JPH08248707A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an image forming device which steadily carries a recording material and prevents the displacement of images formed by two image-forming means of different image formation systems. CONSTITUTION: The device comprises a process cartridge 2, as the first image formation means, capable of forming an image on the recording material P, an ink jet image formation means 3, as the second image formation means, which is situated next to the process cartridge 2 and differs from the process cartridge 2 in image formation system, and a belt 4, as a belt-like carrying means, which faces the image formation means 2 and 3 and carries the recording material P. As a means for pressing the recording material P, carried by the belt 4, against the belt 4, the device is provided with a press-spurring unit 60.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a plurality of image forming means of different image forming systems.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Image forming apparatuses frequently used in offices and the like, particularly copying machines and printers, are required to be compact, sophisticated, and have high image quality.
The demand for colorization is increasing.

Well-known image forming systems of image forming apparatuses include an electrophotographic system and an inkjet system.

In the former electrophotographic method, for example, a toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum by a charging means, an exposing means and a developing means arranged around the photosensitive drum, and this toner image is transferred by a transferring means to a recording medium (hereinafter, referred to as a recording medium). It is called a recording material.)
It is a method of fixing after transferring to
Although a high-quality image can be formed at high speed, a single-color machine could be configured as a small desktop type, but with colorization, its size and cost increase.

On the other hand, the latter ink jet method is a method of forming an ink image by directly adhering the ink on the recording material by ejecting the ink from the recording head, and the entire apparatus can be made compact, while the electrophotography is made possible. Compared with the system, the image forming speed (image forming speed) is slower in both the monochromatic machine and the color machine, and the image quality is degraded. Especially for character images,
When a character image is superimposed on a color image, there is a problem that characters may be blurred.

In order to solve these problems, an image forming apparatus provided with an electrophotographic image forming means and an ink jet type image forming means is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-168057. There is.

In these image forming apparatuses, a black-and-white image mainly composed of character images, which is frequently used in general offices, is formed by an electrophotographic method, and a less frequently used color image is formed by an inkjet method. In this way, each image forming method is properly used.

By this usage, it becomes possible to construct an image forming apparatus most suitable for an office or the like. That is, the image forming apparatus combining the above two image forming methods is a single image forming apparatus, the size of the entire apparatus is minimized, the monochrome image is formed quickly and neatly, and the color image is formed as necessary. Images can also be formed.

Further, in order to suppress the mutual shift of the images by the image forming means due to the conveying of the recording material at the time of image formation by the electrophotographic image forming means and the ink jet image forming means, the recording material is conveyed by a common belt-like conveying member. An image forming apparatus provided with a recording material conveying unit that conveys while adsorbing is also proposed.

[0010]

However, when the above-mentioned recording material conveying means using the belt-like conveying member is used,
If the ink ejection nozzles as the inkjet image forming means are arranged with about 64 nozzles aligned in the recording material conveyance direction, the recording material conveyance is intermittent,
Since images corresponding to a plurality of nozzles are formed in each step of intermittent feeding, the belt-shaped transport member itself receives an intermittent external force, the belt-shaped transport member vibrates, and the recording material to be attracted is absorbed. The belt-shaped conveying member is partly separated, which causes "puff" in the recording material.

If the sheet is conveyed with the "puff" generated, a gap is generated between the image formed by the electrophotographic image forming means and the image formed.

A cylindrical member has been proposed as a means for supporting the belt-shaped conveying member. However, if the cylindrical member has a large curvature, a recording material having a high rigidity such as a thick paper sheet is kept adsorbed. In the worst case, the recording material and the belt-shaped conveying member may be completely peeled off, resulting in defective conveyance.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The object of the present invention is to stably convey a recording material and to form it by image forming means of two different image forming systems. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of eliminating the deviation of the generated image.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first image forming means capable of forming an image on a recording material, and a first image forming means adjacent to the first image forming means. In the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus includes a second image forming unit having an image forming method different from that of the forming unit, and a belt-shaped conveying unit that faces the two image forming units and conveys the recording material. It is characterized in that a pressing means for pressing the recording material to be conveyed toward the conveying means is provided.

It is preferable to provide charging means capable of charging the carrying means.

The carrying means is supported by at least two or more cylindrical members, and the pressing means is arranged at a position sandwiching the carrying means with the cylindrical member supporting the bent portion of the carrying means. Good.

The pressing means may be arranged substantially in the center of the portion of the cylindrical member having a large distance.

The pressing means may be arranged in the conveying direction at intervals shorter than the minimum size in the conveying direction of the recording material conveyed by the conveying means.

It is preferable that the portion of the pressing means that comes into contact with the recording material is a rotating member that is rotatable in the transport direction.

The rotating member may be provided with a plurality of protrusions at a portion contacting the recording material.

A low-friction member may be provided at a portion of the pressing means that comes into contact with the recording material.

The pressing means may be provided with an elastic member which can be pressed toward the conveying means.

The pressing means may be formed of an elastic member that can be pressed toward the conveying means.

One of the two image forming means is preferably an ink jet type image forming means.

The ink jet image forming means is preferably a full color system.

One of the two image forming means may be an electrophotographic image forming means.

[0027]

In the image forming apparatus constructed as described above, since the pressing means for pressing the recording material conveyed by the conveying means toward the conveying means is provided, the recording material is brought into contact with the conveying means without any difficulty and is conveyed. It

By providing the charging means capable of charging the conveying means, the recording material is electrostatically attracted to the conveying means.

The carrying means is supported by at least two or more cylindrical members, and the pressing means is arranged at a position where the carrying means is sandwiched between the carrying means and the cylindrical member supporting the bent portion. It is possible to press a portion where the recording material is easily separated from the conveying means.

By arranging the pressing means substantially in the center of the portion where the distance between the cylindrical members is large, the efficiency of pressing the recording material is improved.

Since the pressing means is arranged in the conveying direction at an interval shorter than the minimum size of the recording material conveyed by the conveying means in the conveying direction, at least one place of the recording material of the minimum size is pressed by the pressing means. To be done.

By making the portion of the pressing means contacting the recording material a rotating member rotatable in the conveying direction, the rotating member is driven by the conveying means.

By providing the rotary member with a plurality of protrusions at the portion contacting the recording material, the contact area with the recording material is reduced.

By providing a low-friction member in the portion of the pressing means that comes into contact with the recording material, the friction with the recording material is reduced.

By providing the pressing means with an elastic member capable of pressing the conveying means, the vibration of the conveying means is absorbed.

By forming the pressing means by an elastic member that can be pressed toward the conveying means, the number of parts can be reduced.

Since one of the two image forming means is an image forming means of the ink jet system, a high definition image can be formed.

The image forming means of the ink jet system can provide a full color image by adopting the full color system.

Since one of the two image forming means is an electrophotographic image forming means, high speed printing is possible.

[0040]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to illustrated embodiments.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of essential parts around a pressing means of Embodiment 1 respectively.

The image forming apparatus shown in these figures has two image forming means having different image forming systems, and forms an image on the recording material P by these image forming steps.

In the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, there is a cassette 5 on which a recording material P is mounted, a belt 4 as a belt-shaped conveying means is provided downstream thereof, and the first embodiment of this embodiment is provided on the upper surface thereof. A process cartridge 2 incorporating an electrophotographic image forming unit as an image forming unit, and a full-color inkjet image forming unit 3 as a second image forming unit are provided downstream thereof.

A fixing device 39 is arranged downstream of the ink jet image forming section 3. The belt 4 has an annular shape.

Next, the general operation of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

In the image forming apparatus 1 of this embodiment, the recording material P loaded in the cassette 5 is in contact with the separation claw 12 by the pressure spring 10 via the pressure plate 7.

The pressure plate 7 is rotated by a bearing portion 8 in accordance with the amount of the recording material P loaded.

The pressure spring 10 is positioned by the protrusion 9 on the lower portion of the pressure plate 7.

A substantially half-moon-shaped feeding roller 11 is provided above the cassette. When the feeding roller 11 is rotationally driven by a drive system (not shown), the recording material P is fed, and the separating claw 12 moves 1 It is separated into sheets.

After that, it is conveyed by the registration rollers 13a and 13b and guided to the roller 16.

On the other hand, the belt 4 is supported by rollers 36 and 37 as cylindrical members so as to be rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and the roller 36 is driven by a drive system (not shown). The roller 37 is driven.

A rubber layer 36a is formed on the surface of the roller 36. The rubber layer 36a has a friction coefficient for transmitting an appropriate driving force for driving the belt 4 and faces a separating corona 34 which will be described later. The rubber layer 36 is used because it is used.
The volume resistance value of a is medium resistance, and the core material 36b is a conductor such as metal.

The tension of the belt 4 is set by the roller 36.
To be the right size to be driven by
The tension is applied to the belt 4 by a tensioner (not shown).

Further, a recording material is formed on the belt 4 between the process cartridge 2 which is the first image forming means and the ink jet image forming section 3 which is the second image forming means, and substantially at the center of the distance between the rollers 36 and 37. At intervals of about P thickness,
Alternatively, a pressing spur unit 60 as a pressing unit is provided so as to slightly contact the belt 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pressing spur unit 60 includes a spur 61 as a rotating member made of metal or resin, a holder 62 for holding the spur 61, and the recording material P. The coil spring 63 as an elastic member adjusted so that the recording material P is pressed onto the belt 4 via the spur 61 when passing through the section, and the coil spring 63 are installed in the main body frame of the image forming apparatus (not shown). And a base 64 for.

The spurs 61 are provided with protrusions on the outer peripheral side to reduce the contact area with the image before fixing so as not to disturb the image.

In the process cartridge 2 which is the first image forming means, there are the photosensitive drum 18, the primary charging roller 19 and the developing sleeve 17, and the toner and the stirring mechanism (not shown), the cleaning blade of the photosensitive drum 18 and the waste. It is composed of a toner container.

The roller 16 is installed on the exterior of the process cartridge 2. At a position facing the photosensitive drum 18 in the process cartridge 2 via the belt 4, there is a transfer unit 20 including a corona transfer device or a transfer roller.

The exposure of the photosensitive drum 18 is performed by the scanner 26. The scanner 26 has a polygon mirror 28 that is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown),
A laser beam emitted from a laser unit (not shown) having a built-in semiconductor laser can be scanned onto the photosensitive drum 18 by the polygon mirror 28.

This laser light is corrected by the fθ lens 27 so that the optical path length becomes constant, and is irradiated onto the photosensitive drum 18 by the mirror 24 fixed to the holder 25.

Next, the full-color type inkjet image forming section 3, which is the second image forming means, will be described.

The ink jet image forming section 3 has a structure in which a head 32 and an ink tank 33 are mounted in a carriage 29, and the carriage 29 conveys a recording material P in the figure by two rails 31a and 31b. It is movably supported in a direction perpendicular to the direction.

The ink tank 33 is equipped with a total of four color ink tanks of cyan, magenta, yellow and black, and the ink tanks can be exchanged individually for each color.

Therefore, the head 32 is divided into four heads corresponding to the above four colors, and the image is formed on the recording material P conveyed by the belt 4 in a non-contact manner. Further, a recovery means for the head 32 (not shown) is provided.

In FIG. 1, a separating corona 34 for separating the recording material P from the belt 4 is provided downstream of the ink jet image forming section 3, and a separating claw 35 is provided downstream of the lower part thereof.

The recording material P separated by the separating claw 35.
Is guided to the fixing device 39 by the pre-fixing guide 38. The fixing device 39 is composed of a heat roller 40 having a built-in heater and a pressure roller 41. At the nip portion of these two rollers, the heat fixing of the ink and toner image-formed on the recording material P is performed at the same time. I am supposed to do it.

The pressure roller 41 is pressed against the heat roller 40 by a spring (not shown). The recording material P is discharged downstream by the discharge roller 44 and the discharge roller 45 after the toner is heated.

Then, the flapper 46 and the guides 47a, 4
The sheet 7b is conveyed to the curl removing roller 49 and the curl removing rollers 50 and 51. Curling rollers 50,5
No. 1 is pressed against the curl removing roller 49 so that the curl can be removed.

The recording material P discharged by the above-mentioned curl removing means is discharged face down onto the stacker 52 which is also used as the exterior part of the apparatus.

Further, there is provided a manual feeding port 53 used for forming an image on a recording material P such as thick paper or thin paper which is difficult to feed in a cassette.

After fixing, the paper guide 47 is made of thick paper.
When it is difficult to transport the paper with a and 47b, the flapper 46
Is rotated by the bearing portion 46a so that the face-up discharge port 4
It can also be discharged to 8.

The actual operation of the first embodiment having the above configuration will be described.

The image forming apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment is configured as a printer, and color image data from a computer, a document reading scanner, or the like (not shown) is converted into a monochrome image such as a color image and characters by a controller (not shown). The images are connected separately.

As a result, a monochrome image is formed by the process cartridge 2 which is the first image forming means, and a color image is formed by the ink jet 3 image forming section which is the second image forming means. There is.

Therefore, when an image forming command is issued from the controller, the feeding roller 11 is driven in the direction of the arrow in the figure, one sheet of the recording material P is fed, and the registration rollers 13a and 13b enter the nip portion. Then stop.

Before and after the above-described feeding, the photosensitive drum 18 in the process cartridge 2 is pre-rotated, and in synchronization with this, the roller 36 is also driven and the belt 4 is also driven.

At this time, the transfer means 20 is charged so that the belt 4 can be charged, and the belt 4 is driven until it reaches the roller 14 from the position of the transfer means 20 via the drive roller 36. At the same time, when the registration rollers 13a and 13b are turned on to carry the recording material, the recording material P starts to be attracted from the vicinity of the nip portion between the roller 14 and the belt 4, and the recording material P is conveyed. Be seen.

By the suction, the conveyed recording material P is guided to the photosensitive drum 18 in the process cartridge 2 as the first image forming means via the roller 16.

At this time, the photosensitive drum 18 is continuously driven at a predetermined process speed in a state where the toner is not developed, so that the toner is not transferred onto the recording material P and passes through the process cartridge 2.

Next, the recording material P is kept electrostatically adsorbed on the belt 4, and when it reaches the position of the pressing spur unit 60, the recording material P is adsorbed on the belt 4 and further on the belt 4. By the action of the coil spring 63, the recording material P is pressed by the paper sensor (not shown) until it is pressed by the spur 61 and continuously conveyed until it reaches the inkjet image forming unit 3 which is the second image forming means. The head portion 32 of the inkjet image forming unit 3 is detected by detecting the tip position.
, The carriage 29 is temporarily stopped after being driven to the image forming start position with respect to the recording material P, and then the carriage 29 is reciprocally driven at a certain timing in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording material P to perform main scanning for one line. Recording is performed, and when the recording is completed, the belt 4 is driven by intermittent feeding to convey the recording material P one step in the sub-scanning direction.

Intermittent feeding (sub-scanning) of the belt 4 described above,
The recording material P is fed by reciprocating the carriage 29 (main scanning).
Recording is sequentially performed by the inkjet image forming unit 3, and the leading end of the recording material P is driven by the drive roller 36.
Of the recording material P, the recording material P is conveyed along the outer diameter portion of the roller 36 by the electrostatic attraction.
It is conveyed to the belt portion 4 on the opposite side of the process cartridge 2 and the inkjet image forming portion 3.

Here, when the belt 4 is driven intermittently, the driving force thereof, even if it gives tension to the belt 4,
At a portion of the belt 4 other than the roller contact portion, a force to vibrate is applied.

However, due to the pressing spur unit 60, the recording material P is not pressed against the belt 4 so that the recording material P is not peeled off and the conveyance failure does not occur.

After that, when the trailing end of the recording material P passes through the head 32 and the image formation by the ink jet image forming section 3 is completed, the belt 4 is continuously driven again by the driving roller 36, and the recording material P is rolled. It is conveyed again to the process cartridge 2 via the outer diameter portion of 37.

At this time, an image is formed by the process cartridge 2 and the toner is transferred onto the recording material P.

Then, the recording material P reaches the ink jet image forming section 3, but at this time, the ink jet image forming section 3 does not form an image and passes under the head 32 while continuously feeding.

When the leading edge of the recording material P reaches the separation corona 34 by the above-mentioned conveyance, a separation bias charge is generated for the recording material P, and further, due to the curvature of the outer diameter portion of the driving roller 36 and the effect of the separation claw 35. Belt 4 for recording material P
And is conveyed to the pre-fixing guide 38, and the fixing device 3
9, the heat roller 40 and the pressure roller 41 dry the ink at the same time as fixing the toner.

The recording material P on which the above-mentioned fixing has been carried out is a pair of discharge rollers 44 and 45, a flapper 46, and paper guides 47a and 47.
b, a composite image of a monochrome image by the electrophotographic system and a color image by the inkjet system is discharged to the stacker 52 by the curl removing roller pair 49, 50, 51.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, even in the image forming apparatus which is provided with two image forming means and conveys the recording material by using the belt-shaped conveying member, the vibration of the belt which may occur during the intermittent operation. It is possible to provide the image forming apparatus capable of suppressing the "puff" of the recording material by the simple means and capable of obtaining a high-quality image with no deviation between the images by the two image forming means.

Further, in the present embodiment, there is an effect even if a plurality of pressing spur units are provided.

For example, plural pressing spur units 60 shown in FIG. 1 may be arranged so as to be aligned in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG.
The effect of suppressing the vibration is great even if it is newly arranged at the position on the back side of the belt 4, which is just opposite to the position of.

Further, there may be two or more rollers that support the belt 4, and in this case, the pressing spur unit is preferentially arranged between the two rollers having the longest inter-roller distance to suppress vibration. It can be implemented effectively.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 3 shows an overall configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 101 of the present embodiment is the image forming apparatus of the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, except that the pressing spur unit is arranged at a position sandwiching the belt together with the roller.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 101 of this embodiment will be described.

In the image forming apparatus 101 of this embodiment,
As in the first embodiment, the recording material P loaded in the cassette 105 is fed by the feeding roller 111 and electrostatically adsorbed to the belt 104 by the action of the transfer unit 120, and the first image formation is performed. After passing through the process cartridge 102, which is a unit, without performing image formation, the inkjet image is recorded when the ink reaches the inkjet image forming unit 103, which is a second image forming unit.

After that, the recording material P reaches the outer diameter portion of the roller 136, and while being adsorbed, is conveyed to the belt 104 on the side opposite to the process cartridge 102 and the ink jet image forming portion 103, but is pressed during this time. When there is no spur unit and the outer diameter of the roller 136 is small, the so-called “curvature separation” due to the rigidity of the paper easily occurs even when the separation bias is not generated by the separation corona 134, and the belt of the recording material P is generated. Partial peeling or the like from 104 may occur, which may cause poor conveyance.

However, as shown in FIG. 3, the recording material P
Since the pressing spur unit 161 is arranged immediately downstream of the roller 136 reaching the outer diameter portion of the roller 136,
Even when the outer diameter of the recording material P is small and the recording material P is easily “curvature separated”, the recording material P is pressed onto the belt 104, and the process cartridge 102 and the inkjet image are held while the state where the recording material P is reliably adsorbed is maintained. It is conveyed to the belt 104 on the side opposite to the forming unit 103.

Thereafter, an image is formed by the process cartridge 102 as the first image forming means in the same manner as in Example 1, and a high-quality composite image can be provided on the recording material P.

Therefore, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment.
01 Even if the rollers 136 and 137 for supporting the belt 104 have a small diameter to reduce the size of the main body, the recording material P is surely adsorbed onto the belt 104 to prevent separation and prevent conveyance failure. An image forming apparatus that can obtain a high-quality image without causing a problem can be provided.

Also in this embodiment, as in the first embodiment,
Even if a plurality of pressing spur units 161 are provided, it is effective. For example, a plurality of them may be arranged side by side on the side perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 3, or a pressing spur unit may be arranged on the outer diameter portion of the driven roller 137 of FIG. Also, the belt 10
There may be two or more rollers that support 4.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 4 shows the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus 201 according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus 201 of the present embodiment is an image forming apparatus having the same structure as that of the first embodiment, and two presses are provided at a position sandwiching the ink jet image forming section 203 which is the second image forming means. Spur unit 260,
261 are arranged and each pressing spur unit 2
Positions of the spurs 60 and 261 facing the belt 204 (see FIG. 4).
The distance on the belt 204 from A and B) is smaller than the minimum recording material size on which the image forming apparatus 201 can form an image.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 201 of this embodiment will be described.

In the image forming apparatus 201 of this embodiment,
As in the first and second embodiments, the recording material P loaded in the cassette 205 is fed by the feeding roller 211 and electrostatically adsorbed to the belt 204 by the action of the transfer means 220. After passing through the process cartridge 202, which is an image forming unit, without performing image formation, it passes through the first pressing spur unit 260 and reaches the inkjet image forming unit 203, which is a second image forming unit.

Then, the belt 204 is intermittently fed by the roller 236, and even if the belt 204 vibrates by the first pressing spur unit 260, the belt 204 is surely pressed by the belt 204, and the inkjet image forming unit 203 does not separate the inkjet image. An image is formed.

By the way, when the second pressing spur unit 261 is not at the position B, immediately after the trailing edge of the recording material P has passed through the first pressing spur unit 260, an ink jet image is formed near the trailing edge of the recording material P. Since the intermittent operation is continued because the image is formed by the forming unit 203, the recording material P may be separated from the belt 104.

However, in the present embodiment, since the first and second pressing spur units 260 and 261 are arranged so that the distance between A and B becomes equal to or smaller than the minimum recording size, the image forming apparatus 201 forms an image. If the recording material P is of a size that enables the
Before passing through 60, the tip of the recording material P is pressed by the second pressing spur unit 261 and there is no possibility that the recording material P is separated from the belt 204.

Then, the image formation by the ink jet image forming section 203 is completed, and the recording material P is switched from the intermittent feeding to the continuous feeding.

Thereafter, an image is formed by the process cartridge 202 of the first image forming means in the same manner as in Embodiments 1 and 2, and a high quality composite image can be provided on the recording material P.

Therefore, in this embodiment, even in the image formation of the recording material P of the smallest size that can be image-formed by the image forming apparatus 201, the recording material P is surely adsorbed on the belt 204 to prevent peeling. Therefore, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can obtain a high-quality image without causing problems such as poor conveyance.

Also in this embodiment, as in the first and second embodiments, it is effective to provide a plurality of pressing spur units. For example, a plurality may be aligned and arranged in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. The number of rollers that support the belt 204 is two.
There may be more than one, and the inkjet image forming unit and the pressing spur unit may be appropriately arranged so that the two pressing spur units 260 and 261 are at positions where the same effects as those of the first and second embodiments are obtained.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a main portion for explaining a pressing means of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

In this embodiment, in the image forming apparatus having the same structure as in the first, second, and third embodiments, the pressing means is a leaf spring elastic member 367 made of resin or the like, and the position where the elastic member contacts the recording material P. The sheet 366 is a low-friction member having a low frictional resistance attached to the sheet 366.

In the pressing unit according to the present embodiment as well as the pressing spur unit according to the first, second and third embodiments, when the recording material P is conveyed while being attracted to the belt 304, the action by the leaf spring-like elastic member 367 is provided. The recording material P to the belt 30
Press 4 to ensure that the suction state is maintained.

Further, by using the low-friction sheet 366 in the contact portion with the recording material P, the recording material P can be stored in the sheet 366.
The belt 30 does not get caught when touching the
It is conveyed in synchronization with the conveyance of No. 4.

Therefore, even with a simple and inexpensive structure, the recording material P is pressed onto the belt 304, and the belt 3 of the recording material P is pressed.
There is no peeling from 04, and poor conveyance caused by it.

(Embodiment 5) FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a main part for explaining a pressing means of an image forming apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, in the image forming apparatus having the same structure as that of the fourth embodiment, the pressing means is composed of a leaf spring-like elastic member 467 made of a resin having a high slidability.

The pressing unit according to this embodiment is also the same as that of the fourth embodiment.
When the recording material P is conveyed while being attracted to the belt 404 similarly to the pressing unit of (1), the recording material P is pressed against the belt 404 by the action of the elastic member 467 having a leaf spring shape, and the attracted state is reliably maintained.

Further, by forming the elastic member 467 itself with a member having a high slidability, the recording material P is made into the elastic member 46.
Even if it comes in contact with 7, it will not get caught and will steadily
It is transported in synchronization with the transport of 04.

Therefore, even with a simple and inexpensive structure, the recording material is pressed against the belt to separate the recording material from the belt,
There will be no conveyance failure caused by it.

(Embodiment 6) Embodiment 6 of the present invention is shown in FIG. In this embodiment, in the image forming apparatus having the same structure as that of the fifth embodiment, the plurality of pressing means are made of resin having high slidability.
It is configured as the elastic member 567 of the component.

Since there are a plurality of pressing means also in the direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, the recording material P is pressed regardless of the partial vibration of the belt 504, so that the recording material P can be conveyed more stably. .

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the same effect as providing a plurality of pressing units can be realized with a simple structure.

[0126]

According to the present invention having the above-described structure and operation, the pressing means for pressing the recording material conveyed by the conveying means toward the conveying means is provided, so that the recording material comes into contact with the conveying means without any hindrance. The recording material can be smoothly conveyed.

By providing the charging means capable of charging the conveying means, the recording material is electrostatically adsorbed to the conveying means, and the recording material can be conveyed more stably.

The carrying means is supported by at least two or more cylindrical members, and the pressing means is arranged at a position sandwiching the carrying means with the cylindrical member supporting the bent portion of the carrying means. The part where the recording material is easily separated can be pressed from the conveying means, and the recording material is not separated.

By arranging the pressing means substantially in the center of the portion where the distance between the cylindrical members is large, the pressing efficiency of the recording material is improved, and the recording material can be conveyed smoothly.

Since the pressing means is arranged in the conveying direction at an interval shorter than the minimum size in the conveying direction of the recording material conveyed by the conveying means, at least one place of the recording material of the minimum size is pressed by the pressing means. It doesn't cause dullness.

By making the portion of the pressing means abutting against the recording material a rotary member rotatable in the carrying direction, the rotary member is driven by the carrying means, and the friction of the pressing means can be reduced.

By providing the rotary member with a plurality of protrusions at the portion contacting the recording material, the contact area with the recording material is reduced and the image before fixing is not disturbed.

By providing the low-friction member in the portion of the pressing means that comes into contact with the recording material, the friction with the recording material can be reduced and the friction of the pressing means can be reduced with a simple structure.

By providing the pressing means with an elastic member capable of pressing the conveying means, the vibration of the conveying means is absorbed,
A smoother conveyance of the recording material can be obtained.

By forming the pressing means by an elastic member which can be pressed toward the conveying means, the number of parts can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

Since one of the two image forming means is an image forming means of the ink jet system, a high definition image can be formed.

When the image forming means by the ink jet system is a full color system, a full color image can be provided and the size can be reduced as compared with the case of obtaining a full color image by an electrophotographic system.

Since one of the two image forming means is an electrophotographic image forming means, high speed printing is possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a pressing means applied to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a pressing means applied to Example 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a pressing means applied to Example 5 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a pressing means applied to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

P recording material 1, 101, 201 image forming apparatus 2, 102, 202 process cartridge (first image forming means) 3, 103, 203 inkjet image forming unit (second)
Image forming means) 4,104,204,304,404,504 Belt (conveying means) 36,37,136,137,236,237,537
Roller (cylindrical member) 60, 161, 260, 261 Pressing spur unit (pressing means) 61 Spurs (rotating member) 63 Coil spring (elastic member) 366 Sheet (low friction member) 367, 467, 567 Elastic member (pressing means)

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A first image forming unit capable of forming an image on a recording material, and a second image forming unit adjacent to the first image forming unit and having an image forming system different from that of the first image forming unit. In an image forming apparatus having a belt-shaped conveying unit that conveys a recording material, facing one image forming unit, a pressing unit that presses the recording material conveyed by the conveying unit toward the conveying unit is provided. A characteristic image forming apparatus. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a charging unit capable of charging the conveying unit. 3. The conveying means is supported by at least two or more cylindrical members, and the pressing means is provided at a position sandwiching the conveying means with a cylindrical member supporting a bent portion of the conveying means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is arranged. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the pressing unit is arranged substantially in the center of a portion where the space between the cylindrical members is large. 5. The pressing unit is arranged in the conveying direction at an interval shorter than a minimum size of the recording material conveyed by the conveying unit in the conveying direction. The image forming apparatus described. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the pressing unit that comes into contact with the recording material is a rotating member that is rotatable in the transport direction. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the rotating member is provided with a plurality of protrusions at a portion contacting the recording material. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a low-friction member is provided in a portion of the pressing unit that comes into contact with the recording material. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing unit is provided with an elastic member that can be pressed toward the conveying unit. 10. The pressing means is formed of an elastic member that can be pressed toward the conveying means.
6. The image forming apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 5. 11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the two image forming units is an inkjet type image forming unit. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the ink jet image forming unit is a full color system. 13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the two image forming means is an electrophotographic image forming means.