JP4826856B2 - Recording medium transport tray - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manufacture a tray for conveying a recording medium capable of obtaining sufficient conveying force by a conveyance roller securely while preventing the occurrence of improper molding such as warpage or the like during molding. <P>SOLUTION: This tray 70 for setting an optical disk to print on the optical disk directly is fed below an inkjet recording head while being nipped by a conveyance driving roller 15 being turned and driven and a conveyance driven roller 17 being freely turnable with high precision. The tray 70 is formed by molding by use of resin, and a plurality of long grooves capable of reducing amount of resin used and preventing the occurrence of warpage or the like during molding and extended in the direction of auxiliary scanning are formed in a beam direction on a front surface and a rear surface of the tray 70. Top parts of protruding bars formed on the front surface and the rear surface of the tray 70 by the long grooves are flat faces so that area of contact section of the conveyance driving roller 15 and the conveyance driven roller 17 is increased and sufficient conveying force is securely obtained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording medium transport tray for setting a recording medium (for example, a compact disk) that is not easily transported using a recording material transport path in a recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording medium.

In recent years, consumer inkjet printers (hereinafter referred to as “printers”) have been developed that are capable of printing by ejecting ink droplets directly onto an optical disk typified by a compact disk (hereinafter referred to as “optical disk”). Has been. In such a printer, since the optical disk cannot be transported by itself using the paper transport path of the printer, it is set in a dedicated tray made of a plate-like body (hereinafter referred to as “transport tray”), And it conveys (for example, refer patent document 1).
Such a transport tray is generally integrally formed of a resin material because of cost advantages. Here, the transport tray is required to have a thickness (for example, 2 mm or more) for setting the optical disk. When a plate-like body having a certain thickness is formed by resin molding, In order to prevent warp and uneven thickness, it is necessary to form ribs (projections) on the tray to reduce the amount of resin.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-262968

  By the way, the transport tray receives a transport force from the transport roller in the printer and is fed (precisely fed) to the bottom of the recording head. The transport roller includes a transport drive roller that is rotationally driven, and a transport driven roller that is driven to rotate while being in pressure contact with the transport drive roller. The two rollers nip the transport tray and perform a transport operation.

  However, if the ribs as described above are formed on the transport tray, the contact area between the transport roller and the tray is reduced, the transport force by the transport roller is reduced, and the print quality is reduced as the paper feed accuracy is reduced. descend. In particular, when a large number of ribs are formed on the surface in contact with the transport driving roller, the transport driving roller is a roller that is rotationally driven, so that the transport force is further reduced. However, on the other hand, it is desirable to form a large number of ribs in order to reliably prevent warping during molding.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and the problem is that a recording medium capable of obtaining a reliable conveying force by the conveying roller while preventing the occurrence of molding defects such as warpage during molding. The purpose is to obtain a transport tray.

  In order to solve the above problems, the recording medium transport tray according to the first aspect of the present invention has a form in which transport using a recording material transport path in a recording apparatus that performs recording on a recording medium is not easy. A recording medium transport tray having a recess for setting a medium and made of a plate-like body that can be easily transported using the recording material transport path, and extends in the sub-scanning direction and extends in the main scanning direction. A plurality of long grooves formed at predetermined intervals are formed on both the front surface and the back surface, and a flat surface is formed between two adjacent long grooves.

  According to this aspect, it is possible to obtain a recording medium transport tray that can obtain a reliable transport force by the transport roller while preventing occurrence of molding defects such as warpage and uneven thickness. That is, when the conveyance roller nips and rotates the recording medium conveyance tray and conveys the recording medium conveyance tray, the front and back surfaces of the recording medium conveyance tray have a conveyance force by the conveyance roller. It becomes a roller contact surface to obtain

  On the other hand, when the recording medium transport tray is formed by resin molding, it is necessary to form ribs from the viewpoint of preventing warpage during molding, that is, from the viewpoint of reducing the amount of resin. However, this rib reduces the roller contact area and reduces the conveying force by the conveying roller. Therefore, for example, the conveying driving roller in which the conveying roller is rotationally driven, and the conveying driven in which the conveying roller is driven to rotate in pressure contact with the conveying driving roller. In the case of being constituted by a roller, if a large number of the ribs are formed only on the surface that is in contact with the transport driving roller, a sufficient transport force cannot be obtained, and the paper feed accuracy may be lowered.

  Accordingly, the recording medium carrying tray according to the first aspect of the present invention has long grooves extending in the sub-scanning direction instead of ribs formed on both the front and back surfaces, and a flat surface between two adjacent long grooves. Formed. Accordingly, by forming the long groove on both the front and back surfaces, the amount of resin is reliably reduced, and the two adjacent long grooves form a flat surface, so that a sufficient roller contact area is obtained. As a result, it is possible to obtain a reliable conveying force by the conveying roller while preventing the occurrence of molding defects such as warpage and uneven thickness.

  Note that a recording medium having a form that is not easily conveyed using a recording material conveyance path in a recording apparatus that performs recording on the recording medium is different from a rectangular printing paper such as an optical disk represented by a compact disk. It means a recording medium having a shape that is difficult to position in the main scanning direction, or a recording medium having a size such that an appropriate conveying operation cannot be performed by the conveying means of the recording apparatus due to its small size.

The recording medium carrying tray according to the second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect, the area of the flat surface on the back surface is equal to or larger than the area of the flat surface on the front surface.
According to this aspect, since the area of the flat surface on the back surface is equal to or larger than the area of the flat surface on the front surface, the transport driving roller that is rotationally driven contacts the back surface, and the transport driven roller that can freely rotate is In the case of contact with the surface, it is possible to obtain a reliable conveying force, and thus it is possible to maintain high print quality more reliably.

The recording medium carrying tray according to the third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first or second aspect, the widthwise dimension of the long groove is not uniform.
According to this aspect, since the widthwise dimension of the long groove is not uniform, there is a degree of freedom in arranging the flat surface so that the transport driven roller provided in the main scanning direction does not deviate from the flat surface. As a result, it is possible to match the arrangement interval of the conveyance driven rollers regardless of the arrangement interval.

  The recording medium transport tray according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the recording medium transport tray according to any one of the first to third aspects, and a transport driving roller that is pressed against the back surface and driven to rotate, and a predetermined interval in the main scanning direction. The long groove is arranged so that the conveyance driven roller in the conveyance roller conveying the recording medium conveyance tray does not come off from the flat surface. Is arranged.

  According to this aspect, the conveyance driving roller that is pressed against the back surface and is rotationally driven, and a plurality of conveyance driven rollers that are arranged at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction and are driven to rotate while being pressed against the surface. Since the long groove is arranged so that the conveyance driven roller in the conveyance roller conveying the recording medium conveyance tray does not come off from the flat surface, the conveyance driving of the recording medium conveyance tray by the conveyance driven roller is performed. It is possible to prevent a decrease in the conveying force without reducing the pressing force on the roller.

A recording medium carrying tray according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the concave portion is formed in accordance with a shape of a recording medium having a disk shape. To do.
According to this aspect, since the concave portion is formed in accordance with the shape of a recording medium having a disk shape, in such a recording medium, for example, a recording medium transport tray for printing on an optical disk typified by a compact disk. It is possible to obtain the same effect as the invention described in any of the first to fourth aspects described above.

1 is an external perspective view of an inkjet printer according to the present invention. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of an ink jet printer according to the present invention. It is a side view of the adapter for positioning. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a positioning adapter and a recording medium transport tray. It is a front view of the adapter for positioning. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the back surface of a recording medium transport tray. It is xx sectional drawing of FIG. It is yy sectional drawing of FIG. It is yy sectional drawing of FIG. It is an external appearance perspective view of the positioning adapter. (A) is a top view of the attaching part which attaches the adapter for positioning, (B) is the same front view. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the adapter for positioning is attached. FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a paper path from a conveyance driven roller to a second paper discharge driven roller. FIG. 4 is a side view of a paper discharge stacker and a positioning adapter. It is a side view of a conveyance driven roller holder.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1. 1. Inkjet printer configuration 2. Configuration of positioning adapter, mounting portion of positioning adapter, and recording medium transport tray 3. Means for preventing the first discharge driven roller from contacting the optical disk The recording medium transport tray will be described in the order of the catch prevention means.

<1. Configuration of inkjet printer>
The configuration of an inkjet printer (hereinafter simply referred to as “printer”) 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be outlined below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. 1 is an external perspective view of the printer 1, FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of the printer 1 (FIG. 2 is a paper path from the paper feeding device 5 to the second paper discharge roller 27), and FIG. FIG. 6 is a side view (paper path from the first paper discharge driven roller 30 to the adapter 50).

  First, as shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 has a paper discharge port 1b on the front side of the printer main body 1a, and a paper discharge stacker 4 is connected to the paper stack surface 4a (also FIG. 14). It is attached with a slightly inclined surface. A positioning adapter (hereinafter abbreviated as “adapter”) 50, which will be described in detail later, is detachably attached to the paper discharge port 1b. A recording medium transport tray (hereinafter referred to as “tray”) is attached to the adapter 50. (Abbreviated) 70 is inserted, the tray 70 is supported by the adapter 50, and the position in the direction of the digit in feeding and discharging is regulated. The tray 70 is for setting an optical disk typified by a compact disk. By setting the optical disk on the tray 70, printing can be performed directly on the label surface of the optical disk.

  Next, a paper feed path (paper transport path) in the printer 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 1 includes a paper feeding device 5 at the rear of the device (left side in FIG. 2), and the sheet paper P set in an inclined posture in the paper feeding device 5 is rotated and fed. A first feeding path for feeding in the direction indicated by the circled numeral 1 (hereinafter referred to as “arrow 1”) by the paper roller 13 and an ink jet recording head ( A second feeding path for feeding in a substantially horizontal direction (in the direction of an arrow indicated by a circled numeral 2 (hereinafter referred to as “arrow 2”)) under the “recording head” 21; A third feeding path for manually feeding from the right side of FIG. 2 to the bottom of the recording head 21 in a substantially horizontal direction (in the direction of an arrow indicated by a circled numeral 3 (hereinafter referred to as “arrow 3”)). . Here, the first feeding path is for feeding the flexible cut sheet P, and the second feeding path is a rigid and thick (non-flexible) recording material (for example, The board 3 is used for feeding the tray 70, which will be described in detail later. The paper feeder 5 has a roll paper holder (not shown) detachably attached to the rear side of the apparatus. The roll paper is fed from the roll paper holder and fed to the recording head 21 through the lower side of the paper feeder 5. It is configured so that it can be sent.

  Hereinafter, each component will be outlined. The sheet feeding device 5 includes a hopper 9 made of a plate-like body provided in an inclined posture. The hopper 9 is provided so as to be able to swing around a swing fulcrum 9a provided in the upper part (clockwise and counterclockwise in FIG. 2). The uppermost sheet P stacked on the hopper 9 is fed downstream with the rotation of the paper feed roller 13 by being pressed against and separated from the paper roller 13. The The paper feed roller 13 has a substantially D-shape when viewed from the side, is rotated by a drive motor (not shown), and slips the paper P pressed against the paper feed roller 13 by winding a rubber material on the outer periphery. To feed without. Further, during the precise feeding of the recording material by the transport roller 19 provided on the downstream side, the drive is controlled so that the flat surface faces the paper P as shown in the figure so that a transport load (back tension) does not occur.

  Next, a conveyance roller 19 that precisely feeds the recording material in the sub-scanning direction is provided downstream of the paper feed roller 13. The conveyance roller 19 includes a conveyance drive roller 15 that is rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown), and a conveyance driven roller 17 that is driven to rotate while being in pressure contact with the conveyance drive roller 15. The transport drive roller 15 is composed of a long shaft in the main scanning direction (the front and back direction in FIG. 2), and a high friction layer (FIG. 2) in which wear-resistant particles (for example, ceramic particles) are fixed to the outer peripheral surface by an adhesive. And a precise precision feeding operation can be performed without causing a slip between the back surface of the recording material (the surface opposite to the printing surface). On the other hand, a plurality of transport driven rollers 17 are arranged in the axial direction of the transport drive roller 15 (see FIG. 7), and a shaft is freely rotatable at the downstream end (right side in FIG. 2) of the transport driven roller holder 18. It is supported.

  The transport driven roller holder 18 is provided so as to be pivotable in the clockwise and counterclockwise directions of FIG. 2 around the rotation fulcrum 18a, and the transport driven roller 17 is pressed against the transport drive roller 15 by a biasing means (not shown). It is urged to rotate in the direction (clockwise in FIG. 2). Further, the transport driven roller holder 18 can be rotated in a direction (counterclockwise in FIG. 2) in which the transport driven roller 17 is separated from the transport driving roller 15 by rotation of the cam 10 (see FIG. 15). It has become. Then, by rotating, the transport driven roller 17 is separated from the transport drive roller 15, and by separating, the manual feed path is set when the recording material is manually fed in the directions indicated by the arrows 2 and 3. It is designed to open. The cam 10 (see FIG. 15) described above is configured to be rotated by an operation lever (not shown) that can be operated by the user.

  Next, among the plurality of transport driven roller holders 18 arranged in the axial direction of the transport driving roller 15, the one positioned closest to the 0 digit (the back side of the paper in FIG. 2) is provided with a slot. And a paper detection lever 14 is provided so as to protrude downward from above (see also FIG. 15). The paper detection lever 14 is swingable about the upper part as a rotation center. When the leading end of the paper P passes, the paper detection lever 14 is pushed upward. When the rear end of the paper P passes, the paper detection lever 14 returns downward. The detector detects the swing of the paper detection lever, and transmits a detection signal to a control unit of the printer 1 (not shown), thereby detecting the passage of the paper P and the size (length) of the recording material. Yes. A more detailed configuration of the transport driven roller holder 18 will be described later.

  Next, a recording head 21 and a platen 25 facing the recording head 21 are provided downstream of the conveying roller 19. The recording head 21 is provided below the carriage 23, supplied with ink from an ink cartridge 24 mounted on the carriage 23, and ejects ink droplets onto a recording material pressed against the platen 25. The carriage 23 is guided by a main carriage guide shaft 22a and a sub-carriage guide shaft 22b that are suspended between side frames (not shown) that are erected on the left and right sides of the apparatus 1 and constitute a base body of the printer 1. Is configured to reciprocate in the main scanning direction (the front and back direction in FIG. 2).

  Next, a first paper discharge roller 26 is provided downstream of the recording head 21, and a second paper discharge roller 27 is further provided downstream of the first paper discharge roller 26. The first paper discharge roller 26 and the second paper discharge roller 27 are respectively a first paper discharge drive roller 28 and a second paper discharge drive roller 29 that are rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown), and these rotationally driven rollers. The first paper discharge driven roller 30 and the second paper discharge driven roller 31 that are driven to rotate by being elastically contacted with each other, press the printing paper with these two sets of rollers, The paper is discharged downstream by being driven to rotate. The first paper discharge driven roller 30 is a pointed roller having teeth on the outer periphery that makes point contact with the printing paper, and the second paper discharge driven roller 31 is a rubber roller that is in surface contact with the printing paper.

  Here, a plurality of first paper discharge driven rollers 30 and second paper discharge driven rollers 31 are arranged at a predetermined interval in the main scanning direction (see FIG. 11), and these rollers are arranged in the main scanning direction. It is attached to a lower sheet discharge frame 33 made of a plate-like body that is long in the direction. The lower discharge frame 33 is fixed to left and right side frames (not shown) standing on the left and right sides of the printer 1, and further, a release roller (see FIG. 11), which will be described in detail later, has an upstream on the upstream side as a swing fulcrum. The first discharge follower roller 30 is separated from the first discharge drive roller 28 and the contact position in contact with the first discharge drive roller 28 by swinging. Can be taken. When the first paper discharge driven roller 30 is separated from the first paper discharge driving roller 28, the feeding path for manually feeding the recording material in the directions indicated by the arrows 2 and 3 is opened, and further, The first paper discharge driven roller 30 is not in contact with the printing surface of the recording material. The printer 1 also has a contact preventing means for preventing the first paper discharge driven roller 30 from coming into contact with the printing surface of the recording material. This will be described in detail later.

  Here, the first discharge driven roller 30 is prevented from coming into contact with the printing surface of the recording material for the following reason. That is, the optical disk transported by the tray 70 has a data storage area immediately below the label surface (printing surface). Therefore, when the first paper discharge driven roller 30 having teeth on the outer periphery is pressed against the label surface, the data storage is performed. This is because the area is rarely destroyed.

  In addition, the second paper discharge driven roller 31 can also be separated from the second paper discharge driving roller 29 by a roller up mechanism (not shown), whereby the second paper discharge driven roller 31 is placed on the recording material printing surface. It is also possible to prevent contact. This is because, when the recording material is the optical disc described above, the ejected ink droplets do not easily penetrate the label surface, and it takes a long time to dry, and when the second paper discharge driven roller 31 comes into contact with such a label surface, so-called This is because there is a risk of causing whitening or transfer of ink.

  Next, in FIG. 3, an upper discharge frame 35 is provided above the lower discharge frame 33. The upper discharge frame 35 is fixed to the left and right side frames (not shown) standing on the left and right sides of the printer 1 in the same manner as the lower discharge frame 33, and mounted to attach the adapter 50 to the left side. A portion 37 is provided. The attachment portion 37 has two fitting hole right 38 and fitting hole left 39 (see FIG. 11) on the left and right, and the fitting provided at the tip of the adapter 50 (left side in FIG. 3) in these fitting holes. The adapter 50 is attached to the paper discharge port 1b by fitting the convex right 52 and the fitting convex left 53 (see also FIG. 10). As described above, the tray 70 is inserted into the adapter 50, and the tray 70 is fed from the adapter 50 and discharged to the adapter 50. The detailed configuration of the attachment portion 37 will be described later.

Subsequently, the adapter 50 is detachably attached to the paper discharge port 1b, but the recording material (see arrows 1 and 2 in FIG. 2) fed from the rear side of the printer 1 is the same as the adapter 50. The paper is discharged to a paper discharge stacker 4 that is detachably attached to the paper discharge port 1b. In addition, an auto cutter (not shown) that cuts a cut sheet or roll paper into a predetermined length is detachably attached to the paper discharge port 1b. When the auto cutter is mounted, the paper discharge stacker 4 is attached. It can be removed from the paper discharge port 1b and mounted on the auto cutter.
The above is the overall configuration of the printer 1.

<2. Configuration of positioning adapter, mounting portion, and recording medium transport tray>
Next, the configuration of the adapter 50, the mounting portion 37, and the tray 70 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
First, the configuration of the adapter 50 and the tray 70 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 is a plan view of the adapter 50 and the tray 70, FIG. 5 is a front view of the adapter 50, FIG. 6 is a plan view of the back surface of the tray 70, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line xx in FIG. 9 is a yy sectional view of FIG. FIG. 10 is an external perspective view showing a state where the adapter 50 is removed from the printer 1 and the tray 70 is inserted.

  In FIG. 4, the tray 70 has a disc housing recess 71 formed on the surface (upper surface) of a tray body 70a made of a plate-like body. The disc storage recess 71 is positioned in the digit direction unlike a rectangular printing paper such as a recording material that is not easily fed using the paper feeding path of the printer 1, such as an optical disc represented by a compact disc. Is a recess for storing a recording material having a difficult shape, or a recording material having a size that cannot be passed through the feeding path of the printer 1 due to its small size. In this embodiment, the recording material is compact. A disc (hereinafter referred to as “optical disc”) is stored. Since the tray body 70a is formed of a substantially B5 size plate-like body in the present embodiment, the sheet feeding path of the printer 1 can be used by this, and printing on the label surface of the optical disk set in the disk storage recess 71 is possible. Is possible.

  Next, the convex portion 72 formed at the center of the disc housing concave portion 71 is fitted with a hole (not shown) formed at the central portion of the optical disc so that the set optical disc does not move easily. Hold. In addition, disk take-out holes 73a and 73b are formed at a position located on the outer periphery of the disk in the disk storage recess 71 and deviated toward the front side of the printer 1 (lower side in FIG. 4). The set optical disc can be taken out by putting fingers into the disc taking-out holes 73a and 73b. Here, the disc ejecting holes 73a and 73b are formed at symmetrical positions as shown in FIG. Accordingly, it is possible to take out the optical disc set by inserting the right thumb into the left disc ejection hole 73a, and to remove the optical disc set by inserting the left thumb into the right disc ejection hole 73b. It is possible to improve user convenience. Further, a gripping portion 74 protruding upward from the tray body 70a is formed on the front side of the tray body 70a (lower side in FIG. 4) (see also FIG. 1). Thus, the workability of inserting or extracting the printer into or from the printer 1 is improved.

  Subsequently, a plurality of long grooves (the hatched portions in FIG. 4) extending in the sub-scanning direction (up and down direction in FIG. 4) are formed in the tray body 70a at predetermined intervals in the digit direction (left and right direction in FIG. 4). Has been. Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the long groove is formed on both the front surface and the back surface of the tray body 70a. This is due to the following reason. That is, in the present embodiment, the tray body 70a is integrally formed by resin molding from the viewpoint of cost reduction or the like. However, in order to ensure a sufficient depth of the disk storage recess 71, a certain thickness ( For example, 3 mm) is required. However, when molding a plate-like body having such a thickness, molding defects such as warpage and non-uniform thickness dimensions occur at the time of molding, so the amount of resin can be reduced by forming long grooves as described above. As a result, warping during molding, non-uniformity in thickness, and the like are reduced.

  The long grooves shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 are also formed from the following viewpoints. That is, the tray main body 70a is nipped by the transport driving roller 15 and the transport driven roller 17 (see FIG. 2), and is transported by the transport driving roller 15 being rotationally driven. Therefore, the back surface of the tray main body 70 a becomes a roller contact surface for obtaining a conveyance force due to the rotation of the conveyance drive roller 15. On the other hand, if an infinite number of ribs are formed on the back surface of the tray main body 70a in order to prevent warping during the molding of the tray main body 70a, the contact area with the transport driving roller 15 is reduced, and the paper feed accuracy is lowered to perform printing. There is also a risk that the quality may deteriorate. However, in this embodiment, in the tray body 70a, long grooves extending in the sub-scanning direction instead of ribs are formed on both the front surface and the back surface, and a space between two adjacent long grooves is formed as a flat surface ( (See also FIG. 7). Therefore, by forming long grooves on both the front and back surfaces, the amount of resin is reliably reduced and a flat surface is formed between two adjacent long grooves, so that a sufficient roller contact area can be obtained. Therefore, it is possible to realize reliable conveyance by the conveyance drive roller 15 while preventing occurrence of molding defects such as warpage and uneven thickness.

  In the present embodiment, many long grooves are not formed on the back surface of the tray main body 70a, but are formed so as to be substantially uniform on the front surface and the back surface (see FIG. 7). Therefore, the area of the flat surface on the front surface and the area of the flat surface on the back surface are approximately equal as shown in FIG. 7, and a reliable conveying force by the conveying driving roller 15 can be obtained.

  Moreover, about the long groove formed in the surface, the groove width and arrangement | positioning space | interval are set from the following viewpoints. That is, in FIG. 7, the conveyance driven roller 17 that is in pressure contact with the surface is indicated by phantom lines. is doing. Therefore, the pressing force of the tray main body 70a against the transport driving roller 15 by the transport driven roller 17 does not decrease, and the tray main body 70a is firmly pressed against the transport driving roller 15, thereby preventing the transport force from being lowered. ing. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 6, the plurality of long grooves arranged in the girder direction are formed so that the widths and intervals are not uniform, but they are arranged so as to be uniform. It doesn't matter. When uniform, it is desirable to set the width of the long groove and the arrangement interval so that the conveyance driven roller 17 does not come off the flat surface. Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, since the opposite side of the long groove is a flat surface and the opposite side of the flat surface is a long groove, there is no portion where the wall thickness becomes extremely thin. Therefore, warpage or the like due to changes in use or over time is prevented.

  Next, in FIGS. 4 and 5, the adapter 50 includes a support plate 51 that supports the tray body 70 a from below, and a grip right 55 and a grip left 56 that are provided on both side ends of the support plate 51. The insides of the grip right 55 and the grip left 56 are hollow portions into which both end sides of the tray 70 are inserted. A plurality of ribs 57 extending in the sub-scanning direction are formed on the upper surface of the support plate 51 at a predetermined interval in the main scan direction, thereby reducing the frictional resistance when the tray 70 slides on the support plate 51. Therefore, a smooth paper supply / discharge operation can be executed.

  Next, the tray 70 and the adapter 50 are provided with “drop-off prevention means” that makes it difficult to remove the tray 70 from the adapter 50 after the tray 70 is inserted into the adapter 50. More specifically, after the tray 70 is inserted into the adapter 50, the drop-off prevention means prevents the tray 70 from dropping by regulating the sliding range of the tray 70 in the front-rear direction (vertical direction in FIG. 4) with respect to the adapter 50. To do.

  That is, on the surface of the tray main body 70a, protrusions 75 as "front side engaging portions" protruding upward are formed on both side end sides of the tray main body 70a in the vicinity of the downstream side (lower side in FIG. 4). Yes. On the other hand, the adapter 50 is provided with stopper portions 58 as “first engaging portions” that can be engaged with the protrusions 75 on the upstream side (the upper side in FIG. 4) of the adapter 50 and on both side ends of the adapter 50. (See also FIG. 8). Therefore, when the tray 70 is slid in the insertion direction (left direction in FIG. 8) as shown in FIG. 8A, the protrusion 75 comes into contact with the stopper portion 58 as shown in FIG. Reference numeral 70 denotes a slide limit position in the insertion direction with respect to the adapter 50 (printer 1).

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, on the back side of the tray body 70a, recesses 76 as "back side engaging portions" are formed on the upstream side (upper side in FIG. 6) on both side ends of the tray body 70a. Yes. The concave portion 76 is formed by forming a convex portion 77 on the upstream side of the long groove 81 formed on both side ends on the back surface of the tray body 70a. On the other hand, on the adapter 50 side, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, a protrusion 60 as a “second engaging portion” that can be engaged with the recess 76 is provided at the distal end portion of the elastic piece 59. It can come into elastic contact with the back surface of 70a. Further, the protrusion 60 is disposed at a position where the protrusion 60 is inserted into the long groove 81 formed on the back surface of the tray main body 70 a, and the tray 70 slides with respect to the adapter 50 with the protrusion 60 inserted into the long groove 81. It has become.

  Hereinafter, the function of the protrusion 60 will be described. When the tray 70 is inserted into the adapter 50 as shown in FIG. 9A, the protrusion 60 is fitted into the recess 76 as shown in FIG. 9B. Here, the protrusion 60 has an inclined surface 60a that can easily get over the convex portion 77 when the tray 70 is inserted in the insertion direction (left direction in FIG. 9). 60 gets over the convex portion 77 and enters the long groove 81. Next, after the protrusion 60 once enters the long groove 81, when the tray 70 slides in the pulling direction (right direction in FIG. 9), the convex portion 77 has a slope 77 a that allows the protrusion 60 to easily get over. Therefore, the protrusion 60 gets over the convex portion 77 and enters the concave portion 60. However, the protrusion 60 and the recess 76 are shaped so as to be caught on the edge of the recess 76 when the tray 70 slides in the pulling direction with the protrusion 60 fitted in the recess 76 (see FIG. 9B). Thus, the slide limit position in the pulling direction of the tray 70 (the right direction in FIG. 9) is defined.

  As described above, the protrusion 75 and the recess 76 formed on the tray 70 side described above, and the stopper portion 58 and the protrusion 60 provided on the adapter 50 side serve as drop prevention means for preventing the tray 70 from dropping from the adapter 50. Constitute. Hereinafter, the function and effect of the dropout prevention means will be described.

  The adapter 50 and the tray 70 are integrated with each other by the drop-off preventing means. When the tray 70 and the adapter 50 are integrated as described above, the user does not need to perform a two-step operation of attaching the adapter 50 to the printer 1 and then inserting the tray 70 into the adapter 50. That is, when the adapter 50 is attached to the printer 1, the tray 70 is automatically set. Therefore, workability at the time of manual feeding using the tray 70 is improved, and even if the adapter 50 is detached from the printer 1, the adapter is improved. Since the 50 and the tray 70 are integrated, the storability is improved, thereby improving the convenience for the user.

  In addition, the mounting portion 37 (see FIG. 1) to which the adapter 50 is attached is provided at a position biased to the left side of the printer 1 as shown in FIG. 1, whereby the tray 70 is fed from the position biased to the left side in the printer 1. Paper is then ejected. On the other hand, the paper detection lever 14 described with reference to FIG. 1 is arranged on the right side of the printer 1 (hereinafter referred to as “0 digit side” as appropriate), and the tray 70 is manually fed without using the adapter 50. In the case where feeding is possible, the leading end of the tray 70 may be inserted from the position where it contacts the paper detection lever 14, that is, the position on the 0 digit side. In such a case, the paper detection lever 14 may be broken. . However, as described above, the adapter 50 and the tray 70 are integrated, and when the tray 70 is inserted, it is necessary to attach the adapter 50. As a result, the feeding position of the tray 70 is fixed at a certain position. There is no risk of breaking the paper detection lever 14. In addition, it is not necessary to adopt a configuration in which the paper detection lever 14 is retracted upward when the tray 70 is manually fed, and the cost increase of the printer 1 can be suppressed.

  Further, referring back to FIG. 4, a guide groove 79 extending in the sub-scanning direction is formed at the side end portion on the 0 digit side of the tray 70, while the adapter 50 is engaged with the guide groove 79 in the sub-scanning direction. A guide rail 61 (see also FIGS. 5 and 7) is provided. When the tray 70 is inserted into the adapter 50, the guide rail 61 enters the guide groove 79, and the tray 70 slides with respect to the adapter 50 in the inserted state. Accordingly, the tray 70 is fed and discharged straight without being skewed, and the position in the beam direction at the time of feeding and discharging is surely fixed at a certain position, thereby obtaining an appropriate printing result. In addition, it is not necessary to perform alignment in the digit direction when feeding paper, so that workability is good. In this embodiment, the guide groove is provided on the tray 70 side and the guide rail is provided on the adapter 50 side. However, the same effect can be obtained even if the guide rail is provided on the tray 50 side and the guide groove is provided on the adapter 50 side. An effect can be obtained.

  By the way, in the state where the projection 60 enters the recess 76 in FIG. 9, the tray 70 can slide in the insertion direction (left direction in FIG. 9) as described above. Since the protrusions 60 are elastically inserted into the recesses 76, the sliding movement of the tray 70 in both directions of insertion and extraction (the left-right direction in FIG. 9) is restricted with a constant force when the protrusions 60 are inserted into the recesses 76. As a result, the position of the tray 70 relative to the adapter 50 is maintained. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 10A, a flat surface 63 that forms a plane orthogonal to the tray 70 inserted into the adapter 50 is formed at the tip of the adapter 50. By the flat surface 63, FIG. As shown in (B), when the adapter 50 is removed from the printer 1, the adapter 50 can stably stand on the placement surface F with the tray 70 standing upright. Therefore, the position of the tray 70 with respect to the adapter 50 is maintained in this way, and the tray 70 can be held in an upright state, so that the storage space for the adapter 50 and the tray 70 can be saved. It can be improved.

  The drop prevention means described above is an example, and any configuration may be used as long as the tray 70 is slidable with respect to the adapter 50 and does not fall off from the adapter 50.

  Next, the configuration of the attachment portion 37 to which the adapter 50 is attached will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 11A is a plan view of the attachment portion 37, and FIG. 11B is a front view of the attachment portion 37. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the work of attaching the adapter 50 to the attachment portion 37.

  In FIG. 11, the attachment portion 37 has two openings on the left and right, that is, a fitting hole right 38 and a fitting hole left 39. Both the fitting hole right 38 and the fitting hole left 39 have a rectangular opening shape, and are formed so as to open toward the paper discharge direction at a position where the paper discharge port 1b of the printer 1 is visible from the outside. Has been. On the other hand, a fitting convex right 52 and a fitting convex left 53 are provided on both sides of the tip of the adapter 50 as shown in FIGS. 10 (A), 12 (A), 4 and the like. Accordingly, when the adapter 50 is attached to the attachment portion 37, the user holds the grip right 55 and the grip left 56 provided on both sides of the adapter 50 with both hands, and takes the adapter 50 to the attachment portion 37, and as it is. If the fitting convex portion 52 and the fitting convex portion 53 are inserted into the fitting hole right 38 and the fitting hole left 39 in that direction (FIG. 10B), the adapter 50 can be attached to the attachment portion 37. it can.

In other words, the fitting hole right 38 and the fitting hole left 39 are formed so as to be opened from the outside at the paper discharge port 1b and toward the paper discharge direction as shown in FIG. Therefore, when attaching the adapter 50 to the printer 1, the user can visually recognize where the tip of the adapter 50 is inserted, and the direction in which the adapter 50 is brought to the paper discharge port 1 b and the tip of the adapter 50. Since the fitting protrusion right 52 and the fitting protrusion left 53 provided in the part have the same direction as the insertion into the fitting hole right 38 and the fitting hole left 39, the operation at the time of attachment (and removal) Improves.
Moreover, since the both ends of the adapter 50 are the grip part right 55 and the grip part left 56 which make the grip shape easy to hold by hand, the workability at the time of attachment or detachment of the adapter 50 is improved. Further, if the mounting portion 37, more specifically, the peripheral portion of the fitting hole right 38 and the fitting hole left 39, the fitting convex portion right 52, and the fitting convex portion left 53 are made the same color, the discriminability is further improved. improves.

  By the way, in this embodiment, the width dimension of the fitting convex part right 52 and the fitting convex part left 53 is substantially the same, and the width dimension of the fitting hole left 39 is the width of the fitting hole right 38. The fitting convex part right 52 is fitted to the fitting hole right 38 without a gap, while the fitting convex part left 53 is fitted to the fitting hole left 39. Clearance is generated when mated with the. As a result, manufacturing intersections of components can be absorbed, and manufacturing costs of the adapter 50 or the mounting portion 37 can be moderated, so that the cost of the components can be reduced. The position can be determined reliably.

  In addition, the fitting hole right 38 is provided with a detection end 41 and a detection part 42 for detecting that the fitting convex right 52 on the adapter 50 side is fitted into the fitting hole right 38. One end side of the detection end 41 is swingably held in the detection portion 42, and the other end side protrudes into the fitting hole right 38, and the fitting convex portion right 52 is fitted to the fitting hole right 38. When it is inserted, the detection end 41 swings (clockwise in FIG. 11A), whereby the detection unit 42 transmits a detection signal to a control unit (not shown) of the printer 1. Accordingly, the control unit (not shown) of the printer 1 can recognize that the adapter 50 is attached to the main body of the printer 1, so that the rear side of the apparatus (left side in FIG. 2) when the adapter 50 is attached. ) From the front of the apparatus (right side in FIG. 2) can be prevented from being performed, and it is possible to prevent a problem that the paper is caught by the adapter 50 and becomes a paper jam.

  In this embodiment, the adapter 50 is configured as a dedicated component for appropriately feeding the tray 70. However, not only the tray 70 but also printing paper (for example, thin cut paper or A thick board or the like) may be fed from the adapter 50 and discharged onto the adapter 50. In this case, the adapter 50 functions as a paper feed tray and a paper discharge tray that support the printing paper from below, and also functions to regulate the position in the digit direction during paper feeding.

<3. Means for Preventing Contact of First Discharged Follower Roller with Optical Disk>
Next, since there is a data storage area immediately below the printing surface of the optical disk set on the tray 70 as described above, the printer 1 has the first paper discharge driven roller 30 having teeth on the outer periphery set on the tray 70. Means for preventing contact with the printed surface of the optical disk. Hereinafter, a means for preventing the first discharge driven roller 30 from contacting the optical disk printing surface will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. Here, FIG. 13 is a side sectional view of a paper path from the conveyance driven roller 17 to the second paper discharge driven roller 31, and FIG. 14 is a side view of the paper discharge stacker 4 and the adapter 50.

  First, in FIG. 13, when the tray 70 is inserted toward the upstream side from between the second discharge driving roller 29 and the second discharge driven roller 31, the front end of the tray body 70 a becomes the discharge frame. It contacts the release roller 34 pivotally supported on the lower 33. As shown in FIG. 11, the release roller 34 is pivotally supported on the 80th digit side (left side in FIG. 11) of the lower discharge frame 33 and on the upstream side (left side in FIG. 13) of the lower discharge frame 33. As shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of first paper discharge driven rollers 30 arranged in the digit direction are provided so as to protrude slightly downward. On the other hand, the lower discharge frame 33 is provided so as to be able to swing around a swing fulcrum (not shown) on the downstream side (right side in FIG. 13), and by swinging, the first discharge driven roller 30 becomes the first. A separation position and a pressure contact position can be set with respect to the paper discharge driving roller 28. Therefore, when the tray 70 is inserted, the tray body 70a pushes the release roller 34 upward, swings the lower discharge frame 33, and the first discharge driven roller 30 is driven by the first discharge drive as shown in FIG. The roller 28 is separated from the roller 28. That is, the first paper discharge driven roller 30 is automatically retracted upward without any special operation by the user when the tray 70 with the optical disk (indicated by the symbol Q in FIG. 13) is inserted. This ensures that the first paper discharge driven roller 30 does not contact the optical disk printing surface set on the tray 70.

  Next, secondly, in FIG. 13, the distance from the tip of the tray body 70a to the end of the optical disk Q (the edge of the recess 71 formed in the tray body 70a (see FIG. 4)) (FIG. 13A). In FIG. 13, the tray 70 is configured such that the distance indicated by the symbol L <b> 1 in FIG. 13 is greater than the distance from the conveyance driven roller 17 to the first paper discharge driven roller 30 (the distance indicated by the symbol L <b> 2 in FIG. (In other words, the distance L2 between the transport driven roller 17 and the paper discharge driven roller 30 is configured to be smaller than the distance L1). This is due to the following reasons. That is, when the tray 70 is inserted, the first discharge driven roller 30 is separated from the first discharge driving roller 28 and retracts upward as described above, but the front end of the tray 70 is free. In the state (the state shown in FIG. 13A), when the front side of the tray 70 (the right side in FIG. 13) is displaced downward, the tip of the tray 70 is lifted upward, and the optical disc Q is ejected from the first sheet. There is a risk of contact with the driven roller 30.

  On the other hand, when the tray 70 is manually fed, as described above, the transport driven roller 17 is separated from the transport drive roller 15 and retreated upward by the user's operation. After entering between the transfer drive roller 15 and the transport driving roller 15, the upper end of the tray 70 is restricted from being displaced in the vertical direction by these two rollers, so that the front end of the tray 70 is not lifted upward. That is, the optical disk Q must exist under the first paper discharge driven roller 30 in a state where the leading end of the tray 70 does not reach the transport driven roller 17 and the transport drive roller 15 (the state shown in FIG. 13A). For example, even if the front end of the tray 70 is lifted upward, the optical disc Q does not come into contact with the first paper discharge driven roller 30. From such a point of view, the distance L1 shown in FIG. 13A is configured to be larger than the distance L2, whereby the front end of the tray 70 is lifted upward, and the optical disk Q is moved to the first discharge driven roller 30. It does not come into contact.

  Next, the adapter 50 is configured to be supported from below by the paper discharge stacker 4 when the adapter 50 is attached to the printer 1 in FIG. That is, in a state where the adapter 50 is attached to the printer 1, the adapter 50 (the grip right 55 and the grip left 56 (see FIG. 5)) is arranged so that the lower part of the adapter 50 contacts the stack surface 4a of the paper discharge stacker 4. As a result, the front side of the tray 70 (the right side in FIG. 14) is not displaced downward, so that the front end side of the tray 70 is not lifted upward, and the first discharge driven roller of the optical disc Q is more reliably secured. 30 can be prevented, and the distance from the recording head 21 (see FIG. 2) is also kept constant, so that the print quality can be prevented from deteriorating.

<4. Means for preventing catching of recording medium transport tray>
Next, the means for preventing catching of the tray 70 will be described with reference to FIG. 15 and other drawings as appropriate. Here, FIG. 15 is a side view of the conveyance driven roller holder 18.
As shown in FIG. 15, the transport driven roller holder 18 that pivotally supports the transport driven roller 17 so as to freely rotate has a rotating shaft 18a. Further, the transport driven roller 17 is transported by the urging means (not shown). It is urged to rotate in the direction of pressure contact. On the other hand, a cam 10 that rotates about a rotation shaft 10a is disposed above the rear portion (left side in FIG. 15) of the rotation center 18a, and the conveyance driven roller 18 is rotated when the cam 10 rotates. The cam surface 18b and the cam surface 18c formed above are pushed down, thereby rotating the conveyance driven roller holder 18 (conveyance driven roller 18 ') against the urging means, thereby conveying the conveyance driven roller 17 ( The transport driven roller 17 ′) is separated from the transport drive roller 15. The cam 10 is configured to rotate when a user operates an operation lever (not shown).

  Here, the cam surface 18c shown by the phantom line in FIG. 15 is the conveyance driven roller holder (indicated by reference numeral 18 ′ in FIG. 15) that supports the conveyance driven roller indicated by reference numeral 17 ′ in FIG. Is a cam surface of a transport driven roller holder (also denoted by reference numeral 18 'in FIG. 15) through which the paper detection lever 14 passes, and as shown in the figure, than the cam surface 18b of another transport driven roller holder 18 It is set below. As a result, when the cam 10 is rotated, the rotation angle of the conveyance driven roller holder 18 'is smaller than that of the other conveyance driven roller holders 18 as shown in FIG. 15B, and FIG. The conveyance driven roller indicated by the reference numeral 17 ′ has a slight retreat amount upward from the other conveyance driven rollers 17.

  Hereinafter, the reason for this configuration will be described. First, when an optical disk is set in the disk storage recess 71 (see FIG. 4), if the optical disk protrudes upward from the tray body 70a (a step is generated), the paper path is inserted when the tray 70 is inserted into the printer 1. Since there is a risk of being caught by the upper components, for example, the bottom of the paper feeder 5 shown in FIG. 2, the depth of the disc storage recess 71 is set so that the optical disc is printed when the optical disc is set as shown in FIG. The surface and the surface of the tray main body 70a are set to be substantially flush with each other (see FIG. 13). However, since the tray 70 is formed by integral molding using a resin material in the present embodiment, the tray 70 is slightly flexible and may be warped during molding. Therefore, this may cause the optical disk to protrude upward from the tray body 70a, resulting in a step.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the separated position of the two transport driven rollers 17 ′ located at the approximate center of the disc storage recess 71, that is, the approximate center of the optical disc to be set, is shown in FIG. Further, it is configured to be slightly lower than the other transport driven rollers 17. As a result, the set optical disk is pressed from above by the transport driven roller 17 ′, the lift from the tray body 70 a is corrected, the catch when the tray 70 is inserted is prevented, and smooth manual feeding can be performed. Since the other transport driven rollers 17 are configured to be separated to a position where they do not contact the tray main body 70a, the tray main body 70a is not pressed against the transport driven rollers 17 from above, and can be smoothly loaded without load. Manual feeding is possible.

  On the other hand, among the transport driven roller holders indicated by reference numeral 18 'in FIG. 15, a slot for projecting the paper detection lever 14 downward is formed as described above for the one positioned closest to the 0th digit, When the transport driven roller 18 ′ rotates, the edge 18d of the slot comes into contact with the paper detection lever 14 and pushes the paper detection lever 14 upward. Here, the cam surface of the conveyance driven roller holder 18 'is set below the cam surface 18b of the other conveyance driven roller holder 18 as indicated by reference numeral 18c for the following reason. That is, the paper detection lever 14 is provided so as to be rotatable about a rotation shaft 14a, and is pushed up by the leading edge of the printing paper fed from the upstream side (the left side in FIG. 15), thereby leading to the leading edge of the printing paper. Is detected. However, if the paper detection lever 14 is rotated at the same time when the conveyance driven roller holder 18 is rotated so as to retract the conveyance driven roller 17 upward, the passage of the printing paper is erroneously detected or the printing paper is detected. There is a risk that the timing for detecting the passage of the above will deviate from normal. Therefore, the cam surface 18c pushed down by the cam 10 is set below the other cam surface b, and the rotation angle of the transport driven roller holder 18 ′ is reduced so that the paper detection lever 14 is not pushed up. is doing.

  As described above, according to the present invention, long grooves extending in the sub-scanning direction are formed on the front surface and the back surface of the recording medium transport tray, and a flat surface is formed between two adjacent long grooves. Since it is formed, it is possible to obtain a reliable conveying force by the conveying roller while preventing the occurrence of molding defects such as warpage and uneven thickness.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printer, 1b Paper discharge port, 4 Paper discharge stacker, 5 Paper feed device, 10 cam, 10a Cam shaft, 14 Paper detection lever, 15 Transport drive roller, 17 Transport driven roller holder, 18 Transport driven roller holder, 19 Transport roller , 21 Inkjet recording head, 26 First discharge roller, 27 Second discharge roller, 28 First discharge drive roller, 29 Second discharge drive roller, 30 First discharge driven roller, 31 Second discharge driven Roller, 33 Under discharge frame, 34 Release roller, 35 Above discharge frame, 37 Mounting part, 38 Fitting hole right, 39 Fitting hole left, 50 Adapter for positioning, 52 Fitting convex part right, 53 Fitting convex part Part left, 55 grip right, 56 grip left, 58 stopper part, 59 elastic piece, 60 protrusion, 61 guide rail, 63 flat part, 70 Recording medium transport tray, 70a tray body, 71 disk storage recess, 72 protrusion, 73 takeout hole, 74 gripper, 75 stopper, 76 recess, 77 protrusion, 79 guide groove, P printing paper, Q optical disk.

Claims (4)

Have a recess for setting the recording medium conveyance using a recording material transport path in the recording apparatus for recording on a recording medium having a non-easy form, it is formed by resin molding, the recording material transport path A recording medium transport tray made of a plate-shaped body that can be easily transported using
In the range excluding the concave portion of the recording medium carrying tray , a plurality of long grooves extending in the sub-scanning direction and formed at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction are formed on both the front surface and the back surface,
The portion adjacent to the long groove forms a flat surface extending in the sub-scanning direction, which is in pressure contact with a conveyance roller that conveys the recording medium conveyance tray in the recording apparatus ,
The flat surface is formed at least on both sides of the concave portion in the main scanning direction so as to extend toward the front end and the rear end of the recording medium transport tray without being interrupted, and the area of the flat surface on the surface It is formed so that the areas of the flat surface on the back surface are approximately equal.
A recording medium carrying tray.   The recording medium carrying tray according to claim 1, wherein the long grooves are not uniform in the width direction. 3. The recording medium transport tray according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of transport drive rollers that are pressed against the back surface and driven to rotate are arranged at predetermined intervals in the main scanning direction, and are pressed against the front surface to be driven. The long groove is arranged so that the conveyance driven roller in the conveyance roller that conveys the recording medium conveyance tray is configured not to be detached from the flat surface.
A recording medium carrying tray. The recording medium transport tray according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the concave portion is formed in accordance with a shape of a recording medium having a disk shape. .

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