JPH0441264A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make stabilized conveyance of paper available with enlarged curvature of the conveyance path by providing a conveying means that is constructed of a first rotating body that rotates by transmitted driving force, a second rotating body that is driven, being pressed against the first rotating body, with said rotating body, a plurality of conveying paths for conveyance of recording media, and a switching means that makes switching among the conveyance paths in accordance with types of the recording media. CONSTITUTION:A sheet of cut paper 1a is given force of conveyance by being nipped between a friction roller 4 and a pinch roller 5. The pinch roller 5 is made so that it can be pressed against the friction roller 4 and can be released from the position of being pressed to said roller by operation of a switching means. Continous paper 1b is fed along a paper path 7 with a pin-feed-tractor 6 provided on a feeding port 2b. At this time, the pinch roller 5 is released from the position of being pressed against the friction roller 4 and is made to contact with the continuous paper 1b, and is further made to serve concurrently as a guide member that pushes outward the path for the continuous paper. As the pinch roller 5 guides the continuous paper through the conveyance path whose curvature is enlarged by the position of the pinch roller 5, the continuous paper is prevented from being wound excessively to the friction roller 4, and stabilized conveyance of the paper can be made therewith.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a recording unit and a device that serves as a conveying means for conveying a recording medium to a recording means, and in particular to a recording unit that uses single-sheet paper and continuous paper as the recording medium. It is related to the device.

<Conventional technology> Conventionally, a paper feeding mechanism for the recording section of a recording device has a
A so-called friction feed mechanism is commonly used. This is composed of a paper feed roller that rotates when a driving force is transmitted to it, and a pinch roller that comes into pressure contact with this roller and rotates as a result of the rotation, and the single-sheet paper (cut paper) is conveyed by the cooperative action of the two. .

Another type of paper feeding mechanism is continuous paper (bin feed paper), which has holes at regular intervals on both sides of the paper being transported.
There is a bin-feed tractor mechanism that conveys the feed using sprocket wheels.

Recently, in order to meet the needs of users, recording devices equipped with both the above-described friction feed mechanism and bin feed tractor mechanism have been developed and put into practical use.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, there is a friction feed mechanism consisting of a friction roller 52 and a pinch roller 53 that conveys a single sheet of paper 51 to a recording head 50, and a bin feed mechanism that conveys a continuous sheet of paper 54 to this friction feed mechanism. It has a tractor 55.

When feeding the single sheet 51, the pinch roller 53 is pressed against the friction roller 52 by selecting the single sheet 51 using a switching means (not shown). and,
The friction roller 52 is driven by a driving means (not shown).
The sheet paper 51 is sandwiched between the friction roller 52 and the pinch roller 53, and the sheet paper 51 is wound around the friction roller 52, whereby the sheet paper 51 is conveyed to the recording head 50 by the frictional force generated between the two. be.

Further, when feeding the continuous paper 54, the continuous paper 54 is selected by a switching means (not shown), and the pressure of the pinch roller 53 against the friction roller 52 is released. Then, the pin feed tractor 55 is driven by a driving means (not shown) to sequentially fit the rotating bottles into holes provided on both sides of the continuous paper 54, and convey the paper to the recording head 50 by the mechanical coupling force between the two. It is.

In the above configuration, the reason why the conveyance mechanisms for the single sheet paper 51 and the continuous paper 54 are not the same is because the amount of feeding error occurs is different, which may cause jams or damage to the bin holes of the continuous paper 54. This is because there is a risk. That is, continuous paper 5
The feeding amount of No. 4 is determined by the accuracy of the bin provided in the pin feed tractor 55 and the amount of movement of the bin tractor section, and the feeding error does not accumulate, but the feeding error of the single sheet paper 51 is This is because it accumulates mechanically. In addition, the amount of feeding error varies depending on the surrounding conditions etc. when feeding by a friction feed mechanism.
This is because the load on the bottle hole portion 4 increases, which may cause damage or jamming.

Further, in order to suppress the frictional load caused by the recording medium being wound around the friction roller 52, the curvature of the conveyance path is made as large as possible.

<Problem to be solved by the invention> However, as computers and other devices have become more personalized in recent years, recording devices that are peripheral devices have also become smaller and smaller.
As weight reduction progresses, recording media transport systems are also required to be smaller.
Therefore, it is difficult to secure a sufficient conveyance path for the recording medium, and its curvature must be reduced.

In the friction feed mechanism, it is known that the conveying force due to the friction generated by the friction roller 52 is proportional to the wrapping angle of the recording medium, and the frictional load increases by reducing the curvature of the conveying path. Became.

Therefore, even though the switching means switches to the bin feed tractor mechanism and the pinch roller 53 is separated from the friction roller 52, the frictional load generated when the recording medium (continuous paper) slides on the friction roller 52 increases. In some cases, the recording medium appeared to be conveyed by a friction feed mechanism. If the continuous paper 54 is conveyed in this state, the paper may be damaged or jammed.

Therefore, it is often difficult for small-sized recording apparatuses to be equipped with both a friction feed mechanism for single-sheet paper and a bin-feed tractor mechanism for continuous paper.

Furthermore, even if any of the above-mentioned transport mechanisms were made optional, there was a risk that the apparatus would become larger and the cost would increase.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and provide a recording apparatus having a switching means for switching the conveyance path depending on the type of recording medium.

<Means for Solving the Problems> A typical means according to the present invention for solving the above problems includes a recording means for recording an image on a recording medium according to recording information, and a recording means for recording the recording medium. and a discharging means for discharging the recording medium after recording. The recording medium is characterized by having a second rotating body that is driven to rotate while in pressure contact with the body, a plurality of conveyance paths for conveying the recording medium, and a switching means for switching the conveyance path according to the type of the recording medium. It becomes as.

<Function> In the above means, the recording medium can be conveyed by switching the conveyance path according to the type of recording medium by the switching means.

In particular, when conveying continuous paper as the recording medium, the curvature of the conveying path is increased by releasing the pressure contact of the second rotating body with the first rotating body by the switching means, moving a guide member, etc. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the transport load and perform stable transport operations at low cost.

Therefore, both single-sheet paper and continuous paper can be transported with high precision as recording media.

<Embodiment> Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in which the above means is applied to a serial type bubble jet printer as a recording device.

Figures 1 (a) and (b) are cross-sectional explanatory diagrams showing the schematic configuration of a bubble jet printer, Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the recording head, and Figures 3 (a) to (g) are explanations of the principle of bubble jet recording. It is a diagram.

First, the overall configuration of the recording device will be explained as shown in Fig. 1(a).
In (b), the single sheet 1a serving as the recording medium is placed in the feed port 2.
The continuous paper 1b is fed from the feeding port 2b.

The single sheet paper 1a and the continuous paper 1b are fed through the feeding port 2a or 2.
b are inserted along the guide member 3, and the single sheet 1a
is conveyed by a friction roller 4, which is a first rotating body constituting the conveying means, and a pinch roller 5, which is a second rotating body that is in pressure contact with the friction roller 4. Further, the continuous paper 1b is fed by a bin feed tractor 6 provided at the feeding port 2b and conveyed along the vapor pan 7. The friction roller 4 and the bin feed tractor 6 are driven by a drive means (not shown). The friction roller 4 also serves as a platen during recording.

When the single-sheet paper 1a or the continuous paper 1b is selected and conveyed by a switching means (not shown), the carriage 8 is reciprocated along the guide rail 9, and the recording head 10, which is a recording means, is driven to print the single-sheet paper 1a or the continuous paper 1b. 1a or continuous paper 1b. The carriage 8 is moved back and forth by fixing a part of the timing hell H1 stretched parallel to the guide rail 9 between a carriage motor (not shown) and an idler boot, and rotating the carriage motor forward or backward. It is something to do.

The sheet 1 after recording is conveyed by a discharge roller 12 and discharged to a not-shown stanker.

Next, the conveyance means is for conveying the recording medium to the recording means 10, and in this embodiment, the conveyance means is for conveying the recording medium to the recording means 10.
), the single sheet 1a fed from the feeding port 2a,
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 1(B), the continuous paper 1b fed from the feeding port 2b is conveyed.

The single sheet 1a is transferred to the recording layer 1 by the cooperative action of a frixigine roller 4 which is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow a in FIG.
0. That is, the pinch roller 5
is in pressure contact with the surface of the friction roller 4 by a biasing means (not shown), and is attached so as to rotate as the friction roller 4 rotates. Therefore, the single sheet 1a is nipped between the flexible roller 4 and the pinch roller 5, thereby imparting a conveying force. The pinch roller 5 is configured to be pressed against or released from the flexible roller 4 by a switching means (not shown).

Further, the friction roller 4 is made of a soft material such as rubber that easily sticks so as to generate sufficient frictional force between it and the recording medium, and the guide member 3 provided at the feeding port 2a is used to hold the single sheet 1a. The windings around the friction roller 4 are arranged at appropriate angles so that the corners are large.

Further, the continuous paper 1b is conveyed along a paper pan 7 by a pin feed tractor 6 provided at the feeding port 2b, as shown in FIG. 1(b). At this time, the pinch roller 5 is released from pressure contact with the flexible roller 4 at the same time as the continuous paper 1b is selected by the switching means.

Thereby, the pinch roller 5 also serves as a guide member that comes into contact with the continuous paper 1b and guides it so as to push the paper path outward. Since the pinch roller 5 is rotatably mounted, it rotates while contacting the continuous paper 1b with a light load. Therefore, the continuous paper 1b is conveyed along the paper pant while being guided by the pinch roller 5 so that the winding around the friction roller 4 has a large corner.

The continuous paper 1b is conveyed to the recording head 10 by a friction roller 4 driven and rotated in the direction of arrow a.

According to the above configuration, when conveying continuous paper, the pinch roller guides the conveyance path so as to increase the curvature, thereby preventing the continuous paper from wrapping around the friction roller more than necessary, thereby reducing the It is possible to reduce the transport load and perform stable transport operations at low cost. Further, the power of a drive source such as a friction roller pin feed tractor can be reduced and a small one can be used.

In addition, the above Frixigin roller 4. For example, when the conveyance speed of the pin feed tractor 6 is 1, the ratio of the conveyance speed of the bin feed tractor 6 and the discharge roller 12 is 0.900 to 0.999 for the frixigin roller 4, and 1.999 for the discharge roller 12. (It is set to 101 to 1.010 to apply a certain tension to the recording medium.

Further, in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), reference numeral 13 denotes a biasing member for pressing the recording medium against the frixigine roller 4, which is a platen. The tip of this biasing member 13 is located below the recording position by the recording head 10, and the conveyed recording medium is pressed against the frixidine roller 4 by the biasing member 13, and as a result, it is placed at the recording position. This prevents the recording medium from lifting off the platen.

Next, the recording head 10 is mounted on the carriage 8 as described above, and records an ink image on the recording medium conveyed by the conveyance means. As the recording means in this apparatus, an ink-side recording method is suitably used.

The inkjet recording method includes a liquid ejection port for ejecting recording ink liquid as flying droplets, a liquid flow path communicating with the ejection port, and a part of this liquid flow path. and ejection energy generating means for providing ejection energy for forming flying droplets in the ink liquid. The ejection energy generating means is then driven in accordance with the image signal to eject ink droplets to create an image.

Examples of the ejection energy generation means include a method using a pressure energy generation means such as an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element, and a 1JX magnetic energy generation method in which flying droplets are generated by irradiating and absorbing electromagnetic waves such as a laser into the ink liquid. There are two methods: a method using a thermal energy generating means such as an electric force converter, and a method using a thermal energy generating means such as an electric force converter. Among these methods, a method using a thermal energy generating means such as an electrothermal converter is preferable because it allows the ejection ports to be arranged in a high density manner and also enables the recording head to be made compact.

In this embodiment, a bubble jet recording method, which is one of the inkjet recording methods, is used as the recording means.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the recording head 10 constituting the recording means, and FIGS. 3(a) to 3(b) are explanatory diagrams of the bubble jet recording principle.

In FIG. 2, 10a is a heater board, and an electrothermal converter (discharge heater) 10b and an electrode 10c made of aluminum or the like for supplying power to this are formed and arranged on a silicon substrate. . A top plate 10e having a partition wall for partitioning a liquid path (nozzle) 10d for recording liquid is adhered to the heater board 10a.

Ink is supplied from an ink cartridge (not shown) through a conduit through a supply port 10e provided on the top plate 10e,
The common liquid chamber 10f in the recording head 10 is filled with the liquid, and the liquid is guided into each nozzle 10d from the common liquid chamber 10f. Ink ejection ports 10d1 are formed in these nozzles 10d, and the ejection ports 10d are connected to the recording disk 1.
They are formed at a predetermined pitch in the sheet conveyance direction (vertical direction in FIG. 2) facing the recording medium No. 0.

Here, the principle of ink flying in the bubble jet recording method will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3(a) to 3(b).

In the steady state, as shown in FIG. 3(a), the nozzle 10d
The surface tension and external pressure of the ink 14 filled inside are balanced at the ejection port. To make the ink 14 fly in this state, the electrothermal converter 10b in the nozzle 10 (1) is energized to cause the ink 14 in the nozzle 10d to undergo a rapid temperature rise beyond nucleate boiling. Figure 3 (b)
As shown in FIG.
4 is heated to generate microbubbles, and the ink in the heated portion is vaporized to cause film boiling, and the bubbles 15 grow rapidly as shown in FIG. 3(C).

When the bubble 15 grows to its maximum size as shown in FIG. 3 ((to)), an ink droplet is pushed out from the ejection opening in the nozzle 10d, and the ink droplet flies to the recording medium at that speed and records an ink image. It is something to do.

When the electricity supply to the electrothermal converter 10b is finished, the state shown in FIG. 3 (e
), the grown bubbles 15 are cooled and contracted by the ink 14 in the nozzle 10d, and further as shown in FIG. 3(f).
As shown in FIG. 2, the ink comes into contact with the surface of the electrothermal converter 10b and is rapidly cooled, and the bubbles 15 either disappear or shrink to an almost negligible volume. When the bubble 15 contracts, ink is supplied into the nozzle 10d from the common liquid chamber [Of] by capillary action, as shown in FIG. 3(6), in preparation for the next energization.

Therefore, an ink image is recorded on the recording medium by energizing the electrothermal transducer 10b in synchronization with the movement of the carriage 8 in accordance with the image signal.

Incidentally, at the end of the movement range of the carriage 8, a camping means (not shown) and a pump for operating the camping means are provided. This capping means dries the ink near the ejection ports by covering the ink ejection surface of the print head 10 when not printing.

This prevents solidification and suctions the ink from the ejection port to perform repeated processing.

[Other Examples]

Next, FIGS. 4 and 5 (a
) This will be explained with reference to (b).

In FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the continuous paper 1b is
The configuration is such that, at the same time as selecting the recording medium, the conveyance guide 3 of the recording medium is moved to switch the conveyance path.

In this case, the pinch roller 5 may be in pressure contact with the flexible roller 4 due to the switching operation, but it is more preferable to release the pressure contact.
This is because the pinch roller 5 has a high surface hardness (low coefficient of friction with the recording medium).

Next, as shown in FIG. 5(a), the frixin roller 4
When the rollers are divided along the longitudinal direction around the rotating shaft 4a, the fan-shaped guide member 16 is rotated around the rotating shaft 4a between each roller, as shown in FIG. The continuous paper 1b is selected by the switching means, and at the same time the guide member 16 is rotated to switch the conveying path. The above guide member 1
6 is made of a material such as a plastic plate that has a relatively small coefficient of friction with respect to the recording medium.

In this case as well, the pinch roller 5 may be in pressure contact with the friction roller 4 as a result of the switching operation, but it is more preferable to release the pressure contact.

With each of the above-mentioned configurations as well, by increasing the curvature of the conveyance path of the recording medium, the conveyance load can be reduced and stable conveyance operation can be performed.

Note that the configuration of the recording means is as described in US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 59-1981, in which, in addition to the combination of an ejection port, a liquid path, and an electrothermal converter, a heat acting part is arranged in a bending area. It is also possible to employ those disclosed in Japanese Patent No.-123670.

Further, although the above-described recording means is an example in which ink is supplied to the recording head from an ink cartridge installed in the recording apparatus, an ink storage chamber is provided in the recording head,
A disposable type recording head may be used, which is replaced when the ink storage chamber runs out of ink.

Furthermore, the recording means of the present invention need not be limited to the bubble dienoto recording method described above. For example, there are so-called thermal transfer recording methods in which an ink sheet coated with heat-melting ink is heated in accordance with image signals and the molten ink is transferred to a recording medium, and so-called thermal recording in which a recording medium that develops color by heat is heated in accordance with image signals. Various recording methods can be employed, such as a so-called wire tod recording method in which an ink ribbon is struck with a wire to record in accordance with the method and image signal. Therefore,
The recording head is not limited to the above-mentioned bubble jet head, and for example, a thermal head, a wire head, a daisy-wheel head, etc. can be used.

The recording device may be used as an image output terminal for information processing equipment such as a computer, and may also be applied to a copying device combined with a reader or the like, or even a facsimile device having a sending/receiving function. It is possible.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention can transport a recording medium by switching the transport path according to the type of recording medium using the switching means.

In particular, when conveying continuous paper as the recording medium, the curvature of the conveying path is increased by releasing the pressure contact of the second rotating body with the first rotating body by the switching means, moving a guide member, etc. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the transport load and perform stable transport operations at low cost.

Therefore, both single-sheet paper and continuous paper can be transported with high precision as recording media.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the recording head. FIGS. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the other side of the conveying means, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example. la is a single sheet of paper, lb is a continuous paper, 2a and 2b are feeding ports, and 3
, 16 is a guide member, 4 is a friction roller, 5 is a pinch roller, 6 is a bin feed tractor, 7 is a paper pan, 8 is a carriage, 9 is a guide rail, 10 is a recording head, 10a is a heater board, 10b is an electric heat Converter, 10c is an electrode, 10d is a nozzle, 10d1 is a discharge port,
10e is the top plate, 10e is the supply port, 10f is the common liquid chamber,
11 is a timing heald, 12 is a discharge roller, 13 is a biasing member, 14 is ink, and 15 is a bubble.

Claims (7)

[Claims] (1) A recording means for recording an image on a recording medium according to recording information, a conveyance means for conveying the recording medium to the recording means, and an ejection means for discharging the recording medium after recording. The conveying means has a first rotary body that rotates by being transmitted with a driving force, a second rotary body that is in pressure contact with the first rotary body and rotates as a result of rotation, and a plurality of rotary bodies for conveying the recording medium. A recording apparatus comprising: a conveyance path; and a switching means for switching the conveyance path according to the type of the recording medium. (2) The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching means switches the conveyance path by releasing the second rotating body from the first rotating body. (3) The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second rotating body also serves as a conveyance guide for the recording medium when the second rotating body is released from pressure contact with the first rotating body. (4) The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching means switches the conveyance path by moving a conveyance guide for the recording medium. (5) The recording device according to claim 1, wherein the recording means of the recording device is an inkjet recording method that creates an image by ejecting ink according to a signal. (6) The recording means discharges ink using thermal energy, and includes an electrothermal converter for generating the thermal energy. recording device. (7) The recording means of the recording device energizes the electrothermal transducer in response to the signal, and the ink is ejected from the ejection port by the growth of bubbles generated by heating exceeding film boiling by the electrothermal transducer to form an image. 7. The recording apparatus according to claim 6, which uses a bubble jet recording method for creating.