JPH01174457A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively use heat generated at fixing for drying ink by providing a high-temperature atmosphere holding means around a discharge path. CONSTITUTION:A fixing heater 13 is provided on the back side of a platen 11 to conduct fixing by evaporating a solvent from a recording sheet 2 held by the platen 11 due to the heat. Furthermore, a cover 20 having a shape suitable for holding the heat is provided from upward of the platen 11 to a discharge tray 15, thereby keeping the atmosphere at and around a discharge path high in temperature. Namely, during the period after the recording is thermally fixed on the platen 11 until the fixed recording sheet 2 is discharged to the discharge tray 15, the fixing is continued by being dried in the ambient high-temperature atmosphere. Thus, the heat from the heater 13 can be efficiently used. In this manner, the whole device is made compact without the need for extending the discharge path or raising a heater temperature to a large extent.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device, and more specifically, an inkjet recording device that is capable of recording on plain paper and that heat-fixes the plain paper after recording. The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, the uses of inkjet recording devices have been limited, and recording sheets have come to be made of paper that matches the performance of the device. Since the material can be handled by using a special ink, there is no need to provide a special fixing means for the equipment. However, in recent years, as printers have become faster and have higher printing quality, their reliability has improved and their applications have also expanded, with a shift from factory use to office use and personal use, as well as a shift from monochrome to full color, and even more printing. Recording materials are also changing from recording paper to plastic films and metals, which take advantage of the characteristics of non-contact recording.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) By the way, recording materials have a wide variety of surface conditions, ranging from long-fiber paper like Japanese paper to paper like art paper. Because the raw materials vary, and the substances added as sizing agents and binders vary, it would be an exaggeration to say that even the same type of paper from the same manufacturer will have different properties from lot to lot. .3.) Like the characteristics. Main points: 1. In order to always obtain the same high-quality and high-speed recording on different recording materials, it is necessary to rely on natural drying of the solvent and fixation by penetrating into the recording material. The reality is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up.

For example, improving the fixing property by improving the penetrating property creates a trade-off situation in which feathering becomes more severe, which seriously deteriorates the recording quality. Furthermore, even if the solvent is evaporated by natural drying, if the solvent is allowed to evaporate easily, thickening will occur rapidly at the tip of the nozzle in a short period of time, causing serious problems such as clogging of the nozzle. .

Furthermore, in order to eliminate these problems, it would require a complicated mechanism to maintain the vicinity of the nozzle tip in a vapor atmosphere of the solvent at all times, or to provide a mechanism to refresh the inside of the nozzle at predetermined intervals. In addition to being costly,
While these mechanisms are working, the equipment cannot be used,
There are many other inconveniences.

In addition, the odor caused by the solvent contained in the ink is also a problem, especially for organic solvent-based ink, the unique odor of the solvent cannot be removed, and if the ink gets on your hands, etc. There are many disadvantages to user personalization, such as the need to use a special solvent because it cannot be washed away with water. Due to these circumstances, the proportion of organic inks has been decreasing, particularly in recent years, and this has made it difficult to improve fixing properties using chemical changes or reactions. In addition, in recent years, this type of equipment is often placed on a tabletop with other personal equipment, and requires much more space efficiency than before, so the fixing time can be increased by lengthening the conveyance path after recording. I don't like the method either.

In view of the conventional problems as mentioned above, the object of the present invention is to
It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording device that has a simple configuration and can dry ink by effectively utilizing heat during fixing.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a heat generating means in the vicinity of a platen that holds a recording material at a recording position, and heats the recording material by the heat generating means. The present invention is an inkjet recording apparatus in which a recording ink is fixed on a recording material and the recording material is guided to a discharge passage, characterized in that a high atmosphere maintaining means is provided around the discharge passage.

[Function] - According to the present invention, in an inkjet recording apparatus in which fixing is performed on a recording material using a heat source, the high atmosphere maintaining means is provided along a discharge path for discharging a recorded recording material. Since the heat dissipated through the heat generating means is retained, it is possible to continue the fixing action effectively with a short discharge path, and the ink is difficult to dry in low temperature and high humidity conditions. In such cases, it is now possible to perform sufficient fixing and eject the recording material even if there is a problem.

(Example) Examples of the present invention will be described below in detail and specifically based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to an ink jet recording apparatus having a flat platen with a heat fixing heater.

Here, 1 is a slider unit set in the paper feed section,
2 is a recording sheet held stacked on the pressure plate IA of the slider unit 1, IB is a separation claw for separating the recording sheets 2 one by one, and 3 is arranged above the slider unit 1 and controls its rotational operation. This is a separation roller that feeds out the recording sheet 2 while maintaining contact with the recording sheet 2 located at the top.

The recording sheet 2 sent out by the separation roller 3 is guided by a paper guide 4 and a paper pan 5, held between a friction roller 6 and a pinch roller 7, and guided to a recording position. 8 is a carriage supported by a guide shaft 9 and moves in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper; IO is an inkjet recording head mounted on the carriage 8 and performs recording; 11 is a flat platen that holds the recording sheet 2 at a recording position;
Reference numeral 2 denotes a sheet pressing plate that presses the recording sheet 2 against the flat platen 11.

In this way, recording is performed on the recording sheet 2 held by the platen 11 with the ink ejected from the recording head 10. Here, the ink droplets that landed on the recording sheet 2 are Depending on the sheet being made of a material that is difficult to absorb, or the type of ink solvent, it may not dry easily. Therefore, in this example, the platen 11
A heater 13 for fixing is attached to the rear side of the recording sheet 2, and the solvent is evaporated from the recording sheet 2 held on the platen 11 by the heat of the heater 13, thereby performing fixing. 14 is a discharge roller that discharges the recording sheet that has been fixed onto the discharge tray 15; 16 is a group of spurs that presses and holds the discharged recording sheet against the discharge roller 14; By holding the spur in contact, ink that has not been sufficiently fixed is prevented from adhering to the spur and staining the surface of the recording sheet.

In this way, the recorded recording sheet 2 is heated by the heater 13 before and after recording, and by keeping the platen 11 at a temperature of 40° C. to 90° C., preferably 50° C. or higher, the recording sheet 2 is □Drying and fixing of recordings made by ink droplets is performed, but if the holding temperature is too high, there is a risk of deteriorating the quality of the recording material, so there is a limit to the temperature.

Therefore, in this example, in order to prevent the heat dissipated from the area around the heater and the recording sheet from escaping to the outside air,
A cover 20 having a shape suitable for trapping heat from above the platen 11 to the discharge tray 15 is provided, and the atmosphere around the discharge passage is maintained at a high temperature by the cover 20. Note that the shape of this cover 20 is
The shape is not limited to the one shown in the figure, but may be any shape as long as it does not obstruct the discharge passage and efficiently traps the heat emitted from the heater 13 and the like.

Preferably, the cover is detachable, and the entire cover is made of a heat insulating material, or a heat insulating material is attached to either the front or back to enhance the heat retention effect.

In the recording apparatus configured in this way, the platen 11
The recording is thermally fixed at the top, and until the fixed recording sheet 2 is ejected to the output tray 15, the fixing by drying continues in the surrounding high temperature atmosphere, so the heat from the heater 13 is efficiently absorbed. There is no need to lengthen the discharge passage or make the heater temperature extremely high, and as shown in Fig. 2, the entire structure including the outer case 21 can be made compact. It can have a sufficient fixing function.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the invention. This example differs from the example shown in FIG. 1 in that an absorber 20^ made of a sponge-like porous material is provided on the lower surface of the cover 20. It is preferable that such an absorbent body 20A be removably attached via a double-sided adhesive tape or be fitted into the absorber 20A so that it can be replaced as necessary.

With this configuration, moisture evaporated from the paper surface by the heat of the heater can be adsorbed and prevented from dripping downward.

FIG. 4 shows still another embodiment of the present invention, and this embodiment shows an example in which the present invention is applied to an inkjet recording apparatus in which a cylindrical heater for fixing is installed inside a platen roller. Here, 22 is a platen roller, 23 is a platen roller 22
This is a heater for heat fixing installed around the inside. That is, in this example, the recording sheet 2 is held by the platen roller 22 while the sheet temperature is raised by the heater 23, and recording is performed by the recording head 10 on the heated sheet. Also, by providing a cover 30 for preventing heat diffusion in the discharge path from above the platen roller 22 to the discharge tray 15, the same effect as explained in FIG. 1 can be obtained.
It can promote evaporation of the solvent from the recording sheet after recording and contribute to fixing. Note that 24 is a pail roller that holds the sheet 2 in pressure contact with the platen roller 22 and guides it to the discharge path.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the heat generating means is provided near the platen, the recording material is heated by the heat generating means to fix the recording ink, and then the recording material is passed through the discharge path. In an inkjet recording device that discharges paddy, a means that can maintain a high atmosphere by retaining the heat of the heat generating means is provided around the discharge passage, so that the paddy can be continuously discharged from above the platen to the recording material. Heating for fixing can be continued in the passage, and a short discharge passage can be effectively used for fixing.
In addition, even in the case of recording materials and ink that are difficult to dry, sufficient fixing can be performed and high-quality recording can be maintained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an example of the present invention applied to an inkjet recording device having a flat platen, FIG. 2 is an external view of the recording device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention, which is applied to an inkjet recording apparatus having a platen roller. 2... Recording sheet, 6... Friction roller, 7... Pinch roller, 8... Carriage, lO... Recording head, 11... Flat platen, 13... Fist heater, 14. ...Discharge roller, 15...Discharge tray, 20, 30-...Cover, 20^...Absorber. P "Sarashii"

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Heat generating means is provided near a platen that holds a recording material at a recording position, and the heat generating means heats the recording material to fix the recording ink to the recording material, What is claimed is: 1. An inkjet recording apparatus in which a recording material is guided to a discharge passage, characterized in that a high atmosphere maintaining means is provided around the discharge passage.