JP2012106857A - Conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conveying device capable of satisfactorily feeding envelopes.SOLUTION: A controller of a printer 1 having the conveying device controls a conveyance amount of the envelope, which is a printing medium conveyed to a resist roller 31, in an external paper feeding roller 22, a vertical conveying roller 26 and a paper re-feeding roller 83, so as to change size of a sag of the envelope, which is formed by butting against the resist roller 31, in accordance with the direction of the envelope in a conveying direction.

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport device that transports a print medium.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a conveyance device that is provided in a printing apparatus and conveys a sheet as a printing medium to a printing unit having a printing mechanism such as an inkjet head, or conveys a printed sheet to a sheet discharge tray to be discharged. It has been.

  In such a transport apparatus, a configuration is adopted in which the paper stacked on the paper feed tray is picked up and transported one by one by the paper feed roller, the paper is abutted against the registration roller, and then transported to the printing unit at a predetermined timing. What you have is known. Here, the conveying device causes a slack in the paper abutted against the registration roller, thereby correcting the skew of the paper.

  An envelope may be used as a print medium in a printing apparatus including a transport device having the above-described configuration (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-178469

  The envelope has a different thickness between the flap (the folded portion for sealing) and the binding portion (the bottom portion) on the opposite side. The flap has a thickness of one sheet of paper, while the binding portion has a thickness of three sheets of paper. For this reason, the method of sagging the envelope differs between when the envelope is abutted against the registration roller from the flap side and when it is abutted from the binding portion side.

  For this reason, in the transport device, when transport control is performed so that a certain amount of sag occurs in the envelope that abuts against the registration roller regardless of the orientation of the envelope, inconvenience may occur during paper feeding. For example, when the envelope is abutted against the registration roller from the flap side, the slack is too large, and the flap may break the paper. Further, when the envelope is abutted against the registration roller from the binding portion side, the slack is too small to sufficiently perform the skew correction. As described above, the conventional transport apparatus may not be able to feed the envelope satisfactorily.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a transport apparatus that can feed envelopes satisfactorily.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first feature of a transport apparatus according to the present invention is a paper feed transport unit that transports an envelope, and a paper feed transport unit provided on the downstream side in the transport direction with respect to the paper feed transport unit. After the abutted envelope has been abutted, a resist unit that transports the envelope further downstream, a detection unit that detects the orientation of the envelope transported to the resist unit in the transport direction, and the detection unit And a control unit that controls a conveyance amount of the envelope in the sheet feeding conveyance unit so as to change a size of the envelope slack formed by abutting against the resist unit according to the detected direction of the envelope. .

  A second feature of the transport apparatus according to the present invention is that, when the envelope is in a direction to enter the registration part from the flap side, the control part is in a direction to enter from the binding part side that is the opposite side of the flap side. It is to control the amount of envelope transport in the paper feed transport unit so that the sag becomes smaller.

  A third feature of the transport device according to the present invention is that the paper feed transport unit includes a primary paper feed unit that takes out an unprinted envelope from the paper feed tray and transports the envelope toward the registration unit, and at the time of duplex printing. And a refeeding unit that reverses the direction of the single-sided printed envelope and conveys the envelope toward the registration unit.

  A fourth feature of the transport device according to the present invention is further provided with a paper discharge unit that discharges a printed envelope to a paper discharge tray, and the control unit is arranged to change the direction of the envelope when paper is discharged by the paper discharge unit. Accordingly, control is performed so as to change the conveyance speed at the time of paper discharge.

  A fifth feature of the transport device according to the present invention is that, when the envelope is in a direction in which the envelope enters the paper discharge tray from the flap side, the control unit is in a direction to enter from the binding side that is opposite to the flap side. In this case, control is performed so that the conveyance speed at the time of paper discharge is slower than in the case of the above.

  According to the first feature of the transport device according to the present invention, since the size of the sag of the envelope formed by striking the resist portion is changed according to the direction of the envelope, the envelope is plunged into the resist portion. An appropriate slack according to the direction can be formed, and the envelope can be fed stably and satisfactorily.

  According to the second feature of the transport device according to the present invention, when the envelope is in a direction to enter the resist portion from the flap side, the sagging is smaller than in the direction to enter from the binding portion side. Inconveniences during paper feeding such as paper folding can be reduced.

  According to the third feature of the transport apparatus according to the present invention, even in a configuration in which the envelope is reversed by the re-feeding unit at the time of re-feeding in double-sided printing and the direction is reversed from that at the time of the first feeding. An appropriate sag is formed according to the direction of the envelope that rushes into the paper, and good paper feeding can be realized in double-sided printing.

  According to the fourth feature of the transport apparatus of the present invention, the paper discharge speed is changed according to the direction of the envelope at the time of paper discharge, so an appropriate paper discharge speed is set according to the direction of the envelope at the time of paper discharge. Therefore, it is possible to realize good paper discharge.

  According to the fifth feature of the transport apparatus of the present invention, when the envelope is in the direction to enter the paper discharge platform from the flap side, the transport speed at the time of paper discharge is slower than in the direction to enter from the binding portion side. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the disturbance of the envelope on the paper discharge tray and the paper discharge jam.

It is a schematic block diagram of the printing apparatus provided with the conveying apparatus which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of the printing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows an envelope. It is a figure which shows the change of the detected light quantity at the time of detecting with the transmissive | pervious sensor, conveying the envelope shown in FIG. 3 to the vertical direction. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of performing printing on an envelope with the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of performing printing on an envelope with the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Throughout the drawings, the same or equivalent parts and components are denoted by the same or equivalent reference numerals. However, it should be noted that the drawings are schematic and different from the actual ones.

  Further, the embodiment described below exemplifies an apparatus or the like for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the technical idea of the present invention is to arrange the components and the like as follows. It is not something specific. The technical idea of the present invention can be variously modified within the scope of the claims.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing apparatus provided with a transport apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 1 includes a paper feeding unit 2, a conveyance printing unit 3, a face-up paper discharge unit 4, a rising conveyance unit 5, a horizontal conveyance unit 6, and a face-down paper discharge unit 7. And a refeed unit 8. In addition, the conveyance apparatus in this Embodiment is comprised by each part except one part structures of the printing apparatus 1, such as the inkjet head part 33 mentioned later.

  Note that a path indicated by a bold line in FIG. Among the transport routes, a route indicated by a solid line is a normal route RC, a route indicated by a one-dot chain line is a reverse route RR, a route indicated by a broken line is a paper discharge route RD1, RD2, and a route indicated by a two-dot chain line is a paper feed route RS.

  Here, in the case of single-sided printing, the print medium is transported in the order of the paper feed path RS, the normal path RC, the paper discharge path RD1, or the paper discharge path RD2. In duplex printing, the print medium is conveyed in the order of the paper feed route RS, the normal route RC, the reverse route RR, the normal route RC, the paper discharge route RD1, or the paper discharge route RD2. In the following description, upstream and downstream mean upstream and downstream in the transport direction on the transport path. Moreover, the vertical direction and the horizontal direction in the following description shall indicate the vertical direction and the horizontal direction shown in FIG.

  The paper feeding unit 2 transports the print medium and feeds it to the transport printing unit 3. The paper feeding unit 2 is installed to be exposed outside the casing of the printing apparatus 1, and an external paper feeding base 21 on which the printing medium is stacked and a print medium are taken out from the external paper feeding base 21 one by one. And an external paper feed roller 22 that is conveyed toward a registration roller 31 described later.

  The paper feed unit 2 is provided inside the housing, and includes a plurality of internal paper feed stands 23 on which print media are stacked and an internal paper feed roller for taking out the print media one by one from the internal paper feed stand 23. 24, a plurality of internal paper feed transport rollers 25 for transporting the print medium taken out from the internal paper feed tray 23 along the paper feed path RS, and a print transported from any of the plurality of internal paper feed stands 23 And a vertical conveying roller 26 that conveys the medium toward a registration roller 31 described later.

  The paper feed unit 2 is configured to be able to feed an envelope as a print medium on at least one of the external paper feed base 21 and the internal paper feed base 23. The sheet feeding unit 2 corresponds to a primary sheet feeding unit in claims.

  The transport printing unit 3 prints an image on the print medium while transporting the print medium. The transport printing unit 3 is disposed on the downstream side of the paper feeding unit 2. The conveyance printing unit 3 includes a registration roller 31, a belt conveyance unit 32, an inkjet head unit 33, and a registration sensor 34.

  The registration roller 31 is sent to the downstream belt conveyance unit 32 at a predetermined timing after the printing medium conveyed by the paper supply unit 2 or the re-feed unit 8 is abutted against the registration roller 31. When the printing medium sags when it is abutted against the registration roller 31, the skew of the printing medium is corrected. The registration roller 31 is disposed on the normal route RC, upstream of the transport printing unit 3. In other words, the registration roller 31 is disposed in the vicinity of the junction point between the sheet feeding path RS and the reversing path RR. The registration roller 31 corresponds to a registration unit in the claims.

  The belt conveyance unit 32 is provided on the downstream side of the registration roller 31. The belt conveyance unit 32 includes an annular conveyance belt 321 provided to face the inkjet head unit 33, a belt driving roller 322 that drives the conveyance belt 321 to rotate, and driven rollers 323 to 325 that are driven by the belt driving roller 322. Is provided. The conveyance belt 321 is an endless belt having a large number of holes, and conveys the print medium by suction holding the negative pressure generated when air is sucked from the holes by a suction fan (not shown).

  The inkjet head unit 33 includes a plurality of line-type inkjet heads that are arranged to face the belt conveyance unit 32 and in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the print medium. The inkjet head unit 33 prints an image by ejecting ink from the inkjet head onto the print medium conveyed by the belt conveyance unit 32.

  The registration sensor 34 is provided in the vicinity of the upstream side of the registration roller 31 and detects a print medium conveyed to the registration roller 31. The registration sensor 34 is a transmissive sensor in which a light emitting element and a light receiving element are arranged to face each other with a conveyance path interposed therebetween. In the present embodiment, the registration sensor 34 is also used to detect the direction when the envelope enters the registration roller 31 when an envelope is used as a print medium, and corresponds to a detection unit in the claims.

  The face-up discharge unit 4 discharges the printed print medium with the printing surface (the surface printed later in the case of double-sided printing) facing upward. The face-up paper discharge unit 4 includes a switching unit 41, a paper discharge roller 42, and a face-up paper discharge tray 43.

  The switching unit 41 is disposed at a branch point between the normal route RC and the paper discharge route RD1, and switches the print medium conveyance route between the normal route RC and the paper discharge route RD1. The paper discharge path RD1 is a path extending from the boundary between the transport printing unit 3 and the ascending transport unit 5 toward the face-up paper discharge platform 43.

  The paper discharge roller 42 is disposed between the switching unit 41 and the face-up paper discharge table 43, and conveys the print medium conveyed from the belt conveyance unit 32 along the paper discharge path RD1 to face up the paper discharge table. The paper is discharged to 43.

  The face-up discharge tray 43 is installed on the downstream side of the belt conveyance unit 32 so as to protrude from the casing of the printing apparatus 1 and stacks the printed print medium conveyed by the discharge roller 42. A print medium is stacked on the face-up discharge tray 43 with the printing surface (the surface printed later in the case of double-sided printing) facing upward.

  The ascending conveyance unit 5 conveys the print medium printed by the conveyance printing unit 3 to the upper horizontal conveyance unit 6. The ascending conveyance unit 5 includes a plurality of pairs (for example, two pairs) of ascending conveyance rollers 51.

  The plurality of pairs of ascending conveyance rollers 51 are arranged at predetermined intervals along the normal path RC between the conveyance printing unit 3 and the horizontal conveyance unit 6. The normal route RC in the region where the ascending conveyance roller 51 is arranged is configured in a semicircle having an opening on the left side.

  The horizontal conveyance unit 6 conveys the print medium conveyed by the ascending conveyance unit 5 to the face-down paper discharge unit 7 or the refeed unit 8. The horizontal conveyance unit 6 includes a plurality of pairs (for example, four pairs) of horizontal conveyance rollers 61.

  The plurality of pairs of horizontal conveyance rollers 61 are arranged at a predetermined interval along the normal path RC between the ascending conveyance unit 5 and the face-down paper discharge unit 7. The pair of horizontal transport rollers 61 are disposed upstream of the reversing path RR.

  The face-down paper discharge unit 7 discharges the printed print medium with the printing surface (the surface printed later in the case of double-sided printing) facing downward. The face-down paper discharge unit 7 includes a switching unit 71, a paper discharge roller 72, and a face-down paper discharge stand 73.

  The switching unit 71 is disposed at a branch point between the paper discharge path RD2 and the reversal path RR, and switches the print medium conveyance path between the paper discharge path RD2 and the reversal path RR. The paper discharge path RD2 is a path extending from the downstream end of the normal path RC toward the face-down paper discharge stand 73.

  The sheet discharge roller 72 is disposed between the switching unit 71 and the face-down sheet discharge table 73, and conveys the print medium conveyed by the horizontal conveyance unit 6 along the sheet discharge path RD2, and face-down sheet discharge table. The sheet is discharged to 73.

  The face-down discharge tray 73 has a tray shape that protrudes from the casing of the printing apparatus 1 on the side opposite to the face-up discharge tray 43 and is inclined. The face-down paper discharge tray 73 is used to stack the print medium conveyed by the paper discharge roller 72, and the print medium that slides down along the inclination is naturally arranged by the wall formed at the lower position of the inclination. And are beginning to overlap. A print medium is stacked on the face-down discharge tray 73 with the printing surface (the surface printed later in the case of double-sided printing) facing downward.

  The face-up paper discharge unit 4 and the face-down paper discharge unit 7 correspond to the paper discharge unit in the claims. The face-up discharge table 43 and the face-down discharge table 73 correspond to the discharge table in the claims.

  The refeed unit 8 reverses the single-sided printed medium and conveys it to the registration rollers 31 in order to refeed the single-sided printed medium to the conveyance printing unit 3 during duplex printing. is there. The refeed unit 8 includes a reversing roller 81, a switchback unit 82, a refeed roller 83, and a switching gate 84.

  The reverse roller 81 temporarily transports the print medium transported by the horizontal transport unit 6 to the switchback unit 82 and then transports it to the refeed roller 83. The reverse roller 81 is disposed between the horizontal transport roller 61 and the carry-in port of the switchback unit 82 on the reverse path RR.

  The switchback unit 82 is a space for the reversing roller 81 to temporarily carry the print medium. The switchback unit 82 is formed of a space formed in the lower part of the face-down sheet discharge table 73. The switchback unit 82 has an opening in the vicinity of the reversing roller 81 for carrying a print medium.

  The refeed roller 83 transports the print medium transported by the reverse roller 81 to the registration roller 31. The refeed roller 83 is disposed on the reverse path RR between the reverse roller 81 and the registration roller 31.

  The switching gate 84 guides the print medium conveyed by the horizontal conveyance roller 61 to the reverse roller 81. Further, the switching gate 84 guides the printing medium carried out from the switchback unit 82 by the reversing roller 81 to the refeed roller 83. The switching gate 84 is disposed in the vicinity of the center of gravity at the three locations of the horizontal conveyance roller 61, the reverse roller 81, and the refeed roller 83 on the most downstream side.

  The sheet feeding / conveying section includes at least one of the sheet feeding section 2 and the refeed section 8.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the control system of the printing apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the printing apparatus 1 includes an internal paper feed motor 90, a vertical transport motor 91, a registration motor 92, a belt motor 93, a face-up paper discharge motor 94, a lift transport motor 95, a horizontal A transport motor 96, a face-down paper discharge motor 97, a reverse motor 98, a refeed motor 99, and drivers 100 to 109 are provided.

  The internal paper feed motor 90 rotates the internal paper feed roller 24 and the internal paper feed transport roller 25 of the paper feed unit 2. The internal paper feed motor 90 can be connected to / released from the internal paper feed roller 24 and the internal paper feed transport roller 25 via a clutch (not shown). The internal paper feeding roller 24 and the internal paper feeding / conveying roller 25 that are rotationally driven are switched by the clutch.

  The vertical conveyance motor 91 rotates the external paper supply roller 22 and the vertical conveyance roller 26 of the paper supply unit 2. The vertical conveyance motor 91 can be connected / released to / from the external paper feed roller 22 and the vertical conveyance roller 26 via a clutch (not shown). The driving of the external paper feed roller 22 and the vertical conveyance roller 26 is switched by the clutch.

  The registration motor 92 rotates the registration roller 31 of the transport printing unit 3.

  The belt motor 93 rotationally drives the belt driving roller 322 of the belt conveyance unit 32 of the conveyance printing unit 3.

  The face-up paper discharge motor 94 rotates the paper discharge roller 42 of the face-up paper discharge unit 4.

  The ascending conveyance motor 95 rotates and drives a plurality of pairs of ascending conveyance rollers 51 of the ascending conveyance unit 5.

  The horizontal transport motor 96 rotates a plurality of pairs of horizontal transport rollers 61 of the horizontal transport unit 6.

  The face-down paper discharge motor 97 rotates the paper discharge roller 72 of the face-down paper discharge unit 7.

  The reversing motor 98 rotates the reversing roller 81 of the refeed unit 8. The reversing motor 98 rotates the reversing roller 81 in the reverse direction when the print medium is carried into the switchback unit 82 and when the print medium is carried out from the switchback unit 82.

  The refeed motor 99 rotates the refeed roller 83 of the refeed unit 8.

  The drivers 100 to 109 include an internal paper feed motor 90, a vertical conveyance motor 91, a registration motor 92, a belt motor 93, a face-up paper discharge motor 94, a lift-up conveyance motor 95, a horizontal conveyance motor 96, a face-down paper discharge motor 97, a reverse rotation. The motor 98 and the refeed motor 99 are driven.

  The printing apparatus 1 includes switching drive units 110 and 111, an input unit 113, a head driver 114, and a control unit 115.

  The switching drive units 110 and 111 drive the switching unit 41 of the face-up paper discharge unit 4 and the switching unit 71 of the face-down paper discharge unit 7, respectively.

  The input unit 113 includes various operation buttons, a touch panel (none of which is shown), receives an input operation by the user, and outputs an operation signal corresponding to the operation.

  The head driver 114 drives the inkjet head of the inkjet head unit 33 to eject ink.

  The control unit 115 includes a CPU, a memory (none of which is shown), and the like, and the CPU performs processing according to the control program, thereby supervising operations such as printing medium conveyance and printing in the printing apparatus 1. Control. The output of the registration sensor 34 is guided to the control unit 115.

  When an envelope is used as the print medium, the control unit 115 changes the amount of sag of the envelope formed by abutting against the registration roller 31 according to the direction of the envelope that enters the registration roller 31. The envelope conveyance amount in the vertical conveyance roller 26 and the refeed roller 83 is controlled. Hereinafter, the external paper feed roller 22, the vertical transport roller 26, and the refeed roller 83 may be collectively referred to as a paper feed roller.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the envelope 10 includes a flap 11 that is a folded portion for sealing, and a binding portion 12 that is a portion of the bottom that is bound in advance on the opposite side of the flap 11. When used as a printing medium in the printing apparatus 1, the envelope 10 is fed and transported in a state where the flap 11 is not closed.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a change in the detected light amount when the envelope 10 is detected by the transmissive sensor while being conveyed in the vertical direction. The flap 11 has a thickness of one sheet of paper, and the binding portion 12 has a thickness of three sheets of paper. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 4, the light amount A1 when the transmissive sensor detects the flap 11 is larger than the light amount A3 when the binding portion 12 is detected. Since the main body portion 13 between the flap 11 and the binding portion 12 is as thick as two sheets of paper, the light amount when the transmissive sensor detects the main body portion 13 is an intermediate light amount A2 between A1 and A3. .

  Therefore, the control unit 115 can determine the orientation of the envelope 10 being conveyed based on the amount of light detected when the registration sensor 34 detects the leading end of the envelope 10. The control unit 115 determines that the envelope 10 is directed into the registration roller 31 from the flap 11 side when the detected light amount of the registration sensor 34 when the leading end portion of the envelope 10 is detected is within the first light amount range. When it is within the second light amount range smaller than the first light amount range, it is determined that the envelope 10 enters the registration roller 31 sideways. Further, the control unit 115 registers the envelope 10 from the binding unit 12 side when the detected light amount of the registration sensor 34 when the leading end portion of the envelope 10 is within a third light amount range smaller than the second light amount range. It is determined that the direction is to enter the roller 31.

  When the paper is fed from the external paper feed stand 21, the control unit 115 causes the external paper feed roller 22 to convey the print medium by a predetermined amount even after the print medium hits the registration roller 31 to form a slack. When paper is fed from the internal paper feed tray 23, the control unit 115 causes the vertical conveyance roller 26 to convey the print medium by a predetermined amount even after the print medium hits the registration roller 31 to form a slack. When the paper is fed again by the paper refeed unit 8, the control unit 115 transports the print medium by a predetermined amount by the paper feed roller 83 even after the print medium hits the registration roller 31, thereby forming a slack. Let

  When the envelope 10 is used as the print medium, the control unit 115 is configured such that the sag is smaller when the envelope 10 is in the direction of entering the registration roller 31 from the flap 11 side than when the envelope 10 is in the direction of entering from the binding unit 12 side. The conveyance amount of the envelope 10 in the paper feed roller is controlled. Further, the control unit 115 has a larger sag in the direction in which the envelope 10 enters the registration roller 31 sideways than in the direction in which the envelope 10 enters from the flap 11 side, and is more slack than in the direction in which the envelope 10 enters from the binding unit 12 side. The conveyance amount of the envelope 10 in the paper feed roller is controlled so as to be small.

  Here, in the case where the envelope 10 is used as the print medium, the amount of slack according to the direction in which the envelope 10 enters the registration roller 31 is set to three levels: “small”, “medium”, and “large”. When the envelope 10 is in the direction of entering the registration roller 31 from the flap 11 side, “small” is indicated. When the envelope 10 is entered from the binding portion 12 side, “large” is indicated. For example, the slack “medium” is set to the same level as when normal printing paper is fed, the slack “small” is smaller than the printing paper feeding, and the slack “large” is larger than the printing paper feeding. To do.

  The control unit 115 controls the conveyance amount of the paper feed roller after the printing medium hits the registration roller 31 by the conveyance amount after the registration sensor 34 detects the leading edge of the printing medium. When the envelope 10 is used as the print medium, the conveyance amounts corresponding to the slacks of “small”, “medium”, and “large” by the paper feed roller after the leading edge of the envelope 10 is detected by the registration sensor 34 are set to L1, L2. , L3, L1 <L2 <L3. The conveyance amount by the roller can be controlled by adjusting the driving time of the roller.

  Further, when the envelope 10 is used as the print medium, the control unit 115 discharges by the discharge rollers 42 and 72 according to the direction of the envelope 10 when the face-up discharge unit 4 and the face-down discharge unit 7 discharge the sheet. Control to change the transport speed when paper.

  The control unit 115 is configured such that the conveyance speed (paper discharge speed) V1 by the paper discharge rollers 42 and 72 when the envelope 10 is directed to the face-up paper discharge tray 43 and the face-down paper discharge tray 73 from the flap 11 side is bound. Control is performed so as to be slower than the paper discharge speed V3 in the direction of entering from the section 12 side. In addition, when the envelope 10 enters the face-up discharge tray 43 and the face-down discharge tray 73 sideways, the control unit 115 controls the discharge speed to be V2 between V1 and V3. That is, V1 <V2 <V3. For example, it is assumed that the paper discharge speed V2 is approximately the same as that for normal printing paper discharge, the paper discharge speed V1 is lower than that for printing paper discharge, and the paper discharge speed V3 is higher than that for paper discharge. To do.

  Next, an operation of performing printing using the envelope 10 as a print medium in the printing apparatus 1 will be described.

  The printing operation of the printing apparatus 1 is instructed to input a print job from an external PC (personal computer) (not shown) or to print an image read by a scanner (not shown) by the operation of the input unit 113 by the user. To be executed. The user can set single-sided printing or double-sided printing by operating the printer driver of the PC or the input unit 113.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of printing on the envelope 10 by the printing apparatus 1. Here, a case where the envelope 10 is fed from the external paper feed tray 21 will be described.

  First, in step S10, the control unit 115 connects the vertical conveyance motor 91 and the external paper feed roller 22 via a clutch (not shown), and controls the driver 101 to start driving the vertical conveyance motor 91. . As a result, the external paper feed roller 22 is rotationally driven to start paper feed.

  Next, in step S <b> 20, the control unit 115 determines whether or not an envelope has been detected by the registration sensor 34. When it is determined that it has been detected (step S20: YES), the control unit 115 proceeds to step S30, and when it is determined that it has not been detected (step S20: NO), the control unit 115 repeats the process of step S20.

  In step S <b> 30, the control unit 115 determines whether or not the envelope 10 is lateral to the transport direction. As described above, when the amount of light detected by the registration sensor 34 from the envelope 10 is within the second light amount range, the control unit 115 determines that the side is facing sideways. When it is determined that the controller 115 is in landscape orientation (step S30: YES), the control unit 115 proceeds to step S190, and when it is determined that it is not in landscape orientation (step S30: NO), the process proceeds to step S40.

  In step S <b> 40, the control unit 115 determines whether or not the envelope 10 is in a direction to enter the registration roller 31 from the flap 11 side (the flap 11 is directed forward). As described above, the control unit 115 determines that the flap 11 is facing forward when the detected light amount of the envelope 10 by the registration sensor 34 is within the first light amount range. When it is determined that the flap 11 is facing forward (step S40: YES), the control unit 115 proceeds to step S50. When it is determined that the flap 11 is not in the forward direction, that is, the envelope 10 is in the direction of entering the registration roller 31 from the binding unit 12 side (step S40: NO), the control unit 115 proceeds to step S120.

  In step S <b> 50, the control unit 115 performs control so that the slack formed when the envelope 10 hits the registration roller 31 becomes “small”. Specifically, the control unit 115 controls the driver 101 so that the conveyance amount by the external paper feed roller 22 after the registration sensor 34 detects the leading edge of the envelope 10 becomes the conveyance amount L1 corresponding to the slack “small”. The vertical conveyance motor 91 is controlled via After stopping the external paper feed roller 22, the control unit 115 causes the driver 102 to drive the registration motor 92. As a result, the registration roller 31 is driven, and the envelope 10 is fed to the transport printing unit 3.

  Next, in step S <b> 60, the control unit 115 controls the head driver 114 so that the inkjet head unit 33 performs printing on the envelope 10 conveyed by the belt conveyance unit 32.

  Next, in step S70, the control unit 115 determines whether or not the setting is for performing double-sided printing. If the control unit 115 determines that the setting is to perform double-sided printing (step S70: YES), in step S80, the control unit 115 controls refeeding of the envelope 10 on which single-sided printing has been performed. At this time, the control unit 115 causes the slack formed when the envelope 10 hits the registration roller 31 at the time of refeeding to be “large”.

  In order to perform re-feeding at the time of duplex printing, the control unit 115 controls the switching drive unit 110 so that the switching unit 41 guides the envelope 10 on which single-sided printing has been performed to the ascending conveyance unit 5. Then, the control unit 115 conveys the envelope 10 by the ascending conveyance roller 51 of the ascending conveyance unit 5 and the horizontal conveyance roller 61 of the horizontal conveyance unit 6. When the envelope 10 reaches the switching unit 71 of the face-down paper discharge unit 7, the control unit 115 controls the switching drive unit 111 so that the switching unit 71 guides the envelope 10 to the reverse path RR. When the envelope 10 is guided to the reversing path RR, the control unit 115 causes the envelope 10 to be transported by the horizontal transport roller 61 on the reversing path RR and the reversing roller 81 of the refeeding unit 8, and is carried into the switchback unit 82. After that, the control unit 115 causes the reversing roller 81 to carry out the envelope 10 and causes the refeed roller 83 to send it out toward the registration roller 31.

  Here, the direction of the envelope 10 is reversed by being switched back by the re-feeding unit 8, and the direction of entering the registration roller 31 from the binding unit 12 side is opposite to that at the time of the initial feeding. Yes. Therefore, the control unit 115 performs control so that the slack formed when the envelope 10 abuts against the registration roller 31 becomes “large”. Specifically, the control unit 115 controls the driver 109 so that the conveyance amount by the re-feed roller 83 after the leading edge of the envelope 10 is detected by the registration sensor 34 becomes the conveyance amount L3 corresponding to the slack “large”. The refeed motor 99 is controlled via

  After stopping the refeed roller 83, the control unit 115 drives the registration motor 92 by the driver 102. As a result, the registration roller 31 is driven and the envelope 10 is fed again to the transport printing unit 3. Here, since the envelope 10 is inverted by the refeed unit 8, the unprinted surface is directed to the inkjet head unit 33.

  Next, in step S <b> 90, the control unit 115 controls the head driver 114 so that the inkjet head unit 33 performs printing on the unprinted surface of the envelope 10 conveyed by the belt conveyance unit 32.

  Next, in step S100, the control unit 115 performs discharge control so that the envelope 10 is discharged at the discharge speed V3 when the envelope 10 is discharged from the binding unit 12 side. In the case of setting to discharge to the face-up discharge tray 43, the control unit 115 causes the switching unit 41 to guide the double-side printed envelope 10 printed by the transport printing unit 3 to the discharge path RD1. To control. Then, the control unit 115 controls the face-up discharge motor 94 via the driver 104 so that the envelope 10 is discharged to the face-up discharge tray 43 by the discharge roller 42 at the conveyance speed V3.

  In the case of setting to discharge to the face-down discharge tray 73, the control unit 115 guides the double-side printed envelope 10 to the ascending conveyance unit 5 by the switching unit 41, and the envelope by the ascending conveyance roller 51 and the horizontal conveyance roller 61. 10 is conveyed. When the envelope 10 reaches the switching unit 71 of the face-down paper discharge unit 7, the control unit 115 controls the switching drive unit 111 so that the switching unit 71 guides the envelope 10 to the paper discharge path RD2. Then, the control unit 115 controls the face-down discharge motor 97 via the driver 107 so that the envelope 10 is discharged to the face-down discharge tray 73 by the discharge roller 72 at the transport speed V3.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S70 that the setting is for performing single-sided printing (step S70: NO), in step S110, the control unit 115 discharges the envelope 10 when the envelope 10 is discharged from the flap 11 side. The paper discharge control is performed so that the paper is discharged. In the case of setting to discharge the paper to the face-up discharge tray 43, the control unit 115 guides the single-sided printed envelope 10 printed by the transport printing unit 3 to the paper discharge path RD1, and the discharge roller 42 at the transport speed V1. The sheet is discharged onto the face-up discharge tray 43. In the case of setting to discharge to the face-down discharge tray 73, the control unit 115 guides the envelope 10 on which single-sided printing has been performed to the discharge path RD2, and discharges the envelope 10 to the face-down discharge tray 73 at the transport speed V1 by the discharge roller 72. Make paper.

  In step S120, since the envelope 10 is directed into the registration roller 31 from the binding unit 12 side, the control unit 115 causes the slack formed when the envelope 10 hits the registration roller 31 to be “large”. Take control. At this time, the control unit 115 passes the driver 101 through the driver 101 so that the conveyance amount by the external paper feed roller 22 after the leading edge of the envelope 10 is detected by the registration sensor 34 becomes the conveyance amount L3 corresponding to the slack “large”. The vertical conveyance motor 91 is controlled. After stopping the external paper feed roller 22, the control unit 115 causes the driver 102 to drive the registration motor 92. As a result, the registration roller 31 is driven, and the envelope 10 is fed to the transport printing unit 3.

  The subsequent steps S130 and S140 are the same as the aforementioned steps S60 and S70.

  If it is determined in step S140 that the setting is for performing double-sided printing (step S140: YES), in step S150, the control unit 115 controls refeeding of the envelope 10 on which single-sided printing has been performed. At the time of the re-feeding, the envelope 10 is reversed in its direction by being switched back by the re-feeding unit 8, so that the envelope 10 enters the registration roller 31 from the side of the flap 11, opposite to the time of the first feeding. It has become. Therefore, the control unit 115 performs control so that the slack formed when the envelope 10 abuts against the registration roller 31 becomes “small”. In order for the sag to be “small”, the control unit 115 determines that the transport amount by the refeed roller 83 after the leading edge of the envelope 10 is detected by the registration sensor 34 corresponds to the sag “small”. The refeed motor 99 is controlled via the driver 109 so as to be L1.

  After stopping the refeed roller 83, the control unit 115 drives the registration motor 92 by the driver 102. As a result, the registration roller 31 is driven, and the envelope 10 is re-fed to the transport printing unit 3 with the unprinted surface directed to the inkjet head unit 33.

  The subsequent process in step S160 is the same as the process in step S90 described above.

  Next, in step S170, the control unit 115 performs discharge control so that the double-side printed envelope 10 is discharged to the face-up discharge tray 43 or the face-down discharge tray 73 at the discharge speed V1.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S140 that the setting is for single-sided printing (step S140: NO), in step S180, the control unit 115 causes the envelope 10 on which single-sided printing has been performed to face-up discharge tray 43 or face-down discharge. Paper discharge control is performed so that paper is discharged onto the paper board 73 at a paper discharge speed V3.

  In step S190, since the envelope 10 enters the registration roller 31 sideways, the control unit 115 performs control so that the slack formed when the envelope 10 abuts against the registration roller 31 becomes “medium”. At this time, the control unit 115 passes the driver 101 via the driver 101 so that the conveyance amount by the external paper feed roller 22 after the leading edge of the envelope 10 is detected by the registration sensor 34 becomes the conveyance amount L2 corresponding to the slack “medium”. The vertical conveyance motor 91 is controlled. After stopping the external paper feed roller 22, the control unit 115 causes the driver 102 to drive the registration motor 92. As a result, the registration roller 31 is driven, and the envelope 10 is fed to the transport printing unit 3.

  The subsequent steps S200 and S210 are the same as the aforementioned steps S60 and S70. When the control unit 115 determines in step S210 that the setting is to perform double-sided printing (step S210: YES), the control unit 115 proceeds to step S220 and determines that the setting is to perform single-sided printing (step S210: NO). Proceed to step S240.

  In step S220, the control unit 115 controls refeeding of the envelope 10 that has been printed on one side. At the time of re-feeding, the envelope 10 is reversed by being switched back by the re-feeding unit 8, but the sideways orientation is the same as at the time of the first paper feeding. For this reason, the control unit 115 performs control so that the slack formed when the envelope 10 abuts against the registration roller 31 becomes “medium”. In order for the slack to become “medium”, the control unit 115 determines that the transport amount by the re-feed roller 83 after the registration sensor 34 detects the leading edge of the envelope 10 corresponds to the slack “medium”. The refeed motor 99 is controlled via the driver 109 so as to be L2.

  After stopping the refeed roller 83, the control unit 115 drives the registration motor 92 by the driver 102. As a result, the registration roller 31 is driven, and the envelope 10 is re-fed to the transport printing unit 3 with the unprinted surface directed to the inkjet head unit 33.

  The subsequent step S230 is the same as the above-described step S90.

  Next, in step S240, the control unit 115 discharges the double-sided printed envelope 10 to the face-up discharge tray 43 or the face-down discharge tray 73 at a discharge speed V2 when the envelope 10 is discharged in the horizontal direction. The paper discharge control is performed. Thus, the printing operation is completed.

  In the above description, the case where the envelope 10 is fed from the external paper feed tray 21 has been described. However, the same processing can be applied even when the envelope 10 is fed from the internal paper feed tray 23.

  As described above, in the printing apparatus 1, according to the orientation of the envelope 10 that enters the registration roller 31, the envelope in the paper feed roller is changed so as to change the amount of sag of the envelope 10 that is formed by abutting the registration roller 31. 10 carry amount is controlled. As a result, an appropriate slack according to the direction when the envelope 10 enters the registration roller 31 can be formed, and the envelope 10 can be fed stably and satisfactorily. As a result, it is possible to reduce the skew correction and the generation of noise when absorbing slack.

  In the printing apparatus 1, the sag is relatively small when the envelope 10 is in the direction of entering the registration roller 31 from the flap 11 side, and the sag is relatively large when the envelope 10 is in the direction of entering from the binding portion 12 side. The conveyance amount of the envelope 10 in the paper feed roller is controlled. Thereby, for example, when the envelope 10 is abutted against the registration roller 31 from the flap 11 side, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of paper folding at the flap 11 due to excessive slack. In addition, when the envelope 10 is abutted against the registration roller 31 from the binding portion 12 side, it is possible to reduce the fact that the slack is too small to sufficiently perform the skew correction.

  In the printing apparatus 1, even when the envelope 10 is reversed by the refeed unit 8 during re-feeding in double-sided printing and the orientation is reversed from that during the first feeding, the envelope 10 that enters the registration roller 31 is An appropriate slack can be formed according to the direction, and good paper feeding can be realized.

  Further, in the printing apparatus 1, the paper discharge speed is changed according to the direction of the envelope 10 at the time of paper discharge. For example, when the envelope 10 is discharged from the flap 11 side, if the discharge speed is not appropriate, the opening of the envelope 10 widens and resistance by air increases, and the behavior of the envelope 10 may be disturbed. Further, when the envelope 10 is discharged from the binding unit 12 side, the leading side becomes heavy, and therefore, if the discharge speed is not appropriate, the envelope 10 is discharged from the discharge tray (face-up discharge tray 43, face-down discharge tray 73). There is a risk that it will not reach the back. As a result, a plurality of envelopes 10 that have been discharged may not be aligned on the discharge stand, and may be in a distorted state. Further, as a result, there is a possibility that the subsequent envelope 10 abuts against the envelope 10 on the paper discharge tray and a paper discharge jam occurs.

  In the printing apparatus 1, it is possible to realize good paper discharge by setting an appropriate paper discharge speed in accordance with the direction of the envelope 10 during paper discharge. In the printing apparatus 1, the conveyance speed is relatively slow when the envelope 10 is in the direction of entering the paper discharge tray from the flap 11 side, and the conveyance speed is relatively high when the direction of entry is from the binding unit 12 side. To be. Thereby, the disturbance of the envelope 10 on the paper discharge table and the paper discharge jam can be suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, the registration sensor 34, which is a transmissive sensor, is used to detect the orientation of the envelope 10. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) that is a line sensor extending in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the print medium may be used. In this case, the orientation of the envelope 10 can be detected by detecting the obliquely cut portion of the flap 11 of the envelope 10 by CIS. A distance measuring sensor or the like that can detect the height of the print medium on the conveyance path can also be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing apparatus 2 Paper feed part 3 Conveyance printing part 4 Face-up paper discharge part 5 Ascending conveyance part 6 Horizontal conveyance part 7 Face down paper discharge part 8 Refeed part 10 Envelope 11 Flap 12 Binding part 31 Registration roller 34 Registration sensor 115 Control unit

Claims (5)

A paper feed transport unit for transporting envelopes;
A registration unit that is provided on the downstream side in the conveyance direction with respect to the sheet feeding conveyance unit, and after the envelope conveyed by the sheet feeding conveyance unit is abutted, a registration unit that conveys the envelope further downstream;
A detection unit for detecting an orientation in the conveyance direction of the envelope conveyed to the resist unit;
A control unit for controlling a conveyance amount of the envelope in the paper feeding conveyance unit so as to change a size of the slack of the envelope formed by abutting against the registration unit according to the direction of the envelope detected by the detection unit; A conveying device comprising:   In the paper feeding and transporting unit, the control unit is configured so that the sag is smaller when the envelope enters the registration unit from the flap side than when the envelope enters from the binding side, which is the opposite side of the flap side. The conveyance device according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance amount of the envelope is controlled. The paper feeding and conveying unit
A primary paper feeding unit that takes out an unprinted envelope from the paper feeding table and conveys the envelope toward the resist unit;
The transport apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a refeed unit that reverses the direction of the envelope printed on one side during double-sided printing and transports the envelope toward the resist unit. A paper discharge unit for discharging the printed envelope to a paper discharge tray;
4. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs control so as to change a conveyance speed at the time of paper discharge according to a direction of an envelope at the time of paper discharge by the paper discharge unit. 5. Conveying device.   When the envelope is in a direction to enter the paper discharge tray from the flap side, the conveyance speed at the time of paper discharge is slower than in the direction in which the envelope enters from the binding side, which is the opposite side of the flap side. The conveying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein control is performed as follows.

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