JP4201032B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium.

  As an ink jet printer (ink jet recording apparatus) for forming an image by ejecting ink droplets from a nozzle onto a recording medium such as recording paper, an ink jet head in which the nozzle is opened on the recording medium taken out from the paper storage unit One having a transport belt for transporting to a position facing the ink ejection surface is known (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-131353 (FIG. 1)

  There are many cases where deposits such as paper dust adhere to the surface of the recording medium. Further, the recording medium receives external force and vibration during its conveyance. For this reason, before the recording medium taken out from the paper storage unit is transported to a position facing the ink ejection surface of the inkjet head, the deposits are peeled off from the surface of the recording medium and scattered around. The scattered deposits may float around the conveyor belt and adhere to the ink discharge surface of the inkjet head, block the nozzle opening, or enter the nozzle. These cause ink droplet ejection failure. In view of this, it is conceivable to arrange a deposit removing device for removing deposits adhering to the surface of the recording medium in the vicinity of the inkjet head. However, since the deposits that cannot be removed by the deposit removal device are scattered, it is difficult to reliably prevent the scattered deposits from adhering to the ink discharge surface of the inkjet head.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an ink jet recording apparatus that can reliably prevent scattered deposits on a recording medium from adhering to an ink discharge surface.

An ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention includes a stocker that accommodates a plurality of recording media, an intermediate belt that is disposed above the stocker and spans a plurality of belt rollers, and a plurality of belt rollers that are disposed above the intermediate belt. A path that passes from the stocker to the lower outer peripheral surface of the intermediate belt and the upper outer peripheral surface of the transport belt in order, as viewed from the axial direction of the belt roller. a conveying device for conveying the recording medium along a conveying path became S-shape, the opposite to the lower side outer circumferential surface of the intermediate belt, the recording medium being conveyed by the lower outer peripheral surface of the intermediate belt the deposits of adhering to the surface, the deposit removing roller for removing by contacting the recording medium, disposed opposite the upper outer peripheral surface of the conveyor belt, the transport base Ru Tei provided with an inkjet head having an ink ejection surface in which the nozzles are formed for ejecting ink droplets toward the recording surface of the recording medium being conveyed by the upper outer peripheral surface of the bets.

According to the present invention, it is possible splashing the deposits are reliably prevented from adhering to the ink ejection surface.

Furthermore, in the present invention, it is more preferable to further include a recording area cover that covers the upper outer peripheral surface of the transport belt and the inkjet head. According to this, it is possible to more reliably suppress the adhering matter from adhering to the ink ejection surface.

In addition, in the present invention, it is even more preferable, further comprising a removing roller cover for covering the front SL deposit removal roller. According to this, it is possible to prevent the deposits peeled off from the recording medium from being scattered around.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an overall configuration of an ink jet printer which is a preferred embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of the ink jet printer 101 viewed from above in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inkjet printer (inkjet recording apparatus) 101 is a color inkjet printer having four inkjet heads 1. Further, in the inkjet printer 101, along the conveyance path (see the arrow in the figure) of the paper P that is a recording medium, the paper feed unit 11, the adhering substance removing roller (adhering substance removing apparatus) 20, the conveying apparatus 13, and the discharge device A paper tray 12 is arranged.

  The paper supply unit 11 includes a paper stocker 11a, a pickup roller 11b, guide rollers 16a and 16a ′, and a guide plate 16b. The paper stocker 11a accommodates a large number of papers P stacked therein. The pickup roller 11b is driven by a motor (not shown) to pick up the paper P stacked in the paper stocker 11a one by one from the top and sends the picked up paper P to the left in FIG. The guide rollers 16a and 16a ′ and the guide plate 16b guide the paper P sent out by the pickup roller 11b to the transport device 13 disposed above the paper feeding unit 11, and are sent leftward in FIG. The fed paper P is fed upward toward the right in FIG. The paper P sent out to the right in FIG. 1 is placed on the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate belt 17 a of the transport device 13.

  The transport device 13 transports the paper P sent out from the paper supply unit 11, and includes an endless intermediate belt 17 a wound around two belt rollers 17 b and 17 c and a guide. An endless conveyance belt 8 wound so as to be bridged between the plate 18 and the two belt rollers 6 and 7, and disposed at a position facing the inkjet head 1 in a region surrounded by the conveyance belt 8. The platen 15 is provided. The outer peripheral surface of the intermediate belt 17a has adhesiveness, and the printing surface (recording surface) of the paper P is in a state where the paper P delivered from the paper feeding unit 11 is stuck to the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate belt 17a. In the state of facing downward, it is conveyed toward the upper right in FIG. A peeling plate 17d is provided immediately downstream of the intermediate belt 17a. The paper P conveyed to the intermediate belt 17a is peeled off from the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate belt 17a by the peeling plate 17d. Note that the sheet P is attached to the intermediate belt 17a by a nip roller 17b ′ disposed so as to be pressed by the belt roller 17b.

  The guide plate 18 guides the paper P peeled off from the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate belt 17a by the release plate 17d to the outer peripheral surface of the conveying belt 8 disposed above the intermediate belt 17a. It is curved along the outer peripheral surface. The guide plate 18 feeds the paper P peeled from the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate belt 17a toward the left in FIG. 1 while inverting the paper P from the right in FIG. Here, even if the front end of the paper P peeled off by the peeling plate 17d reaches the position of a nip roller 4 described later, the rear end is stuck to the intermediate belt 17a. Transported up. Further, the paper P is placed on the outer peripheral surface of the transport belt 8 having adhesiveness. A nip roller 4 is disposed at a position facing the belt roller 7 on the downstream side of the guide plate 18. The nip roller 4 presses the paper P against the outer peripheral surface after the paper P is placed on the outer peripheral surface of the transport belt 8 by the guide plate 18. The platen 15 supports the conveyor belt 8 so as to keep the gap between the conveyor belt 8 and the inkjet head 1 uniform (constant) in a region facing the inkjet head 1.

  When a conveyance motor (not shown) rotates the belt roller 6, the conveyance belt 8 is driven. As a result, the transport belt 8 transports the paper P pressed against the outer peripheral surface by the nip roller 4 toward the paper discharge tray 12 via the region facing the ink jet head 1 while being adhesively held.

  A peeling plate 14 is provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge port of the conveyor belt 8. The paper P transported to the transport belt 8 is peeled off from the outer peripheral surface of the transport belt 8 by the peeling plate 14 and discharged onto the paper discharge tray 12 arranged on the downstream side.

  The four inkjet heads 1 are arranged in parallel along the transport direction of the paper P in correspondence with the four colors of ink (magenta, yellow, cyan, and black) to form a line printer. Each of the four inkjet heads 1 has an ink flow path including a nozzle 108 that ejects ink droplets therein, and has an elongated rectangular parallelepiped shape that is long in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction. The bottom surface of the inkjet head 1 is an ink ejection surface 2a in which the nozzles 108 are opened. A recording area A is a plane that faces the ink discharge surface 2 a of the inkjet head 1 and includes the conveyance path of the paper P on the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance belt 8. When the paper P transported by the transport belt 8 passes through the recording area A (directly below the four ink jet heads 1), ink droplets of each color from the ink ejection surface 2a of each ink jet head 1 toward the printing surface of the paper P. Is discharged. As a result, a desired color image is printed on the print area of the paper P. Further, the recording area cover 3 covers a part of the conveyance belt 8 including the inkjet head 1 and the recording area A.

  The adhering matter removing roller 20 removes adhering matters such as paper dust adhering to the printing surface of the paper P being conveyed by the intermediate belt 17a, and the intermediate belt 17a is near the paper feeding side of the intermediate belt 17a. It arrange | positions so that it may contact | abut with the lower outer peripheral surface. A region of the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate belt 17a facing the deposit removal roller 20 is a removal region B that is a region for removing the deposit. The outer peripheral surface of the deposit removing roller 20 has adhesiveness although it is not as strong as the adhesive force of the intermediate belt 17a. The adhering matter adhering to the printing surface of the paper P is removed from the paper P by the outer peripheral surface of the adhering matter removing roller 20 coming into contact with the printing surface of the paper P conveyed to the intermediate belt 17a. In place of such a deposit removing roller 20, another type of deposit removing device may be used. For example, a static elimination brush or a static elimination blower that removes static electricity from the paper P may be used. Of course, a simple brush may be used.

  Further, the removal area B is positioned below a plane including the recording area A on the conveyance belt 8 (an opposite conveyance plane having the maximum range in the plane including the conveyance path of the paper P). Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the deposit removing roller 20 and the removal region B are disposed in the plane of the transport belt 8 (in the opposite transport plane) when viewed from above (vertical direction). Further, the removal area cover 21 covers only a part of the conveyance belt 8 including the deposit removal roller 20 and the removal area B. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the adhering matter once peeled off from the printing surface of the paper P from being scattered around. The removal area B may be in an area outside the area where the recording area A is projected in the vertical direction. Further, although not shown, the inside of the removal region cover 21 may be made negative by a suction device. Thereby, scattering of the peeled deposit is reliably prevented.

  As described above, the sheet P is fed from the sheet stocker 11a to the left in FIG. 1 by the pickup roller 11b, and then reversed upward by the guide rollers 16a and 16a ′ and the guide plate 16b, and then the right in FIG. It is sent out to the conveying device 13 toward the direction. In the transport device 13, the paper P is transported obliquely upward and to the right in FIG. 1 with the printing surface facing downward while being stuck to the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate belt 17a. At this time, in the removal region B (near the upstream end of the intermediate belt 17a), the deposits attached to the printing surface of the paper P are removed by the deposit removal roller 20. Thereafter, the paper P conveyed by the intermediate belt 17a is peeled off from the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate belt 17a by the peeling plate 17d. Further, the sheet is guided along the guide plate 18 and placed on the outer peripheral surface of the conveyor belt 8, and then reversed from the right to the upper side in FIG. 1 and then sent to the left in FIG. 1. When the paper P transported by the transport belt 8 passes sequentially under the four inkjet heads 1 that are the recording areas A, ink droplets of each color are ejected from the ink ejection surface 2a toward the printing surface of the paper P. The As a result, a desired color image is printed on the print area of the paper P. Thereafter, the paper P is peeled off from the outer peripheral surface of the transport belt 8 by the peeling plate 14 and discharged to the paper discharge tray 12 on the left side in FIG. Therefore, the conveyance path of the paper P in the inkjet printer 101 is S-shaped when viewed from the side.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment described above, the removal region B is located below the conveyor belt 8 and disposed in the plane of the conveyor belt 8 when viewed from the vertical direction. The deposits scattered when removing the deposits are less likely to enter between the conveyor belt 8 and the ink ejection surface 2a. Thereby, it is possible to reliably suppress the scattered deposits from adhering to the ink ejection surface 2a.

  Further, since the entire adhering matter removing roller 20 is disposed in the plane of the conveyor belt 8 when viewed from the vertical direction, the ink jet printer 101 can be reduced in size.

  Furthermore, since the printing surface of the paper P always faces downward in the conveyance path from passing through the removal region B to being placed on the conveyance belt 8, adhered matter such as paper dust once removed It becomes difficult to reattach. Thereby, it can suppress more reliably that an adhering matter adheres to the ink discharge surface 2a via the paper P.

  In addition, since the ink jet head 1 and the recording area A of the conveyor belt 8 are covered by the recording area cover 3, it is possible to more reliably suppress the adhering matter from adhering to the ink ejection surface 2a.

  Further, since the deposit removing roller 20 and the stripping area B are covered with the stripping area cover 21, the deposit once peeled off from the printing surface of the paper P can be prevented from being scattered around.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made as long as they are described in the claims. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the entire deposit removing roller 20 is arranged in the plane of the conveyor belt 8 when viewed from the vertical direction, but at least the deposit removing device such as the deposit removing roller is used. A configuration may be adopted in which a part of the belt is not arranged in the plane of the conveyor belt 8 when viewed from the vertical direction.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the printing surface of the paper P is not directed upward in the transport path from passing through the removal region B to being placed on the transport belt 8. Although the transport path is configured, the transport path of the paper P is directed so that the printing surface of the paper P faces upward in the transport path from passing through the removal region B to being placed on the transport belt 8. It may be configured.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the recording area cover 3 covers only a part of the conveyance belt 8 including the inkjet head 1 and the recording area A. However, the recording area cover covers the recording area A in the conveyance belt 8. The structure which further covers the plane which contains, and the other area | region which exists above the said plane may be sufficient. Alternatively, the recording area cover 3 may not be provided.

  In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the removal area cover 21 covers only a part of the conveyance belt 8 including the deposit removal roller 20 and the removal area B. However, the removal area cover is provided on the conveyance belt 8. It may be configured to further cover other areas excluding the plane including the recording area A. Or the structure which does not have the removal area | region cover 21 may be sufficient. Or the structure which covers the substantially whole intermediate belt 17a may be sufficient.

  In the embodiment described above, the conveyance path of the paper P in the inkjet printer 101 is S-shaped when viewed from the side, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the conveyance path may have another shape such as a U shape.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the endless intermediate belt 17a and the conveyance belt 8 form a part of the conveyance path of the paper P. However, instead of such an endless belt, the paper is formed by a roller or a guide plate. The structure which forms the conveyance path | route of P may be sufficient.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the inkjet printer 101 is applied to the line printer has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to other types of inkjet printers such as a serial printer.

1 is a schematic side view of an inkjet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of the ink jet printer shown in FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet head 2a Ink discharge surface 3 Recording area cover 6, 7 Belt roller 8 Conveying belt 11 Paper feeding part 11a Paper stocker 11b Pickup roller 12 Paper discharge tray 13 Conveying device 16a Guide roller 16b Guide plate 17a Intermediate belt 17b, 17c Belt roller 18 Guide Plate 20 Adherent Removal Roller 21 Removal Area Cover 101 Inkjet Printer 108 Nozzle

Claims (3)

A stocker for accommodating a plurality of recording media;
An intermediate belt disposed above the stocker and spanned between a plurality of belt rollers, and a conveyor belt disposed above the intermediate belt and spanned between the plurality of belt rollers, and from the stocker to the intermediate belt a upper outer peripheral surface of the lower outer peripheral surface and the conveyor belt of a path through the order, transport for transporting the recording medium along a conveying path became S-shape when viewed from the axial direction of the belt roller Equipment,
The adhering matter facing the lower outer peripheral surface of the intermediate belt and adhering to the surface of the recording medium being conveyed on the lower outer peripheral surface of the intermediate belt is removed by contacting the recording medium. A deposit removal roller ;
An ink discharge surface disposed opposite to the upper outer peripheral surface of the transport belt and having nozzles for discharging ink droplets toward the recording surface of the recording medium being transported on the upper outer peripheral surface of the transport belt; an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim Tei Rukoto a inkjet head. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a recording area cover that covers an upper outer peripheral surface of the conveyor belt and the inkjet head. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it further comprises a removing roller cover for covering the front SL deposit removal roller.

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