JP2012076838A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording device capable of avoiding contact of a conveying belt with a sensor.SOLUTION: A printer includes: the sensor 70 including a light emitting element 71, light receiving elements 72a to 72e and a support frame 73, and detecting the position of the conveying belt 8 in a main scanning direction; a moving means to move the sensor 70 between a detection position and a separation position; and a controller 1p. The support frame 73 includes: a pair of opposed parts 73a and 73b to support the light emitting element 71 and the light receiving elements 72a to 72e; and a connection part 73c to connect the pair of opposed parts 73a and 73b. The controller 1p includes a contact determination unit to determine whether the conveying belt 8 has a possibility of coming into contact with the connection part 73c on the basis of the detection result of the sensor 70. When determined by the determination unit that the conveying belt 8 has a possibility of coming into contact with the connection part 73c, the moving means moves the sensor 70 from the detection position to the separation position.

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that records an image on a recording medium.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a conveyor belt (transfer belt), a sensor that detects the coordinates of the side end of the conveyor belt, and meander correcting means (belt drive control) that corrects the meander of the conveyor belt based on the detection result of the sensor. An image forming apparatus including the image forming apparatus. The sensor is a transmissive sensor including a light emitting element, a light receiving element, and a U-shaped support frame that supports the light emitting element and the light receiving element.

JP 09-169449 A

  However, the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1 has meandering correcting means for correcting the meandering of the conveying belt, but the meandering of the conveying belt that exceeds the meandering correction capability of the meandering correcting means occurs. Then, there is a problem that the conveyance belt and the sensor come into contact with each other and the sensor is damaged.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus capable of avoiding contact between a conveyance belt and a sensor.

  The recording apparatus of the present invention has a recording unit that records an image on a recording medium, and a surface that is disposed to face the recording unit, and the surface moves in the transport direction while supporting the recording medium. In a recording apparatus including a conveyance belt that conveys a recording medium in a conveyance direction, and a measurement unit that measures a position of the conveyance belt in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, the measurement unit includes a light emitting element, a light receiving element, And a transmission type sensor including a support frame that supports the light emitting element and the light receiving element, and the position of the conveyor belt in the orthogonal direction is measured based on a detection result of the sensor, A pair of opposing portions that respectively support the light emitting element and the light receiving element so that the light emitting element and the light receiving element face each other to form a detection region; and the pair of pairs And a sensor that detects the conveyor belt in the detection region by surrounding an end of the conveyor belt in the orthogonal direction with the pair of opposed parts and the coupling part. A determination unit for determining whether or not there is a possibility that the transport belt is in contact with the coupling unit based on a measurement result of the measurement unit; and a detection position for detecting the transport belt; And a moving means for moving the sensor to a separation position that is a position farther from the transport belt than the detection position. And the said moving means moves the said sensor from the said detection position to the said separation position, when the said determination part determines that the said conveyance belt and the said connection part may contact.

  According to this, when the determination unit determines that there is a possibility of contact between the conveyance belt and the connecting portion, the moving means moves the sensor from the detection position to the separation position, so that contact between the conveyance belt and the sensor is avoided. It becomes possible to do. For this reason, it becomes possible to suppress that a conveyance belt breaks by contact with a sensor.

  In the present invention, the detection region has a plurality of divided detection regions arranged along the orthogonal direction, and the determination unit is a division closest to the connecting portion of the plurality of divided detection regions. It is preferable to determine that there is a possibility of contact between the conveyor belt and the connecting portion when the detection state of the conveyor belt changes in the detection region. This makes it possible to more reliably avoid contact between the conveyor belt and the sensor.

  In the present invention, the measuring means measures a displacement speed of the transport belt in the orthogonal direction according to a change amount per unit time of the position of the transport belt in the orthogonal direction based on a detection result of the sensor. And a storage unit that stores a predetermined value that is a predetermined value related to the displacement speed of the transport belt and that is an upper limit value that can correct the meandering of the transport belt. The determination unit is configured to perform the conveyance when the displacement speed of the conveyance belt in the direction in which the conveyance belt is measured by the measurement unit approaches the connection unit exceeds the predetermined value stored in the storage unit. It is preferable to determine that there is a possibility of contact between the belt and the connecting portion. This makes it possible to avoid contact between the conveyor belt and the sensor even when the displacement speed of the conveyor belt exceeds a predetermined value.

  In the present invention, meandering correcting means for correcting meandering of the conveyor belt based on the measurement result of the measuring means is further provided. The predetermined value is a value that differs depending on the position of the conveyor belt in the orthogonal direction, and the determination unit is configured to determine the conveyor belt in a direction in which the conveyor belt measured by the measuring unit approaches the connecting unit. When the displacement speed exceeds the upper limit value stored in the storage section according to the position of the conveyance belt in the orthogonal direction when the displacement speed is detected, the conveyance belt and the connecting section are It is preferable to determine that there is a possibility of contact. Thereby, the determination accuracy by the determination unit is improved.

  Further, in the present invention, belt driving means for controlling the travel of the transport belt, and when the determination unit determines that the transport belt and the connecting unit may contact, It is preferable to further include belt driving means for reducing the traveling speed. Thereby, it becomes possible to suppress breakage of the conveyor belt.

  In the present invention, the meandering correction means may be configured such that when the determination unit determines that there is a possibility that the conveyance belt and the connection unit are in contact with each other, the conveyance belt is separated from the connection unit in the orthogonal direction. It is preferable to move the conveyor belt in the direction. As a result, the conveyance belt and the sensor are more unlikely to contact each other.

  In another aspect, the recording apparatus of the present invention includes a recording unit that records an image on a recording medium, and a surface that is disposed to face the recording unit, and the surface supports the recording medium and conveys it. A recording apparatus comprising: a conveying belt that conveys a recording medium in the conveying direction by moving in a direction; and a measuring unit that measures a position of the conveying belt in an orthogonal direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. A transmission type sensor including a light emitting element, a light receiving element, and a support frame that supports the light emitting element and the light receiving element, and the position of the conveyor belt in the orthogonal direction is determined based on a detection result of the sensor. And the support frame is a pair of pairs that respectively support the light emitting element and the light receiving element so that the light emitting element and the light receiving element face each other to form a detection region. And a connecting portion that connects the pair of facing portions, and the sensor surrounds an end portion of the conveyor belt in the orthogonal direction by the pair of facing portions and the connecting portion, thereby detecting the detection region. And a determination unit that determines whether or not the conveyance belt may come into contact with the connecting portion according to an operation state of the recording apparatus, and the conveyance belt is detected. And a moving means for moving the sensor to a separation position that is a position farther from the conveyor belt than the detection position. And the said moving means moves the said sensor from the said detection position to the said separation position, when the said determination part determines that the said conveyance belt and the said connection part may contact.

  According to this, when the determination unit determines that there is a possibility of contact between the conveyance belt and the connecting portion, the moving means moves the sensor from the detection position to the separation position, so that contact between the conveyance belt and the sensor is avoided. It becomes possible to do. For this reason, it becomes possible to suppress that a conveyance belt breaks by contact with a sensor.

  The present invention further includes a conveyance abnormality detection unit that detects whether or not a recording medium conveyance abnormality has occurred on the surface of the conveyance belt. And it is preferable that the said determination part determines with the said conveyance belt and the said connection part contacting, when the said conveyance abnormality detection part detects that the said conveyance abnormality generate | occur | produced. Thereby, when a conveyance abnormality occurs, the sensor can be moved to the separation position. For this reason, it is possible to suppress contact between the conveyance belt and the sensor when the user performs the conveyance abnormality recovery process.

  Moreover, in this invention, the cleaning means which has a wiper which wipes off the said surface by moving along the said orthogonal direction, contacting the said surface of the said conveyance belt is further provided. And it is preferable to determine with the said determination part having a possibility that the said conveyance belt and the said connection part will contact when the said cleaning means wipes off the said surface. Accordingly, even when the transport belt is displaced in the orthogonal direction when wiping the transport belt, the sensor is moved to the separation position, so that contact between the transport belt and the sensor can be avoided.

  In the present invention, belt driving means for controlling the travel of the conveyor belt is further provided. And it is preferable that the said determination part determines with the said conveyance belt and the said connection part contacting, when driving | running | working of the said conveyance belt is started by the said belt drive means. This makes it possible to avoid contact between the conveyor belt and the sensor even if the conveyor belt meanders greatly when the belt starts running.

  In the present invention, meander correcting means for correcting the meander of the conveyor belt based on the measurement result of the measuring means, and return for determining that the sensor can be returned from the separation position to the detection position. A determination unit is further provided. The moving means moves the sensor from the separation position to the detection position when the return determination unit determines that the sensor can be returned to the detection position, and the meander correction means When the transport belt is detected by the sensor while the moving means is returning the sensor to the detection position, and when the transport belt is detected by the sensor while returning to the detection position When the position of the sensor is outside a predetermined range, it is preferable that the transport belt is moved in the orthogonal direction so that the transport belt is detected by the sensor located at the detection position. Thus, when the conveyance belt is detected by a sensor outside the predetermined range while returning the sensor to the detection position, the conveyance belt may be moved so that the conveyance belt is detected by the sensor located at the detection position. It becomes possible. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the conveyor belt from coming off the roller or coming into contact with the components arranged in the vicinity.

  Further, in the present invention, the moving means is a case where the transport belt is detected by the sensor while returning the sensor to the detection position, and the transport is performed by the sensor while returning to the detection position. When the position of the sensor when the belt is detected is within a predetermined range, the position is set as a new detection position, and the meandering correction unit is responsive to the detection result of the sensor at the new detection position. It is preferable that the meandering of the conveyor belt is corrected based on the measurement result of the measurement means. Accordingly, when the conveyor belt is detected by the sensor within the predetermined range while returning the sensor to the detection position, the position of the conveyor belt can be changed to the detection position of the sensor to correct the meandering of the conveyor belt. . For this reason, the frequency of correcting the meandering of the conveyor belt is reduced.

  According to the recording apparatus of the present invention, when the determination unit determines that there is a possibility that the conveyance belt and the coupling unit are in contact, the moving unit moves the sensor from the detection position to the separation position. Can be avoided. For this reason, it becomes possible to suppress that a conveyance belt breaks by contact with a sensor.

1 is a schematic side view showing an overall configuration of an ink jet printer as an embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention. It is a schematic plan view of the conveyance unit shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view of the sensor and the moving mechanism shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of a printer. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the control apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a sensor retracting operation executed by a printer control apparatus. It is a situation figure when returning a sensor from a separation position to a detection position. It is a situation figure when returning a sensor from a separation position to a detection position. It is a figure which shows the modification of the moving mechanism which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, (a) is a side view, (b) is a top view.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, an overall configuration of an ink jet printer 1 as an embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  The printer 1 has a rectangular parallelepiped casing 1a. A paper discharge unit 2 is provided on the top of the casing 1a. The internal space of the housing 1a is divided into spaces A, B, and C in order from the top. In the spaces A and B, a paper transport path that is continuous with the paper discharge unit 2 is formed. In the space C, a cartridge 39 as an ink supply source for the inkjet head 10 (hereinafter referred to as the head 10) is accommodated.

  In the space A, four heads 10 that respectively eject magenta, cyan, yellow, and black ink, a transport unit 21 that transports the paper P in the transport direction D (the direction from the left to the right in FIG. 1), and the transport unit 21. A maintenance unit 60 provided near the lower end of the paper, a guide unit for guiding the paper P, and the like are disposed. In the space A, a control device 1p that controls the operation of each unit of the printer 1 and controls the operation of the entire printer 1 is arranged.

  The control device 1p controls the recording operation (the conveyance operation of the paper P by each part of the printer 1, the ink ejection operation synchronized with the conveyance of the paper P, etc.) based on the image data supplied from the external device. Based on the wiping command, the control device 1p controls the driving of the transport unit 21 and the maintenance unit 60 to perform maintenance. Here, the maintenance refers to a series of operations for removing foreign matters (ink, paper dust, etc.) on the surface 8a of the conveyor belt 8.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the transport unit 21 includes belt rollers 6 and 7, an endless transport belt 8 wound between both rollers 6 and 7, a nip roller 4 disposed outside the transport belt 8, and It has a peeling plate 5, an adsorption platen 22 disposed inside the conveyor belt 8, and the like. The belt roller 7 is a driving roller and is rotated by a transport motor 121 (see FIG. 4) driven by the control device 1p, and rotates clockwise in FIG. With the rotation of the belt roller 7, the transport belt 8 travels in the transport direction D. The belt roller 6 is a driven roller and rotates clockwise in FIG. 1 as the transport belt 8 travels.

The transport belt 8 is made of, for example, polyimide or fluororesin and has a volume resistivity and flexibility of about 10 ⁸ to 10 ¹⁴ Ωcm, but can have the same volume resistivity and flexibility. Any material can be used. Here, the sub-scanning direction is a direction parallel to the transport direction D of the paper P by the transport unit 21, and the main scanning direction is an orthogonal direction parallel to the horizontal plane and orthogonal to the sub-scanning direction.

  The suction platen 22 has a pair of comb electrodes (not shown) in which a plurality of long portions that are long along the transport direction D are alternately arranged along the main scanning direction. Is a device that adsorbs the paper P to the front surface 8a of the transport belt 8 by applying. A power source 36 for applying a voltage to the suction platen 22 is controlled by the control device 1p.

  The nip roller 4 is arranged at the upstream end of the suction platen 22 and at a position facing the long portion of the electrode. The nip roller 4 presses the sheet P sent out from the sheet feeding unit 1 b against the surface 8 a of the transport belt 8.

  In this configuration, the conveyor belt 8 is rotated by rotating the belt roller 7 clockwise in FIG. 1 under the control of the control device 1p. At this time, the belt roller 6 and the nip roller 4 also rotate with the rotation of the conveying belt 8. In this way, the belt drive means for running the conveyor belt 8 is configured by the control device 1p, the belt rollers 6 and 7, and the conveyor motor 121. At this time, when different potentials are applied to the pair of comb electrodes of the suction platen 22 under the control of the control device 1p, positive or negative charges are generated in the portion of the conveyor belt 8 facing the paper P, A charge having a polarity different from that of the previous charge is induced on the surface of the paper P facing the transport belt 8, and the paper P is attracted to the transport belt 8 by attracting these charges. Thus, the paper P sent out from the paper supply unit 1b is conveyed in the conveyance direction D while being attracted to the conveyance belt 8. Further, at this time, when the sheet P conveyed while being attracted to the conveying belt 8 passes immediately below the head 10, the control device 1 p controls the heads 10 so that the ink of each color is directed toward the sheet P. Discharge. Thus, a desired color image is formed on the paper P. Thus, the recording unit for recording the image on the paper P is constituted by each head 10 and the control device 1p. The peeling plate 5 is disposed to face the belt roller 7, peels the paper P from the surface 8 a, and further guides the paper P to the downstream side in the transport direction D.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a paper sensor 18 is provided at a position upstream of the four heads 10 and facing the conveyance belt 8. The paper sensor 18 detects the paper P that has been transported from the paper feed unit 1b to the transport unit 21. In addition, a paper sensor 19 is provided at a position downstream of the four heads 10 and facing the conveyor belt 8. The paper sensor 19 detects the paper P that has passed between the conveyor belt 8 and the head 10. These paper sensors 18 and 19 are connected to the control device 1p, and output a detection signal of the paper P to the control device 1p.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 1 conveys by detecting a meandering correction mechanism 31 that corrects the meandering (position in the main scanning direction) of the conveying belt 8 to a reference position and one end of the conveying belt 8 in the main scanning direction. A sensor 70 that detects the position of the belt 8 in the main scanning direction and a moving mechanism 80 that moves the sensor 70 in the main scanning direction are provided. The meandering correction mechanism 31 includes a bearing 32 that rotatably supports one end of the shaft 6a of the belt roller 6, and a motor 33 that is controlled by the control device 1p. A male screw is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 33a of the motor 33. A hole into which the shaft 33a is inserted is formed in the bearing 32, and a female screw that meshes with a male screw of the shaft 33a is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the hole. In this configuration, when the control device 1p rotates the shaft 33a of the motor 33 forward or backward, the bearing 32 approaches or separates from the motor 33 along the sub-scanning direction. In other words, the control device 1p controls the inclination of the shaft 6a of the belt roller 6 based on the detection of the position of the conveyor belt 8 by the sensor 70, and returns the position of the conveyor belt 8 in the main scanning direction to the reference position to meander. It becomes possible to correct. In addition, while correcting the meandering of the conveying belt 8, the belt roller 7 is driven by the control device 1p so that the conveying belt 8 travels in the conveying direction D. In this way, the meander correcting mechanism 31 and the control device 1p constitute meander correcting means.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the sensor 70 includes a light emitting element 71, five light receiving elements 72a to 72e, and a support frame 73 that supports these elements, and is connected to the control device 1p. The support frame 73 has a pair of facing portions 73a and 73b. A light emitting element 71 is supported on the facing portion 73a. Five light receiving elements 72a to 72e are supported on the facing portion 73b. The support frame 73 includes a connecting portion 73c that connects the pair of facing portions 73a and 73b in a state where the light emitting element 71 and the light receiving elements 72a to 72e face each other, and the light emitting element 71 and the light receiving element 72a. It is comprised in the U-shaped shape by which the detection area | region 75 was formed between -72e. The sensor 70 is a transmissive sensor that surrounds one end portion of the transport belt 8 in the main scanning direction with a pair of facing portions 73a and 73b and a connecting portion 73c, and detects the position of the transport belt 8 in the main scanning direction in the detection region 75. .

  The five light receiving elements 72a to 72e are arranged in order along the main scanning direction, and are arranged at a position where the light receiving element 72a is farthest from the connecting portion 73c (on the left side in FIG. 3 and closer to the conveyance belt 8). The light receiving element 72e is disposed at a position closest to the connecting portion 73c (right side in FIG. 3). The light emitting element 71 extends along the main scanning direction so as to face the light receiving elements 72a to 72e. The detection area 75 corresponds to each of the light receiving elements 72a to 72e, and includes divided detection areas 75a to 75e arranged along the main scanning direction. The position of the conveyance belt 8 in the main scanning direction is detected depending on which of the five division detection regions 75a to 75e the one end portion of the conveyance belt 8 is located. That is, the light receiving states of the light receiving elements 72a to 72e differ depending on the position of the transport belt 8. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when one end of the conveyor belt 8 is positioned in the division detection region 75c, the light receiving elements 72a to 72c are blocked by the conveyor belt 8 from the light emitting element 71, and the light receiving elements 72d and 72e. The light from the light emitting element 71 is not blocked by the conveyor belt 8. That is, the sensor 70 detects the position of one end portion of the conveyor belt 8 according to the light receiving states of the light receiving elements 72a to 72e. And when each light receiving element 72a-72e is receiving the light from the light emitting element 71, a detection signal (ON signal) is output to the control apparatus 1p in each light receiving element 72a-72e. On the other hand, when the light receiving elements 72a to 72e are not receiving light from the light emitting element 71, a detection signal (OFF signal) is output to the control device 1p in each of the light receiving elements 72a to 72e. The control device 1p measures the position of the conveyor belt 8 based on the detection signal output from the sensor 70. The conveyor belt 8 is usually disposed at a reference position where an OFF signal is output in the three detection regions 75a to 75c. That is, the light from the light emitting element 71 received by the light receiving elements 72a to 72c is blocked by the transport belt 8, and the light from the light emitting element 71 received by the light receiving elements 72d and 72e is not blocked by the transport belt 8. The conveyor belt 8 is disposed at a reference position that is a position.

  The moving mechanism 80 includes a substrate 81 having the sensor 70 fixed to one end in the main scanning direction, a cylinder 82 fixed to the other end of the substrate 81 in the main scanning direction, and a motor having a shaft 83a inserted into the cylinder 82. 83. A female screw is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 82, and a male screw that meshes with the female screw of the cylindrical body 82 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 83a. The motor 83 is controlled by the control device 1p. In this configuration, when the control device 1p rotates the motor 83 forward, the detection region 75 can be detected from a detection position (position shown in FIG. 3A) where the detection region 75 can detect the position of the transport belt 8 in the main scanning direction. The sensor 70 moves toward a separation position (position shown in FIG. 3B) where the conveyor belt 8 does not exist. On the other hand, when the control device 1p rotates the motor 83 in the reverse direction, the sensor 70 moves from the separation position toward the detection position. Thus, the moving mechanism 80 and the control device 1p constitute moving means for moving the sensor 70.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the maintenance unit 60 includes a main wiper 41, a main wiper moving mechanism 42 (see FIG. 4), a sub wiper 51, and a sub wiper moving mechanism 52 (see FIG. 4). Each part of the maintenance unit 60 is disposed at a position facing the lower loop of the conveyor belt 8. A platen 9 that supports the lower loop of the conveyance belt 8 from the inside is disposed inside the conveyance belt 8 and at a position facing the wipers 41 and 51 with the conveyance belt 8 interposed therebetween.

  The main wiper 41 is a plate-like member made of an elastic material such as rubber, and extends in the main scanning direction. The main wiper moving mechanism 42 is controlled by the control device 1p and moves the tip of the main wiper 41 to a position where it contacts the surface 8a and a position where it separates. The sub wiper 51 is also a plate-like member made of an elastic material such as rubber, and extends in the sub scanning direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the sub wiper moving mechanism 52 has a lower wiping end position (two points in FIG. 2) from an upper wiping start position (a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 2) where the sub wiper 51 does not face the transport belt 8. The sub wiper 51 is moved along the main scanning direction so as to move to the position indicated by the chain line. When the sub wiper moving mechanism 52 moves the sub wiper 51 from the wiping end position to the wiping start position, the sub wiper moving mechanism 52 moves the sub wiper 51 once lowered to a position where the tip of the sub wiper 51 is separated from the surface 8a of the transport belt 8. . Then, when the sub wiper moving mechanism 52 reaches the wiping start position from the wiping end position, the sub wiper 51 returns the sub wiper 51 to a position where the tip of the sub wiper 51 contacts the surface 8a.

  In this configuration, when wiping the surface 8a of the conveyor belt 8, the control device 1p controls the main wiper moving mechanism 42 to bring the main wiper 41 into contact with the surface 8a. Then, the control device 1p controls the transport motor 121 to run the transport belt 8 several times, and wipes off foreign matters such as ink adhering to the surface 8a with the main wiper 41. Thereafter, the control device 1p controls the main wiper moving mechanism 42 to separate the main wiper 41 from the surface 8a, and controls the transport motor 121 so that the position of the surface 8a separated from the main wiper 41 is just wiped by the sub wiper 51. The conveyor belt 8 is slightly moved so as to enter the region. Then, the control device 1p controls the sub wiper moving mechanism 52 to move the sub wiper 51 from the wiping start position to the wiping end position, so that the main wiper 41 is separated from the surface 8a so that the foreign matter remaining at the position is removed. It becomes possible to wipe off.

  As shown in FIG. 1, each head 10 is a line-type head having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape elongated in the main scanning direction. The lower surface of each head 10 is a discharge surface 10a in which a large number of discharge ports are opened. During recording (image formation), black, magenta, cyan, and yellow inks are ejected from the ejection surfaces 10a of the four heads 10, respectively. The heads 10 are arranged at a predetermined pitch in the sub-scanning direction, and are supported by the housing 1 a via the head holder 3. The head holder 3 has the head 10 so that the discharge surface 10a faces the surface 8a of the upper loop of the transport belt 8 and a predetermined gap suitable for recording is formed between the discharge surface 10a and the surface 8a. Holding.

  The guide unit includes an upstream guide portion and a downstream guide portion disposed with the transport unit 21 interposed therebetween. The upstream guide portion has two guides 27 a and 27 b and a pair of feed rollers 26. The guide unit connects a paper feeding unit 1 b (described later) and the transport unit 21. The downstream guide portion has two guides 29 a and 29 b and two pairs of feed rollers 28. The guide unit connects the transport unit 21 and the paper discharge unit 2.

  In the space B, the paper feeding unit 1b is detachably arranged with respect to the housing 1a. The paper feed unit 1 b includes a paper feed tray 24 and a paper feed roller 25. The paper feed tray 24 is a box that opens upward, and can store paper P of a plurality of types of sizes. The paper feed roller 25 feeds the uppermost paper P in the paper feed tray 24 and supplies it to the upstream guide section.

  As described above, in the spaces A and B, the paper transport path from the paper feed unit 1b to the paper discharge unit 2 via the transport unit 21 is formed. Based on the recording command received from the external device, the control device 1p, the paper feed motor 125 for the paper feed roller 25 (see FIG. 4), the feed motor 127 for the feed roller of each guide unit (see FIG. 4), the conveyance The motor 121 (see FIG. 4) and the like are driven. The paper P sent out from the paper feed tray 24 is supplied to the transport unit 21 by the feed roller 26. At this time, as described above, the control device 1p controls the power source 36 to attract the sheet P conveyed on the conveying belt 8 to the front surface 8a. When the paper P passes directly below each head 10 in the transport direction, ink of each color is sequentially ejected from the head 10, and a color image is formed on the paper P. The ink ejection operation is performed based on a detection signal from the paper sensor 18. Thereafter, the paper P is peeled off by the peeling plate 5, conveyed upward by the two feed rollers 28, and discharged from the upper opening 30 to the paper discharge unit 2.

  In the space C, the cartridge unit 1c is detachably attached to the housing 1a. The cartridge unit 1 c includes a tray 35 and four cartridges 39 accommodated in the tray 35 side by side. The cartridge 39 supplies ink to the corresponding head 10 via a tube (not shown).

  Next, the electrical configuration of the printer 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in addition to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 that is an arithmetic processing unit, the control device 1p includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102, a RAM (Random Access Memory: including a nonvolatile RAM) 103, An ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 104, an I / F (Interface) 105, an I / O (Input / Output Port) 106, and the like are included. The ROM 102 stores programs executed by the CPU 101, various fixed data, and the like. The RAM 103 temporarily stores data necessary for executing the program (for example, image data relating to an image recorded on the paper P). In the ASIC 104, rewriting and rearranging of image data (for example, signal processing and image processing) are performed. The I / F 105 performs data transmission / reception with an external device. The I / O 106 inputs / outputs detection signals of various sensors.

  The control device 1p includes motors 121, 125, 127, 33, and 83, paper sensors 18 and 19, a main wiper moving mechanism 42, a sub wiper moving mechanism 52, a power source 36, a counter 37 that measures time, and a control board for each head 10. Etc. are connected. Further, the control device 1p includes a print control unit 131, a conveyance control unit 132, a jam determination unit 133, a meandering speed calculation unit 134, a storage unit 135, a meandering correction control unit constructed by the above-described hardware as shown in FIG. 136, a wiping control unit 137, a first contact determination unit 141, a second contact determination unit 142, a sensor movement control unit 143, and a return determination unit 144. Here, the meandering speed is the amount of change per unit time of the position of the transport belt 8 in the main scanning direction, and is the displacement speed of the transport belt 8 in the main scanning direction.

  The print control unit 131 controls ink ejection from each head 10 so as to eject ink onto the paper P based on image data supplied from an external device. At this time, the print control unit 131 controls each head 10 so as to start ejecting ink onto the paper P after a predetermined time has elapsed since the paper sensor 18 detected the front edge of the paper P. Note that the predetermined time here is along the transport path from the front end of the paper P when the paper sensor 18 detects the front end of the paper P to the discharge port (not shown) at the most upstream of the head 2 at the most upstream. The distance obtained by dividing the measured distance by the conveyance speed of the paper P.

  The transport controller 132 feeds the paper P from the paper feed unit 1b to the paper discharge unit 2 when the image data is supplied to the control device 1p, so that the paper feed motor 125, the transport motor 121, the feed motor 127, And the power supply 36 is controlled. Further, when the first contact determination unit 141 determines that the connecting portion 73c and the transport belt 8 are in contact, the transport control unit 132 controls the transport motor 121 to stop the travel of the transport belt 8. As a modification, when the first contact determination unit 141 determines that the connecting portion 73c and the conveyance belt 8 are in contact with each other, the conveyance control unit 132 does not stop the conveyance belt 8 and stops the traveling speed of the conveyance belt 8. The conveyance motor 121 may be controlled to be slower than when the sheet P is conveyed.

  The jam determination unit 133 determines that a jam has occurred on the paper P only when the detection interval of the front edge of the paper P by the two paper sensors 18 and 19 exceeds a predetermined time. In this way, the two sheet sensors 18 and 19 and the jam determination unit 133 constitute a conveyance abnormality detection unit that detects a conveyance abnormality of the sheet P. The predetermined time here is a time obtained by dividing the separation distance along the transport path between the two paper sensors 18 and 19 by the transport speed of the paper P. Further, when the jam determination unit 133 determines that a jam has occurred as described above, the jam determination unit 133 controls the print control unit 131 and the conveyance control unit 132 to stop the ink ejection from each head 10 and the paper P And the driving of the suction platen 22 are stopped. Further, the jam determination unit 133 controls the buzzer 38 (see FIG. 4) so as to emit a sound when it is determined that a jam has occurred in the paper P as described above. This makes it possible to notify the user that a jam has occurred on the paper P between the ejection surface 10a and the transport unit 21.

  When the detection interval of the front edge of the paper P by the two paper sensors 18 and 19 is within a predetermined time and the jam determination unit 133 does not determine that a jam has occurred, the ink is detected when the paper P faces the head 10. Is ejected to form an image, which is discharged to the paper discharge unit 2.

  The meandering speed calculation unit 134 is based on a detection signal from the sensor 70 (a signal indicating the position in the orthogonal direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the conveyor belt 8), and the amount of change per unit time of the position in the orthogonal direction of the conveyor belt 8 The meandering speed is calculated accordingly. At this time, the displacement speed calculated by the meandering speed calculating unit 134 is such that the meandering speed in the direction in which the conveyor belt 8 approaches the connecting part 73c is on the plus side, and the meandering speed in the direction in which the conveyor belt 8 moves away from the connecting part 73c It is. As described above, the control device 1p such as the meandering speed calculation unit 134 and the sensor 70 constitute measuring means for measuring the position of the transport belt 8 in the main scanning direction and the meandering speed.

  The storage unit 135 is an upper limit value at which the meandering of the conveyor belt 8 can be corrected by the control of the meandering correction control unit 136, and stores a plurality of predetermined meandering velocities that differ from each other according to the position of the conveying belt 8 in the orthogonal direction. Yes. Specifically, five predetermined meandering speeds corresponding to the division detection areas 75a to 75e are stored. In addition, the storage unit 135 stores a predetermined time during which the conveyance belt 8 can be corrected by the meander correction mechanism 31 after the conveyance belt 8 starts to travel.

  The meandering correction control unit 136 controls the motor 33 and the conveyance motor 121 so that the conveyance belt 8 is returned to the reference position based on the detection signal from the sensor 70 at the detection position. Further, the meandering correction control unit 136 has a meandering speed calculated by the meandering speed calculation unit 134 exceeding 0 according to the position of the conveyance belt 8 in the orthogonal direction and not more than a predetermined meandering speed stored in the storage unit 135. At some time, the motor 33 and the conveyance motor 121 are controlled so that the conveyance belt 8 is returned to the reference position. As described above, the meandering correction control unit 136 controls the motor 33 and the conveyance motor 121 so that the conveyance belt 8 is returned to the reference position in accordance with the measurement result by the above-described measurement unit.

  Further, when the meandering correction control unit 136 detects the conveyance belt 8 when the sensor 70 is in the middle of being returned from the separation position to the detection position and is outside the predetermined range, the conveyance belt 8 is returned to the reference position. The motor 33 and the conveyance motor 121 are controlled so that the conveyance belt 8 is detected by the sensor 70 at the detection position. The predetermined range in the present embodiment is a range extending in the main scanning direction, and any one of the divided detection regions 75a to 75e of the sensor 70 is located within the detection region 75 of the sensor 70 at the detection position. This is the range of the position of the sensor 70. As a modification, the predetermined range may be wider or narrower than the present embodiment. The meandering correction control unit 136 controls the rotation direction of the shaft 33a of the motor 33 so that the conveyance belt 8 moves away from the connecting portion 73c when the conveyance belt 8 moves from the reference position to the right side in FIG. Do. On the other hand, the meandering correction control unit 136 controls the rotation direction of the shaft 33a of the motor 33 so that when the conveyance belt 8 moves from the reference position to the left side in FIG. Do. Further, the meandering correction control unit 136 detects when the conveyance belt 8 is detected when the sensor 70 is in the middle of being returned from the separation position to the detection position and the sensor 70 is within the predetermined range. The position of the sensor 70 is set as a new detection position, and the motor 33 and the transport motor 121 are controlled so that the transport belt 8 is returned to the new reference position in the same manner as described above.

  Based on the wiping command, the wiping control unit 137 controls the main wiper moving mechanism 42, the sub wiper moving mechanism 52, and the conveying motor 121 so as to wipe off the foreign matter adhering to the surface 8a of the conveying belt 8. As described above, the maintenance unit 60 and the wiping control unit 137 constitute cleaning means for wiping the surface 8a.

  Based on the detection signal from the sensor 70, the first contact determination unit 141 determines whether or not there is a possibility that the conveyor belt 8 is in contact with the connecting portion 73c. Specifically, the first contact determination unit 141 is set when the detection state in the division detection area 75e changes from ON to OFF (when one end of the conveyance belt 8 is positioned in the division detection area 75e). Then, it is determined that there is a possibility that the conveyor belt 8 is in contact with the connecting portion 73c. That is, in the detection signal output from the sensor 70, when the detection signal output from the light receiving element 72e changes from the ON signal to the OFF signal, it is determined that there is a possibility that the transport belt 8 may come into contact with the connecting portion 73c. This makes it possible to more reliably avoid contact between the conveyor belt 8 and the sensor 70. Further, the first contact determination unit 141 has a meandering speed calculated by the meandering speed calculation unit 134 according to the position of the conveying belt 8 in the orthogonal direction, and the meandering speed in the direction in which the conveying belt 8 approaches the connecting portion 73c. When the predetermined meandering speed stored in the storage unit 135 exceeds the predetermined meandering speed corresponding to the position in the orthogonal direction of the conveying belt 8 when the meandering speed calculating unit 134 calculates the meandering speed, the conveying belt 8 It is determined that there is a possibility of contact with the connecting portion 73c. Thereby, even when the meandering speed of the conveyor belt 8 exceeds a predetermined meandering speed, the contact between the conveyor belt 8 and the sensor 70 can be avoided. Further, the predetermined meandering speed is an upper limit value capable of correcting meandering, and is different from each other according to the position of the transport belt 8 in the main scanning direction, so that the judgment accuracy by the first contact judgment unit 141 is further improved.

  The second contact determination unit 142 determines whether or not there is a possibility that the transport belt 8 is in contact with the connecting unit 73c according to the operation state of the printer 1. Specifically, the second contact determination unit 142 determines that the conveyance belt 8 may come into contact with the connecting portion 73c when the jam determination unit 133 determines that a jam has occurred. The second contact determination unit 142 also determines that there is a possibility that the transport belt 8 may come into contact with the connecting portion 73c even when the surface 8a of the transport belt 8 is wiped by the wiping control unit 137. This is because when the surface 8a of the conveyor belt 8 is wiped by the sub wiper 51, the conveyor belt 8 may be displaced toward the connecting portion 73c and come into contact with the connecting portion 73c. The second contact determination unit 142 also determines that there is a possibility that the conveyance belt 8 may come into contact with the connecting portion 73c when the conveyance control unit 132 starts to travel the conveyance belt 8. This is because the conveyor belt 8 may meander significantly when the conveyor belt 8 starts to travel.

  When the sensor movement control unit 143 determines that either the first contact determination unit 141 or the second contact determination unit 142 determines that the conveyance belt 8 may come into contact with the connection unit 73c, the sensor 70 determines whether the sensor 70 is detected from the detection position. The motor 83 is controlled to move to the separation position. In addition, when the return determination unit 144 determines that the sensor 70 can be returned to the detection position in a state where the sensor 70 is in the separation position, the sensor movement control unit 143 determines that the sensor 70 is detected from the separation position. The motor 83 is controlled so as to move to.

  The return determination unit 144 determines that the sensor 70 can be returned from the separation position to the detection position based on a return command from the user. Note that the reset command is such that the reset button provided in the printer 1 is operated after the user returns the conveyor belt 8 to the reference position or after the user confirms that the conveyor belt 8 is disposed at the reference position. Is output. The return command may be output when a predetermined time has elapsed, and is not limited to the above.

  Next, a retraction operation for retracting the sensor 70 from the detection position to the separation position will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 6. If the jam determination unit 133 determines that a jam has occurred while the printer 1 is performing a recording operation on the paper P based on image data supplied from an external device, the second contact determination unit 142 causes the conveyance to occur. It determines with the possibility that the belt 8 may contact the connection part 73c. Then, the sensor movement control unit 143 controls the motor 83 to move the sensor 70 from the detection position to the separation position as shown in FIG. Since the sensor 70 is retracted when a jam (conveyance abnormality) occurs in this way, the conveyance belt 8 is connected when the jam processing (conveyance abnormality recovery process) for removing the jammed paper P is performed by the user. Since the sensor 70 is already retracted even if it is shifted to the portion 73c side, it is possible to avoid contact between the conveyor belt 8 and the connecting portion 73c.

  Further, when the printer 1 wipes the surface 8a of the transport belt 8 with the sub wiper 51 based on the wiping command, the second contact determination unit 142 may contact the transport belt 8 with the connecting portion 73c. judge. Then, the sensor movement control unit 143 controls the motor 83 to move the sensor 70 from the detection position to the separation position as shown in FIG. When the surface 8a is wiped by the sub wiper 51, the conveyor belt 8 may be displaced toward the connecting portion 73c. However, since the sensor 70 is already retracted, it is possible to avoid contact between the conveyor belt 8 and the connecting portion 73c.

  When the conveyance control unit 132 starts running of the belt, the second contact determination unit 142 determines that there is a possibility that the conveyance belt 8 is in contact with the connecting unit 73c. Then, the sensor movement control unit 143 controls the motor 83 to move the sensor 70 from the detection position to the separation position as shown in FIG. When the conveyance belt 8 starts to travel, the conveyance belt 8 may meander significantly. However, since the sensor 70 is already retracted, it is possible to avoid contact between the conveyor belt 8 and the connecting portion 73c.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, in step 1 (S <b> 1), the printer 1 causes the control device 1 p to control the transport motor 121 to cause the transport belt 8 to travel. At this time, as described above, the sensor 70 is retracted to the separation position. When the period measured by the counter 37 exceeds the predetermined time stored in the storage unit 135 after the belt has started running, the sensor 70 returns to the detection position by a return operation described later. Usually, the travel of the conveyor belt 8 is started when a recording operation on the paper P is performed. Note that, even when the surface 8a of the conveyor belt 8 is wiped, the conveyor belt 8 travels. At this time, as described above, the second contact determination unit 142 causes the conveyor belt 8 to contact the connecting portion 73c. It is determined that there is a possibility, and the sensor 70 is retracted to the separation position.

  Next, in step 2 (S2), if the detection state has not changed in the divided detection region 75e of the sensor 70 that has returned to the detection position by the return operation, the process proceeds to step 3 (S3). On the other hand, when the detection state changes in the division detection region 75e of the sensor 70, the first contact determination unit 141 determines that there is a possibility that the conveyance belt 8 contacts the connecting portion 73c, and the process proceeds to step 4 (S4). move on.

  In step 3, when the meandering speed calculated by the meandering speed calculating unit 134 exceeds 0 and is equal to or less than the predetermined meandering speed corresponding to the position in the orthogonal direction of the conveying belt 8 stored in the storage unit 135, the process goes to step 2. Return. On the other hand, when the meandering speed exceeds the predetermined meandering speed, the first contact determination unit 141 determines that there is a possibility that the transport belt 8 contacts the connecting part 73c, and the process proceeds to Step 4.

  In step 4, the sensor movement control unit 143 controls the motor 83 to move the sensor 70 from the detection position to the separation position. Next, in step 5 (S5), the transport control unit 132 controls the transport motor 121 to gradually decrease the travel speed and finally stop the travel of the transport belt 8.

  Next, in step 6 (S6), the control device 1p controls the buzzer 38 to notify the user that the conveyor belt 8 meanders and the sensor 70 is retracted, and the conveyor belt 8 returns to the reference position. Encourage maintenance processing. Thus, the retracting operation of the sensor 70 to the remote position is completed. As described above, when the second contact determination unit 142 determines that there is a possibility that the transport belt 8 may come into contact with the connecting portion 73c, the sensor 70 moves to the separation position under the control of the sensor movement control unit 143. It is possible to avoid contact between the conveyor belt 8 and the connecting portion 73c.

  Subsequently, a return operation for returning the sensor 70 retracted to the separation position to the detection position will be described below with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. When returning the sensor 70 in the separated position, the user operates the reset button after performing maintenance processing or confirming that the conveyor belt 8 is disposed at the reference position. The return determination unit 144 determines that the sensor 70 can be returned from the separation position to the detection position. Then, the sensor movement control unit 143 controls the motor 83 to move the sensor 70 from the separation position toward the detection position as shown in FIG. At this time, when the detection state changes from ON to OFF in the division detection area 75a of the sensor 70 on the way from the separation position to the detection position (one end portion of the conveyor belt 8 located outside the division detection area 75 is detected by division detection). When the sensor 70 detects the conveyor belt 8 outside the predetermined range, the meandering correction control unit 136 determines that the motor according to the measurement result by the above-described measuring means. 33 and the transport motor 121 are controlled to return the transport belt 8 to the reference position. In this way, as shown in FIG. 7B, the sensor 70 is returned to the detection position and the conveyor belt 8 is returned to the reference position, and the return operation is completed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8A, as described above, when the sensor movement control unit 143 moves the sensor 70 from the separation position toward the detection position, the sensor is in the process of returning to the detection position. This is when the detection state changes from ON to OFF in 70 division detection areas 75a (when one end of the conveyor belt 8 located outside the division detection area 75 is positioned in the division detection area 75a). When the sensor 70 detects the conveyor belt 8 within the predetermined range, the meandering correction control unit 136 sets the position of the sensor 70 when the conveyor belt 8 is detected as a new detection position, and the measurement means described above. The motor 33 and the conveyance motor 121 are controlled so that the conveyance belt 8 is returned to the new reference position at the new detection position in accordance with the measurement result obtained by the above. That is, as shown in FIG. 8A, the conveyance belt 8 positioned in the division detection region 75a of the sensor 70 at the new detection position is replaced with the sensor 70 at the new detection position as shown in FIG. The meandering correction control unit 136 controls the motor 33 and the conveyance motor 121 so that the conveyance belt 8 is disposed at a new reference position. Thus, the return operation ends.

  As described above, according to the printer 1 of the present embodiment, the first contact determination unit 141 and the second contact determination unit 142 determine that there is a possibility that the transport belt 8 may come into contact with the sensor 70 (connecting unit 73c). Sometimes, since the sensor 70 is moved from the detection position to the separation position, it is possible to avoid contact between the sensor 70 and the conveyor belt 8. For this reason, it becomes possible to suppress that the conveyance belt 8 is damaged due to contact with the sensor 70.

  The conveyance control unit 132 stops the traveling of the conveyance belt 8 when it is determined that the connecting portion 73c and the conveyance belt 8 are in contact with each other. For this reason, the conveyor belt 8 travels with the sensor 70 retracted, and for example, the end of the conveyor belt 8 in the main scanning direction contacts a nearby member (such as the housing 1a), and the conveyor belt 8 is damaged. Can be suppressed.

  Further, when the conveyance belt 8 is detected by the sensor 70 outside the predetermined range while returning the sensor 70 to the detection position, the conveyance belt 8 is detected so that the conveyance belt 8 is detected by the sensor 70 located at the detection position. Can be moved. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the conveyance belt 8 from coming off from the belt rollers 6 and 7 or coming into contact with the components arranged in the periphery.

  If the conveyor belt 8 is detected by the sensor 70 within the predetermined range while returning the sensor 70 to the detection position, the position is changed to a new detection position of the sensor 70 and the meandering of the conveyor belt 8 is corrected. It becomes possible to do. For this reason, the meandering correction frequency of the conveyor belt 8 is reduced.

  In the above-described embodiment, the travel of the transport belt 8 is stopped when the first contact determination unit 141 determines that the connecting portion 73c and the transport belt 8 are in contact, but the travel of the transport belt 8 is stopped. Instead, the meandering correction control unit 136 may control the motor 33 and the conveyance motor 121 such that the conveyance belt 8 moves in the direction away from the connecting portion 73c along the main scanning direction. As a result, the conveyance belt 8 and the sensor 70 are more unlikely to contact each other.

  As another modified example, instead of the movement mechanism 80, a movement mechanism 280 that rotates the sensor 70 to move from the detection position to the separation position may be provided. In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, the moving mechanism 280 includes a substrate 281 having the sensor 70 fixed to one end and a motor 283 having a shaft 283 a fixed to the other end of the substrate 281. The motor 283 is connected to the control device 1p. In this configuration, when the control device 1p rotates the motor 283 in the forward direction, detection is performed from a detection position (a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 9B) where the detection area 75 can detect the position of the conveyance belt 8 in the main scanning direction. The sensor 70 moves toward a separation position where the conveyance belt 8 does not exist in the region 75 (a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 9B and where the sensor 70 exists above the detection position). On the other hand, when the control device 1p rotates the motor 283 in the reverse direction, the sensor 70 moves from the separation position toward the detection position.

  Similarly to the above-described embodiment, when the first contact determination unit 141 and the second contact determination unit 142 determine that there is a possibility that the conveyance belt 8 contacts the connecting unit 73c, the sensor movement control unit 143 However, the motor 283 is controlled so that the sensor 70 moves from the detection position to the separation position. Thereby, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made as long as they are described in the claims. For example, the separation position in the above-described embodiment is a position where the conveyance belt 8 does not exist in the detection region 75 of the sensor 70, but may be a position where the connecting portion 73 c of the sensor 70 is separated from the conveyance belt 8 than in the detection position. That's fine. Further, the meandering correction mechanism 31 and the meandering correction control unit 136 constituting the meandering correction means may not be provided. Further, the meandering speed calculation unit 134 may not be provided. Further, the storage unit 135 may store only one predetermined meandering speed that is an upper limit value. The paper sensors 18 and 19 and the jam determination unit 133 that constitute the conveyance abnormality detection unit may not be provided. Further, the maintenance unit 60 and the wiping control unit 137 that constitute the cleaning unit may not be provided. Further, the second contact determination unit 142 may not determine that there is a possibility that the conveyance belt 8 and the connecting portion 73c come into contact when the conveyance belt 8 starts to travel. In this case, the counter 37 may not be provided.

  In addition, the sensor 70 in the present embodiment detects the position of the conveyance belt 8 in the main scanning direction by detecting one end of the conveyance belt 8 in the main scanning direction. The position of the through hole may be detected by a sensor to detect the position of the conveyance belt 8 in the main scanning direction. Further, the sensor that detects the end of the transport belt 8 in the main scanning direction may detect both ends of the transport belt 8 in the main scanning direction. The meandering correction mechanism 31 in the present embodiment corrects the meandering of the conveyor belt 8 by moving the shaft 6a of the belt roller 6, but by extending and contracting a spring that supports the belt roller on one end side. The meandering of the conveyor belt 8 may be corrected by adjusting the tension of the conveyor belt 8.

  The present invention can be applied to both a line type and a serial type, and is not limited to a printer, and can also be applied to a facsimile machine, a copier, and the like. Further, recording is performed by discharging a liquid other than ink. The present invention can also be applied to a recording apparatus that performs. The present invention is not limited to the ink jet type, and can be applied to, for example, a laser type or thermal type recording apparatus. The recording medium is not limited to the paper P, and may be various recording media.

1 Inkjet printer (recording device)
1p Control device 8 Conveying belt 8a Surface 10 Inkjet head 21 Conveying unit 51 Sub wiper (wiper)
60 Maintenance Unit 70 Sensor 71 Light Emitting Element 72a to 72e Light Receiving Element Support Frame 73
73a, 73b A pair of opposing parts 73c Connection part 75 Detection area 75a-75e Division | segmentation detection area 135 Storage part 141 1st contact determination part (determination part)
142 2nd contact determination part (determination part)
144 Return determination unit

Claims (12)

A recording unit that records an image on a recording medium, and a surface disposed opposite to the recording unit, and the recording medium is conveyed in the conveying direction by moving in the conveying direction while supporting the recording medium. A recording apparatus comprising: a conveying belt that measures the position of the conveying belt in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the conveying direction;
The measuring means includes a light-emitting element, a light-receiving element, and a transmissive sensor including a support frame that supports the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element, and the conveyance in the orthogonal direction based on a detection result of the sensor Measure the belt position,
The support frame connects the pair of facing portions and a pair of facing portions that respectively support the light emitting device and the light receiving device so that the light emitting device and the light receiving device face each other to form a detection region. And a connecting part
The sensor detects the conveyance belt in the detection region by surrounding an end portion of the conveyance belt in the orthogonal direction with the pair of opposed portions and the coupling portion.
A determination unit that determines whether or not there is a possibility that the conveyance belt contacts the coupling unit based on a measurement result of the measurement unit;
A moving means for moving the sensor to a detection position for detecting the conveyance belt and a separation position that is a position farther from the conveyance belt than the detection position;
The moving unit moves the sensor from the detection position to the separation position when the determination unit determines that the conveyance belt and the coupling unit may contact each other. . The detection area has a plurality of divided detection areas arranged along the orthogonal direction,
When the detection state of the conveyance belt changes in the division detection region closest to the connection portion among the plurality of division detection regions, the determination unit may contact the conveyance belt and the connection portion. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is determined to be present. The measuring means measures the displacement speed of the conveyor belt in the orthogonal direction according to the amount of change per unit time of the position of the conveyor belt in the orthogonal direction based on the detection result of the sensor;
A storage unit that stores a predetermined value that is a predetermined value related to the displacement speed of the transport belt and that is an upper limit value capable of correcting the meandering of the transport belt;
When the displacement speed of the conveyor belt with respect to the direction in which the conveyor belt approaches the connecting unit measured by the measuring unit exceeds the predetermined value stored in the storage unit, The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus determines that there is a possibility of contact with the connecting portion. Further comprising meander correcting means for correcting the meandering of the conveyor belt based on the measurement result of the measuring means;
The predetermined value is a value that varies depending on the position of the conveyor belt in the orthogonal direction,
The determination unit is configured such that the displacement speed of the conveyance belt in the direction in which the conveyance belt approaches the coupling unit measured by the measurement unit is a position in the orthogonal direction of the conveyance belt when the displacement speed is detected. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein it is determined that there is a possibility that the conveyance belt and the connecting portion are in contact with each other when the upper limit value stored in the storage unit according to the condition is exceeded.   Belt driving means for controlling the travel of the transport belt, and a belt that reduces the travel speed of the transport belt when the determination unit determines that the transport belt and the connecting unit may contact each other The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a driving unit.   The meandering correction means, when the determination unit determines that there is a possibility that the conveyance belt and the connection portion are in contact, causes the conveyance belt to move away from the connection portion with respect to the orthogonal direction. The recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the recording apparatus is moved. A recording unit that records an image on a recording medium, and a surface disposed opposite to the recording unit, and the recording medium is conveyed in the conveying direction by moving in the conveying direction while supporting the recording medium. A recording apparatus comprising: a conveying belt that measures the position of the conveying belt in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the conveying direction;
The measuring means includes a light-emitting element, a light-receiving element, and a transmissive sensor including a support frame that supports the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element, and the conveyance in the orthogonal direction based on a detection result of the sensor Measure the belt position,
The support frame connects the pair of facing portions and a pair of facing portions that respectively support the light emitting device and the light receiving device so that the light emitting device and the light receiving device face each other to form a detection region. And a connecting part
The sensor detects the conveyance belt in the detection region by surrounding an end portion of the conveyance belt in the orthogonal direction with the pair of opposed portions and the coupling portion.
A determination unit that determines whether or not there is a possibility that the conveyance belt contacts the coupling unit according to an operation state of the recording apparatus;
A moving means for moving the sensor to a detection position for detecting the conveyance belt and a separation position that is a position farther from the conveyance belt than the detection position;
The moving unit moves the sensor from the detection position to the separation position when the determination unit determines that the conveyance belt and the coupling unit may contact each other. . A conveyance abnormality detection unit for detecting whether a conveyance abnormality of the recording medium has occurred on the surface of the conveyance belt;
8. The determination unit according to claim 7, wherein when the conveyance abnormality detection unit detects that the conveyance abnormality has occurred, the determination unit determines that the conveyance belt and the coupling unit may contact each other. The recording device described. A cleaning means having a wiper that wipes the surface by moving along the orthogonal direction while contacting the surface of the conveyor belt;
The recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the determination unit determines that there is a possibility that the transport belt and the connection unit come into contact when the cleaning unit wipes the surface. . Belt driving means for controlling the travel of the conveyor belt;
The determination unit determines that there is a possibility that the conveyance belt and the connecting unit are in contact with each other when the conveyance belt is started by the belt driving unit. The recording apparatus according to any one of the above. Meander correcting means for correcting the meander of the conveyor belt based on the measurement result of the measuring means;
A return determination unit for determining that the sensor can be returned from the separation position to the detection position;
The moving means moves the sensor from the separation position to the detection position when the return determination unit determines that the sensor can be returned to the detection position,
The meandering correction means is a case where the conveyor belt is detected by the sensor while the moving means is returning the sensor to the detection position, and the conveyor belt is detected by the sensor while returning to the detection position. When the position of the sensor is detected outside the predetermined range, the conveyor belt is moved in the orthogonal direction so that the conveyor belt is detected by the sensor located at the detection position. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is a recording apparatus. The moving means is a case where the conveyor belt is detected by the sensor while returning the sensor to the detection position, and when the conveyor belt is detected by the sensor while returning to the detection position. When the position of the sensor is within a predetermined range, the position is set as a new detection position,
12. The recording according to claim 11, wherein the meander correcting unit corrects the meander of the conveyor belt based on a measurement result of the measurement unit based on a detection result of the sensor at the new detection position. apparatus.

Images