JPH07314824A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the structure of cleaning means for a conveying belt for conveying a sheet, and to reduce in size of it. CONSTITUTION:A one time twist is applied to conveying belts 10, 11 in the non-contact areas of the belts 10, 11 with a recording sheet to form a Moebius band in which the front surface and the rear surface are inverted by this twisted part 16, and the one side surfaces of the belts 10, 11 are cleaned by a cleaning roller 17.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a facsimile, a copying machine,
The present invention relates to an inkjet recording device used as an output device of a computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink jet recording apparatus has a recording head provided with a large number of nozzles (ink ejection ports), and ejects ink from the nozzles to record an image on a recording sheet conveyed by a sheet conveying means. It is composed.

Conventionally, as a sheet conveying means in this ink jet recording apparatus, generally, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1856/1991.
A belt is used as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-330037 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-330037. However, in this belt system, there is a problem that ink adheres to the conveyor belt and the paper is soiled by the ink.

Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-330037, cleaning means (for example, a roller) is provided in a non-contact area of the conveyor belt which does not contact the paper.
Is provided to remove the ink attached to the belt.

[0005]

However, since the ink adheres to both the front and back surfaces of the conveyor belt and it is necessary to clean both the front and back surfaces, the number of parts of the cleaning means increases, and the structure of the means becomes complicated and complicated. There was a problem of becoming larger.

In particular, in the case of the double-sided recording system, since it is necessary to make both the front and back sides of the paper face the recording head, narrow front and back side conveyance belts are provided on both sides in the width direction of the paper, and the width of the paper is set by this belt group. Since a double-end feed method is adopted in which both ends in the direction are sandwiched and conveyed, the total number of belts is four, and the number of parts and the size of the cleaning means are significantly increased.

In view of the above points, the present invention provides an ink jet recording apparatus capable of simplifying and downsizing the structure of cleaning means.

[0008]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording sheet conveyed by a conveyor belt by ejecting ink from nozzles of the recording head, wherein the conveyor belt is provided. A belt cleaning means is provided for applying one twist in a non-contact area that does not contact the recording sheet and cleaning one side of the conveyor belt in the non-contact area.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the construction of the first aspect, the conveyor belts are separately provided on both sides in the paper width direction so as to apply a conveying force to both ends of the recording paper in the width direction. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the structure of the first aspect, the conveyor belt is composed of a pair of both side conveying portions that apply a conveying force to both widthwise end portions of the recording sheet, and a bridge portion that connects the both side conveying portions. It is stretched in the state.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the structure according to any one of the first to third aspects, a twist generating means for forcibly generating one twist by applying a twisting force to the conveyor belt at a specific position in the non-contact area. Is provided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the structure of the fourth aspect, a belt guide member having two belt passage holes through which the conveyor belt is passed through in two states in the moving direction in the front and back reverse direction is used as the twist generating means. Used.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the structure of the fourth aspect, a plurality of belt guide members having belt through holes through which the conveyor belt is passed are displaced in the belt moving direction as twist generating means, In addition, the belt is provided such that the belt is turned upside down between the inlet side belt guide member and the outlet side belt guide member and passes through the belt through hole.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the structure of the fourth aspect, a plurality of pairs of rollers, through which the conveyor belt is passed, as the twist generating means, are displaced in the belt moving direction and are located on the inlet side. The belt is provided such that the pair of rollers and the pair of rollers on the exit side pass through with the belts reversed.

[0015]

According to the above construction, since the conveyor belt becomes a Mobius strip which is continuous on the front and back sides by one twist of the conveyor belt, both front and back surfaces of the belt can be cleaned by one cleaning means.

That is, only one cleaning means is required for one conveyor belt.

In particular, according to the second aspect of the invention, when the double-sided feeding system is applied in which the conveying force of the conveying belt is applied to both ends of the recording paper in the width direction, two for front side conveyance and two for back side conveyance, a total of four. In comparison with the conventional conveyor belt, which required eight cleaning means in total, a total of four cleaning means are required, so that the structure of the cleaning means can be greatly simplified and downsized.

Further, according to the third aspect of the invention, the conveying force can be applied to both ends of the sheet in the sheet width direction by one conveying belt. That is, one conveyance belt and one cleaning means are required for one side of the paper.

On the other hand, according to the structure of claims 4 to 7, the twisted portion of the conveyor belt is fixed at a specific position in the non-contact area by the twist generating means and does not move from this position, so that the twisted portion contacts the belt. There is no risk of trouble such as transporting abnormalities to the area.

In this case, according to the fifth aspect of the invention, since the twist generating means need only be a single belt guide member having two belt through holes, the structure of the means is simple.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the following embodiments, a printer which records character data or the like input from an external device by a double-sided recording method (hereinafter referred to as printing) and is capable of color printing by a plurality of sets of print heads is applied as an example. I am taking it.

First Embodiment (see FIGS. 1 to 3) FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the entire printer.

This printer comprises a paper feed section A, a printing unit B, and a sorter C, and recording paper (shown in FIG. 2).
Hereinafter, the paper P will be simply sent from the paper feed unit A to the printing unit B, and will be stacked on the sorter C through double-sided printing and drying steps.

The paper feed section A is a cassette for accommodating a plurality of types of cut sheets of different sizes according to size (here, a case where three types of sheets are used is illustrated) 1, 2, 3
A sheet feeding roller 4 provided for each of the cassettes 1 to 3, a pair of registration rollers 5 and 5 provided at the entrance of the printing unit B, and the like. A sheet feeding operation for B is performed.

The printing unit B transfers the paper P to the conveyance line R.
A paper transport mechanism 6 which moves downwards upward, and front and back print heads 7 and 8 provided on both sides of a paper moving line R for double-sided printing (here, both print heads 7 for color printing, 8 is shown as an example in which four sets are provided along the transport line R), and a drying device 9 for drying the printed paper P by blowing warm air from a heater and a fan.

The paper transport mechanism 6 includes both drive-side and driven-side transport belts (hereinafter, simply referred to as drive belts and driven belts) 10 and 11 arranged on both sides of the transport line R. Rotational force is transmitted to the driven belt 11 in a portion in contact with the driven belt 11 (= contact area in contact with the paper P) so that both belts 10 and 11 rotate simultaneously.

These drive belt 10 and driven belt 1
As shown in FIG. 3, the sheets 1 are arranged on both sides in the width direction of the sheet, and both widthwise end portions of the sheet P are sandwiched between the both side belts and are conveyed by a double-side feed method.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 12 denotes a carrying motor as a carrying driving source, and the rotational force of the carrying motor 12 is the driving pulley 1.
3, the one-side drive belt 10, the transmission shafts 14, 14 provided across the both-side drive belts 10, 10 and the opposite-side drive belt 10 are transmitted in this order to rotate the both-side drive belts 10, 10 in synchronization. Further, 15 and 15 are driven belts 1 on both sides.
It is a transmission shaft for rotating 1 and 11 synchronously.

The driving and driven belts 10 and 11 on both sides are respectively twisted once in a non-contact area where they do not come into contact with the paper P, and twisted portions 16 are formed, whereby the belts 10 and 11 serve as Mobius strips. It is configured.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, each belt 10,
A cleaning roller 17 as a cleaning unit that contacts one surface of the belts 10 and 11 in the non-contact area of the belt 11.
Are rotatably provided on the roller bracket 18 in a horizontal posture orthogonal to the belts 10 and 11, and the ink adhered to the belts 10 and 11 is removed by the rollers 17.

In this case, each of the belts 10 and 11 is formed as a Mobius strip and rotates while the twisted portions 16 are turned upside down, so that both the front and back sides are cleaned by one cleaning roller 17.

That is, one cleaning roller 17 may be provided for each of the belts 10 and 11, and
The number of rollers is half (four) compared to the case of cleaning both front and back sides with separate (eight) rollers 17.

The cleaning rollers 17 are entirely or entirely formed of a material that easily absorbs ink such as sponge or ink absorbing paper, and are detachably attached to the roller brackets 18 so that they can be replaced. ing.

Second Embodiment (see FIG. 4) Only the differences from the first embodiment will be described.

In the second embodiment, the drive belt 10 is constructed as a series of both sides (single belt).

That is, as a guide means for the drive belt 10, a plurality of loop forming pulleys 19 are provided on one side in the paper width direction.
... and one bridge pulley 20, a plurality of loop forming pulleys 21 on the opposite side, and first and second bridge pulleys 22 and 23 are provided respectively, and the drive belt 10 is the drive pulley 1
3, one side loop forming pulley 19 ..., the bridge pulley 2
0, the first bridge pulley 22, the loop forming pulley 21, ..., The second bridge pulley 23, and the drive pulley 13 on the opposite side.

As a result, loop-shaped transport portions T1 and T2 are formed on both sides in the paper width direction, and the both-side transport portions T1 and T2 are connected to the one-side bridge pulley 20.
And a first bridge portion S1 connecting the first bridge pulley 22 on the opposite side,
The drive belt 10 is stretched in a continuous state by the second bridge portion S2 that connects the second bridge pulley 23 and the drive pulley 13, and the both-side transport portions T1 and T2 are configured to feed both ends of the paper P. Has been done.

Further, in this structure, the one-sided transport section T2
In the non-contact area, the twisted portion 16 is formed and the cleaning roller 17 is provided.

According to this structure, since only one drive belt 10 is required and one cleaning roller 17 is required on the drive side, the structure of the cleaning means is simpler.

Further, in the second embodiment, a belt guide member 24 as a twist generating means is provided.

The belt guide member 24 is constructed by joining a pair of half-frames 24a, 24a,
It is fixed in a device housing (not shown).

The guide member 24 has elongated rectangular belt through holes 25, 2 corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the drive belt 10 (single-sided transport portion T2) at the upper and lower frame joints.
5 are provided, and two places in the rotational direction of the drive belt 10 are inserted through the both side belt through holes 25, 25 in a front-back reversing state.

As a result, the twisted portion 16 is formed in the belt guide member 24, and the twisted portion 16 is held in a fixed position by the guide member 24.

That is, there is no possibility that the twisted portion 16 moves in the belt rotating direction and enters the contact area to cause a trouble such as an abnormal conveyance.

The belt guide member 24 is also provided on the driven belt 11. Further, in this embodiment, the driven belt 11 has a structure in which separate belts are used on both sides as in the first embodiment, but the belt 11 also has a single belt structure like the drive belt 10. be able to.

Third Embodiment (see FIGS. 5 and 6) In the third embodiment, the belt 10,
Four (three or more than five) belt guide members 27 having belt through holes 26 through which 11 are displaced are displaced in the belt moving direction, and the respective belt through holes 26 ... Are provided in a stepwise manner and shifted by a total of 180 °. 28 and 28 are brackets for fixing the belt guide member 27 to the apparatus housing, and 29 is a mounting shaft thereof.

With this configuration, the belts 10 and 11 are gradually twisted while passing through the belt through holes 26 of the belt guide members 27, so that the front side and the back side are reversed on the inlet side and the outlet side. Become.

As described above, since the belts 10 and 11 are twisted in a stepwise manner, the twisted portion 16 is naturally generated, and there is no fear that the twisting will exert an unreasonable force on the belts.

The belt guide member 27 has a rotatable lid 30 for setting the belts 10 and 11 in the belt through hole 26, and a torsion spring 31 for urging the lid 30 to a closed position. ... and are provided.

Fourth Embodiment (see FIG. 7) In the fourth embodiment, as a twist generating means, a first roller pair 32 rotating about a vertical axis and a second roller pair 33 rotating about a horizontal axis are provided. , A third roller pair 34 that rotates about the vertical axis is provided at an appropriate interval in the belt moving direction, and the belts 10 and 11 are the three roller pairs 32,
It is configured such that it can be twisted once while passing through 33 and 34.

Further, as an embodiment similar to the fourth embodiment, a structure in which the guide rollers for winding the belts 10 and 11 are used as a twist generating means, that is, as shown in FIG. As guide rollers, a horizontal guide roller 35, a vertical guide roller 36, and a horizontal guide roller 37 are provided.
The belts 10, 11 may be naturally twisted once by the belts 5, 36, 37.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, by applying a single twist to the conveyor belt in the non-contact area of the conveyor belt that does not contact the recording paper, the front and back of the conveyor belt are reversed at this twisted portion. Since the belt is formed and one surface of the belt is cleaned by the cleaning means, both front and back surfaces of the belt can be cleaned by one cleaning means.

Therefore, the number of parts of the cleaning means is halved, and the structure of the cleaning means can be greatly simplified and the size thereof can be reduced as compared with the case where the cleaning means is separately used for the front and back sides.

In particular, according to the second aspect of the invention, in the case of adopting the double-sided feeding system in which the conveying force by the conveyor belt is applied to both ends of the recording paper in the width direction, two for front side conveyance and two for back side conveyance, four in total. In comparison with the conventional conveyor belt, which required eight cleaning means in total, it requires a total of four cleaning means, so that further downsizing can be realized.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the conveying force can be applied to both ends of the sheet in the sheet width direction by one conveying belt. That is, since only one conveyance belt is required for one side of the paper, the simplification and downsizing of the structure of the cleaning means become more remarkable.

On the other hand, according to the inventions of claims 4 to 7, the twisting means for applying a twisting force to the belt at a specific position in the non-contact region of the conveyor belt to forcibly generate one twist is provided. , The twisted portion is held at a specific position. Therefore, there is no possibility that a twisted portion moves to the contact area of the belt and a trouble such as an abnormal conveyance occurs.

In this case, according to the fifth aspect of the invention, the twist generating means need only be a single belt guide member having two belt through holes, so that the structure of the means is simple.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an entire printer showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a printing unit in the printer.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a paper transport mechanism in the unit.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a paper transport mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a twist generating means in a third embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a schematic front view showing a twist generating means in a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of a belt and a guide roller showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

7, 8 Recording head 6 Paper transport mechanism 10, 11 Transport belt 16 Twisted portion 17 Cleaning roller (cleaning means) 24 Belt guide member 25 as twist generating means 25, 25 Belt passing hole of the guide member 27 Belt as twist generating means Guide member 26 Belt through holes of the guide member 32, 33, 34 Roller pair 35, 36, 37 as twist generating means Belt guide roller as twist generating means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shizushi Kado 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka City Mita Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Kenichi Sabu 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka No. Mita Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiromi Kosaka 1-228 Tamazuzo, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Koichi Baba 1-22 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masayuki Ishii 1-228 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Yoshiko Kawachi 1-228 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Within the corporation

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An inkjet recording apparatus for recording an image by ejecting ink from nozzles of a recording head onto a recording sheet conveyed by a conveying belt, wherein the conveying belt is provided in a non-contact area which does not come into contact with the recording sheet. 1
An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a belt cleaning means for cleaning one side of the conveyor belt in the non-contact area while applying a twist. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor belts are separately and independently provided on both sides in the width direction of the paper so as to apply a conveying force to both ends of the recording paper in the width direction. 3. A conveyor belt is stretched in a continuous state by a both-sides conveying section that applies a conveying force to both ends of the recording sheet in the width direction, and a bridge section that connects the both-sides conveying sections. 1. The inkjet recording device according to 1. 4. The twist generating means for applying a twisting force to the conveyor belt at a specific position in the non-contact area to forcibly generate one twist, according to claim 1. The inkjet recording device described. 5. The belt guide member having two belt through holes, through which the conveyor belt is passed through at two positions in the moving direction in the reverse direction, is used as the twist generating means. Inkjet recording device. 6. As a twist generating means, a plurality of belt guide members having belt through holes through which a conveyor belt is passed are displaced in the belt moving direction, and the belt guide member on the inlet side and the belt guide member on the outlet side are displaced from each other. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the belt and the belt guide member are provided so that the belt is turned upside down and passes through the belt through hole. 7. As the twist generating means, a plurality of pairs of rollers through which a conveyor belt is passed are displaced in the belt moving direction, and the front and back sides of the belt are formed by the pair of rollers on the inlet side and the pair of rollers on the outlet side. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the ink jet recording apparatus is provided in a state of passing in reverse.