JP6347218B2 - Lifting device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an elevating device that elevates and lowers a sheet conveying unit or the like provided with a conveying belt, and an ink jet image forming apparatus including the elevating device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink jet image forming apparatus includes a paper transport unit that transports paper under a recording head that ejects ink to paper based on image data information. The paper transport unit is configured by winding an endless transport belt around various rollers such as a driving roller, a driven roller, and a tension roller.

  In such an ink jet image forming apparatus, paper jam occurs in the paper transport unit or a torn paper is transported, so that ink from the recording head is not properly ejected onto the paper. May adhere to the conveyor belt and become dirty. The ink adhering to the transport belt will contaminate the next transported paper, and hinder the normal printing state.

  In view of this, some inkjet image forming apparatuses include an elevating device that moves the paper transport unit to a printing position (paper transport position) and a retracted position (cleaning position). Then, when the paper transport unit is disposed at the retracted position, the ink attached to the surface of the transport belt is removed by a cleaning unit including a cleaning roller.

  Such an elevating device is configured, for example, by placing a paper transport unit on a unit placement portion as a raised and lowered portion, and laying a wire between a pulley provided in the device main body and a pulley provided in the unit placement portion. Is done. Then, the unit placement unit is raised by winding the wire to move the paper transport unit to the printing position, and the unit placement unit is lowered by moving the wire to move the paper transport unit to the retracted position.

  For example, the ink jet recording apparatus of Patent Document 1 includes a transport unit and a lifting unit that lifts and lowers the transport unit. The elevating unit includes an elevating unit including a placement unit and a plurality of pulleys, a pair of side plates, a hoisting shaft disposed so as to connect the pair of side plates, and an elevating unit main body including a motor that rotates the hoisting shaft, and a pulley A plurality of wires, one end of which is fixed to the hoisting shaft and the other end is connected to the lifting / lowering unit main body, a detection unit disposed between the wire and the lifting / lowering unit main body, and a wire that is predetermined by the detection unit A drive control unit that stops driving of the motor when it is detected that it is pulled by the force of

JP 2012-192524 A

  In the lifting device as described above, when the wire is drawn out and the unit mounting portion (lifted portion) is lowered, the lifted portion may be placed on the bottom of the apparatus main body. In this case, since the unit mounting portion cannot be suspended by the wire, the wire is in a loose state. If the wire becomes slack in this way, the wire may come off the pulley and fall off. Further, in order to prevent the wire from falling off the pulley, a cover that covers the pulley in a state where the wire is hung may be provided. However, in this configuration, when the wire is loosened, the wire is detached from the pulley, and the wire cannot be wound and unwound by being caught in the gap between the pulley and the cover, and the unit mounting portion may not be able to move up and down. .

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to prevent the wire from coming off the pulley regardless of the placement of the lifted portion.

  The lifting device of the present invention includes a device main body having a first pulley, a lifted portion having a second pulley below the first pulley, and a wire installed on the first pulley and the second pulley. A winding shaft that winds and unwinds the wire, and a wire support portion to which the other end of the wire is attached, the wire support portion being lifted and lowered And a biasing member that biases the other end of the wire in a direction in which the wire is tensioned when the portion is placed on the apparatus main body.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the wire from being detached from the pulley regardless of the placement of the lifted portion.

1 is a diagram illustrating a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a lifting device of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the raising / lowering apparatus of the printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the wire support part of the raising / lowering apparatus in the printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the fastening member and urging | biasing member of the wire support part of the raising / lowering apparatus in the printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the fastening member and urging | biasing member of a wire support part of the raising / lowering apparatus in a printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, and its periphery. It is a front view which shows the wire support part of the state which wound up the wire in the raising / lowering apparatus of the printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the wire support part of the state which wound up the wire in the raising / lowering apparatus of the printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the wire support part of the state which extended | stretched the wire in the raising / lowering apparatus of the printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the wire support part of the state which extended | stretched the wire in the raising / lowering apparatus of the printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

  First, an overall configuration of a color printer 1 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “printer 1”) as an ink jet image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. Hereinafter, the front side in FIG. 1 is the front side (front side) of the printer 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 includes a box-shaped printer main body 2. A paper feed cassette 3 for storing paper P is accommodated in a lower portion of the printer main body 2 so as to be drawn out.

  A conveyance path 4 for the paper P is formed on the right side of the printer body 2. A paper feed roller 5 is provided in the vicinity of the paper feed cassette 3 at the lower end of the transport path 4, and a transport roller 6 is provided to the right of the paper feed roller 5. A registration roller 7 is provided at the upper end of the conveyance path 4.

  At the center of the printer main body 2, a paper transport unit 8 (lifted / lowered portion) is provided so as to be lifted and lowered by a lifting device 10. The paper transport unit 8 includes a transport frame 11, a drive roller 12, a driven roller 13, a tension roller 14, a counter roller 15, an endless transport belt 16, and an intake portion 17. The lifting device 10 will be described later.

  The driving roller 12 is rotatably supported at the upper left corner of the transport frame 11, the driven roller 13 is rotatably supported at the upper right corner of the transport frame 11, and the tension roller 14 is disposed at the lower center of the transport frame 11. The counter roller 15 is rotatably supported by the lower left portion of the transport frame 11.

  The conveyor belt 16 is wound around the driving roller 12, the driven roller 13, the tension roller 14, and the counter roller 15. The conveyor belt 16 is provided with a number of intake holes (not shown).

  The intake portion 17 is disposed so as to be surrounded by the conveyance belt 16, and includes an intake port (not shown) on the upper side, and is configured to intake air from above the conveyance belt 16.

  Further, four sets of recording heads 18 (18K, 18C, 18M, 18Y) are arranged in parallel at the center of the printer main body 2 above the paper transport unit 8. Each recording head 18 corresponds to each color of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) in order from the upstream side (right side in the present embodiment) in the conveyance direction of the paper P. . Hereinafter, the symbols “K”, “C”, “M”, and “Y” are omitted for the recording head 18, unless otherwise specified. Each recording head 18 is provided with a nozzle (not shown) so as to face the upper surface of the conveyance belt 16.

  Four ink containers 20 (20K, 20C, 20M, and 20Y) are arranged in parallel on the upper portion of the printer main body 2 so as to be detachable in the front-rear direction. The four ink containers 20 are provided for each ink color, and in order from the upstream side (the right side in the present embodiment) in the transport direction of the paper P, black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), The ink of each color of yellow (Y) is accommodated. Hereinafter, the symbols “K”, “C”, “M”, and “Y” are omitted for the ink container 20 except when a color is specifically described.

  Each ink container 20 is connected to each recording head 18 via a sub-container (not shown), and after the ink stored in each ink container 20 is once stored in the sub-container, each recording head 18. To be supplied. The sub-container is provided corresponding to each color of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), similarly to the recording head 18 and the ink container 20.

  Further, a cleaning unit 21 including a cleaning roller 22 is provided at the lower left side (retracted position side) of the paper transport unit 8 at the center of the printer main body 2.

  A discharge mechanism 23 is provided on the left side of the printer body 2. The discharge mechanism 23 includes a drying device 24 provided on the upper left side of the paper transport unit 8, a discharge roller 25 provided on the left side of the drying device 24, and a printer provided below the discharge roller 25 via a discharge port 26. A paper discharge tray 27 protruding outside the main body 2 is provided.

  Next, an image forming operation of the printer 1 having such a configuration will be described.

  When the printer 1 receives image data from an external computer or the like, the paper P stored in the paper feed cassette 3 is sent out to the transport path 4 by the paper feed roller 5. The paper P sent out to the transport path 4 is transported to the downstream side of the transport path 4 by the transport roller 6, and sent out from the transport path 4 to the upper surface of the transport belt 16 by the registration roller 7.

  At this time, the intake unit 17 is operated, and air is sucked from the upper surface side of the conveyor belt 16 to the intake unit 17 through the intake holes of the conveyor belt 16 and the intake port of the intake unit 17. Then, the paper P sent out to the upper surface of the transport belt 16 is adsorbed on the upper surface of the transport belt 16 by the suction force of the intake portion 17.

  On the other hand, each recording head 18 is supplied with ink from each ink container 20. Each recording head 18 ejects ink to the paper P adsorbed on the conveyance belt 16 based on information of image data received from an external computer or the like. Thereby, a color ink image is formed on the surface of the paper P. The paper P on which the color ink image is formed is discharged on the discharge tray 27 from the discharge port 26 by the discharge roller 25 after the ink on the surface is dried by the drying device 24.

  Next, the lifting device 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. The lifting device 10 moves the paper transport unit 8 up and down between a printing position (paper transport position) and a retracted position (cleaning position), and is provided below the paper transport unit 8. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lifting device 10 includes a device main body 30, a unit mounting portion 31 (lifted portion), a wire 32, a hoisting shaft 33, a driving portion 34, and a wire support portion. 35.

  The apparatus main body 30 is a box-shaped housing that can store the paper transport unit 8, and the upper side is open. The apparatus main body 30 is provided with a plurality of main body side pulleys 36 (first pulleys), and the plurality of main body side pulleys 36 are, for example, at least a left front portion, a left rear portion, a right front portion, and a right portion of the apparatus main body 30. It is provided so as to be rotatable about the front-rear direction as an axial direction at four locations at the rear.

  The unit mounting portion 31 is disposed below the plurality of main body side pulleys 36 and includes a bottom plate 37 and a plurality of side plates 38. On the bottom plate 37 of the unit mounting portion 31, the paper transport unit 8, particularly the transport frame 11 is placed. The plurality of side plates 38 of the unit mounting portion 31 are erected on the left front portion, the left rear portion, the right front portion, and the right rear portion of the bottom plate 37, for example, and each of the plurality of side plates 38 has a mounting portion side pulley 39. A (second pulley) is rotatably provided with the front-rear direction as an axial direction.

  The hoisting shaft 33 is provided at the upper right side in the apparatus main body 30 so as to be rotatable about the front-rear direction as an axial direction. The drive unit 34 is, for example, a motor or the like, and is attached to the apparatus main body 30 so as to rotationally drive the hoisting shaft 33.

  The wire support portion 35 is provided in each of the left front portion and the left rear portion in the apparatus main body 30. The left front and left rear wire support portions 35 have the same configuration that is bilaterally symmetric, and only the left rear wire support portion 35 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Below, the wire support part 35 of the left rear part is demonstrated, and description of the wire support part 35 of the left front part is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the wire support portion 35 includes an arm portion 40, a rotation shaft 41, a spring 42 as an elastic member, a restriction member 43, a detection portion 44, a fastening member 45, and a biasing member. 46.

  The arm portion 40 has a shape that is long in the left-right direction, and is configured integrally with an upper plate 50 and a front plate 51 and a rear plate 52 that extend downward from the front and rear ends of the upper plate 50. The upper plate 50 of the arm portion 40 is provided with a wire hole 53 through which the wire 32 is passed on one side (right side), and the lower surface of the upper plate 50 supports the upper end of the urging member 46 around the wire hole 53. A support portion 54 may be provided (see FIG. 6). The front plate 51 and the rear plate 52 of the arm portion 40 are provided with guide holes 55 that are long in the vertical direction for guiding the movement of the fastening member 45 below the wire holes 53. Further, a detected portion 56 projecting rearward is provided at one end (right side) end portion of the rear plate 52 of the arm portion 40.

  The rotation shaft 41 is pivotally supported in the vicinity of the center of the front plate 51 and the rear plate 52 of the arm portion 40 with the front-rear direction being the axial direction so that the arm portion 40 can be rotated around the rotation shaft 41. Yes.

  One end of the spring 42 is attached to the lower part on one side (right side) of the arm part 40, and the other end is attached to, for example, the bottom plate 37 of the apparatus main body 30, and biases one side of the arm part 40 downward. Yes. The restricting member 43 is provided above the other side (left side) of the arm portion 40. That is, the arm portion 40 is maintained at a predetermined position because one side is pulled downward by the spring 42 and the other side is restricted from moving upward by the restriction member 43.

  The detection unit 44 is provided on one side (right side) of the arm unit 40 and is configured to detect the vertical movement of the detection unit 56 of the rear plate 52 of the arm unit 40.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the fastening member 45 includes a substantially cylindrical body 57 that is long in the front-rear direction, and a stopper 58 that is provided at the front and rear ends of the body 57 and has a larger diameter than the body 57. A horizontal contact surface is formed on the upper surface so that the lower end of the biasing member 46 contacts. FIG. 5 shows a state where the urging member 46 and the fastening member 45 are separated. The other end of the wire 32 is fastened to the body 57 of the fastening member 45. The body 57 of the fastening member 45 is inserted through the guide holes 55 of the front plate 51 and the rear plate 52 of the arm portion 40 so as to penetrate the arm portion 40 in the front-rear direction, and the stopper 58 of the fastening member 45 is The front plate 51 and the rear plate 52 are provided outside the guide holes 55.

  The biasing member 46 is a member that biases the fastening member 45 downward with respect to the arm portion 40, and is, for example, a coil spring. The wire 32 is inserted into the urging member 46 as a coil spring, and the urging member 46 is interposed between the lower surface of the upper plate 50 of the arm portion 40 and the contact surface of the body 57 of the fastening member 45. It is disguised.

  In the lifting device 10 as described above, the wires 32 are provided at the front and rear portions of the lifting device 10. One wire 32 is wound around the main body side pulley 36 at the left front portion and right front portion of the apparatus main body 30 and the left front portion and right front portion mounting portion side pulley 39 of the unit mounting portion 31. One end is fixed to the front portion of the hoisting shaft 33, and the other end of the wire 32 is supported by the wire support portion 35 at the left front portion of the apparatus main body 30. The other wire 32 is wound around the main body side pulley 36 at the left rear portion and the right rear portion of the apparatus main body 30 and the left rear portion and the right rear portion mounting portion side pulley 39 of the unit mounting portion 31. One end is fixed to the rear portion of the hoisting shaft 33, and the other end of the wire 32 is supported by the wire support portion 35 at the left rear portion of the apparatus main body 30.

  Next, the raising / lowering operation by the raising / lowering device 10 of the paper conveyance unit 8 in the printer 1 having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, when the printer 1 performs the image forming operation as described above, in the lifting device 10, the drive unit 34 rotates the winding shaft 33 to wind the wire 32. At this time, a tension that suspends the unit placement portion 31 of the lifting device 10 and the paper transport unit 8 acts on the wire 32. The fastening member 45 of the wire support portion 35 is pulled by the wire 32 to which the tension is applied, and moves upward along the guide hole 55 while contracting the biasing member 46 against the biasing force of the biasing member 46. (See FIGS. 7 and 8).

  The wire 32 is tensioned between the hoisting shaft 33 and the wire support portion 35, and the length of the wire 32 from the hoisting shaft 33 to the wire support portion 35 in accordance with the winding by the hoisting shaft 33. Becomes shorter. Then, the paper transport unit 8 suspended by the wire 32 rises and is positioned at the printing position as the suspension length becomes shorter. Thereby, the printer 1 can perform the image forming operation as described above by using the paper transport unit 8 arranged at the printing position.

  When the paper transport unit 8 moves to the printing position, the tension of the wire 32 becomes equal to or higher than the tension of the spring 42 of the wire support portion 35. At this time, the spring 42 extends and the arm portion 40 of the wire support portion 35 rotates around the rotation shaft 41, and the detected portion 56 of the rear plate 52 of the arm portion 40 is detected by the detection portion 44 of the wire support portion 35. Detected by. In the printer 1, the tension of the wire 32 is detected based on the detection result of the detection unit 44, and the rotation of the winding shaft 33 by the driving unit 34, that is, the winding of the wire 32 by the winding shaft 33 is stopped. .

  Next, when the cleaning operation of the transport belt 16 of the paper transport unit 8 is performed in the printer 1, in the lifting device 10, the driving unit 34 rotates the hoisting shaft 33 and feeds the wire 32. At this time, even if the wire 32 is fed out, the sheet conveying unit 8 is suspended from the wire 32, so that the wire 32 is tensioned between the hoisting shaft 33 and the wire support portion 35. The length of the wire 32 from the hoisting shaft 33 to the wire support portion 35 is increased in accordance with the feeding of the wire 32 by the hoisting shaft 33, and the paper transport unit 8 suspended from the wire 32 is suspended. It descends as the length increases.

  When the paper transport unit 8 moves downward from the printing position, the tension of the wire 32 is less than the tension of the spring 42 of the wire support portion 35. Then, the spring 42 is restored, the arm portion 40 of the wire support portion 35 is rotated around the rotation shaft 41, the upper plate 50 of the arm portion 40 is brought into contact with the regulating member 43, and the arm portion 40 is described above. So that it is maintained in place.

  Further, when the wire 32 is further drawn and the sheet transport unit 8 is lowered and moved to the retracted position, and the unit placement portion 31 of the lifting device 10 is placed on the bottom plate 37 of the apparatus main body 30, the unit The tension that suspends the placement unit 31 and the paper transport unit 8 does not act on the wire 32. At this time, since the urging force of the urging member 46 of the wire support portion 35 becomes equal to or greater than the tension of the wire 32, the urging member 46 is restored and the fastening member 45 is moved downward along the guide hole 55 (FIG. 9). And FIG. 10). As a result, the other end of the wire 32 fastened to the fastening member 45 of the wire support portion 35 is pulled by the urging member 46 of the wire support portion 35, so that the wire 32 maintains a predetermined tension without causing slack. be able to.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the lifting device 10 of the printer 1 includes the apparatus main body 30 provided with the main body side pulley 36 (first pulley), and the mounting portion side pulley 39 (the first pulley) below the main body side pulley 36. 2 unit pulley (unit 2), a wire 32 installed on the main body side pulley 36 and the mounting unit side pulley 39, and one end of the wire 32 is attached to wind up the wire 32. And a hoisting shaft 33 that performs feeding, and a wire support portion 35 to which the other end of the wire 32 is attached. The wire support portion 35 is provided when the unit placement portion 31 is placed on the apparatus main body 30. A biasing member 46 that biases the other end of the wire 32 in a direction in which the wire 32 is tensioned is provided.

  Thus, the other end of the wire 32 fastened to the fastening member 45 of the wire support portion 35 even when the tension that suspends the lifted portion such as the unit mounting portion 31 or the paper transport unit 8 does not act on the wire 32. However, since it is pulled by the urging member 46 of the wire support portion 35, the wire 32 can maintain a predetermined tension without causing slack. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the wire 32 from being detached from the main body side pulley 36 of the apparatus main body 30 and the mounting portion side pulley 39 of the unit mounting portion 31 regardless of the placement of the lifted portion.

  In the present embodiment, the wire support portion 35 includes a fastening member 45 that fastens the other end of the wire 32, and the fastening member 45 is provided so as to be movable according to the biasing force of the biasing member 46. For example, when it is assumed that a slack of 5 mm occurs in the wire 32 when the unit mounting portion 31 is placed on the apparatus main body 30, the wire support portion 35 can move the biasing member 46 within a range of 10 mm. It is sufficient to configure. Thereby, the wire support part 35 is realizable with a simple structure.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the printer 1 includes the lifting device 10 as described above and a paper transport unit 8 that transports the paper by the transport belt 16, and the paper transport unit 8 is mounted on the unit of the lifting device 10. When the image forming process is performed on the paper, the lifting device 10 is placed on the unit 31 and winds up the wire 32 to raise the unit mounting unit 31 to move the paper transport unit 8 to the printing position. When the cleaning process is performed, the wire 32 is fed out to lower the unit mounting portion 31 and move the paper transport unit 8 to the retracted position.

  In the present embodiment, the configuration of the wire support portion 35 that fastens the other end of the wire 32 to the fastening member 45 movable according to the biasing force of the biasing member 46 has been described. However, in other different embodiments, the wire 32 is connected to the other end of the wire 32 when no tension is applied to the wire 32 to suspend the lifted parts such as the unit placement unit 31 and the paper transport unit 8. The configuration of the wire support portion 35 is not limited to this as long as the urging force of the urging member 46 can be applied in the tensioning direction.

  In this embodiment, the case where the configuration of the present invention is applied to the printer 1 has been described. However, in another different embodiment, the configuration of the present invention is applied to other different image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and a multifunction machine. It is also possible to do.

1 Color printer (image forming device)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 8 Paper conveyance unit 10 Lifting device 16 Conveyance belt 21 Cleaning unit 30 Apparatus main body 31 Unit mounting part 32 Wire 33 Hoisting shaft 34 Drive part 35 Wire support part 36 Main body side pulley (1st pulley)
39 Placement side pulley (second pulley)
40 Arm part 45 Fastening member 46 Biasing member

Claims (2)

A lifting device body including a first pulley;
A lifted part having a second pulley below the first pulley;
A wire erected on the first pulley and the second pulley;
A hoisting shaft to which one end of the wire is attached and winds and feeds the wire;
A wire support portion to which the other end of the wire is attached,
The wire support part is fastened to the arm part having a wire hole through which the other end of the wire passes, and the guide hole of the front plate and the rear plate of the arm part to fasten the other end of the wire. and member, wherein when the lifting unit is placed on the lifting device main body, and a biasing member to which the wire urges the other end of the wire in the direction of tension,
The fastening member has a cylindrical body for fastening the other end of the wire and a stopper having a diameter larger than that of the body, and the body is provided on the inner side of the guide hole. Is formed with a horizontal contact surface that contacts the lower end of the urging member, the stopper is provided outside the guide hole, and the fastening member is in accordance with the urging force of the urging member, An elevating device provided so as to be movable along the guide hole . A lifting device according to claim 1 ;
A paper transport unit for transporting paper with a transport belt,
The paper transport unit is placed on the lifted portion of the lifting device,
The lifting device winds up the wire to raise the lifted portion when performing image forming processing on the paper, moves the paper transport unit to a printing position,
2. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when carrying out the cleaning process of the transport belt, the wire is fed out to lower the lifted portion to move the paper transport unit to a retracted position.

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