JP4496867B2 - Platen, recording apparatus including the platen, and liquid ejecting apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a platen that supports a medium in a recording apparatus or a liquid ejecting apparatus. The present invention also relates to a recording apparatus and a liquid ejecting apparatus including the platen.

  For example, an ink jet printer, which is one of recording apparatuses, has a plurality of nozzle arrays (ink ejection regions) that eject ink toward a recording sheet on a surface facing the recording surface of the recording sheet as one of the recording media. ) And a platen that supports the recording paper and defines the position of the recording paper with respect to the recording head. In general, ribs extending in a recording sheet conveyance direction (hereinafter referred to as “sub-scanning direction”) are provided on a surface (hereinafter referred to as “platen surface”) of the ink jet printer that faces the recording head (hereinafter referred to as “platen surface”). Hereinafter, a plurality of elements are arranged at regular intervals in the “main scanning direction”. In recording on a recording sheet, ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle array to the recording apparatus while the recording sheet is supported by the plurality of ribs.

  Here, in order to perform recording without margins on the four side edges of the recording paper (hereinafter referred to as “recording with no four edges”), a slot for discarding ink droplets from the edge of the recording paper is formed on the platen surface. A platen and an ink jet recording apparatus including the platen are described in, for example, Patent Document 1. When borderless recording is performed without forming a slot for discarding the ink droplets, the ink droplets removed from the edge of the recording paper adhere to the platen surface, and the ink droplets reappear on the recording paper. When the recording paper adheres to the recording paper or ink droplets land on the platen surface, ink mist is generated, and the ink mist adheres to the recording surface or the recording head, resulting in a decrease in recording quality. . Therefore, a groove for discarding ink droplets is formed on the platen surface, and ink droplets detached from the end of the recording paper are discarded inside the groove to prevent the above-mentioned problems and prevent Enables recording without borders.

JP 2003-191499 A

  In a general ink jet printer, when an image on which a large number of ink droplets are ejected, such as a solid image, is recorded on a recording paper, the recording paper absorbs a large amount of ink and the recording paper is transported orthogonally after recording. There is a case where so-called cockling occurs, which undulates in the direction (main scanning direction) and expands toward the recording head. When this cockling occurs and develops, the interval between the recording surface of the recording paper and the nozzle formation surface of the recording head becomes non-uniform, resulting in uneven recording due to variations in the flying distance of the ink droplets, or recording. There arises a problem that the sheet comes into contact with the recording head and gets dirty.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus described in Patent Document 1, as described above, a groove for discarding ink droplets is formed on the platen surface so that four-edgeless recording can be performed. When recording the upper end portion or the lower end portion of the recording paper, the upper end portion or the lower end portion of the recording paper to be recorded is disengaged from the conveying roller, so that the recorded portion of the recording paper is likely to float. In particular, when the lower end portion of the recording paper is recorded, the problem is likely to occur, and the occurrence of the cockling described above may cause uneven recording or contamination of the recording paper.

  Moreover, although it is possible to prevent the occurrence of ink mist by sucking the ink mist, there is a possibility that the flying direction of the ink droplets emitted from the head toward the recording surface may be affected.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described various problems, and an object of the present invention is to perform high-quality four-edge-free recording while suppressing the influence of the floating of the recording medium and the flying direction of the ink droplets. It is an object of the present invention to provide a platen that can be arranged, a recording apparatus including the platen, and a liquid ejecting apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the platen of the present invention, a first slot provided to face the head for ejecting liquid droplets onto the medium and discarding the liquid droplets removed from the edge of the medium has the head and the platen. A platen formed on the opposing surface, wherein the first slot is formed on the upstream side of the medium in the transport direction, extending in the transport orthogonal direction, and further, a suction hole for sucking the medium , And provided on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the medium. As a result, the first slot extending in the transport orthogonal direction is provided on the upstream side in the transport direction of the medium and accommodates the liquid droplets discarded inside the first slot. Is possible. Further, since the suction hole that suppresses the lifting of the medium is provided on the downstream side in the transport direction of the medium, the lifting of the medium is suppressed even when recording without a four-sided edge, and the recording unevenness and the recording paper are generated. It is possible to obtain a high-quality record by preventing the above.

  The platen according to the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of ribs extending in the conveyance direction of the medium are arranged at a predetermined interval in the conveyance perpendicular direction, and the suction hole is provided on the top surface of the rib. Accordingly, the plurality of ribs extending in the medium transport direction absorb cockling generated in the medium, and the suction holes provided on the top surfaces of the ribs can reliably suppress the medium from rising.

  The platen according to the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of ribs extending in the conveyance direction of the medium are arranged at a predetermined interval in the conveyance perpendicular direction, and the suction holes are provided in the recesses between the ribs. Accordingly, the plurality of ribs extending in the medium transport direction absorb cockling generated in the medium, and the suction holes provided in the recesses between the ribs can reliably suppress the medium from rising.

  In the platen of the present invention, the first slot has an inclined surface. Thereby, the discarded droplet can be reliably stored. Further, it is possible to prevent the recording quality from being deteriorated due to the rebound of the discarded droplet.

  In the platen of the present invention, the first slot has a function of sucking the medium. Thereby, since the first slot sucks the medium, the medium can be more reliably prevented from being lifted.

  The platen of the present invention is characterized in that a second slot corresponding to the side edge of the medium is formed in the first slot. As a result, in recording on the side edge of the medium, the liquid droplets that have been thrown away from the side edge of the medium are accommodated in the second slot.

  In the platen of the present invention, the second slot is formed to extend from both ends of the first slot in the transport direction, and the suction hole is provided in an inner region of each slot. It is characterized by that. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably perform the recording without a four-sided edge by each of the slots, and reliably prevent the medium from being lifted by the suction holes provided in the inner area of each of the slots. Furthermore, the ink mist can be collected without affecting the flying direction of the ink droplets ejected from the recording head toward the recording surface by sucking the ink mist.

  Further, the platen of the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of the above-mentioned slot holes and suction holes are arranged in parallel in the conveyance orthogonal direction. Thereby, recording corresponding to a plurality of media having different sizes can be performed.

  In the platen of the present invention, the second slot has an inclined surface. Thereby, the discarded droplet can be reliably stored.

  In order to achieve the above object, the recording apparatus of the present invention is a recording apparatus that records by discharging droplets on a recording medium, and is characterized by including each of the platens. In order to achieve the above object, the liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention is a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid onto a medium to be ejected, and is characterized by including each of the platens. Thereby, a recording apparatus or a liquid ejecting apparatus that exhibits the above-described effects can be provided.

  Hereinafter, as an embodiment of a platen according to the present invention, a platen used in an ink jet printer which is one of recording apparatuses will be described with reference to FIGS. The embodiments described below do not limit the invention according to the claims, and all the combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the invention. Absent.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an overall appearance configuration of an ink jet printer 100 according to the present embodiment as viewed obliquely from the front. First, the outline of the ink jet printer 100 will be described.

  The ink jet printer 100 is a desktop large-sized printer that can record on a relatively large size so-called cut paper and roll-shaped paper such as JIS standard A4 size to JIS standard A2 size. It is covered with a substantially rectangular parallelepiped housing 101 extending long in the width direction (left-right direction in FIG. 1).

  A rectangular window portion 102 is formed on the upper surface of the housing 101. The window 102 is covered with a transparent or translucent window cover 103. The window cover 103 is attached so as to be pivotable in the direction of the arrow A in the figure around the pivot shaft at the top thereof. The user can perform maintenance work of the internal mechanism through the window portion 102 by lifting the lower portion of the window cover 103 and opening the window portion 102.

  On both sides of the front surface of the housing 101, cartridge housing portions 104 and 104, into which a plurality of ink cartridges are inserted and removed, are formed. Each ink cartridge stores ink of each color for recording. Each cartridge housing portion 104 is covered with a transparent or translucent cartridge cover 105, 105. The cartridge cover 105 is attached so as to be rotatable in the direction of the arrow B shown in the figure with a rotation shaft at the lower part thereof as a center. The user can perform an ink cartridge replacement operation or the like by lightly pressing the cartridge cover 105 to release the locking portion and opening the cartridge storage portion 104.

  An operation unit 110 for instructing a printer operation is disposed on an upper portion of the cartridge housing unit 104 on the right side of the front surface of the housing 101. The operation unit 110 displays a state and a button 111 for a power system for turning on / off the power, an operation system for operating a cueing of a paper sheet or operating ink flushing, an image processing system for performing image processing, etc. A liquid crystal panel 112 or the like is provided. The user can operate the button 111 while looking at the liquid crystal panel 112 for confirmation.

  A tank housing portion 106 into which the waste liquid tank 120 is inserted and removed is formed at the lower part of the cartridge housing portion 104 on the right side of the front surface of the housing 101. The waste liquid tank 120 stores waste ink that is discarded during the cleaning process of the recording head 162 (see FIG. 2) or replacement of the ink cartridge, or waste ink from which ink droplets discarded during borderless recording are collected. To do. By pulling out the waste liquid tank 120, the user can perform a work of discarding the waste ink accumulated inside.

  On the back surface of the housing 101, a paper feed unit 130 that feeds roll-shaped paper is disposed so as to protrude rearward from the upper part. A roll paper holder (not shown) capable of setting one roll-shaped paper is disposed inside the paper supply unit 130, and a flip-up-type openable and rollable roll paper cover 131 is provided on the front surface of the paper supply unit 130. Is attached so as to cover a roll paper holder (not shown). The user can perform operations such as attaching / removing roll paper by lifting the roll paper cover 131 and opening the paper supply unit 130. Note that the upper surface of the roll paper cover 131 is formed as a paper feed guide surface capable of manually feeding the cut paper.

  In the middle of the front surface of the housing 101, that is, between the pair of cartridge storage portions 104, 104, a paper supply / discharge tray 200 for stacking cut sheets before recording, and cut sheets or roll sheets after recording. A paper feed / discharge unit 140 is formed. The paper supply / discharge unit 140 is also formed so that thick paper that cannot be bent during conveyance can be manually fed.

  A front portion (portion not shown in FIG. 1) of the paper feed / discharge tray 200 is inserted into the paper feed / discharge portion 140, and a rear portion (portion shown in FIG. 1) of the paper supply / discharge tray 200 protrudes. It is fixed in this way. The paper supply / discharge tray 200 is formed in a cassette type, and cut sheets to be fed before recording are stacked and stored therein, and cut sheets or roll-shaped sheets to be discharged after recording are stacked on the upper side. Sheets are stacked and placed.

  FIG. 2 is a sectional side view showing an outline of the internal configuration of the ink jet printer 100 of FIG. In the housing 101, a paper supply / discharge unit 140, a transport unit 150, a recording unit 160 including a platen 163 according to the present invention, and the like are disposed. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view showing a main part around the recording unit 160. Hereinafter, the internal configuration of the ink jet printer 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the paper supply / discharge unit 140 is provided with a hopper 141 for supplying cut paper, a paper supply roller 142, a separation unit 143, and the like.

  The hopper 141 is formed in a flat plate shape on which a cut sheet can be placed. One end of the hopper 141 is located in the vicinity of the paper feed roller 142 and the separation unit 143 and the other end of the paper supply / discharge tray 200 is mounted. It is disposed so as to be located in the vicinity of the bottom surface of the paper feeding unit 210. The hopper 141 has the other end of the compression spring 144 attached at one end to the bottom surface of the housing 101 on the back surface at one end side, and the one end side pivots around the other end side by the expansion and contraction of the compression spring 144. It is arranged like this.

  The paper feed roller 142 is formed in a D shape with a part of a cross section cut out, and rotates intermittently to frictionally convey the cut paper on the hopper 141. The separation unit 143 frictionally separates the lower cut sheet from the uppermost cut sheet when the paper cut by the paper feed roller 142 is double fed.

  The transport unit 150 includes a sub roller 151 for transporting paper and its driven rollers 152a, 152b, and 152c, a paper feed roller 153 and its driven roller 154, a paper discharge roller 155, a jagged roller 156, and a detection sensor 157a for detecting the paper. 157b and the like are provided. The sub roller 151 sandwiches the cut sheet together with the driven rollers 152a, 152b, and 152c and reverses it into a U-shape in order to discharge the cut sheet fed from the sheet feeding tray 210 to the sheet discharge tray 230. It is designed to be transported. Further, the sub-roller 151 sandwiches and conveys the roll-shaped paper together with the driven roller 152c in order to eject the roll-shaped paper fed from the paper feeding section 130 to the paper ejection section 230. .

  The paper feed roller 153 sandwiches the cut paper that has been reversely conveyed or the roll-shaped paper that is fed together with the driven roller 154 and feeds it to the platen 163 according to the present invention. The paper discharge roller 155 sandwiches the paper passing through the platen 163 together with the jagged roller 156 and discharges the paper onto the paper discharge tray 230. The detection sensor 157a detects the transport amount when the skew of the cut paper that is fed is taken. The detection sensor 157b is configured to detect a conveyance amount when cueing a cut sheet that is reversely conveyed or a roll-shaped sheet that is conveyed.

  2 and 3 are provided with a carriage 161, a recording head 162, a platen 163 according to the present invention, a pressure unit 169, and the like. The carriage 161 is connected to a carriage belt (not shown). When the carriage belt is actuated by a carriage driving device (not shown), the carriage 161 is entrained by the movement of the carriage belt and guided by a guide shaft (not shown) in the main scanning direction (FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface).

  The recording head 162 faces a cut sheet or a roll-shaped sheet (hereinafter referred to as “recording sheet 300”) supplied to the upper surface of the platen 163 at a lower portion of the carriage 161 with a predetermined interval (gap). For example, a plurality of black ink nozzles that eject two types of black ink and a plurality of colors that respectively eject six colors of ink, yellow, dark yellow, cyan, light cyan, magenta, and light magenta An ink nozzle. With these nozzles, a plurality of nozzle rows (ink ejection regions) are formed on the recording head 162. Each nozzle of the recording head 162 is connected to a pressure generating chamber (not shown), and is controlled from a plurality of nozzles toward the recording paper 300 by storing ink in the pressure generating chamber and pressurizing it with a predetermined pressure. Ink droplets of a certain size are ejected.

  The platen 163 according to the present invention is formed in a rectangular flat plate shape having a length slightly larger than the recordable maximum sheet width, and is disposed so as to face the recording head 162. The platen 163 according to the present invention will be described in detail later.

  A pressure portion 169 is disposed below the platen 163. The pressure unit 169 communicates with a plurality of suction holes 167 (see FIG. 4), which will be described later, formed in the platen 163, and includes a fan (not shown). By rotating a fan provided in the pressure part 169, intake air is sucked into the pressure part 169 from a suction hole 167 provided in the platen 163, and the intake air is exhausted to the outside through the fan. Thus, when the recording paper 300 is supplied to the upper surface of the platen 163, a negative pressure is generated on the lower surface side of the recording paper 300. Therefore, the recording paper 300 is attracted to the upper surface of the platen 163 to prevent the recording paper 300 from being lifted. Recording accuracy can be maintained.

  Next, the platen 163 according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a platen 163 according to one embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG. 4 and showing a first cross section of the platen 163. As shown in FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view taken along the line YY of FIG. 4 and showing a second cross section of the platen 163. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the platen 163 is formed in a substantially rectangular flat plate shape extending in the main scanning direction (left-right direction in FIG. 4). On the side of the platen 163 that opposes the recording head 162 (platen surface), a lateral slot 165a (first slot) for discarding ink droplets that have come off the end of the recording paper 300 during four-sided recording. Is formed extending in the main scanning direction. The arrow A shown in FIG. 4 indicates the direction in which the recording paper 300 is conveyed, that is, the lateral slot 165a is formed on the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the recording paper 300.

  In addition, the left and right end portions of the slot 165 are bent and further extend in the conveyance direction of the recording paper 300, and the left slot 165b (second slot) and the right slot 165c (second slot) are extended. Slot). The lateral slot 165a mainly stores ink droplets that have been removed from the upper and lower ends of the recording paper 300 during borderless recording of the upper and lower ends of the recording paper 300. On the other hand, the left slot 165b and the right slot 165c contain ink droplets that have been removed from the left and right ends of the recording paper 300 during borderless recording at the side end of the recording paper 300.

  A plurality of collecting portions 166 for collecting and collecting the discarded ink droplets are disposed on the upstream side in the transport direction of the slot 165 (lateral slot 165a, left slot 165b, and right slot 165c). The recovery unit 166 is a path for waste ink (collection of ink droplets) extending vertically downward as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and the ink droplets discarded in the slot 165 are disposed as waste liquid via the recovery unit 166. The ink is stored in the tank 120 (see FIG. 1) as waste ink.

  On the platen surface of the platen 163, a plurality of ribs 164 (upstream ribs 164a and downstream ribs 164b) extending in the conveyance direction of the recording paper 300 with the lateral groove holes 165a interposed therebetween are arranged at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction (perpendicular to the conveyance direction). ing. The rib 164 has a substantially trapezoidal cross section in the main scanning direction and is formed in a rail shape in the transport direction.

  A plurality of suction holes 167 communicating with the pressure portion 169 are formed on the top surface of each downstream rib 164b and the upper surface of the recess 168 between the downstream ribs 164b. As shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of suction holes 167 are arranged substantially linearly in parallel to the main scanning direction on the downstream side in the transport direction of the recording paper 300 from the lateral slot 165a. As described above, the pressure unit 169 includes a fan, and rotates the fan to generate a negative pressure in the suction hole 167 so that the recording paper 300 on the platen 163 is attracted to the top surface of the downstream rib 164b for recording. The sheet 300 is prevented from floating. In the present embodiment, the suction hole 167 is formed on the top surface of the downstream rib 164b and the top surface of the recess 168. However, the suction hole is not formed on the top surface of the recess 168, but only on the top surface of the downstream rib 164b. 167 may be formed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the lateral groove 165 a includes an inclined surface 165 d, and the inclined surface 165 d is connected to the collection unit 166. The ink droplets discarded in the horizontal groove hole 165a gather downward along the inclined surface 165d and are stored in the waste liquid tank 120 via the recovery unit 166. The horizontal slot 165a mainly accommodates ink droplets that have been discarded during borderless recording of the upper and lower ends of the recording paper 300. Since the inclined surface 165d is formed in the horizontal groove hole 165a, the discarded ink droplets can be reliably collected in the collecting unit 166, and further, when the discarded ink droplets fall into the horizontal groove hole 165a, they bounce back. There is also an effect of preventing the upper surface of the recording paper 300 and the platen 163 from being stained.

  The collection unit 166 is disposed at a deep position on the upstream side in the conveyance direction (D direction) of the recording paper 300 in the lateral slot 165a. In order for the recovery unit 166 to immediately recover the ink droplets that have been discarded into the slot 165 and send them to the waste liquid tank 120, the recovery unit 166 may be provided with a mechanism for sucking the ink droplets. However, suction of ink droplets may affect the flight direction of ink droplets that are ejected from the nozzles of the recording head 162 toward the recording surface of the recording paper 300 when performing recording without borders. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the collection unit 166 is disposed at a deeper position on the upstream side in the conveyance direction (D direction) of the recording paper 300 in the lateral slot 165a. Thereby, even the recovery unit 166 that sucks ink droplets can realize good marginless recording. The recording paper 300 shown in FIG. 5 shows a state where borderless recording is performed at the lower end. As described above, the collection unit 166 is located far from the lower end of the recording paper 300. Even if the droplets are sucked, the influence on the borderless recording at the lower end of the recording paper 300 can be suppressed to a small extent. Note that the function of the collection unit 166 for sucking ink droplets may be expanded so that the lateral slot 165a sucks the recording paper 300. For example, a plurality of walls that completely cut the horizontal groove holes 165a in the transport direction are provided in the horizontal groove holes 165a, and the recording paper 300 is sucked into the horizontal groove holes 165a partitioned by the walls.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the right slot 165c forms an inclined surface that descends from the downstream side in the transport direction to the upstream side, and is connected to the recovery unit 166 at the upstream end. The right slot 165c accommodates ink droplets that have been discarded in borderless recording at the right end as a reference of the recording paper 300. The ink droplets discarded in the right slot 165c flow upstream along the inclined surface of the right slot 165c in the transport direction and are stored in the waste liquid tank 120 via the recovery unit 166.

  Further, the left slot 165b shown in FIG. 4 also forms an inclined surface that descends from the downstream side in the transport direction to the upstream side in the same manner as the right slot 165c, and is connected to the recovery unit 166 at the upstream end. Yes. The left slot 165b accommodates ink droplets discarded in the marginless recording at the left end of the recording paper 300, and the width in the main scanning direction is the right groove so as to correspond to the marginless recording of the recording paper 300 of different sizes. It is formed larger than the hole 165c.

  Next, the function of the platen 163 according to the present invention at the time of recording without four edges will be described. First, the borderless recording of the upper end portion (leading portion) of the recording paper 300 will be described with reference to FIG. In borderless recording at the upper end (leading portion), the recording paper 300 is conveyed between the platen 163 and the recording head 162 by the paper feed roller 153 and the driven roller 154 (see FIG. 3). The lower surface of the recording paper 300 is in contact with a plurality of ribs 164 (upstream ribs 164 a) provided on the platen surface of the platen 163, and the recording paper 300 is supported in parallel with the platen 163. When the upper end portion (leading portion) of the recording paper 300 is conveyed to a predetermined position on the lateral slot 165a (see FIG. 3), the recording head 162 starts to move in the main scanning direction (perpendicular to the paper surface). Meanwhile, ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles, and borderless recording at the upper end is performed. The ink droplets that have come off the upper end of the recording paper 300 are discarded into the lateral groove 165a and stored in the waste liquid tank 120 via the recovery unit 166.

  In order to press the recording paper 300 against the top surface of the upstream rib 164 a, the nip point between the paper feed roller 153 and the driven roller 154 is set slightly downstream from the rotation center of the paper feed roller 153. As a result, the recording paper 300 receives a biasing force that is pressed against the top surface of the upstream rib 164a. The lateral groove hole 165a is formed on the upstream side of the platen 163. Since the distance between the lateral groove hole 165a and the paper feed roller 153 (and the driven roller 154) is short, the horizontal groove hole 165a is attached by the paper feed roller 153 and the driven roller 154. It is possible to prevent lifting in edgeless recording at the upper end of the recording paper 300 by force.

  Next, borderless recording at the lower end (last part) of the recording paper 300 will be described with reference to FIG. When approaching borderless recording at the lower end (last part), the recording paper 300 is detached from the paper feed roller 153 and its driven roller 154 and is sandwiched between the paper discharge roller 155 and the jagged roller 156 shown in FIG. Then, when the lower end (last part) of the recording paper 300 is conveyed to a predetermined position on the lateral groove 165a (see FIG. 5), borderless recording of the lower end (last part) of the recording paper 300 is performed. Ink droplets that have come off the lower end of the recording paper 300 are discarded into the lateral groove 165 a and stored in the waste liquid tank 120 via the recovery unit 166.

  The nip point between the paper discharge roller 155 for discharging the recording paper 300 and the jagged roller 156 is also set slightly upstream from the rotation center of the paper discharge roller 155, and the recording paper 300 is placed on the top surface of the downstream rib 164b. I try to press it. However, since the jagged roller 156 may cause scratches and dirt on the recording surface of the recording paper 300, the nipping of the recording paper 300 by the paper discharge roller 155 and the jagged roller 156 is weaker than the nipping by the paper feeding roller 153 and the driven roller 154. The pressing of the rib 164b against the top surface by the paper discharge roller 155 and the serrated roller 156 is not sufficient. Further, if cockling occurs in the recording sheet 300 after recording and the corrugation in the main scanning direction is not absorbed well by the plurality of ribs 164 provided on the platen 163, the recording surface of the recording sheet 300 and the nozzle surface of the recording head 162 are recorded. , And the recording quality is deteriorated. In particular, in borderless recording at the lower end (last part), since the recording paper 300 is disengaged from the paper feed roller 153 and its driven roller 154, there is a high possibility that the vicinity of the lower end of the recording paper 300 warps upward.

  Therefore, in the platen 163 according to the present embodiment, the recording paper 300 on which the plurality of perforated suction holes 167 are recorded is sucked from below, and the recording paper 300 is drawn to the top surface of the downstream rib 164b. Thereby, even in borderless recording at the lower end (last part) of the recording paper 300, it is possible to effectively prevent the recording paper 300 from being lifted and to obtain high-quality borderless recording. Also, with respect to the occurrence of cockling, the suction holes 167 are provided on the top surface of the plurality of downstream ribs 164b and the upper surface of the recesses 168 in the main scanning direction. Waves can be effectively absorbed by the plurality of downstream ribs 164b.

  Next, borderless recording at the side edge of the recording paper 300 will be described with reference to the drawings. The recording paper 300 is conveyed by the paper feed roller 153 and the driven roller 154 with reference to the right slot 165c of the platen 163 (see FIG. 4). That is, if the size of the recording paper 300 is different, the position of the left end portion of the recording paper 300 in the left slot 165b is different. Then, the recording head 162 ejects ink droplets from the nozzle array while repeating reciprocating movement in the main scanning direction with a predetermined interval (gap) from the recording surface of the recording paper 300, and the side end ( Recording is performed over the entire width of the recording paper 300 including the left and right edges. Ink droplets that have come off from the left and right edges of the recording paper 300 are discarded into the left slot 165b or the right slot 165c and stored in the waste liquid tank 120 via the recovery unit 166.

  At this time, the recording paper 300 is pressed against the top surface of the upstream rib 164a by the paper feed roller 153 and its driven roller 154, and is further attracted to the top surface of the downstream rib 164b by the suction hole 167 (FIG. 6). reference). This effectively prevents the recording paper 300 from being lifted, and makes the gap (gap) between the recording paper 300 and the recording head 162 uniform.

  Although it is possible to perform borderless recording on the side edge of the recording paper 300 on the lateral slot 165a, the ink ejection of the recording head 162 is performed by forming the left slot 165b and the right slot 165c in the platen 163. Since a wide area (a plurality of nozzle rows) can be provided, the recording speed of the ink jet printer 100 can be increased.

  Further, if the platen 163 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of platens 163 (slot holes 165, suction holes 167, ribs 164, etc.) arranged side by side in the main scanning direction (perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording paper 300), the number of platens will be further increased. It is possible to correspond to the recording paper 300 of the size.

  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, according to the present invention, the slot 165 extending in the main scanning direction (conveying orthogonal direction) is provided on the upstream side in the transport direction of the recording paper 300, and the slot 165. Since the ink droplets discarded inside are accommodated, recording without a four-sided border is possible. Furthermore, since a plurality of suction holes 167 for suppressing the floating of the recording paper 300 are provided on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the recording paper 300, the recording paper 300 can be effectively lifted even when recording on the four sides of the recording paper 300 is performed. High quality recording can be obtained by suppressing the occurrence of recording unevenness and recording paper contamination.

  In addition, according to the present invention, a plurality of ribs 164 extending in the conveyance direction of the recording paper 300 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction (conveyance perpendicular direction), and a suction hole 167 is provided on the top surface of the downstream rib 164b. Therefore, cockling generated in the recording paper 300 can be effectively absorbed by the plurality of downstream ribs 164b.

  According to the present invention, the slot 165 includes a lateral slot 165a extending in the main scanning direction (conveying orthogonal direction), a left slot 165b and a right slot 165c extending in the transport direction, and the left slot 165b. In addition, the right slot 165c can efficiently perform the borderless recording of the side end portion of the recording paper 300.

  Note that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be applied to various other embodiments as long as they do not contradict the description of the claims. For example, in the embodiment of the present invention, the suction hole 167 is formed on the top surface of the downstream rib 164b and the top surface of the recess 168, but the suction hole 167 is not formed on the top surface of the recess 168, and suction is performed only on the top surface of the downstream rib 164b. A hole 167 may be formed.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the platen 163 used in the ink jet printer 100, which is one of the recording apparatuses, has been described. However, as long as the platen has the above-described effects, the platen used in other apparatuses is used. It may be.

  Any recording apparatus including a head that discharges droplets onto a recording medium and a platen that supports the recording medium can be applied to, for example, a facsimile apparatus and a copying apparatus. In addition to a recording apparatus, the meaning of a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid corresponding to its use from a liquid ejecting head onto an ejected medium instead of ink and attaches the liquid to the ejected medium is, for example, a liquid crystal display Color material jet head used for manufacturing color filters, electrode material (conductive paste) jet head used for electrode formation for organic EL display and surface emitting display (FED), bio-organic jet head used for biochip manufacturing, precision pipette The present invention can also be applied to an apparatus equipped with a sample ejection head or the like.

1 is a perspective view of an overall appearance configuration of an ink jet printer 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed obliquely from the front. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view illustrating an outline of an internal configuration of the ink jet printer 100 of FIG. 1. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view showing a main part around a recording unit 160. FIG. It is a top view which shows the platen 163 which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a side sectional view taken along the line X-X in FIG. 4 and showing a first cross section of the platen 163. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line YY of FIG. 4 and showing a second cross section of the platen 163.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Inkjet printer, 101 Housing, 104 Cartridge storage part, 105 Cartridge cover, 110 Operation part, 111 Button, 112 Liquid crystal panel, 130 Paper feed part, 140 Feed / discharge part, 150 Conveyance part, 151 Sub roller, 152 Drive roller, 153 Paper feed roller, 154 Driven roller, 155 Discharge roller, 156 Giza roller, 160 Recording unit, 161 Carriage, 162 Recording head, 163 Platen, 164 Rib, 165 Groove hole, 166 Collection unit, 167 Suction hole, 168 Concave portion, 169 Pressure section, 200 paper feed / discharge tray, 210 paper feed tray, 230 paper discharge tray, 300 recording paper

Claims (1)

A recording apparatus for discharging and recording droplets on a recording medium,
Provided at a position facing the recording head, and the first slot of the droplets the outside from the end portion of the recording medium is abandoned,
A platen downstream of the first slot and provided at a position facing the recording head and conveying the recording medium while adsorbing the recording medium;
Said first slot, said the conveying direction improve flow side of the serial medium, it is formed to extend in the conveyance orthogonal direction,
A second slot aligned with the side edge of the recording medium is formed continuously with the first slot;
Of the second slot, the slot corresponding to one side end of the recording medium is formed to have a width in the conveyance orthogonal direction larger than the slot corresponding to the other side end of the recording medium. And
In the platen, a plurality of ribs extending in the conveyance direction of the recording medium are arranged at predetermined intervals in the conveyance orthogonal direction, suction holes are provided in the rib top surface, and the ribs in the conveyance orthogonal direction are between the ribs. There is no suction hole,
When performing borderless recording on the lower end of the recording medium,
The lower end of the recording medium is at a position facing the first slot at a position facing the recording head,
A site downstream of the lower end of the recording medium in the recording medium is located on the platen at a position facing the recording head,
A recording apparatus that prevents a lower end portion of the recording medium from being warped by adsorbing a portion of the recording medium that is downstream of the lower end portion of the recording medium with the platen .

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