JP2023109675A - Conveyance device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

To suppress a positional deviation in a width direction of a roll-shaped recording medium.SOLUTION: An image forming device 1 has a plurality of roller members for stretching a roll-shaped cloth B, and feeds and conveys the roll-shaped cloth B stretched around the roller member, wherein the roller member has a scale 50 for alignment with a fabric A provided at a predetermined position in a width direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a conveying device and an image forming apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art There is an image forming apparatus in which a cloth, which is a roll-shaped recording medium, is fed downstream by rotation of a roller member, ink is ejected by a carriage, and an image is formed on the surface of the cloth.

When a roll of cloth is first set in such an image forming apparatus, after the roll of cloth is inserted into the inlet roller on the supply side, the cloth is manually fed out and successively fed to the roller member on the downstream side. A stretching action is required. As a result, the image forming apparatus becomes capable of unwinding the roll-shaped cloth and forming an image on the cloth.

However, in this manual operation, the set position of the roll-shaped cloth with respect to each roller member is shifted in the width direction of the cloth, and the image formed on the cloth is also shifted in position such as skew. was there.

On the other hand, for example, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-138361), a plurality of texture detection sensors arranged in the width direction of the fabric detects the position in the width direction of the fabric arranged, and the position in the width direction of the fabric is detected. Disclosed is a correction device for correcting the positional deviation of the .

However, the provision of such a correcting device causes an increase in the cost of the image forming apparatus and an increase in the size of the apparatus. .

An object of the present invention is to suppress positional deviation in the width direction of a roll-shaped recording medium.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a conveying apparatus that has a plurality of roller members on which a roll-shaped recording medium is stretched, and feeds and conveys the roll-shaped recording medium stretched around the roller members. The roller member has one or a plurality of marks for alignment with other members provided at predetermined positions in the width direction of the roller member.

According to the present invention, positional deviation in the width direction of a roll-shaped recording medium can be suppressed.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus; FIG. It is a figure which shows the scale provided in each roller member. It is a figure which shows the scale provided in the mounting plate.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each figure, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description thereof will be appropriately simplified or omitted.

In the following description, an image forming apparatus, which is an embodiment of the conveying apparatus of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG. The image forming apparatus of this embodiment is an apparatus that forms an image by feeding a roll of cloth as a roll of recording medium. However, roll-shaped recording media are not limited to this, and roll-shaped recording media (roll body) can be plain paper (roll paper) or coated paper (coated paper or art paper). paper, etc.), tracing paper, OHP sheet, plastic film, prepreg, metal foil (copper foil, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a supply section 2, a conveying section 3, an image forming section 4, a drying section 5, a winding section 6, and the like.

The supply unit 2 includes an inlet roller 11 , a first tension roller 12 , a second tension roller 13 and a plurality of tension rollers 14 . The rollers described above are roller members for stretching the fed cloth A. As shown in FIG. In addition, the roller member of the present embodiment is not limited to this, and includes all rollers provided in the image forming apparatus 1 and on which the fabric A is stretched. For example, as a roller member, the image forming apparatus 1 has an exit roller 29, which will be described later. Further, each roller member extends in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1, which is the width direction of the fabric A conveyed within the apparatus. 2 or 3, which is a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. The width direction of the fabric A is the same direction as the width direction of the roll body B. In other words, the image forming surface of the fabric A during image formation (the surface facing the liquid ejection head 252 in FIG. 1). , and perpendicular to the conveying direction of the fabric A during image formation (direction of arrow C4 in FIG. 1).

As shown in FIG. 1, the 1st tension roller 12 and the 2nd tension roller 13 are provided so that the movement to the direction to contact/separate with respect to the fabric A is possible. By this movement, the first tension roller 12 and the second tension roller 13 can adjust the pressure applied to the fabric A, that is, the strength of the tension applied to the fabric A. An entrance roller drive motor 15 is connected to the entrance rollers 11 . An entrance roller drive motor 15 rotates the entrance roller 11 .

The roll body B is inserted into the entrance roller 11 so that the entrance roller 11 is arranged on the inner peripheral surface side of the roll body B in which the fabric A is formed in a roll shape. By rotating the entrance roller 11 in this state, the cloth A can be let out downstream from the roll body B in the directions of arrows C1-C2-C3. The directions of arrows C1 to C6 in FIG. 1 are the conveying directions (feeding directions) of the cloth A at each position of the image forming apparatus.

The conveying section 3 is provided on the downstream side of the feeding section 2 in the conveying direction of the cloth A. As shown in FIG. The transport unit 3 has a transport belt 16 , a plurality of detection sensors 17 , a drive roller 18 , a driven roller 19 , a cleaning nozzle 20 , a brush roller 21 , a wiping roller 22 and a belt drive motor 23 .

The conveying belt 16 is stretched by a driving roller 18 and a driven roller 19 on both sides in the conveying direction. A belt drive motor 23 rotates the drive roller 18 . As the drive roller 18 rotates, the driven roller 19 is driven to rotate, and the conveying belt 16 circulates. As a result, the fabric A on the transport belt 16 can be transported downstream in the direction of arrow C4. The detection sensor 17 can detect the position of the fabric A on the conveyor belt 16 . Thereby, floating of the fabric A from the surface of the conveying belt 16 can be detected.

The cleaning nozzle 20 sprays water onto the surface of the conveying belt 16 . The brush roller 21 comes into contact with the conveying belt 16 and scrapes off foreign matter adhering to the surface of the conveying belt 16 . The wiping roller 22 wipes off moisture on the surface of the conveying belt 16 . Each of these operations can clean the surface of the conveyor belt 16 .

The image forming section 4 has a mounting plate 24 and a carriage unit 25 .

The mounting plate 24 extends in the main scanning direction. The mounting plate 24 supports the carriage unit 25 so as to be movable in the main scanning direction. The carriage unit 25 consists of a plurality of carriages 251 . Each carriage 251 has a plurality of liquid ejection heads 252 . Each liquid ejection head 252 has a nozzle facing the fabric A on the conveying belt 16 and ejects ink as a liquid onto the fabric A. As shown in FIG.

The drying section 5 is provided downstream of the conveying section 3 in the direction in which the cloth A is conveyed. The drying section 5 has a heater 26 , a fan motor 27 and a shielding plate 28 .

Heater 26 is a halogen lamp heater. The heater 26 faces the fabric A. When the fan motor 27 blows air to the heater 26, the hot air is blown to the fabric A and the ink discharged onto the fabric A is dried. The shielding plate 28 faces the cloth A on the side opposite to the heater 26 . The shielding plate 28 allows the cloth A to be dried efficiently.

The winding section 6 is provided on the downstream side of the drying section 5 in the direction in which the cloth A is conveyed. The winding unit 6 has an exit roller 29 as a roller member and an exit roller drive motor 30 .

Exit roller 29 is connected to exit roller drive motor 30 . An exit roller driving motor 30 rotates the exit roller 29 . By this rotation, the exit roller 29 winds up the fabric A that has passed through the drying section 5 to its own outer peripheral surface side.

When an image forming operation is started in the image forming apparatus 1 described above, the entrance roller 11 rotates, and the cloth A is sent out downstream while being stretched between the rollers of the supply section 2 . Then, the cloth A is conveyed by the conveying belt 16 to a position facing the carriage unit 25, and ink is ejected onto the surface thereof. Thus, an image is formed on the surface of the fabric A.

The cloth A on which the image is to be formed is further conveyed downstream by the conveying belt 16 and the rotation of the exit roller 29 , and the image on the surface thereof is dried in the drying section 5 . The cloth A that has passed through the drying section 5 is taken up by an exit roller 29 . An image is formed on the surface of the cloth A as described above.

By the way, in order to make the cloth A ready for image formation, the roll body B is first inserted into the entrance roller 11 . Then, it is necessary to manually rotate the roll body B to feed the cloth A and stretch it over each roller member.

However, during this operation, the cloth A is displaced in the width direction with respect to each roller member, causing the cloth A to meander during image formation, resulting in positional deviation such as skew in the position of the formed image. .

On the other hand, by continuously conveying the fabric A, it is possible to visually confirm the positional deviation of the fabric A in the width direction and manually correct the positional deviation. However, there is a problem that the cloth A in between is wasted. Further, in a serial type ink jet printer such as that of the present embodiment, the image forming operation of the image forming section 4 takes a long time, and therefore the fabric cannot be continuously conveyed, and such a correction is difficult. Further, although it is possible to provide a correcting device for correcting the positional deviation of the cloth A in the width direction, there is a problem that the size and cost of the entire image forming apparatus are increased.

The configuration of this embodiment for solving the above problem will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram in which each roller member provided in the image forming apparatus is arranged vertically for convenience, and the horizontal direction in FIG. 2 is the width direction of each roller member.

As shown in FIG. 2, the inlet roller 11, the first tension roller 12, the second tension roller 13, the tension rollers 14, and the outlet roller 29, which are the roller members of the present embodiment, have a plurality of rollers in the width direction. A scale 50 is provided. In this embodiment, scales 50 are provided on all roller members in the image forming apparatus.

The scale 50 is composed of a plurality of scale lines 51 as marks provided at different positions in the width direction, and scale numerals 52 as corresponding symbols. Each scale line 51 is provided at the position of the width direction end of the fabric of each width corresponding to the image forming apparatus. The scale numbers 52 are numbers assigned in order of 0, 1, 2, . . . from one side in the width direction. By reading the scale numbers 52, it becomes easy to determine which scale 50 corresponds to which scale 50 in the width direction and to discriminate the scales 50 at the same positions on the roller members.

The scale lines 51 or the scale numerals 52 can be formed by laser printing or plating, for example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the scale lines 51 or the scale numbers 52 can be provided on the surface of the roller member by an appropriate method.

In the present embodiment, when the cloth A is manually fed out and stretched over the roller members, the side edges of the cloth A can be aligned with the same scale 50 on each roller member. . Therefore, it is possible to suppress the displacement of the cloth A in the width direction with respect to each roller member. Therefore, misalignment of the image formed on the fabric A can be suppressed. Further, since the roller member is simply provided with the scale, the increase in cost of the device can be suppressed as much as possible, and the size of the device is not increased. Moreover, the amount of the fabric A used for correcting the positional deviation of the fabric A can be reduced.

In the above description, the case where the scale composed of the scale numbers as the symbols and the scale lines as the marks is provided on the roller member has been described. may have been Also, symbols corresponding to only some of the marks may be provided. Further, for example, if the size of the recording medium to be aligned is only one, only one mark may be provided. Symbols are not necessarily limited to the numerals used in the present embodiment, and may be letters, graphics, or other characters that can be appropriately identified.

Further, by providing a plurality of scales 50 on the roller member, it is possible to handle a plurality of fabrics having different lengths in the width direction. That is, when the side edge of the fabric A is aligned with the scale 50 of the roller member, the side edge of the fabric A is aligned with the numbered scale 50 corresponding to the width of the fabric A.

In addition, the configuration in which the scale 50 is provided on the roller member in this manner is particularly suitable for application to a serial type ink jet printer as in the present embodiment. That is, as described above, in such an image forming apparatus, the image forming operation cannot be performed by continuously conveying the cloth A, so it is difficult to visually confirm and correct the positional deviation. Therefore, in such an image forming apparatus, it is particularly important to provide the roller members with the scale 50 to suppress the positional deviation of the cloth A in the width direction with respect to each roller member.

In the above description, all the roller members in the image forming apparatus are provided with the scale, but the scale may be provided on some of them. For example, a scale can be provided on the entrance roller 11, which is the most upstream roller member in the image forming apparatus, and the exit roller 29, which is the most downstream roller member. As a result, it is possible to check the positional deviation in the width direction at the first and last positions of the fabric in the image forming apparatus in the conveying direction, so that the positional deviation of the fabric A in the width direction with respect to each roller member can be efficiently suppressed. Moreover, the increase in cost due to providing the scale can be suppressed as much as possible. Further, the second tension roller 13, which is a roller member immediately before the image forming section, and the tension roller 14, which is a roller member immediately after, may be provided with a scale. As a result, it is possible to check the positional deviation of the cloth in the width direction before and after the image forming operation.

Further, the scale can be provided not only on the roller member but also on the main body side of the image forming apparatus. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a scale 50 can be provided on the mounting plate 24 that supports the carriage unit 25 . FIG. 3 is a view of the mounting plate 24 and the carriage unit 25 as seen from the left side of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, by providing a scale 50 on the mounting plate 24, which is part of the structure of the main body of the image forming apparatus 1, it is possible to check the positional deviation of the fabric A on the conveying belt 16 in the width direction. Positional deviation of the image formed on the fabric A can be suppressed. In addition, although the case where the scale is provided in the mounting plate 24 was illustrated in this embodiment, it is not limited to this. For example, scales can be provided on structures on the apparatus main body side that extend in the width direction of the roller members, such as a holding member that holds each member in the image forming apparatus 1 and a casing of the image forming apparatus 1 .

Moreover, it is preferable that each roller member is provided so as to be movable in the width direction. The scales of the roller members are misaligned in the width direction due to dimensional errors and placement errors of the roller members, dimensional errors and placement errors of the scales, and the like. If the position of the scale shifts, the position of the cloth A will also shift in the width direction when it is arranged. However, by providing each roller member movably in the width direction, it is possible to align the scales of each roller member before the cloth A is set. Thereby, the positional deviation of the cloth A in the width direction can be suppressed.

In this way, the scale (mark) of the present embodiment and a predetermined portion (the width direction end of the recording medium or the scale of another roller member) of another member (recording medium or other roller member) are positioned. The alignment allows the other member to be aligned in the width direction with respect to the roller member.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Although the above description exemplifies the case where the entire image forming apparatus is the conveying device of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, only the roller member provided in the supply section 2 of FIG. 1 may be provided with scales, and the supply section 2 may be the conveying device of the present invention.

Further, the image forming apparatus having the conveying device of the present invention is not limited to the serial type inkjet printer described above, and may be a line head type printer or an electrophotographic printer.

Aspects of the present invention are, for example, as follows.
<1>
A conveying device having a plurality of roller members on which a roll-shaped recording medium is stretched, and feeding out and conveying the roll-shaped recording medium stretched around the roller members,
The conveying device is characterized in that the roller member has one or more marks for alignment with other members provided at predetermined positions in the width direction of the roller member.
<2>
The conveying device according to <1>, wherein the marks are provided on the roller members provided on the most upstream side and the most downstream side in the conveying direction of the recording medium.
<3>
The conveying device according to <2>, wherein the marks are provided on all the roller members.
<4>
further comprising a structure extending in the width direction;
The conveying apparatus according to any one of <1> to <3>, wherein the mark is provided on the structure.
<5>
The conveying device according to any one of <1> to <4>, wherein the roller member provided with the mark is provided movably in its width direction.
<6>
The conveying device according to any one of <1> to <5>, wherein the mark is aligned with the recording medium that is the other member.
<7>
The conveying device according to any one of <1> to <6>, wherein a plurality of the marks are arranged in the width direction, and a scale is configured by attaching a symbol corresponding to each of the marks.
<8>
An image forming apparatus comprising the conveying device according to any one of <1> to <7>.
<9>
The image forming apparatus according to <8>, further comprising a carriage that has a liquid ejection head and is movable in the width direction of the recording medium.

1 Image forming apparatus (conveyor)
2 supply unit 11 inlet roller (roller member)
12 first tension roller (roller member)
13 Second tension roller (roller member)
14 tension roller (roller member)
24 Mounting plate (structure)
29 exit roller (roller member)
50 scale 51 scale line (mark)
52 Scale numbers (symbols)
A fabric (recording medium or other member)
B Rolled fabric (rolled recording medium)
D: Width direction of roller member

JP-A-2002-138361

Claims (9)

A conveying device having a plurality of roller members on which a roll-shaped recording medium is stretched, and feeding out and conveying the roll-shaped recording medium stretched around the roller members,
A conveying device, wherein the roller member has one or more marks for alignment with other members provided at predetermined positions in the width direction of the roller member. 2. The conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the marks are provided on the roller members provided on the most upstream side and the most downstream side in the conveying direction of the recording medium. 3. A conveying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said marks are provided on all said roller members. further comprising a structure extending in the width direction;
2. A conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said structure is provided with said mark. 2. A conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said roller member provided with said mark is provided movably in its width direction. 2. A conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said mark is aligned with said other member, said recording medium. 2. The conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said marks are arranged in said width direction, and a scale is formed by attaching a symbol corresponding to each of said marks. An image forming apparatus comprising the conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 7. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a carriage having a liquid ejection head and movable in the width direction of the recording medium.

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