JPH07164697A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve followability of a record sheet to a conveyor belt while preventing deflection of the sheet to be conveyed by the belt. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of stylus member 31 is stood on an entire periphery at positions to become both lateral ends on a front surface of an endless conveyor belt 30 for conveying a record sheet to be fed from a sheet feeder. A sponge roller 32b is provided at a sheet retaining roller 32, and so arranged as to correspond to the member 31 of the belt 30. The fed sheet is pressed to the member 31 by the roller 32b, and held on the surface of the belt 30 in a state that the member 31 is passed through the sheet, and conveyed upon rotation of the belt 30.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus configured to print on a recording sheet conveyed by a conveyor belt by a print head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, while a recording belt is being conveyed by a conveyor belt, a print head disposed above the conveyor belt is used to perform a predetermined printing operation on the surface of the conveyed recording paper. Image recording devices are known. For example, while the recording sheet is intermittently conveyed by the conveyor belt, and during the rest period, the print head is moved in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the recording belt is conveyed by the conveyor belt, and An example of the printer is an inkjet printer configured to eject ink from the printer to perform printing.

[0003]

By the way, in a printer that prints on the surface of a recording paper by ejecting ink as described above, from the viewpoint of ensuring printing accuracy, the distance between the tip of the nozzle and the surface of the recording paper is increased. Is designed to be as narrow as possible. Therefore, when the recording paper conveyed by the conveyor belt is bent, the recording paper comes into contact with the tip of the nozzle, which causes image distortion such as crushing of characters. In particular, since a large-sized recording paper such as A0 to A2 size is liable to bend during conveyance, a printer or the like that prints on a large-sized recording paper,
It is necessary to effectively prevent such bending of the recording paper.

When recording paper is intermittently conveyed as in the above printer, large-size recording paper has a large inertial force, and therefore has a poor followability to the conveyor belt as compared to small-size recording paper, and the conveyance is difficult. The actual situation is that it is easy to cause conveyance deviation due to slippage on the belt. Therefore,
It is also necessary to prevent this effectively.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is possible to improve the followability of the recording sheet to the conveying belt while preventing the recording sheet conveyed by the conveying belt from bending. An object is to provide an image recording device.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an image recording apparatus comprising an endless conveyor belt for conveying recording paper, and a print head for printing on the surface of the recording paper conveyed thereby. On the surface of the conveyor belt, a plurality of needle members are provided upright over the entire circumference at at least one of the two end portions in the width direction, and the recording paper is placed at the position where the conveyor belt starts conveying the recording paper. A pressing member for pressing the needle member is provided (Claim 1).

Further, in the image recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the conveyor belt has the needle members provided upright at both widthwise end portions thereof, and the needles at both widthwise end portions of the conveyor belt are provided. The members are erected so as to correspond to the width direction of the conveyor belt (claim 2).

[0008]

According to the present invention, the recording paper fed to the conveyor belt is pressed against the surface of the conveyor belt by the pressing member, so that the recording paper is held on the surface of the conveyor belt while being penetrated by the needle member. It Then, the recording sheet is conveyed while being pulled by the needle member as the conveyor belt rotates (claim 1).

At this time, if needle members are provided at both ends in the width direction of the conveyor belt and the needle members at both ends in the width direction are erected so as to correspond to the width direction of the conveyor belt, the needle members become recording paper. The force that acts on the recording sheet when it is pierced and during conveyance is even in the width direction of the conveyance belt (claim 2).

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An example of an image recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the overall structure of an image recording apparatus according to the present invention. The image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is, for example, a printer 10 that prints image data or the like input from an external device.
2 and a paper feeding device 14 for feeding the recording paper to the printing device 12.

The paper feeding device 14 is equipped with paper feeding cassettes 16a and 16b for accommodating recording papers, which are vertically detachably mounted in two stages. Each of the above paper feed cassettes 16a, 1
Paper feed rollers 18a and 18b are provided at locations corresponding to 6b, respectively.
The recording paper stored in b is supplied to each of the paper feed rollers 18
After being fed by a and 18b, it is fed to the printing device 12 through the feeding mechanism 20. In the present embodiment, each of the paper feed cassettes 16a, 1a
6b contains A2 size and A1 size recording sheets, respectively.
That is, while the recording paper is stored in a direction in which the longitudinal direction and the conveyance direction are the same, the A2 size recording paper is placed sideways,
That is, the recording sheets are stored in a direction in which the longitudinal direction and the conveying direction are orthogonal to each other.

The printing device 12 is disposed above the paper feeding device 14, and has a transport mechanism 22 for transporting the recording paper fed from the paper feeding device 14, and a recording paper transported by the transport mechanism 22. It is composed of a print head 24 for printing on, and a carriage 26 for movably holding the print head 24.

As shown in FIG. 2, the transport mechanism 22 has
It is composed of a pair of driving rollers 28a, 28b, an endless conveyor belt 30 mounted across the rollers 28a, 28b, and a paper pressing roller 32 provided corresponding to the driving rollers 28a. The rotational driving force from a driving motor (not shown) is transmitted to either one of the driving rollers 28a and 28b, whereby the conveyor belt 30 is rotated and the recording paper is moved in the direction of the white arrow in FIG. It is designed to be transported.

Each of the rollers 28a, 28b and 32 and the conveyor belt 30 has a widthwise dimension, that is, a dimension in a direction orthogonal to the recording sheet conveying direction is slightly smaller than a longitudinal dimension of an A2 size recording sheet. It is set to be large.

By the way, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the widthwise ends of the conveyor belt 30 are provided at regular intervals over the entire circumference thereof and correspond to the widthwise direction of the conveyor belt 30. As described above, a large number of needle members 31 are erected,
When the recording paper is fed from the paper feeding device 14, the needle members 31 sequentially penetrate the recording paper. In the embodiment, the diameter is about 0.5 mm or less, and the protrusion size is about
Needle members 31 of 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm are erected at intervals of 2 mm to 3 mm in the circumferential direction of the conveyor belt 30.

As shown in FIG. 3, the paper pressing roller 32 is composed of a rubber roller portion 32a having a single structure and sponge roller portions 32b joined to both ends of the rubber roller portion 32a. 32b is provided at a position corresponding to the needle member 31 of the conveyor belt 30. That is, when recording paper is fed from the paper feeding device 14 to the transport mechanism 22 during printing, the width of the recording paper is nipped by the sponge roller portion 32b while nipping the recording paper with the rubber roller portion 32a and the transport belt 30. The end portion in the direction is pressed against the needle member 31 so that the needle member 31 penetrates the recording paper. In addition,
The paper pressing roller 32 has the sponge roller portion 3
The same function can be obtained by providing a felt roller portion made of felt instead of 2b.

On the other hand, the print head 24 is arranged above the transport mechanism 22 constructed as described above.

On the lower surface of the print head 24, that is, on the surface facing the transport mechanism 22, a large number of minute nozzles are formed in one line or a matrix, and the matrix is further arranged in an array. When the printing is performed, the ink is ejected by the ink ejection mechanism provided in the nozzle portion to print on the recording paper. The distance between the nozzle portion and the recording sheet conveyed by the conveying mechanism 22 is set to be extremely narrow in order to secure the printing accuracy, and in the embodiment, it is set to about 1 mm.

Further, in the print head 24, the carriage 26 is moved to move the carriage 2.
It is adapted to be moved in the width direction together with the unit 6. That is, a pair of stays 27a, 27b is arranged above the transport mechanism 22 in the width direction.
The carriage 26 is slidably mounted on 7b and can be reciprocated by a driving means such as a motor (not shown).

Further, in the printing device 12, a guide plate 34, a pair of discharge rollers 36 and a discharge tray 38 are arranged on the downstream side of the transport mechanism 22, and the recording paper after printing is completed is The conveyor belt 30 by the guide plate 34
From the paper, and a pair of discharge rollers 36 discharge the paper to a paper discharge tray 38.
It is designed to be ejected on top.

Next, the operation of the printer 10 constructed as above will be described.

When the printing operation is started in the printer 10, first, the paper feeding cassette 16a of the paper feeding device 14,
Alternatively, recording paper is fed from the paper feed cassette 16b, and the recording paper is fed via the feeding mechanism 20 to the printer 12.
Be delivered to.

The recording paper fed to the printer 12 is nipped by the conveyor belt 30 and the paper pressing roller 32 of the conveyor mechanism 22 and conveyed as the conveyor belt 30 rotates. At this time, the conveyor belt 30 and the paper pressing roller 32
By nipping the recording paper with and, the needle member 31 of the conveyor belt 30 is sequentially penetrated into the recording paper.

Then, the conveyor belt 30 is further rotated, and when the leading end portion of the recording paper reaches a predetermined printing work position, the rotation of the conveyor belt 30 is temporarily stopped, and the carriage 26 is operated during the rest period of the conveyor belt 30. Stay 27
print head 2 while being moved in the width direction along a and 27b.
Printing is performed on the recording paper according to 4. After that, the recording head 24 is intermittently conveyed while the recording head 24 is being conveyed.
Is reciprocally moved, and predetermined printing is applied to the entire recording paper,
After the printing is completed, the recording sheet is separated from the conveyor belt 30 by the guide plate 34 and is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 38 via the pair of discharge rollers 36.

By the way, in the printer 10,
By adopting the configuration of the transport mechanism 22 as described above, it is possible to effectively prevent bending of the recording sheet transported during printing and slippage of the recording sheet with respect to the transport belt 30.

That is, the needle member 31 of the conveyor belt 30 is pierced through the recording paper conveyed by the conveyor mechanism 22 as described above, and the recording paper is conveyed by the rotation of the conveyor belt 30. Since the recording sheet is conveyed while being pulled by 31, the following performance of the recording sheet with respect to the conveying belt 30 is extremely high, and the recording sheet does not slip on the conveying belt 30. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the conveyance deviation due to the slip of the recording sheet with respect to the conveyance belt 30.

Further, the recording sheet in which the needle members 31 are penetrated at both end portions in the width direction and at a constant interval in the carrying direction as described above is bent in both the width direction and the carrying direction. Is not allowed. Therefore, unlike the conventional apparatus, the recording paper does not bend during printing and the print head and the recording paper do not come into contact with each other, and image distortion such as crushed characters due to contact between the print head and the recording paper does not occur. It can be effectively avoided.

By the way, in the printer 10 described above, it is necessary to suitably penetrate the recording paper fed from the paper feeding device 14 with the needle member 31, and when this is not surely performed, the recording paper is stapled. The member 31 rides on the member 31. As a result, the recording sheet is floated, which causes the same problem as the conventional apparatus. However, in the printer 10 described above, the recording sheet fed to the transport mechanism 22 is not pressed by the sheet pressing roller 32.
The sponge roller portion 32b of the needle member 3 of the conveyor belt 30.
Since the needle member 31 is pressed through the recording paper sheet 1 to ensure that the needle member 31 penetrates through the recording paper sheet, there is no possibility of causing the above-mentioned adverse effects.

Moreover, since the needle members 31 at both widthwise end portions of the conveyor belt 30 are erected so as to correspond to the widthwise direction as described above, the recording paper is pressed when the needle members 31 are pressed or conveyed. A uniform force is always applied to both widthwise end portions of the. Therefore, the forces acting on both end portions of the recording sheet in the width direction become non-uniform, so that the recording sheet is not bent.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to effectively prevent the recording sheet conveyed by the conveyor belt 30 from being bent and the recording sheet from slipping with respect to the conveyor belt 30. This is extremely advantageous in an image recording apparatus, such as the printer 10, in which a printing operation is performed while a large-sized recording sheet such as A1 or A2 size, which is likely to be bent during transportation, is transported.

The structure of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the following structures can be adopted.

In the printer 10 of the above-described embodiment, recording sheets of large size such as A1 and A2 sizes are fed from the sheet feeding cassettes 16a and 16b, and these recording sheets are passed through the needle member 31 of the conveyor belt 30. With conveyor belt 3
The recording paper is held on the surface of No. 0, and the held recording paper is conveyed as the conveyor belt 30 rotates.
The recording sheet may be conveyed while adsorbing the recording sheet onto the surface of the conveying belt 30 by using static electricity, air suction force, or the like, while penetrating the needle member 31. If such a configuration is adopted, it is relatively difficult for bending and slipping to occur,
Therefore, it is possible to carry together small-sized recording papers such as A4 and A3 sizes that do not need to be carried in the state where the needle member 31 is penetrated, and this allows the printer 10 to have a wide range from small size to large size. It is possible to print in the size area and enhance its functionality. Further, regarding the conveyance of a large-sized recording sheet at the time of printing, it is possible to convey the recording sheet with the needle member 31 penetrating the recording sheet and while the recording sheet is adsorbed to the conveying belt 30. It is possible to improve the followability of the recording sheet with respect to, and it is possible to more effectively prevent the recording sheet from bending and slipping.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the needle members 31 are erected at both end portions in the width direction of the conveyor belt 30 and over the entire circumference thereof. The needle member 31 does not need to be erected, and even if the needle member 31 is erected only on one side end portion of the conveyor belt 30, the above-mentioned embodiment does not work in terms of the followability of the recording sheet to the conveyor belt 30. It is possible to obtain the same effect as the printer 10 of the example.

[0035]

As described above, the present invention provides an image recording apparatus including an endless conveyor belt for conveying recording paper and a print head for printing on the surface of the recording paper conveyed by the conveyor belt. , On the surface of the conveyor belt, at least one of the two end portions in the width direction,
A plurality of needle members are provided upright over the entire circumference, and a pressing member for pressing the recording paper against the needle member is provided at the position where the recording belt starts to be conveyed by the conveyor belt, so that the conveyor belt conveys the recording paper. It is possible to improve the followability of the recording sheet to the conveyor belt while preventing the recording sheet from bending.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of an image recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view showing a transport mechanism of the image recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view on arrow A in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Printer 12 Printing Device 14 Paper Feeding Device 22 Conveying Mechanism 24 Printing Head 26 Carriage 30 Conveying Belt 31 Needle Member 32 Paper Holding Roller 32a Rubber Roller 32b Sponge Roller

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Koichi Baba 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Yoshiko Kawauchi 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Within Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Setsuo Hori 1-22 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image recording apparatus comprising an endless conveyor belt for conveying recording paper and a print head for printing on the surface of the recording paper conveyed thereby, wherein the width of the conveyor belt surface is A plurality of needle members are provided upright over the entire circumference at at least one of the end portions in the direction, and at the transporting start position of the recording sheet by the transport belt,
An image recording apparatus comprising a pressing member for pressing a recording sheet against the needle member. 2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor belt has the needle members provided upright at both widthwise end portions thereof, and the needles at both widthwise end portions of the conveyor belt. An image recording apparatus in which members are erected so as to correspond to a width direction of a conveyor belt.