JP5879924B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus including a conveyance belt.

  As an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile, a copying machine, a plotter, or a complex machine of these, for example, a liquid discharge recording type image forming using a recording head composed of a liquid discharge head (droplet discharge head) that discharges ink droplets. As an apparatus, an ink jet recording apparatus or the like is known. This liquid discharge recording type image forming apparatus means that ink droplets are transported from a recording head (not limited to paper, including OHP, and can be attached to ink droplets and other liquids). Yes, it is also ejected onto a recording medium or a recording medium, recording paper, recording paper, etc.) to form an image (recording, printing, printing, and printing are also used synonymously). And a serial type image forming apparatus that forms an image by ejecting liquid droplets while the recording head moves in the main scanning direction, and a line type head that forms images by ejecting liquid droplets without moving the recording head There are line type image forming apparatuses using

  In the present application, the “image forming apparatus” of the liquid ejection method is an apparatus that forms an image by ejecting liquid onto a medium such as paper, thread, fiber, fabric, leather, metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics, or the like. In addition, “image formation” means not only that an image having a meaning such as a character or a figure is imparted to the medium but also an image having no meaning such as a pattern is imparted to the medium (simply liquid. It also means that a droplet hits the medium). “Ink” is not limited to ink, but is used as a general term for all liquids capable of image formation, such as recording liquid, fixing processing liquid, and liquid. DNA samples, resists, pattern materials, resins and the like are also included. In addition, the “image” is not limited to a planar image, and includes an image given to a three-dimensionally formed image and an image formed by three-dimensionally modeling a solid itself. Further, the present invention is not limited to the liquid ejection type image forming apparatus, but will be described below with the liquid ejection type image forming apparatus.

  As a conventional image forming apparatus, the guide belt projects from the tangent line of the two rollers with a belt guide unit that spans the conveyance belt between at least two rollers and guides the conveyance belt from the inside at a position facing the image forming unit. There is known one having a conveyance guide means for guiding a sheet conveyed by a conveyance belt between one roller (conveyance roller) and a recording head (Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-162807 A

  However, in the image forming apparatus described above, when the jam occurs between the transport roller and the recording head, the transport guide member covers the jammed paper, and the leading end portion of the transport guide member (recording) Since the pressure roller is provided on the head side), there is a problem that the operation of removing jammed paper becomes complicated.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that jammed paper can be easily removed.

In order to solve the above problems, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention provides:
Conveying means for conveying a recording medium;
Image forming means for forming an image on the recording medium,
The transport means includes a transport belt wound around a transport roller and a driven roller,
A guide member for guiding the recording medium is provided between the conveyance roller and the image forming unit so as to face the conveyance belt.
The guide member is at least, the arranged conveyance roller side, a first guide portion having a first roller opposed to the conveying roller via the conveying belt, is disposed in the image forming unit side, the transport A second guide portion having a second roller facing the belt ,
The second guide section such that said second roller is displaceable in a direction away a direction approaching the conveyance belt, wherein the first guide between said second roller and said first roller Is pivotally supported by the
When the recording medium is removed from the transport belt, the second roller can be displaced in a direction away from the transport belt.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when the jammed paper is removed, the second guide portion can be separated from the conveying belt, and the jammed paper can be easily removed.

FIG. 3 is a side explanatory view of a mechanism unit of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. It is principal part plane explanatory drawing of the mechanism part. It is side surface explanatory drawing explaining the conveyance guide member in 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a side view for explaining the conveyance guide member when removing jammed paper. FIG. 6 is a perspective explanatory view for explaining the conveyance guide member. It is side surface explanatory drawing explaining the conveyance guide member in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is side surface explanatory drawing explaining the conveyance guide member in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is principal part side explanatory drawing of the conveyance guide member in 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is an isometric view explanatory drawing of a conveyance guide member similarly. It is principal part side explanatory drawing of the conveyance guide member in 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is principal part side explanatory drawing of the conveyance guide member in 6th Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective explanatory view of a conveyance guide member in a 7th embodiment of the present invention. It is principal part side explanatory drawing of the conveyance guide member in 8th Embodiment of this invention. It is principal part side explanatory drawing of the conveyance guide member in 9th Embodiment of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an explanatory side view of a mechanism portion of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory plan view of a main part of the apparatus.

  This image forming apparatus is a serial type ink jet recording apparatus, and a carriage 33 is slidable in a main scanning direction by main and sub guide rods 31 and 32 which are guide members horizontally mounted on the left and right side plates 21A and 21B of the apparatus main body 1. It is held and moved and scanned in the carriage main scanning direction via a timing belt by a main scanning motor described later.

  The carriage 33 is provided with recording heads 34a and 34b composed of liquid ejection heads for ejecting ink droplets of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (K). The “recording head 34” is arranged in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction, and the ink droplet ejection direction is directed downward.

  Each of the recording heads 34 has two nozzle rows. One nozzle row of the recording head 34a has black (K) droplets, the other nozzle row has cyan (C) droplets, and the recording head 34b has one nozzle row. One nozzle row ejects magenta (M) droplets, and the other nozzle row ejects yellow (Y) droplets.

  Further, the carriage 33 is equipped with head tanks 35a and 35b (referred to as “head tank 35” when not distinguished) for supplying ink of each color corresponding to the nozzle rows of the recording head 34. In the head tank 35, ink cartridges 10y, 10m, 10c, and 10k, which are main tanks of the respective colors that are detachably attached to the cartridge loading unit 4, are supplied from the ink pumps 24 through the supply tubes 36 of the respective colors. Of ink is replenished.

  On the other hand, as a paper feeding unit for feeding the papers 42 stacked on the paper stacking unit (pressure plate) 41 of the paper feeding tray 2, a half-moon roller (feeding) that separates and feeds the papers 42 one by one from the paper stacking unit 41. A separation pad 44 made of a material having a large friction coefficient is provided facing the paper roller 43) and the paper feed roller 43, and the separation pad 44 is biased toward the paper feed roller 43 side.

  A guide member 45 for guiding the paper 42, a counter roller 46, a conveyance guide member 47, and a pressure roller 49 are provided to feed the paper 42 fed from the paper feeding unit to the lower side of the recording head 34. And a conveyance guide member 48 which is a guide member in the present invention having the tip pressurizing roller 50 and conveying means for electrostatically adsorbing the fed paper 42 and conveying it at a position facing the recording head 34. The conveyor belt 51 is provided.

  The transport belt 51 is an endless belt, and is configured to wrap around the transport roller 52 and the tension roller 53 and circulate in the belt transport direction (sub-scanning direction). Further, a charging roller 56 that is a charging unit for charging the surface of the transport belt 51 is provided. The charging roller 56 is disposed so as to come into contact with the surface layer of the transport belt 51 and to rotate following the rotation of the transport belt 51. The transport belt 51 rotates in the belt transport direction when the transport roller 52 is rotationally driven through timing by a sub-scanning motor described later.

  Further, as a paper discharge unit for discharging the paper 42 recorded by the recording head 34, a separation claw 61 for separating the paper 42 from the conveying belt 51, a paper discharge roller 62, and a spur 63 that is a paper discharge roller. And a paper discharge tray 3 below the paper discharge roller 62.

  A duplex unit 71 is detachably mounted on the back surface of the apparatus body 1. The duplex unit 71 takes in the paper 42 returned by the reverse rotation of the conveyance belt 51, reverses it, and feeds it again between the counter roller 46 and the conveyance belt 51. The upper surface of the duplex unit 71 is a manual feed tray 72.

  Further, a maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 for maintaining and recovering the nozzle state of the recording head 34 is disposed in the non-printing area on one side of the carriage 33 in the scanning direction. The maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 includes cap members (hereinafter referred to as “caps”) 82a and 82b (hereinafter referred to as “caps 82” when not distinguished from each other) for capping the nozzle surfaces of the recording head 34, and nozzle surfaces. A wiper member (wiper blade) 83 for wiping the recording medium, an empty discharge receiver 84 for receiving liquid droplets when performing empty discharge for discharging liquid droplets that do not contribute to recording in order to discharge the thickened recording liquid, and a carriage And a carriage lock 87 for locking 33. A waste liquid tank 100 for storing waste liquid generated by the maintenance recovery operation is mounted on the lower side of the head recovery mechanism 81 in a replaceable manner with respect to the apparatus main body.

  Further, in the non-printing area on the other side of the carriage 33 in the scanning direction, there is an empty space for receiving liquid droplets when performing empty discharge for discharging liquid droplets that do not contribute to recording in order to discharge the recording liquid thickened during recording or the like. A discharge receiver 88 is disposed, and the idle discharge receiver 88 includes an opening 89 along the nozzle row direction of the recording head 34.

  In the image forming apparatus configured as described above, the sheets 42 are separated and fed one by one from the sheet feed tray 2, and the sheets 42 fed substantially vertically upward are guided by the guide member 45, It is sandwiched between the counter roller 46 and conveyed. Further, the leading end is guided by the conveyance guide 37 and pressed against the conveyance belt 51 by the pressure roller 49, and the conveyance direction is changed by approximately 90 °.

  At this time, a positive output and a negative output are alternately repeated with respect to the charging roller 56, that is, an alternating voltage is applied, and a charging voltage pattern in which the conveying belt 51 alternates, that is, in a sub-scanning direction that is a circumferential direction. , Plus and minus are alternately charged in a band shape with a predetermined width. When the paper 42 is fed onto the conveyance belt 51 charged alternately with plus and minus, the paper 42 is attracted to the conveyance belt 51, and the paper 42 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the circular movement of the conveyance belt 51.

  Therefore, by driving the recording head 34 according to the image signal while moving the carriage 33, ink droplets are ejected onto the stopped paper 42 to record one line, and after the paper 42 is conveyed by a predetermined amount, Record the next line. Upon receiving a recording end signal or a signal that the trailing edge of the paper 42 has reached the recording area, the recording operation is finished and the paper 42 is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 3.

  When performing the maintenance and recovery of the nozzles of the recording head 34, the nozzle 33 performs the suction from the nozzles by moving the carriage 33 to a position facing the maintenance and recovery mechanism 81 which is the home position and performing capping by the cap member 82. By performing a maintenance and recovery operation such as idle ejection for ejecting droplets that do not contribute to image formation, image formation by stable droplet ejection can be performed.

  Next, the conveyance guide member in 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG.3 and FIG.4. 3 is a side view for explaining the embodiment, FIG. 4 is a side view for explaining the same when removing jammed paper, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining the conveyance guide member.

  The conveyance guide member 48 is divided into a first guide part 101 on the conveyance roller 52 side and a second guide part 102 on the recording head 34 side. The second guide part 102 is separated from the first guide part 101 by a shaft 103. It is pivotally supported so that it can swing. In other words, the second guide portion 102 is provided so as to be displaceable in a direction approaching the transport belt 51 and a direction away from the transport belt 51 (a direction away). The first guide portion 101 is provided with a pressure roller 49, and the second guide portion 102 is provided with a tip pressure roller 50.

  With this configuration, when a jam occurs in the conveyance guide member 48, as shown in FIG. 4, the second guide portion 102 side is oscillated and displaced in the direction of arrow A (the direction away from the conveyance belt 51). By separating the sheet 110 from the conveying belt 51, the jammed sheet 110 can be easily removed.

  Next, the conveyance guide member in 2nd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory side view for explaining the embodiment.

  Here, the second guide portion 102 is pressed against the shaft 103 of the conveyance guide member 48 in the direction of the white arrow against the first guide portion 101 to press (press) the second guide portion 102 toward the conveyance belt 51. An elastic member (for example, a spring) 104 is provided.

  As a result, the paper 10 can be reliably brought into close contact with the transport belt 51, and the paper 10 can be prevented from being lifted and transport stability can be obtained.

  Next, the conveyance guide member in 3rd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory side view for explaining the embodiment.

  Here, the conveyance guide member 48 is divided into a first guide portion 101 on the conveyance roller 52 side and a second guide portion 102 on the recording head 34 side, and the second guide portion 102 is relative to the first guide portion 101. The connecting portion 105 having flexibility is held so as to be able to swing (displace).

  With this configuration, the number of parts can be reduced and the cost can be reduced, for example, the elastic member of the second embodiment is not necessary.

  Next, the conveyance guide member in 4th Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG.8 and FIG.9. FIG. 8 is an explanatory side view of a main part of a conveyance guide member for explaining the embodiment, and FIG. 9 is an explanatory perspective view of the conveyance guide member.

  In the present embodiment, the conveyance guide member 48 is a second guide portion 112 that is a downstream end portion of the conveyance guide member 48 in the sheet conveyance direction and that holds the tip pressure roller 50, and the second guide portion 112. And a first guide portion 111 for guiding the paper to the front of the front end pressure roller 50 (upstream side in the paper conveyance direction). That is, the second guide portion 112 is disposed in the vicinity of the downstream end portion (front end portion) of the first guide portion 111 in the sheet conveyance direction.

  Then, both end portions of the second guide portion 112 in the direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction and the intermediate portion of the first guide portion 111 in the paper transport direction are connected by flexible connecting portions 115 and 115, so that the first The two guide portions 112 are held so as to be displaceable with respect to the first guide portion 111 in a direction toward and away from the conveyance belt 51.

  With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 8, when removing the jammed paper 110, the second guide unit 102 moves from the position shown by the solid line to the position shown by the broken line in the direction of arrow A (the black coating in FIG. 9). In the direction of the arrow), the sheet 110 can be displaced away from the conveying belt 51 and retracted, and the jammed sheet 110 can be easily removed.

  At this time, when the paper 110 is lifted in the direction of arrow B and the second guide portion 112 is retracted (displaced) by a predetermined amount, the paper 110 from which the leading end portion 111a of the first guide portion 111 is removed is received. Even when an excessive operating force is applied, it is possible to prevent the second guide portion 112 from being damaged by being bent.

  Next, the conveyance guide member in 5th Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory side view of a main part of a conveyance guide member for explaining the embodiment.

  In the configuration of the fourth embodiment, the present embodiment pushes the connecting portion 115 between the first guide portion 111 and the second guide portion 112 downward (toward the conveyor belt 51) in the same manner as the second embodiment. An elastic member (spring or the like) 113 is provided to pressurize the second guide portion 112 in the direction of the white arrow and press the tip pressurizing roller 50 against the transport belt 51.

  Accordingly, the sheet can be reliably brought into close contact with the conveyance belt, and thus it is possible to prevent insufficient suction force due to the floating of the sheet.

  Next, the conveyance guide member in 6th Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is an explanatory side view of a main part of a conveyance guide member for explaining the embodiment.

  In this embodiment, in the configuration of the fourth embodiment, the connecting portion 115 itself of the first guide portion 111 and the second guide portion 112 is formed of an elastic member such as a spring material, so that the second guide portion 112 The tip pressure roller 50 is pressed against the conveyor belt 51.

  This eliminates the need for a separate member such as a spring and simplifies the configuration.

  Next, the conveyance guide member in 7th Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. In addition, FIG. 12 is a perspective explanatory view of a conveyance guide member for explaining the embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, the second guide portion 112 is divided into two in a direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the medium transport direction, and the tip pressing rollers 50 and 50 are held by the three connecting portions 115, respectively. Yes.

  Thereby, it is possible to uniformly apply pressure to the unevenness of the paper.

  Next, the conveyance guide member in 8th Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is an explanatory side view of a main part of a conveyance guide member for explaining the embodiment.

  In this embodiment, in the configuration of the fourth embodiment, the connecting portion 115 between the first guide portion 111 and the second guide portion 112 is integrally formed with a resin member, and the second guide portion is formed by the elasticity of the resin member. The leading end pressure roller 50 of 112 is pressed against the conveyor belt 51.

  This eliminates the need for another member such as an elastic member such as a spring, and simplifies the configuration.

  Next, the conveyance guide member in 9th Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is an explanatory side view of a main part of a conveyance guide member for explaining the embodiment.

  In this embodiment, in the configuration of the fourth embodiment, the first guide portion 101 and the second guide portion 102 are formed of a conductive member.

  As a result, the electric charge 201 on the surface of the paper 42 generated during electrostatic adsorption can be released through the conveyance guide member 48 as indicated by an arrow C, and the floating mist adheres to the paper and the head due to the electric charge on the paper surface. Can be prevented.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a serial type image forming apparatus has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to a line type image forming apparatus.

33 Carriage 34, 34a, 34b Recording head (image forming means)
48 Conveying guide member 51 Conveying belt 52 Conveying roller 101, 111 First guide part 102, 112 Second guide part 103 Shaft 104, 114 Elastic member 105, 115 Connecting part

Claims (5)

Conveying means for conveying a recording medium;
Image forming means for forming an image on the recording medium,
The transport means includes a transport belt wound around a transport roller and a driven roller,
A guide member for guiding the recording medium is provided between the conveyance roller and the image forming unit so as to face the conveyance belt.
The guide member is at least, the arranged conveyance roller side, a first guide portion having a first roller opposed to the conveying roller via the conveying belt, is disposed in the image forming unit side, the transport A second guide portion having a second roller facing the belt ,
The second guide section such that said second roller is displaceable in a direction away a direction approaching the conveyance belt, wherein the first guide between said second roller and said first roller Is pivotally supported by the
An image forming apparatus, wherein the second roller can be displaced away from the transport belt when the recording medium is removed from the transport belt.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a pressing unit that presses the second guide unit toward the conveyance belt.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second guide portion and the first guide portion are connected by a flexible connecting portion.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide member is formed of a conductive member. The second guide portion is a downstream end portion of the transport guide member in the medium transport direction,
2. The recording medium to be removed is received at a downstream end portion of the first guide portion in the medium conveyance direction when the second guide portion is displaced in a direction away from the conveyance belt by a predetermined amount or more. 5. The image forming apparatus according to any one of 4 to 4.

Images