JP6208981B2 - Conveying apparatus and recording apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport apparatus that transports various media while sucking them on a transport surface, and a recording apparatus including the transport apparatus.

  As this type of transport device, for example, a recording medium transport device provided in an ink jet recording apparatus includes a platen at a position facing the ink jet recording head, and sucks the recording medium onto the transport surface of the platen to have a predetermined posture. The recording medium is conveyed while maintaining. A plurality of suction holes are formed on the conveying surface of the platen, and a common suction chamber communicating with the suction holes is formed inside the platen. By introducing a negative pressure from a negative pressure generator using a fan or the like into the suction chamber, the recording medium is sucked onto the conveying surface of the platen. The recording medium is conveyed by a conveyance roller or the like so as to slide on the conveyance surface while being sucked onto the conveyance surface of the platen.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes a conveying device that conveys a recording medium together with the conveying belt while the recording medium is sucked and held on the conveying belt. A plurality of suction holes are formed in the transport belt, and a common vent hole and a suction chamber are formed for the plurality of suction holes in the support member that supports the transport belt. By introducing a negative pressure from a negative pressure generator using a fan or the like into the suction chamber of the support member, the recording medium is sucked and held on the transport belt through the vent hole of the support member and the suction hole of the transport belt.

JP 2007-302406 A

  In an ink jet recording apparatus, ink mist may be generated as ink is ejected from a recording head, and the ink mist may be sucked into a suction chamber of a platen or a support member. That is, in a transport device using a platen, the platen passes through at least one suction hole (suction hole not covered by the recording medium) located between the recording medium being transported on the transport surface of the platen. Ink mist may be sucked into the suction chamber common to the plurality of suction holes. Further, in the transport device using the transport belt, a plurality of suction holes are passed through at least one suction hole of the transport belt positioned between the recording medium transported on the transport belt and the recording medium and the vent hole of the support member. Ink mist may be sucked into the common suction chamber.

  When the ink mist is sucked into the suction chamber of the platen or the support member in this way, the back surface of the recording medium being transported may adhere due to the turbulent air flow in the suction chamber. That is, in a transport device using a platen, there is a possibility that ink mist in a common suction chamber may adhere to the back surface of the recording medium sucked by at least one suction hole of the platen through the suction hole. Further, in a transport apparatus using a transport belt, the recording medium sucked by at least one suction hole of the support member is passed through the ventilation hole of the support member and the suction hole of the transport belt with respect to the back surface. Ink mist may adhere.

An object of the present invention is to provide a transport apparatus and a recording apparatus that can prevent foreign matter from adhering to a sheet such as a recording medium that is transported while being sucked in an environment where foreign objects such as ink mist exist. There is to do.

The transport device of the present invention is a transport device that transports the sheet while sucking the sheet through the suction hole by the negative pressure supplied to the suction chamber, and is an opening provided inside the suction hole. A collecting member that allows passage of air and collects foreign matter in the air, and a pressing member that presses the collecting member so as to be in close contact with the opening. It is characterized by having.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from adhering to a sheet such as a recording medium in an environment where foreign matter such as ink mist exists.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a recording apparatus provided with a transport apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of the platen in FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a control system of the recording apparatus in FIG. 1. It is a schematic block diagram of the recording device provided with the conveying apparatus of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the conveyance belt in FIG.

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

(First embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 1, the transport apparatus of this example is provided in an ink jet recording apparatus that records an image using the ink jet recording head 1, and transports the recording medium P in a predetermined direction (arrow A direction). It is configured as a transport unit 10. The ink jet recording apparatus of this example is a full line type recording apparatus that continuously moves the recording medium P with respect to the recording head 1 during an image recording operation. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is a serial scan type recording apparatus that records an image with the movement of the recording head in the main scanning direction and the conveyance of the recording medium in the sub scanning direction intersecting the sub scanning direction. May be.

  The recording head 1 of this example includes recording heads 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K that discharge yellow, magenta, cyan, and black inks, and each has a plurality of ejection ports that can eject ink as indicated by an arrow A. They are arranged so as to intersect the conveyance direction (in this example, orthogonal). The transport unit 10 includes a platen 11 at a recording position facing the recording head 1, a roller pair 12 positioned upstream of the platen 11 in the transport direction, and a roller pair 13 positioned downstream of the platen 11 in the transport direction. Is provided. The roller pair 12 includes a conveying roller 12A and a pinch roller 12B, and the roller pair 13 includes a paper discharge roller 13A and a pinch roller 13B. A recording medium P supplied from a paper supply unit (not shown) is conveyed in the direction of arrow A along a conveyance path passing through the conveyance surface of the platen 11 by roller pairs 12 and 13. The roller pairs 12 and 13 are driven by the conveyance drive unit 19 of FIG. 3 including a drive motor. A front end detection sensor 2 that detects the front end of the recording medium P is provided at a position upstream of the recording head 1 in the transport direction.

  A plurality of suction holes 11A are formed in the area of the conveying surface of the platen 11 through which the recording medium P passes as shown in FIG. The suction holes 11A of this example have a circular cross section, and are positioned at equal intervals in each of the conveyance direction (arrow A direction) of the recording medium P and the width direction (direction intersecting the arrow A) of the recording medium P. Is formed. A bottom plate member 14 is attached to the bottom of the platen 11, thereby forming a suction chamber (decompression chamber) R <b> 1 inside the platen 11. The suction chamber R1 is common to the plurality of suction holes 11A, and the suction holes 11A communicate with each other. A porous member (collecting member) 15 is provided between the suction hole 11A and the suction chamber R1. The porous member 15 of this example is provided in the suction chamber R1 so as to cover the inner openings (the lower openings in FIG. 2B) of all the suction holes 11A. The bottom plate member 14 is provided with a rib (pressing member) 16 that compresses the porous member 15 toward the suction hole 11 </ b> A, so that the inner opening of the suction hole 11 </ b> A is closed without gaps by the porous member 15. Can be removed.

  The inside of the suction chamber R1 of the platen 11 is connected via a duct 17 to a suction fan 18 as a negative pressure supply source. Due to the suction operation of the suction fan 18, the air on the conveying surface of the platen 11 flows between the suction hole 11 </ b> A, the porous member 15 in the suction chamber R <b> 1, and the plurality of ribs 16 as indicated by the dotted arrows in FIG. 1. The air is sucked through the space and the duct 17 and discharged to the outside. As will be described later, the porous member 15 adsorbs and collects ink mist (foreign matter) in the air while allowing such passage of air. The porous member 15 desirably allows air to pass with a relatively low resistance and efficiently adsorbs ink mist in the air. The porous member 15 can be in the form of, for example, a sponge-like foam in which a large number of continuous voids are formed, or an aggregate in which a plurality of mesh layers are stacked. The spaces between the plurality of ribs 16 are configured to communicate with each other. Therefore, the negative pressure can be applied uniformly to the lower surface of the porous member 15 by applying a negative pressure to the porous member 15 through the space between the plurality of ribs 16 by the suction fan 18.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a control system of the recording apparatus of this example. The CPU 100 executes processing control processing and data processing of the recording apparatus, the ROM 101 stores programs such as those processing procedures, and the RAM 102 is used as a work area for executing these processing. . The recording head 1 is controlled via a head driver 1A based on image data input from the host device 200 and the like, a detection signal of the tip detection sensor 2, and the like. The conveyance drive unit 19 and the suction fan 18 of the conveyance unit 10 are controlled in association with the recording head 1 during an image recording operation.

  During an image recording operation, the suction fan 18 is operated after receiving a recording start signal from a user or the like, and the air on the conveying surface of the platen 11 is sucked as indicated by the dotted arrow in FIG. Thereafter, the conveyance drive unit 19 of the conveyance unit 10 is operated to start conveyance of the recording medium P. An image is recorded on the recording medium P by ejecting ink from the recording head 1 in association with the transport position of the recording medium P with reference to the timing when the leading edge of the recording medium P is detected by the leading edge detection sensor 2. To do. The recording medium P is conveyed in the direction of the arrow A so as to slide on the conveyance surface while being sucked onto the conveyance surface of the platen 11.

  During such a recording operation, there is a possibility that ink mist may be generated as ink is ejected from the recording head. The ink mist is caused by the generation of small sub-drops different from the main droplets of ink ejected from the recording head, the ink droplets rebounding from the recording medium P, and the like. Such ink mist is sucked together with the air on the conveying surface of the platen 11 by the suction fan 18. The ink mist is adsorbed by the porous member 15 immediately after being introduced into the suction hole 11 </ b> A of the platen 11. Further, the turbulent air flow is suppressed in the suction chamber R1 where the porous member 15 exists. As a result, the ink mist sucked into the suction chamber R1 is adsorbed to the porous member 15 without adhering to the back surface of the recording medium P sucked into the suction hole 11A. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of contamination on the back surface of the recording medium P due to the adhesion of ink mist and obtain a high-quality recording result.

(Second Embodiment)
The transport apparatus in the present embodiment is provided in the same ink jet recording apparatus as in the above-described embodiment, and transports the recording medium P in the transport direction indicated by the arrow A, and is configured as a transport unit 40.

  The transport unit 40 is provided with a drive pulley 42 driven by a transport drive unit, driven pulleys 43 and 44, and a transport belt 41 spanned between these pulleys. A pinch roller 3 that presses the recording medium P onto the conveyance surface of the conveyance belt 41 is provided downstream of the driven pulley 43 in the conveyance direction. A roller 4 for preventing the conveyor belt 41 from being displaced downward in FIG. 4 by the pressing force of the pinch roller 3 is provided at a position facing the pinch roller 3 with the conveyor belt 41 interposed therebetween.

  In this example, one transport belt 41 is used. The number of conveyance belts 41 can be appropriately increased or decreased according to the maximum width of the recording medium P (the length in the direction intersecting the conveyance direction). The transport belt 41 is supported by a support member 45, and slides on the upper surface of the support member 45 in the transport direction (arrow A direction) by the driving force of the drive pulley 42. As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, a plurality of suction holes 41 </ b> A penetrating in the thickness direction are formed in the transport belt 41. The suction holes 41 in this example are formed so as to form four rows L (L 1, L 2, L 3, L 4) over the entire circumference of the transport belt 41, and these rows L are the width of the transport belt 41. Located at regular intervals with respect to the direction.

  On the upper part of the support member 45 on which the transport belt 41 slides, a vent hole 45A continuous in the transport direction is formed in accordance with the position of the suction hole 41A of the transport belt 41. Accordingly, the suction hole 41A of the transport belt 41 located above the vent hole 45A is always in communication with the vent hole 45A. A bottom plate member 14 is attached to the bottom of the support member 45, and thereby a suction chamber (decompression chamber) R <b> 2 is formed inside the support member 45. The suction chamber R2 is common to the plurality of suction holes 41A, and the suction holes 41A can communicate with each other. A porous member (collecting member) 47 is provided between the suction hole 41A and the suction chamber R2. The porous member 47 of this example is provided in the vent hole 45 </ b> A so as to be in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the transport belt 41. The porous member 47 is provided so as to block the inner opening (the lower opening in FIG. 5B) of the suction hole 41A communicating with the vent hole 45A. The bottom plate member 46 is provided with a rib (pressing member) 48 that compresses the porous member 47 upward in FIG. 5 (b), whereby the inside of the suction hole 41A communicating with the vent hole 45A. The opening is closed without a gap by the porous member 47.

  The inside of the suction chamber R <b> 2 of the support member 45 is connected to the suction fan 50 through a duct 49. Due to the suction operation of the suction fan 50, the air on the transport surface of the transport belt 41 flows between the suction hole 41 </ b> A, the porous member 47 in the vent hole 45 </ b> A, and the plurality of ribs 48 as indicated by the dotted line arrows in FIG. 4. , And the air is sucked through the duct 17 and discharged to the outside. The porous member 47 adsorbs ink mist in the air while allowing the passage of such air. The porous member 47 desirably allows air to pass with a relatively low resistance and efficiently adsorbs ink mist in the air. The porous member 47 can be in the form of, for example, a sponge-like foam in which a large number of continuous voids are formed, or an aggregate in which a plurality of mesh layers are stacked. The spaces between the plurality of ribs 48 are configured to communicate with each other. Therefore, by applying negative pressure to the plurality of porous members 47 through the spaces between the plurality of ribs 48 by the suction fan 50, negative pressure can be applied uniformly to the plurality of porous members 47. it can.

  During an image recording operation, the suction fan 50 is activated after receiving a recording start signal from a user or the like, and the air on the transport surface of the transport belt 41 is sucked as indicated by the dotted arrow in FIG. Then, the conveyance drive part of the conveyance unit 40 is operated and conveyance of the recording medium P is started. An image is recorded on the recording medium P by ejecting ink from the recording head 1 in association with the transport position of the recording medium P with reference to the timing when the leading edge of the recording medium P is detected by the leading edge detection sensor 2. To do. The recording medium P placed on the conveyance belt 41 is conveyed in the direction of arrow A together with the conveyance belt 41 while being adsorbed on the conveyance surface of the conveyance belt 41.

  Ink mist generated during such a recording operation is sucked together with the air on the transport surface of the transport belt 41 by the suction fan 50. The ink mist is adsorbed by the porous member 47 immediately after being introduced into the suction hole 41 </ b> A of the transport belt 41. Further, the turbulent air flow is suppressed in the suction chamber R2 where the porous member 47 exists. As a result, the ink mist sucked into the suction hole 41A and the suction chamber R2 is adsorbed to the porous member 47 without adhering to the back surface of the recording medium P adsorbed to the suction hole 41A. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of contamination on the back surface of the recording medium P due to the adhesion of ink mist and obtain a high-quality recording result.

(Other embodiments)
In addition to being used for transporting a recording medium in an ink jet recording apparatus, the transport apparatus of the present invention can be widely applied as an apparatus for transporting various media. For example, when various media are transported in an environment where foreign matter including ink mist or dust is present, the foreign matter can be prevented from adhering to the back surface of the medium.

1 Recording head 11 Platen 11A Suction hole 15, 47 Porous member (collecting member)
41 Conveying belt 41A Suction hole R1, R2 Suction chamber P Recording medium (medium)
18, 50 Suction fan

Claims (9)

A conveying device that conveys the sheet while sucking the sheet through the suction hole by the negative pressure supplied to the suction chamber,
A collecting member that is provided so as to cover at least an opening provided inside the suction hole , allows air to pass therethrough, and collects foreign matters in the air;
A pressing member that presses the collecting member so as to be in close contact with the opening;
A conveying apparatus comprising:   The transport device according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member presses the collecting member from the inside of the suction chamber. The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the suction hole is formed in an upper surface in a vertical direction of the suction chamber.   The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the collecting member is a porous member and is compressed by the pressing member. 5. The transport device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the suction holes are provided and can communicate with the common suction chamber. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the suction hole is formed in a platen in contact with the sheet. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the suction hole is formed in a platen below a conveying belt that moves with the sheet while placing the sheet in the vertical direction. A recording apparatus that records an image using a recording head on a sheet conveyed in a predetermined direction,
A recording apparatus comprising the conveying device according to claim 1 for conveying the sheet.   The recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the recording head is an ink jet recording head capable of ejecting ink.

Images