JP7259294B2 - Adhesive coating device and inkjet image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an adhesive coating device and an inkjet image forming device.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, inkjet image forming apparatuses have become widely used as apparatuses for recording high-definition images on various recording media such as paper and fabric. In particular, when the recording medium is in the form of a long web, a belt conveying device having an endless conveying belt is used to convey the recording medium in close contact with the conveying belt. Reference 1).

In addition, in an inkjet image forming apparatus (also called a "textile printing apparatus") that uses a cloth as a recording medium, the cloth may be conveyed without wrinkles, and recording may be performed on the cloth maintained in a wrinkle-free state. is important. For this reason, the surface of the conveying belt that conveys the cloth is uniformly coated with an adhesive called "texture", and the cloth is adhered thereon, thereby improving the surface of the cloth during conveying and image formation. I try to keep it wrinkle-free.

Such an adhesive is a pasty viscous liquid, and when applied to the surface of the conveying belt to form a film, it functions as an adhesive that sticks and adheres the cloth to the surface. The cloth can be conveyed in a wrinkle-free state by stretching the cloth and adhering it to the surface of the conveying belt to which the adhesive is applied in the form of a film.

Regarding the application of the adhesive, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, in order to freely and easily adjust the thickness of the adhesive applied to the conveyor belt, an application blade is arranged in the width direction of the conveyor belt, and the application of the adhesive to the conveyor belt is performed. A configuration is adopted in which the height of the coating blade with respect to the target surface can be adjusted.

JP 2012-116092 A

However, in the configuration described in Patent Document 1, in the process of supplying the adhesive to the conveying belt, there is a lot of work to be done manually by workers, and the adhesive is accurately supplied with a constant thickness in the width direction of the conveying belt. There was a problem that it is difficult to

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an adhesive application device and an inkjet image forming apparatus capable of applying an adhesive to a conveying belt with a constant thickness.

The adhesive coating device according to the present invention includes:
a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium on which an image is printed;
an adhesive supply unit that supplies an adhesive to the conveyor belt;
a blade for leveling the supplied adhesive on the conveyor belt;
a moving unit that moves the adhesive supply unit and the blade in a direction that intersects the conveying direction of the conveying belt;
a carriage that accommodates an inkjet head that ejects ink toward the transport belt and is movable in the width direction of the transport belt;
a guide member that movably guides the carriage in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the conveying belt;
The moving section moves the adhesive supply section and the blade together with the carriage along the guide member .
The adhesive coating device according to the present invention includes:
a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium on which an image is printed;
an adhesive supply unit that supplies an adhesive to the conveyor belt;
a blade for leveling the supplied adhesive on the conveyor belt;
a moving unit that moves the adhesive supply unit and the blade in a direction that intersects the conveying direction of the conveying belt,
The length of the blade along the direction of movement of the transport belt is less than the width of the transport belt.
The adhesive coating device according to the present invention includes:
a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium on which an image is printed;
an adhesive supply unit that supplies an adhesive to the conveyor belt;
a blade for leveling the supplied adhesive on the conveyor belt;
a moving unit that moves the adhesive supply unit and the blade in a direction that intersects the conveying direction of the conveying belt,
The blade is provided at the bottom of the adhesive supply unit,
A nozzle for discharging the adhesive is formed on each side of the blade in the adhesive supply section.
The adhesive coating device according to the present invention includes:
a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium on which an image is printed;
an adhesive supply unit that supplies an adhesive to the conveyor belt;
a blade for leveling the supplied adhesive on the conveyor belt;
a moving unit that moves the adhesive supply unit and the blade in a direction that intersects the conveying direction of the conveying belt,
The conveyor belt is intermittently driven at a constant feeding amount,
The adhesive supply unit supplies the adhesive when the intermittently driven conveying belt is in a standby state.
The adhesive coating device according to the present invention includes:
a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium on which an image is printed;
an adhesive supply unit that supplies an adhesive to the conveyor belt;
a blade for leveling the supplied adhesive on the conveyor belt;
a moving unit that moves the adhesive supply unit and the blade in a direction that intersects the conveying direction of the conveying belt,
The adhesive supply unit includes a dispenser that supplies the adhesive.

The inkjet image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes
the above-described adhesive application device;
an inkjet head facing the conveyor belt;
Prepare.

According to the present invention, the adhesive can be applied to the conveying belt with a constant thickness.

1A and 1B are side views illustrating a schematic configuration of a conventional inkjet image forming apparatus and a conventional example of a method of applying an adhesive. 1 is a side view illustrating a schematic configuration of an inkjet image forming apparatus according to an embodiment; FIG. 3A and 3B are a rear view and a side view showing a configuration example of the adhesive application device according to this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of a blade attachment structure according to the present embodiment; It is a bottom view which shows the modification of the blade in this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the suitable structural example in the case of peeling an adhesive from a conveying belt. FIG. 4 is a rear view showing a configuration example of an adhesive coating device in which an inkjet head is of a single pass type;

An inkjet image forming apparatus according to this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a schematic configuration of a conventional inkjet image forming apparatus and a conventional example of a method of applying an adhesive will be described as a premise of the present embodiment.

FIG. 1A is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional inkjet image forming apparatus 100 which is a premise of the present embodiment. This inkjet image forming apparatus 100 includes a belt conveying device 2, an image forming unit 3, and the like.

In the belt conveying device 2, an endless conveying belt 23 having a predetermined width is stretched over a plurality of (two in the illustrated example) rollers 21 and 22 arranged in parallel at predetermined intervals. The upper surface of the transport belt 23 stretched between the rollers 21 and 22 serves as a mounting surface on which the recording medium P is placed in close contact. One roller 21 is a driving roller driven by a sub-scanning motor (not shown), and the other roller 22 is a driven roller.

In the belt conveying device 2, the driving roller 21 rotates counterclockwise (see the arrow) in FIG. The belt 23 is rotated. By this operation, the recording medium P placed on the upper surface of the transport belt 23 is transported in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1A, which is the sub-scanning direction.

As the recording medium P, for example, recording media commonly used for inkjet recording, such as paper, fabric, plastic film, and glass plate, can be used. The recording medium P may be in the form of a sheet that is cut into a predetermined size, or may be in the form of a long sheet that is continuously drawn out from an original wound roll.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that a long web-like fabric is used as the recording medium P. As shown in FIG. Therefore, it is necessary to apply an adhesive called adhesive (hereinafter simply referred to as "adhesive") to the surface of the conveying belt 23 in order to adhere the cloth to be conveyed to the upper surface of the conveying belt 23. An example of a conventional adhesive application method will be described later with reference to FIG. 1B.

When a long web-like fabric is used as the recording medium P, a pressure roller 24 is arranged at a position facing the driven roller 22 as shown in FIG. 1A. In addition, a feeding device dedicated to cloth and having a feed-out roller 25 is arranged on the upstream side of the conveying belt 23 in the conveying direction of the recording medium P. As shown in FIG. Since these configurations are publicly known, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The image forming unit 3 includes a guide member 30 and a carriage 31 accommodating an inkjet head 35 and movable along the guide member 30 . The guide member 30 is an elongated member extending in the width direction of the conveyor belt 23 (horizontal direction orthogonal to the moving direction, that is, the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1A), and is spaced above the conveyor belt 23 at a predetermined distance. are arranged. The carriage 31 is attached to two rails 301, 301 provided on opposite sides of the guide member 30, and the driving force of a drive source such as a motor (not shown) in the carriage 31 is transmitted to guide the carriage 31. It moves along the length of the member 30 .

An inkjet head 35 is accommodated (mounted) in the carriage 31 , and an ink ejection surface (nozzle surface) 31 a of the inkjet head 35 coincides with the bottom surface of the carriage 31 . Further, the lower surface of the carriage 31 is adjusted so that a predetermined gap is formed above the surface of the conveying belt 23 on which the recording medium P is placed. The image forming unit 3 ejects ink droplets from a large number of nozzles provided on the lower surface of the carriage 31 to form a desired image on the recording medium P transported by the rotational movement of the transport belt 23 .

The carriage 31 and the inkjet head 35 shown in FIG. 1A are of a scanning type that ejects ink while moving in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the recording medium P, and the inkjet head 35 is intermittently transported for recording. It is a shuttle-type head that reciprocates in the main scanning direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the medium P.

In such a configuration, the driving of the sub-scanning motor and driving roller 21 is controlled so that the transport belt 23 performs an intermittent operation that repeats the standby state and the driving state during image formation. The transport pitch in such intermittent operation is determined by taking the head length of the inkjet head 35 (the length of the first to N-th ink ejection nozzles (not shown) arranged in the transport direction) as the maximum value. , can be set arbitrarily.

A belt cleaning device or the like for cleaning the conveying belt 23 is arranged on the lower surface side of the conveying belt 23. Since such a device or the like has a known structure, illustration and description thereof are omitted.

By the way, in such a conventional inkjet image forming apparatus 100, the operation of supplying or applying the above-described adhesive to the conveying belt 23 was mainly performed manually by an operator. An example of the operation of applying an adhesive to the conveying belt 23 in the conventional inkjet image forming apparatus 100 will be described below with reference to FIG. 1B.

In the conventional example shown in FIG. 1B, a coating blade 500 having a length equal to or greater than the width of the conveyor belt 23 is fixedly arranged in the width direction of the conveyor belt 23, and the adhesive AD is supplied from the container 501 to the conveyor belt 23. The adhesive AD is applied onto the conveying belt 23 by supplying (pouring) it toward the direction of the belt 23 . At this time, the transport belt 23 is driven so as to rotate in the clockwise direction opposite to the direction of rotation during printing (see arrow B in FIG. 1B, etc.). Further, the thickness of the adhesive AD applied onto the transport belt 23 can be finely adjusted by changing the height (gap) of the coating blade 500 with respect to the transport belt 23 .

In such a conventional example, an operator manually adjusts the gap between the tip of the coating blade 500 (lower end in FIG. It was necessary to manually move the container 501 in the width direction so that the supply was substantially even in the direction.

However, in such a method, it is not easy to uniformly supply the adhesive AD in the width direction of the conveying belt 23, and there is a problem that skill is required for the work. In addition, depending on the manufacturing accuracy and durability of the coating blade 500, the tip side of the coating blade 500 may not be completely straight, and unevenness may occur. I had a problem.

In view of the problems described above, in the inkjet image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, an adhesive application device that applies an adhesive AD in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the recording medium P on the conveying belt 23 (arrow A direction in FIG. 1A). It was configured to include Hereinafter, the adhesive coating device and the inkjet image forming device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and subsequent drawings. For the sake of simplicity, the same parts as those of the conventional example shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate. For simplicity, illustration of the inkjet head 35 is omitted from FIG. 2 onward.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of an inkjet image forming apparatus 1 equipped with an adhesive coating device 4 according to this embodiment. 3A and 3B are a rear view and a side view showing a configuration example of the adhesive application device 4. FIG.

As can be seen in comparison with the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 1B, in the inkjet image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the image forming unit 3 described above is provided with the adhesive coating device 4 .

Specifically, the adhesive application device 4 includes an adhesive supply unit 40 having nozzles 40a and 40b for discharging the adhesive AD, and an adhesive storage tank that stores the adhesive AD and provides it to the adhesive supply unit 40. 41 and a blade 42 extending along the moving direction of the conveying belt 23 for leveling the supplied adhesive AD on the conveying belt 23 . Here, the adhesive storage tank 41 and the adhesive supply section 40 are connected via a pipe (not shown) serving as a flow path for the adhesive AD.

The adhesive supply unit 40 is fixed to the side surface of the carriage 31 described above. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the adhesive storage tank 41 is fixed to the upper surfaces of the adhesive supply section 40 and the carriage 31 . Therefore, the adhesive application device 4 (the adhesive supply unit 40 and the adhesive storage tank 41) is configured to be movable along the guide member 30 together with the carriage 31 (see arrows A and B in FIG. 3A). . In this embodiment, the driving source such as the motor in the carriage 31 constitutes the "moving section" of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the adhesive supply unit 40 is provided with a known liquid constant-discharge device (not shown) such as a dispenser. A blade 42 is arranged on the lower surface (bottom) of the adhesive supply unit 40 so as to face the surface (upper surface) of the transport belt 23 and extend in the moving direction (sub-scanning direction) of the transport belt 23 . In addition, nozzles 40 a and 40 b of a liquid fixed quantity ejection device for ejecting the adhesive AD are provided on both sides (each side) of the blade 42 on the lower surface of the adhesive supply section 40 .

In the adhesive supply unit 40 of the present embodiment, a plurality of nozzles 40a and 40b are formed along the length direction of the blade 42 (direction of arrow W shown in FIG. 3B). In this example, four nozzles 40a are formed on the right side of the blade 42 with reference to FIG. 3A (see FIG. 3B), and similarly, four nozzles 40b are formed on the left side of the blade 42. .

The adhesive supply unit 40 ejects a fixed amount of the adhesive AD provided from the adhesive storage tank 41 from the nozzle 40a or the nozzle 40b by the liquid constant ejection device, and applies the ejected adhesive AD with the blade 42. The details of this operation will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the blade 42 is arranged on the lower surface of the adhesive supply part 40 so as to extend along the moving direction of the transport belt 23. shorter than the width (see FIG. 3A). By adopting such a configuration, compared with the conventional coating blade 500 (see FIG. 1B) extending in the width direction of the conveying belt 23, the accuracy of the gap (gap) with the conveying belt 23 is improved, and the conveying belt 23 The adhesive AD can be applied more uniformly on top.

In order to adjust the thickness of the adhesive AD to be applied onto the conveying belt 23, it is desirable to provide a gap adjusting section for adjusting the gap between the blade 42 and the conveying belt 23. FIG.

Here, depending on the model of the inkjet image forming apparatus, there is a type in which the carriage 31 can move up and down in the vertical direction (the direction of separation and contact with the conveying belt 23). In the case of such a model, the gap between the blade 42 and the conveying belt 23 can be adjusted even when the blade 42 is fixed to the lower surface of the adhesive supply section 40 with a screw or the like. That is, in the present embodiment, since the carriage 31 and the adhesive supply unit 40 move integrally, if the carriage 31 is of a type that moves up and down in the vertical direction, the adhesive supply unit 40 moves together with the carriage 31 that moves up and down. A blade 42 fixed to 40 moves up and down to adjust the gap with the conveying belt 23 .

On the other hand, in the case of a model in which the carriage 31 does not move up and down in the vertical direction (the direction of separation and contact with the conveying belt 23), as shown in FIG. The opening 40r is formed on the lower surface so that the blade 42 can move up and down in the vertical direction (the direction of separation and contact with the conveying belt 23, see the double arrow in FIG. 4). Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, it is preferable to provide the adhesive supply unit 40 with a driving unit 43 such as a solenoid for moving the blade 42 up and down. By providing the gap adjustment unit having such a configuration, even in a model in which the carriage 31 does not move up and down, the blade 42 can be moved up and down relative to the adhesive supply unit 40 by the operation of the drive unit 43. gap can be adjusted.

An example of the operation of applying the adhesive AD to the conveying belt 23 in this embodiment will be described below.

In this embodiment, the conveying belt 23 is intermittently driven at a constant feeding amount, and a constant amount of the adhesive AD is discharged from the adhesive supply unit 40 (nozzle 40a or 40b) during the standby state of the intermittent driving. Then, the carriage 31 and the adhesive supply section 40 are set to move after or along with the ejection operation.

In the present embodiment, the rotating direction of the conveying belt 23 during intermittent driving is driven in the direction opposite to the conveying direction of the recording medium P (see FIG. 2), as in the conventional example (see FIG. 1B). However, the rotation direction of the conveying belt 23 may be set to be the same as the conveying direction of the recording medium P (see FIG. 1A).

Further, in the present embodiment, the operation of discharging the adhesive AD from the nozzles (40a, 40b) is set to be switched according to the moving direction of the adhesive supply section 40. FIG. Specifically, when the adhesive supply unit 40 moves from the left side to the right side (first direction) in FIG. 3A (see arrow A in FIG. 3A), the right side surface (first side surface) of the blade 42 The pressure-sensitive adhesive AD is set to be discharged from the nozzles 40a (four) provided in the . On the contrary, when the adhesive supply unit 40 moves from the right side to the left side (second direction) in FIG. 3A (see arrow B in FIG. 3A), the left side of the blade 42 (second side) The pressure-sensitive adhesive AD is set to be discharged from the nozzles 40b (four) provided in the .

With such a configuration and setting, in either operation in which the adhesive supply unit 40 moves to the right or left in FIG. 42 can be applied evenly.

The feed amount of the transport belt 23 is set based on the length W (see FIG. 3B) of the blade 42 in the transport direction (moving direction of the transport belt 23). In one specific example, the feeding amount of the conveying belt 23 is set to the length W of the blade 42 so that the end portions in the conveying direction of the adhesive AD supplied to the conveying belt 23 by moving a plurality of times in the width direction overlap each other. set to an amount somewhat less than

Alternatively, the adhesive AD may flow out from both ends of the blade 42 depending on the setting of the discharge amount of the adhesive AD. In such a case, the feeding amount of the conveying belt 23 may be set to be somewhat longer than the length W of the coating blade 42 .

Furthermore, as described above, in order to prevent or suppress the adhesive AD from flowing out from both ends in the length direction of the blade 42, as shown in FIG. A configuration may be adopted in which the anti-flow portion 42e having a shape such that the corner protrudes outward is provided. According to the blade 42 having such a flow stop portion 42e, the adhesive AD flows out from the end portion of the coating blade 42 in the operation of applying the adhesive AD discharged from the nozzle 40a or 40b onto the conveying belt 23. can be effectively prevented or suppressed.

As another specific example for preventing or suppressing the adhesive AD from flowing out from both ends of the blade 42 in the length direction, a plurality of nozzles (40a or 40b) are formed along the length direction of the blade 42. It is preferable to set the flow rate of the adhesive AD to be discharged each time. Specifically, the two nozzles 40a (see FIG. 3A) or 40b located on both end sides in the length W direction of the blade 42 are more sticky than the other two nozzles 40a or 40b located on the center side. The setting is made so that the amount of the agent AD to be discharged is small. Such a setting may be performed, for example, by reducing the diameter of the nozzle, or by adjusting the ejection amount of the liquid dispensing device for each flow path of each nozzle.

Based on the configuration and settings as described above, for example, when an adhesive application button (not shown) is turned on before the start of printing operation, the operation of applying the adhesive AD to the conveying belt 23 by the adhesive supply unit 40 is started. be. Specifically, at the start of such operation, the carriage 31 and the adhesive supply unit 40 are appropriately moved so that the blade 42 is positioned on the end side of the conveying belt 23 (left side in FIG. 3A).

From this state, a preset amount of adhesive AD is discharged from each of the nozzles 40a (four nozzles 40a in this example), and the other end of the conveying belt 23 that is stationary (standby state) ( In this example, the carriage 31 and the adhesive supply unit 40 move at a constant speed toward the right side in FIG. 3A. This moving operation stops when the blade 42 reaches the other end of the conveyor belt 23 . Due to this moving operation, a predetermined amount of adhesive AD discharged onto the conveying belt 23 is leveled by the blade 42 and applied onto the conveying belt 23 with a constant thickness.

Subsequently, the transport belt 23 is driven in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2 at a set feed amount (for example, a feed amount less than the length W of the blade 42). While the conveying belt 23 is being driven, the adhesive supply unit 40 (blade 42, nozzle 40b, etc.) stands still at the other end of the conveying belt 23 (on the right side in FIG. 3A).

Then, when the conveying belt 23 is in the standby state again, the adhesive supply unit 40 ejects a preset amount of the adhesive AD from each of the nozzles 40b (four nozzles 40b in this example), and It moves at a constant speed with the carriage 31 toward the one end side (left side in FIG. 3A) of the conveyor belt 23 (standby state). Similarly, this moving operation stops when the blade 42 reaches one end of the conveyor belt 23 . Due to this moving operation, a predetermined amount of adhesive AD discharged onto the conveying belt 23 is leveled by the blade 42 and applied onto the conveying belt 23 with a constant thickness.

Thereafter, the adhesive AD is applied to the entire surface of the conveying belt 23 by repeating the above-described operations.

According to the present embodiment that performs the operation described above, the adhesive AD can be applied to the conveying belt 23 with a constant thickness, and the adhesive AD is applied in the width direction of the conveying belt 23 with a film thickness of, for example, 0.1 mm. It can be applied with precision.

Further, according to the present embodiment, both the conveying belt 23 and the adhesive supply unit 40 can be operated simply. By setting the movement distance in the width direction of the portion 40 or the stop position, etc., the above effect can be obtained without requiring complicated control.

The embodiment described above has been described as a configuration for applying the adhesive AD onto the conveying belt 23 . On the other hand, the configuration of the embodiment described above can also be used when removing the adhesive AD from the conveyor belt 23 .

Conventionally, when removing the adhesive AD on the conveying belt 23, a solvent (not shown) is applied onto the conveying belt 23 to melt the adhesive AD, and the melted adhesive AD is scraped off with a spatula made of rubber or resin. Most of these operations were done manually.

In contrast, according to the configuration of the embodiment described above, the solvent for the adhesive AD is stored in the adhesive storage tank 41 described above, and the solvent is discharged from the adhesive supply section 40 (nozzles 40a and 40b). Thus, the work of applying the solvent onto the conveying belt 23 can be automatically performed. When applying the solvent, it is preferable to set the gap between the conveying belt 23 and the blade 42 larger than when applying the adhesive AD.

After the solvent has been completely applied to the entire surface of the conveying belt 23 and the adhesive AD has melted and becomes easy to peel off, the gap between the conveying belt 23 and the blade 42 is set to be small. Further, on both ends of the transport belt 23 in the width direction, tubs (not shown) for containing the adhesive AD are placed respectively. After that, the movement operation of the adhesive supply unit 40 and the intermittent drive operation of the transport belt 23 are performed in the same manner as when the adhesive AD is applied.

In other words, the carriage 31 and the adhesive supply unit 40 are appropriately moved so that the blade 42 is positioned on the end side (left side in FIG. 3A) of the conveying belt 23 at the start of such operation.

From this state, the carriage 31 and the adhesive supply unit 40 move at a constant speed toward the other end side (the right side in FIG. 3A in this example) of the stationary (standby state) conveying belt 23 . This moving operation stops when the blade 42 reaches the other end of the conveyor belt 23 . By this moving operation, the adhesive AD melted on the conveying belt 23 is stripped (scraped off) by the blade 42, falls from the other end of the conveying belt 23, and is stored in one of the tubs described above. be done.

Subsequently, the transport belt 23 is driven in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2 at a set feed amount (for example, a feed amount less than the length W of the blade 42). While the conveying belt 23 is being driven, the adhesive supply unit 40 (blade 42, nozzle 40b, etc.) stands still at the other end of the conveying belt 23 (on the right side in FIG. 3A).

Then, when the conveying belt 23 is in the standby state again, the adhesive supply section 40 moves toward one end side of the conveying belt 23 (left side in FIG. 3A) together with the carriage 31 at a constant speed. Similarly, this moving operation stops when the blade 42 reaches one end of the conveyor belt 23 . By this moving operation, the adhesive AD melted on the conveying belt 23 is scraped off by the blade 42, drops from one end of the conveying belt 23, and is stored in the other tub.

After that, all the adhesive AD is peeled off from the conveying belt 23 by repeating the above-described operations.

In the above description, a configuration has been described in which the blade 42 is used both for applying the adhesive AD and for removing it. On the other hand, depending on the material, shape, etc. of the blade 42, it may not be appropriate to use it also for peeling off the adhesive AD. For this reason, the adhesive supply unit 40 is configured such that the blade 42 for applying the adhesive AD and a dedicated peeling blade (not shown) for peeling off the adhesive AD can be exchanged (for example, an adhesive It is preferable to use a configuration in which the agent supply unit 40 is fixed by screwing.

FIG. 6 shows a more preferable configuration example when the adhesive AD is peeled off from the conveying belt 23 by the adhesive supply unit 40. As shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows a state in which a solvent is applied onto the conveying belt 23 and the adhesive AD is dissolved.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, a cover member 44 is detachably provided on the lower surface of the carriage 31 to cover the ink ejection surface (nozzle surface) 31a of the inkjet head 35 (see FIG. 1A). According to this configuration, even if the adhesive AD scatters when the adhesive AD on the conveying belt 23 is peeled off by the blade 42 (or a dedicated peeling blade), the adhesive AD is removed from the cover member 44. , the ink ejection surface 31 a is directly protected by the cover member 44 . Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the adhesive AD from adhering to the ink ejection surface (nozzle surface) 31a when the adhesive AD is peeled off. Note that the cover member 44 may be attached before the operation of applying the adhesive AD described above.

Moreover, in the example shown in FIG. In this example, the suction section 50 is arranged between the adhesive supply section 40 and the carriage 31 . The suction part 50B is a hollow tubular body, has a suction nozzle 51 at its tip, and is connected to a suction pump (not shown) at the other end. The suction unit 50 is connected to a driving source such as a solenoid (not shown), and receives the driving force of the driving source so that the suction unit 50 can move vertically with respect to the carriage 31 (see FIG. 6). double arrow).

According to such a configuration example, even if the adhesive AD scatters on the lower surface side of the carriage 31 when the adhesive AD on the conveying belt 23 is peeled off by the blade 42 (or a dedicated peeling blade), the cover member 44 protects the ink ejection surface 31a, and the suction unit 50 can suck unnecessary adhesive AD and volatilizing solvent components. In addition, in this configuration example, since the height of the suction nozzle 51 of the suction unit 50 can be adjusted, the height of the suction nozzle 51 can be set to an optimum position according to the height of the adhesive AD to be scattered. can do.

By the way, conventionally, when performing the work of peeling the adhesive AD from the conveying belt 23, it is necessary to apply a large amount of volatile solvent on the conveying belt 23 in advance. There were concerns about the health of the worker, etc. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, most or all of the work of applying and removing the adhesive AD can be automated. can be improved. For this reason, according to the present embodiment, the degree of airtightness of the apparatus exterior (such as a housing) surrounding the inkjet image forming apparatus 1 is increased, and the solvent that volatilizes from the adhesive AD is unipolarly exhausted from the apparatus exterior. It may be configured to In one specific example, the top plate of the housing (not shown) of the inkjet image forming apparatus 1 is provided with an exhaust port for exhausting the component of the solvent that volatilizes from the adhesive AD.

In the embodiment described above, an example in which nozzles (40a and 40b) for discharging the adhesive AD are provided on each side of the blade 42 has been described. As another example, the nozzle for discharging the adhesive AD may be provided only on one side of the blade 42, for example, the nozzle 40a on the right side in FIG. In this case, when the conveying belt 23 is put on standby and the carriage 31 and the adhesive supply unit 40 move from the left side to the right side in FIG. The operation of moving the carriage 31 and the adhesive supply unit 40 from the right side to the left side in FIG. 3 may be repeated.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the adhesive application device 4 (adhesive supply unit 40) is configured to supply the adhesive AD by the liquid fixed quantity ejection device. As another example, the adhesive supply unit 40 may have a large number of nozzles having a structure equivalent to that of an inkjet head, and eject (supply) the adhesive AD from each nozzle.

The various configuration examples described above can be combined as appropriate.

In addition, in the embodiment and each configuration example described above, the configuration in which the adhesive supply unit 40 moves integrally with the carriage 31 (that is, the inkjet head 35) as the moving unit has been described. As another configuration example of the moving unit, the adhesive supply unit 40 may be configured to move separately from the carriage 31 (inkjet head 35). In this case, in order to allow the adhesive supply section 40 to move along the width direction of the conveying belt 23, a member corresponding to the guide member 30 described above and a drive source for moving the adhesive supply section 40 are provided separately. However, the distance between the adhesive supply unit 40 and the carriage 31 (inkjet head 35) can be increased. That is, by increasing the distance between the adhesive supply unit 40 and the carriage 31 (inkjet head 35), the ink ejection surface 31a of the inkjet head 35 is prevented from being soiled by the adhesive AD that scatters when the adhesive AD is applied or peeled off. It has the advantage of minimizing the problem. Moreover, according to this configuration, there is an advantage that the inkjet head 35 can also be applied to a single-pass system in which ink is ejected without moving on the conveying belt 23 .

If the inkjet head 35 is a single-pass head that ejects ink without moving on the conveying belt 23, a cleaning device 9 that cleans the ink ejection surface 31a of the inkjet head is provided as shown in FIG. Some models are equipped. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the image forming unit 3, in which a plurality of inkjet heads are mounted (accommodated), is configured to be movable in the contact/separation direction with respect to the conveying belt 23 (see the up-and-down double-headed arrows in FIG. 7). , the ink ejection surface 31 a on the bottom surface of the image forming unit 3 is cleaned by the cleaning device 9 . Specifically, during head cleaning, the image forming unit 3 moves downward from the state shown in FIG. By moving along the guide rails 91 provided along the width direction of the belt 23 (see double arrows in the horizontal direction in FIG. 7), the belt 23 comes into contact with the ink ejection surface 31a of the image forming unit 3 and ejects the ink. Clean surface 31a. In such a configuration, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the above-described adhesive supply section 40 may be fixed to the cleaning device 9 and set to perform the same operation as described above.

In addition, each of the above-described embodiments is merely an example of specific implementation of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed to be limited by these. Thus, the invention may be embodied in various forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 inkjet image forming apparatus 2 belt conveying device 3 image forming unit 4 adhesive coating device 21 driving roller 22 driven roller 23 conveying belt 24 pressing roller 25 delivery roller 30 guide member 31 carriage (moving unit)
31a ink ejection surface 35 inkjet head 40 adhesive supply section 40a, 40b nozzle 40r opening 41 adhesive storage tank 42 blade 42e edge section 43 drive section 44 cover member 50 suction section AD adhesive P recording medium W blade length

Claims (27)

a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium on which an image is printed;
an adhesive supply unit that supplies an adhesive to the conveyor belt;
a blade for leveling the supplied adhesive on the conveyor belt;
a moving unit that moves the adhesive supply unit and the blade in a direction that intersects the conveying direction of the conveying belt ;
a carriage that accommodates an inkjet head that ejects ink toward the transport belt and is movable in the width direction of the transport belt;
a guide member that movably guides the carriage in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the conveying belt;
the moving unit moves the adhesive supply unit and the blade together with the carriage along the guide member;
Adhesive applicator. A gap adjustment unit that adjusts the gap between the blade and the conveyor belt,
The adhesive application device according to claim 1 . The gap adjustment unit adjusts the gap between the blade and the conveyor belt by moving the blade up and down together with the carriage that moves up and down.
The adhesive application device according to claim 2 . a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium on which an image is printed;
an adhesive supply unit that supplies an adhesive to the conveyor belt;
a blade for leveling the supplied adhesive on the conveyor belt;
a moving unit that moves the adhesive supply unit and the blade in a direction that intersects the conveying direction of the conveying belt,
the length of the blade along the direction of movement of the conveyor belt is shorter than the width of the conveyor belt;
Adhesive applicator. A gap adjustment unit that adjusts the gap between the blade and the conveyor belt,
The adhesive application device according to claim 4 . The gap adjustment unit includes a drive unit that raises and lowers the blade,
The adhesive coating device according to any one of claims 2, 3 and 5 . At both ends in the length direction of the blade, flow stoppers are formed to prevent the supplied adhesive from flowing out from the ends in the length direction of the blade.
The adhesive coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The blade is provided at the bottom of the adhesive supply unit,
A nozzle for ejecting the adhesive is formed on each side of the blade in the adhesive supply unit,
The adhesive coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 7. a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium on which an image is printed;
an adhesive supply unit that supplies an adhesive to the conveyor belt;
a blade for leveling the supplied adhesive on the conveyor belt;
a moving unit that moves the adhesive supply unit and the blade in a direction that intersects the conveying direction of the conveying belt,
The blade is provided at the bottom of the adhesive supply unit,
A nozzle for ejecting the adhesive is formed on each side of the blade in the adhesive supply unit,
Adhesive applicator. The adhesive supply unit discharges the adhesive from the nozzle on the first side of the blade when moving in the first direction, and discharges the adhesive on the second side of the blade when moving in the second direction. discharging the adhesive from the nozzle formed in
The adhesive application device according to claim 8 or 9 . A plurality of nozzles for discharging the adhesive are formed along the length direction of the blade,
The adhesive coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 10 . In order to suppress the adhesive from flowing out from the ends in the length direction of the blade, the flow rate of the adhesive to be discharged is set for each nozzle.
The adhesive application device according to claim 11 . An adhesive storage tank that stores the adhesive and supplies it to the adhesive supply unit,
The adhesive application device according to any one of claims 1 to 12 . The conveyor belt is intermittently driven at a constant feeding amount,
The adhesive supply unit supplies the adhesive when the intermittently driven conveyor belt is in a standby state.
The adhesive coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 13 . a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium on which an image is printed;
an adhesive supply unit that supplies an adhesive to the conveyor belt;
a blade for leveling the supplied adhesive on the conveyor belt;
a moving unit that moves the adhesive supply unit and the blade in a direction that intersects the conveying direction of the conveying belt,
The conveyor belt is intermittently driven at a constant feeding amount,
The adhesive supply unit supplies the adhesive when the intermittently driven conveyor belt is in a standby state.
Adhesive applicator. The feed amount of the transport belt is an amount based on the length of the blade along the moving direction of the transport belt ,
The adhesive application device according to claim 14 or 15 . The feed amount of the conveying belt is an amount by which the adhesive supplied to the conveying belt by a plurality of movements by the moving unit overlaps in the conveying direction.
The adhesive application device according to claim 16 . The adhesive supply unit includes a dispenser that supplies the adhesive,
The adhesive coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 17 . a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium on which an image is printed;
an adhesive supply unit that supplies an adhesive to the conveyor belt;
a blade for leveling the supplied adhesive on the conveyor belt;
a moving unit that moves the adhesive supply unit and the blade in a direction that intersects the conveying direction of the conveying belt,
The adhesive supply unit includes a dispenser that supplies the adhesive,
Adhesive applicator. The adhesive coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 19 ;
an inkjet head facing the conveyor belt;
An inkjet image forming apparatus comprising: The inkjet head is a head that ejects ink while moving in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the recording medium,
The moving unit moves the adhesive supply unit and the blade separately from the inkjet head,
21. The inkjet imaging apparatus of claim 20 . The adhesive supply unit uses the blade as a peeling blade for peeling the adhesive from the conveyor belt,
22. The inkjet image forming apparatus according to claim 20 or 21 . The adhesive supply unit is configured such that the blade and a peeling blade for peeling the adhesive from the conveying belt are replaceable,
23. The inkjet image forming apparatus of any one of claims 20-22 . A suction unit that sucks the adhesive peeled off from the conveyor belt,
24. The inkjet image forming apparatus of any one of claims 20-23 . A carriage that accommodates the inkjet head and is movable in the width direction of the conveyor belt,
The suction unit is provided between the adhesive supply unit and the carriage,
25. The inkjet imaging apparatus of claim 24 . The inkjet head is a head that ejects ink without moving on the conveyor belt,
The moving unit moves the adhesive supply unit and the blade together with a cleaning device that cleans the ink ejection surface of the inkjet head.
21. The inkjet imaging apparatus of claim 20 . An exhaust port for exhausting a solvent component that volatilizes from the adhesive is provided in an exterior part of the apparatus surrounding the inkjet image forming apparatus.
27. The inkjet image forming apparatus of any one of claims 20-26 .

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