JP3972201B2 - Hopper rising timing delay device in recording apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hopper in a recording apparatus that can be applied to a recording apparatus such as an ink jet printer that can perform recording (printing) on both a standard paper such as B5 and A4 sizes and a short paper such as a business card size. The present invention relates to a rising timing delay device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a recording apparatus such as an ink jet printer, when a recording medium placed on a hopper is supplied toward a feeding roller, for example, as shown in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 below, for example, a rotation shaft of the feeding roller A feeding cam that sets the rising timing of the hopper is provided on the upper side. On the other hand, the feeding cam follower that comes into contact with the cam is constantly biased to the feeding roller by the urging means. It was done by providing.
[0003]
Further, the feeding roller is a roller having a D-shape when viewed from the side, and the peripheral drum portion that is not chamfered directly abuts on the upper surface of the recording medium to perform feeding operation. The circumferential length of the circumferential drum portion is the amount of movement of the recording medium sent by the feeding roller, the length of the recording medium, the distance to the recording medium feeding driven roller located downstream in the recording medium conveyance direction, etc. It is determined in consideration of
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 05-301644 A [Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-297774
On the other hand, recently, with the diversification of user needs, there is a demand from users to execute recording (printing) on a recording medium that is a relatively short paper such as a business card by a recording device such as an ink jet printer. There is an attempt to develop a device that makes this possible. However, the structure of each part is designed on the assumption that recording is performed on a recording medium of a normal standard such as B5 or A4 size, so that this can be printed on a short recording medium such as a business card. However, due to the problems of the recording medium feeding timing and the paper feeding amount as described below, it was considered that a drastic design change was unavoidable.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When paying attention to the feeding roller, the outer diameter and the circumferential length of the peripheral body portion of the feeding roller are determined based on the recording medium length of a normal standard such as B5 or A4 size. Therefore, if the short-sized recording medium N such as a business card size is to be fed while keeping the structure as it is, as shown in FIG. 8, one short sheet on the uppermost surface placed on the hopper 101 is used. In addition to N, not only the second short sheet N below it will be fed. On the other hand, when the outer diameter and circumference of the peripheral portion of the feeding roller are determined in accordance with a short recording medium such as a business card size, this time, recording on a normal standard recording medium such as B5, A4 size, etc. There is a situation in which the medium feeding amount becomes insufficient and the recording medium cannot be transported to the position of the driven roller positioned downstream in the recording medium transport direction.
[0007]
In addition, it is conceivable that a feeding roller dedicated to the recording medium of the normal standard and a feeding roller dedicated to the short-sized recording medium are provided and selectively switched using a clutch or the like as appropriate. It is difficult to say that it is a realistic structure because the structure is complicated.
[0008]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reduce the increase in the number of parts as much as possible, and to provide a recording medium feed amount corresponding to recording media of various sizes having different recording medium lengths with a relatively simple structure and simple operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a hopper rising timing delay device in a recording device that can be set.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, the first aspect of the present invention achieves the maximum by the hopper push-up force that moves the recording medium placed on the hopper at a predetermined timing in conjunction with the rotation of the feed roller. In the recording apparatus in which the recording medium is supplied from the recording medium located on the upper surface to the feeding roller one by one, in addition to the normal hopper rising timing, it is possible to select a delayed hopper rising timing that is delayed. A hopper raising timing delay device, the hopper raising timing delay device comprising: a delay cam follower provided for an edge guide that is slid in a recording medium width direction according to a width dimension of a recording medium placed; A delay cam provided on the rotation shaft of the feed roller and contacting the delay cam follower.
[0010]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when recording on a recording medium of a normal standard such as B5 or A4 size, paper is fed using almost the entire circumference of the peripheral drum portion of the feeding roller at a normal hopper ascent timing. On the other hand, when recording on a short-sized recording medium such as a business card size, since feeding is performed using a part of the peripheral drum portion of the feeding roller by the delayed hopper rising timing delayed by the hopper rising timing, The paper feed amount can be switched in accordance with the length dimension of the recording medium. Further, since the configuration is such that only the delay cam follower and the delay cam are provided, the number of parts does not increase significantly, and the structure is relatively simple.
[0011]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the delay cam follower moves forward to a predetermined position in conjunction with the movement of the edge guide and shifts to the delay operation position. It is characterized by being.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the position of the edge guide is adjusted to the paper edge of the recording medium in accordance with the width dimension of the recording medium placed on the hopper without being particularly conscious of the user. Therefore, since the paper feed amount suitable for the recording medium is set at the same time, the operation is very simple.
[0012]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the hopper is provided with an engaging groove portion that engages with an engaging convex portion provided in the delay cam follower. Is a normal timing setting region for setting a backward position of the delay cam follower, which is positioned above and extending in parallel with the recording medium width direction, and a delay cam follower which is positioned below and extends in parallel with the recording medium width direction. A delay timing setting area for setting an advancing position and a timing switching area extending obliquely so as to connect the normal timing setting area and the delay timing setting area are provided.
[0013]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the delay cam follower is automatically moved to the advanced position or the retracted position only by sliding the edge guide in the width direction of the recording medium in accordance with the width dimension of the recording medium. Therefore, the user can switch the hopper ascent timing without being particularly conscious.
[0014]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the delay cam follower is provided so as to be able to advance and retract with respect to the edge guide, and can be operated independently from the movement of the edge guide. It is comprised as follows.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the user consciously switches the advance position and the retract position of the delay cam follower, but the increase in the number of parts is minimized, and the structure is extremely simple. .
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the hopper rising timing delay device in the recording apparatus according to the present invention is applied to an ink jet printer as an example of the recording apparatus will be described in detail. In the following description, the basic configuration of the ink jet printer will be described first in accordance with the recording medium conveyance path, and then the specific configuration of the hopper raising timing delay device in the recording apparatus according to the present invention and the order of its operating state will be described. I will explain it.
[0016]
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a basic configuration of an ink jet printer. This ink jet printer 1 has a structure capable of recording on both recording media of roll paper R and cut paper S. First, the basic configuration of the inkjet printer 1 will be described according to the conveyance path of the cut sheet S. The cut sheet S includes short standard paper N such as a business card size in addition to normal standard paper that has been cut into standard sizes in advance such as B5 and A4. In the following, the simple sheet S includes both of them, and the short paper N means a paper having a much smaller length than a standard paper such as a business card size. And The cut sheets S are placed in a stacked state on a hopper 7 in an automatic paper feeder 5 provided at the rear of the printer body 3.
[0017]
The cut sheet S on the hopper 7 is pushed up toward the feeding roller 9 as the hopper 7 rises at a predetermined timing as the rotation shaft 11 of the feeding roller 9 rotates. As the feed roller 9 rotates, the cut sheet S positioned on the uppermost surface is taken into the printer main body 3 one by one with the help of a separation pad or a retarded roller (not shown). Inside the printer main body 3, a recording medium feed roller pair 17 constituted by a recording medium feed driving roller 13 and a recording medium feed driven roller 15 is provided. The cut sheet S is guided to a recording position below the recording head 19. The recording medium feed driven roller 15 is held by a rotary driven roller holder 21 biased toward the paper feed drive roller 13 by a biasing means (not shown).
[0018]
The recording head 19 is provided below the carriage 23 and is driven to reciprocate in the main scanning direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the cut sheet S while being guided by the guide shaft 27 with the ink cartridge 25 mounted. A platen 29 is provided below the recording head 19 with a predetermined gap through which the cut sheet S passes. The platen 29 supports the lower surface of the cut sheet S and has a function of making a strict gap with the recording head 19 that affects recording quality, that is, a paper gap constant. The recording head 19 is provided with an ink discharge nozzle (not shown), and recording on the entire surface of the cut sheet S is possible by transporting the cut sheet S and moving the carriage 23 in the main scanning direction. .
[0019]
On the downstream side of the recording head 19 in the paper conveyance direction, a discharge roller pair 35 including a discharge driving roller 31 and a discharge jagged roller 33 is provided. The discharge roller pair 35 has a transporting action for guiding the recorded cut sheet S onto a paper discharge stacker 37 positioned further downstream in the paper transport direction. The paper discharge stacker 37 is configured by including a stacker main body 39 provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the printer main body 3 and an extension stacker 41 provided in a nested manner with respect to the stacker main body 39.
[0020]
Next, the basic configuration of the inkjet printer 1 unique to the roll paper R will be mainly described according to the conveyance path of the roll paper R. The roll paper R is obtained by winding a continuous long paper having a predetermined width around a roll core, and is held by a roll paper holder 45 in a freely rotatable state. The feeding end of the roll paper R held by the roll paper holder 45 passes through the rear surface of the automatic paper feeder 5 for the cut sheet S and reaches the lower side of the automatic paper feeder 5 to feed the recording medium described above. The recording paper 19 is guided to the recording position below the recording head 19 while receiving the pressure paper feeding action by the roller pair 17.
[0021]
A transport guide 6 for guiding the roll paper R downward from the rear surface of the automatic paper feeder 5 is provided below the rear surface side of the paper feed tray 7 in the automatic paper feeder 5. Further, the roll paper R reaching the recording medium feed roller pair 17 is conveyed to the discharge roller pair 35 along the same conveyance path as the cut sheet S described above, and further downstream of the discharge stacker 37 in the recording medium conveyance direction. And is cut to a predetermined length.
[0022]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the hopper rising timing delay device according to the present invention is applied to the printer main body. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an operating state of the delay cam follower. 4A and 4B are explanatory views showing the feeding start position of the feeding roller. FIG. 4A shows a case where a normal recording medium (paper) is used, and FIG. 4B shows a short recording medium (paper). Each case is shown.
[0023]
Next, based on these drawings, the configuration of various members that control the setting of the hopper lift timing will be described in detail with a focus on the configuration of the hopper lift timing delay device 51 according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, a feeding cam 47 for executing the rising timing of the hopper 7 in conjunction with the rotation of the feeding roller 9 is provided near the end of the rotating shaft 11 of the feeding roller 9. Yes. A feeding cam follower 49 that abuts the feeding cam 47 and sets a predetermined hopper raising timing is provided at a portion of the hopper 7 that faces the feeding cam 47.
[0024]
In FIG. 2, a feeding roller 9 is provided on the left side of the feeding cam 47. The feeding roller 9 is a relatively large roller having a D-shape when viewed from the side, and the peripheral drum portion 10 that is not chamfered directly abuts on the upper surface of the cut sheet S to perform a feeding operation. Accordingly, the circumferential length L from the feeding start position A where the cut sheet S contacts the circumferential drum portion 10 to the feeding end position B at the end of the circumferential drum portion 10 in the rotation direction of the feeding roller 9 is sent by the feeding roller 9. This is the paper feed amount of the slip sheet S.
[0025]
A delay cam 53 constituting a part of the hopper rising timing delay device 51 according to the present invention is provided further to the left of the feeding roller 9. On the other hand, the hopper 7 is provided with an edge guide 8 that is slidably engaged in the recording medium width direction. The edge guide 8 is provided with a delay cam follower 55 that constitutes another part of the hopper raising timing delay device 51 according to the present invention.
[0026]
As shown in FIG. 3, the delay cam follower 55 is provided so as to be nested with respect to the edge guide 8, and switches between an advanced position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 3 and a retracted position indicated by a virtual line in FIG. 3. It can be configured. The lower surface of the delay cam follower 55 is provided with, for example, a columnar engaging convex portion 57, and the hopper 7 is provided with an engaging groove portion 59 that engages with the engaging convex portion 57. Yes.
[0027]
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the engaging groove portion 59 is located at the upper position (above the left end in FIGS. 2 and 3) and extends backward in parallel with the recording medium width direction. A normal timing setting area 61 to be set, and a delay timing setting area for setting an advancing position of the delay cam follower 55 which is located below (below the right end in FIGS. 2 and 3) and extends parallel to the recording medium width direction. 63, and a timing switching area 65 that is bridged obliquely so as to connect the normal timing setting area 61 and the delay timing setting area 63.
[0028]
Next, the operating state of the hopper rising timing delay device 51 according to the present invention will be described. As shown by the phantom line in FIG. 3, when the standard paper sheets S such as B5 and A4 sizes are placed on the hopper 7, the delay cam follower 55 is accompanied by the paper edge aligning operation by the edge guide 8. 3 moves to the left in FIG. 3 together with the edge guide 8 and is located in the normal timing setting region 61 in the engagement groove 59.
[0029]
Therefore, since it is located away from the delay cam 53 and does not come into contact with the delay cam 53, a sheet feeding operation is performed at a normal hopper ascending timing set by the feeding cam 47 and the feeding cam follower 49. The In this case, as shown in FIG. 4A, the substantially entire length in the circumferential direction of the circumferential drum portion 10 of the feeding roller 9 is a circumferential length L that sets the paper feed amount.
[0030]
On the other hand, as shown by a solid line in FIG. 3, when the end size paper N such as a business card size on the hopper 7 is placed, the delay cam follower 55 is moved along the edge guide 8 by the edge guide 8. 3, the engagement convex portion 57 reaches the delay timing setting region 63 through the normal timing setting region 61 and the timing switching region 65 in the engagement groove 59 and can come into contact with the delay cam 53. Moved to the delay operation position. Therefore, the feeding delay operation based on the delay hopper raising timing is executed prior to the feeding operation based on the normal hopper raising timing.
[0031]
In this case, even if the starting end portion in the rotation direction of the peripheral drum portion 10 of the feeding roller 9 faces the end-size sheet N, the hopper 7 is prevented from rising by the cam height by the delay cam 53. Therefore, the feeding roller 9 cannot take in the short paper N and runs idle. Then, when the rotating shaft 11 further rotates and the contact state between the delay cam 53 and the delay cam follower 55 is released, this time, the feeding operation at the normal hopper raising timing is executed, and the recording medium The feed operation is started.
[0032]
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4B, the middle of the circumferential drum portion 10 of the feeding roller 9 is the feeding start position A, so that only a part of the circumferential drum portion 10 in the circumferential direction is used for the feeding operation. Accordingly, the circumferential length L is shorter than in FIG. 4A, and the recording medium feed amount is reduced. Note that, by reducing the recording medium feed amount, the problem that two end-size sheets N are continuously taken in as shown in FIG. 8 is avoided, and various recording media having different sizes can be handled. The setting of the recording medium feed amount is performed in conjunction with the paper edge alignment of the edge guide 8 without the user being particularly conscious.
[0033]
The hopper rising timing delay device 51 in the recording apparatus according to the present invention is based on the configuration as described above, but changes or omissions of the partial configuration are made within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course it is also possible. 5-7 is a top view which shows other embodiment of the hopper raising timing delay apparatus 51. As shown in FIG. Of these, FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which the delay cam follower is advanced and attached to the edge guide in a fixed state, and FIG. 6 shows an embodiment in which the operating range of the delay cam follower is expanded in the recording medium width direction. FIG. 7 shows an embodiment in which the recording medium feed amount can be further adjusted to another stage.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 described above, the delay operation positions of the delay cam 53 and the delay cam follower 55 are set in a very narrow range in accordance with the width dimension of the short paper N. Therefore, when the delay cam follower 55 is located outside this delay operation range, even if the delay cam follower 55 remains in the advanced state, as long as interference with other members provided on the rotating shaft 11 is prevented, there is no problem. There is no hindrance. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, a configuration in which the delay cam follower 55 is provided in a fixed state with respect to the edge guide 8 may be employed.
[0034]
Further, when there is some variation in the width dimension of the short paper N and there is no problem with the same recording medium feed amount for any of them, the delay cam follower 55 is configured to be somewhat wider as shown in FIG. In addition, the contact range of the delay cam 53 in the recording medium width direction can be increased. For example, when it is desired to obtain a recording medium feed amount corresponding to each of three or more types of recording media having different sizes such as B5, A4 size paper, postcard size paper, and business card size paper, As shown in FIG. 7, it is also possible to provide a plurality of delay cams 53 at corresponding positions on the rotary shaft 11.
[0035]
In addition, although illustration is omitted, when the delay cam follower 55 is provided so as to advance and retract with respect to the edge guide 8, it can be moved independently of the movement of the edge guide 8. Further, the mechanism for advancing and retracting the delay cam follower 55 is not limited to a sliding type, and may be a rotating type or a detachable type.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a basic configuration of an ink jet printer.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an installed state of a hopper rising timing delay device.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing an operating state of a delay cam follower.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a paper feed start position in a feed roller.
FIG. 5 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a plan view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing problems in recording on short paper.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Inkjet printer (recording device), 2 Roll paper feeding device,
3 Printer body, 5 Automatic paper feeder, 6 Transport guide, 7 Hopper,
8 Edge guide, 9 Feed roller, 10 circumference body, 11 Rotating shaft,
13 recording medium feed driving roller, 15 recording medium feed driven roller,
17 Recording medium feed roller pair, 19 Recording head,
21 driven roller holder, 23 carriage, 25 ink cartridge,
27 guide shaft, 29 platen, 31 discharge drive roller,
33 Discharge roller, 35 Discharge roller pair, 37 Discharge stacker, 39 Stacker body, 41 Extension stacker, 43 Cutter device, 45 Roll paper holder 47 Feed cam, 49 Feed cam follower,
51 hopper raising timing delay device, 53 delay cam,
55 delay cam follower, 57 engaging convex part, 59 engaging groove part,
61 normal timing setting area, 63 delay timing setting area,
65 Timing switching area, R roll paper, S cut paper,
N short paper, A paper feed start position, B paper feed end position, L circumference

Claims (4)

The recording medium placed on the hopper is directed from the recording medium located on the top surface to the feeding roller one by one by the hopper's pushing force that rises at a predetermined timing in conjunction with the rotation of the feeding roller. In addition to the normal hopper raising timing, the hopper raising timing delay device capable of selecting the delayed hopper raising timing delayed by the timing,
The hopper rising timing delay device is provided for a delay cam follower provided for an edge guide that is slid in a recording medium width direction according to a width dimension of a recording medium mounted thereon, and a rotation axis of a feeding roller. A hopper raising timing delay device in a recording apparatus, comprising: a delay cam that is provided and abuts the delay cam follower. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the delay cam follower is configured to advance when it reaches a predetermined position in conjunction with movement of the edge guide and to shift to a delay operation position. Hopper rising timing delay device. The hopper is provided with an engaging groove portion that engages with an engaging convex portion provided on the delay cam follower, and the engaging groove portion is located above and in the recording medium width direction. A normal timing setting area for setting the backward position of the delay cam follower extending in parallel, a delay timing setting area for setting the advance position of the delay cam follower positioned below and extending in parallel to the recording medium width direction, and these A hopper ascending timing delay device in a recording apparatus, comprising: a timing switching region that is slanted so as to connect a normal timing setting region and a delay timing setting region. 2. The delay cam follower according to claim 1, wherein the delay cam follower is provided so as to be able to advance and retract with respect to the edge guide, and can be operated independently of the movement of the edge guide. A hopper rising timing delay device in a recording apparatus.

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