JP2016016549A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which enables a medium support device to support a medium in a proper mode according to the size of the medium, which is a print object, with a simple structure.SOLUTION: A paper support device 30 of a printer includes a movable member 60 supporting paper. The movable member 60 is formed so as to rotate between a first position overlapping with a second ink reception groove 44 in a scanning direction Y and where the movable member 60 is able to support the paper and a second position different from the second ink reception groove 44 in the scanning direction Y and where the movable member 60 is unable to support the paper.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus capable of printing on media of various sizes.

  At the time of borderless printing by a printing apparatus such as an ink jet printer, ink (liquid) is also ejected from the print head to the outside of the side edge of the paper, which is the edge in the width direction of the paper (an example of a medium). Of the ink ejected from the print head during borderless printing, ink that does not adhere to the paper is received in a receiving groove provided in a paper support device (medium support device) that supports the paper.

  In recent years, papers used for printing have been diversified, and printing apparatuses are required to cope with such paper diversification. For example, in a printing device that can print on multiple types of paper with slightly different width dimensions, the difference in the position of the side edges of the various types of paper on the paper support device is small. It is difficult to provide a plurality of corresponding receiving grooves in the paper support device. Therefore, by increasing the length of one receiving groove in the width direction, ink that does not adhere to the paper even during borderless printing on any of these various types of paper is removed. Can be accepted within.

  However, when printing on a large-sized sheet in which the side edge is positioned on the outer side in the width direction with respect to the wide receiving groove, a portion of the sheet facing the wide receiving groove is on the receiving groove side. The paper may be bent and the flatness of the paper may be reduced. As a paper support device that solves such a problem, for example, a device described in Patent Document 1 is known.

  The paper support device described in the document 1 includes a movable member that slides in the width direction on the wide receiving groove, and the movable member also has a protruding portion (hereinafter also referred to as a “movable protruding portion”) that supports the paper. .) Is provided. The paper support device further includes a plurality of fixed protrusions arranged at positions different from the movable member in the width direction, and supports the paper by the plurality of protrusions including the movable protrusion and the fixed protrusion. ing. Therefore, when printing on the large sheet, for example, by disposing the movable protrusion at the center in the width direction of the wide receiving groove, the portion of the large sheet facing the wide receiving groove is movable. It is supported by the protruding portion, and the bending of the portion toward the receiving groove is suppressed. In this way, by making the paper support mode by the paper support device an appropriate mode according to the size of the paper, a decrease in the flatness of the paper supported by the paper support device is suppressed. As a result, the printing accuracy on the paper can be improved.

  FIG. 7 schematically shows a configuration for sliding the movable member 100 in this way. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, a guide hole 113 extending in the width direction (in FIG. 7, the direction orthogonal to the plane of the drawing) is provided in a connection portion between the bottom wall 111 and the peripheral wall 112 of the receiving groove 110. Further, the movable member 100 is provided with a guided portion 101 that is inserted into the guide hole 113. Then, by moving the guided portion 101 in the width direction, which is also the direction in which the guide hole 113 extends, the movable projecting portion 102 slides in the width direction.

JP 2012-245631 A

However, when the movable member 100 is slid in the width direction as described above, the mechanism for moving the movable member may be complicated.
An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of supporting a medium on a medium support apparatus with a simple configuration and in an appropriate manner according to the size of the medium to be printed.

  A printing apparatus for achieving the above object includes a medium support apparatus that supports a medium, and a print head that ejects liquid onto the medium supported by the medium support apparatus. And a receiving groove for receiving a liquid that does not adhere to the medium out of the liquid ejected from the print head. In this printing apparatus, the movable member is a first position capable of supporting the medium in a position overlapping the receiving groove in the width direction of the medium, and a position different from the receiving groove in the width direction, and The medium is configured to rotate between a second position where the medium cannot be supported.

  According to the above configuration, the movable member is configured to rotate between the first position and the second position. When the edge of the medium in the width direction is the side edge of the medium, for example, when the side edge of the medium is positioned outside the receiving groove in the width direction, the movable member is disposed at the first position. The medium is supported by the movable member. As a result, the bending of the portion facing the receiving groove in the medium toward the receiving groove is suppressed. On the other hand, when the side edge of the medium is positioned so as to overlap with the receiving groove in the width direction, by disposing the movable member at the second position, the liquid that has not adhered to the medium during borderless printing can be moved. It is received in the receiving groove without being obstructed by the member. That is, the movable member can be disposed at an appropriate position according to the size of the medium to be printed.

  Also, since the movable member is of a pivoting type, the configuration for moving the movable member is unlikely to be complicated, unlike the configuration in which the movable member is slid in the width direction. Therefore, the medium can be supported by the medium support device with a simple configuration in an appropriate manner according to the size of the medium to be printed.

In the printing apparatus, the movable member has a protrusion, and the protrusion can support the medium when the movable member is located at the first position.
According to the above configuration, the medium can be supported by the protrusion when the movable member is disposed at the first position, while the medium of the medium by the protrusion is supported when the movable member is disposed at the second position. Support can be disabled. In other words, it is possible to arrange the protrusion at an appropriate position according to the size of the medium to be printed.

  In the above printing apparatus, when the projecting portion of the movable member is a movable projecting portion, and the direction orthogonal to the printing surface of the medium supported by the medium supporting device is a specified direction, the movable member is a plate-shaped main body. The movable protrusion is provided on the first surface of the main body, and the medium support device has a fixed protrusion that supports the medium arranged at a position different from the movable member in the width direction. When the movable member is located at the second position, the second surface located on the opposite side of the first surface in the main body portion is the tip of the fixed protrusion in the prescribed direction. Is farther away from the print head.

  According to the above configuration, when the medium support device in a state where the movable member is located at the second position supports the medium, the second surface of the main body part constituting the movable member faces the medium. Although it is difficult to touch the medium. Therefore, when the movable member is located at the first position, the liquid in the receiving groove adheres to the second surface, and the movable member is arranged at the second position in this state. However, unnecessary adhesion of the liquid adhering to the second surface to the medium is suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in print quality.

  In the printing apparatus, a collecting member that collects the liquid in the receiving groove is accommodated in the receiving groove, and when the movable member is located at the first position, The second surface is separated from the collecting member.

  According to the above configuration, when the movable member is located at the first position, the second surface does not touch the collecting member, so that the liquid in the receiving groove hardly adheres to the second surface. Therefore, when printing on the medium in a state where the movable member is arranged at the second position, unnecessary adhesion of the liquid to the medium through the second surface is suppressed, and deterioration in print quality can be suppressed.

The printing apparatus includes an actuator that drives the movable member to rotate. According to this configuration, the position of the movable member can be automatically adjusted.
The printing apparatus includes a size specifying unit that specifies a size of a medium to be printed, and a control unit that controls the actuator based on the size of the medium specified by the size specifying unit. When the end portion in the width direction of the medium is a side end of the medium, the control unit is configured to move the movable member when the side end of the medium is predicted to be located outside the receiving groove in the width direction. Is disposed at the first position, and the movable member is disposed at the second position when the side edge of the medium is predicted to be located at a position overlapping the receiving groove in the width direction.

  According to the above configuration, the position of the movable member can be automatically adjusted according to the size of the medium to be printed.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an outline of an embodiment of a printing apparatus. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a part of a sheet supporting device that constitutes the printing apparatus. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration in and around an ink receiving groove. (A)-(c) is an effect | action figure which shows a mode that a movable member is rotating. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure for printing on paper. (A), (b) is an effect | action figure which shows a mode that the movable member is rotating in the printing apparatus of another embodiment. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration for slidingly moving a movable member in a conventional paper support apparatus.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a printing apparatus is embodied in a serial inkjet printer will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 11 includes a transport unit 20 that transports a sheet P, which is an example of a medium, in a predetermined transport direction X, and a medium support that is disposed in the middle of the sheet transport path and supports the sheet P. The apparatus includes a paper support device 30 that is an example of the apparatus, and a printing unit 50 that performs printing on the paper P supported by the paper support device 30. The transport unit 20 is provided with a plurality of roller pairs 21 arranged along the paper transport path. Each of these roller pairs 21 conveys the paper P by rotating based on a driving force from a conveyance motor (hereinafter also referred to as “PF motor”) 22 controlled by the control device 70.

  The printing unit 50 includes a guide member 51 that extends in the scanning direction Y, which is also the width direction of the paper P supported by the paper support device 30, and a carriage 52 that is supported by the guide member 51 while being movable in the scanning direction Y. And. The carriage 52 is provided with a print head 53 having nozzles that eject ink, which is an example of liquid. The carriage 52 moves in the scanning direction Y when a driving force is transmitted from a carriage motor (hereinafter also referred to as “CR motor”) 54 controlled by the control device 70. Then, ink is ejected from the print head 53 while moving the carriage 52 in the scanning direction Y as described above, whereby printing is performed on the paper P supported by the paper support device 30.

  Note that “ink” in the present specification includes colorless ink such as clear ink in addition to colored ink such as color ink (for example, magenta ink) and black ink. Further, the direction that is orthogonal to both the transport direction X and the scanning direction Y and that is orthogonal to the printing surface (upper surface in FIG. 1) of the paper P supported by the paper support device 30 is defined as “specified”. It is referred to as “direction Z”. This prescribed direction Z substantially coincides with the vertical direction when the printing apparatus 11 is installed on a horizontal plane.

  The paper support device 30 includes a main body case 31 having a square box shape. The main body case 31 has a support surface 32 that is a surface facing the paper P to be supported, and an opposite surface 33 that is a surface located on the opposite side of the support surface 32 in the specified direction Z. On the support surface 32, support protrusions 36 for supporting the paper P are arranged along the scanning direction Y. The support protrusion 36 will be described later.

  The main body case 31 is provided with a suction passage 34 that opens to both the support surface 32 and the opposite surface 33. A suction fan 35 that sucks the inside of the suction passage 34 is provided on the opposite surface 33 side of the main body case 31. Therefore, the paper P supported by the support protrusion 36 is sucked toward the support surface 32 by driving the suction fan 35.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the support surface 32 of the main body case 31 is provided with a plurality of recesses 40 along the scanning direction Y. A rib 41 extending in the transport direction X is formed between the concave portions 40 adjacent to each other in the scanning direction Y. That is, the rib 41 has a shape protruding from the bottom surface of the recess 40.

  A protrusion 42 is provided at the center of the recess 40 in the scanning direction Y. The protrusion 42 protrudes from the bottom surface of the recess 40, and the tip of the protrusion 42 is located at the same position as the tip of the rib 41 in the prescribed direction Z. That is, the tips of both the rib 41 and the protrusion 42 are located at the same position as the support surface 32 in the specified direction Z. Each of the ribs 41 and the protrusions 42 can support the paper P transported by the transport unit 20. That is, the support protrusion 36 includes a rib 41 and a protrusion 42. Moreover, the rib 41 and the protrusion 42 are immovable. Therefore, in the printing apparatus 11 of the present embodiment, the rib 41 and the protruding portion 42 function as an example of a “fixed protruding portion”.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the support surface 32 of the main body case 31 has a plurality of ink receiving grooves 43 and 44 that receive ink that does not adhere to the paper P among the ink ejected from the print head 53. It is provided along. In this way, a phenomenon in which some of the ink ejected from the print head 53 does not adhere to the paper P may occur during borderless printing, for example. The ink receiving grooves provided on the support surface 32 can be classified into a first ink receiving groove 43 corresponding to one type of paper and a second ink receiving groove 44 corresponding to a plurality of types of paper.

  When the edge of the paper P in the scanning direction Y is the side edge of the paper P, the corresponding side edge of the paper P is positioned immediately above the first ink receiving groove 43. Ink that has not adhered to the paper P during borderless printing or the like is received in the first ink receiving groove 43.

  Differences in the sizes of the plurality of types of paper corresponding to the second ink receiving grooves 44 are slight. That is, in a state where the paper is supported by the paper support device 30, the positional deviation in the scanning direction Y of the side edges of the various papers P is also slight. Therefore, the width H2 of the second ink receiving groove 44 which is the length of the second ink receiving groove 44 in the scanning direction Y is equal to the width of the first ink receiving groove 43 which is the length of the first ink receiving groove 43 in the scanning direction Y. It is wider than the width H1. As a result, the side edge of the paper is positioned immediately above the second ink receiving groove 44 when printing on any paper P corresponding to the second ink receiving groove 44. Ink that has not adhered to the paper during borderless printing or the like is received in the second ink receiving groove 44. In the present embodiment, the second ink receiving groove 44 functions as a “receiving groove” that receives ink that does not adhere to the paper P among ink ejected from the print head 53 during borderless printing on the paper P or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the main body case 31 is provided with a discharge passage 45 that opens to the bottom surface of the ink receiving grooves 43 and 44. Further, in the ink receiving grooves 43 and 44, an ink absorbing material 46 which is an example of a collecting member for collecting the ink in the ink receiving grooves 43 and 44 is provided. The ink absorbing material 46 is provided with an extending portion 46 a that extends through the discharge passage 45 to the inside of the main body case 31. Therefore, the waste ink absorbed by the ink absorbing material 46 is intentionally discharged into the main body case 31 through the extending portion 46a.

  4A, 4B, and 4C, the main body case 31 is movable so as to be rotated by a driving force from an adjustment motor 47 that is an example of an actuator controlled by the control device 70. A member 60 is provided. A support shaft 61 extending in the transport direction X is provided on the inner side (right side in FIG. 4) of the second ink receiving groove 44 in the scanning direction Y, and the movable member 60 is rotatable about the support shaft 61. It is supported. The movable member 60 includes a first position (position shown in FIG. 4A) immediately above the ink absorbing material 46 in the second ink receiving groove 44 and the ink absorbing material 46 in the second ink receiving groove 44. It rotates between two positions with the second position (position shown in FIG. 4C) retracted from directly above. That is, the position of the movable member 60 can be changed.

  Such a movable member 60 has a supported portion 62 supported by a support shaft 61 and a rectangular plate-shaped main body portion 63 extending from the supported portion 62. The main body 63 is provided with a first surface 63a that faces the paper P when positioned at the first position, and a second surface 63b that is positioned on the opposite side of the first surface 63a. When the movable member 60 is located at the first position, the second surface 63b faces the ink absorbing material 46 but is separated from the ink absorbing material 46. That is, the second surface 63 b is opposed to the upper surface of the ink absorbing material 46 in the drawing with a predetermined gap interposed therebetween, and does not touch the ink absorbing material 46.

  Further, a movable protrusion 64 for supporting the paper P is provided at the tip of the first surface 63a (the left end in FIG. 4A), which is the end of the movable member 60 at a position away from the supported portion 62. Projected. When the movable member 60 is located at the first position, the movable protrusion 64 is located at a position overlapping the second ink receiving groove 44 in the scanning direction Y. That is, the movable protrusion 64 is located between one end and the other end in the scanning direction Y of the second ink receiving groove 44. Further, when the movable member 60 is located at the first position, the tip of the movable protrusion 64 (the upper end in FIG. 4A) is the rib 41 and the protrusion 42 that function as a fixed protrusion in the specified direction Z. It is located at the same position as the tip. Therefore, when the movable member 60 is located at the first position, the movable protrusion 64 can support the paper P together with the rib 41 and the protrusion 42. That is, the supporting protrusion 36 includes a movable protrusion 64 in addition to the rib 41 and the protrusion 42.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4C, when the movable member 60 is located at the second position, the movable protrusion 64 provided on the first surface 63a is accommodated in the main body case 31, and the second The surface 63b of this sheet faces the paper P. That is, when the movable member 60 is disposed at the second position, the movable protrusion 64 is disposed at a position different from the second ink receiving groove 44 in the scanning direction Y, and the sheet P cannot be supported by the movable protrusion 64. It becomes. At this time, the position of the second surface 63b in the defined direction Z is located below the tips of both the rib 41 and the protruding portion 42, that is, the support surface 32 in the drawing. Therefore, when the paper support device 30 supports the paper P with the movable member 60 positioned at the second position, the paper P is unlikely to touch the second surface 63b. In other words, the movable member 60 located at the second position cannot support the paper P.

  Further, the movable member 60 faces the paper P when facing the paper P when positioned at the first position and the position in the defined direction Z of the first surface 63a when the movable member 60 is located at the second position. The second surface 63b to be configured is configured so that the position in the defined direction Z is different. That is, the first surface 63a when positioned at the first position is further away from the facing paper P in the specified direction Z than the second surface 63b when positioned at the second position. That is, the first surface 63a when positioned at the first position is positioned below the second surface 63b when positioned at the second position in the drawing.

  As shown in FIGS. 4A, 4 </ b> B, and 4 </ b> C, the ink absorbing material 46 is also located immediately below the supported portion 62 of the movable member 60. However, the supported portion 62 is prevented from touching the ink absorbing material 46 at any rotational position of the movable member 60.

Next, a processing procedure of the control device 70 when printing on the paper P will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, in step S11, it is determined whether or not the size of the paper P to be printed has been acquired. As a method for acquiring the paper size, there is a method in which the user inputs information specifying the size of the paper P to be printed and the control device 70 acquires the paper size based on the information. Further, when the printing apparatus 11 is provided with a detection system for detecting the paper size, the control apparatus 70 may be made to acquire the paper size based on the detection result of the detection system. In such a case, the control device 70 configures an example of a “size specifying unit” that specifies the size of the paper P to be printed.

  If the paper size has not yet been acquired (step S11: NO), the determination process of step S11 is repeated. On the other hand, if the paper size has already been acquired (step S11: YES), the process proceeds to step S12, and the position of the movable member 60 is adjusted prior to printing. That is, when it is predicted that the side edge of the paper to be printed is located at a position overlapping the second ink receiving groove 44 in the scanning direction Y, that is, the side edge of the paper is in the scanning direction Y of the second ink receiving groove 44. When it is predicted that the movable member 60 is positioned between the one end and the other end, the adjustment motor 47 is controlled so that the movable member 60 is disposed at the second position. Further, when it is predicted that the side edge of the paper to be printed is located outside the second ink receiving groove 44 in the scanning direction Y, the adjustment motor 47 is arranged so that the movable member 60 is arranged at the first position. Be controlled. In addition, when it is predicted that the side edge of the paper to be printed is located inside the second ink receiving groove 44 in the scanning direction Y, the movable member 60 is not moved. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the control device 70 configures an example of a “control unit” that controls the adjustment motor 47 based on the specified paper size.

  When the position adjustment of the movable member 60 is completed, the process proceeds to step S13, and the printing process is started. Then, conveyance of the paper P from the paper cassette is started, and printing is performed on the paper P. Thereafter, when printing on the paper P is completed, the present process is terminated.

Next, an operation at the time of printing on a large-sized sheet P in which the side end is positioned outside the second ink receiving groove 44 in the scanning direction Y will be described.
When printing on large-sized paper P, in the paper support device 30, the movable member 60 is arranged at the first position by driving the adjustment motor 47 prior to the printing. Then, the movable protrusion 64 comes to be located at a position overlapping the second ink receiving groove 44 in the scanning direction Y (see FIG. 4A). When the large paper P is conveyed in this state, the large paper P is supported by the movable protrusion 64 in addition to the rib 41 and the protrusion 42 in the paper support device 30. That is, the support mode of the paper P by the paper support device 30 is an appropriate mode according to the size of the paper P to be printed. As a result, the deflection of the portion facing the second ink receiving groove 44 on the large paper P toward the second ink receiving groove 44 is suppressed. In this state, printing on a large sheet P is performed.

Next, an operation during borderless printing on the paper P in which the side end is positioned immediately above the second ink receiving groove 44 will be described.
During borderless printing for printing on the paper P, in the paper support device 30, the movable member 60 is arranged at the second position by driving the adjustment motor 47 prior to the printing. That is, the main body 63 and the movable protrusion 64 of the movable member 60 are retracted from the second ink receiving groove 44 (see FIG. 4C). When the paper P is transported in this state, the paper P is supported by the rib 41 and the protruding portion 42 in the paper support device 30. That is, the support mode of the paper P by the paper support device 30 is an appropriate mode according to the size of the paper P to be printed. In borderless printing, ink is ejected from the print head 53 slightly outside the side edge of the paper P, and the ink that has not adhered to the paper P absorbs ink in the second ink receiving groove 44. It is absorbed by the material 46. At this time, since the movable member 60 is retracted to the second position, unnecessary ink that did not adhere to the paper P does not adhere to the movable member 60.

  At this time, the second surface 63 b of the main body 63 of the movable member 60 is further away from the paper P than the rib 41 and the protrusion 42. Therefore, the second surface 63b does not touch the paper P. As a result, even if the waste ink adheres to the second surface 63b, the waste ink of the second surface 63b does not adhere to the back surface opposite to the printing surface of the paper P.

As mentioned above, according to the said embodiment, the following effects can be acquired.
(1) The movable member 60 is configured to rotate between a first position and a second position. When printing on the large-sized paper P, the paper P is supported by the movable protrusion 64 by disposing the movable member 60 at the first position. As a result, the deflection of the portion of the paper P that faces the second ink receiving groove 44 toward the second ink receiving groove 44 is suppressed. On the other hand, at the time of printing on the paper P whose side edge is located at the same position as the second ink receiving groove 44 in the scanning direction Y, the movable member 60 is arranged at the second position, so that the paper at the time of borderless printing The ink that has not adhered to P is received in the second ink receiving groove 44 without being obstructed by the movable member 60. That is, the movable member 60 can be arranged at an appropriate position according to the size of the paper P to be printed.

  Here, in the case of a configuration in which the movable member is slid in the scanning direction Y, a guide hole extending in the scanning direction Y is provided at a connection portion between the bottom wall and the peripheral wall of the receiving groove, and a guided portion inserted through the guide hole is provided. It may be provided on the movable member. In this case, the movable member moves in the scanning direction Y by moving the guided portion in the direction in which the guide hole extends. In such a configuration, it is necessary to provide packing or the like in order to suppress leakage of waste ink from the guide hole, which may lead to a complicated configuration. In this regard, in the printing apparatus 11 according to the present embodiment, the movable member 60 is a rotary type. Therefore, unlike the configuration in which the movable member 60 is slid in the scanning direction Y, it is not necessary to provide a guide hole that communicates the inside of the second ink receiving groove 44 with the outside. Leakage that is contrary to the intention of the waste ink is less likely to occur. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide a special means for suppressing leakage of the second ink receiving groove 44 against the intention of the waste ink. Therefore, the paper P can be supported by the paper support device 30 in an appropriate manner according to the size of the paper P to be printed with a simple configuration.

  (2) The movable member 60 is provided with a movable protrusion 64. Therefore, the sheet P can be supported by the movable protrusion 64 when the movable member 60 is disposed at the first position. On the other hand, when the movable member 60 is disposed at the second position, the sheet P cannot be supported by the movable protrusion 64. That is, the movable protrusion 64 can be disposed at an appropriate position according to the size of the paper P to be printed.

  (3) The second surface 63 b when the movable member 60 is disposed at the second position is farther from the paper P than the tips of the ribs 41 and the protrusions 42. Therefore, when the movable member 60 is located at the first position, the waste ink in the second ink receiving groove 44 adheres to the second surface 63b, and the movable member 60 remains in this state in this state. Even if it is arranged at the position, unnecessary adhesion of the waste ink adhering to the second surface 63b to the paper P can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in print quality for the paper P.

  (4) When the movable member 60 is disposed at the first position, the second surface 63 b does not touch the ink absorbing material 46 in the second ink receiving groove 44. Therefore, the waste ink in the second ink receiving groove 44 hardly adheres to the second surface 63b. Therefore, when printing on the paper P with the movable member 60 arranged at the second position, unnecessary adhesion of waste ink to the paper P through the second surface 63b is suppressed, so printing on the paper P is performed. A reduction in quality can be suppressed.

  (5) The printing apparatus 11 of the present embodiment is provided with an adjustment motor 47 for rotating the movable member 60. Therefore, the position of the movable member 60 can be automatically adjusted by acquiring the size of the paper P to be printed.

In addition, you may change the said embodiment as follows.
When the size of the paper P to be printed is acquired, the position of the movable member 60 according to the paper size may be notified to the user. And when a user sets the position of the movable member 60 based on the information notified in this way, an effect equivalent to said (1)-(4) can be acquired.

Further, when the user determines the position of the movable member 60 as described above, the movable member 60 may be manually rotated without providing the adjustment motor 47.
The position adjustment of the movable member 60 is performed at an arbitrary timing within a period from the time when the paper size is specified to the time immediately before the support of the paper P by the paper support device 30 is started. Also good. For example, the position adjustment of the movable member 60 may not be performed before the conveyance of the paper P but during the conveyance of the paper P. When the configuration in which the position of the movable member 60 is adjusted during the conveyance of the sheet P in this way, the conveyance of the sheet P and the movement of the movable member 60 are performed at the same time. In addition to the same effects as in (5), the throughput of the printing apparatus 11 can be improved.

  If the second surface 63b does not touch the ink absorbing material 46 in the second ink receiving groove 44 when the movable member 60 is disposed at the first position, the movable member 60 is moved to the second position. The position of the second surface 63b when is positioned may be arranged at substantially the same position in the specified direction Z as the tip of the rib 41 and the protruding portion 42. In this case, when the movable member 60 is disposed at the second position, the paper P also comes into contact with the second surface 63b. Even in such a configuration, since the waste ink in the second ink receiving groove 44 is not attached to the second surface 63b, unnecessary attachment of the waste ink to the paper P through the second surface 63b is suppressed. can do.

  If the second surface 63b does not touch the paper P when the movable member 60 is disposed at the second position, the second surface 63b is ink when the movable member 60 is disposed at the first position. The absorbent material 46 may be touched. Even in such a configuration, when the paper P is transported with the movable member 60 positioned at the second position, the waste ink adhering to the second surface 63b is supported by the paper support device 30. It is difficult to adhere to the paper P.

  -As shown to Fig.6 (a), (b), you may make it arrange | position both the front-end | tips of the rib 41 and the protrusion part 42 in the figure upward direction rather than the support surface 32 in the prescription | regulation direction Z. In this case, the second surface 63b when the movable member 60 is located at the second position may be arranged at the same position as the support surface 32 in the specified direction Z. Even if it is such a structure, the effect equivalent to said (1)-(5) can be acquired.

  In the above embodiment, the movable member 60 is disposed inside the second ink receiving groove 44 in the scanning direction Y. However, the movable member 60 is disposed outside the second ink receiving groove 44 in the scanning direction Y. It may be. In this case, the second position is set outside the second ink receiving groove 44 in the scanning direction Y.

  In the above embodiment, the movable member 60 rotates about the support shaft 61 extending in the transport direction X, but extends in the scanning direction Y at one end of the second ink receiving groove 44 in the transport direction X. A support shaft may be provided, and the movable member may be rotated about the support shaft.

  If the waste ink received in the ink receiving grooves 43 and 44 can be quickly discharged to an external waste liquid tank, the ink absorbing material 46 may be omitted from the ink receiving grooves 43 and 44. .

  The paper P can be supported by the first surface 63a when the movable member 60 is positioned at the first position, and the second surface 63b does not touch the paper P when the movable member 60 is positioned at the second position. In this case, the movable member 60 may be configured not to include the movable protrusion 64.

  The printing apparatus is not limited to a serial printer as long as it includes the paper support device as described above, and may be a printer of another system such as a line head system or a lateral scan system. The printing device may be a line printer or a page printer.

  The medium to be printed may be a cut sheet or a long sheet (for example, a roll sheet). The medium may be a medium other than paper such as a film, a woven fabric, a nonwoven fabric, and a ceramic sheet.

Next, the technical idea that can be grasped from the above embodiment and another embodiment will be added below.
(A) The second position is preferably a position where the medium cannot be supported by the protrusion.

(B) It is preferable that the first position is a position where the second surface faces the collecting member, and the second position is a position where the second surface faces the medium. .
(C) It is preferable that the rotation axis of the movable member is a direction along the conveyance direction of the medium.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Printing apparatus, 30 ... Paper support apparatus as a medium support apparatus, 41 ... Rib which is an example of a fixed protrusion part, 42 ... Projection part which is an example of a fixed protrusion part, 44 ... 2nd ink receiving groove as a receiving groove 46 ... an ink absorbing material as a collecting member, 47 ... an adjustment motor as an actuator, 53 ... a print head, 60 ... a movable member, 63 ... a main body, 63a ... a first surface, 63b ... a second surface, 64 ... Movable protrusion, 70... Control device as an example of size acquisition unit and control unit, P... Paper as an example of medium.

Claims (6)

A medium support device that supports the medium, and a print head that ejects liquid onto the medium supported by the medium support device.
In the printing apparatus in which the medium support device is provided with a movable member that supports the medium and a receiving groove that receives a liquid that does not adhere to the medium among the liquid ejected from the print head,
The movable member is
A first position capable of supporting the medium at a position overlapping the receiving groove in the width direction of the medium;
A printing apparatus, wherein the printing apparatus is configured to rotate between a second position that is different from the receiving groove in the width direction and cannot support a medium. The movable member has a protrusion,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is capable of supporting a medium when the movable member is located at the first position. When the projecting portion of the movable member is a movable projecting portion, and the direction orthogonal to the printing surface of the medium supported by the medium support device is a specified direction,
The movable member has a plate-like main body, and the movable protrusion is provided on a first surface of the main body,
In the medium support device, a fixed protrusion for supporting the medium is disposed at a position different from the movable member in the width direction,
When the movable member is located at the second position, the second surface located on the opposite side of the first surface in the main body portion is more printable than the tip of the fixed protruding portion in the prescribed direction. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the printing apparatus is separated from the head. In the receiving groove, a collecting member for collecting the liquid in the receiving groove is accommodated,
The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the movable member is located at the first position, the second surface of the main body is separated from the collecting member. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an actuator that drives the movable member to rotate. A size specifying unit for specifying the size of the medium to be printed;
A control unit for controlling the actuator based on the size of the medium specified by the size specifying unit,
When the edge in the width direction of the medium is the side edge of the medium,
The controller is
When the side edge of the medium is predicted to be located outside the receiving groove in the width direction, the movable member is disposed at the first position,
The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when the side end of the medium is predicted to be located at a position overlapping the receiving groove in the width direction, the movable member is disposed at the second position.