JP4591365B2 - Recording medium feeding apparatus, recording apparatus, and liquid ejecting apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a recording medium feeding apparatus that feeds a recording medium in a recording apparatus such as a printer, and a recording apparatus including the recording medium feeding apparatus. The present invention also relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus.
Here, the liquid ejecting apparatus uses an ink jet recording head, and is not limited to a recording apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile machine that discharges ink from the recording head to perform recording on a recording medium. And a device that ejects a liquid corresponding to the application from a liquid ejecting head corresponding to the ink jet recording head to an ejected medium corresponding to a recording medium, and adheres the liquid to the ejected medium. .
In addition to the recording head, as a liquid ejecting head, a color material ejecting head used for manufacturing a color filter such as a liquid crystal display, and an electrode material (conductive paste) used for forming an electrode such as an organic EL display or a surface emitting display (FED) Examples thereof include an ejection head, a bioorganic matter ejection head used for biochip production, and a sample ejection head as a precision pipette.

  In a recording apparatus or a liquid ejecting apparatus typified by a facsimile or a printer, recording sheets as an example of a recording medium or an ejecting medium can be set in a stacked state, and the highest recording sheet among the set recording sheets A feeding device for taking out one sheet at a time and feeding it is provided.

  The feeding device has the highest recording paper to be fed and the next and subsequent recording papers so that the next and subsequent recording papers are not taken and fed when the highest recording paper is taken out. Separation means for separating is provided. There are various types of such separating means, for example, the recording paper tip is brought into sliding contact with the friction surface (slope) provided in the paper cassette, or the recording paper is placed between the rotating roller and the friction pad. There are those that nip, or those that nip recording paper between a rotating roller and a separation roller to which a predetermined rotational torque is applied by a torque limiter mechanism, and examples thereof are described in Patent Documents 1 to 3 Yes.

JP 2004-331300 A JP-A-4-371426 JP 2000-219348 A

  By the way, there are a wide variety of recording papers, such as a dedicated paper with multiple layers with a coating layer on the recording surface as suitable for photo printing, and a plain paper with a single layer as suitable for text printing. Yes. Among them, the dedicated paper composed of a plurality of layers is likely to be warped when set in the feeding device by moisture absorption or the like. If the recording paper is fed in a state where the warp has occurred, the angle at which the leading edge of the paper enters the separating means changes, so that the separating performance by the separating means may be significantly reduced. In addition, the dedicated paper has a large coefficient of friction between the sheets, and multi-feed is more likely to occur compared to plain paper. Therefore, it is desirable to further improve the separation performance in consideration of feeding dedicated paper.

  On the other hand, in the case of plain paper composed of a single layer, there is little risk of warping in the set state, and the separation performance is relatively good. And plain paper is often used for text printing, and it is often printed in relatively large amounts. Therefore, when printing with plain paper, high-speed paper feed performance rather than separation performance is achieved. Required. However, if the separation performance is further improved in consideration of the dedicated paper, a transport load is applied when passing through the separation means, which is rather an impediment to high-speed paper feeding. Also, since plain paper has low rigidity, if high-speed paper feeding is performed in a state where the separation performance is further improved, the paper may be wrinkled or a paper jam may occur.

  That is, the ease of separation and the required paper feed speed differ depending on the paper type, and it is necessary to optimize the separation means in consideration of this point. In the prior arts described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, it has not been possible to meet the demand for feeding the plain paper at a high speed while reliably separating the special paper.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its purpose is to consider separation performance and high-speed paper feeding performance in consideration of differences in ease of separation and required paper feed speed depending on the paper type. It is to constitute a feeding device that achieves both.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of the present invention is to take out a recording medium setting unit for setting a recording medium and a top recording medium set in the recording medium setting unit. A recording medium take-out means for feeding in the feeding direction, and a sliding contact surface on which the leading end of the recording medium taken out from the recording medium set portion slides, and a frictional force between the leading end of the recording medium and the sliding contact surface A first separation unit that separates the uppermost recording medium to be fed from the next and subsequent recording media, and is provided downstream from the first separation unit and fed. A recording medium comprising: a second separation unit that separates the uppermost recording medium to be fed and the subsequent recording media by nipping the uppermost recording medium to be fed A feeding device, wherein both the first separation unit and the second separation unit A first separation mode used, characterized in that it is configured with the first second separation mode using only the separation unit, a possible switch.

  According to this aspect, the first separation mode using both the first separation unit and the second separation unit and the second separation mode using only the first separation unit can be selected. Therefore, by switching the separation mode according to the type of recording medium, it is possible to execute an appropriate feeding operation according to the type of recording medium.

  For example, when feeding paper that is unlikely to cause wrinkles or paper jams typified by special paper but difficult to separate, the mode is switched to the first separation mode, that is, two separation means are used. Then, when feeding a paper that is relatively easily separated, such as plain paper, and is susceptible to paper jams and still requires high-speed paper feed, it is switched to the second separation mode, that is, one separation means. To use. This makes it possible to perform high-speed paper feeding without causing wrinkles or paper jam in the latter case while performing reliable separation in the former case.

  In particular, in the second separation mode, the leading end of the recording medium that does not apply a large transport load to the recording medium without using the second separation unit that nips the recording medium and easily applies the transport load to the recording medium is used. Since only the first separation part that is separated by being brought into sliding contact with the sliding contact surface is used, the conveyance load can be further reduced and high-speed feeding can be performed. Conversely, in the first separation mode, since the second separation unit that nips the recording medium is used, the separation can be reliably performed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a dedicated paper feeding mode for feeding a special paper as a recording medium composed of a plurality of layers and a plain paper as a recording medium composed of a single layer are provided. A plain paper normal feeding mode for feeding, and a plain paper high-speed feeding mode for feeding plain paper at a higher speed than the normal paper normal feeding mode, and the dedicated paper feeding mode and the normal paper normal feeding mode. The feeding mode is configured to use the first separation mode, and the plain paper high-speed feeding mode is configured to use the second separation mode. According to this aspect, the plain paper can be fed at a high speed without causing wrinkles or paper jam while performing reliable separation when performing dedicated paper feeding and plain paper normal feeding.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect described above, there is provided means for adjusting the nip time of the recording medium in the second separation unit according to the type of the recording medium. It is characterized by.
According to this aspect, since the means for adjusting the nip time of the recording medium in the second separation unit according to the type of the recording medium is provided, priority is given to the separation performance according to the type of the recording medium. (By increasing the nip time of the recording medium in the second separation unit), the separation can be performed more reliably, and priority is given to the reduction of the transport load (the nip time of the recording medium in the second separation unit). By shortening it, it is possible to feed at higher speed while preventing the occurrence of wrinkles and paper jam.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when separating plain paper as a recording medium consisting of a single layer in the third aspect, the nip time of the recording medium is set as a recording medium consisting of a plurality of layers. The nip time of the recording medium when the special paper is separated is shorter.
According to this aspect, since the nip time of the recording medium is shortened when separating the plain paper as the recording medium composed of a single layer, the plain paper that is likely to cause wrinkles and paper jams is appropriately fed. be able to.

  In addition, when the second separation unit is disposed at a position deviated from the central portion in the width direction of the recording medium, the recording medium is caused by the transport load applied to the recording medium by the second separation unit. A skew tendency occurs. In the case of special paper, since the rigidity is high, it tends to be easily guided by the edge guide and tends not to cause skew. However, in the case of plain paper, since the rigidity is low, it is difficult to be guided by the edge guide and tends to cause skew. . Therefore, in the case of plain paper, the degree of skew can be reduced by shortening the nip time in the second separation unit.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the second separation unit feeds the recording medium by contacting and rotating the recording surface of the recording medium. It is characterized by comprising a feeding roller and a separation roller which is provided with a predetermined rotational resistance and can be brought into contact with and separated from the feeding roller.
According to this aspect, the second separation unit is in contact with the recording surface of the recording medium and rotates to feed the recording medium by being rotated, and a predetermined rotational resistance is applied to the feeding roller. Since it is configured to include a separation roller that can be brought into contact with and separated from the feeding roller, it does not damage both the recording surface and the back surface of the recording medium to be fed, and the subsequent and subsequent recording media. It can be separated from the recording medium.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, the set unit is configured to support the recording medium in a substantially horizontal posture, and the recording target is taken out from the set unit by the outer peripheral surface of the feeding roller. A curved reversal feeding path is provided that curves the medium in a U shape and feeds the medium in a direction opposite to the direction of taking out from the set portion. According to this aspect, in the recording medium feeding device including the curved reversal feeding path for feeding the recording medium in the direction opposite to the direction of taking out from the set unit, any one of the first to fifth aspects is provided. The same effect can be obtained. Note that “substantially horizontal” includes a certain level of error, and the range is a design matter that can be appropriately determined by those skilled in the art.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the recording medium take-out means is in contact with the uppermost recording medium set in the recording medium setting unit. In addition, a plurality of types of recording media having a pickup roller for rotating the uppermost recording medium in the feeding direction by rotating and having different rigidity and / or friction coefficient with the pickup roller. The rotation amount of the pickup roller is adjusted according to the type of the medium.

  According to this aspect, the feeding mode is switched according to the types of the plurality of types of recording media having different recording medium rigidity and / or friction coefficient between the recording medium and the pickup roller. For example, when the recording medium has a high rigidity, or when the friction coefficient is small, or when the recording medium has a high rigidity and the friction coefficient is small, the rotation amount of the pickup roller is increased to further increase the conveying force. By providing this, the recording medium can be reliably conveyed. Further, when the recording medium has low rigidity, or when the friction coefficient is large, or when the recording medium has low rigidity and the friction coefficient is large, the amount of skew can be reduced by reducing the rotation amount of the pickup roller. The degree can be reduced.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the seventh aspect, the amount of rotation of the pickup roller when feeding the dedicated paper as a recording medium consisting of a plurality of layers is a recording medium consisting of a single layer. The amount of rotation is larger than the amount of rotation of the pickup roller when feeding plain paper. According to this aspect, in the case of dedicated paper, the rotation amount of the pickup roller can be increased to give more conveyance force, and the paper can be reliably conveyed. In the case of plain paper, the rotation amount of the pickup roller can be reduced. By reducing it, the degree of skew can be reduced.

  A ninth aspect of the present invention is a recording apparatus comprising recording means for recording on a recording medium, wherein the recording medium feeding apparatus according to any one of the first to eighth aspects is the recording apparatus. It is provided in the upstream of a recording means. According to this aspect, in the recording apparatus, it is possible to obtain the same operational effects as any one of the first to eighth aspects.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejecting unit that ejects a liquid onto the ejected medium, and an ejected medium that is provided upstream of the liquid ejecting unit and that feeds the ejected medium toward the liquid ejecting unit. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: a feeding device, wherein the ejected medium feeding device sets a recording medium on which the recording medium is set, and an ejected medium set on the ejected medium setting unit An ejected medium take-out means for taking out the uppermost one of the ejected medium and feeding it in the feeding direction; and a sliding contact surface on which the tip of the jetted medium taken out from the jetted medium set portion comes into sliding contact, and the sliding contact with the tip of the jetted medium A first separation unit that separates an uppermost ejected medium to be fed using a frictional force between the surface and a subsequent ejected medium; and a downstream side of the first separation unit The uppermost ejected medium to be fed A second separation unit that separates the uppermost ejected medium to be fed from the next and subsequent ejected media, and includes the first separation unit and the second separation unit. The first separation mode using both of the above and the second separation mode using only the first separation unit can be switched.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of an ink jet printer (hereinafter referred to as “printer”) 1 which is an embodiment of a “recording apparatus” or “liquid ejecting apparatus” according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the feeding path of the front feeding device 3, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the feeding operation. 6 is a schematic diagram of a feeding path of the front feeding device 3, and FIGS. 7 to 9 are timing charts showing operation timings of the respective components of the front feeding device 3 at the time of paper feeding. FIG. 8 shows a normal paper feeding mode, FIG. 8 shows a dedicated paper feeding mode, and FIG. 9 shows a plain paper high-speed feeding mode.

  Hereinafter, the overall configuration of the printer 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 includes a plurality of feeding means, that is, a rear feeding device 2 at the rear of the apparatus and a front feeding device 3 at the bottom of the apparatus. The recording paper P as “recording medium” or “jetting medium” is fed to the means 5. The recording paper P is conveyed by the conveying means 5 to the recording means 4 (recording head 48). After recording is performed, the recording paper P is discharged by a discharging means 6 to a stacker (not shown).

Hereinafter, the components on the paper transport (feed) path will be described in more detail.
The rear feeding device 2 includes a hopper 12, a feeding roller 11, a retard roller 13, a return lever (not shown), and other components not shown.
Hopper 12 is a plate-like member, capable of pivoting about the upper portion of the swing fulcrum 12a, by rocking the paper P ₁ which is supported in an inclined position on the hopper 12 to the feeding roller 11 The pressure contact posture for pressure contact and the separation posture for separating from the feeding roller 11 are switched.

Feeding roller 11 is a circular shape, by rotating, to feed the sheet P ₁ in the topmost pressed to the downstream side. In the following description, the recording paper set and fed to the rear feeding device 2 is referred to as “paper P ₁ ”, and the recording paper set and fed to the front feeding device 3 is referred to as “paper P ₂ ”. In other words, when there is no need to distinguish between the two, it is referred to as “paper P” or simply as paper.

Next, the retard roller 13 has an outer periphery formed of an elastic material and is provided so as to be able to come into pressure contact with the feeding roller 11, and is provided in a state where a predetermined rotational resistance is given by a torque limiter mechanism. Therefore, when only one sheet is fed without occurrence of double feeding of the sheet P ₁ , the retard roller 13 is driven to rotate with respect to the feeding roller 11, and the sheet P ₁ is retarded with the feeding roller 11. When there are a plurality of sheets between the roller 13 and the roller 13, the sheet 13 stops without rotating due to the sliding action between the sheets, and the next and subsequent sheets P ₁ are prevented from being double-fed. Note that a paper return lever (not shown) is provided in the vicinity of the retard roller 13, and the paper P _{1 of the} next and subsequent pages that are about to be fed is returned onto the hopper 12 by the paper return lever.

  On the other hand, the front feeding device 3 provided at the bottom of the printer 1 and configured to set paper from the front of the device includes a paper feeding cassette 25 that constitutes a “recording medium (ejection medium) setting unit”, and “ A pickup roller 26 that constitutes a “recording medium (ejection medium) take-out means”, a feeding roller 28 and a separation roller 29 that constitute a “separating means”, an assist roller 30, and other components not shown. ing.

The paper feed cassette 25 is capable sets a plurality of sheets of paper P ₂ in a stacked state, the inside, and displaceable edge guide 25a in the sheet width direction as shown in FIG. 2, the displacement in the sheet length direction The possible edge guide 25b is provided, and the edge of the set paper can be guided at an appropriate position according to the paper size. The sheet P _2, which is set in the paper feed cassette 25, and the edge guide 25a, is guided from both sides by the side walls of the paper feed cassette 25.

Returning to FIG. 1, the pickup roller 26 that is rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown) is provided on the swing member 27. The swinging member 27 is provided swingably about a swing shaft 27a, by which the pickup roller 26, reference numeral 26 and the sheet P ₂ set in the sheet cassette 25 as shown at 26 ' It is possible to contact and separate from the highest level. The pick-up roller 26, by rotating in contact with the uppermost sheet cassette 25 is set on the sheet P _2, feeding the sheet P ₂ of the uppermost to the feed direction is taken out from the paper feed cassette 25 . Incidentally, the bottom of the paper feed cassette 25 and the friction pad 25c is provided as shown in FIG. 2, this entire bundle of the set sheet P ₂ by is configured such that not fed.

Feeding roller 28 is rotated by a driving motor (not shown), is curved reversing the sheet P ₂ the uppermost fed from the sheet cassette 25 in a substantially U shape, i.e. the paper take-out direction (left direction in FIG. 1) Is reversed in the opposite direction and fed to the conveying means 5 after the paper guidance 44. That is, the outer peripheral surface of the feed roller 28, the curved reversal feed path for feeding by curving reversing the sheet P ₂ is formed. Reference numerals 36 and 37 are guide members provided to face the outer peripheral surface of the feed roller 28 and together with the feed roller 28 form the curved reversal feed path.

Next, the front feeding device 3 is provided with two separation portions (separation means) of “first separation portion” and “second separation portion”. The “first separator” is configured by a sliding contact surface 35 provided at a position facing the leading edge of the paper set in the paper feed cassette 25 (see also FIGS. 2 and 3). That is, the leading edge of the paper P ₂ sent out in the feeding direction by the pickup roller 26 is sent to the downstream side while being in sliding contact with the sliding contact surface 35, and thereby the uppermost paper P ₂ to be fed, and the paper P ₂ of the next or subsequent to going to be brought are in multi-feeding are separated.

  The “second separation unit” includes a feeding roller 28 and a separation roller 29. The separation roller 29 is disposed at a position facing the outer peripheral surface of the feed roller 28, and is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the feed roller 28 as indicated by reference numerals 29 and 29 '. Similarly to the retard roller 13, the separation roller 29 is provided in a state where a predetermined rotational resistance is given by a torque limiter mechanism.

Therefore, the separation roller 29 nips the fed paper P ₂ with the feeding roller 28, so that when only one sheet is fed without causing double feeding, the separation roller 29 is driven in contact with the paper P _2. rotating, when the sheet P ₂ is present a plurality between the feeding roller 28 and the separation roller 29 becomes the stopped state without rotating the sliding action between the sheets, about to be multi-fed next order paper P ₂ of the subsequent fastened near the nip point between the feeding roller 28 and the separation roller 29, the double feed can be prevented.

  Reference numeral 38 denotes a guide roller. As shown in FIG. 3, the guide roller 38 is slightly upstream of the separation roller 29 in the paper feeding direction, and is in the digit direction (paper width direction: front and back of the paper surface in FIG. 1). In the direction), the leading edge of the sheet is guided to the nip point between the feeding roller 28 and the separation roller 29.

Next, the assist roller 30 is provided so as to be driven and rotated in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the feed roller 28, and by rotating the feed roller 28 by nipping the paper P ₂ with the feed roller 28. to feed assist the sheet P ₂ associated with. As shown in FIG. 2, the assist rollers 30 are provided so as to be localized at almost equal intervals over the entire girder direction.

Next, on the downstream side of the rear feeding device 2 and the front feeding device 3, a paper detector 49 (not shown in FIG. 1; see FIG. 6) for detecting the passage of the paper P to be fed, and the rear feeding A guide roller 40 that forms the feeding posture of the paper P ₁ fed from the feeding device 2 and a paper guiding post 44 that guides the fed paper P to the transporting unit 5 are provided.

  The transport means 5 includes a transport drive roller 41 that is rotationally driven by a motor, and a transport driven roller 42 that is pivotally supported by the paper guide upper 43 so as to be driven to rotate while being pressed against the transport drive roller 41. Yes. The paper P that has reached the transport means 5 is transported to the recording means 4 (recording head 48) on the downstream side when the transport drive roller 41 rotates while being nipped by the transport drive roller 41 and the transport driven roller 42. Is done.

  A recording head (liquid ejecting head) 48 is provided at the bottom of the carriage 46, and the carriage 46 is guided by a carriage guide shaft 47 extending in the main scanning direction (the front and back direction in FIG. 1), and is subjected to main scanning by a drive motor (not shown). Driven to reciprocate in the direction. The carriage 46 is equipped with independent ink cartridges (not shown) for a plurality of colors, and ink is supplied from the ink cartridges to the recording head 48.

  A paper guide lower 45 is provided at a position facing the recording head 48, and the distance between the paper P and the recording head 48 is defined by the paper guide lower 45. In addition, ribs 45a, 45b, 45c are formed from the upstream side in the portion facing the recording head 48 in the paper guide 45, and the front end or the rear end of the paper is positioned between the ribs. So-called borderless printing is performed by ejecting ink to an area outside the trailing edge of the paper.

From the end position of the curved reversal feed path formed by the outer peripheral surface of the feed roller 28 to the transport means 5 is a straight transport path (mainly formed by the post-paper guide 44). B) As shown in FIG. 5B, a state in which the smallest size paper that can be fed and recorded in the printer 1 (hereinafter referred to as “paper P _L ”) is headed (the front end P _{f of the} paper P _{L faces the} recording head 48). in state), such that the rear end P _r of the sheet P _L is positioned near the end position of the curved reversal feeding path, it said straight transport path is extended. Note that the end position of the curve reversal path in this embodiment is the position indicated by the general symbol a in FIG. 4B (when the paper guide surface on the post-paper guide 44 is extended to the upstream side (curve reversal path side). This is the vicinity of the position where the guide member 37 abuts.

In the present embodiment, the paper P _L is a rigid L-size photographic size paper (glossy paper) having a coat layer on the surface, and FIG. 4 shows a case where the L-size photographic size paper is fed in a vertical state. It shows a state. As shown in FIG. 4 (A), until the tip P _f of the sheet P _L is nipped by the conveying means 5, a state in which nip the paper P _L by the feeding roller 28 and the assist roller 30 is an intermediate roller Must be maintained.

When the leading end P _f of the paper P _L is nipped by the conveying unit 5, the trailing end _Pr is moved from the nip point between the feeding roller 28 and the assist roller 30 to the downstream side by the conveying unit 5 thereafter. be able to. And in cue state as shown in FIG. 4 (B), off the rear end P _r of the paper P _L from the nip point between the feeding roller 28 and the assist roller 30, and, in the vicinity end position of the curved reversing path positioned. Note that the symbol L in the drawing indicates the length in the vertical direction of the L-size photo size paper. Reference numeral # 1 indicates the position of the most downstream (first nozzle) among a plurality of ink discharge nozzles provided at a predetermined interval in the paper transport direction (left and right direction in the figure) in the recording head 48. Yes.

Thus, until the ends since the recording is started, nearly curved state is not formed in the sheet P _L, the recording is performed pristine state. Also, until the ends since the recording is started, the rear end P _r of the paper P _L is disengaged from the constrained state by an assist roller 30 and the feeding roller 28 is maintained.

Thus the paper P _L during the recording execution, the rear end P _r transport load due to the sliding contact with the guide members 36 and 37 (the back tension) is nipped in the assist roller 30 and the feeding roller 28 by bending Therefore, even if the recording apparatus is provided with a substantially U-shaped curved reversal feeding path, good recording quality can be obtained.

Moreover, linear conveyor path from the end position of the curved reversal feeding path to the conveying means 5, since it is extended relative to the sheet P _L of a minimum size capable of performing recording, preventing an increase in the size of the device can be together, at the time of recording execution of the sheet P _L of likely minimum size transport load increases, it can be eliminated almost transport load.

  In this embodiment, the sheet is curved and the trailing edge of the sheet is brought into sliding contact with the guide members 36 and 37, and the sheet load is nipped between the assist roller 30 and the feeding roller 28. However, it may be configured such that the conveyance load due to either one is reduced.

  Subsequently, referring back to FIG. 1, on the downstream side of the recording unit 4, there are an auxiliary roller 57 that prevents the sheet P from floating up from the lower sheet guide 45, and a discharge unit 6 that discharges the recorded sheet P. Is provided. The discharge means 6 includes a discharge drive roller 55 that is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown), and a discharge driven roller 56 that rotates in contact with the discharge drive roller 55.

  The discharge driven roller 56 is formed by a toothed roller having a plurality of teeth on the outer periphery, and a plurality of discharge driven rollers 56 are provided on the discharge frame Assy 54 having a long shape in the main scanning direction so as to correspond to the plurality of discharge driving rollers 56. The paper P on which recording has been performed by the recording means 4 is rotated by the discharge drive roller 55 while being nipped by the discharge drive roller 55 and the discharge driven roller 56, so that the paper P is provided on the front side of the apparatus (not shown). It is discharged to the stacker.

The above is the configuration of the printer 1 and the front feeding device 3, and the feeding mode using the front feeding device 3 will be described below with reference to FIGS.
In the present embodiment, the front feeding device 3 has three feeding modes: a plain paper normal feeding mode, a plain paper high-speed feeding mode, and a dedicated paper feeding mode.

  Which feeding mode is used for feeding is input from print setting information received from a host computer (not shown) connected to the printer 1 or from the operation panel (not shown) of the printer 1. A control unit (not shown) of the printer 1 determines based on the print setting information.

  Specifically, when the paper type is “plain paper” and the print quality is “clean”, “normal paper normal feeding mode” is selected, and the paper type is “plain paper” and the print quality is In the case of “fast”, “plain paper high-speed feeding mode” is selected, and in the case of “dedicated paper”, “dedicated paper feeding mode” is selected regardless of the print quality. Here, “exclusive paper” is a paper composed of a plurality of layers having a coating layer on the recording surface, and “plain paper” is a paper composed of a single layer.

  As shown in FIG. 5, at the start of the feeding operation, it is determined whether or not the feeding mode is the plain paper high-speed feeding mode (step S101). 29 rises (step S102: state of reference numeral 29 'in FIG. 1), and the separation roller 29 comes into pressure contact with the feeding roller 28. That is, a “second separation portion” is formed.

  If it is the plain paper high-speed feeding mode in step S101 (positive branch), the sheet feeding cassette by the pickup roller 26 while the separating roller 29 is lowered, that is, the separating roller 29 is separated from the feeding roller 28. The sheet take-out operation from 25 (lowering / forward rotation) and the forward rotation operation of the feeding roller 28 are started (step S103).

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the rotational speed of the feed roller 28 has reached n1 (step) (step S104). If it has reached (positive branch), the separation roller 29 is lowered (step S105). That is, the sheet P ₂ is released from the nip state between the separation roller 29 and the feeding roller 28. This n1 (step) is set for each paper type, that is, the timing at which the separation roller 29 descends differs between plain paper and special paper, which will be described in detail later.

  Then, when the leading edge of the fed paper is detected by the paper detector 49 (Yes in step S106), in the case of a dedicated paper, skew removal is executed (Yes in step S107, step S108), and the head of the paper is searched. (Step S109), and then recording is started. In the case of plain paper (negative branch in step S107), the skew is not executed (negative branch in step S107), the paper is cued (step S109), and then recording is started.

  As described above, the “second separation portion” (separation roller 29) is used in addition to the “first separation portion” (sliding contact surface 35) in the normal paper normal feeding mode and the dedicated paper feeding mode (first separation portion 29). Separation mode). In the plain paper high-speed feeding mode, only the “first separation portion” (sliding contact surface 35) is used (second separation mode) without using the “second separation portion” (separation roller 29).

  Therefore, because of the property that a large conveyance load is likely to occur when feeding a curved feeding path having a large coefficient of friction between the sheets and a high rigidity, two separating means are used in the case of dedicated paper that is likely to cause double feeding. By using, reliable separation can be performed. In the case of plain paper, which has a relatively small coefficient of friction between papers and is easy to separate, but is prone to wrinkles and paper jams and still requires high-speed paper feed, use only one separating means. Thus, it is possible to stably perform high-speed paper feeding without causing wrinkles or paper jams. That is, it is possible to perform high-speed paper feeding without causing wrinkles or paper jam in the case of plain paper while performing reliable separation in the case of special paper.

Next, each feeding mode will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.
7 to 9, symbols A to F correspond to symbols A to F in FIG. 6, that is, the position of the leading edge of the sheet in the sheet feeding path at each timing of a series of feeding operations. Show.
When A4 size plain paper is fed at a normal speed, the plain paper normal feed mode (FIG. 7) is used. As shown in the figure, after the separation roller 29 rises, the pickup roller 26 descends and starts normal rotation, and at the same time, the feed roller 28 starts normal rotation. When the leading edge of the sheet reaches position C, that is, after being nipped by the assist roller 30 and the feeding roller 28, the separation roller 29 is lowered and the rotation of the pickup roller 26 is stopped.

  Here, the rotation of the pickup roller 26 is stopped, but the pickup roller 26 is not lifted but is kept in contact with the paper being fed. This eliminates the need for the pickup roller 26 to move up and down when the next paper is fed after the paper feeding is completed, and can meet the demand for high-speed printing required for plain paper.

  A one-way clutch mechanism (not shown) is interposed in a power transmission path (not shown) for transmitting power from a drive motor that is a drive source of the pickup roller 26 to the pickup roller 26. Therefore, when the drive motor is stopped, the pickup roller 26 is not affected by the load from the drive motor, and is driven by contacting the sheet fed by the feeding roller 28 and the assist roller 30 or conveyed by the conveying means 5. It is possible to rotate. That is, even if the pickup roller 26 remains lowered, the back tension applied to the paper is greatly reduced.

  On the other hand, when feeding A4 size dedicated paper, the dedicated paper feeding mode shown in FIG. 8 is used. As shown in the figure, this feeding mode is different from the normal paper normal feeding mode of FIG. 7 in that the period during which the pickup roller 26 rotates normally during a series of feeding operations is long, and the separation roller 29 rises. This is the point that the period during which the pickup roller 26 is long and the pickup roller 26 rises after feeding the paper.

  That is, in the normal paper normal feed mode, after the leading edge of the paper is nipped between the assist roller 30 and the feed roller 28, the separation roller 29 is immediately lowered to stop the pickup roller 26 from rotating. In the paper feeding mode, the driving of the pickup roller 26 is stopped when the leading edge of the paper is conveyed just before reaching the paper detector 49 further downstream of the assist roller 30. Similarly, the separation roller 29 descends immediately before the leading edge of the sheet reaches the paper detector 49 further downstream of the assist roller 30.

  That is, in the case of dedicated paper, the rotation amount of the pickup roller 26 is increased so as to give a further conveying force. This is because the dedicated paper has high rigidity and a large coefficient of friction between the sheets, so that it is easy to generate a large transport load when feeding the curved path, and the resistance when passing through the “second separation unit” is large. This is because slipping easily occurs between the pickup roller 26 and the pickup roller 26 when it is fed out by the pickup roller 26 as described above.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the separation roller 29 is disposed at a position deviated to the 1st digit side. Arranged in a biased position. The pickup roller 26 is provided at a position where the position in the digit direction substantially coincides with the separation roller 29. Therefore, when a feeding force is applied to the sheet by the pickup roller 26, a skew tendency is generated.

  Here, since the special paper has high rigidity, the side end is easily guided by the edge guide, and therefore, when the feeding force is applied by the pickup roller 26, it has a property that it is difficult to skew compared with the plain paper having low rigidity. . Therefore, even when the rotation amount of the pickup roller 26 is set to be larger in the case of the dedicated paper, the degree of skew is not so much larger than that of the plain paper, and the advantages of setting the rotation amount of the pickup roller 26 to be larger can be enjoyed. can do. Further, since plain paper requires less conveyance force than special paper, the amount of skew can be suppressed by reducing the amount of rotation of the pickup roller 26 compared to special paper.

  Further, in the case of special paper, since the rising time of the separation roller 29 is set long, the special paper that requires higher separation performance can be more reliably separated. That is, since a means for adjusting the nip time of the paper in the second separation unit according to the paper type (paper material) is provided, the separation performance is given priority according to the type of paper (in the second separation unit). By increasing the sheet nip time, for example, in the present embodiment, the dedicated sheet can be more reliably separated, and priority is given to reducing the transport load (the sheet nip time in the second separation unit is shortened). Thus, for example, in this embodiment, plain paper can be fed at a higher speed while preventing occurrence of wrinkles and paper jams.

  In addition, in the plain paper normal feeding mode and the dedicated paper feeding mode using the “first separation mode”, the pickup roller 26 is fed during a series of feeding operations as apparent from FIGS. The period during which the feeding force is applied to the uppermost sheet to be fed (the period during which the pickup roller 26 is descending and rotating forward), and the uppermost sheet to be fed by the separation roller 29 and the feeding roller 28 Control is performed so that the period during which the sheet is nipped (the period during which the separation roller 29 is raised) substantially coincides. Accordingly, the skew tendency generated in the paper by the feeding force by the pickup roller 26 can be effectively canceled by the second separation unit, and the degree of skew generated in the paper by the paper feeding force by the pickup roller 26 is further reduced. can do.

  Further details will be described below. As described above, when a feeding force is applied to the sheet by the pickup roller 26, if the position in the digit direction of the pickup roller 26 deviates from the center of the sheet, a skew tendency occurs due to the feeding force. Since the conveyance load is applied by nipping the sheet with the feeding roller 28, the conveyance load can be used to cancel the skew tendency.

  In this embodiment, the pickup roller 26 is arranged at a position deviated to the 1st digit side with respect to the A4 size paper, so that the paper is placed at the position further deviated to the 1st digit side, for example, on the downstream side of the pickup roller 26. By nipping, the skew tendency caused by the feeding force by the pickup roller 26 can be canceled more effectively.

  In the present embodiment, since the pickup roller 26 and the separation roller 29 are provided at substantially the same position in the spar direction, the feed force by the pickup roller 26 in the spar direction and the load applied to the paper by the separation roller 29 Balance can be achieved and the degree of skew can be reduced appropriately.

  In such a configuration, the period during which the pickup roller 26 applies the feeding force to the sheet during the series of feeding operations as described above substantially coincides with the period during which the sheet is nipped by the separation roller 29 and the feeding roller 28. Thus, the skew tendency generated in the paper by the feeding force by the pickup roller 26 can be effectively canceled by the second separation unit.

  In the dedicated paper feeding mode, unlike the normal paper normal feeding mode and the plain paper high-speed feeding mode, as shown in FIG. 8, the pickup roller 26 is raised after the paper feeding, that is, the paper being recorded. It is separated from the (paper that has been fed). Accordingly, the pickup roller 26 does not give any back tension to the paper on which recording is being performed, and a better recording result can be obtained in printing using dedicated paper that requires higher recording quality. Can do.

1 is a schematic side sectional view of a printer according to the present invention. The perspective view of a front feeding apparatus. The principal part enlarged view of FIG. The schematic diagram of the feed route of a front feeder. The flowchart which shows the flow of feeding operation | movement. The schematic diagram of the feed route of a front feeder. The operation | movement timing chart at the time of paper feeding of a front feeding apparatus. The operation | movement timing chart at the time of paper feeding of a front feeding apparatus. The operation | movement timing chart at the time of paper feeding of a front feeding apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printer, 2 Rear feeding apparatus, 3 Front feeding apparatus, 4 Recording means, 5 Conveying means, 6 Ejecting means, 11 Feeding roller, 12 Hopper, 13 Retard roller, 25 Paper feeding cassette, 26 Pickup roller, 28 Feed roller, 29 retard roller, 30 assist roller, 36, 37 guide member, 38 guide roller, 40 guide roller, 41 transport drive roller, 42 transport driven roller, 43 on paper guide, 44 after paper guide, 45 on paper guide , 46 carriage, 47 carriage guide shaft, 48 a recording head, 55 ejection driving roller 56 follower roller 57 auxiliary _roller, P 1, _{P 2} recording sheet

Claims (6)

A recording medium setting unit for setting the recording medium;
A recording medium take-out means for taking out the recording medium set in the recording medium setting section and sending it in the feeding direction;
A sliding contact surface with which the leading end of the recording medium taken out from the recording medium setting unit comes into sliding contact is provided, and a frictional force is applied between the leading end of the recording medium and the sliding contact surface so as to separate the recording medium that has been multifed. A first separator to be generated;
A second separation unit that is provided downstream of the first separation unit and nips the uppermost recording medium to be fed so as to separate the recording medium that has been multi-fed. A recording medium feeding device,
A first separation mode using both the first separation unit and the second separation unit;
A second separation mode using only the first separation unit;
Is configured to be switchable,
A first feeding mode for feeding the recording medium;
A second feeding mode for feeding the recording medium at a higher speed than the recording medium,
The first feeding mode is configured to use the first separation mode, and the second feeding mode is configured to use the second separation mode.
A recording medium feeding device characterized by the above. 2. The mode according to claim 1, wherein the first feeding mode feeds a first recording medium as a recording medium composed of a plurality of layers and a second recording medium as a recording medium composed of a single layer. And
The recording medium feeding apparatus, wherein the second feeding mode includes a mode for feeding the second recording medium. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising means for adjusting a nip time of the recording medium in the second separation unit according to a type of the recording medium.
A recording medium feeding device characterized by the above. In claim 3, when separating the second recording medium, the nip time of the recording medium is shorter than the nip time of the recording medium when separating the first recording medium.
A recording medium feeding device characterized by the above. 5. The feeding roller according to claim 1, wherein the second separation unit feeds the recording medium by contacting and rotating with the recording surface of the recording medium;
A separation roller provided with a predetermined rotational resistance and provided so as to be able to contact and separate from the feeding roller;
A recording medium feeding device comprising: a recording medium feeding device. A recording apparatus comprising recording means for recording on a recording medium, wherein the recording medium feeding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is provided upstream of the recording means.
A recording apparatus.

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