JP6163987B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  For roll-type print media (hereinafter also referred to as “linerless label paper”) or other roll-type print media that have an adhesive surface and no adhesive paper on the adhesive surface, such as tape and label paper without backing paper 2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus such as a label printer that performs printing and cuts to a required length after printing to form a print medium piece (hereinafter also referred to as “label piece”) is known.

  The present invention is not limited to the liquid discharge recording type image forming apparatus, but will be described below using the liquid discharge recording type image forming apparatus.

  As a conventional image forming apparatus, for example, a recording medium is guided by a platen member so as to oppose the image forming unit, and a guide member that guides the recording medium conveyed on the platen member or a sheet that presses the sheet is used. A member in which a pressing member is arranged so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the medium conveyance direction is known (Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP-A-6-297798 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-197156

  By the way, in the above-described image forming apparatus using the roll-shaped print medium, the print medium must be pulled out from the roll body and set on the conveying means.

  For this reason, the distance between the platen member (conveying guide member) and the belt-shaped member constituting the conveying unit and the image forming unit, such as the above-described paper pressing member, is set to a predetermined distance from the upper side of the recording medium. If the restricting member for restricting to this range is disposed, the restricting member interferes with the print medium when the print medium is set, and the workability of the print medium setting work is deteriorated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to improve the workability of the setting operation of a roll-shaped print medium while maintaining the gap between the recording medium and the image forming means. .

In order to solve the above problems, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention provides:
A roll-shaped print medium;
Image forming means for forming an image on the print medium;
Conveying means for conveying the print medium opposite to the image forming means;
Regulation means for regulating the distance between the print medium and the image forming means within a predetermined range,
The regulating means has a regulating member made of a thread-like member,
The restricting member is arranged with one end supported on the upstream side in the medium transport direction from the image forming unit and the other end supported on the downstream side in the medium transport direction from the image forming unit,
Either one end or the other end of the regulating member is movably disposed in a direction away from the transport surface of the print medium,
The restricting member is configured to change in length as the print medium moves away from the transport surface.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the workability of setting the roll-shaped print medium while maintaining the gap between the recording medium and the image forming unit.

It is explanatory drawing of the mechanism part of an example of the image forming apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is principal part front explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of a printing medium. FIG. 4 is a perspective explanatory view for explaining a print medium setting method in the image forming apparatus. FIG. 5 is a perspective explanatory view for explaining a printing medium setting method. It is principal part front explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a front view for explaining a main part when the medium is set. It is a top explanatory view of FIG. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of a regulation means similarly. It is a plane explanatory view used for description of the second embodiment of the present invention. It is a plane explanatory view similarly used for operation explanation. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a plane explanatory drawing similarly. It is a perspective explanatory view of a pressurizing roller. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of 6th Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of 7th Embodiment of this invention. It is a plane explanatory drawing similarly. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of 8th Embodiment of this invention. It is a plane explanatory view used for description of the ninth embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of 10th Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of replacement | exchange of a regulating member similarly. It is a plane explanatory view used for description of the eleventh embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which looked at FIG. 23 from the arrow H direction similarly. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of 12th Embodiment of this invention. It is front explanatory drawing of the mechanism part of the other example of the image forming apparatus to which this invention is applied.

  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 a front explanatory view of a mechanism part of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a front explanatory view of a main part for explaining a print medium.

  In the image forming apparatus, a sheet feeding unit 101 serving as a sheet feeding device, an image forming unit 102 serving as an image forming unit, a transport unit 103 serving as a transport unit, and a discharge unit serving as a paper discharge transport unit are included in the apparatus main body 100. A paper portion 104. In addition, a discharge port 105 that is a discharge port portion that discharges the print medium 2 on which an image is formed to the outside of the apparatus main body 100 is provided.

  A roll body 4 in which the print medium 2 is wound in a roll shape is loaded in the paper supply unit 101.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the printing medium 2 has an adhesive layer (hereinafter referred to as “adhesive surface”) 2b on one surface of a medium (hereinafter also referred to as “printing surface”) 2a capable of forming an image. It is a continuum formed. And this printing medium 2 is the linerless label paper made into the roll shape in the state which has not affixed the mount (release paper, separator) on the adhesive surface 2b. In this embodiment, linerless label paper will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  The roll body 4 is fitted into a spool 5, and the spool 5 is a first roller 111, a second roller 112, and a third roller 113, which are first to third rotating bodies arranged at both ends on the roll holder member 6. It is held rotatably at three points.

  In the present invention, the “spool” is not limited to a member that is provided separately from the core member and is used by being fitted into the core member. 4 may be formed integrally with the core member. Further, when the core member of the roll body 4 is directly held, such a core member is also included in the “spool”.

  The image forming unit 102 includes a carriage 12 on which a recording head 11 including a liquid discharge head that discharges droplets onto the print medium 2 is mounted. The carriage 12 is movably held by the main guide member 13 and the sub-guide member 14 and is reciprocated in a direction (main scanning direction) perpendicular to the transport direction of the print medium 2.

  Here, the recording head 11 is a liquid ejection head having two nozzle rows, and the two recording heads 11 are mounted on the carriage 12. The four nozzle rows of the two recording heads 11 eject ink droplets of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), respectively. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a line-type head can also be used.

  Ink supply to the recording head 11 is performed by supplying ink of a required color from an ink cartridge 15 that is replaceably mounted to the apparatus main body 100 to a head tank (not shown) mounted on the carriage 12 via a supply tube 16. In this method, ink is supplied from the head tank to the recording head 11.

  Further, ink waste liquid generated by a maintenance operation for maintaining and recovering the performance of the recording head 11 is discharged and stored in a waste liquid tank 17 that is replaceably attached to the apparatus main body 100.

  The image forming unit 102 is not limited to the form of the liquid ejection head, and various image forming units that form an image in contact and non-contact can be used.

  In the transport unit 103, an endless protective belt 21 is disposed below the recording head 11. The protection belt 21 is wound around a conveyance roller 22 and a driven roller 23 to which tension is applied so as to be able to move around. Here, the surface of the protection belt 21 is a conveyance surface or a conveyance path.

  At this time, it is preferable that the protective belt 21 does not have adhesiveness to the adhesive surface 2b. However, the protective belt 21 can be re-detached from the adhesive surface 2b in order to prevent the printing medium 2 from floating from the protective belt 21 during transportation. It may have a weak adherence. By applying the protective belt 21 to the adhesive surface 2b, the adhesive surface 2b is protected, and at the same time, the adhesive surface 2b is prevented from coming into contact with the inside of the apparatus. Therefore, only the print medium 2 can be discharged.

  That is, in the present embodiment, the protection belt 21 protects the adhesive surface 2 b of the print medium 2 and is conveyed to the front of the paper discharge unit 104 together with the print medium 2.

  A counter roller 24 is disposed so as to face the conveying roller 22. The opposing roller 24 is rotatably provided on a holder member 45 that is rotatably supported by a shaft 46, and is pressed toward the conveying roller 22 by a spring (not shown).

  Conveying means for sandwiching the print medium 2 and the protective belt 21 together by a conveying roller pair (rotating member pair) composed of the conveying roller 22 and the counter roller 24 and conveying the image to the image forming area by the recording head 11 is configured. doing.

  The protective belt 21 has a number of suction holes. A suction fan 27 that sucks the print medium 2 toward the surface of the protection belt 21 through a suction hole is disposed inside the protection belt 21 so as to face the recording head 11 of the image forming unit 102. .

  Note that, here, the print medium 2 is sucked to the protective belt 21 by suction. Alternatively, the adhesive surface 2b of the print medium 2 may be fixed so as not to float from the protective belt 21 using the adhesiveness of the adhesive surface 2b.

  Further, on the driven roller 23 side, spur roller groups 28 a and 28 b are arranged to be held by the spur holder 28. The spur roller groups 28a and 28b are configured by arranging a plurality of spur rollers in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction. The upstream spur roller group 28 a faces the protective belt 21, and the most downstream spur roller group 28 c faces the receiving member 30 of the paper discharge unit 104.

  The paper discharge unit 104 cuts the print medium 2 to a desired length on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the receiving member 30 that guides the print medium sent from between the protective belt 21 and the spur roller group 28b. A cutter unit 31 which is a cutting means to be a piece (label piece) 200 is disposed.

  The cutter unit 31 has a lower blade 31b formed on the downstream end surface of the receiving member 30 that receives the print medium 2, and a cutting blade (upper blade: cutter) 31a that cuts the print medium 2 between the lower blade. Then, the cutter 31a moves in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction, thereby cutting the print medium 2.

  A paper discharge roller 32 is disposed on the downstream side of the cutter unit 31. A spur roller 33 is disposed facing the paper discharge roller 32. By these paper discharge roller 32 and spur roller 33, the leading end of the label piece 200 cut by the cutter unit 31 is held in a state of being sent to a discharge port 105 which is a discharge port portion of the apparatus main body 100.

  Here, the surface holding the label piece 200 of the paper discharge roller 32 is subjected to, for example, non-adhesive processing (processing in which the adhesive surface does not adhere) so that the adhesive surface 2b of the label piece 200 can be peeled off. In this case, the discharge roller 32 itself can be formed of a peelable material.

  In addition, a paper sensor 34 that detects the presence or absence of the print medium 2 is disposed. The paper sensor 34 can be constituted by a photo sensor or a combination of a mechanical lever and a photo sensor.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the configuration is described in which image formation is performed with the adhesive surface 2b of the print medium 2 facing the protective belt 21, but the image formation is performed on the adhesive surface 2b of the print medium 2. You can also In this case, it is preferable to perform a non-adhesive process (a process in which the adhesive surface does not adhere) on the surface of the counter roller 24 described above.

  In the image forming apparatus configured as described above, the printing medium 2 drawn out from the roll body 4 loaded in the paper feeding unit 101 and the protective belt 21 are sandwiched together between the conveying roller 22 and the opposing roller 24. .

  Then, by rotating and driving the transport roller 22, the printing medium 2 is transported with the adhesive surface 2 b protected by the protective belt 21, and a desired image is formed by the recording head 11 of the image forming unit 102.

  The protective belt 21 is peeled off from the print medium 2 on which the image is formed, and only the print medium 2 is sent to the paper discharge unit 104, and is cut at a required position by the cutter unit 31 to become a label piece 200. And the spur roller 33 are held in a state where they can be extracted from the discharge port 105 of the apparatus main body 100.

  Next, a printing medium setting method in the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views for explaining the same.

  In this image forming apparatus, the paper feed unit 101, the transport unit 103, and the paper discharge unit 104 are unitized as a transport unit 106 and are mounted on the apparatus main body 100 so as to be able to be taken in and out. Here, the transport unit 106 can be taken in and out from the direction of the surface on which the operation panel 110 of the apparatus main body 100 is provided.

  When the roll body 4 is newly (or replaced) and loaded into the paper feeding unit 101 and the print medium 2 is set on the protective belt 21, the state shown in FIG. ), The transport unit 106 is pulled out from the apparatus main body 100.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 4A, the opposing roller 24 is retracted upward to open the space between the opposing roller 24 and the conveying roller 22.

  Thereafter, the roll body 4 is loaded into the paper feeding unit 101 from the direction of the white arrow D, and the print medium 2 is pulled out while being peeled off from the roll body 4, and the front end portion of the print medium 2 is moved to the opposing roller 24 and the transport roller 22 is set to a required position on the protection belt 21.

  Then, the opposing roller 24 is returned to the original state, and the printing medium 2 and the protection belt 21 are sandwiched together between the conveying roller 22 and the opposing roller 24.

  Next, the transport unit 106 is pushed into the apparatus main body 100 in the direction of the white arrow E in FIG.

  Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is an explanatory front view of the main part for explaining the embodiment, FIG. 6 is an explanatory front view of the main part when the medium is set, FIG. 7 is an explanatory plan view of FIG. 6, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing to provide.

  In the present embodiment, a regulation unit 301 that regulates the distance between the print medium 2 and the head 11 that is an image forming unit to a certain range is provided. Two regulating means 301 are arranged in a direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the medium conveyance direction.

  The regulating unit 301 includes a regulating member 304 that is a thread-like member disposed along the medium conveyance direction between the print medium 2 to be conveyed and the image forming unit (recording head 11).

  The upstream side of the regulating member 304 in the medium conveyance direction is held by the holding member 305, and the downstream side of the regulating member 304 in the medium conveyance direction is held by the holding member 306. The regulating member 304 is arranged in a state where tension is applied by these two holding members 305 and 306.

  The holding member 305 is movably supported by a guide rail 307 arranged in the main scanning direction on the holder member 45. The holding member 306 is movably supported on a guide rail 308 disposed in the main scanning direction on the downstream side of the recording head 11 in the medium conveyance direction.

  Although not shown, the holding members 305 and 306 are moved in the main scanning direction by moving means such as a ball screw and a timing belt. At this time, the two restricting means 301 are moved in a direction away from each other and in a direction approaching each other, and restrict the position of the end portion in the width direction of the print medium 2 in accordance with the change in the size (width) of the print medium 2.

  Here, the regulating member 304 of the regulating means 301 is held by the holding members 305 and 306 so that the length can be changed.

  In other words, in this embodiment, the regulating member 304 is a thin thread-like member (here, “thread” is used) having flexibility.

  As shown in FIG. 8, one end portion side of the regulating member 304 is wound and held by the winding means 310 provided in the holding member 305, and the other end portion side is fixed to the holding member 306. Yes. The winding means 310 always applies a force in the direction of winding the regulating member 304 by a spiral spring or the like.

  In such a configuration, when the roll body 4 is set, the holder member 45 is rotated from the state where the opposing roller 24 is in contact with the conveying roller 22 side (protective belt 21 side) as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the facing roller 24 is separated from the conveying roller 22. Then, the print medium 2 drawn out from the roll body 4 is set at a required position on the protection belt 21 through the space between the facing roller 24 and the conveying roller 22.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the holding member 305 moves in association with the rotation of the holder member 45, so that the upstream side of the regulating member 304 in the medium conveyance direction is lifted. At this time, since the regulating member 304 is held so that its length can be changed, the upstream side of the regulating member 304 in the medium conveyance direction can move in a direction away from the conveyance surface. Since the downstream side of the regulating member 304 in the medium conveyance direction does not move, the regulating member 304 is inclined with respect to the conveyance surface.

  As a result, a space where the user can put his hand between the surface (conveying surface) of the protective belt 21 and the regulating member 304 can be secured, and the print medium 2 can be easily set on the protective belt 21. it can.

  In this way, it is possible to improve the workability of the roll-type print medium setting operation while maintaining the gap between the recording medium and the image forming means.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 9 is an explanatory plan view for explaining the embodiment, and FIG. 10 is an explanatory plan view for explaining the operation.

  In the present embodiment, a transmission mechanism 313 that converts rotation of the holder member 45 into movement of the holding member 305 in the main scanning direction is provided. The transmission mechanism 313 includes a pulley, a belt, and a shaft 314, and the rotation of the holder member 45 is transmitted to the shaft 314 to which the holding member 305 is attached to rotate the shaft 314. The shaft 314 has a spiral groove, and the two holding members 305 movably fitted in the spiral groove move in directions away from each other by the rotation of the shaft 314.

  With this configuration, when the print medium 2 is set as described above, when the holder member 45 is rotated upward, the holder member 45 is rotated via the transmission mechanism 313 in the main scanning direction of the holding member 305. It is converted into movement to be transmitted.

  As a result, when the holder member 45 is rotated upward, the holding member 305 moves in a direction away from each other as shown in FIG. And the interference between the regulating member 304 and the print medium 2 at the set position of the print medium 2 can be eliminated or reduced, and workability is improved. At this time, the holding member 306 may be moved in the main scanning direction in conjunction with the holder holding member 45.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the embodiment, FIG. 12 is a plan explanatory view, and FIG. 13 is a perspective explanatory view of a pressure roller.

  In the present embodiment, a pressure roller 41 that pressurizes the print medium 2 is rotatably held at the downstream end of the holder member 45 in the medium conveyance direction. The regulating member 304 is held by the holding member 305 through the shaft 41 a of the pressure roller 41.

  Since it comprised in this way, the height of the control member 304 of the control means 301 is restrict | limited to the height of the axial part 41a of the pressurization roller 41. FIG. That is, here, the shaft portion 41 a of the pressure roller 41 also serves as a limiting unit that limits the height of the regulating member 304.

  Accordingly, the holding member 305 does not need to be disposed at the last position of the conveying surface, and even when the volume is taken up like the winding means 310 using the spiral spring as shown in FIG. Thus, it can arrange easily without being restricted by arrangement space.

  Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, the holding member 305 is disposed so as to be movable in the main scanning direction, and the holding member 306 has a fixed position in the main scanning direction.

  With this configuration, a mechanism for moving the holding member 306 on the downstream side becomes unnecessary, and the configuration is simplified. In this case, although the size of the print medium 2 that can be used is limited, the length of the restriction member 304 can be changed as described above. Therefore, the width of the print medium 2 can be changed to some extent by arranging the restriction member 304 obliquely. It can correspond to.

  Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, the paper feed unit 101 has flange members 55 that hold both side surfaces of the roll body 4. The flange member 44 is moved according to the size of the roll body 4 (size of the print medium 2).

  Therefore, the holding member 305 is connected to the flange member 55 that holds both side surfaces of the roll body 4 of the paper feeding unit 101 via the connecting means 314, and when the flange member 55 is moved according to the size of the roll body 4, The holding member 305 is also moved in the main scanning direction in conjunction with it.

  This makes it easy to position the holding member 305 in the main scanning direction according to the width of the print medium 2.

  Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the embodiment.

  Here, an index 400 indicating the tip position of the print medium 2 when the print medium 2 is set is provided.

  Therefore, when the print medium 2 is set, as shown in FIG. 16A, the holding members 305 and 305 are moved away from each other so that the interval (main scanning direction) between the regulating members 304 and 304 is an index 400. So that it is the same as the width of the print medium 2 at the position.

  In this way, when the print medium 2 is set, the corner of the front end of the print medium 2 matches the regulating members 304 and 304 as shown in the region F when viewed from above the protective belt 21. The leading end position of the print medium 2 can be easily adjusted to the position of the index 400, and the setting operation is facilitated.

  After the setting is completed, as shown in FIG. 16B, the holder member 45 is returned to the transportable state, so that the holding members 305 and 305 on the paper feeding side move in a direction approaching each other, and the printing medium 2 This is the position to press the end of the width direction.

  Next, a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the embodiment, and FIG. 18 is a plane explanatory diagram.

  In the present embodiment, the holding member 306 is connected to the spur holder 28 via the connection means 402. The spur holder 38 is rotatably arranged by a rotation shaft 403.

  The connecting means 402 has a connecting member 402a such as a wire, and the holding member 306 and the spur holder 28 are connected by the connecting member 402a.

  Since it comprised in this way, as shown in FIG. 17, if the spur holder 28 is rotated in the direction away from the protection belt 21, the connection means 402 will move to the direction of arrow G. As shown in FIG. Along with this, the holding member 306 moves away from the print medium 2.

  As a result, not only the holding member 305 on the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the print medium 2 but also the holding member 306 on the downstream side can be separated from the protective belt 21, so that workability is further improved.

  Next, an eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, the regulating member 304 connects a member 304A made of non-adhesive material (shown by a broken line) and a member 304B made of a non-sticky material (shown by a solid line). Is.

  For example, the member 304A side is wound around the winding means 311A of the holding member 305, and the member 304B side is wound around the winding means 311B of the holding member 306. Each of the members 304A and 304B has a length capable of regulating the print medium 2 in the medium conveyance direction.

  The winding means 311A and 311B each have a drive source, and can selectively move the members 304A and 304B of the regulating member 304 between the recording head 11 and the transport surface.

  With this configuration, for example, when an image is formed on the adhesive surface 2b of the printing medium 2, the member 304A of the regulating member 304 is arranged at the regulating position, and the image is printed on the printing surface 2a of the printing medium 2. When forming, the member 304B of the restricting member 304 can be arranged at the restricting position.

  In this way, it is possible to easily change the regulating member to be used depending on the application, such as the property of the surface of the printing medium 2 to be regulated.

  In this case, the diameter of the non-adhesive material 304A is preferably smaller (thinner) than the diameter of the member 304B. That is, when the member 304A is used, as described above, it comes into contact with the adhesive surface 2b, so that the smaller the diameter, the smaller the contact area and the lower the transport resistance.

  Moreover, although the case where the material is made different is described here, in addition to the material, for example, a thread-like member having a different diameter and rigidity can be connected to be a restricting member.

  Next, a ninth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 20 is an explanatory plan view for explaining the embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, the attachment member 501 is provided with a restriction unit 500 as a unit by holding the restriction member 304, the holding members 305 and 306, and the guide rails 307 and 308. The restriction unit 500 is attached to the apparatus main body 100 side by the fixing means 502.

  If comprised in this way, a control member can be easily exchanged according to a use by preparing the some control unit 500 which has the control member 304 from which a kind differs.

  Next, a tenth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the embodiment, and FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the replacement of the regulating member.

  In the present embodiment, the regulating member 304 can be exchanged.

  That is, as described above, the regulating member 304 has one end wound around the winding means 310 of the holding member 305 and the other end fixed to the holding member 306.

  Here, as shown in FIGS. 22A and 22B, the holding member 305 is configured to sandwich the winding means 310 between members 305a and 305b that can be disassembled. On the other hand, the holding member 306 has a fixing member 316 that can be attached to and detached from the holding member 306 while retaining the other end of the regulating member 304.

  Since it comprised in this way, the limitation member 304 can be replaced | exchanged easily by disassembling the holding member 305 and removing the fixing member 316 from the holding member 306.

  Thereby, a regulation member can be easily exchanged according to a use.

  Next, an eleventh embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 23 is an explanatory plan view for explaining the embodiment, and FIG. 24 is an explanatory view of FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the print medium 2 is conveyed in a state where one end portion in the width direction is out of the end portion in the width direction of the protection belt 21.

  In general, in the case of roll paper (particularly label paper), the printing length and the printing position cannot be specified, and therefore, marking is often put on the roll paper at a predetermined interval. The marking is disposed on the back side of the printing surface because it is a hindrance to image formation when placed on the printing surface. However, in the conveyance by the protection belt 21, the marking is hidden by the protection belt 21 and cannot be detected.

  Therefore, the marking can be detected by conveying one end portion in the width direction in a state where the end portion in the width direction of the protection belt 21 is detached. However, since this portion is not held by the protection belt 21, warping and floating are performed. It is easy to produce.

  Therefore, the one regulating member 304 is disposed at the same position as the position I of the conveying surface or at a position opposite to the image forming unit with respect to the position I of the conveying surface, and is a part that is separated from the protective belt 21 of the conveyed printing medium 2 Can be regulated by the regulating member 304. At this time, a deviation J occurs between the regulating members 304 and 304.

  Note that when the both ends of the print medium 2 in the width direction are transported with the width direction end of the protective belt 21 being removed, the two regulating members 304 are arranged in the same direction in the direction perpendicular to the transport surface. That's fine.

  Next, a twelfth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, the restricting member 304 can move in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance surface in parallel to the conveyance surface in accordance with the gap between the recording head 11 and the conveyance surface.

  Accordingly, when the gap is adjusted according to the thickness of the print medium 2, the position of the regulating member 304 can also be adjusted, and it is possible to prevent the transportability of the print medium 2 from being lowered due to interference with the print medium 2.

  In addition, as a method of adjusting the height of the regulating member 304, it may be interlocked with a gap adjusting mechanism that adjusts the height of the carriage 12.

  Next, another example of the image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 26 is an explanatory front view of a mechanism unit of the image forming apparatus.

  This image forming apparatus is not used for the protective belt 21 but guides the print medium 2 by the conveyance guide member 188, and the other configuration is the same as that of the image forming apparatus described in FIG. .

  Note that “image formation” in the present application not only applies an image having a meaning such as a character or a figure to a medium but also an image having no meaning such as a pattern or the like (simply a droplet). To land on the medium).

  The “ink” is not limited to an ink unless otherwise specified, but includes any liquid that can form an image, such as a recording liquid, a fixing processing liquid, or a liquid. Used generically.

  Further, the image forming apparatus includes both a serial type image forming apparatus and a line type image forming apparatus, unless otherwise limited.

2 Print medium 4 Roll body 11 Recording head 21 Protection belt (conveyance belt)
22 Conveying roller 24 Opposing roller 31 Cutter unit 32 Discharging roller 33 Spur roller 45 Holder member 100 Main body 101 Paper feeding unit 102 Image forming unit 103 Conveying unit 104 Paper discharging unit 105 Discharge port 301 Restricting means 304 Regulating members 305 and 306 Element

Claims (7)

A roll-shaped print medium;
Image forming means for forming an image on the print medium;
Conveying means for conveying the print medium opposite to the image forming means;
Regulation means for regulating the distance between the print medium and the image forming means within a predetermined range,
The regulating means has a regulating member made of a thread-like member,
The restricting member is arranged with one end supported on the upstream side in the medium transport direction from the image forming unit and the other end supported on the downstream side in the medium transport direction from the image forming unit,
Either one end or the other end of the regulating member is movably disposed in a direction away from the transport surface of the print medium,
The length of the restricting member changes with movement in a direction away from the conveyance surface of the print medium. The transport unit includes a pressurizing unit that pressurizes the print medium,
The pressurizing unit is movable to a retracted position when the roll-shaped print medium is set on the conveying unit,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the restricting member of the restricting unit moves together with the movement of the pressurizing unit to the retracted position. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a restricting unit that restricts a height of the restricting member with respect to the conveyance surface. 2. The restricting means is movable at one end side in a direction perpendicular to the medium conveyance direction, and the other end side is fixed at a position in a direction perpendicular to the medium conveyance direction. The image forming apparatus described in 1. A member that is moved according to the width of the roll-shaped print medium;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one end portion side of the regulating member moves in conjunction with movement of a member that is moved according to a width of the roll-shaped print medium. The regulating member is formed by connecting a non-adhesive member and a non-adhesive member,
2. The non-adhesive member and the non-adhesive member are selectively movably disposed between the image forming unit and the conveyance surface. The image forming apparatus described. 2. The restricting member is disposed between the transport surface and the image forming unit so as to be movable in parallel to the transport surface in a direction perpendicular to the transport surface. 7. The image forming apparatus according to any one of items 6 to 6.

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