JP2007176017A - Carrying mechanism and recorder with it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To guide and carry well a sheet-like medium along a carrying route without hindering a high precision printing by a processing section. <P>SOLUTION: The recorder 1 of the present invention is provided with a drawing-in mechanism 56 for guiding paper P to a carrying reference position H along the carrying route for leading the paper P to a printing section 43. The drawing-in mechanism 56 has a pressing member 81 movable between a pressing position along the carrying reference position H and a standby position away from the carrying reference position H. The pressing member 81 disposed in the standy position moves to the pressing position when the leading end of the paper P in its carried direction is put in between the pressing member 81 and the carrying reference position H, and guides the leading end of the paper P to the carrying reference position H. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport mechanism that transports a sheet-shaped medium along a transport path, and a recording apparatus including the transport mechanism.

For example, a printer, a facsimile, or the like incorporates a transport mechanism that transports paper on a transport path from the paper feed side through the platen surface of the print processing unit to the paper discharge side.
The print processing unit in the ink jet recording apparatus includes a print head that ejects ink droplets onto the paper so as to face the platen surface through which the paper passes.
In an ink jet recording device, paper that has been folded or curled before it is fed, or paper that has passed through or passed through the print processing section due to wrinkles or curls that have occurred on the paper due to ink droplet adhesion. Paper jam is likely to occur in the vicinity of the conveying means for nipping and conveying the sheet downstream.

  Here, a technique is known in which a side portion of a sheet to be transported is pressed from the upper surface side to suppress turning up (see, for example, Patent Document 1), and printing processing by a print head at the time of paper supply There is also known a technique of covering a portion with a guide plate and guiding the leading end of a sheet in a paper discharge direction (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-170643 JP-A-11-20251

By the way, since the technique of the above-mentioned patent document 1 transmits the movement of the carriage provided with the print head for performing printing to the guide for pressing the paper and rotates the guide, the print head shakes and affects the printing accuracy. End up. In addition, this guide does not guide the front end of the paper in the paper feeding direction in the paper discharge direction, but holds down the side of the paper for the purpose of preventing the paper from being rubbed against the print head. It is not possible to guide and guide a sheet having the same to the conveyance path.
Moreover, since the technique of patent document 2 covers the printing process part which a printing head prints on a paper with a guide plate, printing will be prevented. That is, it is assumed that printing is not performed at the time of paper guidance.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a transport mechanism capable of transporting a sheet-like medium while satisfactorily guiding it along a transport path without hindering high-precision printing by a processing unit, and a recording apparatus including the transport mechanism. The purpose is to do.

  The transport mechanism according to the present invention that can solve the above-described problem is a transport mechanism that includes a guide mechanism that guides a sheet-like medium to a transport reference position along a transport path that guides the sheet-like medium to the processing unit, and the guide mechanism includes: A pressing member that is movable between a pressing position along the transport reference position and a standby position that is separated from the transport reference position, and transporting the medium between the pressing member and the transport reference position. When the leading end portion in the direction enters, the pressing member disposed at the standby position moves to the pressing position, and the leading end portion of the medium is guided to the transport reference position.

  According to the transport mechanism configured as described above, the pressing member disposed at the standby position moves to the pressing position, so that the leading end side in the transport direction of the medium is pressed and guided to the transport reference position. Even if there is a warp or the like, the leading end side of the medium can be surely moved along the transport path to the transport reference position, and the medium can be transported while being well guided without causing a jam or the like. .

  In the transport mechanism according to the present invention, the processing unit is mounted on a carriage that moves in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction with respect to the medium, and the pressing member is located downstream of the transport path with respect to the processing unit. It is preferably provided and arranged at a position outside the carriage movement range at the standby position, and is arranged between the carriage and the conveyance path at the pressing position.

According to this configuration, since the pressing member is provided on the downstream side of the processing unit in which the transport path cannot be formed due to the movement of the carriage on which the processing unit is mounted, the large pressing member is provided at the front end in the medium transport direction around the processing unit. Even if warpage or the like occurs, the leading end side of the medium can be surely pressed and guided to the transport reference position.
Further, by moving the pressing member to the standby position, the pressing member can be retracted without interfering with the movement of the carriage, and the processing unit can smoothly process the medium.

  In the transport mechanism according to the present invention, it is preferable that the pressing member is supported so as to be rotatable between the standby position and the pressing position with an end portion on the downstream side in the transport direction of the medium as a center. .

  According to this configuration, the pressing member can be moved to either the standby position or the pressing position very easily by rotating the pressing member.

  Moreover, the conveyance mechanism which concerns on this invention WHEREIN: It is preferable that the said pressing member has a guide surface gradually spaced apart from the said conveyance path | route toward the front-end | tip in the said conveyance path | route side in the front-end | tip part vicinity part.

  According to this configuration, the leading end of the medium in the transport direction can be guided to the transport path side by the guide surface.

  In the transport mechanism according to the present invention, it is preferable that the pressing member includes a guide roller that rolls while guiding the pressed medium.

  According to this configuration, the front end of the medium in the conveyance direction can be guided along the conveyance path by the guide roller.

  A recording apparatus according to the present invention that can solve the above-described problems is a recording apparatus that performs printing on a sheet-like medium to be conveyed. A mechanism is provided.

  According to the recording apparatus having this configuration, since the transport mechanism having the guide mechanism is provided, even if there is a large warp or the like at the front end in the transport direction of the medium, the medium can be reliably guided to the transport reference position. . As a result, the medium can be conveyed while being satisfactorily guided without causing a jam failure, and printing on the medium can be performed with high accuracy.

  According to the present invention, the pressing member arranged at the standby position moves to the pressing position, and the leading end side in the conveyance direction of the medium is pressed and guided to the conveyance reference position, thereby preventing high-precision printing by the processing unit. Therefore, the sheet-like medium can be conveyed while being well guided along the conveyance path.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a transport mechanism and a recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a paper conveyance path and a print processing unit incorporated in the recording apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the periphery of the print processing unit shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the second conveying means shown in FIG.

A recording apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is a front-feed / discharge-type business-use inkjet printer, and as shown in FIG. A substantially box-shaped paper cassette 5 loaded with paper as a sheet-like medium to be conveyed is detachably inserted in a cassette housing portion 9 opened in the center.
In addition, a paper discharge tray 6 for receiving the printed paper is provided so as to cover the open top portion of the paper cassette 5. Further, a display unit 7 such as an indicator and an operation unit 8 such as a power switch are disposed on the left and right of the front of the device case 4.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus case 4 includes a transport mechanism 11 that forms an arc-shaped transport path A and a linear transport path B that leads from the arc-shaped transport path A to the paper discharge tray 6. The cassette 5, the arc-shaped transport path A, the linear transport path B, and the paper discharge tray 6 form a U-shaped transport path that processes the paper P fed from the paper cassette 5 and returns it to the front paper discharge tray 6. Has been.

The transport mechanism 11 includes an ASF (auto sheet feeder) unit and a PF (paper feeder) unit.
The ASF unit feeds the paper P stored in the paper cassette 5 one by one to the rear of the apparatus, and a circle for feeding the paper P fed by the paper feeding mechanism 22 along the arcuate conveyance path A. It is comprised from the intermediate | middle roller 31 and the guide part 34 etc. which form an arc-shaped conveyance part.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the PF unit sandwiches the paper P conveyed from the arcuate conveyance unit and sends it onto the platen surface 51 of the print processing unit 43, and the first conveyance unit 40. The cockling imparting mechanism 53 for imparting a corrugated shape to the paper P sent onto the platen surface 51 by the second, and the paper P that has passed the print processing unit 43 is sandwiched between the paper discharge tray 6 downstream thereof and conveyed. The conveying means 55 and a guiding mechanism 56 provided in the second conveying means 55 are configured.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the sheet feeding mechanism 22 of the ASF unit is configured such that the rear end of a frame 25 having a pickup roller 21 for feeding at the front end can be rotated in the vertical direction in the figure by a support pin 24. Yes. The sheet feeding mechanism 22 can bring the pickup roller 21 into contact with the uppermost sheet P in the sheet cassette 5 by rotating the frame 25 in the vertical direction. In the paper feeding mechanism 22, when the recording apparatus 1 is stopped, the frame 25 is kept horizontal as shown by a solid line in FIG. 2, and the pickup roller 21 is kept away from the paper P on the paper cassette 5. At the time of paper feeding, the pickup roller 21 is pressed against the paper P on the paper cassette 5 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. As the roller 21 rotates, the paper P on the paper cassette 5 abuts against the inclined friction pad 23 and is separated by the frictional force and the strength of the paper P between the intermediate roller 31 and the guide portion 34 one by one. It is drawn out. When printing is started by the print processing unit 43 after the paper feeding is completed, the frame 25 is returned to the original horizontal state as shown by the solid line in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the arcuate conveyance path A is provided on the outer side of the arcuate conveyance path A (the back side of the recording apparatus 1) and has a guide portion 34 having a guide surface that is curved in a substantially arcuate shape, and the arcuate conveyance path. An intermediate roller 31 is provided on the inner side of the path A (the front side of the recording apparatus 1) and feeds the paper P from the lower side to the upper side of the guide unit 34. The guide portion 34 is provided with a retard roller 32 provided on the lower side and an assist roller 33 arranged on the upper side. The paper P sent out by the pickup roller 21 is nipped and conveyed by the intermediate roller 31 and the retard roller 32, and further nipped and conveyed by the intermediate roller 31 and the assist roller 33. As a result, the sheet P is transported along an arc-shaped transport path A formed as a gap between the intermediate roller 31 and the guide section 34, and the leading end thereof is directed to the front side of the recording apparatus so as to pass through the U-shaped transport path. It is sent out to the linear conveyance path | route B which comprises.

  Further, an auxiliary guide member 35 is provided above the intermediate roller 31. The auxiliary guide member 35 is rotatably supported at the rear end side with respect to the guide portion 34, and the front end side moves up and down. The auxiliary guide member 35 holds the sheet P conveyed from the arcuate conveyance path A to the linear conveyance path B by its own weight from the upper side, and the sheet P is moved along the linear conveyance path B of the recording apparatus 1. Guide forward.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the first conveying unit 40 of the PF unit is configured by a pair of paper feed rollers 41 and 42. The pair of paper feed rollers 41 and 42 is provided at a position a predetermined distance away from the exit end of the arcuate conveyance path A (the downstream end of the guide portion 34) on the front side of the apparatus, and straight from the arcuate conveyance path A. The paper P that has been fed to the sheet-like transport path B is nipped and transported to the print processing unit 43 that is the printing position. Then, the paper P is positioned with respect to the print processing unit 43 by controlling the rotational drive amount.

  The print processing unit 43 includes a carriage 45 having a print head 44. The carriage 45 can reciprocate in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the paper P, that is, in the width direction with respect to the fed paper P. It is supported by.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the print head 44 includes a discharge nozzle 46 that discharges ink droplets toward the paper P. The print head 44 has a paper on the front side of the recording apparatus 1 with respect to the discharge nozzle 46. A PW sensor 47 that detects P and its width is provided. The PW sensor 47 detects the presence or absence of the paper P by detecting the reflected light of the light emitted toward the paper P, and detects the width of the paper P by the movement of the carriage 45.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the guide mechanism 56 constituting the second transport means 55 includes three rows of guide rollers 75 that hold the upper surface of the paper P that has passed through the print processing unit 43 to a transport reference position H having a predetermined height. 76, 77 and a pressing member 81 that supports the guide rollers 75, 76, 77 in a predetermined positional relationship. Of the guide rollers 75, 76, 77 of the guide mechanism 56, the guide rollers 76, 77 cooperate with the two rows of pinch rollers 78, 79 to sandwich and convey the paper P.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the three rows of guide rollers 75, 76, 77 of the guide mechanism 56 are arranged intermittently at predetermined intervals along the paper transport direction X. These guide rollers 75, 76, 77 are so-called serrated rollers provided with protrusions at regular intervals in the circumferential direction, and are rotatably supported by the pressing member 81. The guide rollers 75, 76, and 77 are supported by a coil spring-like shaft, and are appropriately elastically displaced in a direction orthogonal to the rotation axis when the paper P is pressed, so that the position and contact pressure with respect to the paper P are adjusted appropriately. It has come to be.

  The two rows of pinch rollers 78 and 79 are arranged corresponding to the two downstream rows of guide rollers 76 and 77 excluding the most upstream guide roller 75, and cooperate with these guide rollers 76 and 77. The paper P is nipped and conveyed by operation.

  As described above, the most upstream guide roller 75 is provided on the upstream side of the pinch rollers 78 and 79 provided to sandwich and convey the paper P, and the two rows of pinch rollers 78 and 79 and 2 are arranged. Before the sheet P is sandwiched between the guide rollers 76 and 77 in the row, the upper surface of the sheet P is pressed so as to maintain the valley portion of the sheet P attached by the cockling imparting mechanism 53. Therefore, the second transport means 55 can transport the paper P downstream while pinching the paper P while the cockling of the paper P is maintained by the most upstream guide roller 75.

  The platen surface 51 is supported by a pinch roller 78 via a support frame 83 provided continuously on the substrate 61.

  The pressing member 81 constituting the guiding mechanism 56 has a guide surface 87 formed in an arc shape on the tip surface thereof, and the leading edge 85 of the paper P lifted by the guide surface 87 is guided to the conveyance reference position H. To do.

  The guide surface 87 of the pressing member 81 is close to the outer periphery of the guide roller 75 that is the most upstream roller of the second transport means 55 from the start end 87a set at a position separated from the transport reference position H by a predetermined height h. The end 87b is smoothly continuous and the vicinity of the end 87b is formed as a convex curved surface that continues smoothly to the outer periphery of the adjacent guide roller 75. The guide surface 87 is not limited to a curved surface and may be a flat inclined surface.

  The pressing member 81 of the guiding mechanism 56 having the above structure has support pieces 81a extending downward on both sides on the downstream side of the second conveying means 55, and the support piece 81a is pivoted at the center. The shaft 81b is rotatably supported.

  As a result, the pressing member 81 is located between the pressing position along the conveyance reference position H (the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3) and the standby position on the front side of the carriage 45 (the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 3). Can be rotated.

  In other words, the guide mechanism 56 guides the paper P to the conveyance reference position H by placing the press member 81 at the press position, and interferes with the moving carriage 45 by placing the press member 81 at the standby position. Without being removed from the periphery of the print processing unit 43 including the moving range of the carriage 45.

  Further, when the carriage 45 is moved to the home position, the carriage 45 is removed from the rotation range of the pressing member 81, and the pressing member 81 can be rotated without interfering with the carriage 45.

  Here, the pressing member 81 is rotated by a drive source of the pinch rollers 78 and 79 in conjunction with the pinch rollers 78 and 79. In addition, you may provide the separate drive source which rotates this pressing member 81 independently.

  When the pressing member 81 is disposed at the pressing position, the leading end portion of the paper P that has been transported and sent to the print processing unit 43 is guided to the transport reference position H by the guide surface 87, and print processing by the print head 44 is performed. Is done smoothly.

  By the way, the periphery of the print processing unit 43 on the upstream side of the guide mechanism 56 has a relatively large space for performing the printing process on the paper P while the carriage 45 is moving, so that the front end in the transport direction is forwarded. When the sheet P having a large warp is transported, the leading end of the sheet P rises greatly and exceeds the height h of the starting end 87a of the guide surface 87 of the pressing member 81 from the transport reference position H, and the transport reference. It is conceivable that a jam failure occurs without being guided to the position H.

  For this reason, in the transport mechanism according to the present embodiment, even when the paper P is largely warped as described above, in order to reliably guide the paper P to the transport reference position H, the guiding mechanism 56 is as follows. Drive.

  When the paper P is conveyed to the print processing unit 43, the carriage 45 moves and printing is started by the print head 44. At this point, the pressing member 81 of the guide mechanism 56 is disposed at a standby position that does not interfere with the movement of the carriage 45, as shown in FIG.

  When printing by the print head 44 proceeds and the leading edge of the paper P reaches the second transport means 55, the carriage 45 moves to the home position. In this state, the pressing member 81 of the guiding mechanism 56 starts to rotate in the conveyance reference position H direction.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the pressing member 81 of the guiding mechanism 56 rotates so as to press the leading end of the paper P from above.

When the pressing member 81 is rotated to the pressing position along the conveyance reference position H, the leading end of the paper P is pressed by the guide roller 75 by the guide mechanism 56 as shown in FIG. It is pinched by the pinch roller 78 and disposed at the conveyance reference position H.
Thereafter, the carriage 45 moves again, and printing on the paper P is started by the print head 44.

  As described above, according to the transport mechanism and the recording apparatus including the transport mechanism according to the above embodiment, the sheet P is transported by rotating the pressing member disposed at the standby position to move to the pressing position. Since the leading end in the direction is guided to the transport reference position H, even if there is a large warp or the like in the leading end in the transport direction, the leading end side of the sheet P can be surely pressed to the transport reference position H and can follow the transport path. . As a result, the paper P can be conveyed while being satisfactorily guided without causing a jam failure, and printing on the paper P can be performed with high accuracy.

  In addition, since the pressing member 81 is provided on the downstream side of the print processing unit 43 where the conveyance path cannot be formed because the carriage 45 on which the print head 44 is mounted moves, the conveyance of the paper P around the print processing unit 43 is performed. Even if a large warp or the like occurs at the leading end in the direction, the leading end side of the sheet P can be surely pressed down and guided to the transport reference position H.

  Further, by moving the pressing member 81 to the standby position, the pressing member 81 can be retracted without obstructing the movement of the carriage 45, and the printing process can be smoothly performed on the paper P by the print head 44. .

  In addition, since the guide surface 87 is gradually separated from the transport path toward the front end on the transport path side in the vicinity of the front end portion of the pressing member 81, the front end side in the transport direction of the paper P is moved to the transport path side by the guide surface 87. I can guide you.

  Further, since the pressing member 81 has guide rollers 75, 76, and 77 that roll while guiding the pressed sheet P, the guide rollers 75, 76, and 77 use the leading end side in the conveying direction of the sheet P as a conveying path. You can guide along.

  In the above embodiment, the pressing member 81 of the guide mechanism 56 is rotated to press the leading end of the paper P to the transport reference position H. However, the pressing member 81 is supported so as to be movable up and down, and the carriage 45 It is also possible to adopt a structure in which the leading edge of the sheet P is pressed down by lowering the sheet P from the upper standby position that does not interfere with the movement to the pressing position where the sheet P is pressed against the conveyance reference position H.

  In the above embodiment, the sheet-like medium has been described by taking paper as an example. However, the present invention is also applicable to a medium made of a resin film or the like.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the recording apparatus according to the present invention as viewed from obliquely upward on the front side. FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of a conveyance path of the recording apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a periphery of a processing unit of the transport device illustrated in FIG. 2. It is a top view of the 2nd conveyance means shown in FIG. It is an enlarged view of the periphery of the processing unit showing the operation of the guiding mechanism. It is an enlarged view of the periphery of the processing unit showing the operation of the guiding mechanism. It is an enlarged view of the periphery of the processing unit showing the operation of the guiding mechanism.

Explanation of symbols

1: Recording device, 43: Print processing unit (processing unit), 44: Print head, 45: Carriage, 55: Second transport means (transport mechanism), 56: Guide mechanism, 75, 76, 77: Guide roller, 81 : Pressing member, 87: guide surface, H: transport reference position, P: paper (medium)

Claims (6)

A transport mechanism having a guide mechanism for guiding a sheet-like medium to a transport reference position along a transport path that guides the sheet to the processing unit;
The guiding mechanism includes a pressing member that is movable between a pressing position along the transport reference position and a standby position that is separated from the transport reference position, and is provided between the pressing member and the transport reference position. When the leading end of the medium in the transport direction enters, the pressing member disposed at the standby position moves to the pressing position and guides the leading end of the medium to the transport reference position. The transport mechanism according to claim 1,
The processing unit is mounted on a carriage that moves in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction with respect to the medium, and the pressing member is provided on the downstream side of the transport path with respect to the processing unit, and the carriage at the standby position A transport mechanism, wherein the transport mechanism is disposed at a position deviating from the moving range, and is disposed between the carriage and the transport path at a pressing position. The transport mechanism according to claim 1 or 2,
The transport mechanism is characterized in that the pressing member is supported so as to be rotatable between the standby position and the pressing position with an end on the downstream side in the transport direction of the medium as a center. It is a conveyance mechanism as described in any one of Claim 1 to 3,
The transport mechanism, wherein the pressing member has a guide surface gradually spaced from the transport path toward the front end on the transport path side in the vicinity of the front end. It is a conveyance mechanism as described in any one of Claim 1 to 4, Comprising:
The transport mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member includes a guide roller that rolls while guiding the pressed medium. A recording apparatus that performs printing on a sheet-like medium to be conveyed,
6. A recording apparatus comprising the transport mechanism according to claim 1 as a transport mechanism for transporting the medium.

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