JPH11208046A - Recording paper pressing mechanism of ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow an ink jet head to perform stable recording by restricting floating of both ends of a recording paper disposed on a platen. SOLUTION: There is disclosed a recording paper pressing mechanism 29 of an ink jet printer for pressing both ends in the recording direction of the recording paper which is conveyed between a platen 9 and an ink jet head 18. A pair of recording paper pressing members having a predetermined gap with respect to the recording paper are provided to positions corresponding to both ends in a width direction of a recording region on the recording paper on which the ink jet head 18 performs the recording.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording paper holding mechanism for an ink jet printer, and more particularly, to a recording paper pressing mechanism that presses both ends in the width direction of a recording paper conveyed on a platen of the ink jet printer to provide a stable and favorable recording medium. The present invention relates to a recording paper holding mechanism of an ink jet printer capable of performing recording.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an ink jet printer is used as an output device such as a computer or a word processor because of its silence.

In a conventional ink jet printer, a carriage shaft is provided in parallel with a flat platen, and a carriage is mounted on the carriage shaft so as to reciprocate along the carriage shaft. In addition, a plurality of nozzles capable of discharging ink used for recording are arranged at predetermined positions in a direction parallel to a recording paper conveying direction at a position facing the platen of the carriage. The head is mounted so that the tip of each nozzle faces the recording surface of the platen. The platen is provided with a plurality of suction holes for bringing the recording paper on the platen into close contact with the platen by a suction operation.

[0004] Conventionally, as a method of pressing the recording paper in the ink jet printer, the recording paper is pulled with a small force in the recording paper conveyance direction before and after the driving range of the ink jet head to prevent the recording paper from being loosened. As described above, the recording paper is sucked to the platen from the suction hole formed in the platen.

[0005]

However, in the conventional recording paper holding method, as shown in FIG. 4, the recording paper 1 is turned up, especially at both ends in the width direction of the roll paper.

Since the gap between the ink jet 2 and the recording paper 1 on the platen 4 is very narrow, about several millimeters to several tens of millimeters, both ends 3 of the turned recording paper 1 and the ink jet head As a result, the both ends 3 in the width direction of the recording paper 1 are stained, and the inkjet head 2 is damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and a recording paper presser capable of causing an ink-jet head to perform stable recording by regulating the turning of both ends of the recording paper on a platen. It is intended to provide a mechanism.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording paper holding mechanism for an ink jet printer, which is characterized in that a recording direction of a recording paper conveyed between a platen and an ink jet head. A recording paper pressing mechanism of an ink jet printer for pressing both end portions, wherein a predetermined position of the recording paper at a position corresponding to both ends in a width direction of a recording range in which the recording paper is recorded by the ink jet head is provided. In that a pair of recording paper pressing members having the above gap are provided.

[0009] By adopting such a configuration, the curving of both ends in the width direction of the recording paper on which recording is performed by the ink-jet head is regulated with a predetermined gap, so that both ends of the recording paper in the width direction are connected to the ink jet head. It is possible to cause the inkjet printer to perform desired recording while preventing contact with the head.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording paper pressing mechanism according to the present invention, wherein at least one of the recording paper pressing members slides in parallel with a moving direction of the ink jet head. In that it is movable.

By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to flexibly set the pressing positions of both ends in the width direction of the recording paper according to the width of the recording paper and the transport position of the recording paper.

Furthermore, in order to achieve the above object, a feature of the recording paper pressing mechanism according to a third aspect of the present invention is that, in the second aspect, the bottom surface of the recording paper pressing member is brought into contact with the platen at the time of pressing the paper and the platen. Arranging a convex portion for forming the predetermined gap in the recording paper holding member,
A rotation support portion for allowing the convex portion to contact and separate from the platen is disposed on the recording paper pressing member, and an elastic member for biasing the convex portion in a direction in which the convex portion contacts the platen is provided. A sliding lock portion for preventing the recording paper pressing member from sliding when the convex portion is in contact with the platen, and rotating the recording paper pressing member to move the convex portion to the platen. The sliding lock portion is released from being separated from the recording paper holding member so that the recording paper pressing member can slide along the platen.

[0013] By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to cause the ink jet printer to perform recording while keeping a predetermined gap constant with respect to the recording paper and securely holding the pressing position of the recording paper. In addition, the recording paper pressing member can set the pressing position corresponding to the width of the recording paper and the transport position of the recording paper.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an ink jet printer having the present invention as a constituent element.

The printer main body 5 of the ink jet printer is supported by a pair of stands 7 extending vertically and having a plurality of casters 6 positioned at the lower end thereof at the front and rear. Is an auxiliary frame 8 that connects a substantially central portion of each stand 7 in the vertical direction.
Are arranged.

A flat platen 9 is disposed in front of the printer body 5 so as to face upward. The platen 9 sucks the recording paper conveyed to the platen 9 portion. A large number of suction holes 10 are provided for bringing the platen 9 into close contact with the platen 9.

Below the platen 9, a platen 9, a front wall 11 vertically attached to the platen 9, and a low wall 12 disposed parallel to the platen 9.
, A side frame 13 and a rear wall (not shown) are formed. The recording paper 1 on the platen 9 is brought into close contact with the platen 9 by suctioning air from the suction hole 10 through the cavity 14 by a fan (not shown) provided on the rear wall side of the cavity 14. It has become.

Behind the platen 9 of the printer main body 5, two carriage shafts 15 extending parallel to the longitudinal direction of the platen 9 are provided. , Carriage 16
Are reciprocally mounted along the carriage shaft 15. The carriage 16 has a carriage driving belt 17 located between the carriage shafts 15.
The carriage 16 is driven reciprocally along the carriage shaft 15 by driving the carriage drive belt 17 with a drive device (not shown).

At the position of the carriage 16 opposed to the platen 9, a nozzle 19 for the ink jet head 18 to discharge the ink is arranged so as to face the recording surface of the platen 9 as shown in FIG. Mounted on In the present embodiment, the inkjet head 18 has four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan and black.
A total of eight heads, two for each color, are arranged side by side in the moving direction of the carriage 16.

On one rear side of the printer main body 5, four ink tanks 20 for each color are provided, and between each ink tank 20 and the ink jet head 18, each ink tank 20 is provided. A tube 21 for supplying ink to each inkjet head 18 is provided.

Further, one side (the left side in FIG. 1 in the present embodiment) of the platen 9 of the printer main body 5 is a home position of the ink jet head 18, and a position corresponding to this home position is A cap 21 is provided for covering the nozzle portion 19 when not in use, preventing drying and adhesion of foreign matters, and collecting ink ejected by the recovery operation of the nozzle portion 19 of the inkjet head 18 by suction. .

The auxiliary frame 8 is provided with a winding mechanism 23, and the winding mechanism 23 has a pair of supports 24 located on both sides of the auxiliary frame 8. In the present embodiment, the one support 24
(Left side in FIG. 1) is fixed to the auxiliary frame 8, and the other support 24 is movable along the auxiliary frame 8.

Each of the supports 24 is formed with a shaft supporting recess 26 for opening the upper side and supporting the winding shaft 25. Inside the shaft supporting recess 26, three supporting members are provided. A roller 19 is rotatably disposed. Then, the winding shaft 25 is rotatable by these support rollers 19,
And it is designed to be detachably supported.

Further, a winding drive gear 27 is provided below the shaft supporting recess 26 of the fixed support 24, and one end of the winding shaft 25 is provided with the winding drive gear 27. Is formed with the take-up driven gear 28 meshed with. The winding drive gear 27 is rotated to drive the winding shaft 2 via the winding driven gear 28.
5, the recording paper is conveyed while being wound up.

A recording paper pressing mechanism 29 is provided in front of the upper part of the platen 9 of the printer main body 5 for regulating the widthwise ends 3 of the recording paper 1 conveyed on the platen 9. Have been.

The recording paper pressing mechanism 29 has a pair of flat recording paper pressing members 30 made of stainless steel.

The pair of recording paper pressing members 30 are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 3, the pair of recording paper pressing members 30 are disposed in parallel to the recording paper transport direction in the recording paper transport direction. 19, that is, longer than the recording range in the recording paper transport direction. A projection 31 shown in FIG. 3 is formed on the bottom surface of the leading end of each recording paper holding member 30.

The convex portion 31 protrudes by about 1 mm toward the upper surface of the platen 9, so that the convex portion 31 comes into contact with the upper surface of the platen 9 during recording, and the recording paper pressing member 3
A horizontal gap of about 1 mm is formed between 0 and the upper surface of the platen 9.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3, both ends 3 in the width direction of the recording paper 1 conveyed on the platen 9 during recording are
The pair of recording paper holding members 30 are inserted into the gaps of 1 mm formed respectively.

At this time, the projections 31 are located outside the both ends 3 in the width direction of the recording paper and are in contact with the upper surface of the platen 9, so that the conveyance of the recording paper 1 is not hindered.

Although the gap of 1 mm is larger than the thickness of the recording paper 1, the turning-up of both ends 3 in the width direction of the recording paper 1 is suppressed to a maximum of less than 1 mm.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the distance between the nozzle portion 19, which is the ink ejection portion of the ink jet head 18, and the upper surface of the platen 9 is about 3 mm, whereas both ends 3 of the recording paper 1 are Since the gap is restricted to 1 mm, the recording paper 1 and the inkjet head 19 do not come into contact during recording.

On the other hand, the base end portion 32 of the recording paper pressing member 30 is screwed to a first lever 33 having a bent shape for releasing the convex portion 31 from contact with the upper surface of the platen 9 by manual operation. ing.

A pair of first levers 33 is provided on the front bottom of the screwing portion 33a of the first lever 33 so that the first lever 33 is rotatable about a support shaft 34 shown in FIG. Brackets 35 are arranged side by side at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the platen 9.

The support shaft 34 has the protrusion 31
An urging plate spring 36 is provided for urging the plate in the direction in which it contacts the upper surface of the platen 9.

The upper end 36a shown in FIG. 3 of the biasing leaf spring 36 is engaged with the bottom of the screwing portion 33a of the first lever 33, and the first lever 33 is supported by the support shaft 34 as a fulcrum.
Is urged in the counterclockwise direction indicated by arrow A.

Thus, the recording paper holding member 30 attached to the screwing portion 33a and the projection 3
1 is urged in a direction in which it contacts the upper surface of the platen 9.

On the other hand, the lower end 36 of the biasing leaf spring 36
b is supported by a second lever 39 described later.

Further, an upper wall 3 of a slide guide groove 37 to be described later is formed at the bottom of the screwing portion 33a on the platen 9 side.
A sliding lock portion 38 is formed to lock the sliding of the platen 9 in the longitudinal direction by the recording paper pressing mechanism 29 described later by pressing the 7a.

The sliding lock portion 38 also presses an upper wall portion 37a of a sliding guide groove 37, which will be described later, by the urging force of the urging plate spring 36, similarly to the convex portion 31.

The first lever 33 is provided with a lever grip 3 which is bent upward with respect to the screwing portion 33a.
3b. Then, the lever grip 33b is manually rotated clockwise as shown by an arrow B in FIG. 3 so as to oppose the urging force of the urging leaf spring 36,
The platen 9 by the convex portion 31 of the recording paper pressing member 30
Of the sliding lock groove 38 and the pressing of the sliding guide groove 37 on the upper wall 37a to be described later are released.

Then, below the first lever 33,
A second supporting portion 36b for supporting the lower end 36b of the biasing leaf spring 36;
A lever 39 is provided.

The second lever 39 has a pair of second brackets (not shown) having the same shape as the first bracket 35 at positions inscribed in the pair of first brackets 35, respectively. The first lever 33 is rotatably supported via the first lever 33.

Further, the recording paper pressing member 30 is slidable in the longitudinal direction of the platen 9 by being loosely fitted into a slide guide groove 37 described later on the end of the second lever 31 on the platen 9 side. A sliding protrusion 40 to be supported is formed.

The position of the front wall 11 forming the hollow portion 14 corresponding to the sliding protrusion 40 is the position of the platen 9 by the recording paper pressing member 30 via the sliding protrusion 40. A sliding guide groove 37 for guiding sliding in the longitudinal direction is formed.

The sliding guide groove 37 has an upper wall 37a having a claw 37c for supporting the sliding protrusion 40.
And the low wall portion 37b, and are formed over substantially the same range as the length of the platen 9 in the longitudinal direction.

When the first lever 33 is rotated clockwise as shown by arrow B in FIG. 3 by manual operation, the projection 31 contacts the upper surface of the platen 9 and the sliding lock 38 The pressure on the upper wall portion 37a of the sliding guide groove 37 by the sliding guide groove 37 is released, and the recording paper pressing member 30 can slide in the longitudinal direction of the platen along the sliding guide 37 groove.

Therefore, according to the width of the recording paper 1, the pair of recording paper pressing members 30 can be moved to positions where the turning-up of both ends 3 in the width direction of the recording paper can be regulated. .

That is, the pressing position corresponding to the width of the recording paper 1 used for recording by the recording paper pressing member 30 can be set.

Normally, the recording start side of the recording paper 1 conveyed onto the platen 9 is uniform regardless of the size of the recording paper 1. The left side in FIG. 1) may be fixed at a predetermined position so as to engage with a recording start side end of a recording sheet which is always conveyed to a fixed position regardless of the size of the recording sheet.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

When the first lever 33 is not turned, the recording paper pressing member 30 causes the sliding lock portion 38 to move the upper wall of the sliding guide groove 37 by the urging force of the urging leaf spring 36. Since the portion 37a is pressed, sliding is impossible.

Then, in order to move the recording pressing member 30, the first lever 33 is manually operated as shown in FIG.
In the clockwise direction indicated by arrow B.

As a result, the pressing by the sliding lock portion 38 is released, and the recording paper pressing member 30 can slide in the longitudinal direction of the platen 9 along the sliding guide groove 37.

Then, while keeping the first lever 33 rotated, the recording paper pressing member 30 is moved in accordance with the width of the recording paper 1 used for recording.

When the recording paper holding member 30 has moved to a position where it engages with both ends 3 of the recording paper 1 in the width direction, the first lever 33 is returned to its original position to release the rotating state.

As a result, a desired pressing position corresponding to the width of the recording paper 1 is set.

When recording is started in this state, even if the ink jet head 18 moves to both ends 3 of the recording paper, the turning-up of both ends 3 of the recording paper is reduced to less than 1 mm by the recording paper pressing member 30. Because of the restriction, desired recording is performed without the nozzle portion 19 of the inkjet head 18 having a gap of 3 mm from the recording paper contacting the recording paper.

Therefore, according to the embodiment of the present invention,
Since both ends 3 in the width direction of the recording paper 1 are conveyed to the gap formed by the convex portion 31 of the recording paper pressing member 30,
It is possible to perform stable recording while restricting the turning-up of both ends 3 in the width direction of the recording paper.

Further, it is possible to set the pressing position according to the width of the recording paper 1 by moving the recording paper pressing member in accordance with the width of the recording paper 1.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified as required.

[0063]

As described above, according to the recording paper pressing mechanism according to the present invention, the recording paper conveyed onto the platen of the ink jet printer is pressed at both ends in the width direction, so that the ink jet printer is stable and excellent. An effect such as recording can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an ink jet printer provided with a recording paper holding mechanism of the ink jet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view illustrating an embodiment of a recording paper holding mechanism of the inkjet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an embodiment of a recording paper pressing mechanism of the inkjet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a relationship between a head and recording paper in a conventional ink jet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording paper 3 Both ends in the width direction 5 Printer main body 16 Carriage 18 Inkjet head 19 Nozzle part 29 Recording paper pressing mechanism 30 Recording pressing member 31 Convex part 33 First lever 34 Support shaft 36 Urging plate spring 37 Sliding guide groove 38 Sliding Dynamic lock 39 Second lever 40 Sliding protrusion

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kotobuki Tanaka 1-7 Yukitani Otsukacho, Ota-ku, Tokyo Alps Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A recording paper pressing mechanism of an ink jet printer for pressing both ends of a recording paper conveyed between a platen and an ink jet head in a recording direction,
A pair of recording paper pressing members having a predetermined gap with respect to the recording paper at this portion are provided at positions corresponding to both ends in the width direction of a recording range where the recording paper is recorded by the inkjet head. The recording paper holding mechanism of the inkjet printer that performs. 2. The recording paper pressing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the recording paper pressing members is slidable in parallel with a moving direction of the ink jet head. 3. A convex portion for contacting the platen at the time of paper pressing and forming the predetermined gap in the recording paper pressing member is provided on a bottom surface of the recording paper pressing member. A rotation supporting portion for allowing contact and separation with respect to the recording paper pressing member is provided, and an elastic member is provided for urging the convex portion in a direction in which the convex portion comes into contact with the platen. By providing a sliding lock portion for suppressing the sliding of the recording paper pressing member in a contact state with the platen, rotating the recording paper pressing member to separate the convex portion from the platen. 3. The recording paper holding mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the inhibition of the slide lock portion is released and the recording paper holding member is slidable along a platen.