JP2012062170A - Medium conveying system, image forming system, and medium conveying method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new and improved medium conveying system capable of cutting a long medium with a high degree of precision, an image forming system, and a medium conveying method.SOLUTION: The medium conveying system includes a conveying member for conveying a long medium in a conveying direction, a cutting member for cutting the medium conveyed by the conveying member in the width direction of the medium perpendicular to the conveying direction, and an opposed member disposed between the conveying member and the cutting member in the conveying direction that is opposed to the side end of the medium outside the medium in the width direction. By moving in the width direction, the opposed member is located in a spaced position spaced from the side end, or in a contact position where it comes in contact with the side end. The medium conveying system further includes a control part that makes the conveying member convey the medium in a state that the opposed member is located in the spaced position, makes the opposed member move from the spaced position to the contact position in a state that the conveyance of the medium is stopped, and then makes the cutting member to start its cutting operation.

Description

  The present invention relates to a medium conveying apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a medium conveying method.

  As a medium transport device, for example, a printer that transports roll paper (an elongated medium) on which an image is printed is known. The printer includes a conveyance roller that is a conveyance member, and conveys the roll paper in the conveyance direction by rotating the conveyance roller in a state where the roll paper is nipped.

  The printer includes a cutting member (cutter) that cuts the roll paper into cut paper having a desired size on the downstream side in the transport direction from the transport roller. Then, the roll paper on which the image is printed is conveyed to a cutting position by a conveying roller, and is cut by a cutting member in the width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction.

JP 2006-175818 A JP 2005-262585 A JP 59-209169 A JP 2009-184249 A JP 07-108492 A

  By the way, when the roll paper is transported by the transport roller, the roll paper may be skewed between the transport roller and the cutting member in the transport direction. Even when the roll paper conveyed in such a state is cut, there is a problem that the actual cut portion of the roll paper is deviated from the ideal cut portion (for example, it is cut obliquely).

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved medium transport apparatus capable of cutting a long medium with high accuracy. An image forming apparatus and a medium conveying method are provided.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, according to an aspect of the present invention, a transport member that transports a long medium in a transport direction, and the medium transported by the transport member are orthogonal to the transport direction. A cutting member that cuts in the width direction of the medium, and a facing member that is provided between the transport member and the cutting member in the transport direction and faces the side edge of the medium outside the medium in the width direction. The opposing member moves in the width direction to be located at a separated position separated from the side end or a contact position contacting the side end, and the opposed member is located at the separated position. A control unit configured to start the cutting operation of the cutting member after the medium is transported to the transport member in a state and the opposing member is moved from the separation position to the contact position in a state where transport of the medium is stopped Further comprising medium transport apparatus is provided.

  And a biasing member that biases the opposing member toward the side end in the width direction, and the opposing member is biased by the biasing member when moving from the separated position to the contact position. It is good also as pressing the said side end in response to power.

  The opposing member is provided along the transport direction on one end side in the width direction, is provided along the transport direction on the other end side in the width direction, and is a fixed guide that guides the medium in a fixed state. The counter member may sandwich the medium together with the fixed guide when positioned at the contact position.

  The fixed guide may include a rotatable roller whose outer peripheral surface is in contact with a side edge of the medium when the facing member is located at the contact position.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to another aspect of the present invention, a conveying member that conveys a long medium in a conveying direction, an image forming member that forms an image on the medium, and the image A cutting member that cuts the medium transported by the transporting member after being formed in the width direction of the medium perpendicular to the transporting direction; and provided between the image forming member and the cutting member in the transporting direction. An opposing member that opposes the side edge of the medium outside the medium in the width direction, and the opposing member moves away from the side edge by moving in the width direction. The medium is transported to the transport member with the opposing member positioned at the separation position and in contact with the side edge, and the counter member is separated with the medium transport stopped. position After moving to et the contact position, further comprising a control unit for starting the cutting operation of the cutting member, the image forming apparatus is provided.

  In order to solve the above problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, in the transport direction, a transport member that transports a long medium, and the medium in the width direction of the medium perpendicular to the transport direction A counter member that is provided between a cutting member that cuts the medium and that opposes a side edge of the medium outside the medium in the width direction; and a position separated from the side edge; and The step of transporting the medium in a state where the opposing member is positioned at the separation position, and the opposing member is moved from the separation position to a contact position that contacts the side edge in a state where transportation of the medium is stopped. And a step of starting a cutting operation of the cutting member.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a new and improved medium conveying apparatus, image forming apparatus, and medium conveying method capable of cutting a long medium with high accuracy. It becomes.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printer. 1 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a printer. It is the figure which showed the cutter unit 50 and the attitude | position correction | amendment unit 60. FIG. It is the figure which showed the state in which the movable guide 61 is located in a separation position. It is the figure which showed the state in which the movable guide 61 is located in a contact position. It is a figure for demonstrating other embodiment of the fixed guide 63. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the printer.

  Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in this specification and drawing, about the component which has the substantially same function structure, duplication description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol.

The description will be made in the following order.
1. 1. Configuration of medium transport device 2. Detailed configuration of cutter unit and posture correction unit Example of printer operation 4. 4. Effectiveness of the printer according to the present embodiment Other embodiments

<1. Configuration of Medium Conveying Device>
The configuration of the medium conveying apparatus will be described by taking a printer 10 as an example of an image forming apparatus as an example. The configuration of the printer 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the printer 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the printer 10.

  The printer 10 according to the present embodiment is a thermal transfer printer. Specifically, the printer 10 uses a thermal head to transfer sublimation dye ink applied to an ink ribbon onto roll paper, which is an example of a long medium, thereby printing an image on the roll paper. It is a printer. Of course, a melt-type printer, a thermal printer, or the like may be used.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 10 includes a roll paper transport unit 20, an ink ribbon transport unit 30, a head unit 40, a cutter unit 50, a posture correction unit 60, and a controller 70 which is an example of a control unit. Have.

  The roll paper transport unit 20 transports the roll paper S in the transport direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the roll paper transport unit 20 includes a paper feed roller 22, a capstan roller 23, a pinch roller 24, and a platen roller 25. The capstan roller 23 and the pinch roller 24 correspond to a conveying member (a pair of conveying rollers).

  The paper feed roller 22 feeds the roll paper S held by the holder 21 toward the thermal head 41. The capstan roller 23 sandwiches and conveys the roll paper S together with the pinch roller 24 that is a driven roller. The capstan roller 23 is rotatable in the forward direction (counterclockwise in FIG. 2) and the reverse direction (clockwise in FIG. 2), and feeds and pulls back the roll paper S in the transport direction. For example, the capstan roller 23 feeds the roll paper S when rotating in the forward direction, and pulls back the roll paper S when rotating in the reverse direction. The platen roller 25 is provided at a position facing the thermal head 41 and supports the roll paper S being conveyed.

  The ink ribbon transport unit 30 transports the ink ribbon R. As shown in FIG. 2, the ink ribbon transport unit 30 includes a supply reel 31 and a take-up reel 32. The ink ribbon R unwound from the supply reel 31 is conveyed along with the rotation of the take-up reel 32, passes between the thermal head 41 and the platen roller 25, and is taken up by the take-up reel 32.

  Here, the ink ribbon R will be described. The printer 10 prints a color image on the roll paper S. For this reason, three colors of sublimation dyes of Y (yellow), M (magenta), and C (cyan) are applied to the ink ribbon R in different colors. In addition to the above three colors, the ink ribbon R may be coated with a K (black) color or a transparent laminate ink.

  The head unit 40 transfers the ink applied to the ink ribbon R onto the roll paper S. The head unit 40 includes a thermal head 41 in which a plurality of heating elements (not shown) are arranged in a line. The plurality of heating elements are selectively energized according to the gradation level of the printed image, and generate thermal energy used for ink transfer.

  The thermal head 41 moves between a standby position and a transfer position where the ink is transferred to the roll paper S. The standby position is a position where the thermal head 41 is separated from the platen roller 25, and the transfer position is a position where the thermal head 41 holds the roll paper S and the ink ribbon R together with the platen roller 25. The thermal head 41 transfers the ink applied to the ink ribbon R onto the roll paper S when positioned at the transfer position. In the present embodiment, the ink ribbon R is fed in the same direction as the roll paper S, and when the roll paper S is pulled back by the capstan roller 23, the ink applied to the ink ribbon R is rolled. Transferred to the paper S.

  The cutter unit 50 is provided on the downstream side of the thermal head 21 in the transport direction. The cutter unit 50 has a blade for cutting roll paper, and the roll paper S having an image printed on the surface thereof is cut into cut paper of a predetermined size by the blade. The cut cut paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 26 (FIG. 2). The detailed configuration of the cutter unit 50 will be described later.

  The posture correction unit 60 is provided between the thermal head 21 and the cutter unit 50 in the transport direction. The posture correction unit 60 is for correcting the posture of the roll S in the conveyance path before the cutting operation of the roll paper S by the cutter unit 50. The detailed configuration of the posture correction unit 60 will be described later.

  The controller 70 controls each unit (the roll paper transport unit 20, the ink ribbon transport unit 30, the head unit 40, the cutter unit 50, and the posture correction unit 60). Specifically, the controller 70 controls each unit of the printer 10 through the unit control circuit 74 by the CPU 71 in accordance with a program stored in the memory 72. The controller 70 can communicate with a computer (not shown) via the interface 73. When receiving print data from the computer, the controller 70 controls each unit based on the print data and prints an image corresponding to the print data on the roll paper S.

  The detector 80 detects the situation inside the printer 10. For example, the detector 80 includes a detection sensor that detects the position of the roll paper S or the ink ribbon R on the transport path. The detector 80 outputs a signal corresponding to the detection result to the controller 70. The controller 70 receives the signal and controls each unit.

<2. Detailed configuration of cutter unit and posture correction unit>
Detailed configurations of the cutter unit 50 and the posture correction unit 60 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a view showing the cutter unit 50 and the posture correction unit 60. FIG. 4 is a view showing a state where the movable guide 61 is located at the separation position. FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which the movable guide 61 is located at the contact position.

  The cutter unit 50 cuts the roll paper S on which an image is printed into cut paper of a predetermined size. The cutter unit 50 includes a fixed blade 51, a movable blade 52 that is an example of a cutting member, and a roller pair 53.

  The fixed blade 51 is a blade provided along the width direction of the roll paper S (see FIG. 5) orthogonal to the transport direction. The fixed blade 51 is in contact with the back surface of the roll paper S located at the cutting position (cutting position).

  The movable blade 52 cuts the roll paper S in the width direction. Specifically, the movable blade 52 moves in the width direction of the roll paper S to cut the roll paper S in cooperation with the fixed blade 51. Before the roll paper S is cut, the movable blade 52 is positioned at a standby position outside the roll paper S in the width direction so as not to hinder the conveyance of the roll paper S. For this reason, the movable blade 52 positioned at the standby position on one end side in the width direction cuts the roll paper S while moving to the other end side.

  The roller pair 53 is a pair of movable rollers provided in the vicinity of the upstream side in the transport direction of the movable blade 52. The roller pair 53 moves in conjunction with the movement of the movable blade 52 and presses the roll paper S. Specifically, when the movable blade 52 is located at the standby position, the roller pair 53 is located at a position away from the roll paper S as shown in FIG. To do. On the other hand, the roller pair 53 moves in conjunction with the movement of the movable blade 52 in the width direction so as to cut the roll paper S, and holds the roll paper S as shown in FIG.

  The roll paper S sandwiched between the roller pair 53 is cut by the moving movable blade 52 and the fixed blade 51 that are moving. Such a roller pair 53 can prevent the roll paper S from moving during the cutting of the roll paper S.

  By the way, since the roll paper S is sent out by the capstan roller 23 and transported, so-called skewing (shift) of the roll paper S may occur between the thermal head 41 and the cutter unit 50 in the transport direction. In such a case, it should be cut at right angles to the side edge of the roll paper S, but it is cut obliquely with respect to the side edge. In particular, when the length in the transport direction such as the roll paper S is increased, skew is likely to occur. Further, since it is not appropriate to take out the paper during printing out of the apparatus because it may cause dust adhesion or damage to the paper. Therefore, when the paper is to be transported in the apparatus during printing, the blade and the printing position (capstan roller 23 Neighboring) needs to be separated to about the print size, and the gap between the capstan roller 23 and the blade becomes long, and skewing tends to occur. In order to solve such a problem, in this embodiment, an attitude correction unit 60 is provided between the thermal head 21 and the cutter unit 50 in the transport direction as shown in FIG.

  The posture correction unit 60 corrects the posture of the roll S in the transport path (such as the skew state of the roll paper S) before the cutting operation of the roll paper S by the cutter unit 50. By correcting the skew state of the roll paper S in this way, the roll paper S can be prevented from being cut obliquely, and as a result, the roll paper S can be cut with high accuracy.

  As shown in FIG. 4 and the like, the posture correction unit 60 includes a movable guide 61 that is an example of a facing member, a spring 62 that is an example of a biasing member, and a fixed guide 63. The movable guide 61 and the fixed guide 63 have a function as a regulation guide that regulates the movement of the roll paper S in the width direction.

  The movable guide 61 is provided on one end side in the width direction, and faces the side end L1 of the roll paper S on the outer side in the width direction than the roll paper S. The movable guide 61 has a contact surface 61a that can contact the side end L1. The contact surface 61a is made of resin and is formed so that the longitudinal direction is along the transport direction.

  The movable guide 61 is movable in the width direction of the roll paper S, and is separated from the side end L1 of the roll paper S (the position shown in FIG. 4) or a contact position that contacts the side end L1 (see FIG. 5). Position). The separation position is a position that does not hinder the conveyance of the roll paper S, specifically, a position where the roll paper S being conveyed does not contact the movable guide 61. The contact position is a position where the roll paper S contacts the contact surface 61 a of the movable guide 61.

  The spring 62 is located outside the movable guide 61 in the width direction, and biases the back surface of the movable guide 61 toward the side end L1 in the width direction. The movable guide 61 is urged by the spring 62 and can move from one end side to the other end side in the width direction. That is, the movable guide 61 is biased by the spring 62 and moves from the separated position to the contact position.

  The contact surface 61a receives the biasing force of the spring 62 and presses the side end L1 when the movable guide 61 moves from the separated position to the contact position. Accordingly, the contact surface 61a moves the roll paper S so that the pressed side end L1 is parallel to the contact surface 61a, so that the skew state of the roll paper S is eliminated.

  Note that the movement of the movable guide 61 from the contact position to the separation position is performed by a movement mechanism (not shown). This moving mechanism resists the urging force of the spring 62 and moves the movable guide 61 from the contact position to the separated position. The moving mechanism also has a function of locking the movable guide 61 at the separated position.

  The fixed guide 63 is provided on the other end side in the width direction, and faces the side end L2 of the roll paper S on the outer side in the width direction than the roll paper S. The fixed guide 63 has a contact surface 62a that can contact the side end L2. The contact surface 62a is made of resin and is formed such that the longitudinal direction is along the transport direction.

  Unlike the movable guide 61, the fixed guide 63 does not move in the width direction and guides the roll paper S in a fixed state. The fixed guide 63 sandwiches the roll paper S together with the movable guide 61 located at the contact position. That is, when the movable guide 61 is located at the contact position, the contact surface 61a of the movable guide 61 contacts the side end L1 of the roll paper S, and the contact surface 63a of the fixed guide 63 contacts the side end L2. In this manner, when the movable guide 61 and the fixed guide 63 sandwich the roll paper S, pressing the roll paper S in the width direction corrects the skew state of the roll paper S.

  The movable guide 61 moves from the separated position to the contact position before the movable blade 52 of the cut unit 50 moves, and is located at the contact position while the movable blade 52 is moving. Thereby, the skew state of the roll paper S can be corrected before the roll paper S is cut by the movable blade 52, and the movement of the roll paper S at the time of cutting can also be prevented.

  In the above embodiment, the longitudinal direction of the contact surface 61a of the movable guide 61 and the contact surface 63a of the fixed guide 63 is along the transport direction, but the present invention is not limited to this. The longitudinal direction of the contact surface 61a and the contact surface 63a may be perpendicular to the transport direction (along the vertical direction).

  In the above-described embodiment, the contact surface 63a of the fixed guide 63 is in contact with the side end L2 of the roll paper S when the movable guide 61 is positioned at the contact position. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of rollers 64 provided on the fixed guide 63 may be in contact with the side end L2. The plurality of rollers 64 are rotatably supported by the fixed guide 63 and have a function of preventing the roll paper S from being damaged when the roll paper S contacts the fixed guide 63. Of course, these rollers may also be provided in the movable guide 61. Further, the number of rollers may be one instead of a plurality. FIG. 6 is a view for explaining another embodiment of the fixed guide 63.

<3. Example of printer operation>
An example of the operation of the printer 10 until an image is printed on the roll paper S and cut into cut paper will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the printer 10.

  In this operation example, the roll paper S is transported to the cutter unit 50 with the movable guide 61 positioned at the separation position, and after the movable guide 61 is moved to the contact position with the transport of the roll paper S stopped, the cut is performed. It is characterized in that the operation is started.

  Also, this operation is realized by the controller 70 executing a program stored in the memory 72. The flowchart shown in FIG. 7 starts when print data is received from the computer via the interface 73.

  First, the controller 70 prints an image based on the received print data on the roll paper S by operating the roll paper transport unit 20, the ink ribbon transport unit 30, and the head unit 40 (step S2). Specifically, the thermal head 41 transfers the ink applied to the ink ribbon R transported by the ink ribbon transport unit 30 onto the roll paper S transported to the roll paper transport unit 20, whereby the roll paper S The image is printed on. During the conveyance of the roll paper S, the movable guide 61 is located at the separation position (FIG. 4) so as not to interfere with the conveyance. That is, the moving mechanism described above maintains the state where the movable guide 61 is locked at the separation position.

  The controller 70 feeds the roll paper S on which the image is printed by a predetermined conveyance amount with the movable guide 61 positioned at the separation position (step S4). Specifically, the capstan roller 23 and the pinch roller 24 convey toward the cut unit 50 with the roll paper S sandwiched therebetween, and stop when they are conveyed by a predetermined conveyance amount. Here, the predetermined transport amount is a transport amount such that the cut portion when the skew of the roll paper S is not generated becomes an ideal cut position.

  With the roll paper S stopped, the controller 70 moves the movable guide 61 from the separated position to the contact position (step S6). Specifically, the locked state by the moving mechanism is released, and the movable guide 61 moves from the separated position to the contact position (FIG. 5) by the biasing force of the spring 62. Here, when the movable guide 61 moves to the contact position, the contact surface 61a of the movable guide 61 contacts the side end L1 of the roll paper S. When the movable guide 61 further moves in contact with the roll paper S, the roll paper S moves so that the side end L1 is parallel to the contact surface 61a. Thereby, the skew state of the roll paper S is canceled.

  With the movable guide 61 positioned at the contact position, the controller 70 cuts the leading end portion of the roll paper S by the cut unit 50 (step S8). For example, the movable blade 52 located on one end side in the width direction cuts the roll paper S while moving to the other end side. The movable blade 52 stops on the other end side after the roll paper S is cut. Here, since the skewed state of the roll paper S is canceled when the movable guide 61 is positioned at the contact position, the accuracy of the cut position on the roll paper S can be increased.

  Next, the controller 70 moves the movable guide 61 from the contact position to the separation position in order to convey the roll paper S (step S10). Specifically, the movable guide 61 is moved to the separated position against the urging force of the spring 62 by the moving mechanism described above. Thereafter, the controller 70 feeds the roll paper S by the roll paper transport unit 20 by a predetermined transport amount (step S12).

  With the roll paper S stopped after being transported, the controller 70 again moves the movable guide 61 from the separated position to the contact position (step S14). As a result, the skew state of the roll paper S is canceled as described in step S10.

  With the movable guide 61 positioned at the contact position, the controller 70 cuts the roll paper S into cut sheets with the movable blade 52 (step S16). That is, the movable blade 52 positioned on the other end side in the width direction cuts the roll paper S while moving to the one end side. Thereby, the cut paper of a desired size can be cut with high accuracy.

<4. Effectiveness of Printer 10 According to the Present Embodiment>
As described above, the printer 10 corrects the skew state of the roll paper S by the width regulation guides 61 and 63 before the cutting operation of the roll paper S by the cutter unit 50. Then, the printer 10 cuts the roll paper S after correcting the skew state.

  As a result, the cut portion of the roll paper S can be perpendicular to the side edge of the roll paper S with high accuracy. Traditionally, it has been an important and difficult problem for roll printers to always make a right angle cut. The human eye is sensitive to horizontal and right angles, so if it is cut diagonally, it may be very noticeable depending on the content of the photo, and may be the subject of complaints from users. For example, in the case of a 6-inch wide photograph, a human being can detect that the cut is sufficiently slanted by just shifting from a right angle of about 1 mm and a cut part angle of about 0.4 degrees from a right angle. It may be sufficient to cause a decline in the quality of a photograph as a product.

  Also, even when multiple photos are arranged and arranged on the album after printing, if photos with diagonal cuts of the above degree are included, they will not overlap neatly. Are detected as problematic, such as not parallel. In contrast, the printer 10 according to the present embodiment can prevent such a problem from occurring.

<5. Other Embodiments>
The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is obvious that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can come up with various changes or modifications within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims. Of course, it is understood that these also belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

  In the above-described embodiment, the movable guide 61 is described as an example of the opposing member at the side end of the roll paper S. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the facing member may be a roll member whose outer peripheral surface can contact the side edge of the roll paper S.

  In the above embodiment, the thermal transfer printer 10 has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to various printers such as an ink jet printer. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to a printer but also to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile that can form an image on roll paper.

  In the above embodiment, the roll paper to which the ink applied to the ink ribbon is transferred has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be a roll paper that is printed without using an ink ribbon.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Printer 20 Roll paper conveyance unit 21 Holder 22 Paper feed roller 23 Capstan roller 24 Pinch roller 25 Platen roller 26 Paper discharge tray 30 Ink ribbon conveyance unit 31 Supply reel 32 Take-up reel 40 Head unit 41 Thermal head 50 Cutter unit 51 Fixed Blade 52 Movable blade 53 Roller pair 60 Posture correction unit 61 Movable guide 61a Contact surface 62 Spring 63 Fixed guide 63a Contact surface 64 Roller 70 Controller 71 CPU
72 Memory 73 Interface 74 Unit control circuit 80 Detector S Roll paper

Claims (6)

A transport member for transporting a long medium in the transport direction;
A cutting member that cuts the medium transported by the transport member in the width direction of the medium perpendicular to the transport direction;
An opposing member provided between the conveying member and the cutting member in the conveying direction, and opposed to a side edge of the medium outside the medium in the width direction;
With
The opposing member moves in the width direction, and is located at a separated position separated from the side end or a contact position in contact with the side end,
The medium is transported by the transport member in a state where the opposing member is positioned at the separation position, and the opposing member is moved from the separation position to the contact position in a state where transportation of the medium is stopped. A medium conveying apparatus further comprising a control unit for starting a cutting operation of the cutting member. A biasing member that biases the opposing member toward the side end in the width direction;
The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the opposing member receives an urging force of the urging member and presses the side end when moving from the separated position to the contact position. The opposing member is provided along the transport direction on one end side in the width direction,
A fixed guide that is provided along the transport direction on the other end in the width direction and guides the medium in a fixed state;
The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the opposing member sandwiches the medium together with the fixed guide when positioned at the contact position.   The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the fixed guide includes a rotatable roller whose outer peripheral surface is in contact with a side end of the medium when the facing member is located at the contact position. A transport member for transporting a long medium in the transport direction;
An image forming member for forming an image on the medium;
A cutting member that cuts the medium transported by the transport member after the image is formed in the width direction of the medium perpendicular to the transport direction;
An opposing member provided between the image forming member and the cutting member in the transport direction and facing a side edge of the medium outside the medium in the width direction;
With
The opposing member moves in the width direction, and is located at a separated position separated from the side end or a contact position in contact with the side end,
The medium is transported by the transport member in a state where the opposing member is positioned at the separation position, and the opposing member is moved from the separation position to the contact position in a state where transportation of the medium is stopped. An image forming apparatus, further comprising a control unit that starts a cutting operation of the cutting member. In the transport direction, provided between a transport member that transports a long medium and a cutting member that cuts the medium in the width direction of the medium perpendicular to the transport direction, and in the width direction than the medium Positioning a facing member facing the side edge of the medium on the outside at a separated position spaced from the side edge;
Transporting the medium in a state where the facing member is positioned at the separated position;
Starting the cutting operation of the cutting member after moving the counter member from the separated position to a contact position that contacts the side edge in a state where conveyance of the medium is stopped;
A medium conveying method having:

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