JP3250404B2 - Inkjet printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer. In particular, the present invention relates to improvement of the paper discharge mechanism.

[0002]

Those shown in FIG. 1 7 to 1 9 is known as Conventional inkjet printers (US
P5299875).

This printer has a paper feed tray 2 at the rear of a main body 1 on which paper P to be printed is set, and a pair of supports 3, 4 and an edge at the front of the main body 1. And a separator 5.

[0004] paper P is fed from the paper feed tray 2 to the body 1, after being printed on the upper surface by an ink jet head provided in the main body 1, as shown in FIG. 1 9, both side portions thereof support 3 , 4 are guided from below, and the central portion thereof is discharged while guided by the edge separator 5 from below.

[0005] One of the supporting portions 4 is provided with a sheet P for printing.
18 is slidable in the direction of arrow b in FIG. 18 (paper width direction) so that its position can be adjusted according to the width. Further, in order to improve the storage property when not in use, it is configured to be rotatable in the direction of arrow a (rightward in the sheet width direction) toward the recess 6. In addition, the other support part 3 also improves the storage property when not in use,
It is configured to be rotatable toward the recess 7.

[0006]

In conventional inkjet printers as described above in which [0005] the user whenever it different paper sizes in the paper feed tray 2, 1 8 arrow a support portion 4 to the width of the paper The slide operation is performed in the direction b.

However, since the supporting portion 4 can rotate only in one direction (the direction of the arrow a in FIG. 18 , that is, the right direction) in the paper width direction (sliding direction), the user must be careful. For example, in a case where the support portion 4 is slid in the direction despite the presence of some obstacle in the slide direction, the direction in which the support portion 4 cannot rotate (the direction opposite to the arrow a direction). However, there is a problem that the support portion 4 may be damaged due to a force applied to the support portion 4.

In particular, if an attempt is made to provide a press-down portion for pressing down the central portion of the paper downward instead of the edge separator 5, the press-down portion may become the above-mentioned obstacle and cause the above-mentioned problem. There is a concern that it will grow.

An object of the present invention is to solve in advance to the above-described problems, the support portion slidably configuration is to provide an ink jet printer is not damaged by the reason.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet printer, comprising: a pair of supporting members which support both sides of a sheet printed on an upper surface by a printing unit having an ink jet head and discharged from below. And a push-down unit that pushes down the central portion of the paper downward, and at least one of the pair of support portions is configured to be slidable in the paper width direction, and the paper A support position that is configured to be rotatable in both the left and right directions in the width direction, and that supports the side portion of the sheet from below, and that the side portion of the sheet is rotated from this support position in either the left or right direction in the sheet width direction. Can be taken as an unsupported position where the support is no longer supported , and this one support is connected to the other support.
Slide toward the holding part to pass through the push-down part
When this is done, one of the support parts contacts the push-down part and rotates
To an unsupported position that does not support the side of the paper.
It is characterized by being retained .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the inkjet printer according to the first aspect, wherein
Further, the paper feeder is provided with an edge guide for guiding the side of the paper, which is configured to be slidable in accordance with the width of the paper to be used for printing. It is characterized by being.

[0012]

[0013]

An ink jet printer according to a third aspect is the ink jet printer according to the first aspect ,
It is characterized by comprising a biasing means for constantly biasing the support portion toward the support position.

The ink jet printer according to claim 4 is
5. The ink jet printer according to claim 4, further comprising a holding portion for holding the supporting portion at the unsupported position against the urging force of the urging means.

[0016]

According to the ink jet printer according to the first aspect, the paper printed on the upper surface by the printing unit having the ink jet head and discharged is supported from below by a pair of support portions, and the central portion is formed. Is pushed down by the push-down portion, and is ejected while being forcibly urged into a concave shape in which the printing surface is depressed when viewed from the ejection direction.

Since at least one of the pair of support portions is configured to be slidable in the sheet width direction, the side portion of the sheet is securely supported according to the width of the sheet to be discharged. It can be adjusted to a position where it can be done.

Further, since the one support portion is configured to be rotatable in both the left and right directions in the paper width direction, when the support portion is slid, for example, there is some obstacle in the sliding direction and the support portion is slid. Even if an external force acts on the support member, there is no possibility that the support portion is damaged.

In particular, if the ink-jet printer according to the first aspect is provided with a push-down portion for pushing down the center of the paper downward, when the support portion is slid, the support portion is pushed down. However, even in such a case, the support portion or the push-down portion does not break.

Further, for example, when the printer is not used, the support portion can be turned in any direction according to the user's preference. Further, according to the ink jet printer according to the first aspect, at least one of the pair of support portions supports a side portion of the sheet from below and a support position in the sheet width direction from the support position. Since the sheet can be turned to the right or left to take an unsupported position where the side of the sheet is not supported, the following operation is obtained. Among papers used for printing, there are small-width papers such as small envelopes and postcards. Even when printing on such a small-width paper, if the pair of supporting portions support and eject both sides of the paper, the pressing-down portion cannot sufficiently exert the pressing-down action of the central portion of the paper. In such a case, a concave shape in which the printing surface is depressed when viewed from the discharge direction may not be obtained, and a good discharge operation may not be obtained. On the other hand, according to the ink jet printer of the first aspect, by setting one of the supporting portions to the unsupported position, supporting the sheet only by the other supporting piece, and setting the sheet in a cantilevered state. It is possible to obtain a proper discharge operation. Further, the ink jet printer according to claim 1
According to the printer, one of the supports is connected to the other of the supports.
And slide it through the push-down section toward
When one of the supports is in contact with the push-down part, it rotates
By holding in the unsupported position that does not support the side of the paper
Therefore, the following operation is obtained. As mentioned above
When printing on small paper such as postcards,
The support section to the width of the paper,
Due to the small width of the paper, the support is usually pushed down.
Through the spout. The ink jet according to claim 1.
According to the printer, the support part passes through the depressed part
In the unsupported position where the support does not support the side of the paper.
As the paper is held, the cantilever state described above is automatically
Will be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet printer according to the first aspect, the edge guide for guiding the side of the sheet of the sheet feeding device is adjusted to the width of the sheet to be printed. Since the edge guide and the slide of the support portion are interlocked, when the edge guide is slid according to the paper set in the sheet feeding device, the support portion also slides, and the position thereof is changed. It will be adjusted automatically. That is, when sheets of different sizes are set in the sheet feeding device, it is not necessary to separately operate the edge guide and the support portion, and it is sufficient to slide the edge guide.

According to such a configuration, when setting a sheet in the sheet feeder, the user mainly slides the edge guide while looking at the edge guide.
It is very likely that the support will not be noticed hitting the depressor.

However, according to the present invention, as described above, even if the support portion collides with the push-down portion, the support portion is rotated, thereby preventing the support portion or the push-down portion from being damaged. So, for example, fit a postcard
And slide the edge guide.
Not only prevents damage, but also automatically suitable for postcards, etc.
The discharged paper state is obtained.

[0024]

[0025]

[0026]

[0027]

[0028]

[0029]

[0030]

According to the ink jet printer of the third aspect, in the ink jet printer of the first aspect, the urging means for constantly urging the support portion toward the support position is provided. Even if an external force acts on the support portion to rotate the support portion, the support portion automatically returns to the support position when the action of the external force is released.

Therefore, at the same time as the breakage of the support portion is prevented, the above-described paper discharge state is automatically obtained when no external force is applied.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the ink jet printer according to the third aspect , further comprising a holding portion for holding the supporting portion at the unsupported position against the urging force of the urging means. Accordingly, the configuration according to claim 1 or 3 prevents the support portion held at the unsupported position from returning to the support position carelessly.

[0034]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure of an embodiment of an ink jet printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially omitted plan view showing the same internal structure, and FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

First, an outline of the printer will be described.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a main body of the printer, 1
1 is a case of the main body, and 20 is an automatic paper feeder incorporated in the main body 10.

The main body 10 is driven by pressing the paper feed roller 30 along the paper path PP through which the paper P (see FIG. 3) fed by the automatic paper feeder 20 passes. A pinch roller 40, a regulating member 50 for guiding the back side of the sheet P, a carriage 61 on which an ink jet head 60 for ejecting ink droplets toward the sheet and performing printing, a guide roller 75, and a discharge roller Vs. 7
1 and 72 and a discharge unit 80 which is a characteristic part of the present embodiment. Further, on the front surface of the main body 10, a paper discharge tray 90 for stacking the discharged paper is provided.

Paper P fed by automatic paper feeder 20
1 (see FIG. 3) arrives at the paper feed roller 30 via a paper path PP that is concavely curved as a whole in FIG. 1, and is sent out from the paper feed roller 30 with its feed angle defined by a pinch roller 40. First, the leading edge of the fed sheet P is defined by the defining member 5 which also functions as a guide member.
0 and then as shown in FIG.
b is guided while being in contact with the uppermost surface 51 a of the rib 51 formed on the upper surface of the defining member 50, so that the distance from the inkjet head 60 is defined. Is discharged and printed. A is a print area, which forms a print portion.
The printed sheet P is discharged onto a discharge tray 90 via a pair of discharge rollers 71 and 72 and a discharge unit 80.

Next, details of each section will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a main body 10 has a case 11 in which a bottom plate 12 made of a metal plate also serving as a shield plate, and a left and right plastic material standing upright on the bottom frame 12. Side frames 13, 14
And an intermediate frame 15 made of a metal plate provided on the side frames 13 and 14, and a plastic sub-frame 16 fixed to an appropriate position of each of the frames.

The sub-frame 16 includes a bottom plate 16a forming the lower portion of the paper path PP, a back plate 16b, and side plates 16c and 16c 'integrally formed on the left and right sides of the bottom plate 16a and the back plate 16b. It has. That is, the bottom plate 16a, the back plate 16b, and the side plates 16c, 16c 'are integrally formed. A rib-shaped paper guide 16e is formed on the upper surface of the bottom plate 16a.

The automatic paper feeder 20 has two paper feed rollers 2
1, a hopper 22, an edge guide 23, and a paper feed tray 24.

The paper feed roller 21 is composed of a D-shaped roller having a rubber layer on its surface, and is fixed to a grooved paper feed roller shaft 21a. The paper feed roller shaft 21a is rotatably supported by the side plates 16c and 16c 'of the sub-frame 16, and is driven to rotate at the time of paper feeding by a transmission mechanism (not shown) interlocked with the drive mechanism 100.

The hopper 22 has a bottom plate 22a for supporting the lower surface of the sheet, and side plates 22b, 22b integrally formed above and below the bottom portion 22a (only one is shown in FIG. 1).
Similarly, triangular side plates 22c, 22c (only one is shown in FIG. 1) integrally formed below the left and right of the bottom portion 22a, and each of the side plates 22b, 22c is integrally and laterally protruded. Pins 22d and 22d are provided. Since the pins 22d and 22d are engaged with the elongated holes 16d and 16d formed in the side plate 16c of the sub-frame 16, the hopper 22 can move up and down in an oblique direction with respect to the sub-frame 16. Mounted as possible. Hopper 22 and bottom plate 16a of sub-frame 16
A hopper spring 25 is provided between the hopper 22 and the hopper 22 to bias the hopper 22 obliquely upward. Note that the hopper spring 25 is
Two are provided at positions corresponding to 1. The side plates 16c and 16c 'of the sub-frame 16 are provided with a cam mechanism (not shown) interlocked with the drive mechanism 100 for pushing down the hopper 22 against the spring force of the hopper spring 25.
The hopper 22 is released from being pushed down by the cam mechanism at the time of paper feeding, is pushed up by the hopper spring 25 so as to press the paper toward the paper feed roller 21, and is pushed down by the cam mechanism after the paper feeding is completed to feed the paper. Roller 2
1 is released.

The edge guide 23 has a bottom plate 23a, a bent portion 23b provided at a front end of the bottom plate 23a, a clip portion 23c provided at a rear end of the bottom surface, and a side plate 23d. The bent portion 23b is formed in the groove 22 of the hopper 22.
e, and the clip portion 23c is slidably attached to the hopper 22 by elastically holding the rear portion (upper end portion) of the hopper 22 so as to wrap it around the hopper 22.

The edge guide 23 is for guiding the left side of the sheet (not shown) set on the hopper 22 by the side plate 23d in FIG. The right side of the sheet is guided by the upper inner side surface of the right side plate 16c 'of the sub-frame 16.

As shown in FIG. 1, the paper feed tray 24 is detachable from the main body 10 by inserting an insertion piece 24a formed at a lower portion thereof into an insertion hole 11a provided in the case 11 of the main body 10. , And in the attached state, cooperates with the hopper 22 to support the lower surface of the sheet.

When the automatic paper feeder is not operated, the hopper 22 is pushed down by the above-described cam mechanism when the automatic paper feeder is not operated. Just put the paper in from above.

The automatic paper feeder 2 with the paper set
0, the hopper 22 is pushed up by the release of the pressing by the cam mechanism, and only the top one of the papers on the hopper comes into contact with the paper feed roller 21 to feed the paper feed path PP.
Feeded to.

The paper feed roller 30 is, as shown in FIG.
It is composed of two relatively long round bar-shaped rubber rollers fixed to the paper feed roller shaft 31. The paper feed roller shaft 31 is supported by the side frames 13 and 14, is driven to rotate by the drive mechanism 100, and when printing is performed by the head 60, the paper P is moved between lines each time one line is printed by the head 60. Transport by minutes.

The pinch rollers 40 are formed of metal round bar rollers, and four pinch rollers 40 are provided for the paper feed roller 30. As shown in FIG. 3, the pinch roller 40 is
The shafts 40a at both ends are connected to the arm portions 42 of the holder 41.
Are supported rotatably and movably in the arrow X direction. Holder 4
Reference numeral 1 also serves as a paper guide and forms an upper portion of the paper path PP. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of hooks 44 is provided on the upper part of the holder 41, and the holder 41 is swingably suspended with respect to the intermediate frame 15 by the hooks 44. A spring 45 is provided between the holder 41 and the intermediate frame 15, and the pinch roller 40
Is a top portion 30a of the paper feed roller 30, as shown in FIG.
It is in contact with the paper feed roller 30 at a position a slightly shifted to the downstream side in the paper transport direction.

Therefore, the pinch roller 40 has the shafts 40a at both ends supported by the rectangular holes 42a formed in the arm portion 42 so as to be movable in the direction of the arrow X, and the top of the paper feed roller 30. The contact with the paper feed roller 30 at a position a slightly shifted to the downstream side in the paper transport direction from the paper feed roller 30 causes the paper feed roller 30 to abut on the paper feed roller 30 with an automatic centering function, and to rotate following the contact.

The regulating member 50 is disposed on the back side of the sheet P (see FIG. 3) conveyed by the sheet feed roller 30. As shown in FIG. And a rib 51 integrally projecting upward from the horizontal portion 51f. A plurality of ribs 51 are formed in a direction orthogonal to the sheet P transport direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rib 51 is
1b, an uppermost surface 51a connected to the inclined surface 51b, and a downward inclined surface 51d connected to the uppermost surface 51a.
The inclined surface 51b guides the leading end of the paper P fed by the paper feed roller 30, and the uppermost surface 51a comes into contact with the back surface Pb of the paper to define the interval between the inkjet head 60 and the paper P.

Further, on the upstream side of the pair of paper discharge rollers 71 and 72 in the paper transport direction, it is located downstream of the rib 51 in the paper transport direction, and the leading end of the paper P is connected to the pair of paper discharge rollers 71 and 72.
A guide portion 51e for guiding toward is provided. The guide portion 51e is provided only near the upstream side of the pair of paper discharge rollers 71 and 72, and is not provided at other portions.

The defining member 50 is fixed to the bottom frame 12.

The ink jet head 60 is a head capable of performing color printing by discharging ink of a plurality of colors, and is mounted on a carriage 61 as shown in FIG. The carriage 61 includes a guide shaft 62
And the upper edge 15a of the intermediate frame, and are guided by the guide shaft 62 and the upper edge 15a of the intermediate frame.
Reciprocate in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper. On the carriage 61, a monochrome ink tank 63 and a color ink tank 64 are simultaneously mounted in a state of being arranged in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of paper discharge roller pairs 71 and 72 (seven pairs in the drawing) are arranged in the paper width direction. One roller 71 of the pair of paper discharge rollers 71, 72 is formed of a rubber roller which is driven to rotate by a drive mechanism 100 via a transmission mechanism (not shown), and the other roller 72 is formed of a toothed roller which is pressed against the roller 71 and is driven to rotate. Have been. The shaft 71 a of the rubber roller 71 is rotatably supported by the side plate 52 of the regulating member 50. The toothed roller 72 is provided on a support plate 53 formed integrally with the defining member.
It is supported rotatably around a round bar-shaped coil spring 73. As shown in FIG.
Is pressed against the rubber roller 71 by the spring force of the coil spring 73. Therefore, Giza roller 7
Reference numeral 2 denotes that when the sheet P is thick paper such as an envelope, the sheet P does not excessively press down to escape upward as shown in FIG.
The peripheral speed of the pair of paper discharge rollers 71 and 72, that is, the paper transport speed, is slightly increased as compared with the transport speed of the paper transport roller 30. For this reason, after the leading end of the sheet P reaches the discharge roller pair, the sheet P is transported by the paper feed roller 30 and the transport roller pair 7.
It is conveyed in a state where it is stretched between 1,72.

Then, the rib 51 of the defining member 50 described above is used.
Is slightly displaced to the inkjet head 60 side from the position where the paper passes if the rib 51 is not provided, and as a result, the paper P
Urges against the back side of the sheet in such a way as to be urged to the side. In other words, the sheet P is pushed down with respect to the regulating member 51 by the paper feed roller 30 and the pinch roller 40 and the discharge roller pairs 71 and 72 via the regulating member 50. Is transported by the
b is reliably brought into contact with the uppermost surface 51a of the rib 51.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the guide roller 75 is rotatably attached to the tip of an arm portion 54 integrally formed diagonally below the rear portion of the support plate 53.
The guide roller 75 includes a printing unit A and a pair of paper discharge rollers 71 and 7.
2, when the sheet P is warped, as shown in FIG.
72.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the discharge section 80
Supporting piece 8 constituting a supporting portion for supporting both sides of the sheet discharged by the pair of sheet discharging rollers 71 and 72 from below.
1, 82, and a push-down portion 83 that pushes down the middle of the sheet downward.

One support piece 82 is configured to be slidable in the sheet width direction (left and right direction in FIG. 2), and is configured to be rotatable in both the left and right directions in the sheet width direction. Reference numeral 81 denotes a fixed rib formed integrally with the defining member 50.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the support piece 82
A shaft 82a is formed integrally with the base, and the shaft 82a is attached to the slider 84 so as to be rotatable and advance / retreat (movable in the directions of arrows X1 and X2 in FIG. 5). The slider 84 will be described later in detail.

A hook 82b is integrally provided below the shaft 82a. The hook 82b and the slider 8
A tension spring 84a is provided between the hook 84b and the hook 84b. The extension spring 84a always urges the support piece 82 in the direction of the arrow X1 and also urges the support piece 82 in the direction in which the support piece 82 is always erected.

An engaging portion 84c is formed at the front of the slider 84, and the lower portion 82c of the support piece 82 is disengaged from the engaging portion 84c with a click operation.

As shown in FIG. 6, the locking portion 84c has two peaks 84c1 and 84c2 and one valley 84c3.

The lower portion 82c of the support piece 82 is
When it is engaged with the valley portion 84c3 of FIG. 4c, it rises in the same manner as the other support piece 81, and when a certain or more force on the upper portion is applied from the left or right, the lower portion 82c becomes the locking portion 8
The shaft 82a is turned leftward or rightward while falling in the direction of the arrow X2 so as to fall off the valley portion 84c3 of 4c. The state in which the support piece 82 has fallen to the left is shown by phantom lines in FIGS. 6 and 2, but the support piece 82 can also fall to the right (see FIG. 7).

When the support piece 82 is tilted by a certain angle or more, the lower portion 82c is moved to the lower surface 84c4 of the locking portion 84c (see FIG. 5).
By contacting with the above, the collapsed state is lightly held. That is, the locking portion 84c is
2 also constitutes the holding part. When the support piece 82 falls to the left, it is held by the lower surface of one of the ridges 84c1, and when it falls to the right, it is held by the lower surface of the other ridge 84c2.

Further, if the fallen support piece 82 is lightly picked up by a finger or the like and raised, the support piece 82 is erected by the spring force of the tension spring 84a, and the lower portion 82c thereof is connected to the valley portion 84c3 of the locking portion 84c. The engaged and upright state is maintained.

In this embodiment, the state in which the supporting piece 82 stands up is the supporting position where the side of the sheet is supported from below, and the state where the supporting piece 82 is tilted is the unsupported position where the side of the sheet is no longer supported.

The slider 84 is slidably mounted on the bottom frame 12, and its sliding operation is interlocked with the edge guide 23 of the automatic paper feeder 20 by an interlocking mechanism (described later). ing.

As mainly shown in FIG. 5, the slider 84 has a base portion 84d at a rear portion thereof, and the slider 84 can slide on the bent portion 12a at the front portion of the bottom frame 12 on the base portion 84d. Are formed, and a leg 84f guided by the upper surface 12b of the bottom frame 12 is formed. Slider 84
Are slidably supported on the bottom frame 12 by the fitting portion 84e and the leg portion 84f.
The upper surface 84g of the base portion 84d is slidably supported by the lower surface of the front plate 55 of the defining member 50.

The interlocking mechanism includes an interlocking rod 110 shown in FIG.
A first pinion 111 integrally formed at a front portion of the interlocking bar 110, second pinions and 112 formed integrally at a rear portion of the interlocking bar 110, and a first rack 56 engaged with the first pinion 111. And a second rack 16f that meshes with the second pinion 112. The first rack 56 is formed on the lower surface of the hanging piece 57 of the defining member 50, and the second rack 16 f is formed on the bottom plate 1 of the sub-frame 16.
6a is formed on the rear lower surface.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, the front portion of the first pinion 111, that is, the tip 113 of the interlocking rod is rotatably supported by a bearing hole 84h formed in the base portion 84d of the slider 84. Near the rear of the pinion 111 1
14 is a rear upper surface 84 of the base portion 84d of the slider 84.
i and the lower surface 58a of the hanging piece 58 of the defining member 50 are rotatably supported. The vicinity 114 of the rear portion of the first pinion 111 can be slid in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 5 with respect to the lower surface 58 a of the hanging piece 58 of the defining member 50.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the rear end 115 of the interlocking rod 110 is rotatable by the lower bent portion 16g of the back plate 16b of the sub-frame 16, and the second pinion 1
12 and the second rack 16f are supported so as to obtain an engaging force. As shown in FIG. 9, the vicinity 116 of the rear portion of the second pinion 112 is rotatably engaged with a concave portion 26 a formed at a lower portion of the connecting plate 26.

The connecting plate 26 has an upper portion 26b fixed to the edge guide 23 and moves together with the edge guide 23.

Therefore, when the edge guide 23 is slid on the hopper 22 when the paper is set in the automatic paper feeder 20, the second rack 16f and the second
At the same time as the interlocking rod 110 rolls in a direction orthogonal to the plane of FIG.
11 and the first rack 56 are engaged with each other, so that the front end 113 of the interlocking rod 110 is moved by the same distance as the rear end 115 without being affected by the bending of the interlocking rod 110, and the slider 84, that is, the support piece 82 Is the edge guide 2
3 will move by the same distance.

As described above, the supporting piece 82 is
3 and moves reliably by the same distance as the edge guide 23 (see the phantom line in FIG. 2).

The support piece 82 is formed in a substantially triangular shape, and has a guide surface 82 that is inclined upward in the sheet discharging direction in an upright state as shown in FIGS.
d. The support piece 81 is also formed in a substantially triangular shape, and has a guide surface 81d (see FIG. 2) that is inclined upward in the sheet discharging direction.

The push-down portion 83 is formed by a knurled roller, and is rotatably supported by a holder 83a rotatably mounted on the support plate 53, as shown in FIG. The holder 83a has a guide side 83 with which the leading end of the sheet P discharged by the pair of discharge rollers 71 and 72 abuts.
b. When the leading edge of the sheet comes into contact with the guide side 83b, the holder 83a is lifted by the sheet and pivots in the direction of arrow Y in FIG. To guide you.

According to the above-described ink jet printer, the following operation and effect can be obtained.

(I) When setting paper, the hopper 2
2 and the paper feed tray 24 can be set simply by inserting paper.

At this time, the size of the sheet to be set is changed (for example, the size is changed from A4 size to B5 size), and the edge guide 23 is slid so that the side plate 23d of the edge guide 23 contacts the left edge of the changed sheet. Then, by the above-described operation of the interlocking mechanism, the support piece 8
2 will also slide.

(Ii) With the operation of the printer, the automatic paper feeder 20 operates to feed paper to the paper feed path PP.
When the paper reaches the paper feed roller 30, the feed angle is defined by the pinch roller 40, and the paper is sent out from the paper feed roller 30.

At this time, as described above, the pinch roller 40
Is pressed against the paper feed roller 30 with an automatic centering function, thereby preventing skew of the paper.

(Iii) As shown in FIG. 3, the paper P fed by the paper feed roller 30 has a leading end
0 is guided by the inclined surface 51b so as to be scooped, and the back surface Pb abuts on the uppermost surface 51a of the rib 51 to define the interval with the inkjet head 60, and the head 60 discharges ink to the front surface Pa. After printing, the leading edge of the paper is
1,72.

Here, as shown in FIG. 4, even if the paper P is relatively warped, the guide roller 75 is provided between the head 60 and the pair of paper discharge rollers 71 and 72. By this guide roller 75, the sheet P is surely guided to the pair of sheet discharge rollers 71 and 72.

That is, even when the paper P is warped, the leading end Pf of the paper is prevented from entering the space S between the head 60 and the pair of paper discharge rollers 71 and 72, and the paper P is No contact or clogging.

In FIG. 4, the imaginary line indicates the position of the head 60 positioned above when printing on thick paper such as a postcard or an envelope. In such a case, the lower surface of the head 60 is shown. (Nozzle opening surface, ie, ink ejection surface)
Because the distance between 60a and the defining member 50 increases,
The leading end Pf of the sheet is the head 60 and the pair of sheet discharging rollers 71 and 72.
However, even in such a case, the leading end Pf of the sheet is moved from the head 60 to the space S between the paper discharge roller pair 71 and 72. Is reliably prevented from approaching.

Further, in the printer of this embodiment, the paper P is supplied to the printing unit A via the curved paper path PP, so that the printer P is compared with the case where the paper path is straight. Can be reduced in size.

Although the paper path PP is curved, the leading end Pf of the paper tends to easily enter the space S between the head 60 and the pair of paper discharge rollers 71 and 72, As described above, the paper P is reliably guided to the pair of paper discharge rollers 71 and 72 by the guide rollers.

(Iv) The paper P to be transported is
When b contacts the rib 51 of the defining member 50, the distance from the head 60 is defined and printing is performed.

Since the rib 51 extends in the transport direction of the paper P, the rib 51 does not hinder the transport of the paper.

Since a plurality of the ribs 51 are formed in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction, the ink dots are formed at a high density on the sheet P, and even when the sheet P is wavy due to the moisture of the ink. The swelling of the sheet acts so as to enter the space 51s (see FIG. 10C) between the ribs 51.

Therefore, even if the sheet P is wavy, the sheet P does not come into contact with the head 60 and is rubbed.

In this regard, FIGS. 10 (a), (b) and (c)
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIGS. 10A, 10B, and 10C
Are schematic front views for explaining the operation in an easy-to-understand manner.

In FIG. 10A, L is an ideal distance between the head 60 and the sheet when the sheet P is not wavy. As shown in FIG. 10 (a), if no rib is formed on the defining member and the spacing between the paper P and the head 60 is defined to be an ideal spacing L by the flat portion 51f, the paper will When P is wavy, the ridge Pc of the wavy paper P may rub against the ink ejection surface 60a of the head 60.

To solve such a problem, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 0 (b), it is conceivable that the distance between the head 60 and the flat portion 51f is set to a large distance L1.

However, if the interval is increased, the distance between the head and the sheet guided by the flat portion 51f (that is, substantially the same distance as L1) becomes too large when the sheet is flat without waving. Another problem arises in that an ideal printing state cannot be obtained. This is because the distance between the ink droplet ejected from the head 60 and the landing on the paper is increased, and the error between the ideal landing position and the actual landing position is increased.

On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, FIG.
As shown in (c), the paper is guided by the ribs 51. Therefore, in a normal case where the print density is relatively low, that is, when the paper does not undulate, the flat paper P ′ is transferred to the ribs 51. And the distance between the paper and the head 60 can be set to an ideal distance L. When the ink dots are formed at a high density on the paper P and the paper P is wavy due to the moisture of the ink. In this case, the bulge (valley Pd) of the paper acts by its own weight so as to enter the space 51s between the ribs 51. Therefore, even if the paper P is wavy, the peak Pc abuts on the head 60. Eliminates rubbing.

Further, among the pair of rollers 71 and 72 constituting the transport roller, the rubber roller 71 disposed below the sheet is not formed by one long round bar-shaped roller, but is disposed in a plurality in the sheet width direction. It is composed of short rollers. For this reason, the swelling (valley Pd) of the corrugated sheet containing the water of the ink is more effectively sagged. It is desirable that the width of the rubber roller 71 is set as small as possible within a range where the sheet conveying force does not significantly decrease. As shown in FIG. 11A, if the rubber roller is a long roller 71 ', the valley Pd of the wavy paper P rides on the roller 71', and
This is because, even if the sheet is pressed with 2, the peak Pc is in a floating state.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11B, the width W of the rubber roller 71 in this embodiment is set smaller than the corrugated pitch P1 of the corrugated paper. As a result, the valleys Pd of the wavy paper hang down more effectively.

(V) When the paper P reaches the pair of paper discharge rollers 71 and 72, the paper P is transferred to the paper feed roller 30 and the paper discharge roller pair 7
1 and 72, the ink dots are formed at high density on the paper P, and even if the paper P is wavy due to the moisture of the ink, the swelling of the paper P It is reduced by the tension acting on the paper P. Furthermore, since the regulating member 50 is in contact with the back surface Pb of the sheet P so as to urge the sheet P toward the ink jet head, the swelling of the sheet P is positioned relatively away from the head 60. Will be done.

Therefore, even if the paper is wavy, the paper does not come into contact with the head and is rubbed.

Further, as described above, the swelling of the sheet acts so as to enter the space 51s between the ribs 51, so that the corrugated sheet P comes into contact with the head 60 and is rubbed more reliably. Is prevented.

(Vi) Since the rib 51 has a substantially trapezoidal shape when viewed from the side, the following effects (a) and (b) are further obtained.
Is obtained.

(A) In the case of a serial printer that sequentially receives print data of one line unit from a host computer and prints one line at a time,
It may be necessary to transport the paper in the reverse direction (ie, reverse feed).

For example, when a certain standard character is printed and then an enlarged character is printed on the next line, and the top of this enlarged character is located above the top of the standard character printed on the previous line, Is conveyed in the reverse direction, and divided printing in which printing by scanning of the head and paper feeding for the length of the printing area A shown in FIG. In such a case, it is necessary to reverse the paper.

Assuming that the ribs are not in a trapezoidal shape in a side view, but in a rectangular shape in a side view (see 51 ″ in FIG. 12A), a portion (for example, an envelope If there is a flap or the like, the portion is caught by the rib during the backward feeding, and there is a risk that the pitch is poor, that is, the distance between the lines to be fed backward and the feed amount in the forward direction immediately after that are deviated.

On the other hand, according to the ink jet printer of this embodiment, the ribs 51 have a substantially trapezoidal shape when viewed from the side. Therefore, even if the envelope or the like is fed backward, the flap or the like does not catch. The occurrence of a pitch defect is also eliminated.

(B) As shown in FIG.
When printing is performed in the vicinity of the leading end of the sheet, the vicinity of the leading end of the sheet may be curved as shown in FIG.

In such a case, assuming that the rib 51 ″ has a shape as shown in FIG. 12A, until the leading end Pf of the paper reaches the pair of paper discharge rollers 71 and 72, Since the leading end Pf of P is supported by the upper surface of the rib 51 ″, the paper is likely to float and the head to be rubbed easily.

On the other hand, since the rib 51 of this embodiment has a substantially trapezoidal shape when viewed from the side, as shown in FIG. 12B, the leading end Pf of the sheet immediately comes off the uppermost surface 51a of the rib. Therefore, the floating of the paper P is reduced, and the head rub hardly occurs.

(Vii) On the upstream side of the paper discharge roller pair 71, 72 in the paper transport direction, located downstream of the rib 51 in the paper transport direction, the leading end of the paper P is set to the paper discharge roller pair 71, 72.
Since the guide portion 51e for guiding toward 72 is provided, the leading end of the sheet P is surely formed even though the rib 51 is formed in a substantially trapezoidal shape in a side view.
You will be directed to 2.

Since the guide portion 51e is provided only near the upstream side of the pair of paper discharge rollers 71 and 72 and is not provided at any other portion, the leading end of the sheet P is surely fixed to the pair of paper discharge rollers 71. , 72 at the same time, the sheet P is reliably prevented from rubbing against the head 60.

(Ix) When color printing is performed by discharging inks of a plurality of colors from the head 60, the ink dots are further formed on the ink dots, so that the undulating state of the paper becomes particularly large. (Iv) ~
Due to the operation of (vii), the wavy paper P is
Is reliably prevented from rubbing against the surface.

(Ix) As shown in FIG. 5, when the leading edge Pf of the sheet P discharged by the pair of sheet discharging rollers 71 and 72 comes into contact with the guide side 83b of the holder 83a, the middle of the sheet leading edge Pf in the width direction is reached. In the process, while rotating the holder 83a in the arrow Y direction in FIG.
Conversely, it is guided by the knurled roller 83 so as to be pushed down by the guide side 83b.

At the same time, both side portions of the leading end Pf of the sheet are supported from below by the inclined surfaces 81d and 82d of the supporting pieces 81 and 82, and are gradually guided upward.

Therefore, the paper P is gradually discharged from the leading end thereof while being forcibly urged into a concave shape in which the printing surface is depressed when viewed from the discharge direction.

[0121] shows a schematic view of a state where the sheet P is being discharged in Figure 1 4.

As shown in this figure, when the paper P is forcibly urged into a concave shape as viewed from the discharge direction, the stiffness of the paper P increases, and the paper P is conveyed in a floating state. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1 4, the sheet P to be discharged, the printing surface of the paper P1 are stacked is discharged printed previously P1
a is delayed until it comes into sliding contact with the printed paper P1.
Time for the ink to dry.

When the sheet P is further conveyed and the rear end of the sheet passes through the pair of discharge rollers 71 and 72, the conveying force is lost, and the rear end of the sheet is held in the concave shape by the discharge section 80.

[0124] Then, the succeeding sheet P2 is printed as shown in FIG. 1 5, the tip P2f sheet discharge roller pair 71,
By passing through the sheet 72 and hitting the trailing edge Pr of the preceding sheet P, the holding of the preceding sheet P by the discharge unit 80 is released. Preceding paper P, the the holding is to be stacked on the printing paper sheet in the released earlier (P1 in FIG. 1. 4), sliding contact with the print paper sheet when pressed in the succeeding sheet P2 Time is further delayed.

After the leading edge P2f of the succeeding sheet P2 is applied to the trailing edge Pr of the preceding sheet P to release the holding of the preceding sheet P, the transport of the succeeding sheet P2 is temporarily stopped. This stopping operation can be performed by counting the number of pulses of the motor that drives the discharge roller pairs 71 and 72 and stopping the driving of the motor when the number of pulses reaches a predetermined number. As described above, the leading edge P2f of the succeeding sheet P2 is shifted to the trailing edge Pr of the preceding sheet P.
, The leading edge P2f of the succeeding sheet P2 and the trailing edge Pr of the preceding sheet P are engaged, and the printed sheet ahead of the preceding sheet P is engaged. P1 it is possible (Fig. 1 4 reference) laminating operation onto (darken operation) becomes uncertain, by temporarily stopping the conveyance of the succeeding sheet P2, utilizing the inertia of the preceding sheet P And the leading edge P2 of the following sheet
The engagement between f and the trailing edge Pr of the preceding sheet can be reliably released.

(X) Since the support piece 82 is configured to be rotatable in both the left and right directions in the paper width direction, when the support piece is slid, for example, there is some obstacle in the sliding direction and an external force is applied to the support piece. Even if it acts, there is no possibility that the support piece is damaged.

In particular, as in this embodiment, when the press-down portion 83 is provided to press down the center of the paper downward, when the support piece 82 is slid,
May hit the depressed portion 83, but even in such a case, the support piece 82 or the depressed portion 83 is not damaged.

Further, for example, when the printer is not used, the support piece 82 can be tilted in any direction according to the user's preference.

Further, the support piece 82 is provided with a tension spring 84a.
Since the support piece 82 is urged in a direction in which it is always erected, even if an external force acts on the support piece 82 and the support piece 82 rotates, unless the support piece 82 is rotated by a certain angle or more and held by the holding portion 84c, When the action of the external force is released, the support piece 82 automatically returns to the upright state.

Accordingly, the support piece 82 is prevented from being damaged, and at the same time, when no external force is applied, the upright state is automatically obtained, and the above-described sheet discharging operation is reliably obtained.

(Xi) Since the operation of the discharge unit 80 is as described above, when the size of the paper to be printed is changed (for example, when the size is changed from A4 size to B5 size), both sides of the paper are In order to be surely guided by the support pieces 81 and 82, it is necessary to move one support piece 82 according to the size of the sheet.

In this regard, according to the present embodiment, when the paper to be printed is set in the automatic paper feeder 20, the size of the paper to be set is changed (for example, from A4 size to B5 size) and the edge guide is changed. When the edge guide 23 is slid to bring the side plate 23d of the 23 into contact with the left edge of the changed sheet, the support piece 82 of the discharge unit 80 also slides by the above-described operation of the interlocking mechanism.

Accordingly, the trouble of sliding the support piece 82 separately from the operation of the edge guide 23 can be omitted, and at the same time, a proper paper discharging operation can be always obtained.

When setting a sheet in the sheet feeding device 20, the user slides the sheet while mainly viewing the edge guide 23.
It is very likely that you do not notice that you hit the depressor.

However, according to this embodiment, as described above, even if the support piece 82 collides with the push-down portion 83, the support piece 82 is rotated to prevent the support piece 82 or the push-down portion 83 from being damaged. Is done.

(Xii) For printing on small-width paper such as a small envelope or postcard, for example, the edge guide 23 forms the other edge guide as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. The state is approaching the side plate 16c 'of the sub-frame. When the edge guide 23 is slid from the position indicated by the solid line to the position indicated by the imaginary line shown in FIG. 2, the support piece 82 passes through the press-down portion 83.
Has a rotatable configuration as described above,
When the support piece 82 passes through the press-down portion 83, the support piece 82 comes into contact with the press-down portion 83 and falls down as shown by a solid line in FIG.

Therefore, there is no possibility that the support piece 82 is damaged.

(Xiii) In the printer of this embodiment, when printing is performed on paper Ph having a small width, such as a postcard, the support piece 82 is in a state of being inclined. As a result, the paper discharge operation
As shown in FIG. 16 , the paper Ph is
Is supported and ejected. Small paper, especially relatively heavy paper as such as a small envelope or postcard width, if as shown in FIG. 1. 5, so as to discharge the paper to support the both sides of the support piece 81 and 82 Then, it is difficult to obtain the curved state of the sheet shown in the figure, and it becomes impossible to reliably push the preceding sheet by the succeeding sheet.

For this reason, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16 , a sheet such as a postcard is supported only by the other supporting piece 81, and the sheet Ph is in a cantilever state, and the sheet Ph is placed after the preceding sheet. The edge Phr and the leading edge Ph2f of the succeeding sheet are surely brought into contact with each other.

According to this embodiment, when the edge guide 23 is slid from the position indicated by the solid line to the position indicated by the imaginary line shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, it automatically falls down, so that the above-mentioned cantilever state is automatically obtained.

That is, not only is the breakage of the support piece 82 prevented, but a paper discharge state suitable for postcards and the like is automatically obtained.

Since the support piece 82 is held down by the holding portion 84c, the support piece 82 is prevented from being returned to the support position carelessly.

As described above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified within the scope of the present invention.

[0144]

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an effect that the slidable support portion does not break when hitting the push-down portion or the like.

[0145]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure of an embodiment of an ink jet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially omitted plan view showing the internal structure.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a plan view mainly showing a support piece, and is a partially omitted plan view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged front view mainly showing a support piece;

8 is a view taken in the direction of the arrow VIII in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a rear view of the connecting plate.

FIGS. 10A, 10B, and 10C are schematic front views for explaining the operation in an easy-to-understand manner.

FIGS. 11A and 11B are schematic front views for explaining the operation of the paper discharge roller portion in an easily understandable manner.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are schematic side views for explaining the operation of the rib in an easily understandable manner.

13A and 13B are explanatory oblique views of the knurled roller.
View.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory perspective view of a sheet discharging operation.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory perspective view of a sheet discharging operation.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory perspective view of a sheet discharging operation.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory view of a conventional technique.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List A printing part P paper 20 paper feeder 23 edge guide 81 other support part 82 one support part 83 depressing part 84a urging means 84c holding part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 31/20 B41J 13/10

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pair of support portions for supporting, from below, both side portions of a sheet printed and printed on an upper surface by a printing portion having an ink jet head, and a push-down portion for pushing down a central portion of the sheet downward. At least one of the pair of support portions is configured to be slidable in the sheet width direction, and is configured to be rotatable in both the left and right directions in the sheet width direction. It can take a support position for supporting and a non-supporting position no longer support the sides of the paper by being rotated to the left or right direction in the sheet width direction from the support position, and this
With the one support part facing the other support part,
When it is slid so that it passes, one support
By rotating in contact with the lowering part, the side of the paper
An ink jet printer characterized by being held at an unsupported position where it is not supported . 2. An ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein said ink jet printer is configured to be slidable in accordance with the width of a sheet to be printed, and an edge guide for guiding a side of the sheet is provided in a sheet feeding device. An ink jet printer wherein an edge guide and a slide of the supporting portion are linked. 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, further comprising: urging means for constantly urging the support portion toward the support position. 4. An ink jet printer according to claim 3 , further comprising a holding portion for holding said supporting portion at said unsupported position against an urging force of said urging means.