JPH0740146U - Paper press structure for inkjet printers - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The same fulcrum is formed with a simple structure for a plurality of leaf springs so that the recording paper is fed in close contact with the plane of the bed without floating from the plane of the bed. . [Structure] The recording paper P is fed along the plane of the bed 101, and a carriage 11 having an ink ejecting unit at a position facing the plane of the bed 101 is moved in a direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the paper so that the recording paper P is moved. In an inkjet printer that performs recording on a plurality of sheets, the sheet pressing leaf springs 2 arranged in parallel along the edge of the bed 101 are pressed by one round bar 5 extending in parallel with the leaf springs 2. , The same fulcrum is formed on each leaf spring 2. Also, the round bar 5 can be attached to the housing without using extra parts such as screws.
The locking tool for the round bar 5 is formed integrally with the housing.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an inkjet printer, and in particular, a fulcrum of a plurality of leaf springs is formed by a single round bar so that recording paper can be fed in close contact with the plane of the bed without floating from the plane of the bed. It is related to the structure of the paper press of the inkjet printer.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 In a conventional inkjet printer, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, a recording sheet P is flatly regulated by a sweep-out side rubber roller 202 driven by a motor 201 and a feeding-out side rubber roller 203 which cooperates with the sweep-out side rubber roller 202, and a direction f shown in the figure is obtained. On the other hand, the carriage 205 having the ink ejecting unit 204 mounted thereon is mounted on the guide shaft 206 such that the carriage 205 can move forward and backward, and the drive belt 207 fixed to the carriage 205 is driven by the motor 208. The recording medium is moved along the guide shaft 206 in a direction s as shown in the figure at right angles to the feeding direction, and ink droplets are ejected from the ink ejecting unit 204 to perform recording on the recording paper P (Patent Fairness). No. 4-72697).

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 By the way, in the paper feeding mechanism as described above, it is difficult to accurately feed the recording paper P until the leading end of the recording paper P reaches the sweep-side rubber roller 202, and therefore, from the leading end of the paper to the printable area. The distance becomes longer.

Such a problem is that a bed having a flat upper surface is arranged between the feeding-side rubber roller 203 and the sweep-out rubber roller 202, and the feeding-side rubber roller 203 is driven by a motor so that the recording paper P is betted. If you adopt a structure that feeds along the plane of, it will be solved once.

However, the distance from the tip of the ink ejecting nozzle of the ink ejecting unit 204 to the recording paper P is 0.7 mm, which is extremely small, and it is necessary to keep the distance constant in order to maintain the print quality. is there. If the recording paper P is simply fed out from the feeding-side rubber roller 203, the recording paper P is lifted from the bed plane, so that the relative distance to the ink ejection nozzles is not constant and some measure is required.

As a countermeasure against this, a large number of through holes are provided on the bed surface, and during printing, air is sucked into the bed through the through holes by vacuum so that the recording paper P is brought into close contact with the bed surface and sucked at the time of conveyance. It is conceivable to use a structure such as stopping, or a structure in which similar adhesion and release are performed by electrostatic force, but this has the disadvantages that the structure becomes complicated and the transport speed decreases.

On the other hand, as a simpler configuration, a configuration may be considered in which the entire width of the recording paper P fed by the feeding-side rubber roller 203 is pressed against the bed plane by a single leaf spring. At this time, since the pressure of the leaf spring acts as a load for feeding the paper, the entire width of the recording paper P is uniformly pressed with an appropriate force so that the paper feeding is not hindered and the recording paper P is in close contact with the bed plane. There must be. However, since the total width of the recording paper P is 21 cm on the short side of row A No. 4, it is necessary to uniformly press the entire width of the recording paper P with an appropriate force by using one leaf spring. Even if you raise it, realization is not easy. If the leaf spring is curved with respect to the plane of the bed, the pressing force is weakened over the continuous wide area of the peripheral portion of the recording paper P or conversely the peripheral portion because the width of the leaf spring is long. At that portion, the paper floats and the print quality deteriorates.

Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems due to the paper pressing structure using the leaf springs, the present inventor has a structure in which the entire width of the recording sheet is shared by a plurality of leaf springs and pressed against the bed plane. Created. With such a structure, the width of each leaf spring becomes shorter than the case where one leaf spring is used, and as a result, even if each leaf spring is slightly curved due to working accuracy, the pressing force The width of the weakened continuous portion is shortened, and the floating amount of the recording paper is reduced accordingly, so that the entire width of the recording paper can be surely brought into close contact with the bed plane for feeding.

According to such a configuration using the leaf spring, the problems such as the above-described configuration using vacuum and electrostatic force are almost solved, but in order to put it into practical use, there are problems to be solved. Exists. That is how to form a fulcrum (a stationary point between the fixed end and the free end) of a plurality of leaf springs. When using multiple leaf springs, if each fulcrum is offset, the force applied to the free end will be uneven even if the working accuracy of each leaf spring itself is uniform. It is necessary to form the same fulcrum on the spring. Such a problem can be easily solved by adopting a complicated structure, but it causes a cost increase due to the complicated structure and is not suitable for practical use.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a paper pressing structure for an inkjet printer, which is capable of forming the same fulcrum on a plurality of leaf springs with a simple structure.

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above object, the present invention feeds a recording sheet along a plane of a bed and mounts a carriage having an ink ejecting unit at a position facing the plane of the bed at a right angle to the feeding direction of the recording sheet. In an ink jet printer that moves in the direction to record on the recording paper, one end is attached to a housing, and the other free end is a recording paper entrance formed at the edge of the bed on the supply side of the recording paper. A plurality of leaf springs, which are pressed against the bed surface slightly on the paper feed direction side from the inclined portion, are arranged along the edge of the bed, and the plurality of leaf springs are arranged in parallel with each other. The same fulcrum is formed on each leaf spring by pressing with a single round bar extending to the.

Further, in order that the round bar can be assembled into the housing without using any extra parts such as screws, the inner surface having the upward concave curved surface to which the peripheral surface on one end side of the round bar should be fitted. The cutout portion and the outer cutout portion having the downward concave curved surface to which the peripheral surface of the round bar should be fitted are arranged in the vertical direction between the lowermost point of the upward concave curved surface and the uppermost point of the downward concave curved surface. A first engaging member arranged so as to face each other with a gap having a predetermined width so that the distance is slightly smaller than the diameter of the one end side of the round bar and the other end side of the round bar. And a second locking member composed of a bullet having a hole formed therein to be fitted with the peripheral surface of the pin, is integrally formed in the housing in which the round bar is mounted.

[0013]

[Action]

 With one end of each leaf spring attached to the housing and the other free end resting on the bed surface, one end of the round bar is cut inside the first locking tool formed on the housing. After inserting it diagonally downward from the notch to the outer notch, push the round bar down horizontally, and while pushing the bullet piece of the second locking tool formed on the housing outward, expand the other end of the round bar. When the pin formed in is inserted into the hole of the bullet piece, the round bar is fixed to the housing by the restoring force of the bullet piece and the force in the tightening direction received from the biconcave curved surface of the first locking tool. Then, a plurality of leaf springs are pressed at substantially the same location by one round bar attached in this way, and thereby the free ends of the leaf springs are pressed against the bed plane.

[0014]

【Example】

 Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a main part of an inkjet printer to which a paper pressing structure according to the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the same part.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, 101 is a bed, the upper surface of which is processed flat, and the recording paper P is conveyed on this plane of the bed 101 in the direction of f shown in the figure. A bevel 101 has an inclined portion 101a serving as a recording sheet entrance on the edge of the recording sheet P on the side where the recording sheet P is supplied, and the leaf spring 2 for pressing the sheet, which is made of a metal plate such as stainless steel, is A plurality of sheets (four sheets in this embodiment) are arranged in parallel along the edge. One end of each leaf spring 2 is attached to a casing (not shown), and the other end, which is a free end, is formed by the inclined portion 101a. It extends slightly to the bed surface on the paper feed direction side. All of these leaf springs 2 are pressed from above by a single round bar 5 extending parallel to the arrangement direction of the leaf springs 2, so that the free ends of the leaf springs 2 extending to the bed surface are in contact with the bed surface. It is designed to be pressed against.

On the other hand, on the side of the carriage 11, which is mounted on the two guide shafts 6 so as to be able to move back and forth, slightly opposite the free end of the leaf spring 2 in the plane of the bed, the portion slightly facing the paper feeding direction, The ejection unit 11a is mounted, and the carriage 11 can be moved in the width direction of the recording paper P by moving the carriage 11 along the guide shaft 6 in the s direction shown in the figure by a belt (not shown). .

Further, on the sweep side of the sheet, there is a sweep side rubber roller 7 driven by a motor (not shown) and a wheel 9 pivotally supported so as to engage with the sweep side rubber roller 7. The tip is sandwiched in the gap between the sweep-out side rubber roller 7 and the wheel 9, and is discharged to the outside of the printer housing by the rotation of the rubber roller 7.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing a more detailed configuration example of the vicinity of one sheet pressing leaf spring 2. The leaf spring 2 shown in the same drawing has a pair of bearings, which are formed as openings in the substantially central portion of a metal plate such as stainless steel, and are then opened to bend the protrusions so that a bearing portion 2d is projected. A pair of sub leaf springs 2b are formed by forming a substantially U-shaped groove at a position adjacent to the bearing portion 2d, and a pair of claws 2a is further provided at one end of the pair of sub leaf springs 2a. It is also locked to a claw insertion opening 102 provided in the engine 1. The round bar 5 presses the substantially central portion from above.

The pinch roller 3 has a thick roller portion 3a at both ends and a central portion, and a thin shaft 3b between the roller portions 3a. Then, the shaft 3b is loosely inserted into the substantially U-shaped groove of the bearing 2d so that the lower portion of each roller portion 3a projects from the lower surface of the leaf spring 2 through the opening 2c. The auxiliary plate springs 2b press the roller portions 3a at both ends.

A rubber roller 4 for feeding the recording paper, which is rotated by a motor (not shown), is provided below the leaf spring 2 at a position facing the pinch roller 3, and the pinch roller 3 is driven by the auxiliary leaf spring 2b. Pressed to the side. The recording paper is fed through a gap between the rubber roller 4 and the pinch roller 3, and resists the pressing force of the leaf spring 2 from the gap between the inclined portion 101a formed on the edge of the bed 101 and the free end of the leaf spring 2. Then, it advances to the bed plane and is sent while closely contacting on the bed plane.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the printer housing 1 integrally formed by injection molding. Reference numeral 101 is a bed, 101a is an inclined portion of the bed, and 102 is an insertion port to which the claw 2a of the paper pressing leaf spring 2 is attached. , 104 is a first locking member for mounting the round bar 5, 103 is also a second locking member, 105 is a guide piece for guiding the recording sheet to the feeding side rubber roller 4, and 106 and 107 of the carriage. A fitting for mounting the guide shaft 6, 108 is a mounting hole for the drive shaft of the feeding-side rubber roller 4, 109 is a mounting hole for the drive shaft of the sweep-out rubber roller 7, 110 is a bearing member for the wheel 9, Reference numeral 111 is a hole for mounting a leaf spring for pressing the wheel 9 against the sweep-out rubber roller 7. The printer housing 1 is made of, for example, ABS or a resin in which polycarbonate, glass beads, or the like is mixed.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the first locking member 104 of the printer housing 1. As shown in the figure, the first locking member 104 includes an inner cutout portion 104a having an upward concave curved surface 104d to which the peripheral surface on one end side of the round bar 5 is to be fitted, and the same end of the round bar 5. The outer notch 104b having the downward concave curved surface 104e to which the side peripheral surface should be fitted is defined by the vertical distance between the lowermost point of the upward concave curved surface 104d and the uppermost point of the downward concave curved surface 104e. It is arranged so as to be slightly smaller than the diameter on the one end side and face each other with a gap of a predetermined width.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the second locking member 103 of the printer housing 1. As shown in the figure, the second locking member 103 is composed of a bullet piece 103a having a hole 103b that fits with the peripheral surface of a pin formed on the other end side of the round bar 5.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of an example of the round bar 5 and a method of mounting it on the housing. After mounting the plurality of leaf springs 2 at predetermined positions as described above, one end of the round bar 5 was inserted obliquely downward from the inner cutout 104a of the first locking member 104 to the outer cutout 104b. After that, the lower concave curved surface of the outer cutout 104b is pushed up, and the upper concave curved surface of the inner cutout 104a is pushed down, so that the round bar 5 is leveled and the bullet piece 103a of the second locking member 103 is pushed down. The pin 5a formed at the other end of the round bar 5 is inserted into the hole 103b of the bullet piece 103a while pushing the rod outward.

Although four leaf springs 2 are used in the above embodiment, it goes without saying that the number of leaf springs is not limited to four. Further, a pin similar to the pin 5a on the other end side may be provided at the end of the round bar 5 which is inserted into the first locking tool 104. In this case, the concave curved surface of the first stopper 104 fits on the peripheral surface of the pin.

[0027]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

A plurality of leaf springs are pressed by one round bar of the leaf springs and extending in parallel so that the recording paper is fed in close contact with the plane of the bed without floating from the plane of the bed. Since the fulcrum of each leaf spring is formed by doing so, the configuration is extremely simple and the contact surface with the leaf spring does not shift even if the round bar rotates, so multiple leaf springs It is possible to make sure that the pressing points, that is, the fulcrums, are the same.

By integrally forming the first locking member and the second locking member in the housing of the printer, the round bar can be attached to the housing without using any extra parts such as screws. As a result, the assembly process can be simplified and the number of parts can be reduced, and the inkjet printer can be downsized and the price can be reduced accordingly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a main part of an inkjet printer to which a paper pressing structure according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a main part of an inkjet printer to which the paper pressing structure according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing a more detailed configuration example in the vicinity of one sheet pressing leaf spring.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a printer housing integrally formed by injection molding.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of a first locking member of the printer housing.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of a second locking member of the printer housing.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a round bar that presses a paper pressing leaf spring and a method of mounting the round bar on a housing.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional inkjet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer housing 2 ... Paper pressing leaf spring 5 ... Round bar for forming fulcrum of paper pressing leaf spring 6 ... Carriage guide shaft 7 ... Sweep side rubber roller 9 ... Wheel 11 ... Carriage 101 ... Bed 101a ... Inclined part P ... Recording paper 103 ... Second locking tool 104 ... First locking tool

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location B65H 29/52

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A recording paper is fed along a plane of a bed, and a carriage having an ink ejecting unit at a position facing the plane of the bed is moved in a direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the recording paper to move the recording paper. In an inkjet printer that records on top, one end is attached to the housing and the other end, which is the free end, is slightly fed from the inclined part that is the recording paper entrance formed on the edge of the bed on the recording paper supply side. A plurality of leaf springs, which are pressed against the bet surface on the direction side, are arranged along the edge of the bed, and the plurality of leaf springs extend in parallel with the leaf springs.
A paper pressing structure for an ink jet printer, characterized by being pressed by a round bar of a book. 2. An inner notch having an upward concave curved surface to which a peripheral surface on one end side of the round bar is to be fitted, and an outer notch part having a downward concave curved surface to be fitted to a peripheral surface on the one end side of the round bar. The notch portion is provided with a gap of a predetermined width such that the vertical distance between the lowermost point of the upward concave curved surface and the uppermost point of the downward concave curved surface is slightly smaller than the diameter of the one end side of the round bar. A first locking member arranged opposite to each other with a second locking member formed of a bullet having a hole fitted to the peripheral surface of the pin formed on the other end side of the round bar. 2. The paper pressing structure for an ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein a locking tool is integrally formed with a housing for mounting the round bar.