms a skeleton of the entire apparatus, a stacking device 10 that accommodates a plurality of sheets P, a feeding device 3 that feeds the sheets P, and a recording process that performs recording processing on the sheets P. The unit 4 includes a transport device 5 that transports the paper P along the transport direction, a discharge device 6 that transports the paper P, and a control unit (not shown) that comprehensively controls the operation of each component device.

   The stacking apparatus 10 includes a paper feed cassette 11 that stores a plurality of sheets of paper P in an overlapping manner, a mounting unit 13 that mounts the paper feed cassette 11, and a paper feed cassette 11 that is in the mounting unit 13 with respect to the paper feed cassette 11. Separation slope (conveying path through which the sheet is conveyed) 12, which is disposed on the downstream side in the direction in which the sheet is loaded, and the sheet P is conveyed from the sheet feeding cassette 11 mounted in the mounting unit 13. It is prepared for.

   The feeding device 3 separates the pickup roller 16 that sequentially feeds the topmost paper P stored in the paper feed cassette 11 from the U-shaped reversal path 50 while separating the topmost paper P that has been fed out. A separation roller 21 that completely separates the succeeding paper P that could not be separated from the uppermost paper P when guiding, and intermediate transport rollers 25 and 31 that transport the paper P along the U-shaped reversing path 50; It is configured with.

   The transport device 5 includes the above-described stacking device 10, a unit frame 22 that constitutes the housing 2, a paper feed roller unit 34, a first guide member 23, a second guide member 24, a tray 55, and the like. The paper feed roller unit 34 includes a transport roller 35 and a driven roller 36. A second guide member 24 is rotatably attached to the unit frame 22. The configuration of the transport device 5 will be described in detail later.

   The recording unit 4 includes a recording head (fluid ejecting head) 42 that performs a recording process on the paper P, and a carriage 40 on which the recording head 42 is mounted. The recording head 42 is mounted on the bottom of a carriage 40 that holds an ink cartridge (not shown), and a platen 38 that supports the paper P provided on the downstream side (−Y direction side) from the paper feed roller unit 34. It arrange | positions so that it may oppose in an up-down direction. Then, predetermined recording is performed on the paper P supplied onto the platen 38 by the paper feed roller unit 34.

   The carriage 40 is supported by a carriage guide shaft 41 attached to the unit frame 22 described above. The carriage 40 is connected to a carriage motor via a timing belt (not shown). As a result, the carriage 40 is reciprocated in the X direction (main scanning direction) along the carriage guide shaft 41 when the carriage motor is driven.

   Further, the carriage 40 moves up and down in the Z direction with respect to the platen 38 (paper P) with the carriage guide shaft 41 as a support shaft, so that the gap (platen 38) between the platen 38 and the recording head 42 according to the thickness of the paper P or the like. The gap PG) can be changed. An ink cartridge (not shown) is detachably attached to the carriage 40. The ink in the ink cartridge is sent to the recording head 42.

   In addition, the recording unit 4 includes a plurality of ink tubes (not shown) and ink supply pumps that supply ink of each color to the recording head 42 and a capping device (not shown) provided at the home position of the carriage 40.

The discharge device 6 includes a discharge roller 43 and a discharge tray 46.
The discharge roller 43 is constituted by a nip roller between a discharge drive roller 44 and a discharge driven roller 45. The paper P conveyed by the action of the paper feed roller unit 34 described above is supplied to the nip point of the discharge roller 43 through the platen 38. The discharge drive roller 44 is connected to the same drive motor as the transport roller 35 described above, and operates in conjunction with each other.

   The paper discharge tray 46 is for stacking the paper P after the recording process in a stacked state, and is provided above the mounting surface of the paper feed cassette 11. Further, an extension stacker (not shown) accommodated in the paper discharge tray 46 is provided so as to be drawn out and retractable.

   In such an ink jet printer 1, the paper feed cassette 11 is mounted on the mounting portion 13, and the side edges of the plurality of sheets P stored in the paper feed cassette 11 are aligned. Thereafter, the sheet P supplied to the U-shaped reversing path 50 by the pickup roller 16 passes through the U-shaped reversing path 50 by the feeding and guiding action of the separation roller 21 and the intermediate transport rollers 25 and 31, and the U-shaped reversal is performed. The paper is supplied to the nip point of the paper feed roller unit 34 provided at a position near the downstream of the path 50.

   On the downstream side (−Y direction side) of the paper feed roller unit 34, the platen 38 and the recording head 42 are disposed to face each other in the vertical direction, and the paper P is supplied onto the platen 38 by the rotation of the transport roller 35. When the recording head 42 is conveyed to a position facing the recording head 42, recording processing by the recording head 42 is performed. The paper P that has undergone the recording process is sent out to the paper discharge tray 46 by the discharge roller 43, and recording (printing) on one paper P is completed.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part showing a conveying device constituting the ink jet printer.
The transport device 5 that transports the paper P toward the recording unit 4 (see FIG. 2) is arranged above the paper feed roller unit 34 that nips the paper P, the first guide member 23, and the first guide member 23. The second guide member 24 is provided. The first guide member 24 is formed with a bearing portion 61 for rotatably supporting the transport roller 35 constituting the paper feed roller unit 34. The bearing portion 61 is a groove-shaped bearing extending in the X direction with the upper surface opened, that is, the bearing surface 61, and the bottom surface of the bearing portion 61 is in contact with the circumferential surface of the transport roller 35 and rotatably receives the transport roller 35. It forms a substantially semicircular inner peripheral surface.

   By using the bearing 61 for receiving the transport roller 35 as a groove-shaped bearing having an open upper surface, the transport roller 35 is formed in the groove forming the bearing 61 when the transport roller 35 is attached to the bearing 61 in the manufacturing process. The installation of the transport roller 35 is completed simply by dropping the. Thereby, the manufacturing process of the inkjet printer 1 can be simplified, the number of components can be reduced, and the inkjet printer 1 can be manufactured at low cost.

   On the other hand, the second guide member 24 formed to face the first guide member 24 is a rotation shaft 26 formed at one end of the unit frame 22 constituting the housing 2 (see FIG. 2) of the inkjet printer 1. The unit frame 22 is formed to be rotatable. A driven roller 36 is rotatably attached to one end of the second guide member 24 at a position facing the transport roller 35.

   A coil spring (biasing means) 27 is attached between the end of the second guide member 24 opposite to the end where the driven roller 36 is attached and the unit frame 22. The coil spring 27 may be a tension spring that urges the second guide member 24 and the unit frame 22 in the direction N1 to draw each other. The coil spring 27 causes the second guide member 24 to be centered around the rotation shaft 26. 3 is biased in the clockwise direction R1. As a result, the driven roller 36 rotatably supported by the second guide member 24 is urged in the direction N <b> 2 that is pressed toward the transport roller 35.

   A regulating member 28 is formed on the second guide member 24. For example, the regulating member 28 may be a projecting member that is formed integrally with the second guide member 24 and extends from the second guide member 24 toward the one surface 22 a of the unit frame 22. When the second guide member 24 tries to rotate in the counterclockwise direction R <b> 2 about the rotation shaft 26, such a restriction member 28 is brought into contact with the one surface 22 a of the unit frame 22 by the top portion 28 a of the unit frame 22. The driven roller 36 formed on the second guide member 24 regulates the movable range (movable range) in the direction N3 in which the driven roller 36 is separated from the first guide member 23.

   Furthermore, a conveyance motor 19 that rotates the conveyance roller 35 is formed at one end of the conveyance roller 35. Accordingly, when the transport motor 19 rotates, the transport roller 35 rotates in the clockwise direction R1 in FIG. A guide roller 29 is formed on the second guide member 24. The transport device 5 having such a configuration guides the sheet P fed through the U-shaped reversing path 50 (see FIG. 2) along the lower surface of the second guide member 24 through the guide roller 29, and transports the transport roller. The leading end portion of the sheet P is nipped between the roller 35 and the driven roller 36. And the conveyance roller 35 is rotated with the conveyance motor 19, and the paper P is sent out toward the recording part 4 (refer FIG. 2).

The operation of the ink jet printer (printing apparatus) of the present invention having the above configuration will be described.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the transport device in the ink jet printer of the present invention. In addition, the structure and code | symbol of each member are the same as that of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4A, in a state where the sheet is not transported, the driven roller 36 constituting the paper feed roller unit 34 faces the transport roller 35 while being urged against and in contact therewith.

   As shown in FIG. 4B, when it is assumed that a large impact is applied to the inkjet printer 1, for example, the impact G is applied from the bottom by accidentally dropping the inkjet printer 1, the upper surface is opened by the impact G. The conveying roller 35 supported by the groove-shaped bearing portion 61 floats in the direction F away from the groove of the bearing portion 61. Then, the second guide member 24 is pushed up in the counterclockwise direction R2 by coming into contact with the guide roller 29 facing the transport roller 35.

   However, when the second guide member 24 attempts to rotate in the counterclockwise direction R <b> 2, the top surface 28 a of the protruding regulating member 28 formed on the second guide member 24 contacts the one surface 22 a of the unit frame 22. . Since the unit frame 22 is a structure constituting the skeleton of the ink jet printer 1, the position of the unit frame 22 does not easily move with respect to other constituent members.

   As a result, a significant movement of the driven roller 36 formed on the second guide member 24 in the direction away from the first guide member 23 is prevented. As a result, even if the transport roller 35 is about to be detached from the bearing portion 61 due to the impact G, it can be prevented from coming into contact with the driven roller 36 and the transport roller 35 can be prevented from coming off from the open portion of the bearing portion 61.

   The distance Δ1 (see FIG. 4A) between the top surface 28a of the regulating member 28 and the one surface 22a of the unit frame 22 is a movable range in the direction in which the second guide member 24 is separated from the first guide member 23. Regulate the amount of regulation. That is, such an interval Δ1 is within a range in which the conveyance roller 35 is not detached from the bearing portion 62 due to the contact of the conveyance roller 35 with the driven roller 36, for example, the sheet thickness of the sheet having the maximum printable thickness, It may be determined in consideration of the vertical movement amount of the driven roller 36 necessary for conveyance.

   For example, the interval Δ1 is set in consideration of the rotation allowable amount of the second guide member 24 so that the maximum separation distance between the peripheral surface of the driven roller 36 and the opening edge of the bearing portion 61 does not exceed the diameter of the transport roller 35. If set, separation of the transport roller 35 from the bearing portion 62 can be reliably prevented.

One or more restricting members 28 for restricting the movement of the second guide member 24 in the direction away from the first guide member 23 may be formed on the second guide member 24. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the formation position of the regulating member 28 along the X direction (main scanning direction) of the second guide member 24.
In this embodiment, a total of six restricting members 28 are provided in the X direction (main scanning direction, paper width direction) of the second guide member 24, that is, in the axial direction of the transport roller 35, at both ends and near the center. Is formed. Such a regulating member 28 is preferably provided at least in a region through which the paper (print medium) P passes. Accordingly, for example, even when a large impact is applied to the inkjet printer 1, it is possible to prevent the conveyance roller 35 from being deformed by receiving the conveyance roller 35 in the passage region of the paper (printing medium) P.

   For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the regulating member 28 is moved along the X direction (main scanning direction, paper width direction) of the second guide member 24, that is, along the axial direction of the transport roller 35. It may be formed at two places on both ends within the range of the passing region.

The restricting member that restricts the movable range in the direction in which the second guide member is separated from the first guide member may be provided on a member other than the second guide member.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a protruding regulating member 83 extending from the one surface 82 a of the unit frame 82 toward the second guide member 24 is formed. Even in such a configuration, when the second guide member 85 tries to move away from the first guide member 84 due to an impact, for example, the bottom surface 83a of the regulating member 83 formed on the unit frame 82 and the second guide member 85 The second guide member 85 is restricted from moving in the direction away from the first guide member 84. Accordingly, even if the transport roller 35 is lifted by an impact, the transport roller 35 comes into contact with the driven roller 36 supported by the second guide member 85, so that the transport roller 35 is reliably prevented from coming off from the open portion of the bearing portion 61. it can.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inkjet printer (printing apparatus), 22 ... Unit frame, 23 ... 1st guide member, 24 ... 2nd guide member, 28 ... Restriction member, 35 ... Conveyance roller, 36 ... Driven roller, 61 ... Bearing part, P ... Paper (print medium).

Claims (4)

The first guide member and the second guide member that are arranged to face each other and guide the print medium, a transport roller that transports the print medium, and the printing that is rotated along with the transport roller and rotated with the transport roller. A driven device comprising a driven roller for sandwiching the medium,
The first guide member has a bearing portion that is open on the second guide member side, and is provided so as to rotatably support the transport roller on the bearing portion.
The second guide member is provided so as to rotatably support the driven roller and urge the driven roller toward the transport roller,
A printing apparatus, comprising: a regulating member that regulates a movable range in a direction in which the second guide member is separated from the first guide member.    The restriction member is a protrusion provided on the second guide member, and when the second guide member moves in a direction away from the first guide member, the protrusion constitutes a casing of the printing apparatus. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the movable range is regulated by contacting the unit frame.    The regulation amount of the movable range is set such that when the transport roller moves to the opening side of the bearing portion, the transport roller does not separate from the bearing portion due to contact with the driven roller. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is a printer. A plurality of the regulating members are formed, and at least one of them is provided in a region through which the print medium passes along an axial direction of the transport roller. 4. The printing apparatus according to any one of 3.

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