JP3138068B2 - Image recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus, and more particularly to a recording paper guide means of an image recording apparatus having a reflection type sensor for reading image information on recording paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional facsimile machines, printers,
In this type of image recording apparatus such as a copier, for example, in order to detect the remaining amount of a recording medium such as ink or toner, in order to read recorded image information such as printing on recording paper using a reflective sensor, In order to obtain a stable sensor output, it is necessary to configure the sensor such that the distance between the sensor and the recording paper, the relative angle, and the like are always constant and do not vary.

For this reason, in this type of conventional apparatus, the recording paper deflects (variation, etc.) by narrowing the recording paper path (passing path) or disposing rollers before and after the sensor mounting portion.
Was suppressed. In addition, since the reflection type sensor is easily affected by extraneous light, the sensor is arranged as much as possible inside the device to shield the extraneous light (see 5 in FIG. 5 described later).
0a, 50b and 40).

[0004]

However, usually,
One roller is sufficient for discharging the recording paper after image recording, and adding a roller for detecting the reflection type sensor involves an increase in size and cost of the apparatus. become. Further, for example, if the recording paper path after image recording including printing or the like is narrowed, the recording surface and the guide plate are likely to come into contact with each other, and the quality of the recorded image may be degraded due to abrasion or the like. In particular, in the image recording apparatus of the ink jet recording method, since the ink on the recording surface is not sufficiently dried immediately after recording the image, it is as much as possible to avoid contacting the guide plate with the recording surface or providing rollers more than necessary. There is a need.

In addition, the degree of freedom in sensor arrangement is reduced with the tendency to downsize general devices, and there are cases where a reflective sensor must be arranged near the paper discharge port. There was also a problem that the output became unstable. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the conventional image recording apparatus of the type described above, and does not increase the size of the apparatus or increase the cost. It is an object of the present invention to provide means for suppressing fluctuations and reducing the influence of extraneous light on the sensor.

[0006]

Therefore, in the present invention, this type of image recording apparatus is provided on a recording paper as a recording medium.
In an image recording apparatus for forming more image recording , a recording paper
Read the recorded information above with a reflective sensor and check the remaining amount of recording media
Remaining amount detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of
Protruding toward the recording paper from the sensor and out of the image recording range of the recording paper
A guide member that abuts and a paper discharge that discharges the recording paper outside the apparatus.
A roller, and the reflection-type sensor and the guide unit
The material is disposed outside the apparatus with respect to the discharge roller,
The projection type sensor is installed at an angle to the inside of the device.
With such a configuration, the above-described object is achieved.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the presence or absence of the remaining amount of the recording medium is detected.
Reflection sensor for
The contacting guide member is arranged outside the paper discharge roller
And mount the reflective sensor at an angle to the inside of the device.
, The effect of extraneous light is reduced and reflected
A stable output of the type sensor can be obtained. This
Without increasing the size of equipment and increasing costs.
Control the fluctuation of the clearance between
The influence of extraneous light on the light can be reduced.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on embodiments. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a facsimile apparatus as one embodiment of an image recording apparatus according to the present invention. The main body 1 of the facsimile apparatus is a facsimile apparatus equipped with a serial recording type ink jet recording unit described later.

This facsimile apparatus, as shown in the figure,
An operation panel 2 is provided on a front edge of the upper surface 1b of the main body 1. A lid 4 is provided below and behind the operation panel 2.
A document table 4 is provided, which can be opened and closed freely. After a plurality of documents (not shown) are accommodated on the document table 4, the document width is adjusted by a guide 4 a, and each document is adjusted in the direction of arrow A for each sheet. The opening 3 provided on the front side surface 1a of the main body 1 by moving
An original reading unit, which reads an original while discharging the original, is provided.

A serial recording type ink jet recording apparatus is provided below the document reading section. In this ink jet recording apparatus, a recording sheet (paper) S (shown in FIG. 2) is fed from 5 parts of toner. The sheet placing table 6 to be supplied is configured to be detachable in an oblique direction with respect to the main body 1, and the recording sheet S sent out from the sheet placing table 6 in the direction of the arrow B1 for each sheet is subjected to inkjet recording. Arrow B from the outlet 7 provided on the front surface 1a
Discharged in two directions. Further, recording is performed on the sheet S fed in the direction of arrow C in the figure. Arrow D will be described later.

Next, FIG. 2 is a main sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of a recording sheet discharge port in FIG. 2 and illustrates main components of each of the components included therein. FIG. 5 shows an example of a facsimile apparatus of the background art corresponding to FIG. 2 to clarify a comparison with the configuration of the conventional example of this embodiment.
The same (corresponding) components as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals. 50a and 50b in FIG.
And a pair of rollers provided before and after.

In FIG. 2, the main body 1 indicated by a dashed line is shown.
An operation panel 2 is provided on a front edge of an upper surface 1b of the display 2 and a key 2a mounted on a substrate 2c and a display 2 are provided.
b (FIG. 1) is provided so as to be exposed to the outside through a hole formed integrally with the operation panel 2.

On the other hand, at the lower left of the operation panel 2, the original E shown in the figure is moved in the direction of arrow A by a dashed line, and the original E is discharged to the opening 3 provided in the front side surface 1 a of the main body 1. A document reading unit for reading a document is provided.
The configuration of the document reading section includes a contact sensor 8 for reading the document E in direct contact with the document surface, and a feed roller 9 that is rotated while being pressed against the reading section of the contact sensor 8. I have. Further, in order to send out a plurality of documents E placed on the document table 4 one by one to the contact sensor 8 side, a separation piece 10 and a separation feed roller 11 are provided further upstream of the contact sensor 8.

On the other hand, in the serial recording type ink jet recording apparatus, a carriage 13 is provided in a substantially vertical state as shown in FIG. The recording sheet S fed in the B1 direction is configured so as not to be deformed unreasonably. Here, the sheet table 6
When a sheet cartridge is provided instead of the sheet cartridge, by providing the sheet cartridge so that it can be inserted and removed in the direction of arrow C, deformation at the time of conveying the sheet is further reduced.

Next, the construction of this ink jet recording apparatus is such that a carriage 13 is slidably formed by a pair of guide shafts 14a and 14b so as to be reciprocally driven in the front and back directions on the paper by a drive mechanism (not shown). And an ink cartridge 12 which is exchangeably attached to the carriage 13 and a recording sheet S which is fixed to the main body 1 and is used for recording.
And a platen 15 serving as a fixed base for recording a sheet S in the lateral direction of the sheet S.

On the other hand, the rubber roller 17, which is driven by a drive unit (not shown) provided in the main body 1, the pressure contact piece 16, the sheet guide 18, and the recording surface which is not sufficiently dried after the ink jet recording has an influence. , And a sheet feeding unit including a paper discharge roller 23, which discharges in the direction of arrow B2 after recording on the recording sheet S fed in the direction of arrow B1. .

At this time, recording information such as printing on the recording paper S is read by the sensor 40 which is a reflection type sensor, and whether or not a portion of black information such as ink as a recording medium is normally recorded and printed is determined. Is determined, the presence or absence of the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge 12 is detected.
A guide portion 41a (FIG. 3) of the recording sheet S is integrally formed on a sensor mounting plate 41 to which the sensor 40 is fixed, and the recording portion S projects from the sensor 40 toward the recording sheet S to form a recorded image of the recording sheet S. It is configured to abut outside the range. Further, since the sensor 40 is attached to be inclined so as to face the inside of the apparatus and the center of the drive roller 23, the fluttering of the sheet S is suppressed by being sandwiched between the guide portion 41a and the paper discharge roller 23. As a result, the influence of extraneous light is reduced and a stable output can be obtained.

Here, the roller 22, the sensor 40, and the sensor mounting plate 41 are rotatably provided at the edge of the lid 26 which is rotatable with respect to the main body 1.
Is opened, the ink cartridge 12 can be easily replaced, and for example, the jammed recording sheet S can be easily removed. On the outer peripheral surface of the rubber roller 17 described above, a driven roller 19 is provided in a pressed state, and the driven roller 19 is fed in the direction of arrow D.
After the sheet is inserted from the opening 29, the sheet guide 1
The recording is made possible by guiding the platen 15 along the line 8 and sending it to the platen 15.

Next, a plurality of recording sheets S are accommodated in the sheet placing table 6 in a stacked manner, and are separated by a separation feed roller 20 as a sheet separation mechanism and a feed roller 21 provided with a pressure roller 21a. It is configured to feed out between the pressure contact piece 16 and the rubber roller 17 for each sheet. Although the recording sheet S is subjected to bending deformation by the angle θ by the feed roller 21, the influence on the recording sheet is small because it is considerably smaller than 180 degrees corresponding to a half circumference as in the conventional case.

In the facsimile apparatus configured as described above, the original E is sent out in the direction of arrow A during transmission, and the transmission is performed. At the time of reception, the separation feed roller 20
Another drive is performed to feed one sheet between the flat guide portion 18a of the sheet guide 18 and the feed roller 21, then sandwich the sheet between the press roller 21a and the feed roller 21 and then between the press piece 16 and the rubber roller 17. Send out. Thereafter, printing is performed for one row for a predetermined dot while being conveyed stepwise in the direction of the arrow B2, and after the printing for one sheet is completed, the sheet is discharged to the outside from the discharge port 7.

FIG. 4 shows the facsimile main body 1 shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a configuration incorporated in the telephone. A telephone 32 is connected to a network control unit NCU connected to a line 31,
Automatic determination of the fax reception mode or the telephone reception mode is performed. The network control unit NCU further includes a modem M
The OD is connected, and transmits and receives a predetermined signal to and from the main control unit CPU. The main control unit CPU includes the contact sensor CS
(8) and the ink jet recording unit BJP are further connected to perform reading and recording of a document. The inkjet recording unit BJP is connected to the personal computer 100 via a signal line 34.
Is directly connected to the main board 101, and is configured to be used independently as an output terminal of a personal computer. In addition, 3
Reference numeral 3 denotes a power supply line.

On the other hand, as shown by a broken line in FIG.
5 may be directly connected to the contact sensor CS (8) and used for reading an image. Here, in the above-described embodiment, since a space is conveniently formed at the bottom portion of the main body 1, the substrate 24 is provided along the bottom as shown in the drawing, while the sheet guide 18 is provided as shown in FIG. By arranging the power supply section 27 below the flat guide section 18a, the center of gravity can be reduced.

(Other Embodiments) In the above embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a facsimile apparatus is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is applied to, for example, a printer, a copying machine, and the like. No problem. Further, in the above embodiment, the case of the ink jet recording apparatus has been described, but for example, an electrophotographic recording method, a thermal transfer recording method, etc.
In most other recording methods, touching the image surface immediately after recording causes deterioration of image quality, so that the present invention can be applied effectively.

(Others) According to the present invention, especially in an ink jet recording apparatus, there is provided means for generating thermal energy as energy used for discharging ink, and the state change of the ink is changed by the thermal energy. An excellent effect is obtained in a print head and a printing apparatus of a type in which the print head is generated. This is because according to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher accuracy of recording.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
Although it can be applied to any type of continuous type, especially in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to a sheet holding liquid (ink) or an electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the flow path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and the film is heated on the heat-acting surface of the recording head. As a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink) can be formed in one-to-one correspondence with the drive signal, which is effective. By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. The driving signal in the form of a pulse is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345.
No. 262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,244 of the invention relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As a configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination configuration of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angle liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, A configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bent region, is also effective for the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an opening for supplying a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on JP-A-59-138461 which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit.

Further, although the serial type ink jet recording apparatus has been described in the embodiment, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum recordable width. As a full-line type recording head, a combination of a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification, either a configuration that satisfies the length or a configuration as a single recording head that is integrally formed. Although good, the present invention can exhibit the above-mentioned effects more effectively.

It is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head and auxiliary auxiliary means provided as components of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. To be more specific, capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof, and recording and It is also effective to perform a preliminary ejection mode for performing another ejection in order to perform stable printing.

The type and number of recording heads and inks to be mounted are, for example, monochromatic inks and inks.
In addition to the head provided with a plurality of recording heads, a head provided with a plurality of inks corresponding to a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities may be provided, and is effective in any combination. The present invention is effective not only in the recording mode of black or the like as the recording mode of the recording apparatus, but also in each of the recording modes of full-color by multi-colors of different colors or mixed colors.

In the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or lower and which softens or melts at room temperature, or the ink described above. In general, in the ink jet, the temperature of the ink itself is controlled in a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. Anything can be used. In addition, in order to prevent temperature rise due to thermal energy, positively use the energy of the phase change from the solid state of the ink to the liquid state, or use ink that solidifies in a standing state to prevent evaporation of the ink. In any case, thermal energy such as one in which ink liquefies and is ejected as an ink liquid by application of thermal energy according to a recording signal, and one in which solidification is already started at the time of reaching a recording medium. The use of an ink that liquefies for the first time is also applicable to the present invention. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

The present invention also relates to an ink jet system such as a piezo jet system in which ink is ejected by converting electricity into a force, and a recording system in which a recording head is disposed in non-contact with a recording medium and ink is ejected for recording. It is effective in.

In addition to the above, the recording apparatus of the present invention may be provided as an output terminal of an information processing device such as a word processor or a computer as described above, integrally or separately, a copying device combined with a scanner or the like, Further, it may take the form of a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is not necessary to provide a guide plate, roller, etc. in the recording paper discharge section, and to suppress variations between the reflective sensor and the recording paper without deteriorating image quality, and to reduce the influence of extraneous light on the sensor. This can contribute to downsizing of the apparatus and cost reduction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a main sectional view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of a recording sheet discharge port in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a main body configuration of the facsimile apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 of an example of a facsimile apparatus of the background art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facsimile main body 2 Operation panel 3 Discharge port 4 Document table 6 Sheet table 7 Sheet discharge port 12 Ink cartridge 13 Carriage 15 Platen 17 Rubber roller 18 Sheet guide 23 Discharge roller 40 Reflection sensor 41 Sensor mounting plate 41a Sheet guide section S Recording Paper (sheet)

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/175 B41J 29/48 B41J 21/16 H04N 1/028

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image recording method using a recording medium on recording paper.
In the image recording apparatus , the information recorded on the recording paper is read by a reflection type sensor and the recording medium is read.
Remaining amount detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the remaining amount of paper, and an image of the recording paper protruding from the reflection type sensor toward the recording paper side.
Abutting the guide member outside the recording range, it has a paper discharge roller for discharging the recording sheet out of the apparatus, and the reflective sensor and the guide member is the discharge roller
And the reflection type sensor is disposed outside the device.
An image recording apparatus, which is mounted to be inclined inward . 2. A recording medium for forming an image record on a recording sheet.
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein はis an ink or a toner . 3. An image recording apparatus is formed by heat energy.
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image recording is formed by ink droplets formed .