JP2022085265A - Image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

To reduce a rewinding amount of a sheet-like medium and reduce time required for rewinding.SOLUTION: A printer 100 includes: a roll paper storage part 11 capable of storing roll paper R; a head 5 for forming an image on paper P unwound from the roll paper R; a conveyance mechanism 3 for conveying the paper P from the roll paper storage part 11 in a conveyance direction A along a conveyance path C; and a cutter 4a for cutting a sheet-like medium at a predetermined position Cx of the conveyance path C. The conveyance mechanism 3 includes a feeding roller 3a for feeding the paper P from the roll paper storage part 11, an intermediate roller pair 3b arranged between the feeding roller 3a and the head 5 on the conveyance path C, and a conveyance roller pair 3c arranged between the intermediate roller pair 3b and the head 5 on the conveyance path C. The predetermined position Cx is arranged between the feeding roller 3a and the intermediate roller pair 3b on the conveyance path C.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including a cutter for cutting a sheet-like medium.

An image forming apparatus is known in which a sheet-like medium such as paper, cloth, or a label is wound in a roll shape, and an image is formed while the sheet-like medium is conveyed in a transport direction along a transport path. .. Generally, such an image forming apparatus is provided with a cutter for cutting a sheet-like medium. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an image forming apparatus including a roll paper accommodating portion, an image forming portion, and a cutter for cutting a sheet-like medium on the downstream side of the transport path of the image forming portion.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-86235

For example, when the tray (accommodating portion) for accommodating the roll body is attached to and detached from the housing of the image forming apparatus, the tip of the sheet-like medium unwound from the roll body and cut by the cutter comes into contact with the housing and bends. In order to prevent the above, the tip portion may be rewound to the accommodating portion before the attachment / detachment. In this case, in the configuration in which the cutter is arranged on the downstream side of the transport path (predetermined position of the transport path) of the image forming portion as in Patent Document 1, the length from the accommodating portion to the predetermined position is relatively long, so that the winding is performed. The amount of rewinding becomes large, and it takes time to rewind.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of reducing the amount of rewinding of a sheet-like medium and reducing the time required for rewinding.

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention has an accommodating portion capable of accommodating a sheet-shaped medium, an image forming unit that forms an image on the sheet-shaped medium, and a conveying direction of the sheet-shaped medium from the accommodating portion along a transport path. A transport mechanism for transporting the sheet-like medium and a cutter for cutting the sheet-shaped medium at a predetermined position in the transport path are provided, and the accommodating portion can accommodate a roll body in which the sheet-like medium is wound in a roll shape. The transport mechanism includes a feed roller that feeds a sheet-like medium from the accommodating portion, an intermediate roller arranged between the feed roller and the image forming portion in the transport path, and the intermediate roller in the transport path. A transport roller arranged between the image forming portion and the image forming portion, and the predetermined position is characterized by being between the feed roller and the intermediate roller in the transport path.

According to the present invention, the cutter is configured to cut the sheet-like medium at a predetermined position between the feed roller and the intermediate roller in the transport path. In this case, since the length from the accommodating portion to the predetermined position is relatively short, the amount of rewinding of the sheet-like medium can be reduced, and the time required for rewinding can be reduced.

It is an overall block diagram of the printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the cutter mechanism and the scanning mechanism included in the printer of FIG. It is an enlarged view of the region III shown in FIG.

<Overall configuration of printer>
First, with reference to FIG. 1, the overall configuration of the printer 100 (image forming apparatus) according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. The vertical direction and the front-back direction shown in FIG. 1 are the vertical direction and the front-back direction of the printer 100.

The printer 100 includes a housing 100a, a paper feed tray 1, a transport mechanism 3, a cutter mechanism 4, a head 5, a paper output tray 6, and a control unit 10. The paper feed tray 1 corresponds to the "tray" of the present invention, has a box shape opened upward, and is removable from the lower part of the housing 100a. The paper output tray 6 is composed of a front side wall on the upper side of the housing 100a, and can be opened and closed with respect to the housing 100a.

The paper feed tray 1 is provided with a roll paper accommodating portion 11 capable of accommodating the roll paper R. The roll paper accommodating portion 11 corresponds to the "accommodating portion" of the present invention.

The roll paper R is a roll of long paper P (“sheet-like medium” of the present invention) wound around the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical core member Rc in a roll shape, and is the “roll body” of the present invention. Corresponds to. The roll paper R is rolled in a state where its rotation axis Rx (central axis of the core member Rc) is orthogonal to the vertical direction and the front-back direction (the "scanning direction" described later and the width direction of the paper P). It is accommodated in the paper accommodating section 11.

The roll paper accommodating portion 11 has a recess 11x for accommodating the roll paper R. Two rollers 14 and 15 are provided at the bottom of the recess 11x. The two rollers 14 and 15 can rotate about the axes 14a and 15a extending in the scanning direction, respectively. When the roll paper P is housed in the recess 11x, the outer peripheral surface of the lower portion thereof is supported by the two rollers 14 and 15.

The roll paper accommodating portion 11 further has a hole 11y communicating with the recess 11x and extending in the vertical direction, and a groove 11z communicating with the hole 11y and extending in the front-rear direction. Both the holes 11y and the grooves 11z are open to the bottom surface of the roll paper accommodating portion 11. The paper P unwound from the roll paper R passes through the holes 11y and the grooves 11z and is conveyed toward the head 5.

The transport mechanism 3 is configured to transport the paper P from the roll paper accommodating portion 11, and includes a feed roller 3a, an intermediate roller pair 3b, a transport roller pair 3c, a paper discharge roller pair 3d, and guides 7 and 9. .. The paper P is transported in the transport direction A by the transport mechanism 3 along the transport path C from the roll paper accommodating portion 11 under the head 5 toward the paper output tray 6.

The feeding roller 3a is arranged between the roll paper accommodating portion 11 and the head 5 in the transport path C. The intermediate roller pair 3b is arranged between the feeding roller 3a and the head 5 in the transport path C. The transfer roller pair 3c is arranged between the intermediate roller pair 3b and the head 5 in the transfer path C. The paper ejection roller pair 3d is arranged between the head 5 and the paper ejection tray 6 in the transport path C.

The feeding roller 3a is pivotally supported at the tip of the arm 3y. The arm 3y is rotatably supported by the support shaft 3x, and the feeding roller 3a is urged so as to approach the bottom surface of the paper feed tray 1. As shown in FIG. 1, when the roll paper R is housed in the roll paper storage unit 11, the paper feed motor (not shown) is driven by the control of the control unit 10, and the feed roller 3a rotates, the roll paper is rolled. R rotates in the direction B of the arrow, and the paper P unwound from the roll paper R is fed toward the intermediate roller pair 3b.

The intermediate roller pair 3b, the transport roller pair 3c, and the paper ejection roller pair 3d each include a drive roller that is rotated by driving a transport motor (not shown) and a driven roller that is taken around by the drive roller. The transport motor (not shown) is driven by the control of the control unit 10, and the intermediate roller pair 3b, the transport roller pair 3c, and the paper ejection roller pair 3d rotate while sandwiching the paper P, so that the paper P is transferred to the transport path C. It is transported along the transport direction A.

The transport direction A is configured to be inverted between the intermediate roller pair 3b and the transport roller pair 3c. In the present embodiment, the portion from the roll paper accommodating portion 11 to the intermediate roller pair 3b in the transport path C and the portion from the transport roller pair 3c to the paper output tray 6 in the transport path C in the front-rear direction in the transport direction A. The ingredients are in the opposite direction.

The guide 7 is arranged between the feeding roller 3a and the intermediate roller pair 3b in the transport path C, and guides the paper P fed by the feeding roller 3a to the intermediate roller pair 3b. The guide 7 is composed of a side wall at the rear of the paper feed tray 1, and is inclined so as to be located upward from the front to the rear.

The guide 9 is arranged between the intermediate roller pair 3b and the transfer roller pair 3c in the transfer path C, and guides the paper P conveyed by the intermediate roller pair 3b to the transfer roller pair 3c. The guide 9 is composed of a pair of path members 9a and 9b arranged so as to sandwich the transport path C.

The cutter mechanism 4 is configured to cut the paper P (paper P unwound from the roll paper R) between the guide 7 in the transport path C and the intermediate roller pair 3b (predetermined position Cx). It includes 4a, a cutter unit 4b to which a cutter 4a is attached, and a holder 4c that holds the cutter unit 4b, and can be reciprocated in the scanning direction (direction orthogonal to the transport direction A at a predetermined position Cx) by the scanning mechanism 2. Yes (see Figure 2).

The transport path C includes a linear portion Cs between the feed roller 3a and the intermediate roller pair 3b. The predetermined position Cx in which the cutter mechanism 4 is arranged is provided in the linear portion Cs.

The cutter 4a is composed of a pair of rotary blades 4a1 and 4a2 arranged so as to sandwich the transport path C. The pair of rotary blades 4a1 and 4a2 each have a portion orthogonal to the transport path C and overlap each other. Specifically, of the pair of rotary blades 4a1, 4a2, the rotary blades 4a1 are arranged on the downstream side of the transport direction A, and the rotary blades 4a2 are arranged on the upstream side of the transport direction A, and these pair of rotary blades 4a1, 4a2 are arranged. Has a portion overlapping each other in the transport direction A.

The cutter unit 4b rotatably supports a pair of rotary blades 4a1 and 4a2, respectively. The holder 4c is a case-shaped member that holds the cutter unit 4b from the outside.

As shown in FIG. 2, the scanning mechanism 2 includes a pair of pulleys 2a and 2b separated from each other in the scanning direction, a belt 2c wound around the pair of pulleys 2a and 2b and to which a holder 4c is fixed, and a cutting motor (a cutting motor). (Not shown) and included. When the cutting motor is driven by the control of the control unit 10, the belt 2c travels in the scanning direction, and the holder 4c and the cutter unit 4b held by the holder 4b (that is, the entire cutter mechanism 4 including the cutter 4a) are transferred. It is moved from the standby position D outside C to the inside of the transport path C. At this time, the rotary blades 4a1 and 4a2 are rotated by the drive of the cutting motor. The paper P unwound from the roll paper R is cut in the width direction of the paper P by the cutter 4a at a predetermined position Cx.

The head 5 is arranged between the transport roller pair 3c and the paper ejection roller pair 3d in the transport path C. The head 5 corresponds to the "image forming portion" of the present invention, and includes a plurality of nozzles (not shown) formed on the lower surface and a driver IC. When the driver IC is driven by the control of the control unit 10, ink is ejected from the nozzle, and when the paper P conveyed by the transfer mechanism 3 passes through a position facing the lower surface of the head 5, the ink is relative to the paper P. An image is formed. The head 5 may be either a line type that ejects ink from a nozzle in a fixed position or a serial type that ejects ink from a nozzle while moving in the scanning direction.

The paper P on which the image is formed by the head 5 is received by the output tray 6 in an open state with respect to the housing 100a.

The control unit 10 is connected to a paper feed motor, a transfer motor, a cutting motor, and a driver IC via an internal bus (not shown). The control unit 10 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The ROM stores programs and data for the CPU to perform various controls. The RAM temporarily stores data used by the CPU to execute a program.

<Structure and effect of this embodiment>
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the cutter 4a is configured to cut the paper P at a predetermined position Cx between the feeding roller 3a and the intermediate roller pair 3b in the transport path C. (See Fig. 1). In this case, since the length from the roll paper accommodating portion 11 to the predetermined position Cx is relatively short, the rewinding amount of the paper P can be reduced and the time required for rewinding can be reduced.

The printer 100 includes a paper feed tray 1 including a roll paper accommodating portion 11 and a housing 100 a to which the paper feed tray 1 can be attached and detached (see FIG. 1). In this case, in order to prevent the tip of the paper P unwound from the roll paper R and cut by the cutter 4a from coming into contact with the housing 100a and bending when the paper feed tray 1 is attached to and detached from the housing 100a. When the tip portion is rewound to the paper feed tray 1 before attachment / detachment, the rewinding amount is small and the time required for rewinding can be reduced. As a result, the user's waiting time (time to wait until the rewinding is completed without performing attachment / detachment work) can be reduced.

The transport direction A is configured to be reversed between the intermediate roller pair 3b and the transport roller pair 3c (see FIG. 1). In the transport path C, the position between the feed roller 3a and the intermediate roller pair 3b is a position where the load on the paper P is relatively small before the transport direction A is reversed. Cutting accuracy can be ensured by cutting with the cutter 4a at the position Cx.

The transport path C includes a linear portion Cs between the feed roller 3a and the intermediate roller pair 3b. The predetermined position Cx is provided in the linear portion Cs (see FIG. 1). The linear portion Cs has a smaller load on the paper P than the curved portion. By cutting with the cutter 4a at the position Cx, the cutting accuracy can be ensured more reliably.

The cutter 4a includes blades (rotary blades 4a1, 4a2) arranged so as to be orthogonal to the transport path C (see FIG. 3). In this case, the cutting accuracy can be ensured more reliably.

The predetermined position Cx provided with the cutter 4a is a position where the printer 100 is unlikely to become large even if the cutter 4a and the mechanism for driving the cutter 4a (in this embodiment, the scanning mechanism 2) are arranged before the transport direction A is reversed. Is. For example, when the cutter 4a is provided in the vicinity of the head 5 after the transport direction A is reversed, various members (not shown in FIG. 1 and the like) are arranged around the head 5, so that the cutter 4a and the cutter 4a are used. It is necessary to provide a dedicated space for arranging the driving mechanism (a space in which the above-mentioned various members are not arranged), which increases the size of the printer 100. In this respect, in the present embodiment, by providing the cutter 4a at the predetermined position Cx before the transport direction A is reversed, it is possible to suppress the increase in size of the printer 100.

<Modification example>
Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various design changes can be made as long as it is described in the claims.

The cutter is composed of a pair of rotary blades in the above-described embodiment, but is not limited to this, and may be composed of, for example, one rotary blade, one fixed blade, or the like.

A guide may not be provided between the feed roller and the predetermined position in the transport path.

In the above-described embodiment, the components in the front-rear direction in the transport direction are reversed between the intermediate roller and the transport roller, but the components in the vertical direction in the transport direction may be reversed.

The transfer direction does not have to be reversed between the intermediate roller and the transfer roller.

The cutter may be provided in a curved portion of the transport path instead of a linear portion.

The accommodating portion is not limited to being provided on a tray that can be attached to and detached from the housing, and may be provided on the housing, for example. Even in this case, the tip portion of the sheet-like medium unwound from the roll body and cut by the cutter may be rewound to the accommodating portion. In such a case, by applying the present invention, the amount of rewinding of the sheet-like medium can be reduced, and the time required for rewinding can be reduced.

The sheet-like medium is not limited to paper, and may be, for example, a cloth, a resin member, or the like.

The image forming unit may discharge a liquid other than the ink (for example, a processing liquid that aggregates or precipitates components in the ink). Further, the image forming unit is not limited to the liquid ejection method, and may be a laser method, a thermal transfer method, or the like.

The present invention is not limited to printers, and can be applied to facsimiles, copiers, multifunction devices, and the like.

1 Paper tray (tray)
3 Transport mechanism 3a Feeding roller 3b Intermediate roller vs. 3c Transport roller vs. 4a Cutter 4a1,4a2 Rotary blade 5 Head (image forming part)
7 Guide 11 Roll paper accommodating part (accommodating part)
100 printer (image forming device)
100a Housing A Transport direction C Transport path Cs Linear part Cx Predetermined position P Paper (sheet-like medium)
R roll paper (roll body)

Claims (5)

A storage unit that can store sheet-like media and
An image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet-like medium,
A transport mechanism that transports the sheet-like medium from the accommodating portion in the transport direction along the transport path.
A cutter for cutting a sheet-like medium at a predetermined position in the transport path is provided.
The accommodating portion can accommodate a roll body in which a sheet-like medium is wound in a roll shape.
The transport mechanism is
A feeding roller that feeds a sheet-like medium from the accommodating portion,
An intermediate roller arranged between the feeding roller and the image forming portion in the transport path,
Including a transport roller arranged between the intermediate roller and the image forming unit in the transport path.
An image forming apparatus, characterized in that the predetermined position is between the feeding roller and the intermediate roller in the transport path. The tray containing the housing and
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tray is provided with a detachable housing. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the transport direction is reversed between the intermediate roller and the transport roller. The transport path includes a linear portion between the feed roller and the intermediate roller.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the predetermined position is provided in the linear portion. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the cutter includes blades arranged so as to be orthogonal to the transport path.

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