JP2014100853A - Recording apparatus and method of producing record - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording apparatus capable of suppressing floating of a recording medium from carrying surface in cutting the recording medium so as to cut well.SOLUTION: A recording apparatus comprises a recording head 2a, a support member 7, or platen, opposing the recording head 2a and supporting a recording medium S, carrying means 1 of carrying the recording medium S, a cutting unit 9 including a cutter 14 moving in a direction intersecting the carrying direction of the recording medium S and cutting the recording medium S, a downstream suction hole 11a positioned in the downstream of the cutting unit 9 in the carrying direction and a control mechanism controlling the action of a suction force of the downstream suction hole 11a on the recording medium S according to the movement of the cutter 14.

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recorded matter manufacturing method.

  Among recording apparatuses such as printers, plotters, and copiers, in an inkjet recording apparatus for producing a relatively large size sheet such as a poster, a long recording paper (roll paper) wound in a roll shape is a recording medium. Used as. In general, a recording apparatus that prints on roll paper includes a cutting device for cutting the roll paper into a sheet having a desired length. The roll paper on which the image has been formed (recorded) is cut at a desired position in the conveying direction and discharged as a final sheet-like recorded matter. In the following description, the long recording medium connected to the roll body before cutting is referred to as “roll paper”, and the single sheet recording medium after being separated from the roll body is referred to as “sheet”. Distinguish.

  As a cutting device, a configuration is known in which a cutter that moves across a discharge port is provided in the vicinity of the discharge port of a sheet. With this configuration, there is a concern that the roll paper receives the force generated by the movement of the cutter during cutting and is displaced. Therefore, a configuration has been proposed that includes a member that holds the roll paper immediately before cutting so that the roll paper does not shift during cutting (Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-14095 A

  In recent years, inkjet recording apparatuses tend to expand the recording area in order to shorten the recording time. Further, in order to reduce the size of the recording apparatus, the conveyance surface downstream of the recording area in the conveyance direction, particularly near the sheet discharge port (near the cutter) is configured to be short. As a result, the roll paper easily floats from the conveyance surface. When cutting with a cutter while the roll paper is lifted from the conveyance surface, there is a concern that the cutting performance may be adversely affected.

  First, the floating of the roll paper by enlarging the recording area will be described. In a serial type ink jet recording apparatus that can print on roll paper, in order to shorten the recording time, it is known that a plurality of recording heads are connected in the transport direction to enlarge the recording area for one pass. It has been. As a result, the distance from the conveyance roller that conveys the roll paper to the recording area to the cutter becomes long. That is, the conveyance surface becomes long. The roll paper is left with curl, and the longer the conveyance surface, the longer the part where the curl is not regulated, and the roll paper is likely to float.

  Next, the floating of the roll paper by shortening the conveyance surface in the vicinity of the discharge port will be described. An ink jet recording apparatus capable of recording on roll paper having a relatively large size (A1, A0, etc.) is often installed on a stand. In this case, the sheet (recorded material) cut by the cutter is discharged to a sheet storage unit provided at the lower part of the recording apparatus. In order to reduce the overall size of the recording apparatus, the depth dimension of the sheet storage unit is shortened, and the sheet is discharged in the vertical direction. In such a configuration, at the time of cutting, the leading end portion of the roll paper drastically hangs down toward the sheet storage portion located below the cutter downstream side. In this state, the roll paper is greatly curved from the downstream side of the recording area to the downstream side of the cutter, and is likely to float from the conveyance surface.

  As described above, there is a problem that the roll paper is likely to float on the downstream side (near the cutter) before being cut into a sheet. This floating adversely affects the cutting performance of the cutter.

  Here, the deterioration of the cutting performance due to the roll paper floating from the conveyance surface in the vicinity of the cutter will be described. The cutter is known to cut while a flat blade or round blade moves against a flat plate-like fixed blade over the entire width of the roll paper, or to cut while a pair of rotating round blades move along a guide member. It has been. In any cutter, an endless belt is often used as a drive transmission means for a moving blade (moving blade). In this case, when cutting is performed by meandering with respect to the original traveling direction of the moving blade (with respect to the width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the roll paper), the locus from the start of cutting to the end of cutting does not become a straight line. Usually, the movable blade is urged against the fixed blade or the guide member, and is mounted in a posture inclined slightly upstream in the transport direction with respect to the traveling direction. Thereby, the roll paper is cut while being pulled to the downstream side in the transport direction by the moving blade. During cutting, the roll paper is pulled toward the downstream side in the transport direction, so that the lift from the transport surface is eliminated. However, at the start of cutting, cutting is started with the roll paper floating from the conveyance surface in the vicinity of the cutter. If there is a float at the start of cutting, a shift occurs between the cutting start portion and the cutting position during cutting, and the linearity of the cut surface by the cutter from the start of cutting to the end of cutting cannot be maintained well.

  In addition, since the roll paper being cut is pulled toward the conveyance downstream side by the moving blade, a force acts on the side to be separated (downstream from the cutter) in the direction of sliding down from the paper discharge guide. In particular, when the cutter approaches the end of cutting, a phenomenon (diagonal falling) that slides diagonally from the cutting start side that has already been cut due to the pulling force and the weight of the sheet that occurs in the cutting downstream of the cutter and the weight of the sheet. Occur. When the diagonal drop occurs, the roll paper is liable to float on the cut end side, which causes the linearity of the cut surface to deteriorate.

  Since the cutting device of Patent Document 1 is configured to perform cutting after sandwiching the roll paper, it is possible to suppress the positional deviation of the roll paper due to the force received from the cutter during cutting. However, there are cases where the above-described deterioration of the linearity of the cut surface caused by the roll paper floating from the transport surface cannot be effectively suppressed. That is, in order to keep the linearity of the cut surface from the start of cutting to the end of cutting, it is necessary to have a configuration that accurately suppresses the float on the cutting start side and the cutting end side. Furthermore, since the cutting device of Patent Document 1 is configured to press the recording surface side with a pressing member when sandwiching the roll paper at the time of cutting, there is a concern that the recording portion may be damaged.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus and a recorded matter manufacturing method capable of suppressing the recording medium from floating from the conveying surface when the recording medium is cut, and performing good cutting.

  The recording apparatus of the present invention includes a recording head, a support member that supports the recording medium facing the recording head, a recording medium conveyance unit, and a recording medium that moves in a direction that intersects the recording medium conveyance direction to cut the recording medium. A cutting device including a cutter, a downstream suction hole located downstream of the cutting device in the transport direction, and a control mechanism that controls the action of the suction force from the downstream suction hole to the recording medium according to the operation of the cutter; It is equipped with.

  The recorded matter manufacturing method of the present invention that cuts after recording on a long recording medium is performed upstream of the cutting device that cuts the recording medium upstream of the cutting device when recording on the recording medium. When holding the recording medium by applying a suction force to the recording medium only from the side suction holes and cutting the recording medium, the upstream suction holes and the downstream suction located downstream of the cutting device in the transport direction The recording medium is held by applying a suction force to the recording medium from the hole.

  According to the present invention, when the recording medium is cut, the recording medium on the cutting start side and the cutting end side is prevented from being lifted, and the linearity of the cut surface can be kept good without scratching the recording portion.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a main part of an ink jet recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state which the shutter of the principal part of the inkjet recording device shown in FIG. 1 closed. It is a perspective view which shows the state which the shutter of the principal part of the inkjet recording device shown in FIG. 1 opened. It is detail drawing which shows the attitude | position of the moving blade of the cutting device of the inkjet recording device shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state which the shutter of the principal part of the inkjet recording device shown in FIG. 1 closed. It is a perspective view which shows the state which the shutter of the principal part of the inkjet recording device shown in FIG. 1 opened. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a change in posture of a recording medium due to opening and closing of a shutter in the ink jet recording apparatus shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the principal part of the recorded matter preparation method concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the principal part of the recorded matter preparation method concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention.

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

  First, the overall configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the main part of an ink jet recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIGS. The ink jet recording apparatus 100 of this embodiment is a serial type ink jet recording apparatus. Specifically, the recording medium (roll paper) S is intermittently conveyed in the conveying direction (Y direction) by a conveying unit (conveying means) 1 including a conveying roller, and the recording head is crossed in the width direction (X Recording is performed by ejecting ink droplets from the nozzles onto the recording medium S.

  The ink jet recording apparatus uses a roll 3 in which a long recording medium S is wound in a roll shape so that recording can be performed on a large size recording medium S. The image is recorded and cut to produce a desired recorded matter. A recording head 2 a is mounted on the carriage 2. The carriage 2 is supported so as to be movable along a guide shaft 5 disposed along the X direction, and is fixed to an endless belt 6 that moves substantially parallel to the guide shaft 5. The endless belt 6 is driven by a carriage motor (not shown) to reciprocate in the X direction. A platen 7 that is a support member for supporting the recording medium S is provided in the recording area so as to face the ink ejection surface (nozzle surface) of the recording head 2a. An upstream suction hole 7 a is provided in the platen 7, and a suction device 8 (for example, a fan motor) for bringing the recording medium S into close contact with the platen 7 is disposed below the platen 7 (Z direction). A support plate 4 is provided on the downstream side of the platen 7, and a cutting device 9 is disposed on the downstream side of the support plate 4 in the transport direction. A paper discharge guide 11 is provided on the downstream side in the transport direction of the cutting device 9, and the transport surface of the recording medium S is configured by the platen 7, the support plate 4, and the paper discharge guide 11. The recording medium S that has been recorded is transported to a desired cutting position and then cut by the cutting device 9. The cut recording medium (sheet) S falls along the paper discharge guide 11 and is discharged to a storage unit (not shown) provided at the lower part of the recording apparatus 100. The paper discharge guide 11 is provided with a downstream suction hole 11a and a shutter 12 that can block the downstream suction hole 11a. The downstream suction hole 11 a is provided to suppress the floating of the recording medium S from the conveyance surface, and is configured to apply a suction force by the suction device 8 below the platen 7. The suction holes 7 a and 11 a and the suction device 8 are connected by a duct 19.

  Next, the configuration of the main part of the cutting device 9 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a detailed view showing the posture of the cutter (movable blade) 14 of the cutting device 9 according to this embodiment. The cutting device 9 of this embodiment includes a rotating round blade fixed to the endless belt 10 as a cutter (moving blade) 14 for cutting the recording medium S. The endless belt 10 reciprocates in the X direction by a driving force of a motor (not shown). When the recording medium S is cut, the cutter (rotating round blade) 14 advances while meandering, that is, while changing the position in the recording medium conveyance direction (Y direction) that intersects (orthogonally) the moving direction (X direction) of the blade. As it progresses, the trajectory from the start to the end of cutting does not become a straight line. In order to prevent the meandering of the cutter 14, the cutter 14 is disposed on the guide member 13 with a slight inclination to the upstream side in the recording medium conveyance direction (Y direction) with respect to the original traveling direction (X direction). As a result, the cutter 14 receives the force biased upstream in the transport direction while cutting the recording medium S, and can move without meandering. At this time, since the recording medium S is cut while being pulled downstream in the transport direction, the floating from the transport surface and the guide member 13 is eliminated.

  The present invention is characterized in that the shutter 12 provided facing the downstream suction hole 11 a opens and closes in conjunction with the reciprocating movement of the cutter 14. The shutter 12 is closed when an image is formed on the recording medium S, and is opened in conjunction with the movement of the cutter 14 only when the image formation is completed and the cutting device 9 cuts the recording medium S.

  Below, the detail of the control mechanism which controls opening and closing of the shutter 12 is demonstrated. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state where the shutter 12 is closed, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state where the shutter 12 is opened. 5 and 6, the paper discharge guide 11 is not shown so that the main part of the control mechanism for opening and closing the shutter 12 located under the paper discharge guide 11 can be seen.

  First, each component constituting the opening / closing control mechanism of the shutter 12 will be described. The shutter 12 is slidable in the X direction. A link member 16 is disposed at a position overlapping with a part of the shutter 12 so as to be rotatable about the rotation shaft 16a. Further, adjacent to the link member 16, the lock member 15 is disposed so as to be rotatable about the rotation shaft 15a. And the cylindrical convex part 12a provided in the back surface (lower surface) of the shutter 12 is inserted in the hole 16b of the link member 16, and the shutter 12 and the link member 16 are integrated. Further, a spring 18 is attached to the link member 16, and the link member 16 and the shutter 12 are urged by the spring 18 in a direction (X direction) in which the shutter 12 is closed. A spring 17 is attached to the lock member 15, and the lock member 15 is biased in the X direction. When the claw portion 15b of the lock member 15 is engaged with the concave portion 16c of the link member 16, the lock member 15 biased by the spring 17 functions to hold and lock the link member 16 in a predetermined position. Further, the cutter 14 is provided with a protrusion 14 a that engages with the end 16 d of the link member 16 and a protrusion 14 b that engages with the end 15 c of the lock member 15.

  The cutting operation of the recording medium S with opening and closing of the shutter 12 having such a configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of the main part of the recorded matter manufacturing method of the present invention shown in FIG. First, the case where the shutter 12 is closed as shown in FIGS. The shutter 12 is closed when the cutter 14 is in the initial position, for example, recording on the recording medium S, that is, image formation (step S1). During the image forming operation (step S1), the recording medium S is sucked only by the upstream suction hole 7a of the platen 7, and the downstream suction hole 11a of the paper discharge guide 11 is closed by the shutter 12 to the recording medium S. Do not apply suction. This is to prevent deterioration of the conveyance accuracy due to suction at the downstream side of the recording area in the conveyance direction when forming an image.

  Specifically, the cutter 14 during image formation stands by at an initial position outside the recording medium S in the width direction (X direction). Thus, when the cutter 14 is in the initial position, the projection 14b of the cutter 14 pushes the end 15c of the lock member 15, and the lock member 15 rotates in the direction of arrow C against the spring force of the spring 17. The link member 16 is unlocked. The unlocked link member 16 is urged by the spring 18 and rotates in the direction of arrow D, and the shutter 12 is in the closed position.

  Next, the case where the shutter 12 is open as shown in FIGS. The shutter 12 is open when the cutter 14 cuts the recording medium S. During the operation of cutting the recording medium S, the shutter 12 is opened, the downstream suction hole 11a is opened, and suction is performed from the downstream suction hole 11a together with the upstream suction hole 7a. Accordingly, the recording medium S can be sucked and held both upstream and downstream in the recording medium conveyance direction, the recording medium S can be prevented from floating from the conveyance surface, and the recording medium S can be cut stably.

  Specifically, when the image formation (step S1) is completed, the recording medium S is conveyed to a predetermined cutting position (step S2). Thereafter, the cutter 14 is driven by a motor (not shown) and the endless belt 10 to start moving in the cutting direction (X direction) from the initial position, and the protrusion 14 a of the cutter 14 pushes the end 16 d of the link member 16. At the same time, the link member 16 rotates in the direction of arrow A, and the shutter 12 is opened (step S3). When the cutter 14 further moves in the cutting direction (X direction), the projection 14b is separated from the end 15c of the lock member 15, and the released lock member 15 is rotated in the direction of arrow B by the biasing force of the spring 17. As the link member 16 and the lock member 15 rotate in this way, the claw portion 15b of the lock member 15 engages with the recess 16c of the link member 16, and the link member 16 is held non-rotatable by the lock member 15 (locked). ) Thereby, the shutter 12 is held in the open position. Further, the movement of the cutter 14 is continued, and the recording medium S is cut (step S4).

  When the shutter 12 is closed, the suction force from the downstream suction hole 11a does not act on the recording medium S as shown in FIG. The recording medium S is sucked only from the upstream suction hole 7 a and is in close contact with the platen 7. Thereby, the deterioration of the conveyance accuracy can be prevented as described above. However, the roll paper that is the recording medium S has a curl remaining and is discharged in a posture in which the leading end droops greatly on the downstream side of the cutting device 9. Therefore, the recording medium S may be greatly curved from the downstream side of the platen 7 to the sheet discharge guide 11 and may be lifted from the conveyance surface. Therefore, when the recording medium S is cut after the image formation is completed, the shutter 12 is opened as shown in FIG. As a result, the recording medium S that has floated from the conveyance surface during image formation receives a suction force from the downstream suction hole 11a and comes into close contact with the paper discharge guide 11 in the vicinity of the downstream suction hole 11a. By continuing the suction of the downstream suction hole 11 a until the cutting of the recording medium S is completed, the recording medium S on the side to be separated remains in close contact with the paper discharge guide 11. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the recording medium S on the side to be separated from being obliquely dropped, and to suppress the floating on the cut end side.

  When the cutting of the recording medium S by the cutter 14 (step S4) is completed as described above, the cutter 14 returns to the initial position, and the projection 14b of the cutter 14 pushes the end 15c of the lock member 15. The lock member 15 rotates in the direction of arrow C, the claw portion 15b of the lock member 15 comes out of the recess 16c of the link member 16, and the lock of the link member 16 is released. The released link member 16 is rotated in the direction of arrow D by the urging force of the spring 18, and the shutter 12 is moved to the closed position accordingly (step S5). In this way, it prepares for the next image formation on the recording medium S.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the shutter 12 is opened and closed in accordance with the cutting operation of the recording medium S by the cutter 14, and suction from the downstream suction hole 11 a of the paper discharge guide 11 is controlled. Thereby, the floating of the cutting start side and the cutting end side when the cutter 14 cuts the recording medium S can be accurately suppressed, and the linearity of the cut surface can be kept good.

  In the present embodiment, the control mechanism for controlling the opening and closing of the shutter 12 is configured using a link member 16, a lock member 15, and springs 17 and 18. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and any configuration may be used as long as the shutter 12 opens and closes in conjunction with the movement of the cutter 14.

[Embodiment 2]
In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, a step S6 for temporarily stopping is added immediately before the cutter 14 starts moving and cuts the recording medium S. That is, when the image formation (step S1) is completed, the recording medium S is conveyed to a desired cutting position (step S2), and the cutter 14 starts moving from the initial position in the cutting direction (X direction) and opens the shutter 12. (Step S3). Thereafter, with the shutter 12 opened, the cutter 14 pauses for a predetermined time before actually cutting the recording medium S (step S6). Thereafter, the cutter 14 resumes its movement and cuts the recording medium S (step S4). The cutter 14 returns toward the initial position, and the lock member 15 and the link member 16 are swung accordingly, and the shutter 12 is closed. (Step S5).

  In this embodiment, step S6 in which the cutter 14 pauses before cutting is added. This is because the suction by the downstream suction hole 11 a is sufficiently performed so that the recording medium S is firmly attached to the paper discharge guide 11. By adding this step S6, it is possible to cut the recording medium S with more certain restraining of the floating of the recording medium S before cutting, and to maintain better linearity of the cut surface by the cutter 14.

1 Transport unit (transport means)
2a Recording head 7 Platen (support member)
7a Upstream suction hole 9 Cutting device 11a Downstream suction hole 12 Shutter 14 Cutter (moving blade)
15 Lock member 16 Link member 100 Inkjet recording apparatus S Recording medium

Claims (5)

  A recording head; a support member that supports the recording medium facing the recording head; a conveying means for the recording medium; and a cutter that moves in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the recording medium to cut the recording medium. Including a cutting device, a downstream suction hole located on the downstream side in the transport direction with respect to the cutting device, and a control mechanism for controlling the action of the suction force from the downstream suction hole to the recording medium according to the operation of the cutter And a recording apparatus.   The control mechanism closes the downstream suction hole when the cutter is in the initial position, and causes the suction force of the downstream suction hole to act on the recording medium while the cutter cuts the recording medium. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a shutter that opens the downstream suction hole.   The control mechanism includes a link member that engages with the shutter, a cutter and a lock member that engages with the link member, and interlocks with the movement of the cutter from the initial position toward the cutting position of the recording medium. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the lock member and the link member move, and the shutter moves from a closed position to an open position in accordance with the movement of the link member.   An upstream suction hole is provided upstream in the transport direction from the cutting device, and the upstream suction hole is sucked into the recording medium even when the cutter is in an initial position or while the cutter is cutting the recording medium. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein force is applied.   A method for producing a recorded matter in which a recording is performed after recording on a long recording medium, and when recording on the recording medium, the recording material is located upstream of a cutting device for cutting the recording medium. When holding the recording medium by applying a suction force to the recording medium only from the upstream suction hole and cutting the recording medium, the upstream suction hole and the downstream side in the transport direction from the cutting device A method for producing a recorded matter, wherein the recording medium is held by applying a suction force to the recording medium from a downstream suction hole located at a position.

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