JP3778258B2 - Cleaning method for paper pressing roller of ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a recording paper transport mechanism of an ink jet recording apparatus, and more particularly to a method for cleaning a paper pressing roller that is disposed on the downstream side of a printing area and applies pressure to a printing surface of a recording paper.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the recording apparatus, when the recording paper floats from the platen in the printing area, the printing quality deteriorates, and therefore a paper transport mechanism composed of rollers is arranged so as to sandwich the recording head. In particular, in an ink jet recording apparatus, since a recording sheet in which ink is undried immediately after completion of printing enters a roller disposed on the downstream side of the recording head, a large number of teeth are formed on the peripheral surface on the paper discharge side. A thin roller formed, that is, a roller called a star wheel is used.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when printing is performed on a recording sheet with a coating layer formed on the printing surface to give gloss, in order to obtain a photo-quality printed matter, the coating layer in which the individual teeth constituting the star wheel are wet with ink One tooth deforms the coating layer. This deformation region is visually recognized as an indentation depending on how light is reflected, and there is a problem that print quality is degraded.
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of reliably feeding paper without forming indentations on the printed surface of the recording paper or causing contamination. A method for cleaning the paper pressing roller is proposed.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve such a problem, in the present invention, a recording head that ejects ink droplets, a paper feeding roller that feeds recording paper, and a back surface of the recording paper that is elastically contacted with the paper feeding roller In a method for cleaning an ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a paper pressing roller that is pressed against a feed roller and has an ink repellent layer formed on an outer peripheral surface thereof and driven at a lower speed than a paper feed speed during printing by an external command. The ink adhering to the paper pressing roller is brought into contact with the paper pressing roller with a wet pad in a state where the water-absorbing medium is fed by the paper feeding roller and the paper pressing roller. The pad was dissolved in water and absorbed in the medium.
[0005]
[Action]
Since the paper pressing roller is configured to have a smooth shape with no protrusions on the outer periphery, the printed region is pressed without causing local indentation or the like. Since the paper pressing roller rotates at a low speed, it is possible to prevent the pad from being caught, and the pad contacts the same area of the paper pressing roller for a long time and the solidified ink is surely dissolved and then absorbed by the medium. To remove.
[0006]
【Example】
Therefore, details of the present invention will be described below based on the illustrated embodiment.
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, in which a case cover 1 is opened to show a printing mechanism, and a moving path of a carriage 5 on which ink cartridges 2 and 3 and a recording head 4 are mounted. The first paper presser roller 6 and the second paper presser roller 7 characterized by the present invention are arranged upstream of the recording paper discharge direction.
A control panel 9 is disposed on the surface of the case 8, and a roller cleaning switch 11 is disposed in addition to the power switch 10 and the control switch.
[0007]
As shown in FIG. 2, the second paper pressing roller 7 is rotatably supported by an elastically deformable shaft 13 (see FIG. 3) such as a coil spring at the other end of the arm 12 and driven by a motor 14. It is elastically contacted with the paper roller 15.
[0008]
As shown in FIG. 3 (a), the paper pressing roller 7 has a through hole 16 in the center, and an outer ring 18 formed of an elastomer is fitted to a base roller 17 that is inserted into the shaft 13 so as to be freely rotatable. On the surface of the outer ring 18, an ink repellent layer of at least about 20 μm, for example, a fluorine coating layer is formed.
[0009]
In this embodiment, the base roller 17 and the outer ring 18 are concentrically formed. However, as shown in FIG. 3B, the base roller 13 is formed in a cross-sectional, non-circular shape, and the outer ring 18 Even if the insertion hole 18a is configured to match the shape of the base roller 13, the same effect is obtained. In particular, when an elastomer is used as the elastic material constituting the outer ring 18, the fitting operation to the base roller 13 becomes easy.
In the above-described embodiment, the base roller 17 and the outer ring 18 are used. However, a material having excellent injection molding characteristics and elastic characteristics, such as polyacetal resin, is integrally formed to have a smooth surface. However, the same effect is achieved.
[0010]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. The print control means 20 receives print data input from a host (not shown) and the recording head driving means 21 detects the print head 4 from the recording head 4. When ink droplets are ejected and printing for one pass is completed, the paper feed motor 14 is driven by the paper feed drive unit 22 to execute paper feed for one line and perform printing.
[0011]
In this embodiment, when printing paper is loaded and printing data output from the host is printed, the printing control means 20 ejects ink droplets from the recording head 4 in accordance with the printing data to form an ink image on the recording paper. Form.
[0012]
When the ink image formed just after the completion of one-pass printing reaches the gripping point of the second paper pressing roller 7, the paper feed motor is driven when a time sufficient for the ink image to dry has elapsed. The paper feed for one line is executed by means 22. At this time, the paper pressing roller 7 opposed to the printing surface is configured such that the outer ring 17 that forms a contact surface with the recording paper has a flat surface and has an appropriate elasticity of the elastomer, so that the recording paper is not used locally. The recording paper is fed by being brought into pressure contact with the paper discharge roller 15 with a uniform pressure without being strongly pressed.
[0013]
Since the ink repellent layer is formed on the surface of the outer ring 18, the recording paper is fed without the ink on the printing surface adhering and the printing quality of the printing surface such as an image is not impaired. Thereafter, one page is printed while repeating these steps.
[0014]
Still, when the surface of the paper pressing roller 7 comes into contact with the printing surface by printing for a long time and is contaminated with ink, the roller cleaning switch 11 is loaded with a medium having excellent water absorption instead of the recording paper. Command cleaning.
[0015]
When the roller cleaning switch 11 is operated, the printing control means 20 moves the carriage 5 out of the printing area and makes the printing operation impossible, and the paper feeding driving means 22 causes the paper feeding motor 14 to start from the time of printing. However, it is continuously driven at a low speed to feed a medium having excellent water absorption at a low speed.
[0016]
Then, the case cover 1 is opened as shown in FIG. 1 to expose the second paper pressing roller 7, and the wiping pad 30 wetted to the extent that water drops do not drip as shown in FIG. It is brought into contact with the presser roller 7.
[0017]
As a result, the paper pressing roller 7 is swung by the medium moving at a slow speed and rubbed against the pad 30, and contaminants such as adhering ink are dissolved in the water of the wiping pad 30, so that the water absorbing property moves on the lower surface. Absorbed with water in a superior medium. In this state, since the medium moves at a slower speed than during printing, the paper pressing roller 7 also rotates at a very low speed, so that the pad 30 can be prevented from being caught, and the pad 30 can be placed in the same area of the paper pressing roller 7. The ink solidified by contact for a long time is surely dissolved.
[0018]
In this way, when the next printing is executed after waiting for the medium to be discharged, printing with high quality becomes possible without contaminating the printing surface.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view showing a structure of an upper surface of a paper feed mechanism of the recording apparatus.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are an enlarged sectional view of a paper pressing roller of the present invention and a front view showing another embodiment, respectively.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the recording apparatus.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a cleaning state of a paper pressing roller of the recording apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case cover 2, 3 Ink cartridge 4 Recording head 5 Carriage 6, 7 Paper pressing roller 11 Roller cleaning switch 14 Motor 15 Paper discharge roller 17 Base roller 18 Outer ring 30 Pad

Claims (1)

A recording head that ejects ink droplets, a paper feed roller that feeds the recording paper, and a rear surface of the recording paper that presses against the paper feed roller and presses against the paper feed roller; In a cleaning method for an ink jet recording apparatus, comprising a paper pressing roller that is formed and driven at a lower speed than the paper feeding speed at the time of printing by an external command,
The ink adhering to the paper pressing roller is brought into contact with the paper pressing roller by bringing the wet pad into contact with the paper pressing roller in a state where the water-absorbing medium is fed by the paper feeding roller and the paper pressing roller. A method of cleaning an ink jet recording apparatus, comprising dissolving the pad with water and absorbing the pad.

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