JP5082984B2 - RECORDING MEDIUM CONVEYING DEVICE AND INKJET RECORDING DEVICE - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording medium conveyance device and an inkjet recording device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink jet recording apparatus is known in which a recording medium is adsorbed on an endless conveying belt and conveyed, and ink is landed on the recording medium from a recording head in the conveying process.

  In such an ink jet recording apparatus, when a recording medium is transported and a recording operation is performed, ink may be ejected onto a transport belt instead of the recording medium due to a transport failure of the recording medium. In addition, when recording a so-called borderless image in which ink is ejected over a region slightly larger than the size of the recording medium, ink is ejected onto the conveyance belt around the recording medium. At this time, if the ink ejected on the conveying belt is left unattended, the ink adheres to the back surface of the recording medium and the recording quality is deteriorated. In addition, there is a problem that the ink lowers the adsorption force of the conveying belt and consequently the conveying performance.

Therefore, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 9, there is provided a cleaning means 200 for removing ink that has landed on the belt 300 from the recording head 400 (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The cleaning unit 200 mainly includes a brush roller 201, a straight brush 202, and a liquid absorbing member 203, and removes ink on the belt 300 by acting as follows. First, the brush roller 201 in contact with the belt 300 removes ink and foreign matters adhering to the surface of the belt 300 while scooping up the cleaning liquid 205 in the cleaning rod 204. Next, the straight brush 202 on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the brush roller 201 scrapes and removes ink remaining on the surface of the belt 300 and droplets of the cleaning liquid 205. Then, the liquid absorbing member 203 on the downstream side in the transport direction of the straight brush 202 absorbs the remaining liquid droplets on the surface of the belt 300.
JP 2008-44108 A

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, the brush roller cleans the surface of the conveyor belt, that is, the conveyor surface while scooping up the cleaning liquid in the cleaning bowl, so that the cleaning liquid is scattered outside the cleaning bowl. As a result, a large amount of cleaning liquid was consumed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium transport apparatus that can clean the transport surface without consuming a large amount of cleaning liquid.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 is a recording medium conveying apparatus for conveying a recording medium on which an image is recorded by landing of ink,
A transport member that transports the recording medium in a predetermined transport direction while supporting the recording medium on a transport surface;
Cleaning means for cleaning the transport surface by contacting the transport surface from below;
An outer cylinder in which an injection hole is formed, and a rotatable inner cylinder that is located inside the outer cylinder and in which an injection hole is formed, and the injection hole of the outer cylinder is rotated by rotating the inner cylinder The cleaning liquid supplied from the inside of the inner cylinder is ejected from the injection hole of the outer cylinder by communicating the nozzle and the injection hole of the inner cylinder, and the cleaning of the conveying surface of the conveying member is performed. Injection means for directly injecting the cleaning liquid to the region located upstream of the means in the conveying direction ;
A storage unit that is provided below the region where the cleaning liquid is sprayed and the spraying unit, and stores and stores the cleaning liquid to be dropped.
Liquid feeding means for feeding the cleaning liquid stored in the storage means to the ejection means;
Equipped with a,
The outer cylinder of the injection means is configured to be rotatable so as to change the injection direction of the cleaning liquid to be injected from the injection hole .

Invention of Claim 2 is a recording medium conveyance apparatus of Claim 1, Comprising:
The storage means is
A cleaning bowl as a container for storing the cleaning liquid;
Drainage means for draining the stored cleaning liquid from the bottom of the cleaning bowl to the outside of the cleaning bowl;
Overflow means for draining the cleaning liquid exceeding a predetermined water level outside the cleaning basin;
Water supply means for supplying the cleaning liquid to the cleaning bowl;
A remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of the cleaning liquid to be stored;
Control means for controlling the drainage means and the water supply means based on the remaining amount of the cleaning liquid detected by the remaining amount detection means;
It is characterized by having.

Invention of Claim 3 is a recording medium conveyance apparatus of Claim 2, Comprising:
The cleaning tub has a liquid feed port communicating with the liquid feed means and a supply port communicated with the water supply means in the vicinity of each other.

Invention of Claim 4 is a recording-medium conveying apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-3,
The liquid feeding means includes filter means for removing foreign substances from the cleaning liquid.

Invention of Claim 5 is a recording-medium conveying apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-4, Comprising:
The liquid feeding means includes a pump that can be driven independently from the ejection means.

Invention of Claim 6 is a recording-medium conveying apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-5,
A cleaning brush is provided that contacts the transport surface and scrapes the droplets adhering to the transport surface into the cleaning tub.

The invention described in claim 7 is the recording medium conveying apparatus according to claim 6,
The cleaning rod is provided integrally with the cleaning brush, and is supported to be rotatable in a direction in which the cleaning brush and the transport surface are separated from each other.

The invention according to claim 8 is an ink jet recording apparatus,
A recording medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1 is provided.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the outer cylinder in which the injection hole is formed, and the rotatable inner cylinder that is positioned inside the outer cylinder and in which the injection hole is formed are provided. The cleaning liquid sprayed from the injection hole of the outer cylinder while spraying the cleaning liquid supplied from the inside of the inner cylinder by causing the injection hole of the outer cylinder and the injection hole of the inner cylinder to communicate with each other The outer cylinder is configured to be rotatable so as to change the direction, and a jetting unit that jets the cleaning liquid directly to a region of the transport surface of the transport member that is located upstream of the cleaning unit in the transport direction; And a jetting means that is provided below the jetting means and that stores and stores the cleaning liquid and a liquid feeding means that feeds the cleaning liquid stored in the storing means to the jetting means. The cleaning liquid helps to clean the foreign material adhering to the transport surface by cleaning the cleaning means. Rutotomoni, is housed in the storage means dropwise, is fed again to the injection means through the fluid supply means. That is, the conveyance surface can be cleaned while circulating the cleaning liquid. Therefore, the transport surface can be cleaned without consuming a large amount of cleaning liquid as in the prior art.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the storage means includes a drain means for draining the cleaning liquid, an overflow means for draining the cleaning liquid exceeding a predetermined water level, a water supply means for supplying the cleaning liquid, and a cleaning liquid. And a control means for controlling the drainage means and the water supply means on the basis of the remaining amount of the cleaning liquid detected by the remaining amount detection means. While removing the floating foreign substance, the remaining amount of the cleaning liquid can be controlled. Accordingly, the stored cleaning liquid can be kept clean and an appropriate remaining amount of the cleaning liquid can be secured.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the cleaning bowl has the liquid supply port and the supply port in the vicinity of each other, the fresh cleaning liquid supplied from the supply port is supplied to the ejecting means through the liquid supply port. Easy to be. Accordingly, a cleaner cleaning liquid is sprayed onto the conveyance surface, so that foreign matters adhering to the conveyance surface can be more effectively washed away, and cleaning of the conveyance surface by the cleaning unit is more effectively performed.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, since the liquid feeding means has the filter means for removing foreign substances from the cleaning liquid, the foreign substances in the cleaning liquid to be fed can be filtered. Therefore, the clogging of the circulation path can be prevented and a cleaner cleaning liquid can be sprayed onto the transport surface.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the liquid feeding means includes a pump that can be driven independently from the ejection means, the liquid feeding means regardless of the ejection of the cleaning liquid onto the conveying surface by the ejection means. It can be performed. Therefore, for example, when the amount of ink adhering to the transport surface is small, the ejection unit or the pump is not driven, so that the cleaning liquid can be ejected and fed without using unnecessary driving power.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, since the cleaning brush for scraping the liquid droplets adhering to the transport surface into the cleaning basket is provided, the liquid droplets from the transport surface by light contact as compared with the conventionally used PET sheet. Can be scraped off. Therefore, compared to the conventional case, noise due to rubbing and damage to the transport member during the transport operation, particularly when the transport direction of the transport member is reversed, can be reduced.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the cleaning rod is provided integrally with the cleaning brush and is rotatably supported in a direction in which the cleaning brush and the conveyance surface are separated from each other, so that the cleaning rod is supported by hand. The cleaning brush can be separated from the conveying surface without necessity. Therefore, cleaning of the cleaning rod and cleaning and replacement of the cleaning brush can be easily performed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of an ink jet recording apparatus 100 according to the present invention.

  As shown in this figure, an ink jet recording apparatus 100 mainly includes a recording medium transport apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a transport apparatus) 1 and a recording head 2, and transports a recording medium P by the transport apparatus 1, and its transport process. Thus, ink is landed on the recording medium P from the recording head 2 to perform image recording. Further, the ink jet recording apparatus 100 can record a so-called borderless image in which ink is ejected from the recording head 2 over a region slightly larger than the size of the recording medium P.

  The conveying device 1 includes a driving roller 3, a driven roller 4, an endless belt 5, and a cleaning device 6. In this conveying device 1, an endless belt 5 is stretched between a driving roller 3 and a driven roller 4 that are juxtaposed with each other at a predetermined interval, and a cleaning device 6 that cleans the endless belt 5 is located near the lower side of the driving roller 3. Is provided.

  The endless belt 5 has a surface 5a as a recording medium conveying surface, and rotates at a predetermined speed counterclockwise in FIG. 1 by the rotational driving of the driving roller 3, and the recording medium P supported by the surface 5a is moved in the A direction. It is designed to be transported towards. The surface 5a of the endless belt 5 has adhesiveness, and the recording medium P can be adsorbed by the adhesive force. Further, the recording medium P may be attracted by electrostatic attraction.

  As the recording medium P, for example, a recording medium usually used for ink jet recording, such as paper, fabric, plastic film, glass plate or the like, can be used. The recording medium P may be in the form of a sheet cut to a predetermined size, or may be in the form of a long sheet that is continuously fed from the original winding wound in a roll shape.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning device 6 includes a brush roller 7, a straight brush 8, an injection cylinder 9, and a storage device 10.

  The brush roller 7 is provided between the straight brush 8 and the injection cylinder 9, and is formed in a roller shape by brushing bristles 7b around the brush shaft 7a. The brush shaft 7a is formed in a length that is the same as or slightly longer than the printable width, and is supported by a brush support (not shown) at both ends so as to extend in the width direction of the endless belt 5. . The tip of the brush bristles 7b is in normal contact with the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 from below. In FIG. 2, illustration of a part of the brush bristles 7 b is omitted for simplification of illustration.

  The brush roller 7 is a cleaning unit in the present invention, and when the endless belt 5 is transported, the brush roller 7 rubs against the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 and deposits such as ink, dust, and dust (hereinafter referred to as ink). Perform cleaning to remove. This cleaning is more effectively performed by ejecting the cleaning liquid L from the ejection cylinder 9 onto the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 upstream of the brush roller 7 in the conveying direction.

  Note that the brush roller 7 is preferably configured to be rotatable in the reverse direction (the counterclockwise direction in the drawing) with respect to the conveying direction of the endless belt 5 by a driving unit (not shown) in order to enhance the effect of removing ink or the like. .

  The straight brush 8 is fixed to a cleaning rod 11 to be described later so as to abut on the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 from below in a normal state on the downstream side of the brush roller 7 in the transport direction of the endless belt 5. Further, the straight brush 8 is formed to have a length that is the same as or slightly longer than the printable width, and extends in the width direction of the endless belt 5. This straight brush 8 is a cleaning brush according to the present invention, and drops ink droplets such as ink remaining on the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 that are diluted with the cleaning liquid L when passing through the brush roller 7 into a cleaning rod 11 described later. .

  Further, as will be described later, the straight brush 8 is fixed to the end portion of the side wall 11b of the cleaning rod 11 and is provided integrally with the cleaning rod 11, and the endless belt 5 is rotated by rotating the cleaning rod 11 downward. (See FIG. 7).

  Such a straight brush 8 is elastically in contact with the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 due to the stiffness of the brush bristles (not shown), so that the endless belt 5 can be compared with a conventional cleaning member using a PET sheet. The liquid droplet can be scraped off from the surface 5a by light contact with the surface 5a.

The ejection cylinder 9 is formed in a cylindrical shape having the same length as the printable width or slightly longer, and extends in the width direction of the endless belt 5 on the upstream side of the brush roller 7 in the transport direction of the endless belt 5. The cleaning liquid L is directly sprayed from below onto the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 that is provided and mainly passes through the region S upstream of the brush roller 7 in the transport direction.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the injection cylinder 9 is configured as a double cylinder including an outer cylinder 91 and an inner cylinder 92. The outer cylinder 91 is formed with a row of outer cylinder injection holes 91a arranged at equal intervals in the axial direction, and the inner cylinder 92 has two rows of the same size arranged at equal intervals in the axial direction. Tube injection holes 92a and 92a are formed at axial positions corresponding to the outer tube injection holes 91a. Here, the outer cylinder injection hole 91a is a hole that is long in the circumferential direction so that the two inner cylinder injection holes 92a and 92a can communicate with each other simultaneously. Further, the inner cylinder 92 has an inner hole closed at one end (right end in the figure) and communicated with a later-described liquid feed pump 12 at the other end (left end in the figure). With such a configuration, the injection cylinder 9 is configured to inject the cleaning liquid L pumped by the liquid supply pump 12 from the outer cylinder injection hole 91a in the radial direction through the inner cylinder injection hole 92a. Moreover, although the injection cylinder 9 is not specifically limited, both ends are supported by the apparatus housing | casing (not shown) so that attachment or detachment is possible.

  The inner cylinder 92 of the injection cylinder 9 is connected to the inner cylinder motor 93 on the one end side. The inner cylinder motor 93 rotates around the cylinder center (direction B in FIG. 2) independently of the outer cylinder 91. It is possible to move. By the rotation of the inner cylinder 92, one inner cylinder injection hole 92a shown in FIG. 4 (a) communicates with the outer cylinder injection hole 91a and two inner cylinder injection holes shown in FIG. 4 (b). The state in which 92a and 92a communicate with the outer cylinder injection hole 91a can be arbitrarily changed. Thereby, the injection cylinder 9 can change the injection amount and the injection pressure of the cleaning liquid L.

  Further, in place of the configuration in which the number of inner cylinder injection holes 92a communicating with the outer cylinder injection holes 91a is changed in this way, as shown in FIGS. It is good also as a structure using the inner cylinder 92A in which the cylinder injection holes 92b and 92c were formed. Here, the inner cylinder injection hole 92c is larger than the inner cylinder injection hole 92b. By rotating the inner cylinder 92A, the inner cylinder injection hole 92b shown in FIG. 5 (a) communicates with the outer cylinder injection hole 91a and the inner cylinder injection hole 92b shown in FIG. 6 (b). The state in which the large inner cylinder injection hole 92c communicates with the outer cylinder injection hole 91a can be arbitrarily changed to change the injection amount and the injection pressure of the cleaning liquid L.

  The outer cylinder injection holes 91a and the inner cylinder injection holes 92a, 92b, and 92c are not limited to the above-described sizes and numbers, and can be changed as appropriate.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the outer cylinder 91 of the injection cylinder 9 is configured to be rotatable around the center of the cylinder (direction B in FIG. 2). Here, FIG. 6 is a top view of the periphery of the end of the injection cylinder 9. A pulley 91b is fixed to the end of the outer cylinder 91, and a motor belt 95 extends over the pulley 91b and a motor pulley 94a at the drive shaft end of the outer cylinder motor 94 provided with the injection cylinder 9. It is stretched. Thus, the injection cylinder 9 is configured to be able to rotate the outer cylinder 91 via the motor belt 95 by driving the outer cylinder motor 94. Therefore, the injection cylinder 9 can change the direction of the outer cylinder injection hole 91a, that is, the injection direction of the cleaning liquid L to the direction of an arbitrary rotation angle. The circumferential position of the outer cylinder injection hole 91a can be detected by a position detection sensor (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the storage device 10 includes a cleaning rod 11, a liquid feed pump 12, a liquid level sensor 13, an overflow pipe 14, a water supply tank 15, a drainage tank 16, and a liquid amount control unit 17 ( 8). The storage device 10 is provided below the brush roller 7, the straight brush 8, and the injection cylinder 9, stores the cleaning liquid L and supplies it to the injection cylinder 9.

The cleaning rod 11 is a container for the cleaning liquid L provided below the brush roller 7, the straight brush 8, the injection cylinder 9, and the region S located upstream of the brush roller 7 in the transport direction. A liquid supply port 11 a communicating with the pump 12 and a drain port 11 d communicating with the drain tank 16 are formed. The cleaning bowl 11 stores and stores the cleaning liquid L that is sprayed and dropped from the spray cylinder 9 and supplies the cleaning liquid L to the liquid feed pump 12 through the liquid feed port 11a. In addition, although the formation site | part of the drain outlet 11d is not limited to the bottom face of the cleaning rod 11, it is preferable that it is a bottom part near the cleaning rod 11 deepest part.

  Further, the cleaning rod 11 has a supply port 11e that is connected to the water supply tank 15 and is supplied with the replenishing cleaning liquid L. The supply port 11e is formed on the side surface in the vicinity of the liquid supply port 11a. Yes. Thus, since the liquid supply port 11a and the supply port 11e are formed in the vicinity of each other, the fresh cleaning liquid L supplied from the supply port 11e is supplied to the injection cylinder 9 through the liquid supply port 11a. It has become easier.

  The cleaning rod 11 has a side wall 11b on the outer surface on the downstream side in the transport direction. The side wall 11b is pivotally supported by the cleaning rod rotating shaft 11c, and also has an end on the upstream side in the transport direction. Is engaged with an apparatus housing (not shown) so that it can be engaged and disengaged by a cleaning rod release lever (not shown). As a result, when the cleaning rod 11 is disengaged from the apparatus housing by the cleaning rod release lever, the cleaning rod 11 rotates downward about the cleaning rod rotation shaft 11c as shown in FIG. The range of this rotation is not particularly limited, but is restricted to about 45 °. Further, a straight brush 8 is fixed to the end of the side wall 11b, and the cleaning brush 11 is rotated downward so that the straight brush 8 can be attached to the surface of the endless belt 5 without having to support the cleaning rod 11 by hand. It can be separated from 5a. Of course, it is necessary to remove the liquid feed pump 12 and the like from the cleaning rod 11 during this rotation.

  Thus, if the cleaning rod 11 is rotated downward, the cleaning rod 11 can be easily washed. In this case, the injection cylinder 9 can be used as a cleaning liquid L shower by removing the injection cylinder 9 from the apparatus housing and connecting it to a cleaning liquid supply means (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the liquid feed pump 12 is provided so as to communicate with the liquid feed port 11a of the cleaning rod 11 via the feed pipe 12a and to communicate with the injection cylinder 9 via the feed pipe 12b. Then, the cleaning liquid L stored in the cleaning rod 11 is fed to the injection cylinder 9. If such a liquid feed pump 12 is provided, the cleaning liquid L which is jetted and dropped from the jet cylinder 9 and accommodated in the cleaning rod 11 can be fed again to the jet cylinder 9. That is, the cleaning liquid L can be circulated and used. In addition, the liquid feeding means in this invention is comprised including the liquid feeding pump 12, the inflow tube 12a, and the sending out pipe 12b.

  The inlet pipe 12a is provided with a filtration filter 12c for removing foreign substances from the cleaning liquid L. The cleaning liquid L sent from the cleaning bowl 11 to the liquid feed pump 12 is filtered by the filtration filter 12c.

  The liquid feed pump 12 can be driven independently from the injection cylinder 9. Thereby, the liquid feeding pump 12 can perform liquid feeding to the injection cylinder 9 irrespective of the injection of the cleaning liquid L onto the surface 5 a of the endless belt 5 by the injection cylinder 9.

  The liquid level sensor 13 is fixed to the inner surface of the cleaning rod 11 and detects the liquid level height of the cleaning liquid L, that is, the remaining amount. The detected remaining amount of the cleaning liquid L is output to the liquid amount control unit 17.

  The overflow pipe 14 penetrates the bottom surface of the cleaning rod 11 and stands substantially vertically, and has an upper end that is open at a predetermined height and substantially horizontally. This predetermined height corresponds to a predetermined water level of the cleaning liquid L that exceeds an appropriate amount and requires drainage. The lower end of the overflow pipe 14 communicates with the lower drain tank 16 so that the drain can be drained. By providing such an overflow pipe 14, the cleaning liquid L that has exceeded a predetermined water level that needs to be drained is drained into the drain tank 16 together with foreign matter floating on the liquid surface.

  The water supply tank 15 is a tank that is provided in an apparatus housing (not shown) and stores fresh cleaning liquid L, and communicates with a supply port 11e of the cleaning rod 11 through a water supply pipe 15a. A water supply valve 15b is provided in the middle of the water supply pipe 15a, and this water supply valve 15b is configured to be opened and closed inside the water supply pipe 15a under the control of the liquid amount control unit 17. The water supply tank 15 supplies fresh cleaning liquid L to the cleaning bowl 11 by opening the water supply valve 15b.

  The drainage tank 16 is a waste liquid tank in which the cleaning liquid L soiled with ink or the like is drained from the cleaning bowl 11, and is provided below the cleaning bowl 11 and is connected to a drain outlet 11d of the cleaning bowl 11 via a drain pipe 16a. It is communicated. The drainage pipe 16a is provided with a drainage valve 16b in the middle of the drainage pipe 16a, and the drainage valve 16b is configured to be opened and closed inside the drainage pipe 16a under the control of the liquid amount control unit 17. The drainage tank 16 is configured such that the cleaning liquid L is drained from the drainage port 11d by opening the drainage valve 16b.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the liquid amount control unit 17 is connected to the liquid level sensor 13, the water supply valve 15b, and the drain valve 16b. The liquid amount controller 17 is stored in the cleaning bowl 11 by controlling the water supply valve 15b and the drain valve 16b based on the remaining amount of the cleaning liquid L in the cleaning bowl 11 detected by the liquid level sensor 13. The remaining amount of the cleaning liquid L can be controlled. The liquid amount control unit 17 is not particularly limited, and is configured to be incorporated in a main body control unit (not shown) that controls the entire inkjet recording apparatus 100.

  When the remaining amount of the cleaning liquid L is controlled by the liquid amount control unit 17, a predetermined upper limit amount and lower limit amount are set in advance, and the water supply valve 15b and the drain valve are set so as not to exceed or fall below these. 16b may be controlled, or a predetermined appropriate range may be set in advance, and control may be performed to fall within this range.

  Next, the operation when the cleaning device 6 cleans the endless belt 5 will be described.

When the apparatus power supply is turned on and the endless belt 5 starts to be conveyed by the driving roller 3, the brush roller 7 starts to rotate in the direction opposite to the conveying direction of the endless belt 5, and the liquid amount control unit 17 has a water supply valve. The supply of the cleaning liquid L from the water supply tank 15 to the cleaning rod 11 is started by opening 15b. When the liquid level sensor 13 detects that a predetermined amount of the cleaning liquid L has accumulated in the cleaning rod 11, the liquid amount control unit 17 closes the water supply valve 15 b, and the liquid feed pump 12 sends the cleaning liquid L to the injection cylinder 9. Start liquid. The injection cylinder 9 starts to inject the cleaning liquid L onto the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 passing through the region S on the upstream side in the transport direction with respect to the brush roller 7.

  When a predetermined image is recorded by the ink ejected from the recording head 2 on the recording medium P conveyed in close contact with the surface 5a of the endless belt 5, and when the endless belt 5 is further conveyed, The recording medium P is peeled from the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 above.

Further, when the endless belt 5 is transported and the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 reaches the region S on the upstream side in the transport direction with respect to the brush roller 7, the cleaning liquid L flows from the injection cylinder 9 to the surface 5a of the endless belt 5. Is injected. When the endless belt 5 is further transported from the region S and then comes out of the region S, the rubbing by the rotating brush roller 7 is performed immediately. Thereby, the ink adhering to the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 is removed.

  As a result of the cleaning by the brush roller 7, droplets such as ink diluted with the cleaning liquid L adhere to the surface 5a of the endless belt 5, and some of them remain on the surface 5a without flowing down.

  As the endless belt 5 is further conveyed, the liquid droplets remaining on the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 are scraped off into the lower cleaning rod 11 by the straight brush 8 when passing through the position where the straight brush 8 is disposed.

  Through the above series of cleaning operations, the cleaning liquid L ejected from the ejection cylinder 9 flushes the ink adhering to the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 to assist the cleaning by the brush roller 7 and is dropped to the cleaning rod 11 After being stored and stored, the liquid is again fed to the injection cylinder 9 through the liquid feed pump 12. Therefore, the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 can be cleaned while circulating the cleaning liquid L.

  As described above, according to the transport device 1 in the present embodiment, the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 can be cleaned while circulating the cleaning liquid L, and therefore, the cleaning liquid is cleaned up with a brush roller. The surface 5a of the endless belt 5 can be cleaned without consuming a large amount of the cleaning liquid L as in the prior art.

  Moreover, while removing the foreign material which floated on the liquid level of the cleaning liquid L in the cleaning bowl 11 by the overflow pipe 14, the remaining amount of the cleaning liquid L in the cleaning bowl 11 is controlled by the liquid amount control unit 17, While keeping the cleaning liquid L stored in the cleaning bowl 11 clean, it is possible to secure an appropriate remaining amount of the cleaning liquid L.

  Further, since the fresh cleaning liquid L supplied from the supply port 11e is easily supplied to the injection cylinder 9 through the liquid supply port 11a, a cleaner cleaning liquid L is injected onto the surface 5a of the endless belt 5. In addition to being able to wash off the adhered ink and the like more effectively, the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 is cleaned more effectively by the brush roller.

  Moreover, since the foreign material in the cleaning liquid L sent to the liquid feeding pump 12 from the cleaning bowl 11 is filtered by the filter 12c, while preventing the clogging of the circulation path of the cleaning liquid L, the cleaner cleaning liquid L is endlessly removed. It can be sprayed onto the surface 5 a of the belt 5.

  Further, since the liquid feed pump 12 can perform liquid feeding to the ejection cylinder 9 regardless of the ejection of the cleaning liquid L by the ejection cylinder 9, for example, when there is little ink or the like adhering to the surface 5a of the endless belt 5. Can inject and supply the cleaning liquid L without using wasteful driving power by not driving the injection cylinder 9 or the liquid supply pump 12.

  Moreover, since the straight brush 8 can scrape a droplet from the surface 5a by light contact with the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 compared to a conventional cleaning member using a PET sheet, It is possible to reduce noise caused by the friction between the endless belt 5 and the straight brush 8 and damage to the endless belt 5 during the transport operation, particularly when the transport direction of the endless belt 5 is reversed.

  Further, since the straight brush 8 can be separated from the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 without the need to support the cleaning rod 11 by hand, the cleaning rod 11 can be easily washed and the straight brush 8 can be washed and replaced.

  In the above embodiment, the cleaning device 6 is disposed near the lower side of the driving roller 3. However, the brush roller 7 and the straight brush 8 are applied to the surface 5 a of the endless belt 5 after the recording medium P is peeled off. If it can contact | abut, it will not specifically limit. However, if it is arranged in the vicinity of the drive roller 3, the back surface side of the endless belt 5 is supported, so that chatter and fluttering of the endless belt 5 due to the rotation of the brush roller 7 hardly occur. Along with this, the contact force of the brush roller 7 with respect to the surface 5a of the endless belt 5 can be stabilized, and the effect of removing ink or the like can be further enhanced. Further, a roller, a plate member, or the like for suppressing chatter or fluttering of the endless belt 5 may be provided on the back side of the endless belt 5.

  Further, the endless belt 5 only needs to support and convey the recording medium P, and is not limited to an endless belt or a belt-like one. In this case, for example, it may be a wound type with a winding end or a drum type.

Further, the injection cylinder 9 may not be provided below the endless belt 5. In this case, it suffices if the cleaning liquid L can be sprayed onto the region S on the upstream side in the transport direction from the brush roller 7 .

  Moreover, the filtration filter 12c should just be provided in the liquid supply path | route of the cleaning liquid L to the injection cylinder 9, and does not need to be provided in the inflow pipe 12a. In this case, for example, the cleaning rod 11 may be provided so as to cover the liquid feeding port 11a.

  In addition to the points described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate.

It is principal part sectional drawing of an inkjet recording device. It is a fragmentary sectional view around a cleaning device. It is a partial top view of an injection cylinder. (A) It is sectional drawing of the injection cylinder with which the outer cylinder injection hole and one inner cylinder injection hole are connecting, (b) The injection cylinder with which the outer cylinder injection hole and two inner cylinder injection holes are connecting FIG. (A) It is sectional drawing of the injection cylinder which the outer cylinder injection hole and the small inner cylinder injection hole connect, (b) The cross section of the injection cylinder which the outer cylinder injection hole and the large inner cylinder injection hole communicate FIG. FIG. 5 is a top view of the periphery of the end portion of the injection cylinder showing a configuration in which the outer cylinder of the injection cylinder is rotated by an outer cylinder motor. It is sectional drawing which shows the cancellation | release state of a cleaning rod. It is a block diagram which shows the control structure for performing remaining amount control of a cleaning liquid. It is a figure which shows the conventional cleaning means.

Explanation of symbols

1 Conveying device (recording medium conveying device)
5 Endless belt (conveying member)
5a Surface (transport surface)
7 Brush roller (cleaning means)
8 Straight brush (cleaning brush)
9 Injection cylinder (injection means)
10 Storage device (storage means)
11 Cleaning bowl 11a Liquid feed port 11e Supply port 12 Liquid feed pump (liquid feed means, pump)
12c Filtration filter (filter means)
13 Liquid level sensor (remaining amount detection means)
14 Overflow pipe (overflow means)
15 Water supply tank (water supply means)
16 Drain tank (drainage means)
17 Liquid volume control unit (control means)
100 Inkjet recording apparatus L Cleaning liquid P Recording medium S Area on the upstream side in the transport direction from the brush roller

Claims (8)

A recording medium conveying apparatus for conveying a recording medium on which an image is recorded by ink landing,
A transport member that transports the recording medium in a predetermined transport direction while supporting the recording medium on a transport surface;
Cleaning means for cleaning the transport surface by contacting the transport surface from below;
An outer cylinder in which an injection hole is formed, and a rotatable inner cylinder that is located inside the outer cylinder and in which an injection hole is formed, and the injection hole of the outer cylinder is rotated by rotating the inner cylinder The cleaning liquid supplied from the inside of the inner cylinder is ejected from the injection hole of the outer cylinder by communicating the nozzle and the injection hole of the inner cylinder, and the cleaning of the conveying surface of the conveying member is performed. Injection means for directly injecting the cleaning liquid to the region located upstream of the means in the conveying direction ;
A storage unit that is provided below the region where the cleaning liquid is sprayed and the spraying unit, and stores and stores the cleaning liquid to be dropped.
Liquid feeding means for feeding the cleaning liquid stored in the storage means to the ejection means;
Equipped with a,
The recording medium transporting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the outer cylinder of the ejecting means is configured to be rotatable so as to change an ejection direction of the cleaning liquid ejected from the ejection hole . The storage means is
A cleaning bowl as a container for storing the cleaning liquid;
Drainage means for draining the stored cleaning liquid from the bottom of the cleaning bowl to the outside of the cleaning bowl;
Overflow means for draining the cleaning liquid exceeding a predetermined water level outside the cleaning basin;
Water supply means for supplying the cleaning liquid to the cleaning bowl;
A remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of the cleaning liquid to be stored;
Control means for controlling the drainage means and the water supply means based on the remaining amount of the cleaning liquid detected by the remaining amount detection means;
The recording medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein   The recording medium conveying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cleaning trough has a liquid feeding port communicating with the liquid feeding unit and a supply port communicating with the water supply unit in the vicinity of each other.   The recording medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid feeding unit includes a filter unit for removing foreign matter from the cleaning liquid.   5. The recording medium conveyance device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid feeding unit includes a pump that can be driven independently from the ejection unit. 6.   The recording medium conveyance device according to claim 1, further comprising a cleaning brush that comes into contact with the conveyance surface and scrapes droplets adhering to the conveyance surface into the cleaning tub. .   The recording medium conveyance device according to claim 6, wherein the cleaning rod is provided integrally with the cleaning brush and is supported so as to be rotatable in a direction in which the cleaning brush and the conveyance surface are separated from each other.   An ink jet recording apparatus comprising the recording medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1.

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