JP2013061414A - Conveyance device and conveyance method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conveyance device and conveyance method, by which meander of a recording medium at the start of recording medium conveyance can be prevented even in the case where a wide recording medium or a large amount of recording medium is conveyed.SOLUTION: In a conveyance device, before the start of the conveyance of a recording medium, an adjusting part is driven for the direction and amount of drive of the adjustment part, obtained according to a meander error at the start of the previous conveyance. Accordingly, in the conveyance device, before the start of the conveyance of a recording medium, the pressing force of a pressure roller on a heat roller in the axial direction of the heat roller is adjusted to a pressing force obtained according to the meaner error at the start of the previous conveyance.

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport apparatus and a transport method.

  Conventionally, an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system or the like is provided with a mechanism for stably conveying a wide variety of recording media such as paper quality, paper thickness, and dimensions. For example, a fixing device that sandwiches and conveys a recording medium by a pair of roll-shaped members is provided with a mechanism that prevents the recording medium from meandering.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, the detection result of the meandering amount by the paper meandering sensor is monitored as needed from the start of printing, and the clamping force between the heating roll and the pressure roll is adjusted as needed according to the detected meandering amount. Is disclosed. Further, in Patent Document 2, the contact pressure between the heating roll and the pressure roll is increased at the left or right with respect to the axial direction of the roll when the conveyance of the paper is started, and the pressure is restored after an appropriate time has elapsed. Is disclosed. Patent Document 3 discloses that the inclination of the fixing unit itself is detected and the inclination of the fixing unit is adjusted before printing is started.

  Here, it is known that the meandering speed increases (the amount of meandering increases rapidly) as the width of the recording medium to be transported becomes narrower and the continuous amount of the recording medium to be transported increases. However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, since the meandering amount is detected and corrected at any time after the start of conveyance of the recording medium, it is difficult to adjust the meandering of the recording medium immediately after the start of conveyance, and the higher the meandering speed becomes. The meandering adjustment tends to be difficult. Further, in the technique of Patent Document 2, since the pressure immediately after the start of paper conveyance is uniquely adjusted regardless of the type of the recording medium, the meandering adjustment becomes more difficult as the meandering speed becomes higher. In the technique of Patent Document 3, meandering adjustment becomes more difficult as the meandering speed increases.

  That is, conventionally, it has been difficult to suppress meandering at the start of conveyance of a recording medium, especially as the width of the recording medium to be conveyed becomes narrower and the recording medium has a larger continuous amount.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and suppresses meandering at the start of conveyance of a recording medium even when conveying a narrow recording medium or a recording medium having a large continuous amount. An object of the present invention is to provide a transfer device and a transfer method.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention includes a conveying unit that sandwiches and conveys a recording medium by a pair of roll members, a detecting unit that detects a meandering direction and a meandering amount of the recording medium, Adjusting means for adjusting the clamping force in the axial direction of the pair of roll members; storage means for storing adjustment amounts of the adjusting means corresponding to the meandering direction and meandering amount at the start of the previous conveyance of the recording medium; and the recording And a control unit that controls the adjusting unit according to an adjustment amount of the adjusting unit at the time of the previous conveyance of the recording medium before starting the conveyance of the medium.

  The present invention is also a transport method executed by a transport device that transports a recording medium, the transport device including a transport unit that sandwiches and transports the recording medium by a pair of roll members, a meandering direction of the recording medium, and Adjustment means for detecting the meandering amount, adjusting means for adjusting the pinching force in the axial direction of the pair of roll members, and adjusting means corresponding to the meandering direction and the meandering amount when the recording medium is last transported And a storage unit that stores the amount, and before the start of transport of the recording medium, a transport method comprising the step of controlling the adjustment unit according to an adjustment amount of the adjustment unit at the previous transport of the recording medium It is.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a transport apparatus and a transport method that can suppress meandering at the start of transport of a recording medium even when transporting a narrow recording medium or a recording medium having a large continuous amount. There is an effect that it can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a transport apparatus according to first to third embodiments. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating each functional configuration of the transport apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the number of occurrences of meandering errors and the drive amount in the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of the conveyance process according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of adjustment processing according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of adjustment processing according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating each functional configuration of the transport apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the meandering error occurrence frequency and the drive amount in the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a conveyance process according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of the third adjustment process according to the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating each functional configuration of the transport apparatus according to the third embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the number of meandering error occurrences and the drive amount in the third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a conveyance process according to the third embodiment. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of the fifth adjustment process according to the third embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a transfer device and a transfer method will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a transport apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the transport device 10 of the present embodiment includes a heating roller 12 and a pressure roller 14 (a pair of roll members). The heating roller 12 and the pressure roller 14 are arranged in contact with each other so as to approach each other in a direction intersecting with each axial direction. The heating roller 12 and the pressure roller 14 are connected to a conveyance driving unit, which will be described later, via a driving member (not shown), and are driven in the nip portion in different directions (in FIG. 1, By rotating and driving in the direction of arrow CB and arrow CA, the recording medium 16 is nipped and conveyed in the conveyance direction (arrow B direction in FIG. 1). Note that the recording medium 16 specifically indicates continuous paper (roll paper, folding paper).

  The heating roller 12 incorporates a heater (not shown) and heats the surface. The pressure roller 14 is supported at both ends in the axial direction by a support member 18 and a support member 20, respectively. One end of each support member 18 and each support member 20 in the longitudinal direction (refer to the direction of arrow 12A in FIG. 1) is connected to each end of the pressure roller 14 in the axial direction (direction of arrow 14A). Yes. A fulcrum shaft 18 </ b> A and a fulcrum shaft 20 </ b> A are provided at the center of each support member 18 and support member 20 in the longitudinal direction. The fulcrum shaft 18A and the fulcrum shaft 20A are arranged in contact with the outer circumferences of the cam 19A and the cam 21A, respectively.

  The cam 19A rotates around the rotation shaft 19B. Further, the cam 21A rotates around the rotation shaft 21B. The cam 19A and the cam 21A are connected to a clamping drive unit (not shown in FIG. 1), which will be described later, through the rotating shaft 19B and the rotating shaft 21B, respectively. The cam 19A and the cam 21A are rotationally driven by transmitting the driving force of the clamping drive unit to the cam 19A and the cam 21A via the rotary shaft 19B and the rotary shaft 21B. The pressure roller 14 supported by the support member 18 and the support member 20 is arranged at a position in contact with the heating roller 12 or a position away from the heating roller 12 by the rotational drive of the cam 19A and the cam 21A. .

  The end of each of the support member 18 and the support member 20 on the opposite side to the pressure roller 14 is connected to a travel adjustment motor (adjustment) via a travel adjustment pulley (not shown), a spring 22A, and a wire 22. Means) 24.

  The travel adjustment motor 24 adjusts the pressing force of the pressure roller 14 in the axial direction of the heating roller 12. Specifically, the travel adjustment motor 24 is provided with an adjustment unit 24A. Depending on the driving direction (for example, arrow A direction) and the driving amount of the adjusting unit 24A, the holding force in the axial direction between the pressure roller 14 and the heating roller 12 (hereinafter referred to as pressure) via the support member 20 and the support member 18 is determined. The pressure of the heating roller 12 in the axial direction of the pressure roller 14 is adjusted. The driving direction and the driving amount of the adjusting unit 24A correspond to the adjusting amount of the adjusting unit 24A.

  24 A of adjustment parts are connected to the adjustment motor drive part mentioned later through the drive part which abbreviate | omits illustration. The driving force of the adjusting motor driving unit is transmitted to the adjusting unit 24A via the driving unit, whereby the adjusting unit 24A is adjusted with the driving direction and the driving amount corresponding to the signal input to the adjusting motor driving unit.

  A guide plate 15 for guiding the recording medium 16 to the heating roller 12 and the pressure roller 14 is provided on the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the recording medium 16 by the heating roller 12 and the pressure roller 14 (the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1). It has been. The guide plate 15 is provided with a detection unit 26 (detection means). The detection unit 26 detects a meandering error of the recording medium 16 and detects the meandering direction of the recording medium 16 at the time of detection. Examples of the detection unit 26 include a known optical sensor, but are not limited thereto. “Meandering error” means that the amount of meandering (skew) of the recording medium 16 exceeds the allowable range in which the meandering correction is possible in the direction orthogonal to the medium conveyance direction (recording medium width direction).

  In addition, the transport device 10 is provided with a main control unit 28 that controls each unit provided in the transport device 10. The main control unit 28 has a hardware configuration using a normal computer such as a CPU, ROM, and RAM.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing each functional configuration of the transport apparatus 10.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the transport apparatus 10 includes a main control unit 28, a detection unit 26, an adjustment motor drive unit 30, a clamping drive unit 32, a transport drive unit 34, and an acquisition unit 36.

  The adjustment motor drive unit 30 is connected to the adjustment unit 24A described above. The clamping drive unit 32 is connected to the rotation shaft 21B of the cam 21A and the rotation shaft 19B of the cam 19A. The conveyance drive unit 34 is connected to a drive unit (not shown) that rotates the heating roller 12 and the pressure roller 14 in different directions (directions facing each other). In this embodiment, the drive unit rotates the heating roller 12, and the pressure roller 14 has a driven rotation configuration by contact with the heating roller 12 or the recording medium 16. The acquisition unit 36 is operated when an instruction to start or stop conveyance is given by an operation instruction from the user, and acquires a signal indicating the start of conveyance or a signal indicating the conveyance stop. Examples of the acquisition unit 36 include known input mechanisms such as a keyboard and a touch panel.

  The main control unit 28 includes a control unit 40 (control unit) and a storage unit 38 (storage unit). The controller 40 performs a conveyance process that will be described later.

  The storage unit 38 stores the drive direction and drive amount of the adjustment unit 24A in association with the meander direction and meander amount of the recording medium 16. Specifically, the storage unit 38 stores a table that stores the drive direction and drive amount of the adjustment unit 24 </ b> A in association with the meander direction and the meander amount of the recording medium 16.

  In the present embodiment, the meandering direction refers to any direction (refer to the direction of arrow D in FIG. 1) intersecting the transport direction (refer to the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1) (refer to the direction of arrow D in FIG. 1). (See L side and R side).

  In the present embodiment, the meandering error occurrence frequency indicates the meandering error occurrence number, and after the conveyance of the recording medium 16 is started, for example, a meandering error to the L side or the R side is detected by the detection unit 26. It is assumed that it is the number of times counted up each time it is performed. For this reason, the storage unit 38 stores the drive direction and drive amount of the adjustment unit 24A in association with the meandering direction of the recording medium 16 and the number of meandering errors.

  In the present embodiment, when a meandering error is detected by the detection unit 26 after the conveyance of the recording medium 16 is started, the conveyance is stopped and the user or the like resets the recording medium 16 to a predetermined initial position. A description will be given later assuming that the conveyance is started again.

  Note that the storage unit 38 stores the drive amount of the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to the number of occurrences of the meander error so that the drive amount output from the adjustment motor drive unit 30 to the adjustment unit 24A increases as the number of occurrences of the meander error increases. To do. FIG. 3 shows a diagram 42 showing an example of the relationship between the number of meandering error occurrences and the drive amount. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the storage unit 38 performs meandering so that the relationship between the number of occurrences of the meander error and the drive amount of the adjustment unit 24 </ b> A becomes a relationship represented by a diagram 42 represented by a straight line indicating a proportional relationship. A drive amount corresponding to the number of error occurrences is stored in advance.

  Next, the procedure of the conveyance process performed with the conveying apparatus 10 is demonstrated. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of the conveyance process.

  First, the control unit 40 determines whether or not a signal indicating a conveyance start instruction is received via the acquisition unit 36 (step S100). When a signal indicating a conveyance start instruction has not been received (step S100: No), this routine ends.

  On the other hand, when a signal indicating a conveyance start instruction is received (step S100: Yes), the control unit 40 determines whether or not a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S102). The control unit 40 may perform the determination in step S102 by determining whether or not information indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous transport is stored in the storage unit 38, for example. At this time, if a transport error occurs at the start of transport, the control unit 40 stores information (for example, a flag) indicating that a meander error has occurred at the start of transport in the storage unit 38, and the meander error at the start of transport. If this does not occur, the flag may be deleted from the storage unit 38.

  When the control unit 40 determines that a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S102: Yes), the control unit 40 proceeds to step S104 described later. On the other hand, when the control unit 40 determines that no meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S102: No), the control unit 40 proceeds to step S110 described later.

  The control unit 40 reads from the storage unit 38 the drive direction and drive amount of the adjustment unit 24A obtained according to the meandering error at the start of the previous conveyance (step S104). For example, when the meandering error at the start of the previous transport occurs, the control unit 40 associates the flag indicating that the meander error has occurred at the start of transport with the adjustment determined according to the meandering error at the start of the previous transport. Information indicating the drive amount and drive direction of the unit 24A is stored in the storage unit 38 (details will be described later). And the control part 40 performs the process of step S104 by reading the information which shows the drive amount and drive direction of the adjustment part 24A corresponding to the flag which shows that the meander error has occurred at the time of conveyance start from the memory | storage part 38. .

  Next, the control unit 40 outputs a drive instruction signal including the drive direction and drive amount read in step S104 to the adjustment motor drive unit 30 (step S106). The adjustment motor drive unit 30 that has received the drive instruction signal drives the adjustment unit 24A in the drive amount and drive direction included in the drive instruction signal. For this reason, the pressing force of the pressure roller 14 with respect to the heating roller 12 at each position in the axial direction of the heating roller 12 is equal to the pressing force obtained according to the meandering error at the start of the previous conveyance. Adjusted.

  Then, the adjustment motor drive unit 30 drives the adjustment unit 24A in the drive amount and drive direction included in the drive instruction signal, and then outputs a signal indicating drive completion to the control unit 40.

  Next, the control part 40 repeats negative determination until it receives the signal which shows a drive completion from the clamping drive part 32 (step S108: No), and when it makes an affirmative determination (step S108: Yes), it will progress to step S110.

  Next, the control unit 40 outputs a conveyance start instruction signal indicating the conveyance start of the recording medium 16 to the conveyance driving unit 34 (step S110). The conveyance drive unit 34 that has received the conveyance start instruction signal rotationally drives the heating roller 12 and the pressure roller 14 via a drive unit (not shown). By the processing in step S110, the conveyance of the recording medium 16 is started (started or restarted).

  Next, the control unit 40 determines whether a meandering error has occurred (step S112). The control unit 40 determines in step S112 by determining whether or not a signal indicating the occurrence of a meander error has been received from the detection unit 26 within a predetermined time from the start of conveyance.

  If it is determined that no meandering error has occurred (step S112: No), the control unit 40 deletes the flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance from the storage unit 38 (memory clear), and then ends this routine. To do.

  On the other hand, when determining that a meandering error has occurred (step S112: Yes), the control unit 40 outputs a conveyance end instruction signal to the conveyance driving unit 34 (step S114). The conveyance drive unit 34 that has received the conveyance end instruction signal ends the rotational drive of the drive roller (the heating roller 12 in this embodiment).

  Next, the control unit 40 performs an adjustment process (step S118), which will be described in detail later, and further stores a flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance in the storage unit 38, and then ends this routine.

  Next, an example of the procedure in the adjustment process (step S118) in FIG. 4 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the adjustment process.

  The control unit 40 determines whether or not a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous transport, similarly to step S102 (step S200).

  When the control unit 40 determines that a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S200: Yes), the control unit 40 acquires a signal indicating the meandering direction of the recording medium 16 in the presently occurring meandering error (step S202). When the control unit 40 determines that the meandering error has occurred (see step S112 in FIG. 4), the control unit 40 associates the meandering error occurrence and the signal indicating the meandering direction received from the detecting unit 26 with the meandering error occurrence date and time. And stored in the storage unit 38. Then, in the process of step S202, the control unit 40 may acquire a signal indicating the meandering direction of the current meandering error by reading a signal indicating the latest meandering direction stored in the storage unit 38.

  Next, the control unit 40 determines whether or not the meandering direction of the current meandering error acquired in step S202 is the same direction as the meandering direction of the meandering error at the start of transporting the previous recording medium 16 (step S202). S204). Specifically, the control unit 40 reads the signal indicating the meandering direction corresponding to the date and time when the meandering occurred immediately before the signal indicating the latest meandering direction stored in the storage unit 38, thereby meandering the previous meandering error. Read direction. Then, the control unit 40 determines whether the meandering direction of the current meandering error is the same as the meandering direction of the previous meandering error, thereby determining step S204.

  When the meandering direction of the current meandering error is the same direction as the meandering direction of the meandering error at the start of transport of the previous recording medium 16 (step S204: Yes), the control unit 40 proceeds to step S208 described later. .

  On the other hand, when the control unit 40 determines that no meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S200: No), and the meandering direction of the current meandering error is different from the previous meandering direction. When it judges (step S204: No), after performing the process of step S206 mentioned later, the process of step S208 mentioned later is performed.

  In the process of step S206, the controller 40 clears the meander error occurrence counter by substituting “0” for the count value N of the meander error occurrence count stored in the storage unit 38 (step S206). .

  Next, in step S208, the control unit 40 substitutes the count value N of the meandering error occurrence count stored in the storage unit 38 and the value obtained by adding “1” to the current count value N. Thus, the meander error occurrence counter is counted up (step S208).

  Next, the control unit 40 stores the meandering direction corresponding to the latest meandering date and time stored in the storage unit 38 as the meandering direction of the current meandering error in the storage unit 38 (step S210).

  Next, the control unit 40 reads, from the storage unit 38, the drive amount of the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to the count value N (that is, the number of occurrences of meandering error) after counting up in step S208 (step S212). Further, the control unit 40 reads from the storage unit 38 the driving direction of the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to the meandering direction of the meandering error stored in step S210 (step S212).

  The storage unit 38 stores in advance the drive direction of the adjusting unit 24A for adjusting the meandering direction of the recording medium 16 (that is, returning to the direction before the meandering) in association with the meandering direction of the recording medium 16. Yes. Therefore, the control unit 40 obtains the drive direction of the adjustment unit 24A by reading the drive direction of the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to the meander direction of the meander error from the storage unit 38.

  Next, the control unit 40 stores the read drive direction and drive amount in the storage unit 38 in association with a flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance (step S214), and ends this routine.

  Note that the control unit 40 reads the driving direction and the driving amount stored in the storage unit 38 in step S214 at the time of the process of step S104 (see FIG. 4) described above when the conveyance of the recording medium 16 is started next time.

  In the adjustment process (step S118) in FIG. 4, the adjustment process shown in FIG. 6 may be performed instead of the adjustment process shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the adjustment process (step S118) in FIG.

  The control unit 40 determines whether or not a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous transport, similarly to step S102 (step S300).

  If the control unit 40 determines that a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S300: Yes), the control unit 40 determines the meandering direction of the recording medium 16 in the meandering error that has occurred this time as in step S202 (see FIG. 5). The signal shown is acquired (step S304).

  Next, the control unit 40 determines whether or not the meandering direction of the current meandering error acquired in step S304 is the same direction as the meandering direction of the meandering error at the start of transport of the previous recording medium 16 (step S304). S306). Note that the determination in step S306 is performed in the same manner as in step S204 shown in FIG.

  When the meandering direction of the current meandering error is the same as the meandering direction of the meandering error at the start of transport of the previous recording medium 16 (step S306: Yes), the control unit 40 proceeds to step S314 described later. .

  On the other hand, when the control unit 40 determines that no meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S300: No), the count value N of the meandering error occurrence count stored in the storage unit 38 is “0”. By substituting "", the meander error occurrence counter is cleared (step S302). And it progresses to step S314 mentioned later.

  Next, when the control unit 40 determines that the meandering direction of the current meandering error is different from the previous meandering direction (step S306: No), the meandering direction of the current meandering error is the same as the previous meandering direction. It is determined whether or not the direction is the direction (step S308). Specifically, the control unit 40 reads the signal indicating the meandering direction corresponding to the previous meandering date and time with respect to the latest signal indicating the meandering direction stored in the storage unit 38, so that Read the meander direction of the meander error. Then, the control unit 40 determines in step S308 by determining whether the meandering direction of the current meandering error is the same as the meandering direction of the previous meandering error.

  If it is determined that the meandering direction of the current meandering error is the same as the previous meandering direction (step S308: Yes), “0” is substituted for the count value N of the meandering error occurrence count stored in the storage unit 38. As a result, the meander error occurrence counter is cleared (step S310). And it progresses to step S314 mentioned later.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the meandering direction of the current meandering error is different from the previous meandering direction (step S308: No), the current meandering error count value N stored in the storage unit 38 is added to the current meandering error count value N. By substituting a value obtained by subtracting “0.5” from the count value N, the meander error occurrence counter is subtracted (step S312). And it progresses to step S318 mentioned later.

  Next, the process of step S314 will be described. In the process of step S314, the control unit 40 substitutes the count value N of the number of occurrences of the meander error stored in the storage unit 38 and the value obtained by adding “1” to the current count value N. The error occurrence counter is counted up (step S314).

  Next, the control unit 40 stores the meander direction corresponding to the latest meander occurrence date and time stored in the storage unit 38 as the meander direction of the current meander error in the storage unit 38 (step S316).

  Next, the control unit 40 stores the drive amount of the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to the count value N after being counted up in step S314 or the count value N after being subtracted in step S312 (that is, the number of occurrences of meander error). Read from the unit 38 (step S318). Further, the control unit 40 reads from the storage unit 38 the driving direction of the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to the meandering direction of the meandering error stored in step S316 (step S318). Note that the process of step S318 is performed in the same manner as the process of step S212 described in FIG.

  Next, the control unit 40 stores the read drive direction and drive amount in the storage unit 38 in association with a flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance (step S320), and ends this routine.

  Note that the control unit 40 reads the drive direction and drive amount stored in the storage unit 38 in step S320 at the time of the above-described step S104 (see FIG. 4) when the recording medium 16 is transported next time.

  As described above, in the transport apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the adjustment is made to the drive direction and drive amount of the adjusting unit 24A obtained according to the meandering error at the start of the previous transport before the start of transport of the recording medium 16. The unit 24A is driven. For this reason, in the conveyance device 10 of the present embodiment, before the conveyance of the recording medium 16 starts, the pressing force of the pressure roller 14 against the heating roller 12 at each position in the axial direction of the heating roller 12 starts the previous conveyance. It becomes a state adjusted to the pressing force obtained according to the meandering error at the time.

  For this reason, in the conveyance device 10 of the present embodiment, the recording medium 16 in which the meandering speed of the recording medium 16 becomes high, such as when the recording medium 16 having a narrow width or the recording medium 16 having a large continuous amount is conveyed. Even when the recording medium 16 is conveyed, the pressing force at each position in the axial direction of the pressure roller 14 with respect to the heating roller 12 has already been adjusted at the start of conveyance. Can be suppressed.

  Further, in the transport apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, meandering at the start of transport of the recording medium 16 can be suppressed. Therefore, the user can maintain the transport apparatus 10 at the start of transport of the recording medium 16 by meandering of the recording medium 16. The work to perform can be suppressed.

  Further, in the transport apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, as described above, when the meander error occurs at the start of the previous transport of the recording medium 16, a larger drive amount is set as the number of meander error occurrences increases. For this reason, the meandering of the recording medium 16 when the conveyance of the recording medium 16 after the occurrence of the meandering error is resumed can be effectively suppressed.

  Note that the conveying device 10 of the present embodiment may function as a fixing device of a known electrophotographic image forming apparatus. In this case, the conveying device 10 can fix the toner to the recording medium 16 by heating the toner transferred onto the recording medium 16 with the heating roller 12 and pressing with the heating roller 12 and the pressure roller 14. it can.

(Second Embodiment)
In the present embodiment, a case where the driving amount and the driving direction at the start of conveyance are adjusted according to the width of the recording medium 16 will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a transfer apparatus 10A according to the present embodiment. In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the transport apparatus 10 </ b> A includes a detection unit 26 </ b> A instead of the detection unit 26 in the transport apparatus 10 described in the first embodiment, and a main control unit instead of the main control unit 28. 28A. Since these points are the same as those of the transport apparatus 10, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The detection unit 26A detects a meandering error of the recording medium 16, and detects a meandering direction and a meandering amount of the recording medium 16 at the time of detection. The detection unit 26 </ b> A further detects the width of the recording medium 16. The detection unit 26A may be a known optical sensor or the like, but is not limited thereto.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the meandering amount indicates the number of meandering error occurrences will be described. The definition of the number of occurrences of the meander error is the same as in the first embodiment, and is omitted here.

  The main control unit 28A has a hardware configuration using a normal computer such as a CPU, ROM, and RAM.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing each functional configuration of the transfer apparatus 10A of the present embodiment.

  As illustrated in FIG. 7, the conveyance device 10A includes a main control unit 28A, a detection unit 26A, an adjustment motor driving unit 30, a clamping driving unit 32, a conveyance driving unit 34, and an acquisition unit 36.

  The main control unit 28A includes a control unit 40A (control unit) and a storage unit 38A (storage unit). 40 A of control parts perform the conveyance process mentioned later.

  For each width of the recording medium 16, the storage unit 38A stores the driving direction and driving amount of the adjusting unit 24A in association with the meandering direction of the recording medium 16 and the number of occurrences of the meandering error. Specifically, the storage unit 38A stores, for each width of the recording medium 16, a table storing the driving direction and driving amount of the adjusting unit 24A in association with the meandering direction and the amount of meandering of the recording medium 16. .

  Specifically, the storage unit 38A drives the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to the meander error occurrence number so that the drive amount output from the adjustment motor drive unit 30 to the adjustment unit 24A increases as the meander error occurrence number increases. Remember.

  FIG. 8 shows a diagram illustrating an example of the relationship between the number of meandering error occurrences and the drive amount. As shown in FIG. 8, for example, in the storage unit 38A, the relationship between the number of occurrences of the meander error and the driving amount of the adjustment unit 24A is proportional to the information indicating the standard width as the width of the recording medium 16. The drive amount corresponding to the number of meandering error occurrences is stored in advance so that the relationship represented by the straight line 44B shown in FIG. Further, the storage unit 38A, for example, is a straight line indicating a proportional relationship in which the relationship between the number of meandering error occurrences and the driving amount of the adjustment unit 24A is greater than the straight line 44B in association with information indicating a width smaller than the standard width The drive amount corresponding to the number of meandering error occurrences is stored in advance so that the relationship represented by 44A is obtained. Similarly, for example, the storage unit 38A shows a proportional relationship in which the relationship between the number of occurrences of the meander error and the driving amount of the adjustment unit 24A is smaller than the straight line 44B in association with information indicating a width wider than the standard width. A drive amount corresponding to the number of meandering error occurrences is stored in advance so that the relationship represented by the straight line 44C is obtained.

  In FIG. 8, the number of occurrences of meandering errors and the driving of the adjusting unit 24A corresponding to three types of widths of the recording medium 16 are standard width, wider than standard width, and narrower than standard width. Although the relationship with quantity was shown, it is not restricted to three types of width. For example, a table indicating the drive amount of the adjusting unit 24A corresponding to the number of occurrences of the meander error corresponding to each of the widths of four or more types of recording media 16 may be stored in the storage unit 38A.

  Next, the procedure of the carrying process performed by the carrying device 10A will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of the conveyance process.

  First, the control unit 40A determines whether a signal indicating a conveyance start instruction is received via the acquisition unit 36 (step S400). When the signal indicating the conveyance start instruction is not received (step S400: No), this routine is finished.

  On the other hand, when a signal indicating a conveyance start instruction is received (step S400: Yes), the control unit 40A determines whether or not a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S402). For example, the control unit 40A performs the determination in step S402 in the same manner as step S102 described in FIG.

  When the control unit 40A determines that a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S402: Yes), the process proceeds to step S404 described below. On the other hand, when the control unit 40A determines that no meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S402: No), the process proceeds to step S416, which will be described later.

  The control unit 40A reads the width m of the recording medium 16 currently being conveyed (step S404). For example, the control unit 40A reads the width m of the recording medium 16 currently being conveyed by reading the signal indicating the width of the recording medium 16 detected by the detection unit 26A.

  Next, the control unit 40A reads information indicating the width n of the recording medium 16 at the time of the meandering error at the start of the previous conveyance (step S406). For example, the control unit 40A indicates the width of the recording medium 16 read at the start of the previous transport in association with a flag indicating that a meander error has occurred at the start of the transport when a meander error occurs at the start of the previous transport. Information is stored in the storage unit 38A. Then, the control unit 40A performs the process of step S406 by reading information indicating the width of the recording medium 16 corresponding to a flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance as information indicating the width n.

  Next, the control unit 40A determines whether or not the current width m of the recording medium 16 read in step S404 is the same as the previous width n of the recording medium 16 read in step S406 (step S406). S408).

  When a negative determination is made in step S408 (step S408: No), the control unit 40A proceeds to step S416 described later, and when an affirmative determination is made in step S408 (step S408: Yes), the control unit 40A proceeds to step S410 described later.

  Next, the control unit 40A reads from the storage unit 38A the driving direction and the driving amount of the adjusting unit 24A obtained according to the meandering error at the start of the previous conveyance (step S410). For example, when the meandering error at the start of the previous transport occurs, the control unit 40A associates the flag indicating that the meander error has occurred at the start of transport with the meander error at the start of the previous transport. Information indicating the drive amount and drive direction of the unit 24A is stored in the storage unit 38A (details will be described later). Then, the control unit 40A performs the process of step S410 by reading from the storage unit 38A information indicating the driving amount and driving direction of the adjusting unit 24A corresponding to the flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance. . Here, since the process of step S410 is performed when an affirmative determination is made in step S408, the control unit 40A corresponds to the width of the currently transported recording medium 16 (the width m read in step S404). The information indicating the driving amount and the driving direction of the adjusting unit 24A obtained in accordance with the meandering error at the start of the conveyance is read.

  Next, the control unit 40A outputs a drive instruction signal including the drive direction and the drive amount read in step S410 to the adjustment motor drive unit 30 (step S412). The adjustment motor drive unit 30 that has received the drive instruction signal drives the adjustment unit 24A in the drive amount and drive direction included in the drive instruction signal. For this reason, the pressing force of the pressure roller 14 against the heating roller 12 at each position in the axial direction of the heating roller 12 is adjusted to the pressing force obtained according to the meandering error at the start of the previous conveyance by the process of step S412. Is done.

  Then, the adjustment motor drive unit 30 drives the adjustment unit 24A in the drive amount and drive direction included in the drive instruction signal, and then outputs a signal indicating drive completion to the control unit 40A.

  Next, 40 A of control parts repeat negative determination until the signal which shows the completion of a drive is received from the clamping drive part 32 (step S414: No), and when affirmation determination is made (step S414: Yes), it will progress to step S416.

  Next, the control unit 40A outputs a conveyance start instruction signal indicating the conveyance start of the recording medium 16 to the conveyance driving unit 34 (step S416). The conveyance drive unit 34 that has received the conveyance start instruction signal rotationally drives the heating roller 12 via a drive unit (not shown). By the processing in step S416, the conveyance of the recording medium 16 is started (started or restarted).

  Next, the control unit 40A determines whether or not a meandering error has occurred (step S418), as in step S112 of FIG.

  If it is determined that no meandering error has occurred (step S418: No), the control unit 40A deletes the flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance from the storage unit 38A (memory clear), and then ends this routine. To do.

  On the other hand, when determining that a meandering error has occurred (step S418: Yes), the control unit 40A outputs a conveyance end instruction signal to the conveyance driving unit 34 (step S420). The conveyance drive unit 34 that has received the conveyance end instruction signal ends the rotational driving of the heating roller 12.

  Next, the control unit 40A performs a third adjustment process (step S422), which will be described in detail later, and further stores the flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance in the storage unit 38A, and then ends this routine. To do.

  Next, the procedure in the third adjustment process (step S422) in FIG. 9 will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the third adjustment process.

  The control unit 40A determines whether or not a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous transport, similarly to step S402 (see FIG. 9) (step S500).

  If the controller 40A determines that a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S500: Yes), it reads the current width m of the recording medium 16 in the same manner as in step S404 (see FIG. 9) (step S502). ).

  Next, the control unit 40A reads the width n of the recording medium 16 in the previous process (step S504) in the same manner as in step S406 (see FIG. 9). Then, the control unit 40A determines whether or not the width m of the current recording medium 16 read in step S502 is the same as the width n of the previous recording medium 16 read in step S504 (step S506). ).

  When a negative determination is made in step S506 (step S506: No), the control unit 40A proceeds to step S512 described later, and when an affirmative determination is made in step S506 (step S506: Yes), the control unit 40A proceeds to step S508 described later.

  Next, the control unit 40A acquires a signal indicating the meandering direction of the recording medium 16 in the meandering error that has occurred this time in the same manner as in step S202 (see FIG. 5) (step S508).

  Next, the control unit 40A determines whether or not the meandering direction of the current meandering error acquired in step S508 is the same as the meandering direction of the meandering error at the start of conveyance of the previous recording medium 16 (step S204). The determination is made in the same manner as in FIG. 5 (step S510).

  When the meandering direction of the current meandering error is the same direction as the meandering direction of the meandering error at the start of transport of the previous recording medium 16 (step S510: Yes), the control unit 40A proceeds to step S514 described later. .

  On the other hand, the control unit 40A determines that no meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S500: No), determines negative in step S506 (step S506: No), and present meandering error. When it is determined that the meandering direction is different from the previous meandering direction (step S510: No), after performing the process of step S512 described later, the process of step S514 described later is performed.

  In the process of step S512, the control unit 40A clears the meander error occurrence counter by substituting “0” for the count value N of the meander error occurrence count stored in the storage unit 38A (step S512). .

  Next, in step S514, the control unit 40A substitutes the count value N of the meander error occurrence count stored in the storage unit 38A and the value obtained by adding “1” to the current count value N. Thus, the meander error occurrence counter is counted up (step S514).

  Next, the control unit 40A stores the meandering direction corresponding to the latest meander occurrence date and time stored in the storage unit 38A as the meandering direction of the current meander error in the storage unit 38A (step S516).

  Next, the control unit 40A reads the width m of the recording medium 16 currently being transported, read in step S502, as information indicating the width n of the recording medium 16 when a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous transport. The information is stored in the storage unit 38A in association with a flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance (step S518).

  Next, the control unit 40A determines the table (meander direction and the number of occurrences of the meandering error) corresponding to the width of the recording medium 16 stored in step S518 (that is, the width of the recording medium 16 being conveyed when the meandering error occurs this time). A corresponding table storing the driving direction and the driving amount is selected from the storage unit 38A (step S520).

  Next, the control unit 40A reads the driving amount of the adjusting unit 24A corresponding to the count value N (that is, the number of meandering errors) after counting up in Step S514 from the table selected in Step S520 (Step S522). ). Further, the control unit 40A reads the driving direction of the adjusting unit 24A corresponding to the meandering direction of the meandering error stored in step S516 (step S522).

  The storage unit 38A stores in advance the drive direction of the adjusting unit 24A for adjusting the meandering direction of the recording medium 16 (that is, returning to the direction before meandering) in association with the meandering direction of the recording medium 16. Yes. Therefore, the control unit 40A obtains the drive direction of the adjustment unit 24A by reading the drive direction of the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to the meander direction of the meander error from the storage unit 38A.

  Next, the control unit 40A stores the read drive direction and drive amount in the storage unit 38A in association with a flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance (step S524), and ends this routine.

  Note that the control unit 40A reads the drive direction and drive amount stored in the storage unit 38A in step S524 during the process of step S410 (see FIG. 9) described above when the recording medium 16 is started to be transported next time.

  As described above, in the transport apparatus 10A of the present embodiment, the adjustment obtained according to the meandering error at the start of the previous transport corresponding to the width of the transported recording medium 16 before the transport of the recording medium 16 is started. The adjustment unit 24A is driven in the driving direction and the driving amount of the unit 24A. For this reason, in the conveying apparatus 10A of the present embodiment, the pressing force of the pressure roller 14 against the heating roller 12 at each position in the axial direction of the heating roller 12 before the conveyance of the recording medium 16 starts. The state is adjusted to the pressing force determined according to the width and the meandering error at the start of the previous conveyance.

  For this reason, in the transport apparatus 10A of the present embodiment, the pressing force at each position in the axial direction of the pressure roller 14 with respect to the heating roller 12 is already adjusted according to the width of the recording medium 16 at the start of transport. ing. Therefore, in the transport device 10A of the present embodiment, meandering at the start of transport of the recording medium 16 can be suppressed.

(Third embodiment)
In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the recording medium 16 is continuous paper continuous in the transport direction, and the drive amount and the drive direction at the start of transport are adjusted according to the continuous amount of the recording medium 16.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a transfer apparatus 10B according to the present embodiment. The transport apparatus 10B includes a main control unit 28B in place of the main control unit 28 in each configuration illustrated in FIG. Since these points are the same as those of the transport apparatus 10, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the meandering amount indicates the number of meandering error occurrences will be described. The definition of the number of occurrences of the meander error is the same as in the first embodiment, and is omitted here.

  The main control unit 28B has a hardware configuration using a normal computer such as a CPU, ROM, and RAM.

  FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating each functional configuration of the transport apparatus 10B according to the present embodiment.

  As illustrated in FIG. 11, the transport device 10B includes a main control unit 28B, a detection unit 26, an adjustment motor drive unit 30, a clamping drive unit 32, a transport drive unit 34, and an acquisition unit 36B.

  Similar to the acquisition unit 36 in the first embodiment, the acquisition unit 36B receives a signal indicating the start of conveyance and a signal indicating the stop of conveyance from the user. The acquisition unit 36B further receives information indicating the continuous amount of the recording medium 16 from the user. Examples of the acquisition unit 36B include known input mechanisms such as a keyboard and a touch panel.

  The main control unit 28B includes a control unit 40B (control unit) and a storage unit 38B (storage unit). The control unit 40B executes a conveyance process described later.

  The storage unit 38B stores the driving direction and the driving amount of the adjusting unit 24A in association with the meandering direction of the recording medium 16 and the number of occurrences of the meandering error for each continuous amount of the recording medium 16. Specifically, the storage unit 38B stores, for each continuous amount of the recording medium 16, a table storing the driving direction and the driving amount of the adjusting unit 24A corresponding to the meandering direction and the amount of meandering of the recording medium 16. .

  Specifically, the storage unit 38B drives the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to the number of occurrences of the meander error so that the drive amount output from the adjustment motor drive unit 30 to the adjustment unit 24A increases as the number of occurrences of the meander error increases. Remember.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the relationship between the number of meandering error occurrences and the drive amount. As shown in FIG. 12, for example, in the storage unit 38B, the relationship between the meandering error occurrence number and the drive amount of the adjustment unit 24A is proportional to the information indicating the standard continuous amount as the weight of the recording medium 16. The drive amount corresponding to the number of meandering error occurrences is stored in advance so that the relationship represented by the straight line 46B indicating the relationship is obtained. In addition, the storage unit 38B has a proportional relationship in which the relationship between the number of meandering error occurrences and the driving amount of the adjustment unit 24A is greater than the straight line 46B, for example, in association with information indicating the continuous amount larger than the standard continuous amount. The drive amount corresponding to the number of meandering error occurrences is stored in advance so that the relationship represented by the straight line 46A shown in FIG. Similarly, for example, the storage unit 38B associates information indicating a reaming amount smaller than the standard reaming amount, and the relationship between the meandering error occurrence number and the driving amount of the adjusting unit 24A is a proportional relationship having a smaller slope than the straight line 46B. The drive amount corresponding to the number of meandering error occurrences is stored in advance so that the relationship represented by the straight line 46C indicating

  FIG. 12 shows the relationship between the number of meander error occurrences and the drive amount of the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to three types of continuous amounts with different continuous amounts of the recording medium 16, but is not limited to three types. For example, a table indicating the drive amount of the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to the number of occurrences of the meandering error corresponding to each of the continuous amounts of the four or more types of recording media 16 may be stored in the storage unit 38B.

  Next, the procedure of the conveyance process performed with the conveyance apparatus 10B is demonstrated. FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of the conveyance process.

  First, the control unit 40B determines whether or not a signal indicating a conveyance start instruction has been received via the acquisition unit 36B (step S600). If a signal indicating a conveyance start instruction has not been received (step S600: No), this routine ends.

  On the other hand, when a signal indicating a conveyance start instruction is received (step S600: Yes), the control unit 40B determines whether a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S602). For example, the control unit 40B performs the determination in step S602 in the same manner as step S102 described in FIG.

  When the control unit 40B determines that a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S602: Yes), the process proceeds to step S604 described below. On the other hand, when the control unit 40B determines that a meandering error has not occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S602: No), the control unit 40B proceeds to step S616 described below.

  The control unit 40B reads a continuous amount value P that is a value of the continuous amount of the recording medium 16 currently being conveyed (step S604). For example, the control unit 40B reads the continuous amount value P of the recording medium 16 currently being conveyed by reading the signal indicating the continuous amount value that is the value of the continuous amount of the recording medium 16 received from the acquisition unit 36B.

  Next, the control unit 40B reads information indicating the continuous quantity value Q of the recording medium 16 being conveyed at the time of the meandering error at the time of the previous conveyance start (step S606). For example, when the meander error at the start of the previous transport occurs, the control unit 40B associates the flag indicating that the meander error has occurred at the start of transport with the continuous value of the recording medium 16 read at the start of the previous transport. Is stored in the storage unit 38B. Then, the control unit 40B reads information indicating the continuous amount value of the recording medium 16 corresponding to the flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance as information indicating the continuous amount value Q. Process.

  Next, the control unit 40B determines whether or not the current continuous quantity value P of the recording medium 16 read in step S604 is the same as the previous continuous quantity value Q of the recording medium 16 read in step S606. A determination is made (step S608).

  If a negative determination is made in step S608 (step S608: No), the control unit 40B proceeds to step S616 described later, and if an affirmative determination is made in step S608 (step S608: Yes), the control unit 40B proceeds to step S610 described later.

  Next, the control unit 40B reads from the storage unit 38B the drive direction and drive amount of the adjustment unit 24A obtained according to the meandering error at the start of the previous conveyance (step S610). For example, when the meander error occurs at the start of the previous transport, the control unit 40B associates the flag indicating that a meander error has occurred at the start of transport with the meander error at the start of the previous transport. Information indicating the drive amount and drive direction of the unit 24A is stored in the storage unit 38B (details will be described later). Then, the control unit 40B reads the information indicating the driving amount and driving direction of the adjusting unit 24A corresponding to the flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance from the storage unit 38B, thereby performing the process of step S610. . Here, since the process of step S610 is performed when an affirmative determination is made in step S608, the control unit 40B sets the continuous quantity value of the recording medium 16 currently being conveyed (the continuous quantity value P read in step S604). Corresponding information indicating the driving amount and driving direction of the adjusting unit 24A obtained according to the meandering error at the start of the previous conveyance is read.

  Next, the control unit 40B outputs a drive instruction signal including the drive direction and the drive amount read in step S610 to the adjustment motor drive unit 30 (step S612). The adjustment motor drive unit 30 that has received the drive instruction signal drives the adjustment unit 24A in the drive amount and drive direction included in the drive instruction signal. For this reason, the pressing force of the pressure roller 14 against the heating roller 12 at each position in the axial direction of the heating roller 12 is adjusted to the pressing force obtained according to the meandering error at the start of the previous conveyance by the process of step S612. Is done.

  Then, the adjustment motor drive unit 30 drives the adjustment unit 24A in the drive amount and drive direction included in the drive instruction signal, and then outputs a signal indicating drive completion to the control unit 40B.

  Next, the control unit 40B repeats the negative determination until a signal indicating the completion of driving is received from the pinching drive unit 32 (step S614: No), and when an affirmative determination is made (step S614: Yes), the process proceeds to step S616.

  Next, the control unit 40B outputs a conveyance start instruction signal indicating the conveyance start of the recording medium 16 to the conveyance driving unit 34 (step S616). The conveyance drive unit 34 that has received the conveyance start instruction signal rotationally drives the heating roller 12 via a drive unit (not shown). By the processing in step S616, the conveyance of the recording medium 16 is started (started or restarted).

  Next, the control unit 40B determines whether or not a meandering error has occurred in the same manner as in step S112 in FIG. 4 (step S618).

  If it is determined that no meandering error has occurred (step S618: No), the control unit 40B deletes the flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance from the storage unit 38B (memory clear), and then ends this routine. To do.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that a transport error has occurred (step S618: Yes), the control unit 40B outputs a transport end instruction signal to the transport drive unit 34 (step S620). The conveyance drive unit 34 that has received the conveyance end instruction signal ends the rotational driving of the heating roller 12.

  Next, the control unit 40B performs a fifth adjustment process (step S622), the details of which will be described later, and further stores a flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance in the storage unit 38B, and then ends this routine. To do.

  Next, the procedure in the fifth adjustment process (step S622) in FIG. 13 will be described. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of the fifth adjustment process.

  The control unit 40B determines whether or not a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous transport, similarly to step S602 (see FIG. 13) (step S700).

  If the control unit 40B determines that a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S700: Yes), it reads the current amount P of the recording medium 16 in the same manner as in step S604 (see FIG. 13) ( Step S702).

  Next, similarly to step S606 (see FIG. 13), the control unit 40B reads the continuous quantity value Q of the recording medium 16 at the previous processing (step S704). Then, the control unit 40B determines whether or not the current continuous quantity value P of the recording medium 16 read in step S702 is the same as the previous continuous quantity value Q of the recording medium 16 read in step S704. (Step S706).

  If a negative determination is made in step S706 (step S706: No), the control unit 40B proceeds to step S712 described later, and if an affirmative determination is made in step S706 (step S706: Yes), the control unit 40B proceeds to step S708 described later.

  Next, the control unit 40B acquires a signal indicating the meandering direction of the recording medium 16 in the meandering error that has occurred this time in the same manner as in step S202 (see FIG. 5) (step S708).

  Next, the control unit 40B determines whether or not the meandering direction of the current meandering error acquired in step S708 is the same direction as the meandering direction of the meandering error at the start of transporting the previous recording medium 16 (step S204). The determination is made in the same manner as in FIG. 5 (step S710).

  When the meandering direction of the current meandering error is the same as the meandering direction of the meandering error at the start of transport of the previous recording medium 16 (step S710: Yes), the control unit 40B proceeds to step S714 described later. .

  On the other hand, the control unit 40B determines that no meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous conveyance (step S700: No), determines negative in step S706 (step S706: No), and present meandering error. When it is determined that the meandering direction is different from the previous meandering direction (step S710: No), after performing the process of step S712 described later, the process of step S714 described later is performed.

  In the process of step S712, the control unit 40B clears the meander error occurrence counter by substituting “0” for the count value N of the meander error occurrence count stored in the storage unit 38B (step S712). .

  Next, in step S714, the control unit 40B substitutes the count value N of the meander error occurrence count stored in the storage unit 38B and the value obtained by adding “1” to the current count value N. Thus, the meander error occurrence counter is counted up (step S714).

  Next, the control unit 40B stores, in the storage unit 38B, the meander direction corresponding to the latest meander occurrence date and time stored in the storage unit 38B as the meander direction of the current meander error (step S716).

  Next, the control unit 40B reads the continuous amount value P of the recording medium 16 currently being transported, which has been read in step S702, and the continuous amount value Q of the recording medium 16 when a meandering error has occurred at the start of the previous transport. As information to be shown, the information is stored in the storage unit 38B in association with a flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance (step S718).

  Next, the control unit 40B determines a table (meandering direction and meandering) corresponding to the continuous amount value of the recording medium 16 stored in step S718 (that is, the continuous amount value of the recording medium 16 being conveyed when the current meandering error occurs). The table storing the driving direction and the driving amount corresponding to the number of times of error occurrence is selected from the storage unit 38B (step S720).

  Next, the control unit 40B reads the drive amount of the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to the count value N (that is, the number of meandering error occurrences) after counting up in step S714 from the table selected in step S720 (step S722). ). Further, the control unit 40B reads the driving direction of the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to the meandering direction of the meandering error stored in step S716 (step S722).

  The storage unit 38B stores in advance the drive direction of the adjusting unit 24A for adjusting the meandering direction of the recording medium 16 (that is, returning to the direction before meandering) in association with the meandering direction of the recording medium 16. Yes. Therefore, the control unit 40B obtains the drive direction of the adjustment unit 24A by reading the drive direction of the adjustment unit 24A corresponding to the meander direction of the meander error from the storage unit 38B.

  Next, the control unit 40B stores the read drive direction and drive amount in the storage unit 38B in association with a flag indicating that a meandering error has occurred at the start of conveyance (step S724), and ends this routine.

  Note that the control unit 40B reads the drive direction and drive amount stored in the storage unit 38B in step S724 during the process of step S610 (see FIG. 13) described above when the recording medium 16 starts to be transported next time.

  As described above, in the transport device 10B of the present embodiment, before the start of transport of the recording medium 16, it is obtained according to the meandering error at the start of the previous transport corresponding to the continuous amount value of the transported recording medium 16. The adjusting unit 24A is driven in the driving direction and driving amount of the adjusting unit 24A. For this reason, in the conveying apparatus 10B of the present embodiment, the pressing force of the pressure roller 14 against the heating roller 12 at each position in the axial direction of the heating roller 12 before the conveyance of the recording medium 16 starts. The state is adjusted to the pressing force obtained according to the continuous amount value and the meandering error at the start of the previous conveyance.

  Therefore, in the transport device 10B of the present embodiment, the pressing force at each position in the axial direction of the pressure roller 14 with respect to the heating roller 12 is already adjusted according to the continuous amount value of the recording medium 16 at the start of transport It has become. Therefore, in the transport apparatus 10B of the present embodiment, meandering at the start of transport of the recording medium 16 can be suppressed.

  In the second embodiment, the case where the driving amount and the driving direction at the start of conveyance are adjusted according to the width of the recording medium 16 will be described. In the third embodiment, the continuous recording medium 16 is connected. The case where the drive amount and the drive direction at the start of conveyance are adjusted according to the amount has been described. However, the driving amount and driving method at the start of conveyance may be adjusted according to the width and continuous amount of the recording medium 16. In this case, the table indicating the driving amount and the driving direction corresponding to the meandering direction and the number of occurrences of the meandering error described above may be prepared for each width and continuous amount of the recording medium 16 and referred to. .

  In addition, the conveyance program for performing the conveyance process performed in the said 1st Embodiment, 2nd Embodiment, and 3rd Embodiment is each main control part 28, main control part 28A, And stored in each ROM of the main control unit 28B. This transport program is a file in an installable or executable format and is recorded on a computer-readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, flexible disk (FD), CD-R, DVD (Digital Versatile Disk). It is also possible to write in a rewritable nonvolatile memory, HDD or the like.

  Further, a transport program for executing the transport process executed in the first embodiment, the second embodiment, and the third embodiment is stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet. The program may be provided by being downloaded via a network. Further, a conveyance program for executing the conveyance process executed in the second embodiment and the third embodiment may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  The transport program for executing the transport process executed in the first embodiment, the second embodiment, and the third embodiment includes a module configuration including the above-described units (storage unit, control unit). As actual hardware, a CPU (processor) reads out and executes a transfer program from the storage medium, and the units are loaded onto a main storage device such as a RAM. The units are stored on the main storage device. To be generated.

10, 10A, 10B Conveying device 12 Heating roller 14 Pressure roller 26, 26A Detection unit 28, 28A, 28B Main control unit 34 Conveyance drive unit 36, 36B Acquisition unit 38, 38A, 38B Storage unit 40, 40A, 40B Control unit

JP 2004-286905 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-272741 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-326033

Claims (4)

Conveying means for holding and conveying the recording medium by a pair of roll members;
Detecting means for detecting the meandering direction and meandering amount of the recording medium;
Adjusting means for adjusting the clamping force in the axial direction of the pair of roll members;
Storage means for storing the adjustment amount of the adjustment means corresponding to the meandering direction and the meandering amount at the start of the previous conveyance of the recording medium;
Control means for controlling the adjusting means according to the adjustment amount of the adjusting means at the time of the previous conveyance of the recording medium before the conveyance of the recording medium;
Conveying device equipped with. The detecting means further detects the width of the recording medium;
The storage means stores, for each width of the recording medium, the adjustment amount of the adjustment means corresponding to the meandering direction and the meandering amount at the start of the previous conveyance of the recording medium,
The control unit controls the adjusting unit according to the adjustment amount of the adjusting unit at the previous conveyance of the recording medium, corresponding to the width of the recording medium, before the conveyance of the recording medium is started;
The transport apparatus according to claim 1. The recording medium is continuous paper continuous in the transport direction,
An acquisition unit for acquiring a continuous amount of the recording medium nipped and conveyed by the conveyance unit;
The storage means stores, for each continuous amount of the recording medium, the adjustment amount of the adjusting means corresponding to the meandering direction and the meandering amount at the start of the previous conveyance of the recording medium,
The control unit controls the adjusting unit according to the adjustment amount of the adjusting unit at the previous conveyance of the recording medium, corresponding to the continuous amount of the recording medium, before the conveyance of the recording medium is started;
The transport apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. A transport method executed by a transport device for transporting a recording medium,
The transfer device
Conveying means for holding and conveying the recording medium by a pair of roll members;
Detecting means for detecting the meandering direction and meandering amount of the recording medium;
Adjusting means for adjusting the clamping force in the axial direction of the pair of roll members;
Storage means for storing the adjustment amount of the adjustment means corresponding to the meandering direction and the meandering amount at the start of the previous conveyance of the recording medium;
With
A transport method comprising a step of controlling the adjusting unit according to an adjustment amount of the adjusting unit at the previous transport of the recording medium before starting transport of the recording medium.

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